《Upgrade Specialist in Another World》


 USAW Prologue

    Prologue: The most tragic interdimensional traveler in history


    ¡®The happiest interdimensional traveler in history¡¯ was the hottest virtual reality online game in 2xxx CE. Its name was a bit cheesy but as soon as it appeared, it occupied almost the entire game market. Its top-notch technologies made it the ¡®Second Life¡¯ arena for people.


    In a murky cave in the game, a player was holding a skill book in his hands, laughing like crazy.


    ¡°F*ck yeah! ¡®Item Upgrade¡¯! Wahahahaha! I¡¯m rich now¡­ I¡¯m rich now!¡±


    He laughed like crazy for 5 or 6 minutes and only stopped when he was about to feel a pain in his chest. But his body still quivered nonstop from head to toe. He stared greedily at the skill book in his hands, ready to use it immediately to learn this skill which can help him make a meteoric rise.


    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s going on?¡±But right at this moment, his surroundings suddenly looked like unstable TV signals, beginning to warp while flashing repeatedly. ¡°Could it be a power outage? Impossible, even if the electricity is cut off, there¡¯s still the backup power source. Could it be something has happened to the game¡¯s system?¡±


    When this person was considering whether or not to quit the game temporarily, his surroundings seemed no longer able to endure and they suddenly shattered! Yes, they shattered, like a mirror, breaking into many pieces until the pieces look like light dots and disappeared!!


    That person was scared stiff for a long time by this abrupt accident. After regaining his composure, he discovered that he was falling down nonstop!


    Everything around him was in chaos and filled with all kinds of colors. The distinct feeling of falling down warned him that he was going down faster and faster.


    This unprecedented situation struck fear into him. He shouted unceasingly at the game controller on his left wrist: ¡°Quit! Quit! Force quit! F*ck you! Why can¡¯t I quit the game?!¡±


    In the end, he gave up shouting to quit and began to look around in terror, only to see streamers of different colors. It was simply impossible for him to tell where was where.


    ¡°Where am I gonna fall down to?! I¡¯m merely in a VR game. If I keep falling down like this, where am I gonna end up?¡±All of a sudden, this person trembled with astonishment, ¡°Could it be¡­ Could it be¡­ I¡¯m traveling through dimensions?! My body is still in the gamepod, but my soul is going through dimensions?!¡±


    As if to respond to his guess, the lower region of this colorful area gradually turned into a formless mass of gray. It was even possible to vaguely catch glimpses of the scenery below through the gray clouds. There seemed to be a street with even people going on it.


    ¡°I have arrived!I have really traveled through dimensions?¡±After being stupefied for a moment, he finally turned his face to the sky and laughed out loud, ¡°Wahahaha¡­ Your grandpa has traveled through dimensions! The effort I put into memorizing historical records, researching science and studying the history of interdimensional travel (all kinds of novels about interdimensional travel) won¡¯t be a waste¡­ I know everything in heaven above and on the earth beneath. Papermaking, smelting, architecture, etc. there¡¯s no necessary skill in interdimensional travel that I haven¡¯t mastered¡­ Keke! The world! Beautiful women! I am here¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s going on? Hey hey¡­ Are you kidding me?!¡±


    The complacent guffaws suddenly stopped and turned into terrified shrieks because he noticed that apparently the closer he got to the gray clouds below, the more ill he felt, even to the point that it gave him a feeling of suffocation. Moreover, many crack-like things had appeared around him and they were traveling in all directions.


    When a crack brushed his shoulder, a part of his shoulder suddenly went missing!


    It looked like it had been removed by an eraser. The touched part immediately disappeared. In addition, a small piece of his shoulder was separated from his body and turned into a mass of black mist.


    What made him despair even more was that the cracks around him kept increasing in number while swallowing his body nonstop like a group of piranhas¡­ Or perhaps, his soul!


    The happiness of interdimensional travel was replaced by the fear of death.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play with me like this, ok? Ouch¡­¡±


    A crack cut across him. His entire right leg was separated from his body and turned into back mist.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? The books didn¡¯t say this is what happens when traveling through dimensions¡­¡±


    His right arm was cut off from there. His right hand, still holding tightly that ¡®Item Upgrade¡¯ book, was floating in the air.


    As the world below drew closer and closer, there were also more and more cracks. In addition, a type of transparent air mass appeared. Those soul fragments, which had been torn off by the cracks, were enfolded by the air masses and slowly disappeared¡­


    ¡°Is there a mistake here?! I¡¯m a freaking interdimensional traveler! I¡¯m the damn main¡­¡±


    Before he could finish those actor¡¯s lines, he dissipated in the chaos, leaving behind only soul fragments of varying sizes, which in turn were destroyed by the transparent air masses¡­


    However, at this moment, a skill book had already reached the bottom edge of the gray clouds. Wrapped in a group of soul fragments, it passed through the gray clouds to enter the world below!


    A transparent air mass also went out after it¡­


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    Interdimensional travel was not so easy! Each plane of existence had its own planar laws. Everything that was not part of this world would be deemed a virus and eliminated by the planar laws!


    This bit player who did not even have a name was naturally not the main character. This tragic bit player¡¯s soul failed to go through dimensions and as a result was shattered with most of it destroyed. He was now as dead as mutton ¡ª Could he be considered the most tragic interdimensional traveler in history?


    However, that group of soul fragments which had escaped and that game skill book were not governed by the laws of this plane. What kind of storms were they going to bring to this world?

 Chapter 1: Bai Yunfei

    Book 1: Rise of the Cloud


    Book 1 Chapter 1: Bai Yunfei


    Year 2008 of the Tianhun calendar, the only empire on the Tianhun continent ¡ª the Tianhun Empire, Qingyun Province, in the evening in Luoshi City.


    ¡°Whew! Finally call it a day. Today I earned 23 copper coins. I can eat one more steamed bun this evening¡­¡± A youngster dressed in ragged clothes with a face full of exhaustion was walking in a somber alleyway while supporting himself on the wall. He massaged his sore shoulders as he muttered to himself.


    Bai Yunfei, 18 years old, 1.75 m tall, had a simple short hairstyle, his face somewhat thin, his nose bridge high and his eyes clear. Even though he could not be considered handsome, at least his appearance did not make people dislike him. Because he had been a coolie for years, he unconsciously bent down a bit when he walked, looking somewhat servile. His body actually could be considered strong, but because he had not eaten enough food for a long time, he looked thin and haggard.


    After a day of toil, now he only wanted to buy some wheat steamed buns to fill his stomach then return to that broken house, the ¡®home¡¯ where he had been living alone for 9 years, to take a good sleep.


    Since he had begun to understand things, Bai Yunfei had never seen his father. His mother and paternal grandfather had never told him anything about his father either. His mother passed away due to illness when he was 5, leaving behind Bai Yunfei and his aged grandfather, who had to depend on each other for survival. It was a pity misfortune still did not let go of Bai Yunfei¡¯s family. When setting up a stall to sell straw sandals, his grandfather ¡®blocked¡¯ the way of a young nobleman from a wealthy family and was given a brutal beating by his subordinates and servants. Not long after that he also left Bai Yunfei ¡ª That year, Bai Yunfei was only 9 years old.


    These kinds of things were not rare sights on the Tianhun continent at all. The lives of commoners, especially those similar to Bai Yunfei¡¯s family members ¡ª without land, jobless and having only a small house so damaged that it was almost unlivable ¡ª were not worth a cent in the eyes of the nobility and the rich.


    9 year old little Yunfei was all alone. Engraving his mother¡¯s love and his grandfather¡¯s kindness in his heart and mind, he clenched his teeth and lived on ¡ª After imploring for 2 days and nights, he got a job as a porter at a large rice shop. Do not think that the shop owner was kind-hearted. He never gave someone even an extra half of a copper coin. Recently Bai Yunfei had only received several copper coins a day in wages.


    There were many times Bai Yunfei thought that he could not take it anymore. Every night he would huddle in the damaged house through which the wind could blow freely and weep silently. But each time, when he had fallen asleep after crying, he would always see in his dream his grandfather stroke his head kindly, and weave straw sandals while teaching him characters; his mother embrace him to her bosom and point to the white clouds in the sky, saying: ¡°One day, when my little Yunfei grows up, he will be like a white cloud in the sky, floating freely without constraints¡­¡±


    The next day, he would wipe his eyes, clench his teeth and move those extremely heavy sacks of rice bit by bit ¡ª he had been moving them for 9 years¡­ During these 9 years, Bai Yunfei tasted the fickleness of human nature to the utmost. Understanding thoroughly how bleak this world was, he simply worked hard every day, relying on his own hands and foots to survive in the lowliest way.


    In fact, there were a great deal of commoners like him at the bottom of society, but most of them chose to become involved in shady activities under the pressure of life. However, Yunfei had never committed any of those acts and even never thought about committing them. For every copper coin and mouthful of food he got, he had to carry heavy sacks of rice on his shoulders in exchange,


    because, he had promised his grandfather to live life with a clear conscience before.


    Many people had sneered at Bai Yunfei¡¯s stubbornness: ¡°A clear conscience? Don¡¯t make me laugh. In this cruel real world, a clear conscience is a worthless piece of shit!¡±


    But Bai Yunfei did not care about them. He had been sticking to living alone for 9 years, regardless of how low his status was, how humble his job was and how impoverished he was ¡ª with a clear conscience.


    ¡°Now my body is much stronger than before as well. Later I¡¯m gonna carry a few more sacks of rice every day so that I can start saving some money and repair mom¡¯s and grandpa¡¯s graves¡­¡± Bai Yunfei walked as he considered this. After patting the copper coins in his bosom, he slightly quickened his pace. The exit of the alley was not far in front of him. Buy several steamed buns and he could just go home.


    Right at this moment, he, walking forwards with his head lowered, did not notice that a rift was suddenly cut open in the empty space behind him. Several masses of black mist flew out from it, one of which even seemed to be encompassing a book¡­ Either by accident or by design, those several masses of black mist and that book all flew in the direction of Bai Yunfei together. They dashed into his body in just about the blink of an eye.


    Bai Yunfei only felt an emptiness inside his head then lost consciousness and fell down weakly to the ground.


    The moment he dropped to the ground, a transparent mass of air urgently came out from that rift, which had not closed yet. It also flew towards Yunfei but instead of going into his body, it surrounded him completely.


    Everything in a plane of existence contained in itself the laws of the plane. When it attempted to break into another plane, it would be repelled and eliminated by the laws of that plane.


    However, once it managed to enter that plane, it would be assimilated, by the laws of this plane!


    The several soul fragments and that one book had already begun to merge with Bai Yunfei as soon as they had gone into his body. Subsequently, the pursuing force of the planar laws only enfolded Yunfei¡¯s body for a short while. After eliminating a small part of the soul fragments that had been unable to merge with him in time, it immediately vanished into thin air as if it had never appeared.


    Bai Yunfei appeared totally unchanged as well. He was still lying on the ground like he was sleeping soundly.


    About 10 minutes later, he slightly moved then sat up, but his face was full of confusion, his eyes unfocused as well. Obviously, he still had not regained composure.


    After sitting in stupefaction for a long time, he supported himself on the wall and stood up. He gently patted his head with a hand. It looked like he was murmuring to himself but also looked like he was talking to someone.


    ¡°I am Tang Long¡­ No, I am Bai Yunfei¡­¡±


    ¡°I came from the Earth¡­ No¡­ I¡¯m from the Tianhun continent¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an interdimensional traveler¡­ I¡¯m a commoner in Luoshi City¡­¡±


    ¡°Water is formed from H and O¡­¡±


    ¡°Save some money to repair mom¡¯s and grandpa¡¯s graves¡­¡±


    Even though the soul fragments did not have consciousness, they were all formed from countless fragments of memories, which had merged with Bai Yunfei, causing a temporary state of confusion in his own memories.


    He staggered towards the main street. In fact, this was totally a subconscious action. His mind was still in confusion so he did not know what he was doing at all¡­ On the main street, the common people who were busily coming and going all retreated to the sides of the street in a somewhat fearful manner at this moment as a group of roughly dozens of people came running from the east city gate.


    There were two people running in the forefront. The one on the left was a very good-looking youngster. He was beautifully dressed and had well-defined facial features. His long hair was tied up behind his head. Holding a folding fan in his hand and swinging it slightly in a very graceful manner, he was pointing at the shops and vendor booths on the sides of the street. Apparently, he was introducing something to the person beside him. The corners of his mouth curled up into a self-satisfied smile every now and then, looking carefree and elegant but also somewhat cynical.


    The person beside him is a long-haired girl dressed fully in luxurious light blue clothes. Her body was slim, her face white, her lips cherry and her nose jade-like. Her big eyes were following the gestures of the youngster, looking around with gusto.


    Not far behind them, a burly middle-aged man was slowly strolling along with his hands behind his back. His eyes were looking at the youngster and young girl in front of him with a hint of a smile. The two bodyguards beside him were dressed like ordinary people, long sabers hanging from their waists. It looked like they were following him about at random, but their eyes occasionally swept across the crowd. All of those who made eye contact with them immediately turned around to avoid them with an even more fearful expression on their faces.


    Further behind was a group of guards dressed up like servants and carrying some large chests. Despite those heavy-looking chests, these people were walking in a rather relaxed fashion. Obviously their skills were not weak either.


    The number one aristocratic family of Luoshi City, the Zhang family, controlled almost half of the city¡¯s various business shops. Moreover, it was a well-known family of soul cultivators. Even though this so-called ¡®well-known family¡¯ was not worth mentioning at all in the context of the entire continent, in this Luoshi City, it was an entity to which even the mayor had to yield to a certain extent.


    Of course no commoners dared to block the way of the Zhang family¡¯s master and young master.


    ¡°Little sister Meng¡¯er, I never thought you would come to Luoshi City together with my father. You should have sent someone to tell me about this a bit earlier so that I could prepare some interesting things for you, making you enjoy yourself¡­¡±That youngster talked to the girl beside him with a broad smile on his face. This person was none other than the young master of the Zhang family, Zhang Yang.


    Despite Zhang Yang¡¯s flattery, the young girl showed no expression. She only said in an indifferent manner: ¡°I just happened to meet uncle when I was strolling about Yinsha City. So out of convenience, I came here together with him to pay a visit to auntie. There¡¯s no need to prepare anything for me. I¡¯m going to leave in a few days.¡± At the end she slightly wrinkled her beautiful eyebrows then continued: ¡°Also, don¡¯t call me Meng¡¯er. I¡¯m not your little sister or something either. Call me by my name, Liu Meng.¡±


    ¡°Haha, what are you talking about, little sister Meng¡¯er? Actually, you should already know the intention of the elders in our 2 families. We¡­¡±Zhang Yang, however, was not discouraged by her coldness.


    ¡°Now I don¡¯t want to think about anything else. This time I went out for a stroll only because all along I couldn¡¯t break through to the middle Soul Warrior stage. So I wanted to go out to relieve my boredom a bit then return home to continue my training without worries.¡± The young girl named Liu Meng cut Zhang Yang short.


    ¡°What? You are already about to reach the middle Soul Warrior stage? I remember we broke through to the Soul Personage stage at about the same time. It¡¯s been just a year. I¡¯m still at the middle Soul Personage stage but you¡¯ve already improved so much!¡± This time Zhang Yang did not continue to court her shamelessly. He gave a light shout instead, his face full of shock.


    Hearing that, Liu Meng cast a somewhat disdainful look at him then shifted her eyes to a place on a side of the street, saying: ¡°I¡¯m different from some people who idle about all day.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Pressed by these words, Zhang Yang was somewhat embarrassed. He stopped this topic then, with a smiling expression, pointed to a small tanghulu stand on a side of the street, saying: ¡°Little sister Meng¡­ Eh¡­ Liu Meng, it¡¯s tanghulu, which girls love to eat. You often focus on training at home so you rarely eat these little things, right? I¡¯ll get a skewer for you to taste.¡±


    After saying so, he immediately went over, took a skewer of tanghulu then turned around and returned to Liu Meng¡¯s side. The owner of that stand did not even dare to show a hint of discontent. Instead he forced a faint, ingratiating smile on his hoary face¡­ Liu Meng received the skewer somewhat curiously, looked at it for a while then stuck out her little tongue and licked the sugar coat a bit. A hint of a smile appeared on her face, like a plum tree that blossomed in winter. On one side, when Zhang Yang saw that, his eyes were almost fixed on her.


    The party kept going towards the center of the city. On the way, Zhang Yang constantly took some strange little playthings from various small vendor stands and gave them to Liu Meng, hoping to win a smile from the beauty.


    Just as they reached the opening of an alley, an absentminded-looking youngster dressed in somewhat ragged clothes suddenly rushed out from that rather somber alley on one side. He was walking with a stagger while mumbling something nonstop. Seemingly not seeing the party on the street, he just kept going forwards this way. Suddenly he stumbled and bumped squarely into Liu Meng¡¯s bosom!


    The appearance of the youngster was somewhat unexpected and Liu Meng, following Zhang Yang¡¯s introduction, was looking at a satin shop on the other side; moreover, she simply did not think that someone would bump into her like this; additionally, Yunfei¡¯s mind was in confusion at the moment ¡ª he did not intentionally approach her at all; therefore, despite being a soul cultivator, she was not able to avoid this collision and was knocked down to the ground by him¡­ Bai Yunfei felt his head hurting badly. All sorts of information were piercing his head incessantly. He did not even know where he was right now.


    Suddenly, Bai Yunfei felt that he seemed to have hit something. His body plunged forwards uncontrollably. Then he felt that he seemed to have thrown himself onto a soft area, a delightful, delicate fragrance entering his nose¡­ Nobody knows if it was because of that hit, or that plunge, or that soft area, or that delicate fragrance¡­ In short, Bai Yunfei recovered from his preoccupation at this moment. Even though he was not completely clear-headed yet, finally he could control his own body again.


    He shook his head and stood up. Only now could he see clearly the situation in front of him ¡ª a blue-clad girl was sitting on the ground before him, her delicate face slightly looking up, gazing at him in stupefaction. It seems she had not pulled herself together after that collision just then yet.


    ¡°Eh¡­ Miss, I¡¯m sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t intend to bump into you. Are you hurt?¡± Bai Yunfei had roughly grasped the situation ¡ª he himself had just knocked her down ¡ª so he apologized then stooped down, reached out his hand and pulled Liu Meng by her white wrist, helping her get up from the ground, as if this was very natural to him.


    Bai Yunfei looked at the skewer of tanghulu that had dropped to one side and scratched his head in a somewhat embarrassed manner. Looking around, he happened to see a tanghulu seller on one side ¡ª in order to please Liu Meng, Zhang Yang had specially called the tanghulu seller to follow them. He trotted over, somewhat begrudgingly fished out a copper coin and gave it to the stand owner then took away a tanghulu skewer.


    ¡°Miss, I compensate you with a tanghulu skewer. Hope you¡¯ll forgive me. I really didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡± When Bai Yunfei was still talking, he felt a great force hitting him in the left side of his waist then a surge of severe pain. His whole body was immediately sent flying to one side!


    Zhang Yang slowly pulled back his right leg. He was trembling all over, his face full of savagery. There was nothing left of the elegant young nobleman image before. He was staring at Bai Yunfei,who was lying on the ground, not trying to conceal the strong killing intent that filled his eyes at all.


    ¡°You lowly pleb! Don¡¯t you dare disrespect or flirt with my Meng¡¯er! You¡­ I will kill you!¡±

 Chapter 2: Equipment Upgrade Technique

    Enduring the pain in his waist, Bai Yunfei managed to slowly rise back up to his feet, only to stare in stupefaction at the sinister-looking youth in front of him.


    ¡°How¡­.how could I do such a thing like this? It felt as if my actions were natural, wha¡ªwhat¡¯s going on?¡± Now, Bai Yunfei was back to complete awareness. But when he thought back to the attitude of the young woman in front of him, he didn¡¯t dare believe in what he had just done¡­.


    The nobles right in front of him, weren¡¯t they not people he couldn¡¯t risk to offend? These were people that couldn¡¯t care less about the lives of commoners such as him!!


    The very thought of that made Bai Yunfei go weak in the knees. Not daring to look up at these two figures, he bowed deep the ground and spoke, ¡°Dear miss, please forgive me¡­.I really didn¡¯t mean to offend you. I hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me¡­¡±


    ¡°Forgive you?! You plebeian, do you really think my little sister Meng¡¯er is someone you could touch? I¡¯ll have your lowly life ended right here and now!!¡± Zhang Yang laughed nastily. Looking at Bai Yunfei as if he was a dead man walking, Zhang Yang strode forward with his right arm extended. His right fist had a series of blue veins popping out from underneath his flesh, and with each step he took, the muscles in his arm seemed to grow even larger.


    When Bai Yunfei tilted his head up to look, a fierce pain stung at his head the moment when his eyes made contact with Zhang Yang. Something from the depths of his soul flooded his body, causing it to tremble briefly before collapsing to the ground. In his eyes, the incoming Zhang Yang was no longer a man, but a horrifying demon. The hands that came towards him were sharp claws, and if it were to just squeeze around him gently, Bai Yunfei would be crushed like an ant.


    ¡°Zhang Yang, hold on¡­.did I say that I wanted him dead?¡± Just as Bai Yunfei felt as if he was going to collapse, a harmonious voice like the sound of nature came echoing into his ears, alleviating some of the pressure on his body.


    Halting in his footsteps, Zhang Yang turned to look back to Liu Meng inquisitively, ¡°Me¡ªLiu Meng, this commoner has accosted you. Doesn¡¯t he deserve death? I¡¯ll teach him a lesson for you to vent your anger.¡±


    Frowning, Liu Meng casted another scornful eye at Zhang Yang, ¡°I¡¯m not ¡®yours¡¯, please watch what you¡¯re saying¡­.¡±


    Then casting an eye to look behind him, she continued, ¡°This person looks rather out of it, so it must have been an accident. Even if he did offend me, there wouldn¡¯t be a need for him to die¡­.¡±


    Stunned, Bai Yunfei looked to Liu Meng as if in a trance, ¡°Is....is she pleading for me? What a reasonable young lady, she¡¯s like a fairy¡­¡±


    ¡°He took a kick from you already, see how injured he is? Let that be enough punishment for him.¡± Liu Meng¡¯s eye flickered to the dropped tanghulu Bai Yunfei had bought for her earlier.


    There was a flicker of light as if she was thinking about something. Unexpectedly, she casted a smile towards Bai Yunfei, ¡°Haha, if anything, he already tried to pay me back with another tanghulu, but it was kicked to the ground by you¡­.¡±


    Her smile had forced Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart to beat more rapidly than before when he saw it. His face began to grow flush with a red heat, and his mind felt as if it was swimming, ¡°How¡­how beautiful she is¡­.¡±


    Seeing how Liu Meng was treating this plebeian with such a smile, a flash of bitter hatred entered his eyes, ¡°How could we let him off so easily? At the very least, we should cut off one of his hands! I¡¯l¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yang¡¯er!¡± A dignified voice suddenly barked out, interrupting Zhang Yang¡¯s speech.


    Walking up from behind the two youngsters was the middle-aged man before.


    ¡°Father!¡±


    ¡°Uncle.¡±


    The one that both Zhang Yang and Liu Meng called out to so respectfully was the father of Zhang Yang and the lord of the house of Zhang. Zhang Zhenshan.


    ¡°Meng¡¯er is right. As a soul cultivator, how could you bicker with people of his kind? You even plan to kill on the streets, are you not afraid of losing face for our Zhang?!¡± The man barked out to reprimand his child on his behavior.


    Just a moment ago, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart was threatening to leap out of his chest when Zhang Yang threatened to cut off own of his hands. Hearing this middle-aged man advocate against that had allowed for Bai Yunfei to let out a sigh in relief, but when the man looked to him, Bai Yunfei immediately felt as if his entire body had been thrown into ice. Even his soul shivered at the man¡¯s gaze¡ªit was many a times more intimidating than the one Zhang Yang had given to him.


    Even breathing was a challenge for him now.


    Fortunately, this sensation had only been for a moment before receding away. Heaving heavily, Bai Yunfei could feel beads of sweat drip down from his face one after another.


    ¡°Your mother is still waiting for us to return, don¡¯t let her wait even longer.¡± Zhang Zhenshan spoke.


    But seeing how his son was still quite discontent with the outcome, he let out a casual suggestion, ¡°If you¡¯re still not satisfied with this one¡­.let your servants teach him a lesson.¡±


    Unwilling to say anything more, Zhang Yang gave one of his servants a look before heading off with the others into the city center.


    Two of his servants didn¡¯t leave with him. Instead, they glared ominously at Bai Yunfei as they approached him.


    Now that Zhang Zhenshan had spoken, Bai Yunfei knew that there would be no escaping this beating today. If he resisted, the chances of being injured even worse would only just go up. With no other choice, he curled up into a ball and protected his face while the two men began to beat at him with their hands and feet.


    Already some distance away, Zhang Yang couldn¡¯t help but cast a look backwards with an eye of resentment. However, he then turned his head to look at Liu Meng for a brief moment before returning to his guise as an elegant noble. Waving his fan, he continued to introduce Liu Meng to the different parts of Talus City to her.


    Later that night, Bai Yunfei dragged his beaten and weary body back to his home. Pushing open the teetering doors of the entrance, he walked past the narrow hallway and onto the simplistic bed. There were several holes in the ceiling so that the moonlight could shine through and give the hut some lighting.


    Anything of worth in his home was already sold off. Originally, he had a room next door, but even that was sold off too.


    Seated on top of his bed, Bai Yunfei stared despondently at the top of his ceiling. Rubbing at the black and blue spots of his body, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but shed some tears in disappointment.


    Resistance.


    Humiliation.


    Uselessness.


    What about it? He couldn¡¯t do anything to change himself¡­.


    As he stroked at the jade stone pendant hung on his neck, the tears from his eyes began to slow down. This pendant was shaped like a crude cloud due to its rough craftsmanship, and one could tell that it was obviously made from low quality material. But because Bai Yunfei had kept this pendant next to him at all times and touched it for years, it had an especially glossy feel to it and shined to some degree.


    This was the memento given to him by his mother.


    ¡°Mother¡­.Is there really a point for me to live like this?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself as he looked at the pendant.


    ¡°One day, when my little Yunfei grows up, he will be like a white cloud in the sky. Floating freely under the skies without worry¡­.¡±


    The loving words of his mother began to reverberate into his ears.


    Wiping away the tears on his face, Bai Yunfei forcibly slapped at his face with his hands.


    ¡°I can¡¯t think like that! Mother¡¯s birthday is coming up soon. I just need some money so I can repair mother and grandfather¡¯s grave! I can¡¯t let them see me unhappy like this!!¡±


    Pacing himself with several deep breaths, Bai Yunfei calmed himself down and began to rethink of the events that happened today.


    ¡°What is going on with me? I didn¡¯t¡­feel like myself on the streets. Why in the world did I go and provoke those nobles¡­.?


    ¡°I¡¯m myself still though. But¡­feels like I¡¯ve a lot more things in my head now¡­I can feel it, but I just can¡¯t really seem to recall it clearly.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ve worked so hardly recently I¡¯m starting to see things? I wasn¡¯t feeling strange yesterday though.¡±


    Slapping his head, Bai Yunfei looked as if he was trying to forcibly jog his memory.


    ¡°Item Upgrade Technique¡­What''s that?¡±


    It was right at that moment something underneath his bed suddenly gave way, forcing his bed to sway unsteadily.


    ¡°Ugh, what got loose now? This stupid bed, really now¡­.¡±


    Stooping over, Bai Yunfei could see that the left side of the bed was clearly shorter than the other side. Originally, he had something propped up underneath. But when he moved about on his bed, the sudden movement brought the item elsewhere.


    Groping around underneath the bed, Bai Yunfei retrieved a single object.


    It was just a brick.


    Just as he was about to get it up and reset the bed, a sudden notification popped up into his head.Equipment Grade: Normal


    Attack: 9


    Upgrade Requirement: 1 Soulpoints


    This sudden notification had startled Bai Yunfei, causing the brick to fall from his hand and onto the ground.


    At the same time, the notification disappeared from his mind.


    Fearful, Bai Yunfei looked around himself for some time, only to see that nothing was amiss. After a long time, Bai Yunfei finally managed to pick up his courage and picked up the brick again.


    Sure enough, as soon as he picked up the brick, the same notification appeared.


    When he put the brick down, the notification disappeared.


    And when he picked it up, the notification appeared again.


    ¡°Yea...this points to it, but¡­.what does upgrade mean?¡±


    ¡°Upgrade¡­.¡±


    Another notification popped up into his head. In the next second, his mind went blank as if something from the innermost parts of his soul lessened. But even before he could even speak, the feeling disappeared.Upgrade Successful


    Another notification similar to the last one popped up in his head, prompting him to look down at the brick in his hand.Equipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 1


    Upgrade Requirement: 2 Soulpoints


    Just seemingly, it felt as if the brick in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand grew a little heavier than before. It also felt a little sturdier too. But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know if this was just an illusion of his.


    ¡°Another notification. Attack...does that mean how strong it is? If I upgrade it, does it grow stronger? What the heck? Am I dreaming or something?¡±


    He pressed a hand to the injured part of his waist, only to flinch and take in two deep breaths of frosty air¡ªhe wasn¡¯t dreaming.


    ¡°Maybe this¡­.has something to do with my strange behavior today?¡±


    Thinking hard about it for a while, Bai Yunfei shook his head. It was pointless to continue thinking about it now since there weren¡¯t any clues to follow. It didn¡¯t hurt him, so he didn¡¯t feel too bad about it.


    ¡°If I continue to upgrade it¡­.what¡¯s going to happen?¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but feel curious about this.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Like if his heart had skipped a beat again, Bai Yunfei looked to the brick.Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +2


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 2


    Upgrade Requirement: 3 Soulpoints


    Waving the brick, Bai Yunfei felt that the brick had gotten a little sturdier than before.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try it again¡­.¡±


    Not too long afterwards¡­.Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +6


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 6


    Upgrade Requirement: 7 Soulpoints


    But then the next time Bai Yunfei upgraded it, an unexpected result came up.Upgrade Failed


    ¡°Wha?? Failed?? What does that mean?¡±


    Looking at the brick, he could see that the upgrade level had gone from from +6 to +5.


    ¡°So...it can fail as well. And failure means¡­.it¡¯ll drop down a level?¡±


    And now he was even more curious. He was already captivated by this ¡®interesting¡¯ thing like a small child stumbling onto a new toy.


    No longer taking a look at the brick with each upgrade, Bai Yunfei stared at the brick and thought to himself nonstop:


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    He felt rather excited by this, but even as he was thinking out the command, a sudden pang of dizziness hit his head. It felt as if his soul had been emptied out, and his mind was rapidly dropping out of consciousness as he collapsed onto his bed.


    Just before he could lose all consciousness however, he could very vaguely feel a string of notifications pop up into his head.Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 16


    +10 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 1% chance of stunning the target for a maximum of three seconds.


    (If attacking the head, the chance of stunning increases to 5%)


    Upgrade Requirement: 7 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 3: Uncle Wu

    Book 1 Chapter 3: Uncle Wu


    The night was quiet. The moonlight shone into the house through the broken holes in the roof and illuminated a bed that was somewhat skewed. A person fell obliquely to the bed.


    Suddenly, the shabby door of the house made a creaking noise. Two silhouettes secretly entered the house like cats.


    Seeing that the person lying on the bed was a youngster who seemed to be sleeping like a log, these two people lowered their guard and stopped being so careful.


    ¡°Is it him?¡±A person asked the other in a low voice.


    After looking at the person on the bed by making use of the moonlight, the asked person nodded: ¡°Correct, it¡¯s him. Let¡¯s get to work.¡±


    They walked up to the side of the bed. One of them untied a burlap sack from his shoulders and put it on the floor. It looked like they wanted to load the person on the bed into it.


    ¡°Brat, you can¡¯t blame us brothers. You can only blame yourself for being so unlucky to have provoked our young master. Anyway, there¡¯s no point for you to live this lowly life either so just die young then reincarnate. In your next life, try your best to be born in a rich family¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense. Quickly put this brat into the burlap sack.¡±


    ¡°Oh, why is he holding a brick in his hand? Hah! Even holding it very tightly¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t care about it. Just let him hold it. I have a good idea in mind. When we get to that place, don¡¯t give him any weapon. Just let him get on with this brick ¡®cause he¡¯ll die anyway. When young master sees this, he¡¯ll definitely feel even happier. Maybe he¡¯ll even reward us again.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha! This idea of yours is really mean, but I like it¡­¡±


    These two men¡¯s movements were neat. It looked like they were used to doing this kind of thing. They loaded the youngster into the burlap sack, tied it carefully, carried it on their shoulders, got out of the house then quickly disappeared into the night¡­ Bai Yunfei felt that this time he was having a particularly comfortable sleep, his body warm from head to toe and his mind somewhat fuzzy. He did not know where he was but he wanted to sleep a little more instead of waking up anyway.


    ¡°Young fellow, quickly wake up, wake up¡­¡±


    Suddenly a voice resounded in Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears, causing him to be much more clear-headed. After that he felt someone pushing his shoulder. He finally opened his eyes with a start then immediately sat up.


    Patting his forehead in a somewhat absentminded manner, he murmured: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me? Where is this place?¡±


    He suddenly noticed that he was unexpectedly not in his own house. There was a layer of hay under his body and a white-haired old man beside him, who was looking at him rather worriedly.


    ¡°Grandpa, where is this place? And how can I be here?¡±Perhaps because the concerned look in the old man¡¯s eyes caused Bai Yunfei to relax a bit, he looked at him doubtfully and asked.


    ¡°What? You don¡¯t even know why you were captured and brought to this place? Oh¡­ Young fellow, you offended someone you shouldn¡¯t offend. Was it also that animal of the Zhang family who caught you and brought you here?¡±


    ¡°The Zhang family¡­ Zhang Yang?¡±Bai Yunfei was a bit dumbstruck then immediately reacted.


    ¡°Oh, you know him? How did you provoke him?! Alas¡­¡± The old man looked at Bai Yunfei and sighed while shaking his head.


    Bai Yunfei looked around and asked at the same time: ¡°Why are we locked up in this place? When will we able to get out?¡±


    This place was a large room with a layer of hay on the floor and absolutely nothing else. It did not have a window either. On the left of Bai Yunfei was an entrance blocked by logs ¡ª a prison cell?Through the door of the cell, Bai Yunfei could see a field about several hundred square meters outside. It was surrounded by a wall that was 3 to 4 m high. Further outside, there were several stepped floors of luxurious seats.


    Bai Yunfei and the old man were in a corner of the room. Not far from them on one side, there were still about ten other people. However, these people all looked vicious. One could know at first sight that they were not nice people. They were talking with each other in a low voice other there, minding their own business.


    ¡°Get out?¡±The old man had a somewhat strange expression when he heard him say so, ¡°Young fellow, you¡­ Oh dear! The whole Luoshi City know that only few of those who offend the young master of the Zhang family Zhang Yang can survive¡­¡±


    ¡°What? I¡­ I will die?¡±Bai Yunfei was shocked. His voice could not help getting a bit louder, drawing unfriendly looks from the group in front of him. He hurriedly lowered his voice, asking somewhat anxiously: ¡°Grandpa, do you mean what you said?¡±


    ¡°Alas, young fellow, you don¡¯t have to be too scared. Whatever will be, will be. It¡¯s pointless for you to be scared¡­¡± The old man patted his shoulders and said comfortingly: ¡°Plus I heard them say that in a while they will let us go to fight someone. As long as we can survive, they will let us go¡­¡± At this point, the old man could not help forcing a smile. Obviously he did not think that he himself and Bai Yunfei, an old man and a youngster, would have a good chance of surviving.


    ¡°Fight¡­¡± Bai Yunfei trembled in his heart and was even more terrified. But after seeing the comfortingly kind expression in the old man¡¯s eyes, somehow he gradually calmed down. Perhaps the old man¡¯s kindness reminded him of his own grandfather¡­ ¡°Grandpa, you¡­¡±


    ¡°My family name is Wu. Just call me Uncle Wu.¡±


    ¡°Um, Uncle Wu, why are you here too?¡±


    But unexpectedly, this question of his turned the originally kind-looking old man into an extremely grieved one all of a sudden. His eyes then had a ferocious glint as he ground his teeth, as if he was a fierce animal that was about to pick someone to eat.


    The old man¡¯s sudden change gave Bai Yunfei a start. He shrunk back a little, appearing somewhat scared.


    After a long time, the enmity in the old man¡¯s eyes disappeared. He sighed deeply, saying: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, did I scare you¡­?¡±


    Seeing that the old man had returned to normal, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief then said while waving his hand: ¡°No, you didn¡¯t¡­ Uncle Wu, if you don¡¯t want to talk about it then there¡¯s no need to talk about it¡­¡±


    ¡°Actually it¡¯s not something that can¡¯t be talked about either. Because I wanted to go kill that young master of the Zhang family Zhang Yang with a machete, his subordinates caught me and locked me up in here.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±Bai Yunfei really could not imagine that this was the reason Uncle Wu was locked up in this place.


    ¡°That animal Zhang Yang¡­ He¡­ He caused the death of my granddaughter!¡±Uncle Wu¡¯s body trembled somewhat, his mind in a state of agitation, ¡°My poor Xiao Yu¡¯er was only 16 years old!¡±


    ¡°Three days ago, my dear granddaughter said she wanted to go buy a bolt of cloth and make a piece of clothing for me. She said winter was about to come and she couldn¡¯t let me freeze¡­¡±At this point, the look in Uncle Wu¡¯s eyes was filled with loving-kindness, a smile also showing up on his face. Bai Yunfei could feel his unlimited love for his his granddaughter, because previously his grandfather had had this kind of expression as well when looking at him.


    ¡°But¡­ But after she went out this time, we would be separated forever!¡±Tears streamed down from Uncle Wu¡¯s eyes, his expression sorrowful.


    ¡°The neighbor next door ran over and told me that Xiao Yu¡¯er had been captured by that Zhang Yang¡¯s subordinates. I rushed to the Zhang family to ask for her back, but when I arrived¡­ she was already an ice-cold body!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Yu¡¯er, my dear granddaughter, she was unwilling to endure Zhang Yang¡¯s insults so she was beaten to death by that animal!¡±


    That ferocious expression of a beast about to eat a human showed up on Uncle Wu¡¯s face again, but this time Bai Yunfei was not afraid at all. He only felt sad and indignant.


    ¡°After I buried my dear granddaughter, my neighbors all advised me to swallow my anger, saying that I wouldn¡¯t able to fight that Zhang family. I also knew that, with commoners like us, even if the Zhang family kill some more, the mayor and his subordinates would only turn a blind eye. The lives of people like us are just like ants in their eyes.¡±


    ¡°But, I couldn¡¯t stand it! If I wouldn¡¯t at least do something, how could I be worthy of my good granddaughter? I would die with an everlasting regret! So I grabbed the machete in my house. Taking advantage of when he came out drunk from a brothel, I rushed up. I wanted to chop him into thousands of pieces! I wanted him to pay for my granddaughter with his life!¡±


    ¡°In the end¡­ Before I could even touch a corner of his clothes, I was caught by his henchmen, then¡­ I was locked up in here. It¡¯s been one day and one night already¡­ Cough cough¡­¡±


    As Uncle Wu finished talking, because he was too agitated, he began to cough rather uncomfortably.


    Bai Yunfei had been silent all along. He could not think of any words capable of comforting the old man so he had to catch his slightly quivering hands, pat his back and say in a concerned manner: ¡°Don¡¯t be too agitated, Uncle Wu. This isn¡¯t good for your body. That kind of person is lower than an animal. One day he will be punished properly¡­¡±


    Uncle Wu looked at Yunfei in a somewhat stupefied manner. Only after a long time did he say: ¡°Alas¡­ My Xiao Yu¡¯er often held my hands and patted my back for me then reproached me for being too agitated like this as well¡­ Young fellow, I still haven¡¯t asked your name.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Bai Yunfei. You can just call me Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Um, Yunfei, I can tell that you¡¯re a good boy¡­ Now there are fewer and fewer people like you. People nowadays, whether outwardly or inwardly, only care about themselves. They do anything, regardless of the life and death of other people. They, have even thrown away human nature. A person should live his life with a clear conscience¡­¡± As Uncle Wu finished talking, seeing that Bai Yunfei was looking at him in a somewhat stupefied manner, he asked: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You don¡¯t agree with what I said?¡±


    ¡°No, I was just thinking of my departed grandpa. He¡­ also said the same words before.¡±


    Right at this moment, several people appeared outside the door of the cell. They put a bucket of steamed buns and a bucket of water outside the door then said loudly to the people inside: ¡°Hey you people! Come here and eat! You must eat as much as you need, so that in a while you¡¯ll have strength to risk your lives!¡±


    Because there were really quite a few steamed buns in that bucket, only when those ten or so people in front them had already eaten their fill did Uncle Wu stand up and get some. He also scooped water with a bowl. He then returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, handed him the food and said: ¡°Are you hungry? Let¡¯s eat. Only after eating our fill do we have strength to live on.¡±


    Bai Yunfei ate steamed buns while talking with Uncle Wu in a low voice. Seeing the kind look in Uncle Wu¡¯s eyes, he felt a slight tremble in his heart. Since his grandfather¡¯s death, he seemed to have never experienced this kind of feeling again ¡ª this kind of ¡®warm¡¯ feeling.


    After eating several steamed buns and talking a little more, Uncle Wu seemed to be tired. He then leaned on the wall to rest. Bai Yunfei, however, continued to shrink into the corner. Only now did he have time to recall what had happened the day before.


    ¡°How did all the injuries on my body disappear?¡±Only now did Yunfei discover that all those injuries caused by the beating yesterday were unexpectedly gone!His body did not feel uncomfortable in the least either.


    ¡°Yesterday evening¡­ it seemed I passed out? Why? Right! Upgrade¡­ The brick!¡±


    Thinking about this, Yunfei subconsciously reached his hand towards the area beside him. Unexpectedly he really touched an object with clear edges and corners ¡ª it was none other than that brick, which he had clung on when he had passed out the evening before!


    ¡°When you were taken to this place yesterday evening, you were holding this brick tightly in your hand¡­ Could it be it has some important meaning?¡±Uncle Wu asked doubtfully as he saw him pick up the brick.


    ¡°Er¡­ Nope, this is the brick I put under a leg of my bed¡­¡±Yunfei did not know how to explain either. Luckily, seeing him get tongue-tied in a stupefied manner, Uncle Wu did not mind. He gave a few laughs and did not ask him again.


    Yunfei lowered his head and looked at the brick in his hand:


    ¡°Item grade: Normal.¡±


    ¡°Item upgrade level: +10.¡±


    ¡°Damage: 9¡±


    ¡°Additional damage: 16¡±


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: Attacks have a 1% chance of stunning the target for a maximum of 3 seconds (when attacking the head, the chance of stunning increases to 5%).¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 12 soulforce.¡±


    ¡°Sure enough, everything that happened yesterday evening was real¡­¡±


    ¡°+10 Additional effect? Stun? What does this mean? If I beat someone with this brick, of course I can stun him. Why is there still a chance of several percent?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s upgrade it again and see?¡±


    But he abandoned this idea soon afterwards. Yesterday evening, it seemed he had lost consciousness only because of upgrading this brick. So, how could he dare to casually upgrade it in this place today?


    Holding the brick, Bai Yunfei was lost in thought. After an indefinitely long time, he was suddenly woken up with start by a series of noises.


    He turned around and saw that that circle of luxurious seats outside were already filled with people dressed in luxurious clothes. One could tell at first sight that they were plutocrats and aristocrats. All of them had an excited, expectant expression. They were talking with each other in a low voice. Some people also gesticulated at the captives in here while talking with the people around them.


    ¡°Everybody! Welcome to the Coliseum!¡±


    Suddenly, a resounding voice rang out in the field. Those muttering plutocrats and aristocrats temporarily stopped talking, but the expressions on their faces became even more excited, even to the point of looking somewhat¡­ crazy.


    ¡°Those lowly lives will struggle for survival and fight each other like wild animals! This is the exciting and bloody Coliseum! Let us enjoy today¡¯s visual feast!¡±

 Chapter 4: Slaughter in the Coliseum

    Book 1 Chapter 4: Slaughter in the Coliseum


    The Coliseum belonged to the underworld of Luoshi City. It was an exceptionally popular place controlled by the Zhang family that attracted numerous plutocrats and aristocrats. Many people even in the entire Qingyun Province knew about it.


    This was the place for those plutocrats and aristocrats to kill time, enjoy getting excited and seek blood and gore when they were too bored.


    Despite being called the Coliseum [lit. Animal Battlefield in Chinese], it was not really a place where animals fought each other. The ones who engaged in killing here, were humans!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes popped out of his head, his mouth slightly open in astonishment, his body quivering unceasingly ¡ª he had never thought that people could fight each other so brutally.


    In the Coliseum outside, two red silhouettes were engaging in hand-to-hand combat. In order to increase fighting time, weapons were generally not allowed in the Coliseum. If you wanted to survive, you would have to use your arms, legs, head and even teeth. Only by making it impossible for the opponent to stand up again would you be permitted to survive. And if you were defeated, this would usually mean death for you.


    Those people were called red silhouettes because their bodies seemed to be sprinkled with blood! Their own blood, and also each other¡¯s blood.


    A man with a strong bearlike body, thick eyebrows and big eyes was panting. One of his eyes had become a bloody mess. His left ear had even been ripped off and his body was trembling slightly. But his remaining eye was still showing madness. Letting out a beastly yell, waving his huge fist, he attacked a middle-aged man much smaller than him in stature in front of him.


    There were many injuries on the middle-aged man¡¯s body too, but they looked much less severe than the opponent¡¯s. When the big man¡¯s fist arrived, he unexpectedly did not dodge. Instead, he also raised his fist, wanting to clash with the big man head-on!


    The moment his right arm struck out, it seemed to swell up all of a sudden. After the fists collided, that big man let out a miserable cry and retreated several steps continuously. The fingers of his right hand had bent into strange shapes, and his blood was spurting out. Several broken finger bones even stuck out through his skin!


    That middle-aged man flung blood off his hand ¡ª his opponent¡¯s blood. He even licked it with some enjoyment as his eyes glittered frighteningly. He simply looked more like a beast that was slaughtering its prey than a human.


    The ¡®audience¡¯ outside the field screamed in excitement for a while. These plutocrats and aristocrats had completely lost that graceful, distinguished posture they had had outside. All of their faces were red and full of excitement. Their eyes were wide open, afraid of missing any of this exciting scene.


    They were also trembling nonstop like Bai Yunfei. But the difference was that they were trembling because of excitement whereas Bai Yunfei was trembling because of fear.


    Around the two people in the field, there were various bloodstains, either red or dark. Some of these bloodstains belonged to these two and some others had been left behind by the people in the several previous fights.


    On the ¡®stand¡¯, there were similarly several luxurious chairs above Bai Yunfei and the others. At this moment, three people were sitting in these chairs, watching the fighting below them.


    The one of the left was none other than Zhang Yang!


    Acting like an elegant young nobleman, he was pointing to that middle-aged man and saying to the person beside him: ¡°Second young master Zheng, what do you think about this Coliseum of mine? A place that makes people¡¯s blood boil, isn¡¯t it? That¡¯s none other than the most ferocious man in this Coliseum. He¡¯s called Direwolf¡­¡±


    Beside him, there was a youngster dressed in splendid purple clothes with a face even more handsome than Zhang Yang¡¯s, who was watching the fighting in the field expressionlessly. He slightly nodded, saying: ¡°Not bad. This man is already in the half-awakened state. With just some more time, his soulforce will fully awaken and he¡¯ll be able to set foot in the Soul Apprentice stage.¡±Despite those words of praise, his expression showed slight disapproval, making him appear somewhat perfunctory as he talked.


    Zhang Yang, however, did not mind. He said with an ingratiating smile: ¡°A mere Soul Apprentice of course isn¡¯t worthy of your approval, second young master Zheng. The Zheng family has a lot of talents and experts. How can small families like ours possibly compare with it¡­¡±He knew that this second young master Zheng, who was from the capital, basically looked down upon his own family. This time, out of curiosity, this young master had come to the Coliseum in Luoshi City and he only needed to serve him nicely enough not to offend him.


    The person on the right was covered from head to toe in a black cloak. His face could not be seen clearly. At the moment, his arms were crossed over his chest, his head slightly lowered. It looked like he was sleeping¡­ Now the fighting in the field was already approaching the end. That big man was simply no match for the middle-aged man. His movements became slower and slower as there were more and more injuries on his body. The spectators¡¯ excited cries were also getting louder and louder.


    In the end, the middle-aged man took the big man down to the ground with a sweep kick. Trampling on his chest with his right foot, he lifted one of his arms up with his hands then pulled with force!


    That arm of the big man was unexpectedly torn off!


    The audience gave an unprecedented cheer. Seemingly because this scene was too bloody, some female spectators turned their heads away one by one. However, they were still secretly glancing into the field through the corners of their eyes, their cheeks very red with excitement.


    Eventually, the middle-aged man crushed the opponent¡¯s head like a watermelon with a foot stomp¡­ Seeing the splattering of the red and white stuff, Bai Yunfei finally could not bear it anymore. Groveling in the corner of the wall, he began to vomit. Uncle Wu also trembled all over and clutched Yunfei.


    Now, even those several ferocious-looking men in front of them had a fearful expression in their eyes as well.


    At this moment, the wooden door of the prison cell was knocked open. Ten something people with weapons in their hands appeared outside the door. The man who had brought steamed buns to them before shouted: ¡°Everybody get out! Take your weapons! And prepare to fight for your freedom!¡±


    That group of men looked at each other but in the end they still walked out one by one. Uncle Wu and Bai Yunfei were the last to come out.


    Whenever a person got out, the man who had opened the door took a weapon out from the chest behind him, gave it to him then let him walk into the field.


    Bai Yunfei walked somewhat absently at the back of the group. In just a while, he and Uncle Wu walked up to the door. Uncle Wu received a broken hatchet.


    Bai Yunfei stood in bewilderment at the door, waiting for that man to give him a weapon. But that man seemed to have been instructed earlier. He looked at Yunfei with an ambiguous smile and did not give him any weapon.


    ¡°Why¡­ Why don¡¯t you give me a weapon?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, isn¡¯t your hand holding a weapon? What do you still want? Cut the crap. Quickly go into the field!¡±That man jokingly cast a look at the brick in his hand ¡ª Bai Yunfei had been holding it all along, as if doing this could help him feel a little bit safer.


    With no trace of politeness, that man then gave Bai Yunfei a kick, hurrying him into the field.


    Bai Yunfei caught up with Uncle Wu. He still had a nonplussed expression. Seeing those luxuriously dressed spectators who were sizing up himself and his cellmates with curious and puzzled looks, a thought suddenly sprung to his mind.


    ¡°In the eyes of these people, I¡¯m just like an ant¡­¡±


    Zhang Yang stood up, walked forwards several steps and says loudly to those spectators: ¡°Everybody! Coming up next is today¡¯s special bonus program! The winner just now, Direwolf, faces this gang of fierce desperadoes!¡±


    At this point, he looked into the field. When he saw Uncle Wu and Bai Yunfei,who were walking at the back of the group, his eyes flashed with a hint of vileness and satisfaction. And when he saw the brick in Yunfei¡¯s hand, he was obviously stupefied. He then chuckled and somewhat approvingly cast a look at a subordinate beside him.


    In the field, hearing Zhang Yang¡¯s voice, Uncle Wu was the first to turn around. He stared at Zhang Yang, who was on the high stand, his entire body quivering, a deep hatred shooting out of his eyes.


    Bai Yunfei also recognized Zhang Yang. He even felt that mocking and cruel expression when Zhang Yang looked at him¡­ ¡°It¡¯s really him¡­ Why? Just because I offended that young lady yesterday? But, what gives you the right to decide my life and death so easily? What gives you the right to look at me like looking at an ant?¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt that there seemed to be an unspeakable sentiment spreading in his heart which was about to become insuppressible and explode.


    Zhang Yang pointed to Direwolf and said to the people in the field: ¡°All of you are death row inmates I bought out from prison. The likes of you commit arson, murder and looting every day. You should be dead already. But today I give you a chance to survive. Just fight him together. Anyone still stands in the field after half an hour, will be set free!¡±


    Everybody understood what he said. Those spectators all whispered to each other and gesticulated at the people in the field. There was even an ¡®amused¡¯ expression on the faces of many of them.


    ¡°So they¡¯re all death row inmates. So many people together, even holding weapons, can that Direwolf win?¡±


    ¡°The ten something people in the front look like criminals, but take a look at those two at the back. Isn¡¯t it obvious that they¡¯re just an old man and a kid?¡±


    ¡°Hah, you see, you see, what is that young lad holding in his hand?¡±


    ¡°A brick?¡±


    ¡°A brick¡­ Ha ha! A brick!¡±


    After the people in the field heard what Zhang Yang said, their eyes shone with hope. After all, nobody would want to die if it was possible to save his life. The ten something people in the front gathered together and whispered something to each other.


    That Direwolf obviously had known about this ¡®program¡¯ early on. He stood still with arms crossed and glanced at the weapon-wielding people in front of him with a relaxed expression. Beside his foot, blood was still coming out from the corpse of that big man¡­ Uncle Wu withdrew his look, stared forwards for a short period of time then pulled Bai Yunfei, saying in a low voice: ¡°Yunfei, listen to me. Let¡¯s hide on one side. If that man attacks us, just run. Don¡¯t fight him. We can¡¯t beat him. It¡¯s 30 minutes and this field isn¡¯t small. If we do our best to dodge, maybe we¡¯ll have a chance to survive!¡±


    Zhang Yang returned to his chair and said with a wave of his hand: ¡°Let¡¯s get started!¡±


    Hearing the order, Direwolf gave a merciless smile. He then lifted his feet and slowly walked towards the group of people in front of him.


    Holding various kinds of weapons in their hands, those ten something death row inmates spread out slightly. All of them were somewhat scared and no one dared to go up first.


    Direwolf slowly walked towards them step by step. Because just then he had stood over there, his feet seemed to have been soaked in the blood flowing out from that man killed by him before. And now each step he took left a bloody footprint behind. In addition, his whole body was stained with blood as well, looking like a demon walking out of a bloodbath. So, every time he took a step, it was as if he stamped on everybody¡¯s heart.


    In the end, a prisoner could not take this suffocating fear anymore. He shouted loudly, like an explosion: ¡°He is already injured from the fighting just now. Let¡¯s get on together everybody. Kill him, and we can survive!¡±


    Things will develop in the opposite direction when they become extreme. The extreme fear had erupted into a struggle for survival. This group of people rushed up almost simultaneously. Their eyes were all deep red, looking like crazy. Brandishing their weapons, they charged straight at Direwolf!


    Direwolf¡¯s eyes flashed with a hint of contempt. He raised his hand and grabbed a long spear then slightly exerted his strength. The user of the spear could not resist the great force coming through the spear¡¯s handle. His body inclined and bumped into two people beside him.


    Direwolf then slightly leaned to one side, avoiding a short saber that came flying. Afterwards, he raised a foot, sending a big copper hammer flying with a kick. Then he bent forwards and took advantage of the opportunity to make a sweep with the spear in his hand, instantly downing a group of people.


    A whole gang had been beaten to the point of breaking up in the blink of an eye!


    What happened after that was a one-sided slaughter¡­ Snapping necks with kicks, crushing chests with foot stomps, casually snatching a large saber then cutting off three people by the waist with a single swing¡­ Initially, the audience was still somewhat sluggish, but after Direwolf killed several people, they suddenly exploded with countless piercing screams! Because they were accustomed to watching long fights, the sudden appearance of this kind of ¡®slick and delightful¡¯ slaughter made them feel excited and stimulated in a different way¡­ In under 10 minutes, more than ten people had been killed almost completely, not to mention 30 minutes!


    Now some finally reacted by throwing down their weapons and running. But they were simply caught up after just several steps.


    Whoever was caught up, was killed!


    In the end, there was no one left standing around Direwolf.


    He then shifted his eyes, looking at Uncle Wu and Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 5: Uncle Wus Death and....Transformation!

    Chapter 5: Uncle Wu''s Death and....Transformation!


    Specks of blood dripped away from Direwolf¡¯s body with each step he took towards Bai Yunfei and uncle Wu. Right behind him, the broken limbs and battered bodies of his recent victims littered a small portion of the ring. At the start of this fight, Direwolf felt like a demon walking away from a bloodbath, but now, it no longer felt like it, he truly was a demon!


    When Direwolf¡¯s eyes connected with Bai Yunfei, Bai Yunfei felt a tyrannical force of pressure assault him straight on, causing the very depths of his soul to tremble with fright. Now, his entire body was deadlocked and paralyzed with fear. With the sight of blood filling his eyes everywhere in front of him, Bai Yunfei could only watch as the terrifying demon step towards him one foot at a time.


    ¡°Yunfei, get up, we must run! You go that way, hurry!¡± Somehow managing to overcome his fear at the sight of Direwolf¡¯s approach, uncle Wu yelled at Bai Yunfei to snap him out of it before running off to one side.


    No sooner did he take ten steps did uncle Wu look back at Bai Yunfei. To his discovery, Bai Yunfei was still staring sluggishly at the incoming demon!


    ¡°Yunfei, run away!¡± Uncle Wu shouted out a warning, but it was to no use. Bai Yunfei simply didn¡¯t hear him.


    As of right now, Bai Yunfei was gripped tightly by fear. That was all he knew, and even the thought of ¡®running¡¯ failed to register in his mind. The massacre that befell the others continued to replay in his mind, and he could hardly fail to connect those people to himself. They had died, and now it was his turn. Death was coming!


    By now, Direwolf was already very close to him!


    Seeing that his shouts were ineffective in snapping Bai Yunfei out from his fear, uncle Wu looked at Direwolf, then to Bai Yunfei, and then to the hatchet in his own hands. When he looked back at Bai Yunfei, there was now a look of determination in his eyes. Running with all his might, uncle Wu rushed at Direwolf and threw the hatchet at him!


    ¡°You demon, try and kill me!¡±


    For the sake of using himself as bait, uncle Wu would draw Direwolf away so that Bai Yunfei would have a chance to escape!


    Tilting his body so that the hatchet would fly past him, Direwolf casted a glance at uncle Wu. It was a surprise to see that this man would come chase after him instead, but when he looked back to Bai Yunfei pensively, an evil grin began to creep onto his face¡­.


    Picking up a nearby mace from the ground, he then tossed it straight towards Bai Yunfei!


    Still completely lifeless, Bai Yunfei could only watch as the mace come towards him; if this mace were to hit, death would be a huge possibility!


    ¡°Bang!¡± The sound of metal hitting flesh echoed throughout the ring, eliciting a gasp of shock from the entire audience.


    Their shock wasn¡¯t due to the fact that the mace had hit someone. It was precisely because the mace had hit someone else other than the person it was intended for. The mace, it had hit uncle Wu!


    At the very last second, uncle Wu had made it back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side and pushed him out of the way!


    With him taking Bai Yunfei¡¯s place, the mace had slammed ruthlessly onto uncle Wu¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Puuegh!¡± A mouthful of warm blood came pouring out from uncle Wu¡¯s mouth to sprinkle into the air and then onto the mace before finally coming back down.


    Some of his blood fell on the mace, and some of that hot blood came splashing onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, but more importantly, while it was hot, all that he could feel on his mind was an icy-cold feeling.


    All of a sudden, the entire audience felt as if it had gone silent. When Bai Yunfei looked at the downed uncle Wu, he could still see the look of concern the older man had for him¡­.


    Regaining the ability of movement, Bai Yunfei hurried to uncle Wu¡¯s side. Holding him onto the ground, he knelt by the man¡¯s side with a stunned expression, ¡°Un¡ªuncle Wu¡­.?¡±


    This sudden development had stunned the audience so much that many of them felt their breaths die up in their throat. Looking at Bai Yunfei, everyone started to whisper to each other.


    Even Direwolf had stopped moving. Rather than walking towards Bai Yunfei, he stood there with a look of complete interest at the two figures.


    Rivlets of blood continued to spill down from uncle Wu¡¯s mouth and his chest was partially caved in with so much blood that his robes were already completely soaked with it.


    ¡°Yun¡ªYunfei¡­.ah¡­.you¡¯ve finally¡­.woken up¡­.you mu¡ªmust run¡­.¡±


    ¡°Uncl¡ªuncle Wu¡­.Stop talking, don¡¯t say anymore¡­.yo-you can¡¯t die! Please¡­.you can¡¯t¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei wiped at the blood coming out from uncle Wu¡¯s mouth, but even as he wiped, the tears from his eyes began to drip down onto the man¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ha...ha¡­.Yunfei, worry not¡­.I¡¯ve no¡­.no regrets¡­.But you must¡­..you must live on¡­.survive!¡±


    ¡°Do you understand¡­? Child, when I¡­.when I first saw you, I knew¡­.I knew that should we met on the outside¡­.my granddaughter¡­.if she were alive¡­.I¡¯d make sure¡­.I¡¯d make sure that you¡¯d meet with her¡­.you and her¡­.you two would most certainly¡­.most certainly be a happy couple! Ah¡­.haha¡­.¡± Either he had thought of a happy thought, or that his final moments were rapidly ending, uncle Wu¡¯s words had came out with a rapid flow. But then following his words, the sounds of coughing came up. Not only was he coughing out blood, but parts of his internal organs were coming out as well!


    ¡°Un¡ªuncle Wu¡­.¡± It felt as if blades were cutting at Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. He didn¡¯t even know what to say other than to repeat uncle Wu¡¯s name again.


    With one hand clasped tightly to Yunfei¡¯s hand, the other trembling hand wiped away at Bai Yunfei¡¯s tears with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­.you must¡­.survive¡­.no matter the hardships¡­.don¡¯t give up¡­.remember my words...live on¡­.live with a¡­.a conscience!


    ¡°Ah¡­.what a shame¡­.in the end...I...I never...got revenge for...for Yu¡¯er¡­¡±


    The hand that was touching Bai Yunfei¡¯s face finally dropped like a puppet with its strings cut...


    ¡°Uncle Wu¡­.uncle Wu¡­!¡±


    Repeating uncle Wu¡¯s name mechanically now, Bai Yunfei could only look at the deceased man¡¯s face. Even though it had only been half a day since the two had met each other, Bai Yunfei made sure that he¡¯d remember uncle Wu¡¯s face and etch this memory into his heart.


    ¡°Ah!!


    ¡°Aahhhhh!!!


    ¡°Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!¡±


    Tossing his head back, Bai Yunfei let loose a heart-wrenching cry of sorrow to the heavens. Two red streams flowed down from his eyes¡ªhe was crying tears of blood!


    On top of the terrace, Zhang Yang had a sadistic smile on his face as he looked on at Bai Yunfei with satisfaction.


    The young lord Zheng was also looking at Bai Yunfei albeit with a different look on his face now.


    Even the black-robed man had turned his head up to look at the situation in the ring as well¡­.


    On the other hand, Direwolf stared icily at Bai Yunfei. With the show done and over with, he continued onto his path towards Bai Yunfei.


    But then he saw Bai Yunfei suddenly stop his scream and then slowly rise up from the ground. In his hand was the brick, and then he began to walk towards Direwolf himself!


    For some sort of odd reason, when Bai Yunfei looked at Direwolf with those bloody-red eyes, Direwolf felt his heart freeze up with fear.


    ¡°Fear? Impossible¡­¡±


    Shaking his head to snap out of it, Direwolf met Bai Yunfei¡¯s pace to walk up to him. Since this was his final opponent, he was determined to slowly torment Bai Yunfei to death¡­.


    When there was practically no distance left between the two, Direwolf finally raised his right arm and aimed a punch at Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    But just as quickly, Bai Yunfei raised the brick and slammed it onto Direwolf¡¯s fist.


    Given Direwolf¡¯s set of skills, he could easily dodge a brick if he wanted to, but he didn¡¯t feel that it was necessary at all. A brick? He could shatter an entire wall of it with a single punch!


    But breaking the brick and then the boy¡¯s arm? That wasn¡¯t a bad choice either. Determined, Direwolf¡¯s lips curled upwards into a cold grin.


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    The very first noise was the brick making contact with Direwolf¡¯s fist.


    The second sound wasn¡¯t the brick being crushed however, it was the sound of his own fist being fractured!!


    In complete and utter confusion, Direwolf looked at his bent fingers. For that moment, he had forgotten not only about the pain, but about his follow up!


    Bai Yunfei on the other hand, had not!


    As soon as he broke Direwolf¡¯s hand, Bai Yunfei leapt forward with the brick outstretched to smash it onto Direwolf¡¯s head!


    By the time Direwolf snapped back to awareness, the brick was already too close to his head for him to dodge¡ªwould his head be broken as easily as his fist had?


    ¡°Don¡¯t fuck with me!¡±


    Instantaneously, the energy that Direwolf had previously been faintly aware of suddenly exploded outwards from his body and then over his head. The skin around his face and head began to throb slightly before suddenly growing harder somewhat¡­.had it grown stronger really?


    ¡°Eh?¡± A happy look appeared on Zhang Yang¡¯s face, ¡°Has he broke through?¡±


    ¡°Pow!¡± Came a sound.


    The brick made contact with Direwolf¡¯s head, but this time, no bone had been broken.


    ¡°I¡¯m safe! And I...I¡¯ve broke through!¡±


    Elation filled every inch of Direwolf¡¯s mind, but he tried to quash that feeling down for the time being to focus on the match. A malevolent sneer appeared once more on his face as he lifted his hand for a counterattack, but suddenly, a pang of dizziness struck him!+10 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 1% chance of stunning the target for a maximum of three seconds.


    (If attacking the head, the chance of stunning increases to 5%.)


    Activation successful!


    ¡°Eh?¡± Another sound came from the terrace, but this time, it was the cloaked man who spoke!


    ¡°Uncle Qin, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Lord Zheng asked.


    ¡°I thought I felt that...that brick have soulforce coming from it¡­¡±


    ¡°What? Could that brick be¡­.be a soul armament! Impossible!¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­.perhaps it was because of Direwolf¡¯s awakening. His step into the Soul Apprentice realm must have sent some soulforce around itself and confused even me¡­.that youngster¡¯s soulforce seems to be awakening too. It¡¯s slightly weaker, but there was still a change¡­.perhaps I was wrong.¡±


    The sudden pang of dizziness left Direwolf at a complete loss. Because of that, the transformation over his head had been released, forcing his head to revert back to normal.


    For a second time, Bai Yunfei¡¯s brick came at his head!


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Ah.


    This time, there was the sound of bone breaking.


    Direwolf stumbled backwards, but Bai Yunfei came again with a third strike!


    This time, not only was there the sound of bone breaking, but blood came splurting out too!


    Dizzy beyond belief, Direwolf no longer found himself able to maintain standing and came crashing down to the ground.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were bloodshot still and he made no moves to stop where he was. Hopping onto the down Direwolf, Bai Yunfei straddled him and began to wail at the man with the brick!!


    When the dizziness finally receded from his head, all Direwolf could feel was pain¡­.


    And then when his vision came back, all he could see was a brick!


    And then, he felt nothing more¡ªhe knocked out completely this time¡ªthis was to say, he¡¯d never have the chance of ever waking up again.


    On the third strike, Bai Yunfei had slammed it down onto Direwolf¡¯s face so that it¡¯d knock him out cold.


    Over and over again, he slammed the brick onto Direwolf¡¯s face.


    The entire audience was silent. Everyone could only stare at this brick-wielding kid in absolute shock; Zhang Yang, lord Zheng, and even uncle Qin included¡­.


    It was hard to say which swing of the brick had killed Direwolf, even Direwolf himself would never know the answer, let alone the audience.


    No one knew how long it took for Bai Yunfei to finally stop since he could no longer feel that sensation of ¡®brick meeting face¡¯....


    His eyes were no longer crying, but his face was still wet with blood. Raising a hand to knead his eyes, Bai Yunfei could finally see clearly.


    Stunned at his handwork of Direwolf beneath him, Bai Yunfei was motionless. Then, silently, he stood up and walked to uncle Wu¡¯s corpse. Lifting the corpse up, Bai Yunfei turned back to Zhang Yang and spoke.


    ¡°I¡¯ve won. Let me leave¡­.¡±


    Having been stared down by Bai Yunfei¡¯s icy eyes, Zhang Yang found himself unable to stop his heart from beating rapidly. But then he snapped out from his fear quickly with a still trembling body and a squirming face.


    Looking at first to Direwolf¡¯s corpse and then to Bai Yunfei, a sinister look appeared on his face.


    Pointing a shaking finger at Bai Yunfei, Zhang Yang cried out hysterically.


    ¡°Men! Guards! Kill him, kill him at once!!!!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 6: Do You Desire Power?

    Twenty to thirty armed men came rushing into the arena as soon as Zhang Yang gave the order and surrounded Bai Yunfei. But when they saw the bleeding brick in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, no one dared to step up first to attack him.


    ¡°You¡¯ve said that if I win, you¡¯d let me leave.¡± Bai Yunfei gave a withering glare to Zhang Yang as he spoke.


    ¡°You! I¡ªI¡¯ll¡­.¡± Zhang Yang spluttered, his entire face growing flush with red as he tried to restrain himself.


    The entire audience had recovered from their shock by now. In their eyes, it wasn¡¯t important who died. What was really important was if their death was exciting or not. Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®outstanding performance¡¯ had been far more than enough to give them an immense feeling of satisfaction, so with this current situation in the arena, everyone began to point fingers and whisper to one another about Bai Yunfei and Zhang Yang.


    ¡°He has a point. He¡¯s won already, so by rights, he should be granted leave, isn¡¯t that right? Or is your Coliseum merely just a place where members of the house of Zhang can kill whomever they want to kill??¡± Lord Zheng suddenly spoke out. Pointing a finger at the nobles gathered around here, he spoke, ¡°If so, what is the point of all these people coming here then??¡±


    His voice wasn¡¯t that loud, but it was enough to be heard through the silence of the audience. Even those that were whispering to one another were able to hear his voice. Expression showing their agreements surfaced on their faces as many of the people started to then look at Zhang Yang with disapproval.


    Shades of blue and white alternated through Zhang Yang¡¯s face for a moment before in the end, he ended up forcing a smile to his lips and cupped his hands towards lord Zheng. With an apologetic smile to the audience, he spoke, ¡°Haha...second lord Zheng is quite correct. I lost composure of myself just now it seems, I¡¯ll allow him to leave¡­¡±


    His subordinates on the arena below was given an eye signal soon afterwards.


    But then lord Zheng cut in again once more, ¡°Friend, I am about to leave as well. Why don¡¯t we leave together?¡± He spoke to Bai Yunfei.


    Zhang Yang grew as red as a pig when he heard the other man speak again. He was deeply angered, but he didn¡¯t dare show it.


    It had been his plan to let Bai Yunfei go but then hatch a plot to have him killed in secret later. But lord Zheng had obviously seen through this plot and so he spoke up in a way to protect Bai Yunfei¡¯s life.


    Down below in the arena, Bai Yunfei was expressionless in the face, but his mind in perfect clarity. Knowing the situation, he said nothing more and walked towards the passageway where the armed guards just recently came out from. A short while later, he was up on the terrace and stood silently behind lord Zheng.


    Bowing his head, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t try to look off into Zhang Yang¡¯s direction even though he was only just several meters away. But the hand that was holding at the brick was clenched so tightly that the veins in his arms were bulging out against his skin. Bai Yunfei dared not to raise his head in case that he¡¯d be unable to control himself and smash the brick into Zhang Yang¡¯s head. He knew that if he were to try, not only would he not be able to even reach Zhang Yang, he¡¯d lose his life right where he stood.


    ¡°Well then, lord Zhang, I¡¯ll be taking my leave.¡± Lord Zheng spoke casually without once looking at Zhang Yang. As he walked away, Bai Yunfei followed him with uncle Wu¡¯s corpse in tow. From behind Bai Yunfei, the one known as uncle Qin walked after the two with a thoughtful look at him¡­.


    In one of the more remote alleyways the northwest quadrant of Talus City, several people could be seen emerging from the Coliseum. After walking for some time, lord Zheng turned around to look at the still silent Bai Yunfei with a smile, ¡°I am Zheng Kai of the house of Zheng in the capital. And you are¡­.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Brother Yunfei. What¡­.what do you plan to do now?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was silent for some time as he looked to Zheng Kai, ¡°I owe you for today. In the future, I¡¯ll definitely return the favor many times over¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s not what I meant¡­.I only just wanted to say a few words to help you, that¡¯s all.¡± Noticing that Bai Yunfei had mistaken his words, Zheng Kai waved his hands, ¡°What I meant was that you should try your best to appear in front of Zhang Yang again. Even though I was able to help you get out, I¡¯ll be leaving very soon. As soon as I leave, he¡¯ll definitely find an opportunity to seek trouble with you. In my opinion, you should leave this city.¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew silent once again as he bowed his head to look at uncle Wu¡¯s corpse.


    ¡°Thank you¡­.¡± He spoke after a long period of silence.


    Without paying attention to Zheng Kai anymore, Bai Yunfei left the alleyway with his head still bowed downwards.


    ¡°Today, you helped me. I, Bai Yunfei, will engrave this memory in my heart. When I become powerful, I¡¯ll definitely repay the favor a hundredfold over!¡±


    Zheng Kai couldn¡¯t help but shake his head with a sigh as he watched Bai Yunfei leave.


    Uncle Wu had once said that his family was located in one of the smaller streets to the south not too far away from where Bai Yunfei was currently at. Fortunately for him, none of the main streets were here, so not many would see the fact that he was covered from head to toe in blood or the fact that he was carrying a corpse. If he had been seen, someone would have most likely brought him to the residence of the lord mayor already.


    After scaring away three or four random passerbys on the streets, he finally arrived at the location of uncle Wu¡¯s house thanks to the trembling answer of the person Bai Yunfei asked. After handing uncle Wu¡¯s corpse to the family there, he turned about and left the place without paying mind to the scared but begrieved people behind him.


    Returning back to his own home, Bai Yunfei washed off all of the blood on him and swapped into his only other pair of clean clothing. Taking a look at the home he had lived in for eighteen years, Bai Yunfei left the place without hesitation¡­.


    Underneath the dim moonlight of the night, Bai Yunfei could be found kneeling in front of his mother and grandfather¡¯s graves in one of the remote areas outside of Talus City. Just barely, he could be seen saying something in a low voice.


    ¡°And then I was helped by that Zheng Kai and left that place¡­¡±


    ¡°Mother...I understand now. If I don¡¯t want to be humiliated. If I don¡¯t want to be looked at like an ant. If I want to live freely. I have to have power¡­.Power so great that no one would dare provoke me!¡±


    ¡°Mother. Grandfather said that I had to live life with a clear conscience¡­.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Wu died to save me. I¡­.I have to get revenge for him! I¡¯ll definitely make that Zhang Yang pay the price for what he did! For uncle Wu, for his granddaughter, and for myself!


    ¡°I¡¯ve obtained a strange power. If I just study it, I know that I¡¯ll be able to use it to become stronger¡­¡±


    Wiping away at his tears, Bai Yunfei stood up and prepared to leave when an elderly voice stopped him.


    ¡°Do you desire power?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± The sudden voice had forced Bai Yunfei to leap up in shock. Swiftly turning around with the brick in hand, he turned to meet the mysterious person behind him.


    ¡°Oh? Your soulforce has already started to awaken? It¡¯s still quite weak however¡­.¡± There was a tint of surprise to his voice. ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be afraid, my little friend. I won¡¯t hurt you.¡±


    Thanks to the illumination of the moon, Bai Yunfei was able to see a kind-looking old man dressed in gray walk up to him. He had a friendly smile on his face as he spoke out in an equally kind voice.


    ¡°Who are you, and what do you want?¡± Bai Yunfei immediately asked the most two most important questions. Even though he felt no ill intentions coming from this man, Bai Yunfei made sure he was still holding onto the brick, though he relaxed just slightly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard a good portion of what you said just now. I can see that your soulforce is starting to awaken, so I presume this is the special power you mentioned, correct?


    ¡°However, I can tell you it¡¯s impossible to get revenge with this little iota of power. Your soulforce is barely enough to qualify as a soul cultivator. That young kid from the Zhang is a middle-stage Soul Personage, but even he is far out of your reach.¡±


    ¡°What I want to tell you is that...I can help you grow stronger. I can help you get revenge. Are you willing to accept my help?¡±


    At first, the old man had thought that the young man in front of him would grow excited at those words and the prospects of growing stronger, but¡­.


    ¡°Why should I believe you?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± The old man was taken back for a moment before he spoke in resignation, ¡°What reason is there to lying to you? Very well then. I¡¯ll just make you believe me then¡­.¡±


    As soon as the old man finished speaking, Bai Yunfei immediately felt the entire area around them light up. A wave of heat immediately assaulted his face, and in the next second, a pyre of flames erupted in the area around the old man and him!!


    But instead of these flames being on the ground, they were floating in midair!


    Illuminated by the flames, the old man smiled just slightly as he pointed at a boulder the size of a water jar not too far away. There was a slight rumbling sound before the boulder suddenly levitated up from the ground and into the air. Following the slight flexing of his fingers, there was a crackling sound before the boulder then shattered into dozens of pieces and fell back to the ground¡­.


    The entire sight in front of him left Bai Yunfei in a dizzying amount of shock! By the time he regained his composure, he suddenly realized¡­.that he was floating in midair!!


    All of these things happening one after another had sent Bai Yunfei into a flux. His mouth gaped wide open as he looked to the still smiling old man on the ground.


    It was only after seeing the astonished expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face that the old man return a satisfied smile. With a wave of his hand, Bai Yunfei was slowly levitated back down to the ground and the flames around them started to shrink away. It didn¡¯t disappear completely, but rather, it turned into a fireball the size of a washbasin and floated off to the side as if the old man intended to use it for lighting.


    ¡°How was it, young man, do you believe me now? I¡¯ll say it again. I can help you grow strong. I can help you get revenge. Do you accept?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head lowered itself to the ground as he fell deep into thought. Eyeing the old man for a brief moment, he finally asked, ¡°Are there any conditions?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Once again, the old man was taken back. Slightly depressed, the man thought to himself, ¡°This young man is quite different from those before....If it were anyone else, they¡¯d leap in excitement to come across this chance. But he does the opposite¡­.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­.this old man saw that you¡¯ve a fine physique and talent. So I wanted to tea¡ª"


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Bai Yunfei interrupted.


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Imaginary black lines fell across the old man¡¯s face as he found himself at a loss for words.


    But then, another smile crept up onto his face again.


    ¡°You are a special one, young man. Very well, I¡¯ll be truthful to you. Aside from helping you gain revenge, I¡¯ve another reason for teaching you something.¡±


    ¡°I am of the Fate School. One day, my Fate School will come across a huge disaster. I wish to help you now in the hopes that in the future, you¡¯ll come help my school when you become an accomplished person.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the Fate School?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Right now, the old man felt as if he was constantly walking into walls one after another in the dark.


    ¡°The Fate School is a school of soul cultivators. It isn¡¯t one of the top ten schools on this continent, but it isn¡¯t weak by any means either. Let me tell you something interesting, the lord of the Zhangs, Zhang Zhenshan, and his son Zhang Yang are students of the Glacial School in the eastern parts of the Azure Cloud province. The Glacial School might be a small school, but it isn¡¯t something that you could possibly hope to fight against in your current situation. If you wish to take care of the Zhangs, you¡¯d need to pay extra precaution in hiding your identity.¡±


    As he thought about the old man¡¯s words, Bai Yunfei grew silent to take in everything. ¡°What are soul cultivators?¡±


    ¡°In this world, every living being in this world is made up of a body and a soul. Tempering the body is something anyone knows, but even they can only become ordinary martial artists in the end. There are some that can hone their souls and empower their soulforce. By using the soul to control the body, they can push their bodies to their limits. Some become able to use even the elements of the world and unleash a force unimaginable. These people who can train the soul are called soul cultivators.


    Based on the power of the soulforce, soul cultivators are split into nine different stages: Soul Apprentice, Soul Personage, Soul Warrior, Soul Sprite, Soul Ancestor, Soul Exalt, Soul King, Soul Emperor, and Soul Saint. Each stage is then split into three differing substages: early-stage, middle-stage, and late-stage.


    ¡°Improving one¡¯s soulforce is a difficult task. Even lord Zhang Zhenshan of the house of Zhang is only an early-stage Soul Sprite. The headmaster of the Glacial School is only a middle-stage Soul Ancestor as well.


    ¡°Your soulforce is only in the starting steps to awaken. As soon as you awaken your soulforce, you¡¯ll be able to sense the existence of it within your body. That is the beginning stages of a Soul Apprentice.


    ¡°I can teach you how to train your soul and use your soulforce. Now...are you willing to accept?¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 7: It Exploded?!

    This time, Bai Yunfei was far more direct with his answer. Holding out his hand, he spoke, ¡°Give it to me.¡±


    The curls of the old man¡¯s lips twitched ever-so-slightly and what seemed to be black lines fell down his face¡­..


    Taking out a black ring from his robes, the man handed it over to Bai Yunfei, ¡°This is a space ring. Inside it is a storage area where items can be stored. When your soulforce is fully awakened, you¡¯ll be able to transmit some of your soulforce inside and take out the training exercise for your soul. Train yourself with this technique, and you¡¯ll be able to grow stronger.¡±


    Grasping the object, Bai Yunfei inspected the ring for a while. He looked to the old man hesitantly, as if he wanted to say something.


    ¡°What is it? Is there a question you wanted to ask?¡± The man smiled.


    ¡°Do you have any money? Give me some¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±


    The old man handed over a bag of coins for Bai Yunfei to open. It was filled to the brim with golden coins, but he had only taken two coins from inside and bowed deeply to the man.


    ¡°Senior, I, Yunfei, will repay the kindness you¡¯ve shown me today many times over when I have the chance!¡±


    Watching Bai Yunfei walk farther and farther away, the old man¡¯s smile slowly faded away from his face. After a period of silence, the old man sighed.


    ¡°Alas¡­.this is already the fourth one¡­.Will he be the one to solve the problems of my Fate School? This young one is especially special, it¡¯s a shame I cannot interfere with his development too much¡­.¡±


    ¡°Little one, be sure to not disappoint me too much¡­.¡±


    Upon his return to the city, Bai Yunfei decided to ¡®splurge¡¯ for the very first time in his life and rent out a room in an inn.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done anything at all yet and I¡¯ve already have two debts to pay off¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself from on top of his bed as he stared up at the ring in his hand.


    Soon enough, a wave of exhaustion washed over him. It wasn¡¯t just his body that was tired, he was also exhausted mentally. As such, it didn¡¯t take long before sleep hit him.


    For Bai Yunfei¡ªsomeone who has lived all eighteen years of his life as a ¡®lowly¡¯ peasant¡ªthe experiences he had today and the future path he¡¯d be walking later was a topic far too serious. Let us then allow him to rest for the night¡­.


    The next day, Bai Yunfei hid himself from afar to watch uncle Wu¡¯s family go through the burying process with his corpse. Then, he rented out a simple but crude house on one of the more remote streets in the southern corner of the city for the time being.


    He had taken two gold coins from the old man. A single gold coin was worth a hundred silver coins, and a single silver coin was the worth a hundred copper coins. To something who usually earned twenty coppers a day, two gold coins was a great sum of money to him. It was enough for him to live life in peace for a while.


    In this small room, there was only three noticeable things. A cabinet, a bed next to the cabinet, and a window next to the bed. On the bed, Bai Yunfei held a brick in his hand.Equipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 16


    +10 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 1% chance of stunning the target for a maximum of three seconds.


    (If attacking the head, the chance of stunning increases to 5%.)


    Upgrade Requirement: 12 Soulpoints


    With a thought, several strings of information had popped up in his mind. Wondering about it for a moment, Bai Yunfei spoke softly, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    An instant later, Bai Yunfei had the faintest feeling that something had been drawn out from his body, causing him to feel light-headed.


    ¡°Yea, that feeling from back then was definitely because I spent too many ¡®soulpoints¡¯."Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    Two separate strings of notification popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, causing him to gasp, ¡°Destroyed? Don¡¯t tell me¡­.¡±


    It was then that Bai Yunfei felt his hand was far more lighter than before! Looking down, he immediately realized that the brick in his hand was reduced to mere powder on the ground!


    ¡°It¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was at a loss for words for a moment. ¡°Destroyed¡­.it was destroyed....Shouldn¡¯t failing the upgrade mean a decrease in level? Why was it destroyed then?¡±


    Staring once more at the pile of sand on the floor for some time, Bai Yunfei managed to calm himself after a while.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand this Upgrade Technique enough¡­.¡± After a moment¡¯s thought, Bai Yunfei strode out from the room.


    An hour later, Bai Yunfei was back on the bed with another brick in his hand. But unlike last time, he had several short daggers placed side by side on top of the cabinet. On the side, there were also a dozen bright-red bricks¡­.


    Already in front of him, a pile of red sand littered the floor.


    ¡°After +8, the item will be destroyed after failure. Only one brick made it to +9 out of three. Me being able to get a brick to +10 last time was only just luck then.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself as he stared at the pile of red sand. Taking a dagger into his hand, he thought, ¡°Well then, let¡¯s try this then.¡±


    Not too long later¡­.Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +8


    Attack: 21


    Additional Attack: 18


    Upgrade Requirement: 18 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei shook his slightly dazed head, ¡°Am I already at my limit? Let¡¯s do some experimenting then¡­.¡±


    Taking the dagger into his hand, Bai Yunfei made a small incision on his finger.


    ¡°Upgrade¡­.¡±


    And then Bai Yunfei fell on top of the pillow prepared for beforehand and drifted away to sleep.


    The next day, the warm sunlight was only just shining through the window and into the room when Bai Yunfei stretched out his arms lazily and sat up on the bed.


    ¡°I knew it. I knocked out after using all my ¡®soulpoints¡¯, but it comes back soon enough and can heal my body even of its wounds. That¡¯s why I woke up at the Coliseum without any of the injuries earlier that day.


    ¡°And¡­.I feel...I feel stronger now! It¡¯s not my body though. I just can¡¯t describe this feeling, but If I¡¯m not wrong, this must be because my ¡®soulpoints¡¯ was increased after regenerating.


    ¡°Soulpoints, soulpoints¡­.maybe¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei picked up the dagger that had fallen from the bed.Equipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +9


    Attack: 21


    Additional Attack: 23


    Upgrade Requirement: 12 Soulpoints


    Thinking about it for a while, Bai Yunfei took a brick and placed it down in front of him. Hoisting the dagger up high, Bai Yunfei brought it down onto the brick with a ¡°crack¡±.


    In one swift strike, the brick fell apart as if it had been a piece of tofu cut in half!


    ¡°A +9 item is incredibly strong!¡± Bai Yunfei sucked in a deep breath of air.


    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t have that dizzying effect, is it something only +10 items have?¡±


    He took a dagger and a brick and upgraded both of them to +8.


    His movements this time were very slow. Bai Yunfei would make a careful observation with each upgrade¡ªand he could now just faintly feel the existence of the so-called ¡®soulpoints¡¯.


    After one repetition of upgrades, Bai Yunfei could feel exhaustion start to hit him. The ¡®soulpoints¡¯ in him was already at a halfway mark it seems.


    ¡°Should I keep upgrading and use up all my soulpoints to see what happens?


    ¡°Nah, better take things slow first before I do anything harder. I don¡¯t know if passing out like that will do me any harm, but it¡¯s best to try this once a day. It should be a lot safer¡­.¡±


    Putting away the daggers and the bricks, Bai Yunfei took out the space ring the old man gave him yesterday night.


    ¡°So this is a space ring? Why does it feel familiar? I¡¯ve never heard of something like this before¡­.but this is something that can store things in it? I¡¯ll be able to use this when I awaken my soulforce and become a Soul Apprentice¡­But when will I make this ¡®awakening¡¯? What exactly is a soul cultivator¡­.¡±


    ¡°I wonder¡­.¡± Remembering about the Upgrade Technique, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes focused in on the space ring on his hand.Equipment Grade: High


    Upgrade Requirement: 5 Soulpoints


    ¡°High? It doesn¡¯t have any attack, but its initial upgrade costs 5 soulpoints.¡± Bai Yunfei was astonished.


    Thinking about it, Bai Yunfei decided to upgrade it just once to see the results...Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Additional Attribute: +1 Strength


    Upgrade Requirement: 6 Soulpoints


    ¡°+1 Strength? Does this mean it can increase the physical strength of the user? How much is +1 anyways?¡±


    Slipping the finger onto his right forefinger, Bai Yunfei clenched his hand tightly, but nothing out of the ordinary could be felt. Taking it off again, Bai Yunfei decided to upgrade it several times more until the feeling of dizziness came rushing back to his head.Equipment Grade: High


    Upgrade Level: +5


    Additional Attribute: +15 Strength


    Upgrade Requirement: 10 Soulpoints


    Wearing the ring again, Bai Yunfei could this time feel a clear difference from now to last time. There was a distinct rush of power that rushed into his body, and in that instant, he felt as if he could shatter boulders if he wanted to.


    But unfortunately, his mind felt extremely tired, as if he had been carrying rice sack after rice sack for the entire day. With no other choice, Bai Yunfei laid back down onto his bed and had a quick rest.


    For a good while, Bai Yunfei slumbered in a drowsy but dazed state. He had no idea how much time had passed before he finally awoke. He wasn¡¯t completely refreshed, but he was ready to go still.


    He looked at the ring on his finger and reconfirmed its effects. That increase in strength really was something that existed.


    Taking an ordinary brick into his hand, Bai Yunfei clenched both hands tightly so that the brick was snapped in half.


    Testing again with a +8 brick, Bai Yunfei tried his best to snap the brick, but there was no reaction.


    ¡°The difference in strength is really huge! And when these items are upgraded, its definitely a lot sturdier¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned his head to look at the sky from behind the window; only to realize that it was already nighttime¡ªan entire day had passed.


    And then, another type of feeling arose in his head. ¡°I¡¯m so hungry¡­.¡±


    That evening, Bai Yunfei visited uncle Wu¡¯s grave with a basket of offerings and a jug of wine.


    Placing down the items, Bai Yunfei kowtowed three times in respect to the gravestone.


    ¡°Uncle Wu, Yunfei is here to see you. Please forgive me for not seeing you off in person when you were buried¡­.


    ¡°Uncle Wu. You saved my life, so I¡¯ll definitely make sure your death won¡¯t be in vain. Your death and your granddaughter¡¯s death is on Zhang Yang¡¯s hands. I¡¯ll be sure to make Zhang Yang pay for everything he¡¯s done to us!¡±


    He thought to that short period of time when he and uncle Wu came to meet each other. He thought about just how uncle Wu had looked to him with such kindly eyes filled with concern. He thought to when uncle Wu pushed him out of the way and when his blood spilled over Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. And then, he thought to when uncle Wu was giving his very last words¡­.


    Completely unknown to him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were already wet with tears. Turning to the sky, Bai Yunfei tried his best to prevent them from streaming down his face. But in his heart, an insuppressible flash of anger and resentment scratched and clawed at him, as if threatening to tear him apart.


    Popping up the jug of wine, Bai Yunfei took a mighty swig from its opening. As soon as the inner contents touched his lips, a scorching sensation made its way through his throat and into his chest.


    Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei took another sip. By now, his face was red, and his eyes were slowly turning red as if his blood was reaching them too.


    But still, the anger and resentment he felt was still burning as bright as ever, like flames started with oil. By now, they were threatening to break their way out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    ¡°Uncle Wu, I¡¯ll definitely kill Zhang Yang. I¡¯ll kill him with my own two hands!¡±


    With one more look at the sky, Bai Yunfei drained the rest of the wine in one gulp.


    ¡°I, Bai Yunfei, swear by my heart that I¡¯ll never let anyone control my life again! Never will I endure such humiliation again! I¡¯ll trample over anyone that dare insults me! Anyone that offends me will have to be ready to pay the price!¡±


    In a single instant, it felt as if something within his body shattered into pieces. A force of power rushed throughout his entire body, and the hand that was holding the jug of wine immediately swelled up so that the muscles were now bulging outwards.


    The jug in his hand shattered into several dozen pieces of pottery, and the part where his palm had been in contact with the jug gave several crackling sounds. When his hand loosened, the remaining fragments clattered down onto the ground.Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 8: The Soul Apprentice Stage! Training and Research

    The morning rays of the sun caressed at Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, causing him to wake up with a gentle start.


    From the moment he sat up from his bed, Bai Yunfei felt as if his head was about to split open from the headache he had. Even words wouldn¡¯t be enough to describe the pain. Having never once tasted wine before, the fact that Bai Yunfei was able to return to his bed to sleep on was startling enough.


    It was only after a while that Bai Yunfei felt himself sobering up a bit. Massaging his temple, he murmured to himself, ¡°How did I get back home? I remember...drinking a jug of wine, but after that¡­.nothing¡­.is this what being drunk feels like? How painful, how do I make it go away?¡±


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was in the middle of thinking of a way to make the pain in his head go away, a peculiar burst of energy came exploding out from his body and enveloped his entire body in a comforting feel as if he was placed inside a bath of warm water. The feeling had been so pleasant that Bai Yunfei nearly found himself moaning out in comfort.


    When he regained his composure, the previous feeling of pain in his head was gone without a trace, leaving him even more vigorous than before.


    ¡°This¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head in disbelief. A mysterious feeling began to appear in his mind¡ªa mysterious something that felt as if it existed inside both his body and even in the depths of his soul¡­.


    ¡°Could this be¡­¡± Suddenly thinking of something, Bai Yunfei brought his right hand in front of his face and looked at the space ring on his finger. Trying his best, Bai Yunfei thought hard to ¡®control¡¯ this mysterious existence in him.


    Soon enough, he came to realize that this strange power was being controlled by his very thoughts; and with these thoughts, the energy flowed from through his arm and into the ring. A moment later, Bai Yunfei felt himself in front of an interdimensional plot of space!


    The space was about five meters in length and width, and there were three scrolls and a spear that ¡®floated¡¯ in this area. Since only these four items were held in this space, the area looked quite spacious.


    ¡°Yes...this is it! This strange power is soulforce!¡±


    He wanted to take the spear out from this space first, but a strange outside force was wrapped around the spear, preventing him from doing so. The same had happened when he tried taking one of the scrolls; he was unable to do so. But when he stretched his hand out to try another, his hand immediately felt heavier when a gray scroll suddenly appeared in it. But yet the third scroll remained untouched like the first one.


    Looking at this newly acquired scroll, Bai Yunfei could see that it was as long as his palm and as large as two of his fingers touched together in diameter. The scroll itself was made from some sort of unknown material that resembled cloth, but also like the skin of an unknown animal. It had no opening, making unfolding an impossible method of trying to open it. On the outside face of the scroll, a multitude of abstruse and complex symbols strung together like an unknown language was written on it.


    ¡°I can¡¯t open it. Then, should I use soulforce?¡±


    This time, Bai Yunfei was able to swiftly and smoothly control a sliver of soulforce from his body and into the scroll. A string of information was immediately rushed into his head, causing him to feel slightly confused from the sudden torrent of knowledge. One by one, information continued to flow into his mindspace, prompting him to close his eyes and recollect himself so that he could receive the information.


    ¡°The Arte of Training the Soul. The most basics of ways to train the soul. With this, cultivating and recovering the soul can be learned. The soul and body are inextricably linked to one another, as the soul controls the body and the body cultivates the soul. The soul is hidden within the body, and only a soul cultivator is capable of feeling and controlling the soulforce¡­.¡±


    ¡°There are three initial stages to being a soul cultivator; a Soul Apprentice, Soul Personage, and Soul Warrior. These three stages are known to be the stages where one learns to manipulate the body. In the Soul Apprentice stage, one learns to manipulate skin and flesh. In the Soul Personage stage, one learns to manipulate blood and bone. And in the Soul Warrior stage, one learns to manipulate the acupoints.¡±


    ¡°Soul Apprentice chapter¡­.¡±


    After a long period of time, Bai Yunfei finally reopened his eyes, ¡°Only in the Soul Apprentice stage does someone learn to manipulate their skin and flesh, but I can feel that there¡¯s still something more in this scroll. There has to be something about the Soul Personage and Soul Warrior stages and how they manipulate their bodies. Is it because I¡¯m only just an early-stage Soul Apprentice that I can¡¯t read ahead to the later methods?¡±


    Stepping down from the bed, Bai Yunfei walked up to the pile of bricks he stacked earlier. There were five or six of them left still. Thinking carefully, Bai Yunfei clenched his right hand into a fist and concentrated heavily on it. Gradually, the skin and flesh of his right arm began to squirm slightly and expand outwards. Bulging and growing, the muscles started to rise up before his entire arm looked quite bigger and more powerful than before.


    With a grunt, he slammed his fist down onto the bricks.


    ¡°Boom!¡± A loud but clear explosion resonated through the room with such clamor that the entire room shook a bit.


    ¡°Hey, you there! What are you doing in my room?! I¡¯ll warn you now, if you damage my rooms, I¡¯ll go after you with all I¡¯ve got! I¡ª¡± A furious roar rang out from outside the room before the door was slammed open to reveal a bearded man barging in.


    As soon as he slammed open the door and peeked into it with just half of his body in the room, the man could see that Bai Yunfei was standing right in front of a pile of broken brick fragments. His right arm was bulging ever-so-much, and even then, a layer of red brick dust was noticeably covering his fist¡­.


    ¡°Yo¡ªuh, contin¡ªcontinue whatever you¡¯re¡ªuh, doing. I¡¯ll be on my way now¡­.¡± Stammering, the man carefully retreated out from his room and closed the door.


    Even with the interruption of the man, Bai Yunfei was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn¡¯t even take notice of him.


    ¡°The very first step to manipulation of the skin and flesh is already really strong if it can improve my strength by that much¡­.¡±


    Looking at the pile of broken bricks in front of him, Bai Yunfei began to feel at the soulforce in him again. It was faint, but still, it was there. His heart skipped a beat, ¡°Soul cultivators¡­.I¡¯ve finally become one! The promised day of revenge, I¡¯ve gotten one step closer to it¡­.¡±


    Tidying up the room, Bai Yunfei had a simple meal to fill his stomach and returned to sit on his bed. Carefully looking at the space ring, he stored the remaining brick, daggers, and other items he had into it.


    Bai Yunfei had a deep fondness for this tiny little thing; it was really far too convenient.


    On top of his bed, Bai Yunfei held the space ring and thought to himself, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Upgrade Level: +6


    Additional Attribute: +19 Strength


    Upgrade Requirement: 12 Soulpoints


    ¡°This is it! Soulpoints are the same as soulforce!¡± When he upgraded the item again, Bai Yunfei could feel that same feeling of energy being drained out from his body again. He didn¡¯t know what it was before, but now, he could clearly feel that it was soulforce!


    Without stopping, Bai Yunfei began to upgrade the items several more times (with one failure).


    Equipment Grade: High


    Upgrade Level: +8


    Additional Attribute: +33 Strength


    Upgrade Requirement: 16 Soulpoints


    Since he didn¡¯t know whether or not a high-grade space ring could be destroyed after reaching +8 like a normal dagger, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to venture the risk; in the case that it were to be destroyed, he¡¯d have nowhere to cry to.


    Taking careful notice of his soulforce, Bai Yunfei could feel that it was quite weaker than before. Taking out a dagger, he upgraded it to +8. Now, it felt as if he had used half of his overall soulforce.


    Ceasing his upgrading, Bai Yunfei thought back to what was written in ¡®The Arte of Training the Soul¡¯, and began to concentrate to circulate his soulforce around the special passageways in his body and slowly make up for what had been used already.


    When he felt his soulforce was fully recovered, Bai Yunfei continued to do as he was so that he could increase the amount of soulforce he had.


    It was only when the moon was starting to rise that Bai Yunfei slowly reopened his eyes.


    ¡°Soulpoints are soulforce. It can be recovered and increased through the act of training¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook the space ring on his hand so that several daggers appeared in them. ¡°Then that means the amount of soulforce I have can be calculated by seeing how many soulpoints, what an intuitive conversion. Then, let¡¯s see¡­.¡±


    A moment later...


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°Damn it! Failed again! I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be so hard to get a +10 item!¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°I¡¯ve already reached my limit. If I count the last upgrade, I¡¯ve about 219 soulpoints left¡­.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    When Bai Yunfei woke up the next day, the very first thing he checked for was for the state of his soulforce.


    ¡°My soulforce, it really did increase!¡± Although he had his guesses, Bai Yunfei¡¯s guesses were now confirmed to be true. This feat alone was enough to make Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body to tremble.


    After using the Upgrade Technique, the usage of soulforce (also called soulpoints) allowed for the soulforce to grow in capacity. What¡­.what would this mean, exactly?


    This meant that in addition to training his soulforce like how the other soul cultivators did, Bai Yunfei could use the Upgrade Technique to grow stronger! If anything, this method could be said to be a shortcut! A shortcut only he could use!


    Managing to calm his excitement down with some difficulty, Bai Yunfei began to summarize the results of his study on the numerical value of soulpoints. ¡°With the last upgrade, all of my soulforce was used up, meaning I had 219 soulpoints. I can remember¡­.that when I first used the Upgrade Technique, I exhausted all of my soulforce. At that time, it was about¡­.60 soulpoints or so, 70 soulpoints at most. My body was pretty weak along with my soulforce, so a strong commoner person should have 100 soulpoints maybe.¡±


    ¡°The Upgrade Technique, The Arte of Training the Soul, and manipulating the skin and flesh as a Soul Apprentice¡­.there¡¯s a lot that I still don¡¯t know about¡­.¡±


    For ten straight days, aside from doing the most fundamental things to life such as eating, sleeping, or buying several items, Bai Yunfei would spend the rest of his time inside his room training and studying. With each experiment and careful study, he managed to earn an ample amount of information and experience.


    The very first discovery was about soulforce. Each night when he used up all of his soulforce, it¡¯d grow by ten points or so when he woke up the next day after. By now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was about 300 or so. Based on his number crunching, he was a middle-stage Soul Apprentice!


    In just ten days, Bai Yunfei had reached the middle-stage Soul Apprentice stage. If any other soul cultivator were to learn about this progression rate, they¡¯d feel so inferior that they¡¯d slam their heads against the wall!


    As his soulforce became more powerful, so did his manipulation of his skin and flesh. Since his soulforce was growing rapidly, Bai Yunfei paid very close attention to his studies on the manipulation of his skin and flesh. If he couldn¡¯t keep up with his understanding of bodily manipulation, it would not bode well for his future.


    Right now when he tried to strengthen his skin and flesh with his soulforce, his entire body grew stronger. Whether it was his punches, his speed, how high he could jump, or even how strong his defenses were, they were at least ten times better than what they used to be as a simple commoner. It was already at the very limits of what the ordinary commoner could do or even achieve with their bodies.


    And then there was the Upgrade Technique. After many trials and experimentations, Bai Yunfei was able to earn some meager level of understanding with it.


    Apparently, anything could be upgraded. But the type of item that was being upgraded would differ in results after being upgraded.


    Offense-type objects like blades, swords, spears, staffs, and stones, they all had the potential to inflict damage. The numerical value of how much damage they could inflict was dependent on the power of the object in question, but it could be upgraded in damage afterwards.


    Defense-type objects like clothes, shoes, and hats. They all had the potential to gain defense. But the most common of clothes, whether they were made from coarse cloth or from brocaded silk, the defenses of the two would give a pitiful one or two points in it. Upgrading those would give almost no change in defense.


    Then there were accessories such as rings and necklaces. Bai Yunfei bought a few of them to experiment on, and after they were upgraded, each accessory would gain a random attribute. There were four different attributes to his knowledge: strength, endurance, agility, and spirit. The first three were easy to understand, and the chances of any of the three from appearing was rather high. But the chances of ¡®spirit¡¯ was not as high. Only ¡®spirit¡¯ was capable of increasing soulforce!


    Bai Yunfei had upgraded many accessories, but only one of them had been capable of increasing spirit, but even that one was destroyed in the end.


    But according to what Bai Yunfei could tell, aside from the ¡®high-grade¡¯ space ring on his finger, everything else had been ¡®normal¡¯ items, even when upgraded to +8. The vast majority of them gained only a few attribute points¡ªpractically nothing¡ªand even after he tried upgrading them again, none of them reached the +10 point before exploding.


    On the tenth day, Bai Yunfei finally stopped his ¡®closed-door training¡¯ session and walked out on the streets.


    There was a reason for that¡ªhe had run out of money¡­.


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 9: Change

    Book 1 Chapter 9: Change


    During these days, he had bought many things to research the Upgrade Technique, especially those pieces of jewelry, which were not cheap even if they were of the lowest quality. Moreover, with regard to eating, Bai Yunfei was no longer too thrifty. He had been somewhat undernourished before, but he needed to practice now, so it was only natural for him to have a diet that matched this, satisfying all the needs of the body.


    As for what he was going to do after using up his money, Bai Yunfei had already made a plan.


    He walked out of this remote small street where he lived then passed through various alleyways and roads, heading for the most flourishing main street in the center of the city.


    ¡°Please¡­ Please let me go. I still need this money to feed my wife and children back home. Please be merciful and don¡¯t take away everything¡­¡±


    When he reached the opening of an alleyway, a fearful and imploring voice came out from that that somber alleyway on the left.


    ¡°Cut the crap! Is there still anything valuable hidden on your body?! Quickly take it out! Or else I¡¯ll break your leg!¡± A ruthless voice came out afterwards. It seemed to be accompanied by someone else¡¯s chuckling sounds.


    This was yet another act of bullying and robbery aimed at the weak.


    This kind of occurrence was not something new in the city at all, especially in poor and remote places like this. Previously Bai Yunfei had often encountered this kind of incident as well. Afterwards he would have no choice but to hand over the hard-earned money of a day. This kind of thing was always done by groups of three to five people, and they even had weapons, so it was simply impossible for you to resist, and no one would come to save you either.


    Bai Yunfei subconsciously wanted to leave, but when he just lifted half of his foot, suddenly he was stupefied right there. He then turned around with a somewhat sullen expression and walked towards that alleyway.


    ¡°I¡­ still haven¡¯t got rid of my old cowardice completely? Bai Yunfei, hey Bai Yunfei, you unexpectedly even wanted to run away. Previously you could convince yourself that you were powerless, but now, if you run away, how can you have a clear conscience? Forget bullshit like taking care of all the injustices in the world, at least if I come across something wrong, I won¡¯t just sit by and watch!¡±


    After walking into that somewhat dusky alleyway, Bai Yunfei saw the situation in front of him very quickly: three ferocious-looking big men, each with a dagger in his hand, were surrounding a lanky middle-aged man; one of them was also holding a moneybag and was frisking the middle-aged man¡­


    Bai Yunfei did not intend to conceal himself at all. The surrounded middle-aged man was unexpectedly the first to notice him. Hearing the footsteps, he had a happy expression, but when he saw an ordinary youngster, his expression dimmed. Those big men were also frightened when they heard someone approaching, but when they saw Bai Yunfei, they all let out a sigh of relief then gave each other a look and laughed out loud.


    ¡°Hah! I never expected that someone would come to us without being forced!¡±


    ¡°Brat! Consider yourself unlucky. Take out all the money on your body! And we¡¯ll let you leave!¡±


    A big man with a ferocious expression walked towards Bai Yunfei. Another one quickly moved to the area behind him to prevent him from running away.


    Perhaps because Bai Yunfei¡¯s totally calm expression stupefied the big man, he raised his fist and shook it in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s face: ¡°Brat, didn¡¯t you hear what I said? Take out all your money! Or else, don¡¯t blame me for being rude!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was very familiar with this kind of man, this kind of tone and this kind of words. He knew that if he hesitated again, this man in front of him would beat him up without scruple then take away all the money on his body.


    But, he was already not that weak youngster he used to be. Instead¡­ he was a powerful soul cultivator!


    Simply not in the mood to talk nonsense with these people, Bai Yunfei quickly lifted his right hand and grabbed the wrist that was shaking in front of him then exerted his strength a bit¡­


    ¡°Clack!¡±


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    A crisp sound of broken bones rang out in the quiet alley. Everybody was dumbfounded. That man gave a miserable cry, sounding like a pig being slaughtered. His hand loosened. Bai Yunfei immediately snatched the dagger out of his hand then raised a foot and kicked the man in the stomach. The big man was sent rolling a good several meters. Holding his wrist, he curled his body up and wailed nonstop.


    ¡°Third bro!¡±


    The people around could not react to this sudden event temporarily. Only after that big man had been sent flying with a kick did the man behind Bai Yunfei let out a cry of shock then brandish his dagger, stabbing at his back with it.


    The moment he made that sound, Bai Yunfei prepared himself. He slightly leaned his body to one side. That man¡¯s arm immediately brushed his shoulder and stretched out in front of him. He grabbed the man¡¯s wrist. The sound of broken bones was heard again and the falling dagger was also caught by Bai Yunfei.


    He thrust his elbow backwards with force then, without waiting for that man to stoop down because of the pain, he reversely grabbed his collar. His arm¡¯s muscles bulged out and that man¡¯s bulky body was unexpectedly thrown out like a burlap sack then fell down beside the previous man.


    In just about several blinks of an eye, two scoundrels had been knocked down to the ground, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s body had not moved at all.


    Holding a dagger in one hand and a moneybag in the other, the last big man stood beside the middle-aged man, looking at Bai Yunfei in stupefaction.


    Bai Yunfei walked up to him and reached out his hand, saying: ¡°Give it to me.¡±


    The man blankly handed the dagger in his hand to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°The money!¡±


    Only now did the big man wake up with a start, his eyes full of fear, just like the eyes of the middle-aged man they had been robbing previously. He hurriedly gave the moneybag in his hand to Bai Yunfei. After thinking for a bit, he took another moneybag out from his bosom in a somewhat shaky manner and handed it over as well.


    Bai Yunfei gave both moneybags to that middle-aged man, who was still in a trance, saying: ¡°You can leave now. Be careful when going home later.¡±


    Only now did the man regain his composure. He gave Bai Yunfei a somewhat fearful look then received the moneybags. After getting lost in thought again for a long time, he finally settled down and took a deep bow to Bai Yunfei: ¡°Thank you¡­ Thank you¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei watched the middle-aged man quickly walk out of the alleyway then turned around to look at the big man in front of him.


    Stared at by Bai Yunfei, that man was frightened inside. He put his hands behind his back and said indistinctly: ¡°I¡­ I already gave you the money. Don¡¯t hurt me¡­¡±


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t say that I would spare you if you gave me the money. Besides, both of your brothers are injured. If you escaped without damage, how would you face them later¡­?¡±


    When Bai Yunfei walked out of the alleyway, he still looked the same as before, as if he had not changed at all. But the look in his eyes was somewhat brighter and there was also a faint smile on the corners of his mouth.


    Just then, when that middle-aged man had bowed to him, saying ¡®Thank you¡¯, there had seemed to be a barrier getting smashed in his heart, causing him to feel very satisfied and enlightened¡­


    ¡°So this is how it feels to help someone¡­¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    ¡®Treasure Weapon Shop¡¯ was the best weapon shop in Luoshi City. All the weapons in the shop were first-class. Many rich people in the city liked to buy weapons here, whether elaborate and showy or durable and sharp.


    Bai Yunfei entered the shop and walked straight up to the counter. He said to the shopkeeper, who was sitting behind the counter polishing a short sword: ¡°Boss, I want to sell a weapon.¡±


    That shopkeeper lifted his head, cast a look at Bai Yunfei then lowered his head to continue the polishing and said casually: ¡°Go to another shop. I don¡¯t buy defective goods here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d better have a look first.¡± As Bai Yunfei said so, he put a dagger on the counter. This was a dagger that had been upgraded to +9. He felt that given its current level of sharpness, he should be able to sell it for some money. In fact he still had a +10 dagger with an additional effect, but he was not stupid enough to sell it.


    The shopkeeper raised his head again to look at that common, ordinary-looking dagger and said somewhat impatiently: ¡°Just a common dagger. There¡¯s nothing to see here. The smithy next door sells one for twenty copper coins. Brat, you want to come here to make trouble, right?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was in no mood to argue with him so he picked up the dagger, pointed the tip down and lifted it until it was over thirty centimeters above the counter then loosened his hand.


    ¡°Pu¡±, a soft sound was heard. The dagger had penetrated into the counter, which was made of top-grade ironwood, as if it had gone into soft soil, all the way to the hilt!!


    ¡°Oh?¡°This¡­¡± The moment the dagger penetrated into the counter, the impatient expression on the shopkeeper¡¯s face turned into one of astonishment and disbelief. He mumbled: ¡°This level of sharpness, how is it possible?!¡±


    After Bai Yunfei pulled the dagger out, he received it and observed it for a long time. Then he took out a test stone covered in hack marks and stab marks and took a forceful swing of the dagger at a mark-free area. The test stone was cut off with a sound.


    ¡°How is this possible? How is this possible? Judging from the workmanship that went into this dagger, it obviously couldn¡¯t be more ordinary. Plus, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything special about its material either¡­¡±


    Seeing that the shopkeeper was researching it over and over again, Bai Yunfei tapped the counter somewhat impatiently, saying: ¡°So will you buy it or not? If you don¡¯t want it, I¡¯ll just go to another shop.¡±


    The shopkeeper was stupefied. Only now did he remember that this man in front of him had come here to sell this dagger. He carefully sized up Bai Yunfei again, his eyes flashing with a hint of shrewdness. He said laughingly to Bai Yunfei: ¡°Ha ha, how much do you want for it, little brother?¡±


    Bai Yunfei frowned. He really did not know how much he should sell it for, so he said casually: ¡°Just tell me your price. If it¡¯s good enough, I¡¯ll sell you this one.¡±


    The smiling expression on the shopkeeper¡¯s face deepened: ¡°Little brother, I think you must be in urgent need of money to meet an emergency, so I won¡¯t keep you at arm¡¯s length either. I¡¯ll help you this time by buying this dagger, but¡­¡± He talked as if he wanted to buy the dagger only to help Bai Yunfei. Then he changed the topic of conversation: ¡°You also know, little brother, my Treasure Weapon Shop only buys quality goods. Those who buy weapons in my shop are all important people too. Even though this dagger of yours is pretty sharp, there¡¯s nothing special about its workmanship and design. If I buy it, I probably won¡¯t be able to sell it for a good price. You see, that dagger of mine over there, its workmanship¡­¡±


    ¡°Enough! You think I¡¯m a three year-old kid?!¡± Seeing the shopkeeper become more and more enthusiastic as he talked, Bai Yunfei was annoyed. He stared at him and shouted to stop his torrent of nonsense.


    The shopkeeper was doing his utmost to belittle the dagger in his hand in an attempt to lower the price as much as possible. Shouted at by Bai Yunfei, he was somewhat tongue-tied immediately. But when he raised his head and made eye contact with Bai Yunfei, his whole body trembled. He thudded back several steps and only when he bumped into the storage rack behind him was he able to stop.


    ¡°You¡­ Ah, no¡­ Sir, are you a Lord Soul Cultivator?!¡± The shopkeeper asked with a slight stammer.


    ¡°Oh?How do you know?¡± Bai Yunfei was stupefied. Could it be it was so easy to recognize a soul cultivator?


    ¡°Lord¡­ Lord Soul Cultivator, please forgive me¡­ forgive me for being as blind as a bat. Please do not bother yourself about a lowly person like me¡­¡± Hearing Bai Yunfei¡¯s admission, the shopkeeper hurriedly bowed to him with hands folded in front of him again and again while apologizing nonstop.


    He was not someone of great ability. He was merely an ordinary person. But because of this, he held soul cultivators in such awe. He ran a this weapon shop in the city so he could usually have contact with quite a few young people from rich families, and there was no lack of soul cultivators among those people either. Even though they were all low-level soul cultivators of the Soul Apprentice or Soul Personage stage, in the eyes of commoners, they were already beings of unmatched power.


    Soul cultivators trained their souls. To commoners, a powerful soul exerted an irresistible pressure on them, just like how when Bai Yunfei was stared at angrily by Zhang Yang at that time or when Zhang Zhenshan cast a look at him, he felt that he was under a suffocating pressure.


    Just then, when the shopkeeper had made eye contact with Bai Yunfei, under the slightly angry look in his eyes, he had felt a pressure that was similarly exerted by those soul cultivators.


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense. Just tell me the price of this dagger directly.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, yes¡­ I won¡¯t dare lie to you, Lord Soul Cultivator. This dagger is worth at least three gold coins¡­¡±


    ¡°I have four daggers in total here. Ten gold coins and you can take them!¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    When Bai Yunfei walked out of the shop, he was rather delighted. He had never thought that +9 daggers could be sold for so much money. It looked like later he would not have to worry about his expenses.


    Now that he had money again, Bai Yunfei decided to buy some slightly better things to continues his research into the Upgrade Technique.


    ¡°Junior sister Liu Meng, I heard that the Jewelry Pavilion up ahead has just brought in a new batch of gems and jewelry. Why don¡¯t we go to have a look? Maybe they have something you like¡­¡±


    An ingratiate voice came from a crowd not far from him. Bai Yunfei immediately stood still beside a fruit stand as if his body had been put under a halting spell. His entire body then quivered unceasingly and his eyes seemed to be filled with blood.


    ¡°Zhang Yang!¡±

 Chapter 10: Target: Blackwood Stronghold!

    Book 1 Chapter 10: Target, Blackwood Stronghold!


    ¡°Zhang Yang!!¡±


    As Bai Yunfei quivered, he forced out these two words through his teeth. He slowly turned around to take a look and saw that at a place about a dozen meters away from him, a youngster dressed in luxurious clothes with a paper fan in his hand was smilingly saying something to a young girl beside him ¡ª it was none other than Zhang Yang!


    Only by clenching his fists tightly and gnashing his teeth almost to the point of bleeding could Bai Yunfei refrain himself from recklessly rushing up to fight him to the death, because he knew that he probably could not even beat the bodyguards around Zhang Yang at the moment.


    ¡°Not a bad idea. I¡¯ll pick a nice item or two to give auntie when we return. And I¡¯m going home in a couple of days, so I¡¯m bringing back some presents for my mother as well.¡±


    A crystalline voice came into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears. He shifted his eyes to have a look and saw a blue-clad young girl with long silky hair and a slim figure who was looking at the business shops on the sides of the street in an unconcerned manner with her back facing him.


    ¡°It¡¯s her¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei watched the two silhouettes gradually walk away in stupefaction. It seemed an indescribable kind of feeling had swept across his mind. He patted his head with force to calm down a bit then turned around and walked in the other direction.


    Using an amount of money, he repaired his mother¡¯s and grandfather¡¯s graves nicely then made two tombstones and placed them on the front of the graves. Afterwards, he went through the whole city buying many things, including food, clothing, utensils, weapons, jewelry and so on. Because he had an interspatial ring, it was very convenient to do this.


    Teaching those three bullies a lesson in that alleyway this morning had put a new thought in his mind. Now he knew that training hard behind closed doors all the time was not the best regime. He still lacked a very important thing, which was actual combat experience.


    Therefore, starting from this day, except for training at home, Bai Yunfei would go out for an hour or two before he went to bed every night to specifically find those bullies and scoundrels in the city and fight them.


    But he noticed a problem very quickly ¡ª these opponents were too easy and simply not on his level. After all, they were just some lowly gangsters who normally bullied the weak common people. Bai Yunfei felt that fighting them was not helpful to him at all. The only benefit of this was that he could give these people some well-deserved punishments, allowing those commoners who were normally bullied by them to clap their hands in satisfaction.


    But the larger criminal groups in the city were basically all under the control of the Zhang family. Bai Yunfei was afraid of revealing himself so he had never targeted them ¡ª before he had enough power, he had to be careful in everything he did.


    After nine such days, Bai Yunfei decided to choose a new target to combat ¡ª the bandits on Mt. Blackwood.


    Mt. Blackwood was about a ten-day journey away from Luoshi City. It abounded with blackwood trees, hence its name. Because three of its sides were precipices and cliffs and the only path leading up the mountain on the other side was wide at the top and narrow at the base, it was naturally easy to defend but hard to attack. At an indefinite time in the past, a gang of ruffians began to gather on the mountain. They occupied the mountain, became bandits and established the Blackwood Stronghold. They focused on robbing trade caravans and the businesses of the villages around the mountain. The mayor of Luoshi City had sent troops to suppress the bandits several times, but they had all returned in defeat and low spirits.


    Previously, Bai Yunfei had often heard about the atrocious acts of the bandits on Mt. Blackwood. He had even heard that some villages had been destroyed completely by them. At that time, he had only been able to sigh silently, curse and wish ill fate on these bandits. But now, perhaps because he had changed mentally after gaining power, he felt that he should do something to fulfill the ¡®wish¡¯ that he had occasionally thought about before.


    Of course, he did not think that he could exterminate all the bandits in the Blackwood Stronghold singlehandedly at all. He just wanted to go and deal with those small groups of bandits that came down from the mountain to develop himself in real combat. Given Bai Yunfei¡¯s current power, dealing with ordinary bandits would not be difficult. Moreover, those bandits usually did all kinds of evil, so capturing them and handing them over to the local authorities could be regarded as ridding the people of a scourge. And even if he killed them, this would not prick his conscience.


    After preparing all the necessities, Bai Yunfei went out of Luoshi City, heading for Mt. Blackwood.


    This was the first time he had gone on a long journey out of town so everything in the outside world was relatively strange to him. Therefore, he did not deliberately hurry on with his journey either. Instead, he trained and tried to get used to the skills needed to survive alone in the wild.


    Because he was unfamiliar with the roads, he had to ask for directions along the way. Afterwards, he discovered a problem ¡ª his sense of direction seemed to be slightly poor.


    Even though the general direction was correct, he had taken many detours. Someone had obviously told him that it would take him half a day to reach a certain place, but he had walked confusedly and needed almost a day to reach that place.


    This was especially the case when he once took a super short route across a forest. He walked about in the forest for a whole day and night, and even encountered quite a few wild beasts. But he regarded them all as targets to improve his skills. Although he still had not started fighting humans, he had already gained quite a lot of experience thanks to the wild beasts.


    On the sixth day after leaving Luoshi City, Bai Yunfei climbed over a hill in the evening. Seeing a hamlet not far from the foot of the hill, he decided to go there to stay a night and conveniently ask for directions¡­


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    Bai Yunfei was currently on the south side of the hamlet. But at this moment, on a trail in the west side of the hamlet, an urgent clatter of horse hooves broke the tranquility around. A group of over thirty people on galloping horses came running.


    These people all looked ferocious. One could tell at first sight that they were not good people. Moreover, they all carried weapons on their bodies. In the forefront was a middle-aged man with a yellow face and a bulbous nose. He was not as burly and fierce-looking as those men behind him, but when his eyes occasionally swept around, they were full of astuteness. He observed the color of the sky then said to the people behind him: ¡°The horses have been running quickly for a day. It¡¯s time they rested. Everybody, let¡¯s make a camp in that grove up ahead. We¡¯ll rest for a night then continue the journey!¡±


    They arrived in the grove then began to put up tents and made a fire to prepare their meal. That middle-aged leader was sitting on a rock, drinking in small amounts from a jug of wine in his hand.


    ¡°This time Headmaster was pretty satisfied with the tributes brought back into the school so he has bestowed upon us a soul item. Chief¡¯s already got the Goldsilk Soul Armor. With this Glacial Pricker, he¡¯ll definitely become much more powerful. This time I¡¯ve accomplished the mission pretty well. When I come back, Chief will surely reward me big-time!¡± At this point, he could not help stroking a bar-shaped wooden case in his bosom, ¡°Soul items¡­ When can I have one?¡±


    Right at this moment, a big man with a full beard and eyes like those of a dead fish walked up to the middle-aged man and said in a somewhat ingratiate manner: ¡°Hallmaster Zhong, there¡¯s a hamlet not far up ahead. I want to go there with several brothers to snatch some tasty things then return. For the last few days, those brothers have had to eat the dried foods they carry with them so they are all dying for some meat already¡­¡±


    The middle-aged man with the last name Zhong cast a look at him and scolded laughingly: ¡°I see it¡¯s not that you want to snatch food for our brothers, but that you want women again, right?¡± As soon as he said these words, the people around all laughed out loud.


    That big man with dead fish eyes gave a dry cough, somewhat speechless. At this moment, that Hallmaster Zhong continued: ¡°Then take ten brothers and go there. Snatch anything valuable you can see. Anyway, this is a remote and backward place so government troops won¡¯t come here either.¡±


    A happy expression appeared on that big man¡¯s face. He shouted: ¡°Thank you, Hallmaster!¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    In the quiet hamlet, smoke was curling upwards from kitchen chimneys. Several children were running happily. A big golden dog was lying lazily on its stomach at the opening of the hamlet, bathed in the light of the setting sun.


    Suddenly, the big golden dog¡¯s ears trembled. Its eyes showed alertness. It stood up with a roll then slightly bent its body. Staring ahead, it gave low growls from its mouth.


    The ground seemed to be shaking a bit. Then urgent sounds of horse hooves were heard. A group of mounted men had appeared on the road outside the village and was galloping towards the village.


    A youngster about twenty years old was carrying two buckets of water on his shoulder with a pole walking towards a house. Hearing the sounds of movements behind him, he looked back doubtfully.


    As soon as he took a look, his rather handsome face turned deathly pale then showed a deep fear, his legs starting to quiver. It seemed that only after being stunned for a good few seconds did he finally react. He threw away the pole on his shoulder and rushed to the center of the village, yelling hysterically: ¡°Bandits! Bandits are coming! Bandits are coming!¡±


    As soon as he shouted, the whole village was put on alert. About a hundred people from more than ten families successively went out of their houses. With doubtful expressions on their faces, they looked at that youngster who was crouching in the center of the village with his head buried in his hands.


    A young pretty girl with an oval face, big eyes and shoulder-length hair walked up to the trembling youngster and pulled his arm in a deeply concerned manner, saying: ¡°Brother Xiao Feng, what¡¯s happened to you? What are coming here?¡±


    ¡°They, they¡¯re coming again¡­ Destroyed¡­ The village was gone¡­ Everyone died, everyone died¡­ Father, mother¡­ Sister¡­ They¡¯re coming again¡­¡±


    The youngster mumbled to himself, seemingly frightened out of his wits. But when he heard the young girl¡¯s earnest words, he suddenly woke up with a start. He raised his head abruptly, his face filled with terror and anxiety. Holding the young girl¡¯s hand, he said hurriedly: ¡°They are coming! Quickly go into hiding! Ling¡¯er, quickly go into hiding! All the young women go and hide in the houses! You must not come out! Everybody, take out all the valuables in your family and give them to them! Give them to them¡­ Or you will die¡­ Will die¡­¡±


    At first, he talked to the young girl, but later he shouted loudly to the villagers around.


    Everybody was somewhat at a loss, but they were all affected by his manner and words. With an anxious expression, they looked at an old man about fifty years old on one side simultaneously ¡ª that was the village chief.


    The expression on the old man¡¯s face right now was somewhat solemn. He looked at the youngster called Xiao Feng then turned his head to look at a group of mounted man who was already close to the village.


    ¡°Xiao Feng came from the Li village beside Mt. Blackwood. Because the people in his village resisted the bandits in that Blackwood Stronghold, they were almost exterminated. That¡¯s why now he¡¯s like this¡­¡± The village chief seemed to be talking to himself but also seemed to be talking to the people around. Then he lifted his head and told them: ¡°Listen to Xiao Feng, everybody! All the women go into hiding! In a while, don¡¯t resist if they want your possessions!


    When the ten something steeds entered the village, the dozens of villagers who were still staying in the center of the village all trembled violently several times. These ferocious people were all carrying chilling large sabers in their hands, looking frightening.


    ¡°Oh? The people in your village are a bit special. Looks like you¡¯re even welcoming us? Fine! If you are obedient, your uncle here won¡¯t hurt you today! Quickly bring out all the wine and meat. And bring out all your possessions to show your respect for us too! As long as I¡¯m satisfied, I¡¯ll leave after taking your stuff!¡± The big man with dead fish eyes said with a laugh, as if he was doing the villagers a great favor.


    The village chief looked at the weapons in these men¡¯s hands, not daring to talk back. He bowed to the big man, saying: ¡°Thank you very much for being merciful, Sir. We will go and bring out the things you want. Please wait for a moment¡­¡±


    After that, he gave the people behind him a signal with his eyes. Even though they did not want to do this, they did not dare to resist. More than ten people turned around and went to their own houses. How could the people who live in mountain hamlets like them dare to resist these ferocious bandits? They were already very glad that today the bandits would only take their possessions and not hurt them.


    ¡°Wait!¡± But the big man with dead fish eyes suddenly shouted, causing everybody to jump out of their skin, ¡°Tell the young and pretty women in the village to come out and go with your uncle here! I¡¯ve still got a few dozens brothers waiting in a grove on the mountain. Since you¡¯re all obedient, if they serve them properly, we¡¯ll let them return unharmed!¡±

 Chapter 11: First encounter with bandits

    Book 1 Chapter 11: First encounter with bandits


    ¡°What?¡± Hearing the big man¡¯s words, the village chief had a dumbfounded expression. The villagers behind him also had furious expressions.


    ¡°Oh? So, you¡¯re unwilling? Humph! I thought you¡¯d be enlightened enough to listen to me obediently, but turns out I¡¯ll still have to do the snatching myself.¡±


    The impatient voice of the big man with dead fish eyes rang out. The village chief finally turned around and said in a trembling voice: ¡°Sir¡­ We, we will listen to you by giving you all our food and money. Please spare us¡­¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap! Am I negotiating with you? Since you¡¯re unwilling to tell them to come out, I¡¯ll go and find them myself!¡± With a mean and savage expression, the big man swung the horsewhip in his hand at the village chief. A snap was heard as the old village chief was sent flying upside down. Several villagers hurriedly caught him and saw a blood-red whip mark on his chest, his skin torn and his flesh gaping open.


    The leading big man got off his horse. Raising his large saber, he walked towards the house of a family on one side. The people behind him also spread out, wanting to enter the houses to search. Four or five bandits did not move. They were staring fiercely at the villagers, the weapons in their hands giving cold sparkles under the light of the setting sun.


    Seeing the bandits going into their houses, some villagers rushed up to resist, but they were knocked down with ease. Two of them were even hit by weapons and immediately fell down in pools of blood.


    That big man was walking towards a house. All of a sudden, a youngster rushed out from among the villagers. His steps were somewhat unsteady. Apparently, because he was too terrified, he fell to the ground when he came close to the big man. Without struggling up, he gripped one of the big man¡¯s legs and implored in a trembling voice: ¡°Please¡­ Leave them alone¡­ Don¡¯t go in, I beg of you¡­¡±


    This youngster was none other than Xiao Feng. He had been staying at the back of the crowd all along. But now, even though he was extremely frightened inside, he still rushed out ¡ª because, Ling¡¯er was hiding in this house.


    Seeing him like this, the big man was stupefied for a short while. Then he gave an eerie laugh: ¡°What? There¡¯s something important to you in this house? Ha ha, then open your eyes and watch me go off with it!¡± Afterwards, he lifted a foot and sent Xiao Feng flying immediately with a kick.


    Xiao Feng spouted out a mouthful of blood when he was still in midair. His ribs seemed to have been broken by the kick. After falling to the ground, he struggled to get up, but a bandit stamped on his back, preventing him from getting up.


    Not long after the big man entered the house, terrified screams of a young girl came out from inside. That big man then laughed out loud in pleasant surprise and complacency: ¡°Ha ha! I didn¡¯t expect this shabby village to have such a juicy girl! The brat outside wants to protect you, right? What¡¯s good about that kind of weakling? Come and let me love you properly¡­¡±


    Xiao Feng kept wanting to struggle up, but he could not break loose from that foot which was stamping on his back. He hopelessly reached out his hands towards the house in front of him, his eyes almost blood-red: ¡°Ling¡¯er¡­ Don¡¯t be afraid, Ling¡¯er. I¡¯ll come and save you right away¡­ Right away¡­¡±


    When his beloved was about to be violated, his deep fear turned into an extreme hatred. He hated Heaven for being unfair, hated the bandits for being inhuman, and hated himself for being a weakling¡­


    A force was being bred in his mind and was awakening in the depths of his soul. The young man spouted out another mouthful of blood. His hands pushed against the ground, their blue veins popping up. His body was lifted up bit by bit, but his consciousness gradually started to become hazy.


    The bandit who was stamping on the youngster¡¯s back with a foot suddenly felt that the resistance under his foot seemed to get stronger and stronger, even feeling somewhat insuppressible. His eyes flashed with fierceness. He raised the large saber in his hand, ready to bring it down in a chop.


    Right at this moment, he heard several people exclaim from behind. Before he could turn around, he felt a great force hit the back of his head. Then the body of this bandit was sent flying a good several meters and fell to the ground. Not uttering even a groan, he lost consciousness.


    Without stopping at all, a silhouette then rushed into the house from which the cries for help of the young girl were coming out.


    This was none other than Bai Yunfei!!


    When he reached the entrance of the village, he saw a scene of chaos in the village. Some people had fallen down in pools of blood and some were treating them on one side. Several scoundrels with weapons were blocking the way in front of the villagers. Furthermore, in front of a small house, a youngster was being stamped on by a man, who then raised the weapon in his hand, ready to hack down right away.


    ¡°Bandits!¡± In just about the blink of an eye, Bai Yunfei guessed the identity of these people correctly. Without thinking much, he channeled his soulforce into his legs and rushed up quickly. After sending that man flying with a kick, he rushed into that room in front of him.


    As soon as he entered the room, he saw a big man pushing a young girl down on the floor, his left hand clutching her neck and his right hand tearing at the clothes on her body. There was a glaring palm print on that young girl¡¯s face. Tears kept streaming down from her eyes as she struggled and begged nonstop. A piece of cloth on her right shoulder had been ripped out, revealing her snow-white skin.


    That big man was obviously a vigilant one. He noticed as soon as Bai Yunfei went into the room. He turned around suddenly and, at the same time, made a grab at the large saber off to the side with his right hand.


    He was fast, but Bai Yunfei was even faster! At almost the same time as the big man turned around, he arrived at his side with a dash. Afterwards, the big man gave a miserable cry. It turned out the hand with which he tried to grab the large saber had been trampled on by Bai Yunfei¡¯s foot. Cracking sounds were heard. Obviously the bones of the hand had been crushed.


    With a solemn look in his eyes, Bai Yunfei did not care about the big man¡¯s miserable cry. He raised a foot and sounds of broken bones came out again from the big man¡¯s chest. His huge body was unexpectedly sent flying directly. Only after flying three or four meters away from the room did it fall down to the ground.


    After the big man had flown out, the outside was caught up in a strange silence. Everybody, whether bandits or villagers, watched in a somewhat stupefied manner as that big man was lying on the ground spouting blood unceasingly.


    Only when Bai Yunfei walked out of the room did those bandits react by running up to the big man in succession while crying. Even the several bandits who had rushed into other houses ran out when hearing this.


    The dialog situation in which the bandits would shout a question: ¡°Where are you from, brother¡­?¡± and Bai Yunfei would say indifferently: ¡°You¡¯re unlucky to run into me. On behalf of the moon, I will destroy you¡­¡± did not occur.


    After walking out of the room, Bai Yunfei swept a glance at the eleven bandits who were still standing. Without giving them any time to reorganize, he charged straight at the bandit nearest him.


    That man was frightened. He promptly raised the large saber in his hand and swung it at Bai Yunfei. Bai Yunfei leaned to one side a bit, avoiding the blade. He then reached out his left hand, grabbed the man¡¯s wrist and gave a squeeze. That man let out a miserable cry. The large saber slipped out of his hand. Bai Yunfei caught it and threw it backwards then hit him in the face with a punch. That man immediately fell straight on his back and passed out.


    Only when Bai Yunfei had knocked out another bandit did the remaining bandits react. Brandishing their weapons, they came at him and surrounded him.


    Bai Yunfei grabbed up the man who had just been knocked down at his feet, whirled him around in a circle before throwing him out immediately, smashing him into three other men. He then rushed out of the encirclement and walked around quickly among the bandits, snatching their weapons and hitting them with his fists.


    In just a while, the weapons had been piled up and the ten bandits had fallen to the ground in disorder. Most of them had been knocked out. The few who were still conscious were wailing on the ground, clutching either their wrists or their stomachs.


    Bai Yunfei had used just a few minutes. He looked at the bandits who were lying all over the ground. There was even a somewhat unsatisfied expression on his face ¡ª This was a soul cultivator. Even though he was still at the initial stage of Soul Apprentice, he was not someone who ordinary people could match.


    Right at this moment, Bai Yunfei suddenly heard the sounds of horse hooves from behind. He turned around to take a look. It turned out there was still a bandit who had escaped unpunished. At some point, he had quietly mounted a horse and was now fleeing like crazy towards the road they had taken to come here.


    Bai Yunfei naturally could not let him get away. With a step, he began to give chase. Because he did not know how to ride a horse, he had no choice but to run like mad in pursuit.


    That man thought that he had escaped a disaster and was feeling glad that he had run away fast enough. Just come around that bend up ahead and he would see the mountain top where his hallmaster and the others were resting. Later, if he and those brothers went up together, they would definitely be able to kill that man!


    Just when he let out a sigh of relief, he suddenly felt that there was something unusual at his side. He gave a sidelong glance and was so frightened that he almost fell down from the horseback.


    Running with all his might, Bai Yunfei finally caught up with that man. Under the terrified look in his eyes, he grabbed one of his legs, which were squeezing the horse¡¯s belly, and pulled with force, dragging him to the ground directly. That man fell down from a horse that was running at high speed, and fell face first to the ground miserably, so when he stopped rolling, he was already breathing out more air than he was taking in.


    When Bai Yunfei, carrying the runaway man with him, reached the entrance of the village, he suddenly heard a miserable cry in the village. His heart skipped a beat: ¡°Could it be those bandits have woken up? Impossible, I hit them very hard¡­¡±


    He quickly walked into the village. But when he saw the situation in the village, he stood still as if he was struck by lightning and looked at a blood-red area in front of him in stupefaction.


    The villagers were all right, but they were similarly gazing towards the center of the village with a terrified expression.


    That relatively wide vacant area in the center of the village had now been covered in blood completely. This was the blood of that gang of bandits!


    A youngster whose entire body was soaked in blood was raising a one-meter long large saber, hacking unceasingly at a body in front of him. The body was vaguely recognizable and it was none other than the leading big man with dead fish eyes.


    Those ten bandits around him were now all dead, with their chests and necks covered in deep wounds caused by the hacking of a large saber. Blood was still coming out nonstop from some of the wounds.


    Amidst the infernal pile of dead men, that youngster called Xiao Feng, his eyes deep red and seemingly without focus, was mechanically chopping at the corpse in front of him again and again with the saber while growling like a beast with his mouth.


    ¡°Die¡­ Die! All bandits must die! To pay for my parents¡¯ death! To pay for my sister¡¯s death! Kill you! Kill you! I¡¯ll protect Ling¡¯er! You¡¯re not allowed to harm my Ling¡¯er¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at the young man in stupefaction. On seeing the despair and hatred in his eyes and hearing his words, somehow he felt an indescribable sorrow and a feeling of being in the same boat surge inside him.


    Once in that Coliseum, where the nobility and the rich sought pleasure and where human lives were worthless, there was similarly a youngster with blood tears streaming down from his deep red eyes who brandished the brick in his hand and smashed it down on the body of Direwolf again and again¡­


    ¡°Brother Xiao Feng!¡±


    A lovely shout woke Bai Yunfei up with a start. A young girl in damaged clothes rushed out from that small house. Even though he was covered in blood completely and had a crazy expression, she embraced his waist and said anxiously and tearfully: ¡°Brother Xiao Feng! What¡¯s happened to you? Don¡¯t scare me¡­ brother Xiao Feng¡­¡±


    The moment the young girl had begun to talk, that young man had stopped his movements and turned his head somewhat absently to take a look. Now, when he was hugged by her and heard her concerned and anxious words, his body gradually stopped trembling. The saber in his hand fell to the ground. His eyes also slowly became pure and clear again.


    ¡°Ling¡­ Ling¡¯er! You¡¯re all right¡­ You¡¯re all right! Very good, very good¡­¡±


    The two of them embraced each other sobbingly on that blood-covered area, surrounded by a dozen of bandit corpses. This scene was somewhat strange to look at, but their innermost sincerity warmed Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart a bit. Somehow, he was secretly rather happy for that youngster called Xiao Feng.


    He did not seem to want to see that youngster¡¯s mournful, hopeless expression at all.


    Perhaps, it was because of that faintly familiar feeling¡­

 Chapter 12: Li Chengfeng

    Book 1 Chapter 12: Li Chengfeng


    In a simple and crude house in the village, Bai Yunfei was sitting with legs crossed on a bed, recovering the soulforce he had used in the battle just then and at the same time pondering on what had just happened.


    The task of handling those bandits¡¯ corpses had already been given to the villagers. Several people in the village including the village chief were severely injured but fortunately nobody had died.


    When that youngster called Xiao Feng came to his senses, seeing corpses all over the ground, after knowing that all of them had been killed by himself, he vomited nonstop for over ten minutes. In fact, when Bai Yunfei saw those bodies which had been badly mutilated by his hacking, he was terrified inside too.


    But the youngster did not regret killing those bandits at all. After vomiting, he still had an indifferent expression when looking at those corpses. Bai Yunfei could tell that his hatred for these bandits had reached an unimaginable level.


    The youngster¡¯s name was Li Chengfeng. Originally he had lived in a hamlet beside Mt. Blackwood. But later, the bandits had broken in the village, burning, killing and pillaging. He had been hung up by those frenzied bandits and could only watch his family members get murdered one by one. His sister had even been violated before her death. Those bandits had not killed him but they had made him live in endless pain.


    Half a year ago, he had come to this village. Only after he and Ling¡¯er had fallen in love with each other had he gradually walked out from the shadow of that traumatic experience to start a new life. But what had happened today seemed to have caused him to relapsed into his old self. Plunged into a state of madness by the explosion of his hatred, he had killed all of the bandits knocked down by Bai Yunfei.


    After being told about what had happened to him by the villagers, Bai Yunfei became rather emotional too. No wonder even though the people in the village had been afraid of him at that time, they did not react strongly against him afterwards at all. Those bandits were simply not worthy of compassion. It was impossible to tell exactly how many human lives they had killed and how many happy families they had destroyed.


    Knocks at the door interrupted Bai Yunfei¡¯s train of thought. He raised his head, saying: ¡°Come in.¡±


    After seeing the visitor, his eyes flashed with a tinge of an indescribable feeling. He said indifferently: ¡°Why do you want to see me?¡±


    The visitor was about the same age as Bai Yunfei. His shoulder-length hair, which should look elegant, was somewhat disheveled at the moment. There was a hint of profound sadness on his rather handsome face and his eyes appeared to have an unalterable hatred concealed in them. Because his body was injured, his face was slightly haggard ¡ª This was none other than Li Chengfeng.


    After entering the room, he stood at the door and said to Bai Yunfei: ¡°Young hero Bai, the bandit you brought back has woken up. We interrogated him and learned that they are from the Blackwood Stronghold on Mt. Blackwood. There are still twenty to thirty of them in a grove to the west of the village. If they know about the situation here, it¡¯s very likely that they will attack our village. Village chief told me to ask you if you have any solution¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was stupefied. He had not expected that gang of bandits to still have associates, and over twenty people at that.


    ¡°Do you know how powerful they are?¡± Bai Yunfei asked after thinking for a while.


    ¡°That man said, their hallmaster Zhong over there is a soul cultivator of the late Soul Apprentice stage¡­¡± At this point, Li Chengfeng seemed to be somewhat afraid.


    ¡°You know about soul cultivators?¡± Judging from his current manner, obviously he knew about the fearsomeness of soul cultivators.


    ¡°I do¡­ It¡¯s said that the chieftain of the Blackwood Stronghold bandits is a soul cultivator of the middle Soul Warrior stage with enough power to lift cauldrons, split boulders and tear wild beasts apart alive; the vice-chieftain is a late Soul Personage; the four hallmasters under them are all soul cultivators too. That hallmaster Zhong outside the village is one of them.¡± At this point, Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes showed a deep hatred: ¡°Besides, that hallmaster Zhong was the leader of the bandit group that destroyed my former village and ruined my family!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was somewhat preoccupied listening to him. He had not thought that a bandit group would be so powerful. Fortunately he had not been stupid enough to go and tackle them directly. Now it looked like he would also have to be extremely careful even when getting rid of small groups of bandits coming down from the mountain. Could it be soul cultivators were so widespread?


    Moreover, there was even a hallmaster of the late Soul Apprentice stage not far from here. Compared to him, Bai Yunfei would probably be no match for him in a one-on-one fight. After all, they were basically not on the same level in real combat experience. However, he had the upgraded items, so the victor could only be decided after they had fought each other.


    ¡°Young hero Bai, you¡­ are a soul cultivator too, right? Can you deal with that bandit group outside the village?¡± Li Chengfeng asked somewhat urgently. After all, at the moment, all the people in the village were staking their lives on this mysterious youngster. He really could not imagine how terrible it would be if those utterly inhuman bandits rushed into the village ¡ª He really could not bear to once again lose someone he loved.


    Bai Yunfei raised his head and looked at him but did not answer his question. His eyes glittering, it seemed he was considering a certain decision.


    ¡°Do you want to get revenge with your own hands? Do you want to protect what is important to you with your own power?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± These words, said by Bai Yunfei after keeping silent for a long time, stupefied Li Chengfeng then sent a tremble through his entire body. He asked with a mixed expression of excitement, pleasant surprise and hope: ¡°You mean¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei said with a nod: ¡°Your soulforce has awakened. I can teach you the method of soul cultivation, allowing you to become a real soul cultivator.¡±


    With a flop, Li Chengfeng knelt down in front of Bai Yunfei, ready to kowtow in salute.


    However, when he was just halfway through bowing down, he was held back. It turned out Bai Yunfei had already dashed up to him at some point and stopped him from kowtowing.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean I¡¯d take you as my disciple at all. You don¡¯t need to bow to me. I can¡¯t accept it. I¡¯ve decided to teach you that method because I¡¯ll probably need your power in the upcoming battle. Besides¡­ I can understand your feelings to some extent so I just want to help you a bit out of convenience¡­¡±


    With a shake of Bai Yunfei¡¯s wrist, a gray scroll appeared in his hand. He passed it to Li Chengfeng, saying: ¡°At the moment you can feel a special force in your body, right? That¡¯s your soulforce. Pour soulforce into this scroll and you¡¯ll be able to learn the skin and flesh control method of the Soul Apprentice stage. This scroll is still useful to me so at the moment I can¡¯t give it to you permanently. Just return it to me tomorrow.¡±


    Looking at Li Chengfeng¡¯s expression, Bai Yunfei thought for a while then continued: ¡°You go and tell the villagers to pile the bodies of those bandits up at the entrance of the village. I think¡­ this should be able to stop those men for a night. Tomorrow, if you have gained some understanding of soulforce, the two of us should be able to deal with them by teaming up. But if they want to attack the village tonight, then I¡¯ll have no choice but to fight them with all my might¡­¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    The bright moon was hanging high in the starry sky. In the grove, the several campfires were already about to go out. Hallmaster Zhong said with a somewhat solemn expression while staring at the campfire in front of him: ¡°This Tang Gui still hasn¡¯t returned yet¡­ Could it be, something unexpected has happened?¡±


    At this moment, a clatter of horse hooves was heard. This was the man sent out to scout the situation coming back. Hallmaster Zhong raised his head to look at him. Not waiting for him to ask first, with a terrified expression, that man said in a trembling voice even before getting off the horse: ¡°Dead¡­ They¡¯re dead! Tang Gui and those brothers are all dead!¡±


    These words shouted by him woke all the men who were about to sleep up with a start. They gathered around him successively. That man took a breath and continued: ¡°The bodies of Tang Gui and the others have been piled up at the entrance of the village. They¡­ they¡¯re all dead!¡±


    Only now did everybody understand completely. They were all shocked.


    ¡°What did you say? Those ten something men are all dead?¡±


    ¡°Did you get it wrong? Tang Gui isn¡¯t weak. Ordinary people are simply no match for him!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a small village. How could it have possibly killed them all?!¡±


    ¡°Get your weapons ready, everybody! Let¡¯s go to that village and have a look. If it¡¯s true, let¡¯s exterminate them to avenge Tang Gui and those brothers!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic. There may be some expert over there¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡°All of you shut up for me!¡± hallmaster Zhong shouted his command angrily upon seeing everybody thrown into disorder. The expression on his face was very unsightly. As soon as he shouted, the grove quieted down.


    Hallmaster Zhong looked at that man who had gone to scout previously, saying: ¡°Did you really see their bodies? Are there any other circumstances?¡±


    ¡°It was really their bodies. I¡­ I was afraid there would be danger so I didn¡¯t get too close to them and didn¡¯t dare to act rashly. Then I immediately came back to report to you, Hallmaster.¡±


    After listening to what he said, hallmaster Zhong did not say anything again. He lowered his head and pondered expressionlessly: ¡°Someone who can kill the thirteen of them including Tang Gui is definitely not weak. Maybe¡­ that¡¯s a soul cultivator! What¡¯s their purpose in piling the corpses up outside? To anger us to lead us into attacking then ambush us? Or to frighten us so that we won¡¯t dare to act rashly?¡±


    After a long time, he lifted his head and swept his eyes over everybody, saying: ¡°We¡¯re not familiar with this place so attacking at night would put us at a disadvantage. We¡¯ll rest for a night. At dawn tomorrow, we¡¯ll kill our way into the village! They have provoked our Blackwood Stronghold. We¡¯ll definitely destroy their village and kill them all!¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    Because Bai Yunfei did not know when the bandits outside the village would come to attack, he did not sleep at all. Instead, he sat on the bed practicing cultivation while always paying attention to the situation outside. To him now, not sleeping for a day or two would not affect him too much.


    The enemies were a hallmaster of the late Soul Apprentice stage and over twenty other vicious bandits. If he was on his own, he would definitely be no match for them. Hopefully in a night¡¯s time Li Chengfeng could roughly grasp how to use soulforce and to control the skin and flesh. If that was the case, there would be two soul cultivators on this side, and when they cooperated with each other¡­ they could win!


    With a thought, Bai Yunfei took out from the interspatial ring a +9 dagger: ¡°I can¡¯t use too much soulforce. But if I have one more weapon with an additional attribute, I¡¯d have a greater chance of winning. Let¡¯s upgrade this just once and see!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade successful.


    ¡°Item grade: Normal.


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10.


    ¡°Damage: 22.


    ¡°Additional damage: 27.


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: Attacks have a 2% chance of slowing the target¡¯s speed for 10 seconds.


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 15 soul points.¡±


    ¡°Successful!¡± Bai Yunfei was delighted, ¡°Speed reduction¡­ A pretty good effect.


    ¡°Then¡­ Let¡¯s be ready to welcome the first real battle in my life!¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    The next day, when light had just appeared, Bai Yunfei called Li Chengfeng out. He had been practicing for a whole night. Judging from his vigorous expression, his training seemed to have gone rather well. Bai Yunfei asked: ¡°How¡¯s your training?¡±


    Li Chengfeng respectfully handed the scroll to him, saying: ¡°I have memorized the method for soulforce cultivation and the first level of body control. After a night of practicing, the injuries on my body have healed. I have consolidated my early Soul Apprentice stage and can already control my skin and flesh to a simple extent as well.¡±


    Afterwards, he walked towards a washbasin-sized rock on one side and raised his right fist. It swelled up in an instant and he smashed it down violently. Amidst soft cracks, the rock was broken into pieces. He picked up a piece about the size of an egg and squeezed with force. A large amount of very small fragments then fell down.


    Bai Yunfei was somewhat amazed. After just a night, except for having healed his injuries, Li Chengfeng could even grasp the first level of body control to such an extent. To him, this was rather unexpected.


    ¡°Not bad, given your current power, those ordinary bandits are already no match for you. Even though you lack real combat experience, using your speed and strength, and something I¡¯m about to give you, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for you to deal with them.


    Last night they didn¡¯t attack so they¡¯ll definitely come not long after dawn. At that time, we¡­¡±


    After explaining everything clearly, Bai Yunfei patted his shoulder with a solemn expression.


    ¡°The safety of this village will depend on the cooperation of the two of us.¡±


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s fight with all our might!¡±

 Chapter 13: First Time Fighting a Soul Cultivator; The Might of an Upgraded Item!

    Over twenty fast horses rushed out of the grove, with hallmaster Zhong at the forefront, galloping towards the village.


    After coming round a bend, they saw a common village up ahead in the distance. Only, it should be breakfast time now, but there was no smoke rising from the kitchen chimneys in the village. Moreover, a small ¡®pile of men¡¯ could be vaguely seen at the entrance, making the calmness of the village somewhat strange.


    Hallmaster Zhong lifted a hand and said to the bandits behind him: ¡°Slow down now. Be careful when advancing. There may be an amb...¡±


    However, before he could finish what he was saying, a thick rope suddenly rose from inside the earth and was stretched tight instantly. The galloping horses simply had no time to react. The several horses charging in the forefront immediately fell to the ground. The riders also fell from the horseback in succession. The men at the back promptly pulled the reins, but there was still a poor bandit who was trampled on the chest by the horses that could not stop in time. He gave a snort then did not move anymore.


    The moment the several horses in the front fell down, two silhouettes rushed out swiftly from the left and right sides of the road respectively then killed their way into the chaotic crowd.


    Hallmaster Zhong jumped out with a smack on the back of his horse right when it fell down. He rolled on the ground several times, canceling out all the forward momentum. As soon as he turned around, he heard miserable cries ring out behind him.


    He saw two people rushing and killing among the disorderly bandits, just like tigers among sheep¡ªThese two people who had just rushed out were naturally Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng.


    Holding a dagger in each of his hands, Li Chengfeng was slashing, hacking and stabbing. Before the men around him could react, almost all of them were injured. Two even dropped dead to the ground after getting stabbed in the chest directly.


    Bai Yunfei was using bare hands, but sounds of broken bones were heard every time he threw a punch or a kick. Almost anyone who was knocked down by him could not struggle up again.


    Hallmaster Zhong was in a dazed state for just a short while, but five or six of his men had been downed by them!


    His whole body trembling, the corners of his eyes about to crack, he raised his large saber and rushed up with a roar.


    Seeing that hallmaster Zhong rushing over, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with a tinge of shrewdness. He leaned to one side to avoid an incoming saber then grabbed a bandit and threw him fiercely forwards, smashing him into the crowd, creating a gap. Afterwards, he got out with a leap and rushed towards that hallmaster Zhong!


    When having taken just several steps, hallmaster Zhong saw a person come rushing at him. Grinning hideously, he raised his saber and wanted to hack at the attacker. But that man suddenly jumped over ten feet up into the air. While in midair, he gave his right hand a shake and a one-meter long large saber unexpectedly appeared in the blink of an eye. He then took advantage of his fall¡¯s momentum to swing it down fiercely!


    ¡°A space ring? Soul cultivator!¡± Hallmaster Zhong¡¯s expression changed. He lifted the large saber in his hand up to meet the enemy¡¯s attack.


    ¡°Ding!¡±


    A crisp sound of metal crashing into metal rang out. The momentum of his fall gave Bai Yunfei an advantage so he was able to knock the opponent back several steps. However, after landing firmly on the ground, he did not try to be the first to attack again. After all, he did not have enough combat experience, so attacking hastily would very likely result in his weak points being exploited by the opponent.


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Apprentice! Damn it! How can we run into a soul cultivator at this kind of place?! Plus, it¡¯s even a soul cultivator with a space ring!¡± Hallmaster Zhong retreated several steps continuously. He could only feel a somewhat tingling feeling in his arm and was extremely shocked inside. He had guessed earlier that the opponent was a soul cultivator about as powerful as he was, which did not really matter. However, the opponent unexpectedly had a space ring! It should be known that in the entire Blackwood Stronghold, only the chieftain had a space ring, and not even the vice-chieftain had one!


    He looked at the large saber in his hand again, and to his surprise, he saw that the hack had left a chip in it!


    ¡°Damn it! Damn it! Just who is he really?! This large saber of mine is made of top-grade materials. That saber of his is a soul armament? Impossible. If it was a soul armament, there wouldn¡¯t be just a simple chip like this. But it¡¯s definitely better than mine!¡±


    Several continuous miserable cries woke hallmaster Zhong up from his shock. He lifted his eyes to take a look. More than half of the group of bandits behind Bai Yunfei had unexpectedly already fallen down. Even though one of Li Chengfeng¡¯s arms had suffered injuries, they were not serious at all. As he moved nimbly about, dodging and weaving, he did not use any techniques worthy of mentioning either. He would just dodge the incoming attacks then thrust with his daggers, downing the bandits one after another.


    ¡°That man is a soul cultivator too! This is bad!¡± Hallmaster Zhong suddenly reacted. He rushed straight towards Bai Yunfei without any more hesitation.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s fighting plan was actually very simple, namely, when the enemy was still unprepared, he himself would hinder hallmaster Zhong first while Li Chengfeng would dispose of those common bandits, then they would join forces and kill hallmaster Zhong!


    Those common bandits had had twenty two men in total. In the very beginning, six of them had been knocked down by Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng and another had been unlucky enough to be trampled on by the horses. When Bai Yunfei had rushed out to obstruct hallmaster Zhong, there had already been only fifteen men left. So, relying on his all-out effort and resentment, Li Chengfeng had been able to handle them fairly smoothly.


    Moreover, because those bandits had been attacked suddenly, and so many of their comrades had been downed in an instant, they were flustered inside. One man¡¯s loss is another man¡¯s gain. Under this circumstance, Li Chengfeng would probably be able to knock down all the bandits in ten more minutes.


    That hallmaster Zhong obviously had also noticed this. Not daring to delay again, he attacked with all his might, but Bai Yunfei only defended. Relying on the sharpness of the large saber in his hand, he clashed with him head-on strike after strike. Before long, hallmaster Zhong¡¯s saber was covered in chips, looking like a saw with teeth.


    Bai Yunfei raised his saber again and warded off another hack by hallmaster Zhong. Suddenly, he felt a great force come from his stomach, but this was hallmaster Zhong throwing a kick at him. He was, after all, still too inexperienced so he had only paid attention to stopping the opponent¡¯s weapon and had neglected defending his lower body. As a result, he was knocked back several steps continuously by the kick.


    Before he could stabilize his body, he felt something come at him from behind. He turned around in a flash and saw that a bandit had unexpectedly left the group fight against Li Chengfeng to go up to his back at some point then swung his saber at himself.


    Learning from hallmaster Zhong, he raised his saber to block the attack and also raised his foot, sending him flying with a kick. That man was immediately sent flying in the direction of Li Chengfeng then was stabbed in the chest mercilessly with a dagger.


    When lifting his foot, Bai Yunfei secretly braced himself for another attack. Before he could turn around, the corners of his eyes caught a glimpse of the gleam of a saber that was coming at the right side of his waist.


    Because it was impossible for him to block the strike with his saber, he could only lean to the left, avoiding the attack by a hair¡¯s breadth, and jump at the same time. However, when he had yet to escape completely, he felt a burning pain in his waist. Bai Yunfei moved two meters away, turned around to face hallmaster Zhong, and touched his own waist with his hand. It came into contact with a cold area and not a wound.


    Hallmaster Zhong was looking at the totally delighted expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face in some stupefaction. That saber strike by the waist just then should have been able to cut him in half directly, but... except for feeling some pain, he had not even lost a single drop of blood!


    A large hole had been cut into the clothes at Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist, revealing a gray armor underneath. There was a white mark on the armor, which had been caused by that saber strike just then.


    Bai Yunfei touched this soft armor on his body in pleasant surprise: ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the defense of this +10 soft armor to be so high. That was so dangerous. I even thought I¡¯d be cut in two...¡±Equipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 31


    Additional defense: 43


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacked, there is a 2% chance of reflecting part of the damage.


    ¡°How is this possible?... How is this possible?! Could it be that soft armor of his is a soul armament? Just who is he really?!¡± Roaring in his heart, hallmaster Zhong rushed up again.


    Having known the defense level of the soft armor, Bai Yunfei was much less restrained too. As long as an attack was aimed at his torso, he would rather endure the pain inflicted by it so that he could similarly hit the opponent with a strike of the saber.


    Even though hallmaster Zhong also wore a decent soft armor on his body which could withstand the attacks of ordinary weapons, it was just like a piece of paper in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s weapon. His waist was hit by a sweep too, but he was not so lucky as Bai Yunfei. A long wound was created by the strike and blood spurted out from it.


    Facing an incoming horizontal saber sweep, Bai Yunfei turned around and resisted the strike head-on with his back. However, when he was hit this time, he did not feel that kind of burning pain from before. Instead, he needed to take just a step forwards to absorb the impact of the blow completely and only felt a small part of the soulforce in his body suddenly drained away like it was absorbed by the soft armor.


    The moment that large saber hacked at Bai Yunfei¡¯s back, hallmaster Zhong immediately felt a powerful reaction force come at him. The part of his palm between the thumb and forefinger was burst, making it almost impossible for him to keep hold of the handle of the saber. Very shocked, he retreated continuously. As he looked at his palm which was bleeding profusely, he was dumbstruck for a while.


    The soft armor¡¯s additional effect: Damage reflection!


    In the blink of an eye, Bai Yunfei knew what had happened. Naturally, he was unwilling to let this good opportunity pass. He turned around and swung the large saber in his hand at the opponent¡¯s waist. Very frightened, hallmaster Zhong raised his saber to make a block. Even though he was able to ward off this strike from Bai Yunfei, the large saber in his hand was sent flying because he could not clench it with enough force.


    Greatly shocked, hallmaster Zhong retreated continuously. Only when he had moved over ten meters away did he look at Bai Yunfei with a terrified expression.


    Bai Yunfei did not pursue and attack him because he had seen that the battle behind him had already finished. None of the twenty two bandits was still standing and most of them had been killed. The remaining ones were lying on the ground wailing, powerless to fight again.


    There were some injuries on Li Chengfeng¡¯s arms and legs, but luckily his torso was still intact. Underneath the tattered clothes, there was a gray soft armor too. Although it was merely a +9 defensive item and did not have an additional effect, it was already enough to defend against those bandits¡¯ common attacks.


    Li Chengfeng was in no hurry to finish off those bandits who were still alive. Instead, raising the two blood-dripping daggers, he walked up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side step by step. His whole body was drenched in blood¡ªmost of which belonged to those bandits. Those blood-red eyes, filled with endless hatred, were staring firmly at hallmaster Zhong. Even though hallmaster Zhong had killed countless people, now he also felt a tremble in his heart and did not dare to look him in the eyes.


    Hallmaster Zhong took a deep breath and calmed his chaotic mind down. He did not dare to take his eyes off Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng even for a moment for fear that the two of them would attack suddenly. His right hand reached into his bosom and took out a long wooden case from which he then took out a blue weapon that looked like an ice pricker.


    ¡°Though I¡¯m not good at using this kind of weapon, it¡¯s a soul armament in any case, so it should be able to pierce through that soft armor. At this stage, I¡¯ve got no choice but to go all out!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had not attacked immediately because he wanted to give Li Chengfeng a little time to recover. Now the situation was advantageous to them so as long as they were somewhat careful, they should be able to emerge victorious.


    At this moment, the opponent took out a weapon that seemed like an ice pricker and was about the same size as a dagger. Judging from his expression, Bai Yunfei felt that this was definitely no ordinary object. Seeing him rush up, he told Li Chengfeng, who was beside him: ¡°Watch out for his weapon. I¡¯m going to have a dogfight with him and you¡¯re going to look for opportunities to attack!¡±


    Facing hallmaster Zhong who was rushing at him, Bai Yunfei still brought the saber down in a hack efficiently. The enemy unexpectedly raised the short pricker horizontally, using the short and small body of the pricker to block this strike. Moreover, when it came into contact with the saber¡¯s blade, a nick unexpectedly appeared at the contact area of the blade!


    After blocking Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack, hallmaster Zhong repeated the same trick he had used before by raising his foot, throwing a kick. How could Bai Yunfei possibly fall for the same trick again? He also threw a kick. After the two feet collided with each other, both of them took half a step backwards.


    However, hallmaster Zhong reacted faster than Bai Yunfei. After stabilizing his body, he took a step forwards then raised the Glacial Pricker in his hand and thrust it straight at Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart!


    Bai Yunfei was very frightened. He did not dare use the soft armor on his body to take this strike head-on, so he hurriedly put the large saber in his hand in front of his chest horizontally. Then a soft sound of collision was heard and Bai Yunfei retreated several steps continuously.


    Just when the opponent was about to pursue and attack him, his expression changed suddenly. He turned around, raised the Glacial Pricker and blocked a sneaky incoming dagger. But he felt a pain in his arm. Although he had blocked a dagger, there was another one he could not block!


    Li Chengfeng had grabbed the opportunity to leave a wound on the opponent¡¯s arm before getting knocked away with a kick.


    Bai Yunfei stabilized his body and lowered his head to take look. He immediately broke into a cold sweat as he saw a round, small hole through both sides of the blade and in the center of the large saber¡¯s body. Even the chest part of his soft armor had been pierced halfway through! Moreover, there was a cold area around the small hole that was covered in a layer of water droplets like it had frosted over.


    ¡°What weapon is that?!¡± Bai Yunfei trembled with fear as he looked at the weapon in hallmaster Zhong¡¯s hand. He only felt a chill in his heart.


    Seeing hallmaster Zhong unexpectedly begin to chase after Li Chengfeng, he was very frightened. So he hurriedly calmed his mind down then rushed up while raising his weapon.


    Because the short pricker in hallmaster Zhong¡¯s hand was too powerful, Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng had some misgivings both when attacking and defending, but that hallmaster always had misgivings about the weapons in his opponents¡¯ hands too, so the three of them got caught up in an arduous struggle.


    Before long, many wounds had been inflicted upon their bodies.


    Bai Yunfei only felt cold in the various places on his body that had been pierced by the opponent. It seemed there was a mass of cold air going on a rampage in his body. Both his strength and speed were now much worse than before, and Li Chengfeng was also in a similar situation.


    However, that hallmaster Zhong¡¯s situation was not good either. There were many wounds on his body and most of them had been caused by slashes of Li Chengfeng¡¯s daggers. Moreover, those wounds had been bleeding nonstop and recovering very slowly¡ªthis was none other than the additional effect of one of the daggers: ¡°Slow down the recovery of the wounds caused by this item.¡±


    Hallmaster Zhong was extremely anxious inside. If this continued, he would eventually bleed to death!!


    As he was in a hurry, he made mistakes. After forcing Bai Yunfei to retreat again, because he did not have enough time to dodge, another wound was pierced into his shoulder by Li Chengfeng¡¯s dagger, and just when he was pierced by the dagger, suddenly a shiver ran through his entire body. A strange kind of feeling then appeared on his body, but he could not tell exactly what it was.


    When he made a backward stab at Li Chengfeng, who was beside him, and the attack was barely avoided by the opponent, he finally discovered a problem: The opponent should not have been able to avoid this strike from him completely at all, but he had unexpectedly avoided it, because¡ªhe himself had slowed down!


    In a normal situation, to his knowledge, this strike should have already hit the target. However, his body had become a bit slower!


    This was an exceptionally uncoordinated feeling that he had never experienced before so he was even somewhat at a loss.


    However, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glittered with shrewdness. A few seconds later, he finally confirmed that this was the additional effect of the other dagger:¡°Attacks have a 2% chance of slowing the target¡¯s speed for 10 seconds.¡±


    ¡°Attacks have a 2% chance of slowing the target¡¯s speed for 10 seconds.¡±


    Trigger successful!


    Of course Bai Yunfei could not let this rare chance pass. He reminded Li Chengfeng to pay attention to attacking with a roar then brandished his large saber, attacking the opponent fiercely.


    One strike after another, Bai Yunfei hacked down unceasingly at a speed of almost one strike per second. Hallmaster Zhong was extremely flustered inside, not knowing what had actually happened to his body. His reduced speed made it impossible for him to counterattack so he could only block Bai Yunfei¡¯s attacks one after another in a pitiful manner.


    Suddenly, when he used the short pricker to block yet another strike of the saber, he felt a powerful force come from the saber. It was simply irresistible, causing him to take three heavy steps backwards continuously. His body even leaned backwards, losing balance.


    When Bai Yunfei felt a strand of soulforce rush into the large saber, he immediately knew that the effect had been triggered!Equipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 33


    Additional Attack: 39


    +10 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 3% chance of inflicting knockback.


    ¡°Now is the time!!!¡±


    The moment Bai Yunfei shouted loudly, Li Chengfeng had already rushed up to hallmaster Zhong¡¯s face. After raising both of his daggers simultaneously, he stabbed them down at the opponent¡¯s chest.


    Through the heart!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 14: Soul Personage Stage, Soul Skills, and Soul Armaments!

    His entire body trembled and his eyes were filled with a mixture of hatred and grief. On his face, streams of tears rolled down from his eyes as Li Chengfeng stalked towards the few bandits who were still alive. Though he watched, Bai Yunfei said nothing to stop Bai Yunfei. Instead, he picked up the blue-colored short pricker from next to the corpse of hallmaster Zhong and walked towards the village.


    Miserable cries rang up behind him one after another. He gave a soft sigh but did not turn around.


    During the whole day, the men in the village were all busy disposing of these bandits¡¯ corpses. The weapons and money were kept, but everything else and the bodies were buried together. After all, because so many bandits had died this time, they absolutely could not let someone else know about this, otherwise they would bring a disaster to the hamlet.


    There were thirty-six corpses in total. The bandit who had been captured and brought back by Bai Yunfei was still killed after telling them a lot of information. If any man of this kind was let go, he would become a great disaster.


    There were also those horses. Selling them all together was definitely out of the question because this would be too easy to notice. So, they could only keep them at the back of the mountain first then slowly deal with them later.


    Having experienced this event, the villagers all felt that they were lucky survivors of a disaster. Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng had even become heroes in the village. This was especially the case with Li Chengfeng. Except for looking a bit crazy when facing those bandits, he was very kind and sincere to other people. Ling¡¯er was by his side all the time, carefully helping him treat the wounds on his body.


    ... ... ... ...


    The next day, before dawn, Bai Yunfei slowly opened his eyes after making a strange hand seal with his hands. He had been sitting with legs crossed on the bed doing cultivation for a whole night. As he stretched his sluggish waist, his entire body gave off a series of cracking sounds. Bai Yunfei even let out a comfortable sigh softly.


    He raised his right hand and put it in front of his face then made a fist. A delighted smile appeared on his face.


    ¡°Early-stage Soul Personage... I¡¯ve benefited a lot from yesterday¡¯s battle... Using the Upgrade Technique to increase the soulforce is certainly a shortcut, but real combat is also necessary. If I want to become powerful, there¡¯s still a very long way to go!¡±


    Having reached the Soul Personage stage, the first thing he did naturally was to take that technique scroll out and experienced the blood and bones control method of the Soul Personage stage. Only after a long time did he put the scroll away then lower his head, saying contemplatively: ¡°The blood and bones control method is much more complex and difficult than the skin and flesh control method... I can only learn it bit by bit through meditation. Next is...¡±


    With a thought, the various items inside the space ring showed up in his mind. His soulforce touched the other two scrolls that he had been unable to take out previously. This time Bai Yunfei¡¯s feeling was much clearer than before. He felt clearly that his soulforce was gently bounced off by a force on one of those scrolls when trying to come into contact with it and thus was unable to get close to it. As for the other scroll, the moment his soulforce touched it, it disappeared like a flash then reappeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Looking at this white scroll in his hand, Bai Yunfei was rather excited inside. He poured his soulforce into it impatiently.


    "The ''Overlapping Waves Art'', a mid-human tier soul skill that uses a special method to control the explosiveness and stretching of the muscles and bones of the arm so that the force of a punch behaves like an overlapping wave. The resulting power is thus several times greater than that of a normal punch...." After having read the contents of the scroll, Bai Yunfei carefully arranged his thoughts for a while. "A soul skill....I''ll have to control both the muscles and the bones at the same time. No wonder I can only practice this after reaching the Soul Personage stage.This means that I''ll have to be a Soul Warrior before I can use the other scroll. Is there a soul skill in that one too?


    ¡°Besides, after the Overlapping Waves Art, there¡¯s also a spear technique. This means...¡± At this point, there was a happy expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face again. His soulforce made a sweep in the space ring and a crimson spear suddenly appeared in his hand.


    Bai Yunfei felt that it was almost heavy enough to twist his wrist: ¡°This fella... So heavy, at least 50 kg. Ordinary people would have great difficulty in brandishing it, let alone using it to fight. No wonder I''m only allowed to use it after I become a Soul Personage."


    The spear was about 2.7 meter long, rather thick and crimson from top to bottom. It even gave off a little heat. At the place where the blade and the handle were joined, there were three embedded crimson, slightly transparent, round crystals.


    Bai Yunfei stroked the spear rather admiringly, feeling the waves of warmth emitted from it. He even somewhat impatiently wanted to go out and swing it around a couple of times to check it out.


    Suddenly, seeming to remember something, Bai Yunfei stared at the spear in his hand and gave it a thought.


    Equipment Grade: Low Inheritance


    Attack: 586


    Upgrade Requirement: 85 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes popped out of his head and his jaws dropped for a long time, then he shook his head forcefully. Only after checking the information once again did he murmured with a slight stammer: ¡°Holy... Holy shit, an attack of 586? This... What the heck is this?¡±


    Only after a long time did he finally calm down: ¡°Low inheritance? I¡¯ve never come across this grade before. Plus, the initial upgrade takes as much as 85 soul points. That''s about what it takes to upgrade a dagger from +1 to +10 already.¡±


    ¡°Right...¡± Bai Yunfei put the spear on his legs and turned his wrist over. That weapon he had obtained from hallmaster Zhong appeared in his hand. As completely opposed to the spear, it was ice-cold and gave off tiny currents of cold air. There were a few small words on the handle, ¡®Glacial Pricker¡¯, which should be the name of this weapon.


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Attack: 237


    Upgrade Requirement: 63 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei was stupefied: ¡°Low rare? Another item grade I¡¯ve never seen before. Looks like my understanding of this Upgrade Technique is still far from correct...


    ¡°These two weapons are obviously on a different level to the ones I bought in the main street. Could it be, these are soul cultivators¡¯ weapons? Impossible, such powerful weapons shouldn¡¯t be so widespread. In the beginning, that hallmaster Zhong only used an ordinary large saber too...


    ¡°I wonder how it will be after getting upgraded...¡±


    He immediately did what he thought. First, he put the spear away. After all, if he wanted to upgrade something, this Glacial Pricker would be a comparatively better choice because he could use a little less soulforce.


    Several minutes later, Bai Yunfei looked at the Glacial Pricker in his hand with a hint of a forced smile on the corners of his mouth: ¡°The amount of soul points needed for an upgrade hasn¡¯t increased and has always been 63 points, but... this is still not enough!¡±


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Upgrade Level: +8


    Attack: 237


    Additional Attack: 89


    Upgrade Requirement: 63 Soulpoints


    Even though he was exceptionally lucky not to have failed even once, after the eighth upgrade, Bai Yunfei felt that his soulforce was already running out. Now he was an early-stage Soul Personage, but perhaps the value of his soulforce was only about 500.


    It was already dawn at the moment. Bai Yunfei was not anxious to research anymore. He began to sit in meditation to recover his soulforce. Only when someone outside knocked on the door and invited him to go to eat breakfast did he stand up and walk out of the room...


    ... ... ... ...


    When Bai Yunfei told everybody that he wanted to leave for Mt. Blackwood, Li Chengfeng fell silent for a long time, but then he suddenly said that he wanted to go together with Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei knew that his hatred for bandits had not been diminished by his extermination of hallmaster Zhong¡¯s bandit group at all. On the contrary, because he had gained power, he no longer suppressed the hatred in his heart. Becoming powerful and annihilating all those who had caused him endless pain, this was precisely what he was thinking at the moment.


    In fact, Bai Yunfei could understand Li Chengfeng¡¯s feelings. When had he himself not been in a similar situation...?


    Originally Li Chengfeng had been a resident of the Mt. Blackwood region so he was rather familiar with the surroundings of that place. Moreover, he was now a soul cultivator too and not a weakling anymore. This journey to Mt. Blackwood would be much more dangerous than Bai Yunfei had thought before. After all, previously he had not expected a gang of bandits to have so many soul cultivators in it.


    Therefore, after thinking for just a while, Bai Yunfei agreed to let Li Chengfeng go with him as he had requested.


    ... ... ... ...


    Standing at the entrance of the village, looking at the mountains and forests in the distance, Bai Yunfei had a somewhat vacant expression in his eyes. It was impossible to know what he was thinking about. A clatter of footsteps woke him up with a start. He turned around to take a look and saw Li Chengfeng running up to his face with a bundle over his shoulder in a somewhat apologetically manner, saying: ¡°Young hero Bai, I¡¯m sorry for making you wait...¡±


    Bai Yunfei waved his hand in an unconcerned manner and said smilingly: ¡°No problem. We fought side by side after all, so later you can just call me Yunfei. Have you calmed Ling¡¯er down yet? Don¡¯t make her sad...¡±


    ¡°Haha... Alright, then you can just call me Chengfeng too. Don¡¯t appear too aloof. I¡¯ve already promised Ling¡¯er that when I return from Mt. Blackwood this time, I¡¯m going to marry her and take care of her all my life...¡± There was a happy smile on Li Chengfeng¡¯s face. He turned around to take a look at the village again and waved to the young girl who was standing in front of the door of her house gazing at him. Then he turned around and went with Bai Yunfei, gradually disappearing towards the end of the path in the forest.


    This time, because Li Chengfeng acted as a guide and both of them had good footwork, they went rather fast. After three days, they had already reached the vicinity of Mt. Blackwood. According to Li Chengfeng, the sphere of influence of the Blackwood Stronghold could be said to start from here. The bandits in this area would normally go around in groups, pillaging the villages nearby or robbing the trade caravans that went past this place.


    There was a main road leading from Luoshi City to Ganling City in the northeast not far from Mt. Blackwood. Because trade caravans between the two cities often took this road, they also became the main target for the bandits. The bandits did not kill everyone either. As long as a caravan handed in a satisfying ¡®passage fee¡¯, they would let it go through safely. Otherwise, they would kill the caravan and take the goods without mercy. Of course, a caravan could also go through without paying, but it had to be protected by powerful people, such as soul cultivators.


    In the evening in a rather spacious forest, intense fighting sounds were heard as two silhouettes got entangled with each other and collided. The sounds of their fists hitting each other were really spine-chilling.


    But the two fighting people were obviously enjoying themselves. Beads of sweat from their foreheads ran across the smiles on the corners of their mouths. They threw a punch with their right fists at each other¡¯s left shoulder simultaneously. Then they both retreated several steps successively and stood face-to-face.


    This was none other than Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng.


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop training for today, Chengfeng. You¡¯ve become more and more skillful at muscle control. The opportunities you seized to be explosive were just perfect. I¡¯m really ashamed of my inferiority.¡± After massaging his left shoulder a bit, Bai Yunfei turned his right hand over and two bags of water appeared in his hand. He tossed one to Li Chengfeng then leaned on a large tree behind him and took several gulps.


    Li Chengfeng sat down on the ground, took several gulps of water and said while shaking his head: ¡°I¡¯m no match for you. It happened like this only because you suppressed your power down to my level. If you use the Overlapping Waves Art, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to take even a single punch from you.¡±


    ¡°Your soulforce fully awakened just a few days ago, yet you¡¯re already about to become a mid-stage Soul Apprentice. I don¡¯t know about the other soul cultivators¡¯ practice speeds, but you¡¯re quite a lot faster than I was in the beginning. It¡¯s a pity I even thought that my improvement speed was very fast.


    ¡°Let¡¯s train alone next. I need to get more used to spear techniques so that I can handle the battles that we¡¯ll probably face soon. Right, you really don¡¯t want that Glacial Pricker? It¡¯s much more powerful than those two daggers.¡±


    ¡°Nope, these two daggers are very good, and I feel that they¡¯re not weak at all. I already felt embarrassed to accept them when you gave them to me, how could I still want that Glacial Pricker? Plus, I¡¯m not familiar with using that stab-only weapon.¡± Li Chengfeng shook his head, took out the two daggers from his waist and flipped them in hands skillfully.


    Bai Yunfei said no more. He walked to one side and reached out his hand. A flaming red, 2.7 meter long spear appeared in his hand and a heat wave spread out, which could be felt even by Li Chengfeng, who was over 30 meters away. Looking at the crimson spear in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes showed a hint of admiration.


    After simply spinning the spear for a bit, he started to practice spear techniques.


    Horizontal sweeps, straight thrusts, upward yanks, downward smashes... Even though he had been learning them for just three days, his execution already looked decent, and it got faster and faster. Now Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was shrouded in countless blurs of the spear. From the distance, he looked like a flickering fire.


    All of a sudden, his body stopped moving and the various spear images disappeared. With a soft shout, he thrust the spear straight at a large tree that could only be hugged by two people holding hands in front of him.


    The moment the spear was thrust out, its entire body suddenly radiated a dazzling red glow. The three crystals at the top of the spear were even ablaze with a red light, looking like they were wrapped in a crimson flame.


    ¡°Pu!¡±A soft sound was heard as the tip of the spear went into the tree with complete ease. The moment it penetrated the tree, Bai Yunfei¡¯s flashed. He shouted in a deep voice: ¡°Burst!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    Wood chips were sent flying around and the dazzling red glow shone out through the cracks in the tree. Afterwards, that whole section of the tree exploded suddenly and a heat wave several times more violent than before spread out in all directions. This large tree then fell backwards. An entire section at its base had gone missing, leaving behind a burned black cut surface...


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 15: With Bandits Like These, Prepare to Kill!

    Book 1 Chapter 15: Bandits like these; prepare to kill!


    Equipment Grade: Low Inheritance


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 586


    Additional Attack: 338


    +10 Additional Effect: Straight thrusts have a 10% chance of causing an explosion of fire.


    Upgrade Requirement: 85 Soulpoints


    As Bai Yunfei stroked the crimson body of the spear, a smile appeared on the corners of his mouth. He looked at the fallen large tree in front of him, put the spear away then turned around and walked to a place not far from Li Chengfeng on Li Chengfeng¡¯s right-hand side. After sitting down, leaning on a tree, he began to recover the physical strength he had used.


    For the last several days, Bai Yunfei had never stopped studying the Glacial Pricker and the spear. In terms of grades, the spear was obviously superior to the Glacial Pricker. Therefore, he had experimented with the Glacial Pricker first.


    Of course, the most important thing was the upgrades. Even though he felt that a ¡®rare¡¯ item like the Glacial Pricker should not possibly be destroyed after getting upgraded to +8 like ordinary items, he still considered for a long time before deciding to continue with the upgrades: He had obtained it for free anyway, so it would not matter if it exploded. If other soul cultivators knew that he treated a soul armament in such a manner, perhaps their balls would hurt so much that they would vomit blood.


    The results did not disappoint him. He successfully upgraded it to +9 then failed the next upgrade, but it only went back to +8. This detail alone allowed him to be sure that ¡®rare¡¯ items would not be destroyed before +10!


    When Bai Yunfei upgraded the Glacial Pricker to +10, he did not continue upgrading it because intuition told him that if he failed again, the result would be very different to what had happened when he had failed to upgrade normal items after +8, namely, the item would be destroyed. Moreover, he was already very satisfied with the additional effect that had appeared at +10.


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 237


    Additional Attack: 128


    +10 Additional Effect: When thrown, the speed and attack are doubled.


    Bai Yunfei also researched this additional effect. The moment the pricker was thrown out, his soulforce was sucked into it. Its flying speed was indeed more than twice as fast as that of a thrown normal dagger. Its damage was even more impressive as after piercing through a one-meter thick large tree, it could still fly forwards several dozens of meters. Bai Yunfei once carelessly shot it into a mountain wall and afterwards he and Li Chengfeng had to dig as deep as three or four whole meters to take it out.


    Furthermore, if he poured soulforce into it in a proactive manner when throwing it, its speed and power would be even greater.


    After confirming that there was no danger of destruction, Bai Yunfei also upgraded the spear to +10. Because the spear was crimson all over and was as hot as a flame when soulforce was poured into it, an idea sprung to his mind as he decided to give it a name -- he called it the ¡®Fire-tipped Spear¡¯!


    ... ... ... ...


    Two days later, in the evening, Bai Yunfei observed the color of the sky then said to Li Chengfeng, who was going in front of him: ¡°Chengfeng, it¡¯s about to get dark. Let¡¯s find a forest and rest for a night before continuing the journey.¡±


    Li Chengfeng halted his steps, looked around, pondered for a while and said: ¡°We¡¯d better keep going for a while. I remember that there¡¯s a hamlet not far up ahead. We can see it after climbing over this mountain top. Let¡¯s go and stay a night there tonight.¡±


    ¡°Oh, not a bad idea. Let¡¯s go then,¡± Bai Yunfei naturally agreed after hearing him say so. For the last several days, they had had to spend the nights outdoors in the wild, which was not something comfortable either.


    The two of them kept going for a while. The sky was already getting dark gradually. All of a sudden, Bai Yunfei halted his steps and said solemnly: ¡°Wait... There seems to be something wrong. Chengfeng, look at the mountain over there!¡±


    Li Chengfeng had been paying attention to his surroundings all along instead of looking into the distance. After hearing Bai Yunfei¡¯s words, he took a careful look, but the expression on his face immediately changed. He said: ¡°This light... Not good! It¡¯s firelight. Even the sky is lit up to such an extent, could it be...¡±


    Both of them exchanged a look and quickened their pace, running towards the peak of the mountain.


    After a while, on the top of the mountain, Bai Yunfei looked solemnly at a village which was burning in a raging fire not far from the foot of the mountain. Li Chengfeng even trembled all over.


    About twenty to thirty houses seemed to have been swallowed completely by the monstrous fire, but it seemed only few people were fighting the fire. There were quite a lot of people in the center of the village, but... only a few were moving. Various hopeless, sorrowful cries and shouts came into the ears of them both along with the wind on the mountain.


    ¡°It¡¯s them... It¡¯s definitely them... It¡¯s like this again, it¡¯s like this again! These damned bandits! Die... Die!¡± Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes gradually become crimson and also showed some signs of madness.


    Bai Yunfei gave his shoulder a pat, saying: ¡°Don¡¯t be agitated! There doesn¡¯t seem to be bandits in the village. Let¡¯s go over there quickly. Saving people comes first!¡±


    The moment the two of them entered the village, Bai Yunfei saw an unforgettable scene.


    Under the illumination of the raging flames, there were corpses lying in pools of blood all around. Ten something lucky survivors were hurriedly treating the injured who were still alive. But there were also some survivors who were sitting on the ground with blank looks in their eyes, completely still, staring at the corpses in front of them. There was basically no life in their eyes, as if they had turned into zombies.


    A series of sounds of crying and shouting woke Bai Yunfei up with a start. He shifted his eyes to have a look. An old woman with a head full of white hair was kneeling in front of a middle-aged man, her trembling hands pressing on a wound from which blood was gushing out nonstop on his chest. She was crying in despair: ¡°Da Niu... Don¡¯t leave me, son! If you leave me... How do I live?! Da Niu...¡±


    The middle-aged man called Da Niu were looking at the old woman with somewhat blurry eyes. Seemingly using all his strength, he raised a hand with difficulty and grabbed the old woman¡¯s hands on his chest. He wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he gushed a mouthful of blood...


    This time, Li Chengfeng was unexpectedly the first to regain composure. He gave Bai Yunfei a push, saying: ¡°Save people first!¡±


    Only now did Bai Yunfei wake up. Turning his right hand over, he took out from the space ring all the medical items he had been carrying along, gave Li Chengfeng some then ran towards that old woman.


    ¡°Granny, you¡¯re doing it wrong. Allow me to treat the wound quickly. He can still survive.¡± After pulling the old woman up gently, Bai Yunfei squatted down in front of the middle-aged man and began to treat his wound.


    The old woman was stupefied but reacted immediately. She looked at Bai Yunfei gratefully but was trembling too much to say a word and could only wait anxiously with an expression full of hope.


    Bai Yunfei was not too adept at treating such a serious wound, but he did it very carefully. When the wound was bandaged completely, sweat had already come out on his forehead. However, that middle-aged man¡¯s life seemed to have been saved at last and he was looking at Bai Yunfei appreciatively with a fragile expression.


    Bai Yunfei let the old woman look after this middle-aged man again then stood up and went to another injured person...


    After treating the wounds of several other people, his forehead was already covered in sweat and his expression was getting more and more solemn. A fury was growing inside him unceasingly...


    ¡°Mom... Mom... What¡¯s happened to you? The house is burning. Let¡¯s get out quickly, mom? Why aren¡¯t you wearing clothes? Quickly go out with Fang¡¯er, okay? Fang¡¯er¡¯s head hurts so bad.. Mom? Say something to me...¡±


    Soft and tender sounds of crying came from a burning small house on one side. Bai Yunfei was surprised to learn that there were still survivors inside! Seeing that the house was about to collapse, he did not think much and rushed inside immediately.


    A four or five year old little girl with high twin-tails was kneeling on the floor. Her little face should be innocent but it looked spent and dirty at the moment. Her left cheek was badly swollen. There was even a streak of blood hanging from a corner of her mouth. Obviously she had been hit violently by someone earlier. Judging from the somewhat confused look in her eyes at the moment, she seemed to have just woken up from her unconsciousness.


    However, in front of the little girl, there was a completely naked woman lying motionlessly on the floor. Her entire body was covered in countless bruises and bloodstains, looking like someone had cut her spotlessly white body with a saber again and again. The woman¡¯s mouth was stuffed with a piece of clothing which seemed to be her underwear. Obviously she had been violated and tortured before her death and had been unable to say anything. The endless pain and horror she had suffered could still be seen in her wide open eyes...


    The little girl was pushing the body of her mother nonstop. The soft and tender sounds of her crying contained fear, puzzlement, confusion and pain.


    Seeing this scene, Bai Yunfei fell into a trance instantly. It seemed he did not dare to believe what he was seeing. A burning, broken timber smashed down beside the little girl. Bai Yunfei finally woke up with a start. He rushed up like an arrow and kicked away a beam that was threatening to smash down on the girl. Then he took off his coat and wrapped it around that woman¡¯s body. Lifting the little girl with one hand and the woman¡¯s body with the other, he rushed out quickly.


    After giving the little girl to the villagers on one side to take care of, he observed the surroundings carefully. It seemed there were already no survivors left in any house, and all the curable injured people had basically been cared for.


    Suddenly, there was a clamor in the opposite direction. Bai Yunfei turned around to take a look and saw that Li Chengfeng was being surrounded by five or six villagers. They seemed to be saying something.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Chengfeng?¡± Bai Yunfei asked after walking up to Li Chengfeng¡¯s side.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either. Just now I revealed my power when saving an injured person who was trapped under a heavy object. They surrounded me after that." Li Chengfeng said while shaking his head in a somewhat doubtful manner.


    Right at this moment, the people around suddenly knelt to the two of them. A middle-aged man whose both legs and left arm were injured said loudly: ¡°Young heroes, please go save my younger sister! She was captured and taken away by those bandits. They¡¯re simply not humans! My younger sister, she... In the end, she¡¯ll definitely be tortured to death... Please go save her! I¡¯m going to kowtow to you...¡± After saying so, he knocked his head on the ground loudly regardless of the injuries on his body. His forehead immediately bled, but he did not pause at all.


    The other people around also started to implore, saying that their own daughters or wives had been taken captive by the bandits and begging Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng to save them and bring them back. For a few moments, many people knelt down before the two of them and begged piteously.


    It turned out there were still the people who had been captured by the bandits!


    Only after being stupefied for a while did Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng react by raising everybody up hurriedly. Without saying anything, Bai Yunfei gave Li Chengfeng a look. They nodded to each other. He then turned to the villagers, saying: ¡°Take good care of your injuries, everybody. We¡¯ll definitely do our best to save them and bring them back!¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    According to the villagers, those bandits had already left about three hours ago. Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng asked for the direction then gave chase at a very fast speed.


    As they galloped, the scenery on the sides of the road fell behind them quickly and their ears were filled with never-ending sounds of the wind blowing. With a solemn expression, Bai Yunfei was thinking about something, but Li Chengfeng was already holding the two daggers in his hands, his eyes glittering with rage and hatred.


    After they ran fast for about one hour, the silhouettes of a group of people appeared in a meadow ahead of them. Making use of the bright moonlight, they could see clearly that thirty to forty ferocious-looking bandits divided into several subgroups were surrounding several campfires, seemingly eating something.


    Beside each campfire, there were three to five men doing something together. After taking a careful look, Bai Yunfei immediately could not suppress the fury in his heart anymore. He reached out his right hand and the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his hand. Pushing his foot against the ground fiercely, he rushed out one step ahead of Li Chengfeng.


    Those bandits were laughing obscenely while violating several women in tattered clothes.


    ¡°Chengfeng, you pay attention to the surroundings. Don¡¯t let any bandit get away. They all deserve to die!¡±


    ¡°Let none survive... Kill!!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 16: Kill! Kill! Kill!

    Book 1 Chapter 16: Kill! Kill! Kill!


    Tiger Li was one of the four hallmasters of the Blackwood Stronghold and a late Soul Apprentice. This man¡¯s name sounded somewhat imperious but he looked more like a scholar. If he held a folding fan in his hand instead of a multi-ringed large saber, nobody would think that he was a vicious bandit.


    However, despite looking gentle and weak, he was the most brutal and ruthless among the four hallmasters. He usually killed a large number of people or even slaughtered a village just because he was slightly dissatisfied with something ¡ª like today.


    The mission of escorting the tributes back into the school had been snatched by that hallmaster Zhong, so he had really been in a bad mood. Today he took his henchmen down the mountain, wanting to find some women to play with. They unexpectedly encountered resistance in a hamlet so he destroyed the hamlet in his anger and took away seven or eight young women.


    Originally he wanted to return through the night to the stronghold but he felt somewhat tired on the way so he stopped in a vacant area to eat, preparing to have a rest before resuming his journey.


    Seeing that his subordinates were totally impatient to play with the women they had captured, Tiger Li drank all the wine in his wineskin in one go then shouted at a group on the right-hand side: ¡°Damn. It! Leave that juicy beautiful girl for me! You bastards, how dare you fight over her in front of me? That one over there too! I intend to give her to Vice-Chieftain when we return! Don¡¯t you dare snatch her, you hear?¡±


    The two groups berated by him spread out with embarrassed expressions. The group on the right apologized to him again and again with ingratiating smiles and stepped aside to make room, ready to let their hallmaster ¡®take the first bite¡¯.


    Tiger Li stood up and took two steps forwards, but he suddenly turned around as if thinking of something, looking in the direction of the road they had taken to come here, only to see a long crimson line approaching at high speed.


    After giving it a good look, he discovered that it was not a red line. Instead, it was unexpectedly a youngster holding a flaming red spear in his hand who was coming at full gallop with a totally murderous expression. It seemed the moment he saw clearly what was coming, there was already only a distance of a hundred meters left between them.


    Enemy! Moreover, this feeling¡­ This was a soul cultivator!


    Tiger Li was the type who reacted rather shrewdly. He could tell almost instantly that the visitor had no good intentions and shouted loudly: ¡°The enemy is here! Be ready to fight!¡±


    His shouting gave everybody a start. They turned their heads to take a look, only to see a man with a spear in his hands rushing at them at high speed. They were all somewhat doubtful: It¡¯s just a man. Why is Hallmaster panicking like this?


    An outermost subgroup of bandits had already raised their weapons, ready to teach this man who was charging up recklessly a brutal lesson, letting him know that he would have to pay for disturbing them when they were seeking pleasure ¡ª with his life!


    Seeing that man about to charge up to his face, the bandit in the forefront raised the weapon in his hand with a ferocious expression, ready to hack down.


    However, his raised hands stopped moving right above his head, and even the hideous grin on his face seemed to have frozen. He looked in stupefaction at the crimson spear which had pierced through his chest. The moment before his death, he thought that ¡ª his chest felt so ¡®warm¡¯¡­


    But he did not know that in addition to himself, even another bandit standing behind him had also been pierced through similarly by the spear.


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    His eyes filled with rage, Bai Yunfei charged into a bandit group in front of him without pausing and thrust the spear out efficiently. His fast speed was not something these ordinary bandits could react to in time so the spear pierced through the bodies of two bandits directly.


    All of a sudden, he pulled the spear back, letting blood spray onto his body, then made a turn. Following his body, the spear swung out in a crimson arc, its tip sweeping across the necks of three bandits. Blood spurted and these three bandits gradually fell backwards without having any reaction.


    ¡°He¡¯s a soul cultivator! Go up together, everybody! Go up together! Kill him!¡± A loud roar by Tiger Li woke the other bandits up with a start. Only when they saw their hallmaster charge at the intruder while raising his large saber did they react. Regardless of how frightened they were because the opponent was a soul cultivator, when even their hallmaster had charged up, could they possibly go into hiding? Not unless they did not want to live later.


    Tiger Li was both shocked and furious inside. As he rushed out, his mind was working overtime, ¡°Who could have thought a soul cultivator would suddenly appear and attack us? What does he want? He wants to single-handedly take on these forty something men on my side?


    Though he seems a bit more powerful than myself, I¡¯ve still got a few dozen subordinates. If we go up together, we¡¯ll definitely be able to destroy him!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cast a look at Tiger Li, who was rushing at him. His feet did not stop at all. After avoiding a saber coming at him from behind, he sent a man in front of him flying with a kick, knocking down several men who were charging up after this man. Then he thrust the handle of his spear backwards fiercely. A man behind him was immediately pierced through the neck by the spear¡¯s handle then fell backwards with his eyes popping.


    Holding the spear horizontally, Bai Yunfei blocked two sabers hacking at him from one side. He suddenly pushed with force, causing those two men to lean backwards, then swung the tip of the spear at them, splitting their throats!


    Now Tiger Li finally arrived. He had not expected this man to be so fierce that he could kill three men in just a moment. With a loud roar, he suddenly jumped up then brought his saber down on Bai Yunfei in a hack.


    It was already too late for Bai Yunfei to turn around then attack with the spear. He could only lift the spear horizontally up above his head. After blocking this saber strike head-on, he was knocked back several steps continuously by the force of the impact. When Tiger Li was about to pursue and attack Bai Yunfei, he was forced to back off by a horizontal sweep of the spear.


    After forcing Tiger Li to retreat, Bai Yunfei dashed away, extending the distance between them, and attacked another group of seven or eight bandits.


    Every time Tiger Li wanted to rush up, he forced him to retreat then pulled away and continued to deal with other bandits.


    Bai Yunfei was like a tiger among sheep. His spear, his punches and his kicks were all lethal weapons to this bandit group. One bandit after another was knocked down to the ground, leaving fewer and fewer still standing.


    When Bai Yunfei yet again pierced through the chest of a bandit with his spear, Tiger Li finally was able to grab the opportunity. With an acceleration, he rushed up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face and swung his large saber horizontally at his waist.


    Bai Yunfei planted the spear down off to one side and blocked this strike of the saber. His eyes flashing with a hint of delight, Tiger Li took half a step forwards again, resulting in him and Bai Yunfei almost standing face to face, and raised his left hand. His arm swelled up instantly, its muscles bulging out. He then struck a fierce blow at Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    He was certain that because Bai Yunfei was good at using a spear, he had to be weak in close-quarters combat. At the moment, he was close to the enemy¡¯s face so his long spear was not convenient to brandish. As long as he himself utilized his violent close-quarters attacks and was assisted by the sneak attacks of the bandits around, this man would definitely die!


    However, Bai Yunfei did not panic at all. He took half a step backwards with his right foot to create a little distance then did the same by lifting his right fist and striking a blow.


    Crisp sounds of smashed bones rang up in Tiger Li¡¯s ears and also exploded in his heart. With his eyes full of disbelief, he flew backwards involuntarily. A huge force came at him through his right fist, then came the second force and the third force. It seemed in the blink of an eye, three layers of fist force surged up through his fist. He even felt that the bones of his left arm, starting from his fist up to his shoulder, were disintegrating bit by bit.


    Overlapping Waves Art, Threefold Fist Force!


    After sending the opponent flying, Bai Yunfei did not pursue and attack him immediately. His right arm was trembling slightly. Even though he had only used the first level of the Overlapping Waves Art called Threefold Fist Force, the side effect of the eruption was still somewhat unbearable to his right arm.


    ¡°I¡¯m not proficient enough yet¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei swung his right arm a bit and channeled soulforce into it, allowing it to recover very quickly. He then raised his eyes, looking at those bandits in the surroundings, who with frightened expressions had all stopped attacking because their hallmaster had been sent flying.


    Not only those bandits, at the moment, even Tiger Li was also staring at Bai Yunfei in disbelief, his left arm shaking unnaturally. Seeing that Bai Yunfei did not pursue and attack him right away, he let out a sigh of relief, but his eyes were still filled with a deep fear.


    ¡°Go up together!! Go¡­¡±


    The words he was about to say got stuck in Tiger Li¡¯s throat because now he had discovered with fright that there were already only a few bandits still standing around.


    At Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet, over thirty bandits were lying in disorder and none of them could struggle up again!


    This shout from Tiger Li also woke up the several surviving bandits with a start. But instead of rushing up to fight the enemy as their hallmaster had told them, they started fleeing desperately.


    They were no fool! This was an enemy who had eliminated over thirty men on their side with ease and who even a soul cultivator like hallmaster Li was no match for!


    But when they had run away just a few steps, they were so frightened by two miserable cries coming from the distance that they stopped moving again.


    It turned out two men had reacted a step ahead of them and had already run away several dozen meters, being about to disappear into a grove on one side. However, these men¡¯s hearts had been penetrated by two daggers shot at them from up ahead all of a sudden. They fell down with astounded expressions.


    Li Chengfeng slowly walked out from the forest, pulled the daggers out of the two corpses then walked towards the remaining four or five bandits step by step. He gave Bai Yunfei in the distance a look, saying in a deep voice: ¡°Leave the rest to me¡­¡±


    The last four bandits had originally also wanted to run into the forest then flee for their lives. But now, seeing Li Chengfeng kill the two comrades who had fled one step ahead of them as soon as he had appeared and seeing him walking towards them with a furious look in his eyes, they were extremely frightened. With a fearful cry, they immediately ran away in all directions.


    One of them fled in a random path which happened to lead to Bai Yunfei. When he noticed this, it was already too late. Bai Yunfei sent him flying backwards with a kick. Li Chengfeng then chased up and slit his throat with a sweep.


    Without stopping, he chased after the other three runaway bandits one by one, killing them all.


    He then returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side and began to check out the bandits knocked down by Bai Yunfei earlier to finish off those who were still alive with his daggers. Seeing this, Tiger Li had an even more unsightly expression.


    He had never expected the enemy to have a companion. Moreover, this was also a soul cultivator! Seeing their ruthless manner, Tiger Li abandoned the idea of begging for mercy. His eyes glittering, he was trying to think of a way to escape.


    Suddenly, his eyes flashed with a hint of delight. He glanced out of the corners of his eyes at the three young women who were embracing each other at a place two meters away on his left-hand side. They were covering their mouths tightly, their eyes full of terror and their bodies shivering.


    A miserable cry suddenly rang out. Li Chengfeng had just discovered a bandit lying on the ground playing possum and finished him off mercilessly with a dagger blow.


    However, the moment the cry was heard, Tiger Li¡¯s eyes flashed with fierceness. He loosened his right hand, unexpectedly discarding his own weapon, then suddenly dashed to the left. At the same time, he reached out his right hand and made a grab at one of those young women!


    He had guessed that these two men were probably trying to rescue these women, therefore he wanted to take a hostage to find a chance to survive.

 Chapter 17: Declare War on the Blackwood Stronghold!

    Book 1 Chapter 17: Declare war on the Blackwood Stronghold!


    However, Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng had come here to save these women, how could they possibly let him succeed like this?


    A blue light cut across in front of Tiger Li. Afterwards, his right arm dropped down, powerless. A cold feeling began to spread out from his left arm. He was not even in any pain and only felt cold almost to the point of going numb. He halted his steps and looked in stupefaction at a round hole in his elbow. There was a blank expression in his eyes.


    Since sending Tiger Li flying with a punch earlier, Bai Yunfei had been paying attention to his every move. He had noticed those several young women on one side earlier and had been worried that if he rushed up and fought the enemy, they would very likely be injured, therefore he had not acted rashly all along. He put his right hand behind his back without a sound. With a shake of his hand, the Glacial Pricker appeared in his hand.


    The moment Tiger Li¡¯s body moved, Bai Yunfei flicked his right hand like lightning. As soon as the enemy reached out his arm, the Glacial Pricker came like a flash and pierced through it.


    After throwing the Glacial Pricker out, Bai Yunfei immediately rushed up after it. Giving Tiger Li basically no time to react, he hit him in the stomach with a full-power kick, sending him flying directly up into the air at an angle!


    Bai Yunfei did not pause at all. He gave chase urgently. When he had run over ten meters, he suddenly thrust the spear in his hand out, piercing it into the chest of Tiger Li, who was about to fall to the ground.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Tiger Li¡¯s entire body was suspended in midair. Various beams of red light shone out from inside his body. An explosion suddenly rang out and blood was scattered all over a small area like a rain, mixed with various bone and flesh fragments.


    His body had been shattered!


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    After watching the group of women who were yet to recover from their fright disappear in the direction of the village while assisting each other, Li Chengfeng turned to Bai Yunfei, asking: ¡°Yunfei, what are we going to do next? We can reach the foot of Mt. Blackwood going east for another half day. Must we get there quickly?¡±


    Bai Yunfei cast a look at the corpses all over the ground. After contemplating with his head lowered for a long time, he said with a shake of his head: ¡°No, we¡¯re going to wait here, staying by a stump waiting for more hares! We¡¯ve already killed two hallmasters of the Blackwood Stronghold. If I guess correctly, we can still wait for another one¡­¡±


    Even though Li Chengfeng did not understand what ¡®staying by a stump waiting for more hares¡¯ meant, he knew that Bai Yunfei wanted to wait here for more bandits to come again then exterminate them in an ambush.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do what you say. But next time, if there¡¯s really a hallmaster, let me have a fight with him first. I feel that I¡¯m already about to reach the middle Soul Apprentice stage. If I can gain some understanding of soulforce during combat, I should be able to have a breakthrough very quickly. If at that time I¡¯m really no match for him, you can intervene to help me.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was stupefied with a rather happy expression on his face: ¡°Oh? You¡¯re about to have a breakthrough so soon? Good, then after you reach the middle Soul Apprentice stage, we¡¯ll kill our way up the Blackwood Stronghold!¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    Tu Dazhuang, one of the four hallmasters of the Blackwood Stronghold, was nicknamed ¡®Butcher¡¯ because his weapons were relatively special. They were unexpectedly a pair of butcher knives. Someone who did not know about him would really think that he was a butcher.


    At the moment, he was leading twelve henchmen galloping on a mountain path.


    ¡°That damned Tiger Li, he even secretly took his men and went down from the mountain without Chieftain¡¯s knowledge. Though he got Vice-Chieftain¡¯s permission, he still hasn¡¯t returned for a day and night. What¡¯s really happened? Could it be something has really happened?¡± Tu Dazhuang was thinking with a somewhat impatient expression while riding a horse, his face ugly and ferocious and full of whiskers.


    ¡°Hallmaster, there seems to be someone in that vacant area up ahead¡­ They are our stronghold¡¯s men!¡±


    Hearing this, Tu Dazhuang raised his head to take a look. Indeed, there seemed to be many people lying in disorder in a vacant area not far up ahead. Even though he could not see the situation clearly, he could tell that they were none other than bandits from the Blackwood Stronghold.


    ¡°Oh? Could it be this whole bunch of bastards got drunk and have been sleeping ever since? Impossible! Quickly go take a look!¡± Tu Dazhuang gave an order. His group of mounted men sped up and rushed into the vacant area.


    When they just approached those men who were lying on the ground, a bloody stench rushed into their noses. Tu Dazhuang¡¯s expression immediately changed. When they came near them, they suddenly discovered that there were corpses all over the ground.


    Moreover, these corpses had obviously been manipulated by someone to make it impossible to see clearly from afar that they were already dead¡­


    ¡°This is bad! It¡¯s an ambush! Everybody prep¡­¡±


    It seemed all bandits¡¯ warnings just could not be finished, or perhaps Bai Yunfei never gave them a chance to finish what they were saying. The moment Tu Dazhuang uttered a word of warning, two silhouettes suddenly jumped out from within the pile of corpses and rushed straight at the bandits not far in front of them.


    Bai Yunfei fought without any suspense. The ordinary bandits were handled by him easily.


    The battle between Li Chengfeng and Tu Dazhuang, however, was rather long. In fact, Li Chengfeng was a bit weaker than his opponent, but after ending his fight, Bai Yunfei had been watching their fight on one side while holding his spear, making it impossible for Tu Dazhuang to focus his mind on fighting.


    Tu Dazhuang felt like his hands and feet were bound, but Li Chengfeng were fighting to his heart¡¯s content. His two daggers flew up and down, causing one wound after another on the opponent¡¯s body. Of course, there were quite a few wounds on his body too, but he had an advantage over his opponent, namely, he was wearing an upgraded soft armor on his body.


    As they kept fighting each other, Li Chengfeng¡¯s speed and strength suddenly unexpectedly improved quite a lot. Bai Yunfei was happy inside: ¡°I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d make a breakthrough to reach the middle Soul Apprentice stage right in the middle of a fight!¡±


    When one was rising, the other was falling. Tu Dazhuang was gradually put at a disadvantage. Eventually, relying on the additional effects of the two daggers, Li Chengfeng made him bleed to death!


    When the fighting had finished, Bai Yunfei lifted an unconscious bandit up and threw him to one side ¡ª this was the only bandit he had not killed. Then he took out a bottle of medicine and gave it to Li Chengfeng, saying: ¡°Let¡¯s rest for a while. After that, we¡¯ll learn about some circumstances of the Blackwood Stronghold¡­¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    In a spacious hall in the Blackwood Stronghold, a middle-aged man who looked gentle and cultivated was sitting in the head position. He was none other than the chieftain of the Blackwood Stronghold, Han Xiao. In the first subordinate chair on the left, there was a burly man with a yellow face. This was the vice-chieftain Yang Tian. Next after him was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man. He was the only remaining of the four hallmasters in the stronghold, Xiao Chen.


    At the moment, these men were all listening with solemn expressions to the report of a bandit in the hall.


    ¡°Pa!¡±


    Han Xiao¡¯s expression became more and more unsightly. Eventually, he could not help smashing an armrest of the chair he was sitting in with a smack of his palm and roaring exasperatedly: ¡°Who can tell me what¡¯s going on?! Tiger Li went down from the mountain without permission and hasn¡¯t returned. Butcher was sent to look for him but hasn¡¯t been heard from ever since either. Even the several batches of men sent afterwards to probe into the situation have all gone missing in action¡­ What¡¯s happened?! Could it be there are fierce floods and savage beasts at the foot of the mountain? They have all gone missing without a trace. Does someone want to target our Blackwood Stronghold?!¡±


    Han Xiao¡¯s elegant-looking face was now somewhat ferocious. When his eyes swept over that man who was reporting, he immediately felt like he had fallen into an ice cellar. He sat on the floor with a dreadfully pale face, his entire body trembling: ¡°Chief¡­ Chieftain, I, I don¡¯t know either¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be agitated, Chieftain. If there¡¯s really a strong enemy outside, then we must not lose our presence of mind.¡± That rude-looking vice-chieftain Yang Tian was unexpectedly rather calm at the moment. After stopping Han Xiao from getting mad, he continued: ¡°The current situation is unclear, so we must not throw ourselves into disarray and let the enemy take advantage of this.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any opinions?¡± Han Xiao asked after calming down a bit.


    ¡°Hallmaster Li and hallmaster Tu haven¡¯t returned. I think it¡¯s most likely they have already met with accidents. They are late Soul Apprentices and have several dozen subordinates, but none of them has returned. My guess is that the enemy are very likely soul cultivators too, and not weak ones at that. The most important thing is, they have very likely come here to specifically target our Blackwood Stronghold!¡±


    ¡°But, the big powers in the several cities nearby all know that our Blackwood Stronghold is backed by our school. Even the local authorities turn a blind eye to us. Who would want to target us?¡±


    ¡°The enemy have eliminated all the men we¡¯ve sent to probe, naturally because they don¡¯t want us to know their identities, and also because they want to put us under a mental strain. I feel that we¡¯d better not send anyone down from the mountain again. Let¡¯s strengthen the defense on the mountain and see if we can lure the enemy into going up the mountain. But¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?¡± Han Xiao asked doubtfully on seeing his somewhat unsightly expression.


    ¡°Hallmaster Zhong escorted the tributes back into the school. He should have already returned to the stronghold. But now I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Han Xiao was so shocked that he stood up all of a sudden, stared at Yang Tian and asked: ¡°You mean, even hallmaster Zhong has also fallen victim to the enemy?¡±


    After seeing Yang Tian nod, Han Xiao sat back down in a somewhat dejected manner and waved his hand to everybody, saying: ¡°All of you can leave. Just do as Vice-Chieftain said. Strengthen the defense on the mountain and report immediately if there¡¯s an infiltrator!¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    At a secret place in the forest at the foot of Mt. Blackwood, from here, it was possible to see the only road leading up the mountain.


    After practicing spear techniques, Bai Yunfei was leaning on a tree resting. Li Chengfeng looked at him and asked somewhat doubtfully: ¡°Yunfei, those bandits haven¡¯t made a move for three days already. Are we going to keep watching at the foot of the mountain like this? Though we have brought quite a lot of food with us, it¡¯s nothing compared to those bandits¡¯, right? What are we going to do if they don¡¯t come down from the mountain for a month or two?¡±


    Bai Yunfei took out his bag of water, drank a gulp and said smilingly: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s those bandits who should worry. We already learned a bit about the situation on the mountain. Of the soul cultivators on the mountain at the moment, that late Soul Personage vice-chieftain alone is enough to draw both of us into an arduous struggle, not to mention that middle Soul Warrior chieftain. There¡¯s also a late Soul Apprentice hallmaster. If we charge up rashly, it¡¯s very likely we¡¯ll put ourselves in danger¡­¡±


    ¡°Are these bits of information we extorted useful? What if we have been deceived?¡± Li Chengfeng asked somewhat doubtfully.


    ¡°We can¡¯t trust them completely, but they¡¯re not totally useless. At least we know roughly the power of the bandits on the mountain, the general terrain and some secret spots to keep watch. Looks like they won¡¯t come down from the mountain of their own accord. Then, tonight let¡¯s go for a walk on the mountain.¡±


    Late at night, a soundly sleeping Han Xiao was suddenly woken up with a start by a clamor. He quickly stood up with vigilance. When he had just put on his clothes, knocks on the door rang out. A bandit reported outside the door: ¡°Chieftain, someone has gone up the mountain secretly! Hallmaster Xiao has already rushed to the site of the incident!¡±


    When Han Xiao arrived at the hall of the stronghold, vice-chieftain Yang Tian happened to arrive at the same time as him. After seeing Han Xiao, Yang Tian said with a somewhat anxious expression: ¡°Chieftain, let¡¯s hurry over there. That boor Xiao Chen unexpectedly didn¡¯t wait for our arrangements and has gone there without permission. Now we can only hope that he can stall the intruder until we arrive¡­¡±


    Bringing along a group of bandits, the two of them immediately rushed out of the stronghold. Before they saw the site of the fight, they already vaguely heard a roar of war cries and continuous miserable yells.


    There was only a road leading up Mt. Blackwood, and it was narrow at the bottom and wide at the top. At the moment, there was a group of over a hundred bandits at a narrow junction, but most of them were crowded at the back. There were only a few dozen bandits really fighting at the forefront.


    Li Chengfeng was dashing back and forth like a fast and nimble hunting leopard. The daggers in his hands seemed to draw blood every time he struck a blow. Almost all the bandits he came near were killed by him.


    Not far behind him, holding the Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei was fighting a man who also used a spear. The man who was fighting him was none other than Xiao Chen.


    Bai Yunfei was even more powerful than Xiao Chen, but his spear techniques were obviously not as skillful as the opponent¡¯s. Therefore, as he held back on purpose, the two of them were also locked in a close fight.


    After piercing his spear through a bandit who wanted to sneakily attack him, Bai Yunfei crouched down, avoiding a horizontal sweep of Xiao Chen¡¯s spear. At the same time, he forced the opponent to retreat several steps with a horizontal sweep. Raising his head looking towards the top of the mountain, he could vaguely see a large group of bandits coming in flocks.


    Bai Yunfei struck several blows at Xiao Chen continuously with his spear then grabbed up a bandit who wanted to sneakily attack him and threw him towards the opponent. He turned to Li Chengfeng and shouted: ¡°It¡¯s about time. Prepare to retreat!¡± At the same time, he turned around, ready to run away.


    ¡°Want to flee? Not so easy!¡± Having smacked that man away, Xiao Chen shouted loudly as soon as he heard that Bai Yunfei wanted to withdraw. He thrust his spear at Bai Yunfei¡¯s back.


    But he did not know that the moment Bai Yunfei turned around, a faint smile appeared on the corners of his mouth!


    Using that one step he had taken as the axis, he turned around abruptly. The Fire-tipped Spear in his hand was swung in a crimson arc, deflecting the incoming spear off to one side.


    The huge force coming through the body of the spear frightened Xiao Chen. Then his face was full of shock ¡ª all along, the opponent unexpectedly had not gone all out! Just when he wanted to back off, Bai Yunfei pushed his feet against the ground and rushed straight up to his face instead of pulling the spear back and attacking with it.


    Under the opponent¡¯s terrified look, Bai Yunfei lifted his right fist and struck a devastating blow at his totally defenseless chest.


    Overlapping Waves Art, Threefold Fist Force!


    The spear slipped off Xiao Chen¡¯s hand. An area on his chest curved inwards in a strange manner and he was sent flying on his back while vomiting blood.


    Having practiced the Threefold Fist Force for the last several days, now Bai Yunfei did not need buffer time anymore after he used it. He shook his spear, thrusting it repeatedly at the opponent¡¯s body, which was still in midair after being sent flying.


    Various bloody holes appeared on Xiao Chen¡¯s body, but he had no reaction. Obviously he was already dead, but Bai Yunfei did not stop at all. When he thrust the spear out for the sixth time, his eyes glittered and he shouted fiercely: ¡°Burst!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Under the gaze of a whole group of dumbstruck bandits, Xiao Chen¡¯s body exploded into pieces in the blink of an eye. A rain of blood then fell down over a small area, wetting the heads and faces of all the bandits.


    This was the first scene Han Xiao and Yang Tian saw upon arriving at the site of the battle.


    Bai Yunfei cast a look at the large group of bandits who had just appeared in his field of vision in the distance then turned around without hesitation. He and Li Chengfeng disappeared together on the path at the foot of the mountain. Not a single bandit dared to go to pursue and attack them.


    From the foot of the mountain, distant, resounding words then came into the ears of all the bandits who had just arrived on the mountain.


    ¡°Three days from now, we¡¯ll destroy the Blackwood Stronghold! Anyone who will still be on the mountain will be¡­ killed!¡±

 Chapter 18: Bai Yunfeis Plan

    Chapter 18: Bai Yunfei''s Plan


    In the hall of the stronghold, Han Xiao was sitting in a chair with a solemn expression. Under the illumination of the lights in the hall, his face looked somewhat ferocious and terrifying. A group of bandits guarding outside the entrance hall all held their breath for fear that they would annoy their chieftain and become a target for him to vent his anger on.


    This battle tonight had resulted in the death of the only remaining hallmaster and ordinary bandit casualties of nearly one hundred! However, when Han Xiao had arrived, he could not even see clearly what the enemy looked like.


    ¡°Damn it! Damn it! Who are they actually?! That man who killed Xiao Chen, the spear in his hands is definitely a soul armament! And not low-level at that! High human-tier... or is it an earth-tier soul item? Destroying my Blackwood Stronghold in three days from now?... Such insolence!¡± In his fury, Han Xiao smacked his palm down and the newly changed chair under him was gloriously relieved of its duties once again.


    Soul armaments were powerful items that were usually made from the core of soulbeasts or special materials that''d otherwise contain the natural elements.


    Soul armaments were usually divided in between three tiers. Human, earth, and heaven. These three tiers were then divided into three more categorizations, low, middle, and high. Even Low-human tier soul armaments were considered to be god-like in the eyes of the common people. Despite being the chieftain of the Blackwood Stronghold, Han Xiao had only one low-human tier soul armament called the ''Goldsilk Soul Armor'' as a reward to him from his school. Even now, Han Xiao couldn''t even possible imagine the grade of the crimson spear used by the killer of Xiao Chen.


    Though an unsightly expression was still on the vice-chieftain, Yang Tian''s face, he was much calmer now. Only after Han Xiao¡¯s fury had subsided somewhat did he say: ¡°Chieftain, please calm down quickly. I¡¯d like to repeat myself: We must not throw ourselves into disarray, otherwise we¡¯ll fall for the enemy¡¯s trickery...¡±


    ¡°Oh? What are your opinions?¡± Han Xiao knew that he was indeed less resourceful than this vice-chieftain. There had been many times when Yang Tian had played the role of counselor in the stronghold.


    ¡°Firstly, I can confirm one thing, that is, the enemy are definitely not very strong, or else they would have already gone up and attacked us directly. I guess it¡¯s very likely they don¡¯t have someone more powerful than a Soul Warrior among them.


    ¡°Besides, the intention of the two men on the mountain tonight was very obvious too. It was a scare tactic! Not us, they wanted to frighten those ordinary people under us. To these people, soul cultivators are extremely powerful beings. Seeing with their own eyes a normally lofty hallmaster killed like that was an unexpected shock to them. Plus, that man said those words in the end. I think... within the next several days, there will most probably be some unforeseen events happening in the stronghold.¡±


    ¡°You mean... some will flee from the stronghold?¡±


    ¡°Very likely.¡±


    ¡°Are they stupid? Those men are waiting at the foot of the mountain. How can they come out without getting killed?¡±


    ¡°If they think that they¡¯ll definitely die by staying here, some will be willing to give it a try. After all, what that man said in the end was ¡®anyone who stays on the mountain will die¡¯, in other words, ¡®anyone who leaves the stronghold can live¡¯. This should be what they think...¡±


    ¡°Humph! If someone dares to defect from the stronghold, we won¡¯t need to wait for the enemy to go up the mountain, ¡®cause I will snap his neck before that!¡±


    ¡°The ¡®execute one to warn a hundred¡¯ method is best used when only a small part have made up their minds to run away and the majority are still hesitating about whether to run away or not. For the next several days, let¡¯s tell our trusted men to pay more attention to what those subordinates will do...¡± Yang Tian¡¯s expression was rather frustrated. This plan of the enemy was really too wicked. They had yet to officially go up the mountain to attack, but they had already caused disunity in the stronghold.


    ¡°That man said they will definitely destroy the stronghold in three days from now. Can we believe his words?¡± Han Xiao asked in a hurry after remembering a problem.


    ¡°Of course we can¡¯t. It¡¯s just a ploy to unnerve us. But... we can¡¯t rule out the possibility of it being a ploy within a ploy. They may kill their way up the mountain in three days from now... But if we only pay attention to this ¡®three days from now¡¯ deadline, it¡¯s very likely they¡¯ll launch a sneak attack on us before that. Alas... It¡¯s very obvious the enemy have achieved their goal! Now, because we can be attacked anytime, we have no choice but to be concerned and vigilant all day long.¡±


    ¡°Then what should we do?¡± Hearing him say so, Han Xiao was also somewhat flustered inside.


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way. We can¡¯t take our men and rush down from the mountain because they most probably are already waiting for us in ambush. So, we have no choice but to strengthen the defense on the mountain and be ready to fight the enemy anytime...¡±


    ¡°Damn it! When has our Blackwood Stronghold ever been so useless?... You also said they very likely don¡¯t have someone as strong as a Soul Warrior. Why don¡¯t I just personally take everyone in the stronghold and rush down from the mountain? It doesn¡¯t matter if there¡¯s an ambush or not, I¡¯ll just destroy them with my sheer power!¡±


    ¡°You absolutely can¡¯t do that! If you¡¯re a bit careless, the Blackwood Stronghold will really be exterminated. Plus... have you forgotten the soul armament that man used to kill Xiao Chen? That spear is definitely not low-grade. To soul cultivators below the Soul Sprite stage, killing someone of a higher level with a powerful soul armament is not difficult at all. Are you sure that low-human tier Goldsilk Soul Armor of yours can withstand that spear¡¯s blade?¡±


    Han Xiao fell silent. The Goldsilk Soul Armor granted to him by the school naturally was impenetrable to normal weapons, but as soon as he thought about how Xiao Chen had been shattered into pieces by that spear, he felt a chill in his heart. He... did not dare to gamble!


    ¡°Then just do as you said. At least tonight they won¡¯t make another move, right? All of you can go now...¡±


    Dejected, Han Xiao stood up and walked out of the wall for his own room. From afar, an nearly inaudible sigh could be heard from him.


    ¡°Could it be... my Blackwood Stronghold will be destroyed in such a baffling manner...?¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    At the foot of Mt. Blackwood, Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng were sitting in a grove treating the wounds on their bodies.


    ¡°This battle was really satisfying! Those inhuman bandits who normally looked at us like we were ants they could kill whenever they like were killed by me with ease stroke after stroke... If I had possessed this power earlier, if I had possessed this power earlier... My dad, my mom, my older sister, also Uncle Zhou next door, village chief Uncle Li and everybody else...¡± Li Chengfeng mumbled to himself while leaning on a tree looking into the sky through the gaps between the leaves, ¡°Now that I have the power, I¡¯m going to... exterminate all bandits! Kill them all...¡±


    ¡°Are you okay, Chengfeng? You...¡± Bai Yunfei, who was on one side of him, could not help calling him upon seeing him become more and more unusual as he talked.


    Li Chengfeng stopped talking to himself, massaged his head a bit then smiled at Bai Yunfei, saying: ¡°I know what you¡¯re are worrying about, but rest assured, I won¡¯t lose myself. Those bandits all deserve to die. I¡¯m just taking revenge for myself and those who died. There¡¯s no other goal. I won¡¯t become a murderous demon...¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief, saying: ¡°Yeah, they all deserve to die. If we let them go, they will make even more innocent people suffer to the fullest. When I first encountered them, I wasn¡¯t so determined as you were, but now... we¡¯ll definitely destroy them completely!¡±


    ¡°Right, aren¡¯t you about to reach the mid-stage Soul Personage level? That spear-wielding bandit who fought you before was much weaker than you, why did you fight him for so long? Only to wait for that chieftain¡¯s arrival to strike fear into him?¡± Li Chengfeng could not help asking doubtfully upon recalling the last battle.


    ¡°That¡¯s one thing. The most important thing is, didn¡¯t you say he was also a spear user? Though I practiced my spear techniques to a decent level, I had too little real combat experience. A spear user like him was hard to come by so naturally I had to fight him for as long as possible to learn from him.¡±


    ¡°Oh... I really can¡¯t understand you. You still call yourself weak? The power of your Fire-tipped Spear is enough to make up for the deficiencies in your techniques, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only true when dealing with the enemies we¡¯ve encountered so far. In the world of soul cultivators, we are still very, very weak...¡± As he said, Bai Yunfei could not help thinking about that casual look Zhang Yang¡¯s father Zhang Zhenshan had given him. The Soul Sprite stage was a height he simply could not reach at the moment, let alone the stage of the mysterious old man who had given him the space ring.


    ¡°Right, what did you mean when shouting those words in the end? Are we going to attack the stronghold in three days from now?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. I just fooled them...¡±


    ¡°... ... ... ...¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, it¡¯s just a little ploy to make it even more convenient for us to get into action later.¡± Bai Yunfei continued laughingly while looking up the mountain. ¡°If I guess correctly, in two days from now, some bandits will probably go down from the mountain to run away. Regardless of whether that chieftain will take any suppression measure to stop this, it won¡¯t be a disadvantage to us.¡±


    ¡°Then... if some really run away from the mountain, will we let them go?¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re willing to let them go?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! These inhuman scoundrels, if we let any of them go, they will become a scourge.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s the end of it. If someone really goes down from the mountain, we¡¯ll kill him.¡±


    ¡°... ... ... ...¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s take turns to rest. In the next several days, we¡¯ll have to intensify our training. Both you and I have fast practice speeds. I believe it won¡¯t take long for me to break through to become a mid-stage Soul Personage and for you to reach the late-stage Soul Apprentice level as well. By then, the time will be ripe, and we¡¯ll destroy this bandit den in one fell stroke!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 19: The Time is Ripe, Infiltrate the Stronghold!

    Within the next three days, some bandits indeed could not endure the fear in their hearts anymore and wanted to secretly flee down the mountain. They were basically the bandits who had witnessed with their own eyes the fight between Bai Yunfei and Xiao Chen.


    When the first twelve men took advantage of the night to stealthily go out of the stronghold, they were detected, captured and brought back. Han Xiao immediately gave an order to kill them all for betraying the stronghold.


    This ruthless act really deterred some bandits who had been scared out of their wits by Bai Yunfei from fleeing, but the panic in the entire stronghold had not lessened one bit. Instead, because it had been building up for several days, it was more intense now than ever.


    The day after the third day was Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®appointment day¡¯. Almost all the bandits in the stronghold had not slept for a night. Now, even when they walked, they looked around a few times at every step for fear that the enemy would storm the place suddenly and execute them.


    But... Bai Yunfei failed to keep the appointment.


    After a day of being on the alert and combat-ready, everybody realized that this was just the enemy deliberately making things look mysterious. They could not help letting out sighs of relief. However, on the fifth day, when they had yet to loosen up completely, Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng killed their way up Mt. Blackwood again!


    They raided two patrolling groups of bandits then immediately fled when they saw the chieftain and vice-chieftain appear!


    For the next three days, the bandits in the Blackwood Stronghold simply had to live in deep distress because the enemy could charge up the mountain at any time, and instead of attacking the stronghold, they would kill the ones on patrol near the foot of the mountain then withdraw. The chieftain and vice-chieftain once waited with their men for an entire day at the entrance but nothing happened at all. As soon as they returned to the stronghold, they enemy came out again...


    Unexpectedly, when Han Xiao and Yang Tian regained their composure, there were already fewer than two hundred men left in the stronghold.


    In the hall of the stronghold, Yang Tian looked at the pieces of the tables and chairs destroyed by Han Xiao in his anger all over the floor then said slowly: ¡°Chieftain, if this goes on, we simply can only wait for our deaths. I think the two of us must take a risk and scout around...¡±


    ¡°Oh? What do you mean?¡± Han Xiao asked after suppressing the fury in his mind.


    ¡°Clearly the enemy are certain that we don¡¯t dare to come down from the mountain to counterattack so they use this ¡®cut flesh with a blunt knife¡¯ kind of tactic. In the end, when our stronghold has seriously weakened and lost most of its fighting power, they will go up the mountain to attack again, destroying our Blackwood Stronghold at one stroke. At this point, if we take our subordinates and rush down, we¡¯ll most probably fall into the enemy¡¯s trap. So, I think only you and I should go down from the mountain to scout around.¡±


    Yang Tian paused for a while then continued: ¡°Given our skills, even if the enemy has set up an ambush, we can still get away as long as we¡¯re cautious. At least, we¡¯ll be able to learn a bit about the general situation of the enemy to decide how to fight them later.¡±


    Han Xiao¡¯s mind was already in complete chaos at the moment. He thought for a while then said with a nod: ¡°Alright! Just do as you say. So when do we start?¡±


    Yang Tian observed the color of the sky and said: ¡°It¡¯s already night now. We¡¯ll go down from the mountain to scout at about 3 a.m.!¡±


    When Yang Tian walked out of the hall, he looked somewhat frustrated and worried. In fact, he basically did not want to go down from the mountain to scout. He had said that they could get away if they were a bit cautious only to console his chieftain, otherwise, he would have taken this measure right from the beginning. But now, he had no choice but to do this. However, as soon as he thought about that crimson spear, he could not help shivering inside, wondering if he himself could ward it off in an ambush...


    ... ... ... ...


    At the foot of the mountain, Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng were slowly heading up the mountain in secret under the cover of the night.


    ¡°Following the plan, tonight we¡¯re destroying this Blackwood Stronghold once and for all!¡±


    After practicing for the last several days, Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng had already become a mid-stage Soul Personage stage and a late-stage Soul Apprentice respectively. Therefore, according to their original plan, they had a detailed discussion and decided to launch a full-scale attack on the stronghold tonight.


    Of course, killing their way up the path was out of the question. Even though Bai Yunfei was now powerful enough to deal with the vice-chieftain, if the mid-stage Soul Warrior chieftain were to join the fight, he''d have trouble emerging victorious; even if he and Li Chengfeng teamed up. There was also the fact that there were still more than a hundred ordinary bandits left to fight.


    Therefore, they finally decided that Bai Yunfei would infiltrate into the stronghold first and find an opportunity to kill the vice-chieftain. If he succeeded, tonight they would definitely be able to destroy the Blackwood Stronghold completely!


    Thanks to the sneak attack tactic they had been using for the last several days, they were rather familiar with the entrance area. Add to that the intelligence they had extorted earlier, and Bai Yunfei already had a general idea of the situation on the entire Mt. Blackwood.


    Now the patrol intensity of those bandits was obviously much weaker than before. This coupled with his nimbleness and stealth allowed Bai Yunfei to infiltrate into the stronghold without being detected by anybody.


    Although he already had a layout of the stronghold¡¯s interior in his mind, upon really entering it, he felt that this stronghold was rather large. He had to carefully avoid the bandits who were patrolling back and forth too, so after going for a while, he felt somewhat confused and disoriented.


    Now he had no choice but to plan to capture a bandit and extract the location of the vice-chieftain¡¯s dwelling place from him.


    When he arrived at the side of a room, some food smells came out from inside. Apparently this was the kitchen. Moreover, there were vague sounds of movements inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s already night now. Most of the bandits are resting. Could it be someone got hungry and ran over here to find something to eat? This is just right. I choose you!¡±


    After looking around, Bai Yunfei carefully pushed open that unlatched door. He rushed in like a flash then dashed up to the back of the person in the room and covered the target¡¯s mouth with his left hand. When he lifted his right hand, the Glacial Pricker had already appeared in his hand. He put it on that person¡¯s neck and shouted in a low voice: ¡°Don¡¯t make a sound! Or I¡¯ll kill you right away!¡±


    Captured all of a sudden, that person let out muffled shouts instinctively. However, after hearing his words, they stopped doing this at once obediently, but they could not stop their body from trembling all over.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Only thanks to the dim moonlight outside the window did Bai Yunfei see clearly that the target was unexpectedly a woman!


    Could it be this was a female bandit?


    Bai Yunfei was doubtful for a short while, but then he said threateningly: ¡°I¡¯ll let go of you now. Don¡¯t shout! Or I¡¯ll kill you just like I killed other bandits!¡±


    That woman was trembling nonstop in fear, but after hearing these words, she was stupefied for a while then unexpectedly relaxed. Without struggling, she nodded slightly.


    Bai Yunfei slowly loosened the hand which was covering her mouth, but the Glacial Pricker still had yet to move away from her neck. If she dared to shout for help, he would kill her instantly.


    That women slightly gasped for air then said in a low voice: ¡°You... You are the person who wants to destroy the stronghold? You... You have come to rescue us?¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei was stupefied. What did she mean? Seeing that this woman did not want to shout for help, he put the pricker down a bit then took half a step backwards. Only now did he see clearly the woman in front of him.


    This was an ordinary middle-aged woman dressed in somewhat shabby clothes. She was looking at Bai Yunfei with an expression full of hope. No matter how he looked at her, she resembled a virtuous woman in a common village instead of a bandit.


    ¡°You¡¯re not a bandit? Who are you?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in a low voice.


    ¡°I... I came from Cheng village a hundred kilometers to the west side of Mt. Blackwood. A year ago, the bandits captured me and brought me up into the stronghold to do the washing and cooking for them. Besides myself, there are still many people locked up in this stronghold. It¡¯s still tolerable for old people like me because we¡¯re only in charge of the rough work and the food. But... those young women, not only are they forced to work, they are also tortured... I beg of you, please save them!¡± The middle-aged woman implored in a low voice as if she was clutching at the only life-saving straw.


    Unexpectedly, there were still many abducted women in this stronghold!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 20: Kill the Vice-chieftain!

    Book 1 Chapter 20: Kill the vice-chieftain!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression changed repeatedly. He had not expected the existence of these people in the stronghold.


    However, he did not find this strange either. There were several hundred bandits in the entire stronghold. Those vicious bandits could not always wash their own clothes and cook their own meals, therefore it was not unusual to see abducted women in the stronghold. Only he had overlooked this problem all along.


    Now to think about it, this should be the reason why that bandit group he had encountered last time had kidnapped those women after destroying a village.


    Bai Yunfei estimated the time for a while and said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Since I already know, I¡¯ll definitely rescue all of you. Now, take me to the place where they are locked up first. I need to learn a bit about the situation.¡±


    Guided by the middle-aged woman, Bai Yunfei arrived at a shabby building that looked like a prison cell. Unexpectedly, there were no guards at the entrance, and the door seemed to be unlocked too.


    Even before getting close to it, Bai Yunfei heard lewd laughs of a good several men and sounds of women pleading coming from inside.


    His expression changed, but the middle-aged woman seemed to be used to this, distress showing up in her eyes: ¡°They¡¯ve come again. Recently these bandits have been living in fear all day long. There¡¯s nowhere for them to go to vent their frustration so they have tortured them twice as much as before¡­¡±


    ¡°Was it¡­ because of me? Because I put these bandits under pressure, they have tortured them twice as much?¡± Bai Yunfei went into a trance for a moment. There was an indescribable feeling in his heart.


    Suddenly he raised his head and his body turned into a blur, rushing into the room.


    The moment he entered the room, he saw clearly the situation inside. The chamber was divided into five identical prison cells. In each cell, there were nearly ten women in a corner of the walls, huddling together while trembling.


    In the cell nearest Bai Yunfei, six bandits with repulsive naked bodies were gathering around several young women and tearing at their already tattered clothes.


    With their backs facing the door, the bandits simply did not notice that someone else had come in. Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression was somewhat distorted, his fury seemingly rushing out of his eyes. In the blink of an eye, he charged up to the back of a bandit and thrust the Glacial Pricker in his hand into that man¡¯s heart without hesitation!


    To avoid horrifying the women at the scene, Bai Yunfei did not kill the six bandits in an overly bloody way. They all died from a stab to the heart in almost the blink of an eye.


    The women seemed to be scared out of their wits by this sudden event. They all looked at Bai Yunfei in stupefaction with dropped jaws.


    Right at this moment, that middle-aged women also walked in. Seeing Bai Yunfei throwing the six bandit corpses into a pile like throwing trash, she trembled slightly, but she reacted very fast by hurriedly walking up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side and saying in a low voice to those women: ¡°Don¡¯t make a sound, everybody! Don¡¯t be afraid! This person has come to rescue us!¡±


    She seemed to be influential among these women. At least what she had said made them loosen up. After understanding the situation, they even began to discuss with each other in low voices somewhat excitedly while often glancing stealthily at Bai Yunfei with expressions containing traces of hope and fear.


    Ten minutes later, having changed into the clothes of a bandit, Bai Yunfei walked to the door and said to the middle-aged woman: ¡°All of you just wait in here and shut the door tightly. Unless I come back, don¡¯t open it, no matter what. Do you understand?¡±


    He observed the position of the moon then estimated the time once again. Hiding his body in the shadows of the houses, he quickly headed for the courtyard house where that vice-chieftain lived as informed by the middle-aged woman.


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    Yang Tian was sitting with legs crossed on his bed channeling his soulforce, adjusting his condition in preparation for the probe tonight. But he always felt somewhat uneasy and could not focus on practicing. Instead, he grew more and more restless.


    All of a sudden, bursts of clamor came into the room, vaguely containing wave after wave of war cries.


    ¡°Vice-Chieftain! This is bad! The enemy have gone up to attack again!¡± An urgent shout rang out outside the door. Yang Tian was frightened inside. He immediately grabbed up the large saber beside him and quickly walked out of the room.


    When he knocked open the door, the man who had just reported was standing on one side with his head lowered. Yang Tian did not care about him either. He immediately turned to go towards the hall of the stronghold, at the same time giving an order: ¡°Tell everybody to prepare for battle! Chieftain and¡­¡±


    Before he could finish what he was saying, he suddenly felt a chill on his back, his hair standing up on end. A fear of death rushed into his mind. Having no time to think carefully, he turned around like lightning and lifted his large saber up to his chest.


    At the same time, he threw a kick with his right foot without thinking, knocking back the person who was attacking him from behind. After thudding several steps backwards, he felt a chill at his heart area. When he lowered his head to take a look, he was shocked to discover that a hole had been pierced through the thick body of the long saber in his hand. A hole half an inch deep had also been pierced into his chest, almost taking his life!


    Taking advantage of the opportunity created by the confusion Li Chengfeng had caused when launching an attack at the foot of the mountain, Bai Yunfei had impersonated a messenger and used a sneak attack on the enemy, but unexpectedly, it had still been avoided.


    Yang Tian felt bursts of coldness coming from his wound. When he raised his head again and saw that glittering blue short pricker in the opponent¡¯s hand, he shouted in shock: ¡°Soul item! You are¡­¡±


    Nobody should talk so much nonsense in a fight!


    ¡°I must finish the fight quickly! If that chieftain comes here in time, I¡¯ll be in trouble!¡±


    Knocked back by a kick from the enemy, Bai Yunfei had a slightly disappointed expression, but he did not pause at all. With a shake of his wrist, the Glacial Pricker disappeared and the crimson Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his hand. He gave it a jerk, thrusting it straight at Yang Tian.


    ¡°An interspatial ring? It¡¯s you!¡± The moment Yang Tian saw the crimson spear appear, he had an even more astounded expression. Not daring to block this thrust, he leaned to one side and avoided it with difficulty.


    However, he was after all a soul cultivator with a lot of combat experience so he calmed down almost instantly. At least that was how he looked on the outside. As he dodged and warded off the spear, his mind was racing: ¡°He has unexpectedly infiltrated the stronghold! But he¡¯s only a middle Soul Personage. Though he has an extremely powerful soul weapon in his hands, if I can stall him until Chieftain arrives¡­ we¡¯ll win!¡±


    After regaining his fighting spirit, Yang Tian also gradually recovered his state and even began to counterattack. The two of them were comparable in power so they were locked in a close fight under the flashes and shadows of the weapons. A group of bandits had come here after hearing the sounds of fighting and were gathering outside the door, but they did not dare to intervene.


    As the fight went on, Bai Yunfei looked more and more anxious. As time passed, his expression also seemed to become more and more unsightly. However, Yang Tian was excited inside and seemed to get bolder as the fight progressed.


    His eyes flashing with determination, Bai Yunfei suddenly changed the way he fought. He unexpectedly gave up defending most of his body to begin to attack recklessly.


    Yang Tian¡¯s eyes flashed. He thought that the opponent had become so impatient that he had lost his presence of mind. As he dodged, he hacked his long saber at Bai Yunfei repeatedly without hesitation.


    Ding! Ding! Ding! A series of sounds of metal clashing against metal rang out. Bai Yunfei had unexpectedly deliberately resisted several blows of the saber head-on with his body. Although the +10 soft armor could not remain intact under the attack of a middle Soul Personage like Yang Tian, whose some blows had broken it, it had withstood most of the damage. Several wounds had also appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist, but they were not serious at all.


    Yang Tian was shocked once again. Moreover, when he hit the left side of the opponent¡¯s waist with yet another saber strike, a strange reaction force suddenly came at him. This was none other than the additional effect of the +10 soft armor ¡ª damage reflection! Because he had not anticipated this, the long saber was almost sent flying from his hand, and his arm was also raised outwards. Bai Yunfei seized this opportunity and thrust his spear out, its tip flickering with a red light.


    Yang Tian did his utmost to dodge but the tip of the spear still pierced into his left shoulder. He only felt a scorching force spread throughout his body in the blink of an eye. His left shoulder was even in a burning pain and he could not feel his left arm altogether!


    The only pity was that the explosion effect had not been triggered, otherwise this one blow alone would have been enough to kill him!


    His eyes filled with a deep terror, Yang Tian wanted to retreat, but Bai Yunfei kept him entangled so he had no choice but to resist desperately.


    Then there was a clamor at the door. With a glance, Yang Tian saw Han Xiao coming in a rush and had a pleasantly surprised expression. Clenching his teeth, he struck a fierce blow with the saber, forcing Bai Yunfei back half a step, then jumped off to one side with all his might, pulling away from Bai Yunfei. He shouted with his mouth: ¡°Chieftain, help me¡­¡±


    The moment he jumped away, he glanced at Bai Yunfei and did not see Bai Yunfei pursue and attack him so he was delighted inside. As soon as he landed, he wanted to turn around to kill this man with the chieftain. But he saw Bai Yunfei throw something blue out of his hand like lightning with a flick.


    A blue light then pierced through his chest in a flash!

 Chapter 21: The Final Fight Against a Soul Warrior and Flying Daggers!

    Yang Tian had a blank expression. He felt that his entire body¡¯s vitality was flowing away from his chest. His eyes gradually lost focus and in the end he fell to the ground with a thud.


    When Han Xiao knew that someone had gone up the mountain to attack, he arrived at the hall as fast as possible and began to instruct his subordinates to prepare for battle, at the same time waiting for Yang Tian to come. But after waiting for a while, one of his subordinates came and reported that the vice-chieftain was fighting an enemy and that the two of them were comparable in power.


    Han Xiao was frightened because someone comparable to Yang Tian in power had to be at least a mid-stage Soul Personage too! He immediately hurried over there without hesitation.


    However, when he finally saw the two combatants, Yang Tian was at a disadvantage and even on the verge of death!


    Before he could rush up and help, Yang Tian unexpectedly made a mistake and was killed by the enemy!


    Taking advantage of the moments when everybody was still shocked by Yang Tian¡¯s sudden death, Bai Yunfei quickly dashed up to the wall behind Yang Tian and pulled the Glacial Pricker out from its surface.


    Almost as soon as he turned around, Han Xiao¡¯s attack already came.


    Fast, it was really too fast. Bai Yunfei simply had no time to counterattack with the spear and could only dodge to one side within a hair¡¯s breadth. His left arm was still cut with a deep wound open to the bone by the opponent¡¯s short blade.


    ¡°This is the power of the Soul Warrior stage? I misjudged it... It¡¯s much stronger than I thought!¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought bitterly as he raised his spear and swept it horizontally, squeezing out a small gap of time to breathe.


    Han Xiao¡¯s weapon was a pair of blades of very different lengths. The one in his left hand was a short sword over two feet long and the one in his right hand was a small and exquisite dagger.


    Bai Yunfei brandished his spear, creating an area of spear blurs in front of him, preventing the opponent from charging up to his face. But the enemy was really too fast. Even though his spear was swift and fierce, it could not hurt him one bit.


    All of a sudden, Han Xiao¡¯s eyes flashed with coldness. Facing the incoming spear, he did not try to avoid it completely. Instead, he slightly leaned to one side to protect his vital parts from the spear and thrust the short sword in his left hand out, directing it at Bai Yunfei along the handle of the spear!


    When the tip of the spear came into contact with the right side of his waist, there was unexpectedly a shower of sparks. His coat was lacerated, revealing a golden soft armor underneath, which was sparkling slightly. Although the strike had left a dent in it, Han Xiao was not injured at all!


    The short sword cut across Bai Yunfei¡¯s left arm, causing another wound. Even worse, the enemy had closed in on him, so it was already too late to pull the spear back for defense!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with a hint of resolution. Regardless of the dagger the opponent was thrusting at his waist, he made the Fire-tipped Spear disappear. When he raised his right hand, it was already holding the Glacial Pricker, and he thrust it at the opponent¡¯s heart in a similarly fierce fashion!


    If you injure me, you¡¯ll die!


    A shocked expression showed up in Han Xiao eyes. He had not expected the opponent to be so stubborn as to force a no-win situation, paying absolutely no attention to dodging! Of course he was unwilling to accept this. Without hesitation, he gave up attacking right away and backed off continuously.


    Seeing Han Xiao retreat, Bai Yunfei also took several steps backwards, extending the distance between them. At the same time, the Fire-tipped Spear reappeared in his hand. His eyes glittering, he looked the opponent in the eyes in stalemate.


    Because the opponent¡¯s golden soft armor was much better defensively than Bai Yunfei¡¯s +10 upgraded soft armor, if he could not hit the opponent squarely with a full-power thrust, he simply would not be able to injure him seriously.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ve got no choice but to attack the limbs and head?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was racing, trying to come up with a response.


    Staring at Bai Yunfei in front of him, Han Xiao suddenly shouted loudly: ¡°Why are you still standing there?! Go up together! Kill him!¡±


    These words were said to the group of bandits who were standing outside the courtyard house watching the fight.


    But they were no fools! Kill him? He was the killer of the vice-chieftain, and not even the chieftain could kill him!


    The bandits looked at each other, but no one dared to be the first to step into the courtyard house.


    Right at this moment, a miserable cry suddenly rang out at the back of the crowd of bandits. They were all frightened. Upon turning around to take a look, they saw that a man drenched completely in blood and holding two daggers in his hands was killing his way into the crowd like a merciless god of death.


    This was none other than Li Chengfeng!


    Before the bandits could decide whether or not to listen to their chieftain¡¯s order by rushing up and fighting Bai Yunfei, they already got entangled in a fight against Li Chengfeng.


    The two men who were facing each other in the courtyard had also noticed Li Chengfeng¡¯s arrival. Han Xiao was frightened, but Bai Yunfei was happy.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think Chengfeng would act so fast. Looks like his hatred for the bandits has reached an unimaginable level... Now this hatred has exploded completely so he¡¯s doing much better than usual! Then... I¡¯ll also go all out!¡±


    The moment Han Xiao glanced at the fighting outside, Bai Yunfei took the initiative and attacked.


    Since the opponent was wearing a soft armor on his torso, he would attack his lower body.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s opportunistic attack caught Han Xiao somewhat unprepared, but then he adapted very quickly by moving nimbly about, dodging and weaving, giving Bai Yunfei basically no chance.


    All of a sudden, Han Xiao made a dash backwards, pulling away a distance. At the same time, he shot a streak of cold light straight at Bai Yunfei¡¯s face with a flick of his right hand.


    The moment he raised his hand, Bai Yunfei was somewhat aware of this. After all, he had practiced throwing flying daggers with his hands quite a lot recently too. He leaned his head to one side. The dagger went past his ear and stuck into the wall behind him.


    However, Han Xiao¡¯s attack was not finished yet! He turned his wrist over and another dagger appeared, which was similarly thrown with a flick. Afterwards, the second and the third daggers were thrown. The three daggers flew out almost simultaneously, coming at Bai Yunfei in a triangular formation.


    Bai Yunfei gave a cold snort and brandished his spear like a windmill, creating a shield of spear blurs in front of him. Three ringing sounds were heard as the incoming daggers were all sent flying.


    Han Xiao did not pause at all. He threw two more daggers straight at Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet.


    Bai Yunfei stopped brandishing the spear and dashed obliquely to one side. The moment he jumped away, he made the spear disappear and also shot a dagger at Han Xiao¡¯s throat with a flick of his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got flying daggers too!¡±


    Han Xiao had originally wanted to pursue and attack the opponent when he dashed to one side. Seeing a streak of cold light shooting at him, he was shocked immediately. He had not expected the enemy to be also capable of using flying daggers!


    Shocked, he dashed to one side, missing the opportunity to pursue and attack Bai Yunfei. Worse still, he had given Bai Yunfei a chance to attack him!


    An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Bai Yunfei did what Han Xiao had done earlier by flicking his hands continuously, shooting one dagger after another at the opponent as if he was never going to stop.


    The originally close-quarters struggle had turned into a flying dagger competition. The two of them seemed to have quite a few daggers in their space rings so they kept shooting flying daggers at each other while dodging the incoming daggers.


    However, after a while, the difference emerged. Bai Yunfei after all was too inexperienced so despite having quite a lot of talent for the art of flying daggers, he could not compare with a flying dagger veteran like Han Xiao.


    They were both wearing soft armors on their torsos, giving off ringing sounds when they were hit by flying daggers. But Bai Yunfei¡¯s defense was obviously not enough. His armor had already been damaged in many places and his arms and legs had also suffered many wounds. He seemed to be gradually losing.


    ¡°Humph! Want to fight me with flying daggers? You¡¯re just cutting your own throat! Within the next ten daggers, I¡¯ll definitely kill you!¡±


    Han Xiao raised the corners of his mouth with a trace of complacency. It seemed he was ridiculing Bai Yunfei for overestimating his power. Seeing Bai Yunfei lose balance slightly and move obliquely to one side because of dodging a flying dagger, Han Xiao¡¯s eyes flashed with fierceness. With a shake of his hand, two daggers appeared in his hand at the same time, ready to be shot out.


    But right at this moment, his expression suddenly changed greatly!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 22: Destroy the Blackwood Stronghold and Return to the City!

    Just when Han Xiao wanted to flick his hand for the last time to shoot these two deadly flying daggers out, killing the opponent, his expression suddenly changed greatly. He simply did not have time to attack anymore!


    Bai Yunfei, who seemed to be losing balance, made a twisting movement with his body in a strange manner as if he had now completely abandoned the idea of dodging, his right hand swung in a blur. A blue light shot out like a flash of lightning, aimed straight at the enemy¡¯s throat!


    Fast, it was so fast! It was so fast that Han Xiao basically had no time to dodge. When the thought of dodging sprang to his mind, the blue light was already close to him!


    At this crucial moment of life and death, Han Xiao moved away three centimeters to the left thanks to his extremely fast reaction speed. He felt a chill in his right arm. Even though he had prevented this blow from piercing through his throat, his right shoulder had been left with a bloody hole!


    However, the hole in his right shoulder was not bleeding much. The wound seemed to have been frozen. In the blink of an eye, a cold feeling spread through his entire body, almost making Han Xiao tremble. He could not feel his right shoulder and right arm at all.


    Looking at the hole in his shoulder, Han Xiao¡¯s eyes were filled with endless horror. As soon as he raised his head, he felt a heat wave hit him in the face.


    A dazzling red light seemed to have filled his entire field of vision. He wanted to move and dodge, but his body was ice-cold inside. It was already too late to dodge!


    ¡°Pu!¡±


    The tip of the spear pierced out through the back of his neck. After it had been stained with blood, the red flicker it gave off had a strange feel.


    Bai Yunfei withdrew the spear, letting the enemy¡¯s body fall backwards. Blood spewed out from his throat, splattering over a whole area.


    The chieftain of the Blackwood Stronghold, a soul cultivator of the Soul Warrior stage, had died with a deep regret just like that!


    Having done all of this, Bai Yunfei suddenly staggered backwards continuously, seemingly as if he was exhausted. In the end he could no longer stand and fell on his buttocks to the ground. His back leaning on a wall, he began to gasp for breath.


    ¡°Luckily... the Glacial Pricker didn¡¯t disappoint me after I poured almost all my remaining soulforce into it and shot it out, otherwise, I would have been dead. Later I can¡¯t fight recklessly like this since I can¡¯t be this lucky every time...¡±


    Seeing that Han Xiao was now completely dead, he finally let out a sigh of relief and calmed his excited mind down, starting to recover his exhausted soulforce and strength.


    This battle was really somewhat beyond his expectations, and he had even less expected that he himself would be able to kill two soul cultivators not weaker than him in the slightest¡ªall of this was mostly thanks to those various upgraded items, especially the Glacial Pricker, whose powerful surprise attacks were crucial to him winning the fights.


    In fact, Han Xiao should not have lost so easily and quickly. To ordinary Soul Personages, a Soul Warrior was practically invincible, because in addition to the skin-flesh control and bone-blood control, a Soul Warrior also knew the third level of body control¡ªacupoint control!


    Acupoints were mysterious things in the body. They were not tangible like skin, flesh, bones and blood, but they really did exist. Despite their tiny size, these acupoints possessed unimaginable power.


    Nobody knew how many acupoints the human body had in total yet. Even the various already discovered acupoints still had many unknown functions.


    Many of those martial artists, who used external force to train their bodies, also considered some acupoints in the human body to be targets of their attacks, achieving unexpected results. Furthermore, in the field of medicine, there were many treating methods which used needles to puncture acupoints.


    These people only stimulated acupoints with external force in order to activate their functions, but soul cultivators could control the acupoints!


    As a soul cultivator¡¯s soulforce and familiarity with body control improved, after reaching the Soul Warrior stage, he would be able to feel the existence of acupoints at various places in the body. As for how many acupoints they could feel, this depended on his talent and fortunes. Except for some most common acupoints, many other acupoints had specialized practice methods which were both powerful and effective. Most of these methods were in turn the foundation of mighty soul skills so they were extremely rare and basically unattainable to ordinary soul cultivators.


    Han Xiao¡¯s soulforce had already reached the mid-stage Soul Warrior level,but his understanding of acupoints was rather insufficient, otherwise he would not have been sent by his school to this kind of place to occupy a mountain and become a bandit. Even now, he could only control the basic acupoints in several places such as his arms and legs. Despite this, the power and speed he could unleash were not something a Soul Personage could compare with.


    However, he run into the wrong opponent in the wrong place at the wrong time and chose the wrong fighting method!


    When he was preparing for the midnight probe according to the earlier plan, Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng launched their attack first. Right from the beginning, his mind was already thrown into disorder. Afterwards, seeing Yang Tian get killed with his own eyes came as a considerable blow to him.


    Also, right from the beginning he was already afraid of the spear in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands so he did not dare to go all out. After checking the opponent out for a while, he decided to fight with flying daggers, which he was good at, intending to defeat the opponent with long-distance attacks.


    But he did not expect Bai Yunfei to be not bad at the art of flying daggers too! After the two of them shot back and forth at each other for a while, Bai Yunfei was gradually put at a disadvantage. Even worse, his life seemed to be in danger. But he still had a trump card left!


    It was the Glacial Pricker! Its exceptionally powerful additional effect had almost made it lose its original function of ¡®stabbing¡¯. Instead, Bai Yunfei had been using it more like a projectile or a flying dagger. From beginning to end, he had fought the enemy several times, and the Glacial Pricker had played a bigger role than even the Fire-tipped Spear!


    This time was no exception!


    Miserable cries of bandits kept coming in sporadically from the outside. Li Chengfeng¡¯s battle was still going on. Bai Yunfei only recovered part of his soulforce before standing up and joining the battle...


    This battle was a complete victory! From now on, the Blackwood Stronghold did not exist anymore!


    ... ... ... ...


    After this battle in the Blackwood Stronghold, the two of them spent two days making arrangements for those abducted women. They gave out all the possessions in the stronghold to the women, letting them bring these possessions back to the various villages harassed by the bandits.


    Five days later, the two of them returned to Li Chengfeng¡¯s current village. On the way back, Li Chengfeng seemed to have put down all of his burdens. All day long, he thought about Ling¡¯er the most and always anticipated their marriage, which would happen after his return to the village.


    He did what he had said, and on the second day following their return, an exciting wedding and a large banquet were held in the village. The entire village celebrated it, cheerfully chatting and laughing.


    On the next day, Bai Yunfei bade farewell to everybody, preparing to return to Luoshi City.


    At the entrance of the village, Bai Yunfei looked at a hesitant Li Chengfeng, saying with a smile: ¡°What¡¯s up? If you want to say something, say it. You¡¯re already a married man, don¡¯t fuss about it.¡±


    ¡°Er... Ha ha, Yunfei, you¡¯re really not going to stay here for a bit longer? I¡¯m going to reach the Soul Personage stage soon, but you can¡¯t give me the technique scroll. Once you leave, I won¡¯t be able to practice anymore.¡± Li Chengfeng said in a seemingly somewhat embarrassed manner after hesitating for a long time.


    Bai Yunfei however said smilingly: ¡°What you want to say isn¡¯t this, right? Ha ha, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m only returning to do some things I must do. You don¡¯t need to think about going with me to help me. Just stay with your precious Ling¡¯er properly. You¡¯ve got to treat her well. After dealing with those things, I¡¯ll go on a journey. But before that, I¡¯ll find you again and give you the scroll.¡±


    ¡°You... Oh, dear, alright, you must always be careful. If you want me to help you in something, come find me anytime. You¡¯re my benefactor, and more importantly, my friend. I...¡±


    ¡°Alright, since we¡¯re friends, you don¡¯t need to say much. I¡¯ll definitely come find you again. Don¡¯t make any more fuss... I¡¯m leaving now!¡±


    Watching Bai Yunfei¡¯s silhouette gradually disappearing, Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes had a trace of worry again. He sighed gently: ¡°Alas... When you talked about returning to Luoshi City, your eyes had a hint of hatred. How could I have not noticed it? I couldn¡¯t be more familiar with this feeling... Yunfei, you must not let anything bad happen to you. I owe you too much. Give me a chance to repay you!¡±


    On a path in a forest, Bai Yunfei was going at full gallop, but his eyes were somewhat unfocused. It seemed he was recalling something, his expression sometimes embarrassed, sometimes angry and sometimes sorrowful...


    ¡°Soon... I¡¯ll have my revenge very soon. Zhang Yang, now I¡¯m not someone you can kill like an ant anytime you wish anymore. I¡¯ll make you pay dearly for what you did!


    ¡°The world is unfair. Good and evil are the same. Since Heaven doesn¡¯t punish evil, I¡¯ll punish you for your crimes!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 23: A Trend of the House of Zhang; Coming to the Rescue

    The Blackwood Stronghold had been burnt to ashes by a large fire and all the bandits had been exterminated!


    This news spread to various places at a very fast speed as if it had wings. The villages in the vicinity of Mt. Blackwood, which had normally been tyrannized by the bandits, were all jubilant because their abducted women had returned safely, and more importantly, because that loathsome bandit den no longer existed.


    The major merchants in Ganling City and Talus City were so excited that they celebrated this too. From now on, they finally did not have to be anxious when transporting goods between the cities.


    Unlike these excited, joyful people, the Zhang mansion in Talus City appeared to be somewhat gloomy at the moment. This oppressive atmosphere was created by Zhang Zhenshan, who was sitting in the head seat in the living room reading a letter in his hands with an unsightly expression.


    After reading the letter, he lowered his head and pondered in silence for a while. Then he raised his head and looked at the housekeeper on one side, saying: ¡°Make some preparations. I need to leave for Snowpeak City immediately!¡±


    ¡°Yes, master.¡±


    The housekeeper answered then hurriedly went to instruct his subordinates to make preparations. When he walked out of the door, he happened to bump head-on into a person. He lowered his head and saluted at once, saying: ¡°Young master.¡±


    ¡°Humph.¡± That person replied casually with a snort then stepped into the room. Hiding his arrogant, bossy expression, he bowed slightly in salute to Zhang Zhenshan and asked carefully: ¡°Father, you... want to go out?¡± His voice seemed to contain some anticipation.


    This man had fair and clear complexion and was handsome, but he could not conceal the brutality and ruthlessness which occasionally flashed in his eyes¡ªthis was none other than Zhang Yang!


    Seeming to have something on his mind, Zhang Zhenshan said casually, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m taking a trip back to the school...¡±


    Then he cast a look at his happy-looking son, frowned and said solemnly, ¡°You¡¯re thinking that after I leave, you can idle about and run amok all day long, right?¡±


    ¡°Er...¡± Zhang Yang had not expected his father to be able to see through his own mind. With a somewhat flustered expression, he momentarily did not know what to say.


    ¡°Humph! You think I don¡¯t know what you normally do? All day long you visit brothels and sap your spirit by seeking pleasure! That girl from the house of Liu is already about to become a mid-stage Soul Warrior, but you¡¯re not even a late Soul Personage yet!


    ¡°You¡¯re pretty talented, but you don¡¯t put effort into practice. In the future, how can you establish a foothold in the school? How can you make me give you the Zhang family?!¡±


    Reprimanded by his father, Zhang Yang did not dare to talk back at all. With an obsequious smile, he nodded again and again as if he was really listening to his father¡¯s teaching.


    ¡°I will sincerely follow your teaching, father. I will definitely train hard later so that I won¡¯t make you lose face.¡±


    ¡°Hm, I hope you can really do what you say. This time it will take me from ten days to a month to return to the school. You must manage yourself well at home. Don¡¯t think that because your mother pampers you, you can do whatever you want. If you still haven¡¯t become a late-stage Soul Personage by the time I return...¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t worry, father. I will definitely improve my power as quickly as possible and reach the late-stage Soul Personage level!¡±


    Zhang Yang¡¯s mouth was full of promises but he was delighted inside. He was already thinking about whether he should go to look for Xiao Cui in the Tower of Ten Thousand Springs or ¡®choose¡¯ a girl on the street after getting his ¡®freedom¡¯.


    ... ... ... ...


    In Talus City, on the second floor of a restaurant on a flourishing main street, Bai Yunfei was sitting at a table near the street. As he ate the foods on the table in a somewhat unconcerned manner, he observed the people on the street.


    It had been three days since his return to the city. Thanks to the battle in the Blackwood Stronghold and more than half a month of training, he had already reached the late-stage Soul Personage level, but he wasn''t blinded by his new power and the hatred inside him at all. Instead of rushing into looking for Zhang Yang to get his revenge at all costs, he had rested for an entire day then begun to observe carefully around here.


    Not far up ahead was the main gate of the Zhang mansion with two big stone lions standing loftily on its either side. With high walls and a luxurious gate, the mansion had quite an air of grandeur about it. At least that was how it was in the eyes of the common people in the city. The people going past the main gate of the Zhang mansion even subconsciously slowed their paces down a bit, seemingly for fear of offending the powerful Zhang family with the noises they made.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been observing for two days, but I haven¡¯t seen Zhang Yang appear even once. Is this because he¡¯s been at home all along or he¡¯s not at home at all? Or perhaps... he doesn¡¯t go in and out through the main gate?¡± Bai Yunfei thought somewhat doubtfully.


    Afraid of being noticed by other people, he had not always been looking at the main gate of the Zhang mansion. After all, nobody knew how many spies and henchmen the Zhang family had in the city, so he had better be careful in everything.


    ¡°Oh?¡± When Bai Yunfei withdrew his eyes and cast a casual look at the street below the restaurant, he noticed something unusual.


    He saw three men sneakily following a young girl from behind. In fact, these three men were very careful as they followed her, seemingly accustomed to doing this kind of thing, so the young girl did not notice them at all. If Bai Yunfei was not looking down from a high place, it would not be easy for him to discover this either.


    He considered for a while. Seeing that young girl unexpectedly head for a remote place, he stood up without any more hesitation, went down from the restaurant and followed her.


    ... ... ... ...


    In a rather secluded alleyway, a brief exclamation suddenly rang out, followed by soft muffled sounds. It seemed someone¡¯s mouth had been covered before they could let out a fearful cry.


    Two or three people walked by the opening of the alley and obviously heard the strange sounds in the alley, but none of them was interested. Instead, they went away hurriedly with slightly changed expressions, clearly not wanting to ask for trouble themselves.


    In the alleyway, two burly men with bushy eyebrows and big eyes and a thievish-looking men with a small stature were gathering around, carrying a burlap sack tied with a rope.


    ¡°Ha ha, I didn¡¯t expect us to run into such a top-tier bird. Capture her and give her to young master, he¡¯ll definitely reward us big time!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, this one isn¡¯t as juicy as the chick we helped them capture yesterday, but she¡¯s a virgin too. Young master likes this kind of girl. Also, this time young master seemed to have been restrained so much he could not take it anymore. He unexpectedly told us to use all means necessary to give him women who can satisfy him, including openly kidnapping...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, young master is very impatient. He wants a girl tonight. If not for that young girl who was captured yesterday evening, he¡¯d definitely like this one caught by us the most... Tsk, I really don¡¯t know where the chief caught that girl. That kind of looks can turn anyone on. Too bad, she is young master¡¯s...¡±


    ¡°Alright, cut the crap. Quickly lift her up and get away. Don¡¯t let too many people notice us.¡± The little man on one side urged somewhat discontentedly, interrupting these two man.


    However, what dissatisfied him even more was that these two man did not make a move even though they had stopped talking.


    Just when he wanted to turn his head to complain, he saw the two men beside him gradually fall weakly to the ground without a sound. He was greatly shocked, but before he could turn around, he felt a pain at the back of his neck. Afterwards, he fell to the ground unconscious similarly with the whites of his eyes turning up.


    The burlap sack was opened again, revealing a young girl who was bound and gagged.


    She, who was already weeping buckets, looked at the youngster in front of her with an expression full of terror.


    The youngster smiled at her and said gently: ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯m here to save you. Now I¡¯m going to untie you, but don''t let out a shout, understand?¡±


    After saying so, he unfastened the knots on her body, helped her stand up and pointed to the entrance of the alleyway, saying: ¡°Just leave quickly. Later you must be careful when you¡¯re not at home. Don¡¯t go to any remote places...¡±


    Having watched the girl run out of the alleyway, Bai Yunfei lowered his head looking thoughtfully at the three men lying on the ground.


    ¡°According to what they said, it seems there¡¯s still someone who was kidnapped to be given to that so-called ¡®young master¡¯... Now that I already ran into this, I¡¯ll save her as well, otherwise I won¡¯t be able to rest easy.¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 24: Another Encounter With Zhang Yang and a Battle for Vengeance! Firs

    Chapter 24: Another Encounter With Zhang Yang and a Battle for Vengeance! (First)


    The moon hung high in the sky. Various places in Talus City were illuminated by lights.


    In a rather luxurious room in the west part of the city, a middle-aged man of a tall stature with wide shoulders and a broad back was looking with a slightly angry expression at two burly men and a thievish-looking little man who were standing with drooped heads in front of him. There were still five or six muscular subordinates behind him.


    ¡°In other words, you couldn¡¯t even see who the attacker was before getting knocked unconscious? The girl you captured has also escaped, but you have returned unharmed?¡±


    ¡°Chief, we...¡±


    ¡°Humph! Worthless pieces of shit! You¡¯re unable to achieve anything but liable to spoil everything!¡± Seeming not to bother listening to their explanations, the middle-aged man gestured for them to stand aside with a wave of his hand and told a man behind him: ¡°Xiao Liu, you go outside and see if someone has followed these three good-for-nothings to come here. Young master is going to be here in a while, don¡¯t make any mistake.¡±


    A while later, Xiao Liu came back into the room and shook his head to indicate that there was nothing unusual outside. Everybody slightly let out a sigh of relief. If someone was drawn to this place, which would make young master unhappy, they would have to bear all the consequences of this.


    However, they did not know that in fact someone had already followed those men to this place, and even a very long time ago.


    Atop the roof, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body was sticking to the surface of the tiles, making it very difficult for someone on the ground to detect him. When that Xiao Liu had come out for an investigation, he had only gone around the house once without using a ladder to check the roof.


    Having followed those three men to this place, because he was uncertain if that girl who according to them had been abducted was here or not, he had not acted impatiently. Instead, he had been on the top of the room, listening to the situation inside.


    The chief cast a look at a room whose door was guarded by two subordinates on the second floor, saying: ¡°How¡¯s that girl?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been in the room upstairs all the time. Last night, after crying for a while, she calmed down. Today she has been very quiet and hasn¡¯t tried to kill herself either.¡± A subordinate behind him answered, then continued after hesitating for a while: ¡°Chief, she said... she is a disciple of the Green Willow School. Though we don¡¯t know if that¡¯s true or not, will we really not carry out a check?¡±


    ¡°Humph! The Green Willow School¡¯s disciple? How is that possible? That¡¯s a school of soul cultivators. How could one of its disciples be captured by us like this? She must have heard about it from someone then tried to fool us into letting her go with it.¡±


    After saying so, the chief hesitated for a bit, seemingly to soothe his subordinates and also to soothe himself, then continued: ¡°Besides, our young master Zhang Yang is a disciple of the Glacial School! So what if she¡¯s really a Green Willow School disciple? By giving her to young master Zhang, we¡¯ll even help to bring about a good deed between the two schools. When she knows young master¡¯s identity, perhaps she¡¯ll beg to stay by his side!¡±


    On top of the roof, upon hearing that the abducted girl was in this place, Bai Yunfei had wanted to go down and save her immediately. But the conversation afterwards made him freeze right there.


    Zhang Yang! That young master mentioned by them was unexpectedly Zhang Yang?


    Moreover, he was going to be here in a while!


    Bai Yunfei considered for some time with glittering eyes then suppressed the excitement in his mind to continue sticking to the roof, paying close attention to the situation inside.


    Finding something by chance after traveling far and wide for it!


    About half an hour later, the sound of an opening door was heard, followed by the chief¡¯s ingratiating voice: ¡°You have arrived, young master. The girl you want is already in that room upstairs... Hey, you two, come down. There¡¯s no need to stand guard anymore.¡±


    ¡°Oh, hopefully you won¡¯t disappoint me.¡± An indifferent voice was heard, ¡°The two of you also stay down here. I don¡¯t need your protection. Don¡¯t ruin my enthusiasm.¡±


    The moment Bai Yunfei heard this voice, his entire body shivered. He had to forcefully restrain himself so that he would not make any sound because of his excessive excitement.


    ¡°Zhang Yang!¡±


    Bai Yunfei would remember this voice for life. The owner of the voice had changed his life.


    ¡°Be cool, be cool!¡± Bai Yunfei kept warning himself against acting on impulse in his mind as he clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails almost sticking in his palms.


    ¡°This is an opportunity. I definitely can¡¯t let it pass!¡± After he took several deep breaths, his almost seething mind finally started to calm down.


    ¡°From what he said, it seems he¡¯s got two bodyguards. How powerful are they? They¡¯re soul cultivators? They most likely are, but I don¡¯t know what their levels are. They shouldn¡¯t have surpassed the Soul Personage stage, but Zhang Yang himself is a mid-stage Soul Personage too... If I¡¯m surrounded by them...¡± Right at this moment, there were footsteps coming from below him. Apparently Zhang Yang was walking towards the room upstairs.


    ¡°I came here to save that girl. I can¡¯t let her suffer any harm! But if I attack Zhang Yang directly and fail, I¡¯ll be surrounded by three soul cultivators. Then... let¡¯s take care of the bodyguards first. Besides, I can¡¯t give Zhang Yang any chance to run away...¡±


    Pressed for time, Bai Yunfei came up with several ideas almost instantly. In the end he made up his mind. After estimating the direction a bit, he took a step with force.


    Zhang Yang was about to go upstairs somewhat eagerly, but his two bodyguards and the other people were in the opposite corner of the hall. The sudden sound frightened all of them greatly. As soon as they looked up, they saw a large number of stone tile fragments shooting towards them!


    Half of the ten ordinary people at the scene were knocked down unconscious while the others ran in panic, almost all of them injured. But the next batch of fragments came, seemingly aimed at them on purpose. This time the several injured people could not dodge and were all knocked to the ground unconscious.


    However, to soul cultivators, these flying stones were basically not a threat. Zhang Yang, who was standing at the entrance of the stairs, and his two bodyguards, one tall and the other short, all avoided the flying stone fragments very easily.


    As the fragments came down all over the air, Bai Yunfei fell down together with them. As soon as he landed, he did a roll to neutralize the momentum of the fall. Then he jumped up straight towards Zhang Yang!


    ¡°This is bad! Protect young master!¡±


    Of the two bodyguards coming here with Zhang Yang, the tall one was called Li Shi and was a late-stage Soul Personage while the short one was called Du Xin and was a late-stage Soul Apprentice. Li Shi was the first to react. Almost at the same time as Bai Yunfei moved, he chased up without any hesitation. A bit slower, Du Xin followed him closely.


    This hall was very spacious. Bai Yunfei landed on a place twenty meters away from Zhang Yang but less than ten meters away from the two bodyguards. The three of them were surprisingly fast, at least in the eyes of those ordinary people. In almost the blink of an eye, Bai Yunfei had already dashed out about ten meters.


    Li Shi was about to catch up with Bai Yunfei. His hand was already holding a long saber and he thrust it at Bai Yunfei¡¯s back.


    However, right at this moment, an urgently advancing Bai Yunfei suddenly shot obliquely to the left, avoiding the saber strike. At the same time, he turned around and flicked a blur out of his right hand by making use of the momentum of the turn. Several cold sparkles shot out!


    The secrets of success in using flying daggers were speed, steadiness and accuracy!


    Having trained hard recently, even though Bai Yunfei could not be said to have reached the peak of perfection in flying dagger techniques, he was already exceptionally familiar with them!


    Three upgraded daggers were shot out simultaneously. Despite being astounded, Li Shi reacted surprisingly quickly. With a turn of his saber, a dagger was sent flying.


    Only one dagger? Yes, he had deflected only one dagger because the other two daggers were shooting at Du Xin behind him!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 25: A Battle for Vengeance! Second

    Chapter 25: A Battle for Vengeance! (Second)


    Li Shi reacted very fast. He raised his saber, making a block with it, sending a dagger flying. But the other two daggers were shooting at Du Xin behind him!


    Du Xin, merely a late-stage Soul Apprentice, was following closely behind Li Shi. Du Xin had originally thought that Bai Yunfei would be stopped when Li Shi drew his saber. But just as he was about to charge ahead, he suddenly saw the opponent turn strangely out of sight. And in the blink of an eye, two sharp blades were poised to strike at his throat and his heart!


    Having basically no time to think carefully, he leaned his body to one side almost instinctively. A dagger flew past his neck, grazing it, but the one aimed at his heart could not be avoided completely. At the last moment, he channeled his soulforce and flexed his muscles, causing his skin to become as hard as a layer of horn.


    However, they were all useless! The dagger pierced into his left shoulder almost without hindrance, up to the hilt!


    Before he could even let out a groan, he was gagged by yet another dagger that had just arrived!


    A dagger had almost pierced through his neck, causing his blood to spurt out unceasingly. His mouth was wide open but no sound came out of it. With popping eyes, he stared desperately at Bai Yunfei not far in front of him, his eyes filled with terror, unwillingness and also bewilderment. He then fell down gradually and died.


    Because he had been slightly slower right from the beginning, he could only follow behind Li Shi. Thinking that Bai Yunfei would rush straight up to young master¡¯s face, he simply did not expect the opponent to suddenly choose him as the target of his attacks, much less expect the opponent to be adept at flying daggers and, in addition, to be able to shoot multiple daggers in a row without pausing. There were many things he had not thought about, but he would not have a chance to think again. With just one mistake, he had already lost his life!


    With a turn of his body, Bai Yunfei had killed a soul cultivator!


    When these two men had dodged the stone tile fragments, he had found out their power levels and instantly decided on how to act. Although a late-stage Soul Apprentice meant nothing to him at the moment, if he was surrounded, a Soul Apprentice would also pose a threat to him.


    Therefore he gave up the chance to come straight at Zhang Yang to launch a surprise attack at Du Xin, who was the last to chase up. Afterwards, he even used his waist to block a saber strike from Li Shi without hesitation and threw that final, mortal dagger at Du Xin, shooting him dead.


    After sending that dagger flying, Li Shi did not pause at all. Taking advantage of the fact that Bai Yunfei still had not regained his balance, he strode forwards, swinging his long saber out, wanting to force the opponent into dodging to launch a violent attack.


    However, instead of dodging, the opponent unexpectedly shot another sharp blade out of his hand with a flick. His long saber then hit the opponent¡¯s waist in a hack, but a loud and clear sound of metal clashing against metal rang out. After that, the opponent only staggered half a step before unexpectedly turning around, completely unharmed, and charging forwards!


    Since avoiding the first broken stones, Zhang Yang had been standing at the entrance of the corridor, staring at the fight with an ice-cold expression. Even though he was sinister and vicious, he was definitely not a good-for-nothing playboy. Many of the Zhang family¡¯s underground forces were handled by him, and he himself was also a soul cultivator. To his eyes, this kind of situation still could not be considered ¡®dangerous¡¯.


    In the beginning, he had been flustered for a moment, but when Bai Yunfei charged at him after falling down, he could already tell that the intruder was not very powerful, only a bit more powerful than himself, and comparable to Li Shi at the most. He thought that even if he himself did not get into action, the two bodyguards would be able to take down the intruder.


    The situation in the beginning did not disappoint him. When the intruder was only halfway through charging up to him, he was caught up by Li Shi. However, just when he pondered whether or not he himself should get into action to resolve this ¡®trouble¡¯ a bit earlier, the opponent pierced through Du Xin¡¯s throat with a turn of the body, killing him. That man then unexpectedly withstood a saber strike from Li Shi head-on before charging at him again at high speed!


    That indifferent expression on Zhang Yang¡¯s face froze instantly. He even began to think of ¡®fleeing immediately¡¯.


    However, when Bai Yunfei had covered just half the distance and was only less than five meters away from Zhang Yang, he was once again caught up by Li Shi and could not pull away.


    Worthy of being one of the most competent bodyguards under Zhang Zhenshan, Li Shi kept in mind the order to protect young master¡¯s life which his master had given him when he had been about to leave. He did not even take a look at Du Xin, who had fallen down behind him, and was not frightened at all by Bai Yunfei¡¯s lightning-fast killing blow either. With nothing but a solemn expression in his eyes, he caught up with Bai Yunfei in an acceleration. Brandishing his long saber, he surrounded the enemy in a sphere of saber blurs.


    Only upon seeing that the intruder had finally got entangled in a fight with Li Shi did Zhang Yang let out a sigh of relief and abandon the idea of running away. However, instead of charging up immediately to fight the enemy together with Li Shi, he backed off and watched the fight between the two of them.


    After staring at Bai Yunfei for a while, he pondered in his mind: ¡°I always feel that he leaves me with a slight impression, but I can¡¯t remember who he actually is. Seeing as he obviously came here for me, does he want to kill me? But except for the several flying daggers he shot out earlier, now he doesn¡¯t even have a weapon in his hands. This is too illogical. Is he not good at using weapons? He only relies on close-quarters hand-to-hand combat? Oh? Is that soft armor on his body... a soul armament?!¡±


    In the courtyard, Bai Yunfei was dodging left and right. Even though he had been hit by the long saber, he did not seem to be injured at all. His clothes had been lacerated, revealing a soft armor which was slightly sparkling with a golden light.


    Relying on the defense of the soft armor, he wanted to force his way up to Li Shi¡¯s face and fight him in hand-to-hand combat. As someone with obviously a very great deal of combat experience, how could Li Shi possibly let the opponent achieve this? Saber blurs flying everywhere, the large saber was unexpectedly used as nimbly as a dagger by him. The sharp blade of the saber always surrounded Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body, giving him no chance to break away.


    After dogfighting for about ten minutes, the two of them seemed unable to do anything to each other and were still locked in a close battle.


    Standing on one side, Zhang Yang was staring at Bai Yunfei with almost glowing eyes. Or rather, he was staring at the golden soft armor on his body with a hint of pleasant surprise and greediness on his face.


    ¡°That soft armor on his body is a soul armament! It¡¯s definitely a soul armament! A defensive soul armament... Who could have expected this? No wonder he seemed very confident earlier. Indeed, Li Shi¡¯s weapon simply can¡¯t break that soft armor. But, it¡¯s not like your whole body is covered in defensive soul armament! You can deal with the attacks from Li Shi alone, but you¡¯ve forgotten that I¡¯m here!¡± He said ecstatically in his mind: ¡°It seems he¡¯s alone and he isn¡¯t hiding his power. He¡¯s really just a late Soul Personage like Li Shi. Then, this soul armament... will be mine!¡±


    Having made his decision, Zhang Yang no longer hesitated. He reached out his hand, drawing a dagger from his waist, and flew into the battlefield while shouting loudly: ¡°Li Shi, keep him entangled! I¡¯ll deal him a fatal blow!¡±


    This move by Zhang Yang made the expressions of the two current combatants change: Li Shi¡¯s face showed a pleasant surprise while Bai Yunfei¡¯s face seemed to show some anxiety... and terror.


    Seeing the expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Zhang Yang gave a complacent guffaw, saying: ¡°Now you know how tough we are, right? You can only blame yourself for overestimating your power, bringing about your own destruction! You¡¯ll pay for this with your own life, and even give me a soul armament!¡±


    While shouting, taking advantage of an opportunity created when Bai Yunfei lowered his body to dodge a saber strike from Li Shi, he swung his dagger and thrust it straight at the back of his head!


    Bai Yunfei did a roll and avoided this attack with some difficulty. However, this roll happened to make him end up at a place behind Li Shi on the left hand side. Now the three of them were almost on a straight line with Li Shi ending up between Bai Yunfei and Zhang Yang.


    Expressionlessly, Li Shi turned around, charged at Bai Yunfei, who had yet to stand up completely, and brought his saber down on him in a hack. He knew that the opponent could withstand this blow head-on using the soft armor, but even if he could not injure him, he could make the opponent lose his balance with force, making it impossible for him to maintain his fighting rhythm. In that way, as long as young master kept waiting for an opportunity on one side, they would be able to kill him very quickly!


    Bai Yunfei bent his body slightly. Another hole was cut into the clothes on his back by the long saber, revealing the golden soft armor underneath. But this time, after taking the force of this saber strike, his body only shook slightly once. Unlike before, now he did not lose his balance because he could not absorb the impact of a blow anymore!


    Li Shi was raising his long saber, preparing to keep up the pressure. Before he could be startled by Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction, his eyes came into contact with Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, which looked upwards. His face was immediately full of shock.


    The moment Bai Yunfei lifted his head, his expression unexpectedly no longer contained the previous anxiety and fear. Even the exhaustion on his face had mostly disappeared. Now, there was only a frosty look in his eyes and a totally stern expression on his face!


    Without pausing at all, under Li Shi¡¯s astonished look, he took half a step backwards with his right foot while leaning his body forwards and threw a punch with his right fist, creating brief whizz sounds! He seemed to have been saving this punch for a long time!


    Overlapping Waves Art, Threefold Fist Force!


    Soft sounds of broken bones were heard. Even though Li Shi strengthened the defense of his body at the last moment, he still could not withstand this focus attack. He retreated hurriedly uncontrollably.


    Li Shi spewed out a mouthful of blood. His mind was in a daze for a moment. As soon as he regained his composure, he felt his face hit by a heat wave. An almost dazzling flaming red spear was thrusting straight at him!


    Basically unable to avoid the blow completely, at this moment of life or death, Li Shi only had enough time to move aside a little more than one and a half centimeters. At the same time, he put the long saber in front of him, hoping that it could ward off the opponent¡¯s incoming spear thrust.


    The spear arrived in the blink of an eye and hit the body of the saber, creating an almost inaudible soft ringing sound. It then pierced through the saber without hindrance and went into the left side of his stomach!


    Li Shi had known that it would be impossible to avoid getting injured so he had adopted a defensive measure to minimize the injury. Even though the spear had pierced into his stomach, this wound was not fatal at all to soul cultivators. Any soul cultivator who had learned the bones and blood control of the Soul Personage stage could accelerate the recovery speed of his body.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t hit my vital parts! Luckily, I¡¯ve still got a chance...¡± Li Shi¡¯s delight only appeared in his heart for a moment before being replaced with endless fear.


    The moment the tip of the spear pierced through the body of the saber, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with an unnoticeable trace of happiness. He roared inside, ¡°Successful! Now time to... Burst!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡± An explosion rang out from the tip of the spear, or perhaps, from inside Li Shi¡¯s body. Blood and flesh splattered around. The entire left side of his stomach had exploded, leaving behind a terrifying gap. The surface of the wound was a burned black area, but red blood still gushed out nonstop from inside the gap.


    Li Shi¡¯s hand was still holding one half of his broken saber in front of his chest. His expression was full of terror, bewilderment and disbelief, astonishingly similar to Du Xin¡¯s dying expression. His body gradually fell backwards, revealing Zhang Yang behind him, whose face was similarly full of disbelief.


    Zhang Yang was looking forwards with a stupefied expression. He even still maintained the position which he had adopted to prepare to charge up. Only when Li Shi¡¯s body hit the floor with a thud did he wake up, seemingly with a start. He thudded backwards several steps continuously, extending the distance between him and Bai Yunfei. With a distorted face, he shrieked in a terrified manner, ¡°Soul armament! Another soul armament! And you¡¯ve got a space ring! You were hiding your power! How is this possible? Why in the beginning didn¡¯t you... You did that to stall me!!¡±


    Zhang Yang could also be considered the shrewd type. He had reacted almost in an instant. Only, after understanding all this, he was even more terrified inside.


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 26: A Battle for Vengeance! Third

    Chapter 26: A Battle for Vengeance! (Third)


    Correct, everything which had happened earlier had been Bai Yunfei deliberately putting on a show! Including not using weapons, including being caught up by Li Shi, including deliberately revealing that the soft armor on his body was a soul armament, and including fighting Li Shi to a stalemate...


    All this was done to prevent Zhang Yang from fleeing!


    He and Li Shi were indeed comparable in power, but that was true only to the extent that they were on the same level of soulforce! He also had soul techniques and such soul armaments as the soft armor, the Fire-tipped Spear and the Glacial Piercer! It could be said that if he had gone all out right from the beginning of the fight against Li Shi, Li Shi would have been killed earlier by him!


    However, he did not do so, because if he had shown that he was very powerful, Zhang Yang would definitely have run away without hesitation after noticing how fearsome he was. Even though he could have killed Li Shi very quickly, he would not have been able to kill him in an instant. As long as he had been stalled for a short period of time, this would have been enough for Zhang Yang.


    If the battle had turned into a running fight, it would have been very disadvantageous to Bai Yunfei. Therefore, he could not afford to scare Zhang Yang away and had to draw him into the battle instead!


    So, after killing Du Xin with a surprise attack, he engaged in a fight with Li Shi and deliberately acted as if they were neck and neck in power, and even deliberately revealed that the soft armor on his body was a soul armament. Having gone through the battle on Mt. Blackwood, he already somewhat understood how valuable these soul items were. Therefore, using them as a bait, he was able to lure Zhang Yang into the fight.


    In fact, the exhaustion he showed after fighting for a long time was mostly an act, because he basically had not used so much strength and soulforce as the opponents thought he had. The golden soft armor on his body was not only a soul armament but also a +10 upgraded soul armament!


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 267


    Additional Defense: 139


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacked, there is a 5% chance of increasing defense by 50% for 3 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 64 Soulpoints


    This soft armor was none other than the soul armament of Han Xiao, the chieftain of the Blackwood Stronghold. After killing him, Bai Yunfei had naturally obtained this item. Relying on the upgraded armor¡¯s high defense and its occasionally triggered additional effect, in fact the force he had to endure every time he took a blow with the soul armor was negligible.


    Of course he could not let the opponent know about this. Moreover, how the situation was deliberately made to look by him caused Zhang Yang to feel that as long as he joined the fight and teamed up with Li Shi, they would definitely be able to defeat the enemy with great ease and obtain the soul armament on his body!


    When Zhang Yang finally could not help joining the battle, Bai Yunfei started the actions of the second step without hesitation.


    Surrounded by two opponents, if the fight had dragged on, he would really have ended up in a difficult position. Therefore, at the first moment he had to dispose of Li Shi, who had been fighting him for a long time and had already become familiar with his ¡®rhythm¡¯. Moreover, he had to do this fast, ruthlessly, surprisingly and in only one blow!


    Therefore, he seized a chance and used the soul technique he had been saving for a long time for the first time, knocking him back.


    However, the most crucial thing was the follow-up pursuing attack! The Fire-tipped Spear was no doubt powerful, but if it did not pierce into a vital part, he would not be able to kill in one hit. However, if its additional effect was triggered, this would be enough to kill the enemy regardless of where it hit!


    But the explosion effect of the Fire-tipped Spear had only a 10% chance of being activated, which could be said to be very low, therefore, Bai Yunfei used the new killing blow he had mastered recently -- Threefold Thrust!


    Applying the overlapping attack method of the Overlapping Waves Art to the spear techniques, the Threefold Fist Force was stretched up to the tip of the spear, hence the name ¡®Threefold Thrust¡¯.


    One attack of the Threefold Fist Force was actually three overlapping attacks. So, a thrust of the spear using the Threefold Thrust was equivalent to three almost continuous attacks, greatly increasing the chance of triggering the additional effect.


    Of course, Bai Yunfei did not put all his hopes on this either. Had the effect failed to be activated, he would have revealed his final trump card, the Glacial Piercer, to kill Li Shi at all costs!


    However, fortunately for him, when the Threefold Thrust hit the opponent, the Fire-tipped Spear¡¯s additional effect was successfully triggered. Moreover, it caused an explosion after piercing into the opponent¡¯s stomach, killing him right away...


    After killing Li Shi, Bai Yunfei did not begin to attack a stupefied Zhang Yang immediately because the side effect of using the Threefold Thrust was rather serious, at least several times greater than that of using the Threefold Fist Force once. In several breaths after using it, his entire right arm was almost completely numb. Only thanks to this did Zhang Yang have a chance to retreat.


    When Zhang Yang began to shriek in terror, he happened to have just recovered. Without saying a word, he charged up immediately, holding the spear in his hands.


    At first Zhang Yang still wanted to say something, but seeing the opponent coming at him, he did not dare to be distracted anymore. With an expression full of anxiety, he exerted himself to deal with the incoming spear blurs.


    Zhang Yang¡¯s dagger looked rather luxurious and even had some small diamonds embedded in its handle, and it did not seem to be of poor quality either. It should be made from top-grade materials. However, it was definitely not a soul armament.


    As a disciple of the Glacial School and the young master of the Zhang, even though he normally did not put his effort into training, under the guidance of his father, he had still become fairly powerful. The timings of his offensive and defensive moves were just perfect. Momentarily, he and Bai Yunfei were unexpectedly evenly matched.


    Bai Yunfei had fought Li Shi several dozen rounds earlier and had just unleashed his soulforce to use the Threefold Fist Force and Threefold Thrust continuously so his current condition was far worse than before. However, there was no panic on his face at all. Brandishing the spear elegantly, he forced the opponent to retreat every time he wanted to close in on him to attack.


    After fighting for a while, facing an incoming thrust, Zhang Yang leaned to one side, avoiding it by a hair¡¯s breadth, at the same time he swung his right arm out, aiming to cut Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat with his dagger.


    However, this strike did not seem to have a good range. If Bai Yunfei leaned backwards slightly, the dagger would not be able to cut him at all. But, right when Bai Yunfei thought that he could avoid this blow and was preparing to withdraw the spear to attack again, something unusual suddenly happened!


    Zhang Yang¡¯s unbent right arm suddenly became longer by nearly one and a half inch, thrusting the dagger straight at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    This is a soul skill, Long Arm Fist!


    It had a very ordinary name, was a soul technique of the lowest tier and was also the only soul technique Zhang Yang had mastered so far. It was not very powerful either. Just as its name implied, it was a soul technique which allowed the arms to stretch a bit further.


    However, sometimes it could be unimaginably effective, for example, at present!


    Zhang Yang had been restraining himself all along, and only now did he use this soul technique. This was because he wanted to catch the opponent by surprise and put it to the best use possible.


    Facing the dagger which was suddenly shifted to aim at the side of his neck, even though Bai Yunfei was startled, he did not panic. He gave up attacking immediately and bent backwards abruptly again. The tip of the blade grazed him, causing a small wound on his chin, several drops of blood oozing out. However, despite having prevented this blow from cutting his throat, he lost his balance and fell backwards.


    His eyes glittering with ferocity, Zhang Yang gave the dagger in his hand a flip, instantly switching from a forward grip to a reverse grip, and thrust it straight at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    While falling backwards, Bai Yunfei pulled his right hand back. The spear in his hand immediately disappeared. At the same time as Zhang Yang flipped his dagger, he made a flick with his right hand, shooting a dagger straight at Zhang Yang¡¯s face.


    Seeing that his dagger was about to pierce into the opponent¡¯s throat, Zhang Yang already had a look of ecstasy in his eyes. However, when he saw Bai Yunfei suddenly shoot a streak of cold light at him like a flash with a flick of his right hand, he was extremely frightened and could no longer keep up his attack. He then leaned his head to one side forcefully without hesitation, avoiding the flying dagger.


    In the blink of an eye, another dagger came at him!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 27: A Battle for Vengeance! Fourth

    Chapter 27: A Battle for Vengeance! (Fourth)


    He had just avoided the first dagger, but the second dagger was already coming at him!


    His eyes filled with terror, Zhang Yang leaned his body to one side and avoided it with difficulty. Afterwards, he retreated continuously without pausing. Only when there was a distance of over ten meters between them did he stop, still suffering from the shock. He reached out his hand and gave the right side of his face a wipe, scattering several drops of blood. Just then, if he had been half a moment slower, the dagger would not have left only a small bloodstain on his face.


    Bai Yunfei placed his left hand on the ground, stopping his body from continuing to fall down, then he stood up again by slightly exerting the strength of his arm. Looking at Zhang Yang, who was standing in front of him staring at him, he had a disappointed expression on his face. It seemed he was lamenting that just then he had failed to kill the opponent.


    ¡°He did that on purpose! He did that on purpose again!! How is this possible?! Could it be he saw through my movements? Damn it!¡± Not daring to take his eyes off the opponent even for a moment, Zhang Yang roared in his mind: ¡°It¡¯s bad. I¡¯m no match for him. I can¡¯t fight him again. Let¡¯s run away! As long as I can get out of here, as long as I can catch someone else¡¯s attention, my helpers will come rushing very fast...¡±


    Having made up his mind, Zhang Yang quickly glanced around. A hint of happiness flashed across his eyes because at the moment he was standing at a place which happened to be less than five meters away from a window!


    Staring at Zhang Yang in front of him, just when Bai Yunfei wanted to get into action, the opponent unexpectedly moved first!


    His eyes flashing with determination, Zhang Yang adopted a propulsive position. The moment he took the first step, he copied Bai Yunfei by throwing the dagger in his hand out fiercely. Then, simply ignoring the outcome, he bent his body, turned around and rush towards the rear window on the right.


    Bai Yunfei avoided the incoming flying dagger just by slightly leaning his body to one side, but this attack indeed made him pause a bit. Looking at Zhang Yang, who was rushing towards the window, his eyes flashed with a trace of derision. With a shake of his right hand, he threw two streaks of cold light straight at Zhang Yang¡¯s back.


    Of course Zhang Yang could not forget about the opponent¡¯s flying daggers. Since the moment he had run away, despite moving extremely fast, he had been paying attention to Bai Yunfei¡¯s movements all along. Now, as the two daggers came flying at him, he immediately forcefully changed his direction from charging forwards to moving sideways in an arc, but he still managed to rush up to the side of the window!


    Without pausing at all, he crashed into the window, breaking it. When half of his body was already stuck out of the window, he turned his head around and cast a look at Bai Yunfei in the house, who seemed to be too late to shoot another flying dagger out, a faint cold smile appearing on the corners of his mouth. Stepping on the sill of the window with his right foot, he jumped out.


    While he was in midair, his nervous heart finally relaxed. As long as he arrived in the street, it could be said he had got out of danger. At that time, even if Bai Yunfei wanted to pursue and attack him, he would only need to draw the opponent to where his helpers were and the roles of the hunter and the prey would be reversed!


    However, right at this moment, he saw Bai Yunfei take a fierce swing with his right hand, seemingly wanting to shoot out another flying dagger.


    ¡°Ha ha, now you still think you can stop me from running away? At this distance, even if you shoot several flying daggers at once, I can still avoid them! You already...¡± Before Zhang Yang could finish thinking, the complacent look in his eyes disappeared in an instant and was replaced with endless terror!


    The moment Bai Yunfei raised his right hand, a streak of blue light suddenly appeared. It was immeasurably faster than the daggers from before. Almost at the same time as it appeared, it had already covered the distance between the two of them, caught up with Zhang Yang then pierced straight through the knee of his left leg!


    Zhang Yang was in midair and was about to land. As soon as the terror in his eyes appeared, he felt a piercing pain then a burst of extreme coldness come from his left leg. After that he could not feel his entire left leg!


    All of this takes many words to describe, but it actually happened in the blink of an eye. Zhang Yang¡¯s body finally landed, but he could not stand firmly at all. His left leg bent in a very unnatural manner and he fell to the ground with a thud.


    With a stupefied expression, Zhang Yang forgot to use his hands to keep his balance, forgot about his perforated left leg and even forgot to think...


    Only when he felt someone walk up to his face then raised his head to make eye contact with Bai Yunfei¡¯s sneering look did he wake up with a start in a frightened manner. Propping his body up with his hands, he moved backwards nonstop while letting out terrified shrieks: ¡°You... you can¡¯t kill me! I¡¯m the young master of the Zhangs. I¡¯m a disciple of the Glacial School. You can¡¯t kill me!¡±


    Bai Yunfei stooped down, grabbed his collar and lifted him up as if he had not heard his words. He then threw him fiercely towards the house. Zhang Yang cut through the air in an arc, went through the window then fell heavily into the hall. Only after sliding ten something meters, knocking over several chairs and stools, did he stop.


    Zhang Yang¡¯s left knee had been pierced through completely, but strangely enough, it was barely bleeding. His hands were clutching his left leg, seemingly wanting to prevent the chill from spreading. He was channeling his soulforce with all his might to dissipate that extreme coldness. Even though he felt cold all over, bean-sized beads of sweat kept sliding down his face unceasingly.


    Hearing footsteps coming, Zhang Yang raised his head in a terrified manner and saw that Bai Yunfei had already come back into the house. Holding a shimmering blue piercer in his hand, he was walking towards him step by step.


    When Zhang Yang saw the Glacial Piercer in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, even though he was extremely fearful inside, he could not help screaming hysterically: ¡°Soul armament, another soul armament!! How is this possible? Soul armaments are extremely rare. Not even an elite disciple of the Glacial School like me has one! How can you have so many soul armaments? Could it be you¡¯re from the Crafting School?! No, impossible!¡±


    Hearing his words, Bai Yunfei seemed to be stupefied. He then stopped in front of him at a distance of two meters and looked down at Zhang Yang, who was sitting on the floor, with an expression still filled with mockery: ¡°What? The great young master Zhang really doesn¡¯t remember me? Oh, indeed, it¡¯s already been more than a month since that event, how can you possibly still remember such a ¡®commoner¡¯ as me...?¡±


    At this point, the look in his eyes gradually turned ice-cold, but his voice was still leisurely, as if he was chatting with a friend he had not seen for a long time: ¡°Then, do you still remember Uncle Wu? Ah, if I only say Uncle Wu, you definitely don¡¯t know who he is. He was the old man who wanted to kill you with a knife because you kidnapped his granddaughter and beat her to death when she was unwilling to endure your insults!


    After that, he was captured and brought into the Coliseum by you and was killed by your subordinate Direwolf...¡± Bai Yunfei continued to say clearly while staring at Zhang Yang: ¡°There was also a youngster in there with him. Because he accidentally offended a young lady of ¡®yours¡¯ the day before, he was thrown into the Coliseum by you as well... Do you still remember?¡±


    When Bai Yunfei mentioned Uncle Wu and Xiao Yu¡¯er, Zhang Yang¡¯s expression changed immediately. And when he finished talking, Zhang Yang¡¯s whole face was full of disbelief. He cried in fear: ¡°It¡¯s you! It¡¯s unexpectedly you! No... How is this even possible?! How could you have become so powerful in more than a month? Even if second young master Zheng had helped you, it would still have been impossible!¡±


    ¡°Now you remember, right?¡± Bai Yunfei gently stroked the Glacial Piercer in his hand, ¡°Then are you ready to pay for everything you did?¡±


    As soon as he said this, Zhang Yang¡¯s face went pale. Propping his body up with his right hand, he moved backwards again. At the same time, he raised his left hand and waved it repeatedly in front of his chest, saying: ¡°Wait! Wait! Don¡¯t kill me! Don¡¯t kill me! I can give you anything you want! Just don¡¯t kill me please!¡±


    ¡°Oh? You can give me anything I want?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I can give you anything you want! It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s gold, beautiful women or...¡±


    ¡°I want Uncle Wu and his granddaughter to be revived, can you do this?¡±


    ¡°This...¡±


    ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll change to another thing.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, what do you want?¡±


    ¡°I want your life. You can give it to me, right?¡±


    ¡°You... You¡¯re playing with me!¡±


    ¡°Correct, I¡¯m just playing with you! Prepare to pay for what you did to Uncle Wu and his granddaughter with your life!¡±


    ¡°Wait! Wait! That Uncle Wu¡¯s family is in my hands! If you kill me, all of them will die!¡± Seeming to suddenly remember something, Zhang Yang shouted loudly at the last moment.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s movement came to a halt right away: ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    ¡°I said, that Uncle Wu¡¯s family is in my hands!¡± Seeing the opponent¡¯s expression, Zhang Yang secretly let out a sigh of relief. He was not so agitated as before when he said, ¡°His family unexpectedly wanted to avenge him. They were captured by me. I intend to have a show similar to last time when the Coliseum is opened again...¡±


    After saying so, seeming to be afraid that Bai Yunfei did not believe him, he immediately added: ¡°When my father knew about what happened in the Coliseum last time, he was very angry. Plus, my competent ¡®gladiator¡¯ Direwolf was killed by you, so the Coliseum hasn¡¯t opened again ever since...


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t kill me, I¡¯ll definitely let them go when I return!¡± Seeing Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression loosen up a bit, Zhang Yang continued hurriedly: ¡°Uncle Wu lost his life to save you at that time in the Coliseum, you can¡¯t leave his family in the lurch!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glittering, he seemed to be having a fierce mental struggle. The hand which was holding the Glacial Piercer dropped down slowly. He also withdrew his eyes slowly from Zhang Yang¡¯s body, as if he was being somewhat preoccupied with something.


    However, the moment Bai Yunfei took his eyes off Zhang Yang, the latter¡¯s eyes glittered with endless ferocity and hatred showed up on his face. His right hand, which had been concealed behind his back, was flicked outwards like lightning and there seemed to be something about to come out of the hand.


    The moment Zhang Yang¡¯s expression changed, Bai Yunfei, his head lowered and apparently lost in thought, raised his head all of a sudden. His eyes glittering, he took advantage of the fall of his right hand and swung it forwards, shooting a streak of blue light at Zhang Yang¡¯s right hand, which was just halfway through being lifted up. Even though he made his move later, it arrived at the target earlier. With a ¡®pu¡¯ sound, it pierced through Zhang Yang¡¯s right hand then, after leaving a trail of blood, penetrated into the floor!


    Two light blue thin needles about ten centimeters long fell to the floor from Zhang Yang¡¯s hand. He looked in stupefaction at his punctured hand. Only after a good several seconds did he let out a hysterical, miserable cry. Clutching his right wrist with his left hand, he shrieked in a mixture of fear and anger: ¡°You! You weren¡¯t fooled! How is this possible?... You couldn¡¯t have known that there were the soul armaments called ¡®Icesoul Silver Needles¡¯ on my body! How could you see through...?¡±


    ¡°How could I see through your ploy, right?¡± As Bai Yunfei looked at Zhang Yang¡¯s distorted expression, the corners of his mouth slightly curved downwards. It seemed he was sneering at Zhang Yang¡¯s arrogance, ¡°You think your lies and acting were perfect?


    ¡°These so-called Icesoul Silver Needles were your last trump cards, right? If you still have another trump card, just use it right now, otherwise...


    ¡°Prepare to pay for everything you did!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 28: Stab Zhang Yang to Death!

    Book 1 Chapter 28: Stab Zhang Yang to death!


    ¡°How is this possible? How is this possible? How could you know what I wanted to do¡­?¡± Zhang Yang was looking at Bai Yunfei in stupefaction as if he had lost all of his strength.


    Looking down at his stupefied expression, Bai Yunfei curved the corners of his mouth downwards and shook his head gently, saying: ¡°You mean, I ¡®couldn¡¯t have¡¯ seen through your movements? Having fallen into this situation, you¡¯re still so arrogant¡­¡±


    Hearing Bai Yunfei¡¯s taunting words, Zhang Yang trembled slightly. He looked at him somewhat dejectedly and said in a hoarse voice: ¡°Tell me, how did you find out?¡±


    Bai Yunfei stared at him with a vague smile. Zhang Yang looked him in the eye with a defeated expression. It seemed he had abandoned the idea of resisting completely and only wanted to know the cause of his defeat before his death.


    Bai Yunfei stooped down, picked up the two ¡®Icesoul Silver Needles¡¯ from beside a rigid Zhang Yang and put them away in his interspatial ring.


    ¡°Right from when I started to fight you, I found it strange that you, the young master of the Zhang family in Luoshi City and an ¡®outstanding¡¯ disciple of the Glacial School, didn¡¯t even have a soul item to protect yourself just in case. Though later you took me by surprise and used that arm-lengthening soul technique, I still didn¡¯t see you use a soul item.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was still looking down at Zhang Yang from a dominating position, seemingly enjoying this feeling of victory.


    ¡°So, there were only two possibilities: One was, you really didn¡¯t have a soul item. And the other was, though you were concealing a soul item on your body, it was definitely not a main offensive weapon like a sword or a saber; instead¡­ it was a projectile used for sneak, surprise attacks!¡±


    ¡°But, I obviously said that¡­¡±


    ¡°You obviously said that ¡®not even a disciple of the Glacial School like me has one¡¯, right?¡± Bai Yunfei immediately cut him short and continued: ¡°These words seemed to have been said because you were in fear and couldn¡¯t believe that I have so many soul items. But, think about it from another perspective¡­ You were simply hinting at me that ¡®you didn¡¯t have a soul item on your body¡¯. Too bad, I took note of this.


    ¡°This alone would have made me slightly suspicious at most. But unfortunately for you, I had already guessed about this to a certain extent earlier so what you said only made me even more suspicious.


    ¡°You wanted to use these projectiles when I went out through the window to give chase, right?¡± Bai Yunfei said gently then, paying no attention to an astounded Zhang Yang, he continued: ¡°But there wasn¡¯t a very good opportunity at the time, and you noticed that I had no intention of killing you immediately so you let me throw you back into this place, wanting to find a better opportunity to launch a surprise attack on me, right?


    ¡°Do you find it strange that I was able to know about this? You seem to have forgotten that I can also use flying daggers. When you attempted to fish out those two needles behind your back, though you thought your movements were very stealthy, too bad for you, I¡¯m pretty familiar with these movements. I even saw through the way you pretended to move backwards right before your surprise attack just now to fish out your projectiles¡­


    ¡°Lastly, you could come up with using Uncle Wu¡¯s family to threaten me. I must say that you reacted really very fast. Too bad, right from the beginning I knew that you were lying!¡±


    ¡°How¡­ How did you know?¡± Zhang Yang asked subconsciously with an already ashen face.


    ¡°Because when I went to pay my respects to Uncle Wu two days ago, I still saw his family members!¡±


    ¡°So, your hesitation and inattention were all an act to trick me into using my trump cards¡­¡± Zhang Yang said in a powerless manner with a dejected expression.


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    ¡°But there are still two things I can¡¯t understand. It¡¯s not even been two months, how did you become so powerful in such a short time? Besides, you¡¯ve got an interspatial ring and at least three soul items, could it be you¡¯ve really joined the Crafting School?¡± Zhang Yang kept asking with a soft sigh. After his original ruse had been seen through completely by the opponent, he seemed to have suffered a very serious blow.


    However, quite some time after asking the questions, Zhang Yang still did not get an answer. On raising his head to take a look, he saw Bai Yunfei standing with arms crossed and staring at him derisively with a vague smile on the corners of his mouth.


    When making eye contact with Bai Yunfei, Zhang Yang felt as though his mind was read, which immediately sent a chill down his spine. He withdrew his eyes unconsciously. At this moment, Bai Yunfei said in an indifferent voice:


    ¡°You¡­ are stalling for time in the hope that someone will rush over here to save you, right?¡±


    ¡°How¡­ how so? In my current situation, you can kill me anytime you want.¡± Zhang Yang panicked for a moment and shook his head repeatedly. He then said with a sad face: ¡°I only want to clear the doubt in my mind before my death so that I can die without regrets¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, but your soul will be destroyed, what difference does it make if you know or not? To avoid any accidents, I¡¯d better kill you right away.¡± Bai Yunfei said gently as if he was negotiating with Zhang Yang.


    Seeing the expression of puzzlement, unwillingness, terror and despair on Zhang Yang¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei finally could not help chuckling, saying: ¡°You¡¯re wondering why after seeing through your tricks I still wanted to talk to you so much earlier, aren¡¯t you?


    ¡°I just wanted to see this expression of yours! Great young master Zhang, how do you feel when someone has you in the palm of their hand and can decide your fate as they wish? Have you ever thought that you¡¯d be like this one day?¡± Bai Yunfei turned his head to look outside the house and said with a chuckle: ¡°I have to thank your subordinates. Because you wanted to come here tonight, they did a detailed ¡®clean-up¡¯. Basically nobody has gone past this place, and nobody has come here to check out the sounds of movement earlier¡­


    ¡°At first I still wanted to play with you for a while more, but I¡¯ve run out of patience. I¡¯m afraid if I keep delaying, something unexpected might happen. Therefore¡­¡± He reached out his right hand and the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his hand instantly.


    ¡°Prepare to pay for everything you did!¡±


    Looking at Zhang Yang, who was struggling backwards nonstop with a face full of terror, Bai Yunfei slowly walked up step by step to keep up with him while saying: ¡°When I killed that bodyguard of yours just now, you also saw that explosion effect. I can tell you that this spear has only a 10% chance of activating that effect¡­ Will you be slowly tortured to death by me? Or will you be killed immediately by an explosion?


    ¡°Repent! And pray!¡±


    As Bai Yunfei stared at Zhang Yang, who was moving backwards mechanically in front of him, his endless fury could not be concealed anymore and it erupted from his eyes. He thrust his spear at Zhang Yang¡¯s left leg.


    ¡°This is for what you owe me! I¡¯m not an ant, and you can¡¯t force me to fight for your pleasure as you wish!¡±


    With a soft ¡®pu¡¯ sound, the tip of the spear pierced straight through the calf and penetrated into the floor underneath. Zhang Yang stopped and let out a miserable cry. A scorching feeling went into his mind. The previous extreme coldness in his left leg was dispelled instantly, as if a red hot iron bar had pierced through the calf. He even seemed to hear bursts of hissing sounds and notice a faint burnt smell.


    With an ice-cold expression, Bai Yunfei was totally unmoved by Zhang Yang¡¯s miserable cry. He pulled the spear back and thrust it at Zhang Yang¡¯s right leg.


    ¡°This is for Uncle Wu, who lost his granddaughter because of you and in the end was killed trying to protect me by your subordinate Direwolf!¡±


    Zhang Yang finally could not prop his body up anymore. His arms became weak and he fell flat to the floor. His miserable cries could not relieve the excruciating pain coming from his legs at all.


    ¡°This is for Uncle Wu¡¯s granddaughter, who you tortured to death because she was unwilling to endure your insults!¡±


    His right hand was pierced through again. Zhang Yang already had no strength left to struggle. His face full of despair and fear, he begged for mercy intermittently with his mouth.


    ¡°This is for the young girl almost violated by you upstairs!¡±


    When the tip of the spear pierced into Zhang Yang¡¯s right hand, an explosion rang out immediately then blood, flesh and stone fragments were sent flying everywhere. The explosion had caused a hole about the size of a washbasin in the floor, and Zhang Yang¡¯s entire right arm had been blown to pieces!


    However, he had also passed out, either from the pain caused by the loss of the arm or from the shock wave of the explosion.


    ¡°You already passed out? Now you can¡¯t experience the agony of the moment before death anymore. Isn¡¯t this very convenient for you? Forget it. Just die unconscious!¡± Bai Yunfei looked at an unconscious Zhang Yang with an ice-cold expression. After pulling the spear back, he thrust it out again fiercely with a shake of his hand.


    ¡°The last strike is for all the poor people treated like insects, harmed and bullied by you!!¡±


    Flickering a dazzlingly crimson light, the tip of the spear penetrated into Zhang Yang¡¯s chest.


    Straight through the heart!

 Chapter 29: The Green Willow School, Luliu, and Yuhe

    Bai Yunfei looked at Zhang Yang¡¯s corpse in stupefaction. Even though he had taken his revenge, his face was full of grief instead of happiness.


    ¡°I¡¯ve taken my revenge... I¡¯ve finally killed Zhang Yang with my own hands! Uncle Wu... did you see that? I''ve avenged you. Now you and Xiao Yu¡¯er should be able to rest in peace in the netherworld...¡±


    Raising his head, Bai Yunfei looked up at the numerous bright stars in the pitch-black sky through the hole in the roof. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. Eventually, the complicated feelings in his heart subsided.


    Before he could consider what to do next, suddenly a chill ran down his spine. A feeling of being observed surged into his mind. Moreover, this feeling was vaguely similar to the feeling of when Zhang Yang¡¯s father Zhang Zhenshan had glanced at him.


    ¡°Who?!¡± Bai Yunfei turned around abruptly and took several steps backwards at the same time. Holding the Fire-tipped Spear in his hands, he stared hard at the door of the hall.


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re really vigilant, aren¡¯t you? As soon as you calmed down, you noticed my presence.¡± A lovely laugh came in from outside the door. After that the door was pushed opened slowly and a tall, jade green silhouette appeared before Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes.


    It was unexpectedly a woman!


    She had waist-length silky hair which swayed slightly as she walked as if it was willow branches dancing in a breeze. Her skin was snow-white, her chin sharp. With a faint smile on the corners of her mouth, she was squinting slightly. It seemed she was engrossing herself in sizing up Bai Yunfei in front of her. Her white clothes were adorned with various jade green patches resembling willow leaves. They were tightened at the waist, revealing her beautiful figure. She was holding a sword about one meter long in her left hand and the scabbard of the sword was also jade green in color.


    The appearance of this woman stupefied Bai Yunfei slightly for a moment, but he reacted immediately. Seeing that she did not seem to have any ill intentions, he gently let out a sigh of relief. Just when he wanted to talk, a lovely shout came from upstairs behind him.


    ¡°Senior sister!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was stupefied again. Before he could turn around to take a look, he heard a clatter of footsteps ring out behind him. Someone was running down the stairs behind him quickly. Then a fragrant rush of wind went past him as a petite young girl ran by him on one side to throw herself into the bosom of that tall woman.


    Upon seeing this young girl, the tall woman seemed to let out a sigh or relief. She raised her right hand and patted her back gently while saying in a soft voice: ¡°Thank goodness you¡¯re safe. I was worried to death. I left for just a few days but when I returned I unexpectedly couldn¡¯t find you. Then I discovered that you had been kidnapped by an underground gang in the city so I turned over almost all the local criminal groups to be able to find this place. Luckily you¡¯re okay... Right, did they do anything to you? Were you bullied by them?¡±


    Only after lying in her bosom for a good while did the young girl lift her head, saying: ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t. They didn¡¯t do anything to me. They said tonight they would give me... give me to their young master. I know you would definitely come to save me so I didn¡¯t do anything either. About half an hour ago, their young master arrived, then, then this person appeared...¡±


    Her voice was clear and melodious, like that of an oriole, and at the moment there seemed to be a slight sobbing tone in it, so it sounded a bit poignant. At this point, she could not help turning her head around to take a look at Bai Yunfei before turning it back immediately in a timid manner. Then she went and hid behind her senior sister with her head lowered. Her beautiful long hair was covering her face, but it could be noticed that she was quietly glancing at Bai Yunfei in front of her.


    Catching a glimpse of her beauty and her jade-like face, Bai Yunfei was entranced for a moment.


    Seeing the young girl¡¯s expression, that tall girl could not help laughing a bit. She raised her head, smiled at Bai Yunfei then slightly nodded, saying: ¡°I am Qiu Luliu, disciple of the Green Willow School¡¯s headmaster. This is my junior sister Chu Yuhe. May I know which school you are from?¡±


    Bai Yunfei, however, did not answer her. Instead, he looked outside the house then swept his eyes thoughtfully over the ordinary people who had been knocked unconscious with broken tile fragments by him earlier in the hall.


    The girl called Qiu Luliu had not expected Bai Yunfei not to answer her so she was somewhat annoyed, but upon seeing his movements, she was slightly taken aback for a moment. Then, seeming to have thought of something, she said with a smile again: ¡°Mister, I think we shouldn¡¯t stay here for long. Why don¡¯t we leave first then find another place to talk to each other?¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at Qiu Luliu and Chu Yuhe, who frequently looked at him from behind her senior sister, then lowered his head in silence for a long time before saying with a nod: ¡°Okay, I need to consult with you about some things too... Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Pulling Yuhe, Qiu Luliu walked out of the door. Bai Yunfei took a look at Zhang Yang¡¯s corpse again and let out a sigh whose implied meaning was unknown to even himself. Then he raised his head. The look in his eyes had become clear and resolute again. He quickly walked a circle around the hall, picking up all the daggers he had shot out earlier and Zhang Yang¡¯s luxurious dagger, then turned around and went out of the hall. After he caught up with Qiu Luliu and Chu Yuhe, the three of them gradually disappeared into the night.


    More than ten minutes after their departure, some of the people lying unconscious on the floor of the hall moved slightly then struggled up with caution. Only after confirming that Bai Yunfei and the girls had really left did they finally let out sighs of relief. But then they were somewhat at a loss. Looking at the three corpses on the floor, they were dumbfounded and did not know what they should do.


    ¡°Chief... Chief, we, what should we do now? Should we report to the Zhang mansion right away so that they can send men to capture young master¡¯s killer?¡± The little man who had been knocked unconscious by Bai Yunfei on the street said to the chief beside him while patting his chest in lingering fear. He did not even dare to look at Zhang Yang¡¯s damaged corpse.


    The chief was staring in a trance at Zhang Yang¡¯s corpse. The color of his face was changing repeatedly, sometimes ashen, sometimes very red and sometimes deadly white. Hearing the little man¡¯s words, he seemed to be woken up with a start. Suddenly his expression looked extremely angry. He turned and sent the little man flying with a palm strike without a warning sign then roared hysterically: ¡°Report? Report my ass!! He¡¯s already dead. How can we go there without getting killed? All of us will be buried with young master!¡±


    The little man was stunned by his palm strike and was sitting on the floor looking at him in stupefaction. After hearing his roars, he immediately quivered -- he was so frightened that he regained consciousness.


    ¡°Then... then what do we do? Chief...¡± A subordinate said in a somewhat trembling voice on one side.


    The chief lowered his head and pondered for a long time then raised his head and said to the men around him: ¡°Now that young master was killed in our place, nobody here can hope to escape being held responsible for this. We all know very well how the Zhang family will act. If we are caught, we¡¯ll definitely be killed and buried with young master!¡±


    After saying so, he looked around and continued: ¡°Wake the other brothers up. We¡¯ll leave Talus City right now. Whatever happens, our lives are the most important thing. Let¡¯s run away as far as possible!¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    In a remote alleyway in the eastern part of the city, Bai Yunfei and the two girls were facing each other, separated by a distance of ten meters. Qiu Luliu smiled at him again, saying: ¡°Just now I already introduced us, but you still haven¡¯t told me which school you are from? Though you¡¯re just a Soul Personage, not only do you have an space ring, you also have many soul armaments. Are you a disciple of the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°The Crafting School again...¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself, ¡°Zhang Yang also mentioned this school earlier. It seems to be a school good with soul armaments. If that is the case...¡±


    Bai Yunfei kept silent for a while then, instead of answering her question, he asked in reply: ¡°Earlier, when did you reach the outside of the door?¡±


    ¡°Oh? What? You care so much about me peeking at you earlier?¡± Qiu Luliu was stupefied for a short while then covered her mouth and let out a couple of giggles: ¡°He he, never mind, I only arrived less than three minutes before that. At the time you were somewhat agitated, but when you calmed down, you noticed me right away. Being already so alert at the Soul Personage stage, you¡¯re really quite something.¡±


    ¡°You... are a Soul Sprite, right?¡± Bai Yunfei continued to ask.


    ¡°Oh? You can even see this? Not bad, I had a breakthrough to the Soul Sprite stage not long ago.¡±


    ¡°Though you¡¯re very powerful, you¡¯d better leave this place with your junior sister soon. Perhaps you still don¡¯t know that the man I killed was the the young master of the house of Zhang in Talus City, Zhang Yang. His father Zhang Zhenshan is also a Soul Sprite and even a man of the Glacial School.¡± After thinking for a while, Bai Yunfei warned: ¡°Just now in that hall, you mentioned your identities. I think by that time some of the men lying on the floor must have woken up. Though I am the killer, if they are caught by the Zhang family, they will reveal your identities, giving you two the same trouble.¡±


    Hearing his words, Qiu Luliu suppressed her smile and frowned slightly, saying: ¡°What? That man was the young master of the house of Zhang? If so, this will be a bit troublesome indeed...¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 30: Schools of the World!

    Qiu Luliu suppressed her smile and frowned slightly, saying, ¡°What? That man was the Zhang family¡¯s young master? If so, this will be a bit troublesome indeed...


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t do anything. So what if that head of the Zhang family Zhang Zhenshan finds us? What¡¯s so amazing about his Glacial School? Our Green Willow School won¡¯t be afraid of them!¡± Qiu Luliu only frowned for a short while in the beginning. After thinking for a while, she said in an unconcerned manner, ¡°Plus, that Zhang Yang unexpectedly wanted to violate my junior sister. Luckily she¡¯s okay now, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have let him go even if you hadn¡¯t killed him!


    ¡°Right, speaking of which, I still haven¡¯t thanked you for saving my junior sister. To find a clue, I had to spent a lot of time. If not for your appearance, heaven knows what would have happened by the time I arrived.¡± Seemingly not caring much about the Zhang family and the Glacial School behind it, she skimmed over this topic casually and began to thank Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Since you¡¯ve already thought it over, I won¡¯t mention this again. You don¡¯t have to thank me either. At first I indeed specifically went there to save your junior sister, but after I knew that Zhang Yang would come, it was all about taking my own revenge. As a matter of fact, I can¡¯t accept your gratitude.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head and said modestly.


    ¡°That... that¡¯s not true. If not for your appearance, that bad guy would have been able to go upstairs while senior sister would have only arrived half an hour later. If not for you, I would have been... I, I am very grateful to you for saving me...¡±


    A timid voice came from behind Qiu Luliu. It was the young girl called Chu Yuhe. Seeming to have finally mustered up enough courage, she leaned out and gave Bai Yunfei a salute. Her voice sounded melodious and refreshing.


    She was about sixteen years old, 1.65 meters tall and dressed fully in light green clothes. Her beautiful long hair was hanging down on either side of her face, covering it a bit, her complexion slightly red. She was looking timidly at Bai Yunfei with her big eyes, appearing very lovely.


    ¡°Er... you don¡¯t need to thank me, miss. I killed Zhang Yang just to avenge myself. Even though I saved you, it was merely incidental... Er, what I mean is, I am honored to have been able to save you incidentally... Ah, I¡¯m saying you don¡¯t have to keep this in mind...¡± Bai Yunfei said while gently waving his hand. He felt uneasy being stared at by her timid eyes.


    ¡°Pfff...¡± Chu Yuhe could not help bursting out a laugh when she heard him speak incoherently and saw him wave his hand while smiling in a silly way. Then she covered her mouth immediately and hid behind Qiu Luliu again in a somewhat embarrassed manner, her little face totally red.


    Qiu Luliu could not help laughing either, saying, ¡°Ha ha... I didn¡¯t expect you to be such a simple person, mister.¡±


    ¡°Er...¡± Bai Yunfei was somewhat embarrassed. In fact, when Chu Yuhe had thanked him, the idea of ¡®her becoming devoted to him to return the favor¡¯ had popped into his mind, which had startled even himself. He did not know why he himself had such an ¡®immoral¡¯ thought. It was his guilty conscience that made him speak incoherently.


    Bai Yunfei gave a couple of dry coughs to ease the awkward atmosphere then said with a stern expression, ¡°I want to consult with you about some things, miss. Hopefully you can help me.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What do you want to ask me about? Just tell me. You want to ask me how old my junior sister is and whether she¡¯s married, right?¡± Qiu Luliu still said jokingly with a smile.


    ¡°Senior sister, you...¡± Behind her, Chu Yuhe immediately pulled her sleeve in a lovely manner to protest.


    ¡°Er... Ahem, Miss Qiu Luliu, I want to ask you about that Crafting School. What kind of school is it? And where is it?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Then you¡¯re not from the Crafting School? Plus, you don¡¯t even know these tidbits?¡± Qiu Luliu asked somewhat doubtfully, no longer joking with him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a disciple of any school. I just came across an elder of the Fate School and managed to obtain a technique to train the soul from him. But I haven¡¯t joined a school.¡± Bai Yunfei explained.


    ¡°What? The Fate School?!¡± Qiu Luliu shouted softly, her doubtful expression turning into a surprised one.


    ¡°Oh, what? The Fate School is very famous?¡± This time it was Bai Yunfei who asked doubtfully.


    ¡°Very famous? Not only ¡®very¡¯ famous, I think you¡¯re one of the very few soul cultivators in the entire Tianhun continent who doesn¡¯t know about the Fate School.¡± Seeing the doubtful expression on his face, Qiu Luliu continued in a somewhat frustrated manner, ¡°The Fate School isn¡¯t one of the ten great schools in the world, but it¡¯s almost on par with them in status. The Fate School believes in fate and pays particular attention to following Heaven¡¯s will. Its cultivation technique is extremely special. According to legend, the people of this school use their souls to sense Heaven¡¯s will and use their ¡®fate souls¡¯ to find out the path of fate, thus being able to know the past and predict the future.


    ¡°Many schools in the continent consider it an honor to be given directions by the Fate School. Every time they encounter a catastrophe, they all hope to obtain directions from the Fate School. Moreover, every school helped by the Fate School has been able to turn danger into safety in the end. Only, whether they will offer their help depends solely on the word ¡®fate¡¯ they believe in. It can¡¯t be forced. Plus, the Fate School seems to never have taken part in power struggles and stay in seclusion perennially so it¡¯s quite mysterious. The location of the school is even known to only a few people. Every disciple of the Fate School who goes out to gain experience is desired and courted by the major powers in the world.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was somewhat absorbed in listening. He had not expected the Fate School to be such a formidable school.


    ¡°Since you were taught by an elder from the Fate School, did you learn that secret method for peeking into the future?¡± At this point, Qiu Luliu looked at Bai Yunfei with glittering eyes.


    ¡°Er... I have to disappoint you, miss. That elder only taught me the most basic soul cultivation technique and gave me this space ring and some soul armament. There wasn¡¯t that mysterious secret technique you mentioned at all.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see...¡± Qiu Luliu said with some disappointment, ¡°That¡¯s right. How can the secret technique of the Fate School be taught to an outsider easily? I think it¡¯s possible that this traveling elder of the Fate School worked out that he and you are destined to be connected so he conveniently gave you an opportunity to change your life. This kind of thing has frequently happened in the Tianhun continent before.¡±


    ¡°It was because we are destined to be connected?...¡± Bai Yunfei thought for a while about what the old man from the Fate School had said. He could not help forcing a smile inside because now he knew that he owed the Fate School a debt of gratitude.


    ¡°That Crafting School is one of the ten great schools in the world you mentioned? What are the ten great schools? And please tell me in detail about the situation of the Crafting School, Miss Qiu.¡± Bai Yunfei continued to ask after pondering for a while.


    ¡°It seems you really don¡¯t know anything?¡± Qiu Luliu had no choice but to shake her head and explain as if she was teaching something to a child, ¡°The ten great schools in the world are the Tianhun School, the Crafting School, the Soul Refining School, the Beast Taming School, the Wind Lightning School and the Five Elements schools.


    ¡°The Five Elements schools definitely isn¡¯t the name of a single school. Rather, it¡¯s the collective name of five schools, consisting of the Metal, the Wood, the Water, the Fire, and the Earth Schools. Starting from the Soul Sprite stage, you can control the natural elements. Most soul cultivators are affiliated with one of the five elements, therefore these five schools have been very successful in terms of disciples. Of course, the other five schools have a lot of disciples too. In fact, each individual element school is inferior to the other five schools and is even only slightly stronger than the few schools which are very close to reaching the top ten schools in status.


    ¡°However, the five elements reinforce each other and are like birds of a feather. These schools have been in alliance and doing things together since they were created. It¡¯s because of this that they are listed among the ten great schools together. Of course, you could also regard these five schools as a single school, but then it would become ¡®top six schools¡¯ instead of ¡®top ten schools¡¯.


    ¡°The Wind Lightning School is a school that mostly uses techniques related to wind and lightning for cultivation. It¡¯s usually in disagreement with the Five Elements Schools. It fought the Water School once, and when it was winning, the other four element schools came to help the Water School and greatly damaged the Wind Lightning School¡¯s vitality. They have been feuding with each other ever since and both sides¡¯ disciples often fight as soon as they see each other.


    ¡°The Beast Taming School is a very special school. The people from this school almost never use their own bodies to fight. Instead, they mostly control soulbeasts. Unlike the other soul cultivators, who can form a spiritual bond with only one soulbeast, they seem to be able to control multiple soulbeasts directly using a secret technique, just like controlling puppets. Therefore this school is the arch-enemy of all soulbeasts. Rumor has it that a level 8 soulbeast in the depths of the Soulbeast Forest once led an army of soulbeasts and attacked this school¡¯s headquarters, wanting to rescue the soulbeasts enslaved by the Beast Taming School. But they had to fight the controlled soulbeasts. According to legend, the Beast Taming School even unleashed a level 8 puppet soulbeast in this battle. In the end, both sides suffered great losses, but I don¡¯t know the specific circumstances.


    ¡°The Soul Refining School doesn¡¯t refine their own souls, but other people¡¯s souls! If the Beast Taming School is the arch-enemy of all soulbeasts, this Soul Refining School is the arch-enemy of nearly all soul cultivators! All the people of this school are very evil and malicious. Their cultivation technique is extremely strange. They absorb other people¡¯s souls to strengthen themselves. The most powerful people among them can even refine other people¡¯s souls to absorb the power of soul essence! Even though the world of soul cultivators is a place where might is right and power talks, the Soul Refining School is publicly accepted as an evil power that everybody has the right to punish!


    ¡°The Tianhun School has the same name as the empire. The only reason for this is -- the Tianhun School is a school controlled by the imperial clan of the Tianhun Empire! As a school built with the resources of an empire, it¡¯s worthy of being the most powerful school of the continent. In the school, able people are present in large number and new talents never stop coming out. It¡¯s also the most ideal school in the eyes of most ordinary soul cultivators. The headmaster of the Tianhun School is the reigning emperor, His Majesty emperor Wu Hong, and at least half of the vassals in the sixteen provinces of the empire came from the school. It can be said that the Tianhun School is the empire¡¯s protector. It seems to never participate in power struggles but it checks and balances the powers in the world all the time. In addition to the wise politics and management of successive emperors, the empire¡¯s two-thousand-year prosperity must be due in part to this Tianhun School.¡±


    ¡°Prosperity, wise politics and management?...¡± Bai Yunfei curved his mouth slightly downwards in an unnoticeable manner while thinking to himself with a mental shake of his head, ¡°This is only true in the case of those who are rich and live happy lives. It¡¯s just your wishful thinking. Only a few people know about the darkness at the bottom of the society and the painful struggles of those ¡®lowly¡¯ people...¡±


    With her teacher mode on, Qiu Luliu seemed to become more and more excited as she talked. Perhaps because she found the way Bai Yunfei was listening to her earnestly like an obedient child amusing, she covered her mouth and gave a gentle laugh then continued, ¡°Next, I¡¯m going to explain to you the situation of the Crafting School, which is what you want to know the most...¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 31: Romance by Rescue Isnst Believable

    Chapter 31: Romance by Rescue Isn''t Believable


    As soon as Bai Yunfei heard that she was going to talk about the Crafting School, he cleared his head of thoughts and focused his attention to listen to her.


    Qiu Luliu was very satisfied with his behavior, as if she was a teacher. She gave a gently cough and said slowly: ¡°The Crafting School¡¯s headquarters is located on Mt. Chixia, the highest mountain in Pingchuan Province in the north of the empire.


    ¡°Just like in the case of the Fate School, all the big schools are unwilling to provoke the Crafting School and even have to do their best to be on friendly terms with this school. This is only because of one thing¡ªsoul armaments!


    ¡°Naturally, the Crafting School is good at making equipment. Soul armaments are extremely valuable to ordinary soul cultivators, but I heard that anybody in the Crafting School has at least one soul armaments. You should know that having a powerful soul armaments can increase the power of a soul cultivator by several dozen percent, or even several times! Most of the many famous soul armaments in the continent came from the Crafting School. Even the headmasters of the Skysoul Schools throughout history, who are also the emperors throughout history, have all been using the soul armaments specifically made for them according to their requests by the Crafting School. And the major powers and many powerful figures in the world of soul cultivators want the Crafting School to tailor-make super powerful soul armaments for them so much that they won¡¯t hesitate to offer the school precious materials or to promise to do something for it in return.


    ¡°There are definitely other powers and individuals capable of making soul armaments in the continent, but even if two soul armaments are of the same tier, the one made by the Crafting School will still be slightly better. However, the Crafting School won¡¯t rashly make soul armaments for other people, firstly because it¡¯s very difficult to make soul armaments and also because they¡¯re unwilling to let soul armaments become too widespread. Of course, to say ¡®widespread¡¯ is a bit too exaggerating, but looking from a certain angle, the Crafting School can indeed control the number of low-tier soul armaments in the world of soul cultivators, so it can be said that this school is one of the fulcrums of the major powers in the world of soul cultivators.


    ¡°The Crafting School is exceptionally strict about disciple admission. It almost only accepts soul cultivators whose soul essence has an affinity with the element of fire. And they still have to be extremely talented in craftsmanship to be able to obtain the secret special crafting methods in the school. Otherwise, they will become an outer disciple at most, practicing ordinary crafting methods. Even so, when any disciple of the Crafting School goes down from the mountain to gain experience, regardless of whether they are an outer disciple or an inner one, few people will provoke them, because you just don¡¯t know how many soul armaments this relatively weak soul cultivator in front of you actually has on their body. Fighting enemies of higher levels and killing them by using many soul armaments is not difficult to disciples of the Crafting School at all.¡±


    Having said so much, Qiu Luliu seemed to be somewhat tired. Only after pausing for a while did she say smilingly again: ¡°That¡¯s the basic situation of the Crafting School. So... you intend to go and ask to join this school, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh? How do you know?¡± Bai Yunfei blurted out subconsciously upon hearing her question. He was actually digesting the large amount of information which had just been obtained.


    ¡°You paid such a close attention to the Crafting School. If I still couldn¡¯t guess it, wouldn¡¯t I be a big fool?¡± Qiu Luliu gave him a glare somewhat discontentedly, as if she was blaming him for underestimating her intelligence.


    Bai Yunfei lowered his head in silence again for a long time. Just when Qiu Luliu somewhat impatiently wanted urge him, he lifted his head and cupped one fist in the other hand to the two girls, saying: ¡°Thank you so much for explaining these things to me, Miss Qiu. I think the city will be plunged into chaos very soon. I¡¯ve still got something else to do. The two of you should also leave quickly.¡±


    Seeming not to have expected him to suddenly suggest leaving, Qiu Luliu was stupefied for a while then said: ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s about time I returned to my school as well. This time, when learning through experience outside, I found this extremely talented junior sister so it¡¯s been a worthwhile trip. I also want to bring her back to my school as quickly as possible to let my master see this good disciple I took in on her behalf.¡±


    It turned out this was what had happened. Previously Bai Yunfei had found it strange that Chu Yuhe was the same as an ordinary person despite being a disciple of the Green Willow School. It turned out her training was yet to start. However, unexpectedly, an ordinary person¡¯s talent for cultivation could be tested directly? He had not thought that this was possible before.


    ¡°Oh, good. It¡¯s time for us to say goodbye! Later if I have a chance, I hope I can see the two of you again!¡± After saying so, Bai Yunfei turned around and walked down the alley, heading for the outside.


    ¡°Wait... Wait! Mister, you still haven¡¯t told us your name!¡± Chu Yuhe ran forwards two steps and shouted to Bai Yunfei¡¯s silhouette. Seeing him about to leave from behind Qiu Luliu, she had immediately become somewhat impatient.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body jerked slightly, but he did not turned around. He raised his right hand and waved it backwards, saying: ¡°I am Bai Yunfei. Miss Yuhe, after returning to your school you have to train hard, so that later nobody can insult you easily!¡±


    Watching Bai Yunfei¡¯s silhouette gradually going away, Chu Yuhe was somewhat entranced. There was a faint trace of depression on her face.


    Qiu Luliu walked up to her side, gently patted her head and said smilingly: ¡°What¡¯s wrong, junior sister? Could it be you like this mister?¡±


    ¡°No... That¡¯s not true! Please don¡¯t talk nonsense, senior sister...¡± Chu Yuhe turned her head in a non-compliant manner and explained with a totally red face, ¡°I¡¯m just, just grateful to him for saving me... At the time, that bad guy was about to go upstairs but you still hadn¡¯t come to save me. There was already a trace of despair in my heart. I even prepared to kill myself to protect my purity...¡±


    Qiu Luliu¡¯s expression froze. She held Chu Yuhe to her bosom in an embrace and said with a face full of pity: ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s my fault. If I hadn¡¯t insisted that you should stay here then gone and inspected the destruction of that Blackwood Stronghold, you wouldn¡¯t have been kidnapped by those people. In the end I even came here too late. Luckily you are all right, otherwise I¡¯d be regretful for the rest of my life.¡±


    Chu Yuhe raised her delicate little face and shook her head, saying: ¡°No, you¡¯re not at fault, senior sister. It was only because I didn¡¯t listen to your advice by going out alone for a walk in the street that I was captured. Besides, aren¡¯t I okay now? You don¡¯t have to reproach yourself, senior sister...¡±


    At this point, she could not help leaning her head to look in the direction of Bai Yunfei¡¯s departure, mumbling: ¡°Luckily he appeared. When I was almost in despair... he came down from heaven and single-handedly fought against three soul cultivators...¡±


    Seeing her expression, Qiu Luliu was somewhat concerned. She righted her body, put her own hands on her shoulders and said seriously: ¡°Junior sister, I have to warn you that you can¡¯t believe in this rescue romance thing! Many young aristocrats and playboy soul cultivators have used this trick to cheat girls into falling for them.¡±


    At this point, seeing a slight discontented expression emerge on Chu Yuhe¡¯s face, she continued hurriedly: ¡°Er... Of course I¡¯m not saying that Bai Yunfei is this kind of person. He¡¯s really a hero, plus he¡¯s a real gentleman instead of someone who wants to be repaid as I thought at first. However... because he doesn¡¯t take the rescue of you to heart, you definitely must not take him into your heart. This is very dangerous. You can¡¯t fall for him... You already know his name, right? Bai Yunfei, he¡¯s like a white cloud floating in the sky. You can¡¯t make him stay...¡±


    ¡°What are you taking about, senior sister? I don¡¯t like him... You¡¯re thinking too much...¡± Chu Yuhe explained herself in a somewhat embarrassed manner after being warned by Qiu Luliu this way.


    ¡°Alas... I hope so. Anyway, later the two of you probably won¡¯t have a chance to meet again so you¡¯ll slowly forget him.¡± Knowing that it was useless to say more, Qiu Luliu sighed with a shake of her head.


    Chu Yuhe looked at the empty alleyway in a somewhat stupefied manner again. Even she herself could not tell clearly how she was feeling in her heart.


    ¡°I really won¡¯t see him again...?¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 32: Soul Warrior Stage and Acupoints

    The night was not over yet. Only, the bright moon had already moved from one side of the sky to the other. Even the insects in the grass were making much less noise than earlier, as if they had fallen asleep because of being unable to endure the loneliness of the late night.


    Bai Yunfei went out of Talus City right after bidding farewell to the two girls.


    In front of Uncle Wu¡¯s grave...


    ¡°Uncle Wu, I have fulfilled my promise to you. I already killed Zhang Yang with my own hands. Now you and Xiao Yu¡¯er can rest in peace in the nether world...


    ¡°Uncle Wu, later I probably won¡¯t be able to come see you again. I have no intention of staying in Talus City and even in the Azure Cloud Province. I want to leave this place to look for the path of my own life.


    ¡°I have decided the destination. Hopefully I can live the kind of life I want to live at that place...


    ¡°Uncle Wu, though we only spent half a day together, you gave me a warm feeling similar to what my grandpa had given me. In the end, you even died to save me... I will engrave the words said by both my grandpa and you in my heart!¡±


    Bai Yunfei kowtowed three times respectfully to Uncle Wu¡¯s grave. When he stood up, the sorrow on his face gradually faded away, replaced with an unparalleled determination!


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving now, Uncle Wu. No matter what problems I will have to face in the future, I will definitely live free and with a clear conscience!¡±


    The moment Bai Yunfei turned around and left, a subtle change suddenly occurred in his body. His body, which had always been slightly bent unconsciously, was now perfectly upright. That trace of confusion and sadness in his eyes had disappeared. Now his clear eyes were filled with confidence and resolution.


    With the death of Zhang Yang, Bai Yunfei had taken his revenge and his state of mind had changed quietly again. He was already no longer that lowly and weak coolie who had struggled for survival by moving rice sacks in a rice store. Instead, he was now a powerful soul cultivator who could fight for his ideals!


    An invisible aura was emitted from his body. Within this small area, the remaining several insects which were crying suddenly became quiet. Even the moonlight in the surroundings seemed to ripple because of Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura.


    ¡°I broke through... The Soul Warrior stage!¡± As Bai Yunfei felt the surging soulforce in his body, he was somewhat stupefied. He raised his right hand, holding it before his eyes, and clenched it with force. It seemed he was making sure if this feeling was real or not, ¡°For the last two days, no matter how I have practiced, my soulforce hasn¡¯t increased at all. I also guessed that this was the sign of me being about to break through to the Soul Warrior stage. Originally I planned to go to Li Chengfeng¡¯s place then use the Upgrade Technique under his protection to break through this final barrier. Who would have thought I would have a breakthrough in this way?!


    ¡°Looks like in additional to the increase of soulforce, a stage breakthrough is closely related to the state of mind as well. It¡¯s good that I understand this now. Later it would save me many detours...¡±


    Bai Yunfei walked up a hillside, turned to take a look at Talus City, which was still shrouded in the darkness of the night, then turned around and went in the other direction.


    ¡°Talus City is about to be thrown into chaos. I can¡¯t let the Zhang family discover my whereabouts. After saying goodbye to mom and grandpa again, I¡¯ll leave immediately...¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    The next day, the entire Talus City was plunged into extreme chaos and panic.


    This was because almost all of the various underground forces in Talus City had been turned over the previous night!


    Normally these dens of bullies had fearsome reputations and nobody would dare to provoke them, but it was said that a woman had single-handedly stormed these places and injured countless gangsters. The bosses of some gangs had even almost been crippled. And the enemy¡¯s goal was only to find a person, a young girl kidnapped by a certain gang in the city.


    How could a woman do this kind of thing? She certainly could, because she was a soul cultivator! Moreover, she was an extremely powerful soul cultivator! It was said that the boss of the Axe Gang, who was also a soul cultivator of the Soul Apprentice stage, had been unable to withstand even a single strike from the opponent and got one of his legs broken directly!


    However, this was definitely not the main cause of the chaos in the city.


    The main cause of the chaos was that the young master of the house of Zhang, Zhang Yang had been killed in the same night!


    His body was discovered in the headquarters of a gang in the city. Zhang Yang and his two bodyguards were all dead and the members of the gang in charge of that area had all disappeared!


    When Zhang Yang¡¯s mother heard this news, she almost passed out. And when she really saw her son¡¯s damaged corpse, she fainted immediately. Only after her servants hurriedly gave her emergency treatment did she finally slowly wake up then throw herself on Zhang Yang¡¯s corpse and weep in agony.


    ¡°Send for master right away! Mobilize all the forces! I want everybody to carry out a search!! Search for those runaways of that gang and find out who killed my son! I want his entire family to be buried with my son!!¡±


    Therefore, Talus City was plunged into chaos. Almost every family was interrogated and searched by the Zhang family¡¯s men. Even those gangs which were dependent of the Zhangs all dragged their injured bodies around looking for the runaways.


    At first, the people in Talus City were all at a loss, but after knowing about what had happened, they were somewhat flustered and accepted in fear to be interrogated and searched by the Zhang family¡¯s overbearing men.


    However, there was an unutterable ¡®pleasant surprise¡¯ in their heart¡ªZhang Yang had unexpectedly been killed! Could it be a certain deity had shown up and heard their prayers?


    Of course, no matter how excited they were inside, they could not show it. Even though Zhang Yang was already dead, the Zhangs were still around. Therefore, they could only wait until the investigators had left to shut the doors, look up to the sky and laugh quietly then pray that the ¡®great benefactor¡¯ who had killed Zhang Yang would not be captured.


    Talus City was in turmoil, the Zhang family¡¯s men were anxious and nervous and the common people in the city were secretly celebrating¡ªbut the initiator of everything, Bai Yunfei, was hurrying to Li Chengfeng¡¯s house.


    After going quickly for a day, he was already very far from Talus City. He found a farmhouse in hope that he could stay there for a night. The farmhouse owner agreed very readily and refused to accept the reward money Bai Yunfei took out. He received him very enthusiastically. Even though the dinner was simple, Bai Yunfei was able to experience the honesty and enthusiasm of this family.


    At night, Bai Yunfei sat with legs crossed on the bed. Holding a gray scroll in his hand with his eyes closed, he was studying the acupoint control method of the Soul Warrior stage.


    A long while later, he slowly opened his eyes, but they were full of doubt. Only after staring at the scroll in his hand in a daze for a while did he put it away in the space ring.


    ¡°The final stage of the Three Stages of Body Control is greatly different from the skin-flesh control and bone-blood control from before... Unlike the skin, the flesh, the bones and the blood, these so-called acupoints aren¡¯t so easy to find at all. Even though I know where they are, I just can¡¯t feel them.


    ¡°Plus, why does my mind feel familiar with some acupoints? It seems like I knew them before... That eye-related ¡®Mingmu¡¯ acupoint, why do I feel that it should be called ¡®Jingming¡¯ acupoint? And that ¡®Danchi¡¯ acupoint in the elbow, I feel that its name is ¡®Xiaohai¡¯...¡±


    ¡°I always feel that there seems to be memories not belonging to me hiding in my head. They should have appeared together with that ¡®Equipment Upgrade Technique¡¯, but they are extremely vague and seem to be hiding in the depths of my mind. I just can¡¯t take the initiative and examine them...


    ¡°But they don¡¯t seem to do any harm. Plus, that feeling of familiarity with these acupoints in my mind can help me sense their existence better.


    ¡°But even though I¡¯ve meditated several times, I still can only manage to sense the ¡®Mingmu¡¯ acupoint in the eyes. Worse still, I can barely sense its existence and can¡¯t control it... Could it be I¡¯m not talented enough?¡±


    If Han Xiao, the chieftain of the Blackwood Stronghold killed by Bai Yunfei, knew what he was thinking, perhaps he would be stimulated so much that he would go back from the dead then vomit three liters of blood and die again. In the past, he could only sense the existence of the first acupoint after spending a whole month. Of course, Han Xiao was really not talented enough, but even most of those who were fairly talented would need several days to be able to sense the first acupoint when they tried to learn the acupoint control method after reaching the early-stage Soul Warrior level.


    However, Bai Yunfei had needed less than a day before he could vaguely sense then first acupoint. What kind of ¡®talent¡¯ was this? Of course, at the moment Bai Yunfei still did not know at all how great a help this vague feeling of familiarity with various acupoints in the body would be to his cultivation...


    ¡°I can¡¯t even sense the several most basic acupoints, how can I still practice the Wave Treading Steps?... Alas, I really look forward to this body-maneuvering soul technique. I want to practice it sooner to check it out.¡± With a turn of his wrist, a white scroll appeared in his hand¡ªit was none other than the last soul technique scroll in the space ring.


    The Wave Treading Steps was a high-human tier soul technique which used several acupoints in the legs as the basis in coordination with a special soulforce channeling method and a special footwork pattern to increase the user¡¯s speed and dexterity. Body-maneuvering techniques caused no direct damage but they could play an extremely important role, whether when you were fighting, giving chase or fleeing.


    Bai Yunfei looked at the scroll in a daze for a long time, fantasizing about how this soul skill would turn out to be. Only after that did he put the scroll away in the ring, pat his forehead and say to himself: ¡°I thought too much again. If I want to practice this soul skill sooner, I have to learn how to control these several dozen most basic acupoints as early as possible. At least I have to be familiar enough with acupoint control before practicing this soul skill...¡±


    In fact, there were only about ten something basic acupoints that needed to be controlled at the early-stage Soul Warrior level, but Bai Yunfei was studying a ¡®textbook¡¯ given to him by that old man from the Fate School. Some of the acupoints recorded in it were relatively ¡®precious¡¯. In ordinary, small schools of soul cultivators, even only the headmasters can learn cultivation methods which used these acupoints.


    However, Bai Yunfei did not know this. He only thought that they were ordinary acupoints that a Soul Warrior had to control...


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 33: Meeting Li Chengfeng Again

    In the morning of the next day.


    Bai Yunfei slowly opened his eyes after practicing for a whole night. At that moment, his eyes seemed to flash with a trace of light. They then returned to normal, seeming not to have undergone any change, but the expression in his eyes also seemed to be clearer than before.


    ¡°It¡¯s really inconceivable. I can only control the Mingmu acupoint, and worse still, at an elementary level, but my vision is already much better than before. Not only can I see farther now, I can also see much more clearly...¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself as he looked around for a while.


    ¡°Then next I¡¯ll study those several basic acupoints in the arms first. According to what that scroll says about their effectiveness, if I can control those several acupoints proficiently, I should be able to use the second level of the Overlapping Waves Art called Ninefold Fist Force with relative ease!¡±


    In fact he could already use the Ninefold Fist Force earlier when he had still been a late-stage Soul Personage, but the price would be too high. After just one use, his arm would be paralyzed for half a day, and even worse, it would hurt excruciatingly. Therefore, he had only used the Threefold Fist Force in the battle earlier.


    ¡°If I can use the Ninefold Fist Force proficiently, I¡¯ll become much more powerful. And if I can even use the Ninefold Thrust... then unless something unexpected happens, basically every time I thrust the Fire-tipped Spear out, its explosion effect will be triggered. At that time...¡± At this point, Bai Yunfei could not help starting to fantasize again.


    After bidding farewell to this simple and honest family, Bai Yunfei continued to head for Li Chengfeng¡¯s house.


    He trained along the way. After taking several detours confusedly, in the evening of the fifth day, Bai Yunfei finally arrived in Li Chengfeng¡¯s current village again.


    Seeing Bai Yunfei again, Li Chengfeng was naturally very happy. The other people in the village also showed special enthusiasm for him when they knew that he was the visitor because they considered him their ¡®benefactor¡¯. The entire village held a ¡®welcoming banquet¡¯ for Bai Yunfei as if they were celebrating a festival, making him feel quite embarrassed.


    At night, it was pleasantly quiet in the village. Most of the people had already turned out the lights and gone to sleep. On a small hillside outside the village, Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng were sitting with legs crossed.


    ¡°Not long ago, a good several batches of men suddenly showed up around here one after another and asked people in the village about that Blackwood Stronghold. Luckily I had already instructed them earlier so they all handled this pretty well. Besides, I had already hid those horses deep behind the mountain when noticing that the situation had been abnormal. Luckily it seemed those men didn¡¯t think that a village like ours would have something to do with those bandits, so they all left after casually asking some people...¡± Li Chengfeng slowly recounted what had happened recently while gazing at the several dots of lamplight yet to be put out in the village.


    Bai Yunfei nodded, saying, ¡°Yeah, you did a great job. We definitely can¡¯t let them know that we were behind the destruction of the Blackwood Stronghold, otherwise the village will be put in danger. But I think they won¡¯t pay attention to this place again. After all, nobody would suspect a small village like this one.¡±


    Then he turned his right hand over. The three scrolls appeared in his hand. He held them out to Li Chengfeng, saying, ¡°You¡¯ve already reached the Soul Personage stage. Tomorrow you should start practicing the second stage of body control, the bone-blood control. You can also practice the soul skill in this scroll. The last scroll requires you to reach the Soul Warrior stage to practice. Just leave it there for now.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is it okay to give me all of them?¡± Seeing him hand over three scrolls at once, Li Chengfeng asked doubtfully as he received them.


    ¡°Never mind, of course I have remembered all the contents before giving them to you. Now I don¡¯t need them anymore. I¡¯ll stay in the village for a while and wait until I have become proficient in acupoint control to leave. During this period of time, you can ask me if you have any questions about cultivation.¡± Bai Yunfei said smilingly.


    Li Chengfeng gave his wrist a shake and the three scrolls disappeared. They had been sucked into the space ring in his finger -- it was none other than the former space ring of Han Xiao, chieftain of the Blackwood Stronghold.


    ¡°Right, have you finished doing what you wanted to do when returning to Talus City this time?¡± Li Chengfeng asked in a seemingly very casual manner.


    Bai Yunfei nodded, saying, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m done with it. I won¡¯t go back to that place anymore. I intend to leave Qingyun Province directly in a while and go to Pingchuan Province, which has a school of soul cultivators called the Crafting School. I want to go there to study under a master.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a good idea to leave too. You¡¯re like a floating white cloud. A small place like this can¡¯t make you stay, right?¡± Li Chengfeng added smilingly as if he was joking, ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m still too weak, otherwise, I¡¯d really want to go on a journey with you...¡±


    ¡°Give me a break...¡± Bai Yunfei scolded jokingly, ¡°You just got married not long ago, but you¡¯re already thinking about the teeming world outside? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re willing to part with your precious Ling¡¯er? And if you want to travel the world with your family now, even I will disagree with you. Can you protect Ling¡¯er?¡±


    ¡°Er... I wasn¡¯t serious about that.¡± Li Chengfeng scratched his head in an embarrassed manner, ¡°Of course I¡¯m aware of these things so you can rest easy. Before making a breakthrough to the Soul Warrior stage like you, I definitely won¡¯t consider leaving.


    ¡°However, now that I¡¯ve already got this kind of power, I can¡¯t stay in this hamlet for life. Eventually I¡¯ll have to go and experience the outside world. At that time, can we still meet again?¡± Li Chengfeng said in a longing tone while looking up at the numerous stars in the sky.


    ¡°That goes without saying! We¡¯ll definitely meet again. At that time, you can¡¯t be too weak!¡± Bai Yunfei said smilingly, ¡°I just got a one-step head start on you, and nothing more. When the time comes, you can go to the Crafting School to find me. Or if you join another school, make a name for yourself, I¡¯ll come and find you at that time...


    ¡°Right, I¡¯ve learned a bit about schools in the world recently. I¡¯ll tell you about them so that later you¡¯ll be well aware of the situation...¡±


    Bai Yunfei then told Li Chengfeng carefully what he knew, including the information on the ten great schools, before continuing, ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the Soul Sprite stage after the Soul Warrior stage either. I only know that from the Soul Sprite stage, you can control the power of the natural elements. It seems when you make a breakthrough to this stage, you¡¯ll have to choose the type of element you¡¯ll want to control, and this will have something to do with the attributes of your soul essence. In short, after reaching the late Soul Warrior stage, you¡¯d better choose a school and train under a master¡¯s expert guidance. If you grope about in the dark by yourself, you can easily run into problems.¡±


    Li Chengfeng was somewhat stupefied. Only after a good while did he murmur, ¡°The outside world is really splendid! I¡¯ll definitely train a bit faster then go and experience that big world!¡±


    ¡°Hey! Did you really hear what I said?¡±


    ¡°Uh, mm, I did. You don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯ll be careful...¡±


    ¡°... ...¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    Just like that, Bai Yunfei then stayed in this hamlet. However, he did not come here to enjoy a quiet, comfortable lifestyle at all. He knew that he would have to leave this place and Qingyun Province soon.


    What he had to do now was practice, practice and practice, to master the acupoint control method and become proficient in his soul techniques. He had to make every effort to improve his power so that later he could face the ever-present threat of being hunted down...


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 34: Explode! Explode! And Explode!

    Book 1 Chapter 34: Explode! Explode! And explode!


    In the next several days, Bai Yunfei trained almost as hard as he would in a ¡®closed-door session¡¯.


    He studied the method for controlling those ¡®basic¡¯ acupoint in meditation almost all the time. And at night, his time was not wasted either. Instead of sleeping, he spent time increasing his soulforce. Because Bai Yunfei spent nearly all his daytime studying acupoints, he basically did not have time to improve his soulforce. However, he had his own method for improving his soulforce with ease!


    This method was naturally the Item Upgrade Technique. At the moment, he was staying in this hamlet near Li Chengfeng so he did not have to worry that there would be danger after he passed out. Therefore, he used the Upgrade Technique to exhaust his soulforce directly every night. The next day, by the time he woke up from his unconsciousness, his soulforce would have already improved ¡ª this was really convenient.


    However, there was a little trouble, namely, the numerous items stored in his interspatial ring had almost been used up by him in just several days. Nearly all of these ordinary items were destroyed before they could reach +10, turning into piles of scrap metal as if they had been in existence for countless years before this.


    Later, Bai Yunfei had no choice but to change his method. Before going to sleep, he practiced the body control or the soul techniques to use up most of his soulforce, then he used the Upgrade Technique to exhaust his remaining soulforce. Because of this, every night he would ¡®jump around¡¯ like mad before going to bed. The villagers who did not know what was going on even thought that he had too much energy and a well-meaning auntie even suggested introducing a girl to him to help him¡­


    However, the result of such ¡®arduous training¡¯ was: after seven days, he could already more or less control the several acupoints in his arms and manage to use the Ninefold Fist Force without suffering too much from the side effect. At last, he had accomplished the first goal. Next he would have to train the acupoints in his legs then begin to practice the Wave Treading Steps.


    His soulforce had been increasing steadily by twenty something points a day. It had been twelve days since he had reached the Soul Warrior stage. In the first five days, which was also the time it took him to go from Luoshi City to this village, he only used the Soul Cultivation Art to improve his soulforce. After the last seven days, now the numerical value of his soulforce was about 1500 points. Bai Yunfei guessed that the threshold for the middle Soul Warrior stage should be about 1600 points. In other words, he would reach the middle Soul Warrior stage in a few days.


    In terms of items, although the chances of successful upgrades were extremely low, after many upgrades, he still ended up with more than ten +10 items such as sabers, swords and sticks.


    Perhaps inspired by Bai Yunfei, Li Chengfeng trained very hard too. He even spent much less time with his precious Ling¡¯er. However, Ling¡¯er was a good wife so she did not complain about this at all. She was also sincerely happy upon seeing the joyful expression he had when training together with Bai Yunfei.


    By the time of Bai Yunfei¡¯s arrival, Li Chengfeng had already been a Soul Personage for a while. Recently he had been practicing the bone-blood control method and the Overlapping Waves Art he had just obtained, all while having to improve his soulforce through cultivation. Even so, after the first two days, he still broke through to the middle Soul Personage stage. His power had been increasing steadily. This even made Bai Yunfei wonder if he might also possess a shortcut capable of improving soulforce like the Item Upgrade Technique¡­


    This day, in the afternoon, Bai Yunfei went into the mountain forest behind the village alone, found a secluded place and sat down with legs crossed ¡ª at the moment he wanted to do an important thing ¡ª upgrading his items ¡ª upgrading those +10 items!


    All along, Bai Yunfei had considered +10 the limit of the upgrades. Now that he already had quite a few +10 items, he decided to upgrade them to even a higher level so that he could gather even more information about the Upgrade Technique. Anyway, these were all ordinary items so even if they exploded, he would not be too distressed by this.


    Gently taking a breath, he turned his wrist over. A dagger appeared in his hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started with a +9 dagger¡­ Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade successful.


    ¡°Item grade: Normal.


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    The information appearing in his mind made Bai Yunfei happy inside: ¡°I was pretty lucky. The first upgrade was successful, then let¡¯s follow it up with the next¡­


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade failed.


    ¡°Item destroyed.¡±


    Seeing the dagger in his hand turn into scrap metal, Bai Yunfei was somewhat disappointed.


    ¡°Alas!As expected, it¡¯s not so easy to succeed¡­¡±


    He took out another +10 dagger.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade failed.


    ¡°Item destroyed.¡±


    He took out another +10 dagger.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade failed.¡±


    Another one¡­


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade failed.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade failed.¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s go all out! This time I¡¯ll definitely succeed. Let¡¯s upgrade these Icesoul Silver Needles!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After half an hour, there was already a large pile of scrap metal in front of Bai Yunfei. And he was grinding his teeth looking at a saber about one meter long in his hand with an expression full of anger.


    ¡°Item grade: Normal.


    ¡°Upgrade level: +11.


    ¡°Damage: 31.


    ¡°Additional damage: 56.


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: Attacks have a 3% chance of knocking the target back.


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 30 soul points.¡±


    This large saber was none other than the one used his battle against hallmaster Zhong. There were still some nicks on the edge of the blade and there was a hole through the blade caused by the Glacial Piercer.


    After staring at the large saber for a good several minutes, Bai Yunfei finally could not help standing up with a whoosh. He threw the saber fiercely to the ground and shouted abuse at it: ¡°F*ck you! Is there a mistake here?! Five +10 ordinary items of mine and even the two Icesoul Silver Needles were destroyed! They were soul items! Soul items, damn it! Both of them were destroyed! Now the only thing left is this crappy saber?!


    ¡°Damn it! Damn it!¡±


    The more Bai Yunfei thought about it, the more agitated and angry he became. He raised the large saber and roared in a deep voice: ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade failed.


    ¡°Item destroyed.¡±


    The large saber turned into scrap metal and drifted to the ground, which emptied his hand.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression stiffened then became even more unsightly, his eyes almost filled with blood. With a shake of his wrist, the Glacial Piercer appeared in his hand.


    ¡°I, I¡­¡±


    Because he was holding the Glacial Piercer with too much force, his hand was almost white and blue veins had popped out of his arm. His entire body was trembling slightly.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression changed repeatedly. After struggling for more than ten minutes, he was finally able to suppress the impulse in his mind. He sat down on the ground again dejectedly, put the Glacial Piercer away then looked at the pile of scrap metal in front of him in a daze.


    After a long time, seeming to have thought of something, he turned his wrist over and an object appeared in his hand ¡ª it was angular, dazzlingly red and chillingly cold ¡ª it was none other than one of those bricks!


    Bai Yunfei had a special feeling for bricks. After all, in the beginning, only because he had accidentally upgraded that brick to +10 had he been able to catch Direwolf by surprise in the Coliseum and kill him to survive. Therefore, he had been keeping a brick in the interspatial ring. Even though it was not that brick, it could be considered a commemorative object.


    ¡°Hah¡­¡± Bai Yunfei gave a self-derisive laugh, slightly shook his head and thought in his mind: ¡°Upgrade¡­¡±


    ¡°Upgrade successful.


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression stiffened a bit, but he did not care too much about this success. He continued to think in a somewhat frustrated manner: ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Upgrade again!¡± His expression changing, Bai Yunfei roared like mad.


    ¡°Upgrade successful.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    After being stupefied for half a minute, Bai Yunfei acted the same as before. He stood up with a whoosh, threw the brick to the ground fiercely, stamped his foot and shouted abuse.


    ¡°F*ck you! Are you kidding me?!?!¡±

 Chapter 35: +13 Brick! Hurling!

    Chapter 35: +13 Brick! Hurling!


    After being stupefied for half a minute, Bai Yunfei acted the same as before. He stood up with a whoosh, threw the brick to the ground fiercely, stamped his foot and shouted abuse.


    ¡°F*ck you! Are you kidding me?!?!¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    Only after another five minutes was Bai Yunfei finally able to calm his trembling heart and body down. As he picked up the brick, half of which had been sunk into the ground, and brushed the soil from its surface with his hand, he almost burst into tears.


    ¡°If I had known it, I would have upgraded the Glacial Piercer...¡± Staring at the brick in his hand with a complicated expression, Bai Yunfei started to regret upgrading it in his heart.


    With a thought, the properties of the brick showed up in his mind.


    Equipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 132


    +10 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 1% chance of confusing the target for a maximum of 3 seconds.


    (When attacking the head, the chance of confusion increases to 5%).


    +12 Additional Effect: Attacks have an 8% chance of stunning the target for a maximum of 5 seconds.


    (When attacking the head, the chance of stunning increases to 15%).


    +13 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 30% chance of hurling the target through the air.


    Upgrade Requirements: 50 Soulpoints


    ¡°This...¡± The gloomy expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face disappeared in an instant and was replaced with an extremely astonished one, as if he did not dare to believe the information in his mind.


    After being astonished for ten something seconds, he put the brick down on the ground again in a somewhat stupefied manner then picked it up once more and examined it. He put it down again, picked it up once more and examined it...


    After doing so several times, he was finally sure that this was real. Holding the brick with both hands, he murmured, ¡°This... can also be considered a small compensation for the losses. Though both the Icesoul Silver Needles were destroyed, this one¡¯s additional effects seem not bad either. At least I didn¡¯t lose all those items for nothing...


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go and test its power next!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s dejection had been swept away. He unexpectedly looked a bit excited now. With his face filled with a desire to test the brick, he carried it running towards the village.


    Li Chengfeng was lifting a large wooden barrel with each of his hands, running back and forth in the village. Normally, when full of water, the barrels could only be moved slowly with difficulty using a pole by the villagers, but they looked as if their weight did not exist in his hands -- he had just finished his training and was using his break time to help the villagers collect water.


    When he had just filled the water tank of a family and was about to go and collect water again, he saw Bai Yunfei rushing back in haste from the mountain behind the village with a brick in his hand and a face full of expectation.


    ¡°What¡¯s up, Yunfei?¡± Seeing him like that, Li Chengfeng asked in a somewhat confused manner.


    ¡°Ah, I just got a good thing. Chengfeng, stop what you¡¯re doing first and come test its power with me.¡± Bai Yunfei said to him while weighing the brick in his hand.


    ¡°Er... this one? A brick?¡± Li Chengfeng asked doubtfully without reacting.


    ¡°Yeah, this one. Don¡¯t ask. You¡¯ll know after checking it out. Let¡¯s go!¡± After saying so, Bai Yunfei went impatiently towards a vacant area outside the village.


    ¡°Oh, alright...¡± Seeing him so eager, Li Chengfeng became a bit curious. He put the wooden barrels down and followed him.


    ¡°You put up a good defense first. I¡¯ll hit your shoulder with it to see what will happen.¡± Having arrived in the vacant area, Bai Yunfei said after thinking for a while.


    Despite not knowing what Bai Yunfei had in mind, Li Chengfeng still channeled his soulforce without saying a word, causing the flesh of his shoulder to wiggle slightly for a while. When he had already prepared his defense, he thought doubtfully to himself, ¡°What did he mean? He wants to hit me with that brick? How can this kind of attack be effective against a soul cultivator? Or there¡¯s something special about that brick? But no matter how I look at it, it¡¯s just an ordinary brick...¡±


    Just when he was still guessing to himself, Bai Yunfei walked up to his face and raised the brick in a simple manner without using any technique then smashed it down on his shoulder.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Before a soft collision sound could ring out completely, Li Chengfeng¡¯s surprised, painful cry was heard. He unexpectedly could not help taking two steps backwards while massaging his left shoulder nonstop. As he grimaced in pain, he drew in breaths of cold air.


    ¡°How is this even possible?! Just now this brick... Yunfei, you didn¡¯t use the Overlapping Waves Art, right? Just like the Threefold Thrust, this was... the Threefold Smack?¡± Li Chengfeng asked while staring at Bai Yunfei with a face full of bafflement. He had channeled his soulforce and made the pain in his left shoulder disappear.


    ¡°Smack my ass! Just now did I look like I was using a soul skill?¡± Bai Yunfei snapped then said to himself in an engrossed manner, ¡°Um, but... Threefold Smack? Ha ha, I¡¯ll think about it...¡±


    Li Chengfeng was somewhat speechless. Such a powerful soul skill would really be applied to this brick?


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s continue. This time you must defense yourself properly.¡± After thinking for a while, Bai Yunfei said again.


    Li Chengfeng was stupefied, ¡°We¡¯ll still test it? What do you actually want to do? Alas... Alright, come hit me again.¡±


    Just like before, Bai Yunfei hit Li Chengfeng¡¯s shoulder with three continuous strikes. This time, Li Chengfeng had already prepared himself by strengthening his defense so despite still feeling a little pain, he did not even move half an inch. He looked doubtfully at Bai Yunfei, who would stare at him hopefully for a few seconds whenever hitting him with the brick.


    After the third hit, Bai Yunfei looked at the brick in his hand rather disappointedly and said to himself, ¡°Strange... Why hasn¡¯t it happened yet?¡±


    He then raised his head again looking at Li Chengfeng and said smilingly, ¡°You¡¯re really lucky, Chengfeng...¡± After that, he smashed the brick down once again.


    ¡°Oh? What do you mean? My luck...¡± Li Chengfeng said in puzzlement, but before he could finish what he was saying, something unusual suddenly happened just when this blow landed on his shoulder!


    When Bai Yunfei felt a strand of soulforce flow into the brick in his hand, his eyes brightened, ¡°Here it comes!¡±


    Li Chengfeng, who had still been nonchalant just then, suddenly flew into the air without finishing what he was saying as if he had been rammed into head-on by a big truck... er, big horse carriage. He flew away more than three meters then, after landing, slid away nearly ten more meters before he finally stopped.


    Li Chengfeng sat on the ground with his mouth half-open. He was not injured, but he had been somewhat stupefied by this sudden situation.


    ¡°Ha-ha, it was finally activated. This is the ¡®hurling¡¯ effect, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s even more formidable than I thought, ha ha...¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s slightly complacent, happy laughter woke Li Chengfeng up with a start from his stupefaction. He stood up and looked at the brick in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand with an astounded expression, asking, ¡°Yunfei, what happened just now? My body suddenly flew backwards uncontrollably but I¡¯m not injured at all... Could it be this brick was the cause of this?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s miraculous, isn¡¯t it? Ha ha, I¡¯ll explain this to you in a while. Come, let¡¯s continue...¡± Bai Yunfei stopped talking to himself when hearing his questions then walked towards him again with a totally excited expression.


    ¡°Wait, wait! I quit. This is a strange thing. I don¡¯t want to play with it anymore...¡± Li Chengfeng looked at the brick in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, which seemed to be slightly emitting a red light, and said while waving his hands repeatedly. Bai Yunfei¡¯s longing expression had given him the creeps.


    ¡°Alas... How can you be like this? It won¡¯t hurt you... That hurling effect just now only has a 30% chance of being triggered.¡± Seeing Li Chengfeng backing off continuously, seeming unwilling to cooperate with him in his ¡®experiment¡¯ again, Bai Yunfei thought for a while then had no choice but to change his tune, saying, ¡°Alas, forget it. How about you hitting me? At least this is okay, right? I¡¯ll have a taste of its effect myself.¡±


    ¡°Er... is this really okay?¡± Li Chengfeng was stupefied and stopped retreating. Looking at the brick held out to him by Bai Yunfei, he received it hesitantly. As he weighed it in his hand, a hint of curiosity gradually appeared in his eyes. He then raised his head, saying, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll help you test it. What should I do? Still hit your shoulder with it? How much force should I use?¡±


    ¡°Let me think... Don¡¯t hit my shoulder. Hit my forehead, okay? But don¡¯t use a lot of force. Just hitting me gently is enough.¡± Bai Yunfei said after thinking for a while.


    ¡°Forehead? Alright, then get your defense ready. I¡¯m hitting you now...¡± Li Chengfeng was a bit stupefied then said somewhat uncertainly.


    ¡°Yeah, just do it, but wait for a while after every time you hit me. Don¡¯t hit me again until I tell you to.¡± Bai Yunfei lowered his head slightly and warned.


    ¡°Oh...¡± Li Chengfeng slowly held out the brick in his hand and smashed it on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead with a small force.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Although he used a very small force, when the brick hit Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead, it created a strange soft sound.


    Afterwards, just like what had happened to Li Chengfeng earlier, Bai Yunfei flew away a good distance with slight buzzing sounds as if he had been rammed into by a galloping big horse carriage.


    Looking at Bai Yunfei, who was sitting on the ground in some confusion, then looking at the brick in his hand, Li Chengfeng was stupefied for a short while then suddenly laughed out loud with his hands holding his stomach.


    ¡°What did you say? The hurling effect has an activation chance of less than one to three, right? Ha ha... then looks like I¡¯m really way luckier than you, ha ha!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei struggled up from the ground, brushed the dirt off his body and said in a somewhat embarrassed manner, ¡°Er, that was unexpected, unexpected... Let¡¯s continue.¡±


    ¡°Continue? Alright, alright. Get ready, here I come.¡± This time Li Chengfeng appeared to be very active and even to be quite enjoying himself. Regardless of what this so-called ¡®hurling¡¯ effect actually was, at the moment he found it very interesting and especially delightful.


    ¡°Yeah, hit me.¡± When Bai Yunfei saw that Li Chengfeng¡¯s face was full of expectation, the corners of his mouth twitched in an unnatural manner.


    ¡°Hopefully... all the effects will be tested soon...¡± He prayed to himself in his mind.


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 36: +13 Brick! Stunning! And Confusing!

    Chapter 36: +13 Brick! Stunning! And Confusing!


    When Bai Yunfei saw that Li Chengfeng¡¯s face was full of excitement, the corners of his mouth twitched in an unnatural manner.


    ¡°Hopefully... all the effects will be tested soon...¡± He prayed to himself in his mind.


    After the two of them positioned themselves well, Li Chengfeng continued to hit Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead gently with the brick again and again¡ªhis face full of expectation.


    When the third blow landed, Bai Yunfei suddenly felt a strange force surge into his head. Before he could react, he felt a wave of dizziness. Suddenly there was only an expanse of golden light before his eyes and he ended up seeing stars. His mind was in chaos and the defense of the skin and flesh on his forehead, which had been reinforced with soulforce, also disappeared in the blink of an eye. He took two steps backwards uncontrollably and was about to topple.


    When Li Chengfeng smashed the brick down this time, he felt a strand of soulforce flow into it in an uncontrolled manner. Then he saw Bai Yunfei retreat continuously with unfocused eyes and about to fall down. He hurriedly grabbed his shoulder to help him regain his balance and asked in a somewhat frightened manner, ¡°Yunfei? Are you okay?¡±


    By the time he finished his questions, Bai Yunfei had already recovered. He shook his head, stood upright again and said ¡°I¡¯m alright¡± before immersing himself in contemplation.


    ¡°Chengfeng, just now how long was I in this stunned state?¡± A while later, Bai Yunfei lifted his head and asked.


    ¡°Stunned? Ah, a very short time, only about three seconds...¡± Li Chengfeng was stupefied then answered after thinking for a bit.


    ¡°Three seconds! But the stunning effect can last for a maximum of five seconds, so in other words, the duration of this effect varies according to the target... In this case, if the target is a bit more powerful than me, he can only be stunned for one second, or even half a second... However, at that level, even half a second of stun would be enough for me to turn the tide in combat...¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself while pondering with glittering eyes.


    Seeing the doubtful and concerned look in Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes upon raising his head, he said laughingly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m okay. I¡¯ll answer the questions in your mind in detail soon. There¡¯s still one thing that needs to be tested. Let¡¯s continue.¡±


    ¡°Er... continue? Alright, I¡¯ll wait for your explanations.¡± Li Chengfeng said while nodding in a frustrated manner.


    Afterwards, Bai Yunfei experienced the hurling effect twice and experienced both the hurling effect and the stunning effect simultaneously once before finally experiencing the anticipated confusing effect.


    The moment this effect was triggered, what Bai Yunfei was seeing suddenly distorted and his mind was in confusion, as if many things had been crammed into it all of a sudden. However, this was not as serious as being stunned because he could still control his body and the soulforce in it, but he also felt a severe lack of coordination.


    Shaking his head, he walked forwards half a step and tried reaching out his hand to Li Chengfeng in front of him, but caught nothing.


    This strange feeling then disappeared and the world before his eyes returned to normal. Bai Yunfei suddenly noticed that at some point he himself had already moved to a place about two steps away from Li Chengfeng on Li Chengfeng¡¯s left-hand side. But he was not facing Li Chengfeng either. Instead, he had turned right.


    ¡°Are you okay, Yunfei? What happened just now? Why did you suddenly seem to lose your sense of direction?¡± Li Chengfeng walked up to his face and asked in a curious manner.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay...¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head then lowered it to ponder again.


    ¡°This is the ¡®confusing¡¯ effect, right? It¡¯s similar to stun, but there¡¯s also an obvious difference...¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, what are you thinking? Do I still have to hit you?¡± Seeing no reaction from Bai Yunfei for a long time, Li Chengfeng could not help asking.


    Bai Yunfei raised his head to take a look at him and scolded jokingly, ¡°Are you addicted to hitting? Don¡¯t hit me again. I¡¯m already done with my research. Just give me the brick.¡±


    ¡°Oh...¡± Li Chengfeng handed the brick over to Bai Yunfei in a somewhat unwilling manner with a disappointed expression on his face.


    The corners of his mouth twitching, Bai Yunfei put the brick away, not knowing whether to cry or laugh about this. He then sat down and said, ¡°Alright, now I¡¯m going to answer all your questions.¡±


    Hearing this, Li Chengfeng immediately became interested. He sat down next to him and asked with a face full of curiosity, ¡°Good, good, quickly tell me what happened. How can this brick be so marvelous? Right... Now that I think about it, the two daggers you gave me seem to be quite special as well. I feel they¡¯re similar to this brick...¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Correct, the two daggers I gave you, this brick, and my Fire-tipped Spear and Glacial Piercer, they all have at least one ¡®special effect¡¯.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Li Chengfeng showed that he did not understand.


    ¡°Er... they are a kind of effect that is totally out of the ordinary and unimaginable.¡± Bai Yunfei felt silent for a short while, but he really did not know how he should explain so he had no choice but to give an example, ¡°Take the brick just now for example. Do you think that kind effect which mysteriously sends people flying is in the ordinary? There are also your two daggers. The effect of one of them is ¡®attacks have a 2% chance of slowing the target¡¯s speed for 10 seconds¡¯. Do you still remember the first time we teamed up and killed that hallmaster Zhong? In the end, it was only because you triggered this effect were we able to kill him.¡±


    Seeing a pondering expression appear on Li Chengfeng¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei continued, ¡°The other dagger can reduce the recovery speeds of the wounds caused by it. And my Fire-tipped Spear has an explosion effect. In fact, these weapons themselves didn¡¯t possess the effects. I am the one who ¡®gave¡¯ them the effects. I¡¯ve got a special ability which causes them to possess these special effects... Now, do you understand after I explained it this way?¡±


    ¡°I... still don¡¯t understand the specifics.¡± Li Chengfeng shook his head confusedly, ¡°But simply speaking, you have an unimaginable ability which added extra, unimaginable effects to these things, right?¡±


    ¡°Er... that¡¯s right. Your summary is very accurate.¡± Bai Yunfei said with a nod after thinking for a while.


    ¡°Oh, this...¡± Li Chengfeng was not so astounded or curious as Bai Yunfei had thought. Instead, he pondered calmly for sometime before saying again, ¡°This should be your secret, right?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was stupefied then answered, ¡°Yeah, until now, you¡¯re the first and also the only person who knows this secret of mine.¡±


    ¡°Um, I got it. Don¡¯t worry, Yunfei. I definitely won¡¯t tell anyone about this secret.¡± Li Chengfeng said resolutely after falling silent again for a while.


    Bai Yunfei smiled and hit his shoulder with a punch, saying, ¡°Of course I wouldn¡¯t have let you know about it if I didn¡¯t trust you. Why did you give me such a guarantee as if I don¡¯t trust you?¡±


    The two of them then chatted for some time about the various effects of the weapons. Li Chengfeng was obviously very curious about this. He even almost failed to resist the urge to take out those two upgraded daggers and cut himself to personally experience their effects. However, Bai Yunfei did not mention the specific details of the Upgrade Technique because they were too difficult to explain. And Li Chengfeng did not ask about them either.


    ¡°Right, Chengfeng, can you take a trip to Talus City tomorrow?¡± Bai Yunfei said to Li Chengfeng, seeming to have suddenly thought of something.


    ¡°Oh? Go to Talus City? What do you want me do?¡± Li Chengfeng asked doubtfully.


    ¡°You go there and buy some daggers. ¡®Cause you already decided to use the dagger as your weapon of choice, I¡¯ll make two powerful daggers for you!¡±


    ¡°Really? Very good! I¡¯ll go there tomorrow!¡± Li Chengfeng agreed in excitement, his eyes brightening.


    ¡°Yeah, just go to the ¡®Treasure Weapon Shop¡¯, the largest weapon store in the city. It has the best weapons, and you¡¯ll have to buy top-quality ones. Take this money, buy as many as possible and bring them back.¡± Bai Yunfei handed a moneybag over to him. After hesitating for a while, he continued, ¡°When you¡¯re in the city... observe if there¡¯s any news about me, but be careful so that you won¡¯t make somebody notice you.¡±


    Without ceremony, Li Chengfeng received the moneybag and put it away in his space ring. Hearing what Bai Yunfei said towards the end, he was stupefied and slightly frowned, but this only lasted for a moment. Afterwards, he seemed to have thought of something and his expression returned to normal. He said with a nod, ¡°Okay, I got it. I¡¯ll be careful.¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 37: Movement From the House of Zhang and Incoming Peril!

    Two days ago, on the tenth day after Zhang Yang¡¯s death, in courtyards belonging to the house of Zhang in Talus City,


    The family head Zhang Zhenshan was sitting in the head position in the hall staring at the five men kneeling in front of him with a cold, stern expression. The look in his eyes was sharp as a blade. Nearly all of those five men were trembling from head to toe, their cold sweat streaming down.


    ¡°Humph!¡± After maintaining this suffocating atmosphere for more than ten minutes, Zhang Zhenshan let out a cold snort. The five kneeling men¡¯s bodies got a shock almost simultaneously. It was obvious they were even more frightened than before.


    ¡°You¡¯ve... done very well. Less than ten days, you were able to run so far away in such a short time. It took me so long to find you...¡± Zhang Zhenshan said in an indifferent tone. It was impossible to tell how he was feeling, but all the people present knew that he could casually kill someone anytime now.


    ¡°Tell me, how did my son die? And who killed him?¡± When these questions were asked, even though his tone was still calm, it could not conceal the sorrow he was doing his best to conceal anymore¡ªhow could the pain of losing a son be concealed easily?


    The five men kneeling before him were naturally those gangsters who had been knocked unconscious by Bai Yunfei right in the beginning of his attack on Zhang Yang then later run away for fear that the Zhangs would hold them responsible for Zhang Yang¡¯s death. Although they had tried every means possible to flee, in the end they had still been captured and brought back by the Zhang family¡¯s men.


    Even the chief of that gang was among these five people.


    ¡°Mas... Master, the death of young master Zhang Yang... really had nothing to do with us! That killer specifically came there to target young master. Besides, he is an extremely powerful soul cultivator! We were knocked out to the floor right in the beginning. It really had nothing to do with us! Master, please spare our lives...¡±


    The chief had no choice but to begin to entreat in fear after hesitating for some time. The four people kneeling behind him were so frightened that they did not even say a single word.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you about these things!¡± There was a trace of fluctuation in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s tone. It seemed he was somewhat impatient.


    ¡°Yes, yes... We will tell you everything, master. Hopefully, hopefully you could give us a chance and spare our lowly lives for the moment. We are willing to do our best to help look for young master¡¯s killer!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not in a position to bargain!¡± Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s tone became much more serious. It seemed he could snap and let the fury in his heart explode anytime.


    The chief¡¯s entire body trembled once. He did not dare to implore anymore and continued at once, ¡°Yes, yes... That day, the killer suddenly fell down from the roof and knocked out all of us ordinary people with stone tile fragments...¡±


    ¡°What? In other words... none of you saw his face and you don¡¯t know who he is either?¡± Zhang Zhenshan frowned and said in an ominous tone.


    ¡°No, no, actually, I woke up at the last moment, when that man was about to leave, so I heard some things...¡± The chief hurriedly said again, ¡°That man was alone in the beginning, but a woman appeared at the end of the fight. She seemed to have come to save the young girl captured by us. She and young master¡¯s killer didn¡¯t seem to know each other but in the end they left together!


    ¡°That woman said she, she was a disciple of the Green Willow School called... Qiu Luliu. The young girl caught by us is her junior sister Chu Yuhe...¡± The chief said earnestly, seeming to be trying hard to recall the situation at the time.


    ¡°What? Green Willow School?!¡±


    Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s expression changing for the first time, he suddenly stood up and said in a totally astounded tone.


    However, after calming down, he immediately frowned again and said doubtfully, ¡°You said she came to save someone? And you kidnapped her junior sister? Humph! If that was really the case, how could you have kidnapped someone from the Green Willow School?! You want to draw the Green Willow School into this to fool me, right?!?¡±


    ¡°No, no! Master, how could I dare lie to you? That woman really said so. I heard it very clearly!¡± The chief explained hurriedly.


    Zhang Zhenshan stared at his expression and thought to himself, ¡°Looks like he¡¯s not lying. It was really the Green Willow School? Qiu Luliu... elite disciple of the Green Willow School, this time she should be out to gain experience, which means the abducted girl is most likely a commoner she just took in for her school. Plus, looks like she was the one who destroyed nearly all the gangs in the city the other night just to look for that girl. If so, everything makes sense now... Even if she was not in league with my son¡¯s killer, they left together in the end so she definitely knows his identity and whereabouts!¡±


    He was planning in his mind but his expression remained unchanged. After regaining his composure, he said indifferently, ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me any specific information about that killer. Is it because you don¡¯t know anything or you don¡¯t want to tell me?¡±


    ¡°That men was really very careful and didn¡¯t mention his identity at all. I¡¯m, I¡¯m really not hiding anything. Master, if you find someone from that Green Willow School, you¡¯ll definitely know who he is. Please spare my lowly life, master!¡± The chief entreated miserably.


    Right at this moment, a fearful, trembling voice came from behind him, ¡°Mas, master... I, I know some information about that killer¡¯s identity...¡±


    ¡°Oh? Quickly tell me!¡± Zhang Zhenshan frowned and said in a stern voice.


    ¡°Before, before killing young master, that man said something...¡± This man did his best to search his memory for a while then intermittently recited the conversation between Bai Yunfei and Zhang Yang before the latter¡¯s death that day.


    Zhang Zhenshan listened in silence all along, but the bodyguard standing beside him became more and more surprised. At the end of the recitation, his face was already full of disbelief¡ªthis was none other than one of the two men who had captured Bai Yunfei and brought him into the Coliseum before.


    When that man had finished talking, this bodyguard hesitated for a while then clenched his teeth. Not daring to conceal anything, he walked to a place in front of Zhang Zhenshan and said in a low voice: ¡°Master, I think I know who that man is...¡±


    After that, using a low voice, he told Zhang Zhenshan everything he knew about Bai Yunfei, including how Bai Yunfei had offended Liu Meng in the beginning, how Zhang Yang had ordered him to bring Bai Yunfei into the Coliseum by force, how Bai Yunfei had fought in the Coliseum, and what had happened to Uncle Wu and Xiao Yu¡¯er.


    ¡°What?It¡¯s that man?!¡± After listening to his account, Zhang Zhenshan said with a totally shocked expression, ¡°It¡¯s unexpectedly him... But how is this even possible? At that time I also saw him on the street and I got a faint impression that he was merely a weak commoner. Could it be that second young master Zheng helped him? Impossible, second young master Zheng wouldn¡¯t have done so much for a commoner he hadn¡¯t known before. Or... he had a lucky encounter and became powerful?


    ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s ignore these things first. Now that I know his identity, it¡¯s already enough!¡± Temporarily putting aside the doubts in his mind, Zhang Zhenshan raised his head to stare at that man and said indifferently with an ice-cold expression, ¡°So this means you watched that man kill my son without doing anything and then continued to lie on the floor playing possum?¡±


    That man was rejoicing that he himself had provided useful information and was feeling that in the end he should be able to save his own life, so when he heard such words from Zhang Zhenshan, his expression immediately froze. His entire body then quivered and his heart was filled with endless terror. He waves his hands repeatedly in panic and said in a trembling voice, ¡°No... That¡¯s not true. Master, I...¡±


    ¡°Humph! Worthless trash, go apologize to my son now!¡± Zhang Zhenshan simply did not let him finish what he was saying. In an instant, his expression became extremely hostile, as if the man in front of him was his son¡¯s killer.


    A blur then flashed across everybody¡¯s eyes and Zhang Zhenshan appeared in front of that man. He reached out his right hand, grabbed the man¡¯s neck and lifted him up into the air effortlessly.


    A mass of cold air then spread out from his body. It was definitely not just a feeling of coldness. Instead, it was a real mass of ice-cold air. The temperature in the hall suddenly dropped and everybody cold not help trembling once.


    A visible white mist then appeared around Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s right hand. The man Zhang Zhenshan was holding in mid-air was struggling nonstop and because he was being held by the neck his face had become very red. Now his face unexpectedly turned pale slowly and became covered with thin ice patches bit by bit. Eventually he stopped struggling, his hands dropping down powerlessly.


    Zhang Zhenshan loosened his grip and this man immediately fell to the floor. His body was obviously very stiff, as if he had been frozen to death in a world of ice and snow!


    ¡°Idiot...¡± The chief secretly sighed as he looked at the corpse of this man. Even though his face was full of terror like the other people¡¯s, there was still a vague trace of... happiness on it.


    Zhang Zhenshan swept his eyes over the remaining four people and said coldly, ¡°As for the four of you, I¡¯ll spare your lowly lives for now. If you contribute substantially to the search for that man, then I won¡¯t kill you. Otherwise... you¡¯ll be buried with my son!¡±


    He lifted his head and instructed the subordinates beside him, ¡°Immediately make a portrait of that man and find out who he really is then mobilize all the forces and men to carry out a search for me! Every city, every town, every village... Even if you have to turn over the entire Azure Cloud Province, you must find out where that man is for me!!¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 38: Initial Success With the Wave Treading Steps!

    Book 1 Chapter 38: Initial success with the Wave Treading Steps


    In the evening of the fifth day after Li Chengfeng left for Luoshi City,


    in a groove behind the village, under the illumination of the setting sun, a ghost-like silhouette was moving back and forth amidst the trees, sometimes rushing forwards, sometimes moving sideways, sometimes backing off. And sometimes it even dashed straight up a large tree then ¡®ran¡¯ down as if the tree was the flat ground or turned to one side and moved forwards nearly horizontally.


    This silhouette was moving extremely fast, almost creating a long blur, but strangely enough, there were no sounds of footsteps. Only the sounds of the clothes flapping could be vaguely heard. If an ordinary person came across this scene, he would most probably shout ¡°Ghost!¡± then run away like crazy.


    This silhouette was of course not a ghost. It was none other than Bai Yunfei.


    Since Li Chengfeng had left for Luoshi City, he had been feeling a trace of uneasiness in his heart. For five days in a row, instead of using the Upgrade Technique again to improve his soulforce, he had spent nearly all his time studying and practicing the acupoint control method.


    A greatly increase effort naturally led to highly effective training and great results. One day ago, he had finished practicing the various major basic acupoints in his legs, finally meeting the demands he had placed on himself earlier, and had begun to practicing the soul technique called Wave Treading Steps.


    This long-awaited soul technique indeed did not disappoint him. Even at the most elementary level of mastery, it already made him so unimaginably fast and nimble.


    Only when Bai Yunfei saw smoke begin to curl upwards from the kitchen chimneys in the village did he stop training. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he felt extremely comfortable.


    ¡°It¡¯s really like seeing an oasis in the desert¡­ Now that I have this Wave Treading Steps, I¡¯m even more confident of dealing with the upcoming crisis!¡± While pondering to himself, Bai Yunfei walked towards the village, from which the smell of food was wafting out gradually, ¡°Very soon, I¡¯ll have to say goodbye to this tranquil lifestyle! It¡¯s highly probable that I won¡¯t be able to avoid the Zhang family¡¯s manhunt. But in my current state, I¡¯m not afraid of them either! I¡¯m going to counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir! When I leave this Qingyun Province, I¡¯ll be like a free fish in an endless sea, a flying cloud in the limitless sky!¡±


    At night, Bai Yunfei was lying on the bed with the back of his head resting on his hands, looking at the several beams of moonlight shining into the house and pondering over the current situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of strange¡­ It¡¯s already been seventeen days since I killed Zhang Yang. Why haven¡¯t the Zhang family¡¯s men found this place yet? Even if those gangsters tried their hardest to run away, not all of them would have been able to escape. It would have taken the Zhang family several days at most to chase them down. Then, using their confessions and the Zhang family¡¯s power, it would have been easy to find out who I am. At that time, the Zhang family would have carried out a large-scale search. According to what I thought at first, it would have taken them around ten days at most to find this place¡­


    ¡°This means¡­ it¡¯s possible that when I killed Zhang Yang, Zhang Zhenshan wasn¡¯t at home at all! Plus, he was quite far away from Luoshi City! There was no decision maker in the Zhang family so they had to wait for Zhang Zhenshan to return, wasting several days¡­


    ¡°If that is the case, didn¡¯t I miss an opportunity to escape? If I hadn¡¯t stayed at this place and had run away immediately¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s not true either. I know absolutely nothing about the extent of the Zhang family¡¯s influence. Plus, I know very little about the world outside. If I had only recklessly wanted to run away, I surely would have had no time to practice, giving up the chance to become several times more powerful in such a short period. If I had chosen to face a danger that could show up anytime in a relatively weak state, it would have been a mistake¡­ Now I¡¯m hiding in this remote place, training hard and making the best use of my time to become more powerful, only this is the correct choice!


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what has happened, the fact that the Zhang family has been slow to act is a good thing to me! At least now I¡¯ve already mastered the method for controlling over twenty basic acupoints and even become proficient in the Ninefold Fist Force, learned the Wave Treading Steps and almost reached the middle Soul Warrior stage¡­ My power has increased at least by several times!


    ¡°I can already leave anytime now. At least I¡¯ll have to leave before the Zhang family finds this place. I can¡¯t cause the village any trouble¡­


    ¡°After Chengfeng returns, I¡¯ll be able to know the Zhang family¡¯s movements. I¡¯ll stay for three more days at most then leave this place.¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    The next day, soon after he ate breakfast, he saw a travel-worn and weary Li Chengfeng hurriedly return with an obviously exhausted expression on his face. Given his current level of power, this meant he had been spending soulforce nonstop without hesitation on the way to rush back at a faster speed than he should have.


    In addition to exhaustion, there was even more anxiety on his face. As soon as he returned to the village, without even greeting Ling¡¯er, he gave Bai Yunfei a hint with his eyes then turned around and walked out of the village.


    Seeing him like this, Bai Yunfei was already able to guess a bit. He waved to Ling¡¯er, hinting at her that she did not have to worry bout Chengfeng, then followed him.


    ¡°Yunfei, I already guessed that you went back to Luoshi City to take revenge, but I didn¡¯t expect your enemy to be the Zhang family¡¯s young master¡­ You¡¯re really terrific!¡± Seeming to be really very tired, Li Chengfeng flopped down onto the grass and said to an incoming Bai Yunfei while shaking his head in a frustrated manner.


    ¡°Oh, you even know this already? That¡¯s right, I killed the Zhang family¡¯s young master Zhang Yang because¡­ he deserved to die! Let¡¯s not talk about this. Just tell me the current situation in Luoshi City first. What are the Zhang family¡¯s movements?¡± Seeming to have guessed earlier that Li Chengfeng would say so, Bai Yunfei asked the most important question instead of wasting time explaining.


    ¡°Yeah, so what if you killed him. I can also tell that Zhang Yang was definitely a scoundrel. Even though those commoners in Luoshi City don¡¯t dare to talk about him openly, there are traces of happiness hidden in their eyes. I was able to see that.¡± Li Chengfeng did not mind either and nodded without continuing to ask about Zhang Yang.


    ¡°Now your portraits have been posted everywhere in Luoshi City. Even the men of the mayor¡¯s mansion have been mobilized to look for your tracks. Besides, the Zhang family has sent out a lot of men. They have already begun to spread out in all directions to go into every town and village to look for you¡­


    ¡°I think it will take them just a few days to find this place. What do you plan to do, Yunfei?¡±


    Li Chengfeng asked in a slightly concerned manner after telling Bai Yunfei the general situation he had discovered.


    ¡°Oh, this is not far from my expectation. If so, I¡¯ll leave here within two days¡­¡± Bai Yunfei pondered for a while and said.


    ¡°You really have to run away?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I must run away so that I won¡¯t cause the village any trouble.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded then put this topic aside, asking: ¡°Right, how many daggers did you buy? What is their quality?¡±


    Seeing that Bai Yunfei had already made a decision, Li Chengfeng did not mention this topic again. He turned his wrist over, taking out a dagger which sparkled with a cold light, gave it to Bai Yunfei and said: ¡°I did what you said and bought all the top-grade daggers in that Treasure Weapon Shop, about a hundred in total. Some of them are even better than this one.¡±


    Bai Yunfei received the dagger and gave it a thought. The basic information about it appeared in his mind.


    ¡°Item grade: High.


    ¡°Damage: 43.


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 3 soul points.¡±


    He nodded slightly, saying: ¡°Yeah, not bad, it¡¯s indeed a high-quality dagger.


    ¡°Just give me your interspatial ring directly. Within the next two days, I¡¯m going to make two upgraded daggers for you. Then I¡¯m going to leave¡­¡±

 Chapter 39: +12 Daggers!

    Chapter 39: +12 Daggers!


    After receiving Li Chengfeng¡¯s space ring and letting him go to have a rest, Bai Yunfei wasted no time shutting himself in his room and beginning to upgrade those daggers.


    Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade again, every time his soulforce was about to be used up, he would stop upgrading the daggers and use the Arte of Training the Soul to recover his soulforce. This way, even though his power did not improve so easily and quickly as it would have if he had used up his soulforce, he was able to reduce the amount of time he was unconscious.


    To upgrade a dagger to +8 would need about 100 soul points on average. At the moment, Bai Yunfei had over 1500 soul points, which was approaching the soulforce value of the middle Soul Warrior stage. So, from the early morning until dinner time in the evening, he was able to upgrade thirty-six daggers to +8 in total.


    Dragging his slightly exhausted body along, he hurriedly ate dinner then returned to his room to continue with the upgrades.


    He turned his wrist over and a rather luxurious dagger appeared in his hand. It was none other than one of those several top-grade daggers Li Chengfeng had mentioned.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Attack: 76


    Upgrade Requirement: 6 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei had seen two superior items before, one being his space ring and the other being the dagger embedded with gems used by Zhang Yang. Moreover, that dagger¡¯s damage was 85 points, even a bit higher than this one¡¯s. However, it had been destroyed a few days ago during an upgrade session.


    ¡°Normal, high, superior, rare, inheritance, these are the item grades I¡¯ve seen so far...¡± Staring at the dagger in his hand, instead of upgrading it immediately, Bai Yunfei summed up the information about item grades.


    ¡°The previous three¡¯s damages are all under 100, but the low-rare Glacial Piercer¡¯s damage is over 200. This means... there should still be an item grade in between?


    ¡°Does a damage of over 200 fall within the scope of soul armaments? To upgrade the first three item grades needs very little soulforce, but as the upgrade level goes up, the required soulforce increases bit by bit too. However, within the range of soul armaments, a rare item or above requires a fixed amount of soul points to upgrade...


    ¡°A high-grade dagger¡¯s original damage is comparable to a +10 upgraded normal dagger¡¯s damage, but... why is the +10 upgraded normal dagger obviously more powerful? Is it because... of the small amount of soulforce poured into it? It¡¯s impossible to pour soulforce into non-soul armaments, but after I upgrade them, this becomes possible. Though only a small amount of soulforce can be poured into these items, they will indeed become more powerful.


    ¡°This means, the power of a soul armaments depends not only on the numerical values of its properties but also on the way it is used...


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s continue. I must make high-level upgraded items as quickly as possible. There is not much time left. Hopefully I won¡¯t be so unlucky like last time.


    ¡°I can rely on nothing but luck every time. Could it be there¡¯s no method for increasing the chances of successful upgrades? Damn...


    ¡°Upgrade...¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    The next day, Bai Yunfei shut himself in his room again, upgrading the items for an entire day.


    In the morning of the day after, Li Chengfeng looked at the locked door with a trace of worry ini his eyes. Just when he wanted to go over and call Bai Yunfei out to eat breakfast, the door was pushed open from inside with a creak and Bai Yunfei walked out with a slightly tired yet totally excited expression.


    ¡°Yunfei, you... Could it be you¡¯ve succeeded?!¡± Seeing Bai Yunfei come out, Li Chengfeng was stupefied for a moment but then he reacted by asking with some anticipation.


    ¡°Yeah, I was pretty lucky so in the end I succeeded. Let¡¯s go check them out!¡± After saying so, Bai Yunfei was about to go outside.


    ¡°Wait, wait! Yunfei, you look tired already. You should wash your face first then have a meal before going. There¡¯s no need to hurry.¡± Even though Li Chengfeng wanted very much to find out immediately what effective weapons Bai Yunfei had created, he still suppressed the curiosity in his heart and said while pointing to the breakfast on the table.


    ¡°Oh... That¡¯s fine too. I¡¯m a bit tired indeed. Let¡¯s eat breakfast first.¡± Looking at the foods on the table, Bai Yunfei nodded then said to Ling¡¯er on one side, ¡°Right, Ling¡¯er, there¡¯s a lot of scrap metal in my room. I¡¯d appreciate it if you go and clean it out.¡±


    After having breakfast, Bai Yunfei looked much more vigorous. He and Li Chengfeng then went to a vacant area outside the village impatiently.


    Seeing that Li Chengfeng¡¯s face was full of expectation, Bai Yunfei laughed and shook his wrist. A dagger appeared in his hand.


    Equipment Grade: High


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 45


    Additional Attack: 176


    +10 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 3% chance of blinding the target for a maximum of 3 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: When clashing with the weapon of another, this weapon has an 8% chance of severing it.


    (The chance of triggering this effect is in inverse proportion to the grade of the enemy weapon. It is ineffective against weapons of the Inheritance grade and higher).


    Upgrade Requirement: 61 Soulpoints


    After confirming the weapon¡¯s properties once, Bai Yunfei gave it to Li Chengfeng, saying, ¡°Take this first. I¡¯ll explain to you in detail in a while.¡±


    He turned his wrist over again and another dagger appeared in his hand.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 78


    Additional Attack: 202


    +10 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 4% chance of creating an illusion.


    +12 Additional Effect: In downward attacks with the tip of the blade, the damage dealt is doubled.


    Upgrade Requirement: 66 Soulpoints


    Because of the information having just appeared in his mind, Bai Yunfei could not help grinning and said to Li Chengfeng, ¡°Hey Chengfeng, why do I feel that you¡¯re luckier than I am? This time, though most of the daggers I tried to upgrade for you were destroyed, one of these two remaining daggers was among those several top-quality daggers. Besides, its effects even make me kind of jealous...¡±


    Li Chengfeng was stupefied for a moment then said in a somewhat embarrassed manner, ¡°Perhaps you should keep and use it. In fact... the two daggers you gave me earlier are very good too.¡±


    ¡°Oh... those two were destroyed already.¡±


    ¡°... ...¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, I¡¯m just kidding. I already said I¡¯d make upgraded items for you, how can I possibly keep it? Plus, do you think I¡¯ll still be short of this kind of upgraded item?¡± Bai Yunfei said laughingly, ¡°Also, I didn¡¯t touch those two daggers because I knew that you would want to keep them as a memento.


    ¡°Alright, now I¡¯m going to explain to you the effects of these two daggers. You¡¯ve got to understand and remember them, so that when you use them in combat later, you¡¯ll know exactly what to do.¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 40: Researching Item Stats Again

    ¡°Alright, now I¡¯m going to explain to you the effects of these two daggers. You¡¯ve got to understand and remember them, so that when you use them in combat later, you¡¯ll know exactly what to do.¡±


    Bai Yunfei then carefully explained the effects of the two daggers to Li Chengfeng. After making sure that the latter had understood and remembered them, he put the dagger in his hand away and replaced it with a +8 normal dagger, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s test their effects in detail now. There are still some things I don¡¯t understand. I need to study them more carefully...¡±


    ¡°Oh, then how do we test them?¡± Li Chengfeng nodded repeatedly and asked expectantly.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to fight or something. We¡¯ll only research its effects. I¡¯ll use this dagger to defend and you¡¯ll attack me with the dagger in your hand. Just do it slowly. You should already understand this, right? I remember when we were testing the brick last time, you quite enjoyed hitting me with it...¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, I already know what to do, let¡¯s get started.¡± Li Chengfeng laughed in an embarrassed manner and said.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s begin.¡±


    Li Chengfeng raised his dagger and slowly brought it down towards Bai Yunfei. Bai Yunfei also raised the dagger in his hand and blocked this ¡®attack¡¯ from him.


    ¡°Hm, use a little less force. Let¡¯s continue.¡± Bai Yunfei looked at the nick that had just appeared on the blade because of the collision and warned.


    The two daggers then hit each other this way about a dozen times. The dagger in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was already full of nicks. After all, the dagger in Li Chengfeng¡¯s hand towered over it in terms of damage.


    Another slight sound of collision was heard. Bai Yunfei subconsciously wanted to say ¡°It still hasn¡¯t come, continue.¡± Only, when he had just opened his mouth and these words had yet to come out of it, everything before his eyes turned black and he could no longer see anything.


    ¡°Blinding!¡± After being stupefied for a second, Bai Yunfei reacted instantly by shouting, ¡°Stop!¡±


    In fact, Li Chengfeng had noticed it as soon as this effect had been activated because at that moment, a strand of his soulforce had flowed into the dagger uncontrollably.


    Bai Yunfei did not channel his soulforce to resist. Instead, he carefully experienced this ¡®blind¡¯ state. Three seconds passed very quickly. The light reappeared and the world in front of him returned to normal.


    ¡°How was it, Yunfei? Just now it was the blinding effect, right?¡± Seeing that the dagger in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand had remained unchanged, Li Chengfeng knew that the triggered effect should have been ¡®blinding¡¯.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. It was the blinding effect. The whole world suddenly turned into darkness and I couldn¡¯t see anything, but the other senses were left intact.¡± Bai Yunfei carefully recalled the feeling just then, ¡°This effect is exceptionally useful. If such a situation suddenly occurs during combat...¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s continue. We¡¯ll test that ¡®severing¡¯ effect now.¡± Bai Yunfei thought for a while and said.


    After another dozen collisions, the moment the two daggers hit each other again, Li Chengfeng had a happy expression, saying, ¡°Here it comes!¡±


    Almost at the same time as he said those words, Bai Yunfei felt his hand lighten. The moment the two daggers had come into contact, there had been no sound of collision at all. The dagger in Li Chengfeng¡¯s hand had completely cut through the dagger used to block by Bai Yunfei at one stroke as if cutting through a piece of tofu.


    Li Chengfeng looked at the dagger in his hand then at the fallen half of the blade on the ground in a somewhat stupefied manner and murmured, ¡°This... is the ¡®severing¡¯ effect? It cuts through the opponent¡¯s weapon directly?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at the half of the dagger in his hand. The cut surface of the blade was smooth. Obviously the dagger had been cut in half without hindrance.


    ¡°This +12 additional effect is really terrifying. Severing... though it¡¯s hard to trigger if the enemy¡¯s weapon is of high-grade, only inheritance grade equipment and above can prevent it from being triggered completely.


    ¡°In other words, it can ¡®sever¡¯ all the soul armaments of the same grade as the Glacial Piercer as well!¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    Afterwards, the two of them began to test the effects of the other +12 dagger.


    During the test, when Li Chengfeng thrust his dagger out and activated the ¡®illusion¡¯ effect, Bai Yunfei saw obviously that the dagger was aimed at his heart. But when it was about to reach him, it was aimed at his stomach!


    The illusion effect made the opponent see an illusory strike as a real strike, confusing the opponent¡¯s vision, allowing the user to attack another place by surprise!


    As for the other effect, namely, ¡®in downward attacks using the tip of the blade, damage is doubled¡¯, it was self-explanatory so they did not have to specifically do extra research on it.


    The two of them tested the effects again and again in that vacant area for an entire morning. Only when they had understood all the effects completely did they stop.


    ¡°I¡¯ve made my decision! These two daggers will be called Severing and Illusion respectively!¡± Sitting on the ground, Li Chengfeng looked at the two daggers in his hand and said all of a sudden.


    ¡°Ha ha, they are yours, of course you¡¯re the one to name them. Did you choose their names according to their effects? Yeah, pretty good names.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed and said with a nod on one side.


    ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re really terrific. How did you do this? Even the sharpness of these daggers has been improved by god knows how much compared to before, not to mention those marvelous effects.¡± Caressing the two daggers in his hands admiringly, Li Chengfeng could not help sighing with emotion.


    ¡°Yeah, the damages of these two daggers are almost comparable to that of the non-upgraded Glacial Piercer, which means they should have already reached the threshold of soul armaments. However, I¡¯m not sure if they can actually be counted as soul armaments or not. After all, now I still don¡¯t know much about soul armaments.¡±


    At this point, seeming to think of something, Bai Yunfei took out an space ring, held it out to Li Chengfeng and said, ¡°Take your space ring. I upgraded it a bit too. But I didn¡¯t upgrade it to the point where an additional effect would appear because if I had tried and failed, it would have been destroyed for nothing.¡±


    Li Chengfeng received the ring and said doubtfully, ¡°This one can also be upgraded?¡±


    ¡°Just put it on and experience it a bit.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed and suggested that he experienced it himself.


    The moment Li Chengfeng put the ring on his finger, he was obviously stupefied. Afterwards, he looked at his own body and at the ring on his finger somewhat doubtfully. Then he turned to Bai Yunfei and said with uncertainty, ¡°Yunfei, why am I feeling...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re feeling that your body is lighter and lither than before, right?¡± Bai Yunfei said smilingly, ¡°Your feeling is not wrong at all. The rings I upgrade won¡¯t provide additional damage or defense, but they will increase the body¡¯s ¡®attributes¡¯. The one on my finger increases ¡®strength¡¯ and yours increases ¡®agility¡¯.¡±


    After Bai Yunfei had upgraded this space ring of Li Chengfeng¡¯s to +8, its additional attribute was an increase of 18 points to agility.


    ¡°Though the number of additional points is not large, something is still better than nothing. Too bad I don¡¯t have time, otherwise I¡¯d still be able to experiment a bit with the attributes of various kinds of jewelry after they are upgraded to high levels...¡± Bai Yunfei said with some regret.


    When Li Chengfeng heard these words, his expression immediately darkened. He said, ¡°You¡¯re prepared to go? When?¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought for a while and said, ¡°Tomorrow. I¡¯ll have a good rest tonight and leave tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to say something to the people in the village?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not. There¡¯s no need to disturb them. I don¡¯t like a farewell scene with too many people.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°After I leave, you must warn the people in the village that, if the Zhang family¡¯s men come and ask questions, they must not show any weak points and must act as if they don¡¯t know me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I got it. Don¡¯t worry. Everybody has the previous experience of dealing with people who come here to probe so there won¡¯t be any problem.¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 41: Leave....Peril is Coming?

    At night, Bai Yunfei was lying on the bed, carefully summing up the information about the Upgrade Technique he had obtained in the last few days.


    ¡°When the upgraded equipment reaches levels +10, +12 and +13, they will gain an additional effect respectively. Even though the one reaching +13 is just a brick, because the previous two levels always come with an additional effect each, I think when an equipment reaches level +13, another effect will be added to it.


    ¡°From 10 to 12 is a step, but when it reaches 13, an additional effect will appear right away. Doesn¡¯t this mean that from level 13 onwards, every time the equipment reaches the next level, it will gain an additional effect? But... now I really don¡¯t have the ability to test this conjecture! It¡¯s already so difficult to upgrade an equipment to +13...¡±


    ¡°Upon reaching +12 and +13, a non-soul weapon¡¯s additional damage will increase almost exponentially. I wonder if the same thing happens to soul armaments or not. Alas, now I can only make guesses because I don¡¯t have so many soul armaments to test them... My Icesoul Silver Needles were destroyed before I could even use them once...


    ¡°There are also those various additional effects. They are definitely not always effective, especially the ones come with durations. If the opponent is powerful, he can totally recover before these periods of time end.


    ¡°For the moment, I can only gain these bits of information. In the short term, I won¡¯t have time to research in this way again. Tomorrow I¡¯m starting to wander the outside world!¡±


    Bai Yunfei sat up and took out a dagger from his interspatial ring.


    ¡°There are still ten something daggers left. They should be just enough for my soulforce to be used up once more...


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s break through this final barrier to reach the middle Soul Warrior stage tonight!


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ......


    ... ... ... ...


    In the early morning of the next day, when the first strand of sunlight stroked his face, Bai Yunfei opened his eyes slowly.


    He sat up, raised his right hand in front of him and clenched his fist, his eyes showing a satisfied expression.


    ¡°Middle Soul Warrior stage... I¡¯ve already made every preparation possible. Zhang family... it doesn¡¯t matter how great your influence is, it won¡¯t be so easy to catch me!¡±


    Outside the village, on a hillside, Bai Yunfei looked at Li Chengfeng and Ling¡¯er in front of him in silence for a long time before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s not say more goodbyes, so that we won¡¯t get emotional. Chengfeng, I believe one day we¡¯ll eventually meet each other again. Both of us will make names for ourselves in the big world outside!¡±


    Li Chengfeng kept silent for a while then said with a forced smile, ¡°Alright, then I won¡¯t say much either. Yunfei, you must take care of yourself and make a name for yourself a bit early. Later I¡¯ll wander the outside world with Ling¡¯er. If we can¡¯t manage it, we¡¯ll go and seek refuge with you.¡±


    Bai Yunfei took another look at that tranquil hamlet in the distance, took a breath softly, exhaled slowly then said smilingly to the two of them again, ¡°Then... I¡¯m leaving now!¡±


    After saying so, he turned around and strode away without further hesitation.


    Watching Bai Yunfei¡¯s silhouette gradually going away, Ling¡¯er turned to one side and asked Li Chengfeng somewhat doubtfully, ¡°Brother Xiao Feng, did brother Yunfei run into some problem? Where does he want to go? Why didn¡¯t he stay here and let us help him?¡±


    Li Chengfeng was also watching Bai Yunfei¡¯s silhouette with a somewhat complicated expression. After keeping silent for a long time, he sighed gently, withdrew his eyes and stroked Ling¡¯er¡¯s beautiful hair lovingly.


    ¡°Yunfei has his own decisions. He won¡¯t change his mind because of other people. Besides... such a small place as Azure Cloud Province can¡¯ t tie him down. Now he has run into a small problem, but I believe he¡¯ll definitely get through this safely!


    ¡°The outside world is splendid and the vast sky is limitless. Eventually they¡¯ll let him fly at will like a white cloud!¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    The Crafting School was located in Great Plains Province in the north of the Skysoul continent. The Great Plains Province was separated from Azure Cloud Province by another province called Northern Cliff Province, so there was an extremely long way to go.


    After leaving the village, Bai Yunfei immediately headed north. In order to avoid those men from the Zhang family who were looking for him everywhere, he only followed mountainous paths, tramping over mountains and through ravines, hoping that he could get out of Azure Cloud Province in the best-case scenario, namely without being detected.


    However, he also knew that this was almost impossible. In terms of finding ways alone, he would have to frequently go to populated places to ask questions so that he would not go in the wrong direction, not to mention he would have to replenish the various daily life necessities in his interspatial ring.


    Alas... it is quite troublesome to have a slightly poor sense of direction...


    After three days like this, with Bai Yunfei practicing the Wave Treading Steps along the way, he had already gone a very long way.


    Having crossed a wooded mountain top, Bai Yunfei climbed up a large tree and looked around. His eyes suddenly brightened. He then jumped down with a happy expression and scurried towards the foot of the mountain.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finally found a place with a lot of people. Judging from its size, it should be a town. Let¡¯s stay there for a night to have a good rest, eat some tasty foods and conveniently ask for direction!¡±


    However, when he had just run away a short distance, he slowed down abruptly with a thoughtful expression.


    ¡°However, I don¡¯t know if the Zhang family¡¯s forces are present in that town or not. But this place is very far from Talus City. Plus, it¡¯s a remote place, so they shouldn¡¯t be there... I won¡¯t stroll around outside and will only find a hotel to rest for a night then leave tomorrow. Yeah, there shouldn¡¯t be any problem...¡±


    After making his decision, he sped up again without hesitation heading for that small town not far up ahead.


    ......


    In the evening in the town of Old Well, on a bustling street of the small town, a youngster who looked travel-worn and weary was going slowly with his head slightly lowered, making it impossible for other people to see his face clearly. He was looking around in a seemingly curious yet actually alert manner.


    After quickly buying the necessary goods and materials from various business shops, Bai Yunfei went to the only hotel in town.


    In the rather spacious hall of the Happy Arrival Hotel, a few customers were sitting at several tables. As soon as the servant standing at the counter saw a visitor come in, he ran up solicitously and said with a big smile, ¡°Welcome, sir! May I ask if you stop for a meal or to stay in the hotel?


    Bai Yunfei cast a look at him then lowered his head and walked towards a table in a corner while telling him, ¡°I¡¯m here for both! Bring me all the best foods in your hotel and prepare a room for me. I¡¯ll rest in there after having dinner.¡±


    When he finished talking, he had already walked up to that corner. He then sat down on a stool and did not talk again, putting up an unsociable facade.


    The servant looked at Bai Yunfei doubtfully several times, seeming to have rarely seen such a strange guest. Bai Yunfei frowned and said discontentedly, ¡°Why are you still there?!¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes! Yes! Please wait a minute, sir. Your food will be ready very soon!¡± The servant said repeatedly. It seemed that only now did he react.


    Bai Yunfei touched his stomach, which had already begun to protest, and thought in his mind, ¡°I can finally eat a good meal...¡±


    ¡°Er, sir...¡± A shout rang out in front of him. Bai Yunfei was surprised for a moment. As he lifted his eyes and looked, he saw that the servant had turned around and come back.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Sir, I just want to ask if you need a jar of wine?¡± The servant bowed in an ingratiating manner and looked at Bai Yunfei with a broad smile, ¡°Our hotel¡¯s vintage Nu¡¯er Hong has a mellow taste and a fair price. It will definitely satisfy you, sir!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised. The first and the only time he had drunk wine had been when he had paid a visit to Uncle Wu¡¯s grave that night. It was during that time that his soulforce awakened completely, turning him into a soul cultivator.


    ¡°Whatever. Just bring me a jar then. But quickly get me the food first.¡± Bai Yunfei did not mind either and said casually.


    ¡°Alright! Please wait a minute, sir. Your food will come very soon!¡±


    After returning to the counter, the servant whispered to the innkeeper behind it. It seemed he was reporting on the food and drink the guest had ordered to his boss.


    However, Bai Yunfei, who had lowered his head because he did not want to be noticed by other people, did not notice that after the innkeeper heard the servant¡¯s words, his expression changed slightly. He glanced at Bai Yunfei in an unnoticeable manner then took out a portrait from under the counter and secretly compared him with it...


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 42: Isve been tricked!

    Chapter 42: I''ve been tricked!


    Book 1 Chapter 42: I¡¯ve been tricked!


    This hotel was rather efficient. Bai Yunfei only had to wait for a while before various foods were brought to him one after another.


    Holding a big bowl of cooked rice, Bai Yunfei began to eat quickly almost to the point of wolfing the foods down.


    When he was eating with gusto, he saw that waiter come with a jar of wine. After putting it in front of Bai Yunfei, the waiter said ingratiatingly, ¡°Sir, here is your wine.¡±


    Bai Yunfei picked up a piece of meat, put it in his mouth then took two mouthfuls of rice and said indistinctly, ¡°Oh, just put it there...¡±


    After saying so, he continued to wipe out the food on the table without caring about the waiter.


    The waiter did not leave right away. Instead, he filled a bowl with wine for Bai Yunfei solicitously and said respectfully, ¡°Sir, since the way you eat is so... generous, you must be a sympathetic man. I''ve always admire the heroes who eat big and drink big like you the most. Sir, please allow me to show you my respect with a bowl!¡±


    ¡°Eat and drink what? I¡¯m not a Liangshan bandit.¡± Finding what he said laughable, Bai Yunfei could not help blurting out.


    ¡°What? Liangshan?¡± The waiter asked doubtfully.


    ¡°Er... Cut the crap! Quickly go and mind your own business! Just put the wine there. When I want to drink it, I¡¯ll drink it. Don¡¯t disturb me when I¡¯m eating!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s movements paused for a moment then he said impatiently. However, he was thinking to himself doubtfully, ¡°Liangshan? What is that? How could I have blurted out these words? This must be because of those strange memories in my mind acting up...¡±


    That servant¡¯s expression froze for a moment and his eyes flashed with a trace of disappointment. But he returned to normal immediately and said ¡°Please enjoy your meal¡± before retreating.


    Only after eating three big bowls of rice in a row did Bai Yunfei begin to slow down. And only after eating another two bowls of rice did he feel that this was just about enough. Now he was already 80% full. A soul cultivator¡¯s appetite was really unusual. After he had become powerful, he had found himself becoming increasingly more able to eat, and he had guessed that this could have something to do with his high consumption of energy. However, if he wanted, he could go on for two or three days with just some water without eating anything, and this would not affect him much either.


    Having nearly eaten his fill, only now did Bai Yunfei remember that there was still a jar of wine off to one side.


    Lifting that already full bowl of wine, he gave it a slight sniff and felt that it was a bit pungent, but a mellow scent indeed floated into his nose. After hesitating for a while, eventually he still held the bowl at his mouth with a bit of curiosity.


    That innkeeper and that servant in fact had been paying careful attention to Bai Yunfei¡¯s movements from behind the counter. Previously, when they saw that he had only been eating the foods without touching the bowl of wine on one side, they were both worried inside.


    ¡°Damn it, could it be this man doesn¡¯t like wine? If I had known this earlier, I would¡¯ve drugged the foods!¡± The innkeeper, either consciously or unconsciously, cast a look at Bai Yunfei and said to himself in a low voice.


    ¡°This drug must be mixed into water to be able to affect him in the fastest way possible. Boss, let¡¯s continue to wait. He already ordered the wine so he¡¯ll definitely drink it.¡± The servant said in a low voice then quietly took a look at Bai Yunfei and said with pleasant surprise, ¡°You see, boss, he¡¯s about to drink it!¡±


    Seeing Bai Yunfei finally raise the bowl of wine, both of them secretly let out sighs of relief then could not help getting somewhat nervous again.


    Bai Yunfei tilted the bowl a bit and took a mouthful of wine. He immediately felt as if a flame had slid into his stomach from his throat. There was unexpectedly a scorching sensation burning in his chest, causing his expression to become very unsightly. He put the bowl down at once and drank several mouthfuls of soup continuously. Only now did he feel much better, but his face gradually reddened...


    The innkeeper and the servant were dumbfounded immediately, This man unexpectedly cannot drink wine!!


    Bai Yunfei looked at that bowl of wine on the table, shook his head and mumbled, ¡°Alas, I was too agitated that evening so I couldn¡¯t even remember this is what wine tastes like? It¡¯s not very good. Why do so many people like to drink it?¡±


    Afterwards, he did not touch it anymore and continued to eat the foods leisurely. He intended to fill the remaining 20% of his stomach then go and have a good rest.


    ¡°Oh?? Why does it feel a bit wrong?¡± After eating for a while, Bai Yunfei suddenly had a vague feeling that something was amiss, ¡°My head seems a bit dizzy... What¡¯s going on? Am I too tired?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head doubtfully and decided to go into his guest room to sleep. However, as soon as he lifted his head slightly, his heart froze a bit -- all the people who had been eating their meals at the several tables in the hall had unexpectedly left at some point. Now, aside from the innkeeper and the servant behind that counter, he was the only person in the entire hall!!


    ¡°This is wrong, this is wrong... I¡¯ve got a situation!¡± Bai Yunfei patted his dizzy head gently, ¡°At first I was obviously alright, then... the wine! But I only drank a bit of wine, how can it make me so dizzy? Right, that waiter... was quite strange. It seemed he was afraid that I wouldn¡¯t drink this wine.


    ¡°Add to that the situation in the surroundings at the moment, why do I have a vague feeling of familiarity with this in my heart?


    ¡°This is bad, I¡¯ve been tricked!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was frightened inside. But when he had just understood his current situation, a loud shout rang out from the place of the counter.


    ¡°He¡¯s already found out! Come out quickly! Catch him!¡±


    As soon as the innkeeper finished shouting, a large group of men with weapons in their hands rushed in from the kitchen on one side and from outside the entrance then surrounded Bai Yunfei.


    After confirming Bai Yunfei¡¯s identity earlier, the innkeeper had immediately informed these men of this and they had rushed over quietly. At first they had planned to wait until Bai Yunfei had drunk all the wine and the drug had taken effect to tie him up directly. However, Bai Yunfei unexpectedly did not drink and only consumed a little bit of the wine before he stopped touching it. When that tiny amount of drug took effect, Bai Yunfei also noticed the abnormal situation, therefore that innkeeper had no choice but to call everybody out.


    Bai Yunfei only panicked for a moment in the beginning. By the time those men rushed out, he had already calmed down. He secretly channeled his soulforce to dispel that slightly unwell feeling in his head. At the same time, he cast a look at the situation around very quickly.


    Thirty something men were surrounding him and they all looked quite strong. At least they could be considered experts among ordinary people.


    The leader was a man about thirty years old with small eyes. He was none other than Zhao Ping, one of Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s competent subordinates and a mid-stage Soul Personage. He looked at Bai Yunfei, his eyes flashing with a hint of astuteness, and shouted loudly, ¡°He¡¯s drunk some of the drug already. Don¡¯t give him time to recover! Catch him right away!¡±


    However, the moment he shouted, Bai Yunfei let out a cold snort and unexpectedly took the initiative by charging towards him before the other people could act!


    Bai Yunfei was extremely fast. When Zhao Ping finished talking, he was already about to charge up to his face. His expression changing greatly, Zhao Ping retreated hurriedly and drew a short sword about two feet long at the same time. Without hesitation, he thrust it at Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei swung his right hand upwards. When it went up, it was already holding a small and exquisite dagger. With a loud and clear ding, the dagger warded off the incoming short sword.


    Just when he wanted to make another move, he suddenly noticed something happening beside him. A large saber was being swung at his extended right arm. It turned out someone on the side had reacted by starting to attack him.


    Bai Yunfei had no choice but to halt for a moment and withdraw his right hand to avoid this saber strike. He had not expected these men to be able to cooperate with each other so well tacitly. Almost at the same time as that large saber was swung at him, Zhao Ping¡¯s short sword was thrust at him again. Bai Yunfei had no alternative but to hurriedly back off two steps to avoid this attack.


    However, with this backward movement, he retreated into these men¡¯s encirclement again!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 43: Fleeing and...Worrying

    That feeling of dizziness in his head slowed down Bai Yunfei¡¯s movements slightly. In a moment of carelessness, he was forced back into the encirclement.


    The captain of this group of men was none other than Zhao Ping. And the dark-skinned man who had reacted earliest just then by swinging his saber at Bai Yunfei was the vice captain Wei Xu, a late-stage Soul Apprentice.


    After forcing Bai Yunfei to retreat, not giving him a chance to channel his soulforce to regain his composure, Zhao Ping shouted loudly again ¡°Catch him!¡± then took the lead and charged at Bai Yunfei.


    In his current condition, the Fire-tipped Spear was unsuitable to be used. Moreover, there was little panic in his heart. Even though the enemy vastly outnumbered him, he had already noticed that they did not have any soul cultivator more powerful than him.


    He flicked a stool beside him up with his foot and threw it at a batch of men who were charging at him on the left. Taking advantage of when they dodged it, he rushed over at high speed with a push of his feet.


    These men obviously were all very experienced fighters. They were even several times more formidable than the bandits Bai Yunfei had killed before. Knowing that they would be put at a disadvantage if they let him come near them, they immediately retreated several steps. The men who used long weapons then quickly held their weapons out, blocking Bai Yunfei¡¯s way.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body halted for a moment. Originally he had wanted to jump out over them, but because some attacks were already coming at him from behind, he had no choice but to turn around to ward them off.


    After raising his dagger to block Zhao Ping¡¯s incoming short sword, he leaned to one side, avoiding a saber hack from Wei Xu, and forced him to retreat with a kick. At the same time, he withdrew his hand and grabbed a long spear which was being thrust at him. Blue veins popping out of his right arm, he made a fierce horizontal sweep with the spear, forcing the people who were charging up back.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head with force. There was already a furious look in his eyes. If he had not been drugged by them, it would not be impossible for him to use all of his power and so he would not be surrounded like this!


    After being forced back, Zhao Ping did not stop at all. Holding his short sword, he charged up again. When his sword was about to hack at Bai Yunfei¡¯s neck, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body suddenly tilted to one side in a strange manner. The moment Bai Yunfei almost hit the ground, he sprung back up like a roly-poly toy. Then he took steps, his legs turning into several blurs. When he turned around, he unexpectedly had already closed in on Zhao Ping.


    This was none other than the Wave Treading Steps!


    Bai Yunfei raised his dagger and thrust it at the midpoint between opponent¡¯s eyebrows! Terrified, Zhao Ping hurriedly lifted his sword to block it, but he suddenly felt a pain in his lower abdomen and was sent flying with a kick!


    Just when Bai Yunfei wanted to chase and attack him, a large saber was swung at him horizontally. He gave a cold snort. In an instant, his body tilted backwards, turning into a bunch of blurs, avoiding several incoming weapons successively. Then he dashed out from among these several men, went straight up to Wei Xu¡¯s face and threw a punch without pausing at all!


    After taking a swing with his saber, Wei Xu only saw a blur before his eyes. In no time, the opponent went up to his face with an attack that was already about to hit him! In panic, he made a block by raising his large saber and holding it in front of his chest, wanting to ward of this punch with the blade of the saber.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with solemnity and blue veins popped out of his right arm. Carrying along short buzzing sounds, his arm hit the blade in an instant. There was a soft crack as the large saber was shattered directly. Before Wei Xu could rejoice at having blocked this punch, he was immediately knocked over one meter into the air by the punch as if he had been hit by a force of thousands of pounds then fell down towards the rear of the battlefield. After spouting a mouthful of blood in midair, he fell to the floor and did not move at all. Although he was still alive, he was also powerless to fight again.


    Overlapping Waves Art, Threefold Fist Force!


    Bai Yunfei was in no mood for fighting. Taking advantage of the opportunity created when everybody had frozen with shock because of the strike just then, he took steps continuously, running towards the entrance of the hotel in a blur.


    Before he could reach the entrance, his way was blocked again by an incoming short sword¡ªthis was none other than Zhao Ping, who had been sent flying with a kick by him earlier.


    Facing an obstructive sword, Bai Yunfei¡¯s galloping body suddenly came to a halt in a strange manner. Under the opponent¡¯s look of disbelief, it leaned backwards then, with his feet being the center, moved in a semicircle like a round object moving in a bowl. When he stood upright again, he was already on the other side of the short sword!


    His eyes glittering with coldness, Bai Yunfei swung the dagger in his hand and thrust it at the opponent¡¯s heart resolutely!


    It was simply too late for Zhao Ping to withdraw his sword to make a block so he had no choice but to clench his teeth and move aside about an inch. He then let out a painful groan as the dagger penetrated straight into his left shoulder.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with a hint of disappointment. Casting a quick glance at those men who had now reacted and were charging straight at him, he suddenly lifted his left leg and kicked Zhao Ping in the stomach again.


    A deep bang rang out. The dagger was pulled out, creating a trail of blood, and Zhao Ping¡¯s body was shot towards the men who were chasing up like a cannonball. Those men were immediately thrown into disorder.


    After sending Zhao Ping flying, Bai Yunfei turned around and rushed out of the door without hesitation.


    As soon as he set his foot outside, a back blur suddenly shot out from the shadow beside the door without a warning sign, going straight towards him!


    Frightened, Bai Yunfei hurriedly raised his dagger to his chest. At the same time, he changed his footwork, moving away to one side.


    That tiny black blur and Bai Yunfei grazed each other. However, it seemingly did not want to attack him at all. When they were passing each other, Bai Yunfei suddenly felt a chill on the back of his right hand, which was being held in front of him. It seemed a small mass of liquid had hit the back of his right hand.


    The moment he got out of the hotel, he cast a glance backwards and saw that blur fall to the ground¡ªit was unexpectedly a small gray animal looking like a squirrel.


    All the men in the hotel looked on hopelessly as Bai Yunfei disappeared after several dashes. They then looked at their captain and vice captain, both of whom were wounded, and looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what they should do.


    Zhao Ping was sitting on the floor with his teeth clenched in a cold sweat. That kick thrown by Bai Yunfei just then had been really powerful. If he was an ordinary man, he would probably have passed out by now.


    ¡°He already got away. Why are you still standing there?!Quickly go check Wei Xu over!¡± Only after a dozen seconds did Zhao Ping take a deep breath and manage to scold in a raised voice.


    Seeing his subordinates run over to check Wei Xu out like a swarm of bees, Zhao Ping shook his head in a frustrated manner. He then silently channeled his soulforce to heal the injuries on his body. At the same time, he sighed to himself in his mind.


    ¡°Alas... I miscalculated. According to the information obtained earlier, this man was obviously just a late-stage Soul Personage when he killed young master. But now it looks like he¡¯s broken through to the Soul Warrior stage. Having a breakthrough in such a short time, perhaps he was already at the peak of the Soul Personage stage when he killed young master...


    ¡°He was so difficult to stall. In the entire fight, I could only thrust my sword out a few times. He simply didn¡¯t give me a chance to draw him into a dogfight. Plus, the move he injured Wei Xu with should have been a soul skill! And that ghost-like body maneuvering skill was a soul skill too! He¡¯s obviously powerful but he wasn¡¯t interested in fighting at all. Though in the end he had a big advantage, he still ran away without hesitation... This man has quite an extraordinary mind too.


    ¡°According to our investigation, two months ago he was still a mere commoner. What kind of lucky encounter did he actually have?!


    ¡°It will be hard to find him now. After he was tricked and surrounded, we still managed to let him get away. Luckily my ¡®tracking gray rat¡¯ has already left a ¡®mark¡¯ on him so he won¡¯t be able to escape! Now we only need to wait for master to arrive. Afterwards, we¡¯ll just use the tracking gray rat to find out where he is...


    ¡°The tracking gray rat¡¯s saliva is effective for three days. A courier pigeon was already released. Given master¡¯s speed, he should arrive tomorrow evening. That man definitely doesn¡¯t know about this so after running away for a day at most, he¡¯ll relax his vigilance. And then master will have enough time to catch up with him!


    ¡°Not bad... Now looks like this is not a complete failure either.¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    After escaping, Bai Yunfei did not dare to pause at all. Instead, he estimated the directions a bit and ran all the way. Only after running for nearly four hours did he finally stop on a bank of a small river.


    Using the Wave Treading Steps unceasingly for such a long period had almost exhausted his soulforce so he had no choice but to stop and rest for a while before he could make other plans.


    In fact, if he had wanted it, all the people in that hotel would have been killed. But he did not know if the enemy had reinforcements or not so he would have been in more danger if he had stayed in there longer. Moreover, it would have been pointless to kill them all too, therefore right from the beginning he had only wanted to flee.


    That faint feeling of discomfort in his head had already gone away. Bai Yunfei was sitting on a large rock, silently recovering the soulforce he had used.


    ¡°I¡¯m still too inexperienced in the outside world. Who would have thought I would fall into the enemy¡¯s trap so easily? Fortunately, I don¡¯t drink, otherwise...¡± Recalling that feeling of being drugged, Bai Yunfei still could not help having a trace of retrospective fear.


    ¡°Damn it, just how great is the Zhang family¡¯s influence? How can they have so many men in such a small town? Could it be every other town is like this too? Impossible, there are too soul cultivators in that group of men. Even if the Zhang family had a greater influence, it would still be impossible for them to send this kind of manpower to every town. This means... I was too unlucky?¡± At this point, Bai Yunfei could not help shaking his head in self-derision, feeling rather frustrated.


    Actually, he indeed was too unlucky to have arrived in this town of Old Well instead of another town. It just so happened that Zhao Ping¡¯s group was looking for his whereabouts nearby. After receiving the secret message from that innkeeper, they immediately rushed over...


    ¡°Now that my whereabouts have been exposed, I believe Zhang Zhenshan will definitely rush over right away. It¡¯s bad. I still can¡¯t stop. I must run even father away!


    ¡°Plus, that small animal at the end of the fight was really quite strange. The liquid left on my hand at the time seems to be its saliva. Why did it want to do this?¡± Bai Yunfei held his right hand before his eyes and observed it carefully under the moonlight but it seemed totally unchanged.


    When he put it under his nose and took a sniff, he suddenly frowned, ¡°There¡¯s a slight odor. Could it be... Tracking!¡±


    At this point, Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression became unsightly. He stood up and went to the edge of the river, reached out his hands into the water and scrubbed them nonstop. Then he took out his laundry powder and scrubbed them with it again. Only after washing his hands for ten something minutes and their skin had almost reddened did he stop.


    He sniffed his right hand again and could no longer detect that strange smell. Only now did Bai Yunfei relax a bit. However, there was still a trace of worry lingering on in his mind.


    ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll have to plan even further to be able to escape!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 44: Three Days of Tracking and Approaching Mortal Danger

    In the evening of the next day, in that hotel,


    Zhang Zhenshan was sitting at a table with a frosty expression listening to Zhao Ping, who was quickly giving a report on Bai Yunfei¡¯s situation beside him.


    After he finished listening to the report, Zhang Zhenshan felt silent for a while then suddenly stood up and waved at the tracking gray rat, which was gnawing on a small fruit on the table. The little animal stopped its movements and raised its head to look at Zhang Zhenshan. It was obviously somewhat hesitant, but after Zhao Ping verbally urged it a bit, it quickly climbed on Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Master, do you want to get into action immediately?¡± Zhao Ping could not help saying on one side, ¡°To run all the way to this place, you must have used a lot of your soulforce. It would be better for you to rest for a while.¡±


    ¡°I can handle myself!¡± Zhang Zhenshan frowned slightly and said expressionly then walked out of the hotel without hesitation.


    Watching Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s silhouette quickly getting away, Zhao Ping sighed gently and murmured, ¡°As a Soul Sprite, master should have no problem dealing with a soul cultivator of the Soul Warrior stage. But I always feel that that man is still hiding something. When we fought last time, he certainly didn¡¯t use all his power. Hopefully master won¡¯t lose himself due to his desire for vengeance...¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    Tracking gray rats were first-tier soulbeasts, the lowest-ranked soulbeasts. They were basically harmless and almost unable to level up, but they were highly valued by some people because they had a special ability, namely tracking!


    If a target¡¯s body was stained with their saliva then for the next three days, no matter where the target run to or hide, they could always find the target¡¯s location accurately.


    Moreover, unless their saliva was washed off with a special liquid medicine, it would be impossible to get rid of it!


    In less than three hours, under the guidance of the tracking gray rat, Zhang Zhenshan had arrived at that place on a bank of that small river where Bai Yunfei had taken a rest last night.


    After arriving at this place, the tracking gray rat suddenly let out low squeaks. Zhang Zhenshan halted his steps doubtfully and saw this little animal jump off his shoulder, run to the edge of the river and stop for a while, seemingly unsure about something, then run back and forth in that area. He could even see that its little nose seemed to be twitching again and again.


    ¡°That man was unexpectedly so vigilant. He carefully washed off the tracking gray rat¡¯s saliva at this place!¡± Seeing the little animal¡¯s behavior, Zhang Zhenshan had a somewhat unsightly expression. He gave a cold snort then quietly waited for the gray rat to search, ¡°So what if he did that? Without washing himself with that special liquid medicine, he can only make me spend a bit more time at most. It¡¯s impossible for him to escape!¡±


    Sure enough, several minutes later, the tracking gray rat suddenly rushed up along the small river while squeaking excitedly then trotted on Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s shoulder again. With a happy expression, Zhang Zhenshan dashed in that direction without hesitation.


    His speed had already reached its maximum. As he moved at full gallop, he created buzzing sounds that could even be heard from very far away in the quiet night. The tracking gray rat on his shoulder was also clutching his collar tightly with its little front paws while curling up into a ball so that it would not be thrown off.


    Chasing nonstop for an entire night, only in the morning of the next day did Zhang Zhenshan stop. After resting for two hours and letting the tracking gray rat confirm the direction a bit, he continued to give chase...


    Only when the sun went down behind the mountains and the moon began to rise did Zhang Zhenshan stop again in a grove. He took some food out from his space ring and ate it. At the same time, he recovered his spent soulforce.


    However, now there was already a vague trace of anxiety on his face.


    ¡°Damn it! Just how far away has that man run? He should have run nonstop for a day at most. Seeing that nobody was chasing him, he should have relaxed his vigilance and slowed down... But even though I¡¯ve been chasing at my top speed, I unexpectedly still haven¡¯t found any trace of him!


    ¡°If I miss this opportunity, I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be able to find him again. If he runs out of Azure Cloud Province, it¡¯ll be near impossible for me to avenge Yang¡¯er!


    ¡°Two days has already passed. There¡¯s only one day left. I¡¯ve got to catch up with him tomorrow no matter what!¡±


    The next day, which was also the last day of the time limit for the tracking, Zhang Zhenshan even gave up rest to chase at full speed with all his might nonstop.


    In the afternoon, when there was only less than half a day left until the deadline of the tracking, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s expression became more anxious. There was already even a tinge of despair on his face, ¡°Could it be... I really can¡¯t catch up with him?¡±


    Right at this moment, the tracking gray rat on his shoulder suddenly began to cry in a low tone. Noticing its unusual behavior, Zhang Zhenshan hurriedly stopped and looked at it in a slightly nervous manner.


    The little animal sniffed its nose cautiously, let out two cries again and waved its claws gently, seeming to be somewhat excited.


    ¡°We¡¯re getting close?! I¡¯ve finally come near that man!!¡± Seeing the little animal¡¯s behavior, Zhang Zhenshan could not help shouting in pleasant surprise.


    Putting the little animal back on his shoulder, he galloped forwards again.


    An hour later, when he was climbing over a small mountain, the gray rat suddenly raised the pitch of its cries a lot, appearing especially excited. Zhang Zhenshan was delighted inside. He looked down the mountain carefully and saw that on a meadow at the foot of the mountain, a silhouette of a person was running towards a forest up ahead.


    That person seemed to be a young man. At the moment, even though he was not running at high speed, he was definitely not running slowly either.


    As Zhang Zhenshan looked at this silhouette, his entire body began to trembled slightly, his expression was almost distorted and endless hatred and fury erupted from his eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s him! It¡¯s definitely him! Finally, you¡¯ve let me catch up with you! I won¡¯t let you get away. Now pay for the death of my son with your life!!¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    That night, after discovering that the enemy might be tracking him, Bai Yunfei ran quickly for two whole days. Except for when he had to stop to take a rest, he did not stop at all!


    Moreover, he did not know if this was a psychological effect or not, but when he sniffed at his right hand again after a period of time, he unexpectedly vaguely noticed that strange odor. This discovery made him worried even more in his mind. Almost every time he stopped, he would scrub his hands nonstop for over ten minutes, as if this was the only way that could make him feel a bit more at ease...


    Two days later, he finally could no longer endure running at high speed day and night. After having a good rest for half a night, he slowed down while continuing to go forwards.


    It must be said that thanks to using the Wave Treading Steps unceasingly for two days and nights, his mastery of this soul skills had improved at an unimaginable rate. If he had practiced this technique as usual, even though he was not lazy at all, it would have taken him at least ten days to reach his current level of proficiency with the Wave Treading Steps.


    At noon, right after climbing over a mountain, he ate some food then went forwards in this rather large meadow. There was a forest not far up ahead. Bai Yunfei intended to go through this forest to see if he could find a populated place.


    Looking at this seemingly endless area of grass and trees in front of him, Bai Yunfei almost felt like crying and murmured:


    ¡°This is really... Where am I actually at now?¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 45: Go All Out! Fight!!

    Book 1 Chapter 45: Go all out! Fight!!


    Looking at this seemingly endless area of grass and trees in front of him, Bai Yunfei almost felt like crying and murmured:


    ¡°This is really¡­ Where am I actually at now?¡±


    Now he could only be sure that he was indeed heading north, but he had no clue where he was at the moment. He just wanted to go through this forest as quickly as possible and find a populated place to ask for directions.


    Just when Bai Yunfei was about to use the Wave Treading Steps to accelerate, his body froze all of a sudden. Seeming to have detected something, he turned around!


    He saw a tall silhouette of someone running towards him extremely fast from a distance of more than a thousand meters!


    ¡°That direction¡­ is the path I took to come here! This is bad! It¡¯s the pursuers!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression changed. He was stunned for just a moment but that person had come another hundred meters closer to him and now he could see his face vaguely.


    ¡°This man is so fast, almost as fast as I am when using the Wave Treading Steps to the utmost. Plus, his face looks somewhat familiar¡­¡± As his mind was racing, suddenly Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression changed greatly and there was even shock in his eyes. He could not help blurting out: ¡°It¡¯s him! Zhang Yang¡¯s father Zhang Zhenshan!!¡±


    This shock was not a trivial matter. He even took a step backwards uncontrollably with the first thought in his mind being ¡°Turn around and run away.¡±


    However, he abandoned this idea as soon as it appeared and stared at Zhang Zhenshan, who was getting closer and closer to him. Although his expression was still solemn, his eyes were glittering and his mind was working overtime on how he should respond to this.


    ¡°At this point, I can¡¯t run away! If I turn around, my aura will be weakened and I¡¯ll have already lost half of the mental battle. Afterwards, I¡¯ll only be thinking about running away so I won¡¯t be able to fight with determination! This will allow the enemy to dictate everything. Turning my back to a pursuing enemy is a bad choice!


    ¡°Be cool, be cool!!


    ¡°At that time, the old man from the Fate school said that Zhang Zhenshan is an early Soul Sprite. The Soul Sprite stage has the ability to control the natural elements so the Soul Warrior stage just can¡¯t compare with it. How can I possibly beat him?¡­ But I don¡¯t have to beat him. I only need to injure him, even if I¡¯ll be injured in the process too! As long as I still have the ability to run away! As long as I make it impossible for him to pursue me, this will be enough! He wants to kill me, but I only need to grasp an opportunity to run away ¡ª in terms of goals, I¡¯m already at a slight advantage!


    ¡°Though I¡¯ve been running away at such a high speed, he¡¯s still managed to catch up with me. This means he must¡¯ve been chasing nonstop day and night, but I just had a full rest ¡ª in terms of condition, I¡¯m at another slight advantage!!


    ¡°He has to endure the pain of losing his son and is hell-bent on getting revenge but I can deal with him calmly ¡ª in terms of mentality, I¡¯m at a slight advantage again!!


    ¡°I¡¯ve got upgraded items whose effects are inconceivable to him ¡ª in terms of weapons, I enjoy another slight advantage!!!


    ¡°If so¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s go all out!Fight!!¡±


    Several thoughts flashed across his mind. In fact, this only took as long as it would to breathe a few times. When Bai Yunfei made his decision, Zhang Zhenshan was already less than a hundred meters away from him!


    Because this was a flat area, making it simply impossible for him to approach the enemy without being detected, at first Zhang Zhenshan had thought that Bai Yunfei would run away. He had even been ready to pursue and attack him. However, after noticing him, the enemy unexpectedly did not look like he wanted to run away at all.


    ¡°Could it be he knows that he can¡¯t run so he gives up? Or¡­ he wants to fight me?!¡±As Zhang Zhenshan ran fast, the enmity and fury in his eyes intensified, ¡°Very good, since he¡¯s so cocky, this saves me from having to chase and attack him too. I¡¯ll avenge the death of my son right here!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had a solemn expression. He had already seen that tracking gray rat on Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s shoulder and immediately understood: It¡¯s indeed because of this small animal!


    When Zhang Zhenshan closed in on Bai Yunfei, the animal jumped down from his shoulder and landed on the grass on one side of the path.


    His eyes glittering, Bai Yunfei reached out his right hand and the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his hand. After he channeled his soulforce into it, the crimson handle of the spear slightly flashed a red light and a heat wave spread out. Even Zhang Zhenshan, who was already just ten meters away from him, looked a bit surprised by this. Afterwards, Bai Yunfei unexpectedly did not wait for the enemy to come. Instead, he pushed his feet against the ground and rushed up!


    Without saying a word, he launched his attack immediately!


    When Bai Yunfei took out the Fire-tipped Spear, Zhang Zhenshan was surprised for a moment because he had heard from Zhao Ping that Bai Yunfei should use daggers but now he was using a spear and, moreover¡­ it was a soul item!


    Given Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s discernment, he was instantly able to tell that this crimson spear was no ordinary weapon. He was awed inside, but there was no trace of wavering in his heart at all ¡ª since the opponent was merely a Soul Warrior, he had sincerely never thought that he would be unable to take him down ¡ª even though the enemy had a soul weapon, the outcome would still be the same!


    Facing Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear thrust, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes flashed with a hint of disdain. Without slowing down his forward charge, he slid his feet, making his body lean to one side, and avoided this strike very easily.


    Just when he wanted to take two step forwards to close in on the opponent, this spear thrust, which still had some momentum left, was suddenly swept horizontally with the tip of the spear aimed at his throat!


    Frowning slightly, Zhang Zhenshan had no choice but to give up charging forwards. With a step of his right foot, he dashed to one side and leaned backwards at the same time. The tip of the spear then almost grazed his chin.


    Taking advantage of the moment this spear move ran out of momentum, Zhang Zhenshan let out a cold snort and pushed backwards with his right feet. His body suddenly returned to an upright position. At the same time, he reached out his right hand, curled his fingers to form a claw and thrust it at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Zhang Zhenshan carried out this counterattack extremely fast, bringing his hand to the enemy¡¯s throat almost in the blink of an eye, then made a grab with force!


    But he was only able to grab a trace of a blur!


    Bai Yunfei simply had not pulled the spear back to make a block. Right after his horizontal spear sweep was avoided, he made the Fire-tipped Spear disappear by putting it away in his interspatial ring. At the same time, he took steps continuously with his feet, making his body lean backwards as if he had lost his balance. But the moment he was about to hit the ground, his body slid to the right in a strange manner and sprung back to an upright position simultaneously like a roly-poly toy.


    This was none other than the Wave Treading Steps!


    This claw strike had been avoided by Bai Yunfei, but Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s expression had remained unchanged. The moment Bai Yunfei stood upright again, he made a reverse sweep with his hand, still aiming at the enemy¡¯s throat directly!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with fierceness. Instead of dodging with the Wave Treading Steps, he raised his right hand like lightning. A short blue piercer suddenly appeared in his hand and he thrust it straight at the enemy¡¯s incoming right claw!


    Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s expression changed. It was already too late to withdraw his hand so he gave a cold snort and slightly leaned his hand to one side. The Glacial Piercer stabbed against the palm of his hand but unexpectedly could not pierce into it. Instead, it slid away, creating several friction sparks in the process!


    This time, it was Bai Yunfei whose expression changed, showing a look of worry. Moving his feet continuously, he swayed his body, creating several blurs, and hurriedly backed off five or six steps then stared hard at Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s right hand.


    Now that hand was unexpectedly wearing a white glove which covered the entire surface of the fist and allowed only the fingertips to be seen!


    ¡°That glove unexpectedly was able to withstand an attack of the Glacial Piercer without being damaged. It¡¯s a soul item! Moreover, it¡¯s of a higher grade than the Glacial Piercer!¡±


    After Bai Yunfei retreated, Zhang Zhenshan unexpectedly did not chase and attack him. Instead, he was also staring at Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand, or to be exact, staring at the Glacial Piercer in his hand. There was even more amazement in his eyes than in Bai Yunfei¡¯s. He could not help saying in a surprised manner: ¡°Glacial Piercer!! The Glacial Piercer is unexpectedly in your hands! Then¡­ you were the one who destroyed the Blackwood Stronghold!!¡±


    As soon as these words were said, Bai Yunfei could not helped getting stupefied for a moment. He then reacted immediately, his eyes flashing: ¡°He knows the Glacial Piercer! Then¡­ he¡¯s related to the Blackwood Stronghold! Or I should say, the Glacial School is related to the Blackwood Stronghold! That¡¯s right. The ¡®school¡¯ those bandits mentioned is the Glacial School. That Blackwood Stronghold was unexpectedly backed by the Glacial School!!¡±


    ¡°You destroyed the Blackwood Stronghold so that I was called back into my school to discuss this matter. Then you took advantage of my absence from Luoshi City to kill my son!!¡± Seeming to have understood everything, Zhang Zhenshan said in a mixed tone of amazement and wrath.


    Bai Yunfei was stupefied for a moment again, his eyes flashing a couple of times, but he was in no mood to explain to the opponent that this ¡®cause and effect relationship¡¯ he had just reasoned out was incorrect so he slightly curled his lips, saying: ¡°The stronghold was already destroyed, your son is already dead, what¡¯s the point of talking about them now? I won¡¯t go easy on you just because you guessed right¡­¡±


    ¡°Humph! You¡¯re about to die but you¡¯re still acting calm! You¡¯ve got the Glacial Piercer so Han Xiao¡¯s Goldsilk Soul Armor must be on your body, right? That and the spear you were using earlier¡­ Could it be you think that you can beat me or escape from my hands just because you¡¯ve got many soul items?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste time trying to make me waver with your words. I know exactly what to do. But you, just moments ago you attacked me without saying anything, yet now you¡¯re talking so much. Why? Oh, let me think¡­¡± Bai Yunfei said sneeringly then pretended to ponder for a moment.


    ¡°Could it be you¡¯ve used too much soulforce chasing me all the way to this place? Earlier, you relied on that initial surge of momentum to fight a bout with me, but you failed to take me down, so now¡­ you want to seize an opportunity to recover your soulforce?¡±


    As soon as he said these words, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s expression stiffened. But right at this moment, when a look of amazement appeared in his eyes, Bai Yunfei suddenly gave a laugh. The Fire-tipped Spear reappeared in his hands. At the same time, he pushed his feet against the ground with force and rushed up to attack first again!


    The amazement in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes lasted only for a moment. Even though the opponent had seen through his ploy, he did not panic at all ¡ª even if he did not recover his soulforce, he could still kill the enemy!


    Bai Yunfei charged up to the opponent¡¯s face almost instantaneously. He then thrust his spear out nonstop, creating an area of spear blurs that surrounded the opponent completely.


    Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes flashed with a trace of disdain again. He moved his hands continuously. Almost every time he waved his hand, he hit the tip of the spear, even skillfully and easily. This stormy wave of attacks from Bai Yunfei was unexpectedly withstood effortlessly by him!


    After Zhang Zhenshan blocked ten something attacks in a row, there was more and more disdain in his eyes. When he knocked away the spear yet again, he suddenly caught hold of the front end of the spear with a grab. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he took a step forwards, immediately closing in on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. He then lifted his right hand and threw a palm strike at the enemy¡¯s heart!


    The moment he grabbed the spear¡¯s handle, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with a tinge of light. When the opponent took a step forwards, he immediately took half a step backwards and twisted the spear forcefully with his right hand, which was holding it. Upon withdrawing the Fire-tipped Spear, he put it away in his interspatial ring like lightning. Then he raised his right fist. The moment the opponent threw a palm strike at him, blue veins popped out of his right arm. Staring at the opponent¡¯s palm, he struck a fierce blow!


    Overlapping Waves Art, Ninefold Fist Force!!

 Chapter 46: The Gap in Power!

    Book 1 Chapter 46: The gap in power!


    Facing this palm strike, which was aimed at his heart, Bai Yunfei suddenly took half a step backwards and clenched his right fist. Blue veins popped out of his arm and he struck a blow!


    Overlapping Waves Art, Ninefold Fist Force!!


    However, the moment Bai Yunfei threw this punch, which he had been planning for a long time, in front of him, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes flashed with a trace of derision!


    Just before the fist and the palm could collide with each other, when they were a very short distance apart, this palm suddenly turned into two palms, then four palms, which were respectively aimed at Bai Yunfei¡¯s two shoulders, heart and face!


    Under the astounded look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, the palm strike aimed at his heart and his fist came into contact. But his right fist went straight through this palm ¡ª it was an afterimage!


    Facing the palm strike aimed at his face, Bai Yunfei had no choice but to lean his head to one side hurriedly. Half of this palm then went past his face ¡ª this was also an afterimage!


    Before he could have another reaction, an inconceivably great force already hit his left shoulder ¡ª only this palm strike was real!


    What shocked him even more was that, as this palm strike came into contact with him, in addition to that enormous force of impact, there was also an even more formidable chill rushing into his body. When this chill entered his body, Bai Yunfei even felt that his soul was frozen for a moment!


    All of this sounds complicated but in fact it happened and ended in the blink of an eye. Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand was even still maintaining its forward striking position, but his entire body was sent flying backwards like a disconnected kite, almost creating a blur.


    ¡°Humph! Ignorant kid! You think you can fool me just because you¡¯re a little smart? Don¡¯t overestimate yourself!¡± The derision in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes intensified. Just when he wanted to lift his feet to give chase, he suddenly stood still, the expression on his face stiffening then turning into one of disbelief.


    This was because while in midair after being sent flying, when Bai Yunfei was about to fall to the ground, he did a flip and landed feet first on the ground. Only after bending his knees to a half-crouch position with his hands placed against the ground and sliding backwards three or four meters was he able to stop.


    As Bai Yunfei raised his head looking at a totally astounded Zhang Zhenshan in front of him, a streak of blood flowed out from a corner of his mouth. He had an urge to spout a mouthful of blood but he suppressed it forcefully.


    ¡°I misjudged it¡­ Am I still really too naive? He¡¯s a Soul Sprite and the head of the Zhang family with so much combat experience. How could it have been so easy for me to trick him?¡­ In the end I was tricked by him instead. If not for his attack being inclined towards the centerline of my body and hitting a place that happened to be within the defensive range of the Goldsilk Soul Armor, my shoulder could have been crippled¡­


    ¡°Under the defense of the +10 upgraded Goldsilk Soul Armor, I was still injured so seriously. Plus, the most fearsome thing was that chill. If not for the defense of the Goldsilk Soul Armor giving me a small gap of time to channel my soulforce to resist it, it would probably have gone into my body by now. Then, even if I wouldn¡¯t have been frozen all over, my movement speed would have dropped sharply!


    ¡°This is the power of the Soul Warrior stage? The power of elemental control¡­¡±


    Now Bai Yunfei had already stood up. He wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth and took out the Fire-tipped Spear again then stared hard at Zhang Zhenshan in front of him. Zhang Zhenshan watched all of this with a lingering astonished and doubtful expression.


    ¡°How is this even possible?! After taking that palm strike of mine, it unexpectedly seems he¡¯s just slightly injured! Even though I¡¯m not in my best condition, a Soul Warrior shouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand the force of a palm strike from a Soul Sprite like me so easily!


    ¡°Right! He¡¯s wearing Han Xiao¡¯s Goldsilk Soul Armor on his body! But that armor is merely a low human-tier soul item, how can it have such a high defense? Could it be¡­ the amount of power I can use at the moment is even lower than I thought?¡±


    Both men had their own thoughts and seemed to be considering countermeasures. For a short period of time, the situation unexpectedly turned into a deadlock.


    Bai Yunfei did his utmost to channel his soulforce to disperse that trace of coldness in his body. At the same time, he cast a glance at the Fire-tipped Spear in his hands in an unnoticeable manner, his eyes flashing.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to be able to draw the scorching heat in the Fire-tipped Spear into my body! Just now, to disperse that trace of coldness in my body as quickly as possible, I subconsciously tried doing this and was unexpectedly successful!! But I was unable to discover this earlier¡­ In that is the case, it just happens to be of some help in this fight!


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait any longer. Both of us are recovering, but he¡¯s definitely faster than I am! I must not let him return to his best or I¡¯ll be in even more danger!¡±


    At this point, Bai Yunfei clenched this teeth and gave the Fire-tipped Spear a shake. Using a strange footwork pattern, he turned into a string of blurs and rushed towards Zhang Zhenshan!


    ¡°He saw through me again? He¡¯s obviously weaker than me but he has attacked me first the times in a row. This man¡¯s mental ability is indeed exceptional!¡± Watching Bai Yunfei charging at him, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. He then gave a cold snort and rushed up.


    Knowing that the opponent was adept at using fists and palms to attack, this time Bai Yunfei watched out for his forceful approach all the time right from the beginning. Relying on the Wave Treading Steps¡¯ speed and dexterity, brandishing the spear, he was unexpectedly able to force Zhang Zhenshan to retreat every time he wanted to charge up.


    The Fire-tipped Spear had an extremely high damage and even an explosion effect, but most of its damage was focused in the tip and it needed to hit the target in straight thrusts for the explosion effect to be triggered. Right from the beginning Zhang Zhenshan had been able to tell that this spear was no ordinary weapon so he did not block the thrusts of the spear head-on like how he had blocked the stabs of the Glacial Piercer earlier. Therefore, even though Bai Yunfei looked very lively as he fought, he was unable to do anything to the opponent at all.


    The two of them fought for several dozen bouts continuously. Because Zhang Zhenshan was afraid of the power of the Fire-tipped Spear, he was unable to counterattack for the time being, but he handled Bai Yunfei¡¯s attacks with skill and ease. However, Bai Yunfei became more and more anxious as the fight progressed. He could already tell that the opponent was deliberately dragging out the fight. If this continued, he would undoubtedly use more energy than the enemy and the situation would become more and more disadvantageous to him.


    Worried inside, Bai Yunfei could not help attacking much faster. After Zhang Zhenshan avoided another spear strike, Bai Yunfei suddenly repositioned his feet, taking half a step backwards and withdrawing the Fire-tipped Spear. Blue veins popped out of his right arm. It looked like he had exerted his strength in the blink of an eye. He then thrust the spear out all of a sudden at a speed unexpectedly several times greater than earlier!


    Threefold Thrust!!


    Facing this fast spear thrust, which was aimed at his stomach, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes flashed with a trace of amazement, but he did not panic at all. The moment the tip of the spear about to come into contact with him, his entire body moved sideways without a warning sign, avoiding this blow easily! Then, with his body slightly leaning forwards, he unexpectedly rushed up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face in the blink of an eye!


    Without lifting or lowering himself, and without a warning sign, he had moved sideways then rushed up just like that! It even appeared as if he had not made any movement!


    A body-maneuvering soul technique, Ice Treading Steps!


    Using this footwork pattern was like skating on ice. It did not require the user to sway left and right confusingly like the Wave Treading Steps, nor did it allow the user to move so fast as the Wave Treading Steps did. It only made it possible for the user to slide without any warning sign and in a surprising manner. When it was in use, the user¡¯s body did not rise or fall, so unless you observed by staring at his feet, you would not notice any strange movement ¡ª but who would only stare at the opponent¡¯s feet during combat?


    Another focus attack with the spear had been avoided. Before Bai Yunfei could even bemoan this, the enemy had already ¡®slid¡¯ up to his face!


    His eyes flashing with killing intent, Zhang Zhenshan raised his right hand and threw another palm strike, aiming for Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    The palm of his hand seemed to be surrounded in a layer of frost. The wind created by the palm spread out, sending a mass of cold air to Bai Yunfei, causing his hair to stand on end ¡ª this palm strike was probably even several times more fearsome than that palm strike from earlier!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupils dilated. It was already too late to withdraw the spear so he clenched his teeth and pushed his feet against the ground with force. His body then suddenly jumped up backwards. Even though he would be in a difficult situation to ward off the enemy¡¯s follow-up attack, he had to avoid this palm strike first! Because he jumped up, this palm strike which originally had been aimed at his head was now aimed at his chest instead.


    With this backward jump, he was able to create a distance of about an inch between him and the palm. It looked like he had eventually avoided this palm strike by a hair¡¯s breadth!


    However, just when this palm seemed to run out of momentum, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes focused and he let out a light snort. His right shoulder seemed to tremble slightly then his entire right arm seemed to wiggle in an unnoticeable manner. In just a moment, this already outstretched right arm unexpectedly became longer by more than two inches all of a sudden!


    Under the astounded look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, this palm hit him squarely in the chest!

 Chapter 47: Strike back!

    Book 1 Chapter 47: Strike back!


    Just when the incoming palm strike seemed to run out of momentum, that already outstretched right arm unexpectedly became longer by more than two inches all of a sudden!


    Under the astounded look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, this palm hit him squarely in the chest!


    This is the soul technique Long Arm Fist!


    It was none other than the low-tier soul technique used by Zhang Yang in the past, who at that time could only lengthen his arm by an inch at most. Now Zhang Zhenshan was using it and had made his arm longer by nearly three inches!


    Even though it was a low-level soul technique, its power still varied according to the power of the user!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was once again sent flying with a burst of buzzing sounds!


    Bai Yunfei did another flip while in midair and landed on the ground. However, this time his actions were performed in a much more helter-skelter manner. Only after propping himself up with the Fire-tipped Spear and sliding another four or five meters was he finally able to stop.


    He raised his head. A flush rushed up his face, which looked a bit pale at first. Eventually he could no longer endure it and spouted out a mouthful of blood.


    Lifting his hand and wiping the bloodstains off the corners of his mouth, Bai Yunfei stared at Zhang Zhenshan, who was walking towards him slowly, with a trace of bitterness in his eyes: ¡°The gap is too big!! We¡¯re simply not on the same level, whether in terms of combat experience or technique usage. If he hadn¡¯t used too much soulforce earlier and become less powerful as a result, those two palm strikes alone would¡¯ve been enough to take me down¡­¡±


    Zhang Zhenshan put his right hand behind his back and it trembled slightly in an unnoticeable manner. After channeling his soulforce to recover from the side effects of forcefully modifying a soul technique, he walked towards Bai Yunfei step by step while saying tauntingly: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Now you already know the gap between us, right? Arrogant ignorant brat, though you¡¯ve got several soul items and my power has weakened, I can still kill you with ease!


    ¡°But I won¡¯t let you die so easily. You tortured and maimed my son to death so I¡¯ll make you suffer all kinds of torments until you wish you were dead. Then I¡¯ll snap your limbs one by one and let you die with a damaged corpse!!¡± The more Zhang Zhenshan talked, the more agitated he became. Towards the end, he almost shouted the words. His eyes were virtually blood-red and his face was full of ferocity. Only, under that look of hatred in his eyes, there was also a trace of¡­ sorrow.


    Looking at Zhang Zhenshan, who seemed to be immersed in madness, Bai Yunfei slowly backed off expressionlessly. However, Zhang Zhenshan was advancing even faster so after just several steps, the two of them were already about to stand face to face.


    While retreating, Bai Yunfei slightly glanced around. All of a sudden, his eyes flashed with a trace of light. He took a deep breath, channeled his soulforce and used the Wave Treading Steps. His body turned into a string of blurs and moved obliquely two meters to the left then halted abruptly. Staring at Zhang Zhenshan, who had chased up to a place three meters ahead him, he lifted his right foot and threw a fierce kick!


    The great force of the kick shot a basin-sized rock under his feet along with a layer of dirt towards Zhang Zhenshan!


    Giving a cold snort, Zhang Zhenshan immediately moved half a step to the left without rising or lowering his body. However, right after he dashed sideways to avoid this flying rock, his pupils dilated all of a sudden because he saw Bai Yunfei charging up closely after the rock at a speed even faster than that of the rock and thrusting the spear out!


    The moment that rock flew up to Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s left side, the tip of Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear was already about to reach him. Just when Zhang Zhenshan wanted to dodge again, his eyes suddenly flashed with a trace of astonishment ¡ª the target of this spear strike was unexpectedly not him, but¡­ the rock by his side!


    Blue veins popped out of Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm, which he was holding the spear with. The various muscles of this arm bulged out greatly in the blink of an eye, raising the thrusting speed of the arm to its maximum. Almost without an interval, he executed two spear thrusts continuously!


    Threefold Thrust!


    Threefold Thrust!!


    When the first strike hit the rock, it only shook a bit. However, when the second strike hit it, an explosion suddenly rang out at the moment of contact!


    Almost at the same time as a trace of surprise appeared in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes, this explosion rang out by his side. Under the astounded look in his eyes, a mass of fire burst out from inside the rock. The basin-sized rock then shattered into countless tiny fragments which were shot out in all directions!


    A rock very close to him had suddenly exploded, sending a heat wave and a large volley of fragments flying at him!


    The area covered by the rock fragments was so large that Zhang Zhenshan did not have enough time to avoid them. He could only use the Ice Treading Steps at the last moment and quickly slide backwards. At the same time, he crossed his hands, making a block in front of his face, and channeled his soulforce to enhance his defense, causing his whole body¡¯s skin and muscles to wiggle slightly.


    A series of cracks was heard. The sharp pains coming from various places on his body astonished Zhang Zhenshan even more: ¡°Just the rock fragments shot at me are already so powerful!¡±


    The attack of the rock fragments lasted only for a breath¡¯s time. Zhang Zhenshan kept backing off. He moved his hands away from in front of his face, but what came into his field of vision was a dazzling red light!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glittered with killing intent. The tip of the Fire-tipped Spear, which was emitting a red light, looking as if it was shrouded in a red fireball, was being thrust straight at Zhang Zhenshan!


    Finally, for the first time there was an expression of shock on Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s face. This crimson spear was already less than three inches away from his chest so he would not have enough time for him to avoid it while retreating hurriedly. After thinking for a moment, he showed a resolute expression, reached out his left hand in the blink of an eye and held it before his chest. When it came into contact with the tip of the incoming spear, he suddenly caught hold of it in a grab!


    Then he tilted his palm. Muscles bulging out on his left arm, he pushed it up fiercely at an angle. At the same time, he repositioned his feet, dashing out obliquely in the other direction!


    Before he could loosen his grip, the tip of the spear slipped in his hand. When he let go of it and hurriedly backed off, a small amount of blood fell down from the air.


    The shocked expression in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes intensified. Without pausing at all, he moved backwards several dozen meters in an instant. Only when he saw that Bai Yunfei was not chasing and attacking him did he finally relax and stop there to gasp for air.


    ¡°How is this possible? How is this possible?! He¡¯s just a middle Soul Warrior, how can he unleash that kind of attack?!¡± Staring hard at Bai Yunfei in front of him, Zhang Zhenshan roared in his mind, ¡°Even if that spear is an earth-tier soul item, even if it can gather up the element of fire to cause an explosion, he must at least reach the late Soul Warrior stage to be able to do that! How in the world can he use this kind of attack?!?!¡±


    Lifting his left hand in front of his eyes, he saw that a long hole had been cut into the high human-tier Icesilk Glove on it!


    Underneath the hole in the glove, there was a wound deep to the bone extending from the center of the palm to the intersection of the index and the thumb. Although he had been channeling his soulforce to heal it since the first moment, blood was still flowing out nonstop, dying that white glove almost completely red. Even worse, there was unexpectedly a faint black color on the wound¡¯s opening and a scorching heat was slowly spreading up from this opening. Trying his best, he channeled his Glacial Energy to resist the heat. Only now did this scorching heat slowly disappear.


    Zhang Zhenshan looked at the wound on his hand, whose bleeding was gradually slowing down, then cast a glance at the Fire-tipped Spear in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands with a lingering fear. There was unexpectedly a trace of relief in his eyes: ¡°Luckily I reacted fast at the last moment¡­ Now I definitely can¡¯t let the tip of that spear hit me again! If it causes that kind of explosion when I¡¯m hit by a thrust with it,¡­¡± At this point, a tinge of horror came into being uncontrollably in his heart and he kept looking at the Fire-tipped Spear in an even more fearful manner.


    At a place several dozen meters away, Bai Yunfei was pinching his slightly trembling right arm with his left hand. His teeth clenched tightly, he was channeling his soulforce nonstop. Only when the acute pain coming from his arm had subsided a bit did he finally let out a sigh of relief. He then also lifted his eyes and stared hard at Zhang Zhenshan in front of him.


    In fact, Bai Yunfei was also feeling lucky that Zhang Zhenshan had retreated so far away in fear. If the enemy had counterattacked right after avoiding that thrust of the Fire-tipped Spear earlier, he would definitely have been in grave danger.


    Before executing that series of attacks just then, he had already prepared himself for the scenario in which he would fail and could be injured again by the enemy.


    ¡°Too bad, when the last thrust hit his palm, the explosion effect wasn¡¯t activated, otherwise I would¡¯ve already won this fight!¡± When Bai Yunfei saw that the opponent seemed to be treating his injuries, his eyes could not help showing a trace of disappointment, ¡°I¡¯ve used the Threefold Thrust three times and even triggered the explosion effect, but I was only able to injure him slightly. From now on, he¡¯ll definitely be even more careful against the Fire-tipped Spear. If so¡­ will I have no choice but to do that?¡±


    While Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was working overtime, Zhang Zhenshan calmed down. He immediately noticed his strange behavior: ¡°He didn¡¯t chase and attack me. Plus, he looks¡­ His right arm is injured! Right, it doesn¡¯t matter what secret method he used to unleash that kind of attack, since he was merely a Soul Warrior, this must have taken an extremely great toll on him! Damn it! This means I¡¯ve wasted an opportunity to strike back!¡±


    While regreting this in his mind, Zhang Zhenshan was unwilling to give the enemy a chance to take a breather. He raised his right fist, his eyes glittered with ferocity, and charged at Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 48: Ninefold Fist Force Versus Glacial Palm

    While regreting this in his mind, Zhang Zhenshan was unwilling to give the enemy a chance to take a breather. He raised his right fist, his eyes glittered with ferocity, and charged at Bai Yunfei!


    When Bai Yunfei had just made his decision, he saw Zhang Zhenshan coming at him first. His expression slightly changing, he shook his right arm, which had almost fully recovered. After taking a deep breath, he charged up holding the spear in his hands.


    When fighting this time, both of them were obviously much more careful than before. Bai Yunfei had to watch out for the opponent¡¯s strange body-maneuvering technique and arms, which could lengthen anytime, while Zhang Zhenshan was extremely afraid of the Fire-tipped Spear in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands. He even almost no longer smacked the tip of the spear away with his palms when it was thrust at him. Instead, he dealt with it by dodging. And Bai Yunfei¡¯s Wave Treading Steps also gave him trouble.


    However, after twenty something bouts, Bai Yunfei was gradually put at a disadvantage again and was hit by several palm strikes from Zhang Zhenshan in a row. Luckily, these palm strikes were much less damaging than the earlier palm strikes. As Zhang Zhenshan did not have much soulforce left, he did not hastily use his elemental force to attack, and Bai Yunfei was protected by the Goldsilk Soul Armor too. These were the reasons why Bai Yunfei had been able to cling on until now.


    Although Bai Yunfei was in a disadvantageous situation, there was no trace of panic on his face at all. While he was defending and attacking, his eyes glittered slightly, looking like he was secretly planning something...


    Zhang Zhenshan lowered his body, avoiding a horizontal sweep of the spear. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he attacked the enemy¡¯s legs with a sweep kick. Bai Yunfei retreated half a step with a shake of his body, avoiding this attack.


    Taking advantage of this moment, Zhang Zhenshan did not pause at all after standing up. Using the Ice Treading Steps, he slid forwards and went up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face in the blink of an eye when Bai Yunfei slightly lost his balance after backing off. Reaching out his right hand, forming a claw, he made another grab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Bai Yunfei had no choice but to lean backwards again, avoiding this claw attack and making the Fire-tipped Spear disappear simultaneously. Just when he wanted to take the Glacial Piercer out to fight the enemy with it, in front of him, Zhang Zhenshan gave a cold snort and turned his claw into an open palm. At the same time, his arm suddenly became longer by more than two inches, throwing a palm strike at Bai Yunfei¡¯s left shoulder!


    The sudden change of moves made it impossible for Bai Yunfei to dodge. He was hit by a palm strike again and his body turned left uncontrollably. At the same time, because he had been retreating just then, now it seemed he could no longer control his balance. He staggered two steps and unexpectedly turned his back towards Zhang Zhenshan instead of using the Wave Treading Steps to continue to dodge!


    Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes flashing with ferocity, he slightly lifted his right arm and threw a palm strike at Bai Yunfei¡¯s back without pausing at all. This was an extremely heavy blow. He was certain that its impact would injure the opponent again and unbalance him even more!


    As expected, Bai Yunfei let out a grunt and staggered another half step. It looked like he was about to fall to his knees because of being unable to endure this palm¡¯s force of impact!


    The killing intent in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes intensified. He took a step forwards without hesitation and slightly halted his right arm at the same time. Almost in an instant, a layer of frost was formed on his right palm. His whole palm unexpectedly changed until it looked as if it was made of ice. Various strands of cold air were spreading out from it, sending a shudder through anyone who would take a look at it.


    Soul skill, Glacial Palm!!


    He had used this soul skill in the beginning of the battle as well, but at the time he had only gathered up a small amount of ice elemental force. And the second time he used it, because of Bai Yunfei¡¯s dodging, he had to forcefully change it midway into the Arm Lengthening Fist.


    This time, when he threw this palm strike, he used up half of his already scarce remaining soulforce, after saving it for quite some time!


    The coldness was intense!


    Even the air around the palm seemed to be frozen. This palm strike stirred through this area of air to came straight at the back of Bai Yunfei¡¯s head with short buzzing sounds!


    However, he, who was preoccupied with grabbing this opportunity to chase and attack the opponent, did not notice that when Bai Yunfei had been hit by that palm strike earlier, his eyes had flashed with a trace of shrewdness. He also did not notice that Bai Yunfei appeared totally composed after turning around, and that he was hiding a right arm with bulging muscles and popping veins in front of him!


    The moment he threw this palm strike, Bai Yunfei suddenly stopped leaning forwards. He no longer swayed or staggered. Using his right leg, which was in the front, as the axis, he turned around. His eyes glittering, he stared hard at the incoming palm and struck a blow with his right fist, which also carried buzzing sounds with it!


    Overlapping Waves Art, Ninefold Fist Force!!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The palm and the fist collided, unexpectedly creating a resounding explosion. Afterwards, both men were sent flying backwards almost simultaneously!!


    While Bai Yunfei was in midair, a trace of a forced smile appeared on the corners of his mouth again. Clenching his teeth, he managed to do a flip. After landing on the ground, he had to take ten something steps backwards continuously in a shaky manner before being able to steady himself.


    He had been hit and sent flying three times in a row with each time leaving him in a more difficult situation and forcing him to retreat farther than the previous. This also meant that each time he was injured more severely than the previous.


    A chill spread up from his fist. Eventually it was stopped by him at his shoulder. His entire right arm was now ghastly pale, looking as if it had been frozen, and he almost could not feel it at all. Bai Yunfei forcefully poured a stream of soulforce into his right arm, regaining a little control of it. He opened his right fist slightly. The crimson Fire-tipped Spear appeared in the blink of an eye and he held it tightly.


    A scorching heat then surged into his right arm from the handle of the spear. Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart immediately relaxed a bit. He did his utmost to control his soulforce, channeling it back and forth in his right arm, cooperating with this scorching heat to disperse the chill in his arm.


    Zhang Zhenshan was also sent flying by the impact, but his situation was much better than Bai Yunfei¡¯s. He only needed to turn his body a bit while in midair to land steadily on the ground.


    However, when he raised his head to look at Bai Yunfei in front of him, his eyes were filled with amazement and disbelief, and there was even a trace of... bafflement.


    His entire right arm was trembling nonstop. A piercing pain came up from it. When he had been hit by that punch from Bai Yunfei, at first the force of impact had not been very strong. At least it definitely could not be considered strong to the defense of a Soul Sprite like him. But right afterwards, wave after wave of fist force suddenly exploded. Just like how a nail was driven into a wall when hit continuously, these waves of force spread out nonstop from the palm of his hand and surged straight up through his arm!


    Wherever the fist force went through, the muscles and bones of his arm were attacked again and again. Two or three times would have meant nothing at all. Four or five times would have been endurable. But when attacked by seven or eight overlapping waves of force while he was focusing his entire mind on the Glacial Palm, even the body of a Soul Sprite like him could not withstand it!


    His whole right arm¡¯s muscles were hurting badly as if they were about to snap and the bones seemed to be giving off light crackles. And layer of fine beads of sweat had even appeared on his forehead.


    ¡°This is the soul skill that injured Wei Xu according to Zhao Ping, right? This power is at least several times greater than what he described!!¡± Zhang Zhenshan thought to himself while channeling his soulforce to heal the injuries in his arm.


    ¡°Plus, his defense is the most inconceivable thing! Those two palm strikes of mine obviously hit him, and judging from the defense he showed earlier, it¡¯s simply impossible that he was only affected a bit! Yet he was still able to plot against me, showing signs of defeat on purpose then unleashing that focus attack in the blink of an eye! This means, at least when he took my second palm strike, he already knew that he could resist it without getting injured! Impossible... How did he do that...?¡±


    No matter how amazed Zhang Zhenshan was and how he guessed, he could not figure out the answer, because this was a secret that only Bai Yunfei knew!


    The moment Zhang Zhenshan had surprisingly turned his claw into a palm then hit his left shoulder by using the Arm Lengthening Fist, he indeed had intended to use the Wave Treading Steps to avoid the next attack, but the moment this idea had appeared in his mind, a strand of soulforce had flowed into the Goldsilk Soul Armor on his body uncontrollably. Then the force of that palm strike, which was surging into his body, became very weak!


    Goldsilk Soul Armor¡¯s additional effect: When attacked, there is a 5% chance of increasing defense by 50% for 3 seconds.


    Trigger successful!!


    The effect which he had been waiting for for a long time finally appeared. Bai Yunfei was immediately delighted inside. He abandoned the idea of dodging and instead took advantage of the force of this palm strike to pretend that he had lost his balance due to being overwhelmed by the impact. Then he turned around while staggering so that his back faced the enemy.


    The moment he turned around, he began to focus his energy into his arm. At the same time, he calculated in his mind, Three seconds... the best chance hasn¡¯t come yet!


    Afterwards, Zhang Zhenshan continued to attack without pausing by throwing the second, even more powerful palm strike!


    The next three seconds was the duration of the Goldsilk Soul Armor¡¯s 50% increase in defense! Zhang Zhenshan was fully confident about this second palm strike but in fact Bai Yunfei did not have to endure too great of an impact force!


    Then came the Glacial Palm attack. After focusing his energy for almost three seconds, Bai Yunfei counterattacked in a surprising manner and finally injured and knocked back Zhang Zhenshan!!


    Had it been someone else comparable to Bai Yunfei in power, nothing unexpected would have happened in relation to the earlier attacks and this person would definitely have been killed by that palm strike as Zhang Zhenshan had expected.


    However, this series of attacks from Zhang Zhenshan, which should have been able to kill the enemy violently, had failed, due to the additional effect of an upgraded item!


    It was because his opponent was Bai Yunfei!


    All of these factors had resulted in the current situation in which both men¡¯s right arms were seriously injured!


    Remaining motionless, Bai Yunfei stared at Zhang Zhenshan, who was also recovering from injuries, in front of him. When he felt that his right arm¡¯s injuries had basically been suppressed, he secretly let out a sigh of relief. For the moment, he just did not have time to heal it carefully. He cast a glance around in an unnoticeable manner while his mind was working overtime.


    ¡°I can¡¯t fight anymore! I don¡¯t have much soulforce left. If I want to use the Wave Treading Steps to run away, I can¡¯t use too much energy again! For every other bout I fight him, I¡¯ll be in a bit more danger!


    ¡°Damn it!! Though I don¡¯t want to abandon it, I have no choice but to do that!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 49: Run Away!!

    Book 1 Chapter 49: Run away!!


    Having made his decision, Bai Yunfei was no longer hesitant. After taking a look at Zhang Zhenshan, he suddenly shook his body and rushed towards that forest on the left!


    ¡°Only now do you think about running away? Too late already!!¡± As soon as Bai Yunfei moved, Zhang Zhenshan noticed this. Upon seeing that the enemy unexpectedly wanted to flee, he gave a cold snort and also rushed out, chasing after Bai Yunfei.


    However, when Bai Yunfei had just run away ten something meters, the Fire-tipped Spear in his hands suddenly disappeared. He then turned around while running and shot two streaks of cold light straight at a pursuing Zhang Zhenshan with a flick of his right arm like lightning!


    Flying daggers!!


    The moment the streaks of cold light were shot at him, Zhang Zhenshan was a bit surprised to learn that the opponent was also able to use flying daggers. This was indeed somewhat unexpected to him.


    However, that was all there was to it. Even though Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack was surprising, in his eyes, it was still not a threat to him!


    In the blink of an eye, his body moved sideways, and the two daggers went right past him. Zhang Zhenshan then continued to rush towards Bai Yunfei without slowing down.


    But right after he had avoided this attack, three other daggers were shot at him one after another!


    His eyes contracting, Zhang Zhenshan moved sideways to the left half an inch again, avoiding the two daggers aimed at his right shoulder and head. He then made a forward grab with his right hand and caught hold of the last dagger directly! As he was wearing the Icesilk Gloves, catching these high-speed incoming daggers was not much different from catching a small rock.


    ¡°Zi!!¡±


    Just when Zhang Zhenshan curled the corners of his mouth and showed a trace of disdain, a miserable cry of an animal rang out from behind him all of a sudden!


    His speed dropped and his expression changed. Turning his head around to cast a glance backwards like a flash, he saw that the tracking gray rat, which had been hiding in the distance since the beginning of the fight, had now been nailed to the ground by a dagger, motionless!


    ¡°You!!¡± Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s expression stiffened. Then, with his eyes full of fury, he turned around to look at Bai Yunfei. Channeling his soulforce, he charged up at his fastest speed!


    ¡°Zhang Zhenshan, I¡¯ll return your son¡¯s Icesoul Silver Needles to you!!¡±


    When Zhang Zhenshan had just taken two steps forwards, Bai Yunfei¡¯s loud shouts came into his ears. Then he saw the enemy shoot two dots of cold light out with a flick of the right hand again!


    ¡°What?!¡± His expression changing, Zhang Zhenshan wavered a bit in his heart. But as soon as he focused his eyes to take a look, he saw that they were not the Icesoul Silver Needles but two ordinary daggers!


    ¡°Humph, it¡¯s not so easy to distract me with words!!¡± Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes flashed with a cold light. Without dodging at all, he waved his right hand immediately and caught the two daggers then threw them back!


    Bai Yunfei bent his waist to avoid the daggers. When he rose, his eyes flashed with a trace of reluctance, which was immediately replaced by determination.


    Staring at Zhang Zhenshan, who had already chased up to a place less than ten meters away from his back, Bai Yunfei gave a cold snort then unexpectedly slowed down on purpose. Flicking his right hand nonstop from behind his back, in a breath¡¯s time, he shot four daggers out almost simultaneously.


    Right afterwards, his dropping right hand suddenly paused for a moment. Its muscles bulging out, he flicked it with all his might in an even larger movement than when he had thrown the flying daggers earlier!


    A trace of blue light shot out ¡ª Glacial Piercer!!


    His expression remaining unchanged, Zhang Zhenshan waved his right hand, creating an area of blurs and easily knocking down the four flying daggers. But just when he wanted to use the Ice Treading Steps to chase and attack the opponent, the look on his face changed greatly!


    In the blink of an eye after the flick of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, a streak of light blue light had almost crossed the distance of less than ten meters between the two of them and was about to hit him from the front!


    Fast, it was so fast!


    This was simply on another level of speed compared to the flying daggers shot at him earlier!


    There was basically no time for Zhang Zhenshan to do much. He had no choice but to make a block in front of him with his right hand and, at the same time, do his utmost to move his body half an inch to the right!


    ¡°Pu!¡±


    A soft deep sound audible only to Zhang Zhenshan came into his ears, but it expanded into a huge explosion in his heart!


    The moment the Glacial Piercer had come into contact with the center of his right palm, that high human-tier Icesilk Glove had unexpectedly been unable to obstruct it in the least!


    The Glacial Piercer penetrated into the palm held in front of him without hindrance then went out through the back of the hand without any decrease in momentum. After that, it pierced into Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s right shoulder with another ¡®pu¡¯ sound. Even half of the piercer¡¯s handle went into his shoulder. In the end, it seemed to get trapped between bones and stopped, leaving a section of its tip sticking out through the back of the shoulder!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with a hint of regret. Then, clenching his teeth, he turned around and ran away without hesitation!


    Zhang Zhenshan watched him turn into a string of blurs running into the forest up ahead then disappear after several dashes. His body had already stopped moving. There was even a trace of puzzlement in his eyes. As he looked at the perforated palm and the penetrated shoulder, his expression was extremely unsightly.


    Reaching out his left hand and grasping the Glacial Piercer in his shoulder, he pulled it out with force. Blood spurted out but he stopped the bleeding very quickly.


    After channeling his soulforce to heal the wounds in his palm and shoulder, he lifted his eyes again to look in the direction of Bai Yunfei¡¯s escape, his expression changing repeatedly. In the end he had no choice but to shake his head in frustration and let out a sigh.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect¡­ to be given so much trouble by a brat of the Soul Warrior stage. Worse still, in the end I even let him run away.¡± At this point, Zhang Zhenshan shook his head with some self-derision, ¡°Was it because I¡¯d used too much soulforce? Or because I was preoccupied with taking revenge and underestimated him?¡±


    After pondering for a while, he shook his head again, talking to himself: ¡°No, the main cause was his power and not these things¡­ He¡¯s a Soul Warrior indeed, but his mental ability is much greater than I expected. Though he¡¯s a bit inexperienced in real combat and fighting techniques, both his determination and attention to detail are very exceptional!


    ¡°Then, the most important thing is the several soul items he got¡­¡±


    As he raised the Glacial Pierce in front of him and recalled the common-sense defying things during the whole battle, his eyes gradually showed a look of doubt and disbelief.


    ¡°The crimson spear, the Goldsilk Soul Armor, and the Glacial Piercer¡­ each of them was so beyond my expectations. That move shouldn¡¯t have caused an explosion of the fire element. The attacks that should¡¯ve been irresistible were suddenly withstood easily by him. And this Glacial Piercer, in the beginning, I was able to block it using my gloves, but just now¡­¡±


    Staring at the Glacial Piercer, his eyes glittered unceasingly. He was trying hard to recall every single detail of this fight against Bai Yunfei. After a long time, when the wound in his right hand had basically been controlled, he seemed to suddenly remember something. His eyes blazing, he said in surprise: ¡°Wait! This Glacial Piercer¡­ Could it be¡­¡±


    Seeming to have thought of something that even he himself found ridiculous, his eyes glittered. Eventually, he showed an expression of relief and said to himself: ¡°I¡¯m such a fool. Whether this is true or not, won¡¯t I know the answer by checking it out?¡­¡±


    After saying so, he held the Glacial Piercer in his hand then flicked it out forwards.


    The moment the Glacial Piercer left his hand, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s face immediately showed a look of astonishment: ¡°My soulforce was unexpectedly absorbed by it uncontrollably!¡±


    Then, his eyes suddenly opened wide like balls, staring hard at the Glacial Piercer, which was flying forwards. He even slightly opened his mouth involuntarily, his face filled with shock.


    ¡°This speed¡­ How is this possible? How is this possible?!¡±

 Chapter 50: Reaching Snowpeak City

    At sunset, the light of the setting sun was shining on this thick forest, but under the cover of the dense foliage, only tiny spots of light were able to get through the gaps between the leaves, which made the whole forest look somewhat dusky.


    Forcefully suppressing the injuries in his body and channeling his remaining small amount of soulforce into his legs, Bai Yunfei was running fast in this forest.


    On his face, there was a trace of rejoicing over having escaped from a very dangerous situation and a hint of injury pain, but most of all, there was a deep regret.


    ¡°Glacial Piercer, my Glacial Piercer!!¡± While running, Bai Yunfei roared nonstop in his mind, ¡°It¡¯s gone just like that... My Glacial Piercer!!¡±


    If the several soul armaments were ranked in terms of preference, the Glacial Piercer would even place ahead of the Fire-tipped Spear because aside from being his first ¡®loot item¡¯, it also possessed that extremely practical additional effect. Sometimes Bai Yunfei even felt that the Glacial Piercer of the low rare grade was more useful than the Fire-tipped Spear of the low inheritance grade...


    In the several battles he had fought so far, it could be said that the Glacial Piercer had contributed towards the victories even more than the Fire-tipped Spear had.


    But now, the Glacial Piercer was already gone...


    Bai Yunfei felt like his heart was bleeding...


    Ran, ran, ran... Bai Yunfei did not know how far he had run. He ran all the way until both his soulforce and physical strength were used up. Only then did he finally stop.


    He raised his head looking at the starry sky through the gaps between the leaves. In his ears, there were only the constant cries of night insects and also the occasional snarls of some kinds of wild beasts.


    ¡°He shouldn¡¯t... be able to catch up with me for a while, right?...¡± Bai Yunfei took a look backwards in an exhausted manner, ¡°Let¡¯s stop running. I can¡¯t run anymore either. I¡¯ll stay here and rest for a night. If the enemy could even catch up with me after I¡¯ve run so far away, then I¡¯d have no choice but to accept my fate...¡±


    Finding a very tall and large tree, Bai Yunfei climbed up to a branch that was even thicker than his waist and took a quick look at the surroundings. After confirming that there were no venomous serpents and wild beasts around, he sat down with legs crossed on that branch and closed his eyes, beginning to recover his soulforce and heal his internal injuries.


    The next day, when the sun was shining high above, Bai Yunfei finally opened his eyes slowly on that branch after staying motionless for a whole night.


    Taking a deep breath then exhaling gently, he raised his right hand in front of his eyes, formed a fist, swung his arm then massaged his left shoulder and frowned slightly.


    ¡°Alas! It still hasn¡¯t fully healed, but fortunately there isn¡¯t any big problem. I should be able to recover within the next two days at most.¡±


    Taking out some food from inside his interspatial ring, he began to fill his hungry stomach. While eating, he thought about the battle of the previous day.


    ¡°That little animal which tracked me was already killed. Now it should be impossible for them to find out where I am. This forest is quite large too, so if they want to come in and search for me, it¡¯ll basically be like searching for a needle in the ocean. I only need to leave this place as quickly as possible then be more careful with my actions instead of making myself visible to the enemy like last time, I will not be in danger again.


    ¡°I lack combat experience and still haven¡¯t practiced how to use my techniques enough. Though these shortcomings won¡¯t be noticeable if I fight ordinary people and soul cultivators weaker than me, they will be exposed thoroughly if I run into opponents stronger than me...


    ¡°Petty tricks will be useless too, and if I use them, the enemy can even take advantage of them to trick me. From now on, I can¡¯t be so arrogant again... My biggest advantage is still the Upgrade Technique! Only the additional effects that the enemy doesn¡¯t expect to come up against should be the key to my victory!


    ¡°But now, even if those ordinary weapons are given additional effects, it will still be very difficult to use them to fight strong enemies. As for soul armaments, the only ones left are the Fire-tipped Spear and the Goldsilk Soul Armor. Alas... my Glacial Piercer!! My Glacial Piercer...¡± As soon as Bai Yunfei thought of the Glacial Piercer, he could not help feeling upset again.


    ¡°Get stronger! Get stronger!! Now I¡¯m being hunted like a homeless dog only because I¡¯m not powerful enough yet! I must improve my soulforce and upgrade more items!¡± The grievance in his heart turned into an intense fury, which triggered Bai Yunfei¡¯s unquenchable desire for power again.


    ¡°The Crafting School, the Crafting School... As long as I can join this school, I¡¯ll be able to make soul armaments on my own! When the time comes, this coupled with my Item Upgrade Technique...


    ¡°Alas... What am I thinking about? Now the most important thing is to deal with the problem at hand first. I must get out of this Azure Cloud Province as soon as possible!¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    After another whole day, Bai Yunfei eventually walked out of this dense forest. When he saw a hamlet located not far outside the forest, he almost burst into tears out of happiness, ¡°I can finally ask someone for directions...¡±


    Because Bai Yunfei really needed to have a good rest, he stayed for a night in this village. Villagers always made Bai Yunfei feel warm inside. They enthusiastically received this stranger who had suddenly appeared in this remote hamlet. After knowing that he was injured, they even specifically prepared a large bowl of medicine for him to drink...


    In the early morning of the next day, Bai Yunfei bid farewell to these guileless villagers in high spirits and headed in the direction where according to the villagers a town was located.


    Three days later, after going through another grove, Bai Yunfei saw a large road in front of him with quite a few people going on it. Among them, there were even several groups of people looking like trade caravans or escort agencies who were moving slowly carrying a lot of things.


    ¡°This should be a main road. If I go down this road, I should be able to reach a large city...¡± Looking at the coming and going passersby, Bai Yunfei was a bit hesitant, ¡°There are all kinds of people in a large city. I don¡¯t know whether the Zhang family¡¯s influence exist in this place as well. If I¡¯m spotted again...¡±


    After pondering with his head lowered for a while, he shook his head in self-derision again, saying to himself, ¡°If I fret about everything, then I won¡¯t need to get out of this Azure Cloud Province either. Not even Zhang Zhenshan was able to catch me, even if I run into his subordinates, I¡¯ll just kill my way out!


    ¡°Plus, last time was merely a freak occurrence. I can¡¯t be so unlucky every time, right?¡± Lifting his head, Bai Yunfei looked at a trade caravan of about ten people which was going slowly on the road and said to himself with a mental nod, ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s blend in with that trade caravan. After getting into the city, I¡¯ll buy all the stuff I need and rest well for a night. Then I¡¯ll leave right away! Right, I must buy a detailed map. With it, later I won¡¯t get lost all the time...¡±


    Having made up his mind, Bai Yunfei walked towards that trade caravan. Those people were very easygoing. After a simple exchange, they agreed to let this ordinary-looking youngster join their trade caravan. Bai Yunfei asked for a straw hat then put in on his head. Helping push those goods with his head lowered, he went forwards slowly...


    In the afternoon, this group of people reached a tall city gate. Hiding among the group, Bai Yunfei slowly entered the city.


    Before entering the city, he raised his head taking a look at those two large words on the lofty gate¡ªSnowpeak City.


    However, Bai Yunfei did not know that this city was where the primary force of the Glacial School was located.


    And the headquarters of that school was at the base of Mt. Snowpeak, which was just a two day trip from this city!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 51: Secret Exposed! Greater Danger!!

    Book 1 Chapter 51: Secret exposed! Greater danger!!


    On the same day as Bai Yunfei reached Baifeng City.


    There were only three people sitting in a spacious hall in the Glacial School at the moment. Obviously the master of this place had already dismissed all of his subordinates and they were discussing important matters.


    Sitting in the head position was a middle-aged man with a slightly pale complexion. Even though he was just sitting there expressionlessly, there was a chilling aura about him. Even the temperature of in the entire hall seemed to have dropped somewhat ¡ª this man was none other than the headmaster of the Glacial School, Yu Fei.


    The man sitting on the left was about forty years old with a calm expression. He was none other than one of the Glacial School¡¯s elders, Liu Cheng. And the man sitting on the right, who was slowly telling something to the other two, was surprisingly none other than the head of the Zhang family Zhang Zhenshan!


    ¡°¡­ Then that Bai Yunfei fella turned around and ran away without hesitation¡­¡±


    Seeming to have been talking for quite some time, he heaved a sigh of relief, raised the cup of tea beside him and took a sip. After that he cast a glance at the other two men, who appeared to be somewhat entranced by what he had told them, waiting for their reaction.


    After keeping silent for a while, Yu Fei said: ¡°A lowly Soul Warrior was unexpectedly able to escape while being hunted down by you, and was even able to injure you. This¡­ According to what you said, those several soul items on his body are indeed strange. Right, that Glacial Piercer¡­¡±


    Hearing these words, Zhang Zhenshan turned his right hand over and the Glacial Piercer appeared in his hand. His voice became somewhat solemn, saying: ¡°It was only because of this Glacial Pierce that I gave up continuing to track his whereabouts and immediately returned to out school as quickly as possible to report to you, headmaster.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Did you discover something?¡± Yu Fei asked with raised eyebrows.


    ¡°Yes, just take a look, headmaster.¡± Zhang Zhenshan slightly nodded then glanced at a pillar that could only be hugged by two people holding hands in front of him. With a gently flick of his right hand, a streak of blue light shot out and came into contact with that pillar in the blink of an eye. A soft sound was heard and the Glacial Piercer penetrated through the stone pillar at a stroke under the astonished looks in Yu Fei¡¯s and Liu Cheng¡¯s eyes. Then it whizzed through the air and pierced into the wall behind!


    The other two men were dumbfounded for ten something seconds. Yu Fei was the first to react. No longer having that previous apathetic expression, he suddenly stood up with an excited look on his face. In an instant, he had already appeared right in front of that wall. After reaching out his hand and removing the Glacial Piercer, which had almost gone all the way into the wall, he observed it carefully, his eyes filled with disbelief.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡­ It¡¯s indeed the one I rewarded the Blackwood Stronghold¡¯s Han Xiao with two months ago. But how can it be so powerful?¡±


    Seeing that Yu Fei¡¯s expression was full of disbelief, Zhang Zhenshan understood what was going on. When he himself had first known that this Glacial Piercer had been changed, he had been like this too. He said: ¡°Headmaster, I already tested it carefully. The Glacial Piercer¡¯s damage has been improved by at least 50% compared to before. Besides, this doesn¡¯t even really matter. The most inconceivable thing is that when you shoot it out, both its speed and power are at least twice as large as they should be in a normal situation!¡±


    After Yu Fei heard Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s words, there was even more disbelief on his face. He looked at the Glacial Piercer in his hand in stupefaction for a long time, seemingly not daring to believe that this was true. Only after he himself tested it several times, piercing through the several stone pillars of the hall, did he finally sit back down in his chair in a somewhat entranced manner.


    ¡°Headmaster, the daggers Bai Yunfei used as projectiles are also kind of strange..¡± Zhang Zhenshan said and at the same time took out two daggers and gave them to a silent Yu Fei. He then sat down to one side, waiting for Yu Fei¡¯s reaction.


    Only now did Liu Cheng regain his composure. He pondered with a solemn expression for a while and said: ¡°Do you think this is the Crafting School¡­?¡±


    ¡°Impossible.¡± Seeming to have also considered this question, Zhang Zhenshan shook his head, saying, ¡°Though the Crafting School can reforge soul items and improve their power, I¡¯ve never heard that it can change soul items to such an extent. Besides, if Bai Yunfei had some strong backing, he wouldn¡¯t have been hunted by me like that.¡±


    Right at this moment, Yu Fei, who was pondering with his head lowered, suddenly lifted his head and gave orders in a very serious manner: ¡°Look for him!! Mobilize all the forces to look for him!!


    ¡°Whatever the means, you must obtain the method for improving the Glacial Piercer!!¡±


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    In Baifeng City, Bai Yunfei said goodbye to the people of that trade caravan right after entering the city and began to go shopping in the city alone. To avoid attention, he wore that straw hat with torn selvage that he had asked for from the trade caravan all the time. He did not even take it off when buying things lest the shopkeepers saw his appearance clearly.


    When he finished shopping, it was already in the evening. He ate some food in a small restaurant then found a relatively ordinary tavern to stay.


    ¡°For the moment I haven¡¯t noticed anyone suspicious yet. I¡¯ve also observed this tavern¡¯s waiters and owner. They shouldn¡¯t be like the people from last time¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself while lying on the bed, ¡°I¡¯ve prepared all the things I need. For safety, I¡¯ll leave this place for Cuiliu City on the border of Qingyun Province tomorrow early in the morning then go into Beiyan Province. At that time I¡¯ll be much safer!


    ¡°Cuiliu City¡­ I wonder if it¡¯s related to that Green Willow School?¡± (*) At this point, he could not help thinking of the Green Willow School¡¯s Qiu Luliu and Chu Yuhe. Then a beautiful figure in light blue clothes appeared in his mind. For the moment, he unexpectedly felt into a trance.


    After a long time, Bai Yunfei sat up with a surprised expression. He shook his head with some self-derision and murmured: ¡°What am I thinking about? Inexplicable¡­ Now I¡¯m running for my life! Seizing the time to improve my power and getting out of this Qingyun Province safely are the most important things to do.¡±


    In the early morning of the next day, Bai Yunfei woke up from his cultivation. He breathed out gently then got off the bed, did some exercise and sighed discontentedly: ¡°Alas! Without using the Upgrade Technique to speed up my cultivation, my soulforce improves really slow! Too bad now I don¡¯t dare to casually use that unconscious state to improve my soulforce¡­¡±


    He left the tavern, bought several steamed buns for breakfast then headed for the south gate of the city.


    After Bai Yunfei had been walking several kilometers in a normal way along main roads and large streets, his expression became more and more unsightly.


    ¡°I¡¯m being followed¡­ Damn it! What¡¯s going on? How can they always detect me no matter how careful I am?!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed in his mind. After getting out of the city, he had noticed that there was something unusual. Although the man who was following him had been careful, the perception of a Soul Warrior like Bai Yunfei still allowed him to detect this person very quickly.


    ¡°He¡¯s following me but I haven¡¯t been obstructed by a large number of men. Could it be I¡¯m wrong and he¡¯s not a man of the Zhang family? Or they don¡¯t have enough men and they know they can¡¯t stop me, so they¡¯re following me for the time being while waiting for reinforcements before getting into action? No matter who he is, I¡¯d better be careful and lose him as quickly as possible!¡±


    Upon reaching a fork, Bai Yunfei suddenly accelerated and dashed into an alleyway on the right. Moreover, his speed got faster and faster. In almost a few breaths¡¯ time, he disappeared at a corner not far up ahead.


    The moment Bai Yunfei turned into the alleyway, on the main street, a little man dressed up as an ordinary-looking passerby was slightly dumbfounded. He then frowned and thought in surprise: ¡°He detected me already? No wonder he was able to escape from elder Zhang¡¯s hands¡­ Then should I go after him now or not?¡±


    After considering for a while, he shook his head slightly, turned around and went in the other directions: ¡°I followed him waiting for the elders to arrive only because I couldn¡¯t take him down. Now that he already noticed me, if I went after him again, I would simply throw away my life. Anyway, I already know his direction to a certain extent so I¡¯ll just wait for the elders from the school to come and chase after him themselves!¡±


    After going around that corner, Bai Yunfei hid behind a hillside for a long time, but he did not see anyone go after him. He waited for another while then finally shook his head, turned around and took a trail to continue his journey.


    ¡°It¡¯s possible that I was oversuspicious¡­ Perhaps he was just an ordinary petty thief¡­¡±


    Knowing nothing about the situation, Bai Yunfei went for a stroll in front of the Glacial School¡¯s entrance just like that. Then he left without incident¡­


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    The next day, when Zhang Zhenshan and Liu Cheng returned to the latter¡¯s house in this Baifeng City together, they received a report from their subordinates ¡ª the man they want to find, Bai Yunfei, had arrived in the city in the evening of the day before yesterday then left yesterday early in the morning!


    The moment Zhang Zhenshan and Liu Cheng received this news, both of them were somewhat stupefied. A good while later, Zhang Zhenshan gave a cold snort, saying: ¡°That Bai Yunfei fella is too arrogant! He unexpectedly took a stroll right under the nose of our Glacial School!! I¡¯ll leave immediately. This time I definitely won¡¯t let him get away. I¡¯ll make him pay for my son¡¯s death with his life!!¡±


    ¡°Wait, brother Zhang!¡± Liu Cheng pressed on Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Could it be you¡¯ve forgotten headmaster¡¯s order?! This matter is already no longer your own business. It¡¯s now related to the future development of the entire school!¡±


    Seeing that almost distorted expression on Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s face, Liu Cheng sighed and continued to advise: ¡°Your current state isn¡¯t suitable for you to chase after him. If you kill him in a fury, headmaster will hold you responsible and not even I will be able to plead for leniency for you¡­


    ¡°I suggest that you let me handle this matter!¡± Seeing that Zhang Zhenshan seemed to be gradually calming down, Liu Cheng continued: ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. After obtaining the secret we want, you can do whatever you wish to him!¡±


    Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s expression changed repeatedly. In the end he heaved a sigh gently and said: ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll listen to you. I won¡¯t get into action before we obtain that secret. But what method do you plan to use to deal with him? That man¡¯s mental ability is quite exceptional. If you want to capture and force him to reveal it, I¡¯m afraid this won¡¯t do¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the method of capturing and questioning via torture shouldn¡¯t be used until the last minute. So, we¡¯ll have to trick him¡­ making him reveal the secret of his own accord!¡± At this point, Liu Cheng felt silent for a while, seemingly pondering over the information about Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°When he was in the city, he bought not only the general map of the empire, but also the detailed maps of Qingyun Province, Beiyan Province and Pingchuan Province. So, it¡¯s highly probable that his current goal is to go to Beiyan Province first.


    ¡°In that case, he¡¯s most probably going to¡­ Cuiliu City!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    (*) Cuiliu and Green Willow are the same in Chinese.

 Chapter 52: Meeting the Old Man From the Fate School Again

    On a desolate hill.


    Bai Yunfei was looking at a map in his hands with a solemn expression. Frowning slightly, he mumbled to himself.


    ¡°Um, this forked thing represents a small town, right? Should be so. This circle thing means a mountain, right? Can¡¯t be wrong. This line represents a river. This thicker line represents a large road...¡± Bai Yunfei said as he nodded. His eyes seemed to be moving bit by bit on the map.


    After he ¡®studied¡¯ like this for a long time, his face became more and more unsightly. Eventually, his whole face went purple, looking extremely furious. He threw the map in his hands to the ground fiercely, stamped his food and cursed loudly.


    ¡°F*ck you! Why did I still get lost?!?!¡±


    With his anger not yet vented, he stamped on the map a couple of times. He then raised his head and looked around at that seemingly boundless expanse of mountains and forest, almost feeling like crying.


    ¡°Looks like finding someone to ask for directions is still more reliable...¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head in frustration and continued to go north. Now the only direction he knew was this ¡®north¡¯...


    It had been five days now since he had left Snowpeak City. Bai Yunfei did not know how he himself had gone into this desolate area with no signs of human habitation either. Anyway, as he kept going on, he discovered that the map in his hands was completely useless.


    When the moon began to rise, Bai Yunfei, who was going on the side of a large mountain, was almost driven crazy. He decided that if he still could not find someone by the time he got on top of the mountain, he would stop and sleep in the open for another night then continue his journey tomorrow.


    When he was about to reach the peak of the mountain, he halted his steps all of a sudden in surprise, sniffed with some uncertainty then showed an ecstatic expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s the smell of roast meat! This means there¡¯s someone on the mountain! Finally... I¡¯ve finally run into someone!¡± Bai Yunfei was so excited that tears almost welled up in his eyes. He immediately quickened his pace, rushing up towards the top of the mountain.


    ... ... ... ...


    Atop the mountain, an old man in a gray robe whose hair and beard were both white were sitting under a large tree, slowly adding various kinds of seasonings to a fat rabbit being roasted on a fire. Obviously he was preparing his dinner.


    However, the mind-boggling thing was that the fire in front of him was unexpectedly floating in midair! There was no firewood such as tree branches, only a writhing mass of fire floating in midair at a height of two inches from the ground! Moreover, that roast rabbit on the fire was also floating in midair instead of being propped up by something!


    If ordinary people saw this scene, they would definitely think that they were seeing a ghost.


    That old man¡¯s head was slightly lowered. Even though he was tendering the meat in front of him, he did not seem to be paying attention to it at all. Instead, he was frowning slightly, seeming to be murmuring something.


    ¡°According to the guidance of my fate soul, that place should be in Qingyun Province, but even though I¡¯ve been looking for it for over two months, I still haven¡¯t found a clue whatsoever...


    ¡°If I can find that place, my power will definitely break through that final barrier and I can even train a batch of experts for my school, making it a bit easier for the school to face that catastrophe later...


    ¡°But I can¡¯t peek too much into the future. If I go beyond the limit of ¡®right fate¡¯ and enter the scope of ¡®fate alteration¡¯, I¡¯ll probably change the matter so much that it¡¯ll become even harder to anticipate. This matter involves the existence of the Fate School. I definitely can¡¯t cause more unforeseen events...


    ¡°Alas! I¡¯ve got no choice but to take one step at a time. If there¡¯s such a predestined relationship in my ¡®right fate¡¯, eventually I¡¯ll find a trace. At that time, I¡¯ll... Who?!¡± While talking to himself in a low voice, the old man suddenly raised his head. With his eyes seeming to flash with fire, he looked towards a cluster of trees on the left.


    A series of soft rattles rang out as a youngster slowly appeared, who was none other than Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±


    Both Bai Yunfei, who had just walked out, and the old man sitting under the tree said in surprise at the same time when they saw each other¡¯s face.


    With a face full of amazement, Bai Yunfei looked at the old man in front of him, who was being illuminated by that mass of fire. He even forgot to continue to go forwards -- this was unexpectedly none other than the mysterious old man from the Fate School who had given him the interspatial ring and said that he was the person who could ¡®negate a disaster¡¯ or something before.


    ¡°Ha ha, sonny, why are you here?¡± A question woke Bai Yunfei up with a start. That old man had already awakened from his amazement and was looking at him with smiling eyes.


    Bai Yunfei looked at the old man with a strange expression and took a quick look at the fire and the roast rabbit floating in front of him, his eyes glittering. He then straightened up and took a deep bow to the old man, saying respectfully: ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you again, senior.¡±


    The old man was taken aback then nodded, saying laughingly: ¡°Oh, not bad, you¡¯re well-mannered now. This is much better than when I met you for the first time.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, come here and take a seat. Judging from your appearance, you seem to be going in a hurry?¡± When the old man saw that Bai Yunfei was somewhat embarrassed, the smiling expression on his face deepened, and he asked while waving at him.


    Bai Yunfei went up to the old man and sat down in front of him. Looking at the rabbit, which had been roasted to the point of being glistening with oil, he slightly swallowed some saliva then nodded and said: ¡°Yeah, I plan to wander the outside world a bit.¡±


    Somehow, upon seeing the old man this time, Bai Yunfei felt indescribably friendly towards him. Perhaps this was because only after becoming powerful did he finally understand how great the opportunity given to him by the old man had been...


    ¡°Yeah, this Qingyun Province is too small. It¡¯s good for you to go out and see the real world of the strong. This way you can grow up faster, which will be good for the future as well...¡± At this point, he seemed to think of something and did not finished what he was saying. Instead, he corrected himself by asking: ¡°But aren¡¯t you a bit impatient? The space ring I gave you contained the entire cultivation method of the first three stages. You should wait until you¡¯ve become strong to think about these matters again. Right, I remember you wanted to take revenge, why now... Could it be...¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Only thanks to the secret training method, soul skills and soul armaments you gave me was I able to get my revenge so easily. Besides, because I¡¯m already at the mid-stage Soul Warrior level, I want to leave this Azure Cloud Province and seek greater power...¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. As you¡¯ve already reached the mid-stage Soul Warrior level, you indeed can leave...¡± The old man could only finish half of what he was casually saying before stopping all of a sudden. He then lifted his head abruptly and stared hard at Bai Yunfei. The indifferent expression on his face had disappeared. His eyes were even bulging out slightly and his face was full of disbelief, ¡°You said... What stage did you say you had reached?!¡±


    ¡°Mid-stage Soul Warrior, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Bai Yunfei looked at the old man somewhat doubtfully. Then, seeming to understand what was going on, he continued in a somewhat embarrassed manner, ¡°In fact I also wanted to wait until I¡¯ve reached the late Soul Warrior stage and become more proficient in the acupoint control method to leave, but I encountered some problems so I had no choice but to...¡±


    Before he could finish what he was saying, he saw a blur. The old man had dashed up to his face in an instant at a simply unimaginable speed and caught hold of his wrist with a grab. When Bai Yunfei was yet to regain composure, he felt a slightly warm, extremely powerful stream of soulforce surge into his body. In just the blink of an eye, it flowed through every part of his body. He even felt that his soul was run through by it.


    Bai Yunfei was so stupefied by this sudden action of the old man that he froze right there. After the old man let go of his wrist, he still remained motionless. For a few moments, the atmosphere was obviously somewhat strange.


    ¡°Se... Senior?¡±After ten something seconds, Bai Yunfei finally could not help shouting weakly. As soon as he made a sound, the old man suddenly reacted by murmuring. He seemed to have been emotionally affected to the point of being somewhat lost in thought.


    ¡°It¡¯s true... It¡¯s really the mid-stage Soul Warrior stage. How is this possible...?


    ¡°Oh? Wait, this is... the elemental force of ice! Sonny, are you injured?¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 53: Original Property of the Soul

    Book 1 Chapter 53: Original property of the soul


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in puzzlement, having yet to react to the old man¡¯s sudden change of topics.


    Frowning slightly, the old man felt it carefully again before finally letting go of Bai Yunfei¡¯s wrist. He slowly returned to his original place, sat down and lowered his head in contemplation without saying a word.


    ¡°Senior, did you say there¡¯s the elemental force of ice in my body? What does this mean?¡± The old man was silent like that but Bai Yunfei was somewhat worried. From the few words the old man had said just then, he could tell that there was something wrong.


    Instead of answering his questions, the old man lifted his head and stared at him for a long time with a strange expression. Eventually he said: ¡°How did you cultivate your soulforce?¡±


    ¡°How did I cultivate my soulforce¡± Bai Yunfei said doubtfully, ¡°I just cultivated it according to the cultivation method you gave me. What¡¯s going on? Is there anything wrong?¡±


    ¡°Is there anything wrong?¡± The old man¡¯s expression looked even stranger now, ¡°Could it be you don¡¯t know long it takes other soul cultivators to cultivate their soulforce?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was stupefied. After thinking for a bit, he said: ¡°Of course I know. I¡¯ve got a friend whose cultivation speed is slightly faster than mine, er¡­ It¡¯s possible that I¡¯m not talented enough¡­¡± At this point, Bai Yunfei scratched his head in a somewhat embarrassed manner, thinking that he had reached this level only because of using the Upgrade Technique as a shortcut and that he was actually far inferior to Li Chengfeng.


    ¡°What did you say?! There¡¯s someone who can improve even a bit faster than you?!¡± The old man¡¯s eyes popped out of his head again. He even could not help raising his voice a lot, ¡°Who is he?!¡±


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s called Li Chengfeng. He lives in a village not far from Luoshi City to the east. He¡­ Senior, I already gave him the cultivation technique and even the two soul technique scrolls you gave me. You¡­ You won¡¯t blame me, right?¡± Bai Yunfei asked the old man in a somewhat embarrassed manner.


    Now the old man¡¯s face had already slackened slightly. For someone extremely powerful like him to lose his composure like this, it could be seen clearly that he had suffered a massive shock.


    Another while later, seeming to suddenly remember something, the old man frowned slightly. Then, no longer paying attention to Bai Yunfei, he leaned against the large tree and lowered his head. Nobody knew what he was thinking.


    Seeing him like that, Bai Yunfei did not disturb him again. He had no choice but to suppress the impatience in his mind and wait anxiously on one side.


    After a long time, the old man seemed to have finally thought something over and his expression had also returned to normal. He raised his head and said to Bai Yunfei: ¡°Sonny, if I guess correctly, you fought someone from the Glacial School earlier, right? Was your opponent Zhang Zhenshan of that Zhang family?¡±


    ¡°Oh? How do you know?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, don¡¯t forget that I knew you wanted to get revenge. Didn¡¯t I warn you that if you want to revenge yourself on Zhang Yang, you must be careful of Zhang Zhenshan and the Glacial School?¡± The old man shook his head slightly, ¡°But your current power was unexpectedly enough for you to have a fight against Zhang Zhenshan then run away. This is very good already. Though the opponent inflicted internal injuries on you, since you ran into me again, plus, this was caused by the guidance of your own fate, I¡¯ll help you this time!¡±


    Bai Yunfei immediately had a happy expression. Just when he wanted to go forwards and ask the old man to help him get rid of the so-called ¡®elemental force of ice¡¯ in his body, the old man waved to him, saying: ¡°You don¡¯t have to panic. Waiting for a while won¡¯t kill you. You see, because of your appearance, I haven¡¯t even eaten the rabbit meat.¡±


    Now the old man¡¯s mood seemed to have suddenly become much better. He laughed and made a wave of his hand towards the fire in front of him. That fire immediately floated to one side and stopped when it was one meter away, continuing to serve as a source of light. The old man reached out his hand and took a swing at the air. That rabbit, which had been roasted to the point of being glossily golden and smelling delicious, was cut in two right away. He made a grab at one half and pulled it towards himself, but the other half floated up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re very hungry too. Let¡¯s eat first. We¡¯ll talk about other things later.¡±


    Looking at the roast half rabbit in front of him in stupefaction, only after several seconds did he react. He hurriedly reached out his hand, grabbed the meat and looked at the old man again, who had already started to eat leisurely. It was not good for Bai Yunfei to say anything again, and he was really very hungry so he put aside all his questions and began to devour the roast meat in his hand.


    Not long later, this old man and this youngster both sat on the ground somewhat idly, chewing the bones in their hands slowly. The old man appeared to be in a very good mood at the moment, having even temporarily discarded the manners of a senior expert like himself.


    ¡°Alright, now get over here. I¡¯ll get rid of that elemental force of ice in your body for you.¡±


    Hearing this, Bai Yunfei immediately had a happy expression. He hurriedly walked up to the old man and looked at him in a somewhat nervous manner.


    The old man reached out his right hand and grabbed hold of Bai Yunfei¡¯s right wrist as before. The moment he was grabbed, Bai Yunfei felt a warm stream of soulforce rush into his wrist from the old man¡¯s palm. It then went a round in his body from his wrist. However, the soulforce this time seemed to be a bit fiercer, faster and also warmer than it had been last time. Of course, Bai Yunfei did not feel any discomfort. Instead, his whole body felt warm, and even his soul was surrounded in a warm feeling, which was extremely comfortable.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright now.¡± That comfortable feeling suddenly disappeared and the old man¡¯s indifferent words came into his ears.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s alright now?¡± Hearing this, Bai Yunfei asked in some disbelief.


    ¡°You¡¯re okay now. It was just a small problem. You were hit by the opponent¡¯s attacks that contained the power of a natural element. The elemental force of ice entered your body. Though you seemed to repel most of it at the time, some of it still hid in your body. But you¡¯re too weak so you couldn¡¯t notice this. If this hidden elemental force isn¡¯t disposed of, when you fight another soul cultivator who also controls the elemental force of ice, it will erupt, putting you in danger.¡±


    ¡°This, this is still considered a small problem?¡± Hearing the old man¡¯s words, Bai Yunfei was frightened inside.


    ¡°It was certainly a small problem to me. Don¡¯t worry. Just now I already neutralized that elemental force of ice for you and left it in your body in the form of pure energy. It¡¯ll be a bit of a help to your cultivation.¡±


    Bai Yunfei still touched his body from head to toe worriedly but did not notice anything unusual. In the end he had no choice but to give up.


    He pondered about this danger, which he himself had been unaware of and which had now been ¡®dealt with¡¯ in such a strange manner, but did not have a clue so he shook his head and did not think about it anymore.


    ¡°Right, senior, I want to go to Cuiliu City, but¡­I¡¯m already lost. Please tell me the right direction.¡± Suddenly remembering the most important problem he was faced with at the moment, Bai Yunfei asked in a somewhat embarrassed manner.


    ¡°Cuiliu City? Just go straight in this direction. You¡¯ll reach it after two days.¡± The old man gave him a strange look then said while casually pointing to a direction.


    ¡°Oh, thank you very much, senior.¡± Bai Yunfei secretly let out a sigh of relief, rejoicing in the fact that he finally knew the right direction. He then walked to one side, sat down and lowered his head thinking about something.


    ¡°Sonny, now you want to go to Cuiliu City to head for Beiyan Province later, right? Why do you want to go there?¡± Seeing him remain silent, the old man asked somewhat curiously.


    ¡°I want to go to Pingchuan Province to join the Crafting School and learn its skills.¡± Bai Yunfei raised his head and said, as this did not need to be concealed either, ¡°I think by the time I reach that place, I will have already broken through to the Soul Sprite stage. I don¡¯t know much about cultivation and have already learned the method for the first three stages so at that time I¡¯ll need the guidance of a master.¡±


    ¡°Will have broken through to the Soul Sprite stage by the time of reaching that place? This brat¡­ how can he mention the improvement of power as if it was a piece of cake¡­?¡± The old man whispered to himself in his mind, but did not show signs of amazement again. He nodded slightly, saying: ¡°Oh, you want to join the Crafting School? This isn¡¯t a bad choice. Given your power, when you reach the Soul Sprite stage, as long as the original property of your soul and the elemental force of fire are not too incompatible, you can choose the fire element. It¡¯ll definitely be very good for your development after you join the Crafting School¡­¡±


    ¡°Original property of the soul?¡± Bai Yunfei said curiously, ¡°I knew very little about these things. Please tell me about them, senior.¡±


    ¡°The first three stages of a soul cultivator involve controlling the body. The next three stages, Soul Sprite, Soul Ancestor and Soul Exalt, involve controlling the natural elements. As for the last three, you don¡¯t need to know about them yet.


    ¡°Elemental forces are the forces of the elements in nature. Among them, the five elements, namely Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, plus Wind and Lightning are the most commonly seen properties of elemental forces. The other elements, such as ice, cursing, space, and even the ¡®fate¡¯ my Fate School cultivates are also elemental forces.


    ¡°Each person¡¯s soul has its original property, which is the most suitable property to cultivate. An original property contains at least one element and can also contain several. When you reach the Soul Sprite stage, you¡¯ll have to choose one one element to be the main property of your cultivation. It¡¯ll be the property that will go with you for the rest of your life and that you can control the most proficiently. Of course, after becoming powerful, you can also choose to cultivate the forces of other elements at the same time.


    In fact, after you reach the Soul Sprite stage, the soulforce cultivation method will still be the same as before. Only, the absorption of elemental forces in nature will be added to it. During practice, you¡¯ll use your soul to sense the elemental force affiliated with you in your surroundings then draw it into your body to train the body as well as to become more familiar with it. When your soul becomes more familiar with and closer to it, it¡¯ll get easier for you to control, and stronger too.¡±


    Bai Yunfei kept silent, trying to digest these pieces of information.


    After a long time, he raised his head and asked again: ¡°Could you please tell me a bit about soul items and soul techniques as well?¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t know anything¡­¡± The old man shook his head and continued: ¡°Soul items are divided into three tiers: heaven, earth and human. Each tier consists of three levels: high, middle and low. Soul techniques are also divided into the same tiers and levels.¡±


    ¡°The spear I gave you is a low earth-tier soul item. It contains an extremely powerful elemental force of fire. But you¡¯re not strong enough at the moment so you can¡¯t unleash its true power. When you reach the Soul Sprite stage, you¡¯ll be able to really use it. Coincidentally, you want to join the Crafting School, so you¡¯ll have to choose to cultivate the elemental force of fire. In that case, I was right to give you this spear at that time.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at the Fire-tipped Spear in his hands thoughtfully: ¡°There are three tiers: heaven, earth and human. The Fire-tipped Spear¡¯s grade is ¡®low inheritance¡¯, corresponding with ¡®low earth-tier¡¯. This means, ¡®human-tier¡¯ corresponds with ¡®rare¡¯, such as the Glacial Pierce and the Goldsilk Soul Armor¡­ How about ¡®heaven-tier¡¯? I wonder what grade the Upgrade Technique classifies it as¡­?¡±


    While pondering, Bai Yunfei seemed to suddenly remember something. He raised his head and said in a somewhat embarrassed manner: ¡°Right, senior, I owe you a great debt of gratitude but I still don¡¯t even know your name¡­¡±


    The old man was surprised then cursed laughingly: ¡°This brat, only now do you remember to ask for my name? It¡¯s okay to tel you my name. I¡¯m Ge Yiyun. This name is kind of famous in this continent. If you run into any small problems later, I allow you to use it to intimidate people¡­¡±


    ¡°Er, thank you very much, senior¡­¡± As his little calculation was seen through, Bai Yunfei laughed quite awkwardly.


    ¡°Alright, this is it then. I still have something to do and need to leave right away.¡± Without a warning sign, Ge Yiyun stood up all of a sudden and said to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Sonny, you must grow up a bit faster. Don¡¯t disappoint this old man¡­¡±


    After saying these words, he turned around and left without hesitation. In just several blinks, he disappeared into the darkness of the night. Bai Yunfei was stupefied for a good while and did not even react to this¡­

 Chapter 54: First Arrival in Jade Willow City; A Cliched Scene?

    ¡°He left just like that?¡±


    Standing alone atop the mountain, Bai Yunfei looked in a stupefied manner in the direction Ge Yiyun had disappeared.


    The surroundings suddenly darkened, waking Bai Yunfei up with a start. It turned out that floating fire on one side was slowly disappearing in midair.


    ¡°Why did he leave right away?... In this kind of situation, shouldn¡¯t he have given me some soul armaments and soul skills again, or spent his energy helping me improve my power, at least until I break through to the Soul Sprite stage?¡± Somehow, these thoughts unexpectedly appeared in his minds at this moment.


    ¡°Er, how can I have such greedy thoughts...?¡± Bai Yunfei was startled and laughed in self-derision. He then climbed up a large tree, ready to get some rest.


    ¡°Anyway, tonight I was really very lucky to have run into senior Ge Yiyun already. Let¡¯s continue my journey tomorrow and reach Jade Willow City as quickly as possible...¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    At the foot of the mountain, Ge Yiyun was walking slowly with his hands behind his back. Even though his footsteps were obviously very slow, he was strangely covering several hundred meters with every few steps.


    ¡°I can¡¯t have too much connection with him again. Until now, my help has still been within the boundary of ¡®right fate¡¯. If I help him more, I¡¯m afraid something unexpected will happen. It¡¯d be better for me to be careful...¡± Ge Yiyun argued to himself in his mind as he walked, ¡°As for his strange cultivation speed, I¡¯d better not interfere. No matter what secret he has, this won¡¯t do my Fate School any harm...


    ¡°Besides him, there¡¯s still that guy called Li Chengfeng. If what he said is true then...¡± Ge Yiyun slightly frowned, ¡°When I just arrived in Azure Clouds Province, my fate soul unexpectedly didn¡¯t guide me to someone with such an extraordinary talent for cultivation... But this is also a good thing. As I knew about the guy from him, this is not within the influence boundary of the fate soul¡¯s guidance so I can do a lot more things now. If that¡¯s case...


    ¡°Anyway, as long as there¡¯s something helpful to my Fate School in facing the future disaster, I definitely won¡¯t ignore any possibility of getting it!¡±


    ... ... ... ...


    At noon two days later, when Bai Yunfei saw a spacious main road again, his eyes were almost brimmed with tears¡ªhe had finally reached a normal route!


    After setting foot on this main road, where it was impossible for him to get lost, Bai Yunfei was somewhat elated inside. He looked around as he walked. Seeing a sinuous river beside the road and seemingly endless lines of willows, he sighed emotionally in his heart, ¡°No wonder it¡¯s called Jade Willow City. There are so many willows... Speaking of it, this kind of naming is really lazy. This place has lots of willows so it¡¯s called Jade Willow City, then a place with lots of pine trees would be called Green Pine City and a place with lots of poplars Poplar City... Such a way of naming isn¡¯t stressful at all...¡±


    While letting his mind wander, he slowly went into the city. Of course, he had taken out that torn straw hat and put it on his head again¡ªalthough he had yet to notice any danger in this place, it would be better for him to be as low-key as possible.


    However, as opposed to when he had entered Snowpeak City last time, Bai Yunfei was not very nervous this time. Perhaps this was because he had left Snowpeak City without any incident last time or because this place was already very close to the boundary of Azure Clouds Province. At the moment, besides carefully paying attention to the situation in the surroundings, Bai Yunfei was also somewhat enjoying the scenery around him.


    After going into the city, Bai Yunfei was immediately a bit amazed by how prosperous this Jade Willow City was. Last time, when he had been in Snowpeak City, he had only taken a hurried stroll, and at that time it had been near dusk so he had not been in the mood for ¡®enjoying¡¯ the scenery like he was now. Therefore, it could be said that this was the first time he had really seen the scenes in a big city.


    The streets were so spacious that it could accommodate four carriages running side by side. On both sides of the streets, there were all kinds of business shops, looking especially splendid and luxurious. Bai Yunfei even felt that the things he bought from some small street-side stands were obviously better than those he had bought from the so-called ¡®large shops¡¯ in Talus City. Amidst the coming and going people, a wide variety of voices and cries could be heard constantly, and the thing that made him feel energetic the most was that...


    ¡°So many beautiful women...¡± Bai Yunfei eventually could not help sighing with emotion after standing in a trance in the middle of the street for half a minute.


    Somehow Bai Yunfei always felt that graceful and charming figures kept showing up on the street one after another. The scents of their cosmetics had even spread through the entire street. These beautiful young girls were strolling on the street, either alone or accompanied by someone. Their crystalline voices could be heard from time to time when they talked.


    Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®audacious¡¯ gaze, a young girl carrying a basket in her hand quickly walked past him with a slight blush. Watching her silhouette disappear into the crowd, Bai Yunfei unexpectedly could not help letting out a sigh.


    However, the expression on his face suddenly became strange afterwards. He withdrew his eyes and felt into a trance for a long time then shook his head with force, mumbling, ¡°What was wrong with me just now? Impossible, in the past I definitely wouldn¡¯t have acted like this. Just now, when facing these young girls, I unexpectedly started to make frivolous remarks about them in my mind as if this was a natural thing to do...¡±


    While pondering over the ¡®abnormalities¡¯ in his mind, he slowly headed for the center of the city. For the time being, he was no longer interested in enjoying the beauty of women.


    After having a meal in a quite luxurious restaurant, Bai Yunfei continued to stroll on the streets, ready to go on a shopping spree before resting for a night then resuming his journey tomorrow.


    Walking out from a jewelry shop, Bai Yunfei touched the space ring on his hand in a rather satisfied manner, thinking to himself, ¡°Although they were somewhat expensive, they¡¯re all ¡®high-grade¡¯ pieces of jewelry. Now I should be able to begin researching the matter of jewelry upgrading...¡±


    ¡°You scoundrel, you¡¯re not allowed to touch my young lady!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re pretty fierce for a young servant girl. I haven¡¯t done anything to your young lady either. It¡¯s just that she looks sick so I want to take her to a doctor. How can you say that a young master like me is a scoundrel?¡±


    As soon as Bai Yunfei walked out of this restaurant, he heard the angry scolding of a young girl and the arrogant voice of a man.


    Halting his steps, he looked in the direction of the sounds and saw that a luxuriously-dressed youngster with a totally arrogant expression and four people in attendant clothing were blocking the way of two young girls at the entrance of an alley on the right of the restaurant.


    In front of them, there was a young girl dressed in servant clothing. Despite being outnumbered, she was not showing any sign of fear. Instead, she was looking angrily at these people with a cold expression.


    Behind her, there was a young girl in light blue clothes who was standing with difficulty by supporting herself on a wall. Her head lowered, her body bent, her long beautiful hair was covering her face, making it impossible to see what she looked like. It seemed she was sick and was enduring an extreme pain.


    ¡°Humph! Little servant girl, don¡¯t fail to appreciate my kindness. I¡¯m second young master Long. In this Jade Willow City, I¡¯m well-known for being ready to help others. You see, your young lady is so sick that she can¡¯t even walk. You¡¯d better let me take her to my home for treatment. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll definitely cure her. Besides, I¡¯ll cherish her...¡± As that man talked, his voice changed somewhat, sounding like there was a some kind of viciousness in it.


    ¡°No matter the place, this kind of rich good-for-nothing always exists...¡± Bai Yunfei frowned slightly and said doubtfully in his mind, ¡°Plus, why does this somehow look familiar to me? There¡¯s a word about to come out... ¡®Contrived¡¯? What does it mean?¡±


    While preventing the people in front of her from approaching, the servant girl glanced somewhat anxiously at the young girl behind her and said with hatred, ¡°Humph, you scoundrels! Don¡¯t even think about doing anything to my young lady! If she hadn¡¯t taken ill all of a sudden, given her power, she would destroy you lowly underlings with ease! Let me tell you, my young lady is a soul...¡±


    ¡°Humph! Don¡¯t try to scare me with those words! Both of you look very unfamiliar. I think you must¡¯ve come to Jade Willow City to amuse yourself, right? No wonder you don¡¯t recognize me. Let me tell you, in this Jade Willow City, even the Green Willow School has to show the house of Long some respect!¡± That man interrupted the servant girl and continued to brag.


    That servant girl was stubborn but now she was startled, as if she was somewhat frightened. Additionally, she was worried about the young lady behind her so the expression on her face was obviously anxious, with tears vaguely welling up in her eyes...


    The people who had been busy going in the surroundings originally had now run far away, seemingly because they were rather afraid of this second young master Long.


    ¡°Alright, quit babbling, servant girl. I still have to hurry up and cure your young lady. Just go with me!¡± That man seemed to have become somewhat impatient. He immediately pushed the servant girl in front of him aside then told his subordinates to catch her, not allowing her to escape.


    ¡°Ha ha, don¡¯t be afraid, young lady. Just let me take you to my home. I¡¯ll ask the best doctor to treat you...¡± Second young master Long said in a ¡®friendly¡¯ manner while looking at the young girl in graceful light blue clothes, who was leaning against the wall. At the same time, he reached out his hand, wanting to grab her wrist.


    However, just when his hand was about to touch her, another hand suddenly reached out and grabbed hold of his arm, making it impossible for him to move it forwards.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Second young master Long was slightly stupefied for a moment. Turning his head doubtfully to take a look, he saw that a youngster in ordinary gray clothes and a rather broken-rimmed straw hat was grabbing his arm and looking at him with eyes full of disdain.


    ¡°Who are you? This is none of your business!¡± After a moment of stupefaction, second young master Long immediately reacted. He had not expected that someone would dare to stop him!


    The disdain in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes intensified. Exerting a little strength with his hand, he pushed him away directly. Second young master Long did not seem to have expected this man to dare to attack him first so he staggered backwards continuously. Only when his subordinates supported him was he able to regain his balance.


    ¡°You! You¡¯re so insolent! Don¡¯t you know who I am?! Don¡¯t you know who my father is? My father is Long Gang!! Now that you dared to offend me, I¡¯ll make you suffer so much you¡¯ll wish you were dead!¡± Second young master Long roared as he stared hard at Bai Yunfei, his face totally red.


    ¡°These words... Can you be any more cliched?¡± Bai Yunfei curled his mouth and said disdainfully.


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 55: Artificial Respiration is Needed?

    Book 1 Chapter 55: Artificial respiration is needed?


    ¡°These words¡­ Can you be a bit more cliched?¡± Bai Yunfei curled his mouth and said disdainfully.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Although second young master Long did not know what the word ¡®cliched¡¯ mentioned by Bai Yunfei meant, he understood very well that disdainful expression on the opponent¡¯s face. He shouted loudly to his several minions, ¡°All of you go up! Break his legs for me! Beat him up for me!!¡±


    Hearing their master¡¯s order, these men immediately charged towards Bai Yunfei with ferocious looks in their eyes.


    Bang, bang, bang, bang!!


    Four rhythmic deep sounds rang out. Afterwards, under the dumbfounded look in second young master Long¡¯s eyes, the four subordinates, who just then had still been charging up ferociously, were all sent flying backwards in four arcs then smashed into his body!


    Second young master Long pushed the several people on him away with difficulty, struggled up from the ground and looked at Bai Yunfei, who was walking towards him slowly. The arrogant expression on his face had already disappeared. He backed off in terror continuously, shouting: ¡°You¡­ Don¡¯t come near me!! I¡¯m the second young master of the Long family Long Tao!! My father is Long Gang! My brother is a soul cultivator! If you dare to hurt me, the Long family definitely won¡¯t let you off!¡±


    Hearing these words, Bai Yunfei halted his steps and stared at him with a strange expression for a while. Eventually he could not help sneering: ¡°Oh¡­ I see. Turns out you¡¯re just a ¡®long tao¡¯!!¡± [long tao is a walk-on part in a movie]


    ¡°That¡¯s right!! I¡¯m none other than Long Tao! I¡¯m the second young master of the Long family!! You can¡¯t hurt me!¡± Long tao¡­ er, second young master Long Tao did not notice, nor did he understand the tone of ridicule in Bai Yunfei¡¯s words so he nodded unceasingly.


    The corners of Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth twitched. Not in the mood for more talking, he said with a wave of his hand: ¡°Get lost!¡±


    After watching this group of people disappear into the crowd, Bai Yunfei shook his head, his facial expression still looking somewhat strange. It was impossible to know what he was thinking.


    ¡°Young lady, young lady! Are you alright?¡± A voice full of anxiety rang out. Bai Yunfei was startled and turned around hurriedly. He saw that the blue-clad young girl, who originally had been supporting herself on the wall, was now lying on the ground. That servant girl was crouching in front of her in extreme anxiousness shouting softly. Judging from her voice, she was about to burst into tears already.


    Bai Yunfei quickly walked over and said at the same time: ¡°Miss, what¡¯s wrong with your young lady? I can help¡­¡±


    His words suddenly came to a halt. Even his body froze right there. He looked in stupefaction at the young girl, who was lying on the ground with tightly-closed eyes, his face full of astonishment.


    ¡°It¡¯s her¡­ It¡¯s unexpectedly her!!¡± Bai Yunfei was extremely surprised because the person in front of him was none other than the young girl who had been with Zhang Yang at that time in Luoshi City ¡ª Liu Meng!


    At this moment, an indescribable feeling surged up in his heart. Bai Yunfei just stood right there in a trance like that. Only when the servant girl¡¯s anxious voice was heard again did he wake up with a start. Shaking his head with force, he calmed his mind down a little then walked up to the side of Liu Meng and squatted down to see if he could offer any help.


    Liu Meng was lying flat on the ground. Her white face had now gone pale, her lips closed tightly, her beautiful eyebrows wrinkled. She had no reaction to the servant girl¡¯s shouting at all.


    Seeing the young girl like that, Bai Yunfei somehow felt an ache in his heart. He crouched down in front of her somewhat helplessly but did not know what to do. He had no medical skills either so there was nothing he could do except feel anxious. The servant girl seemed to be extremely worried too. The only thing she did was call ¡®young lady¡¯ loudly.


    All of a sudden, an idea flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. He was stupefied and murmured.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Artificial respiration is needed?¡±


    Just when Bai Yunfei was in a dilemma about whether to use this seemingly ¡®effective¡¯ method of emergency treatment, a soft groan was heard. It was the young girl regaining consciousness.


    A feeling of ¡®regret¡¯ appeared in his heart instantly. After disdaining it a bit, Bai Yunfei asked in a slightly anxious manner: ¡°Miss, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?¡±


    Even though the girl had waken up, she was yet to open her eyes and her eyebrows were still wrinkled. A layer of fine beads of sweat had even appeared on her forehead, as if she was suffering from an extreme pain. She called softly: ¡°Xiao Ning, where, where are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here, young lady! I¡¯m here! Are you alright? Please don¡¯t scare me!¡± The servant girl answered nonstop right away, appearing very nervous, tears about to come out from her eyes.


    ¡°Take, take me to a doctor, quickly¡­¡± The young girl¡¯s fragile voice woke this silly servant girl, who was so worried that she had become dizzy, up to the most important thing to do at the moment.


    ¡°Yes! Yes! Let¡¯s go to a doctor!¡± Only now did Xiao Ning react. She wanted to go and raise her young lady up but she discovered that with her small body, it was impossible for her to take her young lady to a doctor.


    Just when she became anxious inside, a pair of hands suddenly reached out to the young girl¡¯s backs of the neck and knees and lifted her up horizontally.


    Xiao Ning was frightened, but she immediately reacted. Raising her head to take a look, she saw that this was none other than the young man who had fought off those scoundrels just then.


    Although she felt that it was somewhat inappropriate for her young lady to be carried by a stranger like this, the current situation did not allow her to be so fussy and she said to Bai Yunfei: ¡°Thank, thank you very much, mister. Please take my young lady to a doctor immediately¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go.¡± Bai Yunfei hurriedly urged the servant girl to lead the way. Despite carrying a beautiful girl with a pleasant smell in his bosom, he was not feeling comfortable at all. Instead, there was only anxiety in his heart.


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­


    At a clinic, Bai Yunfei was sitting on a stool at the front door looking in a somewhat preoccupied manner at the people coming and going on the street, thinking about something.


    It had already been more than an hour since he had taken Liu Meng to this place. The doctor was giving treatment inside. It would be better for him not to be disturbed so Bai Yunfei was sitting here at the door waiting.


    Soft footsteps came from behind him, walking him up with a start. He hurriedly turned around to take a look with a happy expression.


    He saw that Liu Meng was walking towards him slowly under the support of Xiao Ning.


    Dressed entirely in blue clothes, she looked fresh and elegant. Her waist was slender, her carriage graceful, and her beautiful hair was flowing behind her like a waterfall. Her face had already become a bit ruddier. With a faint smile on the corners of her mouth, she was sizing him up using her bright large eyes.


    Bai Yunfei was temporarily unexpectedly entranced by her looks¡­


    ¡°Pfff¡­ Mister, my young lady is talking to you! Wake up please!¡± Bai Yunfei was awakened by a warning. He saw that the servant girl Xiao Ning was looking at him very mischievously and next to her, Liu Meng was blushing. She gave Xiao Ning a stare in somewhat resentful manner then turned to Bai Yunfei and gently made a salute.


    ¡°Mister, thank you very much for helping me earlier¡­¡± Her voice was clear, tender and melodic.


    Bai Yunfei was entranced for a moment again, but then a tinge of disappointment appeared in his heart: ¡°She¡­ really doesn¡¯t remember me.¡±


    But he shook his head slightly again right away, saying in self-derision in his heart: ¡°What am I thinking about? It¡¯s normal for her not to remember me. After all, when we met for the first time, I was merely a ¡®pleb¡¯ in the eyes of those rich people¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey! Mister, you¡¯ve gone into a trance again!¡±


    Xiao Ning¡¯s warning was heard again. Bai Yunfei brushed that indescribable thought in his mind aside and asked doubtfully: ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°He he¡­ Mister, though my young lady is stunning, you can¡¯t go into a trance in such a rude way looking at her either!¡± Xiao Ning could not help laughing and saying mischievously again, ¡°My young lady wants to ask you to a tea house for a chat to thank you for your help just now!¡±


    ¡°Ah? Oh, that¡¯s fine¡­¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his head in an embarrassed manner then nodded in agreement.


    ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­

 Chapter 56: Liu Meng

    Book 1 Chapter 56: Liu Meng


    On the second floor of the Mingxiang Tea House, in a private room,


    After sitting down in this place, Bai Yunfei obviously still felt a bit uncomfortable in front of the two girls. Holding his cup with both hans, he dranked from it nonstop and did not even notice it when he drank the tea leaves.


    Seeing him like this, the servant girl Xiao Ning could not help letting out a ¡®pfff¡¯ sound of laughter, but when she was about to burst out laughing, she was stopped by Liu Meng.


    Seeing such behavior from this young man in front of her, Liu Meng was somewhat tempted to laugh too. She filled Bai Yunfei¡¯s cup again with tea gently and said softly: ¡°This time I was suddenly taken ill and even ran into some good-for-nothings. Fortunately you got into action and saved me. I really can¡¯t be thankful enough to you.¡±


    Bai Yunfei put the tea cup in his hand down, calmed his indescribably nervous mind down a bit and said while waving his hands: ¡°You don¡¯t have to stand on ceremony like this, miss. Helping people is the source of pleasu¡­ Er, I mean, getting in to action upon seeing injustice is what everyone should do. Besides, it took me very little effort, so you don¡¯t have to care about this too much.¡±


    ¡°But it didn¡¯t take you just a little effort¡­¡± Liu Meng said with a chuckle, ¡°At the time, there were so many people, but you were the only one who dared to get into action to help me. That second young master Long is an infamous good-for-nothing in this city. Relying on his family¡¯s influence, he often commits all kinds of outrages. This time I went out alone to relieve my boredom but I didn¡¯t expect to become entangled with him.


    ¡°The Long family was quite powerful in Cuiliu City. Even the Green Willow School is somewhat afraid of it, but this time you have offended that second young master Long because of me. I¡¯ve really embroiled you in this¡­


    ¡°Actually, given my power as a soul cultivator, I shouldn¡¯t have been afraid of those good-for-nothings, but at the time, I was suddenly taken ill. The pain was unbearable so I was basically defenseless, and he was able to bully me only because of this¡­¡±


    At first Bai Yunfei sighed in his mind: ¡°The Green Willow School is really here!¡±


    But upon hearing the last words, he was dumbstruck for a while and said in amazement: ¡°Oh? You said you¡¯re a soul cultivator too?¡±


    Liu Meng nodded smilingly: ¡°It¡¯s kind of embarrassing, but I¡¯m really a soul cultivator¡­ Oh, what do you mean by ¡®too¡¯? Could it be you¡¯re also a soul cultivator?¡±


    Seeing Bai Yunfei nod, on one side, Xiao Ning could not help whispering: ¡°Whoa! Turns out you¡¯re a soul cultivator, mister! No wonder you were able to fight off those scoundrels so easily!¡±


    Noticing that the look in Liu Meng¡¯s eyes seemed to have changed a little, Bai Yunfei became somewhat uncomfortable again: ¡°Ha ha, this doesn¡¯t mean anything either. I¡¯m just a weak soul cultivator. Miss, you¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Liu Meng. You can call me Meng¡¯er directly, mister.¡± Hearing Bai Yunfei call her ¡®miss¡¯ all the time, Liu Meng smiled and said in a low voice. This might or might not be an illusion but Bai Yunfei seemed to see her face slightly redden as she said these words.


    ¡°May I know your name, mister?¡± Liu Meng continued with another question after pausing for a while.


    Bai Yunfei had not expected to be allowed to call her so intimately so he was somewhat stunned for a short period of time. Only after two minutes did he say rather cautiously: ¡°Miss¡­ Er, Meng, Meng¡¯er¡­ You can just call me Yunfei¡­¡±


    ¡°Yunfei? Ha ha, it sounds full of freedom.¡±


    Bai Yunfei drank another large mouthful of tea, as if doing this could dilute that indescribable feeling of nervousness in his heart. He then put the cup down, seeming to think of something, and asked curiously: ¡°Right, Meng, Meng¡¯er¡­ Since you¡¯re a soul cultivator, how did you suddenly become like that earlier?¡±


    To soul cultivators, even the lowest-ranked ones had much stronger bodies than those of ordinary people so common illnesses simply could not affect them, and this was the reason why Bai Yunfei asked that question.


    Right after his question, in front of him, Liu Meng felt silent all of a sudden. After a long time, she sighed softly and continued:


    ¡°I¡¯ve been suffering from a weak body and illnesses since I was little, almost growing up in pots of medicine. No matter the treatment method, they couldn¡¯t be cured and even become more and more serious. My whole body was often in extreme pain all of a sudden, as if there were countless spikes moving back and forth nonstop in my body. It was extremely painful. The doctor who treated me said that I wouldn¡¯t live past the age of ten¡­


    ¡°Later, when I was eight, I ran into a traveling senior. She pitied me so not only did she awaken my soulforce, she also taught me a cultivation method, allowing me to become a soul cultivator. Then she continued her journey after giving me some prescriptions, saying that if I used them and didn¡¯t stop training, my body would be cured.


    ¡°As I became more powerful, my body got better as well. Now I¡¯m rarely taken ill. As long as I can break through to the Soul Sprite stage, my body will be tempered by the natural elements and I¡¯ll be able to get rid of these illnesses forever¡­


    ¡°Today, I did take my medicine in the morning but somehow I was still taken ill earlier. At the time my entire body was in severe pain. Even my mind was extremely confused, and I also ran into those scoundrels. If you hadn¡¯t got into action to help me, perhaps I would have died from the pain. It can be said that I owe you for saving my life¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei slightly leaned his body to one side. At first he immersed himself in listening to her, but when she suddenly said the words ¡®owe you for saving my life¡¯, he almost choked on the tea and said while shaking his head again and again: ¡°Er¡­ You¡¯re taking it too seriously, Meng¡¯er. What I did wasn¡¯t so important. I didn¡¯t save your life. You don¡¯t need to¡­¡±


    Luckily he put on the brakes in time and swallowed back the words ¡®repay me with yourself¡¯. Bai Yunfei looked down on himself for a while in his mind again.


    ¡°Need to what?¡± However, in front of him, Liu Meng asked out of curiosity.


    ¡°He he, nothing, nothing at all. Don¡¯t mention it again, Meng¡¯er, otherwise I¡¯ll feel embarrassed¡­¡±


    On one side, Xiao Ning could not bear seeing this anymore so she cut in: ¡°Mister Yunfei, as a man, how can you seem even shyer than my young lady? Where has the heroic spirit shown when you dealt with those bad guys earlier gone?¡±


    ¡°Cough cough cough!!¡± Hearing those words from Xiao Ning, Bai Yunfei was even more embarrassed and coughed continuously.


    ¡­¡­


    When the three of them walked out of the tea house, it was already dusk. Before parting ways, Liu Meng seemed to suddenly remember something and asked Bai Yunfei laughingly: ¡°Right, Yunfei, tomorrow let¡¯s take a stroll to Mt. Qingquan outside the city together! You just arrived in Cuiliu City so this is the right time to go for a stroll. I heard that the spring water on that mountain is clear and sweet and can even cure illnesses!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Tomorrow? Only both of us will go there?¡± By sheer coincidence, Bai Yunfei blurted these questions.


    Right afterwards, he realized that they were inappropriate and almost felt like giving himself a couple of slaps: He had unexpectedly blurted such flirtatious words!


    ¡°Hey hey! Mister Yunfei! You¡¯ve gone too far. I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d dare to flirt with my young lady!¡± On one side, Xiao Ning said in pretended anger, ¡°Besides, you have just left me out directly, haven¡¯t you? But I¡¯ve got to look after my young lady all the time. I can¡¯t leave her side even for a moment!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Ning, you devilish servant girl! What nonsense are you saying?!¡± Liu Meng gave Xiao Ning a slight stare then looked at Bai Yunfei with a charming smile, her face slightly reddening.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s settled then! Yunfei, you should go back and rest early. We¡¯ll meet up at the east city gate at dawn tomorrow!¡±


    By the time Bai Yunfei regained his composure, the two girls had already disappeared at the end of the street. He stood still there for a long time and eventually let out a sigh. Now he had no choice but to turn around and walk towards that tavern where he had booked a room earlier.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the tavern, Bai Yunfei was lying on the bed with hands behind his head looking at the ceiling in a somewhat preoccupied manner. He was not even in the mood for cultivation. His mind was unceasingly recalling the scenes after he had come across Liu Meng today.


    Suddenly, his expression changed and his eyebrows wrinkled. It seemed some important matter had come to his mind.


    ¡°Her identity¡­ When she was with Zhang Yang at that time, she called Zhang Zhenshan uncle. What¡¯s the relationship between her and the Zhang family?¡± At this point, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows wrinkled even more tightly, ¡°She should have known that Zhang Yang is already dead. If there¡¯s a close relationship between them, she should have already known that I killed Zhang Yang. But her behavior today¡­


    ¡°Did she really forget about me? Or¡­ was it just an act? That¡¯s not true. When she was taken ill, it was definitely not an act. Plus, I didn¡¯t notice anything unusual in the surroundings.


    Then¡­ am I thinking too much? Perhaps there¡¯s not any close relationship between her and the Zhang family. I remember at that time her attitude towards Zhang Yang was pretty cold¡­¡±


    Now Bai Yunfei could not help recalling the scene when he and Liu Meng had met for the first time.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Zhang Yang, stop¡­ Did I ever say I wanted him dead?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to me that this person was pretending he was in a trance. Moreover, even though he offended me, there¡¯s no need to take his life either¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°He already took a kick from you just now. He¡¯s seriously injured too. Let¡¯s consider that he¡¯s been punished.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ha ha, besides, he already compensated me with tanghulu. It¡¯s just that you knocked it down¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    As Bai Yunfei thought about what had happened, his eyes gradually dimmed. An unprecedented feeling surged inside him bit by bit, seemingly preventing him from doubting Liu Meng, preventing him from thinking about the bad aspects.


    ¡°Tomorrow¡­ Stroll¡­¡± Bai Yunfei recalled the words said by Liu Meng when they had parted ways just then, ¡°But I have to leave this place. Even though the Zhang family hasn¡¯t found me yet, if I stay here longer, I¡¯ll be in more danger¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s settled then! Yunfei, you should go back and rest early. We¡¯ll meet up at the east city gate at dawn tomorrow!¡± His ears seemed to hear Liu Meng¡¯s gentle words again. Bai Yunfei frowned slightly, seemingly having a fierce mental struggle.


    Eventually¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s have fun for a day. There shouldn¡¯t be any problem¡­¡±

 Chapter 57: Stroll and Tell

    Book 1 Chapter 57: Stroll and tell


    In the morning of the next day,


    When Liu Meng and Xiao Ning arrived at the east gate, Bai Yunfei had already been there for nearly an hour.


    ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯m sorry for being late.¡± Liu Meng quickened her pace a bit, went up to Bai Yunfei and said with a face full of regret.


    ¡°Ha ha, it¡¯s okay. I arrived not long ago too¡­¡± Bai Yunfei laughed in an unconcerned manner, not telling her that he had been waiting in the cold for several dozen minutes.


    ¡°Mister Yunfei, you can¡¯t blame my young lady.¡± On one side, Xiao Ning cut in, ¡°She was somewhat ill again this morning and only got a bit better after taking a dose of medicine I hurriedly prepared for her. Then she rushed over here right away.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Really? Meng¡¯er, how are you feeling now? You¡¯re not still sick, are you? Otherwise, let¡¯s not go to that Mt. Qingquan today.¡± Bai Yunfei asked continuously in a slightly anxious manner, his expression changing a bit.


    Liu Meng seemed not to have expected Bai Yunfei to react this way so she was slightly stupefied then said with smiling eyes: ¡°I¡¯m not so weak as you think. Don¡¯t forget I¡¯m a soul cultivator! Relax, I¡¯m fine already. As long as my illness don¡¯t act up, there won¡¯t be any problem.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s very good, that¡¯s very good¡­¡± Seeming to notice his own loss of composure, Bai Yunfei scratched his head in a somewhat embarrassed manner. Then, he seemed to remember something and hid his right hand behind his back. When he brought it out again, it was already holding a skewer of tanghulu.


    ¡°Meng¡¯er, this is the tanghulu I specifically bought for you.¡± Seeing the slightly amazed expression on Liu Meng¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei handed over the tanghulu smilingly.


    ¡°Yunfei, you, how did you know that I like eating tanghulu?¡± Liu Meng received it with a broad smile and asked curiously.


    ¡°Er, I saw that many girls on the streets all seemed to like eating tanghulu so I bought some for you.¡± Bai Yunfei told a little lie. Of course he did not dare to tell her that when they had met each other for the first time he had knocked down the tanghulu in her hand and that although he had bought another skewer for her, it had been knocked down by Zhang Yang as well¡­


    ¡°Humph, you¡¯re so unfair, mister Yunfei. Could it be I¡¯m not a girl? You only bought it for young lady, humph, humph, you must be up to something bad!¡± The servant girl Xiao Ning¡¯s angry voice came from one side, causing him to be somewhat at a loss. His face even slightly reddened.


    ¡°He he, I¡¯m just kidding. Please don¡¯t get angry at me, mister Yunfei!¡± Seeing Bai Yunfei¡¯s embarrassed manner, Xiao Ning stuck out her tongue a bit and said mischievously.


    Bai Yunfei gave a couple of dry laughs but did not know how to respond to this servant girl. He could only say to Liu Meng: ¡°Er, ha ha, Meng¡¯er, let¡¯s go then¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Grass, flowers, trees, birds, springs, breezes¡­


    For the first time, Bai Yunfei felt that climbing up a mountain was such a joyful thing. Speaking of it, now he could also be considered a ¡®veteran mountain climber¡¯. He himself did not even know how many mountains he had climbed over on the way since leaving Luoshi City, but he had always climbed mountains to speed up his journey and to flee for his life instead of to carefully enjoy the experience like this today.


    Or perhaps, what made him feel joyful was not the scenery on this mountain at all, but the person going by his side¡­


    Bai Yunfei took a bowl of clear spring water, went towards Liu Meng, who was waiting under a tree, handed it over to her and said: ¡°Meng¡¯er, are you tired? If you are, let¡¯s rest here for a while, okay?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, what if I¡¯m not?¡± Liu Meng received the bowl, drank a small mouthful and said gently, ¡°You¡¯ve forgotten again that I¡¯m a soul cultivator. Walking such a short distance is nothing to me. Let¡¯s continue to go up. We¡¯ll reach the peak of the mountain before noon.¡±


    Bai Yunfei received the bowl, which she gave back to him, and drank up all the remaining spring water in one gulp. On one side, when Liu Meng saw this action, her face slightly reddened.


    ¡°Oh, in that case I have no objection. We¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I have, I have my objection!!¡± An angry and panting voice came from behind the two of them. They turned around to take a look and saw that the servant girl Xiao Ning was ¡®moving¡¯ up towards them step by step with her body bent and arms akimbo.


    ¡°Young, young lady, mister Yunfei¡­ You two, you two are really inconsiderate!¡± Xiao Ning went up to them with great difficulty and gasped for air with her mouth opened wide. At the same time, she pouted and said discontentedly: ¡°Both of you think you can leave me behind just because, just because you¡¯re soul cultivators huh? I¡¯m so, I¡¯m so tired¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Liu Meng exchanged a look and were both embarrassed. As Bai Yunfei looked at a pouting, discontented-looking Xiao Ning, he rolled his eyes and a tinge of amusement showed up.


    ¡°Meng¡¯er, why don¡¯t we have a speed contest to see who can reach the peak of the mountain first?¡± Bai Yunfei suggested to Liu Meng smilingly.


    The latter was stupefied for a moment but then she reacted by casting a glance at Xiao Ning, a tinge of mischievousness unexpectedly also appearing in her eyes, and saying with a nod: ¡°Alright, let¡¯s have a contest then, but¡­ you have to let run first!¡±


    To Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise, as soon as those words were finished, she ran forwards before he could react, causing a fragrant wind that blew past him. Her clothes flapping in the air, Liu Meng rushed up the mountian extremely fast like a graceful, blue-clad elf.


    In fact, Bai Yunfei was only dumbfounded for a moment before reacting, but he did not chase after her immediately. Instead, he waited until she had run quite a distance away before casting a look at a still somewhat bewildered Xiao Ning and rushing upwards with a couple of laughs.


    ¡°Hey hey!! Young lady! Mister Yunfei!! You two, you two are too inconsiderate!¡±


    Xiao Ning¡¯s angry shouts came from behind. At the same time, Liu Meng¡¯s lovely laughter also floated down from up above along with the wind. Giving a couple of laughs, Bai Yunfei ran towards the top of the mountain.


    At this moment, he experienced an unprecedented state of relaxation and happiness.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At the peak of the mountain, Bai Yunfei and Liu Meng were sitting side by side on the grass, gazing at the large expanse of grass and trees down below. Both of them were silent.


    A clear wind blew past them, causing several strands of her hair to fly into his face, tickling it. When Liu Meng noticed this, she smiled at Bai Yunfei and used her hands to tuck those flowing strands of hair behind her ears.


    ¡°Thank you, Yunfei¡­¡± Liu Meng was the one who broke the silence, saying softly while gazing at a passing bird.


    ¡°Oh? Why did you say this again? Didn¡¯t I already tell you, yesterday¡­¡±


    ¡°Not only yesterday, but also today.¡± Before Bai Yunfei could finish what he was saying, he was interrupted by Liu Meng. She shook her head gently and continued: ¡°Thank you for going out to relieve boredom with me. The only person who normally goes with me is Xiao Ning. Though she¡¯s my servant girl, she¡¯s like a sister to me¡­ But aside from her, I¡¯ve almost never made friends with anyone. Previously, my body was too weak for me to do that, but later, because the people who approached me had bad intentions, I was unwilling to make friends.


    ¡°You know what? Though I¡¯m a soul cultivator, I can¡¯t live my life the way I want to¡­¡± Fiddling with the blades of grass in front of her using her hands, Liu Meng said slowly: ¡°To shake off the illnesses in my body, I¡¯ve been spending most of my time on cultivation. I occasionally went out for a stroll, but I only did this to loosen up myself when I reached a plateau.


    ¡°My father¡­ He¡¯s a merchant. He can use any means to expand his business, even including making use of my marriage¡­


    ¡°The Glacial School in the northeast part of Qingyun Province has an elder with the last name Liu¡­ My father somehow managed to dig up a groundless trace of kinship with him and wanted to be backed by the Glacial School in business.


    ¡°Afterwards, he fawned on another elder of the Glacial School called Zhang Zhenshan and began to do business with the Zhang family in Luoshi City. This made him especially excited. To increase the closeness between the two families, he betrothed me to the young master of that Zhang family, Zhang Yang.


    ¡°I was only fourteen at the time so I simply couldn¡¯t object to this. My father wouldn¡¯t allow me to object to this either, so I had no choice but to hope that I can reach the Soul Sprite stage early. At that time, I¡¯ll have the power to refuse¡­


    ¡°After that, Zhang Yang often tried to approach me. I could tell that he did this only because of his filthy self-interest.


    ¡°But the relationship between my father and the Zhang family became closer and closer. That family is powerful and can¡¯t be offended. In the end, I even had to go to Luoshi City frequently to visit my ¡®future¡¯ parents-in-law¡­¡±


    When saying these words, Liu Meng¡¯s voice contained a lot of frustration and grief. However, at this point she changed the topic, continuing:


    ¡°But a few days ago, my father received information that¡­ Zhang Yang had unexpectedly been killed the day before!¡±

 Chapter 58: The Long Tao Duo

    ¡°But a few days ago, my father received information that... Zhang Yang had unexpectedly been killed the day before!¡±


    At this point, Liu Meng¡¯s voice became a bit louder, carrying some amazement and seemingly a trace of... happiness as well?


    ¡°I always knew that he was a good-for-nothing, even worse than that second young master Long yesterday. He usually did all kinds of bad things relying on the influence of his family, but no one ever dared to provoke him. What is laughable is he was still unexpectedly killed by someone...


    ¡°I feel nothing towards his death. If anything, there¡¯s a tinge of happiness. I¡¯m happy that I finally don¡¯t need to worry about that so-called engagement.


    ¡°But who would have thought my father would unexpectedly tell me to go to Talus City to take part in the Zhang family¡¯s funeral arrangements as his bride-to-be!? I was unwilling to do this so in the end I got into an argument with my father. In anger, I went out of my home with Xiao Ning and wanted to stroll about outside for a few days to relieve boredom before returning home...


    ¡°Later I went to this place then yesterday that incident happened and I ran into you, Yunfei...


    ¡°Since waking up in that clinic yesterday and seeing you, I have felt that... you¡¯re different from the other people.¡± At this point, Liu Meng paused for a moment, her voice also containing a trace of amusement, ¡°You¡¯re a soul cultivator, who¡¯s extremely exalted and powerful in the eyes of commoners, but you don¡¯t have an air of arrogance about you at all. Besides, you helped me without wanting anything in return.


    ¡°Plus, the look in your eyes, though it was a bit, a bit...¡± At this point, Liu Meng¡¯s face slightly reddened. Seeming not to know what words she should use to describe it, she skipped over this directly and continued: ¡°I could tell that there was no bad intentions in it, unlike Zhang Yang¡¯s. When he looked at me, though he thought he had concealed it very well, I could still see that his eyes were full of a desire for possession...


    ¡°Therefore, I didn¡¯t want to miss the opportunity to make friends with you and invited you to a tea house under the pretense of thanking you then asked you to go for a stroll on this Mt. Qingquan with me.


    ¡°Yunfei, we are now already friends... aren¡¯t we?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been sitting there listening to her earnestly all the time, trying to digest the story about Liu Meng told by herself. However, there was a strange feeling spreading in his heart. His eyes slightly glittered, looking thoughtful.


    When he heard Liu Meng¡¯s question, he suddenly woke up. After a moment of stupefaction, he unexpectedly said with some nervousness: ¡°Oh, of course... We¡¯re already friends.¡±


    ¡°He he, that¡¯s really good. I finally have a friend. Unlike those who want to approach me with hidden agendas, you¡¯re a friend I myself have found!¡± Liu Meng brushed her sadness aside. With a smile on the corners of her mouth and her hands placed on the ground behind her back, she raised her body slightly, gazing at a flock of birds flying across the sky. She appeared to be especially happy.


    Bai Yunfei felt that his heart seemed to be beating somewhat faster, but he did not know what to say. Nervous inside, he subconsciously pulled the grass in front of him out using his hands.


    Temporarily, both of them fell silent again with neither wanting to be the first to talk.


    ¡°You two, you two have really gone too, too far!!¡±


    An out-of-breath, furious shout broke the silence, waking both of them up with a start. At the same time, they turned around to look in its direction. It turned out the servant girl Xiao Ning had finally climbed up the peak of the mountain and was clenching her teeth looking at the two people who were sitting leisurely together.


    It took Liu Meng a good while to calm an ¡®extremely angry¡¯ Xiao Ning down. One could tell that they really had a sisterly relationship and definitely not one between a master and a servant¡ªno master would try to make their servant girl less angry like this, and no servant girl would dare to ¡®get angry¡¯ at her master either.


    At lunchtime, Liu Meng took out from her interspatial ring a hamper with quite a few layers. The hamper was made of special materials. After it was opened, the food inside was still warm. This embarrassed Bai Yunfei a bit. There were also lunch materials in his interspatial ring, but they were two uncooked chickens. He originally had intended to roast and eat them¡ªin comparison, he felt that his original plan was too primitive so he did not dare to take them out.


    After having lunch, the three of them slowly strolled about on this mountain, taking pleasure in catching birdies, chasing rabbits, gathering wild flowers... On the grassy path, the lovely laughter of the two girls rang out from time to time.


    ............


    At dusk, three silhouettes gradually appeared on the main road running through the east city gate. They were none other than Bai Yunfei and the two girls.


    There were expressions of partially unfulfilled desire on the faces of them all. Bai Yunfei was walking on the left, Liu Meng in the middle and Xiao Ning on the right, who was chirping something in an obviously very excited manner.


    ¡°You¡¯re really awesome, mister Yunfei! That blue birdie had already flown into the air but you unexpectedly were still able to catch it!¡± As Xiao Ning recalled how Bai Yunfei had ¡®flown¡¯ up a large tree with several dashes then jumped off into the air and easily caught hold of an already flying birdie in his hand, her face was still full of excitement. However, she then asked with some regret, ¡°But why did you let it go in the end? Young lady liked it so much...¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, that bird naturally belongs in the sky. Flying freely is the life it should have. I caught it just to amuse myself for a while. How could I lock it in a cage from then on, taking away its freedom?¡± Bai Yunfei said softly with a smile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t other people keep birds in cages? Alas, forget it, you caught that bird anyway, so you should decide what to do with it... But it was really a pity that rabbit with white stripes ran away. I¡¯ve never seen such a cute little rabbit. It¡¯d be great if I could raise it... No, even if we had caught it, in the end you would still have let it go, humph!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you mean that rabbit? It was a pity it ran away, but if we had caught it, I wouldn¡¯t have let it go...¡± Bai Yunfei said very seriously.


    ¡°Oh? Could it be you wanted to keep it as a pet?¡±


    ¡°No, I would have eaten it...¡±


    ¡°Ah! You¡¯re so mean!¡±


    ¡°Er, let me ask you, Xiao Ning. Among the foods we had for lunch today, there seemed to be one made of rabbit meat, right?¡±


    ¡°This...¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, alright, Xiao Ning, quit rambling. You¡¯ve been talking all the way back here. Aren¡¯t you tired?¡± Seeing Xiao Ning wrinkle her eyebrows in a lovely manner, Liu Meng could not help saying laughingly.


    While talking and laughing with each other, the three of them entered the city gate very quickly, walking on that spacious street. However, soon after they went into the city, their way was blocked by a group of men.


    ¡°Brother, it¡¯s him! He looked down on our house of Long!¡± A voice full of hatred rang out. Two men then walked out from that group, talking to each other. One of them was none other than the second young master of the Long family long tao... no, Long Tao, who yesterday had attempted to target Liu Meng and had eventually been scared away by Bai Yunfei. [long tao = walk-on part/utility man]


    Bai Yunfei told the girls to move backwards a bit. He himself took a step forwards. Seeing the two men in front of him, he said frowningly: ¡°Young master long tao, why haven¡¯t you gone get your takeaway?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Long Tao was stupefied. Not only did he not understand the meaning of these words suddenly uttered by Bai Yunfei, but the other people at the scene did not either. However, they could all see clearly that Bai Yunfei was looking down on second young master Long in front of him...


    ¡°Humph! Such an arrogant brat! Looks like you really have no respect for the house of Long!¡±


    Before Long Tao could say anything, that tall and large man with a full beard beside him was the first to respond.


    Bai Yunfei took a look at him then at Long Tao. Feeling that they were somewhat similar in appearance, he asked doubtfully: ¡°Could it be you¡¯re his father? Are you Long Gang or something?¡±


    ¡°I... I am his brother!¡± The bearded large man roared, his face reddening.


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re his brother?¡± Bai Yunfei compared the two of them a bit again then clicked his tongue a couple of times, asking: ¡°You¡¯re his brother, then you¡¯re the first young master Long right? What¡¯s your name?¡±


    First young master Long gave a cold snort and said with a totally arrogant expression: ¡°Correct! I¡¯m the first young master of the Long... Long Tao!¡±


    TL Note: This Tao is different from the Tao in second young master Long¡¯s name.


    The corners of Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth twitched. A breath almost got stuck in his throat. After staring at them for a long time, he finally could not help bursting out a laugh.


    ¡°After so much talking, turns out you¡¯re a long tao as well! Really, no wonder you¡¯re brothers! You¡¯re a long tao duo! Ha ha...¡±


    Under the curious observation of a group of men, Bai Yunfei laughed out loud so exaggeratedly. In his mind, he felt that these two brothers¡¯ names were really so funny. Of course, as the only person who knew the meaning of the words ¡®long tao¡¯, only he understood this, although he himself had no idea how he knew it either.


    ¡°Humph! Insane and crazy language! It¡¯s baffling! All of you go up for me! Break his legs first then bring him back and torture him!¡± Long Tao [the big brother] shouted furiously to the twenty something subordinates around. He was infuriated so much by Bai Yunfei¡¯s inexplicable mockery that his beard trembled into disorder.


    Bai Yunfei stopped laughing and cast a look at the men who were gradually surrounding him, but there was no sign of panic in his eyes. He gave the two girls behind him a hint with his eyes and they cooperated by retreating again. There was not a trace of panic in their eyes either. They knew that these people would not be able to do anything to a soul cultivator like Bai Yunfei.


    The fight was finished very quickly. Almost every one of the twenty something men who charged up could only come face to face with Bai Yunfei for a moment before curling up on the ground hugging his stomach and foaming at the mouth...


    When Long Tao [the big brother] saw Bai Yunfei standing in the middle of the pile of men looking at himself with an expression suggesting that he had not had enough of it, his expression became extremely unsightly. He said with hatred: ¡°Humph! A soul cultivator! So what? I¡¯ll personally deal with you!¡±


    His entire body¡¯s muscles bulging out, he charged at Bai Yunfei with a ferocious expression. Seeing this, Bai Yunfei curled his mouth slightly¡ªnow, a late Soul Personage was already no longer a threat to him.


    Just then he had not unleashed his soulforce so the enemy did not know how powerful he was. Now that the enemy was already charging up, Bai Yunfei did not feel like dragging out the fight either. He channeled his soulforce, his eyes flashing with a tinge of shrewdness. With a shake of his body, he dashed up to the enemy¡¯s face in just an instant. Under the astounded look in the opponent¡¯s eyes, he struck a blow with his right fist. This fierce punch smashed into the opponent¡¯s stomach, sending him flying. At the same time, he once again shouted a line that nobody at the scene understood.


    ¡°Your part is already over. Get your takeaway and leave!!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 59: An Inexplicable Attack!

    Book 1 Chapter 59: An inexplicable attack


    Bai Yunfei did not apply the Overlapping Waves Art to this punch, but even so, it was already too much for a late Soul Personage like Long Tao [the big brother] to withstand. Only after staggering backwards five or six steps in a row was he able to control his body, preventing it from falling down.


    ¡°Soul Warrior!¡± Hugging his stomach, Long Tao looked at Bai Yunfei with a face full of amazement.


    ¡°Are you afraid of me now? Too late already!¡± Bai Yunfei gave a soft snort then dashed forwards again.


    Even though Long Tao was shocked in his heart, the opponent was already coming at him, so he had no choice but to fight. The muscles in his entire body bulging out, making a burly man like him look even considerably larger, he threw a fierce punch at Bai Yunfei.


    When he was about to rush up to Long Tao¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei suddenly toppled to one side. Long Tao¡¯s full-power punch could only hit an afterimage. Then, with another shake of the body, Bai Yunfei appeared on his left hand side. After giving him a significant look, he raised his right hand and hit him in the face with a resounding slap.


    Afterwards, under the dumbfounded looks in the onlookers¡¯ eyes, as if teasing a gorilla, Bai Yunfei used the Wave Treading Steps, creating a string of afterimages that surrounded Long Tao from all sides, making it impossible for Long Tao to hit him regardless of Long Tao¡¯s furious roars and fierce attacks. By contrast, Bai Yunfei hit the opponent with one spank after another continuously. At the same time, he ¡®scolded¡¯ the opponent in a seemingly excited manner.


    ¡°This is for acting like you¡¯re a big shot!


    ¡°This is for your unshaven beard!


    ¡°This is for using your family¡¯s power to bully people!


    ¡°This is for being long tao! [playing a walk-on part]


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Before long, Long Tao¡¯s face swelled up, looking like the face of a pig, and even a bearded pig at that¡­


    Seeming to have played enough, Bai Yunfei sent the opponent flying directly again with a fierce spank while shouting loudly:


    ¡°My last words for you: Your part is already over. Get your takeaway and leave!!¡±


    Long Tao flew away more than two meters while spinning before finally falling to the ground. He then spouted a mouthful of blood, which seemed to also contain two teeth. As he looked at Bai Yunfei, his eyes were full of horror and extreme humiliation as well ¡ª despite being a late Soul Personage, he had been played with just like that. This is such an insult!


    After sending the big brother flying, Bai Yunfei clapped his hands and slowly turned to look at the dumbstruck younger brother Long Tao on one side. Somehow, as soon as he thought about how this man had wanted to target Liu Meng yesterday, he felt exceptionally annoyed inside. Giving a cold snort, he slowly walked towards the opponent.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s cold snort woke Long Tao up with a start. When he saw that Bai Yunfei was walking towards himself, his face was immediately filled with extreme terror. He subconsciously wanted to retreat but because he was too nervous, he lost his balance and fell on his buttocks to the ground. Using all his limbs together to move backwards continuously, he said in a trembling voice at the same time: ¡°You, what do you want to do?! Don¡¯t, don¡¯t come here! My, my brother is¡­¡± Only at this point did he suddenly remember that the opponent had beaten the living daylights out of his brother and hurriedly change his words: ¡°My father is Long Gang! My Long family has lots of experts! You can¡¯t hurt me!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with disdain, but he still halted his steps ¡®as he had been told¡¯. Just when the opponent let out a sigh of relief, he shot three streaks of cold light out all of a sudden with a flick of his right hand!


    Long Tao could only hear three soft sounds. When he lowered his head doubtfully to take a look, his face suddenly went deathly pale and he broke into a cold sweat ¡ª he saw that two daggers with cold sparkles had stuck into the ground near the two places where the index fingers and thumbs of his hands met, almost nailing his hands to the ground! But what terrified him the most was that another dagger had stuck into the area between his thighs! Having cut a hole in the crotch of his pants, the dagger was stuck firmly in the ground. He could even feel strands of cold air coming to his crotch from the dagger!


    Seeing that Long Tao was so frightened that he was about to piss his pants, Bai Yunfei suddenly got bored and lost interest. He waved his hand as if chasing a fly away, saying: ¡°All of you get lost!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­


    After watching this group of men roll and crawl away then disappear in the distance, Bai Yunfei shook his head in frustration, sighing softly: ¡°Alas, this is really cliched.¡±


    ¡°Are you okay, Yunfei?¡± Liu Meng asked after walking up to Bai Yunfei, who was taking back the daggers.


    ¡°Oh, of course I¡¯m okay. How cold they have hurt me?¡± He smiled at her and said complacently.


    ¡°Yunfei, actually you shouldn¡¯t have played with them like that¡­ The Long family is quite powerful in this city. I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± Looking in the direction where those men had disappeared, Liu Meng said while frowning slightly.


    ¡°Er¡­ You¡¯re right, Meng¡¯er. I got a little carried away. As soon as I thought of the fact that they were both long tao, I couldn¡¯t help trampling on them ruthlessly¡­¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his head, also realizing that he had seemed to have gone a bit too far just then, ¡°But there shouldn¡¯t be any problem. This can only be considered a dispute between juniors at most. Plus now he also knows my power level already so he shouldn¡¯t come to bother me again¡­¡±


    ¡°Alas, I hope so.¡± Liu Meng sighed softly, ¡°Forget it. Don¡¯t talk about them. Let¡¯s find a restaurant and have dinner, Yunfei¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The moon was bright and the stars were few. It was already night. Bai Yunfei was walking quietly in an alleyway, heading for the tavern where he was living.


    ¡°Alas¡­ Why did I agree again? I obviously planned to leave tomorrow¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed while walking with his head lowered, ¡°Tomorrow I¡¯m going to Cuihua Temple in the east part of the city to burn incense sticks. Why at that time did I agree even without thinking¡­?¡±


    Although he secretly regretted agreeing to stay in Cuiliu City, from the bottom of his heart, he also looked forward to the stroll tomorrow. His mind was in a somewhat chaotic state, not knowing what was going on with himself¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s stay for one day, just one day. There shouldn¡¯t be any problem.¡± Consoling himself in his mind like this, when he was ready to quicken his pace, his expression suddenly changed. He halted his steps and stared at an alleyway on the right of a fork, saying solemnly: ¡°Who?! Come out!¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, you¡¯re so vigilant, little brother.¡± Following a soft laugh, a silhouette walked out slowly. Judging from the voice just then, this should be an old man. He was not tall and was empty-handed. Although he had walked out, he was still hiding in the dark, making it impossible to see his face clearly.


    ¡°Who are you? What do you want to do?¡± Bai Yunfei asked frowningly. His right hand had already been put behind his back. At the same time, his mind was racing. Could it be the opponent was a man of the Long family? Or was this a man from the Glacial School?


    That old man seemed to size up Bai Yunfei a few times then said smilingly as before: ¡°You don¡¯t know who I am. I¡¯m not sure about your identity either. So, let¡¯s exchange a few blows to find out!¡±


    As soon as he finished talking, he unexpectedly launched his attack without a warning sign!


    ¡°So fast!¡± Seeing the opponent charging at him, Bai Yunfei was secretly frightened. However, this was not shown on his face at all. With a slip of his feet, his body quickly retreated. At the same time, he shot two daggers at the enemy with a flick of his right hand.


    The opponent seemed to have known earlier that Bai Yunfei would use this move. He leaned his body to one side slightly, avoiding the daggers, then rushed up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face without slowing down.


    Making use of the moonlight, Bai Yunfei finally saw the attacker¡¯s appearance clearly. His hair was salt and pepper. His face did not look old at all, but because he was smiling at the moment, there were several wrinkles on his face. This man was looking at Bai Yunfei with narrowed eyes while making an extremely fierce grab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat with his right hand!


    Just when he was about to succeed, Bai Yunfei suddenly fell backwards. Then he dodged in a strange arc to the other side with a tilt of his body.


    Before he could make another move, he felt a great force come from his left waist. It turned out the old man had instantly turned the claw into a palm and hit him in the waist in a seemingly gentle manner.


    The huge force of impact caused Bai Yunfei to take two steps towards one side involuntarily. Seeing that the old man¡¯s second palm strike was coming at him, he gave a cold snort. With another slip of his feet, two afterimages appeared in the small area around him. But he did not sheer away. Instead, he turned his body instantly and threw a punch at the enemy¡¯s heart!


    The enemy was surprised and unexpectedly immediately abandoned the palm strike that was coming at Bai Yunfei. Withdrawing his right hand like lightning, he overlapped his hands in front of his chest, wanting to take this punch from Bai Yunfei head-on!


    His eyes flashing, his right arm¡¯s muscles bulging out, Bai Yunfei suddenly accelerated his attack halfway through.


    Overlapping Waves Art, Ninefold Fist Force!


    Bang!


    A deep sound was heard. That old man¡¯s eye flashed with a tinge of amazement. His body retreated continuously. With every step he took, crackles rang out from under his feet. It turned out his feet were breaking the bluestone slabs under him into pieces!


    After the old man backed off nearly ten meters, he stopped moving, having finally neutralized the impact force of the Ninefold Fist Force, and shook his hands. Unexpectedly, he seemed not injured at all!

 Chapter 60: Bloodhowl Wolf Kings Adopted Son, Hong Yin

    Chapter 60: Bloodhowl Wolf King''s Adopted Son, Hong Yin


    After the old man backed off nearly ten meters, he stopped moving, having neutralized the impact force of the Ninefold Fist Force, and shook his hands. Unexpectedly, he seemed not injured at all!


    However, instead of attacking again, he suddenly waved his hands, saying, ¡°Wait, wait! Let¡¯s stop fighting! Let¡¯s stop fighting! I...¡±


    But before he could finish what he was saying, two streaks of cold light were shot at him and they arrived in the blink of an eye!


    The old man¡¯s eyes widened. He conveniently waved his hand in front of him and caught hold of the two daggers. Looking at Bai Yunfei in front of him, who was holding two other daggers staring hard at him, the old man said with some amazement, ¡°Such a ruthless brat. I already told you to stop fighting, why did you still attack?!¡±


    Despite these words, Bai Yunfei did not relax at all. He was still staring expressionlessly at the opponent, ready to shoot the daggers in his hand out anytime. At the same time, he slowly retreated. Only when there was a distance of about twenty meters between them did he slowly asked, ¡°Who are you actually? Why did you attack me without reason?¡±


    Hearing his words, the old man seemed to be embarrassed for a moment then waved his hands, saying, ¡°Er, never mind, little brother. I just wanted to confirm one thing. I had no ill intentions.¡±


    Bai Yunfei frowned slightly, asking, ¡°What did you want to confirm?¡±


    ¡°Well, I just wanted to confirm a bit the two soul skills you used just now.¡± The old man said smilingly, ¡°Now I¡¯ve already confirmed that they are indeed the Wave Treading Steps and the Overlapping Waves Art...¡±


    ¡°You know about these two soul skills ?¡± Upon hearing the old man¡¯s words, Bai Yunfei was stupefied then said in amazement, ¡°Do you know senior Ge Yiyun?¡±


    ¡°Oh? My senior brother even told you his name?¡± This time that old man was a bit astounded.


    ¡°You¡¯re his junior brother?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, correct.¡±


    Bai Yunfei fell silent. He did not know if what the old man said was true, but at least he had no malice. Simply judging from the fact that he had been able to take his own Ninefold Fist Force with ease, he could tell that he himself was no match for him. It was probably because the old man had intended to test him that he had been able to detect him.


    After keeping silent for a while, Bai Yunfei put away the daggers, but he was yet to relax his guard completely. He asked, ¡°Why did you find me, senior?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The old man was slightly dumbfounded, but after thinking for a bit, he said in a somewhat embarrassed manner, ¡°Er, actually there was no reason. It was just that in the evening in the city I saw that you seemed to use the Wave Treading Steps when fighting those men of the Long family so I came to confirm it a bit, and to conveniently ask about my senior brother¡¯s whereabouts.¡±


    ¡°As his junior brother, why don¡¯t you know his whereabouts?¡± Bai Yunfei asked doubtfully.


    ¡°My senior brother doesn¡¯t like to stay in touch with other people. Plus, I¡¯m not powerful enough to work out where he¡¯s gone to...¡± The old man said in frustration.


    Bai Yunfei frowned slightly, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know where senior Ge Yiyun has gone to at all. But he should still be in this Azure Cloud Province. Several days ago I ran into him on a mountain to the south of Jade Willow City.¡±


    Seeing a thoughtful expression show up on his face, Bai Yunfei did not want to stay longer. He folded his hands in salute, saying, ¡°Senior, if you don¡¯t have anything else to say, I¡¯ll take my leave now.¡±


    ......


    As the old man watched Bai Yunfei gradually go away, there was a trace of astonishment on his face. He then shook his head lightly, saying to himself, ¡°It seems this brat still doesn¡¯t trust me. Does he have to be so vigilant? How can an elder of the Fate School like me possibly fool you? Really... But this also means that there¡¯s something special about him. At least being careful in everything can¡¯t go wrong.


    ¡°Senior brother has been traveling the world for over two years. How many people who can neutralize our school¡¯s tribulation has he found, I wonder...? Several months ago, a secular disciple reported that he had gone into Azure Cloud Province but there¡¯s been no news about him ever since. From what this brat said, he should still be in this place. But why? What is he looking for that he¡¯s been staying here for several months? Is there something that requires him to put in so much time?¡±


    The more the old man guessed, the more doubtful his face looked. In the end, he let out a soft sigh, turned around and disappeared into the night.


    ......


    Under the night sky, a tall and straight silhouette was standing on a relatively high roof, looking thoughtfully into the distance at an alleyway more than a thousand meters away. What he was fixing his eyes on was none other than the alleyway where Bai Yunfei and the old man had just met.


    Judging from his appearance, he should be no more than thirty years old. His body was tall and straight, his robe silver and his hair long. Although he could not be considered handsome, there was an air of heroism about him. On his shoulder, there was unexpectedly a palm-sized white little animal that looked like a rat.


    This man stared into the distance for a long time. In the end he withdrew his eyes. Just when he was about to turn around and leave, the expression on his face suddenly changed. He turned around abruptly.


    A person was already standing on the roof behind him and this person was none other than the old man who had just talked with Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Brat, you¡¯ve been watching for so long. What¡¯s this all about? Me, or that little fella?¡± Seeming to have already anticipated the opponent¡¯s actions, the old man said solemnly while staring expressionlessly at him.


    That man was startled at first, but he immediately reacted. Taking two steps backwards, he saluted the old man respectfully and said, ¡°I am Hong Yin. It is an honor to meet you, senior Qin Zheng.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you recognize me?¡± The old man was slightly surprised.


    ¡°Twenty years ago, my foster father took me with him and paid a visit to the Fate School, and I had the good fortune to see you once.¡± That young man named Hong Yin still said respectfully, then gave a little compliment, ¡°Who would have thought you would still be as gracious as before after twenty years?¡±


    The expression on Qin Zheng¡¯s face became much more relaxed. He asked, ¡°Twenty years ago? Your foster father is...¡±


    ¡°Bloodhowl.¡±


    The moment Qin Zheng heard this name, he was obviously startled a bit. He then frowned slightly and asked doubtfully, ¡°You¡¯re the adopted son of the Bloodhowl Wolf King? Are you that rumored person? Have you got anything to prove this?¡±


    Right after these words were said, seeming to notice Qin Zheng¡¯s doubtful tone, the little animal on Hong Yin¡¯s shoulder arched its back slightly and squeaked at him a couple of times. Apparently it was somewhat angry.


    ¡°Oh? This is... a River Churning Rat! Plus... one in the middle phase of level five!¡± Earlier, Qin Zheng had not cared about this little animal at all, but now he immediately said in a somewhat amazed manner after observing it attentively for a while.


    Hong Yin gave a smile then stroked the little animal on his shoulder to calm it down and replied, ¡°You¡¯re so observant, senior. He is my friend, Xiao Tang.¡±


    Afterwards, with a shake of his hand, a white dagger appeared in his hand. Actually, it was somewhat inappropriate to call it a dagger because if one looked at it carefully, they would find that it looked more like a tooth of a certain animal.


    ¡°I think this object should be enough to prove my identity, right?¡±


    At first Qin Zheng was somewhat astounded because Hong Yin had called the soulbeast his friend. Now, seeing this dagger, he raised his eyebrows again, saying in slight amazement, ¡°Bloodhowl Fang! Yeah, it really can prove that what you said was true.¡±


    He then pondered for a while before continuing to ask, ¡°Then why are you here? Could it be because of that little fella? It¡¯s very likely that he¡¯ll be extremely important to my Fate School in the future. You can¡¯t touch him!¡±


    Hong Yin was stupefied then hurriedly explained, ¡°You¡¯re mistaken, senior. I don¡¯t know that little brother at all. I watched from this place only because I saw you.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why me? What do you find me for?¡± Qin Zheng asked doubtfully.


    ¡°In fact, I want to ask you a little about senior Ge Yiyun¡¯s whereabouts.¡± Hong Yin thought for a bit, ¡°A few days ago I accidentally found out that senior Ge Yiyun was in Azure Cloud Province so I came here right away. I want to invite him...¡±


    ¡°Because of that matter again, right?¡± Before Hong Yin could finish what he was saying, Qin Zheng already knew what he wanted to say. He gave a soft sigh, saying, ¡°Alas, your foster father should have already told you it¡¯s almost impossible to get this matter done, right?¡±


    Hong Yin¡¯s expression darkened and looked disappointed for a moment, but he immediately recovered and said with a face full of resolution, ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try no matter what! Perhaps... if senior Ge Yiyun agrees to give it another try, we may find a method...¡±


    ¡°Well... As you¡¯ve already made your decision, I won¡¯t mention it again. Just do as you please. Hopefully with your special status you can change this ¡®fate¡¯ which the entire soulbeast clan has been unable to change for more than a thousand years...¡± Qin Zheng had no choice but to shake his head.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got something to do too so I won¡¯t stay here. My senior brother... I don¡¯t know where he is either. If you want to see him, just look for him yourself!¡± Qin Zheng turned around and left. A message then came into Hong Yin¡¯s ears from afar.


    ¡°Your ¡®fate¡¯ shows a ¡®fate division¡¯ tendency in this Jade Willow City. I can¡¯t look too much into your future, and I can¡¯t tell you too much either, but you should grasp this opportunity...¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 61: Meeting Qiu Luliu Again

    Book 1 Chapter 61: Meeting Qiu Luliu again


    The next day, Bai Yunfei still arrived at the agreed place half an hour early as before.


    The sunlight seemed to be especially tender this morning. Everything looked vibrant, whether the grass on the ground or the weeping willows on the shores.


    Bai Yunfei stood on the roadside, gazing at the willow trees that were fluttering in the wind on one side, his eyes somewhat unfocused.


    ¡°It¡¯s been two days since I arrived in this Cuiliu City but I haven¡¯t noticed anything unusual. Could it be the Zhang family¡¯s or I should say the Glacial School¡¯s forces haven¡¯t reached this place yet? Is this because¡­ of the existence of the Green Willow School?


    ¡°I wonder if the two long tao brothers of that Long family will come to trouble me again. The Long family is quite influential in this place so it should have several soul cultivators. Last time I merely bullied two good-for-nothings so they didn¡¯t have too many men with them. If they still want to retaliate¡­


    ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯d still be better for me to leave early? Then let¡¯s leave this place tomorrow! After strolling about today, I¡¯ll tell Liu Meng clearly that I¡¯ll leave tomorrow in the early morning¡­¡±


    Although he had made his decision, another feeling was bred in his mind. Was it¡­ unwillingness? Bai Yunfei shook his head gently with a forced smile and scolded himself for being hopeless and having become so indecisive.


    ¡°Bai¡­ Bai Yunfei?¡±


    Just when his mind was in an emotional turmoil, a reluctant voice rang out behind him. Slightly startled, he immediately turned around to take a look.


    He saw a tall young girl dressed in emerald green clothes looking at him with a pleasantly surprised expression. Bai Yunfei was slightly stupefied and said in astonishment: ¡°Qiu Luliu! Why are you here?¡±


    This young girl was none other than Qiu Luliu, disciple of the Green Willow School, who had come to rescue her junior sister at that time when Bai Yunfei had stabbed Zhang Yang to death.


    ¡°These words should have been said by me, right? Who would have thought it would really be you? I even suspected I got the wrong person!¡± Qiu Luliu walked up to Bai Yunfei smilingly. After sizing him up a bit, she said doubtfully: ¡°Why are you in Cuiliu City?¡±


    At this point, seeming to suddenly remember something, she subconsciously looked around, saying in a low voice: ¡°Right, now the Zhang family is looking for you everywhere. You must be careful! Last time, about ten days after we parted ways, Zhang Yang¡¯s father Zhang Zhenshan came looking for me and wanted me to reveal your appearance and whereabouts. I was able to casually fool him. Now that I know you¡¯re safe and sound, I can rest easy. But you¡¯re really quite something. I didn¡¯t expect you to be able to avoid the Zhang family¡¯s stool pigeons to reach this place¡­¡±


    Hearing her words, Bai Yunfei was slightly dumbfounded then said with a forced smile: ¡°I wasn¡¯t so lucky. Zhang Zhenshan caught up with me later and it was so difficult for me to escape¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! He caught up with you?¡± Qiu Luliu exclaimed in a low voice, ¡°Plus, you were unexpectedly able to escape? How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°Er, this is a long story. At that time he¡­¡±


    ¡°Alas, this is not the right place for us to talk about this. How about going to a tea house to have a chat? Since we hurriedly parted ways last time, I¡¯ve always wanted to thank you properly for saving my junior sister.¡± Qiu Luliu said smilingly while looking around.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Bai Yunfei looked at the streets in the city then said in a somewhat embarrassed manner, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do this today. I already agreed to meet someone and I¡¯m waiting for her here¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡± Qiu Luliu thought for a bit and said, ¡°Then, how about tomorrow? This will give me just enough time to go back to my school and tell my junior sister. She¡¯ll definitely be very happy. Tomorrow we¡¯ll talk about what happened together, okay?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked doubtfully: ¡°Go back to your school? Oh, that¡¯s right. The Green Willow School is around this Cuiliu City, isn¡¯t it? Is it far from here? If it¡¯s too far, you don¡¯t have to take the trouble to do it, Miss Qiu.¡±


    ¡°Never mind. The Green Willow School¡¯s headquarters is a large manor not far to the west of the city.¡± Qiu Luliu said laughingly: ¡°Ha ha, I really didn¡¯t expect that I¡¯d run into you when I go out today. I think my junior sister Yuhe will be very happy to see you again too. You know what, she often talks about you, her ¡®lifesaver¡¯, again and again, he he¡­¡±


    The image of that lovely petite girl hiding timidly behind Qiu Luliu emerged in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. He could not help giving a laugh inwardly, asking: ¡°Right, how is Miss Chu now? She¡¯s already started training, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course. My master loves this little disciple very much. Junior sister is very well-behaved and hardworking too. With my master¡¯s help, her soulforce awakened very quickly. Now she¡¯s already about to reach the middle Soul Apprentice stage!¡± Qiu Luliu seemed to be especially happy when talking about Chu Yuhe. One could tell that she really loved this little junior sister dearly.


    Bai Yunfei also said smilingly with a nod: ¡°Oh, it¡¯s good to know that. Where are we going to meet tomorrow? And when?¡±


    ¡°This¡­ Let¡¯s do it this way. Just tell me the name of the tavern where you¡¯re staying and I¡¯ll come to look for you later. I¡¯ve still got some things to do so I don¡¯t know exactly when I¡¯ll be there, but it¡¯ll definitely before afternoon¡­¡± Qiu Luliu thought for a bit and said.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll be waiting for you then. I¡¯m staying in¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After watching Qiu Luliu go away, Bai Yunfei shifted his eyes, searching the crowd a bit, and said doubtfully with his head lowered: ¡°What¡¯s going on with Meng¡¯er? Why hasn¡¯t she come yet? Could it be she¡¯s sick again?¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯m sorry for making you wait for a long time again¡­¡±


    Just when Bai Yunfei was worried inside, Liu Meng¡¯s voice suddenly rang out. Happy in his heart, he raised his head to take a look and saw her looking at him smilingly with her hands behind her back from several meters away. Her long dress was white and her beautiful hair was like a waterfall with several strands sticking to her cheeks. When the wind blew past her, her silky hair flew upwards and her dress fluttered, making her look like a descending fairy in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes¡­


    After seeing the slim and graceful young girl in front of him, Bai Yunfei unexpectedly had no reaction for a short time. He just stared at her in a somewhat stupefied manner.


    ¡°Mis-ter-Yun-fei!! Wake up please!¡±


    A sassy shout came into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears, waking him up with a start. Seeing Xiao Ning chuckling with her mouth covered, he laughed in a somewhat embarrassed manner and said: ¡°You¡¯re finally here, Meng¡¯er. You¡¯re okay, right? Did you feel sick again today?¡±


    Hearing his words, Liu Meng suddenly blushed a little. On one side, Xiao Ning was the first to reply: ¡°Hey, mister Yunfei, are you blaming my young lady for being late? Really, don¡¯t you know that every girl has to spend time dressing up before going out? Humph, my young lady even specially dressed up for so long. Could it be you haven¡¯t noticed that she looks more beautiful than yesterday?¡±


    ¡°What are you saying, Xiao Ning?! When did I specially dress up¡­?¡±Liu Meng pinched Xiao Ning¡¯s arms lightly a bit and said discontentedly.


    Reproved by Xiao Ning once again, Bai Yunfei gave a couple of dry coughs in an embarrassed manner and changed the topic of conversation: ¡°Um, it¡¯s about time already. Meng¡¯er, let¡¯s set off for that Cuihua Temple now.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The three of them walked on a grassy road, talking and laughing with each other, slowly heading for that Cuihua Temple. As they went on their way, there were gradually more and more people around them. The temple¡¯s fortune sticks were said to be especially accurate, therefore quite a lot of people wanted to go there to burn incense sticks and make wishes or to stroll about and relieve boredom.


    The closer it got to midday, the more intense the sun became. Even the air became hot and dry. Xiao Ning had already opened a pink oil-paper umbrella, blocking out all the sunlight that shone on her and Liu Meng.


    Seeing Bai Yunfei begin to squint because of the scorching sun, Liu Meng seemed to suddenly remember something. She halted her steps and said softly: ¡°Right, Yunfei, I almost forgot that I have something to give you!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised, ¡°Something to give me? What is it?¡±


    Liu Meng reached out a jade-like hand with a smile. A circular object appeared in her hand ¡ª it was unexpectedly a golden straw hat¡­


    ¡°I remember that when we met for the first time, you were wearing a straw hat, but it seemed already very tattered. When I went out today, I happened to see someone selling this kind of hat on the side of a street so I bought a new one for you. Take it and put it on. It can block out the sunlight.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei received straw hat, which was bright golden and also had a red stripe on the side, and was stupefied speechlessly for a long time. Actually he was extremely happy inside. He had not expected Liu Meng to give him a ¡®present¡¯, but¡­ why did it have to be a straw hat??


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei? You¡¯re not happy?¡±


    Liu Meng¡¯s doubtful voice rang out. Bai Yunfei regained his composure and hurriedly said: ¡°Oh? No, no. I¡¯m very happy. Ha ha, thank you, Meng¡¯er¡­¡±


    As he talked, he put the straw hat on his head directly, a happy smile showing up on his face. He then pressed it down a bit and immediately no longer felt the scorching sun. There was an indescribable ¡®cool¡¯ feeling in not only his body, but also in his heart¡­


    ¡°Mister Yunfei, my young lady has given you a present. Shouldn¡¯t you express your gratitude a bit?¡±


    ¡°Ah? Oh, of course, of course, I will¡­¡±


    Xiao Ning¡¯s teasing voice and Bai Yunfei¡¯s embarrassed reply drifted into the air. The three silhouettes got farther and farther away¡­

 Chapter 62: The +10 Additional Effects of Accessories

    Chapter 62: The +10 Additional Effects of Accessories


    In the morning of the next day,


    Bai Yunfei was sitting with legs crossed on the bed looking at an orange bracelet in his hand with a slight frown.Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    The information in his mind disappointed him for a while again. He reached his hand out to one side and tilted his palm. An amount of dust fell down and piled up on a piece of white cloth beside him. That basin-sized piece of white cloth had already been sprinkled with various powders of different colors. These powders were what was left of the pieces of jewelry that had been destroyed by failed upgrades in just the last two hours.


    Because today Bai Yunfei had to wait for Qiu Luliu to come looking for him, he did not go anywhere. According to his original plan, he should leave today, but now he had no choice but to stay for another day. Because he did not know when Qiu Luliu would arrive, he had decided to make use of this period of time to continue his research into jewelry upgrades.


    ¡°It was the fifth one. I still haven¡¯t even got a +9 item. Somehow I feel that upgrading jewelry must be harder than upgrading weapons and defensive items?¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head in frustration. After being depressed inwardly for a while, he took out a milky white pearl necklace.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High


    Upgrade Level: +9


    Additional Attribute: +23 Agility


    Upgrade Requirement: 17 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei had a happy expression, ¡°I¡¯ve finally succeeded!¡±


    Putting this +9 necklace down to one side, he took out another bracelet and continued to upgrade it. Unfortunately, he failed again and it was destroyed.


    Either because it really was more difficult to upgrade jewelry or because Bai Yunfei was unlucky, out of the twelve pieces of jewelry he upgraded afterwards, he was only able to obtain two +9 items, a bracelet and a ring.


    ¡°Alas...¡± Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of frustration again and looked outside the window. It was already morning, ¡°Qiu Luliu said that she¡¯d arrive before afternoon. She should be here soon. Will I just call it a day like this? But... I don¡¯t want to give up! Let¡¯s just upgrade these three items to see what will happen! If I successfully upgrade one of them, I¡¯ll know the additional effect of a +10 piece of jewelry!¡±


    As soon as Bai Yunfei thought about this, he no longer cared about the fact that it had taken him several hours of hard work to obtain these items. As he picked up that necklace, his eyes showed an expression of expectation.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    ¡°Alas! I was indeed too naive to think so!" With a whimper in his mind, Bai Yunfei scattered the powder in his hand sadly and picked up that +9 ring.


    ¡°Now that I already started, I can¡¯t give up halfway through no matter what!


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±Upgrade Successful


    At first, subconsciously Bai Yunfei was prepared to sigh, but now he was suddenly dumbstruck for a moment then had an ecstatic expression: ¡°I unexpectedly, unexpectedly succeeded!¡±


    In an excited state of mind, Bai Yunfei looked at the ring in his hand impatiently and gave it a thought.Equipment Grade: High


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: +32 Endurance


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase attack speed by 2%


    Upgrade Requirement: 21 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei frowned slightly, ¡°An addition of 32 endurance would mean wearing this ring alone would increase an ordinary person¡¯s endurance by 30%... But it means almost nothing to soul cultivators. Attack speed? Is this an additional ¡®stat¡¯? This is the first time I¡¯ve seen something like this. Let¡¯s give it a try...¡±


    Bai Yunfei sat straigt up, gently took a breath, clenched his right fist and punched into the air, creating an area of afterimages in front of him. At the same time, his eyes showed a thoughtful expression, looking like he was experiencing something silently.


    After several breaths, he stopped his movements and put that ring on his left hand¡¯s index finger.


    The moment he wore the ring, he felt a wonderful feeling. Although it was extremely faint, he could still feel it clearly. His endurance had become even more bountiful¡ªthis was the ¡®Endurance +32¡¯ effect.


    After taking a deep breath, he raised his arm and began to punch into the air as before. A short while later, he stopped his movements and pondered with his head lowered.


    ¡°A 2% increase to attack speed is very good! Though this increase is very small in degree, but unlike those effects with chances of being triggered, I only need to wear this ring for it to be effective! This way, my power has also improved a bit!


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity I can¡¯t put two rings on one hand at the same time...¡± Bai Yunfei thought with some regret while looking at his own hands.


    Regarding jewelry, only the first item was effective when worn, which also meant only one ring and one bracelet could be put on an arm. This was also true for earrings and necklaces, that is, an additional earring or necklace would be completely ineffective when worn.


    Bai Yunfei picked up the last item, that +9 light blue bracelet, with a hesitant expression on his face, ¡°Then... Should I continue to upgrade this one?¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, are you there?¡±


    When Bai Yunfei was hesitating, the voice of a girl suddenly rang out outside the door.


    ¡°Miss Qiu has arrived? Oh, no, this is... Meng¡¯er¡¯s voice!¡± Startled, Bai Yunfei hurriedly got off the bed, properly put on his shoes and walked towards the door of the room.


    After he opened the door, he saw a young girl in blue clothes standing smilingly at the door. She was none other than Liu Meng. Beside her, the servant girl Xiao Ning was looking around somewhat curiously.


    ¡°Meng¡¯er? Why have you come here?¡± Bai Yunfei was amazed in his mind. Temporarily he even forgot to tell them to enter the room.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? I can¡¯t come to look for you?¡± Liu Meng asked with the same smiling expression.


    ¡°Er, no, of course you can...¡±


    ¡°Young master Yunfei, you should invite my young lady into the room. Could it be you want to have a talk while standing at this door? Or could it be there¡¯s another girl hiding in your room so you don¡¯t dare to let my young lady come in?¡± The little servant girl Xiao Ning always had a sharp tongue. With just a few words, she made Bai Yunfei feel extremely embarrassed again. He hurriedly let the two of them go into the room.


    ¡°Meng¡¯er, didn¡¯t I tell you yesterday that I¡¯ll have something to do today so I can¡¯t be with you? Why have you...¡± Bai Yunfei said doubtfully while looking at Liu Meng, who was sizing up the room with a bit of curiosity.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei? You¡¯re not happy with me coming to look for you?¡± Liu Meng asked softly, her tone seeming to carry a trace of disappointment.


    ¡°No, of course that¡¯s not true. I just... I¡¯ll probably have to go out in a while, so...¡± Bai Yunfei hurriedly explained. As soon as he heard Liu Meng¡¯s tone, there was an indescribable trace of nervousness in his heart.


    Seeing Bai Yunfei¡¯s totally anxious expression, Liu Meng smiled again, saying, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll just stay for a while then leave. Is this okay?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that... That¡¯s fine...¡± Bai Yunfei hesitated in his mind for a moment. It seemed he subconsciously did not want to let Qiu Luliu and her meet each other.


    ¡°Oh? This bracelet is so beautiful!¡± Liu Meng¡¯s surprised voice rang out. Bai Yunfei lifted his head to take a look and his heart immediately tightened. It turned out before hurriedly going to open the door, he had casually put that +9 bracelet on the table. Now it had been found by Liu Meng and she was holding it in her hand observing it carefully.


    ¡°Mmm, it¡¯s so beautiful! Light blue, just happens to match young lady¡¯s clothes.¡± On one side, Xiao Ning was also looking eagerly at this bracelet. Suddenly her eyes rolled and she turned to Bai Yunfei, saying laughingly, ¡°He he, Mister Yunfei, could it be... this is the present you bought to give my young lady? Yesterday, after my young lady gave you that straw hat, you promised to give her a gift in return. Who would have thought you would get it ready so fast?¡±


    When Liu Meng heard her words, her eyes flashed with a tinge of surprise, her face slightly reddening. She lifted her eyes looking at Bai Yunfei. In her eyes, there seemed to be... a trace of hope?


    ¡°This...¡± Bai Yunfei felt somewhat awkward, not knowing what he should do.Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 63: Is This Jealousy?

    Book 1 Chapter 63: Is this jealousy?


    ¡°This¡­¡± Bai Yunfei felt somewhat awkward, not knowing what he should do.


    Seeing Bai Yunfei¡¯s hesitant expression, Liu Meng¡¯s eyes dimmed for a moment. She lowered her head slightly and put the bracelet back on the table, saying in a low voice: ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense, Xiao Ning. Maybe this bracelet is very important to Yunfei. How can he casually give it to someone else¡­?¡±


    When Bai Yunfei saw Liu Meng act like that and heard her slightly disappointed words, his heart shivered indescribably. There unexpectedly seemed to be a feeling of guilt surging into his heart. He felt that upsetting this young girl in front of him was an unforgivable sin¡­


    ¡°No¡­ That¡¯s not true, Meng¡¯er. This bracelet¡­ Actually I was preparing to give it to you.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glittered. In the end he clenched his teeth, walked up to Liu Meng, picked up the bracelet and put it into her hand, saying smilingly: ¡°Originally I wanted to give it to you the next time we meet. Who would have thought you would come to look for me? This is perfect timing. I¡¯ll just give it to you right now.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Liu Meng raised her head, looking at Bai Yunfei with slightly reddened cheeks.


    ¡°Yeah, I mean it!¡± This time Bai Yunfei said very resolutely. In his heart, even if just for this smiling expression, it was worth giving her this bracelet.


    ¡°He he, I said so, didn¡¯t I? This bracelet was definitely bought to give young lady!¡± Xiao Ning said laughingly on one side, ¡°Humph, Mister Yunfei, you even scared young lady on purpose and almost made her cry. You¡¯re really so mean!¡±


    ¡°Er, this¡­ Just now I didn¡¯t do it on purpose¡­¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his head in an embarrassed manner and said with a placating smile.


    Seeing him behave in such a ¡®foolish¡¯ way, both girls burst out giggling in a lovely manner, making Bai Yunfei even more embarrassed.


    With a smiling expression in her eyes, Liu Meng observed the bracelet in her hand carefully. One could tell that she liked this bracelet quite a lot. After quite some time, she put it on her left wrist.


    Right after she wore this bracelet, she was obviously stupefied for a while. Then she looked at the bracelet on her wrist in a seemingly somewhat doubtful manner before unexpectedly closing her eyes, apparently experiencing something.


    After several breaths¡¯ time, Liu Meng suddenly opened her eyes and raised her head to look at Bai Yunfei. Her face full of disbelief, she said in surprise and bewilderment: ¡°Yunfei, this, this bracelet¡­¡±


    ¡°Here it comes!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart jumped. When he had decided to give this bracelet to her just then, he had already expected the current situation. Now, doing his best to keep a calm exterior, he said smilingly: ¡°Oh, there are some special things about this bracelet¡­ My master gave it to me. It can, can make the person who wears it become more light and agile.¡±


    Hearing Bai Yunfei¡¯s explanation, Liu Meng was slightly stupefied. She observed the bracelet on her wrist carefully again in a rather astounded manner for some time then lowered her head. It was impossible to know what she was thinking.


    Just when Bai Yunfei guessed that this explanation of his was too nonsensical, Liu Meng raised her head again. She unexpectedly looked at him somewhat apologetically, saying: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Yunfei. I didn¡¯t know this bracelet has such a strange function. I, I can¡¯t take¡­¡±


    As she said, she wanted to return the bracelet to Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei was stupefied. It had been very difficult for him to decide to give her this bracelet, but now she said she did not want it. This unexpectedly made him somewhat anxious. He took two steps forwards and grabbed the hand with which Liu Meng wanted to take the bracelet off, saying: ¡°Meng¡¯er, you already put it on, so don¡¯t take it off. I know you like this bracelet, so just accept it. Its effect is not very great anyway¡­¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, you¡­ Please let go of me¡­¡±


    In a state of desperation, Bai Yunfei had been somewhat flustered. Only when he heard Liu Meng¡¯s slightly ashamed whisper now did he suddenly react. He hurriedly let go of her wrist and shook his hands again and again, saying: ¡°Er, Meng¡¯er, I¡­ I didn¡¯t do that on purpose.¡±


    Her face slightly reddening, Liu Meng did not say anything. She no longer wanted to take the bracelet off. Instead, she was gently caressing it with her head lowered.


    Xiao Ning was sitting on one side waiting for the two of them and looking at them with wide open eyes. Her face was full of curiosity about what these two people were saying: Aside from looking somewhat beautiful, what¡¯s so special this bracelet?


    Temporarily, there was a short period of calm inside the room.


    ¡°Right, Yunfei, you said you had something to do. What is it? Can I go with you?¡± Liu Meng was the first to break the tranquility by raising her head and asking after hiding the bracelet into her sleeve.


    ¡°This¡­ I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t. I¡¯m going to talk about the past with two friends. They will come to look for me in a while¡­¡± Bai Yunfei said somewhat awkwardly.


    ¡°Friends? There are still people you know in this Cuiliu City? Why haven¡¯t I heard you mention them?¡± Liu Meng asked curiously.


    ¡°Oh, I just accidentally ran into one of them yesterday. She¡¯s¡­ She¡¯s a disciple of the Green Willow School. Her name is Qiu Luliu¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! A Green Willow School disciple?¡± Hearing these words, Liu Meng immediately said in a somewhat amazed manner. Afterwards, she seemed to remember something and her face unexpectedly became gloomy. She lowered her head again. Nobody knew what she was thinking.


    Bai Yunfei was anxious and hurriedly explained: ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, Meng¡¯er. We¡¯re just ordinary friends. It¡¯s just that¡­ It¡¯s just that in the past I saved her junior sister so when we met by chance this time, she asked me to go and have a chat with them about the past¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still a junior sister?!¡± On one side, Xiao Ning could not help ¡®exclaiming¡¯.


    Sweat was all but come out on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead. He ¡®implored¡¯ with a miserable expression: ¡°Xiao Ning, please don¡¯t cause trouble, will you¡­?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, Yunfei, in fact you don¡¯t need to explain to me.¡± Liu Meng lifted her head to smile at Bai Yunfei and continued: ¡°After all, I¡¯m nothing to you, so I don¡¯t have the right to be angry either¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true, Meng¡¯er. I¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to explain. I know already.¡± Liu Meng still said smilingly: ¡°I won¡¯t disturb you anymore. Your friend will be here in a while so to spare everyone the embarrassment, I¡¯ll leave first. When you and your friends have finished talking about the past, I¡¯ll come to look for you¡­¡±


    Liu Meng suddenly changed her behavior, confusing Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind somewhat. Temporarily he did not know what to say and could only watched in stupefaction as she stood up then slowly walked out of the room.


    ¡°Humph! You¡¯re really such a fool, mister Yunfei! You¡¯ve made me so angry. I won¡¯t care about you anymore!¡± Xiao Ning shook her little fist in front of Bai Yunfei ¡®fiercely¡¯ then walked out after Liu Meng. The moment she went out of the room, she even banged the door open with force.


    ¡°This¡­ I, I obviously didn¡¯t say anything¡­¡±


    Only a good while after the two girls had left did Bai Yunfei murmur in an almost tearful manner.


    ¡­¡­


    In a chaotic state of mind, Bai Yunfei walked back to the bed, lay down and looked absently at the roof with his eyes. Nobody knew what he was thinking¡­


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, are you there?¡±


    A melodious voice came in from outside the door. He sat up as if getting an electric shock and was slightly stupefied. Then he shook his head gently and said in a low voice: ¡°This time I¡¯m sure it¡¯s Miss Qiu here¡­¡±


    The door of the room was open. Qiu Luliu, dressed completely in emerald green clothes, was standing smilingly at the door.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m a bit late. Let¡¯s go right now, okay?¡± Qiu Luliu said slightly apologetically.


    ¡°Oh, never mind, Miss Qiu. I¡¯ve been waiting for just a short time.¡± Bai Yunfei answered politely but he sighed inwardly in frustration, thinking that if she had come and take him out with her a bit earlier, things would have been better, because in that case he would not have inexplicably angered Liu Meng¡­


    Slightly shaking his head, he temporarily put aside this matter. After looking behind Qiu Luliu for a bit, he said doubtfully: ¡°Oh, Miss Chu doesn¡¯t come here?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, you¡¯re right, Mister Yunfei. Yesterday I intended to come and look for you with my junior sister then we would chat about what happened, but after I went back to my school, I blurted this out in front of my master. She¡­ She wants to have a meeting with the young hero who saved her little disciple too, so could I ask you to go to my Green Willow School as a guest? This is not a problem, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh? You master wants to see me? This¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised. Qiu Luliu¡¯s master was none other than the Green Willow School¡¯s headmaster. Who would have thought she would want to see him?


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is there any inconvenience?¡±


    ¡°No, there isn¡¯t. That¡¯s fine. Please lead the way, Miss Qiu¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In a place about ten something Chinese miles to the west of Cuiliu City, there was a massive manor. It had high walls and lofty buildings, looking rather extraordinary. Around the manor, there was a large expanse of greenness, with various rows of willows encircling the manor like guardsmen. The willow twigs swayed gently all the time, making the place look relaxing and pleasing from afar.


    This place was the location of the Green Willow School¡¯s headquarters. A petite silhouette was standing gracefully in front of the main gate.


    She was dressed entirely in white clothes adorned with various emerald green willow leaves. Despite being small in stature, she had a nice and slim figure. Her beautiful hair was long enough to reach her waist. The flat bangs of her hair covered her forehead, making her look very cute. Her slightly rosy cheeks looked chubby and could cause an impulse to slightly pinch them in other people. Her big eyes glittering, she was staring ahead with a tinge of hope in her eyes.


    This was of course the young girl called Chu Yuhe, who had been abducted by Zhang Yang¡¯s subordinates then eventually rescued by Bai Yunfei in the past.


    It seemed she had been waiting here for quite some time. At this moment, she curled her lips slightly and mumbled in a seemingly somewhat discontented manner: ¡°It¡¯s been so long since senior sister left. Why hasn¡¯t she returned yet¡­?¡±


    While ¡®complaining¡¯ softly, she raised her head again to gaze into the distance. Suddenly, her eyes brightened then showed a joyful expression. She unexpectedly trotted forwards impatiently to give a welcome.


    In the distance, a man and a girl were going side by side. They were none other than Bai Yunfei and Qiu Luliu.


    ¡°The headquarters of the Green Willow School is up ahead. Yunfei, let¡¯s go a bit faster. Junior¡­ Oh? Ha ha, you see, junior sister just can¡¯t wait to meet you.¡± Qiu Luliu covered her mouth and said with a chuckle as she saw a petite silhouette trotting towards them from up ahead.


    When Chu Yuhe ran up to a place about ten meters in front of them, she stopped hastily. It seemed only now did she suddenly realize that she was somewhat impatient. Her pretty face slightly reddening, her hands rubbing her clothes, she said: ¡°Senior sister, you, you have returned¡­ Um, Bai, Mister Bai Yunfei, how are you¡­?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, how are you, Miss Chu? Have you been waiting for us here?¡± Seeing the young girl in front of him, Bai Yunfei was somewhat excited inside too.


    ¡°Um, my master, my master told me to stay here to welcome you, Mister Bai Yunfei¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to stand on ceremony like this, Miss Chu. It¡¯s okay to just call me Yunfei.¡± Bai Yunfei said laughingly.


    ¡°Then, then I¡¯ll call you, call you brother Yunfei. You should also call me Yuhe¡­¡± The young girl said timidly.


    On one side, seeing that her junior sister was still so shy, Qiu Luliu could not help shaking her head in frustration and saying to the two of them: ¡°Alright, could it be you two want to stand here and chat? Let¡¯s come in first. We¡¯ll have a nice chat in a while.¡±


    Chu Yuhe gave a sound of agreement and walked up to the side of Qiu Luliu. The three of them then went towards the main gate of the Green Willow School together.

 Chapter 64: Green Willow School

    Book 1 Chapter 64: Green Willow School


    In a small hall which was simply furnished but had an air of elegance and comfort about it,


    Bai Yunfei and Qiu Luliu were sitting opposite each other on the left and the right respectively. Bai Yunfei was holding a teacup in his hand, carefully listening to her introduction to the Green Willow School and the situation in the entire Cuiliu City.


    ¡°Right, Luliu, do you know if there are forces subordinate to the Glacial School in this Cuiliu City?¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly thought of one thing and asked.


    ¡°Oh? Why do you ask this question?¡± Qiu Luliu was stupefied for a short while then immediately reacted, ¡°Are you worried that¡­ Zhang Zhenshan will employ the Glacial School¡¯s forces to search for you?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Ha ha, you need not worry about this.¡± Qiu Luliu laughed softly, ¡°If this was a different place, I wouldn¡¯t dare to guarantee anything, but in this Cuiliu City, the Glacial School definitely won¡¯t dare to run wild. This place is the location of my Green Willow School¡¯s headquarters, how can my school let them cause trouble?¡±


    Bai Yunfei pondered with his head lowered for a while then continued to ask: ¡°For the last two days I¡¯ve always felt that there seems to be something wrong, but I haven¡¯t detected anything. That Glacial School¡­ If they already know that I¡¯m here, but they don¡¯t dare to cause trouble in the city, then I¡¯m afraid when I leave Cuiliu City, I¡¯ll be ambushed by them. Only, I¡¯m not sure if they have found me by now or not¡­¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Qiu Luliu¡¯s face showed a trace of solemnity. After thinking for a bit, she said, ¡°According to my knowledge, there¡¯s no forces of the Glacial School in the city. But there seems to be some connection between that Long family and the Glacial School¡­¡±


    ¡°What? The Long family?!¡± Bai Yunfei asked in surprise, his expression changing.


    ¡°Oh? Could it be you know about that Long family?¡± Qiu Luliu asked doubtfully, having not expected such a reaction from him.


    ¡°The day before yesterday I had a conflict with the two young masters of the Long family. They¡­¡± Bai Yunfei casually said a few words but then he stopped all of a sudden. Seeming to remember something, he frowned slightly and began to ponder with his head lowered.


    Seeing him like that, Qiu Luliu did not disturb him again. She sat quietly on one side sipping her tea.


    ¡°Master, brother Yunfei is inside¡­¡± Chu Yuhe¡¯s lovely voice came in from outside. She had gone to invite her master to come here earlier. Now they should be arriving together.


    Sure enough, when her voice had just faded away, two people appeared at the door. One of them was a middle-aged woman with an elegant posture and at the same time an air of majesty about her. She walked into the room accompanied by Chu Yuhe.


    Actually it was somewhat inappropriate to refer to her as a middle-aged woman because even though she had a plump, mature figure, she appeared to be very young. Judging from her appearance alone, she definitely could not be older than thirty years of age ¡ª this was none other than the Green Willow School¡¯s headmaster, Mu Wanqing.


    ¡°Master.¡± Seeing the visitors, Qiu Luliu stood up and saluted at once.


    The moment Chu Yuhe¡¯s voice rang out, Bai Yunfei woke up from his contemplation. Now he also stool up. Although he was a little surprised because the person called ¡®master¡¯ by Qiu Luliu was so young, this lasted only for a moment. He also saluted, saying: ¡°I am Bai Yunfei. It is an honor to meet you, senior.¡±


    Mu Wanqing smiled at the two of them then said to Bai Yunfei: ¡°There¡¯s no need to stand on ceremony, young hero Bai. Let¡¯s all sit down. Don¡¯t be too formal.¡±


    After everybody sat down, Mu Wanqing observed Bai Yunfei carefully for a good few seconds then said with smiling eyes: ¡°Young hero Bai, I really wanted to thank you in person for having saved Yuhe in the past, therefore this time I took the liberty of inviting you to my school as a guest. I hope you don¡¯t take offense at this.¡±


    The fact that she, a school¡¯s headmaster and a Soul Ancestor, had such a polite attitude towards himself made Bai Yunfei feel somewhat uncomfortable. He shook his hand gently, saying: ¡°Please don¡¯t stand on ceremony, headmaster. I¡¯m not worthy of it. There was already a feud between Zhang Yang and me so at the time I merely saved Yuhe by accident. You don¡¯t need to thank me anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, since young hero Bai is so modest, I won¡¯t mention this again either.¡± Mu Wanqing paused for a bit then continued: ¡°As for the Glacial School, you don¡¯t have to be worried about it when you¡¯re in this Cuiliu City. If they dare to cause trouble in the city, my Green Willow School won¡¯t sit by and watch.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was happy inside because she had said clearly that she would help him. Although he did not know why she was so enthusiastic, having a ¡®backer¡¯ was always a good thing.


    ¡°Oh, thank you very much for your help, headmaster. I plan to leave this Qingyun Province tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. When I have arrived in Beiyan Province, as long as I¡¯m careful with my actions, I think the Glacial School won¡¯t be able to do anything to me.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re about to leave so soon? Um¡­ Young people aspire to travel far and make their mark. Young hero Bai was lucky to be taught by a senior from the Fate School so you indeed shouldn¡¯t limit yourself to such a small place as Qingyun Province. You should go out and try to make a name for yourself.¡±


    Her sudden mention of the Fate School slightly stupefied Bai Yunfei. He cast a look at Qiu Luliu on one side then said modestly: ¡°You flatter me, senior. I just want to go experience the outside world a bit. As for me being taught by senior Ge Yiyun from the Fate School, this was indeed a piece of luck.¡±


    Hearing the words ¡®Ge Yiyun¡¯ from Bai Yunfei, Mu Wanqing slightly raised her beautiful eyebrows, but they immediately returned to normal. She took a look at Chu Yuhe on one side, seeming to think of something, and said: ¡°Right, young hero Bai, what do you think about this little girl Yuhe?¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei was stupefied, somewhat unable to keep up with her sudden change of topics. Only after being stunned for a long time did he say somewhat doubtfully: ¡°Yuhe¡­ is very good. I heard from Luliu that she¡¯s well-behaved and sensible and got quite a lot of talent for cultivation¡­¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ are you willing to accept her as your sworn younger sister, young hero Bai?¡± Mu Wanqing nodded smilingly then said a line that astounded the other three people at the scene.


    Bai Yunfei felt that his thinking really could not keep up with this senior¡¯s thought speed. Temporarily he was stupefied and had no reaction. Mu Wanqing frowned slightly: ¡°What¡¯s wrong, young hero Bai? Could it be you think that Yuhe doesn¡¯t deserve to become your younger sister?¡±


    ¡°Ah? No, no, that¡¯s not what I mean. Miss Yuhe is smart and lovely. How can I¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, so this means you agree to this?¡± Mu Wanqing narrowed her eyes slightly, showing a smiling expression, ¡°Then that settles it. From now on the two of you will be brother and younger sister. This way Yuhe won¡¯t feel guilty all the time about being unable to repay you for saving her life.¡±


    ¡°Yuhe, are you willing to accept young hero Bai as your brother?¡± Mu Wanqing turned to Chu Yuhe and asked kindly.


    In the beginning, when Chu Yuhe heard Mu Wanqing mention her, she had a somewhat confused expression. Then, when she heard her master ask Bai Yunfei about his view on her, her face slightly reddened. Afterwards, when she heard her master tell Bai Yunfei to accept her as a sworn younger sister, her face was full of amazement, but she did not dare to cut in. Now, hearing Mu Wanqing¡¯s question, she was slightly stupefied then said in a low voice: ¡°Of course, of course I¡¯m willing. I¡¯m also very happy to have brother Yunfei as my sworn brother.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. From now on, young hero Bai is your brother. You have to respect your sworn brother, do you understand?¡± Mu Wanqing nodded in a satisfied manner and said smilingly.


    ¡°Yes, I will remember this¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Just like that, Bai Yunfei got a nominal younger sister in a puzzling manner.


    Looking at Chu Yuhe, who now had slightly red cheeks and a happy expression, Mu Wanqing secretly let out a sigh of relief.


    It had to be said that it actually took Mu Wanqing a lot of effort to come up with this ¡®sudden¡¯ suggestion. Right after knowing that Bai Yunfei had saved Chu Yuhe, she had already noticed that Chu Yuhe had a vague love for him. Only, the little girl had seemed to still be ignorant of it. Therefore, Mu Wanqing took this opportunity to turn her just-budding love into an admiration for a brother. All it took was a couple of advices for Chu Yuhe. Mu Wanqing had achieved her goal. Now the little girl had already listened to her master¡¯s words, regarding Bai Yunfei as an older brother¡­


    Mu Wanqing wanted to facilitate a love between the two of them as well, especially when knowing just now that there was some connection between Bai Yunfei and Ge Yiyun. At the time she could not restrain her heart from palpitating with eagerness because a junior highly regarded by Ge Yiyun would definitely have outstanding achievements in the future, and if she could build a good relationship with him, this would absolutely benefit the Green Willow School. However, she could also tell that Bai Yunfei did not have that kind of feeling towards Chu Yuhe, therefore, in order to spare her little disciple future grief, she had no choice but to manipulate them into becoming sworn brother and younger sister in such a puzzling way.


    Seeing that the other three people present were still somewhat bewildered, looking thoughtful, Mu Wanqing laughed softly and said said to Bai Yunfei: ¡°Right, young hero Bai, in this Cuiliu City you¡­¡±


    ¡°Headmaster, a guest has come to pay a visit!¡± Before she could finish what she was saying, a reporting voice coming in from outside the door interrupted her.


    Mu Wanqing frowned slightly and looked outside the door at that reporting disciple, asking: ¡°Who is that? Take them into the side hall on the west wing first. I¡¯ll come over in a while.¡±


    ¡°Headmaster, this is senior You Qingfeng from the Wood School.¡± The disciple outside the door hesitated for a while then still said again in warning.


    After Mu Wanqing heard these words, her originally indifferent face suddenly froze for a moment then showed a happy expression. Although it was suppressed by her immediately, that fleeing hint of a girlish smile still captivated Bai Yunfei for a bit when he saw it.


    ¡°Young hero Bai, you should have a chat with Qiu Luliu and Chu Yuhe. I think the three of you must have many things to talk about. After that you can let them take you on a stroll in my school¡­¡± Mu Wanqing stood up said to Bai Yunfei with a smile.


    He nodded: ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine. Please feel free to go and receive your guest. There¡¯s no need to care about me.¡±


    Only after Mu Wanqing had left did Bai Yunfei ask Qiu Luliu somewhat doubtfully: ¡°Who is this person called You Qingfeng¡­?¡±


    ¡°Senior You Qingfeng is an outstanding disciple of the Wood School in the Five Elements Schools. As a late Soul Ancestor, he¡¯s even more formidable than my master!¡± Qiu Luliu explained then looked outside the door quietly, seeming to confirm that her master had really gone far away. Afterwards, she said in a lowered voice, ¡°He¡¯s my master¡¯s cousin! If not for my master¡¯s inability to let go of the Green Willow School, she would¡¯ve probably gone with him to the Wood School. They¡­¡±


    At this point, seeming to suddenly react to something, she immediately sat upright and said with a straight face: ¡°As juniors, we can¡¯t discuss our seniors¡¯ affairs.¡±


    But that expression was obviously telling Bai Yunfei that: ¡°You get the picture¡­¡±

 Chapter 65: Sudden Even

    Book 1 Chapter 65: Sudden event


    After Mu Wanqing had left, Bai Yunfei and the two girls chat with each other leisurely.


    Qiu Luliu talked about various interesting things in Cuiliu City, Chu Yuhe ¡®gave an account¡¯ of her life since joining the Green Willow School in a low voice and Bai Yunfei also talked about what he had gone through from when he had parted ways with them at that time until now.


    Of course, he concealed some details that should not be mentioned. Even so, his story still made the two girls nervous and anxious, especially Chu Yuhe. Upon hearing that Bai Yunfei had fallen into a trap in the town of Old Well then fled for three days in a row and even been caught up with by Zhang Zhenshan, she was so tense that her little face became very red. When she heard that Bai Yunfei had eventually escaped after an arduous battle, she had a very happy expression, looking extremely delighted. Seeing this, both Bai Yunfei and Qiu Luliu could not help laughing.


    Only when a person came and informed the three of them that lunch was ready at noon did they stop chatting. Mu Wanqing unexpectedly did not show up during lunch. According to Qiu Luliu, all the senior members of the school ate their meals in a different place.


    In the afternoon, under the guidance of the two girls, Bai Yunfei went for a stroll in the Green Willow School. The three of them talked and laughed with each other quite happily as they walked.


    Bai Yunfei raised his head to observe the color of the sky. It was almost evening already. He halted his steps and said to the two girls by his side: ¡°Luliu, Yuhe, it¡¯s time I went back already¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah? You want to leave so soon?¡± Qiu Luliu asked somewhat disappointedly. On one side, Chu Yuhe also had a trace of unwillingness on her face.


    Bai Yunfei laughed and said: ¡°Yeah, I still got some things to do. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow I¡¯ll probably leave Cuiliu City, but I¡¯ll come to say goodbye to you two before that.¡±


    He looked at Chu Yuhe, who was looking at him anxiously on one side, and said smilingly: ¡°When the time comes, I¡¯ll give younger sister Yuhe a present. Hopefully you¡¯ll like it.¡±


    Chu Yuhe was stupefied then showed a happy expression. She said expectantly: ¡°Really? What¡¯s the present?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, you¡¯ll know at that time.¡±


    Bai Yunfei lifted his head to take a look. Suddenly he saw two silhouettes going towards them side by side from up ahead. After taking a careful look at them, he said in amazement: ¡°Oh? Isn¡¯t that headmaster Mu? This is perfect timing. I¡¯ll say goodbye to her then leave.¡±


    The three of them walked towards Mu Wanqing, who had already noticed them as well. As they came near her, Bai Yunfei cast a look at the person by her side ¡ª a man about thirty years old. He had an upright posture and a handsome face. The rare thing was that his elegance contained maturity and dignity. This was a man who could make a good impression on people at first sight.


    ¡°This must be that man called You Qingfeng from the Wood School.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself.


    Mu Wanqing first nodded slightly to Bai Yunfei then waved to Chu Yuhe, saying: ¡°Come here, Yuhe. Greet your senior uncle You.¡±


    Chu Yuhe was always somewhat timid in front of strangers. She did what she was told by walking up to Mu Wanqing and making a salute to that man, saying in a low voice: ¡°It is an honor to meet you, senior uncle You¡­¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, is this the little girl you told me about? Not bad, well-behaved and sensible, and pretty talented, very good.¡± You Qingfeng nodded to Chu Yuhe and said laughingly. His tone was amiable and his voice gave a feeling of intimacy too.


    Qiu Luliu also went forwards to salute him then stood respectfully to one side.


    Bai Yunfei took another look at this man, but met the smiling look in his eyes. He nodded slightly in salute then folded his hands to Mu Wanqing, saying: ¡°Headmaster Mu, I still have something to do so I can¡¯t stay any longer. I have specifically come here to bid farewell to you before leaving.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You want to leave already, young hero Bai? That¡¯s fine. Then I won¡¯t ask you to stay either. If you need my help with something in this city, feel free to come to the Green Willow School. Now that you¡¯re already Yuhe¡¯s sworn brother, my Green Willow School will definitely do our utmost to help you.¡±


    ¡°In that case, thank you very much, headmaster. Before leaving Cuiliu City, I¡¯ll come here to pay a visit again.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After watching Bai Yunfei walk outside seen off by the two girls, Mu Wanqing suppressed her smile, a thoughtful expression showing up in her eyes.


    ¡°Wanqing, is he the young man related to the Fate School you told me about? From what I saw, he¡¯s just a middle Soul Warrior. Besides, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything special about him either¡­¡± You Qingfeng withdrew his eyes and asked somewhat doubtfully.


    Mu Wanqing shook her head, saying: ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate him, Qingfeng. No matter his power level, just the fact that he was taught by senior Ge Yiyun is already enough to show that he¡¯s definitely not an ordinary junior. Plus, I heard from Luliu that when they met for the first time, he was using a spear that should have been a high human-tier soul item at least, or maybe even an earth-tier one! Besides, after killing the son of that Glacial School elder Zhang Zhenshan, he was still able to reach Cuiliu City safely even though the Zhang family has been doing their utmost to hunt him down. This is already enough to show that he definitely has outstanding qualities.¡±


    ¡°Oh? These things happened as well? You didn¡¯t tell me about them earlier.¡± You Qingfeng was slightly surprised, ¡°In that case, he¡¯s indeed worthy of your help. To this kind of man, if you take advantage of the fact that he¡¯s not powerful at the moment to help him, when he really accomplishes something in the future, this will benefit the Green Willow School greatly as well.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    With his head lowered, Bai Yunfei was walking alone on a road leading back to the city. His eyebrows slightly wrinkling, he seemed to be considering some issue.


    ¡°No matter the reason, the fact that the Green Willow School¡¯s headmaster is willing to help me is a good thing to me. There¡¯s nothing bad about it! Though I already decided to leave right away, I always feel that something is wrong¡­¡±


    ¡°I must not get involved with Cuiliu City¡¯s Long family again. Now the ideal scenario is, though Zhang Zhenshan has mobilized a large number of men to search for me, he hasn¡¯t employed all of the Glacial School¡¯s forces. After all, he¡¯s just an elder. So, even if the Long family is connected with the Glacial School, it¡¯s also possible that they haven¡¯t received information about me¡­


    ¡°The longer I stay here, the more dangerous it gets! I¡¯ve been delayed for two days already. I can¡¯t stay here any longer! Now let¡¯s go back and tell Meng¡¯er clearly that I¡¯m leaving tomorrow!¡±


    As soon as he thought of Liu Meng, he felt somewhat frustrated in his heart because he did not know if she was still ¡®angry¡¯ or not. Moreover, when he thought of the fact that he would leave this place tomorrow, a feeling of unwillingness came into being in his heart for no reason¡­


    Thinking of these things confused Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind somewhat. In this complicated state of mind, he slowly entered the city then headed for the place where Liu Meng had said she was currently staying.


    However, he did not find anyone after arriving in that tavern. Bai Yunfei was rather disappointed, thinking that she had probably gone out to relieve boredom. Now he had no choice but to decide to come here again tomorrow in the early morning.


    When Bai Yunfei returned to the tavern where he was staying, he was surprised to see a person waiting for him anxiously at the door ¡ª this was unexpectedly Xiao Ning!


    As soon as she saw Bai Yunfei, her eyes brightened. She ran up to him hurriedly. Only now did Bai Yunfei see clearly that tears were rolling down this servant girl¡¯s face, which also looked extremely anxious.


    ¡°Mister Yunfei, it¡¯s bad! Young lady has been abducted by the Long family¡¯s men!!¡±

 Chapter 66: You Want to Fight? Lets Fight!

    Chapter 66: You Want to Fight? Let''s Fight!


    These few words made Bai Yunfei freeze on the spot as if struck by lightning.


    ¡°Mister Yunfei, please go save young lady quickly! That Long Tao [the second brother] said that you must go there otherwise young lady will be...¡±


    Xiao Ning anxious voice came into his ears again. Bai Yunfei woke up from his shock and pulled her to one side with a solemn expression, asking in a deep voice, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Calm down a bit and tell me in detail! I¡¯ll go save Meng¡¯er right away!¡±


    Xiao Ning wiped her tears away and sobbed slightly, ¡°At noon today, when young lady saw that you hadn¡¯t come to look for her, she, she took me out for a walk on the streets, wanting to come looking for you...


    ¡°Who would have thought she, she would run into that Long Tao and his brother on the streets again? They, they even had two other men from the Long family with them. They¡¯re so powerful, even more powerful than young lady...


    ¡°They kidnapped her and told me to go look for you, Mister Yunfei. They said that you must go to the Secret Pleasure Tower in the northern corner of the city...¡±


    Xiao Ning was a rather intelligent servant girl so she gave a clear account of what had happened with just several lines then she said to Bai Yunfei with her face full of anxiety, ¡°What do we do now, Mister Yunfei?? It¡¯s been nearly two hours since young lady was kidnapped by them. Please go save her quickly!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei frowned tightly with a grave expression. He wanted to remain calm but the anxiety in his heart just could not be suppressed.


    ¡°You stay here and wait for me. I¡¯ll go there right now! I¡¯ll definitely save Meng¡¯er, no matter what!¡±


    After saying these words, he turned around and rushed towards the northern corner of the city.


    ......


    The Secret Pleasure Tower was located on a small street that was not bustling at all in the northern corner of the city. It occupied a large area and was an extremely luxurious restaurant. The reason it had been opened in such a corner was that it did not do business with the masses. Instead, it was a dedicated entertainment place for those plutocrats and aristocrats in Jade Willow City. And the master of this restaurant from behind the curtain was none other than the Long family.


    At the moment, in the spacious hall of the Secret Pleasure Tower, four men were sitting around a table. They seemed to be drinking and eating leisurely. Two of them were none other than Long Tao and his older brother while the other two appeared to be about twenty seven or twenty eight years old. They looked quite similar to each other, both having thick eyebrows, big eyes and fierce appearances.


    In a corner of the hall, a young girl was sitting it a large, luxurious chair. She was none other than Liu Meng!


    She was sitting there with a calm expression watching the four men drinking and chatting. Although her limbs were not tied, she was motionless. Apparently her entire body was powerless. She should have been given a special drug and therefore was unable to move her body.


    ¡°Yunfei, why haven¡¯t you come here yet...?¡± Liu Meng sighed softly in her mind. Her eyes could not help looking towards the door. In her eyes, there was unexpectedly a complicated expression.


    ¡°Big cousin, when do you think that brat will come here? We¡¯ve been waiting for two hours already!!¡± Long Tao picked up a piece of meat, put it into his mouth and said somewhat impatiently as he looked outside and saw no signs of movement.


    ¡°What are you worried about? It¡¯s possible he hasn¡¯t received the news yet. Anyway, he¡¯ll come here sooner or later. Let¡¯s just eat and drink to our hearts¡¯ content while slowly waiting for him.¡± The man called ¡®big cousin¡¯ in front of him said indifferently after raising his bowl and taking a mouthful of wine.


    ¡°Big cousin, why did you dismiss all our subordinates? If several of them had stayed, we¡¯d appear imposing as well.¡± Long Tao asked doubtfully after looking at the somewhat deserted hall a bit.


    The big cousin frowned slightly, saying, ¡°What¡¯s the point of those pieces of shit staying? The enemy is a mid-stage Soul Warrior. Even if a hundred of them came at him, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything! Besides, having more people here would hinder our plan...¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A loud sound interrupted him then wood chips were sent flying everywhere. Following a wave of force, they scattered all over in the hall. It turned out the main gate of the restaurant had been blown into pieces from outside by someone!


    Bai Yunfei slowly went into the room with a solemn expression. Sweeping his eyes around quickly, he saw Liu Meng in a corner and immediately let out a sigh of relief. Judging from her appearance, she should not have been hurt.


    Looking at those four men, who had already stood up from their chairs and were looking at him vigilantly, Bai Yunfei clenched his right fist tightly. He moved to one side a bit and stood at the optimum place for attack and defense then cast a look at Liu Meng, asking in a deep voice, ¡°Are you okay, Meng¡¯er?¡±


    ¡°Humph!¡± Before Liu Meng could answer, the man called big cousin by Long Tao gave a cold snort and snatched the thread of conversation, saying sneeringly, ¡°Brat, are you that Bai Yunfei mentioned by this girl? Humph, you¡¯ve got some balls indeed. I didn¡¯t expect you to dare to run over here alone to save her. No wonder this girl trusts you so much. Ha ha, but could it be you think you can rescue her all by yourself?¡±


    Hearing his words, Bai Yunfei wrinkled his eyebrows slightly. Before he could talk back, he heard Liu Meng say in a slightly weak voice, ¡°Be a bit careful, Yunfei. One of these two men is a mid-stage Soul Warrior and the other is an early-stage Soul Warrior!¡±


    That big cousin turned around to take a look at Liu Meng and said laughingly, ¡°Hah, not bad. You¡¯ve told him the most important information right in the beginning. But, so what if he knows this? As a mid-stage Soul Warrior, he can fight me to a draw at most. But I have my younger brother and Long Tao [the big brother] with me, how can he possibly take on the three of us alone?¡±


    After saying so, he turned around and looked at Bai Yunfei with a vague smile, not taking the initiative to get into action at all. It seemed he was waiting for Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction.


    Still frowning slightly, Bai Yunfei stared at this man for a long time before saying slowly, ¡°What¡¯s your connection with the Long family?¡±


    That Long Tao [the younger brother] was standing furthest back among these four men because he was just an ordinary man. At this moment, hearing Bai Yunfei¡¯s question, he said very arrogantly with arms akimbo, ¡°Humph, what¡¯s up? Are your scared now? I already told you earlier that my Long family isn¡¯t something you can offend. These two gentlemen are my big cousin and Long Taogu and my second cousin Long Taoyi! This time, they¡¯ve specifically come here to take care of you, the ignorant soul cultivator who looked down on my Long family!¡±


    The corners of Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth twitched. In the current situation, he was in no mood to make fun of the names of these two brothers who had just come on the scene. Apparently this so-called Long family had an extraordinary attachment for this very promising job of being ¡®long tao¡¯ [a walk-on part].


    He kept silent for a while then said in a seemingly negotiating tone, ¡°I can apology for the incident two days ago, and you¡¯ll let me leave with her. We¡¯ll all act as if nothing happened, okay?¡±


    When Long Tao [the big brother], who was standing on the far left among the four men, heard these words, his eyes immediately popped. He looked at Bai Yunfei as if looking at an idiot, saying sneeringly, ¡°Are you joking? Do you think you have the right to negotiate with us in the current situation? Let me tell you something...¡±


    Before he could finish saying this complacent line, in front of him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes suddenly flashed with a trace of ferocity. He reached out his right hand and the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his hand. Afterwards, pushing his feet against the floor, he unexpectedly launched an attack directly without a warning sign!


    When Long Tao had yet to say the second half of what he wanted to say, a heat wave hit him in the face. The flaming red tip of the spear was already about to reach him!


    ¡°Careful!¡± Terror showed up in Long Tao¡¯s eyes. Just when he wanted to retreat, beside him, Long Taogu had already got into action by giving a shout of warning and at the same time hooking his foot into a four-legged chair and kicking it towards the area in front of Long Tao to block the path of the Fire-tipped Spear.


    In an instant, the spear pierced into the chair. Bai Yunfei then slightly turned the hand that was holding it. In the blazing firelight, a sound of explosion rang out. That chair was unexpectedly blown into countless wood chips, which then turned into various flames and shot outwards in all directions!


    Three of the four men in front of Bai Yunfei were soul cultivators so their reactions were definitely not slow. The moment Long Taogu had kicked the chair out, they had started to retreat continuously together. Now they had already moved back several meters. As they looked at the burning wood chips which had fallen on the floor, astonished expressions showed up on their faces.


    ¡°A Soul Armament!!¡± Long Taogu shouted in shock. Looking at the Fire-tipped Spear in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands, his eyes were filled with fear.


    After executing that strike, Bai Yunfei unexpectedly did not pursue and attack them. Instead, he stood in the same place holding the spear, rejoicing in his mind that the first Threefold Thrust had been able to activate the spear¡¯s explosion effect. He stared at the four men expressionlessly, saying again, ¡°I¡¯ll say it again. Let me go with her and let¡¯s act as if nothing happened.¡±


    Long Taogu looked at Bai Yunfei, the fear in his eyes intensifying. He waved his hand to motion for Long Tao [the younger brother], who was furthest back, to get a bit further away. Then he gave the other two men by his side a hint with his eyes and said to Bai Yunfei with a cold laugh, ¡°Humph, you think it¡¯s amazing to have a high-grade soul armament, don¡¯t you? Such an arrogant, ignorant brat! Now that you¡¯ve come here today, don¡¯t even think you¡¯ll walk out of this gate safely! If you¡¯re wise, hand over your soul armament, then let us brothers teach you a lesson, maybe then we can still spare your life!¡±


    After saying so, he seemed to ponder again for a moment then said jeeringly, ¡°Or let¡¯s do it this way. If you can beat the three of us, we¡¯ll admit defeat and never trouble you again. What do you think?¡±


    Bai Yunfei frowned, his eyes glittering slightly. He was considering how to deal with this situation in his mind, ¡°Damn it! I can¡¯t kill them, otherwise the entire Long family will come at me. Now I simply don¡¯t have enough power to fight them head-on. What should I do? I can¡¯t use the Fire-tipped Spear, but I¡¯m not sure if I can beat the three of them by myself at all.¡±


    Looking at the three men in front of him, who were gradually spreading out, ready to surround him, Bai Yunfei slightly clenched his teeth, knowing that he could not delay anymore, ¡°I have no choice but to use it!¡±


    He put the Fire-tipped Spear in his hands away and, at the same time, pushed his feet against the floor. Like a speeding arrow, he charged at Long Taogu in front of him.


    ¡°You want to fight? Let¡¯s fight!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 67: The Brick Defeats a Soul Skill

    ¡°You want to fight? Let¡¯s fight!¡±


    Bai Yunfei put the Fire-tipped Spear in his hands away and, at the same time, pushed his feet against the floor. Like a speeding arrow, he charged at Long Taogu in front of him.


    Long Taogu gave a cold smile with the corners of his mouth because the opponent had unexpectedly put away his weapon. Although he was somewhat curious about this, he secretly let out a sigh of relief and also charged at Bai Yunfei.


    The original distance between them was extremely short so they came within striking distance almost in the blink of an eye. The moment they closed in on each other, Long Taogu lowered his body and unexpectedly took the initiative and attacked Bai Yunfei¡¯s legs with a sweep of his right leg.


    Bai Yunfei, who was rushing up, unexpectedly stopped his momentum in the blink of an eye. At the same time, he leaned backwards and retreated several steps continuously, avoiding this sweep kick right away. After that, his body cut obliquely through the air in an arc, unexpectedly changing from leaning backwards to bending forwards. At the same time, he lifted his right hand. A rectangular object suddenly appeared in his hand and he smashed it down towards the opponent¡¯s head!


    What he was holding in his hand was none other than that +13 brick!


    Although Long Taogu¡¯s attack had been avoided by the opponent with a strange body-maneuvering technique, he was not much surprised by this. His eyes flashed, but just when he wanted to rise to attack, he was surprised to see the opponent counterattack in a breath¡¯s time after avoiding his attack. Having no time to see clearly what that rectangular object really was, he hurriedly made a block by crossing his arms in front of his head.


    ¡°Bang!¡± Right after Long Taogu got his defense ready, the attack arrived. A great force hit him, forcing him to retreat involuntarily several steps. Even though he felt pain in his arms, this did not seem to be serious at all.


    At first Bai Yunfei wanted to pursue and attack him, but he heard sounds of movement coming from the left and the right hand sides simultaneously. This was none other than Long Taoyi and Long Tao attacking him. So, he had no choice but to avoid the incoming punches and kicks with several evasive movements. While backing off, he threw a kick, which collided with a kick coming from Long Tao, forcing the opponent back several steps. But he was hit in the shoulder by a punch from Long Taoyi and slightly staggered half a step. Giving a cold snort, he thrust the brick in his hand forwards, hitting the opponent¡¯s shoulder in a seemingly gentle manner.


    This time, Long Taoyi was not so lucky as his older brother. When hit with the brick, at first he was frightened inside, but then he noticed that there was not much pain coming from his shoulder and it was not injured at all. Just when he was secretly rejoicing over this, a strange force unexpectedly came from his shoulder all of a sudden and spread through his entire body in the blink of an eye. Afterwards, his whole body flew out upside down uncontrollably and smashed into Long Tao behind him. The two men then tumbled backwards together. Only when they had rolled to the side of Long Taogu did they stop.


    This was the brick¡¯s +13 additional effect, hurling!


    Originally, Long Taogu had wanted to charge forwards to jointly attack the opponent, but when he had just taken a step, he saw his young brother and cousin sent flying backwards in a baffling manner. Very frightened, he halted his steps and fixed his eyes on the weapon in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. Despite being a mid-stage Soul Warrior, he could not help widening his eyes and blurting out in shock.


    ¡°Are you kidding me?! A brick?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei, however, was in no mood to discuss the weapon in his hand with him. Using the Wave Treading Steps, he charged up and attacked again without saying a word.


    Even though in his mind Long Taogu was puzzled and even amazed by the brick in the opponent¡¯s hand, he brushed it aside in an instant. Giving a cold snort, he bypassed the two men on the floor and charged forwards with quick steps.


    The moment the two of them about to come into contact, facing a forceful punch from Long Taogu, Bai Yunfei raised the corners of his mouth slightly. With a slide of his feet, he avoided contact with the opponent. Then, with a sideway movement and a turn of his body, under the astonished look in the opponent¡¯s eyes, he went around him to attack Long Tao and Long Taoyi behind him, who were both getting up.


    Making use of the forward-charging momentum, he threw a kick at Long Taoyi and swung the brick at Long Tao¡¯s head simultaneously.


    Long Taoyi was after all a Soul Warrior so he reacted extremely fast. Doing a cartwheel, he immediately avoided this kick. But Long Tao was not so lucky. He basically had yet to wake up from the puzzlement caused by when he had been sent flying inexplicably earlier. Moreover, he had not expected the opponent to give up fighting Long Taogu to run up and attack him, the weakest of the three men.


    Therefore, Long Tao was hit very squarely by this blow of the brick. With a deep groan, he was sent flying to one side at an angle. The additional effects were not triggered and he was instead sent flying by the original impact force. However, he had still known to control his head muscles to strengthen his defense at the last moment so he was not seriously injured at all.


    A large force then hit Bai Yunfei¡¯s left waist. It turned out Long Taogu had turned around and thrown a punch on his waist. Bai Yunfei staggered half a step to the left, but now he was faced with a kick thrown at his chest by Long Taoyi. He hastily held the brick in front of his chest. Long Taoyi¡¯s kick slammed into it. Before he could withdraw his right leg, he was unexpectedly sent flying again without a warning sign¡ªLong Taoyi was really unlucky enough to unexpectedly have his coming into contact with the brick regarded as a strike of the brick and, moreover, to even have the ¡®hurling¡¯ effect triggered again...


    Bai Yunfei eyes flashed with a hint of happiness. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity when he had separated all three opponents from each other, he took half a step backwards to stabilize his body. Just when he wanted to turn around, he felt a strong force coming at him from behind again. This was another attack from Long Taogu. He seemed to have already noticed that it was impossible to seriously injure Bai Yunfei by attacking the torso, so this time he was aiming for the head!


    Not having enough time to turn around, Bai Yunfei could only stoop down. The opponent¡¯s raised kick grazed his back. Bai Yunfei took advantage of this opportunity and attacked his supporting left leg with a sweep kick, but the opponent jumped away vigilantly and avoided it.


    Making use of the sweep kick¡¯s momentum, Bai Yunfei turned around then charged forwards without pausing. When Long Taogu had just stabilized his body after jumping away, he saw the opponent charging up again. Giving a cold snort, he began to fight Bai Yunfei without any sign of panic.


    Both of them were at the mid-stage Soul Warrior stage so as they exchanged blows, several bouts were fought in just several blinks of an eye. Long Taogu¡¯s moves were steady and showed no flaws. Even though Bai Yunfei was relying on the agility provided by his body-maneuvering skill, he was only at a slight advantage, but it was impossible for him to defeat the opponent in a short time.


    Worse still, Long Taogu had also noticed that there was something extraordinary about the brick in the opponent¡¯s hand so he was very careful not to be hit by it.


    Seeing that the other two men were already charging up again, Bai Yunfei was unavoidably slightly anxious inside. Faced with a punch thrown at his face, he leaned to one side with a slide of his feet and avoided it. Just when he was ready to raise his hand to counterattack¡ªat this moment, something unexpected happened!


    The opponent¡¯s fist, which had already missed him with this punch, was suddenly opened into a palm. His arm then was bent in a strange manner and attacked Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat at a humanly impossible angle!


    Arm Bending Hand!


    This was a low-level soul skill that could achieve the same goal as the Arm Lengthening Fist with a different means. The difference between them was that this technique did not ¡®lengthen¡¯ the arm but ¡®bend¡¯ it. Using an arm bent to an inconceivable angle, the user could take the opponent by surprise.


    This change of moves took place too suddenly for Bai Yunfei to dodge it even if he used the Wave Treading Steps so he had no choice but to do his utmost to jump backwards at the last moment. However, he was still hit in the throat by this horizontal knife-hand strike.


    Pushing his feet against the floor nonstop, Bai Yunfei used the Wave Treading Steps to the utmost, creating a string of afterimages of his body. In the blink of an eye, he moved back ten something meters. He felt that his breathing had stopped the moment he had been hit by that strike. The pain coming from his throat even made him begin to cough violently uncontrollably.


    However, when Bai Yunfei had just slowed down for a moment, another attack from Long Taogu was already going after him!


    Fury flickered vaguely through Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Instead of retreating, he move forwards to engage the opponent, creating several afterimages. The opponent still threw a punch at his head in an uncomplicated manner. Bai Yunfei slightly leaned to the right at the last moment and, at the same time, swung the brick, smashing it towards the opponent¡¯s shoulder.


    His eyes flashing, Long Taogu once again bent the fist that had just missed and swung it at Bai Yunfei¡¯s temple. However, to his surprise, Bai Yunfei also changed the path of his arm halfway through and smashed the brick towards his right arm!


    Bai Yunfei was not using the Arm Bending Hand. Instead, having already made preparations earlier, he had controlled the muscles and bones of his arm to change the angle of his attack by means of forcefully pulling it. Even though his arm was slightly injured by this, he still wanted to defeat this soul skill of the opponent!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A deep sound rang out as the brick hit the opponent¡¯s wrist squarely!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 68: Mission Accomplished, Conspiracy Discovered!

    Book 1 Chapter 68: Mission accomplished; conspiracy discovered!


    Bai Yunfei wanted to defeat the opponent¡¯s soul technique with the brick, even though this came at the cost of overloading his right arm¡¯s muscles and bones!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A deep sound rang out as the brick hit the opponent¡¯s wrist squarely!


    Long Taogu was frightened inside, but after getting hit by this strike, he only felt his right arm get deflected away slightly. The pain coming from his wrist was not intense either and, moreover, nothing unusual happened.


    After Long Taogu¡¯s momentary fright, a hint of delight flashed across his mind. He secretly thought that he had been overcautious and that this was merely an ordinary brick. At the same time, his eyes flashed with coldness. He forcefully halted his right arm, which had been deflected aside, then bent it again and attacked Bai Yunfei¡¯s left shoulder!


    Even though he was also controlling his arm regardless of overburdening it, having used the Arm Bending Hand twice in quick succession earlier, he wanted to deal the opponent a heavy blow!


    After Bai Yunfei had knocked away the the opponent¡¯s arm, seeing that no additional effect had been activated, his eyes flashed with a trace of disappointment. Before he could withdraw the brick, he was surprised to see the opponent use his soul technique once again without pausing at all!


    This attack was sudden and fierce. If the side of his left shoulder was hit by it, because this area was not protected by the Goldsilk Soul Armor, he would not be able to use his left arm at least for a short time.


    Having no time to think, Bai Yunfei clenched his teeth. His eyes showing a hint of madness, he unexpectedly changed the original movement of his right arm in the blink of an eye and blocked his left shoulder with the brick at the last moment.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Although he had made a block with the brick, the impact force coming through it still made Bai Yunfei retreat half a step involuntarily. At the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, but fortunately he was not seriously injured.


    As Bai Yunfei backed off, his eyes flashed with a tinge of happiness. For a moment just then, he had felt a strand of soulforce flow into the brick in his hand, which also meant an additional effect had been triggered! What he did not know was, which effect had been triggered¡­


    The moment this thought appeared, he lifted his eyes and saw that in front of him, Long Taogu was already flying backwards with an astounded expression!


    As expected, it was still the ¡®hurling¡¯ effect, which had the highest chance of being successfully activated!


    This rare opportunity must be taken. As soon as Bai Yunfei stabilized his body, he charged up without hesitation. Using the Wave Treading Steps to the utmost, he was unexpectedly even slightly faster than Long Taogu was flying backwards!


    When Long Taogu was caught by Long Taoyi, who had rushed up from behind, Bai Yunfei had already charged up to his face. Clenching his left fist, he struck a blow instantly!


    Overlapping Waves Art, Ninefold Fist Force!


    Long Taogu had just been caught by his younger brother and was yet to regain his balance. Faced with this incoming punch, he had no choice but to once again make a block by crossing his arms in front of him and channel his soulforce, ready to resist it head-on!


    As the fist and the arms collided, a deep sound was heard, which even seemed to be mixed with a slight sound of broken bones. Long Taogu and Long Taoyi, who was supporting him, then were sent flying backwards again.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body paused for a moment. Because he had overloaded his right arm twice in quick succession earlier, he had only been able to attack with his left arm, which naturally was much less powerful and, even worse, rather unsuited for this move.


    After retreating several meters, Long Taogu and his young brother were finally able to stop their bodies. Long Taogu¡¯s drooping right arm was trembling slightly. A hint of a painful expression showed up on his face. His right arm, which had been put in front of his left arm just then, was not broken at all, but it was injured quite seriously.


    They had been fighting him three on one for some time but they were unexpectedly still at a disadvantage!


    Long Taogu¡¯s eyes were filled with amazement and disbelief, not only because of the opponent¡¯s strange body-maneuvering skill, but even more because of that inexplicable brick in his hand.


    ¡°Go up together! Be careful not to be hit by the brick in his hand!¡± Seeing Bai Yunfei already charging up again, Long Taogu gave a warning. He then unexpectedly was the first to rush up to engage the opponent, disregarding his right arm¡¯s injuries.


    Bai Yunfei shook his right arm slightly, feeling that it was already much better. He was somewhat doubtful in his mind but now was not the time for him to care about this. The current situation was advantageous to him. He needed to defeat these three men then save Liu Meng first.


    One against three, the four of them moved and jumped about in the hall, fighting each other to a stalemate. Bai Yunfei¡¯s three opponents already knew that they should not come into contact with the brick in his hand easily therefore they were all extremely careful. As for Bai Yunfei, relying on the Goldsilk Soul Armor¡¯s defense, as long as an attack was not aimed at a spot on his body not protected by the armor, he would not even bother dodging it. And if necessary, he would use the Wave Treading Steps to dash away. Brandishing the brick, temporarily he could not achieve victory either.


    After dogfighting for several minutes, Bai Yunfei finally grabbed a slight opportunity and deliberately revealed a weak point, luring Long Taoyi on the left into throwing a punch at him. In the blink of an eye, he lifted the brick and blocked the punch with it. The moment Long Taoyi¡¯s fist smashed into the brick, his expression changed greatly, thinking he would be sent flying inexplicably again. But after he waited for a moment, nothing unusual happened. When he had just begun to rejoice over this in his mind, he felt a pain in his stomach. It turned out Bai Yunfei had taken advantage of this moment of inactivity to throw a kick at him.


    Long Taoyi was kicked away. Bai Yunfei turned around and resisted a punch from Long Taogu head-on with his back. After that, he raised the brick and smashed it towards Long Tao on the right without pausing at all.


    Long Tao was terrified and hurriedly dodged it, but his left shoulder was still hit. Although no additional effect was triggered, because he had dodged in a hurry, he lost his balance. Bai Yunfei immediately swung the brick at him again, hitting him squarely in the head!


    Next to Long Tao, seeing that he had been hit, Long Taogu gave a cold snort and immediately threw a punch at the back of Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. However, when his punch was just halfway through, something he had not expected happened!


    Without a warning sign, his right cheek was hit squarely with a punch. Completely unprepared for this, he was sent flying to one side! His attacker was unexpectedly Long Tao, who had been by his side.


    The brick¡¯s +10 Additional effect, confusing, had been triggered!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with delight. He had not expected this effect, which had the lowest chance of being activated, to be activated when he had hit the opponent in the head with this strike of the brick.


    In confusion, Long Tao wanted to attack Bai Yunfei, but he was simply unable to aim at his intended target. After sending his big cousin flying with a punch, he still kept attacking recklessly like a madman. Bai Yunfei backed off a bit, just enough to avoid an incoming kick from him. However, Long Taoyi, who happened to be coming at Bai Yunfei at this moment, was not so lucky. Just like his older brother, he was caught completely unprepared by a kick from Long Tao and was sent flying with a face full of bafflement.


    The three of them were separated from each other again. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glittered. When Long Tao had just woken up from his confusion and had yet to know what had happened, a Ninefold Fist Force strike hit him in the stomach, sending him flying two meters away. He then fell to the floor for good.


    Afterwards, with a dash of his body, creating a string of afterimages, Bai Yunfei instantly closed in on Long Taoyi, who had been knocked back by a kick from Long Tao, and threw a horizontal sweep kick at his waist, making it impossible for him to keep his balance. Then, giving the opponent no time to take a breath, he began to attack non-stop. Long Taoyi did his utmost to dodge but he was still unable to avoid the third strike and was sent flying by the brick again.


    And his flying direction was none other than the direction of Long Taogu, who had just been hit by Long Tao¡¯s ¡®surprise attack¡¯!


    The moment Long Taoyi was sent flying away, Bai Yunfei unexpectedly chased after him at a high speed while he was still in mid-air. The brick had already been switched to Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand. His right arm¡¯s muscles bulging out, he struck the opponent in the stomach with a fierce blow!


    Long Taoyi was simply powerless to resist this focus attack of the Ninefold Fist Force. His flying speed shooting up, he spouted a mouthful of blood and was smashed towards Long Taogu.


    Astonishment showing up in Long Taogu¡¯s eyes, he hastily caught his younger brother, who came smashing into him, then thudded backwards continuously several meters before finally stopping.


    ¡°Wait, wait!!¡± After taking a look at his already unconscious younger brother, who he had just caught, Long Taogu raised his head to look at Bai Yunfei, who was ready to attack him again, and said hurriedly: ¡°Let¡¯s stop fighting! We admit defeat! You can take her with you!¡±


    Bai Yunfei halted his steps and looked at the opponent expressionlessly, his eyes sightly glittering. It seemed he was arguing with himself in his mind. A short while later, he put the brick away with a shake of his right hand. Still staring at the opponent, he then slowly moved towards the corner where Liu Meng was.


    After going up to her side, he gently picked her up then slowly went towards the door. All along, his eyes never left Long Taogu. Only when he had got out of this restaurant did he turn around then disappear quickly at the end of the street.


    Only a long time after Bai Yunfei¡¯s departure did Long Taogu sigh as if relieved of a heavy load, saying bitterly in his mind: ¡°When did we ever need to lose ¡®on purpose¡¯? The three of us were simply no match for him! This was the case even when he didn¡¯t use that spear, his other soul weapon. He got two powerful soul techniques and that baffling brick. We were just completely defeated¡­¡±


    Shaking his head in frustration, he looked at the two men lying on the floor. Luckily neither of them was seriously injured and they would be all right after several days of recuperation at most. As for Long Tao [the younger brother], his presence had been nonexistent since the beginning of the fight. At the moment, he was hiding in a corner gazing in the direction where Bai Yunfei had left to the point of stupefaction.


    Long Taogu took a glance around the hall. It had been turned into a complete mess during the battle just then. There were even many holes in the floor, which had been caused by the combatants¡¯ vigorous steps just then.


    Withdrawing his eyes, he unexpectedly raised his head to look at the seemingly empty second floor. His expression also became respectful. He said: ¡°Elder Liu¡­¡±


    ¡°Mm, you did well.¡± A deep voice came out from a room on the second floor. The door of the room then opened and a middle-aged man about forty years old walked out ¡ª he was unexpectedly none other than that elder of the Glacial School, Liu Cheng!!


    Standing on the second floor, Liu Cheng swept his eyes over the four men down below in the hall, saying slowly: ¡°You all did very well. Now go home and treat your injuries. When this matter has been dealt with, you will receive your promised things.¡±


    Long Taogu said respectfully with a happy expression: ¡°Thank you so much, Elder Liu!¡±


    After that, he gave Long Tao [the second brother] a call and walked out of the restaurant while assisting the two injured men¡­


    Liu Cheng lowered his head looking at an object in his hand, his eyes showing a thoughtful expression ¡ª what he was holding was unexpectedly that light blue bracelet Bai Yunfei had given to Liu Meng in the early morning today!


    ¡°Make no mistake, there¡¯s definitely something strange about that spear, which appeared for a short while in the beginning, and that brick, which wasn¡¯t mentioned even by brother Zhenshan!¡±


    As he stared at the bracelet in his hand, the wonderment in his eyes intensified: ¡°This is obviously one of the ordinary items of jewelry he bought three days ago when he had just gone into Cuiliu City, but now¡­¡±


    Judging from his words, he unexpectedly knew even these details! This also meant that he had already been keeping watch on Bai Yunfei since the first day he had entered the city!


    ¡°Besides¡­ who would have thought he would make connections with the Green Willow School? I can¡¯t delay anymore. The plan must be carried out ahead of schedule!¡±


    While planning in his mind, Liu Cheng slowly walked out of this Secret Pleasure Tower as well, heading for another street.


    Only, despite being a middle Soul Sprite, he did not notice that on a roof about a thousand meters away from this place, a silhouette was leaning on an upright post looking at this Secret Pleasure Tower with a solemn expression!


    This person was over twenty years old, wore a silvery robe, had long hair and was ordinary-looking. There was a white, little animal looking like a rat crouching on his shoulder ¡ª this was none other than the young man who had talked with Qin Zheng of the Fate School the other day and called himself the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s adopted son, Hong Yin!


    Only when he had seen Liu Cheng disappear in an alleyway did he withdraw his eyes. After pondering for a while, he disappeared with a shake of his body.

 Chapter 69: Things That Always Happen at a Restauran

    Book 1 Chapter 69: Things that always happen at a restaurant


    After rescuing Liu Meng, Bai Yunfei went straight back into his tavern.


    In a guest room, he gently put she down on a bed then asked in a deeply concerned manner: ¡°Meng¡¯er, how are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere?¡±


    Liu Meng smiled at him, saying softly: ¡°I¡¯m fine. You don¡¯t have to worry, Yunfei. They forced me to take a drug then my whole body became powerless. But there shouldn¡¯t be any big problems. I can feel that I¡¯m recovering. I think I should be okay by tomorrow morning at the latest¡­¡±


    ¡°Really? Are you sure about this?¡± Bai Yunfei looked at the color of her face carefully. After thinking for a while, he still said worriedly: ¡°I think I should go ask the seniors from the Green Willow School to come and have a look at you. This¡¯ll bother them a bit, but I can only stop worrying after making sure that you¡¯re okay.¡±


    Just when he wanted to stand up, he felt Liu Meng hold his left hand. She raised her voice a little, saying: ¡°There¡¯s really no need for that, Yunfei. I heard from them that this drug merely paralyzes my body for a while, weakening my mind, making it impossible for me to channel my soulforce, and rendering my entire body powerless and immobile¡­¡±


    His hand pulled by her, Bai Yunfei seemed to feel somewhat uneasy. He sat down on the bed again and said in a low voice: ¡°Then¡­ Alright, if you¡¯re still not okay by tomorrow morning, I¡¯ll take you to the Green Willow School to ask for help.¡±


    Liu Meng showed a smiling expression. Her face slightly reddened. She stared at Bai Yunfei long a long time then said tenderly: ¡°Thank you for saving me, Yunfei. I knew¡­ you¡¯d definitely come.¡±


    Bai Yunfei shifted his eyes away somewhat awkwardly and gave a slight cough, saying: ¡°Don¡¯t say that, Meng¡¯er. After all, their target was me. It was all because of me provoking them earlier that you were kidnapped.¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t you provoke them because of me?¡±


    After saying so, Liu Meng seemed to realize that her words had another meaning and her face reddened even more. She inclined her head, not daring to look at Bai Yunfei again.


    The little servant girl Xiao Ning had been keeping watch on one side with wide opened eyes all along. Now, seeing such an atmosphere between the two of them, her eyes rolled and she could not help letting out a laugh then said with pretended arrogance as if she was their senior: ¡°Let me tell you two something. Obviously both of you want the same thing, so why are you still pretending not to understand each other?¡±


    ¡°Cough cough cough!!¡± Bai Yunfei gave a few dry coughs then stood up, saying: ¡°Meng¡¯er, your body is very weak at the moment so you should go to sleep early. I¡¯ll go and have a rest too. After the fight just now, I¡¯m pretty tired. If you want to talk about something, let¡¯s wait until tomorrow.¡±


    He then walked out of the room in a somewhat embarrassed manner. Behind him, the sounds of Xiao Ning¡¯s lovely laughter and Liu Meng rebuking her in a low voice rang out.


    After getting out of the room, Bai Yunfei closed the door. When he turned around again, the embarrassed expression on his face had already disappeared and replaced by one of solemnity!


    He stood quietly at the door for several seconds and gave a sigh so soft it was inaudible then went downstairs, found the innkeeper, paid for another room and shut himself in it in complete silence.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The next day, when Bai Yunfei saw Liu Meng again, she already no longer looked unwell. Moreover, she seemed quite happy. After eating the breakfast Xiao Ning had bought for her, she suggested to him that they should go for a stroll on the streets.


    Today was somewhat cloudy, but the weather was not bad either. Even though there was no sun, the air was cool and refreshing. Bai Yunfei followed the two girls, walking about aimlessly on the streets.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei? It seems you¡¯ve been preoccupied since the morning. Is it because you were injured yesterday?¡± Hearing Liu Meng¡¯s deeply concerned voice, Bai Yunfei raised his head and saw a delicate pretty face with bright eyes full of doubt and concern looking at him without blinking.


    Bai Yunfei shifted his eyes to one side a bit and said in a seemingly somewhat uncomfortable manner: ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m just wondering¡­ if the Long family¡¯s men will find us now that we¡¯re going on the streets like this¡­¡±


    Liu Meng was startled then said laughingly: ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. Didn¡¯t that Long Taogu say yesterday that as long as you defeated them, he wouldn¡¯t come to trouble you anymore? Besides, the other two men were injured by you. They shouldn¡¯t have recovered from this so quickly.¡±


    ¡°Can we believe what they said¡­?¡± Bai Yunfei gave a forced smile inside, but his face showed no sign of it. He roused himself a bit and said: ¡°Then, let¡¯s continue to stroll about and buy things we want to buy. After that¡­¡±


    ¡°After that, I¡¯ll have some words to tell you, Yunfei¡­¡± Liu Meng suddenly changed the topic of conversation, saying with a slightly reddened face.


    Bai Yunfei halted his words then said doubtfully: ¡°What words do you have to tell me?¡±


    ¡°This, I¡¯ll tell you in a while!¡± Liu Meng¡¯s eyes became a little evasive. She said smilingly: ¡°Now let¡¯s continue to stroll about. I like the atmosphere of this street very much! A while later, when we¡¯re already hungry, we¡¯ll find a place to eat!¡±


    After saying so, without waiting for Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction, she went forwards with Xiao Ning. The two girls began to talk about the various business shops on the sides of the street in a low voice rather excitedly. Bai Yunfei frowned slightly in an unnoticeable manner. In the end, he let out a sigh and had no choice but to follow them.


    ¡­¡­


    In the west part of the city, on a similarly bustling street, a lanky youngster dressed entirely in black with a face full of discontentment was walking slowly in the crowd. He had ear-length short hair and a rather handsome appearance, but there seemed to be a sinister air about him.


    ¡°Junior uncle Yang is really annoying. It¡¯s been a good few days since he left for that Baifeng City, why hasn¡¯t he returned yet?!¡± While walking, this youngster mumbled discontentedly in a low voice: ¡°It was so hard to go out of the school, I¡¯m still counting on him to take me to some more places.


    ¡°But fortunately I was wise enough to stay in this Cuiliu City, otherwise unlike junior uncle, I wouldn¡¯t be able to bear staying with those gloomy black-robed men all day long.¡± He raised his head. The unhappy expression on his face had already lessened quite a lot. His eyes were sweeping the street back and forth, ¡°He he, there¡¯s really quite a lot of beautiful young girls in this Cuiliu City. In the last several days in this city, I really almost died of pleasure.¡±


    Withdrawing his eyes from the body of a seductive woman, the youngster rubbed his stomach slightly and said to himself: ¡°Let¡¯s go find a place to eat first. Afterwards I¡¯ll see if I can run into a woman who makes me fancy her, he he¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    At noon, on the second floor of a rather luxurious restaurant, Bai Yunfei and the two girls were sitting at a table next to a window. There were many extremely attractive dishes arranged on the table. The two girls were eating daintily but Bai Yunfei was gazing at the street outside the window in a trance. Nobody knew what he was thinking.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you eating, Yunfei? These dishes don¡¯t suit your taste?¡± Liu Meng¡¯s voice rang out. Bai Yunfei withdrew his eyes and looked at this young girl who was looking at him with a deeply concerned expression.


    Somehow, he only made eye contact with her for a moment before looking away at the dishes on the table, saying while shaking his head slightly: ¡°No, just now I was thinking about some things¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you still worried about the Long family? We spent the entire morning walking about on the streets, but didn¡¯t nothing happen? Don¡¯t think too much¡­¡± Liu Meng gave a smile then picked up a piece of fish maw and put it into Bai Yunfei¡¯s bowl, saying, ¡°Quickly eat the meal, okay? You see, you haven¡¯t even eaten half of the food in your bowl.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded then slowly ate the meal, but anyone could tell that he was not paying attention to eating.


    ¡°Right, Yunfei, I¡¯ve always wanted to ask you a question. Yesterday, when you fought those three men from the Long family¡­ what weapon did you use? Why, why did it look like¡­ look like a brick?¡± Liu Meng¡¯s curious voice rang out. It turned out she and Xiao Ning had already finished eating and were looking at Bai Yunfei with their chins resting on their hands. Apparently she had asked the question because she had suddenly remembered something.


    The chopsticks in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand trembled slightly. A piece of vegetable he had picked up fell back to the tray. He withdrew his hand and put the chopsticks on the bowl. After hesitating for a while, he said: ¡°Yeah, it was actually just a brick.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Liu Meng shouted softly. Her beautiful eyes opening wide, she looked at him with an expression of total disbelief: ¡°How was this possible? Where did, where did you get such a¡­ such a formidable brick? Could it be¡­ it¡¯s a soul item, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you can say so.¡± Bai Yunfei lowered his head and answered softly.


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s so awesome! I¡¯ve never heard about this kind of weapon. Besides, it¡­ seems to be very special. Could it be you made it yourself? Could it be you¡¯re a disciple of the Crafting School?¡± Liu Meng asked in a crisp voice, her expression still full of curiosity.


    Bai Yunfei kept silent for a while then said: ¡°No¡­ My master gave it to me. There¡¯s also that red spear. My master gave me both of them in the past¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Liu Meng blinked, seeming to think of something, then said with smiling eyes: ¡°Oh, I know it already. You master didn¡¯t allow you to talk about them, right? Um, then I won¡¯t ask about them anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­¡± Bai Yunfei frowned. Just when he wanted to say something, he was interrupted by a clamor.


    ¡°Mister, the second floor is really full. Please stay on the first floor for a bit¡­¡± A waiter¡¯s frustrated voice was heard, followed by a clatter of footsteps.


    ¡°I want a place next to a window on the second floor. So what if it¡¯s unavailable? Just tell those people to move away!¡±


    Along with this arrogant voice, a youngster dressed completely in black went upstairs. He looked around then unexpectedly pointed to the table where Bai Yunfei and the two girls were sitting, saying to the waiter who had gone upstairs with him: ¡°I want that position. You go tell them to move away. I¡¯ll pick up their bill!¡±


    While he was talking, his eyes unexpectedly brightened, staring at Liu Meng. After being entranced for a good few seconds, he laughed out loud all of a sudden.


    ¡°Ha ha!! Who would have thought I¡¯d come across such a beautiful girl in this place?! Not bad, not bad, looks like I¡¯m very lucky today!¡± While talking in an unbridled manner, this youngster lifted his feet and walked over there.


    Liu Meng and Xiao Ning looked at this young man with shocked expressions, but Bai Yunfei frowned slightly. He cast a look at him and continued to keep his head lowered, looking at the meal on the table, his eyes glittering slightly.


    ¡°He he, young girl, are you willing to go for a stroll with me in the city? You see, the silent guy next to you, at first sight I already know that he¡¯s weak and powerless. Don¡¯t care about him anymore. Just go with me!¡± This young man¡¯s arrogance and directness were somewhat unbearable, but he said these words as if they were right and fair. It looked like he was normally accustomed to being this arrogant and, moreover, successful being arrogant.


    For no reason, a feeling of agitation suddenly surged in Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. Not even he himself knew why he was like this. In the blink of an eye, the agitation turned into fury, which clogged his mind, making it extremely unbearable for him.


    He suddenly lifted his head. A rare hint of ruthlessness had unexpectedly shown up on his face, and he stared at this young man with an ice-cold expression.


    ¡°Get lost!¡±

 Chapter 70: In a Flash

    Book 1 Chapter 70: In a flash


    Bai Yunfei suddenly lifted his head. A rare hint of ruthlessness had unexpectedly shown up on his face, and he stared at this young man with an ice-cold expression.


    ¡°Get lost!¡±


    This sudden outburst of his stupefied the several people at the scene for a moment, especially Liu Meng and Xiao Ning, who had never seen him behave like this before. They both looked at him with their faces full of astonishment.


    As for that black-clad young man, after looking at Bai Yunfei in stupefaction for a moment, he pointed at his own nose in some disbelief, asking: ¡°You told me to get lost?¡±


    Bai Yunfei cast a look at Liu Meng frowningly then stared at this young man, saying rather impatiently: ¡°I don¡¯t care where you¡¯re from. I¡¯m not in a very good mood at the moment so you¡¯d better not provoke me!¡±


    The black-clad young man stared at Bai Yunfei with eyes wide open for some time. Suddenly, his extreme anger seemed to turn into an urge to laugh and he pointed at Bai Yunfei, saying: ¡°Ha ha! Not bad, not bad! You¡¯re unexpectedly talking like this to your grandpa! You want to play the hero in front of women, huh? Humph! Don¡¯t overestimate yourself!¡±


    As he said so, he unexpectedly made a grab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s collar without a warning sign! This man was really the type who had no regard for laws and ethical principles. After just a few words of conflict, he had immediately launched an attack.


    Seeing that the opponent¡¯s strike was actually full of power despite looking casual, Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupils contracted slightly. He turned his body and threw a punch with his right fist in an instant, clashing with the opponent¡¯s hand. A soft sound rang out as the young man retreated two steps continuously. But the stool under Bai Yunfei also made creaking sounds, seemingly bearing an extremely heavy burden.


    ¡°Oh? Soul cultivator!¡± After stopping, the youngster exclaimed with an astounded expression. There was even a flash of ¡®pleasant surprise¡¯ in the look that he gave Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Ha ha! Who would have thought you¡¯re a soul cultivator?! Very good, very good. Your grandpa likes to trample on strong opponents the most!¡± After saying so, this man unexpectedly attacked Bai Yunfei again with a face full of excitement.


    ¡°Ridiculous!¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised to see the opponent charge up again. His eyes glittered with fury. In the blink of an eye he stood up, took a step forwards and threw a punch at the enemy¡¯s face. That man¡¯s eyes flashed with surprise. He suddenly made a jump while rushing up and landed on Bai Yunfei¡¯s left-hand side like a wildcat. Curling his fingers into a claw, he unexpectedly made a grab straight at Bai Yunfei¡¯s neck.


    His fingernails were much longer than those of ordinary people and, furthermore, seemed to sparkle with a cold light. They cut across Bai Yunfei¡¯s artery, but it was merely an afterimage. Bai Yunfei dashed half a step backwards then threw another punch, hitting the opponent in the right shoulder.


    Although he did not use the Overlapping Waves Art, the force of this punch was still large enough to make the youngster move back involuntarily nonstop. Only after knocking over a table was he able to stop. Massaging his shoulder, he looked at Bai Yunfei with a totally astonished expression.


    ¡°Middle Soul Warrior?!¡±


    After this brief exchange, the two of them had found out each other¡¯s power level. And they were both at the middle Soul Warrior stage.


    The other people on the second floor had already run away as soon as they had seen the two of them fight. At the moment, there were only four people left. Liu Meng and Xiao Ning had also retreated to one side and were looking at that young man in front of them with doubtful expressions.


    ¡°He he, not bad, not bad, who would have thought I¡¯d make a misjudgment? I didn¡¯t expect you to be a soul cultivator comparable to me in power.¡± The young man swung his right arm and was still as arrogant as before. He looked at Liu Meng, who was behind Bai Yunfei. His eyes rolling, he said laughingly: ¡°Young girl, watch me beat this guy to a pulp. Then you should just follow me!¡±


    After saying so, he stared at Bai Yunfei again. Retreating several steps, he said: ¡°Humph, brat, don¡¯t think just because you¡¯re on the same power level as me you can fight me to a draw. Let me tell you something, I¡¯m more powerful than you by Heaven knows how many times. I¡¯ll let you have a taste of something soul cultivators from small schools like you can never obtain in your lives¡­¡±


    He then raised his left hand, and with a forward flick of it, a huge gray silhouette appeared out of thin air in front of him without a warning sign.


    Bai Yunfei was somewhat suspicious upon seeing the opponent retreat, but when he saw the real identity of this gray silhouette, his expression changed greatly all of a sudden. His eyes opened wide and his face was full of bafflement.


    A huge gray wolf had appeared in front of the young man!!


    Its body was about the size of a calf, its four limbs muscular and powerful. Its gray, needle-like hair covered its entire body and unexpectedly seemed to vaguely gleam. Its fangs were slightly bared, its body arched a little. One after another drop of saliva even came out of its mouth slowly. Its eyes were very red, but they seemed totally soulless.


    A ferocious aura hit Bai Yunfei in the face. He even took a step backwards involuntarily, astonishment and shock showing up in his eyes. This was the first time he had encountered this kind of situation so he simple did not know what was going on.


    ¡­¡­


    On a large street several thousand meters away from this restaurant, a silvery-robed, long-haired young man was walking slowly thoughtfully. He was none other than Hong Yin.


    As always, that white, little animal was lying prone on his right shoulder. At the moment, it seemed to be sleeping. Suddenly, its several long whiskers shook slightly. Then it opened its eyes. Unexpectedly those little rat eyes flashed with a trace of extremely humanlike amazement. After that, it straightened up its body and gave a couple of squeaks.


    Feeling the little animal¡¯s strange behavior, Hong Yin immediately halted his steps. He inclined his head looking at it somewhat doubtfully and asked in a low voice: ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Xiao Tang?¡±


    Xiao Tang stood up like a human, seeming to be sensing something carefully. Several seconds later, it pointed to Hong Yin¡¯s left-hand side with its two little claws and squeaked a couple of times again.


    Frowning slightly, Hong Yin turned to the direction it was pointing to and closed his eyes to sense things for several breaths¡¯ time. Suddenly he opened his eyes, which were glittering: ¡°Soul beast¡¯s aura! Plus, this feeling¡­¡±


    Without finishing what he was saying, he frowned even more tightly. After considering for a moment, he turned and walked towards an alleyway. The moment he walked past a corner of this alleyway, he immediately disappeared!


    People were still coming and going on the streets as usual. Nobody noticed that a living person had just disappeared into thin air¡­


    ¡­¡­


    In the restaurant, seeing the astounded expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, the black-clad youngster laughed out loud very complacently and said arrogantly: ¡°What¡¯s up? You¡¯re dumbstruck? You have never seen this, right? Are you scared? Humph, we can suck soul beasts into interspatial rings. How can someone from a small school like you possibly understand my Beast Taming School¡¯s secret techniques?! Thunderwolf, go up for me!¡±


    Following his order, that massive gray wolf suddenly made a pounce forwards and jumped up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face almost in the blink of an eye with its mouth wide open. He could even smell the stench coming out from that basin-sized large mouth.


    Bai Yunfei was greatly frightened. It was not like Bai Yunfei had not fought wolf packs when crossing the mountains earlier, but those ordinary wolves in the forest were just like kittens in front of a tiger compared to this wolf. Moreover, its speed was totally beyond Bai Yunfei¡¯s imagination. Right after he had seen its body move slightly, it had gone up to his face just about instantly!


    Almost instinctively, Bai Yunfei swung to the left with a slide of his feet. Thunderwolf¡¯s blade-like sharp claw nearly scraped his ear. Taking steps continuously, he moved away half a meter in the blink of an eye, finally avoiding this attack.


    However, when Thunderwolf¡¯s huge body went past him on one side, his expression changed greatly all of a sudden!


    This was because Liu Meng was behind him!


    In terror, Bai Yunfei had dodge instinctively, but he had forgotten this most important detail!


    In the blink of an eye, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart almost stopped beating. He turned around fiercely and saw that Thunderwolf had already jumped up to the two girls!


    Actually, there had been quite a long distance between Bai Yunfei and the two girls earlier. It would definitely have given him and that young man enough space to fight each other. However, who would have thought the young man would suddenly release such a soul beast to attack the opponent?


    And to Thunderwolf, this distance basically meant nothing!


    Bai Yunfei wanted to shout a warning, but there was simply no time for this. His eyes almost crimson, he channeled his soulforce to the utmost, concentrating all of it into his legs. Then, using an unprecedented intensity, he controlled all the muscles, bones and acupoints he could control in legs and rushed towards Liu Meng at his fastest speed!


    But this was not enough! Given his current position, it would be impossible for him to rush up to Liu Meng before Thunderwolf¡¯s attack arrived!


    All this takes long to describe but happened quickly. When Bai Yunfei had just moved, he saw Liu Meng pull Xiao Ning, who was beside her, and avoid the attack by a hair¡¯s breadth with a shake of her body almost just a moment before the wolf¡¯s claw could smash into her!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupils contracted a bit. He dashed up to the side of Liu Meng, pushed her two more steps aside then raised his right fist and struck Thunderwolf, which had just landed, a fierce blow in the side of its body!


    Bang! A loud sound rang out. Thunderwolf was sent flying several meters away directly by this punch, knocking over a table. Its claws were pressed tightly against the wooden floor, creating several long trails. In the end it stopped then unexpectedly sprung forwards again without delay!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glittered with fury. Instead of dodging, he even charged up with a shake of his body! The wolf¡¯s claw was swiped at him. Bai Yunfei felt obliquely to one side. The moment the wolf¡¯s head went past him, his falling body came to a halt. With a slight shake of his body, he stood firm again. Then, blue veins popping out of his right arm, he hit Thunderwolf fiercely in the stomach!


    Ninefold Fist Force!


    A dull sound was heard again, but it seemed to be also mixed with an almost inaudible sound of tearing cloth. Thunderwolf¡¯s massive body was sent flying away instantly at an angle and it happened to fly in the direction of that black-clad young man, who was standing in front of Bai Yunfei!


    At first that young man had been watching the fight between a man and a wolf with great interest. But in less than a minute, he saw his own soul beast get knocked back by the opponent with a punch. Very frightened, he hurriedly dodged aside.


    Thunderwolf did a roll in mid-air then fell firmly to the floor again. Despite having taken a Ninefold Fist Force strike, it did not seem to be affected at all, or perhaps, it did not seem to be aware of the injuries its body had suffered. Giving a growl, it charged towards Bai Yunfei again.


    With a solemn expression, Bai Yunfei reached out his right hand. The Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his hand. He wanted to rush up again to engage the enemy.


    However, when he had just taken half a step, he stopped all of a sudden because a man had appeared between him and Thunderwolf!


    There had been no warning sign. Nobody at the scene knew how this man had appeared. It seemed in the blink of an eye, there was one more person on this second floor out of thin air.


    This was none other than Hong Yin!

 Chapter 71: First Meeting With Hong Yin

    Book 1 Chapter 71: First meeting with Hong Yin


    After his appearance, Hong Yin did not looked at anyone at the scene. Instead, he looked at Thunderwolf, which was rushing towards him, with a solemn expression.


    His eyes flashed with a hint of grief. With a wave of his right hand, he touched the wolf¡¯s head in an apparently gentle manner. After that, the huge wolf, which was jumping at him, unexpectedly stopped in mid-air as if it had been swept up by an invisible, gentle force!


    Hong Yin pressed his right arm down bit by bit. Thunderwolf¡¯s body then landed on the floor slowly as if he put it down. Even though this thunderwolf had been confined by him, it was still growling in a low tone, wanting to struggle with and attack him. When he looked at it, the grief in his eyes intensified.


    Temporarily, the second floor of the restaurant was plunged into a strange quietness with Thunderwolf¡¯s low-toned growls being the only sounds left.


    Seeing the situation in front of him, the black-clad young man suddenly woke up with a start, his face full of disbelief. He even backed off two steps subconsciously and pointed at Hong Yin, saying: ¡°You, who are you?!¡±


    It would have been better for him if he had kept silence, because these words seemed to call Hong Yin¡¯s attention to him. Hong Yin, who originally was looking at Thunderwolf with his head lowered, suddenly raised his head and looked at him. The look in his eyes was as sharp as a knife. In the eyes of the young man, he seemed to see an image of a huge blood-red wolf show up behind Hong Yin. A suffocating, savage aura then hit him in the face.


    ¡°You¡¯re from the Beast Taming School?¡± Hong Yin asked coldly while staring at the opponent.


    These words woke the young man up with a start. The illusion before him disappeared. His entire body immediately loosened up and he unexpectedly felt that he was fortunate to have just escaped death. Retreating continuously again, he asked rapidly: ¡°I, I am Li Long, the son of an elder from the Beast Taming School! My school is one of the top ten schools in the world. My junior uncle is around here! You, you can¡¯t hurt me! Or else the Beast Taming School won¡¯t let you off!¡±


    One could tell that he was really flustered at the moment. Without using that arrogant attitude from earlier, he had hurriedly revealed his own identity and even mentioned the name of one of the ten great schools in the world in the hope that he would be able to scare the opponent.


    After Hong Yin had heard these words, his pupils contracted slightly, a tinge of killing intent flashing a cross his eyes. With just one step, he went up to Li Long¡¯s face.


    Yes, just one step. Bai Yunfei saw very clearly that he only took one step forwards and when his foot landed, he had already gone up to Li Long, who had been several meters away from him.


    Bai Yunfei was astonished in his heart. He cast a look at that seemingly immobile Thunderwolf at the scene then with a solemn expression, he moved backwards a bit. Anybody could tell that this man, who had just appeared all of a sudden, was extremely powerful. However, it seemed his target was not Bai Yunfei at all so now the best response was to wait and see.


    Hong Yin reached out his right hand and caught hold of the opponent¡¯s left wrist with a grab. His eyes flashed with ferocity as a crisp crack rang out. Obviously he had crushed some bones in the opponent¡¯s arm!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A sad and shril cry came out from Li Long¡¯s mouth. He wanted to reach out his right hand to push the opponent away but his whole body did not listen to his mind. He could not move it at all. The bone-piercing pain coming from his left arm almost made him pass out.


    With a cold snort, Hong Yin gave the opponent¡¯s fingers a stroke using his left hand. The black ring on the middle finger of Li Long¡¯s left hand was immediately taken by him.


    Then, he casually made a throw, sending Li Long flying several meters away. After falling to the floor, Li Long seemed to finally regain his ability to move and he held his left wrist while wailing nonstop.


    Not even bothering giving him a look, Hong Yin put the ring on his left hand and walked up to the side of that thunderwolf. Grief once again showing up in his eyes, he gently stroked its back. That huge wolf then disappeared into thin air, having been sucked into the interspatial ring.


    After regaining his composure, he stared at Li Long, who was struggling up from the floor, with an ice-cold expression, saying coldly: ¡°Get lost! Tell your so-called junior uncle that I¡¯ll be waiting for him in this Cuiliu City!¡±


    Enduring the acute pain in his left arm with effort, Li Long looked at the ring on the opponent¡¯s hand and said in shock: ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°Get lost!¡±


    When Li Long¡¯s eyes came into contact with Hong Yin¡¯s eyes, which seemed to contain a killing intent he was doing his utmost to suppress, his whole body trembled. Not daring to say anything again either, he staggered downstairs then disappeared.


    Bai Yunfei looked at Hong Yin, who was staring at the ring on his finger in a seemingly somewhat preoccupied manner, his eyes flashing a bit. He then moved backwards slowly and, at the same time, put his left hand behind his back and waved to the two girls, motioning for them to get ready to leave.


    However, when he had just taken three steps, Hong Yin, who was pondering with his head lowered, straightened up and looked at him. There was unexpectedly a friendly smile on his face. He nodded slightly to him and said: ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so cautious, little brother. I¡¯ve got no bad intentions¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei stopped. Holding the Fire-tipped Spear tightly in his hand, he adopted a defensive posture and stared at the opponent for several seconds, saying in a deep voice: ¡°You must have come here for Li Long. But he¡¯s already left and we are merely tourists who just now had some conflict with him. Speaking of which, we still have to thank you very much for getting into action to help us. Today we¡¯ve still got something to do so we¡¯ll take our leave now.¡±


    After saying so, he put away the Fire-tipped Spear directly then gave the two girls a hint with his eyes, ready to turn around and leave.


    ¡°Wait a minute, little brother. I¡¯ve got some words to tell you.¡±


    Bai Yunfei halted his steps and turned around, asking doubtfully: ¡°You know me?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, we don¡¯t know each other at all. But I know some things related to you. Are you willing to have a brief chat with me?¡± Hong Yin still said smilingly.


    Bai Yunfei was somewhat hesitant. This man was too powerful for him to deal with but he was talking with him so politely. This was already enough to show his sincerity and, moreover, he could not see any malice in his eyes. It seemed he was really interested in being friends with him.


    After considering for a while, Bai Yunfei nodded slightly.


    Hong Yin laughed then, without saying anything, turned around and walked downstairs. Bai Yunfei and the two girls also went with him. After casually tossing a gold coin to the manager to pay for the damages, they walked out of this restaurant immediately.


    Hong Yin looked at the two girls behind Bai Yunfei and frowned slightly. Bai Yunfei understood what he meant so he turned around and said to Liu Meng: ¡°Meng¡¯er, you and Xiao Ning just wait here for a while, I¡¯ll be back very soon.¡±


    Liu Meng nodded with a seemingly somewhat worried expression, saying softly: ¡°Mm, be careful, Yunfei. I¡¯ll be waiting for you here¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei followed Hong Yin into a nearby empty alleyway. The latter looked around then halted his steps, turned to Bai Yunfei, nodded slightly and said: ¡°What¡¯s your name, little brother?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Mm, my name is Hong Yin.¡± After introducing his name, Hong Yin inclined his head to look at Xiao Tang on his shoulder, saying smilingly: ¡°This is my friend, Xiao Tang. Don¡¯t think that he¡¯s just an ordinary little rat. He¡¯s a very formidable soul beast.¡±


    Slightly startled, Bai Yunfei looked at this ¡®little rat¡¯ rather doubtfully. However, now was not the time to be curious so he folded his hands to Hong Yin, saying: ¡°What do you want to tell me when calling me to this place?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, looks like you¡¯re doubting me somewhat. I can tell you that I want to get to know you a bit just because I know the relationship between you and the Fate School.¡± Hong Yin firt revealed why he had looked for him instead of answering his question right away.


    Bai Yunfei was surprised: ¡°You¡¯re from the Fate School?¡±


    ¡°No, there¡¯s no connection between me and the Fate School, but two days ago I had a discussion with senior Qin Zheng of the Fate School, um, he¡¯s the senior who looked for you that night.¡±


    Bai Yunfei fell silent, seeming to be arguing with himself in his mind. Hong Yin did not disturb him and waited for him patiently. A while later, Bai Yunfei raised his head again and asked with a much less cautious expression: ¡°Then what do you want to tell me, brother Hong Yin?¡±


    Hong Yin said laughingly: ¡°I discovered some matters, and I feel that I should tell you about them. You¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Liu Meng and Xiao Ning were standing in front of a market stall that sold baubles next to the restaurant. Xiao Ning was looking at the various little things on the stall with a curious expression, but Liu Meng was glancing at that alleyway where Bai Yunfei and Hong Yin had gone into in a somewhat preoccupied manner.


    Suddenly, her eyes brightened as she saw Bai Yunfei walk out from the alleyway and go towards her. With a happy expression, she pulled Xiao Ning and went up to meet him.


    ¡°How are you, Yunfei? Who is that man?¡± Liu Meng asked while looking at Bai Yunfei in a concerned manner.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m okay. Don¡¯t worry¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, but did not go on to answer her question. Instead, seeming to suddenly remember something, he asked: ¡°Right, Meng¡¯er, earlier you wanted to tell me something, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Oh? This¡­¡± Liu Meng did not expect Bai Yunfei to ask this question all of a sudden so after being startled for a moment, she lowered her head slightly, her face gradually reddening. Only after a long time did she say in a tiny voice: ¡°It¡¯s, it¡¯s that¡­ my father is about to return to Cuiliu City. I want, I want you to go and see him¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei was stupefied and asked in astonishment, thinking that he had heard it wrong.


    Liu Meng lowered her head without saying a word. Her beautiful hair glided over her shoulders, covering her face, making it impossible to see her expression clearly.


    On one side, Xiao Ning cut in, saying: ¡°Mister Yunfei, this is what happened. Yesterday someone from the family found the young lady and told her that master already knows she¡¯s in Cuiliu City and is very angry that she still hasn¡¯t returned home in such a long time so he¡¯s personally set out on a trip, rushing over here. He should arrive in the afternoon today. It¡¯s possible young lady will be taken home. So¡­ she wants you to go and have a meeting with master. Since you¡¯re already a Soul Warrior at such a young age, you¡¯ll definitely have great achievements in the future. Maybe after seeing you, master will¡­ will agree to let her be with you.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± There was a complicated expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. It seemed he was at a loss as to what to do because of this sudden information.


    At this moment, seeming to have finally mustered up enough courage, Liu Meng lifted her beautiful face and stared at Bai Yunfei, saying gently: ¡°Yunfei, when my father arrives, he¡¯ll definitely tell me to go home and keep watch beside Zhang Yang¡¯s coffin¡­ Could you go and see him with me? This means, this means we¡¯ll go together. I think¡­ I think he¡¯ll agree.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at Liu Meng in stupefaction. Just when she became anxious inwardly thinking that he would not agree to do this, Bai Yunfei¡¯s slightly quivering voice came into her ears.


    ¡°Alright, tonight¡­ And when?¡±


    Liu Meng raised her head and said with a happy expression: ¡°Um, I don¡¯t know exactly when he¡¯ll arrive either. Xiao Ning and I will go and meet him first then¡­ I¡¯ll talk with him a bit before telling Xiao Ning to go and take you there. Is this okay?¡±


    Bai Yunfei fell silent for a short while then said with a nod: ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll be waiting for your message in the tavern.¡±


    ¡°Mm! Then I¡¯ll leave first, Yunfei. You should go back and prepare a bit. I think my father will definitely approve of you¡­¡±


    After watching the two girls¡¯ silhouettes disappear in the crowd, Bai Yunfei turned around with a complicated expression then disappeared on the other side of the street.

 Chapter 72: See Through I

    Book 1 Chapter 72: See through it


    Bai Yunfei walked back to the tavern in a trance. After he got into his room and slammed the door shut, there was not any sound of movement.


    Two hours later, he walked out of the room again. There was no happiness on his face. He just walked on the streets with his eyebrows slightly wrinkled. After walking seemingly aimlessly on the streets for half an hour, he dashed into an alleyway and disappeared.


    About another hour later, he returned to the tavern and shut himself in his room.


    At around six o¡¯clock in the afternoon, knocks on the door awakened Bai Yunfei, who was sitting on the bed practicing breathing. Xiao Ning¡¯s questioning voice then came in from outside the door.


    Bai Yunfei opened the door, have a few words with her then walked out of the tavern with her.


    ¡­¡­


    Because today was a cloudy day, it was already somewhat dark at the moment and there were much fewer people walking on the streets as well. Bai Yunfei could feel a slight chill in the clear wind that blew into his face.


    Before long, he had followed Xiao Ning into a restaurant on the west street. After going up the second floor and pushing open the door of a room, he saw Liu Meng sitting inside and a pudgy, middle-aged man about forty years old next to her.


    Seeing Bai Yunfei enter the room, Liu Meng had a very happy expression. She stood up, walked up to his side and said to the middle-aged man: ¡°Father, this is Yunfei. He¡¯s a soul cultivator of the middle Soul Warrior stage!¡±


    After saying so, she pulled his hand gently, leading him to the table and making him sit down, then said: ¡°Yunfei, this is my father, Liu Yan.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at the middle-aged man, who was sizing him up, and nodded slightly, saying rather respectfully: ¡°Uncle Liu.¡±


    Liu Yan withdrew his eyes and said with a slight nod: ¡°Mm, not bad, though you don¡¯t appear to be outstanding, you seem to be a calm and careful person. This is something very hard to come by.¡±


    After saying these superficial words, he stopped, gave Liu Meng beside him a look then told Xiao Ning on one side: ¡°Bring all the dishes out together. I¡¯ve been rushing all the way over here so I¡¯m a bit hungry.¡±


    Xiao Ning gave a sound of agreement. The room then fell into awkward silence.


    Bai Yunfei lowered his head, seeming not to know what to say. Liu Yan lowered his head too, seeming to be resting because he was really somewhat tired as he had said.


    On one side, Liu Meng appeared to be rather anxious. In order to ease the atmosphere, she had no choice but to ask Liu Yan about his business. Bai Yunfei did not understand these matters so he could only listen to them talk about things like the goods and increases in price in a certain city or making a loss because a certain batch of goods had not arrived on time.


    A while later, as the dishes began to be brought out successively, the topic of conversation between the two of them gradually shifted to Liu Meng¡¯s mother. Liu Meng also said a few words to Bai Yunfei occasionally, wanting to let him take part in the conversation, but he seemed unwilling to talk much and only gave vague answers.


    ¡°Right, Yunfei, it seems you¡¯ve never talked about your family. Where¡¯s your family? Why have you never mentioned your parents?¡± Seeing that he looked a little lost, Liu Meng asked.


    Bai Yunfei fell silent for some time then replied: ¡°I was an orphan. I started to follow my master when I was little.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see.¡± Liu Meng seemed to know that she had mentioned a sad event in Bai Yunfei¡¯s life so she immediately changed the topic of conversation, ¡°No wonder you¡¯re so formidable. It turns out you started to study under your master when you were little. It must have been very exhausting, right? You¡¯re really determined.¡±


    ¡°Humph, reaching the middle Soul Warrior stage at the age of eighteen, you¡¯re indeed a little more talented than ordinary soul cultivators. But that¡¯s about it¡­¡± Hearing Liu Meng praise Bai Yunfei, Liu Yan frowned and said somewhat disapprovingly.


    ¡°Father, how could you say that?¡± Liu Meng seemed to be rather worried, ¡°The level of soulforce isn¡¯t the only thing Yunfei has. He¡­¡±


    ¡°You want to mention those special soul items or something of his again?¡± Liu Yan interrupted her, saying frowningly: ¡°I¡¯m not a soul cultivator, but I¡¯ve been in contact with the Zhang family of the Glacial School in recent years and gained lots of knowledge. There ain¡¯t no such special soul items. Don¡¯t make up those ridiculous so-called special soul items on purpose to elevate his status!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true, father. Yunfei really has¡­¡±


    ¡°So what if he has them? They were merely given to him by his master!¡± Liu Yan interrupted Liu Yan once again.


    ¡°Just stop talking already¡­ I beg you, stop talking¡­¡± Bai Yunfei drooped his head. Although his expression was calm, he was ¡®begging¡¯ nonstop in his mind.


    ¡°How come? Yunfei¡¯s master made them. As his disciple, Yunfei definitely also¡­¡± Liu Meng¡¯s voice rang out. It sounded like she was ¡®pleading¡¯ to defend him, but in Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart, those words turned into thousands of needles that pierced into the depths of his heart.


    ¡°Yunfei, actually¡­ You also know how to make those soul items, right?¡± Liu Meng held his right hand using her soft, seemingly boneless jade-like hand and asked gently while looking at him in a totally expectant manner.


    Bai Yunfei closed his eyes in silence, feeling a trace of warmth coming from his hand. This ¡®warmth¡¯, which should be sweet and make him feel happy, turned into a bone-piercing chill after entering his heart, freezing it¡­


    He then raised his head. Upon making contact with her hopeful eyes, his pupils shrunk a bit, but he did not answer her question. Instead, he asked calmly: ¡°Meng¡¯er, do you remember the day when you were kidnapped by the Long family¡¯s men? That time, it was you who told Long Taogu my name, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Yunfei, why do you suddenly ask this question?¡± Liu Meng was startled then said casually: ¡°That day, I was caught by them. In my anxiety, I mentioned your name, saying that you¡¯d come to rescue me¡­ Could it be you¡¯re angry about this?¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled and shook his head slightly. He then lifted his head and said to Liu Yan sitting in front of him: ¡°Uncle, it¡¯s Meng¡¯er¡¯s birthday in a few days. Could you allow me to accompany her until after her birthday before you take her home?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Liu Yan seemed to be dumbstruck by this sudden question of his and cast a somewhat doubtful look at Liu Meng. After thinking for a bit, he said frowningly: ¡°How is this possible? I already promised her mother that I¡¯d take her home. Besides¡­¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha ha, ha ha ha¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s chuckles interrupted his words. Then the chuckles slowly changed, turning into jeering laughs which were full of satire.


    Bai Yunfei still kept his head lowered. His shoulders was shaking nonstop and his laughter contained a profound sadness.


    Liu Meng¡¯s hand suddenly felt empty. That tinge of tenderness had pulled away. She stood up, took two steps backwards and looked at Bai Yunfei with a complicated expression, saying hesitantly: ¡°You¡­ You¡¯ve already found out?¡±


    Bai Yunfei stopped his laughter, lifted his head and stared at her with a vague smile: ¡°I¡¯ve found out what?


    ¡°You mean I¡¯ve found out this man isn¡¯t your father, or this meal is actually a trap, or you approached me earlier only to fool me?¡±


    Bai Yunfei said without waiting for Liu Meng to answer his first question. These words made her expression change greatly.

 Chapter 73: What Should Be Said Has Been Said

    Book 1 Chapter 73: What should be said, has been said


    Liu Meng looked astonished. It seemed she still wanted to say something, but when she met his vaguely smiling eyes, she fell silent all of a sudden then slowly walked back to the side of the table and sat down. Looking at Bai Yunfei with a complicated expression, she said softly: ¡°You¡­ When did you find out?¡±


    ¡°Is this really important?¡± The corners of Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth twitched. He shook his head gently then said slowly, seeming to talk to himself but also to give Liu Meng an explanation.


    ¡°In fact, it was an abnormal development right from the beginning, wasn¡¯t it? A young lady from a wealthy family, and even a soul cultivator at that, how could she have such an attitude towards an ordinary guy who had helped her for the first time¡­?


    ¡°But I still believed you. Was it because of that hidden tinge of appreciation or adoration in my heart at the time? I don¡¯t know the answer either. It¡¯s also possible that your ¡®excuses¡¯ made me ignore the doubts I had in the beginning¡­


    ¡°When you were taken ill that time, it was definitely real. The only difference was that it wasn¡¯t accidental. Instead, you used a certain method capable of causing this illness to act up. So, the encounter in the beginning was flawless. The next day, what you told me on Mt. Qingquan was also half-truths, right? This kind of lying is capable of fooling people the most¡­


    ¡°I had no doubts at all about what happened during those two days. You let Long Tao and his brother come to trouble me for the second time for initial inspection of me, right? At the same time, it was also to foreshadow what would happen later. Just two days of strolling about made that tiny seed in my heart sprout and grow up. My heart was slowly filled with your image¡­ Ha ha, wasn¡¯t my affection very cheap?


    ¡°According to your plan, it should have slowly developed, right? At least it would have gone on for ten days to half a month to let the ¡®affection¡¯ between us build up slowly and develop as ¡®naturally¡¯ as possible. Only then would you be able to fool me into giving you the information you want.


    ¡°But something you hadn¡¯t expected happened on the second day, that is, I accidentally ran into Qiu Luliu of the Green Willow School again! In the morning that day, actually you had arrived, right? You saw that she and I were talking with each other so you didn¡¯t show yourself. Only after she left did you appear¡­


    ¡°In the morning of the third day, you suddenly come to look for me. It was because you wanted to check up on my situation, wasn¡¯t it? But you unexpectedly discover that bracelet of mine. You said you liked it, so I gave it to you even though it¡¯s related to my secret¡­ After that, when you heard Qiu Luliu would arrive in a while, your attitude changed suddenly. You left right away. At the time I thought you were ¡®jealous¡¯, but in fact you were afraid she would recognize you if you ran into her. After all, given your identity, it¡¯s very possible that the two of you had met each other earlier¡­


    ¡°After I went to the Green Willow School, you discovered that it might not be possible to ¡®do it slowly¡¯ according to your original plan. So, you carried out that ¡®kidnap¡¯ event ahead of schedule, letting the Long family¡¯s men show up again. You took a step further in testing me and at the same time ¡®deepened¡¯ the affection between us. Ha ha, rescue romance, such a good scene to elevate the affection between two people!


    But it was only because of this staged event that I noticed abnormal things and started to be suspicious!¡± Bai Yunfei raised his head to give Liu Meng a look then continued with a chuckle: ¡°Do you remember the first line Long Taogu said when seeing me? He said ¡®are you that Bai Yunfei mentioned by this girl?¡¯ He knew my name. You said you told him my name¡­


    ¡°But when did I ever tell you that my surname is Bai?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s gentle question made Liu Meng¡¯s doubtful expression change into one of astonishment then of disappointment.


    Not caring about the changes in her expression, he continued to say: ¡°Speaking of which, this was all because when we met for the first time, to develop a close relationship between us, you told me to call you so intimately ¡®Meng¡¯er¡¯ directly, so when you asked for my name, I told you to just call me Yunfei. Later on, I seemed to never mention that Yunfei is just my given name, and my surname is Bai, right?


    ¡°Of course, perhaps you¡¯ll say that in fact you only told them I¡¯m called Yunfei, but somehow they knew my surname and there¡¯s something fishy about the Long family¡¯s men. Actually when I came up with this idea, I consoled myself like that too. But it¡¯s still unreasonable¡­ In the beginning, we became enemies with Long Tao [the younger brother] because he lust for your beauty, but on the day you were kidnapped you were completely unharmed even though it took me two hours to arrive¡­ At the time I only felt that you were lucky, but when thinking about this later, I found it so illogical. Plus, when Long Taogu and two others fought me, they unexpectedly didn¡¯t use weapons! This was because they were afraid that they¡¯d accidentally kill or seriously injured me when surrounding and attacking me, making it look obviously unnatural to ¡®let me go¡¯ in the end, right?


    ¡°Later, your attitude towards me changed considerably as well. I should have felt happy about this, but as soon as I thought of the illogical things, I just couldn¡¯t calm myself down. So using tiredness as the reason, I returned to my room and pondered hard for an entire night. I was unwilling to believe my own guess. I was unwilling to believe that everything was fake¡­


    ¡°However, a discovery during that incident at noon today shattered my desperate hope completely!


    ¡°Speaking of which, I still need to thank that unruly guy from the Beast Taming School. Previously I thought it was also staged by you, but this was not the case. It was none other than his arrogant attacks that allowed me to see your flaws!


    ¡°Do you remember the first attack from that huge wolf? Because I had never encountered this kind of situation before, I was pretty flustered at the time. Faced with it¡¯s first attack, I chose to dodge, forgetting that you were still behind me. Fortunately, you dodged too, avoiding the wolf¡¯s claw at the last moment. That moment, I felt extremely happy for you¡­ But I also noticed that you had made a dash using a soul technique! Faced with a sudden danger, you subconsciously used a body-maneuvering soul technique! And that technique was exactly the same as the one used by Zhang Zhenshan when fighting me!


    ¡°What does this imply? It implies that you¡¯re related to the Glacial School! But this is totally inconsistent with the identity you told me earlier! You said earlier that you had been taught by an expert and had been focusing on cultivation ever since so you were almost unable to fight and hadn¡¯t learned any soul techniques¡­ This point alone is enough to prove that you¡¯ve basically been lying!!


    ¡°Afterwards, you suggested that I go to see your father¡­ Ha ha, wasn¡¯t this development too sudden? But you still told it to me, wanting to carry out the last investigation and experiment¡­


    ¡°I knew it, but I still came here. Though everything that happened today was so unnatural, I still hoped unreasonably that they were just my illusions¡­ But after I arrived, I found that this place was still full of contrivances, sudden dialogs, sudden topics of conversation¡­


    ¡°In fact, you have also guessed that I already started to be suspicious, right? But you still did this. Were you taking a gamble? A gamble that my affection for you was deep enough, a gamble that I was silly enough, a gamble that my affection for you would be able to cloud my vision??


    ¡°In your eyes, since the beginning I¡¯ve been just a fool who was entranced by you to the point I could no longer handle myself, right?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had talked so much continuously, almost giving her no chance to interrupt him. Now he seemed to be finished and also to be tired from talking. He raised his head to look at Liu Meng, whose face had been filled with astonishment all along in front of him, chuckled in self-derision for a bit and shook his head. Then he looked at ¡®Liu Yan¡¯ on one side, who appeared to be somewhat at a loss, and showed a hint of disdain on the corners of his mouth: ¡°This man is just someone you found in a hurry to help you with the acting¡­


    ¡°As for your identity, the engagement between you and Zhang Yang should have been real, and Zhang Yang was the son of an elder in the Glacial School. You once said that this school still has another elder called Liu Cheng¡­ Then, you should be his daughter, right?¡±


    After saying so, he turned around to look at the door¡¯s room, which had been closed all the time, saying: ¡°Should I thank you for waiting patiently until I have finished talking so much instead of interrupting me ahead of schedule¡­ ¡®Uncle Liu¡¯?¡±


    There was silence outside the door for some time. Then the door was pushed open and a middle-aged man with a solemn expression and two subordinates walked in. There seemed to be even many more people guarding outside.


    This man was naturally Liu Cheng. After entering the room, he stood at the door and looked at Bai Yunfei, saying in a cold voice: ¡°Humph! You¡¯ve got some brains, but so what?Since you were stupid enough to come here alone, could it be you still think you can run away?¡±


    ¡°Oh, because your scheme has failed so you¡¯ve finally decided to use force, right, elder Liu? You¡¯ve exhausted all your efforts only because of the Glacial Piercer Zhang Zhenshan brought back, right? You guys think if you capture me, you¡¯ll be able to know its secret?¡± Bai Yunfei slightly squinted, seeming to be totally unfazed by the current situation.


    His unhurried attitude made Liu Cheng frown slightly. In the current situation, even though his scheme had been defeated, he was still at an obvious advantage, but why was the opponent so unperturbed?


    Liu Cheng cast a look at Liu Meng, saying: ¡°Meng¡¯er, just get out of here. You¡¯ve already done what you should have done. From now on, you don¡¯t need to care about this anymore.¡±


    ¡°Father, you said¡­¡±


    The expression on Liu Meng¡¯s face seemed rather complicated. Disappointed? Guilty? Dumbfounded? The corners of his mouth twitching, Bai Yunfei shook his head gently.


    ¡°I know how far I should go. You leave first!¡± Liu Cheng berated, his expression turning cold.


    Liu Meng¡¯s whole body trembled slightly. Without saying a word, she stood up, took another look at Bai Yunfei, gave an almost inaudible sigh then walked out slowly.


    Bai Yunfei watched her leave with an indifferent look in his eyes, but his heart was in agony. The moment she walked out of the door, her image gradually walked out of his heart as well, carrying with it that budding, na?ve love¡­


    Withdrawing his eyes, he took a breath softly and exhaled slowly. The expression in his eyes became resolute and ice-cold. Casting a glance at Liu Cheng and the two men beside him, he reached out his right hand. The Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his hand. He channeled his soulforce and a heat wave filled the room instantly.


    ¡°What should be said, has been said. Now¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s fight!!¡±

 Chapter 74: One Against Two

    Book 1 Chapter 74: One against two


    With a shake of the Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei attacked Liu Cheng without a warning sign!


    Liu Cheng¡¯s pupils contracted slightly. His eyes flashed with a trace of amazement. He had not expected Bai Yunfei, who just then had still been talking in an indifferent tone, to take the initiative and attack.


    Curling the corners of his mouth showing a hint of disdain, Liu Cheng moved his feet slightly, making a slide obliquely backwards. At the same time, he instructed: ¡°Catch him. Be careful not to kill him.¡±


    In fact, there was no need for him to say this, because those two men beside him had already got into action. They rushed up simultaneously, one making a grab straight at Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand, which was holding the spear, and the other throwing a punch towards his heart area.


    Judging from Liu Cheng¡¯s behavior, he unexpectedly did not think getting into action himself was worth doing. Instead, he wanted to let his two subordinates to capture Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes focused. With a twist of his right hand, he turned to the left and at the same time made a horizontal sweep with the Fire-tipped Spear. The man on the left hurriedly put up his arms to ward off the horizontally oncoming spear handle, but he was swept aside by the huge force of impact.


    ¡°Bang!¡± A dull sound rang out as Bai Yunfei¡¯s back was hit squarely by a punch. However, he only staggered slightly half a step then raised his right foot throwing a kick at the attacker. That man overlapped his hands making a downward block and was also forced back slightly half a step.


    Both of them were middle Soul Warriors!


    The look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes became solemn. Using the Wave Treading Steps, he charged towards the man on the left with a shake of his body and thrust the Fire-tipped Spear out at the opponent¡¯s heart. But as soon as he moved, the man behind him also took a step and went after him closely.


    When the man in front of him had just dodged, Bai Yunfei halted his body a bit abruptly. Then he took intertwined steps with his feet as if tying a knot and after creating two vague afterimages, he unexpectedly stopped while rushing at high speed and turned around to face the other direction!


    The Fire-tipped Spear, which had already been withdrawn as he had turned around, was now thrust out fiercely again at the man who was chasing him from behind!


    The expression of that man, who was pursuing and attacking Bai Yunfei, changed greatly. In terror, he turned his body to the left hastily. The Fire-tipped Spear grazed his chest. Before he could rejoice over this, he felt his right waist hit by a large force. It had been hit by a kick from Bai Yunfei. With a painful groan, he was sent flying.


    Just when Bai Yunfei wanted to pursue and attack this man, he heard wind sounds coming from behind. It turned out the other man had made a leap and, with his right foot in front of him, was attacking his head.


    Bai Yunfei threw a glance and moved his feet a bit. At the same time, he lifted the Fire-tipped Spear up horizontally. This kick hit the spear¡¯s handle, forcing him to took half a step backwards. The opponent¡¯s other foot then kicked out right away towards his heart.


    The muscles of his arms bulging out, he made a push with force. The moment the opponent was pushed away, seeing that it was impossible to attack Bai Yunfei again, he stepped on the spear¡¯s handle again at the last moment and made use of the force of Bai Yunfei¡¯s push to flip backwards.


    Bai Yunfei was also forced to take another step backwards by that final stamp. At the same time, his body shook slightly. Before he could stand firmly, he felt a pain in his right waist. It turned out the man who had been kicked away by him earlier was attacking him again and had just retaliated by hitting him in the waist with a roundhouse kick.


    Bai Yunfei took two steps obliquely to the left. At the same time, he swung his spear out horizontally, forcing back that man, who wanted to pursue and attack him. But he saw the enemy on the other side charge at him with a dash again.


    Taking a look around, he saw that table, which was full of dishes, happen to be on one side. His eyes flashing, he retreated another two steps instantly then threw a powerful kick. A clatter of dishes was heard as bowls and plates were sent flying everywhere. That large table had been flipped over by his kick and sent flying towards that attacking man on the left.


    That man had already rushed up to a place about four or five meters away from Bai Yunfei. Now that the round table was flying towards him, it was already too late for him to dodge. His pupils contracting slightly, he suddenly pushed his palms out, wanting to shove the table back.


    ¡°Careful!¡± As soon as his hands came into contact with the table¡¯s surface, he heard a warning from his comrade. Very frightened, he had no time to think carefully and resolutely abandoned his ongoing movement. Exerting the power of his legs fiercely, he stopped his body¡¯s forward charge. When he had just backed off, a soft sound suddenly came out from the round table in front of him. Then a flaming-red spear tip pierced through it, thrusting straight at his chest!


    This man had a terrified expression. He had not expected Bai Yunfei to be so fast that he could still chase up and attack him in a flash after kicking the table away. If not for his comrade¡¯s warning, he would have been hit by the spear!


    Staring that the spear tip that was always at his heels, this man hurriedly retreated. Only when he had moved back more than two meters did the spear tip finally stop.


    Bai Yunfei rushed up to the round table, which was being held in a vertical position. The Fire-tipped Spear in his hand had pierced through it almost up to the hilt. Without slowing down, he threw another kick at the table, sending it flying forwards at an increased speed. Then he pulled the Fire-tipped Spear back and forced the man who was pursuing him from behind to retreat with a horizontal sweep. At the same time, he used the Wave Treading Steps and chased after that flying table.


    The previous man was retreating nonstop. When he was just about to let out a sigh of relief, he was surprised to see that table flying towards him again. His eyes flashing, he naturally would not ward it off in the same way as before. With a fierce stamp of his feet, his body shot obliquely to one side.


    When he had just dashed out of the area threatened by this table, he saw a flaming-red spear tip yet again!


    His eyes filled with shock, he could only do a flip at the last moment then lay down without hesitating to give up his balance, avoiding this spear strike by a hair¡¯s breadth. However, although he had evaded this spear thrust, he was unable to dodge the follow-up attack!


    Bai Yunfei was extremely fast. Even though his spear thrust had missed, the opponent had also lost his balance. When the spear went past the opponent, he also rushed up to his face and threw a kick at his waist without hesitation. A painful groan was heard and that man was immediately sent flying several meters away violently like a bullet before slamming into a wall with a bang.


    Bai Yunfei did not continue to chase and attack him because another attack was coming at him from behind. He fell to the left, avoiding this punch, which had been aimed at the back of his head. When he was about to hit the floor, he took continuous steps and moved back rapidly at an angle. When he passed the opponent, his body sprung up. As soon as he stood upright again, the opponent threw another punch at his chest. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashing, the Fire-tipped Spear disappeared with a movement of his right arm. He unexpectedly did not try to dodge the attack. The moment he took this punch head-on, he also struck a blow with his right fist!


    Ninefold Fist Force!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Two dull sounds rang out almost simultaneously. Bai Yunfei retreated several steps continuously but the opponent was sent flying upside down spouting blood!


    Without pausing, Bai Yunfei gave a cold snort and immediately pursued and attacked him. The opponent had just been dealt a heavy blow. Right after he fell to the floor, before he could take a breath, he saw Bai Yunfei coming at him again. Terrified, he resisted in a carelessly hurried manner. When he was about to be defeated, the other man finally attacked Bai Yunfei again.


    Instead of taking the Fire-tipped Spear out, Bai Yunfei engaged in a dogfight with these two men using his fists and feet.


    Sounds of crashing rang out nonstop. Relying on the Goldsilk Soul Armor¡¯s defense and the Wave Treading Steps¡¯ artfulness, Bai Yunfei seemed to still be able to deal with his two opponents¡¯ joint effort easily. Of course, this also actually had to do with them not daring to mortally injure him.


    He threw a kick, colliding with a kick from the man on the right. Both of them retreated half a step, but the man on Bai Yunfei¡¯s right-hand side grabbed this slight opportunity and threw a punch at the back of his head.


    Bai Yunfei leaned his body to the right a bit. This punch landed on his left shoulder. He staggered half a step but his right waist was hit again by a roundhouse kick.


    However, the moment he was kicked in the right waist, his eyes flashed with a hint of shrewdness. Making use of the force of this kick, he took a fierce foot stamp and leaped out towards the left. Then he sped up sharply all of a sudden, creating a string of afterimages, rushing straight forwards.


    Unexpectedly, he was rushing in the direction of Liu Cheng!


    Liu Cheng had been standing there watching the fight all along. As an elder of the Glacial School and a soul cultivator of the middle Soul Sprite stage, he disdained to personally deal with this junior of the Soul Warrior stage. However, seeing that the combined effort of his two disciples had been unable to take down the opponent for so long, he had already become somewhat impatient. Just when he was considering whether to personally get into action to settle this battle faster, he saw Bai Yunfei charging at him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t overestimate your power! You¡¯re bringing about your own death!¡± Liu Cheng gave a cold snort in his mind. Even though he was not allowed to kill Bai Yunfei, it was still possible for him to seriously injure him!


    Bai Yunfei was extremely fast. He rushed up to Liu Cheng¡¯s face almost in the blink of an eye. But this meant nothing at all to Liu Cheng. By the time Bai Yunfei closed in on him, he had already raised his right arm. With cold air rotating around his palm, he threw a palm strike at Bai Yunfei.


    Glacial Palm!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Nothing unexpected happened. Bai Yunfei was hit squarely in the chest by this palm strike then was sent flying backwards like a bullet. While in mid-air, he spouted a mouthful of blood.


    Despite having sent the opponent flying with just a palm strike, Liu Cheng frowned slightly, his eyes flashing with a tinge of doubt. He felt that¡­ the opponent seemed to have taken the blow deliberately?


    As soon as this strange thought emerged in Liu Cheng¡¯s mind, his expression suddenly changed, because he had noticed that the opponent was flying away in the direction of none other than a window of this room!


    By the time Liu Cheng¡¯s expression changed, Bai Yunfei had already been thrown to the side of the window. While in mid-air, he twisted his body all of a sudden and threw a punch at the same time!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Wood chips were scattered around. Bai Yunfei took a forceful step on the edge of the window with his right foot then quickly jumped downstairs.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got some brains, but do you think you escape this way?¡± Although Liu Cheng was stupefied for a moment by the fact that Bai Yunfei had let himself get seriously injured in exchange for an opportunity to run away, as a Soul Sprite, his reaction was so fast that the moment Bai Yunfei jumped down from the window, he rushed up to it with a shake of his body. Seeing that Bai Yunfei was running like mad on the street after landing, he gave a cold snort and also jumped out of the window to give chase.


    The two men who had fought Bai Yunfei earlier had been quite astounded for a short while as well. They had not expected him to suddenly make this move. Now they began to go after him without hesitation too.


    Clutching his chest with his left hand, Bai Yunfei forcefully suppressed that almost unbearable urge to spout another mouthful of blood as he ran. Although he had planned for a long time and taken the opponent¡¯s palm strike with his highest defense when the defensive effect of the Goldsilk Soul Armor had been activated, how could a palm strike from a middle Soul Sprite have been so easy to withstand? If not for the defense of the armor, perhaps he would have been incapacitated on the spot.


    His internal organs were in severe pain. They seemed to have suffered blunt trauma. Even worse, an ice-cold chill was spreading, making him shiver a bit uncontrollably. He hurriedly took the Fire-tipped Spear out. A sensation of scorching heat spread into his body and eventually canceled out that spreading feeling of coldness.


    Using the Wave Treading Steps almost to the utmost, creating a string of afterimages, he ran forwards at high speed.


    Ten something meters behind him, Liu Cheng was going after him closely at high speed too. The Ice Treading Steps was only suitable for moving in a small area during combat and unsuitable for covering long distances quickly. But even though he was not using a soul technique at the moment, unexpectedly he was still a bit faster than Bai Yunfei!


    As Liu Cheng looked at Bai Yunfei up ahead, who was becoming nearer and nearer to him, his eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. The fast speed of this body-maneuvering soul technique Bai Yunfei was using was somewhat unexpected to him. Who would have thought that a middle Soul Sprite like himself would have to chase after Bai Yunfei over such a long distance to catch up with him?


    Seeing that they were about to run out of the west city gate, Liu Cheng gave a soft snort. Channeling his soulforce, he took a forceful step and accelerated sharply again with an outburst of soulforce. He then took a leap, which allowed him to go up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s back in an instant, and reached out his right hand to make a grab at the back of his neck.


    ¡°You can¡¯t run, brat. Just give yourself up!!¡±

 Chapter 75: Help Arrives

    Book 1 Chapter 75: Help arrives


    A blast of wind came at the back of his neck. Clenching his teeth, Bai Yunfei poured all of his soulforce into his legs and pushed them against the ground fiercely. The stone slabs of the street under his feet immediately shattered and his body also dashed away several inches in the blink of an eye thanks to this outburst of soulforce.


    Seeing that his grab was about to miss, Liu Cheng gave a cold snort and turned the claw into a palm. His right arm then suddenly reached out a bit further, allowing the palm to hit Bai Yunfei in the middle of his back. This was none other than the Arm Lengthening Palm!


    ¡°Pu!¡±


    Bai Yunfei spouted another mouthful of blood. His speed increased again, but this happened because this palm strike had hit him, sending him flying forwards ten something meters before leaving him lying on the ground.


    A cold expression showed up in Liu Cheng¡¯s eyes. Without slowing down, he rushed up, wanting to grab the opponent.


    However, when he was only three or four meters away form Bai Yunfei, his expression changed all of a sudden. He unexpectedly stopped moving forwards and hurriedly backed off right away!


    ¡°Whiz¡­ Clang!¡±


    The moment he retreated, a whizzing sound came from the distance through the darkness. A streak of cold light then approached him and in the blink of an eye landed on the place where he had just been.


    A sword about one meter long had pierced into that stone slab. Its hilt was shaking slightly, creating slight buzzing sounds.


    Liu Cheng stood still staring ahead cautiously with a solemn expression.


    ¡°Who dares to run wild in the territory of my Green Willow School?!¡± A question was shouted then several silhouettes appeared in his field of vision. Judging from their appearances, they should all be women. They were dressed entirely in white clothes adorned with various green patches which looked like willow leaves. As they walked, the corners of their skirts swayed slightly, making those patches appear to be willow leaves fluttering in the wind, which felt rather ethereal under the dim light of the night.


    ¡°Green Willow School!¡± Liu Cheng¡¯s pupils contracted. His expression become even more solemn.


    This group of people was not slow either. By the time Liu Cheng could see them clearly, they had almost already gone up to his face. They stopped beside Bai Yunfei. Two beautiful figures then dashed out and helped him up from the ground.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here¡­¡± Bai Yunfei wiped the blood off the corners of his mouth and looked at Qiu Luliu and Chu Yuhe, who were supporting him. He gave a faint smile, but a strange thought emerged in his mind: ¡°Why do helpers always come on the scene at the most critical moments? Why can¡¯t they show up a bit earlier? That way I wouldn¡¯t have needed to take the last palm strike¡­¡±


    Chu Yuhe looked at Bai Yunfei, who had a somewhat strange expression on his face, with a pair of wide opened eyes filled with tears, almost on the verge of crying, and asked anxiously: ¡°Are you okay, brother Yunfei? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you seriously injured? Please don¡¯t make me worry¡­¡±


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei looked at this anxious little girl then chuckled and said comfortingly: ¡°I¡¯m alright. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m just slightly injured. There¡¯s nothing serious about my injuries.¡±


    After saying so he turned to Qiu Luliu, who was also looking at him with a deeply concerned expression, smiled at her in return and said: ¡°I have troubled you, Luliu¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to stand on ceremony, Yunfei. You¡¯re Yuhe¡¯s sworn brother. My master also said that we should help you.¡± Qiu Luliu smiled then looked at a middle-aged woman about thirty years old standing in front of Bai Yunfei, saying: ¡°This is my junior aunt Mu Feng, the elder of the Green Willow School. My master specifically told her to go with me to help you.¡±


    Mu Feng inclined her head a bit to cast a look at Bai Yunfei, nodded slightly then raised her head looking at Liu Cheng in front of her, saying with cold laugh: ¡°I was wondering who you were. Turns out you¡¯re elder Liu from the Glacial School. Why did you go into my Luliu City without reason instead of keeping watch on your Glacial School? You¡¯re even attempting to harm my school¡¯s guest. What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±


    Liu Cheng frowned slightly, looked at Bai Yunfei then turned to look at Mu Feng again. Giving a soft sigh, he folded his hands in salute, saying: ¡°You¡¯re taking it too seriously, elder Mu. I definitely have no intention of offending your school. This is merely a personal feud between me and this man. Besides, I didn¡¯t know that he¡¯s related to your school at all, so¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a feud between you and him? What is it that can make a soul cultivator of the middle Soul Sprite stage like you personally get into action to deal with a junior of the Soul Warrior stage?¡± Mu Feng interrupted him and asked in a slightly satirical tone.


    ¡°He¡­¡± Liu Cheng was somewhat speechless temporarily. After pausing for a moment, he continued: ¡°He killed the son of my school¡¯s elder Zhang, so I want to capture him¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? He killed Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s son? Do you have any evidence?¡± Mu Feng raised her beautiful eyebrows, ¡°Besides, why do you want to avenge the death of elder Zhang¡¯s son? Why do you take the trouble to get into action yourself, elder Liu?¡±


    Liu Cheng fell silent for a while then said in a deep voice: ¡°So this means your Glacial School wants to save his life?¡±


    ¡°I already said, this man is a guest of the Glacial School. As long as he¡¯s in this Cuiliu City, my school definitely won¡¯t sit by and watch him get hurt by his enemy. If there¡¯s really a feud between him and Zhang Zhenshan, please tell elder Zhang to come here to confront him in person.¡± Mu Feng¡¯s tone was resolute and unfaltering. She was the only elder of the Glacial School and a late Soul Sprite, so she was even more powerful than Liu Cheng. Furthermore, they were at the gate of her school at the moment so naturally she would not want to appear weak.


    After saying those words, she waved to the people behind her. They then surrounded Bai Yunfei to protect him. With Qiu Luliu and Chu Yuhe supporting him with their hands, they walked out of the city gate slowly.


    Seeing that Bai Yunfei was being taken away, Liu Cheng¡¯s eyes flashed with a trace of severity. But noticing that Mu Feng was staring at him on full alert, in the end he did not take any action and watched them walk away with an unsightly expression.


    Mu Feng gently pulled her sword out from the ground, put it back in its sheath and looked at the subordinates who had already chased up to this place behind Liu Cheng, saying indifferently: ¡°Elder Liu, if you want to go into Luliu City to be our guest, my Green Willow School will definitely welcome you. If you have time, please do me the honor of coming to my school for a visit, my school will definitely treat you with courtesy too¡­ However, if you want to secretly make trouble in this city, looking down on my school, then my Green Willow School won¡¯t be so easy to bully! This place, is not a territory of your Glacial School like Baifeng City!¡±


    Having said these words, Mu Feng turned around and left without caring about what the opponent thought.


    The color Liu Cheng¡¯s face alternated between blue and white. He was extremely furious inside, but there was nothing he could do. Indeed, this place was not Baifeng City. At the moment, he simply did not dare to come into conflict with the Green Willow School. He had only brought two disciples from his school with him into this city. Even though his plan had been carried out, this had been done by borrowing the forces of the Long family, which had a rather close connection with the Glacial School.


    ¡°Elder, what should we do now?¡±


    Liu Cheng did not say anything and a man beside him could not help asking when he saw this.


    Seeing that Mu Feng and her group had disappeared outside the city gate, Liu Cheng sighed in frustration and waved his hand, saying: ¡°Send men to keep a close watch on the Green Willow School¡¯s surroundings. If Bai Yunfei leaves, tell me about this immediately! He¡¯s already injured. Within the next several days, he should stay in the Green Willow School all the time to treat his injuries. Inform headmaster about the situation here right away for him to decide. Before that, we won¡¯t take any action and won¡¯t come into conflict with the Glacial School!¡±


    As Liu Cheng led his men back, he was still frowning tightly, rather irritated inside. Who would have thought one unexpected thing after another would happen to the trap he had meticulously set up so that in the end he would gain nothing from it?


    ¡°The day Bai Yunfei appeared in this city, I already sent someone to inform the school about this. Why hasn¡¯t headmaster arrived yet? It¡¯s impossible that he has no interest in Bai Yunfei. Could it be¡­ something happened in the school? And he was delayed by this?


    ¡°In the current situation, I can only wait. Do we need to come into direct conflict with the Green Willow School¡­?¡±


    As this group of men walked away slowly, the street became quiet again. From the entrance of a nearby alleyway, a silhouette then walked out slowly. This person¡¯s entire body had been hiding in the dark. He had been paying close attention to this place all along without being detected by anybody. This was none other than Hong Yin.


    He pondered for a while then turned around and walked out of the west city gate¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In front of the Green Willow School¡¯s gate, Bai Yunfei saw Mu Wanqing and You Qingfeng again. Who would have thought these two would be waiting for everybody at the gate of the manor? Bai Yunfei gently brushed away the two girls¡¯ hands, which they were assisting him with, stood firmly with difficulty and folded his hands lightly to everybody, saying sincerely: ¡°Everybody, this time I really have to thank you very much for your help. If not for you, I would have fallen into the hands of that Glacial School, and I don¡¯t know if I would have been able to survive that.¡±


    Mu Wanqing said with a faint smile: ¡°You don¡¯t have to stand on ceremony like that, Yunfei. You already became Yuhe¡¯s sworn brother so helping you is what my school should do. Besides, as the Glacial School looked down on my Green Willow School like that, if we had done nothing after knowing that they were secretly carrying out a scheme in the city, my school would have lost face.¡±


    Things had been so easy according to her, but Bai Yunfei knew that this time, because of himself alone, she had confronted another school without hesitation. This was really a big favor.


    ¡°Then thank you very much, headmaster. I¡¯ll never forget your school¡¯s favor this time, no matter what. Later, if I have a chance, I¡¯ll definitely repay it!¡± After saying so, seeming to have affected his injuries, he gave a couple of coughs and blood came out of the corners of his mouth once more.


    Chu Yuhe was very anxious again. She hurriedly went up and supported him, saying sobbingly: ¡°Brother Yunfei, please stop talking. Hurry up and treat your injuries.¡±


    Mu Wanqing¡¯s expression also changed slightly. She had not expected him to be injured so severely. Frowning a bit, she looked at Mu Feng.


    After their eyes met, before she could ask, Mu Feng already answered: ¡°Headmaster, because we were waiting outside the west city gate before receiving the news, when we saw young hero Bai appear while being pursued and attacked by Liu Cheng, he was already¡­¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t blame senior Mu, headmaster. I didn¡¯t think it out carefully and was already injured before she arrived.¡± Bai Yunfei hurriedly said. Then he wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth and continued in a somewhat embarrassed manner, ¡°Er, headmaster Mu, I think we should go inside first. I need to treat my injuries quickly. Tomorrow I¡¯ll come over and thank everybody properly.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I forgot about this. Luliu, Yuhe, the two of you take Yunfei into a guest room for him to rest then prepare some vulneraries for him.¡± Mu Wanqing gave a gentle smile and led everybody walking into manor.


    After Bai Yunfei had been taken to a guest room, Mu Wanqing and You Qingfeng walked in the other direction slowly. You Qingfeng had not said anything all along, but now he asked: ¡°Wanqing, is he worthy of being helped by you like that?¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Mu Wanqing was startled then said laughingly: ¡°Why do you ask this question again? Didn¡¯t I say before that as long as this man achieves something in the future, my school will also benefit from this?¡±


    ¡°But now you have become enemies with a school comparable to the Green Willow School because of him.¡±


    ¡°The Glacial School? We¡¯re both the two largest schools in the north of Qingyun Province so originally there was not much friendliness between us. Besides, I didn¡¯t say that we¡¯d have to become enemies either. At the moment, I¡¯m just assuring Bai Yunfei¡¯s safety a bit within the acceptable limit. If something unforeseen happens later, I¡¯ll make other plans¡­¡±


    While Mu Wanqing was talking, a disciple suddenly came to report that there was someone outside the front gate who wanted to pay her a visit, and this was none other than the person who had come here in the afternoon and informed them of Bai Yunfei¡¯s situation to help him.

 Chapter 76: Injury Treatmen

    Book 1 Chapter 76: Injury treatment


    Just when Mu Wanqing and You Qingfeng were talking about Bai Yunfei, a disciple suddenly came to report that the person who had informed them of the situation in the afternoon on behalf of Bai Yunfei had come over to pay a visit.


    ¡°He?¡± Mu Wanqing frowned slightly, seeming to be somewhat puzzled.


    You Qingfeng also said somewhat doubtfully: ¡°What has he come here for? Could it be because of Bai Yunfei? But according to my earlier analysis, there shouldn¡¯t be a very close connection between them¡­¡±


    Mu Wanqing looked in the direction of the main gate, saying: ¡°No matter what, since he already came here, I think I¡¯d better go and welcome him. I feel that he¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know what you want to say. I also have that kind of feeling. As long as he has no bad intentions, we¡¯ll receive him properly. There¡¯s nothing wrong with this.¡± You Qingfeng said with a nod.


    They both turned around and walked towards the gate again.


    Hong Yin was standing with a smiling expression at the main gate. Seeing the two of them walking over, he folded his hands rather apologetically, saying: ¡°Please excuse my sudden visit, headmaster Mu. I would like to stay in your school for several days. Hopefully you will allow me to do so.¡±


    Hong Yin¡¯s straightforwardness surprised Mu Wanqing. She then said smilingly: ¡°You don¡¯t have to stand on ceremony, young hero. Now that you¡¯ve come here to be a guest, my school will certainly welcome you. Right, what¡¯s your name, young hero?¡±


    ¡°Hong Yin.¡±


    ¡°Oh, young hero Hong Yin, it¡¯s already evening so you¡¯d better have a rest first. Is it okay if I tell someone to take you to a guest room next to Bai Yunfei¡¯s?¡± Mu Wanqing said.


    Hong Yin folded his hands to her again, saying: ¡°In that case, thank you very much, headmaster Mu.¡±


    After watching Hong Yin walk away under the guidance of a disciple, Mu Wanqing turned to looked at You Qingfeng and saw him frowning slightly, seeming to be pondering about something.


    ¡°Qingfeng, are you okay?¡±


    You Qingfeng looked in the direction where Hong Yin had disappeared and said somewhat doubtfully: ¡°Hong Yin¡­ I seem to have heard this name somewhere before. But for the moment I can¡¯t remember when this happened¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? Could it be he¡¯s an outstanding disciple of a certain school or family?¡± Mu Wanqing asked in bewilderment.


    You Qingfeng pondered again for some time but still could not remember it. He then shook his head gently and gave up thinking, saying: ¡°No matter who he is, at least both of us can tell that he¡¯s definitely more powerful than us. Only, he¡¯s hiding it so well we¡¯re simply unable to know his power level, which also means he must be much stronger than us¡­ It¡¯s best to make friends with this kind of person. Even if this is impossible, we should try as hard as we can not to offend him. I think he seems to think quite highly of Bai Yunfei, but for what reason¡­?¡±


    ¡°Mm, I¡¯m pretty curious about this too.¡± Mu Wanqing said with a nod, ¡°Given his power, it would have been as easy as turning his hand for him to resolve the problem for Bai Yunfei, but it seems Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to owe him too much at all so he had no choice but to help him a bit by giving us a message, letting us go and rescue him. I feel that there shouldn¡¯t be a very deep relationship between them. At least Bai Yunfei is still unfamiliar with him, but somehow he cares about Bai Yunfei quite a lot¡­¡±


    You Qingfeng shook his head gently, saying laughingly: ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much, Wanqing. There¡¯s not much point in guessing either. Now that he¡¯s staying here, this is beneficial to us. If that Glacial School really comes here to make trouble, maybe he¡¯ll get into action. In that case, we¡¯ll have less to worry about, right?¡±


    ¡°Mm, you¡¯re right. Now let¡¯s just wait for the Glacial School¡¯s reaction. When the time comes, we¡¯ll act according to the situation¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In a guest room in a small courtyard house on the west wing, Bai Yunfei was sitting on the bed in a somewhat preoccupied manner. However, he did not seem to be treating his injuries at all. It was impossible to know what he was thinking about.


    ¡°Knock knock knock¡­¡± Sounds of knocking rang out. Startled, Bai Yunfei hurriedly said: ¡°Just come in.¡±


    The door was pushed open and Qiu Luliu and Chu Yuhe entered the room. The latter was even holding a large bowl of liquid medicine in her hands. She carefully walked up to Bai Yunfei, handed the bowl to him and said in a deeply concerned manner: ¡°Brother Yunfei, please drink this medicine quickly. It¡¯ll help you in treating your injuries. In a while you should channel your soulforce to digest the medicinal properties and you¡¯ll recover very soon.¡±


    As Bai Yunfei looked at the two of them, his eyes showed that he was moved by their kindness. He received the bowl, drank it up in several gulps then handed it back to Yuhe, saying laughingly: ¡°Thank you very much. You don¡¯t have worry about me. I¡¯m alright. I¡¯ll get well very soon.¡±


    Qiu Luliu nodded to him: ¡°Mm, I know you¡¯re not so weak. Now you should treat your injuries properly. We won¡¯t disturb you anymore. If you need something, just look for us in Willow Leave House on the left of this courtyard house.¡±


    After saying so, she pulled Chu Yuhe gently and both of them walked out of the room.


    Bai Yunfei gazed at the door in stupefaction for a while again. Eventually he gave a soft sigh, concentrated his attention then sat with legs crossed and began to examine the injuries in his body carefully.


    Leaving aside the injuries he had suffered in the beginning when fighting those two middle Soul Warriors, he had been hit by Liu Cheng¡¯s Glacial Palm twice. With the first time, he was well prepared for taking the blow. But with the second time, he was hit in the back while running away. Although at the time Liu Cheng had suddenly changed his move and did not use all his power because of this, the blow still inflicted extremely serious damage on Bai Yunfei.


    His internal organs were slightly injured, his front ribs seemed to be cracked as well, and moreover, there was an icy-cold stream of energy moving wantonly in his body. Wherever it went, it made his hair at that place stand on end and slowed his perception there down by half a second. Bai Yunfei had tried channeling his soulforce to block its way, but achieved minimal results.


    In frustration, he had no choice but to took the Fire-tipped Spear out and diverted its scorching heat into his body. Only by doing this was he finally able to slowly neutralize that icy-cold energy.


    ¡°This won¡¯t do¡­ Though I seem to be able to neutralize this cold energy this way, this kind of situation has happened before. I thought I understood it clearly, but last time, if not for senior Ge¡¯s help, I would have ended up in a bad situation. This time, maybe there¡¯s also the elemental force of ice that I can¡¯t detect inside my body. But I simply have no way to know¡­ Must I ask someone to help me? Perhaps headmaster Mu or that senior You can help me get rid of this cold energy, but I really don¡¯t want to owe them another debt of gratitude¡­¡±


    Shaking his head, he decided to temporarily stop pondering about this ¡®hidden danger¡¯and heal the injuries he could heal now first.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the early morning of the next day, when the sunlight came into the room, Bai Yunfei also opened his eyes slowly then breathed out softly. His expression looked much better now than before. It seemed he had recovered well.


    He put the Fire-tipped Spear placed horizontally on his legs away into his interspatial ring, kneaded his fists and nodded in a rather satisfied manner: ¡°The bowl of medicine Yuhe gave me really worked wonders. If I had only used my soulforce to make my body recover, it would have been half as effective at best. Judging from my current condition, it¡¯ll take me three days at most to fully recover.¡±


    Right at this moment, sounds of knocking rang out and Yuhe¡¯s tender voice came in: ¡°Brother Yunfei, have you woken up? I have brought breakfast for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I already got up. Just come in, Yuhe.¡±


    The door was pushed open gently and Yuhe walked in holding a bowl of congee. She smiled at Bai Yunfei, put the bowl down on the table and said: ¡°Are you feeling better now, brother Yunfei?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head smilingly, saying: ¡°Mm, I¡¯ve already got much better. In two more days, I should be able to fully recover. You don¡¯t have to worry, Yuhe.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. You should eat some congee first then continue to treat your injuries. You can also go out for a stroll and breathe some fresh air.¡±


    ¡°Alright, thank you very much, Yuhe. If I need something, I will let you know.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded and said.


    ¡°Then¡­ I won¡¯t disturb your injury treatment anymore, brother Yunfei. I¡¯ll bring you another meal at noon.¡±


    After watching Chu Yuhe go away, Bai Yunfei ate the congee then sat back on the bed and cultivated his soulforce for some time. But he always felt somewhat uneasy and could not focus his mind. Frustrated, he had no choice but to decide to go for a stroll outside to see if he could relax his mind a bit.


    After getting out of the room, he looked around. This was a small courtyard house consisting of five rooms. Outside the house, there was a small road paved with stone slabs. Both sides of the road were full of grass and flowers of various colors, and they were swaying gently in the wind. At first sight, they were rather pleasing to both the eye and the mind.


    Just when Bai Yunfei wanted to walk out to have a look, a person turned into the courtyard from the right-hand side of the gate. As soon as they saw each other¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei was totally surprised, but that person just smiled at him.


    ¡°Hong Yin!¡± Bai Yunfei said in amazement, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    Hong Yin said laughingly: ¡°What? I can¡¯t be here?¡±


    ¡°Er, no, what I mean is, could it be you¡¯re a member of the Green Willow School?¡± Bai Yunfei asked doubtfully.


    ¡°Is someone who stays in the Green Willow School necessarily a member of this school? You¡¯re also staying here, aren¡¯t you? Ha ha, I¡¯ve only come here to stay for a few nights.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at him seriously. Without avoiding his eyes, Hong Yin also looked at him smilingly. Bai Yunfei withdrew his eyes then said after pondering for some time: ¡°Why did you help me like that? We should¡­ should have no relationship with each other, right?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, correct. Before yesterday, we didn¡¯t even know about each other.¡± Hong Yin nodded, ¡°But you don¡¯t need to be suspicious either. At least I¡¯ve got no bad intentions towards you, right?¡±


    Seeing that there was still a doubtful look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, Hong Yin could not help saying: ¡°Alright, I can tell you more. I know that there¡¯s some connection between you and the Fate School. Plus, senior Ge Yiyun personally looked for you. So I want to make friends with you. Perhaps later we¡¯ll be able to help each other¡­¡±


    ¡°How can I help you? You¡¯re much more powerful than me. Is there really anything I can help you with?¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s indeed the case, but who can say for sure what will happen later?¡±


    Bai Yunfei considered frowningly for a while then said sincerely: ¡°I have to thank you very much for your help, no matter what. Yesterday, if not for you, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to make my decision so easily.¡±


    In that alleyway yesterday, Hong Yin had told Bai Yunfei that when he had been in the Secret Pleasure Tower that day, Liu Cheng had been watching him in the dark. Moreover, he also warned him that Liu Cheng and Liu Meng beside him looked somewhat alike.


    It was only thanks to his warnings was Bai Yunfei able to link his suspicions together then decide to ¡®show his cards¡¯ first. He also looked for Hong Yin in advance and requested him to carry a message to the Green Willow School, asking it to send people to help him.


    ¡°Ha ha, it¡¯s good that you can believe me, little brother Yunfei. In fact, people should treat each other sincerely. There¡¯s nothing wrong with being a little cautious, but if you¡¯re too suspicious and skeptical, you¡¯ll appear somewhat cold and aloof, right?¡±


    Hearing Hong Yin¡¯s words, Bai Yunfei was slightly taken aback. He folded his hands and said with a hint of embarrassment on his face: ¡°This¡­ Thank you very much for your advice, brother Hong Yin.¡±

 Chapter 77: Approaching Crisis

    Book 1 Chapter 77: Approaching crisis


    Seeing that Bai Yunfei was so humble, Hong Yin unexpectedly felt somewhat embarrassed. He said laughingly: ¡°You don¡¯t have to be too formal, Yunfei. I just blurted it out. There¡¯s nothing wrong with you being cautious like this either. After all, if someone helped me without reason like this, I¡¯d be somewhat suspicious too.¡±


    Nodding slightly, Bai Yunfei said: ¡°Mm, I¡¯m very happy that I can become friends with a man like you, brother Hong Yin. Later, if I can help you with anything, I¡¯ll definitely do my best to help you!¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, let¡¯s talk about things like this later.¡± Hong Yin waved his hand. Suddenly remembering something, he asked: ¡°Right, how are your injuries?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve already got much better. I think I¡¯ll fully recover in two days.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. If you have any problem with your injuries, just tell me about it. Now you¡¯re too weak so there may be some things you can¡¯t detect¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank you very much for your concern, brother Hong Yin. I already know exactly what to do.¡± Bai Yunfei said smilingly, ¡°Right, brother Hong Yin, you specifically came here to look for me? Or¡­¡±


    ¡°You can say that too. Just now I paid a visit to headmaster Mu because I intended to come to your room and have a look. Right, now I¡¯m staying next door to you.¡± Hong Yin pointed to a room on the right-hand side.


    Bai Yunfei was surprised then said in a somewhat embarrassed manner: ¡°Oh, I see. I¡¯m also thinking about going and thanking headmaster Mu, but I don¡¯t know the roads in this place very well. Sorry to trouble you, brother Hong Yin, but can you please take me to her place?¡±


    ¡°Of course I can. Headmaster Mu is staying in the Flying Leaves Pavilion on the northern side. I¡¯ll take you there.¡± Hong Yin nodded in an unconcerned manner then turned around, walked out and motioned for Bai Yunfei to follow him.


    After thanking Mu Wanqing again and greeting Qiu Luliu and Chu Yuhe, Bai Yunfei and Hong Yin returned to the small courtyard house on the west wing. Bai Yunfei went into his room and began to heal his body¡¯s injuries again.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At night, in the hall of an extremely large mansion in the northeast part of Luliu City, the lamplight was as bright as day, and this was in stark contrast to the pitch-black night sky outside the building.


    This place was none other than the mansion of the Long family, a major family in Luliu City.


    At the moment, the head of the Long family Long Bai was sitting in the first subordinate position on the left with a respectful expression. Sitting in front of him unexpectedly were the headmaster of the Glacial School Yu Fei and Liu Cheng and Zhang Zhenshan.


    And two other people were sitting on the left and right sides of the head position. The person on the right side was a lanky man about forty something years old. He was gently stroking his goatee with a rather arrogant expression. And the person on the left side was covered completely in a black robe, making it impossible to see their face clearly. However, judging from their stature, this should be a man. He was sitting there quietly with a surreal air about him. If someone did not stare at him, they would not even be able to feel his presence.


    ¡°This time, the Glacial School is extremely grateful for your help, senior Yang Lin. That Green Willow School is relying on its geographical advantage to protect the murder of an outstanding disciple from my school, which is really disgusting. This time, with your help, we definitely can bring him to justice!¡± Yu Fei folded his hands in salute to the man with the goatee and said rather respectfully.


    Yang Lin waved his hand in a totally unconcerned manner: ¡°It¡¯s just the Green Willow School. Though it and your school were comparable in power before, now your Glacial School has already become a subsidiary of my Beast Taming School. Later you certainly won¡¯t have to be so afraid of it. If you can unify all the big and small schools in the northern part of this Qingyun Province, this will be of some use to my school as well.¡±


    When Yu Fei heard him say the words ¡®unify all the big and small schools¡¯ casually, his eyes immediately brightened. His heart was full of excitement, but he suppressed it very well and said respectfully: ¡°If the Glacial School can expand in the future, this will be thanks to the Beast Taming School¡¯s help completely. From now on, my Green Willow School will listen to the Beast Taming School sincerely. We won¡¯t hesitate even if we have to go through fire and water!¡±


    He said with such excitement but Yang Lin did not react much. He only nodded indifferently, saying: ¡°Later, when we want you to do something, we¡¯ll certainly tell you.¡±


    Right at this moment, a bird about the size of a sparrow flew into the room. Yang Lin raised his eyebrows slightly and reached out his hand to catch it. He then shook his wrist and the bird disappeared. Leaning his head a bit to look at Long Bai, he said: ¡°Patriarch Long, my apprentice nephew has come. Can you tell your men to let him in?¡±


    Not daring treat him in a cold manner, Long Bai said yes again and again then stood up and left to personally welcome this man.


    Before long, Long Bai returned to the hall with a black-clad young man. As soon as this young man saw Yang Lin, his face was immediately full of grievance. He walked up too him and said tearfully: ¡°Junior uncle, you¡¯ve finally returned. You have to set things right for me!!¡±


    He was none other than Li Long, the disciple of the Beast Taming School who on that day had fought Bai Yunfei in that restaurant then in the end had been taught a lesson by a suddenly appearing Hong Yin.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Slightly taken aback by his behavior, Yang Lin said frowningly: ¡°Why are you¡­ Oh? What¡¯s wrong with your hand?¡±


    Li Long shook his somewhat unnatural-looking left hand and said with a painful face: ¡°Someone broke it. I won¡¯t fully recover until ten days or half a month later. Besides, besides¡­that guy took away my Thunderwolf!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Yang Lin glared at him. Li Long immediately felt an oppressive aura hit him in the face, making it even rather hard for him to breathe.


    ¡°Junior uncle, there, there was nothing I could do. That guy was really too powerful. I simply couldn¡¯t resist him!¡± Li Long took two steps backwards and explained himself loudly.


    ¡°Humph!¡± Yang Lin gave a cold snort in a somewhat exasperated manner then withdrew his eyes and said frowningly: ¡°Tell me, what actually happened? Tell me clearly!¡±


    Immediately, Li Long did not dare to conceal the facts either. He recounted what had happened in the restaurant that day carefully. Everybody listened to him rather curiously. Only, as Liu Cheng heard him describe what had happened, his eyes flashed in an unnoticeable manner, but he did not say anything either.


    After Li Long was finished, he begged: ¡°Junior uncle, you must help me snatch Thunderwolf back! If my father knows about this¡­¡±


    Yang Lin lowered his head in silence for a long time. In the end he gave a soft sigh in a rather frustrated manner and raised his head saying to Yu Fei: ¡°Headmaster Yu, looks like we need to temporarily delay going to the Green Willow School and asking for the killer. I must check if the man mentioned by Li Long is still in the city or not first. If he¡¯s here, we must deal with this matter before going to the Green Willow School, okay?¡±


    Yu Fei said with a nod: ¡°Of course there¡¯s no problem. I¡¯ll tell the Long family¡¯s men to carry out a search to help you. They¡¯re quite influential in this city so they¡¯ll make it easier to search for him.¡±


    After saying so, he gave Long Bai a hint with his eyes. Long Bai agreed laughingly: ¡°Right, right, I¡¯ll immediately tell my men to do their best to search for the guy mentioned by this young gentleman!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    At night in the Long family, Yu Fei, Zhang Zhenshan and Liu Cheng were gathering in a guest room, seemingly discussing something in low voices.


    ¡°Headmaster, what¡¯s going on? Our school has unexpectedly become a subsidiary of the Beast Taming School? It was only because you were delayed by this matter that you arrived just now?¡± Only now did Liu Cheng have time to ask this question.


    Yu Fei nodded slightly: ¡°Correct. This happened several days ago. Those two people suddenly came and told me that the Beast Taming School wanted our school to become its subsidiary and was willing to support our school¡¯s development.¡±


    Liu Cheng frowned: ¡°Is there such a good thing? The Beast Taming School is one of the top ten schools in the world whereas our Glacial School is basically nameless on a world scale despite being somewhat well-known in Qingyun Province. It was normally hard for us to ask for protection from a powerful school, but now this kind of thing unexpectedly was handed to us on a plate. Could it be¡­?¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean. But I can confirm that he¡¯s really from the Beast Taming School. I saw with my own eyes him control three soul beasts at the same time. Only the Beast Taming School is capable of such a thing.¡±


    ¡°Oh? If so, there shouldn¡¯t be anything wrong. Could it be luck has turned in our Glacial School¡¯s favor, giving us a golden opportunity? Right, that man in the black robe¡­¡±


    ¡°That man is very mysterious. I can¡¯t even confirm if he¡¯s from the Beast Taming School or not. He and Yang Lin came here together, but he¡¯s almost never said anything and never shown his power either. But I can tell that Yang Lin is pretty respectful towards him, even vaguely regarding him as the leader.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Liu Cheng was started, ¡°Yang Lin is a late Soul Ancestor at least. If that man is even more powerful than him then he¡¯s a¡­ Soul Exalt?!¡±


    Yu Fei nodded slightly: ¡°Very likely. No matter what, now that we¡¯re subsidiary to the Beast Taming School, this will definitely help our school¡¯s development in the future. Besides, now we can also make use of their power and go to the Green Willow School and ask for that man.¡±


    Liu Cheng fell silent for a while then let out a sigh: ¡°Headmaster, this time I didn¡¯t handle the matter well . Now I¡¯ve even caused a disagreement between us and the Green Willow School. I¡¯m really¡­¡±


    Yu Fei waved his hand to stop him, saying laughingly: ¡°You don¡¯t have to blame yourself, elder Liu. We already bumped into Meng¡¯er on the way here. Judging from the general situation she told us, there were really too many unexpected things. You can¡¯t be blamed.¡±


    ¡°You ran into Meng¡¯er?¡± Liu Cheng was slightly surprised.


    Yu Fei nodded: ¡°Yeah, she said she was done with her business and wanted to return to stay with her mother. I think she seemed to be somewhat low in spirit. What happened?¡±


    ¡°Oh, nothing. It¡¯s possible she hasn¡¯t gone home for a long time so she¡¯s somewhat missing her mother¡­¡± Liu Cheng was unwilling to talk about what had happened to Liu Meng so he changed the topic of conversation, ¡°Right, headmaster, have you told that man from the Beast Taming School everything about Bai Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Of course I haven¡¯t. I only said that we wanted to catch him to avenge the death of elder Zhang¡¯s son.¡±


    ¡°Mm, we¡¯d better not tell anyone else about this matter. Even though we¡¯re now already a subsidiary of the Beast Taming School, if we let them know about it, this will only cause our Glacial School a lot of trouble¡­¡±


    ¡°Before going to the Green Willow School and ask for that man, we should just wait¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the Green Willow School, Bai Yunfei was sitting on a bed. There was a pile of weapons and jewelry in front of him, and he was slowly upgrading them one by one. At the moment, being in the Green Willow School, he did not have to worry about his own safety so he intended to use the method of exhausting his soulforce via the Upgrade Technique, thereby improving his soulforce and healing his injuries at the same time.


    He planned to heal his injuries quickly then leave this place right away, heading for Beiyan Province. He did not want to give the Green Willow School more trouble at all and hoped that he could leave before the Glacial School came here. That way, the Green Willow School would not have to deal with a difficult situation.


    Only, he did not know that the enemy was already approaching him and would come to this place before he could leave¡­

 Chapter 78: Soulbeas

    Book 1 Chapter 78: Soul Beast


    The next day. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t go out and walk about. He spent the entire day inside the room, slowly healing the injuries in his body. Only at night did he then start to upgrade some of the remaining equipment, blowing up a large number of weapons and jewelry. Finally, his soulforce exhausted, he lay down on the bed.


    The night passed quickly. Dawn. Bai Yunfei slowly sat up, stretching rather lazily. Cracking sounds could be heard coming from every part of his body. He shook his arm, stretched his body, took two deep breaths, then nodded with satisfaction.


    ¡°Using the upgrade technique is still the fast way to improve! It¡¯s simple and efficacious¡­but unfortunately, the price I have to pay is I pass out at the end each time. Although I know that there¡¯s no difference between passing out and sleeping, it¡¯s still seven or eight hours of downtime. Although I can force myself awake after three or four hours, I¡¯ll feel rather lethargic. The side-effects are huge. It¡¯s much safer to wake up normally.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about time. Today, I¡¯ll bid them farewell. It¡¯s best to leave this Cuiliu City early.¡± Bai Yunfei thought these things to himself as he pulled out a jade green fish-shaped necklace, cupping it in the palm of his hand and evaluating it carefully.


    ¡°Equipment quality ¨C superior¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level ¨C +10¡±


    ¡°Secondary effect ¨C +35 agility¡±


    ¡°+10 secondary effect: increases movement speed by 3%¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirements ¨C 22 soulpoints¡±


    After verifying the properties of this pendant, Bai Yunfei nodded slightly. ¡°The type of movement techniques and fighting techniques the Green Willow school trains in are focused on agility. I¡¯ll give this necklace to Yuhe; she should like it, I imagine¡­¡±


    As he walked out of the room, the fresh morning air flooded towards him, stirring up his spirits. A short while later, that lass Yuhe would come to deliver breakfast.


    He knocked on the door to Hong Yin¡¯s nearby room, but there was no response. He thought that the reason was because Hong Yin had gotten up before he did, and so he left.


    Bai Yunfei decided to go out for a walk and stroll about the nearby Willow Leaf House. Perhaps he might just so happened to run into Chu Yuhe.


    As he walked out of his courtyard, he took a left turn, then walked forward across the slightly damp bluestones on the path. Bai Yunfei slowly strolled forward. There were gem-like drops of dew flowers and grass nearby, and they fluttered gently from the clear wind, then rolled downwards. Bai Yunfei could even hear the tiny dripping sounds. Everything around him seemed so peaceful, yet so filled with morning freshness.


    After walking past a small courtyard, he saw a small pond in front of him. In front of the small pond was the Willow Leaf House, where Chu Yuhe and the others resided.


    ¡°Eh?¡± After walking close to the pond, Bai Yunfei suddenly let out a small sound of surprise as he came to a halt. This was because he had discovered that on the rightmost shores of the pond, Hong Yin was seated atop a stone bench, gently petting a gray wolf that lay in front of him. He even seemed to be speaking softly to the wolf.


    The creature before him was the soul beast he had ¡®stolen¡¯ from Li Long of the Beast Taming School that day!


    And by his side, there was a maiden who sat there quietly, her gaze flickering between Hongyin and the Thunderwolf with an extremely curious look in her eyes.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, Luliu, what are the two of you doing?¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hands towards the two of them, who had noticed him as well, as he hurriedly moved to walk towards them.


    Hong Yin nodded slightly towards him, then once more turned his head to stare at the Thunderwolf in front of him. His right hand continued to gently stroke the wolf at its neck, and he continued to murmur unintelligible words. At the head of the Thunderwolf stood that little white beast named Xiao Tang. It actually stretched out its two paws in a very human-like gesture as it continuously rubbed the Thunderwolf on its ears as it squeaked.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was rather baffled by what this man and his mouse were doing. He was about to say something, but the nearby Qiu Luliu gestured towards him not to interrupt.


    Bai Yunfei carefully walked to her side, then asked softly, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin said that he is trying to communicate with this Thunderwolf¡­¡± Qiu Luliu¡¯s eyes were staring unblinkingly at Hong Yin as she answered in a very quiet voice.


    ¡°Uh¡­communicate?¡± Bai Yunfei was stunned. He looked towards the Thunderwolf, not understanding. He saw how this enormous gray wolf, the size of a small bull, was now just standing in front of Hong Yin like a block of wood. Although the eyes of the wolf were crimson, there was no life in them. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that miniscule trembles could be seen on its body, and if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that it was breathing, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve questioned whether or not it was still alive.


    ¡°Eh? Big brother Yunfei, why are you here?¡± Right at this moment, Yuhe¡¯s voice rang out from behind. Bai Yunfei turned to look, only to see the little lass carrying a big bowl of porridge and several meat buns as she stared towards him.


    Bai Yunfei made a shushing motion towards her, then beckoned her over.


    Yuhe walked over. After Bai Yunfei ¡®explained¡¯ to her, she gave Hong Yin a very puzzled glance, then said to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Big brother Yunfei, I was just about to deliver you breakfast. Since you are here, you can eat first, then talk.¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced at Hong Yin, who was still working hard to ¡®communicate¡¯ with the Thunderwolf, then at Qiu Luliu, who was watching very intently. He nodded, then walked to a nearby stone table, where he sat down and began to slowly eat his breakfast. Yuhe walked to Qiu Luliu¡¯s side, beginning to talk with her in a very soft voice.


    Just as Bai Yunfei was more or less finished eating, Hong Yin finally concluded his ¡®communication¡¯. He took his hand back, then let out a soft sigh as he stored the Thunderwolf back into his interspatial ring.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, how did it go?¡± The nearby Qiu Luliu hurriedly asked.


    Hong Yin¡¯s eyes had a hint of disappointment in them as he gently shook his head. ¡°No good. There¡¯s no way to sense its ¡®will¡¯ at all. Aside from its instinctive abilities of eating and drinking, nothing can rouse a reaction in it at all. The Beast Taming School¡­they actually treat soul beasts in such a manner. I truly cannot set aside my rage¡­there will definitely come the day when I will find a method to rescue these soul beasts under their control. Then, I will annihilate the Beast Taming School! What my godfather and the others were unable to accomplish, I will definitely accomplish!!¡±


    However, he quickly seemed to realize that he had lost his composure. Hong Yin let out a soft sigh, calming his enraged heart, then smiled apologetically towards everyone. ¡°Hehe, forgive me. I was rather agitated just now. I didn¡¯t scare you, did I?¡±


    This was the first time Bai Yunfei had seen Hong Yin so angry. In that instant, he had felt an incomparably savage, brutal aura prepared to explode from Hong Yin. However, the next instant, the aura had been severed, so quickly that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure if he was perhaps mistaken.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, this is early-stage third level Thunderwolf; is it a soul beast puppet which the Beast Taming School has created? How did you acquire it? You and the Beast Taming School¡­¡± Qiu Luliu glanced at the ring on Hong Yin¡¯s finger as she asked the question which puzzled her.


    ¡°There is no connection between me and the Beast Taming School! Schools like them, which treat soul beasts so contemptuously¡­there will come a day when I will make them all vanish!¡± Hong Yin immediately grew a bit excited once more upon discussing the Beast Taming School, but he then gently shook his head. ¡°I took this Thunderwolf away from a disciple of the Beast Taming School within this city a few days ago. At that time, Yunfei was present as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh? This type of beast is called a Thunderwolf? Right; what¡¯s a third level soul beast?¡± Bai Yunfei asked with curiosity.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    His sudden question caused both Hong Yin and Qiu Luliu to be rather stunned. Hong Yin looked at him in a strange way. ¡°Yunfei, you don¡¯t know about soul beasts?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Bai Yunfei honestly shook his head.


    Hong Yin stared at him intently for ten seconds, then suddenly shook his head helplessly. He sighed, ¡°Yunfei, for you to go out adventuring like this is really¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­well, no one ever told me in the past.¡± Bai Yunfei spread his hands in an innocent manner. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you to educate me now, big brother Hong Yin.¡±


    Hong yin chuckled, then nodded. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll explain to you in detail, then.¡±


    ¡°Soul beasts are, as the name implies, beasts that can engage in soul cultivation. They can be described as the soul cultivators of beasts. Just like soul cultivators, they have tremendous power, and from a certain perspective, they even have some unique, special advantages¡­such as their lifespan. For soul cultivators, upon reaching the Soul Sprite level, living to be 150 is no problem at all. At the Soul Emperor level, one can live up to 300 years. But for a soul beast, upon reaching the fourth level, they can live at least three hundred years. At the sixth level, they can live at least five hundred years. The more powerful they are, they longer they live.¡±


    ¡°In terms of power, soul beasts are divided into nine ranks, with each rank divided into early, middle, and late stages. These are equivalent in power to a soul cultivator of the same rank. For example, this early-stage third level Thunderbeast I just accepted is actually comparable to an early-stage Soul Warrior.¡± At this point, Hong Yin then pointed to the little white beast on his shoulder. ¡°But Xiao Tang, for example, is a middle-stage fifth level soul beast, comparable to a middle-stage Soul Ancestor.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Not just Bai Yunfei; even the two women next to him let out soft cries of surprise. Astonishment on their faces, they stared at Xiao Tang, on Hong Yin¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°It¡­it¡¯s actually comparable to a middle-stage Soul Ancestor? Then doesn¡¯t that mean it is as powerful as Master? How can that be¡­¡± Chu Yuhe said in disbelief as she stared wide-eyed at Xiao Tang, who was lazily stroking his whiskers.


    Hong Yin smiled slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate him. If he were on water¡­he would be even more formidable than your average middle-stage Soul Ancestor.¡±


    Hong Yin looked at Bai Yunfei, who seemed to have thought of something, then continued: ¡°Soul beasts train in a way that is completely different from soul cultivators. They don¡¯t have complicated arts or soul techniques, just their own souls. They attune to the elemental power of heaven and earth. Soul cultivators have to reach the Soul Sprite level in order to control elemental power, but soul beasts are innately born with this ability. Even early-stage first level soul beasts are capable of it! The power of their abilities will increase along with their level.¡±


    ¡°The vast majority of soul beasts are located within the endless forests of the northern parts of the Empire. That place is also known as Soulbeast Forest. Most soul cultivators who want to find a soul beast partner will go venture there, after they are strong enough.¡±


    ¡°Every single soul cultivator can be spiritually connected to a single soul beast. No one knows why, but it seems as though ever since soul cultivators and soul beasts have existed, this ¡®law¡¯ has existed as well. A soul cultivator and soul beast that have joined into a ¡®pact¡¯ will result in each leaving behind a soul imprint in the other¡¯s soul. This soul imprint can never be erased; even if one dies, the other can never again form a soul pact.¡±


    ¡°Once a soul pact is made, then a companion for life has been made. The two are able to communicate to a certain extent, to cooperate without the need for speech, and even be able to share their soulforce! This is one of the primary reasons why soul cultivators wish to have a soul beast companion; with a powerful soul beast companion, one¡¯s own level of power can be increased by several times!¡±


    ¡°Soul cultivators and soul beasts should be two types of creatures that support and aid each other. But, starting at an unknown time, humans slowly began to change their way of thinking. They began to view themselves as the ¡®master¡¯, and the number of soul cultivators that treated their soul beasts as equals began to lessen. Now, schools like the Beast Taming School have emerged! They have broken the ¡®rules¡¯; using some unknown method, they have turned soul beasts into puppets that have no intelligence at all. They¡¯ve avoided the requirements of forming a soul pact and have forcibly put soul enslaving brands on the souls of soul beasts. One person can now control multiple soul beasts. They¡­they only treat soul beasts as tools. They should all die!¡±


    One could tell that Hong Yin truly hated the Beast Taming School to the core. It was hard to imagine that a powerful soul cultivator like him would become so agitated when discussing the Beast Taming School.


    Bai Yunfei frowned slightly, then said in a rather worried way, ¡°Big brother Hong Yin¡­¡±


    ¡°ROAAAAAR!¡±


    Right at this moment, an enormous, earth-shaking roar interrupted Bai Yunfei¡¯s words.


    Hong Yin suddenly raised his head, turning to stare towards the main gate of the Green Willow School, his eyes flashing with light.


    ¡°A soul beast of the fifth level! And this feeling¡­it is the Beast Taming School!¡±

 Chapter 79: A Powerful Foe Comes to Fight!

    In the empty space in front of the Green Willow School, there were two groups of people who were nervously staring at each other.


    Mu Wanqing was leading a group of disciples at the entrance to the school, staring seriously at an enormous dark-golden ape that stood in front of her.


    This was a middle-stage fifth level giant golden-eyed ape. It was more than five meters tall, and it stood there like a small mountain. The fur on its entire body was a dark-gold color, and its eyes were golden as well. However¡­not a hint of intelligence could be seen within its golden eyes. It stood upright, enormous fists pounding away at its chest with loud and deep thudding sounds. At the same time, it raised its neck, emitting an earth-shaking enraged roar.


    Behind it not too far away stood Yang Lin, who had a cold smirk and a sinister expression on his face as he stared towards the members of the Green Willow School in front of him. Behind him stood Glacial School headmaster Yu Fei as well as elders Zhang and Liu, as well as tens of strong members of the Glacial School. To their left was Li Long, as well as a mysterious person whose entire body was covered by a black robe.


    Yang Lin felt extremely irritated right now. He had searched for an entire day yesterday without finding the person who had stolen Li Long¡¯s soulbeast. Today, he came to the Green Willow School to demand the culprit be turned over, only to suffer a rejection. A minor school like the Green Willow School, in the face of someone from the Beast Taming School, actually dared to refuse their request? He had thought that this would be a minor matter, something which he could resolve with but a single word. How could he not be feeling upset right now?


    He felt that it was most likely that a small sect like this one was too ignorant and did not believe him to truly be of the Beast Taming School. Thus, after they squabbled a bit, he immediately released his giant golden-eyed ape. Upon seeing the look of shock on their faces, he nodded in a very satisfied manner, then said coldly, ¡°Headmaster Mu, I will say it one more time; the Glacial School has already submitted to our Beast Taming School. Hurry up and hand over the person who killed Elder Zhan¡¯s son. Otherwise¡­don¡¯t blame me for showing no courtesy!¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Beast Taming School, what audacious words! Do you think that just because you are reputed to be one of the ten great schools, that you can do whatever you please in the world?¡± An extremely satirical voice rang out from behind Mu Wanqing as a man in his thirties stepped out. It was You Qingfeng.


    ¡°You Qingfeng, of the Wood School of the Five Elements Schools!¡± Yang Lin¡¯s face changed slightly. He knew that the Green Willow School and the Wood School did have a bit of a connection, which was one of the reasons he had not tried to subjugate them¡­but unexpectedly, You Qingfeng was present as well.


    You Qingfeng glanced sideways at the nearby black-robed man, a hint of wariness in his eyes. He then swept the nearby Glacial School members with his gaze, then said with a frown, ¡°You insist that the guest of the Green Willow School killed the son of Elder Zhang of the Glacial School, but where is your proof?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei killed my one and only son. Many of my subordinates personally witnessed this; can it be that I¡¯m making this up?! You can bring him out before us, and we¡¯ll see if I¡¯ve wronged him or not!¡± Zhang Zhenshan emerged from the group. Although the opponent was far stronger than him, the hatred he felt for Bai Yunfei caused him to verbally counter-attack without any fear. ¡°This was originally a private feud between myself and Bai Yunfei; I don¡¯t actually wish to cause problems between our schools. I would like to ask your exalted school to hand him over and let us take care of this matter on our own!¡±


    You Qingfeng frowned slightly. This rationale the opposing party had offered, of pursuing the killer of his son, caused him to momentarily not know how to argue back. He turned his head to glance at Mu Wanqing, about to say something, but then saw Yang Lin snort coldly and say, ¡°You Qingfeng, this is just a trifling matter involving an unimportant junior. Can it be that you are going to oppose my Beast Taming School for his sake? Since I¡¯ve come today, I¡¯m definitely going back with that man! Can it be that you want to see these two schools start to struggle with each other?¡±


    You Qingfeng¡¯s eyes flashed. The situation today was indeed beyond his expectations. As he worried, a gust of wind brushed past his side as a figure emerged onto the scene.


    ¡°You are from the Beast Taming School?¡± Hong Yin glanced at the dull-looking giant golden-eyed ape, then turned his sinister gaze towards Yang Lin.


    ¡°Him! Uncle-master, he¡¯s the one who stole my thunderwolf!¡± As soon as he appeared, Li Long, who was by Yang Lin¡¯s side, instantly pointed towards him and shouted loudly.


    Hong Yin¡¯s sudden appearance caused everyone present to feel slightly startled. Even that black-robed man, who had remained silent this entire time, raised his head slightly at this moment, seeming to let out a small sound of surprise as he stared at Hong Yin weighingly.


    Yang Lin looked at Hong Yin, his gaze serious. He subtly rubbed the ring on his left hand, then said in a solemn voice, ¡°Who are you? Why are you opposing my Beast Taming School?¡±


    ¡°If you are of the Beast Taming School, then there¡¯s nothing for me to say to you.¡± A hint of savagery flashed past Hong Yin¡¯s eyes. ¡°So die!¡±


    As soon as his words came out, Hong Yin suddenly kicked off from the ground, moving like a gust of wind as he charged towards Yang Lin.


    Yang Lin had been prepared this entire time. As soon as Hong Yin moved, he immediately waved his left hand, causing a soulbeast that looked like a rhinoceros to suddenly appear by his side. Bellowing, it lowered its head and stampeded towards Hong Yin. At the same time, as if by an unspoken order, the giant golden-eyed ape swung out its long, thick arms as it assaulted Hong Yin.


    ¡°A middle-grade fifth level sharpspike rhino!¡± Hong Yin¡¯s eyes flashed. His body paused, then he leaped into the air, easily flipping past the head of the charging sharpsike rhino. In midair, he agilely twisted his body, dodging the slamming blows of the enormous ape¡¯s palms. As he fell past the giant ape¡¯s waist, his right leg suddenly tapped out, causing a small tornado that one could see with the naked eye to form beneath his foot. Hong Yin leapt off the tornado, suddenly flashing past the ape¡¯s waist while pushing out with his twin hands in a seemingly soft way on the ape¡¯s body.


    Immediately afterwards¡­the incomparably enormous body of the giant golden-eyed ape seemed to have bound by a soft, gentle wind as it rose into the sky. Struggling fiercely, it was pushed away by several tens of meters, towards the direction of a small creek.


    ¡°Xiao Tang!¡± Hong Yin called softly, and a white figure scurried out from his shoulder, landing on the ape¡¯s shoulder in the blink of an eye.


    Ka-thunk! Water sprayed everywhere. As everyone watched, dazed, the mid-stage fifth-tier giant golden-eyed ape was effortlessly and gently pushed by Hong Yin into the river.


    After pushing away the ape, Hong Yin didn¡¯t hesitate at all. He suddenly leapt up again in midair, a wind swirling and howling slightly around his body as he instantly flew before the amazed Yang Lin. His right hand struck out, and a white dagger suddenly appeared in his hand, stabbing straight towards Yang Lin!


    However, just as his right hand was striking out, his face suddenly changed. Not hesitating at all, he abandoned his attack, instead sweeping his arm towards the right, so as to block the palm that was attacking him.


    The white dagger and the black figure¡¯s palm connected. A clear metallic ringing sound was actually heard, and after the collision, a wave of power blasted out between the two, causing everyone in the area to be forced to take several steps back. When they raised their heads to stare at what had happened, they saw that both figures had flown several meters back and were staring at each other.


    Boom! An explosion could be heard coming from the small river. Water sprayed everywhere, and an enormous ball of water flew up from the river. Within the ball of water was the enormous trapped body of the giant golden-eyed ape. Only his enormous head was left at the very top of the ball. The giant ape was frantically brandishing its four appendages, but it wasn¡¯t able to escape the confines of the water ball in the slightest.


    On the right shoulder of the giant ape was Xiao Tang, all the fur on his body standing upright. His body seemed to have been enlarged by a full size, and his little claws were constantly dancing in a manner which seemed to control the enormous ball of water.


    Hong Yin didn¡¯t look at the situation on the river; rather, a serious look on his face, he stared at the black-robed figure in front of him. He gently flicked a few spots of blood from his dagger, then said in a cold voice, ¡°So you are also of the Beast Taming School?¡±


    The black-robed man¡¯s right hand, hidden behind his back, trembled slightly. A small hole had been punctured through his dark gold glove, and a hint of blood was leaking out.


    ¡°Bloodhowl Fang¡­Hong Yin, the Son of the Wolf¡­at such a young age, you¡¯ve actually reached the early-stage Soul Exalt level. What they say about you is true; you are truly a marvelous talent.¡± A hoarse voice rang out from the black-robed man¡¯s throat, but it gave off an extremely cold, sinister vibe that prevented others from telling what age he was.


    When these words came out, everyone¡¯s face changed. Yang Lin took several uncontrollable steps back. Staring at Hong Yin, he screeched, ¡°Hong Yin! You are actually Hong Yin, the Son of the Wolf!¡±


    ¡°Hmph! And who are you!¡± Hong Yin let out a cold snort, clenching the dagger in his hands tightly. He took half a step forward, preparing an attacking stance.


    ¡°Stay your hands. Can it be that you want to fight with me here? If you and I were to fight at full power, I imagine that it the destruction of the Green Willow School would be just one of the side-effects. I imagine you don¡¯t wish this to occur, yes?¡± The black-robed man¡¯s voice was very calm. He glanced at the surrounding figures, then at the frowning Hong Yin. He continued, ¡°In addition¡­do you really want to kill members of the Beast Taming School here? If members of the Beast Taming School are killed here on the grounds of the Green Willow School¡­what do you think will happen to it?¡±


    His words instantly caused the faces of the Green Willow School members to change drastically. Mu Wanqing¡¯s face turned solemn, and she looked rather worriedly at Hong Yin.


    A light flickered through Hong Yin¡¯s eyes, as though he had made his decision. A long moment later, he let out a soft sigh, then put away his dagger. Taking a single step, he instantly appeared by the small river. He stretched his right hand out, pushing it into the ball of water, gently patting it on the shoulder of the giant ape. The ball of water suddenly became empty! And then, he once more jumped off the air, taking back Xiao Tang with him as he returned to the side of the Green Willow clansmen.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Seeing that Hong Yin had actually taken away his giant golden-eyed ape, Yang Lin¡¯s face changed. He was about to say something, but when he saw the barely-suppressed killing intent in Hong Yin¡¯s eyes, his entire body trembled. He no longer dared to say a thing as he collected his sharpspike rhino and, a gloomy look on his face, retreated to the black-robed man¡¯s side.


    The black-robed man swept everyone with a glance, then continued to speak in that hoarse, gravelly voice, ¡°We have come here just for the sake of taking a person, not to cause too many other issues. As I see it¡­Headmaster Mu, you should hurry up and hand that person over.¡±


    Yu Fei¡¯s eyes flickered. Only now did he recover from his earlier state of shock. His eyes flashed several times, then he took a step forward and said loudly, ¡°Exactly! Headmaster Mu, you should hand over this Bai Yunfei! Do not cause trouble between our schools for the sake of an outsider!¡±


    Zhang Zhenshan took a step forward as well, a look of rage on his face as he said, ¡°I cannot live under the same heavens with the person who killed my son! This was originally my personal affair; Headmaster Mu, have that Bai Yunfei come out to fight me alone, and I will deal with him myself and resolve our issues! Otherwise¡­even if it means becoming enemies with your Green Willow School, I am going to charge inside to take revenge!¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Fight him by yourself? A Soul Sprite wants to force a Soul Warrior to fight alone? I¡¯m impressed at your lack of shamelessness in suggesting it!¡± Mu Wanqing frowned as she retorted with a cold snort.


    ¡°Headmaster Mu, if you stubbornly insist on protecting this person, then that means you are becoming enemies with my Glacial School. Then¡­don¡¯t blame my school for showing no courtesy! Even if it means causing both sides to suffer, I am going to get justice for my clan¡¯s elder!¡± Yu Fei had an extremely sinister look on his face as he spoke out angrily, and the Glacial School members behind him drew their weapons in a savage manner.


    The sound of longswords leaving the sheaths could be heard from the Green Willow School¡¯s side as well. The two sides stared at each other, weapons at the ready. The atmosphere was extremely, explosively tense right now.


    ¡°Zhang Zhenshan, I agree to fight with you!¡±


    Right at this moment, a slightly angry voice rang out from behind the Green Willow School¡¯s side¡­and then a figure with a cold expression slowly walked out.


    It was Bai Yunfei!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 80: Seven Day Agreemen

    Chapter 80: Seven Day Agreement!


    ¡°Zhang Zhenshan, I agree to fight with you!¡±


    Just as the two sides were facing each other tensely with drawn swords, and as battle was about to erupt¡­Bai Yunfei flew out from the crowd. He stood there by the side of Hong Yin, staring at Zhang Zhenshan with a cold look on his face.


    His appearance caused both sides to feel startled. Zhang Zhenshan was the first to react. Upon seeing Bai Yunfei, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s entire body began to shake, and his face began to contort with rage as hatred spat from his eyes. He roared furiously, ¡°Brat, you actually dare to come out! Repay me for my son¡¯s life!¡±


    ¡°I can give you the thing you want.¡± Bai Yunfei saw that Zhang Zhenshan was about to charge out, and so he said these words calmly. As he did, he glanced sideways out of the corner of his eyes towards Yu Fei, who was behind Zhang Zhenshan.


    Yu Fei had been staring at Bai Yunfei speculatively as soon as he had stepped out. Upon hearing Bai Yunfei¡¯s calm words, a light flashed through his eyes. He reached out to stop Zhang Zhenshan, then stared at Bai Yunfei and said, ¡°Kid, what do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Both of us know what I mean by that¡­right?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed softly. ¡°I agree to duel Zhang Zhenshan by myself, and if I lose, I¡¯ll let you dispose of me as you please, as well as give you the thing you want. But if I win¡­you must give me back my Glacial Pricker! In addition¡­this matter has nothing to do with the Green Willow School. In the future, you cannot cause problems for them!¡±


    Yu Fei was slightly startled. He stared at Bai Yunfei for a long time, thoughts flickering through his eyes. Finally, he said in a low voice, ¡°Do you speak the truth?¡±


    Bai Yunfei swept his gaze towards everyone present, then said in a clear voice, ¡°Everyone from the Green Willow School and the Glacial School are present, as well as senior You from the Wood School and the members of the Beast Taming School. They are all witnesses! I shall fight Zhang Zhenshan in a fair battle and resolve our private feud. Who lives and who dies shall depend on each person¡¯s own strength!¡±


    And then, he turned to look at Yu Fei anew. ¡°However¡­I do have a requirement.¡±


    ¡°What requirement?¡± Yu Fei raised an eyebrow and asked.


    ¡°Seven days. After seven days, we shall gather here again and fight to the death!¡± Bai Yunfei stared at Yun Fei, saying these words one word at a time.


    This time, Yu Fei just pondered for a brief instant before nodding. ¡°Fine! It shall be as you request! Seven days later, we¡¯ll make a wager with lives and the things each of us want. You shall battle our Elder Zhang by yourself! However¡­you had best not be planning on fleeing. If you do not appear, then I shall consider your debt as now belonging to the Green Willow School.


    Bai Yunfei nodded slightly. ¡°So mote it be!¡±


    Yu Fei led the Glacial School¡¯s men in a slow departure. The black-robed man gave Bai Yunfei a reflective glance, then turned and left as well. Yang Lin glanced at Hong Yin with a gaze filled with venomous hatred, but in the end he was unwillingly forced to depart with the black-robed man, slowly disappearing into the distance.


    ¡°Yunfei, you were too rash. How can you make an agreement with them like this? The enemy is at the Soul Sprite stage. How can you win¡­¡± Hong Yin looked at the silent Bai Yunfei whose head was lowered, then said these words in quite a worried manner.


    Mu Wanqing dismissed her disciples, then walked over alongside You Qingfeng to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Indeed, Yunfei. You didn¡¯t have to appear; although they had many experts, we had Hong Yin and Qingfeng on our side. They wouldn¡¯t necessarily have dared to act rashly.¡±


    Bai Yunfei gently shook his head, then clasped his fists in a salute towards Mu Wanqing. He said with sincerity, ¡°Thank you, Headmaster Mu and senior You, for having done your utmost to protect me. However, if I did not appear, then I probably would have brought harm to the Green Willow School. Even if just some small-scale fights break out, if so much as a single person dies or is injured because of me, I will never feel at ease.¡±


    Qiu Luliu pulled Chu Yuhe over. Both of them looked towards Bai Yunfei in a very worried manner, and Qiu Luliu said, ¡°But you truly shouldn¡¯t have agreed to battle Zhang Zhenshan! You aren¡¯t even a late-stage Soul Warrior; how can you beat him?! This buys you seven days at most¡­why don¡¯t you seize this opportunity to flee? Let big brother Hong Yin take you away. So long as you can leave Qingyun Province, given how vast the world is, there¡¯s no way they¡¯ll be able to find you.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that. Didn¡¯t you hear the last thing they said? If I were to flee, I would have brought trouble to the Green Willow School.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, then said with a laugh, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Since I¡¯ve agreed, I naturally have a degree of confidence. I won¡¯t necessarily lose¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? Young friend Yunfei, can it be that you have a way to win?¡± You Qingfeng raised an elegant eyebrow and asked curiously.


    ¡°Mm, well¡­I do indeed have a method to raise my power quickly in a short period of time¡­this was taught to me by senior Gu Yiyun.¡± Bai Yunfei hesitated a moment, then decided to explain by using Gu Yiyun as his excuse.


    ¡°Senior Gu taught you¡­?¡± Hong Yin had a puzzled look on his face. Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and his entire face changed. ¡°Can it be¡­a type of soul technique that allows you to explode forth with power of a higher level? You can¡¯t! You can¡¯t activate this sort of soul technique! After using it, your power level will decline, and you will even pay a price of using up your life energy. You are merely at the Soul Warrior stage; you want to use a soul technique like this?! If you do so, even if you defeat Zhang Zhenshan, your life will be ruined!¡±


    Hong Yin¡¯s reaction caused everyone present to be stunned, then turn towards Bai Yunfei with looks of amazement. A light flashed in You Qingfeng¡¯s eyes in particular as an idea seemed to flash through his mind.


    Upon hearing Hong Yin¡¯s words, Bai Yunfei was momentarily stunned as well. He lowered his head, thoughts flickering through his eyes. Clearly, Hong Yin had gotten the wrong idea. However¡­this was the first time he had ever even heard of a soul technique like this. After pondering for a few moments, Bai Yunfei lifted his head, still smiling. ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, you are worrying too much. Things aren¡¯t as serious as you say. Don¡¯t worry; I told you, I have a degree of confidence. I definitely won¡¯t use my future as the price.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Upon seeing the calm look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, in the end Hong Yin shook his head helplessly. ¡°Fine. Since you¡¯ve already made your decision, I won¡¯t say anything else. If there¡¯s anything I can help with, just tell me.¡±


    ¡°Alright. In fact, I really do have some matters I need you to help me with, big brother Hong Yin. Heh heh. Let¡¯s go back now and stop standing here in the gateway,¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, then turned towards Mu Wanqing. ¡°For the sake of the battle seven days from now, I want to go into seven days of closed-door meditation. I would like to ask Headmaster Mu to help arrange that for me.¡±


    ¡°No problem. I will make the arrangements and ensure that none of my disciples go to your courtyard to disturb you.¡±


    Green Willow City. The Long estate.


    The black-robed man, Yang Lin, Yu Fei, and the others were all seated within the main hall. The atmosphere was rather gloomy, and everyone seemed to have their own thoughts.


    ¡°Senior Yan Xi, you really can¡¯t act against Hong Yin? He took away my Giant Goldeye Ape¡­¡± Finally, Yang Lin became the one to break the silence in the hall as he sent a question to the black-robed man. Only now did Yu Fei and the others learn that this mysterious black-robed man was named Yan Xi, and that he was most likely not of the Beast Taming School. But¡­what was his identity and status, then? Why did he arrive alongside someone of the Beast Taming School who was on a mission to recruit the Glacial School?¡±


    Yan Xi gave Yang Lin a glance, then shook his head. ¡°The adopted son of the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡­I imagine you know quite a few things about him. You had best just forget about it. There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll fight with him. Although we are both early-stage Soul Exalts, even if I let loose with all of my power, I wouldn¡¯t be a match for him. I have this much self-awareness, at least! You should be celebrating the fact that I stopped him; otherwise, you¡¯d be dead already.¡±


    Yang Lin¡¯s facial expression turned rigid. Although he was unwilling to admit it, he knew this person was speaking the truth. In the end, he could only let out a helpless sigh, then lower his head and say nothing more.


    ¡°Tomorrow, you shall leave this place. Otherwise¡­if you run into him later, you might not survive it,¡± Yan Xi said, still looking at Yang Lin.


    Yang Lin was startled. ¡°Eh? Senior Yan Xi, you won¡¯t be leaving with us?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m slightly interested in the duel seven days from now. I¡¯ll regroup with you at our next destination after it concludes.¡± After speaking, Yan Xi turned to look towards Yu Fei. He said calmly, ¡°Headmaster Yu, I have a question; are you truly seeking Bai Yunfei just to take revenge for the death of Elder Zhan¡¯s son?¡±


    Yu Fei¡¯s hand, which was holding onto a cup of tea, trembled momentarily. A look flashed through his eyes, and then he looked towards Yan Xi with quite a bit of fear as he said, ¡°Senior, we are indeed pursuing him for the sake of getting revenge on behalf of the slain son of Elder Zhang. However¡­I do not dare deceive you; aside from this, we¡­want to acquire something that he has.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What?¡±


    ¡°A crimson longspear; it should be a low-grade earth-ranked soul weapon.¡±


    ¡°Earth-ranked soul weapon¡­yes, that would indeed be worth you sending out the full force of your school to go seize it¡­¡± Yan Xi lowered his head slightly, seeming to reflect on Yan Xi¡¯s words. ¡°So that¡¯s the terms of your wager? Then what is this ¡®Glacial Pricker¡¯ of which he spoke?¡±


    Yu Fei¡¯s heartrate began to quicken. Putting on a look of not daring to hide the truth, he brought out the Glacial Pricker, then walked forward and offered it with both hands to Yan Xi. He said solemnly, ¡°Elder Zhang seized this Glacial Pricker from him when he was chasing after him. I imagine it is very important to him, which is why he wants it back¡­¡±


    Yan Xi accepted the Glacial Pricker, glanced at it, then handed it back in a rather uncaring manner. He said quite disdainfully, ¡°Merely a human-ranked soul weapon. Given that he cares about it this much, it probably has some special meaning for him.¡±


    Yu Fei accepted the Glacial Pricker, letting out a secret sigh of relief inside. He didn¡¯t reveal it on his face, however, as he walked back and sat down again. He pondered for a moment, then instructed his subordinates, ¡°For the next few days, keep a close eye on the area surrounding the Green Willow School. If Bai Yunfei seizes this chance to flee, report it to me immediately!¡±


    ¡°Elder Liu, what do you think is the reason why Bai Yunfei suggested a seven day grace period? To buy himself time to escape? Or does he have something else planned?¡± Yu Fei glanced at the nearby Liu Cheng, who seemed to have something on his mind, then asked him this question in a rather puzzled manner.


    Liu Cheng shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. However, the reason he stood up was because he didn¡¯t want to implicate the Green Willow School; thus, I imagine he wouldn¡¯t plan on fleeing. He knows he isn¡¯t a match for Elder Zhang, but he still plans to fight. What is he¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmph, he just wants to rely on soul techniques which allow him to instantly raise his power. Aside from that, what else could it be?¡± Upon hearing their conversation, Yang Lin let out a soft snort and said disdainfully, ¡°That ignorant child. Given his current power, if he truly does use such a soul technique, I imagine that even if he wins, he will either perish or be crippled. However¡­with Hong Yin present¡­perhaps he might have some special abilities to¡­bah, in short, even if he does have enough power to fight with you, so long as you keep the fight going for a long period of time, the backlash from using that technique alone will be enough to ensure his defeat!¡±


    Zhang Zhenshan, upon hearing these words, seemed to have suddenly realized what was happening. He let out a cold snort, then said with a savage expression, ¡°No matter what method he uses, I definitely won¡¯t let him die so easily! I am going to ensure that he tastes what it is like to be living a life worse than death¡­and only then will I kill him as an offering to my son!¡±


    Green Willow School. Bai Yunfei¡¯s courtyard.


    Bai Yunfei had returned to his room, then quietly remained inside for an hour. Only then did he once more re-emerge as he walked to Hong Yin¡¯s nearby room.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, there¡¯s something I would like to ask you to help me with¡­¡±

 Chapter 81: Frantically Rising in Power

    Chapter 81: Frantically Rising in Power


    The Green Willow Sect. Within the western wing courtyard.


    Bai Yunfei had returned to his room, then quietly remained inside for an hour. Only then did he once more re-emerge as he walked to Hong Yin¡¯s nearby room.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, there¡¯s something I would like to ask you to help me with¡­¡±


    Hong Yin brought him into the room, then sat down and smiled. ¡°Yunfei, I was planning to go find you. I want to give you something.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was startled. ¡°Something for me? What?¡±


    Hong Yin nodded slightly. Waving his arm, he made a crimson bracer appear, then offered it to Bai Yunfei. ¡°This. I¡¯m giving it to you as a gift.¡±


    Bai Yunfei, slightly puzzled, accepted the bracer, then in a practiced manner sent his thoughts into it.


    ¡°Equipment quality: high-class rare¡±


    ¡°Defensive power: 465¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirements: 78 soulpoints¡±


    The information that appeared in his mind caused Bai Yunfei to feel startled. He cried out involuntarily, ¡°A high-grade human-ranked soul item!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± This time, it was Hong Yin¡¯s turn to be slightly startled. He looked at Bai Yunfein in surprise. ¡°Yunfei, you just gave it a single glance, but you were able to tell its rank?¡±


    Bai Yunfei came back to his senses. Without answering the question, he asked in surprise, ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, you are going to give it to me?¡±


    Hong Yin nodded. ¡°Right. I have no soul technique scrolls on me, and I imagine that in the next few days, you won¡¯t have any time to train in soul techniques. I acquired this bracer by accident, and I¡¯m now giving it to you. I imagine that it should be of help to you in your duel seven days from now.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was rather hesitant.


    ¡°Don¡¯t decline. You¡¯ve addressed me as ¡®big brother¡¯; there¡¯s nothing untoward about me giving you an item. What you need to do is work hard to improve your combat power, so as to better deal with your battle seven days from now. Worry about other matters later¡­¡± Hong Yin forestalled Bai Yunfei¡¯s words with a laugh and this explanation.


    Bai Yunfei looked at the smiling Hong Yin. He was silent for a long moment, but in the end he accepted and put away the bracer, then said with sincerity, ¡°Then¡­many thanks, big brother Hong Yin!¡±


    Hong Yin nodded lightly, then asked, ¡°Right¡­you said you needed my help? Whatever you need from me, just tell me.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t beat around the bush. He said seriously, ¡°Right. I want to ask you to go help me buy a few things.¡±


    ¡°Buy a few things? Buy what?¡± Hong Yin said, puzzled.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Weapons and jewelry. Sabers, swords, daggers, knives, bracelets, rings¡­I want to ask you to help me buy them. The more the better. I need at least a few hundred!¡±


    Hong Yin was momentarily startled. He stared at Bai Yunfei in a very strange way. ¡°Yunfei, are you joking with me? Why do you want to buy these things at a time like this?¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t joking around at all. A very serious look on his face, he said, ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, this is extremely important to me. It involves my duel seven days from now! This is a secret of mine. I trust you, and so I am asking you to help me, big brother Hong Yin. For now, I can¡¯t explain it clearly, but in short¡­after this matter is concluded, I¡¯ll explain to you in detail. Alright?¡±


    Hong Yin frowned slightly. As he looked at the serious Bai Yunfei, he pondered for a moment, then relaxed and nodded. ¡°Fine! Yunfei, I¡¯ll do as you ask! Although I don¡¯t know what you are planning, I have a feeling that you are going to bring me a surprise, right?¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed lightly. ¡°I think¡­I won¡¯t disappoint you, big brother Hong Yin.¡±


    Late night. Within the quiet courtyard in the west wing. Bai Yunfei quietly sat on his bed, staring at the black ring within his hand.


    This was something which Hong Yin had brought back for him after having gone out in the afternoon; it was part of his ¡®equipment¡¯. This interspatial ring had an extremely large storage space; it contained hundreds of weapons and jewelry within it. The first time he had mentally swept the insides of the interspatial ring, even Bai Yunfei himself couldn¡¯t help but take a deep breath. The amount within¡­he wondered if Hong Yin had perhaps completely wiped out the inventories of all the weapon shops and jewelry shops within the city.


    After pondering for a time, Bai Yunfei put the ring on his finger, then took out from within the ring the bracer which Hong Yin had gifted to him.


    The bracet was completely crimson; it was rather similar to the Firetipped Spear in that regard. It was plainly designed, without any decorations. It was very smooth, and even in the darkness of the night, it radiated a hint of light. After carefully observing it for a period of time, Bai Yunfei put the bracer on his right arm, pushing it past his wrist and up to his right elbow. It protected nearly the entirety of his lower arm, and it felt rather soft and elastic. He filled with just a hint of his soulforce, and could sense the his lower arm clench slightly. The bracer was now completely pressed against his lower arm, and a surge of heat came from it, giving Bai Yunfei a sense of greater power.


    He experimentally waved his right arm a few times. It didn¡¯t feel the least bit uncomfortable. He pulled out a dagger, then hacked down towards the bracer strongly¡­and the dagger snapped. The bracer wasn¡¯t even marked.


    He nodded slightly, a look of delight appearing on his face. ¡°With this¡­my strength has improved yet again. Then¡­I¡¯ll upgrade it first.¡±


    Roughly ten minutes later.


    ¡°Upgrade success.¡±


    ¡°Equipment quality: high-class rare¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10¡±


    ¡°Defensive power: 465¡±


    ¡°Bonus defensive power: 253¡±


    ¡°+10 secondary effect: When blocking attacks, there is a 5% chance of absorbing part of the attack power and converting it into personal attack power, releasing it with your next attack. It can be held for 3 seconds. The amount of converted attack power cannot exceed the defensive strength of this item.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirements: 78 soulpoints.¡±


    ¡°It can absorb and convert attacks? Does that mean¡­that not only can it block attacks, it can make an enemy¡¯s power my own for a time? Good, good! At a critical moment, it can produce a wondrous effect!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were shining. After carefully scrutinizing the item, he put away the bracer, then rubbed his forehead, a slightly tired look on his face. ¡°I used up more than half of my soulforce. Then¡­I¡¯ll continue. Next I¡¯ll upgrade ordinary items en masse. No matter what¡­I need to increase my power as much as I can within the next seven days!¡±


    He picked up a shortsword, glancing at it, then murmured mentally, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Several minutes later.


    ¡°Upgrade failed. Equipment destroyed.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes focused. Before the shortsword transformed into scrap metal and dissipated, he put it back within his interspatial ring, then pulled out a three-foot long saber.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Continuous upgrading. After having destroyed eight items, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was finally used up, and he fell down onto the bed.


    Roughly five hours later, the comfortably sleeping Bai Yunfei¡¯s fingers twitched slightly. He then slowly opened his eyes, once more standing up. He lifted up his arms, massaging his temples, a slight frown on his face, as though he were in pain.


    ¡°Forcibly waking myself up really feels quite miserable¡­¡± Bai Yunfei mumbled these words, then shook his head and withdrew a shortsword from his interspatial ring. ¡°But¡­this isn¡¯t the time to complain. Since I¡¯ve decided, I need to go all out!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    After another ten minutes or so, Bai Yunfei had once more exhausted his soulforce. He collapsed onto the bed.


    By the time he once more woke up, it was already day. Not resting at all, he immediately grabbed another weapon and continued to upgrade.


    Upgrade. Faint. Wake. Upgrade.


    This was a continuous cycle. Like a man possessed, Bai Yunfei ignored all consequences as he frantically worked to increase his power.


    After he had killed Zhang Yang, Bai Yunfei¡¯s only thoughts had been of avoiding conflict and fleeing. He wanted to carefully flee out of Qingyun Province and escape the attacks of his pursuers. But now¡­since he could no longer flee, his only choice was to fight with all his power!


    Thus, Bai Yunfei had used this method of frantically increasing his power, a method he had never before dared to use. Even though the repercussions were unknown, he needed to grow stronger, stronger, stronger! Strong enough to defeat the foes who were chasing him, and then openly leave Qingyun Province!


    Time passed, one day at a time. The door to Bai Yunfei¡¯s room had remained shut this entire time. He had prepared much sustenance prior to this, and so he didn¡¯t even need people to send food. Chu Yuhe, Qiu Luliu, Mu Wanqing, and You Qingfeng would often come stand outside of the courtyard in the west wing, but they didn¡¯t disturb him. They would just stand there for a while, softly ask Hong Yin, who had been standing out guard this entire time, if there had been any noticeable changes, then leave.


    Hong Yin had remained on guard outside the courtyard this entire time. He watched as time slipped onwards, and he felt extremely worried in his heart. For the sake of not disturbing Bai Yunfei, he had never tried to find out what was going on inside. All he could do was sense in a vague way that Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura seemed to be constantly growing in strength at a very strange rate¡­but nothing dangerous seemed to be happening, and so he just waited quietly, prepared to deal with any sudden emergencies as necessary.


    ¡°Upgrade success.¡±


    ¡°Equipment quality: Superior¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10¡±


    ¡°Secondary attribute: Strength +33¡±


    ¡°+10 secondary effect: The arm which is wearing this item will have strength increased by +150 points¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirements: 22 soulpoints.¡±


    Yet another upgrade success. The information which entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind caused his eyes to light up. In fact, for a moment he forgot how tired he was. Staring at the amber bracelet in his hand, he revealed a look of delight on his face. ¡°Strength increase! Excellent! This is an effect I¡¯ve needed this entire time!¡±


    He put away the bracelet. As he temporarily lost control of his emotions, a sense of absolute exhaustion flooded his mind. Bai Yunfei hurriedly gritted his teeth, once more picking up another ring, one which flashed with red light.


    ¡°I¡¯m about to hit my limit again soon. How many points did I use up? I¡¯m somewhat unsure¡­nearly 2000 soulpoints, right? I can feel as though I¡¯m about to break into the late Soul Warrior stage¡­¡±


    ¡°I have four more days left¡­I wonder how many soulpoints are needed for the Soul Sprit stage. In short¡­I need to continue!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade failed. Equipment destroyed.¡±


    Bai Yunfei subconsciously put away the destroyed equipment, then picked out another item.


    ¡°Eh? What was the earlier upgrade at? Was it +9 or it was it +10? I don¡¯t even remember¡­I¡¯m at my limit again. It doesn¡¯t matter¡­I need to seize every instant!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    At the beginning, Bai Yunfei had intentionally put away some of the items he had been lucky enough to upgrade to +10. Towards the end, however, the constant upgrade process had become almost an automatic, robotic decision. Upgrade. Upgrade again. Destruction. Switch item. Upgrade again. In fact, he wasn¡¯t even sure how many upgrades he had performed, or what upgrade level he had reached. All of the items he had upgraded were beginning to slowly blur together.


    All he knew was a single thing ¨C that he was to continue upgrading. He would feel as the soulforce in his power slowly was used up until depletion, at which point he would pass out. After waking up, he would verify the time, then continue upgrading¡­


    Day after day, night after night¡­seven days passed in the blink of an eye like this!

 Chapter 82: Essence Fireseed, Equipment Mutation

    Chapter 82: Essence Fireseed, Equipment Mutation


    Day after day, night after night¡­seven days passed in the blink of an eye!


    Dawn. The appointed day. Bai Yunfei once more awoke from his stupor. After mentally adjusting himself, he glanced at the skies outside, then lowered his head. He raised his right hand, clenching it strongly, then shut his eyes again, carefully sensing things.


    A moment later, Bai Yunfei once more opened his eyes, a hint of surprise in them. But then, he frowned once more, a look of worry appearing.


    ¡°I need just a bit more. I can sense that with just a bit more, I¡¯ll enter the Soul Sprite stage! But I¡¯m caught at this critical juncture¡­will I have enough time?¡± Thoughts flashed through Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he considered the current situation. ¡°Most importantly of all¡­at the Soul Sprite stage, for my soul¡¯s elemental attribute, I¡¯ve already decided to choose fire, but if something changes¡­¡±


    ¡°Still, the next stage is right before me. If I stop now and fight Zhang Zhenshan as a late-stage Soul Warrior¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s frown grew even deeper was he mentally struggled with what to do. Moments later, a vicious look on his face, he revealed a hint of determination and madness in his eyes. ¡°If I¡¯m going to do it, then I¡¯m going to do it all the way! I made my decision seven days ago; how can I shirk back at the final instant! I have a few more hours before the afternoon¡­I can do this!¡±


    Waving his wrist, he pulled out a long saber, swept it with his gaze, then murmured softly to himself, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    In an incomparably practiced manner, he spent tens of minutes upgrading items before finally exhausting his soulforce and passing out on his bed.


    The sun slowly rose. Hints of sunlight seeped through his thin window screen, shining into his room. One hour. Two hours¡­


    Slowly, the little room seemed to begin to change slightly.


    Bai Yunfei still seemed to be asleep on the bed. His breathing was regular, and there was nothing strange about it. Then¡­what was different?


    As time flowed on, the difference in the room became more and more apparent¡­it was the light!


    Under the bright light of the sun, the room should have been illuminated already. But at some point in time, a faint red light stealthily appeared, growing increasingly apparent. It slowly deepened into a crimson color, and then other colors slowly began to emerge as well. The colors appeared out of nowhere, increasing in number and richness. Towards the end, the entire room had transformed into a rainbow color¡­and then the light slowly began to flow about. Moments later, all of the light focused in one region; the region around Bai Yunfei!


    After spending some time swirling around and ¡®inspecting¡¯ Bai Yunfei, finally a hint of crimson light slowly left the ¡®squad¡¯ of light and gracefully flew towards his chest, then slowly merged into his body.


    Its actions seemed to serve as a signal, instantly causing all the other colors in the surrounding area to begin to move in unison as they flew towards Bai Yunfei. They approached every part of his body, then slowly moved in.


    More and more light fused into his body, and more and more light appeared out of nowhere. Slowly, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to change. His forehead began to slowly furrow and tighten. Towards the end, his face was completely contorted and twisted, as though he were under immense pain. His fists were clenched, and his entire body was trembling slightly.


    If Hong Yin were present, he would have been able to tell with a glance¡­that this was advancement into the Soul Sprite stage!


    However, Bai Yunfei¡¯s current situation was tremendously different compared to most Soul Warriors advancing in power.


    When Soul Warriors reached the limit of their power, after accumulating enough soulforce, the natural elemental energy of heaven and earth would be summoned, at which point they would decide to enter the Soul Sprite stage. First, they would choose their elemental essence affinity, and most would choose the type they were most suited towards. But of course, some would choose two types or even more. Those who made such decisions were either unearthly geniuses¡­or peerless fools. Because there was an element of choice, when the natural elemental energy of heaven and earth was summoned, when the flesh was being baptized for the first time, only the type of elemental energy that one had chosen would appear. It would merge into the body, then become the elemental essence energy for the wielder.


    But there had never been, from ancient days until today, a situation where a Soul Warrior who was advancing to the Soul Sprite stage was in a state of unconsciousness¡­


    Elemental energy entered his body, entered every inch of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body as it was being tempered. However, because Bai Yunfei was unconscious and unable to voluntarily ¡®choose¡¯ which sort of elemental energy he wanted, this current situation appeared, where a mishmash of energies was entering. His right arm was crimson; this was the fire element. His left leg was ashen white; this was the ice element. His left arm was golden yellow; this was the metal element¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to shake harder and harder, and more and more agony appeared on his face. Beads of sweat constantly fell down from his forehead. If this were to continue¡­this random mishmash of elemental energy alone would be enough to tear his body completely apart.


    ¡°Aaaah!¡±


    Finally, a miserable cry rang out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat. He suddenly opened his eyes. This time¡­he didn¡¯t ¡®voluntarily¡¯ wake up; he was tormented awake by a bone-deep pain that came from throughout his body!


    His mind was completely blank for a moment. By the time he regained his senses, he saw all the types of light before him which were merging into his body¡­followed by a series of nearly coma-inducing pain that came from virtually every part of his body.


    ¡°This is¡­elemental energy of heaven and earth!¡± Bai Yunfei gritted his teeth, thinking frantically, ¡°But why is there so much of it! What¡¯s going on¡­right! My choice! I need to choose!¡±


    He knew that the most important thing right now was being calm. Bai Yunfei suppressed his agony, shut his eyes, and began to investigate the state of his body.


    Chaos. It was utterly chaotic. The soulforce in his body was like an untamed stallion that had become unleashed. It was bounding everywhere without any pattern, with some of it seeming to pull in the power from the outside world into the body, and some of it strongly resisting and pushing back against that power.


    ¡°I can¡¯t control it. I can¡¯t control it! What should I do¡­what should I do?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s sweat continued to grow, and the worry in his heart was incomparable. He swept his left arm with his sense¡­then let out a surprised, ¡°Eeee? My right arm doesn¡¯t feel uncomfortable at all. This is¡­fire!¡±


    ¡°Fire! I can control it! This is what I want¡­I just want fire element. The rest of you can all beat it!¡± The situation in Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm caused him to feel surprised and delighted. Without hesitating at all, he controlled the elemental fire in his right arm, pushing it out to spread throughout his entire body, seizing the ¡®territory¡¯ which the other types of elements had taken over.


    The reason why all sorts of elemental energy had flooded into his body earlier was because he had been passed out. Now that he had regained his consciousness and was voluntarily choosing fire, his body began to reject the other types of elemental energy. A short while later, Bai Yunfei was finally able to drive out the other types of elemental energy, and the rainbow of colors surrounding his body seemed to have lost their guide. The colors slowly vanished, leaving behind just a crimson color that swirled around Bai Yunfei, slowly fusing into his body.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡± He could feel the agony racking his body gradually lessen and then vanish. What replaced it was a warm, comfortable feeling. Bai Yunfei finally let out a sigh of relief, and a look of delight appeared in his eyes. It was as though he had finally escaped danger.


    Soulforce circulated throughout his body. One ball of elemental fire after another merged into it. Bai Yunfei could sense a series of blazing surges of energy constantly wash through every part of his body, and with each pass, he felt as though he could sense his body grow slightly more powerful.


    Slowly, after the blazing energy within his body had made several loops within it, all the blazing energy gathered at one of the apertures within his heart. Soul cultivators termed this aperture as the ¡®essence aperture¡¯; as the name suggested, it was the place used to store the elemental essence of a Soul Sprite. When advancing from the Soul Warrior level, gathering elemental essence was the final step; after the body was tempered for the first time, the body would be able to receive its first batch of elemental energy, and it would automatically gather the energy into the body, slowly circulate it, then finally form it into the ¡®elemental essence-seed¡¯ that would accompany the soul cultivator for his entire life.


    Bai Yunfei could sense that all of the elemental fire within his body was slowly concentrating around his heart. A ¡®hot¡¯ feeling slowly grew stronger, as though¡­a seed of fire was beginning to form within his body. It constantly absorb all of the oncoming elemental fire, and it slowly grew larger, larger, larger¡­


    More and more elemental energy appeared out of nowhere, and more and more of it flooded into his body, gathering at his heart. More and more¡­perhaps too more?


    By the time the fireseed in his body had grown to the size of a thumb, Bai Yunfei had slowly come to the realization that something was wrong. He felt as though¡­he was growing ¡®too hot¡¯?


    The earlier warmth had grown increasingly great, transforming into a fiery heat that then transformed once more into a scorching blaze.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t right! It feels¡­as though I¡¯m unable to control it! It¡¯s too much. Too much!¡± He discovered, to his terror, that he was actually becoming unable to control the elemental fire that was being absorbed into his body!


    The result which Bai Yunfei feared the most was happening; because of how frantically he had increased his soulforce, the process by which he had advanced past the Soul Warrior stage and charged into the Soul Sprite stage caused this process of forming a fireseed, what should have been a simple and easy process, to mutate!


    He was unable to control the complete essence fireseed!


    He stared at the world, which now appeared completely crimson. He could feel the blazing, scorching heat within his body, and a look of panic appeared in his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m almost at my limit! If this continues, I¡¯m going to be burned to death by the elemental fire! What should I do? What should I do?! I¡¯m almost unable to endure this amount of elemental fire! Wait¡­right! Share it! The fire¡­Firetipped Spear!¡±


    When this thought flashed through his mind, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up. Not hesitating at all, he lifted up his right hand slightly, and with a thought he caused the Firetipped Spear to appear in his hand. Instantly, Bai Yunfei could notice the elemental fire within his body hesitate slightly¡­and in the next moment, Bai Yunfei seized back just a bit of control and forced a pulse of elemental fire into the Firetipped Spear.


    It was as though a barrel that had been completely filled with water had suddenly sprung a leak. The continuously expanding fireseed within Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart actually did as he wanted, sending a pulse of elemental fire out through his arm and into the Firetipped Spear.


    ¡°It works!¡± Bai Yunfei was overjoyed. He could feel the pain in his body gradually begin to ebb. A thought flashed through his eyes, and he pressed his left hand against his ring on his right finger. That crimson bracer also appeared on his hand. Not hesitating at all, he pushed it onto his right arm.


    The blazing pain within his body dropped once more, and Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. Not daring to relax at all, he hurriedly controlled the constantly expanding fireseed in his heart to guide its energy out, restricting its size to roughly the size of an infant¡¯s fist.


    Strands of elemental fire essence flowed out from the developing fireseed, carrying streams of elemental fire. Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s control, it flowed through his right arm, into the bracer and into the Firetipped Spear.


    Both soul items were gleaming now, and were now beginning to throb as though they had their own heartbeat. Because the bracer came first in the sequence, it absorbed the most amount of elemental energy, and so the light of the Firetipped Spear was slightly dimmer. These two soul items, thanks to Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions to reduce the risk to himself, were quietly beginning to change¡­


    After an unknown period of time that could¡¯ve been anywhere from a few minutes to an extremely long period of time, the surrounding red light had finally been completely absorbed into Bai yunfei¡¯s body, causing the entire room to once more return to its usual situation. However, a lingering warmth remained within the air¡­


    Bai Yunfei slowly opened his eyes. He wanted to sit up, but multiple notifications flashed through his mind that caused him to forget all of his actions due to surprise.


    ¡°Upgrade success.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade success.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade success.¡±

 Chapter 83: The Changes in the Two Items

    Chapter 83: The Changes in the Two Items


    Three consecutive ¡®upgrade success¡¯ notifications appeared in his mind, causing Bai Yunfei to be stunned for more than ten seconds. Only then did he suddenly come to his senses and sit up.


    He placed the Firetipped Spear before him, then sent his senses into it.


    ¡°Equipment quality: Middle-grade Legacy.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +11¡±


    ¡°Attack power: 859¡±


    ¡°Additional attack power: 563¡±


    ¡°+10 secondary effect: When piercing, has a 15% chance of causing a fiery explosion.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirements: 90 soulpoints¡±


    Bai Yunfei stared at the Firetipped Spear in his hand, his mind seeming to have exploded. ¡°Middle-grade Legacy! It rose in quality! There were changes in both its secondary effect and attributes¡­and its upgrade level increased as well!¡±


    ¡°Eeee? Wait a second¡­¡± The stunned Bai Yunfei paused. ¡°+11? It only increased by a single level? But I clearly heard three notifications of ¡®upgrade success¡¯. That means¡­¡±


    He turned his gaze slightly to look at the crimson bracer. Bai Yunfei gently pressed his left hand atop it, then sent his mind into it.


    ¡°Equipment quality: Low-grade Legacy.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +12¡±


    ¡°Defensive power: 613¡±


    ¡°Additional defensive power: 605¡±


    ¡°+10 secondary effect: When blocking attacks, there is a 9% chance of absorbing part of the attack power and converting it into personal attack power, releasing it with your next attack. It can be held for 3 seconds. The amount of converted attack power cannot exceed the defensive strength of this item.¡±


    ¡°+12 secondary effect: By voluntarily using up soulpoints, you can summon a flaming winged dagger. While using it, you will consume soulpoints. The power is determined by the number of soulpoints you pay.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirements: 86 soulpoints¡±


    Bai Yunfei stared dazedly at the two soul items for dozens of seconds, then sat up, closed his eyes, and took two deep breaths. Finally, he calmed down his frantically beating heart.


    ¡°Not only did the quality increase, the upgrade level also increased by one level and two levels respectively¡­they didn¡¯t fail!¡± Bai Yunfei gently stroked the two soul items, both excited and extremely puzzled. ¡°But¡­I clearly didn¡¯t issue an upgrade order. Can it be¡­that it was because I used it to share the burden of elemental fire?¡±


    Bai Yunfei subconsciously rubbed his chest. Within his chest, there was a ball of fire that was like a heart, slowly pulsing.


    ¡°What a strange feeling. It feels as though my entire body is filled with elemental fire, and I can sense the elemental fire of the surrounding world¡­¡± Bai Yunfei raised his left arm, swinging it through the air as though pushing at something, then once more shut his eyes, attuning to his surroundings.


    ¡°The elemental fire in the air feels so incomparably clear to me¡­and they feel very friendly¡­eeee? These are¡­living creatures?¡± While attuning, Bai Yunfei felt as though he could ¡®see¡¯ outside the room. There was a little bird resting atop a tree, and all sorts of other little creatures living in the grass. Or perhaps, more strictly speaking, what he was sensing was their souls. This was the searching technique which only a person who had reached the Soul Sprite level could use; the soulsense.


    ¡°Eh? Someone¡¯s outside? What a familiar feeling¡­it¡¯s big brother Hong Yin and the others! They¡­right! This isn¡¯t the time to be researching these things¡­¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly realized the most important thing right now. Lifting his head, he stared outside the window. It was already past noon; based on his agreement on that day, the Glacial School members had most likely arrived already¡­


    By the time Bai Yunfei pushed his door open, he saw that outside the courtyard there were three people. There was Chu Yuhe and Qiu Luliu, looks of anxiety on their faces, and there was also Hong Yin, who was smiling while quietly consoling the two of them.


    ¡°Mm? Yunfei came. See? I told you, he¡¯s fine¡­¡± Hong Yin, upon seeing Bai Yunfei walk out, first said a few words to the two women, then turned and nodded towards Bai Yunfei. ¡°Yunfei, just now¡­you caused quite a stir. Fortunately, you calmed down afterwards; otherwise, I was at the verge of charging inside.¡±


    Bai Yunfei chuckled towards them. ¡°A small problem occurred during my training earlier, but I¡¯m fine now. Don¡¯t worry; I¡¯m doing perfectly alright now.¡±


    Hong Yin gave him a weighing gaze. ¡°Yunfei, you actually¡­reached the Soul Sprite level? What sort of soul technique method do you train in¡­how long can you maintain it for? Right¡­there¡¯s no time to waste. Hurry up and go; the forces of the Glacial School have already arrived!¡±


    He still was under the impression that Bai Yunfei had relied on a soul technique to forcibly increase his power for a short period of time. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to explain, and upon hearing Hong Yin¡¯s words, he lifted an eyebrow. A look flashed through his eyes, and he no longer tried to explain. His hand around his Firetipped Spear clenched. ¡°They arrived? Then we cannot let our ¡®guests¡¯ wait too long. Let¡¯s go right now. We can talk after I win!¡±


    We can talk after I win!


    A sentence filled with confidence. It came from the powerful soulforce roiling in his body, it came from the powerful item in his hand! The current Bai Yunfei was filled with a desire for battle; in fact, he was rather impatient and eager to test his current level of power, as well as test the power of the two items which had inexplicably changed.


    A simple sentence, but it caused Hong Yin and the other two to both feel shocked. They stared as Bai Yunfei strode boldly outwards. A hint of a strange light flashed through Hong Yin¡¯s eyes, then he called out to the two women to hurriedly follow up.


    Time was slowly passing. It was past noon.


    In front of the Green Willow School, just like seven days ago, two groups of people had gathered. However, things weren¡¯t as tense this time, and no swords were drawn. Both sides were fairly calm.


    Zhang Zhenshan was seated atop a willow tree, a cold look on his face. Every so often, he would sweep the courtyard in front of him with a sinister, vicious gaze, like a beast awaiting its prey.


    Beside him was Yu Fei and Liu Cheng, as well as a group of Glacial School disciples. They all stared nervously towards the Green Willow School¡¯s forces, seeming rather impatient. The black-robed man named Yan Xi was also standing to one side without saying a word, arms folded and eyes closed calmly.


    ¡°Headmaster Mu, it¡¯s already past noon. Bai Yunfei still isn¡¯t here. What¡¯s this about? Is he afraid of coming out?¡± Yu Fei raised his head, giving the main gate of the Green Willow School a frowning glance, then spoke out these words impatiently.


    ¡°The agreement was today; no one said it would be exactly at noon. Simply put, your venerable school was unable to control your impatience and so came early. Bai Yunfei is currently preparing; he¡¯ll emerge soon. I¡¯ll have to ask you all to wait a bit longer.¡± Mu Wanqing gave Yu Fei a glance, then responded to him calmly.


    ¡°Hmph! I know that the little brat is training some sort of soul technique, but for him to not come out¡­can it be that he¡¯s unable to endure the backlash from it and has died¡­¡± Yu Fei let out a cold snort, preparing to say a few words of mockery, but suddenly a look of surprise appeared on his face as he turned to stare towards the courtyard.


    Just as he stopped talking, the nearby Yan Xi let out a soft sound as well, lifting his head to stare behind the Green Willow School¡¯s forces. You Qingfeng, Mu Wanqing, Liu Cheng, and Zhang Zhenshan all revealed looks of surprise as well as they all looked towards the courtyard in the west wing where Bai Yunfei lived.


    ¡°Qingfeng, this is¡­¡± Mu Wanqing had a puzzled look on her face for a few moments, then queried the nearby You Qingfeng in a rather uncertain way.


    You Qingfeng frowned slightly. He nodded, then said, ¡°Yes¡­the ripples of advancing to the Soul Sprite stage, only¡­it seems rather odd.¡±


    ¡°Is it Yunfei? Can it be that something went wrong in his soul technique? Should we¡­¡± Mu Wanqing¡¯s face changed slightly. She was rather worried.


    ¡°No need. Have you forgotten that Hong Yin is there? And generally speaking, one cannot interfere in this sort of matter. I imagine that a result will come soon¡­¡± You Qingfeng shook his head slightly as he whispered in a low voice.


    Yu Fei and the others who stood in front of him were no longer speaking either. They, too, were focusing on sensing that extraordinary elemental energy ripple.


    A long time later, everyone sensed the mishmash ripple of elemental energy vanish, leaving behind just elemental fire. Another period of time later, the elemental fire vanished as well, and all went back to normal.


    ¡°He advanced? How can that be¡­what sort of soul technique has such a powerful effect¡­¡± Yan Xi¡¯s eyes, hidden behind the black robes, revealed a look of surprise as he spoke softly to himself.


    Yu Fei was silent for a long moment, then let out a cold snort. He said to the nearby Zhang Zhenshan, ¡°Even if he was able to temporarily power up to the Soul Sprite level, so what? Elder Zhang, you¡¯ve been at the Soul Sprite level for many years; you are a soul cultivator who is nearly at the middle Soul Sprite stage. How can you lose to a Soul Sprite who forcibly uplifted himself to that level? However¡­if this battle proves difficult, then just do as senior Yan Xi instructed; delay! The backlash caused by this sort of strengthening soul technique will be extremely fierce; by then, he will definitely lose!¡±


    As he spoke, he lowered his voice once more. ¡°However¡­you absolutely must not kill him. Spare his life. After we get what we want from him, you can then kill him!¡±


    Zhang Zhenshan had a serious look on his face, but the hatred in his eyes hadn¡¯t ebbed at all. In fact, it had grown even stronger. He nodded slightly, still staring unblinkingly at the gates to the Green Willow School, awaiting for the person who had killed his only son to emerge.


    For a time, the entire field had become utterly silent. Everyone¡¯s gaze was focused on the gates to the Green Willow School.


    Moments later¡­a series of footsteps rang out, followed by a fast-walking figure.


    This person wore gray robes. On his right arm was a crimson bracer, and a similarly crimson spear was clenched tightly in his hands. Waves of heat were swelling outwards from this item. However, it was a bit of an disharmonious picture; aside from his two black interspatial rings, he was actually wearing two other seemingly-decorative rings. On his wrist, he actually wore a bracelet as well in a rather awkward way.


    Bai Yunfei nodded slightly towards You Qingfeng and Mu Wanqing. Not hesitating or pausing at all, he walked straight towards the empty ground between the two sides, then pointed the Firetipped Spear towards Zhang Zhenshan.


    ¡°Zhang Zhenshan, you want to take revenge for your son, right? Then come out and fight!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve waited a long time for you, brat. I don¡¯t care what methods you¡¯ve prepared; today, you are going to die a miserable death!¡± Zhang Zhenshan had been stared at Bai Yunfei with utter rage upon seeing him. He let out an enraged roar, then flew out and charged straight towards Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Hmph. After we fight, we¡¯ll see who actually wins and who actually loses!¡± Bai Yunfei let out a cold snort. Saying nothing else, he ran forward at a similarly rapid pace to greet his foe!


    The Firetipped Spear trembled as he filled it with his soul power. A red light flashed, actually forming a ball of fire in front of the Firetipped Spear. As the flames spun around the spear, he stabbed it straight towards Zhang Zhenshan!

 Chapter 84: Battling Zhang Zhenshan Again

    Chapter 84: Battling Zhang Zhenshan Again


    A strange look flashed through Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes as he saw the flame-wreathed spear stab towards him. Previously charging forward, he came to a sudden halt then immediately used the Ice Treading Steps. He dodged slightly to the left, avoiding the extremely powerful spear thrust.


    Glacial qi swirled around Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s twin palms; the pair of Icesilk Gloves that Bai Yunfei had previously damaged had actually been repaired. Without giving any warning, he suddenly glided forward across the earth and moved close towards Bai Yunfei. His twin palms struck out, one aimed at the face, the other at the abdomen!


    Bai Yunfei launched himself flying backwards, delivering a backwards spear-blow to block the upper palm while kicking out with his left leg to strike against the lower palm. Borrowing from the collision force, he somersaulted backwards. Before he even landed, he brandished the spear and struck out yet again.


    Zhang Zhenshan had wanted to continue to pursue and attack, but his path was blocked by this spear. His only choice was to once again dodge before charging forward. By now, Bai Yunfei had already landed on the ground. He didn¡¯t change his stance; instead, he sent it piercing forth once more!


    Zhang Zhenshan dodged past the blow while striking out with his left palm, slapping it against the body of the spear, pushing it to one side. He then took a half-step back with his left leg to steady himself, then formed his fingers into a claw as he clawed towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear-holding left hand.


    Bai Yunfei stepped to the left, dodging while also pulling away his left arm to one side, avoiding Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s claw. He hurriedly took several minute steps. In a very brief period of time, he actually completed a full circle, his Firetipped Spear spinning with him and sweeping towards the enemy¡¯s waist.


    Zhang Zhenshan knew that his opponent had a very nimble agility technique, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to improve this much compared to last time. There was no time to dodge; all he could do was step slightly to the side, then use both arms crossed over each other to block this strike.


    Smash! The spear slammed against his arms, letting out a dull thudding sound. Zhang Zhenshan frantically retreated backwards, and as he did he felt as though his arms had been struck by a blazing branding iron. In fact, a hint of a scar had been left on him from this blow.


    He circulated the ice-type elemental energy within his body to dissipate the blazing energy. He just barely had a chance to find his footing before Bai Yunfei once more struck at him, not pausing at all. That wave of heat once more surged towards him!


    Spear-shadows were flying everywhere, and palm-shadows folded in on themselves. There were continuous thudding sounds as the waves of heat collided against the icy qi, and craters began to appear in the earth beneath the feet of the two contestants.


    A serious look appeared on the faces of the onlookers as they watched the two fight unceasingly. It seemed as though the two were on par with each other. Yu Fei and Liao Cheng began to frown, and their gazes fluctuated as they followed the movements of the two fighters. They hadn¡¯t expected Bai Yunfei¡¯s attacks to be so ferocious¡­and by the looks of it, Zhang Zhenshan was actually engaged in more defense than offense!


    Yan Xi¡¯s eyes, hidden beneath his black robes, were flashing. As he watched Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions, he mused to himself, ¡°Is this truly power that has come from using a soul technique to forcibly increase one¡¯s level of power? His attacks are fluid, and there¡¯s no indication at all that he¡¯s being harmed by any sort of backlash. His movements, his punches¡­they are clearly soul techniques of tremendous power! What is his status, exactly? And that spear; according to what Yu Fei said, it should be a low-grade Earth-ranked weapon, but¡­¡±


    Right at this moment, the two fighters simultaneously struck out with their right arms against each other, one using his palm, the other using his fist. As their blows collided, they both retreated right away. However, after Bai Yunfei took two steps back, he stabilized his footing, then launched himself forward, not resting at all as he once more stabbed out with his spear!


    Zhang Zhenshan felt amazement in his heart. He knew that this must be due to the Goldsilk Soul Armor; otherwise, there was no way his opponent could have almost ignored the effects of the attack, stabilizing himself with two fewer steps than Zhang Zhenshan himself needed. By now, Zhang Zhenshan had already retreated next to a willow tree and had dissipated the power of Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch, but the spear-tip of the Firetipped Spear had already pierced towards his eyes!


    Resigned, he had no choice but to focus on defense yet again. He retreated backwards with hurried steps while dodging backwards to the right.


    The Firetipped Spear grazed past Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s shoulder, thrusting deep into the thigh-thick willow tree behind Zhang Zhenshan with absolute ease.


    Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes lit up. The opponent¡¯s spear had been trapped in the tree! To pull it out again would cost a moment of time. Zhang Zhenshan was just about to halt his backwards motion, planning to us this opportunity to seize the initiative¡­but just as this idea flashed through his mind, he felt a sudden feeling of shock flutter through his heart, because he saw the look of delight appearing in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes!


    ¡°Damn! It¡¯s that¡­¡±


    BOOM!!!!


    He didn¡¯t even have a chance to complete his thought. Just as the look of amazement appeared in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes, an earth-shattering sound interrupted him!


    The secondary effect of the Firetipped Spear, the fire explosion, had been activated!


    A red light could be seen coming from within the trunk of the tree. In the next instant, the tree crumbled with a cacophonous shattering sound. No splinters of wood flew about, because when the Firetipped Spear stabbed into the tree and blew it up, the shattered parts had been instantly burnt to ash. The crown of the tree, however, was sent flying outwards. It landed hundreds of meters away, amongst the members of the Glacial School, causing a bit of panic.


    In the instant the fiery light appeared and the enormous explosion could be heard, Zhang Zhenshan immediately, frantically retreated, not hesitating in the slightest. His Ice Treading Steps were used to the limit, but he was still unable to move faster than the wave of heat that was sweeping towards him from the front! As Zhang Zhenshan frantically retreated, his also crossed both his arms to protect his head.


    As the heat wave struck forward, he felt as though blazing knives were slicing past his body. Even breathing became difficult for a moment. However, as he flew backwards, the ¡®pushing¡¯ power of the heatwave helped him retreat slightly faster.


    ¡°The air waves caused by the explosion are already so powerful¡­if I were to be struck head-on by it¡­¡± This thought flashed through his mind, and cold sweat began to pour down his head and into his robes, wetting them.


    The power of this fire explosion was far greater than the power in the past. In fact, even Bai Yunfei himself was stupefied momentarily. Upon seeing Zhang Zhenshan retreat in a sorry manner, a look flashed through Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he once more shot forward towards him! His right hand released its grip around the spear, allowing it to fall into his left hand. He then spun the spear behind him to gather circular momentum, then once more gripped it with his right hand and once more delivered a powerful thrust with it!


    Faced with this new attack from the spear, a look of astonishment appeared on Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s face. The trepidation he felt towards this Firetipped Spear was now many times greater than it had been in the past. He filled both his legs with soulforce as he once more frantically retreated, just barely dodging past the spear. However, due to his excessive haste as he moved, his movements became slightly unbalanced. Bai Yunfei charged forward, spinning around and borrowing the power of the centrifugal force to send the Firetipped Spear towards Zhang Zhenshan with a sweeping blow. The spear struck Zhang Zhenshan on the waist, knocking him towards the left.


    Agony radiated outwards from Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s waist, nearly causing him to vomit up a mouthful of blood. By the time he had neutralized the power of this blow, Bai Yunfei¡¯s next attack was incoming as well!


    The two once more engaged in a flurry of attacks. However, unlike the last time, Zhang Zhenshan was able to launch fewer and fewer assaults; he was almost completely forced on the defensive!


    Yan Xi frowned slightly as he watched from outside the dueling grounds. His gaze flickered from the battling Bai Yunfei to the Firetipped Spear in his hands. A look of surprise had flashed through Yan Xi¡¯s eyes when the Firetipped Spear¡¯s strike had turned explosive. As he continued to watch, the look of surprise in his eyes grew increasingly strong, as well as an increasingly and extremely deep level of puzzlement.


    ¡°No mistaking it; that¡¯s a high-grade Earth-ranked soul artifact! But¡­Yu Fei clearly said that it was a low-grade Earth-ranked artifact. Was he lying to me? But he shouldn¡¯t have been; there¡¯s no way he could be so stupid. In other words¡­previously, the spear was indeed just a low-grade soul artifact¡­¡±


    Suddenly, Yan Xi¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up, as though he had thought of something that was completely inconceivable. For the first time, a look of astonishment appeared on his face. ¡°Was it because of the advancement in power? There¡¯s only one possibility¡­forging through flame elemental energy! The Crafting School!!!¡±


    Yan Xi¡¯s eyes were flashing. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that his idea was correct. ¡°That¡¯s right. This is the only possibility! Only those of the Crafting School who are advancing the power of their souls are willing and able to lessen the amount of energy drawn forth by their essence fireseed, using it to instead temper and refine their soul artifacts! Only the inner sect disciples of the Crafting School are capable of this!¡±


    ¡°Yu Fei is an absolute idiot bastard! He actually dared to claim that this person doesn¡¯t have any background! He was previously just a Soul Warrior, but was already in possession of powerful soul artifacts and soul techniques, and he also knew the secret method by which fire essence can be used to temper soul artifacts¡­his status in the Crafting School is definitely not low!¡± Yan Xi frowned as he pondered frantically. ¡°Although I don¡¯t know why and how he ended up being attacked and pursued by this puny Glacial Sect without anyone from his own school helping him¡­it¡¯s best not to have any conflicts with him. The intricate plans our school has have no margin for error. I was just sent here to ensure the recruitment of a few small schools; we absolutely cannot offend the Crafting School right now.¡±


    As Yan Xi pondered mentally, yet another change occurred within the ongoing battle.


    One wrong move would result in an advantage being lost; an advantage being gained could cause a cascade of successes!


    A serious look was on Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s face as he completely focused on defense. Bai Yunfei, on the other hand, was happily fighting to his heart¡¯s content! In the past, when Zhang Zhenshan had been in a weakened condition, the only thing which Bai Yunfei had been able to do was flee. But in this battle, Bai Yunfei actually had seized the upper hand!


    After exchanging dozens of blows, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s left arm and left part of his waist had both been sliced open by the Firetipped Spear, which had left behind two bloody wounds. However, the ¡®explosion¡¯ effect hadn¡¯t occurred, but despite that, each time Zhang Zhenshan had been struck by the Firetipped Spear, he could feel the specter of death brushing past him.


    He had thought that this would be an easily won battle, but at this point, it was his opponent who was suppressing him. All he could do was defend in a rather haggard fashion. Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s face grew increasingly unsightly, and the hatred and rage in his eyes grew stronger and stronger as well. As he once more dodged, so as to avoid the enemy¡¯s spear from striking his left shoulder, the anger in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes transformed into mutter madness.


    He was the exalted leader of the Zhang clan, and an Elder of the Glacial Sect! And yet, today, he was being completely suppressed by a person of the younger generation who just a few days ago he had been chasing after. What¡¯s more, this person was the culprit who had killed his son! No father should be forced to bury his own son!


    ¡°Brat, don¡¯t be so smug! I¡¯m going to take your life as compensation for my son¡¯s!¡± Zhang Zhenshan had a look of madness in his eyes. Faced with another attack from the spear, he actually didn¡¯t dodge; instead, he lifted up his left hand and grabbed the spear! The Icesilk Gloves on his hands were completely unable to withstand the sharpness of the Firetipped Spear, and blood immediately began to flow from his hand. It was as though he had grabbed a blazing iron with his bare hands, and a crackling sound could be heard. However, he completely ignored these things. His hand around the spear¡¯s tip, he pushed it to the side, then slid backwards as he moved straight towards Bai Yunfei. His right palm was glowing with glacial qi, and he struck viciously against Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s madness had caught Bai Yunfei completely off-guard. In addition, the secondary effect of the Firetipped Spear did not trigger this time either. That brief moment of stupor caused Bai Yunfei to be hit dead-on by the Glacial Palm, and he was sent flying backwards.


    Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s left hand still remained tightly clamped around the Firetipped Spear. Leaping forward, he actually moved at the same speed as Bai Yunfei, delivering yet another palm blow to Bai Yunfei, this one to the abdomen!


    The qi and blood within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body were flowing about chaotically. When he saw the enemy palm strike descend, a vicious light flashed through his own eyes. He didn¡¯t defend at all, instead using a leg to kick towards Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s left hand, which remained clamped on the Firetipped Spear.


    Thud! His flank was struck by the palm, but Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s grip on the spear had been kicked loose. However¡­Zhang Zhenshan completely ignored his mangled left arm, instead launching a third blow against Bai Yunfei, who was falling towards the ground in a frantic retreat!


    After two successive Glacial Palms, Bai Yunfei could taste blood in his throat, seeking to come out. He watched as Zhang Zhenshan moved towards him yet again. His Firetipped Spear could not be unleashed right now. His arm trembled slightly, then the Firetipped Spear vanished. His right hand formed into a fist, instantly moving to block in front of his chest. The third palm strike of Zhang Zhensham slammed directly against that gleaming red bracer.


    This time, Bai Yunfei just shook slightly, seeming to have taken no damage at all. However, before he was able to stabilize himself, Zhang Zhenshan launched yet another ferocious attack against him!

 Chapter 85: The Foe Retreats and Backlash

    Bai Yunfei drew back his Fire-tipped Spear and moved to use his bracer to protect himself from Zhang Zhengshan¡¯s Glacial Palm. Before he could even stabilize his footing, another strike was already coming close!


    Zhang Zhengshan¡¯s eyes had gone scarlet as if he had gone berserk. In this moment¡¯s assault, he had seemingly given up all sorts of defense in order to attack crazily. The images of his palm had practically blurred together. Even the injuries on his left hand had been forcibly frozen over before moving to attack.


    Retreating one step after another, Bai Yunfei¡¯s continued to dance as he fended off his opponent¡¯s strikes in a continuous manner. Although it seemed as if he had been suppressed by Zhang Zhengshan, his eyes didn¡¯t show any panic in them¡ªinstead, in the midst of dodging and weaving around the palms, his eyes flickered with a light as if he was thinking about something¡­.


    In terms of close combat ability, Bai Yunfei was clearly not of the same level as his opponent. Although he wasn¡¯t slow in speed and was quite nimble in movement, he had revealed several holes in his defense after several minutes of combat. His opponent had struck out at his left shoulder, and despite the Goldsilk Soul Armor providing defense, Bai Yunfei had still been sent staggering back two steps in pain. Simultaneously, the glacial qi had already greedily entered his body.


    Circulating his soulforce, the essence fireseed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body expanded and contracted for a moment before a part of the elemental fire had migrated over to his left shoulder area, causing the glacial qi to disappear instantaneously.


    A chilling breeze had then slammed against his face. Opening his eyes just a little bit, Bai Yunfei then saw a mangled palm with the glacial qi swirling around it come flying to meet him! Without any time to dodge, Bai Yunfei had only managed to bring both arms up in a cross to protect his face. One muffled echo later, Bai Yunfei had been forced back half a step again. But because of the protective defense of his bracer, he had barely suffered any sort of damage besides a small portion of the blow.


    After one palm, the other palm came to attack with even more power behind it. Remaining in the same position, Bai Yunfei allowed for his bracer to take the hit. After several palm strikes, Zhang Zhengshan had realized that he was unable to strike the head with just his palms alone and had then diverted his palms to attack Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder.


    After a misstep from Bai Yunfei, he brought his right arm up in a horizontal fashion while trying to dodge. This had opened him up to another of Zhang Zhengshan¡¯s palm before he unleashed yet another barrage of strikes. The position of the two men had been reversed. Now it was Zhang Zhengshan who was attacking frantically while Bai Yunfei remained calm with his all out defense.


    But, with a closer observation, one would be able to see that there was something strange¡ªBai Yunfei looked like he had given up several chances to strike back and was instead blindly defending himself from Zhang Zhengshan as if waiting for something¡­.


    Finally, after being struck by a palm in the abdomen again, Bai Yunfei used his bracer to defend himself from the second strike. His eyes flashed furiously with an explosion of light as if the moment he was waiting for had finally approached. After defending himself from one more powerful palm, his entire body had suddenly shifted. His right fist had retreated to his waist instead of being held up to defend himself from the palm of Zhang Zhengshan that was aimed at his stomach. Foregoing any type of defensive maneuver, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right leg stepped forward half a step. With his right hand forming a fist, he let loose a single punch without hesitation!


    ¡°Bang!¡± Zhang Zhengshan¡¯s Glacial Palm struck against Bai Yunfei¡¯s stomach at the same time as Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist struck against Zhang Zhengshan¡¯s chest!


    Ninefold Fist Force!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    With a bone-cracking sound, Zhang Zhengshan¡¯s body had flown away like a bullet with a mouthful of blood spraying out from his mouth! Bai Yunfei had staggered several steps back with blood spilling from his lips as well.


    This was the very first counterattack from Bai Yunfei after he had put away his spear. And so when his opponent had rained down on his body with palm after palm, a predicament where a gap like so had taken result!


    (+10 Additional Effect: When blocking, there is a 9% chance of absorbing and converting the attack power into personal attack power, releasing it with your next attack. It can be held for 3 seconds. The amount of converted attack power cannot exceed the defensive strength of this item.)


    Bai Yunfei had endured for so long to finally wait for this effect to be triggered to attack with the combined strength of the palm strength he had absorbed and converted along with his own Ninefold Fist Force!


    This change had been far too sudden to the point of stunning every single one of the spectators watching the battle. Naturally, for the extremely strong individuals like Hong Yin, Yan Xi and the others, their eyes flashed with a pensive light as if they had seen something¡­.


    Seeing Zhang Zhengshan being hurtled away, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed dangerously. He couldn¡¯t be sure if this one fist would be enough to determine victory, so without any hesitation, his feet pushed off from the ground to quickly give chase¡ªhe couldn¡¯t give his opponent any time to even breathe!


    After spitting out a mouthful of blood, Zhang Zhengshan had made no movement. At a look, he was not stunned, but he had been heavily injured and could not move for the time-being. The Wave Treading Steps had been faster than Zhang Zhengshan¡¯s speed from being thrown away. Before Zhang Zhengshan could even fall to the ground, Bai Yunfei had already caught up to him with his right hand flying forth to grab hold of his opponent.


    ¡°Stop! We admit defeat!¡±


    Just at that moment, a voice exploded from the left side before a figure came jetting out. With one hand grabbing onto Zhang Zhengshan, the other hand circulated with glacial qi before striking at Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    It was Liu Cheng that had come forth. Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist had astounded everyone from the Glacial School after Zhang Zhengshan had been sent flying away. Liu Cheng had seen the heavily injured state of Zhang Zhengshan and was afraid that Bai Yunfei would kill him. So for that reason, he had no other choice but to make his move to save Zhang Zhengshan.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist had stopped Liu Cheng¡¯s palm, but he did not continue after that. Instead, his body had halted while he looked at the palm that Liu Cheng had lashed out with in shock. Just when his opponent had attacked, Bai Yunfei could see in his sleeves a faint blue-colored bracelet¡ªthere was no mistaking it. Just like Bai Yunfei, Liu Cheng was wearing a rather uncoordinated looking bracelet, but Bai Yunfei knew the reason why Liu Cheng was wearing it, for this bracelet would allow for the wearer¡¯s speed to become even faster¡­.


    In an instant, a furious sensation had welled up within his heart and flooded out into his chest. This fury had carried an indescribable amount of stimulus¡­.with this surging fury, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes had gone bloodshot. Bringing up his right hand into a fist, he proceeded to strike at Liu Cheng right in front of him!


    Liu Cheng looked behind to where he was protecting Zhang Zhengshan only to see that his face was contorted in pain. His mouth continued to stream with blood, but he was able to stand for the moment albeit with difficulty. Clearly, he was in no condition to continue fighting, but when Liu Cheng turned around to say something, he saw that Bai Yunfei had launched himself in silent towards him with an outstretched fist!


    Alarmed, Liu Cheng knew that he was unable to dodge with Zhang Zhengshan right behind him and had instead put up his arms helplessly. Circulating his soulforce, Liu Cheng prepared himself to receive the fist.


    Overlapping Waves Art, Eighty One Fold Fist Force!!


    This one strike was something that Bai Yunfei had never used before even in this last battle of his. The strongest of strikes from the Overlapping Waves Art!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Just like Zhang Zhengshan, Liu Cheng¡¯s bones had let loose a cracking sound before he too was sent flying away like Zhang Zhengshan had.


    As he flew through the sky, several bits and pieces of his broken bracelet came falling down to the ground from his sleeve.


    ¡°Brat, you¡¯re looking to die!¡± Yu Fei had gone up with Liu Cheng to interrupt the fight, but he had hesitated on interfering with it. But when he saw that Liu Cheng had been injured as well, indignation had filled his heart. At the same time, the surrounding air around him seemed to froze as frost began to appear and gather around Yu Fei¡¯s right fist before slamming down onto Bai Yunfei.


    A squall had engulfed the area without warning before Yu fei¡¯s palm could even touch Bai Yunfei. This gale of wind had immediately blew back against Yu Fei, sending him flying backwards. After tumbling to the ground several steps, Yu Fei picked himself up from the ground with his left hand holding his chest while blood came forth from his mouth. His face looked towards Hong Yin who was right besides Bai Yunfei with shock.


    ¡°This was to be a fair duel. For headmaster Yu Fei and elder Liu Cheng to interfere, what is the meaning of this?!¡± A light voice could be heard as Mu Wanqing and You Qingfeng hurried to Bai Yunfeng¡¯s side.


    Seeing the group of people gradually coming forward, Yu Fei¡¯s face had darkened and his eyes flashed several times as if he was thinking of a plan.


    Bai Yunfei suppressed a mouthful of blood and stared down Yu Fei, ¡°I¡¯ve won, so return the Glacial Pricker to me!¡± he spoke coldly.


    After speaking, he looked to Hong Yin by his side. Understanding Bai Yunfei¡¯s intentions, Hong Yin¡¯s body flickered away from sight only to reappear right in front of Yu Fei with an icy expression, ¡°I won¡¯t press you about your treacherous conduct just now. Leave the Glacial Pricker here and scram!¡±


    With Hong Yin staring so closely and his soulforce pressing down onto him, Yu Fei couldn¡¯t help but step back half a step. He knew that with the entire Glacial School combined, they would not be a matched for this person in front of him. His face flushed with a green and white color before finally taking out the Glacial Pricker and handing it over to Hong Yin unwillingly. Then turning around, he gave a signal to the disciples behind him to pick up Zhang Zhengshan and Liu Cheng before making a quick departure.


    Yan Xi had also given a deep look towards Bai Yunfei before turning around without another word to leave as well.


    Bai Yunfei remained motionless from where he stood. His right had involuntarily begun to tremble a little bit with blood dripping down his arm. The outburst from the Eighty One Fold Fist Force had caused his entire right arm to tear up, his muscles and bones suffering from the tearing.


    But he didn¡¯t seemed to have noticed this nor did he spare a glance at his enemies leaving. Instead, his perplexed eyes seemed to have stared at the small pile of blue fragments with a complex expression..


    After some time, he suddenly broke out into laughter that contained sarcasm and self-deprecation, ¡°Ah, this is your ¡°treasured¡± bracelet¡­.¡±


    Lifting his left hand, he gave his right arm a gentle nudge before a golden straw hat appeared in his hand.


    ¡°I gave it to you, but you didn¡¯t want it¡­.so what you sent me, why should I keep it?¡±


    ¡°Bang¡­.¡± One crisp echo later, a ball of fire appeared in his palm before engulfing the straw hat and quickly transformed it into specks of ash that scattered and blew away into the sky¡­.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­.are you alright?¡± Hong Yin asked in concern from the side. Bai Yunfei closed his eyes and sucked in his breath before slowly exhaling. Opening his eyes, there was a look of absolved calmness to him. Tilting his head up to give everyone a smile, he nodded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fi-....¡±


    Before he could even finish, the expression on his face suddenly went rigid and cut off his words before falling to the ground without a warning.


    Startled, Hong Yin hastily held Bai Yunfei up. Looking down, he could see that Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were shut with his face contorted with pain. His body continued to spasm as if he was undergoing some sort of gigantic pain.


    This sudden development had caused everyone around them to panic. The girl Chu Yuhe herself was on the verge of crying while Mu Wanqing gently patted her shoulder to console her. Turning to look at Hong Yin who was inspecting Bai Yunfei, Mu Wanqing whispered, ¡°Hong Yin, Yunfei must be¡­.¡±


    Hong Yin¡¯s face nodded his head heavily, ¡°It is the anticipated backlash. We¡¯ll have to return to the school and think of a plan right away¡­"


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 86: Fireseed Spirit Mushroom

    Chapter 86: Fireseed Spirit Mushroom


    In one of the rooms of the western courtyards in the Green Willow School.


    Bai Yunfei was laid on one of the beds with a strange crimson red color appearing all over his body. His eyebrows pinched together in pain as he clenched his fists together so much that his fingernails had dug into his skin and shed blood that instantaneously evaporated. The veins on his arms and neck were clearly visible, and his skin was as cracked as a dry field¨Chis right arm was most noticeably mangled. Rivulets of blood had secreted onto his skin before evaporating into a bloody mist.


    The temperature of the room was completely because of him, and it was still increasing rapidly. Even the mattress under him had a faint black spot of being burnt. It was as if¡­.there was a ball of fire that was raging within his body. It was ready to cut open his chest, come out of his body, and burn his entire body until there was nothing left.


    Hong Yin sat right by the bed with his hands held against his stomach. His eyebrows were furrowed together while his eyes were closed shut in thought.


    After some time, Hong Yin finally opened his eyes and slowly stood to turn around to face You Qingfeng and the others.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, what is going on with big brother Yunfei? He¡¯s going to be fine, right? Please¡­.you have to save him!¡± Chu Yuhe immediately ran to Hong Yin when she saw him rise. Her face had turned upwards to look expectantly at Hong Yin.


    You Qingfeng walked up as well to look at the bedridden Bai Yunfei. Concerned, she asked, ¡°Hong Yin, little brother Yunfei¡¯s circumstances doesn¡¯t look too reassuring! Do you have any plans right now?¡±


    Hong Yin sighed with a shake of his head, ¡°Yunfei is in an abnormally bad situation right now. I have no idea what method he used to uplift himself to the Soul Sprite stage or how he managed to condense his essence fireseed. But because he broke through too fast, his body wasn¡¯t able to completely harmonize with the elemental fire. Whatever method he used, he had unexpectedly managed to condense a half of the essence fireseed to advance. There wasn¡¯t anything that could go wrong in the battle, but the more and more he used the elemental fire, the faster he found himself in this current predicament. With half of the elemental fire not under control, it grew in amount, causing it to go out of control within his body and burning. If this goes on, I¡¯m afraid it might become fatal¡­.¡±


    Hong Yin¡¯s eyebrows grew even closer together, ¡°Right now the interior part of his body is in chaos. I don¡¯t dare involve myself in it. If there is a soul cultivator with the water element, they could temporarily abate the problem. But alas, with my wind affinity soulforce, or your wood affinity, we cannot do anything to rein in the berserk elemental fire in Yunfei¡¯s body¡­.¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do? Didn¡¯t you just say the more we wait, the more dangerous it gets¡­.¡± Mu Wanqing¡¯s eyebrows knotted together in worry.


    You Qingfeng looked to Hong Yin for a moment before suddenly speaking out, ¡°Hong Yin, if it was you, you¡¯d be able to do it, correct? You¡¯d remove the unstable essence fireseed in his body¡­.¡±


    Hong Yin nodded his head faintly, ¡°I would indeed do that. But, if we really did that, we would be destroy Yunfei¡¯s entire future! Not only would his strength drop back down to the Soul Warrior stage, he would never be able to make a breakthrough again¡­.¡±


    ¡°What? Is it that serious?¡± Mu Wanqing was astonished, ¡°Is the backlash of a soul technique truly that terrifying?¡±


    Hong Yin shook his head, ¡°Yunfei¡¯s circumstances is quite unusual. I don¡¯t even know what he did¡­.but in short, I don¡¯t wish to destroy his future¡­.¡±


    He looked back to Bai Yunfei whose face seemed to be even more pained. Sinking his head down in thought, Hong Yin¡¯s eyes continue to flash as if he was hesitating. After some time, he seemed to have reached some sort of conclusion. His eyes grew resolute as he turned around to You Qingfeng. ¡°Big brother You, there is something I require your assistance with.¡±


    You Qingfeng was startled, ¡°Eh? Don¡¯t tell me you actually thought of some way to save Yunfei? If you have need for me to do anything, then say it. I will do my best to help!¡±


    Hong Yin¡¯s right hand shook, unexpectedly bringing out a plethora of plants from his space ring. They looked to be medical ingredients¨Cat least ten different sorts. A gentle wind had kicked up from around his body before levitating the ingredients into the air.


    With another lift of his hand, a small fire the size of a palm had appeared above his hand. It was some sort of flaming red object. With its appearance, the entire room seemed to have skyrocketed in temperature once more. A wisp of elemental fire came pulsating out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body with a strong resonance to the fire from the item.


    Hong Yin stared at the plant in his hand for some time before looking up to You Qingfeng. ¡°Use your wood affinity soulforce and extract the essence from these ingredients. Then mix it with this thing and give it to Yunfei. It should help him get through this crisis for now.¡±


    You Qingfeng looked astounded at the floating plants in front of Hong Yin; each one of these were extremely precious ingredients. But when he saw the one item held in Hong Yin¡¯s hand, he was instantly stunned. As his eyes opened wide, he cried out, ¡°That¡¯s a¡­.fire¡­.fireseed spirit mushroom!!¡±


    Mu Wanqing had been shocked at the strong amount of elemental fire that came out from the item in Hong Yin¡¯s hand as well. When she heard You Qingfeng¡¯s gasp, she couldn¡¯t help but ask in confusion, ¡°Qingfeng, what is a fireseed spirit mushroom? Why is it that I feel it¡¯s¡­.¡±


    ¡°You feel that it contains the essence of fire, correct?¡± You Qingfeng nodded as he became calm once more. Explaining, he said, ¡°Your sense isn¡¯t wrong. This ¡®fireseed spirit mushroom¡¯ contains an extremely pure amount of the essence of elemental fire. This precious material grows in the deepest part of the Soulbeast Forest, the million year old volcano. From its growth to maturation, it requires at least several hundred years worth of time. Soul cultivators at the stage of Soul Warriors and upwards can use this to make a direct breakthrough to the Soul Sprite stage. It can also condense the essence fireseed with ease and without any danger! Even a soul cultivator without any gifts for the fire affinity can become incomparably close to the elemental fire with this. It can even be said that whomever possesses a single fireseed spirit mushroom possesses an absolute opportunity to advance into the Soul Sprite stage!¡±


    ¡°Furthermore, for a soul cultivator at the stage of Soul Sprite without the affinity for fire, then they could without fail gain another elemental essence from within their body!¡± You Qingfeng spoke up to there before turning to look at Hong Yin. ¡°Are you certain you wish to give this to Bai Yunfei? This is¡­..¡±


    Hong Yin gave a determined nod of his head, ¡°It is important to save a life. I will bother big brother You with this then.¡±


    You Qingfeng gave a moment¡¯s consideration before answering promptly, ¡°Very well! If brother Hong Yin brings out such a precious item to save a life without consideration, then how could I be so miserly to not squander some of my original property strength?!¡±


    Reaching out, You Qingfeng¡¯s hand grabbed at the ingredients that flew to his hand. After calming himself, a green halo of light began to slowly appear above his palm to envelop the ingredients within it and rotate them. From the outside, the ingredients could be seen slowly withering away before turning into ash. A clear and transparent drop of liquid could be seen being squeezed out before floating up on the side.


    After several repeats of the process, all of the ingredients Hong Yin had taken out had been reduced to ash. In their place, several drops of clear and transparent liquids could be seen.


    You Qingfeng¡¯s forehead had several beads of sweat on it, but he looked to the fireseed spirit mushroom in Hong Yin¡¯s hand, unsure on whether or not he would have to do the same to it. In midst of his stares, Hong Yin spoke out, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard, big brother You. You needn¡¯t break down this ingredient. For the next step, allow me to take over.¡±


    Letting out a faint breath of air, the green halo of light in You Qingfeng¡¯s hands retreated back into his own body. He walked to the side where he then sat down on a stool. From the looks of things, breaking down and extracting the essence from these ingredients had required a large amount of energy from him.


    Hong Yin extended an arm to allow the several drops of liquid to slowly fly to his hand. An azure-colored whirlwind had then formed on his palm, forcing the liquids to begin to rotate around the fireseed spirit mushroom. After several breaths worth of time, the fireseed spirit mushroom let out a ¡°bang¡± sound before transforming into a fist-sized flame. Even the liquid revolving around it had been engulfed before the temperature in the room had clambered up once more.


    Hong Yin¡¯s face had grown grim as the whirlwind in his hand flew faster and faster. That ball of fire in his hand had gradually grown smaller as if it was being forcibly compressed. Finally, it had decreased to the size of a newborn¡¯s fist. Furthermore, the several drops of liquids seemed to have been melted into the flames to become one with it.


    Hong Yin let out a gentle sigh of air as he directed the ball of fire towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Fixating his eyes on him, Hong Yin spoke gently, ¡°Yunfei, I know you can hear what I¡¯m saying. I am administering this to you, do not reject it. Let it flow to your essence fireseed and fuse with it. Let it control the elemental fire within you, and free yourself from this danger!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were still closed, and his body continued to tremble. But there was a faint grunt that could be heard from between his teeth as if he was answering Hong Yin.


    Hong Yin¡¯s eyes flashed without anymore hesitation. His left hand pinched Bai Yunfei¡¯s chin and pulled open his mouth. With his right hand, the ball of fire was immediately stuffed within Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to violently jerk around. His teeth continued to clench tightly as the ball of fire was swallowed down into his abdomen. Afterwards, his face warped in even more pain, there were even some parts of his body that had even split open, but no blood had come out. Instead, another bloody wisp of mist had risen up in a grotesque manner.


    Not too long after, his eyebrows had smoothened out and the body tremors had lessened as if the situation had begun to turn around.


    Seeing this turn of events, Hong Yin had finally let out a sigh of relief. Turning around to look at everyone, he said, ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any problems now. Let us all head out. Whatever happens next, it will be up to Bai Yunfei to deal with. If nothing out of the ordinary happens, he should be fine by tomorrow¡­.¡±


    Walking out of the room, Hong Yin watched You Qingfeng and the rest leave as well. He stood in the middle of the courtyard in heavy thought before shaking his head, ¡°Having done things this way, it was well worth it. With all things considered, I had no plans to cultivate the elemental fire in the first place¡­.there is a secret to Bai Yunfei. I would think that he would definitely not disappoint me then¡­.¡±


    Hong Yin returned to his own room and shut his doors. And so the western courtyards had descended into a gentle calm once more.


    The moon was beginning to ascend as the stars began to sparkle as well. Time went by bit by bit as Bai Yunfei remained in his room. That burst of raging elemental fire hadn¡¯t ceased in its pulsating from start to finish. But it had gradually went from a chaotic mess of energy into a moderate and regular burst of energy. Receding and extending, it was quite similar to the rhythmic pattern of a heartbeat.


    With the end of the night came day. And the moment when the sunshine shined into the room, Bai Yunfei¡¯s finger moved from its place on the bed and his eyes gradually began to open¡­.

 Chapter 87: Mid-stage Soul Sprite!!

    With the end of the night came day. And the moment when the sunshine shined into the room, Bai Yunfei¡¯s finger moved from its position on the bed and his eyes gradually began to open¡­.


    Slowly sitting up, Bai Yunfei looked over his own body for a moment before holding his right hand up to eyes. Studying it for a while, he seemed to be in looking at it pensively.


    ¡°That was too dangerous¡­. I didn¡¯t think that uplifting myself a stage so crazily would result in this. I nearly lost my life just then. A technique to strengthen my soulforce like this may be a shortcut, but I can¡¯t continue to use this in the future without fear of the consequences.¡± Thinking about his loss of control over the elemental fire and the unbearable pain it had brought, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but feel some lingering fears on it. For that moment, he had truly thought that he was about to die then and there.


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to big brother Hong Yin¡­.without his help, then even if I saved my life, my life wouldn¡¯t be as easy to become as strong as I desired. Would I even still be able to live on so carefreely?¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave a look over on his body. The essence fireseed in his stomach was two times as big as it was the day before yesterday at around the size of a fist. It seemed to have wrapped around his heart and pulsated along with the rhythmic beat of his heart. Wisp after wisp of the elemental fire had flowed out with each beat and circulated along with his soulforce throughout his body. There was a surge of power that flooded his body, making him feel far stronger than he had ever felt.


    ¡°Mid-stage Soul Sprite!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled, ¡°That whats-it-called ¡®fireseed spirit mushroom¡¯ big brother Hong Yin gave me has such a miraculous effect! But, this also demonstrates the depths of his heart. I¡¯m afraid this will be a hard favor to return¡­¡±


    After a moment of thinking, Bai Yunfei sighed and gave up thinking about it. Getting down from the bed, he threw open the doors and walked out.


    The clean air outside had assaulted his face, rousing his spirits quite high. At the same time as he walked out from his room, the neighboring room to his own gave a creaking sound before the doors opened and Hong Yin came walking out with a faint smile.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with emotions. He knew that Hong Yin had been worried for his wellbeing for sure by carefully paying attention to his situation.


    Giving a nod to Hong Yin, Bai Yunfei spoke gratefully, ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, it¡¯s all thanks to you that I¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, Yunfei, you speak as if we are strangers to each other, you don¡¯t need to take this so seriously.¡± Hong Yin waved his hand dismissively at his words. ¡°I saved you because you have made me believe it is worth it helping you. I know you will achieve many things in your future since you still have many secrets, isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    ¡°That¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei hesitated for a moment, unsure of how he should respond.


    ¡°Naturally, that is only my guess. You don¡¯t need to tell me, but I think that you won¡¯t disappoint me, correct?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had looked a little embarrassed. After being silent for half a moment, he shook his head gently and spoke honestly to Hong Yin, ¡°No matter the case, big brother Hong Yin saved my life this time. I will never forget this, I think that¡­.¡±


    ¡°Eeeh? Big brother Yunfei¡¯s fine! That¡¯s great!¡± Just at that moment, an alarmed cry of joy could be heard from outside the courtyards. Turning around, Bai Yunfei could only see an emerald-green clothed Chu Yuhe come running towards him with a joyous expression. You Qingfeng, Mu Wanqing and even Qiu Luliu could be seen entering the courtyard behind her.


    ¡°Big brother Yunfei, are you okay? Are you completely better now?¡± Chu Yuhe scampered towards Bai Yunfei and asked question after question in concern.


    Bai Yunfei looked at Chu Yuhe with a moved eye. When it came to this little girl, he didn¡¯t have any idea on how to be a brother. It was only because of Mu Wanqing¡¯s manipulations that he had carelessly recognized her to be his sworn sister. But Chu Yuhe had regarded him extremely highly and regarded him to be her actual older brother.


    Nodding, Bai Yunfei smiled faintly, ¡°Oh, Yuhe doesn¡¯t need to worry. I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m all better now.¡±


    Afterwards, he looked to Qiu Liliu behind Yuhe and nodded to her. Then he cupped his hands together towards You Qingfeng and Mu Wanqing. ¡°Senior You, headmaster Mu, words cannot describe my gratitude. From today onwards, I will definitely find a way to repay your kindness!¡± He spoke cordially.


    ¡°Yunfei, you speak too much like a stranger. You are the sworn brother of Yuhe, helping you should be a given thing. Furthermore, we didn¡¯t even help you much. It was Hong Yin that saved you; if you wished to repay someone, then it should be him.¡± Mu Wanqing shook her head with a smile.


    ¡°Yunfei, your strength¡­.¡± Ever since You Qingfeng had walked into the courtyard, he had continued to stare at Bai Yunfei as if there was a question he was not sure about.


    ¡°En, not only has my injuries fully recovered, but I have fully condensed my essence fireseed and stabilized it. My strength has also reached the mid-stage Soul Sprite level as well.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded before letting loose the restraint he had to allow the others to feel his current strength.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­.that¡¯s utterly inconceivable! Big brother Hong Yin¡¯s ¡®fireseed spirit mushroom¡¯ has that strong of an effect?!¡± Qiu Luliu stared in disbelief at Bai Yunfei. She couldn¡¯t help but cry out in alarm before sighing and speaking in dejection, ¡°Yunfei, let me say something here, okay? When I first met you, you were only a late-stage Soul Apprentice. But now...even though I know you came across good fortune, this rate of progression from you is too much of a blow to me. And to think that I used to believe my own talent for cultivation was quite decent!¡±


    ¡°Eh, Luliu, what words are you saying? I only had good luck, that¡¯s all. Plus, it was all thanks to big brother Hong Yin. I nearly died, just how amazing could I be after that?¡± Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    Hong Yin had only looked at everyone before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s not continue to stand in the courtyards and head into one of the rooms¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    After an hour, You Qingfeng and the others had finally left. Mu Wanqing was the leader of a school after all and thus had many things to busy herself with.


    Mu Wanqing had told Bai Yunfei that the Glacial School had already left Jade Willow City. Their two elders had been injured by Bai Yunfei, Zhang Zhengshan most especially. His ribs had been fractured in several places, and his internal organs had been ruptured. It would take several dozen days for his wounds to completely heal.


    After sending them off, Hong Yin looked pensively at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re worried about the Glacial School taking revenge? Don¡¯t worry then. They won¡¯t be seeking trouble with you for a good while. Even more so, with your current strength, you don¡¯t need to fear them either do you?¡±


    Hearing that there was something else applied in his words, Bai Yunfei was rather stunned, ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, you overestimate me. Today, I am a mid-stage Soul Sprite, but I am still nowhere close to being able to go head to head with the headmaster of a school¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m just joking.¡± Hong Yin gave a secretive laugh before abruptly changing the subject. ¡°Ah, Yunfei. The bracer I gave you for your battle against Zhang Zhengshan, could I have it back now?¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s face went rigid. He had no idea that Hong Yin would suddenly speak about such a topic and couldn¡¯t respond to it for some time afterwards. But after lowering his head in silence, his face changed slightly and sighed. With a wave of his hand, the crimson bracer appeared in it. Bai Yunfei placed the bracer onto the table and forced out a smile, ¡°En, this was big brother Hong Yin¡¯s item to begin with, I should return it to you¡­.¡±


    Hong Yin¡¯s lips curled into a smile at Bai Yunfei¡¯s clearly pained expression. Trying his best to pretend to be calm, he could no longer help but let out a chuckle and teased Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, I was just joking with you. You really are serious, just what type of person do you take your older brother Hong Yin to be? I clearly said that I had given it to you, just how could I take it back like that? Haha¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was stunned. ¡°That¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I only wish to see just how much you¡¯ve ¡®transformed¡¯ this bracer¡­.¡± Hong Yin held out an arm towards the bracer, and the moment it touched his head, the smile on his face had immediately vanished. Turning flabbergasted, he looked at the bracer in his hands and circulated his soulforce into it, causing the bracer to glow red.


    ¡°High-earth tier!¡± Even with his earlier preparations, Hong Yin still couldn¡¯t help but gasp, ¡°How is that possible? When I gave it to you before, it was definitely a high-human tier soul armament. How could it just jump three tiers and into the earth rank¡­.¡±


    Hong Yin had been thunderstrucked for a moment before his head snapped to Bai Yunfei with sparkling eyes, ¡°Yunfei, are you from the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei had been glad that he didn¡¯t need to return the bracer back, but at the same time, he had to think of a way to explain how the bracer had ¡®upgraded¡¯. Hong Yin¡¯s question had stunned him however, and he replied with his own question, ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, how you ask if I am from the Crafting School? Don¡¯t you know of my situation? From the very beginning, I was taught by senior Ge Yiyun¡­.¡±


    Hong Yin¡¯s eyes stared strangely at Bai Yunfei for some time before finally regaining his wits and shaking his head. ¡°I know that you are tied to the Fate School, that¡¯s why I asked. Otherwise, I would have thought you to be an inner disciple of the Crafting School¡­.¡±


    ¡°En? Why do you say that?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows raised up in confusion.


    ¡°This bracer¡¯s transformation is truly too inconceivable. I can only think of one way that this is possible, and that is if you are a disciple of the Crafting School. A disciple that understands the way to use the essence fireseed to refine and create a soul armament!¡±


    ¡°People say that the Crafting School has a secret method for when they advance in soulforce, they can use the condensed essence fireseed and the strengthened amount of pure elemental fire to craft a soul armament. They can upgrade this soul armament, and because of the essence fireseed that has harmonized with their own body, they create a special connection between their soul and the soul armament. From this, they can bring out the true power of their soul armament, and so the men of the Crafting School call them soulbound armaments.¡±


    ¡°Naturally, this is something only the people of the Crafting School is willing to do. Other soul cultivators with the essence fireseed are very reluctant to do so. The more they have, the less they are willing to waste some of it to craft a soul armament. After all, there is only one time to condense the essence fireseed, and the more it grows, the far smoother the path of cultivation will be for them in the future¡­.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d guess that this bracer¡¯s transformation was definitely because of your advancement that it grew, correct? That must be the reason why you only had half of the essence fireseed as well. But, you really aren¡¯t a disciple of the Crafting School, so how was it that you are able to improve the bracer to such a degree like this¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head drooped down as he quickly processed the information given to him by Hong Yin. His eyebrows furrowed together as his eyes sparkled with light.


    Gradually, there was a light of understanding that flashed through his eyes¡­.


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 88: sFlame Daggers of the Bracer

    Chapter 88: ''Flame Dagger'' of the Bracer


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head drooped down in thought. Gradually, there was a light of understanding that flashed through his eyes¡­.


    ¡°So that¡¯s the reason. I didn¡¯t understand why the Firetipped Spear and the bracer had been upgraded, but if we follow what big brother Hong Yin says¡­.then it was because of the fireseed essence. Although I¡¯m not from the Crafting School and don¡¯t know the way of crafting¡­.I have the Item Upgrade Technique! I may not know why this is, but if my guess isn¡¯t wrong, when the essence fireseed mixed with the soul item, the Upgrade Technique had also made a special connection to it to have this type of result. But not only was the quality of the item increased, it was upgraded without my control of it. Could this be¡­.the mystery that is the Upgrade Technique?¡±


    ¡°But, my Upgrade Technique didn¡¯t have anything to do with the essence fireseed in the past....maybe after I became a Soul Sprite, the condensed essence fireseed had gained some sort of special property to it that allows for a hundred percent upgrade rate? It¡¯s a shame I can¡¯t experiment on this and find out. After having the essence fireseed fuse with my body, it¡¯s become too different since before I became a Soul Sprite¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, what are you thinking about?¡± Hong Yin¡¯s voice entering his ear had caused Bai Yunfei to snap back into awareness.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing¡­.big brother Hong Yin, I think¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei hesitated. Then as if he had made up his mind, he spoke to Hong Yin, ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, could I see all of your soul armaments?¡±


    Hong Yin stared blankly, ¡°Eh? What for?¡±


    ¡°That is¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to respond. But then he thought of a way, ¡°You know already. I have a few secrets that I cannot let others know about. In truth, the reason why the Glacial School is so dead set on chasing me down is mainly because of this. I know big brother Hong Yin won¡¯t put me in danger, and even if I have no reason to explain in detail, I will tell you. I can¡­.upgrade weaponry. Although I can¡¯t upgrade it to the point of this bracer, I can at least bring up the power by a small amount¡­.¡±


    ¡°What! Is that true?!¡± Hong Yin¡¯s eyes let out a brilliant ray of light as he stared seriously at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°En. I cannot explain the method, but I can do it.¡± After speaking, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t hide anything back and maintained a calm expression.


    The light in Hong Yin¡¯s eyes receded as he gave a contemplative look. WIth a shake of his right hand, a white dagger appeared in it. Handing it over to Bai Yunfei, he said, ¡°Even if it¡¯s a weapon like this, what can you do with it?¡±


    In the split moment he saw the dagger, Bai Yunfei immediately felt his heart leap into his throat. A strong bloody smell could be felt from it. And for a moment, Bai Yunfei had felt that there was an illusion placed onto him that made him see a red-eyed wolf growling towards him.


    This illusion had been for a moment before vanishing. When Bai Yunfei had regathered his thoughts, there had been nothing out of the ordinary, and the dagger was just an ordinary one. No¡ªcalling it ordinary wouldn¡¯t be apt. Because at a closer observation, he had discovered that this dagger would be better off being described as the fang of some sort of beast. It was practically grinded and polished from a fang and fashioned into a crude type of dagger.


    The Bloodhowl Fang was rumored to said to belong to the Bloodhowl Wolf King when it reached the eighth level. It would use its own fang to craft a weapon with an unbelievably sharp point and tremendous power. In the world of soul cultivators, it was an extremely well known soul armament. Naturally, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know that, but he could feel that this weapon had a strange make to it and felt doubtful.


    But despite the doubtful look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, when he took the weapon into his hands a thunderstrucked look overtook it.Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Attack: 2257


    Upgrade Requirement: 113 Soulpoints


    ¡°Low regalia!! Regalia¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei was stupefied. His mind was in turmoil, and so he couldn¡¯t help but utter out in shock, ¡°Low-heaven tier!¡±


    Hong Yin had been studying Bai Yunfei¡¯s expressions. It was at this moment that his eyebrows rose up with an ¡®just as expected¡¯ type of look. Smiling, he said, ¡°As I expected, Yunfei, you could tell the quality of it at a single touch? Not bad. This dagger is called the ¡°Bloodhowl Fang¡±. Although it is barely just at the heaven rank, its power is unbelievable strong.¡±


    ¡°So how about it? Even if its a heaven-tier soul armament, will you be able to increase its strength as you said you could?¡± Hong Yin stared at the contemplative Bai Yunfei with an expecting look.


    After a moment to think, Bai Yunfei braced himself and nodded his head. ¡°En, there won¡¯t be any problems. I just need some time. Tomorrow I will return this back to big brother Hong Yin.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really now?¡± Hong Yin was overjoyed. Smiling, he said, ¡°En, take your time, there¡¯s no need to rush. Even if you took a few days, it would be fine.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled at the sight of an overjoyed Hong Yin, ¡°Haha, big brother Hong Yin, how could you be so carefree? This is a heaven-tier soul armament. Aren¡¯t you afraid I¡¯d run off with it?¡±


    Hong Yin stared blankly for a moment before shooting a baleful eye at him, ¡°You underestimate your old brother. Do you really think you would be able to run away from me? Haha¡­.¡±


    After a brief discussion, Hong Yin had reminded Bai Yunfei of several facts that should be known regarding the original property of his soul and to not try to increase his soulforce for the time being. Bai Yunfei would have to first familiarize himself with the newfound energy he had as well. He was at the middle Soul Sprite stage, but even if his body had adapted to the energy, he still needed to learn how to control it. His level of control was still at the Soul Warrior stage and so he would have to first familiarize himself with the power of the Soul Sprite before he could try to advance again.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    That night, Bai Yunfei sat cross-legged on the bed with the Bloodhowl Fang in hand and his mind solely concentrated on upgrading it.


    This would be the very first time he was able to upgrade an equipment at the level of Artifact, so Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t dare to be sloppy about it. Who knows whether or not during the upgrade that it would behave in a similar pattern to a Rare or Legacy item.


    But it had been smooth sailing for now. The things that Bai Yunfei was worried about had never come to past. Aside from a few wasted soulforce and the lower probability of the upgrade being successful, nothing unexpected had happened, allowing Bai Yunfei to upgrade the item all the way to +10.Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 2257


    Additional Attack: 1263


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 30% chance to inflict ''Intimidation'', forcing the opponent''s overall attributes to drop 20% for 10 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 113 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei wiped at his head with his left hand in exhaustion. ¡°An Artifact tier equipment is not that easy to upgrade. To just upgrade it to +10, I¡¯ve already failed six times and wasted around 2500 soulpoints. I¡¯m almost at my limit, so that must mean the amount of soulpoints I have as a mid-stage Soul Sprite would be around 3000 or so¡­.¡±


    ¡°Any equipment above the Rare tier would have roughly half the original attack power as an additional attack power when it¡¯s +10. Does that mean all soul armaments are this way? It¡¯s sad that I don¡¯t have much contact with many soul armaments or any way to test it. Plus, I don¡¯t dare continue to upgrade them! The dangers are too much, and if I fail now, then I wouldn¡¯t even have two sticks to rub together. The Fire-tipped Spear and bracer were upgraded by luck. It¡¯s too bad there won¡¯t be a second chance of having that happen again¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei tilted his head to look at the Bloodhowl Fang with some satisfaction, ¡°It has more than half its original attack power now, I wonder if big brother Hong Yin will be happy with this? The additional effect isn¡¯t bad either. Thirty percent is already pretty high, and dropping the opponent¡¯s overall attributes by twenty percent, does that mean their speed and strength? With big brother Hong Yin having such a superior strength, combined with this effect, then¡­.he¡¯d be able to control victory itself!¡±


    Putting away the Bloodhowl Fang, Bai Yunfei thought for a moment before taking out the crimson bracer.


    ¡°The +10 additional effect I¡¯ve already tested when battling Zhang Zhengshan. Its effect was extremely unusual and basically meant that I was able to borrow my opponent¡¯s strength for my own attack. Combining defense and offense together, I was able to flip the tides of battle around unexpectedly! This +12 ¡®flame winged dagger¡¯ is something I haven¡¯t tried before. It consumes soulpoints upon activation? Does that mean¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei adorned the bracer onto his right arm and then concentrated his soulforce to enter the bracer. The bracer flashed with a crimson light that filled the entire room, but other than that, nothing had changed.


    ¡°Eh? What does this mean? Why didn¡¯t the ¡®flame winged dagger¡¯ appear¡­.¡± Just as Bai Yunfei was confused, the words ¡®summon flame winged dagger¡¯ had popped up in his mind and¡­.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    With a gentle booming sound that shook the entire room, another crimson burst of light flew out from the bracer along with a ball of fire on top of it. Forming over Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm, a ¡®piece¡¯ of fire began to extend outwards from the bracer and elongated and thinned out to form a flaming dagger roughly a third of a meter long.


    Bai Yunfei was stupefied for a brief second before immediately shaking himself out of his thoughts. Fixating his eyes onto the ¡®flame winged dagger¡¯, his eyes began to sparkle.


    ¡°Is this it? This is an extremely small form, I wonder how strong it is¡­.¡± With a twist of his left hand, a +9 dagger appeared in it. Holding it up to his eye level, he waved his right hand down so as to command the flame dagger down.


    ¡°Crack!¡± With a sharp clattering sound, half the blade had fallen to the floor. Bai Yunfei had held the other half where several drops of molten iron could be seen dripping from the broken edge. From the looks of it, the blade seemed as if it had been smelted and molted off!


    ¡°Siiiii¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei let out a breath of cold air before waving his hand to recollect the broken blade. Looking at the slightly shaking flame dagger above his right arm, he had a gleeful smile. ¡°What a strong flame! This is the smallest form yet, so if I add even more soulforce into it¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei urged his soulforce into the bracer, causing the flame dagger to explode and elongate another third of a meter longer. The scorching heat of the blade had skyrocketed as well.


    Gazing his eyes onto it, Bai Yunfei cut off the stream of soulforce and watched as the dagger become a spark and disappearing out of sight.


    ¡°Good, good!! I didn¡¯t think that this ¡®flame winged dagger¡¯ would have such a strong power! Although the soulforce consumption is big, it is completely worth it! Like this, my strength has grown once again!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart was beating with emotions. He looked at the crimson bracer and muttered to himself, ¡°Well then. I¡¯ll call you the ¡®Flameblade Bracer then!¡±


    After a moment¡¯s rest, he took out a piece of jewelry from his space ring.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll upgrade some jewelry too and give the best one to Yuhe. When one promises something, they cannot eat their words¡­.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade¡­.¡±Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 89: Upgrade Complete

    Chapter 89: Upgrade Complete


    On the next brisk morning when Bai Yunfei had finished cultivating and was washing his face, Chu Yuhe brought him breakfast ¡°on time¡±.


    ¡°Brother Yunfei, are you up? Master said that you just made a breakthrough and needed time to consolidate and had forbidden me from seeing you yesterday¡­ How are you feeling now?¡± Chu Yuhe asked while placing a bowl of congee and several dishes of food onto a table.


    ¡°En, I¡¯m fine. Yuhe doesn¡¯t need to worry about me.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡°That¡¯s great then. Brother Yunfei should eat something. I made this breakfast myself!¡± Chu Yuhe had a dainty smile on her face as she sat in front of Bai Yunfei. Resting her head on her lily-white hands, her eyes blinked repeatedly as she watched him.


    Seeing how this girl was waiting with that ¡®praise me¡¯ expression, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but laugh. His heart felt a happy emotion well up inside of him, ¡°En, I¡¯ve troubled you, little sister Yuhe.¡±


    ¡°It was no trouble. No trouble at all! Big brother Yunfei should eat quickly now.¡± Chu Yuhe¡¯s smile grew even wider and happier.


    ¡°Oh, I forgot to ask. Is big brother Hong Yin still next door, has he eaten breakfast yet?¡± Bai Yunfei asked while staring at the door.


    ¡°Hehe, brother Hong Yin woke up a long time ago! Sister Qiu already gave him some breakfast earlier. Now the two of them are both at the lakeside looking at some dog.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Dog?¡± Bai Yunfei was taken aback before realizing something, ¡°Oh, do you mean the Thunderwolf? Is brother Hong Yin trying to communicate with it again?¡±


    ¡°En, he is. Big brother Hong Yin is trying his best to talk with it, but it¡¯s ignoring him. Even if Xiao Tang dances on its head or a finger is used to scratch its ear, there is no reaction.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at the ¡®mischievous¡¯ look on her face before smiling, ¡°Haha, don¡¯t say that to Xiao Tang or else it¡¯ll get angry and dump you into water.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, I wouldn¡¯t even bother with it. How could a rat be so arrogant?¡± Chu Yuhe lifted her nose up in an adorable fashion, but she had stopped saying anything bad about Xiao Tang.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head before suddenly remembering something. Taking out an item from his space ring, he spoke, ¡°Ah, Yuhe. I promised to give you a present before, but the matters with the Glacial School took too long. Haha, take a look and see if you like this or not.¡±


    With that, he gave the emerald-colored fish-shaped pendant to her.


    ¡°Equipment quality: Superior.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +11.¡±


    ¡°Additional attribute: Agility +60¡±


    ¡°+10 additional effect: Movement speed increased by 3%.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 34 soulpoints.¡±


    This was the remaining piece of jewelry left over from Bai Yunfei¡¯s yesternight attempt at upgrading. In the past he had prepared to give her a fish-shaped pendant as well, but the one now was far stronger than the fish-shaped one.


    Chu Yuhe revealed an overjoyed expression at the pendant as she took it into her hands. Giddy, she exclaimed cheerfully, ¡°What a beautiful little fish! I really like it. Thank you, brother Yunfei!¡±


    ¡°En, it¡¯s good if you like it. Try it on, you¡¯ll be even happier!¡± Bai Yunfei smiled with a mysterious tone to his voice.


    ¡°What do you mean? What will happen when I wear it?¡± Chu Yuhe asked. Curiously staring at the pendant in her hands, she finally began to put it around her neck.


    ¡°Ehhh? What a strange feeling¡­¡± A split second after wearing the pendant, Chu Yuhe felt stunned. Her mouth dropped open in exclamation.


    Her current strength was quite weak, so an abrupt increase of 60 points in agility was a considerable increase to her.


    Seeing the stupefied look on the girl¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei gave a satisfied nod of his head. ¡°How is it? Yuhe, do you feel even lighter than before? Let me tell you, when you wear this pendant, you¡¯ll be even faster than before. Haha, how happy are you now? Do you like it?¡±


    The girl was stupefied for a very long time before a look of excitement overcame her face. Staring at Bai Yunfei with stars in her eyes, she said, ¡°Brother Yunfei, is this really because of the pendant? How magical! Did brother Yunfei make this?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°En, this is your big brother Yunfei¡¯s secret. This will also be Yuhe¡¯s secret. You can¡¯t let anyone else know this. Even if it¡¯s your master or sister Qiu, you cannot tell them. Can you promise me that, Yuhe?¡±


    Chu Yuhe¡¯s face had gone as blank as a board before finally speaking earnestly, ¡°En! Yuhe will remember this and won¡¯t let anyone know about the secret behind this pendant!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gently nodded his head before turning to eat the breakfast on the table. Chu Yuhe continued to happily play with the ¡®magical¡¯ pendant that was wrapped around her neck.


    Now that he had given the upgraded pendant to Yuhe, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have any more worries. The loveable little girl would definitely not reveal his ¡®secret¡¯ easily. No one would be able to figure out that such an ordinary-looking pendant would have such a particular effect unless they knew about it beforehand.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    After eating breakfast, Bai Yunfei and Chu Yuhe walked out of the bedroom together and headed for the lake. From far away, they could see Hong Yin and Qiu Luliu both sitting on top of stone stools by the lake. In front of the two were two large figures. Aside from the Thunderwolf, there was the gigantic Giant Goldeye Ape.


    One of Hong Yin¡¯s hands was pressed against the head of the Thunderwolf as he gathered his spirit and tried to ¡®communicate¡¯ with it. Xiao Tang was on the head of the Giant Goldeye Ape, and continued to leap and jump while tweaking its ears in an attempt to ¡®bully¡¯ the ape. However, there was no response from either creature. Their eyes were void of spirit, and there was no physical reaction at all.


    Bai Yunfei stood to the side and gave a nod to Qiu Luliu. Without disturbing Hong Yin, he just stood behind Hong Yin without a word.


    Chu Yuhe walked up to Qiu Luliu¡¯s side and the two women later walked a few steps away. Their voices were quiet as the little girl began to ¡®show off¡¯ her recently acquired gift. Naturally, she only let Qiu Luliu feel the pendant with her hand. She told Qiu Luliu that it had a ¡®cute¡¯ and ¡®exquisite¡¯ appearance without ever mentioning its special use.


    Half a moment later, Hong Yin finally opened his eyes. With a dejected sigh, he waved his hand to recollect both beasts.


    ¡°Brother Hong Yin, what happened? Did it fail?¡± Seeing Hong Yin act this way, Qu Luliu took two steps forward to ask.


    Nodding, Hong Yin replied in a low voice, ¡°There was simply no progress at all. Actually, I knew it was a futile attempt, but still¡­ ai!¡±


    ¡°Brother Hong Yin, please don¡¯t be discouraged. I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll find a way!¡± Qiu Luliu gave some words of comfort when she saw the look of frustration on Hong Yin¡¯s face.


    Sighing, the look of frustration drained from Hong Yin¡¯s face as he turned to Bai Yunfei with a smile. ¡°Yunfei, how did last night¡¯s cultivation go? How much longer do you think you¡¯ll need to consolidate your newly acquired strength?¡±


    ¡°I feel that it¡¯s going well. Nothing bad has happened so far. I think that, at most, it¡¯ll take another five or six days before I get a full grasp of being a middle Soul Sprite.¡± Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Ai, Yunfei. Why is it that I feel that each word you speak is like a physical blow to me? Really. I can¡¯t afford to be lazy anymore. I must practice hard to increase my strength. Little sister, let us return to cultivate¡­¡± Qiu Luliu gave a feigned and exaggerated faint as a joke before pulling the still confused Chu Yuhe toward the other courtyards. In truth, she realized that there was something both Bai Yunfei and Hong Yin wanted to say to each other; therefore, she had made an excuse to leave first.


    Watching the two girls leave, Bai Yunfei smiled to Hong Yin and waved his right hand. The Bloodhowl Fang appeared in his right hand before he handed it over back to Hong Yin.


    ¡°Eh? You really finished that fast?¡± Hong Yin was startled, and skeptically picked it up with his hands.


    The moment the Bloodhowl Fang touched his hands, Hong Yin¡¯s eyes flashed brightly and he immediately shut his mouth to stop from saying anything more to Bai Yunfei. His face carried a look of seriousness as he studied the weapon in his hands with rapt attention.


    The Bloodhowl Fang was his weapon, so he was extremely familiar with it. With a detailed examination, his eyes brightened even more as a thunderstruck expression overcame his face.


    ¡°Middle-grade heaven-ranked! Middle-grade heaven-ranked! It actually increased a rank¡­.¡± Hong Yin had a look of utter disbelief as he spoke.


    Hearing his words, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes suddenly flashed with realization, ¡°When the attack power reaches over 3000, does it become a middle-grade heaven-rank? For them, they rank a soul item based off of its attack and defense. Naturally, they never had an ¡®additional effect¡¯ before¡­ but with the Upgrade Technique, it shows off the original quality. For example, the Flameblade Bracer was originally a low-grade earth-ranked item before I upgraded it. But after upgrading it to +12, brother Hong Yin said that it was a high-grade earth-ranked item. That must be because after the upgrades, the cumulative sum of the attack or defense power was enough to become a high-grade earth-ranked item¡­¡±


    ¡°This really is too crazy to be true. Yunfei, just how did you manage this? In a single night, a low-grade heaven-ranked soul item became a middle-grade one. If news of this were to leak into the world of soul cultivators, do you know just how big of a clamor this would make? As far as I know, even a talented senior of the Crafting School would find it incomparably difficult to increase the ranking of a soul item. Back when my adoptive father first made this item, the Bloodhowl Fang was only at the high-grade earth-rank. It was only after an enormous payment that a senior of the Crafting School managed to use countless of materials and an entire month to bring it up to the heaven-rank. Even after that, he had been forced to take a dozen days of closed door cultivation to make up for the exhaustion. But you¡­¡± Hong Yin thought about how it had taken a single night to increase the quality of the item with a seemingly calm expression, but he had no idea just what to say to Bai Yunfei next.


    ¡°Oh? The senior of the Crafting School is truly amazing!¡± Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t paid attention to the lack of ¡®compliment¡¯ by Hong Yin since he had been shocked by what Hong Yin had said about the Crafting School.


    According to what he now knew of the properties of upgrading a soul item with the Upgrade Technique, a high-grade earth-ranked soul item had an attack or defense power between 1200 to 2000. After the Firetipped Spear and Flameblade Bracer were upgraded, they were considered to be low-grade heaven-ranked soul items between 2000 and 3000. For the soul items past 3000, they were middle-grade heaven-ranked. For the time being, Bai Yunfei had no idea just what it would take to be considered a high-grade heaven-ranked soul item.


    If the Bloodhowl Fang was at its prior high-grade earth-rank level, then it would have roughly 1200 attack power at the very least. Even if it was upgraded ten times, it would add another half of its attack strength, meaning that it would be able to make it to the top of the high-grade earth-tier. However, a man of the Crafting School had been able to bring it to the low-grade heaven-rank!


    Hong Yin¡¯s lips twitched. He simply had no idea how Bai Yunfei would be able to easily upgrade a soul item to such an extent. Just how would a senior of the Crafting School be so amazing in comparison¡­

 Chapter 90: Departure

    Chapter 90: Departure


    Bai Yunfei thought for a moment before temporarily putting those thoughts aside for later. Raising his head, he said, ¡°Ah, brother Hong Yin, there is still something concerning the Bloodhowl Fang that I need to tell you.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Concerning the Bloodhowl Fang?¡± Hong Yin was surprised. Then as if thinking of something, he grew worried and asked, ¡°Is it because it was upgraded, there¡¯s some sort of side effect to using it? Don¡¯t tell me that it¡¯ll impair the soul item in some way?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head with a smile, ¡°Brother Hong Yin, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not that. As it is now, this soul item won¡¯t have any side effects. I just wanted to tell you aside from it being increased in strength by a half, there is¡­ there is still an even more special ¡®function¡¯.¡±


    Hong Yin sighed in relief before asking in confusion, ¡°A special ¡®function¡¯? What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that is¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought for a moment. He was unsure of how to explain this additional effect to him and had to ponder to himself before finally explaining, ¡°When you are using the Bloodhowl Fang against an opponent, there is a thirty-percent chance that your opponent will have his or her body¡¯s capabilities reduced by twenty-percent. For example, speed and strength. When you feel some of your soulforce leak into your Bloodhowl Fang without your control, that means that you have activated this special ¡®function¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Eeee¡­¡± When Hong Yin heard what Bai Yunfei said, he still had the same look of confusion as before. ¡°What¡­ what do you mean by that?¡±


    It was not as if he did not comprehend what Bai Yunfei was saying. It was only that, to his knowledge, there had never been a soul item that had such a ¡®function¡¯ like this before, so he was quite distracted.


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head in earnest, ¡°You didn¡¯t hear wrong, and I¡¯m not joking with you. It¡¯s as I say. In a battle, there is a chance to weaken your opponent¡¯s fighting capabilities.¡±


    ¡°Is what you¡¯re saying true?¡± Hong Yin¡¯s eyebrows creased together unconvinced, ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°How about this. We will test it out and let big brother Hong Yin experience the feeling. I believe that you will understand what I mean then.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed gently before taking the Bloodhowl Fang into his own hands. ¡°I¡¯ll attack you right now. Naturally, I¡¯ll make the simplest chopping motion. Brother Hong Yin just needs to block it. I doubt there¡¯ll be any problems now will there?¡±


    Hong Yin looked at the earnest look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face with some excitement. He could see that Bai Yunfei held the Bloodhowl Fang and gave a rather expecting nod, ¡°En, that¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll see for myself just how special that ¡®function¡¯ of yours is!¡±


    Bai Yunfei said nothing more. He hoisted the dagger to gently slash it down toward Hong Yin. Hong Yin formed a sword with his fingers. A nearly invisible azure-colored light appeared on the tips of his fingers and blocked the Bloodhowl Fang. Naturally, there was no actual effort of fighting seriously from Bai Yunfei. Otherwise, a middle-grade heaven-ranked soul item would never be able to be so easily blocked like this.


    After the fourth strike, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes began to sparkle as he felt a part of his soulforce trickle into the soul item without his control ¡ª effect activated! With this realization, he stopped attacking and displayed a faint smile at Hong Yin.


    The split-second after blocking the fourth ¡®attack¡¯, Hong Yin¡¯s curious expression was replaced by a thunderstruck one. His entire body began to slightly tremble, and he took several unconscious steps back. Then, with a terrified look at his right hand, he evidently realized the changes that had occurred in his body.


    ¡°This¡­ this¡­¡± Hong Yin¡¯s head turned to look at Bai Yunfei in complete disbelief.


    Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°How is it? Brother Hong Yin, did you feel that your strength had suddenly dropped by twenty-percent or so? There¡¯s no need to worry. It¡¯ll last another ten seconds, but you¡¯ll recover even faster if you use your soulforce to resist it.¡±


    Two seconds after Bai Yunfei had finished speaking, Hong Yin¡¯s expression loosened before he resumed his usual one. Still in shock, Hong Yin stared at the soul item in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand before slowly speaking, ¡°It¡¯s really¡­ Yunfei, you¡¯re saying that as long as I use this to fight, there is a thirty-percent chance for the opponent to enter the same state I was in?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded before handing the Bloodhowl Fang back.


    Hong Yin accepted it with a stunned glance at the soul item in his hands. Finally recollecting it, he sighed to calm down his nerves and looked back at Bai Yunfei with a strange expression. ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re really¡­ you must know that if word of you being able to make such a ¡®change¡¯ to this Bloodhowl Fang were to get out, how much of a clamor that would make?¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°I know about that naturally, but I think that brother Hong Yin won¡¯t easily tell my secret, would you?¡±


    Hong Yin looked at him for a half moment longer before suddenly breaking out with a laugh. Excitement flashed through his eyes, ¡°Yunfei. I¡¯m really glad to have rescued you. I didn¡¯t expect such a huge return so quickly. The way I see it, using the fireseed spirit mushroom to receive a transformed Bloodhowl Fang was completely worth it.¡±


    ¡°Brother Hong Yin¡¯s fireseed spirit mushroom was an act of kindness that saved my life. To upgrade the strength of the Bloodhowl Fang was something that was only a slight effort in repaying my debts. Please do not worry about it.¡±


    ¡°A slight effort¡­¡± Hong Yin¡¯s eyebrows slightly flew up. Deciding not to continue asking about this, he asked, ¡°Ah, Yunfei, are you prepared to leave from here? Where do you plan to go next?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°En, I¡¯ve given it some thought. After a few more days, I will leave here. If not for the Glacial School, I would have already been in the Beiyan Province. I¡¯ll go straight through Beiyan toward the Pingchuan Province to pay a visit to the Crafting School.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Do you really plan on going to the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I would say that brother Hong Yin has a bit of understanding with my secret. It is best shown on soul items, but after a certain point of upgrading, there is a big risk of completely destroying the soul item. For example, the Bloodhowl Fang is at the best I can upgrade it without risk of destroying it. If I tried to continue and upgrade it, there is a chance it would have been destroyed, leaving us with nothing. Therefore, I wish to visit the Crafting School; if I can learn to craft soul items myself, then combined with my abilities, I should be able to accomplish much more. Plus, brother Hong Yin said that those from the Crafting School are capable of recrafting and strengthening a soul item to make it even stronger. I wish to know this as well and see if there is any relation with the method I have.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ possible to make it stronger¡­?¡± Hong Yin¡¯s lips twitched as he failed to keep his shock from showing. He never would have thought that the increase of strength already done to the Bloodhowl Fang was considered to be in that ¡®risk-free range¡¯. Although Bai Yunfei said that there was an ever-increasing risk of the soul item being destroyed, he did not say it would always end in failure. If he succeeded, then the power then¡­ let alone his mind, Hong Yin¡¯s heart was quickly leaping in place.


    ¡°Ah, brother Hong Yin. What do you plan to do from here on out?¡± Just as Hong Yin was stuck deep in his thoughts, Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice snapped him back to reality.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here in Qingyun for a while. I originally came here to look for senior Ge Yiyun, but since I¡¯ve stayed in Cuiliu City for several days, I don¡¯t even know if senior Ge is still in the Qingyun Province¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then it seems that we¡¯ll be destined to meet again in the future. If brother Hong Yin ever needs my help in the future, please come to the Crafting School and find me.¡±


    ¡°Haha, the Crafting School is very stringent on accepting apprentices. Are you that positive that you¡¯ll be accepted in, Yunfei?¡± Hong Yin chuckled before explaining himself, ¡°But if it¡¯s you, I doubt there¡¯ll be any problems. You are a soul cultivator with the property of fire and have the strength of a Soul Sprite. As long as there is no suspicions to your character, the Crafting School will not decline you. Furthermore, you haven¡¯t entered the Crafting School yet but you already own a personalized soul item. A feat like this is pretty awe-inspiring to the Crafting School. Being inducted straight into the Crafting School as a leading disciple wouldn¡¯t be too unimaginable.¡±


    ¡°Personalized soul item¡­¡± Hearing this, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but look at the Flameblade Bracer wrapped tightly around his right wrist. Fingering the space ring on his hand, Bai Yunfei could feel the presence of the Firetipped Spear inside. There was a wonderful feeling between he and the two soul items, and even the response from the Firetipped Spear could be felt.


    ¡°Oh. Brother Hong Yin, I¡¯ll give this space ring back to you.¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly remembered that Hong Yin had brought him all the equipment he used to train in a space ring with considerable size inside. Taking it out, Bai Yunfei wished to return it to Hong Yin.


    Hong Yin carelessly waved his hand, ¡°You take it, Yunfei. I don¡¯t need this space ring.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then I¡¯ll have to thank brother Hong Yin again.¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t decline the ring and placed it back within his robes.


    Hong Yin tilted his head down in thought before seemingly coming to some resolution. With a shake of his right hand, he took out a white skull fragment belonging to some sort of beast. It was about the size of his palm and he offered it to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Yunfei, take this with you. I believe that one day, you¡¯ll enter the Soulbeast Forest to find your own soul beast to partner with. Many soul beasts now treat soul cultivators with hostility because many soul cultivators have had an extreme change in attitude toward soul beasts. In the future, if you come across a strong beast, take this out. As long as there isn¡¯t some sort of conflict between you and the soul beast, they will not make things difficult for you.¡±


    ¡°Soulbeast Forest? Why would I go there?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve forgotten what I said. Every soul cultivator wishes to have a strong soul beast as a partner. You won¡¯t understand this now, but you will understand when you enter the Crafting School and become stronger. When the time comes for you to gain a soul beast to call a partner, you must treat them as you would a friend. Don¡¯t be like some soul cultivators and treat soul beasts like a slave or a sacrificial pawn¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, brother Hong Yin. I¡¯ve long since learned from you how to treat a soul beast.¡± Bai Yunfei looked to Xiao Tang on Hong Yin¡¯s shoulder. Taking the bone fragment, he asked, ¡°But this, how do I use it? Do I just need to take it out? Why is it that I feel that this is just a regular-looking bone fragment?¡±


    ¡°Pour a bit of your soulforce into it.¡± Hong Yin instructed.


    Bai Yunfei did as Hong Yin instructed, and pushed his soulforce into it. The bone fragment immediately flashed with a red light before a blood-colored wolf suddenly appeared over the bone. There was a tyrannical aura that exuded from it, and Bai Yunfei nearly dropped the bone fragment in fright as if this red light was the precursor to an explosion. However, he was able to quickly calm himself.


    Hong Yin chuckled, ¡°It¡¯s as you see it. Though you have to remember, use it for a soulbeast with extraordinary strength and is advanced enough to be able to speak with the human tongue. Soul beasts of an inferior level won¡¯t be able to recognize such a thing.¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought for a moment with hesitation. ¡°Brother Hong Yin, something like this¡­ shouldn¡¯t it be extremely precious? Yet you¡¯re giving it to me¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to pay attention to that, just take it.¡± Hong Yin waved his hand. ¡°You call me brother, and I, Hong Yin see you as a friend, so there is no need for these formalities. The continent is boundless, but the world of soul cultivators can be small at times. We will definitely meet again.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ I won¡¯t say anything more about it. If brother Hong Yin wishes to increase the power of his soul items, then please find me. This is the only way I can think of ever repaying you with my skillset¡­¡± Bai Yunfei spoke in embarrassment.


    ¡°What are you saying? You speak as if your brother Hong Yin is just treating you as a way to help strengthen my soul items.¡± Hong Yin laughed. ¡°But still. When you enter the Crafting School, there¡¯ll be a day when you become a crafting artisan and there will be plenty of people looking to have you make a soul item for them. When the day comes for me to find you, you have to make me your first priority in making an exceptional soul item.¡±


    ¡°No problem! As long as I can do it, I will definitely make brother Hong Yin a one-of-a-kind soul item!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei took the bone fragment and thought for a moment before asking, ¡°Brother Hong Yin, I¡¯m still not that experienced in combat. With this sudden explosion of strength, I still need to be able to coordinate myself in an actual fight. For the next few days, could I trouble brother Hong Yin in exchanging blows with me and giving me pointers on fighting?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Why not here and now? Let me see just how familiar you¡¯ve become with your power as a middle Soul Sprite.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the following days, Bai Yunfei became at ease with himself, and focused completely on familiarizing himself with his strength with Hong Yin. He profited greatly from their sessions, and sometimes even You Qingfeng would come to be the one to fight him. As a result, Bai Yunfei¡¯s skill in combat improved by leaps and bounds with a tremendous amount of experience.


    In his spare time, Bai Yunfei would sometimes travel with Chu Yuhe. The girl knew that he would be leaving in a few days and was reluctant to see him go. He had to guarantee her many times that he would be back one day to find her in order to make her feel better.


    In these few days, Bai Yunfei had felt that he was getting by quite richly. It had been a fight for survival since he had stopped in Luoshi City, and now he could feel the warmth of having everyone as friends.


    Six days later outside the gates to Cuiliu City in the morning.


    Bai Yunfei was sent off by everyone. After leaving the extremely eventful Cuiliu City, he began to trek toward the Beiyan Province.


    Before he had left, You Qingfeng had given him a sealed letter and had told him he would be able to reach Gaoyi City after making his way through the Beiyan Province to the Pingchuan Province. In the city would be the Liu family which was an affiliated power of the Wood School. If Bai Yunfei needed any help at that time, he would be able to hand over the letter to the Li family.


    After walking several hundred meters, Bai Yunfei turned his head back to slowly look at everyone. Hong Yin, Chu Yuhe, Qiu Luliu, You Qingfeng, and Mu Wanqing¡­ in comparison to when he had stumbled and scrambled to escape from Luoshi City to his hurried exit from Baifeng City, leaving Cuiliu City with so many people sending him off unexpectedly brought forth a feeling, never-before felt, of reluctance to leave.


    Seeing everyone wave their hands, Bai Yunfei sucked in a deep breath and turned away resolutely. He gradually disappeared down the road.


    After several twists and turns, Bai Yunfei had finally stepped out of this ¡®trap¡¯ that had been his 18 years of life, and had finally stepped onto this unknown-filled ¡®path of freedom¡¯¡­


    With the Crafting School as his goal and the need to transverse through the Beiyan Province, what other wonderful stories will be told here?


    Whatever may happen on this unknown road, one would only know after walking it¡­.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C


    The first book has ended, but my heart still feels a little sorrow. I had originally planned on making the departure a little more detailed, but because I¡¯m not experienced with describing emotional moments, I couldn¡¯t accurately depict it. And so my brush has made its course. After an entire day, only 4000 characters had been written for this chapter. Even I¡¯m a little speechless, I had originally planned to release this yesterday, but it ended up being pushed to tomorrow. I will need to carefully plan the events in the second book, so I will need some time to think and tidy up my thoughts. I hope everyone can forgive me for this.


    And finally, thank you to everyone one of my readers that have supported me up to now. I hope in the future everyone will be satisfied with my story!

 Chapter 91: Just Arrived at Stonegroove City and the Space Ring is Already Stolen?!

    The Northern Cliff Province was on the very border of the Skysoul Empire. At this time in the eighth month of the year, the Northern Cliff Province had been in a very long drought. It was scorching the majority of the time and the entire earth baked.


    Stonegroove City was the provincial capital of the Northern Cliff Province. It was also the most flourishing area in the entire province. A single eye wouldn¡¯t be enough to see the entirety of this gigantic city standing on top of a mountain. The most particular part to this city was the surrounding parts of the city. There were countless of stones scattered everywhere in a dense blanket. Some lay high and some lay low, but these areas were like forests of stone. The entire Stonegroove City was ¡®guarded¡¯ by this stone forest.


    As the sun began to set, the scorching, hot weather dipped in temperature. On the southern road to Stonegroove City, a single white-robed figure wore a straw hat. He basked in the sunset¡¯s glow as headed leisurely toward the city.


    The youth raised his head up to the sky. With the shabby straw hat, hands that were completely out of sight, and short, simple hair, he was not very outstanding in looks. However, the firm and serious expression on his face gave any observer a feeling that he was trustworthy.


    This youth was Bai Yunfei. From Jade Willow City to now, he had almost always walked on the main roads the entire way without coming across any danger. So naturally he had been in no rush to travel and had felt the emotional rush of traveling for the very first time. Slowly, but not too slowly, he walked around and familiarized himself with the surrounding world. He had spent over a month traveling before he reached the provincial capital of the Northern Cliff Province.


    The reason why the word ¡®almost¡¯ was used was because twenty days ago, Bai Yunfei had taken a ¡°totally clear and impossible to be lost¡± path which had changed his direction. It had taken him half the day to realize that the road was not like what the map had said. Lost, he had found himself in a forest before Bai Yunfei had realized this was wrong. He figured he would be able to quickly make his way out, but the results¡­


    After an entire day of walking around, he had finally made his way out of the forest muddle-headed. It was by good fortune that he had discovered an inn near the forest. Although the fact there was an inn out in a place like that was strange, Bai Yunfei had thought nothing of it and chose to enter the inn to take a quick rest.


    He had in fact came across one of the ¡°Black Inns¡± spoken of in legends. It had been fortunate that the knockout drugs in the well Bai Yunfei had drunk from were not of a good quality. An ordinary person would be affected, but for Bai Yunfei, who was a middle Soul Sprite, it had only taken a circulation of his soulforce for him to flush out the drugs. Those evildoers, who had that wicked gleam in their eyes, had been beaten black and blue by Bai Yunfei, and were forced to scream for their fathers and cry for their mothers as they tried to run away.


    It was with noses full of snot and eyes filled with tears that they had sworn they only wanted riches and never harmed anyone¡¯s lives. Bai Yunfei had verified that they weren¡¯t lying before letting them go. If Bai Yunfei had a heart that detested criminals as much as his enemies, then he would have cremated them right where they stood.


    After making his way back to the main roads with difficulty, Bai Yunfei had decided that without the the direct guidance of another person, he would not travel down a minor road again.


    Afterward, Bai Yunfei had traveled as he pleased down the road. He had then finally arrived in the Northern Cliff Province after leaving Jade Willow City forty days ago.


    Looking ahead at the stone forest and the protected city above it, Bai Yunfei felt quite shocked. This was a sight he had never seen before. From just this majestic sight alone, Bai Yunfei felt a little elated, and the travel fatigue he had built up was alleviated a little bit as well.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already traveled halfway! I¡¯ll rest in this city for two days and continue my journey after. I bet that in not too long, I¡¯ll reach the Great Plains Province and then the Crafting School!¡± Bai Yunfei began to walk even faster toward the city.


    As he got closer to the stone forest, Bai Yunfei discovered that the distance between each pile of stones was quite far. Some of the stones were dozens of meters tall, some were about the height of a short person, and some were wide enough for several people to form a ring around them. There were some stones that were like rocky sticks jutting from the ground while others were buried deep into the ground. In either case, they did not seem to be in danger of collapsing any time soon.


    From the stone forest to the city gates, the path was completely straight. Walking past the stone formations felt like there were guards standing watch by the side. They gave the feeling of welcoming him.


    After entering the city, Bai Yunfei was greeted by a never seen before level of flourishment. In the past, he had thought that Jade Willow City was a magnificent city in terms of how much it flourished, but compared to Stonegroove City, Jade Willow City was like a beginner magician in front of a grand magus.


    In terms of the width of the streets, the streets of Stonegroove City were double that of Jade Willow City. Five or six carriages wouldn¡¯t even be enough to completely fill the city streets. Even at night, there were still plenty of people to be seen walking to and fro. Sometimes, there would even be a chariot that shuffled back and forth with a loud clamor.


    There were many buildings on both sides of the street that stretched for as far as the eye could see. Despite it not being completely dark out, all of the buildings had plenty of lanterns light. From far away, the interior of the buildings were even brighter than the outside.


    Bai Yunfei looked at a three story tall pavilion. On the top, there was a giant signboard labeled ¡°McBun¡± ¡ª clearly it specialized in selling steamed buns. The interior of the building was extremely busy¡ª business was very prosperous for them. The scent of a meat bun could be smelled from the outside, and those passing by couldn¡¯t help but twitch their noses at the aroma. Plenty of people who had just entered the city, hungry from their travels, would brighten at the sight of it and enter the building.


    Bai Yunfei felt hungry when he thought about it. Giving it a second thought, he figured this store was much better than the previous store he had been to, the ¡®Happy Bun Store¡¯, so he walked right in.


    After being escorted to the second floor by a waitress, Bai Yunfei was told they offered many different types of buns. With the waitress offering him the specialties of their store to him, Bai Yunfei ate like a king. In the end, he finally understood just why this store had so many customers. After buying these unique buns, anyone that ate them would be pleased.


    After demolishing ten of the buns on the table, Bai Yunfei took a sip of his tea in satisfaction. Picking at his teeth with a toothpick, he called for them to bring him the bill.


    Getting up, Bai Yunfei had already taken out several coins to give to the waitress. Turning around to walk down the stairs and out the building, the coin purse in his hand disappeared from sight.


    The happily full Bai Yunfei was not paying attention when he left the building. When he had taken out his coin purse from his space ring, a middle-aged man with matted hair and a rather ordinary appearance had been secretly watching him from the corner on the second floor. At the sight of the coin purse, his eyes had gleamed with excitement.


    When Bai Yunfei had walked down to the first floor, the man had stood up to pay his bill and followed Bai Yunfei closely. Even as a middle Soul Sprite, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t paying attention at all!


    The streets were still brightly lit since it was not that late, and plenty of people were walking to and fro. Bai Yunfei was in no rush to find an inn to sleep for the night. He decided to stroll around the city first to understand the basic layout of the city and buy a few things.


    After half an hour, Bai Yunfei had discovered that there were plenty of soul cultivators in this city!


    The unique and abundant soulforce of a soul cultivator would easily create a resonance with other cultivators. Even if he was unable to determine a soul cultivator¡¯s true strength, as long as the difference in strength wasn¡¯t too much, then a person would be able to tell that the other person was a soul cultivator.


    Bai Yunfei could see several rather arrogant looking soul cultivators that made no attempt to hide their power and subsequently intimidated the surrounding civilians into scurrying away from them lest they provoke them. These soul cultivators seemed to be used to it as well. They continued to walk and laugh like tyrants as if they were the only ones on the street.


    ¡°Can even a middle Soul Personage dare be so arrogant? Are they not afraid of angering any other soul cultivators? Perhaps¡­ they belong to some of the strongest factions in this city?¡± Bai Yunfei watched a single soul cultivator throw down someone who hadn¡¯t been able to move away in time with narrowed eyes. When he saw how those few who had been tossed to the ground bowed and scraped their heads in forgiveness, Bai Yunfei could only shake his head. Not caring enough to do anything, he turned around to continue down the road.


    Just as he turned around, a single figure had failed to move out of the way in time and crashed into him. While Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t budge an inch, the man let out a short cry and fell backwards.


    Startled, Bai Yunfei instinctively reached out a hand to grab the wrist of the other person. The other man had been startled as well, and grabbed onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand so that he was pulled up before falling to the ground.


    ¡°Hey! Just what¡¯s wrong with you ¡ª turning around so suddenly without caring where you are?¡± A rather frail-looking middle-aged man spoke unhappily while rubbing his right shoulder with his left arm.


    ¡°Oh, my apologies.¡± Not expecting to have the other person speak first, Bai Yunfei was stunned. Without arguing, he gave several words in apology before letting the middle-aged man walk away grumbling.


    Shaking his head lightly, Bai Yunfei paid him no more attention and continued walking. Before he could even take two steps, his eyebrows suddenly narrowed together in doubt.


    ¡°I feel something strange, is something wrong here?¡±


    Thinking for a moment, Bai Yunfei suddenly gasped. Lifting up his right hand, his eyes bulged in shock and his mouth dropped open in utter disbelief.


    On the ring finger of his right hand, the space ring on it had disappeared!!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 92: The Thief of the Space Ring

    Chapter 92: The Thief of the Space Ring


    Even as a middle Soul Sprite, he had his space ring stolen while he was wearing it on his hand!


    Bai Yunfei stared at his right hand in awe for two seconds before snapping out of it and whirling around.


    ¡°It was that guy just now! It had to be him that stole it!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed as he searched the crowd. ¡°But how? How was he able to take my space ring without me noticing it at all?! Besides, he¡¯s just an ordinary civilian! Just how¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes began to search through the several hundred meters of people, but he wasn¡¯t able to find the figure of the person who had bumped into him.


    After a fruitless search, Bai Yunfei felt amazed. Relaxing his eyes, Bai Yunfei suddenly thought of something and couldn¡¯t help but let out a faint chuckle, ¡°How did I forget? With that, as long as he doesn¡¯t exit Yanlin City, I¡¯ll be able to find him no matter where he hides!¡±


    ¡°Do you think that I am easy to bully after stealing my space ring?¡± Bai Yunfei scratched at his chin. ¡°But how did he know I had a space ring on my right hand? Was he following me for a long time? I didn¡¯t see him for a long time¡­.how was I so careless? Or does he have some sort of method of stealth to hide his presence?¡±


    ¡°First, I have to find him and take back my space ring before anything else.¡± Bai Yunfei determined. Without another thought, he immediately closed his eyes and began to sense for something while standing in the streets.


    If it had been any other soul cultivator, this would be a hard situation for them. However, for Bai Yunfei, finding the location of his space ring wouldn¡¯t be challenging at all. That was because he had his Firetipped Spear in his space ring still!


    Like Hong Yin had said, the Flameblade Bracer and the Firetipped Spear were Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®personalized soul items¡¯. There was a connection between him and the soul items, so Bai Yunfei would know of the existence of the Firetipped Spear even in the space ring!


    Several seconds later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew up and his mouth curled into a smile. Turning to an alleyway to his left, he began to run down it without hesitation.


    Although Bai Yunfei had taken it to be an alley, the width of the alleyway was quite wide in comparison to the streets. It was practically a shortcut to another street with plenty of people in the alleyways along with street stalls.


    Following his instincts down this path, Bai Yunfei walked at a brisk pace for a moment before suddenly starting to slow down. Staring at the people in front of him, there was now a suspicious look in his eyes.


    His eyes began to narrow as he studied the people in front of him for any discrepancies.


    After making his way out from the alley, Bai Yunfei seemed to have made a discovery. Without any hesitation, he quickly overtook and blocked the path of a person.


    ¡°Kid, what are you doing?¡± An elderly voice came out from the person Bai Yunfei had stopped. Afterward, he gave two short coughs in weakness ¡ª this was a 70 year old elderly man!


    Bai Yunfei studied the appearance of the man in front of him for a long time. No matter how much he looked at him, all he saw was an ordinary elderly man in front of him. His eyes were muddy, his waist was hunched, and his hands were behind his back in a very weak-looking manner.


    But¡­ Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glistened continuously; without a word, his right hand flew forward and grabbed the elder¡¯s shoulder!


    ¡°Kid, you ¡ª what are you doing?!¡± The elder was startled so much that his body was pushed back. Almost as if he were stumbling back, the elder looked like he would tumble to the ground any second.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes stared deeper. With a step, he used the Treading Wave Step to flash toward the elder. Right underneath the startled eyes of the others, Bai Yunfei grabbed onto the man¡¯s left wrist with his right hand and raised it up to his eyes.


    Hidden away in the sleeves of the elder, there was nothing to denote the ¡°elderly¡± wrinkles that came with age. Instead, there was the arm of a young man filled with energy. More importantly, right on the forefingers of the man was a black ring ¡ª this was the space ring of Bai Yunfei!


    Before the other man could respond, Bai Yunfei had taken back his space ring. Staring at the thunderstruck ¡®elder¡¯, Bai Yunfei spoke icily, ¡°Speak, why did you take my space ring? How did you manage to ¡®change¡¯ your appearances like that? Speak the truth, and I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even finished speaking before the eye¡¯s of the man in front of him suddenly changed. From a murky color to clear eyes filled with energy, the man snorted. Bai Yunfei could only feel a spot of emptiness as the other man¡¯s wrist suddenly turned small and escaped his grasp!


    The man¡¯s back and waist straightened afterward. There was no more of an elderly feel to him as his foot stomped on the ground and instantly flitted past Bai Yunfei toward another street.


    There was a strange light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. With a twist of his feet, he began to chase after the other man in close pursuit.


    Just as the man was about to charge into the alleyway past a crowd, a sudden gust of wind blew past the side of his head. It blew past him and then in front of him before an image quickly followed. Bai Yunfei blocked him once more and brought a fist to the man¡¯s chest!


    Helpless to do anything else, the man could only bring up both arms. With a bang, he was sent backward. Bai Yunfei had not used the Overlapping Wave Arts, otherwise he too would have been blown back as well.


    ¡°Tsk! How did I get so unlucky to have bothered such an annoying person?¡± The man¡¯s face grew serious with just a sliver of vexation in his face. Taking several steps back, he took a cautious stare at Bai Yunfei while an azure color qi began to move around him. No longer did he looked like an aged person, whether it was in appearance or movement, he was clearly a young man!


    ¡°Early Soul Sprite!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up in shock. ¡°There wasn¡¯t enough soulforce coming out of him earlier for me to even consider him out of the ordinary before. But now he¡¯s bringing out enough soulforce to be a Soul Sprite! Was he hiding his strength before? But¡­ how did he do that?¡±


    ¡°Kid, you¡¯ve already taken your item back, don¡¯t be a bully! Let me leave and we can pretend this didn¡¯t happen at all!¡± Just as Bai Yunfei was thinking, the other man had taken the opportunity to speak first. His voice was no longer old sounding. He had resumed the voice of a young man who had taken his space ring in the first place.


    Bai Yunfei had been taken aback before sneering, ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything wrong? You stole my item, how could you be so arrogant?¡±


    ¡°Then will you not let me go?¡± The man¡¯s glare hardened. With a cold snort, he brought his foot down and shot toward Bai Yunfei with the speed of wind, ¡°If you wish to fight, then let us fight!¡±


    ¡°Yi? Why are these words so familiar-sounding?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips twitched. He waited for his opponent to draw.close, he then took half a step back and brought his right hand up at the same time. A flash of red light could be seen before Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand grabbed it and slammed it forward.


    This was the long-awaited brick!!

 Chapter 93: Jing Mingfeng, sNo Discord, No Concords

    Chapter 93: Jing Mingfeng, ''No Discord, No Concord''


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    When that man¡¯s fist collided with the brick, Bai Yunfei was sent staggering back half a step while the other was sent even farther away with a stunned look. Bai Yunfei had done nothing but stand there instead of pursuing. He knew that the man had wanted to take advantage of the crowd to escape and so he stood guard at the alleyway entrance. If he wanted to escape the other way, then the man would have to run quite far. Bai Yunfei had full confidence that he could chase him if he did retreat the other way though. With both walls being extremely tall, Bai Yunfei would be able to stop him if the man tried to climb them.


    ¡°A br-brick??¡± The man shook his right hand as he looked at the item in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. He couldn¡¯t help but let out a light inhale. With a queer expression, the man¡¯s eyes looked at the brick in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand before immediately growing angry, ¡°Kid, what are you playing at? We are both soul cultivators, so show some face, won¡¯t you? Did you really want to have me captured and sent to prison? The city council is willing to accept the case of any one soul cultivator, do you think that? If you¡¯re going to disturb the lord mayor, then that won¡¯t do you any good. You¡¯ve taken back your space ring, so don¡¯t say you suffered any damages. Or do you mean to say you want to kill me to seal the deal!¡±


    ¡°If I wanted to kill you, you would already be spitting blood then.¡± Bai Yunfei stared the man down. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that a soul cultivator at the stage of a Soul Sprite would lower himself to stealing, I have learned a lot. I¡¯ll let you go, but you¡¯ll need to promise me one thing.¡±


    ¡°Say it!¡± Knowing that he was in dire straits, the man spoke with clenched teeth.


    There was a faint smile on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, ¡°I am quite interested in that transformation ability of yours. To be able conceal your soulforce to the level of a regular person is odd, but you are also capable of perfectly changing your facial appearances. Is that a soul skill? Hand over those two techniques, and I¡¯ll let you go.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The man¡¯s eyes grew wide as he stared at Bai Yunfei with an incredulous look. But then his wide open eyes began to grow furious. Then, his face began to twitch so much that his body began to shake. With a loathing glare at Bai Yunfei, the man snapped, ¡°You want the secrets of my family as well! You¡¯re just the same as the others¡­.people like you, you¡¯ve killed my entire family for them! I can¡¯t even be let off! Don¡¯t think that you¡¯ll gain anything from my body¡­.drop dead instead!¡±


    His eyes could nearly spit fire, and his words were nearly incoherent. His teeth gnashed against each other with a low growl escaping them before charging at Bai Yunfei as if he had gone mad!


    The azure light around his body began to quicken even faster than before. At the same time of his charge, his right hand gave a twist to allow for a black-colored dagger to appear in it. Charging at Bai Yunfei, he stabbed outwards!


    Bai Yunfei had been stunned. He didn¡¯t know that the enemy would suddenly become so berserk like that. However, when he saw the scarlet-red eyes of the man, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart had trembled for a moment. Those eyes--Bai Yunfei was all too familiar with it. Back when Li Chengfeng had nurtured a hatred for the mountain bandits, he too had a similar expression. This was a hatred that permeated the bones and all the way into the very soul!


    In his distraction, the dagger of his opponent had already drew close to him. Eyes flashing, Bai Yunfei took a step back and dodged the stab. He had not attacked back and instead took several steps to the left. But what he didn¡¯t expect was to see his enemy give up on his balance or even defenses. With a toss of the dagger, it felt into his left hand before relentlessly stabbing at Bai Yunfei¡¯s abdomen!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up, but his feet did not stop moving. While his body had slanted to the side like a tilting doll, the brick in his hand flew out to stop the enemy¡¯s left hand. Afterwards, he gave a single spin to slam the brick onto the other shoulder.


    ¡°Bang!¡± Following a slight sound, the person¡¯s body had suddenly been sent flying back without warning--this was the sign of the ¡°Hurtling¡± effect being activated.


    The man flew several meters away before coming to a tumble on the ground with a dazed expression. Bai Yunfei did not chase him and instead took the time to shout out, ¡°Hey! I say, don¡¯t you have the wrong person here? I only said a single phrase, and you reacted in such a huge manner?¡±


    Still dazed, the man raised his head up to look at Bai Yunfei. His eyebrows raised up as if his mind had been cleared. The look in his eyes had returned to normal as well. Finally, he let out a slight exhale and spoke quietly to himself, ¡°That was close, I lost control at a single phrase? It¡¯s lucky that he wasn¡¯t an actual enemy, or else¡­.No. I have to learn to suppress my hatred. Jing Mingfeng, when you become strong enough, you can¡¯t be as impulsive as this again¡­.¡±


    After recovering himself, Jing Mingfeng waved his hand to recollect his dagger. Looking at Bai Yunfei, he scratched his head in embarrassment. As if speaking to a good friend, he said, ¡°Well¡­.that was my bad. I lost control of myself. Little brother, my mind isn¡¯t all-too-clear at the moment. I¡¯ll go find myself a doctor. So, with that said, I won¡¯t disturb you anymore, goodbye then.¡±


    With that, he turned around to walk out from the other entrance of the alley as if all was right in the world.


    Bai Yunfei had been gobsmacked. His mouth twitched in confusion if he should laugh or cry before shouting out, ¡°Hey! Did you think you could get away that easily? You still owe me for trying to steal my space ring!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s foot stopped mid step. With an internal sigh to himself, he turned around helplessly. ¡°Then what do you think should happen?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean what I think should happen? I didn¡¯t think anything should happen, okay?¡± Bai Yunfei spoke. His voice had seemed relaxed, and for some reason, he suddenly didn¡¯t feel anymore hatred for this man. Instead, he had felt a feeling of camaraderie. There was even a notion of ¡®this man isn¡¯t bad¡¯ in his mind. Perhaps¡­.it was from that hate-filled stare earlier, or that barely suppressed amount of sorrow in his eyes¡­.


    Bai Yunfei looked at the dismayed Jing Mingfeng for a moment before suddenly breaking out into a strange smile. Feeling a chill in the back of his spine, Jing Mingfeng took a step back in warning, ¡°Wha-what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled as he weighed the brick in his hand. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that I had a special method to find you, then I would have lost my space ring to you. That would be rather disastrous to me. If I let you go just like this, then I won¡¯t feel at rest with myself. Let us fight for two more bouts!¡±


    Having said that, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even wait for the man to react before his figure flickered away into a mirror image. In the blink of an eye, he had already reached Jing Mingfeng¡¯s front and swung the brick down onto his chest.


    Jing Mingfeng had been greatly startled before hurriedly dodging to the side. But Bai Yunfei had predicted that Jing Mingfeng would dodge and twisted his hand to slam the brick into Jing Mingfeng¡¯s chest. The man had only stumbled backwards a bit; there was no damage, and nothing out of the ordinary.


    ¡°Hey! What are you doing! What kind of soul cultivator uses a brick to fight!¡± Jing Mingfeng took several hasty steps backwards while shouting at Bai Yunfei who had seemed to ignore him. Although his opponent was a soul cultivator who was extremely fast due to his wind property, Bai Yunfei was a level higher than him and had the Wave Treading Steps. There was nowhere to run but into the brick walls.


    ¡°I¡¯m saying you¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng lifted his hand to block the third attempt when all of a sudden he was sent flying once more. This had ceased his speech, but he had not flown far away because of the wall behind him¡­.


    Jing Mingfeng had stood up to dust himself off. There were no visible damages, but he had stared at the brick in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand in utter confusion--what in the world had happened just then?


    Bai Yunfei chuckled before charging forward once more.


    Because the battle between these two people had taken place in a rather isolated alleyway. All that could be heard were several bangs along with the indescribable grunting sound of a person.


    ¡­¡­


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s entire body was filled with dirt and grime from where he stood. Cut into a sorry position,his originally white wig had fallen off a long time ago and revealed the black hair underneath. With the original crease marks of an elder still on his forehead, he looked quite grotesque.


    Rolling like a donkey to avoid the next blow, he scrambled back with a shout, ¡°Hey! Enough¡¯s enough! I¡¯ve already been sent flying seven times for who knows why, I¡¯m going to get really angry if we repeat this again!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop as he looked at the brick in his hands with confusion, ¡°Oh? Seven times already? Well fine then¡­.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng let out a sigh in relief. Just as he was about to say something, Bai Yunfei had beaten him to the punch. ¡°Then one more round, gather up your luck!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡±Jing Mingfeng didn¡¯t even have time to let out a roar of grievance before the brick had slammed into his shoulder. Nothing. The brick slammed into his shoulder again--causing his face to grow dark once more as he realized it was too late to dodge¡­.and then he was sent flying away as if it was his wish.


    After tumbling and picking himself off the ground, Jing Mingfeng saw that Bai Yunfei had made no more attempt to chase him. Not willing to stay here any longer, Jing Mingfeng turned around from him to run--who knows whether or not this opponent would drag it out with another phrase of ¡°gather your luck¡±....


    ¡°Hey! Our debts are settled now, I won¡¯t hit you anymore. My name is Bai Yunfei, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    And then the smiling figure of Bai Yunfei could be heard shouting out from behind him. Jing Mingfeng had ceased in his moments for just a second. But instead of turning back, he redoubled his efforts to run out from the alley. As soon as he turned the corner, a sullen but furious roar could be heard from Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡°Our debts are settled my ass! Kid, I, Jing Mingfeng will remember this! I was humiliated by you today, but wait for me to get my revenge!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had started for a moment, his lips twitching in response, ¡°I only hit you a few times with a brick. It¡¯s not like you were injured or anything, how petty¡­.¡±


    -------------------------


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 94: Jing Mingfengs Action, Preparing to Retaliate?

    Chapter 94: Jing Mingfeng''s Action, Preparing to Retaliate?


    Bai Yunfei shrugged his shoulders without a care for the ¡®fighting words¡¯ of Jing Mingfeng. Turning around, he prepared to leave the alleyway.


    As soon as he put away the brick into his space ring, Bai Yunfei suddenly came to a stop. Looking at the space ring in his hand, he spoke with narrowed eyes, ¡°Crap, when I took the space ring, it had been worn on his hand! That means he already knows about the special effect of this space ring. If he manages to¡­.¡±


    Thinking about it a little longer, Bai Yunfei shook his head and muttered to himself, ¡°He gave off a similar vibe from that of Chengfeng. Plus, he lost control of himself from just a few words. He¡¯s most likely a man of bitter fate, with his clan all killed¡­..agh, does that mean to say he¡¯s all alone? With so many people trying to kill him for some sort of secret he holds¡­.isn¡¯t that situation the exact same as my own! Is that why I had such a good impression of him ater? But even if he does know about the unique property of this space ring, he won¡¯t be able to guess the reason, so it should be fine. In any case, if he¡¯s interested, he might be willing to settle for a deal¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned to look off at the direction Jing Mingfeng disappeared behind. Thinking heavily, his eyebrows had smoothened out before he walked out from the alleyway.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the other direction, Jing Mingfeng had made his way two streets over and carefully entered into one of the inns in the area. Renting a room, he walked in and closed the door with explicit orders to the waitress to not be disturbed.


    After changing out from his crumpled clothes, he took out a fresh new pair or azure robes. With a wave of his right hand for a mirror, he grimaced in pain as he looked at his own face in it. Then, he turned the mirror to focus onto his eyes and began to pay rapt attention as if trying to control something.


    Half a moment later, the crinkles on his face had began to wriggle and squirm in an odd fashion before disappearing from sight completely. His nose began to change in size and shape, his chin began to widen, and even his cheeks began to stretch. His mouth, eyebrows, forehead¡­.the entirety of his face had seemingly made a gradual transformation.


    Not even a minute later, the elderly man in the mirror had transformed into a kind-looking 20 year old youth!


    Taking a look at the scholarly face of reflection in the mirror, Jing Mingfeng gave a satisfied nod of his head before speaking to himself, ¡°Yea, that¡¯ll do. I¡¯ll use this one for the time being.¡±


    Collecting the mirror, he suddenly felt a little tired. Walking over to his bed, he laid on top of it and let out a long sigh before staring blankly at the ceiling.


    ¡°I thought that I had found a kid who was out in the world by himself to seek fortune, but who would have known that he was actually stronger and capable of finding me~!¡± Jing MInfeng thought back to his first encounter with Bai Yunfei with a thoughtful look. ¡°My ¡®Soul Concealment Art¡¯ and ¡®Face Change¡¯ technique are both perfect. Even a Soul Ancestor would be unable to detect it, how was he able to find me so fast?¡±


    ¡°Maybe...it¡¯s not a problem with me but¡­.the space ring?¡± Jing Minfeng¡¯s eyes began to glisten. ¡°It has to be. After he found me he immediately grabbed onto my left hand where it was. Clearly he was well aware of the exact location of the ring. How unlucky that I didn¡¯t have time to look inside the ring to see what it had. But still, that ring¡­.¡±


    Jing Minfeng¡¯s eyebrows crinkled together as if he was thinking of some sort of unsolvable question. ¡°When I wore the ring, there was a strange sensation, a sort of a strong sensation of power? If only I had some time to look at it, otherwise, I¡¯d know if I was wrong or not¡­.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s also that ineffable brick. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever seen a soul cultivator use a brick as a weapon. And clearly, that brick is not any ordinary one. It isn¡¯t a soul armament by any means, but it¡¯s at least half a soul item! I was sent flying by it so easily and there was even a dizzying sensation at one point¡­.maybe he used some sort of soul technique that can only be used with a brick? That¡¯s ridiculous, I¡¯ve heard all that I¡¯ve seen before, but am I really lacking in knowledge?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei...hmph! I¡¯ll remember this! You¡¯ve played me like a monkey, but sooner or later you¡¯ll know just how serious angering me is!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng growled angrily. He had not thought about how it was him that had first provoked Bai Yunfei and ended up having the space ring taken back and hit with a brick¡­.


    After resting for a spell, Jing Mingfeng exited from the room and left the inn to mix in with the hustling crowd of people. Even if he were to walk across Bai Yunfei right now, even he wouldn¡¯t be able to tell that this person was the very same one that had stolen his space ring.


    ¡­¡­


    Jing Mingfeng had pretended to walk up the street as if he was window-shopping for a book to read. He was now a scholar out on the road to recollect himself. In reality, his eyes were keenly looking all over the streets to seek out his next ¡®prey¡¯.


    ¡°Agh, although this is the most prosperous city in the Northern Cliff province with plenty of soul cultivators, why can¡¯t I meet one that''s wearing a space ring and can be stolen?¡± Jing Minfeng grumbled to himself while eyeing the crowd. ¡°If I come across another second generation showing off his treasure, that¡¯d be great. The space ring I got from the fourth master of the Chen family was by no means lacking in riches. I could swap them out for money and soul crystals later.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng took notice of two arrogant looking soul cultivators from the side with a disdain curl of his lips, ¡°Only idiots show off in front of the public. With how arrogant the soul cultivator world is, it¡¯s a wonder how it didn¡¯t die out yet.¡±


    ¡°Miss, it¡¯s getting late. Why don¡¯t we return to the inn and come back tomorrow to buy the rest of the items that are needed?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng had just walked past a clothing store when his ears had heard a middle-aged woman speak. He had heard someone else speak before his own eyebrows curled up in wonder, ¡°Soul cultivator! And a strong one at that!¡±


    Within the extremely spacious interior of the store, two figures could be seen standing by the counter. On the outside was a single strong-looking middle-aged woman with a tall stature at around the same height of Jing Mingfeng himself. She was most likely a wife who had grown accustomed to doing the heavy work back in her village, but Jing Mingfeng didn¡¯t dare underestimate her. When he had been looking for soul cultivators before, she had registered to be at least at the level of a Soul Sprite. She was currently putting away all her bags into the space ring on her hand while also simultaneously talking to the woman next to her.


    Having seen enough, Jing Mingfeng couldnt help but feel his eyes lighten up--white robes and beautiful hair that was like a waterfall. A snowy white face that had reflected the lights from the candles to create a flushed red color. Although it was only from the side, Jing Mingfeng could already determine this was a stunning woman.


    Stunned for a moment, Jing Mingfeng shook his head wildly before pretending to be a passerby walking down their way. As he drew close, the middle-aged woman seemed to have snapped over to watch him attentively with her guard up. But it had thankfully not activated and left Jing Mingfeng undetected.


    ¡°The men of the Jing family don¡¯t steal from the elderly, poor, women, or children. I¡¯ll find another way.¡± Jing Mingfeng thought to himself. Thinking inwardly to himself, Jing Mingfeng walked over to another area before coming to a sudden stop as if he had seen something to cause his eyes to twinkle nonstop.


    Several seconds later, a malicious smile overcame his face as he began to growl angrily, ¡°Bai Yunfei, I didn¡¯t think that there would be such a good time to take revenge on you so soon.I will let you know then, what it means to ¡®come unexpected and to cry without tears!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After several streets had been crossed, Bai Yunfei had found an ordinary-looking inn where he sat on his bed in a closed-shut manner.


    ¡°Just why am I feeling nervous? Why is it that I feel that something bad is about to happen?¡±


    Thinking for a bit, Bai Yunfei shook his head and thought to himself, ¡°It¡¯s just my imagination, I haven¡¯t provoked anyone at all yet¡­.¡±


    ¡°That Jing Mingfeng shouldn¡¯t be considered to be an enemy of mine I think.¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 95:

    Chapter 95: Taking Liberties With Women


    Jing Mingfeng looked left and right before looking down and sprinting his way over to the left side of a house. Pretending to lean against the building in weariness, he stared ahead with a calm expression.


    Lowering his head, both of his eyes closed like he was trying his hardest to remember something. Muttering to himself, he spoke, ¡°Thin, big forehead, chin¡­¡±


    As he recalled his memories and muttered to himself, the muscles on his face began to squirm. Ten seconds later, he opened his eyes and brought his head up. His facial appearance was completely different from before. He looked nearly 70-80% similar to Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Yeah, this is the best I can remember. Although it¡¯s not a perfect match, it¡¯s a good estimation. At least there won¡¯t be any problems this way.¡± Jing Mingfeng felt his face with a rather satisfied nod. Then, aside to himself he said, ¡°Plus, he has short hair, that saves me time.¡±


    Afterward, he revealed a devious smile with the strikingly similar face of Bai Yunfei. If Bai Yunfei were to look at him now, he would surely lay down a beating onto Jing Mingfeng. For this smile had truly been too vulgar.


    ¡°Oh, right. Now¡¯s not the time to be happy with myself.¡± Jing Mingfeng ceased his smile. He quickly began to walk up the road in the direction of the nearby fabric store.


    There was practically no one in the fabric shop. Standing on his tiptoes, Jing Mingfeng looked around the area before a look of glee suddenly appeared on his face. There were two figures several hundred meters who were just about to walk into an alleyway to his right.


    ¡°Ha, they¡¯re walking into an alleyway with little to no people, that saves me even more time.¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed darkly before quickly chasing after them.


    That particular street was not as busy as the others nearby. It was also getting quite late, and all of the vendor stalls on the side had already packed up for the night. There was only the sporadic light from the nearby buildings along with the moonlight to illuminate the streets clearly.


    ¡°Miss, why don¡¯t we stay in Yanlin City for a few days. It¡¯s already been two months since we left home, you haven¡¯t rested at all since then¡­¡± The middle-aged woman spoke to the young woman next to her with a loving and devoted expression.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need, aunty Zhao. Do you think a late Soul Warrior leveled person like me won¡¯t be able to take a little exhaustion?¡± The girl turned around with a smile. She brought up her left hand to push a few strands of hair hanging in front of her face to behind her ear. Her skin was as fair as jade with eyebrows bent like willow leaves. The light in her eyes was even brighter than the night sky above her, and when she looked up to admire the starry ceiling, her eyes seemed to glisten along with each individual star. ¡°Besides, we¡¯ve already stayed here for two whole days. I know you want me to rest a little longer, that¡¯s why we didn¡¯t buy anything today. I feel that we¡¯ve stayed here long enough. We¡¯ll buy the remainder of what we need and then hurry up on our way¡­¡±


    ¡°And¡­¡± The girl looked back to stare down the end of the street. Slowly, she spoke, ¡°The faster we get to that place, the sooner you¡¯ll be able to go home and look after mother.¡±


    The aunt¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together before she sighed, ¡°Miss, actually you¡­¡±


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, I know what you¡¯re going to say, there¡¯s no need to console me.¡± The girl shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve endured eighteen years before finally making my way out from that birdcage of a household. I just want to do as I wish. As long as I have enough strength, then I¡¯ll be able to break my mother away from the chains they put on her¡­ the ones who took mother, in my personal opinion, I don¡¯t really care. But still¡­ they had added to the suffering of my mother. There¡¯ll be a day where I¡¯ll definitely return the favor in place of my mother tenfold ¡ª no ¡ª a hundredfold!¡±


    By the end of her words, the girl¡¯s face had begun to grow brighter and brighter with fury as well as a hint of helpless sorrow appeared¡­


    Aunt Zhao¡¯s eyes revealed a sliver of pain as well. Seeing the depressed little girl, her eyes reflected her own suffering. Just as she was about to speak, her eyes suddenly flew to the side and shouted angrily, ¡°Youngster, what do you want?!¡±


    As soon as she spoke, a furious burst of energy could be felt as an orange ring of light flew toward them. A single right hand flew out and grabbed onto the little girl¡¯s butt with a lecherous claw.


    The aunt¡¯s reaction had been quick, but the owner of that hand had predicted such a response. With a rapid twist of his wrist, the hand had flown up after grabbing the seam of the girl¡¯s clothes.


    ¡°Tzzkk!¡± A ripping sound could be heard as a palm-sized hole began to appear in the girl¡¯s clothes. It had been fortunate that the young woman¡¯s reaction wasn¡¯t slow. With a hurried grab at the top part of her clothes, she had prevented it from being ripped any further.


    The aunt had been furious and shocked. It was not that she had not realized someone was nearby. She had indeed realized someone was there, but it was clearly the presence of a regular person whose footsteps suggested they were trying to rush home, so she did not pay him any attention. What she didn¡¯t imagine was that that person would suddenly commit an action like this. If she had not reacted as quick as she did, she feared that her distracted mind would have allowed her young charge to be molested even more.


    With his sneak attack a failure, the figure gave off another burst of soulforce to propel him five to six meters away to face them ¡ª it was Bai Yunfei! Oh, that¡¯s not right. It was actually Jing Mingfeng who was pretending to be Bai Yunfei.


    Jing Mingfeng looked at the young woman in front before glancing at the infuriated older woman. His eyes moved back to the little woman who had only just realized the situation. His eyes swiveled to the cloth in his hand. With a vulgar smile, he gave the fragment of cloth a good sniff as if intoxicated and laughed darkly, ¡°What a charming girl, even her clothes are oh so sweet. Hehe¡­ young master has really good luck with ladies. Pretty lady, allow this young master to look after you. Come with me and I¡¯ll love you nice and well, hehe¡­¡±


    The girl stared blankly at him as if at a loss for words. It was most likely that she had never come across such a situation like this before. Jing Mingfeng giving her clothes a sniff was so rude that the woman¡¯s eyebrows had frozen in place while her face grew red. Her eyes reflected with anger and her entire body had begun to tremble.


    ¡°Kid, I forbid you to treat the young miss so rudely!!¡± The aunt¡¯s reaction was much faster. Her foot slammed against the ground before Jing Mingfeng had even finished speaking, causing the stone ground to crater underneath her. With a hop into the air, she flew several meters forward with her right leg ready to smash Jing Mingfeng¡¯s chest.


    ¡°I¡¯m going, there¡¯s no need to be so rough!¡± Jing Mingfeng let out a strangled shout. With his right foot tapping against the ground, he slid to the side with difficulty and narrowly dodged the leg strike.


    ¡°Boom!¡± An explosion rang through the air as a gust of dirt and wind blew in every direction. Jing Mingfeng shut his eyes tight and quickly flew back several steps. The aunty¡¯s foot had left a crater about a meter wide and a third of a meter deep where he used to be standing!


    ¡°Phew, how dangerous. She¡¯s an earth property user, what power she has! It¡¯s a good thing I¡¯m fast enough¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng wiped away the sweat on his forehead while he secretly rejoiced to himself.


    When she saw that her move had missed, the aunty did not feel shocked or even stopped moving. Instead, the fury in her face increased even more along with the depth of the crater as she kicked off of it toward Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡°You¡¯re still coming?!¡± Jing Mingfeng shouted as he dodged the incoming fist, ¡°Aunty, you¡¯re too savage! You¡¯re going to kill me this way!¡±


    ¡°You depraved scoundrel! After violating the young miss, if I don¡¯t kill you here and now, I¡¯ll at least snap one of your arms!¡± The aunt vented while sweeping at Jing Mingfeng¡¯s feet with her own, but Jing Mingfeng just nimbly leaped over it.


    Jing Mingfeng yelled again and again as he leaped and dodged the aunt¡¯s assault. Although the aunt was a middle Soul Sprite, her strong attacks were no use against the speed of Jing Mingfeng. Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t attacking back either and was completely focused on dodging. More importantly, he was trying his best to find an opportunity to charge at the young woman behind the aunt. At every opportunity, the aunt vigilantly blocked him from doing so. After ten bouts, she failed to land a single strike on him.


    While he spent his time dodging, he would always find the time to tease and poke fun at the girl with crude words and very vulgar phrases. The words were enough to cause the girl¡¯s face to grow very red with anger. There had been many times where she was extremely tempted to charge in with her aunt to help teach this wretched man a lesson in manners.


    Dodging an explosion that had rocked the area in front of him, Jing Mingfeng suddenly let loose a strange laugh, ¡°Watch this!¡±

 Chapter 96: Entrapment by Jing Mingfeng and the Incoming Ridiculously Absurd Disaster

    Chapter 96: Entrapment by Jing Mingfeng and the Incoming Ridiculously Absurd Disaster


    Dodging an explosion that had rocked the area in front of him, Jing Mingfeng suddenly let loose a strange laugh, ¡°Watch this!¡±


    With a swishing sound from his arms, both of Jin Mingfeng¡¯s hands turned into claws. Then, disregarding the fact that the aunt could strike at him, he lashed out ¡ª and grabbed the aunt¡¯s bosom¡­.


    Aunt Zhao was dumbfounded and speechless ¡ª this was a battle between soul cultivators! What type of soul cultivator would fight by grabbing the breasts of another? This was the underhanded tactics one might expect from a vulgar scoundrel!


    Almost instinctively, aunt Zhao gave up her assault in favor to protect her chests with her hands.


    Jing Mingfeng laughed darkly as he brought his right leg down. With a stamp and a step to the left, he gave up attacking her to go for the young woman several meters away.


    ¡°Hey there pretty girl, smile! Master Bai has a reward for you!¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed before reaching out to feel her cheek.


    The young woman¡¯s face became even more red before she swung her head to dodge Jing Mingfeng¡¯s lecherous hands. At the same time, her eyes frosted over as her right leg flew up to ruthlessly kick at Jing Mingfeng¡¯s crotch.


    ¡°Oh dang!¡± Jing Mingfeng cried out before bringing his left hand to block the leg from reaching his crotch. Scuttling to the side, he dodged a slap aimed at his face to two meters away where he spoke with some lingering fear, ¡°I didn¡¯t think that compared to that aunty, you¡¯d be even more ferocious! I nearly lost my family jewels because of you!¡±


    As he spoke, Jing Mingfeng suddenly felt a gust of wind assault the back of his head. It was a warning that aunt Zhao was coming up to attack him.


    Aunt Zhao¡¯s face was flush red with indignation. She never would have imagined that her opponent would be so shameless, or that she had almost been so careless to allow this depraved knave to nearly come into contact with the young miss again. At this current moment, she wanted nothing more than to tear this man limb from limb before tearing up his mouth, for her anger to fully dissipate.


    Jing Mingfeng nimbly dodged to the side and moved back in the young woman¡¯s direction again. With a lecherous voice, he shouted out, ¡°Hey lady, here I come againnnn!¡±


    Alarmed, aunt Zhao hurriedly moved to block him.


    ¡°Haha, got you!¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes flashed brilliantly. His right hand that moved at the speed of lightning as it latched onto the lapel under aunt Zhao¡¯s neck while his left hand simultaneously moved to block her. In her fury, aunt Zhao slammed a fist into his obstructing body parts.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Following a single muffled sound, Jing Mingfeng had finally been struck for the very first time and sent flying away. However, he had been prepared for this, and used this backward momentum to somersault through the air and land forcibly on the ground. Clenching his teeth as he shook his left hand, Jing Mingfeng let out a groan in pain. But in his right hand, there was unexpectedly some sort of orange substance. Was this¡­was this the clothes that the aunt had been wearing?!


    Looking again at aunt Zhao, she stood there instead of trying to assault him. Her arms were crossed against her quivering bosoms and her entire face was a dark-purple hue in indignation as she gave Jing Mingfeng a death glare.


    Jing Mingfeng had¡­ he had somehow managed to steal the underwear she had been wearing!


    The young woman could clearly see the offending piece of garment in Jing Mingfeng¡¯s hand with wide open eyes. Her tiny mouth dropped open in utter disbelief at Jing Mingfeng¡¯s action.


    Jing Mingfeng smiled in satisfaction. He had originally wanted to bring up the article of clothing to his nose to smell since he was pretending to be Bai Yunfei. The more vulgar he acted, the better. But when he saw how furious the woman was in front of him, the corners of his lips had twitched in indecision before finally deciding to not do such a wretched action.


    ¡°Pe¡­ perverted thief! I¡¯ll kill you!!¡± Aunt Zhao¡¯s entire body shook with fury. With a shake of her right hand, a one-and-one-third meter sword appeared for her to grab. There was an orange light to it as it emitted the crisp whistling sound of a sword traveling through the air. With a swing, the tip of the sword made a gap in the ground about a third of a meter deep.


    In a burst of strength from aunt Zhao, her right leg stamped down onto the ground so hard a crater had been left behind. Dozens of meters had instantly been shortened as she charged toward Jing Mingfeng with eyes that were shining with a furious desire to kill.


    ¡°Holy shit, I took this joke way too far! Time to withdraw!¡± As an earth-shattering amount of power began to engulf the area, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face began to change. Unable to think of any other solution to escape, Jing Mingfeng could only use his soulforce to reinforce his legs and make himself even faster than before. Like a wild dog that had just broken free from its chains, Jing Mingfeng flew to the right side entrance of the street.


    ¡°Lady, this servant of yours is far too violent! She¡¯s adamant in stopping us from being together, so I¡¯ll split first. I¡¯m sure fate will ensure that we will see each other again in the future. Until then, don¡¯t you forget this handsome me!¡± Jing Mingfeng did not forget to let out a final remark as he desperately tried to run.


    The aunt chased after him in hot pursuit. However, she had to restrain herself from attacking despite her fury when she saw that he was planning to escape onto a street with plenty of people. If one of her sword strikes were to fly out, there was a good chance a commoner would be injured.


    Jing Mingfeng had naturally thought about that as well so when he made it out onto the streets he cried out loud, ¡°Help! There¡¯s a murderer, run away!!¡±


    His voice caused the entire street to stop in a daze. Taking advantage of the confusion, Jing Mingfeng bent over and quickly scampered into the crowd.


    Arriving at the street entrance, aunt Zhao stopped with an angry reluctance. Staring at the crowd in front of her, she let out a groan and began to restrain her anger so that she could spread out her soulforce and find the soulforce of Jing Mingfeng. Half a moment later, her eyebrows flew up in shock. Confused, she spoke, ¡°He¡¯s gone? But how? I can¡¯t even detect any presence of him left¡­¡±


    ¡°Aunt Zhao, are you okay¡­.¡±


    Aunt Zhao was startled to hear the voice of her young charge behind her. Whirling around to look at the young woman, she took in several deep breaths to pacify her own indignation. Putting away the sword, she gave a small smile to the young woman and shook her head, ¡°I¡¯m fine, but that wretched man somehow used some sort of method to hide his soulforce. He¡¯s gone.¡±


    The young woman was surprised. Staring at the throng of people who had already went back to normal, she questioned, ¡°That man¡­ how strange was he! Just how could there¡­ be such a shameless soul cultivator like him¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmph! That shameless pervert. Not only did he treat the young miss rudely, he actually¡­ he actually¡­¡± Aunt Zhao¡¯s face began to distort with resentment again as her arms unconsciously covered her own chest. Furious, she declared, ¡°If he and I ever meet again, I will definitely cut off both of his hands! Then I¡¯ll tear apart that foul mouth of his!¡±


    ¡°Yes aunty. Let¡¯s not get mad. Let¡¯s return to our inn. If he ever appears again, you¡¯ll have to beat a lesson into him¡­¡±


    As the two women walked down the road toward the inn, aunt Zhao could be heard continuously cursing the name of that ¡®depraved knave¡¯ over and over while the young woman whispered several words of comfort.


    Unbeknown to the two, following quietly behind them a hundred meters was a man with an extremely prominent beard. Walking with the two until they got to their inn, the man looked at it for a moment before turning around.


    The man walked off to another inn not too far away and booked a room for the night. Within the closed doors of his room, he sat by the table and poured himself a cup of tea to drink. With eyes that flashed incessantly, he began to ponder to himself.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t reveal my own soulforce and even managed to use the Soul Concealment Art to mix it up a bit, so they should think I was trying to hide my strength. Haha¡­ this way the blame will be perfectly pinned on someone else¡­¡±


    The corners of his lips turned up in a sinister smile. With a shake of his right hand, an orange piece of cloth from a woman appeared. In this moment of thought, the smile on his face grew even more vulgar.


    ¡°Hehe, Bai Yunfei, this is the price of angering Jing Mingfeng¡­ let¡¯s see how long it¡¯ll take for me to break you!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    From the inside of an inn on the eastern streets, Bai Yunfei suddenly felt a chill run up his spine while meditating. It caused him to be shaken back to awareness.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on tonight? Why am I so uneasy? I feel like my heart¡¯s going to leap out at any second¡­¡±


    ¡°Is this because of all the traveling I¡¯ve done? Forget it, I¡¯m done cultivating for tonight. Let me get a good night¡¯s sleep¡­¡±

 Chapter 97: superiors Equipmen

    Chapter 97: ''Superior'' Equipment


    On the afternoon of the second day, Bai Yunfei was strolling around Yanlin City as he pleased.


    Bai Yunfei could only slowly walk around the surrounding streets to his inn at a very slow pace since Yanlin City was so massive. In any case, he had already planned on staying here for a few more days before moving to another area.


    Within one of the more luxurious looking jewelry stores, Bai Yunfei had been picking out several ¡®High-tier¡¯ accessories. But then he realized that he didn¡¯t have much money.


    ¡°Boss, I want to buy some weapons, would it be possible for you to tell me where to go to buy them?¡± Bai Yunfei dropped a bag of gold coins for the shopkeeper while putting away the accessories he bought into his space ring.


    Taking the gold coins, the shopkeeper displayed a respectful look on his face. Not only was Bai Yunfei a client, he was more importantly a strong soul cultivator. With a nod of his head, the shopkeeper answered deferentially, ¡°Why yes, if we are talking about a top-notch weapons store, then there is the ¡®Hundred Armaments¡¯ store not too far away. Master soul cultivator, do you wish to purchase a weapon for yourself? That place will serve you well. It is the store of the number one family in Yanlin City, the house of Jiang. The weapons in there are strong without a doubt, and they sell even soul armaments.¡±


    ¡°Oh? There¡¯s even soul armaments there?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows rose up in surprise.


    ¡°Correct. I¡¯ve heard that the house of Jiang has some connections with the Crafting School. The reason why they have amassed so many soul armaments is because of the Crafting School¡­¡±


    ¡°The Crafting School!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart trembled as he began to grow even more interested in the store. ¡°That ¡®Hundred Armaments¡¯, where is it?¡±


    ¡°Take a left from here, and then five hundred meters ahead, there¡¯ll be a crossroad¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Ten minutes later, Bai Yunfei arrived at the ¡®Hundred Armaments¡¯ the shopkeeper had told him about.


    A single two-story building with entrance gates ten meters wide and red roof tiles gave off an imposing manner. It was especially imposing with the signboard ¡®Hundred Armaments¡¯ on top of the building with an austere aura as if it had been carved with a sword.


    When Bai Yunfei walked into the store, he realized that the interior of it was far bigger than he had initially thought. The interior was practically several hundred cubic meters large, and rows and rows of racks could be seen with weaponry positioned on them. The chill and gleam from the blades was very noticeable and forbidding.


    Despite such a large store, there were only a scant few people inside browsing the choice of weapons inside. On the side were plenty of uniformed employees. When Bai Yunfei took a glance, he could see that aside from a group of people following a young lord, everyone else were all soul cultivators.


    ¡°My lord, welcome to the Hundred Armaments. What might you need my assistance for?¡± The moment Bai Yunfei walked into the store, the receptionist had taken notice of him. The receptionist did not feel any contempt when he saw the ordinary clothes Bai Yunfei wore. Instead, the receptionist made quick a judgement that this person was also a decent soul cultivator when he saw how Bai Yunfei had taken a cautionary glance around the place and had an aura that was quite powerful.


    Looking back, Bai Yunfei took a look at the shopkeeper. Although he could not make an accurate judgement, he was at least sure that this one was a Soul Warrior at the very least.


    ¡°Is this the power of a major household? If a Soul Warrior is just a small shopkeeper¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei was shocked for a moment. ¡°I wish to take a look around, is there anything I need to know?¡±


    ¡°Very well, just please take your time.¡± The shopkeeper smiled. With a wave to another employee, he had them follow Bai Yunfei should he ever need their assistance.


    Bai Yunfei walked to the left side of the weapons rack and glanced around before picking up a meter long broadsword.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Attack: 157


    Upgrade Requirement: 51 Soulpoints


    ¡°Superior-tier!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled, ¡°The attack is 157¡­.this must be one of those ¡®incomplete soul armaments¡¯ that brother Hong Yin spoke about before. The ones that lie in between a regular item and a soul armaments.¡±


    After careful consideration, Bai Yunfei put down the broadsword and picked up another meter long whip sword.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Attack: 143


    Upgrade Requirement: 49 Soulpoints


    Following another moment of deliberation, Bai Yunfei continued to pick up another black broad axe¡­.


    After a while, Bai Yunfei practically picked up dozens of weapons. Without exception, each one of these items were of the superior-tier.


    ¡°How great the house of Jiang is. Of all the minor cities I came across on the way here, ¡®High-tier¡¯ was the highest quality any equipment could go. But in this store, practically everything is of the ¡®Superior-tier¡¯!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glistened. Pondering, he finally grabbed a dagger and turned to the employee that had respectfully waiting for him by the side, ¡°How much for this dagger?¡±


    ¡°My lord, every piece of weaponry in the first story of this store is a hundred gold per item.¡±


    ¡°A hundred!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows had nearly rosen into the air in minute shock. ¡°A hundred gold coins is enough to feed an entire family of commoners for an entire lifetime. Are incomplete soul armaments really worth that much?¡±


    He unconsciously rubbed the hand he wore his Space Ring on. In the past, he had exploded plenty of +8 and +9 ¡®High-tier¡¯ equipment, but today, who knew just how many were left.


    Then, Bai Yunfei put down the dagger in his hand and returned to the counter.


    When the shopkeeper saw Bai Yunfei return empty-handed, the man asked with confusion, ¡°Yes? Did my lord not find a suitable item?¡±


    Bai Yunfei approached the counter and asked, ¡°Would your store happen to buy items as well as sell them?¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The shopkeeper was taken back for a moment before realizing something. Looking at Bai Yunfei, he asked, ¡°Did my lord come to sell a soul armaments? This store primarily sells the weapons from the Crafting School, but there are times where we will accept the items our customers might not be able to use. However, whether or not we purchase these weapons is based on their quality¡­¡±


    With a faint smile, Bai Yunfei shook his hand and brought out a +9 ¡®High-tier¡¯ dagger, ¡°Would you like to look at this dagger?¡±


    Taking the dagger into his hands, the shopkeeper began to inspect it before giving a few experimental swipes at a testing rock. Surprised, the shopkeeper turned to Bai Yunfei, ¡°This is an incomplete soul armament with average strength, is my lord adamant on selling this?¡±


    ¡°Yes, are you willing to buy it?¡±


    The shopkeeper went silent to think for a moment before smiling, ¡°My lord is quite strong. If you truly wish to sell this item, then that must mean you are currently low on funds. With such a strong soul cultivator like you, this store would be very pleased to become friends with you. How about this, we¡¯ll buy this dagger for ninety gold coins, is that satisfactory?¡±


    Thinking for a moment, Bai Yunfei asked again, ¡°I have another deal to discuss, would you be willing to hear it?¡±


    ¡°Oh? If my lord would please continue.¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his right hand over the counter, causing fourteen items to fall onto the counter with a clattering sound. More than a half of them were daggers.


    ¡°These are all equipment roughly on par with the incomplete soul armaments. I¡¯ll sell two daggers and exchange the other dozen for the daggers in this store, would that be possible?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions, at that moment, had knocked the shopkeeper into a daze. Looking at the dozen weapons on the counter, he had remained in that daze for another few seconds before suddenly waking back up. Taking one of them into his hands to inspect it, the shopkeeper thought for a second before asking, ¡°Is my lord serious? You¡¯ve originally had all these daggers, and yet you still wish to trade them in?¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Of course I am serious, or should I start to joke around instead?¡±


    The eyebrows of the shopkeeper furrowed together as he observed Bai Yunfei before suddenly widening in realization, ¡°To be able to take so many incomplete soul armaments at once¡­ is my lord from the Crafting School?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised, but then with a gleam of his eyes, Bai Yunfei then laughed. Without answering the shopkeeper¡¯s question, he spoke, ¡°What, is this proposal of mine not satisfactory? Perhaps I should not buy the daggers for now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no no, my lord¡¯s proposal is something this store can agree to. Allow me to make the arrangements.¡± The shopkeeper thought that Bai Yunfei did not want to reveal his own identity, so he did not ask any more questions. After instructing the employees to the side, Bai Yunfei was quickly given a bag of gold and ten daggers while the fourteen other daggers were taken away by the employees.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Attack: 163


    Upgrade Requirement: 52 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei took a good look at the daggers properties with a satisfied nod before putting the ten daggers and the money into his space ring.


    ¡°My lord, the second floor to this store still has soul armaments for sale. Would you be interested in taking a look? Perhaps you will find a soul armaments that is to your satisfaction. Naturally, the price of a soul armament is far more expensive, but this store will also take other soul armaments, primal stones, or soul crystals as payment¡­¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 98: Whats Going On?

    Chapter 98: What''s Going On?


    Primal stones were crystallized stones that contained the elements of the world and would only form after countless of years of condensation in a certain location. After enough of the energy was condensed, it would be categorized into three different grades; the highest quality ones were known as primal stones. Soul cultivators could extract the energy from the primal stones to increase their strength, so these primal stones were extremely precious. If a commoner had wished to buy one, then even the most rudimentary of primal stones would cost thousands of gold, if not tens of thousands for one.


    Soul crystals referred to the ¡®nucleus¡¯ of a soulbeast. Every soulbeast would have a soul crystal within them, even if they were the lowest of the low. It was the location where all cultivation would take place in and was practically the second heart of a soulbeast. This was similar in function to the essence seed of a soul cultivator. A soul crystal contained the elements of the world, and the stronger a soulbeast was, the more pure the energy within their soul crystal would be.


    No one knew just when it had started, but when a single soul cultivator had hunted and extracted the elements within the soul crystal to increase their own strength, many more soul cultivators had begun to hunt these soulbeasts and sell the soul crystals. It was also for this reason that the divide between soul cultivator and soulbeast had widened. Combined with the Beast Taming School, all of the stronger soulbeasts of Soulbeast Forest had rejected any soul cultivator. For any soul cultivator that came into the forest to hunt for soul crystals, they would die a brutal death if they came across a strong enough soulbeast. Even the soul cultivators that came into the forest to find a soulbeast as a companion would often times be attacked.


    And so the Soulbeast Forest had gradually become a terrifying place. For those without enough strength or a reliable enough partner, very few would dare venture into this place.


    Primal stones and soul crystals were common currency in the world of soul cultivators. In the beginning, Hong Yin had gave Bai Yunfei several fire primal stones, but those were used up to increase Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce.


    Bai Yunfei had only taken a second of consideration to decline the ¡®benevolent invitation¡¯ of the shopkeeper. Bai Yunfei figured that he would only a helpless window shopper up there, and he was very unwilling to trade in his soul armaments for the ones up there, so he had naturally decided not to go up.


    And so despite the friendly urging of the shopkeeper, Bai Yunfei decided to leave the shop and head out the streets.


    ¡°So this means that¡­.the Upgrade Skill is definitely connected to the level of the equipment itself¡ªnormal, high, superior, attack power and even defensive power, if they are below a hundred, then it is classified as what any regular person can create, or a regular item in short. Anything from a hundred to two hundred is considered stronger than a regular piece of equipment but crossed over the soul armamentboundary and is classified as an ¡®incomplete soul armament¡¯. Two hundred up and up, those are considered soul armaments¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind raced at a rapid speed as he thought to himself.


    With his money problem solved and ten newly acquired ¡®top-notch¡¯ daggers, Bai Yunfei was highly satisfied with the profits of this afternoon. After strolling around for some time, he had decided to head into a teahouse to listen to the folk stories for half an hour. But when he listened to the strange anecdotes of the continent, Bai Yunfei simply had no idea whether they were true or not.


    But this had made Bai Yunfei think for a moment. He simply did not know much about the ¡°Skysoul Empire¡±, even the history of the entire empire had only been superficial and limited to only what his uncle had told him in passing.


    And so he walked to a bookstore and purchased several books that contained information on the entire continent so he could better understand it.


    ¡­¡­


    But what the constantly vigilant Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t noticed was that in another corner of the street, a frail-looking bearded man could be seen following him¡­.


    That man had been two hundred meters behind Bai Yunfei with a demonic-looking smile. His body was slightly bent forwards as he hid himself within the group of people. Staring from a decent distance, his eyes flashed continuously as if he was hatching a plan.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finally found you after an entire afternoon¡­.haha, I should have you two meet ¡®again¡¯ next then¡­.¡±


    This person had clearly been that Jing Mingfeng. For the sake of ¡®punishing¡¯ Bai Yunfei early, he had to wake up early to find him so that his two targets wouldn¡¯t leave the city and ruin his plan altogether.


    Bai Yunfei simply didn¡¯t have the skill to perfectly conceal his soulforce, so after an entire afternoon, Jing Mingfeng had finally found him. Then covering up his own presence, Jing Mingfeng began to follow him.


    After following Bai Yunfei for another hour, Jing Mingfeng had been trying to find a way to have the two parties meet without compromising his own position when all of a sudden his face went blank. Looking ahead of Bai Yunfei, Jing Mingfeng smiled in joy, ¡°Ha, who would have thought that when all hope was lost, you¡¯d walk there yourself, that makes things easier.¡±


    ¡°Who knows if I¡¯ll even have to make a move myself, he¡¯s already¡­..¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes wandered to the end of the street when all of a sudden, his mouth had dropped wide open in amazement as if he had seen something unbelievable.


    After several seconds, he had regained his spirit. There was an eccentric look in his eyes as he looked at Bai Yunfei walking back and forth between stalls with interest as if he was a toy. Jing Mingfeng¡¯s lips curled upwards as if he was taking in joy from Bai Yunfei¡¯s incoming disaster. ¡°Haha, maybe my luck is too good today? You¡¯re really too unlucky, don¡¯t tell me you two were actually ¡®destined¡¯ to meet? But if there¡¯s one thing I¡¯m sure of, it¡¯s that I¡¯ll have something great to watch. That and, you¡¯re absolutely f*cked...haha!¡±


    Just a hundred meters away from the other side of the road, the little girl and her female servant that Jing Mingfeng had ¡®played with¡¯ with Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance were slowly walking towards Bai Yunfei. It would only take another hundred or so meters for the two to meet.


    ¡°Hehe, for an even bigger insurance, I¡¯ll send you this ¡®proof¡¯!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Handing over a ring of copper coins to the vendor of a stall, Bai Yunfei stood up with a palm-sized wooden bird in his hands and prepared himself to walk away.


    Not even two steps later, there had been a blur right in front of his eyes as a single person had slammed into his chest. The feeling of something being stuffed in his left hand could be felt, but before he could react to what had happened, the person who hit him had disappeared. In practically two steps, the figure had quickly blended back into the crowd behind Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°This feeling, it¡¯s somewhat similar¡­crap!¡± Bai Yunfei had instantly snapped out from his daze and hurriedly looked at his right hand.


    The space ring was still adorned on his finger, allowing Bai Yunfei to sigh in relief. Shifting his eyes, he could see that something had been stuffed in the left hand.


    ¡°Cloth? Or is this a handkerchief?¡± Bai Yunfei looked at the material in his hand with a confused look. But just as he was getting a close look at it, there was suddenly a furious roar to be heard.


    ¡°Pervert, you still dare show yourself!!¡±


    The entire street had been startled by this loud shout, even Bai Yunfei had nearly leapt out of his skin and dropped the cloth in his hands. His entire body felt goosebumps over it as he felt a tremendous ¡®killing intent¡¯ fill the air around him. Looking up, he could see ten meters away a single burly middle-aged woman gnashing her teeth in indignation. By her side was a white-robed young woman with skin as pale as snow; her face equally angry as she glared at him.


    ¡­¡­


    Her delicate face had gone stark red while both hands seemed to unconsciously grab at the hemming of her clothes while her eyebrows knitted together in anger.


    Bai Yunfei was at a loss. In his right hand was that wooden bird while the left hand held the undergarment of a woman while he stared in confusion at her.


    This, was the first time either of the two had ever met each other.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei had been dumbfounded for a moment. Looking to his left and then to his right, he had realized the eyes of everyone around him were staring at him. Looking back at the two women in front of him, he asked in confusion:


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 99: Aunty, I really Donst Know Anything!

    Chapter 99: Aunty, I really Don''t Know Anything!


    Bai Yunfei was dumbfounded for a moment. Looking to his left and then to his right, he had realized the eyes of everyone around him were staring at him. Looking back at the two women in front of him, he asked in confusion,


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Aunt Zhao looked at Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction and then to the item he was holding in his left hand. Beginning to tremble all over with a mighty shake, she looked as if she was on the verge of losing complete control over herself like last night. With a finger pointed at Bai Yunfei, she snarled, ¡°You shameless knave!! Don¡¯t even think about playing the idiot! Last night you molested the young miss of my family. And¡­ and¡­ just what is that you¡¯re holding in your hand then?!¡±


    ¡°Eh? What is it?¡± Bai Yunfei was startled, but raising his left hand to look, he immediately began to tremble¡­.


    A single sweatdrop dripped down Bai Yunfei¡¯s head ¡ª it, it was the underwear of a woman?!


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    There was a hissing sound coming from all around him, causing Bai Yunfei to look around himself. Everyone on the street had given themselves ten meters of room and glared at him with scornful eyes¡­


    ¡°This¡­ this wasn¡¯t me¡­¡± Bai Yunfei held the underwear with a trembling left hand, and even his voice was quavering.


    ¡°Oh of course! Of course it wasn¡¯t you, it was me then!!¡± Aunt Zhao was already on the breaking point of her anger.


    ¡°Booo!!¡± The audience around them began to explode in a fit of hissing sounds as they continued to glare at him.


    Bai Yunfei felt as if he was about to cough out blood from this situation and hurried to explain himself. ¡°No, no! I¡¯m saying that someone just stuffed this into my hand. I¡¯m¡­¡±


    Halfway through his speech, Bai Yunfei closed his mouth. It was useless to explain to these two. Even the audience around them wasn¡¯t willing to listen to Bai Yunfei; if there was any reaction, it would be the scornful look in their eyes¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips began to twitch as if he was on the verge of crying. Lifting out his left hand, he took one step after another toward the two and stuttered, ¡°Au-aunty¡­ I¡¯m speaking the truth. If this is yours, then¡­ here, take it...¡±


    With that, he handed the piece of underwear back to the aunt. In his anxiety, he had subconsciously stuffed the wooden bird he had just bought into the hands of the girl to aunt¡¯s side.


    The aunt took the bra back, but when it came in contact with her hand, she paused. Feeling as if something was wrong, she took the article of clothing and then held it up¡­


    Someone had taken scissors to it. Two holes were cut accurately to show two specific spots on the bra¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes saw the holes, causing his soul to practically fly away from his mouth almost. This time, he regained his wits quickly, and without any explanation, he staggered back several steps in retreat.


    ¡°You pervert, I¡¯ll kill you!!¡±


    In the same instance that Bai Yunfei had retreated, the aunty could no longer control her fury. Putting away the bra, her fist immediately chased after Bai Yunfei to strike him down.


    Bai Yunfei could see it coming however and easily dodged the strike. Still retreating back, he cried out, ¡°Aunty, don¡¯t misunderstand! This really has nothing to do with me, I¡¯ve never seen you before in my life!¡±


    ¡°You still dare to deny it! Is your surname not Bai?!¡±


    ¡°Ye-yes, my surname is Bai¡­ how did you know?¡±


    ¡°Then what else needs to be said! Your figure is the same, your face is the same, and even your voice is the same! Or do you mean to tell me that the one who dared to grope and molest me and the young miss is your hoodrat of a twin brother!¡± The aunty cried out in indignation as she chased him. With a shake of her hand, a sword not yet two meters long could be seen. With a circulation of her soulforce, a halo of orange light could be seen enveloping the sword before it stabbed out at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding! I¡­¡± Bai Yunfei slid to the left to dodge the sword stab before once more dodging a horizontal slash from the sword. Then borrowing the power of the incoming fist, he flew back another two steps. Crying out in frustration, he spoke, ¡°Aunty, I really don¡¯t know anything!!¡±


    The furious aunty wasted no words on him. A tremendous amount of Qi could be seen rolling toward Bai Yunfei with the twist of her sword.


    Startled, Bai Yunfei could no longer say anything. He began to use the Wave Treading Steps to weave left and right around the mirror images left by the sword. Although it looked rather dangerous, there was no damage dealt to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Poof! Poof! Poof!...¡± Several sounds could be heard while Bai Yunfei circled the street. The ground where he used to be standing had split into several small cracks due to the Qi strikes from the sword. Some of the strikes had even impacted against the ground not far from the audience.


    ¡°Waaa!¡± The entire audience had been excited to watch this battle take place. Everyone scattered away in fear to areas farther away when it progressed beyond what they had expected. It was as if they were afraid of being inadvertently hit.


    Not too long after, the nearby hundred meters of the street had been completely deserted save the two combatants and the young woman not too far away. Even the nearby buildings had tightly shut their windows.


    Aunt Zhao was a cultivator with the earth property whose distinguishing characteristics were endless. Her offensive and defensive capabilities were strong in their own right, but she lacked in speed. Since she lacked a soul skill to aid her speed, she was unable to land a hit on Bai Yunfei even after several rounds despite her anger. She was unable to make contact with him due to his Wave Treading Steps.


    Bai Yunfei had finally regained his wits. Depressed, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know just how this absurd calamity had befallen him. He could only helplessly dodge blow after blow while trying to figure out the best way to resolve this troublesome matter.


    This village-born middle-aged woman in front of him was clearly in a furious state where words would be of no use. After a moment¡¯s thought, Bai Yunfei dodged a strike, and looked to the young women who was observing the fight several dozen meters away.


    ¡°I say, miss! Are you the ¡®young miss¡¯ this aunty¡¯s talking about? Can you have this aunty calm down for a moment? You really got the wrong person!¡± Bai Yunfei dodged an explosive fist strike before dodging another sword strike at the same time he was shouting at the young woman.


    ¡°Yesterday night at nine, I was resting in the ¡®Happiness Inn¡¯ in the eastern streets. Although I took a stroll earlier that day, I have never seen you two before. This is all a misunderstanding!¡±


    The young woman helplessly watched her aunt try to attack Bai Yunfei over and over again. When she heard that seemingly innocent explanation, her eyebrows furrowed together with some confusion.


    After several more exchanges with the young woman not responding to him, Bai Yunfei was beginning to grow a little impatient. His leg shifted away and brought him speeding to the left after retreating away from the aunty. He planned on running near the young woman. That way if the aunty chased after him, she would hesitate to attack. In that time, he would have a moment to be able to figure out just what was happening.


    Under her irate barrage, the aunt had come across almost no resistance from Bai Yunfei at all, causing her fury to grow more and more. When she saw Bai Yunfei head toward the young woman, her eyes widened instantly and began to flow with a murderous killing intent.


    ¡°Scoundrel! You wish to mishandle the young miss again!!¡±


    Following this flash of killing intent, the aunty began to explode with a rich amount of orange-colored elemental energy. The sword in her right arm made an overarching slash toward the ground so that the tip was touching it. The surrounding earth element began to congregate around the tip of her sword before the metallic cry of the sword could be heard stabbing into the ground in her pursuit of Bai Yunfei!


    The sword had stabbed into the stone tiles of the ground without a problem. An orange light began to fill the cracks as a crackling sound appeared. Several more cracks could be seen originating from where the sword had stabbed into the ground. In an instant, they had spread in ¡®pursuit¡¯ of Bai Yunfei!


    Seeing Bai Yunfei come running at her, the young woman instinctively retreated back. Adopting a defensive stance, she took on a startled expression before crying out a warning to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Watch yourself!¡±


    As soon as Bai Yunfei was within a twenty meters away from the older woman, the young woman¡¯s warning immediately warned him of the incoming pulse of elemental energy nearing his body. Startled, he whirled around only to see that the cracks had already reached underneath his feet.


    ¡°No!¡± Bai Yunfei was startled in that one instant. He abruptly stomped down with enough force to launch him into the air. At that moment, the cracks underneath his feet exploded, shooting fragments of the stones up along with the twisting strands of the earth element. In a movement that covered the entire sky, this storm of rubble and earth force engulfed Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed dangerously. With a snort, he shook his hand and pulled out the Fire-tipped Spear. Without decreasing the speed in his feet, the Fire-tipped Spear began to twirl around in an air-tight pattern that completely protected him from the barrage of stone fragments.


    The first wave of stone fragments was far too concentrated, so several fragments hit Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Even with the Goldsilk Soul Armor protecting him, it still hurt quite a bit.


    After shattering the final stone fragment to pieces, Bai Yunfei turned to look at the relatively far away aunty with a chilling glare. Up to this point, Bai Yunfei had not felt any anger in his heart.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that this was a misunderstanding, but if you still want to bring me into this mess, then I will start to fight back!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 100: As Like the Heart Flying With the Clouds, Be Free and Easy

    Chapter 100: As Like the Heart Flying With the Clouds, Be Free and Easy


    After shattering the final stone fragment to pieces, Bai Yunfei turned to look at the relatively far away aunty with a chilling glare. Up to this point, Bai Yunfei had not felt any anger in his heart.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that this was a misunderstanding, but if you still want to bring me into this mess, then I will start to fight back!¡±


    The aunty seemed to appear as if she hadn¡¯t heard a single word of what Bai Yunfei said. With a tinkling from her saber, she pulled it out of the ground. Compared to before, the light on the saber was noticeably dimmer compared to before. Vigorously treading across the ground, she flew close to Bai Yunfei and waved her saber to stab him.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed menacingly as he began to circulate his soulforce. The Fire-tipped Spear in his hands began to tremble for a moment as a heatwave was instantly expelled from it. The heatwave had been hot enough for even the young woman several meters away to cry out in shock and take several steps back.


    ¡°Clang!¡± Following a red gleam of light, Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear twirled to slam against the long saber that was coming in to stab him. After the clanging sound from the collision, the saber was sent arcing in a perpendicular fashion to the side. The aunty had looked surprised as well due to the amount of force transmitted from her saber to her arm had caused her feet to stagger to the side as well.


    As a middle Soul Sprite with his Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei was substantially different than before. Combined with his proficiency with the usage of the elemental fire, he could truly understand the true might of the Fire-tipped Spear. After increasing the amount of elemental fire within him, his strength was many times stronger than before.


    The aunt¡¯s soulforce had already depleted by a decent amount after the usage of her soul technique. In this one strike, if it were not for Bai Yunfei deliberately holding back and using his spear to block the saber with the pole instead of the tip, the human-tier soul item in her hands would have most likely been destroyed instead of deflected.


    Seeing at the spear, the chilling eyes of Bai Yunfei, and how the saber in her arm was trembling from the shock, the aunty had finally woken from her angered stupor. She casted a glance at the Fire-tipped Spear with a strange glance before shouting, ¡°Hmph! Do you think yourself to be invincible by relying on a strong soul item?! Even if I cannot hit you, so what? I¡¯ll¡­.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, you¡¯ve mistaken me for someone else.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together. ¡°With my strength, if I really did ¡®assault¡¯ the young lady, do you really think you¡¯d be able to remain unharmed?¡±


    ¡°You¡­.¡± Seeing that the person in front of her was so unwilling to ¡®concede in front of death¡¯, her heart began to feel fury once more. Even the saber in her right arm was beginning to shake in anger.


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, please stop fighting¡­.¡±


    Just at that moment, a gentle-sounding voice could be heard from the side. Seeing that the older woman was potentially about to start fighting once more, the young woman had hurriedly called out to her. At the same time, she hurried on over to her side and pulled the aunt¡¯s arm back gently with a shake of her head.


    ¡°But miss, he¡­.¡±


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, I really think that we found the wrong person. This man¡­.may possibly not be the same one as the one we saw last night.¡± The girl shook her head again.


    ¡°How could he not? His face and even sound is the exact same. Furthermore, he was just holding onto my¡­.¡±


    ¡°But his eyes aren¡¯t the same.¡± The girl interrupted the older woman. Looking at Bai Yunfei, she spoke, ¡°Whether it¡¯s from the way they speak or move, this man and the man from last night varies greatly. Although they look the same, I feel as if the two are two completely different people, isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    The aunty¡¯s eyes narrowed in warning, ¡°Young miss, you should know that in this world, everyone may seem different from what they appear to be. Some may even disguise themselves as¡­.¡±


    ¡°Aunty, why don¡¯t you get some proof for what you¡¯re saying! Just how am I pretending to be someone I am not?¡± This time, it was Bai Yunfei that had interrupted her. Knowing that there was not much of a chance for another fight to break out again, he had put away his Fire-tipped Spear. Unsatisfied, he retorted, ¡°If I was really that ¡®scoundrel¡¯ you say I am, would I be that much of an idiot to have that¡­.thing in my hand?¡±


    ¡°Besides¡­.¡± He immediately grew pensive for a moment before continuing his train of thought, ¡°Before this, someone had bumped into me without a word and stuffed that thing into my hands. Then when you appeared, I had already more or less figured out what had happened¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Does mister know something about this?¡± The young woman¡¯s eyebrows rose upwards on her face in surprise.


    ¡°More or less. If my guess isn¡¯t off, then the person in question is most likely trying to take ¡®revenge¡¯ on me¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei paused at that moment as if realizing something. ¡°Then that person just now was him. In that case, he would definitely plan on being nearby to observe this ¡®embarrassment¡¯, then¡­.¡±


    He began to turn his head around as if inspecting the area for something.


    Five hundred meters behind Bai Yunfei, there was a two-story tavern that could very well be used to spectate what was happening between the three in clear details. A regular person wouldn¡¯t be able to see much because of the distance, but for a soul cultivator, such a distance like this was negligible.


    A big-nosed youth could be seen sitting rather sloppily on the banisters to this tavern. In his hands was a melon with a plate full of melon seeds to the side for him to eat one at a time. He had been staring at the spectacle between Bai Yunfei and the two with keen interest even¨Cthis person was without a doubt Jing Mingfeng in disguise.


    ¡°Huh? Why aren¡¯t they fighting? Did you fuck up, aunty? You¡¯re a middle Soul Sprite as well, how could you be so easily defeated by him?¡± Jing Mingfeng grumbled in discontent. But then suddenly, his eyes widened in shock. Forgetting that he had been sitting on top of the railing of the balcony, Jing Mingfeng had fallen back on the floor with a startled cry. But instead of getting up, he silently hid behind the balcony¡¯s railing.


    ¡°Did he find me? But how? Did he realize that I was spying on him?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes swept around the area, but he hadn¡¯t found any person that might be suspicious. Looking at the teahouse several hundred meters away to the left, Bai Yunfei then glanced away before muttering, ¡°There¡¯s far too many soul cultivators looking at this place with interest. I won¡¯t be able to find him this way, and with that odd disguising ability of his, it¡¯ll be even harder¡­.¡±


    ¡°Mister, I believe this was a case of mistaken understanding. For the trouble my aunty has caused, please forgive us. I hope that you will not take offense to this.¡± While Bai Yunfei had been deep in thought, the voice of the young woman could be heard.


    Bai Yunfei looked to the aunty who had called him a scoundrel and was glaring at him for a moment before replying, ¡°If the lady is willing to speak reason, then I¡¯ll give thanks first. However, after this unrighted wrong, when I find the one responsible for framing me, I would like to be proven innocent given the chance!¡±


    ¡°That would be for the best.¡± The young woman spoke for the aunty before looking around. ¡°Let¡¯s leave the area first. A confrontation between soul cultivators may be something the government might turn a blind eye towards, it wouldn¡¯t do to stay around here too long either.¡±


    For a moment, Bai Yunfei had been silent. Knowing that there was no need to continue speaking with one another, he cupped his hands and bowed to the two, ¡°Then I¡¯ll take my leave first. We¡¯ll meet again some day!¡±


    Unwillingly putting away her saber after watching Bai Yunfei walk away, the aunty looked to the young woman, ¡°Young miss, why were you so polite to him, do you really take his words to be true?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if I believed it or not. If we looked at the circumstances, would you really be able to beat him if you continued fighting, aunty?¡± The young woman watched the retreating figure of Bai Yunfei in deep thought. But after hearing the aunty speak, she shook her head.


    ¡°That¡­.¡± Aunt Zhao had been speechless. Although she and Bai Yunfei were of the same level of strength, but with that unique soul technique to aid his movements, she herself had practically been under his thumb. That high level soul item had been even more shocking however.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter anymore, aunty. We probably won¡¯t ever see him again, so there¡¯s no need to continue this. Let¡¯s get ready and leave Yanlin City.¡±


    Speaking with a smile, the young woman took the older woman around and began to walk the other direction¡­.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Two steps later, the young woman had just then realized she was still holding something¨Cit was the wooden bird that Bai Yunfei had hurriedly stuff into her hands earlier.


    Turning around to look for Bai Yunfei, she saw that he had already long since disappeared from sight. Turning back around, she began to look at the wooden bird.


    It was a fist-sized bird with its wings spread out. On the bottom was a circular disk meant for placing on a flat surface. Both of its wings were fully spread out and its eyes were staring straight ahead. The beak was slightly open as if it was in the middle of letting out a cry. All in all, the bird was rather life-like.


    Interested, the young woman began to feel and caress the statue when something strange on the bottom of the disk had caught her eye. Turning it over to inspect it, she had been taken back as if she had seen something that amazed her.


    Back when Bai Yunfei had been selecting this bird, he had first asked to borrow a carving knife. Then on the bottom, he had carved out an inscription that had portrayed the thought that arose in his mind at the moment.


    ¡°As like the heart flying with the clouds, be free and easy.¡±


    TL Note: This is a pun based off of Bai Yunfei¡¯s given name.

 Chapter 101: Escaping is Important, Time to Go!

    Chapter 101: Escaping is Important, Time to Go!


    After Bai Yunfei and the others left, the previously empty streets slowly began to fill up with people. The street vendors began to sell their wares again, and in minutes, the entire street was flourishing once more. Plenty of the newcomers could only click their tongues in wonder as they observed the traces of scars on the ground. The ones fortunate enough to have watched the battle puffed their mouths up in pride and began to retell the ¡®great show¡¯ they had witnessed.


    In a teahouse several hundred meters away, a youth around the age of twenty could be seen seated at a table. Sipping from the cup of tea in his hand, he looked at Bai Yunfei who was walking away with a thoughtful expression.


    There was another person standing at his side. This was the shopkeeper of the ¡®Hundred Armaments¡¯ who had attended to Bai Yunfei back then.


    ¡°Young master, is he a student of the Crafting School?¡± The shopkeeper carefully asked the pensive youth.


    This youth was the eldest son of the Jiang family, Jiang Fan. Not only was he an exceptionally talented man from the Crafting School, he was one of the three disciples of the previous head of the Crafting School along with the current acting head. It was for this reason that there was such a deep relationship between the house of Jiang and the Crafting School.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen him before but¡­ that graceful-looking spear just now was clearly a personalized soul item¡­¡± Jiang Fan¡¯s eyebrows creased together as he explained to the man beside. He also thought to himself. ¡°Is he a part of the newer generation of the Crafting School after I left to gain some experience two years ago? If that¡¯s true, why would he undergo his journey in such a weak state? And after coming to Yanlin City, why did he not come visit the house of Jiang? What¡¯s more, he even sold so many incomplete soul items to us¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, I wasn¡¯t too sure myself back then. He wasn¡¯t willing to confirm it, or say anything much at all.¡± The shopkeeper stooped his back as he nervously spoke. ¡°How could a journeying student of the Crafting School stoop so low to sell his incomplete soul items? What¡¯s even more strange is the fact that he sold all of his incomplete soul items in exchange for the incomplete soul items in our store¡­¡±


    ¡°I only came back home to visit, but when the time comes for when I go back to the school, I¡¯ll make sure to ask the others which senseless newcomer went down the mountains without permission¡­¡± Jiang Fan thought for a moment before deciding on the proper course of action.


    ¡°Then¡­ should we make contact with him? He may very well be the younger generation of students to you, Young Master. Now that he¡¯s coming across some troubles, we could¡­¡±


    ¡°Forget it, let him figure it out himself.¡± Jiang Fan waved his hand. ¡°I can see that he isn¡¯t very strong, but that personalized soul item of his is an upper-grade earth-tier one. I can only assume that he is one of the more outstanding students the Crafting School picked up and educated two years ago. Make sure you keep track of what he¡¯s up to. As long as nothing big happens, you will do nothing to disturb him.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    With his clothes all nice and clean now, Bai Yunfei continued to walk across two streets, resuming his stroll. Moving as he pleased across the throngs of people, the only difference now was the fact that he was now looking vigilantly around himself as if searching for something.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be wrong. It has to be that Jing Mingfeng who tried to frame me. Is this what he meant by ¡®revenge¡¯? He¡¯s¡­ really lacking in morals. How could he do this? How bored could you possibly get to think of such a deranged style of revenge!? If not for my strength, then that aunty would have done more than just kill me! To even charge me with the crime of being a ¡®pervert¡¯¡­ Jing Mingfeng, you went too far. If we ever meet again, I¡¯ll make sure that I beat you so badly that even your mom won¡¯t recognize you!!¡±


    ¡°But then, proving my innocence to that aunty and woman seems a little hard to do. I said that I would with confidence, but would it really be that easy to find Jing Mingfeng? I can¡¯t just have the two of them wait here while I prove it either¡­¡±


    ¡°I should be mindful of my surroundings for the next few days. I might even chance upon him again.¡± Bai Yunfei slowly walked down the path while thinking to himself. ¡°He approached me without a sound earlier¡­ how did he manage to pull that off? Even an ordinary person wouldn¡¯t be able to come near me without me noticing them. He practically had no presence. Is this the family secret of his? A secret that caused an entire family to be wiped out¡­¡±


    ¡°In short, continue with my original plan. If I try my best to find him, it doesn¡¯t mean I will. If I don¡¯t try to find him¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After finding a restaurant to eat lunch in, Bai Yunfei continued his tour around the city and began to sightsee all of the interesting spots in the place. Trying out every single thing before buying them, Bai Yunfei seemed as if he was a child placed in a whole new world as he familiarized himself with all sorts of never-before-seen things.


    At night, Bai Yunfei returned to the lantern-light streets for several moments. The moon illuminated the city overhead as night began to encroach the city. Slowly, he began to look for an inn to rest for the night.


    It was to Bai Yunfei¡¯s chagrin that the two inns he had found were both filled to the brim with occupants. Back on the now practically empty streets, the lanterns had already long since been extinguished, meaning that only the moon was left to illuminate the area.


    Bai Yunfei had not thought too much about these troubles. Looking up at the starry sky, Bai Yunfei was at peace. The life he was living now finally allowed him to feel what it meant to be ¡®free¡¯.


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s that sound?¡± As Bai Yunfei was soaking in the evening tranquility, he suddenly heard a commotion occurring a hundred meters away. It was as if there were people trying to run away as fast as they could.


    Scanning with his soulsense, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up in surprise, ¡°They¡¯re all soul cultivators! Three Soul Sprites, five Soul Warriors, and over ten Soul Personages! Just what in the world is happening for there to be so many gathered here, and running through the night no less?¡±


    ¡°Eh? That¡¯s not right. They look as if they¡¯re chasing someone. This feeling¡­ why is it so familiar, and where did I have this feeling before¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was taken back. The soul cultivator running at the front had given him a feeling of deja vu, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger to it, ¡°It¡¯s almost as if¡­¡±


    In his moment of confusion, the figure suddenly came into view after rounding a corner rather haphazardly. It was with an alarmed face that the person met eyes with Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open with unfathomable astonishment. Crying out in alarm, he spoke, ¡°Me?!¡±


    Because of the moonlight, he could clearly see that the person running at such a high speed was a shocking look-a-like of himself!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s head had gone blank for a moment before instantly snapping back to awareness. Roaring with fury, he shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll nail your lungs to the wall, Jing Mingfeng, it¡¯s you!¡±


    He had suddenly remembered just why there was such a familiar air to this soulforce ¡ª it was Jing Minfeng! That was the reason why everything looked so familiar now, it was that disguising ability of Jing Mingfeng.


    Snapping back to awareness, Bai Yunfei began to feel a tremendous amount of anger rise from his stomach to his head, ¡°Bastard, just what are shit are you up to now with my face?!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng had been taken back as well when he turned the corner and ran into Bai Yunfei, but he didn¡¯t slow down in the slightest and continued to run like the wind. Seeing Bai Yunfei glare at him, Jing Mingfeng gave a wave of his wand as he ran, ¡°Damn! How¡¯d you appear here!? But now¡¯s not the time to chat and talk about the past, running is more important. I¡¯m off then!¡±


    ¡°Chat my ass! I¡¯ll settle our debts this time. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll hang your liver to the wall! Just who have you provoked this time!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even finished saying ¡®debt¡¯ before his words became furious howls. Determinedly turning around, he began to chase after Jing Mingfeng in a mad dash.


    In that interaction, the remaining soul cultivators had already turned around the corners as well. In their hands were all sorts of flashing weapons that radiated with killing intent. When they turned the corner and saw Bai Yunfei, they dashed toward him without another word.


    The only thing that could be seen in their eyes was the unhidden urge to commit murder!!

 Chapter 102: Kill Them Straight Away

    Chapter 102: Kill Them Straight Away


    ¡°He has an accomplice! Be on the lookout for more, don¡¯t let any of them get away!¡±


    Leading the chasing group were a low-grade and middle-grade Soul Sprite. Behind them were several Soul Warriors and Soul Personages that totalled up to around twenty people. Their auras could cover the entire sky and alert even Bai Yunfei in front of them.


    This was not indignation, but murderous intent!


    Bai Yunfei swiped at Jing Mingfeng who was passing by his side. With a snarl, he shouted, ¡°Bastard! What did you do!?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s speed slightly slowed from this motion. Even Bai Yunfei¡¯s speed faltered a bit, but Jing Mingfeng shook off the hand that was at his collar with some force. He tried to explain himself as if he was innocent of his crimes, ¡°I don¡¯t know either, okay? I had only wanted to hang around a mansion to see here and there, but I didn¡¯t think that house would have so many experts in it! As soon as they saw me, they began to chase me down, I¡¯d have been beaten to death if I stayed there! In fact, I nearly found myself dying a couple of times!¡±


    As he spoke, Jing Mingfeng suddenly grimaced in pain and clutched at his left shoulder with his right hand. It was then that Bai Yunfei realized that Jing Mingfeng¡¯s left shoulder had been lanced through with a weapon, leaving behind a serious looking wound. Despite the blood being stanched, half of his clothes had already been stained through and through from the blood that he had shed earlier.


    ¡°Did you really not do anything?¡± Bai Yunfei grabbed his right shoulder and began to use his Wave Treading Steps to further increase their speed.


    A glint of appreciation flashed through Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes as he nodded his head, ¡°I really don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t even have time to do anything. If anything, when the people inside saw me, I only saw two of them discussing something. They were extremely strong, and I was safe for a moment. In the next moment, a large group of people suddenly started to chase me¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was furious with Jing Mingfeng in his heart, but he didn¡¯t doubt the claims he was making. Turning back to look at the group of people chasing him, there was a sullen look in his eyes. He had been recognized as an accomplice of Jing Mingfeng. If the two of them were to be overtaken, then he wouldn¡¯t even have time to explain himself with the way things were right now. He¡¯d be beaten and killed first.


    ¡°Nothing good has ever happened since I bumped into you!!¡± Bai Yunfei glared at Jing Mingfeng. Bai Yunfei wanted nothing more than to punch his look alike in the face, but when he saw the helpless and regretful expression on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face, he let out a sigh. ¡°We¡¯ll settle our debts later! For now, we¡¯ll have to shake off those guys behind us!¡±


    ¡°Your movement based soul technique is fast enough, you go first. Since their target is me, I¡¯ll pull them away and escape by myself¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng looked at the group behind them and then turned back to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even try to think yourself to be so sickeningly righteous! Do you really think that they¡¯ll let me go!?¡± Bai Yunfei snorted. Then with a softer voice, ¡°I still want you to explain to that young miss and aunty the troubles you gave me in any case! Don¡¯t you know I was labeled a pervert because of you!?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng looked a little embarrassed by that, but his gratitude for Bai Yunfei had increased nonetheless.


    ¡°Talk less bullshit and run faster. We¡¯ll never throw them off this way!¡± Bai Yunfei urged.


    Grudgingly, Jing Mingfeng said, ¡°I¡¯m hurt, so I can¡¯t run as fast. For the sake of shaking them off earlier, I¡¯ve already used up the most of what my elemental wind has to offer¡­¡±


    ¡°Tsk!¡± There was a hint of anxiety in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. If this continued, even if they were to reach the city gates, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to shake off the people chasing them. If he were to abandon Jing Mingfeng and run away, then he would for sure be able to escape them. However, this very thought had been immediately overruled in his head. If he were to do this, then he would be no better than someone who would sacrifice everyone but himself or herself to save their own hide. Indeed, he wouldn¡¯t do such a thing. Even more importantly, the situation had not yet reached a bleak impasse despite his anxiety.


    His eyes began to repeatedly flash. As soon as they reached the entrance to a street, Bai Yunfei had already made a decision. With a shake of his right hand, two rings appeared in them. Thrusting them over to Jing Mingfeng, he commanded, ¡°Wear it!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Jing Mingfeng had been completely focused on the terrain in front of him without consideration of anything else. So when Bai Yunfei took the rings all of a sudden, he had been taken back. Staring strangely at Bai Yunfei, he asked, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°Stop your bullshit and wear these rings! One ring per hand!¡±


    Seeing the serious face of Bai Yunfei, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyebrows pinched together as if he was thinking about something. Without any more words, he took the two ring and quickly put them on his forefingers.


    The moment he put on the rings, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyelids flew up in surprise. Flabbergasted, he could sense a strange sensation fill his body and forcibly increase his speed by a fraction!


    ¡°Wear these two as well!¡±


    This time Jing Mingfeng did not hesitate to take the two bracelets handed to him by Bai Yunfei and quickly put them on.


    His speed increased again!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Wha¡­ how could they still accelerate in speed!¡± The middle-grade Soul Sprite couldn¡¯t help but cry out when he saw the two increase in speed once more.


    After several more minutes of chasing them, the two males grew farther and farther away from them. The chasers revealed looks of worry as they saw their targets start to escape. With a look to the others, one of the chasers began to use his soulforce to try and overtake them.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to chase them anymore¡­¡±


    Just then, a faint voice could be heard from the air behind them. Startled, the men came to a stop. The others in the group heard the voice as well, causing them to grind to a stop and look up behind them.


    Standing several meters in the air, one figure in black and another in violet came walking across the sky.


    The person on the left was a middle-aged man dressed in violet. His hair was slightly white, and a two-inch scar could be seen on the left side of his face. Expressionless and emotionless, this was the man that had just spoken. Each step he took through the empty air possessed a tint of purple light that formed underneath his feet as if forming a platform for him to walk on.


    The other man was dressed completely in black, and his face was rather hard to make out. Similar to the first man, there was a faint glow of golden light under his feet that allowed him to traverse the sky.


    Slowing down, the two figures traversed another hundred meters before coming to a stop above the group of chasers.


    ¡°Milord¡­¡± The leader reverently called out.


    The middle-aged man nodded in acknowledgement. ¡°Take your men and go back. Take heed to make sure that no other soul cultivator was alerted.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± The group did not hesitate to respond. Without any further words, they all began to leave the area with speed.


    ¡°What do you think? Did that one hear what we were talking about?¡± No longer caring for the group beneath them, the man in black and the man in violet began to walk toward Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng, who were still running away.


    ¡°It matters not if they heard it or not. All that needs to be done is to kill.¡± The figure in black spoke; there was a distinctively young-sounding voice to this one.


    ¡°Yes. The only thing that remains to be seen is if they have any more colleagues. Let us follow them for now. If there are no more, then kill them straight away.¡±

 Chapter 103: Chased by a Soul Exalt!

    Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng both ran with reckless abandonment for a thousand meters before they could sense the murderous aura behind them disappear. Blankly, the two of them looked at each other first before turning their heads back to check.


    The streets behind them were completely clear of people without a trace of their pursuers to be seen.


    ¡°Did we lose them?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked in doubt.


    Bai Yunfei was suspicious as well. Before he could speak, his eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he looked straight up into the air a hundred meters behind them.


    At the same time, Jing Mingfeng had realized the sight a hundred meters behind them as well. Standing a dozen meters in the sky were two figures that were leisurely walking toward them.


    ¡°Skywalking, they¡¯re Soul Exalts!!¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face immediately grew deathly pale as he shrieked. He nearly tripped as a result. ¡°This aura¡­ they¡¯re the two that were discussing something in that room! They were actually Soul Exalts!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s was startled as well. Skywalking was a result of becoming incomparably adept at harnessing the elemental force. One would then be able to walk upon the elements condensed into a platform. To be able to pull off such a technique would mean one had to be a Soul Exalt at the very least.


    ¡°They¡¯re individuals just as strong as brother Hong Yin!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s face hardened even more with his eyes flashing with light. ¡°They¡¯re clearly chasing to kill us, but seeing how they¡¯re walking so slowly, that must mean¡­ they¡¯re trying to see if we have anymore ¡®accomplices¡¯. If they appear, then they would just kill us all together.¡±


    ¡°Jing Mingfeng.¡± Bai Yunfei turned to look at the fork in the road and whispered, ¡°We¡¯ll split up. Whether we can run away or not, well, you¡¯d better start praying for more luck¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng blankly stared for a moment before realization hit him back to awareness. With the four items given to him by Bai Yunfei, his speed had improved by a decent amount. With these two Soul Exalts following them, they would die without a doubt if they tried to run together. However, if they split up, then the Soul Exalts would have to split up as well. By then, he could use his secret techniques to try and escape with his life¡­


    In this moment of understanding, Jing Mingfeng expressed his resolve. With a nod of his head, he replied, ¡°Okay, it¡¯s every man for himself! Bai Yunfei, I really apologize for involving you in this! This wasn¡¯t my intent at all. Should we get out of this, then know that you will be a friend to me!¡±


    ¡°Go f*ck yourself! If I could choose, I¡¯d rather never be able to see you again instead!¡± Bai Yunfei rolled his eyes before speaking irately, ¡°Save those words for later then. Don¡¯t even try to trick me again you shameless framer! I¡¯ll make sure to beat some sense into you later!¡±


    ¡°Haha, then we¡¯ll talk later!¡±


    After a speedy exchange between the two, they gave a slight nod as they approached the fork in the road. With a stamp of their feet, the two split the paths as quick as possible.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Eh? They¡¯ve split up? Did they think that they¡¯d be able to escape like this?¡± The violet-robed man grimly laughed.


    ¡°This is nothing more than the final struggle of a rat. We¡¯ll go after one person each. If they don¡¯t have any accomplices help them, just kill them.¡± The black-robed figure was still talking in a calm voice as if he was talking about killing a mere rat instead of a human.


    Having said that, the two figures split off left and right as well. The middle-aged man chased down Jing Mingfeng while the black-robed youth chased after Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei had already pulled out several speed-enhancing accessories to wear on his person. With the Wave Treading Steps, he was already running at such a fast speed that mirror images were left behind in his desperate escape.


    His speed became so fast that even his chaser was startled for a moment. With a sneer, the black-robed man sped up his footsteps so that he was constantly within a few hundred meters of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Damn, damn, damn it all!!¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even want to look back. He knew that the man chasing him was doing so with ease. Biting his lips, Bai Yunfei continued to circulate his soulforce into his feet at a steady rate so that they exploded with power and gave his speed another boost. At this moment, he could see that the city gates were less than a hundred meters away.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with inspiration. Increasing his speed by another spurt, his right hand shook before a ear-piercing sound could be heard. With a ¡°thuck!¡± sound, a dagger had lodged itself halfway up the wall, leaving behind only the hilt of the weapon sticking out.


    At the same time the dagger was inserted into the wall, Bai Yunfei leaped off the ground several meters forward into the sky. Then, borrowing the hilt of the dagger to increase his momentum, he flew over the wall without stopping, leaping out of the city.


    With a sneer, the black-robed figure began to climb up an imaginary set of stairs without concern. In an instant, he had escalated the wall just in time to see Bai Yunfei slip into the stone forest in front of him.


    The black-robed figure stood on top of the wall for a moment as he scanned the area in front of him. He had finally lost his patience. Nobody else appeared to save him so he was prepared to kill this rat to save time.


    The golden light underneath his feet brightened for a moment as he deactivated his skywalking technique. With a gentle leap, he stepped onto a dozen meter tall stone boulder and gave two mighty stomps!


    ¡°Bang!¡± A two meter crater could be seen underneath his feet in the boulder before it collapsed. Before it fell apart, his body had been sent jetting toward Bai Yunfei at a speed that was several times faster than Bai Yunfei!


    In a few seconds, he had already cut down the gap between them so he was barely two hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei!


    Just at that moment, Bai Yunfei suddenly whirled around from his attempt to flee. At the same time he whirled around, four chilling rays of light could be seen shooting toward the black-robed man!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± The man sneered. Without moving to dodge, he waved his right hand so that a yellow halo encircled his hand. Four crisp echoes could be heard soon after. The daggers that Bai Yunfei had thrown with all his might had immediately been reduced to scrap!


    Without decreasing in speed, the man drew even closer to Bai Yunfei with his right hand ready to strike Bai Yunfei down.


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    Following the sound of metal hitting metal, the man¡¯s fist impacted against Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder. Despite the Flameblade Bracer¡¯s defensive ability, Bai Yunfei could almost sense it shattering apart from the monstrous blow as he was knocked to the ground.


    The man¡¯s speed had paused for a moment as well. However, with a push of his right leg, he continued his chase and lashed out with another right fist!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupils dilated in fear as he clenched his right fist so tightly that his veins began to bulge out for a single punch.


    Ninefold Fist Force!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was sent flying away with bewilderment. He felt as if the bones in his right fist had been reduced to dust. A series of sharp blades of elemental energy seemed to begin to cut away at his innards before a burst of elemental fire from the Flameblade Bracer prevented them from growing any more.


    His opponent had paused after that second impact with a slight utterance of a gasp. Bai Yunfei¡¯s second strike to defend himself seemed to surprise him.


    Gravely, Bai Yunfei shook his right arm to regain sense in it. Steadying his body with his mind thinking at tremendous speeds, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes scanned the area only to see the black-robed figure. Sizing him up, he immediately turned around without the intent of stopping and flew past a huge rock to flee.


    The same moment Bai Yunfei started moving, the black-robed man moved as well with a speed that was even faster! As Bai Yunfei took two steps past around the rock, the other man had already reached the very same boulder.


    In this split-second, Bai Yunfei took one more step before pivoting around on his right leg. Following up, the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his right hand and stabbed out at the boulder!


    Ninefold Thrust!


    ¡°Krsh.¡± A nearly undetectable sound could be heard as the Fire-tipped Spear inserted itself into the giant boulder. With a gleam in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eye, he rotated the spear.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Following a heaven-shaking explosion, the giant boulder began to violently crack right underneath the startled eyes of the black-robed figure. A crimson light spilled out as several fragments of the flaming boulder began to shoot in every direction ¡ª primarily in his direction however!


    This was the biggest change in momentum the man had made yet. Taking a step back to avoid the boulder fragments, he brought up both hands and drew an empty circle in the air around him. A golden light exploded from his palms and immediately materialized a disk in front of him.


    ¡°Bang bang bang!!¡± A series of concentrated hits could be heard as the flying fragments struck the golden barrier. Unable to penetrate through, the fragments crumbled one after another in front of the black-robed man.


    However, Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack had not yet ended!


    Completely ignoring the spasms of pain brought forth from the backlash of the Ninefold Thrust down his right arm, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glistened with a berserk light. Leaping straight up, his spear had been put away and his right fist rose up into the air. A red light circled around the fist as a rich elemental fire began to show itself.


    ¡°Bang!¡± A puff of fire immediately flew out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder sleeve before revealing the crimson Flameblade Bracer shining underneath. A single two meter long blade made of fire could be seen materializing on the back side of his shoulder, forcibly lifting the temperature of the surrounding area up several degrees.


    Flamed Winged Blade!


    This was the +12 additional effect of the Flameblade Bracer and it would be the very first time Bai Yunfei would use it on an enemy. By using all of his soulforce at once, it would become his strongest attack!


    With hardened eyes, Bai Yunfei swung his right arm violently. The flame blade left behind a scorching path as it flew toward the man who was currently blocking himself from the boulder fragments!


    The black-robed man¡¯s body gave a violent tremble at the sight. Although his face could not be seen clearly, there was still a noticeable amount of shock. No longer caring for the fragments that were shooting at him, he observed the incoming blade of fire. With a final sweep of his right arm to block the boulders, his entire body lit up with a golden light before it flew out from his body with a sudden spurt of speed. Even the boulders coming at him were delayed for a single moment after coming in contact with it.


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The flame blade made contact with the golden light before becoming overwhelmed by it. A layer of fire covered the entire area before dispersing into a wave of flames that burned the surrounding grass to ashes. With the fiery-red and the golden-yellow colors mixing, it became rather hard to see anything clearly within a ten meter radius of the impact.


    To describe everything was to complicate the matter. From the time it took Bai Yunfei to whirl around with his spear, explode with fire, leap into the air, summon the winged blade, impact it against the enemy, and cover the entire area with the aftermath had only taken less than ten seconds!


    Suddenly, a figure came retreating back from the light. The movements of the figure were unsteady and the left arm of the owner clutched at the right arm, which was shaking nonstop. Retreating ten meters away, it was only when his back came to a rest next to a wall that the figure stopped moving. With a grim expression, the figure looked at the area where the fire and golden light was only starting to dissipate.


    The figure was Bai Yunfei!!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 104: Jiang Fan of the Crafting School!

    Chapter 104: Jiang Fan of the Crafting School!


    Fixedly staring at the black-robed figure, Bai Yunfei began to try to recover all of the soulforce he had used up.


    ¡°This has to be his last resort, how will this turn out¡­¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei was thinking to himself, an unbelievably strong amount of soulforce began to glow from the heart of the explosion. The golden light began to intensify. It washed over the flying rocks and started to spiral around the area, forming a golden tornado that spun.


    Spinning faster and faster, the tornado continued to drag the wisps of fire and stone to its center. Soon it started to slow. Not even a minute later, the tornado had gone from a circumference of over a dozen meters to two or three meters. Now, the black-robed man could be seen standing in it.


    Lifting his right hand in front of his body, the black-robed man gave it a shake to dissipate the golden light. As it dissipated, it transform into a golden ball that revolved around him.


    Like before, the black-robed man could be seen standing straight and tall. However, the arm he lifted before, his right arm, had its sleeve burned off. On his skin underneath, an inch wide burn could be seen. The wound had been rather heavy, and even with the golden light around his arm, a single bright-red glow leaked from it.


    His black robes remained, but the black hood that had covered his head was partially gone. His silver hair could be seen underneath along with a golden mask on his face.


    Several strands of bloody stripes could be seen on the golden mask as if they were malevolent scars on a face. It gave it a rather demonic look. Even more demonic was the fact that behind the eyeholes the right eye was normal, but the other eye had a silver-colored pupil. What was more bizarre than that was the fact that it was a vertical pupil commonly seen in beasts!


    Inspecting the wounds on his right arm, the man¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t hide his shock and his incomparable fury. As a Soul Ancestor, he had been injured by a Soul Sprite of the previous generation!!


    Suddenly bringing up his head with glinting eyes, he took a single step forward with his feet. Then, with a bright trail of golden light in the shape of a sharp blade, the man took off with an ear-whistling sound toward Bai Yunfei!


    The man suddenly leaped over Bai Yunfei jumping several meters into the air as he headed toward him. The man whirled around in mid-air. Forming a knife hand with his left hand, the man began to concentrate a halo of golden light before ultimately sending a single slash of light at Bai Yunfei!


    From the looks of things, the man looked as if he had the same idea as Bai Yunfei. ¡®An eye for an eye¡¯, but Bai Yunfei would die!


    The moment when Bai Yunfei saw the man make a move, his eyes had narrowed in concentration. As he was preparing himself to dodge, his opponent managed to traverse several dozen meters to get to him. The next leap had been many times faster than his previous speeds!


    Overwhelmed with shock, Bai Yunfei dodged with his life on the line. Using some of his restored soulforce for the Wave Treading Steps, he manage to stumble half a meter away.


    ¡°Swish!¡±


    A single second later, the earth began to shake. The giant boulder Bai Yunfei had been leaning against immediately split into two perfect halves!


    When the black-robed man touched back on the ground, he brought his left arm down and his right arm back up to unleash yet another ¡®blade¡¯ of light!


    Unable to dodge, Bai Yunfei clenched his teeth and brought his bracer up to protect himself from the blade.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Another clash could be heard along with a fiery spark as Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was thrown back. While he remained unharmed, there was a single white slash on his bracer. Though the bracer was already restoring itself back to its original state.


    A flash of surprise came across the man¡¯s eyes, but he let out a sneer without stopping. He charged straight at Bai Yunfei.


    Once again greeted with the golden ¡®palm blade¡¯, Bai Yunfei quickly retreated while bringing his right arm up to defend himself again.


    Just as the left arm of the black-robed man came down, a gleam appeared in the man¡¯s eyes! Suddenly, he diverted the angle of his palm so that the blade of light shot past Bai Yunfei¡¯s bracer and straight into his chest!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was like an artillery shell as he shot back with a resounding impact sound. Breaking through a meter thick boulder, Bai Yunfei continued for another ten meters before finally stopping by tumbling on the ground.


    Bai Yunfei knelt on the ground with a dark expression as he belched out a mouthful of blood. There was despair in his eyes at first before he refocused himself. With a wave of his right arm, the Glacial Pricker appeared in it. He glared at the black-robed man in preparation to attack.


    Seeing the heavily injured Bai Yunfei, the black-robed man let out a satisfied chuckle. The killing intent in his eyes grew even richer. His right arm had completely healed by now. Lifting up his leg, he prepared to move out to attack again.


    The moment after he brought his leg up, his eyes suddenly dilated before he leaped back without hesitation.


    Practically milliseconds after he had retreated, a crimson-red light cut the area where he had been standing. Even after being dodged, the crimson light changed directions to once more shoot straight at the black-robed man!


    Gaining a chilly frost to his eyes, the black-robed man clenched his fist and raised it. The golden light around him began to condensate and form a meter long broadsword that slashed down at the red gleam.


    ¡°Clang!¡± The red gleam came to a sudden stop, revealing a crimson sword about a meter long!


    The black-robed man¡¯s right hand came flying up while his entire body was flung back. The crimson sword rotated several times in the air before ultimately being caught by a white figure.


    His white robes accentuated his tall but relaxed posture; this newcomer looked no older than thirty years old. His face was steady, his eyebrows thick, and even the hair on his temples was rather sharp looking. Step by step, the man walked on the sky itself with a red light glowing underneath his feet. It was the eldest son of the family that had been watching Bai Yunfei from the teahouse, Jiang Fan!


    Jiang Fan came to a stop on top of a ten meter tall boulder, creating a triangular shape between the black-robed man and Bai Yunfei. Holding onto the crimson-red sword in his hand, he stared suspiciously at the man with cold eyes for a moment before asking, ¡°And who might this sire be? Is a grand Soul Ancestor really bullying a junior Soul Sprite from my Crafting School?¡±


    Flabbergasted, the black-robe man stared at Bai Yunfei who was several dozens meters away with flickering eyes.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes twinkled as well with a pensive gleam to them. Having Jiang Fan obstruct the other man had given him some breathing room for a moment. Whatever the identity of this individual or why this man was helping him confused Bai Yunfei. This confusion remained until he heard himself being referred to as a ¡®junior of the Crafting School¡¯.


    ¡°He¡¯s from the Crafting School! But why did he say I¡¯m a junior there? Could it be because¡­ of my personal soul item?¡± Bai Yunfei spared a glance at his Flameblade Bracer with a guess. Inwardly rejoicing to himself, Bai Yunfei stood back up with the Glacial Pricker clenched tightly in his hands. Standing still with rapt attention, Bai Yunfei began to recover his soulforce to recuperate his wounds.


    ¡°The Red Lotus Blood Sword, Crafting School, you¡¯re Jiang Fan!¡± After a moment¡¯s silence, the man harshly spoke.


    Jiang Fan laughed, ¡°So you¡¯ve heard of me? What should I call you then? I can tell that you¡¯re similar to my age based off of your voice. But with your strength¡­ might I ask which sect or family you¡¯re a part of?¡±


    The man did not respond, prompting Jiang Fan to respond, ¡°If you¡¯re not willing to speak, then forget it. Allow me to ask, just what did my junior do to offend you to the point of being exterminated without mercy?¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes grew even colder as he snorted, ¡°I wish to kill him, that¡¯s all. Do I really need to give you my reasoning!?¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Jiang Fan¡¯s eyebrows arched up. ¡°From what you¡¯re saying, do you mean to tell me that you don¡¯t see my Crafting School as a threat?¡±


    Unflinchingly, the man continued to speak with the same frosty tone, ¡°Crafting School? Pah, how intimidating! Do you really think I¡¯d be scared shitless by you! You and I are of the same strength; if I wished to kill him, do you think you could protect him and yourself at the same time?¡±


    Jiang Fan¡¯s smile receded away from his face to reveal a look of disdain. With a slight growl, he spoke, ¡°Did you think I wouldn¡¯t be able to? Then why are you talking so much? You¡¯ve already lost plenty of soulforce fighting my junior earlier. So, instead of trying to find a chance to get past me, you¡¯re just biding your time to recover your strength. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s figured it out!¡± The man thought to himself, but concentrating on his icy nerves, he replied, ¡°Then I¡¯ll kill him for you to see!!¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, a tremendous amount of force brought him flying toward Bai Yunfei!


    However, Jiang Fan had prepared for this long ago. With a swing of his right arm, the long sword flew out. Simultaneously taking off, Jiang Fan charged toward the median point where Bai Yunfei and the black-robed man would meet.


    Halfway to his destination, the man had tilted to the side to dodge the long sword that came up to block him. The sword rotated around before returning to Jiang Fan¡¯s hand. The sword then came swinging down to strike the man down.


    The man¡¯s pupil¡¯s vaguely contracted as he shook his right arm. A bright golden dagger appeared in his hand, allowing him to block the incoming sword.


    Borrowing the impact force to whirl around, Jiang Fan moved in front of Bai Yunfei. Glancing at him, Jiang Fan commanded, ¡°You leave first!¡±


    He was afraid that Bai Yunfei would be caught up in the storm of the battle due to the determined intent of the enemy. It was hard for him to protect the two of them. Therefore, it would be easier to make it so he would only need to protect himself.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even need to be told to retreat since he was already doing so the moment Jiang Fan and the other man made their moves. When he heard Jiang Fan¡¯s order, Bai Yunfei¡¯s legs moved a fraction of a second faster and he quickly traversed a hundred meters.


    The same time Jiang Fan had cried out, the other man¡¯s legs gained a halo of golden light underneath it. Leaping off the ground to fly several meters into the air, the man looked ominously at the retreating figure of Bai Yunfei. The dagger in his right hand gleamed with a bright light before suddenly flying with a golden crescent arc at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s speed increased abruptly at that moment, resulting in the light missing his back. It struck a nearby pillar. With a shattering explosion, the stone pillar split in two.


    Just as the man was about to release a second arc of light, his eyes suddenly widened in realization. He threw himself to his right. Just as he dodged, a crimson red light streaked past him and collided with the golden light.


    By this point, Jiang Fan had already move ten meters into the air along with the man. His eyes coldly stared the man down while the crimson-red sword in his hand moved with a trail of after-images behind it. A ball of fire could be seen gathering in the air around him before dancing around the sword itself. It was as if it was being attracted by some sort of strange pull. As the fire gathered, it began to swirl around the area.


    In a split second, the flames split off to materialize into seven lotus flowers around Jiang Fan. Rotating around his body, they continued to compress themselves.


    ¡°Red Lotus!¡±

 Chapter 105: Once Again....

    Chapter 105: Once Again¡­.


    ¡°Red Lotus!¡±


    Jiang Fan¡¯s eyes intensified in coldness as he glared at the black-robed man. Pointing his crimson-red sword at the man, the surrounding seven lotuses seemed to gain a life of their own. Billowing with a trail of flames, they flew to surround the man and sealed off any of his potential paths.


    The man shot a murderous glance at Bai Yunfei who was almost completely out of sight already. The golden light from his dagger extended another third of a meter from the tip and shot out across the sky once more.


    Snorting, Jiang Fan brandished his sword so that one of the lotuses on the left side flew up to strike against the golden gleam of light.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Exploding upon impact, a tremendous amount of backlash bursted from the collision and washed over the entire place. Unable to bear the brunt of the force, the stones underneath began to crumble and disintegrate while the golden light and the red lotus disappeared.


    The moment after the impact, a gleam of golden light flashed underneath the black-robed man¡¯s feet as he dashed out from the gap left when one of the fire lotuses flew away. It appeared as if he wanted to escape from this imprisonment and focus on chasing Bai Yunfei instead of focusing on Jiang Fan.


    But Jiang Fan smiled coldly once more as if he had predicted this would happen. Moving his sword in a circular motion, he commanded the remaining six scorching lotuses to strike into the man.


    The speed of the six lotuses had been faster than before¨Cat least two times faster than they were previously! In a split second, the man¡¯s irises had contracted in apparent surprise. This had been outside of his expectations, causing him to freeze where he was and hurriedly bring out his entire strength without hesitation. With an amount of dazzling light that was even brighter than when Bai Yunfei used his Winged Flame Blades on him earlier. Even the dagger in his hand began to vibrate intensely enough for there to be a resonating sound from the blade.


    Seeing the incoming lotuses come at him, the black-robed man tilted his dagger so that a resonating ¡®xiinggg¡± could be heard. A dazzling amount of golden light shot out and began to compress against the fire lotuses with its light.


    Without stopping, the man brought his right hand up and down another five times so that five more blades of light flew out behind him to strike the remaining five lotuses down.


    Then, the golden light began to gather around him abruptly in a cocoon-like state. Condensing in a manner that obscured the human figure, the black-robed man now looked as if he was in some sort of golden cocoon that floated in midair.


    Despite the complexity of explaining these actions, the time between them all had only taken an instant. After the six blades were sent out, he had the golden light around him contract around himself to protect him from the resulting impact


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    The explosions had happened almost simultaneously, resulting in a single loud boom. The sound had been so loud that it rocked even the earth beneath; it was possible even that the people from Yanlin City would have heard it.


    After the explosions, the six lotuses had transformed into a wave of elemental fire filled with power still. With the black-robed man at the center, the surrounding ten meters was transformed into a sea of flames that concealed the golden cocoon.


    An unbelievable amount of searing hot flames spread throughout the area, crumbling the stone pillars in the area. Many of them began to disintegrate with time, and eventually they became nothing but fine dust after the golden light and elemental fire mixed with it!!


    A thousand meters away, Bai Yunfei who had been desperately running away had nearly struck against a giant boulder after hearing the terrifying explosion. Looking up, he could only see a gigantic wave of fire flow from the battlegrounds. Even a thousand meters away, he could practically feel the scorching heat from the elemental fire.


    ¡°This is¡­a battle between Soul Ancestors!!¡± Bai Yunfei eyes reflected the burning hot flames for a moment before quickly becoming normal once more. But without stopping to even press down on his wounds, Bai Yunfei continued to run forward as fast as he could.


    Standing on top of a stone pillar, Jiang Fan observed the sea of flames with a serene eye. But the sword in his hand hadn¡¯t relaxed an inch. He knew that that one strike from the other man had been filled with power and was not a person to be trifled with. There would be no relaxing of his guard for now.


    The entire area had been extremely quiet. It could even be said to be deathly quiet. Even the surrounding crickets and cicadas couldn¡¯t be heard at all. Only the crackling sounds of the sea of flames could be heard.


    After around ten minutes, the flames had finally begun to die down when all of a sudden, a globe of dazzling gold light suddenly soared through the air. Bisecting the remaining flames in two, the black-robed man came flying out from the middle of it.


    Jiang Fan¡¯s eyebrows flew up on his face in apparent shock. He knew that the enemy wouldn¡¯t be too heavily damaged, but it seemed as if the man was completely unharmed. Even though he couldn¡¯t see the face under the mask, the gloomy light in the man¡¯s eyes and the untouched clothes of the man had hinted that despite the large amount of soulforce that was used, the man was unharmed.


    The man walked out from the flames and stood several dozen meters away from Jiang Fan with a death glare. Not speaking a word, the man didn¡¯t seem to have any notions on chasing after Bai Yunfei.


    Using his soulsense to look for Bai Yunfei, Jiang Fan gave a smirk after realizing that Bai Yunfei was gone by now. Clasping his hands together, he spoke, ¡°It seems that you haven¡¯t any idea on fighting anymore, so let¡¯s leave things here as it is. If there¡¯s a chance in the future, please teach me well!¡±


    Clenching the fist with a sword in his hand tightly, the man¡¯s eyes could barely suppress the murderous rage within them. He had wanted nothing more than to fight Jiang Fan, but he knew that this was neither the time or place suitable for a giant battle now. His opponent was someone from the Crafting School; in the case that they discovered who he was, then it would bring countless of misfortune that would affect the plans of his school.


    Staring hard at Jiang Fan for a minute, the man in black finally let out a final sneer before leaping off his pillar. Several leaps later, he disappeared into the night sky in the exact opposite direction of where Bai Yunfei had run off to.


    Jiang Fan looked off at the disappearing figure for several seconds before letting out a gentle sigh. Collecting his sword, he whirled around to the other side. Sensing nothing there, his eyebrows furrowed together before finally shaking his head helplessly.


    ¡°This kid. He really did run off¡­.is he afraid I¡¯ll hurt him or something?¡± Jiang Fan muttered. ¡°Maybe he¡¯s never seen me before and doesn¡¯t know who I am¡­.Forget it, as long as he escaped, everything is good. The more experience he gets to hone himself, the better. If he¡¯s out on a journey away from the school, it¡¯d be good for him to experience the bitterness to life.¡±


    Then glancing at the direction where the black-robed man disappeared off into, his eyes reflected a curious glint. ¡°Just who was that person¡­.he deliberately fought in a way that didn¡¯t make use of any particular soul technique or fighting style. Was he afraid of revealing who he was? Just what was he up to if he was chasing down a junior to such an extent¡­¡±


    With a mind filled with doubt, Jiang Fan could only return back to the city.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei had only felt his mind growing fuzzy as he tried his best to support himself as he ran as fast as possible into the forest. The leaves crackled underneath his feet after running for an unknown amount of time. Without stopping at all, Bai Yunfei only knew that the farther away he ran, the less of a chance he would be chased¡­.


    After running for nearly an hour, Bai Yunfei finally came to a stop, his spirit weary and his strength exhausted. Climbing on top of a tree, he hid himself within the tree branches and sat on top of a thick branch to regain his breath.


    Not even several gasps later, his face suddenly grew red. With a hand flying to his chest, Bai Yunfei began to look pained.


    ¡°Pfft!!¡±


    A single mouthful of blood splattered the tree leaves, dying the verdant leaves a crimson hue. Pained, Bai Yunfei let out several more coughs before his condition finally took a turn for the better.


    Leaning against the tree with his back, Bai Yunfei closed his eyes and began to slow down his breathing. Several minutes later, he entered a complete meditational state. A weak red glow encircled his body, gradually turning his face a healthier shade of color before finally stabilizing.


    ¡­¡­


    On the second day when the sun was hanging in the middle of the sky almost, Bai Yunfei slowly opened his eyes.


    ¡°Phew¡­.¡± Taking in a deep breath of air, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes had a happy look to them.


    ¡°Its lucky that I¡¯m not too heavily injured. At most, it should take two days to heal completely.¡± Bai Yunfei rubbed at his chest, ¡°Thank the heavens for my Goldsilk Soul Armor. Otherwise, my entire rib cage would be dust by now.¡±


    ¡°I was saved by someone yet again¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself with an unwilling expression. ¡°If not for the fact that Jiang Fan mistook me to be someone from the Crafting School, I would have most likely been killed by the man in black. Damn it all, why is it that I always have to rely on someone else to save my own life?! Luck can¡¯t always be by my side, it only just needs one more time where it is not here for me to lose my own life¡­.¡±


    ¡°Power. I need power!!¡± Bai Yunfei clenched both fists tightly as desire flooded his eyes. ¡°If I become a Soul Ancestor, or even stronger than one¡­.then I don¡¯t need to rely on the favors of others. I could just beat or even kill the ones who are trying to kill me! Power, I just need power¡­.¡±


    Several minutes later, Bai Yunfei regained his tranquil expression once more.


    ¡°Ah, I wonder where Jing Mingfeng is¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly thought back to Jing Mingfeng who had been chased by a Soul Ancestor as well. Unable to stop himself from worrying, Bai Yunfei immediately went rigid and had a grimace on his face as he mocked himself, ¡°For fuck sakes, it was because of him that this happened to me. Why am I worrying about him? If he wasn¡¯t so bored to use me for such a thing, I wouldn¡¯t have been called a pervert or be chased down to be killed and lose my life!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good that I¡¯m lucky¡­.that bastard Jing Mingfeng. If I see him again, I¡¯ll beat the crap out of him until he can¡¯t even live a normal life!!¡± Bai Yunfei thought hatefully, but it had not been too spiteful, causing him to feel somewhat odd. For such a person that gave him so much trouble and danger, Bai Yunfei was still feeling generous towards him; was he being masochistic? Bai Yunfei silently cursed at himself¨Cit was only because he had already escaped from danger without much harm that he could laugh and amuse himself like so.


    But he had already determined that should this happen again, he would definitely take out a sizeable compensation from Jing Mingfeng¡­.

 Chapter 106: Bird Soulbeast?

    Chapter 106: Bird Soulbeast?


    Roughly fifty kilometers in a forest to the north of Yanlin City at night.


    Bai Yunfei continued to pry apart the human-sized reeds obstructing his vision as he traveled forward. At the same time, he continued to look up at the sea of trees around him. Trekking over the dried leaves for several hundred meters, he finally decided upon a tall tree to climb up and looked around.


    A moment later, his face stared gloomily at the setting sun far away. ¡°Fuck. Even I don¡¯t know where I am, how is the enemy supposed to find me here then??¡±


    ¡°Forget it, isn¡¯t this how it¡¯s always been? As long as I know the general direction, I should be fine. If the sun is setting down in that direction, then the north should be that direction as well¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei turned towards the north while deep in thought, ¡°I bet that Jiang Fan has already completely stopped that man from killing me so it should be safe. But I can¡¯t return to Yanlin City either. I have to continue onwards to the north¡­.¡±


    ¡°What a shame! I was only in Yanlin City for two days; there was so many things I haven¡¯t seen yet!¡± Bai Yunfei lamented as he prepared to jump down from the tree to continue his travels.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Just at that moment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows rose up as he noticed something above his head.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A minute sound of moving wind could be heard as it drew close to him. A single azure shadow flitted over Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, but not slow enough for him to see what it was. After the shadow flew past, it became a small dot that disappeared from sight shortly afterwards.


    ¡°That¡¯s a¡­.bird?? But isn¡¯t it flying a little too fast?¡± Bai Yunfei stared in disbelief. Then, realizing something with a start, he spoke, ¡°But this feeling, it¡¯s a little familiar¡­.oh! It¡¯s almost the exact same as Xiao Tang!¡±


    ¡°A soulbeast!!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out with even more shock. ¡°It¡¯s a little weaker than Xiao Tang, but it¡¯s speed definitely makes it stand out from the rest!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been stupefied as he looked around himself. ¡°This forest has soulbeasts too? Isn¡¯t that strange though? I never came across any before¡­¡±


    ¡°A bird huh¡­.definitely a bird¡­.if I had a bird soulbeast as a partner, then life wouldn¡¯t be too bad. But it¡¯s already gone so fast that it¡¯s gone¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. But a second later, Bai Yunfei suddenly felt something wet from on top of his head, ¡°Eh? What¡¯s that on my head?¡±


    When he brought a hand over to the top of his head, he could only feel something wet and sticky with his fingers.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this, why do I have such bad luck?¡±Thinking the bird had actually crapped on him during its speedy flight, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but let loose a curse as he brought up his finger to stare at it.


    ¡°Blood?¡± But unexpectedly, there was a splotch of blood on his finger.


    ¡°Then does that mean¡­.it¡¯s injured?¡± Bai Yunfei looked off into the direction the bird had flown off to in surprise. ¡°It can still fly so fast while injured?! And does this mean it¡¯s running for its life right now? Injured and yet still doing its best to escape¡­.¡±


    Having reached that line of thought, Bai Yunfei suddenly began to feel a little mournful for the bird. It was as if they were connected by the same string of fate that Bai Yunfei began to sympathize for the bird he didn¡¯t even get a chance to see.


    ¡°Well! I¡¯ll continue on my way then!¡± Bai Yunfei wiped the blood from his head and leapt off the tree to continue down his path.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    By nighttime, Bai Yunfei found another rather well-hidden spot to rest and recover in until the next morning.


    And so after two days and three nights, Bai Yunfei finally found himself facing a wide open road to travel upon. He had been glad; for if he had to stay within that forest for another two days, Bai Yunfei would surely have gone mad.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where this is, but judging from that direction, then this place should lead me straight to Yanlin City. And this direction should be¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei paused for a moment, unsure of where the road would take him. Taking out a map from his space ring, he studied the parchment for a long time before answering himself, ¡°If I go that way, then the next city is¡­.Guyi City.¡±


    ¡°But what¡¯s not known here is just how far away Guyi City is. I¡¯d best find someone to make sure.¡± Bai Yunfei looked around the road to find someone, but to no avail.


    ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll start walking first and confirm it when I find someone on the way. As long as I go a little faster, I should be able to reach Guyi City.¡±


    After making his decision, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t dawdle any longer. Seeing that the sun was already hanging up overhead, he took out a thatched straw hat and fastened it to his head. Then, with a jaunty folk song, he began to leisurely walk down the road.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Upgrade Successful.¡±


    ¡°Equipment quality: Normal.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +8.¡±


    ¡°Defense power: 2.¡±


    ¡°Additional defense power: 5.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 4 soulpoints.¡±


    Completely bored while traveling, Bai Yunfei had taken advantage of the clouds covering the sun to take his straw hat and upgrade it.


    ¡°A defensive strength of seven, that¡¯s about the same level of power that could withstand a stone smashing into it. I wonder what effect it¡¯d get if I upgrade it to +10?¡± Bai Yunfei looked at the straw hat with a curious eye as he begun to guess. ¡°But this is just a crappy equipment you¡¯d find anywhere, I bet there wouldn¡¯t be anything special¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had once upgraded an ordinary set of clothing to +10. As a result, its defensive power hadn¡¯t even broken the double digit threshold and had an additional effect of having a 1% chance of increasing one¡¯s defenses by ten if struck.


    ¡°Forget it, it¡¯d be sad if it exploded on me. This hat has been with me for a long time, and it¡¯s pretty good with shading me from the sun.¡± Now that the clouds had glided away for the sunlight to pass through, Bai Yunfei put the straw hat back on his head for protection. Shaking his right hand, several gleaming daggers appeared in it.


    ¡°An incomplete soul item can absorb a little soulforce, that is what differentiate it from a regular weapon¡­.but for the weapons I upgrade, then as long as the attack power doesn¡¯t reach the minimum required to be a soul item, it will need less soulforce to upgrade. This is a distinguishing point of my Upgrade technique.¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced at the dagger in his hand, ¡°Attack power of 157. In the eyes of the regular person, this is already a ¡®magical weapon¡¯ capable of peeling iron like it¡¯s mud. For a soul cultivator, this is just barely strong enough to use. The incomplete soul items that the house of Jiang are selling has to be from the Crafting School. But even these type of incomplete soul items are nothing more than scrap to be written off in the eyes of the Crafting School¡­.¡±


    ¡°House of Jiang¡­.Jiang Fan? Is he really a man from the Crafting School? He¡¯s a Soul Ancestor and similar in age to brother Hong Yin. Then that means he¡¯s another one of those rare to see talents. I wonder what rank he holds in the Crafting School¡­.¡±


    After living in the Green Willow School for several days, Bai Yunfei had a preliminary understanding of the world of soul cultivators. If there was a guide at hand, the average soul cultivator would need about ten or so years to awaken their soulforce. By the age of thirty, they¡¯d become a Soul Warrior, but becoming in tune with one¡¯s elemental energy was completely different, one had to be strong enough to automatically sense the one essence origin they were best suited for. But even then, there were plenty of people that trained hard for many years and were still incapable of sensing the existence of the elements. Some people were even forever stuck at the Soul Warrior stage for the rest of their lives. However, the average person would be able to become a Soul Sprite in their forties.


    After becoming a Soul Sprite, one would be able to absorb the energy of the world and cultivate to strengthen their soulforce even more. After absorbing enough of the elements in the world and circulating their soulforce, one could reach a never ending strengthening effect while also connecting with the one essence element on a deeper level. The stronger a person became, the better the control they would have over their element.


    When one became a Soul Sprite, it would take the majority of them to be in their fifties to become a Soul Ancestor whether they practiced in the elemental water or the elemental wind. However, becoming a Soul Exalt was many times harder than becoming a Soul Ancestor and was generally reached when a person was in their eighties to a hundred.


    After becoming a Soul Exalt, one wouldn¡¯t be able to use the words ¡®the majority¡¯ anymore. The Soul King level was a brand new level that only the exceptional leaders of their generation would be able to reach.


    Naturally, this was only the average ¡®statistics¡¯. The stronger a soul cultivator became, the more variables and complications that would arise¨Cespecially in the future so it was hard to lump everything together. Every day was yet another day that one person might possibly breathe their last breath. Inversely, every day was also another day that another person might come across a treasure or fortunate encounter with a guide that might boost one¡¯s strength. Like a coin toss, fortunate and misfortune were just another ordinary affair of the world.


    Qiu Luliu of the Green Willow School became a Soul Sprite in her twenties. As a result, she was known to have a superb amount of talent. Hong Yin on the other hand became a Soul Exalt before his thirties, making him a once in ten thousand unique talent.


    Bai Yunfei had been nineteen when he became a Soul Sprite and was thought to be exceptionally talented as well in their eyes. You Qingfeng had even wanted him to join the Wood School and nurture his talent there. But because Bai Yunfei had been adamant on joining the Crafting School, You Qingfeng could only give up his ideas. Bai Yunfei had been afraid to tell them that he had only became a soul cultivator the year before. If he did, Bai Yunfei knew that it would be very hard to explain everything. The Upgrade technique was his greatest secret that absolutely no one could learn about.


    But Bai Yunfei had never thought himself to be a ¡®genius¡¯. He knew that the only reason why he had became so strong so quickly was all because of the Upgrade technique along with the fireseed spirit mushrooms Hong Yin had given him before. Without those two, he would have never gotten to where he was now. One time, for the sake of measuring his own cultivation rate without using the Upgrade technique, Bai Yunfei cultivated for nearly ten days before realizing that his soulforce had only gone up by a pitiful amount. He was better off using his Upgrade technique to use up his soulforce at once to gain a huge return.


    As for Li Chengfeng¡­.Bai Yunfei simply couldn¡¯t understand it at all at first. But it was only now that he had realized that Li Chengfeng¡¯s cultivation rate practically defied the heavens themselves¨Cnow that was what it meant to be a ¡®genius¡¯!


    Jiang Fan and Hong Yin were similar in age, but while a soul cultivator¡¯s strength was determined by their cultivation, they were generally grouped by their age in reality. But Bai Yunfei would wager that Jiang Fan¡¯s position within the Crafting School was undoubtedly a high one.


    ¡°It was good that I was able to run away fast enough last night. If I was blocked by him, then I doubt that he¡¯d believe I was a student of the Crafting School. That¡¯d bring some unwanted attention¡­.when the time comes for when I meet him after I join the Crafting School, I¡¯ll have to make sure I thank him properly.¡±


    ¡°Aah? I¡¯ve strayed away from the topic, I need to continue upgrading this¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s unfocused eyes refocused on the dagger in his hand. ¡°Upgrade.¡± He spoke silently.


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 107: Tianming

    Chapter 107: Tianming


    As he walked, Bai Yunfei slowly began to upgrade the ten ¡®Superior¡¯ daggers he had traded for.


    Unknowingly, the rising sun had become a setting sun. The harsh sunlight of day had become a comforting twilight as the sky began to dim.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°Equipment quality: Superior.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +8.¡±


    ¡°Attack power: 155.¡±


    ¡°Additional attack power: 66.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 61 soulpoints.¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced at the dagger in his hand before returning it to his space ring while in thought. ¡°It has already reached 200 attack points by +8, that¡¯s enough to put it on par with a soul item. If I upgrade it past +8, it should gain an additional hundred attack points. That¡¯s enough to be a human-tier soul item. Equipment of the ¡®Superior¡¯ tier has a chance of being destroyed after the eighth upgrade. It seems like only soul items can be upgraded to +10 without an inherent risk of being destroyed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only upgraded four daggers and my soulpoints have been used up halfway. I¡¯ll resume my thoughts after this then.¡± Considering his own situation, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°I¡¯ve used up about 1500 soulpoints or so. With my original 3600 soulpoints, I wonder how much longer it¡¯ll take before I become a High-grade Soul Sprite¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for my soulforce to come back before I continue upgrading.¡± Bai Yunfei glanced up at the sky, ¡°It¡¯s getting late. I¡¯ll find somewhere to rest for the night! Why is it that I haven¡¯t seen anyone yet? How excellent my luck is¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei grumbled and moaned to himself as he walked for another half an hour before he suddenly stiffened. Seeing a group of people in the forest not too far away, Bai Yunfei saw a tent being dragged out along with a campfire. Several people sat around the fire and had a pile of things stacked right next to them.


    ¡°They have to be transport merchants.¡± Bai Yunfei thought back to the merchants he had once come into contact with every so often in the cities; these men weren¡¯t that different from the ones he had seen before


    Bai Yunfei felt overjoyed to see these men. Quickening his steps, Bai Yunfei soon came to a stop near the chattering group.


    ¡°Who goes there?¡± As soon as his figure came in close proximity of their area, the group had been alerted. Three robust-looking men immediately stood up to look at Bai Yunfei. Several others were still seated, but their hands inched vigilantly to the the weapons at their sides as they scoured the area.


    A security team for the transportation of goods would generally consist of several fighters of decent aptitude. Against a group of powerful mountain bandits they might be useless, but against an ordinary group of thieves, these fighters were more than enough to guarantee safety.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be nervous, I mean no harm. I am by myself.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled amicably before realizing that the sky was already far too dark for anyone to see. Instead, he waved his hands to show that he was harmless while he spoke polite words to them.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± A man with thick eyebrows looked at the youngster in front of him. Despite his stance loosening a tiny bit, he was still questioning Bai Yunfei.


    Coming to a stop just ten meters away, Bai Yunfei displayed a rather embarrassed look on his face, ¡°I, uh, I¡¯m just a young adult traveling the world. After an entire day of traveling, I finally found people and wished to share a meal. Are you all merchants? I hope that I can travel with you for some ways or pay for it if need be.¡±


    ¡°Han Yue, this young man here has to be all by himself.¡± Laughter could be heard from behind one of the larger men as a small-looking merchant came into view.


    He wasn¡¯t too tall, but his beard was quite long, and his eyes seemed a little unfocused. Overall, he had the air of an astute person without a roguish face. On the contrary, the smile on his face made him seem very friendly. With a nod to Bai Yunfei, he laughed, ¡°Haha, you¡¯re quite the jokester. Us crossing paths here is merely fate. If you wish to travel with us, then I don¡¯t see the problem with that. I, Huang Wan, may be a small time shopkeeper, but even I don¡¯t scrape after every bit of coin that comes my way. Don¡¯t even mention money and just come with us as you please!¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then you have my thanks, boss Huang!¡± Bai Yunfei warmly smiled and clasped his hands together in greeting. With a nod to every other man that was near him, he slowly made his way to the center where everyone else was.


    ¡°What should I call you, little one?¡± Huang Wan pulled Bai Yunfei to the side of the fire pit. Without the air of a shopkeeper to him, Huang Wan sat down with Bai Yunfei, and handed him a well-roasted chicken thigh.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Ah, are you heading to Guyi City as well, little Bai?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I found myself lost within a forest just a few days ago. It was only today that I managed to make my way back out, but the trip was rather boring. Seeing everyone gathered here, I just had to approach. I hope no one minds my intrusion.¡±


    ¡°Now now, none of that talk. We are on our way to Guyi City as well. You¡¯re welcome to travel the rest of the way with us.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, boss Huang. I have some strength to my bones, if we ever come across trouble, I can lend my hand to help.¡± Bai Yunfei had found Huang Wan¡¯s sincere and honest way of dealing with people rather refreshing.


    ¡°Oh? Are you a martial artist as well?¡± Huang Wan gave a surprised look to Bai Yunfei before shaking his head, ¡°Haha, there is no need to worry about anything. This time, we have two rather indispensable figures in our group. With them here, even a bandit brigand would be dead men walking if they picked a fight.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei was skeptical, ¡°Who are they?¡±


    Huang Wan gave a look around to see if the coast was clear before whispering, ¡°They¡¯re two soul cultivators!¡±


    It was then that Bai Yunfei discovered a single tent, pitched a hundred meters away, with two people sleeping. He saw them through the raised up tent flap. Bai Yunfei was accustomed to not using his soulsense to scour the area. He usually restrained his soulforce to the best of his ability so that a soul cultivator would completely miss him unless they were actively seeking him with their soulsense. The two soul cultivators within the tent were clearly the same as him, but Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t press to much about their identities. Not only was it rude, it would incur objections from everyone.


    For some strange reason, whenever Bai Yunfei looked at the tent, he felt a strange feeling. It was almost as if he felt something bad was about to happen¡­


    Perhaps it was because Bai Yunfei had been staring at the tent with some shock, but Huang Wan thought Bai Yunfei was startled to hear the fact that there were two soul cultivators here. With a pleased smile, he laughed, ¡°The goods I¡¯m transporting this time are quite precious, so I came myself to see it through. At the same time, I am the most relaxed I¡¯ve ever been in my career. I wonder why these two soul cultivators designed their trip to accompany this small merchant, but without them, I would never risk this trip! I can only hope now that no bandit will come and try to test their luck. To anger soul cultivators would be leading a lamb to a slaughter!¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked away with a faint smile. He didn¡¯t want to show off and say that he was a soul cultivator as well. If possible, he wanted to play the part of an ordinary civilian just a little longer. It was usually a refreshing time when he did.


    ¡°Boss Huang, I¡¯ve wandered around the forest for several days without rest, so I¡¯m quite tired and wish to rest. If¡­ If I could ask for the arrangements to be made.¡± Bai Yunfei polished off the chicken thigh and politely declined the cups of wine handed to him for a canteen of water instead as he spoke to Huang Wan.


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no problem at all!¡± Huang Wan looked left and right as if afraid of accidentally waking up the soul cultivators before speaking in a low voice, ¡°Tianming! Come on over!¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, I¡¯m coming, I¡¯m coming.¡± A puerile voice could be heard from another tent to the side as a fifteen to sixteen year old laborer youth came running out. His clothes were clearly not his own since they looked quite big on him. With his sleeves flying over his hands, the youth came running toward Huang Wan with a smile, ¡°Uncle Huang, I¡¯ve laid out the beds in every tent for everyone to sleep in.¡±


    ¡°Haha, thank you for your hard work, but I¡¯ve said before you don¡¯t need to be so proactive. It¡¯s almost as if you live for these odd jobs.¡± Huang Wan laughed while the other men to the side began to tease Tianming. Some of them had even rubbed Tianming¡¯s head with exaggerations of his diligence.


    Bai Yunfei was startled to see this youth, for he¡­ he was a soul cultivator! However, his strength was lower than Bai Yunfei¡¯s, nor was he suppressing his soulforce. Although he wasn¡¯t deliberately releasing it, the amount of soulforce that was leaking out from him wasn¡¯t enough for a regular person to notice, but for someone like Bai Yunfei, it was as clear as day.


    Curiously, Huang Wan had just been ¡®worshipping¡¯ soul cultivators, but his treatment of this youth was exemplary ordinary. This youth had to be pretending to be an ordinary person in front of everyone else.


    ¡°This is little Bai Yunfei; he¡¯ll be traveling with us, so bring him to a tent rest in.¡± Huang Wan spoke before turning back to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Little Bai, this is Tianming. You¡¯ll be sleeping with him tonight.¡±


    ¡°Ah, okay. Then I¡¯ll have to thank brother Tianming for his troubles.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head.


    ¡°There¡¯s no troubles at all. Brother Bai, if you¡¯d follow me, our tent is on the right side.¡± Tianming smiled and waved his hand. Pulling Bai Yunfei along, they began to walk toward a tent at a corner of the camp.


    Entering the tent, Tianming began to tidy up the hay to roll out a sleeping mat for the two. Then taking out another two pillows from his knapsack, he placed them down with a satisfied nod of his head. He then whirled around to look at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Brother Bai, let¡¯s introduce ourselves formally now! I¡¯m Ye Tianming. Ye as in the leaves of a tree, and Tianming like the dawn that comes after night! Pleased to make your acquaintance brother Bai Yunfei!¡±


    The innocent and straightforward eyes of Ye Tianming had nearly caused Bai Yunfei to laugh out loud. This was clearly a naive youth new to the ways of the world, but it was because of this naivety that made Bai Yunfei feel a lot closer to him.


    ¡°I¡¯m Bai Yunfei, Bai as in white and Yunfei as in the floating clouds. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Tianming.¡±


    ¡°Where is brother Bai headed?¡± Tianming sat on a mat with clear curiosity in his voice while waited for his question to be answered.


    ¡°I¡¯m heading to the Pingchuan province, you?¡±


    ¡°Me? Haha, I came out to play around for a while, so I¡¯m preparing to return home. Once I reach Guyi City, I¡¯ll head on to my home in Gaoyi City.¡± Tianming smiled as if he had been on a ¡®sightseeing tour¡¯ around the place. His eyes began to light up, ¡°Hey, we¡¯ll be traveling on the same road now! Who knows, maybe we¡¯ll be traveling again with each other! Brother Bai, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to respond, but with a quick reaction, he replied, ¡°Sounds fine to me. Having someone guide me is what I¡¯ve been looking for all this time. Did you just join with this merchant group as well? With your status of a soul cultivator, it¡¯s quite interesting to see you enjoy working these odd jobs¡­¡±


    ¡°Not at all, not at all. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve never done stuff like this before back home. Plus, soul cultivators are people too, but I never thought that being a soul cultivator would make me better than anyone else¡­¡± Tianming shook his head with an embarrassed smile. Merely seconds after he finished speaking, his eyes flew wide open in absolute shock at what Bai Yunfei had just said.


    ¡°You¡­ you know that I¡¯m a soul cultivator?¡±


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 108: Another Encounter

    Chapter 108: Another Encounter


    ¡°You¡­ you know that I¡¯m a soul cultivator?¡±


    Tianming¡¯s eyes grew wide as he stared at Bai Yunfei in astonishment.


    Bai Yunfei made a zipping motion with his hand to signify that Ye Tianming was peaking far too loud. With a faint smile, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be so nervous. I won¡¯t tell anyone else; I¡¯ll keep your secret.¡±


    ¡°If¡­.if you know, then you must be a soul cultivator too!¡± Tianming had immediately whispered after realizing that Bai Yunfei was a soul cultivator.


    With a nod of his head, Bai Yunfei walked on over to the nearby chair and sat down. ¡°Yes. We are all soul cultivators, but we cooperate with one another. If you don¡¯t wish to reveal yourself, then it¡¯s only natural that I won¡¯t do it. However, I have no intentions on telling them I am one either. So how about you won¡¯t tell them either, okay?¡±


    ¡°Aah? Oh¡­uh¡­.okay¡­..¡± Tianming had looked as if he was out of it. Dazed, he finally responded, ¡°I can¡¯t sense your soulforce, so that means you¡¯re stronger than me! Why is it that you don¡¯t want to reveal yourself? As a soul cultivator, you¡¯re still willing to mix in with the civilians? But even more, the way you talk with them is completely unlike a soul cultivator¡­.¡±


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s so strange about it? Haha, do I have to be so high and mighty to ¡®be¡¯ a soul cultivator? Didn¡¯t you just say soul cultivators are people too? And that you never thought that soul cultivators were ever a step higher than any regular person? Coincidentally, I feel the same way.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Tianming¡¯s face lit up in excitement, ¡°Do you really think that way too, brother Bai?¡±


    Ye Tianming let out a sigh afterwards as if he was pretending to be an old and mature person. ¡°A lot of soul cultivators feel as if they are far more important than any regular civilian and would hate to be seen with one. Even those who don¡¯t particularly care as much try not to get too close to a civilian in their minds. Even those two soul cultivators in that tent are no exception. While they¡¯re polite, they don¡¯t talk unless necessary and never mingle with us¡­.¡±


    ¡°Who cares what they do?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°Aren¡¯t they free to do what they are free to do? As long as you follow your own mindset without any problems, then who cares for what the others might think. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re living for them.¡±


    Tianming stared blankly at Bai Yunfei for a long while before his spirit finally returned to him, ¡°I¡­.I can live for myself? My parents always said that¡­.to be born from the house of Ye is to serve the family for one¡¯s entire life. For the family, one must swallow their pride and tolerate our grievances for the sake of the development of our family¨Ceven if it means to sacrifice one¡¯s own life¡­.¡±


    ¡°For the family huh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knitted together in thought, ¡°That is something I don¡¯t understand. But even if it¡¯s family, you shouldn¡¯t have to swallow your pride to work for the family in mind. Even if you come across some sort of trouble, you have to resolve it willingly and not be forced by another. Do as you yourself want to do. Even if it¡¯s hard or tiresome, do it so you won¡¯t regret. Man has to be happy in their life, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    ¡°That¡­.I¡­.I don¡¯t know¡­.¡± Tianming shook his head. His eyes had reflected his confusion and blank stare even.


    ¡°Oh, well. I don¡¯t understand it much myself either.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled in embarrassment. ¡°I was only just saying what popped up in my mind. In short, if you can, do what you want to the best of your ability. Be free and easy and live without regrets.¡±


    ¡°Do what I want to do?¡± Tianming remained clueless for a little longer before a look of realization overcame his face. With a wide grin, he replied, ¡°Yes! That¡¯s it! Do what I want! Hah, staying at home was suffocating me to death! Even after running away for two months, what danger was there? I had a blast playing around!¡±


    ¡°Haha, well, as long as you¡¯re happy.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°Ah, Tianming, your house is in Gaoyi City, right? Then do you know what type of family the house of Liu is?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Are you talking about the Liuqi family? What, are you familiar with the house of Liu?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that. I have a friend that¡¯s familiar with the house of Liu; they know that I should be traveling through Gaoyi City and so they gave me a letter. Should I ever need help, then I was told to go find the house of Liu. But I don¡¯t know them, so I wanted to ask around.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see now¡­.¡± Tianming didn¡¯t ask any more questions and instead began to think. ¡°The house of Liu is one of the three ruling families in Gaoyi City. My house of Ye and the house of Zhao are similar to them in strength, but several of their senior members were disciples of the Wood School. So because of that, they have a special connection with the Wood school. Still, it¡¯s not as if they need that type of support to threaten people since they¡¯re a very moderate family to begin with.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that right?¡± Bai Yunfei gave a thoughtful nod of his head before suddenly asking, ¡°Your house of Ye? Does that mean your family is one of the three ruling families in the city?¡±


    ¡°Crap! I let it slip!¡± Tianming blanched as he realized he had spoke far too much. With an embarrassed wave of his hands, he spoke, ¡°Er¡­.hehe, let¡¯s keep this a secret from everyone, okay? I haven¡¯t told anyone else, but if they found out, then there¡¯s no way we¡¯ll be able to talk normally.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t tell. Well then, it¡¯s getting late. I¡¯ll be resting first, so let¡¯s talk tomorrow. I haven¡¯t rested for several days, so at last I can finally sleep in peace!¡± Bai Yunfei let out a yawn before resting his head on the pillow and close his eyes.


    Tianming didn¡¯t know what else to say, but when he saw Bai Yunfei had fallen asleep, he had decided not to say anything more. Laying down on his own bed deep in thought, TIanming finally fell asleep several moments later.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Without even cultivating, Bai Yunfei woke up the next morning in a refreshed mood. Seeing how bright the sky was outside, Bai Yunfei noticed that no one else was even up yet. Sitting crossed-legged on his bed, Bai Yunfei began to slowly inspect his injuries.


    Several moments later when the day got even brighter, Bai Yunfei finally reopened his eyes with a satisfied smile. ¡°It¡¯s pretty much healed almost with no aftereffects. My soulforce has increased even more too. It looks like my strength increases explosively after danger! But¡­.I hope that it doesn¡¯t come often, I don¡¯t like this way of increasing my strength.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Brother Bai, you¡¯re up already? I was just about to wake you up for breakfast.¡±


    Upon walking out from the tent, Bai Yunfei came across Tianming who had been in the middle of doing some labor. In his hands was a broken fan and his face was filled with soot. His hair had even some leftover leaves and branches stuck in it¨Cclearly he had just been cooking the breakfast meals for today.


    ¡°When I woke up you were already in the middle of your cultivation so I didn¡¯t want to bother you. Your porridge is all heated up for you to eat. If you can wash yourself up in the brook, we can eat breakfast and then continue on our way.¡± Tianming pointed to the brook to the right of them for Bai Yunfei to wash up.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go do that.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. But seeing how grimy Tianming was, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Hey, Tianming. Why does a young master like you like to do such odd jobs like these? You¡¯re so dirty, why don¡¯t you go wash up too.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fun! I could never do this back at home¡­.haha. Fine, I¡¯ll go wash up.¡± Tianming shook his head with a chuckle and followed Bai Yunfei to the brook.


    After cleaning up, Bai Yunfei began to wring his hands to dry himself off. As soon as he was about to call for Tianming, a furious howl suddenly shocked Bai Yunfei to fall face-first back into the waters.


    ¡°Pervert! Do you still deny it! You¡¯re still following the young miss!¡± The voice of a middle-aged woman could suddenly be heard from behind. Even the far away men had been startled and began to look on over.


    Bai Yunfei trembled as he turned around to see the two persons right behind him. Quirking his lips in embarrassment, he replied, ¡°Au¡­.aunty, how coincidental. We meet again¡­.but. I¡¯ve explained before, I¡¯m no pervert¡­.¡±


    The sudden newcomers had been the two women Jing Mingfeng had played around with back in Yanlin City who later fought with Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Hmph! You¡¯re still pretending! Once a pervert, always a pervert! If we meet again here, then that means you¡¯re not going to give up on the young miss?!¡± Aunty Zhao unconsciously hid the young miss behind her as she stared vigilantly down at Bai Yunfei with a furious expression.


    Unable to laugh or cry, Bai Yunfei replied helplessly, ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, aunty. This is really a coincidence. If I was following you, would I really let you see me here out in the open like an idiot? It wasn¡¯t me before, I¡¯ve told you someone disguised themselves as me. I¡¯ve found him already though too¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, then where is he! Call him out to prove it!¡± Aunty Zhao had been unrelenting on Bai Yunfei and began to demand from him.


    ¡°Well¡­.he and I have already split ways¡­.¡±


    ¡°What a load of cock-and-bull! This are all just lies!¡± The furious expression on her face grew even more angry before her soulforce began to surge out from her body. Lifting her right foot off the ground, she gave a heavy stomp onto the ground. As the elemental earth entered it, a wash basin-sized stone flew up half a meter into the air next to her foot. With a single kick, the aunty had brought the stone flying towards Bai Yunfei with a whistling sound.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knitted together in annoyance. With a snort, he stepped half a step forward and brought his right hand forward to punch it.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A bright red glow could be seen as the stone that had shot at Bai Yunfei was pulverized into dust and scattered away into the wind.


    ¡°Aunty, you are far too much of a bully. I¡¯ve never done you any wrongs, and yet this is the second time you¡¯ve tried to start something. If you still wish to fight today, then I won¡¯t be as polite as I was last time!¡± Bai Yunfei raised his right fist with an angry scowl.


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, don¡¯t get angry. This mister isn¡¯t following us. Boss Huang said that a traveler joined the group just yesterday night, it has to be him. If he really was a scoundrel, then would he really act this way¡­.¡± A slenderly clean hand grabbed onto the aunty¡¯s wrist at the same time a gentle and warm voice could be heard.


    ¡°Young miss, do you really believe in his nonsense?!¡± The aunty had an indignant glare at Bai Yunfei still.


    The young woman smiled and shook her head. ¡°Aunty, I know you¡¯re afraid of me being harmed, but you can¡¯t be too emotional either. I¡¯ve said before that we may have gotten the wrong person, but you¡¯re still so stubborn. Look at that mister¡¯s attitude and eyes. They¡¯re completely different than the one we met before.¡±


    ¡°Miss, but I¡­.¡± The aunty had wanted to say something more, but the young woman shook her head, causing the aunty to sigh and take in two deep breaths to calm herself. Turning to walk back to the woman¡¯s side, the aunty continued to stare vigilantly at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Mister, my aunty Zhao is a very rash person. If you were insulted by this, please forgive us.¡± The young woman moved forward to smile at Bai Yunfei and speak with a gentle voice.


    As like before, this young woman wore a white dress and her hair was like a waterfall on her shoulders. Two strands of her hair routed behind her head and was tied up with a silver ribbon into several thousand more strands. Almost as if just blowing on her skin could make it less fair, her lips were cherry red and her eyebrows were long and shapely. When she smiled, the two dimples on both sides of her face was clearly visible so that she looked rather cute and sweet-tempered.


    ¡°Oh, this young lady is quite sensible. I should be thanking you. This entire thing was a misunderstanding from the very beginning. I was framed¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes hovered over the young woman¡¯s face for a moment before turning elsewhere. It was not that he did not want to look at her. Rather, it was because of the knife-sharp glare coming from right behind her that Bai Yunfei found himself unwilling to look.


    ¡°Haha, I believe in mister. You are a strong one that doesn¡¯t need to explain anything to us. Your expression is a healthy one, unlike the rogue that attacked us that night¡­.¡± The woman laughed again. ¡°Ah, may I know what to call mister?¡±


    ¡°Oh. I am Bai Yunfei. Bai as in white, and Yunfei as in the clouds that float freely in the sky¡­.and you are?¡±


    Hearing Bai Yunfei¡¯s name had clearly stunned the young woman for a moment. Looking up to meet his stare, she seemed as if she was doubting him for a moment. But having seen that there was nothing unnatural about his words or stare, she looked away and turned her head down. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know if it was his imagination or not, but he could swear that he could see just a tiny bit of a blush on her face.


    When the aunt heard Bai Yunfei speak, her eyebrows rose into the air. For some reason, she had a furious glare on her face as if Bai Yunfei¡¯s words had insulted her in some manner or way. Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, the young woman cut in first.


    ¡°I am¡­.Tang Xinyun.¡±

 Chapter 109: sThe Heart Flies With the Cloudss, Tang Xinyun

    Chapter 109: ''The Heart Flies With the Clouds'', Tang Xinyun


    ¡°Xinyun?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was slightly surprised to hear her name. Unable to stop himself from repeating it, he thought back to the phrase ¡®The heart flies with the clouds.¡¯ This phrase was very similar to his own name. Was it because of this that she felt embarrassed?


    ¡°No, no. ¡®Yun as in the character for citrus¡­¡± The blush on the girl¡¯s face seemed to deepen a little as she explained herself.


    TL Note: The character ¡®Yun¡¯ in her name is very similar to the character ¡®cloud¡¯ in Bai Yunfei¡¯s name.


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head in embarrassment. Although he felt that she seemed to be hiding something, he didn¡¯t wish to bother her with anymore questions. Looking around, he said, ¡°Miss Tang is here to wash and bathe, am I right? Then I won¡¯t disturb you anymore. Tianming, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Wha? Oh! Coming, coming.¡± Tianming snapped back to awareness and hurried after him.


    Watching Bai Yunfei leave with a vigilant stare, Aunty Zhao finally looked away and retrieved a washbasin from her space ring for Tang Xinyun to use to bathe.


    ¡°Young miss, do you still think he¡¯s not that same scoundrel? Look at how cheap he took your name to be, hmph! He has to be doing that on purpose!¡± Aunty Zhao scoffed at the back of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, don¡¯t be so suspicious. I see this was only a coincidental meeting¡­ he couldn¡¯t have known my name beforehand in any case.¡± Tang Xinyun washed her face and wiped away the water with a towel.


    ¡°How could it be¡­ when the madame gave you your name, she hoped that you would not be dyed by the ruthlessness of the clan. She hoped that your heart would be free and without restraints like a cloud. Freedom in its flight, she decided on the name ¡°Xinyun¡± from the phrase ¡®The heart flies with the clouds.¡¯ She named you with the other character for ¡®Yun¡¯ because it was more suited for a female. He said his name was Bai Yunfei. That has to be a deliberate attempt at copying your name!¡±


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s face reddened a bit, but looking rather helplessly at her aunty, she replied, ¡°Aunty Zhao, do you think he would know even the meaning behind my name?¡±


    ¡°Oh. That¡¯s¡­¡± The older woman¡¯s face went rigid as she realized that this thought of hers was rather far-fetched.


    ¡°Okay then. Aunty Zhao, don¡¯t be so hostile to him. Whether he is the same person from that night, it seems he doesn¡¯t have any ill intentions now, isn¡¯t that right? It would be good to get to know more people with the time we spend traveling.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fine then. As long as he doesn¡¯t treat you impolitely, I won¡¯t start trouble with him¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Brother Bai, why did that Aunty call you a ¡®pervert?¡¯ What did you do? Did you ¡ª don¡¯t tell me you¡­¡± On the other side, Tianming and Bai Yunfei were walking back to the camp. Turning to look back at Tang Xinyun, his eyes began to sparkle as he gave a mischievous smile to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Brat, don¡¯t frame me for something I didn¡¯t do!¡± Bai Yunfei glared at him and slapped his head in befuddlement. ¡°I am a man of honor, how could I possibly do something so vulgar like that!?¡±


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t anything, then you didn¡¯t do it, I didn¡¯t say anything¡­¡± Tianming massaged his hurt head in discontent. Seeing the ¡®anger¡¯ in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes made him realize something however, ¡°But brother Bai, you¡¯re really amazing! That stone the aunty shot out wasn¡¯t a small one, how did you deflect it so easily? I know that that Aunty is at least a Soul Sprite, how strong are you then?¡±


    ¡°Just like her, I am a mid-stage Soul Sprite.¡± Bai Yunfei replied.


    ¡°Woah!! A mid-stage Soul Sprite! You¡¯re as strong as my older brother, and he¡¯s already thirty years old! I can see that you¡¯re no older than twenty, but you¡¯re just as strong!¡± Tianming cried out in complete and utter adoration.


    Not sure how he should react in this situation, Bai Yunfei turned to look off in the distance where the merchant Huang was.


    Although it had been a rather casual attack from the Aunty, it was filled with a very strong amount of soulforce. For the average commoner, this was an extremely astonishing attack. When Bai Yunfei had crushed it to powder, it was a feat of unbelievable strength to them, yet he had done so with ease!


    ¡°Litt-no¡­ excuse me. Lord Bai, I didn¡¯t think that you¡¯d¡­ you¡¯d be a soul cultivator¡­ I was neglectful in the past. Please forgive me for any slight I might have committed against you.¡±


    ¡°Boss Huang, what are you saying? It was me that was under your consideration. How could you apologize to me? I hid my identity on purpose. Just treat me like you did yesterday, there¡¯s no need to be so polite.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head with a smile.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Huan Wan was just a commoner, but he was a clever one. Seeing the sincerity in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, his hesitation disappeared in an instant. Laughing, he replied, ¡°Fine then¡­ I¡¯ll be calling you little Bai from now on. Who would have thought that you¡¯d be a mighty soul cultivator? And you¡¯re so amiable as well! It¡¯s really hard to believe. Then, please look after us for the rest of this journey, little Bai.¡±


    Huang Wan laughed. He seemed back to normal. However, there was still a glint of adoration in his eyes. As astute as he was, he naturally couldn¡¯t let this opportunity with such a strong soul cultivator slip by him. As a merchant, this was a very rare chance to evade any trouble.


    ¡°That¡¯s only natural. If I can help in any possible way, then please don¡¯t hesitate to ask. I will do my best.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Haha, then I must thank you, little Bai. We¡¯ve already prepared breakfast, come and eat then!¡± Huang Wan¡¯s laugh made his eyes turn to slits. Giving a signal to the people next to him, Huang Wan had several of them immediately scoop out some of the congee to serve Bai Yunfei straight away.


    Shaking his head at the respectful attitude of these men, Bai Yunfei accepted the bowl and began to talk to Huang Wan as he ate. However, sometimes he would cast a glance over to Tang Xinyun and her companion.


    Seeing the two of them walk over slowly, Bai Yunfei waved on over to them. ¡°Miss Tang, come and eat with everyone so that we can leave earlier!¡±


    Narrowing her eyebrows together, the aunty barked in annoyance, ¡°Have someone send our meals to our tent, we¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°No, Aunty. We should eat here so we can leave earlier. We can¡¯t delay mister Huang anymore than we already have.¡± Tang Xinyun interrupted the aunty. Nodding her head to Bai Yunfei, she walked over to his side. With a shake of her hand, a small stool appeared from her space ring, and was placed down for her to sit upon.


    Unable to do anything else, the aunty could only follow close behind. Taking out two small bowls to scoop congee into, she handed a bowl to Tang Xinyun and began to eat.


    ¡°Ah, where is miss Tang planning on going?¡± After finishing the meal, Bai Yunfei asked Tang Xinyun as they watched everyone else pack up the campgrounds.


    ¡°Why do you care where we go? Are you trying to follow us forever!?¡± Before Tang Xinyun could even speak, the aunty spat out a reply.


    ¡°Ehm¡­¡± Bai Yunfei stared balefully at the aunty for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. ¡°Fine then. In order not to make aunty misunderstand, I¡¯ll say where I¡¯m going first. I wish to pass through Guyi City to get to Gaoyi City before ultimately entering the Pingchuan Province. Now, where are you two traveling to?¡±


    ¡°You! You¡­¡± The aunty¡¯s eyes flew wide open as if she was preparing to get angry once more.


    ¡°Well then. Judging from aunty¡¯s reaction, I can assume that we¡¯ll be sharing the same path? What a coincidence that is. Why don¡¯t we travel together until we reach Gaoyi City then? From that point on, it would be pointless to travel as if we were strangers.¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Forget it! We¡¯ll hire a chariot at Guyi City and hurry on our way! We won¡¯t inconvenience you with your ¡®consideration¡¯ for us!¡± The aunty adamantly refused.


    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s like that, then there¡¯s no helping it¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed. He had only asked on a whim, so if they declined his good intentions, there was no point in saying anything more.


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 110: Beaten Black and Blue

    Chapter 110: Beaten Black and Blue


    Not too long after their exchange, everyone packed up their things and readied the horses and carriages to depart for Guyi City.


    A man named Zhang Yuehan led the group. As per his wishes, Huang Wan stood in the middle while Bai Yunfei walked slowly from behind.


    Bai Yunfei would often times talk with Tang Xinyun while Tianming would interject into the conversation with a smile and a word of his own. Naturally, aunty Zhao would stand between Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun as if guarding her from Bai Yunfei.


    From the conversation, Bai Yunfei learned that aunty Zhao¡¯s full name was Zhao Mancha, and she was the maid for Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother. Zhao Mancha had also been responsible for being the nanny of Tang Xinyun, so when she went out to travel, Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother told the aunty to travel with her for protection. Her homelands were southwest of the Beiyan Province in the Shanlin Province, but the specifics had not been divulged to him. Naturally, Bai Yunfei had taken the hint and inquired no more.


    However, for a servant woman like Zhao Mancha to be a Soul Sprite, Bai Yunfei could at least guess that the family they belonged to was very strong to say the least. After an even closer observation, Bai Yunfei could detect a glint of sadness whenever Tang Xinyun mentioned her mother. It seemed that this ¡®home¡¯ of hers was not filled with much love for the mother and daughter pair¡­


    After ¡®revealing¡¯ his own identity, Tianming decided to forego his secrecy to talk in a torrential downpour of words about how life was for him in Gaoyi City. He talked about how he had been bored to death within his home, and how the self-indulgent second generation of the aristocratic families made him despise their arrogance and type. Almost as if he never had anyone to say this to before, Tianming had been exuberant in his words. He had even talked about several ¡®secrets¡¯ that shouldn¡¯t be said, such as how there was a morbidly obese swine of a man from the house of Liu. That man loved to pretend he was handsome, and Tianming had always wanted nothing more than to beat the fat away. However, the fatty had a younger sister that was quite pleasing with eyes that were limpid and intelligent¡­


    Bai Yunfei practically turned bright-red with what he was hearing. Clearly Tianming had been stuck in his house for far too long. He was all too happy to ¡®flew the coop¡¯ and say what had been making him so sad the entire time. Of course, this was also possible because Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t give him the feeling of ¡®wanting to hurt him¡¯, so he had seen no need to put a filter on what he said. For as much as he said, whenever it concerned the secret matters of their respective clans, Ye Tianming knew of the proper limits and stopped whenever it was getting too personal.


    Traveling slowly until the sun set, the group found another open clearing for everyone to set up for the night. According to Huang Wan, they were still roughly halfway there from Yanlin City to Guyi City. With another three days or so, they would arrive at their destination.


    During the day, they would come across several other travelers. When there were trails off the main path, small parties from the main group would quickly travel down the path to find a resting spot.


    Seeing how everyone was busy with their own tasks and how he was useless to help them, Bai Yunfei thought from sunrise to sunset and even deep into the night. He was thinking of a way he could help. Finally, he decided that he could stroll around the troop and find some wild game to hunt for everyone to eat later that night.


    Walking within a thousand meters of the group, Bai Yunfei hoped that he could find hare, pheasant, or any other type of game. Why search within just a thousand miles and why not even farther? What rubbish! If he were to get lost, they would have to come find him, and how embarrassing that would be!?


    ¡°Wha-what a fat pheasant! And there¡¯s three of them! Haha, we¡¯ll be eating well tonight!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled as he observed the three pheasants in the brush in front of him. With a swing of his hand, three daggers flew out¡­


    After tieing up the claws of the freshly-killed pheasants with some reeds found nearby, Bai Yunfei slowly made his way out of the forest. Bai Yunfei felt a happy sensation as he made his way back.


    It was only after he made it back to the main path that he realized he was well over a thousand meters away from the area where the rest of them were. Sweat-dripping in shame, Bai Yunfei whirled around to walk back when, all of a sudden, a sound from behind had startled him.


    ¡°Eh? Bai Yunfei, is that really you!?¡±


    This was a dreadfully terrifying experience for Bai Yunfei. If a Soul Sprite like him wasn¡¯t able to detect someone so close to him, then Bai Yunfei shuddered to imagine what would have happened to him should that person bear ill-will to him¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s continued to walk without turning back for several meters. Then, he quickly turned around to whirl the daggers in his right hand. However, it was then that Bai Yunfei realized that instead of daggers, he was still holding the three pheasants he had just hunted. Hurriedly shaking his right hand to withdraw two daggers from his space ring instead, he looked vigilantly at the person in front of him with the daggers ready to let loose.


    A youth with a nose as small as his eyes could be seen standing several meters away. The youth looked at him with a rather strange expression that could perhaps be interpreted as joy.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knit together as he scanned the youth with his soulsense. The youth looked like a regular civilian without any noticeable features. However, the fact that he hadn¡¯t been able to detect this youth had given him a queer feeling ¡ª this feeling was rather familiar¡­


    ¡°This is great ¡ª you¡¯re alive! I heard the commotion last night just outside the city walls. I thought you went and got yourself killed!¡± The youth let out a sigh in exuberant joy.


    ¡°Jing Mingfeng!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up on his face when he realized that this person was in fact Jing Mingfeng! It was only that Jing Mingfeng had changed his physical appearance again.


    Winking his eyes, the youth gave a grin, ¡°Who else could it be but me? Haha, Bai Yunfei, finding out that you¡¯re still alive is just great news! If you went and died, then I¡¯d be too ashamed to live in peace.¡±


    Even as he spoke, there was not the slightest tint of shame to his smile. It was almost as if Jing Mingfeng was regarding him as a very old friend. Walking toward Bai Yunfei, his arms opened wide as if to give him a hug.


    He bore no ill will at all. Having seen Bai Yunfei safe and sound made his heart feel at peace. At the same time, he was overly happy about everything.


    Bai Yunfei felt his emotions stir. Placing the pheasants in his hand down on the ground, he held his arms out and began to stroll briskly to Jing Mingfeng.


    Smiling even wider now, Jing Mingfeng picked up his pace with a beaming smile, ¡°It¡¯s great to see that yo-¡±


    ¡°You bastard! I should arrest you! Give back my innocent name!!¡± The instant the two got close to one another, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands flew swiftly to Jing Mingfeng neck. He began to strangle him with his teeth grinding against each other in rage.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I can explain! Just let me¡­ let me apologize, alright? Haha¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face turned red as he tried to breath.


    ¡°Is there a damn point to your apologies! I was nearly killed by you, and even that aside, I was still called a ¡®depraved pervert¡¯ because of you! I¡¯ll hang your liver to the wall damn it. Do you realize just how many people saw me there that day!? My reputation! Why!? You bastard!¡± Bai Yunfei grabbed Jing Mingfeng¡¯s collar to shake it before ultimately throwing him ten meters away.


    Jing Mingfeng flew through the air before finally falling back to the ground. Bai Yunfei had already caught up to him before he hit the ground, and was ready to trample him to death.


    ¡°No! Just let me explain! I can apologize! I sai-¡±


    ¡°Apologize my ass! I¡¯ve so many complaints. I don¡¯t even know where to start with you! I swear, if I ever meet you again, I¡¯ll beat you so badly that your mom won¡¯t even recognize you! Apologize? Just wait until I¡¯m through with you!¡± Bai Yunfei furiously snarled in a fit of rage.


    The mixed sounds of pummeling and shrieks of pain could be heard from so far that they caught the attention of Tang Xinyun and the others.


    Several minutes later, the shrieks grew even more quiet as if the owner was growing tired. Even the pummeling sounds grew quiet as well¡­


    ¡°Lord Bai, what happe-¡±


    A single startled yelp could be heard, causing Bai Yunfei to turn his head up. Right in front of him were Tang Xinyun, Zhao Mancha, Tianming, and even Huang Wan. Stunned, the entire group could only look at him and then at what seemed to be a¡­ man?


    ¡°Miss Tang, Aunty Zhao, you came at a good time, I¡¯ve got proof to clear my name!¡± Bai Yunfei held Jing Mingfeng up by the clothes as he spoke to the two females. ¡°This is the person who impersonated me that day and made trouble for you! He is the ¡®depraved pervert,¡¯ and has nothing to do with me!¡±


    ¡°Ehhh? Are you saying this person pretended to be you?¡±


    Tang Xinyun studied Jing Mingfeng. He looked more like a pig than a man in the face from the beating. Her eyebrows knit together almost like she was not sure if that was the right question to ask.

 Chapter 111: A Deal?

    Chapter 111: A Deal?


    Having been beaten black and blue, Jing Mingfeng was startled to see Tang Xinyun. He did not expect to come across her party here as well.


    ¡°This is him, miss Tang! He¡¯s the one that¡¯s responsible for everything, not me!¡± Bai Yunfei glared at Jing Mingfeng as if giving him a stare that promised pain if the answer was not said in truth.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng remained deep in thought for a moment before smiling at Tang Xinyun with a smile that looked even uglier than his crying face. With slight vibrato, he said, ¡°Haha, miss, we meet again. I was only joking around last time, I hope you won¡¯t pay it too much attention¡­¡±


    ¡°It really is you!¡± Before he could even finish speaking, Tang Xinyun¡¯s face had changed. His words, his eyes, his personality ¡ª even though Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face was beaten to the point of being unrecognizable and his eyes were only slits from the swelling, she had immediately recognized who he was.


    Jing Mingfeng had suppressed his soul force with some sort of technique so that the spread of his soulforce wouldn¡¯t be remembered too clearly last time they met. However, when he stood next to Bai Yunfei, Tang Xinyun could see a large similarity between Jing Mingfeng and the one that assaulted her that night.


    A furious surge of anger swelled within Tang Xinyun¡¯s heart when she realized this fact. However, before she could even move, the aunty next to her immediately stepped into action.


    ¡°Bastard, it¡¯s you!!¡± A furious aura began to radiate from the aunty¡¯s body. It was not soulforce, but ¡®fury¡¯. With a roar, she flew between Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng. She grabbed the latter. The woman threw him like a sack of potatoes, and then she chased after him before he could fall back down.


    In the midst of his flight, Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but let out a startled cry, ¡°Holdup! Aunty, you¡¯re here too!?¡±


    ¡°Aunty! I was only joking around with you that day. Don¡¯t lower yourself to bickering with someone younger! I-¡± Before he could even finish speaking, the older woman had already grabbed at the collar of his shirt to slam him into the ground. Afterward, the sounds of someone being pummeled could be heard.


    (Because of the graphic nature of the scene, 527 characters were omitted here¡­)


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips twitched at the sight, but he didn¡¯t bother to speak out to stop her. Instead, he was feeling some joy at Jing Mingfeng¡¯s pain. Why would he stop her?


    Tang Xinyun knew that she would not seriously harm him despite the anger her aunty felt. Jing Mingfeng did not use his soulforce to defend himself, meaning that he accepted his physical punishment, and since Tang Xinyun was angry at Jing Mingfeng, she would not intervene either.


    Tianming¡¯s eyes sparkled with a strange light as if he found this violent exchange in front of him an interesting sight. He did not seem like he would interfere.


    The merchant Huang? Why would he interfere?


    So, after Jing Mingfeng was beaten by Bai Yunfei, he had to survive another ten minutes of the beating by the hands of Zhao Mancha¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The flames of the bonfire burned brightly that night as everyone hastened to prepare dinner. Bai Yunfei sat on a rock a hundred meters away. By his side sat a pig-headed man ¡ª wait ¡ª it was Jing Mingfeng.


    Seeing how Jing Mingfeng was grimacing right next to him, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but smile. In truth, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s wounds were superficial and would only take several minutes to heal if he used his soulforce. The reason why he was still in such a state was because aunty Zhao had promised that should he use his soulforce within a day to heal his wounds, then she would beat him even more than the first time¡­


    ¡°Well, I can see that aunty Zhao¡¯s anger has subsided. You can consider that one of our debts settled. Be happy!¡± Bai Yunfei slapped Jing Mingfeng on the shoulder with a smile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be happy about my pains. If not for me taking mind to keep the pace, the Aunty wouldn¡¯t be like this at all!¡± Jing Mingfeng grumbled before the bruises on his face twitched and caused him to grimace again.


    ¡°Fine then, moving on.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head without the intention of joking with him again. ¡°I saw that you were untouched when we met. How did you escape without being hurt?¡±


    The expression on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face stiffened (Not that it was noticeable on his pig-headed face). Thinking about it, he turned to look far away and slowly narrated, ¡°When I was being chased by the Soul Ancestor, he looked as if he was trying to see if I had any other friends with me. After some time, he clearly lost his patience and began to reveal his killing intent. Just then, I was lucky to find a midnight mourning procession for a wealthy family with over a hundred people in attendance. I just had to blend in with the crowd, use my technique to change my face, and hide my soulforce. Then escaping was¡­ simple. I could hear the explosions from the direction you ran off in. I wanted to check up on you, but the one chasing after me decided to run that way, so I decided not to go. I knew that if you escaped, there¡¯d be no way you¡¯d return to the city, so I left in this direction as well. I didn¡¯t expect to run into you again, how coincidental¡­¡±


    ¡°It was that simple?¡± Bai Yunfei stared in doubt.


    ¡°Aye, it was that simple.¡± Jing Mingfeng blinked in response.


    ¡°Fine then, I¡¯ll believe you for now.¡± Bai Yunfei had no desire to continue his questions as he moved onto the next topic. ¡°Did you¡­ really not do anything that night? Why were there so many people after your blood? Even two Soul Ancestors came.¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know either!¡± Jing Mingfeng shook his head. ¡°I wasn¡¯t lying. That night I was planning on using your face to sneak into the household to see if there was anything I could use. But who would have known that that household would have so many Soul Sprites and other guys in there! The two Soul Ancestors in the room were apparently discussing something, but I didn¡¯t hear a single word of it. They must have thought I heard it all. That must have been why they were so adamant¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knit together in deep thought. If Jing Mingfeng was telling the complete truth, then this news wouldn¡¯t be such juicy information. It was truly a coincidental chance upon someone else¡¯s secret that made Jing Mingfeng a target to kill. Bai Yunfei was merely unfortunate enough to fall into the crossfire¡­


    ¡°Oh, what about you? How did you escape that night? When I looked at the scene later, a huge area of the stone forest was completely destroyed. That couldn¡¯t have been your doing, right?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked while Bai Yunfei was deep in thought.


    ¡°What rubbish, of course it wasn¡¯t me. When I was chased that day, I came across another Soul Ancestor that began to fight with the first. I took the chance to escape then¡­¡± Bai Yunfei stated.


    ¡°It was that simple?¡±


    ¡°Aye, it was that simple.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng grew silent, he knew that it wouldn¡¯t do to ask too many questions. Thinking for a moment, his right hand shook so that several pieces of jewelry appeared. Handing them over to Bai Yunfei, he said, ¡°Well¡­ I wanted to give these back.¡±


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips twitched into a smile as he looked at the swollen face of Jing Mingfeng. ¡°Oh? Are you that conscientious to return these to me?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s lips twitched in annoyance and his eyes revealed some reluctance. There was hesitation for a moment before finally pushing the accessories into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. ¡°Giving me these things helped me escape in one piece, so I owe you yet again. Now that I¡¯m fine, it¡¯s only natural that I return them to you¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled and gave a knowing look at him, but he took the accessories anyways.


    The two said no more, and the area descended into a momentary silence.


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes stared up at the starry canvas that was the night sky with twinkling eyes. After a moment¡¯s worth of pondering, he looked as if he had finally reached a decision with something.


    Half a moment later, a flash of hatred appeared in his eyes before determination replaced it. Biting at his lips, he turned to look at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, I wish to make a deal with you!¡±

 Chapter 112: Disguise Technique

    Chapter 112: Disguise Technique


    ¡°A deal?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows rose with a quirked smile, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I will teach you my family¡¯s secrets in exchange for your accessories that increase speed! However, I don¡¯t want the ones you can give out on a whim. You most likely have even better ones, right? I only want the ones that make me faster!¡± Jing Mingfeng earnestly spoke.


    ¡°Oh? You want accessories that make you even faster?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s smile remained on his face as if he wasn¡¯t shocked at all. ¡°Did you really think I¡¯d trade with you?¡±


    ¡°Give it up! I know you¡¯re interested in my family secrets. I also saw that you don¡¯t see those accessories as anything important, or at least they¡¯re not completely beyond the notion of being exchanged. What say you? Do we have a deal?¡±


    ¡°How about being able to change one¡¯s face and being able to hide one¡¯s soulforce?¡±


    ¡°Go to hell! In your dreams maybe! The Soul Concealment Art is something you should give up on. I wouldn¡¯t even think about handing over to you right now! I¡¯ll only give you the perfect Face Change Technique for four of your super effective accessories. I¡¯ll say it again. They have to increase my speed! If they can¡¯t, then we forget about this deal!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s smile gradually became smaller as his eyes began to sparkle. After pretending to debate Jing Mingfeng¡¯s words for some time, he finally nodded his head, ¡°Fine. I agree to this deal. However, I¡¯ll have to think of which accessories to give you over the night.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes lit up with a flabbergasted expression. ¡°Wha- you can even ¡®choose¡¯ which ones!? These items are priceless even in comparison to Soul Items. Do you really have that many? But how¡­ these items are something that even my grandfather only had two of¡­¡±


    At Jian Mingfeng¡¯s slip of tongue, Bai Yunfei felt his heart skip a beat. What Jing Mingfeng had revealed was that there were accessories that could increase the elemental affinity of the wearer!


    ¡°There are other accessories that could give a boost to ¡®elemental affinity¡¯? Ah, well if a soul item can be reforged to increase strength using a method different than the Upgrade technique but still achieves similar strength, then there would have to be accessories that could increase one¡¯s elemental affinity as well¡­ Then that means I shouldn¡¯t have been worried about trying to explain the uniqueness of these accessories.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s head began to spin with thoughts. He couldn¡¯t let Jing Mingfeng know what he was thinking; otherwise, it would be hard to explain.


    ¡°I¡¯ve had some fortunate encounters, that¡¯s all. The Heavenly Soul Continent has no shortages of those, does it not?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Many of the accessories I have have negligible effects. However many it takes to trade with you will be however many it takes. That¡¯s why I wish to think about it.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng stared at him for a moment with a quirked mouth, ¡°Forget it, what do I care what you¡¯re thinking about? As long as this deal is fair.¡±


    Shaking his right hand, a gray-colored soul technique scroll appeared in his hand. Tossing it to Bai Yunfei, Jing Mingfeng said, ¡°You take it first then. Learn it overnight and give it back tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re just giving it to me like that? Aren¡¯t you afraid of me backing out of the deal?¡± Bai Yunfei took the scroll with a questioning look.


    ¡°No matter. If you were to take it and run, then I¡¯ll have to admit that I was blind in my judgement. Besides, I owe you still, I¡¯ll take it that our debts are even now.¡± Jing Mingfeng waved his hand before quipping, ¡°Are you going to back out of the deal?¡±


    ¡°Haha, definitely not. I¡¯m still looking forward to trading for the other secrets you have. How could I possibly consider cutting off a future path that I could take?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed and put away the scroll.


    ¡°You¡¯re still on about the Soul Concealment? Forget about it, it¡¯s completely different from the Face Change technique. Although those items of yours are unusual, it¡¯s not worth exchanging for a soul technique at all.¡± Jing Mingfeng snorted as he shot down Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°The Soul Concealment technique is¡­ that important? Well, changing one¡¯s appearance and hiding one¡¯s soul are two different concepts I guess¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. Looking away to see Tianming waving at them, Bai Yunfei stood up and dusted himself off, ¡°Let¡¯s eat dinner first. We can talk about this tomorrow.¡±


    It was only after watching Bai Yunfei¡¯s back recede into the distance that Jing Mingfeng stopped smiling. Turning to look up at the moon, his eyes glazed over with a vacant light.


    ¡°Father, grandfather, I¡¯ve¡­ traded away the Face Change technique. Will you blame me for that? But still, with the clan gone¡­ is there a need to hide them anymore? I only wish for power. I want to become strong. Using our secrets to trade for power¡­ it can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯d rather die than hand them over to our enemies, but Bai Yunfei is different from them. It¡¯ll only be the Face Change technique, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem¡­¡±


    ¡°Father, mother, grandfather, brother, everyone¡­ wait until I become strong enough. I won¡¯t hide in the shadows like an ostrich in the sand. I vow that there¡¯ll be a day where our debts of blood will be paid for with blood!!¡±


    With thousands of ideas flashing through his mind, Jing Mingfeng could only give one final sigh to calm his nerves. Replacing the expression on his face with a wretched smile, he began to walk to where the others were gathered¡­


    Although aunty Zhao had not found Jing Mingfeng to be a pleasant addition to the group, she said nothing about the matter. Her guarded nature had only moved on from Bai Yunfei to Jing Mingfeng. Huang Wan knowing that Jing Mingfeng was a soul cultivator caused Huang Wan was so pleased knowing that Jing Mengfeng was a soul cultivator that he had made preparations for him to sleep in a nice tent.


    ¡­¡­


    Late that night within a tent, Tianming was blissfully sleeping away the night. On the mat next to him, Bai Yunfei sat with a scroll in his hand and a pondering look on his face.


    ¡°The Face Change technique¡­ it allows control over the facial muscles and skeletal structure to change the appearance of the face. By manipulating the entire skeletal structure and muscles in the body, one can change their body shape. By manipulating the throat, one can change their voice¡­ How was someone able to create such a perfect skill like this in the first place? I didn¡¯t even know there was a special way of using the pores of the body like this¡­¡±


    When a soul cultivator became a Soul Personage, they became adept in the way of controlling the skin and flesh to gain a very preliminary understanding of how to change their appearance. However, this transformation was limited and could not be held for long due to the constant need of vigilance and control. The Face Change technique, however, was a perfect method of transformation. The complexity and peculiarity of the transformation had been so overwhelming that Bai Yunfei felt dizzy just by reading it.


    To be brief, Bai Yunfei would be able to change his appearance at will as long as he mastered this soul technique. He wouldn¡¯t need to constantly maintain this transformation either. Even if he died, the transformation would be maintained. There was also a wide range of functionality within his transformation. Of course, turning into a three or four meter tall giant or a one meter tall dwarf was impossible.


    Closing his eyes to ensure that he had properly memorized the contents of the scroll, Bai Yunfei put away the scroll. He steadied his breathing to try as he used the technique on himself.


    Several minutes later, the muscles on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face began to shake. Slowly, his nose grew larger and his forehead expanded out. His chin grew flat and his face stretched wider just by a little.


    Not caring for what he was changing into, Bai Yunfei was merely just trying to test out the most basics of transformation on his face. If any regular civilian were to see his face now, the civilian would swear up and down that he was looking at the face of a demon. Under his careless transformation, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew grotesque and bizarre.


    About an hour later, Bai Yunfei finally stopped the experiments on his face before he calmed down. Then the trembles on his face began to start again, and not even ten minutes later, his face was back to normal.


    Opening his eyes, Bai Yunfei felt his face with a curious look, ¡°Mastering the concept is rather easy, but¡­ if I want to change into the face I want, that¡¯ll need more practice¡­¡±


    ¡°Well then. I¡¯ve gotten enough practice for now¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand shook to reveal a white bracelet in his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll prepare the items to exchange tomorrow. I may have several of these, but not all of them are the same quality¡­¡±


    ¡°Upgrade¡­¡±

 Chapter 113: The sLawlessnesss of Upgrading

    Chapter 113: The ''Lawlessness'' of Upgrading


    When Bai Yunfei had told Jing Mingfeng he wanted a night to think it over, it was actually because he simply didn¡¯t have enough accessories to give to him.


    There was naturally no way that he could just tell the other person, ¡°I don¡¯t have any as of right now, give me a night and I¡¯ll have some for you.¡± That was tantamount to telling everyone else that he had a special power, wouldn¡¯t it?


    ¡®Having treasure¡¯ and ¡®being able to turn things into treasure¡¯ are two entirely different concepts. Jing Mingfeng only knew that Bai Yunfei was in possession of several treasures. At most, he would think that Bai Yunfei was lucky enough to stumble on them. There was no telling how he would react if were to learn that these items were made through a special process by Bai Yunfei¡­


    It was extraordinarily hard to understand the human mind. Although Bai Yunfei had no doubts of Jing Mingfeng¡¯s character and how good of a person he might be morally, the relationship between Bai Yunfei and him was not as good as Li Chengfeng or Hong Yin.


    Also, Jing Mingfeng only wanted the items that could increase his speed, so Bai Yunfei would focus entirely on that attribute. Before he left Yanlin City, he had managed to buy several accessories. He just hadn¡¯t found the chance to upgrade them just yet. As long as he could, he would be able to ascertain the attribute of the items after a single upgrade. Then by focusing on the attribute, he could upgrade them by using his remaining amount of soulpoints. Through this process, he was able to get thirty or forty accessories that added to agility.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: +55 Agility


    +10 Additional Effect: Another 125 of agility is added.


    Upgrade Requirement: 29 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei looked at the white ring in his hand for a moment before returning it to his space ring. ¡°This is the only +10 accessory I have that offers agility. There¡¯s still three left, I have to upgrade them tonight¡­¡±


    ¡°Did I bet away my luck or something!¡± At a loss for words, Bai Yunfei slapped his own forehead. ¡°Is there really no way to improve the chances of a successful upgrade? Is it all ¡®luck¡¯? Why can¡¯t you just give me an item that improves ¡®luck¡¯ then!¡±


    Grumbling to himself, Bai Yunfei started to pray for even better luck. With another shake of his hand, he began to upgrade again.


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: +56 Agility


    +10 Additional Effect: Movement speed is increased by 4%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 30 Soulpoints


    ¡°Phew¡­¡± Bai Yunfei let out a sigh in relief. ¡°After exploding five items, I finally have another +10 item!


    ¡°But¡­ there¡¯s only just the ring. That makes two then. I¡¯ll hold off on upgrading the rings for now¡­¡± Bai Yunfei put away the ring and took out a dark-amethyst bracelet.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Upgrade Level: +9


    Additional Attribute: +43 Agility


    Upgrade Requirement: 22 Soulpoints


    This was an accessory he had upgraded from before. Giving it some thought, Bai Yunfei shrugged, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: +59 Agility


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase hand speed by 5%


    Upgrade Requirement: 30 Soulpoints


    ¡°It finally succeeded!¡± Bai Yunfei whooped.


    He was secretly rejoicing that he did not decide to ¡°slow down a bit¡± and upgrade a lower level item that could very well fail to succeed.


    In the past when he tried to experiment and research the ¡°rule¡± of the Upgrade technique, he had failed to upgrade several +8 items. After six attempts, he managed to destroy two +8 equipment in the process of upgrading them to +9. And then nine +9 items failed to upgrade to +10 after¡­ in short. He had tried many different ¡°experiments¡± to decipher the secret of increasing his chances of a successful upgrade.


    In the end, there had been one conclusion ¡ª there was no goddamn use. If it succeeded, it succeeded. Sometimes, he would have seven or eight successes in a row. Other times, he¡¯d have nothing left. Though, every single time he thought back to that brick of his, he would gnash his teeth and never had the urge to fully upgrade something until it exploded. He would experiment with the more common equipment, and although the amount of explosions would cause him to feel ready to puke blood, he at least never regretted his choices¡­


    ¡°Increase hand speed by 5%?¡± Bai Yunfei was confused. This was the very first time he came across such an effect, ¡°What does this mean? Hand speed? The ¡®slight of hand¡¯, is that it?


    ¡°Let¡¯s try it¡­¡± After a period of thought, he simply equipped the amethyst bracelet.


    Like before, there was that same strange but familiar energy that entered his body. It was the phenomenon that would arise every time he equipped an upgraded item. Closing his eyes to take in the effects, moments passed before his eyes reopened. Then, with a speed like lightning, his hand lashed out in a blurry shadow in front of his body,


    Bai Yunfei halted dead in his tracks after seeing that. Flabbergasted, he muttered, ¡°It¡¯s not too far away from attack speed, but there is a slight difference; it is concentrated into the aspect of the ¡°hand¡±, so the effects are even better!¡±


    ¡°But the most important thing is¡­¡± Bai Yunfei fished out the rings from his space belt with a pleased smile, ¡°I bet Jing Mingfeng will be happy to have these. His skills are associated with his hands. I wonder why he has such a ¡®peculiar hobby¡¯... Hm, maybe his secretive skill of pickpocketing someone is also a soul technique?¡±


    Taking out a necklace, Bai Yunfei relaxed a little, ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d get to my last +10 item so fast, there shouldn¡¯t be any other problems, so I should be able to upgrade the other accessories¡­


    ¡°Upgrade¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Roughly three hours away from daylight or so.


    Bai Yunfei looked at two black rings in his hands with a hesitant look.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Upgrade Level: +9


    Additional Attribute: +46 Spirit


    Upgrade Requirement: 23 Soulpoints


    In his right hand was the very same space ring that Hong Yin had given him. In his left hand, his older space ring could be seen. In comparison, the newer space ring was capable of holding more than the older.


    Both rings were originally +8. But for some strange reason, Bai Yunfei had felt that his ¡®luck¡¯ was rather good tonight, and decided that exploding one of the rings wouldn¡¯t really matter. Therefore, upgraded them both, but he did not expect them to both succeed their upgrade. Now he was stuck in a conundrum on whether he should continue or not.


    One thing worth mentioning was that the space ring Hong Yin had given was the very same ring with the very rare ¡®spirit¡¯ attribute. Sprit meaning soulforce of course¡­


    ¡°Spirit, that increases my soulforce¡­ although it¡¯s a rather insignificant amount, it could still save a soul cultivators life in a pinch potentially¡­ With the information I learned yesterday, the additional effects something gains after an upgrade level of +10 corresponds with the attribute of the item. Agility means it¡¯ll have a bonus increase with speed. Strength basically means to have to do with the body as a whole. The spirit attribute is extremely rare; even though it¡¯s not yet +10, I can bet that it¡¯s effects after +10 will benefit soulforce¡­¡±


    ¡°Forget it, time to gamble! This was an unexpected outcome anyways. Exploding it just means that was it!¡± After a moment of hesitation, Bai Yunfei decided to throw caution to the wind. His determination grew.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 114: Spirit Recovery

    Chapter 114: Spirit Recovery


    ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°Equipment grade: Superior.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10.¡±


    ¡°Additional attribute: +65 Spirit.¡±


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: Spirit recovery increased by 3%.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 31 soulpoints.¡±


    ¡°Success!!¡± Bai Yunfei felt elation in his heart as he breathed in and out to calm himself. ¡°An increase in spirit recovery! That means¡­ I can recover my soulforce even faster!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei impatiently put the ring on while his eyes beamed with light. Closing his eyes, he began to take in the sensation of his soulforce being recovered.


    Ten minutes or so later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes opened up with a pleased smile. Nodding to himself, he said, ¡°What a lucky night this has been! An additional effect like this is just too great!¡±


    ¡°Then, should I upgrade this other space ring?¡± After calming down, Bai Yunfei looked at the ring on his left hand with hesitation.


    ¡°Forget it, even I know when to stop. Even at +10, it¡¯ll be similar to the other ¡®Superior¡¯ space rings. Having an extra space ring is useful anyhow.¡± Bai Yunfei immediately gave up the notion of upgrading it a moment later.


    After that, he slowly began to tidy everything. Then one item at a time, he stored them all in the newly upgraded +10 space ring. Hong Yin had told him that if a space ring was destroyed, then the spatial structure of the ring would collapse in on itself and all of the items inside would be thrown out. He didn¡¯t wish for the tent to be flooded with equipment in the case that he failed, so he had taken them out before upgrading.


    The Fire-tipped Spear was placed in the space ring on his right hand so that it would be easy to access in a fight. The Glacial Pricker was there as well. Putting it there was convenient. Even though putting a space ring on both hands was simply a superficial show, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really care to think about that. The space ring on his left hand primarily held his many pieces of equipment. His flying daggers were specifically stored in that ring. He wouldn¡¯t have to swap the Fire-tipped Spear in his right hand to his left in order to take out the daggers in battle if they were in the space ring on his left hand.


    ¡°Then that¡¯ll be all for now. I¡¯ve accomplished my goal and unexpectedly profited as well. This night can be said to be my most profitable night yet¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. It was almost day time by now and his soulforce consumption had been rather large. There was no need to continue upgrading, so he laid his head onto his pillow and closed his eyes. Bai Yunfei began to sleep, slowly recovering his soulforce¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Early morning when Bai Yunfei walked out of his tent, he saw that everyone was already up. The day was already in full swing. By the fire nearby, plenty of people could be seen hurrying about their own respective tasks such as preparing breakfast or inspecting the goods.


    Not too far away, Tang Xinyun could be seen sitting on a rock and observing the others do their tasks. Sometimes, she would look to her left with a smile at the inseparable aunty Zhao who was still guarding her. The only difference was that there was yet another gray-robed twenty or so year old youth about 1.7 meters tall. His hair was tied behind his head to reveal a rather ordinary face. At the current moment, he was speaking flattering words to the aunty.


    Bai Yunfei was shocked ¡ª this person was Jing Mingfeng.


    His beaten up face had completely healed, but seeing how the aunt didn¡¯t inquire anything about it, it seemed that he had done something in order to appease her. However, this appearance of his was completely different from when Bai Yunfei saw him last. Clearly he had changed into another face that was better ¡®suited¡¯ for the situation.


    At that moment, Jing Mingfeng had noticed Bai Yunfei. Smiling apologetically to the aunty, he gave a few words before running off to Bai Yunfei with a trail of dust rising behind him. A smile of expectation could be seen on his face.


    ¡°So, where are my items?¡± He asked in a rush before he could even get close.


    Bai Yunfei looked around before giving him a meaningful look to walk off to the side.


    Walking to a nearby clearing a hundred meters away, Bai Yunfei turned around to stare at the confused Jing Mingfeng, ¡°Is this really your true face?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Jing Mingfeng was confused for a moment before smiling with a puffed-up chest. ¡°Hehe, what do you think?¡±


    Bai Yunfei quirked his lips without asking anymore. With a shake of his right hand, he took out a gray scroll and threw it to Jing Mingfeng.


    Catching the scroll, Jing Mingfeng gave it a quick look-over, and then stashed it away into his space ring. With an impatient look, he asked, ¡°What about my stuff?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve changed my mind, I don¡¯t want to trade anymore.¡± Bai Yunfei declared.


    ¡°You!¡± Jing Mingfeng was dumbfounded and lost spirit for a moment. However, when he saw Bai Yunfei¡¯s teasing look, he snapped back to attention. He said, ¡°Oy, you¡¯re joking with me!¡±


    ¡°Haha, I was only joking and wanted to see your reaction.¡± Bai Yunfei smirked before throwing over several accessories. ¡°One ring to a hand, don¡¯t wear them on the same one!¡±


    Aside from the two rings and the bracelet, there was also a jadeite sword pendant whose additional effect was also an increase in speed.


    Staring brightly at the four items he had received, Jing Mingfeng quickly put them on. Closing his eyes to feel the power within, he then opened them with a smile on his face. As if he was unsatisfied, his body blurred into motion as he began to run around.


    His speed was so great that any regular person would have only seen a blurry shadow. Running in several circles, he finally ran back to where Bai Yunfei was.


    ¡°Haha!! Great! I can feel that my speed is a third faster than what it was before! If I can adapt to this, then I¡¯ll be even faster!¡± Jing Mingfeng came to a stop right next to Bai Yunfei with a pleased-as-punch smile on his face. He suddenly gave a strange yelp. He had been preparing to reach out to slap Bai Yunfei on the shoulder, but he felt something different the moment his arm flew out. Quickly bringing back his arm, Jing Mingfeng stared at it in dead shock.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng gave a curious glance at the bracelet on his arm. Then, he glanced to Bai Yunfei with a hesitant look.


    Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded, ¡°The bracelet increases your hand speed.¡±


    The light in Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes grew even brighter as he waved his hand side to side in a series of complicated movements. No longer doubting what Bai Yunfei had said, he stared admirably at the bracelet on his hand with joy.


    ¡°Brother Bai, Brother Jing, food¡¯s ready! We¡¯ll be leaving afterward!¡±


    Tianming called out while waving to Bai Yunfei and and then shouting out a word of greeting to Jing Mingfeng before walking back. Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but continue to swing his right hand. He watched it move as he walked back with Bai Yunfei to eat breakfast.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Jing Mingfeng, what do you plan on doing now?¡± While Bai Yunfei was pouring some congee into his bowl, he asked Jing Mingfeng about his future plans.


    ¡°Ah?¡± Jing Mingfeng didn¡¯t know how to reply for a moment before realizing the question, ¡°Oh, what do I plan to do now? I don¡¯t really have anywhere to go, so I¡¯ll go wherever I want I suppose. Where do you plan on going?¡±


    ¡°Everyone here is traveling to Guyi City. Miss Xinyun and Aunty Zhao will be hiring a carriage to hurry on from there. Brother Bai and I will continue to travel to my home in Gaoyi City.¡± Tianming cheerfully answered.


    ¡°I see, then¡­ since I have nothing to do, I might as well go with you to Gaoyi City and see the sights.¡± Jing Mingfeng answered after some thought.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me! When we get to my home, I¡¯ll definitely warmly receive brothers Bai and Jing into it. There¡¯s plenty of fun things to do in Gaoyi City as well.¡± Tianming laughed as he responded.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had remained silent as he observed the ¡®mutual understanding¡¯ of each other with a strange eye, ¡°Since when did these two get so close?¡±

 Chapter 115: The Consequences of Not Filling A Hole After Digging I

    t


    Continuing their journey, Bai Yunfei was startled to realize that the relationship between Jing Mingfeng and Tianming was growing at an astonishingly freakish rate.


    It had only taken them a single morning before the two could be practically seen with their arms over the other¡¯s shoulder by noon. It was like they were now blood brothers. By late afternoon, the two of them were already detached from the group and were gesturing to each other as they excitedly talked.


    When night fell, everyone garrisoned themselves by a quain hillside where Huang Wan began to direct people to set up the tents and have some people prepare dinner.


    Tang Xinyun had set off to enjoy the landscape because she was interested in the setting sun. She wanted to get there before the sun could completely set behind the hills. Zhao Mancha followed obediently behind her. Jing Mingfeng and Tianming had run off into the nearby forest and out of sight with nothing but laughter to be heard. Completely bored out of his mind, Bai Yunfei could only sit on a nearby rock, and begin to upgrade the remaining few daggers he had.


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    Shaking away the pile of dust in his hands, Bai Yunfei shook his head in disappointment. ¡°Another failure, did I use up all my luck from last night?¡± He sighed.


    A brown chain bracelet appeared in his hands next. With a cursory glance over it, he focused. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Success


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: +51 Strength


    +10 Additional Effect: The arm attacking with this item in hand has a 1% chance to double in power.


    Upgrade Requirement: 28 Soulpoints


    Happy at first, Bai Yunfei looked over the additional effects of the item before disappointment appeared on his face. ¡°While doubling the strength isn¡¯t bad, it¡¯s limiting and pretty unlikely to activate¡­¡±


    After one becomes a Soul Sprite, a battle essentially became a battle between one¡¯s elemental attribute. The stronger one was the stronger the element would be; thus, the farther away each combatant would be. At this level of strength, very few people would engage in close combat. Even the battle between Jiang Fan and the other man had been several hundred meters apart, but the battle had still been exhilarating and intense. Of course, there were a few soul cultivators who loved to fight up close because of their particular soul skills, but they were only a small minority of soul cultivators. Even if one side was willing, the other side would most likely prefer to stay far away from the other. For that very reason, the additional effect of this accessory was practically useless. The Bai Yunfei of today would have no use for it either. A 1% chance was pitiful. Unless one was lucky enough, there was no way the enemy would allow one to strike them a hundred times in the course of battle¡­


    ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t that¡­ Tianming?¡± As soon as he put away the bracelet, Bai Yunfei could see a secretive figure hiding under the guise of the night as he stalked toward the tents. The average person wouldn''t be able notice him, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s could clearly tell that it was Tianming.


    Tianming was like a cat in his slow movements. The area around his chest was bulging slightly as if something was hidden underneath. Then, looking around, he disappeared into the tent with a swish.


    Roughly ten minutes later, the flap opened for Tianming to sneak out from it. Pulling at the flap, he made sure that the flap looked as if nothing had changed.


    ¡°I say, Tianming, what in the world are you doing?¡±


    Whirling around, the previous look of ¡®success¡¯ on Tianming¡¯s face had quickly turned into a look of surprise. Subconsciously leaping a meter into the air from fright, he nearly fell back to the ground in a crumpled mess.


    ¡°Bro¡­ brother Bai, what are you doing here?¡± Tianming asked uneasily before looking to the suspicious Bai Yunfei and then around himself.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be asking you that? What are you being so secretive for?¡±


    ¡°No-nothing¡­ I was uh, making the beds! Yea! I was helping to tidy up the bedding and such. You know that¡¯s what I do around here.¡± Tianming¡¯s eyes whirled around as he tried to make an excuse.


    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei looked at Tianming. Realizing that there was nothing strange about his body now, Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Then why are you acting as if you did something bad if it¡¯s just that?¡±


    ¡°Ah? Re-really now? Maybe the lighting is bad, you must be mistaken brother Bai. Well-l-l, no more, I have the other beds to clean up now, see you!¡± Looking left then looking right, he spoke a single phrase and immediately ran off toward the other tents.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head before walking back to where Huang Wan and the others were roasting a rabbit. Coming to a stop just ten meters, Bai Yunfei looked back to the tent Tianming had walked out from.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the tent of miss Tang and Aunty Zhao? It seems that they¡¯ve been targeting her all this time¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    During dinner that evening, Bai Yunfei sat next to two pig-faced men ¡ª oh, it was Jing Mingfeng and Tianming.


    Who had beaten them? Aunty Zhao of course. Originally they had planned on having the woman go to sleep with a bunch of scorpions crawling all around her bed at night. With the scorpions crawling here and there, it would serve as a mischievous prank¡­


    Unfortunately for them, aunty Zhao had returned to her tent first before dinner and was enlightened of their conspiracy.


    The reason was that in his rush to dig the hole for the scorpions to be in, Tianming had forgotten to fill the hole back up¡­


    After a speedy interrogation, the two men were beaten to an inch of their life.


    This was the very consequence of not filling the hole one just dug up¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Watching the two bruised men drink their congee with lips so numb that the congee leaked out without their notice, Bai Yunfei tried hard to suppress the smile on his lips. They were glaring at the aunty, who pretended as if nothing had happened. Tang Xinyun was eating her meal with smile while Bai Yunfei shook his head without a word. Jing Mingfeng¡¯s heart was filled with a mischievous desire for revenge, but that much was to be expected. What Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t understand was why Tianming joined in on this prank? Just what ¡®incentive¡¯ did Jing Mingfeng offer Tianming in order to gain his ardent support. Even more curious, why wasn¡¯t Tianming at all angry at Jing Mingfeng for this result?


    As if sensing his gaze, Tang Xinyun shifted her head to smile in greeting. Her smile revealed the dimples on her face, prompting Bai Yunfei to return a smile. When aunty Zhao¡¯s vigilant gaze swung toward him, Bai Yunfei swung his head away in a hurry. Giving a short cough, his eyes looked down at his congee bowl as if to say, ¡°I have nothing to do with those two; their prank has nothing to do with me¡­¡±


    Later that night, the two pig-headed men raised the issue of wanting to share the same tent, and relocated Bai Yunfei to another. This truly made Bai Yunfei feel astonished ¡ª was this the brotherly camaraderie born from hardships and tribulations?


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the second day, the completely unscratched faces of Jing Mingfeng and Tianming came to aunty Zhao with smiles on their faces to apologize. Annoying her until she finally gave in and forgave them, the two gave a curt bow of their heads, and scampered off yelling words that only they understood. From time to time, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s hand could be seen gesticulating while Tianming¡¯s eyes flooded with a spark of light as he nodded furiously¡­


    With a helpless sigh, Bai Yunfei looked away and muttered to himself, ¡°He was such a nice child, but he was led astray so quickly¡­¡±


    The closer and closer they got to Guyi City, the more and more people they saw on the roads. There were even some teahouses to be seen every so often. For lunch everyone gathered at a nearby inn to eat a meal before continuing on their way.


    Approximately two or three in the afternoon, Bai Yunfei could be seen inquiring to Huang Wan of the nature of Guyi City. All of a sudden, Tianming¡¯s voice could be heard from behind.


    ¡°Brother Bai, brother Bai! Come quick, I have something to tell you¡­¡± Tianming waved his hand at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Oh? What is it?¡± Bai Yunfei walked over to ask.


    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯ve a secret to tell you¡­¡± Tianming gave a surreptitious look left and right before stepping closer to him. Covering his mouth with his left hand, he leaned in to whisper into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ear, ¡°I¡¯ve realized that sis Xinyun has been paying attention to you recently!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Distracted, Bai Yunfei twisted his head to look at Tang Xinyun, who was in front of him. Bai Yunfei quickly brought his right hand down to grab the hand that was inching toward the piece of jade around his other arm with a terrifying glint.


    Narrowing his eyes to glare at the mortified but embarrassed face of Tianming, he said, ¡°Tianming, is this what you¡¯ve been learning by messing around with Jing Mingfeng for the last two days!?¡±


    ¡°Oh uh¡­ it was just a joke. A joke, that¡¯s all! Brother Bai, we were just messing around¡­¡±


    Taking back his hand with an embarrassed smile, Tianming tried to pass off a covert look and nod to the faraway, hidden figure of Jing Mingfeng. ¡°Bro Bai, don¡¯t be mad. I was only just joking around. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯d never do anything bad¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± With such a seemingly honest answer, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really know how to respond. Deciding on giving a glare to Jing Mingfeng, it was then that Bai Yunfei realized something was about to happen. He swore before looking into the nearby forest to his right.


    At the same time, Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions had caught the attention of aunty Zhao and Jing Mingfeng both. Tang Xinyun had been slow on the uptake, but when she saw his movements, she too realized the abnormality of the situation and turned to look where Bai Yunfei was staring.


    ¡°Chirppp!!¡±


    The chirping sounds of a bird could be heard from the depths of the forest. Mournful in its sound, the whistle carried far, and soon a flock of birds flew out in every direction¡­


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 116: Quickshade Bird

    Chapter 116: Quickshade Bird


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    The chirping sounds of a bird could be heard from the depths of the forest. Mournful in its sound, the whistle carried far, and a flock of birds flew out in every direction¡­


    The mournful sounds of the birds could be heard, and Bai Yunfei could also distinctly feel the clash of soulforce erupting from the same direction as well.


    ¡°Two Soul Sprites and multiple Soul Warriors!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows rose up in shock. Just why were there so many soul cultivators in a place like this?


    The horses had halted because of the bizarre atmosphere coming from the forest. They began to neigh and stamp their hooves. It took the riders several moments before they could finally placate them, but there was still no way to move them after that.


    ¡°Brother Bai, what¡¯s¡­ what¡¯s going on?¡± Seeing the strange look on everyone¡¯s face, Huang Wan asked him with worry.


    ¡°Soul cultivators¡­ and a lot of them.¡± Bai Yunfei looked to him with confusion. ¡°But it¡¯s what they¡¯re fighting that¡¯s really strange¡­¡±


    When he heard that soul cultivators were battling, Huang Wan¡¯s face grew anxious. ¡°Ah? Then, then shouldn¡¯t we hurry up and leave just in case we get involved?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that works. At the very least, we won¡¯t invite any trouble¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Ai, no no!¡± Just at that moment, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s voice could be heard as he stared back at Bai Yunfei with an interested look. ¡°What are you trying to suggest her? How could we miss this chance!? At the very least we should go and take a peek, shouldn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Do you even know what¡¯s going on over there?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in confusion.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I don¡¯t know, that¡¯s why I¡¯m curious!¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed. ¡°I love to watch things from the sidelines. If we¡¯re only just taking a look, we can leave anytime afterward.¡±


    ¡°You say it as if it¡¯s that easy¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was speechless, but he could acknowledge that Jing Mingfeng possessed the skills to do as he wanted. If he wanted to spy on something without anyone noticing, then his ability to disguise himself was more than enough to do so. Unless the other side was too strong, then coming and going would be easy.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, why don¡¯t we take a look? We¡¯ve so many experts here, so we¡¯ll be fine even if there is trouble. We¡¯re only taking a look, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± Tianming¡¯s eyes lit up as he stood by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. He was even more excited than Jing Mingfeng, and he craned his neck so that he could look into the forest.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was still hesitant after looking at these two. In truth, he too was quite curious about what was happening. He paid particular attention to the first bird cry¡­


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, we should take a look. That bird¡¯s chirp just now was rather worrisome¡­¡± In Bai Yunfei¡¯s moment of hesitation, Tang Xinyun spoke for him.


    With narrowed eyes, the older woman debated the decision for a moment before finally nodding. ¡°We¡¯ll watch from afar. If possible, we shouldn¡¯t meddle in their affairs¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Xinyun replied before turning to look at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Fine fine. We¡¯ll go take a look, but look only, that¡¯s all!¡± Bai Yunfei gave a helpless nod of his head. He reassured Huang Wan that they would be back in a short moment, and requested the group to take a short break for now. Jing Mingfeng and Tianming were both on the verge of rocketing away to the site, but they waited for the other soul cultivators before they swiftly traveled to the area of interest.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Running for another seven or eight thousand meters, the group finally felt a rather strong concentration of energy running rampant with soulforce in the air. Coming to a stop so that they could suppress their soulforce. Jing Mingfeng used his soul technique to fully extinguish his presence as he took the lead. Bai Yunfei had almost no way to detect his existence, a feat that made him feel rather envious of Jing Mingfeng. Right behind the two was aunty Zhao and Tang Xinyun who were both looking at the back of Jing Mingfeng in awe.


    Tianming¡¯s presence was extremely faint since his strength was only at the Soul Personage level. With the chaotic nature of the soulforce in front of them, no one would be able to detect them unless they were concentrating hard on soulsensing.


    Up at the very front, Jing Mingfeng suddenly stopped moving. He waved his hand to stop the others before silently hiding behind a bush.


    Walking to his side, Bai Yunfei peeked through the leaves to check on the situation.


    Roughly a hundred meters ahead, there was a rather small lake where nine figures could be seen in a ring formation. Everyone¡¯s eyes were faced toward the center of the circle at a spot ten meters in the air.


    There were two azure-colored birds that were currently entangled with each other. Another golden eagle could be seen. There was a single bird that was trying to escape, but it would be immediately blocked and forced back ¡®into the ring¡¯ each time.


    At a closer look, this one bird was completely white in color, but the azure light around it had made it seem azure in color. The abdomen and feathers of the bird were spotlessly white in color, but there were specks of blood that dyed its feathers. Its wings were spread wide. It¡¯s two-thirds of a meter wingspan was rather disorganized in its flapping motion ¡ª it was injured on its left side.


    Despite its injuries, the white-colored bird had no intention of giving up. With a low chirp that made it sound angry, the wind around its body flew out with a flap of its wings, and flew down in the form of a blade of wind.


    The other bird fighting was a gray-colored bird that was also of the wind affinity. Flying around the gust of wind without trouble, it let out a gust of wind as well. There were no visible wounds on its body, making its strength on the same level of that as the other bird. However, its speed was slightly slower than the other bird. Even with its injuries, the white bird was still flying faster than it. The giant eagle flying overhead was staring voraciously down below and cut off any escape route for the bird. From the looks of things, the bird would not be able to continue putting off its future any longer.


    Occasionally the blades of wind would be dodged by the people around the bird. Only a tall man and a short man stood steadfast without moving as they stared up at the sky. Their soulforce filled the air as if trying to manipulate something. Whenever a strike came at them, they would swipe their hands and an azure or a golden ray of energy would come forward to neutralize the wind.


    From the looks of things, the entire crowd here was after that white-colored bird. Aside from the leading two figures, everyone else carried nets and ropes, meant for capturing animals, in their hands. They were clearly waiting for an opportunity to capture the bird.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Are they trying to capture a soulbeast? There¡¯s so many people here! Two Soul Sprites, three Soul Warriors, and four Soul Personages¡­ They¡¯re clearly not trying to kill the bird. They are trying their best to capture it¡­¡± Bai Yunfei had never seen a soulbeast fight before, let alone three of them. There was a strange glint in his eyes as he remarked, ¡°That bird, it seems¡­¡±


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, it¡¯s a Quickshade Bird!¡± At that moment, Tang Xinyun let out a low sound of surprise. Bai Yunfei turned to look at her only to notice the worry and anxious look in her eyes.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s that same Quickshade Bird. I didn¡¯t think there would be one here, or that so many people would be gathered to capture it¡­¡± Aunty Zhao¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together to look at the bird.


    Listening to the two, Bai Yunfei asked in surprise, ¡°Eh? Miss Tang, have you seen this white bird before?¡±

 Chapter 117: Release That Bird!

    Chapter 117: Release That Bird!


    Listening to the two, Bai Yunfei asked in surprise, ¡°Eh? Miss Tang, have you seen this white bird before?¡±


    Nodding, aunty Zhao replied, ¡°Several days ago we came across it. It was injured in a forest, and the young miss used some of her soulforce to treat its wounds so that it could fly. But it¡¯s a soulbeast that doesn¡¯t like coming into contact with humans.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the fastest bird type soulbeasts due to its inherent wind affinity. At full speed, it travels so fast that it leaves behind a mirror image. That¡¯s why it¡¯s known as the ¡®Quickshade Bird,¡¯ and it is considered one of the favorite types of soulbeasts for a soul cultivator to have. This particular Quickshade Bird is only at the beginning of the fifth level. That¡¯s roughly the equivalent of a Soul Ancestor, but with the wounds it has, its strength is now low enough to be trapped by these two fourth level birds¡­ I bet the wounds it had experienced earlier were from these people. It was able to escape before, but, in the end, it seems it was unable to get away from them¡­¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    At that moment, another loud chirp could be heard. It interrupted aunty Zhao and caused Tang Xinyun to give a small gasp. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei saw the Quickshade Bird barely dodge the claw of the golden eagle before being slammed with a gust of wind by the other gray bird. It haphazardly dodged to the side, but the bird¡¯s injured wing forced the bird off balance, causing it to spiral to the ground.


    At the same time, the taller soul cultivator whistled, signaling everyone to throw their nets out all at once.


    During this crucial moment, the Quickshade Bird gave a shrill chirp. It tilted its wings, moving nearly a meter to the side to dodge the net.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± The taller soul cultivator snorted. There was a flash in his eyes as if he had finally caught the opportunity he had been waiting for. With a wave of his right hand, a golden beam shot forth toward the Quickshade Bird. Flashing forward several dozen meters, the light then coiled around one of the claws of the bird!


    It was a golden rope about the same size of a bamboo shoot! This golden rope appeared out of nowhere, catching the Quickshade Bird. It could not escape; this rope had to be a soul item.


    ¡­¡­


    The moment the Quickshade Bird was captured, Tang Xinyun¡¯s foot pressed deeply into the ground. It was as if she was preparing to charge off after the bird.


    ¡°Young miss, you can¡¯t!¡± Aunty Zhao grabbed hold of her arm with narrowed eyes, ¡°There¡¯s far too many people over there. You can¡¯t just recklessly charge in and make enemies of all of them for the sake of a mere soulbeast.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Tang Xinyun looked to the terrified Quickshade Bird with despair. ¡°Aunty, I wish to save it. Look how pitiful it is and how desperate it is while trying to get free. Look at them, you can clearly see that they¡¯re bad guys. There¡¯s no doubt they¡¯ll torment it¡­¡±


    ¡°I agree. I can practically hear the dismal cries of the bird as if it were a human¡­ Brother Bai, can you save it?¡± Tianming asked from the side as he stared at the pitiful Quickshade Bird.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes turned to glance at Jing Mingfeng who in turn shrugged his shoulders. ¡°You decide. I believe that even if we were to fight them, driving them back wouldn¡¯t be too hard.¡±


    There was still hesitation in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. He had already ascertained that this Quickshade Bird had been the very same ¡®destined travelers in arms¡¯ he had encountered before. It was when a bird had flown by above him. More importantly, it was because of Hong Yin that he felt some affection toward soulbeasts. As the Quickshade Bird desperately tried to flee from the human¡¯s grasp, Bai Yunfei felt his desire to save the bird grow stronger than ever.


    However, the amount of people here was a problem. Each one of person was strong, and with all of them here for the express purpose of trying to capture the soulbeast, someone had to have hired them all to capture it. In that case, if Bai Yunfei and the others were to interfere, they would be risking offending an extremely large power¡­


    While Bai Yunfei was hesitating, the situation in front of them had grown even worse. The bird had continued to struggle as it tried to shake off the golden rope, but to no avail. Its wings flapped wildly in order to take flight. The rope was now tied around its wings causing the wound on the bird¡¯s wing to open and shoot forth even more blood. Despite its injuries, the bird was still desperately trying to take off into the sky.


    The bird had just so happen to look in the direction of Bai Yunfei. From his hiding spot, Bai Yunfei could clearly see rage and unwillingness in the bird¡¯s eyes.


    The gray bird and golden eagle had already flown down to deliver the final grace when the Quickshade Bird let out a loud chirp that was filled with desperation. A rich amount of wind began to course through its wings before transforming into a small hurricane that forced back the two birds. After that, the hurricane dissipated back into the bird¡¯s wings. No matter how much it tried to flap its wings, the bird could not do anything more¡­


    ¡°Hmph, the finale death throes! Don¡¯t let it waste its energy and kill itself!¡± When the taller soul cultivator saw the golden rope grow even more taut with the amount of force the bird was exerting, he began to try his best to restrain the bird¡¯s movements. With another command, he and the shorter soul cultivator gave a nod and brought out their left hands.


    A single multi-colored snake short forth from the robes of the taller soul cultivator. With eyes crimson-red, the snake spat out a glob of venom that was multicolored, and caused many of the nearby people to shudder in fright. Clearly this venom was very poisonous.


    Coiling in mid-air, the snake wrapped around the golden rope, and began to travel along the rope at a rapid pace.


    The moment the snake was traveling up the rope, the shorter cultivator had a gray shadow dart out from his own robes. A single small bat of a gray color had appeared with a shrill shriek that accompanied the flapping of its wings. It shot toward the Quickshade Bird!


    ¡­¡­


    When the two soul cultivators had lifted their arms to command their soulbeasts, Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupil dilated as he gasped to himself, ¡°The Beast Taming School!!¡±


    It had been very apparent to see that the two soulbeasts had emerged from space rings! The only ones capable of such a thing were those from the Beast Taming School! Now all of the pieces of the puzzle were on the table. The two soulbeasts that had been attacking the Quickshade Bird were clearly more soulbeasts under the control of these two. That was why they had been rather stiff and leaked some soulforce earlier.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed in resolution. ¡°We¡¯ll save it! No matter what happens, do not let them find out our identities! Only Jing Mingfeng and I will head out. Aunty Zhao, look after miss Tang and Tianming. Unless you can help it, do not reveal yourselves!¡±


    In the middle of his command, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face had begun to twitch and spasm. By the time he finished speaking, Bai Yunfei had already assumed a different physical appearance. His body was only several inches taller and his ability to change his face was not at all perfect, so the look of his face now was quite strange to look at it. No matter who saw this face, all they would see would be a face that didn¡¯t quite match the features on it. Now was not the time for Bai Yunfei to worry about his technique; the most important thing right now was to make sure his original appearance would not be seen.


    Understanding the intentions of Bai Yunfei straight away, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s movements had been even swifter than Bai Yunfei. His face completely changed with a wave of his right hand over his face. It was like he was conducting a magic trick.


    Within several seconds, the preparations of the two had finished. With a nod of their head toward each other, they charged forward without hesitation.


    ¡­¡­


    The speed of both bat and snake had been tremendously fast. In the span of several seconds they had already reached the Quickshade Bird. Striking the hurricane around the injured bird, a hiss and a shriek were heard as the two were flung back. However, the damage had been done, the hurricane had been dissolved, revealing the Quickshade Bird within.


    The two soul cultivators stared fixedly at the injured bird with their soulforce fluctuating wildly. Straight away, the two soulbeasts followed their owners command and flew straight at the Quickshade Bird!


    A shrill chirp made its way into the air as the Quickshade Bird revealed a glint of despair in its eyes. Its bloodstained wings began to slow down as if it resigned itself to its fate¡­


    ¡°Whooooosh!¡±


    When the soulbeasts were just several meters away from the Quickshade Bird, four different ear-piercing sounds could be heard followed by four different glints of metal flying at the four soulbeasts!


    ¡°Ding ding!¡± Two separate clinks could be heard as a single dagger struck the snake coiled around the golden rope. There was a spark as the blade collided with the snake, but other than a faint white mark on the scales of the snake, there was no visible damage. However, the grip the snake had on the rope had slackened enough for it to fall from it. The other sound had come from the golden eagle being struck in the abdomen. In a flurry of golden feathers and another burst of sparks, the eagle had emerged unharmed as well, but it had been hindered in its flight.


    As the lightest of the four, the gray bird had let out a small chirp and tilted to the side in order to dodge the incoming dagger. However, the bat had suffered disastrously in comparison to the eagle. Its right wing had been completely pierced through. With such an infliction, the bat had been knocked unbalanced and fell to the ground.


    The incoming two figures had already been spotted by the entire crowd. One of them shouted out loud,


    ¡°Oy! Bastards! Release that bird!!¡±

 Chapter 118: Taking Care of the small Frys

    Chapter 118: Taking Care of the ¡°Small Fry¡±


    The sudden and unexpected development had surprised the entire group from the Beast Taming School. Some of them had been stupefied to see the rapid arrival of both Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng.


    The taller Soul Sprite had been the first to react. In befuddlement, he had not run outwards to stop the two and had instead shouted, ¡°What are you spacing out for stop them!¡±


    Halfway through his speech, Jing Mingfeng and Bai Yunfei had already shot forth with their right hands to shoot something from it. By the time the man finished speaking, the daggers that had been thrown were already targeted straight at the rope he had been holding in his right hand!


    Once again shocked, he hurriedly tossed his hand aside. But because of the amount of force on his right hand, he had not moved away fast enough and so a bloody gash could be seen over his wrist with blood flowing out from the deep wounds.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­.a soul item!!¡± The man had cried out in despondency. He had been extremely confident in the defensive ability of the golden aura around him, but it had been easily cut apart from that weapon. Only a soul item could accomplish such a feat¨Cwere these people using a soul item merely for a projectile to throw?!


    The shock on his face had not even left his face when something else had caused him to cry out once more, ¡°No!¡±


    In the time he had tried the dodge the dagger and was injured by it, the slackened rope had given just enough leeway for the captured bird to escape. With a mighty flap of its right wing, the bird managed to fly back up into the air. With its legs escaping the confinements of the rope, the bird was able to let out a weakened chirp. Then with a bit of soulforce, it flew further away. But with the injuries it had, the speed of the Quickshade Bird had been rather slow. On the verge of collapse, it finally managed to regain some energy and fly several hundred meters into the forest.


    As the bird flew away, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng had already approached the other soul cultivators. Jing Mingfeng had been in front of two Soul Personage while Bai Yunfei was side by side a Soul Warrior and Soul Personage.


    Despite the time it took to narrate the sequence of events, it had happened in a relatively short amount of time. Before the weaker ones could even react and turn to two to fight them, Bai Yunfei and and Jing Minfeng were already there.


    ¡°Smallfries shouldn¡¯t be getting in the way!¡± Jing Mingfeng had been exuberantly fast and forced the two Soul Personages back half a step before grabbing them both in the face. His muscles began to bulge, and with two grunts, he immediately smashed the heads into the ground and knocking them out¡­.


    Bai Yunfei had not been any slower and threw out a dagger from his hand. His feet moved furiously as he charged towards a Soul Personage. With a fist to the neck, the Soul Personage let out a mouthful of blood before flying a meter way and coming to a rough stop onto the ground. He did not get back up.


    The other Soul Warrior had reacted slightly faster than his companion and took a full step back. His right hand lifted upwards for a black jackal type soulbeast to come out from his side with its jaws wide open to deliver a fatal blow. But with another fist from Bai Yunfei, it was sent flying back, and with the left fist, Bai Yunfei sent the owner flying sideways as well.


    It had been unclear on whether or not Bai Yunfei had intended to hit them towards the direction of Jing Mingfeng or if it was just bad luck on their part, but Jing Mingfeng had not been kind to them. With a single kick at the midriff of the man, Jing Mingfeng sent the man flying away onto the ground. The jackal soulbeast had been motionless where it was because there had been no command given to it.


    In a single instant, four men had been felled. Aside from the two Soul Sprites, there were still two Soul Warriors and a Soul Personage. But there was still a huge gape in strength. In front f a Soul Sprite, a Soul Warrior had very little ability to defend themselves. A Soul Personage was practically defenseless and was out of the equation in a fair match, let alone an ambush.


    ¡°Who are you two! To interfere with the matters of the Beast Taming School, do you plan to make an enemy out of our school?!¡± The taller soul cultivator had finally regained his wits and uttered out the very typical dialogue.


    He had already staunched the bleeding on his right hand and had confirmed with the other Soul Sprite that one of invaders was a low-grade Soul Sprite and the other was a middle-grade Soul Sprite. Strength like this was not something they could afford to slight, so they called back their four soulbeasts and glared grimly at the opposing two men.


    ¡°Who cares about the Beast Taming School. If you displease me, then you¡¯ll have to right your wrongs with a beating!¡± Jing Mingfeng snorted before lashing forward with blinding speed towards the Soul Personage to his left.


    ¡°Bah, you bark louder than a dog!¡± The shorter Soul Sprite snorted. With a point of his finger, the gray bird let out a shrill chirp and flew towards Jing Mingfeng. The black bat had followed closely, but because of its injuries, its speed was slower than the bird.


    The taller Soul Sprite hadn¡¯t minced words either. The other side was clearly an enemy, so words would provide no benefit here. With a wave of his own hand, the golden eagle and the rainbow snake flew out towards Bai Yunfei.


    The remaining two Soul Warriors had completely woken to the situation and fell back to summon out a boar type soulbeast and a jet black python the size of an arm towards Jing Mingfeng and Bai Yunfei.


    As for the Soul Personage Jing Mingfeng had been fighting, he was already knocked the ground and completely unable to battle.


    ¡°There¡¯s still two fishes to fry, one for you and one for me!¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed happily as the light under his feet lit up even brighter. Not even bothering to fight either soulbeasts, he gracefully dodged the jet-black ball of liquid from the bat and the gust of wind from the bird before continuing onwards. Vaulting over the boar with a gentle pat of the hand, he flew over the boar and landed on the other side without a single break in his stride.


    With a sequence of movements as smooth as water thanks to his usage of the wind, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s movements had been as smooth as when Bai Yunfei used the Wave Treading Steps, but on a faster scale. Naturally, this speed had been boosted by the agility boosting equipment he was wearing and so within several seconds he had already arrived right in front of the Soul Warrior.


    That man had been stunned¨Chis eyes simply couldn¡¯t keep up with the movements of Jing Mingfeng and had thus been struck by his fist shortly after he threw his hands up to protect himself. With a banging sound, the man was sent flying away with an aching pain running through his arms and without ever being able to fight back.


    As Jing Mingfeng prepared to give chase, his eyes suddenly flew up on his face and hurriedly flew back. In the moment he had done so, a blade of wind had swept past where he had originally been and left a gap a third of a meter long in the ground. After taking two steps back, Jing Mingfeng had immediately threw himself to the side to avoid a glob of black liquid spat straight at his chest. Falling to the ground, a sizzling sound could be heard before the earth had dissolved away.


    ¡°Fucking hell, how ruthless that is!¡± Jing Mingfeng cried out in exaggeration. With sparkling eyes, he stamped down on the ground to leap off a meter into the air to avoid the boar coming straight at home. When his feet touched the ground, another two gust of whirlwinds came once more¡­.


    As Jing Mingfeng was making a fuss over the three soulbeasts around him, Bai Yunfei himself was stuck in a siege from every side¡­.

 Chapter 119: Only Two Remain

    Chapter 119: Only Two Remain


    While Jing Mingfeng was making a fuss over the three soulbeasts around him, Bai Yunfei himself was stuck in a siege from every side¡­


    When Jing Mingfeng had charged at the Soul Warrior on the left, Bai Yunfei had made a dash for the Soul Warrior with the python. He wasn¡¯t a soul cultivator with a wind affinity, but he wasn¡¯t much slower than Jing Mingfeng. Leaving behind a trail of mirror images, Bai dodged the golden eagle and the snake¡¯s attack as he moved closer to his target.


    That man was more astute than the Soul Warrior Jing Mingfeng was facing. When he had released the python, he had not ordered it to fly at Bai Yunfei. A low-sounding hiss could be heard from his lips as he flared his soulforce. With a flick of his finger, he gave another order to the python. It immediately sucked in a deep breath, causing its body to expand to the size of the man¡¯s thigh. It then coiled around the man¡¯s body as if it was meant to be used as a meat shield.


    Before Bai Yunfei could reach the man, the python had completely coiled around the man¡¯s body with enough room for the python to stare at Bai Yunfei. Opening its mouth, a terrible stench could be smelled. It then extended its head to bite down on Bai Yunfei.


    Confronted with this ¡®blanket¡¯ strike from the python, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with an attentive but calm glint. Tilting his body to the right, his legs pivoted and he swung past the python¡¯s mouth. He then pivoted back to his original position after his maneuver so that he would end up on the left side of the python.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Lifting his right hand, Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm bulged as he slammed his fist into the python¡¯s head!


    Threefold Fist Force!!


    ¡°Bang!¡± Following the muffled sound of a collision, a depression of about an inch appeared in the python¡¯s head. As a result of being struck with such a tremendous amount of force, it flew to the side.


    With the snake being successfully thrown aside, the Soul Warrior that had been hidden behind it was revealed once more. His mouth was left ajar as he looked at Bai Yunfei in shock. He didn¡¯t expect to see a middle-grade third class Black Python to be knocked aside so easily.


    Bringing back his right hand, Bai Yunfei prepared to land the final blow on the stunned Soul Warrior when all of a sudden his eyes narrowed together. Kicking off the ground, Bai Yunfei made a hasty retreat while turning to the right to lash out with his right hand.


    While he fell back, a giant figure came crashing down toward his head. A pair of golden claws brushed past where his head had been. If he had not moved, his head would have been wiped clean off.


    Even after dodging the golden eagle, Bai Yunfei did not relax in the slightest. His body followed his eyes as he turned around just in time to see a bright-colored snake fly out from the grass where his right hand was.


    From far away, the Soul Sprite¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw the snake come into contact with Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm. With a malevolent smile, he said, ¡°Even if you are a middle-grade Soul Sprite, you won¡¯t be able to stave off death from the poison of a high-grade third class Rainbow Snake!¡±


    ¡°Pow!¡± Right in the middle of his pleased speech, a single popping sound could be heard as the Rainbow Snake was repelled, almost like it had been struck with an iron rod. It hadn¡¯t moved at all during its flight as if it had been struck unconscious.


    Looking back at Bai Yunfei, the Soul Sprite could clearly see two puncture holes that went through his clothes. How did Bai Yunfei not get poisoned by the venom of the snake? The reason why Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t bothered to move his right arm out of the way was the fact that he knew that there was no way for the snake to poison him. The part of his arm he had used to meet the snake head-on was where his Flameblade Bracer was located!


    One simply had to ask that one question. How could a third class soulbeast bite through the Flameblade Bracer?


    After knocking the snake aside, Bai Yunfei¡¯s foot stomped against the ground to stop his backward momentum. With a twist of his feet, he shot back toward the Soul Warrior with frightening speed.


    Unable to call back his python soulbeast in time, the Soul Warrior had only been able to defend himself against two of Bai Yunfei¡¯s blows before being struck in the temple by a fist. Dazed, the man flew coincidentally to where his python was. Collapsing on top of it, neither python nor man got back up. They were now unable to continue fighting.


    Barely after defeating that man, a strong gust of wind assaulted Bai Yunfei from behind. Without hesitation, Bai Yunfei bent over from the waist to allow the golden eagle¡¯s claws to streak over his back.


    A blood-curling scream could be heard from behind at the same time as well as Jing Mingfeng¡¯s happy laughter. Twisting his head to look back, Bai Yunfei could only see Jing Mingfeng bringing back his right leg. His opponent, the other Soul Warrior, had a footprint on the left side of his face and blood coming from his mouth as he flew through the air. With a plopping sound, the man disappeared under the surface of the nearby lake.


    ¡­¡­


    Not even ten minutes had past before Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng had taken care of the three Soul Warriors and four Soul Personages! All that was left were the two head Soul Sprites.


    Jing Mingfeng had been pleased with himself after kicking the Soul Warrior, but his eyes hadn¡¯t relaxed in the slightest. Two gusts of wind had forced him to kick off to the side, but before his leg could even land back on the ground, the gray bat came forward with a loud shriek. Flapping its wings, it flew up a meter. The claws on its feet came out to scratch at the back of Jing Mingfeng¡¯s head.


    The moment the claws were coming at his head, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes gave off a bright flash of light. Before he could even stabilize his footing on the ground, his left leg bent down to collect power. With a burst of azure light, he flew into the air with a stunning backflip. His right leg came flying down in a brilliant hook before landing squarely on top of the bat¡¯s head!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Slamming to the ground with a furious explosion, the bat¡¯s wings gave a weak shudder before collapsing. The bat was no longer able to continue fighting either.


    Within an instant, another soulbeast had been defeated!


    Ten meters away, the tall and short Soul Sprites stood still with ashen expressions. Bai Yunfei¡¯s and Jing Mingfeng¡¯s capabilities had been outside of their expectations. Even disregarding the fact that Bai Yunfei was a middle-grade Soul Sprite, the low-grade Soul Sprite Jing Mingfeng had been so fast that both men were simply stunned.


    ¡°Damn! Just who in the world are they!? Without even declaring what affiliation they have, what reason do they have for fighting us!?¡± The taller man cursed.


    The shorter man continued to observe Jing Mingfeng as he dodged the blades of wind one after another with narrowed eyes, ¡°Why? Of course it¡¯s for the Quickshade Bird! A soulbeast that is of the fifth class is something that any ordinary soul cultivator would take the risk for any day!¡±


    ¡°Ordinary soul cultivators you say? Do you think they¡¯re ordinary soul cultivators?¡± The taller Soul Sprite shook his head as he watched the golden eagle miss Bai Yunfei again. He had been concerned about whether or not they could accomplish their initial task. Now they had to worry about whether or not they could deal with the sudden appearance of these two strangers¡­


    Several meters away, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng were currently engaged with the fourth class bird in close combat. Or perhaps it was better to say that they were blindly dodging the bird¡¯s attacks.


    In reality, each and every single time they dodged the bird¡¯s attacks, the two of them had unknowingly approached closer and closer¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­

 Chapter 120: Mutual Understanding

    Chapter 120: Mutual Understanding


    For the sake of clearing away all of the weaker hindrances, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng did not make an earlier attempt to rush at the Soul Sprites. Weaving left and right, they continued to dodge the birds flying in the air as they were attacked.


    Both the Soul Sprites from the Beast Taming School had been relieved to see that their soulbeasts were successful in caging in the two newcomers. Because of their sudden arrival and the frantic state of mind they were in beforehand, the ambush had caught them off guard. All of their weaker men were as good as gone, and only the fourth class middle-grade Galebird and Goldfeathered Eagle were left remaining. But even their strength had been reduced from their initial fight with the Quickshade Bird. It had been fortunate that they had just enough strength to refrain from being eliminated too quickly.


    ¡°Brother, what should we do now?¡± Feng Hao (The taller one) looked to the shorter one with an inquisitive glance.


    Tai Ping (The shorter one), had regarded the situation with a grim expression, ¡°What else can we do? We spent more than half a month to track down the Quickshade Bird, but at the very last moment, we lost it because of these people, blast it all!¡±


    ¡°Must we really let it be like this? The Quickshade Bird was to be delivered to the Zhao family¡­.¡± Fang Hao looked off into the direction where the Quickshade Bird flew off to with unease.


    ¡°Do you really think that we have any chance of recapturing it? If it weren¡¯t for the fact they aren¡¯t willing to kill, then our men on the ground would be dead instead of unconscious!¡± Tai Ping spat in agony. ¡°Did you not realize that they aren¡¯t alone either? Over by those trees¡­.they may have hidden themselves well, but I can bet their companions are there! Think about it. Even if we got the Quickshade Bird, how would we make our escape!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡±


    Fang Hao was about to say something when Tai Ping grew alarmed and cried out, ¡°Careful!¡±


    Whipping his head around, Fang Hao was just in time to see the Goldfeathered Eagle come crashing down with its golden feathers wrapped with a golden light. As if it was expanding, the light continued down onto Bai Yunfei and swiped at him.


    As for the Galebird, it had been releasing a gust of wind one after another. Compressed into a blade-like shape, each blade of wind shot forth towards Jing Mingfeng like they were blades that carved the air towards Jing Mingfeng. At each critical moment, Jing Mingfeng had been able to dodge each one of them with a burst of light from underneath his feet.


    But it was only now that the two beast tamers had realized that Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfei had been substantially closer than before. Somehow, the distance had been reduced to a mere thirty meters, and before the two beast tamers could send another command to their soulbeasts, the other two had already crossed over to them!


    In the moment of crossing over, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng glanced at each other with a knowing look as if agreeing on some sort of previous point. Both their hands flew up as if to push out at the air!


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    A sharp echo could be heard as both of their right feet slammed into the ground. Borrowing that momentum, they were able to deviate from their earlier path and shoot away at a ninety degree angle!


    The Goldfeathered Eagle had been just mere moments away from bringing its talons down onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. But when Bai Yunfei had suddenly moved aside, the Goldfeathered Eagle had been unable to change its direction and had been struck by several blades of wind in place of Jing Mingfeng!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A dull bang rang through the air as the body of the eagle was unceremoniously sent flying backwards through the air. There had been an indent in its chest from where the blades of wind had struck and its feathers were slowly drifting down from the air from the sudden displacement. Its defenses had been extraordinarily strong and was able to resist the gust of wind from breaking aparts its iron-like shell. But it was still clear to see that this gigantic strike had done more than enough damage to it.


    When the Goldfeathered Eagle was thrown backwards, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng did not stop to admire their handiwork. As soon as they retreated several meters, they whirled around and flew off towards where the two soulbeasts would be!


    The Goldfeathered Eagle had been forced to come crashing back down to the earth as a result from the attack. Just barely a meter over the ground, it regained its sense of balance, but at that same exact moment, Bai Yunfei had already reappeared and was ready to strike it down!


    Lashing out with his right fist, Bai Yunfei had unleashed another Threefold Fist Force onto the chest of the eagle. Having been sent flying once more, the eagle this time was no longer able to keep itelf afloat and fell back down to the ground with great speed.


    On the other side, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s target had been that Galebird who was situated just a few meters above the ground. Jing Mingfeng gave a shake of his right hand so that a black dagger would appear in his hand. Then, as he got within a ten meter radius of it, he suddenly came to a stop as both of his hands clasped onto the dagger. Looking at the bird with glowing eyes, he began to concentrate on his hands with so much attention that a bright ray of azure light began to emanate from the blade. ¡°Wind blade? I know that move as well!¡±


    The elemental wind began to whirl and rotate around the short dagger for a brief moment before jetting out straight for the Galebird!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A two meter blade of wind had immediately surged through the air before relentlessly striking against the bird.


    Because of the delay from its initial move, the Galebird had been unable to prevent the blade of wind from coming at it. Trying its best to fly to the side, the Galebird had only just managed to slide past the blade of wind which had chafed across its left side.


    But from underneath, Jing Mingfeng had a pleased smile on his face. After he had let out the first blade of wind, he had already swung both of his hands to the side.


    ¡°Blow apart!!¡±


    Following his shout, the gust of wind that had blown past the Galebird had immediately blown apart to turn into a net about two meters wide. Its speed had not decreased in the slightest and had successfully slammed into the Galebird.


    It had been unexpected that after being struck by this wind, the Galebird would flew in the opposite direction for roughly a hundred meters.


    ¡­¡­


    It had only taken less than a minute for Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng to cross over one another and use this ¡®ambush¡¯ to defeat the Goldfeathered Eagle and then the other Galebird in a single swift operation.


    The cooperation between Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng had been superb. Even through silence, they were able to seemingly communicate their intentions silently as if they had been partners for many years.


    Just a dozen meters away, the two beast tamers had stood deathly still with open mouths. Neither of them had expected that their ¡®not easily defeatable¡¯ soulbeasts would be¡­.so easily defeatable. By the time they had gotten their nerves back, they had been shocked to realize that Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng had shot straight for them after disposing of the soulbeast!


    Unable to carry out their plan for negotiations, the two beast tamers could only retreat in a hurry when faced against those two.


    The golden rope in Feng Hao¡¯s right hand let out an illuminating sheen as it shot forth from his hand like a lively serpent at Bai Yunfei. Tai Ping¡¯s right hand had shot out a well. A rather long short-dagger had somehow made its way into his hand as it made a hasty swipe at Jing Mingfeng.


    Bai Yunfei had allowed for the rope to coil around his right hand. As if it was alive, the rope had immediately constrained itself around his right arm with a speed that did not fully manifest its gripping strength. Unfortunately for Feng Hao, the rope had coiled around the Flameblade Bracer and had done no influence at all over Bai Yunfei¡­.


    With his right arm connected with the rope, Bai Yunfei gave a hearty tug on it. The tension in the rope had forced Feng Hao to stumble forward half a step before his mind had registered the pain coming from his wrist. Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand had chopped down onto the hand holding onto the rope and forced him to slacken his grip on it. Now that the rope had been lost to him, Feng Hao had been dumbstruck Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand had then let out an ear-piercing sound as it impaced against his abdomen!


    On the other side, there had been the whooshing sound from a blade being swung downwards. Jing Mingfeng had merely brought his black dagger up to defend it with a smirk. Following the clanging sound afterwards, the strange weapon of Tai Ping had been stopped by the dagger and had even revealed a small jag in its blade!


    Having blocked the slash, Jing Mingfeng took advantage of his opponent¡¯s delay from pulling his sword back to let loose a right kick onto his opponent¡¯s groin. The panicked man¡¯s face had quickly turned purple from the heinous blow as he clutched at his groin and let out a pained shout. All that had been left for Jing Mingfeng to do was to let out a healthy uppercut onto the opponent¡¯s chin to send him flying away.


    Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng did not escalate the fight from there any longer. Both men from the Beast Taming School had been knocked away with blood coming out from their mouths. Only Jing Mingfeng had been rather cruel in method and knocked out two of Tai Ping¡¯s teeth¡­.


    Swinging his right hand carefreely, Jing Mingfeng turned his head to look at Bai Yunfei collect the golden rope into his own space ring. With raised eyebrows, Jing Mingfeng looked back to the strange weapon in Tai Ping¡¯s hand. Quirking his lips, he let out a sigh in regret as if to say, ¡°I messed up. If only I had known that I wanted to take his weapon earlier¡­.¡±


    The two men that had been fighting Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng had been sent flying for a good ten meters before finally tumbling back down to the ground. It had been with terrified eyes that they looked at the two calm males in front of them.


    ¡°You¡¯d find it in your best interest to stop the last two soulbeasts or you won¡¯t find me as kind as before!¡± Bai Yunfei looked to the two beast tamers as he spoke.


    Blanching, the two beast tamers had immediately commanded for their soulbeasts behind Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng to come to a stop. Having seen the unflinching faces of the two, Tai Ping could only shake his head helplessly. The Galebird and Goldfeathered Eagle had then flew around Jing Mingfeng and Bai Yunfei before landing back on top of the heads of their respective owners. With a careful shake of their feathers, neither of the birds looked ready to strike anymore.


    ¡°Just who¡­.who are you two?¡± After careful deliberation, the shorter man had asked with an albeit softer voice due to his mouth in pain from losing two teeth and making it harder to talk as a result.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. The only thing that does is that the Quickshade Bird is returned to us.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°And now. You may all leave.¡±

 Chapter 121: Saving the Quickshade Bird, But What has Happened?

    Chapter 121: Saving the Quickshade Bird, But What has Happened?


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. The only thing that does is that the Quickshade Bird has returned to us.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°And now, you may all leave.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s words had caused Tai Ping to be taken back for a moment. The light in his eyes flickered for a moment before thinking of something to say. With a disgruntled look, he spoke to Bai Yunfei, ¡°If you wish to capture that Quickshade Bird, then we shall admit our defeat here. But, if you could please leave your names so that we may one day return the favor¡­..¡±


    ¡°Ha! Do you take us to be idiots? Or do you think we¡¯ll tell you, are you the idiot then?¡± Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but chortle. ¡°Beast Taming School, ha! How scary, if I told you my identity, then wouldn¡¯t I die a miserable death then?¡±


    Exaggerating his words, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face had soon turned to become rather fierce, ¡°Hmph. If I tell you to leave, then you better get lost right fucking now! If I change my mind and kill you all here, you won¡¯t even have the chance to return the favor in the future!¡±


    His words had been effective in its intimidation. The two of them had only gulped as they looked at each other. Without another word, they carefully walked around them to pick up their fallen comrades and soulbeasts and walked away from the left side of the forest in defeat.


    Seeing how they had collect their stoic soulbeasts into their space rings, Bai Yunfei had a slightly uncomfortable look on his face. Because of his meeting with Hong Yin, Bai Yunfei did not look too favorably on the Beast Taming School. From his heart, he took them to be disgusting. These soulless soulbeasts were completely different than from the lively and cute Xiao Tang from before. His sympathies for these soulbeasts had furthered increase when he saw them being used like tools. Inversely, his hatred for the Beast Taming School had increased as well to the point where his eyes couldn¡¯t help but leak some killing intent.


    It wasn¡¯t as if he didn¡¯t have the idea of taking the soulbeasts. If he did, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t even know where to start on what to do with them afterwards. The beast tamers themselves were already a troublesome group. Admitting defeat and fighting to their death were two separate things. But it had been for the best. If they had been unwilling to give up, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure if he would be able to really kill them or not¡­.


    But the small sliver of killing intent that had leaked from Bai Yunfei had been noticed by Tai Ping and Fang Hao, causing them to shiver. The two bird soulbeasts they controlled flew slightly lower as if afraid of dropping their guard against Bai Yunfei. At the same time, their footsteps picked up so as to take them out of the forest even faster¡­.


    Long after they left, Jing Mingfeng let out a sigh and asked Bai Yunfei, ¡°How is it?¡±


    Drawing back his soulsense, Bai Yunfei nodded his head, ¡°Yea, they¡¯re gone.¡±


    ¡°Phew¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng let out a long sigh before dropping the stern expression on his face. With a swipe of his hand over his face, his original face had returned. Swinging his hands into the air in excitement, he laughed out loud, ¡°Haha, that was a good fight!! It¡¯s a good thing that they gave up, my soulforce would have run out if they continued to fight¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled as well as he let his original appearance appear on his face. There had been a rustling sound from behind as Tianming emerged from the bushes to run out to them.


    ¡°Wahaha, brother Bai, brother Jing, you two were amazing!!¡± Tianming ran up to the two of them with a face filled with adoration. ¡°With just the two of you, you were able to beat the others away! Too cool!¡±


    ¡°Eh? Hehe, do you think I¡¯m cool?¡± Jing mingfeng¡¯s eyes lit up as he stroked his chin as if drunk on the praise.


    ¡°Yea! You¡¯re awesome!¡± Tianming praised him again. ¡°That wind blade was especially too cool! The fact that you can change your face is super cool! I want to learn that soul technique too, could you teach me, brother Jing?¡±


    ¡°Of course I ca-what? Brat, were you trying to take advantage of this moment to trick me?¡± Jing Mingfeng had caught onto Tianming¡¯s words and laughed, ¡°You¡¯re only a Soul Personage. It¡¯s far too early for you to learn this soul technique. Wait until you become a Soul Sprite, we¡¯ll talk then!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head when he saw the look of disappointment on Tianming¡¯s face. ¡°Well then, that¡¯s that. We can leave now. Where¡¯s miss Tang and aunty Zhao?¡±


    ¡°Oh, them? After the Quickshade Bird flew off, it took off towards the village behind us. Miss Xinyun and aunty Zhao ran on over to it¡­.¡± Tianming pointed off in the direction he had mentioned for Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei turned his head to look and spread out his soulsense. Letting out a swear, he spoke, ¡°Something happened, let¡¯s hurry on over!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Turning the clock back a little bit, the Quickshade Bird had only just been freed from the rope thanks to Bai Yunfei. With a tremendous amount of effort, it was finally able to break free and fly away.


    When Tang Xinyun saw that Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng were fighting the others, she hesitated for a moment before turning around to run off in the direction the bird flew in.


    ¡°Miss Xinyun, where are you going?¡± Tianming whispered.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to find the Quickshade Bird!¡± Tang Xinyun replied before quickly chasing after it. Aunty Zhao had hesitated too for a moment to look at Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng fight the group of people there. But when she saw that they were taking care of them without a problem, she spoke a word to Tianming and ran off after Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine then. I¡¯ll sit here and wait. You can go¡­.¡± Tianming nodded his head before turning back to watch the fight.


    Running for three hundred meters, Tang Xinyun had finally sensed a weak amount of soulforce. Looking to a nearby tree, she saw the Quickshade Bird hidden on one of the branches.


    A steady flow of blood could be seen from the Quickshade Bird¡¯s body. With its beak quivering in pain and its throat letting out a small chirp, the bird was trying its best to look up into the blue skies. Its small eyes had reflected the pain it was feeling as it held its right wing underneath it. Unable to even turn over, its left wing flapped uselessly with blood splattering everywhere as it tried to take off once more to enjoy the freedom it would have in the skies.


    It was only when Tang Xinyun had gotten within ten meters of it that the bird had sensed her approach. Turning to her, the bird let out an unwilling chirp as despair overcame it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­.don¡¯t you worry. I won¡¯t capture you.¡± Tang Xinyun slowed her footsteps as she lifted her hands up in sign of bearing no ill will. ¡°I know you can understand what I¡¯m saying, do you remember me? We met three days ago, I won¡¯t hurt you¡­.¡±


    The bird¡¯s eyes seemed to have softened at Tang Xinyun¡¯s words and its movements calmed down by a marginal amount. Letting out two chirps, the vigilant light in its eyes seemed to have disappeared.


    Tang Xinyun naturally didn¡¯t know what the bird had said and could only inch closer to it to get to its side. Squatting down, she looked at the quivering injured bird with a pained look. Reaching out a hand, she moved to try and pick it up.


    Seeing how Tang Xinyun had extended an arm towards it, the Quickshade Bird had been startled. Almost as if frightened, the bird had instinctively pecked at Tang Xinyun¡¯s right palm with its beak.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Tang Xinyun had let out a pained sound as she looked at the small wound on her palm. Blood had been spilled out and soon pooled over her delicate hand.


    ¡°Young miss!¡± Aunty Zhao had caught up to her by this point and moved to run to her but was stopped by Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, don¡¯t come on over. It¡¯s only afraid¡­.¡± Tang Xinyun spoke. Looking again at the bird, she spoke warmly, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I won¡¯t hurt you. You¡¯re heavily hurt and need treatment. Let me help you okay? It¡¯ll be like last time¡­.¡±


    This time, the bird had not put up anymore resistance and had instead looked blankly at Tang Xinyun. Because of her eyes, the bird was at a loss for what to do.


    Carefully holding the bird into her hands, Tang Xinyun had realized that it was far smaller than before. Its left wing had a terrible wound about three inches long that had split apart from its exertion.


    Carefully feeling around the injured area, Tang Xinyun couldn¡¯t help but feel disturbed. The blood on her own hand had dripped down onto the bird¡¯s own wings, but she looked as if she hadn¡¯t felt the pain from it. Carefully pressed the wound, her eyes closed together and allowed her soulforce to flow into the bird.


    Feeling the soulforce enter its body, the Quickshade Bird let out a small chirp. Its body began to tremble as the unaware light gradually disappeared from its eyes. There had been a complicated look in its eyes as it stared at Tang Xinyun, but it felt grateful nonetheless.


    Walking up to Tang Xinyun, the aunty looked at her back with furrowed eyes. She understood Tang Xinyun¡¯s nature the most and knew that there would be no way for her to convince her younger charge to not save the soulbeast, but¡­.


    ¡°This Quickshade Bird is far too injured. You could transfer all of your soulforce into it, but this is a soulbeast of the fifth class, young miss. As a Soul Warrior, you don¡¯t have even enough soulforce to heal it completely¡­.¡± The woman shook her head. ¡°Finally, it was just fighting for its survival not too long ago, its lifeforce is surely at an end¡­¡±


    She knew that what Tang Xinyun was useless, but she was reluctant to stop her. With a helpless sigh, the woman turned her head to look off towards the direction where Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng were with her soulsense activated.


    ¡°Those two boys aren¡¯t ordinary by any means. Even without using their true skills, they were able to maintain the advantage.¡± With narrowed eyes, the woman thought to herself even more, ¡°But still¡­.I didn¡¯t think that those men would be from the Beast Taming School. It is a good thing that we didn¡¯t show ourselves. That would have been a troublesome thing if we did. Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng can change their faces, but we should split apart to avoid any more trouble befalling the young miss¡­.¡±


    ¡°Aah!!¡±


    Just at that moment, a cry came out from Tang Xinyun¡¯s mouth. Startled, aunty Zhao looked on over where she too had been stunned to see what was in front of her.


    ¡°Tha¨Cthat¡¯s¡­.¡±

 Chapter 122: Soul Contrac

    Chapter 122: Soul Contract


    A three-meter-long, one-meter-wide whirlwind had suddenly formed and sent the nearby leaves flying about. Through the wind, Tang Xinyun could be seen staring at the great transformation that had occurred, but she had no idea what had caused such a reaction.


    ¡°Young miss!¡± Zhao Mancha cried out. A bright glow of light encompassed her body as she was just about to ¡°save¡± her young charge.


    ¡°Aunty Zhao! Don¡¯t interfere!¡±


    Just as she was about to leap in, a warning shout came out from behind her. Bai Yunfei, Jing Mingfeng, and Tianming were quickly walking toward her.


    ¡°Why are you stopping me? The young miss is in danger!¡± Aunty Zhao was at a loss for why Bai Yunfei tried to stop him before trying once more to go into the whirlwind.


    ¡°It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t move just yet. Otherwise you¡¯ll put miss Tang in even more danger!¡± Bai Yunfei knew that she was worried, so he asked, ¡°Look carefully, is miss Tang really in any danger?¡±


    ¡°If I remember correctly, this is most likely¡­¡± Bai Yunfei moved to stop Zhao Mancha while studying Tang Xinyun in the middle of the whirlwind. There was a strange glint in his eyes as if he was looking at something extremely unexpected.


    ¡°Do you know what this is? Say it, what¡¯s going on here.¡± The aunt¡¯s voice stabilized a little bit when she realized that Tang Xinyun wasn¡¯t in danger, but now the soulforce in the area had become rather curious.


    Hesitating, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, this is¡­ what happens when a soul contract is formed!¡±


    ¡°Soul Contract!!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng and Zhao Mancha spoke at the same time, surprised about what Bai Yunfei had said.


    ¡°Yes, if I¡¯m right, this is exactly that.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded as he continued to observe Tang Xinyun with curiosity. No matter how much he studied the situation, this scenario was exactly as Hong Yin described. This is what would happen during a contract between a soul cultivator and a soulbeast.


    ¡°An exchange of soulforce is to share everything. Not only is soulforce shared, but even their lives become linked¡­ Yes, this is exactly how brother Hong Yin had described a soul contract! From the looks of this, it was the Quickshade Bird that initiated it! But it won¡¯t be that easy¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with skepticism. ¡°But, why? Why did the Quickshade Bird decide to offer a soul contract with miss Tang¡­ was it because she¡¯s saving its life? The short connection of life during this period would indeed let it recover quickly, but still, it isn¡¯t close to dying anymore. It was trying its best to prevent being captured by the Beast Taming School, so why offer a soul contract?¡±


    As his mind whirled with his thoughts, Bai Yunfei said to Tang Xinyun, ¡°Miss Tang! Do not reject the connection into your soul! Accept the soul of the Quickshade Bird, and focus on that! As long as you communicate with it, you will form a soul contract! From today on, it will be your soulbeast partner!¡±


    Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t respond to Bai Yunfei. Whether it was because she didn¡¯t hear him or if she couldn¡¯t respond, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know. The two soulforces were slowly ebbing back and forth between the two parties, but no one else was able to sense it. Bai Yunfei shook his head at Zhao Mancha to express that she shouldn¡¯t worry and that she should back away to wait for what happens next. The orange glow surrounding her body slowly dissipated into the air. However, her eyes were still nervous, and she was still ready to move should the situation arise.


    Several minutes later, the rapidly spinning whirlwind slowed down by a decent amount before finally dissipating. Leaves and branches scattered everywhere, and Tang Xinyun could be seen sprawled on the ground with a rather tiny Quickshade Bird nested in her arms. Both of them remained motionless.


    ¡°Young miss!¡± The aunt cried out in alarm as she rushed on over to inspect Tang Xinyun. Realizing that she had fainted due to soulforce exhaustion, she let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say she would be alright? Aunty, you need to relax. Miss Tang will recover soon enough.¡± Bai Yunfei looked around to everyone. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go back. I bet boss Huang has been waiting for us for a very long time now. I heard that he¡¯s waiting for us at a road stop nearby. Let¡¯s hurry on over and let miss Tang rest there.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    That night within a bigger inn.


    Bored to death, Bai Yunfei, Jing Mingfeng, and Tianming sat around a square table while eating shelled peanuts and talking with each other. Huang Wan and the other travelers sat by the few tables to the sides, and conversed to one another in quiet voices. Within the spacious area, there were still several other travelers that had stopped by this place to have their meal. Since Guyi City wasn¡¯t too far away, the amount of people that traveled here were many.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng tossed several peanuts into his mouth. Followed by a swig of wine, he let out a disappointed sigh.


    ¡°Brother Jing, you¡¯ve been sighing for a long time now. What¡¯s been on your mind?¡± Tianming asked out of curiosity as he ate his peanuts at a leisurely pace.


    ¡°Hehe, I bet¡­ he¡¯s probably depressed about the fact that the Quickshade Bird formed a soul contract with Tang Xinyun.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled as he sipped his own cup of tea.


    ¡°How could I not be depressed?¡± Jing Mingfeng quirked his lips in ¡®sorrow¡¯, ¡°It was a fifth-grade soulbeast! A wind element Quickshade Bird¡­ we were the ones that saved him. Why didn¡¯t he choose me then? You¡¯re a fire type, and I¡¯m a wind type. It was no contest who would be chosen! But, before I could even get a chance to talk to it, it already chose another to soulbind with¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been depressed for an entire afternoon already, give it a rest.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear aunty Zhao say that the Quickshade Bird was on the verge of death? If miss Tang hadn¡¯t been there to form a soul contract, then you¡¯d be trying to communicate with a dead bird. That bird is an unwilling creature. Even if it died, it wouldn¡¯t submit to the Beast Taming School. So, even though you saved it, I doubt it¡¯ll allow itself to be your soulbeast partner. Tang Xinyun had the chance and had the heart to tempt the Quickshade Bird. It was this luck that helped her, just accept it¡­¡±


    ¡°Agh¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng fell into depression again at those words. Pouring himself another cup, he held the wine bottle to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Come on gramps, take a sip or two. What kind of man doesn¡¯t drink? Do you want people to hate you or something?¡±


    ¡°Gramps¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips quirked. After the silent exchange they had during that afternoon, the relationship between the two looked as if it had become close together. This new name Jing Mingfeng had come up with for him was something that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t inclined to stop. Shaking his head, he replied, ¡°If I¡¯m hated, that¡¯s fine. I won¡¯t drink. It¡¯s bitter and pungent. What is so good about drinking that?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so bad about drinking? If you get drunk, you can just use your soulforce to disperse the alcohol can¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s the point of drinking wine? I¡¯d much rather drink tea.¡± Bai Yunfei took another sip of his tea.


    ¡°Pft, not even a single bit of heroism to you. It¡¯s a wonder how you¡¯re a fire type; the other fire soul cultivators are all heroes or villains. In general, they¡¯re all straightforward people.¡± Jing Mingfeng looked down at Bai Yunfei with a smile, ¡°Then, Tianming, do you want a sip?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Yes! I want to be like a man and drink! How great it¡¯ll be¡­¡± Tianming nodded his head in elation.


    ¡°Good! That¡¯s the spirit! Come, I¡¯ll pour you a cup. You¡¯ll be satisfied, I guarantee it!¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed as he poured a cup of wine.


    Taking the wine cup, Tianming gave it a curious sniff. Then, following Jing Mingfeng¡¯s example, he drained it in a single gulp¡­


    Three seconds later, Tianming¡¯s face turned ¡®slightly¡¯ red, like a monkey. Twitching just slightly, he drained the rest of his tea cup so that even the leaves from were gone.


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth twitched as he let out a curse to Jing Mingfeng, ¡°Look what you did. You¡¯re always tormenting him. The way I see it, he¡¯s even more exaggerated than I am¡­¡±


    Then Tianming suddenly said, ¡°Haha, I¡¯m fine! Absolutely fine! I feel¡­ I feeellll pretty good. Hehe, so this is what it feels like to have a drink¡­¡±


    ¡°What was that? Have you never drank before?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked.


    ¡°Nope. Never. My house is pretty strict! I couldn¡¯t even take a step outside. Can¡¯t do this, can¡¯t do that¡­ mother and grandmother were so strict, always nagging me about this or that. They always treated me like a child. It was annoying!¡± Tianming¡¯s face was flushed with a red hue. Somehow, he had gotten drunk from a single cup.


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei was about to say something when he sensed something weird behind him. Bai Yunfei turned just in time to see Zhao Mancha walk down from the second story.


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, how¡¯s miss Tang?¡± Bai Yunfei asked the weary woman as he handed her a cup of tea.


    ¡°How¡¯s the Quickshade Bird?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked in addition.


    Taking a sip of her tea to calm herself, the woman responded, ¡°There hasn¡¯t been anything major. She woke up just now, but then went back to sleep. That soul contract took a lot out of her. She was on the verge of making a breakthrough to the Soul Sprite realm and condensing her essence windseed, but she ended up throwing that away while increasing her burdens even more. I assume she will be back to normal tomorrow¡­¡±


    ¡°She gave it up? Why?¡± The three males asked in confusion.


    ¡°That¡¯s because the young lady wishes to cultivate the elemental fire¡­¡± The aunty spoke with a shake of her head before changing the subject, ¡°Did you take care of the beast tamers properly? Did they find out who you were?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Aunty, you don¡¯t need to worry. We were lenient with them. As long as we travel carefully, we won¡¯t encounter any more trouble. With how we changed our faces, they won¡¯t be able to find us no matter how much they try¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng waved his hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then¡­¡± Zhao Mancha sighed in relief.


    ¡°Our food¡¯s here. Let¡¯s eat first. Today has been a tiring day. After we eat, we can hurry up on the road tomorrow.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke as soon as he spotted a waiter bringing a platter of food.


    ¡­¡­


    That night within his room, Bai Yunfei sat on top of his bed, he recalled the day¡¯s events. After careful deliberation, Bai Yunfei shook his hand to take an item out.


    It was the golden rope he had taken¡­

 Chapter 123: Compliant Rope

    Chapter 123: Compliant Rope


    ¡°Equipment level: Middle rare.¡±


    ¡°Attack power: 326.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 67 soulpoints.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at the rope in his hands with some disappointment, ¡°Ah¡­ this is all that a Human-ranked middle-grade soul item amounts to?¡±


    If Fang Hao knew what Bai Yunfei was thinking right now, he would have undoubtedly puked blood. This soul item was specifically picked for capturing the Quickshade Bird, and he had only managed to procure it with great difficulty. Now that Bai Yunfei knew the soul item was such a lowly item, he really¡­


    ¡°Eh, maybe I¡¯m getting ahead of myself.¡± Bai Yunfei could feel himself grow a little too greedy. With a jeer, he thought to himself, ¡°Let me upgrade it first. The Glacial Pricker was only a low rare with pretty decent attributes. Who knows, maybe the rope will fare better than that.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Roughly ten minutes later.


    ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°Equipment level: Middle rare.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10.¡±


    ¡°Attack power: 326.¡±


    ¡®Additional attack power: 151.¡±


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: By consuming additional soulforce, you may lengthen and shorten the rope and control it at will. The rope may be extended from a fifth of its original length to up to five times its original length. The longer it extends, the weaker it becomes. The shorter it becomes, the stronger it becomes.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: 67 soulpoints.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was slightly stunned by the effects of the golden rope. ¡°This ability¡­ is a little strange isn¡¯t it?¡±


    After thinking to himself for a moment, he helplessly shook his head, ¡°Let¡¯s give it a try. I wonder what it¡¯ll do!¡±


    Bai Yunfei carefully examined the rope to figure out the front and the back. He noticed that one end of the rope was about ten centimeters of rough rope where the handle would normally be. On the other end was a small pointed tip. When Bai Yunfei felt it, it felt like it was shaped like a small dart¡¯s tip.


    Holding onto the handle, Bai Yunfei whipped it to the side. There was a swishing sound before another popping sound could be heard. The rope had slapped against the door to his tent about fifteen meters away.


    ¡°That¡¯s a long distance!¡± Bai Yunfei was startled. He had only wanted to roll it out a little bit, but he didn¡¯t think that it would extend that far in such a short amount of time.


    Thinking for a little bit, he channeled a bit of his soulforce into the golden rope. The next moment, he felt as if the golden rope had integrated with his own body, like his arm had extended several meters.


    When he used the Fire-tipped Spear, he felt the same sensation as this one. The only difference was that the Fire-tipped Spear gave him the feeling of ¡®intimacy,¡¯ almost like they were inseparable. This golden rope gave the feeling of ¡®strangeness.¡¯ It also felt like it was ¡®doing as it pleased.¡¯


    Giving his right hand a little shake, a ¡®rope wave¡¯ came from the handle of the whip all the way to its end. With a ¡®pop¡¯ sound in midair, the long rope seemed to slowly contort in midair as if alive. He glanced toward the stool to his left, and the rope seemed to have received an order as it flew toward the stool. Wrapping around one of its legs, the rope yanked it through the air with a whooshing sound before it was grabbed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand.


    ¡°Hey, this is pretty easy.¡± Bai Yunfei plopped down the stool with great interest in his eyes. This was the very first time he had used a rope type soul item; thus, he felt very curious about it.


    ¡°Let me try to lengthen and shorten it then¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After ¡°playing¡± for ten minutes or so, Bai Yunfei had finally stopped his happy experimenting.


    When extended five times its normal length, the rope had been around seventy meters long. Bai Yunfei had felt as if there had been a snake ¡®coiled¡¯ around the tent. When he extended it, Bai Yunfei had come to the realization that the longer the rope, the thinner it became. The rope had been very fine at the very end. The rope itself felt softer than before, but its ¡®toughness¡¯ was still the same.


    Shrinking it down to the shortest he could, Bai Yunfei was left with a golden rod a little over two meters long. He could easily wave the the rod and feel as if it was a spear in his hand.


    Since this golden rope could be lengthened and shortened at will, Bai Yunfei gave it some thought before finally naming the rope ¡°Compliant Rope¡±¡­


    Collecting the Compliant Rope back into his space ring, Bai Yunfei let out a yawn before laying on his bed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll rest up first and then upgrade the rest of my equipment later¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the second day, when everyone filed out from the inn to prepare to leave, Tang Xinyun came down followed by Zhao Mancha. Slowly walking out of the doors, she was wearing yet another white-robe and revealed a faint smile on her face as if nothing had changed. The only difference now was the fact that perched on her right shoulder was a small, white, sparrow-sized bird. After observing it with detail, one would realize this bird was clearly the very same eagle-sized Quickshade Bird from yesterday.


    ¡°Miss Tang, is that¡­¡± Seeing the white bird, Bai Yunfei slowly realized who it was, but he did not fully voice his question. Jing Mingfeng and Tianming had both crowded forward to curiously stare at the bird.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the very same Quickshade Bird from yesterday, but it¡¯s rather small right now. It¡¯s the most convenient method to travel as of right now.¡± Tang Xinyun nodded her head with a smile. When she tilted her head to look at the bird, she said, ¡°Xiao Bai, do you remember these two? They saved you yesterday, give them your thanks¡­¡±


    ¡°Xi-Xiao Bai¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng felt stunned. Giving Bai Yunfei a queer look, his face then began to twitch. Hooking Tianming by the arm, the two of them quickly moved to the side to chuckle in an evil manner.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but feel his lips twitch as well. For some reason, when he heard the name ¡°Xiao Bai,¡± his very first thought had been ¡°Xiao Bai? Why does that sound like a name for a dog?¡±


    ¡°Chirrrp!!¡± As if sensing the meaning behind everyone¡¯s laughter, the Quickshade Bird, ¡°Xiao Bai,¡± let out a disgruntled chirp before beating its wings to take flight.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s wrong with the name Xiao Bai?¡± Tang Xinyun found the reaction of everyone there to be strange, so she had asked questions in confusion.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Xiao Bai is a good name. Very cute even¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng interjected from the side before turning to Bai Yunfei with an earnest look, ¡°What about you, Gramps Bai?¡±


    At those two words, he had to leap into the air in order to dodge the kick Bai Yunfei had sent at him. Then laughing on his way, he and Tianming ran ahead.


    ¡°That¡­¡± Tang Xinyun had heard the final remark and couldn¡¯t help but lookat Bai Yunfei with an embarrassed expression.


    ¡°Haha, miss Tang, don¡¯t worry about it. Boss Huang should be ready to set out now. We should go with them. We should be able to reach Guyi City by the end of today¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. With a nod to Zhao Mancha, Bai Yunfei and the entire group set off once more.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    By night time, the group reached their destination ¡ª Guyi City.


    The group slowly disbanded while Huang Wan dealt with the negotiations. Bai Yunfei, Tang Xinyun, and the others wandered through the streets, strolling around. Huang Wan had said that they would be staying in the Prosperity Inn tonight. He also thanked Bai Yunfei and the others for their ¡®protection.¡¯ At the same time, he had said that all of the night time preparations had been made for them as well.


    It was with great relaxation that everyone walked through the streets. Tianming was the most excited as he looked left and right throughout the city. Every so often, he would nitpick at the merchandise to the side whenever he found fault, saying that the so-and-so store in Gaoyi City had better merchandise and that this store didn¡¯t have the same charm as the other or would just say something for whatever reason¡­


    When Jing Mingfeng accidentally brought up the matters of his family, Tianming puffed out his cheeks and said with disgruntlement, ¡°Don¡¯t talk about it. That family bores me to death! The kids of my second and third uncle always bully me, and my older brother is always with father. He¡¯s rarely at home, and whenever he and I fight, my mother always scolds me, saying that I shouldn¡¯t be causing trouble with them. Pah! Who was the one that said they should pick a fight with me? I won¡¯t take it lying down! And there¡¯s nanny as well, she spends the entire day chattering and nagging away! It bores me to tears I tell you! I don¡¯t even want to see her, I¡­¡±


    Halfway through his speech, there was a sudden queer atmosphere that descended over the area. When he turned his head to look, he realized that Bai Yunfei and the others were all giving him a look as if there was some¡­ discontent?


    ¡°Wha-what¡¯s wrong?¡± Tianming realized that he must have said something wrong. He felt his neck draw in within itself as if questioning his words.


    Bai Yunfei let out a light sigh as he prepared earnest explanation, ¡°Tianming, allow me to speak honestly. You shouldn¡¯t talk about your family that way. Furthermore, you shouldn¡¯t treat them that way either¡­ whether it is your parents or grandparents, they are still people you should respect. The ¡®loving care¡¯ they provide you is something that you cannot ignore and cannot hate. If it were not for the fact that I know that your heart isn¡¯t in your words, then I would have long since ceased any relationship I had with you. Out of everything in life, filial piety is the most important. A person that doesn¡¯t understand that is not a friend of mine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I¡­¡± Tianming¡¯s face became blank as if he was growing anxious.


    ¡°You probably won¡¯t understand it completely just yet, but I hope that you will come to realize it sooner rather than later¡­¡± Bai Yunfei gave him a small smile as if teaching a small child, ¡°Do you know what it means to be a ¡®family?¡¯


    ¡°Wha?¡± Tianming shook his head blankly as if lost by Bai Yunfei¡¯s question.


    Bai Yunfei pointed in front of them, ¡°That. That is what ¡®family¡¯ is.¡±


    Just a hundred meters or so down the street in a corner, two rather frail figures could be seen sitting on the ground. There was a child that looked to be twelve or thirteen years old. His clothes were in a dilapidated state, and they revealed the nearly pearly-white arms he possessed. His hair was frazzled and ragged as if he had not showered in days. Yet, in his hand was half a steamed bun that he was using to carefully feed, piece by piece, a woman around the age of seventy.


    The old woman was slumped against the wall. Her clothes were torn, but her white hair was not as frazzled as the child. Instead, it had neatly been combed by someone. She was less frail-looking than the small child, but her eyes had sunk into her face, and were clearly dim in comparison to the norm.


    The steamed bun was quickly finished off by the woman, and the young child brought out a bowl. He started to let the woman drink from it.


    At that moment, a single person came walking by and threw a single copper coin. The young child¡¯s face lit up as he picked up the coin. Kneeling on the ground, the child kowtowed to the one who had given him the coin before running back to the woman. He started to say something out of excitement to her¡­


    With flashing eyes, Bai Yunfei began to walk towards them.


    ¡°No matter where you go, there will always be people living like this¡­ But even as hard as the times are, you must never leave each other. This¡­ this is what it means to have family¡­¡±

 Chapter 124: Assistance

    Chapter 124: Assistance


    The actions that the youth was doing had been rather astonishing to the eyes of everyone else. But when Bai Yunfei started to walk towards the two, everyone else had realized what was happening and followed behind.


    On the way, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes looked around the area before finally settling back onto the two figures in the corner. But then his body suddenly gave a whirl towards the left.


    ¡°Eh? Brother Bai, aren¡¯t you¡­.¡±


    His sudden action had confused everyone. Tianming¡¯s words had seemingly been ignored by Bai Yunfei who disappeared into the crowd. Tianming had stopped dead in his tracks to look back to Jing Mingfeng and the others, unsure of what to do.


    ¡°Brother Bai¡­.is he not going to help those two? Shouldn¡¯t we¡­.follow him then?¡± Tianming asked.


    Tang Xinyun looked off to where Bai Yunfei disappeared to with furrowed eyebrows. There had been a disappointed look on her face as she looked to the old and young pair. A sympathetic look had been on her face; but after biting her lips in indecision, she finally decided to walk over to them.


    When they reached the youth however, the youth had started with fear and paranoia. Subconsciously shrinking away and pursing up his lips, his frail but determined body immediately moved to protect the elder woman behind him.


    There had been a pained look in Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes at that sight, but she managed to give a small smile filled with warmth. ¡°Little brother, don¡¯t be afraid. We won¡¯t harm you¨Cwe¡¯re here to help.¡±


    Then she looked the frail woman behind the youth, ¡°Is that your grandmother?¡±


    The youth seemed to loosened up just a bit when he saw the honest goodwill behind Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes. With some hesitation, he replied with a nod of his head, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Giving it some thought, Tang Xinyun shook her right hand so three gold pieces came out from her space ring. Handing them to the child, she spoke, ¡°Take these coins. Your grandmother is very ill; take this to go buy medicine and have her eat it. She¡¯ll get better soon.¡±


    When she took out the three gold, Zhao Mancha had looked as if she wanted to say something but thought against it when she saw the earnest look on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face and closed her mouth.


    ¡°Xi-Xiao Hu, don¡¯t¡­don¡¯t take it¡­.¡± A frail voice could be heard from behind the youth as the woman behind him struggled to speak.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, please don¡¯t decline it. Just take it, it¡¯ll help your future.¡± Tang Xinyun spoke to the elder woman with the same warm-hearted smile.


    Dazed, the youth took the gold pieces from her while seemingly ignoring the voice of his grandmother behind him. Taking the coins ¡®fiercely¡¯, he then stuffed them into his clothes so that no one else would see.


    Falling to the ground with a ¡®plopping¡¯ sound, the child kowtowed his head to Tang Xinyun to give his thanks. Hurriedly moving to pick him up, Tang Xinyun shook her head, ¡°Don¡¯t be like this. Hurry and go help your grandmother. You¡¯ll be able to take care of her with more care later, okay?¡±


    For a few seconds, the young boy stared at Tang Xinyun as if trying to burn her image into his mind before finally speaking out honestly, ¡°Thank you!¡±


    Revealing a happy smile, Tang Xinyun spoke, ¡°Haha, there¡¯s no need to thank me. This is something I should ha¨C¡±


    ¡°What are you all doing here?¡± Before she could even finish, a sound from behind had interrupted her. Turning around, Tang Xinyun could only see Bai Yunfei with two items in his hand as he stared at them curiously.


    ¡°Brother Bai? Didn¡¯t you leave?¡± Tianming asked in befuddlement.


    ¡°Leave? Where would I go to?¡± Bai Yunfei was equally confused. But then a smile appeared on his face afterwards, ¡°I only went to buy something, didn¡¯t I tell you all to wait here for a second?¡±


    ¡°Where did you go? None of us heard you say anything.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­forget about it. The crowd probably drowned out my words.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head before walking to the young boy. Opening up one of the oil paper bags he had, there were several steaming hot steamed buns in there for the young boy to eat.


    ¡°Have some to eat first. It¡¯ll fill your stomach and give you energy to take care of your grandmother.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke before handing the other bag over, ¡°This is some medicine that are used to treat the common illnesses. Find a place to boil it and then feed it to your grandmother.¡±


    Seeing the vacant look on the youngster¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei laughed before handing several copper coins strung together. Hiding them into the folds of the boy¡¯s clothes, Bai Yunfei spoke quietly, ¡°Take this money and take of your grandmother, got it?¡±


    It was only at this point that the youngster had realized what was happening. His reaction had been bigger than when he received the three gold coins, and when he put down the items, the young child immediately fell to the floor once more before kowtowing his head thrice while speaking out with a quavering voice, ¡°Thank you¡­.thank you¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had done nothing to stop him and allowed him to finish his actions. Then holding up his grandmother, the two of them slowly hobbled to the left side of the street before ultimately disappearing from sight. With the same smile on his face when he was talking to the child, Bai Yunfei addressed everyone, ¡°Well now that everything is done, we should continue on our way.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    And now with everyone continuing on the roads, not a single one of them were as happy as before. Instead, there was rather subdued look on each one of their faces.


    ¡°Tianming, do you treat your grandmother with the same piety as that child?¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly asked Tianming.


    ¡°Wha? How could I? My home isn¡¯t like that, and my grandmother has plenty of servants looking after her¡­.¡±


    ¡°Then, when your grandmother is sick, do you take care of her?¡±


    ¡°Are-aren¡¯t there other people for that? Even if I went, it¡¯d be¡­.¡±


    ¡°Do you ever attempt at conversation with her?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡±


    For a good while, Tianming was silent. Finally turning to tilt his head up to Bai Yunfei, his next words were spoken in a low voice, ¡°Brother Bai, I-I think I understand now¡­.¡±


    ¡°Then all is well.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°When you go home, remember to treat your mother and grandmother with the piety they deserve. I can guarantee that if you do as you should, then life will be drastically different for you¡­.¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± Tianming nodded before a smile reappeared on his face. ¡°Brother Bai, when you left back then, we all thought that you weren¡¯t going to help those two! But none of us thought that you¡¯d come back with medicine and food!¡±


    ¡°Haha, when I saw them, there was no way I couldn¡¯t help them. I could only give them what they need for now, but¡­.it¡¯s completely up to that kid for their future now. We can only help them temporarily, but our money should help them for a few days or so. When he eats his fill though, he should be able to find the energy to find a way to earn some money¡­.¡±


    Giving a small laugh, Tianming answered, ¡°Yea, when you came back, miss Xinyun already gave them three gold pieces! That should be enough for them to live for an even longer amount of time¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been so astounded at those words that he came to a standstill, ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    The abrupt reaction had scared even Tianming and was at a loss for words. ¡°I¡­I said that miss Xinyun gave them three gold pieces, it should be enough for them for a while¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes immediately swiveled to look at Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Yes? Mister Bai, did I¡­.did I do something wrong?¡± Tang Xinyun had been at a loss as well and didn¡¯t understand what was happening.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows had narrowed together in anger before he turned his eyes towards Zhao Mancha and Jing Mingfeng right next to her.


    For some reason when Bai Yunfei looked to the two, both of them had been unable to meet his glance and shifted their eyes away. And on their faces had been¡­.embarrassment?


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a cold snort, but no words came out after that. It was with a quick pace that Bai Yunfei then started to walk towards the direction where the child and his grandmother were headed towards.


    ¡°But¡­.aunty Zhao, why is mister Bai acting this way? Was there a problem?¡± Tang Xinyun had been completely bewildered by Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction.


    There had been some hesitation in the older woman¡¯s face as she sighed. ¡°Young miss¡­.sigh. You¡¯ll understand in a moment if you go take a look¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It had not taken even a minute before Bai Yunfei had reached one of the alleyways of the streets with great haste. With his soulsense spread out to track down the two, he started to comb the area for them.


    A sudden movement had caused his eyes to light up, but then his joy had turned into fury in the next moment. Frost entered his eyes just briefly before his body flickered away down a narrow pathway with a gust of wind trailing behind him.


    Within this alleyway, four fiendish men were kicking and punching at a small and frail figure. Several steamed buns and medicinal ingredients could be seen scattered to the side and an extremely frail-looking woman pushed to the side where her body was quivering nonstop and unable to move as if someone had pushed her down forcefully.


    ¡°Pl-please! Don¡¯t hit¨Cdon¡¯t hit him anymore. Xia¨CXiao Hu, give them the money¡­.¡± The woman let out a pleading whimper to their assailants while the young child with her hugged at his chest to prevent the coins from being taken.


    ¡°No! I won¡¯t give it up!¡± The young child was curled in a ball with his hands across his chest as if he was resolved to protect the coins to his death.


    ¡°What was that? You won¡¯t give it up? Then we¡¯ll beat you to death!¡± One of the men landed a vicious kick onto the child¡¯s stomach while swearing at him, ¡°You little beggar! Just a few copper coins would be enough for you, what use is there for gold coins! You¡¯d only buy some measly steamed buns and rotting vegetables! Don¡¯t be an idiot and hand them over or we¡¯ll beat you to death and pry the coins from your dead body!!¡±


    The elderly woman had finally managed to shift herself over to one of the men. With a trembling hand, she held onto his trouser legs and began to beg. ¡°Please¨Cplease don¡¯t hurt him anymore. You¡¯ll kill him! We¡¯ll give you the money¨Cwe don¡¯t need it! Please¡­.don¡¯t hurt him anymore¡­.¡±


    ¡°Disgusting old crone, let go of me!¡± The man had glared viciously at her. A single kick had been enough to separate the two of them, but as if he was unsatisfied with just that, the man¡¯s leg wound up for another kick.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    A sneer suddenly made itself known. And in the next moment, the man suddenly felt a stinging pain originating from his leg. When he looked down to look, all he could see was a thumb-sized thing suddenly come flying out from the side of his leg with what appeared to be blood flying off of it¡­.


    ¡°Aah!!¡± It had only taken half a second for the man to suddenly come to his senses and clutch at his bleeding right leg before collapsing to the ground. But before he could fall down, Bai Yunfei had already struck at his belly with a kick of his own, sending the man flying ten meters away.


    Seemingly at the same time, three separate slamming sounds could be heard as the other three men were sent flying by Jing Mingfeng who stood protectively over the young boy with a grim expression.


    At the entrance of the alleyway, Tang Xinyun had stood dumbfounded from start to finish. With how things were unfolding right in front of her, she had absolutely no idea how to react¡­.

 Chapter 125: Moonlight on the Rooftops

    Chapter 125: Moonlight on the Rooftops


    Supporting the elderly woman to her knees, Bai Yunfei transmitted some of his soulforce into her to alleviate her pain before turning to look at the four men struggling on the ground with sharp and frosty eyes, ¡°Scram!!¡±


    At a sudden loss of words, the four of them stared blankly for a moment before one of the less injured ones glared vehemenously at Bai Yunfei. With a seemingly rehearsed line, he shouted, ¡°Who are you! We are from the Eagle Gang¡­.¡±


    But before they could even finish speaking, a tremendous amount of soulforce pressed down onto them in an instant. The pressure had been so much that whatever words they wanted to say had been forcibly stopped in their throats.


    Killing intent began to leak from Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he spoke icily, ¡°If you don¡¯t leave this instant, I¡¯ll kill you all!!¡±


    All four of the men had shivered at the same time from fear. Even the one that had a hole through his leg had stopped screaming for that one moment. With a look at one another, they did not say anything more and hobbled their way out from the alley.


    Jing Mingfeng helped the youth boy named Xiao Hu back up to his feet as well. With some soulforce to help the boy recover from his wounds, he was already starting to look a little better.


    For a soul cultivator, the soulforce of another could be accepted temporarily to heal their wounds. But it would not last for long, and if the affinities of the soulforces were contrasted, then the recovery effect would backfire completely. For the average person however, if they were to accept some soulforce into their bodies, then it would stimulate the acupoints and help start the recovery process.


    As soon as Xiao Hu rose to his feet, he flew to his grandmother¡¯s site with an anxious expression. Upon realizing that there had been no major injuries to her, he let out a great sigh in relief before tilting his head to look at Bai Yunfei gratefully. ¡°Thank you!¡± He spoke.


    Laughing, Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank us. Instead, we were the ones that brought trouble to you in the first place¡­.¡± As he spoke, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eye swiveled to look besides him.


    After a small moment of consideration, Bai Yunfei spoke to the boy, ¡°Leaving you here would be dangerous. Who knows whether or not those men will come back for you. I can help you again, but are you willing to follow me?¡±


    Stunned, Xiao Hu looked to his grandmother then back to Bai Yunfei in silence. Then, with a determined look, he nodded his head, ¡°Okay!¡±


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei cried out, ¡°Tianming, come here!¡±


    ¡°Ah? Oh! Coming!¡± Tianming ran up to Bai Yunfei with curiosity, ¡°Brother Bai, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Carry the grandmother and we¡¯ll head back to find boss Huang.¡±


    ¡°Ah? That¡¯s¡­.¡± Tianming looked at the grimy and dusty clothes of the stinky woman with a look of hesitation.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you unwilling? Do you hate the filth of the elderly? Forget it then, I¡¯ll do it.¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes before moving to kneel down in preparation to carry the old woman.


    Snapping out of his daze, Tianming had a look of guilt on his face as he panicked, ¡°No no, that¡¯s not it¡­.Brother Bai, I admit my wrongs. Let me do it, please.¡±


    Bai Yunfei stood back up with a smile and watched as Tianming carefully lift the woman onto his back. With a nod of his head towards Xiao Hu and Jing Mingfeng, he spoke, ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    There had been a complicated expression on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face when she saw Bai Yunfei look at her earlier. Then when she saw the woman on Tianming¡¯s back and Xiao Hu right next to the two, her mouth opened as if trying to say something, but then she closed it as if unsure of what to say. Her eyes began to moisten and a guilty look overcame her face.


    Seeing the state that she was in, Bai Yunfei shook his head and spoke softly, ¡°You¡­.had no bad intentions.¡±


    But then he looked to Zhao Mancha who was standing guiltily right besides Tang Xinyun, ¡°You however, did wrong¡­¡±


    Without any further words, they all turned to walk onto the streets.


    ¡­¡­


    As they arrived back at the Prosperity inn, Bai Yunfei had noticed that Huang Wan and the others were already waiting for them. Several plates of food could be seen ready to be eaten, and even more people could be seen seated around the tables with smiles and laughter as they chatted. About half of them were strangers to Bai Yunfei, but they were most likely Huang Wan¡¯s business partners.


    When Huang Wan saw Bai Yunfei and the others enter, he immediately flew up to receive them. Another stout but wealthy persons had came up with him, but he too had been very respectful¨Calbeit a little nervous¨C he must have known from Huang Wan what statuses Bai Yunfei and the others had.


    The two of them exchanged several words of greeting with the group before Bai Yunfei had mentioned Xiao Hu and his grandmother. He had hoped that Xiao Hu would be able to find work with Huang Wan in exchange for several necessities.


    Bai Yunfei had made sure to note that neither Xiao Hu or he knew each other, and that there should be no special consideration to be had. Xiao Hu would be treated as any regular person. As it was nothing but a small matter to a person like Huang Wan, he agreed to the request full-heartedly. He himself was more than aware that Xiao Hu and Bai Yunfei had only a chance encounter and that it was almost impossible for them to meet again, but the fact that he was connected to a soul cultivator was a good selling point. Even if it was a small exchange, agreeing to Bai Yunfei would serve as an honor and as ¡®capital¡¯¡­.


    That night, Bai Yunfei was rested upon an impressive-looking bed. But instead of cultivating, Bai Yunfei was instead resting his head on his hands while he reminisced on several things.


    At the moment, Bai Yunfei was thinking back to how the rich merchant Huang Wan was always giving him looks of admiration and worship. Then he thought to the young boy and his grandmother he helped save from the gang of hoodlums. Then at last, he thought back to how words could change his ¡®destiny¡¯ irrevocably. But for some reason, there had been a ¡®melancholic¡¯ spirit to him.


    He himself was now a mighty soul cultivator. No longer was he a commoner that had to swallow his anger whenever berated with insults from any single person.


    ¡°One day, there¡¯ll be a time when my little Yunfei will be like the clouds in the sky as they float across the azure skies with complete freedom.¡±


    The sweet and endearing words of his mother came whispering into his ear, causing Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm to rise up in front of his face to have his palm face the ceiling. ¡°Mother, I¡¯ve become someone with more strength than the average person. I can do so much more now, I can even do the things I could only dream of before. It has been a relaxed life ever since¡­.is this the ¡®freedom¡¯ you talked about?¡±


    ¡°But¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei then thought back to his previous grievances with the Glacial School and then how he had been chased by the Soul Ancestor in Yanlin City. It had only been by the assistance of another that he managed to escape with his life.


    ¡°Perhaps this is only temporary¡­.the world is big, and I can only ¡®fly freely¡¯ for a small amount of time. Life goes on for even longer than that. Even if I bother no one, there is no guarantee that trouble won¡¯t come after me. There¡¯s plenty of stronger people than me in the world, and if I want to continue living my life with this ¡®freedom¡¯, then I just have to get stronger!¡±


    ¡°Furthermore¡­.it¡¯s not like I¡¯m being forced into this. Mother, I feel that growing stronger is a thing to be happy about; it¡¯s not a burden at all. I¡¯ve taken plenty of risks with soul cultivators, soul techniques, soul items, soulbeasts, schools, and even the upgrade technique¡­.I feel that there¡¯s still so much more for me to discover. A lifestyle like this is something that is to my liking¡­.Mother, please don¡¯t worry about me anymore. Your child will continue to live in freedom and in peace. I won¡¯t disappoint you¡­..¡±


    The more he thought, the more he began to think about the hazy memories of his mother and the more he thought about the bits and pieces he had of his grandfather. His line of thought had been so fast that by the end of it all, Bai Yunfei had been unable to go to sleep in peace or cultivate.


    With nothing else to do, Bai Yunfei let out a small sigh and hopped down from his bed. Opening to the windows, he leapt out and prepared to take a stroll around.


    ¡°Eh?¡± As soon as he landed on the streets, Bai Yunfei let out a small sound of surprise before turning his head to look at the rooftop¨Cthere had been a person standing on top of it¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    On the rooftops, a figure wearing white robes could be seen sitting there with their head staring up at the bright moon hanging in the sky. Their eyes were fogged over as if thinking about something. Xiao Bai was on their shoulder and would occasionally hop around the shoulder and chirp as if to console the person.


    The pittering-pattering sounds of footsteps had caused Tang Xinyun to be alarmed for a moment, but quickly regaining her calm, she gave a nod at the Bai Yunfei down below. Bringing her head back up to look at the night sky, Tang Xinyun now looked even more gloomy than before.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Miss Tang, what could you be thinking about this late at night?¡± Bai Yunfei hopped on over to a meter away from Tang Xinyun as he asked.


    For a brief moment, Tang Xinyun hesitated when she looked to Bai Yunfei. But then giving a light nod of her head, she opened her mouth to speak. ¡°I¡­.mister Bai, I wanted to thank you. And I wanted¡­.to say sorry¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, what are you thanking me for? Your apologies aren¡¯t needed either.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled as he shook his head. ¡°You did nothing wrong, miss Tang, don¡¯t think too much about today¡¯s events¡­.¡±


    ¡°How did I do nothing wrong? Because of my actions, that kid and his grandmother were accosted by those hoodlums. If I didn¡¯t give them those gold coins, then this wouldn¡¯t have happened in the first place¡­.¡± Drooping her head, she spoke with guilt creeping in onto her voice, ¡°But¡­.I really thought I was helping them. I never once thought that something like that would happen¡­.¡±


    ¡°Now that I think about it, whenever I did this in the past, aunty Zhao would always find an excuse to leave me for a moment. I can see it now¡­.she was helping me with the ¡®aftermath¡¯ of my actions¡­.¡± Tang Xinyun shook her head, ¡°And to think I was so naive to believe that I was helping them live a better life. This is the price of my self-satisfaction I suppose¡­.¡±


    ¡°Aunty Zhao was only protecting your innocence and goodwill¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei tried to console her.


    Tang Xinyun gave a bitter laugh, ¡°I know that. I know that aunty Zhao always acts in my best interest. Even back home, she would be like this. And even now, she remains the same¡­.In the past, I thought I knew everything. But now I realize that I don¡¯t know anything about the outside world at all.¡±


    ¡°But aren¡¯t you understanding how it works now? The more you learn, the more you understand. That¡¯s what it means to travel, is it not? When you think back to these mistakes you did in the future, you will cherish them as a lesson you learned from.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had no other ideas on how to console Tang Xinyun, so when he saw that she was still gloomy, he tried to change the subject. ¡°Ah, miss Tang, I never got the chance to ask you. What reason did you have for traveling to the outside world anyways?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had tried to change to subject to distract her from her depression, but what he didn¡¯t expect was to see Tang Xinyun fall even deeper into her depression after the question was asked.


    ¡°I¡­.wanted to get stronger. I want to become so strong that even my family won¡¯t be able to ignore me. I want to be able to protect my mother from any harm with my own two hands¡­¡± Tang Xinyun whispered nearly silently after a period of silence.


    Bai Yunfei too had grown silent after listening to her speak. Sighing, he responded, ¡°Miss Tang, you shouldn¡¯t be depressed like this. For the sake of your mother, you must smile, even if there is a lot to shoulder. Your mother would want you to be happy, and I¡¯m sure that you being happy would be the greatest desire of hers¡­.¡±


    ¡°I too want to become stronger and protect my mother. Even if it meant working to exhaustion and suffering all there is to suffer, I would be willing. But alas, I no longer have the chance for that¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had originally started out as the one comforting Tang Xinyun. But all of a sudden, her depression had spread over to him. Such a reversal had caused Tang Xinyun to be surprised. And for a small while, the scenery on the rooftop had descended into a temporary stillness.

 Chapter 126: An Indescribable Attack

    Chapter 126: An Indescribable Attack


    Bai Yunfei had originally started out as the one comforting Tang Xinyun. But all of a sudden, her depression had spread over to him. Such a reversal had caused Tang Xinyun to be surprised. And for a small while, the scenery on the rooftop had descended into a temporary stillness.


    ¡°Mister Bai, your mother¡­.¡± Tang Xinyun¡¯s voice had been the one to dispel the silence that had befallen the two.


    ¡°My mother passed away when I was only nine years old. And later, my grandfather¨Cthe remaining person in my life who relied on me and I on them¨Cpassed away as well. With only myself to rely upon, I had to work in a meager rice shop and move rice bags for my food¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice had been silent for a while, but with time, it grew stronger and stronger. When he saw the confused expression on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face, he gave a small smile and continued on with his sentence, ¡°Later on, I happened upon a meeting of fortune that helped me become who I am today.¡±


    ¡°My mother had once said that she hoped that there would be a day where I would become like the clouds in the sky. Absolute freedom to move as I please to where I pleased.¡± Tilting his head to stare up at the ink-stained night as if trying to see through the endless darkness to watch the clouds beyond it, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Today I stand, not only with power but with freedom. Having both of which what my mother wanted, I left the home I grew up in to wander the world. With that freedom, I found reason to my life while also accomplishing what my mother wanted for me¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I believe that you¡¯ll be able to accomplish anything you set your mind to. You¡¯re a strong person with honor. In the future, you¡¯ll definitely be able to walk the continent as if anything under the skies is yours.¡± Tang Xinyun nodded her head with a smile.


    ¡°Yea¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei replied melancholically. But then his eyes widened with realization as if something had just hit him. Scratching his cheek in embarrassment, he spoke, ¡°Er¡­.I thought I was supposed to be consoling you, how did it become the other way?¡±


    Tang Xinyun couldn¡¯t help but let out a small giggle and smile when she saw the embarrassment on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. Bai Yunfei was a character that was an unfathomable mystery to her, but she had felt that his actions were not a waste of energy at all.


    And so the atmosphere on the rooftop had seemingly started to liven up by just a subtle amount.


    ¡°Miss Tang, you¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ahem!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been thinking for a moment on the best time to ask Tang Xinyun just where she was planning to go next during the silence. And when he was finally about to open his mouth to ask, a sudden coughing sound had interrupted the silence first and startled him. Looking rather embarrassed, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look down at Zhao Mancha who had seemingly appeared from nowhere down below.


    He had said nothing out loud, but in his heart, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but remark, ¡°Aunty, couldn¡¯t you have stayed there in the darkness just a little longer? Why do you have to be like the cold wind that has to interrupt the atmosphere here¡­.?¡±


    At the same time this woman had let out a cough to alert the two to her presence, Bai Yunfei could just barely hear two sighs of regret down beneath his feet. It would appear that Jing Mingfeng and Tianming had both felt that aunty Zhao¡¯s appearance was a very untimely one as well.


    A wave of annoyance overcame Bai Yunfei, causing him to crease his forehead together¡­.


    ¡°Young miss, it¡¯s time to sleep. We have to wake up early tomorrow to get a move on.¡± The woman gave a look at Bai Yunfei for a slight moment before speaking to Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Xinyun gave a noncommittal sound of agreement in response. Giving a slight nod of her head to Bai Yunfei, she rose up to prepare herself to follow aunty Zhao back to their room.


    ¡°Miss Tang, will you really not be traveling with us anymore? We are heading in the same direction, it would be nice to have everyone travel together.¡± Bai Yunfei had spoken out to her after thinking of the right words to say.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. The young miss and I have matters to attend to. That would mean we have no time to travel slowly with you, mister Bai.¡± It had not been Tang Xinyun that had replied, but Aunty Zhao who had rejected Bai Yunfei¡¯s offer to travel. Even now, she was very unwilling to allow the young miss of her family travel with this group and wished to separate from the group at the earliest convenience. Tang Xinyun had changed plenty in their time with Bai Yunfei and the others, and while aunty Zhao couldn¡¯t say that all these changes were bad, she still felt that the dangers and risks that came with traveling the group outweighed the changes. For the sake of keeping Tang Xinyun safe, the older woman wanted to rush ahead to their destination with post haste.


    And so Bai Yunfei watched as Tang Xinyun and Zhao Mancha disappear underneath the balcony without another word. Having nothing to say, Bai Yunfei could only shake his head. Choosing to stay on top of the rooftops just a little longer to observe the skies, Bai Yunfei thought for a little longer before seemingly coming to some sort of conclusion. Finally stepping down from the roof, he walked back to his own room¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Shortly after eating breakfast the next morning, Zhao Mancha had hailed for a carriage from the city for her and Tang Xinyun. With a brief farewell to everyone, she and Tang Xinyun drove off out of Guyi City and towards the north.


    Bai Yunfei, Jing Mingfeng, and Tianming, on the other hand, had spent the day strolling around the city to buy whatever tickled their fancy. For two days, they remained in Guyi City. And on the morning of the third day, the three of them set out for Gaoyi City at last.


    As for Xiao Hu and his grandmother, the two of them were now traveling with Huang Wan and the others back to Yanlin City.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    From the very beginning of when they left Guyi City, Bai Yunfei and the other two had been very relaxed. They traveled and stopped as they pleased and took time in their travels past each and every small city or village that they happened upon. As per usual, Tianming and Jing Mingfeng were as inseparable as shadows. The two of them had been extremely close in friendship, and Bai Yunfei had been startled to realize that Jing Mingfeng had even handed over the Disguise Technique over to Tianming.


    At the same time, Jing Mingfeng had taught Tianming the art of stealing for a cause. At the very beginning, Tianming had tried his hand on Bai Yunfei, but each and every attempt had ended with him being caught and roughed up a bit as a lesson. With only failures coming up whenever he tried testing on Bai Yunfei, Tianming had no other choice but to switch targets. Every single time they reached an area with a decent amount of people, Tianming would steal from the hoodlums or the hedonistic children of so-and-so family. At the same time, the people who were living in destitution would always find their coin purses suddenly feeling heavier than before¡­.


    Jing Mingfeng and Tianming had both relished in this pattern of ¡®stealing from the rich and helping the poor¡¯, causing Bai Yunfei to feel worried for the two. But the two of them had not been too reckless in their behaviors. Jing Mingfeng himself knew when to judge the time to be proper or improper, so Bai Yunfei felt disinclined to stop them. From time to time, however, Bai Yunfei would scold Jing Mingfeng for corrupting Tianming¨Ca high and mighty soul cultivator that stole money? It was truly an absurd thought.


    Whenever Bai Yunfei had inquired to Jing Mingfeng on why he was so committed to stealing like this, Jing Mingfeng would reply to him in embarrassment, ¡°Honestly, being a noble thief is my side job.¡±


    He had explained that when stealing, he would never hurt the person he stole from. And when he stole something that was important to the owner and not important to him, Jing Mingfeng would return it so as to not let it weight on his conscious¨Cand thus he was a ¡®noble thief¡¯. But whatever his main job was, he never mentioned it to either of the two.


    Three days later, Bai Yunfei was suddenly given a difficult decision¨Cshould he agree to Bai Yunfei and Tianming¡¯s idea of taking a shortcut through the forests?


    In his mind, this course of action was rather unnecessary. There was no need to hurry to where they wanted to go and so traveling on the main paths would be fine. But Jing Mingfeng and Tianming didn¡¯t think the same. They had both heard from a nearby small village that the forests had plenty of never before seen soulbeasts and so their eyes were practically beaming at the prospects of finding one.


    The fact that Tang Xinyun had managed to make a partner out of the Quickshade Bird had been a major influence on the two of them. Jing Mingfeng especially had vowed that he would find a strong soulbeast with the wind affinity and make it his soulbeast companion.


    Jing Mingfeng and Tianming had managed to procure a map of the forest, and after studying the layout for a very long time, the group finally decided on taking that shortcut through the forests on the grounds that it would save them three days worth of travel. The fact that there may be a soulbeast for them and that it would shave off three days, Bai Yunfei had finally resigned himself to their proposal.


    For two days and two nights, the group of three trekked through the forests. From start to end, they had not seen a single soulbeast¨Cnot even a single strand of hair from one. On the other hand, there were all sorts of regular wild animals. But still, Jing Mingfeng and Tianming who were both excited at first had become extremely disappointed by the results.


    By the time they made it back onto the main roads, their remaining travel time had indeed been reduced by a decent amount. Bai Yunfei himself had let out a sigh of relief¨Che had been glad that they had not gotten lost as he was afraid they might have.


    Another three days later in the afternoon, they finally happened upon a tea stop.


    With the three of them seated at the same table, Bai Yunfei had been happy to order a cup of tea to drink as he winded down and watched the other travelers walk on by. Tianming had mentioned that it wasn¡¯t too far until they reached Gaoyi City. As long as they press on without any mother hindrances, they should be able to reach his home in the city by night time.


    Continuing on their way, the group reached a small mountain this time. Tianming had suggested once more that they could take a shortcut over it to save some time. If they did take this shortcut, then it might be possible to get to the city before nightfall. This time, Bai Yunfei had been more than willing to agree. Hiking a mountain to get to the other side shouldn¡¯t be a cause for concern at all¡­.


    As soon as they scaled the mountain to the very top, the three males were able to see the city off in the distance. Although it wasn¡¯t as grandiose as Yanlin City, it was still a city with a considerable amount of charm and grace to it. The first thing that had to be noted were the four giant buildings that stood at the corners of the city. According to Tianming, one of the four buildings was home to the lord of the city while the other three corners all belonged to the house of Liu, Ye, and Zhao. The building to the southwest of the city was where the house of Ye was.


    Upon seeing his home, Tianming seemed to look a little more excited than before. Letting out two loud whoops in excitement, he whirled around to shout out to his two companions, ¡°Brother Bai, brother Jing! Let¡¯s hurry up! Maybe we¡¯ll make it back home before dinner!¡±


    ¡°Tianming, didn¡¯t you sneak out from your home? Aren¡¯t you afraid of being punished by your family?¡± Jing Mingfeng had asked when he noted that Tianming was unafraid at the prospect of returning home.


    ¡°Not at all! It¡¯s a small matter really, I¡¯ve done this in the past too. But in comparison, this trip took a little longer than usual. I¡¯ll just be scolded by my father a bit, but my mother and grandmother won¡¯t let him hurt me. Hehe¡­.¡± Tianming waved a hand in a carefree manner.


    Having said that, he began to run down the mountain while also waving to Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng.


    As soon as Bai Yunfei was about to lift his foot to start walking, a sudden glint of surprise flashed through his face. Adding even more weight to his foot to run even faster, Bai Yunfei began to use the Wave Treading Steps to chase down Tianming with as much speed as he could muster. ¡°Tianming! Get back!¡± He cried out a warning to him.


    Just ten meters away when Bai Yunfei had been alerted, a black rope-like object had suddenly shot forth towards Tianming from the forest to his left. But before he could even reach Tianming, the black rope had already coiled around Tianming¡¯s neck.


    At first glance, the object looked rather similar to the Compliant Rope, but when given a second glance, one would realize that this was no rope¨Cit was actually a ten meter long snake!


    Tianming was weak in strength, but his reaction was still beyond what the normal person would be capable of. Or perhaps it was because of his faith in Bai Yunfei that when he heard the two words, ¡®get back¡¯, Tianming didn¡¯t even look to the snake coming at him from the left before pushing off his foot to jump backward. Because of this trust, he was able to just barely escape danger.


    This black snake had barely grazed by his neck as it passed by, but with a twist of its body, the snake bent at a right angle to the left to come flying back at him!

 Chapter 127: The House of Zhao, and the....Beast Taming School Again?

    After the snake missed its first initial strike, it contorted its body so that it came flying back to coil around Tianming!


    The speed of the snake was fast enough for Tianming to be left unable to dodge again. However, Bai Yunfei had reached him by then; reaching out with his left hand, Bai Yunfei yanked the robes of Tianming¡¯s clothes to pull him back. At the same time, his right hand swung to punch the snake on the head with a ¡®pop.¡¯


    As soon as Bai Yunfei had pulled Tianming behind him, he and Jing Mingfeng carefully looked around the situation with vigilant glares.


    While they were rescuing Tianming, a slight sound of surprise was heard from the left side of the forest where the snake came from. Slithering sounds from all around them could be heard before five figures came walking out. Among these five was a middle-aged man wearing rich purple robes and another man wearing gray robes. By their sides were soulbeasts that had vacant pupils on their faces.


    ¡°Beast Taming School!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat as the hatred he had for the Beast Taming School from the last incident with the quickshade bird came flying back to him.


    ¡°Caretaker Zhao!!¡±


    A startled cry interrupted Bai Yunfei¡¯s train of thought as Tianming had finally taken note of their ambushers.


    ¡°Tianming, do you know them?¡± Bai Yunfei stared down the man with luxurious looking robes and a ¡®kind¡¯ smile on his face. This was a man that exuded the aura of a mid-stage Soul Sprite without a doubt.


    ¡°He¡¯s the caretaker of one of the three major families in Gaoyi City, Zhao Chuan! Even though he¡¯s only the caretaker, he¡¯s practically the second ruler of the household ¡ª even the head of the house, Zhao Ling, is barely stronger than him! The majority of the internal affairs are usually up to him to handle as well. I know that he¡¯s a mid-stage Soul Sprite and has the lightning affinity as well.¡±


    ¡°The house of Zhao¡­ was there some sort of quarrel between your house and his?¡± Jing Mingfeng looked at the group of people in front of him vigilantly as he asked Tianming.


    ¡°Of course there¡¯s been some bad blood between us, but there has never been any conflict like this. Something like this¡­ this is a first!¡± Tianming replied. He was more than aware of their plans as well, but he still had to ask himself, ¡°Did¡­ did something happen in the few months I was away?¡±


    A look of panic crossed Tianming¡¯s face. He was clearly worried for his family.


    ¡°I can understand the house of Zhao coming after you, but why is the Beast Taming School participating in this too?¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes stared at the soulbeasts in front of them with confusion.


    Tianming shook his head in confusion, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know that either. Aside from the house of Liu, who have connections with the Wood School, the house of Ye and the house of Zhao don¡¯t have any affiliations with any other school.¡±


    ¡°Bahaha, little Tianming, you couldn¡¯t possibly guess the reason even if you tried. It wasn¡¯t in my expectations to see your friends be this strong. That was a mistake on my own part, but this changes nothing. I¡¯ve come here today to welcome and receive you back to the house of Zhao for a few days. It goes without saying that I am rather unwilling to harm you, and if you cooperate with us, then your friends won¡¯t be hurt either.¡± The caretaker smiled as he held his hand to stop the two men to his side.


    Bai Yunfei had been silent during this brief exchange, so he could carefully ponder the situation. After a while, it was Tianming who voiced his thoughts, ¡°In other words, there is now an open conflict between both houses, and you wish to make use of me as a hostage to use against the house of Ye? If we don¡¯t cooperate, then you will, of course, adopt a more forceful approach and possibly harm or even kill my friends?¡±


    Tianming was young, but he wasn¡¯t stupid. The sudden development of the situation had only required a snap judgement to realize the reality of what was happening. Staring down the caretaker, Tianming questioned, ¡°Are you not afraid of bringing the wrath of the lord of Gaoyi City onto your heads for this blatant attack? Are you also not afraid of suffering from his hand? What has happened to the house of Ye?¡±


    ¡°Little Tianming, you¡¯ve been away for far too long I¡¯m afraid. It¡¯s only natural that you wouldn¡¯t know about the happenings of Gaoyi City. Just wait until we get back home to the house of Zhao. I¡¯ll be more than happy to tell you every single little bit of detail you want¡­ now, how about it? Shall we be on our way, little Tianming?¡± The caretaker continued to smile at the three with the air of a businessman.


    Even now, Bai Yunfei remained silent as he continued to analyze the situation. ¡°This caretaker is a mid-stage Soul Sprite, and the three people by his side are late-stage Soul Warriors. The most important matter is that middle-aged man right next to the caretaker; he is a middle-grade Soul Sprite. A stronger one than the caretaker! Two tiger soulbeasts, a wolf soulbeast, and a snake soulbeast; there¡¯s no way that this snake will be a weak one either¡­ why is it that I see the Beast Taming School anywhere I go? Even if the physical body is gone, the spirit remains I guess¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmph, don¡¯t even think that¡ª¡± Tianming snorted just before Bai Yunfei suddenly realized the change in the situation and leaped back with Tianming in tow. Simultaneously, four wriggling tree-root-like objects suddenly flew out in an attempt to coil around their legs from where they stood.


    Seeing that their ambush had failed once again, the man from the Beast Taming School waved at Zhao Chuan to stop him from talking, ¡°Quit the chatter. It¡¯s time to take action!¡±


    His voice was the catalyst for the three Soul Warriors to suddenly fly back. With hardened expressions and a faint trill coming from their lips, the three of them waved their right hands out for a command. The soulbeasts right next to them gave a low roar before leaping into the air to chase down Bai Yunfei and the other two.


    Even Zhao Chuan had narrowed his eyes as he barked out, ¡°Fine! Capture the kid, but kill the other two!¡±


    A halo of purple light enveloped his body as he spoke, and in the next movement of his leg, the man had disappeared from sight with a speed faster than even the three soulbeasts. In the next instant, he had appeared in front of Tianming with a hand outstretched to grab his neck.


    ¡°Fast!!" Bai Yunfei felt extremely alarmed at this speed. This was the very first time he had encountered someone with the lightning affinity. A soul cultivator with this affinity was extremely fast in short bursts, and had a powerful attack power to follow it up with. This was not the only advantage they possessed; soul cultivators with the water, ice, or metal affinity would not be a good match up against them.


    Even though he was startled by his speed, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t dared to fall behind either. With a twist of his foot, Bai Yunfei flew in front of Tianming as well. With his left arm moving up to brush away the hand aimed at Tianming, his right hand formed a fist to punch at Zhao Chuan¡¯s chest.


    Zhao Chuan had predicted that Bai Yunfei would move in this fashion. He brought his right arm up to defend himself. In the next second, his right hand lashed out, and with a ¡®bang¡¯, the two of them separated half a step.


    The sound of wind crackling with movement could be heard a short moment later as the two tigers pounced at them. Jing Mingfeng pulled Tianming to the left while Bai Yunfei was forced by Zhao Chuan¡¯s kick to the right.


    As soon as the three soulbeasts landed on the ground, they diverted their energy to turn toward Jing Mingfeng and Tianming. The three soulbeasts were third class soulbeasts. Jing Mingfeng could take all three of them on and then the three beast tamers behind them without much difficulty, but doing so while protecting Tianming would be a whole different problem.


    Bai Yunfei wanted to help the two, but in that one moment of distraction, Zhao Chuan had managed to slam his palm into Bai Yunfei¡¯s left shoulder. A wave of electricity had coursed into his body and numbed it before he delivered yet another punch to Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest. However, he hadn¡¯t been too injured by the attack because of the Goldsilk Soul Armor. The wave of paralysis had cleared away, allowing him to stand up.


    Just as Bai Yunfei was trying to think of some way to help protect Tianming, a startled cry emerged from the person in question. Casting a quick glance to see what had happened, Bai Yunfei realized that Jing Mingfeng and Tianming had been forcibly divided. Jing Mingfeng had kicked away a gray wolf in an attempt to clear the path as he reached for Tianming, but then a black line suddenly darted from the bush. It was the same snake from before! Coiling around Tianming¡¯s leg, it climbed up his leg and immediately sank its fangs into his arm!


    Tianming¡¯s body was as stiff as a board while his face turned flush red. His mouth opened to say something, but no sound came out. Ultimately, his eyes fluttered closed, and as if his strings were cut, Tianming¡¯s body fell to the floor. The snake remained coiled around Tianming¡¯s body as it started to drag his body away to the other side.


    ¡°Tianming!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng cried out in alarm at this sudden development. Just as Bai Yunfei moved to take out his Compliant Rope, a flash of purple light burst toward him from the side. Zhao Chuan appeared seemingly out of nowhere with a malicious glint in his eye. A small curved blade (shaped like a watermelon knife) about three fingers wide was in his hands. While Bai Yunfei had been distracted, he took this opportunity to strike!


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei could only try to move his left arm out of the way so that the short blade swiped across his waist. The clothes he had been wearing were ripped apart, but the Goldsilk Soul Armor he wore underneath was able to take the blow with only a series of spark to indicate a collision had happened.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Bai!¡± Jing Mingfeng had struck down the two tigers with a single blow before leaping out of the way from the two tree roots that moved to entangle his feet. Eying Tianming being dragged into the forest, Jing Mingfeng let out a cry to Bai Yunfei as if trying to ask what they were to do now.


    A cold light appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as his anger rose, ¡°Kill!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t one that liked to kill people, and thus, wanted to run away given the opportunity to. The situation now no longer allowed that plan of action due to Tianming being captured. Since these enemies were clearly trying to kill Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng, there was obviously no good will left between the two sides. Bai Yunfei no longer possessed the opportunity to be as kind as before. He would remove the emotions of his heart and kill his opponent.


    All that was left for the house of Zhao and the Beast Taming School was death! If these two were not killed, then Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng would be killed in the future! This was all there was to it!


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes lit up in recognition of the word that came from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth. His right foot stomped on the ground as he charged toward one of the tigers. Borrowing its head as a foot stool, he leaped three to four meters into the air with a burst of azure light accompanying him. His right hand blurred through the air before a black dagger appeared in it. His right arm streaked through the air. As it came flying down, a two-meter long blade of wind come shrieking forth toward one of the beast tamers.


    The beast tamer that had been controlling the giant wolf had been sneering when it looked like Jing Mingfeng would not be retaliating against them. However, when Jing Mingfeng had flown into the air and unleashed a fierce counterblow, he had let out a yelp and commanded the beast to come back and protect him. With a snarl, the wolf flew into the air from the side. It took the blade of wind in substitution of its master.


    During that moment, the beast tamer had been congratulating himself on his quick reaction. However, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes had hardened again before he unleashed another blade of wind from his dagger, ¡°Scatter!¡± He barked.


    During the battle when Jing Mingfeng was fighting to protect the quickshade bird, his blade of wind had transformed into a form suitable for fighting. This time, this blade of wind had not turned into a net, but, instead, a single giant blade of wind that instantly exploded into a storm of miniature blades of wind!!


    The beast tamer had no time to dodge the explosion of wind blades coming from Jing Mingfeng. With a series of slashing sounds, his body was cut into at every angle and area. Those previously happy eyes turned to shock, but even that shock slowly drained away to reveal a lifeless look. His body fell to the ground with a ¡®plop,¡¯ and he moved no more. The wolf he had been controlling came to a screeching halt as well, like a puppet that had suddenly lost contact with the puppeteer that was controlling it.


    Jing Mingfeng had killed a man in a single instant just like that, and on the other side, another completely unexpected situation was happening simultaneously!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 128: Instakill!

    Chapter 128: Instakill!


    Jing Mingfeng may have killed someone in an instant, but what was happening on the other side was far more unexpected!


    The very moment Bai Yunfei had cried out the word ¡®kill¡¯, Bai Yunfei had transformed in character completely. Following a brilliant explosion of sparks and the alarmed eyes of Zhao Chuan, his right arm shook once to intercept the blade that was coming down onto it.


    ¡°Clank!¡± The human tier weapon that had been in Zhao Chuan¡¯s hand had been blocked by the Flameblade Bracer. A wave of feedback coursed back through Zhao Chuan¡¯s right arm, but before he could follow up with anything else, Bai Yunfei had already stepped forward with his right arm slamming straight into his chest!


    Ninefold Fist Force!!


    ¡°Bang! Rather than the chest, Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist had slammed against the left palm in front of it and forced Zhao Chuan to stagger back once more.


    Zhao Chuan had been stunned by the entire confrontation¡ªhe did not expect to see his opponent who had been blindly defending just a moment before to suddenly shift gears to retaliate so fiercely against him. With just two moves, he had been sent staggering backwards. All he could do was swap out his dagger for another one and circulate his soulforce to prepare himself to defend, but as he brought his head up to look at his opponent, there was no one to be seen.


    Bai Yunfei simply had no intentions in following up his next move after the Ninefold Fist Force. As soon as he landed the blow against Zhao Chuan, he made an impromptu turn without even a glance to see what Zhao Chuan might do next. Pushing off, Bai Yunfei disappeared in an instant to charge towards the middle-grade Soul Sprite beast tamer!


    This man hadn¡¯t been participating in the battle from the very beginning. Instead, he had waved his left hand like a baton to control the snake to capture Tianming. In his concentration, Bai Yunfei had used his Wave Treading Steps to maximize his speed and fly towards the man with a single pounce.


    The sudden appearance of Bai Yunfei had alarmed the man initially, but when he saw that Bai Yunfei had elected to leap at him, the man regained his wits and smiled cruelly. Following a wave of his right hand, a ¡®black cloud¡¯ had appeared out of nowhere in front of him¨Che had summoned an entire hive of gray bees!


    Pointing his right finger at Bai Yunfei, the beast tamer had commanded the six or seven hundred bees to charge out at him with the power of a whirlwind!


    These Tree Wasps were merely second class in strength, but with the cumulative strength of six hundred under the control of a Soul Sprite, their strength would be tripled! The beast tamer had to laugh at Bai Yunfei¡¯s folly, for there was no where to dodge in the air! In his eyes, Bai Yunfei had no possible way of dodging and would therefore be stung to death by these wasps. Without a single chance of escape, the only thing that would be landing on the ground would be a dead corpse!


    ¡°Pah! I¡¯ll give him some credit for being a Middle-grade Soul Sprite at such a tender young age, but what a shame that he lacks combat experience! A foolish action like this really do¨C¡±The beast tamer had felt a moment of elation in his heart when he saw the wasps approach Bai Yunfei, but in the next moment, what he saw had caused him to pause mid-thought in complete astoundment.


    Bai Yunfei had not looked panicked at all despite being surrounded by these wasps. His right arm stretched out so that a wave of elemental fire gathered around his arm. And with a single thought, he cried out, ¡°Winged Flame Blade!¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A single wave of fire extended out from his forearm and simultaneously brought the temperature around him up by a sweltering amount. A single blade of fire about two meters long had materialized around Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist in the next moment and rotated around himself in a protective ring. As if it was in orbit, the blade of fire had sliced and diced at every single wasp that drew near!


    The sounds of something sizzling could be heard as the frontmost wasps began to catch fire after being cut. Then, as if like kinder to the flames, the fire had spread to the rest of the wasps. It had only taken the blink of an eye before nearly seventy percent of the wasps had been burnt to death! All that were left were around a hundred bees that floated around the beast tamer¡¯s head¨Cas if some sort of instinctual fear had stopped them, not a single bee had inched forward towards Bai Yunfei.


    But! Bai Yunfei¡¯s counterattack had not yet been finished!


    The blade of fire had only been storing up power when it rotated around Bai Yunfei. As soon as Bai Yunfei had readied himself to strike down the beast tamer, the blade of fire above his forearm had grown yet another meter with a blaze of fire to cut down the man!!


    Three seconds hadn¡¯t even passed from the moment the man had set the hive of wasps onto Bai Yunfei to the moment where Bai Yunfei had came at him with that blade of fire after destroying the hive!


    Fast¨Cit had been far too fast! The man had absolutely no idea that Bai Yunfei would be capable of such a terrifying attack! There had been simply no time to dodge, and no place to even do so! All that was left was for him to bring up his arms in hopes that he could protect himself from the blade¡­.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    When the blade of fire impacted against the ground, a series of cracks four fingers wide had split across the floor. A brilliant spark of fire had dazzled the eyes so that not a single person had been able to see just how the beast tamer had fared.


    Landing gracefully back onto the ground, Bai Yunfei waved his right arm to recall the blade of fire back to him. Circling around it, the blade of fire made a series of rotations before being siphoned back into the bracer on Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm.


    From where the beast tamer once stood, not a single figure was left but pile of ashes¡­.


    Instakill!!


    A Middle-grade Soul Sprite hadn¡¯t even had enough time to show off his full power before Bai Yunfei had turned him into a pile of dust!


    This was the tremendous effect of a +12 item!!


    It had been the second time since Bai Yunfei had revealed this move, the first time had been against that gold-mask wearing Soul Ancestor that had been chasing him back in Yanlin City! The difference in strength between that man and this beast tamer was massive, but even the Soul Ancestor had not escaped unscathed! So against a man of equal strength to him, the Winged Flame Blade had instantly killed him!


    This had been an unprecedented and unexpected situation even to Bai Yunfei. Almost as if the entire area had stopped, time seemed to have ceased to flow as well¡­.


    Zhao Chuan who had been just been a mere twenty meters away had initially planned on striking at Bai Yunfei when he was fighting the beast tamer. But even he had paused in his movements to stare blankly at the pile of ashes that was already slowly scattering away with the wind¡­.


    So much was the shock of the two other beast tamers that they hadn¡¯t even realized the stunning move Jing Mingfeng had done. The both of them stared terrified at Bai Yunfei with their minds completely blank. Neither of the two had thought that the Soul Sprite captain of theirs would be killed by Bai Yunfei without even enough time to let out a scream.


    Even Jing Mingfeng had seen the spark of fire out of the corner of his eye and stared at the bizarre halo of fire around Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­.!¡± As the final wisp of fire had been absorbed back into the Flameblade Bracer with just a small rustling sound, Bai Yunfei gave his right arm a shake to test to see just how much of the elemental fire had been recalled to him. There had been a surprisingly small loss of the elemental fire, he hadn¡¯t even felt exhausted at all after the move even.


    Turning around violently, Bai Yunfei looked to Zhao Chuan. It was as if the moment Bai Yunfei had turned around, time had restarted once more. Zhao Chuan¡¯s eyes dilated when he saw Bai Yunfei look at him, and without any hesitation, he leapt backwards as if if he was any slower, he would be like the beast tamer and be reduced to a pile of ashes.


    Even at the same time Zhao Chuan was retreating, Bai Yunfei moved into action. His right arm shook to reveal the Fire-tipped Spear that moved to strike down Zhao Chuan. ¡°Kill every single one!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out.


    Jing Mingfeng had moved into action as well by then. Flying towards the two beast tamers that had been controlling the two tigers, he had made use of their distracted period of time to strike. These two men of the Beast Tamer School were weaker than a soul cultivator of the same level once split apart from their soulbeasts. And with Jing Mingfeng being a whole level higher than them, they stood absolutely no chance.


    Like a swift gale of wind, Jing Mingfeng had struck down the two beast tamers so that blood poured out from their necks as they fell to the ground. As their eyes dimmed of light, they too lost the ability to live.


    The last Soul Warrior had already recalled his soulbeast to him and made one last final attempt to run away while his soulbeast came snapping at Jing Mingfeng as if it had gone insane.


    ¡°Tzzzk!¡±


    A single gust of wind could be heard followed by yet another sound. The beast tamer¡¯s body grew rigid and his mouth dropped open in alarm, but then he too had fallen to the ground with his eyes vacant and hazy. From the back of his head, a single dagger could be seen embedded in it!


    Bai Yunfei drew back his left arm as he gave a single nod of his head to Jing Mingfeng. Then, he began to after Zhao Chuan.


    Jing Mingfeng hadn¡¯t been any slower as he dashed into the forest and disappeared out of sight¡­.


    Zhao Chuan in this one moment had been completely overwhelmed with shock when he saw the death of the last beast tamer at the hands of the youths. His eyes had already dilated so much that they were practically the size of a needle itself. His feet had worked themselves into such a speed that his retreat had doubled in speed, and now all he wanted to do was to run away into the forest.


    He had been so convinced that this kidnapping operation would be a cinch! But then these two youths had turned the operation into a monumental failure that had not only resulted in the annihilation of the men from the Beast Taming School, but had also brought his own life into jeopardy!


    There was no longer any of his previous confidence or any of his previous bravado. In this current moment, all that was left was a single thought¨Cescape!


    ¡°Fuck it all, what in the world was that attack?! Was that a soul technique? What kind of Soul Sprite is capable of such a terrifying soul technique!! That spear of his definitely has to be abnormal as well! Fuck! Since when did the son of the house of Ye have such powerful friends! If those two get involved in the conflict between the houses, there¡¯ll definitely be a tragedy! I must warn the lord and unite with the Beast Taming School to eliminate these two at once!¡±


    In the midst of his escape, Zhao Chuan¡¯s mind had been reeling with panic. Seeing that Bai Yunfei was chasing behind him without fail, the man gritted his teeth together before forcing his soulforce to shoot out a ray of purple light at Bai Yunfei. Without even seeing if his attack had landed, the man twisted his foot so that he¡¯d shoot into the forests to the side.


    But halfway through his leap, Bai Yunfei had already dodged the blade coming at him and cried out loud, ¡°Do it now!¡±


    Frightened, Zhao Chuan had instantly remembered that there was still yet another person that had disappeared into the forest earlier and was most likely hiding in wait to ambush him. Turning around, the man prepared himself to fend off the incoming ambush.


    But when he turned his head around, there had been no one in sight and nothing strange to be seen.


    ¡°Crap! It was a trap!¡± Not even a second later, Zhao Chuan had realized what had just happened¨Cin this moment of panic he had been in, he had fallen for an extremely obvious trick!

 Chapter 129: Destroying the Evidence

    Chapter 129: Destroying the Evidence


    ¡°Crap! It was a trap!¡± Not even a second later, Zhao Chuan had realized what had just happened¨Cin this moment of panic he had been in, he had fallen for an extremely obvious trick!


    In the moment when he turned back to look, Zhao Chuan had felt a tugging sensation on his right leg. Looking down, he realized that Bai Yunfei had thrown out a golden rope earlier that just seemed to ¡°glide¡± on over twenty meters to tie snugly around his foot! With this realization, Zhao Chuan wasted no time to bring down his blade onto the rope. But alas! Even despite the sparks that flew, the rope had not been cut!


    A glint had sparkled in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eye when he saw this moment of succession. Pulling his right hand back, he forced Zhao Chuan to tumble to the ground while simultaneously speeding up to catch up. In the blink of an eye, he caught up to Zhao Chuan and brought his Fire-tipped Spear down onto his opponent¡¯s stomach!


    Aside from shock, there had been a frenetic gleam in Zhao Chuan¡¯s eye. The claws of death had gripped his heart, forcing him to forego the sensation of the golden rope tied around his foot. His sword had managed to swing outwards one final attempt to escape from the brink of death. Somehow, he had managed to smash into the shaft of the spear just enough to bring it careening to the side of his stomach and opening up a long gash in it.


    The explosive effect of the Fire-tipped Spear had failed to activate, but Bai Yunfei had taken it in stride and recalled his spear back into his space ring. Without a weapon in his hand, he had been able to bring his fist down with a powerful strike to unleash a powerful blow to the stomach of Zhao Chuan with the Ninefold Fist Force!


    A crazy glare made its way into Zhao Chuan¡¯s eyes as he tried to bite and swallow down the rest of the blood coming out from his mouth. Exhausting all of the soulforce he could muster, the blade in his hand exploded with a dazzling amount of light to come zipping up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face with lightning-quick speed!


    Bai Yunfei had quickly analyzed the situation and hadn¡¯t bothered to lift his right hand back. Instead, he allowed the blade to continue onwards until there had been a clear clinking sound as the Flameblade Bracer had successfully repelled it!


    Because of the backlash from the impact between blade and bracer, Bai Yunfei grunted as he tried to suppress the numbing sensation in his shoulder. With a rush of soulforce to the bracer, it began to light up before a one-meter long blade of flame materialized into view. And right in front of the forlorn eyes of Zhao Chuan, the blade came down onto him with no hesitation!!


    ¡°Pfttt!!¡±


    Following the sounds of flesh being cut, the blade had managed to bisect Zhao Chuan in a diagonal motion from left shoulder to the right side of the waist. An acrid smell of something burning floated in the air from straight afterward, and when Zhao Chuan turned his head to look down at where his body had been cleaved, a black scorched ¡®trace¡¯ had greeted his eyes. His head dropped back to the ground and his mouth opened up to let loose a small wisp of steam rising out from it, and very slowly, his eyes began to lose focus¡­.


    Just a moment later, the Flame Winged Blade had turned Zhao Chuan¡¯s body into a funeral pyre. But before it could do so, Bai Yunfei had managed to secure his space ring and blade into his space ring. Putting out the flames, he watched as the winds blew the remaining ashes of Zhao Chuan away into the wind and into the earth.


    In practically no time at all, two Middle-grade Soul Sprites had been killed just like that!


    The +12 additional effect from the Flameblade Bracer had been activated when Bai Yunfei needed it the most, the powerful Flame Winged Blade! The Flame Winged Blade had been a skill that had completely outclassed whatever power Bai Yunfei¡¯s opponents had thought it had. With its power, it had completely decimated the Soul Sprite from the Beast Taming School and shellshocked Zhao Chuan at the same time; what unimaginable power it had! Combined with the intent to kill from Bai Yunfei, Zhao Chuan had been utterly cowed. After that, it had been an easy task to kill him!


    In the past, Bai Yunfei had always been chased by those who were even stronger than him, making even escape extremely difficult. But it was today that he realized just how strong both he and his upgraded equipment were against those of the same level of strength!


    ¡­¡­


    It was only after he finished putting the short blade into his space ring that Bai Yunfei managed to let out a sigh in relief. With a quick glance around, he had managed to ascertain that all five people had been killed and were free to walk to the forest where Tianming had been dragged into and pulled him back out.


    With the beast tamer dead, the snake that had been wrapped around Tianming¡¯s leg had lost all of its autonomous motion and remained limp like a piece of rope. This had allowed Bai Yunfei to ¡®free¡¯ Tianming from it and throw it to the side.


    It had taken a brief moment for Bai Yunfei to do a detailed analysis of what was happening to Tianming, but he had been able to let out a sigh of relief after finding out that he had only fainted. Taking out a small dagger, he made a careful incision near where the bite had been on Tianming¡¯s arm before allowing his soulforce to leak into the wound. Not too much time later, the venom that had been injected into Tianming¡¯s body had been detoxified, meaning that Tianming would awaken shortly afterward.


    ¡°Brother Bai? What¡¯s going on, why does my head hurt¡­.¡± Tianming groaned as he awoke. Shaking his head to clear away the rest of his dizziness, Tianming then grew alerted immediately, ¡°Ah! Caretaker Zhao! Brother Bai, are you okay? Were we captured?!¡±


    But even after he spoke, Tianming had realized that something was amiss with the situation. Firstly, he saw the mountains overhead behind Bai Yunfei. And secondly, caretaker Zhao was nowhere in sight, and the two tigers and wolf were motionless on the ground along with their respective three beast tamers. It did not take much for Tianming to realize that these three men were all the same persons from the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Brother Bai¡­.wha-what happened here?¡± Tianming asked Bai Yunfei in befuddlement.


    The other boy had only smiled in response, ¡°Nothing really, everything has been taken care of¡­.¡±


    Whilst he was speaking, two distant cries of misery could be heard, causing Bai Yunfei to pause mid-speech and stare up at the tree branches. Not too long later, the sounds of leaves being rustled could be heard before Jing Mingfeng had reappeared with a body in each hand. Slowly leaping down, he looked around discretely and then gave a nod to Bai Yunfei. Throwing the bodies to the side, he walked on over the two.


    ¡°Brother Jing, are you¡­.¡± As Tianming was about to ask a question of his wellbeing, he saw just what exactly had been tossed right beside him, ¡°Eh? This person, he¡¯s¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hm? What was that, do you know this person, Tianming?¡± Bai Yunfei asked with raised eyebrows.


    Scrunching his eyebrows together in deep thought, Bai Yunfei nodded his head slowly. ¡°I think I do¡­.oh! If I remember correctly, the guy once showed up at the same time of that damned fatty from the house of Zhao! One time, he helped the stupid fatty in beating the crap out of some young heir to another house for accidentally crossing paths with him!¡±


    ¡°Someone from the house of Zhao? That sounds about right¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Oh, brother Bai, what happened to caretaker Zhao? And those other people, are they¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yea. They came with ill intentions, so in order for them to not leave anything behind, we had to kill them all.¡±


    ¡°Kill?! You killed even the caretaker?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s dead.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Tianming had been dumbfounded by Bai Yunfei¡¯s cavalier attitude. He didn¡¯t even know how he should say it¨Cthe caretaker of the house of Zhao was a soul cultivator of the Middle-grade Soul Sprite level. In Gaoyi City, he was considered one of the strongest, and even Ye Ting, his father, would have to show him some face whenever they met. But with Bai Yunfei downplaying the caretaker¡¯s death like this, it was rather¡­.


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, so, just how should we¡­.take care of this?¡± Jing Mingfeng pointed at the corpses and soulbeasts around them for Bai Yunfei to answer.


    Standing back up from his squatting position, Bai Yunfei held up his right hand, revealing a bright ball of flames levitating over it. He slowly walked on over to one of the corpses and turned to look at the other two, ¡°Burn them. We can¡¯t leave any evidence behind.¡±


    With fire filling the air around them and all around the corpses, it did not take long for it to turn into ashes. With Jing Mingfeng by the side, he swished his hand so that the winds would scatter the ashes everywhere¡­.


    With the flames devouring everything, absolutely nothing was left.


    After all of the bodies were burnt and reduced to ashes, the space rings were taken from the Beast Taming School members and ransacked for whatever valuables it had.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Brother Bai, what should we do now?¡± Tianming would later ask Bai Yunfei in hesitation.


    Bai Yunfei had only just stored away the space rings into his own ring when he suddenly looked up towards the direction of Gaoyi City with narrowed eyes, ¡°Someone¡¯s here, and it looks like a small group of people¡­.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng had noticed the situation up front as well when he spoke up, ¡°Should we evade them?¡±


    ¡°No need,¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°We¡¯re only just travelers¡­.let¡¯s see how this works out.¡±


    Even as they were debating to one another, the sounds of frantic footsteps grew louder and louder, and before long, a group of people pushed their way through the forests. The leading figure had only browsed over Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng briefly before the third person had caught his eye, ¡°Tianming!¡± He cried out in joy.


    ¡°Bro!¡± Tianming had been startled to see who it was that had called out to him, but he had replied back in happiness as well.


    This newcomer had been roughly twenty years old and bore a strikingly similar appearance to Tianming. At a rough estimation, Bai Yunfei had evaluated this person as a soul cultivator at the Low-grade Soul Sprite level. Right behind him was another six or seven people that were soul cultivators as well, but only just Soul Personages or Soul Warriors at most. They too, however, had been ecstatic to see Tianming and visibly relaxed upon the sight.


    ¡°You¡¯re okay, what a relief!¡± The man had cried out when he saw Tianming before patting him on the shoulder.


    ¡°Eh? Bro, what¡¯ going on?¡± Tianming questioned.


    ¡°We received information that you were on your way back home along with that the caretaker from the house of Zhao was after you as well with some people from the Beast Taming School. Knowing that they were definitely going to try and kidnap you to blackmail our family, second uncle and I came running as fast as we could. We were worried that you¡¯d be kidnapped already, but thank heavens you¡¯re alright¡­.¡±


    ¡°Second uncle¡¯s here too? Where is he?¡± Tianming asked.


    ¡°Right here.¡± As soon as Tianming asked, a second figure came walking out from the right side of the forest. This newcomer was a middle-aged man with a decent build and wore armor. He was a High-grade Soul Sprite in power as well, adding to his demeanor. ¡°I haven¡¯t detected anyone suspicious, did the house of Zhao or the Beast Taming School not find Tianming? Or did something else happen to them¡­.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­.the people from the Beast Taming School were just here a moment ago.¡± Jing Mingfeng suddenly spoke up from behind Tianming and pointed to just where the corpses of the beast tamers had been laying before they had been cremated.


    ¡°What?! Then where are they now?¡± Tianming¡¯s uncle cried out in alarm.


    ¡°Right now¡­?¡± Jing Mingfeng chuckled before circling around with his right hand, ¡°They¡¯re everywhere.¡±


    Thinking that Jing Mingfeng was joking with him, the second uncle narrowed his eyes and barked, ¡°What are you getting at?!¡±


    ¡°Tianming, who might these two be¡­.?¡± Tianming¡¯s brother asked with a pointed look at Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡°Oh oh! Let me introduce you to everyone,¡± Tianming hurried to reply, ¡°These are the two friends I made on the outside. This is Bai Yunfei, and this is Jing Mingfeng. They¡¯ve been looking after me on our way and even saved me.¡±


    Finishing his sentence, he then introduced the two to his family, ¡°Brother Bai, brother Jing, this is my big bro, Ye Tianwen, and this is my second uncle, Ye Quan.


    ¡°What did you say, they saved you? What do you mean by that?¡± Ye Tianwen gave Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng a nod before looking back to Tianming.


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Tianming didn¡¯t answer right away and looked to Bai Yunfei hesitantly.

 Chapter 130: Unexpected Information

    Chapter 130: Unexpected Information


    ¡°What did you just say? They saved you? What do you mean by that?¡± Ye Tianwen gave Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng a slight nod before rounding back onto to Tianming.


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Tianming didn¡¯t answer right away. Instead, he hesitantly looked at Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei hesitated as well. Sparing a brief glance to the men behind Ye Tianwen, he asked, ¡°Are these men¡­.reliable?¡±


    ¡°Wha?¡± Ye Tianwen had been confused momentarily before smiling when he understood what Bai Yunfei had meant. ¡°These are the elite soldiers of the house of Ye, you can rest assured that they are reliable.¡±


    With that reassurance, Bai Yunfei gave the nod for Tianming to finally recount the events that had just transpired here.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that those two killed not only Zhao Chuan, but the people from the Beast Taming School? And not a single one of them escaped?!¡±


    Ye Quan had been extremely skeptical at what Tianming had said and had thus questioned the other two.


    ¡°Humph! If you¡¯re going to ask for proof of our actions, I¡¯m sorry to tell you that they¡¯ve all been burned to ashes already! There¡¯s no way to prove it, so take it as you will!¡± Jing Mingfeng looked seemingly insulted by the lack of belief by Ye Quan and had snorted in disatisfaction.


    ¡°Haha, brother Jing Mingfeng, please don¡¯t be angry. My uncle wasn¡¯t really casting doubt on your actions.¡± Ye Tianwen had been paying attention to the two ever since Tianming began his story. The very fact that they had been calm and at ease with themselves as the story was told without a twitch in their face was a testament of their strength. At a closer look, their strength were without a doubt stronger than Ye Quan and his own. With that, he smiled, ¡°I¡¯d like to thank you two for looking after my little brother. Come with us back to Gaoyi City and we¡¯ll make sure to receive you into our home like honored guests.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s go back home first.¡± Tianming interjected, ¡°If we weren¡¯t bothered by those people, we would have been home a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°Oh, brother! What¡¯s going on back at home. Why is the house of Zhao suddenly trying to kidnap me? And the Beast Taming School, what are they doing here¡­.¡± Tianming asked all of a sudden as everyone started to walk back to Gaoyi City.


    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s a long story to tell, really.¡± Ye Tianwen sighed. ¡°Last month, the second scion of the house of Zhao, Zhao Liang, suddenly came to our home and asked for Ye Yan¡¯s hand in marriage¡­.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Tianming had flew into the air with exasperated anger, ¡°Is that stupid fatty kidding?! Did all of the fish, chicken, pork or whatever meat it was go and addle his brain for him to think that he could marry our cousin?I know the frog dreams of eating the meat of a swan, but that¡¯s all it ever amounts to¨Cwishful thinking!¡±


    ¡°Yes, father thought the same way as well at the time and declined him outright.¡± Ye Tianwen spoke. ¡°But what we didn¡¯t imagine would be that Ye Yan would be accosted by Zhao Liang one day and manage to hit him in her anger.¡±


    ¡°Hah! Serves that fatass right! A civilian wants to marry our cousin who¡¯s already a Middle-grade Soul Personage? He deserved it!¡± Tianming hooted.


    ¡°Tianming, stop interrupting and let your brother finish what he has to say.¡± Bai Yunfei chastised him with a slap on the shoulder. ¡°That fatass is still the scion of the house of Zhao. No matter where he goes, he should have been accompanied by bodyguards wherever he went. Doesn¡¯t that mean there was some sort of trap to begin with if he was injured by your cousin?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Brother Bai, you were able to tell that the house of Zhao were planning this with just this little information?¡± Ye Tianwen had been taken aback by Bai Yunfei¡¯s analysis, but nonetheless, he nodded his head. ¡°Correct, Zhao Liang had done this on purpose. With that incident, the house of Zhao came knocking on our doorsteps to look for trouble. Rumors began to spread so fast and far that the entire city had caught wind of it, and by that point, our differences became conflicts that had to be resolved now rather than later.¡±


    ¡°Ha! The bickering of the younger generation was able to cause two houses to start fighting? It¡¯s obviously just a flimsy excuse from the house of Zhao to start a war!¡± Jing Mingfeng snorted in derision.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly the case. Anyone could tell what the house of Zhao was trying to do. However, they continued to try and obstruct our businesses as well. Three out of four times they would cause a ruckus inside our stores, and one time they had nearly made off with Ye Yan as well. If it were not for our uncle who injured Zhao Ye, they would have been able to kidnap Ye Yan.¡±


    ¡°Afterwards, the master of the house of Zhao, Zhao Xing,arrived at our doorsteps with a group of strangers. He demanded for the house of Ye to submit to the house of Zhao, or face destruction!¡±


    ¡°Wha?!¡± Tianming could hold it no longer and howled in anger, ¡°Is Zhao Xing as pig-headedly stupid like his son! What right does the house of Zhao have to demand such a thing from us?!¡±


    But Ye Tianwen shook his head, ¡°In the past, they would not have. But today¡­.they have, for they have finally aligned themselves with the Beast Taming School!¡±


    ¡°The house of Zhao have allied with the Beast Taming School?! How in the world did they get one of the ten schools to notice them?¡± Tianming had been aghast at that realization.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t the Zhaos who were currying favor with them, but the Beast Taming School that personally came to see them. For what reason, no one knows. But when the Beast Taming School came with their two promises, the house of Zhao didn¡¯t hesitate to agree to serve them.¡±


    ¡°What promises?¡±


    ¡°The first promise was that they would send the house of Zhao a fifth-class soulbeast; the second promise was to help the Zhao annex the Ye!¡±


    Seeing the stunned expression on Tianming¡¯s face, Ye Tianwen continued on to speak, ¡°With a rapport like that, the house of Zhao surpassed the house of Liu to become the strongest house in Gaoyi city. So even the Liu could not stand up against them either. In the past. the Zhao and Ye had equal strengths, but with this paradigm shift due to the Beast Taming school, our house has lost the power we once had. And with one more Fifth-class soulbeast, they could suppress our entire house with just that soulbeast alone, let alone with the help of the Beast Taming School!¡±


    ¡°There was something fortunate however. Sometime during the transportation of the Fifth-class soulbeast, it escaped from the Beast Taming School. Even more surprising, it had made a soul contract with another soul cultivator!¡± What Ye Tianwen didn¡¯t take notice of was that when he mentioned this one piece of information, Bai Yunfei and the other two had blanched. ¡°Just this afternoon, the soul cultivator responsible for that even appeared in Gaoyi City! The Beast Taming School of course saw this and dispatched some people to ambush them, causing both parties to run out the city. A late-grade Soul Sprite was sent after them to capture them, and it¡¯s fortunate that he was sent, or else he would have been sent to capture you instead. It¡¯s terrifying to even thi¡­.¡±


    ¡°Brother Tianwen, could that soulbeast be perhaps the fifth-class Quickshade Bird? And were those two soul cultivators that were chased out of the city two females?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s face drained of color as he interrupted Ye Tianwen mid speech with a hint of urgency.


    ¡°Hm? How did you know that?¡± Ye Tianwen asked in astonishment.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Bai¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng looked to Bai Yunfei grimly.


    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s Miss Xinyun!¡± Tianming realized in shock.


    ¡°Tianming, what are you¨Cwait, do you know those two soul cultivators?!¡± Ye Tianwen had caught onto just why the three had the reaction they had on their face and asked to confirm hsi doubts.


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re¡­.¡±


    ¡°Brother Tianwen, do you know just which direction they ran off to?¡± Bai Yunfei interrupted Tianming this time with even greater urgency.


    ¡°Oh, I believe it was that way¡­.¡± Ye Tianwen pointed to his right with some doubts.


    ¡°Jing Mingfeng, let¡¯s go!¡± Bai Yunfei did not hesitate to give the command for Jing Mingfeng to follow him. Without even waiting for the rest of the group, they blew past Ye Tianwen into the direction they were pointed at. With their speed, it did not take long before the two figures disappeared from sight.


    ¡°Brother Bai, wait for me!¡± Tianming had started to shout as he chased after them.


    But Ye Tianwen had stopped him with a single hand and a solemn expression, ¡°Tianming, what is going on here?¡±


    ¡°Miss Xinyun is in trouble, we have to go save her!¡± The boy had been extremely frantic in his response. Grabbing at his older brother¡¯s hand urgently, he cried, ¡°Brother! Come with us! Uncle, you and brother have to go help Miss Xinyun!¡±


    ¡°Does this mean that the soul cultivator who stole that soulbeast away from the Beast Taming School is someone you know?¡± Ye Tianwen asked once more.


    ¡°Yes! She¡¯s a friend! Brother, let¡¯s go! We have to save her!¡¯ Tianming struggled to pull his brother¡¯s hand along, but the amount of resistance he felt had surprised him.


    ¡°Brother? Don¡¯t tell me¡­.¡±


    ¡°Pah! How naive are you? It¡¯s lucky that you¡¯re the second scion to the house of Ye. We¡¯re up against the Beast Taming School, do you really think we can afford to make them our enemy? They only just need to move a finger and our entire home would be obliterated and turned to dust! Do you want to consign our entire family to eternal damnation?!¡± Ye Quan cut him off with an icy rebuke.


    ¡°That¡­.I¡­.¡± Helpless, Tianming looked to his brother to plead one more time, ¡°Brother¡­.¡±


    But his brother had only shook his head with a sigh, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Tianming. Your uncle and I have our hands tied. The Beast Taming School is¡­.not something we can fight against.¡±


    He looked off to the direction where Bai Yunfei had disappeared off to, ¡°Your friend Bai Yunfei knew that and didn¡¯t call you to go with him for that reason. And neither did he ask me for help¡­.but if they¡¯re willing to run off to help those two by themselves, I am sure they have some sort of plan. Be at ease, they should be fine.¡±


    Tianming hesitated. But then there was clearly a plan formulated in his head as he looked up once more to look at Ye Tianwen with determination. ¡°I understand now, brother. You and second uncle can go back first. If the house of Ye won¡¯t participate, then¡­.I¡¯ll go by myself!!¡±


    With an abrupt round about, he flew off towards the direction Bai Yunfei was in.


    His actions had been the cause of surprise for both Ye Quan and Ye Tianwen since they had never seen Tianming be so serious and determined before. By the time they had been brought back to awareness, Tianming was already gone from sight. ¡°Tianwen, do you think we should bring Tianming back? As he is¡­.¡± Ye Quan trailed off.


    At last did the expression on Ye Tianwen¡¯s face shift to reveal a look of gratification. Sighing, he shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ll just chase him then. But under no circumstances should we fight them; if Tianming tries anything, we¡¯ll bring him back.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It had been two hours since they had learned about what had happened to Tang Xinyun and Zhao Mancha. For the entire duration of the travel, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face had been grim and dark as they traveled through the forests and plains before finally coming across a three hundred meter tall mountain.


    Without even a dip in speed, they charged into the mountains and a little farther in before Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up at the sight of something, ¡°I¡¯ve found them! They¡¯re up ahead!!¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Meanwhile, a loud and clear chirping sound made its way into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ear from up ahead. This chirp was clearly a very angry one and somewhat frantic¡­.


    ¡°Xiao Bai!!¡±

 Chapter 131: Xinyun In Trouble

    Chapter 131: Xinyun In Trouble


    Within an enormous mansion located in the northeastern part of Gaoyi City.


    The spacious hall was partly filled with the golden glow of the evening sunset, which sharply contrasted with the areas that the rays couldn¡¯t reach.


    However, there were no servants within the vast hall. Only two figures could be seen sitting on the head seats of the large hall, and they seemed to be discussing something.


    The person on the left was wearing a set of beautiful clothes. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, as well as a rough face. However, he exuded a faint imposing aura. This person was the head of the house of Zhao, Zhao Xing; The person on the right was wearing a black gown. He had thin lips and a sharp nose. He had black hair, but streaks of gray could be seen in it. He looked around the age of fifty. In his arms, a black cat-like beast with three tails could be seen as he stroked it rather passively. This person was called Li Chen, and he was a middle-grade Soul Ancestor from the Beast Taming School who came to subdue the house of Zhao.


    ¡°Executor Li, it has almost been a day since your men have left. They still haven¡¯t returned yet, could it be that their pursuit has failed? That Quickshade Bird¡­¡± Zhao Xing slightly furrowed his brows as he glanced outside, before carefully asking the question.


    Li Chen¡¯s expression remained unchanged. However, he leaned his head slightly as he shot a glance towards Zhao Xing, before indifferently saying: ¡°What? Does the Head of the house of Zhao think that my Beast Taming School is unable to retrieve that Quickshade Bird?¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, I didn¡¯t mean that. Only¡­that Quickshade Bird is quite strong. If it wholeheartedly tried to run away, with those two soul cultivators helping it¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Although Wu Sen is only a high-grade Soul Sprite, his Thunderbird is a low-grade fifth-class soulbeast, it won¡¯t have any problems while dealing with that Quickshade Bird which hasn¡¯t fully recovered yet. As for those soul cultivators, Wu Sen can take care of the middle-stage Soul Sprite. The master of the Quickshade Bird is merely a Soul Warrior, so Fang Hao or Tai Ping can easily take care of her without any problems. They should be returning soon.¡± Li Chen gently caressed the three tailed spirit cat as he continued to speak with an indifferent tone.


    Zhao Xing hesitated for a while, before saying: ¡°But¡­that Quickshade Bird has already signed a soul contract with someone else. This¡­¡±


    Li Chen furrowed his brows as he said: ¡°Rest assured, everything will be fine. I naturally have a way to fulfill my promise to you. That soul cultivator is weak, and it hasn¡¯t been long since she signed the soul contract with the Quickshade Bird. When the time comes, I will teach you a secret technique of the Beast Taming School to let you forcefully change the soul imprint into a slave imprint, which will naturally allow you to control the Quickshade Bird. Although its intelligence will slightly decrease, it will still follow your orders.¡±


    Zhao Xing¡¯s eyes brightened, and he was almost unable to conceal his excitement;Although he would obtain the most basic secret technique of the Beast Taming School, this indicated that he was already considered as a half-disciple of the Beast Taming School. This was something that was completely beneficial for the future development of the house of Zhao.


    ¡°Yes, yes! Many thanks to Executor Li for supporting me! In the future, my house of Zhao will follow the Beast Taming School heart and soul, and I will wholeheartedly serve my School!¡±


    When Zhao Xing saw that Li Chen had shut his eyes to rest, he didn¡¯t dare to continue with his flattery. He turned around to look outside the house, with an excited light flickering in his eyes. He thought to himself: ¡°With the support of the Beast Taming School, the City Lord and the house of Liu won¡¯t be able to do anything. I¡¯ll have the Quickshade Bird in my hands; when Zhao Chuan delivers that brat from the house of Ye to me, I¡¯ll no longer have to rely on the help of the Beast Taming School to force the house of Ye to a compromise! At that time, my house of Zhao will be able to suppress the house of Liu to finally become the number one family of Gaoyi City!¡±


    Within a rather vast open plains, the resonant sound of a bird cry shattered the evening tranquility as it echoed out into the distance.


    ¡°Jiu!¡±


    Xiao Bai let out a long cry. At this moment, it was no longer that small sparrow-like white bird. Instead, it had returned to its combat mode, and was even bigger than the time when Bai Yunfei had rescued it. When its pair of three-metre long wings spread out, a green energy gathered in its surroundings. Following the movements of its wings, wind blades flew out in all directions.


    Another loud bird cry echoed out from the direction that Xiao Bai was facing. A purple shadow flashed across, instantly passing through the wind blades as it shot towards Xiao Bai¡¯s right side like a bolt of lightning. The purple shadow stopped, revealing its body. It was a large sparrow, albeit smaller than Xiao Bai, which had purple energy surrounding it. Its body was also covered with faint purple feathers, and it could be seen that it originally had purple coloured eyes. However, they were currently filled with a bloody red colour, which contained no trace of spirit within them.


    The Thunderbird easily dodged the many wind blades that were coming at it. However, the two birds that were planning to secretly attack the Quickshade Bird from its left weren¡¯t so lucky, and were put in a rather sorry state as they tried to dodge the wind blades. The grey bird was able to rely on its nimbleness to forcefully dodge the wind blades, but the golden eagle wasn¡¯t able to dodge in time, which caused its right wing and chest to be struck by wind blades. It was pushed back several tens of metres before finally stopping. Although it didn¡¯t seem to be injured, its movements were clearly slower than before.


    These two birds were exactly the birds that had previously attacked the Quickshade Bird, the Goldfeathered Eagle and the Galebird.


    The presence of these two soulbeasts naturally indicated the presence of their masters, Fang Hao and Tai Ping.Roughly two hundred meters away from the four birds were Fang Hao and Tai Ping, who were below the birds and had serious looks on their faces. They were completely focused as they repeatedly scanned the skies and the ground in front of them.They weren¡¯t moving at all, but the looks on their faces suggested that they were quite busy right now.


    Down on the ground, at an area several hundreds of metres in front of the birds, the beautiful white figure of a woman was flying left and right. The metre-long flexible sword in her hand caused sword-shadows to flash out as she defended against an enormous bat as well as a small colourful snake that occasionally sneak attacked her.


    It was Tang Xinyun.


    Tang Xinyun looked like she was rather exhausted from dealing with the two soulbeasts. Slight tears had already appeared on her white clothes, and there were three shocking, bloody wounds on her left wrist. Although she had stopped the bleeding, the wounds and the tiny patch of red on her snow white skin were incomparably unsightly.


    It could be seen that the two attacking soulbeasts, or rather their masters, were somewhat apprehensive and didn¡¯t want to kill her, which resulted in the two soulbeasts not launching any deadly attacks. Because of this, Tang Xinyun was still able to just barely withstand their onslaught, even though she was weaker in comparison to her pursuers. However, if they dragged it on any longer, she would definitely be defeated due to exhaustion.


    Tang Xinyun was currently experiencing difficulties, but Aunt Zhao, who had always been her bodyguard, was unable to rescue her. This was because Aunt Zhao was also unable to escape from her opponent;At an area which was over a hundred metres away from Tang Xinyun¡¯s right, Aunt Zhao was currently fighting with a black coloured Spirit Monkey. Although she had a savage look on her face and attacked wildly, the Spirit Monkey which was shorter than her by a head was leaping around her about while screeching.It had actually trapped Aunt Zhao, leaving her unable to reach Tang Xinyun¡¯s side.


    Whenever Aunty Zhao tried to forcefully push the Spirit Monkey back and charge towards Tang Xinyun¡¯s side, the ground underneath her would shake as enormous yellow pincers, like those of a crab¡¯s, to grab Aunty Zhao¡¯s legs, forcing her to dodge them. After that, the Spirit Monkey would pounce on Aunty Zhao, leaving her completely unable to move a single step away from her original location.


    It wasn¡¯t just one soulbeast, it was actually two.


    There were actually many wounds on Aunty Zhao¡¯s body. There was a bloody patch of red on her right calf, which had clearly been caused by the soulbeast hidden within the ground. There were also three deep wounds on her back which seemed to have been caused by the sharp claws of that Spirit Monkey. Aunty Zhao seemed to be totally unaware of the heavy wounds on her body. Instead, she continued to try to return to Tang Xinyun¡¯s side at all costs.


    A middle-aged, long-faced man dressed in a black shirt was standing over ten metres away from Aunty Zhao. He had a stern face while he stared at her, and his expression was similar to Fang Hao¡¯s and Tai Ping¡¯s. He was clearly concentrated on controlling the two soulbeasts that were fighting with Aunty Zhao.


    Not far away from him was a yellow-faced man who was also dressed in black clothes. He indifferently looked towards the sky. His right fingers seemed to be subconsciously moving, and a purple light was slightly flickering aroundhim. The purple light was identical to the one that surrounded the Thunderbird in the sky¨Cthis person was the person that Li Chen spoke about, Wu Sen. He was a high-grade Soul Sprite that controlled the thunder element, and the Thunderbird was the strongest soulbeast that he possessed.

 Chapter 132: Stay Your Hands!!

    Chapter 132: Stay Your Hands!!


    Tang Xinyun gently bit her lip. With a resolute look on her face, she slashed the body of the colourful snake that had shot out from the grass on her right, which caused some sparks to splash out from its body. Although the little snake was struck flying, it clearly wasn¡¯t injured.


    Tang Xinyun took advantage of the short moment she had to shoot a glance at Aunty Zhao. She saw that Aunty Zhao was unable to break through the entrapment of the opponents around her, even though she was madly attacking them. She could hear Xiao Bai¡¯s cries, filled with anger and desperation.A trace of despair flashed through Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes, but it was immediately replaced with a look of unwavering determination. She continued using her sword to defend against the attacks of the black bat while doing her best to slowly move closerto Aunty Zhao¡¯s location.


    She and Aunty Zhao had deliberately sped up their footsteps after leavingBai Yunfei¡¯s group of three within Guyi City, They had reached Gaoyi City in the morning, but they were unexpectedly met with an inexplicable ambush not long after they entered the city. If it were not for Xiao Bai¡¯s vigilance, the two of them most likely would¡¯ve been captured during the initial ambush.


    After the enemiesrevealed themselves, the two of them realizedthat it was the people from the Beast Taming School and immediately understood that they had come for Xiao Bai. After an initial clash, Aunty Zhao led Tang Xinyun as the two fled from Gaoyi City. However, the enemies didn¡¯t give up their pursuit and continued to chase after them for a long time as they escaped. In the end, they were still intercepted by their enemies in this area and were forced into a bitter fight.


    Tang Xinyun was inwardly alarmed as she heard Aunty Zhao¡¯s faint groan. She hastily turned around and saw the monkey let out a screech while Aunty Zhao was dodging the underground attacks. An earthen yellow energy abruptly surged from its body, instantly gathering in its right arm. The size of its claw expanded by more than a half and its claw seemed to have been wrapped around in an orange light. Its powerful legs stamped the ground as it leapt towards Aunty Zhao. After that, it swung its right claw out, dealing a heavy blow to Aunty Zhao¡¯s waist.


    ¡°Aunty Zhao!!¡±


    Tang Xinyun cried out in alarm as she forced away the large bat in front of her.Just as she was about to run to Aunty Zhao, a whirlwind suddenly appeared behind her, catching her off-guard and sweeping her away due to her inattentiveness. Although the whirlwind didn¡¯t have much power, it still lifted her up several metres, then threw her heavily against the ground.


    On the other side, Aunty Zhao was struck on the waist by the Spirit Monkey, causing her to stagger two steps to the right. She couldn¡¯t help but spit out a mouthful of blood, with four deep wounds having appeared on the left side of her waist.


    After spitting out a mouthful of blood, a berserk look appeared in Aunty Zhao¡¯s eyes. She rapidly rotated her soulforce and raised her longsword as the orange light was released. Then,she let out a low roar and turned her blade around to stab it into into the ground beneath her without any hesitation.


    It was the same soul technique that she had previously used against Bai Yunfei in Guyi City. Only, the might of the skill now was several times higher. The ground within a radius of ten metres surrounding her surged upwards, and dazzling orange lights that resembled blades pierced through the ground. The Spirit Monkey had initially wanted to continue pursuing her, but it was struck by one of the orange lights.Blood and flesh immediately blasted out from its shoulders as a bone-deep wound was carved into its body.


    The person from the Beast Taming School had a change in expression, and he immediately exerted his soulforce. That Spirit Monkey immediately shrieked as it continuously retreated, dodging the flashes of sword-light that were increasing in number.


    Within the time taken for several breaths, nearly a hundred flashes of sword-light had pierced through the ground surrounding Aunty Zhao. At this exact moment, the ground on her right side suddenly shook, and a faint creaking sound echoed out. Aunty Zhao¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened, and she let out another low shout as she raised the longsword in her hand. Following her movements, the hundred or so flashes of sword-light surrounding her seemed to have received a command from her. They instantly gathered together roughly ten meters above her head, and within the blink of an eye, they formed an enormous sword that was made of a dazzling orange energy.


    In almost the exact instant that Aunty Zhao raised her longsword, the enormous energy sword was formed. Without any pause whatsoever, Aunty Zhao waved her sword, pointing towards her right. When she pointed towards the ground that had just made a sound, a ¡°pu¡± sound was let out, and the enormous energy sword that was originally above her head stabbed deeply into that area.


    ¡°Zhi!!¡±


    A screech echoed out. Afterwards, that area violently rumbled. However, it quickly turned silent. The enormous energy sword turned into dots of light that then dissipated, leaving Aunty Zhao half-kneeling on the ground. She was propping herself on her longsword as she gasped for air.


    As this happened, the face of the long-faced middle-aged man reddened. He couldn¡¯t help but spit out a mouthful of fresh blood, and he had an incredulous expression on his face.


    Despite being heavily injured, Aunt Zhao had been able to activate her supreme technique to kill one of the soulbeasts. This all happened within roughly ten seconds. As Wu Sen looked at Wu Lin, who was spitting blood, he coldly snorted, as if he was somewhat dissatisfied. When he looked at Aunty Zhao again, he had a trace of anger in his eyes.He waved his right hand, causing the distant Thunderbird to let out a long cry. After dodging one of Xiao Bai¡¯s wind blades, it suddenly turned around and charged at Aunty Zhao.


    At this moment, Tang Xinyun was already collapsed on the ground and had yet to stand back up. When Tang Xinyun sawthat the bird was about to launch a dangerous attack against the still-recovering Aunty Zhao, the look on her face immediately changed. She couldn¡¯t help but cry out: ¡°Xiao Bai!¡±


    Xiao Bai¡¯s thoughts were connected to hers, and it immediately understood her intentions. While responding with a low cry, it swept its wings and charged over towards Aunty Zhao with a speed that wasn¡¯t any inferior to that of the Thunderbird¡¯s.


    On the other side, the gazes of Fang Hao and Tai Ping flashed as they simultaneouslyreacted. The Whirlwind Bird that was behind Xiao Bai suddenly stopped, and its wings swept outwards, causing many wind blades to whistle out. However, they weren¡¯t aimed towards Xiao Bai. Instead, they were aiming towards Tang Xinyun, who was trying to get up!!


    The Goldfeathered Eagle also let out a cry and dove down like a golden shadow. It quickly chased after the wind blades, and its steel-like clawsflickered with dense golden light.


    When Xiao Bai had only flown a few dozen metres away, it noticed the peculiar situation that was occurring behind it. Without any hesitation at all, Xiao Bai let out a shriek as it immediately gave up on rescuing Aunty Zhao. Its soulforce erupted asXiao Bai¡¯s figure instantly turned back. It managed to fly back to Tang Xinyun¡¯s side in just the nick of time, then spread its wings out to protect her.


    ¡°Pu pu pu¡­¡± The sounds of attacks echoed out from Xiao Bai¡¯s back, and its white feathers fluttered about. There were even drops of blood mixed within the feathers¡­


    A golden light flashed past, and a muffled noise entered Tang Xinyun¡¯s ears. Following that, some fresh blood splattered onto her face. Three deep wounds appeared below Xiao Bai¡¯s left wing, and fresh blood instantly dyed its feathers red.


    At the same time, a muffled noise also echoed out from Aunty Zhao¡¯s location. Although she managed to dodge the Thunderbird at the last moment, it still managed to scratch her right shoulder and tear off a piece of flesh, causing blood to flow out. Most importantly, her body was numbed after being scratched by the Thunderbird¡¯s lightning-infused claw, and her movements instantly grew sluggish.


    Unfortunately, right at this critical moment, Wu Sen, clenched his teeth as he waved his hand, a sinister look on his face. A bloody light appeared in the eyes of the Spirit Monkey, which had already leaped ten metres up into the air, and it pounced towards the half-kneeling Aunty Zhao!


    Tang Xinyun seemed to have been frightened by this sudden turn of events to the extent where she didn¡¯t know what to do. However, her opponents were clearly not in a daze like her. After the Whirlwind Bird and the Goldfeathered Eagle injured Xiao Bai, they dove down again without any pause at all, intending to press their advantage with continued attacks. As for the Thunderbird, it let out a cry as it once more charged towards Xiao Bai, shooting towards him with such lightning-fast speed that it looked like a violet arrow.


    This single moment of inattentiveness had caused her to fall into a hopeless situation.


    A cold sneer appeared on the corner of Wu Sen¡¯s mouth. Although he had wasted more energy than he had originally expected to, the current situation was settled. In fact, if it hadn¡¯t been for the for the fact that they couldn¡¯t kill Tang Xinyun, who had just signed a spirit contract with the Quickshade Bird, there was no way that Tang Xinyun and Aunty Zhao would¡¯ve been able to last this long. Now, they just had to bring the Quickshade Bird and the girl back to successfully complete their task. As for the middle-aged woman, they would allow Wu Lin to vent his anger on her since she had killed his Earthclaw Prawn.


    Suddenly, Wu Sen¡¯s expression suddenly turned stiff. The hair on his body stood up like a needle, and he reacted as if by instinct. The purple light on his body explosively flashed, and he unhesitatingly pounced to the left, not caring about how pathetic he looked when doing so.


    A fiery-red beam shot over as an explosive roar suddenly echoed within the ears of everyone present.


    ¡°Stay your hands!!¡±

 Chapter 133: One Spear Shocks the Enemies

    Chapter 133: One Spear Shocks the Enemies


    ¡°Stay your hands!¡±


    This sudden roar, which was accompanied by the sharp sound of wind splitting, startled everyone present. A fiery-red beam shot past the area that Wu Sen was standing on in the instant after he leapt to the side. Shortly after that, an extremely strong aura of fire approached, causing Wu Sen to be shocked. He was still in a half-squatting position as he waved his hand to summon a four-foot tall, two-foot wide golden shield to block in front of him.


    The figure of a human flashed past Wu Sen, butdidn¡¯t attack him. Instead, it headed directly towards the Spirit Monkey that was attacking Aunty Zhao.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Just as Wu Sen started to relax slightly, an utterly shocking explosive sound rang out to one side. Following that, a burst of terrifying elemental fire spread out. He subconsciously took a step back, and even felt that his hair had been singed by this heatwave.


    An enormous pit that had a radius of almost twenty metres suddenly appeared in the middle of the battlefield, while a blazing spear surrounded by flames was stabbed in the centre of the pit, as if it was the descent of a divine weapon.


    Everyone looked at the spear, its tip still trembling slightly, in absolute shock. A trace of despondency flashed through the minds of everyone present, and even the soulbeasts from the Beast Taming School had paused for an instant due to their masters being distracted.


    ¡°Peng!¡±


    Another muffled sound echoed out, causing everyone to be suddenly awakened from their stupor. When they turned over to look, they noticed that the Spirit Monkey that was only one metre away from Aunty Zhao had suddenly shot backwards. Then, a figure drew back his right fist, borrowing the counterforce to leap backwards. While leaping, he grabbed Aunty Zhao¡¯s shoulder and took her along with him as he charged off to one side.


    He waved his right hand and two icy streaks of light shot out.. They were aimed at the Whirlwind Bird and the Goldfeathered Eagle, which were currently diving down. Then, he leaped into the pit and used his right hand to pull out the long spear. Landing on his tiptoes, he immediately jumped out from the pit without any pause whatsoever, creating several consecutive afterimages. He arrived at Tang Xinyun¡¯s side within the blink of an eye.


    He had only used a few seconds to complete all of his actions after appearing. His movements were like flowing clouds that had no pause at all.


    The newcomer glanced towards the two birds which had dodged the two daggers. Then, he glanced at the Thunderbird which had already been called back by Wu Sen for protection. He gently placed the severely injured Aunty Zhao by Tang Xinyun¡¯s side and looked towards the four shocked and serious people from the Beast Taming School with a chilly expression.


    Tang Xinyun was flustered as she supported Aunty Zhao. Then, she took a deep breath after Aunty Zhao slightly shook her head to indicate that she was fine When she raised her head to look at the person who was in front of her, a doubtful look appeared on her face. She didn¡¯t recognise this person, but he seemed to be somewhat familiar.


    ¡°Take Aunty Zhao away first, I¡¯ll deal with the things here.¡±


    At this moment, Tang Xinyun¡¯s expression turned blank as she heard the words of the newcomer in front of her. Afterwards, her gaze fell on the red spear that was held by the newcomer.


    ¡°You¡­you are¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei furrowed his brows and interrupted her: ¡°Don¡¯t waste time!Go!


    Aunty Zhao pressed her left hand on her right shoulder, healing the injuries on it. She had obviously recognised Bai Yunfei as well, who had changed his appearance. A light flashed through her eyes, as a thought popped up in her head for an instant. Then, she used her right hand to gently pull Tang Xinyun as she weakly said: ¡°Young miss, listen to him. We should quickly leave. Xiao Bai and I are injured, and your strength is too weak. If we stay behind, it¡¯ll only be more dangerous for us. I have a feeling that he has a way to deal with these people¡­¡±


    After speaking, she couldn¡¯t help but spit out another mouthful of blood, which caused her face to turn deathly pale.


    Tang Xinyun was alarmed, and she was unable to focus on so many things. She hastily supported Aunty Zhao and gratefully looked at Bai Yunfei. Then, she turned around and ran to the north at high-speed.


    Xiao Bai circled around Bai Yunfei¡¯s head twice. Then, it caught up with Tang Xinyun and vigilantly guarded her.


    The two people and a bird gradually moved far away. However, the people from the Beast Taming School didn¡¯t make any moves at all, which was unexpected. The four of them didn¡¯t dare to relax at all. They recalled their soulbeasts and stared at Bai Yunfei intently.


    Wu Sen placed the shield in front of him, and there was even some cold sweat dripping from his forehead. That frightening explosion caused by the spear had simply terrified him¡ª The sudden explosion of that immensely powerful elemental fire made him believe that this person was at least of the Soul Ancestor level of power.


    ¡°Dammit! Why would a middle-stage Soul Ancestor suddenly appear here? No, from the strength of the elemental fire in that previous attack, it¡¯s very possible for him to be at the late-stage Soul Ancestor level of power!¡±


    A drop of sweat slid off Wu Sen¡¯s cheek. He was frantically thinking of methods to deal with this newcomer. From the first impression, he determined that this person was at least of the Soul Ancestor level of power. He didn¡¯t even dare to make any moves, much less use his soulsense in the event that he would anger the other party. Currently, he was temporarily too busy to even care about the escaping Tang Xinyun.


    Although he was a late-stage Soul Sprite that even possessed a low fifth-class Thunderbird, he didn¡¯t have any confidence of winning a fight against this ¡®Soul Ancestor¡¯, even with the help of his three companions¡ª The Soul Sprite realm and the Soul Ancestor realm were two completely different realms, and he didn¡¯t think that he had the power to jump across realms to kill his opponent¡ª Even though he possessed the fifth-class Thunderbird, he still didn¡¯t dare to fight against this opponent.


    Wu Sen didn¡¯t move, and the other three who were weaker than him naturally didn¡¯t move either. For a period of time, the spear-wielding Bai Yunfei was stuck in a deadlock with the four of them.


    When Tang Xinyun¡¯s figure had vanished into the distance, Bai Yunfei inwardly relaxed. As for Wu Sen, he gradually recovered from his initial shock and fear. After calming down, he started to feel that something was wrong.


    ¡°Eeh? Why hasn¡¯t he made a move?¡± Wu Sen started to become suspicious. He wouldn¡¯t find it strange if Bai Yunfei had used his strength to suppress and humiliate everyone, then leave. He was even prepared to immediately start running for his life if Bai Yunfei wanted to kill them. Furthermore, Executor Li wouldn¡¯t blame him too much if they failed their mission because of an expert like this.


    After the deadlock lasted for another 30 seconds, Wu Sen finally realised that he had made a mistake. He couldn¡¯t help but carefully release his soulsense¡­


    In the instant that Wu Sen¡¯s soulsense swept over him, Bai Yunfei raised his brow. He knew that it wasn¡¯t possible to continue this ruse any longer. Actually, the fact that his ruse could achieve this much of an effect had already surpassed Bai Yunfei¡¯s expectations. He was originally planning to create an opportunity for Tang Xinyun to escape, by immediately attacking after he suddenly appeared. However, he didn¡¯t think that the explosion created by the Firetipped Spear would intimidate his foes like this. Thus, he assumed the manner of an expert to scare his foes. Now that Tang Xinyun had already escaped, being discovered wouldn¡¯t matter to him. In any case, he wasn¡¯t planning on being kind.


    Since he had already killed a few people from the Beast Taming School, he didn¡¯t care about killing even more¡ªBesides, his opponents wouldn¡¯t let him leave alive.This meant that the only option remaining was a battle in which one side would live and the other side would die.¡°Yes, ¡± he thought to himself.¡°I¡¯ll live, you¡¯ll die.¡±


    After using his soulsense, Wu Sen was immediately stunned: ¡°Middle-stage Soul Sprite? How can that be possible¡­¡±


    He released his soulsense again, and Bai Yunfei was still a middle-stage Soul Sprite. Again. It was still the same¡­could it be that he had hidden his true power?


    This was Wu Sen¡¯s first thought. However, he immediately pushed that thought out of his mind;If he had the ability to hide his strength so perfectly, why would he need to hide his strength?


    When his gaze swept over the Firetipped Spear that was flickering with a fiery light, his eyes suddenly brightened, and a flash of understanding appeared in his eyes.


    In the next moment, he finally understood what had happened¡ªHe had been tricked.

 Chapter 134: Like A Hot Knife Through Butter

    Chapter 134: Like A Hot Knife Through Butter


    Wu Sen finally understood what had happened ¡ª he had been tricked.


    He had actually been tricked by a member of the younger generation that was holding a high-grade soul item! Furthermore, he had also let the mission¡¯s target escape because of this!


    A burst of anger instantly filled Wu Sen¡¯s mind. He didn¡¯t even bother to think of how a youth like him could possess the strength of a middle-grade Soul Sprite, or whether a person like him that owned a high-grade soul item would have an extraordinary background or not. He only had one thought in his mind ¡ª dismember this person who had ruined his plans into a thousand pieces.


    ¡°Dammit! I was¡­¡±


    Wu Sen raised his right hand, preparing to command the Thunderbird to attack while commanding everyone else to slaughter Bai Yunfei.However, halfway through his words, before the others even knew whether he wanted them to run or to fight, the opposing Bai Yunfei took the initiative to make the first move.


    Bai Yunfei flicked his right wrist, throwing a dagger towards Wu Sen¡¯s face. At the same time, he stamped his feet and directly charged towards Wu Lin, who was on Wu Sen¡¯s right.


    Wu Sen¡¯s eyes flickered as he waved his right hand forwards, accurately catching the dagger that was aimed at him. Following that, his eyes went wide, and he let out a slightly astonished cry: ¡°A soul item!¡±


    The attack power of a +9 dagger had already entered the range of a soul item.


    After looking up, he saw that Bai Yunfei had shot out another three daggers while charging towards Wu Lin. From the undulations of soulforce on those daggers, he could tell they were also soul items¡ª¡ªeven though they were the lowest type of soul item, a mere low grade human-ranked item.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise attack caused Wu Lin to be at a loss for an instant. He had also thought that Bai Yunfei was an expert of the Soul Ancestor realm, when Bai Yunfei made his move, he was ¡®happy¡¯ to discover that that his enemy was only a middle-grade Soul Sprite. Even so, he didn¡¯t dare to neglect the three daggers that were already front of him. Thus, he exerted his soulforce to evade the daggers by ducking downwards. At the same time, the Spirit Monkey let out a screech as it blocked a dagger that Wu Lin was unable to completely dodge. Then, it completely ignored the bone-deep wound on its right arm that was caused by the dagger as it charged towards Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression remained calm as he looked at the roaring black monkey that was charging towards him. He didn¡¯t dodge it. Instead, he passed the Firetipped Spear to his left hand and drew back his right hand to his waist. After that, he suddenly struck out at the claw surrounded by orange energy.


    Ninefold Fist Force!


    ¡°Peng!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure slightly paused, while the black monkey repeatedly staggered backwards. Due to the angle of Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist, its staggering was somewhat tilted; this exposed Wu Lin, who was behind the monkey and frantically retreating as well.


    Except for a few special individuals, the soul cultivators of the Beast Taming Sect had to keep their distance while fighting. After all, their specialty was controlling soulbeasts, while their personal strength was relatively low. If they were drawn into a close combat fight, they simply would not be a match against soul cultivators of the same stage.


    His feet continuously moving, Bai Yunfei brushed past the black monkey as he dashed forward. At the same time, he swung his right hand, causing three icy lights to shoot out.


    ¡°More soul items!¡±


    Wu Lin¡¯s twitched as he looked at Bai Yunfei, who had already thrown out seven soul items as if they were as worthless as cabbage. However, when he saw his brother in a difficult situation, he didn¡¯t have the chance to ponder on it. He pointed his right hand at Bai Yunfei, and the Thunderbird that was hovering above his head spread its wings and swooped towards Bai Yunfei like a bolt of lightning.


    Wu Lin was stunned as he saw Bai Yunfei easily force back the black monkey. Wu Lin¡¯s was even further shocked when he then saw three more daggers flying towards him, with Bai Yunfei following close behind, not slowing down in the slightest.. He only calmed down slightly as he saw the Thunderbird that was rapidly charging towards Bai Yunfei. He poured his soulforce into his legs and stamped on the ground with his right leg, allowing him to change his direction of escape. Thus, he was able to barely dodge the daggers that were flying towards him.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed as he felt the gale behind him. However, he still didn¡¯t try to evade it. Instead, he slightly bent down and lowered his head. The enormous claws of the Thunderbird, that were flickering with a purple light, ferociously scratched his back, but only managed to cause some sparks to fly out. His clothes were torn apart, revealing the Goldsilk Soul Armor underneath. Despite blocking the Thunderbird¡¯s attack, long tears appeared on the Goldsilk Soul Armor, an item that was equivalent to a middle Human-ranked soul item!The tears were so deep that they had almost gone completely through the armor!


    Bai Yunfei felt his heart skip a beat. That was close!He instantly dispersed the faint numbing sensation caused by the attack. The gaze in his eyes grew colder, but he didn¡¯t even spare a glance towards the midair Thunderbird or the black monkey that was pursuing him. His gaze remained fixed on the retreating Wu Lin.


    The speed of his approach suddenly increased, which was caused by the activation of an additional effect from a piece of jewelry that he wore. Bai Yunfei swung his right hand, and another two daggers flew towards Wu Lin, who was several tens of metres away from him.


    Wu Lin almost went berserk¨CJust how many soul items can you keep throwing?!?


    As he clenched his teeth, Wu Lin twisted his body again to dodge the two daggers. However, his legs were already somewhat sluggish. This was a sign of overexertion.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed, and his right hand swung out with an even greater speed. This time, it wasn¡¯t multiple icy lights that shot out, just one. Furthermore, it was blue coloured.


    Glacial Pricker!


    Wu Lin¡¯s pupils contracted. He was unable to dodge this attack, and he simply didn¡¯t have the time to. A berserk look appeared in his eyes as an orange light suddenly surged through his body, which gathered on his heart. In that instant, he was even grateful that Bai Yunfei had aimed at his heart¨CBecause he had a Heart Protecting Mirror, which was a soul item that barely qualified as a middle Human-ranked soul item.


    ¡°Ding!¡±


    A weak but clear ringing sound echoed out as Wu Lin¡¯s figure momentarily slowed down. Then, he continued to frantically retreat. The Glacial Pricker hadn¡¯t even pierced through two inches of flesh, and it looked like it hadn¡¯t struck the centre of his heart!


    ¡°Brother!¡±


    Wu Sen¡¯s eyes went round. After seeing that his brother was struck in the heart, a berserk expression appeared on his face as he let out a roar filled with anger, causing a purple light to surge through his entire body. The Thunderbird let out a sharp whistle, and it ¡®spat¡¯ out a bolt of purple lightning which directly struck Bai Yunfei. Wu Lin also shot out, unexpectedly also charging towards Bai Yunfei.


    Violet lightning crashed downwards while the Thunderbird followed closely behind in pursuit. The black monkey behind him started to close in, attacking with its sharp claws. And just a short distance away from him, an enraged late-stage Soul Sprite was charging towards him..


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes slightly flashed, but his gaze was still fixed on Wu Lin. The Firetipped Spear had already returned to his right hand, while the Compliance Rope was instantly flung out by his left. It extended over thirty metres under Wu Lin¡¯s astonished gaze, and it wrapped around his neck in the blink of an eye!


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Bai Xiaochun coldly snorted as he suddenly stamped his feet. At the same time, he forcefully pulled the Compliance Rope with his left hand while exerting his soulforce to it, causing it to rapidly shorten.


    The lightning struck him, causing Bai Yunfei to be split into two. Following that, the monkey¡¯s claw split his waist open. Then, the claws of the Thunderbird tore him into pieces¨CHowever, that was only an afterimage!


    Bai Yunfei rushed forth with an unprecedented speed as he activated the full power of the Wave Treading Steps, boosted by the shockwaves from the dual attacks that had been launched behind him. In almost the same instant that the afterimage behind him vanished, he was already less than ten metres away from the pale-faced and panicked Wu Lin!


    ¡°No!¡±


    Wu Sen let out a roar of despair that even contained some pleading within it, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t stop. A killing intent flickered through his eyes, and a red light was released from the Firetipped Spear. He raised his right arm, and the spear pierced out!


    ¡°Pu!¡±


    By intent or by coincidence, the spear once more piercedtowards the heart, right next to the Glacial Pricker. Only, this time the Heart Protecting Mirror wasn¡¯t of any use at all, and the speartip stabbed straight through, exiting from Wu Lin¡¯s back.


    One Spear Penetrates the Heart!

 Chapter 135: Self Detonation

    Chapter 135: Self Detonation


    Although he didn¡¯t trigger the explosion effect, this was still a deadly attack. Because of this, the life force in Wu Lin¡¯s eyes started to gradually dissipate.


    The black monkey behind him became like a puppet that had stopped moving.


    Wu Sen¡¯s eyes turned red, and his face contorted as he charged towards Bai Yunfei like an enraged bull. A metre long broadsword appeared in his grasp with a flip of his right hand. This broadsword was only an incomplete soul item, which was different from the middle Human-ranked shield.


    The soulforce within Wu Sen¡¯s body furiously exploded out. A purple light which seemed to faintly contain a few thin streaks of lightning started to envelop his broadsword, which caused it to let out a faint buzzing sound. The broadsword trembled, as if it was wailing due to its inability to withstand this enormous power. At this moment, Wu Sen had already charged behind Bai Yunfei. He raised the broadsword and ruthlessly slashed it towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s skull.


    Bai Yunfei decisively abandoned the thought of reclaiming the Firetipped Spear as he sensed the approaching danger. He loosened his grip on the Firetipped Spear, allowing Wu Lin¡¯s corpse to fall backwards. Then, he instantly raised his right hand while turning around, allowing his right hand to block his head.


    ¡°Dang!¡±


    The broadsword was rebounded by the force of the collision, while Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm was completely uninjured.This was merely an incomplete soul item.Even though it was filled with soulforce that exceeded its limits, it still wasn¡¯t be able to overcome the defense of the Flameblade Bracer.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even feel the expected numbness. He expressionlessly took a step backwards to stabilise his body. Then, he drew his right fist back to his waist and suddenly punched Wu Sen¡¯s chest before he could attack a second time.


    Wu Sen¡¯s right arm moved, and that dazzling golden shield appeared in front of him. At the same time, he continued to bring his sword down. He was planning deliver a chop no matter what, even if it meant receiving Bai Yunfei¡¯s extraordinarily powerful fist!


    ¡°Peng!¡±


    The sounds of a striking clock reverberated as Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist collided with Wu Sen¡¯s shield. Wu Sen managed to block the Ninefold Fist Force, but his wish of cutting down Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t fulfilled, because the strength of Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist had exceeded his predictions. In the instant that he received Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist, his sword was still half a foot away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. However, he was blown backwards along with his shield.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but stagger backwards because of the enormous rebound force from the collision. The Firetipped Spear was still standing upright, with Wu Lin¡¯s body having slid through it to the ground.After pausing for a second, he pulled out the Firetipped Spear with a swing of his hand, then leapt forward, shooting towards the retreating Wu Sen like an arrow that had left its bow.


    After Wu Sen retreated dozens of metres, he finally managed to counteract the enormous force behind the Ninefold Fist Force. Before he could even relax, he saw that a flaming spear had already pierced towards him.


    Wu Sen pupils contracted as he hurriedly retreated backwards. He then loosened the grip on the broadsword in his right hand, throwing it away. After that, he gripped the shield with his hands and exerted his soulforce, causing the golden shield to appear in front of him again.


    ¡°Ding!¡±


    A clear striking sound echoed out. It seemed to be a single sound, yet it seemed to be a series of sounds as well¡­.Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened. At the same time, Wu Sen seemed to have felt something as well.His eyes narrowed to slits as he threw away the shield without any hesitation, then used all of his strength to jump backwards.


    ¡°Hong!¡±


    Although his reaction was quick, the activation speed of the fire explosion was even quicker!


    An extremely strong elemental fire exploded from the tip of the Firetipped Spear. The shield that had previously withstood the Ninefold Fist Force without any damage was torn apart like paper when facing the power of the fire explosion. If Wu Sen¡¯s reaction wasn¡¯t quick enough, his hands would¡¯ve been destroyed along with the shield.


    Although Wu Sen managed to survive the explosion, the price that he had to pay was the destruction of the shield. However, the following flame attack flung Wu Sen further up into the air, increasing the speed of his retreat by several times.


    Wu Sen spat out a mouthful of blood while he was in midair. Even though he had sustained repeated losses, Wu Sen didn¡¯t show any astonishment or fear. Instead, his expression turned increasingly berserk as he looked at Bai Yunfei, who was about to attack with his spear.


    Wu Sen allowed his body to be knocked backwards as he suddenly raised his hands, quickly putting them in front of his chest while forming multiple strange hand seals. The undulations of his soulforce varied according to the speed of his hand signs, and his lips slightly moved as if he was softly muttering something.


    ¡°Chi!¡±


    The Thunderbird suddenly let out a sharp whistle as it spun around in midair. After that, it dove down towards Bai Yunfei like a bolt of lightning. Its entire body was filled with elemental lightning. However, the undulations of the elemental lightning were chaotic. As its speed increased, the distance between it and Bai Yunfei decreased, and the elemental energies within its body turned even more chaotic, to the point where it was almost berserk.


    At the same time, a reddish colour seemed to gradually appear in the Thunderbird¡¯s listless eyes!


    ¡°Self Detonation!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was originally planning to ignore the Thunderbird behind him to directly chase and attack Wu Sen. However, after he took a few steps forward, he suddenly sensed the chaotic elemental fluctuations behind him, as well as the soulforce of the Thunderbird which was involuntarily expanding. Alarmed, he instantly understood the intentions of his opponent.


    Wu Sen was actually making the Thunderbird self-detonate in an attempt to make Bai Yunfei perish with it!


    In an attempt to cause mutual destruction with an opponent, soul cultivators could detonate their essence seed, while soulbeasts could detonate their soul crystal. This would be their life¡¯s last roar, which contained enormous power within it. Regardless of whether the enemy died or not, the one who had self-detonated would definitely die, and not even ashes would be left.


    Wu Sen had clearly became deranged. His heart was completely focused on killing Bai Yunfei to avenge his younger brother, so much so that he didn¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice his fifth-class soulbeast to cause mutual destruction with Bai Yunfei. Of course, he didn¡¯t forget about the fact that there was a very high chance that he wasn¡¯t a match for Bai Yunfei. In a drawn out fight, he would definitely die. Thus, he decisively chose this method to eliminate Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s first thought was to run.


    Bai Yunfei clearly understood that he would be crippled, if not killed when hit by the self-detonation of a low fifth-class soulbeast.


    However, he seemed to have noticed something and raised his brow after shooting a glance towards Wu Sen, who was already twenty metres away. After sweeping his soulsense out again, his acute senses informed him that the speed of the Thunderbird had decreased!


    Why? Because Wu Sen was making sure that he had retreated to a sufficiently safe distance!


    If the Thunderbird¡¯s self detonation were to succeed, not only would he be heavily injured, it was very possible that his opponent would seize this opportunity to flee, or even to attack him! Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how strong the self-detonation would be, and he didn¡¯t know how his opponent would react. There were simply too many variables that he couldn¡¯t control.


    Therefore, he only had the option of preventing the self destruction from occurring. On the other hand, Wu Sen was clearly controlling the self detonation of the Thunderbird. Thus, he had to hurry up andkill Wu Sen before the Thunderbird¡¯s self detonation!


    He didn¡¯t have enough time to think things through.Bai Yunfei only hesitated for a moment, then he raised his head and glared at Wu Sen, who was already fifty or sixty metres away, with a resolute gaze.A light flashed through his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the risk!¡±


    Bai Yunfei ignored the approaching Thunderbird. Instead, he lightly threw the Firetipped Spear forward, then used the Ninefold Fist Force to punch the shaft of the Firetipped Spear. The Firetipped Spear slightly trembled, then shot towards Wu Sen like a fiery arrow.


    Wu Sen¡¯s gaze had always been fixed on Bai Yunfei¡¯s movements. Although he was shocked by the fact that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t dodge and instead continued to attack, Wu Sen was already prepared. As Wu Sen faced the incoming Firetipped Spear, he clenched his teeth and didn¡¯t change his hand signs. He forcefully twisted his body in midair, causing the Firetipped Spear to brush past his waist. Although he had lost his balance, he could severely injure Bai Yunfei as long as the Thunderbird self-detonated before he landed.


    A sinister smile appeared on the corner of Wu Sen¡¯s mouth as he changed his hand signs. Just as he was about to give out the final command to the Thunderbird, he suddenly felt something tighten around his right ankle. He turned his head to look, suddenly discovering to his amazement that there was a golden rope that had coiled around his leg!


    The rope was thin and perfectly straight, and had extended almost sixty metres.And the other end of the rope¡­was held in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand!

 Chapter 136: Astonishmen

    Chapter 136: Astonishment


    A flash of despair had crossed Wu Sen¡¯s face the very moment he saw the golden rope wrapped around his leg.


    He recognised this golden rope. It was the the rope that attendant Li had previously given Fang Hao to allow him to catch the Quickshade Bird. He also knew that the golden rope had the power to expand and contract, but¡­.since when could it extend this far?


    Not allowing Wu Sen to continue his line of thoughts, the Compliant Rope gave off a brilliant gleam of golden light and began to contract rapidly. Combined with the mighty pull from Bai Yunfei, the two men were brought closer together just like before.


    Initially, Wu Sen had been extremely happy to have dodged the thrown Firetipped Spear. He had believed that his opponent had thrown away the strongest soul item he had and relied upon. An awfully foolish move in truth. But now that this had happened, the foolish one had been him! Bai Yunfei had an even stronger killing move to use!


    Flame Winged Blade!


    Just as the four-meter long blades shot past him, Wu Sen was just about to call for the detonation order once more when he came to the startling discovery that his left arm had already been separated from his main body. The pain had caused his mouth to open wide and reveal a splurt of blood. Dazed but unwilling to die, Wu Sen found his body engulfed into flames and then finally into ash.


    After landing, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t dared to drop his guard and whirled around, only to see that the Thunderbird had already closed within ten meters of him! But this time, the bird had already ceased in its forward flight and hovered there with a gentle flap of its wings. The chaotic energy that had been running rampant within its body had slowly started to ebb away as it slowly landed onto the ground without another movement after.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Letting out a drawn out sigh, Bai Yunfei felt a wave of dizziness hit him. Unable to stop himself from taking two staggering steps backwards, Bai Yunfei plopped down to the ground onto his backside. This feeling of exhaustion had spread throughout his entire body and was a sign of soulforce exhaustion.


    Swapping out for several accessories that would increase his energy, Bai Yunfei had been able to make a speedy recovery when combined with the +10 space ring that gave even more soulforce recovery speed.


    A series of footsteps could be heard from his right side, prompting Bai Yunfei to tilt his head towards the direction. Upon seeing Jing Mingfeng approach, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Finished?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Of course. I was already finished when you killed off the first person and planned to help you out, but who would have knew that you¡¯d finish your battle so quickly? You¡¯ve practically killed two people without a break in your stride.¡± Jing Mingfeng smiled awkwardly as he shrugged his shoulders.


    Looking over to where Jing Mingfeng had came from, he could see that just several hundred meters away, the bodies of Tai Ping and Fang Hao could be seen strewn about. Both of them had a grisly wound on their throats that continued to flow with fresh blood. On the faces of the two, their dying expressions had been a mixture of both astonishment and vacuousness. A single blade had slit their throats, causing a bloody but surefire death.


    The pupils in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes had contracted slightly from the sight, but he had recovered almost just as fast. Giving a slight nod to Jing Mingfeng, he closed his own eyes and continued to recover his own soulforce.


    Prior to this, Jing Mingfeng had asked Bai Yunfei to deal with Fang Hao and Tai Ping himself, allowing Bai Yunfei to focus completely on his own battle. Because of this wholehearted fixation, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t paid much attention to how Jing Mingfeng had killed the two, but he didn¡¯t wish to ask any questions about it. He knew that Jing Mingfeng was still hiding a myriad of secrets, but that hadn¡¯t been very important. At the very least, Bai Yunfei could admit that Jing Mingfeng was a person that deserved to be considered a friend worthy of his trust. And that was more than enough for him.


    What Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know, however, was the fact that Jing Mingfeng was currently facing a shock that was many times larger than Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°You killed two middle-stage Soul Sprites before, and now you¡¯ve gone and killed another middle-stage Soul Sprite and late-stage Soul Sprite. Just how many soul items do you have, and what other secrets are you hiding¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face grew sour as he stared at the recuperating Bai Yunfei. His thoughts were a chaotic mess, and it was unsure to everyone except Jing Mingfeng himself to what he was thinking about.


    Several minutes had past before Bai Yunfei had managed to recuperate enough soulforce to stand up once more. Surveying the scene around him, he whirled around to the Firetipped Spear which was practically fully embedded into the ground. As he pulled it out, he spoke out to Jing Mingfeng, ¡°Let¡¯s clean up the battlefield the same way we did last time. We¡¯ll burn the corpses into ash.¡±


    Ye Tianwen first looked to Bai Yunfei who was storing away the daggers he had thrown into the thickets back into his space ring and then to Tianming and Jing Mingfeng who were scurrying about from one side to help out one another. Then, looking to messy but ¡®clean¡¯ area around them, Ye Tianwen reflected inwardly to himself with a pensive look. Turning to his uncle Ye Quan, he spoke, ¡°Second uncle, have those four people we sensed earlier really died? They were all Soul Sprites; two of them were early-stage, and the other two were middle-stage and late-stage, how could the four of them be killed so fast by two people?¡±


    The two of them had arrived to the scene just several minutes after the battle had been over. But they had been able to sense the battle prior to their arrival. When they saw that Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng were both ¡®cleaning¡¯ up the area however, they had been at a loss for words. Ye Tianwen had even begun to wonder if his soulsense had been wrong, prompting him to ask Ye Quan to confirm his doubts.


    Unlike Ye Tianwen, Ye Quan had been been completely aware of the constant explosions of elemental energy as well as the four fluctuating soulforces that became extinguished almost instantaneously. While he had not been privy to the sight himself, he could make a clear conjecture of what happened. The one missing puzzle piece to his conjecture was the fact that he did not expect to see two be able to beat down and kill the four so fast. From the looks of the two, they were relatively unharmed as well¡­.


    Shaking his head, Ye Quan had noticed that Bai Yunfei, Jing Mingfeng and Tianming were already heading in his direction. With a low whisper, Ye Quan spoke, ¡°Whatever the case, those two cannot be offended. While they were able to kill the men from the Beast Taming School and destroy any traces of their involvement, it¡­.it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be cautious. If this brings ire to us from the Beast Taming School, then they wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with just murdering the entire house of Ye if it were ten times bigger.¡±


    Ye Tianwen nodded his head in agreement. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s talk about this after we return home. Tianming has a relatively deep friendship with the two it seems, and we¡¯re not privy to the details either. We¡¯ll ask Tianming later tonight and plan what to do after¡­.¡±


    Within Gaoyi City in the mansion of the Ye.


    It was already reaching midnight, but the halls were still lit so brightly that it felt as if it was still daytime in there.


    When Bai Yunfei and the others walked into the halls, the very first that spoke was not in fact the middle-aged man that bore a striking resemblance to Tianming and sat at the topmost seat, but the cane-wielding white-haired elderly woman right next to him.


    ¡°Ming¡¯er, my Ming¡¯er, you¡¯ve¡­.you¡¯ve finally returned! You¡¯ve worried your granny to death, how have you suffered in the outside world? Just look at yourself, you¡¯re so skinny now! Where in the world did you run off to¡­.your father said those scoundrels from the Zhao were trying to kidnap you. Come here and let your granny look at you¨Care you injured? Don¡¯t go sneaking out any more, the outside world is so dangerous, and you don¡¯t know anything, so if anything were to¡­.¡±


    The old woman didn¡¯t even look as if she had noticed Bai Yunfei or the others at all and headed straight for Tianming at the left side of the group. Latching onto his wrist tightly, the woman looked at him affectionately and began to speak one word after another in rapid succession. It had been rather hard to imagine that there would be such an elderly woman that would be capable of having the energy to speak for so long without pause. Even more impressive was that she continued to speak without ever paying attention to the people surrounding the two.


    An impatient look appeared on Tianming¡¯s face as he pushed away the woman¡¯s hand with discontent, ¡°Granny, how many times did I tell you, don¡¯t treat me like a seven-year old anymore. Every single time, you¡¯re like this, how annoying¡­.¡±


    ¡°Tianming!¡± Bai Yunfei rebuked with a low voice and furrowed eyebrows.


    ¡°Ah?¡± Startled, Tianming turned to look at Bai Yunfei in confusion.


    ¡°Did you forget what I told you before?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.I didn¡¯t.¡± Tianming was silent for a moment before a thought had hit him. Speaking softly, he said, ¡°Of all the virtues, filial piety is the most important. Brother Bai, I didn¡¯t forget, sorry¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be apologizing to me.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­.¡± Tianming turned back to the older woman in front of him with a bowed head. ¡°Grandma, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve made you worried. I won¡¯t be as unruly like this in the future¡­.¡±


    As soon as he spoke these words, everyone had been stunned. Everyone from the Ye had stared at Tianming with a gaping mouth as if they witnessed something completely unbelievable.

 Chapter 137: The House of Ye

    Chapter 137: The House of Ye


    ¡°Yes¡­.¡± Tianming turned back to the older woman in front of him with a bowed head. ¡°Grandma, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve made you worried. I won¡¯t be as unruly like this in the future¡­.¡±


    As soon as he spoke these words, everyone had been stunned. Everyone from the Ye had stared at Tianming with a gaping mouth as if they witnessed something completely unbelievable.


    The old woman had been stunned for a very long time, but it had been her to be the very first one to gather her wits. Doing away with the previous prattle she had been doing before, she instead rubbed the top of Tianming¡¯s head affectionately and spoke, ¡°Good, good! My¡­.my Ming¡¯er has grown up now. In the future, your grandma won¡¯t worry as much now¡­.¡±


    With a smile, she nodded her head to Bai Yunfei first before looking to Ye Quan and his group, ¡°Is there anymore you wish to say? If not, then this old woman will be going first to rest.¡±


    When the old woman left the halls along with her servants, Tianming had hesitated for a moment before turning to look at the middle-aged man and the married woman next to him. Bowing his head, he spoke, ¡°Father, mother, I¡¯m home¡­.¡±


    Seeing just how drastic the change that seemed to have met Tianming was, the dignified look on Ye Ting¡¯s face had revealed just a sliver of a smile on it. Unlike in the past where he would have scolded Tianming, Ye Ting had instead nodded his head slightly, ¡°Yes. As long as you return, all is well. You must remind yourself to be more careful in the future. There has been plenty of trouble for our family as of late, you shouldn¡¯t add more to it¡­¡±


    With that said, he turned to look at Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng. Politely, he spoke, ¡°And these two are¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh, father, let me introduce them to you.¡± Seeing that he hadn¡¯t been scolded, Tianming seemed to relax just a bit before he had hurried to answer his father. ¡°This is brother Bai Yunfei, and this is brother Jing Mingfeng. The two of them are friends that I came to meet in my travel. They¡¯re really amazing! They¡¯ve been looking after me when we were traveling, and it was only because of these two that I wasn¡¯t captured by the Zhao earlier¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ye Ting raised his brow. Seeing that Ye Quan was nodding at him, the smile on his face became even bigger as he said, ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, I¡¯m truly too grateful for these two young heroes. It is truly too fortunate for my disappointing son to have met you two. If you two have any needs within Gaoyi City, don¡¯t hesitate to let me know. As long as my house of Ye can do it, we definitely won¡¯t decline to!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng shrugged his shoulders and shot a glance at Bai Yunfei. This action meant: ¡°I¡¯m too lazy, you can talk.¡±


    ¡°The words of the master of the house of Ye area too serious. I am merely a traveller that is passing through this area, and will leave soon. I don¡¯t have any particular wants.¡± It was obvious that Ye Quan and the others had something to discuss. Thus, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t say anything more. After thinking for awhile, he said: ¡°I¡¯ve used up quite a bit of my energy during that previous fight. May I ask for some accommodations from the master of the house of Ye? I would like to rest a bit earlier¡­¡±


    Ye Ting was stunned. Shortly after, he nodded his head and said: ¡°Sure, there¡¯s naturally no problem with that! A¡¯Fu, take the two young heroes to the guest room in the northern courtyard! Serve them well, and do not neglect them!¡±


    After the two left, everyone else was dismissed. Only Ye Ting, Ye Quan, Ye Tianwen, and Tianming were left in the great hall.


    Ye Ting first questioned Ye Quan about the issue that had occurred after they had left the city. Then, he detailedly inquired Tianming about the situation that had occurred to him after leaving the city, as well as Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng¡¯s situations.


    After Tianming finished speaking, everyone turned silent for a period of time.


    After a long time, Ye Ting started speaking: ¡°First, let¡¯s ignore the identities of those two. We already owe them a favour because of their rescuing of Tianming. Furthermore, they have inadvertently helped us a lot by killing the people of the Beast Taming School, as well as snatching the fifth-class soulbeast that should have been passed to the house of Zhao. In addition to that, these two aren¡¯t weak. If they can help our house of Ye during the fight against the house of Zhao, our chances of victory will increase¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah. However, I don¡¯t think we should directly ask them for help. After all, our house of Ye owes them a favour, and being too rude wouldn¡¯t be good.¡± Ye Tianwen followed up and said, ¡°During the following days, we should let Tianming receive them. From what Bai Yunfei said, he wouldn¡¯t be staying here for a long time. Thus, we should do our best to deepen our relationship with him during this period of time, and let nature run its course.¡±


    Tianming remained silent for a while. Then, he spoke with a trace of hesitation: ¡°Father, is the house of Zhao really suppressing us, just like this? Are we going to let them be so unreasonable and not do anything about it?¡±


    ¡°With the mountain-like Beast Taming School suppressing us, what chance do we have?¡± Ye Tianwen helplessly shook his head and said, ¡°Although our house is considered a big clan within Gaoyi City, we¡¯re not even considered as a small clan within the entire continent. Even though the person who came from the Beast Taming School is only a middle-grade Soul Ancestor, we don¡¯t have any power to resist him at all¡­If father manages to breakthrough into the Soul Ancestor realm, we might have the ability to contend with him. However¡­¡±


    ¡°Breaking into the Soul Ancestor realm is easier said than done¡­¡± Ye Ting sighed, ¡°I¡¯ve already been stuck in the peak of the Soul Sprite realm for a year. I¡¯m only a step away from the Soul Ancestor realm, but that step is as far as the heavens. No matter how hard I try, I don¡¯t even have the slightest chance of achieving a breakthrough. If I don¡¯t obtain an opportunity, I won¡¯t be able to breakthrough, even if another few years pass¡­¡±


    Tianming seemed to understand, yet not understand his father¡¯s words. He wasn¡¯t very familiar with the world of soul cultivators, and he didn¡¯t understand why his father was so scared of the Beast Taming School. In his mind, his Brother Bai and Brother Jing managed to easily fend off the people from the Beast Taming School when they were saving the Quickshade Bird; When they met the people from the Beast Taming School for a second time, his Brother Bai and the others managed to directly kill almost ten of them¡ªthey weren¡¯t that scary.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Tianming, I think you¡¯re tired as well? Go back and rest. Tomorrow, take the two guests to have some fun in the city, since that¡¯s what you¡¯re an expert in¡­¡± Ye Ting looked at the pondering Tianming and slightly smiled. It wasn¡¯t clear whether his last words were disparaging or joking.


    ¡°Oh, sure. Then, I¡¯ll go and talk to mother for a while before resting.¡± Tianming nodded his head and left.


    As Ye Ting looked at Tianming leave the hall, a trace of gratification appeared in his eyes. He was deeply moved as he said: ¡°This time, Tianming has truly matured after leaving¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s actually learned to hide some secrets when talking to other people.¡± Ye Quan lightly nodded his head and let out a smile. Actually, the three people could tell that Tianming was hiding some secrets when talking about Bai Yunfei and the others. However, they didn¡¯t point it out.


    ¡°Hehe, this also means that he¡¯s made some trustworthy friends, no? It also means that Tianming has grown up. In the future, we won¡¯t have to be so worried anymore.¡± Ye Tianwen also smiled as he spoke.


    After talking about the issue of Tianming, Ye Ting stopped smiling as he spoke to Ye Quan: ¡°Second brother, what do you think¡­about these two visitors?¡±


    Ye Quan paused for a moment before saying: ¡°They have many secrets. They¡¯re absolutely not normal soul cultivators.¡±


    After thinking for a while, Ye Ting was still somewhat unconvinced as he asked: ¡°They¡­did they truly kill those people from the Beast Taming School?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it shouldn¡¯t be wrong. The first reason is because Tianming said it, while the second reason is because I personally sensed it.¡± Ye Quan nodded his head as he answered.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m relieved¡­¡± Ye Ting lightly laughed and had a slight feeling of schadenfreude as he said, ¡°Humph, Zhao Chuan is dead, and the Beast Taming School has lost many people. I think that the house of Zhao should stop making moves for a while? When Zhao Xing finds out, I¡¯m sure that his expression will be ugly¡­¡±

 Chapter 138: Res

    Chapter 138: Rest


    Zhao Xing¡¯s current expression wasn¡¯t just ugly¨Cit was extremely hideous.


    In contrast to the house of Ye, the halls of the house of Zhao was far more somber in atmosphere. Just vaguely, two shadows could be seen seated within the halls; it was the head of the Zhao, Zhao Xing and attendant Li Chen from the Beast Taming School.


    From dusk to midnight, the two of them had been drinking tea cup after cup as they waited for their men to return after kidnapping Ye Tianming and the Quickshade Bird. But the group never returned. Zhao Xing had been besides himself and continued to look outside the area every so often in anxiety. Li Chen himself was no longer calm himself and looked as if the expression on his face had hardened. Even as he stroked the three-tailed cat, the speed in which he was doing so was noticeably faster than before as if expressing the irritation in his mind.


    ¡°Attendant Li, it¡¯s been¡­.long enough now, why have they not returned yet? Perhaps something has happened? Perhaps the Ye has already done something in secret?¡± Zhao Xing could hold it in no longer and looked to Li Chen as he asked.


    ¡°What are you panicking about? They could already be on the road back now. You are the head of the household and yet you have no patience at all. Pah! Your family is beyond help¡­.¡± Li Chen spoke with discontent when he glanced over at him. But even with that, one could tell that his expression on his face was not as calm as before.


    Zhao Xing¡¯s face had flushed with anger, but he had managed to keep his tongue in cheek and stared silently at the entrance to the hall.


    Then¨Cthe sounds of footsteps could be heard approaching the halls, causing Zhao Xing¡¯s face to brighten up. However, when he saw that the faces of these newcomers were not at all the same ones of the people who were dispatched earlier, a look of worry crossed his face again. Before they could even bow to him in greeting, Zhao Xing had asked in a hurry, ¡°Well? Did you find caretaker Zhao and the others?¡±


    ¡°My lord, we have come with a report. Signs of a skirmish can be seen on the outskirts of the city near the hills, but no traces of caretaker Zhao can be seen. Furthermore¡­.we have lost contact with the people meant to observe them in secret. Their whereabouts are currently unknown¡­.¡±


    The ones giving the report had left the halls shortly after reporting in, allowing Zhao Xing to collapse onto his chair with a dazed look. If it were only just Zhao Chuan that was missing, that could be because he was still in hot pursuit of Ye Tianming. But if the ones assigned to observe Zhao Chuan were gone as well, then it could only mean that something must have happened to them all¡­.. ¡°But, but how could that be¡­.? Our intelligence said that only two other youths were traveling with Ye Tianming. The Ye had only sent people after Ye Tianming after Zhao Chuan left, meaning there should have been more than enough time for him to capture Ye Tianming before anything could happen. So just why¡­.¡±


    The more Zhao Xing thought about it, the more he started to fidget. Since everyone else aside from Zhao Chuan was from the Beast Taming School, Zhao Xing was just opening his mouth to ask Chen Li what was going on when Li Chen gave a small start. Extending his right arm out, a small dark shadow suddenly shot forth from the entrance and onto his palm, revealing the shadow to be a small black rat.


    The rat had looked at Li Chen with its small red eyes before letting out two emotionless squeaks and coming to a stop in his hand.


    The expression on Li Chen¡¯s face had immediately solidified into an even more unsightly look. Even his body was starting to twitch slightly¨Che had sent this small rat out to trail behind Wu Sen earlier. As a soulbeast, it was without much power and was incapable of passing along a detailed report of what happened, but a vague description could still be gained from it. Wu Sen and the others had been killed.


    ¡°Lord Zhao, I believe that our plans will have to be changed¡­.¡±


    And now, we return to a luxurious guest room within the northern courtyard of the house of Ye.


    From ontop of his spacious and soft bed, Bai Yunfei could be seen staring at the rings in front of him with worry.


    These special rings were the space rings specifically worn by the people from the Beast Taming School. Jing Mingfeng had appropriated the ones that Fang Hao and Tai Ping had worn, saying that it was his ¡®spoils of war¡¯. These rings in particular were modified so that they could only carry around the soulbeast puppets, so they were useless to Jing Mingfeng and were thus given to Bai Yunfei to keep.


    ¡°If brother Hong Yin was here, I could give these to him. But right now¡­.I¡¯ll have to carry it in the meanwhile. These space rings are strange though, I can¡¯t store them in my own space rings, meaning I have to carry them on my own person. But that¡¯s annoying. Sigh, if only there was some sort of equipment that could let me store space rings too¡­.¡±


    Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei had then placed all of the rings within an embroidered bag before checking on his own ¡®spoils of war¡¯: Several ordinary space rings, the Heart Protecting Mirror with a big and small hole through it. There were also the low-rare grade equipment: the watermelon slice-shaped short blade, and the other incomplete soul items and currency.


    ¡°How unfortunate that golden shield was destroyed. That was probably a middle-rare grade equipment, sigh¡­.¡±


    Classifying the items one by one, Bai Yunfei had stored everything away without bothering to upgrade them. Instead, of sitting down to cultivate, he had instead laid back onto his bed with both hands cradling his head so he could rest and think of what to do in the future.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t leave behind any evidence, so the Beast Taming School shouldn¡¯t know it¡¯s me that killed off their students. But still, I¡¯m more or less enemies with the school now. It¡¯d be wise for me to be careful and not show off any one of these items so that anyone from the Beast Taming School can see it¡­.¡±


    The very first thought that had came to mind was the Beast Taming School. Killing those tamers had been a simple task, but Bai Yunfei had not become so arrogant as to look down onto a school that was within the top ten in this world. It went without saying that he knew that should he come across a Soul Ancestor like the one in Cuiliu City or a perhaps a Soul Exalt from the Beast Taming School, protecting his life would be an incredibly difficult one.


    The Zhao had never been a thought for concern for him on the other hand. The Zhao didn¡¯t know who he was, and so he could stay within Gaoyi City for a good four or five days before leaving. Whether it was fight or flight, it all depended on his own mood.


    ¡°Well, I should go pay a visit to the Liu as well¡­¡±


    ¡°I wonder how miss Xinyun is. There were only four beast tamers back then, so they should be completely safe by now. I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to see them again¡­.¡±


    Early the next morning, Bai Yunfei had barely just walked out of his room when he saw that Jing Mingfeng and Tianming were already waiting in the courtyard.


    In Jing Mingfeng¡¯s hand was an item that looked like a dagger, but at the same time, it did not. It was closer to a short blade on one side, but on the other side was a sawtooth design. This oddity of a weapon was being closely studied by both Jing Mingfeng and Tianming before Bai Yunfei could identify it as the soul item that they had taken from Tai Ping.


    ¡°Brother Bai, you¡¯re up? I was just about to call you up! Did you rest well last night? There was nothing wrong with your stay, right? Let me know and I¡¯ll have some servants take care of it!¡± Tianming had smiled when he saw Bai Yunfei approach them.


    ¡°Ah, yes, nothing was wrong. It was quite a nice night.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head before turning to speak to Jing Mingfeng. ¡°It¡¯s best to not take out these items as you will anymore. Do you want to let everyone know it was us that killed the ones from the Beast Taming School?¡±


    ¡°Haha, relax, I know.¡± Jing Mingfeng chuckled before storing the soul item away from Tianming¡¯s admiring eyes.


    After washing their face and teeth, the trio had gone off to eat breakfast. To be polite, Bai Yunfei had gone off to pay his respects to Ye Ting and made conversation for a good while. As soon as the conversation was over, he had left the house so that Tianming could take him and Jing Mingfeng around the city to go purchase a few things.


    Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but laugh when they looked at how excited and lively Tianming was as they walked through the flourishing streets of the city. Everywhere they went, Tianming had went off onto a long and wordy explanation of what was good in the area, and what places had the best things to do.


    ¡°Well now, Tianming, since you can talk so much about these ¡®fun¡¯ places, you must be extremely familiar with them. How amazing you are!¡± Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but tease him.


    But Tianming had taken this ¡®compliment¡¯ in stride. Flinging his hair back, Tianming spoke with an air of arrogance, ¡°Well of course! My nickname in Gaoyi City as the ¡®Duke of Play¡¯ isn¡¯t in vain you know¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hm? ¡®Duke of Play¡¯? What¡¯s that?¡± Jing Mingfeng was baffled.


    ¡°¡®Duke of Play¡¯ refers to me, not a thing!¡± Tianming had halted in his speech as if he thought he had said something wrong for a moment before continuing on with it, ¡°I¡¯m not saying I¡¯m good for nothing, I¡¯m saying that I¡¯m known as one of the ¡®Four Dukes¡¯ of Gaoyi City! The ¡®Duke of Play¡¯ is my nickname!¡±


    ¡°Four Dukes of Gaoyi? What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°It means we¡¯re the four young lords really.¡± Tianming explained. ¡°In Gaoyi City, there is the house of Liu, Ye, and Zhao. Then there¡¯s also the lord of the city¡¯s son. Each one of us have some sort of nickname to go with us, kind of like the ¡®Four Lords of the Capital¡¯ in the capital.


    ¡°Hold on, where did these ¡®Four Lords of the Capital¡¯ suddenly come from?¡± Jing Mingfeng blurted out in curiosity.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s curiosity had been piqued as well when heard the word ¡®capital¡¯. ¡°Tianming,¡± He started. ¡°Are these ¡®Four Lords of the Capital¡¯ also the sons of some four major households? Can you tell us more about it?¡±

 Chapter 139: Four Lords of the Capital

    Chapter 139: Four Lords of the Capital


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s curiosity had been piqued as well when heard the word ¡®capital¡¯. ¡°Tianming,¡± He started. ¡°Are these ¡®Four Lords of the Capital¡¯ also the sons of some four major households? Can you tell us more about it?¡±


    ¡°No way! You¡¯ve never heard of the Four Lords? They¡¯re the idols of our generation!¡± Tianming had spoken in adoration. It would appear that he held these ¡®Four Lords of the Capital¡¯ on a high pedestal.


    ¡°The Four Lords of the Capital, Wine, Sex, Avarice, and Temper!¡±


    It had been with great grandeur that Tianming spoke these eleven words. If they didn¡¯t know any better, then anyone would have thought that Tianming himself was one of these four princes.


    ¡°Their titles refer to them being the four young heroes of the capital¡¯s four great houses: The Zheng, the Chen, the Jin, and the Huang. Of the four, the house of Zheng is the most prominent due to them also being known as one of the ¡®Five Great Houses¡¯. The other three might not be a part of the ¡®Five Great Houses¡¯, but they are still considered superpowers with enough influence to themselves.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows had risen when he heard mention of the Zheng. But instead of interrupting Tianming, Bai Yunfei had allowed for him to continue speaking.


    ¡°There¡¯s Chen Qiantan, the ¡®Wine Lord¡¯ of the house of Chen. Legends has it that when he was born, he was basked in a pool of wine poured from a thousand jars. He loves wine as much as his own life, and that wine practically never stops coming into his mouth. He drinks so much that he¡¯s practically always in a drunken state. The secret family art of his, the ¡®Drunken Fist¡¯ is known as a soul technique that is ¡®unbeatable¡¯ in close combat.


    ¡°In the house of Zheng, there¡¯s the ¡®Sex Prince¡¯, Zheng Kai. In his family, he¡¯s the second eldest and is sometimes known as the ¡®Second Prince of Zheng¡¯. He says that he is like the ¡®jade tree that can withstand wind and prevail over Pan Yue in beauty¡¯ while also being as capable as the ¡®pear blossom that pushes down the crabapple.¡¯ Or in other words, he calls himself the ¡®Godhand of spreading the flower¡¯. Although his nickname is the ¡®Sex Lord¡¯, it isn¡¯t an insult. He is known to be a lustful person, but he never steals away any woman, they all follow him willingly. It¡¯s even said that his personal goal in life is to ¡®pick up every beauty in the world and leave no girl behind for anyone to pick up¡¯. Because of his absolute valor, he¡¯s seen as the enemy of man while also being the object of envy and admiration of them all.


    TL Note: The poet Su Shi had once ridiculed his fellow poet Zhang Xian after marrying a wife with over seventy years apart in age difference in a poem, saying that even a pear blossom could ¡®push¡¯ down the crabapple.


    ¡°From the house of Jin, there¡¯s there¡¯s the ¡®Wealth Lord¡¯, Jin Manlou. At the tender age of twenty, he was already in charge of the finances of the entire household¨Cand better than the previous generation to boot. Their wealth has grown so large that it could rival a country and spend money as if it were water. As long as the problem can be solved with money, then it isn¡¯t a problem as far as he¡¯s concerned. Not only that, Jin Manlou is also the most magnanimous philanthropist in the entire empire. Wherever he does business, there will never be any beggars.


    ¡°And then there¡¯s the ¡®Temper Lord¡¯, Huang Bin of the house of Huang. As a moral and upright person, his heroism could stand aloft over the clouds. He has always been a straightforward and upright person that outs the rich and supports the poor. Of the four lords, he is the most respected one with countless friends and thousands of visitors¨Cmany of them being strong in their own right. Even more amazing is his talent; it¡¯s something you can only see once every hundred years! At the age of twenty-four, he has already become a Soul Ancestor!


    ¡°These four are the most outstanding ones of their generation in the capital. Practically every other young lord in the capital follow these four, though, the young ones of the royal family are an exception of course. They are after all princes that cannot be ¡®discussed¡¯ about so easily.¡±


    Tianming had spoken confidently as he gave a general introduction of the ¡®Four Lords of the Capital¡¯ to Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng. It was as if his ¡®lecturing¡¯ to his older brothers was something to be extremely pleased about.


    ¡°Zheng Kai¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei turned his head down just slightly in befuddlement. He hadn¡¯t expected to hear his name here, but¡­.¡±Sex Lord? Is he really some sort of wanton and lecherous young master of a man?¡± Bai Yunfei was simply unable to make the connection between the mysterious youth that had helped him in the coliseum of Luoshi City way back then and the ¡®Sex Lord¡¯ that Tianming was talking about. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s coincidence that they have the same name?¡±


    ¡°Pft! What ¡®Four Lords of the Capital¡¯, why do I feel annoyed about that? That ¡®Sex Lord¡¯ most especially! For some reason, I have the desire to beat him up¡­.¡± In the midst of Bai Yunfei¡¯s pondering, Jing Mingfeng had spoke out already with a rather discontent tone. ¡°Screw it, they¡¯re nothing more than the next generation that rely on their families and parents! Brother, if I want to be famous, then I¡¯d be known throughout the entire world instead! With a greater title than theirs no less!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been unable to stop himself from poking fun at him, ¡°Yea, that¡¯s right. No one can beat you as the most handsome person ever. Aren¡¯t you the Chivalrous Thief? I think your nickname should be ¡®Bandit Chief¡¯ instead.¡±


    TL Note: This nickname is µÁ˧ in Chinese, with the second character meaning Handsome or Chief. It is also the nickname of Chu Liuxiang from Gu Long¡¯s novel of the same name.


    In truth, Bai Yunfei was actually making fun of the fact that Jing Mingfeng made it a habit to change his appearance every so often. It had been done so much that Bai Yunfei was actually unsure or not if this current appearance of Jing Mingfeng was his true appearance. But the insinuation had not been heard, or perhaps the latter had only been paying attention to the very last part of the sentence.


    ¡°¡®Bandit Chief¡¯? Shit, Ol¡¯Bai, you¡¯re a damn genius if you could come out with such an imperious nickname like that!¡± Jing Mingfeng had thought ¡®seriously¡¯ for a few moments before unexpectedly speaking out with a deadpan declaration, ¡°I¡¯ve decided! When the great me travels the world later on, I¡¯ll be using that nickname!¡¯


    And thus, the nickname of ¡®Bandit Chief¡¯ that would later rock the world was born from a joke that Bai Yunfei had randomly tossed out¡­.Of course, if Jing Mingfeng were to describe it, he¡¯d say¨C ¡°This is actually a hobby of mine¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw the earnest-looking Jing Mingfeng. Instead, he shook his head helplessly for a moment before turning back to Tianming, ¡°Ah, Tianming, you said the ¡®Four Lords of the Capital¡¯ refer to ¡®Wine, Sex, Avarice and Temper¡¯. Then as the ¡®Four Dukes of Gaoyi¡¯, what nicknames do you have?¡±


    ¡°Eating, Drinking, Playing, and Pleasure.¡±


    Bai Yunfei stared blankly at him. He had been at a loss of how to respond to him. Meanwhile, Jing Mingfeng had nearly stumbled into the bosom of a middle-aged woman as he was lost in his delusions of becoming the world-famous ¡®Bandit Chief¡¯.


    Jing Mingfeng looked at Tianming with widened eyes, ¡°What did you say? Say it one more time¡­.Eating, Drinking, Playing and Pleasure?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­.¡± Tianming had been slightly embarrassed when he replied, ¡°It¡­.really doesn¡¯t sounds as cool as ¡®Wine, Sex, Avarice, and Temper¡¯, but we were only just playing around when we made it up¡­.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng had looked at Tianming with a hint of admiration, ¡°Hehe, I think that your group is pretty interesting actually. Say, didn¡¯t you say you were the ¡®Duke of Play¡¯ as one of the four dukes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. In the past, I spent the entire day playing around and was pretty much interested in any sort of fun activities. So I earned that nickname as a result.¡± Tianming explained bashfully.


    ¡°The ¡®Duke of Eat¡¯ refers to the fatty from the Zhao, Zhao Liang. That guy¡¯s always eating some sort of exotic delicacy or lavish meal at any given time. One time, he ate an entire roasted suckling pig that weighed around fifty kilograms¡­..the biggest restaurant in Gaoyi City, the ¡°Aroma Delicacy¡±, is owned by him.


    ¡°The ¡®Duke of Drink¡¯ is the third son of the house of Liu, Liu Shun. He¡¯s similar to the ¡®Wine Lord¡¯ from the capital. He¡¯s always drinking and loves to get drunk. Good or bad, he¡¯s done it all. Onetime, he streaked through the streets naked, but then he was stopped by one of his retainers afterwards¡­


    ¡°The ¡®Duke of Pleasure¡¯ is the second son of the ruler of the city, Zhou Hui. He¡¯s crass and lecherous. As a regular of the ¡®House of Spring Pleasures¡¯, he spends the entirety of his day trying to have sex with women. By now, he has already seven concubines at the age of twenty-six.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been speechless once more when heard Tianming introduce them all¨Cjust what of people are they?


    He had been secretly glad that Tianming represented the ¡®Play¡¯ of the four. If the four of them were ¡®Dining, Wining, Whoring and Gambling¡¯, then that would be just tragic¡­.


    For a while, Jing Mingfeng had been silent before he gave a thumbs up to Tianming, ¡°You¡¯re still screwed!¡±


    TL Note:


    In the chapter, the Four Lords of the Capital are nicknamed as ¡°Wine, Sex, Avarice, and Temper¡±. This is an idiom referring to the cardinal vices.


    As for the Four Dukes of Gaoyi City, their nicknames are based off the idiom ¡°Eat, drink, and be merry.¡± In other words, to forget about everything else and focus on the pleasures of life.


    Bai Yunfei talks about it¡¯s good that they weren¡¯t nicknamed ¡°Dining, Wining, Whoring and Gambling¡±. This is an idiom meaning to live a life of dissipation.

 Chapter 140: Stand to Watch

    Chapter 140: Stand to Watch


    In the afternoon, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t follow Tianming and Jing Mingfeng to the ¡®Unique Beast Garden¡¯ that was ¡®super-duper fun¡¯ according to Tianming. Instead, he slowly walked around the streets of Gaoyi City by himself, buying some necessities or interesting things.


    It had been with some slight disappointment when Bai Yunfei walked out from one of the weapons store. Gaoyi City wasn¡¯t a big city by any stretch of the word, and the stores he had passed by already were very low on Superior grade equipment. Incomplete soul items were practically non-existent since only one store had one of those. But in Bai Yunfei¡¯s opinion, that store was nothing more than your run-of-the-mill shop where an incomplete soul item would be considered the store¡¯s treasure. As such, this incomplete soul item would be priced at an exorbitantly high price that would leave Bai Yunfei dumbfounded.


    Unbeknownst to Bai Yunfei, he somehow managed to travel throughout the majority of the bustling streets of Gaoyi City during his stop-and-go shopping spree. Eventually, he noticed the darkness around him and as he looked up, noticed that it was almost evening. Feeling that he travelled far enough, he prepared for his return to the mansion of the House of Ye.


    ¡°Yes, this road is kinda familiar. This should be the way to go back? Yeah, it shouldn¡¯t be wrong¡­¡±


    After walking for half an hour, Bai Yunfei felt that he should be approaching his destination soon, but he had been having this feeling for more than twenty minutes now, yet he still hadn¡¯t seen the walls of the house of Ye.


    ¡°I was walking around and looking at all of the stores, but I actually forgot to remember the direction back. I¡¯m actually lost in this city, this is just too embarrassing¡­¡± Bai Yunfei felt ashamed then investigated further. Eventually, he embarrassedly pulled aside a passerby to ask him the directions to the house of Ye. After all, the house of Ye was one of the three great houses of Gaoyi City, and its location was known to everyone.


    ¡°You want to go to the house of Ye?¡± A random passerby glanced at the smiling youth garbed in ordinary street-clothes. Curious, he asked, ¡°The Ye are over on west, why on earth did you come running over to the northern street?¡±


    Inquiring to each new person every few turns around the streets, Bai Yunfei felt like wiping off his sweat before turning onto the streets next to him.


    After turning the corner, Bai Yunfei could see a two-storied restaurant. Just as he was about to enter the building, a sudden commotion could be heard from the interior. In the next moment, a group of people came clambering out from the entrance as if they would be caught up in trouble if they were too slow.


    But after they ran outside the restaurant, they clustered together at a place a few dozen metres away from the restaurant. The looks of fear on their faces transformed into looks of curiosity¡­and they actually began to wait with anticipation.


    The people who were originally outside were baffled by this. But when the ones who ran out from the restaurant whispered several words to them in a quiet whisper, everyone had gathered together. Within half a minute, over a hundred people were gathered outside the entrance of the restaurant.


    ¡°Hey, what do you think the ¡®Duke of Drink¡¯ will do this time?¡±


    ¡°Who knows? Can anyone really guess what this drunkard is thinking about?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, the last time he was drunk, he was making out with a pig of a woman out on the streets! The attendants he had with him were all beaten up too, leaving the bodyguards no other choice but to knock him out. You think he¡¯s going to start the performance out on the streets this time?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, he climbed up to the top of the restaurant to sing out loud for an entire hour the time before that. It wasn¡¯t bad¨Cin fact¨Cit was better than the opera singer that lives next to me.¡±


    ¡°I still love the time where he was tossing money away, all those shining silver coins! If only he¡¯d do it again¡­.¡±


    ¡°What about that one time he rented out the entire House of Spring Pleasures and had all the girls dance out on the streets? Tsk, that was quite the sight to see! I heard after that day, the clients over there doubled¡­.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too close though. That one stupid gangster tried to extort some protection fees from him while he was in one of his drunk moods. That guy was practically beaten senseless, and the other people around him too¡­.¡±


    ¡°What about that time he threw out all those leftovers at people¡­.¡±


    ¡°Or that time he streaked naked through the city¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei raised the corner of his mouth as he heard the discussion going on around him. He was wondering just what was going on, but he understood now¡ª¡ªThese people were all waiting for the person upstairs, who was about to become madly drunk, to give a good show¡ª¡ªAnd the person in question was the person that Tianming talked about. Out of ¡®Four Dukes of Gaoyi City¡¯, the person who was addicted to drinking alcohol, the ¡®Duke of Drink¡¯ Liu Shun.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d meet him here out of the blue; and during one of his drunk moments no less. From what these people are saying, his personality while drunk isn¡¯t the best¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been stuck within the crowd, and because of his curiosity, he was loathed to leave. Sticking around the crowd, he turned his head up to look at what was going on on the second floor of the restaurant.


    To stand around and watch was a natural trait of a human being. Curiosity was something that even Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t exempt from. Thus, he too became one of the people within the crowd.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    A wine jug had been thrown out from the second floor, shattering upon contact and startling the people down below.


    ¡°Stop bothering me! I¡¯m not drunk! I just want to go the toilet! Why¡¯re you following me around for, I don¡¯t like being watched like this!¡±


    One could tell the sound that just echoed out from the second floor belonged to that of a drunk person. Then, the sounds of tables, chairs, bowls, and plates falling to the ground could be heard. A gorgeously-clothed youth slightly staggered as he appeared by the railings of the second floor, and his originally elegant hairstyle had become somewhat disheveled. The front part of clothing that covered his chest was slightly wet, and he let out a drunken belch. After all that, he leaned on the second floor¡¯s railings and started undoing his waistband.


    From his earlier words, one could tell that he was really trying to try and take off his pants to urinate!


    He probably wanted to use the restroom, but he wasn¡¯t able to clearly tell the directions under his drunken stupor. Thus, he walked straight to the balcony, and prevented his subordinates from stopping him. He said that he didn¡¯t want to be watched while urinating, but he didn¡¯t know that there were more than a hundred people below waiting for a good show to happen¡ª¡ªAlthough quite a lot of girls had already shied their faces away, there were still a large amount of bold ones that secretly tried to look from the gaps between their fingers. After all, the ¡®thing¡¯ of the ¡®Duke of Drink¡¯ wasn¡¯t so easily seen.


    ¡°No way¡­.how brave is he?¡± Bai Yunfei had thought with admiration.


    If he really did take off his pants, then the Liu would lose plenty of face from this. Because of that, plenty of people had rushed forward to try and stop Liu Shun from doing so.


    ¡°So you want to control even my pissing! Screw off!¡± Liu Shun flew off into a rage as he kicked the people around him. Turning around to continue unbuckling his pants, he suddenly saw the several hundreds of people down below the balcony.


    ¡°Fucking hell! why is there so many people in this toilet?¡±


    His words caused everyone to burst out in laughter. After that, Liu Shun stopped undoing his pants. This relieved his bodyguard Su Dong, who was prepared to stop him, while disappointing the onlooking crowd below.


    But who would have known that Liu Shun would look over the crowd with a sudden face of fury. Kicking a giant hole in the balcony railings in front of him, he cursed out, ¡°Fuck your grandpa! You going to fight me for this toilet? Men! Tear off one of their balls now!¡±


    As soon as he spoke, the faces of everyone down below had paled instantly. Within a second, everyone had dispersed. The males had not wanted their balls to be ripped away, and the girls had naturally no balls to take away in the first place, but they had all run away all the same. They all knew that when Liu Shun was drunk like this, whatever he said and whatever he said he would do¨Cno one would stop him.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t known about this however, and it was for that reason why he didn¡¯t run away along with the crowd. He hadn¡¯t even thought twice about just why the crowd around him had disappeared all at once¨Csuch a speed like this would make it seem as if everyone knew how to use the Wave Treading Steps.


    ¡°Men! Hurry up and do as I say! Fucking hell, why did they all run? Ehh? What¡¯s this? There¡¯s still one person. Haha, then allow the great I to teach you a lesson!¡±


    As Bai Yunfei was distracted, Liu Shun directly jumped off from the second floor with a single leap. With a ¡®bang¡¯ sound, he landed on the ground. Then, he stood up as if nothing had happened and glared at Bai Yunfei. He shouted: ¡°Brat, don¡¯t run! Watch how the great I will tear your balls off and parade you through the streets!¡±


    Recovering from his daze, the corners to Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth twitched. He had been slightly mortified, and he didn¡¯t know what to say either.


    Was he not just watching the spectacle a moment ago? So why was he caught up in this mess now?¡±

 Chapter 141: Threefold Slap

    Chapter 141: Threefold Slap


    Bai Yunfei had seen the way Liu Shun was moving on over towards him. Despite the ¡®bravado¡¯ he was trying to put up, his staggering had been anything but that, leaving Bai Yunfei to shake his head helplessly.


    He knew that Liu Shun was only at the late-stage Soul Personage realm from the soulforce he released. A mere Soul Personage wasn¡¯t something that he would take seriously. Even if Liu Shun was a young master of a big family, he wouldn¡¯t be scared to the point of running away because of this. He didn¡¯t want to cause trouble, but he wasn¡¯t afraid of getting into trouble.


    ¡°But¡­.he¡¯s still someone from the Liu. Since I¡¯m going to pay them a visit tomorrow, it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to teach this guy a lesson. Anyhow, the Liu are a part of the Wood School, so I shouldn¡¯t worsen my relationship with them.¡± Bai Yunfei thought for a while, and decided not to bicker with this drunkard in front of him. He raised his head to look at the restaurant¡¯s second floor, hoping that those servants would drag away their young master. Once they did that, this situation would be settled as well.


    But there had been something that caused him to narrow his eyes when he looked up: the attendants of Liu Shun had standing there just watching him¨Cas long as Liu Shun didn¡¯t embarrass himself, they wouldn¡¯t move a finger to stop him from doing anything else. It had in fact looked liked they were waiting for a good show to start for them to enjoy.


    He had been slightly angry at that. Turning his eye to look at the rather serious-looking middle-aged man behind the attendants, Bai Yunfei could note that his eyes were those of a vigilant man and had the ramrod back to accompany it.


    Su Dong was Liu Shun¡¯s middle-stage Soul Warrior bodyguard and was considered among of the stronger men of Gaoyi City. When it came to this drinking enthusiast of a charge, he was rather helpless. No matter what, Liu Shun was still the young master he was in charge of protecting, so no matter how drunk Liu Shun got, he was allowed to do so in his own time. So as long as Liu Shun didn¡¯t do anything too over the top, Su Dong would not interfere.


    He didn¡¯t really care about this ¡®unfortunate¡¯ youth that was about to be shouted at by the young master. In his opinion, the young master wouldn¡¯t mess around to the point of causing someone¡¯s death, even though he turned crazy after drinking. If worst comes to worst, he could just give this person a lump sum to settle this matter afterwards.


    It had been to his astonishment that this young person had met Liu Shun without fear. When he had looked at the young man, the young man had actually looked back at him as well.


    In a split second, Su Dong¡¯s heart had been gripped with fear and cold sweat began to seep out from his forehead.


    ¡°Are you not going to stop your young master?¡± In that one moment, the youth had spoke out with a voice of indifference. But despite that, it had been very audible to Su dong¡¯s ears.


    Su Dong didn¡¯t even have the time to rub the sweat off his forehead as he shivered and turned around. Without even hesitating, he pushed away the few people in front of him and jumped down from the second floor.


    ¡°An expert¨Ca Soul Sprite no less! Since when did Gaoyi City have such a person like this? And why did it have to be the young master that provoked him!¡± Su Dong¡¯s heart was pounding from shock. The moment he landed on the ground below, Su Dong was already running up to Liu Shun in an attempt to stop him from doing anything more to offend this person.


    Quickly running up to Liu Shun who was just five meters away from Bai Yunfei, Su Dong reached out to grab at him. As he reached for him, Su Dong cried out in a hurry, ¡°Young master! Stop! That person is¡­.¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    What happened next had been something that completely unexpected to everyone! In the moment Su Dong¡¯s hand touched Liu Shun, the drunkard had whirled around with his right arm bulging outwards to slam his fist right into Su Dong¡¯s face as if he had been planning to do so!


    Su Dong had been shocked by Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance, but he had not thought that Liu Shun would punch at him! Caught off guard, the man had been struck backwards a little over ten meters and rendered him dazed for the time being.


    ¡°Fuck! I just knew you were going to ruin my plans! Hah, were you trying to pull a fast one on me? You¡¯re kidding!¡± Liu Shun had crowed in satisfaction as he brought back his fist.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was speechless. In his mind, he had thought, ¡°Just how badly does this guy hate his bodyguard? Even drunk, he was on guard against these ¡®sneak attacks¡¯! Sounds like his bodyguard was always trying to ¡®ruin¡¯ his ¡®fun¡¯.¡± It had been a good assumption to make that since Su Dong was far stronger than Liu Shun, he would not injured by any sneak attack by Liu Shun. But because of the fear that Liu Shun would anger Bai Yunfei, he had been mainly focused on him and had been struck by Liu Shun as a result.


    Giving two mad barks of laughter, Liu Shun¡¯s eyes returned back to Bai Yunfei. Kicking off the ground, he flew towards Bai Yunfei with a loud shout, ¡°I¡¯m a man that means what I say! Take off your clothes now!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­.¡±, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t speechless this time, but eerily disturbed. This kid was truly a raving lunatic. Didn¡¯t he know that other people would misunderstand the meaning behind his words?


    Sighing, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°Since your attendants and your bodyguard won¡¯t protect you, then I¡¯ll do it in their place to pacify you.¡±


    When Liu Shun extended his right hand out to grab his shirt after landing in front of him, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand without any change in expression. A red light flashed, and something seemed to have appeared in his hands. However, no one was able to clearly see it, due to its extremely quick speed. Then, the object in his hand instantly smacked Liu Shun¡¯s skull.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A muffled sound echoed out. Liu Shun hadn¡¯t even fully landed, while his right hand was only an inch away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s shirt. However, he was sent flying towards the anxious Su Dong in the next instant, and was frantically caught by the latter.


    This was the brick¡¯s +13 effect, Hurling!


    The brick instantly disappeared with a flash of his right hand. Su Dong was simply unable to see what he had taken out, and didn¡¯t even feel any fluctuations in his soulforce.


    Su Dong didn¡¯t even have the time to be stunned by Bai Yunfei¡¯s casual attack. He hastily lowered his head to look at Liu Shun, who was caught by him. Yet, he noticed Liu Shun had already passed out, and that the left side of his forehead was swelling. However, there were no more bruises on Liu Shun¡¯s body except for that. He didn¡¯t find any problems either when he used his soulforce.


    After letting out a long sigh, he noticed that the back of his shirt was already drenched with cold sweat. He looked up and saw that Bai Yunfei was standing in his original location. There had been a smile on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, but it did not quite reach his eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯s just knocked out. He¡¯ll be fine after a rest. In the future, make sure to look after him so that he doesn¡¯t cause trouble with the wrong people.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head to him. Then, without a second glance at Su Dong, he turned away,


    Su Dong had been left in a state of shock. He hadn¡¯t thought that Bai Yunfei would let off his young charge that easily. But either way, this had been what he wanted. Turning back to look at the stunned attendants, he barked, ¡°What are you looking at! Hurry up and escort the young master back home!¡±


    Once more, Bai Yunfei blended in with the crowd of pedestrians walking to and from. From there, he began to slowly ask people for directions back to the Ye.


    Slowly bringing up his right hand to his eyes, he clenched it tightly. ¡°This will work¡­it¡¯s a little awkward, but as long as I continue to develop it, it¡¯ll become a surprise killing technique! Threefold Slap! Hehehe¡­.¡±


    Earlier, he had casually took out the brick he hadn¡¯t used for a long time. However, the ¡®Threefold Slap¡¯ that Li Chengfeng joked about suddenly appeared in his mind. When Li Chengfeng had talked about it at first, he didn¡¯t take it seriously. He jokingly tested it out for a few times, but had failed. Thus, he threw it to the back of his mind. After all, the uses of the brick and the Firetipped Spear were completely different.


    He didn¡¯t think that he would be able to barely use this technique after attaining his current strength. This was actually something that was a great surprise to him.


    After three consecutive slaps, he would be able to trigger the brick¡¯s +13 effect, as long as nothing unexpected occurred. The probability of the confusion effect and stun effect were also greatly increased. In the future, it seemed like he would have another technique that could catch his opponents off guard.


    Nothing unexpected had happened to Bai Yunfei this time around and had managed to make it back to the Ye after half an hour. Tianming and Jing Mingfeng had returned a long time ago and were currently playing around with something that looked like a cross between a rabbit and a cat. Its fluffy tail was bigger than its body and had the bark of a dog. It wasn¡¯t a soulbeast, but something unique.


    After a few questions, he found out this was something the two had bought in the so-called ¡®Unique Beast Garden¡¯, due to Tianming finding it ¡®very cute¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei was rendered speechless. He could easily see how ¡®cute¡¯ this fellow was¡­ ¡°Right, Tianming. Tomorrow, can you take me to the house of Liu in the afternoon? Since I¡¯ve come, I should go visit them for a bit¡­¡±

 Chapter 142: Paying a Visit to the House of Liu

    Chapter 142: Paying a Visit to the House of Liu


    ¡°Hey, brother Bai, why are you going to the Liu for?¡± Tianming asked in confusion. But then a thought struck him, ¡°Oh, I know! You¡¯ve said before that you had a friend with the Lius. Yea, no problem then¡­.I¡¯ll bring you there tomorrow afternoon.¡±


    Tianming had a simple mind and did not bother to ask anymore about it. Only Jing Mingfeng who was by his side had given Bai Yunfei a deep stare. He didn¡¯t say much to him and instead began to talk about the ¡®Duke of Drink¡¯ with Tianming and what he had done in the past¡­.there seen to have been a special interest from his end. Bai Yunfei had felt that Jing Mingfeng was treating Tianming like¡­.family almost. Whatever reason there was for it, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to ask or be suspicious about. Everyone had their reasons, and he had no business with them about it.


    He hadn¡¯t talked about what had happened to him before his return and had thought that when he went to the house of Liu tomorrow, a single explanation would be all that was needed to clear up the misunderstanding.


    Later that night in his own room.


    ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°Equipment level: Middle rare.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10.¡±


    ¡°Attack power: 337.¡±


    ¡°Additional attack power: 155.¡±


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: When attacking, there is an 8% chance for the attack to grow by 100 attack power.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 70 Soulpoints.¡±


    In Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was the blade he had taken from Zhao Chuan. Taking a look at it for several moments, he then stored it away back into his space ring. He had no desire or plan to use this item and had only wanted to see if there would be any additional effects once it hit +10. But with such a common effect, he had been nonplussed and prepared another batch of equipment to upgrade¡­.Even the Heart Protecting Mirror that had two holes in it had an even more ordinary additional effect at +10. It was useless now, but maybe he¡¯d take it out again in the future.


    It was only when Bai Yunfei had fully upgraded all of the equipment in his space ring and ran out of soulforce that Bai Yunfei fell back onto his bed and fell asleep.


    The next day at noon in a mansion to the west of Gaoyi City.


    A middle-aged man was currently furiously rebuking a young man whose head was hung down in submission. This youngster had looked as if he had been asleep if anything, and on the left part of his head was a giant bump¨Cit was Liu Shun. The drunkard that had been slapped asleep for an entire night by Bai Yunfei.


    While listening to his father with drooping eyes, Liu Shun¡¯s left hand itched to grab at the space ring in his right hand. Even now, he was sorely tempted to start indulging himself in the fine wine he had stored in it.


    ¡°Utterly disgraceful! Are you even listening to me!¡± The head of the house of Liu, Liu Kun, slammed an angry fist onto the tea table next to him. The cup that had been on it had been overturned as a result, causing the tea and the tea leaves inside to spill over.


    ¡°Yes! Yes! Your child has been listening!¡± Liu Shun spoke up with great hurry.


    ¡°Then tell me. What was I just saying?¡±


    ¡°You-you were saying that¡­.¡±


    ¡°Pah! You unfilial child, when will you ever let me live a life free of worry!¡± Liu Kun glared at his failure of a drunken son and spoke, ¡°Your oldest brother has made some success for himself at the Wood School, and your second brother has done well with the family business even despite his lack of talent in cultivation! But you! What do you do? You spend the entire day drinking wine! Do you think drinking such gluttonous amounts of wine like that will make you similar to the capital¡¯s ¡®Wine Lord¡¯, Chen Qiantan? Let me tell you, you and him are nothing alike! He enjoys drinking, but he never becomes too drunk! And you? You spend the entire day as if being drunk is the only thing you know how to do! You bear dishonor to the family!¡±


    When his father spoke, even Liu Shun had felt rather ashamed at his actions. Ever since he accompanied his father to the capital and saw the sixteen year old ¡®Chen Qiantan¡¯ ten years ago, Liu Shun had completely worshipped the man and his awe-inspiring name of ¡®Wine Lord¡¯. From that moment on, he had tried to imitate him and earned the title of ¡®Duke of Drink¡¯. But instead of being a noble person like Chen Qiantan, he was a drunkard of terrible renown.


    ¡°If you spent your days as a complete drunk without causing trouble, I would turn a blind eye. But yesterday, you¡¯ve managed to earn the ire of a Soul Sprite! If not for his kindness, you¡¯d be a cripple if not dead!¡±


    Liu Shun had looked away guiltily. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what I was doing when I was drunk, how should I know how strong the people I¡¯m fighting are? But how unlucky I was to be knocked unconscious for an entire night?¡±


    It was only then that Liu Shun realized the giant bump on his head. Hurriedly moving to use some soulforce to massage it, the bump quickly receded back into normal levels.


    At that moment, the sounds of frantic footsteps could be heard. The owner had been Su Dong, the bodyguard of Liu Shun. From his appearance, he looked rather frantic.


    ¡°My lord, the second son of the house of Ye, Ye Tianming, has brought a friend to visit us!


    ¡°Eh? The second son¡­.what does he want? Is he going to ask us for help with the conflict between the Ye and the Zhao? But that¡¯s not something a kid who only knows how to play would be a messenger for. But who¡¯s the other person he¡¯s bringing?¡± Liu Kun asked. Noticing the oddity of Su Dong, Liu Kun asked, ¡°What, did you have something to say?¡±


    ¡°My lord, the one that the son of the Ye has brought is the expert from yesterday¡­.¡±


    ¡°Waht?¡± Liu Kun had been aghast. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s him?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no mistaking it. I saw him myself; he even waved hello to me¡­.I didn¡¯t wish to delay this report and had the caretaker bring him inside while I ran here.¡±


    Liu Kun¡¯s eyebrows knitted together in worry, ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought that he¡¯d come to met us. Is he going to denounce us? No, that can¡¯t be it, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have let Shun¡¯er off that easily. Is this coincidence then? If Ye Tianming is bringing him, then what¡¯s going on? Is he the hired help perhaps?¡±


    He had been silent for a while before Liu Kun spoke up once more, ¡°Prepare the finest tea and snacks. We shall greet the guests as best as we can!¡±


    Turning his head to Liu Shun who was still kneeling on the ground, he barked out. ¡°Stand up! Hurry up and clean yourself up! Then you¡¯ll come back here and apologize! If he isn¡¯t willing to forgive you, then I¡¯ll break one of your legs!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth and get going!¡±


    A while later, Bai Yunfei and Tianming had been followed the caretaker into the large receiving halls. As soon as they crossed over the doors, the head of the Lius had came to greet them with an amicable smile.


    ¡°Haha, young lord Ye, your uncle Liu wasn¡¯t expecting a visit from you! How is brother Ting doing? Not about to breakthrough to the Soul Ancestor realm I hope?¡± Liu Kun pulled at Tianming¡¯s hand in a friendly greeting.


    Tianming had been at a loss on why this sudden treatment. He very rarely saw the head of the Lius, and never was the man so polite as he was now.


    But having received such a friendly greeting from the man who was on equal levels with his own father, Tianming had been rather humbled by it. ¡°Hello uncle Liu, my father is doing fine, but having a breakthrough to the next realm is still a distance away. He talks about the eldest son of the Lius quite often, saying that his potential is unlimited if he was able to make it into the Wood School.¡±


    ¡°Haha, Ping¡¯er has good luck on his side, that¡¯s all. It only just so happens that my family has some connections with the Wood School too. It was best to make use of those connections really. Your father was the exceptional one; he made his entire fortune on his business alone¡­.¡± Liu Kun had waved off Ye Tianming¡¯s words with modesty as well before turning his eye to Bai Yunfei. Smiling still, he asked, ¡°And you are¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei cupped his fists together in greeting, ¡°I am Bai Yunfei, my salutations, lord Liu.¡±

 Chapter 143: Isll be Imposing on You Then

    Chapter 143: I''ll be Imposing on You Then


    ¡°Mid-stage Soul Sprite!¡±


    As a late-stage Soul Sprite, Liu Kun couldn¡¯t treat Bai Yunfei lightly anymore and was shocked beyond belief.


    ¡°He¡¯s only twenty years old at the very oldest! If he¡¯s able to become a mid-stage Soul Sprite at such a young age, he¡¯s undoubtedly an extremely talented person if not exceptional! But which family is he the son of? His surname is Bai but I¡¯ve never heard of such a family before. So then which school is he a part of? How did the Ye gain such a friend, did they find a new powerful patron?¡±


    As the gears in his head continued to spin, Liu Kun had been careful enough to not show the conflicting thoughts of his on his face. ¡°Lord Bai, there¡¯s no need to be so polite. Please come in and let us talk.¡±


    As everyone sat down and had their tea cups placed in front of them, Liu Kun started off the conversation with some small talk with Tianming. ¡°Ah, nephew Tianming,¡± He smiled, ¡°What brings you here today, are you looking for Shun¡¯er?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re mistaken, uncle Liu. Brother Bai was the one that wanted to pay a visit actually. I was only leading the way for him.¡± Tianming pointed towards Bai Yunfei to explain himself.


    ¡°Ah? Is that so?¡± Liu Kun spoke with perplexity. He hadn¡¯t thought that it was Bai Yunfei that sought them out. ¡°Lord Bai, what reason have you for seeking my family today?¡±


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Lord Liu, please don¡¯t think too much about it. I was only passing along the way and wanted to pay a visit. Once you read this letter, you¡¯ll understand the reason.¡±


    Handing over the latter You Qingfeng had given him in Jade Willow City, Bai Yunfei allowed Su Dong to hurry forward and take the letter to Liu Kun to read.


    Still confused, Liu Kun opened the letter and began to read.


    It had only taken a single glance at the letter for the expression on Liu Kun¡¯s face to harden with stupefaction. In the next moment, his expression grew serious, and even his posture had straightened up into an even more formal one by a small fraction.


    The more he read, the more Liu Kun couldn¡¯t help but feel his heartbeat accelerate. Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s calm expression and Tianming¡¯s curious one, Liu Kun finished reading the letter and then inspected it to verify the authenticity of it.


    In the end, Liu Kun sealed the letter back up and looked up at Bai Yunfei with yet another smile like before. The only difference in this smile was that there seemed to have another emotion in it. Tianming had doubted his eyes almost¡ªit looked as if lord Liu, the lord of one of the three major houses of Gaoyi City¡ªwas looking at Bai Yunfei with a ¡­.respectful look?


    ¡°It had not occurred to me that lord Bai was acquainted with the young master You. I hope that lord Bai will forgive my tardiness then. If I had known earlier, then I would have sent out an envoy to receive lord Bai into my home.¡± Liu Kun cupped his hands towards Bai Yunfei apologetically.


    ¡°Lord Liu, your words are far too serious. I only came to know senior You in Jade Willow City for some time. I was fortunate enough to be in his care during my stay, but he gave me a letter to hand over the house of Liu for when I went to Gaoyi City. Since I am here, I decided that a visit was in order, nothing more.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you are far too kind, lord Bai! Please don¡¯t see yourself as an outsider. If there is something you need, ten as long as it is within my power, my family will not refuse your wishes!¡±


    ¡°Then, I will accept your kindness in advance. I¡¯ll be staying in Gaoyi City for the next few days. If there is something I need, I¡¯ll visit again.¡±


    ¡°Very well! But lord Bai, please don¡¯t ever be afraid to speak up! If the young master You were to find out, he may very well blame me for neglecting lord Bai¡¯s wishes!¡±


    ¡°....¡± Tianming hadn¡¯t known what to think or say at this sight. It had been slightly funny to him to see that Liu Kun looked like he was desperately begging to help Bai Yunfei in whatever he needed. Although he didn¡¯t know the reason why, Tianming was able to make the connection between the earlier letter and this mysterious ¡®young master You¡±. This Bai Yunfei was truly a powerful figure to him even more so now if even the letter from someone he knew was enough to cow the high and mighty lord Liu.


    The following talks had been very friendly, and Liu Kun had adjusted his mannerisms so that he didn¡¯t sound too much like a bootlicker. He had been very amiable and friendly to even Tianming so that he didn¡¯t feel left out of the conversation.


    It had been an hour before Bai Yunfei thought that enough was enough. Just as they were about to leave, the sounds of footsteps could suddenly be heard. Just then¡­.Liu Shun entered the room. He had exchanged his robes for a cleaner pair, and his hair was neatly combed behind his head. All in all, he looked extremely elegant rather than the drunken mess that he was yesterday, like a true young lord.


    ¡°Father, I have arrived.¡± Liu Shun spoke courteously to Liu Kun. And then to Tianming, he spoke, ¡°Hey, Tianming, I heard you ran away from homes for a couple of months. How was it, was it fun?¡±


    Tianming was clearly more familiar with Liu Shun and had smiled in response, ¡°Hey there, brother Liu! It¡¯s been a long time. It was pretty fun outside, and I learned lots!¡±


    Nodding his head, Liu Shun turned to look at Bai Yunfei. When he saw just how young he was, Liu shun couldn¡¯t help but speak to Su Dong behind Liu Kun, ¡°That can¡¯t be right? Su Dong, you sure this guy¡¯s the one who knocked me unconscious? Is he really a Soul Sprite? I don¡¯t think so¡­.¡±


    ¡°Shun¡¯er, you¡¯re being rude!¡± Liu Kun barked.


    ¡°Brother Liu, what do you mean knocked unconscious? You met big brother Bai?¡± Tianming asked.


    ¡°I er¡­.¡± With his father¡¯s rebuke and Tianming¡¯s questioning, Liu Shun looked to Bai Yunfei, unsure of how to respond.


    Before Liu Kun could even formulate a response, Bai Yunfei had already nodded his head to him. ¡°Hehe, young master Liu, we meet again. If you don¡¯t remember, we met yesterday when you were drunk. If I offended you, then please forgive me.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Liu Kun hadn¡¯t been expecting such a response from Bai Yunfei and spoke up urgently, ¡°Lord Bai, you are far too kind. From what I heard from Su Dong, my drunken dog-of-a-son annoyed you. Please, lord Bai, please forgive my son about that.¡±


    Then glaring balefully at Liu Shun, he spoke, ¡°Lord Bai is a chivalrous person, do you think he¡¯s the same as you, you wastrel? Hurry up and apologize to lord Bai!¡±


    Because he wasn¡¯t drunk, Liu Shun had realized just how peculiar his father was acting and was taken aback from it. Although he didn¡¯t understand what was happening, he didn¡¯t dare retort back to his father and cupped his hands in apology to Bai Yunfei with reluctance. ¡°This one was far too drunk yesterday and offended lord Bai. I beg for your forgiveness and am in your debt. If not for lord Bai¡¯s grace, I would have made a clown of myself. In order to convey my apologies and goodwill, I would like to arrange for a feast this afternoon.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Hearing such an inappropriate ¡®apology¡¯ Liu Kun¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together. Just as he was about to speak up to rebuke him again, Bai Yunfei waved his hands light-heartedly. ¡°Hehe, you are far too kind, master Liu. There¡¯s no need to go through such trouble.¡±


    ¡°Of course I must! This is how I need to express my sincerity. You would do me the honors and placate my guilt in accepting.¡± Liu Shun nodded his head ¡®vigorously¡¯. Inwardly, he thought, ¡°If you decline again, then I¡¯ll just say that¡¯s that then. But if you accept, then I¡¯ll ¡®try¡¯ my best. Father shouldn¡¯t be angry about that, would he?¡±


    But then just several seconds later, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°If master Liu is inviting me so passionately, I¡¯ll be imposing onto you then¡­.¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 144: The Goal

    Chapter 144: The Goal


    Almost as if Liu Shun thought he had heard wrong, he asked once again for clarification, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°It is hard to refuse such hospitality, so if young master Liu is so passionate in inviting me, then I won¡¯t be refusing it. Without discord, there is no concord. You are Tianming¡¯s friend as well, so if we all eat together, we will be able to become closer friends faster.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s attitude had made a complete change, making him seem extremely willing to eat a meal with him.


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Liu Shun was about to choke on his own words in a fit of depression. To himself, he thought, ¡°I want nothing to do with you. You said you¡¯d only be here for a few days before leaving, so what¡¯s the point of making friends now?¡±


    But he had already invited him before, and now Bai Yunfei had accepted. He couldn¡¯t exactly say, ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t want to invite you.¡± either. Right now, Liu Shun wanted to slap himself hard in the face twice. But instead, he managed to force out a smile, ¡°Yes, very well then. Thank you lord Bai for doing me this honor. Today afternoon we¡¯ll¡­.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that there is an especially grand restaurant in Gaoyi City?¡± Just before Liu Shun could offer a restaurant, Bai Yunfei had interjected first.


    ¡°Eh? Are you talking about ¡®Aroma Delicacy¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I believe that was the name of it. Why not eat there?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.well, very well. That will be no problem. I¡¯ll have the finest foods and drink prepared for lord Bai then¡­.¡± Liu Shun had been skeptical. Aroma Delicacy was indeed the finest restaurant in Gaoyi City and was also a restaurant where the finest foods were had, but that meant the price of it was very expensive as well. Did Bai Yunfei want to make the best out of the situation? Liu Shun didn¡¯t exactly know the answer to that, but the restaurant didn¡¯t really matter to him. He just wanted to deal with this current headache in a way that he would escape the reprimands of his father.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve a friend that came with me to Gaoyi City to sightsee. I hope young master Liu won¡¯t mind if I bring him along?¡±


    ¡°Of course, lord Bai¡¯s friend is also an honored guest of mine. He should be treated to this meal as well.¡±


    ¡°Tianming was troubled today to bring me here, would he be allowed to come as well?¡±


    ¡°Ye Tianming was never a problem to worry about, I¡¯ll be sure to let everyone eat their fill!¡± Liu Shun spoke, but inside his mind, he was ranting, ¡°How annoying can you get! How many people do you plan to bring with you to eat?¡±


    ¡°Haha, then I thank young master Liu for your hospitality. I¡¯ll be returning first to find my friend. We¡¯ll meet again at Aroma Delicacy then.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had looked quite pleased as he rose up to speak to Liu Kun, ¡°Lord Liu, then I¡¯ll be taking my leave. If lord Liu happens to see senior You in the future, please forward my thanks to him.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­yes yes! Take care then, lord Bai! If there is ever help that you need, you only need to ask!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After Tianming and Bai Yunfei left, Liu Shun had finally let out a sigh in relief. But when he turned around to see the strange expression on his face, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Father, what¡¯s wrong? I¡¯ve already invited them as guests to eat this lunch, was that the wrong thing to do?¡±


    ¡°No, no. You did well. This Bai Yunfei is someone we cannot afford to make enemies with. Don¡¯t let him be displeased with you. If lord You were to learn about this, then your older brother may experience difficulties.¡± Liu Kun shook his head with a grave expression.


    ¡°Lord You? That lord You! Ah! Don¡¯t tell me¡­.¡±


    ¡°Correct. It is the very same You Qingfeng that helped your older brother enter the Wood School. The head apprentice of the elder and a genius at his craft. You Qingfeng has even the chance to become the next elder of the Wood School.¡±


    ¡°Then this Bai fellow is¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes, lord You wrote a letter saying that should Bai Yunfei ever require anything, we are to offer up assistance to the best of our ability. From the letter, lord You holds Bai Yunfei in very high regards. But that isn¡¯t strange, this youth is an extremely talented figure as well and is without a doubt someone that would easily gain lord You¡¯s eye. We should do our best to do as lord You instructed, but¡­.ai! What he¡¯s asking for is a bit hard to do! Should our household even help him or not¡­.¡±


    ¡°Father, what are you saying? What was his request? I didn¡¯t see him say anything¡­.¡± Liu Shun asked in confusion.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t ask for anything, but his intentions are very clear to see!¡±


    ¡°Intensions? What intentions?¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡± Liu Kun stared at Liu Shun in confusion for a moment before shaking his head, ¡°He is currently living with the Ye, and today he had Ye Tianming bring him here. This is clearly telling us that he has a good relationship with the house of Ye. With how the situation is between the Ye and the Zhao, the Zhao has the support of the Beast Taming School. If nothing out of the ordinary happens, then the Ye will have to ultimately surrender to the Zhao. But with the arrival of this person, he changes everything! Although he¡¯s a Middle-stage Soul Sprite, he cannot hope to intimidate the Zhao. But as someone that managed to earn the eye of lord You, I cannot see him as any regular Soul Sprite then¡­.¡±


    Pausing for a brief moment, Liu Kun then continued, ¡°Furthermore, he mentioned the Aroma Delicacy. That too has a deeper meaning to it.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t he just want to eat a meal? What deeper meaning is there?¡±


    ¡°You¡­.idiot! Don¡¯t tell me you forgot who owns the Aroma Delicacy! It¡¯s the second son of the Zhao! The Zhao owns the Aroma Delicacy! If the third son of the Liu and the second son of the Ye were to eat a banquet at an establishment that is owned by the Zhao, what would the Zhao think?!¡±


    ¡°That Bai Yunfei. He¡¯s silently helping out the Ye while borrowing the power of the Liu to confuse the Zhao. At the same time, he¡¯s probing our reaction and attitude towards this¡­.¡±


    Liu Shun¡¯s eyes grew wide at that, ¡°Was there so many goals in a single meal? This Bai person is using us then? How arrogant! Why should we help him?! We might as well cancel the feast then!¡±


    ¡°We should respond, but how could we go back on our words?! The boy hadn¡¯t asked for anything, but then it was you that requested a banquet to be had to repay him! It was you that invited him to eat a meal! While it might do nothing to affect our relationship with Bai Yunfei, but to the Zhao, they¡¯ll see it as us trying to improve relationships with Bai Yunfei. With all that¡¯s done, the best that we can do is to keep calm and observe the situation.¡±


    ¡°Remember now, if during the meal¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Tianming had begun to inquire to Bai Yunfei about just how he had knocked Liu Shun unconscious. Bai Yunfei had hid nothing from him and simply told him what had happened yesterday, causing Tianming¡¯s eyes to widen wide open. ¡°Goddamn! Brother Liu was that bold?! Haha, how unlucky he was to come across brother Bai! If he was knocked out, that¡¯s his fault then. But still¡­.I wanted to see him take out his penis to take a piss right in front of everyone¡­.haha!¡±


    After traveling with Jing Mingfeng for a long enough time, even his catchphrases had managed to infect Tianming.


    ¡°But¡­.brother Bai, I know that you aren¡¯t the type to hold a grudge over this, so what was the point of accepting that meal? And the Aroma Delicacy is the territory of that fatass Zhao Liang, if something were to happen while the Ye and the Zhao are in such a delicate situation¡­.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just eating a meal and to allow our differences with the Liu to be resolved. Don¡¯t worry, if that fatass really doesn¡¯t know any better and tries to make trouble with us, we¡¯ll teach him a lesson.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke carelessly.


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Tianming nodded his head as if he understood and said nothing more.


    When Jing Mingfeng had heard about the afternoon meal, he had been very excited. From his expression, he had looked as if he was waiting for something great to happen. This had caused Tianming to be skeptical¨CWas a free meal like this really something to be that excited about?

 Chapter 145: Use This to Slap Him

    Chapter 145: Use This to Slap Him


    Later that afternoon, Tianming led Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng towards the center of the city where the Aroma Delicacy was.


    In the most luxurious room in the three-stories Aroma Delicacy, a veritable mountain of exotic delicacies were piled up on top of one another on the table. Four people were seated around the table as two young women stood off to the side with a pitcher in hand. Su Dong was standing quietly in the corner to the left as he watched the young charge of his ¡®push his cup for a drink and return with a bowl¡¯ with a very helpless expression.


    ¡°And the eighth cup! As lord Bai said, there cannot be concord without discord! It bears me great honor to be able to meet such a chivalrous person like lord Bai! Yes, in light of our recent meeting, let me toast you all one more time! Drink up as you will!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The corners to Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth twitched slightly as he gave Jing Mingfeng and Tianming a wry smile before drinking a cup.


    ¡°And the ninth cup! It too, is a great honor to meet lord Jing! Let me toast you all again! Drink up as you will!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to say by this point. The very moment this person had sat down, he polished off five drinks in ¡®punishment¡¯ for yesterday¡¯s crime. Originally thinking that this was just how it was done, Bai Yunfei paid no more attention to it and didn¡¯t bother to mention that there wasn¡¯t a need to repeat such a thing or to toast in meeting Jing Mingfeng.


    But by the time Liu Shun had drained his tenth cup, Bai Yunfei realized¨Cthis person was just finding an excuse to drink! Before the meal could even begin, he had already drained half the jar. But seeing how he was drinking in consideration to the guests, it was clear to see that he was ¡®restraining¡¯ his drinking¡­..


    ¡°Young master Liu, I¡¯ve heard that the crystal fish of Aroma Delicacy is a delectable dish. Why don¡¯t we eat first? In truth, I¡¯ve been wanting to eat here ever since I¡¯ve arrived in Gaoyi City.¡±


    Just as Liu Shun was about to drink his thirteenth cup, Bai Yunfei interjected in before he could have any more wine poured in. Giving a stare at the two others, Jing Mingfeng and Tianming rose their chopsticks up to speak up as well, ¡°Yea yea! Let¡¯s eat! I skipped breakfast so I¡¯m starving!¡±


    ¡°Uhhh¡­.¡± Liu Shun stared blankly, but then he put down the wine cup with a slightly resentful expression. But then when he realized just how over-the-top he had been, he raised his chopsticks up as well. ¡°Yes, then let us eat first. All of these foods are specialties of Aroma Delicacy; each one of them are extremely delicious. Despite his character, fatty Zhao has a palate that is far better than anyone else.¡±


    When Liu Shun wasn¡¯t drunk, his words and demeanor were fitting his status. His speech was concise and he wasn¡¯t cold to any single person in conversation, making the table talks quite pleasant. But every so often, he would try to find a reason to drink another cup, causing Bai Yunfei to feel both helpless and afraid that he would become a raving drunk again.


    Half an hour later, Liu Shun had finished off three jars of wine all by himself. But his expression was calm and his eyes were clear, indicating that he was clearly a drinker of high tolerance.


    Tianming and Liu Shun were good friends with one another and had began to talk about the ¡®great fun¡¯ Tianming had during his ¡®excursion¡¯ to the outside world. Jing Mingfeng was rather absent minded during the meal; every so often, he would glance to the doors of the room as if he was waiting for something¡­.


    And Bai Yunfei was looking only to the dishes on the plate. Every so often, he would say something, but it was clear to see that he came here to just enjoy a nice meal.


    Just as the meal came to a close, the sounds of footsteps could be heard approaching the door. Followed by the laughter of some sort of duck, the doors to the room was pushed open to allow for a meatball to move in.


    Oh. No, it was a person actually. This person was shy two meters tall and had a waist that was nearly the same length as he was tall. The neck of this person was nowhere to be seen on this perfectly spherical body. But the funniest thing about this person was how his combed hair looked like a big bottle gourd with four small limbs.Even Bai Yunfei had nearly spat out his food at the sight of this person.


    ¡°Haha! I only just heard of young master Liu and little brother Tianming welcoming my humble abode a few moments ago! Your presence brings light to this humble dwelling! But how unkind you are to not give Zhao Liang a message beforehand! I would have prepared a better welcoming for you two!¡±


    This fatty gourd¡­.no¡­this Zhao Liang was the one that was speaking with rough quacking sounds of a duck.


    Bai Yunfei, Liu Shun, and Su Dong who was in the corner had raised an eyebrow at his entrance. And even Tianming was slightly taken back. But the most unexpected reaction was the one of Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡°Fucking hell! You finally came out! After all of this waiting, I thought the flowers would wilt before you would come out! Hurry up and get to the fighting already then!¡¯ Jing mingfeng spoke out loud in joy as if a great play was about to start right in front of him. In his joy, he had slapped the table with a firm hand.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Zhao Liang came to a screeching halt as he turned his head several degrees to stare at Jing Mingfeng in what appeared to be astonishment with his small beady eyes.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know just how to react to Jing Mingfeng. ¡°There wasn¡¯t a point to being so anxious for this! He only just came out and you¡¯re shouting about fighting already¡­.¡± He thought to himself.


    ¡°Haha, my friend here drank a little too much. Please forgive him, young master Zhao. Pretend he didn¡¯t say a word.¡± Bai Yunfei turned to speak to Zhao Liang apologetically. In his mind, he was looking at what the rumors said to be the ¡®fatass¡¯. As expected from his expectations, this was a fatty of stupendous levels.


    ¡°Haha, fatty Zhao, brother Jing really did drink too much. He was only joking around with you, don¡¯t take offense to it please.¡± Liu Shun copied Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction and hurried to help.


    ¡°Oh yea! I¡¯m drunk! I was just speaking the lines to an opera I¡¯ve heard. Don¡¯t mind me, don¡¯t mind me at all¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng himself knew that he had slipped up in his excitement. Mimicking the belch of a drunken man, he fell onto the table and moved no more.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    In the midst of the silence, Zhao Liang¡¯s face seemed to have begun to twitch as if he was trying hard to quash the anger in him. Smiling, he spoke, ¡°Haha, this friend is quite interesting! Little brother Tianming, is this your friend?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, don¡¯t call me that as if you were my family. Since when was I your brother?¡± Tianming scowled in discontent.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯ll be good to call ourselves that. When I marry Ye Yan, you¡¯ll have to call me brother-in-law! It¡¯d do you well to get accustomed to that.¡± Zhao Liang laughed merrily.


    ¡°You¡­.you fatass! You¡¯re as fat as a pig and yet you want to marry my cousin? Don¡¯t get carried away!¡±


    An ominous glint flashed across his eyes as Zhao Liang smiled insincerely, ¡°She should be lucky that I took a liking to her! For now, she¡¯ll be my concubine, but when the Ye swears allegiance to the house of Zhao, I¡¯ll work her like a servant!¡±


    ¡°You¡­.you shameless hog swine! Your tongue doesn¡¯t like to hide I see, dreaming of swallowing even my Ye family, you¡¯re dreaming!¡±


    ¡°You only just came back from your excursion, so maybe you don¡¯t understand how Gaoyi City is like now? What fight can the Ye give us? You¡¯re in the final struggle. No matter how hard you try, it¡¯ll only delay the inevitable.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! Wait until my father becomes a Soul Ancestor, he¡¯ll show the Zhao what-to!¡±


    ¡°Soul Ancestor? You sure he¡¯s not going to die before that?¡±


    ¡°You¡­.¡±


    Because of his simple mind, Tianming had been brought to a boiling point with just a few words by Zhao Liang. While he was barking red from the squabble, Zhao Liang had a sinister look on his own face as he struck at the Ye. Their squabbles had gotten so heated that they practically forgot about Liu Shun and Bai Yunfei.


    Two bodyguards came up in front of Zhao Liang with malevolent eyes that seemed ready for a fight.


    ¡°Tianming, that¡¯s enough. There¡¯s no need to squabble.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke up in uninterest to stop this pointless bickering. With a shake of his right hand, he dropped an object into Tianming¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Use this to slap him¡­.¡±

 Chapter 146: Sending Everyone Flying With a Slap

    Chapter 146: Sending Everyone Flying With a Slap


    Bai Yunfei dropped an item onto Tianming¡¯s hands, ¡°Use this to slap him¡­.¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­..¡± Tianming looked as if he was doubting his eyes as he stared in mute shock at the item in his hands.


    ¡°Fucking hell! It¡¯s that!¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s voice had startled Tianming, causing him to nearly drop the item onto the ground.


    What else could be in his hand but the one-and-only red wall brick!


    Tianming looked at the brick first and then to Zhao Liang before then back to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Use this¡­.¡± He started, ¡°To slap him?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t you think he¡¯s an ugly one to look at? Just slap his head with it.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head.


    ¡°Yea! Tianming, don¡¯t be afraid! That brick in your hand isn¡¯t your ordinary brick. It¡¯s¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng thought for a moment as he tried his best to describe this ¡®unordinary¡¯ brick.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­..the brick that your brother Bai gave you! Just listen to me. This fatass came out for the express purpose of you using that brick to slap his face!¡±


    With the ¡®encouragement¡¯ of these two, Tianming didn¡¯t know what to think. But he had been motivated, and he didn¡¯t want to seem like a coward to Bai Yunfei or Jing Mingfeng either. With that resolution, he gave two hefty swings of the brick before giving a ¡®glare¡¯ at Zhao Liang to run at him.


    Liu Shun had a slight gleam in his eyes, but what he was thinking about couldn¡¯t exactly be pinpointed. He hadn¡¯t said a thing either, and Su Dong had only stared pensively from his corner in the room as well.


    Zhao Liang had recovered from the sight of this brick by the time of Tianming¡¯s charge. Seeing how Tianming was planning to hit him with a simple brick, Zhao Liang¡¯s face paled in fury, ¡°Hmph! How utterly mystifying! You dare try to hurt me on my own territory! You don¡¯t see the house of Zhao as anyone in your eyes, do you! Young master Liu! Since this is between me and him, don¡¯t blame me for ignoring you! Men! Teach him a lesson!¡±


    The two guards by his side immediately moved into action to rush against Tianming.


    As a Soul Personage, Tianming knew that these two men were also Soul Personage level soul cultivators that could beat him with no problem. Unless the two behind Tianming were to fight, he himself would have to plan this fight out.


    Just a few steps before the three would meet, the person on Tianming¡¯s right reached out to grab the the brick in Tianming¡¯s right hand while the person on the left reached out to grab Tianming on the left shoulder to try and put him in submission.


    The corners to Tianming¡¯s lips twitched as a gleam entered his eyes. For a brief moment, his body came to a stop before then flickering into motion once again. Down below, his feet had done a series of tricky footwork to smoothly maneuver past the person on his left.


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow; Tianming had clearly just used a soul technique. Furthermore, he had seen Jing Mingfeng use this particular one before¨Cah. Jing Mingfeng had taught Tianming even that.


    Despite Tianming not being too accustomed to using that soul technique, his opponents weren¡¯t too strong and so their attempts to grab onto him had failed as Tianming slipped past.


    With the brick raised up, Tianming gave a resounding slap with it onto the other person¡¯s head.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    The man stumbled back two steps with his teeth gritted together. As it would look, he seemed to be in a decent amount of pain.


    But before he could even recover from his shock, Tianming was already approaching him with a second blow.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    This time, the outstretched brick had slapped him on the right shoulder. But the effect of this second blow was incomparably different to the first one. All that could be seen was the fact that this person was suddenly sent flying through the paper screen walls and onwards without stopping.


    The other person raised his fist up to punch Tianming¡¯s head, but Tianming had been even faster and swung the brick around to hit the man on the waist. This person was even more unfortunate than his partner and had the hurling effect of the brick activated at once. Right as a look of astonishment appeared on his face, he was sent hurling through the room. And what was even more unfortunate was the fact that he had broken through the window and out of the building¡­.


    Plenty of people could be heard screaming in shock, and even the people inside the building were staring in dumbfounded shock. Of course, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng were not.


    Jing Mingfeng was instead staring with bright eyes as he thought out loud to himself, ¡°This is it! This is it!¡±


    Even Tianming had been dazed in this short moment of time. But it was then with a happy smile that he turned towards Zhao Liang and rushed at him before the first person he had hit would be able to recover.


    Zhao Liang had been startled. His two bodyguards had been sent flying from some sort of mysterious power¨Csomething that he was not expecting at all. As if he could see some sort of sinister red glimmer in the brick in Tianming¡¯s hand, Zhao Liang¡¯s fear grew bigger and bigger as he took several fearful steps backwards. ¡°Hold-hold on! I was just joking with you, don¡¯t be like th-¡±


    Tianming hadn¡¯t bothered to slow down enough to let Zhao Liang finish his speech. With a flash, he arrived right in front of him and arced the brick so that it would slam into his horrified face.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    The brick had practically embedded itself half an inch into the fatty¡¯s face before he fell back from the blow. Yet, the hurling effect had not been triggered.


    ¡°Fi-fird uncer, za-zave me¡­..¡± The fatty¡¯s nose had been smashed in from the brick, and parts of his teeth had dropped out as he tried to speak. What he had really tried to say was ¡°Third uncle, save me.¡±


    But it was unclear whether or not this third uncle of his would have been able to hear this cry for help, as there was no movement from beyond the door. And by the time he said that, Tianming had already slapped him on the forehead with the brick again.


    He was supposed to keel over, but because of the horizontal slap that had triggered the hurling effect, he had instead been sent flying over to the side and slammed into a wall. But then as if he was a ping pong ball, he rebounded against it and flew towards Tianming as if to squash him¨Cthis was the counterattack of the fatty!


    Brandishing the brick once more, Tianming slapped the fatty once more. Whether it was because Tianming had excellent luck or that Zhao Liang¡¯s luck had run out, but the hurling effect was activated once more, causing Zhao Liang to go flying away like a ping pong ball again. Striking the door, he careened through them and out onto the corridors before a single fist grabbed hold of him in midair and gently placed him down.


    A black-robed man wearing martial robes and had a hook nose came walking in. Taking a look at the caved in nose and the badly bruised face of Zhao Liang, his face darkened. This was the man that Zhao Liang had cried out earlier to save him. Zhao Liang¡¯s third uncle¨CZhao Ye. A soul cultivator at the level of a Middle-stage Soul Sprite.


    Tianming had been just about to rush forward when he was suddenly pulled back. Turning his head to look, he came to the startling discovery that Bai Yunfei had suddenly appeared right behind him.


    Taking the brick from Tianming, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s my turn then.¡±


    ¡°Wha? What do you mean by that¡­.¡± Tianming was surprised, but when he saw Zhao Ye right behind Zhao Liang, he grew frightened. ¡°Crap! That¡¯s Zhao Liang¡¯s third uncle! He¡¯s a Middle-stage Soul Sprite! Brother Bai, we¡¯re¡­.¡±


    ¡°Brat! You dare humiliate the scion of my family! You are over the top! I¡¯m going to teach you a lesson!¡± Zhao Ye¡¯s eyes had a furious glare to them as he howled in anger. His entire body lit up with light before his foot came stomping down onto the ground to charge at Tianming.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    His entrance had been quick, but his departure had been even faster.


    Zhao Ye hadn¡¯t even taken a single step before he found himself flying away at an even faster speed. Smashing against the corridor walls, he landed right beside where he had put Zhao Liang. But he did not move¨Che had been knocked unconscious!


    Bai Yunfei tossed the brick up into the air repeatedly, allowing it to glint red in the light as he turned to look at Tianming, ¡°What were you saying just now?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

 Chapter 147: A Meeting

    Chapter 147: A Meeting


    It was eerily quiet. Every single person in the room could only stare at Bai Yunfei in shock and were unable to comprehend the situation.


    The third uncle of the Zhao was a Middle-stage Soul Sprite. But not even a minute since he was introduced and barely a sentence after he spoke, he had been utterly mowed down by Bai Yunfei¡­.


    The two women who had been pouring the pitchers had lost all resemblance of color in their faces as they shivered with fright in their corners. Liu Shun had been trying to think of the best way to handle this situation before and was now at a loss. His mouth was wide open, his face was despondent, and everything was going beyond of his expectations. Su Dong had only made it two steps beyond from his own corner as he tried to reach Liu Shun¡¯s side, but right now, his right foot was still hanging the air in shock. Tianming was staring at the spot where Zhao Ye was¨Cit looked as if his brain had suffered a malfunction and shut down. Jing Mingfeng himself was faring slightly better than the others, but even he could barely control the shock he felt in his mind. He knew that Bai Yunfei was strong and had a good chance of winning, but he hadn¡¯t expected this course of events! A single soul cultivator of the same level as him was struck down in a single move!


    ¡°Then does this mean the first time we met and he slapped me here and there so many times, he was¡­.holding back?¡± Jing Mingfeng shook his head helplessly. He knew that he didn¡¯t understand Bai Yunfei entirely, but just how many more secrets Bai Yunfei had, Jing Mingfeng himself didn¡¯t know¡­..


    Bai Yunfei stored away the brick without a change in stride, but there had been a pleased feeling to him. This was his strength. In the past, he had been faced with people that were far stronger than he was. So he had gained a sense of being a loser. But with the recent battle these days, those battles had confirmed that he was indeed strong¨Che had a soul technique that people could only dream of, countless of precious soul items, and the utterly mysterious and magical Upgrade Technique!


    It could be said that with just his upgrade accessories increasing his stats, his strength was already far beyond any soul cultivator of the same level of him. With the attack power boosted by the upgrades, he could activate effects that people couldn¡¯t possibly defend against. As thus, he could easily defeat soul cultivators of the same level as him. Soul Ancestors, he had not fought to the death before, but nothing could be guaranteed yet.


    Sweeping his eyes across the gathered crowd, Bai Yunfei was pleased at everyone¡¯s reactions and coughed. With a slap of Tianming¡¯s shoulder, he spoke, ¡°How was it? This fatass was slapped silly by you, how do you feel now?¡±


    Snapping back to awareness, Tianming looked at the uncle and nephew collapsed in the corridor and then back to Bai Yunfei with swiveling eyes. ¡°Hehe, it felt great! I didn¡¯t think that using a brick to slap someone would feel so refreshing¡­.¡±


    As he spoke, he moved his right hand in a similar way to Bai Yunfei when he wielded the brick as if the brick was still in his hand.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go then. If their family comes here to stop us, leaving won¡¯t be easy then.¡±


    He gave a look to Jing Mingfeng briefly before turning to Liu Shun with a smile. ¡°Young master Liu, I¡¯m very sorry about this, but we¡¯ll have to end things here. We¡¯ll be leaving first, I hope that we can find another day to visit your family.¡±


    ¡°Wha? Oh, ok-okay¡­.¡± Liu Shun nodded his head subconsciously.


    It was only after the three of them left that Liu Shun regained his wits. Looking at the scenario, he had no idea what to do¨Chis father hadn¡¯t told him what to do in a situation like this!


    ¡°Young master, it would be unwise for us to stay here any longer. If men from the Zhao come or if Zhao Ye wakes up, then it¡¯ll spell trouble¡­.¡± Su Dong moved next to Liu Shun with a warning.


    ¡°Oh, yes yes. We¡¯ll leave at once then and report to father to make a decision.¡± Light re-entered his eyes as Liu Shun and Su Dong quickly moved to exit the Aroma Delicacy.


    On the way back to the Ye, Tianming was happily walking right by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side as they talked about the battle they had just had.


    ¡°Haha, did you pay attention to how that fatass looked like? His entire face was slapped smooth by me, haha! That was satisfying! So satisfying!¡± Tianming crowed. ¡°I wished my cousin saw that, this was for her. I¡¯ll have to tell her when we get back, she¡¯ll be so happy to hear it!¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, you¡¯ve already said that for the past three streets. We know how much you hate that fatty, so there¡¯s no need to repeat it again. Wait until you get home and you can explain it to your cousin as slow as you¡¯d like.


    ¡°Hehe. Ah, brother Bai, you really are incredible! That uncle of Zhao Liang was a soul cultivator who specialized in defense thanks to his affinity with earth! But you were able to defeat in a single move even though you were also a Middle-stage Soul Sprite¡­..and when you use that brick, you¡¯re far cooler than when I use it!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei scratched at the back of his head as he tried to think of what to say. ¡°What¡¯s so cool about throwing a brick around. That¡¯s not how you compliment someone.¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­.¡± Tianming shrugged his shoulders before turning to Jing Mingfeng. Almost as if he realized that he was kissing up to Bai Yunfei too much, he hurried to pay attention to Jing Mingfeng, ¡°Ah! Brother Jing! When we get back, let me introduce my cousin to you. Let me tell you, she¡¯s awfully pretty¡­.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry as he scolded Tianming, ¡°Kid, weren¡¯t you venting your anger because of the fact your cousin was being betrothed? And now you¡¯re trying to sell her off to me¡­.¡±


    ¡°Nooo, of course not! I was only just concerned of her well being in the future! But if you were to marry her instead¡­.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The three continued to laugh and joke around as they slowly traveled back to Tianming¡¯s house. It was almost as if they had completely forgotten about what they did to the Zhao family.


    On the way back, Bai Yunfei had actually seen Tianming secretly take a brick from a broken down wall when he thought no one was looking¡­.


    Back at the Liu when Liu Kun had heard about what had happened from Su Dong, he had been breathless. It had been with doubt that he asked, ¡°Bai Yunfei had really just used one move? Are you sure Zhao Ye didn¡¯t intentionally give up the fight?¡±


    Su Dong nodded his head, ¡°I¡¯m sure of it. Although I don¡¯t know what Zhao Ye was planning, he really was about to use his entire strength right as he appeared. But before he could even use it, he was knocked unconscious by that brick of Bai Yunfei¡­.¡±


    ¡°A brick¡­.¡± Liu Kun bit his lips, ¡°Could that be a high-grade soul item?¡±


    Thinking for a moment, Su Dong replied, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be. I didn¡¯t sense soulforce from it. At the very most, it should be an incomplete soul item¡­..but what he used to move straight to Zhao Ye was definitely a soul technique! And it¡¯s an unbelievably high one too!¡±


    If he¡¯s able to defeat a soul cultivator of the same level of him so easily, then just who is this Bai Yunfei¡­.¡± Liu Kun questioned. ¡°I first thought he wanted to borrow the power of the Liu and demonstrate us to the Zhao at the Aroma delicacy, but I didn¡¯t realize that he¡¯d beat down the uncle and nephew. If that¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be, then the Liu will have to make our stand sooner or later then¡­.¡±


    A thought occurred to Su Dong for a brief moment, causing him to hesitate for a while before saying, ¡°My lord, the men that the Beast Taming School sent to the Zhao family went out several days ago in two groups. I¡¯m not sure of what their goals are, but not a single one of them returned. And on the same night, Tianming came back home. As things stand¡­.¡±


    ¡°I know that. They all disappeared. Even the caretaker Zhao Chuan is gone as well. All that¡¯s left is the Soul Ancestor from the Beast Taming School. I wonder how he¡¯ll take this news then¡­.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll find out by tonight or late tomorrow. Pay attention to the two houses. Whether it¡¯s to stand aside or intervene, I want to make my decision with all the facts on the table!¡±


    At that moment in front of the doors to the Zhao residence.


    A single tall but handsome man with long hair could be seen. He wore blue robes, and when he raised his youthful head, an aura of power could be seen. On his face was a nostalgic expression.


    ¡°Ah¡­.it¡¯s been ten years, but it feels as if nothing has changed¡­¡±

 Chapter 148: Zhao Xiluo

    Chapter 148: Zhao Xiluo


    In the halls of the Zhao residence.


    There had been a gloomy expression on the face of the head of the Zhao as he sat on his chair. He was clearly in an angered state, and by his side, Li Chen of the Beast Taming School was still stroking at the three-tailed cat of his. But only, his eyebrows were creased together as if he was in heavy thought.


    Beneath them, the even more unsightly Zhao Ye sat in a small chair with the sunken Zhao Liang next to them. Rolls of bandages had been wrapped around his face so that only his eyes could be seen. Not a single feature of his face outside of that could be seen, causing him to look even more like a calabash.


    In addition, there were also two Early-stage Soul Sprites.


    This was the combined strength of the house of Zhao. A Late-stage Soul Sprite, a Middle-stage Soul Sprite, two Early-stage Soul Sprites, and previously another Middle-stage Soul Sprite that was the caretaker Zhao. But because of his disappearance (Death)¨Cthis strength right now was insignificant to Li Chen. But in Gaoyi City where the lord of the city was a Saint Ancestor, this was a fearsome force.


    ¡°I had you two go forth to spy on the scene! I wanted you to see just why the Ye brat would suddenly be so close with the Liu that they would have a meal and then find an excuse to teach the brat a lesson! You were meant to make the Ye angry and see what the Liu would do. But instead, you were beaten so badly that they weren¡¯t even touched! Tell me, what is the meaning of this!¡±


    Zhao Xing slammed his fist onto the table as he interrogated Zhao Ye.


    Zhao Ye¡¯s face grew flushed with color as he tried to think of something to say. ¡°That person by the Ye brat, he¡¯s an expert¡­¡±


    ¡°Expert? How strong of an expert?¡±


    ¡°Soul Sprite¡­.Middle-stage Soul Sprite¡­.¡±


    ¡°The same as you, so why in the world did you get knocked unconscious as soon as you made your appearance!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Zhao Ye was at a loss for words. Struggling to find a way to explain himself, he spoke, ¡°His movements were far too fast. Furthermore, the weapon in his hand was bizarre! I couldn¡¯t even react to his surprise attack and was knocked out because of that¡­.¡±


    ¡°An excuse! Then let me ask you, what weapon was he using?¡±


    ¡°It¡­.it was a br-brick¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    For a while, the entire hall had been silent. Even Li Chen¡¯s hand had paused mid-stroke while Zhao Xing¡¯s nose had twitched itself into a different direction in anger. ¡°What did you say!¡±


    Bitterly, Zhao Ye spoke, ¡°It¡¯s true. It really was a brick.¡±


    ¡°Was it some sort of high-grade soul item?¡±


    ¡°It-it might be an incomplete soul item¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yo-you! You¡­.¡± Zhao Xing pointed his finger angrily at Zhao Ye. For a good while, he could only say ¡®you¡¯ to him in his anger.


    ¡°Whatever. He¡¯s merely a brat who gets by by relying on a soul item and soul technique. He isn¡¯t of the Ye, so there¡¯s no need to pay attention to him.¡± Li Chen waved his hand so that he could continue to speak. ¡°It¡¯s not as if we can¡¯t use this situation to our own advantage. Since you¡¯re so afraid of the Liu intervening, then you may as well learn from this interaction and condemn the Ye! I¡¯ll go with you and subjugate them. That¡¯ll count as fulfilling our promise to you.


    ¡°Bah! In the face of indomitable might, resistance is futile. If the Ye wish to protect themselves, they¡¯ll submit to you! With me acting as the representative of the Beast Taming School, what have you to be worried about?¡±


    ¡°But, attendant Li. Isn¡¯t this rushing things a little too quickly¡­.¡± Zhao Xing spoke in hesitation after thinking about it.


    One of Li Chen¡¯s eyebrows twitched, ¡°I¡¯ve more important matters to take care of rather than waste time squabbling around here!¡±


    Li Chen had grown more and more fidgety in the past two days. He simply had no desire to get any more involved in this conflict between two small families. He thought that he would have been done a long while ago and would be able to check up to see just what happened with Wu Sen and the others.


    Unable to talk back to him, Zhao Xing replied, ¡°Ye-yes! Attendant Li¡¯s work is extremely important. We¡¯ll head to the Ye and force them to submit to the house of Zhao then!¡±


    ¡°Yes. Worry not then. The promises I make with you will definitely be fulfilled. The Ye will be subjugated, and we will later send you five Fifth-class soulbeasts. We will then support you until you gain the power to become a Soul Ancestor. But after that, it¡¯ll be up to you to subjugate the Ye. In turn, you will submit to the Beast Taming School, we will not treat you badly.¡±


    Excitedly, Zhao Xing nodded his head and spoke with a quavering voice, ¡°Ye-yes, my house of Zhao¡­.¡±


    ¡°Who says the house of Zhao will submit to the Beast Taming School? I don¡¯t agree to this!¡±


    Just at that moment, a loud bark made itself known in the hall, causing everyone to jump. Li Chen himself had looked up towards the entrance while the cat in his hands had let out a slight shout. Jumping to its feet, the cat stared spitefully at the newcomer with its hair standing on its end.


    At his declaration, the owner of the voice came striding into the hall. It was the blue-robed young man with his hands behind his back.


    Surveying the area around him, the youth had a nostalgic look on his face. Looking to the already surprised Zhao Xing standing up front, his next words surprised everyone else next.


    ¡°Father, I¡¯ve returned.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re¡­.you¡¯re¡­.¡± Zhao Xing was stunned. Staring at the smiling youth with confusion, he was then hit with a sudden realization. As his body shook, his voice quavered, ¡°You¡¯re, you¡¯re Xiluo!¡±


    The youth had looked rather moved by the happy face of Zhao Xing and nodded his head, ¡°It¡¯s me, father. I¡¯ve return home. Your child was an unruly one. For ten years, father, I¡¯ve let you worry about your unfilial child¡­.¡±


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re home, all is well then¡­.¡± Zhao Xing was no longer as dignified as a lord of a household should be. He had a lovingly warm expression that was surely a hardly seen one as he regarded his son. ¡°After you left ten years ago, do you know how much your mother was worried about you? Ten years without news, we thought that something happened to you¡­.But everything¡¯s okay, you¡¯re home now. We¡¯re a family once again¡­.¡±


    Still smiling, the young man replied, ¡°I¡¯m back. I won¡¯t let you worry anymore. Furthermore, I¡¯ll let make sure the house of Zhao will make it out of this tiny city and become one of the best houses in the entire Beiyan province!¡±


    ¡°Ha! How bold! Brat, from what I heard just now, you seem to be seeing my Beast Taming School as something insignificant. How brassy! Just who are you!¡± A sinister voice broke the warm atmosphere between the prodigal son and the father as Li Chen interrupted them.


    Stopping his father from saying anything more with a wave of his hand, the youth stared defiantly back at him. ¡°Zhao Xiluo of the Water School!¡±


    As this unpredictable development was going on in the household of the Zhao, something equally unexpected was happening over at the Ye.


    In the northern courtyards of the Ye, Bai Yunfei was staring roughly two meters up into the air where the thunderbird was flying. As it crackled with purple lightning, Bai Yunfei had a rather confused look on his face.


    ¡°Whats¡­.what¡¯s going on here¡­.¡±

 Chapter 149: Soul Contrac

    Chapter 149: Soul Contract


    When Bai Yunfei returned to the Ye, he had returned promptly to his room and was prepared to think about the next step in dealing with the Zhao¨Che was determined to help them overcome this moment of crisis wholeheartedly, but he had to do so without any room for mistake. Otherwise, the Ye would be harmed in the process.


    ¡°If I can¡¯t break apart this stalemate, then the Ye will never get over this crisis. Right now the Liu were pulled into this matter, but although they haven¡¯t offered any help so far, the Zhao will still feel quite troubled by this move. My display of strength should be more than enough to cause some sort of intimidation effect, but that¡¯ll only stall for time. If I can have the Liu and the Ye unite and have the Wood School intervene, then this problem is as good as solved. However, there¡¯s a chance that the Zhao will refuse to back down and will try to try and subjugate the Ye as soon as possible. With the Beast Taming School acting as their support, even a Soul Ancestor would be enough to bring the Ye down a notch.


    ¡°But even if the Zhao moves to do that, it¡¯ll be within my expectations. If worst comes to worst, I¡¯ll have to use senior You¡¯s influence to ask for help from the Liu. I don¡¯t want to stay in Gaoyi City for too long, so the sooner this is resolved, the better¡­.If a battle is really needed, then I wonder if my strength would be enough to do battle with a Soul Ancestor. With my killing moves the Ninefold Thrust and the Flame Winged Daggers, a Soul Exalt would be able to easily overcome those. But a Soul Sprite should meet their match against me. If I fight against a Soul Ancestor, I¡¯ll need to be able to test their strength to see how well I can do.¡±


    Battling against a beast tamer from the Beast Taming School was essentially battling against a soulbeast itself. A soulbeast without rationale nor fear. One would have to avoid the soulbeast to strike at the tamer. This logic was something that everyone knew as common sense, but it was not an easy thing to accomplish. The Beast Taming School did not become one of the strongest schools in the world for no reason after all. A true expert beast tamer could protect themselves extraordinarily well with their soulbeast puppets being controlled as easily as they would their arms. Without defeating their soulbeasts first, defeating the tamer would be extremely difficult.


    Out of all the strongest beast tamers he had fought, the strongest one had been a Late-stage Soul Sprite at the very strongest. He had been able to go through them all like a hot knife through butter with the stat-increasing equipment he had, but if he were to go against a true expert, victory would not be as easy.


    ¡°Soulbeasts¡­.I¡¯ve only seen a few of them myself, and the only ¡®actual¡¯ soulbeasts were Xiao Tang and Xiao Bai. The rest were all puppets¡­.The Beast Taming School really is a disgusting school. Brother Hong Yin said that the people of that school should just go and die. I don¡¯t really have any actual grudges with them, but those beast tamers I killed before¨CI don¡¯t feel sorry. I might have been left with no other options, but still¡­.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve changed¡­.but since when? Did I change when I was being chased out of the Beiyan province? Or when being chased by the Glacial School? Was it with the destruction of the Blackwood Stronghold? Or was it when uncle Wu died for my sake? Maybe even earlier?¡± For seemingly no reason, Bai Yunfei had immediately back to half a year before he received the Upgrade technique and became a soul cultivator. It had been that moment that kicked off the most complicated part of his nineteen years of living.


    But Bai Yunfei had not regretted a single action that he had done. Compared to the muddleheaded struggle for survival from before, he was truly living in every sense of the word now.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what changed or if I changed. As long as I keep my convictions! Uncle said to have a ¡®clear conscience¡¯, and mother said to ¡®live freely¡¯. This is my conviction!¡±


    With his mind in a buzz, Bai Yunfei felt at the broken pendant to help clear aways his thoughts and open his eyes in determination.


    After another moment of consideration, Bai Yunfei took out the space ring that contained all of the soulbeast puppets he had taken from the beast tamers. Using his soul sense, he began to inspect the soulbeasts inside one by one. ¡°When will I be able to have my own soulbeast partner? When I get enough strength¡­.I have to go to the soulbeast forest!¡±


    ¡°Eh? This is¡­.¡± When his hand had touched the space ring holding the Thunderbird, he had been startled¨Cthat was because he was beginning to sense a response of soulforce from within! A soulbeast puppet of a beast tamer would only give off a response when the beast tamer ordered it. But the owner of the Thunderbird had died a long time ago, meaning that¡­.


    Giving it a detailed look, Bai Yunfei the seemingly sleeping Thunderbird was just slightly giving off a weakened pulse of soulforce. With the following of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense, the soulforce of the Thunderbird had fluctuated a slight amount as if it was responding to Bai Yunfei.


    Running out of his room, Bai Yunfei ran out to the open enclosure of the courtyard and gave the space ring a single shake. With a flash of purple light, the Thunderbird appeared right in front of him.


    There had been a stronger amount of soulforce than previously sensed. Since he was even closer to it know, Bai Yunfei had actually felt a suffocating pressure¨Can Early-stage Fifth-class Thunderbird was on the same level of an Early-stage Soul Ancestor.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Eh? Its eyes¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei stared suspiciously at the Thunderbird for a brief moment before coming to the realization that the eyes of the Thunderbird were a faint purple color!


    Although it was expressionless and had not a single emotion to be felt, the Thunderbird looked as if it was in a state of ¡®imbecility¡¯.


    ¡°But how? The soulbeast of a beast tamer should have crimson eyes and be more like a wooden statue, shouldn¡¯t they?¡± Bai Yunfei thought with furrowed eyebrows. Still skeptical, he shook his hand twice to bring out the other two soulbeasts¨Cand as he expected¨Cthey were both crimson-eyed.


    ¡°So what caused this abnormality? Perhaps¡­¡± Bai Yunfei tried to remember what made this soulbeast in particular so special. Aside from the fact that it was a higher grade soulbeast, there was also a¡­.¡°¡¯self-detonation¡¯? Was it because of that time it nearly self-destructed?¡± Bai Yunfei questioned. Because of the frantic nature of the time, Bai Yunfei could only remember that the energy within the Thunderbird at the time had been berserk. Other than that, he hadn¡¯t really paid attention to any other attractive force or soulforce that could cause a change. There hadn¡¯t been anything else he found during his cleaning up of the battlefield, and even up to now, there was nothing.


    Circling around the Thunderbird several times, Bai Yunfei held his hand out to prod it. From there, he couldn¡¯t sense any reaction of soulforce or any other peculiarities that would peg it as different from the other soulbeast puppets. This had caused Bai Yunfei, who had been expecting that something else would happen to feel rather disappointed.


    But just as he was about to call this experiment a failure and pack away the Thunderbird, something else had happened¨Che couldn¡¯t call it back into the space ring!


    It had clearly been in the space ring before. But right now, he was unable to recall it. This had caused Bai Yunfei to be astonished. Trying several times more without success, Bai Yunfei look at the ring and the Thunderbird blankly.


    ¡°Really¡­what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Thinking for a moment, Bai Yunfei placed both hands onto the body of the Thunderbird and probed inside with his soulsense.


    Just a few minutes later, the previously quiet courtyard had immediately erupted with two tremendous bursts of soulforce. One had been red, the other had been purple in color as it enveloped both Thunderbird and Bai Yunfei in a mixture of color and energy.


    The doors to the left of the courtyard blew open as Jing Mingfeng came charging out. Sweeping his eyes around, they quickly landed upon the middle where the scene was taking place, causing him to pause in amazement.


    ¡°That¡¯s a¡­a soul contract!¡±

 Chapter 150: Give Up

    Chapter 150: Give Up


    When Bai Yunfei had sent his soulforce into the body of the Thunderbird, something totally unexpected had happened.


    He hadn¡¯t even the time to inspect the inner body of the Thunderbird before the soulforce had been accepted into the body. It had been a strange effect, and it felt as if the Thunderbird had taken to the soulforce as if it were a lost child that had seen a friendly stranger and rushed to get close to them instinctively.


    With Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength, he was far from a level of strength where he could exchange soulforce like this. But because he was extremely close to the Thunderbird and because of the fact that it had been ¡®allowed¡¯ by the bird, this scan had been successful and his soulforce had ¡®rushed¡¯ into it.


    In this startling moment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s first thought hadn¡¯t been to pull out right away in terror. It was because of the fact that he couldn¡¯t sense any malice at all. To be even more accurate, he didn¡¯t feel any ¡®emotions¡¯ at all. The Thunderbird had only allowed his soulforce through it without taking any further action.


    Amidst the chaotic purple light, Bai Yunfei could ¡®see¡¯ an irregular shaped purple crystal that was emitting an equally purple light off into the surrounding area as it rotated around itself.


    There had been a series of complicated-looking lines and markings around the crystal, and upon closer investigation; they were in fact writing! But this sealscript writing had looked a little ¡®worn¡¯, and some of the markings had faded so much that only half of it remained even. Yet, despite the worn down state of the sealscript, it did not seem to completely impact the structural design of the seal. It was more like the actual seal itself was starting to fade away and resume back to its original state¡­..


    When his soulforce drew closer to the seal, the soulsense of the Thunderbird around it had given off its first fluctuation of emotion; it seemed as if it was growing slightly nervous.


    Stunned by this revelation, Bai Yunfei realized that this seal pattern had to correlate with the changes of the Thunderbird itself. But it was only a guess and not something he could confirm himself.


    He had once heard from Hong Yin before that the beast tamers of the Beast Taming School would inflict a slave seal onto the soulbeasts. This slave seal was mysterious upon mysterious and nothing was really known about it. After the slave seal was inscribed, even the most weakest of soulbeasts would have their conscious and soul possibly erased by the seal. From that moment henceforth, they were completely under the whim of their master. Even the act of eating and drinking required the command of their master in order to be done. With the soulbeast in such a state, even if their own master were to try and probe in with their soulsense, there would be no response. If any single person outside of their master were to forcibly intrude into the soulbeast¡¯s soul, then it would lead to the complete collapse of the seal, and from there, self-detonation of the soulbeast would happen.


    But there was clearly a stark contrast with what he had been told and with this situation Bai Yunfei had on hand. Not only was the soul of the Thunderbird not sealed, it had put up no guard at all for him. Bai Yunfei had been able to enter easily and without any response from the slave seal.


    In this moment of pondering, Bai Yunfei could then sense yet another change in the soulsense of the Thunderbird. It was clearly urging Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense towards the slave seal!


    Despite his surprise, Bai Yunfei had immediately tried to communicate with his soulsense. But like before, there had been no response. This had to be a natural response from the body of the Thunderbird instead.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei ¡®turned¡¯ his eyes to look at the slave seal to think while carefully extending with his soulsense.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    In his mind, Bai Yunfei could feel an explosion go off as soon as the soulsense made contact with the slave seal. A look of disappointment had flashed across his face for a fleeting moment as he snapped to awareness. But to his discovery, his soulforce was flowing into the Thunderbird¡¯s body in an unending flow as if there was some sort of magnet that attracted it to the bird. As it flowed into the Thunderbird, all of the energy had moved towards the already halted slave seal and directly into the purple crystal.


    ¡°Bzzzzz¡­..¡± He didn¡¯t know if it was just his imagination or not, but Bai Yunfei had clearly heard the crystal slowly buzz and hum. Upon closer investigation, he could see a rich amount of soulforce come spilling out from it and encompass his own soulforce to circle around the crystal.


    Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s dazed eyes, practically half of his soulforce had been ¡®absorbed¡¯ into the Thunderbird¡¯s body. It had been like a strand of his soul had been taken from his body and was being urged to go towards the degraded slave seal. To his befuddlement, the already worn down seals were starting to break down even more and more! The crimson coloration from its eyes was fading away, and the seal markings were slowly dissolving into nothing to leave behind an even more simplistic version of the seal. But during the times the crimson coloration of its eyes came back, the seal markings did as well, making it look as if it were new.


    At the same time, Bai Yunfei was slowly coming to the realization that when his soulforce went even deeper in the Thunderbird, a seal matrix relatively similar to the old one had started to form slowly¡­.


    ¡°This is¡­.this is a soul contract!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had came to a swift conclusion¨Cin this current moment, the Thunderbird was trying to form a soul contract with it!


    As long as the two consented, then a soul seal would be formed onto their souls. This Thunderbird would then become the soulbeast partner of Bai Yunfei, and from then on, they would share harmony and discord with one another!


    Bai Yunfei had dreamt of having a soulbeast partner for himself. So with this opportunity prompted right in front of him, wouldn¡¯t he be happy to accept it with both hands?


    The answer was¡­.no!


    Because of Hong Yin¡¯s influence, Bai Yunfei saw a soulbeast partner as something extremely important. How could he form a soul contract with a soulbeast he knew nothing about from the Beast Taming School that enslaved it? Although with all things considered as a soul cultivator, this was akin to the saying ¡®being tossed a bone from the heavens¡¯. But still, this was not what Bai Yunfei wanted.


    ¡°Sorry, but the soulbeast partner I want isn¡¯t you. This soul contract¨CI¡¯ll have to decline!¡±


    When the Thunderbird had happily asked to form a soul contract with Bai Yunfei, he had immediately cut off the flow of soulsense and closed his eyes. Kicking off the ground, he jumped backwards away from the Thunderbird. And from there, the red and purple light receded and plit away.


    Jing Mingfeng had already charged out from his room by that time and had been privy to the sight of the amalgamation of red and purple soulforces between the two. Straight away, he charged towards Bai Yunfei¨CBai Yunfei and that Thunderbird were forming a soul contract!


    ¡°But¡­but how! That Thunderbird was clearly a soulbeast puppet that the Beast Taming School enslaved! Soulbeast puppets! How in the world did ol¡¯Bai manage to form a soul contract with one! What is going on!¡±


    He had been thoroughly shocked, but he couldn¡¯t do anything to stop them either. Just as he was frantically thinking of what to do, even more frantic footsteps could be heard rushing into the courtyard¨Cit was Ye Ting, Ye Quan and Ye Tianwen. In a flash, the three of them arrived by Jing Mingfeng¡¯s side while Tianming caught up to them later with gasping breaths at the door¨Che had been weaker than them, so it was inevitable that he was slower as well.


    Tianming had been discussing with Ye Ting and the others about what had happened in the Aroma Delicacy moments before this had happened and had been able to sense the explosion of soulforce the moment it happened. The four of them had all been startled when it did happen and immediately stood up to run towards the courtyard. Without hesitation, they ran even closer to see what was happening, and from there, Tianming had been utterly at a loss for words at what he saw.


    ¡°Master Jing, what¡¯s¡­.going on here?¡± Ye Ting asked in confusion as he took in the situation in front of him.

 Chapter 151: Ism Not Too Familiar With I

    Chapter 151: I''m Not Too Familiar With It


    ¡°Master Jing, what¡¯s¡­.going on here?¡± Ye Ting asked in confusion as he took in the situation in front of him.


    Jing Mingfeng hadn¡¯t even bothered to turn his head around to answer Ye Ting and instead spoke with narrowed eyes, ¡°I¡¯m not too sure. But it seems that ol¡¯Bai is forming a soul contract with the fifth-tier thunderbird.¡±


    ¡°What? A fifth-tier thunderbird!¡± Ye Ting spoke in astonishment. He knew that Bai Yunfei had killed the men from the Beast Taming School, but whatever soulbeasts he had consequently captured was unknown to the man. Furthermore, he had not once thought that it would be possible for him to form a soul contract with a soulbeast puppet.


    Ye Ting and the others hadn¡¯t asked any more of Jing Mingfeng when they saw the anxious look on his face. Instead, they cast their eyes towards the center of attraction where the red and purple light were still shining brightly.


    ¡°It really is a thunderbird!¡± Ye Ting had cried out to himself internally. To him, it was an absolute shock that a fifth-tier soulbeast would suddenly appear out of nowhere. ¡°A fifth-tier soulbeast! For the sake of a fifth-tier soulbeast, the Zhao swore allegiance to the Beast Taming School. And now Bai Yunfei used some sort of secret to form a soul contract with one that¡¯s far stronger than him. What¡­.what type of human is he?¡±


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    An explosion had rocked the place simultaneous to Ye Ting¡¯s thoughts. Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce had stretched out briefly and then receded back into himself once more so that the two lights would be divided as well. When Bai Yunfei leapt back several meters, the red light around him dissipated and seemed to start examining the thunderbird right in front of him.


    When the human and soulbeast were split apart from one another, the red and purple light had disappeared from sight. The thunderbird looked as if it had grown motionless, but to Bai Yunfei¡¯s sharp eyes, he could see that in the eyes of the bird, there was a small sliver of life to them.


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­.what¡¯s going on?¡± Ye Ting cried out in alarm. He could clearly tell that the soul contract had reached a conclusion, but the actions of Bai Yunfei looked like he was giving up. Such a reaction like this had confused him terribly.


    Swiftly, Jing Mingfeng ran to Bai Yunfei with narrowed eyes at the thunderbird. ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, what¡¯s happening here? Is this¡­.that thunderbird? How did you form a soul contract with it? And what happened to that anyways?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure either. But I can see that this change in the thunderbird has to do when it failed to self-destruct earlier. I¡¯m not sure of the specifics, but I can at least sense that it regained some of its sentience.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head as if to clear his head. ¡°Up until now, I didn¡¯t even know that it wanted to form a soul contract with me. Good thing I was fast enough to decline.¡±


    ¡°What! You actually gave up the chance to form a soul contract with a fifth-tier soulbeast?!¡± Jing Mingfeng cried out with wide eyes of shock towards Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Yea. I¡¯m not familiar with it after all.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Not familiar¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s lips twitched slightly as if he was thinking to himself, ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I know just what type of person you are, or else I¡¯d say you¡¯re a pretentious prick.¡±


    ¡°Ah, the thunderbird won¡¯t go back into the space rings from the Beast Taming School, what should we do about it?¡± Bai Yunfei whispered to Jing Mingfeng as they watched the thunderbird.


    Jing Mingfeng shrugged his shoulders, ¡°How should I know? You¡¯re the one that started it, you figure it out.¡±


    ¡°Then how about this. Why don¡¯t you form a soul contract with it? Now that it¡¯s starting to regain sentience, it¡¯s not too out of the question. You and it can form a soul contract, that should kick start it back to full sentience.¡± Bai Yunfei proposed to him.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng had been speechless. Similarly, the other people who had heard him like Ye Ting had been utterly at a loss.


    Imagine that¡ªgiving away the chance to form a soul contract with a fifth-tier soulbeast just like that!


    Ever since he had laid eyes on Bai Yunfei, Ye Ting had been forever shocked by every move and action Bai Yunfei did. Even now, Ye Ting felt as if his heart was constantly being stabbed. When he looked at Jing Mingfeng, he could not help but feel jealous.


    But then who would have imagined that Jing Mingfeng would recover first from his silence to shake his head and say, ¡°Forget it. I may want a soulbeast partner, I want it to be of the wind affinity. The thunder affinity doesn¡¯t suit me. I¡¯ll look for another one later.¡±


    It was not as if it one would be incapable of forming a soul contract with a soulbeast of a different affinity. But many people were more favorable to the idea of forming a soul contract with one that did since it would complement them beautifully.


    Ye Ting was left practically unable to breathe. His eyes looked to Jing Mingfeng with a queer light¡ªhe had never once really paid attention to the one that had appeared out of nowhere with Bai Yunfei. But he knew now that this person was unpredictable too!


    The next few words of Bai Yunfei had once more raised the bar of what Ye Ting could possibly endure.


    ¡°Oh, then¡­.forget it.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. But then his eyebrows flew up as if he had been hit by an epiphany. Turning to look at Ye Ting with a smile, he spoke, ¡°Lord Ye, if I recall correctly, you¡¯re a soul cultivator with the thunder affinity, correct? Why not have you form a soul contract with it?¡±


    Not a single breath of air was left in Ye Ting¡¯s mouth to gasp out. Staggering backwards a single step, he had to have Ye Quan support him from behind. Finally being able to take in two gasping breaths, he spoke with a quavering voice, ¡°Lo-lord Bai¡­.what are you saying?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you this thunderbird.¡± Came the response.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai, are you being serious?¡± Are you really going to give such an amazing soulbeast to my father?¡± After a period of silence, the first to respond was Tianming. He was a pure-hearted child and didn¡¯t understand the underlying implications of Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions. He had only thought that it would be rather cool for his father to have a soulbeast companion.


    ¡°Yea, that way, lord Ye should be able to make the breakthrough to become a Soul Ancestor. In the upcoming battle with the Zhao, this should be enough to clinch victory.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded once before warning, ¡°But it¡¯d be best if you don¡¯t let anyone else know about the thunderbird. Let it recover its sentience completely and see if there¡¯s any other abnormalities before you reveal it.¡±


    He was not planning to be the one to tell them that this soulbeast was taken from the Beast Taming School.


    It was with this that Ye Ting snapped back to awareness. Giving a glance at Ye Quan, he tried to quell his emotions before facing Bai Yunfei with some hesitation. ¡°Lord Bai, do you truly plan to give me this thunderbird?¡±


    ¡°What? Don¡¯t tell me lord Ye doesn¡¯t want a soulbeast partner?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡°No no, that¡¯s not it¡­¡± Ye Ting shook his hands awkwardly. ¡°If you say so then¡­.I offer you my thanks, lord Bai. You have done the house of Ye a great deal of kindness. Even if all of our teeth fall out from old age, not a single member of my house will forget your kind deeds. If there is anything we can offer or help you with, you may only need to ask and we will not refuse it!¡±


    ¡°Lord Ye is far too kind. This thunderbird still hasn¡¯t regained full clarity, so it¡¯d be best if lord Ye moves closer. Send your soulforce into its body and you should be able to establish a contract with it. But please promise me this, lord Ye, do not mistreat this soulbeast. I only hope that you will not treat it as a slave or tool of war.¡±


    Ye Ting nodded, ¡°That goes without saying. Lord Bai, you may rest assured I will not treat it as such.¡±


    And so Ye Ting prepared to make contact with the thunderbird and form a contract with it. Jing Mingfeng and Tianming stayed behind to watch the ¡®fun¡¯ while Bai Yunfei returned to his own room to rest.


    Seated back on his bed, Bai Yunfei blinked once before raising his right hand in front of him. Staring at it hard, he watched as a flash of red light sparked to life on his palm before turning into a small fire that danced across his palmtop.


    But the curious thing about this was that hidden within the crimson fire was a slight sliver of purple light.


    Looking at the fire on his hand, Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°And who would have thought that I¡¯d gain something from that¡­.¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 152: Unexpected Windfall

    Chapter 152: Unexpected Windfall


    Looking at the fire on his hand, Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°And who would have thought that I¡¯d gain something from that¡­.¡±


    What had just happened prior to this had been a very strange soul contract process. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really know what to expect in a normal situation, but he was very confident that it would not be like this.


    He had declined the the soul contract, but Bai Yunfei had managed to take back a wisp of the Thunderbird¡¯s soul with him. And from that, he had gained something¨Ca strand of essence thunderseed.


    And when he took it, it had fused with his essence fireseed. Although it was practically negligible with just a single strand, it had also given Bai Yunfei a rich enough understanding of several new aspects on learning thunder arts. Furthermore, it would help with his rate of growth.


    But the events of today wasn¡¯t something that Bai Yunfei really understood. What really made him happen had been the other thing he had taken into his own body¨Csoulforce.


    Back during the soul contract process, the Thunderbird had not rejected Bai Yunfei in any capacity and had instead allowed the essence origin and soulforce from its body to mix with Bai Yunfei¡¯s. When Bai Yunfei removed himself from the equation, the Thunderbird had been motionless, thus allowing Bai Yunfei to take its soulforce into his own body. Unlike the normal case where this foreign soulforce would dissipate over time, the Thunderbird¡¯s soulforce would instead be absorbed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce and serve to increase his capacity.


    And so¡­that meant Bai Yunfei was already all the more closer to ¡°The Late-stage Soul Sprite realm!¡± Bai Yunfei shrugged away the fire in his hands and allowed his soulforce to cycle around his body. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that I¡¯d be able to gain so much soulforce in a moment. If I continue onwards like this then¡­.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right either actually. If I were to keep trying this, it¡¯s not a guaranteed thing that I¡¯ll be able to always refuse the soul contracts. Plus, ¡®stealing¡¯ soulforce like this could possibly injure the Thunderbird and any other soulbeast¨CI can¡¯t be too greedy¡­.This much already is more than enough.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head as if he was looking down on himself for his avarice.


    ¡°A Late-stage Soul Sprite. I¡¯m only a small point away. If I have to give a numerical value to it, I should be twenty soulpoints away maybe? Who knows how much more I need, or what threshold I have to pass? I¡¯ll test it in a bit, maybe I¡¯ll become a Late-stage Soul Sprite tonight¡­.¡±


    ¡°But before that, there¡¯s still a question that needs to be answered first¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought for a moment before retrieving several spirit increasing accessories out from his space ring. From when he got them to now, these accessories were only +8 at most. There weren¡¯t many of these to begin with, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to risk exploding them.


    ¡°These increase soulforce when worn, and soul cultivators become stronger with even more soulforce. So according to logic, if I wear these items, I¡¯ll be able to increase my soulforce and cross over this ¡®threshold¡¯. But¡­.¡± Putting the accessories on, Bai Yunfei closed his eyes and waited.


    After several moments, Bai Yunfei reopened his eyes to reveal a pensive look. ¡°What a strange feeling. I¡¯ve clearly more soulforce than before, but I didn¡¯t move up a realm. Does that mean to say that wearing items that increase soulforce doesn¡¯t count towards my total? How complicated¡­.¡±


    When it came to spirit increasing accessories, Bai Yunfei had made his own inquiries and research since it related to soulforce, the very basis of what made up a soul cultivator. The most important part was the fact that the soulpoints that were gained with the accessories worn did not give as much as he would normally gain if he cultivated.


    He had once believed that if he was close to empty with his soulforce, he could wear one of the spirit increasing accessories and add another hundred soulpoints. Then, with the hundred soulpoints, he could use it up and then take off the item without feeling the drain. Then, he could wear it again and repeat the process¨Cwouldn¡¯t this mean that he would have unlimited soulforce?


    Of course, a bug like this wasn¡¯t possible. In the face of the laws to this world, the Upgrade Technique had to be changed to a certain degree so that it would co-exist with those laws. If Bai Yunfei were to have the complete and intact memories of the slider who reincarnated into this world, then he would have been far more familiar with this research. But since his memories were fragmented and sealed into the depth of his soul and his strength was lacking in being able to unlock them, Bai Yunfei could only progress normally.


    As a result, Bai Yunfei had been dismayed to find out the results to the experiment. It was not as perfect as he thought. In this example, if Bai Yunfei were to have ten soulpoints and then wear a ring that gave him another hundred soulpoints, he¡¯d have a total of a hundred and ten soulpoints. But then if he used up a hundred soulpoints and then took off the ring, it didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d have ten soulpoints left. How convenient would that be? He¡¯d go into the negatives in fact¡­.that was to say, he¡¯d expend more soulforce than he had and would immediately faint from the overdraft.


    Bai Yunfei had spent the rest of his time familiarizing himself with this new portion of soulforce in his body before Jing Mingfeng came in to find him for dinner. It was from him that Bai Yunfei learned that Ye Ting had already formed a soul contract with the Thunderbird and became a Soul Ancestor. Bai Yunfei had been rather startled to hear that since he hadn¡¯t felt a thing from his own room. Maybe it was because he was so enthralled in his newly discovered powers, or maybe it was because Ye Ting had purposely masked the influx of energy that came with the soul contract well enough.


    And with Jing Mingfeng ¡®keeping the peace¡¯ for him, Bai Yunfei was free to spend the rest of the night after dinner upgrading his items,


    About an hour later¡­. ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°Equipment quality: High-grade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10.¡±


    ¡°Additional attribute: Spirit +63.¡±


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: Another 300 soulpoints can be stockpiled for use whenever without being considered in the total soulpoint count in the owner¡¯s body.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 30 soulpoints.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes had sparkled when he smiled gleefully at this space ring. ¡°It stockpiles soulpoints? Not bad! Haha, that¡¯s good, my luck today is pretty good! This is an unexpected windfall.¡±


    This was one of the space rings he obtained from the ones from the Beast Taming School. He had already exploded four rings before so he didn¡¯t expect to have one of them to have such a nice additional effect when it reached +10. This could be said to be a small treasure.


    ¡°Three hundred soulpoints, that¡¯s enough for me to use the Winged Flame Blades once. If I¡¯m lucky, it can be used as the killing blow!¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head in satisfaction before he wore it on his left hand.


    Looking at the two space rings on his hands, Bai Yunfei shook his head bitterly. Just slightly, he looked like some sort of rich upstart. But in the end really, as long as it increased his own strength, it wouldn¡¯t really matter.


    The ring on his right hand was a space ring that helped recover his soulforce. There was another ring that increase his speed (agility) thanks to it¡¯s +10 effect. He was currently using the speed ring, but if he needed to use the spirit increasing ring, then he could swap it out quick enough to make use of its effects. In the ordinary times, wearing the speed ring would be best. That way, he would be able to deal with trouble should it come at any time.


    Bai Yunfei had already felt his vision start to blur from his upgrade session. Shaking his head, he took out another one of his +9 equipment and rubbed his head. ¡°I¡¯ve about 3975 soulpoints in my body¡­..would this mean the ¡®threshold¡¯ to becoming a Late-stage Soul Sprite would be 4000 soulpoints?¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go one last time¡­.upgrade!¡±

 Chapter 153: Late-stage Soul Sprite

    Chapter 153: Late-stage Soul Sprite


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was trying hard to upgrade his way to becoming a Late-stage Soul Sprite, Ye Ting was trying his best to consolidate his strength as a Soul Ancestor. And over at the Liu, Liu Kun was currently waiting on and receiving an unexpected visitor.


    Zhao Xiluo.


    He had been a citizen of Gaoyi City through thick and thin. But then ten years ago, this hot-blooded youngster had disappeared without a trace. And now, he had returned just as quietly one sudden night. More importantly, he was visiting the Liu that same night!


    But what shocked Liu Kun the most was his strength¨CMiddle-stage Soul Ancestor!


    In a short ten years, he went from a Soul Warrior to a Middle-stage Soul Ancestor. An achievement like this was tantamount to being considered as the number one genius of Gaoyi City. It was an impossibility¨Cunless he came across a miraculous encounter.


    ¡°It seems that the house of Zhao will be the ones with the final say in Gaoyi City! The Liu will rely on the Wood School to safeguard our independence, but the Ye¡­.¡±


    Ceasing his pensive thoughts, Liu Kun smiled at the Zhao Xiluo who was drinking his tea calmly. ¡°It¡¯s been ten years since we last met, nephew Zhao. What an outstanding youth you are. The way I see it, us old fogeys should bow our heads in shame and retire, haha¡­..¡±


    ¡°Now now, uncle Liu. In the eyes of the senior generation, we will forever be the younger generation.¡± Zhao Xiluo put down his teacup with a modest voice. ¡°I only wish to focus on my cultivation and not about the management of my household. I managed to earn my master¡¯s permission to leave the school and return home to see if my parents were doing well. In a short while, I¡¯ll have to leave once more.¡±


    ¡°Oh? So you¡¯ve been spending all this time cultivating within a school? Which school might that be, if I may inquire¡­.?¡±


    ¡°Ten years ago when I left home ever so impulsively, I managed to be rescued by my teacher from the dangers of the world. He took me in as his disciple and granted me admission into the Water School. It is all because of my great teacher that I own the achievements I have today. I have spoken with my father already, our house of Zhao will stand with the Water School.¡± Zhao Xiluo smiled as he responded to Liu Kun while also willingly giving him the answer Liu Kun wanted.


    ¡°Ah, so it¡¯s the Water School!¡± Liu Kun spoke in amazement. But then his face twisted up in confusion, ¡°Eh? The Zhao stands with the Water School? What about the Beast Taming School?¡±


    ¡°They have already left. And they won¡¯t be coming back either. I¡¯ll be managing the affair with the house of Ye as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then¡­.¡± Liu Kun furrowed his eyebrows in thought, ¡°Then nephew Zhao, you came to my home today for¡­.?¡±


    ¡°Haha, uncle Liu, did you forget already? I only just said that I¡¯m a disciple of the Water School. The Water and the Wood have quite a nice relationship with one another¡­.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to¨Cthe Wood School? Nephew Zhao, do you mean to say that¡­.¡±


    Zhao Xiluo nodded his head with a smile, ¡°Correct. I came here in Liu Pingxiong¡¯s place to hand over a letter. I went to the Wood School once and met with Liu Pingxiong who was currently hard at work cultivating. He wanted me to send a letter back home for him.


    From his space ring, Zhao Xiluo retrieved a letter and handed it over to Liu Kun.


    It had been with quavering hands and a beating heart that Liu Kun looked to Zhao Xiluo amiably. ¡°How strange to see that nephew Zhao is acquaintances with Ping¡¯er. How rare indeed.¡±


    ¡°Yes. The continent is a vast one, but I suppose even events like this happen every so often. When I first saw Liu Pingxiong at the Water School, I was startled to say the least.¡±


    Liu Kun had been able to relax a lot more after he knew that Zhao Xiluo was a disciple of the Water School. From today onwards, the Zhao and the Liu would never be enemies. He was very amicable towards Zhao Xiluo now and was extremely willing to pull the gap closer to be friends with the Zhao.


    ¡°Ah, uncle Liu, I wished to inquire about a person.¡± After a lull in the conversation, Zhao Xiluo had immediately spoke up once more.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Liu Kun was surprised, ¡°Which person?¡±


    ¡°In the past few days, has there been a youth named Bai Yunfei that came by?¡±


    ¡°How did you know?¡± Liu Kun started.


    ¡°Oh? So he has come then? Has he stayed within your home as a guest? Or perhaps is he still in Gaoyi City still?¡± Zhao Xiluo¡¯s eyes lit up as he asked.


    ¡°Nephew Zhao, how did you come to learn of Bai Yunfei? Furthermore, how did you learn that he came to the Liu before¡­?¡± Liu Kun asked with furrowed eyebrows.


    ¡°Haha, uncle Liu, don¡¯t think too much about it. I only reason I know is because I managed to meet with senior You Qingfeng of the Wood School on my way back. He mentioned this person before so I thought I should at least ask around.¡±


    Relaxing, Liu Kun replied, ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s why. How coincidental then. Lord Bai came by this afternoon to see me. He¡¯s still in the city in fact.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Is he a guest in your home then?¡±


    Thinking about it, Liu Kun spoke, ¡°That¡­isn¡¯t quite it. He came with the second scion of the house of Ye, Ye Tianming. He¡¯s currently staying with the Ye.¡±


    It came to him now that the current situation was feeling a bit dramatic.


    ¡°The Ye?¡±


    Zhao Xiluo had been distracted, but his face had an odd expression to it. Quickly resuming his calm demeanor, Zhao Xiluo stood up to speak to Liu Kun. ¡°It¡¯s getting late, so this junior will be leaving first. I¡¯ll make a visit another day then.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes. If you could pass along a message to your father saying if he can join me for tea tomorrow. It has been a long time since the two of us spoke.¡±


    The first rays of sunlight made its way through the windows and dispersed the inherent dusk from within the room. On the bed, Bai Yunfei was just starting to blink away the weariness from his eyes.


    Sitting upright on his bed, Bai Yunfei placed both his hands on his waist and stretched it out. A series of cracking sounds could be heard as he stretched and popped the joints in his body. A slight red light had appeared around his body, but then with a long exhale in satisfaction from Bai Yunfei, the light disappeared.


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Sprite¡­.it really does need more than just luck to arrive at this stage earlier than expected! This feeling isn¡¯t just a small increase in soulpoints or soulforce!¡± Bai Yunfei clenched his fist in satisfaction of this abundant power running through his body. With how much soulforce that was running through his body, Bai Yunfei could see that he had already passed 4000 soulpoints to become a Late-stage Soul Sprite. He felt far stronger than before, but whether or not this was just an illusion, he wasn¡¯t sure.


    Taking a dagger that had been dropped next to his bed, Bai Yunfei could see that his final upgrade to it had been successful rather than an explosive failure.


    ¡°Equipment quality: Superior.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10.¡±


    ¡°Attack power: 147.¡±


    ¡°Additional attack power: 97.¡±


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: When thrown, the speed and attack power of the dagger will be increased by 30%.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 64 soulpoints.¡±


    Weighing the dagger in his hand, Bai Yunfei remarked to himself, ¡°This is slightly worse than the Glacial Pricker With another 30% added, that brings the attack power to around 300 almost. That¡¯s the same as a Middle-grade rare¡­.¡±


    After storing the dagger away, Bai Yunfei looked out the gradually brightening skies outside the window. ¡°It was a peaceful night. Seems like the Zhao didn¡¯t come to pick a fight at all last night. Will they give up the fight today? Or will they come seeking retribution?¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei opened the doors to his room, the servants that had been waiting outside his room since earlier in the day greeted him with a washbasin and a towel to wash up. Accepting the items in stride, Bai Yunfei washed himself and ate his breakfast before a maid came to him. ¡°Lord Bai, the master wishes to invite you to the halls to discuss some matters.¡±


    ¡°Ah, got it. I¡¯ll be going then¡­.¡±

 Chapter 154: Zhao Xiluos Visi

    Chapter 154: Zhao Xiluo''s Visit


    It was only when Bai Yunfei arrived at the lounge that he realized Jing Mingfeng and the others were already there before him.


    Jing Mingfeng and the Ye were all chatting casually, Tianming had been most especially enthusiastic in his conversation. The others had been smiling while occasionally offering up their own words. When Bai Yunfei entered the room and saw the resplendent face of Ye Ting, he could see that there was now a very palpable difference between the two of them. There was an august aura to him, and his face reflected the confident expression of a can-do person.


    When Bai Yunfei entered the room, the eyes of everyone had gathered onto him. Ye Ting and Ye Quan both had raised their eyebrows in surprise--they had seen the spike of power that happened in Bai Yunfei evidently.


    ¡°He became a late-stage Soul Sprite in a single night!¡± Ye Ting cried out in alarm to himself, but the emotions were not noticeable on his face too much. He knew that Bai Yunfei was a mid-stage Soul Sprite, but he didn¡¯t ask at the time if Bai Yunfei had only just became one or was already close to being a late-stage Soul Sprite. At the time, he had guessed Bai Yunfei was the latter of the two and that last night had been a coincidental breakthrough. Of course, he was already starting to become accustomed to just how often Bai Yunfei exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations, so this newest occurrence did not bring too much surprise to him.


    But even to the weaker Bai Yunfei, Ye Ting didn¡¯t dare neglect his manners. Standing up from his seat, Ye Ting smiled widely and congratulated him, ¡°Lord Bai, congratulations! A late-stage Soul Sprite at such a tender young age! Lord Bai, your talent is truly astounding; it¡¯s a talent that would make everyone else jealous!¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded his head to everyone before taking a seat next to Jing Mingfeng. ¡°Lord Ye,¡± He smiled, ¡°You flatter me too much. I¡¯ve only had a chance opportunity. If anything, I should be the one congratulating lord Ye on successfully breaking through to become a Soul Ancestor. The house of Ye will surely have its era of brilliance starting this moment onwards.¡±


    ¡°Haha, my household is only a small one, not some sort of major house lord Bai says it is. My breakthrough was only because of lord Bai¡¯s assistance. This benevolent favor lord Bai has granted to me will not be one the Ye will ever forget!¡± Ye Ting proclaimed courteously as he professed his thanks.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been too modest in his acceptance of Ye Ting¡¯s words. It was only natural to accept and return this gesture. If he treated Ye Ting¡¯s thanks with indifference, then it would be meaningless to help to begin with.


    ¡°Ah, lord Ye. How goes business with the Zhao?¡± Bai Yunfei had naturally wished to know the reason why everyone here was talking or listening to Jing Mingfeng gossip so much that even Ye Ting would bother to listen.


    Ye Ting¡¯s face hardened as soon as Bai Yunfei spoke. ¡°There is indeed something strange going on with the Zhao. Ever since last night, their doors have been closed and not a sound could be heard from the outside. None of our men were even able to bribe any information from the insiders of the clan, so none of us are sure of what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°But¡­.the most recent information we got was that just last night, some of the men that we placed in charge of watching the Zhao noticed those from the Beast Taming School leave the Zhao residence. After they left the city, they never came back.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised. ¡°The men from the Beast Taming School left? How could that be? Are they perhaps going to look after the other men?¡±


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be it. From what we heard from the others, the group had looked extremely angry, but they were acting as if they were chased off. The men we had look after them weren¡¯t strong enough to follow them for too long though. We have no way of really knowing if they really did left Gaoyi City.¡±


    ¡°They were chased away? Did the Zhao chase them off? Would they even do that?¡± Bai Yunfei questioned.


    ¡°There¡¯d be no way. Unless Zhao Xing wants to ruin his family, he¡¯d do no such thing. How could they make enemies with the Beast Taming School?¡± Ye Ting was unsure himself. ¡°But the way things are going right now don¡¯t follow up with our expectations. All of our preparational work so far has been for naught¡­.but I am a Soul Ancestor now! Pah, let¡¯s see them try and demand tribute from my house of Ye now!¡±


    After spending so many days being stifled by the Zhao, Ye Ting¡¯s anger had finally reached a boiling point. Now that the Zhao finally lost their patron, Ye Ting was already starting to think of a way to plan his revenge.


    At that moment, a person suddenly came running in with great haste. Reporting to Ye Ting, he spoke, ¡°My lord¡­.someone¡­.someone from the house of Zhao has arrived!¡±


    Startled by that information, Ye Ting took a sharp intake of breath, ¡°What? Someone from the Zhao is here? Are they here to talk about what happened yesterday? Pah! Zhao Xing is an arrogant and conceited fool then! With the Beast Taming School laying down the pressure, I¡¯d be willing to bite my tongue and bear my anger. But if the Beast Taming School is gone, then there¡¯s no way I¡¯d let the Zhao bully this household!¡±


    ¡°N-no, my lord. Lord Zhao did not come. Instead, it¡¯s a young man. He said that¡­.he said that his name is Zhao Xiluo and said that he personally came to pay his respects to the lord and also apologize for his younger brother¡¯s conduct¡­.¡±


    ¡°What? Zhao Xing isn¡¯t here? Offering his apologies? What apologies? Hold on¡­.who did you say was here?¡± Ye Ting suddenly halted in his speech with surprise. ¡°What did you say his name was!¡±


    ¡°He-he said he was...Zhao...Zhao Xiluo¡­.¡±


    ¡°What? That kid Zhao Xiluo is back!¡± Ye Quan had finally broken his silence with a loud gasp. ¡°When he left ten years ago, the entire city thought that he died already, but he¡¯s alive and well now? And at this time too¡­.that must mean¡­.that must mean he¡¯s the reason why the Beast Taming School left!¡±


    ¡°Zhao Xiluo is back!¡± Even Ye Ting was surprised. Growing silent for a second, he then spoke, ¡°No matter what the situation is, we have to look before we act. If the Zhao sends someone over, then the Ye will naturally receive him with ¡®haste¡¯....¡±


    As he spoke, Ye Ting looked off towards the direction where Bai Yunfei was as if trying to ask for his opinions. ¡°Lord Bai, please don¡¯t mind us.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°We¡¯ll stand by the side as you receive your guests.¡±


    And so as Ye Ting strode towards the entrance to receive the guest, Bai Yunfei and the rest followed him from behind. To the side, Jing Mingfeng asked Tianming, ¡°Who¡¯s this Zhao Xiluo? Why haven¡¯t we heard about him before?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the eldest son of the Zhao. Ten years ago, he left Gaoyi City and never returned. I was a lot younger back then, so I don¡¯t remember much. But I remember big brother once saying that Zhao Xiluo was an amazing guy¡­.¡±


    ¡°Zhao Xiluo was said to be the most talented person of his generation. But since he left so many years ago, not many people remember him. I hadn¡¯t expect to see that he¡¯d return out of the blue like this. But his strength should definitely be at the late-stage Soul Sprite at the very least I¡¯d assume. Back then, he was stronger than even me¡­.¡± Ye Tianwen offered his two bits of interesting information to Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng as if to explain the situation to them.


    ¡°So the Zhao still had a person like that¡­.then he really has to be the reason why the Beast Taming School left then. If he¡¯s representing the house of Zhao here, I wonder what he¡¯s trying to get at. Ugh! The situation has taken off into a direction I wasn¡¯t expecting¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed to himself. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to watch what to do next.¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 155: Reconciliation

    Chapter 155: Reconciliation


    Just as the entourage from the Ye came out to the entrance, three figures could be seen walking in through the gates.


    Bai Yunfei recognized two of them straight away. While his entire head was wrapped as heavily as a mummy, the peculiar shape of the body could still be seen quite clearly. It was the the second son of the Zhao, fatty Zhao Liang. The other person had a slightly worse-for-wear middle-aged face, but Bai Yunfei could recognize him to be the one he had slapped unconscious, Zhao Ye.


    The one leading the two from the front was a young man with robes of blue and a straight back. His face was adorned with a kind and modest smile, giving off an amiable impression to whoever saw him¨Cit was the long lost son of the house of Zhao, Zhao Xiluo.


    It didn¡¯t seem like Zhao Xiluo was hiding back any malicious intent, so when Ye Ting and the others drew close to being able to see him, they were all able to sense the tremendous power that radiated from him. It was infact a power that was stronger than Ye Ting himself.


    ¡°Middle-stage Soul Ancestor!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened at that. He could see that this man wasn¡¯t past the thirties, and yet, he was still a person who reached the Middle-stage Soul Ancestor realm. Being called the ¡°Number One Genius of Gaoyi City¡± was not for naught it would seem.


    Coming Everyone came to a stop along with Zhao Xiluo and the other two just several meters apart. From there, Zhao Xiluo bowed respectfully to Ye Ting and spoke equally respectfully, ¡°Uncle Ye, it has been many years since we last met. Perhaps you still remember this nephew?¡±


    Ye Ting had been in a state of shock when he first registered Zhao Xiluo¡¯s strength. It had been transparent on his face as well. He who had finally made the breakthrough to become a Soul Ancestor could be said to be an expert of the area. It was with this strength that Ye Ting had planned on fighting the Zhao. But then someone of the next generation had suddenly arrived out of nowhere with the strength of a Middle-stage Soul Ancestor. An arrival like that had evaporated his confidence and left him in a state of mourning¨CPerhaps the Ye really would be subjugated by the Zhao?


    But when those words of Zhao Xiluo was said, Ye Ting relaxed just slightly. From what it looked like, Zhao Xiluo wasn¡¯t here to seek trouble.


    Adjusting his emotions, Ye Ting smiled and nodded his head, ¡°Nephew Xiluo, it¡¯s been ten years! Having a youngster like you reach such a realm like that; why, you could leave us older folks blushing in shame!¡±


    After exchanging several words of conversation with Ye Ting, Zhao Xiluo then spoke one by one with the other members. Based off of how he was speaking, he seemed as if he wasn¡¯t aware of the resentment between both the Zhao and Ye.


    Though Zhao Xiluo had been rather surprised himself. He had been told beforehand that Ye Ting was only a Late-stage Soul Sprite, but from the looks of things, he was clearly an Early-stage Soul Ancestor.


    ¡°Nephew Xiluo, your parents must be happy to see your safe return, right? What business might you have today with my household?¡± Ye Ting looked to behind Zhao Xiluo at Zhao Liang and Zhao Ye. He hadn¡¯t spoken at all to invite the three into the receiving room as he was after all, the lord of a household. Furthermore, he was a Soul Ancestor. He could not so simply be bullied by an even stronger Soul Ancestor so easily. The meaning behind his words had been clear as well; Why aren¡¯t you home with your parents? What reason do you have to run off to here for?


    But Zhao Xiluo had continued to smile as if he didn¡¯t mind the unspoken meaning. Turning his head to look at Zhao Liang to his left, Zhao Xiluo signalled to him with a stare.


    ¡°Brother¡­.¡± Because of the fact that Zhao Liang¡¯s face was heavily bandaged like a mummy, his facial expression was hard to see. But from his voice alone, it was clear to hear that he sounded reluctant to do whatever it was that his brother told him to do.


    Zhao Xiluo¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together. ¡°What? Are you going to ignore your older brother?¡±


    ¡°N-no¡­.¡± The fatty spoke as if cowed by Zhao Xiluo. Even if it had been ten years since they last met, he was still afraid. Bowing his head and taking two steps forward, he bowed deeply to Ye Ting. ¡°Uncle Ye, this nephew was acting silly before and offended miss Ye Yan. Furthermore, this nephew started a feud between our two families¨Call due to my mistake. Your nephew hopes that uncle Ye will forgive this one. Whatever punishment uncle Ye has, this nephew will receive it without a word of complaint.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    This sudden ¡®honest¡¯ apology from Zhao Liang had caught everyone from the house of Ye off guard. From how Zhao Liang was haunched, it felt as if he wouldn¡¯t dare to move until someone forgave him. Hesitating for a brief moment, Ye Ting turned to Zhao Xiluo as if unsure how to respond, ¡°Nephew Xiluo, what is¡­.¡±


    ¡°It is exactly what little Liang is saying. Your nephew came here with this express purpose to apologize. Little Liang has done wrong by offending miss Ye Yan. And because of his pampered nature, he created friction between the house of Zhao and the house of Ye which led to a greater conflict between our two houses with a third party instigating even more discord. With my return, I¡¯ve already shooed away those people who would do us harm. I hope uncle Ye will be kind and not bother about someone like little Liang. I also hope that the conflict between our two households will cease here and live in peaceful coexistence.¡±


    His words were spoken in earnest, but it had still sounded rather funny when it was spoken. The two houses were practically ready to tear the faces of one another off¨Cdid he really believe that words would solve such a conflict so easily?


    But Ye Ting did not smile. And it had been because of a small tidbit of information he heard from Zhao Xiluo¨Cthose ¡®instigators¡¯ had been chased away by him!


    He knew that Zhao Xiluo was talking about the Beast Taming School. He could confirm that the Beast Taming School left already as well, and now, he had confirmation that it was Zhao Xiluo that did it!


    So these words had caused him to consider and think more heavily into the meaning behind Zhao Xiluo¡¯s words. Ye Ting was more than aware that Zhao Xiluo was capable and bold enough to ¡®shoo away¡± the Beast Taming School. This had meant that he was strong enough to do so. In the past, he perhaps could not, but right now, the Xiluo of today was definitely either someone capable or had an even great patron behind him.


    Having thought about it, Ye Ting spoke carefully without having his words promising anything, ¡°Nephew Xiluo. If I may be so bold to ask. In these past ten years, might you have joined with some sort of school?¡±


    Nodding his head calmly without bothering to hide the facts, Zhao Xiluo replied, ¡°Uncle Ye is correct. I have joined the Water School as a disciple under the great teacher Yang Linhao.¡±


    ¡°The vice-headmaster of the Water School!¡± Ye Ting¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He hadn¡¯t expected that Zhao Xiluo had joined with one of the five elemental schools and became a disciple of the vice-headmaster himself. What this meant was that Zhao Xiluo had indeed the power to shoo away the Beast Taming School. The Beast Taming School wouldn¡¯t start conflict with the Water School over an insignificant house either, so they had bowed out.


    ¡°No wonder they were so confident¡­.Alas! The Liu has the Wood, and the Zhao has finally managed to win over the Water. It would appear that the Ye will sing its swan song in this city. But¡­.for what reason is Zhao Xiluo speaking so politely and offering his apologies then?¡±


    As Ye Ting¡¯s mind raced furiously in thought, he could only sigh at his inability to understand. What he did understand however, was that the house of Zhao was finally laying out all of their cards on the table. The Ye had no other choice but to accept this ¡®apology¡¯. If he didn¡¯t, then a war between the two houses would be inevitable, and the Ye would only lose as a result. Could he even count on Bai Yunfei for assistance? Ye Ting wasn¡¯t so foolish as to pass over the fate of his house over to an ¡®outsider¡¯.


    ¡°Haha! So nephew Xiluo has joined with the Water School! Your achievements and potential surely are limitless then! I presume brother Zhao would be gratified to have a child like you as his son? Haha, it¡¯s true, there was conflict between our two houses, but if nephew Zhao is so honest in trying to resolve it, I shall be honest too. There is no way I would want my house to be involved in such a meaningless war, let us resolve our differences then¡­.¡±


    Zhao Xiluo revealed a pleased smile as he slapped the head of his younger brother. ¡°Hurry up and thank uncle Ye!¡±


    ¡°Tha-thank you, uncle Ye.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been rather dumbfounded from where he stood and his face was scrunched together in confusion.


    ¡°Is¡­is it really ending like this so quickly?¡±

 Chapter 156: Sharing Pointers

    Chapter 156: Sharing Pointers


    Bai Yunfei had planned tentatively for a myriad of situations that might occur prior to now.


    He had thought that the house of Zhao would muster up their forces to blame and punish the house of Ye for their crimes. And because of that thought, Bai Yunfei had prepared himself for war. He had prepared himself to fight the Soul Ancestor from the Beast Taming School. In the worst case scenario if he couldn¡¯t win against the Beast Taming School, Bai Yunfei was even prepared to use Ge Yiyun or perhaps You Qingfeng¡¯s name in order to intimidate the opponent and drag the house of Liu into this. It wasn¡¯t by any means an honest or kind tactic, but even the Zhao and the Beast Taming School wouldn¡¯t act too hastily if the Liu got involved. But this still didn¡¯t guarantee that the Ye would be safe from fighting.


    Bai Yunfei had actually thought that the Zhao would already be prepared for a dark and dirty battle. After their attempt to kidnap Tianming, Bai Yunfei had not discounted the possibility of them preparing to start a raid. He had even considered giving Tianming several upgraded items to help strengthen himself.


    There was also yet another plan that should his involvement in the death of the men from the Beast Taming School came to light, Bai Yunfei would disavow himself from the matters of the Ye and run as far away as possible.


    He had thought of many possibilities and prepared for plenty of outcomes. But in the end, it had been for naught.


    Ye Ting became a Soul Ancestor because of the Thunderbird. The Beast Taming School had left Gaoyi City. And the genius son of the Zhao had finally returned home. Even now, he was making a fair and reasonable apology in an attempt to dissolve the conflict between the Ye and the Zhao.


    ¡°Well, it won¡¯t be going down the few anticipated patterns I was expecting at least. He won¡¯t be pretending to be the hero until the very last moment either I¡¯m sure. There shouldn¡¯t be anything going wrong now, or a loss for both sides either. Uh¡­.that¡¯s if the fatty doesn¡¯t try anything else though.¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head as if to console himself. But then Zhao Xiluo suddenly spoke out loud after his conversation with Ye Ting, ¡°Ah, might there be a young brother by the name of Bai Yunfei staying as a guest here?¡±


    Even as Zhao Xiluo spoke, his eyes had already traveled to where Bai Yunfei was as if deciding between him and Jing Mingfeng.


    Not a single person there had expected to hear Zhao Xiluo suddenly ask for Bai Yunfei. This had prompted Jing Mingfeng to turn his head to his companion, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, how does he know you, you friends with him?¡±


    Bai Yunfei scrunched his eyebrows together, ¡°Never seen him before.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes had only pointed Bai Yunfei out from the others, causing Zhao Xiluo to be confirmed in his guess. Smiling, he spoke, ¡°You must be brother Bai Yunfei, correct?¡±


    Extending his hand to return the handshake Zhao Xiluo was giving, Bai Yunfei had remained stoic in the face. ¡°I am he, what business might lord Zhao have with me?¡±


    ¡°Haha, I actually came to the house of Ye today for two reasons. One reason was to resolve this conflict between our two houses, and the other was to see you, brother Bai.¡±


    ¡°See me? What for?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve actually heard about you from someone else before. So I¡¯d would like to¡­..compare notes with you!¡±


    Zhao Xiluo chuckled as he spoke the last part. But as soon as he finished, his feet pushed off from the ground and charged straight at Bai Yunfei!


    Zhao Xiluo had clearly been smiling and chatting normally a moment ago. But then in a split-second, he had charged straight towards Bai Yunfei! The people around him had been so caught off guard by this action that only Ye Ting had been fast enough to respond when Zhao Xiluo was already at Bai Yunfei¡¯s front, ¡°Zhao Xiluo, what do you mean by this?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had already been on guard before Zhao Xiluo had reached him. He was after all no stranger to having to protect himself at a moment¡¯s notice and had been on guard since the very beginning. Focusing completely on the person in front of him, Bai Yunfei had been able to react even faster than Ye Ting and the others in the time Zhao Xiluo had taken to act.


    In the blink of an eye, Zhao Xiluo had already moved to grab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm. Bai Yunfei on the other hand had shifted his feet so that they intertwined with one another. With a minute burst of the Wave Treading Steps he had managed to master after becoming a Late-stage Soul Sprite, Bai Yunfei was able to shift past Zhao Xiluo without having to move too much to the side.


    Zhao Xiluo¡¯s eyes had lit up almost as if he had been expecting this. A faint smile graced his face before his claw-like grip tightened into a fist to punch Bai Yunfei in the shoulder.


    Lifting up his right and, Bai Yunfei had been able to block the punch while also taking advantage of the force to step backwards. His right hand drew back to wind up for a punch, and then without hesitation, he let it go at full force at Zhao Xiluo¡¯s chest.


    But it had been caught by his opponent¡¯s right palm.


    ¡°Thump!¡±


    The sound of fist hitting palm could be heard in the courtyard, but only Zhao Xiluo could be seen taking several staggering steps away from Bai Yunfei with the lights of his eyes gleaming even brighter than before.


    ¡°Your punching strength isn¡¯t bad, but it¡¯s not up to my expectations of what I¡¯ve heard about you before. Why don¡¯t you show your actual strength?¡± Zhao Xiluo gently primed his right arm¨Ceven after taking Bai Yunfei¡¯s Ninefold Fist Force, he looked as if he hadn¡¯t been affected in the slightest!


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you holding back too?¡± Bai Yunfei returned the smile. In that short moment of contact, he had already ascertained that Zhao Xiluo was only just testing his strength. Although he didn¡¯t know the reason, Bai Yunfei had felt no reason why he shouldn¡¯t live up to his opponent¡¯ expectations. If anything¨Che was excited. How coincidental that he could test out his own strength right now!


    Zhao Xiluo had been taken back for just a small moment before he laughed, ¡°Okay, you be careful now then!¡±


    With neither of the two at a disadvantage to the other, they begun their second round of ¡®comparing notes¡¯ under the stunned eyes of everyone around.


    At the drop of his last words, Zhao Xiluo¡¯s right arm had already been thrown outwards. There had been a blue light that permeated from within his fist. And in an instant, it covered his entire body. When he threw the right punch, the blue light had rippled in wave-like motions as if it was water. As it rippled and gathered in his fist, the blue light grew even richer and richer until with just two flashes later, three balls of water had formed from the elemental water he wielded.


    In an instant, the ball of water gave a small squirm. A burst of frosty air followed its movements, and with a slight ¡®tinkling¡¯ sound, the air around the three spheres had turned them into three short icicles!


    From the activation of his elemental water to them freezing over, it had only taken a blink of an eye for Zhao Xiluo to cast. He had only needed to point his hand at Bai Yunfei¡¯s direction to have them shoot out towards him.


    But Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been foolish enough to wait for his opponent to finish his attack and had already taken the opportunity to charge in.


    Just about two steps in, the three icicles could already be heard whistling towards him. It had taken Bai Yunfei a single glance to realize that there was not much time to dodge and that the speed it was traveling at did not seem like it would slow down either. With no other choice, he brought his right arm up to protect himself.


    Zhao Xiluo had paled in the face at that. When it came to the power of his own icicles, Zhao Xiluo knew just how deadly they could be. These icicles of his could stab through the arm of the Early-stage Soul Ancestor Ye Ting, let alone the Late-stage Soul Sprite, Bai Yunfei. He had summoned these icicles from the elemental water he controlled and could control them within a short distance with the use of his soulforce that was in it. Zhao Xiluo had thought that Bai Yunfei would decide to dodge the icicles just enough that they would not cause much damage, but how could he possibly predict that Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t actually dodge?


    He only wanted to to test Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength and see just what made this youngster so special in the eyes of a person like You Qingfeng. If Zhao Xiluo managed to heavily injure Bai Yunfei, then that would not look well for him either. But just as Zhao Xiluo was about to use his soulforce to move away the icicles, Bai Yunfei had already sped up just a bit, and under his astonished eyes Bai Yunfei swung his arms to smack away the icicles!


    ¡°Ting Ting Ting?¡±


    Following the sounds of the icicles colliding with something, Zhao Xiluo had been astonished to find out that his icicles that could penetrate into the skin of a Early-stage Soul Ancestor had been knocked away so easily by Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei had been exceptionally timely with the swing of his arm. It had been neither fast nor slow, and when his arm had been slanted in that one moment; the very first icicle had landed at the front of his elbow where the edge of the Flame-edge Bracer was. This had meant the bracer had successfully blocked the first icicle and allowed the second to hit the middle part of it and the third one to hit the other end of the bracer.


    And as soon as the bracer blocked all three, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with joy.


    ¡°Did I trigger the +10 effect of the Flame-edge Bracer?¡±

 Chapter 157: The End

    Chapter 157: The End


    The +10 effect of the Flame-edge Bracer: When blocking, there is a 9% chance of absorbing and converting the attack power of the blocked attack into the user¡¯s next attack. There is a duration of three seconds and would not convert any attack power that exceeds the equipment¡¯s defense.


    Bai Yunfei had only planned on using the Flame-edge Bracer to block the icicles, but he didn¡¯t expect to have the +10 effect activate. A chilling sensation was absorbed into his bracer before traveling into his right arm and filling him with power. Unwilling to waste this precious chance, Bai Yunfei urged some soulforce into his feet and pushed off against the ground to immediately charge at Zhao Xiluo. His right fist clenched tightly before releasing a straightforward punch onto his chest.


    A puzzled look flashed across Zhao Xiluo¡¯s eyes, but he didn¡¯t move to evade the strike. Instead, he took a half step back with his left foot and dropped his left arm down with his palm facing up while the right arm was moved up with the palm facing down. His arms were positioned as if he expected Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch to enter the middle, but his arms were not there to protect the chest.


    Both of his hands swirled around an imaginary center around it, causing a blue fog to start to appear and condense in the middle. Soon enough, a sphere around the size of a fist had materialized in between.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist had passed through the blue sphere almost as quickly as it appeared and caused the power of his fist to weaken noticeably. The sphere itself felt as if it were made of some sort of sticky liquid, but there was a feeling of his power being drained away. The deeper his fist sunk in, the stronger this draining force felt. As soon as the fist made it three inches deep, Bai Yunfei had felt the power in his fist already drop by a third. And the sphere itself had turned from a mist into a sphere of water with time. In a flash, the bright blue sphere created by Zhao Xiluo had formed between his hands had already covered the entire right fist of Bai Yunfei.


    One second!


    In a single second, the power behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist had been reduced to about half of its original strength, He could distinctly feel that the sphere itself was rapidly becoming like ice, and if he didn¡¯t hurry, then his entire right arm would be frozen by it!


    The corners to Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips quirked in unease when he saw just how carefree Zhao Xiluo looked. At the same time, he let out a grunt and turned his right arm as much as he could.


    Two seconds!


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    A dazzling red light suddenly appeared from Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm and sliced apart the sphere of water with a streak of fire. Under the wide-open eyes of everyone else, the water had exploded into every direction and evaporated into several streams of vapor and faded away from sight.


    Three seconds!


    And under Zhao Xiluo¡¯s startled eyes, Bai Yunfei¡¯s bright red fist had slammed against Zhao Xiluo¡¯s left shoulder.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Zhao Xiluo took six staggering steps backwards, but with each stagger, the ground beneath him fractured under the pressure of his weight almost as if some sort of tremendous weight was being delivered from his shoulder down. Astonishment flooded Zhao Xiluo¡¯s eyes when he felt the bones in his shoulder seem to start to fracture¨CEven though the punch had been weakened by several degrees, it was still enough to cause harm to a Middle-stage Soul Ancestor like him. And this punch had been delivered to him by a Late-stage Soul Sprite!


    He hadn¡¯t been defending with his entire strength due to his shock of course, but because of this sudden development, he could only look at Bai Yunfei with a new light.


    Zhao Xiluo had only just lifted his head up after receiving a boosted Ninefold Fist Force when he saw that Bai Yunfei had already chased up to him with a second strike ready to slam into him!


    Narrowing his eyes with concentration, Zhao Xiluo chose not to evade again and sent out an equally strong right punch.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    When the two fists collided, a faint red and blue clash of light exploded from the fists. Zhao Xiluo had been forced to take another two light steps back while Bai Yunfei had faltered five steps back.


    Overtaken by adrenaline to continue fighting, Bai Yunfei gave two shakes of his body to steady himself before sending some soulforce to his right arm. With a gentle shake of it to stabilize his right arm, Bai Yunfei prepared himself to attack again.


    But just as Bai Yunfei took a single step forward, Zhao Xiluo smiled and waved his hands to say, ¡°Haha, that¡¯s enough. We don¡¯t need to fight anymore.¡±


    The elemental water that had been prevalent in the area had dissipated along with his soulforce, reinforcing the fact that Zhao Xiluo was done with comparing pointers.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s breathing had been hitched as a result from the backlash of the soulforce. Stopping in front of Zhao Xiluo, his face had been rather unsatisfied¨C ¡°Are you mistaken? We only just warmed up and you¡¯re done? Are you joking?¡±


    He had really wanted to say, ¡°I¡¯m not satisfied yet, let¡¯s go at it again!¡±.


    But with so many people looking and even Zhao Xiluo smiling at him with the intent to stop fighting, Bai Yunfei could only restrain his soulforce reluctantly and without a word.


    ¡°Nephew Xiluo, what do you mean by this? Lord Bai is an honored guest of my house, what reason do you have to suddenly attack him?¡± Ye Ting strode to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side with furrowed eyebrows to stare at the transgressor. His aura as an Early-stage Soul Ancestor was beginning to leak out, and his voice conveyed an unhappy tone to it.


    ¡°Haha! Uncle Ye, please quell your anger. I had no ill intentions at all. But seeing just how a youngster like brother Bai was able to become a Late-stage Soul Sprite, I had only wished to compare notes with him, that¡¯s all.¡± Zhao Xiluo clasped his hands together apologetically. ¡°Brother Bai is by all rights a natural prodigy. Not only is his talent strong, his fighting capabilities aren¡¯t inferior to it. I can¡¯t help but admire such a strength.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips quirked upwards as he thought to himself, ¡°It was only two moves. I didn¡¯t even get to use my other upgraded equipment, how could you possibly see how strong I was?¡±


    Ignoring the fact that they were ¡®comparing notes¡¯, Bai Yunfei questioned him, ¡°Then, going by what sir Zhao said, you¡¯ve heard of me from someone else? Whom might that be?¡±


    ¡°Haha, there¡¯s no need for you to be so suspicious, brother Bai. To be honest, it was senior You Qingfeng from the Wood School. On my way back, I came to meet him by accident and he told me about you, brother Bai and how you might be passing by Gaoyi City. Uncle Liu told me that you¡¯d be here at the Ye, so I decided that on my way here today I may as well see the young prodigy that senior You had in such high regards.¡± Zhao Xiluo explained.


    ¡°Senior You¡­.¡± The coldness on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face melted away along with his suspicions. Nodding his head, he spoke, ¡°I see now, I didn¡¯t think that big brother Zhao would be acquaintances with senior You¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ah, senior You forced me to pass on a message should I meet you saying that if you have the chance, you should go see the Wood School. He¡¯s brought a little girl named Chu Yuhe with her, is that your sworn sister?¡±


    ¡°Yuhe was brought to the Wood School?¡± Bai Yunfei was taken back, but he nodded his head nonetheless. ¡°Is that right? Thank you for passing on this message then, big brother Zhao.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I see now. Nephew Xiluo, you scared this old man half to death! I had thought that lord Bai and you had a grudge of some sort!¡± Ye Ting laughed before turning to the other people around him, ¡°What are you all doing standing around? Hurry up and escort our guests to the receiving room.¡± He laughed.


    Zhao Xiluo shook his head, ¡°My apologies, but since I¡¯ve accomplished what needs to be done today, I¡¯ll need to return home to take care of a few matters. I¡¯ll be taking my leave today, perhaps we can establish another day in the future to pay a visit again, uncle Ye.¡±

 Chapter 158: Honorarium

    Chapter 158: Honorarium


    Taking his younger brother with him, Zhao Xiluo left the place right after cordially inviting Bai Yunfei to come as a guest to the Zhao one day. And with several words of goodbye, the two brothers and uncle left.


    Watching the three Zhao family men leave, the entire Ye family in audience had been speechless. They had originally believed that a fight to the death was inevitable, so how had this conflict suddenly resolve amicably with both sides becoming friends?


    Ye Ting hung his head down low with a complicated expression on his face. The house of Ye had been put in a tizzy because of the bullying of the house of Zhao. If he had enough power, then Ye Ting wouldn¡¯t have been so willing to resolve this matter peacefully. Instead, he would have strode towards them with a heroic air to demand retribution from the Zhao. But with Zhao Xiluo returning to Gaoyi City with unbelievable strength and the Water School as his patron, the house of Ye was once more stuck in the underdog position. But with Zhao Xiluo being the one to make amends and offer up an apology and recompense for what damages the Zhao family had incurred, Ye Ting could be said to be placated. If Zhao Xiluo had desired to instead suppress the Ye, then even Ye Ting wouldn¡¯t be able to offer up any resistance.


    Helpless, Ye Ting sighed to himself, ¡°Sigh! Perhaps this was for the best! A mysterious ending to this mysterious conflict. But my Ye will feel wronged even with this end¡­¡±


    ¡°The Liu has the Wood, and the Zhao has the Water. Even the scions of the two houses are talented. Tianwen is strong, but compared to those two, he is nothing considerable. If only the Ye had such a mountain to rely upon¡­.¡± By this point, Ye Ting¡¯s eyes had already flown to Bai Yunfei as if to measure him up. ¡°A great deal of reason why Zhao Xiluo came to resolve this issue so peacefully is because of this Bai Yunfei. Just what sort of man is this one? Even You Qingfeng of the Wood School looks favorably on him, if Zhao Xiluo¡¯s words can be trusted. And his sworn sister is in the Wood School as well, which sect has such an up-and-coming youth like him¡­.?¡±


    Not too long after the people from Zhao left, the Ye had been able to receive another rare guest. It was the lord of the Liu, Liu Kun. With him was his second son Liu Jin and his youngest son Liu Shun.


    When Bai Yunfei saw Liu Shun, he couldn¡¯t detect a single scent of wine around him. Instead, Liu Shun had looked every single inch the part of being a regal scion to a wealthy house. It was almost as if he had never drank wine before and was thus sober into a hyper state of health to follow his father and brother without a word of complaint.


    Liu Jin had the appearance of any average youth his age. He was slightly pudgy and wasn¡¯t a soul cultivator. But he was still a promising young man. Rumors had it that the business of the house of Liu was completely managed by his supervision, meaning that his trip to the Ye this time with his father was more than likely a business deal. Clearly, this was a sign of the Liu hoping to create friendly relations with the Ye.


    When the Liu and Ye came together, bai Yunfei had politely excused himself on pretext of needing to focus on building up his strength. He had no interest at all in what the two houses would say.


    When Bai Yunfei had shown up, the look on Liu Kun¡¯s face became even more cordial. This had reaffirmed Ye Ting¡¯s thoughts on getting on Bai Yunfei¡¯s good side. He knew that today¡¯s events were practically pushed into the way Bai Yunfei had wanted¨Ceven if Bai Yunfei did nothing, the attitude between the Liu and the Zhao had changed drastically. It was clearly all because of how Bai Yunfei had been in his home and was willing to help his house.


    After returning to his room, Bai Yunfei thought back to what had happened earlier today. Thinking about just how there were no more problems to be had with the Ye, Bai Yunfei¡¯s thoughts then wandered off to his fight with Zhao Xiluo.


    Although there hadn¡¯t been an actual ending to the fight and was only a single exchange of soul techniques between the two, Bai Yunfei had learned plenty from it. His strength previously had been extremely lacking and was unable to learn anymore from combat experience. But as a Late-stage Soul Sprite, his understanding of the elements of the world was even better than before. He could feel the adept skill in which Zhao Xiluo had manipulated the elemental water, and it had been at a level of mastery far better than what Bai Yunfei could even attempt.


    Soul Apprentices, Soul Personages, and Soul Warriors focused on increasing the physical strengths of their bodies. Soul Sprites, Soul Ancestors, and Soul Exalts were of the ¡®elemental realms¡¯. They could absorb and the power of the elements in the world. To be more precise, they could ¡®borrow¡¯, ¡®control¡¯, and ¡®manipulate¡¯ the power of the elements. This was what Hong Yin had told him once before, but Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t paid too much attention to it before. But now, he was starting understand it piece by piece.


    In the following days, Ye Ting had hurried to consolidate his strength by fostering a good relationship with the Thunderbird. After the soul contract had been formed, the eyes of the Thunderbird grew more lively by the day as it gradually regained its sentience.


    Bai Yunfei had desperately wanted Hong Yin to see what had happened here. He knew that Hong Yin would definitely want to find a way to free the enslaved soulbeast puppets that the Beast Taming School had possessed. There was no way for the two to contact one another, but Bai Yunfei was sure that they¡¯d meet again in the future. In any case, nothing would happen to the Thunderbird as it lived with the Ye. When it was time, Bai Yunfei would tell him.


    Ye Quan and Ye Tianwen had already set about to restarting their businesses while Jing Mingfeng went out with Tianming for the day to roam around Gaoyi City. Bai Yunfei had decided to follow the two once before and had decided to do so no longer in the future. These two were clearly children at heart. They¡¯d find fun in watching crickets making noise for half the day even. For that, Bai Yunfei had decided that it¡¯d be better to go by himself¨Cjust as long as he didn¡¯t get lost.


    Bai Yunfei paid a visit to the Zhao where he was warmly greeted and received. It had been an awkward experience, to say the least, for Bai Yunfei since just several days ago, Bai Yunfei had killed the caretaker for this house.


    But after a series of talk, Zhao Xiluo had mentioned that there had been an agreement between Zhao Chuan and the Beast Taming School. The two sides had colluded under some sort of mysterious secret where even part of the businesses that the Zhao had were thrown in to sweeten the deal. Once Zhao Chuan had disappeared, the plot had been uncovered, and the Beast Taming School had no other choice but to flee. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how this information came to be, but he didn¡¯t know whether it was true or not either.


    Five days later, Bai Yunfei had decided to leave Gaoyi City to continue on with his travels.


    That night, he was in the middle of looking over the things in his Space Ring when Ye Ting made a sudden visit. Speaking several words of courtesy, Ye Ting then handed a rather dilapidated book to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°The house of Ye was able to overcome this time of crisis all thanks to lord Bai¡¯s assistance. I¡¯ve heard Tianming say before that lord Bai had interest in the art of throwing daggers. I believe this item will serve some benefit to you then. Please take it as a way for the house of Ye to express our thanks¡­.¡±

 Chapter 159: Fragments of the Flying Dagger

    Chapter 159: Fragments of the Flying Dagger


    Instead of taking the old book right away, Bai Yunfei gave a questioning look towards Ye Ting, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°I came across a fragment of this book about throwing knives by accident in the past. I took the time to study it of course, but I¡¯m ashamed to say that it was far too incomprehensible to me. With no one in the house of Ye showing any interest in throwing knives and the fact that this is only a fragment of the book, I figured it was of no use. In truth, what is spoken in this fragment is still quite interesting. For a person of your talents and interest, lord Bai, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to understand far more than what I could from this book.¡±


    Having explained the story behind the book, Ye Ting handed the book over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand with a smile.


    Upon taking the book into his own hands, Bai Yunfei began to flip through the several pages of it only to discover that more than a dozen pages had been torn away. Even the cover itself was a mess and the last two pages had only half its contents remaining. Many of the pictures depicted in the book itself had featured a strangely shaped throwing knife, and combined with the annotations around it, these pictures were clearly archiving information pertaining to the throwing knives.


    There was nothing more to look at however, causing Bai Yunfei to store it away in his space ring. ¡°Thank you very much, lord Ye.¡± He spoke.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t be so polite, lord Bai.¡± Ye Ting waved his hand, ¡°That thing is completely useless to me in neither money nor information. I can only hope that it¡¯ll serve you some use.


    ¡°Ah, Lord Bai, are you truly set on leaving Gaoyi City tomorrow? Why not stay a little longer and see the sights? My child, Tianming, is very loathed to part with you¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not too fond of staying in the same place too long. If there is a chance in the future, I¡¯ll be back for a visit.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I won¡¯t try to change your mind¡­¡± Ye Ting relented before changing the topic into a more lighthearted conversation.


    Ye Ting had left after several moments, allowing Bai Yunfei to continue preparing the items he would need for tomorrow. After all that was done and accounted for, Bai Yunfei took out the dilapidated book and begun to give a more indepth read.


    ¡°Secrets of the Throwing Knife: ¡®Swift, Stealthy, and Accurate¡¯. Everyone knows that, but for us soul cultivators, it is different. By learning the Soulguiding Knife, tossing a knife over three hundred meters would be as easy as swinging one¡¯s arm!¡±


    Flipping onto the first page, the ¡®preface¡¯ had caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes and left him gleeful. He had once thought of learning the Soulguiding Knife, but that had been nothing more than a dream. No matter how much he tried to in the past, each throwing knife he threw would always travel linearly without deviation. At most, he could throw them with great speed and power, but he had thought it naive to actually learn the Soulguiding Knife.


    The meager words after the preface gave an overview of the actions needed to throw a knife, and at what angle it had to be thrown at. The most important guidelines had talked about just how the soulforce should be manipulated and fed into the throwing knives. But when it mentioned several meridian points of the arm, Bai Yunfei had been completely lost since he had never heard of some of them.


    ¡°To feed it soulforce means that the throwing knives have to be incomplete soul items at the very least. But to use throwing knives at their best, they¡¯d have to be soul items. Just that alone would make any soul cultivator flinch. But for me, that¡¯s no problem at all¡­¡±


    Processing the information in his head, Bai Yunfei flipped to the next page.


    On this page was a diagram of the meridian points on the arm with emphasis on the aforementioned points from the previous page.


    The several diagrams after that had been relating to throwing knives. The concrete details and schematics several different knives could be seen alongside with several requisites. Many of the details had been downright specific to even what type of handle was best used in conjunction with feeding it soulforce from the meridian points.


    There were several different throwing knives. There was a knife that could be recalled back the thrower, a knife that would let out a shrill whistle when thrown, a knife to cause an extreme bleeding effect when thrown, a knife that would travel a certain distance before turning into a completely different direction altogether, and so forth. Bai Yunfei had been dazzled to say the least at this wonder and clicked his tongue in admiration.


    ¡°How unexpected that there¡¯d be so many different ways to use a throwing knife! Unique in both design and usage, the one who designed these throwing knives is a complete genius!¡± Bai Yunfei just had to sigh in admiration after reading the book. But then, a sigh of regret accompanied it, ¡°How annoying that there¡¯s only a clear description on how to make it. The ways to control it are a little barebone, and even the methods that are labeled ¡®Minor counterstrike¡¯, or ¡®Stage Two Slant¡¯¨Cthese have to be some sort of hand movement, but there isn¡¯t any more information¡­.¡±


    ¡°Creating these knive require materials I don¡¯t have, and they don¡¯t look easy to get either! Primal stones of the highest quality and sixth-tier soul crystals? High quality primal stones are already impossible, but sixth-tier soul crystals are something that only soulbeasts of the Soul Exalt level should have!¡±


    ¡°And even the designs of these knives are outrageous¡­.but the even more outrageous thing is that I can actually read it! ¡®Mechanics¡¯¡­.¡¯wind resistance¡¯¡­..¡¯coefficient of friction¡¯¡­.what are those? Why can my mind somehow come up with some sort of guess and match the context of this blasted design? Even I don¡¯t know how I know what I know¡­.¡±


    Ye Ting said he tried to read this book before, but he had been unable to understand it. But for some reason, Bai Yunfei could somehow easily read and understand the more complicated parts. The reason behind this was naturally because of the broken fragments of his reincarnated self. He couldn¡¯t concentrate on these fragmented memories, but he could still make out bits and pieces from the holes and reach this conclusion he had now.


    After some consideration, Bai Yunfei had silently guessed that it was because of these memories and past experience to easily put aside these problems. Instead of being suspicious, he was happy to have benefited from it.


    ¡°If I can just find the other pages to this book, then I¡¯ll be able to improve my strength with the art of the throwing knives. What a shame that it¡¯s only a dream right now. I can¡¯t force learn something like this¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought with a heavy heart, but the fact he had this book had been a happy occasion. ¡°No matter what, the information from the preface alone was a good harvest. I can learn the art of throwing knives bit by bit without concern for time. When I join the Crafting School, I¡¯ll be able to learn how to forge items, even ones that can move by itself¡­.¡±


    On the second day, Bai Yunfei had packed away all his stuff and bid farewell to everyone. He had even walked over to where the Liu were and gave them a final goodbye before leaving Gaoyi City.


    Jing Mingfeng himself had stayed back in Gaoyi City. Before the two had split, Jing Mingfeng said that he would be traveling in a different direction, and thus, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng were no longer companions on the road.


    Over the course of the time they traveled with one another, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng grew to be very close friends. But even with all things considered, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to roam around with Jing Mingfeng to see the world. He was a man on a mission to go towards the Crafting School, and Jing Mingfeng had his own path to walk. Even if they did travel together, they¡¯d have to split up sooner or later. If there was destiny, then it would see fit that they meet each other again somehow.


    Tianming had wanted to ¡®travel¡¯ with Bai Yunfei in truth. Yet, he knew that his own strength was lacking, so Bai Yunfei promised that if there was a chance, he would come back to see Tianming. Until then, Tianming had to steel his nerves and send Bai Yunfei off with a smile.


    And so Bai Yunfei left Gaoyi City to once more return onto the journey towards the Crafting School.

 Chapter 160: There Must Be Treasure In the Mysterious Cave!

    Chapter 160: There Must Be Treasure In the Mysterious Cave!


    The reason that Bai Yunfei had left Gaoyi City so quickly wasn¡¯t only because of the fear that he might be stuck there for some odd reason. He was also afraid that the Beast Taming School would come back for vengeance after being ¡®forced out¡¯ by Zhao Xiluo. If they came back and made a more in-depth examination of the place, who knows what might be found? Even though Bai Yunfei had completely destroyed any evidence, there was no telling what methods for information-finding they could use. In the case that his involvement was known, it would cause no small problems for him, that would be for certain.


    Bai Yunfei had walked here and there, stopping every so often at the cities he¡¯d come across on the way. With each city was a new sight and a new experience with their own people and culture to admire. And even though Bai Yunfei would sometimes come across some bandits that didn¡¯t know any better, they were hardly ever a problem. For someone like Bai Yunfei, stuff like this was merely something to look back on as nostalgic memories of his trip.


    Whether it was a person filled with malice or a person in need of assistance, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been miserly in how he dealt out the appropriate assistance. He was living the dreams of being a hero, and whenever the people he helped expressed their thanks to him, Bai Yunfei felt genuinely happy.


    One thing worth mentioning was the fact that Bai Yunfei had managed to amass a considerable amount of +10 equipment after a period of constant upgrading. Naturally, the majority of the items were of the ¡®High-grade¡¯ while the minority were of the ¡®Superior-grade¡¯. Already did Bai Yunfei plan to try and aim for another +12 or even +13 equipment when he had the time.


    Roughly twenty-seven days after he left Gaoyi City.


    In a boundless range of mountains where each of the peaks stabbed into the cloudy skies like spears, Bai Yunfei was presently staring down at an extremely foggy valley with confusion.


    As one could clearly see, Bai Yunfei was lost.


    On the twentieth day after his departure, Bai Yunfei had all but accepted the fact that he had some sort of condition for being a directionless person. After crossing so many mountains, valleys, and rivers, Bai Yunfei had accumulated some degree of experience. There should have been at least a sliver of progress¨Cor so Bai Yunfei thought.


    ¡°Go screw yourself! What reason do you have to hide the clouds today of all days?! It¡¯s all your fault I can¡¯t use the sun to guide my way now.¡± Bai Yunfei glared balefully at the moody weather above. Instead of blaming himself for his current predicament, he was pushing the blame onto the heavens themself.


    ¡°If I¡¯m lost, I¡¯m lost then. Looks like rain in any case, should finding shelter should be the first priority. Wonder if I¡¯ll be lucky enough to find a small village or something in the forests¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered as he observed his surroundings.


    To the left, right, and even behind him was a verdant forest. In front of him was a huge mountain range. There was only just a small one hundred meter gap between the two mountains in front of him so that a single path could be seen leading into the valley. But even then it was a very precipitous descent that looked as if someone had previously cleaved one mountain into two.


    ¡°Should I go left, or should I go right? Or maybe should I just go straight into the valley?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself before taking a tentative step forward. As soon as he took that step forward, something out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention, causing him to look down at the base of the mountain walls. ¡°Eh? That¡¯s¡­¡±


    A sudden gust blew through the area and drove away the foggy mist that pervaded the area, revealing a pitch-dark cave two hundred meters up above the ground and in the cliff walls.


    ¡°A cave! There¡¯s a cave!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled with hope. Even his voice was filled with trepidation as he spoke, ¡°A forest deep in the mountains, sheer cliffs, foggy valleys, and even a mysterious cave¡­.¡±


    ¡°There has to be treasure in the cave.¡± Bai Yunfei rubbed at his chin with his right hand. ¡°This cave looks naturally formed, not something that a mysterious white-bearded hermit would make out in the mountains. But what if it¡¯s the burial grounds for some sort of master with plenty of precious treasure buried with him¡­.Maybe a beast is protecting a worldly treasure? Who knows¡­.¡±


    Maybe Bai Yunfei had heard one too many strange tales on his journey. Or maybe it was for another reason. But Bai Yunfei had always surmised that there would be treasure in every cave he came across. Even now, he was still obstinate in the fact that ¡®cave equals treasure¡¯, so there was no way he¡¯d give up this cave now.


    ¡°Thinking isn¡¯t going to get me anywhere, time to take a look!¡± Bai Yunfei rushed towards the cave. Even with the rain coming down on him, Bai Yunfei was completely blind to the world around him so that he could run into the cave and explore it.


    Bai Yunfei figured it¡¯d be no problem at all to explore the cave seeing how close it was to him. Giving himself a hundred meters of space, he pushed off the ground with soulforce in his feet to run even faster. Each step he took had slammed into the ground to give him even more speed before he gave one final push to leap off from the ground to reach the cave above.


    There was no way that Bai Yunfei was capable of reaching a height of a hundred meters with a single jump of course. At most, he was capable of twenty or thirty meters of height before falling back down.


    But not even ten meters in his descent, Bai Yunfei shook his right hand to bring out the Compliant Rope in its extended form. With a whip of his hand, the rope flew to wrap around a branch that was growing out from the cliff wall.


    Tightening his right fist to make the rope grow taut, Bai Yunfei¡¯s descent was slowed down by a slight margin. But then a slight creaking sound was heard from the tree branch as it bent under Bai Yunfei¡¯s weight. Before it could break, Bai Yunfei had the rope shorten its length, and combined with the natural springing motion of the branch, Bai Yunfei was sent flying up.


    With the wind streaming through his ears and the mist blowing into his eyes, Bai Yunfei was utterly ecstatic at the sensation. Unable to help himself, he shouted out, ¡°Woooooo¡­..ooooh¨Coh fuck!¡±


    The last outcry from Bai Yunfei was been due to the fact that Bai Yunfei was in danger of crashing into the cliff wall!


    Holding firmly onto the Compliant Rope, Bai Yunfei twisted his body around at the last moment so that his back would impact against the wall.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A muffled striking sound echoed through the silent valley along with parts of the cliff crumbling away. Half of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body had been stuck in the cliff wall, and although it didn¡¯t hurt him too badly, a pained grimace could be seen on his face. With a slight twist of his neck to pop the loose joints, Bai Yunfei sealed away the Compliant Rope back into the space ring and sat back in the crater he made on the cliff to enjoy the view down below.


    ¡°There¡¯s still a hundred meters to go.¡± Estimating the distance, Bai Yunfei shook his right hand to search for items to increase his strength for the timebeing. And with the help of the Compliant Rope for a second time, Bai Yunfei had finally reached the cave above.


    It was about five meters tall in height and two meters wide in length. To Bai Yunfei¡¯s discovery, a slight wind was blowing from the interior of the cave to the outside with a quite refreshing sensation on the skin.


    ¡°This¡­this is the elemental wind!¡± Bai Yunfei realized with a jolt. The elemental wind around him was very noticeably richer in energy compared to the normal wind, and it seemed that the source of it was coming from within the cave itself.


    ¡°Really! What wonders have I stumbled across now!¡± Bai Yunfei brightened and walked into the cave rather impatiently.


    But the very moment Bai Yunfei took a single step into the cave, there was a slight wriggling motion from the right side of the cave before an ashen whip-shaped object came flying out. The end was tapered off into a point with a slightly intimidating light, but even more frightening was that it was coming to stab him through the head!

 Chapter 161: Greater Scorpion

    Chapter 161: Greater Scorpion


    But the very moment Bai Yunfei took a single step into the cave, there was a slight wriggling motion from the right side of the cave before an ashen whip-shaped object came flying out. The end was tapered off into a point with a slightly intimidating light, but even more frightening was that it was coming to stab him through the head!


    ¡°Haha, there¡¯s even something like this!¡±


    Rather than being startled, Bai Yunfei was overjoyed¨Cif there was danger, there was treasure in this cave then!


    It was true that Bai Yunfei was excited when he discovered the cave earlier. But even as he approached the cave, he had always maintained a wary attitude in case his expectations were not met. Since this was a cave with treasure in a ¡®mysterious¡¯ place, there would be no way that it would be safe for any one person to approach.


    And as you could tell, here comes an enemy.


    The attack had been sudden, but Bai Yunfei had only needed a half-step at the last moment to sidestep the whip-like object. As a result, the object grazed past his head and slammed into the ground with a cracking sound to scatter away stones upon impact. There was a shrill cry from his right side, causing Bai Yunfei to move towards the left to strictly avoid the right wall. Stopping just barely a meter away from the left wall, he whirled around to see just what had attacked him.


    ¡°Soulbeast!¡±


    Upon seeing his attacker, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but cry out in alarm. Right in front of him was a giant jet-black scorpion standing guard at the cave entrance. It was about two meters long and had a stinger that was practically tall enough to touch the ceiling. What had attacked Bai Yunfei had been this very stinger. Two giant pincers were raised menacingly in the air with a ¡°cling cling¡± sound as they clacked together. Each time the pincers clacked together, several sparks could be seen and illuminated three separate chicken egg-sized eyes that gave a death glare at its intruder.


    ¡°Fifth-class¡­early-stage fifth-class soulbeast!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knitted together. From the body of this scorpion, he could sense a strength comparable to the Thunderbird, this was an early-stage fifth class soulbeast!


    ¡°So there¡¯s a soulbeast like that here too! And a fifth-class to boot!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out to himself in shock. While it was untrue that he didn¡¯t come across any soulbeasts in his travels, Bai Yunfei had only met a meager few third-class soulbeasts. But not once had he met a soulbeast like this.


    ¡°A treasure that even a fifth-class soulbeast would protect¡­.what kind of worldly treasure would this be¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei remarked to himself. He had been elated since a worldly treasure would almost always have a strange beast protecting it. These beast had probably borrowed the strange nature of the area to grow even stronger, or perhaps they had waited for when one of the hidden treasures to fully mature before devouring it to grow in strength.


    There were simply far too many soulbeasts that gained a huge boost in power from eating a worldly treasure. Unlike humans, they had a natural advantage that allowed them to eat what could possibly harm or kill a human that tried to eat something similar. Poison to humans was but a tonic to a soulbeast.


    And if there was a strong soulbeast standing guard in an area, there was a very good chance such a treasure was hidden somewhere nearby. These soulbeasts would regard such items as objects belonging to them in their territory. Any single biological being that intruded in this territory would suffer a quick assault by them.


    For a brief moment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s caution was raised to the maximum. It was only after he spread his soulsense that he realized there was only a single soulbeast here. Relaxing by a small margin, Bai Yunfei looked to the already charging scorpion and brought his fists together in a happy salute. ¡°An early-stage fifth-class soulbeast is a Soul Ancestor in the eyes of a human. Hehe, what luck! Allow me to use you to test my strength!¡±


    ¡°Skreee!¡±


    The scorpion let out a shrill cry as if it realized what Bai Yunfei was preparing to do. Now noticing that the intruder in its territory wasn¡¯t as strong as it was, the scorpion had been all too happy to unleash its attack.


    Both of its strong pincers flew forward to cut down Bai Yunfei in its powerful vicegrip. But instead of hitting Bai Yunfei, it had instead struck against the ground. Because of the claws acting like a fulcrum, the upper body of the scorpion was pitched into the air while allowing its long stinger tail to soar forward Bai Yunfei like a spear ready to run him through.


    The cave both soulbeast and human was in was not big at all. There wasn¡¯t nearly enough room to dodge by a safe margin. Squinting his eyes to stare down the incoming stinger, Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet began to let loose a dazzling light underneath before his body abruptly flickered away. Even though the stinger was fast in its movements, not a single one of its stabs had managed to land a hit on Bai Yunfei at all.


    As Bai Yunfei calmly weaved in and out of the stingers, he was on the look out for the right time to strike back. Another stinger streaked past his ear with a gentle crackling sound, but as it moved about a third of a meter away from Bai Yunfei, the tip of the stinger gave a slight shake before it bent at an angle to strike at Bai Yunfei¡¯s back.


    With the danger of the stinger attacking him from behind, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm moved to block the stinger. Simultaneously, his feet pushed off against the ground to propel him to the left. Successful in his evasion attempt, Bai Yunfei had managed to make it so that instead of his back, the stinger struck his right waist. Straight away, the sounds of fabric being torn could be heard along with the bright illumination of sparks. Following the sparks, Bai Yunfei could feel his Goldsilk Armor gaining a long gash in it.


    At this slight sound, Bai Yunfei let out a small gasp. Just as he was about to take advantage of the opportunity to strike, Bai Yunfei immediately another danger wash over him on the very next step. Startled, Bai Yunfei made no hesitation to leap back for a tactical retreat.


    ¡°Skreee!¡±


    The scorpion let out another shrill sound as the two pincers in the ground suddenly started to glow bright with a yellow light before being transmitted instantaneously into the ground. And in the next second, Bai Yunfei could feel the earth beneath him shake furiously as several sharp stalagmites erupted from the ground. If Bai Yunfei had not trusted his instincts and leapt back, then not only would his feet and legs be punctured, his ass would be too.


    ¡°Screw you, how fucked is this!¡±


    Thumping himself in the chest to drive away the lingering fear in him, Bai Yunfei shook his right hand to bring out three daggers. With one dagger for each of the scorpion¡¯s eyes, Bai Yunfei tossed them with as much strength he could muster while running at it.


    The scorpion brought out its large pincers to protect its body. With barely any effort, the daggers were blocked and allowed the scorpion to swing its pincer to try and cut off Bai Yunfei¡¯s left leg. Once more, the scorpion tried to impale Bai Yunfei in the stomach with its stinger.


    A brilliant gleam entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as his body moved to bend towards the ground. The stinger had failed to strike Bai Yunfei in the stomach and instead arced over his spine. But while he dodged the stinger, the scorpion¡¯s giant pincer shot forth towards his left leg. But instead of trying to evade it, Bai Yunfei stretched out with his right arm as if to receive and greet the pincer.


    A very human-like emotion of shock registered in all three eyes of the scorpion. In its mind, it thought to itself ¡°This human is a reckless one if it dares enter my pincers. Then. I¡¯ll snap him in two and use his remains as fertilizer.¡±


    ¡°Crack¡­.¡±


    The pincer came snapping shut with a sharp chafing sound¨Cmuch to the surprise of the scorpion. Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm had been completely unharmed!


    Incredulous, the scorpion¡¯s entire body flashed with a golden light while twisting the pincer that held Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm with increased force.


    But! The Flame-edge Bracer¡¯s ultimate defense was not something that could be so easily broken!


    Pleased as punch, Bai Yunfei clenched his right fist tightly so as to increase the density of his muscles in that arm. With his right leg pushing a single inch into the ground, Bai Yunfei immediately let loose with as much power as he could muster in his right arm whilst it was in the grasp of the scorpion¡¯s vicegrip.


    The enormous body of the scorpion was lifted into the air, and with Bai Yunfei¡¯s momentum, the body was smashed ruthlessly into the cave wall to its left!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A crater was formed upon collision with the stone wall. The entire back of the scorpion had been submerged into the cave wall, and the pincer that had been holding Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm tightly just a moment ago loosened its grip, allowing Bai Yunfei yet another chance to strike. Without mercy, he slammed a fist into the unprotected flesh of the underbelly of the scorpion.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    ¡°Pchht!¡±


    At the same time Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm slammed into the scorpion¡¯s underbelly and drove it even deeper into the wall, the jaws of the scorpion dropped open to unleash a dark green blob of liquid towards Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 162: Mutual Destruction

    Chapter 162: Mutual Destruction


    The jaws to the scorpion opened wide before a glob of green liquid came splurting out towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s face!


    ¡°Fuck, you¡¯re spitting on me now?!¡±


    Disgusted, Bai Yunfei twisted his foot so that he¡¯d be pushed off to the side. The ¡®spit¡¯ from the scorpion fell to the ground with a sizzling sound, and an acrid smell came floating up shortly afterwards.


    The pupils in Bai Yunfei¡¯s contracted just slightly as he looked at the ground. Then looking back to the scorpion, Bai Yunfei was now giving a more careful evaluation of the beast.


    For a while, man stared off against scorpion. Then, there was a loud cry from the scorpion. An orange glow exploded forth from its body towards Bai Yunfei, and with both of its large pincers, it slammed down into the ground so that several large stalagmites shot up to skewer Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Hah! This move again?¡± Bai Yunfei snorted derisively. Instead of leaping left or right, he instead hopped up into the air and onto roof of the cave. As he flew overhead, Bai Yunfei twisted his body so that his feet landed onto the roof and his head was hung beneath. Pushing off, Bai Yunfei flew off with great speeds towards the scorpion.


    As he approached, Bai Yunfei twisted his body so that he¡¯d dodge the incoming stinger. On his descent, he brought back his right fist and slammed it down onto the scorpion.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Stone and rubble flew everywhere following the crater that came with Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist. Not even before he could even react, a shadow had loomed overhead due to the scorpion¡¯s pincer lashing down on him!


    He was shocked. The scorpion¡¯s stinger had been as fast as an arrow¨Ca speed he couldn¡¯t dodge. All that was left for him to do was to bring up both arms to hopefully block it with his right arm.


    There was a clanging sound before Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist bent slightly and his feet sunk two inches deeper into the ground. Grunting just ever so lightly, Bai Yunfei slowly managed to push the stinger above his arms upwards. Just as he was about to seize the chance to strike back, an ashen shadow came flying at his side out of nowhere!


    ¡°Pa-pow!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was truck flying to the other cave wall with a resounding smash. And just like the scorpion, he had created a hole of his own to be stuck in.


    Red from the blood coursing into his face and out from his mouth, Bai Yunfei chuckled before wiping his lips clean of his blood. ¡°Hehe, not bad! You¡¯re hiding your strength! That¡¯s the speed and strength that I expected from a Fifth-tier Soulbeast¡­.¡±


    ¡°Skreee!¡±


    The scorpion let loose two loud cries as if pleased by this ¡®tit for tat¡¯ exchange. Not even bothering to continue its assault, the scorpion instead lifted its stinger up to point at Bai Yunfei menacingly.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Distracted by this motion, Bai Yunfei looked questioningly at it. At the very tip of the stinger, it looked as if the black tip was opening up like an actual beak. From within, a dark green shade of liquid was then jettisoned towards Bai Yunfei with great speed!


    ¡°Oh fuck! It had something like that too!¡±


    As Bai Yunfei paled in fright and bent his waist to dodge, another shot came flying at him again.


    ¡°You¡¯re fucking with me, rapid fire?!¡±


    Cursing out loud, Bai Yunfei activated the Wave Treading Steps to move left and right to dodge this ¡®bullet storm¡¯.


    The barrage had continued on for a whole minute before Bai Yunfei felt himself haggard and exhausted. The entire wall behind him was riddled with holes as if it were cheese, and if not for the Wave Treading Steps, Bai Yunfei would have been poisoned to death.


    Clearly the scorpion did not think that Bai Yunfei was capable of such a speed either. It had been exceedingly proud in this one venomous barrage, but to see that not a single one of it land on its prey had caused it to pause. When the scorpion stabbed both of its pincers into the ground, Bai Yunfei prepared himself to defend. But! Instead of attacking, the scorpion instead disappeared beneath the ground right in front of his eyes.


    ¡°Wha¨C¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been slightly astonished to see the scorpion escape underground. Yet, when he thought about how the scorpion had initially appeared from the walls to begin with, his eyes narrowed together. Concentrated, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand up to retrieve his Fire-tipped Spear and released his soulsense to survey the surrounding area.


    Roughly a minute of unsettling silence passed before something caught Bai Yunfei out of the corner of his eye. With a lash of his spear, he stabbed it straight into the ground a meter in front of him, ¡°Here you are!¡±


    ¡°Pcht!¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear didn¡¯t sink into the ground, but it didn¡¯t make any reaction either.


    A flash of light danced across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he gripped tightly onto the spear. Taking half a step forward, he brought his spear back up from the ground and then around to stab right behind him at the cave wall.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    This time, the explosive effect of the Fire-tipped Spear had been activated. Because it had conveniently struck near the cave entrance, a great deal of the stone structure that collapsed in on itself. With such a strong blast of elemental fire escaping from the fallout of the blast, even the mist nearby the cave entrance had been evaporated.


    Almost simultaneously, there was a frightened ¡®skree¡¯ following the explosion. The cave shook once. And in the next second, the scorpion reappeared once more!


    ¡°Hehe, you can¡¯t escape now!¡±


    A pleased smile crept onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. It was by no means an accident that he missed the scorpion with this spear strike. If he struck the scorpion, then it wouldn¡¯t be as unharmed as it was now¨Cin fact, it stood a good chance at dying from that. But Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t here to kill the scorpion. He just wanted the treasure and not the life of a soulbeast.


    Even as he smiled, Bai Yunfei¡¯s next motions were done with the utmost fluidity and grace. With one shake of his hand, the spear disappeared, and in the next shake, a bright-red brick appeared in its place.


    And so Bai Yunfei danced and weaved through the rather frantic globs of poison the scorpion threw out with its stinger. But with a second ground to roof kick action, Bai Yunfei was able to kick off and land right next to the scorpion to deliver a stunning strike onto the scorpion¡¯s head.


    The scorpion didn¡¯t know just why this human wasn¡¯t using its terrifying boom stick anymore, but the red stone that the human held in its hand wasn¡¯t something that the scorpion would take any less serious either. Unable to hold back any more, it rose a pincer to block against the brick while bringing out its stinger to sweep Bai Yunfei off his feet.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The brick made contact with the scorpion¡¯s pincer. While the scorpion itself was unharmed, its entire body was suddenly sent flying by some sort of mysterious power! Because of this power, the tail of the beast had failed to hit Bai Yunfei before following its master out of the cave!


    Spinning enough for two revolutions, the scorpion could see that its flight was en-route through the cave entrance. Completely unexpected by Bai Yunfei, the scorpion¡¯s stinger pierced down onto the ground while it¡¯s other half latched onto the very last edge of the outsides to the cave. But even then, the scorpion was in a precarious situation with no room to back up.


    ¡°Time for you to go down!¡±


    Before it could even plan its next attack, another one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s foot slammed into its abdomen! During its flight, Bai Yunfei had somehow managed to close the distance and seize a chance to sneak in another attack!


    The power within this one kick had not been negligible by any means and had managed to kick away even the scorpion¡¯s stinger. This time, the scorpion was sent flying over the edge of the cave and down towards the valley beneath with wide-open eyes.


    But to add insult to injury, Bai Yunfei stamped another foot down onto it so that the scorpion would be sent flying down at an increased speed! But while he prepared himself to jump back up onto the cave, a sudden constricting sensation could be felt around his leg! There was a heavy yank, and in the next second, the scorpion¡¯s tail grabbed onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s leg so that the two of them would fall to the ground together!

 Chapter 163: You Rascal!

    Chapter 163: You Rascal!


    With Bai Yunfei¡¯s right leg intertwined with the scorpion¡¯s tail, both human and beast tumbled to the ground with one another.


    Even as the wind coursing through his ears, Bai Yunfei tried his best to kick at the stinger with his left leg in annoyance. When there was no change, he cried out, ¡°For fucks sakes, get your ha¨Cwait¨Cget your tail off me!¡±


    His kicks did nothing to the scorpion however. The more he kicked, the closer the ground was coming up to the two of them. An annoyed glare crept up into Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes before a crimson-red light burst forth from his entire body before concentrating around his right arm. There was a slight tearing sound when a burst of fire ripped through his clothes and materialized as a two meter long blade around his very person.


    The Flame Winged Blade!


    ¡°If you don¡¯t let go, I¡¯ll cut off your tail!¡± Bai Yunfei declared.


    The Flame Winged Blade swelled yet another half meter as if to responding to Bai Yunfei¡¯s declaration. The mist that was previously around the two combatants evaporated almost instantly, forming a clear open space.


    ¡°Skree!¡±


    Following the screeching sound of the scorpion, its tail immediately relinquished its hold on Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand and decreased in length size. It seemed truly afraid of Bai Yunfei¡¯s threat to cut off its tail.


    ¡°How obedient you are!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was overjoyed. Waving his right arm, the blade of fire dissipated away into thin air. With another shake of his hand, the Compliant Rope flew out and coiled around a protruding cliffstone overhead.


    He slammed against the cliff wall, as courtesy to the physics that caused the sudden stop in his descent. Massaging the aching right shoulder of his, Bai Yunfei then looked down to where the scorpion was and sighed in relief from what he saw.


    The valley below was without a doubt a very deep one, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t doubt that the scorpion would survive such a fall. A Fifth-tier soulbeast would not die so easily to something like falling. He knew that this soulbeast in particular was slightly weaker than he thought, but it wasn¡¯t a thought he was too inclined to think about. He only just wanted some time so that he¡¯d be able to take the treasure in the cave.


    Bai Yunfei circulated the soulforce in him so that the rope shortened in length and allow him to fly upwards. As he traveled up, Bai Yunfei smiled gleefully at the prospects of the treasure that¡¯d be waiting for him.


    ¡°Has to be something strong, or maybe a high-grade primal stone. Or maybe a millennial spirit fruit? Or maybe its¡­¡±


    ¡°Bzzzz.¡±


    The sudden droning sound from down below caused Bai Yunfei to look down instinctively. But the sight that greeted his eyes had nearly been shocking enough for him to release his grip on the rope!


    ¡°Wha¨Cwhat the fuck! You rascal! What kind of scorpion can fly? Do you identify as a dragonfly or something!?¡±


    The half-second loss of composure had led to Bai Yunfei crying out loud in a flustered voice.


    Just several hundred meters beneath him, the scorpion that Bai Yunfei thought was plummeting downwards was already on its way back up. On its back were a pair of transparent wings that beat so rapidly that it created the buzzing sounds from earlier. All three of its beady little eyes stared at Bai Yunfei as if to say, ¡°Amazed? I can fly!¡±


    Not once did Bai Yunfei ever notice the hidden pair of wings on its back during their fight!


    Moreover, there was a slight azure halo around it that pulsated with the power of the elemental wind.


    ¡°A duality of wind and earth!¡±


    Bai Yunfei blurted out.


    It was no wonder that he felt that this scorpion leaned towards the weaker side of the power spectrum. It wasn¡¯t an ardent practitioner of the elemental earth, it also practiced the elemental wind! On one hand, this meant that the scorpion wouldn¡¯t be able to fight an Early-stage Soul Ancestor to a stalemate, but it could fight equally well on both land and air!


    For example, this scorpion was flying rapidly towards Bai Yunfei right now while he could only hang pitifully on the cliff wall.


    From the screeching sound of the scorpion, Bai Yunfei could tell that it was both angry and pleased. The humiliation and pain that it had suffered at the hands of this hateful human; he would return the favor twofold! ¡°Let¡¯s see how you¡¯ll fight now in midair!¡± It was practically shouting.


    There was a burst of azure light before three blades of wind materialized from the air and shot straight for Bai Yunfei.


    Cursing himself for his lack of wings, Bai Yunfei kicked off from the cliff wall so that he¡¯d swing upwards. Combined with the Compliant Rope that was helping him climb upwards, Bai Yunfei managed to just barely dodge the three blades of wind. If he could just get back into the cave, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t need to fear the scorpion any longer.


    Following another blade of wind, the scorpion¡¯s wings began to beat even faster so that it could fly straight for the Compliant Rope.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time!¡±


    It would only take fifty meters and another chance with the Compliant Rope for Bai Yunfei to reach the cave, but there was no time for that anymore. As loathe as he was to consider it, Bai Yunfei gave up the original plan. With all things considered, the scorpion stood a mere ten meters beneath him with a screeching sound that sounded a little too¡­.ecstatic.


    ¡°Fuck! Can you please at least try not to be so crass?¡±


    Consternated, Bai Yunfei tried to hide his anger and kicked off the cliff wall. This time, instead of escaping upwards, he instead kicked out to fly towards the valley itself!


    This kick-off had been so strong that he flew practically twenty meters away from the cliff and past the scorpion. But then the gravity of the world soon forced him to fall back down to the earth shortly afterwards.


    The scorpion hadn¡¯t expected this course of action, after all. Leaping away from the cliff only meant there was no longer any foothold to grab hold onto. With his body in the air and unable to fly, how could Bai Yunfei possibly do anything else?


    By the time the scorpion fully registered what Bai Yunfei had done, he had already fallen ten meters to the valley. A schadenfreudic light had appeared on the scorpion¡¯s eyes as if gleefully expecting the death of the human. But as it was considering just when Bai Yunfei would fall to his death, a golden rope appeared out of nowhere and flew past its head to grab onto its tail. One end was wrapped painfully around its stinger, and the other end was held tightly in the hands of the blasted human it was looking at!


    ¡°Hehe, caught you!¡± Bai Yunfei roared in happiness. Pulling with his right arm with all his might, the scorpion¡¯s position in the air was immediately destabilized. Its entire body shook violently as the beast tried to stabilize itself. In its panic however, the scorpion suddenly realized that all of a sudden, its back became heavier.


    And then there was a eerily happy laughter.


    Whilst the scorpion was trying to stabilize itself, Bai Yunfei took advantage of the distraction to swing onto the scorpion¡¯s back. With another tug of the rope, the Compliant Rope then coiled around the two pincers of the beast with a powerful tightening force.


    ¡°Skree!¡±


    A frantic screech came forth from the scorpion¡¯s mouth. With both its tail and pincer tightly bound together by the golden rope, it had no way of escape from Bai Yunfei now!


    Shaking left and right in an attempt to throw Bai Yunfei off, the scorpion tried its best to get away from the human. But, would Bai Yunfei really let the beast do as it pleased? Holding onto the rope ever so tightly, Bai Yunfei stuck to the scorpion¡¯s back and forced the scorpion from doing anything more.


    For this one moment, Bai Yunfei was akin to a knight riding his horse. But while the scorpion flew through the air, neither of the two had realized that they were flying for the forests away from the valley. There was an abrupt ¡°pop¡± sound, and then the two of them began to careen down towards it.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    Crashing through layers and layers of the trees, the scorpion soon came to a rest in a scorpion-shaped crater on the ground below. In the very last second, Bai Yunfei managed to jump away from the scorpion and evade the most of the damages he would have otherwise sustained. He was in a sorry state, but a pleased smile was still on his face.


    With the combined efforts of his brick and fist, the mighty Fifth-tier Soulbeast scorpion was knocked out and left in its sorry state right afterwards.


    Several minutes were required before Bai Yunfei managed to then climb back up to the ravaged cave again. Expectantly, he walked into the cave.


    Just what treasures would be held in this here cave?

 Chapter 164: As the Mantis Hunts the Cicada, the Oriole Stalks the Mantis

    Chapter 164: As the Mantis Hunts the Cicada, the Oriole Stalks the Mantis


    ¡°For¡­.for fucks sakes!¡±


    In this quaint valley area, an exasperated but frustrated roar called out from a cave on the walls. Echoing for a good while, the roar soon petered away.


    It was a mystery just when this saying became a personal mantra as Bai Yunfei had at one point found himself repeating this line again and again. Perhaps it was by saying this one line he would be able to let loose all of his frustrations and anger.


    ¡°Where¡¯s my treasure!?¡±


    His eyes swept across the landscape in a desperate attempt to find the hidden treasure that he so desperately coveted. Already did Bai Yunfei reach the dead ends of the cave, and there was nothing to be seen behind the vegetation and any loose stone throughout the cave.


    ¡°No no no! This can¡¯t be happening¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered despondently. For a while, he was vexed. But in the next second, his eyes lit up enthusiastically as if a new thought came to rekindle his hopes. ¡°Oh right! Underground! It has to be hidden in the ground!¡±


    Burning bright with this sliver of hope, Bai Yunfei retrieved a shovel and began to dig at the ground.


    Only five minutes were needed with Bai Yunfei¡¯s speed before his shovels hit rock-bottom. Not even a small pit-core of a fruit could be seen, let alone any hidden treasure, however¡­.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­there¡¯s really nothing¡­¡± Not only did Bai Yunfei fall down to the ground, his heart sank with him. ¡°I¡¯ve wasted so much time and energy to fight that fifth-tier soulbeast. But for what use?! Why has it come to this! It just can¡¯t be¡­.was my instincts wrong? I could have sworn¡­.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Hold on¡­¡± Out of the corners of his eyes, Bai Yunfei saw a spot of dirt that was out of place. He didn¡¯t touch this part of the dirt yet.


    He squatted down to inspect the patch of dirt. At a closer look, signs of some sort of plant was grown here. Just barely, Bai Yunfei could see a small part of what seemed to be the stolon of a plant and¡­


    ¡°Elemental wind!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with joy. In this little spot of dirt was a small bit of elemental wind from whatever plant that was plucked here!¡±


    ¡°And this must be¡­.footprints!¡± Looking around, Bai Yunfei saw another footprint on the ground, but it wasn¡¯t his!


    Several seconds were taken for Bai Yunfei to think. But then a sudden thought caused him to fly to his feet with a pale face.


    It was said that when the mantis hunts the cicada, they become unaware of the oriole standing behind it.


    He was that mantis!


    Unfortunately for him, Bai Yunfei was the foolish middleman. It was very clear to see that in the time that Bai Yunfei was dealing with the scorpion, someone else took the chance to come in the cave first!


    ¡°Careless, I was too careless! I was so focused on fighting the scorpion that another person came in to take the treasure! But he can¡¯t be weak if he managed to do all that before I got back¡­.fuck him! Just fuck it all! He better not let me find him or else!¡±


    He was angry, but even he knew there was no point to his anger. At the very least, he¡¯d be able to vent out his anger instead of holding it up in him.


    ¡°Skree!¡±


    At that moment, a furious screech erupted from the cave entrance. In the next second, a furious scorpion came rushing in! Whilst Bai Yunfei was so busy mumbling to himself, he forgot to keep an eye out for enemies!


    The scorpion came to a stop five meters away from Bai Yunfei so that it could sweep its three eyes frantically around the place. First, it spotted the hole next to Bai Yunfei.


    Then it spotted the spade in his hands.


    ¡°Oh¨Cwait! It¡¯s not what you think¡­.¡± With his heart skipping a beat, Bai Yunfei hastily stored away his spade and waved his hands in the gesture for innocence. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me! What I was looking for was already gone! Someone else came in while we weren¡¯t here. Maybe you¡¯ll be able to catch up to them if you go now!¡±


    ¡°Pfft!¡±


    The scorpion took a single step back before spitting out a glob of dark-green liquid.


    ¡°¡­.Big brother, I don¡¯t know what you lost, but it doesn¡¯t warrant you spitting blood out right?¡±


    This blob of liquid wasn¡¯t aimed at Bai Yunfei, but the ground in front of him as if an actual reenactment of someone puking blood from anger.


    So it came as a surprise to see the scorpion raise its head with all three of its eyes transfixed onto Bai Yunfei. Not only was it angry, but each of its three eyes had a tint of insanity to them almost. A bluish-green energy soon pervaded the entire room before condensing into a furious whirlwind. With the centripetal attraction force, the green liquid that the scorpion threw up earlier flew towards the whirlwind and immediately dyed the entire thing a dark-green hue. Tearing up the cave rock underneath it, the whirlwind stalked towards Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. With a deep breath, he ran straight for the cave entrance.


    The poisonous liquid that the scorpion spat out was already close to vapor form as it spread throughout the cave. By now, it had already covered the entire cave with it vapor. All that was left for Bai Yunfei to do was to try his best to sidestep the whirlwind itself towards the entrance without taking in another breath.


    ¡°Skree!¡±


    Another roar from the scorpion cleared away the whirlwind. Following up with a burst of orange light, the scorpion¡¯s pincer slammed into the ground to transmit the powers of the elemental earth into it.


    This one stab held far more power than any previous attempt, and just three meters before Bai Yunfei reached the entrance, he could feel that all around his feet, the ground was starting to vibrate. Left and right, orange-colored spikes erupted from the ground to try and surround or stab him!


    ¡°Crack!¡± Following the cracking sounds of the stalagmites forming, Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure was surrounded by these spikes.


    A lot more carefree than before, the scorpion strode for the caged formation it put up. But as it approached, a bright red light flashed out from the cracks between the stalagmites!


    And with a loud explosion, the stalagmites crumbled away to reveal a blade of fire around Bai Yunfei.


    Once more pushing off against the ground, Bai Yunfei charged for the cave entrance. He was already very depressed about the current matters. The scorpion after him had fallen into the pits of indignation and would most likely kill itself in an attempt to retrieve the treasure it was safeguarding and kill the one responsible


    He had been used as a scapegoat!


    Since there was no more need to fight, Bai Yunfei was far more willing to forego the effort.


    But at the entrance, Bai Yunfei felt slightly troubled. Should he go up, or should he go down?


    There was two hundred meters to go if he went up. But the scorpion could fly after him and the use of the Compliant Rope to travel up was rather hard to do so under the circumstances. If he went downwards, it was unsure just how long he could last before reaching the valley.


    The six blades of wind coming at him from behind gave Bai Yunfei no time to think however. Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunfei leapt down. ¡°Forget it! Wasting my energy on dodging is better than wasting it on climbing! Down we go!¡±


    With the combined efforts of gravity and pushing off against the cliff walls, Bai Yunfei was able to accelerate towards the ground. Of course, he couldn¡¯t just focus on speeding down towards the ground. Every so often, Bai Yunfei used the Compliant Rope to deccelerate himself to manageable speeds and to dodge the attacks of the scorpion whenever it came.


    Teeming with rage, the scorpion continued to chase Bai Yunfei without fail. As it drew closer to Bai Yunfei, the blades of wind and the poison it shot out rained down onto him with a furious tempo.

 Chapter 165: Save Me!

    Chapter 165: Save Me!


    ¡°Big brother! Are you finished yet?! I¡¯ve said it wasn¡¯t me!¡± The howls of Bai Yunfei reverberated throughout the forests.


    Twenty minutes passed since the chase started. The two of them had already arrived in the valley and blazed into the forest for several more minutes, but that only showed how hellbent the scorpion was on chasing Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Fucking hell! If you keep chasing me, then I¡¯ll start to get really angry!¡± He had had enough. Swapping out for several strength-increasing accessories, Bai Yunfei swapped from escape mode into battle mode. The continuous chase from start to finish only served to anger him¨Che wasn¡¯t some sort of person you could slap this way and that without resistance!


    Hopping over at treetop, Bai Yunfei prepared to whirl around to retaliate when suddenly; a stinging pain spiked through his head. Following that sting, Bai Yunfei felt his legs grow weak as if threatening to fall down from the tree he was on.


    ¡°Wha¨Cshit! I¡¯m poisoned!¡± Bai Yunfei screamed silently to himself when he realized the reason for his predicament. That poison he thought he managed to escape from back in the cave, it finally started to show its true effects now!


    ¡°Skreee!¡±


    The scorpion had been waiting for this moment for a very long time now. Two blades of wind materialized straight away to slam into Bai Yunfei before he could move. Struggling as hard as he could, Bai Yunfei barely managed to dodge the wind so that they instead slammed into the tree branch he was on. But with his footing gone, Bai Yunfei soon fell to the ground afterwards.


    Unwilling to give him the chance to respond, the two wings on its back started to beat rapidly. With a swing of its tail, the stinger flew straight for Bai Yunfei as if it was a bat ready to strike into a ball.


    Another pleased cry erupted from the scorpion when Bai Yunfei flew off into the nearby grove after a successful strike. Just as it prepared itself to give chase, a sudden splashing sound entered its ears. Something fell into the water.


    Dazed by this unexpected sound, the scorpion hurried after Bai Yunfei only to realize that its prey had fallen off over a precipice to splash into the river underneath it. By the time the scorpion reached the precipice, Bai Yunfei had already been rushed away by the river and away from the scorpion.


    He¡¯s trying to escape by using the river!


    This was what the scorpion thought.


    But the next words that came out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth nearly forced the scorpion to fall out from the sky.


    ¡°Save me! I can¡¯t swimmm!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Watching Bai Yunfei be swept away by the stream, the scorpion could only really stand there in silent shock. With a screeching sound, it turned away and left.


    For a Middle-grade Soul Sprite, being dropped into the water wasn¡¯t really a danger, even if they couldn¡¯t swim. And being poisoned so that they weren¡¯t able to move their bodies as efficiently wouldn¡¯t be life-threatening either.


    But if both conditions were to be met, then there was another story to be told altogether.


    Bai Yunfei felt so sour that he wanted to die almost. It took an extraordinarily large amount of strength to take down the scorpion, but then the treasure had been taken by someone else! Then he was taken down from the stage just like that after such a hard attempt to escape¨Cif he knew about this beforehand, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve utterly crippled the scorpion.


    It was too late for such thoughts however. Several mouthfuls of water and leaves had already been swallowed before Bai Yunfei could take advantage of a brief moment of clarity to circulate his soulforce into his limbs to try and find something to grab onto. It was to his glee that a sturdy tree branch could be felt. It wasn¡¯t enough to stay afloat on, but it¡¯d be enough to give him enough time to flush out the poison in his system and escape from the river.


    The sounds of water crashing down over itself knocked Bai Yunfei¡¯s plan out of the water however. The sight that greeted his eyes when he lifted his head forced all of the blood in his face to drain away. ¡°Fuck!!!!¡± He cried out in agony. ¡°Why do I have such bad luck!?¡±


    Just several hundred meters ahead of him was a tremendous waterfall!


    His head looked up towards the sky to mutter a quick prayer, ¡°Dear god, I was wrong! I shouldn¡¯t have blamed you for my sense of direction! But¡­do you really have to screw with me like this¡­.¡±


    The closer and closer he got to the edge of the waterfall, the more frantic Bai Yunfei got. Trying as hard as he could to devise of a way to save his life, the splashing sound of something else falling into the water caught his attention. Turning his head, he could see the scrawny figure of a person swimming towards him like a fish.


    Joy seized Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. There was a person to save him! Flailing around with all his strength, Bai Yunfei tried to reach the other person.


    This new person had quite the swimming ability. In just a mere ten seconds, he reached where Bai Yunfei was and grabbed onto his arm before turning around to swim to shore.


    With just a hundred meters to go before the point of no return, Bai Yunfei had been saved. Beating his chest as hard as he could to expel the water in him, Bai Yunfei tilted his head weakly towards his savior.


    What greeted his eyes was a dark-skinned, long-haired young male around his age. Draped in a simple cotton robe, a single rattan rope was tied from a nearby tree trunk to his waist.


    ¡°Th-cough-thank you. I¡¯d be in deep waters if not for you.¡± Bai Yunfei coughed out his thanks to his savior.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t mention it, I was just passing by. It¡¯s only natural to help someone in need. How¡¯d you fall in the water?¡± The youngster cracked a smile as he wrung water from his clothes.


    ¡°I er¡­.careless, you know¡­.just being careless¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed awkwardly.


    Choosing not to pursue the question, the youngster stood up. ¡°I¡¯m Shao Ling, what¡¯s your name, big brother?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Gotcha. Why don¡¯t we head back to my house and get you some dry clothes, you¡¯ll fee¨C¡±


    ¡°Careful!¡±


    In the midst of Shao Ling¡¯s speech, Bai Yunfei let out a cry before diving towards Shao Ling to tackle him to the ground.


    At the same time of his cry, a multicolored tiger erupted from the thickets to the left of Shao Ling. There was no premonition to its pounce other than the growl a split-second beforehand. Shao Ling had only enough time to turn his head to see the bloody jaws of the tiger come at him. The grisly stench of blood and gore was abundant in its smell. All the tiger needed to do was to clamp down with its jaws and Shao Ling would be a head short of a body.


    White greeted his eyes. All it was he could do to just close his eyes.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A cracking sound greeted his ears following the painful growl of a tiger. Opening his eyes just a crack, he could see Bai Yunfei with his fist held back and the retreating figure of a tiger back into the forest.


    ¡°You okay there?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked with slight concern.


    ¡°Ah? Oh! Ye-yea, thank you brother Bai¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry about it, we¡¯re even now!¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand with a smile. He had been given enough time earlier to completely neutralize the poison so that movement wouldn¡¯t be a challenge.


    For several minutes, Shao Ling stared wide-eyed at Bai Yunfei in silence. ¡°Big brother Bai¡­.you¡­you beat off that tiger? Bu-but¡­even that¡¯s a little to¨C¡±


    ¡°A little too what? I¡¯ve learned how to fight, fighting a wild beast like that isn¡¯t a problem.¡± Bai Yunfei shrugged it off with a smile. Looking at the thicket, he continued to say, ¡°Aren¡¯t we going back to your home? Let¡¯s go then. I¡¯ve used up a lot of energy today, I need a rest!¡±


    ¡°O-ooh. Got it, we¡¯ll go now then. Big brother Bai, this way¡­.¡±


    As Shao Ling led Bai Yunfei back to his village, another unforeseen event was currently happening in the middle of the valley¡­.

 Chapter 166: The Oriole Shows Itself!

    Chapter 166: The Oriole Shows Itself!


    As Shao Ling led Bai Yunfei back to his village, another unforeseen event was currently happening in the middle of the valley¡­.


    ¡°Skree!!¡±


    Back in the original cave, the mournful sounds of a scorpion in despair could be heard throughout the passageway.


    The entire cave was in a state of disarray far worse than when Bai Yunfei left it. Two giant fissures ran along the cave walls and the floors were filled with stalagmites that weaved in and out of one another in every way as if the scorpion was fighting a devastating battle.


    ¡°Swish!¡±


    A swing of the blade flung down onto the scorpion, eliciting another loud screech and a splurt of blood from the scorpion. As it lifeblood escaped its body, the light in all three of its eyes slowly leaked away as well. Even its giant pincers collapsed onto the ground without another sound.


    Standing at the very front of the cave entrance was a young man in white. In his hand was a meter long blade that had a curve like a crescent moon three fingers in width. Because of his recent kill of the scorpion, there was a pleased look on his face.


    Right on the other side of the scorpion was another fair-skinned man in white as well. He was considerably smaller than the first, but what struck him out as unique was the fact that he had disproportionately squinty eyes. The disharmony made for a rather comedic effect.


    The latter let out a relieved sigh after a successful confirmation of the scorpion¡¯s death. Striding towards the scorpion, he plunged his fist into the crack on the scorpion¡¯s head and fumbled about for a brief moment before taking it back out. He shook his fist to clear it of the dripping blood to reveal a small chicken-sized crystal that glowed both orange and cyan in color¨Cthis was the scorpion¡¯s soul crystal.


    With the soul crystal in hand, the squinty-eyed man walked to his companion, ¡°Brother, we¡¯ve have good luck so far! Not only did we get a thousand-year-old wind mushroom, we¡¯ve killed a Flying Scorpion and got a fifth-class soul crystal! We¡¯ll get a good haul for this!¡±


    The other man gave a nod of his head with a smile. Pulling at his weapon, there was a slight ¡°kachink!¡± sound before the weapon split into two identical looking blades!


    One of the blades was given to the squinty-eyed fellow while the youth looked at the soul crystal in his companion¡¯s hand. ¡°Yea, it¡¯s been pretty good luck. If not for that kid¡¯s ¡®help¡¯, we¡¯ve never be able to get these two treasures so easily.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, if we¡¯re going to be serious, that kid was something else! He¡¯s a late-stage Soul Sprite like you, but he can fight a fifth-class soulbeast like it¡¯s nothing! The amount of soul items he has¡­.maybe he¡¯s from the Crafting School?¡±


    As soon as he stored away his blade, the youth shook his hand once more to retrieve the daggers Bai Yunfei threw during his battle with the scorpion. Inspecting them for just a brief moment, he shook his head, ¡°Don¡¯t assume that just because someone has plenty of soul items, they¡¯re from the Crafting School. We¡¯ve no less than ten soul items each, do you think we¡¯re men from the Crafting School then too?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the same; ours are low grade ones. The ones that kid took out are higher quality than ours. Even the daggers he throws out are soul items! Even how his money is spent is far beyond how we do with ours¡­.his soul items are on a whole ¡®nother level! That bizarre golden rope, that amazing spear, and that powerful bracer¡­.if we could just take that then we¡¯d¡­.¡±


    He didn¡¯t get a response however, as the youth only bothered to stash away the daggers in deep thought¡­.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Roughly half an hour passed before Shao Ling took Bai Yunfei into a small depression in the mountain to reach a small village with what seemed to be ten households total. There were fields and livestock sheds scattered here and there, and the women and children could be seen scurrying around to work the fields or tend to the livestock. Not a single male could be seen, but Shao Ling had said that they were all hunting in the mountains and that they wouldn¡¯t be back til the afternoon.


    Heading straight into the residence to the left, Shao Ling spoke out straight away to the squatted figure feeding several bunnies inside. ¡°Sis! We¡¯ve a guest! Can you bring out some clean clothes for us to wear? It¡¯s freezing!¡±


    Startled, the figure leapt straight to her feet to reveal her appearance in full. She wore a long skirt that covered her entire body and two pigtails could be seen draped behind her head. Her face was oval-shaped and had a series of freckles that complimented her innocent-looking eyes that studied Bai Yunfei standing dubiously behind Shao Ling. Whether it was from this way or that, she looked nothing more than like a small little sister of the family that Bai Yunfei felt practically embarrassed to be stared at.


    ¡°Big brother Bai, this is my older sister, Xiao Fang.¡± He introduced Bai Yunfei to her before quipping on an additional line, ¡°She¡¯s also the prettiest girl in our village!¡¯


    ¡°Shao Ling¨Cwhat on earth happened to you? Why are you dripping wet? And¡­who¡¯s this¡­.¡± Throwing down the straws in her hand, the girl began to fret over and question Shao Ling.


    Bai Yunfei could see the look of doubt she had for him¨Cdid he turn into some sort of untrustworthy person?


    ¡°I saved him! When brother Bai fell into the river, I saved him! Then he saved me and sent a tiger packing¡­¡±


    ¡°What do you mean sent a tiger packing? Who is he; what did he do?¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai is a¡­.uhm. Brother Bai, what do you do again? And why were you in these mountains?¡± Shao Ling scratched his head. Throughout the entire way back home, he had been so caught up in how amazing Bai Yunfei was with his ¡®martial arts¡¯ that he completely forgot to ask the important questions.


    ¡°¡­.¡± An angry knot formed on Xiao Fang¡¯s head, ¡°You don¡¯t even know what type of person he is and you still brought him back home?!¡±


    ¡°Haha, please don¡¯t worry, miss. I¡¯m no bad guy¨Cjust your ordinary adventurer. I was just looking for some ingredients in the mountains when I was attacked by a wild beast when I wasn¡¯t paying attention. Thank goodness for Shao Ling¡¯s appearance, I would¡¯ve fell down the waterfall if it weren¡¯t for him.¡± Bai Yunfei gave the girl a friendly smile.


    Adventurers were in the same vein as mercenaries. They were ones that earned the trust of the people to do their work for rewards. Whether they themselves were ordinary people or soul cultivators, this was a ¡®profession¡¯ that either could do.


    Xiao Fang may just be a small village girl, but even she had heard of adventurers before from the elders. In any case, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem like he was lying, so her guard dropped ever so slightly. But still, she just had to press on, ¡°Adventurer? You¡¯re an adventurer and you still can¡¯t swim?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­.that wa¨Cwas an¡­accident¡­¡± Bai Yunfei grinned awkwardly while silently vowing to himself that he¡¯d learn to swim for sure as soon as possible.


    ¡°Okay okay! Let¡¯s forget about it for now. Don¡¯t be so suspicious of everyone sis! Brother Bai isn¡¯t some sort of bad guy; let us change first! Brother Bai, come thi¨Chold on. How come your clothes are already dry?¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the nerve to tell him that being stuck in wet clothes was so uncomfortable he used his elemental fire inside his body to dry up his clothes. ¡°You know¡­.the wind blew it dry.¡±


    ¡°¡­.¡± Shao Ling looked down to his own still dripping wet clothes with a look of befuddlement.


    Waving his hands, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Go and change your clothes, Shao Ling. I¡¯ll wait for you outside.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Why not come insi¨C¡± Before he could finish, his sister dragged him inside one of the rooms.


    Seeing how uneasy the girl was around him, Bai Yunfei just had to shake his head. ¡°If I was a bad guy, would there even be a point to you being so uneasy?¡±

 Chapter 167: Post Battle Analysis

    Chapter 167: Post Battle Analysis


    ¡°Sis, why aren¡¯t you letting brother Bai in? He¡¯s¡ª¡±


    ¡°Stop talking. Hurry up and change your clothes!¡± Xiao Fang threw a new change of clothes to him. ¡°Who told you to bring home a random stranger? Mom and dad aren¡¯t home, what if something happened?¡± She scolded.


    A frown etched itself on her brother¡¯s face. ¡°You still think brother Bai is a bad guy, what¡¯s with all this suspicion? Let me tell you, brother Bai is amazing! He can beat back a tiger, even brother Zhu Zi can¡¯t do that!¡±


    The defiance from Shao Ling surprised even her.


    As she prepared herself to talk back to her, an abrupt clamor from the back of the house distracted her.


    ¡°Dad and mom are back!¡± Her face lit up, ¡°Let¡¯s go back too.¡±


    Outside the house, Bai Yunfei came to realize that there were people coming down from the mountains as well. These newcomers were dressed like hunters with hunting crossbows in one hand and game, such as hares and pheasants, in the other hand. They sauntered toward the village with laughs and grins on their faces.


    While Bai Yunfei tried to figure out how to address these, Xiao Fang came scurrying out with the newly-dressed Shao Ling tailing after her. No longer wary of Bai Yunfei, Xiao Fang gave Bai Yunfei a slight nod on her way to the incoming people.


    ¡°Brother Bai, our parents are back! Hold on a sec now, I¡¯ll introduce you to them!¡± Shao Ling piped up on his way past him.


    ¡­¡­


    A single conversation was all it took for Shao Ling¡¯s parents and the other villagers to express an extremely amicable and friendly reception. Perhaps it was his fitting conversational mannerisms or perhaps it was his cordial personality, but whatever it was, even Xiao Fang became friendlier to him.


    It was when Shao Ling mentioned that Bai Yunfei would be staying with them for the time being that a brief flash of murderous intent rose from the one stalwart youth named Zhu Zi. The reason for this was a complete mystery to Bai Yunfei.


    Shao Ling had five family members including himself. There was his older sister Xiao Fang, his parents, and a bedridden grandmother. His mother was currently out picking vegetables, so she wouldn¡¯t return to the village until later. That night, the family laid out a series of meat and vegetables for Bai Yunfei to enjoy. During the meal, Shao Ling continued to brag again and again to the rest of the family about how Bai Yunfei had scared away the tiger with so much enthusiasm that it felt more as if he was the one who scared the tiger away. In truth, Shao Ling had absolutely no idea how Bai Yunfei had accomplished such a feat since he had the living daylights scared out of him during that moment.


    Heavy rainfall came that night¡ªmuch to Bai Yunfei¡¯s delight. He was tired of sleeping out in the forests and eating game, one of the reasons why he followed Shao Ling back to his village. Moreover, the major battle and escape he went through took a lot out of him, so he wanted a rest.


    Of course, he wanted to ask for directions too¡­


    An additional bed was rolled out for him in Shao Ling¡¯s room for Bai Yunfei to sleep on. After Shao Ling fell asleep, Bai Yunfei sat upright on his bed and made a detailed observation of the state his body was in. As soon as he reconfirmed that the scorpion¡¯s poison was completely neutralized and gone from his body, Bai Yunfei thought back to the battle to come up with a post-battle analysis.


    ¡°I can¡¯t let myself be confused by my enemies! Even if they look like a scorpion, I can¡¯t take them to be a scorpion. They could be a scorpion with wings like a dragonfly¡­¡± Came the very first conclusion.


    ¡°Being able to use two elements doesn¡¯t make one stronger. It¡¯s kind of a double-edged sword in a way too; one that can¡¯t balance between the two won¡¯t always be as strong as someone that focuses on one element¡­ I have to focus on cultivating the elemental fire it seems. Without the right amount of strength, I can¡¯t allow myself to start on a second.


    ¡°The Upgrade Technique really boosted my strength to its limits if I could beat a scorpion that was using only one of its two elements¡­ it was a fifth-tier soulbeast at any rate, and it was still beaten down by the Upgrade Technique¡­


    ¡°But ¡ª am I not depending too much on the Upgrade Technique? Without this equipment, I¡¯d be putty in the hands of the scorpion, wouldn¡¯t I?¡± Bai Yunfei eyed the Flame-edge Bracer on his right arm with great concern. Pondering to himself for a moment longer, he shook his head with a self-mocking laugh. ¡°What am I even thinking? To not use the Upgrade Technique, what am I¡ªan idiot? The Upgrade Technique is a part of my strength. Using it to improve my strength is my strongest aspect! Why should I feel bad about relying on it? Really now!


    ¡°Besides, the stronger I get, the stronger my opponents will get as well. The equipment I¡¯ll have won¡¯t always be able to keep up with my growth either¡­¡± Bai Yunfei took off the Goldsilk Armor he was wearing underneath his robes. He placed it in front of him to inspect. All over the surface, several intertwining cracks could be seen here and there, and some parts of it was missing some threads. This was the accumulation of wear-and-tear from all his constant battles in the past.


    ¡°And these accessories that increase my attributes are gradually starting to get weaker too. Though the ones that give me a percentile increase are clearly way better than the ones that give a numerical increase¡­¡±


    The strongest accessories he had at the moment were ¡®High-grade¡¯ ones with the +10 equipment granting him an additional sixty points in bonuses. To Bai Yunfei, the effects weren¡¯t as nice as they were before, but the amount of items he had was still quite impressive.


    He felt rather distracted when he touched the Goldsilk Armor. It had been with him for the past half year, and memories of it came flooding back to him with that touch. When he found it in the Blackwood Stronghold, getting to know Li Chengfeng, fighting a Soul Personage, fighting a Soul Warrior, and destroying the bandits¡ªhe could kill those type of soul cultivators with a flick of a finger now, but those times had been exceptionally hard on him¡­


    Unknowingly, half a year had passed since then. Somehow, Bai Yunfei had grown from being a weakling during that time.


    At some point during his thoughts, Bai Yunfei was jolted back to awareness by Shao Ling¡¯s rambling sleeptalk. Wrapping up his thoughts with a shake of his head, Bai Yunfei wiped some dust off of the Goldsilk Armor before putting it back on. He wasn¡¯t quite willing to upgrade this item in particular yet. It was his strongest defensive soul item, and risking the chance of failure wasn¡¯t worth the candle used to light up the room. He might as well upgrade another item in its place.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get some rest after doing my routine. Then I¡¯ll leave this village for the Pingchuan Province in two days.¡±


    This so-called routine was basically him upgrading several equipment as he pleased before bed. He¡¯d stop whenever he¡¯d like, or if his luck was particularly bad that day, he¡¯d leave some items for a time when he felt luckier.


    ¡­¡­


    Roughly forty minutes later.


    ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°Equipment grade: High¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10.¡±


    ¡°Additional attribute: +58 attack.¡±


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: +112 attack is added.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 29 soulpoints.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at a jadeite ring in his hand with a pleased smile. ¡°Haha, good! Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d get three +10 accessories. The additional effects aren¡¯t anything special, but they aren¡¯t that bad either.


    ¡°Oh? I¡¯ve already run out of items to upgrade?¡± After storing away the ring, Bai Yunfei realized that the space ring holding all the items he wanted to upgrade was clean out of items.


    ¡°Wow! I run out of stuff fast¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head derisively. Just as he prepared himself to go to sleep, a sudden thought entered his head. Shaking his right hand, another item appeared in it.


    It was the +8 straw hat he was so fond of wearing on his head.


    Considering his ¡®situation,¡¯ today was quite decent. He might as well upgrade this one.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade¡­¡±


    ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

 Chapter 168: The Walk-on Strawha

    Chapter 168: The Walk-on Strawhat


    ¡°Upgrade successful.¡±


    ¡°Equipment grade: Normal.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade level: +10.¡±


    ¡°Defense: 2.¡±


    ¡°Additional defense: 10.¡±


    ¡°+10 Additional effect: Weaken presence by 10%.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade requirement: 9 Soulpoints.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat¡ªit was a success!


    ¡°Eh? Presence? What stat is this?¡± He was at a loss for words when it came to looking at this newfound effect. Bai Yunfei had never seen it before.


    ¡°A completely new effect!¡± He nearly cried out in joy. To have a new type of effect pop up meant that he had discovered a new layer of mystery to the Upgrade Technique.


    ¡°Presence¡­? I can understand what it does based on its name, but¡ªcan something like that really be weakened?¡± Bai Yunfei placed the straw hat on his head.


    Absolutely nothing.


    ¡°Then¡­ does it work against other people?¡± Bai Yunfei thought. ¡°If I wear it, will people be 10% less aware of my ¡®presence?¡¯ What an odd effect¡­ but the Upgrade Technique doesn¡¯t lie. That means¡­ I can become someone no one notices!¡±


    Feeling as if he managed to grab hold of an idea, Bai Yunfei began to grow more and more curious at the thought.


    ¡°Weakening the presence means to not be noticed so that people will overlook me. That means¡­ stealth!¡±


    ¡°Good stuff! Super good!¡± Bai Yunfei eyed the hat with bright eyes, ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought that such an ordinary-looking hat would gain such a powerful effect! That was super worth it! But still¡­ 10% is a little too¡­¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­ I¡¯m getting too greedy. Something like this is already pretty good!¡± Bai Yunfei realized that whenever he upgraded something into something even better, his ¡®greedy¡¯ nature came out. This wouldn¡¯t do¡­


    Just slightly beating himself up for these thoughts, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°Weakening my presence means to have other people overlook me. Wouldn¡¯t that mean I¡¯d become a walk-on character then? Haha, fine then! I¡¯ll call this hat the ¡®Walk-on Strawhat!¡¯¡±


    Satisfied, Bai Yunfei stored away the hat and lay back on his bed to rest. Tomorrow he would experiment with the strawhat¡¯s effect and see just how good a 10% decrease of his presence would be.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The entire night continued in a heavy rainfall, leaving the next morning fresh but clear. The trees and grass were filled with crystalline droplets of water¡ªmorning dew that glistened in the first rays of the sun.


    In this peaceful, quiet village, plumes of smoke rose up from the chimneys and into the sky. Here and there, the crowing of roosters and the baying of dogs could be heard breaking the silence, ushering the village into another lively day.


    To the leftmost side of the village, there was a rather excited and exuberant voice coming from one of the rooms.


    ¡°1675£¡1676£¡1678¡­¡±


    On his bed, Shao Ling¡¯s eyes were focused entirely on the sight in front of him. His face was red from excitement as he counted off a number one after another.


    Right in front of him, Bai Yunfei was on the ground with his left arm behind his back and the fingers of his right arm pressed against the ground as he did his push ups. With each rise, Shao Ling would spout out a number as a clear indication of how many push ups Bai Yunfei had completed so far.


    There was a good reason for this. Just half an hour before, Shao Ling begged Bai Yunfei to teach him how to fight incessantly, spouting something about how he wanted to beat brother Zhu Zi as the strongest person in the village. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to teach someone though. Soul Cultivators were capable of cultivation. Ordinary people were not. Unable to take it any longer, Bai Yunfei relented.


    The very first step to learning how to fight was to temper the body.


    Who would¡¯ve thought that Shao Ling would then drop down to the floor and do a hundred consecutive push ups without batting an eye?


    It would seem that life as a village boy was tenacious enough for his body to undergo a lot of physical development.


    In the end, Bai Yunfei added on another stipulation, ¡°If you can do half as many as I can, I¡¯ll teach you then.¡±


    And so, the result here and today was what developed from that.


    By the time he got to two thousand push ups, Bai Yunfei lost all interest in it and stood up. Dusting himself off, he said, ¡°That¡¯s all to it. Whenever you can do half of that, I¡¯ll teach you.¡±


    Up until now, Shao Ling had been red with excitement, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s words deflated his mood immediately. ¡°Half?! That¡¯s a thousand push ups! How could I do¡ªeven brother Zhu Zi wouldn¡¯t be able to do that much! How could I do that!?¡±


    ¡°Haha. As long as you hone yourself everyday, you¡¯ll become strong one day. That¡¯s how I became strong.¡± Bai Yunfei consoled him.


    ¡°Wha¡ªreally?¡±


    ¡°Really.¡± For the sake of disengaging from this troublesome request, Bai Yunfei had ever so shamelessly lied to this poor fellow, but in his mind, he thought, ¡°Training the body isn¡¯t wrong by any means, so this means I shouldn¡¯t be lying to him either, right?¡±


    It was right at that moment when the doors behind Bai Yunfei were suddenly pushed open to reveal Xiao Fang. Striding into the room, she said, ¡°Shao Ling, what in the world are you doing so early in the mo¡ªeep!!¡±


    The rest of Xiao Fang¡¯s words died in her mouth. She ran back out of the room like a frightened hare with a face bright-red full of embarrassment. When she entered the room, the very first thing that met her eyes was the rugged body of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± The two males in the room were speechless. Awkwardly, Bai Yunfei put on his clothes and turned sheepishly to Shao Ling, ¡°Well, we should go eat breakfast then¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    When afternoon came, Bai Yunfei decided that now would be the best time to test out the effects of the Walk-on Strawhat. As soon as Shao Ling wore the hat, Bai Yunfei could feel with his soulsense that Shao Ling¡¯s aura made a sudden dip.


    Naturally, only a soul cultivator would be able to able to properly sense this distinct change. A regular person would practically overlook him.


    He saw the effects first-hand when both Shao Ling and him delivered several things to Shao Ling¡¯s next door neighbor, uncle Li. The very first thing that Bai Yunfei was asked was, ¡°Where¡¯s Shao Ling?¡±


    Then uncle Li noticed Shao Ling a moment later. Uncle Li complained right after, saying that Shao Ling shouldn¡¯t have been hiding in the corner and that he didn¡¯t even notice him.


    Pleased as punch with the effects of the Walk-on Strawhat, Bai Yunfei stored it away. Of course, he also decided to keep secret the fact that he pulled the wool over uncle Li¡¯s eyes by pretending to deliver things to him.


    Xiao Fang on the other hand went scarlet whenever she saw Bai Yunfei; most likely because of the fact that catching sight of Bai Yunfei that morning still made her extremely embarrassed.


    What was completely astounding to Bai Yunfei was just how embarrassed she could be!


    ¡°I was the one that you saw. The one that should be embarrassed should be me! I didn¡¯t give you permission to look. What¡¯s your excuse!?¡±


    Yet Bai Yunfei had to admit that Xiao Fang was an extremely hardworking and traditional girl. In the morning she could be seen sweeping the floors, washing the clothes, feeding the chickens, and other completing other housework without a complaint or misstep in her stride. Even to the neighbors, she was a courteous young woman. A sight like that was rare to come by.


    ¡°The guy she marries will be a lucky one.¡±


    Of course¡ªthis compliment was made from a completely objective perspective. He didn¡¯t have any improper feelings whatsoever.


    In the afternoon, another incident occurred.


    It came to Xiao Fang¡¯s attention that there was a shortage of firewood, so she prepared herself to chop some more wood, but just as she was about to start working, Bai Yunfei stopped her so that he could help out.


    Reddening in the face, she tried to decline Bai Yunfei¡¯s offer, but he took the axe from her anyways, ¡°No worries, just leave it to me!¡± He said.


    When he took the axe, his hand brushed against Xiao Fang¡¯s supple arm by mere accident, causing her to blush again. Smiling awkwardly, he muttered out an apology and paid no more attention to it.


    Shao Ling assisted Bai Yunfei by replacing the firewood each time he chopped. Bai Yunfei was completely unaware that not too far away in the forest, a pair of eyes was watching him.


    From the start of when Bai Yunfei and Xiao Fang started their little quibble, the owner of these eyes had been carefully watching, and when the young woman left the place with a bashful expression thanks to Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®frivolous¡¯ attitude, the eyes of the watcher immediately glowered with a spark of indignation and hostility.

 Chapter 169: Going Hunting

    Chapter 169: Going Hunting


    ¡°Ha!¡±


    The muscles of Zhu Zi bulged, to emphasize his strength, as he latched onto the coral horns of a deer. Following a loud grunt, he lifted the small calf-sized deer up and over so he could then slam it back down onto the ground. From there, it only took another five or six punches to render the deer paralyzed. It remained on the ground without strength to move.


    A clamor arose from the people around him as the villagers extolled him for his feat.


    ¡°Zhu Zi, you¡¯re simply amazing! What a man to capture even a Bulldeer!¡±


    ¡°Aye, those are beasts that can beat a wild boar when they reach adulthood!¡±


    ¡°Zhu Zi, thank you! Imagine just how many of us would have been injured by it if not for you¡­¡±


    ¡°Zhu Zi¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Having been lavished by the high accolades of these villagers, Zhu Zi was pleased. Ever since he had found that peculiar white stone when he was ten, his body had undergone a massive transformation. No longer was he the same sickly boy from long ago. Now, he was a strong male with a body that was practically immune to every disease and sickness that could be thrown at it. Zhu Zi was now the man that every villager would praise as the best hunter in the village.


    ¡°Haha, let¡¯s get this Bulldeer tied up and ready to go, we¡¯re goi¡ª¡±


    ¡°Aah! Big brother Bai, be careful!¡±


    The startled voice of Shao Ling suddenly cut into Zhu Zi¡¯s speech, causing everyone to look to the right side of the forest.


    Before anyone could move even a finger, a ¡°thwack¡± could be heard following the sound of something falling to the ground. Shao Ling¡¯s voice cut through the forest again, but this time with a tone of amazement. ¡°Woah! Big brother Bai! You did it! You¡¯re amazing!¡±


    Befuddled by Shao Ling¡¯s shout, everyone looked to the right side of the forest where the thicket was slowly being pushed apart. As soon as the thicket was pushed away, the source of why Shao Ling was so excited was made apparent to everyone else, which resulted in their jaws dropping to the floor.


    What shocked them wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei or Shao Ling. Instead, on Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder was a giant water buffalo¡­


    ¡­¡­


    All around Bai Yunfei, the very same group of villagers that had been praising Zhu Zi were now smiling and laughing around Bai Yunfei. Even Shao Ling was going on and on about the amazingness of Bai Yunfei and the story behind the catch. Compared to the water buffalo on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, the deer wasn¡¯t even half its size. With nary a word, Zhu Zi gave a small snort.


    But he said nothing.


    ¡°Shao Ling, why are you here?¡±


    A rather crisp voice suddenly made itself known, allowing Zhu Zi¡¯s face to finally light up. Turning his head, he saw Xiao Fang walk toward the group. A bamboo weaved basket was strapped to her back and a tiny hoe hung by her left side, but on her face was an inquisitive stare that roved over everyone.


    ¡°Sis? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be picking herbs in the east? Why are you here?¡± Shao Ling asked with an equal amount of curiosity.


    First greeting everyone else in the group, Xiao Fang then replied to Shao Ling. ¡°This IS the eastern forest! You all should be hunting in the northern mountains. How did you manage to come all the way here?¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ª this is the eastern forests?¡± For a while, Shao Ling was lost. In the midst of a confused look around, a realization hit him, ¡°Oh! I know! We must have chased that river doe all the way over here without realizing it¡­¡±


    ¡°Xiao Fang, why are you collecting herbs all by yourself? Wasn¡¯t aunty with you? It¡¯s dangerous to be by yourself with so many beasts around here¡­¡± Zhu Zi questioned Xiao Fang in concern.


    ¡°Mom felt worried about grandma, so she went home first. I¡¯ll be careful, don¡¯t you worry brother Zhu Zi¡­¡± Xiao Fang nodded her head to reassure him. Halfway through her nod, her eyes landed on the not yet trussed up Bulldeer at his feet.


    ¡°A Bulldeer!¡± she remarked. ¡°Brother Zhu Zi, did you hunt this? How amazing; this is a grea¡ª¡±


    Halfway through her words, Xiao Fang¡¯s eyes landed on the water buffalo on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder. When she had first arrived, the villagers had blocked her view so she had been unable to see the buffalo.


    Laughing as he greeted her, Bai Yunfei waved, ¡°Miss Xiao Fang, how goes herb hunting?¡±


    ¡°Ah? Oh! I just need some Adder¡¯s Tongue (A randomly named item, if there is any grass with this name, it is purely coincidental)¡­¡± Xiao Fang replied to him with a rather blank stare.


    ¡°Ah, Adder¡¯s Tongue? Then let me help you with tha¡ª watch out!¡± Bai Yunfei had barely enough time to finish his sentence when a sudden movement from the corner of his eye prompted him to cry out a warning to the other villagers.


    The Bulldeer that had previously been motionless on the ground had suddenly sprung to its feet. It had been pretending to be unconscious! Before any of the villagers could react, the Bulldeer made a beeline for Xiao Fang!


    Bringing its head down, the deer¡¯s two giant coral-like horns ominously oriented themselves in Xiao Fang¡¯s direction. Practically no time elapsed before the Bulldeer was well within ramming distance of Xiao Fang! Like a deer in headlights, Xiao Fang was rooted right where she was. If she didn¡¯t move out of the way now, then the consequences would be dire for her.


    Out of all the villagers, Zhu Zi was not only the closest one to the Bulldeer, but also the fastest one of them to respond. He dug his feet into the mud beneath him preparing to fly toward the Bulldeer like an arrow released from its bow. He flew straight toward it to grab its tail.


    It came as a complete shock when the Bulldeer kicked up its behind so that it flew up into the air, and with a decisive kick, the two hind legs shot straight for Zhu Zi!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Zhu Zi was right in the middle of grabbing the tail of the Bulldeer, so the two hindlegs of the beast caught him right in the abdomen. The hindlegs of the Bulldeer, though far from dangerous, were more than enough to send him flying back with spit coming from his mouth.


    Not only had it been effective in kicking back Zhu Zi, the impact force doubled its speed toward Xiao Fang!


    ¡°Sis!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Fang!¡±


    Zhu Zi, Shao Ling, and Xiao Fang¡¯s father cried out one after another in horror¡ªnot a single one of them would have enough time to save her. Thus, they were horrified at the oncoming danger.


    Xiao Fang shared their horror, but while they were vocal in their terror, she herself was silent. She could see the Bulldeer charging at her. She could see that the coral-like horns could claim her life without a problem, but the shock of it all left her mortified.


    A sudden tightening of something on her right wrist snapped Xiao Fang out of her stupor. Pulled out of the way of Bulldeer¡¯s charge, she was brought to safety behind a large figure.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid.¡±


    Those three words didn¡¯t even register to the still bewildered Xiao Fang. All she could see was the figure clench his right fist to punch the incoming Bulldeer.


    ¡°Thwack!!¡±


    Just as fast as it came, the Bulldeer went flying in the opposition direction, tumbling to a stop right in front of the motionless villagers. Both the nose and the mouth of the Bulldeer were filled with blood, and in its current state, it was clear for everyone to see that it was dead.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Silence.


    An eerie silence pervaded the forest for a good while as everyone stared at the dead Bulldeer in mute shock. For as long as the forest was devoid of sound, their minds were devoid of thought.

 Chapter 170: Sudden Mishap

    Chapter 170: Sudden Mishap


    ¡°Miss Xiao Fang, are you alright?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s calm words broke the silence within the forest and jolted everyone back to reality.


    ¡°Ah? Oh! I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m fine. Th¡ªthank you¡­¡± Still slightly in a daze, Xiao Fang managed to reply to him.


    ¡°Haha, as long as you¡¯re fine, there¡¯s no need to thank me.¡± Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei gave her a smile.


    By now, all of the villagers were crowding around the two. Uncle Xu and Shao Ling were the most prominent in looking over Xiao Fang, fearing that she had been injured, while the other villagers gibbered almost incoherently over one another. Leaving them to their antics, Bai Yunfei walked over to Zhu Zi was who still retching on the floor. Extending a hand to him, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    The hand was ignored. Zhu Zi gave a look of mixed emotions toward Bai Yunfei for just a brief moment as if trying to understand the person. Choosing to crawl up from the ground by himself, he stalked toward Xiao Fang while massaging his neck.


    Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei chose not to pay him any attention.


    Now that everyone was calm once more, Shao Ling turned to look at his own personal hero with a renewed amount of awe and respect.


    ¡°Big brother Bai! Big brother Bai! What are you looking at?¡±


    Shao Ling¡¯s words jolted Bai Yunfei from his thoughts. Looking to the younger boy, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Eh? Shao Ling, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m asking you, what are you looking at?¡± Shao Ling¡¯s pointed at the rest of the villagers, who were busy inquiring about Zhu Zi¡¯s injuries. ¡°Everyone¡¯s saying we¡¯ve got enough game for today, so we¡¯re ready to go home! What were you looking at?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Got it. Let¡¯s go back home then¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head and moved to pick up the Bulldeer. From there, he smiled and walked toward Zhu Zi¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Life in the village over the next two days was extremely blissful for Bai Yunfei. Hunting game, chopping wood, and the overall relaxation of his mind and body¨CBai Yunfei felt all of the fatigue and weariness he had accumulated on his journey be washed away.


    Xiao Fang didn¡¯t have some sort of melodramatic change of affection for him after he saved her, but at the very least, she treated him far more amicably than before. It wasn¡¯t just her. The rest of the village had started to treat Bai Yunfei with respect as if he was now a hero.


    There was one person in particular that didn¡¯t treat him as such, of course. That person was Zhu Zi. At times, the amount of hostility from him was left unmasked, but whether that was done on purpose or on accident was never clear to Bai Yunfei. Still, it was enough for him to realize that this kid liked Xiao Fang. Upon realizing that, Bai Yunfei himself began to dislike this ¡°hero saving his woman¡± type of respect that came from living with Xiao Fang¡¯s family.


    The mystery on why Zhu Zi treated him like an enemy was finally solved, but Bai Yunfei lacked the motivation to explain things to Zhu Zi. In any case, he was about to leave soon, so he didn¡¯t really bother to think hard about the issue at all.


    According to his own observations, Zhu Zi was at an expected level for the common standard usage of soulforce. He hadn¡¯t yet awakened, but Zhu Zi¡¯s physique was exceptionally well off; it was practically challenging the limits of what the normal human could do. Catching an incoming Bulldeer with one¡¯s own hands was something only a few commoners could pull off.


    His attitude was fine as well. Even though he disliked Bai Yunfei, he never sought trouble with him and he treated the other villagers well. Perhaps it was because he knew that he wasn¡¯t a match for Bai Yunfei even if he tried to make a sneak attack.


    On the afternoon of the third day, Bai Yunfei could be seen roosting on top of a tree branch, soaking in the sun. In his mouth was a long piece of dogtail grass that was slowly being chewed as he planned out his future journey.


    ¡°I¡¯ve pretty much done my fill of resting. I should leave tomorrow morning and cross the mountains to reach the Pingchuan province. With time I should be able to reach the Crafting School¡­¡±


    The Crafting School accepted students into their school twice every year on the fifth day of the fifth month and the eleventh day of the eleventh month. It was now just entering the tenth month, leaving only forty days or so left until the deadline. So with that in mind, Bai Yunfei felt that it was time to hurry to the Crafting School. If he delayed any longer, he¡¯d miss the deadline, and that would be very annoying.


    Of course, getting there on one of these two days was just the easy part. Each time they held the enrollment, countless of people would apply, but only a meager few would be accepted.


    ¡°Big brother Bai! Big brother Bai, where are you!?¡±


    The panicked cry of Shao Ling knocked Bai Yunfei out of his thoughts. Jumping to his feet and off the branch, Bai Yunfei called out, ¡°Shao Ling, I¡¯m right here! What¡¯s going on?¡±


    As soon Shao Ling came into view, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together in concern.


    Just several meters away from him, Shao Ling could be seen hobbling. Countless abrasions and scratches adorned his body, and his right arm had a single long wound that oozed with blood. Holding him by the arm was Zhu Zi, whose normally calm but formidable-looking face was now as pale as parchment. His left arm was twisted and hung uselessly by the side¡ªclearly broken. Bloodstains marked his chest, and blood could still be seen spilling from his mouth.


    At the sight of Bai Yunfei, Shao Ling¡¯s face lit up. Scrambling on over as fast as he could while holding onto Zhu Zi, he cried out to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Big brother Bai! Something terrible has happened! You have to save my sis!¡±


    Hurrying on over them the two, Bai Yunfei began to transmit some of his soulforce into their bodies to aid their recovery. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He asked. ¡°Weren¡¯t you helping Xiao Fang pick some herbs? What in the world did this to you? Where¡¯s Xiao Fang?¡±


    ¡°How dare you!!¡± Zhu Zi managed to give off a surprisingly loud retort as he knocked away Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm. Grabbing at the hems of Bai Yunfei¡¯s clothes with his remaining good hand, he snarled, ¡°Just who are you!? You bastard! If something happens to XIao Fang, then I won¡¯t forgive you!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knit together in confusion. Pulling Zhu Zi¡¯s hand away, he asked, ¡°What do you mean? It has to do with me? What in the world happened to Xiao Fang?¡±


    Then he noticed Zhu Zi¡¯s wounds. Not only was he angry, Zhu Zi was so injured that with each word he snarled out, blood accompanied his spittle. Clearly, he was in no condition to be answering questions.


    ¡°Shao Ling, you tell me! Tell me about what happened in detail! No matter what danger Xiao Fang is in, I¡¯ll rescue her!¡±


    Pushing his soulforce into the two again, Bai Yunfei started to accelerate their healing.


    It was unknown whether or not Bai Yunfei¡¯s commanded him to calm down or if he had been able to calm down himself, but Shao Ling managed to take in a deep breath to summarize the events.


    ¡°The three of us went behind the mountains to collect herbs, and since brother Zhu Zi was with us, we went a little farther than usual. When we reached the northeastern valleys, two men suddenly popped out of nowhere. They¡­ they were strong! They managed to grab sis as soon as they came! Brother Zhu Zi tried to fight them, but one of them had only needed to use one hand to completely defeat him! Even at his best, brother Zhu Zi was no match for them. It was a baby trying to fight an adult¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡­ they said that we were to go back and tell big brother Bai to come to them. If you don¡¯t, then¡­ then they¡¯d kill sis! Big brother Bai¡­ just who are you? Why are they after you? You have to save my sis!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together as an irritable and suspicious emotion filled his head.


    ¡°Their target is me¡­ but who? Who would want to fight me?¡±

 Chapter 171: Crescent Moon Killers

    Chapter 171: Crescent Moon Killers


    ¡°Their target is me¡­ but who? Who would want to fight me?¡±


    A strange but doubtful feeling welled up inside of Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. From what Shao Ling was saying, Xiao Fang was captured by enemies for the express purpose of provoking him.


    ¡°Is it the Glacial School? Or maybe the Beast Taming School?¡± Bai Yunfei just had to laugh when he made these two conjectures. There was practically no way that the Beast Taming School would be after him, and the Glacial School wouldn¡¯t bother with trying to capture a random commoner to get to him.


    ¡°The fact that they¡¯ve kidnapped Xiao Fang is very obvious. They want to intimidate me. This means I¡¯ve only a few options left ahead of me¡­ But this means that creepy feeling of someone looking at me was actually them! Dammit! I was an idiot to think that just because I was in a remote village, I¡¯d have no enemies around¡­


    ¡°And if they came for me, that means they know I¡¯m a soul cultivator, but to take Xiao Fang as a hostage means they¡¯re unsure of if they could beat me in a one-on-one battle!


    ¡°There¡¯s two people. That means the strongest one shouldn¡¯t be anywhere past the Soul Sprite stage. There¡¯d be no point on kidnapping her then, but I can¡¯t be sure if they¡¯ve any other hidden comrades with them. If that¡¯s the case, their strengths should be weaker than the other two. In short¡­ their strengths must be on par with mine. They just want an extra assurance that they¡¯d be able to beat me! So, there¡¯s a hostage, a trap, the advantage in terrain, and probably several other factors on their side¡­


    ¡°But just who are they? And what do they want with me?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind raced furiously as he tried to think of a solution.


    ¡°If we rule out the motive for revenge, it has to be something else then. I do have plenty of items worth looking after¡­ the Upgrade Technique and soul items!¡± Suddenly, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes light up as if he had reached a realization. ¡°They know about the soul items I have, they know about my strength, they know that I¡¯m a strong soul cultivator, and they¡¯ve been spying on me for the past several days¡­ Ah! They have to be the soul cultivators that stole the treasure from the cave with the scorpion!¡±


    The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he was right! Then a flash of fury washed over him, ¡°This is the ¡®oriole¡¯ from before! They stole MY treasure, and now they want to take my upgrade equipment! And they¡¯re using a delicate woman as a hostage to boot!¡±


    ¡°Whatever the case, saving lives is most important!¡± Now that he had the general gist of things, Bai Yunfei was no longer hesitant.


    In the eyes of some soul cultivators, the lives of a commoner wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning. There was no time to waste then. If something happened to Xiao Fang, how would Bai Yunfei ever forgive himself?


    By now, the wounds of Shao Ling were practically healed, and the heavy wounds of Zhu Zi were more or less stable. With a quick stabilization of the wounds on his left arm, Bai Yunfei said to Zhu Zi and Shao Ling, ¡°You two head on back first! I¡¯ll definitely bring Xiao Fang back!¡±


    ¡°No! I¡¯m going with you!¡± Zhu Zi tried to speak with as much of a calm demeanor as he could. With his right arm pulling at his left arm, his expression was rather calm despite his wounds.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m going too! I have to save sis!¡± Shao Ling spoke in earnest.


    ¡°What in the world are you doing?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together, ¡°This isn¡¯t something you two can get involved in. Let me take care of it.¡±


    ¡°No! I¡¯m going! Even if I can¡¯t beat them, I¡¯ll die trying!¡± Zhu Zi stood his ground.


    ¡°Big brother Bai, I¡¯m going with you! We¡¯ll hide by the side, who knows, maybe we¡¯ll be of help¡­¡± Shao Ling refused to back down and pleaded with Bai Yunfei.


    There just wasn¡¯t any time to finagle with them any longer. Giving just a few seconds to mull it over, Bai Yunfei grumbled, ¡°Fine! You guys can come, but you better listen to whatever plan I have!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The Crescent Moon Killers were one of the most prominent figures in the underworld of the Beiyan Province. Tang Ya and Su Xia were brothers both at the level of a Late-stage Soul Sprite with the wind affinity. Even Primary-stage Soul Ancestors would think twice before engaging with them.


    There was a good reason for that. The two brothers were said to be in possession of a pair of exceptionally strong soul items, two crescent moon blades¡ªthe reason behind their titular title, ¡°Crescent Moon Killers.¡±


    These two brothers were well-known in the underworld for always being greedy, but the ¡®wealth¡¯ they wanted didn¡¯t mean money or material riches. It referred to what soul cultivators would consider as wealth: soul items, soul crystals, soul techniques, etc.


    Whenever they saw something they wanted, they¡¯d do their very best to steal it. Of course, if they were to just blindly loot everything they saw, then the powerful soul cultivators in the world would be sure to make sure not a piece of their corpses remained. They never went after dangerous game. They always went after game they could for sure beat. f they were unfortunate enough to make enemies with someone they couldn¡¯t beat, they¡¯d have no qualms with turning around and fleeing without fighting.


    They made their first ¡®appearance¡¯ eight years ago, and from there, their names skyrocketed throughout the entire Beiyan Province.


    It was a coincidence that they heard wind of a flying scorpion in this area, so they came to investigate the mountains. After several days, they were planning on distracting the scorpion and stealing the treasure within the cave. The monster guarding the cave was a fifth-tier Soulbeast, so while the task wasn¡¯t impossible, the risks and chances of failure were too high for them to try taking it head-on.


    As soon as Bai Yunfei appeared, the two men were able take the wind mushroom and even set up an ambush in the cave to kill the weakened flying scorpion.


    To them, this profit was completely unexpected, but then they also saw just how many extraordinarily strong soul items Bai Yunfei had. It was enough for them to covet them, so they decided to steal them.


    It was very possible that he might be from the Crafting School or even from a major house or another school, but the enticement was so huge that they completely disregarded the potential risks in favor of their greed.


    In any case, Bai Yunfei was by himself. In this desolate mountainous area, a death could be easily committed and hidden.


    Thus the two brothers spent one day tracking Bai Yunfei¡¯s steps and then another two days to observing him. Today, they finally struck. They captured one of the villagers close to him to drag him out.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Big bro, you think this is going to work? There¡¯s no way that kid¡¯s going to try to save a commoner while knowing that this is a trap, right? It¡¯s been too long already.¡± The squinty-eyed Su Xia glanced at Xiao Fang who was incapacitated due to several of her acupoints being pressed. Turning his head back, he looked to the white-robed Tang Ya for an answer.


    Tang Ya¡¯s eyes glanced to the peaceful-looking valley down below, ¡°What¡¯s the rush? According to our two days of spying, we may as well try this. Even if he doesn¡¯t come, we won¡¯t be losing anything major, but if he comes¡­ then we¡¯ll bury his remains, bones and all!¡±


    A sudden source of furious soulsense was picked by Tang Ya at that moment, causing his eyebrows to perk up.


    ¡°He¡¯s here!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¨C

 Chapter 172: To Battle!

    Chapter 172: To Battle!


    As Bai Yunfei drew closer to the corner of a valley due to Shao Ling¡¯s guidance, he began to leak his soulforce without concealing it in fear that the kidnappers would think that he wouldn¡¯t come for Xiao Fang. At the same time, his soulsense began to spread out in order to map out the terrain as much as he could.


    ¡°There¡¯s just two people!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up in relaxation. ¡°That¡¯s good. Xiao Fang seems to be unharmed too¡­¡±


    Nearing the edge of the forest, Bai Yunfei¡¯s footsteps began to lighten up in speed. Soon enough, he made it out from the treeline and stepped onto a small clearing in the valley. Somewhere about ten meters away stood two white-robed men staring vigilantly at him. Beside them was the terrified-to-tears Xiao Fang.


    Bai Yunfei shot a consoling look to Xiao Fang before turning his attention to Tang Ya and Su Xia with a pointed look. ¡°You two and I don¡¯t even know each other, let alone have any grudges. What is the meaning behind this kidnapping?¡±


    ¡°Haha, little brother, let¡¯s not misunderstand the situation here. We¡¯ve nothing against you. We just wanted to get your attention, that¡¯s all. We only want to conduct a trade with you.¡± Tang Ya laughed in response to Bai Yunfei. On the sly, he probed Bai Yunfei with his soulsense ¡ª only to reveal that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t as strong as they expected, allowing him to sigh to himself in relief. Of course, the two hidden commoners in the bushes were completely overlooked by the two.


    ¡°Trade? What kind of trade?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°The life of this little girl here in exchange for those soul items of yours. How ¡®bout it?¡± Tang Ya spoke as if he was conducting a fair trade.


    ¡°Hah! That¡¯s your idea of a ¡®trade?¡¯¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°Did you think I¡¯d accept?¡±


    Tang Ya glance at Xiao Fang behind him, ¡°If it were me, I¡¯d refuse, but I¡¯d like to try in any case. What if you agree?¡±


    ¡°Fine, I accept!¡± Bai Yunfei proclaimed.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The absolute ¡®straightforward¡¯ nature of Bai Yunfei¡¯s reply was completely unexpected by both Tang Ya and Su Xia. In fact, it had been so surprising that Tang Ya just had to ask, ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    The smile on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew even wider, ¡°I said, I accept! Well then¡­ take them then!¡±


    Before Bai Yunfei finishes speaking, he gave a shake of his right hand. Three separate glints of icy-cold steel twinkled in the air, flying toward Tang Ya¡¯s head, throat, and chest!


    Compared to before, Bai Yunfei¡¯s expertise in throwing knives was far better. The three upgraded daggers whistled furiously as they shot through the air. Eyes dilating in concentration rather than in surprise, Tang Ya brandished his hand in front of him. Following the swishing sounds of three daggers making contact, what came next startles everyone¡ªTang Ya had caught all three daggers between his fingers!


    ¡°Peh! How insignificant, I¡¯ll¡ª!¡± Tang Ya¡¯s disdainful words were cut short when a fourth dagger came twinkling into view! Even more startling, this fourth dagger was going even faster than the previous three! From when he opened his mouth to talk to the end, the dagger was already at his eyes!


    ¡°Tzk!¡±


    Thanks to the +10 effect, ¡°When thrown, increase the power of the attack by 30%,¡± the dagger sent Tang Ya ricocheting back!


    ¡°Big bro!¡± Su Xia started toward his brother.


    Midway there, Tang Ya¡¯s body suddenly came jumping back up, revealing the dagger caught in between his teeth!


    At the most crucial moment, he had actually used his mouth to catch the dagger!


    Spitting out the dagger with an ashen expression, Tang Ya shook his right hand so that a crescent moon-shaped blade appeared in his hand. Pushing off the ground, he flew toward Bai Yunfei, and Su Xia followed, ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with, kill him!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan!¡± Bai Yunfei snorted in reply. The Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his right hand and stabbed forward unflinchingly, accepting Tang Ya¡¯s approach.


    A distance of ten meters was absolutely nothing when both combatants were soul cultivators. In an instant, Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear glowed brightly with a fiery blaze as it stabbed at Tang Ya, but that stab was dodged before the spear had to be brought up to block Su Xia¡¯s stroke.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear sprung up once more to hopefully catch Su Xia in the throat, but then one of his opponent¡¯s blades knocked the spear away. Since Tang Ya had knocked the spear away horizontally, Bai Yunfei took advantage of the momentum to bring his right arm up. He withstood Su Xia¡¯s next chop with his Flameblade Bracer.


    Starting from first contact, Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear was caught by Tang Ya and Su Xia¡¯s blades at every opportunity. The cooperation between the brothers was perfect, an airtight coordination. If it were any other Late-stage Soul Sprite, they would have been defeated long ago, but Bai Yunfei was different with his upgraded equipment. He was able to defend against what he couldn¡¯t dodge, and he could also make use of the Goldsilk Armor to give himself a last-resort guard as he delivered a Ninefold Fist Force, leaving the brothers wary.


    Nearly a hundred blows were exchanged before both sides had a succinct understanding of the other side¡¯s strength. Neither of the two had gone all out, but the disparity could be estimated.


    On the left, Bai Yunfei forced Su Xia back with his spear. On the right, he used his bracer to block any sword stroke from Tang Ya.


    Each time Tang Ya¡¯s sword made contact with Bai Yunfei¡¯s bracer, a flurry of sparks lit up the area.


    At one point, when one of the blades made contact with his Flameblade Bracer, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up¡ª +10 effect of the Flameblade Bracer, activate!


    (When blocking, there is a 9% chance of absorbing and converting the attack power into personal attack power, releasing it with your next attack. It can be held for 3 seconds. The amount of converted attack power cannot exceed the defensive strength of this item.)


    His right foot stepped back behind his left.


    His spear held its guard.


    His right fist glowed a bright red as he clenched it.


    And like a cannon, he fired it straight at Tang Ya.


    Tang Ya¡¯s face fell when he realized that this fist wasn¡¯t like any of the other punches, and wanted to draw back rather than to accept. However, his sword was extended too far to pull it back. The best he could do was to lift up his left arm to reveal a small circular shield within his robes¡ªa Human-ranked soul item.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Reinforced by the bracer¡¯s converted power, the Ninefold Fist Force completely exceeded Tang Ya¡¯s expectations! Whatever strength Tang Ya had thought Bai Yunfei possessed, he had been completely wrong!


    Under the disbelieving eyes of Tang Ya, the circular shield on his arm was broken apart by one punch!


    A tremendous energy was transmitted into his arm following the breaking of the shield, prompting Tang Ya to rush his soulforce into his arm to protect himself while beating a hasty retreat.


    However, there was no way Bai Yunfei would give him the chance to retreat. Tossing the Flame-tipped Spear to his right hand, he leaped forward to stab Tang Ya in the throat!


    As the tip of the spear drew closer and closer to his throat, Tang Ya¡¯s eyes flashed with an idea. The arm holding his blade flicked the blade so that it would leave his hand, and in two complete rotations, the sharp blade moved, in a threatening arc, toward Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    The fact that Tang Ya threw his very own weapon was not within Bai Yunfei¡¯s calculations. With no other choice but to dodge, Bai Yunfei shifted his foot just slightly. He pushed off to the side, allowing the blade to fly past his ear with a painful wind stinging his cheek.


    Unfortunately, Bai Yunfei¡¯s maneuver gave Tang Ya just enough time to fall back several meters. He was weaponless, so Bai Yunfei was hesitant to give up this opportunity to attack him. Twisting his waist, he activated the Wave Treading Steps and renewed his charge toward Tang Ya.


    When he sent the Fire-tipped Spear stabbing forward, the white bracelet on his right arm began to shine brightly, and Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes started shining as well¡ª3% bonus speed, activation successful!


    However, when he was about to make use of that speed, something out of the corner of his eye forced him to give up his pursuit. Throwing himself to the right of where he stood, Bai Yunfei¡¯s head turned to look behind.


    Right there! A shining spinning disk whirled past where his chest once was¡ªit was the blade that Tang Ya had just thrown!


    Back when Tang Ya threw the sharp blade, it¡¯s trajectory was on the same path of Su Xia, who was in the middle of ambushing Bai Yunfei from behind. Su Xia¡¯s free hand latched onto the spinning blade as if to ¡®accept¡¯ it, and when he did, he followed the momentum of the spinning to send it spinning back to Tang Ya.


    ¡°What¡ªwhat¡¯s going on?¡±

 Chapter 173: Synchronizing Soul Skills

    A finger rose up to touch a small cut where the brother¡¯s weapon had nicked him.


    He was shocked.


    The two brothers were standing together, and the two weapons they held in their hands were exactly the same shape. Both had that crescent moon-shaped curvature, causing several questions to arise in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°A boomerang-type weapon? Doesn¡¯t seem like it¡­ the return angle was pretty strange¡ªalmost like it was¡ªlike it was being controlled by someone! Was it because of the other blade then? I¡¯ve never seen a soul armament like this before!¡± The rapid thought process running through Bai Yunfei¡¯s head brought a sharp glare to his eyes.


    ¡°Oh-ho! Not bad, brat. Very few have been able to withstand the very first sneak attack from our ¡®Crescent Blades¡¯ without knowing their effects, but, will you be able to dodge the rest. I wonder¡­¡± Su Xia crowed in slight amazement.


    ¡°Instead of moving your mouth, move your hands!¡± Tang Ya¡¯s body glowed a bright light-green before he dashed at Bai Yunfei.


    The following dozen exchanges after that brought Bai Yunfei into a state of passive defense. The two brothers would fight in conjunction with one another so that when one of them would cover the other when they attacked. Occasionally, one of them would throw out their blade to fire off a sneak attack, and each time Bai Yunfei wanted to take advantage of one of them being weaponless, the target would make use of his wind-enhanced speed to aid his evasion. Combined with the continuous dance with the blades being thrown here and there, ten minutes of battle passed without Bai Yunfei dealing any damage at all. In fact, he was on the losing side¡ªalready his arms were scratched here and there with wounds that dug deep into his skin.


    Bai Yunfei was irritated due to his current condition, but Tang Ya and Su Xia were also quite anxious with the results. Controlling the flight path of their weapons wasn¡¯t as easy as one would be led to believe. The abnormality that was Bai Yunfei¡¯s Wave Treading Steps was causing them a lot of anxiety with its strange but effective way of dodging their coordinated strikes at the very last moment¡ªmuch to their vexation.


    Given the time that passed, Tang Ya began to have the nagging feeling that Bai Yunfei was purposely making it so that the two brothers would slowly lose their energy. While a smart plan, Tang Ya simply didn¡¯t think that Bai Yunfei would be strong enough to fight off the two of them, but he didn¡¯t want to risk it anymore.


    Taking advantage of the two regrouped, Tang Ya whispered a warning to his brother, ¡°Fuck! We can¡¯t go on like this. We have to use that!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was in the middle of preparing his Fire-tipped Spear to greet Su Xia when he saw both brothers suddenly leap back instead of forward.


    At the same time, soulforce exploded from their body, stirring the worldly energy that was within a ten meter radius of them.


    His eyes narrowed. A major storm was brewing. He just knew it.


    Charging forward, Bai Yufnei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear immediately stabbed out to try and stop the two before they could put their plan into motion.


    He was fast, but his opponents weren¡¯t slow by any means either. Their backwards momentum was enhanced by to the elemental wind, and both their blades were taking in that elemental wind almost hungrily.


    The two of them snorted slightly when noticing that Bai Yunfei was coming quickly at them. A strange fluctuation of their soulforce was only just detected by Bai Yunfei when the two brothers peculiarly swung toward him in a cross formation!


    The moment that the two brothers swung their blades, the surrounding elemental wind immediately began to pick up. Combined with the elemental wind that was gathered by them, a cyclone, about ten meters tall and two meters in diameter, immediately materialized in the area!


    Blades of light-green color weaved in and out of the cyclone, sucking in pieces of stone. Branches also flew into the spinning wall of death before being sliced and crushed to pieces.


    Synchronized soul skill, Devastating Winds!


    It was their ultimate killing move. Thanks to the special nature of the two blades and the soulforce in their bodies, the resulting move was something that even a mid-stage Soul Ancestors wouldn¡¯t dare belittle!


    One time, the two brothers relied on this very soul skill to completely overwhelm and kill a mid-stage Soul Ancestor of the water affinity.


    A synchronized soul skill¡ªas its name implies¡ªis the product of what happens when multiple people work together to unleash a soul skill. There weren¡¯t many of these soul skills, and the pre-conditions to use one were especially high. It required the utmost cooperation between the users, and if they didn¡¯t pull it off, not only would the soul skill fail to work, there would also be a backlash.


    Each synchronized soul skill was without a doubt a powerful move. Even soul cultivators one or two steps above the caster¡¯s level would be hard-pressed to take it head on.


    Once the cyclone was fully formed, a furious howl accompanied it as it rolled toward Bai Yunfei. Everything in its warpath¡ªlike stone and dirt¡ªwas blown away.


    Bai Yunfei was in mid-leap when the cyclone formed, meaning that he was extremely close to it. Eyes widening, he gave up his previous attempt and flew back to escape the cyclone¡¯s radius.


    However, even when he changed the direction, the cyclone changed directions with him! From behind, Su Xia started to laugh.


    A brilliant gleam of light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes when he was staring at the cyclone. Retreating another ten meters, he stood still as if deciding to stop dodging. Following a shake of his right hand, the Fire-tipped Spear disappeared into his ring.


    ¡°Hmmm? Hehe, given up brat?¡± Su Xia laughed derisively at Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to accept this head on. Ignorant kid, you¡¯ll know just how strong this cyclone is when it tears your body apart!¡±


    Preliminary inspections were made of the terrain far before the battle had started. With the topographical information they had, the two brothers decided on bringing Bai Yunfei here where the wind gathered the most in the valley. With the spacious opening, the two of them would be able to use their skills to their optimal efficiency. Even if Bai Yunfei was fast enough to dodge the cyclone they were controlling, the brothers would still have back ups. Thus, when Bai Yunfei ceased his actions and stored away his weapon, the two of them thought that he was simply deciding to be suicidal.


    Even though Bai Yunfei stored away the Fire-tipped Spear, he wasn¡¯t panicked. His eyes had a focused light to them in fact, and his right foot gave a half-step forward with a burst of red light from the activation of his soulforce. The crimson signs of elemental fire began to flicker into view, traveling to his right arm.


    ¡°Hissssss!¡±


    The fabric on his right arm immediately caught fire and burned away in no time at all, revealing a nearly two meter long blade made of fire!


    Flame Winged Blade!


    Bai Yunfei snorted.


    His right leg powerfully pushed off the ground to charge straight for the cyclone. As soon as he was about to make contact with it, the Flame Winged Blade swelled in size by a fraction and sliced through the cyclone with its burning heat!


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so pleased with yourselves. It¡¯s time for you to get lost!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    One explosion later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was illuminated by a bright-reddish-green light.


    When the elements of the world clashed, only power was the determining factor, unless you excluded the natural superiority one element might have over another. Flame¡ªif strong enough¡ªcould overwhelm even a galestorm!


    The pleased smile on Su Xia¡¯s face froze still as he watched. The giant cyclone he and Tang Ya had only just unleashed was being dyed with a bright-red light before dissipating into an equally red steam.


    ¡°That was your ultimate move? Nothing special I guess¡­¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 174: Fury

    Chapter 174: Fury


    ¡°That was your ultimate move? Nothing special I guess¡­¡±


    The dull tone of Bai Yunfei scratched at the ears of Tang Ya and Su Xia, prompting Su Xia to let out an incredulous cry, ¡°But¡ªthat¡¯s impossible! How did he cut away at our soul technique!?¡±


    ¡°Be careful!¡±


    In the midst of Su Xia¡¯s indignant shout, Tang Ya suddenly pushed him out of the way before shortly kicking himself to the other side.


    Not too long after Tang Ya pushed himself away, a brilliant gleam of red light burst from the smoke along with a golden rope.


    ¡°Thwock!¡±


    As soon as Tang Ya and Su Xia managed to get away, the Fire-tipped Spear landed right where the two used to be standing. Before they could even let out a sigh of relief, the Fire-tipped Spear let out a crimson light from its spot in the earth!


    An explosion rang through the air, spilling elemental fire in a circle.


    +10, effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, activate!


    Again and again, the surprises from Bai Yunfei never stopped coming. Tang Ya and Su Xia hadn¡¯t realized that Bai Yunfei would be this strong.


    Even though they were at the edge of the explosion¡¯s radius, the two of them were still caught in it, enough to cause them to stagger away in pain.


    The fact that the Fire-tipped Spear activated an effect was something even Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected, but he wasn¡¯t thrown into disarray like the other two. He immediately moved to capitalize on this chance. Yanking his hand back, the Compliant Rope that was tied around the Fire-tipped Spear contracted in length, forcing the spear to come flying back. With the spear back in his hand, Bai Yunfei flew toward Tang Ya.


    ¡­¡­


    Su Xia felt shocked really. Never in the world had he ever thought, that even with the advantage of numbers against a weaker Soul Sprite, they¡¯d be on the losing end! The blade in his right hand moved tirelessly to defend himself against Bai Yunfei¡¯s assault. Bit by bit, he was being forced back by Bai Yunfei, and after ten meters or so, he was just about to launch an attack of his own when, all of a sudden, something to his left caused him to turn his head.


    Just a few dozen meters away, a shadowy cat-like figure swung down from a tree to take Xiao Fang away when no one was looking¡ªit was Zhu Zi!


    While Tang Ya and Su Xia were completely engrossed in battle, Xiao Fang was successfully rescued!


    In truth, Xiao Fang as a ¡®hostage¡¯ was practically useless for them. Not once did they think that she¡¯d be a useful bargaining chip for Bai Yunfei to obediently hand over his soul items. If anything, she was bait to draw Bai Yunfei out and nothing more, so it didn¡¯t really matter to them whether Xiao Fang was rescued or not.


    However, something about this rescue attempt made Su Xia think twice. His beady little eyes swiveled furiously as if he was thinking about something, and then a strange smile greeted his lips. ¡°You trying to be the hero!? Forget about it! A commoner as insignificant as you should just die!¡±


    No sooner did he finish speaking then his hand swung letting his blade fly from his grip. Since Xiao Fang was perched on top of the tree branch, she had nowhere to escape to!


    It was intentional that he had spoke out loud, for good reason too. It was all for the sake of drawing Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention away from Tang Ya.


    Even if Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t distracted, Tang Ya could manipulate the blade so that it¡¯d hit Bai Yunfei, or kill the inconsequential ¡®commoner¡¯ Xiao Fang. Her death wouldn¡¯t be anything to worry about in any case.


    ¡°Bastard!!¡±


    As expected, Bai Yunfei immediately gave up his assault on Tang Ya when he saw that he was attacking Xiao Fang. He wouldn¡¯t be in time to chase down the blade, but Bai Yunfei instead threw his spear to his left hand and shook his right hand to throw the Glacial Pricker, intending to block Tang Ya¡¯s attack. Successfully managing to throw the blade, Bai Yunfei felt an immediate gale of wind blow against the back of his head. Tang Ya had managed to take advantage of the situation to aim the sharp blade of his weapon against his head!


    In imminent peril, Bai Yunfei averted his head so that the blade would strike his right shoulder. There was a spark, and then the Goldsilk Armor split apart where the sharp metal cut it. Blood could be seen spilling out from where Bai Yunfei¡¯s flesh had been pierced.


    Even the Glacial Piercer that he threw was unable to completely stop the thrown blade. At most, it only managed to slightly deviate its trajectory¡­


    Then came pain. Pain in the abdomen from where Tang Ya managed to land a kick on Bai Yunfei after seeing his blade miss its mark. Even as he was sent flying away with blood coursing down his shoulder, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem to feel the pain. His eyes were instead staring in despair at the blade; if it killed Xiao Fang, he¡¯d never be able to live with that guilt!


    The blade seemed as if its rotational arc would slice across Xiao Fang¡¯s throat at any second, penultimately ending her life, but the shadow of someone¡¯s figure moved right in front of her with arms out¡ªit was Zhu Zi!


    ¡°Tzk!¡±


    A spray of bloody mist erupted from Zhu Zi¡¯s chest. Under Tang Ya¡¯s control, the culprit was brought flying back toward him. Following a mouthful of blood, Zhu Zi collapsed by the side of the teary-eyed Xiao Fang¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Having been kicked back by Tang Ya earlier, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body finally managed to make contact with the ground. Rolling onto his feet with just enough momentum to have his bent knees slide on the ground, Bai Yunfei slammed his right arm down to halt his backwards momentum.


    ¡°Fwomph!¡±


    A burst of fire exploded from his right arm and channeled its way through his palm, scorching the ground. With the flames spreading rapidly, the area near Bai Yunfei¡¯s body soon went up in flames. Neither his hair nor clothes were touched in the slightest, but the intense flames fed from his soulforce were so great that the air around him started to haze and twist quite clearly.


    Just slowly, Bai Yunfei¡¯s head tilted up to glare at both Tang Ya and Su Xia. With the flames burning up around him, his eyes seemed to have gained a bit of fire to fuel his justified indignation.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done it now¡­ you¡¯ve really angered me¡­ damn you two!!¡±


    The sudden change that overcame Bai Yunfei left Tang Ya and Su Xia in a daze for a brief moment, but they considered the facts. Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder was still heavily bleeding, and he wasn¡¯t in a good state. The tides of battle were finally leaning toward them, so being intimidated by Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too likely.


    ¡°Hmph! So you¡¯d feel angry even over the life of an ant! What a ridiculously silly display of empathy! What is the point of your anger? You¡¯re on a deathbed of your own after all!¡± Su Xia ridiculed.


    Heaving his blade up with a green light surrounding it, he swung it at Bai Yunfei. The light that had been surrounding his blade elevated its speed so that it howled and whistled through the air.


    Bai Yunfei circulated his soulforce to staunch the bleeding in his right shoulder while stabbing out with the spear in his left hand. Contesting with the blade of wind, the spear managed to overcome it.


    Another gale of wind, this time from the left as Tang Ya lashed out.


    Bai Yunfei snorted and withdrew his spear and moved aside so that the blade would pass over his head, and in that moment, Bai Yunfei swung his right arm out so that the golden Compliant Rope wrapped snugly around the hilt of Tang Ya¡¯s blade!


    Startled, Su Xia urged more of his own soulforce into his blade so that it¡¯d light up in a show of green light. At the same time, the other blade that was intertwined with the Compliant Rope began to violently shake as if it was being called back to Su Xia. With the rope pulled tight, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm started to flex from the exertion of pulling back at the rope. The wound on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder reopened because of this exertion, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t possess the slightest idea to let go.


    The blade continued to struggle ten meters in between Bai Yunfei and Su Xia. In this constant ¡®struggle,¡¯ the blade felt as if it were alive. Bai Yunfei was pulling back at it with his Compliant Rope, and Su Xia was still manipulating it somehow, leaving them in a stalemate.


    A brilliant gleam of opportunity entered Tang Ya¡¯s eyes. His right arm shook once to retrieve a giant iron mace from his space ring. While Bai Yunfei was stuck in this game of ¡®tug-o¡¯war¡¯ with Su Xia, he hoisted it up high to smash it down on Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 175: The Surprise Attack of Shao Ling

    Chapter 175: The Surprise Attack of Shao Ling


    This bronze mace wasn¡¯t any ordinary mace; there was a orange light irradiating from its head¨Cit was a human-tier soul item!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes dilated as it registered the incoming bronze mace. His hand continued to maintain a tight grip on the Compliant Rope, but his lower body shifted slightly so that he could stab out with the Fire-tipped Spear.


    Ninefold Stab!


    This was the very first time Bai Yunfei used the Ninefold Stab despite being unable to bear the brunt of the backlash; and with his left hand no less!


    ¡°Shnk!¡±


    The sharp point of the spear made contact with the head of the mace, resulting in a metallic ringing sound. But the dazzling glow of crimson light that exploded forth from the spear was what really made Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes light up!


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    An earthshaking explosion shook the place. And straight after, the Fire-tipped Spear activated for a second time!


    This was the very first time such an event had happened where the Fire-tipped Spear¡¯s effect activated twice in a row!


    Its resulting power was beyond even Bai Yunfei¡¯s calculations. That human-tier mace may as well have been made from paper due to how easily it was torn apart.


    Tang Ya released the mace from his grip as soon as he felt the early signs of the strike, but his right hand was already reduced to a mangled piece of flesh. Not only that, but his body was sent another twenty meters back thanks to the blast. Staggering to a stop, the man spat out a mouthful of blood as he stared disbelievingly at Bai Yunfei.


    A series of cracks crawled up Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm before the blood within it began to spill out. But even with the bleeding, Bai Yunfei barely spared it a glance to instead look to the equally injured Tang Ya, ¡°Shao Ling, now!!¡±


    This sudden shout startled even Tang Ya. Cursing to himself, he whirled around just in time to see a straw-hat wearing youngster come darting out from the grass. Before, he was hiding in the grass, but now, he was already right besides Tang Ya with a bright-red object in his hand and poised to strike.


    It was Shao Ling!


    The fact that a commoner would actually try to fight him was a completely unexpected factor in the battle. Tang Ya didn¡¯t even know what exactly the object Shao Ling was holding in his hand, but he was already bringing his left arm up to instinctively protect himself.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    Impact.


    There was a vibration and a skip in Tang Ya¡¯s heartbeat, but¡­.


    There was no follow up?


    For just half a second, Tang Ya wasn¡¯t sure what to think. There was hardly a tickle from what Shao Ling used to hit him with.Almost instinctively, his left arm rose up to smash down onto Shao Ling¡¯s head with all the soulforce he could muster!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Practically moments before his hand would hit Shao Ling, his wrist suddenly felt constricted and could move no more¨CBai Yunfei had at some point given up on pulling the blade and changed targets with his Compliant Rope to target Tang Ya¡¯s wrist.


    The valor that Shao Ling was displaying in this current moment was astonishing to even Bai Yunfei. Shao Ling was so scared that his legs were practically knocking together in fright, but he was still able to take advantage of the slight pause in Tang Ya¡¯s strike. Stubbornly, he swung the +13 upgraded brick in his hand to make a second strike on him!


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    Tang Ya was about to curse Shao Ling out for such an ¡®useless¡¯ action when the brick then slammed into his chest.


    The following sensation Tang Ya felt could only be described as ¡°senseless flight¡±, but then in the next few seconds, an intense headache assaulted his head!


    The first time, he was lucky enough to not be hit by the effect. But the second time, he was blindsided with both the ¡®hurling¡¯ and ¡®dizzying¡¯ effect!


    ¡°Pfff!¡±


    At some point in his confusion, the slight sound of perforation was heard. By the time he heard it, Tang Ya realized that not only was he several meters away from Shao Ling, there was also a flash of red from where the now-bloody Fire-tipped Spear lashed out. And then¡­


    Pain!


    There was pain erupting from his throat, but then afterwards, nothing else could be felt¡­.


    At the end of it all, Bai Yunfei could be seen standing right besides Tang Ya. His hands held onto the Fire-tipped Spear tightly, and the spearpoint of his weapon could be seen piercing straight through Tang Ya¡¯s throat!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were of a callous and cold glare. With a tug of his hands, the Fire-tipped Spear was pulled away.


    Blood came spilling forth from the puncture wound, and Tang Ya¡¯s corpse fell to the ground with a resounding crash. Both of his eyes were wide-open in death, but a hint of disbelief could be seen as the final dreg of emotion he had when he was once alive.


    ¡°Brother!!¡±


    Thanks to the fact that Bai Yunfei took his hand away¨Coh, that¡¯s not right.


    Thanks to the fact that Bai Yunfei released the hold he had on Su Xia¡¯s blade with the Compliant Rope, Su Xia was then free to see the state of Tang Ya.


    Shock was the only emotion to be seen on his face¨Cnever did he once think that in just a blink of an eye, his own brother would be killed!


    ¡°But how? But why!¡± Su Xia blanked out.


    However. The icy look Bai Yunfei was given him jolted him back to awareness and pushed away all idle thoughts he had. An animalistic roar welled up within his mind, ¡°He¡¯s too strong! I can¡¯t¨CI can¡¯t beat him! I have to run, or else I¡¯ll die!¡±


    As of the current moment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms were both a bloody mess. His left arm was practically devoid of feeling, and his right arm was only slightly better than the other. Now that he was recovered somewhat, Bai Yunfei stored away the Fire-tipped Spear and circulated the remaining soulforce he had into his arms. As hard as he might, Bai Yunfei was trying his best to recuperate his wounds while also giving Su Xia an evil glare.


    In the beginning, there were two. One was killed, and now the other one would definitely not escape death!


    He could see Su Xia was desperate to flee now.


    Naturally, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t give him the chance.


    Snarling, Bai Yunfei circulated his soulforce to his feet and charged towards Su Xia.


    Like a beaten dog in the prairie, Su Xia didn¡¯t hesitate to turn around to flee. With the elemental wind aiding his feet, Su Xia wasn¡¯t any slower than Bai Yunfei as he ran off into the northern forests.


    The sight of Su Xia trying to flee had only elicited a snort from Bai Yunfei. Waving his right arm, the Compliant Rope slithered outwards with the flexibility of a snake seventy meters away to coil around the right foot of Su Xia.


    The constriction of something around his right leg gave rise to an alarmed expression on Su Xia¡¯s face. In the next second, a powerful tug at his right leg immediately snapped his leg back and was pulled backwards to fall back onto the ground in practically no time at all.


    He wasn¡¯t being dragged across the ground back towards Bai Yunfei however.


    Bai Yunfei was contracting the length of the rope to bring him to Su Xia!


    ¡°Asshole, I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Frothing at the mouth, Su Xia¡¯s left arm swung out at Bai Yunfei to deliver a whistling strike.


    Narrowing his eyes in concentration, Bai Yunfei chose to continue ahead and swung his left side in front of his right.


    As expected, when the blade scratched at his waist, sparks began to fly as the Goldsilk Armor took another scratch to its plating.


    Halfway through the slash, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows suddenly flew up with a joyous smile¨C


    +10 Additional effect, activate!


    (When attacked, there is a five percent chance of gaining an additional fifty percent of defense for three seconds)


    The blade returned back to Su Xia¡¯s waiting hand, but upon seeing that Bai Yunfei was quickly chasing up to him, a frantic desperation began to arise within him. Without further ado, he immediately combined the two blades in his left and right hand together to form one!


    ¡°Cling!¡± A metallic ring echoed upon attachment, but the two blades had somehow managed to form a single larger blade!


    Now that he had a blade in one hand, Su Xia made a furious chop at Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined bright with a calculative glint, ¡°The Goldsilk Armor¡¯s additional effect gives me more than six hundred points in defense during this time, I¡¯ll take it!¡±


    Set with a game plan, Bai Yunfei moved slightly to his right without slowing down at all. In a second, he was right besides Su Xia with his right arm glowing brightly with a bright red light as it prepared to take on the blade.


    And at the same time, the Flame Winged Blade was about to strike!


    But¡­.alas!


    Just as the Flame Winged Dagger was about to fully materialize, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face took on a darker shade as the red light on his right arm darkened as well. In the next second, all of his soulforce was sent towards his left waist as if his life depended on it¨Cand it did!


    There was a sharp pain in that very location!


    The additional effect of his Goldsilk Armor had indeed activated so that he had more than six hundred defense points, but Su Xia¡¯s blade chopped through it as if there was nothing there to begin with!


    Upon the blade cutting deep into his abdomen, a force of elemental wind was transmitted into his wounds. Combined with the sensation of pain and the elemental wind forcing its way in, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body began to sweat heavily from the pain; it almost felt as if there were blades were cutting away at his innards.


    Doing his best to throw himself to the right, Bai Yunfei finally felt the pain within his body start to subside somewhat. But the pain was enough for him to lose his balance, and with a ¡°plop¡±, he tumbled to the ground. Thanks to his momentum from the desperate evasion maneuver, it took several meters before he came to a stop.


    ¡°Im¨Cimpossible!!¡± Looking at the wound he had, Bai Yunfei was slackjawed, ¡°The strength of that blade had to be increased by at least half of what it was before! How in the world¡­¡±


    The fact that Bai Yunfei was on the ground with a rapidly paling face and an equally rapidly bleeding wound, Su Xia¡¯s face broke out into a wide grin following a brief period of shock.


    ¡°Hahaha! So you¡¯ve run out of soulforce! You¡¯re at the end of your rope, kid!!¡±

 Chapter 176: Wiping Out the Enemies

    Chapter 176: Wiping Out the Enemies


    Practically jeering, Su Xia gave a mocking laugh at Bai Yunfei, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Surprised? Was the Crescent Moon Blade stronger than it was before? Haha! If you want to find out why, make sure my brother teaches you a good lesson about it when you reach him in the underworld!¡±


    Filled with resentment, Su Xia stalked towards Bai Yunfei with one heavy step at a time. His blade glowed brightly with a light-green color and an aura that felt exceedingly chilly.


    In no time at all, Su Xia stood above the limp-bodied Bai Yunfei with his blade held up high. With eyes that radiated with a near insane but lazy light, he howled, ¡°Time to die!¡±


    As soon as Su Xia¡¯s blade came crescending downwards, Bai Yunfei lifted his head to cry out loud, ¡°Shao Ling, now!¡±


    These three words caused an immediate reaction. Su Xia¡¯s blade came to a screeching stop while his own face blanched.


    He remembered now!


    It was because of these three words that his now deceased brother was ambushed and killed!


    Thus, fear clouded his mind and judgement. Almost instinctively, Su Xia¡¯s foot pushed off against the ground to whirl around with his blade to slice out at¨C


    ¨Cabsolutely nothing!


    The blade tasted nothing but air, and for the life of him, Su Xia couldn¡¯t see anyone no matter where he turned his head to.


    ¡°Fuck, I was tri¨C¡±


    Barely a moment later, an even stronger amount of fear flooded his heart. Palefaced, Su Xia swung his head around just in time to see two bright eyes burning with a furious red¡­.


    ¡°Pppfttt!¡±


    A faint sizzling sound followed the slight stench of something burning¨Cthis was what Su Xia could hear and smell in his last moments to life.


    A burn mark was etched deep into Su Xia¡¯s body from his left shoulder to his right waist. While this burn mark was strongly burnt into his body, it hadn¡¯t been thorough enough to completely bisect the man in half. But still, black-colored blood spilled out from the wound to amass beneath the wide-eyed Su Xia. Teetering on his feet for a slight moment, the man¡¯s corpse then came collapsing onto the ground behind him with eyes glossed over.


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei was half kneeling on the ground with his left hand pressed against his waist and his right hand on the ground. Right above his shoulder, a ball of flame slowly flickered out from sight¡­.


    Flame Winged Blade!


    On his right forefinger, a black ring glistened slightly with a gradually dimming light.


    (Space Ring¡¯s +10 additional effect: Stockpile 300 soulpoints to be used whenever. This does not count towards the soulpoints within the body.)


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Falling to his butt, Bai Yunfei let out a drawn out sigh from relief. His entire body was wet with sweat, and the area around his waist was still bleeding quite heavily.


    Several seconds passed in this fashion before Bai Yunfei finished absorbing all of the soulforce stockpiled in the space ring. Waving his right hand, several spirit-increasing accessories dropped to the ground in front of him for him to wear. With those, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce recovery would be accelerated, allowing for him to completely heal from his wounds in no time.


    ¡°Bro¨Cbrother Bai¡­.are you okay?¡±


    The quavering voice of Shao Ling made itself known to Bai Yunfei, prompting him to turn his head towards the source. Right there was the strawhat wearing, brick holding Shao Ling not too far away with a look of concern on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry about me¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head before struggling back up to his feet. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look at Zhu Zi and see what his wounds are.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Brother Zhu Zi!¡± Shao Ling yelped; because of the high tension moment with Su Xia and the fact that Bai Yunfei had killed two men in a terrifyingly unforgettable fashion, Shao Ling had practically forgotten about Zhu Zi. So when Bai Yunfei mentioned Zhu Zi¡¯s name, Shao Ling remembered at last the situation and ran off to where Xiao Fang and Zhu Zi was.


    Xiao Fang was completely still from on top of the tree perch she was on. The only thing that moved from her body was her constant flow of tears, making him seem more like a crying statue rather than a human as she beheld the blood-soaked figure of Zhu Zi by her side.


    In contrast to her, Zhu Zi was completely soaked with blood. His mouth had a small rivlet of blood flowing from it, and his face was abnormally pale due to blood loss. His eyebrows were knitted together in a clear sign of the pain he was in.


    But at the very least; he was alive! The Crescent Moon Blade had only cut at his chest rather than killing him!


    Approaching Zhu Zi¡¯s body, Bai Yunfei knelt down and checked for a pulse. After confirming there was no life-threatening wounds, Bai Yunfei felt all of his concerns drain away.


    Taking out several strength-increasing accessories, he ordered Shao Ling to help put them on Zhu Zi. Whatever reason why Bai Yunfei wanted this, Shao Ling didn¡¯t know, but he knew better than to ask and swiftly did as Bai Yunfei said.


    This attribute ¡®strength¡¯, as it was known on the accessories, had many categorizations. ¡®Energy¡¯, ¡®endurance¡¯, ¡®instantaneous power¡¯, and even ¡®rate of recovery¡¯. For the common person, it could increase their physical strength and boost all of the abovementioned factors. This meant that with all of these accessories worn, Zhu Zi would find himself recovering very quickly.


    Putting one hand on one seam of Zhu Zi¡¯s clothing and the other hand some distance apart, Bai Yunfei ripped at his clothes so as to reveal the bisected Heart Protecting Mirror. This was the soul item with a hole that Bai Yunfei taken from one of the members of the Beast Taming School.


    Prior to the entire battle, Bai Yunfei instructed the two males to hide far away and wait for when the battle started in order to find an opportunity. It was a gamble, but it paid off when Bai Yunfei figured that it¡¯d be best to give Zhu Zi the soul item after seeing how worried the male was for Xiao Fang.


    In the end, Su Xia ended up finding out about their plan and delivered a swift chop at Zhu Zi in hopes of killing him. If not for Bai Yunfei giving him the item, Zhu Zi would¡¯ve had no chance at living at all.


    But even with the Heart Protecting Mirror, the wound Zhu Zi sustained was deep enough to see bone, and even his internal organs could almost be seen peaking out behind his skin.


    For Shao Ling, Bai Yunfei entrusted him with the Walk-on Strawhat and the +13 brick. Originally, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t plan on having Shao Ling help out at all. But the battle was far more intense than he thought and Shao Ling was more than willing to do his part to help kill Tang Ya before then indirectly helping tie up the final battle.


    Untying Xiao Fang from her confines, Bai Yunfei handed her some first-aid equipment so she could treat Zhu Zi. Then, Bai Yunfei spoke several more words before sitting back down to focus on recovering his own wounds.


    Nightfell came before Bai Yunfei finally let out a long exhale. Opening his eyes, he took notice that the wounds on his waist and right shoulder were all but healed. His left arm still hurt something fierce, but it was nothing unmanageable.


    The sight of Shao Ling and Xiao Fang guarding Zhu Zi¡¯s body greeted Bai Yunfei upon first glance. Neither of the two dared to say anything the entire time in fear that they would bother him.


    Realizing that Bai Yunfei was ¡®awake¡¯, Shao Ling immediately let out a question, ¡°Brother Bai, are you okay now?¡±


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Ah, I¡¯m fine. You can relax now.¡±


    ¡°Lo¨Clord Bai¡­..thank you for saving me¡­..¡± Xiao Fang¡¯s voice was faint and her face was haggard. After experiencing the events she did today and the unforgettable battle that took place for her, the delicate young woman had her fair share of lingering fears.


    Rather than feeling happy about being thanked, Bai Yunfei felt guilty. It was because of him that this situation happened. If he wasn¡¯t here, then Xiao Fang and the other two wouldn¡¯t have been in danger to begin with.


    ¡°Miss Xiao Fang, there¡¯s no need for that. If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you. Everything was because of me after all¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded to Zhu Zi, ¡°But you don¡¯t need to be that concerned. Zhu Zi is fine, I can guarantee that in three days, he¡¯ll be back to normal.¡±


    ¡°Really? But¡­his wounds are so serious¡­.¡± For a moment, Xiao Fang¡¯s lit up before frowning again.


    ¡°Sis, haven¡¯t you realized that brother Bai isn¡¯t any ordinary person? He¡¯s amazing! If he says so, then it has to be true!¡± Shao Ling spoke with reinvigorated enthusiasm.


    Using his soulforce to aid in Zhu Zi¡¯s recovery, Bai Yunfei had the wounds on his chest healed up in practically no time at all before taking a small break. Stepping away to let Xiao Fang and Shao Ling look at him, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look around the place.


    The entire place around them was practically a wasteland with scars of battle to be seen everywhere. Tang Ya and Su Xia¡¯s space rings were quickly confiscated by Bai Yunfei before then the Crescent Moon Blades were taken as well. From there, Bai Yunfei burnt their bodies to ashes and let it scatter away into the winds to hide the evidence.

 Chapter 177: A Profitable Inventory

    Chapter 177: A Profitable Inventory


    Zhu Zi finally came around not too long afterwards, allowing the four to travel back towards the village before dusk. Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s warning, the group decided to make up the lie that they had been attacked by ferocious beasts while gathering in the forests. In order to protect everyone, Zhu Zi had fought off the beasts, but he ended up getting wounded in the process. After Zhu Zi was sent back home to rest, Bai Yunfei and the other two walked back to their own homes.


    Besides trying his best to heal from his wounds, Bai Yunfei had no other plans for the meanwhile. It took two days for his wounds to completely heal, and Bai Yunfei was pleasantly surprised to see that after the intense battle he took part in, he had gained a decent boost in strength. As it seemed, pressure and environment was the fastest way to grow stronger. Naturally, he wouldn¡¯t abandon the Upgrading Technique either.


    On the third night, Bai Yunfei finally found the time to take a look at the profits he gained from the battle¡­


    The first thing that came to hand were two crystals. One orange crystal and one light-green crystal specifically, making Bai Yunfei furrow his eyebrows together to think.


    ¡°Hold on¡­.the scorpion was killed by them! With their strength, they had to have waited for the scorpion to return before they sprung their trap¡­.agh.¡±


    Sighing, Bai Yunfei stored away the soul crystals and took out the next item; a light-green plant about the size of his palm with two stalks. They were connected to one another by means of two circular ¡°lids¡± like some sort of freakish mushroom; but the most curious thing about this was the fact that they seemed to be still moving! (Like a propeller).


    As soon as this plant was taken out, a rich amount of elemental wind began to pervade the room with so much of it that the entire room began to feel even more ventilated than before.


    This was the treasure that Su Xia and Tang Ya stole from the scorpion way back in the cave¨Cthe thousand-year-old windshroom.


    ¡°This¡­.has to be the treasure the scorpion was guarding. When those two took it, the scorpion nearly killed me for it, and now, it¡¯s back into my hands now¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. Thinking about everything that happened and how he had been exploited for the personal profit of another, Bai Yunfei felt a tremendous headache in his head. But still, the fact that this annoyance was solved like so, he felt a nice sense of ¡®vengeance¡¯.


    Moving on from the subject with a sigh, Bai Yunfei put away the windshroom as well to move onto his next ¡®spoils of war¡¯. What came next was quite the shocking discovery¨Cbesides from some money and a few miscellaneous stuff; there were a few low-grade soul crystals and primal stones. Though there were no soul techniques, there were well over twenty soul items!


    They were mainly human-tier soul items¨Cand very low quality ones at that¨Cbut there was still a few middle-grade and high-grade versions as well.


    Of course, this excluded the Crescent Moon Blades.


    Equipment Grade: High Rare


    Defense: 431


    Upgrade Requirement: 77 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled as he beheld the flexible yellow armor in front of him. ¡°A defensive soul item, and it¡¯s armor too! Jackpot!¡±


    It was a legitimate concern for Bai Yunfei to find a new set of armor to replace his Goldsilk Armor. Finding one even better than that was difficult, but then all of a sudden; he found a new set of armor that was two tiers higher than it! Not only that, but this armor was made from material similar to rattan vines from trees, making it soft and flexible while also providing even more defense than the Goldsilk Armor.


    The Goldsilk Armor was already devastatingly damaged and wasn¡¯t too far away from being completely useless. If he could find a set of armor to replace it, that¡¯d be a great stroke of luck for Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try upgrading it to +10 then¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought.


    A moment later.


    Upgrade successful


    Equipment Grade: High Rare


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 431


    Additional Defense: 225


    +10 Additional Effect: Accelerate the body¡¯s recovery rate by 10%


    Upgrade Requirement: 77 Soulpoints


    An eyebrow was raised at the effect. ¡°Accelerate the body¡¯s recovery rate? Another never before seen effect!¡±


    Following a period of silent debate, Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips curled upwards to form a smile. ¡°Accelerated healing speed¡­.this is an incredible effect! It¡¯s far better than something activated based on a percentage. If I had only tried upgrading this before, I wouldn¡¯t even need those past two days to heal¡­.¡±


    Taking off the beaten and battered Goldsilk Armor from beneath his clothes, Bai Yunfei exchanged it for this newer soft armor. Taking it for a spin, Bai Yunfei moved around to demonstrate the mobility with it worn. Satisfied in the fact that there was nothing strange to be felt while wearing this armor, Bai Yunfei nodded his head and looked to the battered Goldsilk Armor. ¡°Thank you for always protecting me in the past. You can rest now¡­.¡±


    With the Goldsilk Armor stored away in safety, Bai Yunfei took out the next soul item to be upgraded. This time, it was a two-hander hatchet weighing about fifty kilograms.


    Equipment Grade: Middle Rare


    Attack: 366


    Upgrade Requirement: 72 Soulpoints


    ¡°A hatchet¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought rather regretfully, ¡°This is useless for me. I¡¯ll give it a try though.¡±


    One period of upgrading later¡­.


    Equipment Grade: Middle Rare


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 366


    Additional Attack: 175


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 7% chance of inflicting knockback.


    Upgrade Requirement: 72 Soulpoints


    ¡°Knockback¡­.¡± He was disappointed at this extremely lackluster effect. There was once a blade he upgraded in the past that had the same ¡®knockback¡¯ effect; but it was only a normal item with a 3% chance to do so. Having a rare soul item having a 7% chance really did feel too subpar to be of use.


    ¡°But¡­.the strength of knockback should be stronger than the other one.¡± Bai Yunfei guessed.


    Since he had no desire in trying to test out the effects of this hatchet, Bai Yunfei put the item away into his space ring and took out another soul item to inspect and upgrade.


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 229


    Additional Attack: 115


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 4% chance of increasing attack by 100 points.


    Upgrade Requirement: 62 Soulpoints


    ¡ªA short sword with a mediocre effect.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 237


    Additional Attack: 121


    +10 Additional Effect: Add an additional 51 points of attack when attacking.


    Upgrade Requirement: 63 Soulpoints


    ¡ªA hook-like soul item with yet another mediocre effect.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 217


    Additional Defense: 99


    +10 Additional Effect: 4% chance of reflecting a portion of the damage when blocking.


    Upgrade Requirement: 61 Soulpoints


    ¡ªA shield about the size of a washbasin. A strong effect, but a weak probability.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense¡­.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It took two resting periods for Bai Yunfei to go through his complete set of low-rare items (Many of them being human-tier) to +10. Each and every single one of them had very disappointing effects, and the only one that had surprised him to some degree was the soft armor which had been the very first thing he upgraded to begin with. Aside from that, nothing else caught his eye. In fact, there were some soul items with additional effects that were even worse than the incomplete soul items had.


    ¡°The ¡®quality¡¯ of these items are rather lacking¡­¡± Pulling out a claw type soul item with a shake of his head, he was already in the middle of convincing himself that making these soul items as a trump card was a lost cause. To wish for so now was a lost cause.


    One rest and several sighs later, Bai Yunfei straightened his back. ¡°Next up are the most important ones¡­.¡±


    Following a shake and twist of his hand, the Crescent Moon Blades came popping into his hands in a flash of greenish light¡ªthese two blades were separate, but could also be used as one as if they were meant to be so to begin with.


    With his heart pounding in his chest, Bai Yunfei began to look through the stats of the soul item.


    Equipment Grade: Low Legacy


    Equipment Set: Left


    Attack: 630


    Set Effect 1: Freely manipulate the [Right] piece if within 100 meters.


    Set Effect 2: If combined with the other piece, increase the equipment grade to Middle Legacy with an attack of 998


    Upgrade Requirement: 83 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Legacy


    Equipment Set: Right


    Attack: 641


    Set Effect 1: Freely manipulate the [Left] piece if within 100 meters.


    Set Effect 2: If combined with the other piece, increase the equipment grade to Middle Legacy with an attack of 998


    Upgrade Requirement: 83 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 178: Crescent Moon Blades and Set Equipment!

    Chapter 178: Crescent Moon Blades and Set Equipment!


    For the longest of time, Bai Yunfei was gobsmacked. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, Bai Yunfei simply could not believe his eyes for several seconds.


    ¡°Se¡ªset equipment!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart began to pound against his chest in joy, ¡°A set of left and right. Set equipment¡­.they¡¯re strong!¡±


    Taking several seconds to inhale and exhale, Bai Yunfei calmed himself down before taking a second look at the Crescent Moon Blades.


    ¡°Yet again another discovery, but what a find this is! No wonder those two were fighting so strangely! That one time I almost died was because of the set equipment¡¯s effect!¡±


    ¡°Right now in this current state they¡¯re considered a set of left and right, but how do I split them apart?¡± Bai Yunfei stared inquisitively at the soul item in his hand. Turning it around, Bai Yunfei tilted his head to look at the hilt of the blade. Following a stream of his soulforce, the blade then immediately split apart from one another.


    ¡°Ka-chink!¡±


    There was a metallic crack.


    And then there was a single blade in both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands.


    ¡°They split!¡± Bai Yunfei cracked a grin at the sight of these two weapons. Now he could take a better look at the two.


    Weighing each sword in his hand, Bai Yunfei began to mutter to himself, ¡°A set of soul items where the left and right pieces are connected. What happens if I¡­.if I upgrade them?¡±


    Curious on the results, Bai Yunfei made the swift decision to immediately upgrade these to +10.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Legacy


    Equipment Set: Left


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 630


    Additional Attack: 327


    Set Effect 1: Freely Manipulate the [Right] piece if within 100 meters.


    Set Effect 1: If combined with the other piece, increase the equipment grade to Middle Legacy with an attack of 998 and an additional attack of 411.


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to conjure a single blade of wind.


    If the [Left] and [Right] pieces are together, increase this chance to 15% to summon three wind blades.


    (If attacking the head, the chance of stunning increases to 5%)


    Upgrade Requirement: 83 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Legacy


    Equipment Set: Right


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 641


    Additional Attack: 332


    Set Effect 1: Freely Manipulate the [Left] piece if within 100 meters.


    Set Effect 1: If combined with the other piece, increase the equipment grade to Middle Legacy with an attack of 998 and an additional attack of 411.


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to conjure a single blade of wind.


    If the [Left] and [Right] pieces are together, increase this chance to 15% to summon three wind blades.


    (If attacking the head, the chance of stunning increases to 5%)


    Upgrade Requirement: 83 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Wind blade¡­.isn¡¯t that pretty much the same thing as the Flame Winged Blade? How strong would it be then¡­.¡± Looking at the improved weapon in his hand, Bai Yunfei started to think to himself. ¡°But when the two blades are connected, they become a¡­.an earth-tier item!¡± That¡¯s already stronger than the +12 Fire-tipped Spear!¡±


    ¡°Not bad at all then! Too bad I¡¯m not good at this type of weapon, I¡¯d love to have use it!¡± Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°But still, using it every so often for a sneak attack should be a trump card still¡­.¡±


    He had no way of trying out the Crescent Moon Blades, so all he could really do was to ¡®play¡¯ around with them before putting them away again.


    With nothing else to inspect and with it being the dead of the night, Bai Yunfei¡¯s only option afterwards was to sit back on his bed and try his best to cultivate.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The next day, Bai Yunfei finished up his cultivation period and finished some breakfast before heading out for the mountains himself. Shao Ling had been refused to go with him.


    It was in these forests that Bai Yunfei gained some valuable experience with the Crescent Moon Blades and the other newly acquired soul items. The Crescent Moon Blades¡¯ +10 effect and additional effects were studied especially carefully.


    Contrary to his initial thought, the Crescent Moon Blades weren¡¯t as nearly hard as he¡¯d thought they¡¯d be. All he needed to do was to transmit some soulforce into it and he could manipulate their movements as freely as he¡¯d like within a hundred meters of himself. It wasn¡¯t a drastic consumption, but the further the blades traveled away from him, the more soulforce it took.


    The weapons had the chance of summoning a wind blade of considerable strength. It didn¡¯t have the explosive effect like the Fire-tipped Spear did, but it was still quite decent. The Fire-tipped Spear required a ¡®stab¡¯ in order to activate, the Crescent Moon Blades only required a swing to activate. Even if he missed, it¡¯d still work! The swing of the actual blade and the wind blade could work in conjunction with one another. But the true extent of their power couldn¡¯t exactly be determined without a test run in battle first.


    After his experiment finished, Bai Yunfei began to work on improving his own fighting habits and skills such as the Wave Treading Steps, the Ninefold Fist Force, the throwing knives, and so forth. Whether it was finding a flaw in his defenses or just improving his skills in general, Bai Yunfei was trying his best so that he could grow strong enough to fight off anyone.


    From morning to noon, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to return to the village at all.


    And so when he finally followed the river back to the village in a mid-thought walk, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see two sitting shoulder to shoulder underneath a large tree on the other side of the river.


    It was Xiao Fang and Zhu Zi.


    And from the looks of it, they were rather close to one another and spoke in quiet voices. From where Bai Yunfei was, he could see Zhu Zi¡¯s left hand drift hesitantly back and forth towards Xiao Fang¡¯s shoulder as if he was having misgivings on holding onto her.


    It was apparent to see that they weren¡¯t paying attention to their surroundings, so it was no wonder Bai Yunfei was able to go as far as he did without detection. It was only when the thickets rustled behind the two that they looked up and behind.


    From Bai Yunfei¡¯s own response, it looked as if he realized that he had disturbed their moment. Sheepishly, he spoke, ¡°Oh¡­.hehehe¡­what a coincidence. I didn¡¯t think to come across you two here¡­.¡±


    ¡°Lo¡ªlord Bai, how did you come across here¡­.?¡± Scrambling to her feet, Xiao Fang¡¯s eyes flickered to Zhu Zi right next to her before blushing.


    ¡°Ehhhhh¡­.I was just taking a walk. Carry on, I¡¯ll be on my way now.¡±


    Turning around, Bai Yunfei was about to walk away when Zhu Zi cried out after him. ¡°Bai Yunfei, hold on!¡±


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s up?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in confusion.


    Hesitating at first, Zhu Zi turned to look at Xiao Fang, ¡°Xiao Fang, could you go on back first? I want to talk with Bai Yunfei.¡±


    Although she was confused as well, Xiao Fang didn¡¯t question him and gave an obedient nod of her head. ¡°Okay. It¡¯s noon anyways, I needed to go on back to fix lunch anyways¡­.¡±


    The two watched Xiao Fang draw farther and farther away before Bai Yunfei looked to the still hesitant Zhu Zi. Smiling, he spoke, ¡°Zhu Zi, what¡¯d you want to say to me? From what I can see, you¡¯ve made a huge step in your relationship with Xiao Fang! Don¡¯t tell me you still think I¡¯m an enemy?¡±


    Zhu Zi was taken aback himself at first. Shaking his head as if to clear away the misunderstandings, he spoke apologetically. ¡°Tha¡ªno, I wanted apologize to you for before. I was being jealous and thought that you were¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t sweat the small stuff then. How¡¯re your wounds?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. He spent the last two days healing from his wounds so he had barely seen Shao Ling, let alone Zhu Zi who was in an even worse of a state. From the looks of things, Zhu Zi was obviously in a much better state than before.


    Nodding, Zhu Zi replied, ¡°I made a complete recovery yesterday night. I¡­.I heard from Xiao Fang that it was because of you that I was able to recover so fast. I wanted to thank you and¡­.and to give you this.¡±


    A single sack was taken out from within Zhu Zi¡¯s robes. From it, he took out a series of accessories¡ªthe ones Bai Yunfei had first given to him to help accelerate his wounds.


    Seeing the reluctant look on Zhu Zi¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei just had to smile. He could remember when Jing Mingfeng had been loaned the speed enhancing accessories, and how he was reluctant to give it back as well. But the smile receded soon enough, he simply couldn¡¯t give Zhu Zi these items to own. It was only because Zhu Zi was in a bad enough state that the very best recovery items were used. He couldn¡¯t gift these upgraded items away, no matter how decent of a fellow Zhu Zi was.


    But there was still something else Zhu Zi looked like he wanted to say as he returned the accessories, prompting Bai Yunfei to ask, ¡°What, is there something else?¡±


    Bowing his head, Zhu Zi¡¯s eyes gleamed with a slight indecisive light before quickly being overshadowed by a firm one. A moment later, Zhu Zi took out another bag from his robe and opened it to reveal a small white stone the size of a small fist.


    Turning it over and giving to Bai Yunfei, Zhu Zi had a pained look on his face. ¡°I give this to you. This is for saving Xiao Fang¡¯s life!¡±

 Chapter 179: Upgrade Stone

    Chapter 179: Upgrade Stone


    Turning it over and giving to Bai Yunfei, Zhu Zi had a pained look on his face. ¡°I give this to you. This is for saving Xiao Fang¡¯s life!¡±


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s this?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in confusion.


    ¡°It¡¯s thanks for saving Xiao Fang and me.¡±


    Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°What are you talking about, it was because of me that you three got in trouble to begin with. It should be me that should be apologizing to you. What¡¯s the need for this then?¡±


    But Zhu Zi¡¯s hand remained still in the air. ¡°It was because of the disk you gave me that my life was spared. And it was because of that act of courage that Xiao Fang was finally able to see it and my determination. She has¡­.she has accepted me. So, I¨CI wanted to thank you!¡±


    ¡°Err¨Cshe did¡­?¡± Bai Yunfei had never expected to see that he had actually ¡®helped¡¯ Zhu Zi¡¯s chase after Xiao Fang. ¡°People always say that ¡®if there¡¯s a will, there¡¯s a way¡¯. There¡¯s no need to thank me like this¡­¡±


    ¡°I need to thank you, if I don¡¯t, I¡¯d never be able to let it go.¡± Zhu Zi pressed on. ¡°This is a strange stone. It¡¯s the reason why my body is so strong. But even now, I¡¯ve no use for it, and there¡¯s no point in keeping it. I know you aren¡¯t any ordinary person, so if I give it to you, you should be able to find an even better use for it.¡±


    Rendered speechless by the determination of Zhu Zi, Bai Yunfei took a look at the stone handed to him. It was pulsating with the faint wisps of worldly energy, but traces of an elementless energy could be felt (coincidentally the most perfect type of energy any soul cultivator can absorb). It wasn¡¯t high in quality, and at the very best, it could probably classified as a low-grade primal stone.


    To the eyes of the commoner, a primal stone would be an absolute treasure for them. As long as it was on their body for an extended period of time, they could make use of the primal energy to strengthen their bodies. It appeared that Zhu Zi had been using that energy to become as strong as he was now to be one of the strongest commoners around.


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was still thinking about the stone, Zhu Zi had already pressed the stone into his hands, ¡°In short, this is my thanks!¡±


    ¡°But really, you don¡­¡± Bai Yunfei had wanted to say something more about the stone when something out of the corner of his eyes caused the words waiting to come out from his mouth to immediately die out there.


    The reason for his loss of composure was due to the fact that a string of information was immediately sent to his head about the stone¡­.


    Equipment Grade: Unique


    Effect: Increase the chance of success when upgrading.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    ¡­¡­


    Increase the chance of success when upgrading!


    Increase the chance of success when upgrading!!


    Increase the chance of success when upgrading!!!


    Increase¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    This string of information swam around Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, rendering him speechless as if his spirit had left him.


    The drastic change that overcame Bai Yunfei caused even Zhu Zi to feel alarmed, ¡°Bai Yunfei, wh¨Cwhat happened?!¡±


    From head to toe, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to shake. With a strange expression, Bai Yunfei managed to speak, ¡°Er, nothing. Nothing really. I just didn¡¯t expect something like this¡­.¡±


    Looking back down onto the stone, Bai Yunfei grew quiet.


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll accept this stone. Zhu Zi, thank you.¡± He managed to say.


    Smiling honestly, Zhu Zi spoke, ¡°This is my gift of thanks to you, why are you thanking me? I¡¯ve said it already. This thing has no use anymore, so I wanted to give it to you. I hope that you¡¯ll be able to find a good use for it soon.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯ll definitely be able to find a good use for it¡­.Haha. Zhu Zi, yo¨Cyou¡¯re amazing!¡± Bai Yunfei let out a mental sigh of relief. He wanted nothing more but to hug Zhu Zi in this moment¨Cdon¡¯t misconstrue this action to be something else¨Cbut really, this was simply far too amazing to be true!


    With the stone tucked carefully away, Bai Yunfei hesitated for a moment before shaking his right arm to take out a set of strength increasing accessories. Handing it to Zhu Zi, he spoke, ¡°You should know what these are. I¡¯ll give them to you. There¡¯s also a set of earrings, you can give that to Xiao Fang. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll love it.¡±


    ¡°I¡­..¡± Zhu Zi wanted to refuse the gifts at first, but in truth, he had a great desire for these strange accessories, and so there was hesitation to be had.


    ¡°No need to refuse them. Take it. They¡¯re not important to me in any case.¡± Bai Yunfei pushed the items onto Zhu Zi¡¯s hands before continuing to speak, ¡°They¡¯re extremely unique items, so it¡¯s best if you don¡¯t let other people know about them so easily. It might give you unwanted trouble.¡±


    Putting away the accessories, Zhu Zi spoke back to Bai Yunfei with a look of excitement, ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be sure to keep that in mind!¡±


    Thinking for another moment, Bai Yunfei felt that this deal was still quite lacking on his side of the deal. With another shake of his hand, a machete-like weapon about two-thirds of a meter long came out¨Cit was the human-tier weapon Zhao Chuan had used to try and kill him from before.


    Equipment Grade: Middle Rare


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 337


    Additional Attack: 155


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is an 8% chance of inflicting another 100 points of damage.


    Upgrade Requirement: 70 Soulpoints


    Sparing it a single look over, Bai Yunfei handed the +10 human-tier weapon to Zhu Zi, ¡°I¡¯ll be giving this to you!¡±


    ¡°¡­.¡±


    Zhu Zi simply didn¡¯t understand what in the world was going on. He was just giving Bai Yunfei a thank you gift for saving Xiao Fang a moment ago, but now he was being given something in return!


    He was speechless towards Bai Yunfei, but the fact that Bai Yunfei could ¡®bring¡¯ out so many things from nowhere wasn¡¯t what he was really shocked about. A few days ago, he had been lucky enough to bear witness to an ¡®inconceivable¡¯ fight after all.


    Seeing the look of disbelief on Zhu Zi¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei laughed in response. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. Honestly, the stone you gave me doesn¡¯t have much use for you, but for me, it¡¯s undeniably a priceless treasure. If I don¡¯t give you something in return, I¡¯d never be able to feel at ease with myself.¡±


    Still not quite understanding the situation, Zhu Zi took the weapon into his own hand and then gave it an experimental chop onto the nearby tree. With a resounding ¡°thwock¡±, the blade left a wrist-sized cut on the tree, causing it to break and fall onto the ground.


    Unable to stop himself from smiling at Zhu Zi¡¯s dumbstruck expression, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°As you can tell, this blade is quite amazing. If you use it when you¡¯re hunting, you shouldn¡¯t be able to come across any danger. If you¡¯re using the items I gave you and this blade, you might sometimes feel a sense of dizziness. Don¡¯t be afraid, you¡¯ll find that your blade will become sharper than usual during that time. If it happens several times in a row, a good rest should take care of that. But still, don¡¯t let anyone else know about the secret behind this blade, otherwise, someone will surely try to kill you for it. Got it?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Afterwards, Bai Yunfei returned to the village with the still giddy-feeling Zhu Zi. Slapping him on the shoulder, Bai Yunfei returned to Shao Ling¡¯s house by himself. Although he looked calm on the surface, Bai Yunfei was actually far more giddy than Zhu Zi was. He was just doing his best to restrain his emotions from showing up on it.


    When it came to the Upgrade Technique of Bai Yunfei, what exactly was the biggest source of his headaches? It wasn¡¯t the fear if there wasn¡¯t any strong items to upgrade, it was the fear of the probabilities of success when upgrading!


    It was fine if an incomplete soul item blew up. He¡¯d shed no tears over those.


    But the super strong soul items that were already +10 like the Glacial Pricker, the Compliant Rope, the +11 Fire-tipped Spear, and the +12 Flameblade Bracer. Never would he dare try upgrading any of those any more than what it was right now, the results didn¡¯t outweigh the risks!


    According to his understanding of the Upgrade Technique, the chance of a successful upgrade past the +10 mark was pitifully low. If he were to try and upgrade all of his current equipment, he wouldn¡¯t even be left with a third of it all. The loss of all those items would undoubtedly leave such a tremendous pain on Bai Yunfei he¡¯d collapse against the wall if it were to happen.


    It was a constant dream for him to hope that there would be some sort of method to increase the odds of success. For that reason, he took great pains to try and experiment each and every way he could to find a way. But until now, there had been no success at all.


    But today!


    Today a meatpie had fallen from the heavens!


    Bai Yunfei had initially thought it was merely just a low-grade primal stone, but it was actually a unique object that could help him increase the chance of upgrading successfully!


    How could he not be happy about that?


    For the entire afternoon, Bai Yunfei was in a state of shock. Absent-mindedly, he followed Shao Ling to the mountains to hunt some prey until nightfall. Now that he was calm, Bai Yunfei immediately headed out of the village to reach the forests so that he was alone.


    Sitting on the grass, Bai Yunfei took out the stone. It was pulsating just slightly, but it looked like any other ordinary white stone, causing Bai Yunfei to look even harder at it.


    ¡°So. Should I use it or not?¡±

 Chapter 180: Upgrading in Batches

    Chapter 180: Upgrading in Batches


    Now that the upgrade stone was in his hand, Bai Yunfei was wavering on the decision on if he should use it or not.


    Before this, he was extremely excited to finally find a way to increase the chance of a successful upgrade. But now that the moment was here to put it to the test, Bai Yunfei found himself faced with another dilemma, hence his hesitance.


    ¡°But just how much will the chances improve by? 1%? 10%? Or maybe 50%? Who knows? Damnit, this is far too vague! Can¡¯t they explain it a little better?!¡± Bai Yunfei stared hard at the upgrade stone¡¯s attributes again, only to receive the notification of ¡®Increases the chance of success when upgrading¡¯ again.


    ¡°Ugh! If it¡¯s like that, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d be able to upgrade whatever I want¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands clutched at the Glacial Pricker and the upgrade stone in indecision. Finally, he put down both hands and sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t even know the concrete details, how am I supposed to make a decision like this! Should I use an unimportant soul item and try it out? But how many times can I use this stone¡­I¡¯ve only one of these. If it disappears, I¡¯d regret this for my entire life!¡±


    Worrying about the gains and losses for practically half an hour, Bai Yunfei finally decided that it¡¯d be best to not use it for now. Storing it away with a shake of his head, he thought, ¡°I¡¯ll keep it for now. At the very least I know it¡¯s a very unique item. There definitely has to be more of these things. If there¡¯s a chance to get even more, then maybe when I reach the Crafting School, I¡¯ll be able to research these things even more¡­.¡±


    Author Note: In truth, this item should be considered a ¡®Special Item¡¯ since it¡¯s related to the Equipment Upgrade Technique.


    ¡°Ah. I should ask Zhu Zi where he found this stone in fact. After all of the excitement this afternoon, I completely forgot to ask. Maybe there¡¯ll be even more of them!¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his chin. ¡°I¡¯ll go tomorrow. Then I¡¯ll stay one day longer and rest up¡­.then I¡¯ll leave the village! I have to make it to the Crafting School¡­¡±


    When he looked up at the hanging moon overhead, Bai Yunfei felt a period of disappointment wash over him. He had been excited on the prospect of upgrading tonight, but after a period of self-reflection, he gave up on that idea. After a moment of stillness passed by, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Since I¡¯m out here, I can¡¯t just sit around and do nothing! I might as well upgrade a few things! Even if I don¡¯t use the upgrade stone, I still have plenty of items¨CI¡¯ll just forcibly upgrade something!¡±


    Determined, Bai Yunfei was now placing his bets on the traditional plan of ¡®upgrading in batches¡¯!


    Eliminating the thought of upgrading the more important equipment, Bai Yunfei took out several dozen equipment from his space ring. Many of them were the newly-obtained low quality soul items.


    He was planning upgrading one of them into a high level item.


    Deadset on this plan now, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to think twice. With a shake of his hand, a large hatchet appeared in his hand. This was the strongest soul item he had found off the two brothers!


    ¡°No need to think anymore about it. Let¡¯s go¨Cupgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Middle Rare


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 366


    Additional Attack: 238


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 7% chance of inflicting knockback.


    Upgrade Requirement: 72 Soulpoints


    ¡°Haha, it worked!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with joy. At the very start of this was a success, what luck!


    Elated, Bai Yunfei returned the hatchet to his space ring and swapped it out for a +10 human-tier short blade.


    With an expectant look, he thought, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    As the short blade in his hands was reduced into dust and blown away by the wind, Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression went rigid.


    ¡°Pft! I lost a soul item.¡± Bai Yunfei coughed. Without caring anymore, he took out a shield.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°Ugh¡­again!¡± Bai Yunfei took out a low-grade human-tier soul item.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    There was an ugly look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as he took out another item.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Destroyed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡­¡­


    Half an hour later, Bai Yunfei finally took out the semi-broken Goldsilk Armor. Still in a daze, Bai Yunfei let out a huff of air.


    ¡°Upgrade¡­¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    The Goldsilk Armor was reduced to golden dust and blown away¡­.


    He was about to blow his top.


    Aside from the first item, everything else had been blown up!!


    ¡°How¡¯d it come to this! It shouldn¡¯t have! Damnit all, those were the soul items I only just got! Are you really just going to blow them up on me?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out to the night skies as if demanding answers from the Heavens themself.


    ¡°For fucks sakes, I can¡¯t believe this! Even if these soul items were useless, I didn¡¯t take them for nothing! Out of all these incomplete soul items and soul items, I doubt that not a single one of them won¡¯t be upgraded!¡±


    Waving his right hand, there was a clattering sound of noise as soul equipment of every type began to fall out from his space ring. With a wave of his left hand, another bundle of accessories fell into a messy pile with a clanking sound.


    With all the items here, Bai Yunfei gave a lazy look over them all before thinking to himself, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Successful


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Successful


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 2


    Additional Defense: 16


    +10 Additional Effect: Weaken presence by 10%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 12 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even recall just how many times he had to stop to rest by this point. Whenever he felt his soulforce grow low, he¡¯d swap out for some recovery items to recuperate his soulforce before continuing to upgrade the items again. By the time the star of Venus was out, the two piles of equipment in front of him were already all but gone¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Several purple crystal dust fell between his fingers. Absent-mindedly, Bai Yunfei watched as the dust flew away into the air. And when the dust flew away, his spirit felt as if it would too.


    Not too long after, his neck turned around to look around the place and then to the two hands in front of him with a look of depression. ¡°There¡¯s¡­.there¡¯s nothing left. Several days of work, all gone just like this? But why! But how! But whyyyyy!!¡±


    That¡¯s right. After an entire night of upgrading, the pile of equipment in front of him was gone. It wasn¡¯t because he stored them, it was because they had all been destroyed!!


    Even the +11 hatchet that he called ¡®opening luck¡¯ had been destroyed on the second round!


    And so out of all the upgraded equipment, he had only a few left¡­.


    Shaking his right hand, Bai Yunfei took out the slightly worse-for-wear strawhat.


    Equipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 2


    Additional Defense: 28


    +10 Additional Effect: Weaken presence by 10%.


    +12 Additional Effect: Weaken presence by 50% when soulforce is consumed for this skill.


    (May be combined with the +10 Additional Effect)


    Upgrade Requirement: 17 Soulpoints


    Practically in tears, Bai Yunfei looked at the strawhat and began to laugh. ¡°What is this, a consolation prize? Are you telling me I¡¯m meant to be a walk-on character my entire life? That I¡¯m just some sort of no presence character?¡±


    Filled with reluctance, Bai Yunfei gave up on upgrading and collected his ¡®bounty¡¯ from the night. Standing up, he looked at the mounds of dust around him with a mournful sigh, ¡°I¡¯ve told myself to not be taken in by the urge to upgrade, but I¡¯ve lost all sense of reason I guess! Regaining that reason after everything¡¯s gone and blown up¨Cwhat use is that! I have to be careful next time for sure¡­.¡±


    ¡°But, there¡¯s something slightly different to the Upgrade Technique this time! Damnit, I still don¡¯t understand it though. Looks like the path ahead of me is a long one, there¡¯s still plenty I need to understand¡­.¡±


    Still despondent, Bai Yunfei walked back to the village and slept until late that afternoon.


    When he finally woke up, he had Zhu Zi take him to where the male had first found the upgrade stone before. Searching the mountain and all that was beneath his feet, Bai Yunfei could find nothing of importance despite the immense effort he put into searching.


    On the second day, Bai Yunfei bade farewell to everyone in the village. Armed with a direction given to him by one of the village elders, Bai Yunfei once more set off on his path towards the Crafting School¡­.


    End of Book 2


    ¡ª¡ª¨C

 Chapter 181: At the Base of Mount Crimson

    Chapter 181: At the Base of Mount Crimson


    Winter was coming, but the entire Great Plains Province was still not yet feeling the frost. If anything, the entire province was bright and sunny with winds blowing as per usual for a nice refreshing scenery.


    Located at the very heart of the province was a giant mountain that towered into the clouds and above the entire surroundings. What was most peculiar about this mountain was the fact that its point was a crimson red color. It was almost as if this mountain peak was a single crimson point that was illuminating the entire area nearby.


    Thus, this mountain became known as Mount Crimson, home to one of the top ten schools on the continent, the Crafting School.


    On this day, countless throngs of people gathered at the base of the mountain in either groups of threes or fours or else by themselves. From the base to the entrance, there was possibly a count of over several thousand people waiting within an area of a thousand meters.


    They weren¡¯t gathered here to battle, and neither was it for a social gathering. It was the Crafting School¡¯s annual event to welcome in new students.


    Even though the event had yet to start, the crowds of people were especially rowdy; but this was mainly applicable to the ones gathered at the ends of the crowd. The closer and closer one got to the front end of the crowd, the more quiet it was. And practically within a hundred meters to the front, it was essentially a cemetery with how quiet everyone was. It was a drastic difference to the other group, and each one of these people were solemn-faced and tight-lipped as if there was something heavily weighing on their minds.


    In front of this multitude of people were several dozen figures all in the same strict posture. Their backs faced the mountains and their fronts faced the audience. Each one of them wore the same white-robed uniform with the insignia of a seemingly dancing flame. Even more noticeable was the fact that in this dancing flame, there was a rather ordinary-looking sword in it. But at a closer glance, one could tell that this sword had an extraordinary flame radiating from it. When the large crowd of people saw this design, they all had the same envious expression on their faces; this was the mark of a disciple of the Crafting School.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t they started yet? It¡¯s already high noon, we¡¯ve been standing here for at least three days already!¡± From his stone stool, one of the more bearded men cried out in anger as he looked to the crimson peak.


    ¡°Uncle, why are you complaining? I¡¯ve been here since five days ago. Aren¡¯t you here to join the Crafting School as well?¡± A young man saluted to the first man in greeting.


    ¡°Bah, why would you think that? I¡¯ve no delusions about my own strength, and everyone knows about the strict rule of the Crafting School. Only those under the age of 25 are accepted! I¡¯m just here to accompany the young lord, as long as he¡¯s accepted, my journey here is well and over.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Brother, you¡¯re here as a bodyguard too? I¡¯ve two young lords to protect, they¡¯re both middle-stage Soul Personages, so joining the Crafting School should be considerably easier for them.¡± Another middle-aged man interjected.


    ¡°Pah, middle-stage Soul Personage? What use is that? If they¡¯ve no talent for the fire affinity, being even a late-stage Soul Warrior would be useless!¡± A twenty-something year old youth walked forward with a jeering smile. ¡°How clueless is your little household? I¡¯ve already had someone test me before, I¡¯ve a high affinity for the elemental fire, I¡¯ll definitely be accepted into the Crafting School!¡±


    ¡°Hey! Aren¡¯t you Lu Renbing from Bluemont City? Since when did your Lu become some sort of super big family? And when did you have an aptitude for the elemental fire? I¡¯ve never heard that before.¡± A mysterious voice spoke out from behind this youth. Turning around, everyone could see an elegantly dressed twenty-something year old youth. He wasn¡¯t weak either and was about at the strength of a middle-stage Soul Warrior.


    ¡°Li Jiannan! A kid like you came too? If I don¡¯t have an affinity for fire, do you have one then?!¡± Just from their frosty conversation alone, everyone could tell that these two figures had had trouble between each other before.


    ¡°Hmph! At least I¡¯ve far more promise and strength than a late-stage Soul Personage like you!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re only just one small level higher, don¡¯t think yourself so hi¡ª¡±


    ¡°Now now. Let¡¯s stop bickering, you two¡­..¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Just beyond the group that was watching this spectacle, an inconspicuous person could be seen on top of a tree there. From what could be seen of him, this youth was wearing grey robes and a strawhat on his head. In his mouth was a single stalk of straw, and he looked clearly bored of the bickering that was happening in front of him.


    Even though he was somewhat far away from the others, not a single person nearby had taken notice of him. It was almost as if his entire existence was negligible.


    It was Bai Yunfei.


    A month ago, Bai Yunfei had finally arrived at the Great Plains Province. For the sake of arriving on time to the Crafting School, Bai Yunfei hurried all the way over here and only took time to stop twice for a ¡®mysterious cave¡¯ (Without getting lost mind you). Then afterwards stopping in the nearby Redfire City for two days, Bai Yunfei managed to get some rest and then rush on over here to spend an entire day in waiting.


    By the time he got here though, there was already a sea of people. Since he was tired, Bai Yunfei borrowed one of the nearby trees to take a nap, only to be awakened by the noise that the people here were making. Seeing that it was about to start, he decided to look on from above rather than to go down and check for himself.


    ¡°Luren Bing? Li Jiannan? What great names they have¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei quirked his lips in amusement. Looking around the place, Bai Yunfei began to make silent observations of the people around him, ¡°25 and under with an affinity for fire¡­those aren¡¯t a problem for me, but I wonder how they¡¯ll test for this ¡®crafting gift¡¯¡­.¡±


    TL Note: Bai Yunfei mistakes the names of these two to mean: Stranger and Cheap male.


    He had learned a decent amount about the Crafting School on his way there. For the Crafting School, there was three criterias which were automatic failures.


    Being older than 25.


    Not having a sufficient affinity for the elemental fire.


    Not having the gift for crafting.


    He was good for the first two conditions. But the third one was where Bai Yunfei felt slightly troubled by. Upgrading equipment was a clinch for him, but upgrading and creating were two different horses to ride. He had no idea at all if he had the talent for ¡®crafting¡¯.


    But a shot not taken was a shot missed. It was far too late for him to back down now. He spent more than half a year to travel all the way to the Crafting School so that he could study the art of crafting. He wanted to become stronger, and now that he was oh-so-close to his destination, Bai Yunfei would do his absolute best to join the Crafting School.


    But no sooner did he finish thinking to himself when Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes light up, ¡°They¡¯re here!¡±


    Coming down from the mountain, Bai Yunfei could see several dozen students follow a handsome-looking youth with an extraordinary aura to him. At his appearance, everyone else that were talking before immediately grew quiet. The silence began to spread throughout the crowd, and within a single minute, the entire crowd was silent. Turning to the front of the mountain, everyone in the crowd did their best to crane their necks to try and see what was going on.


    But for Bai Yunfei, someone that was at the bottleneck of the late-stage Soul Sprite stage, a distance like this was negligible to him. He could see the entire situation as clear as day and spoke to himself with excitement, ¡°Late-stage Soul Ancestor! How amazing¨Ceven in presence, he could beat practically everyone here!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The young man leading the group gave a level stare at everyone gathered before him. Even the young lords whose strengths were at the Soul Sprite stage couldn¡¯t help but avoid his gaze when he looked at them, as if afraid of their eyes meeting.


    The students behind him split into two rows, and with a wave of their hands, over twenty long tables appeared in front of everyone. Moving quickly, the students then began to place something on each of the tables.


    ¡°Everyone, I am a student of the Crafting School, Song Lin. Today, I will be the one responsible for overseeing the examination for any applicant¡¯s aptitude with elemental fire.¡± The one now known as Song Lin spoke to everyone with a respectful greeting. His voice wasn¡¯t loud, but it traveled for long distances into the ears of everyone there.


    ¡°I presume everyone knows the conditions of our Crafting School. Our school will test for the age of every applicant, please do not think you might be able to scrape on by with luck. The examination for aptitude with the elemental fire is relatively simple as well. We of the Crafting School has specialized equipment that only requires the applicant to stick their hands in for us to see the results.¡±


    Pointing at the twenty tables, everyone could see that each of the tables were filled with black boxes. Inside these black boxes were several palm-sized red crystals. On the faces of these crystals, it looked as if it could fit an entire palm on it.


    ¡°We are not testing to see how much soulforce everyone has, but rather the degree of aptitude one has with the elemental fire. For every soul cultivator here, please do not transmit too much of your soulforce into these crystals; as there is no point to that.¡±


    Waving his hand one last time, Song Lin announced, ¡°Well then. Let the examinations begin!¡±

 Chapter 182: Testing For the Gift of Fire

    Chapter 182: Testing For the Gift of Fire


    ¡°Failed! Next!¡±


    The calm voice of one of the students of the Crafting School called out. In front of him was a young man with a face filled with disappointment. His right hand was pressed on top of the ¡®testing apparatus¡¯ before the judgement was made. When it was announced that he failed, the applicant slinked away in dejection to allow the person behind him to replace him at the front. At the instructions of the student, the next person placed his right hand on top of the box.


    This one was a late-stage Soul Apprentice. When he placed both hands onto the box, he accidentally unloaded all of his soulforce into the stone. Under the excited eyes of the applicant, the red stone imbedded in the box flashed several times before finally receding.


    But before several seconds could even pass, the red stone gave no more indications of flashing any more. Even though that young man had used all of his soulforce, it did nothing for him.


    ¡°Failed!¡±


    The student observing him called out.


    ¡°Failed.¡±


    ¡°Failed.¡±


    ¡°Failed!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    At the same time, three other observers called out one after another. The applicants for their respective tables then all left the tables with looks of dejection on their faces¡­.


    ¡°This is ridiculous! Not a single one of the last hundred people passed!¡± Someone from the crowd cried out again and again.


    ¡°Yea! Is this examination even accurate? I could see the stone light up a few times for some, why didn¡¯t they pass?¡±


    ¡°Hah, idiot! The stone flashing only means that you¡¯ve an affinity for the elemental fire, but having the light flash so weakly like all these guys only mean that you¡¯ve not the talent for it! That means you¡¯ve failed to meet the standards of the Crafting School!¡±


    ¡°Then how strong does the light have to be?¡±


    ¡°Who knows? No one has passed yet¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Whilst everyone was bickering, a completely different judgement was suddenly made from one of the tables to the left.


    ¡°Passed! Medium talent!¡±


    From the third table to the left, a red-faced young man was practically frozen still to where he stood. He had been so surprised by the judgement that he forgot to take away even his right hand, but it did nothing to hide the shining bright red stone in the box.


    This was one the young man bickering with Li Jiannan some time before the examination started, Lu Renbing.


    ¡°I¡­.I passed?!¡± Lu Renbing jerked his hand back disbelievingly. Still in a daze, he had to ask the student judging him to repeat the judgement.


    The student in question smiled and nodded his head. ¡°Correct. You¡¯ve passed, but it¡¯s a little too early to be too happy. This is only a preliminary examination. Now, go and wait over there for now.¡±


    A second student came to guide Lu Renbing to an empty spot near the base of the mountain. And as they walked, the crowd of people watched him walk away with jealous looks.


    ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought that kid would actually pass!¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be! Did you see how bright that stone was flashing? That was only ¡®medium talent¡¯?! What kind of high standards does the Crafting School have!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say! Did you think entering one of the top ten schools on this continent would be a walk in the park? The Crafting School looks relatively easy! I¡¯ve heard that the Wind Lightning School had only ten people pass, and the first-ranking applicant there had to withstand an attack of elemental lightning from one of the students!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Pass! High talent!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s head snapped to the fifth table from the right where the applicant who passed was a seemingly young villager boy from the middle of nowhere. Amazed, the boy stared at the dazzling stone in front of him and asked the student in bewilderment, ¡°Woah¡­.ah¡­ah really passed?


    The student in front of him nodded his head, ¡°Your talent for it is pretty good. Joining the school should be no problem, but entering the inner ranks is up to your talent for crafting. Please wait over there.¡±


    Once again, the entire group of applicants watched the simplistic-looking youth be walked on over to the area where all the successful applicants went with envious looks.


    ¡°Che! A country bumpkin that isn¡¯t even a soul cultivator, but he passed with high talent?!¡± Someone from the crowd grumbled in complaint.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Are you kidding me?! You¡¯re saying I¡¯ve no talent for elemental fire? I¡¯m Li Jiannan, the strongest genius of Vernox City in the Range Peak Province! I¡¯m a goddamn middle-stage Soul Warrior! Everyone within a thousand miles know my name, and you¡¯re telling me my talent isn¡¯t enough?!¡±


    Just at that moment, the seventh table from the right had a exasperated cry ring out from it. Turning their heads towards the commotion, everyone could see a pitiful-looking young man yelling at the student. His hand¨Cwhich was originally placed on the completely dim stone¨Cwas not pointing at the student in charge of judging him with a quiver to it from all his anger.


    The student narrowed his eyes in response to the man, but his words were calm in his rebuke, ¡°Vernox City? Never heard of it before. And never have I heard about your name either. The examination was clear for you to see. Please leave and don¡¯t hold up the line any longer!¡±


    ¡°Yo¨Cyou liar! How could I not have talent for the elemental fire?! I¡­I¡­¡± Li Jiannan¡¯s face was contorted with anger and his body shook spastically as if he wanted to argue, but when he was faced with the warning glance of Song Lin, Li Jiannan paused mid breath. His anger abated away, leaving him to only speak out in a defeated tone, ¡°I invited an expert to give us an examination, he said that I had the talent for it¡­.¡±


    ¡°This so-called ¡®expert¡¯ of yours, is he even more accurate than the examinations of our school?¡± The student in front of him spoke in disdain, ¡°Your talent in cultivation is fine, but your affinity for the elemental fire is pitiful. Go back and continue your training, perhaps you¡¯ll find another affinity more suited to you. If you continue to argue with us here, then you¡¯ll have to excuse us if we force you to leave!¡±


    The middle-stage Soul Sprite besides Li Jiannan hurried to whisper to him, ¡°Young master, perhaps we should leave. It¡¯ll be trouble if we cause trouble with the Crafting School¡­.¡±


    He was a man that lived a completely different life than Li Jiannan. He was not ignorant, and he was not pampered throughout his entire life, so he knew that Song Lin¡¯s cursory glance had a well-hidden source of pressure in there. If they didn¡¯t leave, then they¡¯d be ¡®guided¡¯ to the exit.


    On the other side, when Lu Renbing, who had already passed, saw the still angrily cursing Li Jiannan being walked away, he had a very happy smile on his face.


    ¡°Next!¡± Spoke the very same student who dismissed Li Jiannan.


    His expression was still the same as before.


    ¡­¡­


    And so the examination continued to go on in a swift but orderly manner. A continuous stream of disappointed people would often be seen turning around and walking away from the examination grounds.


    Not very many people made it through.


    Roughly a kilometer away in a forest to the right of the examination ground, there was the sound of a young but tender voice singing some sort of strange song.


    ¡°Lalalalala¡­. Xiao Baibai¡¯s wings are so white~


    Xiao Rourou¡¯s body is so soft~


    Xiao Baibai and Xiao Rourou are good friends~


    Friends of Dai Dai~


    Xiao Rourou hey~¡±


    Hanging on top of a very tall tree, a pair of pink embroidered shoes swung forwards and backwards on one of the tree branches. Keeping with the rhythm of the ¡®song¡¯, the owner of these shoes were revealed to be a very young girl sitting on the tree branch. She looked like she was singing a song while looking at the examination grounds from the cracks of the foliage.


    The song was clearly a composition she made herself.


    This young but innocent looking girl looked to be fourteen or fifteen years old in age. She had a petite figure, and she wore lace clothing that suited her well. On her waist was a small bag embroidered with the pattern of a butterfly on it to hold her things.


    Her face was like that of a small baby, giving any person that saw her have the urge to pinch her cheeks. She had a cherry-colored mouth and a lovably cute nose as well. Like a bright crystal, both of her eyes shined brilliantly, and her ears were equally short. A short bun was prepped up on the left side of her head so that the rest of her hair would rise up shortly towards the sky before drooping back down and shake side to side when her head was moved.


    This young girl wore two pink mittens that were soft but furry from its materials, but her fingers were exposed halfway through to show off her white pigmented skin.


    ¡°Xiao Rourou hey, Xiao Rourou¡­hm? Where are you, Xiao Rourou?¡± Halfway through her song, a sudden thought struck the young girl. Looking left and right, she quirked her lips and asked, ¡°Xiao Rourou¡¯s gone. Heehee, is it time for hide-and-seek? I know where you are then~¡±


    Giggling, the girl leapt down from the ten-meter tall tree and landed gracefully on the ground. Skipping into the forests to her left, she continued to hum and chant her song to herself.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei was currently waiting in the line to the left. The wait was so long, Bai Yunfei felt as if he was waiting for the food lines from long time ago.


    But there wasn¡¯t much of a choice. Far too many people were trying to get in, and he was one of the later ones to show up. Thus, he had to be in the back.


    While he stood helpless where he was, a twenty-three year old young man could be seen talking to Bai Yunfei endlessly¡­.

 Chapter 183: Meddling in the Affairs of Another

    Chapter 183: Meddling in the Affairs of Another


    Just every so slowly, a twitch started to creep onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips as he looked straight ahead in helplessness at the still talking young man in front of him.


    ¡°That man in charge of the examinations, Song Lin, he¡¯s a late-stage Soul Ancestor! Did you see how strong he was when he came out, or how cool he was! Over a thousand people went quiet as soon as he appeared! If uncle Zhao didn¡¯t tell me about him earlier, I would¡¯ve thought these people realized how noisy they were! Hey, uh, brother Bai, why are you wearing that ugly strawhat? I heard from uncle Zhao that you were stronger than even him, is that true? Why do you want to join the Crafting School? Cousin Liu Mang and I want to join because we want to make our own soul items, what about you¡­.¡±


    This young one was named Zhong Xuhao, a twelve year old youth that acted towards Bai Yunfei with great familiarity since the very beginning. From the start, he chatted with Bai Yunfei as if they were old friends for practically an eternity.


    From Zhong Xuhao¡¯s self-introduction, Bai Yunfei knew that he was the young heir to a noble family from one of the sourthern cities in the empire. He came with his cousin to the Crafting School to join, and he was extremely confident that he¡¯d be able to join. By his side was the equally young person named ¡°Liu Mang¡±. True to his name, his eyes stared surreptitiously at the prettier-looking women in the groups around him and rarely involved himself in the talks between Bai Yunfei and Zhong Xuhao. The fact that he chose to mind his own business made him look rather pitiful.


    They were twelve years old, but they were middle-stage Soul Personages, making them both to be geniuses of their generation.


    By the side of these two was a middle-aged man that was said to be the ¡®uncle Zhao¡¯ from before. He had a helpless look on his face when he stared at Zhong Xuhao. Beforehand, he had even warned Zhong Xuhao about approaching Bai Yunfei, ¡°I told you this person behind us isn¡¯t your average person and that you shouldn¡¯t talk to him.¡±


    But in the end, Zhong Xuhao went to talk with Bai Yunfei. If not for the fact that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem like a bad guy or an arrogant person, this man would¡¯ve dragged Zhong Xuhao away.


    ¡°He has a very plain aura to him, I almost missed him the first time. But he¡¯s undoubtedly of the Soul Sprite stage at the very weakest. He can¡¯t possibly be from one of the more major families, can he? Only the ¡®self-proclaimed¡¯ major families would take this public route to entering the Crafting School. The major families would all just send their children to the seniors of the school for an apprenticeship¡­.maybe this is some sort of genius from a village somewhere?¡±


    The man thought to himself as he made his own discreet judgement of Bai Yunfei. Despite the confusion and suspicion, he decided not to pursue the matter any longer.


    While absentmindedly listening to the blathering of Zhong Xuhao, Bai Yunfei began to look around himself. Many of the people lined up behind him were the ones who had been at the front of the crowd prior to the start of the examinations. Only a single look was needed to tell that they were all from wealthy families since they all had plenty of bodyguards with them. They were all calm, but arrogant, but they were all soul cultivators at the very least. Surely they all had to be the younger generation wishing to try their luck in joining with the Crafting School. As long as they did, then their prospects for the future would surely look bright.


    It was at that moment the ear-piercing sounds of someone cursing up a storm could be heard from the side. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei was just in time to see Li Jiannan. As he was being walked away with his bodyguards, Li Jiannan was constantly swearing to himself in anger.


    ¡°Hmph! Li Jiannan deserved to be eliminated! He of all people don¡¯t deserve to join the Crafting School?¡± Zhong Xuzhao snorted in response to seeing him walking away from the place.


    ¡°Hm? Do you know him?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t, but I met him on the road. What a stuck-up asshole! On the way, he kept trying to use his power to play around with any women he saw. If we didn¡¯t arrive when we did, those poor women would¡¯ve suffered a terrible fate. He¡¯s the scum amongst scum, and a disgrace to all us nobles! He¡¯ll be crippled by someone one day, I bet!¡± Zhong Xuhao critiqued him with an undisguised amount of juvenile hatred. He was clearly a twelve year old child that was trying to pretend to be a fully matured noble.


    Bai Yunfei could only sigh at that. He didn¡¯t particularly care about the nobles since there were plenty of them¨CZhang Yang was the perfect example of this. While Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t like these types of nobles, he couldn¡¯t simply beat sense into them whenever possible. If he didn¡¯t come across one committing a crime, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t care to do a thing about them.


    It was just at that moment another person was called out to have ¡°high talent¡± and passed. It was a young late-stage Soul Warrior, causing everyone to look on and discuss to one another.


    Wanting to see what was going on in front, Zhong Xuhao stood up on his tip toes and turned away from Bai Yunfei to look. Bai Yunfei looked relieved for a moment before a sudden thought struck him. With practically a second to think about it, Bai Yunfei slipped away from the line and disappeared into the crowd.


    ¡°Brother Bai, that person is just a little older than me, but he¡¯s already a late-stage Soul Warrior. How amazing! How¡¯d you think he trai¨C


    ¡°¨CBrother Bai? Where¡¯d you go?¡± Turning his head back to Bai Yunfei, Zhong Xuhao was surprised to see that Bai Yunfei was gone.


    Uncle Zhao was surprised as well. Looking around the place, he could see no hint of Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure. ¡°I was only just distracted for a brief moment, but he slipped away without me noticing him¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Looking ahead of themselves, Chen Lu whispered to the grinning Li Jiannan in concern, ¡°Young lord, it would be for the best for you to not act this way. We are still near the Crafting School, if someone were to find us here, it¡¯d spell trouble for us. I know you are feeling angry still, but it¡¯d be best if we return to Redfire City¡­.¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth! I can think for myself! We¡¯re already far enough from the examination grounds! If we wait a little bit, we¡¯ll be able to avoid anyone¡¯s eyes!¡± Li Jiannan snarled. Looking straight ahead, he licked at his lips with a vulgar look on his face. ¡°It was a good idea to come on out here with the family. Hehe, how beautiful this is! I¡¯ll be bringing home something good¡­.¡±


    Chen Luo¡¯s eyebrows knitted together in worry. He was well aware of the addiction the young heir had, but while he disapproved of it, he couldn¡¯t exactly say anything about it either. The house of Li had took care of him since he was a young boy and had even given him a primal stone to help him breakthrough to become a Soul Sprite and a bodyguard. For his gratitude, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be his place to critic Li Jiannan in place of his father. All he could do right now was to pray that Li Jiannan was right and that no one else was nearby¡­.


    And now that they were practically a kilometer away from the examination ground, Chen Luo and the other two bodyguards with him followed behind Li Jiannan as they walked through the forests. Slowly trekking ahead, they could just faintly hear the sounds of a melodious voice¨Cor the voice of a fairy¨Csinging in the tune of a strange song.


    ¡°Lalala, Xiao Rourou, where are you hiding? Even if you hide, I¡¯ll be able to find you~¡± The singer of this song was currently being followed by Li Jiannan. When Li Jiannan and his group left the examination grounds, they became across this girl and decided to help find this ¡®Xiao Rourou¡¯ with her. Without her knowledge, she found herself in a relatively far away place before being stopped by a young man.


    Halfway through a giggle and a skip, the young girl came to a sudden halt. Turning her head askew to look at the youth, she asked, ¡°Eeeh? Who are you? Why are you blocking Dai Dai¡¯s way? Do you want to play hide-and-seek with me?¡±


    Li Jiannan¡¯s face was completely red and his facial features were completely distorted in his excitement. The very sight of this young woman was enough for his wretched personality to fully show itself. No longer would he bother playing the good guy.


    With a sinister chuckle, he stalked towards the young girl. First, he¡¯d capture her and take her away from the place.


    Then, he¡¯d live out the ¡®pleasures¡¯.


    But the young girl continued to stare at Li Jiannan innocently, as if she didn¡¯t understand what he was planning on doing.


    ¡°Hey! Are you really planning on trying something here? I advise you to stop or else face a tragic consequence.¡±


    Just as Li Jiannan was several meters away from the young girl, a calm voice called out from the left parts of the forest, causing Li Jiannan and his group to give a small start. Whipping their heads towards the source of the voice, they could see a strawhat wearing youth sitting on top of a tree branch twenty meters away from them with a calm look on his face.


    Startled by the newcomer, Li Jiannan took a single step back before turning to look at Chen Luo. Calming himself down, he looked back to Bai Yunfei and snarled, ¡°Brat, go mind your own business or else I¡¯ll start getting rough with you!¡±


    ¡°Chen Luo, if that kid tries to do something, get rid of him!¡± Li Jiannan barked out a command to Chen Luo before turning back to stare down the girl who was currently staring at Bai Yunfei curiously. As he drew close to her, a lewd expression appeared on his own wretched face. ¡°Little loli, I¡¯ve got you in my sights¡­¡±


    Author Note: Should there be a problem if a different world has the term loli too?


    But Chen Luo could only grimace to himself when he heard Li Jiannan¡¯s command. Staring at Bai Yunfei, he thought to himself, ¡°How easy it is for you to say that. This isn¡¯t Vernox City where you can act as you please. I can barely see through the strength of this person, and you¡¯re telling me to get rid of him?¡±


    Seeing how exceedingly arrogant Li Jiannan was, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together. Just as he was about to move in to help the young girl, another unforeseen development had just then been thrown into motion!


    That girl, she¡­.


    ¡ª¨C

 Chapter 184: Theres Strange Things Everyday, but Today Even Moreso

    Chapter 184: There''s Strange Things Everyday, but Today Even Moreso


    The adorable smile on the girl¡¯s lips immediately shriveled away before her face twisted together with tears starting to form from her large eyes. And in the next second, a ¡®waaaah¡¯ erupted from her lips!


    She had actually been brought to tears by Li Jiannan!


    ¡°Waaaaaah¡­ugly ugmo! You scared Dai Dai¡­.you meanie! You grew ugly on purpose to scare Dai Dai¡­.waaahhh¡­.you¡¯re a meanie! A meanie!¡± The one called ¡°Dai Dai¡± wailed and rubbed away at the tears with her chubby fingers.


    ¡°Pft!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had originally a stern look on his face, but when he saw just how cute this girl was acting, he simply had to laugh. Crying was fine, but...the man may have looked ugly, but it wasn¡¯t as if he looked that way specifically to scare you!!


    For two seconds, Li Jiannan was frozen still. Then, his entire body began to twitch and tremble before he looked to the young woman, ¡°Yo-you¡­.¡±


    The ¡®you¡¯ persisted for several seconds before he finally shut up. Never had he ever come across such a situation before, and now, he was in a complete mess. After the shock subsided, anger flooded his entire face. With his right arm drawn up high, Li Jiannan moved to slap the young girl!


    Catching sight of this, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm shook once to retrieve a dagger into his hand. Just as he was prepared to throw it, yet another shocking development occurred again and stopped him dead in his tracks!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Following a muffled explosion of flesh being hit, Li Jiannan¡¯s entire body was sent flying backwards like a cannonball. His body traveled several meters before finally smashing against a tree nearly a meter wide. For a moment, his body was thrown across the tree before finally sliding back down to the ground.


    There was a large concentration of red light from where the crying girl was. All around her, a tremendous amount of soulforce exploded forth from her body.


    ¡°So¡ªSoul Ancestor!!¡±


    Bai Yunefi¡¯s eyes threatened to pop out from their sockets at the sight of this. For a moment, he was so stunned that he forgot to even move. In disbelief, he could only stare the young girl. This amount of soulforce was many times stronger than his, meaning that she had to be a mid-stage Soul Ancestor at the very least!


    Chen Luo was at a loss for words as well. Standing where he was, Chen Luo didn¡¯t even know what to think at this moment.


    In a single instant, the young girl had stretched her right hand forward so that the pink gloves she wore exuded a brilliant red light. It felt as if it was absorbing the elemental fire in the world into its material and then processing it to suddenly materialize into a physical form¡ªa physical form that resembled cat claws about two meters in length and made of some sort of energy!


    With the ¡®cat claws formed, the young girl then pressed downwards with it¡­.


    ¡°Pow!¡± Li Jiannan had been in the process of struggling to his feet when the girl slammed him down onto the ground again. Wiping away her tears with her left hand, she continued to slap Li Jiannan with the giant cat claw again and again as if she was smashing a rat.


    ¡°Waaaahh¡­.who said to scare Dai Dai? Who said to bully Dai Dai? Waaaah, you scared Dai Dai! You scary meanie!!¡± She wailed while slapping Li Jiannan over and over again.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Young master!!¡± Finally snapping back to awareness, Chen Luo quickly flew towards Li Jiannan in a burst of purple light.


    His movement had been anticipated by the young girl however. With a cat-like cry, her claws¡ªer, her hand swooped to the side to stop him. All Chen Luo could see was a giant energy claw come flying towards him with unbelievable speed before a ¡®pow¡¯ sound was heard. Like Li Jiannan, he was sent flying through the air ten meters away before collapsing against another tree.


    Removing Chen Luo from the equation had been as easy as slapping a housefly for her. And with him gone, she turned back to Li Jiannan and continued to beat him even more. Every so often, a small sob escaped her lips as if she felt wronged by everything. But even still, she didn¡¯t stop her actions at all¡­.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to feel, and neither did he really know how to react. But after several seconds of complete shock, he was unable to stop himself for staying quiet any longer, ¡°Hey¡ªhey there, little sister! You should stop hitting him, or he¡¯ll die soon enough!¡±


    With Li Jiannan slapped around on the ground to practically his dying breath, Bai Yunfei felt extremely sorry for him. Never could he imagine that such a cute-looking girl would be able to kill a man in such a manner like this.


    Even though he shouted twice, the young girl didn¡¯t quite seem to hear him or even respond. Without any other choice, Bai Yunfei moved to rush towards her. But before he could even make any progress towards her, the young girl immediately swung a hand back in response to him.


    ¡°Pfft!¡± Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected to see that the ¡®cat-like¡¯ young girl would suddenly slap out at him, but he managed to cross his arms across his chest to protect himself. With a bang, his body was sent backwards.


    Somersaulting in midair, Bai Yunfei landed back down onto the ground. Before he could do anything else however, something out from the corner of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eye caused him to grow startled. Kicking off with his right foot, Bai Yunfei managed to throw himself to the side and bringing his right arm up to protect himself.


    A single flash of red arced past Bai Yunfei before flying towards the young girl.


    ¡°Ting!!¡±


    There was a short chafing sound from where something struck the arm with his Flameblade Bracer. Despite the protection, Bai Yunfei still felt a slight sensation of pain.


    ¡°Soulbeast!!¡± Bai Yunfei thought. Twisting his head, his eyes widened in surprise when he registered the beast that attacked him. ¡°A pig?!¡±


    Indeed. The soulbeast in front of him was a pig about a meter tall!


    It was a peculiar pig¡ªit was standing on its hind legs like a human, but its four limbs had four hooves that shined brightly due to its sharpness. Both of its eyes shined brightly with a brilliant light normally seen in the eyes of a human; but the most important thing was that it was completely red!


    In short, Bai Yunfei felt as if the soulbeast standing in front of him was some sort of roasted suckling pig that stood up like a human¡­.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t dare laugh out loud for this line of thought. He knew that this pig had a hostile light to his eyes, and judging from the soulforce radiating from its body, it was a late-stage fifth-tier soulbeast!!


    There¡¯s always something strange everyday, but today happened to have even more strange things than usual. First, he came across a second generational that wanted to commit acts of criminality in the presence of the Crafting School, then he came across an extremely terrifying young girl that was a mid-stage Soul Ancestor at the very least, and now he was being attacked by a late-stage fifth-tier roasted suckling pig!


    Just briefly, Bai Yunfei felt that his brain was slightly addled¡­.


    ¡°Eeeeh? Xiao Rourou, you¡¯re back!!¡± Just at that moment, the young girl let out a happy shout from excitement. Choosing to stop hitting Li Jiannan, she ran to hug the little pig in front of him and then pointed a finger at the downed Li Jiannan. ¡°Where did you go? Dai Dai was looking for you when this meanie scared Dai Dai! How scary, waaah!!¡±


    The roasted suckling pig¡­.no. Wait. ¡®Xiao Rourou¡¯ turned to look at the young girl with an apologetic look. A look of hatred could be seen on its face when it looked at Li Jiannan before then turning to Bai Yunfei with indignation as well.


    ¡°Ah¡­.uh¡­.you misunderstand the situation. I¡¯m not with that guy. I actually came here to help this little sister¡­.¡± Realizing what was going on, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he waved his hands to explain the situation.


    It was at that moment that the pale-faced Chen Luo came staggering back into the place. The corners of his lips had some blood dripping from it still, and his face was grimaced together from all the pain. In just a scant few minutes, things had progressed to such a terrible state like this. If it was within his abilities, he¡¯d like nothing better than to escape from this dangerous place. But with Li Jiannan over there, he hadn¡¯t any choice but to try his best to find an opportunity to take him away when everyone was focused on Bai Yunfei. Hurrying over to Li Jiannan, he picked him up from the ground and checked for his vitals.


    Then he let out a sigh of relief¡ªthere was breath still.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even bother to stop Chen Luo from taking Li Jiannan away. And the little pig didn¡¯t seem to notice either. When the little girl saw that the crater where Li Jiannan was before was empty, she let loose a happy smile and hugged the pig tightly to herself. ¡°The meany is gone! Hehe, Dai Dai fought them off! Xiao Rourou, see how amazing Dai Dai is¡­?¡±


    As she spoke, the young girl rubbed at the head of the little pig, causing its stern expression to shatter away and be replaced by a helpless one.


    A big sweat drop formed on Bai Yunfei¡¯s head¡ªwasn¡¯t this change in expression a little too quick?


    But before anymore time was given to him to think, an ear-piercing sound broke the silence from his left!


    In the next second, a flaming long sword blew through the forest and into Bai Yunfei¡¯s view.


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 186: Elder of the Crafting School

    Chapter 186: Elder of the Crafting School


    The reason why Bai Yunfei had said ¡®crap¡¯ wasn¡¯t because of the danger to himself, but rather¡­.


    When the strange ambush happened onto his hand, it had activated the +10 additional effect of the Flameblade Bracer!


    (+10 Additional Effect: When blocking, there is a 9% chance of absorbing and converting the attack power into personal attack power, releasing it with your next attack. It can be held for 3 seconds. The amount of converted attack power cannot exceed the defensive strength of this item.)


    And the activation moment was when both their fists collided!


    According to his calculations, Bai Yunfei¡¯s usage of the Ninefold Fist Force would be enough to knock Fei Nian back without much damage to either parties. From there, he¡¯d be able to have the chance to explain things and hopefully end the fight there. Bai Yunfei was really afraid that this fight would end up as a battle to the death.


    But now that the effect of his bracer was activated and the power of his enemy¡¯s punch was absorbed to fuel his own punch, Bai Yunfei could no longer control the outcome¡­.


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    A crack perforated the air as Fei Nian¡¯s entire body flew through the sky. Tumbling in the air as he went, Fei Nian tumbled down to the ground with his left arm holding onto his shaking right hand. His teeth were clenched together from the pain, and his face was flush red due to his pain threshold being passed.


    An apologetic light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he brought his fist back. It was an accident to say that this happened, but he couldn¡¯t apologize for that either. Expressionlessly, he spoke to Fei Nian, ¡°It was you who wanted to fight me, I just wanted to tell you that I had no intentions on hurting your junior at all.¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Don¡¯t get too excited! I¡¯m the successor to the second elder of the Crafting School, how could I possibly lose to a no-namer like you!¡± Fei Nian¡¯s face grew red¨Ceither from pain or anger; he was clearly angry now however, and his eyes were revealing the humiliation he felt.


    With a howl, his left hand forced his right hand to shake once. In a flash of light, a black sphere the size of a soccer ball appeared in his hand. With some soulforce, elemental fire began to gather in his hands and into the sphere. Covering the entirety of its surface, the soccer ball slowly began to float up into the skies and start to rotate.


    A sense of dread began to fill up Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Sweat starting to drip down from his back as he regarded the sphere in front of him¨Cif Fei Nian were to use this sphere, Bai Yunfei¡¯s life would be in danger!


    ¡°Tsk!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together, ¡°If you¡¯re going to try and kill me, don¡¯t blame me for anything!¡±


    With a shake of his right hand, the Glacial Pricker appeared in his hand.


    ¡°Fei Nian, stop!!¡±


    A forceful cry rang out from behind the two. A pair of male and female appeared in this moment so that one of the two would be by Fei Nian¡¯s side while the other would be by the young girl¡¯s side. The male was the overseer to the examinations, Song Lin, and the female was a twenty-something year old young woman with hair that traversed past her shoulders and a face that was tender in appearance.


    ¡°Seniors!¡±


    The colors in Fei Nian¡¯s face changed drastically at the sight of these two. Quickly recalling the black sphere back into his hands and recontrolling the power in it, he turned to meet Song Lin with a rather unwell-looking expression.


    ¡°Who told you to use that! Do you want to kill yourself?! What if your junior was hurt by your actions!¡± Song Lin rebuked him with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°I¡­.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need your explanation. Go on back and subject yourself to solitary confinement for three days in penitence!¡± Song Lin finished up before noticing the wounded right arm of Fei Nian. ¡°You¡¯re hurt? What happened?¡± He asked in concern.


    ¡°Heehee, sister Lian Lingming, brother Song Lin, why¡¯re you here?¡± The voice of the young girl called out at that moment. She could be seen tugging at the arm of the other female in audience before continuing to say, ¡°Brother Fei Nian was having a match with brother strawhat! Heehee, they¡¯re both so strong¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ehhh¡­.¡± Song Lin was at a loss for words.


    A big sweat drop appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face¡ª¡°I was telling you guys this entire time, but not once did you help try to explain. Do you think this is a game?!¡±


    Taking out a small handkerchief, the one called Lian Lingming dabbed at the tear trails of the younger girl affectionately, ¡°Dai Dai,¡± she spoke softly, ¡°Tell your sister, what happened? Why were you crying?¡±


    ¡°Wahh¡­.a super ugly person tried to scare Dai Dai, but Dai Dai managed to send him running, heehee¡­.¡± Dai Dai looked to the crater where Li Jiannan once was with a smile.


    Song Lin had still a questioning look on his face, but when he was about to ask for more clarification, something caused him to whirl around in surprise, ¡°Master has arrived!¡±


    ¡°Who dares bully my little girl!!¡± No sooner did Song Lin finish speaking did a howl like a crack of thunder come blasting into the area. A wave of soulforce washed over the area so that it felt everything in the vicinity was being searched. When Bai Yunfei was hit with this wave of soulforce, he felt his breath suddenly recede back into his throat so that it felt as if he was choking.


    Even before the final words of this angry howl could be uttered, a male and female figure could be seen flying through the skies.


    Yes. They were flying in the skies.


    The male was a bulwark middle-aged man with a disk of green light underneath his feet. Besides him was a purple-robed middle-aged woman with a dignified expression. Rather than a disk of green light, her feet was standing on top of a flashing green long sword.


    No sooner did these two appear did they descend to the ground right by the young girl¡¯s side.


    ¡°Master!¡±


    Song Lin, Lian Lingmin, and Fei Nian called out in greeting at the same time. But while Song Lin and Fei Nian were referring to the male, Lian Lingming was referring to the woman.


    A look of elation entered the little girl¡¯s face when she saw the middle-aged woman. Dropping the pig in his arms, she ran towards the woman and dove into her arms with a giggle, ¡°Mom! Why are you and dad here?¡±


    Stroking her head with a loving touch, the woman cooed warmly, ¡°We sensed that something was happening so we came over at once. Rui¡¯er, tell your mother what happened, okay?¡±


    ¡°Waaa¡­..nothing really. Xiao Rourou and I were playing hide-and-seek, that¡¯s all.¡± She pointed at the sad-looking pig she discarded earlier for her mother¡¯s embrace before then pointing to the man-shaped crater besides them. ¡°There was a baddy too, but I scared him off! Heehee, he was really weak! Even my cat gloves were able to beat him¡­.¡±


    Nodding, the middle-aged man turned to look at Bai Yunfei with a dark expression, ¡°Who are you?¡± He growled, ¡°Speak now, and if you hide anything, I¡¯ll cripple you!¡±


    The indomitable pressure weighing on him made Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire back slick with sweat. The pressure felt as if there was an increasingly heavy hill being dumped on top of him, and so Bai Yunfei felt it almost impossible to breathe even. But trying as hard as he could, he managed to lift his head and speak one word at a time, ¡°This. Junior. Is. Weak. But. I¡¯m. Not. The. Criminal. Please. Don¡¯t. Interrogate. Me. Like. This!¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± A furious glare entered the man¡¯s eyes. Never did he imagine that a youngling like Bai Yunfei would speak to him like so!


    But even so, he relented and decreased the pressure he had building up in the area, and even the red light in the area dimmed in intensity by a bit.


    Still, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire forehead was dripping with sweat and his legs were shaking so badly that he felt he¡¯d fall down any second now. However, he didn¡¯t back down.


    ¡°I was helping you guys, and here you are threatening my life and interrogating me with so much pressure, what the hell!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough¡­.using your presence as a Soul Exalt to intimidate a youngling, have you no shame?¡± Right as Bai Yunfei was reaching his breaking point, a warm voice cut into the air as the middle-aged woman walked to the man¡¯s side with the young girl in tow, ¡°When will you ever fix this temperament of yours so that we can ask this young man nicely?¡±


    Embarrassed by her words, the middle-aged man relented and widthrew his aura so that the pressure in the area was reduced. The middle-aged women then walked up to Bai Yunfei with a small smile on her face, ¡°My husband is very worried about our daughter, so I hope you won¡¯t take too much offense to his treatment just now. Rui¡¯er says you¡¯re not a bad person, so would you perhaps tell us what happened just now?¡±


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sucked in a deep breath of fresh air before replying, ¡°I am Bai Yunfei, if I may ask who you two seniors are¡­.?¡±


    ¡°These are the second and third elders of the Crafting School!¡± Song Lin warned him from some distance away.


    ¡°Elders of the Crafting School! No wonder they¡¯re so strong¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself with a nod of his head, ¡°Well, what really happened was¡­.¡±


    Without exaggerating any of the details or hiding any of it, Bai Yunfei explained all that he saw and heard with the young girl sometimes nodding or adding something in collaboration.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hmph! Just how are you running this examination if an outsider managed to catch onto this before you!¡± The second elder glared at Song Lin, ¡°After the examinations are over, report to Tiechui and accept your punishment!¡±


    ¡°Yes, master¡­.¡± Song Lin didn¡¯t dare retaliate and accepted his punishment meekly.


    ¡°As for that damnable brat¡­¡± The second elder turned towards the direction Li Jiannan and the others escaped to with a baleful glare. ¡°If they¡¯re looking to find a way to die, I¡¯ll be more than happy to show them the way!¡±


    Finishing his speech with a wave of his hand, the green disk from before appeared right in front the man once more. Standing on top of it, he immediately set off to give chase.


    Bai Yunfei was surprised; ¡°Killing someone just to vent his anger, really?¡±


    Despite only a slightest amount of killing intent detected from the man, Bai Yunfei had no doubts that he would slaughter Li Jiannan and the others should they meet.


    With power like his, a feat like this was as easy as a snap of the fingers.


    ¡°How many times have I told you to change your habits? Why must you always be so reckless¡­.?¡± The middle-aged woman sighed, ¡°When there¡¯s so many younglings around, you cannot act so rashly like this. Be calm, like what one expects from us old ones. Those ones didn¡¯t hurt Rui¡¯er either, so death would be too extreme of a punishment¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a sigh in relief, it seems that this senior was a kind one¡­.


    But then her next words crashed Bai Yunfei¡¯s parade. ¡°There¡¯s no need to kill them. Cut off one of their hands and cripple their cultivations, that should suffice.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

 Chapter 187: Escaped

    Chapter 187: Escaped


    Cutting off one of their hands? Crippling their cultivation?


    ¡­that¡¯d be considered ¡®just enough¡¯?


    But even as he was thinking to himself, Bai Yunfei could already feel the corners of his lips twitch. It didn¡¯t matter if he was looking at the second elder flying in the sky or the middle-aged woman affectionately combing the hair of her daughter, Bai Yunfei could only feel a sweat drop crawling down his face.


    Fidgeting around, Bai Yunfei cautiously said to the middle-aged woman, ¡°Uhm¡­ senior, if this junior may, may I leave? I¡¯ve yet to take my examinations to enter the Crafting School¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The woman looked surprised, ¡°You wish to join the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°A late-stage Soul Sprite¡­¡± The woman measured Bai Yunfei with an eye and a nod of the head, ¡°Not bad. Judging from your age, you must be in your twenties?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t be blamed for thinking that Bai Yunfei was in his twenties. After all that had happened to Bai Yunfei¡ªespecially in the last half year of traveling. Bai Yunfei had matured greatly since his departure from Talus City. Combined with the recent travel fatigue from hurrying on the road, Bai Yunfei had been ¡®weathered¡¯ by wind and rain so that he looked completely different than before.


    ¡°I turned nineteen just last month.¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his head in embarrassment.


    ¡°What? You¡¯re only nineteen? That¡¯s only four years younger than me, how could that be!¡± Fei Nian suddenly cried out in disbelief. Song Lin had only just reset and healed his arm, but now, both he, Song Lin, and Lian Lingmin were all stunned to hear his age.


    ¡°I really am nineteen¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shrugged his shoulders as if to tell them, ¡°There¡¯s no point in lying to you. It¡¯s up to you if you believe me or not.¡±


    ¡°Nineteen¡­¡± Even the middle-aged woman hadn¡¯t thought that to be Bai Yunfei¡¯s age. She started to re-evaluate him once more. Just faintly, Bai Yunfei could feel a wave of soulforce wash over his body. It persisted for a few seconds as the woman looked at Bai Yunfei before finally smiling. ¡°Ah, yes. I see now. With a talent like this, you¡¯re of the same standing of Song Lin¡­¡±


    ¡°With your case, becoming an inheritor to one of the elders of the Fire School wouldn¡¯t be a challenge for you, or perhaps even becoming a student of the schoolmaster there. Why come to our Crafting School?¡± The woman asked him.


    Surprised by such a question, Bai Yunfei could only answer honestly, ¡°To learn the art of craftsmanship and grow strong!¡±


    ¡°The art of crafting isn¡¯t something that can be learned even if one has talent for cultivation. Even if you pass the examinations, it doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯ll have success in the crafting aspect. In the worst case scenario, it¡¯d impede your desire to grow stronger¡­¡±


    ¡°Without giving it a try, how would I know the answer?¡± By now, Bai Yunfei had figured out what the middle-aged woman was getting at, ¡°Besides¡­ I¡¯ve confidence in myself!¡±


    ¡°Is that right? Ohoho¡­¡± She didn¡¯t know where this confidence was coming from, but the woman nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Where did you come from?¡± She asked, ¡°Are you perhaps here at the request of your family?¡±


    ¡°This junior is from Talus City of the Azure Cloud Province¡­¡± A flash of bereavement entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes at mention of his homelands, but he continued speaking anyways. ¡°I¡¯m no child of any families or clans. I am but a commoner with no family left in the world¡­¡±


    His response raised the eyebrows of the woman. She had noticed the fluctuations of his mood from his response. With a sparkle in her eyes, she nodded her head again, ¡°Very well, there¡¯s no need for you to take the examinations. With your strength as a late-stage Soul Sprite with an affinity for the elemental fire, taking the examinations down here is worthless. Go up the mountain and take the examination for crafting.¡±


    Her words filled Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart with elation, but his face was still as calm as stone. Giving a respectful bow to the woman, he replied in gratitude, ¡°Thank you so much, third elder!¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± The woman nodded before turning toward the direction of the examination. From there, a set of footsteps could be heard before a group of ten students arrived shortly afterward.


    ¡°Song Lin, Lingmin, continue with the examinations. Make the preparations for Bai Yunfei to go up with the others to take the next examination.¡± The woman nodded at each of the students here and gave them all commands. With a wave of her right hand, a green sword appeared in front of her, and with another wave, elemental fire began to float into the sword. She along with the young girl began to rise into the air with the sword beneath her feet, and within seconds, they flew through the sky.


    ¡°Brother straw-hat! Let¡¯s meet again on top of the mountains! Heehee¡­¡± From far away, the voice of the young girl came calling out, eliciting a grimace on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as soon as he heard it.


    He stumbled back and stowed away the straw-hat as fast as he could. If he were to gain a nickname like this in the future, it would be utterly embarrassing!


    ¡°Ah!¡± From far away, a cry of distress could be heard from the little girl.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Xiao Rourou, I lost him¡­¡±


    ¡°Oink!¡±


    As if to respond to her, the distressed call of the ¡®pig¡¯ could be heard on the ground below. Saddened about being forgotten, the late-stage fifth-tier soulbeast¡¯s head was lifted toward the sky, watching the little girl. In no time at all, the soulbeast disappeared in a trail of dust as it chased after the two flying figures¡­


    A sweat drop fell from Bai Yunfei¡¯s head.


    ¡°Well then¡­ now that everything¡¯s done and dealt with, let¡¯s continue with the examinations.¡± Song Lin clapped his hands and called out to one of the students, ¡°Sanxian, come here.¡±


    ¡°Senior, what is it that you need?¡± The one named ¡®Sanxian¡¯ asked. He was a young man with thick eyebrows.


    Song Lin pointed at Bai Yunfei, ¡°He is Bai Yunfei, take him up to where the others are waiting to take the next examination. He¡¯ll be taking the crafting examination rather than the first one.¡±


    Not expecting this request, Sanxian looked stunned for a moment before nodding his head. ¡°Understood.¡± He replied.


    From there, Song Lin took the other students with him back to the examination grounds, including the newly-recovered Fei Nian who glared at Bai Yunfei briefly before following Song Lin away.


    Smiling, San Xian looked to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Bai Yunfei, is it? I¡¯m Zhang Sanxian, a student of Nan Feng. You can call me Sanxian! Let¡¯s head on over then, it won¡¯t take even an hour to finish off the rest of the applicants for the first examination.¡±


    ¡°Yes, then, if you¡¯d please lead the way, senior Sanxian.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke.


    ¡°Haha, well said! Once you enter the Crafting School, we will be fellow students, so there¡¯s no point to being so polite.¡± Zhang Sanxian laughed out loud as he lead the way.


    As they walked, Zhang Sanxian asked, ¡°Ah, junior Bai, what happened just now? I swear I saw the second and third elder¡­¡±


    Contrary to his previous words, Zhang Sanxian took advantage of Bai Yunfei being a prospective student and called him his ¡®junior.¡¯ Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know whether or not he should be retelling what happened, so he decided to answer vaguely. ¡°It wasn¡¯t much. One of the failed applicants from before tried doing something here, and I caught him¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡± Zhang Sanxian could tell that Bai Yunfei was holding back the entire story, so he decided not to press on with his questions. Changing the subject, he asked, ¡°Well, junior Bai, you won¡¯t be needing the first examination right? If you¡¯re entering the next round of the examinations, that must mean one of the seniors tested you already?¡±


    ¡°Not at all, but the third elder has said that I was already a late-stage Soul Sprite with an affinity for the elemental fire and that I¡¯d not need to take the first examination.¡±


    ¡°What!? You¡¯re a Soul Sprite!?¡± Zhang Sanxian¡¯s eyes popped wide open at that.


    Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Woah! Just comparing the two of us makes me want to cry. I¡¯ve worked hard since I joined the school when I was eighteen, but I¡¯m only a late-stage Soul Warrior. You look to be my age, yet you¡¯re already a Soul Sprite. How amazing are you!?¡±


    ¡°Haha, brother Sanxian, you praise me too much. I was only lucky, really¡­¡±


    Either Zhang Sanxian was very enthusiastic around Bai Yunfei, or he was originally a chatterbox to begin with. Throughout the walk, Zhang Sanxian would tell him so-and-so about the Crafting School and would often answer Bai Yunfei¡¯s questions without hesitation. Obviously, most of his answers were already common knowledge to the outer world, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t aware of most of these things, hence why he asked. Other than that, Bai Yunfei knew better than to ask about the Crafting School¡¯s more secretive things and never once asked about them.


    Before long, the two of them arrived at the examination grounds. Looking around, Bai Yunfei could see that the amount of people here was reduced to more than half the original amount, but among these people, a good amount of them were just bystanders that wanted to stick around to watch the examinations.


    Bai Yunfei was led to the the rightmost part of the mountain base. All of the people that had passed the first round of examinations were gathered in the same area as well.


    In this one area, only a hundred people had actually passed¡ªwith the first examinations ending, only a meager hundred had passed!


    Now that the two of them had arrived, Zhang Sanxian said to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Junior Bai, please wait here for now. I¡¯ll be helping the others finish off the rest of the examinations. From there, we¡¯ll take you to the crafting examinations.


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head, ¡°Please do what you must, brother Sanxian. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    Looking around the area, Bai Yunfei found himself a nice and isolated place to rest. Sitting on top of a giant boulder, Bai Yunfei was about to close his eyes and rest when a loud voice suddenly called out to him from behind.


    ¡°Hey, kid! I saw you come out of the forest. What makes you think you can come here without taking the examinations?¡±

 Chapter 188: Theresll Always Be Someone That Needs A Spanking

    Chapter 188: There''ll Always Be Someone That Needs A Spanking


    The call out had surprised Bai Yunfei. He turned his head to the side to see a twenty-three or twenty-four year old young man with four ¡®servants¡¯ accompanying him. The one up front had a disgruntled look on his face, so Bai Yunfei knew that it was him that had called out to him earlier.


    Quirking an eyebrow, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°What? You got a problem?¡±


    ¡°I was asking you a question, and this is how you answer? Everyone else here got through the examination fair and square, but you¡¯re going to just waltz on over? Patooey, you trying to pull some strings and enter through the backdoor or something? Since when did the Crafting School allow that¡­¡± The short-haired youth glared in disdain at Bai Yunfei.


    It was no wonder he was annoyed. In his clan, he was touted as a genius, but out here, he was pushed around and treated almost tyrannically by those around him. Forced to wait for several hours, he was annoyed to see someone else just walk into the area where the ones who passed went. Therefore, when the student guiding Bai Yunfei was gone, the kid decided to vent his anger on him. Bai Yunfei looked like a pushover in any case.


    Bai Yunfei opened a single eye to look at the male. He was a late-stage Soul Warrior¡ªwhich by all rights, wasn¡¯t half-bad for his age¡ªbut his personality was definitely lacking. Far too lazy to respond to the male, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look back at the other examinees.


    ¡°Hey brat! Our big bro is asking you a question. You really have the balls to not answer him?¡±


    ¡°Our big bro Li Jianren is a genius! He¡¯s a late-stage Soul Warrior, and his affinity for the elemental fire is the highest ¡®best talent!¡¯ He¡¯s on his way to become a Soul Sprite and make his own soul armament, becoming the student of one of the elders won¡¯t be impossible. Are you still going to ignore him!?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re an arrogant one. Don¡¯t think we''re afraid to teach you a lesson and show you who the top dog is in this new group of students?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right...¡±


    When the servants of Li Jianren saw how Bai Yunfei was acting, they immediately began to kiss ass and jeer out loud. Of course, they were kissing Li Jianren¡¯s ass and threatening Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei turned his head in surprise. Staring at the group with his mouth twitching slightly, he couldn¡¯t help but smile, ¡°Li Jianren? Could he be the brother of Li Jiannan?¡±


    The look of shock on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face had been mistaken for submission by Li Jianren. Waving his hand in satisfaction, he managed to shut the mouths of everyone there. Pointing his finger at Bai Yunfei, he pompously said, ¡°I can forgive you for your ignorance. Now hurry up and answer my question and call me ¡®big bro.¡¯ I¡¯ll let you follow me maybe!¡±


    There surely were plenty of birds in a forest, but even men like this were able to enter the Crafting School? Bai Yunfei was further amazed, but he managed to say two words to him, ¡°Not interested.¡±


    ¡°You¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Eeeh? Aren¡¯t you brother Bai!?¡± A happy voice suddenly cut into Li Jianren¡¯s sentence before a group of four made its way over to where Bai Yunfei was. Leading at the front was Zhong Xuhao and Liu Mang.


    Bai Yunfei was surprised to say the least. He hadn¡¯t expected the two of them to pass the examination at all, but he managed to smile and nod anyways, ¡°Ah, so you two passed the examinations as well. Haha, not bad¡­¡±


    ¡°Heehee, I didn¡¯t think I would either, but as it turns out, I¡¯ve medium talent! That¡¯s good enough for me. As long as we can pass the crafting examination, we can become students of the Crafting School!¡± Zhong Xuhao ran a hand through his hair in excitement.


    Looking at the two youths behind them, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°And these two are¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Let me introduce you!¡± Zhong Xuhao piped up right away, ¡°This is Mo Xiaoxuan and this is Xi Yan. They¡¯re both late-stage Soul Warriors with high talent!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Bai Yunfei looked at the two youths with even more surprise than before. To be blessed with this strength and talent at such a tender age meant they¡¯d surely be successful in the future. The fact that the equally young Zhong Xuhao had managed to make friends out of the two wasn¡¯t bad at all either.


    Mo Xiaoxuan was a short-haired youth that gave a cheerful and friendly greeting to Bai Yunfei. Xi Yan on the other hand was far more reserved, but he didn¡¯t seem to be a bad person either. After giving Bai Yunfei a nod of his head, he turned his back to watch the rest of the examinations.


    Liu Mang took this opportunity to walk up to Bai Yunfei and speak for the very first time since they met one another. Craftily, he whispered, ¡°Brother Bai, I saw you speaking with a beautiful student earlier, you¡¯re amazing! You¡¯ve only been here for so long and you managed to strike it already. In the future, please remember this little brother, heeheee¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew speechless; it was true he gave a greeting earlier to Lian Lingmin, but had Liu Mang really seen that? And furthermore¡ªthat little kid had been quiet for so long, but who would¡¯ve thought that the very first thing he¡¯d talk about would be something so wretched!?


    ¡°Oh, brother Bai, are these people your friends?¡± Liu Mang pointed at Li Jianren and the others, who had been pushed off to the side by the arrival of Zhong Xuhao and the other three.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know them at all¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    As the group continued to talk to one another, Li Jianren¡¯s face began to flash in alternating colors of blue and white. Being ignored by this group for so long had started to make him so angry that his entire body began to shake as if the group had done something to him.


    At last, he stamped a foot down onto the ground and shattered a piece of stone as he pointed an indignant finger at Bai Yunfei. Barking with anger, he cursed, ¡°Fuck your mom! Kid, how dare yo¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A sudden thump cut into Li Jianren¡¯s final words before his entire body was sent flying high into the air. His body spun several times in before he finally fell back to the ground with blood and several broken teeth falling after him.


    From where he used to stand, Bai Yunfei widthrew his right fist to stare icily at the crawling figure on the ground. ¡°There¡¯s some things you just can¡¯t say to people. If you try it again, I¡¯ll pull out your tongue!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    This development had happened far too fast; practically everyone who saw it was stunned into silence. Bai Yunfei had just been smiling happily as he talked to Mo Xiaoxuan and the others, but had suddenly turned into a terrifying person that had struck a late-stage Soul Warrior so hard that he flew through the air! Such an event would be too hard for anyone to really respond to.


    ¡°Mmmghhhh!¡± It took Li Jianren several seconds to register what had happened. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, some more blood and teeth came falling out. Nearly mad with anger, he pointed yet another finger at Bai Yunfei and howled, ¡°You¡ªI¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll fu¡ª¡±


    ¡°Fwomph!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm flew up to reveal a bright red flame over his palm. ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯m bluffing with you, I dare you to try me!¡± He spoke icily to him.


    ¡°A Soul Sprite!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s usage of soulforce had once more led people around him to grow shocked once again. This time, everyone was looking at him in respect.


    ¡°He¡¯s a Soul Sprite, with an affinity for fire! No wonder he was able to skip the first examination¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already a Soul Sprite, so why does he want to join the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°To be so powerful at such a young age, which house is he from?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Faced with the icy glare from Bai Yunfei, Li Jianren didn¡¯t even know what to say anymore. Shock and reluctance filled his face, but he no longer knew what to do. His group of ¡®brothers¡¯ had long since abandoned him as well.


    ¡°Fighting is prohibited on the examination grounds, what is going on here!?¡±


    Just then, the voice of the heavens itself was heard by Li Jianren. Turning his head, he could see a group of students come toward them; at the very front of the group was Zhang Sanxian.


    Zhang Sanxian¡¯s eyes looked to the swollen face of Li Jianren before to Bai Yunfei in surprise. Quirking his eyebrows, he asked, ¡°Junior Bai, what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Extinguishing the fireball over his palm and withdrawing his soulforce, Bai Yunfei adopted an apologetic expression on his face. ¡°Brother Sanxian, I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to cause trouble, but this person was being very rude so I just had to teach him a lesson.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Alright¡­¡± Zhang Sanxian nodded his head without asking anymore questions. Turning to Li Jianren, he said, ¡°Go off to the side and heal yourself! If you start trouble again, consider your rights to joining the school revoked!¡±


    This student was clearly favoring Bai Yunfei, causing everyone to start to wonder about Bai Yunfei¡¯s status once again. Why would the students of the Crafting School give such ¡®consideration¡¯ for him?


    ¡°Junior Bai, the first round of examinations are almost over. Wait a little longer and we¡¯ll take you to the next round shortly.¡±


    Zhang Sanxian spoke to Bai Yunfei without caring what the audience was saying before leaving again.


    As Bai Yunfei started to talk with Zhong Xuhao and the others, everyone began to look at Bai Yunfei differently again. Mo Xiaoxuan and Xi Yan were both looking reverently at him.


    Power¡ªwhat makes you stand out to others.


    ¡­¡­


    At the third table from the right of the examination grounds.


    ¡°Failed, next!¡±


    One student called out after looking at the barely lit stone.


    A dejected late-stage Soul Personage left the examination and was replaced by a long-haired young man of the age of twenty-two or twenty-three. He looked rather frail, but his body was straight in posture and his lips were curled in a faint smile. Clearly, he was a youth that carried himself with an elegant manner.


    When he walked forward, the youth didn¡¯t even bother to put his hand on the box. Instead, he smiled at the student overseeing him, ¡°Brother, I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ll be needing this examination.¡±


    ¡°What? What do you mean by th¡ª¡±


    Just as the student was in the middle of questioning the youth, the youth raised his right hand up.


    ¡°Bang.¡±


    A ball of flame immediately materialized over his palm. In the bright red flames, there was a faint green light.


    Dispersing the flames, the youth continued to speak¡ª


    ¡°I am Ye Zhiqiu, twenty-two-year-old citizen of Freesia City in the Yellow River Province. I am a late-stage Soul Sprite with a dual affinity for wood and fire!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 189: Heading Up the Mountain

    Chapter 189: Heading Up the Mountain


    The faint voice of this youth carried over the rest of audience and caught their immediate attention. Among that audience, Song Lin, Lian Lingmin, Bai Yunfei, and Mo Xiaoxuan were one of the few that heard him.


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Sprite!¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself in surprise while the others repeated his sentiments out loud and began to discuss with one another.


    ¡°Wow! Another Soul Sprite, he¡¯s the same as you, brother Bai! And the elements he showed off looks kinda special¡­¡± Zhong Xuhao remarked with wide-open eyes as he looked at Ye Zhiqiu in admiration.


    ¡°He has the affinity for both fire and wood¡­¡± Mo Xiaoxuan spoke.


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. He¡¯s both a late-stage Soul Sprite and a soul cultivator with both those affinities.¡±


    ¡°Fire and wood! How can there be such a young person who could become a late-stage Soul Sprite with two affinities? I¡­ I feel so inferior. Wood gives rise to fire, and if he has good control over both, the elemental fire he uses will definitely see a huge increase in strength. Even if he joins the Crafting School or the Fire School, a genius like this would be wanted by everyone. Out of all of us here, looks like he¡¯s the best of us¡­¡± Mo Xiaoxuan sighed. Meeting the people he did today had really melted away the pride he felt in being called a ¡®genius¡¯ during the past ten years of his life.


    Even the student that was overseeing the examination for Ye Zhiqiu looked at him in admiration. ¡°One with two affinities is either a reckless idiot or a determined genius. This guy is definitely the latter¡­ this bi-annual event for students of any school always seems to gather plenty of geniuses, but the Crafting School really does seem like a gathering ground for the more special ones¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    From far away, Fei Nian start at the back of Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s figure and let out a dejected sigh, ¡°And yet another Soul Sprite has come to enter the Crafting School¡­¡±


    ¡°An outstanding talent for cultivation isn¡¯t a representative of strength for our Crafting School. Even for those who are stuck at the late-stage Soul Warrior stage, many of these outstanding geniuses lose to them when the time comes to create their own personalized soul armament¡­¡± Song Lin looked away to ask Lian Lingming a question, ¡°Lingmin, how goes the female students this time, are there any good ones?¡±


    ¡°None. The amount of female applicants each year is already small enough, and the ones that do pass are practically zero. No female has yet to appear with a talent of ¡®high¡¯ yet. I wonder if we¡¯ll even have anyone else that¡¯ll stand out after this.¡± Lian Lingming shook her head before smiling, ¡°But still, that¡¯s not really a problem. The fact that there¡¯s five female juniors with decent talent should be enough for master to be satisfied. Not having any exemplary ones come up this year shouldn¡¯t be that bad.¡±


    A look was spared at the area where all the passed applicants were gathered, by now, there were nearly two hundred of them. Sighing, Song Lin said, ¡°I wonder if there¡¯ll be any students the headmaster or elders will accept as their successors. There weren¡¯t many core students from our previous generation, so our generation right now is especially important to them. The Crafting School has been silent for twenty years without losing our edge, but we aren¡¯t as powerful as before either. We can¡¯t let our school lose any more face!¡±


    Lian Lingmin laughed, ¡°Haha, I can already tell that there¡¯s some more outstanding figures in this next generation already. There¡¯s two people with the best talent for fire, and several people with ¡®high¡¯ talent in it. There¡¯s also that wood and fire affinity soul cultivator Ye Zhiqiu, and that Bai Yunfei. Even junior Fei Nian wasn¡¯t a match for Bai Yunfei!¡±


    Going scarlet in the face, Fei Nian immediately opened his mouth to say, ¡°Hmph! I was just careless, that¡¯s all! If we fight again in the future¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, alright, I won¡¯t say anything more about it. You should head up the mountain and prepare for the examinations, Fei Nian. Escort the ones that passed up the mountain as soon as the first round is over.¡± Song Lin immediately interrupted Fei Nian¡¯s ¡®explanation¡¯ with a wave of his hand and a laugh.


    ¡°Oh, yes! Right away, senior¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Half an hour later, the first round of examinations concluded.


    The ones that were still lined up for the examination were all people who were calm and prepared, so the acceptance rate in the final half hour had been a lot higher. Practically another hundred people passed for a final number of over three hundred people.


    Compared to the beginning when there were thousands of people here, it was a rather pitiful amount.


    Under the lead of Song Lin, the ones who had passed the first round were guided up Mount Crimson.


    A seemingly endless spiral staircase wove around a forest and up beyond the fog ahead of everyone. Bai Yunfei and his group stood at the very back of the group with Zhong Xuhao occasionally looking around and whispering to somebody. Right beside them was a newcomer to the group, Ye Zhiqiu.


    It went without saying that Zhong Xuhao¡¯s perky and optimistic nature was very popular to the group. Combined with his young age, it was hard for anyone to believe he had any nefarious intentions. After a series of energetic talks, even the easy-going Ye Zhiqiu had been recruited to join their ¡®group.¡¯


    Zhang Sanxian came by to talk to Bai Yunfei when the group had reached the halfway mark of their journey, and with Zhong Xuhao¡¯s quick words, a decent relationship was established with ¡®senior Sanxian.¡¯ Soon enough, everyone was talking and smiling as if they were in a carefree environment.


    Of course, this journey was carefree and easy for them since they weren¡¯t weak at all. Out of the three hundred people here, there weren¡¯t many soul cultivators. A good majority of them were just commoners who had nothing but hope to join the Crafting School. Some of them were even males that weren¡¯t even ten yet. For them, walking up a series of stairs for half an hour was painfully hard.


    After passing the first examination, who would give up here? With grit teeth and pursed lips, the commoners of the group gathered up the rest of their strength to follow from behind. Some of the more durable applicants had even lended a hand to those struggling¡ªan act that Bai Yunfei felt was very admirable.


    ¡­¡­


    Two hours later, the stairway finally came to an end. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes could see a giant clearing with a hallway that simply could not be described with words. Climbing the final steps, the group all ended up standing in a giant plaza.


    Author note: *Sweatdrop* In truth, I don¡¯t really know how to explain this. If this description doesn¡¯t really work for you readers, please imagine one on your own. Whatever the case, it¡¯ll have to do¡­


    After giving everyone some time to catch their breath, Song Lin walked up to the front of the group. All of the idle chatter was immediately shushed as he swept his eyes across the area, looking at the commoners in the back. Eyes filled with praise, he smiled, ¡°Not bad. Not bad at all. In some time from now, someone will come and take you all to the Northern Point for the second examination. This is a special test only our Crafting School does. Being a Soul Cultivator serves no use here. The test does not rely on cultivation. If you fail here, do not be disappointed. You are all people with decent affinity for the elemental fire. Joining another school would not be an achievement any less than ours¡­¡±


    It was at that moment a dark-skinned young man with a serious look on his face come toward the group. Nodding his head, he asked, ¡°Senior, may I bring them over now?¡±


    Song Lin nodded his head. ¡°Yes, if junior Xiao could please do the honors then.¡±


    Standing in front of everyone, the newcomer loudly said, ¡°I am the second student of the headmaster of the Crafting School, Xiao Nanren. Follow me to the Northern Point, but take note that the Northern Point is ordinarily a place where all students are forbidden from entering. If you move elsewhere without our say so, you will be cast out from the examinations immediately!¡±


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 190: The simples Crafting Examination

    Chapter 190: The ''Simple'' Crafting Examination


    Under Xiao Nanren¡¯s guidance, everyone was led through the halls and onto a path that led through the forest. Past the forest path was a steel bridge about a kilometer long, and just past that was a seemingly ordinary cave with a faint but mysterious feeling to it.


    Upon seeing this cave, Bai Yunfei¡¯s first and most immediate thoughts were to go in and investigate this cave to see if there were any bearded old men or any precious treasure inside, but when he thought about what this place was, his mind immediately thought of something, ¡°This is the destination, so is this where that ¡®crafting examination¡¯ will be held?¡±


    Xiao Nanren came to a stop just a few steps before the entrance of the cave to talk to one of the more bulky-looking males standing guard. ¡°Senior Tiechui, this is the applicants for the next round of examinations. I entrust them to you now.¡±


    After nodding to the guard, Xiao Nanren turned back to the others and spoke to the applicants, ¡°I was only responsible for leading you here. From here on out, the personal student of the second elder, senior Li Tiechui will be in charge of overseeing your next examination.¡±


    This announcement had been enough to shock the majority of the people here. This docile and village-boy-looking person was actually one of the personal students to one of the elders!? Many of them had just thought that he was merely a guard to the cave itself.


    ¡°Li Tiechui¡­ is this what the second elder meant by ¡®Tiechui¡¯ earlier?¡± Bai Yunfei thought back to when the second elder had ordered Song Lin and the others to report to ¡®Tiechui¡¯ for punishment at the base of the mountain. Based on names alone, this person had to be the one in charge of doling out punishment to the students of the school.


    Was the one in charge of punishment really someone that looked so simple and straightforward? A feeling of skepticism began to arise in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head¡­


    An honest smile began to form on Li Tiechui¡¯s face. Laughing out loud, he said, ¡°Well now, are you the future students? I am your senior, Li Tiechui. Now, don¡¯t be so nervous, the following examination is very simple. Follow me through this cave, and the examination will begin. It¡¯ll end as soon as we¡­ walk out from this cave. Haha¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Not ever did anyone think to hear such an examination like this. Even Bai Yunfei was left confused¡ªwhat in the world did this mean?


    ¡°Hehe, there¡¯s no need for you all to guess. You¡¯ll come to know what I mean soon enough. Let¡¯s not waste any more time or else we¡¯ll waste daylight trying to get down the mountain. Everyone, follow me now!¡± Li Tiechui waved his hand and strode straight into the ¡®mysterious¡¯ cave.


    A single person strode straight from the crowd and right after Li Tiechui. It was Ye Zhiqiu; he had taken the initiative to follow Li Tiechui, prompting a smile to appear on Bai Yunfei¡¯s own face. Taking a step of his own into the cave, Bai Yunfei was followed by Mo Xiaoxuan, Yi Xan, and the others.


    With Xiao Nanren leading everyone into the cave and out of sight, the other students guarding the cave began to laugh to each other, ¡°There¡¯s still so many people willing to enter this place? This isn¡¯t a cave where strength can help you¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It took only just several hundred meters of Li Tiechui leading them through the cave before Bai Yunfei began to grow disappointed. He wasn¡¯t the only one, everyone else behind him had started to grow disappointed as well.


    This cave.


    There was nothing in it!


    The entire passageway through this cave was quite dark with only a few white-colored stones illuminating the inside. Aside from the stone walls and ground, there was absolutely nothing else to be seen. Not even a blade of grass.


    But still, after another several hundred meters into the cave, Bai Yunfei began to feel an oddity. It wasn¡¯t an oddity pertaining to the cave, but to the people around him!


    ¡°Brother Bai, have you realized it too?¡± A grave voice whispered to him from the side. Bai Yunfei turned his head, only to see Ye Zhiqiu right next to him.


    Nodding, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Some of the people here look unwell, as if they¡¯re being weighed down on. But¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel that feeling however.¡± Ye Zhiqiu nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Is it because of our strength?¡± Bai Yunfei guessed.


    However, Ye Zhiqiu shook his head and pointed to their right. Over there, a mid-stage Soul Warrior could be seen with sweat dripping down his flush-red face, and right by his side was an ordinary kid just barely in the double digits without a fluctuation on his face. The little boy would constantly stare at the stones that shined light into the cave, a face filled with curiosity, but that was the only emotion to be seen on his face.


    And then, another few hundred meters later¡­


    ¡°Brother Bai¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t feel¡­ so good.¡± Zhong Xuhao pulled weakly at Bai Yunfei¡¯s sleeves with a pale face.


    Startled, Bai Yunfei hurried to ask him, ¡°What? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ know¡­ the place just feels¡­ strange around me¡­¡± Zhong Xuhao turned to look around himself before looking back to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Or maybe it¡¯s the air¡­ the entire cave is strange. It feels like¡­ like it¡¯s trying to stop me from going forward¡­ the more I walk, the harder it gets¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu gave each other a confused look before turning to Mo Xiaoxuan and the others, ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Mo Xiaoxuan, Yi Xan, and even Liu Mang shook their heads.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Fuck!! How insufferable this is! What kind of haunted cave is this!? Why¡¯s it getting harder and harder for me to talk!? Even my soulforce isn¡¯t helping me! Are you guys using some sort of knockout drug in here!?¡±


    An exasperated cry shattered Bai Yunfei¡¯s line of thought. As he turned around, Bai Yunfei felt as if this voice was familiar to him. As soon as he turned, his eyes locked onto Li Jianren, the one he had knocked a few teeth out from before.


    The wounds on Li Jianren¡¯s face were already back to normal, but his mouth was still missing a few teeth, meaning wind would pass through his mouth whenever he spoke. Out of everyone in the group, he had the ugliest of face. It looked as if he was constipated for an entire week straight.


    His angry roar gave pause to everyone around him. Even Li Tiechui, the one leading the group from the front had turned around to smile at the still cursing Li Jianren, ¡°Little brother, what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Just what in the world is wrong with this cave, and why do I feel so sick? It feels like something¡¯s pressing down on my soul. What demonic things are you doing here¡­!¡± Li Jianren¡¯s right hand pressed against the cave to support himself. He stooped down from the waist, and his face was extremely red as he tried to catch his breath.


    Li Tiechui quirked his lips to reveal a good-natured smile, but the light in his eyes contrasted starkly, ¡°Hehe, I¡¯ve said before. When you step into this cave, the examination has started. This is the examination to test your aptitude for crafting. If you¡¯re feeling something right now, what does that tell you?¡±


    Li Tiechui¡¯s eyes froze Li Jianren straight where he stood. Almost forgetting about the pressure he was feeling, Li Jianren stumbled and fell onto his butt. Gasping, he said, ¡°I¡ªyou¡ªwhat are you talking about?


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up at Li Tiechui¡¯s response. ¡°So what he means is that¡­ this is caused by the examination itself? To be rejected by the cave is to be without talent for crafting? How mysterious? Is there really an examination like this?¡±


    Looking at everyone, Li Tiechui cleared his throat and began to speak, ¡°Well then. Since we already have a few people at their limits, I¡¯ll make it clear to everyone. This cave is used to test a person¡¯s talent for crafting by use of some ¡®tools.¡¯ The higher their talent, the more ¡®it¡¯ accepts the person, but if the person¡¯s talent is insufficient, then they¡¯ll be rejected to the point where further advancement is impossible. No matter how impossible you might think this is, this is your reality.¡±


    ¡°For those being rejected, you¡¯d need not worry. It won¡¯t hurt you. As long as you retreat, you¡¯ll feel yourself back to normal, but that also means you¡¯ve lost your chance to join the Crafting School¡­¡± Li Tiechui could see some of the people in front of him were losing their strength already.


    ¡°The ability to go farther in also depends on your determination, but it ultimately depends on your aptitude. I¡¯m sure senior Song Lin has told you before, but power is not the determining cause here. Even if you fail to join the Crafting School, joining another school would still be a very high achievement.¡±


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s continue on! If you feel unable to continue, one of our students will escort you out. There¡¯s no need to cause a racket!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After learning about the ¡®mystical¡¯ cave, everyone was thrown into a period of silence. Some of them chose to grit their teeth and continue forward with uneven steps.


    At last, ten minutes later, the very first person to drop out appeared.


    Li Jianren was the first to be eliminated. The one with the lowest potential to join the Crating School was somehow the late-stage Soul Warrior with the ¡®best¡¯ talent for the elemental fire!


    It went without saying that he was a tough one. He had continued to walk through the cave until in the very end, he was knocked unconscious by the pressure and carried away by a student.


    By the time Li Jianren was being carried out of the mountain, Bai Yunfei himself began to feel quite unwell. He wasn¡¯t being sympathetic to Li Jianren, but rather he was starting that ¡®pressure¡¯ himself...


    ¡°Am I lacking in talent then¡­?¡±


    Disappointment began to flood Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind for a brief moment before he pushed those thoughts away and started to console himself. ¡°It¡¯s only a small feeling, that¡¯s all! Maybe the finish line is right ahead, I¡¯ll make it!¡±


    Li Jianren¡¯s disqualification had been the start of an infection. Not even a hundred meters later, several more people began to drop out, and soon enough, practically every ten steps led to another person dropping out!


    ¡°Brother Bai, how¡¯re you feeling?¡± Ye Zhiqiu had taken note of the change that fell over Bai Yunfei and asked.


    His face was a little flushed from exertion, but Bai Yunfei managed to wave his hand nonchalantly, ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The speed at which the group was moving at was slower than before, and the people walking in the group was reduced to a terribly tiny amount. After half an hour of walking, not even a hundred people were left standing behind Li Tiechui!


    At last did the end finally come. Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire forehead was already slick with sweat when Li Tiechui stopped in his tracks. Looking up, Bai Yunfei realized that they were met with a fork in the cave¡ªthis would be the very first fork they came across in this cave.


    Standing before the turn, Li Tiechui turned around to smile at the people behind him, ¡°Well then, the examination will conclude here. Everyone, I would like to congratulate you all for having the right to join our school!¡±


    ¡°..........¡± Not a single person talked about their shock.


    Was the crafting examination really going to end just like that!?


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 191: Ye Zhiqiu Firs

    Chapter 191: Ye Zhiqiu (First)


    Everyone was still in a daze when they were led out of the cave by Li Tiechui. Many of the people hadn¡¯t even realized that they were being led out of the cave!


    Now that he was outside, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief, ¡°Looks like I passed¡­¡±


    By his side, Zhong Xuhao was taking in large exasperated gasps of air. His entire forehead was wet with sweat, but his eyes reflected no small amount of joy.


    ¡°Haha, I¡ªI did it! I passed! Doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m finally a student of the Crafting School!?¡± Zhong Xuhao managed to bring his head up to ask.


    Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu were silent. The both of them were skeptical and felt that there was no way this examination would be that easy.


    They were right.


    As soon as Li Tiechui directed Xiao Nanren and several other students to lead the drop outs down the mountain, he turned back to face the passing applicants. Smiling, he said out loud, ¡°Haha! Not bad! This time, ninety-six people have passed the preliminaries!


    ¡°Yes, you didn¡¯t hear wrong. This exam was only a preliminary one. You are all aware that the Crafting School is split up into the outer and inner school, I¡¯m sure. All of you who stand here have the right to join the outer school, but the inner school won¡¯t be so easy to join. In three days, we will have another examination to see who will be entering the inner school and who will remain in the outer school¡­


    ¡°Until then, you¡¯ll all be resting in the Western Point. Prepare yourself accordingly for the true examination!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The sun was setting beneath the mountains by now. With dusk coming, the golden afterglow of the sun brushed the landscape a golden hue, leaving anyone that bore witness to it with a distracted look.


    Bai Yunfei sighed as he watched the dejected drop-outs walk down the mountain. As they were led away by Xiao Nanren, Bai Yunfei finally realized what it meant to ¡®be able to see the mountain path¡¯ so clearly. These people came up the mountains with great expectations, but now they were leaving the mountain in silence.


    Some of these people were late-stage Soul Warriors, and even Li Jianren was considered to have the ¡®best¡¯ talent in terms of affinity.


    Yet, here he was being led away from the school¡­


    ¡°The Crafting School¡¯s examinations are extremely precise¡­¡± Bai Yunfei turned back to look at the cave in thought.


    The ninety-six people that passed were later led to the Western Point and several courtyards to rest. Song Lin himself came before dusk to impart several trivial things, such as telling them to rest or to not wander off, before he left.


    ¡­¡­


    Later that night, Bai Yunfei sat alone on his bed thinking about the events of today.


    The examination to join the Crafting School was far more simplistic than he had originally thought. He hadn¡¯t even had to do much, but he had earned the right to become a student of the outer school anyways.


    ¡°Ugh, that¡¯s not enough! I have to join the inner school or become one of the students of the elders, that¡¯d be the best case scenario.¡± Resting his head on his hands, Bai Yunfei continued to think.


    ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought that that cave would be used to test my talent in crafting? It¡¯s definitely a method that doesn¡¯t overly complicate matters though. It¡¯s magical for sure, but there¡¯s plenty of things in this world I don¡¯t know about. Before I awakened my soulforce, I never would¡¯ve thought that people would be able to fly through the sky and use the elements of the world. Even this strange Equipment Upgrade Technique is something I don¡¯t understand¡­ I guess there¡¯s no point in thinking much about the cave then.


    ¡°If the amount of pressure we felt represents how talented we are at crafting, doesn¡¯t that mean my talent isn¡¯t too high?¡± Bai Yunfei conjectured with some disappointment as he thought back to the cave. ¡°I wonder what was behind that other corner in the cave? Since it¡¯s the same cave, the pressure in that other path is probably stronger. If we went there, I wonder how much longer I¡¯d be able to go on? What if¡­ what if I¡¯m not able to join the inner school?¡±


    Terrified by the thought, Bai Yunfei shook his mind free of such things and slapped his face to encourage himself, ¡°I¡¯ve got to believe in myself! There¡¯s no such thing as absolute in this world. I¡¯ve earned the right to become a student of the outer school, so I should continue to work to join the inner school!¡±


    Just then, the melodious harmony of a reed floated through the air right in the middle of Bai Yunfei¡¯s spiel of self-motivation. It was a sound that intoxified him and calmed him down immensely. Soon enough, Bai Yunfei was back to normal and was intently listening to the reed¡¯s song.


    ¡°It¡¯s already so late, who¡¯s making that¡ªoh? It¡¯s him¡­¡± Bai Yunfei strode out of his room.


    Upon opening the door, Bai Yunfei was able to see the spacious courtyard where a dozen stone tables had been placed here and there. On the left of the courtyard were several tall trees that were well over a century in age. The abundance of trees was enough to act as a parasol that faced the sky, but since it was winter, all of the trees were nearly naked. Only a few yellowing leaves remained stuck to the tree, giving birth to a stubborn resistance against the wind that blew.


    On top of one of the more larger trees sat a rather frail-looking young man with short hair. In his hand was an emerald-colored reed pipe; the instrument previously used to create that harmony from before. It was no longer being played since the young man¡¯s hands were now wrapped against his chest while his head was tilted up. Beholding the brightly-lit moon, the young man looked spellbound at the sight.


    ¡°Brother Ye, it¡¯s already nightfall. Why haven¡¯t you gone to bed? Are you thinking about something?¡± Just then, a voice called out to the figure.


    Rather than being startled, Ye Zhiqiu tore his eyes away from the moon. Greeting Bai Yunfei, who was on a tree branch to his left now, Ye Zhiqiu smiled, ¡°Brother Bai, did I disturb you? My apologies¡­¡±


    ¡°No no, I wasn¡¯t able to sleep myself.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand at first. Studying the trees around them and then the night sky above, he sighed, ¡°Out of the rest of us, brother Ye has the best talent in crafting, so why does it seem like you are more sad than you are happy?¡±


    ¡°Haha, brother Bai, you must be mistaken.¡± The other chuckled.


    ¡°I was just playing a positive ballad to calm myself. How could that mean I¡¯ve something to be sad about?¡± He smiled.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head continued to stare up at the starry sky above him, ¡°Keeping up appearances during the day doesn¡¯t mean everything¡¯s fine. Playing an instrument to calm the mood can also be a way to forget your troubles¡­¡±


    This time, Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s face registered surprise at Bai Yunfei¡¯s words. He turned his head to look up at the stars with Bai Yunfei, but he said nothing in response.


    For a moment, the courtyard was basked again in silence. Even with their troubles, the two youths were left captivated by the sight above them.


    ¡°My father is the lord of the house of Ye in Freesia City of the Yellow River Province.¡± Ye Zhiqiu was the first to break the silence.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t well known in the entire continent, but a long time ago, we were an impressive clan in our province. In our golden era we even had a Soul King with us, but these days, our house has fallen into a steep decline. The battles over the years were disastrous to us, and even my elder brother became a cripple. After that, my father began to change¡­¡±


    Even though Ye Zhiqiu was speaking to Bai Yunfei, his words felt more like a soliloquy. ¡°It won¡¯t be long now. If things go on like this, the Ye will surely become the vassal of another house.¡±


    He paused to recollect himself. ¡°Before, I never really cared about my family situation. I just wanted to live my life in peace, but now, all I can do is look on at my father as he ages more and more as the head of the Ye. It was his wish for me to come to the Crafting School to see if I would have any success, and hopefully, a chance to help the family overcome our crisis¡­¡±


    ¡°Again with family problems¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed to himself. The fact that Ye Zhiqiu was telling him this was proof that he saw Bai Yunfei as a good person to confide in, but Bai Yunfei had absolutely no idea how to console him.


    However, it looked as if Ye Zhiqiu felt better already after unloading his story on Bai Yunfei. Cleaning the reed pipe in his hands, he stored it away with a smile, ¡°But what luck I have to have considerable talent in crafting! If I can become one of the personal students of an elder, I¡¯ll be sure to work hard and bring the Ye back into another golden era!¡±


    Nodding, Bai Yunfei smiled in encouragement, ¡°Haha, brother Ye, I¡¯ve faith that you can do it!¡±


    ¡°Ah, brother Bai, I wanted to as¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve found you!¡±


    A sudden shout cut into Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s sentence, causing the two youths to turn to the right in surprise.


    The very first thing that came to sight was a single bounding figure that descended not too far away from them. When he turned his head up to look, Bai Yunfei realized who this person was¡ªit was Fei Nian, the one he beaten back down at the base of the mountains.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, I want a rematch!¡±

 Chapter 192: The First Elder Xiao Binzi Second

    Chapter 192: The First Elder Xiao Binzi (Second)


    ¡°Not interested.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t hesitate to give a flatline rejection to Fei Nian¡¯s challenge.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    In what was a clear display of choking on his own breath, Fei Nian¡¯s face began to grow red. Wide-eyed, he looked incredulously at Bai Yunfei, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I said, I¡¯m not interested in fighting you.¡±


    ¡°You¡ªare you a man or not!? When challenged by someone of the same strength as you, you should be more than happy to accept the challenge. Why are you refusing then!?¡±


    ¡°What does this have to do with me being a man or not? Why should I fight you? What point is there?¡± Bai Yunfei was unrelenting.


    Flustered, Fei Nian retorted, ¡°Then why won¡¯t you fight me?¡±


    ¡°Not interested.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Fei Nian exploded into another tirant half a second later, ¡°Absolutely not! You will fight me, I need to prove that I¡¯m stronger than you!¡±


    ¡°Fine then. You¡¯re stronger than me. Happy?¡± Bai Yunfei frowned. ¡°I¡¯m already tired from today and want to rest. You should go back and sleep too.¡±


    ¡°You¡ª¡±


    ¡°Fei Nian, what are you doing here? Instead of training at the Southern Point, you¡¯re causing trouble here? Whatever next will you do!¡± A sharp voice interrupted Fei Nian before another figure came into view.


    This figure was Xiao Nanren.


    Fei Nian was quite clearly all too afraid of this Xiao Nanren; his bravado vanished in an instant. Swallowing hard, he said, ¡°Senior Xiao, I¡ª¡±


    He hadn¡¯t even finished talking when several doors came swinging open. The entire courtyard had been awoken by the disturbance and had come out to see what was going on. Fei Nian cursed silently to himself for his bad luck; he had no idea that Xiao Nanren would be standing guard here. His fight with Bai Yunfei would not be taking place today.


    As expected, Xiao Nanren had taken notice of the people gathering around them and said to Fei Nian with narrowed eyes, ¡°Hurry on back to the Southern Point! You¡¯re a student of the second elder, yet here you are making trouble with the new students. What is the meaning of this!?¡±


    Xiao Nanren had to be privy to the events that had happened between Bai Yunfei and Fei Nian earlier that day since his eyes hovered momentarily on Bai Yunfei as he spoke.


    As soon as Fei Nian left, Xiao Nanren turned back to address the crowd, ¡°Everyone, please return to your rooms. Today has been a tiring day, so make use of the next three days to prepare yourself for the true examination.¡±


    When the crowd left, Xiao Nanren nodded his head to Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu and left. No sooner did he leave did Mo Xiaoxuan and the sleepy-eyed Zhong Xuhao come walking up to the two, ¡°Brother Bai, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, go on back and sleep¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head.


    ¡­¡­


    The following three days were spent by waiting. Bai Yunfei and the rest of the people waited at the Western Point. Since they were all warned to not wander off, the group of ninety-six were left with nothing outside of their own courtyards to stroll around. Most of them spent their time in their own rooms to train in peace, but some would sit in the common areas and talk with one another. When the time came for a meal, the students from the Crafting School would come to deliver them to the group, making life for the group rather pleasant.


    There were five points to the Crafting School on Mount Crimson. The main halls of the school were located at the middlemost point, of course. Aside from that, there were the four cardinal points. Each point was supervised by one of the four elders. The grand elder managed the Northern Point, the second elder managed the Southern Point, the third managed the Eastern Point, and the fourth managed the Western Point.


    Author note: Why does it feel like we¡¯re about to play Mahjong?


    On the eve of the third day¡ªan abode stood on the Northern Point several thousand meters away from the mysterious cave. In one of the more simplistically designed rooms, an elderly man who looked to be in his seventies came into view. He had white hair and a stern expression could be seen from his seated position on a praying mat. Deep in his meditational training, his entire person felt as if he was almost transparent in being. As he sat quietly there, it felt that if someone were to walk into the room, they¡¯d be unable to sense anyone here¡­


    This was the grand elder and junior to the acting headmaster of the Crafting School, Xiao Binzi.


    Opening his eyes to what seemed to be a sound unnoticeable to all but him, the elder commanded, ¡°Enter.¡±


    The door to his room opened with a ¡°creak¡± as someone pushed it open. A tall and straight looking person came walking inside shortly afterward, it was the student of the schoolmaster, Song Lin.


    ¡°Grand elder, all of the information has been gathered and compiled. There is no one of suspicious backgrounds in this newest group.¡± Song Lin announced as soon as he came to a stop in front of the elder.


    The elder nodded his head. ¡°Read it.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Song Lin complied. With a shake of his hand, a thick piece of parchment laden with writing appeared.


    Reading aloud, Song Lin said, ¡°Ye Zhiqiu. Twenty-two years old. Second son of lord Ye of the house of Ye in Freesia City of the Yellow River Province. Late-stage Soul Sprite with a dual affinity in fire and wood. The house of Ye is considered a middling power in Freesia City, but six hundred years ago, there was once a Soul King in their family. In the middle of their golden era, the house came across a disaster which led to their decline. Their eldest son¡­¡±


    One word at a time, every single detail known about Ye Zhiqiu was read aloud by Song Lin. Not a single detail was missed!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Tian Yuhang. Ten years old. Fourth son of the Tian family from Fushun City of the Snake River Province. He has the ¡®best¡¯ talent for fire. The Tian family is¡­¡±


    ¡°Mo Xiaoxuan. Eighteen years old. The third son of the Mo from the Three Gorges city of the Forest Pass Province. While a late-stage Soul Warrior, he is on the verge of a breakthrough at any moment now. His talent with fire is rated at ¡®high.¡¯ His family is¡­¡±


    ¡°Xi Yan. Eighteen years old. Originating from Simo City in the Clean Water Province. He is from a family of commoners, but at the age of five, a traveling soul cultivator imparted several training methods to him out of kindness. His teacher later died from combat, leaving him to hide himself in a city and train himself. As a late-stage Soul Warrior, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His talent with fire is rated ¡®high.¡¯


    ¡°Chen Hong¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Line by line, the pages on the parchment were read aloud. It was a parchment detailing the information of every single applicant¡ªover the past three days, the Crafting School had managed to scour plenty of information about them all!!


    All of the people that Song Lin mentioned had a ¡®high¡¯ talent with fire at the very least, or were late-stage Soul Sprites at the very least. After a few more mentions, Song Lin came to a stop.


    The elder¡¯s eyebrows crinkled together. ¡°Is that all?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still one last person that stands out more than the others. Since he is a special one, I figured I¡¯d leave him for last¡­¡± Song Lin replaced the parchment in his hand for a new one. Several lines of words were written on this one, allowing Song Lin to read aloud once more, ¡°Bai Yunfei. Nineteen years old. Late-stage Soul Sprite with an affinity for fire. A commoner from Talus City in the Azure Cloud Province. When he was five¡­¡±


    The troubled childhood, the nine years of suffering, the Coliseum disaster, the destruction of the Blackwood Stronghold, the death of Zhang Yang, his escape to Jade Willow City, Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions in the Azure Cloud Province and everything else. Aside from the small secrets he never mentioned to anyone else, practically everything else was told. Even his encounter with Ge Yiyun was known in clear detail, but whatever happened after Bai Yunfei left the Azure Cloud Province, it seemed as if the school didn¡¯t bother to investigate any further.


    Even then, the amount of information they had now was more than startling. To have gathered so much information in three days, just how efficient were the connections of the Crafting School?


    ¡°What you are saying is that this one didn¡¯t even know how to cultivate at first, but managed to not only gain friendship with Hong Yin, but even Ge Yiyun from the Fate School?¡± For the first time since Song Lin began his report, the old man¡¯s eyebrows rose in apparent surprise.


    Song Lin nodded his head, ¡°According to the report we have¡­ that¡¯s indeed what it says.¡±


    ¡°Very well, you may return then. Tomorrow morning, bring them all to take part in the examination.¡± The elder replied after a period of silence.


    Bowing, Song Lin left the room so that the elder could resume his quiet meditation. Attentively, he looked at the kindling flames with pensive eyes¡­

 Chapter 193: Announcement of the Soul Armaments, Forward!

    Chapter 193: Announcement of the Soul Armaments, Forward!


    On the dawn of the fourth day, Bai Yunfei and the group of applicants were once more led to the cave on the Northern Point.


    However this time, the one leading them through the cave wasn¡¯t Li Tiechui¡­ it was the first elder!


    Standing outside the cave entrance, the elder displayed a grim expression on his face. Such was his aura that everyone gathered in front of him didn¡¯t even dare breathe, let alone whisper to one another. Respectfully, everyone stood there in silence and waited for his instructions.


    Like the others, Bai Yunfei¡¯s head was drooped down to the ground. Not even his soulsense was peeping out of him.


    This elder looked like any other normal old person, but the aura that was coming from him was anything but. Combined with that aura, the elder felt more like an impassable mountain in front of them.


    ¡°You will all follow me into the cave. Whether you¡¯ll be able to benefit or even enter the cave will be up to your own skill¡­¡± The elder spoke to the fearful applicants, and with a flick of his robes, the elder turned about and walked straight in.


    For a while, the applicants all looked at one another in hesitation. It was Ye Zhiqiu and Bai Yunfei who first strode into action. The two of them walked straight after the elder into the cave, sparking the rest of the applicants to follow suit. At the end of the procession, Song Lin and Li Tiechui followed after them.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the group arrived at the fork from before. Like the last time, Bai Yunfei could feel an abnormally strong amount of pressure emanating from the place, but he had long since prepared for this. Steeling his face so that no emotion showed, Bai Yunfei managed to step across. Zhong Xuhao on the other hand, had already a flushed color on his face. Already, he looked like it was taking a toll on him, but he wasn¡¯t the only one. A good majority of the people with them were the same.


    Without even waiting, the elder turned the corner, taking a completely different passageway.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    What came into view in front of everyone stunned them all, Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu included. Every single person there was so shocked that they were as still as statues.


    This corridor was two times as wide as the previous one, and the amount of shining stones gathered here was far more than the previous passageway. There were practically no shadows to be seen, and the corridor looked as if it extended ahead indefinitely.


    On both sides of the corridor were two stone platforms cut out from the walls so that they were a meter wide.


    However, the most surprising thing about these platforms were what was on top of them¡ªsoul armaments!


    Blades, spears, swords, halberds, hatchets, battle-axe, hook-blades, trident, armor¡­ the list went on with so many different ones!


    With how the shining stones were adorned everywhere, the view was absolutely spectacular!


    ¡°Th¡ªthese, are these¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself, but he was almost fearful to think of a response. For the time being, his mind had temporarily taken a leave of absence.


    ¡°These are all soul armaments!¡± The elder¡¯s stern voice woke everyone from their stupor and simultaneously answered their suspicions. ¡°The fact that you all stand here is proof enough that you are students of our Crafting School. Thus, I shall give you all a gift for your entry; feel free to take any soul item within three hundred meters of here, take whichever one you desire!¡±


    ¡°But these are only the weakest of soul armaments, the low-grade human-tier. Three hundred meters after this is the middle-grade human-tier; a kilometer after that is the high-grade human-tier; two kilometers after that is the low-grade earth-tier! Three kilometers, the middle-grade earth-tier! Four kilometers, high-grade earth-tier! And five kilometers¡­ the heaven-tier!¡±


    Not even allowing anyone time to feel shocked, the elder continued on, ¡°Each time you step into one of these places, you may take one soul armament! If any one of you reach the two kilometer mark, you will become students of the inner school! Should you reach the five kilometer mark, you will become the personal disciples of myself or the headmaster!¡±


    Each word he spoke was like a thunderclap to the ears of everyone in attendance. They rang in their heads.


    He waited several moments for everyone to properly register the bombshell of an announcement. When excitement began to show on their faces, the elder waved his hand, ¡°Well then, go ahead and pick your first soul armament! The students on the side will give you a space ring if you wish. For those who haven¡¯t yet awakened their soulforce, you may ask any student to help you store your soul armament!¡±


    Having finished what he wanted to say, the elder nodded his head to Song Lin and Li Tiechui from the sidelines. Folding his arms against his chest, the man waited off to the side for the others to make their move.


    After a short moment of hesitation, the crowd finally began to spark into motion. Running in excitement to the two platforms on the side, they began to pick out the soul armament of their desire. It went without saying that no one ran outside of the three hundred meter radius. They didn¡¯t wish to take the lead and wanted someone else to try their hand first.


    Even Bai Yunfei found it hard to keep the excitement from showing on his face. Both of his eyes were lit up brightly, but they weren¡¯t looking at the low-grade soul armaments in front of him, rather they were fixated down the corridor where the higher grade ones were.


    ¡°Brother Bai, let¡¯s go.¡± The voice of Ye Zhiqiu snapped Bai Yunfei out of his thoughts. He, Mo Xiaoxuan, and the others were standing off to the side as if waiting for him.


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Attack: 231


    Upgrade Requirement: 62 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Attack: 247


    Upgrade Requirement: 63 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Attack: 256


    Upgrade Requirement: 64 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Walking up to the rightmost platform, Bai Yunfei made a quick look at the stats of the soul armaments there.


    It was here that he made an important distinction; although all of these soul armaments were low-grade human-tier, the ones situated farther in the corridor were better in stats than the ones closer to the front.


    Turning to Ye Zhiqiu, who was in the middle of perusing the selection, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°If this isn¡¯t to your tastes, let¡¯s choose from over there, the things there are much better!¡±


    ¡°Eh? Brother Bai, what do you mean by that? Aren¡¯t these all low-grade human-tier soul armaments?¡± Mo Xiaoxuan was just in the middle of looking over a small shortblade when he heard Bai Yunfei speak to Ye Zhiqiu. Despite his confusion, the young boy followed the two.


    ¡°They are all low-grade human-tier, but even those have differences in quality between them. Believe me, let¡¯s go to the end of this area.¡± Bai Yunfei explained.


    Without bothering to explain, Bai Yunfei strode ahead so that the others had to follow after him.


    Three hundred meters ahead, several figures had already picked out a soul armament and were moving on. When they started to move, the others hurriedly picked out a soul armament and followed suit.


    ¡­¡­


    To the soul cultivators of the world, soul armaments were priceless treasures to behold, but here in this cave, they were laid out and displayed as if they were no better than a radish or cabbage for sale. The applicants here were no longer applicants hoping to join the Crafting School, right now, they looked more like people buying groceries at a market.


    As the group walked forward, they all looked as if they had forgotten that they were in the middle of an examination. Practically everyone had already chosen their first soul armament, but it wasn¡¯t as hectic as one might expect. Everyone was exceedingly quiet, and only a few words were exchanged between the applicants without much trouble.


    Not long after, the group reached the eight hundred meter mark before the very first unforeseen development came up.


    ¡°Brother Bai, I¡ªI can¡¯t move!¡± Zhong Xuhao cried out. His face was flush, and his nose was dripping with sweat. Both of his hands rested on his knees as he doubled over to breath. It seemed as if he had only just finished running for some distance.


    ¡°Brother Bai, I¡­ I feel tired too¡­¡± Like Zhong Xuhao, Liu Mang looked rather tired as well.


    At the same time, twenty other people were starting to look unwell.


    Hardening his face, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look at Mo Xiaoxuan and the other ones that were trying their best to continue. ¡°You can do it!¡± He urged, ¡°We¡¯ll reach the one kilometer mark soon, there¡¯ll be better human-tier soul armaments!¡±


    The temptation of such soul armaments had worked somewhat on their emotions. Zhong Xuhao and Liu Mang both gained a look of expectation on their faces before they grit their teeth and walked on.


    In honesty, Bai Yunfei was feeling slightly agonized as well. He had done well to make it so it wasn¡¯t showing on his face, but the pressure that was amounting on him was already enough for his breath to start hitching up somewhat.


    ¡°I¡¯m not even at the one kilometer mark yet and I¡¯m already like this. There¡¯s almost a dozen people that¡¯re in better shape than I am. My talent in crafting isn¡¯t better than theirs then!¡± Bai Yunfei turned to look at Ye Zhiqiu, who was completely unaffected still. With so many people walking ahead of him without a problem, Bai Yunfei felt rather disappointed with himself.


    ¡°Does this mean I don¡¯t have what it takes to join the inner school¡­?¡±

 Chapter 194: I Wonst! Firs

    Chapter 194: I Won''t! (First)


    By the nine hundred meter mark, two applicants gave up.


    By 1.2 kilometers, ten more dropped out.


    By 1.6 kilometers, Zhong Xuhao was among the next sixteen to give up.


    By 1.8 kilometers, Liu Mang joined the next twenty-four to abandon the path.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Two kilometers!!¡±


    With grit teeth, Bai Yunfei took yet another step to arrive at the zone required to become a student of the inner school.


    ¡°Wh¡ªwheww¡­¡± His right hand fell on top of the platform with the low-earth tier soul armaments. Even now, Bai Yunfei was panting from the exertion.


    ¡°F¡ªfinally, I¡¯m here! I¡¯m finally a student of the inner school!¡± Bai Yunfei yelled out inside his head. The pressure had been almost unbearable. Bai Yunfei already knew that he wasn¡¯t as talented as the others, so his worries had intensified. This journey of two kilometers had been rough, but it was easier than he had previously expected. In any case, he now had the right to join the inner school. That fact alone was enough to drop the metaphorical boulder off his shoulders.


    ¡°Brother Bai, are you alright?¡± A concerned voice asked from the side. Looking up, Bai Yunfei could see the unaffected face of Ye Zhiqiu looking at him. Off to the side, Xi Yan and Mo Xiaoxuan were both in a state similar to Bai Yunfei where their breathing was jagged.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ fine. It¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t handle.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand. Compared to before, his face was looking much better already. He didn¡¯t know whether or not it was an illusion, but after he reached the two kilometer mark, the pressure that was pressing down on him was much better than before.


    Looking up, Bai Yunfei suddenly realized that only twenty-eight people were left standing!


    ¡°Out of thousands of people, only ninety-six people managed to enter the school, and out of ninety-six people, only sixty-eight people managed to make it to the outer school while twenty-eight people managed to enter the inner school!!¡± Bai Yunfei managed to force out a smile. Entry to the Crafting School had been utterly low; the fact that he was one of the twenty-eight people to do so was already hard enough. That alone was no small show of strength.


    Seeing how several others had managed to stifle the pressure and head impatiently toward the selection of low-earth tier, Bai Yunfei took in another deep breath himself. Standing up, Bai Yunfei walked over to where a deep-blue sword was with trepidation.


    Equipment Grade: Low Legacy


    Attack: 524


    Upgrade Requirement: 81 Soulpoints


    Low-grade legacy equipment were on the same par as low-earth tier equipment. For the smaller sects and such, an item like this would without a doubt be considered a treasure for them. Here today, the students that were capable of joining the inner school of the Crafting School would be given them as welcoming gifts, and they would be within hand-reach as well¡­


    Putting down the sword, Bai Yunfei looked to the others. They were looking at the soul armaments as well, but he spoke up anyways, ¡°Let¡¯s go further in. The further in we go, the stronger the soul armaments¡­¡±


    If he was going to be honest with himself, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really think he could make it to the three kilometer mark and become a disciple of the headmaster or the disciple, but for the sake of picking out a super powerful offensive weapon or a strong defensive weapon, he¡¯d do his best to get as far as his feet could take him.


    Ye Zhiqiu nodded his head, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go on then¡­¡±


    Seeing how Ye Zhiqiu could walk ahead without a problem, Bai Yunfei felt slightly jealous of him, ¡°Maybe he¡¯ll¡­ be the one to become a disciple of the first elder or the headmaster?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    By 2.6 kilometers, another five dropped out.


    By 3.1 kilometers, Mo Xiaoxuan and Xi Yan were among the dozen that stopped there. It seemed that the desire to grab hold of a mid-earth tier soul armament had been enough to keep them going to this point, but after they reached that hallmark, their will to continue wasn¡¯t enough¡­


    What had been most unexpected was the fact that Bai Yunfei¡ªwho looked as if he was on the very brink of collapsing¡ªwas able to reach the 3.5 kilometer mark!


    Equipment Grade: Middle Legacy


    Attack: 832


    Upgrade Requirement: 90 Soulpoints


    His hands laid on top of a golden spear, but he was reluctant to pick it up. Turning around, he look farther ahead¡ªjust under two kilometers in front of him, a sparkling platform holding a selection of soul armaments could be seen. This platform was only several meters at its largest point.


    When he looked up, the glint of something there caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, causing him to light up; just two hundred meters away, a golden arm bracer was placed on top of the platform. With the light from the shining stones, the bracer was lit up extra-nice.


    ¡°A bracer! I have to have it!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up at the sight of the object. Since the start of his journey, defensive-type soul armaments had been the rarest to find. Thus, the sight of one now made every single other soul armament he found pale in comparison; today, he was as happy as he could be. Now that this bracer was in front of him, Bai Yunfei was determined to obtain it.


    Three hundred meters ago, Bai Yunfei had Ye Zhiqiu go ahead since he himself was walking at a slower pace. As of right now, only six people were struggling to travel ahead. Several hundreds of meters ahead, Ye Zhiqiu had already walked to the four kilometer zone. Unexpectedly, there was also a fair-skinned young man next to Ye Zhiqiu. Just vaguely, Bai Yunfei could remember his name to be Tian Yuhang, the only one left with the ¡®best¡¯ talent in the fire affinity.


    Exhaling, Bai Yunfei circulated his soulforce once more so that the warmth of the elemental fire could spread within his body. Evaporating the sweat that was collecting on his skin, Bai Yunfei then urged the soulforce into his legs so that he could continue walking.


    With each step, another step was taken. One by one, Bai Yunfei walked¡­


    A hundred fifty meters remained.


    A hundred twenty¡­


    A hundred meters now¡­


    If this were any ordinary situation, Bai Yunfei could have used the Wave Treading Steps to traverse such a small distance like this, but since it was not, it took Bai Yunfei several minutes to travel the same length. Each step he took lagged behind the previous one with increasing time in between. His back was stooped now, and it looked as if he was holding a six hundred kilogram rock on his back. Even his sense of reality was starting to grow warped; his surroundings were starting to blur, and his eyes could only hone in on the dark-golden bracer in front of him.


    ¡°I can do this! I can¡­ I will do this!!¡±


    His mind continued to echo with roars of encouragement, and even Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips were starting to bleed from when his teeth bit down on them from exertion. His face was twitching slightly as his mood began to affect it.


    He would not fail here!!


    He was well aware of his state of affair, but even though he was at the very limits of his body, his mind refused to give up with a burning passion!


    He refused to to experience ¡®failure!¡¯


    Ever since he had awoken his soulforce and obtained the help of Ge Yiyun of the Fate School, Bai Yunfei had been able to embark on the path of a soul cultivator. In a short half year, he was able to go from an ordinary commoner to a late-stage Soul Sprite. Combined with the Equipment Upgrade Technique to create even stronger pieces of equipment, Bai Yunfei was so proud of his achievements it practically borderlined arrogance. But still¡ª


    ¡ªwhat genius could say they had done the same as he!?


    Ever since he had learned of the Crafting School¡¯s existence, he had decided that nothing would suit him better than joining it. No matter how far he had to walk, it was all so that he could grow as strong as he had promised he¡¯d be at the very start of his story.


    Indeed, ever since the start of the examinations to enter the Crafting School, Bai Yunfei had been plagued with a sense of disappointment. Against the false illusion that was ¡®talent,¡¯ Bai Yunfei had been completely dependent on the help of the Upgrade Technique. When he looked to Ye Zhiqiu, his equal, and Tian Yuhang, someone even weaker than he was, Bai Yunfei was nowhere near their level in talent for ¡®crafting.¡¯ Such a thought had plagued him consistently without fail.


    The way things were now, progressing farther into the cave would be extremely difficult for him, if not impossible. He knew that he¡¯d be unable to gain the right to be a disciple now, so he¡¯d have to quash his disappointment and settle for the second best thing. As long as he could walk just a little bit more, he¡¯d be able to obtain an even stronger soul armament. A high-earth tier armament was beyond hope, but he¡¯d be able to get that bracer just two hundred meters ahead of him.


    Even though the bracer was within sights now, his leg were refusing to listen to his mind. They were like stone and lifting them was incredibly difficult to do. His body felt as if it had been entangled in some sort of viscous liquid that made progression all but impossible.


    ¡°Ten steps! I just need ten more steps! I can¡¯t give up here, I just can¡¯t!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 195: Ending and Profit! Second

    Chapter 195: Ending and Profit! (Second)


    ¡°Ten steps! I just need ten more steps! I can¡¯t give up here, I just can¡¯t!¡±


    Howling almost furiously to himself, Bai Yunfei stalked forward with soulforce coursing rapidly through his body so that it¡¯d move his legs forcibly.


    His right foot lifted up ever so much, and with a forward motion, his leg stepped back down onto the ground!


    ¡°Even if I can¡¯t become a disciple. Even if I can¡¯t take a high-grade earth-tier soul armament. I will take this bracer!¡± Blood streamed forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth in a steady flow now. Grunting, he took another three steps forward!


    The air around him was starting to heat up; his sweat was evaporating as quickly as it was appearing. In Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, determination and grit shined brightly.


    ¡°How could I stop here? Why should I stop here!? I can¡¯t stop here! I won¡¯t stop here!!¡± Bai Yunfei howled yet again to himself. By now, his vision was so blurry that Bai Yunfei felt like he¡¯d come crashing to the ground any second now.


    ¡°Haaa!!!¡± Bai Yunfei howled out loud. A furious burst of soulforce exploded forth from his body and materialized into a brilliant pyre that surrounded both his surroundings and his very person!


    ¡°Clak! Clak! Clak! Clak¡­¡± The clattering sounds of footsteps echoed through the cave, and not before long, a hand extended from the burning pyre that followed the footsteps and closed around the dark-golden bracer!!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Early the next morning, the morning wind was only just starting to caress the world beneath it. The previous day had brought rain to the world, and today had not quite yet recovered from it. Therefore, the sky was still cloudy.


    There was one person who sat on top of a giant boulder roughly several kilometers away from the courtyards in the Western Point. This figure sat by himself in solitude and looked up at the sky as if he were disappointed at something.


    It was Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    Barely half an hour passed by before a sigh escaped from between Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. Returning his gaze to the newly-acquired dark-golden bracer on his left arm, Bai Yunfei fell into a deep trance.


    Equipment Grade: Middle Legacy


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 890


    Additional Defense: 478


    +10 Additional Effect: When defending, there is a 15% chance to reflect 30% of the damage done. The amount of damage reflected cannot go above what the equipment can handle and is ineffective against long-range attacks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 81 Soulpoints


    Equipment Grade: Middle Legacy


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 890


    Additional Defense: 478


    +10 Additional Effect: When defending, there is a 15% chance to reflect 30% of the damage done. The amount of damage reflected cannot go above what the equipment can handle, and is ineffective against long-range attacks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 91 Soulpoints


    There was a smile on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. It was a sad one, but it was also mixed with a feeling of gratefulness. As it were, Bai Yunfei was completely conflicted with himself.


    This would be the greatest thing he managed to gain from the examinations of the Crafting School.


    In the end, Bai Yunfei had fallen at three thousand seven hundred meters, meaning he was unable to obtain any of the high-grade earth-tier soul armaments.


    Three days had already passed since that day.


    Whatever happened after that examination, Bai Yunfei himself wasn¡¯t too sure. All he could remember was that his soulforce exploded out from him due to his reluctance to give up, but in the end, he still ended up losing consciousness. By the time he had woken up, nightfall was already coming to the second day after the examination¡ªBai Yunfei had been knocked out for two days and one night.


    And so, the latest examination of the Crafting School came to an end.


    Of the twenty-eight people that made it into the inner school, five of them stopped before three kilometers. Seventeen of them stopped before four kilometers. Four more dropped before five kilometers, and only two managed to make it to the five kilometer point!!


    By rights of the examination, those two would be given the right to become disciples of the headmaster or the first elder. Of course, these two lucky people were Ye Zhiqiu and Tian Yuhang.


    If he were to rank himself, Bai Yunfei would be placed within the top five.


    Everyone was carried back to the Western Point after the examination came to an end. For the time being, everyone would be given time to recover until the next day where the Crafting School would decide which student would be allocated to which peak.


    The Crafting School had five peaks, with four of them being named after the four cardinal directions. Never had the first elder ever selected a disciple, so the Northern Point was a forbidden zone where no one was allowed entry without express permission. The third elder was responsible for managing the female students on the Eastern Point. The Southern Point was managed by the second elder and his students, and the Western Point was managed by the fourth elder, but the fourth elder had never accepted a student before and had never taught any in person either. Aside from taking in students and acting as the head of the Western Point, he never involved himself in the matters of the inner or outer school.


    But no matter what, any new student would be accepted into either the Western, Eastern, or Southern Point.


    No single point was higher in hierarchy than the other of course. The only difference between the points was who was in charge of it.


    Mo Xiaoxuan had given Bai Yunfei a quick and concise summarization of the aforementioned subject when he woke up, but Bai Yunfei fell back asleep as soon as Mo Xiaoxuan finished speaking. It wasn¡¯t until morning that Bai Yunfei woke up and did a quick upgrade of several soul armaments to alleviate his mood, but to do that, he had to be alone first. That¡¯s was why he was taking in the wind here at this current moment.


    Bai Yunfei had looked forward to joining the Crafting School for so long already. He didn¡¯t know that it¡¯d be divided into the outer and inner school or that there¡¯d be a difference between students and disciples. Thus, he hadn¡¯t thought about it before, but when he realized that he had a chance to become a personal disciple and that Ye Zhiqiu and another kid had earned the right to be one, Bai Yunfei came to another sombering realization. He as a person wasn¡¯t an equal to either of the two, and that was something that made him extremely vexed.


    In the eyes of anyone else, being able to join the inner school would be enough to be called a genius, but Bai Yunfei was a person that was always too caught up in trying to ¡®compare¡¯ himself to everyone else¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Silently touching the dark-golden bracer on his arm, Bai Yunfei continued to bask in his silence for a while longer. He closed his eyes and let out a long drawn out sigh.


    By the time he reopened his eyes, the look of disappointment was gone. The usual look of determination was back in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Even if my talent at crafting isn¡¯t as good as theirs, that isn¡¯t the end of everything. I¡¯m not a genius soul cultivator, but I can improve just as fast! What everyone has, I might not have enough, but they don¡¯t have what I have!!¡±


    ¡°So what if I didn¡¯t get a high-grade earth-tier soul armament? This middle-grade earth-tier bracer will be just as good as one!¡±


    ¡°Not being a personal disciple isn¡¯t bad either. I can still practice the art of crafting as a student of the inner school. As long as I can learn enough, I can combine it with the Upgrade Technique. I¡¯ve no doubts I¡¯ll be able to blow past the others then!¡±


    Bai Yunfei eyed the bracer on his arm with a faint smile on his lips. He was happy that such a revelation came to him so quickly before he could spiral any deeper into depression. Muttering to himself, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Since you can return the damage done back to the owner, I¡¯ll call you the ¡®Returner Bracer!¡¯¡±


    With a flip of his right hand, an ordinary dagger popped into it.


    Equipment Grade: Low Legacy


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 761


    Additional Attack: 365


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 12% chance to inflict bleeding onto the target for a duration of sixty seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 81 Soulpoints


    Equipment Grade: Low Legacy


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 761


    Additional Attack: 365


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 12% chance to inflict bleeding onto the target for a duration of sixty seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 87 Soulpoints


    His eyebrows narrowed at that, ¡°Bleeding means that if I can¡¯t even hurt the enemy, the effect won¡¯t activate¡­¡±


    Of the additional effects so far, dizziness, blindness, and knockback were all effects that just required contact with the enemy to activate. Even if the opponent blocked it, the trigger conditions would still be met, but bleeding and reduced healing speed were effects that had to be inflicted on the opponent by a direct attack on top of the already meager chance of it activating.


    Aside from the two earth-tier soul armaments, Bai Yunfei managed to grab hold of several other soul armaments from the examination. Namely, a high-grade human-tier long sword, a middle-grade human-tier leather armor, and a low-grade human-tier dagger. Even after they were upgraded, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t all too pleased with the results.


    Just then, the sounds of footsteps behind him forced Bai Yunfei to store away the dagger and look behind him in surprise¡­

 Chapter 196: Friends Third

    Chapter 196: Friends (Third)


    When Bai Yunfei turned his head, six figures made their way into his line of sight. Ye Zhiqiu, Mo Xiaoxuan, Xi Yan, Zhong Xuhao, Liu Mang, and one more person right next to Ye Zhiqiu were all walking together to meet up with Bai Yunfei. This new addition to the group was Tian Yuhang, the youngster with the ¡®best¡¯ talent in the fire affinity and also incredibly high talent in crafting.


    ¡°Brother Bai! No wonder we couldn¡¯t find you in your room, you were out here feeling the morning breeze already!¡± Zhong Xuhao laughed cheerfully as he approached.


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei nodded to Zhong Xuhao and the rest of the group, ¡°I wasn¡¯t feeling too well, so I thought I¡¯d come here to relax a bit.¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai, why do you feel that way?¡± Ye Zhiqiu asked with concern, ¡°Everyone saw how determined you were that day. Even if you were unable to become a disciple, I¡¯ve no doubt you are someone that¡¯ll go extremely far in life.¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai, don¡¯t be so hard on yourself! You¡¯re the strongest student in the newest group of students! Even brother Ye said he wasn¡¯t as strong as you! You¡¯re only nineteen, but you¡¯re already a late-stage Soul Sprite; that¡¯s something no student in the inner school or even any disciple can boast of! Your talent in crafting might be slightly below theirs, but your strength as a soul cultivator is far more amazing!!¡± The admiring voice of Mo Xiaoxuan rang out.


    ¡°Yea, that¡¯s right!¡± Zhong Xuhao piped up. ¡°All of us really admire you, brother Bai! You really scared us all when your soulforce came exploding out the other day, haha¡­ you made it to the inner school at least. Liu Mang and I weren¡¯t able to, so that¡¯s why we admire you so much!¡±


    ¡°You guys¡­¡± The amount of encouragement from everyone else had improved Bai Yunfei¡¯s mood. Nodding his thanks, he smiled, ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry then. I¡¯m not so weak to be depressed about such a thing.¡±


    ¡°Ah, before I forget, brother Bai, let me introduce you to Tian Yuhang. I believe you might remember him?¡± Ye Zhiqiu motioned to the young male next to him, ¡°He is the one with the strongest talent in crafting out of us all. During the examinations, he beat me by three hundred meters.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was startled to hear this information. He knew that the two had made it past five kilometers, but the fact that Tian Yuhang had beaten Ye Zhiqiu was news to him.


    ¡°Brother Bai, I¡¯m Tian Yuhang, but you can call me Yuhang! Brother Bai, you¡¯re super cool! Even my brothers back home weren¡¯t as cool as you¡ªnot even my oldest brother!!¡± Yu Tianhang displayed a pure smile on his face as he spoke with an equally honest voice. He looked to be a very honest child. It really did seem as if Tian Yuhang believed that Bai Yunfei was cooler than his oldest brother. At his age, many kids thought their oldest brothers were invincible.


    ¡°A¡ªhaha¡­ little Hang, you¡¯re praising me a little too much. The amazing one here is you, I¡¯m quite jealous of you.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand with a laugh before turning to Ye Zhiqiu, ¡°Brother Ye, I haven¡¯t congratulated you yet for becoming a disciple, so here it is. From here on out, you¡¯ll be a senior to us all, little Hang here will be a senior too in fact, haha¡­¡±


    Whenever the headmaster or first elder took on a personal disciple, they were always called seniors to the rest of the students. Disciples had a hierarchy over the other students, so they were often much more carefree with the students. The hierarchy wasn¡¯t always based on when they entered the school, but sometimes based on age or strength. There were thousands of students after all.


    Smiling, Ye Zhiqiu replied, ¡°Brother Bai, you must be joking. What¡¯s with this talk about seniors? Let¡¯s dispense the formalities. From here on out, we are students of the same school. Call me by my name, and I¡¯ll call you Yunfei, alright?¡±


    ¡°Haha, alright! Then I¡¯ll call you Zhiqiu! Little Xuan, little Hao, you two will have the same as well! Don¡¯t treat us like strangers here, let¡¯s get along from here on out.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I always wanted to be called ¡®senior¡¯ though¡­¡± Tian Yuhang softly spoke from the side.


    That comment caused Zhong Xuhao to frown in disdain, ¡°What a dreamer! You¡¯re only a kid. I¡¯d never call you senior! Even if you¡¯re a disciple, you¡¯re still younger than me, so you¡¯ll be little brother Yuhang!¡±


    ¡°Hey hey! I¡¯m not that much younger than you! Wait until we¡¯re in front of the headmaster and the elders, we¡¯ll see if you¡¯ll call me senior or not then!¡± Tian Yuhang was young, but he was unhesitant to to get into a fight should one happen.


    ¡°You¡­¡± An angry knot appeared over Zhong Xuhao¡¯s head.


    ¡°Haha¡­¡±


    And so, everyone burst out into happy laughter.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    By high noon of the second day, Bai Yunfei and the other ninety-five people that made it into the Crafting School were led by Xiao Nanren to the mountain peak where the main halls were. Passing through the vast hallways and through the many gateways, they finally arrived at an abnormally wide hall.


    There was an order to how the group walked. Ye Zhiqiu and Tian Yuhang were leading the very front of the line behind Xiao Nanren, Bai Yunfei and the twenty-something students of the inner school were in the middle, and the rest of the students of the outer school followed behind.


    No sooner did Bai Yunfei step into the hall did he feel an invisible pressure press against him. When he looked up, Bai Yunfei could see a single person seated at the very top. His very presence was like a mountain that would command deep respect at the very first sight.


    The man wore a black brocaded robe that contrasted with the white-stranded hair combed behind his head. He was a tall figure, and his face was exceedingly ordinary-looking. Only his eyes were exceptional in that regard and they were filled with a dignified aura.


    Just this sight alone was enough for Bai Yunfei to know that this person in front of him was the headmaster of the Crafting School.


    Kou Changkong.


    To the seats below, the first elder Xiao Binzi was seated on the left. On the right was the second elder, Huangfu Nan and the third elder Cang Yu.


    Song Lin, Li Tiechui, Lian Lingmin and the other disciples all stood right behind their respective elders.


    ¡°Pay your respects to the elders and the master.¡± Xiao Nanren first bowed to Kou Changkong before addressing the students.


    ¡°All ninety-six of the newly entered students have been gathered here today.¡±


    Ye Zhiqiu and the other ninety-five students all immediately bowed to the elders in front of them, ¡°Headmaster and elders, we have come to pay our respects to you!¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡± Kou Changkong nodded. Sweeping a dignified eye across the crowd, he revealed a kind smile on his face. ¡°Very good. This new generation of students is quite satisfactory. From today on out, you are all students of my Crafting School. No matter if you are students of the inner or outer school, you will adhere to our rules and dedicate yourselves to training and learning our arts. Work hard for the day when you attain achievement, for the glory of yourself, and for our Crafting School!¡±


    After he finished his little speech, a short pause was given so that he could nod to Song Lin.


    Stepping forward, Song Lin addressed the crowd with a robust voice. ¡°I will now designate you all to one of the mountain points. Brothers and sisters, you must remember now; no matter if you are from the Western Point or the Southern Point, you are still students of the same school. You will not be inferior to one another, and you will not be superior to one another. Students of the outer school, do not feel dejected. The results of the examination are not clear-cut designations of your skill. As long as you focus on your training and work hard at learning the arts, you may one day earn the chance to enter the inner school!¡±


    He paused here to look at the two figures leading the group, Ye Zhiqiu and Tian Yuhang. Smiling, he said, ¡°Firstly, I would like to announce the two figures that managed to make their way to the five kilometer zone in the cave¡­ Junior Ye, from today on, you will become a disciple of the second elder! As for you, junior Tian Yuhang, you will be a disciple to the headmaster!¡±


    ¡°Yes!!¡± Ye Zhiqiu and Tian Yuhang responded simultaneously. They were well prepared for this announcement, but their hearts were still beating rapidly from the excitement they felt.


    Nodding, Song Lin looked to the six female students to the left, ¡°The female juniors will be assigned to the Eastern Point. From here, your senior Lian Lingmin will guide you there when you leave.¡±


    ¡°Mo Xiaoxuan, Xi Yan, Chen Hong, Yang Hua¡­¡± Song Lin continued to list off the next forty names. ¡°You will all be students of the Western Point!¡±


    The rest of the students would naturally be assigned to the Southern Point, but Song Lin announced their names anyways to make it official. After you leave, your seniors will take you to your future place of residence.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone was excited with hearing the results of their examinations, but Bai Yunfei was among the few people who were stunned; Ye Zhiqiu and the others in their group had turned their heads to look at Bai Yunfei as well.


    Out of all the names Song Lin read, Bai Yunfei¡¯s name hadn¡¯t been mentioned!!


    ¡ª¡ª¨C

 Chapter 197: Exceptions and Trials! Firs

    Chapter 197: Exceptions and Trials! (First)


    Song Lin¡¯s announcement had designated each and every student to their appropriate mountain point, but only Bai Yunfei¡¯s name had been left off his list!


    Bai Yunfei himself was surprised to say the least, and his mind was racing with confusion on the reason why.


    Noticing Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression, Song Lin smiled reassuringly, ¡°Haha, junior Bai, there¡¯s no need to panic. The reason why I¡¯ve not yet mentioned your name is because there is still a special announcement to make.¡±


    Turning back to the new students, Song Lin announced, ¡°While junior Bai Yunfei did not make it past the five kilometer threshold, his talent as a soul cultivator is shocking to everyone. At the age of nineteen, he is already a late-stage Soul Sprite. Thus, the headmaster has ordained an exception and will take him in as a disciple!¡±


    This announcement brought forth silence from the entire crowd for a few brief moments. Stunned, everyone looked at Bai Yunfei and began to whisper to one another as they tried to figure out the reason why. Even Fei Nian and the other disciples looked on in surprise at the announcement.


    ¡°An exception¡­ to become a disciple?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind went blank. Thinking that he was still in some sort of delusional fantasy where he had become a disciple, Bai Yunfei hastened to circulate his soulforce into his head to wake him up, but upon not feeling the ¡®fantasy¡¯ shatter away, Bai Yunfei realized¡ªthis was reality, he had heard correctly!


    ¡°Senior Song Lin, are you¡­ are you saying I can become a disciple to the headmaster!?¡± Bai Yunfei asked to reconfirm. He could hardly believe his ears.


    ¡°Correct. This was what the master ordained, but¡­¡± Song Lin immediately changed the topic mid-speech, ¡°The master himself wishes to give you a test!¡±


    Sucking in a deep breath to calm down the rapidly beating heart in his chest, Bai Yunfei asked cautiously, ¡°What test?¡±


    Somewhat surprised by how fast Bai Yunfei had calmed himself down, Song Lin smiled in approval, ¡°The master will give you three months time. During these three months, you will be treated as a disciple and will be taught the arts of crafting by the master. After three months, if you are able to create an earth-tier soul armament, you will become a genuine disciple. If not, you will be sent back to the inner school!¡±


    Everyone was shocked again to hear such an announcement and turned to look at Bai Yunfei with jealousy in their eyes. Even if Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to continue being a disciple, being one for three months was still a wondrous fortune.


    As for the group of disciples on the other side, everyone displayed the same exact face, ¡°Impossible!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was managing to keep calm on his face, his heart was in a chaotic state of being. Confusion, elation, surprise¡­ all sorts of emotions ran amuck in his head without a chance for him to calm down. Silently, he bowed to Kou Changkong and respectfully said, ¡°This student thanks the headmaster for granting such an opportunity. I will work with all my might to not disappoint the headmaster!!¡±


    Smiling and nodding, Kou Changkong replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to overlook such a capable soul cultivator. Whether or not you¡¯ll be able to grab the chance to succeed, that¡¯ll depend on your own efforts¡­Well, return with your seniors and listen to their instructions for now.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Soon enough, all of the students were led away by Song Lin and the others, leaving behind only Kou Changkong and the three elders alone in the hall¡­


    ¡°Senior, is this Bai Yunfei really that worth it?¡± After a while, the second elder Huangfu Nan broke the silence to ask the question on his mind.


    ¡°Whether he¡¯s worth it or not will be known in three months time.¡± Came the nonchalant answer.


    ¡°Is it because of his friendship with Hong Yin and the fact that there¡¯s a relationship between he and Ge Yiyun of the Fate School?¡± Huangfu Nan asked. ¡°The encounters he had in the Azure Cloud Province are startling enough, but his rise in power is even moreso. If he started to train his soul since he was a kid, he wouldn¡¯t have been in such a state for all those years, but he hadn¡¯t become a soul cultivator until recently, which made his abrupt strength all the more shocking¡­ But, if Ge Yiyun was involved, I wouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s impossible either¡­¡±


    ¡°This Bai Yunfei isn¡¯t a bad child in my opinion.¡± Cang Yu spoke from the side. ¡°I¡¯ve asked Rui¡¯er what happened a few days ago and learned some things. That Bai Yunfei is an upright young man that knows when to be polite. I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s any need to be suspicious of him¡­¡±


    Adamant in his suspicions, Huangfu Nan continued, ¡°Due to time constraints, we weren¡¯t able to investigate what happened to him after he left the Azure Cloud Province. Why don¡¯t we¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already had them stop investigating Bai Yunfei.¡± The normally silent Xiao Binzi suddenly cut in. ¡°Yesternight I received some information from the Azure Cloud Province. We¡¯ve confirmed that there¡¯s a definite relation between the two, so I¡¯ve decided it wasn¡¯t necessary to investigate anymore.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Why stop there?¡± Huangfu Nan asked, ¡°It¡¯s rumored that Ge Yiyun has been traveling the continent these days, in search of something. I¡¯ve heard many different youngsters of promising potential were helped by Ge Yiyun. Perhaps this Bai Yunfei is¡­¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what happenstances benefited Bai Yunfei. His talent as a soul cultivator can¡¯t be overlooked. When Fei Nian fought with Bai Yunfei, he was unable to cause a considerable amount of damage even though he used his ¡®Unlimited Blade Box¡¯ and he doesn¡¯t lack fighting experience. Fei Nian was injured almost effortlessly by Bai Yunfei as well. This all but points to saying Bai Yunfei is a very strong one¡­ A person like this should be cultivated carefully. In the future, he will be a great deal of help to our school. Give him the chance to be a disciple. I very much wish to see just what determination and potential he will have.¡± Kou Changkong replied.


    ¡°Then how about¡­¡± The first elder hummed, ¡°How about we have him and Ye Zhiqiu go over there tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow?¡± Huangfu Nan was taken back, ¡°Isn¡¯t that rushing things? Let them get acquainted with things first at least¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. For the two of them, a situation like this will be the best way to bring out the best of their abilities and luck.¡± The elder shook his head, ¡°That amount of soulforce he displayed during the examinations could¡¯ve set a deviation in the scales. For a genius like him, even a deviation as small as a hair is wide in judgement, and would be an unwise thing to do¡­¡±


    ¡°That place is where the true examination will be!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei, Tian Yuhang, and the other forty students were led back to the Western Point by Song Lin while he and the other seniors continued to explain the inner details of the school.


    As far as lodgings were concerned, the outer school presided halfway up the mountain and the inner school was closer to the top. Both disciples and students of the inner school shared the same residence. The general lessons on the art of crafting were given to the seniors Song Lin, Li Tiechui, Lian Lingmin, and the others to oversee while the headmaster or elders would come every so often to give a lesson when they wished. Every week there¡¯d be a lesson only the inner school could attend, but every month there¡¯d be a lesson for all the students.


    The outer school would be given the chance to learn the fundamentals in the art of crafting, but they were also responsible for the day-to-day tasks for the entire school.


    It had been mentioned before that should a student of the outer school be stronger than an inner school student or if an outer school student showed enough promise, they could join the inner school if they passed a trial. In the history of the Crafting School, there had been plenty of students from the outer school who had been promoted to the inner school rather than only a few.


    Bai Yunfei had been lost in thought the entire time on the path so even though his seniors were explaining things in clear detail, he missed out a majority of the explanation. His mind was still in a fuzz, and the excitement of becoming a disciples was not yet lost on him. The only thing that concerned him now was the ¡®test¡¯¡­


    As soon as they returned to the Western Point, Bai Yunfei and the other students returned to their rooms on the left side of a courtyard.


    On the morning of the second day, Bai Yunfei was finally back to normal. Prepared for whatever situation the test might be, he was then suddenly greeted by Song Lin.


    ¡°Junior Bai, the master has called for you to come to the Northern Point right away¡­¡±

 Chapter 198: The Welcoming Gift of Becoming a Disciple! Second

    Chapter 198: The Welcoming Gift of Becoming a Disciple! (Second)


    ¡°Senior, can you tell me just why we¡¯ll be going to the Northern Point this time?¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but ask Song Lin as the two walked over to their destination.


    But Song Lin only smiled in response, ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so worried. It¡¯s for something good¡­¡±


    Segueing into a different explanation, he said, ¡°You¡¯ve already become the disciple of the headmaster, so you should have the things a disciple should be entitled to. You¡¯ll be getting an even greater gift when we reach the Northern Point.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei started, ¡°What do you mean by that, senior?¡±


    ¡°Ah, well. Junior Bai, how much do you know about soul armaments?¡± Ignoring the previous question, Song Lin immediately asked a question of his own.


    ¡°Soul armaments? Well¡­ what about them, senior?¡±


    ¡°Do you know what determines the strength of a soul armament?¡±


    A blank face greeted Song Lin¡¯s question, prompting the senior to answer it himself.


    ¡°Well¡­ soul armaments have several aspects, such as the tracing and the vein lines¡­ you will come to understand that each soul armament has its own special circumstances on the inside as well as the outside. When using or even looking at a soul armament, you have to transmit your soulforce into it. You can¡¯t just let your soulforce leak into it, and neither can you let it come in waves. Your soulforce must come in a steady flow without any fluctuations and it must be efficient while bringing out the most of the soul armament¡¯s strength. The stronger the soul armament, the more these things must be focused on¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really get it, but he nodded anyways.


    Throwing up his shoulders to laugh helplessly, Song Lin continued, ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain it in a few words. I can¡¯t tell you much right now anyways. Long story short, you have to follow the shape the soul armament is in. Sense the difference in soulforce, and use them in battle to get a better understanding of how strong a soul armament is¡­¡±


    ¡°I think I got it. Thank you for advising me, senior.¡± Bai Yunfei finally replied after a long period of silence.


    Song Lin nodded, ¡°As long as you understand. Now, let¡¯s hurry on over there.¡±


    Song Lin hadn¡¯t even finished speaking when his feet began to pick up in speed. As they traveled, Bai Yunfei remained behind him with sparkling eyes¡ªhe had already come to a sort of conclusion with himself.


    ¡°The strength of a soul armament? That must mean the attack and defense of a soul armament¡­ In that case, I¡¯m willing to bet there¡¯s no one that¡¯ll know better than me¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Some time passed before Bai Yunfei realized the destination they were heading to was the very same mountain they went to for the second examination!


    Seeing how Song Lin didn¡¯t even pause before entering the cave, Bai Yunfei ventured out a guess, ¡°Senior¡­¡±


    Song Lin stopped briefly to turn his head back at Bai Yunfei. He was surprised on the reason why, but then the answer hit him just as fast. Smiling, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t feel worried; follow me in. The cave will feel different than before.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei still didn¡¯t really understand, but he followed him in anyways.


    Not much time went by before Bai Yunfei came to the startling realization that the cave was no longer exuding that same mysterious pressure like last time!!


    ¡°Wha¡ªwhat¡¯s going on!?¡± Bai Yunfei was dumbstruck. Thinking silently to himself, he said, ¡°Could¡­ could the power in this cave be controlled and banished so easily?¡±


    Turning a corner, Bai Yunfei came to a realization that the countless troves of soul armaments were gone now, leaving behind only empty platforms where they used to be. By the time they turned the corner to the six kilometer mark, the platforms themselves were gone. As Song Lin said before, the mysterious power that had been present for the test measuring aptitude in ¡®crafting¡¯ was completely gone without a trace¡­


    About seven kilometers in, Bai Yunfei finally came to see a dead end in the cave itself¡ª


    ¡ªa few meters away, a stone gate, ten meters tall and five meters wide, barred the rest of the way.


    Plenty of carved out rooms adorned the two sides of the cave for countless of meters. Each of the doors were closed so that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to see the interior of these rooms.


    ¡°Junior Bai, please follow me.¡± Song Lin called out to Bai Yunfei when he realized that he was too preoccupied with looking around the place. Walking to the end of the hall, he turned to the room to the right of the giant gates.


    When he entered the room, Bai Yunfei was startled to see five members already inside: the headmaster Kou Changkong, the first elder Xiao Binzi, and the second elder Huangfu Nan all sat by a circular stone table and smiled at the two of them when they entered the room. Li Tiechui and Ye Zhiqiu were both standing respectfully off to the side.


    Hurriedly bowing to greet the three, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°This student Bai Yunfei pays his respects to the master, first elder, and second elder!¡±


    ¡°Ah, Yunfei. Are you growing accustomed to the Western Point yet?¡± Kou Changkong wasn¡¯t nearly as dignified as he was during the welcoming speech back then. Right now, he looked more like a friendly old man as he treated Bai Yunfei with a warm smile.


    ¡°Thank you master for your concern, your student has adjusted quite nicely to the school already¡­¡±


    ¡°Now that you¡¯re here, let¡¯s gets started!¡± Cutting to the chase, Xiao Binzi spoke first.


    Kou Changkong and Huangfu Nan both gave each other a glance at first, but then they nodded to each other, ¡°Very well, let us start then!¡± Kou Changkong agreed.


    It was an unfathomable mystery to Bai Yunfei what the headmaster wanted with him. Even when he turned to look to Ye Zhiqiu off to the side for help, Ye Zhiqiu looked as equally confused as he was.


    Rather than explaining the situation, the headmaster¡¯s expression grew serious. Even more dignified than before, he waved his right hand¡­


    Bai Yunfei could only see a flash of red light as if the headmaster was sprinkling some sort of sunlight from his hand, and in an instant, the light filled the entire room.


    However, the sight that befell Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s eyes was so stunning that it knocked them into a period of silence¡­


    As the red light scattered throughout the room, dozens and dozens of awe-inspiring soul armaments began to appear one after another! Floating in the air side by side, they began to circle around Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu in a fluid motion!


    ¡°The earlier examination to earn a soul armament was based on your own merits. You disciples today are worthy of owning a low-grade heaven-tier soul armament, so choose one!¡± The first elder¡¯s calm voice shook the two stunned males out of their stupor, but even then, his words were still more than capable of keeping them in silence for a moment longer.


    Heaven-tier¡­ heaven-tier soul armaments as welcoming gifts¡ªthis was the spirit of the Crafting School!


    Sparing each other a glance, Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu could both barely contain the emotions that swam through their eyes, but with time, they managed to take in a deep breath and quash the more rampant emotions in them. Soon they were impatiently moving to pick out the soul armament they wanted.


    It was now that Bai Yunfei realized just what Song Lin was getting at earlier. His words from before were to explain how to measure the strength of a soul armament.


    However¡ª


    Song Lin¡¯s concerns were for naught.


    For Bai Yunfei, seeing how strong a soul armament was was as easy as turning his hand over.


    With all of the glittering jewel-like soul armaments, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled with an equally bright light as they jumped from hatchet to sword to blade to dagger and then to even the defensive-type ones.


    Holding out his right hand, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand touched at a golden dagger. As if picking an apple, the golden dagger floated down to his hands for him to take hold.


    Equipment Grade: Low Legacy


    Attack: 2230


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints

 Chapter 199: Ardent Sun Glove, A Glove That Has Both Attack and Defense! Third

    Chapter 199: Ardent Sun Glove, A Glove That Has Both Attack and Defense! (Third)


    Slackening at the information that swam into his mind, the hand that was touching the dagger immediately relinquished it. Now untouched by Bai Yunfei, the dagger regained its ability to float and returned back into ¡®line.¡¯


    Just barely, Bai Yunfei could feel the slightest of elemental fire circling the area around them. Even the soul armaments had the same feeling. Casting an eye to the silent first elder on the right side of the room, Bai Yunfei thought to himself with some awe, ¡°Just what type of strength is required for a feat like this??¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Attack: 2537


    Upgrade Requirement: 150 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Attack: 2396


    Upgrade Requirement: 139 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Attack: 2865


    Upgrade Requirement: 185 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Nearly half an hour passed before Bai Yunfei was able to get a good look at nearly all the soul armaments there. By his side, Ye Zhiqiu looked as if he had already made up his mind.


    ¡°All of them are low-grade Regalia. That means they¡¯re the same as low-grade heaven-tier equipment¡­ the strongest one is at 2865 attack too; that means the threshold to a low-grade Regalia has to be between two thousand and three thousand in either attack or defense¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s head nodded with that conclusion, he wasn¡¯t in much of a rush to select a soul armament; now was the time to find out the most impertinent information for the sake of his Upgrade Technique.


    ¡°Well, which one should I take? A weapon or armor?¡± Bai Yunfei looked up once more at the floating pieces of soul armament with indecision. There were a few soul armaments that he really liked out of the ones here, but he wasn¡¯t very determined to make a choice yet.


    This was the most troublesome part¡ªwhat decision should he make?


    In the middle of his wavering indecisiveness, something out of the corner of his right eye suddenly sparked his attention and curiosity.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Turning about, Bai Yunfei walked two steps closer and stretched out his right hand to grab the floating soul armament in front of him.


    It was a single black and purple colored glove for the right hand.


    The material was supple and light, weighing nothing at the touch. The glove itself exposed half of the fingers so that the sense of touch could still be had. On the back of the glove was a red symbol depicting the burning sun.


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Attack: 2236


    Defense: 2580


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    The expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face instantly became rigid. In contrast, his mind was in a state of chaos as he tried to ensure that nothing showed on his face.


    ¡°Wa¡ªwha? This¡­ this equipment has both attack and defense!!¡±


    With such a huge discovery like this, how could Bai Yunfei not be surprised!?


    Up until now, Bai Yunfei had never seen a piece of equipment like this. All of them were either attack only or defense only. An equipment with both of them was a completely unprecedented thing!


    Just because a piece of equipment displayed only attack didn¡¯t mean that it had no defense. A giant sword could be used for defense if, for example, a throwing knife was thrown at it. The same case applied for defensive equipment. A shield was purely meant to be a defense item, but it could still be smashed against a person as a means of attack.


    The Upgrade Technique would only show the ¡®main¡¯ attribute of the item.


    Weapons would display a stat for attack, and armor would display a stat for defense.


    Today, however, today was a day where Bai Yunfei was shown a single glove with both attack and defense! This meant that in the eyes of the Upgrade Technique, attack and defense for gloves were equally important!!


    If another set of gloves were to be compared, the Upgrade Technique would only show an attribute for defense. The fact that this purple and black glove indicated attack meant that there was some sort of special case where it could unleash an attack worthy of a Regalia!


    Hardly any time was left to hesitate before Bai Yunfei made his decision.


    He wanted them!


    Now that he made up his mind, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t bothered to look at the rest of the equipment. Exhaling comfortably, Bai Yunfei now had a look of happiness in his eyes.


    Touching the insignia stitched on the gloves Bai Yunfei decided to come up with a name for it¡ªthe ¡®Ardent Sun Glove¡¯!


    Author Note: Please consult Kyo Kusanagi¡¯s gloves from King of Fighters for reference.


    When he turned around, Bai Yunfei could see Ye Zhiqiu currently staring at a meter long sword with some hesitation.


    ¡°Zhiqiu, how goes it?¡± Bai Yunfei whispered to him as he approached.


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure which of the two swords I should pick¡­¡± Ye Zhiqiu replied with a shrug.


    Looking closely, Bai Yunfei saw another sword of similar make beside the first. The first sword was glowing with a violet light, and the other sword was glowing with an azure light. Aside from the glows, neither sword looked weaker than the other. Even with soulsense, a distinction couldn¡¯t be made.


    However, Bai Yunfei could tell at a glance that the sword on the left had an attack of 2567 while the sword on the right had an attack of 2786.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t find a difference, then why not choose one at random¡­¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, but when he suggested Ye Zhiqiu ¡®choose one at random,¡¯ his eyes were looking straight at the sword on the right.


    At first, Ye Zhiqiu didn¡¯t quite understand what Bai Yunfei was getting at, but when it hit, he smiled and nodded his head, ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll choose this one!¡±


    His hand stretched forward to grab the azure sword on the right.


    Together, Ye Zhiqiu and Bai Yunfei returned back to where Kou Changkong and the other elders were.


    The selection of soul armaments had puzzled the three men, even the first elder gave a barely noticeable nod of his head.


    He was clearly pleased with what the two chose.


    With a shake of his hand, the selection of soul armaments that were still floating were recalled back to his sleeved right hand. Whenever a soul armament grew within a meter radius from his hand, they immediately vanished into thin air.


    Just barely, Bai Yunfei could see the twinkling glow of a space ring; it must be the personal space ring worn by the first elder.


    No sooner did the soul armaments disappear then the entire stone room returned back to its normal light. The red glow that was once abundant in the room was now gone without a trace.


    ¡°Not bad.¡± Kou Changkong nodded his head in satisfaction. Smiling at the two happy students, he said, ¡°In our Crafting School, whenever a student reaches the inner school and becomes a Soul Sprite, they are given the opportunity to forge a personalized soul armament. You two, however, are already Soul Sprites, so this opportunity is lost¡­¡±


    Like Ye Zhiqiu, Bai Yunfei felt crestfallen by the news, but then a sudden thought hit him¡ªno wonder everyone tried to join the Crafting School as a late-stage Soul Warrior; they knew about this opportunity beforehand.


    He had once heard Hong Yin say before that the Flame-tipped Spear and the Flameblade Bracer were already similar enough to being his own ¡®personalized soul armament.¡¯ Thus, Bai Yunfei had been afraid to take out either of the items when he arrived here.


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel disappointed. As disciples, there is another opportunity given so that even you two will be able to make a personalized soul armament!!¡± Kou Changkong spoke aloud, stunning the two students once more.


    Hong Yin had said that the personalized soul armaments of the Crafting School were forged from the gathering of the essence fireseed when one reached the Soul Sprite stage. By borrowing the amalgamation of pure elemental fire and soul, a soul armament could be refined and combined with the soul to create a connection between the two.


    And thus, a personalized soul armament was born.


    Since both he and Ye Zhiqiu were already Soul Sprites, was there still a chance to forge a personalized soul armament?

 Chapter 200: Mysterious Space

    Chapter 200: Mysterious Space


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for confusion, you¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡± Huangfu Nan explained when he saw the looks of confusion on their faces.


    The first elder nodded his head as well, ¡°Let them go in then.¡±


    ¡°Very well, in they shall go!¡± Kou Changkong stood up to face the two, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Exiting the stone room, the group walked to the end of the cave where the giant stone gate was situated. Would they be going past this door?


    Arriving at a door to the right of the gate, Kou Changkong held his right hand up, revealing a crimson tablet. It was about the size of his palm and was circular in shape with flame-like curves. It was almost life-like in how the curves were shaped, and from the looks of it, the tablet could almost be mistaken for a burning-red miniature sun.


    Kou Changkong pressed the tablet against the right door, and to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise, there was an indentation for the tablet to slide in perfectly.


    Clearly, this tablet acted as a type of ¡®key¡¯ to this gate.


    Upon the tablet being entered into the indentation, not a single sound followed after. Focusing for a moment, Kou Changkong took his hand just slightly away from the door.


    Just faintly, Bai Yunfei could see a strand of elemental fire pulsate and move from Kou Changkong¡¯s right palm to the tablet inserted in the door. In an instant, the tablet lit up with a bang.


    At a more detailed glance, the shape of the flames was exactly matched the curves on the tablet!


    Once more pressing against the ¡®key¡¯, Kou Changkong¡¯s fire hands made contact with the tablet. The flames immediately separated themselves from the tablet and headed into the door.


    Now with his right hand pressed against the stone tablet, he slowly rotated it with a bit of his soulforce flowing into it. Then, he pulled it out while still rotating it.


    To his amazement, when Bai Yunfei looked at Kou Changkong, he could feel over a hundred pulses of his soulforce come leaking out from his body within seconds!


    The red light from Kou Changkong¡¯s palm began to spread out to create a series of ¡®cracks¡¯ on the gates. Starting from the right, the red lines made their way over to the left door with increasing speed and intensity. From far away, the door looked as if it was completely lit up with the red light spreading through it. With all of the elemental fire being dispersed here, even Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but take several steps from the intense ¡®heat.


    For someone to be able to release such an intense sensation like this so another would feel heat, it was only a testament to how adept they were in the elemental fire¡­.


    ¡°Grmmmm¡­.¡±


    A deep echo resonated throughout the cave as the gigantic doors in front of them began to open up to reveal a crevice for the group to walk into. The entire interior behind the doors were filled with a resplendent red light that made the entire area beyond it very blurry.


    Waving his hand to Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu, the first elder spoke, ¡°Go in!¡±


    Then he said no more.


    Kou Changkong looked as if he was dedicating his entire will to operating the movement of the doors, and Huangfu Nan and Song Lin both stood behind the first elder without a word either.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was confused; ¡°I have to go in there? No explanations? No nothing? Shouldn¡¯t you be explaining anything we need to know?!¡±


    They said we¡¯d have a chance to forge a soulbound armament, but couldn¡¯t you at least explain a little more about it¡­.¡±


    ¡°Well?!¡± The first elder spoke again as if demanding an explanation for their hesitance.


    Ye Zhiqiu gave Bai Yunfei a look before nodding his head to go in first. As soon as he walked past the gates, the hazy red light engulfed his entire figure.


    Bai Yunfei looked to Song Lin, but when the male only gave him an encouraging look, Bai Yunfei knew that he¡¯d gain no more information from anyone else. This was most likely some sort of ¡®test¡¯. He was displeased that the elders were wanting him to go into this place practically blind, but that was all he could really do right now.


    Stepping into the crevice beyond the gates, Bai Yunfei came to realize that when he was only just about to step into the red light; there was nothing more to say beyond that. He would be without visibility here.


    Pausing briefly for a mere second at that realization, Bai Yunfei had no other choice. Gritting his teeth, he dashed into the red fog like an arrow let loose from a bow.


    ¡­¡­


    No sooner did Bai Yunfei step across the gates and get himself acquainted with his surroundings when a feeling of dread washed over his body!


    With his hairs jettisoning upright from the sensation, Bai Yunfei immediately brought out his Fire-tipped Spear. Without hesitation, he swung it to his right, only to feel nothing but air.


    Withdrawing his spear, Bai Yunfei began to carefully study his surroundings for anything that moved.


    But the peculiar thing about this situation was that this feeling of danger had only been for a brief instance. It had been so quick that Bai Yunfei nearly doubted that it had actually happened. But he couldn¡¯t afford to be careless either. Circulating his soulforce so that it would cover the area around him, Bai Yunfei began to inspect the area.


    Within the crimson space, not even the stone floors and walls could be seen due to the hue. A red fog pervaded the entire area so much that even the five meters radius around Bai Yunfei was a blurry haze. Bai Yunfei felt as if he had been walked into a furnace. Even his skin felt hot to the touch, and just slightly, Bai Yunfei could feel that this ¡®red fog¡¯ was essentially condensed elemental fire. With how condensed it was, Bai Yunfei never would¡¯ve imagined that such an extent was possible.


    ¡°Zhiqiu¡­.Zhiqiu!!¡±


    With several seconds going by without a single thing to be felt, Bai Yunfei suddenly thought about Ye Zhiqiu who came into the cave before him.


    But his shout went unheard.


    Even with his soulsense being scattered to a few ten meters ahead, Bai Yunfei¡¯s search was fruitless.


    ¡°How in the¡­.he walked through the gates just a few steps before I did!¡±


    Just as he prepared himself to extend his soulforce even farther away, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face suddenly registered a look of shock before he swung himself to the right without hesitation.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    There was a faint sound followed by a dart of fire three inches long and one finger in width come flying through the mist and towards him.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡±


    Even as he whirled around towards the source, Bai Yunfei could feel absolutely no trace of his ¡®mysterious assailant¡¯.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!¡±


    In three short bursts of sound, three fist-sized fireballs suddenly materialized in the empty space in the cave and shredded through the air towards Bai Yunfei!


    Pupils contracting in surprise, Bai Yunfei nearly doubted his eyes at the sight in front of him. The three fireballs coming at him were completely filled with elemental fire!


    But time wasn¡¯t on his side, so no more thought could be put into this sight. Throwing himself to side, he managed to dodge the three fireballs just barely; leading the fireballs to crash into the ground and quake the earth.


    No sooner did he stabilize his footing when another three blades of fire came striking from his left side!


    ¡°Damnit! What is going on here?!¡± Bai Yunfei had nearly screamed out in frustration. Activating the Wave Treading Steps, he slid away to dodge the next three strikes.


    Again and again, another volley of attack would follow with each successful dodge!


    Fireballs, fire darts, fire blades¡­.all sorts of strange and bizarre forms of attacks came materializing out from the mysterious space around them before flying towards Bai Yunfei to strike him down.


    From the very start, Bai Yunfei had no other choice but to dodge again and again. As time went on, Bai Yunfei realized that the more concentration these attacks became. Each time he dodged a volley, the attacks would only come flying back at him from the opposite direction. With such a situation, there was no way for Bai Yunfei to fight back.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear swung to the side and clipped a fireball from the right, smashing it into pieces!


    Noticing the aftermath of his strike, Bai Yunfei let loose a relieved sigh to himself. Now that he knew what to do, Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear smashed apart all of the incoming attacks right afterwards.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    One by one, the fireballs, fire darts, and fire blades were smashed apart by the Fire-tipped Spear. Any of the remaining fireballs soon crumbled away into a flurry of sparks.


    Reaching a pause in the attacks, Bai Yunfei propped his spear onto the ground and inhaled a deep breath of air.


    His entire forehead was slick with sweat.


    ¡°Wh¨Cwhew¡­Is that it?¡± Bai Yunfei looked around himself. The red light was still around him, and even now, he was completely unable to feel a thing.


    The only difference now was that Bai Yunfei felt something was slightly off now. He just couldn¡¯t put his finger on it¡­.

 Chapter 201: Alarming Change!

    Chapter 201: Alarming Change!


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was pondering what problem was about to arise, fire began to stir and billow from all four directions before several fireballs materialized around him.


    But this time, they were stronger than before.


    ¡°No way, again?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei lamented out loud before bringing his spear back out¡­


    The waves of of fire materialized into even more waves of attacks that gave Bai Yunfei no time to rest yet again. Steadfast, Bai Yunfei continued to defend himself from this ¡®barrage¡¯ of attacks with a moody expression.


    Ten minutes later, the assault came to a stop.


    Taking out several spirit-boosting accessories, Bai Yunfei wore them on his body with curled lips and bared teeth, ¡°Fuck this shit! I know there¡¯s going to be more!!¡±


    As if obeying his call, another volley of fire-related strikes began to appear within a ten meter radius of him¡­


    And so the third volley began¡­.


    Then the fourth¡­.


    Then the fifth¡­.


    If not for the spirit-boosting accessories to accelerate his regeneration of soulforce or the explosive effect of the Fire-tipped Spear and the effect of the Flameblade Bracer clearing out the place, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve dreaded thinking about what would happen to him.


    He risked everything in his defense, and even though he had been caught in a dance of peril; not a single strike had hit him even once!


    At last, the ninth volley¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Once again, the effect from the Fire-tipped Spear activated again, blowing away the fireballs coming at him from the front.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Whirling around with the speed of lightning itself, a burst of fire exploded forth from his arm. Thanks to the three hundred soulpoints stockpiled in his ring, Bai Yunfei was able to summon a flame blade to strike out and vanquish yet another fire dart¡­.


    As the sparks of fire danced and flickered away, the space around them started to calm down.


    Both hands of Bai Yunfei grasped at his spear as he tried his best to recover his soulforce. At the same time, he was desperately praying to himself, ¡°Please¡­for the love of everything, how many more times will there be a repeat until you give up?! Agh¡­.I won¡¯t be able to take it anymore!


    Who in the world can tell me, just when will this end?!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    In the meanwhile, the doors to the ¡®outside¡¯ was just starting to open up.


    The immediate vicinity around the gates was swamped with a wave of red light as it shone through the crevice. It was mysterious in its image; the elements around the door seemed to have stabilized with Kou Changkong standing just a few ten meters away from the doors along with the elders. Each one of them were silent as they looked on to the front of the gates.


    Song Lin observed the crevice past the doors with narrowed eyebrows and an anxious look on his face. Then, movement from beyond the door caught his eye, prompting him to call out, ¡°It¡¯s junior Ye, he¡¯s come out!¡±


    Indeed. As a figure walked through the gates and into view, it was soon made clear that it was Ye Zhiqiu.


    He didn¡¯t look different at all from when he first entered, and Ye Zhiqiu didn¡¯t have the aura of someone that made a breakthrough either. But still, the look on his face looked extremely excited either way.


    ¡°Master, headmaster, elder, your student has succeeded in forging a soulbound armament!¡±


    His loud and happy voice resonated through the area, but he spoke still in a respectful voice to the elders there.


    Nodding his head in satisfaction, Huangfu Nan laughed out loud, ¡°Haha, very well! Very well indeed! It¡¯s no wonder you¡¯re a disciple of mine; you¡¯ve done well for your master!¡±


    It was a joyful laughter, but ironic. He had forgotten that since Ye Zhiqiu joined the inner school, he had not been taught anything¡­.


    Kou Changkong had a smile on his face as well, but he didn¡¯t bother to ask about what Ye Zhiqiu had acquired as his soulbound armament. Nodding towards him with a faint smile, he said, ¡°Very well. A success is a success. Wait on by the side for now; Yunfei hasn¡¯t returned yet.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Ye Zhiqiu replied respectfully before moving off to the side where Li Tiechui was. Even as he turned however, there was a look of concern on his face, ¡°Yunfei already went in? I thought I was alone in there; but¡­.if I came out after he went in, why didn¡¯t I see him in there?¡±


    ¡°Junior Ye, there¡¯s no need to think so hard about it. While you two went in at the same time, your destinations were completely different¡­.¡± Li Tiechui answered Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s thoughts as if he knew what Zhiqiu was thinking about.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Startled, Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s mind raced furiously to connect the dots. Hushed, he spoke to his senior, ¡°Then this must be¡­a spatial skill?!¡±


    All Li Tiechui did to respond was nod his head. But that nod was more than enough to leave Zhiqiu thunderstruck. Asking no more about it, he turned back to look at the door. ¡°So this is one of the rumored spatial skills! The Crafting School is far more unusual than I thought¡­.¡±


    Silence descended back down into the cave as everyone stared attentively at the gates to wait for Bai Yunfei to come walking out¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Within the crimson space.


    It was a mystery on whether or not Bai Yunfei¡¯s prayers worked or not, but for the past several minutes, absolutely nothing had happened to him. This lack of response had left Bai Yunfei more afraid than relaxed, however.


    Letting out a breath of air that had been stuck in his mouth for far too long, Bai Yunfei wiped away at the dried up sweat gathered on his forehead. Relieved, he said to himself, ¡°Finally it¡¯s all over! Anymore and I would¡¯ve been roast¨C¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Right as Bai Yunfei was recovering his soulforce, something out of the corner of his eyes triggered a reaction from him.


    Turning his head to look at the still crimson area; Bai Yunfei could just barely see a faint fluctuation start to occur in the middle of it. It wasn¡¯t the same pattern as any of the fire-related attack so far¡­.


    ¡°Crap!! It¡¯s another problem to deal with!!¡± Bai Yunfei shouted in surprise.


    At last did he realized something was off.


    The elemental fire that constituted the crimson mist around him started to churn in on itself, but¡­.


    It was only in that one small area alone!


    Upon closer observation, Bai Yunfei was able to see that the ¡®red mist¡¯ around him was clearly separating the outside zone from him. The red mist was made from elemental fire, but there was another power in play that wasn¡¯t combining with the elemental fire.


    With several more seconds spent in observation, the look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew progressively worse. At this current moment, all he could think about was when this energy would attack, or how it would come attack him!


    This situation was only happening after Bai Yunfei had smashed apart all of those fireballs and fire darts after all!


    Almost as if reacting to Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®discovery¡¯ of it, the source of this energy quickly started to billow over on itself like a giant vortex taking form!


    ¡°I knew it! I knew it wouldn¡¯t be this simple!!¡±


    His heart skipped a beat, and Bai Yunfei wanted nothing more but to cry out at this injustice; but doing so would be pointless. Snarling, he made use of his still-remaining portion of soulforce and prepared to leap out from the range of this ¡®vortex¡¯.


    ¡°Wha?!¡± Just a second after agreeing on a plan, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face revealed a stunned expression. Not even seconds passed before that before his face became dreadfully white and his eyes reflected terror never before seen!


    He¡­.he couldn¡¯t move!!


    He was still capable of clear thought and sensing that all of his limbs were still existing, but the fact remained that he couldn¡¯t move from his spot! Even as he tried as hard as he could to send a signal from his brain to lift his leg up, his entire body refused to budge and remained like a pole in the ground!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? What the hell is going on?!¡± Bai Yunfei roared to himself as he tried his best to regain control of his body. Despite his efforts, it was all futile. He had become a statue where even a finger wasn¡¯t capable of being moved!


    From there, all Bai Yunfei could do was stare in terror as his body was suddenly brought rising up into the air!


    Lifted up to a height of ten meters into the air, all Bai Yunfei could do was hold onto his Fire-tipped Spear. Despite not being able to move, his arms were forced into dropping to his side so that his body was perfectly aligned in a vertical line in the air.


    With eyes still looking at the swirling red vortex of energy, Bai Yunfei could see the vortex was spinning faster and faster while becoming smaller and more condensed. And then in the end, it became a two meter long crimson tornado that now situated Bai Yunfei at the center of it.


    ¡°Move! Move!! Moveeee!!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind screamed; his teeth were gritted as hard as they could, and both of his eyes looked as if they were about to cry tears of blood. All of the soulforce still left in his body was desperately circulating through it so that he¡¯d somehow find a way to break through his constraints.


    In this current moment of time, Bai Yunfei had completely forgotten about the fact that he was in the mysterious cave of the Crafting School and that he was currently being given the ¡®chance¡¯ all disciples were given.


    This predicament where Bai Yunfei was experiencing a loss of bodily control had left his mind completely devoid of everything else but fear.


    Thinking about anything else was useless.


    By now, the tornado that encapsulated Bai Yunfei had shrunk even more so that the tornado looked as if it was cut away from its main body to swirl around Bai Yunfei. This time, the pointed spout from where the tornado was originating from was now on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart!


    Before Bai Yunfei could even react, this condensed form of elemental fire drilled straight into his chest!


    ¡°Aaaahhhh!!!¡±


    A blood-curling scream erupted from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth as he felt every single inch of his body ¡®absorb¡¯ the elemental fire into it!


    At the same time, the rest of the vortex that was beneath his body had reverted back to a previous stage of the vortex to assimilate over his right hand.


    The abnormally large amount of elemental fire then proceeded to drill into the Fire-tipped Spear still clenched tightly in his right hand!


    There was a decent amount of energy that overflowed and spilled away from the spear and then into the Flameblade Bracer on his right arm as well!

 Chapter 202: A Double Upgrade of the Fire-tipped Spear

    Chapter 202: A Double Upgrade of the Fire-tipped Spear


    Pain.


    A pain that tore at the heart and shredded the flesh.


    His entire body was washed into a pain that burned like a sea of flames. Such was the pain that his heart felt like it was bathed into a pool of lava.


    He could feel like his entire body was being burned alive, and this ¡®sensation¡¯ continued to persist with time after time.


    By the time it was finished, half an hour had passed. Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire person was covered by the same crimson light, and his body was motionless. The last sound that came from him was the continual scream that started half an hour ago and ended ten minutes ago when his throat went hoarse.


    After having all that elemental fire forcefully pressed into his body, Bai Yunfei¡¯s consciousness was hovering at a halfway point.


    But just barely, he could feel another feeling that wasn¡¯t there before.


    His body felt as if the internal temperature had been raised to their limits after having been saturated by the elemental fire in him. But even after the elemental fire had gathered in his body, he felt his entire body start to ease up in temperature after a while!


    The endless amount of pain he was feeling was abating by a small amount, but it left Bai Yunfei with such comfort that he nearly groaned aloud. The raging torrent of heat inside him trickled away to become a small flow after having visited every single inch of his bones, veins, and acupoints¡­


    Baptized by the elemental fire, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was now returning back to its normal state. Even the pain that was so prominent before was starting to become more of a comfortable feeling rather than a painful one.


    All of the elemental fire that had arrived at the ¡®essence aperture¡¯ where the essence fireseed was located, the elemental fire began to compress more and more before coming into contact with it. Like ice and snow, the two combined together only to leave behind a barely seeable line of red that twisted and turned all around the essence fireseed. And amongst it all¨Ca condensed form of elemental fire essence!


    More and more, Bai Yunfei felt more comfortable with this feeling to the point of growing hazy in thought. This feeling had been similar to as if his entire soul was being bathed and refined¡­.


    In his dazed stupor, a sudden notification flashed in his mind, shocking Bai Yunfei back to awareness.


    But to only be surprised at what greeted him.


    Upgrade Successful


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    For a minute or so, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what else to do but to stare. His eyes were wide open from shock, but joy could be seen in them as well.


    ¡°I know this feeling! It¡¯s¡­.it¡¯s just like that one time¡­.It¡¯s exactly like that one time!!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t wrong. This feeling he had now was exactly the same from when he first condensed his essence fireseed!


    The power that had robbed Bai Yunfei of his mobility was gone as well, leaving Bai Yunfei to drop back down to the ground. Twisting over, Bai Yunfei managed to land back on his feet with a ¡®thud¡¯. Standing back up, Bai Yunfei ignored the change to his essence fireseed first to look impatiently at the Fire-tipped Spear in his hand with excitement.


    Equipment Grade: High Inheritance


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 1380


    Additional Attack: 1300


    +10 Additional Effect: When stabbing, there is a 20% chance to cause an explosion


    +12 Additional Effect: Create two Dopplegangers with strength equivalent to 50% of the caster¡¯s total strength at the time of casting for a duration of 3 seconds. Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Upgrade Requirement: 96 Soulpoints


    It worked!!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes stared hard at the Fire-tipped Spear while the rest of his body shook furiously. Joy lit up his eyes a few moments afterwards.


    Even after all that inhumane amount of pain he was subjected to; a result like this?


    Worth it!


    It was so absolutely worth it!!


    The pain had been so bad that Bai Yunfei had felt like he was going to die, but a return like this was simply far too generous!


    Quirking his eyebrows, Bai Yunfei realized with a start that something else had changed as well. Looking to his Flameblade Bracer on his left arm, Bai Yunfei waited for the notification screen to pop up.


    Equipment Grade: Low Inheritance


    Upgrade Requirement: +12


    Defense: 753


    Additional Defense: 706


    +10 Additional Effect: When blocking, there is a 9% chance of absorbing and converting the attack power into personal attack power, releasing it with your next attack. It can be held for 3 seconds. The amount of converted attack power cannot exceed the defensive strength of this item.


    +12 Additional Effect: By using soulpoints, a flaming winged dagger can be summoned. Soulpoints will be consumed for as long as it is active, and the strength of the dagger will be determined by the amount of soulpoints fed to it.


    Upgrade Requirement: 91 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei was crestfallen at this change; how could there just be an measly increase of two hundred defense?


    But then in the next second, Bai Yunfei began to curse at himself in disdain. His was becoming greedy again.


    Sucking in a deep breath, Bai Yunfei looked all around himself. The area was back to normal to when he first entered the cave with elemental fire all around the area. It was weaker in magnitude since he had absorbed a decent amount of it. With an even closer inspection, Bai Yunfei was able to confirm there wouldn¡¯t be any other unforeseen developments, allowing him to relax a bit and sit down on the ground.


    While he was filled with power in his body, his head was tormented by a ceaseless amount of fatigue. It was a blight of the spirit and soul.


    Not bothering to study the effects of the newly-improved Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei moved into a lotus position with the spear placed on top of his thighs. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate.


    Jubilantly, the elemental fire in his body continued to move along with his soulforce. Compared to before, the amount of elemental fire was far more abundant! Even the ¡®essence aperture¡¯ where his heart was, the essence fireseed there was bigger than what it was before!


    Bai Yunfei opened both eyes to reveal a light reminiscent to a dancing flame in there. It was a bright light that filled the entirety of his eye, but it disappeared as quickly as it came so that his eyes went back to normal. Only a smile was left on his face now.


    ¡°Just a little more¡­.I haven¡¯t broken through, but there¡¯s just one more wall to climb!¡± Bai Yunfei sighed with clenched fists.


    He was a late-stage Soul Sprite when he came to the Crafting School. The strangeness that happened to him today hadn¡¯t been enough to elevate his strength to a new level, but it gave him a new appreciation. A new level of comprehension of the elemental fire. He couldn¡¯t describe this appreciation in words, but it was born from the intense pain he experienced.


    After giving a routine inspection of his body, Bai Yunfei returned his gaze to the Fire-tipped Spear in his hand. Touching the weapon, Bai Yunfei had the distinct feeling that this weapon was an extension of his own body. He had this feeling once before, but it was an extremely faint feeling in comparison to today.


    Thinking back to what just happened to him in that mysterious moment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind began to race furiously. ¡°Now I get it. This was the ¡®chance¡¯ the headmaster was talking about! I can¡¯t even bother to try and guess what this place really is, and neither should I be able to even begin to understand this place, but there¡¯s one obvious thing about this place. This mysterious place is where people can go to condense their essence fireseed! In other words, this place allows for a person to undergo a situation similar to when a person becomes a Soul Sprite to condense their essence fireseed for a second time essentially!


    ¡°That first wave must¡¯ve been the test to see if my strength was up to par and if I could withstand their strongest blow. It¡¯s probably also a way to see just how much I can absorb¡­.I overdid it then! Because of the Upgrade Technique, the ¡®test¡¯ got even stronger than it should be and nearly pumped me too full of elemental fire¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head sadly.


    ¡°Even though the pain was a lot stronger than it should be, I got an equal amount of benefits from it too. Not only did the Fire-tipped Spear get a boost in tier, it went up in grade as well!


    ¡°If it were anyone else, their soul armament would¡¯ve most likely increased by a small amount or gain some extra attack. But for me with the Upgrade Technique¡­.it was forcibly upgraded! This is the second time already! I wonder when I¡¯ll finally be able to figure out the strangeness behind this¡­.or when I¡¯ll be able to get the chance to enter this state again¡­.


    ¡°The Flameblade Bracer gained another two hundred points in attack as well, but the other equipment I have didn¡¯t change at all. Does this mean¡­.everything depends on how much I ¡®used¡¯ an item or not?¡± Bai Yunfei thought.


    Another thought flashed through his mind, ¡°Is this why the headmaster didn¡¯t tell me anything about it? Was he afraid it¡¯d influence my choice? What if I was using some sort of ordinary weapon then?!¡±


    Thinking about the problem for a little longer, Bai Yunfei revealed a small smile on his face after a while. ¡°Impossible¡­¡± He shook his head, ¡°In a situation like that, any person would definitely use their strongest soul armament. With all those soul armaments given to us from that cave, only I¡¯d have the choice of ¡®having a choice¡¯.¡±


    Ye Zhiqiu had already chosen that favored sword of his to use, and even if one were to use an ordinary weapon, the chances of it surviving in such an area was surely not high.


    ¡°If I used the Ardent Sun Gloves to defend myself, it would¡¯ve most likely become a soulbound armament. But using the Fire-tipped Spear isn¡¯t that bad either¡­A win and a loss¡­as long the gains outweigh the cons, it¡¯s worth it!


    ¡°Nothing else should happen by now, so¡­.should I go back? I don¡¯t even know just how long I¡¯ve been here¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought as he stored his spear away and prepared to leave.


    At some point when he was standing up, a sudden thought ran through his head. Sitting back down, his eyes glowed brightly with the light of an idea in them.


    ¡°This is a hard chance to come by. Since I¡¯m here, I shouldn¡¯t waste it¡­.It¡¯s a little extreme, but this should save me some time if I can gain the favor of the headmaster. I might as well try it out!¡±


    With a plan in mind, Bai Yunfei¡¯s smile grew even wider as he waved his hand to retrieve the Ardent Sun Gloves.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±

 Chapter 203: Soul Compatibility

    Chapter 203: Soul Compatibility


    Within the cave, there was nothing noticeable being changed from the other side of the gates. Kou Changkong and the other elders were left with nothing but confusion as they waited for Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Three hours have passed already, why has Bai Yunfei not returned yet? Has something happened to him inside?¡± Huangfu Nan couldn¡¯t help but ask as he stared at the gate.


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t have. You should know as well that there is no real danger in that space¡­.¡± Kou Changkong shook his head to reject Huangfu Nan¡¯s response. Though, he too was curious as well, ¡°But still, it has been far too long. There is only a ¡®test¡¯ and ¡®refining¡¯ period in there, nothing more. There shouldn¡¯t be anything else to be done. Perhaps he has some reason for staying in there?¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be for greed. Does he think he could stay in there for another chance to repeat this ¡®chance¡¯?¡± Huangfu Nan asked.


    Kou Changkong shook his head, ¡°We¡¯ll see. If he doesn¡¯t come out in half an hour, I¡¯ll shut the doors and forcibly recall him.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Ten minutes later.


    From beyond the gates, the sounds of footsteps could be heard. In the next few seconds, the calm-faced Bai Yunfei could be seen stepping on through.


    What everyone saw shocked them all. Bai Yunfei had made a drastic change in attire¨Che had a bracer on both arms, the right hand wore the Ardent Sun Gloves, and even the Fire-tipped Spear was clenched tightly in his hand rather than being stored away in his space ring.


    Walking up to Kou Changkong, Bai Yunfei bowed respectfully to him. ¡°Master, your student has done you well and forged my own soulbound armament!¡±


    Despite his curiosity on the reason why for Bai Yunfei¡¯s change in attire, Kou Changkong decided not to question it. Instead, he nodded his head. ¡°Yes, very well. My eye wasn¡¯t wrong to see that you weren¡¯t too far away from Zhiqiu in talent¡­.¡±


    Beckoning to Ye Zhiqiu, he then spoke, ¡°Zhiqiu, come forward.¡±


    Ye Zhiqiu took a position next to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side with a nod and a bow of the head to him.


    ¡°Say what you experienced in the cave and what you gained from it.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Ye Zhiqiu spoke in affirmation. Shaking his right hand, the azure colored blade he picked earlier appeared in it. An azure light flowed from the blade with a faint amount of elemental wind accompanying it. ¡°Your disciple fought off six waves before forging my own soulbound armament. It has increased to a mid-heaven tier!¡±


    With a push of his soulforce into the blade, the sword began to hum and vibrate with a faint ringing sound. The azure light around it intensified in intensity as it began to show off the might of a mid-heaven tier sword.


    One by one, the elders there had a look of surprise on their face. It was Huangfu Nan however who laughed first, ¡°Haha! Very good! Even Fei Nian was only able to last five rounds¡­but you lasted six, very good!¡±


    Kou Changkong nodded his head in satisfaction as well before turning his attention to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, what about you?¡±


    He hesitated to respond for a second before finally deciding to speak up out loud, ¡°Your disciple underwent nine waves and turned two soul armaments into soulbound armaments. The two soul armaments given to me upon entry to the Crafting School weren¡¯t reforged, but they increased in strength as well!¡±


    Without hesitation, Bai Yunfei pressed his soulforce into his equipment so that the two bracers, the Ardent Sun Gloves, and the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in its full glory to represent itself to the people in front of him.


    ¡°This¡­.¡±


    Once again, everyone was stunned, even the normally quiet first elder. In his stunned daze, his eyes looked to Bai Yunfei with shock.


    ¡°Low-heaven tier!¡± Kou Changkong gasped at the Fire-tipped spear in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand before his eyes flickered over to the Flameblade Bracer, ¡°High-earth tier¡­.two soulbound armaments!¡±


    The first elder glanced at the Ardent Sun Gloves and the Returner Bracer observantly, ¡°That bracer was a mid-earth tier one, and that glove was a low-heaven tier item that you recently got, but¡­.they¡¯re now high-earth tier and mid-heaven tier!¡±


    Aghast, Huangfu Nan could only voice his questions aloud to Bai Yunfei, ¡°How is this possible?¡±


    Whilst the three elders were staring at Bai Yunfei in shock, Song Lin and Li Tiechui were also staring at Bai Yunfei with a strange look. Neither of the two could hardly believe their eyes at what they were seeing, but the four soul armaments in front of them were undeniable proof in saying what they saw was true¡­


    ¡­¡­


    This was the decision Bai Yunfei made!


    He worried in the past that he¡¯d not be able to explain the mystery behind the Flameblade Bracer and the Fire-tipped Spear after making it to the Crafting School. The students wouldn¡¯t be able to notice, but should an elder take note of him using it, there¡¯d be no hiding of it. For the sake of security, Bai Yunfei had sealed the two away in his space ring beforehand.


    But when this ¡®chance¡¯ came, Bai Yunfei decided to seize the chance without any underhanded tricks! The boost the Flameblade Bracer gained wasn¡¯t as strong as the ¡®connection¡¯ the Fire-tipped Spear gained with him, but it was still a lot stronger than what it was before. And so with this ¡®chance¡¯¡­.Bai Yunfei could upgrade the Ardent Sun Gloves and the Returner Bracer while pointing the cause at it!


    He didn¡¯t know how ridiculous this excuse might be, but it was necessary to do for the future. He couldn¡¯t exactly hide the two item¡¯s new strength always. If he could use today¡¯s events as his scapegoat, it¡¯d save him a lot of trouble.


    Judging by the expressions of the three, their reactions were still within the acceptable range of belief. And so, Bai Yunfei let out an inward sigh of relief¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Such a golden opportunity, and you¡¯ve missed it! You idiot! With such a strong amount of power to fuel so many soul armaments, why didn¡¯t you focus on one single one!¡± Unexpectedly, the next thing to come out of Huangfu Nan¡¯s mouth wasn¡¯t a compliment like Bai Yunfei thought, but a rebuke.


    He had a grieving expression on his face before shaking his head to lament, ¡°Such avarice, avarice indeed! Why did you choose to reforge four soul armaments? If you were to focus on one alone, who knows just how much stronger it would¡¯ve gotten with his soul compatibility! Senior, you¡¯re to blame here too! I told you we should explain things to the students, but you just had to make things even more complicated than it should be. Why let them try to understand it by themselves, look at this! Yunfei has lost out on this golden opportunity now!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­..¡± Slightly distracted, Bai Yunfei could just barely understand that he was being blamed for using up all that power on multiple soul armaments. But¡­..what was this ¡®soul compatibility¡¯?


    Snapping back to reality thanks to Huangfu Nan¡¯s words, Kou Changkong¡¯s face was slightly abashed. He coughed once, ¡°It was a lack of consideration on my part, I didn¡¯t think that¡­.¡±


    It never occurred to him that Bai Yunfei would have this much strength, but the thought was moot now that it passed. Thinking for a moment about what to do, he said, ¡°But then again, this works out as well. If Yunfei really did use all of that power into one soul armament, who knows what accident would¡¯ve happened? This isn¡¯t too bad of a case, as long as he focuses on strengthening his soul compatibility bit by bit, it¡¯ll work out¡­.¡±


    Still absolutely mystified by the topic regarding him, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but speak meekly, ¡°Master, what is this ¡®soul compatibility¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Soul compatibility denotes the degree of compatibility there is between you and the soul armament. When used for a long time, the soul armament starts to feel ¡®familiar¡¯ to the user. Usage becomes easier, and the soul compatibility reaches a very elementary level. We of the Crafting School have a greater understanding of soul armaments than any other due to our association with them. Our school has a secret that allows us to increase the soul compatibility between the soul armament and the user. When it reaches 50%, it becomes a soulbound armament. By using this secret when one reaches a Soul Sprite, one is able to create a soulbound armament. By nature, this is a complex situation to understand, but there is some special circumstances regarding your situation. There wasn¡¯t a need to explain to you about the soul compatibility before, so I didn¡¯t say too much about it before. But in any case, you¡¯ll come to understand it soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head. He understood what was being said just slightly, so he didn¡¯t ask any more.


    Kou Changkong gave Huangfu Nan a look and a nod of his head before taking out a red scroll from his space ring to give to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Take this back with you. I¡¯ll give you a month to learn it, and after a month, you¡¯ll be taught the art of crafting by me personally!¡±

 Chapter 204: Fourth Elder

    Chapter 204: Fourth Elder


    It was with shaking hands that Bai Yunfei accepted the red scroll from the man. He knew that he was considered a disciple right now, meaning that Kou Changkong would see him as an actual disciple to teach. Even moreso, even if he didn¡¯t pass the test in three months, Kou Changkong wouldn¡¯t take him lightly either.


    Huangfu Nan handed a scroll to Ye Zhiqiu to take. ¡°You as well. Focus on your training and you¡¯ll be taught by me again in the future!¡±


    Seeing that both persons had taken their scrolls, Kou Changkong turned to Song Lin and Li Tichui still waiting at the sides. ¡°Song Lin, Tiechui, take thee two back to their rooms and urge them to train. If they have any questions, you¡¯d do well to answer them to the best of your abilities!¡±


    ¡°Yes, master.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei and the three other disciples left first, leaving Kou Changkong and the other two elders standing in the cave.


    Fishing out the ¡®key¡¯ from the gates, Kou Changkong closed the giant gates shut. The red light was immediately cut away from the area, turning the lighting back to normal.


    Huangfu Nan himself was still staring at the direction in which Bai Yunfei left from with a faint smile. ¡°What a unique youngster that Bai is¡­.¡±


    Nodding in agreement, Kou Changkong spoke, ¡°Indeed. He has an unbelievable amount of potential. He wasn¡¯t able to reach four kilometers in the second examinations, but to withstand nine waves is a tremendous achievement. Junior Jiang Fan himself was able to withstand ten waves before creating the low-grade heaven-tier ¡®Redlotus Bloodsword¡¯. I wonder where he is now.


    ¡°Though, the fact that Bai Yunfei was able to withstand nine waves is truly inconceivable as well.¡±


    ¡°Those soulbound armaments of his were things he already had before. I presume that red spear of his was given to him by Ge Heyun of the Fate School?¡± Huangfu Nan conjectured. ¡°To try and improve four soul armaments at once and making two of them a soulbound armament, how daring. With the power being divided like so, I¡¯m surprised he managed to make even one soulbound armament. This young fellow¡­.should we say he¡¯s greedy, or should we say he¡¯s courageous?


    ¡°There is yet another topic that confuses me greatly. How in the world did he survive until the ninth wave? With his current strength, I believed he would¡¯ve lasted until the fifth wave at most.¡± Huangfu Nan questioned, ¡°Why don¡¯t we ask the¡­.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. It won¡¯t tell us such a thing so easily.¡± Finally breaking out from his silence, the first elder interrupted Huangfu Nan. ¡°It has been slumbering for several years now; even now, it¡¯s probably asleep. I believe it best if we don¡¯t disturb it.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I was only just talking to myself. Curiosity, that¡¯s all it is.¡± Huangfu Nan gave a sage nod of the head to the first elder. ¡°Its ¡®test¡¯ has always been far more accurate than the ¡®examination¡¯ we give. Does this mean to say that Yunfei¡¯s strength is on par with Song Lin?¡±


    Kou Changkong laughed in response, ¡°Whatever the case, we shall find out in a moment. I await whatever pleasant surprise Yunfei will give us from here on out¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Having bidding farewell to Ye Zhiqiu and Li Tiechui, Bai Yunfei followed Song Lin back to the Western Point.


    Song Lin continued to glance at Bai Yunfei with confusion every so often as they traveled. Even now, the startling sight he saw was fresh on his mind.


    Some time passed before Bai Yunfei was no longer able to keep his silence, ¡°Senior, with how much you¡¯re looking at me, the other students might misunderstand something¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Slightly embarrassed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s banter, Song Lin shook his head and smiled. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind too much, I was only just curious¡­.I never thought that you¡¯d be this strong. Perhaps there was a problem with the crafting examination that day. Or perhaps you were hiding your strength?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Bai Yunfei denied. ¡°I tried my best and still wasn¡¯t able to reach four kilometers. The events that happened today was nothing more but luck¡­.¡±


    Song Lin¡¯s lips quirked upwards as if he found the answer to be strange. ¡°Luck? Do you think that luck would be enough to get you to the ninth wave? Do you know what wave I was able to make it to?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­how many?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°Eight.¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei had no response to that.


    ¡°Haaa¡­.now you know this is so unexpected to me. That was the very first time I saw any of the three elders so surprised. You must realize that when the fourth elder made it to the tenth wave, he was considered a genius that the Crafting School had never seen in several hundred years. You were only one wave less than him.¡±


    Having his curiosity piqued by this topic, Bai Yunfei just had to ask, ¡°Fourth elder? I¡¯ve seen the first, second, and third elders before, but why haven¡¯t we seen the fourth elder yet? The Western Point is under his management and has even the disciples staying there, so why hasn¡¯t he taken on any disciples yet?¡±


    ¡°The fourth elder came quite late to the Crafting School. In fact, he and I came comparatively at the same time!¡± Song Lin answered. ¡°He had talent that I could never hope to catch up to however. When he was young, he was taken in by the previous master. By the age of forty, he was already a Soul Exalt, hence how he became an elder for the Crafting School. But because of the master¡¯s command, he went out to travel the continent and rarely comes home. Since he¡¯s always out, he can¡¯t possibly take in any disciples.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see¡­.then what might be the name of the fourth elder?¡±


    ¡°The fourth elder¡¯s name is Jiang Fan. He¡¯s the current heir to the house of Jiang of Stonegrove City in the Northern Cliff Province. When he joined the Crafting School, he had to pass on his inheritance to someone else in his household to focus on his training.¡±


    ¡°Jiang Fan!¡± Despite the mental cry of shock in his head, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face remained steadfast. So the one that had helped him way back in Stonegrove City had actually been the fourth elder of the Crafting School!


    ¡°There¡¯s trouble then if this is true! He must¡¯ve thought I was a student of the Crafting School and saved me. This means he must¡¯ve seen me use the Fire-tipped Spear and the Flameblade Bracer and thought them both to be soulbound armaments. I might be a student of the Crafting School now, but¡­.there¡¯s a difference in timing. If he finds out about this, how am I going to explain things?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind raced furiously.


    Right as one problem was solved, another one came up equally fast, what a pain!


    ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll think about a solution when I¡¯ve the time. Now if only the fourth elder were to come back every three to five years or something¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head as if to clear away the troublesome thoughts in his head.


    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind, junior?¡± Song Lin asked curiously when he saw Bai Yunfei shake his head.


    ¡°Eh? Oh, it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± Deflecting the question, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Senior, If I might ask, who is this previous ¡®master¡¯ you said earlier? Is that the master of master? Why haven¡¯t we seen them either?¡±


    ¡°The previous headmaster, elder Zi Jin, retreated into isolation a long while back and is no longer in charge of the school. For that reason, none has seem him. The first elder was one of the few ones students from the previous generation that didn¡¯t go into seclusion, so he holds the spot of the first elder so as to manage it while the grandmaster is away. Otherwise, he too would¡¯ve secluded himself as well. The entire Northern Point of the Crafting School is the area where all of the grandmasters retreat into.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei realized. In his mind, he thought, ¡°That has to be true. A grand school like the Crafting School can¡¯t possibly have only these few elders. The elders that remain here are in charge of overseeing the school then.¡± From what Song Lin said, there were multiple masters from the previous generation. This too must be one of the inside information that were common between all of the ten major schools on the continent.


    ¡°No wonder the Northern Point is a forbidden zone then! It¡¯s a gathering zone of ¡®monsters¡¯! I wonder just how strong these previous masters are?¡± Bai Yunfei thought.


    Another question popped up into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, ¡°Senior, what strength are the elders and master currently at?¡±


    ¡°Late-stage Soul King!¡± Song Lin spoke with pride. ¡°They are Soul Kings! The second and third elders might not be geniuses, but there are many late-stage Soul Exalts that can spend decades without a single inch of improvement! Many Soul Exalts can spend their entire lives without hope that they¡¯d ever reach the Soul King stage in fact. Master himself was sixty years old when he became a Soul King; I also heard that the entire empire had a gigantic commotion when he became one too¡­..


    ¡°It only took master twenty years to go from an early-stage Soul King to a late-stage Soul King, that feat alone is something many soul cultivators would be hard-pressed to replicate. But ever since he inherited the title of headmaster of the Crafting School, he rarely shows his strength, so not many know of his strength now¡­.


    ¡°The first elder is also a late-stage Soul King.¡±


    ¡°Are the second and third elders also the disciples of the previous headmaster?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. The very notion of ¡®Soul King¡¯ was lost on him, but he was still surprised nonetheless. He just had to learn even more about the details of the Crafting School.


    ¡°No, the two elders were students of another master from the same generation of the previous headmaster. The previous headmaster Zi Jin had only three disciples. The first is our current headmaster, and the fourth elder Jiang Fan is the third disciple.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Then who is the second disciple?¡± Confused by the lack of description of the second, Bai Yunfei asked for clarification.


    But the very mention of a ¡®second disciple¡¯ unexpectedly brought forth a vile look of hatred on Song Lin¡¯s face. ¡°Don¡¯t call him the second disciple! He is by no means worthy of such a title!¡± He spat out.

 Chapter 205: Secrets of Firebending

    Chapter 205: Secrets of Firebending


    The sudden transformation of Song Lin caused Bai Yunfei to start in surprise. Cautiously, he probed, ¡°Senior, have¡­have I said something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Realizing his loss of composure, Song Lin quickly apologized to him, ¡°My apologies. I got lost in the moment.¡±


    ¡°Senior, there¡¯s no need for you to apologize.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand once before carefully rewording his previous sentence, ¡°Senior. This second¡­.that person, what happened to him?¡±


    Song Lin¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together for a moment in vexation before he let out a sigh. ¡°That man is a taboo to the Crafting School. It¡¯s not important for you to know about him, but since you¡¯re a disciple of the school now, you¡¯ll learn about him eventually¡­.Junior, I have to warn you, you must under any circumstances never mention him. Especially when the elders are in earshot, understood?¡±


    The absolute severity on Song Lin¡¯s face and the steel in his voice was enough for Bai Yunfei to understand that he was asking a question he shouldn¡¯t be asking about.


    Nodding his head, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°I understand. Thank you for your warning, senior.¡±


    For the sake of eliminating the rigid atmosphere that was gathering around them now, Bai Yunfei attempted at trying to change the topic. ¡°Senior, I have another question to ask. When the Crafting School was accepting students that day, there was a young girl at the base of the mountain. She¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, are you talking about junior Rui?¡± Song Lin¡¯s face revealed a smile. ¡°Her name is Huangfu Rui. She¡¯s the seventeen year-old daughter of the second and third elder. Her nickname is Dai Dai and is considered to be the princess of our school. She has a pure heart and is quite the loving girl¡­.¡±


    ¡°Seventeen? I could¡¯ve sworn she wasn¡¯t any older than fifteen¡­.¡± Alarmed, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°How strong is she¡­?¡±


    ¡°You must have realized it that day. Haha, junior Rui is a middle-stage Soul Ancestor with talent that¡¯s almost as strong as the fourth elder himself. But her situation is rather unique. She might be a middle-stage Soul Ancestor, the reasons behind it is a little complicated¡­.You¡¯ll learn about it soon enough.¡±


    The roasted suckling pig immediately came to Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind as well. ¡°Ah, there was also that one pig called ¡®Rou Rou¡¯ or somet¡ª¡±


    A hand immediately flew up to interrupted Bai Yunfei from saying anything more. ¡°Junior, let me tell you right here. Do not call the pig that name right in front of it. Only junior Rui is allowed to call it that name. Even the master and the elders aren¡¯t allowed to do so! Don¡¯t think that it¡¯s some sort of pet for her, it¡¯s a rare fifth-tier soulbeast, the Red Magiboar! Even I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d be able to beat it!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.I see¡­.¡± This information had been a surprise to Bai Yunfei. He knew that ¡®Xiao Rou Rou¡¯ was an amazingly strong fifth-tier soulbeast, but he never thought that it¡¯d be that ¡®special¡¯. To have Song Lin talk about it so seriously, he knew that there was no room for jokes. ¡°Senior, I will take note of that.¡±


    ¡°Good. Then hurry on back and make sure you learn the scroll the master gave you. If you have anything you don¡¯t understand, feel free to ask me. Your fellow students can help you as well. They might be lower than you in ranking, but when it comes to the art of crafting, you aren¡¯t any higher than them either.¡±


    ¡°I understand, senior.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The two had returned to the Western Point by now. Bidding farewell to Song Lin with several parting words, Bai Yunfei returned to his own room¨Ca small room in the middle of the courtyard sequestered for the rest of the disciples to live in.


    Not even half a step into his own room, Bai Yunfei immediately began to make a diagnostics of his entire body to see if his body was in its most optimal state before then starting to summarize the days events and the ¡®profit¡¯ he gained.


    Looking at the Ardent Sun Glove on his right hand, a notification popped up in his head.


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Upgrade Requirement: +10


    Attack: 2236


    Additional Attack: 1060


    Defense: 2580


    Additional Defense: 1215


    +10 Additional Effect: A fireball can be summoned to shoot down an enemy with power no greater than 50% of the equipment¡¯s total attack.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    Thinking to himself, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°A fireball can be shot out¡­it¡¯s similar to the ¡®active trigger¡¯ of the Flame Winged Blade. Plus¡­this fireball is long ranged?¡±


    The Flame Winged Blade was limited to the area above his right arm, but the fireball that this Ardent Sun Glove could shoot out was a ¡®projectile¡¯. This meant to say it was a long-ranged attack. Thinking about it, this move felt similar to how the flame darts and fireballs acted like from in that cave.


    In other words, Bai Yunfei would be able to attack like that as well?


    The concept of materializing a fireball to be thrown wasn¡¯t all that hard. Even Bai Yunfei could do it if he wanted, but the effects would be severely weaker than ideal. If he wanted to make it stronger, it¡¯d require even more soulforce. But with the effect of the Ardent Sun Gloves, he¡¯d just need to use some soulforce and a little thought to summon a fireball with what¡­.an attack of 50% of the gloves?


    That was already more than 1500 points of attack!


    ¡°I wonder just how much soulforce is required to summon it? Too bad I can¡¯t test it out¡­.


    ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll try it out another time. There¡¯ll be time for that later, there¡¯s more important things to worry about right now¡­.¡±


    To what Bai Yunfei understood about this equipment right now, the most important thing to know was that if a large amount of soulforce was required to summon the fireball, it¡¯d mean the consumption would be undoubtedly big on himself. For sure it¡¯d be no smaller than what the maximum consumption would be for the Flame Winged Blade. The amount needed to summon a fireball whenever he wished would have to be determined first.


    Not bothering to take out the Fire-tipped Spear to study, Bai Yunfei decided to put aside his thoughts about the soul armaments first in favor for the red scroll Kou Changkong gave him.


    Focusinig, Bai Yunfei transmitted some soulforce into the scroll, and soon enough, several pieces of information began to float into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    Several moments later¡­.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes opened once more with an excited light to them. It was a light that shined oddly on his face.


    ¡°The Secret of Firebending¡­.This is the training method the students of the Crafting School learn to control fire¡­.how mysterious. I never thought that there¡¯d be such a complex way of being able to manipulate elemental fire. If I think about it now, the way how I ¡®controlled¡¯ fire before by gathering and condensing it was the same as a kid would play with mud¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei remarked to himself as he looked at the scroll in hand.


    ¡°There¡¯s several dozen acupoints one needs to train along with just as many techniques to manipulate fire. Some of the topics involve several difficult aspects of how to change how the soulforce moves as well¡­.


    ¡°And I¡¯ve only a month to learn this, how limiting that is!¡± Bai Yunfei sighed.


    ¡°If I became a Soul Ancestor, my understanding of the elemental fire would definitely be higher than what it is now. Training in this would be a lot easier for sure. Too bad I¡¯m not as advanced as I wanted to be¡­.¡±


    As it were, Bai Yunfei was a late-stage Soul Sprite. With the situation from earlier today, as long as he used the Upgrade Technique to use up his soulforce, he¡¯d definitely see an increase of his soulforce. This would mean that his breakthrough into becoming a Soul Ancestor would be easily done if his soulpoints were to reach the range that denoted what a Soul Ancestor should have.


    This was what Bai Yunfei thought at first. But now that reality had hit him¡­.things weren¡¯t as he initially thought!


    When he had that feeling of being on the ¡®verge¡¯ of breakthrough, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was approaching a numerical value of six thousand. This meant to say that a Soul Ancestor should have six thousand soulforce at the very least.


    But!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was now way past six thousand, and he was still a late-stage Soul Sprite!


    There was still a wall he hadn¡¯t yet climbed stacked in front of him. No matter how ¡®much¡¯ soulforce he had, he wasn¡¯t able to smash through this wall.


    For that, Bai Yunfei knew that it was a matter of ¡®quality¡¯ rather than quantity.


    The stages of a soul cultivator wasn¡¯t only just about the amount of soulforce, it was also about how much one understood. Or how much he understood about elemental fire to be precise.


    ¡°The Secret of Firebending talks only about the aspects on how to manipulate elemental fire. As long as I understand something from the teachings, I should be able to make a huge improvement on how much I understand the elemental fire! It¡¯s also the prelude on the art of crafting, so as long as I understand the basics, I should be able to learn the rest with ease. Let¡¯s get started then¡­.


    ¡°I¡¯ll focus on training! In the Crafting School, there shouldn¡¯t be any dangers since I¡¯m a disciple now. I can focus completely on training!


    ¡°If I have the chance, I shouldn¡¯t let it go so easily! In three months, I¡¯ll definitely become a true disciple!!¡±

 Chapter 206: Hidden Training For A Month

    Chapter 206: Hidden Training For A Month


    In a stone room about ten square meters in area, a giant flame was lit at the very center of the room. There was no wind blowing through this room, but the fire danced and flickered wildly left and right as if there was.


    Then all of a sudden, the fire began to dance animatedly and twist in on itself in a patterned swirl. Not even a moment later, the fire had transformed into a two meter tall tiger made completely out of fire!


    Absolutely life-like in its creation, the tiger let loose a ferocious roar that while brokered no sound, the stance it was in was still incredibly fearsome.


    With a blink of the eye, the ferocious tiger immediately disappeared in a blaze of fire before the fire reformed to become a giant bird!


    The bird then disappeared and transformed into a mighty ape that beated at its chest¡­.


    All sorts of beasts and birds materialized out from the flames, but not a single one was capable of sound when they formed.


    After several more transformations, the fire began to gather in on itself to form a crimson-red fireball about two meters in diameter. Slowly rotating as it levitated upwards, the fireball soon reached the top of the room. As soon as it touched the ceiling, a single spear came boring out from the sphere!


    As straight as it was long, the spear was clearly made up from the flames, but not a single flicker of the flame could be seen from the materialized weapon. For all intents and purposes, it looked no different than to a genuine spear.


    Following the same time when the spear appeared, another longsword appeared by its side.


    One after another, all sorts of weapons came pouring out from the fireball in rapid succession. Blades, axes, hookblades, and even hammers came raining down in a fan-shaped wave so that it were similar to a peacock fanning its tails, but these tails were instead weapons. Each one of these weapons being shaped so similarly to their actual counterparts with an equally intimidating air to them.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    With a resounding crash, a multitude of weapons separated itself from the ¡®main body¡¯ and were left to float in the air. As they detached themselves from the still rotating fireball, they became genuine weapons made from seemingly solid material.


    In the center of the fireball from which these weapons clearly left from, there was the hazy figure of a person!


    Sitting crossed-legged in this fireball, this person slowly stood up and extended his right hand outwards so that the fire around him contracted in size and was reabsorbed into his body!


    Dressed in a gray robe, the man had such long hair that it covered both of his eyes. The raging fire continued to stream back into the man¡¯s body without at all burning or even singing his clothes.


    Lifting his head, the man¡¯s black hair blew aside to reveal the brightly-lit eyes behind them. A faint smile adorned his face as he regarded the circle of floating weaponry rotating around him.


    This person was in fact Bai Yunfei!


    Closing his eyes after watching the weapons circle around him once, Bai Yunfei began to concentrate on something for a while before finally breathing in a deep breath of air and then out. By the time he opened up his eyes and extended his hand out, all of the weapons in front of him collapsed back into a splash of fire and spread throughout the area in a sea of fire.


    In the next second, Bai Yunfei appeared at the very heart of the swirling mass of elemental fire before reabsorbing it all into his body.


    With all the elemental fire absorbed into his body, the room was once again plunged into darkness. Silence reigned in the room for a while before another fireball the size of a washbasin materialized back into the room. Now that the room was lit up again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand rose up to touch the fireball. It floated over his palm for a while as he studied it before he let out a sigh.


    ¡°And now I have strength like when senior Ge Yiyun showed me. He could do this with a flip of his hand. I thought it was amazing at first, but even now I can do it just as easily¡­.¡± Sighing at the last bit, bai Yunfei began to mutter to himself, ¡°I never would¡¯ve thought that the Secrets of Firebending would be so easy to learn¡­.Is it because I was always in contact with fire-related soul armaments? Was the Fire-tipped Spear instrumental in helping me learn how to react to the elemental fire? Or does this mean to say that this training method wasn¡¯t even hard to learn to begin with?


    ¡°There¡¯s still three days before the first month is over and I¡¯ve already reached this far. I wonder if master would feel happy about this? I should spend the next three days perfecting this¡­.I wonder what the art of crafting will be like¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s right foot stepped towards the corner of the stone room where a stairwell was. This stairwell led straight to his bedroom right above.


    In every room in the courtyard, each disciple had a secret room given to them for the sake of training by themselves in privacy.


    Twenty-seven days had passed since the creation of his soulbound armaments. In just a few more days, Bai Yunfei would reach the one month mark of him being a disciple of the Crafting School.


    For the past twenty-seven days, Bai Yunfei spent most of his time training by himself in this secret cellar. For the sake of learning the Secrets of Firebending, Bai Yunfei closed himself off from the outside world completely almost. But every so often, he would leave his room to take a walk.


    Opening the doors, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was assaulted with the fresh air of nature. It had only just rained a while ago, so the courtyards were still wet and several of the wilting trees were dripping with raindrops still. The ground wasn¡¯t too muddy yet, and so the world felt as if it had underwent a cleansing to leave any spectator revitalized at the sight.


    It was still early in the morning, so Bai Yunfei planned on taking a brisk walk around the courtyard and look around the place to relax a bit.


    ¡°Ehhh? Senior Bai, you finally came out!¡±


    The moment when he walked out from his room, a pleasantly surprised voice made itself known to Bai Yunfei from his right. Turning to meet the source, Bai Yunfei could see a young boy in his teens run up to him with a smile on his face.


    Reciprocating the smile, Bai Yunfei nodded his head, ¡°Yes, I wanted to take a walk. Little Xian, what brings you out here?¡±


    The boy had short hair to accompany his shy face. He was named Si Kongxian and was a fellow student of the inner school of the Western Point. Since he was in the room next to Bai Yunfei, he was considered to be his neighbor and would often times help Bai Yunfei bring some food and drink. As a honest and straightforward person, Si Kongxian was always willing to help another out with a smile on his face.


    Pointing up to the living quarters in the area behind the mountain, Si Kongxian spoke, ¡°I was about to bring some materials for senior Chen to use for crafting.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I was planning to go there myself, let¡¯s go together.¡±


    Smiling, Si Kongxian nodded his head, ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go then. If we¡¯re late, senior Chen will get angry.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Trekking up the path to the mountains, Bai Yunfei and Si Kongxian watched as the birds flitted through and through the grass. With the fresh air that blew through the place, one would¡¯ve thought that it was spring time on the mountain despite it being in the winter.


    Along the way, he and Si Kongxian talked to one another with idle chatter on what had happened in the past month.


    Tian Yuhang was currently learning under Song Lin how to increase his soulforce so that he could become a Soul Sprite.


    Mo Xiaoxuan and Xi Yan were able to make friends with the rest of the inner school soon after they joined them. Since they were both at the late-stage Soul Warrior stage, they were both in a hurry to try and reach the Soul Sprite stage and forge their own soulbound armament.


    Zhong Xuhao and Liu Mang were both faring well in the outer school, but both were dead set on joining the inner school so they spent most of their time training themselves.


    Many a times they came to Bai Yunfei in search for advice, but because Bai Yunfei was constantly training behind closed doors, the three of them never met up.


    There wasn¡¯t much known about Ye Zhiqiu personally, but Bai Yunfei was sure that he too was focused completely on training.


    Time went by quickly with how the two chattered to themselves. Soon enough, they arrived at the end of the path. An expansive cliff wall greeted the two, with holes scattered throughout the cave as if someone took a giant stick and tabbed incessantly into the cliff.Every ten meters or so, another cave would pop up with a height of several meters.


    It was a strange area to behold, but it was where the students of the crafting school crafted soul armaments.


    The Secrets of Firebending was the foundational training method of the Crafting School. Learning how to manipulate elemental fire was something only a Soul Sprite could learn, so students below that stage could only focus on their training to hopefully become a Soul Sprite and learn the art of crafting. Sometimes, crafting soul armaments was a very loud task, and also ¡®unsafe¡¯, so creating soul armaments were forbidden from being done in the residential areas. When a student reached the Soul Sprite stage, they would be allocated a ¡®forge cave¡¯ for the sake of crafting soul armaments. They were nothing special and were essentially just regular caves. The only thing that might stand it out from any other place was the fact that these caves were extremely sturdy.


    The first time Bai Yunfei came to this cave, he had been stunned for a very long time. Never did he imagine that the Crafting School where so many countless precious soul armaments were made would be done in places that were so¡­.crude and simplistic.


    But still.


    With how the caves glowed fiery red with the elemental fire, the sight was exceedingly spectacular.


    ¡°Little Xian, did ¡®senior Chen¡¯ tell you which cave is his?¡± When they arrived at the ¡®forge caves¡¯, Bai Yunfei asked Si Kongxian for the next step.


    The caves of the lower layer were for students of the outer school, and the upper layer were for students of the inner school. The caves at the topmost level were rare and few, but they were for the disciples to use.


    Pointing at the cave to the top left side of the cave, Si Kongxian spoke, ¡°Over there! The fourth row sixth cave from the left; that¡¯s one of the caves for the inner school. Senior Chen is there crafting a soul armament. Senior Bai, can you wait for me for a second? I need to give senior Chen the materials he needs¡­.¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Not even before Si Kongxian finished speaking, a thunderous crack exploded from the caves and shook the earth. From the cave he was only just pointing at, a giant pillar of fire and smoke blew out from the cave. For ten meters, the pillar of fire persisted for several more seconds before gradually coming to a stop¡­.


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡±

 Chapter 207: A Challenge

    Chapter 207: A Challenge


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡±


    Both Bai Yunfei and Si Kongxian could only stare at the cave where the fuming fire had came out from.


    A single person soon came out from the cave. Leaping down several hundred meters to the ground, the person collapsed straight away after touching the ground.


    ¡°Damn, fa¨Ccough¨Cfailed again! Why are high-human tier soul armaments so hard to make?¡± His entire body was dark with ash as he tried to dust himself off in his anger. His clothes were singed in every area, and even parts of his hair had curled up from the heat. His face was as black as soot as if he was mining coal just now.


    But it looked as if this person was accustomed to such an experience. Taking out a bottle of water from his space ring, the man poured it over his entire body. Allowing it to wash over his head and face, he then used his soulforce to evaporate the water over his body.


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    Bai Yunfei had no words to say in such a situation like this. Instead, he quirked his lips and stayed quiet.


    ¡°Senior Chen, are you okay?¡± Si Kongxian was the first to react and rushed forward in concern.


    ¡°Blech!¡± Chen Huanghua spat out two globs of ashened spit from his mouth before turning to look furiously at Si Kongxian. Striding forward, he grabbed at Si Kongxian¡¯s collar and pulled him up so that the two were now eye-to-eye.


    ¡°Bastard! I told you to bring me some cooling powder earlier, not now!! It¡¯s because of you I screwed up!¡± Chen Huanghua shouted, furious that he had failed.


    ¡°Se¨Csenior Chen, this isn¡¯t my fault! I¡­.I didn¡¯t waste any time at all! You also said¡­.you said that you would need cooling powder for the next soul armament too¡­.¡± Si Kongxian stammered. He tried hard to break away from Chen Huanghua¡¯s grasp. But as a late-stage Soul Warrior, how could he fight against Chen Huanghua who was already a late-stage Soul Sprite?


    Struggling was useless, and Chen Huanghua¡¯s grips were like iron. Such was his grip on Si Kongxian¡¯s collar that even his neck was starting to feel constrained, resulting in the gradual reddening of Si Konxian¡¯s face.


    ¡°Drivel! I bet you were trying to make me look even uglier, right?! You trash! You¡¯re of the inner school, but you¡¯re not even a Soul Sprite yet, I bet you¡¯re jealous of the fact that I¡¯m about to become a Soul Ancestor, is that why you¡¯re trying to mess with me?!¡± Chen Huanghua babbled on furiously, adamant that Si Kongxian had been the reason for his failure. With one hand clenched tightly, he cocked it menacingly behind his shoulder and then let it loose towards Si Kongxian¡¯s face!


    There were several other students around, but not a single one of them had gone forward to help Si Kongxian when he was being bullied. Many of them didn¡¯t seem to care much, but some were showing looks of annoyance. Despite that, they were seemingly too afraid of Chen Huanghua to step in.


    Already, Si Kongxian closed his eyes and brace himself for impact.


    But out of nowhere, a black and purple gloved hand came from the side and grabbed onto Chen Huanghua¡¯s wrist!


    It was Bai Yunfei who had stopped Chen Huanghua. Without letting go, he spoke. ¡°We¡¯re all students of the Crafting School. An act like this is too much¡­.¡±


    Startled by his appearance, Chen Huanghua quickly recovered in a moment. ¡°Who are you? This is none of your business, let go of me!¡±


    In his anger, Chen Huanghua had pulled back his right hand. His opponent had ¡®sensibly¡¯ let go of his wrist, but then Chen Huanghua suddenly realized that his left hand suddenly went numb; as if he was holding onto nothing.


    Looking there, he realized that Bai Yunfei had taken the opportunity to break Si Kongxian away from his grasp.


    Walking backwards with Si Kongxian in tow, Bai Yunfei started to speak with a low voice, ¡°Si Kongxian is also of the inner school. Shouldn¡¯t you be delegating material procurement to the outside school? The fact that you¡¯re blaming him on your failures is a little laughable, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Since Chen Huanghua had only just failed in creating a soul armament, he was in a very sour mood. He initially wanted to beat Si Kongxian as a way to release some steam; as he had already done so multiple times before. A minor altercation like this would never make its way back to the seniors, so Chen Huanghua had always believed he had some leeway in this. Never did he imagine that today would be the day someone would come to meddle in his affairs.


    He snorted after listening to Bai Yunfei speak, ¡°Him? Of the inner school? Hah! He¡¯s just trash that even a good majority of the outer school can beat! Someone like him should have been tossed out from the inner school a long time ago! What¡¯s with you anyways? If I say he did wrong, he did wrong! Stop meddling!¡±


    His eyes looked closely onto Bai Yunfei. A spark of recognition washed his eyes before they blinked several times in surprise. He started to laugh, ¡°Oh, I see who you are now¡­.You¡¯re that new ¡®temporary¡¯ senior¡­..I haven¡¯t seen you in a month, so I could hardly recognize you. My mistake¡­.¡±


    His words were sickeningly sour to the ears, and one could clearly hear the contemptuous scorn he had for Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei was taken back, but it wasn¡¯t a surprise that Chen Huanghua would know him. Back when they first entered the Western Point, Song Lin had introduced all of the new students there to the ones before. But since there were far too many people, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to take note of everyone. This person in front of him had left no impression on him, so he was curious on why this person had so much hostility towards him now.


    It was then that Si Kongxian tugged at Bai Yunfei¡¯s sleeves from the side. ¡°Senior Bai,¡± He whispered. ¡°He¡¯s one of the more outstanding members of the inner school, Chen Huanghua. In the crafting examination, he was able to walk 4.7 kilometers, but he still wasn¡¯t made into a disciple. His talent as a soul cultivator is extremely high too. When we both joined five years ago, he was still on track of becoming a Soul Ancestor while I¡¯m still trying to become a Soul Sprite¡­.¡±


    He realized then that it was because of the fact that he became a disciple by exception that this person held such hostility towards him.


    It was no wonder too, if someone who tested beneath him in the crafting examinations was given the opportunity everyone could only dream of, he¡¯d be extremely jealous of their good fortune too.


    Unfortunately, there would undoubtedly be many of such people.


    ¡°Si Kongxian, don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t hear you! You think you can get away with mocking me?! Watch yourself, I¡¯ll get you one day or another!¡± Chen Huanghua glared at Si Kongxian menacingly before turning back to face Bai Yunfei with a ¡®polite¡¯ smile. ¡°Well now¡­.what was your name again? Oh right. Senior Bai, what brings you here today, have you already learned the arts of crafting?¡±


    Even though he was being mocked so openly, Bai Yunfei felt disinclined to do anything but to frown to himself. Since he was just here to take a walk, Bai Yunfei waved his hand, ¡°I¡¯m just here to look around, don¡¯t mind me.¡±


    And so with that, Bai Yunfei glanced at Si Kongxian so that the two of them could prepare to leave.


    ¡°Ah, senior Bai, I heard that you fought senior Fei Nian from the Southern Point to a draw? I¡¯d like to compare notes with senior, would you be willing to share some advice with me?¡± Not even before Bai Yunfei could even turn around, Chen Huanghua¡¯s mocking voice was already starting to speak out.


    Pausing, Bai Yunfei turned to quirk an eyebrow to him, ¡°Not interested.¡±


    Chen Huanghua had clearly expected such an answer however and replied with that strange voice of his, ¡°Oh, I get it. Senior Bai is a disciple, the very first ¡®exception¡¯ that only walked 3.7 kilometers in the examinations¡­.A person like that is special indeed. Of course he¡¯d not bother to lower himself to teach us juniors of the inner school¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Ah. So this is what it mean to want a foot after winning an inch¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to quarrel with him, but the way Chen Huangfu was deliberately trying to challenge him was already doing its job of angering him somewhat.


    He glanced around the area.


    There were already plenty of people gathered around here, and even more people were starting to walk out from their caves to observe what was going on at the entrances.


    Bai Yunfei could tell that everyone was already expecting a fight to break out. Some of them were already eyeing Bai Yunfei the same way Chen Huanghua was looking at him.


    ¡°No one¡¯s going to admit it out loud, but they¡¯re most likely angry with the fact that I became a disciple through an exception¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°If I want to stay here for a long time, having everyone treat me like this wouldn¡¯t be a good thing¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself for a while longer. Just as Chen Huanghua was about to say something else to rile Bai Yunfei even more, Bai Yunfei looked up at him.


    His face was calm, but his eyes were glowing brightly and his lips were smiling.


    ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll compare notes with you then!¡±

 Chapter 208: Rock Slicer

    Chapter 208: Rock Slicer


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to use me as a stepping stone, then don¡¯t mind me if I use you myself!¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked up at Chen Huanghua with brightly-lit eyes and a smile on his face, ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll compare notes with you then!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± The sudden change in attitude had caught him off guard, but Chen Huanghua recovered just as quickly with a joy in his heart. ¡°Haha! This is what a disciple should be like! Come then, please teach me well, senior!¡±


    The two of them moved away from one another so that some distance could be had.


    Chen Huanghua swung his right hand out. A ¡°bang¡± followed suit as a giant sword suddenly materialized in it. The blade of the sword was nearly as big as door itself, and when it fell to the ground, there was a noticeable crater.


    ¡°This is my soulbound armament, the Rock Slicer! Senior Bai, be careful, my blade knows no end!¡±


    ¡°Senior Bai, are you really going to fight him?¡± Asked Si Kongxian. He stared fearfully between the two before whispering in an even lower voice, ¡°He¡¯s a late-stage Soul Sprite. He got a high-earth tier soul armament after his examinations, but turning it into a soulbound armament turned it into a low-heaven tier armament. He¡¯s really strong, I think you should¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head and smiled appreciatively, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve faith in myself. Wait on the outside, I¡¯ll be back later.¡±


    This ¡®outside¡¯ he spoke of was the external ring the other students were giving him. There was a five hundred meter area given for the two as an ¡®arena¡¯.


    Helpless, Si Kongxian walked off to the side and stared at the two nervously.


    ¡­¡­


    Thinking about something, Bai Yunfei took off the Ardent Sun Gloves he wore on his hand and stored it away in his space ring. Noticing the skeptical eyes of everyone that saw his actions, he explained, ¡°This was the heaven tier soul armament given to me as my reward on becoming a disciple. I won¡¯t use it for the sake of a fair match.¡±


    In a brilliant flash of red, the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his hand. Twirling it around him and then stabbing it into the ground, Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°This is the soul armament I had when I joined the Crafting School. Well then, junior Chen, please learn all that you can!¡±


    The fact that Bai Yunfei was storing away the heaven tier soul armament he got as a ¡®reward¡¯ for becoming a disciple had infuriated Chen Huanghua.


    Back when he first tried so hard to become a disciple, he had failed to do so. All he got for his troubles was a high-earth tier armament which was later turned into a low-heaven tier soulbound armament.


    Thusly he was angry that someone who could only walk 3.7 kilometers managed to get something he did not!


    The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Without another word, Chen Huanghua let out a yell before lifting his sword up into the air. Twirling the sword over his head as if it were a feather, Chen Huanghua¡¯s foot stepped down hard in front of him with such force that a crater was left in the ground. In the next burst of action, he dashed towards Bai Yunfei.


    From the looks of it, he was adept in battles of strength.


    The two of them weren¡¯t too far away from one another, so Chen Huanghua¡¯s explosive leap forward had propelled him exceedingly close to Bai Yunfei. He brought the sword down onto Bai Yunfei, but rather than using the sharp edge of the blade, the flat side of the sword was used instead!


    The very first action Bai Yunfei took had been equally surprising to everyone there. Rather than dodging to the left or right or bringing his spear up to block, Bai Yunfei took a half step backwards with his right foot. Priming his weight on that foot, he swapped his spear over to the left and immediately punched forward with his right fist!


    Ninefold Fist Force!


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    The metallic ring of the blade striking flesh resonated through the air with a crisp tone, and the entire audience clenched their right fists as if feeling the phantom pain.


    What shocked everyone however, was the fact that Bai Yunfei remained unmoved from his initial position. Both of his legs were rooted slightly deeper into the ground, but Chen Huanghua on the other hand had been driven back three steps!


    ¡°This¡­.¡±


    Many of the audience had been dumbstruck by the sight. Even the ones watching the fight from their caves quirked their eyebrows up from surprise at the sight.


    Chen Huanghua staggered backwards several more steps before finally stabilizing himself. Even now, his right hand was shaking slightly from the impact. ¡°So strong! What kind of soul skill is this?¡± He thought to himself in shock.


    It wasn¡¯t a habit for Bai Yunfei to yell out the name of the move he was using, so there¡¯d be no way Chen Huanghua would know what it was. Bringing his Fire-tipped Spear up, Bai Yunfei immediately charged towards Chen Huanghua after just a small moment of time for him to regain his breath.


    It was true that Chen Huanghua was jealous and wasn¡¯t accepting of Bai Yunfei¡¯s success, but he wasn¡¯t so arrogant that he¡¯d ignore the skills Bai Yunfei had. Having experienced the first trade off of blows, Chen Huanghua was fully convinced that he should get serious in this match. Grunting out loud, he charged straight at Bai Yunfei as well.


    Crossing paths once again, sword met spear as the two became entangled into a close combat fight.


    Chen Huanghua fought vigorously with an offensive style that was powerful in its offense and all-protecting in its defense. At times the sword could be used as a shield to block. In other words, he had both offense and defense in one single package filled with energetic movements.


    On the other hand, Bai Yunfei was like a leaf drifting in the wind. With the Wave Treading Steps, his feet moved one after another so that he was akin to the wind itself. There were times where he¡¯d just narrowly escape danger, but each movement he made had been done skillfully and easily.


    After a dozen exchanges or so, Bai Yunfei began to have his doubts. He noted that his opponent was completely focused on using that giant sword of his rather than using any of his other soul armaments.


    Wasn¡¯t a fight between students of the Crafting School done with soul armaments? Back when he fought Fei Nian, that person had used a multitude of strong soul armaments¡­.


    He had fallen for a misconception.


    Not every student of the Crafting School liked to use soul armaments one after another to fight. Many of them loved to fight with just their soulbound armaments. It was only under the most special of circumstances that they¡¯d decide to use another soul armament. Chen Huanghua was one of those people.


    The soulbound armaments of the Crafting School were strong without a doubt. Even if a soul cultivator were to use a heaven tier soul armament to fight against Chen Huanghua¡¯s Rock Slicer, they¡¯d not be a match for him. Bai Yunfei was of a different make, however.


    His Fire-tipped Spear was also of the heaven tier (after being upgraded), and was also a soulbound armament. In terms of soul compatibility, Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear was much higher than Chen Huanghua¡¯s sword.


    The more Chen Huanghua fought, the more he felt as if he was being choked. His opponent was fighting at an even quicker pace than he was, and his own strength wasn¡¯t able to secure the advantage for him. Their soul armaments were ¡®equally matched¡¯, and from the very beginning, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face had been completely calm. This fact alone was enough to make him angrier beyond angry.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get so cocky!!¡± Right after Bai Yunfei dodged yet another strike from him, Chen Huanghu began to sneer. Exploding with anger, the amount of soulforce rising from his body began to increase in amount. His muscles strained together, and the sword that was raised in the sky came flying down onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder with even more speed than before!


    In all honesty, Bai Yunfei was beginning to grow confident in the fact that his strength had increased since the past. A smile crept onto his face as he regarded his opponent. Even though Chen Huanghua was clearly stronger than before now, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t worried. Gripping onto the Fire-tipped Spear from both sides, he brought the spear up to receive the sword.


    But the amount of power in this blow was considerably large! Even though Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t forced backwards, his feet dug an inch deeper into the ground. Right before he could deflect the sword away, Bai Yunfei noticed a ¡®sinister¡¯ smile creep onto Chen Huanghua¡¯s face. In the next second, the giant sword began to explode into a dazzling light of orange!


    Startled by the sight, Bai Yunfei then felt a rush of elemental earth start to explode outwards from the sword and cover his entire person!


    His very first instinct was to retreat backwards, but even as he started to implement the plan, Bai Yunfei realized that his legs were suddenly unable to move!


    Looking down, Bai Yunfei saw that the ground around his feet were squirming as if something inside was wriggling in it. In an instant, the earth ¡®crawled¡¯ up to his legs and sealed them into the ground!


    Taking advantage of the stunned look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Chen Huanghua brought his sword back up. With the same sinister smile and mocking eyes, he swung the sword back down onto Bai Yunfei who couldn¡¯t even move anywhere now!

 Chapter 209: Of Doppelgangers and Victory!

    Chapter 209: Of Doppelgangers and Victory!


    Taking advantage of the stunned look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Chen Huanghua brought his sword back up. With the same sinister smile and mocking eyes, he swung the sword back down onto Bai Yunfei who couldn¡¯t even move anywhere now!


    He was a merciful person, his blade would only target the outermost side of Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder so that not much damage would be dealt. In the best case scenario, Bai Yunfei would be able to dodge completely, but Chen Huanghua would be able to make a simple follow-up for the victory. Other than that, Bai Yunfei would dodge and come out with a grievous wound.


    Bai Yunfei was shocked, but not as shocked as Chen Huanghua thought. As the giant sword came whistling down on his shoulder, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up brightly. Stabbing the spear into the ground with his left hand, Bai Yunfei swung his right arm up. Soulforce not as weak as Chen Huanghua began to blaze out from Bai Yunfei and gather around his right arm, and just moments later, a 1.6 meter long blade made of fire materialized over it!


    The Winged Flame Blade!


    Billowing tall with great flames, the blade flew up in a perpendicular fashion from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm. If neither of the two stopped what they were doing, then the giant sword would hit the Flameblade Bracer, and the Winged Flame Blade would strike Chen Huanghua in the shoulder!


    The instant appearance of the blade caused Chen Huanghua¡¯s eyes to dilate. The fact that such a terrifying looking blade could appear out of nowhere had been startling, but his sword would continue in its downward stroke. He twisted his hand so that the blade flipped to the flat side coming down, simultaneously blocking the flame blade coming up at him.


    ¡°Poof!!¡±


    Upon impact, the blade dissipated like a wave striking against a hard surface and engulfed Chen Huanghua¡¯s entire body in a bubble of fire!


    ¡°Swish!¡±


    An arc of orange light cut through the ball of fire, clearing it apart and revealing the angry looking Chen Huanghua. Taking a step forward, he prepared to attack again.


    But in that next step, something caused him to look startled!


    The feeling of danger assaulted his senses, and from just the corner of his eye, the Fire-tipped Spear was coming straight at him!


    And¡­a second one!!


    Two Bai Yunfei¡¯s were coming at him from the left and right with a spear in hand ready to strike!


    ¡°Mirror images!¡± Chen Huanghua had ¡®realized¡¯ what was going on at first glance, but whichever one that was ¡®real¡¯ was lost on him.


    Even the soulforce coming from the two were completely identical, making identifying the real one from the fake one impossible!


    ¡°Damnit, what kind of soul skill would be capable of mirror images like this!¡± Left with no time to authenticate the real one from the fake, Chen Huanghua let loose an angry roar. Gritting his teeth, he grasped his sword and swung at the spear wielding Bai Yunfei from the right.


    ¡°Clank!¡± There was a metallic ring of metal hitting metal.


    ¡°Got it!¡± Chen Huanghua¡¯s face lit up excitedly.


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    The elation he was only just feeling fell away to a stinging sensation from the left part of his waist, causing him to stagger backwards a step.


    ¡°Wha¨Cwhat¡¯s going on!!¡± Chen Huanghua¡¯s mind went blank. He just simply couldn¡¯t understand what was going on in front of him; was the one on the left the ¡®real¡¯ one?!


    Almost instinctively, Chen Huanghua grasped his sword tightly and swung at the two incoming people¡­only to hit nothing but air! Absolutely nothing was in front of him!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    And another second later, his entire person suddenly went stiff like a statue as if afraid to move even a finger¡­.


    The glowing red point of a spear was placed right next to the right side of his throat. The point of the spear was burning brightly, but all Chen Huanghua could feel was a freezing sense of cold throughout his body.


    Right behind him, Bai Yunfei could be seen holding the spear with the same indifferent expression on his face.


    The entire area went quiet; not a single person could do a thing but stare there in absolute shock. Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise counterattack had been completely unexpected by everyone.


    Not a single one of them had thought that this battle between strong opponents would be so easily resolved.


    ¡­¡­


    Seeing how Chen Huanghua¡¯s sword was stabbed disappointedly into the ground and how its owner was standing perfectly still, Bai Yunfei smiled.


    His right hand shook slightly so as to store away his spear. ¡°Junior Chen, thank you for letting me win!¡±


    Chen Huanghua¡¯s entire body was shaking dreadfully and his face was a pale shade of white. He was unable to accept such a result. He had been beaten, and by a complete mystery to boot!


    But the facts were as they were. No matter how much he might be unwilling to accept this result, he was thoroughly beaten by this new ¡®senior¡¯ right in front of everyone else.


    Slowly turning around, he cupped his fists together with a reluctant face. Unwillingly, he spoke, ¡°¡­.Senior Bai. You win. I¡¯ve nothing else to say.¡±


    The bravado he had been displaying before was surprisingly nowhere to be found here. He had no excuses, and even Bai Yunfei could see that there was a slight change to how he was acting now.


    With a jovial smile and wave of his hands, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°We were only just comparing notes, there¡¯s no need for junior Chen to pay too much attention to this.¡±


    ¡°Senior Bai, I¡¯ve stuff to do so I¡¯ll be leaving first.¡± Unable to handle the strange looks he was getting from everyone else, he spoke quickly to Bai Yunfei before turning around to leave.


    ¡°Junior Chen, one moment!¡±


    ¡°Senior Bai, what other advice did you want to give?¡±


    ¡°We of the same school should always be willing to help one another. I hope that in the future you¡¯ll try not to make trouble for Si Kongxian and the other juniors.¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡± Chen Huanghua was silent for a moment before replying, ¡°If that is what senior Bai says, then I will do so in the future. Goodbye!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The people watching from the outside cleared a path for Chen Huanghua to walk through before he finally disappeared from sight.


    The group of people began to talk to one another about the fight they had just bore witness to. No matter if they were students of the inner or outer school, they talked. But when Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes fell on them, they all turned away and the conversations went quiet as if they were afraid of him.


    Not even bothering to speak warning or threat to the crowd, Bai Yunfei looked back to the awestruck Si Kongxian nearby, ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go back.¡±


    Si Kongxian had been so excited from the match that his face was flushed red, and even now, he was still enthralled by the fight he had just seen. Giving Bai Yunfei a look of worship, he spoke, ¡°Sen¨Csenior Bai, you¡¯re¡­you¡¯re amazing! I thought that you two would fight to a draw, but the fight was over that fast! What was the last two moves you did? It was so cool! Was that a soul skill or something?¡±


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei nodded his head, ¡°Something like that.¡±


    And so under the fearful eyes of the other students there, Bai Yunfei and Si Kongxian started to walk away from the caves. Not before long, another person came calling out to them, ¡°Junior Bai, one moment!¡±


    Halting in his footsteps, Bai Yunfei turned around to watch as a purple-robed young man come walking towards him. The fact that Bai Yunfei was being called a ¡®junior¡¯ meant that this person was also a disciple.


    This person was called Ling Yan, the third disciple of Kou Changkong and a middle-stage Soul Ancestor.

 Chapter 210: sArmament Skillss!

    Chapter 210: ''Armament Skills''!


    With Bai Yunfei being included as one of the disciples, there were now five one of them on the Western Point: The first, Song Lin. The second, Xiao Nanren. The third, Ling Yan. The fourth, Bai Yunfei (for now). And the fifth, Tian Yuhang, (Although young, he was by all rights still a senior).


    Of the three older seniors, Bai Yunfei was most familiar with Song Lin and Xiao Nanren since the two of them had came into contact with him when overseeing the examinations. The only time he saw the third disciple Ling Yan was during the ¡®social group meeting¡¯. Bai Yunfei had been completely preoccupied with training afterwards and so social interaction was at an all time low for him.


    Si Kongxian managed to give a respectful greeting to the third disciple Ling Yan before the man then turned his attention to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Junior Bai, it¡¯ll be a month since you joined the Crafting School in three days. I wanted to talk to you before then, but you¡¯ve been stuck in training for the entire time. How goes it, have you finished with the Secrets of Firebending?¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, senior Ling Yan. My training has gone without a hitch so far.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Ling Yan nodded his head. ¡°It was a surprise to see junior Bai come out here. I was blown away by your strength to say the least. You must have held back your strength when you fought with Fei Nian that time¡­..Though I¡¯m sure even now, you¡¯ve yet to show your true strength, right?¡±


    He had been one of the few who were on hand to watch the fight in its entirety.


    With a modest smile, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Senior Ling Yan, you give me too much credit. It was just luck, that¡¯s all. I¡¯d like to thank you giving me this chance by not stepping in though.¡±


    ¡°I only just got here myself,¡± Ling Yan smiled. ¡°I was just deciding on what to do when you finished up the battle so quickly¡­.Everyone in the school has been thinking the same thing about you when you entered the school, so it¡¯s good that you did what you did. I¡¯m quite impressed actually; if anything, I¡¯m sure they¡¯re thoroughly convinced now. As long as you can show success in crafting, there shouldn¡¯t be anyone else that¡¯ll gossip about you.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Please rest assured, senior, I¡¯ll try my best so that master and everyone else won¡¯t feel disappointed.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled before taking in a deep breath. ¡°Senior Ling Yan,¡± He began, ¡°I¡¯ve a question I was hoping you could help me answer.¡±


    ¡°Hm? What question is it? Say it.¡±


    ¡°In that fight just now, what was that last attack junior Chen did with his Rock Slicer¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you mean that last move? That was the Rock Slicer¡¯s armament skill, the ¡®Earthen Confine¡¯. With it, he can temporarily restrict his opponent¡¯s movements.


    ¡°¡®Armament skill¡¯?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°What? Junior Bai, do you not know what armament skills are?¡± Ling Yan asked.


    Bai Yunfei was embarrassed, ¡°Uh, I¡­.I never heard of them before.¡±


    Ling Yan smiled and began to explain, ¡°Because of the materials that were used to create a soul armament, there¡¯ll sometimes be one or several different elements focused into the soul armament. The higher the grade, the more noticeable it¡¯ll be. Junior Chen¡¯s ¡®Rock Slicer¡¯ was made from an extremely high quality ore of elemental earth and a primal stone, allowing for the sword to hold a tremendous amount of elemental earth in it. When a soul cultivator uses a soul armament, they can make use of the elements stored within them with the soul armament as the intermediary. This way, they can make use of an element that they aren¡¯t able of using to begin with. Thus, a person is able of using moves they couldn¡¯t normally use by using the soul armament in their place. These moves are called ¡®skills of the armaments¡¯, or ¡®armament skills¡¯. In a way, they can be thought of as another version of soul skills.¡±


    Taking out a sparkling green longsword from his space ring, Ling Yan continued to explain, ¡°For example, this earth-grade soul armament has the wind element in it. I¡¯m personally incapable of practicing the elemental wind, but I can still unleash blades of wind with this. These are known to be the most basics of ¡®armament skills¡¯.¡± With two flicks of his sword, two blades of wind shot out from the sword and faded away into the sky.


    ¡°Armament skills have their strengths and weaknesses and easy to understand ones and complex ones depending on several aspects. These aspects are thusly said to be the grade of the soul armament, the strength of the user, and the familiarity the user has with the soul armament, or their ¡®soul compatibility¡¯. Soul compatibility isn¡¯t something only we of the Crafting School know. But if not for special circumstances of those in the outside world, only a few are capable of bringing their soul compatibility to 50% and creating a soulbound armament. By extension, armament skills are something that only the most excellent figures and the Crafting School understand to a greater degree.¡±


    ¡°Armament skills¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei grew quiet as a result of Ling Yan¡¯s explanations. He was extremely surprised by all these newfound things. ¡°This¡­.this is just like the effects of the equipments!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bidding farewell to Ling Yan and Si Kongxian, Bai Yunfei returned to his room so that he could be in peace.


    Now that he knew about the existence of ¡®armament skills¡¯, Bai Yunfei found himself to be in a new state of amazement. The fact that these ¡®armament skills¡¯ were the same as the ¡®equipment effects¡¯ gave him plenty to think about. He just had to know what differences or similarities there was between the two.


    In a more simplistic observation, there were ¡®active¡¯ skills, and ¡®automatic¡¯ skills.


    Armament skills were skills that the user could use to make use of the elements within the armament in substitution of the user¡¯s own affinity. By manipulating this secondary element, it could be melded into the level of a ¡®skill¡¯.


    It could be explained in the same way a soul skill could be explained, but a soul armament was required for an armament skill to be used.


    The equipment effects were similar to armament skills, but they required a ¡®trigger¡¯ to then ¡®automatically produce¡¯ an armament skill.


    Using an example to this simplistic explanation so far, Bai Yunfei could use the ¡®Crescent Moon Blades¡¯. They were both soul armaments with an affinity for wind so they could release a blade of wind with a command. At the same time, they had an additional effect that could automatically create a blade of wind and shoot it out without needing to command it.


    Automatic and instantaneous. These two aspects were where the equipment effects had an advantage over the other. But the most important aspect was strength.


    Of course, equipment effects couldn¡¯t all be explained by using the theory behind armament skills. Being able to slow down another, inflict dizziness, sending them flying, or even the ¡®doppelganger¡¯ effect of the Fire-tipped Spear were beyond the realm of possibility of what armament skills could accomplish or even explain.


    The Upgrade Technique by all rights was an existence that wasn¡¯t a part of this world. By blending in with the laws of this world, a new ¡®law¡¯ was made where equipment could change after being upgraded.Whatever the ¡®laws¡¯ bestowed onto the equipment were unexplainable.


    ¡°This means I can use the additional effects of some equipment and pretend they¡¯re armament skills as an excuse. And the ¡®doppelganger¡¯ effect of the Fire-tipped Spear can be passed off as a soul skill¡­..I shouldn¡¯t be under too much suspicion then.¡±


    Thinking about the battle he had just had, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°I¡¯ve grown a lot stronger after spending a month learning the Secrets of Firebending. My soul compatibility with the Fire-tipped Spear is a lot stronger, so I can use it more efficiently as well. The might of the +12 effect isn¡¯t anything to sneeze at either. I haven¡¯t been able to test the additional effect of the Ardent Sun Gloves though¡­.


    ¡°I never thought that I¡¯d be able to learn so much in just a single month of being here. Even if I didn¡¯t become a disciple, the trip here would be so worth it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I haven¡¯t become a Soul Ancestor yet. I¡¯m clearly at a bottleneck, so these things should be taken slowly and with patience rather than rushing it¡­.


    ¡°In just three days, I¡¯ll be able to learn the art of crafting, I can¡¯t wait¡­.¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 211: The Art of Crafting! Firs

    Chapter 211: The Art of Crafting! (First)


    In the main point of the Crafting School one fine morning three days later.


    Behind the grand hallways, a magnificent building was built with all sorts of pavilions adorning the beautiful landscapes. There were lush forests and beautiful lakes on this part of the mountain, and so it was befitting for the headmaster and other elders to reside here. There were also many libraries for people to enjoy, armories forbidden for the general student populace from entering, many classrooms for the sake of teaching, drill grounds and other training-related buildings here.


    Northwest from there, a single courtyard could be seen. And in this courtyard, there was a secret room built underneath the ground.


    The room was three hundred square meters in area and had several fist-sized white crystals for illumination. The entire room glowed brightly as a result, and in the center stood a middle-aged man with a younger man listening earnestly to him.


    This younger man was Bai Yunfei, and the middle-aged man speaking pleasantly in front of him was the headmaster of the Crafting School, Kou Changkong.


    The entire room was abundant with elemental fire, so the temperature of the room was quite high.


    This was because of Bai Yunfei¡¯s performance just now. He was showing Kou Changkong the fruits of his labors after studying the Secrets of Firebending and learning the ways to manipulate fire.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Very good! Bai Yunfei, you¡¯ve met my expectations. In a single month, you were able to learn the Secrets of Firebending to such a degree, that much alone is hard enough to believe.¡± Kou Changkong nodded his head pleasantly, ¡°The Secrets of Firebending is an important primer to the art of crafting, I cannot emphasize that enough. From here on out, you must concentrate even more on your training so that your proficiency with the elemental fire grows. This way, learning the art of crafting will become twice as easy for half the effort.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head, ¡°Yes, master! Your disciple will do so earnestly!¡±


    ¡°Haha, very well. I understand that you are anxious to start learning the art of crafting, so I won¡¯t say anything more.¡± Kou Changkong remarked.


    ¡°And now, I will teach you our craft!¡±


    Excited beyond belief, Bai Yunfei began to concentrate with all his focus in fear that he might just miss a word Kou Changkong might say if he failed to keep his emotions in check.


    The earnest expression on his face had led to Kou Changkong from nodding his head in satisfaction. Keeping a calm voice, he spoke, ¡°The art of crafting is complicated, but in layman terms, it follows the steps a normal blacksmith might follow for forging a normal weapon. Our school emphasizes three phases; liquation, compoundment, and refinement!


    ¡°The three phases are divided into two sub steps, which is later divided again into countless segments.


    ¡°Liquation¨Cthe act of smelting the ingredients and picking out the best parts. This is the most fundamental step of the crafting process, as without a good understanding and handling of materials, a good soul armament will not be crafted.¡±


    ¡°Compoundment¨Cthe act of infusing materials and molding the basic shape. During the refinement process, every soul armament has different needs for different materials. These materials might be the same, but the amount of it won¡¯t be. By understanding the balance and composition of compounding the materials, a perfect soul armament can be crafted. Whether you are making a blade, a sword, a staff, a club, or anything else, this is the time in which the basic shape is formed.


    ¡°Refinement¨Cthe act of condensing and refining the shaped product. This is the most crucial and the last phase in the process before a soul armament is complete!¡±


    After summarizing the three phases to Bai Yunfei, Kou Changkong paused to give Bai Yunfei time to digest the information.


    ¡°And now, I¡¯ll demonstrate everything from start to finish, so look closely and experience it for yourself.¡±


    With a wave of his hand, Kou Changkong took out a black stone the size of a washbasin into his hand, ¡°This is an ordinary piece of vermiculite. As the main material, what we first need to do is rid of its impurities by liquating it.¡±


    ¡°Bang.¡± A fireball burst into life from his hand, consuming the vermiculite in his hand. Right before Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, the vermiculite began to grow smaller and smaller while Kou Changkong explained, ¡°A different intensity of elemental fire is required for every different material. When it comes to liquation, an incredibly hot flame isn¡¯t everything. If the intensity is too much, then the material will be completely burnt up. So the better the control one has with elemental fire, the more controlled your manipulation can be. Of course, not all materials have to be completely liquated. Some special materials, like the rare minerals and herbs of nature, or even the flesh and fur of whatever soulbeast can be used as materials. But without a proper understanding of soul armaments and how they¡¯re crafted, using those will be impossible for you.¡±


    As he spoke, the fist-sized vermiculite began to take on the form of a blob of gold liquid. Spinning and turning around over Kou Changkong¡¯s palm, the liquid let loose a golden light that was almost as bright as the fire that was surrounding it.


    ¡°The armaments I¡¯ll be creating right now are the most basics of one where only one main material is required. The more high quality ones will require a few to even dozens of materials.¡± Kou Changkong remarked as he flipped his hand. Dust and pieces of ore appeared out of thin air over his left hand before making its way over to his right. Amongst these materials was a golden primal stone. ¡°When a primal stone is added to the mix, the power is increased. A primal stone of a different element can be added, but that will add to the difficulty of the process. Several more materials will be needed to stabilize the composition.


    ¡°And then there is the compoundment phase.¡± Kou Changkong¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly so as to concentrate on the task. The materials that were floating over his left hand slowly made its way over to the right hand where the fire was still burning over his palm. The fire-type primal stone was turned into a crimson liquid and blended into the pure mix of vermiculite. ¡°The materials needed to stabilize the composition of a soul armament differs, and so the composition will always differ from soul armament to soul armament.¡±


    After liquifying the rest of the floating materials, he had them consumed by the fire in his hand. Compressing the fire, he started to stretch it longer and longer until it took on the shape of a small dagger made of fire. The liquid was still hovering over his palm, but it looked as if the fiery dagger would be the receptacle in which the liquid would be used to be poured into it and be turned into an actual dagger made of a solid substance rather than fire.


    ¡°This is what we call ¡®casting¡¯. When you manipulated the elemental fire into the shape of weapons, this is an application of the technique.¡± Kou Changkong spoke. ¡°Up next is the most important part, pay close attention now!¡±


    A wave of soulforce pulsated out from Kou Changkong¡¯s body as he spoke, causing the fire over his palm to shudder. Then, like a surging wave of water in a storm, the fire began to tremble while still maintaining the shape of a dagger while the liquid started to slowly flow through the shape.


    All Bai Yunfei could sense was that the soulforce Kou Changkong was pushing out was undergoing a constant transmutation. At times, it rippled fast, and at other times, it moved slowly. Sometimes, it was strong and vigorous, at others, it was almost non-existent. For twenty-eight variations, his soulforce continued to change in how it moved before finally coming to a stop. The fire over Kou Changkong¡¯s hand had started to change as well from when his soulforce was being fed into it. The liquid that had been casted into the fire mold had underwent this series of change as well before finally coming to a stabilized calm.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was an explosion and a wave of hot air that scattered through the room with Kou Changkong at its epicenter. Bai Yunfei had been momentarily blinded by the light that accompanied it, and his clothes danced furiously like a banner out in the winds. But even still, Bai Yunfei tried his best to stare at the center of the explosion¨Cnamely the space above Kou Changkong¡¯s hand.


    The crimson light slowly abated from sight, revealing a small golden dagger floating above Kou Changkong¡¯ hand. With the aid of the several glow stones in the room, the dagger glistened beautifully.


    ¡°And so, a soul armament has been crafted!¡± Kou Changkong stated calmly. Smiling when he saw the pensive look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, he asked, ¡°Yunfei, do you understand now?¡±


    ¡°Uuuhh¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei thought for a moment before speaking in a soft voice, ¡°Your disciple is a slow-witted one. When master began to fluctuate his soulforce, I only understood about seventy percent of it.¡±


    ¡°Haha, understanding seventy percent of that is already quite decent for a first attempt. Trying to memorize the pattern in which the soulforce must fluctuate is pointless. You must learn by experiencing it yourself. I was only demonstrating it to you so that you could see and understand the process of crafting and what points must be carefully trained. There¡¯s no need to try hard to understand the concept, just remember the feeling. The art of crafting will come to you with time and experience.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your disciple will take note of that.¡± Bai Yunfei replied.


    ¡°Very well. We shall end our lesson here then. Go back and think about what you¡¯ve learned today. Engrave the details into your head. Tomorrow, I will teach you how to refine a soul armament.¡± Kou Changkong spoke. Waving his left hand, the golden dagger flew towards Bai Yunfei, ¡°I¡¯ll give you this dagger for you to look at. Hopefully you¡¯ll learn from studying it.¡±


    Accepting the dagger, Bai Yunfei bowed respectfully, ¡°Thank you master. Your disciple will take his leave then.¡±


    ¡°Very well. You may leave.¡±


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 212: Huangfu Rui Second

    Chapter 212: Huangfu Rui (Second)


    On the stone path back to the Western Point, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart raced with excitement. Each step he took along the passage between the points had been filled with thoughts of when Kou Changkong had crafted that dagger in front of him.


    A single soul armament had only taken a short amount of time to form right in front of his very eyes. If the art of crafting was possible of creating such an armament like that, how could he not feel excited?


    Equipment Grade: High Rare


    Attack: 467


    Upgrade Requirement: 78 Soulpoints


    An admiring light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes when he took a look at the soul armament Kou Changkong created. ¡°He created a high-grade human-tier soul armament in an instant, that¡¯s the headmaster of the Crafting School for you! This is the strength of a late-stage Soul King¡­.¡±


    Kou Changkong had said before that studying the dagger he made could help him understand some of the finer aspects of crafting so Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t dare try to upgrade it until he could confirm no vital changes would be had. But he himself knew that he could very well upgrade the quality of a high-grade human-tier soul armament to a low-grade or even middle-grade earth-tier soul armament!


    For no reason at all, a surge of impassioned confidence spread through his heart. Clenching the dagger tightly into his hand, Bai Yunfei stared at it with a determined look, ¡°One day, I¡¯ll reach the same level master is at. No¡­.I¡¯ll surpass him!¡±


    Storing away the dagger for safekeeping, Bai Yunfei continued on his way back to the Western Point. On the way, he came across several students who called out to him respectfully with words such as ¡®senior Bai¡¯.


    In return, Bai Yunfei would greet them as well.


    Three days had gone by since his match with Chen Huanghua. News of the outcome had spread throughout the entire school since he was the ¡®special¡¯ disciple. He was a figure many people felt to be important as a topic, so there were just as many people paying attention to him. Some of the students who had shared similar perspectives as Chen Huanghua had thusly decided to save their comments and scorn for him for the timebeing.


    After all, Bai Yunfei was able to easily defeat the late-stage Soul Sprite, Chen Huanghua. Strength like that was surprising to a good majority of the students¨Cand some of those students had expressed that surprise physically.


    On the way, Bai Yunfei came across Zhong Xuhao who said that he and Liu Mang were doing quite well for themselves. Aside from playing errand boys for several other seniors, they spent their time training so that they could reach the Soul Sprite stage and learn the art of crafting.


    Several more words were exchanged between the two before Zhong Xuhao had to leave at once¨Che was still in the middle of a delivery for a senior.


    Not before long, Bai Yunfei had arrived at the focal point where the main, western, southern, and eastern point all converged together.


    And just as he was turning onto the road towards the Western Point¡­.


    ¡°Heeheee, wait up for me, Xiao Rourou! Dai Dai can¡¯t keep up with you!¡± A silvery voice drifted through the air, startling Bai Yunfei at the familiarity of the voice. Stopping where he stood, Bai Yunfei turned his head towards the east.


    What greeted his eyes was a single young girl dressed in a pink flowery robe running straight down the path from the Eastern Point. As she ran, the braid on the left part of her head bobbed up and down while her lovely face was flushed with excitement.


    It was the daughter of the second and third elder, the one named Huangfu Rui. Also known by her nickname, ¡®Dai Dai¡¯, the loveable young girl..


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the sight of her, but when he realized that she was calling out for ¡®Xiao Rourou¡¯, Bai Yunfei gave a small start. He remembered Song Lin¡¯s warning that it was an incredibly strong fifth-tier soulbeast, the ¡®red magiboar¡¯.Looking around himself, Bai Yunfei tried his best to look out for the red¡¯ suckling pig¡¯.


    ¡°Hrnfh hrnfh¡­.¡±


    A faint snorting sound emanated from his right side, causing Bai Yunfei to whirl around. Just two meters away from him, a boar with four white legs stared at Bai Yunfei with a look that could only be anthropomorphized to be a look of ¡®observation¡¯ that another human might give to another¡­.


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth twitched slightly as if unsure of what to say or do.


    ¡°Ehhh? Brother Strawhat! It¡¯s you!!¡± Just at that moment, Huangfu Rui had discovered just who the boar was staring at and flew towards Bai Yunfei with excitement.


    Bai Yunfei came back to his wits at the sound of Huangfu Rui addressing him by ¡®brother strawhat¡¯. His lips twitched slightly at the nickname, but it was no use.


    Turning to her, he smiled, ¡°Ah, junior, how¡¯re you? It¡¯s been some time since we last met.¡±


    Running over to him, Huangfu Rui first pounced over to the boar that was ¡®staring¡¯ at Bai Yunfei and grabbed it into her arms. Rubbing its head with her own cheek, she began to laugh out loud. ¡°Brother strawhat, I heard what you did from senior giant! Heehee, you¡¯re also a disciple of uncle headmaster now! Why haven¡¯t you come play with me yet, I almost forgot about you!¡±


    ¡°Er¡­senior giant?¡± Bai Yunfei asked for clarification.


    ¡°The big disciple of dad~¡±


    ¡°Oh, senior Li Tiechui¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sweatdropped. ¡°I¡¯ve been focusing on my training for a while now, and I didn¡¯t know where you were, junior. When I¡¯ve time, I¡¯ll definitely come play with you when you want.¡±


    When faced with such a loveable child such as her, Bai Yunfei had subconsciously adopted a well-meaning smile on his face.


    ¡°Okay then! No take backsies!¡± Huangfu Rui cracked a smile and a giggle before looking back to the small white pig in hand, ¡°Xiao Rourou is our witness! If brother strawhat goes back on his word, you have to help me teach him a lesson, heehee¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hrnfffh¡­.¡± The small pig twisted its head helplessly.


    The eyebrows on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face stood up, ¡°This white boar is that ¡®red magiboar¡¯! Is this its normal shape and size? Then why was it so much like a ¡®suckling pig¡¯ before then?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was more than aware of the fact that there were some soulbeasts that could shapeshift. The Quickshade Bird was capable of turning as big as a roc itself, but it normally kept itself to a size of a small sparrow. But not only could this pig change its size, it could change its appearance.


    The fact that Huangfu Rui had told the pig to ¡®teach¡¯ him a lesson had frightened Bai Yunfei however. ¡°Don¡¯t speak like that,¡± Bai Yunfei thought. ¡°Even if a child¡¯s words carry no weight, what if that fifth-tier soulbeast really did try to do as you say, I¡¯d be the one who¡¯d suffer!¡± Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei quickly changed the subject, ¡°No no, no need for that. I said that I would, so I will! When I¡¯ve the time, I¡¯ll come find you to play, okay?¡±


    Tilting her head, Huangfu Rui responded, ¡°Haha, then you have to come, okay! Even Brother Fei Nian said that he wanted to fight you again!¡±


    ¡°Fei Nian?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Why does he want to fight me?¡±


    Looking to Bai Yunfei with a naive expression, the girl responded, ¡°When dad punished brother Fei Nian, I was the one who helped him out of it! But then I said that brother strawhat was really cool with how you were gliding around the place, even cooler than brother Fei Nian! Brother Fei Nian decided then that he wanted to fight you again to see who was really the cooler one¡­.so when are you going to fight him? Dai Dai wants to watch!¡±


    Bai Yunfei quirked his lips, but he said nothing to answer her. Mentally, he was groaning to himself, ¡°Because of what you said, that guy Fei Nian went out to find me that one night! I heard he came by to find me when I was training too, it¡¯s a good thing Si Kongxian turned everyone else away¡­.¡±


    ¡°Dai Dai, where are you? Wait for your senior, don¡¯t run off now¡­.¡±


    Just at that moment, another voice called out for Huangfu Rui. From there, Bai Yunfei could see two figures come running towards them. One of the two was the pink-robed senior Lian Lingmin from the Eastern Point; she was the one who spoke out just then.


    Looking to her side, Bai Yunfei could see that there was another long-haired girl with white robes.


    But when he saw her face, his eyes widened in surprise.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­.?¡±

 Chapter 213: Meeting Tang Xinyun Once Again, But as a Junior?

    Chapter 213: Meeting Tang Xinyun Once Again, But as a Junior?


    When Bai Yunfei looked to the white-robed girl to the side of Lian Lingmin, he was stunned for just that one moment.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­Tang Xinyun?!¡±


    Yes. That woman was indeed Tang Xinyun!


    Whilst he was shocked, Lian Lingmin and Tang Xinyun had already made their way towards Bai Yunfei. Tang Xinyun had clearly noticed Bai Yunfei as well, as her beautiful eyes had been wide open as she looked back at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Haha, junior Bai, so you were here as well? We left on such a hurried note that day, but I heard that you did well for yourself. What I heard really surprised me.¡± Lian Lingmin smiled as she greeted him.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­ah? Oh, haha, hello senior¡­.¡± Jolting to a start, Bai Yunfei hurried to greet Lian Lingmin.


    Nodding her head with a smile, Lian Lingmin turned to address Tang Xinyun, ¡°Fifth junior, this is the junior Bai that I was just telling you about. He managed to become a disciple of the headmaster, but since you were in closed-door training, you didn¡¯t hear ab¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hm? Fifth junior, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Pausing halfway through her words, Lian Lingmin realized that Tang Xinyun had a look of stupefaction on her face. Casting an eye to Bai Yunfei, who had a similar look on his face, she started to connect the dots in bepuzzled wonderment, ¡°No way¡­you two know each other?!¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.yes¡­.yes we do senior¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei laughed sheepishly as he turned to face Tang Xinyun, ¡°What a coincidence it is to meet you in this place of all places, miss Tang.¡±


    Tang Xinyun had come to her wits by this point. Replying with a smile, she spoke, ¡°Lord Bai, I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d meet again¡­.Thank you for saving me last time.¡±


    ¡°It was nothing,¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand, ¡°I had Tianming send some people to look for you, but they never did, we didn¡¯t think that you¡¯d leave so quickly¡­.I hope you didn¡¯t come across any more troubles.


    ¡°Where¡¯s aunty Zhao? I remember her wounds, is she alright?¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be said to be just ¡®nothing¡¯¡­.¡± Tang Xinyun sighed to herself. ¡°Thank you for your concerns, lord Bai. Aunty Zhao is just fine, after she sent me to the Crafting School she went straight home.¡±


    ¡°Hold on hold on,¡± Lian Lingmin cut straight into the conversation in stupefaction, ¡°Junior Bai, fifth junior, you two really do know each other? Isn¡¯t that a bit too coincidental? And what was that you just said? Something about saving someone?¡±


    ¡°Miss Tang and I know each other. We traveled along the same way once in the Northern Cliff Province, but she later traveled ahead of me. I stayed behind for some time for several matters, but I didn¡¯t realize our destinations were both the same¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei explained.


    Tang Xinyun quipped in to add to the explanation, ¡°When I and my traveling partner came into trouble, it was lord Bai that came to save us. From there, I headed straight for the Crafting School without stop¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see¡­.¡± Lian Lingmin nodded her head sensibly, ¡°Seems like fate has it for you two if it brought you two not only to the Crafting School, but as disciples. Isn¡¯t this what they call in the old legends the ¡®red string of fate¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Bashfully shaking his head, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°It was coincidence, just a coincidence¡­.¡±


    ¡°Chiiirp!!¡±


    A melodious warbling came echoing from the skies above, causing Bai Yunfei to turn his head up to look. Just above him was the sparrow-sized quickshade bird named Xiao Bai. Circling around for a descent, the bird let loose another happy chirp¨Cit was evidently happy to see Bai Yunfei once again.


    ¡°Waaah, Xiao Baibai!!¡± Huangfu Rui let loose an excited cry as she tossed down the white boar in her hands to jump up and down. ¡°Xiao Baibai, come down and play with me! We can play ¡®flying rope¡¯!¡±


    ¡°Chiiirp!¡±


    Even while it was flying, the quickshade bird was clearly reeling away from the direction it was traveling in. Almost falling to the ground, the bird was quick to flap its wings and turn off to the opposite direction¡­.


    ¡°Xiao Baibai, don¡¯t run away¡­.hehe, if I catch you you¡¯ll have to play with me!¡± Huangfu Rui¡¯s feet sparked to life with a red glow before she chased after the quickshade bird with lightning quick speed.


    From above, the quickshade bird shudder and started to fly even faster¡­.


    ¡°Hrnfff!!¡± Letting loose a resentful sound, the dropped pig gave chase to the girl right away¡­.


    ¡°¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei was utterly dumbfounded.


    ¡°Ah, Dai Dai, don¡¯t run off like that, wait for me!!¡± Realizing that Huangfu Rui had ran off, Lian Lingmin was in a panic to follow her. Turning her head as she ran, she shouted back at Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, ¡°Junior Bai, fifth junior, I¡¯m sure you two have plenty to talk about, so go ahead and talk, I¡¯ll go find junior Huangfu!¡±


    And in a flash, Lian Lingmin disappeared into the direction Huangfu Rui had gone.


    ¡°Wow. This¡­¡± Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure what exactly to say about this situation.


    Managing to smile, he turned back to Tang Xinyun, ¡°How cute junior Huangfu is, to be so carefree and happy like that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she¡¯s a very pure child. A child anyone would want to cherish. That¡¯s why master, second elder, and even the rest of the school dotes on her so much. No one wants to see her hurt in any way¡­.¡±


    She turned her head to look to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Lord Bai, are you¡­.are you alright from last time?¡±


    He knew that she was talking about the moment before he had used himself as a shield so that she and Zhao Mancha could escape. Nodding his head, he smiled, ¡°Thank you for your concern, but don¡¯t you see that I stand before you today just fine?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then¡­.¡± A breath of relief was taken in secret. Ever since she and Zhao Mancha escaped, she had been thinking about going back and finding Bai Yunfei, but Zhao Mancha had forbidden it. Since then, she was worried about Bai Yunfei and how she had ¡®broken¡¯ the connection between her and him. If Bai Yunfei were to come out of that day an injured man, she would forever feel ashamed.


    Not willing to dwell on the issue any longer and risk some sort of misunderstanding where Tang Xinyun would think he¡¯d want compensation, Bai Yunfei changed the topic, ¡°Miss Tang, when did you arrive at the Crafting School? From what senior Lian said, you became the disciple of the third elder? How haven¡¯t I seen you yet then?¡±


    ¡°I came fifty days ago when there was only half a month to the day of examinations. I thought it would be extremely difficult to become a student, but I was fortunate enough to meet master on her way back to the school. She brought me up the mountain where I found out that I had ¡®high¡¯ talent for elemental fire as well as extremely high talent in crafting. Master decided then and there to take me in as a disciple, but everything up to then had been so surreal to me¡­.


    ¡°You already know that I was a late-stage Soul Warrior at the time, so even now, I wasn¡¯t able to breakthrough to become a Soul Sprite. I¡¯ve heard that only those who become a Soul Sprite are able of making their own soulbound armament. Ever since I joined the school, master has taught me the method of crafting one, so I spent a month training in isolation.


    ¡°Just yesterday, I was finally able to become a Soul Sprite and came out from my isolation. Because of that, I¡¯m completely behind on everything that happened in the Crafting School so far.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I get it now¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei realized. ¡°Then, have you made your own soulbound armament yet?¡±


    A look of pride appeared on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face. ¡°Of course. It¡¯s a shame that I wasn¡¯t able to make it a middle-grade heaven-tier soulbound armament, but master said that there¡¯d still be a chance for me. As long as I can increase the soul compatibility with it, I¡¯ll be able to increase the grade of the armament. I¡¯ll just have to train and wait until then¡­.¡±


    Knowing exactly what she was talking about, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Ah, yes. Don¡¯t worry too much about it, miss Tang. There¡¯s an extremely special place the third elder will most likely take you to. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to upgrade your soulbound armament there and increase your soul compatibility with it.¡±


    Startled by his words, Tang Xinyun asked, ¡°Ah? Lord Bai knows about it?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± He nodded his head, ¡°I¡¯ve been there already and made my own soulbound armament. I was already a late-stage Soul Sprite when I entered the Crafting School, so I missed the first chance to make one sadly, but master was¡­.¡±


    As the two stood next to the mountain trail, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun began to chat to one another. Starting from the matters before his coming to the Crafting School, Bai Yunfei summarized the tale of what happened with the house of Ye back in Gaoyi City while Tang Xinyun would supplement some of her own narration.


    They were like old friends. Pleasant and happy as could be.


    And so they talked until it was high noon.


    Taking notice of the color of the skies, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Miss Tang, it¡¯s getting quite late now. This morning I was being taught by the master on the art of crafting, so I really must be getting back for some reflections¡­.¡±


    Tang Xinyun nodded her head as well, ¡°Yes, I should be getting back. Another time then?¡±


    ¡°Haha, alright. Since we¡¯re of the same school now; disciples no less, we should treat each other like so.¡±


    ¡°Is that right?¡± A devilish smile appeared on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face. ¡°I came to the school half a month earlier than you did. You should call me ¡®senior¡¯ then.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­.


    As he watched Tang Xinyun walk away, Bai Yunfei had a smile on his own face, ¡°Miss Tang¡­.you¡¯ve really brightened up quite a bit!¡±


    ¡°Her, my senior? Haha¡­¡±

 Chapter 214: Learning How to Craf

    Chapter 214: Learning How to Craft


    When Bai Yunfei returned to his room, he did nothing else but spend the entire day pouring over the golden dagger Kou Changkong crafted. Every detail, every edge, and every mark was burned into Bai Yunfei¡¯s head as he tried his best to learn something from it.


    The second day had been spent in this same exact manner.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯ve already told you the most important details regarding the liquation phase. It¡¯s up to you to try for yourself, let your teacher see what you¡¯ve accomplished thus far.¡± Kou Changkong spoke to Bai Yunfei with a smile. Waving his right hand, a black fist-size ore appeared in his hand. ¡°This is an identical vermiculite ore to the one I used the other day. Go ahead and try for yourself.¡± He handed it over.


    ¡°Yes, master.¡± Bai Yunfei replied dutifully. Taking the ore, Bai Yunfei studied it for a moment before sucking in a deep breath.


    His eyes honed in on the ore, and soulforce began to pulsate and gather in his right hand.


    Soon, a ¡°bang¡± accompanied a dazzling flash of light as fire ignited in his palm, consuming the ore into its nonsolid body.


    Grasped by the flames, the vermiculite ore floated several inches upwards. Combined with an even larger outport of soulforce, the flames grew even stronger and stronger so that the ore was gradually shrinking smaller and smaller.


    Along with its shrinkage in size, the impurities within the ore was gradually being burned up, leaving behind a golden hue for the remaining parts.


    Kou Changkong gave a smile and a nod at this sight.


    But then Bai Yunfei suddenly upped the intensity of the flames, the golden liquid that was seeping out from the remaining parts of the vermiculite started to boil.


    ¡°Not quite there yet, Yunfei. Continue to liquate it.¡± Kou Changkong spoke.


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head grimly and pushed even more soulforce into his hand so that the golden liquid started to shrink in size.


    After a while, Kou Changkong¡¯s voice suddenly came calling out in warning, ¡°That¡¯s enough! Yunfei, stop!¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    A mental cry was let loose from Bai Yunfei as he cut off the flow of elemental fire, but it was too late. The previously golden liquid had exceed the limits of what it could sustain and was engulfed by the flames. As the flames died down, the darkened remains of the liquid could be seen pooled over his palm.


    ¡°M-master¡­.¡± It was with a heavy heart that he looked to Kou Changkong in shame.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. Not being able to control the fire is normal at first.¡± Kou Changkong shook his head to console him. ¡°Experience is achieved from countless failures. Don¡¯t think that you can do everything in one try, that way of thinking has no way of bettering your ability even at the most important moments.¡±


    This time, Kou Changkong materialized a pile of vermiculite about half Bai Yunfei¡¯s height and placed it to the side before handing him a single red stone. ¡°Continue on then. I won¡¯t warn you this time, you¡¯ll have to manage slowly by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master.¡±


    And so he accepted the ore so that he could try again to liquate it¡­.


    Failure.


    Failure.


    Failure¡­..


    Four to five hours passed by now, and Bai Yunfei had only just managed to separate the essence of the fire-stone from its impurities.


    The amount of red liquid in his hand was only just half the size of his fist, but Bai Yunfei held it over his sweat-laden head with pride.


    Kou Changkong smiled. ¡°Very good. We may now move onto the second phase. Yunfei, have a try with these three supplementary materials¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    An entire day had passed for Bai Yunfei to study and experiment each phase of the process under Kou Changkong¡¯s supervision. Each time he tried however, it would end in failure.. By now, the amount of materials he used was surely not under 500 kilograms.


    If someone from a smaller school or family were to see the destruction Bai Yunfei had unleashed on these stones, they would¡¯ve assumed that he had gone crazy¡­.


    Night fell with Bai Yunfei still unable to pass the second phase of ¡®compoundment¡¯. Each attempt he tried in synthesizing the materials together failed due to his lack of control over the elemental fire. The materials were either burnt up, or they were synthesized in the wrong amounts.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    In a fiery explosion, the golden liquid that had been contained in the fire splayed across the ground as if they were molten iron and sizzled on the ground.


    Another failure.


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sucked in a deep breath. His entire forehead was wet with sweat due to just how long he had been concentrating. With the amount of consumption of his soulforce and all the failures, Bai Yunfei was reaching the end of his rope.


    ¡°Yunfei, we¡¯ll stop here for tonight.¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei reached for another vermiculite ore, Kou Cangkong¡¯s voice called out from the side. Crestfallen, Bai Yunfei responded to him, ¡°Master, your disciple wishes for one more attempt¡­.I might just succeed this time¡­.¡±


    Kou Changkong shook his head, ¡°Yunfei, you are far too impatient. Such a trait is unsuitable if you wish to continue crafting. We¡¯ll conclude here. Go back and reflect on what you learned for tomorrow.¡±


    In silent reluctance, Bai Yunfei looked to the remaining pile of vermiculite ore, ¡°Yes, master.¡± He replied in disappointment. ¡°Your disciple will be returning then¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    When he got home, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even bother to eat or drink. Instead, he spent the rest of his time laying on top of his bed and looking up at the ceiling in a daze.


    ¡°The art of crafting is¡­.is so hard! I can¡¯t even get one of the most basic steps working¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. The art of crafting was really far too rough. The amount of control over fire in some areas and the output of soulforce in a steady pattern in another area was so incredibly taxing that it was mind-boggling. If he were to try and pinpoint just how much soulforce he had left, Bai Yunfei would guess that barely half was remaining¡­.


    For a moment longer, Bai Yunfei remained dazed. But then his eyes hardened and his hand clenched tightly to form a fist. The disappointment receded away from his eyes so that determination could replace them.


    ¡°It¡¯s only the first day, how could I be defeated so easily? Even if I really fail, I¡¯m just accumulating experience through failure, like master said! I just need to keep accumulating experience so that I can succeed!¡±


    Driving away the dispirited emotions from his mind, Bai Yunfei shut his eyes and began to ¡®replay¡¯ the memories of today. Every failure he was met with was studied, and every little part he succeeded in was dissected so that he could learn from the details. Every time Kou Changkong gave a warning, Bai Yunfei would think hard about it and make mental notes for improvement. One by one, he learned, and over and over, he studied¡­.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the second day, Bai Yunfei returned to Kou Changkong for tutelage and tried again to attempt the second phase.


    Failure.


    He tried again.


    Failure.


    He tried again.


    Failure.


    He tried again¡­..


    An entire day passed by yet again, and Bai Yunfei was still unable to get pass the second phase.


    The third day was the same.


    The same for the fourth day.


    And the fifth day.


    ¡­¡­


    On the tenth day, Bai Yunfei was finally able to make it to the third phase of ¡®refinement¡¯. But even then, he was stopped by another obstacle¡­.


    In his hands, a three inch long short dagger was already taking form in a brilliant show of light. Staring hard at it, Bai Yunfei was practically howling to himself, ¡°This is the last hurdle! The intensity of the flames is at seventy percent, let me succeed!¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A wave of fire rippled throughout the cave, but the red dagger in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was still in one piece.


    ¡°I¨CI did it! I¡¯ve fi¡ª¡± Elation burst through his heart for a split moment before a sudden ¡®crack¡¯ shattered his thoughts. Looking down, Bai Yunfei could see a single crack running through the dagger, and in the next second, the dagger fractured into pieces.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    An intense wave of disappointment ran through Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. Clenching hard, the dagger was reduced to powder in his hands¡­.

 Chapter 215: Forging Cauldron

    Chapter 215: Forging Cauldron


    Ashamed of his failure, Bai Yunfei turned to Kou Changkong, ¡°Master, your disciple has failed you again¡­¡±


    But instead of reprimanding Bai Yunfei, Kou Changkong smiled. ¡°Yunfei, why do you think that you¡¯ve failed me?¡±


    ¡°Your disciple has practiced for ten days, and not even a single soul armament was made even after all master¡¯s careful instructions. I¡¯ve¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong.¡± Kou Changkong interrupted Bai Yunfei¡¯s small tirade of ¡®self-blame¡¯, ¡°Let me tell you something. I¡¯ve been nothing but satisfied for the past ten days. In fact, you can say I¡¯m quite impressed. What you¡¯ve shown so far has exceeded my expectations.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure if he even heard right. Almost unsure if he should ask, he started to speak, ¡°Master, do you mean that I¡­.¡±


    ¡°Correct. The amount of progress in the last ten days is an extremely high achievement in itself. Your control over elemental fire is far beyond what I expected. It would be no exaggeration for me to say that you¡¯re aptitude so far is way better than your seniors when they first started to learn!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡±


    Kou Changkong¡¯s sudden praise of him had knocked Bai Yunfei for a loop. But even in his daze, the feeling of disappointment he felt was quickly thrown out so that joy and a little amount of pride could make their way in.


    ¡°Yunfei, do you know why you are failing to make even an incomplete soul armament?¡±


    The question mystified Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Is it because my control over the elemental fire wasn¡¯t enough¡­.?¡±


    ¡°No, your control was fine. In fact, even if you were making a low-grade human-tier soul armament, you¡¯d have more than enough to spare!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He still didn¡¯t quite understand what Kou Changkong was getting at.


    ¡°The reason why you are failing to craft even a single armament is because you are missing an extremely crucial item!¡± Kou Changkong smiled.


    ¡°What¡­what item?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    Unwilling to keep Bai Yunfei in suspense, Kou Changkong waved his right hand just once. Following a bright flash of red and a ¡°thunk¡±, something fell down by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    ¡°A crafting cauldron!¡±


    Eyeing the object, Bai Yunfei could see that it was about half as tall as he was and two meters squared in area. The cauldron had a red twinkle to it, and waves of elemental fire could be felt emanating from it.


    Continuing to speak, Kou Changkong spoke, ¡°This is an essential must for all students of the Crafting School. A lot of aspects must be relied on the cauldron for something to be crafted. A good cauldron could increase the chance of success many times over for when a soul armament is being crafted. This on cauldron is a normal one. To craft items such as spears, halberds, and battle-axes, a long-shaped cauldron is required. Of course, crafting without a cauldron is possible, but your strength is without a doubt not yet at such a level¡­.¡±


    ¡°So even the Crafting School has a key ¡®item¡¯¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei realized what Kou Changkong was getting at.


    But at the same time, a question arose in his mind. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t he¡­.¡±


    ¡°You must be thinking ¡®why didn¡¯t I give you a crafting cauldron to begin with?¡¯, correct?¡±


    Nodding his head in an honest reply, Bai Yunfei listened as Kou Changkong speak, ¡°You are a disciple of mine. The more potential you have, the bigger the expectations I¡¯ll have for you. The past ten days were for you to understand just how hard crafting a soul armament is. From today onwards, you¡¯ll be more cautious in your craft while also helping you understand the many questions that might occur. As your master, I must teach in a way that you will learn the subject in a comprehensive matter.¡±


    ¡°You might not understand what I¡¯ve said so far, so let me teach you one of the many uses of the cauldron. Craft a soul armament with it and you¡¯ll understand what I¡¯m saying then.¡±


    Kou Changkong walked over to where the cauldron was and placed his right hand by his side. Pushing his soulforce into it, the cauldron began to light up before a fire burst into life from the inside.


    ¡°All crafting cauldrons are created using materials that harmonize greatly with fire. Through it, one is able to make and maintain a fire with ease.¡± Kou Changkong explained. Waving his left hand, a small clump of vermiculite ore was thrown into the cauldron and transformed into a fist-sized glob of pure essence almost instantly.


    ¡°There¡¯s countless of blocks in the cauldron which can be be influenced in any way to change the shape and outcome of the soul armament. Supplementary materials can be placed in these slots as well so that they can be compounded at any time.¡± Kou Changkong waved his hand to fill up several of the slots. With a crackling sound, a mold of a small dagger was formed at the bottom with the fire engulfing the materials and filled up the dagger mold with its liquid. ¡°While the cauldron provides the mold, you must make sure to maintain the fire as it burns the materials so that the shape and compounding can go without a problem.¡±


    ¡°During the refinement process, the cauldron can be used to push your soulforce in without deviation.¡± He paused here for a moment, and at the same time, a wave of soulforce was suddenly pushed out in such a huge drove that Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart was momentarily stunned. Imbued by the red light, the flames in the cauldron disappeared, and in the next moment, a dark red dagger flew up into Kou Changkong¡¯s hand.


    A soul armament had been crafted in practically half the time it took for Kou Changkong to make one for Bai Yunfei ten days prior to this!


    From start to finish, Bai Yunfei had been completely transfixed on each and every action Kou Changkong made. Even his words were engraved into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    Knowing that Bai Yunfei had been so intent on watching, Kou Changkong spoke, ¡°Yunfei, you come and try!¡±


    Letting out a deep breath, Bai Yunfei nodded and took two steps forward to walk up to the cauldron¡¯s side.


    ¡­¡­


    Following what Kou Changkong had said and done, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand pressed against the cauldron and fed in his soulforce to rekindle it.


    Inserting a piece of vermiculite ore and several other materials, he begun the process to liquate, compound, and refine them¡­.


    Step by step, Bai Yunfei came to realize something¡ª


    This was an effortless task!


    When the flames disappeared, a throwing knife with an icy-cold sheen was left at the bottom of the cauldron.


    He was shocked.


    Crafting a soul armament was¡­.this easy?


    Yes! Compared to the previous attempts which took ten whole days to make one, Bai Yunfei had only needed a short ten minutes to make a soul armament with ease!


    After his shock dissipated, Bai Yunfei slowly took the silvery throwing knife into his trembling hands. The make was ordinary and was three inches long and one finger width wide. This one was designed exactly the same as the most basic design from the manual he had about throwing knives.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Attack: 181


    Upgrade Requirement: 50 Soulpoints


    It was an incomplete soul armament, but it was already extremely close to being what a soul armament would be. Caressing the blade, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with an extremely excited light.


    Nodding his head in satisfaction, Kou Changkong spoke, ¡°Very good. Yunfei, remember this feeling. The art of crafting is¡­exactly like this!¡±


    Storing the throwing knife away, Bai Yunfei bowed to his master, ¡°Yes, master!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s getting late, so let¡¯s end things here.¡± Kou Changkong smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t try to craft anything more today, but remember this state and savor the feeling of the craft. Take note of everything that happened in these past ten days and commit it to memory. With your strength, you will surely make huge improvements in the future. I am sure that even middle-grade human-tier soul armaments won¡¯t be an issue for you!¡±


    ¡°Yes master,¡± Bai Yunfei started to speak, ¡°Then, your disciple will come by tomorrow¡­.¡±


    But Kou Changkong shook his head, ¡°No need. Starting from tomorrow, you don¡¯t need to come here.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei was confused, ¡°But why?¡±


    ¡°You need to master what you¡¯ve just experienced. I¡¯ve taught you all that needs to be taught. From here, work so that you grow more proficient with the art of crafting and increase the chances of making human-tier soul armaments.¡± Kou Changkong smiled.


    ¡°Seek out Song Lin tomorrow and have him appoint you a cave of your own in the Western Point. Practice by yourself, and show me how much you¡¯ve improved every ten days. If you have any question, ask your seniors or come straight to me.¡±


    As it were, Kou Changkong was still the headmaster of the Crafting School. The fact that he spent ten whole days teaching Bai Yunfei without interruption was a statement on just how much importance he placed on Bai Yunfei.


    Taking all of this into consideration, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°Your disciple understands.¡± He spoke respectfully. ¡°Thank you for your guidance, master. Your disciple will work hard so that I won¡¯t disappoint you in the future!¡±


    ¡°Good. As your master, I will believe in you. However, do not try to advance down the path of crafting too quickly. It isn¡¯t a road meant to be sped through.¡± Kou Changkong handed a gray-colored ring to Bai Yunfei. ¡°This ring contains plenty of materials. It should last you for some time. There¡¯s also a scroll that details the art of crafting on a more detailed level. Several of the more common synthesis can be found in here, and tidbits on the crafting procedure as well. I¡¯ve several of my own notes written in here, so read it carefully. Understanding it shouldn¡¯t pose too much of a task to you. This cauldron is yours to have as well. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll use it well with your strength.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined brightly as he took in Kou Changkong¡¯s words.


    ¡°Well then, go ahead back to the Western Point¡­.¡±


    After Bai Yunfei left, Kou Changkong was left alone in the room. He sighed, ¡°Giving him three months to craft an earth-tier soul armament was too much. He can¡¯t possibly make one as he is now¡­.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps I should make an announcement to cancel the trial¡­.¡±

 Chapter 216: A sDefects In the Upgrade Technique

    Chapter 216: A ''Defect'' In the Upgrade Technique


    Nighttime in the courtyard for the disciples.


    Seated on top of his bed, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands clutched tightly at the silvery throwing knife he had made.


    This was the very first piece of equipment he had crafted. Though it was an incomplete soul armament, but even if he were given the option to switch it out for an earth-tier one, he¡¯d be unwilling.


    After plenty of thought, Bai Yunfei took back the knife and replaced it with the space ring given to him by Kou Changkong.


    A single scan of its contents had been all that was needed for Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart to skip a beat; the interior of the ring was a hundred square meters! All sorts of objects were placed inside, but the amount of vermiculite in there alone was definitely over a thousand individual ores! Even several hundred different types of primal stones were in there¡­.


    The contents of this ring was so abundant that if he were to throw it to the outside world, many of the smaller schools would definitely fight each other for it.


    But in the Crafting School, it was merely items given to a disciple for ¡®practice¡¯....


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the type of person to care about matters like ¡®value¡¯. He was only surprised by the amount of it all. With such a large amount of materials, he¡¯d be able to make use of it for a very long time.


    Scanning the rest of the inner contents, Bai Yunfei then shook his hand and retrieved a crimson scroll out from the ring.


    This was the detailed scroll Kou Changkong had said to have described the art of crafting on a more technical level.


    Storing away the space ring, Bai Yunfei recollected himself and begun to read from the scroll.


    Ands so, three hours went by¡­.


    Finally, Bai Yunfei closed his eyes as he soaked in the information. With a drawn out sigh, he spoke, ¡°How ridiculous, what I¡¯ve learned so far was only just the tip of the iceberg. There¡¯s at least a thousand different combinations of compounding materials for just human-tier soul armaments alone! I wonder how long it¡¯ll take before I learn everything on this scroll¡­.


    ¡°But it¡¯s a good thing master has taught me all these days. ¡®One principle learned is another hundred understood¡¯. If I can understand one subject, I will be able to understand the rest.¡±


    After looking through the contents of the scroll once, Bai Yunfei decided to study the introduction first. It was about what he had already learned, but he still spent a single night studying in earnest over the subject¡­..


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the morning of the second day, Bai Yunfei sought out Song Lin and had a cave arranged for himself. When the two arrived at the caves, Bai Yunfei leapt up to one of the topmost caves to the left while the rest of the students watched him in fear and respect.


    ¡°Junior Bai, this cave will be yours from now on. Whatever materials you need in the crafting process can be asked to the juniors down below for help.¡±


    ¡°Alright, thank you very much, senior.¡±


    After Song Lin left, Bai Yunfei was the only one left in the cave. Looking around himself, he started to familiarize himself with the layout of the cave.


    It was about four meters in width and several hundred meters deep. The entrance itself was ten meters in square area, and if one were to travel the small passageway through, a spacious area without anything else in there could be walked to.


    Touching the cave, Bai Yunfei took notice that the walls were impeccably hard. It kind of felt like metal to the touch, and the entire cave itself looked extremely solid and hard to crack open.


    Walking to the center of the room, Bai Yunfei sat down in a crossed-legged position and took out the space ring given to him by Kou Changkong.


    As per usual, a single notification popped up.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Upgrade Requirement: 46 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Superior!¡±


    This would be the very first time he¡¯d come across a superior piece of accessory. No sooner than a hum later, Bai Yunfei had already upgraded it to +8.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Upgrade Level: +8


    Additional Attribute: +66 Strength


    Upgrade Requirement: 54 Soulpoints


    Upgrading the ring anymore than now had the risk of failure, so Bai Yunfei decided to stop then and there. He looked at the ring and hummed, ¡°66 Strength at just +8, that means it¡¯ll be in the hundreds almost by +10¡­.I wonder what type of difference there¡¯ll be compared to ¡®rare¡¯ accessories? I¡¯ll have to find a time to ask a senior if it¡¯s possible to craft accessory-related equipment¡­.¡±


    Disregarding that topic for now, Bai Yunfei waved his hand so that the crafting cauldron came plopping onto the ground in front of him. A platform was arranged prior to the placement of the cauldron so that it was now at his chest level. This was a very suitable height for crafting.


    After the cauldron was taken out, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up as if something suddenly occurred to him. Pressing a hand to the cauldron, he allowed for a notification to pop up.


    Equipment Grade: Low Legacy (Unique)


    Upgrade Requirement: 86 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei was surprised.


    ¡°Uh¡­.what¡¯s going on?¡± Bai Yunfei had a double take at this. Only two pieces of information had surfaced in his head, but nothing else. ¡°Low Legacy with a note for it being ¡®special¡¯? It has no attributes, no attack or defense, or even anything else¡­.Is this considered an equipment even? Or is this like how the accessories work, do I have to upgrade it first? This is considered to be a low-grade earth-tier armament. Interesting¡­.¡±


    He upgraded it, but aside from a +1 notification, there was nothing else that popped up.


    Bai Yunfei was yet again at a loss for words.


    ¡°The upgrade stone was ¡®unique¡¯ as well, but even that had an effect even though it couldn¡¯t be upgraded.¡±


    But this crafting cauldron was a ¡®Low Legacy¡± while also being ¡®unique¡¯ with no effect. Not even an attribute was to be seen, and neither a change to be seen after being upgraded¡­.


    ¡°This is a little¡­.how do I say it¡­.chaotic. Could this be a ¡®defect¡¯ in the Upgrade Technique?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart trembled at the thought. If a problem really did crop up in the Upgrade Technique, it would be the very same as a problem to his very own life.


    Rushing to take out a few accessories and equipment, Bai Yunfei began to upgrade them one by one.


    Having seen no problems, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh in relief, ¡°It¡¯s all good. Nothing changed so far, does that mean the crafting cauldron is too unique? But¡­.this has to be a defect in the Upgrade Technique. I didn¡¯t come across a lot of equipment before, so this problem never came up. But as soon as I met the upgrade stone and the crafting cauldron, the shortcomings become more apparent¡­.Won¡¯t this mean in the future, I¡¯ll come across even more problems?¡±


    The more he thought about it, the more worried he got. He depended on the Upgrade Technique far too much, so if even more ¡®defects¡¯ appeared in the Upgrade Technique¡­.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, he didn¡¯t want to pursue that line of thought.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be thinking about that right now. It¡¯s pointless no matter how much I think about it. I¡¯ll just have to leave it for later¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought. ¡°What I really need to do right now is to study the art of crafting. There¡¯s only half a year left, I have to make an earth-tier soul armament no matter what to become a true disciple!!¡±


    Focusing, Bai Yunfei spent the next half hour to calm himself back down so that he could start crafting.


    Armed with the experience of yesterday and his reflection from the night after, Bai Yunfei was able to easily make a single three inch throwing knife in half an hour.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Attack: 160


    Upgrade Requirement: 46 Soulpoints


    He eyed the stats quizzically, ¡°The attack is a little lower than yesterday, where did I go wrong?¡±


    Thinking to practically every detail he could think about, Bai Yunfei decided to take out some more materials and try again.


    Another half hour later¡­.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Attack: 182


    Upgrade Requirement: 50 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head in satisfaction, ¡°Okay, got it. Those two steps weren¡¯t accurate enough, and some other factors need to be considered a little more. Let¡¯s try again¡­.¡±


    He tried every way he could think of so that success and failure happened as often as the other. Without a single break, an entire day went by.


    Equipment Grade: Low Rare


    Attack: 208


    Upgrade Requirement: 60 Soulpoints


    Eyes lighting up in excitement, Bai Yunfei took the silver throwing knife into his hands with a happy smile. ¡°I¡¯ve finally made a low rare grade equipment! It¡¯s just barely in the range of a soul armament, but this is still an improvement from before!¡±


    Seeing that it was dark outside, Bai Yunfei thought to himself, ¡°It¡¯s getting late, I¡¯ll stop here then and focus on my training a little longer. I¡¯ll continue crafting tomorrow!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 217: Upgrading at Lightning Quick Speed....Isnst Enough!

    Chapter 217: Upgrading at Lightning Quick Speed....Isn''t Enough!


    For a good while, Bai Yunfei had been in a practically berserk craze to train.


    Train in the art of crafting, that is.


    From when Bai Yunfei first started crafting in that cave to ten days later, Bai Yunfei was already starting to become proficient enough with it to start crafting low-human grade soul armaments.


    On twentieth day, his chances of success with mid-human grade soul armaments were rather high.


    On the thirtieth day, he was able to make high-human grade soul armaments without a hitch.


    This was a rate of growth so fast that should the other students find out about his exponential growth, they¡¯d go mad with jealousy. Even Kou Changkong himself was shocked each and every time he came in to ¡®inspect¡¯ Bai Yunfei¡¯s work every ten days.


    His growth had even been noticed by the other three elders. They came by to ¡®observe¡¯ the process of how Bai Yunfei would make a human grade soul armament, but once they saw how he was doing it, they all stared oddly before sighing and leaving the cave¡­.


    A Soul Sprite making a high-human grade soul armaments was a very normal affair. But for someone like Bai Yunfei¡ªwho came to the Crafting School two months ago¡ªhe had gone from practically illiterate of the subject to having such a strong degree of proficiency with the Secrets of Firebending and the art of crafting!


    His speed was so monumental that for Kou Changkong and the others, they began to compare him with Song Lin. Some started to say he was even better!


    This was a development none of them had ever expected to see. Kou Changkong himself had decided to annul the trial in three months then and there. In other words, Kou Changkong would now officially take Bai Yunfei in as a disciple.


    Only Bai Yunfei knew the reason why he was improving so frighteningly fast. It wasn¡¯t ¡®talent¡¯, as they all said he had.


    Instead, it was experience!


    It wasn¡¯t experience in crafting, or experience in knowing how to manipulate elemental fire.


    It was the experience of manipulating his soulforce!


    For the art of crafting, the most important aspect was being able to control elemental fire. Should there be a mistake at some point, then the crafting process could end up in failure. To use soulforce to manipulate elemental fire was a difficult task with a minor payoff.


    For example, the one who fought Bai Yunfei back then, Chen Huanghua. He became a late-stage Soul Sprite only a year ago, but he still wasn¡¯t able to manipulate his soulforce well enough to make a high-human grade soul armament. If given ten attempts, he¡¯d have one or two successes.


    But Bai Yunfei had a factor no one else could possibly have, the ability to categorize his soulforce with numerical values!


    By use of the Upgrade Technique, he could segment and assign his soulforce using ¡®units¡¯ of measurement. For each ¡®unit¡¯, he could then use it for something else!


    Once Bai Yunfei realized this method, he gave up sleep and rest so that he could study this. Now that the fluctuation of soulforce in the process now had a numerical value assigned to just how much soulforce he need, the entire process became a whole lot more clear!


    Bai Yunfei himself didn¡¯t expect for such a large ¡®improvement¡¯ to come to him. Previously, the fluctuation of soulforce had been a hazy concept to him. But now, it was extremely straightforward!


    And now, the process of crafting was a hundred times more efficient!


    This was a secret that only Bai Yunfei could use. In the eyes of an outsider, they could only assume that he had a terrifying amount of ¡®talent¡¯.


    Even then. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    He wasn¡¯t able to create earth grade soul armaments!


    Bai Yunfei realized then and there that the ¡®trial¡¯ previously given to him by Kou Changkong was an impossible one!


    Should he give up?


    Of course not!


    With all things considered, Kou Changkong¡¯s ¡®request¡¯ was a simple matter to accomplish.


    He had the Upgrade Technique after all.


    All he needed to do was craft a human grade soul armament and then upgrade it to become an earth grade soul armament!


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to go down such a ¡®fraudulent¡¯ method. His rate of growth over the past month had given him a great confidence boost and reconfirmed his own skills. If he could make a high-human grade soul armament within a month, then he could spend the remaining half month to make an earth grade soul armament!


    All of the materials given to him by Kou Changkong had been thoroughly used up. Just like his rate of growth in that month, his consumption rate of those materials had been equally fast!


    Resolute on being able to craft an earth grade soul armament, Bai Yunfei sought out for Song Lin to have another cache of materials given to him. Under encouragement from Kou Changkong, Song Lin gave Bai Yunfei materials of uncommon grade so that mid-earth grade soul armaments could be made.


    This meant that even if Bai Yunfei made a small mistake somewhere but managed to craft a soul armament still, he¡¯d be able to scratch out an earth grade soul armament. This method was a bit similar to cracking a walnut with a sledgehammer, but it worked.


    Of course, this was only just a ¡®possibility¡¯.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Five days remained until the end of the three month time period.


    In Bai Yunfei¡¯s own cave on the Western Point, crimson light flooded the entire area and drowned the place in its red light. The air inside the cave was twisted heavily from the high temperatures that was being given off in it.


    Seated crossed-leggedly on the ground, Bai Yunfei had the crafting cauldron stacked in front of him. The palm of his right hand pressed against the side of the cauldron so that a rich flow of elemental fire could be transmitted into it. A longsword about a meter long floated in the air as it underwent the refinement process. This phase of the process was reaching its climax, and with just a few more rounds of tempering the blade with fire would bring the process to completion.


    ¡°I need more heat!¡± Like a hawk, Bai Yunfei¡¯s honed in on the sword. Droplets of sweat seeped from his head before immediately being evaporated from the high flames surrounding him. Thinking to himself, he thought, ¡°I¡¯ve only done 564 variants of intensity, that isn¡¯t enough! If a soul armament is made, it¡¯ll only be a high-human grade soul armament¡­.¡±


    In the scope of materials, the final step of refinement dictated the grade of a soul armament. In this phase, the intensity of the elemental fire had to be constantly changed so that a low-earth grade soul armament can be made. Even if the materials were capable of making low-earth grade soul armaments, if the change in intensities weren¡¯t enough, the grade of the soul armament would drop.


    ¡°I¡¯ll risk it, one more round!¡± Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunfei placed his left hand onto the cauldron and pushed out his soulforce into it. The flames in the cauldron swelled up another size and quickly started to flicker and shake.


    Just a moment later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew white, ¡°Crap, that¡¯s too much!¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Not even an instant later, an explosion erupted from the cauldron followed by a surge of fire.


    By the time the flames died down, all that was left in the cauldron was a pile of metallic fragments.


    ¡°Dammit, another failure!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. Tossing out the fragments from inside the cauldron with a wave of his hand, he deposited it into the corner of the rightmost side of the cave.


    A mountain of broken weapon fragments was already piled up from in large numbers¡ªa tragic sight to behold.


    Bai Yunfei studied the cauldron with an dejected expression for a while before he bit his lips, ¡°Again!¡±


    With another wave of his right hand, another batch of materials flew into his cauldron; among this batch were three clumps of vermiculite ore the size of a washbasin almost.


    For the sake of producing a high quality soul armament, Bai Yunfei would no longer be miserly with his materials!


    Pushing his soulforce into the cauldron to liquate and refine the materials, Bai Yunfei watched as the flames roared to life inside the cauldron with a crackling sound. A meter-long machete mold took shape at the bottom of the cauldron for the liquated materials to take form in along with the supplementary materials. In the mold, the flames would slowly refine them.


    The compoundment phase took two hours this time. It was only when the supplementary materials was successfully infused into the main materials that Bai Yunfei proceeded into the next phase of refinement¡­.


    A clear sound suddenly made itself known in the caves.


    ¡°Heehee, brother strawhat, I¡¯ve found you!!¡±


    The sudden voice had given Bai Yunfei such a fright that the flames in the cauldron flared up and energy began to billow outwards.


    Cold sweat appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead; this was an omen that the cauldron was about to explode. An explosion like this was a surefire sign of failure. Not only would the entire crafting process go to waste, there was a very real chance of danger happening to the crafter themselves.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t all too experienced with crafting so the dangers wouldn¡¯t be too bad, but something bad would still happen nonetheless.


    For an example of one of these bad events, please think back to what happened to Chen Huanghua prior to his arrival.


    Pressing hard with both palms, Bai Yunfei forced the soulforce in the cauldron to force down the elemental fire from spilling out everywhere. The flames gradually began to die down before finally petering out. With a final snapping sound, the soul armament in the cauldron shattered into pieces.


    ¡°Agh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei groaned to himself. Dispersing the remaining flames in the cauldron, he dissipated the elemental fire around him and then turned his head to speak, ¡°Junior Dai Dai, what brings you here?¡±


    The person that came to disturb him was none other than the princess of the Crafting School, Huangfu Rui.


    In her hands was the very same Xiao Rourou. She stood a small distance away from Bai Yunfei with a happy smile on her face, ¡°Heehee. How silly are you to be so distracted, brother strawhat? Even if it¡¯s super noisy, Dai Dai can focus completely on crafting!¡±


    ¡°....¡± A frown was itching to make its way onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips as if he was hoping to say, ¡°How could I even compare to a genius like you?¡±.


    Instead, he stared somberly at Huangfu Rui, ¡°What brought you here today, junior?¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 218: A Brief Break

    Chapter 218: A Brief Break


    ¡°I want to play with you.¡±


    Her head tilted to her side as she stared innocently at him. ¡°You only played with me for a half day last time. But then you never came to see Dai Dai again! The kite you made broke already, can you make me another one?¡±


    ¡°What? It broke? How?¡± Bai Yunfei started. For the sake of honoring his promise, he went to play with Dai Dai and helped make her a goldfish-shaped kite to play with. It had been made with high-quality paper that was pliable, but strong; and even if it were to get wet, it wouldn¡¯t break so easily.


    Huangfu Rui¡¯s face twisted together, ¡°It was hit by lightning the afternoon before yesterday¡­.¡±


    Black lines etched itself onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face¡ª¡°There was a thunderstorm on that day and you were still flying a kite?!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.were you hurt?¡± Bai Yunfei just had to ask.


    Baffled, the girl responded, ¡°Nope. But I¡­I felt numb for a bit. The kite was completely broken though¡­..¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    ¡°Brother strawhat, play with me again! Can we fly another kite? Please?¡± Huangfu Rui¡¯s large eyes stared up at Bai Yunfei to plead with him as if she were a spoiled child.


    ¡°Junior,¡± Bai Yunfei started to speak with scrunched eyebrows, ¡°I¡¯m very busy right now. I have to craft a soul armament very soon, so I¡­.¡±


    Huangfu Rui pouted, ¡°Hmph! Senior Yun was right! Brother strawhat only knows how to craft! Senior Yun said that this wasn¡¯t right. She said that you have to take a break every so often, or else you¡¯ll get even worse! That¡¯s why she came with me today to play with you.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrow flew up at that, ¡°Senior Yun¡­Xinyun¡¯s here as well?¡±


    ¡°Dai Dai, I told you to not go straight in! Why must you run in without even a word?¡± At that moment, a warm voice called out from the entrance of the cave. A figure in white soon entered the cave, revealing itself to be Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Xinyun, what brings you here as well¡­?¡± Bai Yunfei was almost afraid to ask. The last time he met Huangfu Rui, Tang Xinyun had been right next to her. The two of them got along just fine, but for what reason would she have to call the newcomer ¡®senior¡¯ Yun?


    Was it because Tang Xinyun had also a partner as cute as ¡®Xiao Baibai¡¯??


    ¡°Xiao Rui is always talking about you and how she loves the toys you made for her incessantly. I couldn¡¯t convince her not to come, so I decided to accompany her here to find you.¡± Tang Xinyun greeted Bai Yunfei with a smile. A small dimple was just barely noticeable on the left side of her face.


    Looking at the pile of broken soul armament fragments in the corner of the cave, her eyebrows knitted together, ¡°Yunfei, did you spend the past several days crafting all of this in the cave?¡±


    Now that both Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun met again in the Crafting School, they saw each other as good friends rather than acquaintances. They were far more familiar with one another, and no longer did they regard each other at an arm¡¯s length away.


    Tang Xinyun had joked that Bai Yunfei should call her ¡®senior¡¯, and Bai Yunfei had naturally disagreed to do so.


    Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°I just have to. I¡¯ve only five days left until the third month. If I don¡¯t make an earth grade soul armament¡­.¡±


    ¡°I said it before, so I¡¯ll say it again. You don¡¯t need to work so hard like this.¡± Tang Xinyun spoke with exasperation. ¡°I heard master say that the headmaster has already decided to annul the trial and take you in as a disciple without any conditions. Why are you trying so hard still then?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Every single student of the school is watching me. I need to prove my strength and talent that I belong as a disciple!¡±


    He paused here to look at the cauldron behind him. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m at a bottleneck of some sort. Who knows¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re far too dedicated to this.¡± Tang Xinyun sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sure the headmaster has told you already, the path of crafting isn¡¯t something that can be rushed head-on. If you want to craft an earth grade soul armament, then let me ask you, have you succeeded in making soul armaments today?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± It was then Bai Yunfei realized the truth behind what she was saying. He had been so focused on crafting an earth grade soul armament, he didn¡¯t even realize that out of dozens of attempts, not a single one of them had succeeded!


    Tang Xinyun laughed in response, ¡°Overexertion leads to an improper mindset when crafting. It¡¯s a good thing Xiao Rui found you when she did.


    ¡°In my opinion, you should play with her today and take your mind off things for now. The next time you try crafting, it¡¯ll be a lot easier.¡±


    ¡°Yea yea! Mom only lets me craft three soul armaments a day! She said that anymore would be pointless.¡± Huangfu Rui nodded from the side.


    ¡°Brother strawhat, come play with me! Dai Dai is amazing, you know. I can shrink a lot of materials and make them even stronger!¡±


    He was silent this time. What Tang Xinyun said to him made sense; perhaps it would actually be best if he took a break and wind down. Recollecting the cauldron, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll play with junior Rui for a while. Didn¡¯t you want a kite? I¡¯ll make you an even bigger kite in the shape of a butterfly this time¡­¡±


    Huangfu Rui was ecstatic. ¡°Really?! Okay! Yes! Make it now then! We can fly it up above the hills!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The northern grasslands of the Eastern Point was already a lush area of jade-green since it was already the second month of the year. All of the nearby trees were filled with vivid leaves and life was springing up from every area.


    Huangfu Rui was running around the place with the kite in hand and a delightful scream coming from her lips. Up above, a giant butterfly kite was ¡®flapping¡¯ it¡¯s wings as it flew through the air. The quickshade bird followed the kite with a flap of its wings every so often, as if to say, ¡°I¡¯m a kite too!¡±


    As for the small pig named Xiao Rourou, it chased after Huangfu Rui right behind with a snort and a grunt every so often.


    Bai Yunfei just had to sweatdrop at the sight.


    The two of them were both fifth-tier soulbeasts, how could they be reduced to such simple pets that loved to play?


    Right by his side, Tang Xinyun smiled as she watched Huangfu Rui play to her heart¡¯s content.


    Looking to her, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Hey, Xinyun, have you already started learning the art of crafting?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little early for that. I¡¯ve only just become a Soul Sprite not too long ago; so I can¡¯t even control the elemental fire yet.¡± Tang Xinyun shook her head.


    ¡°I¡¯m currently trying to train in the Secrets of Firebending still. Why must you compare me to you? By the first month, you¡¯ve mastered the Secrets of Firebending, and by the second month, you¡¯re able to craft human grade soul armaments now. And yet you¡¯re still throwing yourself at trying to make an earth grade soul armament. Don¡¯t you know most of the students already see you as a god or something? I know there¡¯s plenty of junior sisters on the Eastern Point that are getting quite curious about you.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Is that so?¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his head in embarrassment, ¡°How do the other students even know about my progress anyways?¡±


    ¡°I think a junior named Zhang Sanxian started the rumors.¡± She smiled. ¡°He¡¯s said to be the ¡®Bai Xiaosheng¡¯ of the Crafting School. He¡¯s also known as a chatterbox. All of the rumors are from the ¡®secret information¡¯ he has, haha¡­¡±


    TL Note: Bai Xiaosheng is a fictional character by Wuxia novelist Gu Long. He was said to have started a list of the best fighters and weapons in the Wulin.


    Bai Yunfei was speechless. Zhang Sanxian was the very first person he had met from the Crafting School on friendly terms while also being of the same Western Point as him. The only difference was that Zhang Sanxian was situated on the western side of the courtyard¨Ca respectively far distance away from Bai Yunfei. Combined with how busy Bai Yunfei was in his training, the two rarely met with one another. The information he had on Bai Yunfei surely had to be supplemented by what Bai Yunfei¡¯s neighbor, Si Kongxian, knew.


    As expected from the two ¡®Xians¡¯, they would be good friends with one another.


    Watching the quickshade bird fly across the skies, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Hey, Xinyun, why do I feel as if Xiao Bai¡¯s got¡­.¡±


    ¡°Got a little stronger?¡± Tang Xinyun smiled. ¡°That¡¯s because it did. Xiao Bai¡¯s already become a middle-stage fifth-tier soulbeast.¡±


    ¡°That fast?¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised.


    Tang Xinyun nodded. ¡°It was severely hurt when we saved it a long time ago. After its wounds healed after the escape from the beast tamers in Gaoyi City, its wounds were fully healed by the time we got to the Crafting School. When I became a Soul Sprite, Xiao Bai gained some power from the soul contract it had with me. The remaining wounds were healed and it became stronger.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Bai Yunfei uttered, ¡°A soul contract had a use like that?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Soul contracts are wondrously magical. Not only did it allow for Xiao Bai and I to share our thoughts, it synchronized our soulforce together in a kind of symbiotic way.¡± She nodded, ¡°This is the unique effect of a soul contract. That¡¯s why so many soul cultivators desperately wish to make a soul contract with a soulbeast.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was astounded, ¡°How great¡­.I wish I had a soulbeast partner as well¡­.¡±


    But then he tilted his head to look down at the small ball-shaped white pig chasing happily after Huangfu Rui, ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t want a soulbeast like that one¡­.¡±


    Tang Xinyun laughed, ¡°Haha, I heard master say that a student has to become a Soul Exalt before they¡¯re allowed to travel to the Soulbeast Forest to form a soul contract with a soulbeast. Those who came to the school with a soulbeast partner like me are already non-existent almost¡­¡±


    ¡°A¡­.A Soul Exalt?!¡± Speechless, Bai Yunfei responded, ¡°Isn¡¯t that asking just a little too much?! Just how long would a person have to wait¡­?¡±

 Chapter 219: Skipping a Stage to Refine by Compression!

    Chapter 219: Skipping a Stage to Refine by Compression!


    The two continued to chat for some time before Huangfu Rui finally came trotting back to them after taking down the kite.


    ¡°Brother strawhat, sister Yun, do you want to eat barbeque?¡±


    ¡°Barbeque?¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow.


    Huangfu Rui nodded, ¡°Yea! Let me tell you something. The barbeque Dai Dai makes is the best! Xiao Rourou loves eating it.¡±


    Bai Yunfei reeled backwards in shock. Almost losing his step, he looked at the nearby red pig, ¡°It¡­.it eats meat?!¡±


    ¡°Yea!¡± Huangfu Rui responded. ¡°Xiao Rourou eats a lot, even more than Dai Dai does!¡±


    This time, Bai Yunfei was seriously at a loss for words. ¡°It eats meat! How wrong is that?! You¡¯re a pig for heavens sakes¡­.¡±


    Tang Xinyun realized what Bai Yunfei was thinking about and spoke softly to him, ¡°Yunfei, Xiao Rourou is a late-stage fifth-tier soulbeast, should you really be comparing it to¡­.one of those?¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± A lightbulb popped into his head, ¡°How could I forget?! I can¡¯t be so easily cheated by a soulbeast¡¯s physical appearance!¡±


    As if understanding what Bai Yunfei was thinking about, the red magiboar gave a snort and cracked open its maw so that its pearly-white teeth shined at Bai Yunfei¡­.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the things to make barbeque¡­.¡¯ Bai Yunfei shook his hands in front of him as if to indicate he had nothing to give. There was plenty of things to pick up on his travels, but the stuff for barbeque was not one of them.


    ¡°I do, I do!¡±


    No sooner did Huangfu Rui give an enthusiastic response did she pull out the small pink pouch by her side. Sticking her hand into it, she groped around before finally pulling out a two meter long grill for barbeque in a flash of red light.


    ¡°And then¡­.some purple charcoal, it makes the barbeque taste even better!¡± She pulled out a clump of charcoal the color of purple right afterwards.


    ¡°And then a table.¡± In a third flash of red light, a table with several stools were brought out in front of them.


    ¡°And! And some deer meat, and a five-finned fish, and a¡­.¡± One after another, Huangfu Rui ¡®pulled¡¯ out platters of meat and fish dishes and placed them onto the table.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was gobsmacked. ¡°Are you Doraemon?!¡±


    ¡°Are¡­are you Doraemon or something?!¡± Bai Yunfei blurted out by accident.


    ¡°And that¡¯s it!¡± Huangfu Rui had only just dusted off her hands after plating the last ish onto the table before turning to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Eh? Brother strawhat, what did you say just now? Doraemon? What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Er, it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°Junior Rui, this bag of yours¡­.¡±


    Tang Xinyun spoke up to answer Bai Yunfei first. ¡°It¡¯s a space pouch, they¡¯re similar to a space ring. I heard that the previous headmaster made it for Xiao Rui personally..¡± She smiled.


    ¡°The previous headmaster? Headmaster Zi Jin?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Uncle Zi is so nice to me! Dai Dai wanted to be able to store things in here, so he helped make me a spatial soul armament!¡± Huangfu Rui slapped the pouch merrily as she explained the backstory.


    ¡°Headmaster Zi Jin is¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei tilted his head slightly before realizing something.


    ¡°Oh, how does one even make a spatial soul armament?¡± He asked.


    But Tang Xinyun shook her head cluelessly, telling Bai Yunfei that he asked the wrong person.


    But then Huangfu Rui suddenly shot her hand up into the air, ¡°I know, I know!¡± She piped up.


    ¡°Wha? You know?¡±


    ¡°I do!¡± Huangfu Rui took on the posture of a teacher, ¡°A person ha to understand the laws of space in order to craft a spatial soul armament. Otherwise, one has to be a soul cultivator with an affinity for the very rare space element. You have to be a Soul King to be able to start understanding the laws of space¡­¡±


    ¡°The space element and Soul King¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head sadly. As he was now, there was no point in thinking about the two.


    ¡­¡­


    Afterwards, Huangfu Rui made sure to show Bai Yunfei some of her best techniques in the art of barbeque. Needless to say, the barbeque was great, and Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were able to eat plenty.


    As for the red magiboar, it was able to eat enough meat for three people¨Cno, three boars. Even the quickshade bird was only able to peck at a single slab of deer meat.


    Both of which let Bai Yunfei come to a conclusion: One can¡¯t use the ¡®secular¡¯ standards to come and try to understand the beings known as soulbeasts¡­.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Later that night in his cave.


    Bai Yunfei felt much better after spending half the day in rest. When he started to craft again, a success popped up straight away.


    Equipment Grade: High Rare


    Attack: 451


    Upgrade Requirement: 77 Soulpoints


    Taking a look at the silver shortsword in his hand, Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow, ¡°This must be what they mean by being in tip-top shape when crafting. I¡¯ve only just started and I was able to make a high-human grade soul armament. An earth grade isn¡¯t¡­.too far away then¡­.¡±


    A dagger was made another three hours later, but this one was only 435 in attack; it was weaker than the first attempt.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t! I¡¯m lacking in something still! I need to make an earth grade soul armament! Just one¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head in disappointment and placed the dagger away into his space ring.


    If Chen Huanghua were to find out that Bai Yunfei was able to make two high-human grade soul armaments in a row, he¡¯d be filled with resentment and so much jealousy that he¡¯d break a wall with his head in shame.


    ¡°Junior Rui said that she could compress materials to their limits this afternoon. She said that this way, its power would be magnified¡­.I remember there was a method like that said in the art of crafting¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly thought back to one of the things Huangfu Rui had let slip from her mouth earlier today. Thinking about it, he flipped his hand so that the manual for crafting would appear and started to flip through it.


    A moment later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Got it! Refinement via compression!¡±


    Scanning through the text, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knitted together after he finished reading, ¡°This is a method only a Soul Ancestor should try to attempt¡­.ugh!!¡±


    But then he thought about the idea again and muttered, ¡°But still. This method doesn¡¯t look too hard. Maybe¡­.just maybe I can do it? The only difference is how strong the compressions have to be. I might not get it to perfection, but I might just be able to make an earth grade soul armament this way¡­.¡±


    ¡°Should I try it out?¡± Bai Yunfei hesitated, the scroll still waiting in his hand.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Who cares! Nothing ventured nothing gained! If I fail, I¡¯m only just going to lose materials, that¡¯s all!¡± Bai Yunfei spoke in a way similar to what a spendthrift might say. No longer hesitating, he started to read on the subject and started to try and learn the methodology behind it.


    In concept, the method wasn¡¯t complicated. It was only just a matter of surrounding the materials in fire before compressing the materials over and over again to refine it. The better quality the materials were, the more force that was required to compress it. That¡¯s how the soul armament got stronger.


    Of course, one had to make sure that the materials being compressed didn¡¯t exceed their limits. Any more and the materials would be crushed beyond use, subsequently turning them into waste.


    About an hour afterwards, Bai Yunfei placed down the scroll and stored it back into his space ring. ¡°All I have left are some high quality vermiculite ores, that should be enough. I have to make an earth grade soul armament by tonight!¡±


    Placing his right hand onto the cauldron once more, Bai Yunfei sent some soulforce out. Since he was wearing the Ardent Sun Glove on his hand, the glove glowed bright red in color. A small flame almost similar to the sun in brightness appeared right above his palm¨CBai Yunfei was using the elemental fire from the glove to supplement the strength of the fire.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A fire roared to life within the cauldron and swiftly spread out so that the flames covered the entire cauldron in its light.


    With a wave of his left hand, five pieces of vermiculite ore was deposited into the cauldron. In a flash, they were liquated and turned into a small blob of pure essence surrounded by fire. Honing his eyes onto it, Bai Yunfei forced a small vortex to appear in front of him. As it spun around the essence, the vortex grew smaller in size along with the essence.


    Soon enough, a small glob of essence about the size of his fist took form within the vortex. As it shined bright red in color, Bai Yunfei glared even harder at it, ¡°Not enough!¡±


    Following another wave of his left hand, a few more clumps of vermiculite ore was added into the cauldron¡­.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were practically boring holes into the essence in the cauldron, and his mind was completely engrossed into this very action alone. His soulforce continued to pulsate outwards so as to continue compressing and refining the materials.


    ¡°Still not enough!¡±


    A few more vermiculite ores were thrown in¡­.


    The amount of materials he was using now usually enough to make a fifty kilogram hammer, a giant tower shield, or any other heavy-type soul armament. But under Bai Yunfei¡¯s compression, the materials were becoming smaller than a ball!


    Another two hours later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were already blood-shot from the amount of focus he had going on. His soulforce was already at a peak in what he could throw out, and the fire in the cauldron was already dancing so wildly that the interior of the cauldron was impossible to see in.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    An explosion came out from the cauldron, shattering the silence that had been present in the cave.


    Straight away, Bai Yunfei grew shocked!


    ¡°Crap, I lost control!!¡±

 Chapter 220: Losing Control

    Chapter 220: Losing Control


    A furious wave of energy exploded forth from the cauldron, filling the entire cave almost instantly. As the heat wave spread across the area, the hot winds blew at Bai Yunfei¡¯s clothes so that they rippled back and forth while the temperature in the cave swelled up abruptly!


    Up until now, the vermiculite ore that had been reduced to essence within the flames had been docile as it was being compressed. But then out of the blue, it began to churn and billow outwards as if trying to contest with the flames that were constricting it!


    Stern as he regarded the situation, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand continued to expel soulforce while his left hand threw in some supplementary materials into the cauldron.


    Each time a supplementary material was added to the mixture with the main ones, the explosive energy slowly started to ease up.


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei let out a sigh in relief before suddenly realizing the situation with a start.


    ¡°Damn! This won¡¯t do!¡±


    The essence had only been calm for two seconds before it exploded outwards again!


    With a wave of his left hand again, a large amount of supplementary materials were thrown into the cauldron again. Like last time, the energy was only abated for just a moment.


    Once more, the energy began to splash outwards of the cave and bring it to a scorching boil. But only Bai Yunfei¡¯s back was thoroughly drenched with sweat.


    It was all too clear to him that the amount of vermiculite ore he had been compressing for the past few hours contained a tremendous amount of power. Should that power be let loose, then the resulting explosion would without a doubt be far stronger than what a normal cauldron explosion would be!!


    ¡°I can¡¯t let it explode! I gotta force it back down!¡±


    A mental howl echoed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head as the Ardent Sun Glove on his right hand and the Flameblade Bracer on his right arm both lit up with an eye-piercing light. The fire in the cauldron swelled up again, but when Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand tossed in even more supplementary materials, the mixture was forced back down to a near manageable degree.


    A few scant minutes later when Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand down to pick up some supplementary materials again, Bai Yunfei realized that there was none left in his space ring! But this realization only came about after he picked up and threw in some vermiculite ore and primal stones instead of the supplementary materials!


    But when nothing happened when the vermiculite and primal stones were thrown into the fire, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°They did something!¡±


    Somehow, the addition of the two had decreased the hysterical energy in the cauldron!


    Without needing to be told, Bai Yunfei began to throw in several clumps of golden ore into the cauldron.


    The furious energy gave pause here, giving Bai Yunfei a chance to push his soulforce into it. Bending to his control, the elemental fire began to condense and spin rapidly in the cauldron so as to force the energy that was threatening to leak out to be condensed once more.


    But¡­.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    Just like the first time, the materials that were being condensed exploded out once more. If the elemental fire covering the materials were like a balloon of air, then something had popped the balloon open for the energy inside to come bursting out.


    Not even hesitating in the slightest, Bai Yunfei tossed in even more vermiculite and primal stones. It didn¡¯t even matter how big their rarity was, all that mattered was regaining the control over the situation¡­.


    But with this rapid usage of his remaining materials, it didn¡¯t take long for his supply to go completely bare¡­.


    So when the energy within the cauldron began to leak out again, it leaked out in an energy far stronger than before!!


    In a way, this situation was similar to a pot of boiling water. In order to prevent the water from boiling for too long, cool water must be added to stabilize the temperature and stop the water from boiling. But sooner or later, the cool water that was added will be set to boil again, leaving no other choice but to add even more water. Lather, rinse, repeat.


    Sooner or later, however, there would be no stopping the boiling or even a point in adding water. Not only was the water in the pot completely boiled, the pot itself would be melted!


    ¡°Dammit! Stop, please! I can¡¯t control this!¡± Bai Yunfei grew panicked and his face contorted in anxiety. In his moment of desperation, his left hand flew to toss in a few staff-shaped soul armaments he made the days before into the cauldron.


    ¡°Wha¨CIt worked!!¡±Bai Yunfei¡¯s face lit up with excitement upon realizing that the addition of these soul armaments weakened the flow of energy somewhat. Struggling to grasp at what was essentially the life-saving rope thrown to him, Bai Yunfei tossed in a few more equipment.


    Normal equipment, upgraded equipment, incomplete soul armament, and soul armaments, they would all be tossed into the cauldron without discrimination.


    The heart of the congregation of energy felt like a bottomless black hole. So many pieces of equipment were being tossed into it, but it had only led to the energy growing slightly bigger while also weakening in its wild and chaotic flow.


    But there would be a discovery that Bai Yunfei would soon find out about following this strange change in development¡­.


    If things were to go on like this, when Bai Yunfei ran out of equipment, then his cave, and quite possibly the entire cliff would not be able to handle the explosion¡­.


    ¡°Stop! Stop! Stop!!!!!¡± Bai Yunfei roared out loud to his cauldron while tossing in even more equipment. At the same time, he let out a muffled whimper in his head, ¡°My equipment!!¡±


    The situation in front of him was no longer a situation he could control. Even if he wanted to turn face and run, he couldn¡¯! If the energy in the cauldron didn¡¯t come to a stop, he wouldn¡¯t be able to either!


    One by one, the equipment in his space ring grew smaller and smaller before the ring itself became empty of non-upgraded equipment¡­.


    When his left hand tossed in an upgraded piece of equipment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened as soon as the article left his hand and into the cauldron!


    Rusty-red in color and chipped in a multitude of places, this item sheened red in color¨Cit was the +13 brick!


    ¡°No!!¡± Bai Yunfei yelped. His right hand stretched out towards the cauldron; he had to take back that brick!


    It had been an unconscious stream of actions that led to the brick being thrown into the cauldron. But to Bai Yunfei, this brick was extremely important, no matter if it was in its effects or overall sentiments!


    By the time his hand caught up to the brick, it was already about to touch the still rippling red liquid inside the cauldron!


    According to reason, this red liquid would be about the same type of consistency and temperature as molten iron or lava.


    But when Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand touched the insides, he felt the polar opposite¨Cit was cold!


    There wasn¡¯t any time for Bai Yunfei to pull out the brick, but when his hand made contact with it, a notification immediately popped up inside Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, rendering him speechless¡­


    Equipment Grade: Ordinary


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 132


    +10 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 1% chance of confusing the target for a maximum of 3 seconds. (When attacking the head, the chance of confusing increases to 5%).


    +12 Additional Effect: Attacks have an 8% chance of stunning the target for a maximum of 5 seconds. (When attacking the head, the chance of stunning increases to 15%).


    +13 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 30% chance of hurling the target through the air.


    Upgrade Requirement: 50 Soulpoints


    ¨CThis was the stats for the +13 brick, but what really made him speechless was the following notification.


    Equipment Grade: Middle Regalia


    Attack: 4763


    Upgrade Requirement: 260 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    His mind went blank and his body went rigid from his shock. Not a single peep came out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth before yet another notification arose in his mind.


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Attack: 2367


    Upgrade Requirement: 140 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Middle Regalia


    Attack: 3958


    Upgrade Requirement: 230 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Middle Regalia


    Attack: 4319


    Upgrade Requirement: 240 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Attack¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    In the time it took for two short breaths of air, the number of notifications that popped up in his head had been mind boggling!


    In the next moment¡­.


    In the next moment, an unbelievably impetuous amount of energy rippled through the air, jolting Bai Yunfei awake!


    Without a constant flow of soul armaments to restrain the energy, the elemental fire had gotten out of control when Bai Yunfei had been distracted. Like a feral horse let loose, the ¡®things¡¯ inside the flame began to knock and thrash about in the cauldron. From how it flickered and pulsated, the cauldron looked as if there was a mini universe about to explode inside!


    This dazzling red light had already overshadowed the elemental fire that Bai Yunfei had condensed in the cauldron along with his entire being. Even the cave itself was flooded with light.


    There was nothing else Bai Yunfei could do now. He was a cornered dog with no way to move and only one action left for him to make¡­.


    A spark of light clicked in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. With all the haste he could manage, he shouted out loud,


    ¡°UPGRADE!!¡±

 Chapter 221: Confusion

    Chapter 221: Confusion


    A spark of light clicked in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. With all the haste he could manage, he shouted out loud,


    ¡°UPGRADE!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Middle Regalia


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Attack: 3389


    Additional Attack: 98


    Upgrade Requirement: 210 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too sure if it was just an illusion, but when he managed to pull off an upgrade, the oppressing aura around him stopped for just that one moment!


    Even if it wasn¡¯t an illusion, Bai Yunfei was determined to seize this opportunity. If he was drowning in a pool of water, upgrading would be the life-saving piece of reed for him to grab hold of.


    Without hesitation, he shouted out again, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Middle Regalia


    Upgrade Level: +2


    Atta¨C


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Attack: 2873


    Upgrade Requirement: 190 Soulpoints


    As sudden as could be, another notification popped up before the first one could even fully reveal its stats!


    Though shocked, Bai Yunfei gave no time to think about it and thought, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Attack: 2873


    Additional Attack: 90


    Upgrade Requi¡ª


    Equipment Grade: Low Regalia


    Attack: 2649


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    Just like before, another notification had interrupted the first one.


    But when he succeeded in upgrading, Bai Yunfei could feel the pressure around him grow noticeably lighter.


    ¡°It really worked!¡± Bai Yunfei was astonished and relieved. He had no idea what in the world was going on, but his mind had already come to a conclusion.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡± He thought next.


    Upgrade Successful


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Just like how Bai Yunfei had been throwing in materials and equipment when he was crafting, Bai Yunfei was now ¡®mechanically¡¯ upgrading each equipment he had left.


    As it were, the situation at hand was completely far beyond what he could comprehend. He couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine just how things could develop to such a point. If his hand were to pull out a moment earlier, an injury from the cauldron would¡¯ve been for certain. Bai Yunfei knew that if the ¡®thing¡¯ inside the cauldron exploded, death would¡¯ve been the least of his worries¡­.


    There was no time for regrets or even second thoughts. All he could do now was to concentrate completely on upgrading in hopes of stabilizing whatever it was that needed to be stabilized. It would be even better for someone to notice what was going on so that the elders could hopefully come over and help him¡­.


    The ¡®substance¡¯ his right hand was touching was about the size of a small soccer ball by this point. Thanks to his constant upgrading, it didn¡¯t take long for a stern look to grow on his face¨Che was running out of soulforce!


    Notifications popped up in his head one after another so often that it was no longer shocking to Bai Yunfei. Each equipment wavered in between low regalia to middle regalia before, but now, all sorts of equipment ranging from superior to regalia could be had. Neither pattern nor rest could be found here!


    Some of the notifications that¡¯d appear would often be the stats of an equipment after it was upgraded. Sometimes, some would appear as soon as it was upgraded, and other times, notifications would pop up right before another equipment was upgraded!


    It was a chaotic mess of time for Bai Yunfei¡­.


    That wasn¡¯t the only mess, however. Bai Yunfei¡¯s thoughts, the energy in the cave, and even the Upgrade Technique. Everything was in disarray¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    The definite time had been lost to Bai Yunfei by the time his soulforce ran out and his eyes had gone bloodshot from exertion when he ended the last upgrade with a gasping breath.


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    The last string of notification had been for a +10 dagger. It had failed to upgrade, but the ¡®sphere¡¯ above the cauldron failed to change in situation. A second notification popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head after that.


    Equipment Grade: High Rare


    Attack: 461


    Upgrade Requirement: 77 Soulpoints


    By now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was completely hazy with fatigue. Withdrawing the stockpiled 300 soulpoints in his space ring, Bai Yunfei clenched his teeth, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: ¡­.


    The notification continued to pop up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head one after another. Not even a while later, Bai Yunfei was on the verge of collapsing to the ground. If he were to try and upgrade an item that needed over a hundred soulforce, then he would be completely devoid of any soulforce.


    It was at this time that Bai Yunfei could feel an item fall straight onto his hand.


    A notification popped up then, but the stats of this item caused him to go blank in the face.


    Equipment Grade: Normal


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 132


    +10 Additional Effect: ¡­..


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It was the damned +13 brick!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s earlier attempt to ¡®save¡¯ the brick had resulted in this situation from happening. But now it had finally ¡®returned¡¯ to his hand.


    But¡­.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel a sliver of ¡®joy¡¯ about this. In fact, he didn¡¯t even feel like taking the brick out at all.


    The chaotic energy had decided to make a ¡®counterattack¡¯ whilst Bai Yunfei was in his moment of stupor, prompting him to sigh and say, ¡°Upgr¡ª¡±


    Not even the final part of the word could be stated when something happened out of the blue!


    A wave of attraction suddenly came from the ¡®thing¡¯ and made contact with Bai Yunfei before he could even react. As soon as it touched his right hand, the very last sliver of soulforce was usurped straight from it!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart stopped in that one brief moment out of fright. He could feel his soulforce being practically ripped from his body, and the light-headed sensation that came prior to knocking out was knocking at his head. In the moment he began to lose consciously, two final words made its way into Bai Yunfei¡¯s head¡­.


    ¡°It¡¯s over!!¡±


    It had felt as if the elemental fire all over the cave had stopped in that one moment. The resplendent red light that was shining out above the cauldron was starting to expand and contract over and over again as if it were a tidal wave in a surging storm. Splashing outwards like a red wave, the fire was then immediately ¡®sucked¡¯ into the cauldron!


    It was roughly at the same time when Bai Yunfei fell to the ground. He was unconscious. But the red light continued to flood the cave around him, ultimately covering up Bai Yunfei as well.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A loud explosion rocked the area and resonated to even the outside of the caves. Startled, all of the students of the Crafting School looked up towards the dark skies. They were just in time to see a bright fiery sun come shining out from the Western Point with a light that could illuminate the surrounding hundred kilometers!


    The light from the sun persisted for a few seconds before it started to ebb in intensity. Gradually, the center of the sun was exposed, revealing the cliff where the crafting caves were.


    But!


    All that was left was half of the cliff side!


    The very topmost part of the cliffs was completely and utterly gone from sight!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei had been at ground zero of the explosion. He was out cold from where he laid on top of the ruined cliff side, but it didn¡¯t quite seem as if the explosion had affected him. There wasn¡¯t even a scratch to be seen on him!


    There was an even bigger oddity to be seen there. About a meter in front of him following the explosion, a liquid sphere the size of a soccer ball floated in the air!


    At its conception, ¡®it¡¯ had been burning bright with a crimson light. But now, there was a different color mixed in. As ¡®it¡¯ continued to pulsate and billow over itself, the other colors could be just barely seen in the red.


    Right underneath ¡®it¡¯ was a flame about the size of a fist. It danced and flickered delicately as if it would go out at any second. But at the same time, it felt as if a boundless amount of energy was contained in it.


    Essence fireseed!!


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei¡¯s essence fireseed had detached from his body!!


    There was yet another peculiarity to the place. A few meters all around Bai Yunfei, there was a transparent air bubble that encapsulated him inside. It looked completely disharmonious with the air around it, and anyone that looked at it would feel as if this air bubble didn¡¯t belong in this world.


    Bai Yunfei, the essence fireseed, and the storming ¡®sphere¡¯ were all completely surrounded by this air bubble. From the outside, there as a ripple that moved along the three objects, as if it were scanning the three.


    Each time a ripple glossed over it, the essence fireseed would give a slight jump.


    The sphere itself would try to jump and roar to life, but the air bubble would ¡®restrain¡¯ it.


    This transparent ¡®entity¡¯ was seen once before¨Cit first showed up when Bai Yunfei obtained the Equipment Upgrade Technique.


    It was called the planar laws!!


    If the planar laws were showing up yet again, what new change would it be bringing this time?

 Chapter 222: Soul Binding!

    Chapter 222: Soul Binding!


    As Bai Yunfei¡¯s conscious started to clear, he began to ¡®wake¡¯ up.


    When he ¡®opened¡¯ his eyes, the sight that came to greet them startled Bai Yunfei.


    A crimson glow flooded the area with its red luster. Along with the light, elemental fire danced wildly all around as if taking up all the oxygen to leave none behind to breathe in.


    But what surprised Bai Yunfei the most was the hundreds of weapons ¡®floating¡¯ all around the place!


    His very first instinct was to back away.


    But even when the thought occurred to him, a horrifying discovery was met.


    He had no ¡®body¡¯!


    Calming himself down as swiftly as he could, Bai Yunfei ¡®looked¡¯ around the place with a mind racing in thought.


    ¡°This feeling¡¯s pretty familiar¡­.soul sense¡­.or just my own thoughts!


    ¡°I¡­.I was crafting a soul armament when I lost control. After that¡­.I used everything I could, but I still ran out of soulforce.


    ¡°But what happened after that?


    ¡°And what¡¯s going on right now? How are my thoughts coming to this place?


    ¡°Hold on¡­.the things around me¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes observed the floating weapons all around him.


    ¡°Equipment! These are the equipment I threw into the cauldron!


    ¡°But how! How did this happen? Did my soulsense get sucked into the crafting cauldron?! This¡­.this doesn¡¯t feel right though. Not only that, my entire spirit feels like it¡¯s here too!¡±


    This situation baffled Bai Yunfei. He could make neither heads nor tails of what was going on, or how this was happening to begin with. Even when he tried to feel his way around the place, he got no reaction from his senses.


    ¡°Is¡­.is my ¡®body¡¯ gone already?!¡± Having no answers for this situation, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hairs stood at their ends when this horrifying thought came to his mind.


    But after some time went by, Bai Yunfei came to the startling realization that there was indeed one sensation he was suddenly feeling.


    Fatigue!


    His consciousness was slowly growing faint!


    This was a monumental distinction. Now that he could guess that his body was gone, Bai Yunfei knew that should his consciousness sink any further, his very person could very well be the next thing to disappear¡­.


    Subconsciously, Bai Yunfei began to go through the process of waking himself up by using his soulforce as was taught in The Arte of Training the Soul.


    ¡°It works!!¡±


    Much to his joy, the teachings of the manual worked even in here!


    Throwing out every other thought in his head, Bai Yunfei started to train in this strange place.


    A strange wind was starting to take form in this crimson-red space. Stirring up the elemental fire around the area, the winds began to focus it into one ¡®focal¡¯ point. The winds picked up in speed with such speed that the elemental fire became a vortex that swirled and picked up in might as it condensed together.


    Time was hard to measure in this place. Perhaps it was a few hours. Or perhaps just several moments had passed from when Bai Yunfei ¡®opened¡¯ his eyes.


    But whatever the case was, all he could feel in this one moment was unlimited ¡®power¡¯.


    ¡®Looking¡¯ down, Bai Yunfei could see the elemental fire condense and take on the form of a palm.


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei was melding the elemental fire of this space into a ¡®body¡¯!


    ¡°Will this¡­.be enough?¡± Bai Yunfei clenched his fist tightly. ¡°I can feel my ¡®consciousness¡¯ is a lot stronger than before. Can I leave this place now?


    ¡°Eh? Hold on¡­.¡± Just at that moment, his eyes could see an object floating several meters in front of him; a brick!


    Startled, Bai Yunfei thought to himself, ¡°Hold on, just hold on! You¡¯re telling me this thing is still here?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t realized it before since he had been so caught up in forming a body for himself, but this brick had been constantly floating by his side!


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei had the feeling that the brick was¡­.


    Protecting him?


    Even as his mind came up with this outlandish thought, Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®hand¡¯ reached out to grab at the brick.


    But as soon as his ¡®hand¡¯ made contact with the brick, a new development immediately took place!


    Making contact with the brick had been like some sort of switch being flicked on. The entire space around Bai Yunfei began to tremble and shake. All of the energy inside and all of the soul armaments that were still floating around began to act as one. As if being ordered by something, they started to fly towards Bai Yunfei¨Cor perhaps it¡¯d be more accurate to say they were flying towards the brick in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand!


    In the instance where his consciousness had lost balance once again, Bai Yunfei felt a notification streak across his mind.


    Soul Binding Successful¡­.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At the crafting caves of the Western Point.


    Time had barely started to move for those at the top of the destroyed cliff side. Some of the stones were still dropping from the skies while Bai Yunfei was still sleeping on the ground.


    Suddenly, the ¡®object¡¯ that had been floating up above Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to swell and expand outwards. In several seconds, the object became cuboid in shape and slowly took on the shape of¡­.the brick!


    At the same time, the essence fireseed that had been burning almost silently to itself on the ground jerked slightly. As if being summoned, the essence fireseed flew up to touch with the ¡®brick¡¯!


    Like a chain reaction, the surrounding air bubble around the objects began to swirl around rapidly. Contracting even faster and faster, the ripples around its outer shell started to scan Bai Yunfei and the brick next to him.


    Moments later, the air bubble around the two gradually started to dissipate as if it had never existed to begin with¡­.


    In the next moment, the floating brick released a flash of red light, assisting the previously fist-sized flame into the air and returning into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body like a tired bird coming back to roost.


    Finally, there was a chance to the previously sleeping soundly Bai Yunfei. A finger on his hand twitched slightly and his eyebrows wrinkled together by a small margin. His lips trembled somewhat as if he was experiencing some sort of pain¡­


    When all of the light was gone, the brick slowly descended down onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest. From the looks of things, this brick looked no different than from what it was before as a +13 one.


    Though the light was the brick was gone, the place was still lit up in a red hue as it was before.


    This was because of the light from the elemental fire. It was starting to congregate on the outside of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    ¡­¡­


    From the outside, the red light illuminated the night skies quite nicely. There were even some parts of the sky where the air twisted in on itself like a ripple of water across a pond¡­


    And in the next moment, the silhouette of a person came walking out from the air!


    This person wore white robes to complement his elderly white hair. Despite the color in his hair, the man looked to be in his sixties and was relatively average in appearance. An appearance honed from age and a kindly expression reminiscent of a benevolent old man.


    But the fact remained that the elder was standing up in the air. From this alone, one could tell that he was no ordinary old man.


    His eyes swept across the place, confused. ¡°Strange,¡± he muttered, ¡°I could¡¯ve sworn there was a law I¡¯ve never felt before¡­.did I imagine things?¡±


    His eyes fell upon Bai Yunfei who was still strewn about over the ruined caves. ¡°He managed to destroy half the cliff-side¡­.what a hot-headed child.¡±


    And yet, how did he manage to pull this off?¡±


    ¡°Hm? I can see that he¡¯s¡­¡±


    From right behind, the sound of wind blowing around the place made itself clear. Several figures came flying over before coming to a stop behind him.


    The elders of the Crafting School, Kou Changkong, Xiao Binzi, Huangfu Nan, and Cang Yu; they¡¯ve all assembled in this one place!


    Both Kou Changkong and Xiao Binzi had a faint red glow outlining their figures while Huangfu Nan and Cang Yu had a congealed red light underneath their feet.


    Nodding his head, Xiao Binzi greeted the first person to arrive, ¡°Brother.¡±


    Kou Changkong bowed his head to the man, ¡°Master.¡±


    Both Huangfu Nan and Cang Yu bowed their waists deeply, ¡°Master.¡±


    This person was the headmaster of the previous generation, Zi Jin!!


    The man gave a faint nod of his head in response before diverting his attention back to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Changkong, is this youngster from the internal school?¡±


    Kou Changkong had already seen that it was indeed Bai Yunfei who was laying down on the ruined grounds of the cliff. Surprised by what he saw, the man answered Zi Jin with an incredulous expression, ¡°Master, this one is called Bai Yunfei. He¡¯s a disciple I decided to take in three months ago.¡±


    ¡°Eh? A disciple?¡± Zi Jin¡¯s eyebrows rose up on his face. ¡°And three months ago, you say? He was only in our school for three months?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kou Changkong nodded. ¡°He joined when he was a late-stage Soul Sprite. His talent at crafting allowed him to walk 3.7 kilometers into the cave, but then¡­.¡±


    Kou Changkong began to explain the backstory of Bai Yunfei to Zi Jin. Afterward, Zi Jin remarked in surprise, ¡°He was able to withstand nine rounds in there? He was able to make a late-human tier soul armament in three months then! How could it be that he was only able to walk 3.7 kilometers then? There must be a mistake in the trial¡­.


    ¡°Tasking him with the creation of an earth tier soul armament is far too harsh of a trial, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°I only wished to see his determination at that time. After much consideration, I decided to forego that trial and took him in as a disciple.¡± Kou Changkong mentioned. He sighed when his eyes met Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, ¡°But he must¡¯ve been too stubborn. Eager to prove something, he must¡¯ve made a mistake, resulting in this. It¡¯s a good thing nothing else happened¡­.¡±


    ¡°Nothing happened? Senior, you speak quite lightly of the situation. The cliff was made to be dense beyond all else. Even an explosion from making an earth tier soul armament shouldn¡¯t be able to cause anything like this. But this youngster has managed to destroy half the cliff, what in the world could possibly accomplish that?¡± Huangfu Nan exclaimed. ¡°This youth is an enigma! What has he done now, we must find out!¡±


    As he spoke, Huangfu Nan was already moving to reach Bai Yunfei. A single footstep was all it took before the man had bounded several hundred meters down to where Bai Yunfei was.


    But just as he knelt down to touch Bai Yunfei, something unexpected happened!

 Chapter 223: Becoming a Soul Ancestor!

    Chapter 223: Becoming a Soul Ancestor!


    But just as he knelt down to touch Bai Yunfei, something unexpected happened!


    From out of the blue, the brick that had been lying inconspicuously on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest flew straight up into the air. In a flash of orange light, the brick moved to protect Bai Yunfei from the man!


    Huangfu Nan had been caught completely off guard by this situation, but he was still an expert of the late-stage Soul Exalt level. Flying in retreat, both of his hands flew up in a flash of red to protect himself when the brick made contact with them.


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    The sound of a brick hitting flesh run through the air, resulting in Huangfu Nan being sent backward. It was only ten meters in recoil, but the man¡¯s feet dragged across the air. Soon after, a series of ¡®steps¡¯ made from elemental fire materialized underneath his feet, allowing the man to come to a stop.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone was speechless. They could all see the orange light irradiating from the brick as clear as day.


    Even Zi Jin was speechless!


    ¡°Automatic protection¡­.that¡¯s a lifebound armament! Impossible!!¡±


    A strange light flickered in Zi Jin¡¯s eyes. His right hand moved to take out a black sphere before tossing it towards Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Clank!¡±


    Once again, the brick moved out to slam against the black sphere. The two objects came to a stop.


    The orange light that had been around the brick grew darker for just a slight second before returning back to normal.


    In fact, the light was even brighter than before.


    As for the black ball, it returned back to Zi Jin¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Heaven tier!!¡±


    Both Xiao Binzi and Kou Changkong snapped out from their thoughts at this announcement. No longer acting as apathetic to situations as he would before, Xiao Binzi spoke first with eyes honed in on Bai Yunfei, ¡°A heaven tier lifebound armament? But how! That kid¡¯s strength shouldn¡¯t be capable of crafting such a grade! What in the world happened?!¡±


    On the other hand, Kou Changkong looked down on the ground, ¡°Ling Yan is down there, let us ask him!¡±


    A bright ray of red light immediately shot forth from his hand, jettisoning towards the ground a thousand meters beneath the group.


    Down below, several disciples were all staring at the completely devastated cliffs with fingers that pointed at it while they gesticulated to one another.


    Standing at the very front of the group was the third senior of the Western Point, Ling Yan. He had noticed the group of elders gathered above them beforehand, but just as he was prepared to head up to meet them, a ray of red light met him first. Surrounding his person, the red light then levitated the youth into the air to bring him to the elders.


    Ling Yan¡¯s sudden departure did not go unnoticed by the other students. Upon realizing that the headmaster and other seniors were above them, the students all let out gasps before speaking to one another in more quiet voices than before.


    In no time at all, Ling Yan was brought to the front of the seniors. Managing to calm himself in time, Ling Yan greeted the men, ¡°Junior Ling Yan pays his respects to master, the previous headmaster, and the elders!¡±


    Changkong nodded his head to accept the greeting. ¡°Ling Yan, can you tell us what happened here? What happened to Yunfei, do you know the details?¡±


    Regarding Bai Yunfei with a bespectacled look, Ling Yan thought for a moment on what to say.


    At last, he then spoke, ¡°Master, I¡¯ve been in my own cave since yesternight, but junior Bai was in the cave next to me. About an hour ago, I felt something odd going on in his cave along with a wave of energy that got stronger with time. I didn¡¯t really pay much attention at the time since I thought that it was just a small problem at first.


    ¡°But the energy continued to grow stronger! Just ten minutes ago, it was at least a hundred time stronger than before. I was afraid of the danger, so I prepared to call junior Bai out and report to master when it became a storm. This was the aftermath of that¡­.¡± Ling Yan stopped there to nod at the surrounding area. ¡°It was far stronger than I thought if it could destroy half the cliff! It¡¯s a good thing I warned some people earlier, otherwise¡­.¡±


    ¡°Is that it?¡± Unsatisfied, Kou Changkong pressed on, ¡°Do you know what in the world Yunfei was crafting? Or what caused this?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Ling Yan¡¯s voice wavered. ¡°Junior Bai was crafting by himself, so I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m not sure¡­.¡±


    Taking in the answer silently, Kou Changkong waved his hand, ¡°Tell the students to disperse. The cliff is off-limits for the time being!¡±


    ¡°Yes, master!¡±


    Dropping Ling Yan back down onto the ground, Kou Changkong watched as the disciple begin to order everyone to leave the place. This part of the Western Point became silent after some time with only five people left here and the glowing-red Bai Yunfei.


    After being so silent for such a long time, Zi Jin chose now to speak up, ¡°Changkong, have you looked into his identity? Do you think he¡¯s related to him?¡±


    ¡°According to our investigations, he shouldn¡¯t be¡­.¡± Kou Changkong shook his head before telling Zi Jin of what they knew about Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Oh? Someone who had a ¡®chanced¡¯ meeting with Ge Yiyun? And an acquaintance to Hong Yin, the son of the Wolf King?¡± Zi Jin hummed in surprise at Bai Yunfei¡¯s background. ¡°What the Fate School calls ¡®fate¡¯ might be said to be imaginary, but it really is something quite mystical. If it was Ge Yiyun who helped him, then there should be no problems with this one¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Kou Changkong nodded, ¡°I believed such as well. Let us wait for Yunfei to wake first before anything else is done.¡±


    Silent since her arrival, Cang Yu finally spoke up at this juncture in concern, ¡°Senior, is Yunfei in any danger? Perhaps we should¡­¡±


    Startled by her response, Kou Changkong smiled to relieve her. ¡°Junior, you shouldn¡¯t worry. I¡¯m sure that Yunfei only lost consciousness after the explosion. He has something protecting him from any danger already, I¡¯m sure that it won¡¯t be long before he wakes up again.¡±


    Cang Yu¡¯s eyebrows crinkled together nonetheless, ¡°But¡­¡±


    She hadn¡¯t even been able to finish her words before everyone suddenly swung their heads to look towards Bai Yunfei.


    The red light that had been glossed over Bai Yunfei¡¯s body like a transparent cocoon finally started to dissipate. Then, as if being swung by something, the elemental fire around Bai Yunfei began to swirl and form a vortex about a hundred meter in diameter!


    The vortex swirled faster and faster in on itself with Bai Yunfei at its center. When the vortex came into being, the space around Bai Yunfei started to twist in on itself while being saturated with more and more elemental fire. The elemental fire that had been sucked into the vortex then began to drain into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    At first, Cang Yu was confused on what was going on. But then she realized the truth of the matter, ¡°Yunfei¡¯s making a breakthrough! He¡¯s becoming a Soul Ancestor!¡±


    As of right now, Bai Yunfei felt as if he was stuck in a chaotic space.


    He had immediately lost consciousness when his hand made contact with the floating brick back at that ¡®strange space¡¯. When he woke, he could ¡®see¡¯ nothing around him now. All he could feel was an unbelievably warm sensation envelop him for a snug and cozy experience.


    It almost felt like he was flying. What constituted this space was like his body now, and it corresponded to his control as his own flesh and blood would.


    Not much time went by before Bai Yunfei felt the warm sensation around his body slowly leave him.


    Then when his body felt light, Bai Yunfei knew that he had finally returned to his original body.


    ¡°Good¡­my body¡¯s still here¡­.¡±


    Was Bai Yunfei¡¯s first thought.


    A warm sensation, unlike the previous one, entered his body next. It flowed into his body into an unending stream. Though his mind was kept hazy as a side-effect, the sensation wasn¡¯t all too bad.


    ¡°Crack¡­.¡±


    At some point, the sound of something cracking from within the depth of his soul split the silence. What came after that was a stream of information and images that flowed incessantly into his mind¡­.


    A city flourishing with life. Buildings of strange shape and material. People hustling and bustling down the streets wearing all sorts of strange clothes. And even stranger, chariots that seemed to travel at breakneck speeds¡­


    The slumbering fragments of memories that lay dormant in the depths of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was suddenly showing the memories it had straight into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind!


    Time had no meaning for Bai Yunfei as he accepted the information. The information had been far too much for him to take in, resulting in him fainting once more.


    Who knew how many times he had fallen unconscious over the span of today?


    On the outside, the raging ripples of elemental fire began to draw in on itself before being absorbed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    Even the brick itself had lost its luster. With a plop, the brick fell down by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    And so, the peak of the Western Point was finally back at its long-needed silence¡­.

 Chapter 224: Awakening Firs

    Chapter 224: Awakening (First)


    An icy-cold sensation flitted across his forehead. Though cold in temperature, it was comforting in its touch on his head.


    ¡°Urgh¡­.¡±


    At last recovering somewhat from his ordeals, Bai Yunfei let out a small grunt.


    ¡°Oh! Senior Bai¡¯s awake! Senior Bai¡¯s awake!¡±


    From somewhere around him, the excited voice of a person repeated itself before drawing farther away from him.


    Bai Yunfei wished to open his eyes, but for some reason, his eyelids felt as if they were being weighed down by a thousand pounds of weight. It was a mystery on who was speaking, as the voice barely registered to his ears.


    Some time went by before his mind cleared up enough for Bai Yunfei to think about circulating his soulforce.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    It came as a complete and total surprise to Bai Yunfei when the small amount of soulforce he was trying to move had suddenly come galloping out from his chest. In no time, the entire outer layer of his body was filled with his soulforce!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    So startled was Bai Yunfei that he leaped out from his spot, scattering the quilts that had been covering his body to the ground. It was then that he realized his resting spot had been above a bed¨Che was back in his own room on the Western Point.


    ¡°Haha, Yunfei, you¡¯re finally awake I see¡­.¡±


    The sound of gentle laughter came from the side.


    Turning his head, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see just who his visitors were!


    Kou Changkong, Xiao Binzi, Huangfu Nan, and Cang Yu were all standing by Bai Yunfei¡¯s bed. And in front of them, another old man with white hair stared kindly at him.


    For a while, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t understand what was going on, but he stood up to bow to them only to realize that he was clothed in nothing but his underwear!


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Locking up into place, an embarrassed look reached Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be flustered, go and put on a fresh change of clothes.¡± The strange elder chuckled at the slight misfortune Bai Yunfei was in.


    With all the speed he could muster, Bai Yunfei changed into a new suit of robes and dressed himself down. Bowing properly to the seniors in front of him, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Junior Bai pays his respects to the master, the elders, and the¡­.¡±


    His salutations stopped there due to his confusion on what to call this next person.


    ¡°This is the master of your master. The previous headmaster of the school.¡± Kou Changkong warned.


    Shock gripped at Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. Never did he imagine that this elder right in front of him would be the ¡®legendary¡¯ headmaster Zi Jin. Bowing his head deep, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°This junior pays his respects to the previous headmaster!¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zi Jin nodded his head with a smile, ¡°There¡¯s no need for such politeness. Come sit, I¡¯ve questions I¡¯d like to ask you.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    All of the elders were now situated by the table in Bai Yunfei¡¯s room. Bai Yunfei himself was seated at the table, but he felt it extremely awkward and so he jerked and looked around himself every so often.


    ¡°Master, are you all here today about¡­¡±


    He hesitated here, afraid of continuing his question.


    Kou Changkong gave a small smile. ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯d like to ask you, what were you doing the night before yesterday in your cave?¡±


    ¡°The night before yesterday?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated. ¡°I¡­.I was out for an entire day?¡± He asked.


    ¡°To be more precise, it was a day and two nights.¡± Cang Yu smiled.


    ¡°Bai, are you still sleepy in the head? Do you understand what you¡¯ve done to the caves that night?¡± Huangfu Nan shook his head in impatience.


    ¡°Uh¡­.what happened?¡±


    ¡°You blew up half the cliff!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    For a bit, Bai Yunfei went dumb.


    But Kou Changkong shook his head as if to give comfort, ¡°Yunfei, don¡¯t pay attention to that for now. We¡¯ve repaired the caves already. You just need to tell us, what happened that night?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already repaired? The second elder said I blew up half of it and it¡¯s already repaired?!¡± Bai Yunfei practically screamed to himself. He wanted to ask how in the world they managed to repair the cliff, but he knew better than to ask that now. Bowing his head down, Bai Yunfei let everyone stare at him even more as he tried to think of an answer.


    After a long period of silence, Bai Yunfei finally looked back up at them. ¡°Master, your disciple was trying to craft an earth tier soul armament so I tried to make use of the compression method¡­.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s face changed drastically at the very mention of the compression method. Huangfu Nan spoke up first, ¡°You used the compression method?! Are you not aware that this requires one to be a Soul Ancestor before even attempting? Even a primary-stage Soul Ancestor has a failure rate of at least ten percent; calling you reckless wouldn¡¯t even be enough to do you justice!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± A reaction the size of this magnitude had been unexpected to Bai Yunfei. Was the compression method perhaps an extremely serious topic?


    ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt him, let Yunfei finish speaking.¡± Cang Yu shot Huangfu Nan a withering glare.


    Thinking a little more about what happened, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Your disciple¡­.didn¡¯t really think about how serious it¡¯d be. When I¡­.when I started, everything was going well. It was when I compressed several ores that things¡­.¡±


    Since there was nothing that could be said to be a ¡®secret¡¯ when Bai Yunfei was attempting the compression method, Bai Yunfei hid nothing in his story.


    ¡°What?! Not only were the supplementary materials not enough, you also tossed in several vermiculite and primal stones?!¡± Huangfu Nan exploded once more in stupefaction. ¡°Are you an idiot?! You weren¡¯t even running for your life by that point, did you want to die a terrible death?!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei was speechless. He knew that he had been far too rash in his actions. All he could think about was how he had lost control of the energy, then lost the opportunity to run away, and then he lost mobility in his body.


    By the time Bai Yunfei finished the next part of his story of when he tossed in several types of equipment, everyone listening was staring at him strangely. Huangfu Nan himself passed up on the opportunity to berate him. Rather than criticism, there was a look of admiration in his eyes.


    Whatever it was that Huangfu Nan felt admiration for, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Then when I ran out of soul armament to use, I accidentally threw in one of my more important soul armament. Out of reflex, my hand reached in to grab it, but my hand stretched too far into the cauldron by then¡­.After that, the energy finally broke loose in the cauldron and knocked me out. When I awoke, I found that my mind was in a strange place¡­.¡±


    He completely glossed over the Upgrade Technique and how he had upgraded several items in this strange place. The strange experiences that happened to him afterward were something he wanted to understand as well, so he tried his best to explain the situation in hopes that someone in his audience was experienced enough to give him an explanation.


    But Bai Yunfei had been so caught up trying to recall and retell the story that he didn¡¯t even notice that everyone was in a state of stunned silence from listening to his story¡­.


    ¡°¡­.And after that, I lost consciousness again until I woke up just now¡­..¡±


    Finally ending his story, Bai Yunfei took in a deep breath and looked up; only to be surprised at what he saw.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were as wide as they could be as if they had all seen something strange beyond strange. It was unsightly to see, and even the previous headmaster Zi Jin hadn¡¯t bothered to hide his emotions. He instead looked to Bai Yunfei with complete and utter shock.


    And a great amount of satisfaction too.


    ¡°The Anima Realm! That¡¯s the Anima Realm!! Haha! It all makes sense now! There is no questioning how you crafted a lifebound armament then! Haha, excellent, excellent I say!¡± Zi Jin exclaimed aloud.


    He hadn¡¯t been untruthful on how he felt and spoke what was on his mind. Even his final words weren¡¯t even enough to fully convey the excitement he felt right now.

 Chapter 225: The Anima Realm and Lifebound Armaments! Second

    Chapter 225: The Anima Realm and Lifebound Armaments! (Second)


    Startled by how excited this person was and confused by the terms he was speaking aloud, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Senior¡­.this ¡®Anima Realm¡¯ and ¡®lifebound armament¡¯¡­.what are they?¡±


    Kou Changkong had finally regained awareness of the situation at hand. Regarding Bai Yunfei¡¯s vacant expression with a proud smile, he spoke, ¡°Yunfei, your performance has been outstanding! Ever since you¡¯ve joined the Crafting School, you¡¯ve managed to exceed each and every expectation I¡¯ve had for you! As your master, I¡¯m proud of you! What you¡¯ve accomplished today is a surprise for the entire school!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei was lost once again. ¡°Since when did I become so ¡®great¡¯? Didn¡¯t I just blow up half the cliff a while ago?¡±


    Giving himself a few seconds to gather his thoughts, Kou Changkong began to explain to Bai Yunfei, ¡°They weren¡¯t things you¡¯d needed to know when you first joined the Crafting School. But since you¡¯ve somehow managed to land yourself into the Anima Realm, it¡¯s time that I tell you now.¡±


    He paused here. ¡°Anima Realm is an extremely mystical realm that¡¯ll only make itself known when crafting a soul armament. To be more clear, this realm is known to be where one becomes the ¡®soul of the soul armament¡¯. When infusing one¡¯s very soul into a soul armament, this realm leaves behind an eternal mark on the soul, much like what happens in a soul contract. The mark left behind on the soul armament are what we of the Crafting School call, ¡®lifebound armaments¡¯!¡±


    ¡°Lifebound armaments are a level higher than soulbound armaments. In fact, they¡¯re on completely different scales so-to-speak. One must have reached at least a 50% soul compatibility with a soul armament to turn it into a soulbound armament. But lifebound armaments require a soul compatibility of at least 100%! The creation of a lifebound armament establishes a connection between the soul armament and the spirit. It¡¯s said that lifebound armaments become an extension of one¡¯s body, and aside from its master, no one else can ever use it!¡±


    ¡°The strength of a regular soul armament is often something many people struggle to make use of. The more compatible one gets with a soulbound armament, the more powerful it¡¯ll be. As for lifebound armaments, it wouldn¡¯t be strange to see its power double, triple, or even increase by a dozen fold!!¡±


    ¡°Soulbound armaments are usually made after becoming a Soul Sprite by making use of the essence fireseed during the time. Of course, the method you made use of before was of an extremely special nature. Aside from our Crafting School, there¡¯ll never be a second chance like this. We cannot always offer this method, that¡¯s why only disciples are given access to it.¡±


    ¡°After crafting a soulbound armament, there¡¯s a chance to increase one¡¯s compatibility with it each time they grow stronger in strength. It¡¯s a difficult task, and sometimes their compatibility barely goes up. And just like a soulbound armament, a soul cultivator has only one chance to craft a lifebound armament!¡±


    Throughout the explanation of lifebound armaments and the realm known as the Anima Realm, Bai Yunfei had been utterly dumbfounded.


    When Kou Changkong mentioned that only one chance was to be had to craft a lifebound armament, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t stop himself from asking, ¡°What¡­what chance is there?¡±


    ¡°When one becomes a Soul King! In the moment one steps into that realm, there¡¯s a chance to step into the realm of Anima and craft a lifebound armament. But the chances of that happening is only 1%¡­..when I and the first elder became Soul Kings, we never managed to step into that realm. Out of the entire Crafting School right now, only the previous headmaster Zi Jin has a lifebound armament¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei had nothing to say.


    Becoming a Soul King! Wow!


    What an unreasonable opportunity!


    And 1% chance to boot, that was a lowly chance¡­.


    But what Kou Changkong said next left him even more speechless than before.


    ¡°What I just explained is the ¡®normal¡¯ way to craft a lifebound armament in regards to the Anima Realm. Aside from taking the chance by becoming a Soul King, there is another situation just like how you accomplished it. That is by stumbling in onto the realm when crafting a soul armament¡­.But the last time someone managed to accomplish that in the Crafting School was about eight hundred years ago¡­.¡±


    Eight hundred years ago¡­.


    What Kou Changkong was meaning to say was that Bai Yunfei was a genius that appeared once in eight hundred years!


    ¡°And now you know,¡± Kou Changkong smiled, ¡°how surprised we were to hear this?¡±


    It really was far too shocking to think about. This time, it took several minutes for Bai Yunfei to recollect his thoughts. Even then, he was doubtful about what he managed to accomplish.


    But then, a thought occurred to him, ¡°Oh¡­.master, you said I crafted a lifebound armament, that means¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I remember now. You were unconscious when we found you. Do you know what type of lifebound armament you¡¯ve made?¡± Cang Yu finally asked from her spot behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s bed. ¡°Perhaps because of your special circumstances when crafting, your lifebound armament was¡­equally special¡­.¡±


    When Bai Yunfei turned to look where she was looking, the expression on his face immediately hardened. Exasperation greeted his face at what he saw¨Cit was the brick!


    Cang Yu had thought that this was the form Bai Yunfei¡¯s crafting attempt had made, but Bai Yunfei knew that it was actually the +13 brick he had since forever! It even had the same nicks and jags in the exact same places!


    Just as Bai Yunfei was just thinking about picking up the brick to look, it suddenly sprung up into the air and flew straight towards him.


    ¡°Wha¡ª¡±


    He yelped.


    Smiling, Kou Changkong said, ¡°That is one of the special properties of a lifebound armament. As long as there¡¯s soulforce, it can be controlled at a thought within a thousand meters.¡±


    Bai Yunfei watched as the brick float in the air for a while. He didn¡¯t quite know what to do. It had a ¡®familiar¡¯ feel to him as if he was controlling his own flesh and blood.


    In fact, it felt ten times easier to control the movements of the brick than the fire-tipped spear.


    ¡°So this is a lifebound armament¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought with excitement. When he lifted his right hand, the red brick immediately flew towards it¡­.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Time stopped for several seconds there when Bai Yunfei suddenly came to that realization. When he paused, his face had mirrored his look of shock.


    ¡°What is it, Yunfei? Do you feel the huge difference in between a soulbound armament and a lifebound armament?¡± Kou Changkong smiled. ¡°You should experience the wonders of it on your own time. This lifebound armament of yours is of the mid-heaven tier, I¡¯m sure of it. Aside from a high-heaven tier armament, there is no other armament that could hope to fight against it. But with your current strength, it should be difficult for you to make use of it.


    ¡°But don¡¯t feel discouraged. As you grow stronger, you¡¯ll be able to make use of more of its power.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Y-yes¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei replied hastily after realizing that he had been lost in thought. Embarrassed, Bai Yunfei stored the brick away into his space ring.


    Kou Changkong watched Bai Yunfei go through his thoughts in silence for a while before he decided to warn Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, I must warn you. You managed to profit from disaster this time around. By this, I mean that it was a lucky coincidence that you managed to make it into the Anima Realm and craft a lifebound armament. A lucky happenstance that won¡¯t happen again for a second time, so try not to be so hot-headed next time. Otherwise, the resulting situation won¡¯t be like the first time¡­.¡±


    Bowing his head, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Your disciple will do as you say, master.¡±


    He wouldn¡¯t repeat such a dangerous affair like that even if he was beaten to death¡­.


    ¡°Alright. Yunfei has become a Soul Ancestor already, so he¡¯ll need some time to consolidate his strength. We should take our leave.¡± Zi Jin, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke up to the others.


    Kou Changkong nodded his head in agreement. ¡°Yes, that we should. Yunfei, rest up for a day or two. We¡¯ll talk more another time.¡±


    Standing up to bow, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Yes, master.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After seeing the five elders off, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief.


    Feeling somewhat light-headed with so many things to think about, Bai Yunfei shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts and calm down.


    But just before he could do anything else, a sharp knock made itself known from the other side of the door.

 Chapter 226: An Upgrade in the Upgrade Technique! Third

    Chapter 226: An Upgrade in the Upgrade Technique! (Third)


    ¡°Senior Bai, may I come in?¡± Came the voice. It was his next door neighbor, Si Kongxian.


    Though surprised by his voice, Bai Yunfei spoke out, ¡°Come in.¡±


    As the door came open with a creaking sound, Bai Yunfei was able to see that it wasn¡¯t just one person there; there were multiple people coming in!


    Senior Song Lin, second senior Xiao Nanren, third senior Ling Yang, seniors Li Tiechui, Lian Lingmin, his juniors Tian Yuhang, Si Kongxian, Zhang Sanxian, Ye Zhiqiu, Mo Xiaoxuan, Xi Yan, Zhong Xuhao, Liu Mang¡­.and even Tang Xinyun and Huangfu Rui were in attendance.


    As the group of people swarmed into his room, Bai Yunfei found himself surrounded by them all.


    ¡°Junior Bai, how¡¯re you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Senior Bai, I heard that you blew up half the caves, you¡¯re amazing¡­¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai, what were the headmaster and the other elders talking to you about? They¡¯re not punishing you, are they?¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, what happened to you that day?¡±


    ¡°Brother strawhat, you¡¯re finally up! You¡¯re even lazier than Xiao Rourou if you slept for two days! You made sis Yun worry about you the entire two days; she didn¡¯t even have time to play with me¡­.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Rui, wh¨Cwhat are you saying, I¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The way how everyone spoke over one another gave Bai Yunfei such a headache that he felt extremely faint.


    It was with great difficulty that Bai Yunfei managed to discern that everyone knew he had been awake for some time. But with the headmaster and the other elders there, there was no way they¡¯d barge to interrupt them. So they had to wait in Si Kongxian¡¯s room until they left.


    And so; Bai Yunfei answered to each person one by one before the room devolved again into a noisy place.


    It took an entire hour before Song Lin was the first to say that Bai Yunfei needed some rest. With his announcement, everyone else decided to leave the room.


    As Bai Yunfei watched the group walk out and away, he had a small smile on his lips.


    Having such concerned friends like these had made Bai Yunfei feel very happy.


    Shutting the doors closed in thought, Bai Yunfei headed straight for the underneath basement rather than his bed.


    ¡­¡­


    Illuminated by the light stones there, Bai Yunfei sat down on the ground and breathed in and out in relaxation. One after another, he started to think about each thing that happened to him today.


    The first and most important thing was his current strength.


    Upon further investigation, he could tell that the amount of elemental fire and soulforce in his body was many times stronger than before. At a wave of his hand, a flurry of red light sparked into sight as a wave of fire materialized into the room!


    Gesturing with the same hand, the ocean of fire moved swiftly to form a giant vortex instead. Spinning rapidly around the room, it shrunk down into the center to form a brilliant fireball that floated over the top of his palm.


    The corners of Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips curled upwards as he observed the fireball he was controlling. Clenching his fist tightly, he scattered the fireball into every direction outwards. With its concentrated form broken, the flames were forced to flow away from its original spot in huge droves.


    ¡°Is this the Soul Ancestor realm? I feel far stronger than before¡­..I can even control the elemental fire on a far better level now.


    ¡°It¡¯s as if Soul Sprites could only ¡®borrow¡¯ the usage of the elemental fire in the world and Soul Ancestors and ¡®use¡¯ it. This¡­.this is a new world of understanding.


    ¡°The intensity of the flames is stronger too¡­.I don¡¯t know how strong, but using the Eighty One Fold Fist Force from the Overlapping Waves Art should be easy to do now¡­.¡±


    Now was the day that Bai Yunfei finally realized the true extent to how terrifying of a soul skill the Overlapping Wave Arts was. The physical-type soul skill given to him by Ge Yiyun that showed its strongest at the realm of the Soul Ancestors. The aftermath of the blows was inconceivable to think about.


    But this still required experimentation to fully understand everything.


    Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei muttered to himself, ¡°Well, let¡¯s see the Upgrade Technique then¡­.¡±


    When he turned his right hand over, the newly-made lifebound armament that was the brick appeared in it. A flash of suspicion gleamed over his eyes first before shock replaced it.


    And then joy.


    ¡°The Upgrade Technique was¡­.¡¯improved¡¯!!¡±


    Concentrating onto the brick even more now, Bai Yunfei looked at the notification that popped up.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Normal (Regular Mode)


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 132


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 5% chance to inflict confusion for a maximum of 3 seconds.


    (If attacking the head, increase this chance to 10%.)


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to stun the target for a maximum of 5 seconds.


    (If attacking the head, increase this chance to 20%.)


    Cooldown of 15 seconds.


    +13 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 50% chance to hurl the target.


    Cooldown of 3 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 105 Soulpoints


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth (Special Mode)


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Wind.


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 988


    Additional Attack: 4430


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to activate ¡®Constricting Flames¡¯ and inflict a 10% decrease in mobility for a maximum of ten seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, summon a shield made of earth. The more soulforce used, the stronger the shield. The total defense of the shield cannot exceed the attack of the weapon.


    (Ineffective against mind-based attacks).


    +13 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, expand the weapon up to ten thousand times its size. The attack will remain the same but can be controlled up to eight thousand meters away from the user.


    Upgrade Requirement: 105 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    It took a while for Bai Yunfei to fully digest the extent of the two notifications in front of him.


    Bai Yunfei had found out about the brick back when the elders had been there. But what Kou Changkong and the others couldn¡¯t possibly know was that the stats of the brick was far more astounding than at first glance. But there was no way Bai Yunfei would tell them about that.


    Not caring to think any more about the brick, Bai Yunfei moved on onto the Flameblade Bracer on his right arm and inspected the stats.


    Equipment Grade: Low Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 753


    Additional Defense: 706


    Soul Compatibility: 60%


    +10 Additional Effect: When blocking, there is a 9% chance of absorbing and converting the attack power for the next strike.


    (This converted power can be held for a maxium of 3 seconds and cannot exceed the total amount of defense of the equipment.)


    Cooldown of 30 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: By using soulpoints, summon a flaming winged dagger. While in use, it will consume soulpoints. The power is determined by the number of soulpoints used.


    Upgrade Requirement: 97 Soulpoints


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei moved onto the Fire-tipped Spear


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemeental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 1380


    Additional Attack: 1300


    Soul Compatibility: 66%


    +10 Additional Effect: When thrusting, there is a 20% chance of causing an explosion. The strength of the explosion will be 150% of the weapon¡¯s attack.


    Cooldown of 20 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: Create two doppelgangers with strength equivalent to 50% of the caster¡¯s total strength at the time of casting for a duration of 3 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Again silent, Bai Yunfei took out the Glacial Pricker.


    Equipment Grade: Low Human


    Elemental Affinity: Ice


    Attack: 237


    Additional Attack: 128


    Soul Compatibility: 13%


    +10 Additional Effect: When thrown, the speed and attack are increased. The multiplier in which it is increased by is determined by the amount of soulforce.


    (Cannot exceed three times the normal amount.)


    Upgrade Requirement: 63 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    The several armaments he took out was enough for Bai Yunfei to fall silent in thought.


    ¡°There¡¯s a few notifications with some small changes, like their grades. Becoming a Soul Ancestor made the additional effects have more details as well if there¡¯s a ¡®cooldown time¡¯ now¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered.


    ¡°Elemental affinities are easy enough to explain; the degree of soul compatibility is too. Both the Fire-tipped Spear and the Flameblade Bracer are above the 50% degree, and the ¡®lifebound armament¡¯ brick is at 100%. That falls in line with what master was talking about soul compatibility earlier.


    How strange¡­why do I feel as if these notifications are¡­becoming more in line with the rules of this world?¡±


    From the very beginning, the Upgrade Technique had always a few set of details that gave off a disharmonious feeling in comparison to the world he lived in.


    It was different now though. Was the Upgrade Technique ¡®integrating¡¯ itself with the rules of the world??


    Unbeknownst to him, what happened that very night had brought the Upgrade Technique into an unprecedented level of madness. Once more, the planar laws to the world had appeared and fused again with the Upgrade Technique!


    The Upgrade Technique had its own set of rules from the world it came from. When it fused with the planar laws of this world the first time, there were some discrepancies between the two worlds. And when they fused a second time, the two systems were ¡®combined¡¯ and conformed into a more fitting system. After the adjustments, the Upgrade Technique was now far more fitting in this new world.


    Author Note: In truth, I, Yun Hai, decided to make use of this upgrade of the Upgrade Technique to fix a few consistencies. The original ranks for the soul armaments were subject to annoyance from a few of the readers, so I decided to get rid of this issue by unifying the two systems. The previous ranking system such as inheritance and regalia will thus be used for something else in the future.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d have a 13% compatibility with the Glacial Pricker already. Was it because I upgraded it before?


    ¡°But what¡¯s even more strange is that the brick has two modes. Is it because it¡¯s a lifebound armament? Did it mutate sometime in that night?¡±


    Even after thinking for a while, Bai Yunfei had no answers, so he stored the soul armaments away. He wanted to try out the strange properties of the brick, but now wasn¡¯t the right time for that.


    ¡°In any case, there¡¯s nothing wrong with the Upgrade Technique being upgraded. But¡­is that really it? An upgrade like this is¡­.how do I say it¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei struggled to think for a moment before a realization hit him.


    ¡°Oh! Hold on¡­.¡±

 Chapter 227: Memory of Another

    Chapter 227: Memory of Another


    Bai Yunfei shook his right hand so that a fist-sized white rock appeared in it.


    It was the upgrade stone.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Human


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Special Effect 1: Increase the chance of success when upgrading by 100%, this cannot be combined with the effect of another item.


    Special Effect 2: Increase the chance of success when crafting by 50%, this cannot be combined with the effect of another item.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    Author note: To shed some more light on this situation, increasing the chance of success when upgrading by 100% means that if the original chance of success was 10%, it¡¯ll be 20% after that.


    Bai Yunfei was overjoyed, ¡°As I thought, this was the biggest change from the Upgrade Technique!!


    ¡°In that case¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought back to the crafting cauldron in his space ring in preparation to take a look at the stats.


    But then he remembered something crucial; ¡°How could I forget, the cauldron was blown up by me¡­.I¡¯ll have to wait for master to give me another before I can do any more research.


    ¡°Increase the chance of success by 100%. From a purely numerical point of view, this means that the chance of success for anything is doubled¡­.But there¡¯s no way to find out the exact chance of success to begin with! Ugh. If only I knew the chance of success to begin with; everything would be nice and dandy then¡­.


    ¡°But what¡¯s even better is the fact that the stone affects the chance of success when crafting too! I wonder if the Crafting School even knows about such a stone, or if they have any¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was silent as he stored the upgrade stone away. He couldn¡¯t use such a stone so easily.


    ¡°Well now¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei massaged the temples to his head, ¡°There¡¯s still a few things left to worry about¡­.


    ¡°The Earth, video games, cars, movies, the army¡­.what are these things; are they real? Is there really a world so different to this one?¡± Bai Yunfei thought. This was a question that hurt his head when he thought about it, and even massaging his temples didn¡¯t quite help.


    ¡°Are these the memories of someone else?¡±


    The reason why he became a Soul Ancestor wasn¡¯t because of his soulforce. It was in fact because of the planar laws and how they influenced Bai Yunfei¡¯s person. It existed within some part of Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, so he was able to somehow recall the shattered memories of the transmigrator in him. But these memories shards were so fragmented that they were practically memory dust if anything else. A complete reconstruction was impossible, and Bai Yunfei was completely bewildered by the many things he saw, but couldn¡¯t make sense of. Just thinking about it all made Bai Yunfei feel panicked.


    Within an hour, Bai Yunfei managed to suppress the most chaotic of noise in his mind. Wiping away the sweat on his forehead, he muttered, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s fake or not. It¡¯s the same as the Upgrade Technique. They¡¯re both of an otherworldly nature, but whatever the case. I¡¯ve the memories of another person in another world in my head¡­.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot I don¡¯t know and a lot more that I don¡¯t understand. But the most important thing is¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s face hardened at this part, ¡°The Upgrade Technique is now in my possession. Was it because of the other person¡¯s memories that my thoughts and actions were influenced to some degree? But if the memories of someone else combined with who I am, doesn¡¯t this mean¡­.¡±


    The very notion that he might not be who ¡®he¡¯ was left Bai Yunfei with a dreaded chill and a glint of fear in his eyes¡­.


    It was unknown for just how long Bai Yunfei was left in this state of fear, but when he realized it, he immediately circulated his soulforce to calm himself down. With eyes that were glowing brightly now, he let out a long sigh of air and took in a fresh deep breath of air.


    Closing his eyes, he thought back to all the memories he had of the past nineteen years he had been alive for.


    He didn¡¯t know if it was because of the fact that he became stronger, but some of his previously hazy memories were easier to recall now.


    Bit by bit, everything was forming a clearer picture.


    Even the rare memories of when he was five were coming back to him. His mother¡¯s loving expression imprinted itself onto his mind along with the kindly face of his grandfather.


    Then memories of when he became an orphan at the age of nine surfaced, along with the next nine dreaded years of survival¡­.


    ¡°I must live¡­.live with a clear mind and a clear conscience!


    ¡°There¡¯ll be a day when my little Yunfei will grow up to be like the clouds in the sky. Drifting freely without a care in the world¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After some time, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open. They were no longer hazy with any doubt in them. They were clear and as bright as a twinkling star.


    ¡°No matter how real or strange it is, the memories of another person should be nothing more than a very realistic saga in my head¡­.¡± Raising his fist up to his eyes, Bai Yunfei clenched down hard in a sign of determination. ¡°I¡¯ll accept these memories of yours. But¡­I¡¯ll never become who you were!


    ¡°I am me¡­.I am Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    If these memory fragments were placed within the mind of any other person, it might not be enough for a complete takeover of their mind, but it might very well lead to a sudden fear of a loss of identity. Either from a change in personality or nature, either of the two would be a dangerous thing to Bai Yunfei.


    It was a good thing Bai Yunfei came to this realization sooner rather than later. The dangerous times were over, and he had reconfirmed his self-identity. All he needed was time to sift through the memories and absorb its ¡®knowledge¡¯ in hope that it might help supplement his own.


    What Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know was that this reconfirmation of his identity had inadvertently dissolved a potentially disastrous crisis.


    But now he was currently ¡®analyzing¡¯ the strange but fantastical information from the memories.


    ¡°What kind of soul armament is this ¡®airplane¡¯?! How ridiculous! It¡¯s gigantic and could carry so many people!¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. ¡°And this ¡®television¡¯ could create moving pictures? Wow¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°If only I had just a little more information, I could¡¯ve made this stuff. How great would that be!¡±


    All of the memory fragments in his mind were completely nonlinear and chaotic in information. Some fragments had barely anything, and other fragments were just detailing the random things to how to live a normal life. If anything were to be made sense of out of all this, it surely wouldn¡¯t be accomplished within such a short amount of time.


    He¡¯d need more time than an hour to see through the entire process.


    After a long period of time, Bai Yunfei shook his head to clear his mind free of all the strange things he learned. Recounting everything from start to finish, Bai Yunfei topped off his thoughts with a sigh.


    ¡°The profits today were huge, but it¡¯ll take me a long time to fully digest everything. Becoming a Soul Ancestor, the promotion of the Upgrade Technique, a lifebound armament, and all these memories¡­.If I can digest it all, my strength will increase exponentially!


    ¡°Well¡­.haven¡¯t I accomplished that ¡®trial¡¯ anyways? Do I become a tried and true disciple now?!¡±

 Chapter 228: The Test Second

    Chapter 228: The Test (Second)


    The next morning. In the forests behind the courtyard belonging to the disciples of the Western Point.


    The Western Point might not be the main peak of the Crafting School, but it wasn¡¯t small in comparison either. Behind the courtyards was a long blanket of trees so vast that it¡¯d be better to describe the forest as a sea of trees. It extended so long that it reached the main peak of the Crafting School and even to where the crafting caves were. The rest of the forest was continuous and covered the entire mountain range with its trees.


    Walking on the beaten path on the ground, Bai Yunfei finally arrived at a decently-sized lake several thousand meters away from the courtyards.


    ¡°Is this place far away enough from the others?¡±


    Surveying the area, Bai Yunfei could tell that the lake was a thousand meters in length around. There were plenty of trees around, but when he made use of his soulsense, he couldn¡¯t sense the presence of any humans within a thousand meter.


    Bai Yunfei stood at an empty side next to the lake shore with a concentrated look. Bringing out his Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°One by one it is then¡­.¡±


    His eyes narrowed together in concentration. Urging his soulforce to spread all over his body, Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet pushed off against the ground so that he could practice his footwork and spearmanship.


    The speed in which he delivered each form was quick, seamless, and powerful. His spear danced and fluttered through the air with such intensity that the leaves that were drifting down nearby were sent into a crazy flux from displacement. In a series of movements, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body weaved in and out irregularly so that no spectator would even be able to guess where he¡¯d go next.


    But then all of a sudden, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body came to a screeching halt. At the same time, his spear began to flash brightly before Bai Yunfei¡¯s body grew faint.


    In a single flash of light, two mirror images suddenly materialized into view right next to Bai Yunfei!


    Doppelgangers!


    Side by side by side, the three Bai Yunfei¡¯s stabbed forward with their spears to stab into a tree tall enough to tickle the skies and wide enough for three fully grown men to hug it.


    ¡°Thwock!¡±


    Stabbing into the tree without resistance, the three spears began to glow whilst the hands that clutched at its shift jerked in a circular motion!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    First came the explosion before a dazzling wave of fiery light washed over the entire area. All vision was lost as the elemental fire blanketed over the ground and reduced all the grass to ashes.


    ¡°Crack¡­.crack¡­.¡±


    The sounds of several trees starting to creak and break under the pressure made itself known. Soon, several tremendous trees began to tilt and crash onto the ground with a heavy tremor.


    As the red light scattered apart, Bai Yunfei could be seen left with the Fire-tipped Spear in his hands. By this point, the two doppelgangers were gone, and all that was left were a tremendous pile of wood that was broken here and there.


    Humming as he regarded the destruction he created, Bai Yunfei stored the Fire-tipped Spear away and scratched at his chin with his hand. ¡°The explosion is far stronger than before, but the amount of soulforce increased as well. Plus this¡­.20 second cooldown. What a problem, I used to be able to activate the explosion effect several times in a few seconds¡­.¡±


    Deep in thought, Bai Yunfei walked up to one of the still standing trees. Taking a half step back with his right foot, Bai Yunfei cocked his right hand back in preparation to punch. The muscles in that hand swelled up by a noticeable amount as soulforce filled that part of his body; and in less than ten seconds, he let loose a tremendous punch!


    Eighty One Fold Fist Force!!


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    The powerful fist smashed against the tree, eliciting a crack from the interior of the tree.


    The entire tree looked as if it was quivering in the second after it was struck. With each passing instant, this quivering motion grew more and more pronounced with countless of leaves drifting to the ground.


    Then, the tree began to fall over. Crashing onto the ground with an ear-deafening boom, the tree brought forth a second localized earthquake in the area.


    Aside from the tree roots, the one-meter area where Bai Yunfei struck had been completely reduced to powder.


    It was with a grimaced expression that Bai Yunfei pulled his quivering arm back. His face was flushed red, and his teeth were clenched tightly against each other as if trying to bite back on what pain he was feeling!


    Press his left hand to his right arm, Bai Yunfei watched as a red glow of light slowly assimilate itself through his right arm.


    Half an hour later, Bai Yunfei shook his right arm gingerly as if to feel how it was. Raising it up to his eye, he muttered, ¡°How surprising, a Soul Ancestor using the Eighty One Fold Fist Force still requires so much energy! Seems like I¡¯ll need to become a mid-stage Soul Ancestor before I can use that move on a regular basis¡­.but would any enemy of the same level of strength as me be able to take it if I used it?¡±


    Shaking his hand even more to stretch it, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°Whatever, let¡¯s continue with the experiments!¡±


    Clenching his right fist again, Bai Yunfei decided to punch out. But this time, it was just a regular punch rather than one of the Overlapping Wave Arts. When his right hand flew forward, the Ardent Sun Glove on the hand immediately began to exude a bright crimson light before a brilliant flame detached itself from his fist and flew straight ahead of his hand!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The fireball flew a few hundred meters forward before smashing into a boulder. As soon as the two made contact with one another, the giant boulder immediately started to fracture under the pressure and crumbled in several places.


    Quirking his lips, Bai Yunfei opened up his fist to form a knife-shaped palm to chop through the air rather than a punch!


    When the second flash of red light came into being, an equally red blade of fire came flying out as well from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. It continued on the same trajectory as of the fireball from before and struck the same boulder from before. The power of this blade was many times stronger than the fireball, resulting in the boulder being completely split in two following the impact!


    The fire blade continued onwards past the boulder and smashed into a tree within the vicinity before disappearing from sight.


    After shooting the fire blade, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm dropped down ahead of his chest. His palm faced outwards as he concentrated heavily on the glove on his right hand. Fire rose out from his palm, but this time, it remained on top of his palm as if trying to form something on there.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A fireball the size of a chicken egg shot out from the center of his palm. Not even a second later, a dozen more similarly shaped fireballs shot out in a mini-barrage!


    ¡°Thump! Thump! Thump¡­..¡±


    The bisected boulder that Bai Yunfei was using as target practice was immediately struck by the barrage of fireballs. And in no time at all, a wisp of gray smoke hid the boulder away from sight.


    The barrage persisted for half a minute with well over a hundred fireballs being shot out before Bai Yunfei dropped his palm down.


    By the time the smoke cleared away, the two halves of the boulder were no longer even visible. In its place, a crater several meters deep was all that was left¡­.


    Admiring the aftermath of the destruction he made, Bai Yunfei nodded to himself in satisfaction.


    The +10 effect of the Ardent Sun Glove, a barrage of fire!


    An attack like this wasn¡¯t too hard to pull off. All it required was a soul cultivator of the fire affinity to make the most out of it. But Song Lin would experience far more difficulties than Bai Yunfei if he were to try to do the same.


    But Bai Yunfei could do this feat as easily as turning his hand over!


    Finishing the experiment with the Ardent Sun Gloves, Bai Yunfei turned about to gaze off over the lake surface. Pensive, his right hand took out the red brick from his space ring.


    ¡°And now for the most important experiment of them all¡­¡±

 Chapter 229: Renamed as the Cataclysmic Seal! Third

    Chapter 229: Renamed as the Cataclysmic Seal! (Third)


    Bai Yunfei looked over the stats of the brick once more before he muttered to himself, ¡°There¡¯s a normal and special mode to the brick. That must mean the normal mode is the same as the +13 brick from before it became a lifebound armament, just with better chances to activate its effects¡­.But the special mode¡­.I wonder what that¡¯s like¡­.¡±


    He had some experience when it came to the upgraded version of the brick, so he begun with sending some of his soulforce into the brick. With a single thought, he had the brick glow bright with red light in preparation for the experiment. It was as if there was some sort of power threatening to explode out from the brick, and even the space nearby the brick was distorting under the red light. With so much of the elemental fire raring to go, the brick was ablaze with its power.


    Sensing the tremendous power from the brick, Bai Yunfei had the feeling that the brick felt more like his own flesh and bone rather than something inanimate. Closing his eyes, Bai Yunfei began to will the stats to appear once more in his mind.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth (Special Mode)


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Wind


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 988


    Additional Attack: 4430


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to activate ¡®Flame Twister¡¯ and restrict mobility of another by 10% for a maximum of ten seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, summon a shield made of elemental earth. The more soulforce used, the stronger the shield. The total defense of the shield cannot exceed the attack of the weapon.


    (Ineffective against mind-based attacks).


    +13 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, expand the weapon up to ten thousand times its size. The attack will remain the same but can be controlled up to eight thousand meters away from the user.


    Upgrade Requirement: 105 Soulpoints


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Normal (Regular Mode)


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 132


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 5% chance to inflict confusion for a maximum of 3 seconds.


    (If attacking the head, increase this chance to 10%.)


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to stun the target for a maximum of 5 seconds.


    (If attacking the head, increase this chance to 20%.)


    Cooldown of 15 seconds.


    +13 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 50% chance to hurl the target.


    Cooldown of 3 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 105 Soulpoints


    Lifting an eyebrow, Bai Yunfei asked himself, ¡°The order of the two modes were swapped so that the stats of whichever mode its in is shown first¡­so this means that it¡¯s in its special mode right now, right?¡±


    Letting go, Bai Yunfei watched as the brick rose into the air and fly up to his eye level. With a second thought, Bai Yunfei watched as the brick flew around his head.


    ¡°Go!¡±


    He pointed a finger towards a giant boulder a few hundred meters away from him, manipulating the brick into following his command like an obedient soldier and go flying towards his target in mind.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    In an explosion of fire, sand, and stones, the boulder was reduced to powder with the utmost ease!


    Nodding his head in satisfaction as the brick returned to him, Bai Yunfei realized that he didn¡¯t even sense the power of the brick. It had been like a tap at first, but the amount of attack that was revealed after the impact was truly worthy of belonging to a mid-heaven tier soul armament.


    Author Note: Please note that the brick is still considered a mid-earth tier armament. But with its additional attack, it can be considered as strong as a mid-heaven tier soul armament. That¡¯s why Kou Changkong thought it to be a mid-heaven tier soul armament and that¡¯s why it said in the stats that the brick was a mid-earth armament. There is no mistake here.


    The most important thing was still the results of the experiment still. The ¡®Fire Twister¡¯ hadn¡¯t been tested yet, but that could be done later. For now, Bai Yunfei would try the +12 effect first, the ¡®Earthen Barrier¡¯.


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡±


    The very first unexpected happening occurred then.


    The brick started to vibrate from where it was in the air, but even though he wasn¡¯t touching the brick, Bai Yunfei could feel a large amount of his soulforce suddenly disappear from his body and into the center of his brick. An orange light began to spread out from the brick before immediately coming over to form a protective covering his own entire person.


    ¡°I see now¡­¡± Bai Yunfei hummed as he felt the power of the elemental earth flow out from the brick. ¡°I can¡¯t tell how strong the barrier is, but the effect can be clearly seen. It says it can protect me from attacks that are weaker than the attack of my lifebound armament, so the defenses of the barrier is the same as the attack of the brick¡­.¡±


    Exerting himself even more now, Bai Yunfei urged for even more soulforce to go straight into the brick.


    The more soulforce he exported, the more the barrier spread out. Soon, the barrier reached a diameter of twenty meters before coming to a stop. And with some time, the barrier started to shrink back down.


    But as it shrunk, the elemental earth started to grow more concentrated in hue. By the time it was three meters wide in diameter, the orange light was already so thick that it wasn¡¯t even possible to see through it anymore. But Bai Yunfei was still heavily concentrating on the brick in front of him with his soulforce continuing to flow into it.


    As the orange light grew more and more condensed, the light looked as if it was becoming more solid than ethereal. By this point, Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead was slick with sweat and his breathing was in erratic bursts. He was reaching his limit.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    After ten more seconds, Bai Yunfei finally let out a sigh in relief as he cut off the transmission of soulforce. Like shattered glass, the barrier was dispelled into several pieces before ultimately fading away from sight. Any remaining orange light was then sucked back into the brick.


    When the elemental earth was sucked back into the brick, Bai Yunfei was pleasantly surprised to feel that his soulforce was being recuperated at tremendously fast speeds!


    Pleased, Bai Yunfei sat down on his bed and started to focus on recovering his soulforce. The brick floated above his head with the occasional red and orange light basking him in its glow.


    Roughly ten minutes later, Bai Yunfei re-opened his eyes. There was not a bit of fatigue to them now.


    Looking at the brick, Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°This isn¡¯t enough¡­.I already put in as much soulforce as I could into it, but the defenses were still increasing. This means that I don¡¯t have enough soulforce to bring the barrier to its maximum potential¡­.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve more or less understood the barrier. It¡¯s time for¡­the last experiment!¡±


    +13 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, expand the weapon up to ten thousand times it size. The attack will remain the same but can be controlled up to eight thousand meters away from the user.


    ¡°The description is pretty simple; it¡¯s basically ¡®gigantification¡¯. Ten thousand times its size though¡­.that means the brick would be at least a thousand meters in length!¡± Bai Yunfei calculated in his head. ¡°But it¡¯s pretty clear I won¡¯t be able to do that¡­.let¡¯s try it out first!¡±


    Bringing the brick in front of him, Bai Yunfei looked at it with narrowed eyes and thought, ¡°Grow!¡±


    At his mental command, the brick lit up in a brilliant ray of orange before expanding in size with lightning quick speed!


    In practically no time at all, the brick had already grown larger than a meter in length and nearly a meter in height¡­.perhaps it¡¯d be better call this brick a ¡®slab¡¯ instead¡­.


    But already he could feel his soulforce dwindling away in his body.


    Waving his right hand, the brick shot out to fly over the lake before coming to a stop at the center. From there, the brick lit up again and began to grow larger.


    Ten meters. Twenty meters. Fifty meter. A hundred meters. Two hundred meters¡­.


    By the time Bai Yunfei¡¯s breathing was erratic again, the brick was nearing five hundred meters in length, a hundred meters in width, and forty to fifty meters in height. It was a behemoth that floated over the lake surface and seemed to almost cover the entire world with its orange light¡­.


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei swung his arm up to point a finger at a small mountain point a few thousand meters away.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­.¡±


    Now several hundred size larger than before, the brick bolted towards where Bai Yunfei pointed with the speed of a raging gale. And in a few scant seconds, it was just about to break into the mountain.


    A small gleam of light streaked across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, ¡°Drop!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    At the very same time the word ¡®drop¡¯ came out from his mouth, the brick immediately dropped down from the skies!


    There was an explosion as the surrounding thousand meters was disrupted by the ensuing earthquake. When he looked back up, the brick had disappeared into the mountain!


    Narrowing his eyes again, Bai Yunfei spoke up, ¡°Rise!¡±


    Another explosion could be heard along with several trees flying up into the air along with something. It was the gigantic brick.


    As it flew higher into the skies, the brick began its short retreat back to Bai Yunfei. At the same time, the brick was decreasing in size as it traveled so that it was back to its normal size.


    With his soulforce back, Bai Yunfei began to sigh in relief. Standing up, Bai Yunfei jumped up to a nearby tree to get the higher ground.


    Looking a thousand meters ahead of him where the brick had impacted, Bai Yunfei could see that there was a clear crater left there! He couldn¡¯t even see how deep the crater was from where he was!


    He continued to stare at the crater for about a minute longer before Bai Yunfei decided to call it quits. Sitting down on the coarse tree branch, Bai Yunfei looked at the ordinary-looking brick in his hands with a strange look.


    ¡°Now this is not a brick¡­.In its normal mode, the +13 effect can send people flying. In its special mode, the +13 effect¡­.can kill a person. With strength like that, anyone could have the brick come slamming down on even the Blackwood Stronghold and eliminate it from existence¡­..¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that this has the strength of a mid-heaven tier soul armament as my lifebound armament. I shouldn¡¯t even call this a brick¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled to himself.


    And then an idea hit him.


    ¡°From today onwards, your name shall be the Cataclysmic Seal!!¡±

 Chapter 230: Elder Cousin?

    Chapter 230: Elder Cousin?


    Bai Yunfei stored away the Cataclysmic Seal with some joy.


    ¡°In its normal mode, we¡¯ll call it the brick. In its special mode, we¡¯ll call it the Cataclysmic Seal.¡±


    Noticing that it was noon when he raised his head to the sky, Bai Yunfei leapt down from the tree to return back home.


    At some point when he was running through the forests, an idea hit him out of nowhere.


    The brick could easily be manipulated into flying and could also be made bigger.


    Wouldn¡¯t this mean that he could stand on it?


    Wouldn¡¯t this mean that the brick was essentially a tool he could use for flight?


    But no sooner did the thought come to mind did he dismiss it, ¡°Forget it¡­.people can ride a sword, a blade, or a shield for flight. What use is there standing on a brick?


    ¡°I wonder how strong of a soul armament I can make now that I¡¯m a Soul Ancestor. I have to try it out when I get the chance!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Whilst in the middle of his thoughts, Bai Yunfei detected the presence of another person, prompting him to look over to their direction with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Eh? Junior Bai, what brings you here?¡±


    Just as he raised his head, Bai Yunfei could see the figure of another person. Judging from the voice of the person, it was his senior, Song Lin.


    Pausing in his footsteps, Bai Yunfei answered to him, ¡°I just finished my training and was returning to my room. What brings senior to this place?¡±


    ¡°I felt an unusually large amount of soulforce in that direction a while ago, so I decided to come check it out.¡± Song Lin pointed in the direction behind Bai Yunfei before a surprised look overcame his face, ¡°Wait a moment¡­.was that you who did that, brother Bai?!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled in embarrassment. ¡°If senior Song is talking about the area three thousand meters that way, then yes, that was me¡­.¡±


    A skeptical look shot across Song Lin¡¯s eyes, ¡°Were you perhaps testing out the strength of a soul armament, junior Bai?¡±


    ¡°Eh? You were able to tell? That¡¯s amazing!¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s nothing special. Having people come out this far to test their soul armaments are a rather common affair for our Crafting School.¡± Song Lin laughed.


    But then he asked, ¡°But¡­the noise that came with this disturbance this time was out of the norms. It¡¯s no wonder you came out this far, even the students back on the Western Point were startled by it. Was the soul armament you were testing out your ¡®lifebound armament¡¯?¡±


    As the eldest disciple of the Crafting School, Song Lin was naturally privy to the details of several things, such as the fact that Bai Yunfei had managed to craft a lifebound armament.


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Song Lin sighed in response, ¡°Ah, that¡¯s no wonder then¡­.Junior Bai, you¡¯ve only been in the school for three months, but the achievements you made so far has made me feel inferior by far!!¡±


    It was perhaps just a trick of the mind, but Bai Yunfei could feel that there was a little bit of envy in Song Lin¡¯s eyes?


    Modestly, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Senior, you praise me too much. I was only able to enter Anima Realm by luck, nothing more¡­.¡±


    ¡°Luck¡­.¡± Song Lin shook his head, ¡°This ¡®luck¡¯ isn¡¯t something everyone has. Only you were able to accomplish this, that alone should say how special you are. There¡¯s no need to be modest.¡±


    If Song Lin was going to continue to act in such a manner, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t want to bother with arguing anymore. Changing the topic, he said, ¡°Senior, since you don¡¯t need to go investigate the area anymore, why not come back with me?¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Song Lin nodded. Turning to walk shoulder to shoulder with Bai Yunfei, he took a few steps forward before thinking about something, ¡°Ah, junior Bai. There was something I needed to tell you. In two days, there¡¯ll be an assembly for the entire school. Don¡¯t forget about it if you¡¯re training.¡±


    ¡°An assembly?¡± Bai Yunfei quirked his eyebrows, ¡°What is it about?¡±


    Song Lin nodded his head in response to the first question, ¡°The master said he had an announcement to make, but he didn¡¯t say about what. We¡¯ll find out when the time is right.¡±


    ¡°Oh, alright then. I¡¯ll take note of it.¡±


    But Bai Yunfei was still skeptical inside. ¡°In two days¡­.that¡¯s exactly when I¡¯ll have passed three months of stay here. Is he going to announce my formal induction as a disciple? I don¡¯t think that¡¯d warrant an announcement though¡­.what else could it be?¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    For two days, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t step out from his room and instead spent his time trying to understand the new level of strength he had.


    The morning after those two days, Bai Yunfei finished up his training and went off to the main point with Si Kongxian.


    On the way, they came across many other students of the school. Each time they saw Bai Yunfei, the students would call out in greeting, ¡°Senior Bai!¡±


    Many of them admired Bai Yunfei greatly now. What he did five days ago astounded everyone and earned him respect from all around.


    Being able to destroy half the cliffs where the crafting caves were was a feat that required strength none of them had. And when they were all told that Bai Yunfei had broken the bottleneck to become a Soul Ancestor, even more rumors started to circulate before people could confirm this fact to be true.


    And with this announcement coincidentally being on the same day as when Bai Yunfei would reach his three-month deadline, many of the students started to connect the dots between the two¡­.


    Other than those students, Bai Yunfei was able to come across Mo Xiaoxuan, Xi Yan, Zhang Sanxian, and the other fellow students to accompany him and Si Kongxian towards the assembly.


    ¡°Eh?


    ¡°Oh look! It¡¯s my cousin! My cousin¡¯s over there!¡±


    Just as the group crossed over from the Western Point to the main point, Mo Xiaoxuan suddenly called out in a pleasantly surprised voice.


    ¡°Cousin?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated in confusion.


    Looking up to see who he was talking to, Bai Yunfei was then even more confused, ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­.Xinyun?¡±


    Just a few hundred meters ahead of him was a white-robed young woman currently speaking with another student.


    Indeed, it was Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Xiaoxuan, Xinyun is your cousin?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in confusion, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard about this before.¡±


    ¡°Eh? I didn¡¯t tell you before, brother Bai?¡± Mo Xiaoxuan asked in surprise. But then he remembered something, ¡°Oh, I remember now. Because of all the chaos, I completely forgot to tell you about it.¡±


    He paused here to take a breath. ¡°I found out that same day actually. I never thought that I¡¯d be able to come across my cousin here. My mom and her mom were actually cousins; that makes the relationship between us a little wide, but she is still my older cousin. In any case, our families are actually quite good friends, and I¡¯ve been over to the Tangs several times now. Aunty Chu and cousin Xinyun were always the best to talk to, and they¡¯ve always treated me well¡­.


    ¡°Ah, right. Aunty Chu is cousin Xinyun¡¯s mom.¡±


    ¡°I see now.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head. By now, Tang Xinyun had noticed the group approaching her, ¡°Why don¡¯t we all walk towards the assembly together then?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Senior Tang, have you ever been to Mt. Maple just west of Mt. Crimson? The maple trees there are a beautiful sight. Each season, the leaves there are said to be beautiful when they fall and blow in the wind. Beautiful and serene; if you¡¯ve interest, I can take you there to look. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll love it¡­..Or maybe we can go to Redfire City. There¡¯s a great restaurant there with the most delicious cloudspring cod in the entire Great Plains Province¡­.Oh. If not that, I also know a place in the city with the best shows¡­.¡±


    ¡°Se¨Csenior Chen¡­.thank you for your thoughts, but I really have to focus on my training, so I can¡¯t go anywhere right now.¡± Helpless against the ingratiating male in front of her, Tang Xinyun tried her best to decline his nearly-endless advances.


    ¡°Senior Tang, there¡¯s no need to be so polite. You¡¯ve just joined the school, so there¡¯s plenty of things I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t understand. Feel free to ask me any questions whenever you want. Though I have to address you as ¡®senior¡¯, as the rules dictate, I know a lot of things you might not. As disciples of the Crafting School, helping each other out should be expected. If there¡¯s any difficulties you might come across while training, please come find me. I became a Soul Ancestor just two days ago, so I¡¯m sure I can teach you a few things or two from experience.¡± The male laughed.


    Though he was trying to act casual, the very last part of his sentence had been very obviously a humble brag.


    This person was in fact none other than the person who was initially beaten by Bai Yunfei back on the Western Point, Chen Huanghua!


    It was quite confusing at first why he was suddenly so ¡®close¡¯ with Tang Xinyun, but judging from what he said, Chen Huanghua was a Soul Ancestor as of two days ago!


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be a need for that¡­.I¡¯ve not any problems so far in my training, and my senior is there to help me already. There¡¯s no need to trouble you, junior Chen.¡± Her eyebrows were already furrowed together with impatience, but thanks to her gentle nature, she didn¡¯t want to outright refuse him out of fear of embarrassing him.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be any trouble at all! I¡ª¡± Chen Huanghua didn¡¯t look as if he was getting the hint. But just as he was about to say something more, Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes looked behind him and lit up when she saw several familiar faces.


    ¡°Junior Chen, I¡¯ve a few friends waiting for me over there, maybe we can talk another time.¡± Tang Xinyun cut into Chen Huanghua¡¯s words before walking past him to greet Bai Yunfei and the others.


    ¡°Yunfei, Xiaoxuan, you¡¯re here now too I see.¡±


    ¡°Cousin!¡± Mo Xiaoxuan smiled in greeting. ¡°Why are you alone? Where¡¯s everyone else?¡±


    ¡°I was delayed a bit, so the other seniors went up first.¡± She nodded.


    Then she turned to Bai Yunfei with a smile. ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re alright now hopefully?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing fine. Thanks for your concern, Xinyun.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head in affirmation before looking around. ¡°Junior Rui isn¡¯t with you?¡± He smiled.


    ¡°Xiao Rui went with master up the mountain first. She must be at the halls already, we should hurry.¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go on th¡ª¡±


    ¡°Senior Bai, we meet again.¡± A peculiar voice suddenly cut into Bai Yunfei¡¯s sentence.


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei turned his head back just to see Chen Huanghua¡¯s face scrunched together in a grotesque expression. There was a look of ill-will in his eyes.


    ¡°Oh, junior Chen, it was you¡­.¡± Due to his positioning, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t realized that the person Tang Xinyun was talking to was actually him. Surreptitiously, Bai Yunfei turned his head to Tang Xinyun as if to ask, ¡°Is he coming with us?¡±


    A nearly unnoticeable shake of the head answered his silent question. Understanding her response, Bai Yunfei turned back to Chen Huanghua, ¡°The assembly¡¯s about to start, so there¡¯s not much time to chat. We¡¯ll be heading up first, junior Chen. Another time, hopefully, haha.¡±


    And with that, Bai Yunfei and the rest of the group walked past Chen Huanghua up the mountain.


    Moving to Tang Xinyun¡¯s side, Mo Xiaoxuan whispered, ¡°Cousin, I¡¯m about to go to Redfire City to relax for a few days, do you want to go together?¡±


    Though surprised by the question, Tang Xinyun agreed after thinking about it. ¡°Alright. I was planning on buying a few things anyways.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to come too, brother Bai?¡± Mo Xiaoxuan asked right after. ¡°I already promised Zhong Xuhao and the others. Senior Ye is coming too, why don¡¯t we all go together?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Bai Yunfei agreed after careful consideration. ¡°I¡¯ll be more than happy to go.¡±


    And so the group continued on the rest of the way with a merry laugh¡­.

 Chapter 231: A Small Test of Blades

    Chapter 231: A Small Test of Blades


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A series of emotions ran through Chen Huanghua¡¯s face as he watched Bai Yunfei walk shoulder to shoulder with Tang Xinyun. These emotions continued to fluctuate over his face for several seconds before finally, he exclaimed, ¡°Senior Bai, one moment!¡±


    His outburst caused Bai Yunfei¡¯s foot to stop mid-stride. Turning his head back, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Is there a problem, junior Chen?¡±


    Though Chen Huanghua hesitated to reply to him right away, he managed to cup his hands in salute. ¡°I¡¯ve learned a lot since your guidance last time. Now that I¡¯ve become stronger now, I wish to compare notes with senior Bai again!¡±


    ¡°Ahhh? You still want to fight?¡± Bai Yunfei cried out in exasperation. It really befuddled Bai Yunfei why there was a need, so he decided to refuse the request. ¡°The assembly¡¯s about to start, so forget about it for now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll just be a quick comparison of notes; nothing too long.¡± Chen Huanghua persisted. ¡°Since senior Tang is here, it¡¯ll be a fair and impartial match.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, are you afraid of losing now that I¡¯ve become a Soul Ancestor, senior Bai?¡±


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯ve become a Soul ancestor?¡± This bit of information was new to Bai Yunfei, but he was mainly confused why Chen Huanghua would suddenly bring Tang Xinyun into this conversation.


    Turning his eyes to meet Tang Xinyun¡¯s helpless eyes, Bai Yunfei turned back just in time to see the hostile and jealous eyes of Chen Huanghua.


    Ah. Now he understood what was going on.


    Chen Huanghua was a hopeful suitor of Tang Xinyun, and Bai Yunfei was an obstacle in his way, was that it?


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, are you unwilling now, senior Bai?¡±


    It was in Chen Huanghua¡¯s expectations that Bai Yunfei would back down from the challenge after hearing that he was a Soul Ancestor, but instead, Bai Yunfei looked as if he was raring to go now.


    Chen Huanghua didn¡¯t want to provoke Bai Yunfei too much in all honesty. After his first loss at the hands of Bai Yunfei, the shame of losing had delivered a massive blow to his emotions. As soon as he got back to his room, Chen Huanghua had shut himself off to dedicate himself to his training for two whole months.


    Somehow, he managed to break the bottleneck and become a Soul Ancestor. With this increase in strength, he was fully confident that he could win against Bai Yunfei now, should they fight again.


    Thus began the same cycle where he looked down on Bai Yunfei. With jealousy being thrown into the mix, Chen Huanghua¡¯s mind was far too intent on trying to deliver the winning blow to Bai Yunfei and win back the face he had lost two months prior.


    It took him several days to consolidate his strength after becoming a Soul Ancestor. In fact, he had only just come out from his seclusion yesterday and so news of what Bai Yunfei did to the cliffs or his increase in strength didn¡¯t reach him yet.


    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s fight.¡± Bai Yunfei shrugged helplessly. ¡°You¡¯ve it tough.¡± He thought. ¡°First I used you to show my strength, and now I¡¯ll be using you to test my strength. You won¡¯t be getting any mercy from me.¡±


    It was at that moment another person¡¯s voice suddenly called out as well.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! We finally meet again! Fight me, I want to prove to our junior that I¡¯m stronger than you!¡±


    Whirling his head around again, Bai Yunfei saw yet another person that he hadn¡¯t seen for some time come towards him.


    It was Fei Nian.


    He frowned but didn¡¯t bother to say anything more. ¡°You want to fight me too? Well then, line up!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Fei Nian hadn¡¯t expected that response. Before he could even say anything though, Mo Xiaoxuan ran up to him and quickly explained the situation.


    ¡°Oh? They¡¯re going to fight?¡± Fei Nian remarked. Regarding the two figures in front of him, the male thought to himself with a calculative glare, ¡°That¡¯s one of the disciples from the Western Point, Chen Huanghua. I heard that he became a Soul Ancestor a few days ago. It might¡¯ve been an accident, but he¡¯s become quite popular amongst the inner school now.


    ¡°Good, I¡¯ll let him be the first to see how strong Bai Yunfei is.¡±


    Fei Nian knew that Bai Yunfei was a Soul Ancestor, but the only reason he challenged him was because he too was a Soul Ancestor now!


    His situation was different than to Chen Huanghua. Breaking through wasn¡¯t even a challenge for him since he had been lingering on the edge of both realms for the longest of times.


    It wasn¡¯t because he couldn¡¯t, it was because he didn¡¯t want to.


    There was a reason for that; his soulbound armament. Every disciple of the school knew that whenever their strengths increased, there would be a valuable chance of having their soul compatibility with their soulbound armament increase. It was something that required plenty of time to prepare so that the greatest amount of improvement could be had.


    Reasons like this were why soul cultivators were different than to the students of the Crafting School. Any soul cultivator would be anxious to breakthrough as quickly as they can. But the students of the Crafting School would deliberately stall the advancement and wait for the best time to do so. A proper preparation was the key to success.


    Only the Crafting School would abide by this though.


    Because of his advancement, Fei Nian¡¯s strength had more than doubled. His soulbound armament was nowhere as weak as it was before, and he was now more confident of his strength. Even if he was surprised by Bai Yunfei¡¯s past achievements, Fei Nian was sure that his own experiences would allow for him to defeat Bai Yunfei.


    This was what confidence meant to a disciple like him.


    There was a problem, however. He didn¡¯t know that Bai Yunfei had managed to craft a lifebound armament.


    ¡­¡­


    And so now, Bai Yunfei and Chen Huanghua stood ten meters apart from one another on the boundary between the Western Point and the main mountain point. Whilst Chen Huanghua looked extremely focused on his enemy, Bai Yunfei looked rather carefree and completely devoid of battle spirit as if waiting for his opponent to make the first move.


    Chen Huanghua carefully judged the situation in front of him. While he had confidence in himself, being careless wasn¡¯t something he was planning on being. The last time he was ¡®careless¡¯ was when Bai Yunfei¡¯s flaming diggers and doppelgangers defeated him in one fell stroke.


    He wouldn¡¯t fall for the same trick twice.


    The Rock Slicer was called out with a faint ringing of the blade at the same time Chen Huanghua revealed his strength as a Soul Ancestor. Under the overwhelming soulforce, all the other students watching the scene took several unconscious steps backward as if in fear of him.


    Since he was confronting Bai Yunfei, Chen Huanghua was quick to realize that the unrealistically long red spear of Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even out.


    Taking this to be a sign of his enemy underestimating him, Chen Huanghua snorted. Now he was even more confident that his plan of ¡®attacking first for the upper hand¡¯ would be the best idea in mind.


    Leaping at Bai Yunfei, his long sword was immediately swung down in a vertical chop!


    It was the same opening move as his first fight, but the Rock Slicer this time was faster and stronger than before.


    But even though it was a powerful stroke, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even resisting!!


    Several of the students watching the fight couldn¡¯t help but scream out in fear at the sight of the sword coming closer to Bai Yunfei. Even Chen Huanghua himself was starting to wonder if he should pull back his sword when Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand shook once.


    In a flash of dazzling orange light, an object appeared right above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head; and in the next second, a bright orange barrier suddenly covered Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    ¡°Clank!!¡±


    Resonating upon impact, Chen Huanghua¡¯s Rock Slicer was stopped immediately by the Cataclysmic Seal. It wouldn¡¯t even budge!


    The blowback had been severe for him, however.


    Such was the recoil that Chen Huanghua¡¯s body was actually thrown to the ground in shock.


    ¡°What the fuck!!¡±


    Roaring aloud, Chen Huanghua leaped up with his Rock Slicer ready to strike again!


    ¡°Clank!¡±


    Though the barrier rippled from where the sword struck it, it remained standing while the Rock Slicer was rebounded backward.


    ¡°Clank clank clank!¡±


    Chen Huanghua swung his sword thrice in quick succession, but to no avail!!


    He swung again for another dozen attempts, but none of them had been able to overcome the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s defenses!


    Still standing completely at ease, Bai Yunfei raised a hand up to look at the Cataclysmic Seal protecting him from above with a pleased expression.


    A smirk started to grow on his lips as he watched Chen Huanghua be thrown back several meters. Speaking aloud, Bai Yunfei stated, ¡°Junior Chen, it¡¯s my turn to attack. Careful now!¡±


    Though he spoke about wanting to attack, his body gave no indication of moving. Instead, his right hand lifted upwards as if conducting something. In accordance with his movement, the Cataclysmic Seal shook once as the barrier was dispelled. The elemental earth that had been covering the brick was engulfed by elemental fire at his command and shot off towards Chen Huanghua when Bai Yunfei pointed his finger.


    Chen Huanghua was startled by this action, but he moved swiftly to bring his sword up to block the Cataclysmic Seal.


    It was expected for the two armaments to clash against one another.


    But what really happened was that right before contact, Bai Yunfei¡¯s finger twitched slightly, as if operating an invisible string connecting to the Cataclysmic Seal. In response to the twitches of his finger, the Cataclysmic Seal shifted in its trajectory and streaked past the Rock Slicer!


    Startled as he was still, Chen Huanghua managed to pull up his sword so that the hilt clashed with the Cataclysmic Seal instead of his body.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    When hilt met brick, the brick was repelled backward several meters while Chen Huanghua himself was sent back three steps.


    ¡°What strength!¡±


    It went without saying that Chen Huanghua was surprised by the power behind the brick, but what he didn¡¯t know was that Bai Yunfei was afraid of harming him so he had purposely


    weakened the strength behind it.


    No sooner did he managed to stabilize his footing did he realize that the red light of a soul armament was already encircled around him. Already was the light reaching behind him in an attempt to strike at his back!


    Turning his blade so that it¡¯d protect his back, Chen Huanghua managed to hear the successful sound of a clash before he was flung forward two steps.


    ¡°Clang! Clang! Clang¡­.¡±


    In bouts of twos and threes, Bai Yunfei attacked Chen Huanghua while Chen Huanghua did his best to defend.


    Compared to the first fight he had with Bai Yunfei, Chen Huanghua was in a drastically worse shape this time. The Cataclysmic Seal floated around in the air like a butterfly while expertly weaving in and out to attack at the holes in his defenses.


    Each time, Chen Huanghua would manage to block the brick, but he was in a bad shape and was in no way capable of retaliating.


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    Swinging down again, Chen Huanghua managed to stop the Cataclysmic Seal from hitting him again.


    But just moments after the two armaments separated from one another, the Cataclysmic Seal suddenly let loose an eye-dazzling amount of light before a rope made of fire immediately wrapped itself around his arm before then the rest of his entire body!


    Seeing that Chen Huanghua was caught, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement.


    +10 Additional Effect of the Cataclysmic Seal, Flame Twister!


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to activate ¡®Flame Twister¡¯ and restrict mobility of another by 10% for a maximum of ten seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Chen Huanghua hadn¡¯t even the time to properly react to the fire around him before the Cataclysmic Seal swooped down again like a speeding fireball onto his body!


    Shifting his feet, Chen Huanghua tried his best to dodge, only to realize that his body wasn¡¯t reacting to his thoughts! Both of his feet dug into the ground as he wanted, but the speed in which he was doing so was just slightly slower than usual!


    Raising his giant sword, Chen Huanghua managed to successfully block the brick. There was a difference to the collision this time, however; the strength behind the brick was far stronger than before. This meant that Chen Huanghua wasn¡¯t able to maintain his ground and was instead flung off his feet.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The Rock Slicer was embedded into the ground so that Chen Huanghua would have a chance to chain himself to the ground. But even before he could pull out his sword and get back onto his feet, his entire body suddenly went rigid as if afraid of making any sudden movements.


    A single greenish glow from the sheen of a blade was resting upon the left side of his neck with an incredibly chilling aura.


    The Crescent Moon Blades!!


    Ten meters away, Bai Yunfei stood there with an identical looking blade in his right hand. The Cataclysmic Seal was right above his head, and Bai Yunfei himself was smiling at Chen Huanghua.

 Chapter 232: You Let Me Win

    Chapter 232: You Let Me Win


    Conducting the Crescent Moon Blade he had in his right arm, Bai Yunfei called over the other one that had been pressed against Chen Huanghua¡¯s neck back to him.


    With a clicking sound, the two swords were conjoined together.


    Waving his hand, the blade disappeared back into his space ring along with the Cataclysmic Seal.


    From start to finish, not a single person had been able to tell it had been a brick that was attacking Chen Huanghua due to the light around it.


    And from start to finish, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even take a single step away from where he started!


    Nodding his head to the motionless Chen Huanghua, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Junior Chen, thank you for letting me win.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The audience was deathly silent. Everyone could only stare as Bai Yunfei walked back over to where Tang Xinyun and the others were with wide-opened mouths.


    What¡­.what happened just now?


    Chen Huanghua was a well-known figure and Soul Ancestor of the Western Point.


    But despite that, he was defeated ever so soundly!!


    It was beyond what many of them thought was possible, and many of them could still hardly believe what happened right in front of them.


    ¡­¡­


    Back amongst his friends, Bai Yunfei turned to look to Fei Nian on the left, ¡°Senior Fei Nian, do you still wish to fight?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­.¡± Realizing he was being talked to, Fei Nian chuckled in response. ¡°Haha, actually, junior Bai, the assembly¡¯s about to start, so we should get going¡­.In any case, I just remembered something I needed to talk to a senior about. So junior Bai, I¡¯ll be going first!¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even had time to reply to him before Fei Nian took off.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Though surprised at Fei Nian¡¯s actions, Bai Yunfei shooked his head. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go¡­.¡± He spoke to the others.


    It was only after Bai Yunfei left that the other students that had been watching the fight finally started to talk to one another about what they had just watched.


    ¡°That was ridiculous! Did senior Bai really become a Soul Ancestor like the rumors said? He felt more like a late-stage Soul Ancestor rather than an early-stage one!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Senior Chen was an early-stage Soul Ancestor, but he wasn¡¯t even able to hit him once before he was defeated!¡±


    ¡°What kind of soul armament was he controlling? How was it that strong?Aren¡¯t soul armaments that can be controlled independently like that something only Soul Exalts can make?¡±


    ¡°I bet it¡¯s because of the soul armament.¡±


    ¡°The last time they fought, both of them were late-stage Soul Sprites. Senior Bai had a bracer on his right arm and a bright-red spear to defeat senior Chen. This time, he was using two different soul armaments for the same exact results. Hell, this time he was even faster¡­.¡±


    ¡°No wonder the headmaster made an exception to turn him into a disciple; his strength is beyond normal¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    These students continued to talk to one another as they traveled up the mountains. One by one, they explained to any other students who hadn¡¯t been there about the battles they saw. When they listened, the new students would all gasp and lament in sadness that they didn¡¯t come earlier to come witness this ¡®spectacular¡¯ fight.


    With everyone leaving one by one, only Chen Huanghua was left standing there. Shock, confusion, anger, reluctance¡­.all sorts of emotions ran through his head, and it felt as if he was dreaming.


    But the wind that blew past him was more than enough to tell him he was in no dream. Sighing, he stored away his Rock Slicer and slowly stalked up the mountain with a bowed head.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡°Brother Bai¡­.you¡¯re amazing! Senior Chen was a Soul Ancestor, but you managed to beat him so easily, how¡¯d you do it? What kind of soul armament was that¨Cit was amazing!¡±


    Throughout the way up, Mo Xiaoxuan talked constantly with Si Kongxian and the others about what they saw and kept addressing Bai Yunfei with a worshipful gaze.


    Though the rest of the group was the same in that regard.


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Which one are you saying, my soul armament is amazing or me?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, both of course¡­¡±


    ¡°What is there to be amazing about? As long as you train hard, there¡¯ll come a day where you¡¯ll be able to do the same thing.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. Turning to Tang Xinyun at his side, he asked after a moment, ¡°Ah, Xinyun, are you and Chen Huanghua¡­¡±


    Knowing what Bai Yunfei was about to ask, Tang Xinyun shook her head to reply, ¡°He and I don¡¯t know each other that well. When I first joined the Crafting School, he was in charge at the time. He was nice to me before, but when I said I came for an apprenticeship, he said that he¡¯d help me. But I met the master shortly afterward and was led away up to the mountains. We met several times later, but I didn¡¯t think that he¡¯d try and ask me out here¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see now.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head. Everyone had their own idea of beauty, and it seemed that Tang Xinyun was what Chen Huanghua liked. Presumably, this increase in strength was what led to his newly-found courage. Tang Xinyun on the other hand, cared not for his attention, and so Chen Huanghua had pinned the blame onto Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Pftt, senior Chen might be a strong member in the inner school, but he¡¯s not a good match for my cousin.¡± Mo Xiaoxuan tutted before then adding on one final line, ¡°Brother Bai would be a much better match.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to say in response to that. ¡°Just say your cousin is too good for him, what are you doing saying something that could cause a misunderstanding?¡±


    Sure enough, Si Kongxian and the others all nodded their heads in agreement and smiled knowingly towards Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Xiaoxuan, what are you saying!¡± Even though it was said in jest, Tang Xinyun was still a woman. Blushing as she gave Mo Xiaoxuan a small glare, Tang Xinyun tried her best to avoid Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes.


    Bai Yunfei coughed once before going silent¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    With time, the entire group managed to make it to the massive halls on the main point of the Crafting School.


    For as far as the eyes could see, at least six thousand people were gathered there in smaller groups as they talked to one another.


    Mo Xiaoxuan and several others moved to talk with several groups they were familiar with while Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun went straight into the halls.


    As they entered the halls, the two of them managed to come across Ling Yan who was in the middle of walking out from the halls. ¡°Junior Bai, junior Tang, you¡¯re both here I see. Come on in, the master and elders are inside. They¡¯ll be here to make an announcement soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded before walking past Ling Yan to walk further into the halls.


    The headmaster Kou Changkong, the elders, and surprisingly enough, even the previous headmaster Zi Jin was there. Casting a quick glance around, Bai Yunfei could see that the other disciples were gathered there. Even Huangfu Rui could be seen with a snowy-white pig bored out of her mind as she stood next to Cang Yu. When she saw Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun come in, her face lit up with joy; though she stuck out her tongue to Bai Yunfei.


    Standing towards the right was Fei Nian. When his and Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes met, Fei Nian turned away in embarrassment and deep thought.


    ¡°Yunfei pays his respects to the master, previous headmaster, and the elders.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed to the elders in front of him.


    Right by his side, Tang Xinyun did the same thing.


    ¡°Ah, Yunfei, come here. I¡¯ve something I¡¯d like to ask.¡±


    The previous headmaster Zi Jin smiled as he beckoned towards Bai Yunfei. In his eyes were the kindly sentiments of an elder looking after his precious students; an expression that Bai Yunfei felt humbled by, so he hurried on over to him.


    Tang Xinyun moved to stand next to the third elder along with her other students after Cang Yu beckoned for her.


    Soon enough, Huangfu Rui managed to squirm her way out from Cang Yu¡¯s grasp to talk coyishly with Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Yunfei, have you felt unwell since two days ago?¡± Zi Jin asked as Bai Yunfei approached him.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Surprised by the question, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Not at all. Your student has been working on understanding my strength, so I feel much better than before.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then¡­¡± Zi Jin nodded, ¡°Have you gotten familiar with your lifebound armament?¡±


    ¡°On a certain level so far. But¡­.I can¡¯t use its entire power with my current level of strength so far¡­.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. Your training has only just begun. There¡¯s so much more potential you¡¯ve yet to unlock. With your talent, I¡¯m sure that as long as you focus, you¡¯ll be able to stand above the clouds!¡±


    With such high praises from the previous headmaster, Bai Yunfei felt extremely motivated. ¡°Thank you for your concern, senior. I, Yunfei, will work hard so I won¡¯t disappoint you!¡±


    ¡°Haha, good. Very good¡­.¡± Zi Jin nodded.


    The other disciples who saw how Zi Jin was treating Bai Yunfei were all jealous.


    At this moment, Ling Yan came back from the outside and stopped in front of Kou Changkong, ¡°Master, all of the students have gathered.¡±


    Nodding to Zi Jin, Kou Changkong said, ¡°Very well, we should head out as well then.¡±


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 233: Rising Up in the Hierarchy!

    Chapter 233: Rising Up in the Hierarchy!


    The entire exterior of the halls was almost completely black. For as far as the eyes could see, an ocean of people was gathered here; possibly almost ten thousand people perhaps.


    The entirety of the Crafting School was gathered here in small rows. Although there was idle chit-chat from several places, there wasn¡¯t a loud commotion. Everyone was waiting for something.


    ¡°The headmaster is here!¡±


    ¡°The headmaster, the elders, and even all of the disciples! What a grand assembly this is, I wonder what they¡¯re going to talk about?¡±


    ¡°Look, the one walking next to senior Ling Yan, that¡¯s Bai Yunfei!¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s the one who blew up half the crafting cliffs? He¡¯s also the only one who became a disciple due to an exception; you think this assembly has something to do with him?¡±


    ¡°Probably not, I guess. Even if he became a disciple by exception, there¡¯s no need to have an assembly like this. Although, today is the same day as when Bai Yunfei joined the Crafting School three months ago, so it might just be too¡­.¡±


    ¡°I heard that he fought with senior Chen Huanghua just a while ago and completely beat him¡­.¡±


    ¡°What? Wasn¡¯t senior Chen Huanghua a Soul Ancestor? How¡¯d he lose then¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. I saw it myself! Senior Bai is incredibly strong and completely overwhelmed senior Chen Huanghua. The battle was over with literally the raising of his hand¡­.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Who¡¯s that old man next to the headmaster? I¡¯ve never seen him before; even all the elders are behind him¡­¡±


    ¡°You only just entered the school, so of course you don¡¯t know him. That¡¯s the previous headmaster of the school, Zi Jin. He went into seclusion before passing his title on.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s someone from the previous generation?! Doesn¡¯t he look a little too young for someone that old?¡±


    ¡°What rubbish. For the stronger soul cultivators, they could look like they¡¯re in their middle-ages even if they¡¯re actually over a hundred years old. What¡¯s so weird about that?¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t the previous headmaster supposed to stay away from affairs of the school? What¡¯s he doing attending this assembly, and why?¡±


    ¡°How should I know¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Hurried whispers ran amuck the entire sea of people, but when Kou Changkong and the others came to a stop, the discussions immediately came to a stop throughout the entire place.


    This would be the very first time Bai Yunfei was faced with so many people. Having so many people point and whisper to one another about him, Bai Yunfei felt slightly uneasy, but he managed to keep his head high and his expression solemn.


    There was a giant stone pedestal in front of the halls. Generally, it was meant for the inner school to fight one another, but Kou Changkong and the others walked right on top of it while Song Lin brought the other disciples to stand in front of the pedestal.


    This was an assembly of the entire Crafting School, not some sort of rewards ceremony for some sort of company. Thus, there was no need for the elders to say anything or to even have a student play the part of a host.


    Instead, Kou Changkong looked over the ten thousand people and spoke in a nice and clear voice, ¡°We¡¯ve gathered you all here today for a single announcement!¡±


    His voice wasn¡¯t magnified, but every single student was able to hear what he was saying loud and clear since it was silent enough for even a needle to be heard if it was dropped.


    He turned to look in the direction of Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, come up here!¡±


    ¡°So it really had to do with me!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Even though he was surprised, he didn¡¯t dare delay the assembly and swiftly moved to step onto the pedestal.


    No sooner did Bai Yunfei reach Kou Changkong did Bai Yunfei speak out meekly, ¡°Master¡­.¡±


    However, Kou Changkong shook his head and immediately said something that caused Bai Yunfei¡¯s face to go pale with fright!


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me master.¡±


    Like a bombshell going off in his head, all other thoughts were immediately purged from his head, ¡°¡®Don¡¯t call me master¡¯?! What does that mean? Hold on¡­does he mean¡­.I¡¯m no longer his disciple?!¡± As the thought occurred to him, Bai Yunfei felt a feeling of dread sink down from his heart, leaving him at a loss for words.


    What he didn¡¯t realize was that all of the elders looking at him from behind were all filled with a smiling expression.


    Without leaving too much time in between his words, Kou Changkong pointed a finger to Bai Yunfei and then looked down to the rest of the students. ¡°As I said just now, the reason for this assembly is to give one single announcement. And that announcement is¡­.


    ¡°The newly-entered student that is Bai Yunfei. Starting from today, you will be the fourth disciple to the previous headmaster, Zi Jin!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    For three whole seconds, the entire halls were silent.


    Then, everyone exploded into wild discussion.


    ¡°What? Did I hear that right? Did the headmaster say something? Who¡¯s the new disciple?¡±


    ¡°I heard them say that the previous headmaster Zi Jin will take on a new disciple. Is that right?¡±


    ¡°I heard the same. Unless the headmaster slipped up, Bai Yunfei is the new disciple, making him a junior of the same generation of the headmaster¡­.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just a bit too much?! The previous headmaster, who was in seclusion for so many years, is finally taking in a new disciple?!¡±


    ¡°Senior Bai¡­no wait. We¡¯re going to have to call him ¡®teacher Bai¡¯!¡±


    ¡°What kind of background does he have to be taken in as the disciple of the previous headmaster¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    All of the disciples were shocked as well, Song Lin included. Even he could hardly believe his ears on what he heard, so it was clear to see that he wasn¡¯t aware of what the announcement was going to be on.


    Kou Changkong smiled as he looked to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, from today onwards, there is no need for you to call me master. Age is no factor in seniority; we will be fellow disciples in the future. Don¡¯t think this to be too awkward; I haven¡¯t even accepted you as a formal disciple before this. You¡¯ve approval of master due to your excellent achievements. So be sure to familiarize yourself with your new status.¡±


    ¡°I¡­this¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei was still having an incredibly hard time trying to respond to this situation, and Kou Changkong wasn¡¯t making it easier for him to respond either.


    From the side, Huangfu Nan quirked his lips when he saw how stunned Bai Yunfei was, ¡°Hmph! Youngster Bai, you walk the path of fortune! In just three months, you went from being a new student to a peer of my generation! What are you waiting for, the master is waiting for your response; hurry up and call him your master!¡±


    This was what it took for Bai Yunfei to snap back to reality.


    Seeing Zi Jin smile at him, Bai Yunfei bowed with all the haste he had and spoke, ¡°Di¨Cdisciple Yunfei pays his respects to¡­.to the master!!¡±


    Zi Jin nodded his head in satisfaction. ¡°Very good. Yunfei, from today onwards, you will be my disciple. I will teach you all that I know, don¡¯t let me down¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei responded with great clarity. From the despair he was just feeling a minute ago, he was now feeling a great deal of elation. In his mind, he could only think of one thing¡­.


    ¡°The cycles of life spins far too fast, how exciting is this!!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    And so the assembly was put to an end after the announcement.


    Many of the students still couldn¡¯t quite understand what was happening and started to talk to one another about it as they left. Zi Jin told Bai Yunfei to go see him early tomorrow at the Northern Point before he retreated with the elders back into the halls, leaving Bai Yunfei to leave with his friends.


    Before long, the entire hall was only left with the people Bai Yunfei was acquaintance with.


    This included Tang Xinyun, Ye Zhiqiu, Zhong Xuhao, and several others who crowded around Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Bro¡ªno¡­seni¡ªno¡­master Bai¡­?¡± Mo Xiaoxuan was at a loss on how to refer to Bai Yunfei and so he stumbled over his greeting at first.


    ¡°For¡­forget about that.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand, ¡°Just hearing that makes me nervous. Call me what you¡¯ve been calling me by before. We shouldn¡¯t pay too much attention to this.¡±


    ¡°Really? We can keep calling you brother Bai?¡± Zhong Xuhao exclaimed in excitement.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded with a smile.


    ¡°Whew¡­.that¡¯s good¡­¡± Mo Xiaoxuan sighed in exaggeration. ¡°I was scared that you wouldn¡¯t be the same brother Bai as before! You¡¯ve become someone of the ¡®previous generation¡¯, how should we react to that, hah!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of hierarchy. We¡¯re still friends as like before.¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned to Tang Xinyun, ¡°Xinyun, I won¡¯t have you call me master Bai at the very least, haha¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Tang Xinyun said nothing. In the past, she had once joked about Bai Yunfei calling her senior, but now, she had been actually afraid that Bai Yunfei would have her call him ¡®master¡¯.


    Song Lin, Xiao Nanren, and even Ling Yan came up to approach Bai Yunfei by this point. Hesitantly, Song Lin was the first to speak, ¡°Master¡­..master Bai¡­.¡±


    It seemed like even they were having a hard time wrapping their heads around the new development.


    ¡°Senior, please for the love of everything don¡¯t call me master¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand. ¡°Please call me Yunfei as you¡¯ve always had. There¡¯s no need for this strange new practice.¡±


    Song Lin let out a sigh of relief in secret, ¡°Haha, then please don¡¯t call me senior anymore¡­.¡±


    Thinking about it, Bai Yunfei suggested, ¡°Then I¡¯ll call you brother Song, brother Xiao, and brother Ling. You¡¯re all older than me, so call you older brothers should be adequate.¡±


    ¡°That works. Let¡¯s do that in the future then.¡±


    Song Lin and the other two agreed. After all, addressing a person they had always called as ¡®juniors¡¯ a ¡®master¡¯ was extremely awkward.

 Chapter 234: The Legend of the Alchemy School

    Chapter 234: The Legend of the Alchemy School


    For the entirety of his walk back to the Western Point, Bai Yunfei was in a daze. He simply couldn¡¯t believe what had happened to him today.


    Was he¡­.really now a disciple to the previous headmaster, Zi Jin? A fellow junior with the current headmaster?


    Despite that, elation ran rampant through his head. Him; a disciple of the previous headmaster! Zi Jin was without a doubt a ¡®master¡¯ far worthy of being called a master than Kou Changkong. Even if Zi Jin had retreated for a long time, he was still far more knowledgeable than Kou Changkong!


    As the headmaster of the school, Kou Changkong would need to spend plenty of time on the management of the school. He also had plenty of disciples so time spent per disciple would be much shorter for teaching purposes.


    But Zi Jin was different. He had been in seclusion in the Northern Point and wasn¡¯t involved in the affairs of the school. There wasn¡¯t a need to teach the first disciple, Kou Changkong, the second disciple had no part in this, and the third disciple Jiang Fan was currently abroad and gaining some experience. This left Bai Yunfei as the only one that¡¯d need to be taught the art of crafting!


    What Bai Yunfei could learn wasn¡¯t just limited to the art of crafting either. Zi Jin was a Soul King, meaning that he could impart several bits of knowledge on training to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°I have to go to the Northern Point tomorrow¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself on top of his bed. ¡°I¡¯m a Soul Ancestor now, I wonder what I¡¯ll learn from master? Would I be able to craft earth tier soul armaments now?


    ¡°I should prepare myself to learn tomorrow!¡±


    The next morning at the right half of the Northern Point.


    A small bamboo forest adorned the landscape here. And within this forest was a simple-looking pavilion. But behind this pavilion was a tremendously large courtyard.


    Two people could be seen standing in the courtyard; an elderly man and a young man. It was Bai Yunfei and Zi Jin.


    Bai Yunfei had been demonstrating his proficiency with the Secrets of Firebending and the newfound strength he had as a Soul Ancestor for Zi Jin, who nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Very good, Yunfei. You¡¯ve managed to do this well with the Secrets of Firebending in such a short amount of time. That much shows how much you¡¯ve understood the mysteries behind the elemental fire. If you were the average soul cultivator, this level of understanding would require the strength of a mid-stage Soul Ancestor¡­.¡±


    ¡°Master praises me too much¡­.In all honesty, master. There was a¡­.a problem when I became a Soul Sprite. It¡¯s only because of the fireseed spirit mushroom I ate that I¡¯m able to understand the elemental fire a lot better than others¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke honestly to Zi Jin.


    ¡°Oh? A fireseed spirit mushroom? You had such a precious item to help you?¡± Zi Jin remarked. ¡°Was this given to you by Ge Yiyun of the Fate School?¡± He questioned.


    Bai Yunfei was startled by the question, leaving Zi Jin to smile, ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to be surprised. When you joined our Crafting School, we made sure to look into your background. We know all about your adventures in the Azure Cloud Province. It was a required investigation, so I hope you won¡¯t think too much about it.¡±


    Bai Yunfei knew that there wasn¡¯t a point in being unhappy about this. Just thinking about it, he knew that it was because of Hong Yin¡¯s assistance with the fireseed spirit mushroom that he was able to get over the initial problem. Of course, the only reason why there was a problem to begin with was because of his excessive usage of the Upgrade Technique.


    ¡°Ah, so it was Hong Yin who helped you. That makes sense¡­.an item like that is easily findable in the Soulbeast Forest.¡± Zi Jin nodded his head sagely without pressing the question anymore.


    Suddenly realizing something, Bai Yunfei shook his hand so that he took out the spirit mushroom from the two killer brothers.


    ¡°Master, your student came across this on my travels, I¡¯m not too familiar with it, however. Perhaps master knows¡­.¡±


    Zi Jin¡¯s eyebrows rose up on his face, ¡°A wind spirit mushroom? Those are exceedingly rare as well. This one, in particular, isn¡¯t the same as the fireseed spirit mushroom you ate, but it¡¯s nearing a thousand years in age at the least. If eaten, this¡¯ll definitely provide a good boost to your training. As a medicinal herb, it has plenty of applications. However, only a soul cultivator with the wind affinity would have the greatest benefits when using it. Any other soul cultivator would only see a limited effect.¡±


    ¡°Eaten? You can eat it?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    Zi Jin nodded, ¡°For precious herbs like these, many people eat them directly. There are a few other simplistic ways to compound it. Unfortunately, the once glorious Alchemy School was hurt heavily from the Unifying War two thousand years ago. From there, they faded away into the analects of history. It¡¯s been a thousand years since their last appearance.¡±


    ¡°The Alchemy School? Two thousand years ago?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Unifying War? Is that the one¡­¡±


    ¡°Correct. It was the war that brought the Tianhun Continent together.¡± Zi Jin answered Bai Yunfei¡¯s question with a smile. ¡°Over two thousand two hundred years ago, the continent was in chaos. Countries dominated every aspect of the continent, and warlords vying for supremacy lurked every corner. A single person rose to prominence to lead a small kingdom into battle. Even the greatest empire at the time, the Daqin Empire, was completely engulfed by them. In the end, he managed to unify the continent and named it the Tianhun Continent!


    ¡°At that time, that man was the strongest. None other could hope to match him, and so he was known to be the strongest man in history!


    ¡°This man was the founding empire of the Tianhun Continent, Wu Tianhun!¡±


    Zi Jin paused here to take a breath. ¡°The Alchemy School as the name implied, was a school that specialized in refining all sorts of medicines. Their ability to concoct pills robbed away the world of its special nature and was magical beyond all else. And if made with precious herbs by a skilled alchemist, their effects would multiply many times over! They could make pills for every situation, and some of them were said to be capable of reviving the dead or allow a person to breakthrough a bottleneck with ease!


    ¡°Of course, with such an existence, there would be plenty of parties that¡¯d want ties to them. Ultimately, these ties became knots, and knots led to strangulation. The Alchemy School were ruined in the end, and legends say that the last headmaster of the school destroyed all knowledge they had on pillmaking. The remaining students all ingested a sacrificial pill that killed their enemies when they themselves died!


    ¡°In the end, only a few remaining students were able to flee from the school. They tried to reform the school in hopes of reforming their past glory, but it was to no use. They faded away from the world of soul cultivators along with their arts¡­.


    ¡°There have been several former students that left behind their secrets on the art. And with each appearance, the entire continent would fight amongst each other for it¡­.Five hundred years ago, there was a rumor of a pill that could help one breakthrough to become a Soul Emperor was spread around the continent. This led to several schools getting involved for the pill, including the Soul Refining School, the Wind Lightning School, and the Five Elements schools were involved, resulting in the loss of a Soul King for each party! The other schools in the conflict were hurt as well. Even our Crafting School was pulled into the mess¡­.In the end, the Tianhun School stepped into the affair and stabilized the issue. No one knows where the pill was left to, or even if the pill is real or not¡­.¡±


    Zi Jin stopped here; it seemed as if talking about this subject had left the man with some sorrows. A barely inaudible sigh escaped from his lips before Zi Jin smiled and waited for Bai Yunfei to digest the information.


    There was a misty look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as if he was savoring what Zi Jin had explained to him in his mind.


    Never did he think that the wind spirit mushroom he had in his hand would have such a startling ¡®history¡¯ tied to it.


    What Zi Jin said wasn¡¯t some sort of ¡®secret¡¯. But Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t a good understanding of the world of soul cultivators, so when he heard this story, he was very shocked.


    ¡°A powerful man with no equal, unification of the continent¡­.the Alchemy School, pillmaking, and the death of several Soul Kings¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself before finally coming back to his senses. He didn¡¯t know why, but the story Zi Jin just told him had gotten his blood pumping.


    Noticing that Bai Yunfei was fully aware now, he smiled, ¡°Well then. The stories and matters of the world of soul cultivators will come to you with time. You should work on getting stronger. When you do, you¡¯ll be able to experience the vastness of the Tianhun Continent. Grow strong, travel, and experience what treasures the world has to offer you¡­¡±


    Putting away his thoughts, Bai Yunfei spoke in determination, ¡°Yes, master. Your student understands.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Zi Jin nodded. ¡°Then let¡¯s return to the main topic. Since your proficiency with the art of crafting has gotten to this point thus far, let¡¯s have you craft another soul armament and see.¡±


    But when Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move from his spot, Zi Jin grew curious, ¡°Whats wrong?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­I¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei was slightly embarrassed to respond. ¡°Master, my crafting cauldron was destroyed that day¡­.and I¡¯ve no more ingredients left¡­.¡±


    Zi Jin was surprised, but laughed straight afterward, ¡°How did I forget such a thing¡­¡±


    He shook his hand to summon forth a crafting cauldron from his space ring. As soon as it appeared, Bai Yunfei could see that it was glowing a bright red and violet color.


    ¡°This cauldron is known as the ¡®Lighting-fire Cauldron¡¯. Your master used this a long time ago, and now, it shall be yours!¡±

 Chapter 235: The Lightning-fire Cauldron and the Violet Soul Ring!!

    Chapter 235: The Lightning-fire Cauldron and the Violet Soul Ring!!


    The Lightning-fire Cauldron was about as tall as Bai Yunfei and reached nearly two meters in length. Its make was rather simple; perhaps even slightly old-fashioned. The cauldron was entirely crimson in color and exuded a red light with a slight trace of violet-colored lightning that crackled just almost out from sight in it.


    ¡°The cauldron was constructed with plenty of changeling stones, allowing the cauldron¡¯s dimensions to be changed as you will. This way, spear-shaped soul armaments can be made with this cauldron without a problem.¡± Zi Jin said. Waving his hand again, a strand of elemental fire flowed from his body to the cauldron and lit it


    And right in front of their very eyes, the bottom of the cauldron began to transform to take on the shape of a mold for a long spear.


    Smiling when he saw the bright-eyed Bai Yunfei, Zi Jin said, ¡°Transmit your soulforce into it and the cauldron will change its shape as you will it. Yunfei, give it a try.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Bai Yunfei replied at once. Striding forward to give it a try, he sucked in a deep breath and put his right hand onto the cauldron in an attempt to try and change the cauldron¡¯s shape.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Lightning


    Special Effect 1: Increase the chance of success when crafting by 200%


    Special Effect 2: Additional 5% chance of adding a lightning affinity to the crafted item.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Author Note: In order to avoid any confusion again, please allow me to explain this once more: An increase in percentage is merely that, an increase in percentage. For example, if the chance of success is 20%, then an increase of 200% makes this chance become 60%. A chance of success over 100% obviously means that each attempt will end in a success. I hope this clears things up for everyone.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up at the notification. He knew that this notification would pop up so he hadn¡¯t been too surprised when it did. He acknowledged the notification and then allowed for it to disappear before he started to change the shape of the cauldron as Zi Jin instructed him too.


    There was a faint crackling sound as the cauldron started to revert back to its normal shape.


    Zi Jin nodded his head in satisfaction at the sight. He seemed to have muttered something to himself under his breath as he said, ¡°Since I¡¯m giving you this cauldron, allow me to give you another gift for your apprenticeship! Yunfei, this space ring has accompanied your master for almost a hundred years. Take it, it¡¯s yours now!¡±


    And with that, Zi Jin took out a space ring that was colored just slightly violet from his left hand. With a wave, the space ring was flown over to where Bai Yunfei before neatly falling on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Master, this¡­¡±


    Zi Jin smiled, ¡°It¡¯s named a ¡®violet soul ring¡¯. As a soul armament, it is an exceedingly rare item. Take it, you¡¯ll see that it¡¯ll be a great deal of help to you as you are.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei said in confusion; his eyes hovered onto the space ring and watched as the notification popped up in his head.


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Space


    Attribute: +660 Spirit


    Item Effect: Volume of ring increases to the cumulative sum of all space-related items held within.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t prepared for this.


    His eyes grew wide, and the look of shock on his face was impossible to mask.


    ¡°How is it, Yunfei, can you tell how special the ring is?¡± Zi Jin misunderstood the reason why Bai Yunfei was shocked and said, ¡°This violet soul ring is something I crafted by accident in the past. Even as one of the accessory related soul armaments, this one is unique as it can store space affinity soul armaments in it.¡±


    Snapping back to awareness, Bai Yunfei forced the shock in his chest back down and asked, ¡°Master, this¡­.this accessory type soul armament, would I be able to craft such a thing?¡±


    After searching for so long, Bai Yunfei had finally found an accessory that could grant him an attribute before being upgraded!! His conjectures in the past were correct then, soul armaments like this really existed¡­.


    Zi Jin nodded his head to respond to Bai Yunfei, ¡°You can, but that requires a completely different set of methods. But those type of things can only be made into soul armaments in very rare occurrences. A good majority of the accessories made remain as normal item ware despite the materials that are wasted in making them¡­.You¡¯ve not a chance to craft them yet. In time, I will teach you the art.¡±


    Zi Jin waved his right hand again, allowing for all sorts of ingredients to pile up from the side. ¡°Well then. Yunfei, use the cauldron and craft a soul armament for me to see.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Without hesitation, Bai Yunfei placed the ring away in his robes and sucked in a deep breath of air. Solemnly, he looked at the pile of ingredients and stuck his right hand out. Bending all five fingers, he had several ingredients come flying to his hand.


    The ability in making things fly was something he learned how to do now, but it wasn¡¯t at a level where it could be used for battle.


    Inserting the fire attribute vermiculite into the cauldron, Bai Yunfei pushed his soulforce into the cauldron, causing it to light up with a bang.


    ¡­¡­


    Two hours later.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    There was a muffled explosion from within the cauldron, causing Bai Yunfei¡¯s face to pale drastically. The ingredients was being burnt away right in front of his very eyes; he had been doing well just a moment ago, but then this failure had happened straight away!


    ¡°Haha, Yunfei, don¡¯t feel discouraged. This happens normally when crafting. Try again.¡± Zi Jin laughed as if not blaming Bai Yunfei for his mistakes.


    ¡°Yes, master.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke. Wiping away his inner thoughts, Bai Yunfei calmed down and tried again to craft a soul armament.


    ¡­¡­


    Roughly half a day later, a bright-red sword came flying out from the cauldron and into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Equipment Grade: High Human


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Attack: 483


    Soul Compatibility: 5%


    Upgrade Requirement: 88 Soulpoints


    It was still a high-human tier soul armament, but the attack was just a little bit away from making the soul armament an earth tier soul armament¡­.


    Looking at the soul armament in his hand, Bai Yunfei looked slightly disappointed.


    But there was a look of satisfaction in Zi Jin¡¯s eyes when he nodded his head. ¡°Very good. This is much closer to being an earth tier soul armament. Yunfei, your talent in crafting is truly rare beyond rare. Even your senior Jiang Fan wasn¡¯t as talented as you were at your age¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed nonetheless, ¡°But, I wasn¡¯t able to craft an earth tier soul armament¡­.¡±


    Starting just a bit, Zi Jin laughed, ¡°So you¡¯re not happy with your results?¡±


    ¡°Now that your student is a Soul Ancestor, should an earth tier soul armament not be expected?¡±


    ¡°Do you think that being able to craft an earth tier soul armament is as easy as crafting a human tier soul armament?¡± Zi Jin shook his head lightly. ¡°Soul Ancestors being able to craft an earth tier soul armament is true alright, but it isn¡¯t iron-clad. You only just became one, there¡¯s plenty of techniques you¡¯ve yet to learn, and the ingredients for making one could use some changes.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve condensed the ingredients roughly eight hundred times, though your application of the ¡®three revolutions per rotation¡¯ technique wasn¡¯t all that bad, but it isn¡¯t the most optimal one for these ingredients. Instead, you should¡­.¡±


    Carefully, Zi Jin explained to Bai Yunfei step by step several techniques for what to do with the ingredients while Bai Yunfei paid close attention to each and every word said to him.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    I¡¯ll give you a demonstration. Pay close attention to when I change the intensity of the flames¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    For the entire day, Bai Yunfei learned in earnest under Zi Jin¡¯s practiced hand. Zi Jin¡¯s explanations were exceedingly detailed and helped Bai Yunfei step into a whole new world about the applications for the craft and answering any other questions he had. In a single day, he felt as if he learned much more than he¡¯d regular learn than if he practiced by himself for tens of days.


    In that day, he made four more soul armaments and succeeded in making two. Both of which were exceedingly close on being earth tier armaments, but he wasn¡¯t able to make it over that one small line in between the two tiers.


    That night after Bai Yunfei returned to his room¡­


    After learning for the entire day, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in a hurry to craft any more. So instead, he sat down on his bed and began to think about several things.


    The violet soul ring fell onto his hand.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡± Bai Yunfei thought.


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 236: A Stabilized Rate of Training and Changes to the Upgrade Technique

    Chapter 236: A Stabilized Rate of Training and Changes to the Upgrade Technique


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Space


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +660 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +320 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Item Effect: Volume of ring increases to the cumulative sum of all space-related items held within.


    +10 Additional Effect: Up to 2000 soulpoints can be stockpiled for later use.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Looking at the +10 Violet Soul Ring, Bai Yunfei had a happy look on his face, ¡°Some soulpoints and a space element, that¡¯s double the success! Plus, being able to store 2000 soulpoints is already a third of what I can store in my body at once. With the ring fully charged, even someone of the same level of strength as me won¡¯t be a match for me¡­.¡±


    Thanks to the space rings that were used to store soulbeast puppets and several normal space rings, the amount of storage of the Violet Soul Ring was at about a hundred cubic meters. He took off the space ring he wore on his right hand and replaced it with the Violet Soul Ring.


    As of right now, Bai Yunfei wore two rings. The left hand had the soulforce recovering space ring, and the right had the Violet Soul Ring.


    Now that he had everything worked out, Bai Yunfei took out the lightning fire cauldron.


    Gently putting his hand on top of it, he thought, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Special Effect 1: Increase chance of success when crafting by 210%


    Special Effect 2: Additional 6% chance of adding a lightning affinity to the crafted item.


    Soul Compatibility: 1%


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei upgraded the cauldron one more time.


    The first special effect went to 220%, the second special effect became 7%, and the soul compatibility grew to 2%.


    Rather than continuing to upgrade, Bai Yunfei stopped here to think.


    ¡°One of the more particular points to the Upgrade Technique was that you couldn¡¯t tell what aspect of the equipment would be upgraded prior to the upgrade. Is this what you¡¯d call a ¡®flaw¡¯? Will I come across a problem like this in the future?¡±


    Bai Yunfei stared at his cauldron with a contemplative look, ¡°The lightning fire cauldron is quite different when its upgraded than when a weapon type soul armament is upgraded¡­.The probabilities of its effects went up, I wonder what happens if I upgrade it to +10? It doesn¡¯t look out of the ordinary right now, but I wonder if master will be able to tell the difference if I upgraded it?¡±


    After putting much thought into this, Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°As long as I don¡¯t show the Violet Soul Ring¡¯s effects, the master won¡¯t notice the changes. But the lightning fire cauldron will be seen by the master since I¡¯ll be using it daily. To avoid trouble, I¡¯ll hold off on upgrading it. Right now, the most important thing is to learn the art of crafting. Relying on the cauldron wouldn¡¯t be a good thing¡­.¡±


    Although Bai Yunfei was already Zi Jin¡¯s disciple, the Upgrade Technique was his biggest secret. Never did the thought of telling Zi Jin about it ever cross his mind.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the second day, Bai Yunfei was practically stuck in the Northern Point. Under the guidance of Zi Jin, Bai Yunfei was further entranced by the art that was crafting.


    Crafting a human tier soul armament was only just the most rudimentary of achievements; so said Zi Jin. Bai Yunfei was stuck on this phase for more than half a month before he was able to create his first low earth tier soul armament. Although it was just barely above what could be considered an earth tier soul armament, it was still an improvement from before.


    After that, his training in the art of crafting reached a lull. There hadn¡¯t been any unexpected spikes in circumstances since earth tier soul armaments were even harder to craft than human tier ones. Right now, his odds for making one was one successful soul armament for every five attempts; and even that one was a low earth tier.


    But an achievement like that had still been enough for Zi Jin to be satisfied. Bai Yunfei was getting more and more familiar with the craft, but he wasn¡¯t spending the entire day seeking out the master¡¯s instructions, he was at the caves crafting a soul armament for training. If he had a question, Bai Yunfei would go to Zi Jin for guidance.


    The cliffs had been ¡®repaired¡¯ as if nothing had happened to it in the first place. The upper half looked completely new in comparison to down below, but other than that, it was back to normal!


    Bai Yunfei had asked Song Lin in passing, only to hear that it was elder Xiao Binzi that had repaired the cliffs. The elder was in possession of an extremely strong soul armament that could control the earth; but other than that, Song Lin didn¡¯t know what else happened.


    And so, two months passed as Bai Yunfei continued to train and craft¡­.


    Early one day when the sun was just starting to sprinkle down its bright rays onto the earth, Bai Yunfei was just slowly opening his eyes. Sitting upright on his bed, Bai Yunfei stretched his arms and then the rest of his body, eliciting a series of crackling sounds from the bones in his body.


    Grabbing a pair of nunchucks, Bai Yunfei looked at them briefly before storing it back into his space ring. ¡°6350 Soulpoints¡­.¡± He muttered under his breath to himself.


    Yesternight, he spent the most of the night time seeing how much soulforce he had. In the end, he came to a total of 6350.


    Ever since he became a Soul Ancestor, Bai Yunfei realized that using up his soulforce over and over again to increase the total amount was no longer the same as it once was. As a Soul Sprite, he could increase the capacity by at least twenty, but now, he could barely get half of that¡­.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting stronger slower and slower now¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei stroked at his chin with his right hand. ¡°It¡¯s possible I won¡¯t be able to increase my soulforce with this ¡®cheat¡¯ in the future then, so I should try to avoid depending on it any more. It¡¯s a good thing my training is still going at a decent pace though.¡±


    He had also discovered during one of his crafting attempts that his strength was slowly increasing in accordance to his crafting. As the quality of his work got higher, the stronger he became.


    This was where students of the Crafting School differed from others (or perhaps it¡¯d be better to say the art of crafting). They didn¡¯t have to rely on training their souls to get stronger. They could achieve the same results by crafting.


    Otherwise, most of the students would be capable of only crafting soul armaments without being able to get stronger.


    As for the Upgrade Technique, Bai Yunfei discovered a huge change after it was ¡®upgraded¡¯.


    The chances of upgrading a low quality successfully had been changed.


    And not for the better.


    When he was upgrading several incomplete soul armaments, Bai Yunfei realized that out of 30 of them, not a single one had been able to reach +10!


    This realization left Bai Yunfei thunderstruck. He thought that it was due to his bad luck that day, but upon further reflection, that line of thought didn¡¯t quite seem right. After spending several days making even more incomplete soul armaments, Bai Yunfei tried his hand at upgrading again. So curious was he that Bai Yunfei had several students go down to buy him some regular weapons to test his theories.


    At last, did Bai Yunfei come to a conclusion. The Upgrade Technique had an extremely low rate of success for any item in the human tier and below! Upgrading any armament in that range was practically impossible to get to +10!


    There had been several other discoveries as well. When looking at one of the ¡®Superior¡¯ equipment he got to +10 way before his time at the Crafting School, Bai Yunfei realized that it had somehow gained an affinity for ¡®fire¡¯ despite not having it before!


    It puzzled Bai Yunfei. He didn¡¯t understand what was going on, but he was left with one single guess: As the Upgrade Technique improved, ordinary equipment would no longer be able to withstand the amount of ¡®energy¡¯ being used to upgrade it.


    Even now, he could feel that each time he used Upgrade Technique, the soulforce being consumed was mutating the worldly elementals around him. In other words, the Upgrade Technique was borrowing Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce to pull and manipulate the elements to improve the equipment.


    Thus when the Upgrade Technique grew stronger, so did the ¡®energy¡¯ being used. Regular weapons would no longer be able to handle such a powerful energy, so their success rates dropped drastically.


    With this guess in mind, Bai Yunfei tried his best to ¡®delve¡¯ into the ¡®change¡¯ that was happening when he used the Upgrade Technique. But it was to no avail. Perhaps the change was far too mysterious for him to decipher, or his power wasn¡¯t strong enough to understand it¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Looking down at his Violet Soul Ring, Bai Yunfei pressed his soulforce into it and watched as several notifications popped up into his mind.


    ¡°30 low-earth tier soul armaments and 17 human tier soul armaments¡­.¡±


    This was the bounty Bai Yunfei earned after these past two months. It wasn¡¯t as if he spent all of his time crafting soul armament after soul armament. There came days where Bai Yunfei would only make a few and try to adjust several techniques for improvement. Sometimes, it¡¯d take multiple days to make even one soul armament, but the amount he made was already subject to the admiration of a good deal of students in the school.


    After joining the Crafting School and learning the art of crafting, Bai Yunfei realized that soul armaments¨Clow tier ones in particular¨Chad very little value within the school¡­.


    Of course, this perspective was held by all the other disciples who were as strong as he was in the inner school.


    After much thought, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°I¡¯ll store a few so I can upgrade them all later. There¡¯s plenty of time to craft; I refuse to believe I won¡¯t be able to upgrade a single item out of the bunch here¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s thoughts were equating well over a hundred soul armaments to being as numerous as the stalks of bok choy. After these several months of being in the Crafting School, Bai Yunfei was already starting to adopt the mindset of that of a ¡®wastrel¡¯. If anyone else were to realize this, their reactions would surely be an interesting one.


    Standing up from the bed, Bai Yunfei finished up the rest of his daily morning rituals.


    As soon as he finished, the sound of a young girl could be heard from the outside.


    ¡°Brother strawhat, come on out, we¡¯re about to go!!¡±

 Chapter 237: Redfire City

    Chapter 237: Redfire City


    By the time Bai Yunfei walked out of his room, a large group of people was already gathered there in wait for him.


    Tang Xinyun, Huangfu Rui, Ye Zhiqiu, Mo Xiaoxuan, Xi Yan, Zhong Xuhao, Liu Mang, Zhang Shanxian, Si Kongxian, and even Fei Nian was there to make a total of ten. As soon as Bai Yunfei came out from his room, the group greeted him with a smile and friendly greeting. Even the sparrow-sized quickshade bird could be seen perched on top of Tang Xinyun¡¯s shoulder as it combed its own feathers while the red magiboar was currently being hugged in between Huangfu Rui¡¯s arms. Every so often, the red magiboar would let loose a snort from its maw.


    ¡°Haha, my apologies for making everyone wait.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke up apologetically as he approached them.


    ¡°Not at all, you¡¯re just on time, Yunfei.¡± Tang Xinyun smiled. ¡°We only just got here when Huangfu Rui called you out.


    Sticking her nose up coyishly, Huangfu Rui spoke, ¡°Everyone else but brother strawhat was here, so I called him out. Hmph! We should¡¯ve gone down first and let him panic when he can¡¯t find us!¡±


    Taken aback at first, Bai Yunfei then grinned in response. ¡°You know, Doraemon. If you don¡¯t take me with you, I won¡¯t be able to buy you toys when we get to the city!¡±


    The nickname of Doraemon was given to Huangfu Rui thanks to her tendency to pull out practically anything she wanted from her pouch. But only Bai Yunfei knew the meaning behind the nickname of course.


    ¡°Aah!¡± At first, Huangfu Rui panicked at the thought. But then when another idea struck her mind, she stuck her tongue out at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Hmph! Sis Yun will buy me something, who needs you!¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­.okay, okay. Junior Rui, we¡¯ll have to get to Redfire City first before we can buy anything!¡± Mo Xiaoxuan laughed. ¡°Let¡¯s get going then!¡±


    But before they could move, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Hey, where¡¯s junior Tian? Isn¡¯t he going with us?¡±


    ¡°Yuhang is at a very important stage in his training, so he couldn¡¯t come with us this time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s unfortunate. Let¡¯s get going then; walking there¡¯ll take some time.¡±


    ¡°Yea, let¡¯s go!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Plans were made for everyone to go to Redfire City before, but because of how ¡®addicted¡¯ Bai Yunfei was to crafting soul armaments, those plans were pushed back to today.


    Since Si Kongxian was familiar with the road, they led the group down Mt. Crimson. As they traveled towards the city, the group laughed and chatted with one another merrily.


    It was early morning when they left the Crafting School but two in the afternoon when they arrived at Redfire City¨Ca feat that left Bai Yunfei wiping at his sweat in embarrassment. How could he possibly tell everyone that when he tried to get to the base of Mt. Crimson from Redfire City, it took him two entire days!


    Just how big of a detour did he take!!


    Redfire City was located at the very center of the Great Plains Province. As the geographical center, the city was prosperous in many ways. Not only were they the capital city of the province, they were also the closest city to the Crafting School.


    There were almost ten thousand students to the Crafting School. And in their daily expenditures, the biggest factor was their need for materials for crafting. It was a terrifying sum when totaled, but with the amount of low tier soul armament they crafted, the exchange was profitable for both sides.


    Though low tier soul armaments were a very common sight in the Crafting School, they may as well be priceless treasures to outsiders. There were countless of schools in the world, and the amount of soul armaments the Crafting School made was nowhere enough to supply them all.


    Furthermore, it was strictly forbidden for regular students to negotiate trades of any soul armaments of the earth tier or above. Human tier soul armaments may be traded as each individual student desired, and sometimes several materials wouldn¡¯t be provided to them by the Crafting School so several students would sometimes trade soul armaments for materials.


    There were also plenty of traveling soul cultivators or other school members that¡¯d come to the Crafting School to plead for a trade of some sort.


    In short, Redfire City became a central hub for plenty of major figures and strong soul cultivators. As such it could be said that the city was where the strong hid amongst the weak and where the evil mixed with the good.


    Keeping watch over this city was one of the 56 warlords of the Tianhun Continent and administrator of the Great Plains Province; Sima Wenxu. A mid-stage Soul King


    Bai Yunfei and the group of friend¡¯s arrival into the city had been the center of attention of plenty of people; but when they started to blend in with the other traveler on the streets, not much interest was paid to mind. The streets were vast, and even the group of eleven wouldn¡¯t be able to hold up the streets even if they tried.


    The group was clearly holed up in the Crafting School for far too long; as they all started to grow visibly excited from all the sights. Even from the moment they stepped into the city, many of them pointed at a nearby store or stopping in one of them to purchase something. For every hundred meters they progressed into the city, ten minutes would pass at the very least.


    ¡°Wow! There¡¯s so many people here! Sis Yun, look! That guy over there is balancing so many bowls on his head!!¡± Huangfu Rui shrieked with excitement as she ran off. When everyone else looked up to see where she was going, they all saw a crowd of people gathered around what appeared to be a sideshow performance.


    Though the group were all powerful soul cultivators and could perform the acts that the commoners were doing, the fact that the commoners were able to do it so smoothly was enjoyable to see. The younger ones of the group, namely Zhong Xuhao and Liu Mang were the next to follow Huangfu Rui off to look at the excitement with craned necks.


    A faint smile graced Tang Xinyun¡¯s lips, ¡°If Xiao Rui is so interested, we should take a look as well.¡±


    Having no objections, the rest of the group moved to follow after Huangfu Rui when all of a sudden, the person in question cried out again, ¡°Wow! There¡¯s tanghulu over there! I want some, I want some!¡±


    Turning her head to look at Bai Yunfei, Huangfu Rui smiled wildly with glee, ¡°Brother strawhat, I want to eat some tanghulu, can you buy me some?¡±


    When he turned his head to look, a vendor could be seen selling tanghulu over a hundred meters to the left of where they were.


    Curiously, a faint memory popped back up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, causing his heart to jerk slightly as if a wound of some sort had been poked. A deep mental wound that was still raw to the touch.


    ¡°Yunfei, are you alright?¡± Tang Xinyun spoke out in concern when she saw the strange look overcome Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head before smiling back towards Huangfu Rui. ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll buy you some. Let¡¯s go on over and I¡¯ll have some bought for you.¡±


    He then turned his head to look at Zhong Xuhao and Liu Mang, ¡°Do you two want to eat some?¡±


    ¡°Tsk!¡± Zhong Xuhao frowned, ¡°Only girls and little kids would want to eat that. I¡¯m far too old to be eating stuff like that¡­.¡±


    ¡°I walk the road of serious business, I don¡¯t eat stuff like that¡­.¡± Liu Mang spoke coolly as his eyes glossed over at several pretty looking girls on the street¡­.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Completely disregarding the two self-delusional kids, Bai Yunfei asked the others for their thoughts before going off to buy some.


    ¡­¡­


    After walking the three hundred meters necessary, Bai Yunfei was just about to buy some tanghulu when a small voice called out to him from the right side of the street.


    ¡°O¡¯ heroic one, I¡¯ve a reading of your trigram today¡­.¡±


    Pausing mid-stride, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look. A single 24-25 year old young man was currently seated on top of the corner wall of a building as he smiled down on Bai Yunfei.


    This young man was a handsome one, but his dressing was of an extremely strange taste. He wore an extremely wrinkled monk¡¯s robe, but the look in his eyes made him seem more like a young heir with naught a care in the world. Right besides him was a pole about as tall as he was with a white-clothed banner that had the words ¡®fortune diviner¡¯ written on it.


    ¡°Uhm¡­.Are you talking to me?¡± Bai Yunfei asked after looking around himself.


    Nodding, the young man hung his banner onto his shoulders and walked up to Bai Yunfei. Giving him a looking over, the man slowly said, ¡°O¡¯ heroic one, the dark lines on your glabellum indicate that disaster approaches¡­..¡±


    Staring quizzically at him, Bai Yunfei asked with narrowed eyes, ¡°Are you¡­.¡±

 Chapter 238: Na Lanyin

    Chapter 238: Na Lanyin


    Staring quizzically at him, Bai Yunfei asked with narrowed eyes, ¡°Are you¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, this old ma¡ªah¡ªmy name is Na Lanyin.¡± The man¡¯s hand had run halfway down an imaginary beard when he suddenly gave up and turned forty-five degrees, looking at a well-rounded young wife standing on the second floor of a nearby restaurant. ¡°I am from a wealthy family, but my fortune-telling has always been accurate. People have called me the ¡®Right Hand of the God of Fate,¡¯ hehe, or perhaps, the ¡®miser¡¯ would be a better nickname¡­ shit, judging from your reaction, you¡¯ve never seen or heard of me before? How inexperienced you are¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Frowning, Bai Yunfei turned to walk away from the person.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t go yet! Hero, what I¡¯m saying is true!¡± Na Lanyin flew off like an arrow when he saw Bai Yunfei leaving him. ¡°I¡¯m only just warning you. If you don¡¯t believe me, let me divine it again. I guarantee that you¡¯ll embrace what I¡¯m saying as true!¡±


    As he spoke, he lifted his right hand up for Bai Yunfei to see. On his wrist was a palm-sized tortoiseshell. From the looks of how dirty and smeared it was, the tortoiseshell looked as if it had just been recently excavated from the earth.


    ¡°Put your hand on this. I¡¯m feeling generous today, so I¡¯ll divine your trigram and show you how to avoid disaster¡­¡± Na Lanyin moved the tortoiseshell over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face so that it was touching his nose.


    Unsure whether he should laugh or cry, Bai Yunfei took two steps back and pushed the man¡¯s hand away. ¡°My apologies, but I¡¯ve no interested in what divination you plan on doing. Take your business somewhere else¡­¡±


    However, it felt as if Na Lanyin was determined to ¡®help¡¯ him. Pushing his tortoiseshell forward, the male said, ¡°We can talk about money later, if my divination isn¡¯t accurate, then it¡¯ll be free of charge¡­.¡±


    ¡°I said there¡¯s no need, you can go awa¡ª¡±


    In the middle of his speech, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand pressed against the tortoiseshell to push it away when, all of a sudden, his words died in his mouth. Shock registered his face as Bai Yunfei stared at the tortoiseshell right in front of him.


    Equipment Grade: Middle Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Defense: 4690


    Equipment Effect: When paired with a special technique, there is a 5% chance of predicting the future. The level of detail may vary.


    Upgrade Requirement: 260 Soulpoints


    Completely by accident, the notification for the tortoiseshell appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The two stood in silence against one another. Bai Yunfei was still because of his shock, but Na Lanyin was still because he was confused why Bai Yunfei was shocked.


    When Na Lanyin noticed that Bai Yunfei was looking at the tortoiseshell in shock, the look on his face tightened.


    Quickly drawing back his hand, the male harrumphed, ¡°A no is a no I suppose! I have changed my mind. I¡¯ll be taking my leave elsewhere. Goodbye now!¡±


    And with that, the male turned face and walked away.


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    By the time Bai Yunfei thought about grabbing him, the male was already a dozen meters away and close to blending in with the crowd.


    Just faintly, a voice tickled Bai Yunfei¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Hero, this is my last warning to you. Be sure to avoid trouble and keep those you care about close, else you will find regret to be the only thing left in your embrace!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    After thinking about what had been said, Bai Yunfei gave up the idea of chasing after the person with a confused shake of his head.


    ¡°Who in the world was that person? I thought he was a swindler at first, but¡­ that mid-heave tier item¡­ that tortoiseshell was mid-heaven-tiered!! Who would¡¯ve thought that the very first item I have seen like that would be found in a situation like this?


    ¡°And¡­ that equipment effect¡­¡± Bai Yunfei took an unconscious step back, ¡°Predicting? Was there an effect like that in this world? It wasn¡¯t even an effect from being upgraded¡­ how could that be real? Predicting the future?¡±


    Then another thought struck him, ¡°Ah! Could he be someone from the Fate School!?¡±


    Looking off in the direction Na Lanyin had disappeared, Bai Yunfei sighed before turning to go buy the tanghulu from the vendor.


    ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought that the very first person I¡¯d meet after stepping down the mountain would be such a mysterious person? I wonder what his goal was¡­ he was clearly a strong soul cultivator if I couldn¡¯t sense him before¡­ but still, I shouldn¡¯t meet with a suspicious people like him. I came here to play, not to find trouble¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side of the road, Na Lanyin had already walked a few thousand meters away from Bai Yunfei. Turning back to look at Bai Yunfei, the carefree look in his eyes was replaced by a look of solemn dignity.


    ¡°That youngster is a strange one! How dangerous! He could tell how special the Absolute Earth Trigram Shell!¡± Na Lanyin raised the tortoiseshell up to his eye and looked it over. ¡°There¡¯s no problems with the shell, and the tortoiseshell is practically indistinguishable to any other tortoiseshell when not being used. Did he really realize what was going on?


    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve ever seen a person with such clear omens of ¡®divided luck¡¯¡­ I was only curious to see what he was like, never did I think that his ¡®knowledge¡¯ would be that strong. It¡¯s fortunate I got out quick. If trouble were to befall me for a small moment¡¯s curiosity, I¡¯d be getting the short end of the stick¡­¡±


    Na Lanyin shook his head and turned away. With his banner fluttering slightly in the wind, the man walked back into the ocean of people and disappeared.


    ¡­¡­


    After buying the tanghulu, Bai Yunfei walked back down the road to where his friends were, but when he saw them, Bai Yunfei paused briefly where he stood.


    There was a crowd of people where his friends were, but everyone was moving about in a rather chaotic manner. Several people were even whispering to one another as they inched away from the spot.


    At the center, two parties of people were facing one another.


    One of the two parties was Tang Xinyun and the others. On the other side was a group of strong-looking attendants with a rather importantly-dressed youth leading the front.


    It seemed as if the two parties were talking with one another.


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei quickened his pace.


    ¡°Xinyun, what¡¯s going on?¡± Bai Yunfei asked Tang Xinyun as soon as he got there while casting an eye at the people in front of them.


    ¡°Brother strawhat, you¡¯re finally back! That took way too long!¡± Tang Xinyun hadn¡¯t even opened her mouth to say something when Huangfu Rui voiced her annoyance, but when she saw the tanghulu Bai Yunfei had, her annoyed face gave way to joy as she took one.


    From the side, Mo Xiaoxuan explained, ¡°Brother Bai, what happened was that just a second ago, there were a few bullies who thought they¡¯d be able to pick up senior Tang. By the time we realized she was in trouble, lord Sima was already in the middle of stopping them¡­ he and senior Fei Nian look like they¡¯re friends.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. Turning around to look at the people next to the two parties, Bai Yunfei noticed five dirtily-dressed men pressed against the ground with pale faces. Their left hands clutched tightly at their strangely-bent right hands and their faces were heavily sweating.


    Clearly, their right hands were broken, but they were afraid to voice their pain.


    Looking up, Bai Yunfei could see a young youth in his twenties looking suspiciously at him. By his side was a delicate-looking young woman who was also staring curiously.


    ¡°Yunfei, let me introduce you.¡± It was right at that time Fei Nian spoke to Bai Yunfei rather than to his companion. ¡°This is the third heir to the house of Sima, Sima Dong. He¡¯s a friend of mine, and this is his younger sister, Sima Yue.¡±


    ¡°The house of Sima?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°isn¡¯t that¡­¡±


    Fei Nian nodded. ¡°Yes. The very same house of Sima as Marquis Sima Wenxu, the administrator of Redfire City.¡±


    Turning back to Sima Dong, Fei Nian said, ¡°Elder brother Sima, this is Bai Yunfei. He just joined the Crafting School, but he is my¡­ martial uncle.¡±


    A smile graced Sima Dong¡¯s face when he listened to Fei Nian¡¯s introduction. ¡°Ah, so you are lord Bai, it¡¯s a pleasure to mee¡ª¡±


    Then the weight of what Fei Nian said sank in.


    Whipping his head back to look at Fei Nian, Sima Dong asked, ¡°What did you just say? He¡¯s¡­ your martial uncle!?¡±

 Chapter 239: A Stroll

    Chapter 239: A Stroll


    ¡°Yeah, you didn¡¯t hear wrong. He became a disciple of the previous headmaster Zi Jin just recently, making him the fourth martial uncle.¡± Fei Nian shook his head. It seemed like he still hadn¡¯t quite wrapped his head around the fact that Bai Yunfei¡¯s spot in the hierarchy was now higher than his.


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head to Sima Dong. ¡°It¡¯s only just a position. In private, I am still just someone of the same generation as you, brother Sima. I thank you for your assistance earlier.¡±


    Paired with how modest Bai Yunfei looked, Sima Dong was still not quite fully back to awareness yet.


    A new disciple of the previous headmaster of the Crafting School! There had been no warnings about this; rather, an abrupt statement straight from the source!


    If it were one of the five elemental schools or the Wind Lightning School, the fact that the previous headmaster had taken in a disciple would have spread like wildfire throughout the continent. There would be a massive ceremony for the sake of announcing it to the world, but the Crafting School hadn¡¯t. Aside from a single assembly of the student body, there had been no other announcements from the school. How casual was the school?


    Sima Dong was probably the first ¡®outsider¡¯ to know of the fact, so it was no wonder why he was surprised.


    He knew that Fei Nian wasn¡¯t the type to joke around about stuff like this, so this meant that the previous headmaster, Zi Jin, had really taken in a new disciple!


    Realizing that he had lost his composure, Sima Dong quickly tried to calm the emotions on his face. Waving his hand, he said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for thanks. I was only passing by, lord B¡ªah¡­ er¡­¡±


    He had no idea what he should be calling Bai Yunfei by. Thus, he was completely mortified at the moment.


    When Bai Yunfei saw this, he smiled, ¡°Brother Sima, there¡¯s no need for such politeness. I¡¯ve said it before, we¡¯re both from the same generation. Calling me any other way would only be awkward.¡±


    ¡°Haha, alright then! Then, don¡¯t mind me if I call you brother Bai.¡± Sima Dong bounced back with a happy laugh. ¡°Are your friends here all new members of the Crafting School? If you¡¯re here to sightsee, then please allow me to play the part of host and take you on a tour around the city. I guarantee that you¡¯ll be fully satisfied!¡±


    He could see the hesitation in everyone¡¯s eyes even as he finished speaking. It occurred to him that these people would naturally be skeptical about having someone plan their entire trip for them out of the blue.


    Hastily, he said, ¡°My sister and I were on our way to the western part of the city for one of their theaters. Recently, the people have been talking about an extraordinarily good show being shown there¡­ haha, I am in truth quite an enthusiast for shows. Would you all be interested in going together?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is there? In that case, we can¡¯t miss an opportunity like that, let¡¯s go!¡± Fei Nian was the first to respond without any hesitation.


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei cast a glance over to Fei Nian only to see that Fei Nian was currently looking at the young woman next to Sima Dong. From there, Bai Yunfei could guess the reason why Fei Nian came with them to Redfire City since he was usually so hard to ¡®cooperate¡¯ with. And what a reason it was¡­


    Ye Zhiqiu and the others came to the same conclusion as well and gave Fei Nian a knowing look. Apologetically, Fei Nian said, ¡°Well that is¡­ I actually like this stuff too¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Sure, I believe you.¡±


    Mo Xiaoxuan nodded as well, ¡°I do too.¡±


    ¡°Same here.¡± Zhong Xuhao interjected.


    ¡°I believe!¡± Huangfu Rui¡¯s hand shot into the air.


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    There was a final conclusion from everyone. Fei Nian, Mo Xiaoxuan, and Xi Yan would go with the two Sima siblings to the show, Si Kongxian and Zhang Sanxian had some sort of ¡®agreement¡¯ with Zhong Xuhao and Liu Mang to go somewhere else to play, Ye Zhiqiu wanted to see the city for himself, Tang Xinyun would take Huangfu Rui to go buy several things, and Bai Yunfei would go see the city himself since he had no interest in the show.


    ¡°Young master¡­ what should we do with these people?¡±


    Just as everyone was preparing to leave, the attendants behind Sima Dong called out to him for instructions.


    Sima Dong cast a glance at the groveling bullies in front of him, ¡°Escort them to the authorities and have them deal with them!¡±


    ¡°Yes!!¡± The guard spoke before turning to lead the others away.


    Hearing that Sima Dong planned for them to be sent to the authorities, the bullies immediately knew that their future would definitely be bleak and tragic. As soon as they heard what he said, the blood in their faces drained away. They didn¡¯t even have time to beg for their lives as despair flooded their eyes.


    Noticing their expression, Bai Yunfei had a small frown on his face, ¡°Brother Sima, since they¡¯ve already been punished, why not let them go? There¡¯s no need to have the authorities deal with them.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Sima Dong uttered in surprise. He looked to Bai Yunfei for a second before smiling, ¡°How generous brother Bai is! Very well then. You lot, hurry up and scram!¡±


    Grateful, the bullies all gave Bai Yunfei a look before scrambling away from this place.


    Now that the problem with the bullies had been dealt with, the group decided to meet back up with each other by supper time at the most prominent restaurant in the city, the Red Aroma. Their supper and lodgings for the night would be prepared by Sima Dong¡¯s men, leaving Bai Yunfei and the group worry-free for their plans for the night.


    ¡­¡­


    Wandering around the busy streets with no concise aims, Bai Yunfei looked around with an increasingly comfortable expression.


    He first visited several accessory stores and bought their wares to upgrade later, but not once did he visit a weapon store. After joining the Crafting School, what use was there to buy weapons?


    Bai Yunfei strolled around the city without anything out of the ordinary happening, and somehow, time managed to go on by just as quickly.


    That night outside the Red Aroma, Tang Xinyun, Ye Zhiqiu, Si Kongxian and several others walked on over to the restaurant. They had met one another on the way, so they decided to make their way to the restaurant together.


    Right beside Tang Xinyun was a tall young woman in a red robe. The two of them were talking to one another while sometimes one of the two would say something to Ye Zhiqiu.


    This woman was Tang Xinyun¡¯s senior, Ling Yiyi, the fourth senior of the Northern Point.


    By the time they made it to the restaurant, Sima Dong, Fei Nian, and their group could be seen inside; they had been the first to make it in.


    Smiling, Sima Dong welcomed the second group, ¡°Brother Ye, miss Tang, you¡¯re right on time. I¡¯ve just paid the Red Aroma and had them start cooking. After walking for so long, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all tired by now? Come in and have a drink!¡±


    Tang Xinyun nodded her head, ¡°Yes, thank you for your troubles, lord Sima.¡±


    ¡°Haha, it was nothing! Nothing at all! Ah? This young miss is¡­?¡±


    ¡°This is my senior, Ling Yiyi. We met while walking around the city. I hope lord Sima doesn¡¯t mind if she comes with us?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! I can¡¯t welcome her fast enough, even!¡± Sima Dong warmly laughed as he welcomed Ling Yiyi, but then he realized something, ¡°Where¡¯s brother Bai? Wasn¡¯t he with you?¡±


    Mo Xiaoxuan shook his head, ¡°No idea. We didn¡¯t meet brother Bai once.¡±


    The entire group was here already barring Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°I¡¯m here!¡±


    Suddenly, a voice called out from above before a single figure came leaping down from the roofs. As the figure landed on the ground, everyone saw that it was Bai Yunfei.


    His sudden drop from the sky had startled countless commoners, causing them to start or cry out in shock. Even Ye Zhiqiu and the others were startled. Confused, Sima Dong asked, ¡°Brother Bai, what were you¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave two embarrassed coughs, ¡°I was a little farther away. I was afraid I¡¯d be late, so I took a shortcut¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Though still mystified, Sima Dong didn¡¯t press the question. ¡°Well since brother Bai is here, let¡¯s all go in.¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s. My stomach has been hungry for some time.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head as he turned to look to everyone else.


    When he saw Ling Yiyi, his eyes widened a bit, ¡°Sister Ling, what brings you here?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was rather familiar with plenty of students in the Crafting School by now, especially the disciples since they had met with one another multiple times. Bai Yunfei was also pretty easy to talk to and didn¡¯t have the ¡®aura¡¯ of a martial uncle, so many disciples got along with him.


    Smiling, Ling Yiyi greeted Bai Yunfei, ¡°I was buying a few things when I met sister Tang. When I heard everyone else was here, I decided to come with.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei glanced at Ye Zhiqiu. It had been in passing, but Bai Yunfei had heard that Ye Zhiqiu and Ling Yiyi got along quite well¡­.


    Stepping into the interior of the restaurant, everyone was led to the most luxurious and largest room. When Bai Yunfei and his group entered the city, they had numbered eleven people, but with the inclusion of Ling Yiyi, Sima Dong, and his sister Sima Yue, there were now fourteen people gathered around the table.


    No sooner did they sit down than platters of exotic delicacies came streaming to the table. The meals at the Crafting School were by no means poor fare, but they would never be able to compare to the food here. Combined with their walk this morning and then the strolling they did in the afternoon, they were all starving. With much gusto, everyone began to talk with one another while helping themselves to the food.


    ¡°Ah, I remembered tonight there will be a very interesting carnival for the Lantern Festival. Would you all be interested in seeing it?¡± Sima Dong proposed.


    ¡°The lantern carnival? I¡¯ve heard of that before.¡± Zhang Sanxian replied. ¡°I saw plenty of people setting things up on my way back; it looked pretty fun, shall we go?¡±


    ¡°We may as well go! It¡¯ll be plenty of fun with everyone there!¡± Fei Nian nodded, but his eyes continued to look at Sima Yue. What he was trying to get at was clear to see for everyone else.


    Huangfu Rui was excited as well, ¡°I want to go! I want to go! I want to see the lanterns!¡±


    There wasn¡¯t anyone that objected to this proposal, but they all looked to Bai Yunfei for confirmation.


    He was surprised to see that everyone would look to him for confirmation, but Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t have any complaints. Why don¡¯t we go when it¡¯s dark out?¡±

 Chapter 240: Lantern Festival Second

    Chapter 240: Lantern Festival (Second)


    There was a river in Redfire City known as the Clearjade River that spanned about fifty meters. The water flowed slowly and was so clear that the bottom of the river could be seen. Willows were strewn across the shores, and with the greenish-blue hue that surrounded the area, the place was extremely serene. This was one of the more frequent haunts for the people of the city to clear their minds and have fun.


    Tonight, the river was far more popular than it would normally be during the daytime. The moon was shining brightly above the middle of the river, and lanterns had been hung up in numerous amounts within the surrounding five kilometers. There was so much light it was even brighter at night than during daytime. If one were to look from afar, all they would see was a sea of lanterns.


    By the side of the river, several lanterns hung from the willow tree¡¯s branches. Vendor booths had been set up on both sides of the roads, and lanterns had been hung on the booths as well. The vendors sold plenty of delicious foods to the customers.


    After Bai Yunfei and the group finished their meal, they all decided to head to the carnival. Splitting up, each person began to go to wherever they pleased. Whether by accident or by fortune, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were grouped together¡ªwith Huangfu Rui of course.


    With Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun walking side by side, they slowly progressed down the busy streets. Huangfu Rui held a small fish-shaped lantern in one hand and a tanghulu in the other. She hummed a folk song as she skipped along and peered all over the place. She was followed by Xiao Rourou who pranced right beside her. The quickshade bird flew several inches above their heads and would occasionally flap its wings.


    The three of them were enjoying all the strange, exotic sights around them as they slowly made their way from the outside to the center. At times, they¡¯d stop at a booth to guess at the riddles within the lanterns, winning several more fish lanterns for Huangfu Rui to carry.


    ¡°Ah, come to think of it, I haven¡¯t thanked you for taking care of me when I was unconscious a while back, Xinyun.¡± Breaking the silence, Bai Yunfei mentioned when he became a Soul Ancestor and was unconscious for two whole nights. While he didn¡¯t know what was happening during that time, he found out who took care of him later.


    Though surprised, Tang Xinyun shook her head with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s been awhile since then. Why bring that up now? There isn¡¯t anything to thank me for. If anything, I owe you for saving my life in the past!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ what¡¯s with this tit-for-tat? I did help you, but I don¡¯t think it was that serious to say I saved your life¡­¡± Bai Yunfei honestly replied. ¡°Well then, in either case, I still want to thank you. How about this, why don¡¯t you pick something out and I¡¯ll buy you it as thanks?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± She wanted to decline at first, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s earnest expression had convinced her otherwise. Thinking about it, she said with bright eyes, ¡°Actually, I have something in mind.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What is it? Please don¡¯t let it be anything too hard to find, I won¡¯t be able to buy it otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you don¡¯t need to go looking for it since I already have it on me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already on you? What do you mean?¡±


    With a shake of her hand, a single object appeared on her palm. ¡°It¡¯s this.¡±


    Looking at the object, Bai Yunfei could see a wooden sculpture of a bird. The bird had both of its wings spread out wide and was looking straight ahead with a slightly open beak.


    It looked as if the bird was preparing to take flight with a cry ready to be emitted.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± He didn¡¯t know what he was looking at exactly, but the sculpture looked familiar. He just couldn¡¯t put his finger on it.


    ¡°Did you forget?¡± Tang Xinyun smiled. ¡°This was when we first met in Stonegroove City. You ¡®forced¡¯ this onto me, haha. You ran off right away, so I didn¡¯t have time to give it back to you. I had it this entire time, but I only just remembered it now.¡±


    ¡°Stonegroove City?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. ¡°Oh! I remember now! I only just bought that when I was in the city, but then Jing Mingfeng framed me with aunty Zhao¡­ I was honestly confused back then, so I guess the sculpture ended up with you¡­¡±


    The very mention of Jing Mingfeng¡¯s name left Bai Yunfei¡¯s eye with an involuntary itch. Even now, the thought of beating him up was very appealing; he had been a step away from certain disaster that time!


    ¡°Yes. Thinking about it now, our first encounter was¡­ oh, well, I guess that was Jing Mingfeng. He took on your appearance, I remember¡­¡± Tang Xinyun covered the smile on her lips, ¡°Why did he frame you, actually? I never learned the reason for that.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ I was just extremely unlucky! When I first got to Stonegroove City¡­¡± Bai Yunfei began to regale the story of how he and Jing Mingfeng met to Tang Xinyun. He told her everything all the way too when he was framed.


    After listening to his story, Tang Xinyun gave an admiring smile to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei,¡± She whispered, ¡°You¡¯re a very generous person. Any other soul cultivator would definitely have made sure Jing Mingfeng wouldn¡¯t do anything to them in the future. Even the more stone-hearted ones would probably have called for his head, but you¡­ you became friends with him¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­ if I couldn¡¯t get back my space ring, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d never be able to forgive him either. But I got it back, so no harm no foul. Why should I bear a grudge? He had a lapse in judgment, but I won¡¯t hold that against him.


    ¡°Well, how do you feel about Jing Mingfeng?¡±


    Thinking about the question, Tang Xinyun responded, ¡°Well, Jing Mingfeng isn¡¯t a bad person in all honesty; he¡¯s actually a good friend, but people who¡¯re like you are rare in the world. Maybe this is one of your good points.


    ¡°There might be people who think what you did was silly, but for me, that made me really li¡ª¡±


    Her words stopped, prompting Bai Yunfei to ask, ¡°You really what?¡±


    Tang Xinyun paused in her place. ¡°I said¡­ it made me really like how you do things¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°Brother strawhat, sis Yun, come quick! There¡¯s a shining building over here!!¡±


    At that moment, Huangfu Rui¡¯s excited voice called out to the two of them. Looking up, the two saw Huangfu Rui several meters ahead. A half-eaten tanghulu was still in her hands, but it was forgotten by the entrancing sight in front of her.


    Following her gaze, Bai Yunfei could see some sort of ¡®tower¡¯ in the middle of the Clearjade River. It shined bright with all sorts of colors. Since it was far away, the exact dimensions of the tower couldn¡¯t really be determined, but there was at least a good few dozen meters between Bai Yunfei and the tower. The tower was shining with a light so bright that it shone for a hundred of meters in every direction, an awe-inspiring sight.


    Huangfu Rui¡¯s curious gaze had been enough to make Bai Yunfei laugh, ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡±


    Tang Xinyun nodded her head, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s.¡±


    As they walked, Bai Yunfei realized that they had already made it to the center of the city. There was a larger gathering of people on the roads next to the river compared to before. Thankfully, the roads were still wide enough to service all of the walkers without being congested.


    Still, he shifted sideways and held his right hand out to his right to help Huangfu Rui and Tang Xinyun move forward without being stopped by anyone else on their way to the bridge.


    As they approached, the three of them could finally see the giant building with greater clarity than before.


    They could now see the lantern-adorned building the city called the ¡®Lighthouse¡¯!!

 Chapter 241: A Competition

    Chapter 241: A Competition


    As they approached, the three of them could finally see the giant building with greater clarity than before.


    They could now see the lantern-adorned building the city called the ¡®Lighthouse¡¯!!


    These lanterns weren¡¯t made of paper like the others. Instead, they had been made from a special type of crystal that had to have been custom made for this event. With how it was situated in the river, the tower looked as if it was floating over the water rather than being fastened to something underneath. Even more surprising was how the tower wasn¡¯t shaking despite it being roughly a hundred meters above the water.


    It was as steady as any other tower built on flat land.


    At the very top of the tower was a spire with some sort of black cloth covering the point of it.


    What confused Bai Yunfei about the sight was a series of ropes were attached to ten meters below the spire. They ran all the way down to the river where over a hundred strands of rope were tied to both sides of the bridge.


    The vast majority of the tourists were mainly centered around the bridge or on the shores. As they gazed up at the tower, each one of them pointed and talked to one another about it.


    ¡°What a huge lantern! I thought it was a house at first! Brother strawhat, look at how big it is! Can we bring it home?¡± Huangfu Rui looked first at the small lantern she had in her hand before looking at the huge lantern up above. She then turned her head to look back at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    As sweat dripped, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°If you want it so badly, just put it in your space ring, but are they going to let you take it?¡±


    At that moment, there was a distant cry. Looking up, Bai Yunfei saw a robust-looking person jump from the moonlit bridge onto the rope connecting the bridge to the spire. Then, as if he was walking on an incline, the figure began to run up to the top.


    The eyebrows on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face rose. Only mid-stage Soul Warriors could accomplish a feat like this.


    As soon as the person reached the top, he turned around to salute everyone down below. That was when Bai Yunfei saw that the person was a man in his thirties.


    Regaling everyone, the man spoke with a sonorous voice, ¡°Ladies and gentleman!! I am Shi Lan, your host for tonight¡¯s events! Tonight, we have a very special program for everyone, so please enjoy tonight to the best of your ability!¡±


    Each person down below had a curious expression, the man continued to say, ¡°This program shall be known as the ¡®Scramble for the Lantern!¡¯ Any interested participants will try their best to find and grab the winning lantern. The winner will be the one who grabs it, and the prize will be¡­ this!¡±


    His right hand tore off the black cloth that had wrapped around the point of the spire.


    ¡°Aaaaah!¡±


    The resulting sight had been enough for everyone in the audience to let out a cry in surprise; Bai Yunfei himself had let out a gasp. Both of Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes had lit up with interest, and Huangfu Rui let out an excited cry while her eyes immediately lit up like two mini-stars.


    Uncovered by the black cloth, everyone could now see a lotus-shaped lantern glowing brightly with all seven colors of the rainbow at the tip of the spire. The lantern was crystalline in material, and a single multi-colored crystal could be seen in the center. The light was coming from this crystal and radiated through each individual ¡®petal¡¯ of the lotus. The light encompassed the entire area around the lotus in a dream-like fashion.


    When the lantern was revealed, all the other lanterns seemed to have lost their luster. Only this new lantern looked as bright as a star.


    ¡°This lantern is known as the ¡®Prisma Lantern.¡¯ It took tens of artisans to craft this masterpiece over a course of thirty days. At the very center of it is a very precious multi-colored stone! Though it isn¡¯t a rare treasure, it is still a very unique lantern!¡± Shi Lan pointed at it, ¡°The rules for this competition are simple. There are a total of one hundred eighteen ropes tied to three of the four faces to this tower. All you have to do is climb one of the ropes and reach the top. First one there is the victor!


    ¡°These ropes are of very sturdy make, so don¡¯t be afraid of them breaking! The tower has been reinforced many times over along with its foundation, so there won¡¯t be any problems on that side either. If you fall into the water and don¡¯t know how to swim, we¡¯ll have people stationed around to save you, so there is no harm to be had!


    ¡°Gentleman! Take a look at the eyes of the women nearby she¡¯ll be the most fortunate woman tonight if you can win this lantern and gift it to her!!¡±


    An immediate uproar followed this final reminder from all over¡ªmany of the males were confident in their abilities.


    The vast majority of the people here were all young couples, so what kind of male wouldn¡¯t want to see a smile on the face of the one they loved?


    ¡°How beautiful¡­ sis Yun, is that really a lantern? It looks more like a lotus! It¡¯s really beautiful!!¡± Huangfu Rui tugged at Tang Xinyun¡¯s robes in excitement.


    Even Tang Xinyun had a look of interest in her eyes when she glanced at the lantern. ¡°Yes, it really is quite beautiful¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei hesitated at first, but when he saw the two females interest in it, he suggested, ¡°Then¡­ how about I get it for you two?¡±


    The moment Huangfu Rui heard his words, she let out an excited yelp, ¡°Okay! Yes! Brother strawhat, go get it! I want i¡ªoh! I mean, sis Yun likes it too! Give it to sis Yun!¡±


    Surprised, Tang Xinyun pinched the adorable face of Huangfu Rui dotingly, ¡°Haha, so what if I do. Plenty of others want it as well!¡±


    She looked at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Why not let the commoners take part? If you were to go, you¡¯d be bullying the others¡­¡±


    Thinking about it, Bai Yunfei offered, ¡°No worries, I just won¡¯t use my soulforce. I¡¯ll just use my own physical aptitude; that¡¯ll even the playing field and make it less likely that I will win.¡±


    ¡°In¡­ in that case, please be careful and don¡¯t hurt anyone.¡± Tang Xinyun relented after hesitating for a brief moment.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to say. In times like this, shouldn¡¯t it be, ¡®be careful and don¡¯t get hurt¡¯?


    After ten minutes had passed, to allow many of the participants to line themselves up by the ropes, Shi Lan gave a smile to everyone. Holding up a stone, he announced, ¡°When this stone hits the waters, the competition will officially begin! Gentleman, for the sake of earning favor with the beautiful women of tonight, do your best! Show off the best of your ability and let everyone see how svelte you are!¡±


    He tossed the stone up into the air. As the stone began to arc back down, he jumped off to the shore.


    By the time he reached the shore, the stone he had thrown had coincidentally plopped into the water.


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    ¡°Wah!¡±


    ¡°Splash! Splash! Splash¡­¡±


    Barely seconds into the start, three distinct sounds could already be heard.


    The first shout had been from the excitement of the participants when they heard the competition start.


    The second shout was from surprise.


    The third was the sound of several people falling into the water.


    At the same time, thirty people were already starting to leap onto the ropes to run straight for the top.


    That¡¯s right, the best way up was to run up the ropes!


    Not a single person here had imagined that this ¡®rope climbing¡¯ event would suddenly develop into this!


    These nimble young participants were already under close watch by the entire audience, but just seconds later when they progressed up the ropes, the audience began to let out even more excited shouts!


    Several of the ropes were starting to get close to one another, meaning that the people on them were starting to fight one another!


    There were a few participants who had been prepared to climb up the ropes by hugging onto them upside down. When they saw people running up the ropes, they were all stunned for a moment.


    Silently, they the returned to the shores and entered the ranks of the audience; even the ones who had been startled by the ¡®experts¡¯ and had fallen into the water were starting to make their way back to dry land where they could watch this startling situation.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even started to climb the rope when he saw all of this unfurrow in front of him.


    ¡°What the fuck!? They¡¯re all soul cultivators! This is a carnival meant for the commoners, why are so many soul cultivators taking part!?¡±


    ¡°Brother strawhat, what are you doing! Hurry up! Grab that lantern!!¡±


    Huangfu Rui¡¯s shout jolted Bai Yunfei out of his stupor. Giving one final look at the battling people on top of the ropes, Bai Yunfei smiled to Huangfu Rui and Tang Xinyun one more time before leaping up onto a rope.

 Chapter 242: How Coincidental!

    Chapter 242: How Coincidental!


    The ropes were at first spread out from one another, but the closer one got to the spire, the closer the ropes got to one another. Where the spire rose, all of the ropes were practically touching one another, meaning the participants would have to be clumped together as well.


    Bai Yunfei was on top of one of the ropes to the right, but there were already thirteen soul cultivators in the middle of fighting one another.


    None of these people were experts; the strongest one of them was only a late-stage Soul Personage. All of them were young in age, so presumably, they were joining in on this competition for the sake of winning a smile from whichever woman they were here with.


    Soul cultivators were people too. They had both emotions and lives of their own, especially when in their prime. If they were with a female companion, they would, of course, try to show off their strength.


    After several fights, two of the few people had been knocked into the water. As the Soul Apprentices realized that they were useless against the other soul cultivators, they started to break away from the fight so that three mid-stage Soul Personages and one late-stage Soul Personage could fight each other. The other four mid-stage Soul Personages on the other hand, continued to run up the ropes unimpeded by anyone else.


    Several people in the audience let out surprised shouts at the appearance of Bai Yunfei. This in turn led to other people looking at the brave newcomer that was willing to still run up a rope.


    ¡°Hey, look! There¡¯s a person that¡¯s trying to run up still!¡±


    ¡°Ahhh? There¡¯s already plenty of strong soul cultivators up there, and a youth like him is still going up? Hasn¡¯t he realized that he has no chance?¡±


    ¡°But that kid isn¡¯t half-bad from the looks of things. He might just be equally amazing.¡±


    ¡°Pft! Look at how old he is, twenty maybe? Look at how many Soul Personages are over there, I bet you that wet-eared kid doesn¡¯t know where he stands.¡±


    ¡°Look! He¡¯s already over with the others!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    While everyone down below was talking about him, Bai Yunfei was already progressing steadily up the rope. It wasn¡¯t until he was halfway up that the people fighting started to notice him. Each one of the fighters thought themselves to be strong already, so they didn¡¯t think Bai Yunfei to be anyone special. Many of them couldn¡¯t even see how strong he was.


    ¡°Little brother, you can¡¯t possibly win this lantern. Save yourself the trouble and go back down!¡± The outermost Soul Personage called out to Bai Yunfei as he moved to push Bai Yunfei over.


    He had been ¡®kind¡¯ in his push, rather than being full of contempt like many others. Everyone was here for fun and for enjoyment, not for a fight to the death. There was no need to make a new enemy tonight.


    Smiling in thanks, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Haha, thank you for your concern, brother, but I too wish to win this lantern. Please go down first.¡±


    Even as he spoke, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand grabbed onto the other person¡¯s outstretched hand. Bai Yunfei pulled the man away from his rope and down toward the shore below.


    It wasn¡¯t until the man crashed into the waters below that he realized what in the world happened.


    This unforeseen development had led to surprise from the other soul cultivators. Stopping in what they were doing, each one of them stared at Bai Yunfei in shock.


    Although Bai Yunfei said he wouldn¡¯t use soulforce to take part in a competition meant for commoners, this was no anything but that now.


    Only soul cultivators were left in this competition, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t pretend the other participants were commoners. As Bai Yunfei made his way up, he looked at the seven remaining soul cultivators with a smile. ¡°Gentlemen, remember that this is a cheerful competition. Please remember to be polite and don¡¯t overdo it.¡±


    His actions just then were enough for the other participants to see him as a threat. Cautiously, they all started to shift away from him.


    There were two people on the right that were companions with one another, so when they heard what Bai Yunfei said, one of them laughed out loud. ¡°Haha, little brother, you¡¯re absolutely right! We are here to have fun, so the fact that we were able to meet this many soul cultivators here makes the trip worth it! Little brother, you¡¯re a strong one; why don¡¯t you and us exchange some notes!¡±


    Then they nodded at one another before charging at Bai Yunfei. One person grabbed Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder while the other one moved to sweep at his legs.


    The teamwork between the two was quite excellent.


    Still smiling, Bai Yunfei¡¯s foot shifted a bit before moving to the side in a calm and collected manner. Managing to dodge the two strikes perfectly, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand slapped against another rope to allow him to rebound back. As the person on the right was bringing his hand back, Bai Yunfei managed to grab hold of him.


    Pulling before then pushing him away, Bai Yunfei made his soulforce envelop the man, forcing him to fly toward his companion and smash against one another.


    His movements had been fast enough for the first man to not realize a thing. All he felt was a tightening sensation around his right arm before he was sent flying backward. Then, he was falling down to the water below with his companion.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Only an instant had passed before the two men had fallen from their ropes, causing the audience to stare at Bai Yunfei in complete shock.


    No longer caring to be polite, Bai Yunfei let out a warning shout before he flew toward the remaining few people.


    The next battle had been completely lackluster in suspense. Even though everyone grouped up against him in the end, all it took was a few short exchanges before they were all thrown into the water, and Bai Yunfei was being lenient.


    The emotions of the audience had already reached a fervor by this point. When would they ever see such a glorious battle on any other day of their lives? Completely captivated by the sight in front of them, both sides of the audience were completely quiet as they watched.


    While Bai Yunfei was climbing up the ropes from his side of the tower, two people were climbing up the other two sides of ropes attached to the tower.


    As soon as the three people met, they all let out startled cries, ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±


    The other two had been Ye Zhiqiu and Fei Nian!!


    Since this was only a small ¡®competition,¡¯ Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t think it was worth it to spread his soulsense.


    He also hadn¡¯t paid attention to the other sides, so he didn¡¯t realize that he¡¯d meet these two here.


    ¡°Ye Zhiqiu, Fei Nian, so you two are here. How coincidental¡­¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, Fei Nian, you two came here too¡­?¡± Ye Zhiqiu spoke in embarrassment.


    Fei Nian spoke up next, ¡°Isn¡¯t that what I should be saying? How did you guys get here?¡±


    Looking off to the side of the shore where Fei Nian and Ye Zhiqiu came from, Bai Yunfei could see Sima Yue and Ling Yiyi both looking up from where they were. From there, Bai Yunfei realized what was going on.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The three of them were silent and slightly embarrassed.


    The Prisma Lantern was right in front of the three of them with a bright luster. The surrounding audience could see the situation, so they started to cheer on the last three participants to put on a good show.


    Participating in this competition meant that they all wanted to win the lantern.


    With the three of them here, what should they do, fight?


    ¡°Well¡­ what should we do, fight for it?¡± Bai Yunfei asked the other two with a smile.


    ¡°Ugh, what is the point? Ye Zhiqiu isn¡¯t even a Soul Ancestor, and we¡¯d still be no match against you even if we paired up¡­¡± Fei Nian threw up his hands in despair. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that Yunfei would join this competition too; are you going to give it to junior Tang? Have you two already gotten that far? How amazing; it took me three years to finally get this far with Xiao Yue! Ye Zhiqiu, you¡¯re amazing too¡­ though I heard that plenty of juniors are quite jealous of what¡¯s going on between you and senior Ling, hehe¡­¡±


    Fei Nian¡¯s words left Bai Yunfei and Ye Zhiqiu somewhat embarrassed, causing Bai Yunfei to clear his throat. ¡°Well¡­ actually¡­ Xinyun and I aren¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay okay, I get it.¡± Fei Nian nodded. ¡°¡®Aren¡¯t my ass! I know better, so I won¡¯t fight you for it. Fuck it, just take it. It¡¯s just a silly lantern to me, but damn if they aren¡¯t destructive to a woman¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was speechless. Fei Nian was only making the situation worse with what he was saying. Looking to Ye Zhiqiu, he said, ¡°Zhiqiu, why don¡¯t you take it back to Ling Yiyi then.¡±


    Giving a cursory glance to Ling Yiyi at first, and then Tang Xinyun and Sima Yue, he shook his head. ¡°Forget it. Yunfei, you take it. Since this is a competition, neither of us are stronger than you; that means you win by default.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was just about to say something when all of a sudden, something came flying from behind Bai Yunfei, causing the three of them to look startled.


    ¡°Crash!¡±


    A light crackling sound was heard as a black metallic chain was thrown forward. In no time at all, it wrapped around the lantern before being pulled back!


    Right in front of everyone¡¯s startled eyes, the Prisma Lantern shot off like a shooting star toward the shore!

 Chapter 243: The Strength of Xiao Rourou!

    Chapter 243: The Strength of Xiao Rourou!


    Right in front of everyone¡¯s startled eyes, the Prisma Lantern shot off like a shooting star toward the shore!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Just ten meters after the Prisma Lantern was sent flying, a golden rope immediately looped around it with the dexterity of a snake. Tightening, the rope then stretched taut against the chain. The lantern was now suspended in mid-air.


    On top of the tower, Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand held the Compliant Rope as he looked down at the bridge. ¡°Friend, what is the meaning of this?¡±


    By now, everyone was already looking to the other end of the chain. They saw a dark-skinned man standing by the shores. He was extremely muscular, like a boulder almost, and his skin gave a dark bronze gleam as he held onto the chain with his hands. Like everyone else, this man was surprised to see what had happened.


    Another twenty-four or twenty-five-year-old man stood beside this person. In his right hand was a fan and in his left hand was the hand of a pretty young woman. He too was surprised to see the deadlock that was happening up above.


    For two seconds, the male did nothing, but then his face hardened as he demanded, ¡°Tie Nu, what¡¯s the holdup? Didn¡¯t you hear what I said? Hurry up and bring that lantern to me at once!¡±


    ¡°Yes, young master!¡±


    The one called ¡®Tie Nu¡¯ responded. His muscles bulged out from exertion as he glared balefully at Bai Yunfei. With a mighty pull of his right hand, soulforce began to blaze out of his body, causing everyone else around him to step ten meters back.


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Ancestor!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei and the other two cried out loud. When Bai Yunfei felt the drag from the Compliant Rope, his heart skipped a beat. He couldn¡¯t exactly resist; if he were to pull back on the rope, the Prisma Lantern would shatter under the pressure.


    Relaxing the grip of his left hand, Bai Yunfei had the Compliant Rope slacken so that it¡¯d let go of the chain. It returned to wrap around his arm.


    With the lantern successfully taken by the other man, he untied it from the chain and gave it to the young man with a smile. A faint green light started to pick up around the lantern as it then descended to the young man¡¯s hands.


    Giving the lantern to the woman leaning on his shoulder, the young man smiled, ¡°How about it? Didn¡¯t I say that I¡¯d win it for you? Take it, it¡¯s yours!¡±


    ¡°Heehee, I just knew master Luo is amazing!¡± The woman squealed in joy as she accepted the lantern before snuggling up close to him.


    The young man smiled as he hooked his left hand around the woman¡¯s waist. ¡°Well then, there¡¯s nothing else to this festival, let¡¯s go back to the inn.¡±


    ¡°Master Luo wishes to rest? Then, when we go back, allow this servant serve you well¡­¡±


    Disregarding everyone else, he and the two others turned away to leave.


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re being far too cocky! You think you can leave just like that after stealing the lantern!?¡±


    No sooner did he turn around than someone¡¯s angry voice called out. Turning his head, the man could see that Bai Yunfei and the other two had returned to the shore by now and were walking toward him. It had been Fei Nian who had called out.


    The young man cast a glance over to Fei Nian, ¡°What? You got a problem?¡±


    ¡°No kidding!¡± Fei Nian spat. ¡°This lantern was a prize for the competition. What right have you to steal it like that!?¡±


    ¡°It was just a lantern, and it was a competition of skill to begin with. You were weak, so I took the lantern. What problem is there for me to take it?¡±


    ¡°What an unreasonable person you are. You didn¡¯t even comply with the rules of the argument, so how can you say you followed the rules of the competition!?¡±


    Snorting, the man glared at first Fei Nian and then the others, ¡°I took it now, and you still have a problem?¡±


    ¡°You!!¡±


    Fei Nian had been speechless by how illogical this person was that he didn¡¯t even know how to even start to talk to the man.


    By Fei Nian¡¯s side was Bai Yunfei. He stared at the young man with a questioning gaze. The young man wasn¡¯t weak by any means; he was an early-stage Soul Ancestor, and the burly man next to him was a late-stage Soul Ancestor. With strength like that, he surely had to belong to some major household.


    Everyone was silent, but it was Huangfu Rui who spoke up first in anger. Pointing the tanghulu bamboo skewer at the young man, she spouted in anger, ¡°You ugly idiot! You didn¡¯t even fight in the competition but you took the lantern! That was supposed to brother strawhat¡¯s gift to sis Yun!!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± The young man took a step back to glare at Huangfu Rui, ¡°Who let this feral little girl in? What reason is there for a little girl to try and tell me what to do?¡±


    Growing even more angry, Huangfu Rui yelled, ¡°I¡¯m not a feral little girl! My name is Huangfu Rui, and I¡¯ll be seventeen this year! Mother said that people should be polite; otherwise, people will say you had no upbringing!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Though everyone was quiet, they couldn¡¯t help but smile in secret to themselves. Was this girl implying that the other person had no upbringing?


    ¡°You!!¡± The young man snarled at first, but when he managed to get a better view of Huangfu Rui, he started to sneer. ¡°Seventeen years old? Haha! So you really are some feral little girl then! Not only that, but you¡¯ve got a problem with your head, what a stu¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth!!¡± Fei Nian snarled, interrupting the man in anger. Soulforce began to slough off his body as he dove toward the man, but even before he could get close, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand stopped him.


    Even Bai Yunfei looked grim by this point, but he managed to level a calm glare at the young man, ¡°We won¡¯t argue about the lantern, but apologize for what you just said at once.¡±


    The young man was surprised to see that there was such an uproar over what he said, but that didn¡¯t stop him from letting out a final jeer, ¡°Who do you all think you are? How dare you speak to me that way! Was I wrong? This girl is not only cheap, she¡¯s a s¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a muffled sound that resonated through the area as the young man was sent flying back like a cannon ball. With a boom, he slammed into the stone railings of the bridge several meters away. There was another cracking sound as the railings gave way, and he slammed into the next set of railings on the other side of the bridge, rendering him safe from falling into the water.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The entire area grew dead silent as the events of what happened registered in their minds. Bai Yunfei and Fei Nian had been ready to take action, so was the one named Tie Nu. However, even they were surprised by what happened.


    ¡°Clack.¡±


    A small red figure dropped down onto the stone-tiled ground. The sound wasn¡¯t too loud in reality, but the echo was loud enough to send shockwaves through everyone¡¯s hearts.


    Its entire body was glowing the bright red flames of elemental fire. On its head were two large ears as it stood up on its hind two legs like a human. Its forelimbs bulged as if they contained some sort of explosive power. It was Huangfu Rui¡¯s soulbeast partner, Xiao Rourou!


    No.


    It¡¯d be unfitting to call it by this name.


    It was the¡­ red magiboar!!


    The red magiboar looked wrathful as it stared at the mess that was the young man¡­ there was even a slight tint of killing intent in its eyes!


    ¡°Young master!¡±


    Finally realizing the situation at hand, Tie Nu let out a cry before flying to his master¡¯s side in a flash of golden light. A vacant look of shock was on the injured man¡¯s face as blood started to leak out of his mouth, and his complexion was draining of color.


    ¡°Young master! Are you alright!?¡± Tie Nu grabbed onto his arm and began to transmit his soulforce to alleviate some of his wounds.


    ¡°Hak! Hahh¡­ bast¡ªbastard!!¡± He spat out in between coughs. Glaring at the red magiboar in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s group, he snarled, ¡°A soulbeast¡­ kill it! Kill it! Tie Nu, I order you to kill it!!¡±


    ¡°Young master¡­ we shouldn¡¯t be¡­¡±Seeing that his charge wasn¡¯t in serious danger, Tie Nu let a sigh escape from him in secret, but even as he spoke, something came at them suddenly, causing him to cry out in surprise, ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    At the same time, Tie Nu pushed the young master out of the way right as the aura of a late-stage Soul Exalt came crashing down onto them. The black chain wrapped around his right arm began to crackle as it glittered with light.


    With a final invocation, the chain flew forward!


    The red magiboar was charging straight toward him with the speed of a red lightning bolt!


    As the chain unfurled, it formed a giant drill-shaped point at the very front. With a shake of his right hand, the chain flew at the charging Red Magiboar. With a burst of golden light, the chain started to radiate light; this was a desperate move done against a being of the late-stage Soul Exalt level!


    Leaping up, the red magiboar made no move to dodge the chain¡¯s path. Its right hind leg (or hoof?) exploded into a burst of red light as elemental fire started to manifest on its fist (hoof?). In no weak display of strength, it clashed with the golden chain!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    As the two ¡®points¡¯ of each opposing force collided, there was an ear-piercing sound of metal hitting metal. Then, as the golden light started to disperse, the chain behind it started to crumble and shatter into countless of pieces!!


    Under Tie Nu¡¯s shocked eyes, the red magiboar¡¯s hoof smashed into his fist.


    There was a cracking sound before Tie Nu¡¯s arm began to distort and bend heavily in on itself. In the next second, Tie Nu¡¯s face went red as blood came spurting out of his mouth.


    Shock filled his eyes, but before he could do anything, the red magiboar suddenly disappeared from his sight!


    In a flash of red, the red magiboar then appeared right in front of the young man Tie Nu was protecting. Whirling around in mid-air, the red magiboar¡¯s hind leg then smashed onto the man¡¯s back!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    There was another muffled sound as the man spat out a large mouthful of blood. Following the momentum of the blow, he was sent spiraling into the air before landing ruthlessly right in front of Bai Yunfei and the others!

 Chapter 244: The House of Xing From the Northern Ridge Province

    ¡°Young master!!¡±


    All the color bled away from Tie Nu¡¯s face. He had a look of fear as he looked at the red magiboar.


    If a late-stage Soul Ancestor revealed fear on his face, then it could clearly be called a very stressful moment.


    Just as he thought about rushing to his young master¡¯s side, the red magiboar was already gone in another blaze of red. Beating Tie Nu to the punch, the red magiboar¡¯s hoof immediately slammed down on the young man¡¯s head!!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The young man¡¯s head sank halfway into the ground¡ªalmost knocking him out from the impact. As an early-stage Soul Ancestor, the young man¡¯s head wouldn¡¯t split open from such a blow, but it¡¯d at the very least blur his vision, and with the injuries he already had, his health was already quite low.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt him!¡± Tie Nu cried out loud, but he didn¡¯t take another step forward. He was far too afraid of being the next target of the red magiboar.


    ¡°A late-stage fifth-tier soulbeast¡­ a sentient one, at that! Dammit, dammit all! How could it be that strong? Is it some sort of mutant soulbeast!?¡± Tie Nu thought to himself in fear as his mind raced furiously to try and figure out a way to save his young master.


    Today was already the day that would mark his unemployment, but if the young master were to die, then there¡¯d be no need for Tie Nu to report back to the family. He may as well commit suicide here and now.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It was with surprise that Bai Yunfei looked at the red magiboar. Up until now, his entire mind was in a state of flux, as if there was a boar running around in circles in his head. He had absolutely no confidence since he had watched each blow that had transpired within these past few seconds.


    In just a few moves, a late-stage Soul Ancestor had been completely beaten!


    And so was the early-stage Soul Ancestor. Up against the boar, the two of them had simply no chance at all to retaliate!


    It wasn''t just him. Ye Zhiqiu, Tang Xinyun, and the others were all staring at the red magiboar in shock. The audience around them were even worse¡ªmany of them had probably thought they were in some sort of dream or saw some sort of ghost.


    ¡°You¡­ what do you want! What will it take to let the young master go!¡±


    The red magiboar was stepping harshly on the back of the young man, eliciting several bone-cracking sounds before Tie Nu finally yelled out. He didn¡¯t dare do anything rash now, so he had to ask Bai Yunfei and the others for their demands.


    Everyone looked at Bai Yunfei like he was the principal decision maker of the group.


    Bai Yunfei first looked to the red magiboar as it ¡®assaulted¡¯ the young master on the ground and then to the pain-filled face of the man before thinking about the best way to resolve this problem.


    At the same time, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard from the right side of the crowd, causing the audience to make way. As soon as the audience split, Sima Dong, Mo Xiaoxuan, and the others could be seen. Even the middle-aged man named Shi Lan could be seen by Sima Dong¡¯s side, whispering to him in a low voice.


    Right behind Sima Dong was a tall and skinny young boy who looked to be around fourteen years old. Originally, the boy¡¯s facial expression had been apathetic, but when he saw the red magiboar and the state Tie Nu was in, shock started to register on his face. Inching closer to Sima Dong, a guarded look began to creep up his face.


    Glancing around, Sima Dong quickly came to a quick realization of the situation. Subduing his inner shock, he walked up to Bai Yunfei,


    ¡°Brother Bai, what¡¯s going on?¡± He asked in a grim tone.


    ¡°Hehe, nothing, just a small dispute, that¡¯s all. Brother Sima, there¡¯s no need to be concerned.¡± Bai Yunfei casually replied, but his eyes continued to glance over to Tie Nu as if afraid that another clash might happen.


    A small dispute¡­


    It was almost unnoticeable, the corners of Sima Dong¡¯s mouth twitched just slightly as if he wanted to say, ¡°Your soulbeast has an early-stage Soul Ancestor under its feet and a late-stage Soul Ancestor that¡¯s far too afraid to even move. You call that a ¡®small dispute¡¯??¡±


    ¡°Friend, I am Sima Dong, son of Sima Wenhao. Might I inquire who you are¡­?¡± Sima Dong turned to Tie Nu to greet him politely.


    While Shi Lan reported what had already happened to him, Sima Dong still wanted to at the very least confirm everyone''s identities before a solution could be made.


    Sima Dong¡¯s appearance had given Tie Nu a chance to finally let out a sigh of relief. Cupping his hands in greeting, the man said, ¡°Master Sima, we are from the house of Xing of Ventia City in the Northern Ridge Province. This is the second heir to the house, Xing Luo.¡±


    ¡°The house of Xing from the Northern Ridge Province?¡± Sima Dong¡¯s eyebrows rose up on his face from shock. Thinking hard about the situation, he then said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard the gist of the situation, but no matter the case, I¡¯m sure none of us want to make a mountain out of this molehill. These are disciples of the internal school of the Crafting School and are my friends as well. Would it be possible for the house of Xing to show my house of Sima some face and have this matter drop where it stands?¡±


    ¡°The Crafting School!¡± Tie Nu¡¯s face contorted in on itself as he thought about the implications, but then the thought of saving his young charge resurfaced, ¡°If master Sima¡¯s friends could let my young master go, we¡¯ll leave at once!!¡±


    Turning to Bai Yunfei, Sima Dong said, ¡°Brother Bai, please give me some face as well and let this matter drop, okay?¡±


    Now that Sima Dong was mediating the conflict, Bai Yunfei was far too lazy to do any more problem solving by himself. Looking to Xing Luo, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but think that he had already suffered enough, so no more was needed. ¡°He has learned his lesson for putting his needs in front of others. We¡¯ll let this matter drop then.¡± He nodded.


    He then looked to Huangfu Rui, ¡°Doraemon, you¡¯ve had your fun, let Xiao Rourou come back now.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ okay.¡± Huangfu Rui nodded her head obediently before calling out to Xiao Rourou, ¡°Xiao Rourou, come back. That bully has learned his lesson. I¡¯m not angry anymore!¡±


    Since she looked bewildered at the scene, Bai Yunfei had thought that she wasn¡¯t aware of what was going on, but as it turns out, she knew that Xiao Rourou was teaching Xing Luo a lesson!


    The red magiboar had been ignoring even Sima Dong when he first walked in, but when Huangfu Rui called out to it, it brought its right foot up before turning its head to glare balefully to Tie Nu. In a flash of light, it returned to Huangfu Rui¡¯s leg in its original white-skinned appearance.


    Flashing to Xing Luo¡¯s side with a wary glance at Bai Yunfei, Tie Nu moved to pick up Xing Luo when he realized that when the red magiboar slammed into him with one of its hooves, his right arm had been completely broken. A hundred days of recuperation would hardly be enough to heal a wound like this, but at least it wasn¡¯t life-threatening or crippling.


    Ashen-faced from the pain, Tie Nu managed to speak to Sima Dong in between grit teeth, ¡°Master Sima, this one will be taking my leave then!!¡±


    There were no final remarks like ¡®I¡¯ll remember this day, the house of Xing will not let this matter stand.¡¯ Tie Nu had simply just left the area with Xing Luo along with the woman Xing Luo had with him in tow. As she rose to follow the two, her legs could still be seen quaking. Not even bothering to look behind, she and the other two disappeared into the crowd and out of sight.


    It wasn¡¯t until Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t sense Tie Nu¡¯s presence that Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. He looked calm on the surface, but he was practically on edge to the extreme; the person he was putting a bravado against was a late-stage Soul Ancestor after all!


    If a fight broke out, not only would he lose for sure, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s friends would surely come into harm¡¯s way as well. This was not something he¡¯d want to happen.


    There was, however, a beneficial point to today¡¯s events. What he saw of the red magiboar¡¯s strengths, his senior¡¯s high praise wasn¡¯t completely full of hot air!


    ¡°Brother Bai, are you alright?¡±


    Sima Dong¡¯s question broke Bai Yunfei¡¯s train of thought, allowing him to shake his head in response to him. ¡°I¡¯m fine, but I apologize for making a scene for brother Sima.¡±


    ¡°Now now, please don¡¯t say that. You all came here to Redfire City to have fun. I was the one who invited you all to come see the festival, but to have an incident like this occur on my watch shows my lack of hospitality. It¡¯s fortunate that nothing happened; otherwise, my father would surely punish me if he found out, haha¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced at Shi Lan with a suspicious look, ¡°Then this festival¡­¡±


    Sima Dong nodded, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to make light of brother Bai¡¯s efforts, but this festival was merely something I had set up on a whim for the people of the city to enjoy themselves¡­¡±


    So that was the case. Not once did Bai Yunfei think that Sima Dong would have such a carefree side like this to him.


    Thinking about the situation even more, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Brother Sima, about those two, they said they were from the house of Xing from Ventia City in the Northern Ridge Province¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, there¡¯s no need to worry, brother Bai. I¡¯m sure that no problems will arise from this.¡± Sima Dong must have known what Bai Yunfei was talking about since he continued to say, ¡°The Northern Ridge Province is one of the smaller provinces up in the north. The house of Xing is the biggest faction of the Northern Ridge Province, but that is where their influence ends. They might be one of the middling factions in the scale of the entire continent, but compared to the Crafting School, they¡¯ve no power to fight with.¡±


    ¡°The biggest faction in the Northern Ridge Province¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head as if content with what he was told, but then, another thought occurred to him, ¡°Brother Sima, if I could talk to you about something¡­¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 245: Take It All!

    Chapter 245: Take It All!


    Huangfu Rui came scampering up with the Prisma Lantern held up high above her head. Blowing some dust away from her face triumphantly, she held the lantern out to Bai Yunfei just as he finished talking to Sima Dong, ¡°Brother strawhat, the lantern is ours! Hurry up and give it to sis Yun!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was at a loss. Noticing the mischievous looks Ye Zhiqiu and the others were giving him, he scratched the back of his head out of embarrassment. ¡°Haha, since your soulbeast was the one who took the lantern, you should be the one to give it to sister Yun!¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t brother strawhat going to give this to sis Yun when he won? Why am I the one giving it to her?¡± Huangfu Rui shook her head in confusion.


    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s because I didn¡¯t win it. Haha, it¡¯s in your hands now, meaning you¡¯re the one who won. You¡¯re the victor of the competition!¡± Bai Yunfei swiftly came up with an explanation.


    Huangfu Rui¡¯s face visibly brightened up at that, ¡°Really? Dai Dai won?¡±


    Bai Yunfei solemnly nodded his head, ¡°Yes, you did.¡±


    ¡°Heehee, really!? That¡¯s awesome!! I¡¯m the winner!!¡± Huangfu Rui twirled around in excitement before running off to give the lantern to Tang Xinyun. ¡°Sis Yun, I won this for you!¡±


    Smiling, Tang Xinyun replied, ¡°Haha, if Xiao Rui likes it so much, she should keep it.¡±


    But Huangfu Rui shook her head, ¡°No! I wanted to give this to sis Yun, so let me give it!¡±


    ¡°Haha, okay then, I¡¯ll take it.¡± Tang Xinyun pinched Huangfu Rui¡¯s nose affectionately before taking the lantern.


    ¡°Tsk! If you¡¯re going to give it, just give it! There¡¯s no need to have junior Rui give it for you¡­¡± Fei Nian muttered off to the side. He was clearly poking fun at Bai Yunfei feeling embarrassed about giving the lantern to Tang Xinyun.


    Though Bai Yunfei wanted to explain that there was nothing between he and Tang Xinyun, he felt that trying to explain would only make the matter worse. The best action to do right now would be to simply pretend he didn¡¯t hear Fei Nian.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that everyone took his silence as a sign of approval.


    ¡°We¡¯ve played enough for today. We should head back to rest for the night and see what else there is to do tomorrow.¡± Tang Xinyun advocated to the rest of the group. Since there was still plenty of people around them, she spoke in a quiet voice and was quite ready to move away from the people.


    Ye Zhiqiu nodded his head as well. ¡°I agree. We should get out of here. We don¡¯t get anything out of staying here besides being used as entertainment for everyone else.¡±


    One by one, the others nodded their heads; it seemed as if everyone else agreed that they felt limited by being watched here.


    Sima Dong then asked, ¡°Does everyone wish to rest now then? I¡¯ve already reserved some of the finest rooms in the best inn in the city. Allow me to escort you all there.¡±


    With no further obstacles, everyone gave their thanks to Sima Dong and prepared to leave.


    ¡°Oh, one second. I¡¯ve still something I¡¯d like to do.¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly called out before then speaking to Huangfu Rui. ¡°Doraemon, I¡¯ve a gift to give to you.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Huangfu Rui was confused, but her confusion then gave way to excitement. ¡°What is it? What is it? I¡¯ve another present?¡±


    ¡°Haha, didn¡¯t you say you wanted this before? I¡¯ve already made the arrangements with lord Sima who agreed with me. Give me a second and I¡¯ll bring this with us.¡±


    Under the curious eyes of everyone else, Bai Yunfei leaped into the air. His Compliant Rope helped him traverse the water to the top of the lighthouse. With a wave of his right hand, a single blade made of fire extended out from his fingers. Cutting the ropes that connected the tower to the bridge, Bai Yunfei then placed a single hand on the foundation of the tower. With a single punch, he made a clean break from the lighthouse to the foundation beneath!


    Right as the topmost part was starting to slant, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand immediately waved right in front of it. There was a faint shimmer before the bridge suddenly looked brighter than before.


    The gigantic lighthouse had been placed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s space ring!!


    Landing back down on the shore, Bai Yunfei returned everyone¡¯s stunned looks with a smile. Turning to Huangfu Rui to wink, he said, ¡°Doraemon, didn¡¯t you say you wanted to bring it home? I¡¯ll have this placed in your courtyard when we get back, alright?¡±


    Two bright stars immediately lit up her eyes at that proposal. ¡°Haha! Really? Can I really take that thing home?¡±


    ¡°Haha, of course! Haven¡¯t I already taken it? Brother Sima has already agreed that I can take it.¡±


    ¡°Heehee, brother strawhat, you¡¯re the best!! Brother Sima is nice too!¡± The girl nodded her head.


    ¡°Ha¡­ haha¡­¡± Sima Dong gave a vacant smile; this must¡¯ve been the very first time he¡¯d been called a nice guy in such a manner.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s be on our way. Today has been a tiring one; we can continue our festivities tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    For the next two days, Sima Dong played host to Bai Yunfei and his group. He led them to each and every enjoyable spot in Redfire City before the group had to return to the Crafting School.


    Barely even a few days after they returned, Tang Xinyun was taken by Cang Yu away from Mt. Crimson. It was said that she was accompanying her master to take care of several matters in the Black Mountain Province and gain some experience.


    As for the others, Ye Zhiqiu closed himself off so that he could concentrate on breaking through to the Soul Ancestor stage. Both Mo Xiaoxuan and Xi Yan were preparing to consolidate their essence fireseed and craft their own soulbound armament when they grew to Soul Sprites.


    On the other hand, Bai Yunfei had thrown himself back into his studies of the art of crafting. He wasn¡¯t neglecting everything and everyone like before, but other than the occasional break, he¡¯d spend the rest of his time in the crafting caves.


    Creating a mid-earth tier soul armament was beyond Bai Yunfei¡¯s capabilities, and he was aware of that fact for the most part. Thus, he spent the majority of his time improving his fundamentals and trying his best to increase the attack of every soul armament he made in hopes that he¡¯d be able to reach the mid-earth tier boundary sooner.


    One thing worth mentioning was the fact that crafting an offensive soul armament was completely different than crafting a defensive soul armament. Soft leather equipment and gloves for example had a distinction in the choice of materials. Then there was a difference on how the end product was made. Sometimes, it wouldn¡¯t even need to be refined and could be made simply with the pure products of nature. In the Crafting School, defensive soul armaments were quite low in ¡®output¡¯ as the majority of students preferred to craft weapons.


    For those reasons, Bai Yunfei decided not to study how to craft defensive soul armaments just yet. It¡¯d be best for him to focus on crafting offensive ones first.


    The weapons Bai Yunfei was making now weren¡¯t as varied as they used to be. All of the ones he was crafting were of a single category: throwing knives.


    That¡¯s right. He was recreating the throwing knives from the designs he found in the incomplete manual.


    The very first designs from the manual were the most basic and compact knives. Despite that, it took half a month before Bai Yunfei was able to craft a dozen of them. Their weapon grades were merely high-human at best and were all without an affinity. (Equipment made with materials that¡¯d lead to having an affinity were far more complex and difficult to craft).


    The other two designs he tried to recreate were even more complex. Far more time was spent on the designs and research, but Bai Yunfei was never able to craft a throwing knife that satisfied the criteria the manual described.


    To make matters even worse, the manuals didn¡¯t have any written information on how to properly use the throwing knives. With no other choice, Bai Yunfei had to attempt the most basic ways of throwing them. He had high hopes that he¡¯d be able to find the ¡®proper¡¯ way to throw them, but it was with great sadness that he realized he had overestimated his capabilities. Even after throwing the knives for an entire day to the point where both of his arms ached, no progress was made at all¡­


    By day, he was training in peace, and by night, he was¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Attack: 602


    Soul Compatibility: 6%


    Upgrade Requirement: 93 Soulpoints


    In the crafting caves, Bai Yunfei held up the metallic throwing knife he had just gotten from the cauldron with a satisfied smile. ¡°It broke through the 600 attack boundary¡­ a mid-earth tier soul armament should have 800 attack. That means I¡¯ve less than a third of the way left to go. I wonder how much longer it¡¯ll take before I can craft a mid-earth tier soul armament. Is it really when I become a mid-stage Soul Ancestor like master said?


    ¡°But¡­ should I use the Upgrade Technique to try and improve its attack?¡± Bai Yunfei thought.


    He shook his head immediately after asking himself that question. ¡°Forget it. I nearly lost my life trying to do my best to improve before. I can¡¯t risk my life like that again. I have to keep a low profile now and make sure I can improve one step at a time!¡±


    Right as he was thinking, the voice of Song Lin called out to him from outside the cave. ¡°Yunfei, are you finished with your crafting?¡±


    Startled, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Brother Song, please come in.¡±


    Song Lin walked into the caves at a swift pace. Before Bai Yunfei could even ask what was going on, Song Lin spoke with a grim expression, ¡°Yunfei. Come with me to the Northern Point, something has happened!¡±

 Chapter 246: Life Jade Slip

    Chapter 246: Life Jade Slip


    Song Lin walked into the caves at a swift pace. Before Bai Yunfei could even ask what was going on, Song Lin spoke with a grim expression, ¡°Yunfei. Come with me to the Northern Point, something has happened!¡±


    This was the very first time Bai Yunfei had seen such a grim look on Song Lin¡¯s face. Pausing for a moment in his surprise, Bai Yunfei then asked, ¡°Brother Song, what happened?¡±


    ¡°We can talk later. Just come with me for now. The master and the other elders are waiting for you right now.¡± Song Lin spoke before whirling around to speed walk out of the cave.


    Unwilling to be the slower one, Bai Yunfei quickly packed away his cauldron before chasing after Song Lin.


    In no time at all, the two made their way to the main point before heading to the Northern Point. Arriving at a never before seen courtyard, Bai Yunfei and Song Lin walked into the building and headed to the middlemost room. Kou Changkong, first elder, second elder, and even Zi Jin had gathered in the room already with sour faces as they spoke to one another.


    ¡°Master, I¡¯ve arrived.¡± Song Lin bowed as soon as he came into proximity with them before moving to the side.


    ¡°Yunfei pays his respects to master, senior, and the elders.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed as well before then asking, ¡°Master, what in the world as happened?¡±


    Zi Jin nodded his head to accept the greeting. ¡°Yunfei, your third senior has come across trouble.¡±


    ¡°Third senior?¡± At first, Bai Yunfei was confused whom they were talking about, but then the answer came to him. ¡°Ah, senior Jiang Nan!? What happened to him?¡±


    Ever since Bai Yunfei had first learned who had saved him in the past, he had spent days trying to figure out how to explain the temporal ¡®discrepancy¡¯ about when he had joined the Crafting School. Almost half a year had gone by since he had joined the Crafting School, but not once had he seen Jiang Nan. It came as a complete surprise to hear that something happened to Jiang Nan today out of the blue.


    ¡°We¡¯re not sure of the details yet, but Jiang Nan is in some sort of predicament. One that might potentially be fatal.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to think at that; Jiang Nan was in danger?


    As if to answer Bai Yunfei¡¯s confusion, Zi Jin took out a jade slip that was about the length of his arm. It was crystalline in structure, but there was a faint flame that twinkled within its body. The flame was faint red in color and had a rhythmic pulsation to it like it was a heart.


    While the bottom of the slip was flashing red in light, the top part of the slip was almost without light.


    ¡°This soul armament is called a ¡®life jade slip.¡¯ By crafting with very particular materials, it can reflect the health of a person, as the name implies. The degree in which the light flickers represents the vitality of the master of the soul armament; eighty percent is the general norm, and anything lower than sixty percent means the owner is either seriously hurt or is in imminent danger. If the jade slip shatters, then that means the owner has died.¡± Zi Jin explained at once. ¡°This jade slip is linked to Jiang Nan¡­¡±


    Right now, this jade slip was at fifty percent, meaning the situation Jiang Nan was in didn¡¯t need to be said.


    This was the very first time Bai Yunfei had heard of such a ¡®magical¡¯ soul armament, so he reached his hand out to hold the jade slip.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Special Effect 1: Capable of reflecting the current status of the owner.


    Special Effect 2: Capable of pointing where the owner is.


    Lifeforce: 49%


    Unable to be upgraded


    With the jade slip in hand, a string of notifications started to flow into his mind at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°Unique equipment¡­ that¡¯s exactly like the upgrade stone!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with surprise as he thought to himself in shock. Schooling his emotions, Bai Yunfei looked back to Zi Jin and asked, ¡°Are we to lend assistance if senior Jiang Nan is in trouble?¡±


    Zi Jin nodded. ¡°If it was some sort of mistake from his training or a momentary crisis, he¡¯d be fine by the next day, but the slip has shown that he has been growing weaker since last night without any sign of improvement. We fear that he might be in a very dangerous predicament, so we wish to see if we can work something out or provide help.¡±


    ¡°If master called me here today, that must mean¡­¡±


    Zi Jin nodded again, ¡°Correct. Yunfei, you are of the Crafting School and a student of mine. Though there¡¯s plenty of things you¡¯ve not yet been able to attend and plenty more you need to know, Jiang Nan is your senior. This time¡­ I wish for you to go lend a hand to help him.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had guessed the outcome already, but it was still a surprising realization. Half a year had already passed since he had joined, and even though Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had increased by leaps and bounds, he was still a weakling if put into the circle of soul cultivators. Jiang Nan was a Soul Exalt himself, and if he were in such danger, what help could Bai Yunfei possibly lend to him?


    Seeing his hesitation, Zi Jin smiled in reassurance. ¡°Haha, you won¡¯t be going by yourself, of course. I¡¯ve already decided to have the first elder lead you and Song Lin. Consider this as a way to gain experience. As long as you follow the first elder¡¯s wishes, your safety will be guaranteed while you¡¯ll learn as much as you can.¡±


    If the first elder was going, there¡¯d be no problems at all. The first elder was a late-stage Soul King. It was likely that Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have to do anything except learn as much about the world under the safety of the elder¡¯s hand.


    Furthermore, the first elder lending assistance meant that Jiang Nan¡¯s plight would surely be resolved. Soul Kings were existences that spent their days in training rather than acting on secular issues¡ªeven if they were people who held rank as a leading figure of a group or family.


    ¡°Then¡­ when do we leave?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°Right now!¡± Xiao Binzi replied.


    Bai Yunfei said nothing to that.


    ¡­¡­


    The group walked out to the middle of the courtyard with Xiao Binzi leading them all. ¡°Your flying soul armament is far too slow, Song Lin. I¡¯ll be carrying the both of you instead!¡± Xiao Binzi informed Song Lin.


    Bai Yunfei was taken aback at this; they were going to fly!?


    In one shake of his hand, a greenish-colored light came into sight, followed by a longsword that floated off by his side. As soon as it appeared, the sword started to shake before growing double its width to become a giant sword.


    In a flash, Xiao Binzi stood on top of the sword. ¡°Up!¡± He commanded the two others.


    Song Lin looked at Bai Yunfei with a smile, ¡°Yunfei, you go up first.¡±


    When Bai Yunfei saw the green-colored sword underneath Xiao Binzi¡¯s feet, his eyes started to light up as if thinking about something. Nodding his head to Song Lin, Bai Yunfei hopped up to grab onto the sword¡¯s handle with his right hand. Following a twist of his hand, he flipped himself up onto the sword right behind Xiao Binzi.


    It wasn¡¯t a high jump. Bai Yunfei just wanted to borrow this chance to touch the sword to learn of its attributes.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind


    Attack: 2639


    Equipment Effect: By transmitting soulforce, flight is capable with this item.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    ¡°A low-heaven tier that¡¯s capable of flight¡­¡± Bai Yunfei jealously thought. Ever since he had joined the Crafting School, his understanding of the world of cultivators had expanded greatly along with his standards. In the past, a high-human tier soul armament would¡¯ve left him giddy with joy, but now, even a heaven tier soul armament felt like it was becoming more and more common in appearance¡­.


    At the same time, he felt relieved. If the first elder of the Crafting School was using an earth tier soul armament, it¡¯d certainly be a very troubling situation.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions to get on top of the sword were very unnatural, but not a single person paid much attention to him. Song Lin himself leaped off of the ground and landed right behind Bai Yunfei.


    From the side, Kou Changkong gave his warning, ¡°Song Lin, look after Yunfei and don¡¯t be too impulsive.¡±


    Song Lin nodded his head. ¡°Yes, master!¡±


    Kou Changkong turned his head to Bai Yunfei next, ¡°Yunfei, follow the first elder and Song Lin. Don¡¯t take any risks!¡±


    ¡°Yes, senior. I¡¯ll be careful.¡±


    With a wave of his right hand, Xiao Binzi floated Jiang Nan¡¯s jade slip into his palm and let it point where it wanted. East, that was the direction where Jiang Nan would be.


    ¡°The east¡­¡± Xiao Binzi pocketed the jade slip, ¡°Make sure to coat yourself in your soulforce. We¡¯re heading out!!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    No sooner did he finish speaking than the green sword beneath him explode in a flurry of green light. A bright-green trail immediately formed right behind the sword as it took the three people through the sky¡­

 Chapter 247: Curopia City in the Black Mountain Province

    Chapter 247: Curopia City in the Black Mountain Province


    The wind screamed as it streamed past Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears and slammed into his face, a rather painful sensation, as he flew through the air. Despite Xiao Binzi¡¯s warning to protect himself with his soulforce, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t fast enough to respond when they first started flying, and he felt the full effects of the wind resistance.


    A reddish glow emanated in the air around them, protecting both Song Lin and Bai Yunfei. Xiao Binzi was using his soulforce to protect them both.


    Bai Yunfei could feel his body grow lighter, but the sensation wasn¡¯t all too pleasant at first. The force protecting him from the air felt reminiscent of elemental fire, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s shock. This wasn¡¯t something that any equipment effect could reproduce. Xiao Binzi himself was using his soulforce to manipulate the elemental fire to do as he pleased for this protective shroud. At the level of training Bai Yunfei had right now, an act like this was practically impossible.


    When he lifted his head up, all Bai Yunfei could see was the sky for hundreds of meters around. Beneath his feet, a myriad of things appeared and disappeared in a semi-continuous blur. He could just barely see some buildings flashing in and out of sight.


    ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t this¡­¡± Looking back behind him, Bai Yunfei stared off at the small speck that continued to disappear behind him. Unsure of himself, Bai Yunfei asked Song Lin, ¡°Brother Song Lin, isn¡¯t that¡­¡±


    Song Lin nodded. ¡°Yes, what we just passed was Redfire City.¡±


    It really was Redfire City!!


    Doing a double take, Bai Yunfei stared off in the direction behind them in pure amazement. How long had it been since they set off? Ten minutes? Not even that long.


    Was that really Redfire City!? When they first traveled to Redfire City, nearly half the day went by before they arrived!!


    Grinning, Song Lin replied, ¡°The elder¡¯s Zephyr Sword is the fastest soul armament capable of flight in our school. If not for the fact that the elder¡¯s making sure to protect us, we¡¯d be able to fly even faster.¡±


    ¡°Even faster¡­¡± Bai Yunfei mouthed as he looked down at the giant sword beneath him in envy. ¡°How long will it take to return to Talus City with this sword? Dozens of days? Or barely even a dozen?¡±


    ¡°Brother Song, how strong does one have to be to make a soul armament capable of flight?¡± Bai Yunfei asked out of curiosity.


    ¡°Those? Well, a late-stage Soul Ancestor would be able to make a good one. They¡¯re very complex to make. I could probably make a very rudimentary version myself. It wouldn¡¯t be too fast, but my speed would definitely increase by two or three times over.¡±


    ¡°A late-stage Soul Ancestor¡­¡± He was crestfallen by that response. Who knows when he¡¯d become a late-stage Soul Ancestor? That was a far ways away. It may as well be better for him to use the brick to fly in the meantime¡­


    ¡­¡­


    It was reaching dusk when the three set off from Mt. Crimson, and without Bai Yunfei¡¯s knowledge, the sky began to grow darker and darker with the passage of time. Even the scenery beneath him wasn¡¯t visibility. With Bai Yunfei¡¯s current strength, using his soulsense would only register everything in flashes before it disappeared.


    Every so often, Xiao Binzi would take out Jiang Nan¡¯s jade slip to look at its status and to confirm the direction. He was silent throughout the entire trip, so after a while, even Bai Yunfei and Song Lin cut their conversation short. They stood on top of the sword in silence as well.


    Like a shooting star flying through the night sky, the sword streaked over the horizon.


    The morning sun was just starting to peek out from beyond the horizon when Song Lin warned Bai Yunfei that they had arrived in the Great Plains Province and that they were on their way to the neighboring Black Mountain Province to the east.


    The distance from Mt. Crimson to the Black Mountain Province was roughly the same distance from Mt. Crimson to the Northern Cliff Province. It took Bai Yunfei a little over a month for him to reach Mt. Crimson from the edge of the province, but it took only a single night for Xiao Binzi¡¯s soul armament to cover the same distance!


    Going without food or water for an entire day wasn¡¯t a problem for the three of them.


    When it was afternoon, Xiao Binzi started to slow down, though his eyes continued to focus on the jade slip in his hand and the direction it pointed.


    The edge of a city was just starting to form over the horizon. ¡°First elder, that must be Curopia City.¡±


    ¡°Curopia City?¡± Xiao Binzi looked back down at the jade slip and then back at the city up ahead. ¡°The Xiao and the Sun have lived in Curopia City for generations and hate each other. If Jiang Nan is in this direction¡­ are the Xiao involved in this?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps the Xiao don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. Why not pay a visit to their place and ask?¡± Song Lin suggested.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xiao Binzi nodded after a moment¡¯s thought. ¡°We shall do so then.¡±


    Picking up in speed, the sword shot off toward the city.


    As soon as they reached the sky near the city, Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyes narrowed just slightly as his soulforce started to prod into the city.


    ¡°That Tang girl is here as well!?¡±


    ¡°Eh? What? First elder, what Tang girl?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in surprise.


    ¡°Do you mean¡­ Xinyun is here too!?¡±


    Xiao Binzi nodded his head. ¡°Yes, that same Tang girl.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t Xinyun gone with the third elder? Did they have the¡­ the same destination?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t, but Cang Yu¡¯s destination isn¡¯t far from here. My guess is that she must¡¯ve come across Jiang Nan¡¯s call for help somehow and rushed on over¡­¡± Xiao Binzi conjectured. Looking off to a giant manor far in the city, he said, ¡°To know for sure, we must find that Tang girl!¡±


    Turning, the sword shot off toward the manor Xiao Binzi was talking about¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Curopia City was the Black Mountain Province¡¯s largest, most central city. The two households, the Xiao and the Sun lived in the same area. They were not friends, but enemies. Already dozens of years had passed since the conflict started, and only a stalemate for power acted as a balance.


    In the northeastern part of the city was the manor for the Xiao. In the central courtyards was an elderly man dressed in rich purple robes. Though stone-faced in expression, he stared up at the sky.


    This man was the head of the Xiao, Xiao Rang.


    ¡°Father, what¡¯s the matter?¡± A middle-aged man asked upon noticing his actions.


    ¡°We¡¯ve a visitor!¡± Xiao Rang grimly replies, ¡°a strong one at that. Judging from his aura, he¡¯s a late-stage Soul Exalt at the very least, but he¡¯s most likely¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t even need to bother with saying Soul King for his son to be taken back.


    ¡°Is he an enemy? Did the Sun find some helpers from somewhere!?¡±


    Xiao Rang shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t feel any hostility, but it¡¯s hard to say. Disaster can¡¯t always be avoided, so let¡¯s take our chances!¡±


    Seconds after he finished speaking, a single green light came flying into sight and landed on the ground. As the light dispersed, a single elderly man and two young men walked out of it.


    Casting a quick glance at the three, Xiao Rang¡¯s eyes widened at the sight of Song Lin. ¡°Are you¡­¡± He spoke hesitantly as he gave an even closer look.


    Song Lin nodded his head to Xiao Rang with a smile. ¡°Senior Xiao, I hope you¡¯ve been well since our last encounter. I¡¯m Song Lin from the Crafting School. We¡¯ve met before several times.¡±


    ¡°Song Lin! The Crafting School!¡± Xiao Rang lit up with joy, ¡°And here I thought I was mistaken. It really is you!¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s great that senior Xiao still remembers me¡­ I was worried how I¡¯d verify my identity elsewise.¡± Song Lin smiled.


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought that nephew Song Lin would come visit my household. Please, please come in, we can talk inside.¡± Xiao Rang was far stronger than Song Lin, but even he wouldn¡¯t dare mistreat Song Lin. He hurried to bring the three into the receiving halls.


    As soon as everyone was seated and the servants had been called to pour the tea, Xiao Rang started with, ¡°Nephew Song Lin, these two are¡­¡±


    When he looked at Xiao Binzi, Xiao Rang¡¯s eyes were filled with respect. He knew that the one with the powerful aura was this elder. Even though he wasn¡¯t able to fully see Xiao Binzi¡¯s strength, what he saw was still enough to astound him and fill him with awe.


    As for Bai Yunfei, Xiao Rang could see that he was only an early-stage Soul Ancestor, so Xiao Rang dismissed him as a new person to the school and a junior schoolmate to Song Lin.


    ¡°Senior Xiao, this is the first elder of our crafting School, and this is the new disciple of the previous headmaster Zi Jin, Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°The first elder!!¡± Even though he knew that the elderly one surely had a high position in the school, he hadn¡¯t been expecting the first elder.


    Then he did a double take after the second introduction, ¡°What did you say? This young one is¡­ a new disciple of Zi Jin? Wouldn¡¯t that make him¡­¡±


    Song Lin nodded. ¡°Correct. In accordance to hierarchy, he is my senior uncle and junior to Jiang Nan.¡±

 Chapter 248: House of Xiao

    Chapter 248: House of Xiao


    Xiao Rang was completely stunned after his discovery of how ¡®high¡¯ of a status Bai Yunfei had. He once had the privilege of meeting the ex-headmaster when he was a late-stage Soul Ancestor thanks to Jiang Nan. In his heart, the Zi Jin was an undeniably powerful entity, but this twenty-something year old youth in front of him was somehow a disciple to such a man!


    ¡°Jiang Nan was sixteen when he to become a Soul Ancestor, but this one only managed it when he became twenty. Calling him a genius wouldn¡¯t be out of the question, but he¡¯s on par with Song Lin at most. Him becoming a disciple to Zi Jin must mean there¡¯s some other amazing crafting-related factor to him¡­¡± Xiao Binzi thought.


    Masking his shock as quickly as he could, Xiao Rang began to speak courteously to Bai Yunfei, ¡°So you¡¯re a disciple to the previous headmaster Zi Jin, lord Bai. To have reached the Soul Ancestor at such a young speaks loudly of your outstanding talents.¡±


    He then turned to Xiao Binzi and respectfully bowed, ¡°I presume you¡¯re here for Jiang Nan, elder Xiao?¡±


    One of Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyebrow rose up on his face, ¡°So Jiang Nan was here!? Speak, what happened to him?¡±


    Due to the slip in his emotions, Xiao Binzi¡¯s words had been heavily ladened with the aura of a Soul King, pressuring Xiao Rang into a state of unease. He was still able to keep his calm enough to reply, ¡°Jiang Nan was a guest in this household for a while before, elder Xiao.¡±


    He paused here to take a deep breath. ¡°Several months ago, a conflict happened between the Xiao and another house in Curopia City, the Sun. Without warning, they launched a large-scale attack on our house and demanded our subservience. For dozens of years, our two houses have been in a stalemate, but their latest attempts revealed several unknown strong individuals in their employ.


    ¡°With our Xiao in danger, we had no other choice but to ask Jiang Nan. He promised to help, but ultimately it was his help that led to him being in such a state.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t long after that we realized even more and more people were coming to fight our house, and to our surprise, they were men from the Beast Taming School! Somehow, the Sun aligned themselves with the Beast Taming School!¡±


    Upon hearing that the Beast Taming School was involved, Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyes narrowed together. Bai Yunfei was surprised as well. He hadn¡¯t expected to find the Beast Taming School involved here either. Despite Xiao Binzi¡¯s silence and Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise, neither of the two interrupted Xiao Rang and instead sat there in doubt.


    ¡°The one leading the group from the Beast Taming School was a late-stage Soul Exalt. He and Jiang Nan fought for a very long time. Jiang Nan used his soul armament to bring the fight to a standstill. In the end, the two of them were worried that they¡¯d bring collateral damage to Curopia City and agreed to pull back. While the deadlock continued, Jiang Nan decided to watch over the Xiao for the meantime.


    ¡°Several days ago, Jiang Nan said that he felt something was amiss and that he¡¯d go investigating, but he never returned!!¡± Xiao Rang exclaimed, prompting his three listeners to feel surprised.


    Knowing that he was nearing the climax of the story, Xiao Rang continued, ¡°We dispatched our men everywhere to see if anything could be found, but nothing came up. Even the one new tidbit we learned has yet to be confirmed¡­ that night, several figures from the Beast Taming School were said to have left the city and have yet to come back.


    ¡°Just yesterday, someone calling themselves the third elder from the Crafting School arrived here, saying that they came into contact with a secret signal from Jiang Nan. They asked about several things about our Xiao before leaving the city. We haven¡¯t heard a thing from them as well¡­¡±


    With the explanation finished, Bai Yunfei and the other two males were stuck in a silent sphere of thought. After thinking about all the details, Bai Yunfei then asked Xiao Rang, ¡°Lord Xiao, if I may ask something; when the third elder came by, was there anyone else with her?¡±


    ¡°Oh, do you mean miss Tang, lord Bai?¡± Xiao Binzi nodded. ¡°The third elder left her here when she left. I¡¯ve had my men escort her around.¡±


    But Xiao Binzi continued to look on with concern, ¡°Are you saying that since Cang Yu left a day ago and there has been no other information?¡±


    Xiao Rang nodded. ¡°Yes. In our fear of implicating the third elder, I¡¯ve had none of our men go with her. All I know is that she left following some sort of trail out of the city. After that, there were no more communications between us two. Miss Tang asked this afternoon to go after the third elder, but I was afraid of the potential danger and persuaded her not to go.¡±


    Still grim, Xiao Binzi stared at the jade slip in his hand. The light was already slightly dimmer than before. ¡°So Cang Yu herself has been gone an entire day. This means Jiang Nan is in an even worse of a case than we thought. Either she hasn¡¯t found Jiang Nan yet, or she has found him already, but¡­


    ¡°This complicates matters even more then. We must be on our at way at once.¡±


    As he spoke, the faint sounds of footsteps could be heard echoing through the halls along with the sight of a figure in white entering the room. When the figure saw Bai Yunfei seated at the outermost spot, a joyous greeting came out from the person, ¡°Yunfei, it really is you!¡±


    Looking up, Bai Yunfei noticed that the newcomer was Tang Xinyun. She was dressed in a snowy-white robe as usual. From both sides of her head, a section of her hair was weaved around to the other side so that it formed a ring around her head. A silky-white cloth was the only thing that held her hair in place. There was a sliver of steel and maturity hidden in her gentle appearance; perhaps this development was borne from the experiences she had gathered during her one month journey.


    ¡°Senior.¡± Tang Xinyun greeted Song Lin after Bai Yunfei, but when she saw Xiao Binzi, her eyes reflected her surprise. Hurriedly moving to his front, she bowed, ¡°Xinyun pays her respects to the first elder. It¡¯s wonderful to see you! Master went out yesterday, but she hasn¡¯t returned yet. If the first elder could¡­¡±


    Before she could even finish, Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyes were already widening as the jade slip in his hand changed once more.


    It was now at 40%!!


    Holding a hand up to stop whatever Tang Xinyun had to say, Xiao Binzi said, ¡°Say no more. I was already planning on moving out. We can talk about the details later, but I must go right now!¡±


    Leaping to his feet, Xiao Binzi stalked to the exit.


    Xiao Rang, on the other hand, hesitated before asking, ¡°Elder, is there perhaps anything the Xiao can do for you¡­¡±


    ¡°No need!¡± Xiao Binzi waved a hand rather than turning his head back.


    ¡­¡­


    The group quickly made their way to the outside courtyard where Xiao Binzi was already setting down his Zephyr Sword. Eying Bai Yunfei, he said, ¡°There¡¯s a change in plans. Yunfei, you and that Tang girl will stay here. Song Lin, you come with me!¡±


    He flew onto the Zephyr Sword with Song Lin chasing after him.


    Tang Xinyun hurried to reply, ¡°First elder, please let me come with, I¡¯m worried about my master¡­¡±


    ¡°How troublesome! What could you do?¡± Xiao Binzi rebuked with narrowed eyes.


    Bai Yunfei started to plead with her, ¡°First elder, please take us with you. If there really is danger, the two of us will hide far away. We may just be able to provide some assistance¡­¡±


    For a while, Xiao Binzi said nothing.


    Then at last, he relented. ¡°Very well!¡± He sighed, ¡°You may come with us, but if there is a fight, you will hide yourselves. Without my permission, you will not move a finger!¡±


    ¡°Yes, we understand!¡± The two replied.


    Enlarging the Zephyr Sword with a bit more of his soulforce, Xiao Binzi waited for Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun to climb up.


    Eying the jade slip still, Xiao Binzi waved his left hand slightly so that the elemental fire could protect them all. Then, in a flash of green light, the sword flew into the sky.


    Xiao Rang and his son, Xiao Xin, stood side by side as they watched the sword fly farther and farther away.


    ¡°Father,¡± Xiao Xin asked hesitantly, ¡°What¡­ what should we do now?¡±


    ¡°What can we even do? We can¡¯t escape the fact that we¡¯re responsible for this mess with the Sun. Inform the others to keep their guard up and keep watch on what the Sun is up to!¡± Xiao Rang commanded. ¡°Things are getting even worse than we imagined¡­¡± He sighed, ¡°We¡¯ve managed to bring Jiang Nan and even the Crafting School into this affair unfortunately¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the sword, Xiao Binzi carried Bai Yunfei and the other two students through the air while Tang Xinyun recounted what details she knew about Cang Yu and the situation. From what they could tell, Cang Yu found Jiang Nan¡¯s signal for help and had come to Curopia City. After learning what little information the Xiao had, Cang Yu then left and disappeared without a trace.


    Xiao Binzi was no longer as calm as before. As they traveled, Bai Yunfei and the others could see that Xiao Binzi was extremely grim and silent as he clenched the jade slip.


    They continued for roughly an hour before Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. Tilting the sword down, they descended to a hillside in front of them.


    Looking in the northeastern direction grimly, Xiao Binzi said, ¡°Jiang Nan is over there. Song Lin, you come with me. Yunfei, you stay here with her!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was just about to suggest that they go together when Xiao Binzi gave him an intimidating stare. Saying nothing else, he pulled Tang Xinyun off the sword and had her go with Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Song Lin, we¡¯ll move at on¡­¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The sudden sound of an explosion cut straight into Xiao Binzi¡¯s speech, causing everyone to turn to the source. All they could see was a fiery light that soared into the sky overhead before a nearby mountain came crashing down in a pile of rubble!!


    Judging from the distance, they were roughly a hundred meters away from where they were, so the sight of a mountain exploding like that was extremely scary.


    ¡°This aura¡­¡± Xiao Binzi gasped, ¡°It¡¯s Cang Yu!!¡±

 Chapter 249: Prepare to Die!

    Chapter 249: Prepare to Die!


    If a late-stage Soul King like Xiao Binzi were surprised by whatever happened, the situation was far more dire than what they all imagined. Thinking about what to do for a split moment, Xiao Binzi commanded Song Lin, ¡°I¡¯ll go first. You go to where Jiang Nan is. Do whatever the situation calls for, I¡¯ll be there in a flash!!¡±


    Just seconds after he finished his last sentence, Xiao Binzi shot off on his sword and became a speck in no time at all.


    As soon as Xiao Binzi left, Song Lin looked away from the old man to Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, ¡°Yunfei, you and Tang Xinyun stay here for now. I¡¯m going to help Jiang Nan!¡±


    Without any time to lose, Song Lin shook his hand so that a green-colored sword appeared in front of him. Compared to Xiao Binzi¡¯s Zephyr Sword, this one was far weaker in light and power. Hopping onto it, Song Lin soon blasted off to the northeast as soon as his soulforce was pushed into it.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun shared glances of concern and worry for a moment before Bai Yunfei tried to comfort Tang Xinyun, ¡°Xinyun, don¡¯t worry. With the first elder helping, your master will be fine.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Tang Xinyun nodded, but concern clouded her face as she looked to the north.


    The crumbling mountain, where that giant fiery pillar had appeared, was completely enshrouded by the dust cloud from the rock slide, but even despite the low visibility and relative distance, Bai Yunfei could tell that there was an extremely powerful force in that area. Due to his lack of strength, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to tell what was going on in full detail.


    Bai Yunfei turned to the direction Song Lin went with furrowed eyebrows. The first elder had said that Jiang Nan wasn¡¯t too far away, and the elder Cang Yu was fighting not too far as well. Combined with how unusually fast the first elder reacted, it was most likely an indication of how much danger Jiang Nan was in. That must¡¯ve been why Song Lin himself left so fast, but the fact that Bai Yunfei was left here simply didn¡¯t sit well with him.


    Power. It was an issue that stemmed solely from power. If he had enough of it, he¡¯d be able to fight with Song Lin and perhaps even with the first elder!!


    A fierce explosion suddenly rocked the area around him with several earth-shattering explosions following it, knocking Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. Another brilliant surge of elemental fire shot into the sky, but not on a level as scary as the first one. The distance was even closer than before, so Bai Yunfei was able to see even more. Even the faint remnants of elemental fire was receding enough for Bai Yunfei to sense the intricate soulforce there and into the auras within.


    Among the numerous auras was Song Lin; he had joined the fray!


    Grim-faced, Bai Yunfei focused heavily on the sight as he debated with himself whether he should ¡®follow directions¡¯ and stay obediently away from the battle.


    Tang Xinyun had noticed the battle too. Taking notice of the strange look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, she asked, ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± Bai Yunfei waved a hand nonchalantly, but his face was fixed in its expression.


    ¡°Xinyun,¡± Finally, he came to a resolution, ¡°I have to go closer or I won¡¯t be happy with myself. You stay here, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re going over there!?¡± Tang Xinyun exclaimed. At first, she was very willing to go help with the fight, but after seeing how the fight was progressing, Tang Xinyun knew that there was nothing she could bring to the fight. When Bai Yunfei said that he wanted to go, she spoke up to stop him, ¡°No! The first elder said to stay put unless he says so. Yunfei, you can¡¯t help them; this is something only the first elder and senior Song Lin can manage!¡±


    But Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t do anything excessive. I just want to go a little closer.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°I am a disciple of master Zi Jin. If my senior is facing trouble, I can¡¯t sit still on the sidelines. No matter the case, I have to go. Xinyun, you stay here and don¡¯t move a muscle.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me that, but aren¡¯t you doing exactly that?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to respond.


    ¡°If you really want to go, then I¡¯m going with you!¡± She insisted after a second¡¯s thought.


    ¡°Absolutely not! You¡¯re far too weak; it¡¯ll only be dangerous for you.¡±


    ¡°In front of those people, the two of us will only meet the same fate. If you¡¯re going, I¡¯m going!¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Hesitation flooded Bai Yunfei for a brief moment.


    He cast a glance in the direction of Jiang Nan and nodded his head after a while, ¡°Fine then. We¡¯ll both go. Make sure to hide your presence and watch from afar. We¡¯ll have to act based on the situation.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I hear you.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the northeast, Xiao Binzi was currently rushing to the battlegrounds.


    ¡°Uoahh!!¡± A loud roar resonated across the land as a mountain-sized elephant came charging forward amid an orange glow. It brought its giant hooves into the air and back down as it charged, the hooves of the elephant soulbeast caused the earth to shake and fracture under its rampage.


    Just several dozen meters away, a white figure could be seen weaving out and away from the spider webbing fissures on the ground.


    Just as the figure¡¯s foot tapped down onto the ground, a fissure suddenly opened up beneath the figure, splitting the ground apart!


    A red light flashed out of the figure¡¯s body before gathering beneath their feet. Materializing as a red platform, the red light let the figure in white use it as a foothold to push off and away from the ground.


    Landing several meters away, the figure retreated several steps more before coming to a complete stop.


    This person was Cang Yu, the third elder of the Crafting School.


    She was clearly in a very sorry state from the battle. Her hair was disheveled and her robes were in a very dilapidated state. Her right hand toted a gleaming red sword, but the cloth on her left arm was ripped to pieces, showing off her snowy-white skin with several black terrifying marks that snaked their way up her arm.


    Mere seconds after she came to a stop, a very faint crackling sound could be heard as a jet-black string of chains came flying toward her from the left to entrap her!


    Hardening her eyes at the sight, Cang Yu waved her right hand so a palm-sized shield made of golden light materialized in front of her. In no time at all, the shield immediately grew to surround her entire body.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a metallic clang when the two forces collided, but the shield remained upright. Cang Yu, on the other hand, retreated a hundred meters back with the shield.


    Shaking from the impact, the shield started to grow dim in light while Cang Yu¡¯s face grew flush red from pain. The blood came pouring out of her mouth.


    When Cang Yu looked up, a single figure could be seen standing on top of the giant soulbeast. The figure was dressed in a purple robe with his hands crossed against his chest as he glared at Cang Yu. His soulforce was being transmitted into the soulbeast beneath him, but from the amount, it was clear to see that he was a mid-stage Soul Exalt. To his left was another man in the air and cloaked in a black mantle that covered his face. Despite not being able to see his physical appearance, a bluish energy could be seen as he shook his right hand. Following the clanking sounds of the chains, the weapon flew back and around him with the flexibility of a snake.


    The way he stood there was enough to give anyone that saw him a heart-trembling sensation of fear, and his undisguised aura gave no small amount of fear to Cang Yu as well; he was a Soul King!


    Wiping away the blood from her mouth, Cang Yu spoke, ¡°Beast Taming School¡­ do you mean to make our Crafting School an enemy!¡±


    ¡°Hmph! You¡¯re saying that now after all of this?¡± The man standing on top of the elephant sneered, ¡°We came here to kill that Jiang Nan person at first, but if you¡¯re here to throw away your life, we¡¯ll kill the two of you together. If we remove all traces, who¡¯ll be the wiser that it was the Beast Taming School? Elder Cang, try not to resist. In front of a Soul King, you¡¯ve not a chance to fight.¡±


    ¡°Pah! You¡¯re nothing more than a mouse with a lion!¡± Cang Yu snorted as she tried to heal herself with her soulforce. From the start until now, her eyes had never left the black-robed figure due to her bitterness. She knew that this person had been doubting whether or not to kill her; otherwise, she would¡¯ve died a long time ago.


    This black-cloaked man did indeed have doubts. It was reasonable to say that as a Soul King¡ªeven as an early-stage Soul King¡ªkilling a late-stage Soul Exalt would be as easy as turning his hand.


    But the one in front of him was no ordinary late-stage Soul Exalt. She was an elder of the Crafting School.


    Those who had any knowledge about the Crafting School, there was absolutely no reason for them to not fear the Crafting School. The black-cloaked man himself knew that while Cang Yu looked to be in dire straits, there was no way she didn¡¯t have a life-saving skill up her sleeves.


    There was once a late-stage Soul Exalt from the Crafting School who fought against a Soul King. With the use of his soul armament and a method that nearly killed himself, he killed the Soul King! It was that battle that made the Soul Exalt famous across the continent.


    That person soon became known as the current headmaster of the Crafting School, Kou Changkong!!


    The black-cloaked man wasn¡¯t confident that he¡¯d be able to retreat if Cang Yu were to use her last resort. Thus, he decided the best case of action was to wait. Like how a frog would boil itself to death in warm water, he¡¯d wait until Cang Yu was at her weakest point before he¡¯d go in for the kill.


    As it was, she wasn¡¯t that far away from said weakest point. Cang Yu had already used several of her strongest techniques earlier, so most of her soulforce was already depleted. It¡¯d take half an hour at most before Cang Yu¡¯s death would be for certain!!


    Cang Yu herself was aware of this fact, but she had no other options. With a Soul King around, running away wasn¡¯t a possibility, and neither was winning¡­ with her stuck in this situation, despair was starting to creep into her heart.


    Just as the man from the Beast Taming School was about to attack, someone caused the three of them to look away from each other in surprise!


    While Cang Yu¡¯s eyes lit up with hope, the other two¡¯s eyes reflected their shock!


    A wave of soulsense blasted out in a horizontal push, spreading a powerful aura to them as a greenish light came speeding over like a shooting star.


    ¡°You, who have raised a hand against the Crafting School, prepare to die!¡±

 Chapter 250: Xiao Binzis Strength!

    Chapter 250: Xiao Binzi''s Strength!


    ¡°Senior Xiao!!¡±


    Cang Yu cried out in jubilation. All of the tension in her body bled away, only to have a wave of fatigue, pain, and even a bit of a headache come flooding in.


    She could relax a bit now. With Xiao Binzi here, she would not be in any danger.


    While Cang Yu felt her nerves lessen, an explosion went off in both hearts of the men from the Beast Taming School. The late-stage Soul Exalt was far more pale in the face than his companion, and fear could clearly be seen in his eyes. The very sensation of the incoming soulforce was enough for the Soul Exalt to feel a bit like he was suffocating.


    ¡°A Soul King! A strong one at that!!¡± He himself wasn¡¯t strong, so he couldn¡¯t determine the true extent of Xiao Binzi¡¯s strength. However, he could, at the very least, confirm that person was indeed a Soul King.


    ¡°It¡¯s fortunate that there¡¯s a Soul King next to me.¡±


    The man rejoiced to himself.


    When he turned around to look, what he saw immediately turned him icy-cold.


    The black-cloaked person who had been standing there earlier was already making his escape!


    He was running away!!


    ¡°What kind of joke is this!? A Soul King running before there¡¯s even a fight!!¡± The man cried out to himself. What he was seeing in front of him was completely undermined what he had been taught.


    In his mind, practically no one could even hold a candle to Soul Kings, but when another one came, the other man immediately turned tail and ran without even fighting!


    No matter how shocked or in disbelief the man was, the truth still remained. The black-cloaked man was running away with all his might and was solely occupied with escaping!


    ¡°Dammit! Damn it all! Xiao Binzi is here. How did he get here so fast!¡± Shivering as he fled, the black-robed man continued to scream to himself in mental anguish, ¡°I must run! Only death awaits me back there!¡±


    Dignified and exalted, Soul Kings were beings whose might could hardly be seen in full clarity.


    At this moment, this Soul King was running away like a cowardly stray dog.


    This was because he knew far more than what the other man knew of the Crafting School. As a more knowledgeable beast tamer, the cloaked man knew about the first elder of the Crafting School. Thus, he was more than aware of how terrifying Xiao Binzi was!


    In the past, the black-cloaked man was once a trifling little Soul Exalt. During that time, Xiao Binzi was already a well-known Soul King. He was even more fortunate to bear witness to the battle where the late-stage Soul Exalt Kou Changkong was able to kill an early-stage Soul King.


    Xiao Binzi was there as well, but there was another fact to the tale¡­ as a mid-stage Soul King, Xiao Binzi was able to kill not only another mid-stage Soul King¡­ but also a late-stage Soul King!


    In that battle, both Kou Changkong and Xiao Binzi were able to destroy an entire sect!!


    All he could possibly hope for for now was that the Soul Exalt beast tamer would be able to stall for time. Enough time that he could run away, even if it was just one minute more!


    ¡­¡­


    Over dozens of kilometers away, the purple-robed Soul Exalt stared at his fleeing ¡®companion.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t sure if he was dreaming or not, but sooner or later, he managed to recover his wits enough for a greenish light to flicker past his eyes.


    It was minute, but he could sense that when the figure in that green light raised his right hand, a wave of red light started to flow out¡­


    A shiver originating from within his body started to grab hold of him, and when it did, the man realized that he was suddenly unable to move!! Even his own arms didn¡¯t feel like they belonged to him anymore, no longer heeding his own commands.


    Not even blinking was possible!


    The most important thing was¡­ he couldn¡¯t use his soulforce!!


    As soon as Xiao Binzi imprisoned the Soul Exalt, he immediately flew off to chase the fleeing cloaked man. Said man was using his own soulforce to fuel his flight, but for Xiao Binzi who was not only the same level of strength as the man, Xiao Binzi also possesses a soul armament that¡¯d easily outspeed his prey. Distance wouldn¡¯t even be a factor in this chase.


    When the cloaked man was already a hundred kilometers away, he turned his head back¡ªonly to be terror-stricken by what he saw.


    Xiao Binzi, who was riding his green Zephyr Sword, was already several hundred meters away from him!!


    ¡°Damn it!¡± The man howled to himself in anger. Frantic in his fear, the soulforce in his body started to bubble strangely before doubling his speed!


    No hesitation was felt when the man decided burn up his own soul essence to make his escape even faster!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Xiao Binzi sneered, though his speed remained the same. Shaking his right hand, a dazzling ball of orange light the size of a small chicken egg came shooting out. Traveling faster than both Xiao Binzi and the cloaked man, the pearl soon found itself about to pelt the man¡¯s back.


    It didn¡¯t slam into his back. Instead, it flew around his side and burst forward several times faster than before to reach the barren hill a kilometer in front of them and then out of sight!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The cloaked man stared blankly for a second before shock from what he saw immediately dilated his eyes!


    After he tossed the orange pearl, Xiao Binzi stopped where he was in mid-air. Rather than chase the man down, he only watched the man with his right hand stretched out.


    And then, he unclenched his fist!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An overwhelming wave of power surged as someone¡¯s soulforce could be felt exploding. When Xiao Binzi unclenched his fist, the land in front of them started to quake violently along with the barren hill where the pearl was. It was almost as if some sort of living being was about to awaken!


    In the blink of an eye, the entire mountain had ¡®transformed¡¯ into a giant stone palm!


    While the cloaked man was taken aback by this transformation, the ¡®mountain palm¡¯ moved to stop him!


    Still glaring coldly, Xiao Binzi clenched down with his fist!


    There was a giant explosion as the ¡®mountain palm¡¯ followed the movements of his own palm of flesh.


    As if it was swatting a fly, the mountain palm flew to ¡®grab¡¯ the cloaked figure!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Came the furious cry of the man in question. In desperate abandon, his right arm was thrust out, and his gigantic chains coiled around him. A wave of blue energy condensed to form a wall of water all around him, chilling the air.


    Several crackling sounds later, the wall of water froze to become a wall of ice that shined and looked as if it was as hard as iron.


    It took a second to pull this move off, and the palm was just able to grab hold of him!


    If anyone were to look from far away, all they¡¯d be able to see is a giant palm rise out of the earth and form a giant fist.


    After the stone palm had formed a fist, wave after wave of soulforce could be seen coming out of the fist along with several slamming sounds from inside. Apparently, the captive was trying his best to break free from the stone prison and escape.


    Narrowing his eyes, Xiao Binzi didn¡¯t soften his grasp, ¡°Shrink!¡± He barked.


    ¡°Bzzz!!¡±


    As soon as he spoke, the ¡®mountain fist¡¯ that had came forth from the earth started to shine a bright orange light. Waves of elemental earth started to pervade the sky and congregate around the fist before shrinking rapidly in size. Within half-second intervals, the visible changes to the fist could clearly be seen!!


    The more the fist started to shrink, the more erratic the man¡¯s aura became within the fist. The man was starting to yell even louder along with the banging from his attempts to escape.


    Within ten minutes, the previously large fist was no more than ten feet long and tall!!


    The entire fist was ablaze with an orange glow, uncertain it could be made out of stone and earth anymore. The saturation of the orange glow was reaching a terrifying level where it felt as if it was made completely out of elemental earth instead!


    A glint of murderous intent sparked to life within Xiao Binzi¡¯s eye. ¡°Explode!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The following explosion rocked the earth as the orange ¡®fist¡¯ exploded into pieces and dust. Along with the remnants of the fist, a mist of blood could be seen mixed in before scattering throughout the world¡­


    An orange-colored pearl came flying out of the dust back to Xiao Binzi¡¯s outstretched hand. In the orange pearl, a single space ring could be seen.


    In an instant, a Soul King had been reduced to nothing but dust!


    This¡­ this was the might of the first elder of the Crafting School!!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 251: War!

    Chapter 251: War!


    In the world of soul cultivators, Soul Kings set the standard for being considered one of the best. It was therefore reasonable to say that Soul Kings wouldn¡¯t be so easy to kill.


    Yet, this black-cloaked man had been an exception to that. If a reason were to be stated, it¡¯d have to be because of Xiao Binzi, who was even stronger than the deceased Soul King. A secondary reason could be seen when Xiao Binzi first appeared. The cloaked man had immediately lost all of his courage to even fight.


    A subsidiary reason for why he had lost his courage could be the fact that the man had seen what Xiao Binzi was capable of twenty years ago and likened him to the demon Mara.


    He was unwilling to fight back in the beginning.


    In the end, he was unable to even offer up a desperate gambit before dying¡­


    Nonetheless, Xiao Binzi flew back to where the Soul Exalt was on his Zephyr Sword. Though paralyzed, the Soul Exalt could see the battle that had just taken place between the two Soul Kings.


    Drenched in sweat and completely at a loss for words, the Soul Exalt seemed to be having trouble trying to digest and believe what had just happened.


    Ever since he and that Soul King had met each other, he had never once been recognized as somebody worth looking at.


    And yet¡­ that Soul King had been killed so easily!


    No matter how many times he replayed the scene in his head, he felt like he was dreaming rather than living in reality.


    Dazed as he was, the Soul Exalt managed to come to a harsh awakening when Xiao Binzi returned. His nerves were stretched to their limits. Though he was somehow able to maintain a cool-headed state of thinking. All thoughts of resistance were completely thrown out of his mind, and his eyes continued to flicker in thought as his brain raced to think about what to do.


    ¡°Do you believe that because you are of the Beast Taming School I¡¯d spare your life?¡± Xiao Binzi¡¯s completely devoid-of-emotions voice made an inquiry in front of the Soul Exalt.


    Surprised by the question, the purple-robed man couldn¡¯t help but feel some hope arise in him as the question was asked.


    ¡°Was that Soul King not from the Beast Taming School? Do you know why I didn¡¯t bothered to ask his identity, or why I didn¡¯t kill the both of you?¡± Like daggers, Xiao Binzi¡¯s glare betrayed his emotions despite his calm voice.


    The Soul Exalt¡¯s heart skipped a beat as that feeling of hope was replaced with an uncomfortable feeling that something bad was about to happen.


    Xiao Binzi cast a glance at Cang Yu who was seated not too far away, trying to recuperate from her wounds. For a moment, his eyes hovered briefly over the shocking state her left arm was in before it swiveled back to the Soul Exalt in complete indignation. ¡°There is only one reason alone¡­ you¡¯ve conspired to kill a crafter of my school. There is no need to know who you are, what background you have, or even if you belong to any of the ten great schools of this continent! You will die!!¡±


    Moving along with his final words, Xiao Binzi waved his right hand, summoning an unbelievably scorching wave of elemental fire. Mere seconds passed before the Soul Exalt was engulfed within the elemental fire!


    There wasn¡¯t even time to scream. The flames died out just as quickly as they came, leaving behind only ashes of the man that scattered with the wind.


    It was as Xiao Binzi said.


    There was no need to ask for identity, background, or even reason.


    They would all die regardless!


    It was almost astonishing to see that the normally level-headed Xiao Binzi could potentially be this protective and tyrannical!


    Taking the two space rings from the dead beast tamers, Xiao Binzi picked at one of the rings and stored away the elephant soulbeast in it.


    He stored away his Zephyr Sword next before appearing next to the injured Cang Yu. Concerned, he looked over the black aura that lingered on her left arm, ¡°Elemental darkness? I hadn¡¯t thought that one of those two would be a dual cultivator of such a rare element¡­¡±


    Reaching out to grab Cang Yu¡¯s left shoulder, Xiao Binzi transmitted his own soulforce into her. There was a gasp from Cang Yu as the black marks on her shoulder started to sizzle before disappearing from sight.


    Seconds later, Cang Yu¡¯s left arm was completely back to normal. Even the color of her face was back to normal as she let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank you, senior Xiao¡­¡±


    Nodding in return, Xiao Binzi said, ¡°As long as you¡¯re fine¡­.¡±


    But then, Cang Yu thought about the reason she was here; ¡°Senior Xiao, Jiang Nan is in trouble. You must save him!¡±


    Xiao Binzi turned to look off in the direction Jiang Nan was, ¡°Yes, I know. Song Lin went over there first to provide assistance. I¡¯ll be on my wa¡ª¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An explosion interrupted what Xiao Binzi was about to say and shook the earth just slightly. Xiao Binzi was startled!


    ¡°This aura¡­ Yunfei¡¯s in trouble!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    A few moments ago¡ª


    Both Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were trying their best to erase their auras as they moved closer to the combat zone, but even then, Bai Yunfei was worried that Tang Xinyun wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to completely erase her aura.


    As a result, he took out his Walk-on Strawhat and gave it to her to wear.


    At first, Tang Xinyun teased Bai Yunfei on why she¡¯d have to wear such a silly thing, but when Bai Yunfei explained that a senior gifted him this special soul armament long ago and could conceal the aura of the wearer, Tang Xinyun realized Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t joking. Still, she wore the strawhat with a very skeptical expression.


    As awkward as it was to have such a beautiful young woman wear such a shabby-looking strawhat, there was still a bit of charm to the sight. With the strawhat on, Tang Xinyun looked similar to a gentle young villager from the countryside


    From there, the two continued to make their way toward Song Lin. Since they weren¡¯t as fast as his flying sword, it took several minutes for them to reach their destination. Hiding on a nearby hill, the two began to observe the situation of the fight.


    Just beneath a sky-reaching mountain, a series of explosions and waves of soulforce could be heard and seen amid the chaos. Several roars could be heard, and the very first soulbeast to be seen was a giant black-colored tiger. Then, a dark-yellow python that was as wide as a bucket. Finally, two birds appeared. One of them was violet in color, and the other one was azure. Based on their auras, all four soulbeasts were very strong ones.


    Only the violet bird could be seen beating the air with its wings as it hovered high in the sky. The other three soulbeasts were attacking wildly at two figures whose red auras were hard at work in protecting them. On top of the violet bird, a white-haired old man wearing gray-colored robes could be seen observing the battlefield with twinkling eyes. Though he was standing on top of the bird, he was controlling the tiger soulbeast, clearly identifying him as someone from the Beast Taming School.


    To his right, a gray-robed middle-aged man could be seen as well. His eyes were also focused on the battle, but both of his hands were dancing slightly as he worked on controlling the giant python and the azure-colored bird.


    In the center of the battlefield, two more soul cultivators could be seen attacking two figures with the three soulbeasts.


    One of the two soul cultivators, who were trying their best to coordinate with one another to protect themselves, was Song Lin.


    The other person was the one who once saved Bai Yunfei back in Stonegroove City, Jiang Nan!


    The elder standing on top of the giant bird was an early-stage Soul Exalt; the tiger soulbeast he was controlling was an early-stage sixth-tier soulbeast. The middle-aged man was a mid-stage Soul Ancestor; the python soulbeast was a mid-stage fifth-tier soulbeast, and the azure bird was an early-stage fifth-tier soulbeast.


    The two black-clothed soul cultivators down below were of the late-stage Soul Ancestor level and the mid-stage Soul Exalt level!!


    Under the assault by such a cumulatively strong force, it was completely mind blowing to see that the early-stage Soul Exalt Jiang Nan and the late-stage Soul Ancestor Song Lin hadn¡¯t been defeated yet!


    They hadn¡¯t lost yet, but they were finding it difficult to continue fighting. The two of them were at a clear disadvantage, and if nothing was done soon, they would lose without a doubt.


    Song Lin¡¯s soul armament was a spear that glowed purple and red from both sides. Its aura was slightly stronger than the Fire-tipped Spear of Bai Yunfei, but it was capable enough to block the attacks of the late-stage Soul Ancestor and the python soulbeast.


    Jiang Nan toted a blood-red longsword as he fought off the mid-stage Soul Exalt and the tiger soulbeast.


    Song Lin was in a comparatively better state than Jiang Nan since he was a newer combatant and had not been injured yet.


    Jiang Nan was in a very unfavorable situation. The fact that he was fighting this group alone before Song Lin came spoke magnitudes of the danger. Concentrating as hard as he could as he fought, his entire forehead was dripping with sweat. His right arm was nearly a mangled mess of blood and wounds with wisps of black aura lingering about it. There was also three deep-looking scars from where the tiger had presumably clawed him.


    The wounds from where he was clawed had already stopped bleeding, but the sight of them was still dreadful.


    Despite his wounds, Jiang Nan remained steadfast without any signs of weakening. His left hand swung the Red Lotus Bloodsword in a flurry of red sword strokes, and several lotuses the color of blood materialized all around his body and moved about to block the strikes of his enemies. Each time the lotuses made contact, they would violently explode. His enemies were clearly intimidated by the lotuses¡ªeven the mid-stage Soul Exalt.


    Though, it was also clear to see that the mid-stage Soul Exalt wasn¡¯t going all out. It was distinct to see that he was afraid that Jiang Nan would go for a final gambit that¡¯d kill him, so the Soul Exalt was waiting for a sure-fire opportunity to kill him.


    At some point in their battle, the mid-stage Soul Exalt felt a change happen in the area around them. Turning his head to look off to where Cang Yu was, his eyes widened in surprise as if he realized something.


    ¡°Change of plans. No more stalling. Kill them both now!!¡±


    With a wave of his right hand, a golden machete appeared in it. The man pushed off against the ground with a burst of golden light. He completely disregarded the fire lotuses to attack Jiang Nan straight on!


    His three companions were surprised by his actions, but they followed suit almost unflinchingly. In a surge of soulforce, the four of them began an even more ferocious assault.


    The pressure on both Jiang Nan and Song Lin was increased multiple times over as death drew closer to them.


    From the outskirts of the battle, the mid-stage Soul Ancestor continued to conduct his two soulbeasts in battle with a grim expression. There was a spark of excitement in his eyes. A victory would not have been easy for someone of his caliber even if he was fighting either Song Lin or Jiang Nan himself, but because the two of them were being distracted by the Soul Ancestor¡¯s companions, he was able to use his two soulbeasts to strike at the blind spots in their defenses since the two of them were distracted by the Soul Ancestor¡¯s companions.


    A giant loach-like soulbeast came flying out of the ground for an ambush while the azure bird struck out with several gusts of wind. Each time the two soulbeasts attacked, Jiang Nan and Song Lin were both brought closer to death.


    The fact that he was able to fight and possibly kill two crafters who were even stronger than he was filled the mid-stage Soul Ancestor with a decent amount of glee.


    When the mid-stage Soul Exalt gave the kill order, the Soul Ancestor began to fight with even more glee. Waving his right hand, the giant python was commanded to swing its tail out like a giant whip to slam into Song Lin.


    Though it was a surprise to Song Lin to see the snake strike at him like so, he dodged the whip-like tail, allowing for it to slam into the ground with a reverberating tremor.


    Licking his lips, the Soul Ancestor motioned for the python to burrow back into the ground and wait for another opportunity.


    Simultaneously, the beast tamer standing on top of the violet bird cried out in warning, ¡°Behind you!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± The Soul Ancestor replied.


    As he turned his head, his pupils dilated in surprise as he registered a wind-like blade of green flying toward him along with four separate throwing knives!


    Even as he moved to dodge the strikes, the python¡¯s tail came back out from the earth to block each of the attacks.


    ¡°Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!¡±


    Four separate stabbing sounds could be heard as the throwing knives shot into the tail. There was a string of sparks from where the throwing knives made contact before they were rebuffed. The Crescent Moon Blade, on the other hand, flew around the tail as if it were being manually controlled and increased in speed to strike down the Soul Ancestor!


    ¡°Tzzk!¡±


    The sound of metal ripping into flesh and blood being spilled could be heard then. Though the middle-aged man managed to dodge a fatal blow, his right shoulder had a clear cut mark from where the blade struck.


    If he had been a second too slow to react, his throat would¡¯ve been where the blade would¡¯ve struck and not his shoulder!


    Panicked, the man looked up in time to see the hand of someone reach up to grab the Crescent Moon Blade. A red aura could be seen flickering off this figure who was already speeding toward the man to strike again!


    Bai Yunfei had entered the fray!!

 Chapter 252: Can You Kill?

    Chapter 252: Can You Kill?


    When Bai Yunfei saw the battle from afar, he was both shocked and anxious. Song Lin had always looked after Bai Yunfei, and Jiang Nan himself had once saved Bai Yunfei¡¯s life. So to see the two being attacked by every side without Bai Yunfei even being able to lift a finger or join the fight, he was beside himself. At the same time, he felt a deep feeling of helplessness.


    Clenching both of his fists, Bai Yunfei stared unflinchingly at the battlefield in front of him. He was struggling hard to not be seen by the four enemies while also making his way even closer to the battlefield.


    On the other side, Jiang Nan had been forced to explode two lotuses in order to fend off the black tiger and the mid-stage Soul Exalt, yet he was still unable to completely evade a blade of wind that managed to bite into his shoulder.


    It was that final bit that tipped Bai Yunfei over the edge. No longer able to rein his anger in, Bai Yunfei grit his teeth and whirled around to stare at Tang Xinyun who was watching the battle with him, ¡°Xinyun, you stay here. I¡¯m going to go help out!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Tang Xinyun cried out in disbelief, ¡°Absolutely not! Haven¡¯t you seen how intense this battle is? The weakest one there is a stage higher than you; how will you even fight them!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was unswayed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± He shook his head, ¡°I¡¯ve faith in myself. As long as it¡¯s just that mid-stage Soul Ancestor, I¡¯m confident I can beat him! If I can alleviate the pressure on brother Song Lin and Jiang Nan and stall for time, I¡¯m confident that the first elder will come over soon enough. The first elder will make sure we won¡¯t be in any danger!¡±


    ¡°But¡­ what if you can¡¯t fight against that mid-stage Soul Ancestor?¡±


    ¡°No way, he¡¯s completely focused on fighting brother Song Lin and Jiang Nan. If I can get the attention of that mid-stage Soul Ancestor, success is seventy percent assured, but whatever the case, one percent more is still one percent!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± For a while, Tang Xinyun was silent. Her silence had prompted Bai Yunfei to move toward the battle, but before he could get far, Tang Xinyun bit her bottom lip in reluctance. ¡°Yunfei, I¡­ I want to help too!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Startled by her determination, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure he¡¯d be able to dissuade her since he himself was determined to jump into the fray. There wasn¡¯t much time to convince her otherwise as well. Looking at the distant battlefield with some hesitance, Bai Yunfei then asked in a low voice, ¡°Xinyun, can you kill?¡±


    ¡°What? Likewise, Tang Xinyun wasn¡¯t expecting this response.


    But she nodded her head in determination anyways, ¡°I can!¡±


    Her response was far more adamant than Bai Yunfei expected. There was a clash between the sweet and gentle image he had of Tang Xinyun and the one in front of him right now.


    During her one month of gaining experience, Tang Xinyun had changed a lot. Still, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have much time to ponder about the changes. After several quick seconds, he relented, ¡°Fine! Then listen carefully to me. In a few seconds from now, I¡¯ll have that mid-stage Soul Ancestor move outside of the battlefield, and then you¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Several rough moments later, Bai Yunfei was just finishing up going over the battle plan when he heard the mid-stage Soul Exalt fighting Jiang Nan suddenly yell out loud, ¡°Change of plans. No more stalling! Kill them both now!!¡±


    It was then that the battle reached a fervor. Both Jiang Nan and Song Lin were already in a very sorry state. If they were careless, any single strike could very well be the one to claim their lives.


    Nodding to Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei threw away all hesitation he felt and started to run toward the battle. By using the Wave Treading Steps to increase his speed, his figure nearly bled into a blur as he raced forward.


    His hand shook once to bring out the Crescent Moon Blades mid-sprint. Grasping the blade by the handle, he split the blade into two with a clinking sound while maintaining his watch on the python and azure bird being controlled by the middle-aged man. With a swing of his right hand, the blade in that arm was tossed forward, and during the return swing of the very same arm, another four throwing knives were tossed out!


    Due to the intensity of the battle and how concentrated he was on fighting Song Lin and Jiang Nan, the middle-aged man had never noticed Bai Yunfei¡¯s assault from behind. It was only when the early-stage Soul Exalt to the side had cried out in warning that the middle-aged man whirled around to see what was going on.


    He managed to call back his python to block the four throwing knives while jumping to the side. When the Crescent Moon Blade whirled around the python¡¯s tail, the man had been unable to stop the blade from leaving a wound on his shoulder!


    Without his speed decreasing in the slightest, Bai Yunfei continued to charge forward so that he was now within a hundred meters radius of the middle-aged man. Just as the man was pointing his finger to command the python to attack Bai Yunfei, the hand that was holding the other half of the Crescent Moon Blade gave a violent tug back as if pulling at something.


    A cold wind blew against the back of the middle-aged man¡¯s head, causing his entire body to shiver before he tossed himself to the side!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Following the rustling sound of something brushing past him, another wound immediately opened itself up on his side!


    ¡°The Crescent Moon Blades! Those are the weapons of the Crescent Moon Killers!¡± The man cried out loud as soon as he realized what weapon Bai Yunfei was holding.


    Bai Yunfei quirked his eyebrows. If the Crescent Moon Blades could be recognized that quickly, did this mean that the Crescent Moon Killers were famous, maybe?


    Storing away the Crescent Moon Blades once the other blade returned to him, Bai Yunfei swapped it out for the Fire-tipped Spear. Without a word, Bai Yunfei charged straight for the middle-aged man.


    The five other fighters were astonished to see Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance, but when the three enemies of his took a second to properly look at Bai Yunfei, they all revealed a look of contempt.


    An early-stage Soul Ancestor was joining the fight? What right had he to do so?


    Clearly, this youngster was a cocky one from the Crafting School with an overinflated estimation of his own strength.


    No longer caring about Bai Yunfei, the Soul Exalt standing on top of the violet bird spoke out loud, ¡°Hurry up and kill them so we can leave!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± It took a moment for the middle-aged man to respond, but when he did, he glared at the incoming Bai Yunfei with a murderous gaze. This puny early-stage Soul Ancestor had actually dared to try and ambush him!!


    ¡°Go to hell!!¡± With a roar, the man pointed his right hand at Bai Yunfei.


    There was a hiss, and then the python flew at Bai Yunfei with its bloody maw wide open in an attempt to bite its prey!


    Jiang Nan had been skeptical about Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance when he found him, but Song Lin was aghast to spot him there. However, he couldn¡¯t yell at Bai Yunfei to stop fighting either. He wanted to go over and help Bai Yunfei fight, but with the others surrounding him in a death trap, he¡¯d have to be extremely careful or else risk getting hurt if he slipped up. With no other choice but to continue fighting, Song Lin could only hope that the first elder would come quickly.


    Otherwise, if Bai Yunfei were to be extremely hurt¡ªeven if he escaped with his life¡ªSong Lin would have no excuse to offer up to his seniors in apology.


    ¡°Dammit! Why is Yunfei so reckless? This isn¡¯t a battle someone like him can take part in¡­¡± Without a choice, Song Lin tried his best to focus on his own battles.


    Without the python or the bird attacking him or Jiang Nan, the pressure on the both of them was now slightly weaker.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side of the battlefield, Bai Yunfei glared at the incoming python with a serious expression. Sticking to the ground with how his feet moved across it, he moved his right side behind him and planted the Fire-tipped Spear into the ground. Vaulting into the air with movements as fluid as flowing water itself, Bai Yunfei managed to evade the python¡¯s lunge!


    Even before Bai Yunfei could move on to strike down the middle-aged man in front of him, the sound of something coming at him from behind could be heard. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei was astonished to see the tail of the python striking at him!


    This time, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge the attack like before. It had never crossed his mind that the python would be able to strike at him again so quickly, but there was no time for him to regret his decision now. Crossing both of his arms in front of him to brace for impact, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was sent flying ten meters back following the collision. Before Bai Yunfei could hit the ground, he slammed his spear into it to impede his backward momentum.


    Sliding for another ten meters, Bai Yunfei finally came to a stop on the ground. Despite the Flameblade Bracer protecting him, Bai Yunfei felt his right arm go slightly numb from the impact, but with a faint red glow that spread from his bracer to around his right arm, the numbness quickly went away.


    ¡°A mid-stage fifth-tier soulbeast is indeed quite hard to deal with¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed to himself, though he was not yet discouraged. Swinging his spear, he tried once more to dodge the python and to strike at the man controlling it.


    If a surprise attack didn¡¯t work, all that¡¯s left was a full-on assault!

 Chapter 253: A Predicamen

    Chapter 253: A Predicament


    Seeing that Bai Yunfei was coming at him with a spear once again, the middle-aged beast tamer snorted. Taking two steps back with soulforce circulating through him, the man commanded the python and bird to come protect him. Bai Yunfei was weaker than him in strength, but this man didn¡¯t have the habit of underestimating anyone from the Crafting School. Each crafter was not someone who could be underestimated. This was something he himself had always followed.


    With a flap of its wings, the azure bird began to gather the elemental wind in the area around it. Soon, blades of wind started to lash out in a very simplistic attack pattern that tried to predict where Bai Yunfei would move by attacking him straight-on.


    The dark-yellow python was glowing bright with orange light. Its tail was deep into the ground where it unleashed a wave of earth. It rolled toward Bai Yunfei thanks to the elemental earth it was using. At the same time, the python¡¯s body coiled around to the side to flank Bai Yunfei.


    One by one, Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear knocked away the blades of wind coming at him. He then leaped two meters into the air to dodge the earth wave from the python, but before he could even land on the ground, the python¡¯s tail was coming back at him again!


    This time, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t let himself be thwacked by the tail. With narrowed eyes, Bai Yunfei swung his left arm forward, and the Compliant Rope wrapped itself around the python¡¯s head. Immediately shortening its length, Bai Yunfei managed to dodge the tail and fly straight for the python itself!


    Just as the azure bird was about to drop down to interfere, a sudden screech and several blades of wind came attacking it from the side before a white figure flew out!


    It was Xiao Bai, the quickshade bird!


    When Xiao Bai appeared, a battle between the two birds began to take place.


    Both birds were early-stage fifth-tier soulbeasts, but Xiao Bai was closer to the mid-stage level. Thus, it held a small advantage over the azure bird, but as a puppet soulbeast of the Beast Taming School, the azure bird felt neither pain nor feelings. It could become even more berserk in its attacks. At first clash, the ensuing battle was extremely fierce with both birds being of the wind affinity. Blades of wind flew everywhere along with two blurry streaks of azure and white through the air. Occasionally, different colored feathers could be seen drifting to the ground.


    Now that the azure bird was preoccupied, Bai Yunfei was down yet another problem. With how quickly the Compliant Rope was shortening itself, Bai Yunfei was able to reach the python in no time at all. Right as he drew close, the python turned its head and opened its jaw wide to swallow him whole!


    The arrival of Xiao Bai caught the beast tamer off guard, but he was still able to control the bird as it fought Xiao Bai and the python as it fought Bai Yunfei. With how well-known the Beast Taming School was for controlling soulbeasts, a feat like this wasn¡¯t all too hard for many beast tamers.


    A pungent smell assaulted Bai Yunfei¡¯s nose as his left hand grasped the Compliant Rope and his right hand worked the Fire-tipped Spear. He contorted his body so that he¡¯d be in a better angle to stab at the python, but there was no reason why the python would let its maw be stabbed so easily. Giving up on swallowing Bai Yunfei, the python swung its head so that it could fling Bai Yunfei away. With how Bai Yunfei was tied to the python with the Complaint Rope, Bai Yunfei was swung around its body in a circular motion before coming face to face with another tail strike!


    ¡°Tsk!¡± Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected the python to be this nimble, so he had no other choice but to use his arms to protect himself.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Once again, Bai Yunfei was sent flying another ten meters. Thanks to the Compliant Rope and its gradual extension, Bai Yunfei was able to counteract the momentum and continue revolving around the python.


    By fifty meters, the Compliant Rope could extend no more. Loosening the rope around the python¡¯s head, Bai Yunfei recalled the rope back to him. As soon as he landed back on the ground, he shot off toward the man once more!


    Thanks to this recent exchange, Bai Yunfei was right between the python and the middle-aged man since the python threw him there!


    The fact that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t injured after taking two of the python¡¯s tail strikes astounded the middle-aged man. He knew how strong the python was, so seeing Bai Yunfei completely unhurt was not within his expectations.


    Though it was just a minor shock. As a mid-stage Soul Ancestor, he had experienced plenty of combat before and wouldn¡¯t be completely surprised by something like this. As he watched Bai Yunfei run past the soulbeast and chase after him, the man let loose a sneer.


    ¡°If a person like you could play around with me, then we of the Beast Taming School would simply be too easy to fight!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of him now; we¡¯ve no time to waste.¡±


    A dark expression overcame the man¡¯s face as he swung both arms up. Straight away, a strange marking appeared right in front of him before his body lit up in an orange glow. A wave of elemental earth rushed off his feet and into the ground below soon after.


    ¡°Hisss!!¡±


    An ear-piercing hiss could soon be heard from the python as its body lit up in an orange light as well. The ground around the python began to shake slightly. Then with a twitch of its body, the python dove into the ground as if it were diving into water!


    Bai Yunfei began to run even faster when the man and python made their moves, but just before he could even get halfway to the man, Bai Yunfei could feel the earth within a hundred meters of him start to shake. Certain parts of the ground rippled with an orange glow as if the dirt was acting like water, and Bai Yunfei could feel the ground grow soft before part of his legs began to sink into it!


    ¡°Crap!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped as he felt himself sink into the earth. It felt as if he was stepping into a marsh. Forward progress was difficult, and he was sinking with each passing second!


    A spark of inspiration flickered across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as an idea occurred to him. Swapping the Fire-tipped Spear from his right hand to his left with a twirl of the spear, Bai Yunfei clenched his right fist, with the Ardent Sun Glove, he punched the ground underneath him!


    Ninefold Fist Force!


    Right as the fist slammed into the ground, an extremely fierce fireball came flying out of the glove and into the soil.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was an explosion of earth and stone as Bai Yunfei blasted away the ground. Borrowing the rebounding power from the blast to aid his jump, Bai Yunfei broke free from his earthly confines and launched into the air.


    Only a Soul Exalt could borrow the power of the elements to remain in the air, so after his leap, Bai Yunfei began to look all over the place in order to find a good rock or another spot to use his Compliant Rope to fly over to.


    Unfortunately for him, there were no such trees or rocks suitable for his purposes within a hundred meters radius. For as far as the eye could see, the surrounding earth was swallowed up by the previous attack and was acting more like water than solid earth. If he were to fall into this now, he¡¯d be stuck for good!


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯ll just have to¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up as he prepared to use the Cataclysmic Seal, but then something out of the corner of his eye forced him to throw up his spear in a hurry to block his front.


    From deep underground, the tail of the python came straight out of the earth and moved in an attempt to slam into Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    Practically seconds after Bai Yunfei maneuvered his spear in front of him, the tail slammed into it and tossed Bai Yunfei back down to the ground with a thud.


    A crater formed where Bai Yunfei landed. By the time Bai Yunfei picked himself up, blood was trailing from his gasping mouth; there was no time to catch his breath. When he tried to leap up into the air, another problem had occurred!


    Ten meters around him, a ¡®wave¡¯ of earth was coming right at him again in an attempt to surround him in a tsunami of elemental earth!


    Everything had happened far too quickly for him to properly realize it. In fact, it was only moments after he picked himself up that he realized the attack was already about to hit him!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Following a muffled explosion, the waves of earth conjoined together, entrapping Bai Yunfei in a burial mound of earth!


    ¡­¡­


    A sneer crept onto the middle-aged man¡¯s face as soon as he saw Bai Yunfei get imprisoned within the burial mound. To him, Bai Yunfei was merely a greenhorn. The boy might be talented enough to become an early-stage Soul Ancestor at his age, but he was clearly lacking combat experience and was thus very easy to deal with.


    Even a mid-stage Soul Ancestor would surely die if they fought against a mid-stage fifth-tier earth python and him together. Even a late-stage Soul Ancestor would find it very hard to even run away! When he fought against an early-stage Soul Ancestor, victory was assured in his mind.


    A murderous gleam flickered across the man¡¯s eyes as he brought the orange sphere up into the air. Detaching itself away from the ground with a rumble, the sphere floated up before the earth python came flying out of the ground as well. Wrapping around the sphere, the python began to squeeze the sphere!


    With a cold laugh, the man clenched his fist tighter.


    The python gave a loud hiss before its body started to tighten around the sphere, and following a pulse of elemental earth, the ten-meter-radius sphere began to shrink in size!


    A sight like this was reminiscent of the way Xiao Binzi had killed the Soul King with the mountain fist.


    The smaller the sphere shrank, the stronger the elemental earth became. If this continued for even a minute longer, Bai Yunfei would surely be squished to death!

 Chapter 254: Fight On And Press On!

    Chapter 254: Fight On And Press On!


    The smaller the sphere shrank, the stronger the elemental earth became. If this continued for even a minute longer, Bai Yunfei would surely be squished to death!


    Satisfaction slowly made its way into the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes as he watched the sphere shrink in size. In a few more breaths, Bai Yunfei would be nothing more than a pile of broken flesh.


    Looking back up, the man realized that the azure bird had ended up at a disadvantage while he had been focused on taking care of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Hm¡­ that youngster has a soul contract with an early-stage fifth-tier soulbeast¡­ who would¡¯ve thought? If I turn it into a puppet, my strength will increase again!¡± Since Bai Yunfei and the quickshade bird appeared at the same time, the man had mistaken Bai Yunfei as the one with the soul contract with the bird.


    Excited, the man¡¯s eyes slid back to where Song Lin and Jiang Nan were fighting. With how injured the two of them were, the battle would most likely persist another ten minutes before it was over.


    ¡°As soon as that kid dies, that soulbeast of his will get weaker too. I¡¯ll take the opportunity and capture it¡­ that Soul Exalt is pretty nervous. That must mean more people are bound to come. We can¡¯t stay here then!!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Something caused the man to snap out of his thoughts. Looking up at the sphere, which had already compressed to roughly two meters in radius, the man had a suspicious look on his face.


    The sphere that had been shrinking at a gradual rate up to this point had¡­ somehow stopped shrinking!


    ¡°What¡¯s this? With how much elemental earth I put into there, that kid should¡¯ve been powerless¡­¡± The man questioned, but then, his eyes grew wide as a look of shock appeared on his face next.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    An explosion rocked the plains as the earthen sphere was shattered. A torrent of fire exploded forth from the interior, burning the python wrapped around it. Unable to withstand the heat of the flames, the python released itself from the sphere and slithered back down to the side.


    Bai Yunfei came stepping out of the fire with his spear in hand and not a single injury to be seen!


    Right by his side was a levitating object covered in an orange light. There was an orange-colored energy that surrounded his being as if protecting him; it was the lifebound armament of Bai Yunfei, the Cataclysmic Seal!


    When he had been trapped in the sphere, Bai Yunfei whipped out the Cataclysmic Seal and activated its +12 effect to protect himself.


    +12 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, summon a shield made of the earth element. The more soulforce used, the stronger the shield. The total defense of the shield cannot exceed the attack of the weapon.


    (ineffective against mind-based attacks).


    It was a first for Bai Yunfei to be trapped in such a manner, so he found it prudent to study his surroundings when it started to shrink in on him. When the sphere was about to touch Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier, he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be able to shrink anymore. Bai Yunfei had a good understanding of what the man was trying to attempt.


    Therefore, Bai Yunfei decided to launch his counterattack without further ado.


    Breaking out of the sphere was a result of the +10 effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, an explosion!


    Since this was the very first time Bai Yunfei had used the spear after it had been upgraded in an actual battle, the resulting explosion had been completely unexpected to Bai Yunfei. The power was in fact several times greater than before!


    Walking out of the flames, Bai Yunfei cast a glance over his enemy a hundred meters away. Before the man could react, Bai Yunfei flew into motion and charged like an arrow straight for him!


    ¡°Im¡ªimpossible!!¡±


    It was only when Bai Yunfei was right in front of him that the man snapped back to reality. This time, he really was shocked and at a loss for words. This move of his was enough to kill a mid-stage Soul Ancestor without a problem; even a late-stage Soul Ancestor would find it difficult to escape, but somehow, this early-stage Soul Ancestor managed to do it with ease!!


    By now, the man was doubtful that Bai Yunfei really was just an early-stage Soul Ancestor and not someone hiding his true strength. Letting his soulsense wash over Bai Yunfei, the man reconfirmed that Bai Yunfei really was just an early-stage Soul Ancestor. If he had to guess, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strange spear was the reason he had been able to escape from the sphere.


    In truth, the man was right.


    After his shock subsided, the man began to take several panicked steps back. Waving his right hand, he had the still hissing python leap forward to stop Bai Yunfei.


    Stabbing its tail into the ground, the python then dislodged the surrounding area and lifted a five-meter-wide piece of stone covered in an orange light into the air to squash Bai Yunfei with.


    The Fire-tipped Spear had a twenty second cooldown, and it had only been ten seconds since Bai Yunfei broke out of his confines. Registering the stone coming at him, Bai Yunfei swapped the Fire-tipped Spear into his left hand and brought his right arm in front of him. In a flash of red light, a three-meter-long blade of fire materialized out of thin air, the Flame Winged Blade!


    It flew forward with reckless speed before slicing into the giant stone, cutting it in half!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Like tofu, the boulder was split into two large chunks of stone before falling back to the ground with deafening thuds!


    Bai Yunfei dismissed the blade with a wave of his right hand before glaring at the python as it brought its tail up to whip him again!


    ¡°Again!?¡± Bai Yunfei snorted. With a thought, the Cataclysmic Seal next to him shuddered once before a protective barrier erected itself around Bai Yunfei with him at its center.


    ¡°Pow!¡± There was a cracking sound when the tail slammed into the earthen barrier, but other than a ripple across the surface, the barrier was completely intact!!


    ¡°F*ck off!!¡± A brilliant gleam sparked into life in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eye as he clenched his right fist. Priming his arm and Ardent Sun Glove with soulforce, Bai Yunfei let loose a burning punch into the python¡¯s tail without any hesitation!


    Ninefold Fist Force!!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The python had a tail that was as thick as Bai Yunfei¡¯s thigh, but when Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist slammed into it, the tail had been sent flying to the side!!


    Though he had gotten rid of the tail, the jaw of the python came bounding forward to try and swallow Bai Yunfei whole once again!


    Raising an eyebrow at this, Bai Yunfei decided not to use the barrier to protect himself. Instead, he flashed forward in a series of hazy after-images. He streaked past the python¡¯s jaw and reappeared right below its head!


    This spot was the most dangerous spot to be in since the python could wrap itself around Bai Yunfei in seconds. Though Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the strength for a guaranteed kill, he had a plan ready.


    Once again, the Fire-tipped Spear was back in his left hand and the Cataclysmic Seal was in his hand as well. In a flash of light, the brick returned to its normal mode before it was used to slam itself into the python¡¯s neck!


    Threefold Slap!


    ¡°Bang.¡±


    The resulting sound wasn¡¯t too loud and didn¡¯t look particularly strong, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t looking for a powerful attack.


    Instead, he was looking for¡­


    A sliver of soulforce bled into the brick, prompting Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips to curl into a grin. At first, the python¡¯s head rose, but the second after that, its entire body was thrown even farther away!


    The +13 hurling effect of the brick had been activated!!


    This was the might of an additional effect of an upgraded equipment. It didn¡¯t matter how big you were. As long as the effect was activated, you¡¯d be sent flying!!


    Now that the python had been sent flying away, Bai Yunfei disregarded it and returned the Fire-tipped Spear to his right hand as he continued on toward the still retreating beast tamer.


    The man was already shocked from what he saw, but with the events right now, he was unable to even hold back his fear!


    Breaking free from the sphere, splitting the boulder, blocking the tail, punching away the tail, his strange movements, and then ultimately sending the python flying!!


    Each and every single action was completely beyond what the man knew an ¡®early-stage Soul Ancestor¡¯ could even do, so only a single word came to mind to describe this sight.


    Impossible!!!!


    No matter how shocked he was, the reality in front of him was still there. Bai Yunfei¡¯s forward motion only prompted the man to run back even faster, but the distance between the two was already closing at a quickening pace!

 Chapter 255: A Sword Through the Heart!

    Chapter 255: A Sword Through the Heart!


    ¡°Dammit, dammit, dammit!! What kind of early-stage Soul Ancestor has strength like that!? Who is he in the Crafting School! How does he have so many strong soul armaments!!¡±


    The middle-aged man howled to himself in fear as he retreated. Both of his hands were motioning wildly as he tried to force the python to come to his rescue while trying to make the azure bird get away from Xiao Bai long enough to cast several blades of wind at him.


    But that only resulted in the quickshade bird slashing the other bird¡¯s left wing, greatly crippling its strength.


    Several blades of wind did manage to make their way toward Bai Yunfei, allowing the middle-aged man to let out a sigh of relief. He thought that Bai Yunfei would hesitate, but what he saw next caused his pupils to dilate in surprise; Bai Yunfei just tossed three throwing knives ahead at him!


    After he tossed the three knives, Bai Yunfei had the Cataclysmic Seal expand ahead of him to block the four blades of wind. He was successful in his attempt and had enough time to move the brick away just in time to see his enemy dodge the three knives. He was just about to let loose another barrage of throwing knives when his eyes suddenly lit up in inspiration. Changing his plans, Bai Yunfei tightly clenched his spear and sped up so that only ten meters remained between the two!


    His left hand touched the agility bracelet on his wrist to activate the effect of temporarily increasing his speed!


    Even though the man was trying his best to retreat, Bai Yunfei was able to catch up to him with the Fire-tipped Spear ready to stab into his throat!


    The man¡¯s eyes darkened when he realized that both Bai Yunfei and the spear were right in front of him. A flash of orange light radiated from his body before he stomped down on the ground. There was a trembling sensation from his stomp, but after he took another step back, a wall as tall as him immediately rose up to block the spear¡¯s path!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed at the sight, but he didn¡¯t slow down in the slightest. He brought the spear back by just a small amount before stabbing forward again to activate the Threefold Stab.


    One explosion later, the spear effortlessly pierced through the wall. There wasn¡¯t any explosion, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect the effect to be activated again in this case. It wasn¡¯t a small chance to begin with, but that didn¡¯t mean it would always activate.


    He did have a backup plan if the effect didn¡¯t activate though; if he twisted the spear, he could ignite the elemental fire around the spear to set off another explosion himself!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The resulting explosion blasted away the rest of the wall. This explosion wasn¡¯t as strong as an explosion from the Fire-tipped Spear¡¯s effect, but destroying a wall like this was still quite manageable.


    Still, the wall did manage to bring Bai Yunfei¡¯s speed down a notch, enough for the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes to light up in glee as he widened the distance. The python was making its way toward Bai Yunfei from behind. If he could hold off for just another two breaths, he¡¯d be able to escape danger and use the python to hopefully strike at Bai Yunfei when he dropped his guard!


    From the small dust cloud that was kicked up when Bai Yunfei blew apart the wall, three figures came leaping out to charge straight at the shocked man!


    The +12 Additional Effect of the Fire-tipped Spear: Doppelganger!!


    +12 Additional Effect: Create two doppelgangers with strength equivalent to 50% of the caster¡¯s total strength at the time of casting for a duration of 3 seconds. Cooldown of 1 hour.


    ¡°Mirror images!?¡±


    The man cried out as he realized what was going on. He could see that the three of them were without a doubt real, but the problem was which one was the real body.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡± Just then, the python¡¯s tail came swooping in to slam into the back-most Bai Yunfei. There was a ¡®bang¡¯ from the impact before Bai Yunfei was flung away!


    ¡°Ah, the one at the back was the real one!¡± The man smiled in glee. As he prepared himself to attack with the python, a scorching heat suddenly rolled through the area as two of the red spears stabbed at him from right in front of him. These two spears were without a doubt not an illusion since they were so hot and sharp!


    Startled, the man twisted his body to the right in an attempt to dodge. He managed to dodge the spear coming at him from the left while using his left hand to grab at the right spear, but when his hand swept out to grab it, only air met his hand!


    Three seconds had passed, meaning the doppelgangers would now disappear!


    ¡°Tzk!!¡± In his distraction, the spear from the left stabbed straight through his left shoulder!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s doppelgangers had caused his enemy to be distracted twice before an injury could finally take place. It was unfortunate that the explosion effect didn¡¯t trigger. The man would be dead if it had.


    ¡°Aghhh!!¡±!


    Pain coursed through the man as he let loose a furious roar. Scratching at the spear embedded in his shoulder, the man tried his best to pull it out, but to no avail! A breaking point had been reached in the man, causing his entire body to explode in orange light as his soulforce washed through the area. His right arm swelled several times larger than before his light-infused arm moved to punch Bai Yunfei!


    Beast tamers didn¡¯t enjoy fighting at close combat very often, but this man was still a mid-stage Soul Ancestor. In terms of pure strength, he was stronger than Bai Yunfei! If Bai Yunfei was hit with the man¡¯s attack, he¡¯d be unable to accept it without harm.


    Despite that, Bai Yunfei remained as calm as ever. The very notion of dodging didn¡¯t even occur to him.


    Instead, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up as he watched his enemy¡¯s right fist come at him. Taking a slight step back with his left foot, Bai Yunfei brought his left arm up before punching out with his own right hand!


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    The two fists clashed together in a brilliant collision. The man¡¯s fist was filled with anger, but even that was fully returned by Bai Yunfei¡¯s Ninefold Fist Force. As such, both men staggered back half a step, but the Fire-tipped Spear in the man¡¯s shoulder prevented him from moving too far back.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s left arm ached from the exertion of trying to keep the spear in place. A mid-stage Soul Ancestor¡¯s strength couldn¡¯t be underestimated it seemed.


    With how things were looking right now, the other man wasn¡¯t taking this collision with ease either.


    Since his enemy wasn¡¯t making a move, Bai Yunfei decided to be the first to lead the counterattack!


    Summoning the Cataclysmic Seal to his right hand, Bai Yunfei reverted it to its normal mode and slapped it straight into the man¡¯s face.


    Due to his shock about the current chain of events, the man wasn¡¯t able to see what type of powerful soul armament Bai Yunfei was using. Unable to make heads or tails of its mysterious nature, the man brought his arms up to protect his face from the blow!


    ¡°Pow.¡± When a slight tap was felt, the middle-aged man felt surprise in his heart again. He didn¡¯t really feel anything when he was hit, not even pain!


    That moment had only been that, a moment. As soon as the moment passed, the man suddenly felt his body start to fly into the air without a single warning! Without a doubt, the man felt perfectly fine before some sort of mysterious power spread throughout his body. He hadn¡¯t even the time to readjust himself before his legs separated from the ground and his body spiraled into the air as if by some sort of irresistible force!


    While lifting off, the spear was dislodged from his shoulder, making the man cough out a mouthful of blood. When the spear was pulled from his shoulder, parts of his left hand wrapped around the spear were nearly taken off as well.


    Preparing to use the Threefold Slap on the man again, Bai Yunfei was suddenly caught off guard by the python¡¯s tail when it connected with his waist. Grunting, Bai Yunfei was sent flying in the same direction as his enemy!


    This time, Bai Yunfei had taken a direct hit from a mid-stage fifth-tier soulbeast. His soft-leather soul armament was strong in defense, but not strong enough to leave him completely uninjured. From the amount of blood that escaped his mouth and the cracks he heard, Bai Yunfei felt several of his ribs break.


    Due to the brick, the middle-aged man had been sent flying into the sky. He was at a loss of the situation and simply didn¡¯t know what was going on beneath him. It didn¡¯t take long for him to recover thanks to his veteran experience as a fighter. Upon seeing that the python had slapped Bai Yunfei away, he was slightly relieved knowing that the crisis was pretty much over.


    As long as he could get the python to imprison Bai Yunfei again, he¡¯d have a good chance at attaining victory!


    But there was something amiss!


    When his eyes saw the look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, he was surprised.


    Even with the blood that was trailing from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth, Bai Yunfei could be seen smiling?


    ¡°Wh¡ª¡±


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    Unnerved by this, the man dropped back down on the ground. He hadn¡¯t even had the time to think properly when a sound barely audible to anyone else was heard.


    To him, this sound may as well be as loud as a rumble of thunder in his mind!


    Growing rigid in the face, the man slowly tilted his head down¡ªonly to see a bright-red sword stabbed straight through his chest.


    Blood could be seen dripping from the point of the sword, and in the illumination of the red light, the blood seemed especially eccentric.


    Right behind him, a figure in white could be seen grasping a sword. The funny thing was this person was wearing such a shabby-looking strawhat.


    The unfunny aspect was how this person was holding the sword that had been stabbed through the mid-stage Soul Ancestor¡¯s heart.


    This person was¡­ Tang Xinyun!!

 Chapter 256: Invasion of a Late-stage Soul Ancestor!

    Chapter 256: Invasion of a Late-stage Soul Ancestor!


    What the middle-aged man didn¡¯t realize was that Bai Yunfei was ¡®controlling¡¯ the way he had been retreating. Throughout the battle, the man was in fact being forced to go away from the battlefield to the spot where Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun had originally been hiding!


    Bai Yunfei knew that killing the middle-aged man by himself wouldn¡¯t be very likely (Though it would have been good if he had. If the explosion effect had been triggered when the man was stabbed in the left shoulder, then death would¡¯ve been for certain.). Beating and killing the man were two completely different things. It was true that Bai Yunfei had faith in his upgraded equipment, but this would be the very first time he fought a mid-stage Soul Ancestor. The very first thing to be done was to throw off the man¡¯s rhythm.


    He had done so when he broke free from the man¡¯s killing technique, and thus, earned the upper hand after that. With the combination of his upgraded equipment and its effects, Bai Yunfei gave the man no time to calm down. Bai Yunfei forced him to move in the direction he wanted.


    The final deliverance with the Threefold Slap caused the man to fly backward. Although Bai Yunfei was stopped and injured by the python, Bai Yunfei was able to masterfully engineer the perfect ambush opportunity.


    Under the influence of being ¡®hurled,¡¯ the man hadn¡¯t the foggiest idea that Tang Xinyun would come from behind to attack him!


    She was, of course, hidden, thanks to the Walk-on Strawhat.


    And she hadn¡¯t failed to disappoint. She was hidden until the man was close enough for her to strike him through the heart with her sword!!


    By doing so, she lived up to the answer she gave Bai Yunfei earlier; she really could kill!


    Vacantly, the beast tamer gazed down at the sword through his chest. The elemental fire from it was already devouring at his heart. Though he opened his mouth to speak, no words came out; even his eyes were dimming in light.


    Ten seconds went by before the very last vestige of life drained from his body, and his corpse fell to the ground.


    ¡°Whoosh.¡±


    A flicker of unease flashed across Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes as she pulled the sword away from her victim, but determination rekindled on her face shortly afterward.


    This man conspired to kill one of her own, meaning he was an enemy.


    Neither compassion nor reluctance would be given to enemies.


    This was one of the things she had learned after a near-fatal experience during her one month journey.


    ¡­¡­


    Once he landed on the ground, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief when he saw the python was now motionless. He stored away his spear and began to circulate his soulforce to heal the wound on his waist. There was a faint pulse from his leather armor when his soulforce flowed into it before Bai Yunfei felt his wounds start to recover slightly faster than before.


    Regenerative Soul Armor stats:


    Equipment Grade: High Human


    Elemental Affinity: Wood


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 431


    Additional Defense: 225


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase recovery rate of wounds by 10%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 83 Soulpoints


    ¡°I¡¯ve actually killed a mid-stage Soul Ancestor. Is this how far I¡¯ve come? I didn¡¯t even have to use the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s strongest move¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself in sorrow.


    Nodding in response to Tang Xinyun¡¯s concerned look, Bai Yunfei turned to look off into the distance where Song Lin and Jiang Nan were still fighting, ¡°The first elder should be on his way now; brother Song Lin and brother Jiang Nan should be¡­¡±


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was thinking about the current situation, Song Lin¡¯s warning cry had immediately snapped him out of his thoughts.


    Startled, Bai Yunfei looked at the sky just in time to see a green light come shooting toward him from a kilometer away. Within the light was a figure in black. Practically seconds after Song Lin¡¯s warning, Bai Yunfei could see that this light was already within a hundred meters within of him!


    A late-stage Soul Ancestor!!


    The instant Bai Yunfei saw the figure, the person in question brought his green sword up into the air. With a humming scream, the sword slashed down to release four separate green blades of wind. All four of the blades of wind screeched loudly as they traveled through the air, but only two of them flew for Bai Yunfei while the other two traveled to hit Tang Xinyun, who was just a few dozen meters away from Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Xinyun!!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out. Throwing out his right hand, the Cataclysmic Seal immediately flew forward in a streak of red light to protect Tang Xinyun from the attack.


    ¡°Bang!¡± The Cataclysmic Seal was able to block one of the blades, but not the other¡­


    Since Basi Yunfei was so preoccupied with throwing the Cataclysmic Seal out to protect Tang Xinyun, he had no time to dodge the assault himself. Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunfei rooted himself where he stood and crossed his arms in front of him; he¡¯d have to take the blow head on!


    ¡°Bang bang!¡±


    Both blades impacted against Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms and tore the sleeves of his clothes to shreds. Even though the bracer helped Bai Yunfei survive the impact, he was still sent tumbling over a dozen meters due to the momentum of the elemental wind. His feet dug two deep trenches into the ground as he tried to prevent himself from falling.


    From the bracer on his arm, Bai Yunfei could feel a wave of energy flow into it; one of the two blades had activated the +10 effect of the bracer: damage absorption!


    +10 Additional Effect: When blocking, there is a 9% chance of absorbing and converting the attack power into personal attack power, releasing it with your next attack.


    (It can be held for 3 seconds. The amount of converted attack power cannot exceed the defensive strength of this item.)


    He hadn¡¯t noticed that. Even as he fell to the ground due to the overpowering momentum from his enemy¡¯s attack, all Bai Yunfei could do was turn his head to his left where Tang Xinyun was.


    What he saw caused him to let out a gasp.


    Just a dozen meters away, a pale-faced Tang Xinyun could be seen with her teeth grit in pain. The arm that held her sword drooped uselessly by her side with her left arm gripping at it. Blood could be seen dripping from her fingertips, staining parts of her robes red.


    ¡­¡­


    Another whistling sound screamed through the air, prompting Bai Yunfei to whip his head back to look at the black-robed man. In his eyes were anger as he clenched the fist with the Ardent Sun Glove. A furious glow burst out of the glove before Bai Yunfei lashed out with a punch to attack the longsword coming down on him!


    ¡°Clank!!¡±


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Astounded by the cracking sound, the man looked down at his weapon with wide-open eyes. The wind attribute mid-earth tier sword had¡­ had actually broke into two!


    The Ardent Sun Glove, the Ninefold Fist Force, and the added attack from when the bracer absorbed one of the wind blades. The combined attack of the three was more than enough to completely destroy his enemy¡¯s soul armament!!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t planned on that, but after destroying the man¡¯s soul armament, he took advantage of the man¡¯s shock to swing his left arm out to hit him with the flaming Cataclysmic Seal.


    Grunting, the man threw away the broken sword in his hand and brought both arms in front to protect himself. There was a thump when the Cataclysmic Seal hit his arm, but rather than doing nothing, the brick managed to send both Bai Yunfei and the other man backward five steps.


    ¡°What strength!!¡± The man thought in shock. His right arm had a low-earth tier bracer on it so it was able to block the Cataclysmic Seal when he was hit, but even then, there was a stinging pain from where it hit. Even more accurately, his arm had lost some feeling. When he circulated his soulforce there, his arm slowly began to regain its feeling.


    There was something else he felt though. Just barely, he could hear his bracer cracking into pieces¡­


    Reaching his right arm out, Bai Yunfei brought his Fire-tipped Spear out and prepared to step toward the man to strike him down!!

 Chapter 257: A Draining Developmen

    Chapter 257: A Draining Development


    ¡°Hmph!¡± The man grunted. With just a small step to the side, the man was able to dodge the Fire-tipped Spear so that it sailed harmlessly past him. Stepping forward in an instant, the man let loose a punch straight into Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Staggering backward several steps, Bai Yunfei coughed out a mouthful of blood before trying to force back down the rest.


    ¡°He¡¯s strong!¡± It only took a single move to showcase the vast difference between the two fighters. The black-robed man he was fighting now was completely different in strength compared to the mid-stage Soul Ancestor beast tamer he had been fighting before. This man was not only a soul cultivator that depended on himself to fight, he was also a late-stage Soul Ancestor, making him already far superior than the beast tamer.


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei sent the Cataclysmic Seal toward the black-robed man. At the same time, he swung his left hand and threw three throwing knives behind the Cataclysmic Seal. With those two projectiles thrown, Bai Yunfei leaped forward to use the Fire-tipped Spear to serve as the third strike!


    Even against Bai Yunfei¡¯s impressive assault, the black-robed man snorted derisively before his body started to flicker like a haze of heat.


    Then, beneath the bewildered eyes of Bai Yunfei, the man split into three!


    Mirror images!


    This was the genuine mirror image soul skill!


    The Cataclysmic Seal and the three throwing knives sailed through one of the mirror images without any resistance. On the other hand, the figure on the right was a miss as well with Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear passing through it as well; this one was a mirror image too!


    Bringing his left hand back to block the incoming punch from the remaining figure on the left, Bai Yunfei was alarmed to see that this figure was an illusion as well!


    ¡°What!?¡± A chill shot up Bai Yunfei¡¯s spine as the feeling of death poked at him from behind. Hurriedly doing a half-spin, Bai Yunfei brought his spear around and stab forward to protect himself!


    ¡°Pa.¡±


    A hand with a black aura rising up from it caught the shaft of the spear. ¡°Insignificant worm, know your place!¡± A voice boomed out at the same time.


    Dumbstruck, Bai Yunfei tried his best to pull the Fire-tipped Spear away from the man¡¯s hand, but to no avail! No matter how much he tried to pull, the spear would not move!


    Just when he was about to use the Cataclysmic Seal to hit the man, a sinking realization came to Bai Yunfei, causing his face to pale in color after realizing what was going on!


    His soulforce was¡­ was being drained!!


    The soulforce in him was forcibly being drained from his right arm and into the Fire-tipped Spear!!


    ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s going on?!¡± Not once had Bai Yunfei ever come across an issue like this. In the time he spent trying to comprehend what was happening, half of his soulforce was already taken away!


    ¡°It¡¯s him!!¡± With a vigilant glare at the black miasmic hand that had grabbed hold of his spear, Bai Yunfei came to a quick realization of what was happening. Letting go of the spear with a grunt, Bai Yunfei materialized a blade of fire from his Flameblade Bracer and slashed at the hand holding the spear!


    ¡°Eh?¡± Uttering a quizzical sound, the man was clearly not expecting for Bai Yunfei to attack in such a way. The appearance of the Flame Winged Blade had been equally unexpected since he didn¡¯t feel any soulforce being used from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s plan was successful. Letting go of the spear, the man took a step back to dodge the blade.


    However, the Flame Winged Blade didn¡¯t even make a complete arc before it was dematerialized. It was a trick!


    What Bai Yunfei wanted to do was to take advantage of when the man took a step back to dodge in order for him to retreat as well!


    It took only one step before the man realized he had been duped. Snorting, he flew forward once again to chase after Bai Yunfei. Even though Bai Yunfei was trying his best to retreat, he was unable to shake off the man!


    The chain of events that was happening in front of him sent Bai Yunfei into a panic. As expected, the strength of a late-stage Soul Ancestor was terrifying!! In his panic, Bai Yunfei threw a left hook, but it was useless. The man had merely grabbed hold of Bai Yunfei¡¯s wrist, rendering Bai Yunfei to be unable to move!!


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± Another wave of unease washed over Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind as he processed what was going on. Once more, the soulforce in his body was being drained from where the man¡¯s fist was clutching at his wrist at an even faster rate!


    ¡°Dammit, let go!!¡± Bai Yunfei shouted as he pumped some soulforce into his Flameblade Bracer. Straight away, a Flame Winged Blade materialized once again in a flurry of elemental fire, surprising the man enough to loosen his grip on Bai Yunfei¡¯s wrist.


    Staggering away, Bai Yunfei tried his best to try and circulate his soulforce to stabilize himself, but the only thing he felt was the world around him start to shake and spin before he fell to the ground!!


    At a loss for what was going on, Bai Yunfei felt as if he was going stupid. Not a single thought was coming to mind other than the fact that he felt extremely weak in front of this man!


    A cold sneer appeared on the man¡¯s face as he flew toward Bai Yunfei with his right hand raised high. No longer was he dressed with the energy of the elemental wind, but now a strange black energy. Wisps of black energy, which chilled the air, wrapped around his fist in a sight that would make anyone look on in fear.


    Still cloaked in his black mantle, the man¡¯s disdainful eyes could be seen looking down on the fear-stricken Bai Yunfei, ¡°Die!!¡±


    With that, he unleashed a palm stroke down on Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest where a certain acupoint called the Tianling point was! A palm strike with that much force behind it would surely kill Bai Yunfei if it were to connect!!


    Bai Yunfei wanted to dodge, but at the same time, he wanted to use the Cataclysmic Seal to protect himself. However, both options weren¡¯t possible. He lacked enough soulforce to even command his body to move as he¡¯d like. All he could do was stare at the palm that was coming closer and closer to him in complete and utter despair.


    On the eve before the palm could connect, a figure in white shot forth from the side and knocked Bai Yunfei out of the way!!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    ¡°Pfft!!¡±


    Though the man¡¯s palm failed to hit Bai Yunfei, it managed to hit this person¡¯s right shoulder, causing the person to spit out a mouthful of blood. Some of that blood sprinkled over Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest, and some of it spilled over his face as well¡­


    Then, the fragile frame of the person who protected Bai Yunfei collapsed into his arms as if her strings had been cut¡­


    It was Tang Xinyun!!


    For that moment, time seemed to have come to a stop. Whether it was the angry shouts of Song Lin or Jiang Nan, or even the surprised gasp of the black-robed man, neither of the two seemed to register to Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears. The scenery around him came to a screeching halt as Bai Yunfei felt several strands of Tang Xinyun¡¯s hair brush against her face before coming to a slow stop.


    As if a bucket of icy-cold water was dumped over Bai Yunfei, his mind was wiped blank with the downpour.


    All that Bai Yunfei could do was scream endlessly inside his mind¡­


    ¡°Why! Why did this happen¡­ whyyyy!!!¡±


    Just a moment ago, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were able to kill a mid-stage Soul Ancestor.


    Then this late-stage Soul Ancestor came out of nowhere and attacked them! Though Bai Yunfei was somewhat excited to fight this man¡­ how did¡­ how did things come to this!?


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Can you kill?¡±


    ¡°I can!¡±


    ¡°Fine then, in a bit, I¡¯ll head on over and try to get that mid-stage Soul Ancestor¡¯s attention. I¡¯ll bring him over here while we¡¯re fighting and create an opening. You¡¯ll come in then and kill him!¡±


    ¡°That person¡¯s a mid-stage Soul Ancestor, are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ve faith in myself. Since we¡¯ll be far away from the others, we¡¯ll only be fighting him meaning there won¡¯t be any other danger!¡±


    ¡°Okay, I trust you¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The dialog from when he was talking to Tang Xinyun about the plan prior to the battle resurfaced in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Looking at her pale-as-a-sheet face, Bai Yunfei was in utter panic.


    The man that was responsible for this hadn¡¯t the same feelings. Although he was surprised to see Tang Xinyun throw herself in front of Bai Yunfei, he was quick to recover himself. With another sneer, the man raised a black wispy hand and struck at Bai Yunfei again!!


    ¡°Die!!¡±

 Chapter 258: Craze and the Might of the Cataclysmic Seal!

    Chapter 258: Craze and the Might of the Cataclysmic Seal!


    The act of self-sacrifice to save the life of another. It was an event that had happened once before in Bai Yunfei¡¯s life.


    If the stream of time were to flow backward, this very scene would repeat itself, but in place of the delicately kind-hearted Tang Xinyun, it was the equally benevolent and friendly uncle Wu that had saved Bai Yunfei¡­


    The sneer that the black-robed man was almost inaudible, but it somehow roused the previously despondent Bai Yunfei from his despair. With a furious jerk of his head, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were now a bright-red color as they flashed with a near-berserk desire to kill the man.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll kill you alllll!!!¡±


    A flash of light lit up the Violet Soul Ring on his right hand as the two thousand soulpoints stockpiled in it deposited themselves into Bai Yunfei. As swiftly as they moved into Bai Yunfei, the soulforce quickly manifested itself outside of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body as an intense whirlpool of elemental fire.


    Welcoming the miasmic palm with a barrier made of elemental earth, Bai Yunfei watched as the black-cloaked man¡¯s offense caused a ripple to flow across the barrier with a slight humming sound. Not only did the barrier protect Bai Yunfei, it had also served to rebound the palm strike and sent the man back ten steps!!


    ¡°Impossible! How does he still have this much soulforce!?¡±


    This time, the black-robed man was truly shocked. No word nor idea could possibly explain how Bai Yunfei still had soulforce, let alone such a strong amount of it like just then.


    After a successful defensive maneuver, the barrier made from the elemental earth was sucked back into the Cataclysmic Seal. In its place, a flash of red light blazed forth from it. An abundant amount of elemental fire could be seen whirling around Bai Yunfei and the Cataclysmic Seal before even more elemental fire began to condense to be absorbed by the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Unwilling to give his enemy any time to even think about the next step, Bai Yunfei pointed a finger at the man he was glaring at, ¡°Cataclysmic Seal!!¡±


    Almost as if responding to the indignation in his shout, the Cataclysmic Seal began to hum and vibrate before shooting toward the black-robed man as Bai Yunfei commanded!


    ¡°Hmph! You¡¯re only delaying the inevitable!!¡±


    Shocked as he was, the man was able to restrain his emotions and keep calm. This soul armament coming at him was unordinary, but at a glance, the man figured that there was no way Bai Yunfei would be able to use it to its true might. It¡¯d be fine if he took the blow head-on, but dodging it would be an absolute cinch.


    But.


    Just as he prepared himself to dodge the soul armament, what happened next caused his eyes to widen before he made a hurried attempt to run away!


    Only a moment had passed from when the Cataclysmic Seal left Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, but in that time, it had grown from its original size to a hundred times as big in just ten meters.


    And it was still growing too!!


    The distance between the two was already a hundred meters or so with an elevation gain of ten meters. From this battle, the intensity of the elemental fire was already enough for the black-robed man to be in a state of panic. Never had he ever seen a soul armament like the one in front of him, and not ever did he think that Bai Yunfei would be in possession of such a terrifying ¡®soul skill¡¯ like this¡­


    Even though the Cataclysmic Seal was expanding in size, it remained half a meter above the ground during its growth. The soul armament felt as if it was some sort of giant mountain, and the black-robed man was an insignificant human that the mountain was sliding down on.


    The man wouldn¡¯t dare come into contact with the Cataclysmic Seal now. Moving left or right to dodge it was impossible as well. All he could really do was try and move back as far as he could while thinking of some sort of way to deal with this technique.


    Only several moments had gone by, but already two hundred meters had been traversed in this fashion. The Cataclysmic Seal wasn¡¯t slowing down in the slightest either. In fact, it looked as if it was speeding up!


    ¡°Not enough!!¡±


    Focusing heavily on the sight in front of him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were more and more bloodshot as he thrust his palm outward.


    In a flash of red light, a fireball the size of a ping-pong ball immediately ¡®detached¡¯ itself from him.


    Essence fireseed!!


    He¡­ he had somehow removed his essence fireseed from himself!!


    ¡°Go!!¡±


    Swinging his arm with a furious roar, the essence fireseed was catapulted forward as if it were a shooting star! The speed in which it was traveling at was far faster than the Cataclysmic Seal, so in no time at all, the essence fireseed caught up with the soul armament and was absorbed straight into it!


    ¡°Bzzz!!¡±


    The resulting sound from the brick sounded both lively and furious in nature. The soul armament tripled in size while doubling in speed with a fire burning several times brighter than before. As a result, the Cataclysmic Seal quickly caught up to the black-robed man before striking at him ruthlessly!


    Absolutely no leeway nor time was given to the man to dodge, and even though he had both of his arms in front of him for protection, they were useless. The Cataclysmic Seal was enormous and he was not. As things were, the man was no bigger than a rat when faced against a giant wall.


    Not only did the Cataclysmic Seal smash into his arms, it smashed into his entire body!!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    There was a muffled sound from the collision, but the Cataclysmic Seal did not slow down in the slightest. Instead, the man was flung into the air. A spray of blood came from his mouth as he dropped back down to the ground as pale as a ghost!


    Instead of going in for an encore, the Cataclysmic Seal rose up into the air above the man.


    Beneath it, the man saw that the area around him had grown dark. Realizing what was above him with a horrified gasp, the man saw that the soul armament had already grown to a length of five hundred meters and a width of two hundred meters with him at its center!


    For a moment, the man could think of nothing.


    Then all semblance of color bled away from his face as he realized what would happen to him. Practically shrieking, he let out a cry after coming to a realization, ¡°No!!¡±


    His shriek was the catalyst for Bai Yunfei to swish his palm down with a murderous glare!


    ¡°Die!!!!¡±


    This word had been spoken to Bai Yunfei twice now. Both times the black-robed man had not only said it with such disdain, but he had also failed to kill Bai Yunfei.


    When Bai Yunfei spoke the word, it was like a declaration of execution for the man!


    Following the downward path of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, the Cataclysmic Seal dropped to smash the man!!


    No longer was the man as prideful as he had been before. Only fear and desperation gripped him as he moved his right hand in front of him, summoning an orange shield to protect himself. When he transmitted his soulforce into it, the shield began to glow an even brighter shade of orange as he lifted it up over his head.


    Compared to the Cataclysmic Seal, the shield was no bigger than a fingernail to a hand, but it was his only means of defense¡­


    In the blink of an eye, the Cataclysmic Seal smashed into the orange shield. If one were to listen closely, there was a faint striking sound from when the two soul armaments struck each other, but that was drowned out from the sudden tremor when the Cataclysmic Seal crashed into the earth itself¡ª


    ¡ªand then it disappeared!


    The Cataclysmic Seal had buried itself into the ground!


    The world seemed to freeze once more as the Cataclysmic Seal¡ªan object that had previously blotted out the sky¡ªwas completely gone from sight! Even the red light that accompanied the Cataclysmic Seal was gone from the sky and instead shining beneath the ground.


    The Cataclysmic Seal was not the only thing that had disappeared.


    When the Cataclysmic Seal crashed into the ground, the aura of the black-robed man had disappeared as well!!


    ¡­¡­


    A sparse few seconds passed before the earth trembled once more as the Cataclysmic Seal dislodged itself from the crater and rose into the air. Aside from the dirt and dust on it, nothing else about it had changed in appearance.


    Though at the center of the base mixed in with the dirt, a slight red hue could be seen, albeit barely visible.


    And just like that, a late-stage Soul Ancestor was¡­ dead!!


    Even though the man was dead, the craze in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t subside. They instead traveled to the battle that had already paused a kilometer away. Both the beast tamer and the other black-robed man could be seen standing on top of the violet bird in shock as they stared at the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Pointing his finger, Bai Yunfei immediately commanded the Cataclysmic Seal to fly toward the two!


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll kill you all!!¡±

 Chapter 259: Theres No Escape!

    Chapter 259: There''s No Escape!


    A few minutes ago, during the battle with Jiang Fan and Song Lin, the mid-stage Soul Ancestor had left the battle earlier to fight Bai Yunfei, leaving behind only three people to continue the attack. Of the three, the mid-stage Soul Exalt was clearly the strongest. With his golden curved blade in hand, he was a terrifying sight to behold. Whenever a fire lotus was successfully evaded, the man would press down on the Redlotus-Blood-Sword-wielding Jiang Fan while the other black-robed late-stage Soul Ancestor would coordinate his attacks with his green sword. Many of the wounds on Jiang Fan¡¯s body were due to this second person.


    Since the giant python and azure bird were taken out of the equation, the pressure on Song Lin¡¯s side was considerably lighter than before. All he had to worry about was the black tiger while sometimes helping Jiang Fan fight for a while.


    This way, the two were able to make their way through the battle without serious trouble.


    Neither of the three paid attention to Bai Yunfei since they all believed that the early-stage Soul Ancestor would die as quickly as he came out. To come fight them was an act of walking on the path of self-destruction, so there was no need for them to try and kill him. There was no opportunity for either Song Lin or Jiang Fan to even help Bai Yunfei due to the intense battle, so when the beast tamer¡¯s aura suddenly vanished, both sides of the fight came to a grinding halt to observe what was going on over at Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    Just a kilometer away, the five could see the man who went after Bai Yunfei get stabbed straight through the heart by Tang Xinyun.


    Song Lin and Jiang Fan were elated to see this, but the other side was not. The elderly beast tamer on top of the violet bird was the most shocked, and it showed in his eyes. He had the utmost confidence that a mid-stage Soul Ancestor would win against an early-stage Soul Ancestor.


    And yet! The early-stage Soul Ancestor managed to kill the beast tamer with the help of an even weaker early-stage Soul Sprite!


    This momentary pause in battle was only that, just a moment. The battle resumed quickly with Song Lin and Jiang Fan both considerably less worried than before. Their attacks reflected their emotions as they began to increase in tempo and ferocity, making their situation even better than before. After being forced back several times by Jiang Fan, the mid-stage Soul Exalt finally decided to give the late-stage Soul Ancestor behind him an order, ¡°Kill those other two right now!!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Replying with an affirmative nod and shout, the man backed out of the battle. Underneath his feet, a greenish glow was picking up before immediately roaring to life as a furious gale that shot him to where Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were!!


    Jiang Fan and Song Lin were both startled by this; they didn¡¯t think that the enemy forces would try to kill Bai Yunfei.


    In a panicked warning, Song Lin shouted, ¡°Yunfei, watch out!!¡±


    He really wanted to stop that black-robed man, but there was no time. No sooner did he cry out that warning than the enemy forces spring up to attack him again. Jiang Fan was experiencing something similar in his head, and even though there was one less enemy to worry about, the worry he had for Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun was far greater. Thus, another fierce battle started between the four.


    It would only take a little less than two minutes for the four to stop once again¡­


    A heart-stopping amount of elemental fire burst into existence along with the furious howls of Bai Yunfei, prompting the four of them to turn their heads again.


    They were just in time to see the late-stage Soul Ancestor running almost desperately back in full retreat followed by the awe-inspiring Cataclysmic Seal.


    Shortly before the four men could really fully understand the situation, they saw the black-robed man sent flying into the air. Then after that, the strange soul armament made an immediate drop down into the earth.


    And just like that, the man¡¯s aura was gone!


    He was dead!!


    ¡°Wh¡ªwhat is¡­¡± The Soul Exalt found himself rather sluggish; though he was a Soul Exalt, he could still hardly believe what he was seeing.


    Song Lin was astounded from what he was seeing, and joy lit up his eyes as he thought, ¡°That¡¯s Yunfei¡¯s lifebound armament!¡±


    He was the first to respond out of everyone else, pulling Jiang Fan back with him. By the time the mid-stage Soul Exalt realized what the two had done, they were already half a kilometer away. The two of them knew that retreating any more would be foolhardy, so they readied themselves for combat again.


    But the black-robed man didn¡¯t give chase either. Instead, he continued to look down at the crater left behind by the Cataclysmic Seal in a state of clear shock.


    ¡°Boom¡­¡±


    Several seconds later, another explosion could be heard as the shining Cataclysmic Seal rose into the air to smash into the next two enemies with a roar from Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Again!?¡±


    The two men were shocked. Bai Yunfei was only an early-stage Soul Ancestor, but the terrifying soul armament of his and the fact that it was able to come flying toward them to attack was completely beyond what the two men had thought was possible.


    The one attacking them now was an early-stage Soul Ancestor, but neither of the two were willing to underestimate him now. Splitting away from one another to dodge, the black-robed man transformed into a blur as he traveled to the right while the beast tamer elder on the bird made a sharp ascent into the air.


    Like lightning, the Cataclysmic Seal arrived right in front of them as they were moving off. The mid-stage Soul Exalt was incredibly fast. He was able to travel several hundred meters in a matter of seconds to escape the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s range. As such, the soul armament came to a halt as if to give up on him and rose into the air to give chase to the beast tamer.


    The beast tamer¡¯s eyes dilated in fear upon seeing the Cataclysmic Seal start to chase him. If this were to continue, he¡¯d be unable to dodge the soul armament. With just a small moment of hesitation, the man let out a grunt as his entire body burst into a violet glow. Stomping on the back of the bird soulbeast he was on, he leaped over a dozen meters into the sky. The area beneath his feet materialized in yet another glow of violet light as he made use of materialized elemental lightning to create a foothold for him to leap back up into the air. Each time his feet stepped off of the elemental lightning, there was a slight cracking sound before he ascended again. By borrowing this power, he was able to ascend into the sky like a violet lightning bolt going in reverse.


    To overcome the wall that was the Cataclysmic Seal, the beast tamer made use of the explosive elemental lightning to give himself one final push. Escaping past the height of the soul armament. It was after he made the leap that he realized he was already at a height where he shared a similar elevation with the nearby mountain tops.


    ¡°Damn! What kind of soul armament is this!? I¡¯ve never heard of the Crafting School having such a monstrous soul armament like this! What tier is it, mid-heaven? High-heaven, maybe?¡± The elder nearly cried out loud as he looked down at the Cataclysmic Seal beneath him.


    He let out a sigh as he looked around himself, ¡°This was a failure, how unexpected¡­ there¡¯s even more powerful people inbound. I must make my escape!¡±


    With a new plan in mind, the man prepared to leap higher into the air to retreat.


    Just two jumps and fifty meters higher into the air, a shiver shot up his spine! Jerking his head down, the man¡¯s face drained of its color as a shocking sight registered in his eyes.


    The Cataclysmic Seal that had buried itself behind him was suddenly¡­ flying up to attack him again!


    By the time the beast tamer jerked his head to look at the Cataclysmic Seal, the soul armament had already ¡®pulled¡¯ into the air, and under his terrified gaze, it flew up to strike him down!!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 260: The End of a Battle

    Chapter 260: The End of a Battle


    By the time the beast tamer jerked his head to look at the Cataclysmic Seal, the soul armament had already ¡®pulled¡¯ into the air, and under his terrified gaze, it flew up to strike him down!!


    If he could scream, the man would surely have this to say to the heavens, ¡°Don¡¯t joke with me!! How could a whelp, an early-stage Soul Ancestor have such a strong control over a strong soul armament like this!?¡±


    The shine from the Cataclysmic Seal was enough to send the elder into a fluster, but he wasn¡¯t stupid enough to sit around and wait for his death. Pumping even more soulforce into his feet, he pushed against the air to travel as fast as he could to get out of the soul armament¡¯s range.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    One loud crack later, the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the elder¡¯s body with a speed equally as fast as the elder. Unable to stop himself from coughing out a mouthful of blood, the pale-faced elder did his best to grit his teeth and use the momentum from when he was hit to aid his escape.


    The next second caused the elder to feel yet another moment of despair!


    A blaze of fire erupted forth from the Cataclysmic Seal and coiled around his body as if it were a snake!


    The +10 effect of the Cataclysmic Seal: the Flame Twister!


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to activate ¡®Flame Twister¡¯ and restrict the mobility of another by 10% for a maximum of ten seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    With the Cataclysmic Seal above the elder, it made an immediate descent down to the mountain peak below!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    This time, the immediate descent was far beyond terrifying in comparison to before. The resulting tremors were violent enough to kick the loose dust and stones into the air, and without any further obstructions, the Cataclysmic Seal embedded itself into the mountain!


    With that, the hundred-meter-tall mountain collapsed to the ground!


    The black-robed man, who was already kilometers away, paused momentarily at that with eyes filled with fear.


    The aura of the beast tamer had been snuffed out a second ago!


    ¡°He¡¯s dead¡­ he¡¯s dead!!!¡± The black-robed man cried out to himself in extreme disbelief. He was once part of a group of four: two Soul Exalts and two Soul Ancestors.


    Yet, a single early-stage Soul Ancestor had wiped out three of them!!


    Despite the restlessness and disbelief, his soulsense was confirming the reality of the situation.


    Increasing his escape without even looking back, the man disappeared into a blur of shadows as he flew into a nearby forest and out of sight¡­


    Time hadn¡¯t even past two minutes since the appearance of the Cataclysmic Seal, but in those two minutes, a late-stage Soul Ancestor and an early-stage Soul Exalt had been killed without any resistance!!


    The sole survivor, a mid-stage Soul Exalt, was forced to flee in fear despite being filled with bravado during the entirety of the fight before!!


    ¡­¡­


    Both Jiang Nan and Song Lin were supporting each other by the shoulders as they stared blankly at the collapsed mountain in front of them and the almost fully buried body of the Cataclysmic Seal.


    An early-stage Soul Exalt; squished to death by such a baffling entity!? He was a Soul Exalt! A being that could be said to be strong in any area without a doubt!!


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Jiang Nan hissed as the wounds on his body dragged him out of his daze. Swiftly after that, his head grew flushed before he let loose a cough of blood from his mouth.


    Remembering that Jiang Nan was heavily injured with a start, Song Lin hurried to stabilize the swaying Jiang Nan. Song Lin himself was injured, but he was able to handle his wounds enough to ask Jiang Nan, ¡°Jiang Nan, are you alright?¡±


    Though Jiang Nan waved his hand and tried to reassure Song Lin, his wounds forced him to cough out yet another mouthful of blood. On his chest was a horrifyingly deep wound with several other major wounds adorning the other parts of his body. Were he any regular person, each one of these wounds would¡¯ve been fatal. His left shoulder, though uninjured, had several strands of black energy twirling around as it drooped uselessly by his side.


    It seemed that he was unable to move it.


    All of a sudden, the sound of rocks and dirt being dislodged could be heard, causing the two men to look up in surprise. The very first thing they could see was an object coming out of the crater from where the Cataclysmic Seal crashed into the earth. Neither of the two were able to clearly see what the object was other than the fact that it was glowing red. It quickly shot off to their left to where Bai Yunfei was.


    Back in its original form, the Cataclysmic Seal returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. From within the red light, a small fire came floating out.


    It was Bai Yunfei¡¯s essence fireseed.


    The only thing was that the essence fireseed wasn¡¯t as bright as it once was. Not only was it dimmer, it was also smaller¡ªsimilar to a flame that¡¯d be snuffed out of existence if a small wind were to blow on it.


    After the essence fireseed slowly melted back into Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest, his face went pale and sweatdrops began to drip down his face. It seemed as if he couldn¡¯t feel a thing, and even the zealous killing intent from before was nowhere to be seen and was replaced by a look of anxiety.


    Lowering his head, Bai Yunfei began to take notice of what shape Tang Xinyun was in. Wisps of black energy intermittently rose from her face as if she had been cursed. Her eyes were closed shut, and her eyebrows were knit together. Her pearly-white teeth were clenched together as if suffering from an unimaginable amount of pain.


    Her suffering was a stab to Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. Regret flooded his mind in an endless wave as if he was being cursed by Mara.


    He grabbed at Tang Xinyun¡¯s wrist and attempted to push his soulforce into her to help her heal, but when she let out a cry of pain from his attempt, he let go of her hand as quickly as he could.


    There was some sort of bizarre energy in Tang Xinyun¡¯s body that was stopping Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce from entering her body, and his attempts to do so only served to make the pain even worse for her.


    As if being swallowed, Tang Xinyun¡¯s soulforce was growing fainter and fainter. Bai Yunfei was at a complete flummox and a loss for what to do.


    ¡°Soulforce¡­ oh right! The ring that can replenish soulforce!¡± A spark of realization popped into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Tearing off the soulforce replenishing ring on his left hand, he placed it on one of Tang Xinyun¡¯s fingers.


    ¡°Ungh¡­¡± Another pain-filled cry came from Tang Xinyun¡¯s mouth, but it wasn¡¯t as loud as before. In fact, she looked slightly more comfortable and relieved than before, though she was still in danger.


    ¡°It¡¯s not enough! Dammit, why do I only have one of those!!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed himself. From her situation, Bai Yunfei could infer that Tang Xinyun¡¯s soulforce was being eaten away faster than she could regain it. Not only was her soulforce being taken away, her very soul was being attacked!


    Her life was in danger!


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to use the spirit accessories to stall for time!¡± Bai Yunfei decided as he fitted Tang Xinyun with the said accessories.


    Just then, the sound of wind being displaced could be heard, causing Bai Yunfei to look up just in time to see a green light flying toward him. Within a single second, the light landed several meters away and disappeared to reveal two figures: Xiao Binzi and Cang Yu.


    As soon as Cang Yu was seen, she flashed toward Tang Xinyun¡¯s side and cried out, ¡°Xinyun, what¡¯s wrong!?¡±


    Tang Xinyun wasn¡¯t even able to hear her, let alone reply¡­


    Realizing help was here, Bai Yunfei was quick to start to beg the two to help him, ¡°First elder, third elder! Please save Xinyun, something¡¯s eating away her soulforce!¡±


    Cang Yu¡¯s face grew dark as she listened to Bai Yunfei. Studying Tang Xinyun¡¯s face with even more anxiety than before, she grabbed Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand and tried to transmit her soulforce into Xinyun.


    ¡°Third elder, don¡¯t do¡ª¡± Nearly leaping up in surprise, Bai Yunfei was about to shout out a warning when Cang Yu¡¯s eyes narrowed and she released Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand. Her reaction to Tang Xinyun predicament was far faster than Bai Yunfei¡¯s, so Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t feel any pain when Cang Yu pulled back.


    Gravely, Cang Yu turned her head to Xiao Binzi, ¡°Senior, Xinyun is in an odd predicament. This isn¡¯t something elemental darkness should normally cause¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Xiao Binzi muttered as he moved toward Bai Yunfei. He stared at Tang Xinyun for several seconds before pressing against her right arm with his own hand. After a moment¡¯s study, his eyes flashed brightly as if discovering something.


    ¡°First elder, what¡¯s wrong with Xinyun? Please save her!¡± Even though Bai Yunfei could tell that Xiao Binzi was deep in thought, he still couldn¡¯t help but plead with him.


    Xiao Binzi nodded slowly, ¡°Yunfei, don¡¯t worry. Her life is not in danger¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt relieved at that, ¡°Really? He asked, ¡°As long as Xinyun isn¡¯t in trouble, that¡¯s go¡ª¡±


    Before he could finish what he wanted to say, Bai Yunfei felt a wave of lightheadedness hit him. The next second, Bai Yunfei felt his body lock up, and his eyes fluttered before he fell to his knees and fainted.

 Chapter 261: Damage to the Essence Fireseed

    Chapter 261: Damage to the Essence Fireseed


    Surprised by Bai Yunfei¡¯s sudden collapse, Xiao Binzi hurried to catch Bai Yunfei from falling to the ground.


    When he pushed some soulforce into Bai Yunfei, Xiao Binzi was relieved to find that Bai Yunfei was only suffering from a lack of soulforce.


    Then a second discovery caused his face to grow ashen with curiosity and anger.


    Noticing the change on Xiao Binzi¡¯s face, Cang Yu was almost afraid to ask, ¡°Senior, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°First elder, third elder!¡±


    Jiang Nan and Song Lin came over at that point with the both of them supporting each other up. Upon seeing the state of Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, Song Lin began to panic, ¡°First elder, how are Yunfei and Xinyun?¡±


    Eyeing the wounds on Jiang Nan¡¯s body, Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. He moved to the male¡¯s side and held his right hand out to Jiang Nan¡¯s left hand to push some soulforce into him. Jiang Nan grunted from the sudden pain and his forehead began to sweat as the black miasma from his left shoulder started to burn because of Xiao Binzi¡¯s elemental fire. Even his wounds were starting to heal at an accelerated rate thanks to Xiao Binzi. The pain was almost unbearable, but Jiang Nan¡¯s face was already looking much better than before. Before, he was on the verge of collapse due to his wounds, but he managed to hold himself together with pure determination alone. With Xiao Binzi here to help him with his wounds, Jiang Nan wouldn¡¯t be in any danger.


    Xiao Binzi took back his hand as soon as the elemental darkness in Jiang Nan¡¯s shoulder was removed. He looked around the destroyed battlefield curiously, his eyes stopping for a small moment on the crater left behind on the mountain, ¡°What happened here? Why has Yunfei¡¯s essence fireseed been weakened to the point of being extinguished!?¡±


    ¡°What!? Yunfei¡¯s essence fir¡ª!¡± Cang Yu gasped. The realization of why Xiao Binzi was acting the way he was earlier suddenly hit Cang Yu. The essence seed was something every soul cultivator in the Soul Sprite realm and beyond depended on. Soul Sprites could control the elements of the world, but aside from using their soulforce to maintain their control, the rest would depend on their essence seed. (This is in regards to one¡¯s own materialization and control, not when a soul armament does it). Healing an injured essence seed was extremely difficult, and there were many whose essence seed would never be able to make a complete recovery!!


    From what Xiao Binzi was saying, Bai Yunfei¡¯s essence fireseed was practically extinguished with how weak it was¡­ if it couldn¡¯t be healed, that meant that Bai Yunfei would never be able to make any progress with his elemental fire!


    Song Lin blanched. Guilt and worry flooded his mind as he thought about how he had failed to protect Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun. The fingers on his fist clenched tightly against each other as he replied swiftly to Xiao Binzi, ¡°I think just a while ago, Yunfei used his essence fireseed to strengthen his lifebound armament¡­¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Xiao Binzi exclaimed, ¡°Using his essence fireseed to strengthen his lifebound armament!! That¡¯s¡­¡±


    He looked back to Bai Yunfei. With a regretful sigh, Xiao Binzi shook his head, ¡°To think Yunfei would do such a rash action¡­ we are lucky that his essence fireseed is still in existence. This feat is only something that can be done with a lifebound armament¡­¡±


    Spreading his soulsense a kilometer away, Xiao Binzi¡¯s tone grew icy, ¡°And the enemies? Have they run off?¡±


    Earlier, Cang Yu said that there had been four people that had attacked her and Jiang Nan, but he could only sense the corpse of the middle-aged beast tamer Tang Xinyun killed. If the other three were trying to escape, he¡¯d be sure to destroy them!


    Jiang Nan pointed a finger in the direction the black-robed survivor had run off with a shake of his head, ¡°Only the strongest survivor, a mid-stage Soul Exalt, managed to escape. It¡¯s been a while, so I¡¯m afraid the first elder wouldn¡¯t have an easy time finding and catching up to him¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh? Just him? What of the other two?¡± Xiao Binzi asked.


    ¡°Aside from the mid-stage Soul Ancestor, there was also a late-stage Soul Ancestor and an early-stage Soul Exalt beast tamer¡­¡± Song Lin paused to take a breath.


    ¡°They¡­ they were both killed by Yunfei¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Xiao Binzi and Cang Yu were both silent for a second. Under the impression that he had heard wrong, Xiao Binzi asked, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Song Lin repeated the shocking news for the two elders to hear again, but it was no surprise that the first elder was still surprised. ¡°The mid-stage Soul Ancestor was killed by both Yunfei and Xinyun, and then Bai Yunfei used his lifebound armament to kill the other two because Xinyun was seriously hurt. His lifebound armament was¡­ able to grow a thousand times larger than what it was? Even the early-stage Soul Exalt was unable to defend himself before being crushed to death in that ruined mountain¡­¡±


    ¡°A thousand times bigger!!¡± Came the mental thought of Xiao Binzi. Looking back at Bai Yunfei while deep in thought, he said, ¡°We shouldn¡¯t stay here. Yunfei and Xinyun are in a very special predicament. We must carefully observe them to know how to best treat them!¡±


    ¡°First elder,¡± Jiang Nan spoke up, ¡°I propose that we go to the house of Xiao in Curopia City then.¡±


    Taking a second to consider the proposal, Xiao Binzi then nodded his head, ¡°Very well. We shall go there!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    By the time Bai Yunfei had regained awareness, he noticed that he was lying on top of a very soft bed. He wanted to sit up, but his body refused to listen to him. Uttering an involuntary grunt, Bai Yunfei tried to summon his soulforce to him.


    ¡°Ah!! Lord Bai is awake! Lord Bai is awake!!¡± His voice had alerted the nearby maid who was attending to him, causing her to run out to call for the others.


    Full body autonomy came to Bai Yunfei a moment later. His mind was still in a haze and even opening his eyes was a struggle, but he could at the very least sit up in bed like he wanted.


    ¡°Yunfei, how are you feeling?¡±


    An elderly voice asked Bai Yunfei from the side, causing him to start. Lifting his head, Bai Yunfei managed to see the first elder Xiao Binzi standing in front of him. Both Jiang Nan and Song Lin were standing behind the elder as they looked at him in concern.


    ¡°First elder¡­ I¡­¡± Gently shaking his head to rid himself of the fuzz, Bai Yunfei suddenly swung his head to look at Xiao Binzi in alarm, ¡°First elder! How¡¯s Xinyun? Is she okay?¡±


    Pressing gently against Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, Xiao Binzi calmly replied to calm him down, ¡°Don¡¯t get too worked up. Xinyun is being looked after by Cang Yu right now. She is fine.¡±


    ¡°Whew¡­¡± A relieved sigh escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. Now that he was reassured, his panicked mind was finally starting to calm back down.


    There was still something that made him restless, ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll take a look then¡­¡±


    His legs swung over the bed onto the ground. Right as the first step was about to be had, Bai Yunfei found himself suddenly staggering back down onto his bed as if his body was powerless to support himself.


    Stunned, Bai Yunfei tried to circulate his soulforce to heal his tired body. When he tried, the results surprised him. He held his hands up and looked at them with wide open eyes as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing.


    Upon seeing Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction, Xiao Binzi couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°Yunfei, you shouldn¡¯t worry about Xinyun. Her wounds are stabilized for the time being, but you should listen to me, you¡¯re¡­¡±


    He hadn¡¯t finished speaking when Bai Yunfei jerked his head up in panic and confusion.


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­ what¡¯s going on!? First elder, I¡­ why can¡¯t I feel any elemental fire in me!?¡±

 Chapter 262: The Consequences of a Chaotic Explosion

    Chapter 262: The Consequences of a Chaotic Explosion


    The Soul Sprite realm was when the essence seed formed. This was also the realm where manipulation of the elements was possible and the temperance of the body with said elements could be done. Soulforce wasn¡¯t the only thing that circulated around the body of a Soul Sprite, the elements would circulate around the body as well with the essence seed at their core. Together, they worked with one another to strengthen the body, and when the elements in the world needed to be controlled, the essence seed would use the elements in the body as a primer to gather and condense the elements into a stronger, more tangible form.


    As of right now, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t feel even a single strand of that elemental fire in him!!


    This was a first since he had become a Soul Sprite many months ago. It made him feel both powerless and confused.


    Xiao Binzi sighed when he saw the flustered look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°Yunfei, feel for your essence fireseed right now¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Puzzled at the request, Bai Yunfei closed his eyes and did as Xiao Binzi asked. Concentrating on the essence fireseed at the core of his person, Bai Yunfei was able to ¡®see¡¯ a minute flame that flickered gently where it was.


    When he ¡®saw¡¯ his essence fireseed, Bai Yunfei could feel a slight sensation of ¡®warmth.¡¯ There was a very faint¨Cpractically imperceivable¨Cwisp of elemental fire that drifted out of the essence fireseed. When it drifted too far away, the feeling of warmth was lost to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°My essence fireseed is still there¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. The very worst of his suspicions were cleared, but upon further investigation, Bai Yunfei could tell that the essence fireseed was a lot weaker than before. In fact, Bai Yunfei had the slight feeling that if he were to spread his soulsense out, it¡¯d be enough to ¡®blow¡¯ out the essence fireseed¡­


    The consumption of soulforce had never been a problem for him before. No matter how much he used, or how the Upgrade Technique knocked him unconscious, his essence fireseed always remained lively and bright as ever. This situation right now was a first for Bai Yunfei. He tried to materialize some essence fireseed as an experiment, but absolutely nothing could be felt.


    With that observation, Bai Yunfei pulled himself out from his trance helplessly and reopened his eyes.


    ¡°First elder¡­¡± He looked back at Xiao Binzi, but he was no longer as emotional as he was before. This time, his eyes were filled with confusion and helplessness.


    A strand of pity flickered across Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyes. ¡°Yunfei,¡± He sighed, ¡°You were too rash. Conserving your essence fireseed was already difficult enough, but¡­ even I cannot help you now. Even brother Zi Jin cannot help you. A full recovery is fully dependent on your own body, but even then, that will take a very long time. For the time being, you cannot use your elemental fire. Unless you¡¯ve another element to train in, you are limited to the soulforce any Soul Ancestor has without being able to make use of the world¡¯s elements¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The silence in the room was palpable as Bai Yunfei raised his head. No one could tell what he was thinking at that moment, but at last, he prefaced his next words with a sigh, ¡°First elder, where is Xinyun? I want to go see her¡­¡±


    Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together. Looking at Bai Yunfei, he shook his head, ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯m sure even walking is an extremely difficult feat for you, is it not? Don¡¯t force yourself and focus on getting better first. Use your soulforce to heal your body. You can see her after that.¡±


    Song Lin chose that time to pipe up, ¡°That¡¯s right, Yunfei. Get better first. With the third elder, Xinyun will be fine so don¡¯t worry. Who knows, maybe when you heal up she¡¯ll be awake.¡±


    Jiang Nan was slightly pale in the face, but even he nodded at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Junior brother, I had no idea that you were a disciple of the master. I owe you for helping me, but allow me to thank you later. Listen to the first elder and focus on healing yourself.¡±


    Bai Yunfei wanted nothing more than to go find Tang Xinyun right now, but he could see the reason in Xiao Binzi¡¯s words. The very act of walking was something Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t do and even thinking was a problem right now. Thinking about it, Bai Yunfei finally replied, ¡°Well¡­ fine then¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    For the sake of leaving Bai Yunfei to heal, Xiao Binzi and the others left the room so that only he was left alone to concentrate; though it was more so he could also calm down as well.


    Seated on his bed, Bai Yunfei took out a spirit aiding accessory from his space ring. It didn¡¯t have the ability to increase his soulforce recovery rate, but it would at the very least increase the amount of soulforce he could have. Bai Yunfei would make sure to take care of the injuries that required soulforce to heal first.


    In accordance to what the Art of Training the Soul taught, Bai Yunfei made a strand of his soulforce circulate around his body. With each revolution, the amount of soulforce he maneuvered increased by a small margin. There weren¡¯t any complications in his attempts, so Bai Yunfei was able to gradually build up the amount of soulforce in his body. This, in turn, made Bai Yunfei feel better than before. His mind had been hazy when he first woke up, but now he was feeling far more sharp-minded. Even his strength was returning to his previously weak body.


    However, the very small sliver of elemental fire moving about his body left Bai Yunfei with an uneasy feeling.


    Roughly three hours later¡­


    His eyes slowly opened as a sign of him waking up from his trance. His soulforce wasn¡¯t fully recovered just yet, but it was enough for now. In his current state of affairs, mobility and regular thought could be done on the same level as any other commoner.


    He wanted to try and gather some elemental fire to see how bad things were, but he knew that that couldn¡¯t be done at the moment.


    ¡®Ugh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in depression.


    Without being able to use the elemental fire, he felt as if he was back to when he was a Soul Warrior. It was a disappointing feeling reminiscent to being reduced to a shade of his former self. Xiao Binzi had told him that recovery would be extremely hard and unpredictable; who knows when he¡¯d be able to make a full recovery.


    A month? A year? Several years? Or if ever¡­


    He thought about the recent battle and how Tang Xinyun had thrown herself in front of him to stop the palm strike. The moments after that were when he had lost all sense of reasoning. The only thing he could remember was him destroying all the enemies and then using the Cataclysmic Seal imbued with his essence fireseed. He had no idea things would turn out this way or that what he did would have such a harsh consequence.


    He was practically decrepit and confused, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t regret his actions. Bai Yunfei would be willing to repeat it all even if it were to happen again.


    For the sake of ensuring the well-being of the girl who he cared about, he¡¯d make whoever hurt her pay heavily for it!!


    ¡°As long as there¡¯s hope, that¡¯s fine by me. I just need to believe in myself, I will get better!¡± Bai Yunfei vowed silently to himself as he walked to the door.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go see Xinyun first. With the heavens looking over her, Xinyun will definitely get better¡­¡±

 Chapter 263: The Soul Refining School!

    Chapter 263: The Soul Refining School!


    In the northern room of the household of Xiao in Curopia City¡ª


    A silent Bai Yunfei could be seen standing in front of Tang Xinyun¡¯s bed. His eyes wavered over her slightly pursed lips and the knit eyebrows on her face. The pain on her face was unbearable to Bai Yunfei. Each second spent looking at her was another stab to his heart.


    Unwilling to reach his hand out to see how she was doing, Bai Yunfei instead looked to Cang Yu who was sitting to the side, ¡°Third elder, how is¡­ how is Xinyun? Has she woken up yet? When will she get better?¡±


    Cang Yu herself looked unwell since the wounds she had suffered from the previous battle were by no means light. Not enough time had passed for her to fully heal, but for the sake of looking after Tang Xinyun, Cang Yu hadn¡¯t left her bedside for the entire night.


    A display like that was only a symbol of just how much she cared for Tang Xinyun.


    Cang Yu sighed, ¡°Well¡­ Xinyun¡¯s situation is even worse than we first thought. The elemental darkness in her body is extremely strange. Not only are we unable to force it out, the elemental darkness refuses to leave by itself either. It¡¯s as if it has taken root in her body and wishes to continue eating away at her soulforce.¡±


    She paused here to take a deep breath. ¡°That black-robed man wasn¡¯t from the Beast Taming School without a doubt. Jiang Nan and I were both hit by his elemental darkness, but since we were stronger, the worst of the effects were blocked by our soulforce before it could enter too deep into our bodies. With the first elder aiding us, he was able to drive off the rest of it. But Xinyun is weaker than the two of us, so she had no way of defending against it. We were fortunate enough that it was only her shoulder that was hit. If that wound had just been a few inches to the left, I¡¯m afraid Xinyun would have lost her life¡­


    ¡°As of right now, there are two different energies fighting in her. One is the elemental darkness eating away at her soulforce, the other is Tang Xinyun¡¯s soulforce. If all of it is eaten away, then Xinyun¡¯s life would be in danger¡­


    ¡°The only way to recovery is to increase the rate of soulforce regeneration to fend off the elemental darkness, but Xinyun¡¯s regeneration rate isn¡¯t fast enough. It¡¯s fortunate that I¡¯ve given her the Violet Soul Bracelet. With that, her regeneration rate is fast enough to put her in a temporary stasis. Though, that doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯ll stay that way in the future¡­¡±


    ¡°Violet Soul Bracelet?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated. From what he just heard from Cang Yu, this bracelet was capable of increasing the rate of soulforce recovery!


    Now was seriously not the time to be asking about that however. Tossing out the thought as quickly as it came into his mind, Bai Yunfei asked instead, ¡°Then¡­ when will Xinyun be able to wake up? What else do we have to do to eliminate the rest of the elemental darkness for a full recovery?¡±


    Cang Yu shook her head. ¡°In order to remove the elemental darkness, we¡¯d have to make sure that Xinyun¡¯s soulforce regeneration is a lot faster than the rate in which the elemental darkness is eating away at it. But¡­ with Xinyun¡¯s current strength, that¡¯s not feasible. No outsider can help her with this either, so we don¡¯t even know when she¡¯ll wake up¡­ in fact, we aren¡¯t even sure if she¡¯ll¡­¡±


    She didn¡¯t continue her sentence, but Bai Yunfei was fully aware of what she was getting at.


    She wasn¡¯t sure if Tang Xinyun would ever wake up.


    ¡°¡­¡± Bai Yunfei said nothing, but his eyes flickered as if he was thinking about something.


    Cang Yu turned her head to face Xiao Binzi, ¡°Senior, have you found something out?¡±


    A grave nod came from Xiao Binzi, but no answer to Cang Yu¡¯s question was said. He instead turned to Bai Yunfei to ask, ¡°Yunfei, what happened when Xinyun was injured? Tell us what happened during that part of the battle.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°At that time¡­¡±


    Line by line, Bai Yunfei retold his recollection of events from the battle. He told them how he had killed the mid-stage Soul Ancestor, how the late-stage Soul Ancestor came to ambush them, and how Tang Xinyun threw herself in front of him right in the middle of his utmost peril¡­


    With each line said, Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice grew heavier and heavier as if the regret and guilt he was filling started to drip into his words from his mind.


    Both Cang Yu and Xiao Binzi were surprised to hear Bai Yunfei talk about the man¡¯s ability to absorb soulforce, but their faces turned extremely sour when they heard about the killing move the late-stage Soul Ancestor tried to use on Bai Yunfei¡­


    ¡°Senior, couldn¡¯t they be¡­¡± Cang Yu looked to Xiao Binzi to have him verify her suspicion.


    Xiao Binzi nodded his head in response, ¡°Indeed, those black-robed men are most likely men of the Soul Refining School!!¡±


    ¡°Soul Refining School?¡±


    What Xiao Binzi said was enough to startle Jiang Nan, Song Lin, and even Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know much about the school, but he at the very least knew that they were an infamous and terrifying group.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then¡­ it¡¯s no wonder they were able to use elemental darkness in such a strange way¡­¡± Cang Yu half-muttered to herself. ¡°The Soul Refining School!!¡± She nervously exclaimed, ¡°If it¡¯s them, then what Xinyun was hit with might be the ¡®Soul Refining Palm¡¯!¡±


    Instead of replying this time, Xiao Binzi answered her with a nod.


    ¡°The Soul Refining School¡­¡±


    ¡°First elder, what is this ¡®Soul Refining Palm¡¯?¡± The fear in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was even worse now, so he couldn¡¯t help but ask for clarification.


    ¡°The Soul Refining Palm is a soul skill only the Soul Refining School knows. It would be better to say that it¡¯s their signature skill. True to its name, the skill can refine the soul when used! The deceptive style of fighting where that man stole your soulforce is a soul skill only those from the Soul Refining School can learn¡­


    ¡°Only Soul Exalts are able to use the Soul Refining Palm to the best of its ability. That person was only a late-stage Soul Ancestor, so that is why Xinyun is still alive. But¡­


    ¡°To recover after being hit by the Soul Refining Palm makes the situation even worse than we thought¡­¡±


    Hearing about the Soul Refining Palm from Xiao Binzi made Bai Yunfei even more worried. In his concern, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Then¡­ first elder, can Xinyun be saved? What do we have to do to neutralize the Soul Refining Palm?¡±


    Xiao Binzi shook his head as if the answer was fruitless. ¡°The people from the Soul Refining School rarely venture out of their school, but even then, they are a secretive bunch that can¡¯t be found easily. Those who are hit with the Soul Refining Palm rarely live to tell the tale¡­ and that much is only in regards to their fighting style. The secrets of their school are things no outsider knows a lot about.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but Xinyun is¡­¡±


    ¡°All we can do right now is observe. Wait and see if Xinyun will get better. We¡¯ll return to the Crafting School. Perhaps brother Zi Jin will know of a method. If anything, we can also ask the Northern Point to¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah! The Beast Taming School and the Sun!!¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly cut in, ¡°The Soul Refining School and the Beast Taming School are with each other, they¡¯re the ones the house of Sun asked to help them!! We should go to the Sun! Maybe we¡¯ll find someone from there and force them to tell us!!¡±


    His answer surprised the other people in the room. They had been completely focused on taking care of Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun so everything else was completely ignored. In their concentration, the root of their problems, the tiny and insignificant house of Sun, was completely overlooked.


    ¡°Yunfei is right, first elder. We should go to the Sun and see!¡±


    ¡°Very well then!¡± Xiao Binzi announced after a moment of thought.


    Cang Yu was left behind to look after Tang Xinyun while Xiao Binzi brought the others with him out of the courtyard. Though Bai Yunfei wanted to go with them, Xiao Binzi was adamant that he stayed behind.


    Just as Xiao Binzi and the others were about to leave the courtyard, the head of the Xiao could be seen rushing after them.


    ¡°Uncle Xiao,¡± Jiang Nan was surprised. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Elder Xiao, Jiang Nan, Song Lin, and lord Bai¡­¡± Xiao Rang greeted them with a serious voice, but his next few words were met with extreme shock.


    ¡°Just last night, the house of Sun was completely destroyed!!¡±

 Chapter 264: Self Blame

    Chapter 264: Self Blame


    In a single night, the house of Sun was completely wiped off the face of Curopia City!!


    Like a hurricane, news of their annihilation tore through the city in massive waves. Struck with this information, everyone in Curopia City turned their attention to the suspect, the house of Xiao.


    Though the ones responsible for the destruction of the Sun had left no traces behind, the rivalry between the Xiao and the Sun was known to everyone, so it wasn¡¯t strange for everyone to suspect them.


    Even the lord mayor of Curopia City took a wait-and-see approach to their rivalry. It was the soul cultivator¡¯s equivalent to the impenetrable shield and the all piercing spear between two households. Since the officials of the empire wanted to avoid a major conflict, they turned a blind eye toward many conflicts.


    The complete genocide of the house of Sun was not something they could sit by the sidelines for. An order from the lord mayor issued for an investigation to be done while he went to meet with a representative of the Xiao himself.


    The lord mayor of Curopia City was a disciple of the Heavenly Soul School and was a late-stage Soul Exalt.


    By no means was the lord mayor an easy target to bully with him being from the Heavenly Soul School, so when Xiao Rang heard that the lord mayor was coming, the very first thing he did was to seek out Xiao Binzi and the others to testify that the destruction of the Sun was not a crime perpetrated by the Xiao.


    What really happened was that the Xiao household was far too busy taking care of Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun when Xiao Binzi and the others returned that night. The two wounded people were of the utmost importance to both Xiao Rang and Xiao Xin. They had spent the entire night ordering their men to accommodate the needs of the Crafting School. Other than that, neither of the two gave any other orders besides to keep a tighter watch¡ªjust in case the Sun was preparing to do anything that night.


    To be even more honest, the Xiao had no means to completely destroy the house of Sun in a single night without anyone knowing.


    Xiao Binzi and the others were equally surprised to hear that the house of Sun was destroyed, but the reason for such wasn¡¯t hard to imagine.


    This was without a doubt done so that the Beast Taming School and the Soul Refining School could wipe their hands clean of the house of Sun. What was alarming was their efficiency; the Sun wasn¡¯t weak house, but in the end, they were destroyed at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Both Jiang Nan and Song Lin went with Xiao Rang to testify to the lord mayor while Xiao Binzi went to the ruins of the Sun to see if he could find any traces.


    Bai Yunfei returned to his room to recuperate, and his room was now right next to Tang Xinyun¡¯s.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Later that afternoon, Bai Yunfei found himself seated on top of a banister with his back to the stone pillar. His head was lifted high to the sky, but the expression on his face was vacant.


    Just thinking about what had happened yesterday was enough for Bai Yunfei to clench his fingers so tightly that blood was drawn from his fingernails. Self-loathing and regret filled his mind with increasing amounts rather than lessening like he originally thought.


    ¡°It was my fault. All my fault¡­ if I wasn¡¯t so confident in myself, Xinyun wouldn¡¯t have been in that battle. She wouldn¡¯t have been in danger. She would¡¯ve been safe! It¡¯s my fault¡­¡± Now that he could think about yesterday, Bai Yunfei could finally see how laughable and overconfident he was.


    Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei turned his head back to the cloud-filled sky, ¡°I¡¯ve some strength and the Upgrade Technique, but when did I become so arrogant?


    ¡°Finding trouble for myself was enough. Why¡¯d I have to go and involve Xinyun in this?


    ¡°Why do I always need someone else to save me?


    ¡°Why did I promise that she¡¯d be fine and then lead her straight into danger?


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t it me that¡¯s lying there instead of Xinyun?


    ¡°Why wasn¡¯t I the one to die!!!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A furious hand came up to slap his face.


    Following a mouthful of blood, Bai Yunfei looked down at his own hand in stunned silence.


    ¡°Hero, this is my last warning to you. Be sure to avoid trouble and keep those you care about close, else you will find regret to be the only thing left in your embrace!!¡±


    For some strange reason, the voice of the one known as Na Lanyin, from when Bai Yunfei went to Redfire City, popped up in his head. In accordance to what the fortune teller told him, the regret and confusion he was feeling intensified.


    ¡°I¡­ I really will regret this for my entire life¡­¡±


    He turned to the wall that separated his and Tang Xinyun¡¯s room. Her faint aura could still be felt, but it pained Bai Yunfei to feel it so faint. Each time he sensed her, Bai Yunfei could feel her soulforce grow weaker, and that realization was like a sharp blade that continued to push into his heart deeper and deeper.


    ¡°Xinyun will¡­ she¡¯ll be fine!¡± The self-loathing and regret slowly bled away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as determination and grit replaced it. ¡°I can¡¯t let her get worse. I won¡¯t let her get worse!


    ¡°Even if I can¡¯t find the Soul Refining School and force a way out of them, I¡¯ll find a way myself! I¡¯ll do it! I must do it!!


    ¡°Increase her soulforce regeneration rate? I¡¯ve the Upgrade Technique, I¡¯ll just make some myself!!¡±


    Renewed hope roared to life within his heart as Bai Yunfei walked out of his room without hesitation.


    ¡°Eh? Brother Bai, where are you going?¡±


    No sooner did he make it into the courtyards than a short-haired young male in rich purple robes appeared. Right behind him were several maids with platters of food in their hands.


    ¡°Lord Xiao¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head to the young man in front of him. This was the fourth grandchild to the head of the Xiao, Xiao Er.


    ¡°Where is brother Bai going? If something needs to be done, please ask our men. Brother Bai¡¯s body isn¡¯t fully healed yet, you should head back and rest.¡± Xiao Er nodded back to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Father instructed me to bring brother Bai some rare medicines in hopes that brother Bai will be able to heal¡­¡±


    Surprised by the gesture, Bai Yunfei cupped his hands in gratitude, ¡°I¡­ thank brother Xiao for your troubles. I do not believe I require these medicines, but please thank your father and his kindness for me.¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai is an honored guest of our Xiao; this much should be expected.¡± Xiao Er shook his hands with a smile, ¡°These medicines are of rather normal make, but they have good effects on the body. Give them a try, brother Bai. Although it won¡¯t help with soulforce, your body will definitely feel itself recovering faster.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ I¡¯ll take these to my room.¡± Bai Yunfei relented. He didn¡¯t want to bother with refusing them.


    A thought popped up in his mind after that, ¡°Brother Xiao. If I may ask a request from you¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Xiao Er was confused at first, but then he smiled. ¡°All brother Bai needs to do is ask! No matter what it is, as long as I can do it, I will! And if I can¡¯t, then the Xiao will. I¡¯ll have grandfather send someone to do it if you want.¡±


    ¡°No, there¡¯s no need to disturb the elders.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°I need a lot of accessories. I hope that brother Xiao will help me in purchasing some.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ªaccessories!?¡± Xiao Er had been under the impression that Bai Yunfei would ask for some sort of precious treasure, but hearing that he wanted accessories instead made him feel as if he had misheard him.


    ¡°Correct, accessories. I hope that you¡¯ll help me purchase some in the city. The more precious, the better, but I only need accessories. It doesn¡¯t matter how many, I need them all!¡±


    He wanted to take out some gold coins from his space ring, but Bai Yunfei remembered that the one with all his gold coins was the one that was helping Xinyun recover her soulforce. Shaking his right arm instead, Bai Yunfei took out a greenish sword about a meter long and handed it over to Xiao Er.


    ¡°Brother Xiao, I give this soul armament to you as a token of my thanks. I hope that you¡¯ll bring me as many accessories as you can!¡±

 Chapter 265: Upgrading Accessories

    Chapter 265: Upgrading Accessories


    Xiao Er looked at the sword in his hand in utter befuddlement; he wasn¡¯t even fully aware when Bai Yunfei continued to speak to him.


    Too many things were happening for him to really understand the situation. Bai Yunfei wanted him to buy accessories of all things, and from what he was saying, it didn¡¯t matter what type of accessories as long as Xiao Er bought a lot of them. This only served to confuse Xiao Er even more.


    ¡°Brother Xiao, this matter is extremely important to me. Please!!¡± Bai Yunfei spoke with a grave face.


    Seeing that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t joking with him, Xiao Er decided to put away his suspicions. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what brother Bai wants with them, but¡­ I¡¯ll do it! This won¡¯t be a problem; we have plenty of accessories on hand. I¡¯ll have some men bring them over at once!¡±


    He looked back down at the sword in his hands in confusion. Since he was only a mid-stage Soul Warrior, he had very limited dealings with soul armaments, so he wasn¡¯t able to tell how strong the soul armament was. One thing was for sure, this soul armament was surely stronger than the low-human tier one his grandfather had taken from one of his dead enemies.


    The sword shook a little in his hand from his hesitance, but Xiao Er finally tore his eyes away from it long enough to push it back to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Something this minor shouldn¡¯t warrant such a precious gift like this. Please take it back, brother Bai, or I¡¯ll feel ashamed for having taken it¡­¡±


    It was clearly obvious to see that Xiao Er took a fancy to this sword, but for him to refuse it even then? Bai Yunfei found a newfound level of respect for Xiao Er.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before,¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°This matter is extremely important to me. The reason I need these accessories might be beyond you, brother Xiao, but I can¡¯t explain the reason just yet. If you can help me make the purchases, then this soul armament should be yours as my thanks. I would feel unwell if you didn¡¯t.¡±


    His honesty was so apparent that even Xiao Er found it hard to refuse now (He didn¡¯t want to refuse either in truth). Several seconds later, Xiao Er took the sword with a solemn expression, ¡°Brother Bai, don¡¯t worry. As long as you need them, I¡¯ll prepare them for you even if I have to clear out the entire city of accessories!!¡±


    ¡°Perhaps¡­ perhaps that will be necessary¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice was so inaudible that Xiao Er had almost missed it.


    ¡°Eh? What was that, brother Bai?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing¡­ I¡¯ll be waiting in my room then. Please send them over straight away when you have the first few, brother Xiao.¡±


    ¡°No worries, I¡¯ll instruct my men to send some right now!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Xiao Er left quickly after that, leaving Bai Yunfei free to return to his room only to notice that Xiao Er¡¯s maids had already left a platter of food and medicines of varying rarity. Many of them were commonplace goods, but he had never once used these medicines before.


    After everything today, Bai Yunfei was feeling slightly peckish, so he ate from the platter first before resting on top of his bed.


    Not long later, a maid came into his room to present to him a space ring with all the accessories Xiao Er managed to find in Curopia City so far. After receiving Bai Yunfei¡¯s gift of thanks, Xiao Er went into the city himself to do as Bai Yunfei asked, but even if he hadn¡¯t received a gift, there was no way Xiao Er would be negligent in his role as Bai Yunfei¡¯s host.


    Now that he was on his bed, Bai Yunfei looked at the space ring given to him. At a precursory glance, Bai Yunfei could see that there were over a thousand accessories in there, causing Bai Yunfei to be surprised. According to what Xiao Er said, this must be the ones the Xiao already had¡ªa tremendous amount already, but with all these accessories, Xiao Er would most definitely be the target of anger of many of the females in the Xiao. In the future, Xiao Er would definitely have to apologize properly to all of them.


    ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s start then!¡±


    With a small sigh to calm himself, Bai Yunfei took a purple ring first.


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Requirement: 6 Soulpoints


    After looking at the stats, Bai Yunfei thought to himself, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Additional Attribute: +2 Strength


    Upgrade Requirement: 7 Soulpoints


    ¡°Increases strength, that¡¯s useless¡­¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes.


    Putting away the ring, Bai Yunfei took out another jade bracelet and thought to himself, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Additional Attribute: +2 Agility


    Upgrade Requirement: 7 Soulpoints


    Once again, Bai Yunfei swapped out the bracelet for a new ring.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Several minutes later, Bai Yunfei had already gone through eight accessories before he finally got the attribute he wanted¡­


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Additional Attribute: +2 Spirit


    Upgrade Requirement: 7 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei sighed as he looked at the amber necklace in his hand, ¡°Finally an accessory that increases spirit. The chances of one of these appearing is really small¡­ so far, I¡¯ve probably created less than a hundred of these out of a thousand accessories. The chances of them reaching +10 are even lower, and then even those who have the effect of increasing regeneration rate was even smaller¡­¡±


    The more Bai Yunfei thought about it, the more depressed he became. At first mention, a thousand accessories were very good, but in the end, it would be very likely that not a single one would be left.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t enough, but Xiao Er¡¯s going to the city to buy some more. I shouldn¡¯t have to worry about the quantity for now.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself, ¡°I¡¯ll take a look at these ones first and pick out the spirit increasing ones before I upgrade them. That should last me the entire night¡­


    ¡°I hope that a soulforce regenerating accessory comes soon¡­¡± Bai Yunfei prayed to himself before picking up the one spirit increasing accessory again.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    With each accessory upgraded, Bai Yunfei sorted them in accordance to what their effects were and grouped them together. This sort of classification had been done once before when he gave several accessories to Jing Mingfeng, so he had some experience in this aspect. Therefore, sorting was relatively quick, and within a single hour, Bai Yunfei had each and every single one of the thousand accessories compiled in neat piles.


    So far, he had one hundred sixty-three accessories that could increase spirit. Many of them were ¡®High¡¯ grade while the rest were ¡®Superior.¡¯


    After resting and recovering his soulforce, Bai Yunfei took one of the many upgraded accessories into his hand. With two deep breaths, Bai Yunfei then upgraded the item to +8.


    Any upgrade after this meant the destruction of the equipment if he failed. After going through all of the one hundred sixty-three accessories, Bai Yunfei noted that only thirty-nine of them were able to reach the +9 level¡­


    With that final notice, Bai Yunfei blacked out.


    He came to a start when he realized that it was already daybreak of the following day. Staring at the earring in his hand, Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°This next part is the most important part! May the heavens grant me a chance to get a soulforce regenerating effect!!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head after a moment of silence. Dusting the powder off his hands, Bai Yunfei took another one of the +9 accessories and proceeded to upgrade it.


    Failure, failure, and failure¡­


    It wasn¡¯t until the sixth equipment when¡­

 Chapter 266: A Worsening Injury

    Chapter 266: A Worsening Injury


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: +56 Spirit


    +10 Additional Effect: Lessen damage from spirit-related injuries by 3%


    Upgrade Requirement: 33 Soulpoints


    Another never-before-seen effect! In the past Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve leapt at the chance to research this effect, but this time, he only shook his head in disappointment, ¡°Ugh¡­ this doesn¡¯t regenerate soulforce¡­¡±


    After putting away the jade necklace, Bai Yunfei took out a silver ring and proceeded to upgrade it¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    With the final +9 accessory turning to dust, Bai Yunfei could only look vacantly at the dust as it flowed through his fingers in disappointment.


    Out of the thirty-nine +9 pieces of equipment, only five of them managed to become +10. Having five pieces of +10 equipment was already a decent sum since the chances of being able to upgrade any equipment to +10 was drastically lower after he had become a Soul Ancestor. Out of a hundred of the equipment below Superior in grade, only two of them were able to become +10. Statistics like that were in accordance to what obtained before. Even though he had roughly the same chances as he did before, Bai Yunfei could infer that there was a correlation to be found when he had some elemental fire in him and when he didn¡¯t.


    Bai Yunfei had no desire to research that now. All he could think about was the sadness of it all¡ªto have only five +10 accessories with none of them being able to regenerate soulforce. He was aware of such an outcome, but he still couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed.


    Of the five +10 pieces of equipment he had: two of them were rings, one was a bracelet, and the other two were earrings.


    Clenching the five accessories, Bai Yunfei snarled, ¡°If +10 won¡¯t do, then I¡¯ll make them +12!¡±


    Focusing on one of the rings, he thought, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Additional Attribute: +79 Spirit


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase spirit by an additional 50 points.


    Upgrade Requirement: 43 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled at the result, ¡°Haha, it really succeeded!!¡±


    He snatched the second ring with renewed vigor, ¡°Upgrade!¡± he thought excitedly.


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face froze as he watched the equipment disintegrate into dust before sighing to pick up a jade bracelet.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡­¡­


    Out of the five +10 pieces of equipment he started with, only one was left.


    This was a situation Bai Yunfei had come across plenty of times by now. Despite that, he still couldn¡¯t help but feel a great deal of disappointment this time, especially now that he was feeling sad. He had been extremely eager to upgrade one accessory to regenerate soulforce so that he could help save Xinyun, but with nothing appearing so far, he was unable to accept this outcome.


    There was a look of unease as Bai Yunfei eyed the remaining +11 ring in his hand. Biting his lip, Bai Yunfei shook his right hand to retrieve a small white stone.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Special Effect 1: Increase the chance of success when upgrading by 10)%.


    Cannot be stacked with the effect of another item.


    Additional Effect 2: Increase the chance of success when crafting by 50%.


    Cannot be stacked with the effect of another item.


    Cannot be upgraded


    What he took out was the upgrade stone!


    Determined, Bai Yunfei spoke to himself, ¡°I have to succeed! I have to find an item with the recovery effect! I will save Xinyun, I must!!¡±


    ¡°Upgr¡ª¡±


    ¡°Chirrp!!¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei was about to upgrade the +11 ring, the sound of a panicked chirp flooded his ears, snapping him out of his trance.


    ¡°Xiao Bai!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out. This chirp was a very familiar one; it was the quickshade bird of Tang Xinyun!


    ¡°No! Xinyun!!¡±


    With practically no hesitation at all, Bai Yunfei leaped up from his bed. He tossed away the upgrade stone and ring and flew out of his room. Dashing through the doors, he leaped over the presiding wall to reach the other courtyard to reach the room where Tang Xinyun was.


    As soon as he entered the room, Bai Yunfei could see Xiao Binzi and the others seated there. Cang Yu was seated right next to the bed with an anxious look on her face as she gripped Tang Xinyun¡¯s wrist. Xiao Binzi stood stone-faced behind Cang Yu while Jiang Nan and Song Lin both stood behind him with equally anxious faces.


    Running to Tang Xinyun¡¯s bed, Bai Yunfei could see her extremely pale face was completely drenched with sweat. The strands of black energy coming off her face were extremely strange to see, and she looked like she was in extreme pain. Her face was scrunched up, and her teeth nipped at her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.


    The quickshade bird was the size of a very large bird as it lay by her right hand. Its head nestled against her right arm as it transmitted its soulforce into her body. The chirp earlier was from Xiao Bai, but now, the bird¡¯s voice was barely audible as it appeared to be chirping softly into Xinyun¡¯s ear.


    Bai Yunfei turned to Xiao Binzi, ¡°First elder¡­ what¡¯s happening to Xinyun? Wasn¡¯t she stabilized? What happened now?¡±


    Xiao Binzi sighed, ¡°The Refining Soul Palm made its first outburst, and the resulting power wasn¡¯t something we were expecting. At first, Xinyun¡¯s soulforce was completely swallowed, but thankfully Xiao Bai was here to give her some of its soulforce. Since they have a soul contract with one another, Xiao Bai¡¯s soulforce wasn¡¯t rejected by Xinyun¡¯s body, but the corrosive power of the Refining Soul Palm is really far too strong; even as a fifth-tier soulbeast, Xiao Bai¡¯s soulforce is nearly running out¡­¡±


    If a fifth-tier soulbeast like Xiao Bai was nearly out of soulforce, the implications of what were happening with Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t even need to be said.


    It was as though a bucket of ice-cold water was dropped over Bai Yunfei. ¡°Then¡­ what about medicine!? First elder, you¡¯re a Soul King, there must be some sort of treasure that¡¯ll help her, right!? Isn¡¯t there any medicine that could save her?¡±


    Tapping a finger against his chin, Xiao Binzi sighed, ¡°What medicine I had was¡­ already administered to Xinyun that first night when you were asleep. The Xiao only has a few medicines as it is, and we¡¯ve already used up all of theirs¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei fell silent.


    ¡°Since those medicines didn¡¯t work, there¡¯s really only one method left¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped up when he heard that last remark in hope, ¡°What method is there? What is it? First elder, please tell me!¡±


    It was Cang Yu who answered him rather than Xiao Binzi. ¡°The last method the first elder mentioned is¡­ to dissipate Xinyun¡¯s essence fireseed. By harnessing that energy, she should be able to fend off the corrosive energy¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s body froze up as he realized what Cang Yu was getting at. Using up Xinyun¡¯s essence fireseed was basically using up her cultivation; which in turn meant she would return to being a Soul Warrior!?


    Furthermore, to recondense essence fireseed was practically impossible. It was a feat that was hundreds or even a thousand times harder than Bai Yunfei¡¯s attempt to regenerate his essence fireseed¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    It was at this moment that Xiao Bai let loose a chirp to alert the others in the room. Turning their heads, everyone could see the faint black wisp over Tang Xinyun¡¯s body immediately flew toward her chest! In a flash of green light, Xiao Bai sent its soulforce into her body to start the fight with the black energy, but as soon as it did, Xiao Bai¡¯s head dropped down to the bed from the lack of power. Its soulforce, previously stronger than Tang Xinyun¡¯s soulforce, was now as weak as hers¡­


    ¡°Ungh¡­¡± A small groan slipped out of Tang Xinyun¡¯s mouth from her pain. It was soft, but to Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears, it was as sharp and painful as a blade to his heart.


    The situation had taken¡­ a turn for the worse!!

 Chapter 267: Powerless

    Chapter 267: Powerless


    ¡°Xinyun!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out as he rushed to her side. Grabbing her wrist, Bai Yunfei was just about to send in his own soulforce when he realized that it¡¯d only serve to add to her pain. Whipping his head to Xiao Binzi, Bai Yunfei pleaded, ¡°First elder¡­ I beg of you to find a method! You¡¯re a Soul King, a mighty Soul King!! Please save Xinyun!!¡±


    Xiao Binzi¡¯s face was ashen. Even though he was a Soul King, he had no power here. For the first time in twenty years, Xiao Binzi really felt powerless when he looked at Bai Yunfei¡¯s anxious face. If Xinyun had been a little stronger, she would have been strong enough to handle the pain long enough for someone to send their soulforce into her body to burn away the foreign energy. Then they could treat her wounds, but since Tang Xinyun was only an early-stage Soul Sprite, the enemy energy was far too strong for her body to even withstand. Anything else would only make her wounds worse.


    Bai Yunfei turned away from Xiao Binzi to Cang Yu next, ¡°Third elder, Xinyun is your own disciple. Please, save her!¡±


    Pained, Cang Yu turned to look at Xiao Binzi, ¡°Senior,¡± she sighed, ¡°We¡¯ve exhausted all our other options¡­ we may as well try to use her essence fireseed and hope that it¡¯ll be enough¡­¡±


    ¡°But that way, Xinyun will¡­¡± Bai Yunfei protested.


    To force Tang Xinyun back to the Soul Warrior realm would be the same as making her give up training in elemental fire. Even though she could continue to train in the path of elemental wind, Tang Xinyun had traveled a long way to reach the Crafting School to train in the art of crafting and elemental fire.


    There was a reason Tang Xinyun desired power, and she had told Bai Yunfei about it once long ago. Everything she was doing was for the sake of growing strong enough to protect her mother¡­


    That¡¯s why it was like a dream come true when she finally joined the Crafting School. Even more fulfilling was her feat at becoming a disciple of the third elder. Thanks to being able to condense her essence fireseed, she was able to craft her own soulbound armament and learn the art of crafting.


    To use up her essence fireseed today would destroy all the hope she had built up at this point! Her crisis might pass if her essence fireseed was used up, but she would never be able to train with elemental fire even after she fully healed!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even want to imagine how he¡¯d be able to face Tang Xinyun when the time came¡­


    ¡°We¡¯ve no choice,¡± Cang Yu shook her head, ¡°Protecting her life comes first. Even if we must use her essence fireseed, Xinyun will still have the opportunity to pursue another element¡­¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but¡­¡± Lost, Bai Yunfei tried his best to wrack his brain for an idea before swiftly coming to a suggestion, ¡°Oh! We¡¯ve Xiao Bai! Xiao Bai is Xinyun¡¯s soulbeast partner! If we give Xiao Bai soulforce, Xiao Bai can give Xinyun its soulforce! She can be saved that way!!¡±


    Moving to Xiao Bai¡¯s body, Bai Yunfei was just about to transmit his soulforce into Xiao Bai when Xiao Binzi pulled him away.


    ¡°Yunfei, it¡¯s useless. If it was possible, we¡¯d have done so already¡­ Xiao Bai is a soulbeast partner with Xinyun, so their soulforce is indistinguishable from one another. Our soulforce through Xiao Bai would be rejected nonetheless.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Nearly as fast as his hope lit up, Bai Yunfei found himself plummeting back down into despair. ¡°Then what do we do? What should we do¡ª


    ¡°¡ªoh! I¡¯ve got it! The wind spirit mushroom!¡± In his moment of desperation, yet another suggestion came to mind. ¡°Xiao Bai can eat this wind spirit mushroom! It can eat it for soulforce, I¡¯ve a wind spirit mushroom right here!¡±


    Like a drowning man grasping at a low-drooping tree branch to save his life, Bai Yunfei pulled the wind spirit mushroom from his space ring and presented it to Xiao Bai. ¡°Xiao Bai! Eat it! This¡¯ll help you recover your soulforce and get better!¡±


    ¡°Chirp¡­¡±


    Though the reply was weak, Xiao Bai was clearly able to understand Bai Yunfei. Opening its beak, the bird quickly swallowed the mushroom.


    This wind spirit mushroom was nearly a thousand years old. The previous headmaster Zi Jin might have said that this one was only ¡®slightly rare,¡¯ but that was still the evaluation of a late-stage Soul King. If a fifth-tier flying scorpion was safeguarding it, the effects of the mushroom would surely be abnormal. After Xiao Bai ate it, its entire body began to glow bright with a green light in what was clearly a sign of it becoming stronger. With renewed soulforce, Xiao Bai began to transmit it into Xinyun¡¯s body in large enough droves, clearly helping Tang Xinyun¡­


    Hopeful, Bai Yunfei continued to stare intently at Tang Xinyun as if to watch her progress. On the other side, Xiao Binzi sighed to himself and shook his head. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself as if he couldn¡¯t bring himself to actually say it.


    Several minutes later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hopeful expression was dashed once more when he noticed the soulforce Xiao Bai gained from the wind spirit mushroom started to die down. In just a short few minutes, it was completely gone from Xiao Bai¡¯s body, and Tang Xinyun was barely better than before.


    Then her injuries started to worsen.


    That was when Bai Yunfei realized that this method was for naught as well¡­


    A feeling of dread and powerlessness far more potent than before crept into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind and sapped his strength. He staggered away from her bed far enough that Song Lin had to catch him. Song Lin then brought him over to sit on a nearby stool for him to look at Xinyun in despair.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Cang Yu looked at Bai Yunfei with a pitiful gaze. ¡°Senior, should we use her essence fireseed then?¡±


    Xiao Binzi nodded as he stepped toward her bed.


    Right now, that was the only method left¡­


    ¡°Nothing can be done. I can¡¯t do anything¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself despondently as if trying to apologize to Xinyun. The more he muttered, the more his face scrunched together in anguish and his eyes grew even more frantic. ¡°I¡¯m useless, just useless!!!!¡±


    ¡°Aaaahhh!!!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A crack echoed through the room as the exquisite purplewood table exploded into powder. Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist had slammed into it before he ran out the room.


    ¡°Yunfei!¡±


    Song Lin yelped before chasing after him.


    ¡°Song Lin, don¡¯t bother¡­¡± Cang Yu stopped him, ¡°It¡¯s no use. Yunfei is very emotional right now, leave him alone to calm down for now¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Outside the room, Bai Yunfei tore through the small courtyard like a berserk bull straight for the halls of the Xiao. In no time at all, he came crashing into Xiao Er.


    As soon as Xiao Er saw Bai Yunfei, he paused slightly in surprise, ¡°Brother Bai?¡± He said, ¡°What brings you here? Actually, good timing, I was just ab¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t even finished speaking before Bai Yunfei slammed into Xiao Er. Grabbing at his clothes, Bai Yunfei threw him into the nearby rock garden.


    Flying into a rock with so much force that Xiao Er¡¯s body cracked it, he let out a hacking cough as a mouthful of blood escaped his mouth.


    ¡°Br¡ªbrother Bai, what, what do you mean by this!?¡± Since he was far weaker than Bai Yunfei, Xiao Er was in no position to properly defend himself. Even now, he wasn¡¯t quite sure what in the world Bai Yunfei was doing, so he didn¡¯t know how to respond to this.


    The veins in Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm were bulging as he lifted Xiao Er into the air.


    Both of his eyes were practically glowing with a bright red light as he snarled, ¡°Accessories! Give me the accessories! Right now!!¡±

 Chapter 268: Upgrading Craze

    Chapter 268: Upgrading Craze


    ¡°U¡ªugh!¡± With his breath knocked out of him, Xiao Er¡¯s face grew red. He tried to regain his breath, ¡°Brother Bai! Calm down! I¡¯ll give you the accessories! Here, have them!!¡±


    His hand pulled out a black space ring from within his robes before handing it to Bai Yunfei to see.


    With the ring in sight, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hold on Xiao Er loosened enough for him to fall back to the ground with a gasp. Grabbing the space ring, Bai Yunfei looked inside the ring and could see over two thousand accessories in there.


    ¡°Co-cough, Brother Bai, what are you doing!? What¡¯s going on?¡± Now that Bai Yunfei was finally calm, Xiao Er immediately demanded an explanation.


    ¡°¡­¡± Snapping back to reality, the craze that was in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes bled away as he looked at the panicked Xiao Er.


    ¡°Bro¡ªbrother Xiao, I¡­ I apologize¡­ I was¡­¡± An apology was stammered out.


    Now that Bai Yunfei was finally back to normal, Xiao Er chose then to breathe a sigh of relief. ¡°No need for apologies, brother Bai. I know you didn¡¯t mean it, but you were truly frightful just then, what happened?¡±


    Even though Xiao Er didn¡¯t seem to mind, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was still extremely pale. His lips twitched into a frown as if he was pained and ashamed for what had just happened, ¡°Brother Xiao. I truly apologize, I lost myself for a second there. Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, just a scratch really. It¡¯ll be healed after a good night¡¯s rest.¡± Xiao Er was a very sanguine person, so a trivial matter like this didn¡¯t weigh too much on his mind.


    Bai Yunfei decided not to push the matters anymore. Looking down at the space ring, he thought for a moment before taking out a silvery-white dagger to give to Xiao Er.


    Again, Xiao Er was surprised. Was Bai Yunfei the type of person who liked to give people gifts? Why was he giving him yet another powerful soul armament?


    It was an honest apology. ¡°Brother Xiao, I¡¯ve an extremely important matter to take care of right now and can¡¯t say much. I truly apologize for hurting you just now, so please take this soul armament as an apology. I might ask you to buy even more accessories in a little bit. The more the better! The faster the better!¡±


    Xiao Er didn¡¯t plan to take the soul armament, but Bai Yunfei had practically forced the soul armament into his hands, ¡°Brother Xiao, please!!¡±


    Xiao Er didn¡¯t feel like guessing what Bai Yunfei needed these accessories for, but this time he could at least tell that Bai Yunfei really cared about this matter.


    If a friend asked for a favor, one should do what one can to help.


    Plus, his own grandfather kept repeating the necessity that he should help Bai Yunfei and his group with whatever they needed. Since he was given a second soul armament as a ¡®gift,¡¯ the necessity doubled for him. He needed to ensure that he did his best to help Bai Yunfei.


    Putting away the dagger, Xiao Er nodded his head with a solemn expression. ¡°Rest assured, brother Bai.¡± He vowed, ¡°I¡¯ll prepare every single last accessory in Curopia City if I must!¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, brother Xiao.¡± Bai Yunfei cupped his hands together, ¡°I must return first. Please prepare the accessories and send them when ready¡­¡±


    ¡°Not a problem!¡± Xiao Er nodded.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    By the time Bai Yunfei returned, Tang Xinyun¡¯s essence fireseed was no more. Her body was devoid of elemental fire, and she was now a Soul Warrior once more.


    Her wounds had, for the most part, stabilized. Even the corrosive energy inside had been stopped and was dormant. It remained to be seen whether or not another outbreak would occur¡­ if there was, there¡¯d be no second usage of her essence fireseed¡­


    Wordlessly, Bai Yunfei stared at Tang Xinyun for a few dozen minutes. Then under the worried eyes of the others, he returned to his room and closed himself off.


    Getting on top of his bed, Bai Yunfei turned to look in the direction of Tang Xinyun¡¯s room. Though he was unable to look through the walls to see the pained body of Tang Xinyun, his own eyes ached with a tint of tenderness. ¡°Xinyun, I won¡¯t let you get hurt next time! I¡¯ll make sure that I¡¯ll make an equipment to help recover your soulforce!¡±


    He shut his eyes and began to take in deep breaths to calm himself. By the time he opened them, Bai Yunfei had a staunch look of determination. Pulling a jade ring into his hands, he thought, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrading¡­ upgrading¡­ and upgrading¡­


    Bai Yunfei had been thrown into a near fanatical craze to upgrade things. Practically everything else in the world was forgotten. The only thing he could think about and focus on was upgrading all the accessories here.


    The first time, it took Bai Yunfei an entire night to find over a hundred spirit increasing accessories from the thousand accessories he had first been given. Upgrading them until the item broke or gained an effect was another step to the process that added to his time, but this time, the two thousand accessories only took him half a day to upgrade! That was because during that first night, his soulforce hadn¡¯t fully recovered yet!!


    Later that afternoon, Xiao Er sent some of his people over to Bai Yunfei for third delivery of accessories. Upon opening the door, the maid that came to attend to Bai Yunfei had nearly cried out in terror!


    His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth were gnashed together, and his face was practically without color. If the maid had come during the night rather than the day, she would¡¯ve thought that Bai Yunfei was some sort of hellish demon rather than a human.


    After finishing the second round of accessories, Bai Yunfei ended with thirteen accessories that were +10, but sadly, none of them had the effect he wanted.


    Ever since Bai Yunfei had obtained the Equipment Upgrade Technique, the amount of accessories he had upgraded was innumerable. Aside from that first space ring with the soulforce recovery effect, a second one had not appeared even half a year later. From that, it was easy to tell that the chances of it appearing in the first place were very low. It was possible that even after a day dedicated to upgrading, it would not appear.


    Whenever he upgraded, Bai Yunfei would stop for a break to let his soulforce recover before throwing himself back into it. Even with the breaks, upgrading so crazily like this was a giant burden on his mind. By the time he reached the third batch of accessories, he was no longer able to resist his fatigue and fell unconscious.


    Under his meticulous efforts, Bai Yunfei was able to forcefully rouse himself from his sleep two hours later to continue upgrading.


    Use up soulforce, fall asleep, wake up, and continue upgrading. That was how the cycle progressed without fail¡­


    Bai Yunfei had done this once before when he had become a Soul Sprite. Though by doing this he was able to make a great leap in strength, the strain had been so severe that he nearly lost his life, so he had forbidden himself from repeating the process.


    Even though he forbade himself from doing it, the promise he made today to Tang Xinyun trumped that. It didn¡¯t matter what the consequences were¡­


    The last time was for the sake of power.


    This time was for the sake of saving the life of Xinyun.


    The fourth batch of accessories came the following morning. Receiving them with a few words of thanks, Bai Yunfei returned to his room to continue upgrading.


    What Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know was that by asking for so many accessories, all of the accessory stores in Curopia City were practically exploding with discussion. This by extension made the house of Xiao a topic of discussion again.


    Of course, they were the central topic for the commoners too. Seeing one of the young heirs of the Xiao buy out all the accessories in the city was definitely a first for them.


    By the third day, Bai Yunfei had all but locked the doors to his room. The only times he went out were to see Tang Xinyun at night and keep watch for half an hour, and each time, Cang Yu could only sigh and leave the room so that Bai Yunfei could stand by Xinyun¡¯s bed. Tang Xinyun had a melancholic expression on her face; though beautiful by physical standards, her face was also sad to see.


    Bai Yunfei never moved an inch whenever he looked at her. He never said a word either. After spending half an hour in such a manner, he¡¯d return to his own room and continue to upgrade¡­


    It went without saying that Cang Yu and the others were extremely concerned by Bai Yunfei¡¯s behavior, but what could they do? They all thought that he was feeling extremely guilty, but none of them knew what Bai Yunfei was up to in his craze.


    By the fourth day, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know how many accessories he had seen or upgraded. He couldn¡¯t even give an estimate on the amount of +10 ones he had other than the fact that he had over a hundred of them!


    He had despaired over the fact that many of the +10 accessories that granted additional spirit had normal effects such as ¡®grant additional spirit.¡¯ Not a single one of them had an effect of granting additional recovery rates!


    By the fifth day, Bai Yunfei¡¯s nerves were at a breaking point. With each passing day, the chances of the corrosive energy in Tang Xinyun¡¯s body having a second outbreak increased.


    He hadn¡¯t even had a bite to eat since yesterday so that he could spend his time upgrading the accessories.


    Later that afternoon when Bai Yunfei woke up from another one of his fainting spells, he decided not to upgrade any new accessories anymore.


    He had to¡­ upgrade the +10 ones!


    If the +10 additional effects didn¡¯t work, he¡¯d aim for the +12 ones!!

 Chapter 269: All or Nothing

    Chapter 269: All or Nothing


    Over the span of the past few days of upgrading, Bai Yunfei had upgraded roughly one hundred fifty-six accessories to +10 and had three accessories that were +11. This included the accessories he had before this.


    Just how many one of these one hundred fifty-nine accessories would make it to +12, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know, but that didn¡¯t matter. Even if they all failed, Bai Yunfei could start from scratch, and if they worked, there¡¯d be a chance of getting the effects he wanted. The +12 effects were usually a lot stronger than the +10 ones, so the chances of something that could help Tang Xinyun would be a lot higher too¡­


    There was a dark-green bracelet in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands as he looked at the stats.


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: +33 Spirit


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase spirit by 20.


    Upgrade Requirement: 22 Soulpoints


    After looking at the stats, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    That was an expected outcome¡­


    He took another equipment. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°Upgrade¡­¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    ¡­¡­


    The chances of a successful upgrade after reaching the +10 mark were so low that anyone would feel frustrated. Out of the twenty-six accessories Bai Yunfei tried, he was ¡®fortunate¡¯ that one of them passed.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Additional Attribute: +86 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase spirit by 55.


    Upgrade Requirement: 4 Soulpoints


    Sighing as he looked at the amber necklace, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°Finally got one. Getting any piece of equipment to +11 is probably below 10%¡­.that doesn¡¯t matter, I have to keep upgrading!¡±


    He picked up a black ring next, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    This time, Bai Yunfei was a little more careful as he upgraded the accessories. There weren¡¯t even two hundred accessories this time, but it took three hours for him to finish. Now that night was here and all the +10 equipment were upgraded, Bai Yunfei was left with only¡­ sixteen!


    With barely even a ten percent success rate, Bai Yunfei felt quite fortunate to have what he had. Counting the three accessories he had from before, he now had nineteen +11 accessories.


    Cross-legged on his bed, Bai Yunfei looked over each of the nineteen accessories. This was the first time in five days that he had been so calm. Grabbing a jade bracelet with his hand, he muttered, ¡°After five days of work, this is what I have. Whether I make it or break it, these nineteen items will determine my fate!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!!¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Disappoint flashed over the frozen face of Bai Yunfei before he shook his head, ¡°That¡¯s only the first one. I¡¯ve still more to go!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips twitched sporadically with an unsightly expression. Picking up a purplish-red bracelet next, Bai Yunfei let out a heavy breath to calm himself. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Additional Attribute: +122 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase spirit by 53.


    +12 Additional Effect: Increase spirit by 100.


    Upgrade Requirement: 60 Soulpoints


    ¡°Success!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with joy, but when he saw the new effect of the bracelet, a look of disgust immediately replaced it.


    ¡°Yo¡ªthis¡ªwhat the fuck! What else can you do but increase spirit!? I want the ability to regenerate soulforce! Regenerate!!¡± Bai Yunfei howled as he looked at the +12 equipment he had worked so hard to upgrade.


    The accessory was quite something else in truth. It granted an additional 275 points of spirit¡ªby no means a small number, roughly 550 units of soulforce!


    To be more definite, an early-stage Soul Personage had 600 units of soulforce. A late-stage Soul Personage had roughly 1000.


    So that meant if an early-stage Soul Personage were to wear this ring, they¡¯d have enough soulforce to fight a late-stage Soul Personage!


    To be fair, having soulforce did not mean having strength, but in a long fight, the one with even more soulforce between two at the same level of strength would come out on top. For Bai Yunfei, equipping this ring would give him a substantial boost to his soulforce.


    But this wasn¡¯t what he wanted!!


    It took so much time and effort for him to get a +12 equipment. To have this effect appear right now was nothing more than an irksome presence that he hated!


    After several deep breaths to quell his disappointment, Bai Yunfei tossed the +12 bracelet aside and took out another ring. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Additional Attribute: +130 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    +10 Additional Effect: When in use, decrease the consumption of soulforce by 5%.


    +12 Additional Effect: Decrease the attack of all spirit-based attacks by 15%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 62 Soulpoints


    ¡°This¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was speechless at what he had achieved, ¡°I succeeded again!!¡±


    Like he said before, upgrading was something Bai Yunfei had no guarantees. He couldn¡¯t guarantee a chance of success out of ten equipment, but he couldn¡¯t say that it¡¯d be possible to have a consecutive success¡ªjust like right now.


    But it still wasn¡¯t what he wanted!!


    He succeeded in upgrading, but he was disappointed with the results nonetheless. ¡°There¡¯s still a chance!¡± Bai Yunfei encouraged himself, ¡°I¡¯ve two successes out of five. That means I could still have a chance!¡±


    He pulled out a necklace with his hand, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡­¡­


    Perhaps the goddess of fortune was looking after Bai Yunfei for only that moment, for Bai Yunfei failed the following ten one after another!


    From the remaining +11 equipment after that, only one more succeeded!


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Additional Attribute: +125 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase spirit by 60.


    +12 Additional Effect: There is a 5% chance of being immune to a spirit-based attack when hit.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Upgrade Requirement: 60 Soulpoints


    This was the third +12 accessory.


    Bai Yunfei looked at it despondently. After five straight days of upgrading, this was all that he was left with¡­


    ¡°Just how could this be¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself in despair. ¡°There were so many accessories, so many! Why wasn¡¯t there a single one with that effect!?¡±


    He raised his head to look up at the heavens beyond the roof, ¡°Dear Heavens, are you trying to make me regret this for the rest of my life¡­?¡±


    For several minutes, Bai Yunfei looked at the three accessories in his hand. As if to comfort himself, he muttered, ¡°+13¡­ equipment still have another additional effect. That¡¯s my last chance¡­ I managed to upgrade the brick to +13 before, so it¡¯s not impossible! I can¡¯t give up, I have to stay determined¡­ there¡¯s still hope!!¡±


    Trying to instill hope in himself, Bai Yunfei grabbed the nearby purple-red bracelet. ¡°Upgrade¡­¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    Perhaps the Heavens didn¡¯t listen to his prayer since the bracelet was immediately reduced to ashes.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupils dilated a bit as his face drained of color. Trying to maintain his calm and determination, Bai Yunfei shook his hand to take out a white stone.


    This time, he¡¯ll use the upgrade stone!!

 Chapter 270: Yuns Soul Ring

    Chapter 270: Yun''s Soul Ring


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really know the best way to ¡®use¡¯ the upgrade stone, but if he had to guess, it¡¯d have to be used at some point when he upgraded an item. The stone increased the chance of success when upgrading, so if he held the +12 ring and the stone together in one hand, he should be able to ¡®use the stone¡¯ if he thought hard about it.


    As expected, a strange connection between him and the stone was created. Almost as if linking with his thoughts, the effect of the stone could be felt.


    After confirming the stats of the ring, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    As per usual when upgrading, a strand of his soulforce was taken from him. The only difference this time was that the notification on the results didn¡¯t immediately show up. Bai Yunfei could just barely sense that there was some sort of strange energy materializing in front of him, and in a split-second, the stone in his hand was immediately reduced to a small pile of white powder that flew into the ring in his hand!


    Unconsciously, Bai Yunfei began to use his soulsense.


    Usage of item to enhance upgrade successful, chance of upgrading increased by 100%...


    A never-before-seen notification popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. When he used his soulsense to ¡®look¡¯ inside, he could see that the white powder, which used to be the upgrade stone, was being absorbed by the +12 ring.


    Even more strange was the fact that his soulsense was being pulled in with this white energy!!


    Hidden in there, Bai Yunfei could see a small ¡®spot.¡¯ In this spot was some sort of slow moving law of the world that came to a complete stop¡­


    Upgrade Successful


    A notification flashed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, causing him to snap to attention. The strange feeling from before was gone now.


    ¡°What was that¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head to clear his mind, ¡°It¡­ it actually worked!¡±


    Whether it was the doubled success rate from the upgrade stone, the Heavens had listened to him, or it was because of the fact that he was the main character, he had¡­ succeeded!


    Impatiently grabbing the ring, Bai Yunfei looked at the stats with an extremely anxious look.


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Additional Attribute: +189 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase spirit by 60.


    +12 Additional Effect: 3% chance of avoiding a spirit-based attack.


    +13 Additional Effect: Recover 3 soulpoints every second.


    Upgrade Requirement: 66 Soulpoints


    When the notification for the stats appeared in his mind, Bai Yunfei was speechless for a second before his body began to shiver.


    ¡°It¡­ it finally appeared!!¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but scream this over and over in his mind, he could even feel tears start to well up in his eyes.


    After trying so hard and experiencing despair so many times, he had finally gotten the effect he wanted!!


    And this effect was¡­ a lot stronger than what he expected!


    Not only did it accelerate the regeneration of soulforce, it returned some every second!


    What did that mean, though? Increasing the rate of recovery was dependent on how fast the person could regenerate their soulforce, but this effect was not dependent on that, it simply recovered soulforce at a steady rate!


    Three soulpoints per second meant¡­ thirty soulpoints in ten seconds. In one minute that was 180 soulpoints, and in ten minutes, that was 1800 soulpoints!!


    Bai Yunfei was an early-stage Soul Ancestor, meaning he had less than six thousand units of soulpoints. Even if he used up all his soulforce, as long as he put on this ring, he¡¯d be back to almost full capacity by thirty minutes!!


    In his hands, the small milky-white ring looked like a piece of ivory. Adorned on top of the ring was a very common-looking crystal with engravings that blended in with the ring around it. With its remarkable craftsmanship, the ring looked a bit like a cloud.


    ¡°Xinyun¡­ Xinyun has a chance now!!¡±


    His heart skipped a beat at the realization. As though unwilling to hesitate or bother with the remaining +12 ring with him, Bai Yunfei immediately flew from his bed and out of his room.


    ¡­¡­


    From within Tang Xinyun¡¯s room, Cang Yu smiled as Bai Yunfei came running in. ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re here.¡± She warmly smiled.


    In all honesty, Cang Yu had been unhappy with Bai Yunfei because of his reckless actions. Actions that had reduced Tang Xinyun to this state, but the past few days had altered her judgement. She could see that Bai Yunfei blamed himself each time he came in to see her. He blamed himself so much that he would ¡®shut¡¯ himself in his own room as if for penance.


    With those actions, it was hard for her to continue blaming Bai Yunfei, so all that she could do was sigh and hope that this lesson would be enough for Bai Yunfei to learn the folly of his ways.


    Bai Yunfei bowed to Cang Yu, ¡°Third elder, how is Xinyun today?¡±


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t improved yet,¡± Cang Yu shook her head regretfully, ¡°we aren¡¯t sure when that corrosive energy will start to spike again either. The first elder and I have decided that we will return to the Crafting School tomorrow with Xinyun. Hopefully senior Zi Jin will know of something.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be heading back just like that?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knit together, ¡°But¡­ didn¡¯t the first elder say that it¡¯s best not to move Xinyun?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve no choice. To continue and stay here would be useless. It would be better to risk the journey home and seek treatment there.¡± Cang Yu shook her head.


    ¡°...¡± Bai Yunfei was silent for a moment, ¡°Third elder¡­ may¡­ may I be alone with Xinyun for a moment?¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± She nodded and smiled, ¡°I was getting tired, so I¡¯ll be returning to rest first. I¡¯ll leave Xinyun with you for now.¡±


    After Cang Yu left, Bai Yunfei took a seat next to Tang Xinyun¡¯s bed and looked at the still sleeping girl. Her pained expression served as a source of pain to Bai Yunfei himself.


    Without time to waste, Bai Yunfei took Tang Xinyun¡¯s left hand and slipped the +13 ring onto her left ring finger.


    As he placed her icy-cold arm back on the bed, Bai Yunfei murmured softly to her, ¡°Xinyun, don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll call this ring ¡®Yun¡¯s Soul Ring.¡¯ A ring that was made because of you. It¡¯ll help you fight the corrosive energy¡­¡±


    Maybe it was because of Bai Yunfei¡¯s comforting words¡ªthough most likely because of the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring¡ªbut Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyebrows seemed to unfurl just slightly.


    But it wasn¡¯t a big enough change to be noticed.


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s going on?¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised. He had expected to see the +13 ring have some sort of effect by now. As a late-stage Soul Warrior, it¡¯d take less than ten minutes for Tang Xinyun to fully recover her soulforce. However, it had been a whole minute since he had put the ring on, yet Tang Xinyun hadn¡¯t reacted in the slightest.


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s rate of soulforce regeneration was roughly the same as the rate the corrosive energy was moving, so with the ring giving her 3 soulpoints per second, there should¡¯ve been an immediate turn for the better already!


    ¡°Ngh¡­¡± The soft sound of Tang Xinyun¡¯s voice broke Bai Yunfei¡¯s train of thought. Snapping his head down, Bai Yunfei realized that there was a change overcoming Tang Xinyun¡¯s face¡­


    She was looking even more pained than before!


    As if breaking out of the hibernation it was in, a wisp of black energy suddenly burst out of her body and into the air above!


    Though he knew that it was because of the ring that this happened, Bai Yunfei was still alarmed by what he saw. He was just about to cry out for Cang Yu, but before he could even open his mouth, the door to Tang Xinyun¡¯s room burst open. Both Xiao Binzi and Cang Yu flew into the room and landed right beside Bai Yunfei; due to their relative strength, even the slightest of fluctuations of energy could be felt, especially since they were already paying close attention to the source.


    ¡°Yunfei, what happened?!¡± Panicking, Cang Yu questioned Bai Yunfei and began to look over Tang Xinyun.


    There was no way that Bai Yunfei would say that the reason why this had happened was because of the upgraded ring he had put on Tang Xinyun, but even knowing that he was extremely worried and replied to her without delay, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know either. It just happened out of nowhere, is the corrosive energy having another outbreak!? First elder, third elder, please take a look! Is¡­ is Xinyun alright?¡±


    Xiao Binzi had already been looking at Tang Xinyun before Bai Yunfei had even asked him too. ¡°Hm?¡± He uttered, ¡°The¡­ corrosive energy has gotten weaker? No, that¡¯s not right. Xinyun¡¯s soulforce is recovering far faster than before! But how?¡±


    ¡°It really is! Xinyun¡¯s soulforce recovery is triumphing the corrosive energy! What a relief! Xinyun can be saved!¡±


    As if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders, Bai Yunfei let loose a sigh of relief. He continued to look at Tang Xinyun¡¯s face with both of his hands clenched tight enough for sweat to start to pool inside.


    Roughly half an hour later, the black aura that was around Tang Xinyun¡¯s face finally dissipated before some semblance of color returned to it.


    ¡°Unhh¡­¡± There was a slight groan from Tang Xinyun¡¯s mouth and a tremble from her eyelashes before her eyes slowly fluttered open.


    Tang Xinyun was finally awake!!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 271: Avoiding Danger

    Chapter 271: Avoiding Danger


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes were a bit glossy from her sudden awakening. For a few seconds, she remained in her bed and blinked her eyes before finally registering Cang Yu next to her. Her mouth opened slightly as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out.


    ¡°Xinyun, don¡¯t speak for now. Focus on regaining your soulforce.¡± Cang Yu¡¯s hand clutched at Tang Xinyun¡¯s as she softly instructed.


    Tang Xinyun blinked once. She seemed to be responding to Cang Yu, but her eyes then shifted away from Cang Yu to look at Bai Yunfei who was beside himself with worry.


    A flash of joy registered in her eyes and her lips seemed to curl up, the sign of a smile. She was overjoyed to see that Bai Yunfei was safe and sound.


    It was a small detail that Bai Yunfei would never be able to forget¡­


    Yet, at the same time, Bai Yunfei felt even more regret.


    ¡°Xi¡ªXinyun, listen to the third elder and rest up. You¡¯ll be fine¡­¡± His voice trailed off as if unsure of what to say other than some comforting words. Even those words were said with a stutter before he turned to Xiao Binzi, ¡°First elder, Xinyun is going to be fine, isn¡¯t she? How long will it take for her to fully recover?¡±


    Deep in thought as he pondered the question, Xiao Binzi then answered, ¡°Xinyun¡¯s current situation is way better than before. I estimate that she won¡¯t face any other dangers but¡­ a full recovery won¡¯t be easy.¡±


    ¡°Even now there¡¯s still not a chance for full recovery!?¡± Bai Yunfei cried out in despair.


    Xiao Binzi nodded, ¡°The corrosiveness from the Soul Refining Palm isn¡¯t easy to neutralize. The fact that Xinyun was able to wake up is a blessing in itself. Perhaps the Purple Spirit Ring was far more effective than I thought¡­


    ¡°But in short, as long as Xinyun¡¯s soulforce continues to regenerate, she should be able to subdue and neutralize the remaining corrosive energy. Bit by bit, there¡¯ll surely be a day when all of that energy will be neutralized.¡±


    ¡°How¡­ how long will that take?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    Xiao Binzi wasn¡¯t sure, ¡°I cannot say. A few days perhaps. A few months, even longer¡­ There is no saying when or if the corrosive energy will come back. That¡¯s why I cannot guarantee anything.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was quiet. He had originally thought that Tang Xinyun would be safe and sound with the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring. The fact that there¡¯d still be so many different problems was surprising to him. In any case, Tang Xinyun was up now and was in no immediate danger. This much was enough to shrug off most of the weight on his shoulders.


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Xinyun was awake for only a short moment. She soon closed her eyes once again. She hadn¡¯t fainted. She was instead asleep due to her fatigue.


    Leaving Cang Yu behind to look after the sleeping female, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Binzi both walked out of the room and into the courtyard. The problem was resolved, but the worry in Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart wasn¡¯t gone yet. He looked back at her room.


    It was evident to Xiao Binzi what Bai Yunfei was feeling. ¡°Yunfei, don¡¯t worry.¡± He comforted, ¡°Concerning yourself over her won¡¯t do any good right now. Xinyun is already getting better, it¡¯s just a long route of recuperation from here.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t blame yourself too much. Making a mistake is something everyone does. To linger on these mistakes is not what a man should do.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was confused at first as to what Xiao Binzi was saying, but then he realized that the elder had mistaken Bai Yunfei¡¯s room confinement as a sign of self-blame. He didn¡¯t want to mention that even though Tang Xinyun had escaped danger, he was still feeling some lingering regret.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t plan on halting his plans to upgrade the spirit-increasing accessories. In fact, he wanted to make even more, to help Tang Xinyun drive out the remaining corrosive energy. That would be when he would stop feeling regretful.


    ¡°First elder¡­¡± Bai Yunfei began, ¡°I was actually in my room because I realized that something wasn¡¯t right with myself¡­¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Xiao Binzi started. His hand flew to grab Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder and probed in with his soulsense. ¡°Your aura is a little peculiar and garbled. What happened? Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?¡±


    ¡°With the condition Xinyun was in, I didn¡¯t want to let you worry even more, first elder. I didn¡¯t know what was wrong either. I was just afraid that something would happen if I didn¡¯t try to control the situation. If that happened, I¡¯d hope that you¡¯d come to save me, first elder¡­¡±


    Overusing the Upgrade Technique wasn¡¯t something to take lightly. The first time this had happened, Bai Yunfei had nearly lost his life. It was after that rampant usage that Bai Yunfei calmed himself down and forbade himself to do it again, but for Tang Xinyun¡¯s sake, he had no other choice.


    Wth Xiao Binzi being a Soul King, Bai Yunfei had to make up an excuse so that he¡¯d be prepared in the future.


    Still looking at Bai Yunfei with narrowed eyes, Xiao Binzi didn¡¯t look as if he knew what was going on with Bai Yunfei, so he said, ¡°Very well. Now that Xinyun is fine, we won¡¯t need to hurry back to the Crafting School. We¡¯ll stay here for a bit longer. Should anything happen, come straight to me at once.¡±


    ¡°Yes, elder. My apologies for the trouble¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ you youngsters and your reckless actions and inconsideration for the feelings of others. When will you grow up and let us old ones be worry free?¡± Xiao Binzi sighed before walking back to his room. At the moment, he looked as if he really was a kind but ordinary old man. He might be grumbling about Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions, but Bai Yunfei still felt slightly warm inside.


    When Bai Yunfei returned to his own courtyard, he managed to come across one of the men from the Xiao. The man had yet another space ring filled with accessories for Bai Yunfei. He took it without another word.


    Back in his room, Bai Yunfei was free to upgrade as he liked. This time, the process was far more casual than before. When he used up all his soulforce, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t try to force himself to continue.


    Instead, he took a proper ¡®rest¡¯ for the first time in days.


    ¡­¡­


    Later that night within the Xiao Compound¡ª


    The head of the family, Xiao Rang, sat in the middlemost seat with a grim expression. His son, Xiao Xin sat to his right with an equally uneasy expression.


    In the center of the room in front of the two stood a figure with his head drooped down low. It was the grandson of Xiao Rang, Xiao Er.


    Eying Xiao Er with eyes that could start a fire, Xiao Rang exploded in anger, ¡°Well? What do you have to say for yourself? In five days, you¡¯ve borrowed enough money for ten years from our account books, and you even borrowed an enormous sum from your brother and sisters! Then, you spent all this money to buy every single jewelry store in Curopia City and even some of the other stores in the surrounding cities! What ridiculousness is this? You better have a good reason for this; no matter how much your grandmother might protect you, I¡¯ll snap your leg if you don¡¯t explain yourself!!¡±


    Since he and Xiao Xin were completely busy taking care of the matters relating to the destruction of the house of Sun, the two of them had left the internal matters alone unless it was of immediate importance. The destruction of the Sun was very convenient to their family to say the least. Any subordinate family to the Sun needed to be subjugated, and their businesses needed to be bought out.


    So upon their return to the household, the two of them were swarmed with complaints from every single female in the Xiao. Each one of them complained that Xiao Er had rudely appropriated their jewelry and accessories without their permission. This in turn led to Xiao Rang and Xiao Xin¡¯s immediate anger. They demanded Xiao Rang be summoned for punishment


    Xiao Rang was a figure within the household everyone was afraid of, Xiao Er was no exception, but even though he was accustomed to the critics of his grandfather, Xiao Er had a perfectly reasonable justification for his actions this time. Straightening his back, Xiao Er announced, ¡°Grandfather, your grandson has a good reason for this!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Xiao Rang replied in surprise. ¡°What reason do you have? Speak!¡± He questioned.


    ¡°These accessories were¡­ what brother Bai wanted me to buy.¡± Xiao Er confessed.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?¡± Xiao Rang and Xiao Xin echoed. ¡°Wasn¡¯t he heavily injured? What does he want with these accessories?¡± Xiao Xin asked.


    Since he didn¡¯t know, Xiao Er shook his head. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know why, but he didn¡¯t want all of them. Each time I gave him a good sum, but he¡¯d return roughly ninety percent of them before asking me for another delivery. I didn¡¯t understand why, but grandfather said that I should do whatever the guests from the Crafting School wanted. So, I¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had only wanted the accessories that granted spirit. Any +1 accessories that granted any other attribute was pointless to keep and upgrade so he returned them to Xiao Er.


    ¡°That is a strange request¡­ does Bai Yunfei have some sort of strange hobby?¡± Xiao Xin conjectured, but he wasn¡¯t content with that, ¡°Was this Bai Yunfei really such an intemperate person? He might be an honored guest, but to have our family pay so much is a bit¡­¡±


    Xiao Er interrupted his father before he could finish speaking, ¡°Father, brother Bai didn¡¯t have me help him without a payment. He gave me two soul armaments as gifts¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? Soul armaments?¡± As soon as they heard the words ¡®soul armaments,¡¯ Xiao Rang and Xiao Xin were surprised. ¡°What tier are they? Low-human or mid-human? Let us see.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Xiao Er took out the silver dagger from his space ring and handed it to Xiao Rang.


    Upon handling the dagger, Xiao Er examined it before nearly dropping it in shock, ¡°High-human tier!¡±


    ¡°What!? A high-human tier soul armament!?¡± Xiao Xin was shocked too. ¡°Th¡ªthis Bai Yunfei is¡­ a very generous person¡­¡±


    A soul armament of that tier was worth far more than what the Xiao had lost in the past five days.


    ¡°One moment. You said there were two? What is the second one? Show me!¡± Xiao Rang¡¯s tone was suddenly a lot more impatient than before.


    Xiao Er himself was excited too. He didn¡¯t know how to differentiate between soul armaments. He only knew that the one he had obtained was a human tier soul armament, not that it was a high-human tier one.


    In his age-group, the only ones who had a high-human tier soul armament was his older brother, so hearing Xiao Rang declare the tier of it was enough for his heart to skip a beat. Quelling his emotions, Xiao Er took out the other azure longsword and handed it to Xiao Rang.


    Taking the longsword, Xiao Rang pushed his soulforce into the sword and listened for the vibrations. As soon as the sword light up in a flash of azure light, Xiao Rang¡¯s eyes lit up too.


    ¡°Low-earth!!¡±


    In comparison, a low-earth tier soul armament was far better than a high-human tier soul armament. Ever since the founding of the Xiao, their family heirloom had been nothing more than a high-earth tier soul armament. To have Bai Yunfei ¡®gift¡¯ them such an expensive item for a few accessories was something even he, a Soul Exalt, would be overwhelmed by.


    A wave of silence descended over the room for a decent amount of time before Xiao Rang finally spoke to Xiao Er. ¡°Report to the accountants and tell them that you are free to use whatever capital you need to buy Bai Yunfei his accessories. You are authorized to use and purchase as much as he needs!!¡±

 Chapter 272: The Weeping of a Woman

    Chapter 272: The Weeping of a Woman


    After waking up on the second day, Bai Yunfei felt ¡®comfortable¡¯ for the first time in a while. His soulforce was back at peak capacity, and his mind was completely refreshed. The only thing that Bai Yunfei felt sad about was that the abundantly warm feeling of elemental fire still couldn¡¯t be felt.


    Rather than throw himself back into upgrading, Bai Yunfei left his room to go find Tang Xinyun.


    He knocked on the door prior to entering, but as soon as he did, Bai Yunfei realized that Tang Xinyun was already awake and conversing with Cang Yu, who was seated next to her bed.


    As soon as she saw Bai Yunfei, Cang Yu greeted him with a smile. Then, as ¡®per usual,¡¯ she stood up to walk out of the room, ¡°Have a nice talk with Xinyun, Yunfei. I¡¯ll be going back to rest.¡±


    Bai Yunfei respectfully bowed to her, ¡°Thank you, third elder. Please have a good rest. I¡¯ll look after Xinyun¡­¡±


    As soon as Cang Yu left, Bai Yunfei sat down on the stool next to Tang Xinyun¡¯s bed. Upon seeing her rosy, beautiful face, Bai Yunfei asked her in concern, ¡°Xinyun, how are you feeling?¡±


    Nodding her head, Tang Xinyun smiled warmly at him, ¡°I feel much better now. Thank you for worrying, Yunfei.¡±


    Bai Yunfei said nothing in return, choosing to stay silent for a few seconds in shame. ¡°Xinyun, I¡¯m¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say sorry.¡±


    Tang Xinyun cut into his words first. ¡°I chose to throw myself in front of you that day out of my own volition. There¡¯s no need for you to apologize¡­¡±


    Having no idea that Tang Xinyun would respond like that, Bai Yunfei was quiet. ¡°Xinyun¡­¡± He started again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say thank you either.¡± Tang Xinyun interrupted again. ¡°You saved me once before, so it was my turn to save you. Take this as me returning the favor, so don¡¯t say thank you¡­¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei said nothing. He continued to stare at Tang Xinyun blankly and in confused silence.


    Seemingly embarrassed by how Bai Yunfei was staring at her, she stammered, ¡°Wh¡ªwhy are you so quiet now?¡±


    ¡°What I want to say, you won¡¯t let me say. I¡¯m waiting for you to tell me what I can say.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Surprised by his response, Tang Xinyun thought earnestly for a moment. Tilting her head as soon as she had thought of something, she smiled, ¡°Then how about you talk about something else¡­


    ¡°Like this¡­ ¡®Yun¡¯s Soul Ring¡¯?¡±


    His heart stopped for a second.


    ¡°Xinyun, how did you¡­?¡±


    ¡°How do I know its name?¡± Xinyun winked an eye with a smile. ¡°I was actually somewhat aware of my surroundings yesterday. I wasn¡¯t fully awake, but I managed to hear a bit of your voice¡­¡±


    Lifting her left hand up for both to see the ring on her ring finger, she said, ¡°Was it because of this ring that I managed to get better?¡±


    It was one shock after another. He didn¡¯t think that Tang Xinyun would¡¯ve been able to hear what he had said yesterday, but he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be able to keep the secret from her either.


    It was on her finger after all. There was no way she would not notice its effects.


    However, Bai Yunfei had already planned an excuse for this situation.


    Since Bai Yunfei was being unresponsive, Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t tell master about it¡­ she thinks I woke up because of the Violet Soul Ring.¡±


    Relieved, Bai Yunfei immediately thanked her, ¡°Xinyun, thank you¡­¡±


    ¡°Why are you thanking me? You saved me, I should be thanking you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for keeping my secret.¡± Bai Yunfei confessed.


    Shaking her head, Tang Xinyun said, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to let anyone else know, I won¡¯t talk about it. But¡­ Yunfei, where did you get this strange soul armament? The Violet Soul Ring master gave me is one of the most precious rings around and the only soul armament that has the ability to let me recover soulforce, but you have a ring that¡¯s much better than it¡­.¡±


    ¡°A senior once gave me this ring a very long time ago. He said to not let anyone know I had such a ring, so I never told the first elder or anyone else. You were hurt because of me. There was no way I¡¯d let you stay hurt. We were lucky that the ring was useful enough to save you¡­


    ¡°Thank the heavens you woke up, Xinyun. If someone were to happen to you, I¡¯d never be able to forgive myself¡­¡± Bai Yunfei gave an ¡®explanation.¡¯


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m fine now. You don¡¯t need to blame yourself anymore.¡± Tang Xinyun gently laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if you don¡¯t want to let anyone know, then I¡¯ll help you keep this secret. Once I get better, I¡¯ll give the ring back to you¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Xinyun¡­ keep the ring. I¡¯ve already named it the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring, so it¡¯s yours now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Xinyun responded. Bai Yunfei giving her such a magical ring to save her was something she could understand, but to have her keep it? She was astonished¡­ didn¡¯t he realize how precious this ring was?


    Even someone who didn¡¯t understand the world of soul cultivators knew that if this ring were to be exposed, the entire world would massacre itself for the ring.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but smile when he saw her thunderstruck expression, ¡°Xinyun, I said I¡¯d give it to you, so it¡¯s yours. Be careful and don¡¯t let anyone know how special it is. There will be trouble if someone finds out.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®but¡¯ me. Xinyun, don¡¯t worry about it for now. Just make use of the ring and get better. Once you get rid of the corrosive energy, you¡¯ll truly be out of danger.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She replied in a daze, but when she thought about something, her face darkened in color. ¡°Whether I fully recover or not isn¡¯t important. I can no longer train in elemental fire¡­¡± She sighed.


    A stab of pain shot through Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. The most worrisome topic finally came to hand.


    The fact that Tang Xinyun¡¯s essence fireseed had been used up was the biggest change.


    ¡°Xinyun, don¡¯t worry. There¡¯ll definitely be a way to regain your essence fireseed. If there isn¡¯t, you can train in the other elements. Don¡¯t feel sad. You¡¯re still young, you¡¯ll definitely get better!¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, you don¡¯t need to comfort me. I already know that¡­¡± Xinyun sighed. ¡°Master already told me that I might never be able to use elemental fire again. She advised me to train in another element and said that the headmaster has a daughter in the Water School. She said that I could go join them¡­


    ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t want to! It took everything I had to join the Crafting School! I have the talent, and my master looked after me so much! I¡¯ve seniors who care for me, and there¡¯s Xiao Rui too¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ve only known them all for half a year, but the Crafting School feels like family to me. I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t want to leave them¡­


    ¡°I want to train in elemental fire! I want to craft! I want to get stronger! I¡­ I want to protect my mother¡­¡±


    The more Tang Xinyun spoke, the more she began to sob. She was a strong woman, but the weight of her emotions finally proved too much for her to bear.


    For once, she showed Bai Yunfei a vulnerable side to her.


    Her tears caused Bai Yunfei to freeze up. This wasn¡¯t something he thought would happen.


    He wanted to reach a hand up to wipe away her tears, but that didn¡¯t seem appropriate.


    He wanted to say something to comfort her, but he realized that he had somehow been thrown into a period of mute silence.


    When Tang Xinyun¡¯s head leaned against his shoulder to cry on, Bai Yunfei went as still as a statue. He didn¡¯t dare move even a muscle as he sat there, allowing her to wet his clothes with her tears and listen to her cries.


    With each sob, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart ached even more.


    After a while, the sounds of Tang Xinyun¡¯s sobs grew fainter and fainter before Bai Yunfei finally realized that she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Her anguish had sapped her of her strength.


    Returning the girl back to the bed, Bai Yunfei pulled the covers over her and wiped away the tears on her face. He stood up from his stool and walked out of her room. When he had returned to his room, his eyes were filled with a warm-hearted tenderness.


    But that was replaced with a look of determination like never before¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely help you get better, Xinyun. I¡¯ll definitely make sure that you¡¯ll be able to regain your essence fireseed!¡±


    ¡°If she can¡¯t do it herself, then maybe¡­ the fireseed spirit mushroom can!!¡±

 Chapter 273: A Conclusive but Silent Decision

    Chapter 273: A Conclusive but Silent Decision


    When Bai Yunfei returned to his room, he didn¡¯t continue upgrading. He instead sat down on his bed and rested against the wall. This was the first time in a while that he began to think about the chaotic events as of late.


    First was the determination he had when he came out of Tang Xinyun¡¯s room¡­


    ¡°Xinyun needs to be able to practice the elemental fire in order to regain her essence fireseed. It¡¯s almost impossible, but¡­ if there¡¯s the fireseed spirit mushroom, it might just be doable!¡± Bai Yunfei recalled the memories of when he had used the mushroom. It wasn¡¯t a stretch to say that the fireseed spirit mushroom was a materialized form of essence fireseed.


    Thinking about how Hong Yin had given him the fireseed spirit mushroom, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°But the fireseed spirit mushroom isn¡¯t something that¡¯s easy to find. Master said before that the last sighting of one was a few dozen years ago¡­


    ¡°He also said that they can only be found in the Soulbeast Forest¡­¡±


    Fireseed spirit mushrooms were incomparably rare. While they could be found elsewhere, those who understood anything about them knew that the very first place to find them would be in the Soulbeast Forest. That place was a verdant gathering ground for treasures like that.


    It also went without saying that it was also the burial grounds for people who came treasure-seeking¡­


    The very thought of the situation caused Bai Yunfei to narrow his eyes and shake his head. ¡°Going to the Soulbeast Forest would be as good as killing myself with my strength! Ugh¡­ if I could talk to brother Hong Yin and have him help me find one, that¡¯d make things easier¡­¡±


    Then he remembered the bone fragment Hong Yin had given him a long time ago, ¡°Brother Hong Yin said that this fragment would be enough for the stronger soulbeasts to not attack me. In that case¡­¡±


    Thinking a little harder, Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°That still doesn¡¯t work¡­ he said that only the soulbeasts who are sentient and can speak the human tongue would be able to recognize the fragment. Those are soulbeasts of the seventh-tier and higher. With my strength, I¡¯d have trouble with fifth-tier soulbeasts. If I went to the Soulbeast Forest now, I¡¯d be unable to take a step in!¡±


    The Bai Yunfei of today wasn¡¯t an ignoramus like before. Zi Jin had already told him a few things about the Soulbeast Forest and the soulbeasts inside. There were similarities between soulbeasts and humans, like how there were good people and bad people and how there were all sorts of powerful beings there. This rang true for the soulbeasts who were sentient. In the world of soul cultivators, Hong Yin was regarded as the ¡®Wolf Child¡¯ because he was the adopted son of the Bloodhowl Wolf King. The Bloodhowl Wolf King was one of the nine kings of soulbeasts and was an eighth-tier Soulbeast.


    This was equivalent to a late-stage Soul King.


    The bone fragment Hong Yin gave him were most likely an item of equivalent value that explained his relationship with the Wolf King. While it had extraordinary uses, it wasn¡¯t absolute. There were all sorts of beings in the world of soulbeasts, and not every soulbeast would care about the bone fragment. There was no saying what would happen if Bai Yunfei came across an enemy of the Bloodhowl Wolf King.


    After careful consideration, Bai Yunfei finally let out a sigh. ¡°I have the determination, but not the strength!! Even if I was more determined, it¡¯s still nothing but words in the end¡­ without my previous strength, I shouldn¡¯t even think about going to the Soulbeast Forest. Xinyun hasn¡¯t fully recovered either, I guess I should forget about this for now¡­¡±


    ¡°Then¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind shifted to another topic with increasing coldness, even his eyes reflected the chilling anger he was feeling. ¡°The Soul Refining School!! I won¡¯t forgive you! Wait until I grow strong enough. If we meet again, you won¡¯t face an easy death!!¡±


    His essence fireseed had been injured beyond belief with no guarantee of recovery, and Tang Xinyun had barely avoided death. Her essence fireseed was completely used up and the corrosive energy was still lingering in her. With these two major factors, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hatred for the Soul Refining School was etched in his bones.


    ¡°The Beast Taming School aren¡¯t innocent either. They were with the Soul Refining School¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. ¡°The Beast Taming School¡­ what secrets do they hide!? I came across them in Jade Willow City, then Gaoyi City, and here. They even destroyed a major family here¡­¡±


    Just faintly, Bai Yunfei could smell the hint of a sinister plot brewing somewhere.


    Bai Yunfei broke into laughter a moment later, ¡°I¡¯m just a small Soul Ancestor,¡± he mocked himself, ¡°What a waste of time thinking about this¡­¡±


    ¡°More importantly, there¡¯s still that matter with the upgrade stone¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought about the moment he had used the upgrade stone on the +12 Yun¡¯s Soul Ring. ¡°What a strange situation. It felt similar to that ¡®Anima Realm¡¯ master talked about, but it wasn¡¯t the actual Anima Realm¡­ was it because I used the upgrade stone? I don¡¯t know what exactly that feeling was or what it meant¡­ but it was extremely important¡­


    ¡°Too bad that the stone could only be used once. I¡¯d have liked to experiment with it.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in disappointment, ¡°If I could get another one, I¡¯d be able to experiment some more.


    ¡°There¡¯s still brother Jiang Nan to worry about. Ugh¡­ looks like I won¡¯t be able to bluff my way out of this! Because of the situation, he hasn¡¯t mentioned anything yet, but I can¡¯t keep hiding this forever. What should I say when the time comes?¡± Bai Yunfei tried his best to think of a solution, but nothing came to mind.


    ¡°If I can¡¯t think of anything, I can only tell the ¡®truth.¡¯ ¡­I¡¯ll have to say that an accident happened when I became a Soul Sprite and caused the Fire-tipped Spear to become a soulbound armament. It¡¯s a little far-fetched, but since I have the ¡®precedent¡¯ of being able to enter the Anima Realm, I¡¯m sure the master will accept this excuse, right?¡±


    Afterward, Bai Yunfei thought about several other things that happened over the past few days. ¡°Let¡¯s start upgrading then! I have to help Xinyun drive out that corrosive energy and find a way to recover my own strength. I¡¯ll think of a way to find a fireseed spirit mushroom later. Maybe there¡¯ll be another way to help Xinyun!¡±


    Determined to upgrade, Bai Yunfei finished up his train of thought and grabbed ahold of an accessory. ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    For the next three days, Bai Yunfei continued to upgrade when he could. It wasn¡¯t as fast-paced as before, and he took breaks whenever he ran out of soulforce. Whenever he woke up, he¡¯d wait for his soulforce to return to normal so that he¡¯d be ready for any sort of danger in the future.


    Tang Xinyun herself spent the few days she was up trying hard to recuperate and didn¡¯t come out of her room. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t go see her either. Ever since the day Tang Xinyun had cried herself to sleep, Bai Yunfei felt as if a demon of temptation had cast a spell of regret over him. Even now, he didn¡¯t know how he should treat Tang Xinyun.


    Both Cang Yu and Jiang Nan had completely healed more than a week ago. Hence, Jiang Nan and Song Lin went with the men from the Xiao to find anything they could about the destruction of the Sun, hoping to find clues that might point them in the direction of either the Beast Taming School or the Soul Refining School.


    Their attempts proved fruitless. Not a single definite clue or even proof of their involvement was to be found¡­


    Only Xiao Binzi and the others knew about the Soul Refining School, but since that was of an extreme importance to them and that there was no proof they were colluding with the Beast Taming School, Xiao Binzi warned them not to tell anyone else. The implications of the truth would be major if they really did try to investigate the trails of the two.


    Having been instructed by Xiao Rang, Xiao Er began to zealously buy up all the accessories he could. Now that they were the strongest soul cultivator family in Curopia City, they weren¡¯t lacking money at all. They were even able to return or sell all the accessories Bai Yunfei had given them, giving Xiao Er even more spending power. While they would lose money, it wasn¡¯t a big loss for them. Though he still couldn¡¯t figure out the mystery, Xiao Er didn¡¯t feel like trying to divine what ¡®goal¡¯ Bai Yunfei had set. Xiao Er only cared about purchasing ¡®new¡¯ accessories.


    By the third night, Bai Yunfei had accumulated even more +10 accessories that granted spirit. He began to slowly upgrade them¡­


    He was worried¡ªor perhaps it¡¯d be better to say he was ¡®waiting¡¯¡ªfor the side effects from over upgrading to appear¡­ even though there might not be any signs, it was going to come nonetheless!

 Chapter 274: Scared but Unhur

    Chapter 274: Scared but Unhurt


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    The jade bracelet that had been in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand disintegrated into powder. Sighing, Bai Yunfei stored the powder into his ring.


    ¡°That makes the eighteenth one. I¡¯m in bad form tonight¡­¡±


    He was somewhat disappointed by the results. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to accumulate so many +10 accessories, and he wanted to get one of them to a decently high upgrade level. If not +13, then at the very least one or two +12 ones, but unfortunately, not a single one of the eighteen accesories had reached +11!


    Just as he was deciding on whether or not to stop upgrading and take a break, a stab of pain surged through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, turning his face pale.


    Like a maelstrom, the soulforce in his body started to surge violently out of his control!


    ¡°It¡¯s here!!¡± Bai Yunfei realized with a start. This was the biggest concern he had when overusing the Upgrade Technique!


    Raising the hand with the Ardent Sun Glove on it, Bai Yunfei shot out a small fist-sized fireball by activating the glove¡¯s effect for a fireball strike.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The fireball slammed into a table in the middle of his room, exploding it into pieces and ashes almost instantly.


    This was meant as a warning and message to everyone else. As soon as Bai Yunfei shot the fireball, he blacked out.


    There was actually no need for Bai Yunfei to use this as a signal. As soon as his soulforce went out of control, the surge had alerted everyone.


    When the soulforce of an early-stage Soul Ancestor went loose, people would be hard-pressed to ignore it.


    ¡°Bang!¡± The doors to Bai Yunfei¡¯s room slammed open as Xiao Binzi came flying in like a tornado to Bai Yunfei¡¯s bed.


    Because of Bai Yunfei¡¯s warning beforehand, Xiao Binzi had decided to keep a close watch on the area for any fluctuations, hence his quick arrival.


    ¡°Yunfei!¡± Upon seeing the shape of Bai Yunfei, Xiao Binzi¡¯s hand flew to his head. Xiao Binzi began to push his own soulforce into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    ¡°What is happening!?¡± As soon as his soulforce entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, Xiao Binzi could immediately see what was going on inside. Like a flood, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was surging out of control, attempting to tear Bai Yunfei¡¯s body to pieces!


    ¡°Perhaps¡­ the weakening of his essence fireseed caused this reaction? Or did the men from the Soul Refining School leave something in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body without me noticing!?¡± Two different ideas popped up into Xiao Binzi¡¯s mind for consideration, but he hadn¡¯t enough time to really think about it. Swiftly bracing Bai Yunfei, he pressed a palm to Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest and pushed his soulforce into his body to try and restrain Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce!


    Being able to restrain and control the soulforce of a Soul Ancestor without causing injury required two factors. One was an incredible strong amount of soulforce, and the other was an incredibly precise amount of control. As a late-stage Soul King, Xiao Binzi fulfilled both requirements, but Cang Yu did not.


    The pattering sounds of footsteps made itself known as several people ran across the courtyard and into Bai Yunfei¡¯s room. Jiang Nan and Song Lin were the first to appear through the doorway, but Xiao Rang and Xiao Xin weren¡¯t far behind. Xiao Er came puffing past the doorway a moment later as well.


    ¡°First elder, what¡¯s going on? What¡¯s happening to Yunfei? And why now?¡± Song Lin exclaimed in panic as soon as he saw the state Bai Yunfei was in.


    A grave expression settled on Xiao Binzi¡¯s face, ¡°I¡¯m not certain either, perhaps it has to do with the injuries Yunfei had received. It¡¯s fortunate that I can contain his soulforce, however.¡±


    As he spoke, a wave of red light flowed out of Xiao Binzi¡¯s body as his elemental fire began to enter Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Since Bai Yunfei had no elemental fire, there was no reaction from his essence fireseed, causing Xiao Binzi to sigh. If Bai Yunfei had any, treatment would¡¯ve been far easier.


    Another set of footsteps could be heard shortly afterward, prompting everyone to turn their heads to the door. This time, it was the pale-faced Tang Xinyun and Cang Yu, who was accompanying her. The look on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face was frantic as she ran to Bai Yunfei¡¯s bed, ¡°First elder¡­ what¡¯s happening to Yunfei?¡± Panicking as she asked.


    On the other side, Song Lin tried to console her, ¡°Junior, don¡¯t worry. With the first elder here, Yunfei will be just fine.¡±


    Xiao Binzi nodded as well, ¡°Yes, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already restrained most of his soulforce. He won¡¯t be in any danger.¡±


    Xiao Binzi¡¯s words comforted Tang Xinyun, but they weren¡¯t enough to fully cure her of her concerns. Right next to Bai Yunfei¡¯s bed, Tang Xinyun¡¯s lips could be seen quivering as her eyes stared persistently at him.


    With the help of Xiao Binzi, the out-of-control soulforce in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body slowly began to calm down and return to its original state. The more it calmed down, the more Bai Yunfei¡¯s face began to regain its color. His breathing wasn¡¯t as rough anymore, and by the time Xiao Binzi drew back his hand, Bai Yunfei was back on his bed deep asleep.


    The side-effects from overusing the Upgrade Technique hadn¡¯t been as violent as the first time. Bai Yunfei had been far too weak at that point and was also at a very important juncture of becoming a Soul Sprite. Thus, the effects had been far more life-threatening, but not this time. He had Xiao Binzi helping him so nothing bad would happen.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In time, Bai Yunfei soon found himself awake on his bed again, but there was a warm feeling on his face as if someone was wiping his face with a towel. Reaching a hand up, Bai Yunfei could feel the soft but warm touch of someone¡¯s wrist.


    ¡°Ah! Yunfei, you¡¯re up!?¡± Someone¡¯s very gentle voice was registered by Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears.


    Struggling to open his eyes, Bai Yunfei could just barely make out the sight of a young but pretty woman staring back at him with joy.


    ¡°Err¡­ Xinyun?¡± Bai Yunfei tentatively asked as he tried to sit up on his bed. Shaking his head to shake off the remaining drowsiness, he asked, ¡°What are you doing here? This is my¡­¡±


    Taking a seat herself, Tang Xinyun asked, ¡°How¡¯re you feeling? If you¡¯re not comfortable still, lay back down. I¡¯ll go get the first elder and see how your wounds are doing¡­¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Shaking his head again, Bai Yunfei was now finally awake. When he thought about just why he had fallen unconscious, Bai Yunfei decided to take a look at his current condition. Upon inspecting himself, he sighed in relief; he wasn¡¯t in as bad a condition as he thought.


    He looked back up, but the only other person he could see in the room was Tang Xinyun. ¡°Xinyun, how¡­ how long was I out for?¡±


    Tang Xinyun herself looked relieved to see that Bai Yunfei was doing fine, so she didn¡¯t get up to go find Xiao Binzi or anyone else. ¡°Not very long, just one whole night, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± He nodded sensibly, but then halfway through the motions, his head flew back up, ¡°Hold on. Xinyun. Did you¡­ were you looking over me the entire night?¡±


    Reddening in the face, Tang Xinyun said, ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t feel comfortable having the Xiao family look after you, so I¡­¡±


    ¡°Miss Tang, how is brother Bai faring? I¡¯ve brought him a spare change of clo¡ª¡± Someone¡¯s voice suddenly called out a moment before the door was pressed open to reveal Xiao Er.


    As soon as he saw the two people, he froze where he stood. For one whole second, he was still, and then he turned about and pushed through the half-hinged door to walk out. ¡°Who said this door was broken?¡± He muttered to himself, ¡°Who told me to fix it? Really now, I wasted a trip here¡­¡±


    As he grumbled to himself, he closed the still half-broken door after him as if he hadn¡¯t noticed the two people inside the room.


    A drop of sweat fell down Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. What an utterly terrible improvisation, using the broken door as an excuse¡­


    ¡°Yunfei¡­ please¡­ please let go¡­¡± A barely audible whisper came to Bai Yunfei from the side. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei could see Tang Xinyun¡¯s tomato-red face as she tried to move her left hand.


    Upon lowering his head, Bai Yunfei realized that his own hand had been holding her wrist this entire time! Tang Xinyun had forgotten Bai Yunfei had grabbed her since she had been excited to see Bai Yunfei awake. It wasn¡¯t until Xiao Er came into the room and saw the two ¡®holdings hands and whispering sweet nothings¡¯ that he realized he shouldn¡¯t be intruding.


    Letting go, Bai Yunfei shook his head apologetically, ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t mean to do that¡­¡±


    But his fellow crafter stood up anyway. Still red in the face, she said, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m going to get the first elder and master. Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t move, okay?¡±


    And just like that, the young woman fled the room in a hurry. Bai Yunfei scratched his head in embarrassment before sitting back on his bed without any further movements.

 Chapter 275: The Blabbermouth Xiao Er

    Chapter 275: The Blabbermouth Xiao Er


    Since he had escaped this second brush with danger unscathed, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel any discomfort about overusing the Upgrade Technique. Another boulder had been lifted off his shoulders and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t feel any happier.


    Afterward, Bai Yunfei was stuck under Xiao Binzi¡¯s close watch for several days as he ¡®trained.¡¯ There were times he managed slip away and hide in his room to continue upgrading in secret since he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be long before they would return to the Crafting School. With so little time left, Bai Yunfei was determined to make as many accessories that could give spirit as quickly as he could. By being given so many accessories, Xiao Er was practically run ragged with how often he had to go around for them.


    Bai Yunfei was of course in a very normal state of mind when he was upgrading. He conserved enough soulforce before stopping each time for a break. This was the most optimal path of upgrading since fainting would just mean more alarm and misunderstandings from Xiao Binzi and the others.


    He wasn¡¯t hiding from Tang Xinyun anymore either. Every night, he¡¯d accompany her through the courtyards for a brisk walk around. Each walk was comprised of him racking his brains for a topic to help cheer her up. He didn¡¯t want her to think about her wounds or her inability to train in elemental fire.


    Tang Xinyun herself seemed to know what Bai Yunfei was trying to do, but she never talked to him about it.


    Four days later, most of Tang Xinyun¡¯s wounds had stabilized, and her soulforce had slightly balanced the corrosive energy. As of right now, she appeared as nothing more than a normal late-stage Soul Sprite, but she couldn¡¯t use any of her soulforce. Else she would risk the corrosive energy making another outbreak.


    The matter with the house of Sun was pretty much over as well. With no reason left for the crafters to stay in Curopia City, Xiao Binzi and the others immediately decided to return to the Crafting School.


    ¡­¡­


    Early the next morning, Xiao Er could be seen walking out of the main courtyards. The guests from the Crafting School were set to leave this morning, so the Xiao were preparing to send them off.


    ¡°Fourth master, please wait one moment¡­¡±


    From not too far away, someone called out to him. Turning his head, Xiao Er asked, ¡°Uncle Xu, what¡¯s the matter?¡±


    The man named ¡®Uncle Xu¡¯ caught up to Xiao Er first before he said anything. ¡°Young master, we¡¯ve managed to accomplish what you asked for the day before yesterday. There¡¯s a total of 2500 items in here, but the quality is mixed. We did not have enough time to look through them all.¡±


    A small black ring was presented to Xiao Er.


    ¡°Eh? We were able to finish?¡± Xiao Er spoke in slight surprise. He took the ring with smile and a nod, ¡°Thank you for your work, uncle Xu.¡±


    ¡°Haha, it was no trouble at all if this was for the sake of the young master!¡± Uncle Xu waved his hand before turning around to leave.


    Inside this ring was yet another batch of accessories. After ten whole days of going on a splurging spree, Xiao Er had practically wiped out the entire market.


    There was still the ¡®black market.¡¯ Markets that existed anywhere and everywhere, and as the number one family in the city, it¡¯d be expected for the Xiao to have connections to certain underground factions. What Xiao Er had asked from uncle Xu was that he go to the black market and purchase any accessories he might come across. Even if it might come from a ¡®dubious¡¯ background.


    ¡°That should make this space ring the very last batch of accessories for brother Bai¡­¡± Xiao Er stored the ring away before continuing on his way to the main courtyard.


    ¡­¡­


    Gathered there already were Xiao Binzi, Cang Yu, Jiang Nan, Song Lin, Bai Yunfei, and Tang Xinyun. Xiao Rang, Xiao Xin, and the other members of the household were there as well in one big group. At the moment, Xiao Rang was speaking politely to Xiao Binzi and Cang Yu about some matter while Jiang Nan and Song Lin were both speaking with several of the younger members from the Xiao. Tang Xinyun was speaking to Xiao Er¡¯s third sister, Xiao Yingxue with their hands clasped together.


    From Bai Yunfei¡¯s perspective, Tang Xinyun and Xiao Yingxue looked like a pair of sisters. When Xiao Yingxue pressed a container of rouge face powder into Tang Xinyun¡¯s hands, Bai Yunfei was surprised. In just a short ten days, Tang Xinyun had already reached a relatively strong level of friendship with Xiao Yingxue.


    ¡°Sister Xinyun, please take care of yourself when you get back. Your older sister will wish you a quick recovery. When you have time, I hope you will not forget to come back to Curopia City and see me.¡± Xiao Yingxue spoke to her friend in a rather impatient tone.


    Tang Xinyun slightly nodded her head. She too, looked unwilling to part. ¡°Sis Yingxue, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t forget. I¡¯ll see you soon.¡±


    ¡°Heehee, sister Xinyun, let me tell you, next time you should¡­¡± The rest of what she was trying to say grew faint as Xiao Yingxue leaned in to whisper the rest to Tang Xinyun¡¯s ear. Her eyes flickered to Bai Yunfei for a moment as she whispered.


    ¡°Ah! Sis Yingxue, what are you saying!?¡± Tang Xinyun cried out. Her face was reddening, ¡°It¡¯s not what you think it is¡±


    ¡°What? It isn¡¯t? I could¡¯ve sworn¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    For some reason, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look at the two whispering females. After a quick glance, he turned his head back and coincidentally caught sight of Xiao Er who was just walking into the courtyard.


    ¡°Brother Bai.¡± Xiao Er greeted as he approached Bai Yunfei with a smile.


    Smiling in return, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Brother Xiao, we¡¯re about to leave. In the past few days, I¡¯ve bothered you plenty, please allow me to¡ª¡±


    He was just about to take out yet another soul armament to give Xiao Er when Xiao Er immediately waved his hands to stop him, ¡°Brother Bai, please don¡¯t take out another soul armament, I feel guilty enough already! Giving me another one would make me feel ashamed¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei replied. Brightening up Bai Yunfei said, ¡°I have to say, brother Xiao, you¡¯re far too easy going. If it were anyone else, they¡¯d look forward to getting another soul armament, but you refuse them!¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the easy going one? You¡¯re handing soul armaments out left and right¡­¡± Xiao Er¡¯s lips twitched slightly as he thought to himself. ¡°One soul armament is enough for me. The other was already confiscated anyways¡­¡± He looked rather resentful.


    With his authority, there was no way Xiao Rang would let Xiao Er have an earth tier soul armament. The confiscation had been a sting to his heart, and Xiao Er regretted how silly he was for showing off both soul armaments he got¡­


    ¡°Confiscated?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°What for?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ it¡¯s nothing really¡­¡± Xiao Er shook his head. The space ring given to him by his uncle Xu appeared in his hand, ¡°Brother Bai, this is the last delivery I have for you. Please take it and feel free to give back any portion you don¡¯t want.¡±


    Having not expected yet another delivery, Bai Yunfei looked touched. ¡°I¡­ thank you then, brother Xiao.¡± He took the ring.


    ¡°Haha, no need to thank me. The gift you gave me is worth far more than what I¡¯ve given you. In truth, it feels like I took advantage of you, so I feel rather guilty¡­¡±


    ¡°Little brother, what are you talking about, and why are you thanking each other?¡±


    Just at that moment, the curious Xiao Yingxue and Tang Xinyun walked up to the two.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, brother Bai had me buy several things, that¡¯s all.¡± Xiao Er explained.


    ¡°Buy?¡± Xiao Yingxue stared suspiciously at the ring in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. As if the sight of it had brought back some memories, a furious light entered her eyes, ¡°Ah! I haven¡¯t paid you back yet you brat! You took all of my jewelry, when will you pay me back!?¡±


    ¡°Ah? I¡­¡± Xiao Er froze in place. Since he had been so busy with buying even more accessories for Bai Yunfei, he had completely forgotten to give back all of the accessories that Bai Yunfei had returned.


    Knowing that he had to placate his sister somehow, Xiao Er smiled, ¡°Well, hehe¡­ don¡¯t worry, sister! Give me a bit and I¡¯ll give you a piece that¡¯s ten times better! You can choose any and as many as you like!¡±


    He had plenty of accessories with him in any case.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then¡­¡± Xiao Yingxue nodded in satisfaction. ¡°You better not try to trick me with any ordinary piece, or we¡¯re going to have a good talk! I want some jewelry from Jade Pavilion! One that¡¯s just like¡­ just like the one sister Xinyun has.¡±


    She pointed at the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring that was on Tang Xinyun¡¯s left ring finger.


    ¡°Okay, okay! No problem! I¡¯ll definitely do as you wa¡ª¡± Smiling, Xiao Er was about to say something else when he froze mid-speech. Looking closer at the ring on Tang Xinyun¡¯s finger, a curious expression appeared his face. ¡°Hm? This ring¡­¡±


    ¡°Crap!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    Before Bai Yunfei could say anything, Xiao Er blurted out, ¡°Isn¡¯t this the prized ring from Baiyu Pavilion? How¡­¡±


    His eyes flew to look at Bai Yunfei in complete shock. ¡°Brother Bai!¡± He exclaimed, ¡°You had me buy out all of the jewelry in Curopia City just for the sake of choosing a ring to gift to miss Tang!?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A blanket of silence descended over the courtyard as everyone turned to look at Bai Yunfei in astonishment.


    All Bai Yunfei could do was stand there with a sweat drop rolling down his face¡­

 Chapter 276: Returning to the School

    Chapter 276: Returning to the School


    What Xiao Er said piqued the interest of everyone in the courtyard. One by one, they turned to look at Bai Yunfei strangely.


    For a few scant seconds, Xiao Rang and Xiao Xin looked surprised. At last, they had found the reason for Bai Yunfei¡¯s strange request! It was a little strange, but it made sense too¡­


    In their minds, the two thought, ¡°Ah, the youth of today¡­¡±


    Even Xiao Binzi and the other crafters seemed to smile knowingly at Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun after they got over their shock.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me! How good is your memory!¡± Bai Yunfei roared to himself. The fact that Xiao Er was looking at him with eyes of worship was more than enough for Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips to twitch.


    He hadn¡¯t thought that Xiao Er would recognize the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring out of the several thousand accessories that had passed through his hands the past few days. Bai Yunfei himself couldn¡¯t even remember any of the +11 accessories, so he was confident that no one would be able to tell where she got that ring from.


    But!


    Somehow!


    Xiao Er had managed to tell!


    Coincidence. That¡¯s all it was. The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring was the prized treasure from the most expensive jewelry store in Curopia City, the ¡®Jade Pavilion.¡¯ To talk a bit about the ring¡¯s background, it was a ring that was rarely seen by other people. It was only because Xiao Er had offered a hefty sum of money that he was able to buy the ring from the shopkeeper, with a little coercion of course, but it was a purchase nonetheless.


    Even more coincidental was the fact that it was Xiao Er himself who had made the purchase. That was why the ring had stuck in his mind.


    Tang Xinyun herself was shocked by what she was hearing. Under the watchful eyes of everyone else, her face started to grow extremely red before she ducked her head down and stuffed her left hand back into her robes. Though she was unable to meet anyone¡¯s eyes, Tang Xinyun¡¯s had gained a suspicious light in.


    ¡°Wow¡­ lord Bai is such a romantic!!¡± Xiao Yingxue sighed, her hands clutched at her chest. ¡°If the man I favored did that for me, I¡¯d be the happiest girl alive!!¡±


    How frightful to see such a reaction from the third sister of the Xiao¡­ should what she say be spread through Curopia City, the city would suffer yet another ¡®buyout¡¯ of accessories. She was, after all, a beautiful woman with plenty of suitors¡ªmany of them being wealthy young heirs themselves.


    ¡°Uh¡­ I¡­¡± Under the ¡®admiring¡¯ eyes of everyone else, Bai Yunfei felt his back start to grow slick with sweat, ¡°I¡­ I actually¡­ I was¡­¡±


    Seeing how Bai Yunfei was so ¡®embarrassed,¡¯ Xiao Er couldn¡¯t help but smile. Giving him a knowing nod, he said, ¡°No need to explain, brother Bai. I understand now¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡± Bai Yunfei felt faint. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I realize how much of a blabbermouth you were!? In a single line, you¡¯ve got me into a heap of trouble!¡±


    ¡°Hehe, lord Bai is a considerate person. That¡¯s how young people should be.¡±


    ¡°How noisy¡­¡± Xiao Binzi seemed to be looking on in rebuke, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.


    ¡°Hehe, what youngsters do today is truly quite unconventional. How fortunate that Yunfei is a patient one¡­¡± Cang Yu smiled as well. From how she was looking at Bai Yunfei, her opinion of him was surely improving.


    From the side, Jiang Nan and Song Lin were both staring at Bai Yunfei with a mixture of shock and admiration. Silently, the two of them gave him a thumbs up from the side.


    ¡°¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei remained silent. There was nothing more that needed to be said, so he didn¡¯t bother to say anything.


    He was at a loss for words, really. ¡°Ugh, it¡¯ll be hard to explain things to Xinyun now¡­¡±


    The look on Xiao Er¡¯s face indicated that he had thought about something, but when he saw the glaring look being directed at him by Bai Yunfei, Xiao Er felt a chill run up his spine as if some sort of danger was about to approach. Wisely deciding to shut up, Xiao Er gave Bai Yunfei an embarrassed smile.


    ¡­¡­


    Everyone continued to talk with one another after the previous interlude was over, and after that, Xiao Binzi and the others finally decided to bid farewell and leave.


    Tang Xinyun went with Cang Yu on her flying sword, Bai Yunfei went with Xiao Binzi on his flying sword, and Jiang Nan brought Song Lin with him on his flying sword as they traveled through the sky.


    There was no need for the group to return to the Crafting School quickly. Jiang Nan¡¯s traveling speed wasn¡¯t even fast enough to keep up with Xiao Binzi¡¯s anyways, so they took a break twice along the way. On the afternoon of the third day, the group finally arrived back within the territory of the school.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Both Zi Jin and Kou Changkong were surprised to hear the report following their return. Neither of the two had expected such a series of developments to occur¡ªtwo of the more prominent disciples had been injured and their potential had been damaged. When Zi Jin looked at both Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun¡¯s conditions, he was as stumped as Xiao Binzi. While they were injured, no outsider could help them. If they wanted to fully heal, they would have to depend on themselves.


    The two of them were prepared for such an answer, but Bai Yunfei still couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed to hear confirmation from Zi Jin. Tang Xinyun herself didn¡¯t look as if she had expected anything else. In fact, she looked more like she was trying to console Bai Yunfei, but her attempts only made Bai Yunfei feel even more guilty.


    Huangfu Rui had been the most furious; she had been the first to want to go over to the Beast Taming School to eradicate them all. When Cang Yu had been injured, her jade slip clearly reflected her state it for Huangfu Rui to see. If not for her quick turn around and Zi Jin¡¯s interference, Huangfu Rui would¡¯ve run off to where Bai Yunfei and the others were. After hearing their story, Huangfu Rui was angry beyond belief.


    A conflict between two schools wasn¡¯t a simple matter. It would involve far too many parties if one did break out. Thus, Zi Jin held Huangfu Rui back, saying that they needed time to judge the Beast Taming School¡¯s reaction first. Though the Beast Taming School had destroyed any proof of their involvement, both parties were well aware of the truth. If they wanted to have an underground fight with one another or even a full-out war, the Beast Taming School would¡¯ve indicated it already.


    As for the information regarding the Soul Refining School, Zi Jin had warned everyone to not let anyone else know. Bai Yunfei was even told to leave this matter to the elders and to not mind it anymore. Zi Jin told Bai Yunfei that it was more important to work on recovering his essence fireseed.


    There was also another problem regarding Jiang Nan¡¯s meeting with Bai Yunfei back in the Northern Plains Province. By accident, Jiang Nan had said that back in Stonegroove City, he had thought that Bai Yunfei had been one of their own since he had a soulbound armament, the Fire-tipped Spear. Jiang Nan decided to help Bai Yunfei out because of that assumption.


    This in turn led to Zi Jin and the others being quite suspicious, but Bai Yunfei had prepared an ¡®excuse¡¯ a long time ago. He managed to bluff his way out.


    If Zi Jin and the others were to learn about this before Bai Yunfei was accepted as a disciple, they would¡¯ve been extremely suspicious, but after half a year with Bai Yunfei, they were all acutely aware of his ¡®talent,¡¯ ¡®strange situation,¡¯ and ¡®background.¡¯ For those reasons, none of the elders found it overly suspicious, though they were all still surprised nonetheless.


    ¡­¡­


    Nightfall.


    In the Northern Point of the Crafting School was a single courtyard with beams of multi-colored light flowing out of it. Like a spectrum of dazzling colors, the night sky felt like a dreamland to anyone that saw it.


    The reason for this spectacular sight was because of the crystal ¡®lighthouse.¡¯


    It was the special lantern Bai Yunfei had won back in Redfire City, the ¡®Prisma Lantern.¡¯ Since Huangfu Rui had taken such a liking to it, Bai Yunfei had it transported to her own personal courtyard¡ªwith Sima Dong¡¯s permission, of course.


    Affixed to the lighthouse was the Prisma Lantern. At its core was a single crystal. With its spectacular and well-made design, the lantern was capable of bending and refracting light in any way it saw fit.


    Seated on top of the lighthouse, Huangfu Rui could be seen resting her chin on her hands. She was staring up at the sky. Xiao Rourou was on top of Xiao Bai as the bird flew around the sky. Though she was humming to herself a song only children knew, she could be seen sometimes turning her head to look back at the two figures sitting side by side.


    The gentle breeze that usually came with night was soft but strong enough to blow several strands of hair from Tang Xinyun¡¯s face. Brushing some of the dancing strands behind her ears, she turned to look up at the starry canopus as if wondering about something.


    By her side, Bai Yunfei was hesitating.


    Finally drumming up some courage, Bai Yunfei managed to say, ¡°Xinyun, I have something I need to tell you¡­¡±

 Chapter 277: Violet Soul Bracele

    Chapter 277: Violet Soul Bracelet


    Finally drumming up some courage, Bai Yunfei managed to say, ¡°Xinyun, I have something I need to tell you¡­¡±


    Withdrawing her gaze from the sky, Tang Xinyun smiled at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Is it about the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring?¡±


    He paused. ¡°Xinyun, I¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t want to lie to you, but I¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to apologize to me.¡± Tang Xinyun interrupted him. ¡°Everyone has their own secrets. By saving me, you had to reveal your secret. I still don¡¯t know what that secret is, but if I had to guess, your secret is inconceivable but dangerous. Hiding the secret from me is just¡­ human nature¡­¡±


    ¡°Xinyun, I¡­¡±


    Her understanding of the situation made Bai Yunfei pause. Her gentle smile paired with her pretty complexion was more than enough to have such an effect on him. Tang Xinyun was one of the people Bai Yunfei could trust completely, and since the situation had already reached this point, there wasn¡¯t a point in hiding his secret anymore.


    He decided then.


    ¡°Xinyun, I¡¯m sure you can guess it by now. The unique ability of the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring is something I gave it.¡±


    ¡°Gave!?¡± Despite having such a suspicion, Tang Xinyun was still surprised to hear it from Bai Yunfei¡¯s own mouth. ¡°Are you saying you can¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring was originally an ordinary ring. I gave that ring a special effect.¡± Bai Yunfei confirmed his ability again. ¡°I¡¯ve a special ability I can¡¯t explain. I guess it¡¯s like a scientific law. As long as I think about it, I can ¡®upgrade¡¯ an item. By extension, I can give an item even more power and all sorts of special effects.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She was tongue-tied. What Bai Yunfei was saying was simply beyond her comprehension.


    Now that the secret was out, Bai Yunfei felt a whole lot better about himself. He didn¡¯t need to hide anything anymore. He smiled, the sight of his companion¡¯s quivering lips and wide-open eyes had such an effect on him. ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to explain, so how about this, I¡¯ll let you see what I was talking about¡­


    ¡°Did the ¡®Violet Soul Bracelet¡¯ get taken back by the third elder?¡±


    ¡°The Violet Soul Bracelet?¡± Tang Xinyun asked. ¡°No,¡± she shook her head, ¡°the master said that it¡¯d be my welcoming gift so I didn¡¯t need to return it.¡±


    ¡°Really now? But isn¡¯t the Violet Soul Bracelet one of the most precious soul armaments the Crafting School owns? If the third elder gives such a special item to you, wouldn¡¯t the others get jealous?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in concern.


    ¡°Haha, not at all. The other sisters are very kind people and look after me. The master said that they all have their own soul armaments. Though theirs aren¡¯t as strong as the Violet Soul Bracelet, they¡¯re all still one-of-a-kind¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s good then. Xinyun, let me see the Violet Soul Bracelet then.¡± His eyes sparkled.


    ¡°Alr¡ªalright¡­¡± Tang Xinyun nodded. The sleeve of her robes pulled back to reveal the delicate skin of her left arm, and on her wrist, a violet bracelet hummed softly with a violet light.


    She was in the middle of taking the bracelet off her wrist when Bai Yunfei hurried to stop her, ¡°Keep it on. I just need to touch it. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Since the bracelet was responsible for helping Tang Xinyun recover her soulforce, Bai Yunfei had no intention of taking it away from her.


    Under the watchful eyes of Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei reached a hand out to touch the bracelet.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Water


    Attribute: +960 Spirit


    Equipment Effect: Increase rate of spirit recovery by 10%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 180 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth dropped open by a slight amount. Though he expected to see abnormally good stats, it was still really astonishing to see it for himself.


    ¡°Low-heaven tier! That¡¯s even higher than the Violet Soul Ring!! Having it grant 960 spirit is already far more than what my Violet Soul Ring can give at +10! The effect¡¯s really amazing too¡­ it can increase the rate of recovery by a percentage!¡± Eyes shining brightly, Bai Yunfei was lost in his own thoughts.


    ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Concerned about how Bai Yunfei was staring off into the distance, Tang Xinyun decided to ask him a question.


    ¡°Ah? Oh¡­ it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s nothing.¡± He responded. ¡°Xinyun, the Violet Soul Bracelet has a great effect, but with the power I told you about, its effects will become even greater. You¡¯ll understand what I mean in a moment.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ just like that?¡± Tang Xinyun asked. From what she was imagining, she thought that the special method Bai Yunfei was talking about would involve recrafting the item.


    ¡°Just like that. Just wait one second.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    His eyes narrowed as he started to concentrate. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    When Bai Yunfei suddenly went quiet, Tang Xinyun was confused by the situation. She could sense his soulforce fluctuating just slightly, but then she realized something, the soulforce coming from the Violet Soul Bracelet was¡­ changing!?


    It had to be an illusion, she thought, but she was quick to realize that even her own soulforce was changing! And not on a minute level, this was a very noticeable change!


    She was speechless. For a good while, all she could do was stare at Bai Yunfei in dumb shock.


    Another two minutes had gone by before Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes opened once more in joy!


    Tang Xinyun was surprised. Her soulforce was coming back to her at an even faster rate. By her estimations, the soulforce was fighting against the corrosive energy roughly thirty percent faster than before!


    ¡°Haha, it worked! And it¡¯s a soulforce recovering effect too!¡± Bai Yunfei remarked in joy.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Water


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +960 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +430 Spirit


    Equipment Effect: Increase rate of spirit recovery by 10%.


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase rate of spirit recovery by 30%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 180 Soulpoints


    How lucky that another soulforce recovering effect would appear as soon as he upgraded it to +10! And by thirty percent, no less!


    ¡°Yunfei¡­ le¡ªlet go¡­¡±


    In the midst of his excitement, Bai Yunfei had completely forgotten about Tang Xinyun. Realizing that her voice was far more shy than normal, he turned to look at her in confusion, ¡°Xinyun, what¡¯d you say?¡±


    ¡°My¡­ my hand¡­ let go¡­¡± Bai Yunfei looked as though what he was doing was nothing important, but Tang Xinyun¡¯s face was bright red as she tried to tug her left hand away.


    It was when her hand started to be tugged away from Bai Yunfei that he realized his hand wasn¡¯t on the Violet Soul Bracelet anymore. At some point in his excitement, his hand had clutched her wrist.


    When Tang Xinyun tried to pull her hand away, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand slipped down her impeccably soft wrist.


    Several seconds passed before Bai Yunfei finally pulled his hand back. ¡°Uh¡­ Xinyun, I¡­ I didn¡¯t mean to do that¡­ I was just¡­ just excited¡­¡± He tried to explain.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Her head was bowed, but the flush on her cheeks was still noticeable. She didn¡¯t seem to be in the mood to debate with Bai Yunfei whether it was intentional or not, so she changed the subject, ¡°Yunfei, what did¡­ what did you just do? Why do I feel¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, that was the ¡®special energy¡¯ I was talking about, haha! Xinyun, did you feel your soulforce grow, and that you¡¯re recovering more of it now?¡± Bai Yunfei inquired gleefully.


    She slowly answered, ¡°I do. Yunfei¡­ do you really have such a strange power!? I¡¯ve never heard of something like this¡­ it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s impossible to think about, really!¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°This way, your rate of soulforce recovery might just beat out the corrosive energy, won¡¯t it? You¡¯ll be able to slowly drive it out!¡±


    The very notion of that gave Tang Xinyun some semblance of hope. Nodding excitedly, she replied, ¡°Yes! I can feel a change! I¡¯m sure in no time at all, I¡¯ll be able to completely eradicate it!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good, very good¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed once more as if another weight had dropped from his shoulders.


    A small expression of gratitude made its way up Tang Xinyun¡¯s face as she looked at Bai Yunfei¡¯s gleeful face, ¡°Yunfei¡­ thank you¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°Don¡¯t say thanks, I¡¯d feel guilty if you did. Just get better as soon as you can and get rid of that corrosive energy. We can find a way to recover your essence fireseed then¡­¡±


    ¡°Recovering my essence fireseed¡­¡± That topic brought a dark shade of pain to Tang Xinyun¡¯s face.


    Bai Yunfei wanted nothing more than to slap his own face at that reaction. She was happy up until he went and brought up that topic.


    ¡°Xinyun, there¡¯s no such thing as a definite in this world. There¡¯ll be a way, don¡¯t you worry! I¡¯ll make sure to help you find a way to recover your essence fireseed! I promise!!¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    She nodded her head again, but this time even softer. There was clearly not many expectations to be had on this subject.


    Hurrying to change the topic, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Oh, Xinyun. Please¡­ keep this special energy of mine a secret to everybody. I don¡¯t want anyone else to know about it¡­¡±


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s face finally softened into a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I know what this secret means to you. I won¡¯t tell anyone else.¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei wanted to talk to her about something else, the voice of another person called out from behind them.


    ¡°Sis Yun! How much longer are you going to talk with brother strawhat? Dai Dai¡¯s so sleepy! Dai Dai wants to go back and sleep!¡±


    The two turned around. It was Huangfu Rui who was down below the lighthouse staring sleepily up at the two of them.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Upon realizing that it was getting late, Bai Yunfei said to Tang Xinyun, ¡°Xinyun, I¡¯ll be heading back first then. Take Doraemon to sleep and take care of yourself. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    Tang Xinyun nodded her head. ¡°Yes, you have a good night¡¯s sleep. I know you¡¯ve been very tired so recently¡­¡±


    With that, Bai Yunfei watched Tang Xinyun take Huangfu Rui with her before he turned around to leave.


    ¡°Time for me to think of a way to recover my own essence fireseed¡­¡±

 Chapter 278: Imprisoned Fireseed

    Chapter 278: Imprisoned Fireseed


    Within the courtyard in the Western Point where all the disciples of the inner school resided, Bai Yunfei was currently in the basement of his own room.


    In his hands were three different black space rings. At a primary glance, one of them was from the dead beast tamer, one from the Soul Refining School member, and the third was from Xiao Binzi. Since Bai Yunfei had killed the first two, the rings were, by rights, his ¡®spoils of war.¡¯


    It was with disappointment that Bai Yunfei later put down the three rings. Of all the items in there, the only things of noticeable worth were:


    Four soul armaments with the highest being only a mid-earth tier soul armament that was a broadsword¡ªan item Bai Yunfei disliked using. There were also several mid-grade primal stones and a few low-grade soul crystals.


    But nothing else in there was enough to really surprise him.


    Not even a soul skill or secret training method could be found. This wasn¡¯t a weird notion. Many people were forbidden to carry such items since soul cultivators killing another for their possessions was an everyday matter. If a lowly student were to stash a secret from their school and lose the item and their life to the hands of an outsider, it was possible the ¡®secret¡¯ would be no more.


    After finishing his investigation, Bai Yunfei was far more disheartened than before. With no interest of inspecting the soul armaments or the worth of the primal stones, Bai Yunfei put everything away and started to calm himself down to try and go over the Art of Firebending.


    As a further disappoint, Bai Yunfei felt no reaction from his essence fireseed. Like before, not a single iota of his elemental fire could be felt. Everyday aside from upgrading his equipment, Bai Yunfei would try and heal his essence fireseed. Despite using plenty of different methods, his essence fireseed felt as if it was hibernating or playing dead. No matter how hard he tried, not a reaction was to be had.


    At one point, he even tried to materialize his essence fireseed outside, but it looked like a flame on the verge of being snuffed out, and he couldn¡¯t draw in any more elemental fire to sustain it.


    ¡°Bang.¡±


    One faint crack later, a fireball materialized over Bai Yunfei¡¯s right palm due to the Ardent Sun Glove. Staring at the fireball for a decent amount of time, he extended his left hand out. Following a small swipe, Bai Yunfei¡¯s essence fireseed was taken out of his body and placed within the fireball in his right hand.


    Completely surrounded by fire, the essence fireseed looked as if it was a completely different element. Though both were of fire, the elemental fire and the fireball didn¡¯t seem to mix at all. Minutes went by with absolutely no changes before Bai Yunfei sighed and dissipated the fireball. Several more attempts were made: with the flames from the Flameblade Bracer, the Fire-tipped Spear, and even the Cataclysmic Seal, but to no avail.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ essence fireseed. Are you dead or what!? You¡¯re acting no different than if you were completely gone¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought sadly to himself as he watched the fire from the Cataclysmic Seal surround his essence fireseed.


    As he was preparing to put the essence fireseed back into his body, a sudden flash of inspiration materialized in his head, ¡°Hold on¡­ the essence fireseed was damaged because I forced it to strengthen the Cataclysmic Seal. What if I¡­¡±


    The light in his eyes flashed furiously as if trying to predict the possibilities of his deduction. Upon reaching a conclusion, he bit his lower lip, ¡°Who cares? The essence fireseed can¡¯t possibly get any weaker than it is now. Even if I¡¯m wrong, I won¡¯t lose anything more!¡±


    Determined, Bai Yunfei pulled out his essence fireseed and transmitted it into the Cataclysmic Seal!


    In an instant, the Cataclysmic Seal began to vibrate and cry as if excited about having the essence fireseed back in it. The fire around the soul armament swelled up several times in size and filled the room with an even stronger shade of red than before.


    The eyes on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face widened in terror and shock. He was wrong! The state the essence fireseed was in wasn¡¯t the weakest state it could be in! When the Cataclysmic Seal started to vibrate, Bai Yunfei realized then that his essence fireseed was even weaker than before.


    Right now, it was on the verge of collapse!!


    Having no time to regret his previous decision, Bai Yunfei tried his best to rein in the essence fireseed in the Cataclysmic Seal. His teeth were clenched so hard in his concentration that they began to creak slightly under the pressure, ¡°Don¡¯t fall apart! Don¡¯t fall apart! Bring it together! Reform! Reform!!


    ¡°Reform! Reform dammit!!¡±


    His furious roars gave pause to the Cataclysmic Seal. Almost as if understanding what its master was trying to do, the brilliant flames began to shrink down into the soul armament. Even the red eye-piercing light was lessening in intensity like it was attracted to some sort of magnet in the Cataclysmic Seal.


    The panicked expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face froze for a moment before being replaced by a gleeful one.


    ¡°It worked! It actually works this way!¡±


    He could distinctly feel that the essence fireseed, which had been on the verge of collapse, was growing stronger bit by bit because of the changes to the Cataclysmic Seal!!


    ¡­¡­


    If the essence fireseed could be siphoned into the Cataclysmic Seal, the reverse should surely be possible as well!


    It was a notion that had slipped Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind until now. Thinking about what should have happened, putting his essence fireseed into the Cataclysmic Seal should have resulted in it being used up again, but Bai Yunfei had no other choice. With this ¡®possibility¡¯ now fresh in his mind, he was sure that he had succeeded!


    Zi Jin, Xiao Binzi, and the others had all thrown up their hands at this topic. Would he really be the one to find a solution? Did¡­ none of the others owners of a lifebound armament ever think of this method before?


    But that didn¡¯t matter now. This accidental discovery of how to heal the essence fireseed filled Bai Yunfei with no small amount of joy. Each sliver of restoration made him shiver with anticipation.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s loss of strength had been the source of extreme frustration for him. Determined as he was, Bai Yunfei still couldn¡¯t help but feel discouraged in the days leading up to today. Now that he had finally found a way, how could he not feel excited?


    There was no way that man-made walls would be able to obstruct the flow of elements. The vast elemental fire in the world began to flow into the room. Flowing into the Cataclysmic Seal, the elemental fire began to be absorbed by essence fireseed, revitalizing it. In both intensity and warmth, the essence fireseed was growing stronger.


    Time went on in this fashion. Bai Yunfei almost went without blinking the entire night as he stared at the Cataclysmic Seal. Each time he felt a change in the fluctuation, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. It was a long process, but he wasn¡¯t feeling tired just yet.


    It wasn¡¯t until he heard the noises of several other students that Bai Yunfei realized it was noon of the next day.


    After careful consideration, Bai Yunfei decided to call it quits. He¡¯d go see Tang Xinyun, Zi Jin, and the others before coming back to pick up where he left off.


    He willed his essence fireseed to come back into his body, but when nothing happened, a look of sheer shock appeared on his face!


    His essence fireseed wasn¡¯t¡­ it wasn¡¯t coming back!!


    It was as if it was being imprisoned by the Cataclysmic Seal. There was no way out!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­ what¡¯s going on!? Why is this happening!!¡± Bai Yunfei despaired. In his flummox, he tried to recall the essence fireseed into his body several more times, but to no avail. The Cataclysmic Seal was now a trap and the essence fireseed was its prisoner.


    Nearly a dozen minutes passed before Bai Yunfei finally gave up. Looking at the still-floating Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to do.


    Several minutes had been needed before he finally calmed down. Sighing, Bai Yunfei looked at the soul armament in confusion, ¡°There¡¯s still a connection, and the Cataclysmic Seal doesn¡¯t seem to be absorbing any of the elemental fire. It¡¯s still regenerating the essence fireseed, but it won¡¯t let it go¡­ but why? Did the two¡­ combine?


    ¡°It¡¯s healing sure, but it¡¯s very weak.


    ¡°Or maybe it¡¯s better to say that¡­ it¡¯s too weak to even leave the Cataclysmic Seal? Do I have to wait until it¡¯s strong enough to call it back then?¡±


    He shook his head wistfully, ¡°I may have found a way to recover my essence fireseed, but is this a good thing or a bad thing, I wonder?¡±

 Chapter 279: Special Circumstances

    Chapter 279: Special Circumstances


    In the Northern Point, the previous headmaster of the Crafting School, Zi Jin, was seated in his courtyard.


    He was sitting in front of a stone table with a serious look on his face as he looked at a violet jade slip. On the table in front of him, a series of rare herbs had been laid out in a single spread. Each herb had a very rich miasma coming from it. They were clearly very precious herbs.


    There were over a dozen other jade slips piled up one after another to his right.


    On the other side were sheafs of papers with characters scribbled all over them.


    After looking at the jade slip in his hand, Zi Jin lifted his hand holding a brush to write something down on a paper.


    When the paper was filled up, he put down the brush and looked over the other sheafs of paper in deep concentration.


    ¡°If we use some fantawood tricolored herbs as a primer and then some bluefire dragonfruit as the main component, the refined energy from the firecore primal stones should be able to help Yunfei¡¯s essence fireseed gain some strength¡­¡± Zi Jin pondered. He scratched his head to think and gather his thoughts properly.


    But even that was was fruitless.


    ¡°The bluefire dragonfruit is disposed to Yin and is poisonous, so there¡¯s some worrisome side-effects¡­


    ¡°Then, what if we use viofire tribreath flowers?¡± Zi Jin looked at another stalk of herbs nearby before then shaking his head again. ¡°No no, what is required to use the flower is far too harsh. If Yunfei can¡¯t handle it¡­


    ¡°These eight-thousand year old flameberries might do, but without some aquacore fruits as a component, Yunfei would never be able to eat it!¡±


    One by one, Zi Jin went through each of the herbs he had in stock to see if any of them could be used to help Bai Yunfei regrow his essence fireseed. There were reasons behind each herb. If the chances of success weren¡¯t too low, then was too dangerous for Bai Yunfei to take.


    ¡°Each of these drugs have unusual effects, but also have harmful effects in large amounts. If only the art of alchemy was still alive. Alas¡­


    ¡°The only option left is the fireseed spirit mushroom¡­ it¡¯s the most well-known ¡®ordinary¡¯ drug, but it¡¯s unbelievably hard to get!¡± Zi Jin sighed. ¡°Is our only option the soulbeast forest? Perhaps I can seek elder Hai¡¯s assistance. After his travels, the amount of herbs and minerals he has surely must be large. I haven¡¯t seen him in many years either. It¡¯s possible he might have one of them¡­¡±


    The presence of another person drawing near snapped him out of his thought, ¡°Eh? Is that Yunfei?¡±


    Following a wave of his right hand, all of the things on the table disappeared into his space ring right before a knock on the door could be heard.


    ¡°Yunfei, come in.¡±


    The door opened to reveal Bai Yunfei. Walking slowly into the room, the student bowed to his tutor. ¡°Master.¡±


    Zi Jin nodded. ¡°Yunfei, what brings yo¡ª¡±


    His voice hitched in his throat as he realized that something was off with the situation. Startled, Zi Jin stared at Bai Yunfei in worry, ¡°Yunfei, your¡­ where is your essence fireseed!?¡±


    It was a startling discovery. From what Zi Jin could tell, Bai Yunfei had no essence fireseed in him!!


    A blur flew from where Zi Jin was seated to right in front of Bai Yunfei. The next second, Zi Jin¡¯s right hand pressed against Bai Yunfei¡¯s left shoulder. He began to inspect every part of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body for any semblance of his essence fireseed.


    ¡°It¡­ it really isn¡¯t here! Yunfei, what happened? Did the last of it disappear last night!?¡± Upon the finishing of his investigation, Zi Jin was thunderstruck, and his eyes reflected his panic.


    If such a reaction could be had from the previous headmaster of the Crafting School and a Soul King, it could be seen that Bai Yunfei was clearly important to him.


    His reaction was heart-warming, to say the least. ¡°Master, don¡¯t be worried. I¡¯m fine. My essence fireseed is still here¡­¡± Bai Yunfei explained.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s not gone?¡± Zi Jin repeated in confusion. ¡°But how?¡± He asked, ¡°I don¡¯t sense it in your body at all¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not in my body, I took it out.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°What!? You took your essence fireseed out of your body!?¡± Gasping, Zi Jin immediately blew up in anger, ¡°How could you be so rash, Yunfei!? How could you take it out! The longer it¡¯s out of your body, the more dangerous it gets! Where is it? Hurry up and put it back into your body!¡±


    His eyes roamed around the room along with his soulsense to find it, but nothing could be found.


    Bai Yunfei lifted his right hand up to summon the Cataclysmic Seal. ¡°Master, I have it in my Cataclysmic Seal¡­¡±


    Zi Jin paused here for a moment to stare incredulously at him. ¡°What did you say? You put your essence fireseed in your lifebound armament? Furthermore¡­ you had it stored in your space ring!?¡±


    This time, Bai Yunfei found himself unable to reply. Nodding slowly, he asked, ¡°Yes. Is¡­ is that a problem?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Continuing to stare at the Cataclysmic Seal above Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, Zi Jin said, ¡°How could the essence fireseed be put into a space ring? If anything¡­¡±


    He reached a tentative hand toward the Cataclysmic Seal, but as soon as his hand drew close, a fearsome blaze exploded from it, causing him to withdraw his hand. ¡°What a strong repulsive force¡­ it really is your essence fireseed!¡±


    Unable to investigate the Cataclysmic Seal, Zi Jin thought to himself for a second. ¡°Yunfei, explain to me everything that happened from the very beginning!¡±


    ¡°Yes, master.¡± Bai Yunfei replied. ¡°Yesterday night, I¡­¡±


    Word for word, he repeated the abridged story of what happened to him to Zi Jin. The Zi Jin listened intently to him, and every so often, a puzzled look could be seen.


    By the time Bai Yunfei finished, he was aching with curiosity. ¡°Master, in your observation, what is going on?¡±


    Zi Jin shook his head. ¡°I do not have a clue¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah!?¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, do you understand just how incredulous this situation is?¡± A resigned sigh escaped Zi Jin¡¯s lips. ¡°There is plenty that I know, but even this is beyond my comprehension¡­


    ¡°Firstly,¡± he began, ¡°one¡¯s origin essence cannot be stored into a space ring¡­.


    ¡°Secondly, not only does the origin essence get weaker the longer it¡¯s outside its host body, there is a great deal of danger by the time half a day has gone by.


    ¡°But from what you are telling me, your essence fireseed has been outside your body since yesterday night without going back in¡­ and even more importantly, your essence fireseed is ¡®trapped¡¯ inside your lifebound armament and can¡¯t be recalled¡­ I can say I¡¯ve ever seen a situation like this before.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean¡­¡± Bai Yunfei started to ask, ¡°No one in history has done this before?¡±


    The slightest of grimaces twitched to life on Zi Jin¡¯s lips. ¡°One¡¯s origin essence is extremely important. No soul cultivator would willingly have their origin essence outside of their body. People with lifebound armaments can almost be counted on one hand, and your situation has far too many unique factors. I have never heard of such a person with a case like yours throughout history. There is no precedent, and there are no references to go over. Thus I¡­ I cannot guarantee or even say anything on behalf of your situation.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ what can be done now? Master, I can¡¯t recall my essence fireseed to me. Isn¡¯t that supposed to be dangerous?¡± Bai Yunfei was starting to panic now. Zi Jin was supposed to be the all knowing one, but what would happen now since Zi Jin knew nothing? According to what he said, Bai Yunfei¡¯s essence fireseed would disappear after some time. How could that be good for him?


    ¡°Yunfei, don¡¯t worry yourself too much. Like I said, your situation is extremely different. That in itself isn¡¯t a bad thing.¡± said Zi Jin. ¡°Take a look at your essence fireseed, does it seem like it¡¯s getting weaker?¡±


    Now that was a good question to ask.


    Quickly trying to get a feel for his essence fireseed within the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei was able to figure out his current situation. Looking back to Zi Jin, he said, ¡°Master, why do I feel that my essence fireseed is a little stronger than before. It feels like it is actually recovering?¡±


    ¡°Oh, really!?¡± This was the first definite news Zi Jin heard all day. Smiling, he asked, ¡°Then aside from being unable to recall your essence fireseed, do you feel unwell or anything of that sort?¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Bai Yunfei replied.


    The light in Zi Jin¡¯s eyes shined even brighter now. For a whole minute, he did nothing but think. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then you shouldn¡¯t have to worry for now. Pay close attention to how your essence fireseed changes before making a decision. It may very well be what you say. Your essence fireseed is too weak to leave your lifebound armament, but it isn¡¯t in any danger of disappearing. It might not be a bad thing for your lifebound armament and it doesn¡¯t seem to be hurting you, so don¡¯t worry. When it grows stronger, it may very well ¡®return¡¯ to your body by itself.¡±


    Since Zi Jin didn¡¯t have any better plans, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°Yes, master. Your student will be careful.¡±

 Chapter 280: An Unexpected Profit: the Cultivating Pendan

    Chapter 280: An Unexpected Profit: the Cultivating Pendant


    Now that Bai Yunfei¡¯s essence fireseed was being ¡®incubated¡¯ by the Cataclysmic Seal, he didn¡¯t dare neglect observing it in case some sort of violent outbreak or disappearance occurred, but after a week had passed with neither of the two scenarios happening, Bai Yunfei was sure that his essence fireseed was nice and cozy in the Cataclysmic Seal, like a child being fed by its loving mother. In this case, what it was being fed was a large amount of elemental fire and its growth was its gradual recovery.


    The Cataclysmic Seal was left outside of the space ring since Bai Yunfei wanted to keep a close eye on it. This was the best way for it to absorb elemental fire, and even though it could absorb elemental fire from the safety of the space ring, outside it was capable of supplementing his essence fireseed with additional ¡®energy.¡¯


    Whenever he went outside to see Tang Xinyun or do an errand of his own, the Cataclysmic Seal would follow him. This in turn led to many students looking at him strangely. It was indeed flashy to have a soul armament rotate around someone, but when it was a red brick, that was when it became rather¡­ awkward.


    Since the Cataclysmic Seal didn¡¯t reveal any of its powerful elemental fire around it, the soul armament looked extremely normal as it floated about.


    As time elapsed since his talk with Zi Jin, Bai Yunfei was feeling some semblance of ease. His essence fireseed was recovering at a slow, but steady rate. There¡¯d be a day when it would make a full recovery. A day like that was something Bai Yunfei was extremely excited for.


    He hadn¡¯t any idea how to ¡®jailbreak¡¯ his essence fireseed from the Cataclysmic Seal, but now didn¡¯t seem like the time to worry about such a matter. Bai Yunfei had a feeling that nothing bad would happen, and if he were to wait, his essence fireseed would be able to be called back when it was fully healed.


    Now that he didn¡¯t have to worry about it, Bai Yunfei could think about other things. The very first thought had been about Tang Xinyun¡¯s injuries, of course. Despite her having the Violet Soul Bracelet and the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring, her recovery was still a little bit slow (in Bai Yunfei¡¯s opinion). As a result, Bai Yunfei hatched a plan to try and upgrade even more accessories, hoping that he might find another one that would grant spirit and have a soulforce recovering effect. The sooner he could, the sooner he wouldn¡¯t have to feel regret.


    Nightfall¡ª


    Bai Yunfei was on top of his bed. He was looking through the accessories Xiao Er had given him before they parted.


    Bai Yunfei grabbed one of the accessories and prepared to start the upgrading process.


    Equipment Grade: Normal


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Requirement: 1 Soulpoint


    The fact that it was a normal accessory gave Bai Yunfei some pause. ¡°Why is there a normal tier equipment?¡±


    Back in Curopia City, the lowest grade item Xiao Er had given Bai Yunfei had been superior at the very least. Not once did an accessory at the level of ¡®normal¡¯ appear.


    He turned the agate necklace over to take a closer look. Some dirt could be seen right on the face. The necklace was a little damaged here and there. It was by no means an accessory that looked like it could be sold in a jewelry store.


    In fact, it looked as if it had been buried in the earth for a good amount of time before it had been taken.


    ¡°Is it an antique?¡± Bai Yunfei thought. How old an item was bore no relevance to him. All he was interested in were the stats and effects.


    As if to satisfy his curiosity, Bai Yunfei looked through the entire stockpile. All sorts of accessories could be seen: new ones, good ones, bad ones, and broken ones.


    They were clearly not from the same source and had been taken from all sorts of places.


    ¡°That Xiao Er¡­ he probably bought all that he could from the city and had to resort to other means¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. What shape the accessories were in didn¡¯t matter much. He¡¯d upgrade them all the same, hoping one would grant spirit.


    His handling of the process had been quick and well-experienced. In no time at all, the accessories that gave spirit had been differentiated from the ones that didn¡¯t.


    In total, there were about a hundred of them.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Water


    Attribute: +160 Spirit


    Upgrade Requirement: 70 Soulpoints


    With this accessory in hand, Bai Yunfei looked at it closely before starting to think, ¡°Upgra¡ª


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Something caught his eye.


    On a second glance, Bai Yunfei saw something interesting, ¡°Mid-human!? That¡¯s a soul armament!!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± He took another look at the item. It was a bluish-green jade pendant with a bit of grime on it.


    Suspicious.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to think. Having an accessory that was a soul armament appear wasn¡¯t within his realm of expectations.


    ¡°Did Xiao Er find these ones specifically?¡± He wondered, but that didn¡¯t seem like a satisfactory answer. Accessory type soul armaments were quite rare. Xiao Er wouldn¡¯t throw it in with the rest of the ¡®damaged¡¯ goods.


    ¡°Then is this¡­ a coincidence? Was this one found at random, and Xiao Er didn¡¯t bother to look into it?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind raced furiously, ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter! I can¡¯t send it back anyhow, so let¡¯s accept this as a happy coincidence!¡±


    Coming across such a rare soul armament made Bai Yunfei happy inside. Wiping the jade pendant clean of its filth, he began to inspect it even more. In the pendant itself was a small oval about the size of his thumb with several scratch marks running across it at every angle. Clearly, the pendant had been scratched from time and age. With all of the scratch marks running across it, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve thought that this was any normal accessory if he didn¡¯t possess the Equipment Upgrade Technique.


    Feeling at the scratches, Bai Yunfei sighed to himself. ¡°I¡¯ll upgrade it first and see if it can recover soulforce¡­


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Several minutes later.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Water


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +160 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +88 Spirit


    Equipment Effect: Increase rate of cultivation by 8%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 70 Soulpoints


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t regenerate soulforce¡­¡± He was crestfallen for only a moment before he realized something, ¡°Hold on¡­ increase the rate of training!?¡±


    Bewildered by the effect, Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°So it can increase my training speed¡­ was there really such an effect? That¡¯s great! 8% is almost a tenth of normal. That¡¯s unbelievable though! Even the Violet Soul Ring isn¡¯t as good as this.¡±


    The pendant was put on soon after that. Aside from a slight increase in his soulforce, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel any different. Even after concentrating, he still couldn¡¯t feel any noticeable changes, but he didn¡¯t doubt the effects of the pendant. If it said it could increase the efficiency of training, then it would do so without a doubt.


    This effect was probably not noticeable on the surface, so Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to bother experimenting with it for now. Wearing it was more than enough. (The pendant given to Bai Yunfei by his mother was stored in his space ring in fear that it might break or get scratched when fighting.)


    Touching the pendant against his chest, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°If it can make me faster at training, I¡¯ll call it the ¡®Cultivating Pendant¡¯!¡±


    Happy that he had stumbled across such a great soul armament by accident, Bai Yunfei turned his ¡®greedy¡¯ eyes to the remaining few accessories. He hoped that there¡¯d be another accessory that¡¯d exceed his expectations.


    After half an hour, Bai Yunfei finally began to upgrade all the accessories that had spirit stats. Since he was well-experienced with the process, he was able to upgrade them all. Unbeknownst to him, the sky was growing brighter, symbolizing the coming of the next day.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: +60 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: Increase rate of spirit recovery by 3%.


    Upgrade Requirement:30 Soulpoints


    After failing to upgrade a dozen +9 equipments in a row, a notification Bai Yunfei had been looking for finally came up in his mind.


    ¡°It¡¯s here! Soulforce recovery!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened in joy. At last one had appeared!!

 Chapter 281: Isll definitely do it!

    Chapter 281: I''ll definitely do it!


    The Northern Point of the Crafting School¡ª


    There was a single red brick floating alongside Bai Yunfei as he trekked up the slopes of the mountain. Any student who saw him would salute him, and he in turn would salute them.


    In the Crafting School, the only ones who¡¯d call him by name were those who knew him. Anyone else would simply refer to him by his title, and before long, Bai Yunfei found himself adapting to what it meant to be someone from the ¡®previous generation.¡¯


    ¡°Oh? Yunfei, where are you heading off to in such a hurry?¡± The voice of someone could be heard. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei saw the senior of Tang Xinyun, Ling Yiyi, walking toward him. Just like the last time he saw her, Ling Yiyi was wearing a fiery-red cheongsam. Her hair was bundled up behind her head in a way that accentuated her tall figure.


    Pausing, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Sister, Ling, I came to¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know, you came to find junior Tang, didn¡¯t you?¡± Before Bai Yunfei could even finish speaking, Ling Yiyi was already chuckling. ¡°If I can say something, Yunfei. If you keep coming to see her, it¡¯s only going to take longer for her to fully recover¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ that¡­ I¡­¡± An embarrassed stutter came forth.


    ¡°Haha, just joking with you. Every time you come, junior Tang can hardly contain her excitement.¡± Covering her laughter with her hand, Ling Yiyi continued, ¡°When I was leaving, she was already looking around for someone. You came a little late today, I see¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Surprised by this, Bai Yunfei was just about to ask if it was true when he saw the teasing look in her eyes. Realizing that it was just a joke, he teased, ¡°Judging by how you¡¯re dressed, did you invite someone today as well? Come to think of it, I just passed by Zhiqiu a while back. He looked like he was waiting for someone. Are you late as well?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Really? I could¡¯ve sworn we planned to meet at eig¡ª¡± Thrown into a momentary fit of confusion, Ling Yiyi immediately grew angry when she realized what Bai Yunfei was doing. ¡°Yunfei! You¡¯re always making fun of me! Let¡¯s see how you like it if I say something bad about you to junior Tang!¡±


    ¡°Haha, you should go find Zhiqiu or else he¡¯ll wait himself into a nervous wreck. We can talk another time, sister Ling!¡± Bai Yunfei laughed as he walked past the red-faced Ling Yiyi and headed up the mountain.


    ¡­¡­


    When he arrived at the courtyard of Tang Xinyun, he could see her sitting on top of a boulder as she looked down at the scenery below.


    ¡°Xinyun, what brings you out here?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. Judging from her current state of sluggishness, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡°Was she really waiting for me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re here, Yunfei.¡± Not surprised by his arrival, Tang Xinyun turned to smile at him. Brushing aside the strands of hair on her face, she said, ¡°I felt tired from training, so I decided to take a break and feel the breeze.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Knowing that she wasn¡¯t waiting for him, Bai Yunfei felt the small sliver of hope in him die out. ¡°How goes your healing? Is the corrosive energy trying to start another outbreak?¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡± She shook her head with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s been going well. Even master is surprised by how quickly the corrosive energy is being purged. This morning, master looked it over and said that it should take only a few months before it''s finally gone at my current rate.¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s great!¡± Elated, Bai Yunfei took out one of the pendants he had upgraded yesterday, ¡°Xinyun, wear this and¡­¡±


    In the sunlight, the leaf-shaped pendant in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand seemed to sway somewhat. Tang Xinyun was taken aback for a second before her face grew red, ¡°Yunfei¡­ what do you mean by giving me this gift?¡±


    The shyful appearance of the woman caused Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart to skip a beat. ¡°You misunderstand. I didn¡¯t mean anything like that, Xinyun¡­ this pendant will help you recover soulforce¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± She didn¡¯t understand at first, but then her eyes lit up in realization, ¡°Oh! Could this pendant also¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I upgraded this last night. It¡¯ll help you recover your soulforce 3% faster than before. It¡¯s a little on the low side, but there should still be an effect. Xinyun, you should find your health getting better even faster than before with this.¡±


    A flash of joy registered in her eyes. Taking the pendant, Tang Xinyun tilted her head to look up at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei¡­ thank you.¡±


    Her eyes were as clear as the water from a pure spring. They were entrancing, and Bai Yunfei found himself practically immersed within them.


    He could feel his face grow hot, and when he did, he let out a hurried reply, ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me, Xinyun. Just hurry up and put it on¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± The smallest of smiles could be seen forming on her lips. Both hands clasped on one side of the pendant as she brought it around her neck. When it was attached, she pulled her hair out of the newly-formed circle. Then, with a reddening face, she slipped the pendant into the folds of her robes and out of sight.


    ¡°Ahem!¡± Bai Yunfei coughed twice in embarrassment before turning to look at the surrounding scenery¡­


    -


    ¡°Oh, Yunfei. How is your essence fireseed coming along?¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned back around. Tang Xinyun was by his side, looking at the clouds in the sky. Due to her close proximity, the delicate aroma of her scent wafted up to his nose, providing a calming sensation.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s no problems so far. The Cataclysmic Seal is helping my essence fireseed recover, so I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be too long before it fully recovers.¡±


    He actually didn¡¯t know how much longer it¡¯d take for a full recovery. It went without saying that this couldn¡¯t be said, unless he wanted to worry Tang Xinyun even more.


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s good to hear¡­¡± A smile grew on her face. ¡°Your recovery rate is really something. Your talent for training and crafting is something the ex-headmaster Zi Jin keeps praising. Even my master said that you¡¯re likely to become the best student in the last few hundred years, Jiang Fan included! If you couldn¡¯t recover from your wounds, the Crafting School would¡¯ve lost an incredible person. You can continue training and crafting, that¡¯s great¡­¡±


    She really was happy for Bai Yunfei, but her own feelings of sorrow were still noticeable to him. Clearly, she was feeling unhappy about the fact that she was unable to make a complete recovery¡­


    Though his heart was stabbed yet again, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Haha¡­ yeah. My situation is a bit special. That''s how we found a way to help me recover, but don¡¯t worry, Xinyun, I¡¯ll definitely find a way to help you continue training in elemental fire!¡±


    Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Yunfei, I feel fine¡­ you can¡¯t force something like this. My essence fireseed is gone, and trying to train in elemental fire is easier said than done¡­ Master said that there were a few special ways to help me, but everything requires me being a Soul Ancestor. I¡¯ve already accepted this.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s fate¡­ I¡¯ll never be able to train in elemental fire or learn how to craft¡­¡±


    She spoke of acceptance, but her voice sounded more and more dispirited with each word.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be like that!¡± Bai Yunfei hurried to comfort her, ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as a predestined fate! Xinyun, don¡¯t worry. I promise you. I¡¯ll definitely find a way to reform your essence fireseed. I¡¯ll definitely do it! I promise!!¡±


    Tang Xinyun had given up already, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s words were spoken with enough emotion that she couldn¡¯t help but feel a tad bit more hopeful. ¡°Yunfei,¡± she smiled, ¡°you don¡¯t have to worry about me. Focus on getting better, really, I¡¯m fine¡­ Master said that the headmaster¡¯s daughter will be coming back from the Water School in a while. I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve thought about it already. When she comes back¡­ I¡­ I¡¯ll be going with her to enter the Water School¡­¡±


    For some reason, Bai Yunfei found himself at a loss. He took a deep breath to calm down, and then looked back at Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes. ¡°Xinyun, I¡¯ll get better as soon as I can. After that, I¡¯ll find a way to help you reform your essence fireseed! Don¡¯t give up! Even if you can¡¯t recover it, another one can be formed! You can tr¡ªeh? Hold on¡­¡±


    He was motivating himself by talking to Tang Xinyun, but halfway through, a sudden idea struck him, causing him to stop there to think with a heavy expression.


    Confused, Tang Xinyun asked, ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Ah? Oh! It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s nothing. I just thought about something, that¡¯s all.¡± Realizing where he was, Bai Yunfei shook his head with a start. ¡°In short, Xinyun, you¡¯re thinking about too many things. Focus on getting better first. The other matters can wait.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Yunfei, you too. Hurry up and get better¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The two talked for some time before Bai Yunfei finally decided to head out. Waving goodbye, he started down the mountain to walk home.


    When he got to the crossroads connecting the mountain points, he stopped. Turning his head to the Eastern Point, he looked up with a bright look of excitement.


    ¡°Can that be done? If it could¡­ then I¡¯ll be making an extremely large leap in strength!¡±


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 282: A Legend

    Chapter 282: A Legend


    ¡°What did you say!?¡±


    The apparent silence in the courtyard was shattered by Zi Jin¡¯s voice. He was a reclusive existence that the students of the current generation regarded as a man of legend. The Zi Jin of today was far more outspoken than the one from half a year ago. Specifically, he was more susceptible to shouting out loud, like he was right now.


    Looking at Bai Yunfei right in front of him, Zi Jin asked again, ¡°Yunfei, what did you just say?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Master, I said that I want to form a second essence fireseed!!¡± He repeated.


    ¡°¡­¡± Zi Jin stared at Bai Yunfei for a long while as if in disbelief at what he was hearing. ¡°Yunfei, what made you think about such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Master, I know this idea is a little preposterous, but I¡¯m not daydreaming. Master, you¡¯ve said it before, my situation is unique. My essence fireseed has not disappeared even after being outside of my body for a long time. This has never been seen before. Aside from the connection between it and I, my body does not have a single bit of elemental fire in it. I¡¯m unable to control it, and it doesn¡¯t affect me. If the essence fireseed disappears, I won¡¯t feel anything, so my guess is if I can form a second essence fireseed, wouldn¡¯t I have double the strength when the one in my Cataclysmic Seal fully heals?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you still daydreaming?¡± Zi Jin sighed to himself. What Bai Yunfei was saying left him deep in thought.


    Bai Yunfei felt nervous seeing his master silent like this. ¡°Master¡­ do you think this idea is feasible?¡±


    Zi Jin¡¯s eyebrows narrowed together as a sign of him thinking even harder. After a while, his eyes lit up in realization, ¡°Yunfei. I cannot say for certain, but you may very well be able to!¡±


    It was an unexpected answer, but Bai Yunfei was happy to hear it, ¡°It really can be done!? Two essence fireseed can be formed!?¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯ve never heard of anyone being able to have two essence origin of the same element¡­¡± Zi Jin shook his head. When he saw the confused look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Zi Jin explained, ¡°But, a similar situation was once told before. I haven¡¯t seen it myself, but there was a person that had reached a similar situation like this over a thousand years ago in our school.¡±


    ¡°A similar situation? What was that?¡±


    ¡°He hadn¡¯t two essence origins, but rather¡­ a companion seed! That person was able to form a companion fireseed!¡±


    ¡°Companion fireseed?¡± He had never heard of such a thing before.


    Zi Jin nodded. ¡°Correct, like how the moon and the stars rotate around each other, the essence fireseed experiences something similar.¡±


    Knowing that Zi Jin would need to be more specific due to Bai Yunfei¡¯s confusion, he continued, ¡°As you are aware, soul cultivators are not limited to any one element. Unless one is talented or strong, having a duality in elements isn¡¯t worth the effort. One might not even have the chance to manipulate a second element, but when the strong maximize the potential of their main element, they may choose to cultivate a second element. By training in an element that complements their first, the power of both elements will get stronger.¡±


    Zi Jin paused here to lift his right hand up. Above his palm, a greenish energy floated into the air. ¡°I, for example, trained in elemental wood after elemental fire. Wood gives birth to fire, and elemental wood supplements elemental fire making it stronger. This is the path many of us crafters walk later in life. Of course, there are a few that choose to take another element.¡±


    Dispersing the elemental wood, Zi Jin continued, ¡°It goes without saying that geniuses like Zhiqiu, who have a duality of wood and fire since the beginning, are much better off than others. It¡¯s an advantage for them and easier to work with. Whatever achievements they achieve later certainly won¡¯t be unknown. That is what it means to have talent. Skill can be achieved with hard work, talent cannot.¡±


    His face grew stern, ¡°Many soul cultivators are capable of training in a second element, but for all intents and purpose, any one element can¡¯t be ¡®split¡¯ apart. It¡¯ll disappear and reform right away.


    ¡°There is, however, a very special circumstance that requires equally special conditions. If the essence origin takes in too much of the element it can handle, there is a chance that it can form a companion seed.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t an essence origin but it ¡®accompanies¡¯ the essence origin. The companion seed is far weaker than the essence origin!


    ¡°But there is an exception. If an essence woodseed increases the strength of an essence fireseed twofold, then a companion fireseed will increase the essence fireseed by tenfold or even more!!


    ¡°Only a few have managed to form a companion seed over the course of history, but every single one of them were men of their generation and masters of their century!


    ¡°It is said that the founder of the Tianhun Empire, Wu Tianhun, had five companion seeds! He was a paragon of might and invincible in his time!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei found himself grow extremely excited after listening to Zi Jin, ¡°Master, then are you saying it¡¯s possible¡­ I can form a companion fireseed!?¡±


    ¡°I cannot guarantee that.¡± Zi Jin shook his head with a sigh. ¡°But I¡¯m sure that in your current situation, having one form is extremely likely!¡±


    Zi Jin was extremely excited by this. How could he not be. In the past, he had been constantly worrying about how to heal Bai Yunfei¡¯s weakened essence fireseed without considering anything else. The companion fireseed was¡­ something from the legends. If Bai Yunfei could really form one, his potential would be limitless!


    A gleeful look of expectation flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. ¡°Master¡­ if I¡¯m unable to absorb elemental fire, what should I do if I wish to form a companion fireseed?¡±


    Zi Jin thought about the question for a moment before replying, ¡°Your current situation is extremely unique. As you are right now, your essence fireseed bears no influence on you. That means you can continue as if you¡¯ve never had an essence fireseed to begin with and try to absorb elemental fire again. You can try to form a second essence fireseed. My guess is that even if you form a second one, the moment your first one is called back to your body, it will absorb the second one to strengthen itself. If by chance it doesn¡¯t, then it¡¯ll become a companion fireseed!


    ¡°But that is only my speculation. Whatever the case, there are two outcomes with the first outcome being more likely. The second outcome is less likely to happen.


    ¡°Furthermore, this requires the essence fireseed in your Cataclysmic Seal to fully recover first. That by itself is a difficult situation. As your master¡­ I will try to find a way to help you. Even if it¡¯s only a chance or if it requires the entirety of our schools medicine, your master will help you form a companion fireseed!!¡±

 Chapter 283: Reforming the Essence Fireseed!

    Chapter 283: Reforming the Essence Fireseed!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An earth-shaking explosion erupted from the Northern Point of the Crafting School. It was so loud that every student heard it. Turning their heads to the source, they could all see a pillar of flames jettison into the heavens. The pillar evaporated any nearby clouds, and its intentions seemed like it wanted to bridge the earth and the heavens together.


    This pillar of flames originated from the Northern Point, and at the source of this pillar was a cave.


    The sleek ground around the pillar was ten meters long and wide. There were a series of lines and marks dug into the ground, forming an extremely complicated looking array. The inscriptions in the array glowed a bright red hue from the primal stones placed everywhere. The primal stones flashed and twinkled, and the array resembled a red version of the night sky with multiple stars blinking often. There had to be several hundred fire primal stones. At a glance, the lowest quality ones were of the mid-grade. The majority of them were the rarely seen high-grade ones.


    And at the pivotal points of the arrays, there were a few primal stones that shined even brighter. They were superior-grade fire primal stones!!


    At the center of the array was the pillar. It was two meters in diameter and was extremely bright. It looked as if the array was feeding the pillar a nearly unlimited amount of power.


    Within the scorching-hot pillar, a single figure could be seen sitting inside!!


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    A woman cried out. From beyond the pillar, a group of people could be seen staring at it. An orange light was protecting the group from being burned by the fierce elemental fire.


    The one who had shouted out loud had been a pale-faced Tang Xinyun. She was concerned about Bai Yunfei¡¯s fate, and if Cang Yu had not grabbed ahold of her hand, Tang Xinyun would¡¯ve already charged for the pillar.


    A feeling of unease welled up inside of her. The sight of the person inside the pillar proved far too much for her to bear any longer; turning to Zi Jin, who was in front of her, she pleaded, ¡°Senior headmaster¡­ Yunfei can¡¯t hold out any longer! Please save him! There¡¯s not enough time!!¡±


    From where he stood, Zi Jin was completely still. When the words of Tang Xinyun reached him, a feeling of worry and regret flashed in his eyes, ¡°Alas¡­ it looks like this attempt didn¡¯t work¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei sat in the center of the pillar of flames. His eyebrows were knit together, his teeth were grit, and his face was scrunched up in great pain. The heat of the fire was the hottest on the left side of his chest where his heart was. Right there, a small fist-sized fireball blew apart as if failing to hold together.


    The most shocking thing was that Bai Yunfei¡¯s face had several cracks running through it! Like century-old dirt, there were crevices going everywhere down his body as if threatening to split apart!


    Liquid blood did not come out of the cracks. Instead, a vapor trail of evaporated blood came out in its place.


    ¡°Dammit dammit dammit!! Calm down!!¡± Bai Yunfei practically howled. His body felt as if a gale was tearing him apart with how he was losing control of the elemental fire. Even his soul felt as if it was being ignited from all the heat, but he was loathed to give up now.


    ¡°Am I still unable to do it? Why? Why is this happening¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    After Bai Yunfei thought of the idea to form a second essence fireseed and had earned Zi Jin¡¯s approval, he had spent all of his time training and preparing. Aside from the periods of time where he¡¯d go see Tang Xinyun or when he¡¯d upgrade several accessories at night, he¡¯d spend the rest of his time trying to feel for the elemental fire around him.


    Right now, he had the soulforce expected of a Soul Ancestor, but since no element could be felt in his body, Bai Yunfei would look like a Soul Warrior if he didn¡¯t release his soulforce. Though he tried to absorb the elemental fire around him, Bai Yunfei was unable to do so; there was no longer a ¡®connection¡¯ like before.


    It was during that time that Bai Yunfei realized he had an extremely ¡®close¡¯ relationship with elemental lightning. In fact, he could very easily form an essence lightningseed if he wanted since his affinity for it was just as good as his affinity for fire.


    But that wasn¡¯t what Bai Yunfei wanted. He wanted to focus on absorbing elemental fire, and he had tried so many different methods to accomplish that goal. The Fire-tipped Spear, the Flameblade Bracer, the Ardent Sun Glove, and even other pieces of equipment that could help him with elemental fire were used to experiment. The one with the biggest results had been the Cataclysmic Seal, but he didn¡¯t dare use it in case something hampered the recovery of his essence fireseed.


    Half a month later, all of the spirit boosting accessories he owned had been fully upgraded. Although none of them gained an effect of granting soulforce recovery, there was no need to worry since Tang Xinyun was progressing fast enough on her own. Bai Yunfei was loathed to part with his +12 equipment, so he didn¡¯t bother upgrading those. He also didn¡¯t bother to find any more accessories. Instead, he focused completely on training.


    Day by day, time slipped by as Bai Yunfei failed to make any progress with elemental fire. His essence fireseed was still slowly improving, but Bai Yunfei was hoping that the recovery effort would slow down. The essence fireseed would return to his body when it was fully healed, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to attempt to form another essence fireseed if that happened.


    What Bai Yunfei wished was only just a thought. A thought couldn¡¯t impede the recovery of his essence fireseed, so he tried his best to absorb as much elemental fire as he could before his essence fireseed could recover.


    Zi Jin was busy himself. His waking hours were spent pouring over the records within the archives of the school in search of any pertinent information on companion fireseeds. The procurement of the necessary ingredients and primal stone were managed by him so that Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have to do it.


    He knew that if Bai Yunfei were to try to manage everything himself, there was no way to reach his goals. A special case like Bai Yunfei required special methods.


    In fact, Zi Jin was more serious about the matter than Bai Yunfei since he knew just how important this opportunity was.


    Two months later¡­


    Bai Yunfei wanted to absorb as much elemental fire as he could, but it simply couldn¡¯t be done. Not a single bit of elemental fire could be found in his body, but the essence fireseed in his Cataclysmic Seal had already recuperated more than halfway. Bai Yunfei asked Zi Jin for assistance because of his impatience.


    For three whole days, Zi Jin tried his best to find a way, and after the third day, he finally informed Bai Yunfei that they could only try the more special ways to attempt to make a second essence fireseed.


    Today, Bai Yunfei had been extremely excited. Under the guidance of Zi Jin, they walked close to the top of the Northern Point along with the first elder Xiao Binzi, second elder Huangfu Rui, third elder Cang Yu, and fourth elder Jiang Nan. Since Tang Xinyun learned of what was happening from Cang Yu, she tagged along as well.


    The group traveled up the road before finally coming to a stop ten meters away from a cave.


    Aside from the excessive width of the cave, there was nothing special about it. The moment they walked in, Bai Yunfei saw a ten-meter-wide array drawn on the ground with a myriad of fire primal stones laid at center points all over it. The primal stones exuded a bright crimson glow everywhere since there were so many.


    Only one glance was needed for Bai Yunfei to determine that the worth of the primal stones was definitely not low. However much they were worth, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know, but that was natural. His eyes weren¡¯t sharp enough to discern their true worth.


    It was because of this inability that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know that several of these stones was enough to keep a small school running for over a century¡­


    The sight of the primal stones was shocking to the elders who did know their worth.


    ¡°Yunfei, this array is called the Flame Gathering Formation. Your master will be using this today to help you form an essence fireseed. It¡¯ll help you focus and gather the elemental fire around you at a faster rate, and it will also help you absorb it.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised to hear of such a thing. It was the first that he¡¯d even heard of a ¡®formation¡¯ before. It was a topic that was completely untouched by him, so it went without saying that he didn¡¯t understand it.


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to try and learn the art though. Nodding his head, Bai Yunfei followed Zi Jin¡¯s instructions, and he sat down at the very center of the array.


    As soon as he stepped within the boundary of the formation, Bai Yunfei felt the space around him ¡®stick¡¯ to him. A rich miasma of elemental fire pooled around him, and he could feel each breath travel into his abdomen.


    Outside, Zi Jin shook his hand to retrieve something from his space ring. It was a type of drug.


    Handing it to Bai Yunfei, Zi Jin said, ¡°Yunfei, take this when I say so. You¡¯ll feel it taking effect straight away. That¡¯s when you will try to form your essence fireseed with the elemental fire in here.


    ¡°You won¡¯t need to worry about anything else. I will stand by the side and watch for any danger. Should it come, I¡¯ll be there to lend you aid. All you need to do is focus on forming an essence fireseed.¡± Zi Jin warned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, master. Your student will work hard to live up to your expectations!¡± Bai Yunfei bowed.


    ¡°Very well.¡± Nodding, Zi Jin had everyone else stand twenty meters away. ¡°You may¡­ begin!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Raising his left hand, Bai Yunfei took a swift look at the grape-sized red pill in his hand in determination.


    ¡°Success or failure, it all depends on this¡­ no matter what happens, I have to form a second essence fireseed!!¡±

 Chapter 284: Difficulties

    Chapter 284: Difficulties


    Under the eyes of Zi Jin and everyone else, Bai Yunfei swallowed the red pill before then stuffing a jade-green piece of leaf into his mouth.


    As soon as the pill entered his stomach, Bai Yunfei felt as if a fireball had dropped down his throat. From his tongue to his stomach, his entire body felt as if it was being burned alive.


    So excruciating was the pain that Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but let out a slight grunt. His entire body was wet with sweat, but even that was unable to help with the burning sensation he was feeling. The leaf that was in his mouth was meant to reduce the heating effect, so when it entered his stomach after the pill, the pain noticeably lessened despite the flame growing larger.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡± He hissed. A white stream of vapor exuded forth from his mouth. Closing his eyes and pursing his lips, Bai Yunfei started to try and guide the burning elemental fire in his body around like Zi Jin instructed.


    From far away, Zi Jin nodded his head in approval at Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions. Waving his right hand, four beams of elemental fire shot forth and embedded themselves into the four superior-grade fire primal stones around Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Brr¡­¡±


    A shockwave of sound kicked up all of the dust around Bai Yunfei as the fire primal stones started to shine. The grooves in the ground started to glow from the energy traveling through them, and soon enough, the entire formation was lit up.


    The Flame Gathering Formation was now activated.


    An immeasurable amount of elemental fire began to gather in the formation. There was an invisible line that contained the flames in a dome-shaped figure above Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei could barely feel the elemental fire around him grow thicker and richer. It almost felt as if he had been submerged in water, but if he were to try and open his mouth, all he¡¯d take in would be elemental fire.


    The pill he had eaten helped him take in the elemental fire while the Flame Gathering Formation gathered elemental fire for him to take in. With the added help from both, Bai Yunfei¡¯s attempt to absorb the elemental fire was far easier than before. Ecstatic, Bai Yunfei quickly tried his best to absorb it into his skin and blood vessels.


    Bai Yunfei needed to absorb enough elemental fire to return to that initial state of carefreeness he had before, but after ten minutes of trying, the pill had been fully digested. Stuffing an ear of red wheat into his mouth, Bai Yunfei felt sad¡ªif only the art of alchemy was still alive. If he had one of the pills made from such a mystical art, he wouldn¡¯t have to struggle like he was a cow chewing grass.


    It was only just a hope. If he could make himself stronger by chewing grass like this, then chew grass he would.


    As time went on, the pile of medicine Bai Yunfei had in front of him grew smaller and smaller. In the end, all of it had been completely used up. Bai Yunfei continued to try his best to absorb the elemental fire even as he complained about the taste of the medicine. What he didn¡¯t know was that the worth and importance of each of these medicines would¡¯ve been enough to drive the average soul cultivator mad with want.


    The more elemental fire in his body, the more excited Bai Yunfei felt. As long as he could absorb just a little more, he¡¯d be able to form a new essence fireseed.


    The most optimal time for this to be done was arriving when the first obstacle came crashing into him. All of the medicines he had eaten were starting to overwhelm him with their side-effects. Even though Zi Jin had warned Bai Yunfei to be careful, he was still caught off guard by the knife-peeling sensation that was happening all over his body.


    He wanted to scream, but somehow, the howls of pain died in his throat. To do so here and now would be to fail this attempt of absorbing elemental fire.


    A section of elemental fire had been lost to him, but it was only a small fraction. Gnashing his teeth in pain, Bai Yunfei used his soulforce to act as a ¡®guide¡¯ for the elemental fire, directing it through his body rather than let it go rampant.


    ¡°I can¡¯t keep on going¡­ but I have to form the essence fireseed!¡± Having kept track of his soulforce, Bai Yunfei knew that he couldn¡¯t continue for much longer. Grunting, both of his hands formed a hand seal in front of him. This was the ¡®orthodox¡¯ hand seal Zi Jin had taught him to do when forming the essence fireseed. With this hand seal, the elemental fire would be able to make a successful loop and increase the chance of forming an essence fireseed.


    The elemental fire within his body started to turn to the center of his body and compress in on itself in the acupoint, the place where the essence fireseed would form.


    Saying that the essence fireseed was nothing more than a mass of elemental fire compressed to its limits would be an oversimplification of the matter. The acupoint, where the essence fireseed was being formed, would force the elemental fire to undergo countless cycles of refinement before becoming an essence fireseed.


    Even if someone didn¡¯t know the normal method of guiding elemental fire through their body, any late-stage Soul Warrior could still form an essence fireseed by intuition.


    Bai Yunfei had done the same when he has become a Soul Sprite.


    The situation Bai Yunfei was in today was quite different; it required complete control over the entirety of the elemental fire around him for it to succeed. Since his advancement to the Soul Sprite realm had been unique, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t exactly ¡®experience¡¯ forming an essence fireseed.


    That being said, this situation would be extremely trying for him.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    As the elemental fire started to gather together, the surrounding elemental fire started to react to the new presence as well. A brilliant flash of red light was formed as a small disk-sized fire appeared in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest. Elemental fire drew in close as if being summoned by a need to be absorbed into him.


    ¡°It¡¯s starting!!¡±


    Zi Jin¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement. His right hand flew up as yet another burst of elemental fire shot into the Flame Gathering Formation. The countless primal stones started to flash even faster now as the elemental fire in the area grew thicker.


    The people behind Zi Jin concentrated heavily on Bai Yunfei, all of them wore expectant looks.


    ¡°Yunfei, you have to succeed. You can¡¯t let things go wrong¡­¡± Tang Xinyun bit her lower lip. Both of her hands were clenching her robes as she looked on in worry and concern.


    ¡­¡­


    The pain that was stabbing at Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart was almost enough to make him faint. His hands were visibly trembling, but he didn¡¯t dare move. He was at a critical part of compressing the elemental fire; he just needed a little more before the essence fireseed would be formed.


    It was only just a small distance to cross, but the step needed to cross it may as well have been the step needed to ascend the heavens.


    ¡°Hnrgh!¡±


    A fierce pain stabbed into his heart.


    His grunt had only taken a moment to form, but it took long enough that his concentration was slightly interrupted, causing the almost formed essence fireseed to start unraveling!!


    ¡°Bang!¡± Like a chain reaction, the fire around the outermost parts of his body started to dissipate as well. Almost as if the fuse to a bomb had been lit, the elemental fire around him started to ignite!


    With all of the elemental fire starting to dissipate and ignite, Bai Yunfei felt the color in his face bleed away.


    Following that, a mouthful of blood sprayed out from his mouth before immediately being evaporated from the heat.


    Zi Jin¡¯s face fell. He prepared to charge in to save Bai Yunfei; the signs that were showing up all pointed to a failed attempt at forming an essence fireseed.


    ¡°Master, don¡¯t come in!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice called out from within the fire. ¡°I¡­ I can still do it! Let me try again!!¡±


    Zi Jin had only taken half a step. He hesitated for two seconds, but his decision was made.


    He fell back.


    Biting the tip of his tongue to snap himself out of his pain, Bai Yunfei sucked in a deep breath of air. Following the flow of soulforce, he began to realign the elemental fire in him and renew the process to gather and compress it. The fire that was around him started to flicker slightly before moving back into his body.


    Beadlets of sweat dripped down his face before evaporating into the fire. The intense elemental fire was beginning to compress within the acupoints responsible for reforming the essence fireseed.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bang¡­¡±


    The flames fell apart again.


    This was the third failure. The third time Bai Yunfei had spat out a mouthful of blood.


    With bloodshot eyes, Bai Yunfei stared at the ring of fire around him; though he was in pain, his eyes remained as determined as ever.


    There was no hesitation as he began the fourth attempt. All of the sweat that had been on his face was gone, but the tiniest of cracks could be seen now.


    When the essence fireseed was about the size of a quail¡¯s egg¡­


    ¡°This is it¡­ the final push!!¡±


    He bit his lower lip. The Violet Soul Ring on his right hand started to glow as the stockpiled two-thousand soulforce began to enter his body.


    Refueled, Bai Yunfei started to use this new source of soulforce to compress the elemental fire with all he had!!

 Chapter 285: The Final Conclusion

    Chapter 285: The Final Conclusion


    Now that Bai Yunfei had two-thousand soulforce for the final fight, the elemental fire within the origin acupoint was compressing to half its original size with barely any of it escaping.


    The fire outside of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was starting to shrink to the size of a quail¡¯s egg, and by now, it was halfway in his body!


    During the moment of elation¡­


    ¡°Blip¡­¡±


    Like a bubble being popped, the nearly formed essence fireseed was disrupted!


    The partially embedded fireball outside Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was rejected, and as soon as it was completely out of his body, it exploded!


    This time, the elemental fire that was within his acupoint ballooned over ten times more than before!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An unprecedented level of light exploded from the Flame Gathering Formation as a pillar of fire shot into the air. It blasted apart the roof of the cave and headed into the sky!!


    With an exponential amount of elemental fire bursting out, the cave around Bai Yunfei started to crackle. Fractures appeared all over its surface, and when the fire slammed into the walls, Xiao Binzi immediately realized the danger.


    His right hand flew up and an orange pearl was thrown overhead. It then enveloped the group in an orange light, protecting them from the elemental fire.


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    It took a moment before Tang Xinyun could fully respond. With a frightened cry, she tried to run toward Bai Yunfei, but before she could, Cang Yu grabbed ahold of her.


    A feeling of unease welled up inside of her. The sight of the person inside the pillar proved far too much for her to bear any longer; turning to Zi Jin, who was in front of her, she pleaded, ¡°Senior headmaster¡­ Yunfei can¡¯t hold out any longer! Please save him! There¡¯s not enough time!!¡±


    From where he stood, Zi Jin was completely still. When the words of Tang Xinyun reached him, a feeling of worry and regret flashed across his eyes, ¡°Alas¡­ it looks like this attempt didn¡¯t work¡­¡±


    He wanted to help Bai Yunfei since his first failure, but Bai Yunfei had been so determined to make it work that the fourth attempt was already at hand. That much alone was enough to make Zi Jin admire Bai Yunfei¡¯s tenacity. He had also hoped that Bai Yunfei would surprise him once more.


    But it didn¡¯t look like that would happen any more. Bai Yunfei had failed again, and the Flame Gathering Formation was in a flux. If he didn¡¯t step in now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s life may very well be in danger.


    Right as he was about to step in, however, something surprising happened!


    ¡­¡­


    The instant the elemental fire exploded, Bai Yunfei felt as if his entire body was about to shatter apart. His mind went blank for a small second, but the pain was enough to anchor him back to reality. Not a single inch of his entire body was not in pain!


    There was an odd-red color around his body where the cracks were forming. It wasn¡¯t blood that was leaking out, but a red mist.


    ¡°Dammit dammit dammit!! Calm down!!¡± Bai Yunfei practically howled. His body felt as if a gale was tearing it apart with how he was losing control of the elemental fire. Even his soul felt as if it was being ignited from all the heat, but he was loath to give up now.


    ¡°Am I still unable to do it? Why? Why is this happening¡­


    ¡°I had an extremely rare chance with so many preparations in place. So many primal stones and medicines were used, and even then, I still couldn¡¯t do it? I was still reduced to this sad state¡­?¡± Knowing that nothing could be done to redeem the situation, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth was filled with the bitter taste of agonizing defeat.


    He didn¡¯t want to give up, but he had nothing to go on with.


    He also knew that Zi Jin would save him no matter what, so even if he was about to be torn apart by the fire around him, he wasn¡¯t particularly worried. Still if he squandered this chance, there would be no time for a second.


    Already, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was starting to grow hazy. When he looked up at the nearby fire, he could practically feel it solidifying around him.


    But then¡­


    A heart-pounding throb ran through his body as if his heart was sending him some sort of blessing. With renewed vigor, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, and his right hand shook slightly as a flash of light flew out.


    The Cataclysmic Seal!!


    ¡°Brrrr!!¡±


    The instant the Cataclysmic Seal appeared, it gave a shiver as if excited to be there. Floating above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, the brick started to spin.


    For an array as large as this one, a small brick was something it could overlook, but when the brick started to move about, all of the fire was effected.


    Soon enough, a whirlpool of flames was created, and at the center of it all was the Cataclysmic Seal!


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Under the amazed eyes of Zi Jin and everyone else, the flames spiraled around the Cataclysmic Seal before shrinking to be absorbed into it!


    As the array started to glow brilliantly with light, the elemental fire inside started to flow into the Cataclysmic Seal!


    ¡°Crack.¡± There was the sound of something cracking.


    One of the primal stones now had a crack running through it.


    Then, like a chain reaction, a series of cracks could be heard as the other primal stones started to shatter as well.


    The Cataclysmic Seal may as well been a bottomless pit. In a short few moments, all of the elemental fire in the array was sucked into it, causing the entire cave to darken. With the absence of light, nothing could be seen, and the remaining primal stones were all reduced to ashes!


    In the cave, the only thing that radiated any light was the Cataclysmic Seal, and right underneath it, Bai Yunfei could be seen lying on the ground.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Silence reigned through the cave as everyone looked at him in confusion. Not a single one of them knew what to do.


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    The first person to move was Tang Xinyun. With a shout, she ran to where Bai Yunfei was without hesitation. When she lifted him up, she could see steam floating out of his body from the many cracks on him.


    In a flash, Zi Jin appeared right next to her. Grabbing hold of Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm, he began to inspect his body.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­ Yunfei! Are you okay!? Please, wake up!¡± The steaming shape that Bai Yunfei was in had startled Tang Xinyun. Panicked and with eyes brimming with tears, she looked to Zi Jin, ¡°Senior headmaster, what¡¯s happening to Yunfei? You have to save him!¡±


    Stooping down, Cang Yu clasped a gentle hand on Tang Xinyun¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Xinyun, don¡¯t worry. Yunfei won¡¯t be in any danger with the previous headmaster here.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ Yunfei is¡­¡± Already, Tang Xinyun felt her throat constrict with emotions. Turning her head back to Cang Yu, Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes were completely stricken with worry.


    It was then that Zi Jin pulled his hand away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder. ¡°Worry not, Yunfei is fine. He has suffered many physical wounds, but nothing time won¡¯t fix¡­¡±


    Seeing Tang Xinyun wipe gently at the many wounds on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Zi Jin could only sigh and shake his head. He turned back to look at the Cataclysmic Seal above Bai Yunfei with a look of wonder.


    The Cataclysmic Seal let loose several flashes of light before falling with a thud right next to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. Devoid of color now, it looked like a normal brick¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    This attempt to form a second essence fireseed had squandered several hundred fire primal stones and countless of precious medicines.


    In the end, it was a complete failure.


    When Bai Yunfei was brought back to his room, no one knew when he¡¯d wake up. The elemental fire had left a number of wounds all over his body, and it continued to burn him. Streams of steam could still be seen rising from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body¡ªmuch to the shock of many.


    It was a stretch to say he was in danger, but Bai Yunfei clearly was in a very weakened state. That was why even Zi Jin was hesitant to try and do anything. Right now, only Bai Yunfei himself could try to recover.


    It was fortunate that he had armor that helped speed up the recovery process, so within half a day, the elemental fire died down to a gradual lull and the wounds around his body stopped bleeding. They finally started the healing process.


    With Bai Yunfei¡¯s recovery speed and the added assistance of his equipment, a full recovery would not take long.


    But a question remained to be answered. Would this failure to form the essence fireseed have any lasting effect on him?


    And the Cataclysmic Seal. After absorbing the elemental fire, even if it was only for a short amount of time, would it change the essence fireseed within it?

 Chapter 286: What to Do?

    Chapter 286: What to Do?


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    There was an explosion first. Then, a wave of smoke filled the area.


    ¡°Co-cough! Blegh!¡± A violent coughing fit followed after.


    There was the sound of wind being displaced before a person, waving a fan to blow the smoke out his window, could be seen. Rubbing violently at his face and dusting himself off, the man spat out several globs of ash-filled spit.


    Beyond the soot layering was the face of¡­ Bai Yunfei!!


    ¡°Ugh, another failure¡­¡± Sighing as he stared at the blackened object in his hand, Bai Yunfei stored the broken fragments back into his space ring.


    ¡°This is hard¡­ it¡¯s been five days already, but I haven¡¯t succeeded even once. I¡¯m scared to even think about the quality even if I succeeded¡­¡± Bai Yunfei rubbed his chin in contemplation. Since some ash was stuck to his fingers, his chin looked as if he had a beard, making for a comedic sight.


    ¡°Am I using the wrong materials?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. ¡°The crafting process was very clear though. That means my control wasn¡¯t good enough¡­ the flames from the Ardent Sun Glove are really hard to control. If this was before, I¡¯d be able to craft stuff like this without a problem¡­¡±


    ¡°Ugh!!!¡±


    Just thinking about the situation was enough for Bai Yunfei to let out a frustrated groan.


    He waved his right hand to bring out some more materials, but when there was no reaction, he looked surprised, ¡°Eh? I ran out?


    ¡°This can¡¯t be! I need to finish before tomorrow night! I¡¯m already so close. I have to finish by tonight!!¡±


    He nodded his head in determination and looked around before walking out of his room.


    Opening the doors, Bai Yunfei was met with the sight of a large group of people outside. At the very front of this group was Si Kongxian. Upon seeing Bai Yunfei walk out, the look of worry on his face turned to joy before then reverting back to worry, ¡°You finally came out, Yunfei!! If it took you any longer, I¡¯d have the other seniors drag you out!!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei had no idea how to react to that. Looking up to the sky, he began to apologetically reply, ¡°Sorry about that, I didn¡¯t realize what time it was.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry then. It¡¯s a good thing you came out now.¡± With a laugh, Si Kongxian shook Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, but when he saw Bai Yunfei¡¯s soot-covered face, Si Kongxian couldn¡¯t help but stare strangely at him.


    ¡°Ah, Kongxian, I¡¯m running out of materials. Could you do me a favor and get me some more of what I need? I need them before tonight if that¡¯s alright with you?¡±


    ¡°No problem! I had some juniors prepare some last time, so there¡¯s still some more in store. Let me have someone send them over to you later.


    ¡°Oh? Thanks for your work, then.¡±


    Chuckling Si Kongxian changed the subject, ¡°Yunfei, are you going to want them right now? Those juniors are eating their meals right now¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, no worries. Let them keep eating.¡± Basi Yunfei nodded apologetically.


    After waving to the other people there, Bai Yunfei turned walked out of the courtyard.


    Bai Yunfei could see a line of students walk into a single room one by one. Each one of them talked with one another as they walked into the room, and the sweet aroma of several plates of vegetables wafted through the air¡­


    This place was the kitchens for the inner school students of the Western Point¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Ten days had passed since Bai Yunfei had failed to form a second essence fireseed. Bai Yunfei did not wake up during the first two days.


    Like Zi Jin said, Bai Yunfei had no major injuries to speak of, and it only took another two days to bring him back to full health.


    Of course, ¡®full health¡¯ referred to the physical health on the level of a normal person. His soul was still very weak.


    He was feeling a little better, but he was still afraid to do anything major. Therefore, a few more days of recuperation would be needed.


    On the surface level, his failure to form a second essence fireseed had done very little damage, but the elemental fire had ¡®ravaged¡¯ his body. With the many medicines he had used, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was in a weaker state than before.


    While he was worse off, the same couldn¡¯t be said for the Cataclysmic Seal. After absorbing all that elemental fire, the brick seemed to have gone into ¡®hibernation.¡¯ Whenever Bai Yunfei took it out, he noticed that it wasn¡¯t absorbing elemental fire anymore.


    It felt like an average brick with its red hue and with it being cold to the touch. If not for the fact that Bai Yunfei could still see its stats, he would¡¯ve thought that it had turned back into a normal brick.


    As the master of the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei knew that there was more to it than just that. Beyond the cold exterior, a terrifyingly powerful aura could be felt within. It was dormant, but still, it continued to compress the essence fireseed in it¡­


    This was a great result to end up with. Even though Bai Yunfei failed to form an essence fireseed, he didn¡¯t squander all of the elemental fire; the Cataclysmic Seal had absorbed most of it.


    His memory was hazy, but Bai Yunfei could still distinctly feel that the essence fireseed in the Cataclysmic Seal was a whole lot stronger than before.


    There was a good chance that the essence fireseed would make a full recovery within two months.


    A consolation prize, to be sure.


    Still, Bai Yunfei would no longer be able to form an essence fireseed. His wounds required time he did not have and no medicine would help him here.


    ¡­¡­


    Like after the battle in Curopia City, Bai Yunfei found himself waking up to the tender care of Tang Xinyun. Just thinking about how he had been greeted with her kind smile left Bai Yunfei with a myriad of warm feelings, as if there was a special relationship between them.


    This rang especially true when he found his body wiped clean of sweat. Embarrassment didn¡¯t even fully describe how he felt.


    Of course, when he found out it was Si Kongxian who cleaned him, Bai Yunfei had nearly puked out of anger and disgust.


    Zi Jin and the others had been worried that Bai Yunfei would become depressed about his failures, but it had been almost the opposite. Bai Yunfei looked very cheerful when he woke up, and not once did he look like he was depressed. Hence, Zi Jin and the others were able to let out a sigh of relief. While it was true that they felt sorry that Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been able to form a companion fireseed, his failure didn¡¯t lower their opinion of him. For someone in Bai Yunfei¡¯s case, being able to take advantage of his essence fireseed being in his Cataclysmic Seal to get stronger was something they all felt gratified about.


    After Bai Yunfei woke from his two-day coma, he didn¡¯t bother to try and train or upgrade any equipment. Instead, he spent his time wandering around Mt. Crimson or playing with Huangfu Rui. This spoiled the young child. Every day after that she would pester him to make her a new toy.


    Sometimes, he¡¯d go to Tang Xinyun¡¯s place as well. A full recovery was all but expected now, and the corrosive energy in her was nearly gone, but even after all that corrosive energy disappeared, she¡¯d still have the strength of a Soul Warrior.


    On the outside, she didn¡¯t seem like she cared about her situation, but Bai Yunfei would sometimes see a crack in her facade and see the grief hidden behind her smile.


    Therefore, Bai Yunfei would try cheer her up whenever possible; sometimes he¡¯d even use Huangfu Rui to help brighten the mood.


    Five days later Bai Yunfei stumbled across something interesting. On his way back from Huangfu Rui¡¯s, Bai Yunfei found himself listening to an interesting tidbit of information.


    After thinking about it for an entire night, Bai Yunfei sought out one of the disciples from the outer school responsible for cooking. Bai Yunfei asked the disciple for several ingredients, and then after asking Si Kongxian to buy several things, he shut himself away in the kitchens.


    It was a forced occupation that lasted until the morning of the second day. Bai Yunfei was so busy that he had completely forgotten what time it was. No one dared intrude on whatever he was doing, but the students who were extremely hungry were all very cross with him. Some had even looked annoyed.


    But what was Bai Yunfei doing?


    Find out next time.

 Chapter 287: Happy Birthday!

    Chapter 287: Happy Birthday!


    ¡°Yunfei, it¡¯s already very late; what did you want from me?¡±


    The door to Bai Yunfei¡¯s room opened up, revealing Tang Xinyun. Upon opening the door, she realized that it was very dark since there was no lights on. By borrowing the moonlight, she was able to just barely make out something within.


    From the side, Bai Yunfei beckoned Tang Xinyun in, ¡°Haha, come on in first. It¡¯s chilly outside.¡±


    She was suspicious, but she entered the room anyway. ¡°Where¡¯s Xiao Rui? Didn¡¯t she come here earlier?¡±


    Though she looked around the room, Tang Xinyun saw no one around. Confused, she turned¡ª


    ¡ªright into Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    Startled, Tang Xinyun took a step back. In her haste, her foot slipped on the ground, causing her to fall backwards.


    Noticing her slip, Bai Yunfei hurriedly moved to grab hold of her. He successfully grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto her feet.


    ¡°Yu¡ªYunfei¡­ what¡¯s going on?¡± Somewhat panicked, Tang Xinyun tried to press an answer out of Bai Yunfei. By now, she had noticed that something was amiss, so she said, ¡°If it¡¯s nothing then¡­ I¡¯ll be going back¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, no. I didn¡¯t mean to do that¡­¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his head in embarrassment.


    Afraid that she might think he was up to no good if he kept delaying, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Xinyun, I called you here because I wanted to give you something.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± She didn¡¯t know how to respond to that, ¡°Give me something? Why?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ you¡¯ll find out in a second.¡± He answered with a mysterious wink. ¡°Xinyun, close your eyes for a moment.¡± He requested after thinking that Tang Xinyun had probably not yet adjusted to the darkness of the room.


    ¡°Eeeeh??¡± Again, Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t know how to respond to him other than to blush. ¡°Yunfei, you, what are you planning to do?¡±


    A drop of sweat formed on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead. ¡°No no, don¡¯t misunderstand me. I¡­ look, just close your eyes. You¡¯ll know what I mean in a second.¡±


    Tang Xinyun stared balefully at him for a moment.


    ¡°If you say so¡­¡± She nodded.


    Then, she closed her eyes.


    Perhaps by coincidence, a ray of moonlight made its way through a crack in the clouds and sprinkled over the young woman¡¯s tender, white features. They were illuminated in the moonlight, and Bai Yunfei saw her trembling eyelashes covering her closed eyes.


    But her most noticeable feature was the slight red hue on her cheeks.


    He was breathless for that one moment until he saw movement from Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes. Perhaps she was wondering when she¡¯d be allowed to open them.


    Coughing, he said, ¡°Well then. Keep them closed for now, Xinyun. Just one¡­ minute¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    One full minute went by with Tang Xinyun in complete suspense. As a testament to her trust in Bai Yunfei, she didn¡¯t move a single inch from her spot.


    If not for that trust, she would¡¯ve assumed that Bai Yunfei was up to no good.


    ¡°Alright, open your eyes now, Xinyun.¡±


    She opened her eyes upon command.


    ¡°Aaah!¡±


    A small cry of surprise came forth from her mouth. Right in front of her was a large circular object covered in some sort of substance that was as white as snow. All over the snowy-white layer was a variety of fruit slices and candles that were mixtures of colors.


    The candles had been lit, and in the gentle breeze, they danced in the moonlight. At the very center of the object was a large character, ¡®Yun.¡¯


    When it was brought out, a never-before-smelled aroma wafted into Tang Xinyun¡¯s nose, causing her to remain where she was.


    What Bai Yunfei had in his hands was a large cake. Smiling in response to Tang Xinyun¡¯s shock, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Happy birthday, Xinyun.¡±


    ¡°Ahh?¡± Again, it took her a moment to respond, ¡°Yunfei, how did you find out abo¡ª¡±


    ¡°Happy birthday!!¡±


    It was then that a cacophony of sounds erupted in the room, scaring Tang Xinyun so much that she leaped. Under the illumination of the multi-colored candles, she could see a new group of people surrounding her in the room.


    ¡°Heehee, sis Yun, happy birthday!!¡±


    Huangfu Rui¡¯s hug snapped Tang Xinyun out of her stupor.


    ¡°Yo¡ªyou guys¡­¡± Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t know how to react.


    Right by her side, Ling Yiyi laughed and pulled her hand. ¡°Junior Tang, we know it¡¯s your birthday, and we are here to celebrate it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah! I was the one who told brother strawhat! He said he wanted to surprise sis Yun, so we got all this ready!¡± Huangfu Rui pumped a fist into the air, ¡°Dai Dai cut all of the paper ribbons here!¡±


    Lian Lingmin strode forward as well, ¡°Haha, happy birthday, Xinyun.¡±


    Ye Zhiqiu nodded his head, ¡°Happy birthday.¡±


    ¡°Happy birthday, sis Tang!¡± Mo Xiaoxuan laughed.


    ¡°Happy birthday, junior Tang.¡± Song Lin commented.


    ¡°Happy birthday!¡±


    ¡°Happy birthday!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°You guys¡­¡± Amid the cheers of happy birthdays, Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes grew teary as she started to understand the situation. ¡°Thank¡­ thank you all¡­¡±


    Not once in her life did she experience something like this. Every birthday she had ever had had been spent with her mother and aunty Zhao where they celebrated within their icy home. Not once did anyone else ever wish her a happy birthday.


    ¡°Haha, thanking us would be a bit too much. To be honest, you should thank Yunfei. He planned everything, in fact, I¡¯ve never seen a birthday celebration like this before!¡± Ling Yiyi laughed as she winked at the cake-holding Bai Yunfei.


    Pausing only briefly before turning to Bai Yunfei, Tang Xinyun smiled. ¡°Thank you, Yunfei¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t thank me,¡± He laughed, ¡°As long as you¡¯re happy. How about you blow out the candles now?¡±


    ¡°Blow out the candles?¡± Came the reply. Staring at the large cake in front of her, another question came to Tang Xinyun. ¡°Yunfei, what is this, actually?¡±


    ¡°Yea, I wanted to ask that too. Yunfei, what is it?¡± Ling Yiyi repeated.


    ¡°Right right! Brother strawhat, what is it? What is it?¡±


    A drop of sweat slid down Bai Yunfei¡¯s face; this was the surprise!! Look at how he was showing it off!!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s called a ¡®birthday cake.¡¯ It¡¯s er¡­ a specialty from my hometown. Every time it¡¯s someone¡¯s birthday, we make a birthday cake to eat. First, you make a wish, and then you blow out the candles to make the wish come true.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Was there something like that? What place has a custom like that? It¡¯s really strange. I¡¯ve never heard of it before, at the very least.¡± Ling Yiyi questioned.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s a custom from a very remote village.¡±


    ¡°Brother strawhat, you said we can eat this right?¡± Huangfu Rui asked; she was focused on this particular piece of information.


    ¡°Once Xinyun blows out the candles you can.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay! Let¡¯s hurry up then! Sis Yun, blow out the candles, I want to eat the birthday cake!!¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡± Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t know how to feel about Huangfu Rui. She gave everyone a grateful look¡ªBai Yunfei in particular¡ªbefore she closed her eyes and thought for a long time.


    When she opened them again, she immediately blew out the candles.


    Huangfu Rui was curious, ¡°Sis Yun, what did you wish for?¡±


    But Bai Yunfei hurried to stop Tang Xinyun from answering, ¡°Don¡¯t say it! Saying it out loud prevents it from coming true. Come on, let¡¯s eat, everyone.¡±


    ¡°Okay! I want to eat! I want to eat!¡± At the drop of a coin, Huangfu Rui¡¯s attention was completely captivated by the desire to eat. Running to Bai Yunfei, she already had her mouth wide open.


    With a plate in hand, everyone took a slice of cake and sat around the table to eat it. The cake itself was very large, but with all the people there, the cake soon found itself all gone.


    Since their curiosity was piqued by this strange food, everyone had to have a slice. When they bit into it, they were all surprised by the taste. High praise came from their mouths as they ate, and Huangfu Rui had three large slices herself. So enthused was she that she had plenty of cream stuck to her face like the markings on a cat.


    The Tianhun Continent had nothing like this.


    The birthday cake was a remnant of the memory fragments Bai Yunfei had of the otherworldly person. With the ingredients and cooking method, Bai Yunfei was able to recreate a cake after five whole days dedicated to making it. Since some ingredients couldn¡¯t be found in this world, Bai Yunfei had to do his best with close alternatives before finally coming to a satisfactory result.


    The very first thing Bai Yunfei had done with the memory he had of the otherworldly traveler had been to make Tang Xinyun a simple birthday cake¡­


    While he was eating, Si Kongxian was suddenly hit with a question. ¡°Oh, this reminds me! Yunfei, was this the reason why you took the kitchens over for an entire week? Were you working yourself to death in the kitchens to make this cake thing!?¡±


    Everyone turned to look strangely at Bai Yunfei.


    Their eyes flickered between him and Tang Xinyun with mischievous smiles on their faces.


    ¡°Oh my my,¡± Ling Yiyi smiled, ¡°Yunfei is quite the dedicated person¡­¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was embarrassed. Even Tang Xinyun¡¯s face was red by this point. She was trying her best to hide by looking down at her cake, pretending to think about something.


    ¡°Hehe, Doraemon, didn¡¯t you say you wanted to perform something for Xinyun?¡± To redirect everyone¡¯s attention, Bai Yunfei turned the spotlight to Huangfu Rui who was trying to wipe away the cream on her face.


    ¡°Wha-oh!! Yeah, I remember now!¡± Putting down the plate with her cake rather reluctantly, she leaped to the center of the room.


    ¡°I will be singing a song for sis Yun¡¯s birthday. Happy birthday to you, sis Yun!


    ¡°Ah-hem!¡± Clearing her nose and throat, Huangfu Rui prepared to sing.


    ¡°Here¡¯s one tiger,


    Here¡¯s two tigers!


    They run fast!


    They run fast!


    One has no ears


    One has no¡­¡±


    This was the song Bai Yunfei had her sing. Two Tigers, a classic child folk song that would bring a smile to anyone¡¯s face.


    After her performance came Mo Xiaoxuan. Volunteering to take center stage, he smiled, ¡°Hehe, I want to perform too! I know a magic trick that¡¯s very magical¡­¡±


    As the leading performer, Huangfu Rui set the stage for a very lively night. One after another, Zhong Xuhao, Si Kongxian, and several others followed after Zhong Xuhao to perform, much to the applause and the loud laughter of everyone watching¡­

 Chapter 288: Accompanying You Back Home

    Chapter 288: Accompanying You Back Home


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s birthday party came to an end later that night. The group slowly filed out of Bai Yunfei¡¯s room to return to their own rooms to rest for the night. Lian Lingmin and Ling Yiyi both led Huangfu Rui back to their courtyards. Huangfu Rui was still eating a slice of cake with great gusto, in fact.


    This left Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun ten meters behind the group, walking side by side.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Yunfei¡­ thank you for tonight, really.¡± The joy was still apparent on her face. Her lips were curled in a smile and dimples could be seen on her cheeks.


    Since the moon was still hanging brightly in the night sky, she looked up and brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear¡ªa habit of hers.


    Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± he shook his head nonchalantly, ¡°I don¡¯t have much to do right now, so when I found out it was your birthday, I knew I just had to whip up something for everyone. A birthday celebration should be a happy one.¡±


    He said it like it was a trivial matter, but Tang Xinyun knew that ¡®whipping up¡¯ something like this was contrary to what he was saying. ¡°Yunfei,¡± She began, ¡°you¡­ didn¡¯t have to do that for me. I know you feel guilty about what happened back in Curopia City, but still¡­ you don¡¯t have to feel like you owe me something. You don¡¯t have to try and atone to me¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to continue his sentence.


    He was confused.


    Was it because of guilt?


    Yes, maybe it was¡­


    His hesitation seemed to have disappointed Tang Xinyun somehow. A flicker of sadness came into her eyes before she turned to look at the night sky above.


    For a while, the two remained in deep silence.


    The silence was broken by Tang Xinyun.


    Still looking up at the sky, she smiled. ¡°But still, I need to thank you, Yunfei. This has to be the most exciting birthday I¡¯ve ever had.


    ¡°I know everyone¡¯s worried that I feel unhappy about not being able to train in elemental fire and wanted to cheer me up¡­ knowing that everyone¡¯s so worried about me, I feel happy. I really do.


    ¡°So¡­ really. I want to thank everyone.¡±


    ¡°Haha, aren¡¯t we all family here? There¡¯s no need to say thank you between family.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Came a silent reply, but nothing else.


    By now, the two of them were lagging behind Ling Yiyi and the other two females by a good margin.


    Having sensed Tang Xinyun¡¯s relatively dispirited emotions, Bai Yunfei felt a little confused. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you homesick?¡±


    ¡°Homesick?¡± Tang Xinyun looked surprised.


    A cold smile crept onto her lips.


    It surprised Bai Yunfei; he had never seen the kind Tang Xinyun reveal a look of such contempt before.


    ¡°I could never feel that way about such an icy bird-cage. If not for my mother, I wouldn¡¯t even call that place home.¡± Tang Xinyun shook her head. ¡°Mother is too attached to it. She hopes that one day, that person will change their mind. How silly¡­¡±


    Her feet had stopped moving by this point. As if lost in her thoughts, Tang Xinyun looked to her left as if trying to see countless of kilometers away at the source of suffering she had felt before.


    But somehow, she remained as kindly and warm as ever.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a year since I left ¡®home.¡¯ I wonder if mother is doing well; every winter the wound on her left shoulder starts hurting. Usually, I¡¯m the one that gives her a massage, but since I¡¯m not there, I hope aunty Zhao is doing it in my place¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be the Reunion Festival in a month, but I won¡¯t be there for mother. I used to be there for mother whenever my ¡®family¡¯ put up a huge party, but I didn¡¯t go last year¡ªmother must¡¯ve suffered a lot¡­ this year won¡¯t be any different¡­¡±


    The more she talked, the more the memories of the past started to haunt her. Soon enough, she was starting to choke up with emotions.


    ¡°I¡­ I wanted to get stronger. Strong enough that I can¡¯t be bullied; strong enough to protect my mother from suffering¡­¡±


    The words she spoke now reminded Bai Yunfei of when they were talking to each other that one night on the roof back in Guyi City.


    Like when she started to cry after accepting that she wouldn¡¯t be able to train in elemental fire after the events in Curopia City, Bai Yunfei felt a stab of pain go through him.


    Tang Xinyun stood in the silent night and illuminated by moonlight. She was absent-minded, and her demeanor made her seem delicate and even more helpless than before¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Xinyun, I¡¯ll take you home to see your mother!¡±


    That snapped Tang Xinyun out of her begrieved thoughts.


    ¡°What¡­ what did you say, Yunfei?¡± She turned to him to ask.


    He returned her look tenderly and with a smile, ¡°I said, if you want to see your mother, let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll protect you on your way back.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Having not expected such a suggestion, Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t know how to respond to Bai Yunfei other than to stare.


    ¡°What?¡± He asked, ¡°You don¡¯t want to go home?¡±


    ¡°I do, but¡­¡± She hesitated to reply honestly, but her eyes betrayed a hint of longing.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s decided! We leave tomorrow, so we can make it back for the Reunion Festival!¡±


    Tang Xinyun was very clearly tempted by such a proposal, but she still couldn¡¯t help but feel some misgivings. ¡°But¡­ there¡¯s only a month left until then. My home is in Mo City in the Forest Pass Province. That¡¯s a very long ways away from here, we can¡¯t possibly¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, I¡¯ll make good on my promise!¡± Bai Yunfei promised. ¡°I¡¯m going to go prepare! You should too! We leave tomorrow morning!¡±


    Not even bothering to wait for an answer, Bai Yunfei turned around to run back.


    In no time at all, he disappeared under the guise of the night.


    ¡°Yunfei, wait a mo¡ª¡±


    It was too late; he was already gone.


    Staring off into the distance where Bai Yunfei ran away, the corners of Tang Xinyun¡¯s mouth gradually twitched into a smile.


    She turned to face the Western Point. She was walking even faster now, and her eyes were filled with excitement.


    Both her cheeks were flushed a faint tint of red as well¡­


    Bai Yunfei on the other hand was flying as fast as he could, but not to his courtyards. Instead, he was headed to the Northern Point.


    He was aiming for Zi Jin¡¯s courtyard.


    Before he could knock, Zi Jin¡¯s voice called out to him from within, ¡°Enter.¡±


    Pushing open the door, Bai Yunfei could see Zi Jin holding a jade slip in front of him and a confused look on his face.


    ¡°Master.¡± Bai Yunfei greeted him.


    He nodded, ¡°Yunfei, what brings you here to see me so late?¡±


    Bai Yunfei hesitated as if he found it hard to say what was on his mind.


    ¡°Master¡­ your¡­ your student requests to borrow a soul armament that can fly¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that? A soul armament that can fly? Where for?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I wish to take Xinyun to see her family¡­¡±


    ¡°Seeing her home?¡± Suspicious, Zi Jin pondered the question before suddenly coming to a new question. ¡°Going back to meet her father so soon?¡± He questioned in confusion.


    ¡°¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nearly stumbled over his feet at that.


    Was this what a Soul King was supposed to say? This was more like something an ordinary old man would tease his grandson with!!


    ¡°The Reunion Festival is nearly here, and Xinyun wants to see her mother. The idea to send her home occurred to me, but walking there would take too long. Thus, I was hoping master would let me borrow a soul armament that could fly to take her home¡­¡±


    Zi Jin smiled as he listened to Bai Yunfei¡¯s explanation. ¡°I see now. Haha, very well¡­ there¡¯s no problem then.¡±


    With a wave of his right hand, a ray of green light immediately shot into sight right in front of Bai Yunfei. Grabbing hold of it, Bai Yunfei realized he was holding a sword about a meter long and greenish in color.

 Chapter 289: Tempest Sword

    Chapter 289: Tempest Sword


    Zi Jin laughed. ¡°This is one of the most basic types of wind swords. You might be weaker than before, but you¡¯re still a Soul Ancestor. So, controlling one of these¡ªeven with someone else¡ªwill be easy. As long as you can transmit your soulforce into it, you can ride it.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at the sword and waited for the notification to appear in his mind.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Wind


    Attack: 960


    Equipment Effect: By transmitting soulforce into this item, flight becomes capable.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    It wasn¡¯t as if Zi Jin hadn¡¯t anything better than a mid-earth tier soul armament. However, giving Bai Yunfei a higher grade armament would be pointless since he wouldn¡¯t be able to make efficient use of it.


    ¡°Thank you, master!¡±


    ¡°When do you leave?¡± Zi Jin nodded.


    ¡°Tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°That soon?¡± The elderly man remarked. ¡°Then be careful. Don¡¯t cause trouble and protect Xinyun as well as you can.¡±


    ¡°Yes master. Your disciple will be cautious!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    With no small amount of excitement, Bai Yunfei left the Northern Point. By the time he was at the cross-sections between mountain points, Bai Yunfei was already very impatient to try it out. Looking at the dormitories in the Western Point and then to the sword in his hand, he muttered to himself, ¡°Should I¡­ give it a spin?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had always wanted to ride one of these types of soul armaments. He hadn¡¯t the nerve to use the Cataclysmic Seal to fly, and he never came across the chance to make a soul armament that could fly. Hence, Bai Yunfei was in a hurry to experience what it was like.


    Pushing his soulforce into the sword, Bai Yunfei watched as the sword started to hum. Letting go, the sword slowly rose a meter into the air.


    For two whole minutes, Bai Yunfei stared at the sword as it hummed and shined before it finally dropped down onto the ground with a plop.


    This was how long the sword could fly with just a single soulpoint.


    Nodding in understanding, Bai Yunfei made the sword float once more before hopping on it.


    Maintaining his balance wasn¡¯t a problem, as things turned out. Gingerly testing his sense of balance, Bai Yunfei found that the sword wouldn¡¯t sway even if he tried.


    He nodded in satisfaction. Pointing a finger forward, he commanded. ¡°Fly!!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The sword underneath his feet flashed before launching into the air with a flurry of dust flying up behind it.


    Bai Yunfei nearly fell off at first; he wasn¡¯t used to the feeling, but he was quick to adapt to the situation.


    Though he was traveling fast, he was still traveling within the realm of visibility. Disregarding the wind blowing across his face, Bai Yunfei was excited to look around and see the scenery go by him.


    With the green light coming from the sword, Bai Yunfei was like a meteorite as he sped to the dormitories on the Western Point.


    Upon arriving, he stretched his hand out to reclaim the sword.


    ¡°How refreshing!!¡± he couldn¡¯t help but exclaim. ¡°What took me half an hour to walk only took a few minutes to fly! How convenient flying armaments are.¡±


    Tenderly caressing the sword, Bai Yunfei muttered to himself, ¡°Tomorr¡ªah, that¡¯s not right¡ªtoday is the day we leave. I should practice with this a little more. I have to bring Xinyun with me after all¡­¡±


    ¡°Hm, the sword¡¯s a little small, wouldn¡¯t it be cramped if two were to stand on it? Hm¡­ the swords of the first elder, the third elder, and Song Lin were able to expand. Can this sword expand as well?¡±


    Curious now, Bai Yunfei transmitted his soulforce into the sword again.


    As expected, the sword glowed brightly before expanding in length.


    ¡°Oh ho, it can grow bigger. I don¡¯t have to worry about being cramped then¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in satisfaction.


    Though, why was it that he felt a little disappointed?


    ¡°I¡¯ll fly a few more rounds then. Gotta learn to fly this as well as I can before we go.¡± Bai Yunfei heaved the sword a bit. ¡°But before that, something important needs to be done first¡­


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Several minutes later.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Wind


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 960


    Additional Attack: 460


    Equipment Effect: By transmitting soulforce into this item, flight becomes capable.


    +10 Additional Effect: By using soulforce, the speed of flight can be increased by 100% for one minute.


    Cooldown of 2 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    Upon looking at the stats of the newly upgraded sword, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°An increase in speed, I¡¯ll take it. Let¡¯s try it out!¡±


    ¡°Bzzzzz¡­¡± Letting go of the sword, Bai Yunfei watched as it floated up to his chest before jumping on it. With a burst of several different colored lights, he flew off into the sky again.


    As he flew, Bai Yunfei subconsciously dug into the sword with his feet as he activated the additional effect of the sword. At first, a rich flow of green light formed behind the sword before it exploded with a ¡®pop.¡¯ As soon as the light popped, the sword¡¯s momentum increased twofold with the accompanying sound of the air being torn apart.


    Having not been prepared for such a change, Bai Yunfei nearly fell down from the sword.


    Somehow managing to hold onto his balance, Bai Yunfei remained on the sword. A wave of satisfaction washed over him as he experienced the increased wind, and he waited for the inevitable decrease in speed a minute later.


    Like he was driving a chariot, Bai Yunfei flew all over Mt. Crimson even more cautious than before. He was trying to become more proficient at flying. Though he was flying around for the fun of it too.


    Flying the sword himself and experiencing flight when Xiao Binzi controlled it were two different matters. The amount of joy and exhilaration he was feeling now by flying it himself was indescribable.


    His indiscriminate flying caught the attention of many of the other students of the Crafting School. Many of them were jealous, but a good deal of the older students only laughed it off when they realized it was Bai Yunfei who was flying it.


    Another hour went by before Bai Yunfei finally returned to his home, albeit reluctantly. Putting the sword down after entering his bedroom, Bai Yunfei muttered to himself, ¡°Since the effect is like a tempest, I¡¯ll call it the Tempest Sword!¡±


    Bai Yunfei stored the sword away and got himself ready to train. Since he had used a decent sum of soulforce, he needed to regain as much as he could before morning.


    He¡¯d also need to pack up everything in his space ring, so he could leave at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Accompanying Tang Xinyun back home had been on a whim, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel any regrets. He didn¡¯t want her to feel sad, and doing this was the best option he knew of to cheer her up.


    Was it because he was feeling guilty? Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The next morning¡ª


    Outside the dormitories to the Western Point, a large group of people had gathered to send Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun off.


    All of them were rather surprised to hear that Bai Yunfei would be accompanying Tang Xinyun back home. It was far too sudden.


    Then, when they really digested the information, a look of mischievous understanding came over them.


    ¡°Yunfei, I leave Xinyun to you. See her home and bring her back safe and sound. If I see even a hair of hers touched, I won¡¯t forgive you!¡± Reluctant to part with Tang Xinyun, Ling Yiyi made sure to threaten Bai Yunfei as he talked with Ye Zhiqiu and the others.


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be careful, sister Ling.¡±


    ¡°Brother strawhat, sis Yun, come back quickly, okay?¡± Huangfu Rui pleaded as she held Xiao Rourou.


    ¡°Haha, we¡¯ll be back soon enough. I¡¯ll bring back some souvenirs for you.¡±


    ¡°Really!?¡± The girl leaped up with excitement, ¡°You better promise me! Don¡¯t forget about them!¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°I won¡¯t forget.¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai, the best gift is when no one gets one!¡± Mo Xiaoxuan laughed.


    ¡°Haha, of course¡­¡±


    After their goodbyes, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand, materializing the Tempest Sword. Jumping onto it, Bai Yunfei turned to Tang Xinyun, ¡°Let¡¯s get going, Xinyun.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Her face reddened slightly as she replied; presumably from the excitement of being able to go back home. With a gentle hop, she landed on the sword behind Bai Yunfei.


    She was weaker compared to when she was an early-stage Soul Sprite. Now that she was a late-stage Soul Warrior, her sense of balance was without a doubt worse than Bai Yunfei¡¯s, so when she climbed aboard, she faltered slightly.


    A sweet-smelling scent wafted into Bai Yunfei¡¯s nose, causing his heart to halt for just half a second. Disguising his momentary loss of self with a cough, Bai Yunfei turned to everyone else, ¡°We¡¯re off, everyone!¡±


    Tang Xinyun nodded in agreement.


    Pushing off with his foot, Bai Yunfei commanded the sword to prime itself.


    And just like that, the sword took off into the sky in a burst of green light.


    Just a year ago, neither of the two were as strong as they were now.


    The Forest Pass Province was a good distance away; would the two of them be able to reach their destination without a problem?


    And the ¡®cage¡¯ Tang Xinyun called home.


    Would anything happen there?

 Chapter 290: Tang Xinyuns Identity

    Chapter 290: Tang Xinyun''s Identity


    There was a flash of green light speeding to the west. A bit of orange light was imbued in the green light. Within the green light, two people could be seen standing on top of a sword enjoying the scenery and talking to one another.


    It was Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun.


    The orange light was from the +12 effect of the Cataclysmic Seal, but since Bai Yunfei was worried that the essence fireseed in the brick would be affected somehow, he had toned down the effects enough so that most of the wind would be blocked.


    Bai Yunfei directed Tang Xinyun toward the Forest Pass Province since they started. The cities and villages below came and went in a linear fashion. They were traveling in one direction, getting lost wouldn¡¯t be that easy.


    At first, the two of them felt rather awkward since they were ¡®alone together,¡¯ but with time, the two of them started to lighten up.


    Soon enough, they started to enjoy the scenery with one another and had pleasant conversations to pass the time. Every so often, they would drop down to ask for directions or lodging for the night. When there were days that they couldn¡¯t find any lodging, they¡¯d sleep in the mountains or continue flying through the air.


    For the sake of reaching Mo City for the Reunion Festival, Bai Yunfei was flying as fast as he could. Whenever the situation allowed for it, he would activate the speed boosting effect of the Tempest Sword to fly even faster for a minute.


    He came up with a method to make the process even more efficient. Since he had the Violet Soul Ring and its stockpiling ability, he¡¯d give Tang Xinyun it. She¡¯d fill it up with soulforce for him to withdraw.


    This way, the two of them were able to prolong the amount of time they spent in the air.


    The secret ring no longer needed to be hidden to Tang Xinyun.


    The results from flying outclassed the results from walking by a very large margin. In just a short six days, the two of them were able to reach the Great Plains Province. From there, only another thirteen days were needed for them to cross into the Northern Cliff Province and enter the the Forest Pass Province right next to it.


    It was only after they reached the Forest Pass Province when Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. One week was left until their deadline, so Bai Yunfei sped up the pace and hoped that nothing bad would happen.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Today, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were taking a rest in a small town in the Forest Pass Province. After this break, they¡¯d continue on their journey.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you, Xinyun. Is your family in the interior of Mo City? I hear it¡¯s the capital city of the province.¡± Bai Yunfei asked her.


    Slightly taken aback from the question, Tang Xinyun took a minute to compose herself before answering, ¡°Yes, my family lives at the very center.¡±


    Since Bai Yunfei had never talked with Tang Xinyun about her family, he didn¡¯t know much about her familial background.


    Though he did know a few things, like that the Tang was a large clan¡ªeven larger than Mo Xiaoxuan¡¯s family¡ªbut other than that, he knew nothing else.


    Tang Xinyun wasn¡¯t very willing to talk about it, and Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to press her about it. However, since they were about to visit her family, Bai Yunfei found it prudent to at least clear some things up first.


    ¡°Your clan is a big one, isn¡¯t it?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    Then a strange thought occurred to him, ¡°Hold on¡­ Mo City? The Tang clan in Mo City¡­? It seems a little familiar, strange. Maybe I heard about them somewhere¡­?¡±


    When he said that he might¡¯ve heard about them somewhere, he clearly wasn¡¯t talking about Tang Xinyun. He was instead talking about hearing about them from somewhere else.


    The situation took a turn.


    Tang Xinyun bit her lower lip as if she was hesitating.


    In time, she looked as if she managed to draw up enough motivation to face Bai Yunfei. ¡°The Tang clan in Mo City are one of the Five Clans¡­¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    All of a sudden, the Tempest Sword suddenly swung off course by a slight margin.


    Managing to stabilize the sword, Bai Yunfei swung his head back to look at Tang Xinyun, ¡°One of the Five Clans!? You¡¯re from that family in Mo City?¡±


    It was only after Tang Xinyun¡¯s explanation that Bai Yunfei remembered what Song Lin once told him about the soul cultivator world. The continent had the Ten Schools and also the Five Clans. Of the Five Clans, the Tang clan from Mo City was one of them!


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Xinyun whispered, ¡°my family is that Tang clan.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to say. He knew that her family was large, but never did he expect them to be this large!


    One of the Five Clans!


    A myriad of clans, families, and households existed on the continent; to have the title of being one of the Five Clans, just what kind of accomplishments would that need!?


    ¡°Yunfei, the ¡®cage¡¯ I told you about is the very same Tang clan. Are you¡­ going to treat me differently now that you know that?¡±


    She sounded slightly distressed.


    Turning his head, Bai Yunfei noticed that Tang Xinyun was looking at the ground.


    ¡°What does my opinion of you have to do with your family? Even if you¡¯re just some sort of girl born in some ordinary village, you are still you, Xinyun.¡±


    His answer caught Tang Xinyun off guard.


    ¡°Eh?¡± She responded blankly.


    Her head tilted to stare hard at Bai Yunfei, and her eyes were shining brighter than before. Her lips were curling, as if she was touched by what Bai Yunfei said.


    Bai Yunfei found it rather embarrassing to be looked at like that. Scratching his head, he asked, ¡°Did¡­ did I say something wrong?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ you didn¡¯t,¡± Tang Xinyun shook her head with a smile, ¡°thank you, Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Eh? What are you thanking me for?¡±


    Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t answer him.


    ¡°Yunfei, do you want to know about my family?¡± She prompted him with a question.


    Noticing the difference in her attitude, Bai Yunfei said nothing so he could listen.


    He didn¡¯t have to say anything, as Tang Xinyun continued on without waiting for his response. ¡°As one of the Five Clans, the Tang has plenty of influence and subordinates. Even the overseer of the Forest Pass Province, Marquis Xuanyuan has to be kind to them to a degree. In just Mo City alone, there¡¯s thousands of people in the clan compared to the ten thousand people in the continent. Even if the Tang were a security institution, any outsider would still look to them with a great amount of respect¡­


    ¡°What plenty of people don¡¯t know about the very same powerful family is that the Tang has a dark side¡­ internal disputes happen without end in the clan. It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s for an object or status, the family will treat each other as enemies. Even during meal times, many of them plot against one another.


    ¡°I am from the Tang. More specifically, I am the fourth daughter of the head of the Tang¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth dropped open; Tang Xinyun was the daughter of the head of Tang!!


    That was simply beyond his expectations.


    Ignoring the shock Bai Yunfei was going through, Tang Xinyun continued to speak, ¡°But, so what? I am not just some tool to be used to expand the influence of the family! We¡¯re already one of the Five Clans, yet that isn¡¯t enough. For the sake of becoming the ¡®strongest,¡¯ the clan is willing to sacrifice the lives of the younger! We are used as bargaining chips to be wed off for political and martial power¡­


    ¡°Only three people in that place felt like family to me. Aunty Zhao, my mother, and my third brother who left the Tang a long time ago. They were the only ones. My own father, eldest brother, second brother, my other brothers, my sisters, my uncles, grandfathers, and even my hermit of a great grandfather, none of them treated me like family¡­¡±


    ¡°My mother was wed into the Tang clan when she was eighteen as the first wife. Father loved her dearly at first, but when some of the other members of the clan started to criticize him for not marrying another after several years, father wed another and she gave birth to three sons.


    ¡°I was conceived shortly after they were, but mother and I lost favor with my father since I was born female¡­


    ¡°During the seventeen years after that woman entered the Tang, my mother never experienced a good day again. For my entire upbringing, I never saw mother happy once. Mother was mocked constantly by that woman, but all mother could do was bear it in silence and hope that father would one day go back to what he used to be, but after waiting almost twenty years, isn¡¯t that hope as dried up as a wilted Wisteria tree? How much longer should she wait?


    ¡°I want to get stronger. So strong that I can help mother break away from our family, but¡­¡±


    Her words trailed off.


    Bai Yunfei knew that she was thinking about her loss of strength.


    Not only did she lose her strength. She lost her ¡®hope.¡¯


    ¡°Xinyun¡­¡± He wanted to say something comforting, but he didn¡¯t know what to say. He was neither strong enough nor influential enough to declare the entirety of the Tang as his enemies for Xinyun¡¯s sake. Just helping Tang Xinyun recover was hard enough, so to promise her anything bigger than that would be nothing but hot air.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was trying to formulate something to say and while Tang Xinyun was in her downcasted mood, a sudden explosion snapped the two back to reality.


    Whipping his head down in surprise, Bai Yunfei could see several golden rays of light come flying out of the forest down below!


    Previous ChapterNext Chapte

 Chapter 291: Big Dagger and Little Dagger

    Chapter 291: Big Dagger and Little Dagger


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A sound of impact could be heard when the flying object was blocked by the protective barrier created by the Cataclysmic Seal. Since Bai Yunfei had powered up the barrier beforehand, it was able to stop the opposing object without posing harm to him and Tang Xinyun.


    The sword went from a breakneck pacing to a screeching halt. Tang Xinyun flew into Bai Yunfei¡¯s back due to the forward inertia.


    Ignoring the small yelp and soft sensation, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand rose while he stabilized the flying sword. In an instant, the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his waiting hand.


    Tang Xinyun stepped back with a slightly red face. Her eyes glanced in the direction the attack had come from.


    However, another attack did not come.


    Bai Yunfei let out a slight breath of relief, but his eyes remained wary, making sure the coast really was clear.


    Underneath them was a large swath of forest. Within the forest, a group of people could be heard embroiled in a fierce fight. The strike from before had been from the blade of one of the fighters, but it had been accidental. None of the combatants had noticed Bai Yunfei or Tang Xinyun, so that strike could be called a ¡®stray bullet¡¯ rather than an intentional one.


    Either way, Bai Yunfei felt displeased with the situation, ¡°If you¡¯re going to fight, then fight among each other. Why bother flinging an attack into the air!?¡±


    A total of six fighters were fighting down below. On one side, there were two soul cultivators with a greenish light around them, meaning they were both wind affinity soul cultivators.


    On the other side, the four fighters were all dressed in black robes, indicating they were from the same group.


    Of the two fighters, one of them was a young man and the other was an even younger man, but neither of their appearances could be seen accurately. The younger one was an early-stage Soul Ancestor, and the older one was a late-stage Soul Ancestor.


    Of the three black-robed men they were fighting, two of them were mid-stage Soul Ancestors and one of them was a late-stage Soul Ancestor.


    The difference in strength between the two sides was extremely obvious to see, but somehow, the two sides were in a stalemate.


    That was because of the mysterious but special fighting styles the two youngsters were using with one another.


    The fourth black-robed man sat outside the battle with a solemn expression. There was no elemental glow surrounding his body, and his strength couldn¡¯t be judged.


    This was a battle between soul cultivators where both parties possessed a lot of strength.


    On their travels, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun had come across plenty of troubles and fights. It happened more frequently than not, and Bai Yunfei would usually take care of the problem if it was a bandit raid of some sort. When it came to fights between soul cultivators, Bai Yunfei felt disinclined to stick around. He would usually leave after a quick observation of the situation.


    It was true that Bai Yunfei felt rather annoyed when they were nearly struck, but he didn¡¯t want to stick around either. After a small moment of consideration, Bai Yunfei decided to take off.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Before he could, Bai Yunfei noticed something strange taking place in the battle below him.


    The two soul cultivators had a very particular way of fighting. Both of them held exceptional-looking flying daggers in one hand and a longsword in the other. Their longswords were used when they needed to defend themselves.


    As wind affinity soul cultivators, both of them would make use of their speed to withdraw some distance to throw their flying daggers. Then, the other person would take advantage of how their enemies would dodge to strike at an opening. The two worked in tandem to create openings and exploit them, and if not for the equally strong enemies, they would¡¯ve opened them full of holes already.


    At an even closer look, one could see that the two soul cultivators had the upper hand.


    As he watched the two figures throw their flying daggers one after another, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with curiosity, ¡°Are those¡­?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they¡­ the Flying Daggers!?¡±


    The small gasp of shock prompted Bai Yunfei to turn around. ¡°What did you say, Xinyun? The Flying Daggers?¡±


    Still surprised, Tang Xinyun continued to look and point at the two soul cultivators. ¡°I know those two. They¡¯re two of the most well-known bounty hunters in the Forest Pass Province: Han Chong and Han Lin. Han Chong is called the Big Dagger, and Han Lin is called the Little Dagger.¡±


    ¡°Bounty hunters?¡± He raised an eyebrow at that. Even he knew something about people in that line of work. They were often people who worked for commission; similar to mercenaries. Like mercenaries, bounty hunters were a mix of ordinary people and soul cultivators, but the difference lay with how they worked.


    Mercenaries worked in large groups. Bounty hunters worked with no more than three people in a team¡ªmany worked by themselves.


    ¡°My family hired a few bounty hunters two years ago. Those two had been hired, and they were the only ones who accomplished the mission. It¡¯s said they never miss their targets, and even though they aren¡¯t particularly strong by themselves, the two of them work together so well that even a Soul Exalt would have to be cautious around them.¡±


    ¡°Are they really that amazing?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in curiosity. ¡°Xinyun, do you know who those four people are?¡±


    Looking again at the battle, Tang Xinyun was silent for a moment.


    ¡°Those four¡­ I actually might know who they are.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected a positive response. Tang Xinyun wasn¡¯t a person that knew much about the world, so he was surprised to hear that she knew who both sides were, ¡°Who are they?¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong¡­¡± She bit her lower lip, ¡°they¡¯re the major criminals known as the ¡®Four Death Gods¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Four Death Gods?¡± Bai Yunfei was astounded. What kind of people loved having nicknames like that?


    Nodding her head, Tang Xinyun said, ¡°That should be them. I remember coming across a warrant issued by the provincial authorities. The four of them are criminals capable of any and every crime with the strength to do whatever they wish. They love taking the corpses of female commoners and cutting them into pieces most especially. The four of them are demented demons of nature!¡±


    By the final sentence, Tang Xinyun¡¯s entire frame was shaking with anger.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. ¡°Do you know any specific details about the four?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Xinyun asked, ¡°Yunfei, are you planning on fighting them? They¡¯re all Soul Ancestors, Yunfei! You joining the fight would only mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t do anything rash. I just want to be prepared. So, tell me what you know about the four.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t want to prod him about it, so she pointed a pale finger at the rightmost person, ¡°That one¡¯s ¡®Go Die,¡¯ the youngest of the four. He¡¯s a mid-stage Soul Ancestor with an earth affinity. His weapon is the mother and son sword. He loves to use sneak attacks when they¡¯re least expected.


    ¡°The one next to him is ¡®Must Die.¡¯ Like his twin, he¡¯s also a mid-stage Soul Ancestor. He likes using a hook claw, and he specializes in a defense that¡¯s hard to deal with.


    ¡°The strongest one is ¡®Never Die.¡¯ He¡¯s a late-stage Soul Ancestor with a water affinity. He got his nickname from how he never seems to die no matter what. People say he knows a heaven tier soul skill that helps him heal from any wound instantly. He likes using a mid-earth tier saber that¡¯s over a meter long and has a metal affinity. Rumors say he has a very strong armament skill, but I don¡¯t know what it is¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with all those nicknames!!¡± Bai Yunfei deadpanned. ¡°What about that one?¡± He pointed at the one sitting outside of the battle.


    ¡°He¡¯s the eldest of the Four Death Gods, ¡®Insta Die.¡¯ No one has ever seen him fight before, so we don¡¯t know how strong he is.¡±


    ¡°Insta Die?¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow at that. In his mind, he was already thinking that Insta Die was the strongest one of the four. If he could kill in one shot, that was an extremely amazing feat.


    ¡°Yunfei, are you really planning on helping the Flying Daggers?¡± The look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was more than enough to let Tang Xinyun know what he was thinking. There was no way Bai Yunfei would help the four Death Gods, so the only other conclusion was that Bai Yunfei would want to help the Flying Daggers eliminate the other four.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Now¡¯s not the time.¡±


    Tang Xinyun was hesitant, but she said nothing. The two continued to stand on top of the sword, watching the fight for several minutes. Bai Yunfei had been very curious about watching the spectacle, especially whenever Han Chong and Han Lin fought with one another.


    The Flying Dagger brothers had reputation as strong bounty hunters, and it was not an empty title for sure. They were able to gain an advantage over their current enemies even though their enemies were of an even higher level of strength, and the more they fought, the more the three Death Gods were hurt and overwhelmed.


    The energy levels of both sides were running considerably low after some time went by. The Flying Daggers still had a greater advantage, and if things were to continue like this, the Four Death Gods would surely lose.


    Even at this juncture, the one named ¡®Insta Die¡¯ continued to sit where he was with the same solemn look on his face.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes scanned the area for a brief moment. His eyes flashed several times before the sword underneath the two sped off.


    ¡°Eh? Yunfei, weren¡¯t you going to help out?¡±


    Tang Xinyun hadn¡¯t thought that Bai Yunfei would leave, but the sword was already taking them away.


    Several hundred meters later, the two of them came to a stop at a tree that seemed to span into the heavens.


    Turning around, Bai Yunfei said to Tang Xinyun, ¡°You stay here, Xinyun. I¡¯m going to help!!¡±


    In response, Tang Xinyun stepped onto the tree branch next to them. She knew what Bai Yunfei was thinking, so she made no attempt to stop him. Before Bai Yunfei left, Tang Xinyun said, ¡°Yunfei, be careful¡­ even though they used up a lot of soulforce, they¡¯re still Soul Ancestors. Your soulbound armaments and lifebound armaments might help you, but you can¡¯t use any elemental fire; don¡¯t get yourself in too much danger¡­ if something¡¯s off, run away as soon as you can.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Relax, Xinyun. I¡¯ll be discrete.¡±


    He looked to Xiao Bai on Tang Xinyun¡¯s shoulder next, ¡°Xiao Bai, protect Xinyun in my place. Stay here and don¡¯t make a move.¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!¡± Xiao Bai tweeted with a flap of its wings.


    ¡°Then¡­ I¡¯m going!¡±


    With a small smile to reassure Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei hopped back onto the sword. He equipped the Walk-on Strawhat before speeding back to the fight.

 Chapter 292: Insta Die!

    Chapter 292: Insta Die!


    Han Chong¡¯s eye peeked to the right. He sighed when he saw the two unknown soul cultivators leave the area. Since the two had been staring down at the six of them for such a long time, he was worried that they might¡¯ve had some sort of grudge against them.


    To come in and steal the treasure when both sides were weak was a common tactic in the soul cultivator world.


    On the other side, the Four Death Gods were also wiping their brows in relief. They weren¡¯t doing so well at the moment, so to have a third party interject would add to their troubles.


    It was the consensus of every soul cultivator that anyone with a soul armament that could fly was a strong individual.


    Neither of the sides tried to investigate the newcomers strength since that¡¯d require them to focus elsewhere, and to do that would mean to earn the ire of the newcomer.


    Three rays of green light shot from Han Chong¡¯s hand as he forced back Never Die. At the same time, his left hand brought his longsword up to block the incoming attack from Go Die.


    As soon as the attack was reflected, he leaped back and tossed another three daggers at his foes.


    ¡°Han Lin, Spiraling Flying Daggers!!¡±


    Over the course of his actions, Han Chong had already rushed back to where Han Lin was. With a grunt, he shook his right hand and a strange spiral-shaped flying dagger appeared in his hand.


    Han Lin was currently forcing back Must Die, but when he heard Han Chong¡¯s command, he took out a similar flying dagger.


    The two of them threw their flying daggers at the same time. They traveled to both sides of Must Die in a spiraling formation and with a trajectory that was completely unpredictable!


    The power behind the flying daggers was beyond what the two brothers had thrown out before. The two people who had been in the way of the daggers trajectory were far too afraid to take them head-on, so they opted to leap out of the way.


    When they did, Han Chong and Han Lin could be seen pointing their fingers at Never Die!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh!¡±


    The trajectory of the two daggers changed abruptly. In the blink of an eye, they twisted around one another and increased in power, flying at Never Die¡¯s chest at a breakneck speed!


    Prior to this attack, Never Die had been in the middle of deciding where he should go. He never thought that the target of the two daggers would be him.


    Eyes widening in surprise, all Never Die could do was bring up his golden blade to protect himself.


    ¡°Clank!!¡±


    There was an ear-piercing crack as the two flying daggers struck the golden blade.


    Thinking himself safe, Never Die let out a sigh of relief, but then, something out of the corner of his eye caused him to blanch!


    The flying daggers hadn¡¯t been rebounded by his blade.


    Instead, they cut through the blade and continued on their paths!


    ¡°Crack! Pfttt!!¡±


    There was a cracking sound before a fountain of blood came from Never Die¡¯s back. The two Spiralling Flying Daggers had broken a mid-earth tier soul armament and shot straight through Never Die!!


    ¡°It worked!!¡±


    Han Lin and Han Chong both looked elated as they admired their success.


    Then, the expression on their faces froze up!


    Even though there were two holes through his chest, Never Die gave a malevolent sneer as if he didn¡¯t care about the wounds on his body! Raising his sword over his head, Never Die began to feed his soulforce into his weapon. A golden ray of light materialized before splitting into two more rays of light. They spanned ten meters from one blade to the other.


    With the same malevolent sneer on his face, he swung his sword down!


    ¡°Shiiing!¡±


    Han Chong¡¯s reacted fast enough to push Han Lin in the back before the three rays of light could move. With the weaker Han Lin pushed ten meters away, Han Chong now had enough time to dodge. Feeding soulforce into his legs, Han Chong immediately leaped back with green light aiding his retreat.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The three beams of light smashed into the ground and carved out holes about a meter wide.


    Having been in the zone of danger, Han Chong hadn¡¯t been fast enough to escape unscathed. A stream of blood could be seen on his left shoulder, and his movements were clearly much slower than before. It remained to be seen if his left arm had been completely cut through.


    Never Die, on the other hand, was wiping the remaining rivulets of blood from his grotesque-looking smile. Two blue glows of light were shining from his chest, and within two quick moments, the wounds he had sustained earlier healed without a trace! If not for the holes in his clothes and the blood staining the edges, Never Die would¡¯ve looked as if he hadn¡¯t been touched at all!


    Two barks of laughter came from Never Die. He was about to call for his two brothers to continue their attacks when something caused him to turn around. ¡°Eldest brother!!¡±


    A figure wearing a strawhat suddenly came out of the thickets of the woods with a red spear in hand! Like a shadow darting out of the forest with frightening speed, this person had almost gone unnoticed until Never Die saw him. The person¡¯s figure shimmered with light before splitting into three. The three figures struck at Insta Die with their flaming spears!!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The decrease in Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was due to the effects of the Walk-on Strawhat. Combined with the fact that everyone was too busy worrying about the battle, he was able to get close to the battleground without being detected. Whenever one of the sides unleashed a large-scale strike, Bai Yunfei would move out of the way in fear of being caught in the crossfire. As a Soul Ancestor that knew how to use the Wave Treading Steps, he was able to move hundreds of meters to the tree in front of Insta Die.


    Not once did the idea of underestimating one of the Four Death Gods cross Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. His first plan of action was to enact a sneak attack in hopes of opening up the battle with him at an advantage. One strike to gain the upper hand.


    Bai Yunfei was extremely willing to use the +12 additional effect of his Fire-tipped Spear, the Doppelganger.


    With one doppelganger to his left and right, Bai Yunfei was essentially cutting off any route of escape for Insta Die. Since evading would¡¯ve been impossible, Insta Die¡¯s reaction earned Bai Yunfei¡¯s admiration for a split moment.


    Instead of moving from his spot, the man bent down to evade all three of the spears!


    Bai Yunfei was in shock that his own attack had been avoided, but despite his shock, he brought his right leg up to deliver a swift kick.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Unexpectedly, the sound of something cracking could be heard as the person went flying like a bullet. The instant the person went flying, the sound of bones snapping could be heard¡­


    There was a crashing sound as Insta Die landed on the ground several meters away. A cloud of dirt was kicked into the air, but even that cleared away to reveal his body.


    A caved in chest and two cloudy eyes. He was dead.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The silence of death fell over the area.


    Whether it was Big or Little Dagger, the remaining three Death Gods, or even Bai Yunfei, they all stared at the corpse with wide open eyes.


    ¡°Eldest brother!¡±


    Never Die was the first to react. With a furious howl, he flew to where Insta Die was and held him up. His right hand flew to where his chest had been caved in and a blue light started to glow around the area. He was feeding his soulforce into the man in an attempt to save him.


    ¡°¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei realized something at that point. ¡°So that¡¯s what his nickname meant!!


    ¡°Insta Die¡­ one move to die¡­ it didn¡¯t mean to kill someone else, it referred to himself!¡±


    So that first reaction earlier wasn¡¯t some sort of godly reaction. It was just his knees folding in due to fear!? What the hell!


    That guy was a regular person!! Not a soul cultivator!


    What kind of play-pretend was this!?


    The head of the Four Death Gods was playing god and committing crimes while the other three were his bodyguards!! The fact that he was able to live for so long was a miracle in itself!


    He hadn¡¯t even the time to say what was on his mind with all the shock going through his head.


    ¡°Eldest brother! Eldest brother!!¡± Never Die¡¯s attempts to save the man was useless.


    Bereaved by the death of his brother, Never Die turned to snarl at Bai Yunfei, ¡°You know his nickname is ¡®Insta Die,¡¯ yet you still attacked him. Of course he¡¯d die!!¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±

 Chapter 293: Strength is as Shown

    Chapter 293: Strength is as Shown


    The Four Death Gods were true to their name¡ªthe eldest most definitely. Insta Die had indeed been killed in one shot.


    This development felt slightly nonsensical, but Bai Yunfei managed to adapt to the situation fast enough.


    While the three men were still despairing over the death of their brothers, Bai Yunfei immediately shot away, landing next to Big Dagger and Little Dagger.


    ¡°This one is named Bai Yunfei, a student of the Crafting School. Please don¡¯t be afraid, I am not your enemy.¡± Seeing that the two men were holding their weapons vigilantly in front of them when Bai Yunfei approached, Bai Yunfei moved his spear behind him to denote his friendliness, and he introduced himself to make himself less suspicious.


    ¡°Crafting School?¡± Han Chong questioned in surprise. As was common sense in the world, he couldn¡¯t take Bai Yunfei¡¯s words at face value, so he didn¡¯t drop his guard around Bai Yunfei. Though he concluded that Bai Yunfei had not come to help the Four Death Gods since he had just killed one of them.


    The only question that remained to be seen was whether or not Bai Yunfei would try to help the Flying Dagger brothers before backstabbing them for the final spoils.


    Han Chong had some doubts about that question too. If that was indeed the case, then Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance in the fight would be a little ¡®early.¡¯ Furthermore¡­


    ¡°A late-stage Soul Warrior?¡±


    Han Chong nearly doubted what he was feeling for a moment. A late-stage Soul Warrior was an incredibly weak soul cultivator in this battle, just what business did he have poking his nose here!?


    ¡°That¡¯s not right! When he first came out¡­ that definitely wasn¡¯t the strength of a Soul Warrior. Even Han Lin wouldn¡¯t be able to move as fast as he did.¡± Han Chong thought. ¡°But¡­ I can¡¯t feel any elements from his body. Is he just so strong that I can¡¯t even sense it?¡±


    He dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. It was far too nonsensical to accept.


    ¡°Ah, so you are, sire Bai¡­¡± Han Chong nodded politely. ¡°We have never met before, I¡¯m sure. Might I inquire why you are helping us brothers?¡±


    Bai Yunfei took a look at the man. Han Chong had a skinny, but handsome face with eyes that revealed his intelligent and calm demeanor. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s take care of the remaining three before I say anything more. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t try to fight for your prize.¡±


    The last part was spoken partly in jest, but Han Chong didn¡¯t say anything more. He turned his eyes back to his enemies.


    Over there, the three remaining Death Gods had gathered around each other; each one glaring daggers at Bai Yunfei with murderous auras.


    ¡°Brat, I¡¯ll make you pay for taking our eldest brother¡¯s life away!!¡±


    Never Die howled. His giant blade rose into the air, activating his armament skill like before. The power in this skill was several times stronger than before. The three blades materialized in the air with a hundred meters between each blade, surrounding Bai Yunfei and the other two!


    Must Die and Go Die gave each other a look of tacit agreement while Never Die was preparing to strike. The sword in Go Die¡¯s hand detached from the middle as a wave of soulforce exploded from him, extending the weapon with an orange light. He then stabbed it into the ground.


    While Go Die was extending his sword, Must Die was doing something strange with his feet before he sunk into the ground!


    A wave of orange light came from Go Die¡¯s feet and transformed into a tidal wave of earth. From where Must Die was hidden in the earth, a small bump could be seen as he ¡®swam¡¯ toward Bai Yunfei to attack!


    In their fury, the three Death Gods were now using their strongest killing moves to fight this battle!!


    The three blades dragged across the ground as well, leaving behind a trench of dirt in their wakes. Han Chong¡¯s pupils expanded slightly in shock before he dove for Han Lin, trying to push him out of the way again.


    Then a pair of hands touched the shoulders of both brothers, revealing Bai Yunfei behind them with a smile. ¡°Allow me to deal with this.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡±


    Han Chong didn¡¯t why Bai Yunfei was so unflustered, but what he did know was that Bai Yunfei was preventing the two from moving!!


    The three of them had lost their chance of dodging because of a moment¡¯s hesitation. The attacks of their enemies were already upon them.


    Despair and anger flooded Han Chong¡¯s eyes; he didn¡¯t know what to do, but what he could do was stay angry at Bai Yunfei since he had stopped the two brothers from dodging.


    Bai Yunfei continued to smile as if there wasn¡¯t any danger. After he stopped Han Lin and Han Chong, he moved forward to greet the incoming attacks from all around with a spirited look.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The sound of something vibrating made its way into Han Lin and Han Chong¡¯s ears, causing them to look to the source. A bubble of orange light surrounded the three of them. Right above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, an equally orange light was creating the orange glow around them.


    The Cataclysmic Seal!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Now on the verge of collision, the fearsome blades of metallic energy collided with the area around Bai Yunfei along with many stone spikes.


    The snarl on Never Die¡¯s face soon turned to a expression of satisfaction with his vengeance enacted. Just as he prepared to recollect himself, the look on his face froze as he realized an issue, ¡°What¡­ but how!?¡±


    Casting his soulsense out, Never Die realized that the auras of the three people were still there¡ªvibrant and strong as ever!


    What did that mean? It meant that the combined killing moves of the three Death Gods didn¡¯t do a thing to them!


    From within the orange light, Han Chong and Han Lin were staring in dumbfounded shock at the earthen barrier erected around them. Neither of the two spoke for some time, but as a late-stage Soul Ancestor, Han Chong was at a complete loss of words by this inconceivable sight.


    Bai Yunfei let out a discrete sigh of relief where he stood, but not because he blocked the attack. Blocking the attack was within his expectations¡ªif it couldn¡¯t, then the Cataclysmic Seal would be considered a disgrace to every mid-heaven tier soul armament. What he was really worried about harm to the essence fireseed inside it. From what he saw, nothing had changed, so Bai Yunfei felt as though he had been worrying over nothing.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a slightly weaker sound from beneath his feet, causing the ground to tremble slightly. Both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with murderous intent, and right in front of the still surprised eyes of Han Lin and Han Chong, Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear stabbed a meter into the ground!


    The spear slid into the ground without resistance for almost an entire meter, and then¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡¯


    An even louder sound than before rocked the area.


    Mixed into the explosion, the agonizing screams of a person could be heard.


    Bai Yunfei had used the Threefold Stab. It didn¡¯t matter when the explosive effect of the spear would activate since he had manipulated the range of the barrier to protect him from the backlash of the explosion.


    Never Die and Go Die stared at the source of the explosion for a brief moment in confusion. The dust cloud that had been kicked up earlier was dispersed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s fiery strike, allowing the two to see that Bai Yunfei and the Han brothers were completely unharmed, and right in front of Bai Yunfei, a three-to-four-meter-long hole could be seen.


    Suddenly, the ground in the area exploded with dirt, spitting out the person that had been hiding below! With a bang, the person tumbled to the ground. It was Must Die, but he was in a tragic state of being. His entire person was a charcoal black, and his clothes were torn apart.


    What was even more frightful was that his right arm was completely gone!!


    His right shoulder was pitch-black, and a heavy flow of dark-red blood streamed from the stump and pooled on the ground.


    ¡°Third brother!!¡±


    Blanching at the sight, Never Die flew to Must Die¡¯s side and grabbed his right shoulder. A moment later, a bubble of elemental water started to spread from Never Die¡¯s palm to Must Die¡¯s shoulder stump, immediately starting the clotting process. With no more blood flowing from the stump, the contorted face of Must Die¡¯s died down¡ªbut not completely. Even now, the fear in his eyes could still be seen.


    Go Die¡¯s reaction was slightly slower than Never Die¡¯s, but he still rushed toward Bai Yunfei for a surprise attack with his mother and son sword.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill him; what a shame¡­¡± Bai Yunfei lamented, but he didn¡¯t bother fighting Go Die. Han Lin and Han Chong were still in stunned silence behind him, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel like fighting a two on one battle.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s sigh snapped both brothers out of their stupefaction. Han Lin stared at Bai Yunfei. Bai Yunfei was roughly the same age as him and slightly more attractive to boot, but Han Lin looked as though he was seeing a ghost while he stared at Bai Yunfei. ¡°You¡­ this¡­ but how! What¡­ what the¡­¡±


    Han Lin¡¯s brother was much calmer. Instead of saying anything, Han Chong looked at Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes with a look of disbelief.


    Taking two steps behind so that he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the brothers, Bai Yunfei ignored the looks they were giving him to stare at the enemy instead. ¡°Shall we give the finishing blow to them?¡± He asked.


    A flash of light arced across Han Chong¡¯s eyes.


    It took Han Chong a second to get his mind back into shape. He said, ¡°Of course! Han Lin, let¡¯s go!¡±

 Chapter 294: And Another Death!

    Chapter 294: And Another Death!


    When Han Chong said ¡®go,¡¯ he didn¡¯t mean to literally go forward. He meant it as a command to start their counterattack. At his intonation, three flying daggers were sent flying from his hands, like arrows shot from a bow. As they traveled through the air, a glow of elemental wind could be seen aiding their forward impetus.


    His younger brother immediately followed suit with three of his own flying daggers. The first three daggers were trailed by the daggers thrown by Han Lin. Han Lin¡¯s daggers were hidden from the three men¡¯s line of sight.


    Must Die was heavily injured, but the other two weren¡¯t. They were vigilant as the six daggers came flying toward them. Never Die¡¯s eyes narrowed as he formulated a plan. His left hand held Must Die down while his right hand brandished his golden sword in front of them. With a series of clanging sounds, he deflected all three of the flying daggers thrown by Han Chong, but the ones thrown by Han Lin continued to fly undisturbed.


    This was a plan the two brothers often used. When they threw a flying dagger, the other brother would wait a bit before throwing their own to catch their enemies off guard.


    However, Go Die hadn¡¯t been caught off guard. His mother and son sword flew into action, and he knocked down the three remaining daggers without much trouble.


    ¡°Han Lin, Bolt!¡±


    Naturally, Han Chong figured that this plan wouldn¡¯t work against the three, so he took advantage of when the three enemies were guarding themselves to pass a quick message to his brother. Simultaneously, his right hand shook as he pulled out a violet-colored flying dagger.


    The dagger was barely seven inches long, and the point was almost as thin as a needle. Additionally, the edge of the dagger made a sharp turn in before making another diagonal turn in its original direction.


    With a closer observation, the flying dagger looked like a violet-colored lightning bolt.


    By the time the three Death Gods had finished knocking away the last three flying daggers, Han Chong and Han Lin were already priming their next attacks. Han Chong let loose the lightning-bolt shaped dagger, and Han Lin followed up half a beat later. Two violet streaks of lights flew forth.


    There was something curious about these daggers. When they were tossed, they didn¡¯t follow a linear trajectory. Instead, they traveled in a jagged zig-zag path with several minute permutations every meter. There was a hundred meter difference between the two sides, and the two daggers were almost reminiscent of lightning bolts as they shot straight for Never Die and Go Die!


    As one of the targets, Never Die¡¯s pupils dilated while trying to concentrate. Since the daggers were flying with irregular trajectories, he wasn¡¯t sure if the target was him or Must Die right next to him.


    To simplify things, Never Die¡¯s right hand pushed Must Die out of the way with great force.


    Then, with a slight step forward, Never Die lifted his sword in front of him. The broadside of his sword faced the daggers.


    But right under his very eyes, the daggers traveled underneath his blade, and one of them shot into the unprotected segment of his left shoulder!


    ¡°Pfft!¡±


    A slight grunt of pain was heard as the dagger embedded itself deep enough into his flesh, penetrating into the bone.


    Another grunt could be heard at the same time from Never Die¡¯s right. The other target, Must Die, hadn¡¯t been able to evade the second dagger fast enough, so he was stabbed by it in the left part of his waist.


    Though they were hit by the attacks, Never Die couldn¡¯t help but slightly relax knowing that they were minor daggers rather than killing moves. If he had to guess, this was probably a tactic to buy some time for them to recover some strength.


    As he was preparing to launch a counterattack, he suddenly saw a bright flash of blue light from the corner of his eyes¡­


    ¡°Aaaah!!¡±


    A scream filled with pain caused Never Die to stiffen. Turning his head, he saw Must Die¡¯s head bent down, looking at the bloody hole in his chest.


    Must Die¡¯s head tilted back up to look helplessly at Never Die¡ªhis mouth opening to say something, but nothing came out.


    Then, he fell down.


    ¡°Zzzzk!¡± Just ten meters away, a flash of blue shot into the ground.


    Glacial Pricker!


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand fell to his side as he nodded at the two brothers.


    Bai Yunfei had taken advantage of when the two had used their daggers to land a ¡®surprise attack¡¯ on Must Die with the Glacial Pricker!


    ¡°You¡­ you¡­!¡± Disbelief grabbed hold of Never Die for a brief moment. In time, his eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at Bai Yunfei. By this point, the expression on his face couldn¡¯t even be described as just malevolent anymore.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a slow death!!!¡±


    His left hand reached up to pull out the dagger embedded in his shoulder. There was a splurt of blood as the dagger was pulled out, but a flash of blue light immediately stopped more blood from coming out.


    Dragging his sword against the ground as he charged, Never Die flew straight for Bai Yunfei. His feet came up and down on the ground every second. The wound in his shoulder was already fully healed.


    Bai Yunfei would never underestimate Never Die. Though the man was already running low on soulforce and wasn¡¯t in peak shape, Never Die was still a late-stage Soul Ancestor. Even more convincing was his freakish healing ability.


    One of Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet shifted slightly on the ground. He wasn¡¯t going to fight the man head-on, rather he would retreat. He had the late-stage Soul Ancestor, Han Chong, on his side, there wasn¡¯t a need for him to be a ¡®try-hard.¡¯


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s sudden retreat confused Han Chong, but he took up the vanguard without delay. Now that he was positioned in front, Han Chong¡¯s right hand shook as he retrieved yet another one of his daggers. This time, it wasn¡¯t one of his more special ones, but an ordinary flying dagger. He would use it to stall Never Die¡¯s forward advancement.


    On the other side, Han Lin threw yet another dagger to stop Never Die from advancing as well.


    Around ten daggers were thrown at every angle to stop Never Die, but the man had no intentions of evading them. His sword came out in front and parried three of the daggers coming for his head, but he didn¡¯t even try to stop any of the other ones.


    The sound of daggers stabbing into flesh could be heard several times as his abdomen, chest, and even thighs were pierced. However, the man didn¡¯t even look as if he felt pain¡ªmuch to Bai Yunfei¡¯s amazement. Even after being stabbed multiple times, Never Die continued to charge full speed at the one he was hatefully glaring at.


    A bone-chilling sensation crawled up Bai Yunfei¡¯s spine¡­


    Since Han Chong had failed to do anything to stop the man, it was clear to see that he too was surprised by Never Die¡¯s actions. In no time at all, Never Die had reached Han Chong with his sword heaved up high to prepare for a mighty cleave!!


    ¡°Let me!¡±


    From behind, Han Chong heard someone call out to him. From in front, a layer of orange light suddenly erected itself to protect him.


    Never Die¡¯s weapon clanged against the light before being repelled!


    At almost the same exact time, the furious sensation of heat brushed past Han Chong¡¯s ears and a flashing spear of fire stabbed the area next to his face, delivering a stroke into Never Die¡¯s stomach!!


    Eyes dilating in shock, Never Die was stunned. He hadn¡¯t thought that the late-stage Soul Warrior, Bai Yunfei, would have the cheek to launch an attack straight after his own. Bai Yunfei being a strong enemy hadn¡¯t even occurred to Never Die, but even he could see that the spear in front of him wasn¡¯t your average soul armament. It was extremely strong. Shifting his feet, Never Die tried his best to move back and bring his sword up to protect his stomach.


    ¡°Chiinggg!¡±


    The crisp song of metal hitting metal erupted into the air.


    The Fire-tipped Spear had stabbed at the sword and managed to stab half an inch into the blade¡ªpractically stabbing straight through the sword itself.


    Never Die took three hurried steps back with his eyes widening in shock.


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes revealed his disappointment. He had been hoping that the Threefold Stab would¡¯ve activated the explosion effect of the spear.


    What a pity.

 Chapter 295: A Violent Attack!

    Chapter 295: A Violent Attack!


    Though the explosion effect of the Threefold Stab failed to activate, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t plan on stopping his attack. While Never Die was busy dealing with the knockback from the spear, Bai Yunfei immediately commanded the Cataclysmic Seal to strike.


    He didn¡¯t use its +13 effect for two reasons.


    The first reason was because he was worried about its soulforce consumption.


    The second reason was because he was worried about potentially damaging the essence fireseed. He simply couldn¡¯t allow anything to happen to it, even something extremely small.


    ¡°Clank!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal slammed against the blade in Never Die¡¯s hand, causing its owner to stagger back yet again. The brick returned to a spot above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head.


    When Never Die took a step back, so did Han Chong. A long-ranged battle was how he preferred to fight, making use of all his strength.


    Bai Yunfei followed suit with Han Chong.


    With a swing of his arm, Han Chong released two more greenish blurs of light to help Han Lin force back Go Die. In no time at all, Han Lin, Han Chong, and Bai Yunfei managed to widen the distance between them and their enemies by a hundred meters.


    Never Die and Must Die were back together as well. The flesh where several daggers had hit Never Die was contracting and expanding, trying to push out the embedded daggers. When the daggers were forced out, a blue light surrounded Never Die¡¯s body, staunching the blood and healing the wounds.


    Widening the distance between the two sides symbolized the start of a long-ranged battle of suppression. No matter how angry Never Die was or how determined he was to tear Bai Yunfei¡¯s body to bits, he had no chance to attack. Han Chong would constantly throw one dagger after another, preventing Never Die from advancing. Many of the daggers managed to stab Never Die, but the ones that were aimed at his eyes or throat were constantly avoided.


    He was called ¡®Never Die,¡¯ but that didn¡¯t literally mean he couldn¡¯t die. It was only a nickname given to him by those not part of the soul cultivator world. By depending on an extremely strong soul skill that could heal him, Never Die was granted an extraordinary advantage in the form of being able to heal any wounds instantaneously. Unless he was instantly killed or had run out of soulforce, he could indeed be said to ¡®never die,¡¯ but that was it.


    One hour had passed since the start of this battle against the equally strong Han Chong with Never Die¡¯s fellow three brethren (now only one). Right now, Never Die suffered the sensation of being suffocated.


    All of his battles in the past had relied on a self-sacrificing style of fighting. He would exchange injuries with his opponents, sending them to their deaths while he healed. Sometimes, he¡¯d even pretend to be killed by his enemy¡¯s killing move before unleashing a secret attack.


    Han Chong had never let Never Die get close to him, so how could he utilize either of his usual two tactics?


    In addition, there was now Bai Yunfei to worry about. Despite Bai Yunfei not being strong enough for Never Die to care about, the Fire-tipped Spear and the Cataclysmic Seal concerned to him. He had tried to attack twice with his sword¡¯s ability, but the Cataclysmic Seal deflected it twice, causing Never Die to reevaluate Bai Yunfei.


    Han Chong and Han Lin were throwing dagger after dagger with seamless transition between throws, and right behind, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered with a strange light. It seemed like he was thinking about something.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    From the side, a ray of orange light suddenly shot into view. Blanching at the sight, Han Lin dove two steps to the left and earned himself a cut into his shoulder.


    Between Go Die and Han Lin, Han Lin was the weaker of the two. The mid-stage Soul Ancestor had finally found an opening in Han Lin¡¯s barrage. Go Die managed to not only inflict a light wound on him, but he also managed to draw in close!


    ¡°Han Lin!¡± Han Chong cried out. Just as he prepared to help his younger brother, a flash of green light shot past him. Following that green blade of light, several more gusts of wind blew forward to stop Go Die from getting any closer.


    The Crescent Moon Blade!


    Slamming his left foot down to slow down, Go Die¡¯s other foot rotated his body, and the Crescent Moon Blade barely scraped past his ear.


    His sword danced in his hands as he parried the three gusts of wind.


    He was still determined to grab ahold of Han Lin. When the orange light from his body mixed with the green light from the wind blades, his body flickered slightly before even more orange light started to erupt; he was preparing an extremely strong strike.


    ¡°Be careful about your behind!¡±


    Just as he was about to unleash an attack on Han Lin, a warning from Never Die suddenly made its way into his ears.


    He hadn¡¯t any time to think. Relying completely on his trust in Never Die, Go Die gave up his attack to dive to the side.


    The moment he dove, a chilling flash of green light scraped past his face, scratching him and drawing some blood.


    As the blood trickled down his face, Go Die felt a shiver crawl up his spine. If he had taken a single moment more to dodge, his entire body would¡¯ve been bisected!!


    The unique property of the Crescent Moon Blade, where it could act as a boomerang, was something many people wouldn¡¯t expect. Not many could predict that such a move was possible at first, and if not for Never Die¡¯s warning, Go Die really would¡¯ve lost his life.


    Even though he managed to evade the unexpected danger that nearly befell him, Go Die had lost the opportunity to kill Han Lin.


    Furthermore¡­ he had fallen into yet another trap!!


    Having lost his balance due to throwing himself to the side, Go Die¡¯s panicked head turned to look up just in time to see what appeared to be an orange shooting star come smashing down!


    There wasn¡¯t time to dodge. All Go Die could do was grit his teeth and cross his arms in front of him to prepare for impact.


    With a boom, his body was slammed backwards after the Cataclysmic Seal smashed into him. A stab of pain shot up his arms as he slid across the ground. Even though he wasn¡¯t injured, Go Die felt as if the bones in his arms had snapped.


    The Cataclysmic Seal returned to Bai Yunfei, only for the Crescent Moon Blade to come whirling at Go Die before he could even relax!


    Eyes widening in surprise, Go Die rolled across the ground desperate to dodge.


    If a late-stage Soul Ancestor could be reduced to such a state, one could see how much he was being overwhelmed.


    When he slapped the ground to get back up onto his feet, Go Die felt a searing pain in his left thigh and smelt the pungent scent of blood. Looking down, he realized that Han Chong had thrown yet another one of those lightning bolt shaped daggers at his leg!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh!¡±


    The sounds of even more daggers flying through the air could be heard, causing Go Die to look up again. Han Lin was already throwing three more of them!!


    Twisting his body to weave around the daggers, Go Die managed to dodge the one meant for this throat, but his abdomen and left shoulder were struck!


    Stiffening from the pain, Go Die¡¯s left leg staggered a half-step back. His eyes reflected his fear, but even then, his right leg made a forceful push so that he could retreat.


    ¡°Swish!¡±


    This time, a string of golden light shot toward him, prompting him to reflexively bring his arm up to defend himself. Rather than continue forward, the golden light bent around his right arm and immediately coiled around it several times!


    As soon as it tightened around his arm, a powerful tug could be felt. Then, Go Die felt his feet leave the ground, and he was flying forward!


    ¡°Pfft!!¡±


    While Go Die¡¯s body was airborne, a spear with fire around it stabbed straight through his back.


    In Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand was the Compliant Rope, and in his right hand, the Fire-tipped Spear.


    He had stabbed Go Die¡¯s heart straight through!


    Thanks to a chain of motions and the teamwork between Han Lin and Han Chong, yet another person was killed!!

 Chapter 296: Attacking the Enemy Together

    Chapter 296: Attacking the Enemy Together


    ¡°Fourth brother!¡±


    Never Die¡¯s eyes had nearly leaped out of his sockets when he saw Bai Yunfei kill yet another one of his brothers. He swung his sword at Han Chong, who had thrown yet another one of his lightning-bolt-shaped daggers, and drew blood from Han Chong¡¯s left shoulder. Despite that, Never Die didn¡¯t bother to attack Han Chong again. Instead, he shot straight for Bai Yunfei with the speed of a newly-launched arrow!


    ¡°Die! I¡¯ll bury you with my brothers!!¡± Snarling, Never Die swung his sword down to deliver a tremendous wave of energy in the direction of Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really care just how deep the familial ties of the Four Death Gods went. Tang Xinyun had called them criminals with crimes so heavy death wouldn¡¯t be enough to wipe the slate clean.


    ¡°Hah, so even you can feel grief? When you killed people before, did you ever think about their family members!?¡± Bai Yunfei sneered. Twirling his spear, Bai Yunfei threw the body of Go Die onto the ground. Commanding the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei erected a barrier around him to stop the wave of energy coming at him.


    The next moment, the energy wave collided with the barrier, causing the surrounding area to blow up.


    Bai Yunfei was left unharmed in his barrier.


    A flash of light danced across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Never Die was angrier than ever with the death of his brothers, but the power behind his attacks was clearly much weaker than before.


    ¡°You¡¯re at the end of your rope¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. With a wave of his left hand, the Crescent Moon Blade started to vibrate. From the other side, the other pair behind Never Die started to exude a chilling aura as it spun. In a single fluid motion, it shot straight for Never Die¡¯s back.


    At the same time, the Cataclysmic Seal let loose a burst of fire before traveling toward Never Die¡¯s chest with the Crescent Moon Blade.


    Bai Yunfei never would¡¯ve fought a head-on battle with Never Die if the man had been at his peak strength. He had once experienced the taste of power that a late-stage Soul Ancestor possessed, back during his time in Curopia City.


    As things were, Never Die was at the very most at fifty percent of his optimal strength. Han Chong and Han Lin were at hand as well, so Bai Yunfei could take it easy. Of course, he didn¡¯t think about having a close-combat battle just yet. The Crescent Moon Blade and the Cataclysmic Seal would do their job as long-range weapons and would protect him from attacks.


    ¡°Clank!!¡±


    Moving his sword in front, Never Die managed to knock away the spinning Crescent Moon Blade before moving to the side. Though he tried to dodge the Cataclysmic Seal, it managed to graze his left shoulder.


    There was a cracking sound from his bones before he grunted in pain, but it wasn¡¯t enough for him to stop his advance toward Bai Yunfei.


    Before he could get far, a shot of violet light came from behind Bai Yunfei; Han Lin was providing support for him with one of his lightning bolt daggers. Never Die inched to the side so that the dagger would only strike his abdomen. Despite the wound, a flash of blue light was all it took for it to heal!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡± The second Crescent Moon Blade came flying back. It was being manipulated by Bai Yunfei. He was attempting to slice through Never Die¡¯s throat with the blade while the Cataclysmic Seal looped around to strike the back of his head.


    This time, Never Die had no other choice but to stop. He threw himself off to the side so that both soul armaments missed him.


    The soul armaments flew around, and made yet another attempt to strike Never Die down.


    ¡°Clank! Whoosh!¡±


    With his sword, Never Die managed to block the Cataclysmic Seal while allowing the Crescent Moon Blade to cut deep enough into his body to see bone. However, the wound healed up as fast as it was delivered.


    However¡ª


    There was a difference this time.


    The recovery rate of the wound was noticeably slower than before.


    Bit by bit, Bai Yunfei was gaining control of the tempo of the battle. The Crescent Moon Blade still in his left hand was being waved gently like a conductor¡¯s wand as it controlled how the other Crescent Moon Blade moved. At the same time, he was controlling the Cataclysmic Seal, but controlling both objects at the same time wasn¡¯t too difficult a task for him. He was used to micromanaging many different materials when crafting equipment after all.


    One after another, the two soul armaments continued to harass Never Die, who either dodged or parried the two. Soon Never Die managed to get within thirty meters of Bai Yunfei before he found himself unable to get any closer.


    Yet another serious blow was delivered to him in the form of a cut from the Crescent Moon Blade. The Cataclysmic Seal was again blocked, but what prevented him from going even further was the reintroduction of Han Chong and Han Lin!!


    Never Die found himself reevaluating Bai Yunfei because of how nimble and troublesome the Cataclysmic Seal and Crescent Moon Blades were. Not only was Bai Yunfei a huge problem, he was a problem he couldn¡¯t get away from.


    Han Chong and Han Lin were already enough to overwhelm the three brothers. With Bai Yunfei here and his other two brothers dead, things were extremely dire now. If he hadn¡¯t lost himself to his anger and tried to attack Bai Yunfei, he could¡¯ve escaped with his life if he tried.


    But it was too late to escape now.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Once more, the Cataclysmic Seal slammed against Never Die¡¯s sword and forced the man back two steps. Having been knocked into the path of the Crescent Moon Blade, Never Die was just about to move when, all of a sudden, his face blanched in surprise!!


    A flash of red light burst from the Cataclysmic Seal, giving birth to a string of flames! The coil of flames stretched past his blade and coiled around his arm before tightening onto it!!


    +10 additional effect; the Flame Twister, activated!!


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to activate ¡®Flame Twister¡¯ and restrict mobility of another by 10% for a maximum of ten seconds.


    With the fire spreading around him, Never Die immediately tried to counter the fire with a burst of elemental water from his body. In the five elements, water subdued fire, so according to logic, the strands of fire around him should¡¯ve been dispelled.


    To his shock, the fire didn¡¯t even weaken by a single degree!!


    And furthermore¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A gleam of metal flashed into view as the Crescent Moon Blade left a deep cut in his right shoulder. According to his usual speed, dodging the Crescent Moon Blade at that speed should¡¯ve been more than doable!!


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ slower now!!¡± That single thought flashed across Never Die¡¯s mind. He knew something was wrong with his body; it was most likely because of the strange fire wrapped around his arm, but¡­ how could it have such an effect!?


    From far away, Han Chong sensed that the movements of Never Die were irregular. Seeing his chance, Han Chong cried out, ¡°Han Lin, flicker!¡±


    From ten meters to the left, Han Lin immediately tossed the dagger in his hand. Concentrating, he took out a flying dagger that was shaped like the wing of a cicada. It was half an inch wide and three inches long with a metal that was almost transparent. Han Lin tossed the flying dagger with no hesitation!


    At the same time, an identical-shaped dagger was thrown by Han Chong.


    The daggers were thrown with absolute swiftness, but no sound came forth. As soon as the daggers left the hands of their owners, they simply¡­ disappeared!!


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow in curiosity. When the two daggers disappeared, he felt the slightest feeling to turn toward Never Die.


    From the other side, Never Die was paying close attention when the two brothers threw their daggers. He had been planning on using the trajectory and speed of the daggers to predict when and where to dodge, but the daggers had disappeared!


    ¡°Wha¡ª¡± Almost unable to even think about what was happening, Never Die could only see was two flashes of green light right in front of him. Like apparitions, the two daggers suddenly appeared without warning; one was aimed at his heart, the other at his throat!!


    Eyes dilating in shock, Never Die leaned his head to the side to dodge one of the daggers and let it fly past his throat. The dagger nicked him in the neck and just barely missed a major artery!


    ¡°Pfttt!!¡±


    He failed to dodge the other dagger because he was so focused on dodging the dagger flying toward his neck. As a result, the dagger shot through his chest and exited out of his back. Paling in the face, Never Die felt his lifeforce start to slip away. A flash of blue light started to glow from where the hole was in his body. The more Never Die concentrated, the more the elemental water started to materialize around his wound, treating the near-fatal wound.


    In no time at all, the wound started to heal, leaving Never Die with a thoroughly sweaty body from the healing effort.


    Before he could start feeling happy, yet another event immediately caused him to grow shocked!


    Yet another ring of fire with a spear right through its center was about to stab him straight through the chest!!


    The confusion of Never Die served as an opportunity for Bai Yunfei to strike. Traveling fast with the Wave Treading Steps, Bai Yunfei made use of when Never Die was healing to unleash a strike with the Threefold Stab!!


    Unable to dodge, all Never Die could do was try to bring his sword up and hope that he¡¯d be able to make it in time to block.


    ¡°Bakiin!!¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear stabbed straight through the blade and continued to stab into Never Die¡¯s flesh. Never Die fell just slightly as he tried to retreat, but then¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    In front of his very eyes, Never Die watched the ring of elemental fire on the spear suddenly explode. The sword in his hand shattered into many differing sized fragments, reducing his chest to a mangled mess!


    The +10 effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, activated!


    The explosive force of the explosion forced Never Die off his feet and into the air. As he flew, a spray of blood escaped his mouth. His eyes were wide with shock, and the elemental water in his body was trying its best to heal his wounds as fast as possible, but the wounds this time were far too severe. The wounds¡ªwhile still healing relatively fast¡ªno longer healed instantaneously like before.


    ¡°Bang!¡± The sound of something else made its way into Never Die¡¯s ears, causing him to feel surprised again. Looking to the source, he saw Bai Yunfei suddenly leap into the air right above where he was. The Fire-tipped Spear was gone from his hands, but in its place, a flaming blade about two meters long traveled down the length of his arm before cleaving into Never Die!


    His weapon was already broken, his body airborne, and his wounds not yet healed¡ªhow could he possibly dodge this?


    ¡°Noooo!!!¡±


    Despair flooded Never Die¡¯s eyes as he let loose the very last cry of regret he¡¯d ever voice in his life. The weakening blue glow of light in his chest was soon engulfed by the flames of fire¡­

 Chapter 297: A Deal

    Chapter 297: A Deal


    ¡°Bang! Bang!¡±


    Two scorched halves of flesh smashed into the ground. Never Die had been bisected in half by the waist!!


    His regenerating soul skill could defy the heavens, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to reverse the rotations of the heavens. When Never Die¡¯s soulforce ran out, so would his life.


    Landing back on the ground, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to dissipate the Flame Winged Blade. The Cataclysmic Seal flew forward to absorb any remaining fire in the area; including the fires that were still burning on the two parts of Never Die.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Sighing, Bai Yunfei recalled the other half of the Crescent Moon Blade. With a ¡®kaching,¡¯ the two Crescent Moon Blades connected with one another before being absorbed back into his space ring. Looking around for the Glacial Pricker, Bai Yunfei walked over to where it was and picked it up. The Cataclysmic Seal continued to float around him with a faint red light glowing around it.


    ¡­¡­


    From where they stood, Han Chong and Han Lin stared at the approaching Bai Yunfei in surprise. When Bai Yunfei had first appeared, he had killed one of the Four Death Gods, and then the other three were soon killed off by him as well!!


    They no longer doubted that Bai Yunfei was from the Crafting School now. The Cataclysmic Seal, the Fire-tipped Spear, the Flameblade Bracer, the Crescent Moon Blade, the Compliant Rope, the Glacial Pricker, and even that flying soul armament¡­ there were so many strong soul armaments of varying uniqueness. The first three were the most terrifying to the two brothers, so even if Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t say he was from the Crafting School, the two brothers would¡¯ve come to the same conclusion either way.


    ¡°Sire Bai, thank you for your assistance.¡± Han Chong politely spoke as he strode forward to greet Bai Yunfei formally. Though Bai Yunfei still felt like he was a late-stage Soul Warrior, he didn¡¯t doubt that Bai Yunfei was hiding his strength.


    ¡°Perhaps there is some sort of method to hide your strength¡­¡± Han Chong guessed.


    Bai Yunfei returned his greeting with a salute of his own. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so polite, brother Han. I was only passing by; even if I didn¡¯t participate, the four of them would still be no match for you two.¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­ Sire Bai, while that may be true, the two of us would still have to work extremely hard I¡¯m afraid. Even then, I¡¯m sure we wouldn¡¯t be able to kill them all. Sire Bai, you killed all four of them so easily. Your help was a great deal of service for us¡­¡± Han Chong replied. He hesitated after that final word before continuing to say, ¡°Sire Bai, the authorities of this province have warranted a bounty for the Four Death Gods¡­¡±


    Before he could finish saying what he wanted to say, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand came up to stop him. ¡°No need. I said it before, brother Han. I¡¯m not here to take your bounty.¡±


    Bai Yunfei knew that the bounty for the four criminals wasn¡¯t low by any means and that it wasn¡¯t limited to just money alone. The bounty included many primal stones and even soul skills, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t plan on ¡®contesting¡¯ the two brothers for it. Even Never Die¡¯s space ring failed to hold interest for him.


    He only wanted to show his good faith¡­


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Han Chong was secretly happy that the bounty wouldn¡¯t need to be split, but he was also skeptical. If Bai Yunfei wanted nothing and risked his life to help them kill three Soul Ancestors, that¡¯d be¡­ well, a little ¡®too¡¯ kind.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t here for their loot or for their bounty, and I highly doubt he¡¯s here for a grudge. Is he here for divine justice then? As if¡­¡± The twenty-something year old Han Lin accidentally muttered what he was thinking about out loud.


    ¡°Han Lin!¡± Han Chong scolded. What Han Lin said was far too frank. Han Chong was afraid that Bai Yunfei would take offense.


    ¡°Haha, brother Han Lin isn¡¯t off the mark. I¡¯m not a person that would try to exact divine justice¡­¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand nonchalantly. ¡°I actually helped you because I had something in mind.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Han Chong asked rather suspiciously, ¡°Sire Bai, then you¡¯re¡­¡±


    Rather than answer what Han Chong was about to say, Bai Yunfei smiled and started to say something else.


    ¡°The Twisting Knives, 4.15 inches long. The principal material to make this dagger is the tailbone of a twisted snake. Two daggers are made at once, and when thrown together, their power is doubled¡­


    ¡°The Lightning Bolt Knife, made from a lightning ore with a lightning type primal stone and a soul crystal for its outer shape. 3.26 inches long, a turn of .1 inch in the middle, and an incline of¡­


    ¡°The Flickering Knife, made from a transparent ore with any primal stone or soul crystal as a complementary. Has a length of¡­


    ¡°The Arcing Knife, made from a wind ore with a wind primal stone or soul crystal for its outer shape. Has a width of .1 inch and an arc of¡­


    ¡°The Dirtbreaker Knife¡­


    ¡°The Butterfly Knife¡­¡±


    The very first line Bai Yunfei said startled Han Chong and Han Lin. Three of the more particular daggers they had used in that battle were named by him, and he continued to say even more information. Soon Han Lin couldn¡¯t stay quiet any longer.


    ¡°How¡­ how do you know about that!¡± He exclaimed.


    Han Chong was surprised too. Pulling his brother away from Bai Yunfei, a Lightning Bolt Dagger made its way into his hand. ¡°Who are you!?¡± He demanded of Bai Yunfei, ¡°And how do you know about those?¡±


    Placing his hands on his hips, Bai Yunfei continued to smile in the same strange manner as usual. ¡°No need for such alarm, brothers. I really am from the Crafting School, and I bear no ill will.¡±


    Han Chong relaxed a little because of Bai Yunfei¡¯s calmness, but not enough to fully drop his guard. ¡°Sir, how did you come to learn about what you just said, and why have you brought this up now?¡±


    ¡°I wish to make a deal with you two brothers.¡±


    ¡°A deal?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I won¡¯t delay this any longer. I came across a partially ruined manual by accident a long time ago; in it was writing describing how to craft several particular throwing knives. What I just said was from a small segment of this manual¡­ would you brothers be interested?¡±


    ¡°What did you say!?¡± Completely unexpected to Bai Yunfei, Han Chong suddenly blurted out loud, ¡°You have the Flying Dagger Compendium!¡±


    Interest flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Nodding, he pulled out the incomplete manual. Holding it in front of the two brothers, he did a quick flip through the contents before fastening it together.


    With their eyesight, the two brothers would surely be able to gleam some information of the contents.


    Bai Yunfei still displayed a smile on his face, but his body was ready for any sudden movements from either of the two brothers. He was honest about wanting a trade, but he couldn¡¯t be sure that they didn¡¯t have any ill intentions.


    That¡¯s why he didn¡¯t put away the Cataclysmic Seal.


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder he knew so much about the daggers¡­ all of the details in that manual. He knows even more about it than we do!! The treasure lost to our school for many centuries was in his hands all along!¡± The shock Han Chong was feeling was easily reflected on his face. There was no way Bai Yunfei knew just how important the manual was to Han Chong and Han Lin; to be frank, the two brothers would¡¯ve tried to steal it back if not for the fact that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem like a bad guy and was also a student of the Crafting School.


    Even though they couldn¡¯t steal it back, Bai Yunfei was willing to trade it. That was enough to fill them with excitement.


    It took half a moment to calm themselves down, and Han Chong tried his best to stare calmly at Bai Yunfei. ¡°What deal might sir Bai want with us?¡±


    Disinclined to mince words, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°I want the matching details missing to this manual!¡±

 Chapter 298: Orchid Town

    Chapter 298: Orchid Town


    ¡°Alright, we accept!!¡±


    Han Chong immediately agreed to Bai Yunfei¡¯s trade proposal.


    Han Chong¡¯s immediate answer surprised Bai Yunfei. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have a clear understanding of the worth of the manual, but he was sure what he was asking from the other party would¡¯ve been worth quite the price. They were talking about the family or school, who would trade them away just like that?


    Prior to this, Bai Yunfei felt that he should¡¯ve thrown in a few soul armaments in exchange, but who would have thought that the two brothers would accept the deal without even making a ¡®counteroffer¡¯?


    ¡°Does this mean that¡­ the details on how to use these ¡®flying daggers¡¯ aren¡¯t worth as much?¡± He thought that at first, but then it was dismissed just as quickly as it came. Just a few pages that talked about learning how to strike at certain acupoints with the flying daggers would¡¯ve been priceless to anyone.


    Bai Yunfei once asked Zi Jin about learning these said acupoints, but no answer had been given. Zi Jin had only commented that no outsider would know.


    ¡°Looks like I undervalued this manual¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. He wasn¡¯t feeling too much regret though. As long as he got what he wanted, that¡¯d be enough for him.


    After Han Chong agreed, he took out a white jade slip. Feeding his soulforce into it, he placed the slightly glowing slip to his forehead and started to concentrate.


    Memory slips¡­


    They could retain information for a short while and were quite convenient to use. Their one shortcoming was how long the information was retained. They could only retain information for five days at most before disappearing.


    After fifteen minutes, the light surrounding the slip started to fade away. Opening his eyes, Han Chong looked at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Sire Bai¡­¡± he started.


    Bai Yunfei smiled in response. Gripping the manual, he tossed it into the air toward Han Chong. Since both sides had agreed to the deal, there was no need to hesitate. He had to be open about this deal, else the other side would start to doubt him.


    It was now surprise that a smile appeared on Han Chong¡¯s face as soon as he saw the manual flying over. With a toss of his right hand, the slip was thrown to Bai Yunfei. The two items crossed over one another before falling neatly into the other¡¯s hands.


    Taking the slip, Bai Yunfei inspected it briefly to confirm the contents. As soon as he confirmed the contents, he nodded his head at Han Chong and Han Lin, who were both looking over the manual. ¡°Brothers, now that this trade is complete, I¡¯ll be taking my leave. May we meet again, goodbye!¡±


    Han Chong hadn¡¯t expected Bai Yunfei to leave so soon, but he wasn¡¯t in the mood to continue talking to Bai Yunfei either. Saluting Bai Yunfei in earnest, he replied, ¡°May we meet again!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. With a wave of his right hand, the Tempest Sword appeared right in front of him to board. In no time at all, he and the sword flew into the air in a burst of green light.


    When Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure disappeared behind the giant trees in the distance, Han Chong looked back at the ripped manual in his hands in silence.


    ¡°Second uncle, did you really give him our techniques?¡± Han Lin blurted out soon after.


    ¡°How many times have I told you already; don¡¯t call me second uncle when we¡¯re traveling. Call me brother; otherwise, people will think I¡¯m old.¡± Han Chong snapped before slapping his chest. ¡°I, Han Chong, am a man who does things right. If he wants to have a trade, then I won¡¯t cheat him. This¡­ this is the manual the old man has been dreaming desperately about getting back. Using our techniques to barter for it is well worth the cost. With the entire manual, our techniques can be used to their maximum potential.


    ¡°The most important thing about the manual is that it describes the designs of the daggers and how to make them. Without those plans, the techniques are essentially worthless. If anything, we¡¯re the ones that got the better end of the deal.¡±


    ¡°Oooh¡­¡± Han Lin nodded his head half-heartedly. His thoughts were never as complicated as Han Chong¡¯s since Han Chong was normally the one who did all the planning whenever they traveled, so Han Lin decided not to worry about it anymore. Staring into the distance where Bai Yunfei disappeared, Han Lin had a second question. ¡°Is he really from the Crafting School? They say that every student there is arrogant. That Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem arrogant at all¡­¡±


    ¡°Rumors are always exaggerated.¡± Han Chong quirked his lips. ¡°They say that we¡¯ve never missed before. Is that true?¡±


    ¡°Not often at least¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s that.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Xinyun could be seen standing on top of a tree branch of a taller tree. She was peering through the cracks in the dense canopy. It was with worry that she was looking off into the distance where a battle was taking place. Since she couldn¡¯t use her soulsense to peer further away, all she could see was the occasional flash of light whenever someone used the power of an element.


    At one point while she watched, an intense flash of golden energy set off a loud explosion. Even though she was a good distance away from the battle, the tremors caused by it were enough to shake the tree Tang Xinyun was standing in. Nervous, she clutched at the hems of her clothes. ¡°Xiao Bai,¡± she lowered her head to look at the white bird perched on her shoulder, ¡°can you sense anything from over there? Is Yunfei alright?¡±


    The bird tilted its head to give Tang Xinyun a look, and then it looked off toward the battlefield. As if trying to tell Tang Xinyun that she shouldn¡¯t worry, it chirped twice.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Another explosion went off; this time, it was a flash of red light.


    The battlefield went silent again.


    ¡°Is it over?¡± Tang Xinyun muttered. She recognized the explosion as something Bai Yunfei had caused.


    ¡°Did he win?¡± Her face brightened up.


    ¡°Chirp!¡± Xiao Bai chirped in a way that seemed to confirm Tang Xinyun¡¯s guess. Knowing that Bai Yunfei was no longer in danger, she finally let out a sigh of relief. The nervous look in her eyes receded, and she looked back at the battlefield, waiting for Bai Yunfei¡¯s return.


    A burst of green light flew toward her soon after, as expected. Like a shooting star, it quickly shot toward the tree she was hiding. It soon stopped in front of her, revealing Bai Yunfei. ¡°Sorry for making you wait, Xinyun. It¡¯s all done and dealt with, so let¡¯s continue on our way!¡± He apologized with a smile.


    Tang Xinyun nodded in return. She delicately leaped onto the sword from the tree branch, landing behind Bai Yunfei. From above, Xiao Bai landed on Tang Xinyun¡¯s shoulder.


    As soon as Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was fed into the sword, it took off again in a burst of light¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    One night four days later, a male and female arrived at a small town.


    Under the warm rays of a setting sun, the two slowly walked through the streets of the town. The male wore gray robes that didn¡¯t cover his face, revealing a rather average-looking sight, but his eyes and forehead revealed a look of determination as he smiled and conversed with the young woman next to him.


    The young woman looked to be of twenty years or so. Her long hair rolled down her white robes to her waist. While pretty in appearance, she wasn¡¯t stunningly beautiful, but her soft voice was pleasing to the ears. To the small town of Orchid, she was like a beautiful fairy with features that captivated the eyes of anyone that looked at her.


    Even though the townspeople turned their heads her way, the female didn¡¯t seem to notice. She was caught up in the scenery around her and her conversation with the male about memories of the past.


    The male and female were Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, of course. It was getting dark, and the two felt it would be wise to stop here for the night and finish their journey tomorrow since Orchid Town was the closest town to Mo City.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a year since I was last here, but it doesn¡¯t feel like anything has changed. The uncle over there is still selling sesame cakes in the exact same place¡­¡± Tang Xinyun reminisced.


    ¡°When I was eighteen, the farthest I got from Mo City was Orchid Town. There¡¯s a mountain next to this town named Mt. Orchid. My mother¡¯s most favorite flowers, the buterfly orchids, could be found there. Every year, aunty Zhao would take me up there to pick a few¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? You mean that purple-colored mountain over there to the north?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Haha, is that mountain filled with a sea of orchids then? Why don¡¯t we pick a few tomorrow then?¡±


    A small but lovely smile appeared on Tang Xinyun¡¯s hesitant face. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Lazily stretching his body, Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°This town looked really small when we were flying over, but it¡¯s actually a little bigger than I thought¡­ Xinyun, I¡¯ll go find us a place to stay for the night, you must be tired from all that traveling, right? Rest up well tonight so that you can be your best when you see your mother.¡±


    ¡°Okay then¡­¡± Tang Xinyun nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s head to the east, I remember aunty Zhao taking me that direction before¡­¡±


    The two walked shoulder to shoulder down the path with Tang Xinyun smiling as she remembered memories of the past. She had a spring in her step as she walked. Time after time, she would point out an establishment to Bai Yunfei; like the rice dispensary that had once been the clothing store, the steamed bun seller with delectable steamed buns, or how that female walking down the road was actually the owner of the smithery just right around the corner. A single meter of distance was more than enough to greet Tang Xinyun with plenty of memories¡­


    Her happiness was apparent to see to anyone. She normally wasn¡¯t as talkative as she was now, and Bai Yunfei listened to every single word she spoke in earnest. He¡¯d nod his head at times rather than answer since he was happy just listening to her.


    ¡°Hey now! What day is it today? What brings a beautiful girl like you here? Am I just blessed to have good luck today?¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun turned the corner, a suddenly voice called out to them from ahead, interrupting the conversation the two were having with each other.


    Looking up, Bai Yunfei could see five burlish men blocking the path up ahead. The man leading the group in the middle had triangular-shaped eyes that lecherously leered at Tang Xinyun.


    No matter where in the world one went, bullies and hoodlums like him would be a common sight.


    ¡°Hehe, hey girl, you¡¯re in luck. Our boss¡¯s calling for you, c¡¯mon over!¡± One of the men next to the first man darkly laughed.


    Unwilling to drop the beat, another one of the five piped up, ¡°Brother Xiong¡¯s the strongest in Orchid Town. You ain¡¯t goin¡¯ to go wrong going with him.¡±


    ¡°Ain¡¯t that right? That kid next to you looks like he¡¯d be blown over by the wind! Take a look at our brother Xiong! Count yourself lucky brother Xiong¡¯s calling for you, so be a good girl and c¡¯mon over¡­¡±


    With how much jeering and hooting the five were doing, it was clear that they saw Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun as easy targets just like everyone else in town did. When the townspeople saw what was going on, many of them quickly moved out of the way, indicating that this bully¡¯s title of being the ¡®strongest¡¯ was most likely true.


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyebrows knit slightly together, and the smile on her face faded by just a shade.


    Her previously happy trip down nostalgia lane was without a doubt hampered by these men.


    Noticing the change in her demeanor and the increasing leers of the men, Bai Yunfei grew indignant in his heart. ¡°I¡¯ll give you three seconds to get lost. Make sure you don¡¯t do anything you regret!!¡± He spoke icily.


    ¡°Er¡­¡± The five were taken aback by such an answer. Staring at Bai Yunfei incredulously, the five began to laugh out loud one after another.


    ¡°Haha!! This kid an idiot or what? You tryna threaten us!?¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t try playin¡¯ hero in front of your girl. Lemme tell ya, our brother Xiong could kill ya with a finger!¡±


    ¡°Nah, I could make him beg for his life myself!¡±


    ¡°Hey brat, lemme tell you, our brother Xiong cou¡ª¡±


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    The five hadn¡¯t even finished laughing when the one who was laughing the hardest suddenly flew head over heels through the air. He landed unceremoniously on the ground a few meters away.


    The battle was an extremely uneventful one.


    Under the stunned eyes of everyone there, the five bullies were blown away before they could even see Bai Yunfei move. In less than ten seconds, the hoodlums were groaning on the ground with their hands on their stomachs, legs, or even throats depending on where they were hit.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind these guys, Xinyun. Let¡¯s keep going. Which way did you say the inn was?¡± Bai Yunfei turned back to Tang Xinyun with a smile.


    A bigger smile appeared back on her face at that, but the original wide smile on her face was gone. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just down this middle road; let¡¯s go¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The two crossed some streets, leaving the five hoodlums on the ground and a group of stunned onlookers.


    ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t that¡­?¡±


    On the other side of the street, the surprised voice of a twenty-something-year-old male made its way into the air. The spectacle just now had caught his attention, but the sight of something familiar made him curious.


    This young man was the one who had once talked with Bai Yunfei back in Gaoyi City. He was the eldest of the house of Zhao; the outstanding disciple of the Water School¡ªZhao Xiluo!


    ¡°Senior Zhao, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    The one who spoke was a young woman in blue right next to him. Her ovalish face was lighter in pigment, her hair like a cape over her neck, and the bangs on the other side covered her glossy forehead. This was the very image of a gentle and quiet woman; one that would love nothing more than to read book after book in the comfort of her wealthy home.


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s go eat something, junior Kou¡­¡± Zhao Xiluo looked away. ¡°His strength wasn¡¯t this weak, probably got the wrong person¡­¡±

 Chapter 299: Mt. Orchid

    Chapter 299: Mt. Orchid


    Orchid Town was as ordinary as any other town could be. The only reason why the town had any semblance of a name around Mo City was thanks to the mountain next to them. The entire mountain was special in that it had butterfly orchids growing all over it. Among the females in the area, these butterfly orchids were a local specialty that they loved to have. Since so many people would come here when they were free for the flowers, the town was renamed to better fit the mountain.


    The butterfly orchids weren¡¯t a rare or expensive variety of orchids. Only the shape of their petals were something to talk about since they were shaped exactly like the wings of a butterfly. The orchids would sway gently when a breeze came, like the way a butterfly¡¯s wings flutter in the wind. A dozen were already pleasing to the eye, but an entire mountainside was a veritable paradise.


    Mt. Orchid was extremely vast as well. During the busiest of seasons, the amount of tourists that came sightseeing would number in the several hundreds, but the mountain was always large enough to accommodate everyone. All over the mountain, groups of people could be seen here or there admiring the flowers. Of course, the majority of said tourists were always couples.


    The coming of morning comes with the gradual rising of the sun. With the light that the sun brought, the orchids, glistening with morning dew, shined as they started evaporating in the heat. There were a few droplets left remaining on some orchids. They were reluctant to fall to the ground or be evaporated by the sun. Whether the case of the former or latter, they all seemed reluctant to part with the butterfly orchids they had bonded with during the night.


    On the road up the mountain, a pair of travelers trekked slowly to the top. The two didn¡¯t walk fast, but they kept a constant pace from start to finish, meaning they weren¡¯t suffering from traveler¡¯s fatigue even though they were well past the halfway point up the mountain.


    The pair of travelers were, of course, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun.


    Naturally, Xiao Bai was flying right above them.


    According to today¡¯s agenda, Bai Yunfei would accompany Tang Xinyun to Mt. Orchid and pick a few butterfly orchids for her to take home to her mother. A trivial matter like this didn¡¯t require a flying sword, so the two decided to take it slow and walk, fully enjoying the sights.


    Based on what Tang Xinyun had said, the topmost part of the mountain had a small patch where plenty of butterfly-blue princesses, what the locals called them, grew. Such a name was given to this variant of butterfly orchids since they were not just violet in color; they were a stunning mix of blue and violet. Vibrant in color, vast in shape, and long-lasting, these butterfly-blue princesses could last for half a month in a vase without losing a speck of beauty.


    They grew on the precipice of the mountain at the very top of a sheer cliff wall that was very hard to climb. Thus, only a few commoners would take the effort to get some, but it was no trouble at all for soul cultivators.


    ¡°Xinyun, you think I should buy a gift for auntie?¡± On the way, Bai Yunfei suddenly thought of a question to ask Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Ehhh?¡± Having been unable to think of an answer to his question, Tang Xinyun reddened in the face. Rather than meet Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, she looked away, ¡°That¡­ you don¡¯t need to¡­¡± she softly replied.


    Clueless, Bai Yunfei scratched his head. ¡°Don¡¯t need to what? Why do I feel like I should bring a gift or something?¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t.¡± Tang Xinyun shook her head again, ¡°Mom doesn¡¯t like those sort of things¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, alright then¡­¡± He nodded before suddenly asking a second question, ¡°Actually, how many people are in your family? If we¡¯re going to your home, are we going to have to meet your uncle, grandpa, seventh aunt, or eighth aunt too?¡±


    To Bai Yunfei, filial piety was an extremely important matter, so it only seemed natural to pay your respects to everyone in the family after returning home after a very long time.


    Tang Xinyun had interpreted his words a different way and blushed an even deeper shade of red as a result. A tinge of concern crawled across her face a little while later, causing her to sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there are too many people in my family you won¡¯t have to see. You probably won¡¯t even be able to see them anyways¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized he had stumbled on yet another taboo topic. Tang Xinyun¡¯s return home was without a doubt not something anyone would care about. Remorse flooded his mind as soon as he came to that realization, but before he could say something in apology, another thought struck him.


    ¡°Crap!!¡±


    This sudden break of silence caused Tang Xinyun to jolt out of her slight depression. ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong? Did something happen?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I just remembered something.¡± Bai Yunfei ¡®panicked,¡¯ ¡°Is aunty Zhao home too, Xinyun?¡±


    ¡°She is.¡± Tang Xinyun confirmed with a nod, ¡°She went back home as soon as she brought me to the Crafting School, why?¡±


    Vexed as he listened to Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°I remember that¡­ aunty Zhao warned me not to get close to you. Not only are we both in the Crafting School, I¡¯m also going home with you¡ªyou think she¡¯s going to assume I¡¯ve some sort of dark plan and try to push me out of the household?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Tang Xinyun blinked several times in rapid succession while studying Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®miserable¡¯ expression.


    Before long, a slight chuckle escaped her lips, ¡°Hehe¡­ knowing aunty Zhao, she¡¯d do something like that if she doubted you¡­¡±


    ¡°Ahhh!?¡±


    What Bai Yunfei said before was only a joke to try and cheer Tang Xinyun up, but her answer was actually quite worrying to the ears. Thinking back to the embarrassing first encounter he had with her and Zhao Mancha, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but grimace with how the older woman kept glaring at him.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I saved her life before. She shouldn¡¯t treat me that way¡­ hopefully¡­¡± Bai Yunfei tried to console himself.


    ¡­¡­


    The two continued up the mountain after that. Rather than talking about Tang Xinyun¡¯s familial matters, Bai Yunfei chose to move to an even lighter topic.


    At some point during their conversation, the two arrived near their destination. The top of the mountain was about fifty meters tall and almost ten meters wide. According to what Tang Xinyun had said, the precipice nearby was almost impossible for commoners to scale, but the butterfly orchids there were of the best variety. The ones that grew there were tenacious, and with the amount of orchids growing there, the precipice looked as if a group of butterflies were resting.


    Looking up at the precipice, Bai Yunfei estimated the distance a bit before smiling at Tang Xinyun, ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded.


    With a push against the ground, both of them flew toward the precipice. Stepping off a protruding piece of rock on the wall, the two started to make their way up the precipice without much trouble.


    After several repetitions, the two finally neared the top just in time to hear someone let out a small peal of laughter.


    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s someone here?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise was only momentary when he got to the precipice. Worried that he might be intruding on someone else¡¯s private moment, he was about to turn away when what he saw in front of him caused his face to sour.


    Just ten meters ahead of him was a massive clearing of butterfly-blue princesses swaying gently in the wind. The butterfly-blue princesses were absolutely breathtaking, like a superior entity that overlooked the butterfly orchids on the mountainside below.


    However, a male and female stood in the middle of them all. The graceful-looking woman wore a violet robe with both hands on her skirt as she laughed merrily while trampling over the butterfly-blue princesses!!


    Right behind her, the male stood with his arms crossed against his chest. He was smiling as he watched the female dance about, but a small lecherous tint could be seen in his eyes.


    There weren¡¯t many butterfly-blue princesses here to begin with. If the female were to continue trampling over them, there¡¯d be none left. The sight of so many butterfly-blue princesses being scattered into the wind was a saddening one.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s sudden appearance had startled the two. The female had even screamed when she saw him before leaping behind the male like a cat. The smile on the male¡¯s face had been wiped clean. He adopted a battle-ready stance with his fists clenched as a chilling aura came out of him.


    He was a soul cultivator!


    A following flash of light later, Tang Xinyun came flying up right next to Bai Yunfei.


    Before Bai Yunfei could even say anything, the man in front of him took a single step back, ¡°Tang Xinyun!!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei had been so surprised by what the other man said that he completely forgot about what the female had been doing just a moment ago. Turning to the equally surprised Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Do you know him, Xinyun?¡±


    Blinking away her surprise, Tang Xinyun focused on the other male for a moment. ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡± She hesitated, ¡°he¡¯s my older cousin from mother¡¯s side of the family, I think¡­¡±


    ¡°Older cousin! That is a family member of auntie?¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed. He hadn¡¯t thought that they¡¯d come across Tang Xinyun¡¯s family member here of all places.


    Tang Xinyun shook her head, ¡°Not quite. He¡¯s not related to mother, he¡¯s¡­ the nephew of my father¡¯s third wife.¡±


    The third wife of Tang Xinyun¡¯s father. The one that coerced him to completely forgo Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother and the one who had bullied the two for years.


    ¡°Hah! Of course there¡¯s no relationship between your mother and I!¡± A jeering taunt was heard.from the male. ¡°I, Hua Binbai, am the heir to the house of Hua; we are in no way related to the house of Chu, and you are thus, not my ¡®younger cousin.¡¯ I¡¯d be embarrassed otherwise!¡±


    A cold chill descended over Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Inquisitively, Hua Binbai stared at Bai Yunfei. After ascertaining his strength, Hua Binbai snorted. ¡°Who are you? You may have some strength as a late-stage Soul Warrior, but not enough to stand on the same level as I, scram!!¡±


    Then completely disregarding Bai Yunfei, he turned his attention to Tang Xinyun. ¡°After abandoning your home for nearly a full year, I had thought you died a dog¡¯s death! That servant Zhao Mancha said you became a disciple of some elder in the Crafting School. What a joke!! Only that woman Chu Qingxue believed her¡­ but now that I think about it, you¡¯re only a late-stage Soul Warrior¡­ how embarrassing! You should¡¯ve stayed away and pretended to be a disciple in the crafting school. How dare you come back home and embarrass all of us!¡±


    ¡°Hua Binbai, you¡ª!!¡± Caught completely off guard by his harsh words, Tang Xinyun started to violently tremble.


    ¡°I what? Did I say something wrong!?¡± Somehow, he was getting carried away with his emotions. ¡°The heiress to the Tang is now my sister-in-law. She should¡¯ve drove you and your mother out from the Tang a lot earlier. Why don¡¯t you listen to what uncle said and leave home another year before coming back with some weak guy?¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you¡­!¡± At a loss for words, Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t know what to say or even think. Each word spoken to her was meant to embarrass and humiliate. She hadn¡¯t a high opinion of him before she left a year ago, but his attitude was getting to unbelievable heights. All that was left for her to do was tremble and shake in anger as she tried to figure out what to say.


    A hand tightened around her wrist and pulled her back half a step. As soon as she stepped back, the figure of someone stepped in front of her to hide the poisonous face of Hua Binbai from her.


    ¡°Xinyun, you said that he¡¯s not¡­ related to you, right?¡± Bai Yunfei whispered, only to receive a slightly confused nod of confirmation in return.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Bai Yunfei closed his eyes briefly before turning to look back at the incredulous Hua Binbai with a smile.


    ¡°Then if I tear that dirty mouth off his face and bash his teeth in, there won¡¯t be any problems, right?¡±

 Chapter 300: Knocking Out A Mouthful of Teeth

    Chapter 300: Knocking Out A Mouthful of Teeth


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± The words that came out of Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth had been so shocking that even the girl hiding behind Hua Binbai peeked her head around to stare incredulously at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°You brat!! What¡­ what did you say!?¡± An angry finger was pointed at Bai Yunfei. Hua Binbai could hardly believe his ears at what he was hearing.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I made myself clear. Maybe it¡¯s a little hard for you to understand with that IQ of yours, but don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll understand as soon as I¡¯m done with you.¡±


    ¡°Pft¡­¡± Unable to stop herself in time, a slight giggle made its way out of Tang Xinyun as the weight behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s words sunk in. The smile she gave him revealed no traces of the previous anger she had displayed on her face. She knew that Bai Yunfei¡¯s present and future actions would be slightly inappropriate, but she was still looking forward to them.


    ¡°Yunfei, make sure you go easy on him so he doesn¡¯t die¡­¡± Rather than stop him, Tang Xinyun made sure to give him a warning.


    Bai Yunfei shot her a glance and shrugged, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll listen to you¡­¡±


    The glance had a meaning as if to say, ¡°You¡¯re really too kind. You¡¯re afraid that I¡¯m going to beat him to death.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The fact that the two people in front of Hua Binbai were casually discussing how to ¡®punish¡¯ him made him furious beyond furious. His anger was such that the smile on his face immediately turned upside down as he pointed a finger at them. ¡°Haha, fine! I get it! This is the guy you brought back? A whimpy Soul Warrior, and yet so arrogant! Don¡¯t blame me for not holding back! If my hand ¡®slips¡¯ and hurts him, don¡¯t blame me!!¡±


    Before Hua Binbai finished speaking, his hand flipped over to reveal a large amount of soulforce gathering in his palm. Straight away, a chilly aura began to materialize before a three-inch rhombus-shaped blade appeared.


    He clearly had practiced doing something like this before. The violet-robed woman hiding behind him revealed a face that was completely red as she beheld his weapon in full glory.


    Hua Binbai chuckled at the reaction of the woman behind him. Turning away, his eyes immediately grew cold as he glared at Bai Yunfei. With a single swipe of his hand, the icy blade shot toward Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The pleased look in Hua Binbai¡¯s eyes had quickly turned to disbelief when the hand of Bai Yunfei smashed the icy blade into dozens of fragments that quickly evaporated away.


    ¡°An ice type soul cultivator¡­ those are rare, but I hate them nonetheless.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke with a dark smile before he disappeared from sight.


    Sensing that he was about to be attacked from the front, Hua Binbai brought his right hand up to protect himself. As he did, an incredible grip pulled his wrist down.


    A powerful attack suddenly struck him in the chest, causing him to double over, and his face turned red due to the pain.


    Bai Yunfei had slammed his knee into Hua Binbai¡¯s stomach.


    An early-stage Soul Sprite like Hua Binbai had a reasonable amount of physical strength, so it came as a surprise to see vomit nearly come out of his mouth.


    Doubling over in pain, Hua Binbai didn¡¯t even habe the time to fully scrunch together before the collar of his clothes was pulled up by Bai Yunfei. He was forced back onto his feet.


    Surprised by the sudden force, Hua Binbai tried his best to materialize as much elemental ice around him as he could. Before a substantial defense or attack could be formed, there was another thumping sound when Bai Yunfei slammed a Threefold Punch into his stomach again.


    ¡°Bleegh!!¡± This time, a driblet of vomit really did come out. Thanks to the pain, the elemental ice he was trying to control was immediately dispelled.


    ¡°Impossible!! How¡­ how is he so strong!?¡± A mental howl was running through Hua Binbai¡¯s mind as he struggled to think of how a ¡®weak¡¯ Soul Warrior was able to corner him in just two short moves.


    ¡°Yo¡ª¡±


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    Not even one word of what Hua Binbai was about to say escaped his mouth before Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand let go of his collar and slapped him square on the left side of his face.


    ¡°I¡ª¡±


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    Caring not for what Hua Binbai was trying to say, Bai Yunfei slapped him again on the other side of the face.


    ¡°Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow¡­¡±


    The series of sounds that came from the precipice had been loud enough to alert the other people nearby.


    ¡°Young master!!¡±


    The oddity of the sounds had made their way down to where a group of soldiers were standing guard. Upon hearing the strange noises, one of the guards looked up. Shocked by what he was hearing, his cries alerted the other soldiers before they all came rushing over.


    Since they were guarding the precipice from the other side, they hadn¡¯t been able to see Bai Yunfei or Tang Xinyun.


    They weren¡¯t soldiers of common strength. The weakest of the group was a Soul Personage, and the captain was a late-stage Soul Warrior. With their strength, they were able to ascend to the precipice with little difficulty.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A loud chirp echoed through Mt. Orchid, and a strong gale of wind blew through the area right afterwards. The wind circled around the stony area where the soldiers stood, and one after another, each one of them fell to the ground.


    ¡°Soul¡­ soulbeast!!¡±


    The captain cried out in fright when he saw a quickshade bird flying around them after knocking them to the ground.


    Up on the precipice, Bai Yunfei slapped Hua Binbai¡¯s face another ten times before finally stopping. Hua Binbai¡¯s face was already unrecognizable; his mouth wasn¡¯t torn apart like what Bai Yunfei had said he would do, but it wasn¡¯t all that far off either.


    Eyeing the frightened soldiers on ground, and then the terrorized Hua Binbai in front of him, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Take this as a small lesson. If you don¡¯t know how to talk like a civilized person, go home and ask your parents. If there¡¯s a repeat, I won¡¯t knock out a few of your teeth, I¡¯ll pull out your entire tongue!!¡±


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    With that, Bai Yunfei slammed his right fist into Hua Binbai¡¯s face one last time. Letting go as he punched him, Bai Yunfei watched as Hua Binbai flew off the precipice and down onto the soldiers nearby. A trail of blood followed the human bullet along with several fragments of teeth.


    It was a finely controlled punch that wouldn¡¯t leave any lasting injuries on Hua Binbai other than knocking out his teeth.


    Promises were meant to be kept when said. If Bai Yunfei said he¡¯d knock out someones¡¯s teeth, then he¡¯d make sure not a.single tooth was left behind.


    Turning his attention to Hua Binbai¡¯s frightened female companion, Bai Yunfei instructed the quickshade bird up in the air, ¡°Xiao Bai, escort her down.¡±


    With a chirp, the bird flapped its wings, enveloping the woman in a bubble of green light. With another chirp, the bubble was flown down to the group of soldiers.


    ¡­¡­


    From there, Bai Yunfei watched as the group of soldiers fled the area with Hua Binbai in tow. Smiling as he turned back to Tang Xinyun, he asked, ¡°Was that punishment a little too light?¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­ it¡¯s enough.¡± She shook her head dismissively, ¡°Thanks, Yunfei¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me, I just felt that he was an eyesore. With the amount of crap coming from his mouth, a beating was to be expected.¡± He dismissed her thanks with a wave of his hand. In truth, the sound of Hua Binbai being slapped in again and again was a soothing to his ears.


    Gratitude flashed across Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes for a brief moment before concern replaced it. ¡°But¡­ there¡¯s a problem. He¡¯s next in line to the house of Hua. He might not be a problem now, but he¡¯s still the son of the current head and the nephew of that woman. The Hua will definitely come to Mo City for the Reunion City, so I¡¯m afraid tha¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªthat they might look for revenge?¡± Bai Yunfei interrupted with a grin, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯ll probably end up being a small conflict between us of the younger generation. If he does hire someone to help, I¡¯ll teach them a lesson too, and if someone stronger from the previous generation tries to pressure me, I¡¯ll be sure to toss out the names of our seniors and master to scare them.¡±


    The pride behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s words couldn¡¯t help but make Tang Xinyun smile a bit. ¡°Haha, that works. You¡¯re a junior to the current headmaster and a disciple to the ex-headmaster, they definitely wouldn¡¯t dare do anything if they knew that.¡±


    ¡°Ahh? So master¡¯s name can be that useful? That¡¯s great¡­ hehe.¡± Bai Yunfei heaved a sigh of ¡®relief.¡¯ ¡°Then we don¡¯t need to worry. As long as another ignorant person comes looking for a beating, I¡¯ll be more than happy to drive them away!!¡±


    His words were spoken casually, but the thoughts in his mind were anything but. ¡°As long as I¡¯m here, I won¡¯t let anyone do you wrong!¡±


    If someone irrelevant to her family was willing to rebuke Tang Xinyun with such scathing words, Bai Yunfei could hardly imagine what kind of life Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother was living on a day-to-day basis¡­


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough of that. Let¡¯s get you some of those butterfly-blue princesses and head on out to Mo City.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Here in the Forest Pass Province, the city of Mo had many redeeming factors. It had a population of well over ten million, it was a city with flourishing economy, and it was also the place where one of the Five Clans lived.


    On the southeastern side of the city stood a grand residence with a pair of giant stone lions standing guard by an even larger gate. This gate stood about ten meters tall and had at least ten burly-looking men standing guard on both sides of the door.


    On the public-accessible side to the gates was a major road in the city that saw to the commute of many, many people every day, and each time they walked past the gates, every traveler would reveal a look of worship.


    Off in the distance on this road, a male and a female could be seen slowly making their way over before stopping in front of the gates.


    ¡°So this is where the Tang lives¡­¡± Bai Yunfei looked over the expansive walls to the residence before eyeing the grandiose buildings beyond the open gate. ¡°Xinyun, your place is huge!! It might be bigger than even the main temple of our school¡­¡±


    Tang Xinyun, on the other hand, was nonplussed. ¡°What point is there in it being huge? In my mind, the only place I can call ¡®home¡¯ is the small courtyard mother lives in. Anywhere else might as well be as cold as stone¡­¡±


    Knowing again that she was thinking about something sad, Bai Yunfei swiftly moved to change the topic, ¡°Haha, okay, let¡¯s go see your mother. That¡¯ll cheer you up. Let¡¯s go, then.¡±


    The thought of seeing her mother seemed to have cheered her up a bit, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Halt! State your name and purpose!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had Tang Xinyun lead the way, but when they walked toward the gates, one of the guards suddenly block their way.


    ¡°Wha¡ª?¡± Flabbergasted, Bai Yunfei looked oddly at Tang Xinyun, ¡°They¡­ they don¡¯t know who you are?¡±

 Chapter 301: Going Home

    ¡°Wha¡ª?¡± Flabbergasted, Bai Yunfei looked oddly at Tang Xinyun, ¡°They¡­ they don¡¯t know who you are?¡±


    Tang Xinyun was surprised too. Though she didn¡¯t think the guards would be happy or excited to see her, them blocking her path wasn¡¯t expected at all. ¡°Who are you? I¡¯ve never seen you before.¡± She asked after taking a closer look at the guard.


    ¡°What do you mean who am I? That¡¯s what I should be asking you! Do you even know where this place is!? Are you trying to gain entry without an invitation slip!? You¡ª¡±


    ¡°He Yang, stay your tongue!¡± A sudden growl stopped the guard from speaking anymore. Turning his head in surprise, He Yang and the others could see a man in his forties walking forward, ¡°That is the fourth miss you are talking to. Mind your manners!¡±


    This new man was the captain of the gate guards. As the captain, he stood at the very back of the gates and was in a state of shock when he first saw Tang Xinyun. It took him a little longer to confirm who she was before quickly coming forward.


    ¡°The fourth miss?¡± He Yang cried out in alarm before turning back to Tang Xinyun.


    When Tang Xinyun saw the man walking toward them, she nodded her head in greeting, ¡°Liao Ba, are you the one on gate duty today?¡±


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t realized it was you¡ªI could hardly believe my eyes¡­¡± The one known as ¡®Liao Ba¡¯ warmly smiled. ¡°This man,¡± he pointed at He Yang, ¡°is new, please forgive him for not recognizing you, miss.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Tang Xinyun noted, ¡°That¡¯s fine then. Liao Ba, may we go in now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course! Miss and sire, please enter¡­¡± Liao Ba responded with all the swiftness he could muster before stepping aside for the two to walk past.


    It was only when Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun walked past the gates and into the residence that He Yang finally snapped to attention. ¡°Liao Ba, is¡­ is she really the fourth miss that left a year ago? I heard she joined the Crafting School, was that true?¡±


    The eyebrows on Liao Ba¡¯s face scrunched together. ¡°He Yang, you¡¯re new here, so there¡¯s plenty about the Tang you don¡¯t know. Have a piece of advice, the fourth miss and her mother are under very special circumstance compared to the rest of the household. As subordinates, it isn¡¯t our job to poke our noses into our employer¡¯s business. Do your job as you¡¯re expected, understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Though he replied, He Yang simply couldn¡¯t understand why Liao Ba wasn¡¯t willing to say anything.


    But he knew better than to ask.


    ¡­¡­


    Not long after they walked past the gates, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun both came across a white-haired, old man who looked extremely healthy for his age. This man was Tang Yongzhong, the head housekeeper. When Liao Ba realized that Tang Xinyun was back, he had someone make a report to Tang Yongzhong. He knew she was back; hence, why he was here so fast.


    ¡°You¡¯ve returned, miss. The young master is waiting in the lounge, please go on in with your friend.¡± Tang Yongzhong smiled to her and gave Bai Yunfei a nod.


    Bai Yunfei took a moment to try and investigate the man¡¯s strength with his soulsense.


    ¡°He¡¯s strong!¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow. This old man¡¯s strength was by no means weak, but Bai Yunfei made sure to keep his emotions from showing on his face other than a smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know what my body¡¯s doing right now, so feel free to see how strong I am.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Zhong, you look as healthy as ever¡­¡± Tang Xinyun nodded, ¡°Is big brother around?¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m getting on in the years. My bones aren¡¯t what they used to be¡­¡± Tang Yongzhong lamented for a while before answering her question, ¡°The lord has been busy with the auction and is rarely at home, but the young master is coincidentally home today.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Tang Xinyun nodded in understanding, ¡°Then I¡¯ll be heading for the lounge. If you¡¯re busy with something, uncle Zhong, please don¡¯t mind us.¡±


    ¡°Very well then, I¡¯ll be on my way then¡­¡± He laughed.


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun left the old man where he was as they entered the lounge. As they walked, Tang Yongzhong continued to stare at the two in pensive thought. ¡°Zhao Mancha said that the fourth miss had joined the Crafting School and had become a disciple of one of the elders. How is she still a late-stage Soul Warrior even a whole year later? How strange, Zhao Mancha isn¡¯t one to lie¡­ and that young man was only a late-stage Soul Warrior as well. Who is he? Has the fourth miss¡­ no no, the house of Qin wouldn¡¯t be happy to hear that¡­


    ¡°Alas¡­ fourth miss, why return after leaving for so long? The Tang will surely add to your troubles now¡­¡± Another sigh made its way out. With a shake of his head, he purged the thoughts in his mind and turned to walk away.


    In the other direction, Tang Xinyun led Bai Yunfei past a series of limestone roads before finally entering a large lounge.


    The lounge was spacious, but only a few people stood at the entrance. A man in his thirties stood at the center of the lounge in greenish-blue robes. The hair of his eyebrows was thick, his nose aquiline. He was by no means handsome, but the spirit of a warrior could clearly be felt in him with how calm he was.


    This man was the older brother to Tang Xinyun and eldest son to the Tang, Tang Jing.


    ¡°Big brother,¡± Tang Xinyun greeted as she approached him.


    There was a slight smile on Tang Jing¡¯s face when he saw Tang Xinyun approach, but it quickly started to disappear when he saw Bai Yunfei follow her in. By the time they drew closer, the smile on his face was no longer anywhere to be seen. He nodded his head slightly before going straight into a hushed voice, ¡°Fourth sister, I never imagined that you¡¯d return. You left without a word for over a year. Don¡¯t you know how angry father is with you? He¡¯s busy with matters, but when he arrives home, you¡¯d best think of a way to placate him else risk being punished¡­¡±


    Rather than any words of greeting or comfort, he chose to rebuke her straight away.


    The smile on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face froze at that. ¡°Your little sister understands,¡± she whispered, ¡°I¡¯ll think of an apology for father¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes, though Tang Xinyun always said that family didn¡¯t matter to her, the sight in front of him was still strange to the eyes. It worsened his impression of the Tang, but since he was an outsider, he had no right to interfere.


    Seemingly sensing the minute changes on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Tang Jing¡¯s eyes shifted to give him a look. ¡°And you are¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei could sense an aura similar to that of Jiang Nan from Tang Jing¡¯s body. That meant he was surely a Soul Exalt in strength.


    ¡°I am Bai Yunfei, a student of the Crafting School. Pleased to meet you, brother Tang.¡± Bai Yunfei gave a nod to Tang Jing. Since Tang Jing was Tang Xinyun¡¯s older brother, Bai Yunfei saw no reason to be rude.


    ¡°A student of the Crafting School?¡± Tang Jing repeated with some shock. Giving Bai Yunfei a look over, Tang Jing tried his best to think back to his memories of the Crafting School, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s name just didn¡¯t ring a bell.


    ¡°A late-stage Soul Warrior¡­ while that¡¯s decent for his age, he should only be in the higher ranks of the internal school¡­¡± Tang Jing thought.


    ¡°Fourth sister, Zhao Mancha said that you¡¯ve joined the Crafting School, is that correct? I recall you being at the crux of becoming a Soul Sprite when you left. Why are you still a late-stage Soul Warrior then?¡± He didn¡¯t doubt Zhao Mancha¡¯s words about her joining the Crafting School, but her being the personal disciple to one of the elders left plenty of room for doubt.


    Whitening in the face at the question, Tang Xinyun found herself at a loss for words. Fortunately, it was Bai Yunfei who spoke up for her. ¡°Xinyun became a Soul Sprite shortly after joining the Crafting School, but her strength has temporarily weakened because of some unforeseen circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Something like that can happen?¡± Surprised, Tang Jing looked at Tang Xinyun with a pensive look, ¡°What would that¡­¡±


    Before he could say anymore, the sounds of approaching footsteps stopped him from speaking. Looking up, he saw Tang Yongzhong walk into the lounge.


    As soon as he entered the lounge, Tang Yongzhong said, ¡°Young master, the men from the house of Cai in Guanbo City have sent some very important goods. As of now, they are located in the Treasure Trove. If you could come¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? They¡¯re here already?¡± Tang Jing remarked, ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll be on my way.¡± He nodded.


    ¡°Fourth sister,¡± he turned to Tang Xinyun, ¡°I have matters to attend to, so I¡¯ll end things here. As for lord Bai¡­ I¡¯ll leave you to make arrangements for him.¡±


    With a final nod to Bai Yunfei, he moved to follow Tang Yongzhong out of the lounge, leaving Tang Xinyun and Bai Yunfei alone.


    It was only after Tang Jing left through the gates that Bai Yunfei let some semblance of emotion return to his face.


    Only a few words were spared between this reunion between brother and sister that ended due to a material reason. He hadn¡¯t even asked a single question regarding his sister¡¯s weakened state¡ªsomething Bai Yunfei had a hard time believing.


    Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t seem to mind. Giving only a sigh, Tang Xinyun turned to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯d like to see mother now¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?


    ¡°Oh! Yes, let¡¯s go then, Xinyun.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei followed Tang Xinyun through a series of passageways and corridors. On the way, they came across several astonished servants. They bowed to her as she passed, but as soon as she and Bai Yunfei walked far enough away, the servants began to whisper to each other with hushed voices.


    After walking for several minutes, the surrounding area grew more and more quiet due to them passing fewer servants, and before long, the two finally arrived at a simple and quiet courtyard.


    Tang Xinyun came to a sudden stop at the front of the gates as if hesitating. Both of her hands tightly gripped her clothes and her upper teeth bit down on her lower lip. In her eyes, expectation, excitement, and even a little fear could be seen¡­


    Puzzled by her reaction, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Xinyun, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± She dismissed Bai Yunfei¡¯s concern with a smile before stepping into the courtyard.

 Chapter 302: Reunion Between Mother and Daughter

    The courtyard wasn¡¯t large by any means, only a few rooms and a fairly small outdoor area. In the middle of the courtyard was a stone table with stone stools, and on the right was an old tree with a trunk as thick as an arm. The leaves on the tree were sparse, and the tree was yellowing by a small degree, a clear sign of it slowly dying. A purple vine was growing around the trunk and tree branches, but even that vine was slowly fading in color, as if it was on the verge of death.


    A figure in white was on the ground underneath the tree. The woman was hard at work weeding the area. Several strands of her hair would sometimes droop down and touch the ground.


    When Bai Yunfei walked into the courtyard, the very first thing he saw was the woman using her left hand to brush her hair behind her ear¡ªexactly like Tang Xinyun¡¯s habit.


    Clearly engrossed in her work, the woman didn¡¯t notice Tang Xinyun or Bai Yunfei until they were far into the courtyard. A serene smile appeared on her face as she looked up to greet her visitors.


    As soon as her eyes landed on Tang Xinyun, the smile on her face froze. Likewise, her hands stopped what they were doing as their owner stared blankly at Tang Xinyun. The weeds that were in her hands fell to the ground and dirt landed on her white robes, but the woman didn¡¯t seem to notice.


    Even Tang Xinyun ceased walking to stare when the woman turned around. However, her eyes weren¡¯t as blank as the woman¡¯s. Her eyes were filled with excitement.


    Moments went by as the two women stared at one another in silence.


    It was Tang Xinyun who was the first to break the silence. Her red lips slowly opened as she said with a quavering voice, ¡°Mo¡ªmother, I¡¯m home¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    And so the mother and daughter started to talk to each other. Not wanting to disturb the two, Bai Yunfei walked over to the stone table and sat down. A small silver knife appeared in his hand, and he started to toy around it with. Every so often, he¡¯d look over to where the other two were with a small smile.


    Since the mother and daughter hadn¡¯t seen each other in a long time, there was plenty to catch up on. As such, they were inside while Bai Yunfei stood guard outside.


    ¡°Creaakkkk¡­¡±


    The door to the room Tang Xinyun and her mother had been in creaked open. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei watched the two women slowly walk out.


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes were slightly red, but her lips were curled in a cheerful smile.


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother, Chu Qingxue, led her daughter to Bai Yunfei and smiled to greet him. ¡°Lord Bai, Xinyun has told me all about you. I thank you for constantly looking after her and for bringing her here. Thank you for all your troubles¡­¡±


    Her voice was soft, but succinct to the ears, just like Tang Xinyun¡¯s. Not even a wrinkle could be seen on Chu Qingxue¡¯s pale-white skin, making it extremely hard for Bai Yunfei to believe that she was Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother. According to what Tang Xinyun had once said to him, her mother was reaching her older years.


    But the woman in front of him right now looked no older than thirty-five at most.


    ¡°Haha, auntie, please just call me Yunfei.¡± Bai Yunfei gave an uneasy smile, ¡°Xinyun and I are students of the Crafting School, so it¡¯s only natural that we look after one another. There¡¯s no need for auntie to be so polite.¡±


    His personality somewhat surprised Chu Qingxue. Her daughter had told her plenty about Bai Yunfei, like how he was the disciple of the ex-headmaster of the Crafting School and how talented and unordinary he was, but the fact that he was surprisingly ¡®shy¡¯ was a nice contrast, earning him several favors in her book.


    Smiling warmly, Chu Qingxue asked him, ¡°Yunfei, what are your plans? Do you have any desire to go into Mo City and look around?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any plans for visiting anywhere. I¡¯ll just wait for Xinyun to enjoy her time with auntie before we return to the Crafting School. In the meantime, thank you very much for your hospitality, auntie¡­¡± He replied after giving the question some thought.


    ¡°Haha, then you may as well live in this courtyard for now.¡± Chu Qingxue pointed to one of the spare rooms off to the left, ¡°Make yourself at home. Xinyun can take you sightseeing the next few days, but¡­ some of the places in this residence are off-limits. I¡¯m sure Xinyun told you before, the two of us are¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his hand before she finished that thought, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, auntie. I won¡¯t go where I¡¯m not supposed to.¡±


    The three of them sat at the stone table and continued to talk. Now that she was reunited with her mother, Tang Xinyun looked a lot happier than before; it showed on her face. She spoke excitedly about several interesting things she saw or heard with Zhao Mancha on their way to the Crafting School. She even shared several stories about her time in the Crafting School.


    Bai Yunfei listened to her talk from the side and smiled whenever she did. He felt happy; to see her smile so much made all the traveling it took to get here worth it.


    ¡°My lady, my lady! I heard the young miss is back, is it true?!¡±


    All of a sudden, the ¡®loud¡¯ voice of another person broke the flow of conversation before a rush of orange light swiftly flew into the courtyard.


    The voice caused Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart to suddenly stop beating. He thought about jumping up and running away, but before he could even move a finger, the person was already in front of the three.


    Standing up, Tang Xinyun greeted the person with a smile. ¡°Aunty Zhao, I¡¯m home¡­¡±


    ¡°Young miss, it really is you!¡± Zhao Mancha was dressed in garbs a simple farmer would wear, but her face was flush with emotions; the smallest of tears could even be seen gathering near her eyes. ¡°Young miss¡­ why didn¡¯t you send a letter before you came back? I could¡¯ve gone to get you¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, aunty Zhao, Yunfei used a flying sword to get us here, so I didn¡¯t have the time to send one.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei?¡± Zhao Mancha repeated, her eyes slowly slide over to where Bai Yunfei was sitting.


    Rather awkwardly, Bai Yunfei nodded his head to the older woman. ¡°Ah¡­ aunty Zhao, long time no see¡­ haha¡­¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± Exploding with anger, Zhao Mancha immediately started to interrogate him, ¡°Why are you with the young miss!?¡±


    Sensing the fury and suspicion in her tone, Bai Yunfei started to wave his hands to plead for himself, ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand, aunty Zhao. Xinyun and I somehow met at the Crafting School again. I didn¡¯t know that your goal was to bring her there as well¡­¡±


    Unable to hide the smile on her face, Tang Xinyun spoke up next, ¡°Aunty Zhao, Yunfei and I really did meet again at the Crafting School. He actually got there a month later than we did. Please don¡¯t doubt him¡­¡±


    At a loss for words, Chu Qingxue listened to the interaction in silence; Tang Xinyun hadn¡¯t mentioned this before.


    Fearing that Zhao Mancha might strike out, Bai Yunfei had Tang Xinyun explain the situation to defuse her anger. Zhao Mancha relented most likely because of her trust in Tang Xinyun. She stared at him for a moment. ¡°I was mistaken about you ever since our first meeting. Please forgive me, lord Bai. It was because of your doing that we were saved outside of Gaoyi City, and now that you¡¯ve brought the young miss home to reunite with her mother, I, Zhao Mancha, cannot thank you enough!!¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Clearly not expecting such a calm and fair response, Bai Yunfei shook his hand in a hurry, ¡°Your words are far too polite, aunty Zhao. As long as you believe me, I¡¯m fine with that, haha¡­¡±


    Just as Chu Qingxue was finally about to inquire about something, Zhao Mancha suddenly remembered something, ¡°Young miss. On your way back home, did you come across Hua Binbai?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei spoke up with narrowed eyes, ¡°How do you know about that, aunty Zhao?¡±


    Seeing the change in expression from Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, Zhao Mancha was able to confirm her doubts. Stern-faced, she replied, ¡°On my way here, I came across a group of men from the Hua storming into the Tang residence. The second master invited them in, so I was able to hear from them that the young miss was home. I wasn¡¯t able to hear the details, but I did manage to hear something about Hua Binbai and the young miss needing to justify her actions¡­¡±


    A chilling light flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, ¡°Hmph! Is he really here? Trying to get revenge is he then? He¡¯s only going to find trouble waiting for him!¡±


    Confused beyond confused, Chu Qingxue asked for clarification, ¡°Xinyun, Yunfei, what is going on? Did something happen between you two and him?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Tang Xinyun hesitated, unsure of how to respond to such a question.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have any misgivings. He swiftly retold the story of what happened with Hua Binbai back on Mt. Orchid.


    ¡°He said such horrible things to the young miss?¡± Zhao Mancha blew up, ¡°He¡¯s daring, very daring! Despite lady Chu¡¯s kindhearted nature, even accepting their incessant whinings, they continue to demand more and more; will they not be satisfied until she and the young miss are driven out of the Tang!?¡±


    Worried, Tang Xinyun asked the older woman, ¡°Aunty Zhao, who¡­ who came from the Hua?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m uncertain myself,¡± Zhao Mancha replied after some thought, ¡°but I think the one leading the group was Hua Binbai¡¯s second brother, Hua Chenshi. He might have a few guards and other visitors with him¡­¡±


    Chu Qingxue chose then to say, ¡°Let me deal with them. Xinyun has only just returned home, so it¡¯s best not to make a huge deal out of this¡­¡±


    ¡°Bah! The Hua grow even more unreasonable by the day! This time, they¡¯ve brought even more people to cause trouble. That Hua Yueying favors the Hua far too much. I¡¯m certain she¡¯ll side with them and raise a fuss to trouble lady Chu and the young miss. I say we should pretend the young miss isn¡¯t home and let them rant by themselves!¡±


    Chu Qingxue didn¡¯t seem to agree. ¡°How could we do that?¡± She asked, ¡°By now, there are many people that are aware Xinyun is home. We cannot dance around this topic. Do you wish to make Xinyun¡¯s return home seem like she is some sort of thief?¡±


    Throughout the conversation, Tang Xinyun was biting her lower lip in concern, ¡°Mother, why don¡¯t I apologize to Hua Binbai? They¡¯re here to regain what face they had, so if I¡­¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The sound of something breaking jolted the three women from their conversation. Whipping their heads toward the sound, they saw a piece of the stone table dropping to the ground and an angry Bai Yunfei rubbing his right hand. ¡°Apologize? What for! I disagree! Why should Xinyun have to accept this abuse? Why should the Hua be allowed to act as they are? This is ridiculous! I was the one who hit him, so his qualms should be with me. If he wants, I¡¯ll return the favor again!¡±


    Just like that, Bai Yunfei flew out of the courtyard, running for the lounge.


    ¡°Yunfei! Yunfei!!¡± Alarmed, Tang Xinyun jumped up, crying out after him, but he didn¡¯t respond.


    He was already out the courtyard and well on his way. Around the corner he ran, headed for the lounge.

 Chapter 303: Paying a Visit

    Tang Xinyun turned to look at her mother in worry, ¡°Mother¡­ what¡­ what should we do?¡±


    Both Chu Qingxue and Zhao Mancha were stunned into silence by Bai Yunfei¡¯s sudden actions.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Chu Qingxue shook her head, ¡°What an impulsive child¡­ let¡¯s go after him quickly. We mustn¡¯t let anything happen to Yunfei.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t as though she couldn¡¯t understand why Bai Yunfei was angry about their attempts to ¡®compromise.¡¯


    While she could understand Bai Yunfei¡¯s anger, how in the world could Bai Yunfei understand the helpless situation they were in?


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei traveled to the lounge with a quickness like the wind. His expression was as dark as a storm. He was angry about the decisions of the three women. They were faced with humiliation and persecution from the Hua, yet they chose to apologize and compromise; that was something Bai Yunfei felt hard to accept.


    He wasn¡¯t a man so impulsive that he¡¯d let his emotions affect all of his decisions, but he knew that Chu Qingxue suffered. Despite not fully understanding the situation, Bai Yunfei would never allow Tang Xinyun ¡®apologize¡¯ to Hua Binbai. There was no way he¡¯d let her accept such humiliation: absolutely not!


    ¡°I may be an outsider and not understand what the Tang is like, but I can at the very least duke it out with the Hua!¡±


    With his speed, only three minutes were needed for him to arrive near the lounge of the Tang residence. Before he turned the corner, he could hear the sound of footsteps, so he started to slow down. Turning the corner with a calmer face than before, he was greeted by the sight of several people marching toward him in an aggressive manner.


    Eyeing the group, Bai Yunfei was able to pick one out of the entire crowd. A person bandaged up as heavily as a mummy.


    That person was, without a doubt, Hua Binbai.


    Noticing Bai Yunfei turn the corner, the men coming toward him started to slow down as well. They were surprised to see the unwelcome expression on his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s him! Brother, he¡¯s the one that slut Tang Xinyun attacked me with!! He¡¯s the one that hit me!¡± As soon as Bai Yunfei¡¯s face registered in Hua Binbai¡¯s eyes, he immediately raised a hand to point out Bai Yunfei. Since his teeth were missing, speaking was a little hard for him, but the hearing of everyone around him was good enough to make sense of what he was saying.


    The light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes was like daggers as he glared at Hua Binbai, ¡°You men of Hua, I wasn¡¯t quite sure what I just heard. Care to repeat that again?¡±


    ¡°Yo¡ª¡± Hua Binbai wanted to say something more, but when he met Bai Yunfei¡¯s glare, he found himself unable to say anything else. His heart stopped beating for a moment, and his face grew a rosy-red, as if he was getting constipated.


    Of course, since he was wrapped up in so many bandages, no one could tell what was going on with him.


    ¡°Arrogant brat!!¡± At that moment, a bulky-looking person walked over from Hua Binbai¡¯s side. Glaring at the young man in front of him, he spat, ¡°Are you the one who hurt my younger brother!?¡±


    This thick-browed man must¡¯ve been the one Zhao Mancha referred to as Hua Chenshi, the older brother of Hua Binbai. The moment Hua Chenshi stepped forward, Bai Yunfei could tell that he wasn¡¯t even bothering to hide his willingness to fight with how heavy his aura was getting.


    ¡°Early-stage Soul Ancestor!¡± Bai Yunfei remarked. Hua Binbai was only an early-stage Soul Sprite, so Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected his older brother would be that much stronger.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I was the one who beat him, but with how rude he was being, it¡¯s no wonder he found himself getting beaten up! So what, are you going to take his anger out on me in his stead?¡± Though Bai Yunfei was normally good-natured, the Bai Yunfei of right now was anything but that.


    ¡°Very well, then! You¡¯ve guts, brat! Men, break his legs!!¡± With a roar, a dozen guards immediately came forward to fulfill his command.


    ¡°Stay your hand!¡± A deeper voice boomed from within the lounge. From there, a golden-robed man in his thirties walked out. He was on the skinnier side, his beard was pointed, and his eyes were as unfriendly as his stern lips. At a first glance, he¡¯d give anyone the impression of being ¡®cold-hearted.¡¯


    Right behind him was Tang Yongzhong, the head housekeeper.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t one to judge appearances, but even he found himself filled with loathing for this person.


    Sparing a glance at Bai Yunfei, the man then spoke to Hua Chenshi, ¡°Brother Chenshi, please do not spill any unnecessary blood on the grounds of the Tang. Please take your business outside, else I will find it hard to explain myself to father.¡±


    ¡°Second brother, what do you mean by this?¡± Just then, an even gentler voice asked a question. This time, it was Tang Xinyun who appeared by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. ¡°Second brother,¡± she said to the unfriendly-looking man, ¡°Yunfei is a guest of our home, how could you treat him this way!?¡±


    This unkindly-looking person was the second brother of Tang Xinyun, Tang Zhi, a late-stage Soul Sprite.


    Somewhat surprised by her sudden outburst, Tang Zhi looked at Zhao Mancha and Chu Qingxue, who only just arrived behind Tang Xinyun, ¡°Tang Xinyun, you know that I¡¯m your older brother. How dare you speak to me that way!? The man you brought home injured Hua Binbai severely, you can¡¯t escape your responsibility! The Hua are good friends with us Tang, yet you pull something like this when you come home. Are you mad!? Are you trying to destroy the friendship between our two families!?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡± Cowed by the intimidating scolding of her older brother, Tang Xinyun¡¯s face drastically whitened. For a good while, she didn¡¯t say anything else. She bit her lower lip, troubled.


    The knot in Chu Qingxue¡¯s eyes grew slightly thicker as she prepared to speak, but it was Bai Yunfei who beat her to the punch. ¡°What a groundless accusation! Are you just going to listen to Hua Binbai¡¯s one-sided story to make your decision!?¡±


    Tang Zhi chose to throw his lot with the Hua to focus on Tang Xinyun. This, to Bai Yunfei, felt extremely wrong. They were brother and sister of the same father. It was utterly incomprehensible to Bai Yunfei why Tang Zhi would choose to make life difficult for Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°That is right! The Tang will believe in master Hua¡¯s words!¡± Without even skipping a beat, Tang Zhi unreasonably started to confirm what Bai Yunfei had said, ¡°As an outsider, you should resign yourself to your punishment for harming another! And Tang Xinyun should offer up an apology!¡±


    ¡°An apology!? You¡¯re making your own sister offer up an apology to the one who spoke so rudely to her in the first place!?¡± Bai Yunfei sarcastically snapped, ¡°Second master Tang, I¡¯d like to ask you something. Do your words represent the entirety of the Tang?¡±


    Tang Yongzhong spoke then, as if reluctant to have Tang Zhi answer that question, ¡°Young master, I¡ª¡±


    ¡°Stay your tongue, I act well within my rights! With father gone, the Tang is up to me to manage!¡± Tang Zhi boomed to Tang Yongzhong before turning back to Bai Yunfei, ¡°That is correct! I speak on behalf of the Tang, and the Tang says that Tang Xinyun should apologize!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! Alright then! What a great family the Tang are!¡± Tang Zhi¡¯s answer forced a laugh from Bai Yunfei.


    Only now did Bai Yunfei realize just what kind of treatment Tang Xinyun had faced at the hands of her own family. If Tang Zhi could speak about her in such a manner while speaking on behalf of the Tang, that meant there¡¯d be no repercussion for him since the others felt the same way.


    With a hand to stop Chu Qingxue from speaking, Bai Yunfei continued to say, ¡°Fine then! I was the one who hurt Hua Binbai! Their grievances are with me! If you want to deal with me, then bring it on! If you¡¯re a soul cultivator, then by all means use your strength to prove yourself to me!¡±


    A clamor started to rise among the crowd. Did Bai Yunfei really mean he would fight an entire family by himself!?


    ¡°Haha, what an ignorant brat you are! Don¡¯t think that you can act as arrogant as you like just because you defeated my younger brother in such an underhanded manner! Men! Capture and bring him back to our home!¡± Hua Chenshi nodded at Tang Zhi for confirmation before commanding his men to arrest Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°That¡­ that Bai Yunfei, why is he so reckless!? He might be strong, but does he really think he can fight off the Hua¡­?¡± Zhao Mancha uttered with disbelief and wide-open eyes.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± Zhao Mancha suddenly realized something, ¡°His strength¡­ what¡¯s wrong with him!? He was a mid-stage Soul Sprite before, so why is he a late-stage Soul Warrior right now!?¡±


    She whirled to Tang Xinyun, ¡°And young miss! You¡­ why are you still a late-stage Soul Warrior!? It¡¯s been a year since you joined the Crafting School! You should be a Soul Sprite by now! What in the world happened!?¡±


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, it¡¯s a little complicated,¡± Tang Xinyun sighed. ¡°A lot of things happened to us, but I can explain everything at another time¡­¡±


    Chu Qingxue continued to watch as the Hua family started to close in on Bai Yunfei, ¡°Xinyun, why do you look as if you¡¯re not worried about Yunfei?¡±


    Tang Xinyun smiled gently before turning to look at the very calm-looking Bai Yunfei, ¡°Mother, don¡¯t worry. If it¡¯s these people, they won¡¯t be able to even hurt Yunfei¡­¡±

 Chapter 304: Utter Defeat!!

    At Hua Chenshi¡¯s command, seven figures came flying forward with blinding speed to surround Bai Yunfei. None of them had any weapons on hand. They were within the grounds of the Tang after all, so it wouldn¡¯t do to be excessive.


    These seven men were all Soul Warriors; meaning that the power of the Hua was considerably large. However, this wasn¡¯t enough to frighten Bai Yunfei just yet, ¡°Do you think you can compare to the Crafting School in strength?¡± Bai Yunfei thought.


    Bai Yunfei no longer had to worry about matters like this; he was a person with ¡®backing¡¯ now.


    However, mobilizing the Crafting School should only be done when necessary. Now was not one of those times.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang¡­¡±


    The sounds of seven muffled strikes could be heard before the seven Soul Warriors flew back without warning.


    They had been beaten back just as quickly as they had come forward.


    Everyone found themselves at a loss for words until the very last of the seven came to a stop on the ground. Awed, they looked to where Bai Yunfei was.


    Not even a single step had been taken from his original position, but everyone could see a faint red glowing object flying right by his side. It seemed to float in the air as it spun circles around Bai Yunfei.


    The Cataclysmic Seal!!


    As a lifebound armament, the Cataclysmic Seal could be controlled as easily as moving an arm. If it could be controlled that easily, how could any Soul Warrior hope to defend against it?


    They wouldn¡¯t even be able to see it when it struck. If not for Bai Yunfei¡¯s precise control over its strength, the seven would¡¯ve been more than just hurt.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to capture me? I haven¡¯t moved at all. If you¡¯ve the skill, come and get me!¡± Bai Yunfei smirked at the gobsmacked people in front of him.


    ¡°Soul armament!!¡± The pupils in Hua Chenshi¡¯s eyes dilated a bit in shock. Not only was he shocked that Bai Yunfei had one, he was shocked that it was so abnormally strong.


    ¡°Autonomous control¡­ he can control it at will!! But how? How could a soul cultivator as weak as a late-stage Soul Warrior possess such a spectacular soul armament!?¡± Hua Chenshi was lost in thought, but he wasn¡¯t the only one thinking this, everyone else was also thinking this, other than the still-smiling Tang Xinyun.


    Events like this would be easily accepted at the Crafting School, but when these events took place in the outside world, where very few knew about soul armaments, they¡¯d be extremely shocking. They weren¡¯t privy to what lifebound armaments were, so there was no way they¡¯d even know the Cataclysmic Seal was one.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions were extremely alarming to everyone, but Hua Chenshi was far from intimidated. ¡°Xia Wu, Xia Meng, Chen Chong, and Chen Luo, forward!¡±


    At his command, four new figures flew forward in two pairs of violet and green light. The four of them were mid-stage Soul Sprites. The two on the right were of the lightning affinity, and the two on the left were of the wind affinity. This meant that they were extremely fast compared to the normal soul cultivators. In a matter of moments, they were already close enough to Bai Yunfei to grab each one of his limbs.


    Even despite the fact that he was being attacked by four even stronger enemies, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move a muscle. His eyes twinkled with light as the Cataclysmic Seal started to act in accordance to his will. A half-circular orange glow of light immediately materialized in front of his body.


    ¡°Bang bang bang bang!!¡±


    The four didn¡¯t even have enough time to pull their arms back. Caught off guard by the barrier, their arms struck it, but rather than bounce off, their arms merely stopped!


    ¡°They¡¯re stronger!¡±


    With a sneer, Bai Yunfei fed in even more soulforce into his barrier so that it wouldn¡¯t dissipate. Now that his defenses had been bolstered, Bai Yunfei commanded for the Cataclysmic Seal to strike furiously at the four figures close to him.


    There was a flash of orange light, rendering the four unable to see what in the world was going on. Before the idea to retreat could even fully form in their heads, the Cataclysmic Seal had struck.


    Since it was defending against their attacks, how could it let them get away so easily?


    Another four blows could be heard as the Cataclysmic Seal struck each of the four squarely in the chest. They flew through the air from the blow, and two of the fighters were unable to stop themselves from spitting out a mouthful of blood.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The silence was so thick in the courtyard even a pin could be heard if it were dropped.


    If the crowd was ¡®awestruck¡¯ by how Bai Yunfei had managed to knock back seven of Soul Warriors, they were now ¡®terrorized¡¯ that a late-stage Soul Warrior was able to defeat four Soul Sprites without even lifting his hand!!


    No, that wouldn¡¯t be accurate.


    Bai Yunfei defeated four Soul Sprites without moving even a single finger!!


    Only Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were calm at this development. Even the elder behind Tang Zhi, Tang Yongzhong, was squinting his eyes at Bai Yunfei. Pensive as he observed him, the old man¡¯s eyes flashed brightly, but no one noticed the light.


    The corners of Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips quirked just slightly. He raise his right hand and pointed a finger at the remaining middle-aged man. He had scar on his mouth and was standing behind the Hua brothers. ¡°And last up, are you going to let him fight me?¡±


    Hua Chenshi messed up. The proverbial iron plate had been kicked, and now he was left with a stubbed toe to make up for his troubles.


    He glared furiously at the still shocked Hua Binbai behind him; not to blame him for being dragged into trouble, but to blame him for not giving correct information. They couldn¡¯t back away now and admitting defeat was no longer a possibility.


    Gnashing his teeth, Hua Chenshi commanded the scarred man behind him in a very polite manner rather than the dictative way he spoke to the others, ¡°Uncle Lin, if I could trouble you to help us¡­¡±


    Lin Li was a guest of the Hua, and he was a mid-stage Soul Ancestor with an affinity for earth. Although he wasn¡¯t super strong, he was still quite a ways stronger than Hua Chenshi.


    Though he wasn¡¯t a subordinate of the Hua, so Hua Chenshi made sure to treat him politely.


    Lin Li stared inquisitively at Bai Yunfei. It wasn¡¯t clear if he was staring at Bai Yunfei himself or the Cataclysmic Seal floating right next to him. Upon hearing Hua Chenshi¡¯s request, Lin Li gave a stern nod and stalked toward Bai Yunfei. His right arm swung out, revealing bulging muscles, and the pigmentation of his skin began to turn gray in color.


    This show of strength caused everyone¡¯s heart to stop for a moment.


    The man was a mid-stage Soul Ancestor; a level many times higher than the people from the previous two attempts. Up against an expert like this, would Bai Yunfei be able to defend himself as easily as before?


    Turning to look at said person, the crowd could see that there was finally a difference in his stance than before. The Cataclysmic Seal was now floating behind him as if trying to say it wouldn¡¯t be used. His right arm flexed forward in a manner similar to Lin Li, and under everyone¡¯s eyes, a glove the color of violet and black appeared over his right fist.


    Everyone thought that Bai Yunfei knew his soul armament wouldn¡¯t be able to help him against this enemy, so he was preparing to fight himself this time.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that Bai Yunfei had other plans in mind.


    His movements had given Lin Li a brief moment of pause, but the pause was quickly overtaken by a rich amount of fighting spirit as he started to prepare himself for a fight.


    He wasn¡¯t stupid enough to believe Bai Yunfei was a weak Soul Warrior, but Bai Yunfei was clearly indicating that he wanted a mano-a-mano battle. That was what made Lin Li so happy.


    Soul cultivators with an affinity for the earth all craved this type of battle. A battle where fist would meet fist and where force would be met with force.


    The two stalked forward three steps each while they stared hard at one another. As if by some sort of tacit agreement, their legs immediately dug into the ground, and they boosted themselves forward with so much force that they fractured the area underneath them. Like arrows, they flew toward one another with great speed. Lin Li was cloaked in a rich glow of orange light while Bai Yunfei¡¯s right fist had a halo of elemental fire wrapped around it.


    There were no superfluous movements or wasted actions. As soon as the two drew close enough to each other, they lashed out with their fists.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Red and orange clashed against each other in a brilliant show of light as the two fists collided. Waves of intense heat and energy sloughed off one another. A fearsome storm swept through the surrounding area.


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    Then, the distinct sound of bone being fractured could he heard.


    Though relatively soft to the ears, it was loud enough for everyone to hear it clearly. They held their breaths in anticipation. Hua Chenshi and Hua Binbai both looked on in glee. They thought that Bai Yunfei had overestimated himself and lost.


    Challenging Lin Li in a battle of fists would surely lead to Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm breaking in several places, if he was not maimed completely. So assured were the two that glee appeared on their faces before the dust died down.


    On the other side, Chu Qingxue and Zhao Mancha were looking visibly worried. Even Tang Xinyun¡ªwho normally had the utmost faith in Bai Yunfei¡ªwas clenching her fists as she strained her beautiful eyes, watching the fight in an unwavering manner.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The next moment, a single person flew out of the explosion of light with blood flying from his mouth. As the mist of blood stained the air and eventually the ground, the person came crashing down.


    This person had fallen in the opposite direction from where he had started off.


    Right next to the Hua brothers!


    As soon as Lin Li fell to the ground, the light from the previous collision faded from sight. Left at the center of it all was Bai Yunfei. He was still standing carefree on both feet, and his right arm slightly shook. The red light from his hand was gone now, having retreated back into the area behind him.


    A mid-stage Soul Ancestor¡­


    Defeated in one fell stroke!!

 Chapter 305: Intimidation

    Bai Yunfei held his right fist with a calm look of indifference from where he stood.


    No one could tell, but the upper right portion of his arm was trembling just slightly in his sleeve.


    In order to defeat the mid-stage Soul Ancestor, Lin Li, in one strike, Bai Yunfei owed the¡­ Eighty-one-fold Fist Force!


    It was indeed the very same powerful soul skill he hadn¡¯t fully mastered yet!


    Using the Cataclysmic Seal wasn¡¯t a guaranteed win against this enemy. With the insane amount of defense that came with being an earth type soul cultivator, Bai Yunfei was afraid that he¡¯d have to expend a large amount of effort in order to defeat him.


    But if he used all of his upgraded equipment in unison, he¡¯d have a greater chance of victory. It¡¯d be equally stunning, but it wouldn¡¯t be nearly as impressive as the strategy he went with.


    He¡¯d rather use the Eighty-one-fold Fist Force to defeat Lin Li in a single blow. This was the best way to show off one thing: might!


    With how strong Lin Li appeared to everyone else, his defeat would surely shock everyone!


    This left one more thing to finish off¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped back to the dazed Hua Chenshi and Hua Binbai. The two of them were stunned into silence when they saw the pain-filled look of shock on Lin Li¡¯s face. Their minds were completely blank, as if unable to compute what was happening.


    Smirking, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes gained a sharp glint of steel to them. At his command, the Cataclysmic Seal shot forward with tremendous speed, planning on striking Hua Chenshi!!


    What Bai Yunfei did was noticed by Hua Chenshi, but there was no way he could move faster than the Cataclysmic Seal as an early-stage Soul Ancestor. Kicking off against the ground, he tried his best to evade. He barely managed to dodge the Cataclysmic Seal and keep it from hitting him.


    As soon as Bai Yunfei saw the Cataclysmic Seal graze Hua Chenshi¡¯s skin, his eyes narrowed together. A large amount of soulforce entered the brick, and then, in a flash of light, the brick suddenly expanded, becoming three meters wide!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Despite Hua Chenshi¡¯s instinctive attempt to protect himself with his arms and with a glow of white light around him, he was struck by the Cataclysmic Seal. How could he possibly block it? In a single second, he was sent flying through the air. His right arm was bent at an awkward angle, and his face was a flush-red as blood escaped from his mouth.


    Hua Binbai was struck by the Cataclysmic Seal as well. He was sent flying backwards before landing on the ground with a thump.


    He gave a small groan, and then he fell unconscious.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Silence descended for some time. This time, even Tang Xinyun was among the ones who stared at Bai Yunfei in shock. Even she didn¡¯t expect Bai Yunfei to so swiftly strike the Hua brothers when he had only just defeated Lin Li. They weren¡¯t servants or guests, and no matter how hedonistic or rude they were, they were still in the direct line of succession to a major family. Injuring them would only mean escalating the initial problem by another level of degree.


    In Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes, this wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei would normally do.


    It was a little too¡­ overbearing.


    Moments went by before Tang Zhi found himself able to speak. The situation at hand was far beyond what he could control now; if the Hua brothers were seriously injured, Tang Zhi wouldn¡¯t be able to save himself from trouble.


    Narrowing his eyes, he was just about to command the guards to capture Bai Yunfei when a single hand came down on his shoulder before he could act.


    Turning his head, Tang Zhi saw Tang Yongzhong shake his head as if to say no.


    ¡°You¡­ who are you!?¡± Struggling to get up from the ground, Hua Chenshi held his injured left arm with his right. For the first time since he had met Bai Yunfei, he was finally starting to grow concerned about Bai Yunfei¡¯s identity.


    It was a test. Since he knew that he was no longer a match for Bai Yunfei, Hua Chenshi could only hope to use the power of his family to exact revenge, but he¡¯d have to know Bai Yunfei¡¯s background before revenge could be exacted.


    ¡°You want to know my background?¡± Bai Yunfei barked with cold laughter. ¡°I am Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School. My master is Zi Jin! If you still wish to fight, then I¡¯ll be happy to keep you company!!¡± Each word he spoke was spoken with zealous emphasis.


    The very mention of the Crafting School was enough to cause the entire group from the Hua to look surprised. Their group, Tang Zhi included, didn¡¯t understand who this ¡®Zi Jin¡¯ was, but Tang Yongzhong, who stood behind Tang Zhi, immediately reacted when he heard the name. Though his pupils rapidly dilated, the flash of light that sparked to life was more than enough to cover up the look of disbelief in them.


    ¡­¡­


    The house of Hua left swiftly after that. They had come in like a tidal wave ready to destroy, but their departure had been as miserable as a pack of beaten wolves.


    Turning around, Bai Yunfei completely disregarded Tang Zhi and the others. He walked straight to Tang Xinyun. ¡°Xinyun,¡± he smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve taken care of the troubles, let¡¯s go on back.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Not a single word was said when left. Tang Zhi didn¡¯t even think about trying to stop them.


    ¡°Uncle Zhong, what do you think?¡±


    Finally, Tang Zhi asked Tang Yongzhong for his thoughts. No longer was he as cold and indifferent as he was when the Hua were here; he was far more pensive to the eye now.


    ¡°Hard to say.¡± Tang Yongzhong slowly slid his eyes away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s retreating figure of. ¡°He is without a doubt a student of the Crafting School. That object he was using is definitely a soulbound armament, and a special one at that¡­


    ¡°Second, his strength is beyond that of a late-stage Soul Warrior. I can¡¯t sense any elements in his body, but his physical strength is that of a Soul Ancestor at the very least!!¡±


    ¡°Soul Ancestor!!¡± Tang Zhi had come to this same conclusion as well, but he didn¡¯t dare accept it as fact until Tang Yongzhong confirmed it.


    Even then, he found it hard to stomach. It took countless drugs and primal stones to forcibly make him a late-stage Soul Sprite level, yet he had been stuck at the final threshold before the Soul Ancestor level for several years.


    Of course, this was due to his poor training talent.


    His fourth brother was able to become a late-stage Soul Sprite by the age of sixteen; a feat like that was seen once every several hundred years, even in the house of Tang, but it still remained to be seen if he could become a Soul Ancestor before he hit twenty.


    Bai Yunfei was twenty at oldest, yet he was a Soul Ancestor already! Not only that, he was able to defeat a mid-stage Soul Ancestor in one blow; this meant that he was most likely a¡­ late-stage Soul Ancestor!


    The very thought of Bai Yunfei being a late-stage Soul Ancestor was enough to shock Tang Zhi to his very core. The ¡®ordinary¡¯ boy his fourth sister had brought along, who was he?


    ¡°Uncle Zhong, who is this¡­ Zi Jin? Why haven¡¯t I heard about him before? Is he a nobody from the previous generation?¡± Tang Zhi asked the older man in confusion.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so rude!¡± Tang Yongzhong suddenly chastised him. ¡°Senior Zi Jin was the¡­ headmaster of the previous generation!¡±


    ¡°Wh¡ªwhat!?¡± Eyes bulging out in surprise, Tang Zhi¡¯s current expression had completely shattered the ¡®knowledgeable¡¯ persona he had tried so hard to maintain. ¡°That Zi Jin is¡­ the previous headmaster of the Crafting School!? Then wouldn¡¯t that mean Bai Yunfei is¡­¡±


    Nodding his head with a serious expression, Tang Yongzhong continued, ¡°According to what I know, the last time senior Zi Jin took up a disciple was twenty years ago or so. A man named Jiang Nan, and if Bai Yunfei is a student of the school, he¡¯d surely know better than to make lies like that, so¡­


    ¡°Then the situation has gotten a little more complicated¡­ second master, we should await the lord¡¯s return and speak with him¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Zhi agreed after giving it much thought, ¡°I¡¯ll wait for tonight. When father returns home, I¡¯ll make the report!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In one of the left-most rooms of a small courtyard to the west of the Tang residence¡ª


    Bai Yunfei sat in front of a circular table with his right arm resting on the table. He wore a different set of robes than before, and even the Ardent Sun Glove was no longer on his right hand. All of the muscles in his right arm constantly twitched, and his skin had bruised a nasty mixture of red and purple. From the looks of things, his arm was in an awful state of pain, and it showed on Bai Yunfei¡¯s grimacing face.


    The Eighty-one-fold Fist Force required him to use elemental fire to protect his body, but he hadn¡¯t been able to do so this time. Though it was true that he had the Soul Recovering Armor to help him, it wasn¡¯t enough to fully heal his wounds without the assistance of time.


    He didn¡¯t regret it though. Mere flesh wounds like this were nothing since he had managed to accomplish his goal.


    For him, that was worth it.


    Not only were the Hua completely intimidated by Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength, the Tang were given a hint of what Bai Yunfei was capable of.


    In ordinary times, Bai Yunfei preferred to keep a low profile. This didn¡¯t mean to say he wouldn¡¯t make use of his ¡®backing¡¯ if he needed to; in fact, he¡¯d make use of it if it was necessary, but until the case proved otherwise, Bai Yunfei found it foolhardy to use that trump card often.


    Before this, Bai Yunfei had only been a simple soul cultivator with plenty of soul armaments and a decent talent in cultivation. Those three factors wouldn¡¯t be enough to sway the Tang into thinking Bai Yunfei was a somebody.


    However, if he were to add that he was ¡®the disciple of the previous headmaster,¡¯ the weight behind his name would grow exponentially.


    Showing off his strength and the enormous backing he had at once would provide the biggest impact.


    Of course, everything he did was done for the sake of Tang Xinyun.


    He wanted to let everyone know that he had Tang Xinyun¡¯s back, and the Crafting School had the back of both of them!


    ¡°This way¡­ Xinyun¡¯s mother should have a much better time at home now, right?¡± Bai Yunfei thought as he fed soulforce into his arm. Turning to look at the darkening sky, he sighed. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be that simple. I¡¯m sure the Tang will have someone fetch me very soon¡­¡±


    ¡°Knock knock knock¡­¡±


    Just then, a knock could be heard coming from the other side of his door.


    ¡°Eh? They came that soon?¡±

 Chapter 306: Worth It!

    ¡°May I come in, Yunfei?¡±


    The warm voice that came from the other side of the door was recognized by Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears. The voice belonged to Tang Xinyun, not someone else from the Tang.


    Taking his right arm off the table and fitting his sleeve over it, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Come in.¡±


    The door to his room slowly creaked open as the white-robed Tang Xinyun made her way inside.


    ¡°Xinyun, how¡¯s auntie?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in concern.


    A few minutes after the group returned to the courtyard after the earlier day debacle, Chu Qingxue¡¯s old illness made a comeback, causing Tang Xinyun to worry.


    Thus, Bai Yunfei had returned to his room, so he could leave her in peace and heal his arm.


    ¡°Mother¡¯s doing fine now. Even though mother has been sick for over ten years, her strength as an early-stage Soul Ancestor is more than enough for her to keep it in check. Since it¡¯s still in her body, it causes her some trouble every now and then.¡± Tang Xinyun shook her head before taking a seat next to Bai Yunfei.


    So, Chu Qingxue was a Soul Ancestor.


    No wonder she looked so young. Maintaining the appearance of a twenty-something year old wasn¡¯t hard for a soul cultivator compared to a commoner.


    Relieved to hear such news, Bai Yunfei changed the topic, ¡°That¡¯s good¡­ Xinyun, I¡¯m still not aware of something. How did auntie get sick? Why isn¡¯t she able to get rid of it even as a Soul Ancestor?¡±


    Tang Xinyun sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not clear how she did either¡­ I only know that over ten years ago, mother came across an evildoer on one of her trips outside, but mother never revealed any details about it¡­¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, things like this were clearly meant to be secrets. If Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t know, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t ask.


    ¡°Is there really no way to help her cure her illness?¡± Bai Yunfei murmured. Long-lasting injuries weren¡¯t very common to soul cultivators normally, but exceptions always existed to this rule. The corrosive energy that was in Tang Xinyun¡¯s body, for example.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, my father tried everything he could at first, but nothing worked. After that¡­ he just stopped caring¡­¡±


    ¡°Woops¡­¡± Bai Yunfei cursed. He realized that Tang Xinyun was talking about the moment when the third wife came into the picture, causing both Tang Xinyun and her mother to fall down the ranks of the Tang.


    ¡°Hey, Xinyun, will what I did today to the Hua¡­ trouble you and auntie in any way?¡± Bai Yunfei changed the subject. Even though what he did was for the sake of Tang Xinyun, he wasn¡¯t aware of the finer intricacies of her family, so the consequences of his actions were completely unknown to him.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t there always troubles?¡± Tang Xinyun smiled. ¡°But Yunfei, what you did today was really different than what you would normally do¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh, really? Haha, they were the ones that came knocking. It was a little sour to look at, so of course I had to teach them a lesson.¡±


    While he spoke, Tang Xinyun¡¯s head was already dipping down, ¡°Yunfei,¡± She whispered, ¡°Thank you¡­¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Surprised for only a brief moment, Bai Yunfei cracked a smile, ¡°Xinyun, why are you always thanking me? You don¡¯t need to thank me at all, I¡­¡±


    He hadn¡¯t even finished speaking when all of a sudden, Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand flew forward to grab his right hand!


    Completely caught off guard by Tang Xinyun¡¯s abrupt actions, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to think at first.


    When he realized where she was holding, a silent curse ran through his mind. He tried to pull his arm back, but Tang Xinyun¡¯s grip was like iron around his hand. She swiftly rolled up his sleeve, revealing his grotesque right arm.


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s body seemed to tremble slightly at the sight, but her left hand retained the grip she had on his palm. Her right hand slowly moved to touch his arm, as if wanting to soothe his bloody wounds and quivering muscles.


    Her head tilted slightly up, looking at Bai Yunfei with her teary eyes. She looked troubled at the state of his arm.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­ why must you always do this to yourself each time you help me? I already owe you so much. How will I ever repay you¡­?¡±


    Embarrassed just slightly by what she was saying, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Xinyun, what brings this up all of the sudden? You don¡¯t need to repay me at all. Everything I do for you is because¡­¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s¡­ worth it?¡±


    She finished his sentence for him with a soft whisper, eliciting a look of surprise from him.


    At this moment, the tender beauty that was Tang Xinyun took Bai Yunfei¡¯s breath away. His heart stopped beating for half a second, but that half a second was all it took for courage to suddenly surge through him.


    Clenching his right hand tight, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand held Tang Xinyun¡¯s incredibly soft hand in his own.


    ¡°It¡¯s worth it to me!¡± He stated without breaking eye contact with Tang Xinyun.


    His statement was only a sparse five words, but those five words greatly affected the female. Those words combined with the warmth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand caused Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes to glimmer with emotion. Her cheeks were gaining a red hue, adding another layer of beauty that made Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart race.


    He exhaled slowly. ¡°Xinyun, I¡­¡±


    ¡°Knock knock knock¡­¡±


    Like a splash of cold water, the sudden arrival of a third party dispelled the special mood in the room, shaking the two from their trance. Jerking her hand back, Tang Xinyun¡¯s face was now extremely red. She wasn¡¯t even willing to meet Bai Yunfei¡¯s gaze now, but he found it equally embarrassing.


    Bai Yunfei wanted nothing more but to beat the crap out of whomever interrupted them.


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    As dejected as he was, Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice couldn¡¯t help but convey a bit of his current emotions as he asked.


    ¡°Master Bai, our lord wishes to speak to you in the lounge.¡±


    The elderly voice from the other side of the door caused Tang Xinyun to jolt from her seat, ¡°Ah! It¡¯s uncle Zhong¡­¡±


    The flames of anger in Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart were doused straight away. Intuition told him that if push came to shove, the old man would be more than a match for him.


    Rising from his seat, Bai Yunfei moved to open the door. Greeting Tang Yongzhong with a smile, he inquired, ¡°Uncle Zhong, does lord Tang wish to meet me now?¡±


    There was a small twinkle of light in Tang Yongzhong¡¯s eyes when he saw Tang Xinyun inside Bai Yunfei¡¯s room. Seemingly surprised by her, Tang Yongzhong nodded his head in response to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Yes, master Bai. When the lord heard that the disciple of master Zi Jin came to visit, he made sure to have this old one come to guide master Bai to the lounge for a small chat.¡±


    A small smile crept onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as he rejoiced over how useful his master¡¯s name was.


    It clearly worked quite well on the Tang.


    ¡°Xinyun,¡± Bai Yunfei turned back to the still seated female, ¡°I¡¯ll be meeting your father, so you should rest up first. The past few days of travel were very tiring after all¡­¡±


    She nodded her head. ¡°Be careful, Yunfei¡­.¡±


    Unable to stop a smile from growing on his face, Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°I¡¯m only going to see your father. What¡¯s there to be careful about? Am I going to be in danger?¡±


    ¡°No no,¡± Tang Xinyun blushed as she tried to explain, ¡°I meant that my father is¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. What¡¯s there to worry about? I won¡¯t fight him, so go on back and rest up. You still need to take me around the city tomorrow!¡±


    Bai Yunfei waved his hand nonchalantly, attempting to alleviate her concerns. He then followed Tang Yongzhong out of the courtyard.


    ¡­¡­


    With how dark the sky was getting, the road to the lounge was filled with lanterns to light up the way. Stones that gave off a soft illuminating light were in such abundance that shadows couldn¡¯t gather.


    When Bai Yunfei stepped into the lounge, he felt three pairs of eyes land on him.


    Looking up, he could see the figures of three different people. The people he had met earlier today, Tang Jing and Tang Zhi, were both seated to the right while an unknown middle-aged man in purple robes sat in the chair above them. The man had white hair and a wrinkled face from age, but his eyes were unnaturally sharp as if challenging anyone who dared to look at him.


    Bai Yunfei could barely feel the same intimidating aura that his senior Kou Changkong would normally radiate¡­


    This man was Tang Xinyun¡¯s father and head of the Tang Tang Qianlei.


    The moment Tang Qianlei¡¯s eyes shifted over to inspect Bai Yunfei, a shadow of doubt spread across his face, but it soon disappeared from sight just as quickly.


    By now, Bai Yunfei was at the center of the lounge. With a polite nod to Tang Jing and Tang Zhi, Bai Yunfei then bowed to Tang Qianlei, ¡°Junior Bai Yunfei pays his respects to lord Tang.¡±


    ¡°Haha, there¡¯s no need for such etiquette, nephew Bai. Please, sit.¡± Tang Qianlei¡¯s face broke into a smile as he pointed at an empty chair to his right. ¡°I was absent during the day and was unaware that we¡¯d have such a guest today. Please forgive the late reception, nephew Bai.¡±


    The man known and respected by everyone as the lord of house Tang was actually treating Bai Yunfei as warmly as he would treat family. If any outsider were to see this, they wouldn¡¯t be able to believe their ears.


    Even Tang Jing and Tang Zhi found themselves with their jaws slightly ajar.


    Sitting on the chair pointed out to him, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Thank you, Lord Tang. There¡¯s no helping it if someone of your stature has work to do. First master Tang Jing and second master Tang Zhi were kind enough to receive me already.¡±


    If Tang Qianlei was greeting him as an honored ¡®nephew,¡¯ then Bai Yunfei would greet him by his proper title. He had even decided to call Tang Jing and Tang Zhi by their proper titles.


    Though his words were polite to the ears, there was an air of peculiarity to them.


    Even worse was Bai Yunfei emphasis on Tang Zhi¡¯s way of receiving him into their residence. An extremely sarcastic way of mocking what had happened with the Hua earlier that day.


    What Bai Yunfei said stunned the three men. None of the three had expected Bai Yunfei¡¯s to be so ¡®unfriendly¡¯ straight from the get-go.

 Chapter 307: A Conversation and A Test

    ¡°Youngster, what are you getting at?!¡±


    Clearly sensing the ¡®pointed attack,¡¯ Tang Zhi¡¯s hand slapped away the cup of tea next to him as he cried out in displeasure.


    ¡°Brother!¡± Tang Jing cautioned softly.


    Upon sensing the cross look his father was giving him, Tang Zhi¡¯s body stiffened just slightly. Daring not to meet his gaze, Tang Zhi bowed his head and said no more.


    ¡°The two Hua brothers had their problems with brother Bai. Now their family will have to reflect on their mistakes. With the wounds suffered at your hands, brother Bai, wouldn¡¯t you say that¡¯s enough punishment? We hope that you will consider the face of the Tang and let bygones be bygones. Would that be agreeable with you, brother Bai?¡± Tang Jing smiled.


    The fact that the eldest son of the Tang was trying to compromise with someone was an extremely rare sight. Anyone else would¡¯ve been extremely humbled by this rare offering, but Bai Yunfei was not aware of how the Tang worked nor was he aware of how terrifying his trump card, the Crafting School, was. Bai Yunfei was completely impassive in the face because of his blissful ignorance.


    Though he was slightly surprised by how Tang Jing was talking about the Hua, Bai Yunfei managed to maintain an indifferent tone in his voice, ¡°Ah yes, those clowns. I had almost forgotten about them.¡±


    There was the slightest twitch on Tang Jing¡¯s lips. The house of Hua was one of the three biggest powers in Huwait City, making the two Hua brothers very powerful people.


    Yet, Bai Yunfei¡¯s assessment of the two was so befuddling that Tang Zhi didn¡¯t know if he was crazy or if he was powerful enough to really back up what he said without fear.


    ¡°Nephew Bai, Tang Zhi¡¯s actions earlier this afternoon were rather improper. Why don¡¯t we leave matters as they lie right now?¡± Tang Qianlei proposed. ¡°They¡¯ve offended you, and you¡¯ve merited punishment. Nephew Bai, if we are to go by the customs based on statuses, they¡¯ve learned their lesson already. There shouldn¡¯t be a need to pursue the matter any more, is there?¡±


    Bai Yunfei just had to suppress a small laugh inside his head, ¡°When did I ever say that I¡¯d pursue the matter? Are you afraid that I¡¯ll do something more to them?¡±


    ¡°Lord Tang, there is something incorrect in what you say. They didn¡¯t offend me.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Hua Binbai was disrespectful to Xinyun. That¡¯s why I taught him a lesson. As long as Xinyun forgives him, I won¡¯t pursue the matter anymore.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, so now you¡¯re more polite. You¡¯re almost like a pendulum of manners.¡± Tang Zhi snorted. ¡°Fourth sister won¡¯t mind matters like this. Brother Bai, there¡¯s no need to make life any more difficult for the Hua.¡±


    ¡°I never said that I¡¯d do anything to the Hua. That¡¯s what your family says, not me, and by what right do you have to determine whether Xinyun will mind or not mind? What gives you the right to make her decisions for her!?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together. From the very start, Bai Yunfei had a very low opinion of Tang Zhi, so this newest line was displeasing to hear.


    Tang Qianlei¡¯s eyes narrowed together as well, but the reason his eyes narrowed was different. ¡°Well then, nephew Bai, why don¡¯t we move away from this unhappy topic? I would like to thank you for escorting my daughter home. How long might you be staying in Mo City, nephew Bai?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his hands. ¡°Lord Tang, you are far too polite. I was more than willing to escort Xinyun home, so there¡¯s no need for thanks. However long I stay will be up to Xinyun. Before we left the Crafting School, the third elder said that Xinyun is to stay as long as she¡¯d like to reacquaint herself with her mother.¡±


    ¡°Third elder?¡± Tang Qianlei asked, ¡°Would that be elder Cang Yu?¡±


    ¡°That is correct. Xinyun¡¯s master is the third elder.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s confirmation was like a clap of thunder to the three men¡¯s ears. His words carried a far heavier weight of truth to them compared Zhao Mancha¡¯s.


    This meant that Tang Xinyun was really the disciple of the third elder, and by extension, this meant the Tang would be better off with that connection¡­


    Tang Qianlei smiled, ¡°Nephew Bai, how is senior Zi Jin doing nowadays? I was once fortunate enough to meet senior Zi Jin before. As a matter of fact, the soul armament I use was crafted by senior Zi Jin thanks to my father¡­


    ¡°Even moreso, I was fortunate enough to try my hand against the honorable Kou Changkong. I was of a stronger level than he, but he managed to defeat me. How I brooded that day! It¡¯s been decades since then. Time truly does fly¡­¡±


    A nostalgic expression appeared on Tang Qianlei¡¯s face as he started to reminisce about the past.


    The fact that there was some sort of history between Tang Qianlei and the Crafting School surprised Bai Yunfei since Zi Jin had never mentioned it before.


    Whether it was left out intentionally or forgotten, he wouldn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Master has spent his days training. He¡¯s doing well since he came out of seclusion. Thank you for your concern, lord Tang.¡±


    ¡°Haha, might I ask when you became the disciple of senior Zi Jin, nephew Bai?¡±


    ¡°Half a year ago, at the same time Xinyun and I joined the Crafting School.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that right? Haha, you are incredibly strong, nephew Bai. Being accepted as senior Zi Jin¡¯s disciple is only proof that your future will be limitless¡­¡±


    ¡°Lord Tang, your praise is far too high for someone like me. I was merely lucky enough to gain master¡¯s recognition.¡±


    ¡°Ah, nephew Bai, I heard that the heir to the house of Mo entered the Crafting School, have you met him before?¡±


    ¡°Oh, are you referring to Mo Xiaoxuan, lord Tang? He¡¯s in the internal school right now, training to become a Soul Sprite.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    It wasn¡¯t a very friendly conversation, but it wasn¡¯t rude either. Bai Yunfei knew the Tang were dissatisfied with Tang Xinyun, but he still made sure he maintained the most basic etiquette. Tang Qianlei might¡¯ve looked as though he was happy with the idle chat, but Bai Yunfei knew better. It was a test to see how he¡¯d respond. A test that would let the Tang know if Bai Yunfei was who he said he was.


    Bai Yunfei, of course, had nothing to hide. Nothing he said was false, so he was fearless as he answered Tang Qianlei.


    The ¡®conversation¡¯ continued for roughly an hour before the Tang had nothing left they wanted to verify. Disinclined to talk anymore, Bai Yunfei bid farewell and returned to his room to rest.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was far enough away from the lounge for Tang Jing and Tang Zhi to recompose themselves. Looking at their pensive-looking father, Tang Zhi asked, ¡°Father, how is it? Was there anything wrong with what Bai Yunfei said? Is he really the disciple of the old headmaster?¡±


    Tang Qianlei nodded after much thought, ¡°From what I can tell, everything he said is true. Combined with what you¡¯ve said about his strange soul armaments, I can assume that he is indeed a disciple of senior Zi Jin¡­ but I can¡¯t say that with certainty¡­


    ¡°If any of the other major schools were to have their headmaster take in a disciple, it would only take several months for the entire continent to find out, but that¡¯s how the Crafting School is. Bai Yunfei joined the school half a year ago, yet news of his rank hasn¡¯t made the rounds. The school keeps a very low profile.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already sent a messenger bird to the Great Plains Province to verify the information, father. We¡¯ll be able to find out if he¡¯s lying or not.¡± Tang Jing responded.


    ¡°How should we treat Bai Yunfei in the meantime?¡± Tang Zhi asked.


    ¡°Whatever the case, he is still a guest, so treat him politely.¡± Tang Qianlei gave a look at his two sons. ¡°I know that you¡¯re good friends with Hua Chenshi, but it¡¯s best to avoid conflict with Bai Yunfei for now. You¡¯ve seen his strength today, so don¡¯t bring trouble to the house even if you get angry, understand!?¡±


    Snapping to attention, Tang Zhi replied, ¡°Yes, your child understands¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    When Bai Yunfei returned to the courtyard, he noticed a beautiful woman in white staring up at the dark sky.


    If not Tang Xinyun, who else could it be?


    Slightly confused why Tang Xinyun was waiting for him, Bai Yunfei asked with a happy smile, ¡°Xinyun, what are you doing here? Shouldn¡¯t you have gone to bed?¡±


    She shook her head, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not tired¡­ how¡¯re you, Yunfei? Did my father¡­ trouble you?¡±


    ¡°Remember what I said, I didn¡¯t go there to fight him, so what trouble could there be? It¡¯s getting late, so hurry up and get some rest. You¡¯ll need it when you take me sightseeing tomorrow!¡± Bai Yunfei laughed.


    Now that Bai Yunfei had returned safe and sound, Tang Xinyun could rest easy. Laughing slightly, she smiled at him, ¡°Haha, okay. Then I¡¯ll come by early in the morning!¡±


    ¡°Alright, hurry to bed then. Good night, Xinyun.¡±


    ¡°Yes, good night¡­¡±

 Chapter 308: There’ll Always Be An Unexpected Windfall Admist the Buyout

    Compared to Redfire City, Mo City was many times bigger in size, economy, and city life.


    Out on the streets, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun walked shoulder to shoulder as they laughed and chatted with one another. Every so often, Bai Yunfei would remark on a particularly popular sight or would comment on some scenery. When he did mention something, Tang Xinyun would quip a quiet line or two about each place like a tour guide giving a tour. In a way, her being more willing to talk was a sign that she was feeling better after returning home, else she wouldn¡¯t have been so ¡®interested.¡¯


    Not even a meter behind the two stood a ¡®burlish¡¯ figure in simple clothing. At first glance, this person looked like a farmer aunty coming to the market to sell her wares for the day, but she stuck to Tang Xinyun like a shadow.


    It was Zhao Mancha.


    Nowadays, Zhao Mancha didn¡¯t treat Bai Yunfei with the same ¡®guarded¡¯ feeling as she had before. The things Tang Xinyun had said to her about Bai Yunfei had surprised even her, and even though she was quick to anger and quicker to speak because of her personality, she wasn¡¯t someone that wasn¡¯t completely unreasonable.


    After careful consideration, she had to admit that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too bad of a person. After the debacle yesterday with the Hua, Zhao Mancha had gained a new level of respect for Bai Yunfei since he went and did all those things for the sake of Tang Xinyun.


    Since Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have any accessories left to ¡®upgrade,¡¯ he had Tang Xinyun take him to a place where he could buy more. The place she had in mind was known in Mo City as ¡®Jewelry Street.¡¯ The street was a kilometer long and contained eighty percent of Mo City¡¯s jewelry traders.


    Both sides of the streets were filled to the brim with all sorts of jewelry stores as far as the eye could see. Not only were there jewelry stores, there were also small vendors on the streets with sparkling ware lined up on a counter.


    Under the illumination of the morning sun, each piece of jewelry reflected an extremely illustrious light.


    Bai Yunfei browsed the two sides of the streets as he wished. He soon came to the realization that the highest grade accessory was only of ¡®superior¡¯ quality. Not a single ¡®rare¡¯ grade item could be seen.


    Bai Yunfei noticed that some of the smaller vendors on the streets had some superior grade items after buying a few from the store, but the censors products weren¡¯t as gorgeous or as precious as the ones sold in the stores.


    Distinctions like those weren¡¯t a problem since Bai Yunfei only wanted accessories based on their grades. With that in mind, Bai Yunfei bought them as he wished.


    Despite money not being a limiting factor anymore, Bai Yunfei still found it hard to spend lavishly. He tried to save money if possible. It was inherent to his nature. Something that persisted with him despite the wealth he accumulated.


    Tang Xinyun would follow Bai Yunfei to each store as well. She never bought a single item, but she still window shopped while he was busy doing the actual buying.


    It confused Zhao Mancha since she didn¡¯t understand why Bai Yunfei was buying all of these accessories.


    Could he be buying them for Tang Xinyun?


    It didn¡¯t seem like it¡­


    Searching each piece of accessory for their stats was second habit to Bai Yunfei now. Time was not an issue, so he could take his time and move as slowly as he liked. With each piece of accessory going through his hands, Bai Yunfei could test to see if it was a superior item or not. At first, there hadn¡¯t been a problem with what he was doing, but after going through several vendors, the owners were starting to gossip to one another.


    Bai Yunfei had already bought almost half their wares!


    By the time Bai Yunfei reached halfway down the street, he and the ones around him were the topic of discussion on the streets. Each vendor would stare curiously at Bai Yunfei. Even passersby would stare strangely at him.


    The males all revealed looks of scorn on their faces; Bai Yunfei was practically flaunting his wealth by buying out the majority of the vendor¡¯s stock, and the females were all looking jealously at Tang Xinyun next to him with sighs.


    If only they had a wealthy boyfriend that would treat them as well as he did.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s selection speed wasn¡¯t too slow, but the street was extremely long. This gave the many store keepers Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t reached enough time to pull out their wares.


    When Bai Yunfei did reach them, the amount of wares he looked over was such a large number that Tang Xinyun found it extremely ridiculous.


    However, Bai Yunfei continued to pick out accessories without a care in the world.


    An unknown amount of time went by before Bai Yunfei finally reached the end of the street. By now, everyone was staring at him as if he was a monster or something similar.


    ¡°Yunfei, can¡­ can we leave now?¡± Unable to withstand all of the strange looks she was being given, Tang Xinyun tugged at his robes, pleading with him.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Snapping out of his thoughts, Bai Yunfei suddenly realized all of the strange glances being thrown in his direction. Scratching his head in embarrassment, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Haha, alright. Let me buy from one more store and then we can leave.¡±


    The owner of said store let out a sigh of relief. If rich Mr. Money Bags didn¡¯t buy anything from his store, the owner would¡¯ve puked blood straight from his mouth.


    Refusing the owner¡¯s kind introduction, Bai Yunfei began to look through each of the accessories.


    Not long after, Bai Yunfei walked up to the counter with nearly a hundred new accessories to buy. Happily calculating the final bill, the store owner was in such glee that he relented and discounted the price to eighty percent.


    With all of the accessories stored in his space ring, Bai Yunfei was about to walk out of the store when the shop owner suddenly stopped him.


    Sneaking a glance around first, the man then whispered to him, ¡°My lord, this store of mine has several more rare goods. Would you be interested in perusing them?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°What rare goods? Let me see them.¡±


    Chuckling, the man replied, ¡°They¡¯re some recently unearthed oddities. I was planning on taking them to the more knowledgeable stores to appraise them, but if my lord has some interest, I¡¯ll let you look at them first. If any catch your eye, we can agree on a suitable price.¡±


    The man took out a tightly wrapped bag from underneath the counter. He unfurled it to reveal several more accessories. Many of the items were caked with dirt or were faded from age, but nonetheless, each of them possessed the aura of ¡®antiquity.¡¯


    Just from aura alone, they looked as if it had been years since they had last touched air.


    The first two items Bai Yunfei picked up were disappointing to say the least. Whether they were artifacts from another time or not wasn¡¯t relevant to him. Many of the items he picked up weren¡¯t even ¡®high¡¯ grade, and only a small few were of the ¡®superior¡¯ quality.


    With a frown on his face, Bai Yunfei picked up a dirt-encrusted earring before he decided he would leave.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Wood


    Attribute: +160 Strength


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei froze up. Renewed interest flickered across his eyes as he inspected the earring in his hand.


    ¡­¡­


    When buying things in large amounts, there¡¯ll always be a rare quality good.


    That was a fact!


    A great big smile had been carved into Bai Yunfei¡¯s face when he walked out of the store. Happy beyond happy, Bai Yunfei never would¡¯ve thought that he¡¯d come across an accessory-type soul armament while he was buying accessories to upgrade; what luck!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?¡±


    A skeptical voice suddenly called out to him.


    Each of the three curiously turned their heads toward the source of the voice. They saw a young man in blue robes not too far away from them. He was staring at Bai Yunfei in confusion as if unsure of what he was seeing. Right next to him was a younger woman dressed in pink robes.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ Zhao Xiluo!!¡±


    The name came to Bai Yunfei after a moment of consideration. This was the very same Zhao Xiluo Bai Yunfei had come across way back in Gaoyi City!


    ¡°Haha, it really is you!¡± Zhao Xiluo roared with laughter before racing up to them. Bowing in greeting, Zhao Xiluo smiled, ¡°Brother Bai, I never imagined that I¡¯d meet you here, talk about coincidence!¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled in return, ¡°Haha, it really is. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d still remember me, brother Zhao.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a young hero, brother Bai. How could I possibly forget?¡± Zhao Xiluo asked, ¡°It¡¯s been, what, a year since we met in Gaoyi City? How fast time goes¡­


    ¡°Actually, did you ever join the Crafting School, brother Bai?¡±


    This question caught the attention of the female next to him, earning Bai Yunfei a strange look.


    ¡°Haha, I managed to gain a spot in the Crafting School last year on the eleventh month.¡±


    ¡°Oh? As expected of you, brother Bai! Everyone on the continent knows that the Crafting School is the hardest school to get into! Of course, that¡¯s probably because of how specific their test for testing ¡®crafting¡¯ talent is.¡± Zhao Xiluo chuckled in admiration.


    ¡°Ah, speaking of the Crafting School, you should definitely meet this person!¡± Zhao Xiluo added after that.


    As he spoke, he beckoned to the girl next to him, ¡°This is the disciple of our Water School¡¯s second elder, Kou Tingting. She¡¯s¡­¡±

 Chapter 309: Kou Tingting

    ¡°Kou Tingting!?¡±


    Before Zhao Xiluo could even finish his introduction, Tang Xinyun suddenly blurted out in shock. ¡°The Water School¡­ could you be the headmaster¡¯s daughter!?¡±


    Taken aback by the sudden outburst, the pink-robed woman took a moment to respond. ¡°My father is indeed the headmaster of the Crafting School. Are you a student there too, miss?¡± She smiled.


    Bai Yunfei was in shock. Not only had he come across Zhao Xiluo again, but Kou Tingting had made an appearance as well. Bai Yunfei had once heard her name when Kou Changkong mentioned that his daughter joining the Water School. She was the disciple of one of their elders.


    Kou Tingting wore a pink robe and had long hair that draped over her shoulders. She had bangs that covered her oval-shaped face and eyebrows by a small amount. Her fair-white skin looked so supple and moisturized that it felt as if there might actually be water that¡¯d come out if her body was wrung.


    At a glance, she definitely looked like a very gentle and refined young woman.


    Since Kou Tingting was utterly incapable of learning how to use elemental fire, she was incapable of learning the art of crafting. Though that never bothered Kou Changkong. As soon as her tests revealed that she had elemental water training talent, she was sent to the Water School when she was twenty. Under their tutelage, she was able to become an early-stage Soul Ancestor.


    Her appearance was by no means absolutely stunning, but she could still at the very least fall under the category of being ¡®fair and elegant,¡¯ and she could certainly blossom into something more.


    Was this perhaps the effects from training in the water element?


    ¡°This is Tang Xinyun, the disciple of elder Cang Yu.¡± Bai Yunfei introduced her, ¡°She joined the Crafting School the same month I did.¡±


    ¡°Aunty Yu¡¯s disciple!?¡± Kou Tingting¡¯s eyes lit up with surprise as she looked to Tang Xinyun. The fact that Cang Yu would have another disciple surprised her.


    ¡°Tang Xinyun?¡± The eyebrows on Zhao Xiluo¡¯s face flew up, ¡°So you really were the fourth daughter of the Tang, my apologies for my lack of manners¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned to Zhao Xiluo next, ¡°Xinyun, this is Zhao Xiluo, the eldest son of the Zhao in Gaoyi City. I meet him after living with Tianming¡¯s family for a while.¡±


    ¡°Tianming¡¯s family?¡± Tang Xinyun asked. Like Bai Yunfei, she went to Gaoyi City too, but after being chased by the Beast Taming School, she had to make an escape. Even after Bai Yunfei saved her, she was too far away from the city to know anything that happened there.


    ¡°Haha, I first heard about brother Bai from senior You Qingfeng before I actually met him in Gaoyi City. We didn¡¯t talk long, but I was awed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength.¡± Zhao Xiluo laughed. ¡°He was a late-stage Soul Sprite back then, so after joining the Crafting School, he has to be a lot str¡ª¡±


    He tapered off when he noticed something was amiss with Bai Yunfei. ¡°Hey now¡­ brother Bai, your strength¡­¡±


    ¡°Brother Zhao, there¡¯s no need to be puzzled. My current situation is a little unique after something I experienced a while back. For the time being, I can¡¯t use any elemental fire.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡°Oh? Such a thing like that can happen? Then in the future¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, thanks for your concern, brother Zhao. It¡¯s only temporary, I¡¯ll be back to full strength soon enough.¡± Unwilling to talk about his current strength, Bai Yunfei turned his attention to Kou Tingting, ¡°Well now¡­ uhm¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t know how to address Kou Tingting. He was younger than her by a good amount, but calling her older sister didn¡¯t seem quite appropriate. Calling her by name was even more strange and rash since it¡¯d denote an even closer relationship than expected.


    Kou Tingting smiled. ¡°Haha, I¡¯m a person of the Crafting School, so if junior Bai doesn¡¯t mind, feel free to call me senior Kou.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± He grew even more embarrassed.


    ¡°Haha, senior Kou, if we go by titles, then Yunfei doesn¡¯t have to call you senior.¡± Tang Xinyun giggled. ¡°You¡¯d have to call him ¡®senior uncle¡¯ instead!¡±


    ¡°Eh? What do you mean?¡± Kou Tingting asked with Zhao Xiluo confused as well.


    ¡°Yunfei¡¯s master is master Zi Jin, the previous headmaster.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡±


    The red lips on Kou Tingting¡¯s face quivered slightly in disbelief.


    ¡°You¡­ you mean to say that he¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s the disciple of grandfather Zi!? How¡­ how is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Br¡ªbrother Bai, are you serious? You¡¯re the disciple of headmaster Zi Jin!?¡± Even Zhao Xiluo¡¯s voice seemed slightly strangled asking this question.


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head in embarrassment.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t¡­ doesn¡¯t that make you a junior to headmaster Kou then¡­?¡± Another strangled question.


    Unwilling to get more embarrassed about how he should be called, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Haha, what¡¯s the point of titles? If you don¡¯t mind, feel free to just call me Yunfei. Anything else would be weird to me.¡±


    Kou Tingting fell silent for a long while after that.


    ¡°In that case, you can call me Tingting, Yunfei. Since we¡¯re both related to the Crafting School, there¡¯s no need to treat each other as outsiders. Sister Xinyun, may I call you Xinyun as well?¡±


    Tang Xinyun smiled. ¡°Of course. Tingting is right, there¡¯s no need to treat each other like outsiders.¡±


    ¡°Well, alright then. Yunfei, you can call me Xiluo as well.¡± Zhao Xiluo piped up.


    Now that this question was resolved, Bai Yunfei could sigh in relief. There wasn¡¯t a way to fix the fact that he was by all rights a senior in the Crafting School, so it was rather awkward to come across this scenario outside of the school. ¡°Xiluo, if you¡¯re accompanying Tingting, does that mean you¡¯re taking her back to the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhao Xiluo confirmed. ¡°We were planning on heading straight to the Crafting School as soon as the auction here in Mo City is over.¡±


    ¡°Auction?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. ¡°What auction?¡±


    Surprised, Zhao Xiluo gave a confused look at Tang Xinyun. ¡°There¡¯s an auction every year in Mo City. It¡¯s the Tang¡¯s turn to oversee the auction this time. Didn¡¯t you know, Yunfei?¡±


    It was Bai Yunfei¡¯s turned to Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Xinyun nodded her head. ¡°This year, my family is doing all of the preparations. The auction will have several things that a soul cultivator can use. You only just came here and I never really cared about the auction, so I never thought to tell you about it¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see now.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head in understanding. He could just faintly remember hearing Tang Yongzhong talking about an auction before, and with everyone from the Tang busy, that surely meant it was the auction house that they were busy with.


    After thinking about it, he asked, ¡°What items will be sold at the auction?¡±


    ¡°Hard to say.¡± Zhao Xiluo answered, ¡°It definitely won¡¯t be your everyday items though. If one of the Five Clans are managing it, the items will definitely be rare. Primal stones will be the means of currency for plenty of the items. Rare treasures, soul skills, soul armaments, and even young soulbeasts will be sold. Anything you could possibly want will be sold, and as long as you have the funds, you¡¯ll be able to bid for them. Even to soul cultivators, auctions like these are stuff that anyone will try to attend.¡±


    The expression on his face turned sour after the last sentence, ¡°Now that junior Tingting and I are here, we were planning on staying for a while. On our way, we heard that there would be a heaven tier soul skill, so the roads are packed with people trying to get here.¡±


    ¡°A heaven tier soul skill!?¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed. ¡°Are there people that are willing to sell items like that!? How many primal stones will that take to buy!?¡±


    ¡°If you can¡¯t use it, what use is there in keeping it?¡± Zhao Xiluo laughed. ¡°I heard that the one who owns it is a traveling soul cultivator that came across it by accident. Since he can¡¯t learn it, he thought it¡¯d be better to sell it. Even though he¡¯ll be getting primal stones for it, he can use those primal stones to buy something else at the auction. The last time a heaven tier soul skill appeared, another house used a low-heaven tier soul skill to bid for it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that makes sense.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. Still curious, he turned to Tang Xinyun, ¡°Xinyun, can we take a look at the auction?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± She smiled.


    ¡°Great. Then when it¡¯s time let¡¯s go together.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke to Zhao Xiluo and Kou Tingting.


    ¡°No problem, if everyone wants to go, it makes sense to go together.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ since you two are in Mo City, why not stay at my residence for now? You¡¯d do me the honors of playing host.¡± Tang Xinyun suggested after careful consideration.


    Since Tang Xinyun was of the Crafting School, Kou Tingting was all too happy to accept her offer. ¡°We are thankful for your suggestion, Xinyun. Senior Zhao, let¡¯s go back to Xinyun¡¯s place.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, if you don¡¯t mind having us.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    By the time it was noon, Bai Yunfei was all but done buying all the accessories he wanted. With nowhere left to go, Bai Yunfei and the rest returned to the Tang residence.


    As usual, Tang Zhi was playing the part of ¡®overseer¡¯ of the Tang residence while his father was away. As per custom, Zhao Xiluo and Kou Tingting went to him first to pay their respects. Tang Zhi was shock when he learned their identities.


    Tang Zhi hadn¡¯t realized that Bai Yunfei would be well connected with people from even the Water School. When the two talked about their desire to attend the auction, Tang Zhi gave his personal guarantee that he¡¯d prepare a good seat for them. After a moment¡¯s conversation, a suitable courtyard near Tang Xinyun¡¯s courtyard was given to the two for the time being.


    The auction would take place a week after the Reunion Festival, which would take place tomorrow.


    Truthfully speaking, the Reunion Festival wasn¡¯t normally observed by soul cultivators. They weren¡¯t like commoners in the fact that many of them were often travelers a long ways away from home. That made seeing their family especially hard. The only reason Tang Xinyun had the desire to return home was because of her desire to see her mother. Kou Tingting on the other hand was in no hurry to return to the Crafting School in time for the Reunion Festival.


    Bai Yunfei had no remaining family to speak of, so there was no need for him to observe the holiday.


    This didn¡¯t stop the Tang from celebrating it. Tang Xinyun said that a grand festival would take place tomorrow night with plenty of guests coming, meaning Bai Yunfei, Zhao Xiluo, and Kou Tingting were more than welcome to take part.


    That night, Bai Yunfei sat on top of his bed with a pair of amber-colored crystal earrings in his hand. The principal part of this earring was a small rhombus-shaped crystal.


    When the caked dirt was wiped away and the stone was polished, a slightly bewitching luster could be seen.


    Since Bai Yunfei had come across this soul armament by accident, he did not hesitate to upgrade it to +10 as quickly as possible.


    Seeing +10 effects was something he¡¯d always take joy in seeing, and this time would be no different.


    After upgrading it to +10¡­


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Wood


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +160 Strength


    Additional Attribute: +85 Strength


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: ¡­.

 Chapter 310: Detoxifying Earring and Hydrotherapy

    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Wood


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +160 Strength


    Additional Attribute: +85 Strength


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase poison resistance by 15%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    After this earring was upgraded, a never-before-seen effect appeared!


    ¡°Poison resistance?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°That¡¯s not hard to understand. I don¡¯t know what use it¡¯d normally have, but it could be very useful the right situations¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that it¡¯s an earring. I don¡¯t need those¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. As long as an item had a decent effect, Bai Yunfei don¡¯t care if it was a stud, but Bai Yunfei would never wear earrings clearly meant for women.


    He looked at the earring a little longer, thinking of what to do with it.


    It was only after he came to a conclusion that he put the earring away.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The next morning, Bai Yunfei woke up as the morning sun was rising into the air. Last night¡¯s upgrading session was the first in a very long time. He had used up all of his soulforce while he was upgrading, so he fell asleep as soon as he ran out.


    There was nothing Bai Yunfei needed to do possibly because he was a guest right now. Taking advantage of this newfound freedom, Bai Yunfei upgraded several more accessories. There weren¡¯t any soul armaments he could upgrade, but there was still a good amount of high quality items he could make use of.


    If an item didn¡¯t have a good +10 additional effect, he could still try going for the +12 effect.


    Furthermore, his chances of success when upgrading normal items was back to the same level as when he was a Soul Sprite. This meant that Bai Yunfei would have a much harder time upgrading the same items when his essence fireseed was fully healed.


    Bai Yunfei had the luxury of not being picky, unlike when he had to find items that could increase spirit for the sake of Tang Xinyun. All sorts of accessories with all sorts of attributes could be upgraded to their limits.


    As he got up from his bed, Bai Yunfei thought back to his thoughts on upgrading last night. ¡°Without including the bonus points I get from my equipment, I should probably have around 7500 points of soulforce. I don¡¯t know how much that relates to on a scale, but it¡¯s 2000 more soulforce than when I became a Soul Ancestor. I wonder if future levels will increase in difficulty or if there¡¯ll be some sort of ¡®obstacle¡¯ to break before becoming a mid-stage Soul Ancestor?¡±


    Back when he was desperate to help Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei knew that his soulforce was increasing with each upgrade, and since he continued to upgrade without fail during those times, he came to learn that his chances of success were back to the same rates as before. Even with his elemental fire gone, his soulforce continued to grow. He had gained some benefits from the disaster.


    Bai Yunfei made sure to not overdo it with upgrading. While Xiao Binzi was able to ¡®protect¡¯ Bai Yunfei back in Curopia City, the same guarantee didn¡¯t apply here.


    Although he didn¡¯t have elemental fire, his soulforce was still increasing. That meant he could still train.


    ¡­¡­


    The sound of gentle laughter outside of his room broke Bai Yunfei¡¯s train of thought. Stepping out, he saw a group of people near him. Tang Xinyun, Zhao Xiluo, Kou Tingting, and even Chu Qingxue and Zhao Mancha were there. They were all seated around a stone table as they talked about something. Two different colored stone pieces could be seen on a board placed on the table.


    Go.


    Thanks to the memories of the transmigrator, Bai Yunfei was able to recreate several recreational games. With time, the games became commonplace in the Crafting School with even Zi Jin, Xiao Binzi, and the other elders enjoying a game or two.


    The board that Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting were playing on seemed slightly different.


    The reason why was because the game they were playing was five-in-a-row.


    A far simpler but more interesting game.


    Back then, Bai Yunfei used these games to keep Huangfu Rui interested. Tang Xinyun had unexpectedly taken a fancy to one of the games, so Bai Yunfei made a set for her.


    Of course, Tang Xinyun knew more than just five-in-a-row by now. She was quite good at Go. She could sometimes beat Bai Yunfei, the ¡®creator¡¯ of the game.


    When Bai Yunfei reached their table, he could hear Tang Xinyun explaining the main aspects of the game to Kou Tingting. It looked as though the two had already played a game or two with Chu Qingxue and the others listening in on the conversation with great interest.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s approach was noticed by everyone, and they turned to greet him. In turn, Bai Yunfei greeted everyone else before sitting on the remaining stone stool.


    ¡°Yunfei, I heard from Xinyun that your arm was injured?¡±


    Kou Tingting¡¯s question came out of nowhere, causing Bai Yunfei to take a second to respond, ¡°Haha,¡± he laughed, ¡°I hurt myself yesterday, but it¡¯s nothing major. It¡¯ll heal in no time at all.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, you should let Tingting take a look.¡± Tang Xinyun advised, ¡°Tingting said that she could help treat your arm or at least make your recovery even faster.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Treat?¡±


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s right. Yunfei, let junior Kou take a look at you.¡± Zhao Xiluo laughed. ¡°Junior Kou¡¯s hydrotherapy is absolutely perfect. Even I¡¯m nowhere near her level. As long as it¡¯s not an unusual wound, she¡¯ll be able to shorten the time needed to heal it with her treatment.¡±


    ¡°Hydrotherapy?¡± Bai Yunfei curiously asked. He knew that elemental water was filled with healing aspects since many water type soul skills were usually meant for healing, but Bai Yunfei had never come across any of those himself.


    When Bai Yunfei rolled his sleeves up, the state of his right arm startled everyone there.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like an externally-caused wound, was it from rebound?¡± Zhao Xiluo inquired.


    ¡°Good eyes, Xiluo. It¡¯s the remnants of when I used a certain soul skill. It¡¯s not as serious as it looks, so it should heal in just a few days.¡±


    Seeing Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm in such a state a second time caused Tang Xinyun to frown. ¡°Tingting,¡± She said, ¡°Please help Yunfei heal his arm¡­¡±


    Inspecting the arm, Kou Tingting gave one final smile to Tang Xinyun, ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry Xinyun. Like Yunfei said, it¡¯s not a major wound. Left by itself, his arm would heal in a few days, but let me treat it for you¡­¡±


    With Bai Yunfei¡¯s consent, Kou Tingting raised her right arm. A faint blue light emanated from the tips of her jadelike fingers before spreading through her hand to her palm. Turning it over, she pressed her hand against Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm. She directed the flow of elemental water around his arm. Pulsating with cadence, the elemental water slowly started to enter his skin.


    The next second, Bai Yunfei could feel a pleasantly cool sensation run through his arm. It was unspeakably comfortable. Every last inch of his arm seemed to be rejoicing in joy as the elemental water energy started to assimilate into his body. The throbbing pain that had been present before started to ebb away, and even the bruised parts of his arm started to return to a normal color.


    Several minutes went by without Bai Yunfei knowing before Kou Tingting finally withdrew her arm. The blue glow of light disappeared from Bai Yunfei¡¯s skin, revealing a completely normal arm.


    Slightly doubting what he was seeing, Bai Yunfei clenched his hand several times to test it out. As Bai Yunfei felt power course through his arm without any pain, he was convinced that his arm was fully back to normal.


    The wound that previously required several days to heal had been fully healed within minutes all thanks to Kou Tingting!


    ¡°This¡­ this is ¡®hydrotherapy¡¯? How¡­ how amazing!¡±

 Chapter 311: Reunion Festival

    Bai Yunfei was shocked that the wound on his arm had only taken minutes rather than days to heal. He shook his right hand again to reconfirm it had healed. ¡°This¡­ this is ¡®hydrotherapy¡¯? How amazing¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s only a very rudimentary treatment. Since your body was already healthy and strong, my treatment was far more effective without any problems.¡±


    From the side, Chu Qingxue smiled at the two, ¡°Tingting, you are far too modest. The healing techniques of the Water School are known to everyone on the continent. Aside from hydrotherapy, there aren¡¯t many other techniques that could measure up to it. Furthermore, your own skill was very clear to see, Tingting. Like Xiluo said, your skill with it is perfect, how admirable for your age.¡±


    ¡°Tingting,¡± Tang Xinyun spoke with a grateful voice, ¡°Thank you¡­¡±


    Smiling in return, Kou Tingting said, ¡°Xinyun, why must you be this polite? Even Yunfei hasn¡¯t said thanked me yet. Are you thanking me for him?¡±


    What Kou Tingting said made Tang Xinyun¡¯s face redden while Bai Yunfei gave a small cough of embarrassment. Opting to change the topic, he said, ¡°Ah, Xiluo and Tingting, why don¡¯t we look around Mo City again? I¡¯m sure there are plenty of places we haven¡¯t been to yet!¡±


    ¡°Haha, yes.¡± Chu Qingxue nodded in agreement, ¡°Let Xinyun take you on a tour, just be sure to be back before evening.¡±


    Since there was nothing to do in the Tang residence, the two readily agreed to Bai Yunfei¡¯s suggestion. Together, the four of them bade farewell to Chu Qingxue and Zhao Mancha before leaving for the city. The plan was to visit all the sights in the city and return to the Tang before night time.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Every year on the ninth day of the ninth month, the Tianhun Empire would celebrate the Reunion Festival. It was regarded as one of the empire¡¯s more ceremonious holidays, but many people would rather call it ¡®heartwarming.¡¯ As the name implied, the Reunion Festival was a day for workers, merchants, and other people to return to their homes and celebrate with their families.


    Families that were mainly soul cultivators didn¡¯t normally regard such a ¡®mundane¡¯ holiday as something worth celebrating like the rest of the commoners, but the Tang chose to uphold tradition by hosting a family banquet. The majority of the house had come back to Mo City for the day, and the spacious courtyard was filled to the brim as people jubilantly laughed and chatted with one another.


    Dozens of massive tables lined the courtyard. People of similar standing sat with one another. They exchanged toasts and laughed during the banquet. It seemed like a very rich merchant family was celebrating the Reunion Festival with how loud and cheerful everyone was.


    Tang Xinyun had said before that every Reunion Festival was often observed with both her and her mother off in a corner. Even the ¡®returning¡¯ family members would ignore them due to the third mother.


    However, this year was different. Instead of where they would normally be placed, Chu Qingxue was seated at the centermost table, right next to Tang Qianlei no less.


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun along with Zhao Xiluo and Kou Tingting were seated at the table Tang Zhi was responsible for.


    Bai Yunfei was visited by several other older members of the house, like how Tang Xinyun had to see to her second, third, and whatever-uncle. Each member was of high status and strength, and even though they spoke to Bai Yunfei courteously, they would often bring up the Crafting School as a topic.


    It was an attempt to peer into Bai Yunfei¡¯s status¡ªthough this was to be expected.


    If Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the disciple to the previous headmaster, Zi Jin, would they ever pay attention to a young man like him?


    The more important figures to the house of Tang, like Tang Xinyun¡¯s grandfather or great-grandfather, didn¡¯t come partake in the banquet. Like Zi Jin once before, they spent their days in isolation without ever peeking at the mundane world.


    At last, Bai Yunfei was finally able to see Tang Xinyun¡¯s third step-mother, Hua Yueying. He felt that this woman had the heart of a snake or even a scorpion.


    Unexpectedly, she looked nothing like he expected. At first impression, she was calm, graceful, and dignified to the eye, even amiable. She sat on the other side of Tang Qianlei and was speaking to Chu Qingxue without at all looking as though the two were enemies.


    Her skin was snowy-white, and she wore a dress as red as fire. Her lips were a cinnabar-red and her eyes were elegantly shaped, like those admired in a phoenix. She didn¡¯t look any younger than sixteen, and her charm was loveable to anyone who saw her. If Chu Qingxue was a snow lotus herb, then Hua Yueying was a dazzling rose.


    If one were to ask which women was more captivating, everyone would definitely point to the later.


    Several members from the Tang, in the same age group as Bai Yunfei, were at Bai Yunfei¡¯s table conversing with him. He didn¡¯t know if they had been instructed by their parents or if they were doing it out of their own freewill. Either way, they didn¡¯t speak or treat Tang Xinyun badly, and they spoke to Bai Yunfei and Zhao Xiluo with great respect.


    As a straightforward young man, Zhao Xiluo spoke to the group congenially, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t enjoy scenes such as this. He chose to eat his food and listened to Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting talk.


    There were four sons and one daughter in the direct line of ascension under Tang Qianlei. Aside from the third son who had been sent away for his studies, there was still the eldest son, Tang Jing, the second son, Tang Zhi, the third eldest, Tang Xinyun, and the youngest child, Tang Ming. Tang Ming was Hua Yueying¡¯s son, a genius child with talent that came once every hundred years in the Tang. At the tender young age of sixteen, he was already a late-stage Soul Sprite, and he was expected to become a Soul Ancestor soon.


    Bai Yunfei had never seen Tang Xinyun¡¯s youngest brother even after visiting. After asking around, he learned that second grandfather had taken Tang Ming on a training trip.


    The banquet wrapped up some hours after, allowing everyone in the courtyard to stretch their legs. Still continuing their conversations, many of the younger generation began to head to where the older generation was, hoping to gain their approval or even be noticed by someone such as Tang Qianlei.


    When it was Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun¡¯s turn to reach Chu Qingxue¡¯s side, Bai Yunfei retrieved a small wooden box from his space ring and offered it up to her. ¡°Auntie Xue, here is a gift for you. May your body recover soon and your youth remain forever!¡±


    ¡°A gift?¡± Chu Qingxue repeated in surprise. Even Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t know Bai Yunfei would give a gift, so she was shocked as well.


    Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s nothing special, but I hope this gift will meet your expectations, auntie Xue.¡±


    ¡°Child, there isn¡¯t a need to be this polite¡­¡± Chu Qingxue ¡®chastised¡¯ him, but she took the gift gratefully, ¡°You¡¯ve already brought my child all the way here. This auntie doesn¡¯t even know where to begin to thank you, so why offer a gift as well¡­?¡±


    Now that the box was in her hands, she clasped the lid and slowly opened it, revealing a single amber-colored earring.


    Tang Xinyun became astonished, ¡°Yunfei, isn¡¯t this the soul armament you bought yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Soul armament!?¡± Chu Qingxue¡¯s eyebrows flew up on her face.


    ¡°Xinyun,¡± she picked up the earring, ¡°You said this is a¡­ soul armament!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Correct, this is indeed a soul armament. It¡¯s not too high in quality, but it has the ability to strengthen the body. If you wear this, auntie Xue, the illness you have will hopefully be alleviated by a bit.¡±


    Only soul cultivators who¡¯ve seen an accessory-type soul armament would know how expensive they were, but when Bai Yunfei said that the quality of the item was slightly ¡®low,¡¯ the other people near him were speechless, ¡°No wonder he¡¯s from the Crafting School, giving gifts as ¡®casually¡¯ as he wants.¡±


    Since Bai Yunfei was so sincere, Chu Qingxue didn¡¯t press the issue. She accepted the gift with a smile before making conversation with them.


    The people watching the interaction, where Bai Yunfei gave his gift, slowly revealed pensive looks on their faces¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hsssss¡­ bang!!¡±


    The sounds of fireworks shooting off into the night sky came to the ears of everyone afterwards. They exploded in a flurry of multi-colored lights that dazzled the eyes of everyone that saw it, but no one knew just which household in the city set it off.


    The fireworks had been a catalyst however. Shortly afterwards, fireworks from all over the city started to shoot off into the skies. They exploded in all sorts of shapes and colors, some of them exploding in ways that made auspicious words such as ¡®best wishes to everyone¡¯.


    As they smiled and watched the fireworks show over the city, Bai Yunfei felt that the previously oh-so-boring banquet was getting just slightly better.


    ¡°Haha, Yunfei, look! There¡¯s one shaped like a bird over there¡­¡± Tang Xinyun pointed out to an explosion to the left of them with great curiosity and joy.


    ¡°I see it! That fireworks artisan is really amazing if they can pull of something l¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei replied with a smile of his own. He was about to say something more when all of a sudden, something up in the skies caused his eyes to widen in shock.


    Craning his neck up, he began to look up at the sky as if he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.


    Up there in the night sky amidst all over the other fireworks was an especially strange one. It contained a series of words that weren¡¯t even remotely happy-sounding, instead, it read¡­.


    ¡°I am the Bandit Chief!!¡±

 Chapter 312: I am the Bandit Chief

    ¡°I am the Bandit Chief!¡±


    The string of words created by the fireworks was the center of attention for many of the observers. Pointing up at it, many of them whispered to one another while several of the younger kids pointed and laugh as if to mock the one who set it off for taking himself to be so ¡®awesome¡¯.


    ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Tang Xinyun asked, confused why Bai Yunfei was so surprised.


    But he responded only after the fireworks faded away from sight. Still with an odd look on his face, he said, ¡°I¡­.Xinyun, did you see what that firework said?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Are you talking about the one with the strange words?¡± Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°I did. ¡®Bandit chief¡¯¡­.the chief of all bandits. Haha, what an interesting man that person is.¡±


    ¡°I, er, I think I know who that person is.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Who is it?¡±


    ¡°You know this person as well.¡± Bai Yunfei looked back up to the sky. ¡°If my guess is correct, that person is Jing Mingfeng.¡±


    ¡°Jing Mingfeng?¡± Tang Xinyun repeated in surprise, ¡°It¡¯s him? He¡¯s here in Mo City too?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I think.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°How ¡®arrogant¡¯ he¡¯s gotten. If he¡¯s bored to the point of this, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s trying to find something fun to do. I¡¯d like to see him again if that¡¯s the case!¡±


    ¡°Haha, I agree¡­but it¡¯s a shame he doesn¡¯t know we¡¯re here, so it¡¯d be nice if we come across him sooner or later.¡± Tang Xinyun hadn¡¯t a bad impression of Jing Mingfeng since she knew Bai Yunfei and him were good friends, also, she wanted to meet such an interesting person again herself.


    ¡°That guy likes hiding his soulforce and changes his face all the time. Unless he sees us first, us finding him will be unlikely. If we¡¯ve nothing else to do, we should take a stroll around the city and see if we can find him.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed.


    Later that night, the banquet was now officially over. Some of the guests had matters to attend to still, so they left straight away to return to their homes. Some of the guests were just younglings with nothing to do, so they decided to find some friends and look around the city to see the sights for the next few days; of the friends they invited, Tang Zhi was one of them.


    There were a few young masters that were especially charmed by Kout Tingting, but they were each politely rebuffed by her when asked.


    Tang Xinyun on the other hand, had no one come ask her. Whether it was because of her status as the daughter of the Tang, or the fact that Bai Yunfei was right next to her, no one bothered to even ¡®bother¡¯ her.


    Bai Yunfei himself didn¡¯t bother to try and talk with anyone else from the Tang. It was perchance due to the fact how the Tang was treating him or Tang Xinyun, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s opinion on them were slightly negative. They might¡¯ve treated him with more respect than before, but even that wouldn¡¯t be enough to make Bai Yunfei forget about what happened to him before today.


    Each time Tang Xinyun spoke about her ¡®home¡¯ in the past, she¡¯d always look quite troubled or even hurt from the memories. Bai Yunfei never forgotten about it, so he was disinclined to approach her family. Other than Chu Qingxue or Zhao Mancha, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t even bother trying to talk to the married-in families like the Hua, or even Tang Xinyun¡¯s brother Tang Jing. He was especially displeased with how they treated and hurt Tang Xinyun in the past.


    On the way back, Chu Qingxue continued to talk and smile with her daughter with the same gentle expression as usual¨Cor at least that¡¯s how Bai Yunfei felt about it.


    They continued to be lost in their own world even when they returned to the courtyards. With how close the mother and daughter were talking, Bai Yunfei saw fit to return to his room by himself.


    ¡°Today¡¯s affairs seemed to have changed the Tang¡¯s opinion on Xinyun and her mother a bit¡­.¡±


    On top of his bed, Bai Yunfei could finally relax a bit. If Tang Xinyun and her mother could live happily at home now, this would be the best case scenario.


    ¡°But¡­that step mother is weird¡­.she looked like a fussy mother for the entire banquet and treated auntie Chu like she¡¯d treat a sister.¡± Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°Xinyun wouldn¡¯t lie though. Hua Binbai was more than willing to tell her what he thought too, so does this mean her personality today was completely fake?¡±


    Upon reaching that final verdict, Bai Yunfei had a strange look on his face, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, that woman is terrifying¡­.¡±


    He shook his head, ¡°No matter the case, as long as the Tang knows that Tang Xinyun has the backing of the Crafting School, they won¡¯t treat her too badly then. I shouldn¡¯t interfere anymore with her family and see how things will go for her now¡­.


    ¡°As long as Xinyun¡¯s happy with her mother, that¡¯s fine. If someone else tries to start anything with her, I¡¯ll deal with them.¡± Bai Yunfei thought back to how Hua Binbai had completely disrespected her and her mother before he dealt with him. Spending the entire day with her mother made Tang Xinyun happy and seemingly allowed her to forget about the sadness she felt from losing her essence fireseed.


    ¡°I should be able to relax for now and upgrade some accessories for now. If I let the essence fireseed in the Cataclysmic Seal ¡®reawaken¡¯, then I¡¯ll have to go back to those low success rates from before¡­.¡±


    Starting that day after the banquet, Bai Yunfei spent most of his times living in peace in the Tang residence. During the day, he¡¯d go with Tang Xinyun and the others out to the city and enjoy the sights. At night, he¡¯d hole himself in his room and focus on upgrading the equipment to his hearts desire.


    In the following days, Bai Yunfei noticed that the amount of people in Mo City was growing by the day. The majority of them were soul cultivators that came into the city either by themselves or in groups. Some of them looked as though they belonged to a major house or school even.


    These people were all here for the auction house planned by the Tang.


    Seven days later after the banquet.


    Under the guidance of Tang Jing, Bai Yunfei, Zhao Xiluo, and the others were lead to a place named the ¡®Treasure Trove¡¯. Upon seeing the auction house, Bai Yunfei finally realized just how grand in scale the auction would be.


    Inside the Treasure Trove, the entire interior of the place was decorated similarly to how a theater would look. Rows of chairs and tables lined up the place with a large wooden podium at the very front of the place. All around the area, servants from the Tang worked and rushed left and right as they tried to accomplish their tasks.


    There weren¡¯t many people there when Bai Yunfei¡¯s group arrived, but after they took their spots at a table near the front on the right side of the room, the place started to fill up. Servants from the Tang started to usher people to their seats, and soon enough, the entire place was lively with excitement.


    Some of the guests started to speak with the ones they knew while other guests sat down quietly and waited for the auction to start. But every single guest there was without exception a very strong soul cultivator. Bai Yunfei could sense that the weakest person gathered nearby was a Soul Sprite at the very least. There were plenty of Soul Ancestors, but more importantly, there were even a few people Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even tell how strong they were.


    This was the very first time Bai Yunfei came across such a large gathering of people of such strong strengths. He was curious most especially and measured up the area around him constantly.


    ¡°No wonder the Tang are known as one of the Five Clans. If the auction they hold can have so many people like this, I wonder just how amazing the items will be¡­.¡±

 Chapter 313: A List of Prodigies

    The area where Bai Yunfei and his group were seated at was near the very front of the theater, but since it was also in the corner, not much conversation could be heard there.


    The auction house continued to fill up with more and more people, and with group of people seated, the noise levels in the place grew in degree as friends and acquaintances greeted to each other.


    Bai Yunfei continued to look around the place with equally increasing curiosity. There were a few people that¡¯d introduce themselves when they met Bai Yunfei¡¯s gaze. Some of them were the elders of so-and-so school, or young masters of the so-and-so house, but most of them were talented youths of their generation.


    And after hearing Zhao Xiluo¡¯s introduction of these said people, Bai Yunfei found himself even more curious than before.


    The very start of his quest to reach the Crafting School was beget with people trying to kill Bai Yunfei. Only the later half of his adventure was relatively more relaxed, but since he was traveling by himself, Bai Yunfei never found the opportunity to understand even more about the ¡®circles¡¯ of the soul cultivators.


    Him joining the Crafting School was hardly different either. Aside from a few more simpler situations, Bai Yunfei was still very ignorant about the soul cultivators of the world.


    So when Zhao Xiluo introduced every single person Bai Yunfei asked about, he felt as if he was in some sort of fantastical epic with how there were so many capable soul cultivators there were.


    Just as the the auction house was halfway-through with being filled up, the entrance to the place started to grow loud with noise, earning the attention of everyone else.


    Craning his neck to look towards the source, Bai Yunfei could see two imposing figures come walking through the entrance and into the main halls. One of the two figures was Tang Jing, and the other person was a tall young man in purple robes.


    Their very entrance became the focal point of the entire auction house. No sooner did they appear in the place did everyone around them try and greet them.


    Smiling and greeting people as they continued on their path, Tang Jing and the other male continued on towards the direction of where Bai Yunfei¡¯s group was. When pointed to by Tang Jing, the other male looked to where Bai Yunfei was with surprise.


    Before long, the two arrived to where Bai Yunfei was. ¡°Haha, brother Bai, brother Zhao, and sister Kou, allow me to introduce you to the eldest son to Marquis Xuanyuan, Xuanyuan Jie.¡± Tang Jing spoke as soon as they were within earshot.


    ¡°Xuanyuan Jie!¡± Zhao Xiluo smiled politely in pleasant surprise, ¡°My apologies for not recognizing you here, master Xuanyuan¡­.¡±


    Nodding his head, Xuanyuan Jie returned the greeting, ¡°You¡¯re too kind, brother Zhao. This one came to hear of your excellence among the new students in the Water School a while back. Even now, I can see how skilled you are myself, brother Zhao.¡±


    ¡°Brother Xuanyuan, your words make me blush with shame! How could what little strength I have compare to you? You¡¯re one of the empire¡¯s Ten Prodigies!¡± Zhao Xiluo sighed, while he had some talent to say the least, there was no way he felt that he was on par with Xuanyuan Jie. The other person was a Soul Exalt and was ranked as one of the most prestigious prodigies; that meant he was a genius of his generation.


    ¡°Haha, not in the slightest. I¡¯m ashamed to say it, but there¡¯s far more geniuses stronger than I am, they just don¡¯t like the spotlight.¡± Xuanyuan Jie laughed modestly before turning to Kou Tingting.¡±And you must be the lovely daughter of senior Kou Changkong of the Crafting School, correct? How fortunate I am to have met such a beautiful woman today. Since you and brother Zhao are here in Mo City, allow me to play the host and welcome you around the city.¡±


    Rising up from her seat to curtsy to him, Kou Tingting smiled, ¡°Thank you for your kindness, lord Xuanyuan, brother Zhao and I will be sure to visit another day.¡±


    He turned to Tang Xinyun next, ¡°Miss Tang, it¡¯s been a long time since our last meeting. I heard you joined the Crafting School and became the disciple of the third elder there, congratulations!¡±


    Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°Thank you, lord Xuanyuan, I¡¯m happy to see you again as well.¡±


    Only Bai Yunfei was left to greet now. Xuanyuan Jie turned to Bai Yunfei last, ¡°And you must be brother Bai Yunfei, correct? What an amazing talent you are to have senior Zi Jin take you in as a disciple after twenty years of isolation. Looking at you, I¡¯m sure there¡¯ll be an upset in the top ten prodigies in the coming years¡­.¡±


    Despite not knowing what the ¡®Empire¡¯s Top Ten Prodigies¡¯ was, Bai Yunfei could make an educated guess that Xuanyuan Jie was one one of them and had remarkable talent. Having not a bad first impression of him, Bai Yunfei replied in an equally polite voice, ¡°Brother Xuanyuan praises me too much. I¡¯d never hope to even hope to stand shoulder to shoulder with brother Xuanyuan with what meager strength I have.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still young, brother Bai. Give it a decade or two and I¡¯m confident you¡¯ll be known throughout the continent, haha¡­.In the future when you become successful in the art of crafting, I hope you will not refuse me if I come with a request for a soul armament.¡±


    ¡°Brother Xuanyuan, what a ridiculous notion. If the time comes, there¡¯d be no way I¡¯d refuse your request.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After a decently long conversation with everyone, Xuanyuan Jie and Tang Jing both left the area. Reseated now, Bai Yunfei asked Tang Xinyun, ¡°So, Xinyun, what¡¯s with this ¡®Top Ten Prodigies¡¯?¡±


    ¡°At first, it was meant to be a list to see which soul cultivators did the most good deeds. But when more and more people learned about it, it became a popularity contest. Rankings are based on the strength of any upcoming soul cultivator, and the strongest ten are called the Ten Prodigies. It¡¯s not 100% accurate, but the ones that are on the rankings are without a doubt beyond strong for their generation.¡± She explained.


    Zhao Xiluo piped up next, ¡°Actually, your senior Jiang Nan was once a part of that list, Yunfei. But the list changes every three year, and since Jiang Nan spent ten years in hiding to train, he fell out from the public¡¯s eye and was replaced by another prodigy.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Senior Jiang Nan was once a part of that list?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    He felt relieved, however. With Jiang Nan¡¯s strength, it wasn¡¯t strange at all to be on the list.


    The question of Xuanyuan Jie¡¯s identity came up after that, ¡°Oh, Xiluo, if Xuanyuan Jie is the son of the lord mayor of Mo City, is he a student of the Heavenly Soul School then?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Xiluo nodded his head, ¡°his father, the marquis Xuanyuan Hong is a core student of the school. Xuanyuan Jie himself was carefully taught the teachings of the school since young, and if nothing goes wrong, he¡¯ll become the lord mayor of Mo City in several decades.¡±


    While he was answer Bai Yunfei¡¯s question, Zhao Xiluo felt something strange and turned to the side as if realizing something. ¡°Eh?¡± He spoke in surprise, ¡°Didn¡¯t think those two people would come here too.¡±


    Following his gaze, Bai Yunfei turned just in time to see two twenty-seven or twenty-eight year old males come walking over.


    ¡°Haha, Zhao Xiluo, it really was you; what a coincidence to see you here too.¡±


    The one who spoke then was the male on the left. He had long hair that floated slightly as he walked and the eyebrows on his face were as sharp as a sword when he smiled towards Zhao Xiluo. When he saw Kou Tingting, he looked slightly surprised, ¡°Junior Kou, you came here as well?¡±


    Smiling, Kou Tingting replied, ¡°Haha, senior Zhong, long time no see.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, one of my seniors told me before that the auctions in Mo City were always a blast to see, so junior Kou and I decided to make a detour here before heading for the Crafting School. How surprising to see brother Zhong and brother Yang here as well.¡± Zhao Xiluo greeted the two newcomers before turning around to introduce Bai Yunfei to them.


    ¡°Brother Bai, allow me to introduce these two. This is the junior headmaster of the Fire School, Zhong Liyan. And this is my second senior from the Metal School, Yang Lin.¡±


    ¡°The junior headmaster of the Fire School and a senior of the Metal School!¡± Bai Yunfei mentally remarked with surprise. He had no idea that these two people would have such high statuses.


    Yang Lin was the one with shorter hair and rather average appearances, but his eyes had such a staunch look of determination in them that it was practically as sharp as a sword. Looking at Bai Yunfei, he started, ¡°Brother Zhao, this is¡­?¡±


    Instead of letting Zhao Xiluo introduce him, Bai Yunfei did it himself, ¡°Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School, pleased to make your acquaintance.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so you¡¯re a junior student from the Crafting School. If you¡¯re friends of Zhao Xiluo, then you¡¯re friends with me, Zhong Liyan! If we become good friends in the future, I¡¯ll be sure to help you with any help you might need!¡± Zhong Liyan laughed cordially. Even without personally knowing Bai Yunfei, Zhong Liyan was already more than willing to call him a friend.


    ¡°¡­.¡± The corners to Zhao Xiluo¡¯s lips curled upwards as if to snicker at the fact that Bai Yunfei was being called a ¡®junior student¡¯. ¡°He should be called a ¡®senior uncle¡¯ if anything.¡± He thought.


    Though since Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem to want to divulge his identity, Zhao Xiluo said nothing more himself. Moving on, he spoke, ¡°This is Tang Xinyun, the fourth daughter of the Tang and student of the Crafting School.¡±


    ¡°The fourth daughter of the Tang?¡± Yang Lan remarked, ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting to meet you here, miss Tang. So you¡¯ve joined the Crafting School? I¡¯m sorry to say I didn¡¯t hear about it.¡±


    ¡°I only just the previous year,¡± Tang Xinyun replied, ¡°It¡¯s natural that senior Yang didn¡¯t hear about it yet.¡±


    ¡°Haha, to join the Crafting School with all their strict standards, you¡¯re a talented one then, miss Tang. There¡¯s been plenty of students from my Fire School that tried to join the Crafting School, but they were all unfortunately disqualified before joining us.¡± Zhong Liyan sighed, ¡°There was actually someone with extremely high talent in elemental fire that joined us this year. He was disqualified from the Crafting School for his lack of talent in crafting, however.¡±


    As an aside almost, Zhao Xiluo spoke to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, Zhong Liyan is actually another one of the ten prodigies.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Zhong Liyan questioned, ¡°What makes you bring that up all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, haha. We just came across Xuanyuan Jie a while ago, but brother Bai doesn¡¯t know much about soul cultivators so I had to give him a quick introduction.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­.then, brother Zhao, please try not to mention me. I¡¯m only at the end of the list so I¡¯m embarrassed to even show my face in public¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh be quiet. If someone like you says that, people who didn¡¯t even make the list like us wouldn¡¯t even be able to show our faces to our parents, could we?¡±


    TL Note: Untranslatable pun. Zhong Liyan talks about him losing face, but the first character meaning ¡®to lose¡¯ can also mean ¡®to throw¡¯, so Zhao Xiluo sarcastically remarks that if he¡¯s ¡®lost face¡¯, then people like him who didn¡¯t even make the list ¡®threw¡¯ their faces so hard, it¡¯s all the way back home.


    ¡­¡­


    The conversation took to their seats now that Zhong Liyan and Yang Lin joined them. Zhong Liyan and Zhao Xiluo seemed to have a fairly great friendship with one another from how they talked to one another. Yang Lin was far more quiet, but even he spoke up once in a while to contribute to the conversation.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t say anything and opted to listen so that he could learn more about soul cultivators in general.


    Unknowingly, the auction house was almost filled to the brim now before a single figure came walking up to the wooden podium.


    It was Tang Jing.


    Walking up to the front, Tang Jing waited for everyone in the audience to quiet down before bowing to them all. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, I am Tang Jing. Please allow me to welcome and thank you all for participating in the Tang sponsored auction today.¡±


    He paused here to take a breath.


    ¡°We are all soul cultivators, so I¡¯ll dispense with the dull pretext commoners are prone to say. Allow me to just say that I hope everyone will be able to bid to their heart¡¯s content today!!


    ¡°And so I declare, let the auction, begin!¡±

 Chapter 314: Dragonfruit

    In just three small lines of dialogue, Tang Jing immediately kicked off the auction.


    It was befitting nonetheless. For soul cultivators, auctions didn¡¯t require all the long primers one might expect from one run by commoners. So if Tang Jing were to say anything longer for this one, the entire audience would find it extremely inappropriate.


    As soon as he announced the start of the auction, Tang JIng walked off the podium and returned to his own seat.


    A thirty-year-old man came up to the podium next and bowed to the audience. ¡°Ladies and gentleman, I am Lu Fan, your host for today¡¯s auction. While I¡¯m sure that everyone here is accustomed to how this auction works, there are a few first-timers here. So please allow me to give a refresher on the rules and regulations.¡±


    Up on the podium, Lu Fan wasn¡¯t speaking so loudly that he was screaming, but it was loud enough for the entire audience to hear him. His voice was deep but clear, and the amount of soulforce coming out from his body clearly marked him as a very strong soul cultivator.


    ¡°Please allow me to first say that the items that will be auctioned today are not from the Tang. The house of Tang are only the organizers of this auction and were only entrusted with protecting and allowing the items to be sold here today.


    ¡°There will be, of course, a reward for them.


    ¡°The currencies that¡¯ll be used for today¡¯s auction will be primal stones. Primal stones of every element are accepted provided that they are of low quality, and guests are allowed to use soul armament, soul crystals, and other items similar to them as barter. We, the house, will accept and trade in those items for primal stones.


    ¡°If the master of the auction house is willing to trade and ¡®convert¡¯ items for primal stones, there won¡¯t be a need for the Tang to do the conversion.


    ¡°The bidding will take place as per norms; if there are no higher bids within a minute, then the item will go to the final bidder at that price.


    ¡°After the bidding is complete, you may trade in your primal stones for your item, or you may continue bidding for other items. We will wait until the auction is over for you to make the transaction if needed.¡±


    ¡°That will be all. Your host has nothing more to say, so¡­allow me to present the very first item!¡±


    After a brief introduction of the rules, Lu Fan immediately waved his hand to signal to the people to the side of the stage. Shortly afterwards, a beautiful young woman came walking onto the podium with a expertly-crafted wooden box about half a meter squared in length.


    Despite the box being closed, everyone could sense a faint red glow emanating from within the box. From that, everyone could guess that it was an item with an affinity for fire.


    ¡°The very first item is a very magical type of herb.¡± Lu Fan announced to the audience. Brandishing his right hand, he opened the box and retrieved the item inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­a three-thousand year-old dragonfruit!¡±


    As soon as the box was opened up, a brilliant gleam of red light jumped into the sky. The farther it got away from the source, the fainter the red light became, but there was enough of it to fill the entire auction house, and the temperature in the area seemed to go up several degrees as well.


    The dragonfruit was completely red and shined a brilliant shade of red. Even despite it being as big as someone¡¯s fist, the dragonfruit shined brightly like a ball of fire to everyone else.


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    No sooner did the dragonfruit appear did the entire auction house devolve into a buzz of discussion. No one imagined that the very first item to be auctioned would be such a priceless herb.


    Dragonfruits were extremely rare types of magical herb ingredients. Ones that were a thousand years old in age were already considered priceless, but this one was somehow three-thousand years old!!


    It¡¯d be no exaggeration to say that the consumption of the dragonfruit would equal to a Soul Ancestor training for several years!


    Back when Bai Yunfei was tryin to form a second essence fireseed, he was lucky enough to have a dragonfruit on hand. It was only a thousand-years olds, but even then, it was squandered on him. The amount of drugs used that day was used up at great speeds and without much absorption.


    It was only because of Zi Jin¡¯s adamant nature to help Bai Yunfei that he was able to use the drugs since Huangfu Nan was extremely heartbroken to see all those resources used up.


    The chaotic fluctuation of soulforce coming from behind Bai Yunfei startled him. Turning around, he could see Zhong Liyan¡¯s eyes lighting up in joy as he honed in onto the dragonfruit with them.


    ¡°That dragonfruit is¡­.mine!!¡±


    He was extremely determined to obtain it.


    Up on the podium, Lu Fan could tell just how excited the audience was getting. ¡°I presume I don¡¯t need to explain to everyone how precious this dragonfruit is.


    ¡°So now, this three-thousand year old dragonfruit will have a starting price of a thousand primal stones. Let the bidding begin!¡±


    ¡°A thousand primal stones!¡± Bai Yunfei grew alarmed. He knew that the dragonfruit would surely net a considerable sum of money, but a starting price of a thousand was completely unexpected. It¡¯d be a different story if the currency being used was gold pieces, but primal stones meant that this item was extremely more valuable. Low-grade primal stones like the one being used as currency right now weren¡¯t worth much, but a thousand of them was definitely a considerable sum of money.


    To further drive this point home, students of the Crafting School were only allowed an allowance of thirty low-grade primal stones per month. The only way to increase their allowance was to contribute to the school and be rewarded for it in primal stones.


    There was a standardized conversation rate from between primal stones. A hundred low-grade primal stones was equivalent to a single mid-grade primal stone, and a hundred mid-grade primal stones was worth a single high-grade primal stone. But even though the amount of energy contained in a hundred high-grade primal stones was equivalent to a single top-grade primal stone, only an idiot would make the trade.


    While the conversation rate seemed fair, only a few people would be willing to trade a higher quality primal stone for any number of inferior quality ones.


    ¡°A thousand one hundred!¡±


    No sooner did Lu Fan announce the start when someone from the left called out his bid. The middle-aged man in question wore a dark-red robe and stared intently at the dragonfruit in anticipation.


    ¡°A thousand two hundred!¡±


    From the middle, another person called out his bid.


    ¡°A thousand three hundred!¡±


    ¡°A thousand five hundred!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Under the bewildered expression of Bai Yunfei, the people of the audience started to increase the price one after another. In a short minute, the price had gone from a thousand primal stones to two thousand five hundred.


    But by this point, the amount of bidders was far fewer than before. And soon enough, only the first bidder and another old man was left bidding for it.


    When the old man announced his bid for two thousand five hundred, the other middle-aged man was clearly starting to hesitate as he debated whether it was worth bidding for.


    On the podium, Lu Fan only gave a small smile at the bidder. He didn¡¯t urge the man, and neither did he bother to try and encourage him. The bidders weren¡¯t the main characters of the auction, so in his perspective, there wasn¡¯t a need to do anything.


    After the dragonfruit was finally sold, the auction could continue onwards. The items after it were rare beyond rare, but none were as awe-shocking as the dragonfruit. It would appear that the dragonfruit was meant to be an item to help make the auction have a strong start.


    Seated in his corner of the room, Bai Yunfei continued to watch each item be brought in and bidded for with excitement. Whenever someone started to bid on the items, his heart started to beat with increasing tempo.


    After half the day went by, Bai Yunfei was starting to feel that these primal stones may as well be like small pebbles with how abundant they were in numbers here.

 Chapter 315: Baby Wind Squaller

    For all the excitement he had for the auction, Bai Yunfei was only an observer and not an actual participant. The items being sold here were by no means bad, but not a single one of them caught his eye just yet. It was also worth mentioning that since Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t realized the concept of using primal stones as currency, his own space rings had only a few of them. Ever since the elemental fire in his body vanished, Bai Yunfei had no need for them.


    At one point, a low-earth tier soul armament was sold for roughly six thousand primal stones. Shocked by such a price, Bai Yunfei began to count up the soul armaments he had in his own space ring. From there, he was pleasantly surprised to realize that with the amount of soul armaments he had, he may as well be considered a ¡®parvenu¡¯¡­.


    So great was his surprise did Bai Yunfei start to think that he should give the Tang some of his earth tier soul armaments. He¡¯d be able to ¡®make¡¯ a profit by selling them in exchange for primal stones which could help him train later¨Cthough he wouldn¡¯t be able to sell the ones with additional effects¨Che¡¯d be able to sell any of the equipment that weren¡¯t yet at the +10 level. On a second thought, the equipment that had additional effects such as just increasing attack power could be sold, since they wouldn¡¯t too inconspicuous.


    Time slowly went by before it reached high noon, and then after noon shortly afterwards. Not eating lunch wasn¡¯t at all rare for soul cultivators in any case, and this auction was specifically meant to continue until five in the afternoon without a break.


    When the auction house was nearing its end, Bai Yunfei could feel several of the more indifferent men in the audience start to grow lively, as if waiting for something to appear.


    From there, more and more people started to move slightly in their seats when another item was sold.


    Before long, Lu Fan gave a slight cough to clear his throat. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen! The auction is about to wrap up for the year, so as per usual, I will now announce the final and most anticipated two items we shall be auctioning off today!¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked surprised. The auction house had kept the best items for last! These two items would presumably be the highlight of the auction and the items everyone looked forward to the most.


    ¡°The next item is a very special case. It isn¡¯t a mineral, herb, soul armament, or soul skill¡­.


    ¡°It¡¯s a soulbeast!¡±


    A wave of silence swept across the audience as soon as Lu Fan spoke.


    Bai Yunfei was quiet himself¡ª¡±You can buy even soulbeasts here?¡±


    Lu Fan motioned for a lovely young woman to bring up a large box up to the podium. The box had no lid, so everyone could see the silk-ladened interior where a single green ball was carefully wrapped up inside.


    At a closer observation, everyone could see that it was a green-colored soulbeast!!


    It looked similar to a recently borne dog due to its shape. The soulbeast was curled up in a ball and had its eyes closed so that it looked as if it was sleeping.


    ¡°This is a baby wind squaller. Just moments after it was born, a special medicine was administered so that it¡¯d go into hibernation. As a baby, both its mind and willpower are at their very lowest; that makes making a soul contract with it extremely easy. Need I say anymore on just how valuable this wind squaller is? In just three to five years, it¡¯ll be able to become a fifth-class soulbeast if you take care of it right! Soulbeasts that are tamed since young will have the absolute best level of compatibility, which means it¡¯ll be even stronger than normal!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was shocked again. He hadn¡¯t realized that the auction would actually sell young soulbeasts as well. This wind squaller was clearly a strong soulbeast, and one with the wind affinity like Xiao Bai as its name clearly indicated. But rather than an avian type soulbeast, it was a four-footed one.


    Upon knowing that the next item to be auctioned was a young wind squaller, the conversation in the audience kicked up a notch. Some people had disappointment and regret on their faces, as a wind type soulbeast wasn¡¯t compatible with them, while other soul cultivators had a gleeful smile on their faces. They were clearly coveting the wind squaller.


    In the right hand side of the central area, there was a young handsome man dressed in black. Excited as he looked at the young wind squaller with his gleeful eyes, the young man couldn¡¯t help but let loose an excited laugh, ¡°Haha¡­a soulbeast! A young one with a wind affinity, how excellent! How truly excellent! I¡­I want this soulbeast!!¡±


    Just one seat ahead of this person sat another person with hair that reached his shoulders and a face handsome and pale. Originally, this man had his hands crossed against another while he napped with his eyes shut. But when he heard the black-robed young man behind him start to laugh, his eyes blinked open to look at the case up above.


    ¡°Brother Mo, this Tang-sponsored auction house really lives up to its name! I never thought the very first day of the auction would have such an item! A baby wind squaller, hehehe¡­.¡±


    The one named ¡®brother Mo¡¯ maintained his gaze on the case for several seconds longer without a single emotion apparent on his face. ¡°Oh, congratulations then, brother Lin.¡±


    As soon as he spoke, he closed his eyes once more as if not caring for the events around him.


    The young man named Lin didn¡¯t seem to care about his companion¡¯s reaction however and continued to stare up at the podium in anticipation to start bidding.


    Right behind him was an elderly man in his sixties and white hair to show for it. This old man had a small look of concern on his face as he addressed the younger man, ¡°Young master, are you sure you want to buy this wind squaller? If we buy it, we might potentially hurt our chances for the next item¡­.¡±


    But the man shook his hand as if to shut the elder up, ¡°It¡¯s only just a few primal stones, though? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll won¡¯t spend much. I want this wind squaller!¡±


    The old man let out a sigh at this. If the young master was acting this way, there was no point in saying anything more.


    ¡­¡­


    Lu Fan waited for the discussion to die out from the audience before he opened his mouth again. ¡°Ladies and gentleman, we shall begin the auction for the baby wind squaller at twenty thousand primal stones. Let the bidding begin!¡±


    ¡°Twenty thousand!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes bulged out wide at the price of the soulbeast. This soulbeast had a starting price that was already twenty times as big as the dragonfruit at the start of the auction!


    ¡°Twenty thousand huh¡­.that¡¯s about two hundred mid-grade primal stones, or two high-grade ones!¡± Bai Yunfei calculated. To him, high-grade primal stones had a worth even he didn¡¯t know. Back at the Crafting School, brother Song Lin and the others in the internal school only used mid-grade primal stones to train. Even Jiang Nan himself was only able to use a single high-grade primal stone, but that was that he could heal from his wounds.


    While a price of twenty-thousand was enough of a shocker to Bai Yunfei, what made him even more dumbfounded was the fact that just five or six bids were immediately called out afterwards. In just a short two minutes, the price was already at forty-thousand primal stones!


    The price continued to grow higher and higher while the amount of people continued to drop out. In just a short ten minutes, the price was already at forty-seven thousand primal stones.


    ¡°Fifty thousand!!¡±


    Right at the climax when everyone thought the bidding was over, a loud but confident voice echoed across the auction.


    It was the youth named Lin!


    The sudden increase of three thousand more primal stones elicited a gasp from the audience as everyone turned to focus on the youth.


    ¡°That youth, he¡¯s¡­Lin Dongxiao!! The junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School!!¡±


    In no time at all, the identity of the man was leaked out for the entire audience to hear and discuss over.


    ¡°The junior headmaster of the Fire School is here, and now it¡¯s the Beast Taming School now too?!¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t paying attention I guess. It¡¯s only the first day of the auction though. I remember these people usually come out in the last two days of it. But even then, they¡¯re never usually such high-ranking members. I¡¯m pretty sure all these prodigies were curious to see what was going on in the auction this year¡­.¡±

 Chapter 316: Junior Headmaster of the Beast Taming School

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t bidding before, but now he makes a bid for fifty-thousand primal stones! No wonder he¡¯s the junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School, he really wants that wind squaller!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that pretty obvious? He¡¯s from the Beast Taming School, the school where soulbeasts are the most important. Wanting a baby wind squaller would be pretty obvious I¡¯d say.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    While everyone was talking to one another, Bai Yunfei learned of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s identity from Zhao Xiluo.


    He was a junior headmaster and also one of the ten prodigies. He was even stronger than Zhong Liyan as an early-stage Soul Exalt.


    ¡°The Beast Taming School¡­¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. He had no love for the school, especially after what happened in Curopia City.


    It¡¯d be far more accurate to say that Bai Yunfei abhorred the school.


    The beast tamers from that incident were all killed by him, however. His master Zi Jin didn¡¯t news of their death to be made public since that¡¯d cause a public conflict with the Beast Taming School. Fortunately, Bai Yunfei had no desire to kill any beast tamer he came across. At most, he had a strong feeling of dislike for any members of the school.


    ¡°Fifty-thousand primal stones¡­.that¡¯s far more than the final bid for the dragonfruit!¡± He thought. As an aside to Zhao Xiluo, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Xiluo, if I¡¯m thinking correctly, beast tamers use soulbeast puppets to battle for them. How¡¯re they going to use a baby wind squaller then? Are they going to take care of it like any regular soul cultivator?¡±


    His question was responded with a shake of the head from Zhao Xiluo, ¡°Take care of it? Why in the world would the Beast Taming School do something ¡®nice¡¯ like that? As far as I know, the Beast Taming School has a secret technique that¡¯ll forcefully age the soulbeast. Since newborns are very weak in willpower, they can easily erase their sentience and ¡®refine¡¯ them in a similar way you might work a soul armament. This way, the soulbeast will mature extremely fast and draw out its latent power during that time. I¡¯d say it¡¯d take half the time it¡¯d normally would for this baby wind squaller to become a fifth-class soulbeast¡­.


    ¡°Soulbeasts that are ¡®raised¡¯ this way are the easiest to control¡­yea, if I had to make a comparison, I¡¯d say that it¡¯d be similar to how your Crafting School has those ¡®soulbound armaments¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Stripped of their sentience and worked like a item¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei stared pitifully at the curled up wind squaller in the box. Just minutely, the knot in his eyebrows tightened by a little bit.


    Up on the podium, Lu Fan was currently going through the customs of asking if there was anyone else willing to make a bid. Though from how everyone was looking at him, it was obvious that no one else would be willing to make a bid.


    First off, the price was already far too high.


    Secondly, now that they knew the identity of the most recent bidder, who¡¯d be willing to engage in a bidding war with him?


    From where he was seated, Lin Dongxiao sat in his seat with a smug face as he waited for the bid to end.


    But before Lu Fan could make the announcement, a deep voice from the rear of the right side called out to make a bid.


    ¡°Fifty-thousand and two hundred primal stones.¡±


    It was only a measly two hundred more than the last, but the fact remained that someone was willing to fight Lin Dongxiao over the soulbeast!


    The smile on his face froze. From where a content look was once on his face, only a chillingly sharp glint of killing intent remained. His pupils had dilated to such a tremendous degree that they were now more beast-like than human as he turned towards the direction to glare at the person who¡¯d dare try and steal his prize away.


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei and his group of friends turned towards the back. From in the corner of the room, a twenty-something year old man could be seen leaning somewhat lazily backwards to stare up at the ceiling. His hands cradled his head from behind, making him look extremely sloppy and lazy like some sort of hedonistic child.


    ¡°A late-stage Soul Warrior?!¡±


    Everyone that took notice of the young man blanched in surprise. They couldn¡¯t tell just what school or house this youth was from, but they could at least tell that he was relatively weak and had no companions around him.


    A person like that was trying to fight in a battle of bids with the junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School?!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± An indifferent snort erupted from Lin Dongxiao¡¯s nose. While he was angry about having a competitor now, he knew better than to act out on those emotions in this place. Retrieving his glare away from the male, he looked back to Lu Fan on top of the podium, ¡°Fifty-one thousand!¡±


    ¡°Fifty-one thousand and two hundred!¡±


    No sooner did Lin Dongxiao make a new bid did the late-stage Soul Warrior make yet another lazy bid.


    ¡°You!!¡± This time, the anger from Lin Dongxiao was out in full force. His head whipped around to glare at the male. Already a sliver of aura was leaking out from his body as a testament to his readiness to kill the male, but still, the other man remained as calm and lazy as ever. He didn¡¯t even seem aware of the admonishing look Lin Dongxiao was giving him, confusing everyone around him into thinking that he was either far too conceited or he had more than enough support to not worry about the fallout.


    ¡°Fifty-two thousand!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao¡¯s hand clenched in anger for just a brief moment before unclenching again. A plan was already formulating inside his mind to find a way to punish this reckless idiot after the auction ended.


    Like the first two times, the young man trailed behind like a shadow with another bid of his own, ¡°Fifty-two thousand and two hundred!¡±


    ¡°Fifty-three thousand!¡±


    ¡°Fifty-three thousand and two hundred!¡±


    ¡°Fifty-four thousand!¡±


    ¡°Fifty-four thousand and two hundred¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The following half minute went by with both sides listing off a bid in rapid-fire action. Under the dumbfounded eyes and ears of the entire audience, the price of the baby wind squaller soon reached sixty-five thousand primal stones.


    There was finally a difference however. The young man was no longer bidding lazily like before. A serious look finally graced his face, and whenever he made a new bid, it was made with a slight amount of uncertainty.


    At last, the price of the wind squaller reached seventy-thousand primal stones after Lin Dongxiao¡¯s turn to bid. The young man grew silent then. Half a minute went by before he let out a sigh and shook his head.


    No more, it would seem.


    The bid was now at a price where even the young man could no longer afford to go above.


    ¡°Hmph! Bidding against me only means in your death, brat!!¡± Lin Dongxiao laughed mirthfully. A glint of killing intent was passed along the other man¡¯s direction.


    The entire audience in attendance stared at the young man who was now muttering to himself. They all knew just what type of man the junior headmaster was and how vicious he could be in all his grudges.


    It didn¡¯t take much for them to predict that this ¡®reckless¡¯ young man would soon be making his departure from life soon enough¡­..


    The silence lasted for several moments longer as everyone turned back to wait for Lu Fan. It¡¯d be any moment now for Lu Fan to declare Lin Dongxiao as the winning bidder, but then¡­


    ¡°I bid an earth tier soul armament!!¡±


    A voice called out. It was no shout, but the statement may as well been a clap of thunder in the hearts of the entire audience.


    Everyone in the auction house, Lu Fan from the podium, Tang Jing from below, Xuanyuan Jie, Lin Dongxiao, and the other man that tried his best to bid against him, they all turned towards the source of the voice¡ª


    ¨CThe one that came from the corner in the front right side of the auction house.


    The one who spoke was none other than¡­.Bai Yunfei!!


    Lu Fan looked inquisitively at Bai Yunfei, ¡°My lord, might I ask you repeat yourself¡­.?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I said that I would like to offer up an earth tier soul armament as a bid, does the auction not allow such an act?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°According to the rules of your auction, please have someone brought to inspect the price of my soul armament and see if it can outbid the highest price so far.¡±


    A silvery short-sword was brought out as he spoke.


    As soon as it appeared, the eyes of everyone around him light up in surprise; they could already tell at first glance that this short-sword was by no means normal.


    The shock on Lu Fan¡¯s face was only momentarily¨Cas expected from a seasoned host. He called a person over to where Bai Yunfei was and took the offered soul armament into his hand so that it could be sent to where Tang Jing and three other old men stood expectantly.


    ¡°Yunfei, what are you¡­.¡±


    Zhao Xiluo didn¡¯t know what exactly to think. He was completely dumbfounded by what Bai Yunfei had just done.


    Just several seconds before, Bai Yunfei asked him for his thoughts on just how much his earth tier soul armament was worth. Not being an expert on evaluating soul armaments, Zhao Xiluo gave a random guess of eighty-thousand primal stones at the very least.


    But no sooner did he give his estimate did Bai Yunfei make a bid just two seconds later, astounding everyone around him into shock.


    Bai Yunfei gave him a smile, ¡°Haha, I thought the baby wind squaller was kind of cute, so I¡¯d like to buy it.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Both Zhong Liyan and Yang Lin had a strange look on their faces as their minds tried the process the shock that Bai Yunfei just delivered. Because of Bai Yunfei¡¯s rather low strength, they had dismissed him in their minds, and yet¡­.


    The very same person they dismissed as being weak had taken out an earth tier soul armament as easily as nothing!


    That wasn¡¯t something any crafter of the school could do on a whim.


    The one that could understand what Bai Yunfei was thinking the best was perhaps only Tang Xinyun. In her eyes, Bai Yunfei was most likely harboring a grudge against the Beast Taming School, hence why he decided to try and ¡®steal¡¯ away the baby wind squaller.


    In truth, Bai Yunfei just couldn¡¯t stand the arrogant smile on Lin Dongxiao¡¯s face. He also couldn¡¯t stomach the fact that such a young baby would be subject to such cruel treatments, so he was determined to stop the baby wind squaller from reaching Lin Dongxiao¡¯s hands.


    The soul armament he took out was only a low-earth tier soul armament, but it was one of the few equipment he managed to upgrade to +10. With the additional effect being able to increase its attack power by a little more, the combined attack should be just enough for it to be evaluated as a mid-earth tier soul armament.


    A buzz of discussion descended upon the auction house again as many of the soul cultivators started to point at Bai Yunfei. Some were astonished, some were confused, and some started to try and guess what faction Bai Yunfei belonged to.


    A minute later, the three elders who took the short-sword for ¡®inspection¡¯ finally came to a conclusive price.


    This soul armament, they announced, was worth eighty-three thousand primal stones!!


    In truth, the price of this soul armament was given after going through the Tang¡¯s ¡®reasonably fair¡¯ conversation rates.


    Should any other auction house make their own evaluation, the short-sword would surely be even higher¡­.


    Upon confirmation that he wanted to participate in the auction with the soul armament, Bai Yunfei watched as the entire audience start to gasp and turn their heads towards Lin Dongxiao.


    They all knew that this was a direct ¡®challenge¡¯ to him, so they were all waiting to see how he¡¯d respond.

 Chapter 317: A Must Have!!

    The look on Lin Dongxiao¡¯s face was all but ashen now. The anger in him was at a boiling point, and his killing intent was already flowing freely from his body. Those people that were and unfortunate enough to be around him were already starting to feel the effects of his killing intent and began to shiver in fear.


    The item he was fighting for was only a baby wind squaller. A soulbeast and nothing more.


    And yet, he was being challenged by a ¡®reckless¡¯ youth and forced to raise the price from fifty-thousand to seventy-thousand. That much was vexing in itself, and yet another problem cropped up afterwards in the shape of a late-stage Soul Warrior!


    What kind of humiliation was this?!


    The fact that this second person was companions with the junior headmaster of the Fire School, a senior of the Wood School and Water School, and even with someone from the Tang changed nothing in his mind. He would kill this person.


    The auction house had a guarantee from the Tang that any two parties would be safe as long as they were in Mo City. No one was stupid enough to challenge one of the Five Clans in that regard. But the Tang had no way of making good on that promise outside of Mo City. As long as the party stepped a single foot outside the city borders, there¡¯d be a bloodbath of people going after the treasure.


    From behind Lin Dongxiao, the elder started to whisper to him, ¡°Young master¡­.¡±


    ¡°I know, you don¡¯t need to warn me!¡± Lin Dongxiao waved him off, ¡°I know what to do!!¡±


    Using eighty-thousand primal stones for a single baby wind squaller wasn¡¯t worth it at all. Even if it was nurtured slowly and carefully under the hands of a normal soul cultivator or forcefully aged at the hands of a beast tamer, the price as it stood right now wasn¡¯t worth it. It also wasn¡¯t a guarantee that the wind squaller would successfully become a fifth-class soulbeast; so if Lin Dongxiao were to try and bid any more primal stones, it very well might actually harm the Beast Taming School¡¯s bids for the later auctions.


    Lin Dongxiao wasn¡¯t a man that would move so easily based on his emotions. In a snap of his fingers, the anger he felt was quelled as he gave Bai Yunfei a sinister sneer before following suit with his other companion who was asleep on his chair and closed his eyes to meditate.


    Lin Dongxiao actually giving up the bid left many of the spectators disappointed. But everyone of them knew that there was no way Lin Dongxiao would let this grudge lying down, so they gave Bai Yunfei a sympathetic look.


    Though, there were plenty of people who were excited to see a battle take place between Lin Dongxiao and the people support Bai Yunfei.


    A minute later, Lu Fan announced Bai Yunfei as the winner of the auction.


    The box with the wind squaller was brought over to where Bai Yunfei was and given to Tang Xinyun to hold. She and Kou Tingting looked excitedly over the small soulbeast as it scratched itself in its sleep¨Ca small furry animal like this one was the bane of all young woman in the world.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­.you sure you going to be fine giving away one of your high-earth tier soul armaments? I heard that students of the Crafting School can¡¯t trade any earth tier soul armaments without permission.¡± Zhao Xiluo asked in concern as he watched Bai Yunfei give up the soul armament in question to one of the auction workers.


    ¡°Haha, it won¡¯t be a problem at all.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°The rules of the school say that any soul armament crafted with the ingredients provided for by the school can¡¯t be traded. If made outside of the school, there¡¯s no restrictions at all.¡±


    In other words, soul armaments that didn¡¯t come from the school could be traded with without repercussion.


    But even if such a loophole didn¡¯t exist, the fact that he was Zi Jin¡¯s disciple would be more than enough to let people allow Bai Yunfei to bend the rules.


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±


    Zhao Xiluo nodded his head in understanding. For him, the actions of Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really surprise him. Zhong Liyan and Yang Lin, on the other hand, was. When they heard what Bai Yunfei said about the earth tier soul armament being his own rather than from the Crafting School, they were surprised. If it wasn¡¯t from the Crafting School, then what other backing did Bai Yunfei have other than the Crafting School?


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, I will now announce the final item to be auctioned today!¡±


    When the audience finally grew quiet again, Lu Fan began to announce, ¡°The final item to be sold today is a very special one. At first, our auction house was planning to have the baby wind squaller to be the final item, but the owner of this next item requested for it to be sold last. Furthermore, this item will not be shown today, as it will arrive tomorrow. The house of Tang guarantees that the item will not be anything less than advertised.¡±


    Even though the item wasn¡¯t here yet, the entire audience didn¡¯t seem too bothered by it. Situations like this happened before due to several reasons, such as the seller wishing to first find a buyer before actually bringing it out. In this case, that was why the house of Tang gave their guarantee that the auction house would find a buyer first before the item was delivered.


    But in order to have the rules ¡®bent¡¯ like this required the item to be especially precious. Any normal item would not be enough to make an exception.


    ¡°This last treasure is rare beyond rare. For the stronger soul cultivators in the audience, this item may just very well be a miracle drug capable of boosting their strengths, but for any Soul Sprites or soul cultivators with dual affinities, this item will be priceless.¡±


    His introduction on the item gave rise to a large number of excited murmuring.


    After waiting for the murmurs to die down, Lu Fan began to speak,


    ¡°This next item will be the final item of today. It is the¡­.


    ¡°Fireseed spirit mushroom!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A wave of silence immediately took hold of the auction house for a split second before the noise levels peaked right afterwards.


    ¡°Did I hear that right? A fireseed spirit mushroom?! What a treasure¡­someone¡¯s willing to sell one of those?!¡±


    ¡°Right? What kind of person wouldn¡¯t use that for themselves or give it to someone else in their family? It¡¯s a fireseed spirit mushroom for heaven¡¯s sakes! A single stalk is enough to grant a great boon to any fire type soul cultivator, or even give someone else a great chance to be able to learn how to use elemental fire!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only the first day of the auction, and yet they¡¯re selling such a great item already!¡±


    ¡°A fireseed spirit mushroom¡­.Lu Fan¡¯s right. It might be a drug that¡¯ll only help increase the strengths of most of here by a decent amount, but for everyone else, it really is a priceless treasure! I wonder who¡¯s going to fight for this?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A brilliant gleam of light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Even now, his face was trembling with emotions along with his body.


    A fireseed spirit mushroom had¡­.finally appeared!


    ¡°Yunfei¡­.¡±


    The slight murmuring of Tang Xinyun made its way to Bai Yunfei who turned to see her. On her face, Bai Yunfei could see a similar level of excitement, joy, and just a sliver of hesitation.


    For some reason, the emotions running through his mind was immediately quelled at the sight of her face. He gave her a reassuring smile and whispered, ¡°Haha, Xinyun, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll definitely buy this fireseed spirit mushroom!!¡±


    The words he said were heard to everyone around them, causing Zhao Xiluo and the rest to looked stunned. Since they didn¡¯t know the circumstances around the two, they didn¡¯t understand the situation.


    ¡°Xinyun suffered a serious wound a while ago and lost her essence fireseed. In order to reform it, we need a fireseed spirit mushroom.¡±


    Kou Tingting explained to everyone else. While surprising that Kou Tingting herself knew the predicament of Tang Xinyun, it only showed that the friendship between her and Tang Xinyun really grew in the past two days.


    ¡°Oh? Something like that could happen?¡± Zhao Xiluo asked, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why hasn¡¯t the house of Tang¡­¡±


    He paused here. His understanding of the house of Tang was extremely limited, so whyever the Tang didn¡¯t purchase it themselves rather than help sell it on the auction was completely lost on him.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Bai Yunfei snorted. The circumstances behind Tang Xinyun¡¯s current condition was only told to Zhao Mancha and Chu Qingxue. Not even Tang Qianlei knew about it¨Cnot that they ever cared about her in the first place.


    But that wasn¡¯t important. The Tang might not do anything, but Bai Yunfei certainly wouldn¡¯t let the opportunity slip away from him. This fireseed spirit mushroom¡­.he had to have it!!


    ¡°This fireseed spirit mushroom will start at a price of sixty-thousand primal stones. Let the bidding begin!!¡±


    Lu Fan immediately started the bidding, causing everyone in the audience to shut up straight away as they waited for the first bidder to make their move.


    ¡°A hundred-thousand!!¡±


    Just seconds after the silence began and when several people were debating just how much money they should bid for, a loud voice made a declaration of their own bid. The price he gave out was so high that everyone else¡¯s bid died straight away in their throat.


    The very first bid increased the initial price by forty-thousand primal stones!!


    Everyone immediately turned towards the source of the person who made the bid.


    The person in question was the young man that had been asleep in his chair. The very same person with the last name of Mo and companion to Lin Dongxiao!!


    No longer was his face calm like before. A look of utmost glee covered his entire face, and even his eyes had a strong glint of desire. Like Bai Yunfei, he just had to have this fireseed spirit mushroom!!

 Chapter 318: Bidding War

    Throughout the entire auction, this young man was practically asleep for it all as if it didn¡¯t interest him. But when the fireseed spirit mushroom appeared, he looked just as determined to buy this item as anyone else.


    The fact that he¡¯d make a bid forty-thousand primal stones higher than the initial price was completely unexpected, though.


    A hundred-thousand primal stones! Even if they were all low grade ones, that was still the same as using ten high grade primal stones! It¡¯d take any middling school several years in order to build up their coffers for such a sum.


    And so it wasn¡¯t very surprising to see that the first bid essentially silence the entire auction house. For half a minute, no one else made a bid of their own.


    Plenty of people were trying to figure out who this person was. He didn¡¯t look like someone from the Top Ten Prodigies, but still, no one dared assume he was weak either.


    He wasn¡¯t bothering to hide his aura, so those with exceptional senses could clearly sense that he was a Soul Exalt at the very least.


    Even if the audience were willing to ignore his status, the price he called out was already more than enough to cause everyone else to lament and give up by itself.


    At last, when fifty seconds went by, someone from in front of the podium called out their bid.


    ¡°One hundred and ten thousand!¡±


    The one who spoke was an old man dressed in purple. Zhao Xiluo said before that this man was the elder to a major school of some sort. Though the school wasn¡¯t one of the top ten schools on the continent, it was still considered a top-notch school. Even the old man¡¯s price wasn¡¯t unreasonable, as it drove up the price by a good ten thousand.


    The light in everyone¡¯s eyes gleamed brightly¨Cat last, there was a challenger! Turning their heads back to the first bidder, everyone waited for his reaction.


    The young man in question smiled. With only a glance at the elder who was bidding against him now, the young man waited two seconds before making a nonchalant bid.


    ¡°A hundred and fifty thousand!¡±


    A price jump of forty-thousand primal stones!!


    The look on the elder¡¯s face hardened for a moment as he casted a sharp look at the young man. When he saw the smile on the young man¡¯s face along with a nod, the light in the old man¡¯s eyes flickered for several moments as if debating between his options.


    Then, he shook his head and said no more.


    The other figures who were also debating if they should compete for the fireseed spirit mushroom gave the young man a look too. One by one, they all decided to give up on the idea.


    Even after calling out a second price of a hundred and fifty thousand primal stones, the expression on the young man¡¯s face didn¡¯t change in the slightest. It was as if such a sum didn¡¯t matter to him at all. If he could do such a thing as that, everyone else couldn¡¯t help but look at him in a more respectful light.


    Once more, the auction house grew silent.


    This time, no one could possibly fight the first man on this¨Cwas what everyone was thinking.


    But¡­.


    ¡°I bid two high-earth tier soul armaments!!¡±


    A voice declared with such determination that it alarmed everyone; including the young man who found his own smile frozen to the spot.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s him again!!¡±


    Thought everyone again as they swung their heads towards Bai Yunfei.


    Ignoring the stares of everyone else, Bai Yunfei took out the two soul armaments he had in mind and waited for the worker to come running to him when asked for.


    ¡°Lord Bai, if I may ask what you wish for?¡± The man asked. He was a servant under the Tang, so he knew who Bai Yunfei was.


    ¡°Haha, If I can bother you to have those two soul armaments evaluated by the seniors behind you, that¡¯d be nice.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled before handing a seven inch dagger and a purple and black colored claw type soul armament to him.


    The dagger¡¯s stats:


    Equipment Grade: Low Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 700


    Additional Attack: 360


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase attack by 200.


    Upgrade Requirement: 96 Soulpoints


    The claw¡¯s stats:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +9


    Attack: 950


    Additional Attack: 350


    Soul Compatibility: 9%


    Upgrade Requirement: 105 Soulpoints


    These two items were among one of the four soul armaments he got from the two beast tamers and man from the Soul Refining School back in Curopia City. Claw type soul armaments weren¡¯t weapons Bai Yunfei was prone to use, so he didn¡¯t bother to upgrade it to +10 just in case he wanted to trade it. If an abnormal additional effect were to appear, trading the soul armament would be a very unwise move.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­.¡±


    A hesitant voice spoke out to Bai Yunfei again. Turning his head to look at Tang Xinyun, he smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Xinyun. This isn¡¯t much to me, really. What¡¯s important right now is getting that fireseed spirit mushroom.¡±


    And so he handed the two soul armaments over to the auction workers so that the three evaluators in the back could make a judgement.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s him again! That brat¡­.I¡¯ve never seen him before! Elder Wei, do you know him?¡± Lin Dongxiao turned his shocked eyes away from Bai Yunfei and towards the elder behind him.


    Like Lin Dongxiao, the elder was surprised as well. His eyes lingered on Bai Yunfei for a moment before he closed his eyes and shook his head.


    ¡°Hm, is he some sort of kid pretending to be a weakling?¡± Lin Dongxiao laughed. ¡°Brother Mo, seems like he¡¯s fighting you now! He fought me for the wind squaller, and now you for the fireseed spirit mushroom. Though weak, I¡¯m sure his family or school is beyond strong, what do you think?¡±


    The man with the last name of Mo continued to stare at the three old man evaluating the two soul armaments for some time. ¡°I must have that fireseed spirit mushroom. If someone else wants to fight for it, then we¡¯ll fight for it like how the auction house wants us to. Let¡¯s see how much those two soul armaments are worth first.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still planning on bidding?!¡± Lin Dongxiao exclaimed at first. ¡°Wow! We¡¯re both junior headmasters, so why are you that much richer than I am? Just trying to bid for that wind squaller was enough to make the elder behind me annoyed, how¡­how annoying!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Minutes later, the three old men finally came to a conclusion. The two soul armaments Bai Yunfei was offering up was worth a grand total of a hundred and sixty-five thousand primal stones!


    The confirmation of their prices stunned the entire auction house. Everyone turned to look at Bai Yunfei with great confusion; although he wasn¡¯t very strong, he was able to bring out three earth tier soul armaments without a moment¡¯s doubt.


    This was an act that was enough for many people to start planning on the best way to try and make friends with him.


    The rest of the auction house turned their heads back to the other man to see how he¡¯d respond.


    He didn¡¯t fail to disappoint. As soon as Lu Fan announced the value of the two soul armaments, the young man could be seen with a smile on his face.


    Without hesitation, he immediately spoke out, ¡°Two hundred thousand!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡± Another furious discussion exploded into being as everyone started to talk to one another. The auction today was far too stimulating for their tastes¨Csome of the audience were starting to doubt their own reality.


    This time, the crowd wasn¡¯t sure that the young man would win the bid and turned their heads back towards Bai Yunfei.


    From the other side of the auction house, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see his competitor make yet another bid without hesitation. Thinking about the situation for a second, Bai Yunfei beckoned for the worker holding onto both soul armaments back towards him.


    When he stored the soul armaments away, everyone in the audience grew disappointed as they thought that Bai Yunfei was giving up.


    Everyone thought that he would¡¯ve pulled out another high-earth tier soul armament!


    But then, the very next words Bai Yunfei spoke brought the entire audience house into a frenzy!


    No sooner did Bai Yunfei store away the two soul armaments did his hand move again to take out an orange-lit broadsword from within his space ring. With it in hand, he deposited it onto the tray of the worker in front of him.


    ¡°I bid a low-heaven tier soul armament!¡±

 Chapter 319: Shocking Everyone

    ¡°I bid a low-heaven tier soul armament!¡±


    Those eight words were like a blast of thunder to the ears of the entire audience. Besieged by waves of emotion, their hearts and minds were in utter turmoil now.


    ¡°Did¡­did I hear that right? What¡¯d he say?¡±


    ¡°He¡­he¡­he just said he¡¯s bidding a low-heaven tier soul armament!¡±


    ¡°But¡­but how? Does he really have one?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The entire auction house was split between two reactions. One group were convinced that they misheard, and the other group was confident that Bai Yunfei was wrong. A heaven tier soul armament for a fireseed spirit mushroom? That wasn¡¯t worth it at all.


    This was a heaven tier soul armament they were talking about!


    A good majority of the crowd were tongue-tied while the minority was relatively more calm in their reactions. Their expression had only shifted slightly when Bai Yunfei brought out the sword, but rather than concentrating on the sword itself, they were starting to evaluate Bai Yunfei himself.


    Finally, a clear amount of hesitation was visible on the lips of the man¡¯s smile. Turning his head, he sent a curious glance over to where Bai Yunfei was.


    The broadsword¡¯s stats:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 1100


    Additional Attack: 600


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase attack by an additional 350.


    Upgrade Requirement: 115 Soulpoints


    Like the other two soul armaments, this broadsword came from the spoils of war from Curopia City. It was also the best item he got, and the +10 additional effect wasn¡¯t conspicuous at all with how it could only increase attack. But at the same time, because it could increase attack, the sword was already beyond the 2000 attack range and could be considered as a low-heaven tier soul armament.


    Though he used two earth tier soul armaments, Bai Yunfei could¡¯ve used some slightly more inferior soul armament to do the job and exchange them for the same amount of primal stones since they were basically a dime a dozen for him. But the fact that the other man was willing to bid three times now was a clear indication that he was extremely determined to buy the fireseed spirit mushroom as well. The other man was basically spending primal stones like dirt on the ground. And with how he was slowly increasing the price each time, the man would surely find a time when he could go no further.


    Though the broadsword didn¡¯t hold much value to him, it was still a heaven tier soul armament. As it were, several of his other high-earth tier soul armaments were comparable in level to it, so trading it for a fireseed spirit mushroom shouldn¡¯t be a problem. If that really wasn¡¯t enough, then he¡¯d just throw in the two high-earth tier soul armaments. And if even that wasn¡¯t enough, he still had more soul armaments in his pile.


    As long as he could get the fireseed spirit mushroom, using up all of his soul armaments for it wouldn¡¯t be too bad of a deal.


    ¡°Yunfei, don¡¯t¡­.how can you use a heaven tier soul armament for this¡­¡±


    The later half to Tang Xinyun¡¯s words were slightly rushed as she tried to stop Bai Yunfei, but he shook his head with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Xinyun. I¡¯ll definitely get that fireseed spirit mushroom for you.¡±


    Just the sight of her was enough to make the hardened look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes soften, ¡°I said it before, if I ever see an opportunity to help you regain your essence fireseed, I¡¯ll latch on and won¡¯t let go!¡±


    While Tang Xinyun tried to figure out what to say, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand grabbed hold of her slightly cold hands, ¡°I know what you want to say, but remember my answer from before. It¡¯s worth it!¡±


    It¡¯s worth it!


    They were only three words, but those three words brought a shiver to Tang Xinyun¡¯s body. Feeling the heat from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand travel through her own, Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t feel as shy or as frenetic as before whenever he did one of these ¡®courageous¡¯ actions. Instead, she felt a feeling of warmth. A warmth that enveloped and tugged at her heart with a sensation of happiness like never before.


    Left with nothing other to say to him other than a ¡®yes¡¯, her head looked back down to the ground, though her left hand remained where it was in the warmth of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Zhao Xiluo and Kou Tingting stared at Bai Yunfei as if he had grown a second head. In time, a light went off in their heads before a knowing smile grew on both of their faces.


    Although Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions seemed rather preposterous, the entire group couldn¡¯t help but feel admiration for him¨CZhong Liyan and Yang Lin most especially. The two of them were without a doubt admiring Bai Yunfei during their strange looks as well.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even blinked an eye before he agreed to trade a heaven tier soul armament for a fireseed spirit mushroom. Using two high-earth tier soul armaments was already a bad trade for the item, but the fact that he was doing so so that Tang Xinyun could reform her essence fireseed? Neither Zhong Liyan or Yang Lin had the same amount of drive as Bai Yunfei between the two of them.


    As things were right now, Bai Yunfei was at the center of attention for the entire auction house. Though many were unable to hear what Bai Yunfei was saying, the more sharp sighted fellows could infer what was going on and began to re-evaluate the situation. The ones who could tell who Tang Xinyun was turned to look at Tang Jing and started to guess that Bai Yunfei had to have some sort of relationship with the Tang.


    Even Tang Jing himself was staring at Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun in shock. A light of understanding soon hit him, and afterwards, Tang Jing began to think hard about something.


    ¡°Haha, so it was for a single woman¡­.¡± The man with the last name of Mo smirked in amusement, ¡°Who knew that this guy would be a lovestruck idiot¡­.¡±


    ¡°What¡­what kind of person is this brat! Is his head even fully there? Who¡¯d trade a heaven tier soul armament for a fireseed spirit mushroom? They might be extremely rare, but only to those that could use it! A bid of a hundred and fifty thousand primal stones was already pushing the limits, but that brat¡­.¡± Lin Dongxiao muttered as he stared at Bai Yunfei. His face was twisted up with all sorts of emotions, but rather than admiration like everyone else, Lin Dongxiao was feeling that Bai Yunfei was an idiot.


    Turning his head back to his companion, he smiled, ¡°Haha, brother Mo. What¡­do you plan to do now?¡±


    The young man narrowed his eyes in thought to think. When he was about to say something, a worker from the auction house hurried up to reach Lu Fan. He began to whisper into Lu Fan¡¯s ears, and before long, Lu Fan himself straightened his back to make an announcement to the audience, ¡°Ladies and gentlemen! The owner of the fireseed spirit mushroom has decided to accept a low-heaven tier soul armament, so that concludes the bid!¡±


    That was the expected answer. Who wouldn¡¯t take such a deal? A low-heaven tier soul armament for a fireseed spirit mushroom; a bargain like that would make anyone laugh themselves awake if they were dreaming.


    Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief at Lu Fan¡¯s announcement, but Zhong Liyan and the others were still looking at him strangely.


    To waste a low-heaven tier soul armament for a fireseed spirit mushroom and be happy about it¡­what a wastrel!


    ¡°You can reform your essence fireseed now, Xinyun.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand clutched tightly to her own hand in elation.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Xinyun replied. Like Bai Yunfei, she was excited to see the results, but unlike Bai Yunfei, she realized the looks everyone was giving them. Her face grew red as she took her hand back from Bai Yunfei¡¯s. Fiddling with the hems of her robes, Tang Xinyun tried her best to look away from Bai Yunfei while Kou Tingting started to give her a teasing laugh.


    With the fireseed spirit mushroom sold, the auction for today was finally over. After Lu Fan¡¯s announcement, the entire audience looked to one another and began to talk about today¡¯s events.


    The primary focus of conversation had been the two final items of the day. Both of them had been bought by Bai Yunfei, so that left everyone guessing just who he was.


    A mysterious young man that participated in an auction by bidding with soul armaments, that was a feat everyone was startled by.


    Bai Yunfei took the broadsword back with him, since the fireseed spirit mushroom wasn¡¯t here yet, there was no point in giving the broadsword away yet.


    Soon, a twenty-seven or twenty-eight year old man walked up to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Lord Bai, I am Wu Gang. The fireseed spirit mushroom is from my house of Wu. My father has instructed me to make your acquaintance, lord Bai.¡±


    ¡°Oh? So when will the fireseed spirit mushroom arrive? I wish to make the transaction as quickly as possible.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded before getting to the crux of the problem.


    ¡°Please be at ease, lord Bai. An escort will bringing the fireseed spirit mushroom into Mo City tomorrow afternoon.¡±


    ¡°Very well then. As long as I get the fireseed spirit mushroom, I¡¯ll be happy to give you the heaven tier soul armament.¡±


    His words gave Wu Gang comfort. He and his family were actually far more impatient than Bai Yunfei. In fact, many of them wanted nothing more than for the fireseed spirit mushroom to arrive in Mo City so that they could get the heaven tier soul armament already.


    More than half the audience was gone already, so Bai Yunfei and Wu Gang exchanged several more lines with each other before walking with one another out the building.


    ¡°One moment if you will, my friend.¡±


    Right as the group reached the exit of the auction house, a single person called out from Bai Yunfei.


    Pausing in his footsteps, Bai Yunfei turned around in surprise.


    The one who called him was the young man with the last name of Mo!

 Chapter 320: Mo Ni

    There was a total of three people that greeted Bai Yunfei¡¯s group. The first was the one with the last name of Mo, and the other two was Lin Dongxiao, the junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School and the elder with the last name of Wei.


    ¡°Haha, Zhong Liyan, Yang Lin, and Zhao Xiluo, I never thought to see you all gathered here today¡­.Ah, sister Tingting, you¡¯re here too! It¡¯s been a long time, you¡¯ve gotten prettier since the last time¡­¡±


    Lin Dongxiao was already greeting Zhong Liyan and the others before he was in front of them. His greeting seemed to distress Kou Tingting, as her eyebrows knitted together when she heard him speak. Clearly, this was a sign of her not liking this speaker; but rather than say anything, she chose to stay quiet and nod her head due to her polite nature.


    ¡°We were only just seeing the sights, unlike you, brother Lin. You¡¯re here on business for your school, I take it? How formidable you are, brother Lin. Even though we¡¯ve the confidence of our school¡¯s elders, we cannot compare to you.¡± Zhong Liyan greeted him politely.


    By the side, Yang Lin and Zhao Xiluo spoke out to him in greeting as well, but theirs were far more simplistic. Lin Dongxiao didn¡¯t seem to even notice their greetings, however.


    After all the greetings were made, the young man with the last name of Mo saluted Bai Yunfei, ¡°I am Mo Ni, by what name may I call you by, sire?¡±


    ¡°Mo Ni? As in the same two characters used to mean ¡®bosom buddies¡¯?¡± Bai Yunfei just had to ask.


    ¡°Haha, those same two characters.¡± Mo Ni smiled. It was a handsome smile that corresponded well with his similarly handsome face. Surely, if any daughter from a rich or noble family were to see his smile, they would be immediately smitten.


    There was however, no change in expression from Tang Xinyun or Kou Tingting. In fact, neither of the two spared him a glance even.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have a bad impression of Mo Ni. The two of them might¡¯ve fought over the fireseed spirit mushroom, but the look on Mo Ni¡¯s face didn¡¯t look at all bitter about it, unlike Lin Dongxiao during the auction.


    So, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Bai Yunfei.¡±


    A gleam of light flickered across Mo Ni¡¯s eyes as he cross-referenced the name with every single thing he knew. Upon coming up nothing, Mo Ni gave Bai Yunfei one look before looking to Tang Xinyun next. ¡°Brother Bai, I presume you¡¯re trading a heaven tier soul armament for a fireseed spirit mushroom for the sake of forming an essence fireseed for miss Tang?¡±


    At first, Bai Yunfei was alarmed that Mo Ni guessed what the fireseed spirit mushroom was for, but when he really thought about it, the guess wasn¡¯t all too strange.


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re indeed correct, lord Mo. That is its purpose.¡±


    Mo Ni shook his head as if to praise Bai Yunfei, ¡°The fact that you¡¯re able to do this much for a beautiful woman is awe-inspiring, brother Bai! The house of Tang would surely have a great son-in-law with you¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei coughed in embarrassment while Tang Xinyun¡¯s face grew red behind him. She wanted to say something, but what exactly wasn¡¯t known to her.


    ¡°Haha, you praise me too much, lord Mo. I was only doing what I felt was right.¡± Bai Yunfei tried to laugh it off.


    He actually wanted to say that it wasn¡¯t a bad trade-off. But to say that here would sound like he was bragging, so he decided against it.


    ¡°Haha, well, I just wanted to get to know brother Bai today. I¡¯ve still several other matters to take care of, so I hope that we¡¯ll meet again in better circumstances, brother Bai.¡±


    ¡°May we meet again!¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    Mo Ni and the other two soon left the auction house, leaving Bai Yunfei and his group behind. Bai Yunfei was confused by the interaction, however; was he trying to make friends with him?


    ¡°Brother Zhong, who is this Mo Ni? I¡¯ve never heard of him before, have you? If he¡¯s with Lin Dongxiao, is he perhaps a new prodigy from the Beast Taming School?¡± Zhao Xiluo commented as he watched the three men leave the auction house.


    The other man shook his head in reply, ¡°I don¡¯t know either, but he¡¯s probably not from the Beast Taming School¡­.I think the Mo comes from the house of Mo from the the Western Frontier Province to the farthest place west of the continent.¡±


    ¡°The house of Mo from the Western Frontier Province?¡± Zhao Xiluo repeated, ¡°That family has kept to itself in its corner and rarely makes friends with anyone else in the empire. If that Mo Ni is from the house of Mo, him being a prodigy isn¡¯t too strange then. But¡­.since when did the Mo and the Beast Taming School have any relationship with one another?¡±


    Zhong Liyan shrugged, ¡°How should I know? Take a look yourself when you¡¯ve the chance.¡±


    They were outside now. The group was getting ready to walk onto the main streets as a single figure in black approached them from behind. He moved off to the side as if trying to get around the group and leave as though he was in a hurry.


    He pushed against Bai Yunfei as he slid past him, but before the figure could get too far away, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand snapped up to grab hold of his wrist.


    Twisting the man¡¯s wrist, Bai Yunfei wrenched it upwards, causing the arm to jerk up and unclench, revealing a single space ring that was previously clutched in it.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± Bai Yunfei asked the man in black.


    When everyone gave him a look, they were startled to realize that the man was the very same lazy youth who tried to bid against Lin Dongxiao for the baby wind squaller.


    ¡°Hehe, Ol¡¯Bai, you¡¯ve gotten a lot better after a year!¡±


    Despite being caught by Bai Yunfei, the young man didn¡¯t seem to be flustered at all. If anything, there was a smile on his face, and what he said had surprised Bai Yunfei himself.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t recognize the face, but the voice and the nickname was more than enough to allow a smirk to crawl onto his face.


    ¡°Jing Mingfeng?¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun asked in conjunction.


    Their conjoined reactions earned a look of surprise from the young man at last. ¡°Wow, Ol¡¯Bai, when did you and her have such coordination like that?¡±


    It really was Jing Mingfeng!


    Loosening his hand, Bai Yunfei let Jing Mingfeng go. ¡°Haha, it really is you, you idiot. I knew you were in Mo City, but I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d run into you here of all places. Why is your¡­.¡±


    He pointed a finger at his face as if to ask, ¡°Why are you using a different face?¡±


    Shaking the numbness off in his left arm, Jing Mingfeng laughed, ¡°Hehe, when traveling in this world, safety is very important¡­.I hafta say, Ol¡¯Bai, you¡¯ve gotten a lot stronger. Did a lot of training, did you? And¡­.a way to hide your strength? Wow, you¡¯re really good at that, how¡¯d you manage that? I¡¯d say it¡¯s just as good as my family¡¯s¡­¡­almost.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.it¡¯s a little complicated to say, I¡¯ll tell you about it later.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand before turning to introduce him to everyone else. ¡°This is my friend, Jing Mingfeng.¡±


    He introduced the latter to everyone except for Zhao Xiluo, who met him back in Gaoyi City; only that during that time, Jing Mingfeng had a different face so Zhao Xiluo didn¡¯t recognise him now.


    From the Treasure Trove, the group split into three. Zhao Xiluo said that he wanted to reminisce with Zhong Liyan and Yang Lin, so the three left together. Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting wanted to bring the baby wind squaller back to the house of Tang, so the two left with one another.


    That left Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng who brought him to a bar so that they could talk over a bottle of wine.


    The two soon arrived at a bar. Upon sitting down at a table, the two of them ordered several plates of food and drink and began to talk to each other about their travels.


    ¡°And after that, I joined the Crafting School and became the disciple of the previous headmaster.¡±


    A very concise summary of his travels after Gaoyi City was explained to Jing Mingfeng. Of course, the process on how he became Zi Jin¡¯s disciple was chosen selectively and watered down so that it made him look a lot more modest.


    ¡°Tsk tsk tsk¡­.¡± Even despite being given such a short and simple summary, Jing Mingfeng still found reason to click his tongue in amazement. ¡°What a journey! Ol¡¯Bai, not only did you join the Crafting School, you became someone¡¯s personal student! The disciple of headmaster Zi Jin no less. I can¡¯t even find the words to describe your situation¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, what about you? What¡¯ve you been doing lately?¡± Bai Yunfei sipped a cup of tea. The amount of talking he did was taxing on the tongue, so his drinking was a hint for Jing Mingfeng to start talking about himself.


    ¡°I¡­well, I¡¯ve been wandering wherever I wanted.¡± Jing Mingfeng shrugged. ¡°I played around in Gaoyi City for a month before heading for Fortucis City. After that, I went to¡­.¡±


    For approximately twenty minutes, Jing Mingfeng gushed over the places he wandered to and spoke stories that left even Bai Yunfei wide-eyed. The stories he told in these minutes alone could fill up an entire manual about traveling!


    He waited for Jing Mingfeng to finish speaking before he spoke up next, ¡°Haha, I bet then you ¡®earned¡¯ a lot after an entire year of traveling?¡±


    Knowing exactly what Bai Yunfei was hinting at, Jing Mingfeng smirked, ¡°Well of course¡­.don¡¯t you underestimate me. Stealing what¡¯s in front of me isn¡¯t the only thing I know. The continent is huge, and the adventures are endless. My luck isn¡¯t bad either. I only have one or two grand experiences, but the bounty I got were great. I also managed to become a lot stronger as well¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°I know that you¡¯re hiding your strength to be that of a late-stage Soul Warrior. What¡¯s your current strength like right now?¡±


    ¡°My current strength?¡± Jing Mingfeng smiled.


    His eyes narrowed just slightly as he started to concentrate. A faint but powerful bluish-green light began to appear and glow around his person like a candle.


    He looked then to the gobsmacked Bai Yunfei, ¡°Hehe, how ¡®bout it? Ol¡¯Bai, how does it compare to you?¡±

 Chapter 321: A Reunion With Jing Mingfeng!

    ¡°Late-stage Soul Sprite! And¡­you¡¯re on the verge of breaking through!!¡±


    Upon sensing Jing Mingfeng¡¯s current level of strength, Bai Yunfei was incredibly shocked. Just a year ago, Jing Mingfeng was only an early-stage Soul Sprite. But now, he was on the verge of making the breakthrough!! A rate of training like that was utterly shocking to hear about.


    Pleased as punch at the reaction of Bai Yunfei, Jing Mingfeng smiled, ¡°How ¡®bout it? Ol¡¯Bai, I managed to get a lot stronger after almost dying. I only just need a single step more to become a Soul Ancestor, and I¡¯m confident that I¡¯ll be able to do it!¡±


    The absolute pride he had in himself caused Bai Yunfei to calm down immediately. ¡°Haha, it¡¯s really surprising. You¡¯ve must have picked that up during one of your adventures, eh?¡±


    ¡°Of course, you can say it¡¯s quite shocking, really.¡± Jing Mingfeng snorted. ¡°But lets not talk about that for now. Ol¡¯Bai, how strong are you now? And how are you hiding your strength, I can¡¯t even sense any elements inside your body?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head with a sigh, ¡°I¡¯m not hiding my strength at all. What you¡¯re sensing is correct.¡±


    ¡°Eh? What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°What I mean is that there isn¡¯t any elemental fire in my body at all. Not even my essence fireseed is in me¡­.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Jing Mingfeng exclaimed, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, are you messing with me? What happened?¡±


    ¡°Well, about several months ago¡­.¡±


    Without hiding any details of the story, Bai Yunfei recounted the events of what happened outside of Curopia City to Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡°You¡­you¡¯re telling me you used your essence fireseed as a price to use this ¡®lifebound armament¡¯ to kill two Soul Ancestors and a Soul Exalt?!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes were as large as dinner plates. He simply couldn¡¯t believe his ears on what he was hearing, and he was clearly looking at Bai Yunfei in a state of absolute befuddlement.


    It took Jing Mingfeng several minutes and a long drawn-out breath before he was able to speak again. ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, I really don¡¯t even know what to say to you¡­Killing people beyond your level feels like it¡¯s to be expected from you now. In the past, you could kill people just a little bit stronger than you, but now, you¡¯re skipping levels entirely¡­.that¡¯s a little¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s all because of my lifebound armament, that¡¯s all.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°I¡¯m just very lucky. I was in a special situation, so I was able to kill that person.¡±


    ¡°A kill is a kill, what do you mean by being ¡®lucky¡¯? Even luck is a type of strength. Either way, talk about depressing! I wanted to catch up to you, but then you¡¯re already a Soul Ancestor¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng bemoaned for a moment before asking the next question on his mind, ¡°Then what are you going to do now? Can your essence fireseed be restored?¡±


    ¡°Yea, I¡¯m having my essence fireseed heal in my lifebound armament. It should recover soon enough.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng let out a sigh of relief, ¡°Well, that¡¯s good then¡­.what exactly is this ¡®lifebound armament¡¯ of yours? I¡¯ve never heard of such a thing before. Can I see it?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei frowned; he felt a little embarrassed confessing to Jing Mingfeng that his lifebound armament was the brick they used before.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­not very convenient to show you right now, I¡¯ll let you see it later.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Jing Mingfeng nodded in misunderstanding. To his knowledge, it wasn¡¯t a good idea to show the lifebound armament with Bai Yunfei¡¯s essence fireseed inside, so he didn¡¯t ask again to see it.


    ¡°Oh, one more thing.¡± He segued with a mirthful smirk, ¡°So, Ol¡¯Bai¡­.not only did you join the Crafting School with Xinyun, you brought her home as well? Tell me, when did you get so chummy with her??¡±


    ¡°¡­.¡± Finding it hard to look at Jing Mingfeng straight in the face, Bai Yunfei tried to explain, ¡°There¡¯s¡­.there¡¯s nothing going on between Xinyun and I¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ah shut up, who¡¯s going to believe that? Not me, obviously.¡± Jing Mingfeng snorted, ¡°I could see how lovey-dovey you two were getting in the auction house. And that fireseed spirit mushroom, weren¡¯t you buying it for her? You said it before yourself, she¡¯s in that state now because she saved you. With so much going on between the two of you, are you really going to try and say there¡¯s nothing between you and her?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Though he tried as hard as he could to think of an explanation, nothing came up for him to say.


    But knowing that Jing Mingfeng was on the verge of teasing him again, Bai Yunfei quickly changed the topic, ¡°Anyways, what are you doing in the auction? I heard that to even participate, you¡¯d need the approval of the Tang¡­.¡±


    A pleased smile replaced the mocking smile on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face, ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m an important client, of course I¡¯d be able to take part.¡±


    ¡°Client?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°You¡¯re telling me you¡¯ve something to sell?¡±


    ¡°Course. Let me tell you, my items aren¡¯t your ordinary stuff. Just today, three of the items sold were from me! And I¡¯ve still even more precious stuff to dish out!¡±


    ¡°That many? Were they ¡®spoils¡¯ from your adventure too?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, most of them. But there¡¯s some that I worked hard to get too.¡±


    ¡°I see now, no wonder you were able to amass so many primal stones to bid for that wind squaller.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes brightened at the mention of the wind squaller, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, you bought that baby wind squaller probably because you didn¡¯t want to see someone from the Beast Taming School get it, right? What do you plan to do with it? Why don¡¯t you form a soul contract with it? It¡¯s a wind type, so it¡¯ll suit you well since you¡¯re a fire type¡­.¡±


    The look of longing on his face was far too much for Bai Yunfei to endure, ¡°You want it?¡± He laughed.


    ¡°Well¡­.hehe, I can trade you something nice for it. If you want primal stones, wait until the stuff I gave to the Tang to sell. I¡¯ll give you your primal stones then¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng rubbed his hands in slight expectation.


    It would appear that Jing Mingfeng really wanted the baby wind squaller.


    For a while, Bai Yunfei just stared at Jing Mingfeng to the point where Jing Mingfeng felt slightly scared, but then;


    ¡°No problems then, the wind squaller is yours!¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Jing Mingfeng cried out, ¡°Haha, you¡¯re definitely a brother of mine! But, I don¡¯t have anything that could compare to your high-earth tier soul armament.


    ¡°So how about this then, I¡¯ve plenty of good stuff, they¡¯re not as rare as your stuff, but feel free and take some. What type of soul armament would you like, or maybe you¡¯d like a soul skill!¡±


    Though surprised to hear that Jing Mingfeng had plenty of treasure, Bai Yunfei shook his head to refuse them all. ¡°I want the¡­.Soul Concealment Art!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The look on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face froze completely still. The smile on his face abated somewhat as he furrowed his eyebrows, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, I¡­I can¡¯t promise you that. I may want the wind squaller, but¡­.I can¡¯t trade you the Soul Concealment Art for it.¡±


    Thinking about it a little more, Jing Mingfeng sighed again. ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, I¡¯ll be honest with you. The family rules about ¡®letting no outsiders know¡¯ don¡¯t really mean much to me anymore. But still. The Soul Concealment Art is completely different than the Face Changing Technique I gave you before. It¡¯s my biggest crutch. It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t give it to you, but¡­.¡±


    His voice trailed off here, but Bai Yunfei knew what he was going to say.


    While the two were good friends, they weren¡¯t so good of friends that he¡¯d be willing to divulge the secrets of his family to him.


    Nodding, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°I know what you¡¯re saying, but you didn¡¯t let me finish. Aside from the wind squaller, I¡¯ll happily give you a few other things for it!¡±

 Chapter 322: Trading for the Soul Concealment Art

    Mentioning the Soul Concealment Art wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei had only thought up on the spot. Since the two of them were in Mo City, Bai Yunfei knew it¡¯d only be a matter of time before he met with Jing Mingfeng again, so he had that plan thought up. Jing Mingfeng¡¯s ability to completely hide his presence and aura was something Bai Yunfei himself coveted. The last time, he got the Face Changing Technique, but now that he had his fill of it, it was time for the next thing. So of course, he¡¯d aim for the Soul Concealment Art.


    As such, Bai Yunfei had already an assortment of considerably expensive items ready to be traded. The baby wind squaller was nothing more than another gambling chip on the table.


    In his original plan of action, Bai Yunfei was prepared to find another time to slowly make negotiations with Jing Mingfeng. But since Jing Mingfeng mentioned that he wanted the wind squaller, it¡¯d be better to make the deal now rather than later.


    ¡°Oh? What other things? Show it to me and I¡¯ll see if it¡¯s worth trading the Soul Concealment Art.¡± The ¡®incentive¡¯ Bai Yunfei mentioned was more than enough to pique Jing Mingfeng¡¯s interest.


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei began to take out several items from his soul ring. The first was a black-jeweled pendant, a black and silver ring, two similar-shaped blue bracelets, and even a small black stud earring.


    A bright glint of interest sparked to life in Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes as he stared at the objects, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, don¡¯t tell me these accessories are¡­.¡±


    ¡°They are. These are some of the things I got after joining the Crafting School. I¡¯ll let you choose from here, all of them are special soul armaments that can increase your speed.¡± Bai Yunfei deposited the six items onto the table for Jing Mingfeng to look at. ¡°Their effects are a lot stronger than the ones you¡¯re wearing now!¡±


    From the start of when he got the Equipment Upgrade Technique, Bai Yunfei kept these speed-increasing accessories. They were the best he ever got, so the fact that he was willing to trade them now was a sign of his good faith. The ring and bracelet were both +11, and the black pendant and stud earring were +12!


    It¡¯d be a waste to talk about the +11 equipment, so here are the two +12 equipment stats.


    Pendant:


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Additional Attribute: +130 Agility


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase agility by 60.


    +12 Additional Effect: Increase movement speed by 15%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 62 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Black Studded Earring:


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Additional Attribute: +135 Agility


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase movement speed by 4%.


    +12 Additional Effect: By using soulforce, increase movement and attacking speed by 30% for a total of 30 seconds.


    Cooldown of 50 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 63 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Of the two +12 accessories, the pendant¡¯s effects were the most common, but the effects of the +12 studded earrings required active thought in order to make use of its effect to increase movement and attacking speed by 30%. This was without a doubt a great trump card to have in a pinch.


    It was with impatience that Jing Mingfeng took off the accessories he was wearing to put on the newer ones. With them worn, his eyes began to glow brightly as he took notice of the substantial change happening in his body with glee.


    He put on the ring, bracelet, and pendants as swift as swift, but the studded earrings required two seconds of additional observation before he put it on with no shame at all.


    He looked pleased with the cool and mysterious earrings, as he turned and looked at his two ears in a mirror in admiration. The pain from making the holes for the earring was practically negligible for soul cultivators due to their higher pain tolerance.


    After recollecting himself Jing Mingfeng¡¯s figure suddenly phased into motion. In no time, he reappeared several meters away besides the door. In another flash of movement, he looped around the room before returning to his seat.


    Bai Yunfei could sense a faint trace of elemental wind, but even then, he was completely surprised by Jing Mingfeng¡¯s speed. It was very clear to see that he was using some sort of movement type soul skill.


    He waited for Jing Mingfeng to settle back down before he asked, ¡°Well? How is it?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng stroked the ring on his right hand with a pleased smile, ¡°Not bad. It¡¯s like you said; they¡¯re a lot better than the previous ones¡­Ol¡¯Bai, how¡¯d you come across such powerful soul armament like these? You may be a part of the Crafting School, but these aren¡¯t your everyday stuff. You¡¯ve only joined the Crafting School a while ago, so how¡¯d you get so many?¡±


    ¡°Haha, outsiders wouldn¡¯t understand the internal workings of the Craftin School. Don¡¯t you forget, I¡¯m not your ¡®average¡¯ crafter.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled in a way to remind Jing Mingfeng that he was the disciple of the headmaster, meaning that having powerful soul armaments was only natural.


    ¡°Oh, I see¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng nodded in understanding. He didn¡¯t know much about the Crafting School other than what he had heard, so what Bai Yunfei said didn¡¯t really invoke much thought from him. It wasn¡¯t important in any case, so he found no need to press the issue any more.


    ¡°There¡¯s one more thing I should tell you.¡± Bai Yunfei pointed a finger at the studded earring on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s ear, ¡°There¡¯s more to the earring than that meets the eye. It¡¯s a very special soul armament. If you push your soulforce into it and think about increasing your speed, you¡¯ll notice something special¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Jing Mingfeng spoke, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Do now, ask later.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡±


    Somewhat confused by this set of instructions, Jing Mingfeng touched at the earring. Doing as Bai Yunfei said, he pushed his soulforce towards the earring. As soon as the very notion of ¡®speeding up¡¯ occurred to him, the next sensation that came to him stunned him.


    A brilliant gleam of light entered his eyes, and in the next second, his entire body disappeared into a blur as he ran around the room.


    It was with reluctance that Jing Mingfeng returned to his seat. Touching the earring, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, what¡­what¡¯s going on? Why was I suddenly¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, didn¡¯t I tell you it¡¯s a very special soul armament?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°Don¡¯t bother asking why it has such an effect, I can¡¯t explain it to you. All you need to know is that this earring can increase your attacking and moving speed by thirty percent for about thirty seconds. When time¡¯s up, your speed will return back to normal. You¡¯ll have to wait fifty seconds before being able to use it again.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng was even more shocked by Bai Yunfei¡¯s explanation. This was the first he ever heard about such a soul armament; which wasn¡¯t too surprising since he didn¡¯t know much about them.


    Thirty seconds soon went by when Jing Mingfeng felt a change occur in his body. When he tried to activate the effects of the earring, he felt nothing change inside, just like Bai Yunfei said. Trying as he might, it was only when fifty seconds passed when he realized the effect was working again.


    Now, he truly believed in what Bai Yunfei was saying about the effects.


    ¡°Tsk tsk, this earring has a really special usage. I¡¯d call it amazing, really.¡± Jing Mingfeng declared as he tried to get over his shock. ¡°But this soul armament is probably worth far more than what a high-earth tier soul armament could fetch for. It¡¯s definitely worth a lot to me, but Ol¡¯Bai, trading this for the Soul Concealment Art is still a little¡­.¡±


    ¡°I know. I didn¡¯t say that I¡¯d be giving you only those soul armaments.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand, ¡°There¡¯s still more. Take a look at¡­.this!¡±


    Without further ado, Bai Yunfei shook his right hand to take out one¡­.no¨Ctwo soul armaments for Jing Mingfeng!


    The Crescent Moon Blades!!


    Equipment Grade: Low Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Wind


    Set Equipment: Left


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 630


    Additional Attack: 327


    Set Effect 1: Freely manipulate the [Right] piece if within 100 meters.


    Set Effect 2: If combined with the other piece, increase the equipment grade to Mid Earth with an attack of 998 and an additional attack of 411.


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to conjure a single blade of wind.


    If the [Left] and [Right] pieces are together, increase this chance to 15% to summon three blades of wind.


    Upgrade Requirement: 83 Soulpoints


    (Since the left and right pieces are identical, the right piece¡¯s stats will be omitted.)


    Letting Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes rest upon the two new blades in front of him, Bai Yunfei began to explain the usage and effects of the sword. Tossing one of the swords out at random, Bai Yunfei was inadvertently able to get two blades of wind to fly out, cutting one of the nearby stools in half. If not for Jing Mingfeng¡¯s quick-witted thinking to parry the other blade of wind, it would¡¯ve cut straight through the wall.


    ¡°Haha, amazing! Absolutely amazing! These two blades are really amazing!¡± Jing Mingfeng gloated with glee as he held both swords in his hands.


    The Crescent Moon Blades were originally low-earth tier, but the two of them combined elevated their levels to mid-earth tier.


    And under Bai Yunfei¡¯s upgrading, the two swords could be treated as a high-earth tier soul armament when combined!


    Seeing how Jing Mingfeng was so pleased with the swords, Bai Yunfei smiled as he prepared himself to give the final two kickers.


    ¡°Aside from that, I¡¯ll be more than happy to use one of the Crafting School¡¯s secret techniques to refine any sosul armament you give me. I will guarantee you that I won¡¯t destroy them. I¡¯ll improve their efficiency by half over and possibly grant them effects like what that earring can do!!¡±


    ¡°Lastly, I¡¯ll promise you that as long as I¡¯ve the power to, I¡¯ll be sure to craft a heaven tier soul armament for you!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    For a while, Jing Mingfeng said nothing. He was absolutely shocked by what Bai Yunfei was offering.


    But soon after, the lights in his head turned back on. Giving it some thought, Jing Mingfeng gritted his teeth to say, ¡°You¡¯ve a deal!¡±

 Chapter 323: The ‘Blackwind’ Dagger (First)

    It was only after a good moment to think that Jing Mingfeng finally agreed to trade.


    A baby wind squaller, several speed-increasing accessories, and two blades that he wasn¡¯t even expecting. Just these three things were enough to convince him, but Bai Yunfei sweetened the deal with two more clauses.


    Improving the might of his current soul armaments by a half!! He had no doubts that Bai Yunfei could deliver on what he said.


    If he said he could do it, then he could do it.


    Besides, the Blackwind Dagger he was using was already strong, but if it were to be improved by half over¡­why, that left Jing Mingfeng absolutely giddy at the thought!


    But what left him completely unwilling to refuse was the final part to the deal¨Ca very own heaven tier soul armament of his own!


    Likewise, Jing Mingfeng didn¡¯t doubt that Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t do this. Bai Yunfei¡¯ future was practically unlimited, so making himself known under the entire continent was only a matter of time. So if he could get a heaven tier soul armament¡­that¡¯d be great!


    A heaven tier soul armament!


    Jing Mingfeng knew that if he were to have one of those, his strength would increase by at least twofold!


    With each new chip Bai Yunfei threw onto the table, Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t willing to decline at all since his strength would increase with each chip.


    ¡­¡­


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s answer elicited a secret sigh of relief from Bai Yunfei. If what he offered still wasn¡¯t enough for the Soul Concealment Art wasn¡¯t enough, nothing would.


    After playing around with the Crescent Moon Blade, Jing Mingfeng stored them away into his space ring and took out a small black dagger.


    Halfway through tossing the dagger, Jing Mingfeng started to warn Bai Yunfei, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, that¡¯s my best soul armament, so take it easy when you refine it. Don¡¯t you dare break it!¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but smile at Jing Mingfeng¡¯s worried expression, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If I say it¡¯s no problem, then it¡¯s no problem. I¡¯ll be sure to improve it to your liking!¡±


    He smiled as he reached his hand up to grab the dagger, but as soon as it touched his hand, the notification that popped up for it stunned him.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind, Darkness


    Attack: 2300


    Equipment Effect: After a successful strike, inflict a curse onto the foe and drop all attributes by 5% for a duration of one minute.


    Effect cannot be stacked.


    Upgrade Requirement: 140 Soulpoints


    This dagger was a heaven tier soul armament!! And one with an effect!


    Even Bai Yunfei¡¯s Ardent Sun Glove didn¡¯t have an equipment effect like this dagger. Even after becoming Zi Jin¡¯s disciple, none of the heaven tier soul armaments he saw had an effect, but that was due to the rarity of soul armaments in the first place. They couldn¡¯t exactly give soul armaments of that level as gifts to every disciple.


    Staring strangely at Bai Yunfei, Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, ol¡¯Bai?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Oh, it¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Came the reply. Quelling the raging emotions in his mind, Bai Yunfei looked over at the dagger in his hand again for a second look. ¡°Hey, Mingfeng, never would¡¯ve thought you¡¯d get your hands on a heaven tier soul armament. I¡¯m at a loss for words really¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng was surprised at his response, but then he sighed, ¡°Well, it¡¯s no wonder you¡¯re from the Crafting School if you can see the grade of my Blackwind Dagger. Haha, this is my most precious treasure, if you can improve the power of it, then I¡¯ll thank you as much as you want for it!¡±


    The fact that he was so willing to hand over his heaven tier soul armament without a moment¡¯s hesitation was just a testament to how much he trusted Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Ah, no worries, I¡¯ll do what I said I¡¯d do.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded as he put away the dagger. He promised that he¡¯d upgrade the attack of the dagger by half over, but in terms of overall ¡®might¡¯, increasing that by a half over wasn¡¯t too hard.


    Even an increase of a hundred points would be quite the substantial increase.


    With the dagger put away, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see a scroll tossed over to him by Jing Mingfeng. Taking a look at it, he was surprised to see the writing on the gray parchment.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you interested in it? As per usual, I¡¯ll give you an entire night to look it over, alright? Just give it back to me by tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    By the time Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng returned to the Tang residence, the streets were already lit with lanterns to ward off the coming night. Since Jing Mingfeng was a ¡®client¡¯ of the auction house, Tang Jing was of course acquainted with him. What Tang Jing didn¡¯t expect to see was that Jing Mingfeng was actually friends with Bai Yunfei as well. At his request, Tang Jing had the closest courtyard to where Bai Yunfei was arranged for Jing Mingfeng.


    The two of them walked into Bai Yunfei¡¯s courtyard only to see Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting already there. Both women were seated at the table as if discussing something.


    ¡°Oh, Yunfei, you¡¯re back. We were just planning on looking for you.¡± Tang Xinyun¡¯s face lit up when she saw Bai Yunfei step into the courtyard.


    Jing Mingfeng smiled, ¡°Haha, is thinking about Ol¡¯Bai all you do after all this time, Xinyun?¡±


    Noticing that Tang Xinyun¡¯s face was starting to redden, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to his nonsense, Xinyun. What were you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Tingting and I wanted to wake up the wind squaller, but we didn¡¯t want to do it without your approval, so we were planning to go find you and ask.¡± Tang Xinyun pointed at the small box on the table where the baby wind squaller laid dormant inside.


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes brightened at the mention of the baby wind squaller. Honing in on the box, he looked almost like a starving wolf staring lecherously at a beautiful woman with saliva dripping out from his mouth.


    An internal sweatdrop rolled down Bai Yunfei¡¯s head as he watched Jing Mingfeng¡¯s reaction. ¡°Well, since I gave you it already, go ahead and wake it up. Find a way to make a soul contract with it, if you fail, that¡¯s not my problem.¡±


    He turned to Tang Xinyun next to explain the situation, ¡°I¡¯ve given the baby wind squaller to Jing Mingfeng. It¡¯s his now.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean you gave it to me? Didn¡¯t we trade treasures for it?¡± Jing Mingfeng grumbled unhappily at his explanation. Striding for the table, Jing Mingfeng took the box with the wind squaller and turned his head back to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, what do I need to do to wake it up? Can¡¯t be easy as calling it, right?¡±


    ¡°Haha, well, you can try that if you want.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°There¡¯s a small bottle in the box, let the wind squaller sniff the medicine inside and it¡¯ll wake up.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see! Found it!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Gingerly holding the small wind squaller in his hands, Jing Mingfeng waited for it to slowly shake its head and open its eyes. By now, everyone else in the courtyard were gathered around the table to take a closer look at it.


    The little creature now had its eyes wide open. Its eyes were misty from just waking up and were without clear focus. In time, it was able to register Jing Mingfeng who was right in front of him, but rather looking fearfully at him, the wind squaller looked favorably onto him and licked his cheek with its tiny tongue.


    Everything was going in accordance to what Lu Fan said back in the auction house. The soulbeast had gone straight into hibernation after it was born, but it¡¯d imprint onto the very first person it¡¯d see. Since that was Jing Mingfeng, the very first instincts of the wind squaller was to look at him as if he was family.


    The wind squaller was standing by itself on the ground now, but it was shaky in its posture as if not yet strong enough to fully supports its own weight. In a worried panic, Jing Mingfeng held onto the soulbeast with arms filled with a greenish light.


    The elemental wind coming from him seemed to invigorate the soulbeast to a certain degree. Looking at him with an even more affectionate expression than before, the wind squaller was now moving excitedly up against Jing Mingfeng while licking at his wrist.


    Joy and excitement shone the most prominently in Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes. While maintaining his hold on the soulbeast with his left hand, his right hand moved to grab a chunk of beef from his space ring.


    These were prepared for in advance and in large numbers so that it could serve as a ¡®welcoming gift¡¯ of sorts for the wind squaller.


    The aroma of food was clearly enticing to the soulbeast. Looking innocently at Jing Mingfeng for two whole seconds with a twitching nose, the wind squaller then took the chunk of beef into its mouth and swallowed it whole.


    Even newly born soulbeasts could eat a bit of meat so that they¡¯d be able to learn to capture prey on their own later on.


    It took three chunks of beef for the small soulbeast to finally eat its fill. With a satisfied snort, it turned around onto the ground to look at Jing Mingfeng like a baby to their parent.


    With how the wind squaller was treating him, Jing Mingfeng had a look of ¡®parental love¡¯ on his face; causing Bai Yunfei to have the urge to facepalm at the sight.


    But when Jing Mingfeng moved to stroke the head of the wind squaller, something completely unexpected happened then¡­.

 Chapter 324: An Unexpected Twist? (Second)

    But when Jing Mingfeng moved to stroke the head of the wind squaller, something completely unexpected happened then¡­.


    Right at the very moment when Jing Mingfeng¡¯s hand touched upon the wind squaller¡¯s head, the soulbeast let loose a happy cry before its entire body began to glow a bright green light!!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Under the amazed eyes of everyone there, a strong gust of elemental wind rolled through the area. As quickly as it appeared, the elemental wind began to form a tornado¨Cwith Jing Mingfeng at its center!


    ¡°This¡­this is¡­.¡± Realizing that the elemental wind was borne from the soulbeast¡¯s soulforce, Bai Yunfei snapped out from his shock very quickly. ¡°Jing Mingfeng!¡± He cried out to his friend, ¡°What are you doing standing around! This is the sign of a soul contract! Focus and make the soul contract!!¡±


    This very same situation happened once before with Tang Xinyun and the quickshade bird before. Bai Yunfei himself had a ¡®half-experience¡¯ of a soul contract before back in Gaoyi City, so he was somewhat familiar with the process. Everything that was happening right now pointed exactly towards the sign of a soul contract ready to be signed between soulbeast and soul cultivator!!


    Being no sluggard, Jing Mingfeng was quick to digest what Bai Yunfei said and snapped out from his thoughts. Honing his mind onto the task at hand, Jing Mingfeng stared at the wind squaller in front of him and allowed for the elemental wind around them to envelop him.


    ¡­¡­


    The happenings that were going on in this courtyard was now attracting the attention of several others. Chu Qingxue and Zhao Mancha were the first to come hurrying out from their rooms while Tang Jing came rushing into the courtyard a moment later, only to have Bai Yunfei explain the whole story to him.


    Time slowly ticked by under the watch of everyone in the courtyard. Nearly half an hour had gone past when the previously calm ball of light started to expand outwards n size. A great deal of soulforce could be felt spilling forth to form waves of energy, and in an instant, the typhoon of elemental wind around the center was absorbed into Jing Mingfeng¡¯s body.


    The amount of soulforce that exploded out from Jing Mingfeng was already starting to abate away so that only a calm remained, but everyone in the courtyard could tell from it Jing Mingfeng¡¯s strength now.


    He was an early-stage Soul Ancestor now!!


    Somehow in this moment, a breakthrough was achieved for him to go from a late-stage Soul Sprite to a Soul Ancestor!!


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± A drawn out sigh escaped from Jing Mingfeng¡¯s lips. Now that all of the elemental wind was absorbed into him, the typhoon in the courtyard was gone.


    He looked at his fist first in excitement before looking back to the now-sleeping wind squaller in his chest with glee.


    ¡°Hahaha! Who knew it¡¯d be this easy to form a soul contract? I, Jing Mingfeng, am now a person with a soulbeast! Haha, sweet!!¡±


    The sight of Jing Mingfeng like this was enough to make Bai Yunfei speechless; the soul contract had been initiated far too easily¨Cwhat soul contract only required three pieces of meat to be fed for one to happen?!


    Would he have to try out this method himself if he ever wanted to make a soul contract with a soulbeast??


    ¡­¡­


    With a sigh to top off his feelings, Jing Mingfeng allowed everyone to congratulate him and make small talk before deciding to call it a day there. It was getting late, and he wanted to return to his own room to rest.


    With Bai Yunfei back in his own room, the first thing he did was take out Jing Mingfeng¡¯s ¡®Blackwind¡¯ Dagger. Though he failed in upgrading it several times, he was able to bring it to +10 in given time.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 2300


    Additional Attack: 1200


    Equipment Effect: After a successful strike, inflict a curse onto the foe and drop all attributes by 5% for a duration of one minute.


    Effect cannot be stacked.


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: With each successive strike, inflict a 3% speed decrease on the enemy for a total of one minute.


    May stack up to ten times.


    Upgrade Requirement: 140 Soulpoints


    Weighing the dagger in his hand, Bai Yunfei thought to himself, ¡°Another effect I¡¯ve never seen before, it can slow someone down after a strike? It¡¯s a bit similar to some of the other effects, but it has the effect of a ¡®darkness type¡¯ too¡­


    ¡°But this doesn¡¯t require a clear cut to be made for activation, the effect would trigger even if it hits another weapon! That means if the effect stacks all ten times, the enemy will lose up to 30% of their speed!!¡±


    Memories of Hong Yin¡¯s upgraded Bloodhowl Fang surged back to mind:


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 30% chance to inflict ¡®Intimidation¡¯, forcing the opponent¡¯s overall attributes to drop 20% for 10 seconds.


    Compared to the Bloodhowl Fang, the Blackwind Dagger held an advantage in its ability to be activated without fail and in its time duration. The Bloodhowl Fang had the advantage on how its effect was greater in scale despite it having only a chance to activate.


    The way Jing Mingfeng fought wasn¡¯t unknown to Bai Yunfei.


    Jing Mingfeng favored sneak attacks and making use of his superior speed to overcome his foes. The effect on the Blackwind Dagger essentially made the enemy slower, which indirectly made Jing Mingfeng even faster. As such, its effect was very suitable to his fighting style.


    Looking over the Blackwind Dagger for only a moment longer, Bai Yunfei put the dagger away. He was prepared to hold onto it for a little longer since his excuse of the Crafting School¡¯s ¡®secret refining method¡¯ was said to require more than one day to pull off successfully.


    Ever since he became a student of the Crafting School and disciple of the previous headmaster, Bai Yunfei had gained a very convenient excuse for upgrading. It could ¡®trick¡¯ any outsider should he need it, making Bai Yunfei¡¯s secret a lot easier to keep secret.


    Taking out the scroll with the Soul Concealment Art, Bai Yunfei began to study the inner contents of it without distraction. What was important wasn¡¯t understanding the concepts, but memorizing them. Comprehension of what he memorized would come later.


    And so, the night went on without any further incident.


    Morning came soon with the sun rising up from beyond the horizon. Pushing open the doors of his room, Bai Yunfei strode outside only to discover everyone else was already awake.


    Tang Xinyun, Kou Tingting, and even Jing Mingfeng were all gathered there in the courtyards.


    ¡°Xinyun, why are you all¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, we only just came out ourselves.¡± Kou Tingting laughed, ¡°Xinyun knows that you¡¯d want to give her the fireseed spirit mushroom as soon as possible, so we decided to wake up early for it. Heehee, you¡¯re just giving her the mushroom, so why does it look like you¡¯re even more impatient than she is?¡±


    Rather than grace her mocking question with an answer, Bai Yunfei gave two short embarrassed coughs before looking over to Jing Mingfeng.


    As if to respond to him, Jing Mingfeng brought his hands up in a defensive manner, ¡°I¡¯m not here to wait for you. I just want my stuff back. Ol¡¯Bai, if you didn¡¯t manage to memorize it all last night, that¡¯s not my problem, hehe¡­.¡±


    ¡°You could at least be polite about it¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled before tossing a scroll over to Jing Mingfeng, ¡°So? Where¡¯s your wind squaller? How do you feel now after the soul contract?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I feel great actually. I¡¯ve never felt so powerful before¡­Xiao Feng is asleep right now. Just this morning though, I realized that it¡¯s a lot bigger than yesterday, and a lot stronger too! Seeing how strong its getting, I wonder when it¡¯ll become a fifth-class soulbeast, haha!!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Feng¡­..is that the name you gave it? Sounds like a name you would have¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered, though he was surprised to hear that the wind squaller was already improving in strength so quickly. Was it because of the fact that it was at its weakest yesterday, and then the soul contract with Jing Mingfeng influenced its growth?


    TL Note: Feng is the word for wind, which is in both the wind squaller and Jing Mingfeng¡¯s name.


    The four continued to converse for a moment longer as they walked out from the courtyard. Zhao Xiluo hadn¡¯t returned since yesterday, so he was probably with Zhong Liyan and Yang Lin somewhere else still.


    As the auction house said yesterday, the men from the house of Wu would transport the fireseed spirit mushroom to the inn where the Wu were staying in as soon as it reached Mo City, and then it¡¯d be transported to the house of Tang where Bai Yunfei was. But since Bai Yunfei and the others were feeling a bit impatient, they all decided to head straight for the inn to wait.


    Laughing and chatting as they went, the group walked at a brisk pace that got them at the inn where the Wu were staying in.


    But before they could get close to the inn, a group of people came rushing out from the inn with such haste that they nearly slammed into Bai Yunfei as they passed each other.


    And at the very head of the group was the one who met with Bai Yunfei before, Wu Gang.


    Noticing the man, Bai Yunfei called out to him in confusion, ¡°Brother Wu, what¡¯s the matter?¡±


    From the worried look on Wu Gang¡¯s face, a feeling of dread was starting to well up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s stomach¡­.

 Chapter 325: Friends?! (Third)

    ¡°Lord Bai?! What brings you here?¡± Wu Gang froze still as soon as he saw Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°You look worried, brother Wu, are you heading somewhere?¡± The concern on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew with each second spent looking at the worried look on Wu Gang¡¯s face. ¡°Did¡­.did something happen to the fireseed spirit mushroom?!¡±


    ¡°How did you know?!¡±


    His confirmation caused a stormy look to settle on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, ¡°What happened?!¡±


    Wu Gang hesitated for only a moment before he relented to answer, ¡°Lord Bai¡­.the fireseed spirit mushroom was¡­was stolen by someone before it arrived in Mo City!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± He roared in anger before realizing now wasn¡¯t the time to be getting angry, ¡°When? Where? And what¡¯s going on now?!¡±


    Cutting straight to the chase, Wu Gang answered, ¡°We only just received notice from our men who was transporting the fireseed spirit mushroom. A battle¡¯s taking place right now with my father being nearby. I was on my way to ask for assistance from the Tang. The battle is¡­.just five hundred meters away from Mt. Rubble to the south of the city!¡±


    ¡°How strong are the enemies?¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t known so far¡­.but there¡¯s a middle-stage Soul Sprite supporting our men, so I assume there¡¯s someone of equivalent strength in the opposing side¡­.¡±


    In other words, the difference in strength between both sides wasn¡¯t too vast¡­..


    The gears in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind turned furiously as he thought about his options. ¡°Xinyun,¡± he turned his head to her, ¡°you and the others should stay here and wait for me. I¡¯ll be back with the fireseed spirit mushroom!!¡±


    His words were accompanied with a twist of his right hand and a flash of green light as the Tempest Sword came to being in front of him. Jumping onto the blade, Bai Yunfei was about to set off when he felt the back of the sword dip slightly from the weight of another¡ª


    ¨CIt was Jing Mingfeng.


    A jovial slap on the shoulder was given to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Haha, you really think I¡¯d miss out on some action like this? You can¡¯t even use any elemental fire right now, so don¡¯t try playing the hero. Allow me and my new strength help you out this time!¡±


    Gratitude surged into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, but he said nothing and only nodded in response. With a final look to Tang Xinyun to reassure her, both he and Jing Mingfeng flew off towards the south on the sword in a blast of green light.


    Prior to his departure, all Tang Xinyun could say to him when he looked at her was whisper a quiet ¡°Be careful¡±. Nothing else was said as she clutched at the hems of her robes, but when Bai Yunfei disappeared off into the distance, a look of concern started to show in her eyes.


    ¡­¡­


    Since it was the very first time Jing Mingfeng ever rode a flying sword, he found the winds coursing past his ears rather ridiculous at first, but it didn¡¯t take long for him to adapt. Now that he had a solid foothold on the sword, he could spend the rest of his time looking left and right while screaming out in joy.


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, you really have the best stuff! Haha, a soul armament that can fly! Even the weakest ones are as rare as a heaven tier soul armament. There¡¯s plenty of treasures in the Crafting School if you have one!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was nervous about the fireseed mushroom, but Jing Mingfeng¡¯s excitement was contagious to even him, ¡°Haha, we¡¯re about to battle and probably kill people, how can you be so relaxed?¡±


    ¡°Oh stow it. You should know how strong the enemies are by now, shouldn¡¯t you? At best, they¡¯ve three Soul Ancestors. Let me be totally honest, I¡¯m not afraid of any of them. And you! You may as well be the wolf wearing the sheep¡¯s skin. I¡¯ve heard from your very own mouth that you killed even a Soul Exalt before, so who cares for one or two Soul Ancestors? There¡¯s also the people from the Wu, so as long as the enemies don¡¯t run away, wouldn¡¯t capturing them be a pretty easy task?¡±


    ¡°Haha, are you that confident that they don¡¯t have any other strong people in hiding?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s not impossible, but it doesn¡¯t really matter. If we can¡¯t handle it, we run. I¡¯ve faith in my speed, and you¡¯ve your flying sword, what danger is there?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good analysis, but I hope it won¡¯t be as you say it might¡­.¡±


    Looking to the front, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°No matter who stole the fireseed spirit mushroom, I¡¯ll kill them all without mercy!¡±


    The Tempest Sword was originally a very fast traveling sword, but under Bai Yunfei¡¯s control, it was traveling at even greater speeds than usual. Shrieking through the air for dozens of minutes, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng soon spotted a small group of people rushing in the same direction they were on the ground below. The person leading this group was a man in his middling ages and looked similar to Wu Gang; presumably Wu Gang¡¯s father.


    Though they were spotted a while before, the Tempest Sword was moving faster than they were, so the group was soon left behind without Bai Yunfei looking behind or slowing down.


    ¡°Brother-in-law, wasn¡¯t that¡­.¡±


    A purple-robed man near the front of the group spoke out from down on the ground. He was the cousin of Wu Gang, Wu Jian. He was a late-stage Soul Sprite, and the one he called brother-in-law was Wu Gang¡¯s father, Wu Peng, a late-stage Soul Ancestor.


    Looking up as he maintained his current pacing, Wu Peng spoke, ¡°Indeed, that is our ¡®client¡¯ for the fireseed spirit mushroom, Bai Yunfei¡­.It¡¯s no wonder he¡¯s a student of the Crafting School if he has a flying soul armament. They should arrive at the scene faster than we will¡­.


    ¡°We should hurry up. Aside from getting the fireseed spirit mushroom, we can¡¯t allow anything to happen to Bai Yunfei lest we suffer the inevitable wrath of the Crafting School!!¡±


    Not only was Wu Peng a client of the Tang, they were also the ones who were in possession of the fireseed spirit mushroom, so them knowing about Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t all too strange.


    With a command to the rest of the people with him, Wu Peng had the entire group run even faster in a blur of golden light to charge ahead and leaving behind their weaker members.


    ¡­¡­


    Jing Mingfeng traveled to Mo City from this direction once before, so he was knowledgeable about the area to a certain degree. Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s current speed and thirty minutes of traveling, Jing Mingfeng was able to tell him that there¡¯d be a certain forest of strange stone trees, and that the ¡®Mt. Rubble¡¯ Wu Gang mentioned before would be at the peak of the forest.


    As they drew close to the mountain, Bai Yunfei could distinctly hear the sounds of battle explode here and there on it.


    He let out a sigh of relief¨Cif the battle was still ongoing, that meant the fireseed spirit mushroom wasn¡¯t yet completely stolen.


    Urging the Tempest Sword forward in a burst of green light, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng soon found themselves in the airspace near the battlefield.


    Hopping down to the ground a kilometer away, the two hid themselves behind the foliage and suppressed their auras to almost undetectable levels.


    A kilometer away from them, a group of five or six people could be seen. At the sight of these people, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly while he brought out the Ardent Sun Glove onto his right hand. In a flurry of red light, the nearby elemental fire in the air began to gather around his hand, and in just a single moment or two, a two-meter long fireball was floating above his palm!!


    This was the long-ranged effect of the Ardent Sun Glove where he could use a fireball to attack his enemies. It didn¡¯t require any control over elemental fire to do; just a single thought to activate the effect.


    Without even a word from Bai Yunfei, he brandished his finger forward to send the fireball flying!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Like a meteorite descending from the skies, the fireball impacted against the ground with such force that the ensuing dust cloud took on the form of a mushroom. The earth quaked tremendously with the nearby mountain side starting to have its loose stones cascade downwards.


    But more importantly, there was a ten-meter long crater from where it struck on the battlefield!!


    Not a single one of the fighters there were too slow to get away from the fireball. Leaping to the edge of the impact radius, they all looked towards Bai Yunfei who was coming back down from the skies in his approach.


    Putting away his Tempest Sword, Bai Yunfei stepped down onto an empty patch of ground to the north of the crater. Because of the crater, he was on the other side of the other five combatants.


    Looking at the five wary individuals, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see that he recognized someone from the five.


    ¡°You guys?¡± He spoke to two figures on his left.

 Chapter 326: Instant Death? (Fourth)

    Not once did Bai Yunfei ever expect to see the two people in front of him right now.


    It was only a while ago that Bai Yunfei first met the two: the Flying Dagger brothers, Han Chong and Han Lin!


    When no answer was heard, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together with a chillingly-cold glare. ¡°What? Are you two trying to take away my fireseed spirit mushroom?!¡±


    Finally, the two brothers snapped back to awareness. ¡°This is a misunderstanding, brother Bai!¡± Han Chong brought his hands up to defend himself, ¡°The two of us mean no harm! We were requested for this mission and were only lending assistance!¡±


    ¡°Young hero, are you reinforcements from Mo City?¡± The other man wearing an orange robe right next to Han Chong spoke out. ¡°I am Wu Cheng, the one responsible for transporting the fireseed spirit mushroom. The Flying Dagger brothers are the help I requested; the ones who want to steal the fireseed spirit mushroom are those two over there!¡±


    Rather than to mince words, Wu Cheng explained the situation concisely to Bai Yunfei. His entire face was an unhealthy shade of pale and his left arm was hung uselessly by his side.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Lightening up, Bai Yunfei nodded in response to Wu Gang before turning to the two black-robed people to his right.


    The both of them looked not only to be in the same age-group, but also had the same facial appearances of each other; meaning that they were brothers.


    And from their auras, Bai Yunfei could sense that the one on the right was a mid-stage Soul Ancestor and the other a late-stage Soul Ancestor!


    Both men had dark looks on their faces, and the mid-stage Soul Ancestor had a huge trail of blood dripping down his left arm while the other wasn¡¯t injured in the slightest.


    Han Chong and Han Lin looked to be in a considerably better shape than the other two, as their clothes were tattered and Han Lin had a huge wound on the left side of his hip. Though the blood was clotted, the wound itself was still quite heavy.


    While Bai Yunfei was looking at the two enemies, they themselves were rapidly thinking of their next course of action. L¨¹ Fang (the late-stage Soul Ancestor) eyed Bai Yunfei for a split-second longer before suddenly shouting, ¡°Run!!¡±


    His feet pushed against the ground as he spoke. Kicking up a large dust storm with his energy-infused feet, the man ran off to where L¨¹ Yuan (The mid-stage Soul Ancestor) was while the dust storm blocked Bai Yunfei¡¯s vision.


    The two brothers clearly noticed that the fight wasn¡¯t in their favor, so it¡¯d be best to flee instead.


    ¡°Trying to run?!¡± Before Bai Yunfei could even do anything, Han Chong spoke out first. A rush of wind flew out with a swing of his hand, blowing away the dust storm and restoring visibility to their group. At the same time, two green streaks of light shot out from his right hand to chase after the two fleeing persons!


    Hitting the two L¨¹ brothers was easier said than done, however. Though the flying daggers flew fast and true, they only managed to fly past the two.


    Narrowing his eyes, Han Chong snorted lightly before he bent all five fingers and pulled his hand back violently.


    As if responding to his hand gestures, the two flying daggers turned around mid-flight to strike at the two brothers from the front!


    This time, the two men were forced to move perpendicular to their original direction despite having dodged the flying daggers successfully.


    Han Chong and Han Lin glanced at each other to acknowledge the sight in front of them and chased after the two together.


    In L¨¹ Fang¡¯s hand was a single ox-tail sword with chain ringlets on its back side. His brother, L¨¹ Yuan, favored a dagger that glittered red at times, but it looked equally dangerous to his brother¡¯s weapon. Combined with their coordinated teamwork, the L¨¹ brothers were able to gain the upper hand over the Han brothers in a few quick exchanges.


    Fortunately, the Han weren¡¯t trying so much to win against the L¨¹ than to make sure that they wouldn¡¯t escape, so the Han brothers made use of diversionary tactics to stall for time.


    ¡°Where is the fireseed spirit mushroom?¡± Instead of participating in the battle, Bai Yunfei first asked Wu Cheng about the whereabouts of the item.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­.¡± Wu Cheng¡¯s face dropped several shades of color as he motioned at his severely injured left arm. ¡°I¡¯m ashamed to say that the space ring it was stored in was¡­.taken by them.


    ¡°They came so fast and killed all the other escorting members so quickly. If not for the Flying Dagger brothers, my life would¡¯ve been forfeit already¡­.¡±


    It was then that Bai Yunfei noticed the mangled mess that was Wu Cheng¡¯s left hand. The ring finger was bent at a very strange and terrifying angle; clearly, it was broken.


    ¡°Well then¡­.¡± The urge to kill began to surge in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then killing them won¡¯t be a problem¡­.¡±


    ¡°Young hero, you¡¯re¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s words were strange to Wu Cheng; he could ¡®see¡¯ that Bai Yunfei was only a late-stage Soul Warrior, so Wu Cheng absolutely couldn¡¯t see just how Bai Yunfei would be able to partake in a battle where everyone was a Soul Ancestor.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence however, Wu Cheng was interrupted by Bai Yunfei¡¯s explosive forward push to enter the fray!


    He had no elemental power to be felt from his body, but the speed at which he was traveling at was astounding. Like an arrow shot from a bow, his feet was practically gliding and his entire body left phantom images behind as he charged straight into the battlefield.


    His right hand shook once to take something out, and with a swing of his hand, a ray of purple light streaked for L¨¹ Yuan on the right side.


    The Lightning Bolt Dagger!!


    The schematics to make two of the more peculiar flying daggers in the manual were simple enough for Bai Yunfei to craft back in the Crafting School. One of the ones he made was the Lightning Bolt Dagger, but he wasn¡¯t sure how to use it yet. Back when he exchanged the part of the manual with Han Chong, Bai Yunfei learned how to throw the Lightning Bolt Dagger.


    But right now, he was fully capable of making use of the daggers at a level of familiarity equal to that of Han Chong and Han Lin!


    There was an advantage Bai Yunfei had over the Han brothers. His flying dagger was crafted and made far superior to theirs since it was¡­.upgraded!


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Thunder


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 360


    Additional Attack: 170


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Upon hitting the target, there is a 50% chance to paralyze them for 2 seconds. During this time, attack and movement speed decreases by 10% and reaction speed decreases by 5%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    Due to the high requirements and specialized design of it, the grade of the Lightning Bolt Dagger wasn¡¯t too high. But after it reached +10, the attack of the dagger was comparable to a low-earth tier soul armament.


    The flying dagger was the first to reach L¨¹ Yuan. Barely managing to block the flying dagger with his dagger, L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s eyes filled up with anger as he glared at Bai Yunfei. Turning around to get away from Han Lin, L¨¹ Yuan began to gather a large amount of elemental fire in his dagger before stabbing out at Bai Yunfei!


    A blade of fire about a meter long shot out from his dagger towards Bai Yunfei with a speed that was strangely going at the same speed as Bai Yunfei¡¯s Lightning Bolt Dagger!!


    The brilliance that was his counter attack had L¨¹ Yuan in complete confidence that he¡¯d win. Should even an early-stage Soul Ancestor fight him here, this attack of his would still be very hard for them to endure!


    But Bai Yunfei had no intentions of dodging from this attack.


    The Cataclysmic Seal came into being with a shake of his right hand, and in the next second, its defensive effect materialized a barrier over Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The fire struck the barrier, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t harmed in the slightest. Not even his forward speeds was impacted in the least, and so soon enough, he was right in front of L¨¹ Yuan!


    His right hand stretched out with a brilliant blaze of fire as the Fire-tipped Spear appeared. Stabbing forward with the weapon, the spear blew up elemental fire!


    Threefold Stab!!


    The pupils in L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s eyes contracted in fear as he tried to comprehend just how Bai Yunfei was able to defend himself from the attack. It proved to be a bad time to be thinking such thoughts, however, as the Fire-tipped Spear was already on the verge of stabbing through his chest.


    Having no time to dodge left nor right, all L¨¹ Yuan could do was grit his teeth and slam his feet against the ground to propel himself backwards while bringing his dagger up to defend himself.


    ¡°Clank!!¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear stabbed into the dagger, but in the next second¡­


    ¡°Booom!!!!¡±


    The +10 Additional Effect of the Fire-tipped Spear had activated!!

 Chapter 327: Instant Death (First)

    The Threefold Stab had barely enough time to touch the dagger when the additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear activated!


    A blast of elemental fire and dust blew through the area as the Fire-tipped Spear rendered the dagger into dust. Like a ragdoll, L¨¹ Yuan was tossed away from the explosion with a mangled and charred chest.


    Fortunately, fire-type soul cultivators like him had a degree of resistance to fire-based attacks. Furthermore, he was lucky enough to jump back at the final moment to offset the power from the explosion.


    If not for those two factors, he would¡¯ve died a fiery death despite being a mid-stage Soul Ancestor.


    Resistant or not, the damage was still severe enough for blood to spray out of his mouth. Glassy-eyed, L¨¹ Yuan tried his best to stabilize himself. He gathered elemental fire in his chest to protect himself from any more damage.


    He raised his head to glare at Bai Yunfei, but what he saw caused his face to drop several shades of color¡ª


    Right in front of him was the Fire-tipped Spear; three of them, in fact!!


    The +12 effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, the Doppelganger!!


    The Bai Yunfei on the very right clenched the spear tightly, and with a short thrust, it moved to strike L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s throat!


    Fury flooded L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s eyes. Completely disregarding the wound on his chest, his left hand flew up to grab at the shaft of the spear,bringing its owner to a stop!


    ¡°This one isn¡¯t the fake!!¡± L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s eyes lit up with joy. Soulforce began to burst from his body along with a tremendous flow of elemental fire. Turning into a blaze, the elemental fire surrounded his right hand. He extended his fingers so that his hand took on a knife shape. His entire right arm felt as though it was a single sword that was on fire.


    ¡°Die!!¡± L¨¹ Yuan howled as he stabbed at Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest with his arm.


    ¡°Tzzk!¡±


    His arm streaked across Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest, eliciting a spark of joy in L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s eye.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Though he could clearly see that his arm had gone through his enemy¡¯s chest, he didn¡¯t feel as though there was any ¡®substance¡¯ behind the attack.


    It didn¡¯t even feel like he stabbed through a person!


    ¡°But how¡­?¡± Startled, L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s eyes widened in shock. His pupils were straining so hard to understand the sight in front of him that it seemed as though they¡¯d break away from his eyes.


    While he was in his stupor, one of the other doppelgangers was already poised to strike in between his eyebrows!


    Even more inconceivable was the fact that despite the spear being a definite death should it hit¡­ it disappeared into thin air as soon as it touched his skin!


    Without any sign or warning, both spear and owner had disappeared!


    While that was happening, L¨¹ Yuan felt his hand grow lighter all of a sudden. The spear he had been holding onto was gone along with the ¡®Bai Yunfei¡¯ he had just stabbed through the chest.


    ¡°But¡­ what¡­?¡±


    No matter how much he tried, L¨¹ Yuan simply couldn¡¯t understand nor comprehend the sight in front of him.


    He could clearly feel blood from the cut the spear he had grabbed had made. There was also a small trickle of blood from where the spear had poked him on the forehead. That alone was enough to tell him that the spears had been ¡®real.¡¯


    But¡­ the spear that was ¡®real¡¯ was no longer ¡®real¡¯ nor there. What in the world was going on?!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    A shout from L¨¹ Fang snapped L¨¹ Yuan from his shock. Shaking his head, L¨¹ Yuan was immediately made aware of yet another flaming spear that threatened to stab him straight through!


    This spear was no illusion this time; this was the true strike!


    The doppelgangers were meant to be used as a diversionary tactic, and they had worked.


    After the confusion wrought by the doppelgangers, Bai Yunfei took the opportunity to pierce L¨¹ Yuan with his spear!


    With L¨¹ Fang¡¯s warning, L¨¹ Yuan was given an opportunity to save his own life by throwing himself to the side to dodge.


    ¡°Tzzk!¡±


    The life-threatening moment had passed, but not without injury. The Fire-tipped Spear managed to stab into L¨¹ Fang¡¯s right shoulder all the way to the bone, but it wasn¡¯t a fatal wound.


    However, would he be able to evade death so easily again?


    The answer¡­


    No!!


    A single stab of the spear wouldn¡¯t be enough for a sure kill. Eyes flashing in recognition of that fact, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand relinquished its hold on the spear.


    He clenched his right hand and a great fire rose up from his upper right arm. It formed into a-meter-long blade of fire!


    In sync with the Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei moved forward to slash at L¨¹ Yuan!!


    ¡°Swish!¡±


    Decapitated from the rest of its body, a single head flew into the air before succumbing to the fire. It disintegrated into ashes¡­


    ¡°Thump!!¡±


    The now headless body came to a crash on the ground. With a spear still embedded in its shoulder, L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s body gave several twitches before finally coming to a rest¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Silence descended upon the area.


    Even Han Chong and L¨¹ Fang paused their fight with the latter blankly looking at the corpse of his brother. Before this, he had been charging toward Han Chong, but this new development saw him come to a stop as he slowly turned toward Bai Yunfei.


    To Bai Yunfei¡¯s side was Han Lin.


    Han Lin¡¯s right hand was frozen in place next to his waist. He had been preparing to support Bai Yunfei with a flying dagger or two, but instead of doing as he had intended, the dagger he had primed to throw had fallen to the ground. Though, he hadn¡¯t noticed due to his amazement.


    An instant death!!


    Not even half a minute had gone by since Bai Yunfei had started his barrage on L¨¹ Yuan!


    There was no hesitation. Only a series of attacks one after another, and just like that, a mid-stage Soul Ancestor had been killed on the spot!!


    ¡­¡­


    While everyone else was staring at Bai Yunfei in shock, he was already walking over to L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s corpse. Stooping down, Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s hand and ripped off the space ring.


    ¡°It¡¯s not here¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered in annoyance as he inspected the inner contents of the ring.


    ¡°Is it on you, then?¡± Eyes swung to L¨¹ Fang.


    That look was more than enough to snap L¨¹ Fang out of his stupor. Now wasn¡¯t the time to be thinking about the situation.


    Now was the time to run away!


    He was scared. A late-stage Soul Ancestor he might be, but even he didn¡¯t know why he felt such destitute terror in regard to this late-stage Soul Warrior. However, this terror was enough to drain any semblance of fighting spirit away. The only thought he had was to flee¡ªto flee as fast and as far away as possible.


    The L¨¹ brothers trump card¡ªa unison soul skill that could endanger even a Soul Exalt¡ªwould remain unused.


    Without L¨¹ Yuan¡¯s head on his body, what possible way was there to use the unison skill!?


    ¡°Pah!¡±


    The sight of L¨¹ Fang fleeing made Bai Yunfei feel a wrathful indignation. With eyes that stalked the fleeing L¨¹ Fang, Bai Yunfei retrieved the Cataclysmic Seal from its storage and pointed a finger.


    A light as red as fire trailed behind the brick as it whisked through the sky like a comet. It shot after L¨¹ Fang at least twice as quickly as he was traveling!!


    Noticing that something was amiss, L¨¹ Fang looked back. His eyes widened in surprise at what he saw. Soon after terror flooded his eyes when the Cataclysmic Seal registered in them. Clenching his teeth, he pivoted around so that his front was now facing the Cataclysmic Seal. He was effectively traveling slower than before.


    Free of the sword he had brandished in his hands earlier, L¨¹ Fang began to form a series of complicated hand seals before finishing the last seal with a heavy stomp on the ground and a loud shout!


    Like a storm, soulforce burst from within L¨¹ Fang¡¯s body along with a rich concentration of elemental earth. The soulforce traveled down his foot and into the ground, and when L¨¹ Fang stepped back, the earth where he once was began to churn and shake before a three-meter-wide, one-meter-thick wall erected itself to stop the Cataclysmic Seal!!


    Though this earthen wall had been erected, L¨¹ Fang didn¡¯t stop his hand gestures. Four more steps were taken and four more walls were made!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal smashed into the first wall by the time the fifth and final wall was constructed. An explosive quake rocked the area before the Cataclysmic Seal smashed through the second, then the third¡­


    The walls looked to be sturdy and immovable, as a wall of earth should. However, in front of the Cataclysmic Seal, they were torn apart like rice paper. The Cataclysmic Seal didn¡¯t show any signs of slowing for even a second!!


    Any blood that might¡¯ve remained on L¨¹ Fang¡¯s face drained once the fourth wall was demolished. Rather than continuing to run away, L¨¹ Fang began to form another set of hand seals. The elemental earth in him started to become even thicker as it covered his body.


    Like the last time, his foot came up and then smashed back down onto the ground.


    Instead of a wall, a-meter-wide crevice formed in the ground!


    The fifth and final wall came crumbling down as the Cataclysmic Seal sped through it with Bits of earth flying in every direction. At that moment, L¨¹ Fang threw caution to the wind and leaped into the crevice.


    As soon as he did, the earth above him quaked slightly before coming together as if it hadn¡¯t separated in the first place!


    ¡­¡­


    The area above ground was completely silent now. L¨¹ Fang was nowhere to be seen, and his ¡®underground¡¯ technique made no sounds nor left any signs of movement.


    ¡°An underground escape¡­¡± A flash of cold light snaked across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as a sneer formed on his lips. ¡°You want to escape? And with the fireseed spirit mushroom¡­ do you really think you can?


    ¡°The fireseed spirit mushroom is mine, I¡¯ll kill anyone that tries to steal it!¡±

 Chapter 328: Double Kill!! (Second)

    What L¨¹ Fang had used was clearly a very stealthy type of soul skill that relied heavily on elemental earth to hide himself away underground without being noticed.


    Not only was he undetectable to the naked eye, but his soulforce had been masked as well. It was as if he had disappeared into the earth and had become one with it. Even Han Chong¡ªthe strongest person there at the moment¡ªwas unable to detect L¨¹ Fang¡¯s whereabouts.


    Without his essence fireseed, Bai Yunfei was unable to sense him either.


    How could Bai Yunfei possibly stop L¨¹ Fang from getting away with the fireseed spirit mushroom?


    The answer was he didn¡¯t have to know where the enemy was!


    Just three seconds after L¨¹ Fang disappeared, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes scanned the area in front of him as if calculating a solution.


    His middle and index finger closed together as he pointed at the Cataclysmic Seal with his wrist facing up. Flicking his fingers up, Bai Yunfei watched as the Cataclysmic Seal followed his command. It flew a kilometer up into the air with a single ¡®swish.¡¯


    What happened next was a terrifying memory that Han Chong, Wu Cheng, and the others would never forget¡­


    For a moment, the Cataclysmic Seal was basked in a dazzling glow of red light.


    Then, it happened.


    Like a sponge soaking up seawater, the Cataclysmic Seal began to explode in size!


    In two short moments, the small brick went from a mere ten inches to a behemoth of eight hundred meters!!


    Though they weren¡¯t directly under the Cataclysmic Seal, Wu Cheng and the others found their heads craning up. They felt like the brunt of the entire world was collapsing down on them.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    With that final utterance, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand flew down, commanding the brick!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Under the stunned eyes of everyone there, the Cataclysmic Seal smashed into the earth. Like a tremendous meteorite burning with energy, the Cataclysmic Seal slammed down into the vast earth in front of them!!


    The earth tremored violently and the mountains quaked so much that landslides began to occur on many of the mountains.


    Even though it seemed like the entire world was echoing with such awful cries, Han Chong and the others could distinctly hear a brief cry of abject terror in the distance¡­


    The Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s body was completely embedded in the ground, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were still shining bright. The Cataclysmic Seal was his lifebound armament, so he could sense whatever minute changes happened underneath the armament.


    Rather than lift the Cataclysmic Seal up, Bai Yunfei shrunk the weapon back to its normal size above a spot just three hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei. When it reached five meters in length, a flash of orange light surrounded the armament so that it resembled that of a spherical ball of light. Diving into the ground, the Cataclysmic Seal resurfaced moments later, pushing up a ball of dirt and sand!


    This ball felt like a container. When it resurfaced and was pushed toward Bai Yunfei, the outermost layer began to fall apart.


    When the entire outermost layer was gone, Han Chong and the others were startled to see that within this sphere¡­ was a badly mangled corpse!!


    It was L¨¹ Fang!!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A flash of fire sparked to life from Bai Yunfei¡¯s Ardent Sun Glove. At his command, the fire swelled up in size before spreading to L¨¹ Fang¡¯s corpse. Within moments, the corpse had been rendered into nothing but ashes!


    Two blackened space rings were spat out of the fire and landed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Searching through the inner contents with his soulsense, Bai Yunfei was pleased with the results. ¡°Found it!¡± He remarked in joy.


    His right hand flickered as he brought out a red palm-sized object¡ªthe fireseed spirit mushroom!


    ¡°Whew¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. ¡°I finally found it¡­¡±


    Before anything else could happen, Bai Yunfei stored it into his Violet Soul Ring.


    Pain and dizziness stabbed through his head a moment later; a sign of a soulforce exhaustion.


    The Violet Soul Ring flickered with a gentle light as the stockpiled two-thousand soulpoints in it were transferred to Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. As soon as they were transferred, Bai Yunfei¡¯s dizziness disappeared, leaving him in a normal condition.


    Searching briefly through the other soul ring, Bai Yunfei found nothing of importance. With his task accomplished, Bai Yunfei walked back to Wu Cheng. He handed him the soul ring that used to contain the fireseed spirit mushroom.


    ¡­¡­


    Across from Bai Yunfei: Han Chong, Han Lin, and Wu Cheng were all still in dazes of shock. The three of them were still in shock even as Bai Yunfei stood next to them.


    ¡°What¡­ what kind of joke is this!? Can a late-stage Soul Ancestor die just like that!? The second death was even faster than the first!! Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even move a foot!¡±


    Either Han Chong was in a dream, he was going blind, or some kind of strong illusion had been cast on him. Either of the three were very plausible to Han Chong. He simply couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the events that had transpired a minute ago.


    Bai Yunfei continued to walk to where Wu Cheng was. He handed the second space ring to him. ¡°Uncle Wu, this space ring must be yours, yes? I saw some medicine inside it. You should heal your arm right now.¡±


    ¡°Eh?


    ¡°Oh! Yes, yes¡­ I, er¡­¡± Wu Cheng finally snapped back to awareness. Still somewhat numb in the head, he took the space ring from Bai Yunfei with a frightful look. He was afraid to say anything more. He decided to do as Bai Yunfei ¡®recommended,¡¯ so he started to treat his own arm.


    Both Han Lin and Han Chong had come back to reality by this point. Glancing at one another, the two of them nodded before walking toward Bai Yunfei somewhat hesitantly.


    ¡°Well¡­ bro¡­ brother Bai, we meet again I see¡­¡±


    Han Chong saluted Bai Yunfei with a polite greeting, though a queer expression remained on his face still.


    ¡°Haha, I didn¡¯t expect to reunite with you two here. I¡¯d like to thank you two for stalling the enemies for me. Whatever the Wu has offered as a reward, I¡¯d like to double it!¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in return to the two brothers. Since the two brothers had managed to stall the two Soul Ancestors long enough for Bai Yunfei to take back the fireseed spirit mushroom, Bai Yunfei knew that a proper reward was needed.


    ¡°You¡¯re too kind, brother Bai. Had we known that it was your item that we were protecting, we wouldn¡¯t have asked for a reward to begin with! What rewards are necessary between friends?¡± Han Chong modestly replied.


    After weighing the value of a reward versus Bai Yunfei¡¯s friendship, Han Chong decided that friendship with him was far better.


    Still treating his arm a few steps away, Wu Cheng suddenly said, ¡°Lo¡ªlord Bai¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Another voice interrupted him. Though it was extremely low in volume, the ears of everyone here were more than capable of detecting where the sound had come from.


    ¡°Who is it!?¡±


    The expression on Han Chong¡¯s face hardened while his hand moved to grab a flying dagger. He was prepared to fire it.

 Chapter 329: The Mushroom is Back, But Now What?! (Third)

    ¡°Hold on, brother Han. He¡¯s a brother of mine.¡±


    The calm voice of Bai Yunfei stopped Han Chong from doing anything more. Turning his head in surprise, he saw a smile appear on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    Turning back to where the source of the earlier sound had come from, Han Chong could see a young man with a straw hat on his head walk oit of the thickets. Upon seeing him, the throwing dagger in Han Chong¡¯s hand was returned to storage.


    ¡°Mingfeng, what happened?¡±


    He nodded at the man being dragged by Jing Mingfeng. No movement or sound was coming from the man, meaning that he was dead.


    Tossing the corpse off to the side, Jing Mingfeng said, ¡°Found him trying to spy on you guys. Thought I¡¯d just break a leg or two and take him alive, but the guy went and killed himself before I could stop him.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng had originally planned to hide some distance away to watch the fight. If Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t fight or couldn¡¯t catch up to the two enemies, Jing Mingfeng would show up to save the day.


    However, Bai Yunfei¡¯s quick kill of the two left him so speechless that he almost lost the spy. Thankfully, the spy was only a mid-stage Soul Sprite. He was captured without any further trouble, but Jing Mingfeng hadn¡¯t expected him to commit suicide.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together as he pondered the conundrum of who the enemies were. ¡°Any clues on him?¡± He nodded at the corpse.


    ¡°He had come prepared. I didn¡¯t find any clues at all.¡± Jing Mingfeng frowned.


    The question could only be set aside for now after not arriving at an answer. If Bai Yunfei had to guess, these enemies had likely heard about the fireseed spirit mushroom via some sort of secret channel and had planned this robbery beforehand. It wasn¡¯t uncommon, at the very least, but who they were didn¡¯t matter any more.


    He had taken the fireseed spirit mushroom, so all that was left to to do was to give it to Tang Xinyun and help her reform her essence fireseed so they could return to the Crafting School. Not much else needed to be done.


    What came after was a series of questions for Wu Cheng. Bai Yunfei learned that the robbery attempt was made when Wu Cheng and the others were traveling down Mt. Rubble. Without any prior warning, the seven soldiers that were accompanying Wu Cheng were killed, and Wu Cheng found himself alone.


    It didn¡¯t take long for him to be hurt by the two Soul Ancestors and the space ring stolen in his carelessness.


    When it seemed as though all hope was lost, the hired help from the Wu, Han Chong and Han Lin, arrived just in time to save him. They were unable to kill the two Soul Ancestors, but their combined effort was more than enough to stall the robbers long enough for further assistance to arrive. However, no one had expected that help to be Bai Yunfei.


    Wu Cheng was opening and closing his mouth. There was clearly something he wanted to say, but had no idea how to approach the matter.


    ¡°Uncle Wu, you must want to talk about the fireseed spirit mushroom, correct?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°I forgot to mention. I¡¯m the one who bought it at the auction. Since I was afraid of something happening to it, I came here first. The Wu should be sending some men here that can confirm what I have said to you.¡±


    A sigh of relief escaped from Wu Cheng¡¯s mouth before he uttered his thanks. Bai Yunfei looked like a late-stage Soul Warrior, but there was absolutely no way that he¡¯d treat Bai Yunfei with anything but respect now.


    Perhaps Bai Yunfei was the young prodigy of a major school or family, or perhaps he was hiding his strength somehow.


    Either way, Wu Cheng was under the belief that Bai Yunfei could very well be a Soul Exalt at the very least¡­


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you getting a little too ridiculous, Ol¡¯Bai? Those two were Soul Ancestors, a mid-stage and a late-stage, yet you killed them that easily!?¡± Jing Mingfeng stared incredulously at the crater left behind by the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Eyeing Bai Yunfei as he walked around to pick up the Lightning Bolt Dagger that had been thrown around earlier, Jing Mingfeng continued, ¡°But wow¡­ this has to be what you called your ¡®lifebound armament,¡¯ eh? It¡¯s really something else. Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever heard of a soul armament that can change shape, but I¡¯ve never seen something like this either.


    ¡°Ridiculous, that¡¯s what it is. No wonder you¡¯re a disciple of the Crafting School!


    ¡°Ugh, I lose again! Compared to you, can I even really say I got stronger!


    ¡°Actually, that lifebound armament of yours looks familiar, wonder why? Feels like I¡¯ve seen it somewhere before¡­¡±


    Upon mentioning ¡®lifebound armament¡¯ and ¡®Crafting School disciple,¡¯ Han Chong¡¯s ears perked up attentively. He didn¡¯t know what the former term meant, but the latter term was more than obvious for him.


    So, Bai Yunfei was the disciple to someone from the Crafting School!! No wonder he had that many soul armaments and that much power¡­


    A question still remained, who was his elder?


    The question would find no answer. Two relatively strong bursts of soulforce came toward them from the north. Shortly afterward, a gold figure and a violet figure came running toward them. The figures turned out to be Wu Peng and Wu Jian. Behind the two of them were their relatively slower group of men.


    ¡°Big brother, Wu Jian, you¡¯re here!¡± Wu Cheng moved swiftly to them.


    Though Wu Peng was able to witness a good deal of the situation from afar, he wasn¡¯t able to verify his doubts. When he saw that Wu Cheng and even Bai Yunfei were both safe and sound, he let out a sigh of relief.


    The enemies were nowhere to be seen, and doubt to arose in his mind.


    Did the enemies escape with the fireseed spirit mushroom?


    The nod and smile Bai Yunfei gave him told him otherwise. Wu Peng relaxed again in relief. He answered Bai Yunfei with a polite greeting before moving toward them, but when he made a single step forward, he noticed the giant crater off to the side. Craning his neck toward Wu Cheng, he asked, ¡°What happened? Where are the others?¡±


    ¡°Aside from me,¡± Wu Cheng¡¯s face darkened in color, ¡°everyone else is dead. The enemy was¡­ just far too strong. We had no chance of surviving their ambush¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Wu Peng said nothing in response. The ones who were accompanying Wu Cheng were all competent fighters in their own right and were a sizeable force for the Wu. As such, their deaths brought plenty of anger to Wu Peng.


    ¡°Do we know who they were?¡± Wu Peng softly growled.


    ¡°They had no identifying marks,¡± Wu Cheng shook his head, ¡°I was unable to tell who they work for.¡±


    ¡°How many were there? Where did they run off to?¡±


    ¡°There were two Soul Ancestors. One was a mid-stage, the other was a late-stage, but they¡¯re bot¡ª¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re both dead by my hand.¡± Bai Yunfei interejected. ¡°Uncle, the ones who stole the fireseed spirit mushroom are dead already. I have no idea if they¡¯re enemies of your family or something else, but the fireseed spirit mushroom is in my hands. For the sake of avoiding any more complications, let¡¯s conclude this deal here. Here is the heaven tier soul armament.¡±


    He took a golden blade from his space ring without any further words and handed it to Wu Peng.


    ¡°This¡­¡± What Bai Yunfei had said left Wu Peng unable to say anything. What was it he just said?


    The two enemies Wu Cheng had been fighting had been killed by him!?


    ¡°But¡­ but Wu Cheng said that there was a mid-stage and a late-stage Soul Ancestor!!¡±


    He glanced to Wu Cheng first, looking for confirmation. When his glance was returned with a nod, Wu Peng¡¯s lips pursed together to quell his shock. Accepting the golden sword into his hands, he managed to force a smile to his face, ¡°Well¡­ lord Bai, then as you say, I would like to sincerely apologize for this troublesome matter today¡­¡±


    ¡°No need. Now that our deal is finished, I¡¯ll leave the rest to you to take care of.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand, reluctant to get any more involved in this matter.


    ¡°Brother Han,¡± he turned to Han Chong on the right, ¡°I¡¯m in a bit of a hurry to get back to Mo City, so I¡¯ll be going first. Here¡¯s a token of my appreciation¡­.¡±


    Thinking about what to give the two brothers, Bai Yunfei shook his hand, taking out a short dagger. It was the very same dagger he had offered up in the auction house with enough attack to be a high-earth tier soul armament.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you this high-earth tier soul armament as thanks for helping protect the fireseed spirit mushroom. Will that be enough?¡± Bai Yunfei lifted the dagger to Han Chong. Though the two brothers were experts at using throwing daggers, a short dagger like this would come in handy for close-ranged combat.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Han Chong¡¯s ears found it extremely hard to believe what they were hearing. Looking at the high earth tier soul armament in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands, Han Chong said, ¡°Brother Bai, what do you mean by this? Safeguarding the fireseed spirit mushroom is something we¡¯re supposed to do. How could we ask for another reward? I¡­ I cannot accept this.¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed. He tossed the dagger to Han Chong, ¡°I said it before, this fireseed spirit mushroom is extremely important to me. You did me a great favor by helping me, so if I don¡¯t thank you, I¡¯d feel guilty. Take it, brother Han, and if you have the time, come to Mo City and ask for me at the house of Tang. I¡¯ve a few questions about the flying daggers, so I hope you will be able to take the time to teach me¡­¡±


    Taking a second look at the dagger in his hands, Han Chong hesitated one second more while listening to what Bai Yunfei said. He finally nodded his head. ¡°In that case¡­ I won¡¯t be refusing this. Please expect me in the future, brother Bai.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Then¡­ if nothing else needs to be done, I¡¯ll be heading back. Until next time, brothers!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded to everyone in farewell before taking the Tempest Sword out from his ring. Hopping onto it, he waited for Jing Mingfeng to climb aboard before shooting off through the sky back to Mo City.


    ¡­¡­


    Since the fireseed spirit mushroom was back in his hands, Bai Yunfei saw no reason to travel at a breakneck speed like before. When he thought about going back and helping Tang Xinyun recover her essence fireseed, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body felt extremely light.


    Jing Mingfeng could be heard letting out a sigh. Thinking it to be quite strange, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Hey, what¡¯s with the sigh?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­ I just felt like that battle was really unsatisfying. I wanted to show off. You know, I was looking forward to making a flashy entrance! But¡­ but you went ahead and finished it off in two to three minutes while I caught a small-fry. It¡¯s unsatisfying, I tell you¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng shook his head sadly.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    About fifty minutes later, Mo City was finally coming into view. Bai Yunfei found himself speeding up unintentionally, heading to the inn from before.


    The inn where Tang Xinyun was waiting.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Suddenly, Bai Yunfei could hear the anxious cry of a bird up in the sky, causing the expression on his face to harden.


    ¡°That¡¯s Xiao Bai! Something bad happened!!¡±


    Alarmed, Bai Yunfei urged his Tempest Sword in the direction of the cry.

 Chapter 330: Xinyun Was Kidnapped!

    In front of the gates to a luxurious inn in Mo City¡ª


    What was once a busy street bustling with people was now a chaotic turmoil of scattered objects and people. Stalls and their wares were strewn about haphazardly, and bystanders were ducking behind the closest shelter they could find, whether that be in a shop or a nearby street corner. However, no matter where they were every one of them was filled with fright that didn¡¯t seem like it¡¯d leave them any time soon.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Came the cry of Xiao Bai as it tried to ascend to the sky. Its left wing was bent at an unnatural angle, but it didn¡¯t seem to notice. A sliver of blood was also coming out of its beak, indicating that it had sustained some sort of internal injury.


    ¡°Xiao Bai, don¡¯t go! You can¡¯t catch up! Let me heal your wounds!¡±


    This time, Kou Tingting¡¯s voice could be heard calling out as she tried to grab ahold of Xiao Bai with her left hand. Her right hand was glowing bright with a bright blue color as she pressed it to Xiao Bai¡¯s belly where two puncture wounds could be seen!


    Kou Tingting was trying her best to stop tears from trailing down her face. She firmly bit her lower lip with her teeth and forced her soulforce to heal the practically life-threatening wounds on Xiao Bai.


    Not too far away on the right, against the walls of the inn sat an individual splattered with blood as he tried to heal his wounds. This person was Wu Gang.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whoosh¡­ whoosh!¡±


    From the sky came two bright-green lights. In moments, they landed on the streets and disappeared upon contact. They soon reappeared revealing the figures of Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng.


    Noticing the wounds on Xiao Bai, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes dilated in shock. Scanning his surroundings anxiously, he asked the girl healing Xiao Bai, ¡°Tingting, what happened? Where¡¯s Xinyun!?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Yunfei, you¡¯re back!¡± Kou Tingting exclaimed in relieved joy at the sound of Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice. She rose from the ground, but then when she remembered that Xiao Bai still needed to be healed and sat back down. ¡°Yunfei,¡± she tilted her head instead, ¡°Xinyun¡­ Xinyun was kidnapped!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed. In no time at all, he was right beside Kou Tingting with his hand gripping her left wrist, ¡°What do you mean kidnapped!? Who, and where!?¡±


    ¡°Ah! It¡­ it hurts! Let go, Yunfei¡­¡±


    Realizing what he was doing after her pained yelp, Bai Yunfei released her wrist with an apologetic look, ¡°Sorry, Tingting. I didn¡¯t mean to¡­ but please, tell me. What happened?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Kou Tingting spoke as she healed Xiao Bai¡¯s wound, ¡°After you left, Xinyun and I waited for you here, but then a person came out of nowhere and kidnapped Xinyun without a word. He¡­ he was strong, maybe an early-stage Soul Exalt. We weren¡¯t a match for him. Xiao Bai was nearly killed protecting Xinyun, and the Wu were helpless to stop him.


    ¡°I¡­ I think he knows who I am, so he didn¡¯t hurt me too badly. I¡¯m sorry, Yunfei¡­ I¡¯m not suited to fighting, so I wasn¡¯t able to help Xinyun¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that now. Don¡¯t blame yourself.¡± Bai Yunfei comforted her, ¡°As long as you¡¯re okay, that¡¯s good. Do you know who that person was?¡±


    The apologetic look on her face increased, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s Ta Shan the ¡®Stone Asura¡¯!¡±


    A voice called out to Bai Yunfei from the side. Bai Yunfei turned his head and saw a heavily injured Wu Gang. Wu Gang¡¯s face was still dreadfully white, and his footsteps were uneven as he forced himself to walk toward Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Brot¡­ brother Bai¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± he apologized, ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to protect miss Tang¡­¡±


    When he had come across Bai Yunfei here, he had been on his way to request assistance from the Tang. After Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng left, he was left alone with Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting, and thus, he had been unable to leave. Furthermore, manners dictated that he stayed around to protect the two, but the man that came was just far too strong. He was left with wounds all over when he tried protecting Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to apologize, brother Wu. I know you tried your best.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Who did you say the kidnapper was?¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, he¡¯s the criminal that the government has a warrant for, Ta Shan the ¡®Stone Asura¡¯!¡± Wu Gang spoke without mincing his words. ¡°He¡¯s a very well-known soul cultivator in the Forest Pass Province. An early-stage Soul Exalt with the earth affinity, and he loves to kill. People say he once killed an entire clan over a disagreement or say he kills people for their treasures. He¡¯s an unredeemable criminal, but a strong one. He always evades capture and commits acts of crime wherever he goes. I never thought that he¡¯d end up in Mo City or that he would try to kidnap miss Tang¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and his face grew unsightly for a moment as he listened to these new developments. Managing to turn his head, Bai Yunfei asked Kou Tingting, ¡°Tingting, where did they go, and how long has it been?¡±


    ¡°The¡­ the east. I think it¡¯s been about half an hour by now¡­¡± Kou Tingting pointed to the east blankly before realizing what Bai Yunfei was about to do, ¡°Ah! Yunfei, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to go after them!? You can¡¯t! He¡¯s a Soul Exalt. You¡¯re no match for him! Brother Wu already sent someone to notify the Tang. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll send someone to help. You sho¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Before she could even finish what she was saying, Bai Yunfei had declined to listen to her plan. The Tempest Sword reappeared once again, and as soon as he stepped on it, he took off in a flash.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Bai chose that time to cry out loud in an anxious chirp. While it didn¡¯t try to fly up with Bai Yunfei, Xiao Bai pointed its beak in a completely different direction than to the east.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei uttered in surprise. Comparing this direction to what Kou Tingting had said before, he asked, ¡°Xiao Bai, you¡¯re saying Xinyun isn¡¯t to the east, but to the¡­ the north!?¡±


    ¡°Chirp!¡± Xiao Bai answered affirmatively with a nod of its head.


    Thanks to the soul contract between it and Tang Xinyun, Xiao Bai could tell where she was at any time.


    That meant that Ta Shan had turned a different direction after getting away.


    Nodding his thanks to Xiao Bai, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make sure I¡¯ll bring Xinyun back safe and sound!¡±


    As he was about to take off, Bai Yunfei felt the space behind the Tempest Sword dip slightly. Turning, he saw Jing Mingfeng stepping onto the sword.


    ¡°Less talking, more moving. I¡¯m going for sure. A second pair of hands never hurts, so get to it!¡± Jing Mingfeng slapped Bai Yunfei on the shoulder before he could even say anything.


    Reluctance flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. This ordeal wasn¡¯t as simple as getting back the fireseed spirit mushroom; the enemy they faced now was an early-stage Soul Exalt and there might very well be more than one enemy.


    The fact that Jing Mingfeng was willing to face such risks with Bai Yunfei was enough to fill him with gratitude and friendship.


    Turning to the north, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed frostily. Pressing down on the sword, he commanded it to fly off into the sky.


    ¡­¡­


    A single streak of green light could be seen trailing across the clear sky like a shooting star. Though many people saw the streak, the sight was only for a moment before it disappeared into a small line.


    Within this green light, Bai Yunfei was steering the sword with an extremely serious expression on his face. The cold wind cut into his body like a knife. It whistled past his ears like the screams of a banshee, but he didn¡¯t seem to notice. Ten minutes had already passed since he and Jing Mingfeng had started their journey, but no words had been exchanged. Disjointed in his thoughts, Bai Yunfei tried to think of a way to best deal with this situation.


    It was then a small spark of light entered his eyes as though he had come to a conclusion. Shaking his right hand, a small black dagger appeared in it. It was Jing Mingfeng¡¯s Blackwind Dagger!


    Shifting perpendicular to how he had been standing, Bai Yunfei handed the dagger to Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡°Eh? Ol¡¯Bai, this is¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng muttered to him as he took the dagger, but before he could say anything more, what Bai Yunfei did next caused him to cry out in alarm, ¡°What are you doing!?¡±


    As soon as Bai Yunfei handed him the Blackwind Dagger, his right hand shook again to take out another object.


    This object was¡­

 Chapter 331: Forming an Essence Fireseed Again!

    The one who had kidnapped Tang Xinyun was an early-stage Soul Exalt at the very least. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t confident that he could guarantee a victory against such an infamous criminal from the Forest Pass Province since his own strength was still lacking.


    Thought true that Bai Yunfei once defeated a late-stage Soul Exalt with his Cataclysmic Seal, the Cataclysmic Seal had been many times stronger during the battle outside of Curopia City.


    His fireseed essence was gone. He could only rely on his upgraded equipment and an above-average soulforce to fight Soul Ancestors.


    Against a Soul Exalt, these two factors simply weren¡¯t enough.


    The original plan was to wait a few days before giving the Blackwind Dagger back to Jing Mingfeng, but with the situation they way it was now, to do otherwise would be foolhardy. Giving him back the dagger wouldn¡¯t amount to much either; what he really needed to do was increase his own strength. That meant¡­ regaining the ability to control elemental fire!!


    When he gave back the dagger to Jing Mingfeng, the other object he took out was the¡­ fireseed spirit mushroom!!


    ¡°Yunfei, what are you planning!?¡± Jing Mingfeng repeated in alarm.


    Staring at the fireseed spirit mushroom in his hand, the look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes darkened with hesitation for two seconds before determination replaced it, ¡°I have to¡­ reform my essence fireseed!!¡±


    With no further hesitation, Bai Yunfei stuffed the mushroom into his mouth!!


    ¡°You¡¯ve gone crazy, Yunfei! When has the fireseed spirit mushroom ever had a use like that!?¡± Taken aback by the ¡®stupidity¡¯ of Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions, Jing Mingfeng moved to stop him, but it was too late.


    With the fireseed spirit mushroom in his mouth, Bai Yunfei made quick work of it by swallowing it. It turns into a warm flame as it passed through his mouth, the mushroom dropped down into his stomach, but the overall temperature of his body had increased. A wisp of fire spiralled up from his stomach, and in no time, a scorching flame was running rampant through his body!


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    An intense jolt of pain ran through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, causing him to let out an involuntary gasp of pain. Even the Tempest Sword started to sway slightly before Bai Yunfei regained control of it.


    His fists were clenched, and his teeth were grit together in pain. His eyebrows were wrinkled, and his eyes were extremely bloodshot from all the pain he was feeling.


    The fireseed spirit mushroom was a sort of panacea for trying to form an essence fireseed, but in regards to how it could be used like this, one would have to remember back to Jade Willow City when Bai Yunfei first formed his essence fireseed.


    While it remained true that he has managed to form one, it was only because Hong Yin was playing the part of conductor and You Qingfeng was constantly bringing out medicines that could help Bai Yunfei.


    The medicines weren¡¯t meant to bolster the fireseed spirit mushroom¡¯s effects. In fact, they were there to decrease its harmful side effects! What other side effects could there possibly be besides the excruciating pain of being burned all throughout the body and even soul!?


    Bai Yunfei knew what the medicines were for, but he had none on hand. Even if he did, there was no time to try and synthesize the best combination right now. What mattered most right now was speed! He needed that essence fireseed formed here and now!!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The first appearance of uncontrollable fire came from Bai Yunfei¡¯s right fist first, then his right arm, then his left arm¡­


    In a matter of seconds, his entire body was aflame. It was covered in a fire that didn¡¯t seem to burn his hair or his clothes. Instead, it stuck strangely to his body, almost like it was trying to penetrate his skin except something seemed to be blocking it.


    The sudden appearance of these flames startled Jing Mingfeng. He nearly fell off the Tempest Sword after taking a frightened step back. Somehow, he managed to create a small gap between Bai Yunfei and him. Not knowing what else to do, Jing Mingfeng surrounded himself in a bubble of elemental wind to stop the flames from touching him.


    It was pointless to say anything more about what was going on in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. With his face contorted in pain, with his teeth clamped down so hard they were drawing blood from his lips, and with his bloodshot eyes, Bai Yunfei seemed as though he was nearing the brink of insanity.


    ¡°Who cares¡­ about this pain? I went through this pain in the Crafting School, yet I failed.


    ¡°But!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it this time. I¡¯ll succeed!¡±


    His final thoughts were spat out in an odd mixture of encouragement and an oath to himself. The next words he yelled were shouted at the sky, ¡°Fireseed essence!¡± he roared, ¡°Form dammit! Form!!!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    Fire began to burst from his body with such power that the surrounding elements in the world began to tremble. All of the elemental fire in the world began to gather and materialize into view before being sucked into a bubble around the Tempest Sword, keeping up with its flight.


    From far away, spectators that looked up would be terrified to see a giant fireball streaking through the sky.


    Within this spherical ball of fire stood an extremely sweaty Jing Mingfeng. He stood on the very end of the sword with his Blackwind Dagger held tight in his hands. Still within the safety of his bubble of elemental wind, he stared frightfully at Bai Yunfei. Somehow, the bubble protecting him was blocking the elemental fire from touching him. However, the target of the flames wasn¡¯t him, so Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t in any immediate danger.


    What shocked Jing Mingfeng the most was the mystery of what was going on with Bai Yunfei¡¯s body rather than the extremely hot ball of elemental fire around him¡­


    From the very start, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura had been increasing nonstop. At the beginning, he was a late-stage Soul Warrior, but then the flames in his body propelled his strength through the levels of an early-stage Soul Sprite, to a mid-stage, and then a late-stage before petering slightly in speed. From there, he reached the level of an early-stage Soul Ancestor, but¡­ his strength was still rising!!


    ¡°Is¡­ is this how strong Ol¡¯Bai really is? That¡¯s crazy¡­¡± A hand rose up to swipe the sweat off his face in shock. ¡°He was a mid-stage Soul Sprite the last time we met. What in the world did he pick up since then!? Compared to him, my treasures of war aren¡¯t even worth a pebble¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t exactly see what was going on with Bai Yunfei. However, he could see a hazy silhouette that stood tall but loose while elemental fire surged into his body.


    Jing Mingfeng could tell that Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was growing stronger with each wisp of elemental fire that traveled into his body.


    Ten minutes passed in this fashion before Jing Mingfeng felt a tremble from within the flames. That tremble triggered the start of the flames doubling their speed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Within seconds, every wisp of elemental fire had disappeared from sight.


    Without any elemental fire in sight, the air around the two men and the sword returned to it¡¯s normal, tranquil state.


    The only difference was with the outer appearance of Bai Yunfei. A red light, barely discernable to the naked eye, stuck to Bai Yunfei¡¯s body like a shell. It moved with his body no matter which way he moved, and with each movement, the strength of his being could be felt¡­


    A mid-stage Soul Ancestor!!


    ¡­¡­


    Like the air around him, Bai Yunfei was back to normal. The blood that had been visible in his eyes earlier was gone, and even though he suffered such tremendous pain earlier, Bai Yunfei felt at ease with himself.


    His right hand came up. Looking at it, he gave a tentative clench of the fist, feeling the familiar surge of elemental fire in his body. As it slowly circulated around his body, a pleased look began to creep into Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°At last, I¡¯m finally a mid-stage Soul Ancestor¡­ the amount of soulforce I had was already enough to become one a long time ago¡­¡±


    Seeing nothing else out of the ordinary after a rough inspection, Bai Yunfei nodded his head in satisfaction. There was no need to continue thinking about this.


    Looking forward, he thought, ¡°Right now, I need to look for Xinyun!¡±


    He closed his eyes in concentration. The red light that surrounded his body flickered once before pulsing out.


    Not only was he using his soulforce to scan the area, he was also using the entirety of his strength.


    Right behind him, Jing Mingfeng opened his mouth to say something now that everything was back to normal, but he chose against it. Closing his mouth, he stood silently where he was on the sword and tried not to disturb Bai Yunfei.


    Back in Mo City, Xiao Bai had indicated that the person who had kidnapped Tang Xinyun changed direction from the east to the north. There weren¡¯t any guarantees that the kidnapper wouldn¡¯t change direction again or continue running in a straight line.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t trying to sense for the enemy. The only thing he could do to find Tang Xinyun was to find one thing¡­


    The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring!!


    The ring that he painstakingly upgraded to +13. It wasn¡¯t at a level where it was a soulbound armament, but his soul compatibility was at forty percent; this left him with a very rudimentary connection to the ring.


    While there was a connection, Bai Yunfei had never tested it before ever since he had left the Crafting School, so he wasn¡¯t quite sure how far apart he could be from the ring and still sense it.


    To sense for something that wasn¡¯t a soulbound armament, Bai Yunfei would need to be able to use his soulsense. Without his essence fireseed, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been capable of using his soulsense, that was one of the major reasons for eating the fireseed spirit mushroom.


    While he concentrated on divining the connection and finding the ¡®aura¡¯ of the ring, the Tempest Sword continue to fly.


    ¡°Where is it! Where is it! Hurry up!!¡± For five whole minutes, Bai Yunfei was beside himself in panic as he tried to make the connection.


    Several minutes later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open in joy,


    ¡°Found it!!¡±

 Chapter 332: The Stone Asura

    At the edge of a very dense part of the forest, a series of rushing footsteps could be heard startling the nearby animals. Soon, the thickets were brushed away to reveal a large man swiftly running into a clearing.


    This orange-robed man stood two meters tall with four equally muscled limbs. His head was clean-shaven, and his face wore over a dozen scars. The most intimidating one was a large cut from his left eye down to his chin.


    The expression on his face made him look like a sinister person even with how fast he was running.


    More importantly, there was a single figure in white draped over his shoulder.


    It was Tang Xinyun.


    By extension, this meant that this bulky man was the one Wu Gang had called the ¡®Stone Asura,¡¯ Ta Shan.


    On top of his shoulder, Both of Tang Xinyun¡¯s arms had been tied behind her back. Helpless in captivity, Tang Xinyun tried her best to struggle, but to no avail.


    Not only was Ta Shan a large man, he was also very fast. His feet looked as though the wind was carrying him, and with each step, the ground beneath him seemed to echo with his footsteps. His feet weren¡¯t stomping down with much force, yet there was enough weight to leave behind a series of unusually deep footprints


    ¡±Almost there now, just need to hand this woman off to the junior headmaster and the job is done¡­¡± Ta Shan¡¯s eyes stared up at a nearby mountain. ¡°I guess I should thank the Tang and their auction house. Who knew kidnapping someone in Mo City would be so easy? Even the eyes of the officials were too busy to keep track of things. Did they really think no one would attempt a kidnapping at this time?


    ¡°Hehe¡­ what a beautiful finish to this job. I wonder if I can get a bit more for that? Maybe some medicines or a secret technique that¡¯ll help me become a mid-stage Soul Exalt!¡± The thought of finishing this job so beautifully left Ta Shan hopeful of a wonderful reward, which added a jump to his step.


    ¡°It¡¯s little wonder how the junior headmaster got his title if he can afford to touch a daughter of the Tang. Does he like her? Is she just a toy, or a slave to play around with?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s there!?¡± Snapping out of his thoughts, Ta Shan came to a sudden stop as his eyes honed in on a mound to his right. ¡°It¡¯s no use hiding, I can sense you! Come on out or else!¡±


    Even as he spoke, an orange light was emanating from his body while his right foot menacingly dug half an inch into the ground.


    ¡°Hiss¡­ it¡¯s little wonder you¡¯re a Soul Exalt with sensitivity like that.¡± An eery voice piped up in response to Ta Shan before a skinny-looking figure with a pointed head appeared. Two squinty eyes stared at the larger man with a gloomy look, ¡°You were too slow, Ta Shan. Due to your slowness, the junior headmaster has sent me out to find you¡­¡±


    ¡°Hidden Snake, it¡¯s you!¡± Ta Shan¡¯s eyebrows knit together in annoyance, ¡°Who¡¯re you calling slow? I haven¡¯t took a break ever since I kidnapped this woman. I did change routes several times to shake off the pursuers from the Tang, but that didn¡¯t take up any time at all; did you want me to waste my energy to try to skywalk!?¡±


    Annoyance came easy to Ta Shan when Hidden Snake was involved. The man loved to hide his aura to nearly undetectable levels, and even though Hidden Snake was only an early-stage Soul Ancestor, he had been fortunate enough to gain favor with the junior headmaster first.


    The way Hidden Snake was talking to him and the way he was using the junior headmaster as a means of pressure made Ta Shan angry enough to rip off his head off¡­


    ¡°Hiss¡­ did the Tang¡¯s men find you?¡± Hidden Snake rasped; he enjoyed adding the ¡®hiss¡¯ to the beginning of his words like a snake would ¡ªperhaps the reason for his current epithet.


    ¡°Pah, what do you think? You see anyone chasing me right now?¡± Annoyed, Ta Shan spat out his next few words.


    ¡°Hiss¡­ that¡¯s good then. Let¡¯s get going and hand this woman to the jun¡ª¡± Halfway through his words, Hidden Snake whirled around with eyes wide-open, staring behind Ta Shan, ¡°Hiss!! Ta Shan! You said no one was following you? Then what is this!?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Turning around at the same time as Hidden Snake, Ta Shan¡¯s eyes narrowed when he saw a single streak of green light coming toward them from several kilometers away!


    ¡°A flying soul armament!!¡± Ta Shan exclaimed; he hadn¡¯t thought that someone would¡¯ve chased him all the way here.


    ¡°Hiss! Ta Shan, you brought back trouble, so you deal with it!¡± Hidden Snake squinted. He sounded annoyed, but at the same time, it looked as if he was happy that Ta Shan would have to deal with this trouble.


    As fast as he spoke, Hidden Snake began to retreat into the shadows.


    ¡°No need to tell me twice! Of course I¡¯ll deal with this!¡± Ta Shan snorted. Tossing Tang Xinyun to Hidden Snake, he started for the flying object, ¡°You take the woman to the junior headmaster. I¡¯ll come after I deal with them!¡±


    Upon catching Tang Xinyun, a lecherous look crawled across Hidden Snake¡¯s face. Since she was to be the junior headmaster¡¯s toy, Hidden Snake didn¡¯t dare try to ¡®enjoy¡¯ the prize before he did, so he took her under the shoulder and hid in a small mound.


    That left Ta Shan to stand in place. His eyes stared down the flying sword, several hundred meters away.


    When he saw one rider on it, Ta Shan¡¯s lips curled in a sinister smile, and his entire frame prepared for a fight.


    His right hand came up to reveal a yellow iron rod about a meter long. Blazing with an orange light, the strength radiating from the weapon was visible to the naked eye.


    ¡°Ha!¡± Grunting, Ta Shan stabbed his rod into the ground, transmitting a great amount of elemental earth from his arm to the rod and from the rod into the earth. As soon as the elemental earth made contact with the ground, it started to vibrate and shake, like it was trying to pull the surroundings onto the rod. After several moments, the iron rod was nearly fully encapsulated by the earth before it turned into a substance as hard as rock!!


    By the time Ta Shan pulled the rod from the ground, it was no longer just a rod; instead, it was a sword with stone as the blade!


    Clasping the hilt of the rock sword, Ta Shan stared at the incoming people with a bloodthirsty expression. The muscles in his right hand rapidly began to expand and contract, and with a mighty push against the ground, he launched himself into the air like an orange bullet that was headed to strike down the incoming green light!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A halo of red light came forth from the green light as Ta Shan approached. From the red light came a shining red spear that stabbed at Ta Shan¡¯s giant blade!


    As big as it was, the sword had no real ¡®tip¡¯ or ¡®edge¡¯ to speak of, so it was powerless to stop the spear from stabbing straight through it!


    Frowning at the sight, Ta Shan was prepared to ¡®slap¡¯ the spear when, out of the corner of his eyes, something caused him to start in fright.


    An orange platform formed right underneath his feet, and with no hesitation, Ta Shan leaped back in retreat!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    A wave of elemental fire exploded out of the spear when it hit his sword. Though the explosion hadn¡¯t severely hurt Ta Shan, the concussive shock had numbed his sword-hand. His weapon had nearly detached from his grasp due to the force, but with several retreating steps, Ta Shan was able to regain both his footing and keep ahold of his weapon. He stared strangely at the person who had attacked him.


    ¡°What a soul armament!¡± Eyes flickering with interest, Ta Shan stared first at the half-broken stone sword of his before looking up at the man holding the spear. ¡°But the owner is quite weak, haha! A mid-stage Soul Ancestor!? If you¡¯re going to come at me with strength like that, prepare to feel what death is like!!¡±


    Pushing against the ground as he spoke, Ta Shan¡¯s body flew like a speeding bullet while his soul armament dragged against the ground below. Twinkling with orange light as it did, Ta Shan reformed the sword before bringing it up to swing down onto his enemy!


    The person wielding the spear against Ta Shan was naturally Bai Yunfei.


    By sensing the presence of the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring and making use of the speed of the Tempest Sword, Bai Yunfei was able to catch up to Tang Xinyun¡¯s kidnapper. When he first arrived, Bai Yunfei had originally planned to skip by Ta Shan to save Tang Xinyun, but that wouldn¡¯t be possible. Thus, he now chose to fight.


    Jing Mingfeng was nowhere to be found. It seemed that he already jumped off the Tempest Sword. No one knew where he was hiding now.


    ¡°He¡¯s fast!¡± Bai Yunfei thought in surprise after witnessing Ta Shan¡¯s the reaction speed. Bai Yunfei made use of the Wave Treading Steps to move off to the side to dodge since his enemy was moving quicker and quicker.


    The sword nearly grazed Bai Yunfei¡¯s body on its way down, but before Bai Yunfei could take advantage of the missed strike, he realized that something was amiss and hastily pulled out the Cataclysmic Seal. As soon as the brick appeared, he activated the +12 effect so that a barrier appeared about three inches away from his body.


    Before the giant sword could hit the ground, the trajectory of the blade turned at a sharp right angle to slash into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    The sword looked incredibly heavy, but in Ta Shan¡¯s hands, it seemed no different than someone wielding air!


    Even more incredible was the fact that when the sword changed trajectory, an orange glow of light filled the top of the sword before the stone jutted out to form a ¡®point¡¯!


    No longer did it seem apt to call this weapon a sword, perhaps the fang of a giant wolf would make more sense!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a loud bang when the weapon made contact with Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier. Despite barrier¡¯s protection, Bai Yunfei was sent flying several meters through the air before his Fire-tipped Spear stabbed into the ground to anchor his body.


    Petering to an eventual stop, the unharmed Bai Yunfei was surprised to see a sign of a dent in the orange barrier around him!!


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s strong!! Is this what it means to be a Soul Exalt?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself as he looked at the damage on the barrier. As he inspected the damage, a pained expression started to appear on his face.


    ¡°If the enemy is this strong, will¡­ will I be able to win?¡±

 Chapter 333: Battling a Soul Exalt

    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the only one surprised; Ta Shan was even more surprised!


    Ta Shan clearly felt his sword ¡®hit¡¯ something, but Bai Yunfei looked completely unharmed from that collision!


    ¡°Impossible! How did he take on that strike!¡±


    Incredulous, Ta Shan began to inspect Bai Yunfei. As Ta Shan¡¯s eyes observed him, he soon noticed the floating Cataclysmic Seal right next to Bai Yunfei, ¡°That soul armament! It isn¡¯t a defensive item. It seems to be an extremely rare item that can make energy barriers, a strong barrier in fact!¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­ it¡¯s no wonder you came after me yourself; you¡¯ve all these strong soul armaments with you, but do you think you can rely on those to win against someone who¡¯s a higher level than you!?¡± Ta Shan barked in laughter.


    He despised those who relied on soul armaments like Bai Yunfei, but that didn¡¯t mean he would underestimate them. For a moment, his entire body glowed bright with an orange light, and the next second, the ground around him began to climb up his body. Surprised, Bai Yunfei could only watch in silence for the next three seconds as a ¡®stone man¡¯ began to take form in front of him.


    It was a defensive type soul skill, Terra Armor!


    Ta Shan was already a tall and bulky man in his own right, but as soon as the Terra Armor fully encapsulated him, he grew to a height of three meters. He was like a veritable mountain in stature. Only his blood-thirsty eyes could be seen within the armor. The giant stone sword had ¡®fused¡¯ into his hand.


    Now that this ¡®transformation¡¯ was complete, Ta Shan saw no reason to speak any more. Pushing off against the ground, Ta Shan shot straight for Bai Yunfei with the momentum of a war chariot!


    This was the first time Bai Yunfei had ever seen a soul cultivator fight with a ¡®get-up¡¯ like this. Assuming that Ta Shan wouldn¡¯t be able to move as quickly as an earth-type soul cultivator, Bai Yunfei prepared to use the Wave Treading Steps to move out of the way and exploit any holes in Ta Shan¡¯s defenses. However, he had miscalculated one thing.


    He was up against a Soul Exalt of all people!


    ¡°Fast!!¡± The thought of attacking Ta Shan immediately bled away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind since¡­ the supposed ¡®cumbersome¡¯ Ta Shan was coming at him at a breakneck speed!


    Of all the elements in the world, earth was thought to be one of the slowest, but the explosiveness of a Soul Exalt¡¯s strength was beyond what Bai Yunfei could account for.


    When the giant rock sword was practically upon him, all Bai Yunfei could do was activate his barrier and hope for the best.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Like before, the barrier remained upright and in one piece, but the blow was still hefty enough to worry Bai Yunfei. Bai Yunfei was unable to stop himself as he took a single step back. He then grit his teeth and stabbed out with his spear.


    Soul Exalts generally enjoyed using the powers of elements to attack their enemies head-on. As such, Ta Shan was an aberration to Soul Exalts since he enjoyed close quarters combat where he could crush his enemies into a pulp. Each swing of his mighty sword required practically no exertion, and even Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear would be powerless against it.


    There was still a sliver of fear, of the explosion the spear might bring, so Ta Shan was reluctant to clash tips with his sword. No matter how much confidence he had in his armor, he wasn¡¯t willing to task that big of a risk.


    Bai Yunfei tried his best to take the upper hand for several exchanges, but every move he made was fruitless. Every move Ta Shan made in response seemed like they were made in casual jest. There were no holes in his defense. After several exchanges, Bai Yunfei felt as though Ta Shan was playing with him rather than fighting him!!


    ¡°As I thought¡­ even though I¡¯ve regained my strength, I still can¡¯t fight against a person as strong as him?¡± Defending himself against two mighty strikes, Bai Yunfei sighed in slight vexation.


    ¡°What if¡­¡± A flash of inspiration ran through Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, ¡°What if I used my ¡®special¡¯ technique!?¡±


    Parrying another blow with his spear, Bai Yunfei spun the spear around his waist to transfer it to his left hand. Jumping up as he did so, he leaped three meters up to where Ta Shan¡¯s head was!


    Leaping into the air meant that Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to move out of the way or put enough force behind any strike he made; this meant that Bai Yunfei had left himself wide open!


    ¡°You¡¯re going to die!!¡± Ta Shan barked in laughter.


    As he prepared to swing his sword, Ta Shan saw a brilliant gleam of light appear when Bai Yunfei raised his right arm. The next second, a nearly two-meter-long blade of fire appeared above over the same arm!


    Thanks to the effects of gravity, Bai Yunfei was starting his descent back to the ground when the Flame Winged Dagger appeared. Borrowing the momentum of his fall, Bai Yunfei turned his body so that the Flame Winged Dagger would slice down on Ta Shan¡¯s head!


    ¡°What soul skill is this!?¡± Ta Shan exclaimed; this move was simply far too sudden for him to expect.


    Due to its unexpectedness, Ta Shan had to forego his attack. He raised his left hand to shield the weakest part of his body¡ªhis eyes.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The Flame Winged Dagger exploded upon contact with the coarse arm of Ta Shan, leaving a wave of fire to pour over his body afterwards. While the fire surged over his body, Ta Shan waved his other arm so to blow open a crack in the fire.


    He was unharmed by the fire, but the Flame Winged Dagger left a darkened mark on his armor. This mark was by no means a wound to worry about.


    Despite not doing a thing against Ta Shan, the Flame Winged Dagger had accomplished its task of robbing Ta Shan of his eyesight for a moment.


    By the time Ta Shan lowered his arm, he was greeted with the sight of Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear stabbing into his chestplate!


    This time, he was unable to defend himself. Eyes dilating in shock, Ta Shan¡¯s mind was shouting that he should try to evade as fast as possible. Even though he had faith in his armor, he still shouldn¡¯t take this blow!


    A strange sight occurred when Ta Shan¡¯s right hand twitched. From the very back of his stone armor, cracks appeared on the surface like ripples of water before a single figure ¡®broke¡¯ from it in retreat; that figure was Ta Shan!


    Somehow managing to eject himself from his armor, Ta Shan was able retreat and leave behind the shell as a shield!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The events that happened after that went as Ta Shan expected.


    As soon as he fully detached from his stone armor, the spear stabbed into it. With an ear-piercing explosion, the Fire-tipped Spear exploded at the tip and blew apart his entire armor!


    ¡°That spear is definitely strange! I can¡¯t be hit by it!!¡± Retreating to a safe spot a hundred meters away, Ta Shan shook away the lingering fear from his head. As he looked at Bai Yunfei, the light in his eyes was no longer as playful as before.


    ¡°Tsk! Then let¡¯s try this!¡± Foregoing the idea of close quarters combat, Ta Shan changed his fang-shaped stone sword into a more spherical bat-shaped weapon. Priming the weapon behind him, the muscles on Ta Shan¡¯s arms bulged in a mighty display of strength before he swung the weapon!


    Swinging in a half-circle, the soul armament flickered orange in color as several stone spikes detached from the soul armament and flew toward Bai Yunfei like arrows!


    There were roughly a hundred of these stone spikes. They covered a huge area. As they flew, several spikes trailed behind the others in hopes of striking down Bai Yunfei. Left with barely any room to dodge, all Bai Yunfei could do was have the Cataclysmic Seal summon another barrier for him to hide behind.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!¡± Slamming against the barrier with a rhythmic staccato, the stone spikes were stopped stone-cold. They were reduced to nothing more than sand and dirt.


    The barrage continued for three whole seconds. During that time, Bai Yunfei came to a startling discovery¡ªthe barrier was starting to tremble!


    With each successful spike it defended against, the barrier would weaken in color by a smidgen, and Bai Yunfei could feel his soulforce slipping into the Cataclysmic Seal as it tried to replenish the barrier¡¯s strength.


    At last, the barrage came to an end with the barrier at about half the intensity as before.


    Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. Taking notice of the cloud of dust around him, Bai Yunfei was startled to see a black figure come running through the cloud and swing a giant sword down toward his head!!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Visible to the horrified eyes of Bai Yunfei, the giant stone sword of Ta Shan slammed squarely into the barrier. It broke through what was once thought to be an invincible barrier!!


    This orange-flashing sword of Ta Shan still possessed enough strength to come smashing down on Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!

 Chapter 334: Pushed Back? Time to Counterstrike! (First)

    The Terra Armor had already been fully reformed on Ta Shan¡¯s body by the time he was in front of Bai Yunfei. Taking on the form of a giant sword, the soul armament of Ta Shan took advantage of the breaking of the barrier to deliver yet another strike! With the downward momentum, the sword was already dangerously close to smashing into Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A snarl erupted from Ta Shan¡¯s lips as his sword swung into Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. The sword paused momentarily on Bai Yunfei¡¯s before continuing to smash through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, creating a crater in the ground below.


    But, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body had¡­ faded away!?


    ¡°But how!?¡± The satisfied feeling of a kill was replaced with shock as the sight in front of him registered in his eyes. He was in disbelief. His sword had clearly smashed through Bai Yunfei. It had torn him apart with elemental earth, yet no flesh nor blood could be seen.


    Bai Yunfei had disappeared without a trace!!


    The sensation of ¡®hitting¡¯ flesh was real, but at the same time, the ¡®flesh¡¯ wasn¡¯t real!


    In the middle of Ta Shan¡¯s confusion, two identical spears came flying out of the dust cloud from the left and the right, attemtping to stab at his throat and heart!


    These¡­ these were the doppelgangers!!


    Seconds ago, when Ta Shan¡¯s sword was nearly upon him, Bai Yunfei had activated the +12 effect of the Fire-tipped Spear to summon a doppelganger in his place. From there, he launched his counterattack!


    Rather than being surprised by this odd ¡®trickery¡¯, Ta Shan was more than aware of what was happening in front of him. Two spears were coming at him, that much was for certain, but he wouldn¡¯t be caught off guard just yet. Snorting at the attempt, Ta Shan¡¯s left leg pushed off the ground as he leaped back. He was moving his giant sword up for a horizontal swing.


    His retreat served more than just one purpose. Not only did he want to create some distance between him and the spears, the elemental earth he transmitted into the ground manifested into the form of a spike. Launching out of the ground, this roughly arm-thick spike flew with blinding speed toward Bai Yunfei¡¯s stomach!


    ¡°Pft!!¡± One grunt of pain later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was lifted into the air with the spike stabbing out from his back!


    Then, his figure quickly dissolved into air just like the first¡ªa doppelganger!


    Two seconds hadn¡¯t even transpired since the activation of the doppelgangers, but the two of them had already been dispelled by the tyrannical power of Ta Shan!


    With the last of the doppelgangers dispelled, that left the Bai Yunfei on the right. He was the real one! Bai Yunfei was in trouble now since he hadn¡¯t expected Ta Shan to defeat his doppelgangers so quickly; his chance of a surprise attack was completely ruined. Ta Shan¡¯s sword was rapidly coming at him again!


    ¡°Damn it all!¡± Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but scream in his mind. He had no other choice but to abandon his attack, but there wasn¡¯t enough time for the Cataclysmic Seal to erect another barrier. Bai Yunfei could only maneuver his spear in front of him to stop Ta Shan¡¯s sword from swinging into him.


    ¡°Bang!¡± Bending almost circular at the shaft, the Fire-tipped Spear was ripped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands. It was sent flying away!


    ¡°Hahaha! I¡¯d like to see you fight without that red spear now!!¡± Ta Shan howled in laughter. Without giving Bai Yunfei the chance to even process what had happened, he moved forward to strike again!


    ¡°Tsk!¡± Forcing himself upright, Bai Yunfei glared at Ta Shan in annoyance for a moment before barking out loud, ¡°Cataclysmic Seal, go!!¡±


    Spinning in response, the Cataclysmic Seal next to Bai Yunfei lit up with a fiery red light before flying at Ta Shan. On the way, the brick expanded ten times its normal size to stop Ta Shan¡¯s advance!


    ¡°It can change shape!¡± Eyes widening in surprise, Ta Shan¡¯s flickered with light before his entire body disappeared!


    No.


    He didn¡¯t disappear.


    What had happened was that he had leaped several meters into the sky. The Cataclysmic Seal was left below. Right as it was flying right underneath him, Ta Shan made use of the brick to propel himself toward Bai Yunfei!


    This time, Bai Yunfei finally found himself at a loss for what to do. By using the Wave Treading Steps, he was able to dodge the first strike. Before he could relax, a second sword strike was already coming toward his midriff!


    Unable to do anything, Bai Yunfei tried his best to move out of the way as much as he could with his arms up, but to no avail. The flat edge of the sword clipped into his side and sent him flying with a bang.


    Ta Shan continued to chase after him!


    Bloodlust was filling Ta Shan¡¯s eyes once again. He was getting back into the rhythm of things. He enjoyed the sensation of the fight. Each slash, punch, or kick had been delivered swiftly to Bai Yunfei with elemental earth to further enhance the destructive force of his blows. If not for the quick-moving Wave Treading Steps and the occasional use of the Cataclysmic Seal as a shield, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve lost his life many times.


    Most of the time, Bai Yunfei had no choice but to use his arms to defend himself. If not for the bracers, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve lost all use of his arms.


    No matter how much anyone looked at this situation right now¡­ it felt like Bai Yunfei would eventually lose to Ta Shan. He would be reduced to paste sooner or later.


    Would Bai Yunfei really let himself succumb to such an ending without a fight?


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Ta Shan¡¯s sword was parried once again by Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms. The force of the blow sent shivers through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, but instead of looking worried, his eyes suddenly lit up in excitement!


    On the other side, Ta Shan had felt a stronger-than-normal amount of rebound when his sword was parried by Bai Yunfei¡¯s left arm. A slight crackling sound came from Ta Shan¡¯s right hand along with a slight grunt.


    The +10 additional effect of the Returner Bracer, activated!!


    Returner Bracer stats:


    Equipment Grade: Middle Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 890


    Additional Defense: 478


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: There is a 15% chance to reflect 30% of the damage dealt when defending. The amount of damage reflected cannot exceed the total amount of defense of the equipment and cannot reflect long-ranged attacks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    Reflecting thirty percent of the damage meant reflecting it back at the damage dealer. By extension, this meant reflecting damage to where Ta Shan had no defenses!


    It caused a strain on Bai Yunfei¡¯s body to reflect the damage. Gritting his teeth as the pain traveled around his arms, Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet pressed several centimeters into the ground as he pushed off to widen the distance between him and Ta Shan. The muscles in Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand bulged slightly as he clenched it. In response to his gathering of strength, the Ardent Sun Glove in his hand began to flicker with wisps of fire. With all preparations done, Bai Yunfei lashed out with a vicious right punch at Ta Shan!


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a muffled thud as fist met man. Even as a three meter tall behemoth, Ta Shan was lifted nearly half a meter off the ground from Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch! A series of cracking sounds could be heard as the elemental fire from Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch made its way into Ta Shan¡¯s armor. Spiralling the way a spiderweb would, the cracks soon became so widespread over Ta Shan¡¯s right arm that the armor in that area disintegrated! Even the stone sword he was holding had been dropped from his hand because of the force!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The heavy frame of Ta Shan smashed back into the ground. Dropping to his knees, there was a deep crack running through Ta Shan¡¯s armor.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move after that one punch. Instead, his left hand clutched at his right wrist. His palm faced Ta Shan. Gathering at the center of his open palm was a large amount of eye-piercingly red light¡­


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh¡­¡±


    Under the bewildered eyes of Ta Shan, a series of fist-sized fireballs launched from Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm to surround him in a wide-spread attack!

 Chapter 335: The Overusage of a Technique and Despair! (Second)

    The fireballs whizzed through the air as they traveled. The fireballs Bai Yunfei had shot looked similar to Ta Shan¡¯s stone spike attack from earlier.


    The only difference was that the one who was attacking and the one who was defending was reversed.


    Ta Shan was kneeling on the ground with his right palm propping up his body. A small crack could be seen running through his right arm with blood streaming from it. With a grunt of pain, Ta Shan made his elemental earth staunch the bleeding as it flowed into the ground. The ground coiled up his arm, fully reforming the Terra Armor.


    Now that all that was done, he could focus on the incoming barrage.


    Narrowing his eyes, Ta Shan didn¡¯t look as though he would be moving from his spot. Slapping his hand against the ground, his palm transmitted some soulforce into it. The soulforce erected a dirt wall three meters tall, ten meters wide, and one meter thick!


    Bai Yunfei had seen this move before some time ago by L¨¹ Fang, but the wall L¨¹ Fang had made wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as Ta Shan.


    ¡°Booom!!!¡±


    The fireballs impacted the dirt wall in a series of mini-explosions. With each fireball that hit the wall, a cloud of dirt flew up, robbing the area of visibility.


    Not discouraged by the failure of his first attempt, Bai Yunfei launched a second round of fireballs to attack the wall.


    Once again, the sound of fireballs striking the wall could be heard. The sounds had been loud enough to startle even the birds in the faraway trees.


    Once this second hundred fireball barrage was over, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands flew forward, throwing the items in them. A blue ray and a violet ray of light streaked through the cloud of dust before the area could resituate itself. As the two rays of light disappeared into the dust, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes continued to stare warily at them.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Following the wave of orange light that assaulted the area, the cloud of dirt began to blow this way and that. When visibility was restored, the very first thing one would notice was that the wall Ta Shan had erected earlier was nowhere to be seen. All that was left was the base of the wall with him standing where it used to be. Both his arms were crossed over another in an ¡®X¡¯ formation to safeguard his head and face. He looked as immobile as a stone statue, and he glowed bright orange due to his cracked Terra Armor.


    The armor looked dilapidated, and two handles of violet and blue could be seen stabbed into the parts protecting his arms. They were the Flying Bolt Dagger and Glacial Pricker.


    However, he wasn¡¯t the most conspicuous part of the scene. Three meters ahead of him¡ªwhere the base of the wall was¡ªwere fragments of the wall .


    It was precisely these fragments that were the most conspicuous because they were floating in the air!


    A cloud of orange light covered each and every fragment so that they were suspended in the air like water droplets. Big or small, the amount of individual pieces surely had to be well over a thousand.


    If one were to look closely, one would be able to tell that a change was occurring in the fragments. The fragments were slowly thinning out in front and widening in the back while they remained suspended in the air. They then shined a bright orange in color, undergoing some sort of hardening process¡­


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Things were already at a standstill by this point. The dust cloud had settled onto the ground. The air was calm, but that was when Ta Shan made his move.


    His arms gradually lowered to reveal his eyes. As shocked and angry as he was, a vicious light emanated from behind those two emotions as he harrumphed. As if obeying an order, the one thousand plus fragments spun frantically, aiming at Bai Yunfei. They then shot toward him as if had been fired from a thousand invisible bows!


    ¡°Dammit, even that didn¡¯t work!!¡±


    Clenching his fists in anger, Bai Yunfei observed the objects coming at him with equally angry eyes. Flicking a finger up from his right hand, Bai Yunfei ordered, ¡°Cataclysmic Seal!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡± Obeying his summons with a vibrational buzz, the Cataclysmic Seal flew at him as though it had been aided by a strong gale. Crossing the distance between it and him in practically the blink of an eye, the Cataclysmic Seal started to grow exponentially in size. By the time it flew past Bai Yunfei, it was already the size of a small mountain, directed to slam into Ta Shan!


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to make use of the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier, but the +13 effect instead. The ability to grow in size wasn¡¯t limited to just defending, it could be used as an extremely strong attack too!


    He wanted to use this attack a lot sooner, but Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t use it because of a factor completely out of his control. His soulsense told him that Tang Xinyun was hidden just a few hundred meters behind Ta Shan, which meant she hadn¡¯t immediately been sent away when he found Ta Shan.


    Fortune and misfortune were two sides to the same coin. While this meant Tang Xinyun was safe and nearby, this also meant Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t use the Cataclysmic Seal to grow several hundred meters in length and crush his enemies flat.


    The beginning of the battle was an attempt to sound out how Ta Shan fought so that he could attack appropriately. Whether by design or by pure bad luck, Bai Yunfei had failed to act on his plans up until now.


    Even now, Bai Yunfei was still afraid to make the Cataclysmic Seal too big in fear of making Tang Xinyun an unfortunate target of friendly fire.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Thwok thwok thwok thwok thwok!¡± The concentrated barrage of one thousand stone spikes pelted the Cataclysmic Seal, but what use was rain drops to a mountain? They did nothing, turning from stone back into sand and dirt once more.


    Without any obstructions, the Cataclysmic Seal continued on to strike Ta Shan.


    ¡°It can get even bigger!?¡± Ta Shan¡¯s eyes dilated in surprise. Not expecting such a thing to happen, Ta Shan took one step back before realizing that that wouldn¡¯t help him escape.


    After half-second of considering the incoming mass, Ta Shan¡¯s eyes shined furiously with light. Soon elemental earth from all over started to flow and be absorbed into his body.


    ¡°Brat¡­ you should be proud that you managed to push me this far!!¡± Ta Shan roared.


    His left leg rose into the air before coming back down onto the ground with a heavy stomp. The elemental earth that was gathering in his body flowed into the ground before rocks and stones started to congregate around him as if they were alive. Crawling up his right leg, they coiled around his body, up to his waist before finally stopping around his entire right arm.


    The Cataclysmic Seal was already fifty meters away by the time the stones traveled to Ta Shan¡¯s right arm. In just moments, the stones were hardening while growing in size!


    When the Cataclysmic Seal was just twenty meters away, the right fist of Ta Shan was already ten meters wide and ten meters long. With a grunt, he heaved his heavy fist forward as he lashed out!


    ¡°You can fuck off!!¡±


    With a heavy collision, the fist smashed against Bai Yunfei¡¯s Cataclysmic Seal!!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    A cacophony of sounds erupted in the area as the two objects collided. Ta Shen¡¯s feet sank deep into the ground as he tried to maintain his footing, but the fist that was so heavily backed by elemental earth and stone was already starting to crumble. Due to the inner turmoil of his body, his face was a dark shade of red, and his mouth was already starting to dribble with some of his blood.


    Despite the state he was in, his eyes were filled with glee.


    He had¡­ repelled the Cataclysmic Seal!!


    Whistling as it traveled, the Cataclysmic Seal flew over Bai Yunfei¡¯s head before coming to a stop on the ground just ten meters away.


    Bai Yunfei was completely bewildered by what had happened. From when Ta Shan slammed the brick back to when the brick smashed into the ground, he didn¡¯t react.


    It was only when he felt the vibrations of the brick that Bai Yunfei snapped back to awareness. Turning his head back to look at the half-submerged Cataclysmic Seal, he tried his best to rationalize the events in front of him.


    ¡°Im¡­ impossible!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal had been invincible during every single thing it had done so far, but it was the loser in this bout!


    This¡­ this was the strength of a Soul Exalt!!

 Chapter 336: The Collision of Two Fireseeds! (Third)

    The Fire-tipped Spear, the Ardent Sun Gloves, the Flameblade Bracer, the Returner Bracer, the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force, the Lightning Bolt Dagger and the Glacial Pricker¡ª


    ¨CNot a single one had helped him overcome this foe¡­


    And now, his biggest crutch, the Cataclysmic Seal, had been overpowered by the same foe!!


    This time, Bai Yunfei really was out of trump cards. Every technique he knew, every item he owned, they had all been exhausted¡­


    Ta Shan on the other hand didn¡¯t look much different after he had used his technique. Squatting down on the ground with both palms touching it, he fixed his Terra Armor once more. With his body and armor both currently recovering from the previous ordeal, Ta Shan wasn¡¯t in a good enough state to deal the finishing blow to Bai Yunfei.


    But it wouldn¡¯t take long for him to be able to. All he needed to do was relax for a moment. Then, he¡¯d be able to finish the battle.


    The fearsome look in Ta Shan¡¯s eye unnerved Bai Yunfei since he didn¡¯t have much soulforce. He had to make use of the 300 points of soulforce stockpiled in his ring in a hurried attempt to replenish himself. As it filled his body, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered with light as he tried to assess the danger in front of him.


    ¡°What do I do? What do I do!? Isn¡¯t there any way I can win? Any type of secret technique? Any of the flying daggers? The Compliant Rope? The Walkon Strawhat!? Dammit all! I used to think I had more equipment than I knew what to do with, but now, not a single one of them can help me!!¡±


    The joints in his knuckles cracked rhythmically from the pressure being exerted in them. Bai Yunfei found his newly reformed essence fireseed starting to pulse rather erratically. Perhaps as an effect, the elemental fire in him started to flow erratically as well.


    ¡°Wha??¡± It was then that he realized something. The fireseed essence in his body just had to be planning something if it was moving like that. If he concentrated on it, he could just faintly detect an odd sensation fluttering in his heart.


    It felt as if¡­ something was being called for¡­ something that had once been with him but had been lost, but now the connection to it was slowly being rebuilt¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s my essence fireseed!¡±


    The summoning cry had knocked Bai Yunfei for a loop; it was trying to call to the essence fireseed in the Cataclysmic Seal!


    Elation started to fill his body now that he knew what was going on, ¡°This is it! I¡¯ve still something up my sleeve! Something I can use!¡±


    After being forcibly knocked onto the ground by Ta Shan, the fireseed essence that was in the Cataclysmic Seal finally started to give off traces of existence!!


    After months of slumber, it was finally awake!


    If the fireseed essence was awake, then the battle outside Curopia CIty could be repeated. With the fireseed essence, the power of the Cataclysmic Seal would drastically rise!


    ¡°This is my last hope¡­ you¡¯ve been asleep for so long, so it¡¯s about time you wake up!!¡±


    Reinvigorated and refocused, Bai Yunfei stared heavily at the Cataclysmic Seal while wishing in his heart for the essence fireseed to awaken!


    It didn¡¯t feel like there was enough power in it.


    Without a doubt, the essence fireseed had woke up, but it wasn¡¯t fully awake.


    By this point, Ta Shan was already getting back on his feet. Worried about what he¡¯d do next, Bai Yunfei stared at him with clenched fists.


    His right fist slammed into his chest, ¡°Damn it! You better wake up! Otherwise, I¡¯ll use you to fuel the Cataclysmic Seal again!!¡±


    His mental roar of anger had been the impetus that the essence fireseed in his body needed to explode in activity. It thought Bai Yunfei would really force it out his body.


    Suddenly, a spark jolted through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, allowing him to feel as though something important was being established. The connections that had slowly been built between him and the fireseed essence were now reconnecting at a hastened pace, allowing a tremendous amount of power to pour out of his very soul. The power flowed to each and every corner of his body, replenishing him with power while his fireseed essence started to ¡®crackle¡¯ to life.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡± The partially submerged Cataclysmic Seal behind him started to vibrate where it was. Waves of red light and elemental fire started to billow out, and with the bewildered Ta Shan as witness, a fist-sized fireseed slowly started to float out of the Cataclysmic Seal.


    By an act of osmosis, the soul armament and the fireseed were dividing. The moment it successfully escaped from its confines, the fireseed flew straight for Bai Yunfei. It ¡®dove¡¯ right into his body before he could even understand what it was doing!!


    He had originally been planning to use the newly awakened fireseed essence to power up the Cataclysmic Seal again, so when it fully awakened, Bai Yunfei was surprised that it¡¯d dive into his body so suddenly!


    It hadn¡¯t even reached Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart, but the fireseed was already starting to feel like it was at ¡®home.¡¯ Traveling through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body with practiced ease, it returned to his core¡ªthe origin acupoint.


    When it arrived at the origin acupoint, the fireseed was quick to discover that it wasn¡¯t empty¡­


    There was another fireseed existing at its core!


    Then¡­ the two fireseeds trembled violently before colliding with one another¡­


    ¡°Booom!!!!!¡±


    It was as though a mental bomb had exploded within Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Not only was there a dreadfully loud sound, a wave of fire exploded from both fireseeds and the origin acupoint flooded his entire body with elemental fire.


    Even his body wasn¡¯t enough to contain it all. It hit its limit and elemental fire started to explode out!


    The explosion of fire was like his body had been dipped into lava; it was unbelievably hot and painful!!


    ¡°Aaaghhhhh!!!¡±


    All of the muscles in Bai Yunfei¡¯s face spasmed with pain. His head snapped back as he let loose a powerful roar as all of the elemental fire in his body started to flow out.


    The elemental fire outside his body started to violently surge, like the forming of a typhoon. It completely enveloped Bai Yunfei!


    The wave of pain that shot through him threatened to knock him unconscious. Even though he wasn¡¯t clear of mind, there was a feeling of contrast.


    He felt even more ¡®free¡¯ than ever.


    He felt as though if he wanted to, he could split apart the sky just by raising his fist!


    ¡°Wha¡ªwhat¡¯s going on!? How¡¯s he getting all this power. It¡¯s inconceivable!!¡±


    Ta Shan was currently lost in his own thoughts. They persisted for only a few seconds before he cleared his mind and prepared to kill once more!


    For some reason, fear was starting to rise up in his mind.


    It was laughable, to say the least.


    How could a Soul Exalt ever fear a young Soul Ancestor!?


    ¡°I can¡¯t let him grow any stronger! I¡¯ve got to kill him, now!¡±


    Roaring to himself as he leaped, Ta Shan flew forward to strike Bai Yunfei down with all his might.


    A ring of fire flew off Bai Yunfei¡¯s body when he realized Ta Shan¡¯s movements. Tilting his head, Bai Yunfei stared at Ta Shan with both of his fiery eyes for just a second before he¡­


    Disappeared!!


    He was gone without anything but a flash of fire from where he used to stand.


    Bai Yunfei had disappeared from Ta Shan¡¯s very eyes!


    Ta Shan was a Soul Exalt with all the perception granted to someone of his calibre, yet Bai Yunfei had disappeared without a trace!


    Another second later, the burning heat of elemental fire could be felt right behind Ta Shan. Eyes dilating in fear, Ta Shan tried to turn around. Both of his hands were ready to protect himself, but¡­


    It was too late!!


    ¡°Bang! Bang!!¡±


    There were the two distinct sounds of something being hit.


    Just slightly above Ta Shan in the air was Bai Yunfei. Both of his hands were outstretched right next to Ta Shan¡¯s neck!!


    A double Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!!

 Chapter 337: The Final Explosion (Fourth)

    Two unrestrained bursts of elemental fire erupted from Bai Yunfei¡¯s fists. They covered the surrounding hundred meters in waves of burning fire within just half a second. Then, Ta Shan¡¯s body fell from it!


    Two deep impressions could be seen on both sides of his neck. The Terra Armor in those areas had been blown to pieces while the rest of the armor on his body crumbled apart.


    In just a few moments, the Terra Armor completely disintegrated!


    The two punches Bai Yunfei had unleashed on Ta Shan allowed elemental fire to flow into Ta Shan¡¯s body, destroying both flesh and bone.


    Besides the total destruction that was happening in Ta Shan¡¯s body, the real point of interest was the punches¡¯ separate flows of energy.


    They were flowing in two completely different patterns!


    That¡­ was an impossibility in itself!! Each and every soul cultivator¡ªeven those with dual affinities¡ªelements would flow in a certain pattern no matter how weak or strong their control was!


    Ta Shan could confirm that the two halves of elemental fire were flowing in completely different patterns!


    Even more shocking was that, the two halves were converging right toward the center of his chest!


    ¡°N-no!!¡± Despair from his impending doom began to creep up into Ta Shan¡¯s spirit. His eyes were filled with desperation, but with time, his desperation turned into an indignant frenzy¡­


    ¡°Killed by the hands of a Soul Ancestor whelp, how will I ever get over this shame!! How could I¡­ Ta Shan, die at the hands of this gnat!!¡±


    He howled at the sky before bringing his right hand down onto his chest!


    ¡°Origin essence¡­ scram!!¡±


    During the final moment between life and death, Ta Shan was forced to do something completely reckless¡­ he destroyed his own origin essence!!


    To destroy the origin essence was to relinquish control over the elements of the world. As such, destroying your essence fireseed meant forcibly dropping your own strength to the level of a late-stage Soul Warrior!


    There¡¯d be no way to train in an element they destroyed without a miracle!


    If a Soul Exalt like Ta Shan were to do such a thing, nothing would differentiate him from a cripple¡­


    Ta Shan would do it for the sake of saving his own life! For the sake of self-preservation, he¡¯d do anything to kill the one who forced him to such a state!


    The fact he was doing this was crazy in itself, but he was still capable of some rational thought. Instead of choosing to ¡®explode¡¯ his origin essence, Ta Shan chose to ¡®destroy¡¯ it. If he had chosen to destroy it, then the resulting explosion would be ten times as big, but nothing would remain of his body¡­


    Back when Tang Xinyun was suffering from the effects of the Soul Refining Palm, Xiao Binbai chose to destroy her essence fireseed so that the resulting energy would overwhelm the eroding effects.


    Destruction of the origin essence meant not being able to cultivate, but at the same time, it would give an instant burst of power at that moment!


    Since Ta Shan sacrificed the ¡®earthseed¡¯ in his body, his strength would improve drastically. He would become a¡­ mid-stage Soul Exalt!


    With the power of the earthseed surging through his body, the elemental fire running rampant in it was quickly overtaken. Not even a second had passed before the elemental fire was expelled. Then, Ta Shan¡¯s body was basked in an eye-piercing orange light. There was a slight explosion before he snapped his neck up, giving Bai Yunfei, who was several hundred meters away, a near-insane glare.


    The moment he glared at Bai Yunfei, he could feel the tip of his head start to grow dimmer. The sky that had been cloudless earlier was starting to cloud over, and a feeling of death was starting to surround him!!


    ¡°This is¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Several seconds before Ta Shan¡¯s final gambit, Bai Yunfei had just used the twin Eighty-one Fold Fist Force before being blown away by the force of his own technique. Thrown back a few dozen meters, Bai Yunfei managed to stabilize himself.


    The fire around his body hadn¡¯t lessened after his attack, giving him a rather carefree feeling about the affair. Though after using the twin Eighty-one Fold Fist Force, both of his arms felt a twinge of pain due to the blowback.


    Still, the amount of power flowing through his body gave him an unprecedented level of strength he just couldn¡¯t describe.


    This feeling of ¡®carefreeness¡¯ that came after knocking away Ta Shan persisted for only a second longer before his right hand flew to his chest.


    Gasping in pain, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes started to dilate. The color in his face drastically dispersed. The intolerable pain he was feeling from the burn had come back with a vengeance!


    The burning pain he was feeling was many times stronger than when Bai Yunfei had eaten the fireseed spirit mushroom. It felt as though his very soul was being used as a source of fuel to burn his very nerves.


    He couldn¡¯t stop the pain, he couldn¡¯t alleviate the pain, and worse¡ªhe couldn¡¯t control it either!!


    ¡°Dammit! This again! I feel like my body¡¯s about to explode!!¡± Bai Yunfei gave a mental howl as the energy in his body gradually started to overwhelm his senses. The pain was becoming so unbearable that he could hardly prevent himself from panicking.


    The changes going on in Ta Shan¡¯s body alerted Bai Yunfei of his situation. Eyes snapping to the man, Bai Yunfei was about to try and attack the man while he was down, but before he could move, his eyes flicked over to the left to where the Cataclysmic Seal was!


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it! I can do this!!¡± Joy burst forth from his head as Bai Yunfei realized the most optimal method of attacking in his current situation. Without any hesitation, he slapped his chest with his right hand and roared mentally to himself, ¡°Why fight? Just go into the Cataclysmic Seal already!¡±


    By this point, he was already aware of the conflict in his body. Both essence fireseeds were currently fighting in his origin acupoint for ¡®territorial rights,¡¯ resulting in the uncontrollable power that was running rampant through his body.


    Author Note: For the sake of differentiating between the two fireseeds, let us call the fireseed gained from eating the fireseed spirit mushroom ¡®first fireseed¡¯ and the one in Bai Yunfei¡¯s Cataclysmic Seal ¡®second fireseed¡¯.


    After his command, the two fighting fireseeds came to a screeching halt in his origin acupoint. The second fireseed was slowly dragged from his body before materializing outside of it in his hand.


    Before anything else could happen, Bai Yunfei threw the second fireseed at the Cataclysmic Seal so fast that it resembled a shooting star. The second fireseed melted into the brick the moment they touched.


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡± Once again, the Cataclysmic Seal started to hum and radiate elemental fire while Bai Yunfei tried to keep it from exploding.


    Back in Curopia City, Bai Yunfei had been in a moment of mindless rage when he had used this move. Right now, he was in a completely sober moment of clarity, and his connection with the Cataclysmic Seal was many times stronger than before. As soon as the essence fireseed was in the brick, Bai Yunfei felt as though he had turned into the Cataclysmic Seal. Every single pulse and every wave of power were clear to him. They were all available for him to control!


    Though it felt as though an eternity had passed, what was going on in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body and the Cataclysmic Seal took place roughly before Ta Shan could destroy his own essence earthseed and repel the twin Eighty-one Fold Fist Force¡­


    Narrowing his eyes in concentration, Bai Yunfei willed the Cataclysmic Seal to where Ta Shan¡¯s head was many times faster than before!!


    ¡°This is my strongest attack¡­


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    While Ta Shan was glaring at him, Bai Yunfei let loose a furious roar and brought his hand down!


    With this final word, the Cataclysmic Seal began to expand in size before smashing Ta Shan to a pulp. By the time it hit the ground, it was already eight hundred meters long, large enough to block out Ta Shan¡¯s sight of the sky, and with that, the brick was smashed deep into the ground!

 Chapter 338: The Death of Hidden Snake (Fifth)

    By the time Ta Shan was fully upright, the Cataclysmic Seal was only ten meters away from his head!


    The anger that had been in his eyes was quickly replaced by subdued shock and then despair.


    He didn¡¯t have enough time to form any sort of defense or make an escape!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The earth violently quaked with a sound that reverberated through the air as the mountain-sized Cataclysmic Seal sunk into the ground!


    Not even a peep was made by Ta Shan before he was crushed by the Cataclysmic Seal. Despite the giant explosion that came with the destruction of his origin essence, Ta Shan was still crushed by the brick. His aura was snuffed out just like that!


    The way the Cataclysmic Seal was binding the earth around Ta Shan made it so he couldn¡¯t escape into the ground.


    That only left death as his last remaining option!!


    Ever since the battle had started, both combatants had fought with all their might. Only Ta Shan lacked the final step and was crushed underneath the Cataclysmic Seal as a result!


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    A relieved sigh escaped Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. His final strike was by no means effortless; the collision of the two essence fireseeds had cost him eighty percent of his soulforce. It was fortunate that his first essence fireseed was extremely easy to work with. After the second essence fireseed was gone, the first had settled down without any further troubles. It continued to regulate the warm elemental fire in his body, making up for the soulforce it had used up earlier.


    ¡°I won¡­ all on my own this time! I won against a Soul Exalt!!¡± Giddy with excitement because of his achievement, Bai Yunfei gave an appreciative look to his Cataclysmic Seal.


    After relaxing for a moment, Bai Yunfei suddenly came to a start, ¡°Shit, Xinyun!!¡±


    The battle had been so intense that he had temporarily forgotten about Tang Xinyun. Bai Yunfei had been sent flying behind Ta Shan earlier in the fight, meaning he could use the Cataclysmic Seal without needing to worry about hurting her.


    Paradoxically, he had forgotten about her in the rush of the moment.


    Whipping his head back to look in her direction, Bai Yunfei began to worry that someone else had taken advantage of the situation while he had been distracted and had taken her farther away.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    About half a minute ago, when Bai Yunfei was about to use the Cataclysmic Seal to smash into Ta Shan¡¯s fist¡ª


    Hidden Snake was still hidden in the small mound of dirt with Tang Xinyun as he observed the distant battle with a confused eye.


    In truth, he had planned to carry Tang Xinyun away a lot earlier. They were being chased, and he had no way of knowing if it was the Tang chasing them.


    He wasn¡¯t as strong as Ta Shan, so being dragged into the battle would¡¯ve bode badly for him. When Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength was made known to him, Hidden Snake felt his worries slip away.


    Bai Yunfei might have been just a little stronger than him, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for Ta Shan¡¯s strength.


    Taking into account his better judgement, Hidden Snake decided to satisfy his curiosity and watch the fight.


    Another major reason for him staying behind was because of the strange spear Bai Yunfei was using.


    He could tell it was a very strong soul armament; any soul cultivator would be able to tell that by the amount of power radiating from it.


    While Ta Shan was Bai Yunfei¡¯s opponent, it didn¡¯t mean Hidden Snake couldn¡¯t get a share of the spoils himself.


    However, the battle proved more shocking than he initially thought. He had never once doubted Ta Shan¡¯s strength, but the amount of weapons in Bai Yunfei¡¯s repertoire left him speechless!


    The more he watched, the more ¡®pleasantly surprised¡¯ he felt. In the end, Hidden Snake couldn¡¯t contain his excitement any longer. There was far too many soul armaments!!


    If Bai Yunfei were to die, how many items could he get for himself??


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength was enough to keep him from leaping in the fray.


    When Ta Shan sent the Cataclysmic Seal flying and was on the crux of victory, Hidden Snake finally let out a sigh of relief. He prepared to walk out to ¡®help¡¯ land the killing blow on Bai Yunfei.


    But that was when the battle suddenly took a turn for the worse.


    Summoning back his essence fireseed, Bai Yunfei managed to force Ta Shan into destroying his origin essence as a final gambit and a chance to live. Despite that, Ta Shan was still overwhelmed by the intense power of the Cataclysmic Seal and was killed.


    This left Hidden Snake stunned at the sight. His mind was abuzz with the implications of the battle along with disbelief in what he was seeing.


    The next moment, clarity came rushing back to his mind. Any qualms he might¡¯ve had about staying behind were thrown to the wind thanks to his fear. Grabbing Tang Xinyun, he suppressed his own aura. Then made use of the terrain to make a quick and stealthy getaway.


    ¡°Hey now, where are you trying to take my brother¡¯s wife?¡±


    Out of nowhere, the sound of a third party made its way into the ears of Hidden Snake. Letting loose a swear as he came to a stop, Hidden Snake turned around with a pale face and a sweaty back.


    The reason why he was so afraid was because of how this person has appeared like a ghost.


    Already¡­ a dagger was pressed against Hidden Snake¡¯s neck!


    It was only when this figure spoke that Hidden Snake had realized where the person was!


    ¡°Im¡ªmpossible!!¡± Thunderstruck, Hidden Snake couldn¡¯t even find the words to describe what he was thinking. When Ta Shan had been killed, Hidden Snake didn¡¯t think that he has been discovered then, so why now?


    More importantly, how did this person appear right behind him without him noticing!?


    He was a soul cultivator that excelled in all things stealth related. He had faith in his abilities to detect anyone within a hundred meters radius. It¡¯d be a stretch to say that he was detected due to Tang Xinyun¡¯s weak aura.


    Yet, that was the case. Hidden Snakes well-trained senses were telling him that this was the only possible way¡­


    ¡°Hey now, don¡¯t be so surprised. You¡¯re a little¡­ too green to even think about hiding from me.


    ¡°But don¡¯t move! I¡¯ll have you know that the dagger at your throat is a heaven tier soul armament. As long as I will it, the energy in the dagger will cut through your throat before you can even twitch.¡±


    The foreboding voice of the person behind Hidden Snake terrified him, so he didn¡¯t dare move a muscle.


    ¡°Good, good. Now put down the person you¡¯re holding¡ªslowly now. She¡¯s worth her weight in gold, you know! If you hurt her, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to afford it¡­¡±


    His banter was quite light-hearted. In fact, one could probably even call it lazy, but Hidden Snake knew better than to risk it. Gingerly putting Tang Xinyun down on the ground, he raised his hands up to show that he was willing to comply.


    ¡°Very good. Now walk forward, slowly. Don¡¯t you dare try anything sudden, or you¡¯ll have to excuse me if my finger starts itching to cut into your throat.¡±


    The entirety of Hidden Snake¡¯s head was drenched thoroughly in sweat by now. He was so nervous even gulping the saliva in his mouth was proving to be an impossible task. He was afraid that if he did swallow, the bobbing of his adam¡¯s apple would press against the dagger.


    If that were to happen, he could say goodbye to his blood and life.


    As he slowly walked away from Tang Xinyun, the person behind him followed like a shadow, and though the person¡¯s body bobbed up and down with each step that was made, the dagger remained level without moving a centimeter.


    Just ten meters away, the previously frightened-into-silence Hidden Snake was now starting to regain some confidence. A sinister light began to bleed into his eyes as a wave of killing intent started to rise up from within him¡­


    ¡°Hey, you know why I wanted you to walk this far away?¡±


    The still calm voice spoke again.


    This time, Hidden Snake was startled to see the dagger move away from his throat!


    Before he could even properly register why it was moving, his eyes widened in shock and the killing intent quickly turned into absolute despair.


    ¡°Pzk!!¡±


    Hidden Snake felt his blood start to leave from a cut across his throat. He tried to open his mouth to say something, but no words came out.


    His hands tried to move up to hold the wound together, but halfway through the process, his arms fell back down.


    His strength was spent. His eyes were already starting to dim.


    As he crashed down to the ground, Hidden Snake felt his life slowly come to a silent stop.


    Behind him, Jing Mingfeng swung his dagger to rid it of blood.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I didn¡¯t want your blood dirtying the clothes of my brother¡¯s wife.¡± Mingfeng explained.

 Chapter 339: A Safe Rescue (Sixth)

    ¡°If you really want to make a sneak attack on me, hide your killing intent at the very least.¡± Jing Mingfeng spat at the corpse in front of him. Shaking his head, he gave a sigh, ¡°Too bad I didn¡¯t ask him who he¡¯s working for, but I doubt he¡¯d give me an answer anyways¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng really wanted to keep Hidden Snake alive, but the situation wasn¡¯t progressing to a state where that was possible. If Hidden Snake had attacked when he had pulled the dagger away, it was quite possible that something unexpected would have happened, so to do nothing when Hidden Snake started to leak killing intent wasn¡¯t a possibility


    Jing Mingfeng and Hidden Snake were of the same level of strength. However, Jing Mingfeng was just slightly weaker. In a straight up battle, Jing Mingfeng would have no advantages or contingencies to help if Hidden Snake were to run away. Holding onto Tang Xinyun only complicated the matters.


    After failing to find anything of importance on Hidden Snake¡¯s corpse, Jing Ming took his space ring and headed straight for Tang Xinyun.


    Roughly at the same time, a rustling sound could be heard from the bushes before a figure came darting over like a bolt of lightning.


    That figure was Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Haha, what¡¯s the rush, Ol¡¯Bai? The enemy¡¯s already dead, and your wife is safe.¡± Upon noticing the worried expression on his friend¡¯s face, Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but tease him.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t say anything at first and chose to look around the area for any potential threats. His eyes lingered on the corpse of Hidden Snake for a moment before moving back to Tang Xinyun. Rushing toward the two, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°How¡¯s Xinyun?¡±


    ¡°Not sure,¡± Jing Mingfeng shrugged, ¡°take a look yourself.¡±


    Crouching next to Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei could tell that she was unconscious. Bai Yunfei took her wrist to check for her pulse and began to send his soulforce into her. A preliminary scan revealed that several of her acupoints had been forcibly suppressed, but that was about it. The blockage in her acupoints wasn¡¯t very severe.


    Bai Yunfei concentrated as he sent his elemental fire into her body. He then began to burn away the blockage in her acupoints.


    ¡°Unghh¡­¡±


    A slight groan escaped her lips as Bai Yunfei pulled his soulforce away. The eyelashes on Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyelids fluttered before finally opening to reveal her eyes.


    The very first thing she saw was a very worried and concerned Bai Yunfei looking at her.


    Strangely, Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t seem that surprised or jubilant.


    Instead, she gave Bai Yunfei a warm smile and said, ¡°I knew that you¡¯d come save me¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha,¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, his hand was still clutching her wrist, ¡°Of course! I brought you here. If I didn¡¯t bring you back safe and sound, how would elder Cang Yu ever forgive me?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but give an exaggerated shiver at the amorous interaction taking place in front of him. ¡°Hey, if you¡¯re going to make love, you might want to choose a better place for that, yeah? There¡¯s a dead corpse right over here you know!¡±


    Sputtering incoherently, Bai Yunfei coughed in embarrassment before he helped Tang Xinyun to her feet.


    ¡°Do we know who the dead guy is?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t get a chance to ask.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng looked through Hidden Snake¡¯s space ring, but he didn¡¯t see anything that might identify who the man was working for, ¡°Nothing here either. I can¡¯t tell who he is.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows narrowed together as he tried to think for a moment. Two seconds later, he turned to look off into a distance. A ball of orange light was flying toward them; it was the Cataclysmic Seal with its barrier effect activated.


    Within the barrier, a good deal of what appeared to be dirt was held in it.


    Tang Xinyun was confused about why there was so much dirt, but Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t.


    He knew that Ta Shan¡¯s corpse was in there¡­


    For the sake of not letting Tang Xinyun see such a bloody sight, Bai Yunfei made a ball of fire envelop the Cataclysmic Seal when it approached. After a while, a space ring was thrown from the fire. It landes in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Bai Yunfei found nothing in the ring. He sadly shook his head, ¡°Nothing suspicious here either¡­ let¡¯s forget about it and leave. We can look into it later and try to find clues then.¡±


    Together, the three turned to return back to Mo City. While Tang Xinyun was left gasping in shock over the crater left behind by the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei set to collecting the Fire-tipped Spear, the Glacial Pricker, and the Lightning Bolt Dagger.


    He, of course, picked up the rod Ta Shan had left behind.


    As soon as Bai Yunfei was done putting everything away, he walked back to where Tang Xinyun was waiting.


    He noticed two streaks of light flying in their direction when he arrived by her side. One was a golden color, the other was orange, but both lights were traveling extremely fast.


    At a closer look, Bai Yunfei could see that the two people were skywalking in order to get to them¡ªthough they weren¡¯t traveling as fast as the Tempest Sword did¡ªtheir speed was still comparable.


    Skywalking was a technique Soul Exalts could pull off while the act of flying was something Soul Kings could do.


    Since the two were skywalking, that meant they were both Soul Exalts.


    Bai Yunfei was wary at first, but his concerns bled away in relief when he recognized the two auras.


    He didn¡¯t recognize the older one of the two, but the youth was the eldest son of the Tang, Tang Jing.


    ¡°It¡¯s your eldest brother,¡± Bai Yunfei said to Tang Xinyun, ¡°and an old man. Is he someone from the previous generation, or¡­?¡±


    The two figures were within a hundred meters when Bai Yunfei was asking, prompting Tang Xinyun to look closer at the two. Eyes widening in surprise, she said, ¡°It¡¯s my third uncle! Even he came!¡±


    The third uncle to Tang Xinyun meant that he was the third brother to Tang Qianlei, Tang Qianshan.


    Bai Yunfei nodded; the man was a late-stage Soul Exalt.


    As expected of the Tang, no one was weak in strength.


    The two figures had already noticed Bai Yunfei and the others, so they landed not too far away from the three when they drew closer. They looked surprised to see the crater left behind by the Cataclysmic Seal, but they managed to recover their emotions in time to walk to the group.


    ¡°Sister, brother Bai, and brother Jing, are you alright?¡± Tang Jing asked.


    ¡°Big brother, third uncle,¡± Tang Xinyun nodded her head in greeting, ¡°I¡¯m unhurt.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, brother Tang,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded as well, ¡°I¡¯m fine as well.¡±


    ¡°And the enemy?¡± Tang Jing asked as he looked warily around the place.


    ¡°Dead.¡±


    Looking as though he was annoyed by their late entrance, Jing Mingfeng gave a short and off-handed answer.


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Jing remarked, ¡°Do you mean to say that¡­¡±


    Deciding to explain things as simply as he could, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°The ones who kidnapped Xinyun are dead. One was named Ta Shan, but his corpse is basically gone. There¡¯s another corpse over there. We don¡¯t know who he is, but he¡¯s dead too. What we¡¯re not sure about is if there were any other accomplices with them¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you killed the Ta Shan the Stone Asura?¡± Tang Qianshan questioned.


    He found it hard to believe, Bai Yunfei was only a mid-stage Soul Ancestor at best, so how could he kill someone who was of the Soul Exalt level like Ta Shan?


    ¡°Yes, it was a difficult battle, but I won in the end.¡±


    It was a modest statement. He said that it was a difficult battle, but how could it be if he was entirely unharmed?


    Because of that, Tang Qianshan doubted Bai Yunfei but wasn¡¯t interested enough to press for the truth.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we head on back, Ol¡¯Bai? Running left and right for two battles in a row makes me pretty tired. Let¡¯s go home and rest it off.¡± Jing Mingfeng sighed with his head facing the sky.


    Not willing to argue, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°Brother Tang,¡± he spoke to Tang Jing, ¡°Since Xinyun is back, we shall return to Mo City.¡±


    ¡°Very well then,¡± Tang Jing nodded, ¡°You three should return first. Third uncle and I will stay to inspect the area. Perhaps we¡¯ll find a clue about who¡¯s responsible for trying to kidnap Xinyun.¡±

 Chapter 340: The Mastermind Was Him! (First)

    Bai Yunfei took the Tempest sword out of his space ring. He laid it out for Tang Xinyun to step on. When Bai Yunfei stepped aboard, there was hardly enough room for a third person to climb on, prompting Jing Mingfeng to stamp his feet in mock anger.


    ¡°How upstanding you are, Ol¡¯Bai! As soon as you find yourself a wife, you completely forget about your fellow brother! Are you trying to make me run back to Mo City!?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± A droplet of sweat slipped down Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, ¡°I guess¡­ we could try to squeeze three on here¡­¡±


    ¡°Pft, I can practically feel your insincerity, forget it!


    ¡°Besides, if I were to get on there, I¡¯d be ruining the atmosphere for you two lovebirds!¡± He quipped.


    The awkward looks on both Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun¡¯s faces made Jing Mingfeng laugh, ¡°I was just joking with you two. Go on ahead, I¡¯ll make my way home myself.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Hesitant, Bai Yunfei felt like there was something wrong with this.


    ¡°Hey now, don¡¯t be like that. Don¡¯t sweat the small stuff,¡± Jing Mingfeng waved his hand, ¡°When we came, it was me on the sword, so let Xinyun have a turn. It doesn¡¯t make a difference to me anyways. In any case, I can treat this as a nice and relaxing walk; do you think something like this is hard for a Soul Ancestor?¡±


    Without even letting Bai Yunfei say anything more, Jing Mingfeng whirled around with his hands resting behind his head. He walked into the bushes in the direction of the city.


    A jaunty tune could be heard as he whistled and walked away.


    ¡°¡­¡± For a good while, Bai Yunfei said nothing.


    He eventually turned back to Tang Xinyun with a small smile, ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going then.¡±


    In a burst of green light, the Tempest Sword took off with the two onboard.


    Speaking wasn¡¯t too convenient as they traveled through the air, so conversation was scarce between the two passengers. During the silence, Bai Yunfei reflected on the battle with Ta Shan while Tang Xinyun stared silently at his back. What she was thinking was a mystery.


    Once Tang Xinyun had been brought home, Bai Yunfei decided to fly off to find Jing Mingfeng. After being picked up, Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but laugh, saying there was still hope for Bai Yunfei since he followed the ¡®code of brotherhood.¡¯


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Tang Jing¡¯s investigation of the battlefield started only after Bai Yunfei had taken Tang Xinyun away and after Jing Mingfeng was far away.


    There wasn¡¯t much he could investigate. The crater left behind by the Cataclysmic Seal didn¡¯t leave anything behind. If the battle prior to the crater was intense and with marks everywhere, the crater wiped all those marks away with a clean sweep.


    ¡°Jing¡¯er, do you really believe what Bai Yunfei said? He may be the disciple of senior Zi Jin, but he¡¯s a mere mid-stage Soul Ancestor. How could he kill the Soul Exalt, Ta Shan?¡± Upon seeing the contemplative look on Tang Jing¡¯s face, Tang Qianshan just had to ask.


    ¡°Third uncle, you only just came back from abroad, so there¡¯s some extenuating information you might not know.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have time to tell you while we were rushing over here, but before Xinyun was captured, the two who stopped the theft of the fireseed spirit mushroom we were selling at the auction house was Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? Something like that happened?¡± Tang Qianshan asked, ¡°What happened after that?¡±


    ¡°We sent some of our men to deal with the problem right away, but they met some of the returning members of the Wu on their way there. According to them, the transaction had already been made with Bai Yunfei. He was bringing the fireseed spirit mushroom back to Mo City with him¡­


    ¡°The two who had tried to steal the fireseed spirit mushroom were a mid-stage Soul Ancestor and a late-stage Soul Ancestor¡­ both of them were killed by Bai Yunfei! In under three minutes no less!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Tang Qianshan exploded, ¡°That Bai Yunfei is that strong!?¡±


    ¡°Yes, third uncle. You might recall that Bai Yunfei was only a late-stage Soul Warrior before this, but just now¡­ I could feel that he was as strong as a mid-stage Soul Ancestor! I didn¡¯t see anything that proved he wasn¡¯t a Soul Warrior before. Even father said he couldn¡¯t detect anything hiding his strength. If I had to guess, he might¡¯ve revealed that he was as strong as a mid-stage Soul Ancestor, but he might be even¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying he might be even stronger? Is he a Soul Exalt!?¡± Tang Qianlei interjected with doubt. He simply couldn¡¯t believe what Tang Jing was saying. A twenty-something year old being a Soul Exalt¡ªthat was¡­


    ¡°He is the reason that my sister was brought back. I can also see that there¡¯s something between my sister and him¡­ even if he¡¯s hiding his strength, I don¡¯t believe he harbors any ill will for our family, and with him being a crafter, if we can make ties with the Crafting School, the benefits our Tang would gain would surely be great.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, that much is true¡­¡± Tang Qianshan nodded in agreement.


    Choosing to ignore the issue with Ta Shan for now, Tang Qianshan looked around the crater in front of him, ¡°Was¡­ was this really done by Bai Yunfei? Even I wouldn¡¯t be able to manage something on a scale like this, how terrifying¡­


    ¡°Can you sense the traces left behind by a soul armament? What kind of monstrous soul armament is needed to leave a result like this!¡±


    After careful consideration, Tang Qianshan turned to Tang Jing, ¡°Bai Yunfei mentioned there was a corpse nearby, go take a look. I want to look around this crater for some clues.¡±


    While Tang Jing busied himself with inspecting Hidden Snake¡¯s corpse, Tang Qianshan stood at the very center of the large crater where a smaller spherical crater was.


    ¡°Third uncle, have you found anything?¡± Tang Jing asked after he came back.


    The man shook his head, ¡°Nothing of any use, but¡­ if we are to believe Bai Yunfei¡¯s words, then the Stone Asura died right here.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why do you say that?¡±


    ¡°Look here¡­¡± Tang Qianshan pointed at the smaller crater in front of them, ¡°A strong amount of elemental earth still lingers here. It¡¯s slightly weaker now, but I can still sense it to some degree. I¡¯m sure that the amount at its initial explosion was from an early-stage Soul Exalt at the very least! The lack of rubble from the explosion means he was killed before it could finally detonate.¡±


    Tang Qianshan was a late-stage Soul Exalt with an affinity for earth, meaning that his sensitivity to elemental earth was far stronger than most. Just by looking at the lingering elemental earth, he was able to make a detailed inference of the situation. The phrase ¡®experience comes with age¡¯ was created for people like him.


    ¡°How unexpected to think that Ta Shan, the scourge of the Forest Pass Province for the last decade, would meet his demise in this spot. But¡­ there has never been a conflict between our house and him. What prompted him to kidnap Xinyun?¡± Tang Qianshan asked himself briefly before shaking his head, ¡°Never mind that. What have you found out?¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡­¡± Tang Jing tossed Hidden Snake¡¯s corpse onto the ground, ¡°I don¡¯t recognize him, and I couldn¡¯t find any clues on him.¡±


    A quick cursory glance was all it took to observe Hidden Snake¡¯s body, but it didn¡¯t seem as though Tang Qianshan knew him either.


    ¡°We¡¯ve little choice but to stop here for now.¡± He sighed, ¡°The enemy was without a doubt prepared for this, so finding any clues would be dubious at best. Let¡¯s return first and hope that we can find something during our future investigations¡­¡±


    They leaped up from the crater, reaching higher ground. When their feet tapped the surface outside of the crater, Tang Qianshan¡¯s eyes narrowed for a moment.


    Turning around, he began to suspiciously look around.


    ¡°Third uncle? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tang Jing asked in confusion.


    Still slightly suspicious, Tang Qianshan continued to look around.


    Without anything to show for his efforts, the older man withdrew his glance, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I was probably mistaken, let¡¯s go¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The two men left for Mo City shortly after that.


    Just several kilometers away, at a mountain Tang Qianshan was looking at earlier¡­


    ¡°He certainly earns his title as a late-stage Soul Exalt if he could sense me¡­¡±


    Came the voice of a lively speaker.


    From the white frosty fog that covered the mountain tops, two figures quickly made themselves known.


    ¡°Junior headmaster, moving against the Tang is far too early for us¡­¡± The second person that spoke was an elderly old man in white, who standing right behind the first speaker.


    ¡°Haha, it was a sudden fancy, that¡¯s all¡­¡± The ¡®junior headmaster¡¯ laughed. ¡°That¡¯s why I ordered you not to fight. This is a slave¡¯s work. If we fail our goals here, we won¡¯t be hurt at all.


    ¡°Though that person¡¯s strength was something else¡­ what we thought was a simple grab for the fireseed spirit mushroom ended up as a failure, and even kidnapping the young miss Tang proved to be a failure. This Bai Yunfei is quite the unpredictable one¡­¡±


    His voice gradually grew more eery as he spoke. Just listening to him made one think that he wasn¡¯t really talking about a sudden fancy, rather a plan!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, was it? What an interesting person. I hope I¡¯ll be able to play around with him in the future¡­¡± The young man laughed in anticipation before turning to walk down the other side of the mountain.


    When he turned around, the fog that had been covering his face disappeared. A surprisingly handsome and alluring face was revealed.


    He¡­ was the man that fought Bai Yunfei for the fireseed spirit mushroom back in the auction house. He was the same person who had had a friendly talk with Bai Yunfei at the end¡­


    Mo Ni!!

 Chapter 341: Resting After a Battle and the First Rumors of Fame (Second)

    The second day of the auction house was just starting, but news of what had transpired was already making its way throughout the Forest Pass Province and even into the provinces beyond.


    The purchase of the dragonfruit and the wind squaller paled in comparison to this new piece of information. Not only was it new, it was also quite ¡®juicy.¡¯


    A mysterious young man had not only used a heaven tier soul armament to buy a fireseed spirit mushroom, he did it for the sake of the daughter of the Tang!


    By no means was Tang Xinyun an important figure in her own house, but that wasn¡¯t known to outsiders. For all they knew, she was the treasured daughter of the Tang. She was clearly special enough for some family¡¯s ¡®big spender¡¯ to spend so much for her.


    The depth this person was willing to go for her was practically unprecedented, so the gossip ran wild like fire. Conjectures and speculations ran rampant, but none hit the mark.


    A few more observant fellows were able to find the truth in the gossip, learning more about who this ¡®mysterious¡¯ young man was.


    News that this person was in fact a student of the Crafting School quickly became public knowledge. One by one, the puzzle pieces was starting to fit together; it was starting to make sense now.


    Who else but a crafter could afford to flaunt so much wealth?


    Still, there was one thing that remained unclear. Who was this figure in the Crafting School if he could afford to give away a heaven tier soul armament like it was nothing?


    The answer to that question came with the next piece of the puzzle; it was made known that not only was Tang Xinyun also part of the Crafting School, she was the personal disciple to the third elder.


    This news was shocking to say the least. Many gossipers could only surmise from what they knew so far. They inferred that the youth was of the inner school and was probably also someone¡¯s disciple¡­


    The normal layman wouldn¡¯t know that Bai Yunfei was in fact a disciple of the ex-headmaster, Zi Jin. Those who were in the know weren¡¯t the talkative type, so the information didn¡¯t spread.


    A second bombshell was dropped soon after in regard to the fireseed spirit mushroom. Though slightly stale, news of its theft was still rather interesting to talk about. Since the sale of the mushroom had only taken place a day ago, plenty of interested parties were informed of what had transpired.


    Not only did two Soul Ancestors try to steal the mushroom, the very youth who had bought the mushroom killed them by himself!!


    If ¡®mysterious¡¯ was the only term to describe Bai Yunfei at first, the veil of ¡®strong¡¯ could now also be applied to him.


    News that Tang Xinyun had been stolen was the biggest topic of discussion among all the other topics.


    The only daughter to the Tang was kidnapped from within the city!!


    When people first heard about it, they thought it was balderdash at first, but the truth was the truth.


    Her kidnapping was without a doubt a huge slap to the face of the lord mayor Xuan Yuan. Despite the careful work he had put in to maintain security during the event, there was still a single chink in his work. The auction house had taken up all of his focus, leaving the other aspects of the city left untouched. With a gap like that, it seemed only obvious that the infamous ¡®Stone Asura¡¯ Ta Shan would exploit it.


    Yet again, the mysterious young man appeared. Not long after the daughter was kidnapped did the same young man bring her back safe and sound!!


    Eyewitness reports stated that not long after they saw the daughter kidnapped, the young man came back from protecting the fireseed spirit mushroom. After realizing what had happened, the man leaped back onto his flying sword and flew off to save her.


    The same eyewitnesses said that it didn¡¯t take long for him to return to the city with her safe and sound.


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s kidnapping was big news to the entire city. Everyone knew that the Tang had no shortage of powerful people, even Tang Qianlei himself went after the kidnapper when he heard about it. The men from the Tang were unsuccessful in their attempts since Bai Yunfei was the one rescued her.


    The one who had kidnapped Tang Xinyun¡ªTa Shan, the ¡®Stone Asura¡¯¡ªwas known to everyone as an infamous Soul Exalt!


    If the young man was the one who had defeated the ¡®Stone Asura¡¯ and brought back the kidnapped girl, that could only mean¡­


    Each and every topic of discussion caused a commotion in their own right, but only one person connected them all together¡­


    That person was Bai Yunfei!!


    Only one day had passed since then, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s name was already known throughout Mo City.


    In the eyes of the commoners, soul cultivators were beings of unbelievable power. In Mo City, the commoners living there knew a great deal about soul cultivators, but the things Bai Yunfei had accomplished in one day alone was starting to sound like some sort of fantastical epic.


    Each iteration of the story retold was an iteration different from the last, making the story even more unbelievable than ever, leaving people unsure of what was true or not.


    One rumor in particular made its way to the ears of Jing Mingfeng¡ª


    During the one year Tang Xinyun was traveling, she came across the man known as Bai Yunfei and returned home to discuss the topic of marriage. Many said that there was already a child on the way¡­


    Practically howling with laughter, Jing Mingfeng relayed the rumor to Bai Yunfei who nearly spat blood out of his mouth while Tang Xinyun¡¯s ears turned redder than a tomato.


    She refused to look up at Bai Yunfei the rest of the day.


    ¡­¡­


    No matter how turbulent the rumors about him became, Bai Yunfei managed to remain calm. He didn¡¯t leave the Tang residence for days so he could recover his strength.


    His battle with Ta Shan left Bai Yunfei with plenty to digest, so he preferred to stay in his room and train in peace.


    He didn¡¯t bother to go to the remaining few days of the auction either. He hadn¡¯t been very interested to begin with, and since there wouldn¡¯t be a second fireseed spirit mushroom, Bai Yunfei saw no need to make a return visit.


    Speaking of the fireseed spirit mushroom, his failure to deliver it to Tang Xinyun left him vexed.


    She didn¡¯t seem to mind. She would gently comfort him whenever it was mentioned.


    Her comfort only served to aggravate him even more since he didn¡¯t know when he¡¯d be able to come across another fireseed spirit mushroom¡­


    Though the fireseed spirit mushroom granted Bai Yunfei a second essence fireseed, he tried his best to not look into the issue. His master had once said that it was impossible for a soul cultivator to have two fully developed origin essences of the same element.


    In the case that such an event occurred, one would devour the other, which was a good scenario.


    Another possibility was that the two origin essences make his body explode¡ªa path frequently traveled by a good deal of people who tried before.


    A legend existed within the Crafting School that someone had once formed a ¡®companion fireseed,¡¯ but that was a special case with extenuating circumstances¡­


    With all that said and done with, what would Bai Yunfei be considered??


    One essence fireseed was better than ever in his body, and the other essence fireseed was slowly gathering power in his Cataclysmic Seal.


    Zi Jin had never mentioned anything about this before.


    Bai Yunfei only spent two days observing the state of his essence fireseeds. Since nothing extraordinary could be documented, he gave up and labeled the situation as the best case scenario.


    He had an essence fireseed in his body and his strength was back. The Cataclysmic Seal had a fireseed and its power was stronger than ever.


    It was the best of both worlds, really. While Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t guarantee that something worrisome wouldn¡¯t happen, he could, at the very least, take it easy and return to Zi Jin for advice.


    Of course, that was only if nothing out of the ordinary happened with the Cataclysmic Seal. It went without saying that a sleeping dragon should be left undisturbed.


    Jing Mingfeng saw fit to go to the auction house every day with Zhao Xiluo since Bai Yunfei remained cooped up in his room.


    Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting didn¡¯t leave the Tang residence much, but when they did, the Tang had some guards accompany them.


    Neither Bai Yunfei nor Tang Xinyun found anything out of the ordinary in Ta Shan and Hidden Snake¡¯s space rings, so they let the Tang inspect them as well.


    When the Tang came up with nothing as well, the two parties decided to just let the matter drop.


    The auction house officially ended several days later, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really care which family got which heaven tier soul armament. Jing Mingfeng, on the other hand, had made out like a bandit. He was understandably gleeful for days.


    What only served to make him happier was the fact that his wind squaller was already awake and strong enough to be called a late-stage third class soulbeast. Thus, it was as strong as a late-stage Soul Warrior.


    In short, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really care for much the following days after his battle with Ta Shan. The outside world might¡¯ve been hustling and bustling, but Bai Yunfei found it rather dull. After the battle, Bai Yunfei only really wanted a well-deserved rest.


    Only two days after the auction house ended did Bai Yunfei¡¯s previously calm heart start to race with excitement when Tang Jing brought a notice to him¡­

 Chapter 342: The ‘Soulbound’ Yun’s Soul Ring (Third)

    The report Tang Jing notice mentioned that a very old fireseed spirit mushroom existed within their family¡¯ storehouse!


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s father had finally decided to help Tang Xinyun reform her essence fireseed with it¡­


    A long state of shock followed shortly after Bai Yunfei heard this information.


    Bai Yunfei had painfully tried to think of a way to find another mushroom, but who would¡¯ve thought that one would just drop into his lap?


    Bai Yunfei was ecstatic now that he knew there was one to be gained. It didn¡¯t even matter that the Tang didn¡¯t bring it out earlier. They made up for that by taking it out now.


    The more important thing was that Tang Xinyun would be able to reform her essence fireseed! She would be able to practice the path of fire! She would remain a student of the Crafting School!!


    All of the problems that Bai Yunfei was so worried about had been easily resolved!!


    There was a complete turnabout in the way the Tang were treating him after Ta Shan was killed. Even Tang Xinyun and her mother were starting to be treated better.


    Each action the Tang did had to be thought of well in advance, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t care what they did. All he cared about was seeing Tang Xinyun recover her strength and state of mind.


    If the Tang said they¡¯d do something, then they¡¯d do it. On the second day after Bai Yunfei heard the news, Tang Xinyun was personally protected by her father while she ate the fireseed spirit mushroom and reformed her essence fireseed.


    The formation of an essence fireseed was an special situation for a crafter. It was the only time in a soul cultivators life that they could take advantage of the situation to create a¡­ soulbound armament!


    Tang Xinyun joined the Crafting School when she was only a late-stage Soul Warrior. Not long after that, she was able to craft and form her first soulbound armament.


    Now that she could reform her essence fireseed again, she could¡­ forge another soulbound armament!


    A second option existed as well. If a second soulbound armament wasn¡¯t wished to be gained, then that person could choose to ¡®refine¡¯ the first soulbound armament. While this option meant that a second soulbound armament couldn¡¯t be obtained, it was still a huge power boost to the first that would increase its soul compatibility.


    That in itself was already very useful.


    With two equally appealing options for Tang Xinyun to decide on, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t try to influence her decision.


    He decided to let her choose for herself¡­


    Bai Yunfei was actually very sorry that he squandered that opportunity himself. When he had formed his second fireseed, the same opportunity presented itself to him. Whether he made his Ardent Sun Gloves into a soulbound armament or made his Fire-tipped Spear or Flameblade Bracer even stronger, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve benefited greatly either way.


    Unfortunately, the affair with Tang Xinyun being kidnapped by an extremely strong Ta Shan left Bai Yunfei no choice when he formed his second fireseed and the opportunity was lost.


    Even though Bai Yunfei was sorry the chance had been lost, he had never regretted his decision.


    Should the same choice present itself to him again, Bai Yunfei would still choose the same.


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Xinyun found herself back in the Soul Sprite realm after reforming her essence fireseed; in fact, she was now a mid-stage Soul Sprite, which brought her quickshade bird into the realm of a fifth class soulbeast. The birds wounds were also rejuvenated.


    Time was needed for Tang Xinyun to readjust to her strength, so Bai Yunfei waited until afternoon to see her. While he waited, he spoke with the Flying Dagger Brothers in his courtyard, asking several questions about the technique.


    The two brothers had come before, but Jing Mingfeng had met with them to say that Bai Yunfei was still recuperating from his battles. Having been told that, the two left so that they could visit another day.


    ¡°Xinyun, have you adjusted yet? How do you feel?¡±


    As soon as Bai Yunfei saw Tang Xinyun come out of her room, he stood up from his seat to rush over to her.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. My essence fireseed has settled down, so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems¡­¡± Tang Xinyun nodded with a small smile


    Her head tilted as she noticed Han Chong and Han Lin, ¡°And these two are¡­?¡±


    Rising to greet her, Han Chong said, ¡°You must be the only daughter of the Tang? This one is Han Chong, and this is my younger brother, Han Lin.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± She nodded. She knew who they were, but she was confused about why they were here.


    Realizing why she was confused, Bai Yunfei explained, ¡°The Han brothers were there the day I took the fireseed spirit mushroom. Without them, I never would¡¯ve been able to get it.¡±


    ¡°Haha, brother Bai, since it¡¯s getting late, my brother and I will head home first.¡± Han Chong smiled to Bai Yunfei.


    It was indeed getting late. Night time was rapidly approaching. Bai Yunfei realized that he had spent the entire afternoon talking with the brothers about the Flying Dagger techniques.


    Apologetically, he said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯d like to thank you two for your explanations. I¡¯ve learned a lot.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too kind, brother Bai,¡± Han Chong replied, ¡°It was only a small chat to share our experiences, that¡¯s all¡­ we¡¯ll say our goodbyes here then. Perhaps we¡¯ll meet again another time, brother Bai.¡±


    From their earlier talks, Bai Yunfei knew that the two brothers were planning to leave Mo City tomorrow morning, so Bai Yunfei bowed to them, ¡°I hope to see you two again as well!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Only Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were left in the courtyard after the two brothers left.


    Well, there was also Xiao Bai.


    ¡°Hey, Xinyun, did you refine your ¡®Yun¡¯s Fire Sword¡¯?¡±


    Sitting down at the table next to Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei inquired about her decision.


    The Yun¡¯s Fire Sword was the name Tang Xinyun had given her soulbound armament, a meter-long soft sword. Since there wasn¡¯t anything else comparable to that soul armament in terms of power, Bai Yunfei thought that she¡¯d choose that one to refine.


    Tang Xinyun laughed contrarily, ¡°No. I made myself a new soulbound armament actually¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei uttered, ¡°You made a new one?¡±


    Tang Xinyun was already raising her left hand as Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°What¡­ what are you doing, Xinyun?¡±


    ¡°This is my new soulbound armament¡­¡± She smiled before pointing at her left hand with her right.


    ¡°What!?¡± Bai Yunfei cried out, ¡°You¡­ you made the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring into a soulbound armament!? That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s just crazy! The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring grade isn¡¯t high, but you really made it into a soulbound armament? Isn¡¯t that¡­ isn¡¯t that a waste of such a great opportunity?¡±


    ¡°How could you say that?¡± She laughed still, ¡°Didn¡¯t I turn it into a soulbound armament? It¡¯s even stronger now!¡±


    ¡°Can¡­ can you even say that it was worth it? If you refined your Yun¡¯s Fire Sword, then¡­¡± Bai Yunfei started to speak until he realized that the situation had already passed, he sighed. Rather than complain, he extended his hand, ¡°How good is it now? Can I see it?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Taking the ring off, she dropped it into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attribute: +160 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +300 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase spirit by 90.


    +12 Additional Effect: 10% chance of immunity to a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    +13 Additional Effect: Recover 4 soulpoints every second.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

 Chapter 343: Misgivings

    The stats for the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring popped into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind the very moment he touched it.


    As Bai Yunfei registered the stats, he began to look more and more surprised before his expression froze into one of rigid curiousity.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei?¡± Tang Xinyun asked when she saw his face.


    ¡°Ah¡­ it¡¯s nothing.¡± Snapping back to reality, Bai Yunfei shook his head to reassure her. ¡°The change is substantially different, so it wasn¡¯t a waste of an opportunity.¡± He remarked as he handed the ring back, ¡°Xinyun, you have to keep wearing this ring. Don¡¯t use any other ring, okay?¡±


    Like he said, it hadn¡¯t been a waste. It was actually quite worth it to improve the ring. It didn¡¯t matter that the ring was still the same grade or that the spirit increase was small.


    What was more important was that the +12 and +13 effects had been improved!


    Before, the ring had a three percent chance to ward off spirit-based attacks, rather than the ten percent chance it had now¡ªan increase of over three times the original percentage.


    But what constituted as a spirit-based attack?


    Simply put, it was an attack only Soul Kings or soul cultivators with an affinity for illusions could pull off. Attacks such as those were the stuff of nightmares to many soul cultivators!


    But why?


    Why would they be scared?


    What do soul cultivators use to fight with?


    Aside from the eyes, the primary answer would be the soulsense.


    To put it frankly, the soulsense was an application of the spirit, so if there was an attack that could affect the spirit, wouldn¡¯t that be absolutely terrifying?


    Without having a stronger soulsense than the enemy, trying to defend against a spirit-based attack would only result in absolute failure.


    The fact that the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring had a ten percent chance of making the wearer immune to spirit-based attacks was very important.


    It wasn¡¯t just avoiding the effects, it meant complete immunity!


    No matter how strong the opponent was, the activation of this effect meant that their spirit-based attacks wouldn¡¯t amount to anything!!


    Ten percent was by no means a meager number¡­


    In a battle between soul cultivators, even a one percent chance could mean the difference between life or death!


    And the +13 additional effect? Having one additional point of soulforce added every second meant an increase of 33.33%!


    Four soulpoints were recovered every second!


    By just wearing this ring, the wearer was guaranteed a never-ending supply of soulforce as long as soulforce was being used!


    An effect like this could only be described as perverted.


    The reason why Bai Yunfei wanted Tang Xinyun to keep wearing the ring was because it was her best guarantee of protection.


    However, his good intentions were misconstrued.


    Her face grew a streak of red when she heard what Bai Yunfei had said. Slipping the ring back onto her left hand, she whispered, ¡°I¡¯ll definitely keep wearing it. This ring is ¡®mine¡¯ now¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯d you say?¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t manage to hear what she said since she was whispering.


    ¡°No-nothing¡­¡±


    ¡°Young miss! Young miss!! Have you readjusted yet!?¡±


    Just then, a coarse shout erupted from outside the courtyard, startling Bai Yunfei.


    No guesses were needed to know that Zhao Mancha was back.


    The echoes of what Zhao Mancha had just said hadn¡¯t even dissipated when the woman herself came crashing into the courtyard. Upon seeing Tang Xinyun sitting at the table next to Bai Yunfei, Zhao Mancha¡¯s eyes lit up. Rushing to her side, the older woman clasped Tang Xinyun¡¯s hands, ¡°Young miss, how do you feel? Is your strength back to normal now?¡±


    Tang Xinyun smiled warmly at the woman. ¡°It is, aunty Zhao. There¡¯s no need to feel concerned now. I feel fine again.¡±


    ¡°All is well then! All is well!¡± Turning as she spoke, Zhao Mancha cried out, ¡°My lady! My lady! The young miss has fully recuperated! She can continue being a crafter now!¡±


    Even Bai Yunfei felt like wiping away the imaginary tears in his mind at this touching display. Like Zhao Mancha, he was very concerned for Tang Xinyun.


    The doors to the courtyard opened to reveal Chu Qingxue. She slowly walked over with Kou Tingting next to her.


    Since Tang Xinyun had been busy readjusting and Bai Yunfei had been busy with the Han brothers, Kou Tingting and Chu Qingxue had gone on a walk to clear their minds.


    ¡°Mom, Tingting, you¡¯re back.¡± Tang Xinyun rose from her seat to lead her mother by the hand to the table.


    Even Bai Yunfei rose to greet the woman, ¡°Auntie Xue¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? Have your two friends already left, Yunfei?¡± Chu Qingxue inquired when she sat down.


    Clearly, she was talking about Han Chong and Han Lin.


    ¡°Yes, they just left.¡±


    ¡°Mom, where did you go? Why are you only coming back now?¡± Tang Xinyun asked. It was strange for her mother to come back so late in the evening.


    ¡°The third lady and I went to dine with the Hua!¡± Kou Tingting was the first to speak, ¡°We had to go since she invited us, so we only just got back! We brought home some food for you two too. Have either of you eaten yet?¡±


    With a wave of her right hand, two exquisite lunch boxes appeared on the table.


    The third lady?


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun both took a moment to take in what they heard.


    The third lady meant Hua Yueying, the third wife to Tang Xinyun¡¯s father.


    That woman had seriously invited Chu Qingxue to a meal with the Hua?


    ¡°Mom, you actually had a meal with that woman¡­? Did¡­ did she make trouble for you?¡± Tang Xinyun couldn¡¯t help but ask as she tightly grasped her mother¡¯s hands.


    Chu Qingxue smiled and stroked her daughter softly, ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.¡±


    Tang Xinyun had confessed in private that Hua Yueying was a person she would never understand since she always made trouble for her mother and her.


    Why was she being so ¡®friendly¡¯ now?


    Bai Yunfei only had his suspicions, but he could make a rough inference.


    Since the Tang were treating Tang Xinyun and himself slightly better, was Hua Yueying¡­ scared of something?


    Maybe the Crafting School?


    Her mother said it was fine, but Tang Xinyun still couldn¡¯t help but have misgivings. ¡°No matter what she¡¯s planning, we have to be careful, mom. The weather¡¯s been getting colder recently, so you should try to limit your walks to not stress your body¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just your imagination, silly girl. My body isn¡¯t as bad as you think it is. Your mother is still a Soul Ancestor!¡± Chu Qingxue calmed her daughter¡¯s nerves with a laugh. ¡°I¡¯ve felt much better recently, in fact! Ever since I put on the earrings Yunfei gave me, my body¡¯s been feeling better. The pain in my shoulder hasn¡¯t been flaring up as often, and it doesn¡¯t hurt as much when it does now¡­ I really must thank Yunfei for this, haha!¡±


    ¡°Really? It¡¯s working? That¡¯s great!¡± Tang Xinyun exclaimed.


    Turning to Bai Yunfei, she said, ¡°Yunfei, mom says your soul armament really works! Do you have any more of them? If we can get more for my mom to wear, maybe she can be fully cured!¡±


    ¡°Silly girl, what are you saying? Your mother¡¯s wounds can¡¯t be healed like that. Those soul armaments aren¡¯t yours to give, so don¡¯t you think you¡¯re making trouble for Yunfei?¡± Chu Qingxue rebuked her with ¡®exasperation.¡¯


    ¡°Haha, Xinyun¡¯s right though. If they work, we should try some more. Auntie Xue, please don¡¯t worry, I still have more of those accessories. They won¡¯t be as strong as the one you¡¯re wearing now, but they should still be somewhat effective¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded with a smile. Scanning through his Violet Soul Ring, Bai Yunfei immediately pulled out some accessories that could increase strength. The effects of these accessories weren¡¯t too bad or too conspicuous, so Bai Yunfei felt at ease giving them to Tang Xinyun.


    But¡­


    Would these strength increasing accessories really cure Chu Qingxue¡¯s wounds?


    As he passed the items over, a doubtful glint appeared in his eyes as though he had some misgivings about their success¡­

 Chapter 344: Misgivings

    ¡°What are you thinking about, Yunfei?¡± Tang Xinyun questioned when she saw the look on his face.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Auntie Xue,¡± he turned to the woman, ¡°please try these accessories. They should be beneficial in the future, so I hope that they will do you well.¡±


    Chu Qingxue looked hesitant to take the., though. ¡°I¡­ Yunfei, aren¡¯t these soul armaments given to you by the seniors at the Crafting School? Shouldn¡¯t you¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, auntie Xue.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°They¡¯re really not much. These are considered incomplete soul armaments in the Crafting School, so they¡¯re not worth much.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t exactly say that he could get even more of those accessories whenever he wanted. The woman might be Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother, but his secret had only been shared with Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Yunfei¡¯s right, mom. He¡¯s the personal disciple of senior Zi Jin, so he has plenty of stuff. Don¡¯t feel like you need to hold back with him.¡± Tang Xinyun smiled as she helped Bai Yunfei with an excuse. There was a subtle tone to her voice as she spoke¡­


    ¡°In that case¡­ I¡¯ll partake then.¡± Chu Qingxue relented. Taking the accessories from Tang Xinyun¡¯s hands, she rose from her seat, ¡°It¡¯s getting late. You should both go to sleep after you eat your meal, Xinyun, Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°We will.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. Taking one of the meals, he stood up and walked back to his own room. Tang Xinyun led Kou Tingting to her room so that they could talk about something.


    No one had even made it to their rooms when they all heard a commotion take place outside the courtyard. It was taking place far away, but due to the strengthened hearing that came with their abilities as soul cultivators, everyone in the courtyard heard the exchange and the footsteps that had turned toward the entrance.


    ¡°Fifth master! Please hold on! It¡¯s already very late. The young miss is most likely resting right now. Why not come back tomorrow to see her!¡±


    A hurried voice called out, causing Bai Yunfei to look confused, ¡°Fifth master? Is that¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright! I get it! I just want to see my sister! If she¡¯s really sleeping, I¡¯ll come back tomorrow!¡± A juvenile voice cried out rather loudly.


    Bai Yunfei could hear the impatient pattering of footsteps before he saw a small flash of violet light from the other side of the wall. A person was seen leaping to the top of the wall before jumping back down onto the ground in a half-second.


    ¡°Haha, is my sister here!¡±


    Laughter accompanied the figure¡¯s voice as Bai Yunfei finally saw who this person was.


    The figure looked to be a young boy about the age of fifteen or maybe sixteen. He wore simplistic gray robes that looked a little worse for wear. They had clearly gone through their fair share of travel. His hair was nice and short. His sharp eyebrows complemented the glint in his eyes. Though young in appearance, the man looked far more mature than his face would suggest.


    ¡°Lit¡ªlittle Ming!?¡± Since the boy was calling for Tang Xinyun, she was the first to react to what he said.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s me, sis. I¡¯m back!¡± The boy nodded his head excitedly. Running toward them, he quickly gave a bow of greeting to Chu Qingxue, ¡°Little Ming pays his respects to mother-in-law!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Oh¡­ you¡¯re back, Ming¡¯er. How were yours travels?¡± It took a moment for Chu Qingxue to fully respond, but when she did, it was with a smile.


    ¡°It was great! Second Grandfather and I were able to see so many things!¡± The boy laughed merrily in response.


    Bai Yunfei had a blank look on his face, but he was still able to recognize the fact that this youth was Tang Xinyun¡¯s brother and Hua Yueying¡¯s son, Tang Ming; the youngest heir of the Tang.


    ¡°Little Ming, did you only just get back?¡± Tang Xinyun asked when she saw his travel-weary clothes.


    ¡°Yep, only just came back from seeing dad! I heard sis came home, so I came here straight away to say hello, haha¡­¡± Chuckling as he rubbed his head, Tang Ming said again, ¡°I heard you joined the Crafting School and became someone¡¯s disciple, is that true, sis?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± A rather subdued nod was given.


    ¡°Woah, that¡¯s amazing! The Crafting School! I met a crafter while traveling, he was really strong and had many soul armaments!! I¡¯m so jealous of him. Will you craft me a few soul armaments in the future?¡±


    Finding it rather hard to keep up with what he was saying, Tang Xinyun could only manage to nod her head, ¡°Er¡­ yes¡­¡±


    Tang Ming nodded happily at her response as he turned to face Bai Yunfei, ¡°I heard on the way home that sis brought home a super strong person. Is that you, big brother? There¡¯s so many rumors I heard about you these past few days. Are you really strong?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei never imagined that he¡¯d be targeted for questioning next. Forcing a smile to his lips, he answered, ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s nice to meet you, brother Tang Ming. I¡¯m Bai Yunfei, your sister¡¯s¡ª¡±


    ¡°No need to be so polite, big brother Bai! Just call me Little Ming! I heard that you were the one that rescued sis when she was kidnapped, I wanted to thank you so much!¡±


    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s no need for thanks¡­ I was just doing what needed to be done¡­¡± The super-polite way Tang Ming spoke unnerved Bai Yunfei so much that he was practically lost at how to respond.


    A greeting was given to Kou Tingting afterwards. The way Tang Ming spoke was still very polite, and a conversation was soon kicked up with him. Though everyone was involved in the conversation, it felt as though Tang Ming was making the conversation himself with excited passion while everyone else listened to him with an odd expression¡­


    At last, he mentioned that he still needed to see his mother and would have to leave. With an individual goodbye to everyone there, Tang Ming left the courtyards as energetically as he had come in.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was the first to speak after his presence had vanished from the courtyard. ¡°Xinyun,¡± he turned to her, ¡°is¡­ is he really the same brother you talked about before? I¡­ I feel like he¡¯s pretty different than what you said he was like¡­¡±


    She had told him that Tang Ming was an out-of-control little devil that was disagreeable and bossy beyond all else.


    But not once did Bai Yunfei think that when talking with the boy!


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know either. He¡¯s a completely different Little Ming than when he left. I really don¡¯t know what happened.¡± Tang Xinyun¡¯s confusion was apparent. Had she not personally bore witness to her brother¡¯s return, she would¡¯ve very much doubted that the boy was really her brother.


    ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t that mean¡­ his travels caused something to change in him?¡± Bai Yunfei conjectured, ¡°If he saw how big the world was and how strong the people are, wouldn¡¯t that be enough for his character to change?¡±


    It was the only thing he could suggest; when Tang Ming spoke to him earlier, Bai Yunfei could tell his emotions were all from the heart and hadn¡¯t been faked at all. In a way, he radiated a very similar feeling to Ye Tianming from the Northern Cliff Province.


    Both were very happy, carefree, and completely innocent young men¡­


    What kind of person did he have to meet, or what kind of event did he have to go through for him to undergo such a drastic change in behavior?


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, a gathering was taking place in the main hall of the Tang residence. The head of the house, Tang Qianlei, his younger brother, Tang Qianchi, and his third brother, Tang Qianshan were all standing there along with Tang Qianlei¡¯s eldest son, Tang Jing.


    However, in a seat above them all was a seventy-year-old elder with white hair.


    This elderly man was the ¡®Second Grandfather¡¯ Tang Ming spoke about, Tang Zhengde. Though he looked like seventy years old, his real age was nowhere near as ¡®young¡¯ as that.


    ¡°For clarification, second uncle¡­ Ming¡¯er was lost for an entire month during his trip!?¡±


    A crease could be seen on Tang Qianlei¡¯s brows. If what he heard just now was correct, Tang Ming had been lost for an entire month just two months ago during his journey.


    ¡°That was indeed the case.¡± Tang Zhengde nodded without any emotion. ¡°It was when we were traveling through the Qilian Mountains. I didn¡¯t expect to find an enemy Soul King out there, so I hid Ming¡¯er in a cave with instructions to not come out. It was a messy fight, but by the time I returned, he was nowhere to be found. All that was left was a message on the walls saying that someone had taken Ming¡¯er on a trip for a month and to not worry.


    ¡°I searched everywhere for Ming¡¯er, but he was nowhere to be found. After a month had passed, Ming¡¯er found me himself. He never told me what happened during that one month, nor did he tell me anything about the person who had taken him¡­¡±


    No one could find it possible for them to remain calm after hearing such an explanation.


    ¡°Was it from that moment on that Ming¡¯er¡¯s personality changed to what it is now?¡± Tang Qianlei asked.


    ¡°Correct.¡± Tang Zhengde nodded, ¡°After he returned, it was as if Ming¡¯er had become a man. He became polite, obedient, logical, and patient¡­


    ¡°For ten years, we¡¯ve tried to teach him such to no avail, and to have a complete stranger accomplish that in a single month¡­? I looked all over Ming¡¯er for any sign of brainwashing or mind control, but I couldn¡¯t find anything.¡±


    ¡°Who could it be¡­¡± Thinking about the mysterious person, Tang Qianlei sighed when no answer came to him. ¡°Whoever he is or whatever the case, everything is alright as long as Ming¡¯er is fine. Isn¡¯t this what we¡¯ve been hoping to achieve this entire time? The Ming¡¯er of today is a vast improvement from before, he¡¯s what a young man his age should be¡­¡±


    No one could disagree. They all gave a mental nod of approval to Tang Qianlei¡¯s words, but the concerns they had remained fresh in their minds


    Just who was it that managed to make Tang Ming change so much in a single month?

 Chapter 345: The Third Son of Tang

    TL Note: This chapter title is a reference to Tang Jia San Shao, the author of Douluo Dalu.


    The next day, Bai Yunfei woke from his training-induced slumber to the merry laughter of people gathered in the outside courtyard. Upon concentrating, he noticed that one of the people laughing was Tang Ming.


    Rising out of bed, Bai Yunfei walked to the door and opened it, revealing Tang Xinyun, Kou Tingting, Chu Qingxue, and Zhao Mancha all sitting at the stone table in the center. They all seemed to be listening to the story Tang Ming was relaying,


    ¡°And then¡­ the class four gold-scaled crocodile dragged me into the water, but Second Grandfather didn¡¯t even try to save me. He said that I should kill the crocodile if I wanted to live! I was really desperate at that moment. You know, my leg was practically torn to shreds, and I was pretty much on the verge of death! But it¡¯s a good thing that my elemental lightning is strong in water, I was able to use it to kill that crocodile at the very last moment¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was just in time to hear the conclusion of Tang Ming¡¯s story.


    It would appear that Tang Ming was retelling the tale of a hard-fought battle he had with a soulbeast, with the frights and thrills all included.


    ¡°What are you all talking about so happily about today?¡± Bai Yunfei asked after greeting everyone.


    ¡°Little Ming was just telling us a bit about his journey.¡± Tang Xinyun laughed.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally up, big brother Bai!¡± Tang Ming chirped in familiarity when Bai Yunfei sat on the last remaining seat, ¡°Sis said that you were busy training, so I didn¡¯t want to bother you. You¡¯re so hardworking, big brother Bai! Even I want to take a break for a few days before starting to train again¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s nothing, really. I was just a little late during my nightly training this time, that¡¯s all.¡± Modestly, Bai Yunfei dismissed Tang Ming¡¯s compliment.


    It was true in any case. Now that Tang Xinyun was back to her full strength, Bai Yunfei felt as though a huge boulder had been dropped off his back, so his training had progressed smoother than usual, causing the session last night to go on a little longer than usual.


    Now that Bai Yunfei was seated and had caught up with what was going on, Tang Ming continued on with his story by answering the questions Kou Tingting had for him. By any accounts, his story was quite fantastical and beat Bai Yunfei¡¯s stories by a wide margin, causing even Bai Yunfei to listen with interest.


    ¡°¡­ and then the guy attacked us for no reason at all! Second Grandfather killed him in anger, but who knew that his friend still wouldn¡¯t give up? They fought for a long time before a really really strong person appeared! He was so strong, even Second Grandfather had to get serious. He hid me in a cave and began to fight. After that¡­¡±


    The entire journey was retold by Tang Ming in clear detail, but when he got to this part, he immediately stopped talking as if remembering to not say anything more.


    ¡°Hm? Little Ming, what¡¯s wrong? What happened next?¡± Bai Yunfei urged him on due to his interest in hearing more.


    ¡°Next¡­ well, nothing really¡­¡± He averted his eyes and shook his head.


    ¡°What do you mean nothing¡¯s next? Are you a eunuch!?¡± Bai Yunfei cried, ¡°Even a blind person could tell you don¡¯t want to not say anything more.¡±


    TL note: A joke lost in translation. In Chinese, ÏÂÃæ means ¡®below¡¯ in the literal sense, but ¡®what¡¯s next¡¯ in meaning. Eunuchs are males who were castrated, meaning they have ¡®nothing down below.¡¯


    ¡°Ahem, well. I can¡¯t talk about what happened next. It¡¯s a secret.¡± Tang Ming explained grimly to the people in front of him. ¡°I can only tell sis¡­¡±


    ¡°Hm? Only me? What do you mean by that, Little Ming?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I can only tell you! Come here, sis, I¡¯ll tell you the secret.¡± Not knowing how to best hide the secret, he pulled Tang Xinyun to a corner of the courtyard.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to eavesdrop, this is a secret to everyone!¡± He ¡®warned¡¯ the rest of the people at the table.


    ¡°¡­¡± Though speechless that something like that had to be said, everyone gathered there couldn¡¯t help but smile at how secretive Tang Ming was trying to be. They were curious, but for the sake of letting the two people talk in peace like Tang Ming asked, Chu Qingxue decided to ask how Bai Yunfei was doing in his training to pass the time.


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Xinyun just couldn¡¯t help but ask Tang Ming question out of curiosity, ¡°Little Ming, what¡¯s with you? What do you have to say so badly to me?¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­ well¡­ that¡¯s because I promised him I wouldn¡¯t tell anyone but you.¡± Tang Ming shook his head in slight embarrassment.


    ¡°Promised? Who did you promise? What is it?¡± She was even more curious now.


    A furtive smile reached Tang Ming¡¯s eyes. ¡°Sis, don¡¯t be shocked when I tell you¡­ I met third brother!¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ what did you say!?¡± Reacting half a beat late, Tang Xinyun spoke, ¡°Say that again? You met with third brother!?¡±


    ¡°Shhhh! Be quiet! Don¡¯t let anyone else hear you!¡± Tang Ming made a shushing sound with his finger, ¡°But hehe¡­ I did! I met with brother Tang Wei.¡±


    ¡°Little Ming¡­ are you joking with me? Did you really meet with third brother?¡± Excited, Tang Xinyun started to ask him some questions.


    Then a more confusing question arose in her mind, ¡°But¡­ third brother left home when you were only three. How would you even recognize him?¡±


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not lying! Sis, I really did meet with third brother. I didn¡¯t recognize him, but he definitely recognized me! I didn¡¯t believe him at first, but then he started talking about a few secrets only we would know. He even said he carried me around before and knows about the birthmark on my back; that¡¯s when I started to believe him.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then¡­ is it really third brother?! Tell me quick, where did you meet him? If he met with you, why hasn¡¯t he come home yet?¡± Now that Tang Xinyun believed him, she was excited to know the details. She clasped her hands on Tang Ming to press for more information.


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush me, sis! I¡¯ll explain it all to you, just hold on.¡±


    Gathering his thoughts, the boy began to speak again, ¡°You see, when Second Grandfather left me in that cave, third brother came into it and took me with him, but only once I found out who he was. I was really bored following Second Grandfather, so I decided to go with third brother instead¡­ I trained with him for an entire month and learned so much! So many things happened, and he taught me a lot as well. He made sure to tell me what I lacked before too. It was only just one month, but I feel that that one month of following third brother around was the most I have ever learned in thirty days!¡±


    ¡°Oh? So the reason why you seem so much more sensible now is because of third brother then¡­¡± Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°Then what did you do in that one month to change you so much?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ heehee, it¡¯s a bit hard to summarize, really hard!¡± Pretending to be a wise old man, Tang Ming shook his head.


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s enough from you. What are you trying to get at?¡± Tang Xinyun affectionately rubbed his head, ¡°Then answer me quickly now, how is third brother doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m no longer a kid, okay?¡± Grumbling as he fixed his hair, Tang Ming said, ¡°Third brother¡¯s doing fine! I don¡¯t know how strong he is, but he¡¯s really strong! Probably as strong as third uncle! He¡¯s amazing no matter what he does, and more importantly, he¡¯s even more handsome than I am¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey¡ªbe serious!¡± Slapping her brother on the head, Tang Xinyun said, ¡°Then why didn¡¯t third brother come back home with you? Why isn¡¯t he letting you tell this to anyone else?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± came his response. ¡°I think he has something important to do. After that month, he brought me back to Second Grandfather and told me not to explain what had happened during that month to anyone.¡±


    A space ring appeared in his hand to present it to Tang Xinyun. ¡°Sis, third brother told me to give this to you. He said that if you wanted to learn how to use elemental fire, the stuff in here would help you get stronger faster.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s giving me this?¡± Surprised, Tang Xinyun took the ring from him, ¡°This is¡­¡±

 Chapter 346: Tranquility

    ¡°He¡¯s giving me this?¡± Surprised, Tang Xinyun took the ring from him, ¡°This is¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a few precious herbs in here.¡± Tang Ming explained, ¡°Third brother said that there¡¯s a lot of different ones. You should only use some of them for now. He also said there¡¯s a scroll that¡¯ll describe how to use them. If you can follow what it says, your training will see a huge improvement.¡±


    Tang Xinyun already had a rough idea about what was in the space ring by the time Tang Ming was finished explaining things. She didn¡¯t recognize some of the herbs, but¡­ there were a few herbs that she was familiar with. One of them was even a dragonfruit like the one that had been sold at the auction just a few days ago¡­


    One of the herbs was even the medicine Bai Yunfei had been back in the Crafting School when he had attempted to form a second essence fireseed.


    While she didn¡¯t know just how old or how potent they were, Tang Xinyun knew that they were still without a doubt precious beyond belief.


    ¡°Is¡­ is third brother really giving me all of this?¡± She gestured at the ring in her hand in dumb shock.


    ¡°Yea, third brother said that even though it¡¯s been several years since he last saw you, he still faces the responsibility of being a good older brother. When he found out that you joined the Crafting School, he made sure to prepare all these things to help you practice. He said that he hopes it¡¯ll help you grow stronger and help you live your own life¡­¡± Tang Ming repeated the words Tang Wei once said to him about her.


    ¡°So¡­ third brother knows about my situation¡­¡± Touched by the words and affection of her brother, Tang Xinyun clenched her fists tightly, remembering the memories of the past. Memories of when she used to cry and hide behind the not-so-much older Tang Wei while he made sure to punish those who bullied her¡­


    She also remembered when he was taken away from her by a powerful outsider when she was six years old.


    ¡°From now on, your third brother won¡¯t be around,¡± he said, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to protect you, so you have to learn to be strong and learn to be patient. Learn so that you can protect yourself. When you can do that or when you find someone who¡¯ll protect your for the rest of your life, you won¡¯t be bullied any more. Until that day comes, you have to stay determined. Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t complain, and don¡¯t hate. Just stay determined¡­¡±


    ¡°Third brother¡­ it¡¯s been over a dozen years now. Xinyun has grown. I¡¯m stronger and also a part of the Crafting School. I¡¯ve my master and my school, no one will bully me now.¡± Tang Xinyun silently spoke to the Tang Wei of her childhood.


    Her eyes wandered slowly to a figure behind her, ¡°I¡­ I may have also found that someone¡­¡± She added.


    ¡°Sis? Sis? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Suddenly, the voice of her younger brother snapped Tang Xinyun out of her thoughts.


    ¡°Sis, you better not tell anyone else! Third brother said that he didn¡¯t want anyone else to know. I don¡¯t know why, but still¡­¡±


    Putting the ring away, Tang Xinyun smiled at him, ¡°I understand. I won¡¯t tell anyone.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Okay! I¡¯m going to go play now, sis, auntie, big brother Bai, sister Tingting, and aunty Zhao, bye bye!!¡±


    Now that his ¡®secret meeting¡¯ with Tang Xinyun was over, Tang Ming could leave. It was a mystery to everyone why he was leaving. Bai Yunfei was even more confused when Tang Xinyun said that it was a secret when he asked, so no one else tried to press for details.


    Tang Ming left the courtyard and another two people came walking in.


    Those two were Jing Mingfeng and Zhao Xiluo.


    ¡°Hey, Mingfeng, Xiluo, where have you been these past few days? I haven¡¯t seen you even once!¡± Bai Yunfei asked as soon as they drew close. The last time he had seen the two was when the auction house had officially ended. Even Kou Tingting didn¡¯t know where the two had gone off. They did mention they were going to meet with Zhong Liyan for something fun.


    ¡°Hehe, nothing much, nothing much. Just some good ol¡¯ fun.¡± Jing Mingfeng gave a dismissive wave of his hand. ¡°Is Xinyun back to full strength? Anything weird with her essence fireseed?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°I¡¯m back to normal now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good, then.¡± Jing Mingfeng nodded happily.


    Turning to Bai Yunfei next, Jing Mingfeng said, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, make sure you protect Xinyun, alright? If something like this happens again, you deserve to be struck by lightning¡­¡±


    ¡°Screw off! Where do you get off saying stuff like that?¡± Bai Yunfei derisively snorted, ¡°I definitely won¡¯t let anything like this happen again.¡±


    Though Bai Yunfei said it in response to Jing Mingfeng, his words were meant to be a guarantee for everyone to hear.


    ¡°Okay then! Now that you¡¯ve promised, I hope to see you two in good condition next time.¡± Jing Mingfeng slapped Bai Yunfei on the shoulder as he said this.


    ¡°What do you mean next time¡­?¡± Puzzled by his response, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Hold on, what do you mean? Are you going to leave?¡±


    Like Bai Yunfei, Tang Xinyun was also surprised to hear what was being said.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve decided to leave Mo City. I was only here for the auction, so now that I¡¯ve gained a lot of primal stones, I¡¯m going to find a nice place to lay low and focus on training¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright then¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded before asking the next question that popped into his mind, ¡°When are you planning to leave?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng smiled, ¡°Right now.¡±


    ¡°Now!? Why so soon? And so sudden?¡±


    ¡°Haha, of course right now. We¡¯re soul cultivators, we don¡¯t need to dawdle and wait around for goodbyes like ordinary people. I hate sad goodbyes, so I¡¯m pretty sure I wouldn¡¯t be able to leave if I stayed another few days.¡±


    And that was that. Taking a few steps away, Jing Mingfeng clasped his hands together to say his goodbyes, ¡°Everyone, I¡¯ll spare the sad talk and just say that I hope we meet again somewhere in the world!!


    ¡°Xiao Feng, we¡¯re going!!¡± He whirled around after finishing his goodbyes and called for his wind squaller, who came bounding after him.


    ¡°Woof woof¡­¡± It bayed twice as it trotted.


    The wind squaller was still small, but the barking was already as loud and ferocious as any feral beast despite sounding like a dog.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    For the sake of avoiding a very sad goodbye, Jing Mingfeng left as suddenly as he could. Since he did, Bai Yunfei was speechless for a good while while he tried to process what just happened. He sighed, a goodbye was to be expected at the very least, and ones as sudden as this one weren¡¯t necessarily bad.


    He knew there¡¯d be a day that they¡¯d meet again anyways.


    Zhao Xiluo and Kou Tingting left a few days after that. The two of them had no reason to wait and left for the Crafting School. Tang Xinyun wanted to stay and keep her mother company for a few days more.


    Since the auction was finally over, the many visitors in Mo City slowly trickled away. It was still as busy as any other day, but the high tension from before wasn¡¯t there.


    The city had reverted back to a state of tranquility.


    Bai Yunfei was left to be nothing more than an idle guest of the Tang residence. For the most part, he stayed in the courtyard and concentrated on his training. Sometimes, he¡¯d accompany Tang Xinyun out for a walk or he¡¯d play with Tang Ming, but contact with the rest of the Tang wasn¡¯t had. To reciprocate, the Tang didn¡¯t bother him much either. Neither favor nor dislike was given to him since the Tang had plenty of matters to attend to as a huge power. They didn¡¯t have the time to treat Bai Yunfei as anything but a guest if he had no business with them.


    Bai Yinfei had been keeping track of how the Tang treated Tang Xinyun and her mother for a while. As of now, it didn¡¯t seem as though life was as bad as Tang Xinyun had recalled; they were treating her and her mother better than before. Though some didn¡¯t seem to care, there were a few others that were happier than before.


    Chu Qingxue was a great example of the latter group. With her daughter by her side and no one to intervene or make trouble, the mother was living in an extremely happy mood. The family members that had once made trouble for her would purposely avoid her, afraid of some sort of retaliation¡­


    When Bai Yunfei had first arrived, he had beaten Hua Binbai so badly that his wounds still hadn¡¯t healed yet. Since the Tang had chose to side with the married-in family at that time rather than their own, how could they possibly get close to Bai Yunfei after thinking he was no one special?


    Each day was nice and warm in any case. Seeing Tang Xinyun with such a content smile made Bai Yunfei feel calm. He was without worry or apprehension for the future. He could slowly enjoy his training, and his nerves, which used to be so taut and high-strung, could finally relax.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    One afternoon half a month later¡ª


    While Zhao Mancha had taken Tang Xinyun out for groceries (Unless notified beforehand, everyone would normally prepare and eat their meals by themselves), Bai Yunfei was finishing his training in the middle of the courtyard. In his hand was his Fire-tipped Spear, basking in the warm sunlight.


    Chu Qingxue was in the courtyard as well, though she stood next to the wisteria tree so that she could water it.


    Seeing that she was done with her task, Bai Yunfei chose then to speak to her before she could retreat into her room, ¡°Auntie Xue, I¡¯ve something I¡¯d like to talk to you about¡­¡±

 Chapter 347: Poisoned?!

    ¡°Yes? What is it, Yunfei?¡± Puzzled by what Bai Yunfei wanted, Chu Qingxue slowed as she turned to the table. Sitting down, she waited for Bai Yunfei to respond.


    A moment was needed for Bai Yunfei to put away his spear and to think. ¡°Auntie Xue, I just wanted to ask how you have felt ever since you started wearing those soul armaments I gave you.¡±


    ¡°You mean these accessories?¡± Chu Qingxue touched the bracelet on her left hand. ¡°Thanks to these useful accessories, I feel much better now.¡±


    ¡°Auntie Xue, please dispense with the courtesies with me. I wasn¡¯t asking about that, but rather about your old injury¡­ is it better?¡±


    Accessories that could improve the strength of the wearer weren¡¯t all that important to a Soul Ancestor like Chu Qingxue. Plus, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t asking about that.


    ¡°My old injury?¡± Chu Qingxue clarified, ¡°It¡¯s getting better. Ever since you gave me that one earring, I can feel myself getting better. These past few days have been¡­¡±


    ¡°Auntie Xue, I might not have been clear enough with my question.¡± Bai Yunfei cut her off, ¡°What I wanted to ask is: after wearing the accessories I gave you, do you feel yourself growing physically stronger? For example, does your old injury hurt as much as before after wearing the earring? Or is your injury not flaring up as much now that you have the other accessories?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± The eyebrows on Chu Qingxue¡¯s forehead creased together in thought. ¡°I haven¡¯t felt that with the accessories.¡± She shook her head, ¡°but I did after wearing the earring. My wounds have gotten weaker rather than stronger, but what do you mean, Yunfei?¡±


    She was confused by what Bai Yunfei was getting at, but the fact that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t immediately answer her made her even more suspicious.


    ¡°Yunfei, what is it? Is there something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Auntie Xue, how did you¡­ get that injury?¡± He asked carefully after a moment of consideration.


    ¡°How¡¯d I get it? What brought this up, Yunfei?¡± Chu Qingxue hesitated to answer since she hadn¡¯t expected to be asked such a auestion.


    Bai Yunfei caught her hesitation and moved to correct himself. ¡°If auntie Xue doesn¡¯t want to talk about it, then please let me ask another question. Do you know what kind of injury was inflicted on you?¡±


    ¡°What kind of injury? The elemental power of an enemy seeped into my body and started to injure me, especially in the area around my shoulder. It targeted the acupoints located there. That¡¯s why I have occasional breakouts from the wound. I¡¯ve tried many treatments in the past, but for some reason, none of them worked. After some time, I decided to give up on a cure¡­¡±


    The pensive look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face prompted Chu Qingxue to ask again, ¡°What is it? Why have you asked me such a question, Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Auntie Xue,¡± Bai Yunfei began, ¡°I need to tell you something. It¡¯s my belief that your injury isn¡¯t what you think it is. It¡¯s possible that you¡¯ve been¡­ poisoned!!¡±


    ¡°Poisoned!?¡± His answer only served to astound the woman, ¡°I¡¯ve been poisoned? What do you mean, and for what reason?¡±


    Still looking as grave as ever, Bai Yunfei began to explain his reasoning, ¡°Auntie Xue, the earring I gave you isn¡¯t capable of increasing the strength of its wearer. It has a special effect¡­ by wearing it, any person will find their resistance to poison increased! You¡¯ve said that you felt better after wearing it, so I had my suspicions before about your injury. It wasn¡¯t some sort of long-lasting wound, but rather, it was the symptoms of being poisoned!¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but how could this earring be capable of something like that? And¡­ poison? How could that be?¡± The blood drained from Chu Qingxue¡¯s face because of her shock. She looked like she was trying to remember the situation behind her injury.


    The Detoxifying Earring


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Wood


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +160 Strength


    Additional Attribute: +90 Strength


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase poison resistance by 15%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s suspicions of Chu Qingxue¡¯s wounds first began when she mentioned that she was feeling better after wearing the earring. The additional strength granted by the earring wouldn¡¯t have been significant enough for a Soul Ancestor to even mention. A paltry increase of over two hundred points of strength wouldn¡¯t have been enough to help her get better that fast.


    Only one conclusion could be drawn: it was the additional effect of the earring that was helping her!


    If a fifteen percent increase of resistivity to poison was helping Chu Qingxue feel better, that could only mean that she had been poisoned!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t dare mention this possibility to her without the facts. That is why he gave Chu Qingxue a set of accessories to improve her strength. He then observed her physical recuperation after that. With this experiment, Bai Yunfei was able to slowly confirm his hypothesis and find the answer to his question.


    As of right now, he was more than ninety percent sure that Chu Qingxue had been poisoned!


    Obviously, the only time he could ask Chu Qingxue was when she was alone. He didn¡¯t want to worry Tang Xinyun nor did he know if Chu Qingxue was keeping it a secret from her. Hence, it was better to confirm it himself before he did anything else.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t necessarily afraid of letting the effects of the earring be made known either. As long as no one knew that it was him that had made this earring go from having ¡®no¡¯ effect to having ¡®an¡¯ effect, he would be safe. If anything, he could pretend that it was the inherent ability of the soul armament just like how the Violet Soul Ring and the Violet Soul Bracelet had their own special effects.


    ¡­¡­


    Chu Qingxue went through a period of internal debate and silence before finally looking back at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯d like to ask something from you¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh? What can I help you with, auntie Xue? Do you have any clues about how you were poisoned?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that. I would like to ask you to not tell Xinyun about this.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t want her to know? I can promise that I won¡¯t tell her for now, but since you were poisoned, I really feel that you should¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s best that you do not look into why I was poisoned, okay?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    He hadn¡¯t expected that.


    ¡°Auntie Xue, what did you say?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that I know about this matter now, but you shouldn¡¯t look into it, okay, Yunfei? I will handle this myself¡­¡±


    He was stunned. He had thought that after he had learned the truth behind her wounds, he¡¯d be able to find a way to help her treat her wounds, but asking Bai Yunfei to ignore the matter was¡­


    He still had plenty of questions he wanted to ask, but the look in Chu Qinguxe¡¯s eyes was more than enough to make him think twice about asking. Freezing up before anything more could be said, Bai Yunfei gave a slow but silent nod.


    ¡°I understand, auntie Xue. I¡¯ll do as you say¡­¡±


    The older woman was clearly afraid of talking about something. If Bai Yunfei had to put his finger to it, she looked concerned, even afraid.


    With the situation in an unknown state, Bai Yunfei could only agree to Chu Qingxue¡¯s request. However, he was already secretly thinking about trying to make some accessories that could further increase one¡¯s resistance to poison.


    That way, he¡¯d be able to help treat Chu Qingxue.


    Even after Tang Xinyun came back, Bai Yunfei kept his promise with Chu Qingxue. Without the slightest indication that anything was wrong, Chu Qingxue smiled when her daughter returned so that Tang Xinyun wouldn¡¯t be able to tell that she was concerned about being poisoned.


    Like the interlude to a musical piece, this event hadn¡¯t changed anything in the slightest between Tang Xinyun and her mother.


    Just like that, the warm and peaceful days went by without further incident.


    Soon, two months had passed since Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun had arrived in Mo City. On the twenty-fifth day of the tenth month, the two crafters finally decided to return to the Crafting School¡­

 Chapter 348: Elder Hai

    The trip to Mo City was finally over. The benefits Bai Yunfei had gained during this trip were certainly more plentiful than he had anticipated.


    The plan had originally been to reunite Tang Xinyun with her mother back in Mo City, so she¡¯d be able to slowly forget about her lost essence fireseed and alleviate her sorrows with her mother.


    Then many things happened, some beyond Bai Yunfei¡¯s wildest dreams, turning this uneventful reunion into a fantastical journey filled with stories to tell.


    The first tale to tell would be of his encounter with Big and Little Dagger where he was able to obtain the rest of the Flying Dagger Compendium and learn the techniques required to throw them.


    Next up was meeting a plethora of people in Mo City, such as Xuanyuan Jie, Zhong Liyan, Jing Mingfeng, and Zhao Xiluo again. He even met Kou Changkong¡¯s once-mentioned daughter, Kou Tingting.


    The appearance of the fireseed spirit mushroom in the auction house was surprising, but what was just as surprising was the fact that it was stolen and then taken back shortly before Tang Xinyun was kidnapped, forcing him to eat the mushroom meant for her.


    He formed a second essence fireseed in his body, and his first essence fireseed had reawakened during a battle where he killed a Soul Exalt. The reawakened essence fireseed brought him back to full strength, elevating him to the level of a mid-stage Soul Ancestor.


    Lastly, while he was worrying about how to replace the fireseed spirit mushroom, the Tang came out of nowhere with a stored fireseed spirit mushroom of their own. Tang Xinyun was allowed to eat it, and she too was able to form her essence fireseed and return to her original strength.


    Having weighed the pros and cons, one would have to admit that the pros definitely outweighed the cons.


    To put it succinctly, all of Bai Yunfei¡¯s problems had been taken care of all at once.


    There was of course still the problem of Chu Qingxue being poisoned, but with the earring, she should at least be safe from any imminent crisis for now.


    In short, the trip to Mo City was more than worth it.


    On the day that marked their second month in Mo City, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun finally started on their journey back to the Crafting School.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Nothing special happened on their way back. With his strength back to normal, Bai Yunfei was able to fly even faster on the Tempest Sword without needing to stop.


    The two of them were able to return back to the school in just twenty days.


    On the Northern Peak of Mt. Crimson¡ª


    In a small bamboo house sat Zi Jin. Sunlight glinted through the window. It sprinkled onto the simple walls and floor of the room, basking the room in a peaceful but warm silence.


    Only the occasional ¡®clack¡¯ sounds could be heard when something small was pressed against the hard ground.


    ¡°Haha! Killing the Dragon! Zi, my old friend, did you expect such a masterful move like this!?¡± A brassy voice roared in laughter, breaking the silence.


    TL Note: Dragon is a term in Go where there is a long line of uninterrupted stones of the same color. Killing the Dragon means to interrupt the line, essentially.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a little early for you to get excited, Hai, my old friend? Can you really claim to have ¡®killed¡¯ my Dragon after capturing so little of my stones? It¡¯s far too early to see who the victor is.¡± A moderately more calm voice replied back, shutting the other speaker down.


    This speaker was Bai Yunfei¡¯s master, the previous headmaster, Zi Jin!


    In the room sat two elderly men. In front of the two was a small square table with lines running this way and that, forming hundreds of small grids. On the intersections of the grids sat just as many stones of black and white¡ª


    ¡ªthe game being played was clearly Go.


    Both of the players had white grizzly hair. One of them was Zi Jin while the other person was an unknown entity. The elder wore a rather plain but slightly tattered blue robe and his white hair rested freely on its back. His face was weathered from time and age. He seemed not to care about his appearances since his beard was prickly and messy rather than combed.


    What was most noticeable about him was the calabash gourd in his left hand. He was drinking alcohol rather greedily from it, like a drunkard.


    The fact that he was able to drink and play Go with the one he called an ¡®old friend¡¯ clearly meant that he wasn¡¯t any regular drunkard.


    A white stone was held betwixt Zi Jin¡¯s right hand before it was placed on an empty space of the board.


    ¡°Clack.¡±


    As soon as the stone was in place, the face of the other old man start to drop.


    ¡°There¡­ there was still a move like that!? How didn¡¯t I catch that earlier!¡±


    ¡°Haha, playing Go requires a calm mind and heart. How could someone as noisy as you play well? Hai, my old friend, you¡¯ve lost, that means your thousand-year-old frozen soulstone is mine now¡­¡± Smiling, Zi Jin began to clean off the board.


    Though his words were without emotion, the smile on his lips was anything but. If anything, it seemed as though he was intentionally goading his friend.


    ¡°You¡ªI¡­ pah! You¡¯ve been learning this game longer than I have! Where do you get off pretending to be wise? I was this close to winning!¡± Angrily waving his right hand, the old man launched a fist-sized blue stone out his space ring. It headed toward Zi Jin.


    There was a pained look on the elder¡¯s face when the frozen soulstone was taken away. Almost accusatorily, the elder said, ¡°Zi, you old fogey, I¡¯ve only won three earth-tier soul armaments from you, but you¡¯ve already cleared me out of almost half my precious herbs and minerals. Were¡­ were you planning this?!¡±


    Zi Jin laughed, ¡°Now now, don¡¯t spout nonsense. I wasn¡¯t the one that forced you to play Go, and the stakes were optional to begin with. Well? Would you care for another game? I¡¯ll let you start with three stones, weren¡¯t you saying how you were ¡®so close¡¯ to winning the last one?¡±


    ¡°Come then! I¡¯ve the secret now. I¡¯ll definitely win the next round!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A new game was starting between the two. Both players laughed and chatted merrily as it progressed. It didn¡¯t seem like two powerful men were having a fearsome battle of wits, rather it seemed like any game of chess between two ordinary old men in an alleyway.


    ¡°Ah, Zi, my old friend, I nearly forgot to ask. You were in such a hurry last time when we met, why did you trade two of your low-heaven tier soul armaments for the fire-type herbs I had? What was the rush?¡± The old man asked as he placed a stone down.


    Zi Jin¡¯s move was swift as was his reply, ¡°Ah, it wasn¡¯t anything important. Perhaps I didn¡¯t tell you about the new disciple I¡¯ve gained. The one named Bai Yunfei? Several months ago, there was an accident with his essence fireseed, so I wished to help him recover his strength¡­ all is well now. Changkong¡¯s daughter, Tingting, came back several days ago with a message saying that she had met with Yunfei in Mo City and that his strength is back to normal now.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ it is still surprising to say the least. You having a disciple just twenty years since our last meeting? I had thought after that youngling from the Eastern Underworld you¡¯d¡­¡± His sentence floundered at the last bit when he noticed the sour look on Zi Jin¡¯s face, ¡°Haha, I misspoke, pretend I didn¡¯t say anything¡­¡± he hurried to correct himself, ¡°I only meant that I¡¯m quite interested in this new disciple of yours. I¡¯d like to see just what kind of man he is if he could catch even your interest.¡±


    ¡°Haha, a frog in the pond, he is not. I¡¯m confident that in the future, his achievements will surely be on par with our own¡­¡± A look of satisfaction could be seen on Zi Jin¡¯s face as he praised Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Oh? So this Bai Yunfei has that high of a praise from you?¡± The other man remarked in surprise.


    Even Jiang Nan hadn¡¯t received such a wonderful comment from Zi Jin before.


    ¡°Yunfei is a special person with many things that I can¡¯t even possibly began to explain him¡­¡± The stone in Zi Jin¡¯s paused briefly in the air, ¡°Haha, what luck!¡± Zi Jin laughed, ¡°Speak about him, and he appears.¡±


    Just as he finished speaking, the voice of a polite Bai Yunfei could be heard, ¡°Master, your disciple has returned to pay his respects.¡±


    An affectionate light entered Zi Jin¡¯s eyes as he smiled, ¡°Come in, Yunfei.¡±


    The door to the room creaked open as Bai Yunfei entered. Standing off to the side of Zi Jin, he bowed, ¡°Yunfei pays his respects to the master.¡±


    Zi Jin nodded in satisfaction, ¡°Haha, very good, you¡¯ve returned. I heard from Tingting that plenty happened to you in Mo City. You¡¯ve done well for your master.¡±


    ¡°Zi, my friend, this is your new student? His strength doesn¡¯t seem anything special, he¡¯s just a Soul Spr¡ª¡± The other elder was already observing Bai Yunfei as he entered, but before he could even finish his verdict, he paused for a moment.


    ¡°Eh? That¡¯s not right¡­ you¡¯re hiding your strength¡­


    ¡°You¡¯re a mid-stage Soul Ancestor!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was quite adept at using the Soul Concealment Art to hide his strength to the levels of a mid-stage Soul Sprite, but this old man had been able to easily deduct his actual strength, shocking Bai Yunfei.


    Zi Jin came to the same realization as his friend. He gave a nod of his head in satisfaction. ¡°Haha, not bad¡­ it seems that regaining your strength wasn¡¯t the only thing that happened in Mo City¡­¡±


    Casting an eye to the other man, Zi Jin introduced him to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, this old fellow is named Hai Dongqing. He¡¯s a friend of mine and is currently a wandering soul cultivator.¡±

 Chapter 349: A Game Between Two Experts

    ¡°What do you mean an idling soul cultivator!? Zi, you dunderhead, I may be used to traveling now, but I¡¯ve still a clan, you hear? How could you treat me like this in front of a youngling?¡± The other man cried out in agony because of Zi Jin¡¯s introduction.


    ¡°Your clan? Hasn¡¯t it been over a hundred years since you¡¯ve seen them? Even if there¡¯s a saying that the young will do well on their own, you didn¡¯t do a thing when trouble happened to them fifty years ago. Can you still call them your clan?¡± Zi Jin lazily looked at him.


    ¡°How doesn¡¯t it? If a clan with the last name of Hai still exists, they¡¯re the offsprings of I, Hai Dongqing!¡± Hai Dongqing remarked indignantly, ¡°Didn¡¯t they take care of the matter by themselves? Where would an old man like me fit in?¡±


    ¡°How callous you are,¡± Zi Jin smiled, ¡°to see your offspring in such danger from such a detached perspective.¡±


    ¡°What do you know? I¡¯m just teaching them to be independent! Aren¡¯t they doing fine without me? If they rely on an old codger like me like a crutch, how would the clan ever grow!? Haven¡¯t you ignored the Crafting School for twenty years yourself?¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, that¡¯s right. I won¡¯t say anything more about your clan¡­¡±


    The verbal sparring between Zi Jin and Hai Dongqing left Bai Yunfei speechless. He was surprised, to say the very least, to find that Zi Jin had this side to him. Nowhere was his strict persona to be seen; only a friendly and relaxed aura could be felt around the elder.


    If what Zi Jin had said was true, he and Hai Dongqing were good friends for well over a hundred years. By extension, this meant Hai Dongqing was at least a century old and Zi Jin was a contemporary of the same strength¡­


    Bai Yunfei shivered at the thought.


    Bowing so as to avoid looking impolite to the elder, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Junior Bai Yunfei pays his respects to senior Hai¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, forget it, forget it. No need for all this politeness. You¡¯ve talent if you¡¯ve become a mid-stage Soul Ancestor at such a tender young age, young one. It¡¯s no wonder the old fogey has taken a liking to you. Not bad, not bad at all¡­¡± Hai Dongqing waved his hand dismissively while trying to hide the mild shock in his eyes.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s put this game away for next time, my friend. I¡¯ve some things I¡¯d like to speak to Yunfei about.¡± Zi Jin glanced over at him, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be¡­¡±


    ¡°Now don¡¯t be like that! Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re planning! I was going to win this game! I leave after this game ends!¡± Hai Dongqing glared as he ¡®pointed¡¯ out the plan of Zi Jin. With that, he placed another stone down onto the board, capturing yet another few stones.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Slightly embarrassed by the antics of his friend, Zi Jin tried his best to regain his calm.


    ¡°Yunfei, wait by the side for a moment.¡± He motioned to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Yes, master.¡± Came the reply. Standing behind Zi Jin, Bai Yunfei watched the game take place in front of him with some shock.


    It looked as though the two people in front of him were playing a very intense game, but from what Bai Yunfei knew of his master, Zi Jin¡¯s skill at the game was a little¡­


    When Bai Yunfei took a closer look at the board, he could see the path the game was on with each stone placed. In time, a relieved expression appeared on his face.


    As it turned out, Hai Dongqing was of the same level of skill as his master.


    Equally¡­ crappy.


    His master had fallen in love with the ¡®way of Go¡¯ as soon as Bai Yunfei had introduced the game to him. Whenever Bai Yunfei went to his master for a question, he would him pouring over a self-imposed game of Go, studying which moves to make.


    Even worse was the fact that Zi Jin would always ask Bai Yunfei to play a game with him whenever he visited.


    The part that terrified Bai Yunfei the most was trying to figure out a way to not completely humiliate his master by winning.


    Now, it seemed as though Hai Dongqing was just as fanatical about this board game as his master¡­


    In other words, they loved Go, but they were terrible at it. This meant they were perfect to play with one another.


    Excited to play, excited to win, that was how this game could be summed up.


    Zi Jin had spent the past few days studying Go in earnest. Though, his skill at the game didn¡¯t seem like it improved.


    That was when Hai Dongqing visited him.


    Unexpectedly, Hai Dongqing took up Go with just as much enthusiasm as Zi Jin, and the two ended up playing Go with each other for three whole days and nights. By this point, Hai Dongqing had felt that he had ¡®graduated¡¯ from being the student to becoming the master. Thus he had challenged Zi Jin to a duel.


    Stakes were then made to officiate the duel, but as things turned out, Zi Jin was just a bit better than Hai Dongqing at the game. There were some games that he lost, but he won the majority of them.


    It still remained to be seen if he was going easy on Hai Dongqing¡­


    Even experts of Go can slip up when careless. For example, Zi Jin was stuck in a losing situation this match. If nothing was done to rectify this situation, he¡¯d most likely lose.


    Clearly aware of his situation, Zi Jin sat in his seat with a grim expression. His hand hesitated over the board as his mind raced to find a solution.


    If he was careless, then this game would be a repeat of his games with Bai Yunfei, where a single move completed thoughtlessly would lead to his imminent defeat¡­


    ¡°Hurry up already. You¡¯ve been thinking for far too long. You¡¯re too slow.¡± Since he was on the verge of victory, Hai Dongqing was extremely impatient.


    ¡°What are you going on about. Don¡¯t you know Go should be played in silence!?¡± Zi Jin glared, but the damage was done.


    The hand holding the stone slowly inched toward onto the board after several seconds of observation. He was going to take back some of his previously lost territory.


    ¡°Cough, cough, cough, cough!¡±


    Unable to stomach this match anymore, an exasperated Bai Yunfei gave four deliberate short coughs.


    Did he forget where he was? The two elders in this room were ten times older than Bai Yunfei was, especially Zi Jin.


    Just as Zi Jin was about to remark on Bai Yunfei¡¯s coughing, the hand holding the stone paused briefly when a moment of realization hit.


    ¡°Is this move wrong? Should I go elsewhere? Four coughs¡­ four? Four¡­ hm¡­ oh, yes, that place!!¡±


    In two seconds, the dots in Zi Jin¡¯s head started to connect together. Smiling, Zi Jin moved his hand to the left part of the board to place a stone on the fourth spot from the left.


    A step away from the edge, an escape from disaster, a glimmer of hope from beyond the shade, an attack that doubled as a defense!!


    This was the move to turn the tides!


    The smug look on Hai Dongqing¡¯s face was completely wiped away when he observed the move. He desperately placed another stone on the board to protect his territory, but his momentum had been lost.


    The last vestiges of his armor was completely removed by Zi Jin¡¯s master stroke, and now it was evident to all that Hai Dongqing had lost this match as well.


    ¡°Haha!! Hai, my friend, I win yet again. Now now, hurry up and offer up what you¡¯ve wagered. That sixth class gold-winged tiger soulgem is mine.¡± Zi Jin laughed without remorse at his victory over Hai Dongqing.


    Stone-faced as he handed over the soulgem, Hai Dongqing snorted, ¡°Pah! If not for that last move of yours, I would¡¯ve won that match¡­¡±


    His eye wandered over to Bai Yunfei who was standing behind Zi Jin.


    Freezing in place when their eyes met, Bai Yunfei felt his back start to grow wet with sweat¡­


    ¡°A loss is a loss. What kind of a two-hundred year old man tries to make excuses? Have you no shame or honor in front of a youngling?¡± Zi Jin mocked. ¡°Well then, you¡¯d best be on your way, my friend.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± Furious at this sudden expulsion, Hai Dongqing stood up from his seat without even bothering to clean up his portion of the stones. Another stare was given to Bai Yunfei and a look of a suspicion seemed to creep into his eyes¡­


    Eyes palpitating with fear, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire forehead was slick with sweat now. Hai Dongqing¡¯s stare felt like a dagger poised to strike at his back, causing Bai Yunfei to regret his decision to warn his master during the game¡­

 Chapter 350: Welcoming Gifts

    Not even a second had passed since Hai Dongqing had started to observe Bai Yunfei, but the younger male felt as though time was stretching on for far too long now.


    Thought after thought weaved with one another as Bai Yunfei tried to think of a way to stop this mysterious old man from forming some sort of grudge with him.


    Thinking that his best bet was to do something, Bai Yunfei immediately prepared to try and change how this elder might perceive him.


    ¡°Cough cough, er¡­ senior Hai, this junior¡­ happens to have some writings of what I¡¯ve learned in Go. Since this is our first time meeting, please allow me to offer this as a gift¡­¡± In a flash of inspiration, Bai Yunfei took out a small gray scroll from his space ring.


    A while back, Bai Yunfei had been bored enough to write down a few memories about Go. The scroll detailed certain ways to best approach certain situations, and in a way, they were basically past records of various Go games for the average layman.


    ¡°Oh, such a thing exists?¡± Hai Dongqing¡¯s eyes lit up, but with some suspicion. ¡°Young one, is this something you wrote? Are you decent at the game? Don¡¯t try and trick me with something you cobbled together.¡±


    ¡°Hai you fool, how could you speak to my disciple like that? The game of Go was created by Yunfei himself. Can you really say he¡¯s not decent at the game?¡± Zi Jin backed Bai Yunfei in his attempt to save himself.


    However, Zi Jin was also interested in the scroll in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Oh? You created Go?¡± Hai Dongqing remarked in surprise. He gave Zi Jin an odd glance Zi trying to confirm the truth. He then raised his right hand up. With a twitch of his finger, the scroll in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand flew to him. A pleased smile appeared on Hai Dongqing¡¯s fave after looking through the scroll with his soulsense. He then deposited the scroll into his space ring, afraid that someone might steal it.


    ¡°Haha, very good! What a knowledgeable young man! Not bad at all!!¡± Hai Dongqing laughed. Bai Yunfei gave a mental sigh of relief when he heard an amicable tone in his laugh.


    A look of disappointment flashed across Zi Jin¡¯s eyes when the scroll disappeared into Hai Dongqing¡¯s ring. Responding to Hai Dongqing¡¯s pleased words, he said, ¡°What nerve you have. Accepting a gift from your junior without giving him one in return. Is that any way a senior should act?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Freezing into place at the accusation, Hai Dongqing could only cough into his hand to disguise his emotions. ¡°Who said I wasn¡¯t going to give a gift? In fact, I was just about to give one, but how can you call yourself his master if he was the one who had to give a gift? Really now, pay attention to your own image as the headmaster of the Crafting School, okay?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­.¡±


    Thinking about what to give for a moment Hai Dongqing sighed, ¡°Forget it. In order to avoid being called a cheapskate by that old fogey, have this item young one! I was going to trade this to your master for something equally good¡­¡±


    Hai Dongqing waved his hand, and a fist-sized white stone flew toward Bai Yunfei. Catching the stone from the air almost reflexively, Bai Yunfei looked at it. He felt as though it was familiar¡­


    ¡°This is¡­¡±


    Shocked by what he saw, Bai Yunfei quickly took a look at the notification that popped up.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Special Effect 1: Increase the chance of success when upgrading by 700%. Effect cannot be stacked with the effect of another item.


    Special Effect 2: Increase the chance of success when crafting by 500%. Effect cannot be stacked with the effect of another item.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of his head. Any thanks he wanted to say to the elder was momentarily forgotten as he stared at the gift that had been given to him. It was actually an upgrade stone! A high earth tier one!!


    The last stone he had owned had only been a mid-human tier upgrade stone. This stone was far better than the last one!


    An increase of 700%¡­ a percentage seven-times greater than the previous one!


    Even Zi Jin looked surprised at the object in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. He nodded in satisfaction and gave a meaningful look to Hai Dongqing. ¡°So you¡¯ve what it takes to be a senior after all.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, I never should¡¯ve come to the Crafting School! Your school has plenty of treasures, but not only did I get none of them, I lost most of my own! What a disappointment¡­¡± Hai Dongqing sighed.


    Picking up his gourd to leave, Hai Dongqing said to Zi Jin, ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving first, but expect me to come back in a few days. I want to take a good look at this scroll, so you better prepare yourself for a complete massacre when I return!¡±


    Then, Hai Dongqing disappeared from Bai Yunfei¡¯s sight. In no time at all, he was up in the sky flying off into the distance. With Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength, there was no way his soulsense would¡¯ve picked up on the fact that Hai Dongqing had left.


    With Hai Dongqing gone, the friendly look on Zi Jin¡¯s face reverted to his impassive one. Storing away the Go board, he sat on a nearby chair and motioned for Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, come and sit.¡±


    Obeying his master, Bai Yunfei walked over to the other chair and sat down. ¡°Yunfei, this crafting stone you got is extremely precious as a crafting ingredient.¡± Zi Jin explained, ¡°It can increase the chances of success when crafting an item, but you do not have the skill to use it efficiently. Wait until you grow strong enough to craft more advanced soul armaments, then you can use the stone.¡±


    ¡°Crafting stone? Oh, yes, I understand, master.¡± Bai Yunfei quickly masked the surprise on his face and nodded his head. The most important aspect to this stone was the fact that it could increase the chance of success when upgrading, hence why Bai Yunfei had named it the upgrade stone, but the stone was called the ¡®crafting stone¡¯ by everyone else since they could only make use of the secondary effect of it.


    Looking away from the stone, Zi Jin warmly smiled at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, how do you feel about what happened in Mo City?¡±


    ¡°Many things happened to me, and I learned a lot. I feel as though I¡¯ve grown as a person.¡± Bai Yunfei responded honestly.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. If you¡¯ve learned, you¡¯ve benefitted. The outside world has many things to teach, things you wouldn¡¯t ever learn in the Crafting School. Words can¡¯t teach you everything, you need to learn by experience as well.¡± Zi Jin nodded. ¡°Explain to me the most important things that happened to you in the city. Tingting gave me a brief summary of what happened, but the details are still unclear to me. You¡¯d best explain how you came to regain your strength.¡±


    When Kou Tingting came back to the Crafting School, she had not been able to explain everything that had happened to Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, so Kou Tingting could only relay the major events, like their complete recoveries. She couldn¡¯t explain the finer details.


    ¡°Yes, master. After your student accompanied Xinyun back to her home, I¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Recollecting his thoughts, Bai Yunfei began to recall what had happened to him during his time in Mo City. He made sure to mention the fireseed spirit mushroom he had bought at the auction house, how it was stolen, how Tang Xinyun had been kidnapped, how he had eaten the mushroom to form a second essence fireseed, and how his first essence fireseed had been awakened to destroy his enemy¡­ one after another, Bai Yunfei explained each event without leaving any details out.


    The more Bai Yunfei talked, the more his master looked alarmed. By the time Bai Yunfei talked about forming a second essence fireseed after eating the mushroom, Zi Jin¡¯s face was completely overtaken by a look of utter shock. When Bai Yunfei mentioned that he had killed Ta Shan and divided the two essence fireseeds away from one another, a bright glint of light appeared while Bai Yunfei continued on with his story.


    ¡°And then I started to rest and recover my strength for an entire month before returning home¡­¡±


    The entire narration took nearly a whole hour by the time Bai Yunfei was finished. Taking a deep breath, he looked at his master, only to see that Zi Jin had his head bowed low deep in thought.


    ¡°Master? Is there something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Yunfei,¡± he raised his head, ¡°you said that you now have a second essence fireseed, and that nothing happened during that one month since you obtained it?¡±


    Not knowing what Zi Jin was getting at, Bai Yunfei could only answer honestly, ¡°That is correct, master. Ever since, I have stored one of my essence fireseeds in my Cataclysmic Seal, I didn¡¯t dare to put the two together again¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. You did the right thing.¡± Zi Jin praised him, ¡°Yunfei, take your lifebound armament out for your master to see.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± responded Bai Yunfei. His Violet Soul Ring pulsated with light for a second as the Cataclysmic Seal popped out. A slight ripple of elemental fire emanated from it.


    A stunned look appeared on Zi Jin¡¯s face as soon as the Cataclysmic Seal popped into sight. Clearly, there was something different about the soul armament now.


    He studied the brick for several seconds before extending his right hand.


    The moment his finger touched the Cataclysmic Seal, the brick softly shivered. A vibrational hum came to life as if rejecting Zi Jin¡¯s touch.


    When he pulled away, the brick settled back down.


    Testing the brick again, Zi Jin poured a bit of his soulsense into the brick to make contact with the second essence fireseed. When the two entities touched, the Cataclysmic Seal exploded with a blindingly bright amount of elemental fire!


    Surprised, Zi Jin immediately pulled his hand back while Bai Yunfei moved to rein in the Cataclysmic Seal.


    ¡°Master¡­¡± Bai Yunfei started to speak.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± Zi Jin answered while maintaining eye contact with the brick. ¡°Yunfei, give me your hand.¡±


    Bai Yunfei complied with his right hand.


    Touching Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand with his own, Zi Jin transmitted his soulsense into Bai Yunfei.


    Knowing that Zi Jin was looking for something, Bai Yunfei offered up no resistance. He allowed the foreign soulsense to circle his body for a while before it pulled out.


    ¡°Amazing¡­ there really are two¡­ two completely intact essence fireseeds!!¡± Zi Jin announced as soon as he pulled his right hand away, ¡°The method you used to make two essence fireseeds is strange, but without a doubt, you have two essence fireseeds¡­ this means¡­ this means¡­¡±


    Delight slowly spread across Zi Jin¡¯s face. He spoke as though he was thinking about something incredibly special.

 Chapter 351: Dual Flame Arts and the Dual Dragon Burst!

    ¡°Master¡­¡± Bai Yunfei hesitated. This was the very first time he¡¯d ever seen his master reveal such a pensive look.


    Was there something wrong with him having two essence fireseeds?


    Now that he was thinking about it, the question was making him nervous.


    ¡°Oh? Ah. Yunfei, there¡¯s no need to feel worried. It¡¯s a good thing! A very good thing!¡± Laughing, Zi Jin replied to alleviate Bai Yunfei¡¯s worries.


    ¡°This situation of yours is completely unprecedented. Whether it be from the history of our Crafting School to the several millenias of the Tianhun Empire, no records have ever mentioned a person doing what you have done!


    ¡°But¡­ do you remember when told you about the predecessor of our school. The one who had had a companion fireseed?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Your student remembers. Master said that having two complete essence fireseeds co-existing in the same body was impossible. The best case is when one essence fireseed absorbs the other one, and the worst case is the body explodes into pieces, but that predecessor found a different solution. He formed a companion fireseed and shocked the world.¡±


    ¡°Correct. It took that predecessor many years of hardwork, yet there was still a bit of luck involved to form a companion fireseed. You experienced tremendous luck as well by successfully forming two fully intact essence fireseeds! Perhaps you don¡¯t understand the significance of your achievement¡­ Yunfei, you¡¯ve an unlimited amount of potential in you. If you continue to train hard, you¡¯ll definitely bring forth a new paradigm to this world!¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt lost with the amount of praise Zi Jin was showering him with, ¡°Master¡­ while your student does have two essence fireseeds, I can only use the one in my body and control them one at a time. Though the second one in the Cataclysmic Seal can increases its strength by a lot, it¡¯s¡­¡±


    What he was trying to say was: while I¡¯m a lot stronger now with two essence fireseeds, they¡¯re nowhere as powerful as you¡¯re describing.


    Naturally catching onto what Bai Yunfei was trying to hint at, Zi Jin shook his head, ¡°Yunfei, do you know why I wanted to talk to you about the predecessor with the companion fireseed?¡±


    ¡°Your¡­ your student knows not¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because this predecessor was not only someone who reached the top of the world, he also left behind¡­ an eternal amount of treasure for our Crafting School!


    ¡°He created the methodology of training with dual fireseeds, and he was also the one who invented an unbelievably strong soul skill!¡±


    Only adoration could be heard in Zi Jin¡¯s voice as he spoke. This predecessor was clearly someone of great importance to him.


    As he spoke, his right hand rose into the air and cut into space.


    Then, in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s very eyes, Zi Jin¡¯s hand went into this cut part of the air!!


    It was like the opening to a cave or like something had opened up of the air. His hand had reached into the opening, and the parts of his hand that had entered the tear couldn¡¯t be seen on the other side.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to see what Zi Jin was grabbing, but the moment Zi Jin pulled his hand out, Bai Yunfei was again startled by what he saw.


    In Zi Jin¡¯s hand were two crimson scrolls. He extended them to Bai Yunfei to take.


    ¡°Master, these are¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice shook as he accepted the scrolls.


    ¡°These are the invented art and soul skill that our predecessor left us, the mid-heaven tier art, the Dual Flames Arts and the mid-heaven tier soul skill, the Dual Dragon Burst!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands started to shake violently once he processed Zi Jin¡¯s words. His heart started to skip several beats¡ªheaven tiers! The both of them, and both were mid-tier as well!!


    It is extremely crucial to note that the rarity of a soul skill was many times more precious than a soul armament of the same rarity!


    Pausing to take a deep breath, Zi Jin waited for Bai Yunfei to calm down before continuing. ¡°I was planning on giving you them to you if you had successfully managed to form a new essence fireseed. It was unfortunate that you failed then, and I never expected you to form a second one during your trip to Mo City¡­


    ¡°Yunfei, from today on, you¡¯ll practice the two scrolls here, especially the Dual Flame Arts. That predecessor said that he had created this art so that he could learn how to train with both essence fireseeds, but he failed and only managed to form a companion fireseed instead. But still, he was able to use the Dual Flame Arts, just not its fullest extent like he had hoped. He passed down these scrolls, hoping a student would be able to fulfill his wish¡­


    ¡°The Dual Dragon Burst is a complementary soul skill to the Dual Flame Arts. As long as you familiarize yourself with the Dual Flame Arts, you¡¯ll be able to make use of the soul skill. It¡¯s power¡­ is rumored to have once killed two Soul Kings when our predecessor first used it!¡±


    The more he listened to Zi Jin¡¯s explanation, the more Bai Yunfei was sent into a silent state of shock, but when he looked back to the two crimson scrolls in his hands, a fire was starting to burn to life in his eyes.


    Noticing how excited Bai Yunfei was, the corners of Zi Jin¡¯s lips started to curl into a smile. ¡°Yunfei,¡± he warned, ¡°take some time to study and learn the Dual Flame Arts. Don¡¯t be hasty, even your master doesn¡¯t understand much of the records left behind by our predecessor. Use the Dual Flame Arts only if you¡¯re in immediate danger, do you understand?¡±


    Putting away the scroll, Bai Yunfei nodded earnestly. ¡°Your student understands, master.¡±


    ¡°Good. Go back and rest for now. After traveling for so long, you must be tired, right?¡±


    For two whole days and night, Bai Yunfei had traveled with Tang Xinyun to Mt. Crimson without stopping. He dropped Tang Xinyun off at the Eastern Point and headed straight to see his master, meaning he hadn¡¯t rested since they had left.


    Even now, he was still planning on seeing the rest of the brothers and elders in the school before he¡¯d rest.


    Bai Yunfei rose to leave the room, but then a sudden thought struck him.


    ¡°Master, your student still has one last thing. If master could give his guidance for this, please.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What is it? Speak.¡±


    ¡°When your student was in Mo City, I watched Xinyun use the fireseed spirit mushroom to regain her essence fireseed and form yet another soulbound armament¡­ what your student would like to ask is this:


    ¡°For us of the Crafting School, the formation of our essence fireseeds is a chance to forge a soulbound armament or refine it even further by increasing our soul compatibility with it. Then, couldn¡¯t we dissolve our essence fireseed and use a fireseed spirit mushroom to reform another essence fireseed? That way, as long as we have enough fireseed spirit mushrooms, we could make more and more soulbound armaments, or maybe even refine a soulbound armament and hope to turn it into a lifebound armament¡­.¡±


    This question surprised Zi Jin, but he shook his head with a faint smile. ¡°Yunfei, it¡¯s not as simple as you think¡­ using fireseed spirit mushrooms is not ideal. First off, fireseed spirit mushrooms aren¡¯t cost-effective, and secondly, we don¡¯t have a small amount of low-heaven tier soul armaments. Fireseed spirit mushrooms require at least a thousand years to mature, making them very rare outside of nature. However, more importantly, using the fireseed spirit mushroom again and again has its limits¡­¡±


    ¡°Limits?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. This was the very first time he had heard of such a thing.

 Chapter 352: Unexpected Guests

    ¡°Yes. Dissolving your essence fireseed, and then trying to form another essence fireseed is almost impossible. You¡¯ve experienced how it feels to fail making one, so you should understand how difficult it is. Using the fireseed spirit mushroom does indeed make it easier to form one, but¡­ it won¡¯t always be ¡®easier.¡¯ The more you use the fireseed spirit mushroom, the less of an effect it has. You can use it at most three times before the fourth results with practically nothing¡­¡±


    ¡°More and more difficult? But master, when I used the fireseed spirit mushroom back in Mo City, I didn¡¯t have any troubles at all. Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s why I was so shocked at first, but if I think about it, I¡¯d wager that your earlier failures when you attempted to form an essence fireseed helped when you ate the fireseed spirit mushroom. All of the medicines you used to help gather elemental fire must¡¯ve had a lingering effect on your body, and since your first essence fireseed hasn¡¯t truly dissolved, the formation of a second essence fireseed was most likely easier because of those factors.¡±


    ¡°I understand now.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, but what Zi Jin said before was still bothering him, ¡°But even just using the mushroom three times means¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, just three times, including when we first form the essence fireseed, which means we of the Crafting School can forge four soulbound armaments! In the history of our school, a predecessor once tried to do this. He managed to obtain three different fireseed spirit mushrooms, and on several different occasions, he took several normal soulbound armaments and turned one of them into a lifebound armament!!


    ¡°Yet, this same predecessor wasn¡¯t by any means a genius. In the end¡­ he was stuck as a late-stage Soul Exalt. He was never able to become a Soul King!¡±


    ¡°Why is that? Was it because of the¡­¡±


    ¡°Correct. It was because of the side effects of the fireseed spirit mushroom! In a way, each fireseed spirit mushroom uses up the hidden potential of the eater¡¯s body!¡± Zi Jin exclaimed. ¡°That is why we cannot use the method you¡¯re talking about¡­ several of our predecessors paid a heavy price so that we of the later generations could learn of their experience and listen to their warnings¡­¡±


    Concern started to grow within Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind as he listened to Zi Jin. Worried, he asked, ¡°Master, I once used a fireseed spirit mushroom to become a Soul Sprite. Now that I¡¯ve used it again, wouldn¡¯t that mean I¡­¡±


    Zi Jin smiled to comfort him. ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. The situation I described just now is different than your own situation. When you formed your second fireseed spirit mushroom, your first one still hadn¡¯t been dissolved, correct? And since you have two essence fireseeds, you can learn the Dual Flame Arts, so you don¡¯t have to worry about your future potential. When you grow stronger, you¡¯ll understand¡­¡±


    ¡°Phew¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. Now that all of his concerns had been addressed and dealt with, he stood up to bow to his master. ¡°Your student understands now, master. Your student asks for permission to leave.¡±


    ¡°Good, you may leave.¡±


    Turning around, Bai Yunfei took two steps toward the door before Zi Jin spoke again, ¡°Ah, Yunfei¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned around. ¡°Is there something master wants?¡±


    For once, a slight hint of embarrassment could be seen on his master¡¯s face. ¡°Ah, Yunfei. That record you gave Hai Dongqing¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei quickly realized what his master was trying to get at after not understanding the question at first.


    With a twist of his hand, a gray scroll appeared. Presenting it to his master, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°If not for master¡¯s reminder, your student would¡¯ve forgotten. I have a copy of the scroll I was planning to give to master in hopes that it¡¯d help master with his studies¡­¡±


    Smiling as he took the scroll, Zi Jin nodded. He was pleased. ¡°Haha, very good. You may go and rest up, then.¡±


    It was only when Bai Yunfei was back in the comfort of his own room that he started to wipe away the hidden drops of sweat.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I prepared myself earlier. Today, I¡¯ve seen a new side to the master that isn¡¯t known to anyone.¡±


    He was originally planning on giving the extra scroll to Tang Xinyun, but when he thought about it, her skill at the game was probably already beyond his own. Thus, it¡¯d be a waste to give it to her¡­


    ¡­¡­


    After a short rest, Bai Yunfei headed to the Northern Point to pay his respects to Kou Changkong, Xiao Binzi, and Cang Yu. Since Huangfu Nan was busy trying to forge a soul armament and Jiang Nan was on a trip, Bai Yunfei was unable to see them.


    Bai Yunfei was headed back to his room when Song Lin, Li Tiechui, Ye Zhiqiu, Mo Xiaoxuan, and the others came looking for him at the Western Point.


    It was already evening by the time Bai Yunfei retired to his room. By now, he was even more tired than before, so he chose to rest rather than train. Even though he was extremely excited to start learning from the scrolls he had been given, having the right mental state was equally important. He¡¯d need to fully rest before he could start learning.


    Seeing how no one came to disturb him, they must have all known that Bai Yunfei was trying to rest.


    The next morning, a refreshed Bai Yunfei was now sitting on top of his bed. He was holding one of the crimson scrolls. His eyes poured over the written characters on it with great interest.


    After a while, Bai Yunfei blinked. Exhaling, he looked at the scroll with renewed admiration, ¡°What an amazing predecessor this man was¡­ the Dual Flame Arts is many times more thorough than the Art of Firebending¡­ dual flames¡­ refers to when one has two fireseeds¡­ I know I said before that I could only control one essence fireseed at a time, but who knew that this art would teach me how to use them both at the same time? It really feels like this was tailor-made for me!


    ¡°According to the records on here, training two essence fireseeds could double the rate of my training! That means I could train even faster than everyone else!¡± Practically giddy with excitement over what he had learned from the Dual Flame Arts, Bai Yunfei tried his best to calm down.


    ¡°But¡­¡± He sighed, ¡°It¡¯s extremely complicated! I wonder when I¡¯ll ever be able to understand it all. I guess I¡¯ll do as master says and focus on this the most!¡±


    Now that his mind was made up, Bai Yunfei began to read over the scroll again with his soulsense. He read each and every character with extreme concentration.


    ¡°Knock knock knock.¡±


    Several knocks interrupted Bai Yunfei¡¯s study not long after he started. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed, ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Senior uncle Bai, it¡¯s me, Si Kongxian.¡±


    It was Bai Yunfei¡¯s next door neighbor.


    ¡°Oh, little Xian? Hold on a second.¡± Rising from his bed, Bai Yunfei crossed the room. He opened the door to look at Si Kongxian on the other side, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Haha, senior uncle Bai, excuse me for interrupting your training.¡± Si Kongxian smiled apologetically, ¡°but there¡¯s a visitor asking to meet with you. He says he¡¯s a friend of yours, so I thought I should¡­¡±


    ¡°A friend is looking for me?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s a visitor that came a little while ago. He says he knows you. Do you want to go see him?¡±


    ¡°Where is he?¡±


    ¡°Right outside the outer dormitories.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go take a look. Thanks for telling me.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei made his way to the outer dormitories. He stopped in his tracks when he saw who it was.


    ¡°It was you?¡±


    ¡°Haha, so we meet again, brother Bai¡­¡± The person nodded at Bai Yunfei with a smile¡­


    It was the person who had met with him once before at the auction house¡ªMo Ni!!


    The very same Mo Ni who had secretly orchestrated the kidnapping of Tang Xinyun!

 Chapter 353: Meeting Mo Ni Again

    Bai Yunfei was surprised Since he hadn¡¯t expected his visitor to be Mo Ni of all people. Managing to disguise his shock by cupping his hands and bowing, Bai Yunfei greeted the other man, ¡°Ah, so it was brother Mo, what brings you here¡­?¡±


    Mo Ni smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve always admired the glorious Crafting School, so when it came time to journey the world, I decided to visit here. I had hoped that I¡¯d be able to request a soul armament if I brought some of my more precious treasures. The esteemed elders have already agreed to my request, so I¡¯ll be waiting here until elder Huangfu Nan finishes making one.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so elder Huangfu Nan is making a soul armament for you.¡± Bai Yunfei replied in realization. ¡°I heard that someone offered enough materials to make five high-earth tier soul armaments, but I didn¡¯t realize that it was you¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, if I require the assistance of another, it¡¯s only logical that I uphold my end of the deal. It¡¯s really unfortunate that the materials needed for a heaven tier soul armament are many. I had to compromise for a high-earth tier soul armament instead.¡± Mo Ni shook his head with a sigh.


    ¡°Brother Bai, I really didn¡¯t expect to see that you, the one who caused such a ruckus back in Mo City, would be a student of the Crafting School, let alone an esteemed disciple of the old headmaster Zi Jin¡­ when I came across the truth just a few days ago, brother Lin and I were incredibly shocked¡­ brother Bai¡ªah, perhaps I should be calling you senior uncle Bai?¡±


    ¡°Very humorous, brother Mo, since when should I be referred to as such? Just refer to me like someone else from the same generation.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand.


    ¡°¡®Brother Lin¡¯? Did you come with someone else, brother Mo? Would it be¡­¡±


    ¡°Correct, I came with Lin Dongxiao. He has some business with the Crafting School.¡±


    ¡°The junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School, Lin Dongxiao?¡± Bai Yunfei asked for clarification. ¡°What¡¯s he here for?¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai, do you dislike the Beast Taming School?¡± Mo Ni asked when he saw the look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, ¡°Was it because of what happened in Curopia City?¡±


    ¡°You know about it?¡±


    ¡°Haha, only a little. Actually, that¡¯s the reason why Lin Dongxiao is here today. He¡¯s here to make a formal apology¡­¡±


    ¡°Apology?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You might not know it, brother Bai, so let me explain the situation to you. The Beast Taming School had something to do with the house of Xiao in Curopia City. But those people were traitors to the school, so the Beast Taming School didn¡¯t know about their actions. After investigations were made, the school was able to root out the rest of the rebelling members. Those members were actually rebels from three years ago who did evil on pretense of being from the Crafting School. They were even colluding with the evil Spirit Refining School. Despite their investigations, the Beast Taming School was unable to stop things in time before your Crafting School was involved. That¡¯s why Lin Dongxiao is here today, to offer an apology in hopes that there won¡¯t be any unpleasantries between the two schools¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei listened to the ¡®explanation¡¯ with a nod of his head in understanding, but his mind was thinking the exact opposite. ¡°Can it really be that simple? Is that even possible? The Beast Taming School can claim these actions were made by ¡®traitors,¡¯ but that¡¯s far too convenient and takes them out of the equation. To save the king, you sacrifice the rook. That¡¯s exactly the situation right now¡­¡±


    Mo Ni smiled when he noticed that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem to want to continue talking about the Beast Taming School any more. ¡°Brother Bai, your heroic antics of saving miss Tang that day in Mo City were made known to everyone.¡± He changed the subject, ¡°I heard that you managed to kill the ¡®Stone Asura¡¯ Ta Shan before saving Tang Xinyun. He was a horrible, but strong Soul Exalt. If you were able to kill him, does that mean you¡¯re a Soul Exalt as well? It¡¯s no wonder you¡¯re the disciple of senior Zi Jin then¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, you give me too much credit, brother Mo. I¡¯m nowhere as strong as you think I am. It was only a fluke that I was able to kill Ta Shan.¡± Bai Yunfei modestly replied, ¡°I¡¯m nowhere near as strong as you, brother Mo. You¡¯re already a Soul Exalt. I can¡¯t help but admire your talent.¡±


    ¡°What is there to admire? I heard that you¡¯re only twenty years old. I¡¯m older than you by a good ten years, but when I was your age, I wasn¡¯t strong enough to kill a Soul Exalt like you are¡­¡±


    Becoming a Soul Exalt by the age of thirty was talented enough to be regarded as a genius who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Jiang Nan.


    The two talked for a while longer before Mo Ni had to finally leave. He promised that he¡¯d go sightseeing with Lin Dongxiao below Mt. Crimson. He invited Bai Yunfei to go with them, but Bai Yunfei declined, saying that he still had some training to do.


    Mo Ni¡¯s coming was a mystery to Bai Yunfei, but he didn¡¯t care enough to really think about it any longer. If the Beast Taming School was trying something, then senior Kou Changkong would deal with it appropriately. Whatever goal or sinister plot the Beast Taming School was planning, Bai Yunfei was sure that the elders would deal with it the way they knew best.


    They had after all thought more about the situation than he did, so Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t need to blindly worry about it.


    After returning to his room, Bai Yunfei continued to train once more¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Two days later, in the morning¡ª


    About a kilometer away from the Western Point dormitories on a patch of grass¡ª


    Though winter was already approaching, it was still quite warm and summerlike on Mt. Crimson. This was extremely apparent with how many trees had leaves sticking stubbornly to their branches. The only hint was the withering grass, but there was still many tufts of grass that retained their lush-green color as a final sign of resistance.


    Bai Yunfei lay on a slope with his head resting on his hands. A shabby strawhat lay on top of his face, protecting his eyes from the sharp sunlight.


    He looked as though he was asleep.


    After two days of constantly studying the Dual Flame Arts, Bai Yunfei was thoroughly unsatisfied with how little progress he was making.


    He was starting to get impatient, so he decided to take a break today and try to loosen up before attempting again.


    As he lay there, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but think more about the Dual Flame Arts¡ªmore specifically¡ªone of the questions he had.


    As his mind wandered off, Bai Yunfei felt the strawhat on his face get pulled away by someone, causing sunlight to sprinkle onto his unprotected face. Meanwhile, an aromatic fragrance wafted into his nose.


    Noticing the two changes, Bai Yunfei looked up to where someone was stooping over him with a hand on his strawhat. A smile could be seen as well as long hair that drifted in the wind.


    ¡°Oh? Xinyun, what brings you here?¡± Bai Yunfei sat up to ask.


    Smiling as she sat down next to him, Tang Xinyun replied, ¡°I came here to see you, Yunfei. What were you thinking about? You were so distracted you didn¡¯t even noticed me get close.¡±


    ¡°Oh, haha, I really didn¡¯t. Was just thinking about a few problems I have run into while training, that¡¯s all.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    Noticing that something was missing when he looked around, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Doraemon? She didn¡¯t come with you?¡±


    Like a tail, the girl known as Huangfu Rui was always behind Tang Xinyun.


    However, she wasn¡¯t here this time.


    ¡°She¡¯s playing with Tingting. They get along just as well as she does with me, and they¡¯re basically stuck together like candy since it¡¯s been awhile since they were last together. Little Rui wants to learn the art of hydrotherapy as well it seems¡­¡±


    ¡°A fire-type soul cultivator trying to learn hydrotherapy? What a silly thought¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, maybe. Little Rui is still like a child. Just yesterday, she was trying to form an essence waterseed, but when it failed, master immediately started to scold her attempting¡­¡±


    Tang Xinyun looked a little lost when it came to trying to deal with Huangfu Rui, but still, a smile could always be seen on her face.


    ¡°¡­¡± A drop of sweat rolled down Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead.


    ¡°How silly Doraemon is¡­¡±

 Chapter 354: When All Worries Melt Away

    With her hands now resting on her knees, Tang Xinyun turned to look at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, how are¡­ your two essence fireseeds? Did senior Zi Jin say anything about them?¡±


    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s no problems, so don¡¯t worry about them.¡± Bai Yunfei replied.


    ¡°Master even said that this was an extremely fortunate stroke of luck for me!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Tang Xinyun asked with delight.


    ¡°Haha, really.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°The questions I have been thinking about arose from the training method master gave me. He said it was meant for people with two essence fireseeds, and it is extremely strong. I¡¯ve been studying it for two days now, but all I got was a headache¡­ that¡¯s why I¡¯m out here taking a break¡­¡±


    ¡°I see now¡­¡± Tang Xinyun nodded in understanding, ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, the amazing techniques are always harder to learn. Just take it easy and you¡¯ll understand it soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I was thinking. I have to learn to walk before I can start running. If there¡¯s several thousand characters to read, then I¡¯ll just have to understand each individual one to get the big picture.¡±


    He chose to avoid the fact that he was extremely impatient to learn the skills, so he chose instead to look at Tang Xinyun¡¯s face, ¡°What about you? Any problems since you regained your essence fireseed? How¡¯s the third elder taking it?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about!¡± Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°Master has already looked me over and said that everything looks fine like before. There shouldn¡¯t be any hindrances to my training either, and after all those medicines father gave me, master said that my potential growth has grown as well. I should be able to train extremely well in the future.¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s amazing!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was glad to hear that. At last, he could finally stop feeling guilty about Tang Xinyun¡¯s sacrifice back in Curopia City.


    Bai Yunfei could feel happy about something else as well. When Tang Xinyun mentioned her father, it was no longer with an emotionless and detached tone like before.


    Their last trip home and the change in the Tang helped Tang Xinyun feel better about her family.


    Watching as the clouds in the sky floated by, Tang Xinyun chose then to mention something, ¡°Oh, have you heard, Yunfei? The junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School and the one who had bid for the fireseed spirit mushroom against you in the auction house, Mo¡­ something¡­ they¡¯re here in the Crafting School.¡±


    Unable to stop himself from chuckling at her attempt to remember Mo Ni¡¯s name, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Haha, it¡¯s Mo Ni. I know already. He came to see me two days ago.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What did he want?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know. He just said a few things to me.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head in confusion, ¡°But¡­ he might look like a decent person or someone who treats others fairly, yet I can¡¯t help but have my doubts about him. I feel like he was testing me, but I don¡¯t know why¡­¡±


    ¡°Really? I heard one of my seniors say that he¡¯s from one of the isolated clans in the Western Frontier Province, one of the stronger ones too¡­ if he¡¯s friendly with the Beast Taming School, then it stands to reason that the Beast Taming School¡­¡±


    ¡°Hah¡­ I don¡¯t like the Beast Taming School.¡± Bai Yunfei continued, ¡°I heard that Lin Dongxiao is here as a representative of his school to apologize for what happened in Curopia City. They¡¯ve some sort of excuse, saying that the tamers we killed were some traitors they had expelled a few years ago. I wonder if that excuse will be accepted¡­¡±


    ¡°Is it an excuse? I think I heard master mention before that they had found clues in Curopia City proving that those tamers had been expelled from the Beast Taming School three years ago. Something major happened three years ago, causing one of the elders to defect. It was major news at the time, and a decent part of the Beast Taming School rebelled because of that elder. A lot of them were driven out, but not before a lot of damage was done.¡±


    ¡°What? Is that true?¡±


    The words Song Lin had spoken to Bai Yunfei started to resurface in his mind.


    Indeed, Song Lin had once said something about an accident taking place in the Beast Taming School three years ago. It connected with what Tang Xinyun had said, making Bai Yunfei having to think for a bit. ¡°If things are like what that Lin Dongxiao said, then those beast tamers we killed really were traitors to the school. So that means they aren¡¯t connected to the school then?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t really know, but the headmaster has already accepted the Beast Taming School¡¯s apologies. He agreed to not hold them accountable, and they¡¯ve agreed to hold an open investigation together too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so senior Kou has already reached a decision?¡± He was surprised. ¡°Ugh, whatever then. Let¡¯s talk about something else. How do you feel about going to Redfire City in a few days to have a look around?¡±


    ¡°In Redfire City?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been awhile since we went there. Let¡¯s have Zhiqiu, Xiaoxuan, and the others join us. Since Fei Nian likes Sima Yue, I know he¡¯ll agree to come. It¡¯ll be fun if we all go together. We haven¡¯t done anything like as one group since before we left for Curopia City.¡±


    Tang Xinyun nodded her head, ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    ¡°I remember Sima Dong once telling me about a materials store in the south-western part of the city. We should go over there and take a look while we¡¯re at it¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Conversation continued between the two after that. Now that there wasn¡¯t anything to be concerned about, and Bai Yunfei¡¯s attempts to make Tang Xinyun laugh worked. He was able to hear a giggle from her every so often.


    Time quickly passed by as they laughed, and before either of the two knew it, it was already noon. Looking up at the sky, Tang Xinyun stood up, ¡°Well, Yunfei, I have to go back now¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, let me walk you back.¡±


    She didn¡¯t refuse his invitation. She only nodded before walking to the path first.


    Before she could get far, Bai Yunfei pointed at the hat Tang Xinyun was still holding, ¡°Eer¡­ my hat, Xinyun¡­?¡±


    ¡°Haha, this thing?¡± She shook the strawhat with a smile, ¡°Let me hold onto it for now, I¡¯ll give it back to you in a bit.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Though a little mystified by such a request, Bai Yunfei acquiesced it to her. Choosing not to say anything, he moved to catch up to Tang Xinyun and started to walk side by side with her.


    Soon enough, the two of them reached the spot where the Western Point met with the Main Point. As they were about to cross to the path that lead to the Eastern Point, the two saw a group of people running over from the Southern Point.


    When Bai Yunfei looked closer, he could see Mo Xiaoxuan leading the group.


    ¡°Xiaoxuan!¡± He called out.


    ¡°Brother Bai, cousin Tang!¡± Stopping where he was for a brief second, Mo Xiaoxuan hurriedly started toward them with renewed speed, ¡°What are you two doing here?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I was bringing Xinyun back. Why are you all in such a hurry?¡±


    Mo Xiaoxuan glanced at the two people with him before turning back to Bai Yunfei to say, ¡°I was on my way down to receive the guests in the outer dormitories.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve guests?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a small school came this morning asking for some soul armaments. Senior Tiechui received them in the Southern Point to discuss some business, but since it¡¯s noon, he asked me to prepare some food and shelter for the school.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so they¡¯re here for soul armaments.¡± Bai Yunfei remarked. These type of requests were pretty common between the smaller schools and clans. Naturally, the elders of the Crafting School would not see to all guests, so the smaller schools and clans were often met with seniors, such as Li Tiechui, who would see to their requests and accept their materials. The materials made in return weren¡¯t very high in quality. They were mid-earth at most, and of course, it was Li Tiechui that usually saw to everything.


    Now that he knew it was a small school here as a guest, Bai Yunfei lost interest in the affair, ¡°Where is the school from?¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really care who they were, but when Mo Xiaoxuan answered him, he fell into a stupor.


    ¡°Where they¡¯re from? I think I heard them say they¡¯re from far away, the Azure Cloud Province¡­¡± Mo Xiaoxuan scratched his head, ¡°Their school was called the er¡­ the Gla¡­ Glac¡­


    ¡°Oh! Right, the Glacial School!!¡±

 Chapter 355: A Meeting of Foes

    ¡°The Glacial School!!¡±


    The expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew rigid at the very mention of that school. For a moment, Bai Yunfei did nothing but stare off into the distance.


    Bai Yunfei then latched onto Mo Xiaoxuan¡¯s shoulders and asked him in a slightly louder voice than normal, ¡°What school did you say was here!?¡±


    ¡°The¡­ the Glacial School? Brother Bai, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Frightened nearly out of his skin, Mo Xiaoxuan could hardly respond coherently.


    Even Tang Xinyun was surprised that Bai Yunfei would experience such a major reaction. Tugging at his robes, she asked, ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Realizing where he was, Bai Yunfei immediately let go of Mo Xiaoxuan¡¯s shoulder apologetically, ¡°Sorry about that, I let my emotions get the best of me¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, there¡¯s no need for brother Bai to apologize,¡± Grimacing when he touched his pained shoulders, Mo Xiaoxuan asked, ¡°Hss¡­ brother Bai, you¡¯re really strong you know¡­ but what¡¯s going on? Why did you get so excited at the name of that school? Do you know them or something?¡±


    Like Mo Xiaoxuan, Tang Xinyun stared anxiously at Bai Yunfei, waiting for an answer.


    Bai Yunfei nodded and stayed silent for a moment as he thought of what to say. He sighed before starting to talk, ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t tell you before, but I¡¯m from the Azure Cloud Province. Back then¡­ I experienced a scuffle with the Glacial School where they tried to kill me¡­¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Mo Xiaoxuan angrily roared, ¡°The Glacial School dared to do such a thing!? I¡¯ll notify senior Tiechui at once and drive them from the school! No! That¡¯d be too easy! I¡¯ll make sure our seniors teach them a lesson!¡±


    After turning to run back to Li Tiechui, Mo Xiaoxuan found himself immediately stopped by Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Brother Bai, why are you stopping me?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Oh! I get it, you want to be the one to teach them a lesson! Okay! You¡¯re super strong after all. You could beat them all and still have enough energy to spare, I¡¯ll lead you to them! It¡¯s time for revenge! Even if you killed them all, I¡¯m sure the headmaster and the others would be more than happy to allow it!¡±


    ¡°Hold on, Xiaoxuan, don¡¯t be too hasty.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°Forget about it¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Mo Xiaoxuan couldn¡¯t believe his ears, ¡°Brother Bai, what are you saying!? What do you mean forget about it? Didn¡¯t you say they tried to kill you? How could you say ¡®forget about it¡¯ then!?¡±


    ¡°The past is the past, I don¡¯t want to bother myself with it anymore¡­¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Besides, they¡¯re here to pay our school a visit. Brother Li received them and it¡¯d only hurt our reputation if I caused troubled in the school. I can¡¯t allow my personal grudges affect the name of our Crafting School.¡±


    It was true that Bai Yunfei felt a strong urge to rush over to where the Glacial School was when he heard that name. Furthermore, he was also feeling the urge to do what Mo Xiaoxuan had said: to beat and maybe even kill a few of them to satisfy his revenge.


    When he calmed down, that line of thinking was sealed back into his mind. He wasn¡¯t an ignorant child of the world anymore. This was the Crafting School he was living in. The Glacial School were the guests. If a guest were to be attacked here rather than be treated well, wouldn¡¯t that sully the name of the Crafting School?


    Even if the elders were to allow him to kill the ones from the Glacial School here, he wouldn¡¯t want to do it.. He didn¡¯t want to take advantage of their kindness and repay them with a dirty reputation.


    In fact, his grudge wasn¡¯t even with the Glacial School. It was with the Zhang. Not to mention it wasn¡¯t in his nature to want to kill the entire Glacial School.


    Should he come across them elsewhere, well, there was interest that needed to be collected.


    ¡°Yunfei, what are you going to do?¡± Nervous of his silence, Tang Xinyun asked to hear his answer.


    When he turned around to answer, a gentle smile greeted his gaze; it almost looked as though she would support him and any choice he made.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s nothing, let¡¯s get going, Xinyun.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Xiaoxuan, try not to think about this. Hurry and do what you need to do.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to let things go here? Brother Bai¡­¡± It looked as if there was still something Mo Xiaoxuan wanted to say, but Bai Yunfei had already turned to leave. Thus, he shut his mouth, but he wasn¡¯t convinced.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei really is far too generous.¡±


    Despite Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction, Mo Xiaoxuan was already starting to think of a plan to take care of the Glacial School himself, to vent Bai Yunfei¡¯s anger for him.


    Meanwhile, Bai Yunfei had only taken a few footsteps away from Mo Xiaoxuan when he noticed something strange. Stopping in place, he turned to face the rightmost part of the Southern Point.


    Four figures could be seen walking toward him from several hundred meters away. Out of the four, one of them was Li Tiechui. On his immediate right were two people. One was a young man perhaps twenty-seven years old. He wasn¡¯t someone Bai Yunfei recognized, but he knew who the other person was; the headmaster of the Glacial School, Yu Fei!!


    The middle-aged man on Li Tiechui¡¯s left was¡­ Zhang Zhenshan!!


    When the four saw him, both Yu Fei and Zhang Zhenshan immediately went stiff. They became slackjawed. Li Tiechui and the other young man with him on the other hand, stopped to give the two men questioning looks.


    Before Li Tiechui could even ask what was wrong, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s body started to dangerously shiver. His eyes were glaring daggers at his most hated enemy, and his lips curled into a malevolent snarl.


    Under Li Tiechui¡¯s startled eyes, an explosion of soulforce materialized from Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s body before he pounced straight for Bai Yunfei like a tiger attacking its prey!


    ¡°Bai! Yun! Fei!!!¡±


    One by one, the words roared from Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s lips were practically dripping with the hatred the man felt for Bai Yunfei. The aura around his body was growing thicker by the second, and icicles were already starting to formulate around his right palm where a layer of frost had formed.


    The distance dividing the two foes was traversed in practically moments. Zhang Zhenshan hadn¡¯t even finished pronouncing Bai Yunfei¡¯s name when he was nearly on top of Bai Yunfei. Up in the air now, his right palm extended out. He was prepared to crash down on Bai Yunfei¡¯s head with the power of ice!


    The Glacial Palm!!


    The utter suddenness had caught everyone off guard, even Bai Yunfei was at a loss for words.


    He was still the first one there to regain his bearings. Narrowing his eyes when the Glacial Palm drew close, he lashed out with a punch of his own, right as the palm was about to connect with him!


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    A halo of red light danced to life with the flurry of frost when the two hands made contact. Bai Yunfei¡¯s right leg was pushed back just half a step while Zhang Zhenshan was sent unceremoniously flying ten meters back.


    ¡°Stop!!¡±


    A voice called out; there was a blur as someone appeared in between Bai Yunfei and Zhang Zhenshan. Li Tiechui stared ominously at Zhang Zhenshan who was still glaring daggers at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Zhang Zhenshan, what is the meaning of this?¡±


    ¡°Zhang Zhenshan, stop!!¡± At the same time, Yu Fei managed to finally call out to him to stop.


    Their words fell on deaf ears. Zhang Zhenshan looked as crazed as ever as he stared at his most hated enemy with bloodshot eyes.


    Rather than pull back his aura, Zhang Zhenshan pushed off against the ground so that he could get around Li Tiechui and go straight for Bai Yunfei!!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Since his warning had been ignored, Li Tiechui flared his soulforce and prepared to forcibly stop the man.


    It was then that Li Tiechui heard the calm voice of Bai Yunfei right behind him, ¡°Brother Li, this is a personal enemy of mine. If you could please refrain from doing anything here.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He turned his head behind to look at Bai Yunfei.


    His distraction was taken advantage of by Zhang Zhenshan. Maneuvering around him, Zhang Zhenshan was now in front of Bai Yunfei. The back of his right hand had a blade of ice about three meters tall stuck to it.


    With a furious roar, he plunged it toward Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! Give me back my son¡¯s life!!¡±

 Chapter 356: Anger From A Son’s Death

    Zhang Zhenshan was the head of the house of Zhang in Talus City of the Azure Cloud Province and also one of the elders of the Glacial School.


    Thee Zhang were a small family that only the denizens of Talus City feared and respected. While the Glacial School was a small school, the entire Azure Cloud Province was their stomping grounds.


    From Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s perspective, he wasn¡¯t a man that had frittered away his life. He didn¡¯t seek fame to move the world, rather he wanted to secure enough power for himself. He had worked hard to establish himself and his family, and though his son was a little immature, he was still his darling little child, imperfect as he may be.


    Compared to the life span of the average commoner, a soul cultivator had a vastly longer lifespan, so he allowed his son to dilly-dally for the first twenty-something years of his life. Zhang Zhenshan may look very strict at first, but he had very high expectations of his child. He was only waiting for his son to mature enough before he¡¯d accept him as the next generation head of the household.


    The tyrannical acts of despotism and bullying of the weak in Talus City went completely ignored by Zhang Zhenshan. To soul cultivators, the lives of the commoners were like ants, and men like him wouldn¡¯t care about them. Perhaps it was due to his perspective of these commoners that his son, Zhang Yang, grew to become such a person.


    Many of the atrocities committed by Zhang Yang were usually taken care of by the Zhang, but if they couldn¡¯t cover it up, Zhang Zhenshan would use the Glacial School to smooth over the matter.


    An arranged marriage between his son and Liu Cheng¡¯s daughter of the Glacial School was even proposed in hopes that the Zhang would be able to grow even more.


    Everything was going according to plan, and everything was moving like Zhang Zhenshan had hoped¡­


    Until one day, a person named Bai Yunfei appeared.


    It all happened when he was away, dealing with the bandit group the Glacial School was secretly backing. A mysterious power had somehow eliminated the group, forcing Zhang Zhenshan to temporarily leave the city to deal with the aftermath.


    By the time he had returned, news of his son¡¯s death had quickly reached his ears.


    His one and only son! Dead!


    The one responsible was Bai Yunfei!!


    Making use of every single resource available to him, Zhang Zhenshan sought his son¡¯s killer at once. From Talus City to the far away Old Well Town, Zhang Zhenshan hadn¡¯t slept for a wink during those three days and nights!


    He ultimately caught up to the one responsible, only to find out it was a middle-stage Soul Warrior whelpling.


    Yet, the very same whelpling managed to escape his grasp!


    An oddity was realized during that same battle. He noticed the soul armaments Bai Yunfei was using was awfully strange, the Glacial Pricker was noticeably different before.


    Connecting two and two, Zhang Zhenshan came to the conclusion that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t from the Crafting School, but he had some sort of special technique to strengthen soul armaments.


    If the Glacial School could obtain that technique, their power would explode exponentially! So for the sake of capitalizing on this chance, he ordered the entire Glacial School to search for Bai Yunfei.


    The trail of clues left behind by Bai Yunfei finally pointed Zhang Zhenshan to Jadewillow City. Unwilling to let others know of the secret he knew, Zhang Zhenshan leaped on a horse and headed to the city straight away. He was patient.


    He was patient enough to follow Liu Cheng¡¯s plan of forcing the secret out of Bai Yunfei before completely dismembering him from limb to limb¡­


    But even that plan had lead to nothing but failure! A failure, nothing but a failure, though not something he cared all too much about.


    In fact, he was a little glad it failed.


    This meant he didn¡¯t have to wait anymore. With several high-ranking members of the Glacial School, he was able to trap Bai Yunfei in Jadewillow City where he was able to issue a duel in seven days.


    Again, he waited for those seven days to pass, all for the sake of experiencing the day of taking revenge on the killer of his son.


    But¡­


    The victory that was surely meant to be given to him turned into a defeat!!


    The killer of his son was very clearly right in front of him, but he had no way of taking revenge for his son. He had lost!!


    Ever since then, his entire world had come crashing down one piece after another like the domino effect. Bereaved by the death of her son, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s wife became ill and bedridden. His business, left unattended to due to his reallocation of priorities, wilted like grass without water. His attempt to gain power to the Glacial School, failed. His authority was usurped by Liu Cheng.


    He was now an elder only in name.


    The fact that he might never see the killer of his son weighed heavily on his mind. He knew it was implausible and that it¡¯d be best to move on¡­


    But he couldn¡¯t.


    The hatred in him refused to budge.


    It festered in his mind, fermenting and compressing in on itself more and more each passing day. If nothing was done about it, this hatred would¡¯ve consumed him to his death.


    It was still possible that if one day¡ªjust one day¡ªhe met his son¡¯s killer, that hatred in him would break loose.


    Only madness would ensue.


    When he saw Bai Yunfei, the utter hatred he had felt had finally reached the breaking point.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! Give me back my son¡¯s life!!¡±


    He was like a feral beast now. His hands were radiating a chilling aura as he plunged a bladed fist toward Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    Though more powerful than the first strike, Bai Yunfei still didn¡¯t house any thoughts of dodging.


    A chilling glare was exuded from his eyes as he lifted his right hand up to grab ahold of the blade!


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Caught in the middle of the Ardent Sun Glove Bai Yunfei was wearing, the icy blade was shattered apart, as if it had been made from flimsy ice. With Bai Yunfei¡¯s death grip on Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s hand, the other man wasn¡¯t able to move even an inch!


    ¡°Do you still think I¡¯m the same weakling you tried to kill before!?¡± Bai Yunfei snorted.


    With a toss of his arm, he threw Zhang Zhenshan back ten meters.


    Tossed through the air, Zhang Zhenshan managed to flip onto his feet. He stood still for a brief second as he roared.


    ¡°You¡¯ll pay for my son¡¯s death¡­ you¡¯ll pay for this!!! Aaaahhhhhh!!!!!¡±


    With even more flourish than before, he flew forward to attack Bai Yunfei again.


    ¡°Give me my son back!!¡± It seemed like these words were the only words Zhang Zhenshan was capable of saying. Each time he ran forward, he was sent flying back.


    Still he persisted!


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    ¡°Pow!!!¡±


    The pain Zhang Zhenshan had endured when he had lost his son was so much that he had lost any sense of rationality now that Bai Yunfei was in front of him. He was sent back once again, yet he attacked again, unable of doing anything else. The only thing that registered in his mind was Bai Yunfei and Bai Yunfei alone.


    Like his eyes, his mind had only one thing in it; the dismemberment and death of the one who had killed his son!


    With all semblance of rationality stripped away from his mind, Zhang Zhenshan wasn¡¯t at all capable of realizing the difference in strength between him and Bai Yunfei.


    He also couldn¡¯t tell that Bai Yunfei¡¯s glare was becoming more dagger-like after blocking and sending him back a dozen times now.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to deal with you while on school grounds, but you leave me no choice!¡±


    ¡°You keep telling me to bring your son back, but a life is a life; doesn¡¯t the life of anyone else count, or are they just grass to you!? Was uncle Wu¡¯s life not a life, or his grand daughter? What about my own!?¡±


    At last, an inkling of killing intent could finally be felt from Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes.


    On the verge of Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s next attack, which was aimed at Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder, Bai Yunfei deflected the blow and sent him back. This time, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand held the Fire-tipped Spear as he swiftly moved in to strike Zhang Zhenshan!


    When the spear made contact, a mouthful of blood escaped from Zhang Zhenshan. Having been unable to dodge while in the air, he crashed back onto the ground.


    This time, he didn¡¯t get back up.


    Still, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t let up. Already on top of his enemy, Bai Yunfei primed the spear with a bone-chilling glare.


    Then his spear plunged down.


    A stab straight for the throat!!

 Chapter 357: Expulsion

    Bai Yunfei really didn¡¯t want to cause trouble while on school grounds. Having known that trouble would break out if they were to meet, Bai Yunfei had been determined to avoid the Glacial School during their visit, so he could avoid tarnishing the Crafting School¡¯s name and reputation.


    If Zhang Zhenshan was the first to strike without at all letting up, then Bai Yunfei would by all means spare no feelings while dealing with him!


    ¡°You¡¯re taking revenge for your son. You¡¯ve gone mad for your son, and now you want your son back? Where do you get off being a paragon of virtue!? How hilarious!! Zhang Yang was your only son, sure, but what about the ones he killed? Didn¡¯t they have family too!? I was dragged into the Coliseum for no reason at all. Where is the fairness in that!?


    ¡°Your son deserved to die!!¡±


    The utter madness behind Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s barrage had finally whittled away at Bai Yunfei¡¯s patience. Like the spark to a fuse, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t hold his anger back any longer. After an unceremonious blow that sent Zhang Zhenshan back, Bai Yunfei followed up with a throat strike with his Fire-tipped Spear!


    ¡°Sure, by killing your son, we¡¯ve become eternal enemies, but if you¡¯re going to go crazy¡­ just die then!¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, stop!!¡±


    Just before the Fire-tipped Spear was past the point of no return, someone¡¯s voice suddenly shouted at him.


    Simultaneously, a mysterious power pulled at his spear, causing it to slip from its intended path.


    ¡°Tzzk!!¡±


    Rather than into Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s throat as intended, the spear was deposited into the ground next to the man. Having turned red-hot at the tip due to Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce, the temperature the spear was giving off started to burn Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s nearby strands of hair.


    Having nearly died by the hands of Bai Yunfei, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s body froze. His lost rationality was coming back to him now, giving him enough brainpower to look up at Bai Yunfei in a daze.


    The light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes slightly flickered when he realized who had spoken to him. After making the Fire-tipped Spear vanish, Bai Yunfei turned to greet Kou Changkong with a bow, ¡°Senior brother¡­¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, what happened here?¡± A confused look was on Kou Changkong¡¯s face. Just a few minutes ago, he was in the Main Point taking care of some internal matters when several students started to report to him that Bai Yunfei was in the middle of some trouble.


    Putting aside whatever he was doing at the time, he flew straight to where Bai Yunfei was just in time to see Bai Yunfei about to put a spear through the person on the ground.


    Whatever the reason Bai Yunfei had for his actions, Kou Changkong was still the presiding headmaster of the Crafting School. He saw fit to interfere in the matter before it was too late.


    ¡°Headmaster.¡± Li Tiechui bowed to the headmaster before relaying what he had seen to him.


    ¡°The Glacial School from the Azure Cloud Province?¡± Kou Changkong repeated with some surprise.


    Back when they were accepting new students, the Crafting School had investigated each individual to avoid accepting any spies or untrustworthy individuals.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s background had been made known to Kou Changkong.


    Wasn¡¯t the Glacial School the one mentioned in the reports for having chased Bai Yunfei across the Azure Cloud Province with the intent to kill?


    ¡°That man there, is he not called Zhang Zhenshan?¡± Kou Changkong pointed at the one lying on the ground.


    ¡°He is indeed Zhang Zhenshan, headmaster, but how did you¡­¡±


    Li Tiechui was surprised Kou Changkong knew about them. Li Tiechui had been handling the people from the Glacial School; he hadn¡¯t even made a report to the headmaster, yet Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s name was known to him already?


    ¡°I see now¡­¡± A light of realization went off in Kou Changkong¡¯s head as he pieced together the reasons behind this disturbance.


    ¡°Yunfei,¡± he raised a head to Bai Yunfei, ¡°how do you plan to deal with the Glacial School? This is your business, so you should decide. If you decide to kill them, I won¡¯t stop you.¡±


    Considering his position as the headmaster, Kou Changkong shouldn¡¯t be relegating the task to Bai Yunfei. Even more so when they were talking about killing a guest on their school grounds. No matter how good of reason they had for it, killing guests who came to their school for a request would still reflect badly on them. As the headmaster, he should be trying to mediate the matter with peaceful methods rather than violent ones.


    Since Bai Yunfei was involved¡­ some leeway could be given. Kou Changkong knew of the external circumstances behind this argument and the grudges the two had for each other. As things were, it was best to resolve it here and now and let Bai Yunfei be the one to do so.


    This was the decision Kou Changkong had arrived at after thinking over the possibilities.


    If Xiao Binzi had arrived instead, he would¡¯ve just let Bai Yunfei kill the man and be done with it, especially with how protective he was about school.


    Yu Fei broke into a cold sweat when he heard Kou Changkong¡¯s words. His face was as pale as parchment. From when Zhang Zhenshan started to attack Bai Yunfei with a crazed frenzy to when Bai Yunfei beat him back with unbelievable strength to when Zhang Zhenshan was nearly killed by the same boy, Yu Fei hadn¡¯t been able to lift even a finger! Even when Zhang Zhenshan was about to be killed, he didn¡¯t dare to move!


    Thus, he let out a sigh of relief when Kou Changkong arrived just in time to stop Bai Yunfei.


    However, his next words led to the man sucking in his breath again!


    What was just as shocking was how Bai Yunfei addressed the man.


    He clearly heard Li Tiechui say that this man was the headmaster of the Crafting School, but Bai Yunfei had called such a man his¡­ senior brother!?


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s the junior brother of the headmaster of the Crafting School!!¡± That was the realization Yu Fei came to. Like tidal waves, shock washed over his mind in droves as he tried to snap himself out of this delusional dream.


    The person he had once pursued and tried to kill¡­ was the junior brother of the Crafting School!


    The plan he had once thought up had him trying to attack such a powerful individual!


    Didn¡¯t this mean that the information they so desperately wanted to interrogate and torture from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was a ¡®secret¡¯ of the Crafting School!?


    The final words Kou Changkong said was the final nail to his coffin. His mind wasn¡¯t even back to operational functionality, yet it felt as though all of his organs were starting to fail him!


    Countless of kilometers had been traveled for the sake of reaching the Crafting School. He was hoping to have a soul armament crafted for his son and to hopefully gain some power for the school.


    With how things were progressing, would they end up dying here at the end of their journey??


    ¡°¡­.¡±


    Poised with such a challenge, Bai Yunfei could only narrow his eyes as he tried to make his choice. Kou Changkong had already given his approval, but Bai Yunfei was still hesitant to do anything.


    The grudges of his past or the reputation of his school?


    How should he choose?


    ¡°The Glacial School is a subsidiary of our Beast Taming School. Would it perhaps be possible to show my school some face and be merciful?¡±


    The voice of another caused Bai Yunfei to turn around. He saw two people walking over to them.


    It was the junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School, Lin Dongxiao, with his fellow companion, Mo Ni.


    His sudden request made Yu Fei happy beyond belief.


    The seedling of hope was starting to sprout in him.


    Now that another ¡®outsider¡¯ was thrown into the equation, Bai Yunfei was beside himself now.


    Killing them all would be rather difficult now, so Bai Yunfei raised his head to look at Kou Changkong, ¡°Senior, I¡­¡±


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    The moment he looked up, the previously motionless Zhang Zhenshan below him exploded up. With vitriol hatred in his eyes, his hand flew like a sword to stab Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    His sudden movements alarmed everyone and caused a furious glint to appear in Kou Changkong¡¯s eyes. His soulforce spiked before immediately dying back down.


    Bai Yunfei had already made his move.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Disdain for the man was all too apparent in Bai Yunfei¡¯s snort. Any sudden movements from Zhang Zhenshan would be immediately tracked by Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce, making any attempts at a sneak attack was virtually pointless.


    Kicking viciously, Bai Yunfei sent the man flying with a thwack. The man spit out yet another mouthful of blood.


    Despite how similar this hopeless situation was to before, Zhang Zhenshan continued to try and attack Bai Yunfei with an unrelenting barrage of anger!


    ¡°Zhang Zhenshan!!¡±


    Another furious roar.


    This time, it was Yu Fei, the headmaster of the Glacial School that yelled out.


    Yu Fei stared at Zhang Zhenshan fearfully, and he looked as though he was having a furious mental debate between regret and fear. Before he stopped from saying anything more, he said.


    ¡°Zhang Zhenshan! Don¡¯t drag the Glacial School past the point of no return with your personal vendettas! If you so wish to act on your vengeful desires, then I hereby announce¡­ that you are expelled from the Glacial School!!


    From henceforth, whatever you do will have nothing to do with my Glacial School! Should you die, our school will have nothing to do with it!¡±

 Chapter 358: Returning a Tiger to Its Mountain?

    Yu Fei was really scared. The events that had transpired within the past few minutes were enough to almost cause him to have a mental breakdown, but he hadn¡¯t the ability to think of anything else but to protect his own life and the life of the Glacial School!


    Resentment for Zhang Zhenshan was building because of those two things.


    ¡°It¡¯s all because of you. If you hadn¡¯t tried to anger this Bai Yunfei, we wouldn¡¯t be in this situation in the first place!¡±


    His announcement astonished everyone there, even Zhang Zhenshan who was still on the ground. The man had been so startled by the announcement that the anger in his eyes bled away, replaced with disbelief.


    Only Mo Ni was different from the others. The announcement caught him off guard for a second, but a smile soon reappeared on his face. He gave both Bai Yunfei and Zhang Zhenshan a good look as if he was watching a very amusing play.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ expelling me from the Glacial School??¡± Zhang Zhenshan repeated ominously.


    For a while, Zhang Zhenshan did and said nothing.


    Then he broke out in laughter, ¡°Haha! You¡¯re expelling me from the school? Fine, so be it then!! Rather than help me get revenge on my son¡¯s killer, you expel me from the school! I¡¯ve worked hard for years for the school, yet it all falls apart during your one moment of fear! Are you that afraid of the Crafting School to severe your connections with me? Very well then¡­ pftt!!¡±


    The emotions Zhang Zhenshan was feeling were far too much for his body to take. Another mouthful of blood was expelled from his mouth, but he continued to glare and sneer with bitter resentment.


    With blood sprinkled on him, the man looked half insane.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei chose then to let out a sudden sigh. Having lost any will to fight, Bai Yunfei looked at the man below him.


    ¡°You should go¡­¡±


    ¡°What??¡±


    Another startling announcement.


    Up to that point, everyone¡ªTang Xinyun included¡ªhad thought that Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t spare the Glacial School after earning the rapport of Kou Changkong.


    At the very least, Zhang Zhenshan of all people wouldn¡¯t be forgiven.


    Yet, here Bai Yunfei was, forgiving the man after a moment of thought!


    It was with a surprised smile that Kou Changkong turned to look at Bai Yunfei. He knew that Bai Yunfei valued the Crafting School¡¯s name very highly and wouldn¡¯t do anything that might besmirch it, even if it meant letting go of his own personal grudges.


    It didn¡¯t matter if Bai Yunfei¡¯s choice was right or wrong, Kou Changkong was proud of Bai Yunfei.


    It really went to show just how much Bai Yunfei valued the school.


    Like everyone else, Zhang Zhenshan couldn¡¯t believe his ears. His eyes stared darkly at Bai Yunfei, trying to find a hint of trickery, but when there was none to be had, he sneered and struggled to his feet before making his way down the mountain.


    There was no barrage of attacks or any clich¨¨d vows of revenge. He seemed almost lost, like a person who had lost their sight and had stumbled forward.


    ¡°Sire¡­ sire Bai¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei heard a hesitant voice from behind when he was back at Tang Xinyun¡¯s side.


    Turning his head, he was greeted with the sight of an embarrassed Yu Fei.


    ¡°Is there something you want?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    His current appearance wasn¡¯t something Yu Fei felt very confident about. Thinking quickly about what to say, Yu Fei respectfully said, ¡°Sire Bai¡­ I was blind to not see Mt. Tai. I was poisoned by Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s words and offended you. Please¡­ please take pity on this one and take mercy on my school¡­


    Author Note: This is an idiom meant for its contextual meaning, disregard the fact that no ¡®Mt. Tai¡¯ exists in this world.


    Those words were said after plenty of struggling, but when he saw the utterly impassive look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Yu Fei¡¯s face fell for a moment.


    Knowing that something had to be done, Yu Fei gritted his teeth and raised his right arm. With a powerful soulforce-infused palm strike, he smashed his palm into his left shoulder!


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Straight away, the sound of several bones being snapped could be heard to everyone as his left arm drooped uselessly by his side. This palm strike of his had destroyed the bones in his shoulder, and although it wasn¡¯t enough to render the arm useless, it¡¯d still take several months before it¡¯d regain full mobility.


    ¡°Father! Why did you do that?!¡± The young man next to Yu Fei cried out in fright.


    Raising his only arm to stop his son from trying to heal his shoulder, Yu Fei looked back to Bai Yunfei with an extremely pale face, ¡°This one will apologize thusly. By sire Bai¡¯s will, please forgive my Glacial School¡­.¡±


    His voice was miserable to listen to, but it was rather understandable. In the Azure Cloud Province, he was the headmaster of a rather glorious school, but here he stood begging for forgiveness from a twenty-something year old.


    Though miserable, there wasn¡¯t anything else he could do.


    His Glacial School was a minor school while the Crafting School was one of the top ten. Who wouldn¡¯t know and respect them?


    Studying the man¡¯s expression for a little bit, Bai Yunfei finally turned an eye to Lin Dongxiao, ¡°Since the junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School has already asked for lenience, let¡¯s leave this matter as it stands. From today on, there is no ill will between your Glacial School and me.¡±


    ¡°Haha, my thanks for your leniency, brother Bai.¡± Lin Dongxiao smiled, though the thoughts in his mind were nowhere as cheerful.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t even planning to do anything since the beginning, yet you¡¯re pretending like you¡¯ve just done me a huge favor. You hypocrite.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, but nothing else was said to him.


    ¡°Senior brother, since this matter is over, I¡¯ll be going now¡­¡± Bai Yunfei said to Kou Changkong.


    ¡°Haha, very well then. I¡¯ll take care of the rest of the matters here.¡± Kou Changkong nodded, ¡°You did well, Yunfei¡­¡± he added on.


    ¡°Thank you for your praise, but since I am a crafter, how could I possibly do anything that¡¯d harm our school¡¯s reputation?¡± Bai Yunfei nodded before taking Tang Xinyun with him to the Eastern Point.


    It was only after the two had left that Yu Fei was able to sigh in relief. Bowing deeply to Kou Changkong, he said, ¡°Headmaster Kou, this junior won¡¯t disturb you any longer. We¡¯ll be taking our leave then¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t wish to stay here any longer. He wanted to leave right away and get back to the Azure Cloud Province.


    Back to his Glacial School.


    His own territory.


    ¡°One moment.¡± Before Yu Fei and his son could get far, Kou Changkong suddenly spoke to them again.


    Yu Fei¡¯s face paled again, ¡°Headmaster Kou¡­ is there something you need?


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t feel so flustered, headmaster Yu. If Yunfei says his grudge is over, then his grudge is over, and by extension, you of the Glacial School will remain our guests.


    ¡°Your school came here to request some soul armaments and we¡¯ve already agreed to your request, so please stay a few days as you had planned. We¡¯ll be done with your request and will send you down the mountain after that.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Yu Fei didn¡¯t know what to think, but all he do was relent. ¡°Then, we shall do as you say, headmaster Kou¡­¡±


    Now that the matter was dealt with and Li Tiechui was leading the Glacial School away, Kou Changkong dismissed the students gathered around the area. He then talked to Lin Dongxiao and Mo Ni. ¡°This old man will be going now, please do as you wish now.¡±


    ¡°Senior Kou doesn¡¯t need to worry about us. The two of us were just about to go on a small stroll¡­¡±


    A frustrated sigh erupted from Lin Dongxiao¡¯s lips when Kou Changkong was safely out of sight, ¡°How fucking annoying. We came to see the fireworks, but somehow we now owe a ¡®favor¡¯ to that Bai Yunfei. He had to have done that on purpose! He even said he was doing it since I asked¡­ pah! What friendship, bite me!! How unlucky, let¡¯s hurry up and go back¡­ brother Mo, what are you staring at?¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing¡­ haha. Brother Lin, don¡¯t feel so angry. Bai Yunfei was probably just saying whatever first came to his mind, so you don¡¯t owe him any favors. Let¡¯s wait until our soul armaments are done being crafted, then we can go back home.¡±


    Mo Ni looked away from where he was staring. He smiled at Lin Dongxiao before following him in another direction¡­

 Chapter 359: Hunted!

    Within the main halls of the Crafting School, Kou Changkong sat in front of a table. In his hands was a single jade slip that he took his concentrated on quite heavily.


    When something caught his eye, he put the jade slip down and smiled at the newcomer.


    ¡°Haha, senior uncle, what brings you here? Is something the matter?¡±


    The person who had come in was Xiao Binzi, the first elder of the Crafting School. Narrowing his eyes in response to the smiling Kou Changkong, the man said, ¡°Headmaster, I heard from the younglings that something happened further down the mountains and that Bai Yunfei was involved in the matter?¡±


    ¡°That was indeed the case.¡±


    ¡°And that it involved some guests from the Glacial School on our grounds?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Li Tiechui received them and let them stay within the outer dormitories on the Southern Point.¡±


    ¡°Then if my memory isn¡¯t wrong, didn¡¯t the Glacial School have a grudge with Bai Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, there was a grudge or two.¡±


    ¡°Then, why are they still at our Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°Because Bai Yunfei has already resolved those grudges.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, you call that a resolution?¡± Xiao Binzi snorted, ¡°The biggest transgressor, Zhang Zhenshan, was let loose. How is that a resolution? Why not kill him? He¡¯s far too soft-hearted!!¡±


    Knowing that Xiao Binzi was criticizing Bai Yunfei for his lack of resolve, Kou Changkong shook his head with a small smile. ¡°Yunfei was thinking about the Crafting School when he made his decision.¡±


    ¡°Hmph! He thinks too much then! What kind of negative response would our Crafting School? Even if several of the Glacial School members were killed, who would say anything to us!?¡±


    ¡°Even if no one says a thing, there will still be many who will criticize us in the dark. Furthermore, the Glacial School is a subsidiary of the Beast Taming School, and the men from said school were there at the time.¡±


    ¡°Again with the Beast Taming School? Were they trying to appear righteous by helping out a weaker school? In the end, Bai Yunfei lacked the resolve. He should¡¯ve killed them all, especially that Zhang Zhenshan! How could he let that man go? Hasn¡¯t he heard of what happens when you return a tiger to its mountain? Zhang Zhenshan might be closer to a feral dog than a tiger, but when his jaws come snapping down on you one day, will you care what kind of animal it is? Better kill the rot before it spreads!¡±


    Kou Changkong just had to shake his head as Xiao Binzi¡¯s unreasonable justifications, ¡°The way I see it, Yunfei didn¡¯t seem like he lacked resolve at all. Like I said, he was just thinking about the reputation of our school.


    ¡°Also, I don¡¯t quite think he¡¯s as soft-hearted as you think¡­¡± Kou Changkong started before he grinned, ¡°Look there, don¡¯t you think this ¡®lasting regret¡¯ of his will soon be cleared away?¡±


    Like Kou Changkong, Xiao Binzi noticed something going on behind him. Looking beyond the walls in that direction, he snorted, ¡°If he was going to kill him in the end, why let him go to begin with? What a superfluous thought¡­


    ¡°But if he knows to treat the wound before it festers, it¡¯s not too late for him¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Above Mt. Crimson, a streak of green light shot to the north. It caught the eye of anyone that saw it before it disappeared into the horizon.


    ¡°Hey, wasn¡¯t that person flying by just now brother Bai?¡± Mo Xiaoxuan asked from his spot on the mountain.


    ¡°Yeah, looked like him.¡± Xi Yan nodded in agreement next to him.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t he at the Western Point a while ago? What¡¯s he doing flying that way? He¡¯s flying quickly, did he forget to do something?¡±


    ¡°Who knows¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Up in the sky in the green light, Bai Yunfei stood on top of his Tempest Sword. He seemed to be concentrating on locating a hazy aura as he flew.


    The reason he was flying was for no other reason but to kill Zhang Zhenshan!


    Yes, Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve let Zhang Zhenshan go while he was in Crafting School¡¯s territory, but that didn¡¯t mean he was lenient or merciful. He said the things he did because he didn¡¯t want to tarnish the name of the Crafting School.


    The logic behind ¡®returning a tiger to its mountain¡¯ was not lost on Bai Yunfei, and he knew the dangers associated with such an event. The hatred Zhang Zhenshan had for Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t something that could be easily forgotten or fixed. He¡¯d get revenge for his son one way or another.


    Hence, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t allow such a threat to continue living.


    This man had to die!!


    The moment Zhang Zhenshan left the perimeter of the Crafting School, he¡¯d be killed!


    By doing it this way, anyone who noticed him killing Zhang Zhenshan could only say that he was a hypocrite. It¡¯d be a personal blow to him as a person, but not to the Crafting School.


    Would his actions even be called up for complaint? They shouldn¡¯t be.


    Back then, Bai Yunfei said that his grudges with the Glacial School had been absolved, but not his grudges with Zhang Zhenshan.


    Zhang Zhenshan already had three hours to escape Mt. Crimson; that much in itself was already a benevolent act of mercy.


    Due to the difference in strength between him and Zhang Zhenshan, it was an easy matter for Bai Yunfei to leave some of his soulforce in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s body to track him. Bai Yunfei had done it when he had first kicked the man away in the fight. It was a bit surreptitious to the eyes of everyone else, but Kou Changkong had easily seen through it. Perhaps that was why Kou Changkong had Yu Fei and the others stay behind in the Crafting School to avoid the parties from meeting with one another.


    Since Zhang Zhenshan had been severely weakened by Bai Yunfei, it¡¯d take more than a day for him to fully flush out the tracking aura and it would take him much longer to get far enough away to lose Bai Yunfei.


    He wasn¡¯t even quick enough to run away, so how could he possibly beat the speed of the Tempest Sword?


    Since honing in on the aura he left on Zhang Zhenshan required concentration, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to drive the Tempest Sword as fast as he could.


    Consequently, it took him about an hour before he felt close enough to make a full-on pursuit of Zhang Zhenshan!


    One man was trying his best to run away, the other was having a nice and easy time.


    This scene seemed like it was familiar, but¡­ the roles seemed to have been reversed.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    A pained grunt echoed from under one of the trees, revealing a hurt Zhang Zhenshan. His right hand was pressed against his chest as he tried to gather his breath.


    Running full speed with his wounds had exacerbated them, rendering his face white. Even now, blood would sometimes trickle out of his mouth, and his clothes were becoming tattered because of the tree branches he had passed through.


    He looked like a beaten dog.


    ¡°Hssssss¡­ Bai Yunfei¡­ Bai Yunfeiiiii!!! I¡¯m going to kill you! One day, I¡¯m going to make you wish you were dead!!!¡±


    With his son gone and him being humiliated to such a degree, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s hatred for Bai Yunfei simply couldn¡¯t even be described with words anymore.


    If Zhang Zhenshan was asked what he¡¯d do to Bai Yunfei, he¡¯d reply by saying he¡¯d devour his flesh, drink his blood, and destroy his soul!


    Zhang Zhenshan took another minute to rest before deciding that was enough; he didn¡¯t want to stay in one place for too long. With the soulforce he had left, the man restarted his escape.


    Just ten steps after he began again, he came to a rigid stop. He turned around with an unsightly look to his face¡ª


    Flying just overhead the forest in his direction was something extremely fast!!


    In a matter of seconds, the light crashed down from the sky like a bolt of lightning, dropping on a nearby tree a hundred meters away. A single person walked out of the light to look down on Zhang Zhenshan.


    As soon as the person¡¯s figure was clear to Zhang Zhenshan, his eyes widened in bemused surprise. ¡°I knew it.¡± He scoffed, ¡°You weren¡¯t letting me go at all. You let me go so that you could save the laughable honor of your Crafting School¡­¡±


    ¡°You may think upholding the Crafting School¡¯s name might be laughable, but it¡¯s ultimately important to me¡­¡± Bai Yunfei replied impassively, ¡°Why would I let you go? You didn¡¯t let me go, so it¡¯s natural that I¡¯d do the same to you. Today, you¡¯ll be killed by me, tit for tat.


    ¡°But talking¡¯s pointless. If you won¡¯t give up this grudge, then you¡¯ll forget about it with your death.¡±


    With a flourish of his hand, Bai Yunfei pounced forward to stab at Zhang Zhenshan with the Fire-tipped Spear!


    Despair flickered in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s eyes before turning into rage. ¡°If you want to kill me, it won¡¯t be easy!¡± He roared.


    Then, with his right palm raised high, he slammed it into his own chest!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    There was the sound of something breaking into pieces. Sequentially, rays of white light started to flow out in spasmic waves. They came Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s body along with his soulforce!


    Bai Yunfei had seen something like this before¡­


    ¡°Dissolving your origin essence for a short burst of power, I see¡­¡± He was within twenty meters of Zhang Zhenshan when he realized the change going through his body.


    Even after noticing a burst in power, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t slow down at all¡ª


    Zhang Zhenshan may have gotten stronger, but he was still on the verge of death anyways. The difference in strength was too big for Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s sacrifice to even start to bridge the gap between the two, so Bai Yunfei was confident that he could easily kill the other man.


    When Bai Yunfei was in front of Zhang Zhenshan with his Fire-tipped Spear about to stab into the man, the look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face drastically changed before he tried to pull his spear back!!


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to kill me without paying the price, aaaahhhhhh!!!!¡±


    Furiously howling, Zhang Zhenshan could feel his strength growing past the late-stage Soul Sprite level. With his origin essence gone, his power level was skyrocketing past the Soul Sprite stage and had surged into the Soul Ancestor realm¡ª


    It was still increasing!


    This wasn¡¯t from dissolving his essence fireseed. It was from¡­ self-exploding!!


    Knowing that there was no way he could kill Bai Yunfei, Zhang Zhenshan made the ultimate decision!

 Chapter 360: The Closure to a Chapter

    The hatred and despair Zhang Zhenshan felt for Bai Yunfei was enough to drive him far past the brink of sanity. He was willing to die in a way that assured mutual destruction!!


    It might be called mutually assured destruction, but Zhang Zhenshan wasn¡¯t confident that this would kill Bai Yunfei.


    But¡­ even if it didn¡¯t, he still had to try!!


    ¡°Tsk!!¡± For once, panic settled in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. He had not expected Zhang Zhenshan to do such a thing, and he knew he was in danger now.


    Not only was he too close to get away, this explosion could potentially kill him!


    Fortunately, his reaction was quick. He drew back to create a little distance. Then he took out the Cataclysmic Seal and immediately protected himself with the barrier.


    Practically moments after the barrier was erected and when Bai Yunfei felt safe and sound behind the barrier a hundred meters away, he suddenly realized something was amiss.


    The powerful explosion he had been waiting for still hadn¡¯t arrived. When he looked up to see why, all he saw was a gust of black wind.


    Wind as black as the night had appeared when he had retreated. It had enveloped Zhang Zhenshan while Bai Yunfei was distracted. In a whirlwind of energy, the black wind flew into the sky before traveling far away in the blink of an eye!


    Zhang Zhenshan, who was about to self-destruct, had been carried away with it, literally gone with the wind!!


    Dazed, Bai Yunfei looked at the spot where Zhang Zhenshan once stood. Eergy pooled over the ground where Zhang Zhenshan had dissolved his origin essence. The elemental ice there was starting to disappear into the world, but some of the ice was taking longer than most to disappear, proving that Zhang Zhenshan had once been there.


    ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s going on!?¡± Bai Yunfei howled. He called the Tempest Sword to him and immediately soared into the sky, but the black wind was nowhere to be found.


    Bai Yunfei tried to use his soulforce to track down Zhang Zhenshan, but he wasn¡¯t even able to find an approximate direction of where he might have gone.


    From Bai Yunfei¡¯s arrival to when the black wind appeared, only ten seconds had passed. Zhang Zhenshan had been rescued and taken away by someone before he died!!


    ¡°Who did this¡­ why would anyone try to save him? The Glacial School, maybe? However, Yu Fei¡¯s still on Mt. Crimson, and the school doesn¡¯t have anyone that could be this strong¡­ who is it then? It has to be someone that knew I¡¯d let Zhang Zhenshan live for now. No one would¡¯ve decided to save him out of nowhere, would they? But¡­ this means they have to be a Soul Exalt at the very least; why didn¡¯t they do anything to me then?¡±


    Still hovering on his sword, Bai Yunfei thought about what he should do next. He didn¡¯t know who this mysterious person was, and he couldn¡¯t find the man either nor any trace of Zhang Zhenshan.


    Sighing, he turned to fly to Mt. Crimson.


    ¡°This is going to come back to haunt me later. If I had known that this would have happened, I¡¯d have used the Cataclysmic Seal to kill him earlier¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought with regret, ¡°But even though Zhang Zhenshan didn¡¯t blow himself up, his origin essence was dissolved. He won¡¯t ever be as strong as he was before, so that shouldn¡¯t mean any troubles for me.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The second day on a small hillside of the Western Point¡ª


    As per usual, Bai Yunfei was laying on a grassy hillside, determinedly staring up at the clouds. This time, he wasn¡¯t resting because of any complications with his training. Instead, he was resting because of incident that happened with Zhang Zhenshan last night.


    No one had asked him about the results when he came back; they weren¡¯t even supposed to know the purpose behind his trip, so all seemed peaceful in the school as if all was right in the world.


    Bai Yunfei suspected that this mysterious user of black wind knew that he had been about to kill Zhang Zhenshan and had probably followed him there. That way, the man could spirit away Zhang Zhenshan without Bai Yunfei knowing.


    If his suspicions were correct, then it had to be one of the ¡®outsiders¡¯ currently on Mt. Crimson.


    Of those outsiders, it was safe to exclude Yu Fei from the list of suspects, leaving only Lin Dongxiao and Mo Ni.


    He discreetly mad some inquiries, finding out that not even the guards that came with them had left the mountain that night


    None of them had even done anything warranting suspicion in fact.


    It was enough to make Bai Yunfei doubt himself. Maybe the enigma of that person was just far more stealthy than expected. In either case, he hadn¡¯t found any clues and had no choice but to end his investigation there.


    While thinking about the person behind all of this, memories Bai Yunfei had nearly forgotten started to resurface in his mind. From start to finish, his memories played like a spool and thread. Sequences of images and events unraveled one after another before finally a softer and more gentle image of a person appeared next.


    Liu Meng¡ª


    Someone he had first felt a splotch of softness for and probably the first girl to hold feelings for him in any way.


    She was also the first person he had felt pained for.


    Bai Yunfei felt a growing mix of determination and relief just by thinking about those memories¡­


    Those memories of long ago were pretty much just memories. There wasn¡¯t really a need to forget about the people he had met and the things he had accomplished. They had brought him the strength to help him mature as a person, whether it was on an emotional or practical level.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Noticing the approaching aura of another, Bai Yunfei snapped out of his thoughts. Tilting his head, he noticed Tang Xinyun in front of him.


    ¡°Xinyun, what brings you here today? Do you have something to do?¡± He smiled as he sat up.


    The white-robed Tang Xinyun looked at him curiously, ¡°Do¡­ do I need a reason to come look for you?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Caught off guard, Bai Yunfei shook his head in embarrassment, ¡°Of course not, that¡¯s not what I meant¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, I know, I know. I was just joking with you.¡± A small giggle slipped from her lips as she took the spot next to Bai Yunfei, ¡°So, what are you thinking about? Is it about training, or is it about the Glacial School?¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s nothing.¡± He shook his head, ¡°I¡¯ve pretty much come to peace with it.¡±


    ¡°Come to peace?¡± Tang Xinyun tilted her head, but she didn¡¯t question him, ¡°That¡¯s good. After finding you thinking so much these past two days, I was starting to worry¡­¡±


    With a shake of her hand, the strawhat was gently placed over Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, ¡°I actually came here to give this back.¡±


    Removing it from his eyes, Bai Yunfei realized that there was something different about the hat, ¡°Oh? You fixed the hat for me?¡±


    What he held in his hands right now was a completely patched up strawhat. Not a single hole could be seen anymore. Even the fraying edges of the hat were gone. The fact that the newer patches and stitching couldn¡¯t be seen meant that Tang Xinyun¡¯s repair work had been done meticulously and with great care.


    If not for the fact that he could see the stats, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve assumed that this hat was a completely different hat and not his Walk-on Strawhat.


    She smiled, ¡°I did. Whenever you wear the hat, you always looked strange¡­ so I thought I would fix it so it wouldn¡¯t look so off.¡±


    Her smile left Bai Yunfei in a slight daze.


    Once upon a time, another girl had said that his strawhat was rather shabby-looking, but she had offered to buy him a new hat.


    In the end, that had ended up being burned away¡ª


    With that, his feelings for the hat had been completely trampled over as well.


    ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong? Is¡­ is there something on my face?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s staring was distracting Tang Xinyun, who just had to ask to know. Touching her face with a hand as she asked, she didn¡¯t feel anything but the reddening cheeks of hers¡­


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Bai Yunfei answered with a smile. He gave the strawhat another look before storing it away.


    This hat wouldn¡¯t end up destroyed. It was a treasure far too precious to him.

 Chapter 361: Smooth Training and….Unknown Dangers!

    Off in a hidden forest cave several hundred meters west of Mt. Crimson¡ª


    Just barely visible in the dim light of the cave was a single person. His back was against the cave wall, and his head bobbed down with his hair splayed across his face.


    If his chest wasn¡¯t still rhythmically rising and falling, anyone would¡¯ve thought that he was dead.


    The face behind the hair was vaguely familiar.


    This was the man Bai Yunfei had chased down; a man saved at the very last second¡­ Zhang Zhenshan!!


    As of right now, he looked far more pathetic than before.


    Approximately six days had passed since that fateful night¡­ had it been six days?


    Zhang Zhenshan couldn¡¯t be sure. He had only the slightest bit of light to help him tell the time. He hadn¡¯t left the cave since he had made it there to begin with.


    In fact, he could hardly even move.


    There were two reasons for that.


    First, he was physically incapable of moving.


    Second, he didn¡¯t want to move.


    From the far corner of his eye was a single shadow. It sat in the corner of the cave on his right, all but hidden until Zhang Zhenshan looked directly at that corner!!


    The figure¡¯s shoulder was practically a shadow of the cave itself; Zhang Zhenshan never would¡¯ve noticed anyone else in the cave if he hadn¡¯t been looking around carefully.


    Even then, the ¡®presence¡¯ of a human couldn¡¯t be felt when he looked at the shadow!


    In any case, this shadow was the one responsible for carrying him to the cave. Back when Zhang Zhenshan decided to blow himself up to take Bai Yunfei with him, a powerful aura had stopped him from going through with the act.


    He woke back up when he was in this cave after had had been unceremoniously thrown to the side like a pile of trash.


    Thus, he lived.


    But not without the consequences of his actions.


    The majority of his fruits of training had been ruined with the act of self-detonation. The remaining bits were pretty much neglectable.


    With the soulforce he had left, he could hardly be considered a Soul Apprentice.


    Combined with the heavy wounds on his body, he was weaker than a regular person by this point.


    Zhang Zhenshan wasn¡¯t a man who wanted to die. His actions before weren¡¯t that of a fearless man, but a desperate one. Hence, why he kept a sliver of hope, so that he could live; that he wouldn¡¯t ¡®die again.¡¯


    The man in the cave with him clearly didn¡¯t want him to die either, but that much was obvious. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have saved Zhang Zhenshan to begin with. The food and water being brought to him was also very clearly meant to feed an alive person rather than a dead one.


    Aside from this, the man didn¡¯t speak to Zhang Zhenshan at all. Zhang Zhenshan didn¡¯t even know how tall, how skinny, how old, or even what gender this person was.


    If Zhang Zhenshan had to guess, this person was waiting for someone.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Sssss¡­¡±


    For the first time in six days, Zhang Zhenshan heard a sound. It was a sound that was very low in pitch, but it was audible nonetheless.


    ¡°Junior headmaster.¡±


    Within a second, Zhang Zhenshan saw the figure step from the corner of the cave to the entrance. He was dressed completely in black, but his face wasn¡¯t very spry. His back was hunched, and judging from the voice, the speaker was an old man.


    When this man spoke, Zhang Zhenshan could clearly see that the light that remained in on the one corner of the cave was being obscured just enough to hide the details of a second person outside the cave.


    ¡°How is he?¡±


    A young but robust voice.


    This speaker was a considerably young man.


    ¡°He¡¯s crippled as a soul cultivator, but everything else is fine.¡± The first man replied to the second.


    The one known as junior headmaster nodded his head. With two steps into the cave, he was in front of Zhang Zhenshan.


    ¡°Do you want revenge?¡±


    He spoke after a careful observation.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Zhang Zhenshan hadn¡¯t expected those four words.


    ¡°Do you wish to fight the killer of your son again? Your enemy who left you in this state? Don¡¯t you want to have him beg for death before tearing him from limb to limb?¡±


    Zhang Zhenshan heard this last part all too clearly. Previously inert in motion, his body was now shaking minutely with emotions.


    He wasn¡¯t stupid enough to say anything along the lines of, ¡®what do you mean¡¯ or ¡®how am I going to do that?¡¯


    In either case, all he could think about was his most hated foe.


    Practically snarling with fury in his eyes, Zhang Zhenshan responded.


    ¡°I do!¡±


    ¡°Even if it means sacrificing everything? Selling your soul? Becoming a servant or slave? A demon? How does that sound?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound bad at all!!¡±


    ¡°Aaah¡­ very good, this is the kind of hatred and darkness I like¡­¡±


    A smile appeared on the youth¡¯s face as he turned to the mysterious person next to him, ¡°Gui Wei, he will from today on travel with you. I want you to turn him into a Soul Ancestor within one year!¡±


    ¡°Yes, junior headmaster!¡±


    In astonishment, Zhang Zhenshan couldn¡¯t help but look up at the young man¡¯s face.


    His words weren¡¯t the only thing that surprised Zhang Zhenshan, but his face as well!


    By borrowing just enough light from the outside, he was able to see enough of the young man¡¯s face¡­


    Only to realize that he had seen this man¡¯s face before! And not too long ago!


    Within the Crafting School in fact!


    This man had been there when Bai Yunfei was there!


    This man has been with the junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School!


    Mo Ni!


    Mo Ni and Gui Wei exchanged several words with one another before the latter turned back to Zhang Zhenshan.


    ¡°From henceforth, I will be your master. You will throw away everything from your past life but the hatred in your heart. You will obey my commands and do nothing without my say!


    ¡°From henceforth, your name shall be¡­ Gui Pu!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Mt. Crimson¡ª


    Three days had passed since Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s new lease on life. Yu Fei and his school were just leaving the Crafting School.


    Two days after that, Huangfu Nan finally finished crafting a high-earth tier soul armament for Lin Dongxiao.


    He and Mo Ni both left the Crafting School after that.


    The days were back to normal now.


    Bai Yunfei was at a considerably nice level of understanding of the Dual Flame Arts, and within a month, he was able to undergo the practical training portion under the strict guidance of Zi Jin.


    It was then that he experienced the first pleasant surprise.


    When he recalled the essence fireseed from his Cataclysmic Seal back to his body, it went into the origin acupoint as he expected, but no explosion occurred. By following the directions listed in the Dual Flame Arts scroll, he was able to keep the two fireseeds in a strange equilibrium with one another.


    That equilibrium was maintained for a short amount of time before the pressure was far too much for Bai Yunfei to control, forcing him to release the fireseed back to his Cataclysmic Seal.


    The fact that Bai Yunfei was able to do this in the first place was enough to make Zi Jin proud.


    He said that such a feat was what the Dual Flame Arts was capable of. Back when their predecessor first conceived this technique, he was unable to accomplish it himself. The Dual Flame Arts was just one of those things that required specific conditions to learn. Aside from Bai Yunfei¡¯s special circumstances, no one else was able to have two fully useable fireseed essences without it blowing up. Only Bai Yunfei¡¯s lifebound armament was capable of housing a fully grown essence fireseed.


    The reason why Bai Yunfei was able to house it there was still a complete enigma that even Zi Jin couldn¡¯t answer.


    After several days of close observation, Zi Jin gave up and allowed Bai Yunfei to train without his supervision.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡°Knock knock knock!¡±


    Three knocks on the door.


    From his seat on his bed, Bai Yunfei looked up from the gray scroll in his hands, ¡°Come in, Xinyun.¡±


    The door opened to reveal a smiling Tang Xinyun, ¡°Yunfei, are you ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Go? Go where?¡±


    ¡°Did¡­ didn¡¯t you say we¡¯d go to Mt. Maple today? Did you forget?¡±


    ¡°Haha, how could I forget? I¡¯ll be right there, Xinyun, just hold on. I need to finish this painting.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Looking at the scroll Bai Yunfei had on the table, Tang Xinyun asked, ¡°Yunfei, what are you drawing?¡±


    From what she could see on the drawing, there was a spiral-shaped diagram that she¡¯d never seen before. Everything painted on the scroll in fact looked foreign to her.


    ¡°Ah well, it¡¯s the component designs for a soul armament.¡±


    ¡°Soul armament? Designs?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t feel like working on the Dual Flame Arts all the time since it takes me away from my regular training, so I thought I¡¯d design something in the meanwhile. Since my training¡¯s not done, I¡¯ve enough time to craft some stuff, so I should be able to follow these designs to make some decent soul armaments.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Nodding because she sort of understood him, Tang Xinyun asked again, ¡°Then what kind of soul armament are you designing? It looks strange. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen a soul armament like this before?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a lance.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    TL Note: Both spear/lance and gun share the same character in Chinese. This is due to the invention of the fire lance: the ancestor of all firearms.


    ¡°A lance?¡± Tang Xinyun stared at the painting, ¡°This is a lance?¡± She asked in confusion.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s not the same type of ¡®lance¡¯ you¡¯re thinking of like my Fire-tipped Spear.¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled.


    Finishing off the painting with a final stroke, he gave the it a look over before nodding his head in satisfaction.


    ¡°It¡¯s name is the¡­ Desert Eagle!!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, in a secluded village of the Northern Cliff Province¡ª


    ¡°Unc¡­ Uncle Zhang¡­ what are you doing!? Do-don¡¯t come any closer! Do-aaah!!¡±


    At first, the terrified whimper of a person could be heard.


    Then the whimper turned into a blood-curling howl.


    Then, nothing.


    A bloodied arm was holding the face of a young man, hoisting him into the air. From the cracks between the fingers holding his face up, the terrified eyes of a young man could be seen in his final moments. A black wisp was coming out of his corpse in a shaky stream before flowing into the arm of the person holding the corpse up.


    At the foot of this person was yet another icy-cold corpse!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    After the black wisp was absorbed, the figure tossed the corpse to the ground. The corpse had been living just moments ago, but its entire body was an unhealthy shade of gray now. Even its muscles looked as withered and decayed as a mummy!


    Both of the fresh corpses had extremely familiar faces.


    They were¡­ Yu Fei from the Glacial School and his son!!


    ¡°Hehe¡­ hehehehe¡­¡± An eerie and terrifying voice erupted from the bloody figure. Even with all of the clothing and blood on him, the shaking of his body could clearly be seen. He was an extremely terrifying sight to behold with two corpses beneath him.


    ¡°Kekekeke¡­ Bai Yunfei¡­ blood spilt by you will be in turn spilt from you! Wash your neck and wait for a living hell!!¡±


    End of Book Three.

 Chapter 362: Two Years Later at Praestia Pass

    On the fourth month of year 2012 on the Tianhun Calendar in the the northernmost part of the empire, Northern Mist Province, Praestia Pass¡ª


    The Northern Mist Province was the northernmost province of the empire, and Praestia Pass was the northernmost city in the province.


    The ocean of trees that rested beyond the city was territory that belonged not to the Tianhun Empire, but to a completely different faction of power, the Soulbeast Forest.


    The territory there belonged to the soulbeasts, and in a way, that place could also be called an ¡®empire.¡¯


    As the name of the city implied, Praestia Pass was a mountain pass. The city was responsible for the fending off any soulbeast that roamed too close to the empire. The denizens of the city were assigned the tasks of maintaining surveillance and launching a counteroffensive on any soulbeasts that came from the Soulbeast Forest. They were there for the sake of protecting the people of the Tianhun Empire from harm.


    The northern walls of Praestia Pass were many times larger than any other city walls. Not only was it a line of defense, it symbolized the line that separated the territory of humans from soulbeasts, but that didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t any humans beyond the walls.


    On the contrary, there was a considerable amount of humans ¡®beyond the wall.¡¯


    Roughly a hundred kilometers away from the gates of Praestia Pass was a small town that served as the central point between the two empires.


    A town known as the ¡®Town of the Braves.¡¯


    No actual name had ever been given to this town, but with all of the locals referring to the town by such a name, it became ¡®official¡¯ once the rest of the Empire heard the name.


    There was a simple reason why the town was given such a name. Anyone that came to this town were what the rest of the empire called the ¡®Braves,¡¯ people that were brave enough to enter the Soulbeast Forest.


    As an aside, the Tianhun Empire had three separate locations that were known as the ¡®Three Danger Zones.¡¯ The Soulbeast Forest wasn¡¯t recognized as any of the three.


    It was a separate entity that was more dangerous than the aforementioned locations. Thus, it was designated as the most dangerous place of all, earning it a special designation of its own.


    Unlike the Three Danger Zones: the ¡®Mountain,¡¯ the ¡®Valley,¡¯ and the ¡®Swamp,¡¯ many of the empire¡¯s soul cultivators were willing to journey into the Soulbeast Forest. If the Three Danger Zones were deadly enough to kill nine times out of ten, then the Soulbeast Forest was deadly enough to kill ¡®ten times out of ten,¡¯ but that was only applicable when journeying to the center of the forest.


    Despite being a forest, it was beyond large. The outermost areas were by no means scarier than the legends told.


    Regardless, there was still one common denominator between the Soulbeast Forest and the Three Danger Zones; each of the four places were known as a veritable paradise for ¡®treasure.¡¯


    Of all things in the world, what was the most common thing in the Soulbeast Forest?


    Aside from plant life, the answer would obviously be soulbeasts.


    In the eyes of soul cultivators, soulbeasts were equivalent to ¡®soulgems,¡¯ which in turn were equivalent to ¡®wealth¡¯ or ¡®shortcuts¡¯ in training.


    Training without any external help was extremely difficult and tiresome for any soul cultivator. Hence, objects and items that could speed up the rate of training were highly desired by all.


    While primal stones were also shortcuts in training, they were limited in number and hard to obtain for a number of reasons. First, they were buried in the ground, meaning one would have to mine them out. Second, the majority of primal stone mines were owned by the larger houses and/or schools, meaning outsiders were unable to dip their fingers into the pot.


    However, soulgems were different. They belonged to no one but the ones who could kill soulbeasts. As long as a person could kill a soulbeast, the soulgem was theirs to take. With a soulgem in hand, they could increase their training for half the effort.


    Moreover, the soulgems weren¡¯t the only important drops from a soulbeast. The body of a soulbeast could contain many other potential uses. Every part of its body could be used in some capacity or be traded for something of equal value.


    Besides those things, the Soulbeast Forest still had a plethora of natural resources that could rival soulgems in value.


    All in all, while the Soulbeast Forest was dangerous beyond belief, its allure was enough to override many soul cultivators¡¯ fear. Whether it was for the sake of training, treasure, adventure, or even a soulbeast to partner with, the Soulbeast Forest was without a doubt the best place to be.


    There was of course a warning to all that told people to stay within the outermost areas of the forest where the class five soulbeasts were.


    Unless you wanted to die, there was no point in going any deeper into the forest.


    In other words, one needed to be a Soul Exalt if they wanted to try venturing into the area where the class six soulbeasts were.


    Records about soulbeasts of the seventh class were virtually left blank since many soul cultivators would not be willing to share the discoveries they made in the deeper parts of the forest¡­


    The Town of the Braves was a stopping point for those willing to venture into the forest or for those still in one piece who needed to rest and refuel. Aside from the essential services such as a store, an inn, and variety restaurants, there was also the quintessential ¡®Braves Guild.¡¯ While not an organization in an official sense, it served as a place for people to meet with one another for things to trade. It was the the go-to spot for any soul cultivator new or old to the town.


    It was a guild, but it was also a social area, not unlike a restaurant. The interior of the building was large beyond large with plenty of tables for patrons to sit at. People came in groups or by themselves, but they would all come and from the counter, inquiring about a service or requesting one to be done.


    Of all the services to be had, the guild¡¯s most highly used service was the mission board. Whether it be soulgems, soulbeast infants, or even precious resources, any and all soul cultivators that were either too weak or too lazy to look for themselves could put a request on the mission board. As long as the requested service was carried out, a reward of equal value would be given.


    It was through this mission board that bounty hunters or mercenary groups could flourish and earn their keep.


    ¡­¡­


    Today, a rather special guest was in this guild hall where only soul cultivators gathered¡­


    A guest that was about ten years old, in fact.


    Timid and meek was he as he attempted to walk through the noisy halls. Dozens of pointed stares were leveled at the young boy, frightening him to such a degree that he wanted to turn tail and run, but somehow, he grit his teeth and ran full speed to the front counter.


    Almost out of breath from just running to the counter, the boy was surprisingly already out of energy from just running a short hundred meters.


    Several of the patrons looked away, losing interest in the boy.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡± The boy gasped. Standing on his tiptoes to look over the counter, the boy hesitated for a moment before saying, albeit timidly, ¡°Hi there, grandpa. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m Xiao Yi. Is this¡­ is this where people ask for missions?¡±


    Servicing the counter at the moment was a kind old man who didn¡¯t seem to judge the young boy in front of him at all.


    ¡°Indeed it is, my child. What brings you here today? Are you looking for someone?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I wanted to make a request¡±


    ¡°A request? What kind of request?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m looking for some stargrass. The kind that can cure any sickness. This¡­ this is the reward money. Is it enough?¡±


    The boy took a small pouch out of his pocket while he spoke. Slowly opening it up, he took out several dozen copper coins; each shining with a nice glean, as if they had been taken care of meticulously.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A blanket of silence was draped over the hall, the entire guild was silent.


    Everyone here was a soul cultivator of considerable strength¡ªSoul Sprites were among the most common¡ªso it was easy for everyone to listen in to Xiao Yi¡¯s request.


    For a while, nobody spoke.


    Then someone laughed.


    Like a chain reaction, the entire place burst into laughter as if they had heard a very funny joke.


    ¡°You want someone to find some stargrass? For just those copper coins? Hah! Whose idiot kid is this??¡±


    ¡°Stargrass can heal plenty of sickness, that may be true. For commoners, it feels like it has enough power to resurrect even the dead and is worth its weight in gold, but for soul cultivators, it isn¡¯t even worth a fart! Who¡¯d care for this little money enough to go to the areas where the class five soulbeasts are? Even if I found those coins under my foot, I wouldn¡¯t even stop to pick them up!¡±


    ¡°What a cute kid? Is he someone from ¡®that¡¯ village? Only those ¡®pariahs¡¯ wouldn¡¯t know a thing about civilization¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just a kid. What kind of soul cultivator would make fun of a kid? Have you no shame¡­¡±


    ¡°What a bleeding heart you are. Why don¡¯t you take his mission then and find some stargrass?¡±


    ¡°Stow it, I¡¯m not that merciful to risk my life for something as minor as this¡­¡±


    Perhaps that everyone was bored, but conversations revolving around this little boy started almost instantly, inducing a red-hot blush of shame on the boy¡¯s face.


    ¡°Is¡­ is it not enough? I¡­ I saved up for two years to¡­ to request this¡­ grandpa, can this get me some stargrass?¡±


    ¡°It¡­¡± The elderly man didn¡¯t have it in him to laugh at the boy for the pitiful amount of money offered up, ¡°Child, it¡¯s best that you go home. Today won¡¯t be a good day for you to get some stargrass¡­¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± The boy cried, ¡°I need some stargrass!¡±


    It was startling how the boy had exploded so suddenly, seeing how meek he was before, ¡°The village grandpa said that only stargrass can save mom! She¡¯s been sick for so many years! The village grandpa said that she¡¯ll die in a few months if we don¡¯t get her some stargrass¡­¡±


    Each word was spoken with more emotion than the last, and by the end, the boy was practically on top of the counter begging the man, ¡°Please¡­ please! Can you please find some stargrass? If this isn¡¯t enough, I can save up more¡­ I can¡­ I¡¯ll work here! I¡¯ll scrub the floors! Wash the clothes! Cook food! Anything, just anything! I need stargrass for mom¡­ I never met my father before. All I have left is my mom¡­ please¡­¡±


    Silence reigned again in the guild hall as Xiao Yi started to cry out to them all. Some people wore sympathetic looks on their faces while others looked on apathetically.


    Either way, no one looked like they¡¯d be willing to help the boy out.


    ¡°Alas¡­¡± The old man sighed again. ¡°Begging me is no use. No one here has any stargrass, so making a request for it is useless. Don¡¯t be so naive, foolish child, and go back to your mother¡­ that is all you can do for now¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡ª¡±


    The boy wanted to beg again, he really did.


    But the look in the old man¡¯s face, while sympathetic, was telling him ¡®no.¡¯


    Knowing that begging anymore was futile, tears started to gather in the boy¡¯s eyes, but he refused to cry.


    His teeth bit down on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, but none was seen with because of the he was biting down.


    With a quick hand, he gathered up all the copper coins and placed them back into his pouch so that he could turn around and leave.


    Then, a hand reached out to grab the few copper coins still on the table.


    ¡°Haha, Xiao Yi¡­ is it? This request of yours¡­ I¡¯ll take it.¡±

 Chapter 363: Accepting a Request

    ¡°Haha, Xiao Yi¡­ is it? This request of yours¡­ I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    Xiao Yi¡¯s heart practically leaped out of his throat when he saw his personal wealth get ¡®taken¡¯ so suddenly.


    Upon realizing what exactly had been said to him, he turned his head with a hopeful smile, ¡°What¡­ what did you say?


    ¡°Are¡­ are you going to help me get some stargrass?¡±


    After a closer look, Xiao Yi noticed that the one who was speaking to him was a strange strawhat-wearing older male who had been sitting off in a corner earlier. The man hadn¡¯t done anything since Xiao Yi came in, so it was a surprise to everyone when the male to suddenly accepted this ¡®request¡¯ out of the blue.


    Xiao Yi didn¡¯t doubt that this older male could help him get stargrass. After all, he had heard that this place was where all of the mighty soul cultivators gathered.


    People back in his village were often afraid to even mention the term ¡®soul cultivators.¡¯


    He could only feel excitement that someone was finally willing to help him. Someone was willing to save his mother¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s only a few stalks of grass. I was about to head into the forest anyways, so I might as well find you some.¡± The person replied with a pat on the head.


    His voice was kind to the ears.


    ¡°Where do you live? I promise you that in two months, I¡¯ll bring back some stargrass for you.¡±


    Xiao Yi was so flushed with emotions that his face started to grow red and his eyes started to tear up. With a finger pointing towards his right, he spoke, ¡°I¡­ I live ten kilometers over there in a small village. The house on the right is mine. It¡¯s easy to find¡­ I¡­ I¡¯ll be waiting for you at the village gates. You¡¯ll find me straight away.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still a village east of here?¡± Surprised to learn that there was still another village besides this town, the figure nodded, ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll remember it. Hurry back home to your mother, I¡¯ll send the stargrass over when I find some.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Turning about, the boy ran to the exit.


    Just two steps into his departure, he turned around. It seemed as if he remembered something.


    ¡°Oh! Big brother, I still don¡¯t know what your name is.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m¡­ Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­ okay! I¡¯ll remember it! I¡¯ll be waiting for you by the gates. You¡­ you have to come, okay!¡±


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll do as I promised.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Now that Xiao Yi was fully out of sight, Bai Yunfei turned to head back to his original seat to continue pouring over a map of the Soulbeast Forest.


    His calm concentration was so thorough that he didn¡¯t even realize everyone was looking strangely at him.


    At last, someone spoke.


    ¡°Sire¡­¡± The old man behind the counter hesitantly spoke first.


    ¡°Eh? Is there something you need, uncle He?¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in acknowledgement.


    He knew that this man had the surname of He and was a worker of the guild. As such, the man was considerably strong, a late-stage Soul Sprite, but at his age, that meant his aptitude for being a soul cultivator was mediocre at best.


    Still, the uncle named He was hesitant to reply, ¡°Sire, that child just now¡­ is from an unnamed village just ten kilometers east of here, but that village¡­ it¡¯s filled with people of unfortunate happenstances. They¡¯re known to many as the ¡®pariahs.¡¯ They¡¯ve nowhere to go in Praestia Pass and can only live in areas where soulbeasts can attack at any time. Sire, I hope that you¡¯ll¡­¡±


    At first, Bai Yunfei was somewhat surprised at the exposition being explained to him, but with time, Bai Yunfei realized what the old man was getting at.


    ¡°Uncle He, are you thinking that I¡¯d¡­ promise to help Xiao Yi as some kind of joke? That I¡¯d give a naive child a glimmer of hope and then trample all over it?¡±


    ¡°That¡­ that wasn¡¯t my intention¡­¡± Uncle He looked embarrassed.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head and looked around.


    It appeared everyone else was thinking the same thing.


    ¡°I only thought it Xiao Yi¡¯s filial piety was impressive, so I wanted to lend a hand. If I said I¡¯d accept his request, then I¡¯ll be sure to accomplish it. I wouldn¡¯t play along with a pitiful but determined child.¡± Bai Yunfei explained.


    Bai Yunfei turned back to look at his map. If people didn¡¯t believe him, then so be it. He didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°Hah, just listen to him. Is he really going to go into the Soulbeast Forest for some stargrass?¡±


    ¡°Only the class five area has stargrass, he¡¯s only a late-stage Soul Sprite, yet he¡¯s still wanting to look for stargrass? Methinks he¡¯s overestimating himself¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say it like that. He looks like he¡¯s in his early twenties at most, but if he¡¯s already a late-stage Soul Sprite, he has to be very talented. Maybe he¡¯s the heir to some sort of big clan?¡±


    ¡°Young and brash. Give them some strength and they think they¡¯re invincible. If he¡¯s going to be this kind, I predict he¡¯s going to lose his life one day if he¡¯s not careful.¡±


    ¡°What makes you think he¡¯s alone? Can¡¯t say he¡¯s not here with family or people older than him?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see him walk up to the counter two hours ago? He¡¯s been doing nothing but look at that map the entire day. Doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯s waiting for anybody. I¡¯d say he¡¯s hear by himself.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Chatter broke out in the guild again, and it was only natural that Bai Yunfei could hear it. He didn¡¯t mind though. All he cared for was the map in front of him.


    It wasn¡¯t as though he wanted to pretend like he was deep in concentration.


    He simply couldn¡¯t understand the map, even after two hours of looking at it!


    The terrain was beyond complex with markings, directions, and special symbols that garbled his mind.


    This was the most basic map!


    ¡°Uncle He, if I could just ask, where exactly can I¡­ find some stargrass on this map?¡± Unable to make heads or tails of the map any longer, Bai Yunfei deferred to the older man for assistance.


    A pleasantly surprised smile made its way onto the man¡¯s face upon seeing that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem to be leading Xiao Yi on, ¡°If it¡¯s stargrass, I¡¯ve heard some people say before that they find it most often by Spoon Lake in the class five zone. The lake¡¯s shaped like a tablespoon like its name implies, and the area around the handle had stargrass in abundance.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head in understanding, ¡°Then what does this small red dot mean?¡±


    Another wave of shock crashed over uncle He¡¯s face. ¡°What in the world were you looking at for two hours if not the map?¡± He seemed flabbergasted.


    With only a mental drop of sweat weighing down on his mind, uncle He spoke up, ¡°Those indicate spots where soulbeasts are known to appear. That map you¡¯re holding is the simplest one, so it doesn¡¯t reveal any information about the strength or the type of soulbeast. However, I can tell you that the soulbeasts around Lake Spoon are mostly class five goldhorned rhinos. As it turns out, stargrass is what they love to eat the most.¡±


    ¡°Ah, goldhorned rhinos, thank you for that information, uncle He.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in affirmation before thinking of the best way to reach Lake Spoon.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction to this information was equally shocking to uncle He. At first, the man thought he hadn¡¯t heard Bai Yunfei correctly, but that didn¡¯t make sense. What kind of ignorant late-stage Soul Sprite would remain so calm after hearing that he¡¯d have to fight class five soulbeasts to achieve his goals? If uncle He had to put his finger on it, he¡¯d say that Bai Yunfei was treating soulbeasts as if they were regular beasts and weren¡¯t a threat to be taken seriously at all.


    While Bai Yunfei was lost in his own thoughts, a voice suddenly asked from behind him, ¡°Friend, are you really planning to go the class five area?¡±

 Chapter 364: Adventuring Team

    Having been asked a question so suddenly, Bai Yunfei turned around with a questioning look on his face. What greeted him was a pretty young woman smiling at him.


    She wore stunningly-red clothes that clung tightly to her body and beautifully defined her curves quite. Likewise, her hair was tied up tight behind her head in a way that made her look quite pretty. She wasn¡¯t by any means drop-dead beautiful, but at the very least, she was heroic looking, like a female heroine.


    ¡°An early-stage Soul Ancestor.¡± Bai Yunfei noted. Those were the median levels of strength in the guild.


    She looked to be twenty-seven at the youngest and thirty at the oldest, so her talent as a soul cultivator wasn¡¯t all that low.


    ¡°I am indeed going to go there. Is there a problem?¡± Having made his observations, Bai Yunfei nodded his head in response to her.


    A flicker of surprise ran through the woman¡¯s eyes. ¡°As it were, sir, my team is about to enter the Soulbeast Forest. If it¡¯s to your liking, why not join us?¡±


    ¡°Join? A team? Are you bounty hunters or mercenaries?¡±


    ¡°No no, we¡¯re just a group of adventurers, not people that hunt for treasure or lives. We¡¯ve a different reason for entering the Soulbeast Forest this time¡­¡± She pointed to a table not too far away where three males and a female sat. ¡°It¡¯s incredibly dangerous in that forest, so it¡¯s common sense to stick together. If you don¡¯t have a team of your own yet, sir, then please consider joining ours. Our captain has gone into the deeper parts of the class five zone before and knows the terrain quite well. We¡¯ll be able to help you get to Spoon Lake.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei had to admit, the offer was tempting. ¡°Very well then, thank you for your invitation miss. I¡¯d be more than happy to join with you.¡±


    Her face lit up with a bright smile, ¡°Really? That¡¯s good to hear. I¡¯m called Ye Zi, might I ask what your name is, sir?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°A pleasure. If you¡¯d like, I can introduce you to the rest of my companions.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t mind waiting for just a second, I¡¯ve one more thing to do.¡± He turned to uncle He, ¡°Uncle He, can I ask for the most detailed map you¡¯ve got? One that¡¯ll list information about soulbeasts and their classifications.¡±


    ¡°You want one of those?¡± The man looked troubled at the request, ¡°Sire Bai, I must tell you that those maps are extremely precious. Their prices rather steep¡­¡±


    The topography of the Soulbeast Forest was a complex mess that took the lives of many brave people. They had to figure out information about the area along with the soulbeasts living there, so a very detailed map was obviously quite precious.


    ¡°I understand that, uncle He. I only require one map, so the price shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    Since Bai Yunfei was adamant, the man didn¡¯t try to convince him. Presenting a gray scroll, he said, ¡°Sire Bai, this map will cost ten mid-tier primal stones.¡±


    The amount nearly made Bai Yunfei flinch. He was ready for a steep price, but even this was slightly more expensive than he had thought. Ten mid-tier primal stones was equivalent to a thousand low-tier ones, a sum any soul cultivator would balk at.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have many primal stones to begin with, but when it came to other things of value, he had them in spades. A shortsword was brought out with a twist of his hand, ¡°Would using a mid-human tier soul armament suffice as a trade?¡±


    A mid-human tier soul armament would fetch a price larger than a thousand low-tier primal stones without a problem.


    ¡°Soul armament?¡± Uncle He was taken aback by the prospect, but he smiled nonetheless. ¡°Of course, as long as it¡¯s equivalent in price.¡±


    Taking the sword, the man began to inspect it to confirm its value. ¡°This is indeed a mid-human tier soul armament. Sire Bai, the map is yours.¡±


    Bai Yunfei took the map with a grateful salute, ¡°You¡¯ve my thanks.¡±


    He turned back to Ye Zi, who looked thoroughly surprised by the exchange just now, ¡°Miss Ye Zi, let¡¯s go if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Oh! Yes, alright¡­ please come this way, sir Bai.¡± Ye Zi snapped back to awareness after looking at Bai Yunfei with surprise. She turned to walk in the direction of her fellow adventurers.


    ¡­¡­


    The two arrived at a table to the right of the room where three males and one female sat. ¡°Everyone, this is Bai Yunfei. He¡¯s agreed to join our team.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the kind invitation, please treat me well.¡± Bai Yunfei clasped his hands politely.


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re a polite one, brother Bai! Come! Sit down!¡± A man in his thirties laughed. He seemed like the leader of the group.


    ¡°You do me the honor of joining my team, brother Bai.¡± The man smiled, ¡°I¡¯m very honored to have you here. The Soulbeast Forest is fraught with danger, so having one friend more is an extra layer of security for us all.¡±


    He waited for Bai Yunfei to sit down before saying anything more. ¡°Allow me to introduce myself. I¡¯m Zhang Yunpeng, I hail from the Shining Star School.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had heard about that specific school before. It was quite famous in the Northern Mist Province and was considered one of the stronger schools.


    Judging by Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s strength, he was a mid-stage Soul Ancestor, which meant he was the strongest of the group.


    ¡°You already know Ye Zi¡¯s name, I¡¯m sure. She¡¯s my junior.¡± He pointed at her first before his finger slide to the slightly shorter woman next to her, ¡°This is Han Yan, Ye Zi¡¯s cousin from the Bright Daylily School.¡±


    The Bright Daylily school was an even more well-known school in the province. As a late-stage Soul Sprite, she was the weakest of the group and apparently the most shy since she only gave Bai Yunfei a small nod in greeting.


    Zhang Yunpeng pointed his finger at the male to his right, ¡°This is my good friend, Zhou Feng. He¡¯s the eldest of the house of Zhou in Caevius City.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you, brother Zhou.¡± Bai Yunfei greeted, but the man replied with only a small grunt of greeting. It wasn¡¯t a sign of rudeness, but rather a personality trait of his that made him less inclined to speak. He was an early-stage Soul Ancestor.


    The very last person introduced himself before Zhang Yunpeng could even introduce him. ¡°Haha, let me introduce myself. It¡¯s nice to meet you, brother Bai. I¡¯m ¡®Kun¡¯.¡±


    In contrast to the nature of Zhou Feng, Kun was far more boisterous, but his introduction tripped up Bai Yunfei. This was the first time Bai Yunfei had met someone with only one character for their name.


    But Bai Yunfei greeted him anyways, ¡°Ah¡­ nice to meet you, brother Kun.¡±


    ¡°Haha, isn¡¯t my name something special? I chose it myself.¡± Catching onto what made Bai Yunfei so surprised, he laughed, ¡°I¡¯m an orphan without any records, so I thought I¡¯d make one up. A name with only one character is great and simple.¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei was surprised. It was rare to meet someone who was so natural at speaking. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but feel respect for him.


    Now that the introductions were over, Bai Yunfei asked the leader, ¡°Brother Zhang, when do you plan on entering the forest?¡±

 Chapter 365: A Tentative Understanding

    ¡°Hmm? Are you in a rush, brother Bai? Is there something else you need to do?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m by myself, so I can go whenever. I just wanted to ask about your plans.¡±


    Zhang Yunpeng looked apologetic, ¡°In that case¡­ if you¡¯d please wait a few days, brother Bai, we¡¯re still waiting on a friend that hasn¡¯t arrived. Once he¡¯s here, we can leave straight away.¡±


    ¡°A few days?¡± Bai Yunfei thought it over, ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem. I was afraid that Xiao Yi¡¯s mother¡¯s health might take a turn for the worse, so I wanted to be back with some stargrass before two months.¡±


    Zhang Yunpeng was startled; he hadn¡¯t expected Bai Yunfei to be worried about that of all things, but he just had to ask, ¡°Brother Bai, if you don¡¯t mind me asking, are you really going to do that? For the sake of a commoner you don¡¯t even know, you¡¯d go into the class five area and find some stargrass without a reward?¡±


    ¡°Haha, what problem is there?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°If I¡¯m there, I might as well. I came here for experience, so I might as well find some.¡±


    The entire team was looking at Bai Yunfei rather strangely. Should a young late-stage Soul Sprite really be talking with such confidence? Either he was fearless because he was brave or fearless because he was ignorant¡­


    ¡°Sir Bai, you¡¯re going into the Soulbeast Forest just for the sake of ¡®experience¡¯?¡± Ye Zi couldn¡¯t stop herself from asking.


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Yes. My master told me to come here and get some experience and hopefully find a suitable soulbeast partner.¡±


    A common feeling was had among the group. They started cursing this master of his. Just what kind of experience was his master looking for? One that¡¯d harm his student or kill him? What point was there to having Bai Yunfei enter the Soulbeast Forest alone if not to feed the soulbeasts there?


    Who knows what Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve thought of the group if he could hear how they were cursing his master?


    ¡°That reminds me, where are you from, brother Bai?¡± Zhang Yunpeng asked.


    ¡°I traveled from the Great Plains Province.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°it took me the better of three months and plenty of tough times.¡±


    What Zhang Yunpeng was asking for was Bai Yunfei¡¯s identity and Bai Yunfei was more than aware of that, but Zhang Yunpeng wouldn¡¯t press the issue if Bai Yunfei was only going to offer up what province he was from. ¡°Haha, the Great Plains Province? That¡¯s a great ways away, you must have gone through a lot.¡±


    Honestly speaking, the tough times Bai Yunfei was referring to was when he had gotten lost. The majority of his time was spent trying to find his way. Since it was a journey to gain experience, he couldn¡¯t use the flying sword to save himself the trouble. Left without the option of the sword, Bai Yunfei could only rely on his sense of direction, something that for the life of him couldn¡¯t be fixed.


    Bai Yunfei was a powerful soul cultivator who possessed strength and a mind better than any commoner, but his sense of direction was still something that left him in agony.


    ¡°I heard miss Ye Zi mention that you don¡¯t have any requests to go into the Soulbeast Forest. What business do you have there then? Is it for experience as well?¡±


    ¡°No no, we¡¯re by no means as brave as you are to go for the experience¡­ if possible, I¡¯d hope that I¡¯d never even have to go into the Soulbeast Forest.¡± Zhang Yunpeng shook his head sorrowfully, ¡°I won¡¯t lie to you, brother Bai. I was once part of a mercenary group three years ago. We were small in numbers with only twenty or so members, but I was an early-stage Soul Ancestor back then and filled with mettle. Our captain wanted us to go into the Soulbeast Forest, but¡­ none of us had ever expected that we¡¯d come across the class six three-eyed bloodlion! Even our captain, a late-stage Soul Ancestor, was torn in half with just a single bite of that beast¡¯s maw! In front of that lion, all twenty of us were no better than ants to be stepped on. Only I¡­ only I was the sole survivor. I ran away as fast as I could¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was alarmed to hear such a frightful backstory, ¡°But weren¡¯t you in the class five area? Why would a class six soulbeast be there?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s terrifying about the Soulbeast Forest¡­¡± Zhang Yunpeng hung his head, ¡°Don¡¯t put too much faith in the supposed boundaries of the forest. Those are only guidelines and estimations we humans make. Soulbeasts don¡¯t care for the rules we impose or the markings we draw. Soulbeasts of a higher level will always naturally travel where they please, even if they travel through the supposedly less dangerous zones.


    ¡°Then you¡¯re coming back to the Soulbeast Forest for¡­¡±


    ¡°For the captain¡¯s wife.¡± Kun interjected, ¡°Yunpeng and his wife were targeted by a nasty guy a while back. She was poisoned by one of the injuries given to her, so we need the head of the class five purple-crowned snake to cure it. We¡¯re here to hunt one of those snakes now.¡±


    ¡°I see now.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, brother Zhang. I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll succeed. Your wife will be cured without a doubt.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯ll be sure to take the luck from your words, I can only hope that it¡¯ll end up as such¡­¡± The frown on Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s face disappeared as he attempted to cheer himself up, ¡°The purple-crowned snake is hard to find, and a class five soulbeast is already hard enough to find. Though, we¡¯ve heard of some reports recently saying that one was spotted nearby. I hope we¡¯ll be able to find it.¡±


    Killing a class five soulbeast would be a little difficult with their current team, but the strength of the person who wasn¡¯t here yet was still uncertain.


    Bai Yunfei made his decision. Since they were willing to help him out, he¡¯d be sure to help them out as well when the time came. To the group, Bai Yunfei was a ¡®weak¡¯ ¡®late-stage Soul Sprite,¡¯ but they were willing to help him get some stargrass. Acts of goodwill weren¡¯t common to soul cultivators, so Bai Yunfei was very happy to see such a nice deal offered to him.


    Talking for a little while longer, Bai Yunfei finally rose from his chair. ¡°Everyone, I¡¯ll be taking a stroll around the village first. I¡¯ll come back to the inn later tonight. When your friend arrives, we¡¯ll set out for the forest.¡±


    ¡°That works. We¡¯ll meet again in the inn then.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be taking my leave first.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed to everyone before leaving the guild.


    ¡­¡­


    Now that his conversation with Zhang Yunpeng and the others was finished, Bai Yunfei had all the time in the world to stroll around the small town. Due to its small size, there were only a few streets, and all of the stores were related to what you might find in the Soulbeast Forest, such as a store that peddled in information, a store that sold soulgems, one that sold rare herbs and minerals¡ªalbeit they were of rather low quality since the higher grade ones were much harder to get¡ªand even a store that sold soul armaments.


    After perusing the wares of the ¡®Treasure of the Town,¡¯ Bai Yunfei only saw mid-earth tier soul armaments, so nothing caught his interest.


    The objects he saw for sale weren¡¯t too interesting compared to the information regarding the Soulbeast Forest. At least, Bai Yunfei was far more interested in information.


    The people in the guild would often talk about their trades, but they kept the majority of what they knew to themselves.


    They were old hands at this business and information was gold. It didn¡¯t make sense to talk about what they knew without being paid for it. Compared to the people in the guild, the ones in the streets talked loudly about anything they could, sometimes even embellishing the details of their stories.


    Nonetheless, Bai Yunfei was interested in listening to them since he wasn¡¯t even knowledgeable about what was supposed to be ¡®common sense.¡¯ By listening, he¡¯d be able to benefit.


    Somehow, two hours passed while Bai Yunfei listened to whomever he could.


    A simple glance at the sky above told him that evening was quickly approaching. It was high time for him to return to the inn where Zhang Yunpeng and the others were resting for the night.


    Suddenly, out of the middle of nowhere, a frightened cry called out.


    ¡°Look out! A¡­ a soulbeast is coming!!¡±

 Chapter 366: Soulbeast Ambush

    ¡°Rooarrr!!¡±


    The bestial roar of a soulbeast immediately startled all the humans that heard it.


    But were the people here any regular humans?


    As soon as their shock subsided, the majority of the people grew excited as their minds came to the same conclusion. While a few looked terrified at the prospect of a soulbeast here, the rest immediately ran in the direction of the roar.


    The streets were already filled with people dashing out of their respective stores or restaurants. They all converged together and headed in the same direction. The ones from the guild were already dashing at full speed with soulforce blazing out in brilliant glows to increase their speed.


    The people on the streets moved as one to run, jump, and move swiftly with the wind, and in just a few dozen seconds, the people around Bai Yunfei was half of what it was before; with the other half of the people being the ones whose minds hadn¡¯t caught up with them.


    Wasn¡¯t the movement and actions of these people far too uniform!?


    Bai Yunfei had nearly thought he was looking at some sort of practice drill.


    These first responders were all ¡®experienced¡¯ in events like this. Those who hadn¡¯t moved yet were, without a doubt, newcomers to the village since the invasion of a soulbeast was not at all uncommon.


    Just what kind of place was this?


    It¡¯s the Soulbeast Forest. It was only natural for a soulbeast to come out of the Soulbeast Forest. What kind of reality would it be if they stayed in the forest all the time?


    Whenever a soulbeast invaded, the first reaction any soul cultivator would have would be fear.


    But fear would subside with time, and with time, fear became excitement.


    The people here weren¡¯t like most soul cultivators. In their eyes, the invasion of a soulbeast wasn¡¯t a threat coming to knock at their door, but a nicely wrapped present waiting to be slaughtered.


    They were soul cultivators. Soul cultivators that earned yet another moniker as one of the Braves who risked their lives to come to the Soulbeast forest. Would they really be afraid of a soulbeast that came stumbling to their doorstep?


    Any soulbeast that attacked this small town weren¡¯t normally strong either. Many of them, throughout the history of attacks, had been class five at the strongest.


    More importantly, there was an unspoken rule about soulbeast invasions.


    Whoever killed the soulbeast that invaded would reap the rewards!


    Whenever a soulbeast attacked, it was quickly reduced to a dead ox swarmed by a pack of wolves.


    Like vultures to a carcass, the soulbeast would find itself killed and stripped of any valuable parts.


    Based off the reactions of the others, Bai Yunfei came to understand that this wasn¡¯t a danger he should be worried about. Just as he was thinking to himself whether he should head over to watch, two powerful auras were felt before an accompanying roar was heard. This time, the roar was different than the feral and angry one from before.


    It was filled with pain and anguish this time.


    ¡°It¡¯s over? Already!?¡± When the soulbeast cried out, Bai Yunfei felt its soulforce blink out of existence. The battle was over, and the soulbeast was killed!


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Ancestor!¡± Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the time to make a confident observation of how strong the soulbeast was, but judging from the still lingering wisps of soulforce, Bai Yunfei could only assume that it was a late-stage Soul Ancestor in strength.


    Unable to hold back his curiosity any longer, Bai Yunfei ran over to the spectacle as well. Running out of the town, he soon came to a place several kilometers to the north were a great deal of people had already gathered in a circle, each person gesticulating to one another at the objects in the middle.


    The soulbeast was similar to a water buffalo, but five times bigger and black. The top of its head was a mess with blood pouring out from a hole in it. When Bai Yunfei came a little closer, he saw a man cleave open its head to extract a still bloody orange soulgem.


    ¡°Aah, just my luck! The soulgem of a class five stone ox! That¡¯ll sell for good money!¡±


    ¡°Ain¡¯t that the case, I thought it was just a class four soulbeast at first, not a class five one. How many months has it been since the last one! If I¡¯d known earlier, I¡¯d have run faster¡­¡±


    ¡°Forget about it. With your strength, you¡¯d probably be unable to even scratch the soulbeast¡¯s hide. In fact, I reckon the soulbeast would¡¯ve killed you with one stomp. In any case, the one who struck first was the captain of the Cutthroat Mercenaries, Wang Kun. You think you could beat those Soul Ancestors? Or even fight them?¡±


    ¡°Tsk, I was only just saying. I¡¯d never dare try to fight captain Wang Kun. That guy¡¯s soul armament was crazy enough to split that class five soulbeast¡¯s head in two even though they¡¯re the same level of strength. Their mercenaries are famous for being frontliners anyway. I¡¯d never dare even annoy them.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at the man everyone was talking about. He was dressed in gray robes meant for battle. Like his sleeves, his eyebrows were rather short on his stalwart face. The blade in his hand was a blade that looked like it was almost snapped in half. It was as if it had originally been a longsword but had become a ¡®shortsword¡¯ when it snapped at the half point.


    A smile was on the man¡¯s face when he pulled the soulgem out of the soulbeast¡¯s carcass. Hopping down, he said, ¡°The meat of a stone ox is quite the rare delicacy! If no one is in disagreement, then please, let us all feast tonight on its meat!!¡±


    ¡°Oooohhhhh!!!!¡± Everyone let loose a happy whoop of agreement. Eating its flesh wasn¡¯t a half-bad compromise in exchange for not getting the soulgem.


    With that, several men came forward with tools in hand. They started to dissect and disassemble the corpse. From how they worked, they were old hands at harvesting soulbeasts.


    Since he hadn¡¯t witnessed what appeared to be a brilliant fight, Bai Yunfei felt disappointed. Turning around, he and the other non-interested parties went back to the town.


    But¡­ of the group that wasn¡¯t interested in the feast, three people deviated from their original routes to move slowly behind Bai Yunfei, pretending like they were going back to the same place.


    This didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Wang Kun, who was cleaning the blood away from his body. Peering at the ones following Bai Yunfei, he narrowed his eyes and spoke a few words to the ones dissecting the body. He then headed for the small town.


    ¡­¡­


    In a small and dark alleyway, Bai Yunfei was dusting the dirt off his strawhat while walking. He was just about to leave the alleyway when he came face to face with someone.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you?¡± Bai Yunfei remarked upon realizing it was Wang Kun, the one who killed the soulbeast just a few minutes ago.


    Surprised for some strange reason, the man replied, ¡°You know me?¡±


    ¡°Haha, I only just watched you kill that class five soulbeast several minutes ago. What a great show of strength.¡±


    ¡°Aha, you flatter me too much. I am Wang Kun, might I know your name?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ve some friends to meet with, so I¡¯ll be saying goodbye here.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ alright, be safe then, brother Bai.¡± Wang Kun stood aside to let him pass.


    When Bai Yunfei was nearly out of sight, Wang Kun looked at his back with confusion, ¡°So he had friends with him, I had thought he was just a naive kid, but¡­ did those three give up?¡±


    ¡°I could¡¯ve sworn I saw them follow him into this alley though¡­¡± Doubt ran deep in Wang Kun¡¯s eyes. Walking a little bit deeper into the alley, he turned a corner and came across the three would-be ¡®bandits.¡¯ They were knocked out on the ground.


    Surprised, he turned back to look where Bai Yunfei had gone.


    ¡°Haha, I see, so he was hiding his strength? If he can beat three late-stage Soul Sprites so easily, then he¡¯s definitely stronger than he appears.


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t poke my nose into his business¡­¡±

 Chapter 367: A Two Year Summary and an Unordinary Situation

    The fact that he was accosted by three ¡®bandits¡¯ was not much of a bother to Bai Yunfei. People of that sort were common. In the soul cultivator world, they were an abundance.


    Three late-stage Soul Sprites wasn¡¯t a problem to begin with. To be even more accurate, even three Soul Ancestors wouldn¡¯t have been a threat to Bai Yunfei.


    Just two years ago, he was able to kill an early-stage Soul Exalt, and today¡­ Bai Yunfei was sure he¡¯d be able to kill a few more, even if he hadn¡¯t tried yet.


    Two years had done Bai Yunfei well. He was now a late-stage Soul Ancestor.


    He advanced from a mid-stage Soul Ancestor to a late-stage, and the entire Crafting School was shocked at how fast he improved. By the end of two years, Bai Yunfei had surpassed Jiang Fan in strength, becoming the fastest growing student of the Crafting School in a hundred years. His feats, however, were limited to only the Crafting School, so no one outside of it knew about them.


    After the events in Mo City, everyone in the world of soul cultivators knew that Zi Jin had an outstanding disciple. Him killing a Soul Exalt as a mid-stage Soul Ancestor attracted the eyes and ears of many people, making them all believe Bai Yunfei to be someone that¡¯d skyrocket through the list of upcoming prodigies in the coming years.


    Sadly, these hopeful spectators heard nothing more about Bai Yunfei after the events in Mo City, and after two years, no one even mentioned Bai Yunfei¡¯s name.


    Aside from the Upgrade Technique and the Cultivating Pendant helping him with his training, the biggest contributor to Bai Yunfei¡¯s rise in strength was the heaven tier technique, the Dual Flame Arts.


    It seemed as though this technique, which had been created by a predecessor of the Crafting School, was tailormade for Bai Yunfei. He had found it difficult to train with it at first, but after half a year of excruciating training, he had managed to make some leeway. Through this achievement, he was able to attain even higher levels of strength, and in a year, he was able to reach the late-stage Soul Ancestor realm.


    Yes, about half a year ago¡ª


    No, about four months ago, Bai Yunfei left the Crafting School to head for Beast Suppression Pass, so it was more accurate to say it took him up to only last year to become as strong as he was now.


    The Dual Flame Arts was unfortunately not enough to help Bai Yunfei breakthrough the bottleneck of a Soul Exalt.


    If it was that easy to make the advancement, the term ¡®bottleneck¡¯ simply wouldn¡¯t exist.


    The unordinary act of becoming a Soul Exalt was something the average soul cultivator would need twenty to thirty years in order to succeed. If they were talented, perhaps a little over ten years would suffice.


    Of course, those who were considered ¡®geniuses¡¯ were of a different nature entirely. There were a great deal of people of that category who were able to make a breakthrough in less than ten years.


    The fact that Bai Yunfei¡¯s progression halted at the late-stage Soul Ancestor level gave Zi Jin and the others a feeling of respite. His progression up to that point was a pleasant surprise, but him getting any stronger was a serious point of concern to them. Every realm of strength was the byproduct of both strength and experience. It required self-discipline and preparation in order to advance. To try and break through without either one would be akin to building a house without properly setting the foundation.


    The majority of the past two years were spent trying to grow even stronger. Thus, his crafting skill had been neglected. That didn¡¯t mean to say Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t work on his crafting. Thanks to the Dual Flame Arts, his success while crafting went up by a substantial amount, and in that time, he was able to craft a plethora of soul armaments.


    With his current strength, he was able to craft mid-earth tier soul armaments, but nothing higher.


    However, the Crafting School had its regulations, and these regulations stated that all students of the school had to contribute a portion of their soul armaments based on the amount of materials they borrowed from the school stock. Bai Yunfei was no exception to this rule. Aside from the few soul armaments he used frequently, Bai Yunfei had to give away the newer ones he made, but that wasn¡¯t too much of a loss.


    He simply couldn¡¯t use a good amount of the soul armaments, so losing them wasn¡¯t a problem. Bai Yunfei kept the more powerful soul armaments, and he spent many days trying his best to study and upgrade them¡­


    What Bai Yunfei had said to Zhang Yunpeng about him coming to the Soulbeast Forest was in fact true. He really was here as an order from his master, Zi Jin. Normally, students of the Crafting School were forbidden from going to the Soulbeast Forest unless they were a Soul Exalt, but Bai Yunfei was by no means normal. Zi Jin felt him to be more than ready to tackle on the forest, so he had Bai Yunfei head straight there in hopes that he could find a soulbeast to contract.


    However, Bai Yunfei had been given a secondary order from his master.


    Unless Bai Yunfei became a Soul Exalt, he was not to leave the Soulbeast Forest¡­


    Neither of the two orders were contested by Bai Yunfei. On the contrary, the Soulbeast Forest had interested Bai Yunfei, and he was excited to visit it. Ever since Jiang Fang had come back a year ago with a six-tailed firefox, Bai Yunfei had been extremely envious of him. He longed to see the day where he¡¯d find a soulbeast, so when the master commanded him to go, Bai Yunfei went without a word. He embarked on this dangerous trip.


    On the topic of soulbeast partners, most of the elders back in the Crafting School actually had one, but they rarely came out. For example, Bai Yunfei once saw Huangfu Nan¡¯s soulbeast partner, which was a rather inconspicuous winged tortoise.


    On the other hand, Bai Yunfei had heard rumors that elder Cang Yu¡¯s soulbeast had died twenty years ago¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Back in the inn where Zhang Yunpeng and the others were, Bai Yunfei was about to find a room to retire for the night when he coincidentally met up with the group again. Together, they talked with each other over a nice meal before finally resting for the night.


    Later that night, Bai Yunfei was startled awake by the furious roar of a soulbeast. When he rushed out of his room, he realized that it was yet another soulbeast invasion.


    This time, the ones who would take the brunt of this invasion would be Wang Kun and his group, who were still celebrating around a bonfire just outside the town.


    The soulbeasts this time were two early-stage class five soulbeasts that could fly!!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even gotten close to the outskirts of town when the battle started. The soul cultivators there were panicked at first, but they quickly fell into rhythm when faced with the soulbeasts. Despite not having any Soul Exalts, they still had plenty of ways to fight a monster that could fly. In time, rope darts and bursts of energy soared from the ground in an attempt to either ensnare or straight-up kill the soulbeasts.


    On the other side, Wang Kun slammed his sword down, beheading the other soulbeast when it had dived at him.


    Those who weren¡¯t fighting, like Bai Yunfei, only watched the fight. There was no point in joining the fight, and once the battle was over, they¡¯d return back to their rooms to rest.


    Something like this wasn¡¯t new to such people.


    In just the span of a single day, two soulbeasts came to attack. Bai Yunfei had to admit, this place deserved to be called the Soulbeast Forest. What the empire called the soulbeasts from the mountains or forest were quite rare to come across, but that wasn¡¯t true here.


    There wasn¡¯t a need to go hunting for any soulbeast, they¡¯d come straight to the doorstep of the town instead.


    A disparity existed between the soulbeasts here and the soulbeasts Bai Yunfei was familiar with. Soulbeasts such as the red magiboar, the quickshade bird, and even the riverchurning rat Hong Yin introduced to him back in Jadewillow City. The soulbeasts he had seen today didn¡¯t seem to hold much sentience and were more primal in nature. Aside from the ones soul cultivators raised, soulbeasts wouldn¡¯t have much sentience until they joined the sixth class.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei stayed within the town for two nore days since Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s friend still wasn¡¯t here. For the most part, he studied the map of the forest to the best of his ability, but there was a problem. Since the map was more detailed, his mind hurt even more due to its complexity.


    At the very least, he understood a decent portion of the more relevant places.


    These two days were peculiar in one aspect; the soulbeasts never stopped coming. With the introduction of the first two attacks, there was a total of ten attacks over the course of three days. The very weakest soulbeast was only a class four one, and the strongest one had been a late-stage class five soulbeast which took the combined might of Wang Kun and another mercenary group to kill it before it could enter the town.


    At first, Bai Yunfei thought these attacks were normal, but with each attack, Bai Yunfei noticed that the atmosphere in the town was starting to change. No longer were people feeling at ease like they had been three days ago.


    Many of them now wore pensive looks on their faces.


    Somehow, it seemed as though something unusual was slowly creeping up on them¡­

 Chapter 368: An Unexpected Crisis!

    In the afternoon on the fourth day Bai Yunfei had been in this town¡ª


    After finishing a night¡¯s worth of training, Bai Yunfei walked down to get some food when he saw Zhang Yunpeng and the others already there. Shouting out to them, Bai Yunfei moved for their table.


    ¡°Eh? Brother Zhang, this monkey is¡­¡± Only after sitting down did Bai Yunfei realize the golden monkey sitting on the stool next to Zhang Yunpeng. Its hands were holding an apple that it was trying to bite. When Zhang Yunpeng called out to Bai Yunfei before, the monkey had bared its teeth at Bai Yunfei in some sort of greeting.


    ¡°Haha, this is my soulbeast partner, Xiao Kong. It¡¯s a mid-stage class five golden-eyed macaque.¡± Zhang Yunpeng affectionately scratched the monkey¡¯s head.


    This time, the monkey stopped moving when it was introduced. Standing up on the stool, it arched its back slightly at the waist as if bowing to to say, ¡°Please treat me well.¡±


    ¡°Err¡­¡± Slightly astonished that the monkey would even bow, Bai Yunfei coughed once to hide his emotions, ¡°Haha, nice to meet you, Xiao Kong¡­¡±


    ¡°A golden-eyed macaque? Is it related to the golden-eyed ape?¡± The eyes of the macaque were golden in color, causing Bai Yunfei to think back to the golden-eyed ape he had met back in Jadewillow City. It had originally been the soulbeast puppet of one of the Beast Taming School members, but Hong Ying ¡®stole¡¯ it later.


    ¡°Oh? You know about the golden-eyed ape, brother Bai?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve met one before, but it was only a class five.¡±


    ¡°Well, the two share a bit of the same blood since they¡¯re known to live with one another, but there¡¯s a stark difference between the two if you disregard their affinity for metal. The golden-eyed ape is powerful but slow while the golden-eyed macaque is quick and nimble.¡±


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t I seen this macaque before?¡±


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s because I let it play around in the Soulbeast Forest. This place is its home, so it was excited to go back when we got here. Xiao Kong only came back to me this morning.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, but something was still bugging him, ¡°It went into the forest by itself? Aren¡¯t you afraid that someone else might capture it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not too much of a concern,¡± Zhang Yunpeng pointed at the golden band around Xiao Kong¡¯s left arm. ¡°It¡¯s normal for most soul cultivators to give their soulbeasts something to mark them as contracted. Furthermore, it¡¯s customary to not make contracts with already contracted soulbeasts. Should anything happen to Xiao Kong, the bond I share with it would let me know right away.¡±


    It was all making sense now. Bai Yunfei had already noticed several soul cultivators¡¯ soulbeasts. Each one of them had at least one piece of article on their being. Prior to this, Bai Yunfei had only thought it to be some sort of fashion statement.


    ¡°Ah, has there been any news of your friend? Haven¡¯t you heard anything about him in the past two days? Or has something come up?¡±


    An apologetic look appeared on Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s face, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not sure. My friend has a habit of doing as he pleases, I¡¯m sorry to say¡­¡±


    ¡°I bet you that guy is lost somewhere!¡± Suddenly, Kun spoke from his seat, ¡°I told you all that we should¡¯ve had him travel with me or let him go first! He wasn¡¯t here when I was, and I didn¡¯t meet him on the road, who knows where he could be¡­


    ¡°But still, his sense of direction has always been crappy. If he missed his turn, he¡¯ll just go all the way around again. He should be here within the next day or two.¡±


    Noticing the confusion on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Zhang Yunpeng smiled, ¡°Our last companion is Kun¡¯s good friend. They grew up together and are basically family. Kun¡¯s right, however, it should only take one or two days more before he arrives.


    Clarity struck Bai Yunfei when Kun made mention that this person¡¯s sense of direction was quite off. Feeling nothing but sympathetic camaraderie, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°That¡¯s no problem. I¡¯m fine with waiting¡­¡±


    The conversation after that was quite light as they ate their meal, but just as Bai Yunfei was about to drink the rest of his congee¡­


    ¡°Eh?¡± In the midst of Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s explanation of the terrain in the Soulbeast Forest, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows perked up. The congee in his bowl was rippling in an increasing staccato. Unsure of what this meant, Bai Yunfei thought for a moment.


    Then, he felt it!


    The ground underneath him was shaking!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    The question had only just been asked when a loud roar followed almost immediately afterwards.


    ¡°Another attack?¡±


    Then his soulsense warned him of the incoming danger, ¡°This¡­ this isn¡¯t right! We should take a look outside!!¡±


    Zhang Yunpeng was the next to notice the situation. Blanching in the face as he felt the tremors, he rose to his feet, but Bai Yunfei was already running out of the inn.


    ¡°Hey¡­¡± Ye Zi looked first at the running Bai Yunfei and then back to Zhang Yunpeng. From what she could see, Zhang Yunpeng had indeed noticed something was amiss as well, but¡­


    ¡°Yunpeng, is Yunfei¡¯s soulsense stronger than yours!?¡± Kun exploded with a question.


    ¡°Now¡¯s not the time for that. Hurry up and get outside!¡± Zhang Yunpeng rushed out of the inn.


    ¡­¡­


    When Bai Yunfei leaped onto the roof of the inn, the figures of several others were just starting to climb up as well. They all looked off in the direction of the source of the tremors.


    What caught everyone¡¯s eyes were two small blurs of blue and purple running toward the town with all their mights. Aura blazed around their bodies as they ran, and they looked¡­ extremely beaten up!!


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­ isn¡¯t that the captain of the Violet Bolt Mercenaries!?¡±


    ¡°It is! That¡¯s ¡®Thunderlord¡¯ Xing Lei!! An early-stage Soul Exalt! He looks¡­ beaten up?!¡±


    ¡°And him, to the side! That¡¯s ¡®Frostblade¡¯ Zhao Lengya, captain of the Frozen Heaven Mercenaries! He¡¯s a late-stage Soul Exalt! So why¡­ so why does he look like he¡¯s about to fall over!?¡±


    Cries of shock followed the confirmation of the two people running toward the village. Meanwhile, the one named Xing Lei managed to let loose a loud warning:


    ¡°Code black! Code black! A¡­ a wave is here!!¡±


    His warning was amplified due to the energy put into it, making it loud enough for everyone in the town to hear loud and clear.


    Several of the townspeople instantly went white in the face while others, like Bai Yunfei, looked clueless to what was going on. Several people nearby quickly explained the situation since they realized the severity of the situation.


    A wave¡­ was when soulbeasts gathered together to strike like a tidal wave!!


    Farther away in the deep thickets of the Soulbeast Forest, two giant blobs of black could be seen. The tremors were originating from these blobs and were quickly increasing in magnitude.


    When the blobs drew closer and closer to the town, everyone could see that they were filled with soulbeasts!!


    Soulbeasts of every form and color charged in one after another with nothing but loud and terrifying roars coming from them. Not only were they coming in large droves, they were coming in fast as well! Not even a minute had passed since Bai Yunfei first saw them, yet the wave was already halfway to the town!


    ¡°God dammit! Dammit all! How could this happen!? Why did a wave of soulbeasts decide to attack now of all times!?¡±


    A stream of curses erupted from the mouth of a nearby soul cultivator, drawing the attention of everyone and starting a chain reaction of flustered cries.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on!? What¡¯s happening here!?¡±


    ¡°A soulbeast wave! They only happen once every hundred years!¡±


    ¡°Class three, class four¡­ and even class five! Why are there so many of them!?¡±


    ¡°Good heavens! What¡¯s that in the middle?! It¡­ it looks like a class six three-eyed devil!! A class six soulbeast!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    One after another, each soul cultivator started to pale as the situation sunk in. Not even saying a single word, some of them were already starting to run away as fast as possible¡­


    All of a sudden, a powerful burst of soulforce came from the sky above the town. Looking up, everyone saw two streaks of green and red flying across the sky!


    With everyone¡¯s attention on him, the elderly man flying in the red light looked down at everyone. ¡°If you don¡¯t wish to die, prepare to fight!¡±

 Chapter 369: A Wave of Soulbeasts!

    ¡°If you wish to run, then run for the gates before they close! But, in accordance to the rules of the guild, those who run will forever be barred from our services! Those who stay and fight will be rewarded by the officials of Beast Suppression Pass two times what they¡¯ve killed!¡±


    Each word spoken by this elderly man was clearly heard by the crowd below.


    ¡°Just running away blindly won¡¯t save you from a soulbeast wave! Reinforcements from Beast Suppression City will come to fight the wave off!¡±


    ¡°Make your decision!¡± He paused to give everyone a moment.


    These two men flying overhead were the ones in charge of the guild in this small town. They were the strongest people the town had to offer.


    The man who had spoken was a late-stage Soul Exalt, and the person in green next to him was a mid-stage Soul Exalt. The Braves Guild had been founded by the officials of Beast Suppression Pass, so it went without saying that the workers of the guild were also officials.


    Furthermore, they were people of the Tianhun School. The words the old man had spoken also represented the Tianhun School.


    A few precious seconds passed before almost a thousand roars of laughter echoed through the town.


    ¡°Hah! A soulbeast wave that comes once every several hundred years? Since I was so lucky to see it, why should I run? We who go into the Soulbeast Forest now just need to stay here and the soulbeasts will come running to us! I¡¯ll kill them all to my heart¡¯s content!!¡±


    ¡°Well said! A soulbeast wave? So what! We¡¯re over a thousand men strong! Are we really going to let soulbeasts trample us!?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s too many soulbeasts to even consider running away! Everyone, fighting together will secure our lives! We¡¯ve no shortage of strong people here! We¡¯ll push these soulbeasts back and restore peace to this town!¡±


    ¡°Those who¡¯re Soul Warriors and under, take all the commoners into the guild! Think before you act!¡±


    ¡°Cutthroat Mercenaries! Prepare for battle!¡±


    ¡°Hear me, Sky Soaring Mercenaries! Prepare for battle!¡±


    ¡°We of the Iron Fist Mercenaries, stand at attention and prepare to fight!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no escape for us, only battle!¡±


    The sanctity of a soul cultivator was not so easily shaken, especially those who managed to overcome their fears to reach this place. The braves were no stranger to the dangers of soulbeasts, and they feared less than what a regular soul cultivator might.


    Indeed, what they saw in front of them wasn¡¯t enough to make them flee in terror.


    Fleeing wasn¡¯t the best option to begin with. Sticking together was the most optimal strategy, and with two airborne Soul Exalts, morale was at an all time high.


    There were, of course, dissenters; people who didn¡¯t contain the same amount of confidence as the others, but they were small in number and had already fled.


    The frontmost part of the soulbeast wave was already near the gates of the town where the soul cultivators were priming themselves for a fight. Leading the front of the wave were two giant flying soulbeasts!


    A late-stage class five, armored owl!


    And a late-stage class five, four-winged elephant!


    Both soulbeasts were of abnormal sizes. The armored owl had a wingspan almost fifty meters long and the four-winged elephant was practically a mountain! They both flew low to the ground, but not toward the same destination. The four-winged elephant was flying to the left borders of the town while the armored owl was heading straight for the gates!


    These soulbeasts weren¡¯t aiming for the town, so the two didn¡¯t slow when they approached the town.


    However, the armored owl was clearly being blocked by the people in the town and felt that these humans posed a threat. Rather than take a detour around the town, it let loose a shrill hoot and immediately flew in for an attack!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± The gray-robed elder who had spoken to the crowd first made his move. Nodding to the other man next to him, the two sped straight for the two soulbeasts!


    An ominous glint was in the owl¡¯s eyes as it sped up. Its entire body was filled with a metallic light as it gathered the elemental metal in the world to serve as armor. From head to tail, its entire body was basked in a golden light that made the owl look like one giant arrow, aiming to strike down the elder blocking its flight!


    ¡°I can see fear in its eyes. What on earth is happening in the forest to cause it to run away in such a panic?¡± The elder muttered. He had a pensive look in his eyes. He didn¡¯t look as though he cared that he was on the verge of being attacked.


    He disregarded those thoughts, ¡°Whatever the reason, I cannot allow you to enter the city. You¡¯ll be dying here!¡±


    His right hand stretched up, summoning a one-and-a-half-meter-long longsword of unusual shape. There was a hum of energy as it started to light up in a blaze of glorious fire. When all the elemental fire was fully gathered, the man was ready to strike. Raising his sword even higher, he delivered a mighty slash to the owl!


    ¡°Clink!!¡±


    The metallic clang of sword hitting metal was made evident as the old man¡¯s sword slammed onto the owl¡¯s head!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡± There was a distinct cracking sound when the bright red light from the elder¡¯s sword pushed its way into the owl¡¯s armor. The red line continued to push its way through the owl and its armor. Without another screech, the owl was bisected in two!


    Simultaneously, there was another flare of energy accompanied by an earth-shaking explosion. Turning their heads, everyone saw the four-winged elephant smash into a crater ten meters deep. It didn¡¯t get back up.


    The elder in green stood above the crater by borrowing the power of the elemental winds. Slowly bringing back his right hand, he moved back to the other elder¡¯s side.


    These two class five soulbeasts had been killed in single strikes!!


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the sides of the town, focus on defending the front! Don¡¯t let any of them storm the town! We must protect the town from the soulbeasts at all costs!¡± The elder in gray commanded before jettisoning off for the wave of soulbeasts.


    Slaying the two soulbeasts in a single move had motivated all the soul cultivators who witnessed the act. Shouting in unison with one another, they began to channel their own soulforce and elements before following the two elders into battle.


    ¡°How¡­ how strong!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes slowly drifted away from the corpse of the armored owl. He looked back at the two Soul Exalts walking in the air. His eyes were shining bright. This was the first time he¡¯d ever seen or even heard of a soulbeast wave, so his reaction was slower than most. Taking in the sight of the soul cultivators already charging into battle, he looked at Zhang Yunpeng, ¡°Boss Zhang, what should we do?¡±


    ¡°What to do?¡± Zhang Yunpeng repeated with a smile, ¡°We fight, of course! Don¡¯t tell me you want to run away?¡±


    He wasn¡¯t the only person raring to go for a fight. Even Kun and Zhou Feng looked like they¡¯d burst into action any second now, and Ye Zi radiated a similar look of impatience.


    No one seemed to want to run away in this group.


    Extending his arm, Zhang Yunpeng retrieved his two-meter-long metallic staff, ¡°Will you be fighting, brother Bai?¡±


    ¡°Haha, do you think I¡¯m some sort of coward, boss Zhang?¡± A laugh involuntarily escaped Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth, ¡°Since I¡¯ve joined your team, of course I¡¯ll help you fight this battle! There¡¯s already so many soul cultivators here, so defending the town together is the best option anyways.¡±


    ¡°Haha! Alright then! My opinion of you hasn¡¯t been wrong, brother Bai! Let us fight and kill and be merry then! An opportunity like this comes only once in a lifetime!¡± Whooping loudly, Zhang Yunpeng brought his staff up and started the charge, leading his team into battle.


    The battle between soulbeast and humanity was already breaking out when Zhang Yunpeng and his team joined the fray. The combined powers of over a thousand soul cultivators was equivalent to an iron wall that the soulbeasts simply couldn¡¯t tear down, so they fought viciously to open a hole in the wall.


    However, the soul cultivators couldn¡¯t simply contain the entirety of the soulbeast wave. The town was small, but the wall of soul cultivators could only guard the front of the town. Thus, plenty of soulbeasts still managed to slip through the sides and enter the town from the back.


    ¡°Xiao Kong and I are heading for the front, Kun and Zhou Feng, you two follow me! Ye Zi, you¡¯ll be providing support! Xiao Yan and brother Bai, since you two are weaker, you¡¯ll wait in the back; kill any soulbeast you can, like the ones that are injured already!¡± A list of orders started to be relayed as they approached the battlefield. ¡°Don¡¯t die! Reinforcements will be coming soon. We just need to protect the town, so ignore the soulbeasts running to the sides!


    ¡°Everyone clear? We¡¯ll b¡ªwha? Brother Bai, what are you doing?¡± Right as Zhang Yunpeng was about to charge forward to start fighting, he realized that Bai Yunfei had suddenly stopped moving.


    ¡°The perimeter¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes scanned the area around them for a moment before looking to the where some of the soulbeasts were running to. ¡°Oh no! Xiao Yi!¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai, what are yo¡ª¡± Confused, Zhang Yunpeng was about to ask for clarification when Bai Yunfei¡¯s next action took the words out of his mouth.


    Bai Yunfei waved his hand once, retrieving a bright-green long sword that hovered by his side. Leaping onto the sword in a flash of light, he and the sword then took off into the sky in a burst of green light!


    ¡°Tha¡ª¡± Kun¡¯s eyes were wide open as he stared down the green trail left behind by Bai Yunfei, ¡°Fly¡ªflying sword? Is he¡­ is he running away!?¡±


    Zhou Feng shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Didn¡¯t you see where he¡¯s flying off to?¡± A bewildered expression was on his face a well.


    ¡°The direction?¡± Kun repeated before realizing what Zhou Feng meant, ¡°That direction is¡­ oh! Don¡¯t tell me Bai Yunfei¡¯s planning to¡­¡±


    ¡°He said ¡®Xiao Yi¡¯ just now, didn¡¯t he? Isn¡¯t that the name of the kid who wanted some stargrass a few days ago?¡± Zhang Yunpeng interjected, ¡°Is¡­ is he planning on saving that village?!¡±

 Chapter 370: Battle Determination

    Up in the sky, the elder in green had just bisected another three early-stage class five bee giants in two. His eyes caught the sight of Bai Yunfei flying in a different direction, causing him to mutter, ¡°A flying soul armament? It¡¯s not a very weak one either¡­


    ¡°But only a late-stage Soul Sprite? Is he the heir to a major family? What is he¡­


    ¡°Forget about him and focus on fighting.¡± The other Soul Exalt cut in as he delivered another sword stroke to the crowd of soulbeasts in front of him. Finding time to speak as he brought his sword back, he continued, ¡°We don¡¯t have time to think about people flying away right now. The warnings of this sudden wave were far too subtle. The officials didn¡¯t care about it at first. We¡¯re the first line of defense, so we must protect even a small town like this! Reinforcements will come quickly! There will be enough to stop the wave!¡±


    The elder in green paused for a moment, studying the torrent of soulbeasts. ¡°There has to be several tens of thousands of soulbeasts here, a soulbeast wave indeed¡­ legends have it that the last one two hundred years ago resulted in the deaths of more than half the people in Beast Suppression Pass. I never imagined that I¡¯d be the one fighting against a wave¡­¡±


    He sighed, but his movements didn¡¯t waver. Three blades of wind later, the elder managed to save several soul cultivators who were about to die to a soulbeast.


    Not much time had passed since the battle first started, but the battleground was unbelievably fierce with roars and explosions coming from everywhere. Some soul cultivators were charging forward to clash with soulbeasts without reason, but most soul cultivators were were well-versed in fighting in conjunction with others. Many of them were in teams that emphasized team fighting, allowing them to fight in ways that covered both offense and defense, not allowing any soulbeasts to advance.


    But¡­ this was only the start of the battle¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Twenty kilometers away from the town, a village of thirty could be seen.


    This area was where the most basic commoners gathered, the lowest of the low. Denizens who even Beast Suppression City didn¡¯t care to protect the land they lived on. The only places they could live in peace were the places where no other human would dare live or even set foot.


    Already over a hundred years in age, this village stood strong with the villagers living a very rudimentary life.


    Despite living in proximity to the Soulbeast Forest like the braves, the villagers built their village in a remote area near the entrance of the forest where soulbeasts seldom left. A soulbeast or two might attack every month, but when banded together, the villagers were still strong enough to chase off or even kill a class one or two soulbeast.


    When a class three soulbeast arrived, all they could do was run and hide, hoping that the soulbeast would ¡®have its fun¡¯ by destroying the village and going back to the forest when it was done.


    The past few days in the village had deviated from the norm. In just the span of two days alone, three separate soulbeasts were seen roaming around. Two more soulbeasts walked around the edge of the village, and one time, a single soulbeast walked straight into the village. It was stronger than what any of the villagers had ever seen before. It completely destroyed two huts and injured several people before walking straight through the village.


    Today, the villagers were horrified to discover that a great drove of soulbeasts were coming their way like a tsunami!


    The signs came in the form of an earthquake at first. Another person from the western part of the village was quick enough to notice a drove of soulbeasts in the general area. Due to the relative distance between them and the village, the villagers thought they would be safe for now.


    In time, they realized that the wave of soulbeast was only growing bigger and bigger. Eventually, they could determine that the soulbeasts were less than a kilometer away from the village!


    And the wave was still growing too!


    By the time all of the villagers had gathered in the center plaza, some of the soulbeasts near the edge of the town were already starting to move!


    At last, a soulbeast was within the village. A soulbeast, shaped like a rhinoceros, slammed into a hut in the western part of the village, shattering it into pieces. Some debris from the hut struck down an unfortunate few people.


    ¡°Mommy¡­ I¡¯m scared¡­¡± A young girl bawled as she held the robes of her mother.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, little one. Mommy is here. Daddy will protect us¡­¡± Her mother replied quietly, but her voice betrayed the fear she was feeling. It wavered with each word she said and her eyes reflected her terror.


    The elderly, women, and children were all hiding in the central most part of the village while all available men were standing guard with weapons at the entrances. All of them were pale with fear. Some of them were even shaking as they clenched their weapons.


    Yet, the men were determined.


    A house could be torn down and rebuilt, but the lives of their loved ones could not. For that reason, they had to fight!


    Xiao Yi was among the children hiding with their mother¡¯s. He was being held by a middle-aged woman whose complexion was even worse off than the others due to her ailments, but her hands still held tightly to the hands of her son with amazing strength. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, Xiao Yi. We¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± He replied. ¡°You too, mom! Xiao Yi will definitely protect you! We¡¯ll all be okay! I still need to get you medicine. Big brother Bai Yunfei already said that he¡¯ll bring back some stargrass, so we just need to wait for him to come back and you¡¯ll be better!¡±


    As he spoke, his head turned to look in the direction of the Town of the Braves, but all he could see was a horrifying black swarm of soulbeasts¡­


    ¡°Eh? What is¡­ that?¡± Suddenly, Xiao Yi¡¯s eyes widened just marginally when he caught sight of something strange. A spark of green light was flying over to them, approaching at a frightfully fast speed!


    Before he could even cry out a warning, the light had already landed on the ground nearby!


    ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s going on?!¡± The sudden descent of the green light startled everyone nearby. With all eyes drawn to the light, everyone stared with bated breaths and anxiety-filled faces.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Phew¡­ am I on time? That¡¯s good. The wave hasn¡¯t reached here yet¡­¡± A single figure came out of the green light, muttering to himself as he inspected the area.


    Of the villagers, Xiao Yi was the first to recognize this person. ¡°Big brother Bai Yunfei, it¡¯s you!!¡± He cried out in elation.


    Hearing the voice, Bai Yunfei turned to look at Xiao Yi with a smile. ¡°Hey, Xiao Yi. Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Bai Yunfei remarked. ¡°This must be your mother?¡± He nodded at the woman behind him.


    ¡°Yep!¡± Xiao Yi nodded, ¡°Mom, this is the big brother Bai Yunfei I told you about!¡±


    Noticing that the mother and son¡¯s hands were still being held tightly with one another, Bai Yunfei understood the situation the village was in. ¡°Xiao Yi, stay with your mother and protect her well.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± An earnest nod was given.


    ¡°Haha¡­¡± With that taken care of, Bai Yunfei turned to the rest of the villagers who were still looking at him. ¡°Don¡¯t be alarmed, everybody. I came here to help. As long as you can protect this center, I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±


    Before anyone could say anything, Bai Yunfei leaped into the air and landed several hundred meters away near the entrance of the forest.


    On the way here, Bai Yunfei was worried about what would greet him when he arrived. He thought that village would be in chaos with the soulbeasts attacking, but it seemed that his worries were misplaced.


    Despite the relative state of calm the village was experiencing, Bai Yunfei was still doubtful. He originally planned on grabbing Xiao Yi and his mother and taking them away from this place, but his plans had changed.


    He couldn¡¯t just take the mother and son away, he¡¯d have to protect the entire village to the best of his ability.


    He wouldn¡¯t go as far as to protect the village with his life, but expending all of his energy was a good compromise. As long as he possessed the energy, he wouldn¡¯t allow any soulbeast to harm anyone standing behind him.


    Cracking his knuckles with a satisfying pop, Bai Yunfei started to mutter to himself. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that this is the very edge of the soulbeast wave. It won¡¯t be as crazy here as is in the town¡­


    ¡°This will be a good test to see how strong I¡¯ve gotten in the last two years!¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear materialized with a swing of his right hand. Pointing its tip at the incoming soulbeast, Bai Yunfei was ready to fight¡ª


    The soulbeasts would face his determination to battle!

 Chapter 371: A One Man Wall!

    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The bestial roar of a tiger reverberated through the forest before that tiger pounced straight for Bai Yunfei. It was a violet-striped thunder tiger; a relatively weak soulbeast due to it being a late-stage class three soulbeast.


    When it noticed a single human not running away from it, the tiger decided to continue on its path to attack it. With a pounce and a roar, it threw itself upon Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°You¡¯re just a senseless beast that only knows how to kill humans. You¡¯ll be dying today!¡± Faced with the bloody maw of the incoming tiger, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together. He icily stared at it. With a grunt, he slightly shifted his foot back and waited for a claw to swing at him. With the Fire-tipped Spear whistling forward, he jabbed it into the right side of the tiger¡¯s hip!


    ¡°Pow!¡± There was a muffled pop before the giant tiger flew backwards through the air. Blood sprinkled out of the wound left by Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear, and with a resounding crash, the tiger fell to the ground.


    It didn¡¯t get back up!


    As soon as he smashed the first soulbeast back, another three mid-stage class four soulbeasts assaulted him. The spear in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand twirled violently before lashing out thrice.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The spear efficiently stabbed the throats of the three soulbeasts.


    On the third stab, the explosive effect of the spear activated and blew the three soulbeasts into bloody pieces!


    The bloody fragments of its fellow soulbeasts still hadn¡¯t fallen to the ground when another mid-stage class four soulbeast came from the right side to attack. Shifting his feet just slightly, Bai Yunfei flew twenty meters away and sent the soulbeast to its death with a single kick.


    His right arm extended out, revealing the Compliant Rope that was hidden within his sleeve. It flew forward before wrapping around the claws of a two-headed vulture before it could dive into Bai Yunfei. Even though it wasn¡¯t near enough to harm the villagers, Bai Yunfei decided to play it safe and kill the vulture. Whether it be a ground-roaming soulbeast or a sky-faring one, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t permit any soulbeast to encroach on the village!


    With the rope tightening around his clenched fist, Bai Yunfei gave a mighty pull. The force of his pull was so much that the two-headed vulture didn¡¯t even have the time to flap its wings. With barely even a squawk, it crashed into the ground and was ultimately reduced to paste!


    ¡°An early-stage class five stinger elephant!¡± While he was dealing with the two-headed vulture, another giant soulbeast was about to crush several male villagers to death!


    Bai Yunfei only recognized the soulbeast because of its stinger. When Bai Yunfei identified it, the elephant let loose a mighty roar before it swung its tail with its tip ready to stab into Bai Yunfei. Flying forward like a brilliant bolt of violet lightning, the stinger looked as though it would pierce straight through him!


    The elephant¡¯s trunk was brought up, and after concentrating enough elemental earth, the trunk shot out a beam of light!


    ¡°A long-ranged attack!¡± A long-range attack was quite different from a close one. Bai Yunfei could opt to dodge a close attack, but a long-range attack meant that he had no choice but to top it, lest it harm the villagers behind him. Following a pulsation of his Violet Soul Ring, the Cataclysmic Seal flew into view and immediately erected a ten-meter-wide barrier to stop the beam.


    ¡°Boom boom!!¡± Two simultaneous explosions rocked the village.


    The area where Bai Yunfei had been was obscured by the dust kicked up by the explosions. Just two seconds later, when everyone thought that a momentary break would ensue, the dust was illuminated and blown away by a figure in red!


    Landing to the right of the elephant, Bai Yunfei swapped his spear to his left hand and pulled his hand back in preparation to punch.


    Then, he punched!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The first sound heard was the explosion of a fist meeting flesh, and the second was of the mournful cry of the elephant. Following these two sounds, everyone could see a dark indentation in the shape of a fist in the elephant¡¯s hide. Inch by inch, this indentation grew like ripples in calm water.


    Then, like a cannonball, the elephant flew off its feet toward the soulbeasts behind it, taking several of them along for the ride before finally crashing to the ground.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s next course of action was to jump into the air, but when he did, three large ducks suddenly opened their bills. Elemental fire started to gather in the space between their bills, preparing to be fired¡­


    ¡°Early-stage class five cannon ducks! They¡¯re also long-range attack beasts!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. Rather than panicking, the five fingers on his right hand bent slightly to hold the newly-formed ball of elemental fire made by his Ardent Sun Glove. When it fully formed, he threw it at the three ducks as hard as he could!


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!¡± Three separate daggers of fire were formed from the sphere of fire and shot into their own individual trajectories!


    Despite being made from elemental fire, the three flying daggers looked as real as anything else. They were elemental fire in solid form. The three flying daggers whistled through the air and made contact with the elemental fire being readied by the three ducks!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!!¡± The flying daggers blew up in a splendid visual of sparks and elemental fire. The ensuing explosion took off the heads of their respective targets, and the remaining corpses fell lifelessly to the ground!


    A flying dagger soul skill, the Burstfire Daggers!


    This was a type of ¡®flying dagger¡¯ outlined in the Flying Dagger Compendium. It couldn¡¯t be ¡®crafted¡¯ due since it needed to be formed by elemental fire alone, but forming one was harder than it looked since it required a mastery of both soulforce and elemental fire.


    Thanks to the Dual Flame Arts and the Art of Firebending, Bai Yunfei was able to accomplish this otherwise impossible task.


    One of the greatest features of this dagger was the fact that it was intangible! It could be formed at will and would explode upon contact for an utterly powerful blow!!


    If Bai Yunfei combined this flying dagger with the additional effect of his Ardent Sun Glove, the power would increase even more!


    ¡°Tzk!¡± His spear slammed down to skewer a centipede-like soulbeast burrowing through the ground.


    Bai Yunfei looked around. There didn¡¯t seem to be any soulbeasts within a hundred meters¡­


    In no time at all, the first round of soulbeasts had been killed refreshingly quick!


    Of course, this was only the beginning¡­


    Bai Yunfei only had ten seconds to rest before another few dozen soulbeasts came forward!


    Bai Yunfei looked at the tens of thousands of soulbeasts to the west, and then glanced back at the dozens of soulbeasts in front of him.


    ¡°Good thing this place is the most ¡®relaxed¡¯ part of the wave! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    With spear in hand and the Cataclysmic Seal protecting his side, Bai Yunfei rushed to meet the first soulbeast head-on!


    Whichever soulbeast came forward first would end up as Bai Yunfei¡¯s target. He would defend himself with the Cataclysmic Seal and would return any attack with his Fire-tipped Spear. Whenever a soulbeast was stabbed straight through with the spear, Bai Yunfei would try to activate the spear¡¯s additional effects once the cooldown was down. Bai Yunfei had flying daggers of all shapes and size ready to beat down any soulbeast trying who tried to attack or escape into the village.


    It took Bai Yunfei ten minutes to beat back the second round of soulbeasts, but no breathing room was given before the third round was upon him!!


    Bai Yunfei had to fight more soulbeasts each round. Luckily, there were many weaker soulbeasts, more than half the soulbeasts were class four at most. All the class five soulbeasts he saw now were of the early and mid-stage. He had only seen a single late-stage class five soulbeast since the battle had begun.


    A snake-tailed scorpion took a single Eighty-one Fold Fist Force from Bai Yunfei before being beaten into the ground.


    The area around Bai Yunfei was like an invisible maelstrom. Any soulbeast that dared enter the ¡®zone,¡¯ a circle with a two-hundred-meter circumference, was struck down without mercy. Any soulbeast that tried to enter the village was slaughtered straight away!


    ¡°Boom!!¡± A single Flame-winged Dagger brought down a mid-stage class five cavern bat and smote it into ashes, leaving behind only a red soulgem on the ground.


    ¡°Huuu¡­ hu¡­¡± Several gasps for breath came from Bai Yunfei. He wiped away the sweat on his forehead and tried to regain his breath, but he was exhausted. None of the soulbeasts were on the same level of strength as he was, but two hours of constant fighting was taking its toll on his body. He was feeling the consequences of battle even as someone who had more soulforce than the average soul cultivator at his level.


    Bai Yunfei sucked in a deep breath of air in relief when he noticed that no soulbeasts were coming toward the village for now. He was trying hard to regain his soulforce and looked down at his left hand with a slight smile.


    On the ring finger of his left hand sat a milky-white jade ring shaped like a small cloud.


    It was Tang Xinyun¡¯s soulbound armament, the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring.


    Prior to his departure from the Crafting School, Tang Xinyun gave him the ring. She said if he wore the ring, it would feel as if she was traveling by his side¡­


    ¡°Skreee!!¡±


    A voice¡­


    No, a high-pitched shrill broke Bai Yunfei from his thoughts. Looking up, Bai Yunfei could see a purple mist and a dark-green ¡®stream¡¯ rushing toward the village!


    ¡°Violetmist bats! And poisonous jumping rats!!¡±


    The pupils in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes contracted in recognition of the two soulbeasts. Of the two soulbeasts, neither were very strong, the strongest being class four at the very most, but the problem lay with their numbers.


    There may very well be hundreds or thousands of these soulbeasts!


    This time, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t rely on the Fire-tipped Spear, the Flameblade Bracer, or the flying daggers. He had to deal with this problem in a different way.


    It took two seconds for Bai Yunfei to come up with a solution. Since he couldn¡¯t use the enlarging effect of the Cataclysmic Seal to deal with these soulbeasts, Bai Yunfei decided to go with another option.


    He smiled.


    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s a good time to see how strong ¡®that¡¯ skill is!!¡±

 Chapter 372: Dual Desert Eagles and Gun Fu

    When Bai Yunfei was preparing to depart from the Crafting School and head to the Soulbeast Forest, he was gifted a scroll from his master, Zi Jin. The scroll contained information about many soulbeasts. It was akin to an encyclopedia. Every soulbeast recorded inside was meticulously researched.


    The violetmist bat was a soulbeast of the lightning affinity. While it could absorb elemental lightning, it couldn¡¯t use it as a form of attack. Instead, what it used to attack was poison! It could expel a large amount of purple powder from its purple fur with a tinge of elemental lightning to strengthen the poison!


    Violetmist bats were only as big as one¡¯s palm, so the poison they carried wasn¡¯t by any means a large amount, but what it lacked in poison it made up with numbers! They didn¡¯t gather in trifling amounts of hundreds, but in the thousands! Thousands of violetmist bats could sprinkle their poison in a concentrated area to kill absolutely anything near them!


    Of the many soulbeasts in the forest, there were a few soulbeasts that weren¡¯t affected by its poison at all. The poisonous jumping rat was one of those few soulbeasts. This water affinity soulbeast was adept in poison as well! A poison constantly festered within these soulbeasts. It was dark-green in color and could evaporate into a poisonous fog! Furthermore, these rats could inject poison in people via their fangs. These rats were commonly seen hopping forward and were well-suited to travel with the violetmist bats.Wherever the violetmist bats were, the poisonous jumping rats were not too far away!


    Today, Bai Yunfei was the one unfortunate enough to face thousands of both species.


    While he was fortunate that they were only class four soulbeasts, there was still far too many of them¡­


    The average Soul Ancestor would have to flee if they didn¡¯t want to die if faced with this swarm. Even a Soul Exalt would have a headache trying to deal with this problem.


    This problem was something that Bai Yunfei could solve. Of the many solutions available to him, the easiest one would be to use the Cataclysmic Seal and smash the swarm. Through this method, not even a housefly would be able to escape.


    However, this method possessed a flaw.


    Using the Cataclysmic Seal to smash everything required more soulforce than he¡¯d like to give and was slightly overkill for this situation.


    Plus, he had yet another solution that¡¯d fit the bill.


    ¡°Well then, how about I try out ¡®that¡¯ then!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up at the prospect of testing out ¡®that.¡¯ His lips curled into a smile as he watched the incoming soulbeasts that were traveling by air and by land. His left hand shook once to put away the Fire-tipped Spear. Then, as a sign of warm-up for what he was about to do, Bai Yunfei cracked his neck and narrowed his eyes.


    Both of his hands shook before he raised them parallel to the ground.


    One hand held a red soul armament while the other held a violet soul armament.


    The soul armaments Bai Yunfei was holding in his hands wouldn¡¯t be recognized by any person in this world, but if he was in the other world, everyone would recognize what they were.


    What Bai Yunfei carried was a pair of pistols!


    That¡¯s right. Bai Yunfei was holding a pair of pistols!


    Anyone from the other world would be able to recognize the model of these pistols as well, for they possessed a mighty name.


    The Desert Eagle!


    Author Note: I won¡¯t describe the Desert Eagle since the descriptions on Wikipedia were a bit boring to me. Should any reader have interest, please take a look yourself. Just know that Bai Yunfei is using them.


    These were the new ¡®soul armaments¡¯ that Bai Yunfei had spent the last two years ¡®designing!¡¯ At last, he had finished them! His tribulations had been many and hard, but he was able to recreate one from his memories of the model.


    There was a difference between the Desert Eagle he was using and the ones from his memories.


    For example, his used a completely different type of bullet¡­


    The Desert Eagle in his left hand shined with a violet light, indicating that it was made primarily from materials favoring the lightning element (hereby known as the ¡®Lightning Eagle¡¯). The one in his right exuded a faint amount of elemental fire, making it a soul armament of the fire affinity (hereby known as the ¡®Fire Eagle¡¯).


    These two ¡®Desert Eagles¡¯ that Bai Yunfei had crafted could be called his biggest profit in the field of crafting. He had spent the most time crafting them with many iterations and failures.


    He ultimately found a rare type of material that¡¯d help him craft a better version of the soul armaments. After asking his master, Zi Jin, those materials were found and given to him to craft with.


    In the end, only three successful Desert Eagles were made with the limited materials he had. There was still one more, the ¡®Golden Desert Eagle,¡¯ but that one exploded when he tried upgrading it past +10. Thus, he didn¡¯t upgrade the next two Desert Eagles beyond +10.


    As mentioned before, the strongest soul armament Bai Yunfei was capable of making was only a mid-earth tier soul armament. These two Desert Eagles were both mid-earth tier soul armaments, but since they were upgraded to +10, their attack power was as strong as a high-earth tier soul armament.


    But¡­


    It seemed nigh impossible for Bai Yunfei to ward off the thousands of soulbeasts coming at him with just these two pistols alone. Even though the pistols shot bullets made of elemental energy rather than solid material, an infinite amount of ammunition still wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    There was something in these two pistols that gave Bai Yunfei confidence. Confidence that stemmed from the memories of when he first used ¡®that¡¯ with the Desert Eagles¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei looked to the incoming swarm of soulbeasts while his hands tightly gripped the dual Desert Eagles. He closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. His right foot took half a step back while his left hand tilted forty-five degrees down so that the muzzle pointed at the ground. His right arm was held to his side at ear-level for him to aim and fire.


    Anyone that looked at him now would remark that his posture was strange.


    The swarm of rats was already within a hundred meters of Bai Yunfei, ready to drown him in the waves of soulbeasts!


    That was when Bai Yunfei struck!


    Without even opening his eyes, Bai Yunfei directed his legs to move in a strange way, as if trying to sway between two points within a very small radius. While his swaying movement looked very ¡®subtle,¡¯ his entire person had somehow turned blurry!!


    Simultaneously, red and violet balls of light suddenly shot forth from his figure. Like marbles, these balls of light flew forward with frightening speed!


    In the blink of an eye, a ¡®barrage of bullets¡¯ filled a small circular portion of air in front of Bai Yunfei, flying straight for the swarm!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­¡±


    A series of concentrated pops could be heard as the ¡®bullets¡¯ made from elemental energy tore through any soulbeasts they touched and then the next two or three soulbeasts after! It didn¡¯t matter if the bullets hit a bat or a rat. The bullets destroyed and even reduced the soulbeasts to nothing but ashes after they struck!


    In no time at all, more than a hundred soulbeasts had been shot to death. Due to the nature of their deaths, the bats and rats left behind a mist of blood in the air and on the ground!


    This was the armament skill Bai Yunfei had invented, gun fu!!


    With his impeccable movements, his extreme accuracy and soulsense, and his unlimited bullet-shooting Desert Eagles, Bai Yunfei could take on the swarm without any gaps in his technique!


    The wave of soulbeasts stepped over the remnants of the first few, who had been shot to death, with shrill cries as they stormed toward Bai Yunfei, but before ten meters of distance could be crossed, the next wave of soulbeasts were blown apart. Bats dropped from the sky, leaving behind a mist of blood, giving off an extremely eerie sight.


    It didn¡¯t matter where the soulbeasts were coming from. They were shot relentlessly and in great numbers. Only those who were fortunate enough to be outside of a hundred-meter radius of Bai Yunfei were spared.


    Eventually, the soulbeasts surrounded Bai Yunfei in a large circle. The fact that there was such an empty circle within this swarm of soulbeasts was more than enough to demonstrate the capabilities of Bai Yunfei¡¯s gun fu!


    From the countless barrage of elemental bullets being fired, the ones that were violet in color were unmistakably faster than the red ones. The soulbeasts who were trying to run past Bai Yunfei were shot then, even if they were outside the hundred-meter radius.


    The only sanctuary of peace was just the village itself. The bullets of the Desert Eagles covered every other inch of the area. It didn¡¯t matter if they were aimed at the sky or the earth¡­


    Not even a minute after the swarm had tried to get past Bai Yunfei, all several thousand soulbeasts were dead¡ªjust like that!

 Chapter 373: Dual Flame Arts: Coil!

    Bai Yunfei stood still within the circle with both arms crossed over each other. A wisp of light was starting to disappear from the two Desert Eagles now that he had stopped firing.


    From start to finish, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t moved more than half a meter from his original spot, and everything within twenty meters of him was without blood.


    Beyond those twenty meters was a bloodbath¡ªcorpses and blood pooled everywhere!


    Two seconds after things had died down, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes twitched open. Observing the area around him, he looked pleased.


    ¡°Used about a third of my soulforce and feels like I just used an Eighty-one Fold Fist Force if I¡¯m not wrong¡­ that¡¯s a good result!¡± Bai Yunfei clutched his Desert Eagles in excitement.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯ve gained a powerful move for dealing with many enemies. As long as the enemies aren¡¯t too strong, they won¡¯t be able to stop this move¡­¡±


    Today was the first day he had tried out his gun fu in actual combat. The results were very pleasing to see.


    ¡°Clack.¡±


    His left hand shifted down to reveal the ¡®ammunition clip¡¯ of his Lightning Eagle. There was a faint glow from his Violet Soul Ring as soulforce flowed out of the ring and into the clip, refilling it with a new violet luster. Now that the clip had been refuelled, Bai Yunfei tapped the handle of the Lightning Eagle on the clip and pushed it back into the pistol with a clack.


    The Fire Eagle was a fire type soul armament. Thus, Bai Yunfei could shoot bullets made from elemental fire straight from his body. However, the Lightning Eagle couldn¡¯t do this. It required a special ¡®ammunition clip¡¯ made from a lightning type primal stone. Then by using soulforce to feed the clip, even more ¡®bullets¡¯ could be made.


    Of the two Deagles, the Fire Eagle technically contained an ¡®infinite bullets.¡¯ The Lightning Eagle, while technically housing an infinite stock of bullets as well, had to be reloaded every so often, but reloading didn¡¯t take much time at all.


    Like the Lightning Eagle, the Fire Eagle had a clip, but it was in a constant state of being maxed out, so there wasn¡¯t a need to craft any special clips to reload the gun. If Bai Yunfei really wanted to, he could install another elemental clip in his gun to shoot different types of elements, but the power behind those bullets would be weaker since he wasn¡¯t trained in other types of elements.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    An ear-deafening explosion reverberated through the air with an accompanying tremor reverberating through the ground. Bai Yunfei¡¯s Eyebrows lifted up in surprise as he turned to the source, only to see a ball of red light form on the horizon.


    From what he could see, the red light was taking the shape of a mushroom cloud¡ª


    Someone was clearly using a super-strong fire move.


    ¡°What an intense battle they¡¯re having over there!¡± Bai Yunfei sighed, but then he whirled around, ¡°Are the reinforcements here? I didn¡¯t notice them before¡­¡±


    A large bubble of soulforce was radiating from the direction of the city. All sorts of varying fluctuations of soulforce and elemental energy could be felt for ten kilometers. The strongest of Beast Suppression City had already been deployed and fighting, but due to his concentration, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t noticed them until now.


    Another wave of soulbeasts was rapidly advancing from several kilometers away, making Bai Yunfei quite glad that the village was located so far away. If the wave were to hit here rather than there, Bai Yunfei doubted that he¡¯d have the strength to fend them off.


    That didn¡¯t mean his fight was over just yet. Another small wave of soulbeasts was on its way to the village, forcing Bai Yunfei to run to the west to fight it. Compared to the first soulbeast wave, the amount of soulbeasts coming now was drastically smaller.


    ¡°It¡¯s over so fast!?¡± Elation filled Bai Yunfei as he swept the field in front of him with his soulforce.


    ¡°This is it¡­ this is the last push!¡± He thought after two seconds.


    As soon as Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind fill with glee, another occurrence immediately swept the emotion off his face. He looked up and stared off into the distance without being able to say anything.


    ¡°But¡­ but why! Why is something like this showing up only now!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s nervousness was palpable even with his strength. ¡°If that thing runs over to the village, there won¡¯t be anything left of it!¡± he remarked after looking back at the village.


    ¡°Tsk!!¡±


    ¡°Is this the final test? Then bring it on! I can¡¯t let something like this scare me! I¡¯ll use the Cataclysmic Seal if I have too!¡± The more he thought to himself, the more determined he felt. The next wave of soulbeasts was nearly within range now, filling Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes with an indomitable willpower, ¡°Good thing this wave is the slowest of them all, so¡­ I¡¯ll take care of them first!¡±


    Lifting the two Desert Eagles, Bai Yunfei began to fire at the soulbeasts.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­¡±


    The red and violet bullets felt more like an individual stream of light than bullets being shot from Bai Yunfei¡¯s pistols. In the blink of an eye, another barrage of bullets was already upon the soulbeasts charging at him. He hadn¡¯t revealed another technique of his gun fu, but his rate of fire was much faster and his power was unwavering.


    Of these next two hundred soulbeasts, the weakest of the bunch was only a late-stage class four while the strongest were ten late-stage class fives!


    When the first barrage struck the soulbeasts, the first ten soulbeasts were reduced to nothing but holes. Some managed to evade with only a few non-fatal wounds while two of the mid-stage class five soulbeasts managed to completely evade all of the bullets!


    ¡°Roar!!¡± From the middle of the barrage, a mid-stage class five tiger let loose a furious roar. A ton of green energy was forming in the space between its jaws.


    This was a unique move of the tiger, a roar that could fire off elemental power!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Before the tiger could complete its move, an elemental bullet the size of a peanut struck it without warning. The bullet shot into the tiger¡¯s jaw and soon made its way out the other side!


    Compared to the bullets from before, this lightning bullet was both stronger and faster!


    Lightning Eagle stats:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 1001


    Additional Attack: 520


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: 8% chance to fire a bullet twice as fast and strong.


    Upgrade Requirement: 105 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    The fact that the additional effect of the Lightning Eagle had activated didn¡¯t seem to catch Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention. He continued to let loose bullet after bullet.


    Meanwhile, ten bursts of energy were headed in his direction.


    Without dodging, Bai Yunfei directed the Cataclysmic Seal to provide a barrier to protect him from the ten bursts.


    With countless of bullets aimed at it, another mid-stage class five soulbeast only managed another dozen meters before collapsing to the ground. In just a few seconds, another twenty soulbeasts were struck by the fire bullets.


    At last, this round of soulbeasts had finally managed to make it within a hundred meters of Bai Yunfei. At the helm of this group was a golden monitor lizard; any bullet that made contact with its skin was brushed aside, leaving behind only a spark on its seemingly impenetrable scales!!


    Despite the imperviousness of its scales, the bullets seemed like they were hurting the lizard. Each time a bullet struck, the lizard would cry out in pain, but these injuries were very small since the lizard continued forward. The eyes of lizard became more bloodshot with each bullet that landed. It seemed like it wished to tear Bai Yunfei from limb to limb.


    Subjugating this next round of soulbeasts would be difficult with just these two Desert Eagles. Storing away the two pistols, Bai Yunfei chose not to take out another one of his soul armaments. Instead, he clenched his fists and brought them to his sides. He looked at the soulbeasts and smirked.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s try this move!¡±


    As if responding to his remark, the Cataclysmic Seal shuddered. A fireball the size of an egg flew out. It was the second fireseed essence!


    The fireseed transferred resting spots from the Cataclysmic Seal to Bai Yunfei, powering him up. Feeling the power course through him, Bai Yunfei began to perform a series of complex hand seals. A powerful aura of soulforce exuded from his hand seals in response to his gestures. In just seconds, dozens of hand seals were formed and the powerful elemental fire being melded by them became more and more visible. Before, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had remained obscured by a mysterious power, but when he started to go form the seals, his strength was revealed to be that of a late-stage Soul Ancestor!


    ¡°Dual Flame Arts: ¡®Coil¡¯!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shouted aloud as he finished the final seal, and his figure immediately vanished from sight!


    The next second, he was on top of the golden monitor lizard¡¯s head!


    What he had used wasn¡¯t the Wave Treading Steps. His figure didn¡¯t blur which was a common trait of that skill.


    He had instantaneously moved to where the soulbeast was fifty meters away!


    The flames that circled Bai Yunfei distorted the air around him with their intense heat. When closely studied, one would be able to see that the flames weren¡¯t a single unbroken chain of fire; instead, they were two halves! The color to the flame segments were different as well; the way the two streams of elemental fire behaved together clearly revealed that one was different from the other, like the Jing and the Wei rivers.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    As soon Bai Yunfei appeared on the golden monitor lizard, he delivered an Eighty-one Fold Fist Force to its head.


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Following the collision, the lizard¡¯s head was slammed into the ground, reduced to nothing but paste!!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡± With his right hand came the Fire-tipped Spear, and since the lizard was dead, Bai Yunfei moved on to kill other soulbeasts!


    ¡°Roar¡­ boom¡­ bang¡­¡±


    With each roar came a different explosion as Bai Yunfei killed soulbeast after soulbeast with his spear. Not a single soulbeast was able to get ten meters behind him even the late-stage class five soulbeasts. At most, it only took him three strikes to fully kill each one!!


    This round of soulbeasts was stronger than the previous ones, but they died just as quickly!


    The strength Bai Yunfei was displaying was no different than that of an¡­ early-stage Soul Exalt!!

 Chapter 374: The Final ‘Mountain’ of a Soulbeast!

    The Dual Flame Arts was the invention of a predecessor of the Crafting Schools. It required two fireseed essences and was separated into two chapters.


    The first chapter emphasized the ¡®training¡¯ needed to use two fireseeds and how to increase one¡¯s strength.


    The second chapter emphasized the way to ¡®battle.¡¯ As its name implied, this chapter focused on how to fight using the technique.


    The two fireseed essences could support one another and stimulate the body due to the conflict between the two, causing the body to power up even more.


    There were two different forms explained in the battle chapter that required the two fireseeds to stimulate the body.


    The first form was ¡®coil.¡¯ By adjusting the frequency and intensity of the two fireseeds, elemental fire would wrap around the body and collide to bring forth unbelievable power. In this form, the user would be able to break their limits and increase their strength¡ªthe form Bai Yunfei was in right now.


    Normally, Bai Yunfei possessed the strength of a late-stage Soul Ancestor, but in this form, he could break the limits and advance past the bottleneck he faced to attain the strength of an early-stage Soul Exalt!


    An effect like this really emphasized just how perverse the Dual Flame Arts was.


    However, soul skills that had power-boosting effects also came with side-effects. The backlash of a power-boosting soul skill was an extremely important thing to watch for.


    But the side-effects for the Dual Flame Arts were practically nil! In the coil form, Bai Yunfei could persist for half an hour before he¡¯d have to return his second fireseed to the Cataclysmic Seal. Not only did this ignore the backlash that¡¯d normally come to roost, his body wouldn¡¯t suffer any effects from using the skill!


    This was only if Bai Yunfei remembered to cancel the coil form before it was too late¡ªbefore he used up all of his soulforce.


    The last time Bai Yunfei had used of this form, he had been so caught up in the euphoric feeling of his newfound power that he lost himself to the feeling and used up all his soulforce, leaving him bedridden for a whole day and night¡­


    The Bai Yunfei of today was no stranger to this form. The power he received from breaking through to become a Soul Exalt was already familiar to him. That much could be seen from how quickly he dispatched the soulbeasts.


    The step that divided a late-stage Soul Ancestor and a Soul Exalt was essentially the same as the step that was needed to cross from the earth to the heavens. With so much power filling his body, Bai Yunfei felt as though he¡¯d never be able to use it all. His control over elemental fire was far more powerful, and he didn¡¯t even need to use the elemental fire in the world, the amount of elemental fire in his body was all he needed.


    The speed that came with his newfound strength¡­ the power¡­ the soulsense¡­ everything¡­


    He felt so powerful!


    Only one word could be used to describe this feeling: ecstatic!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was another explosion as a burst of elemental fire erupted in the air. Bai Yunfei speared a late-stage class four scythe mantis through the chest before its body was rendered into ashes. Then, in a burst of wind, the ashes scattered over the earth¡­


    Five minutes.


    It took just five minutes for over a hundred class four soulbeasts, dozens of class five soulbeasts, and nearly a dozen late-stage class five soulbeasts to be reduced to corpses!


    In a blur of shadows, Bai Yunfei stepped away from the battlefield to return to his spot in front of the village. A pair of ordinary-looking shoes could be seen on his feet, glowing slightly purple when he moved.


    When he came to a rest, the shoes started to dim in color before returning to their original gray color.


    The purple light symbolized elemental lightning. For Bai Yunfei, who focused on training in elemental fire, the fact that elemental lightning could even form underneath his feet could clearly be said to be because of the boots.


    In other words, it could clearly be said that these boots were also soul armaments of the lightning affinity.


    The speed Bai Yunfei was capable of moving at was partially due to the newfound strength when he broke his limits and partially because of these boots.


    Boot stats:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 900


    Additional Attack: 460


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase speed by 100% for one second in exchange for soulforce.


    Cooldown of 1 second


    Upgrade Requirement: 105 Soulpoints


    Author Note: The boots come in a pair since it¡¯d be rather unsuitable for them to have separate effects. Please try not to be too serious.


    The one second duration effect was very compatible with the short-burst nature of lightning. The fact that the boots had a cooldown of one second also meant that only one second was needed in between uses for another burst of speed, which meant it was an extremely powerful effect.


    Usage of this effect to move felt anachronic in nature, bizarre and strange. At first, Bai Yunfei wanted to call this technique the ¡°Lightning Step,¡± but it felt rather ordinary to say. After thinking about the instantaneous movement, Bai Yunfei figured that people would perceive this movement as ¡®flashes.¡¯


    With that reasoning in mind, he came up with a proper name for this technique¡ª


    The Flash Step!!


    Consequently, these boots were named the ¡®Flash Lightning Boots.¡¯


    ¡­¡­


    Any other soul cultivator would have been in utter shock after watching these two hundred soulbeasts get slaughtered, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s face didn¡¯t seem to share those feelings of relief or joy. Without dispelling the coil around him, Bai Yunfei charged straight at the pack of soulbeasts with his spear.


    Roughly a minute later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°It¡¯s here!¡±


    ¡°Crack! Crack! Pop! Pop!¡±


    A series of pops and cracks echoed from deeper within the forest¡ªsounds that seemed as if the trees themselves were breaking. Due to the dirt the soulbeasts had kicked up in their rush here, Bai Yunfei was only able to see a large shadow slowly meandering toward him!


    The tremors of the earth were starting to get even worse. The trees in front of him were swaying crazily and the black shadow was getting closer and closer.


    Finally, a giant mountain towered right in front of him!


    A mountain!


    One that was two hundred meters tall and a hundred meters wide! There were several large jagged stones and dozens of trees rooted on its back!


    No matter how one looked at this thing, it was a mountain, but it was moving!


    The palpitations were small, but the smallest of footsteps could clearly be seen on the ground behind it!


    ¡°A hillbeast¡­¡± Bai Yunfei grunted. The signs were there for him to see it, but no matter how he prepared himself to feel, it was still hard to hide his surprise.


    A hillbeast was a soulbeast with the earth element. Like its name implied, it was basically a mountain!


    No one knew the origins of these types of soulbeasts nor were they spotted out in the wild often. This was due to the fact that for eighty percent of their lives, hillbeasts tended to ¡®hibernate.¡¯


    When they hibernate, all presence of their existence vanishes, making them another mountain in the landscape. Even if someone were to step or prance all over their bodies, hillbeasts wouldn¡¯t react. In normal situations, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for them to wake up once every two or three hundred years, but only so that they could relocate and continue their slumber elsewhere.


    This way, they could continue their existences as part of a mountain range.


    Only one appeared in front of Bai Yunfei today, but it¡¯d be more accurate to say one ¡®mountain¡¯ appeared right in front of him.


    These hillbeasts weren¡¯t meant to appear in places where there weren¡¯t any soulbeasts, yet this one was heading straight for the village! Should it be left unchecked, only razed ground and death would be left in its wake.


    ¡°Mid-stage class six¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. ¡°That¡¯s the same as a mid-stage Soul Exalt. I can¡¯t fight against it but¡­ how am I going to stop it!?¡±

 Chapter 375: The Hillbeast

    The real body of the hillbeast hides within its core, making the outer layer of its body the ¡®armor¡¯. After years over years of existence with elemental earth converging at its core, the outermost layers became as hard as regular stone while the inner layers grow progressively harder. When a hillbeasts wants to move, it¡¯d use its elemental earth to make countless of stone formations to act as its legs.


    The more Bai Yunfei looked at the hillbeast, the more information about it came to mind. Hillbeasts were very slow to begin with, so Bai Yunfei had plenty of time to think.


    ¡°If its real body is at its center¡­..then I¡¯ll try using my own strength to stop it! If I can¡¯t, then I¡¯ll have the Cataclysmic Seal break it apart¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei began to plan out his course of action.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too worried about being able to stop this soulbeast or not. Having the perverse Cataclysmic Seal was a guarantee to stopping the hillbeast already. But the biggest load Bai Yunfei had was that he knew the hillbeast was the final soulbeast to fight.


    With those two facts, Bai Yunfei decided that now was the time to test his own strength and see just how far he could take himself with the +13 effect of the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Concentrating his strength to his feet, Bai Yunfei leapt up ten meters into the air. A flash of red light converged underneath his feet, and with a tap, Bai Yunfei leapt up yet again.


    Skywalking!


    A feat only Soul Exalts were capable of. By converging elemental energy to the feet for just one moment, they could materialize a foothold to step on. When Bai Yunfei was in his ¡®coil¡¯ form, Skywalking became possible.


    One hop after another, Bai Yunfei ascended into the skies towards the slow-moving hillbeast. After about a kilometer of traveling in this fashion, Bai Yunfei came to a stop just two hundred meters away from the hillbeast. Still a hundred meters up in the air, Bai Yunfei observed the hillbeast, only to think that he felt like an insignificant speck of sand next to it.


    He quirked his lips. For a moment, he didn¡¯t know how exactly to start this fight off.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try this then¡­.¡±


    His right hand went up. Palm facing upwards, the Ardent Sun Glove lit up brilliantly with light as elemental fire started to converge and spin on top of his palm. With a ¡®bang¡¯, it turned into a fireball five meters in radius above his head.


    ¡°Here we go!!¡±


    Like a conducting baton, his right hand twirled and pointed at the giant mountain, commanding the fireball to fly straight for the incoming hillbeast!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    Stone and dirt flew up into the air following an ear-deafening explosion. Persisting for several seconds before clearing away, the dust soon showed a thirty meter deep crater on the hillbeast¡¯s body, but¡­..the hillbeast hadn¡¯t stopped at all!!


    In fact, it didn¡¯t even seem like it had even noticed it was attacked!


    ¡°Tsk! So even that wasn¡¯t enough?¡± Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue. Returning the Fire-tipped Spear to his right hand, Bai Yunfei started his descent down to that crater, and with arms that bulged furiously, he stabbed down at its center with the spear!


    For the sake of guaranteeing that the explosion effect would activate, Bai Yunfei used the Ninefold Stab, thus increasing its power and burying the spear halfway into the hillbeast!


    ¡°Boom!¡± Another explosion.


    This time, the crater had been opened another ten meters!


    ¡°Still not enough?!¡± Twisting his hand, the Fire-tipped Spear disappeared back into his ring. Instead of using the spear, he brought up both hands to punch!


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!


    ¡°Boom!!¡± With the third explosion, the crater grew bigger yet again!!


    A strong amount of recoil came springing back at him, causing Bai Yunfei to fall back in surprise; the recoil had brought him back twenty meters!


    Having stabilized himself with elemental fire gripping his feet to the ground, Bai Yunfei was just about to continue his assault when he felt something was coming.


    Hastily bringing up the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei protected himself with the barrier provided to him.


    Just as he did so, an abnormally strong amount of elemental earth was starting to form from the crater he made. The sounds of crumbling could be heard before countless stalagmites shot forth from the ground to stab at Bai Yunfei like arrows!!


    No sooner was the barrier up completely did the stalagmites rain down onto its entire surface!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    Like hail onto a hard surface, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire person was obscured by the amount of stalagmites coming down on his person. Whenever one barrage of stalagmites was jettisoned out from the ground, another volley was already being prepared to be fire at Bai Yunfei in one continuous motion. In no time, hundreds¡­.and even thousands of stalagmites had been fired!


    These stalagmites were being controlled as well. If Bai Yunfei went to the side, they¡¯d turn and chase after him!


    Each one that struck his barrier hadn¡¯t even time to fall before the next one was already coming up behind it. In practically seconds, the entire barrier was turned into a giant stone ball with how many stalagmites were stabbed into it, trapping Bai Yunfei in its center!


    ¡°Boom!!¡± From within the sphere, a furious explosion of red light pierced through the cracks before Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear came stabbing out from it. In an instant, Bai Yunfei broke free from his confines and flew a thousand meters backwards to land safely in the air.


    ¡°That was close¨Cnever thought that the hillbeast would attack back so seriously. I nearly ate it back there¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered from behind the safety of his barrier, goosebumps covering both his arms.


    But when Bai Yunfei looked back to the hillbeast, his eyes flew wide open in shock¨Con the ¡®body¡¯ of the hillbeast, the three craters Bai Yunfei had inflicted onto it was¡­.was gone!!


    It looked as though they hadn¡¯t existed to begin with, and the hillbeast had always that same pristine mountain shape!


    ¡°Hoouuuu¡­.¡±


    A muffled but deep roar erupted through the air, startling Bai Yunfei.


    This roar came from the hillbeast!


    ¡°Is it angry?¡± Bai Yunfei smirked, ¡°So that means my attack did do something¡­.


    ¡°But you¡¯re still not stopping!!¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. The hillbeast in front of him was finally starting to speed up, ¡°Then I¡¯ll just have to break you to pieces!¡±


    With an eye to the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei looked back to the hillbeast. A brilliant glint appeared in his eyes. ¡°I highly doubt that my +13 effect won¡¯t do anything to you! I¡¯ve still ten minutes left to my ¡®coil¡¯ form¡­.and then some!¡±


    Seemingly determined to test out his one ultimate move by the end of today and having the ¡®coil¡¯ form still, Bai Yunfei was without fear for anything else.


    Brandishing his right hand to summon his Tempest Sword, Bai Yunfei flew up into the skies rather than by Skywalking.


    His speed on the Tempest Sword allowed Bai Yunfei to reach the area a hundred meters above the hillbeast in record time. Upon seeing the orange light from the hillbeast start to glow again, Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes and started to go through several complex hand seals.


    Hand seal after hand seal, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands was like a blur in between movement. A terribly strong amount of aura was starting to exude forth from his body, and then when his hands landed upon the very last hand seal, the soulforce in his body had immediately turned into¡­.elemental fire!

 Chapter 376: Coil x Dual Dragons!!

    The final seal made by Bai Yunfei¡¯s fingers preceded the change that came over the fire. Expanding in size, the flames swelled in intensity before flowing out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body in large amounts.


    Only seconds went by as the powerful aura started to stabilize. But rather than have one single strand of elemental fire, there were two! Both fluctuated with powerful elemental fire, but both had their own rhythmic differences that refused to mix with one another, thus resulting in the sight in front of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Houuu¡­..¡±


    A low grumble came from the hillbeast. Somehow, there was a tinge of nervousness in its roar, and perhaps just a little bit of¡­.fear?!


    ¡°Clang! Clang! Clang¡­.¡±


    One after another, resonating sounds of elemental earth being gathered clamored all over the hillbeast¡¯s ¡®body¡¯. The area where Bai Yunfei was had the most elemental earth bubbling in it, and before long, stalagmites even bigger and more numerous than the ones before started to fly towards Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­..¡±


    For just one brief moment, the hillbeast came to a stop admist a very loud buzz. Countless of stone spikes came flying out from its body and through the air at frightening speeds, threatening to cover every single inch of area Bai Yunfei could possibly escape to in larger numbers than before!


    But Bai Yunfei was already finishing up the very last of the hand seals by this point. Upon the very final one, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up excitedly before he brought his hands to his side so that they were at forty-five degree angles to his side. Clenching tightly, the two streams of elemental fire started to bubble and flow through his left and right arms. As they flowed, they started to coil around his arms and then converge at his fists like forming a bubble.


    ¡°Bang¡­.bang¡­.¡±


    The rhythmic beating of the two fireseed essences within his body brought a light to Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. At times, the fireseeds would flow forward, and in other times, it¡¯d flow backwards, like it was following a pulsating tempo. As if two dragons were rising up within him, the elemental fire exploded in power, threatening to tear loose from his body with a roar to fill the area with its terrifying strength.


    The whistling of the stone spikes coming from the hillbeast was almost continuous. Shooting one after another, each stone spike was mixed with each other so closely that it was more like a fluid stream of spikes. Not a single gap could be seen in between the spikes, and with the orange glow infusing them, the entire thing looked like a giant stone dragon threatening to swallow Bai Yunfei whole!


    Bai Yunfei was unswayed by this attack. Even with how threatening it looked, Bai Yunfei stared unflinchingly at it with the elemental fire still rising in intensity with each passing second¡­.


    ¡°This is it, here we go!¡±


    Finally, Bai Yunfei let loose an angry roar. The burning fire wrapped around his arms shook, and with a final bang, his arms thrusted forward!!


    In the moment his arms punched out, the two streams of elemental fire charged forth. They extended from his fists as one long stream a meter thick and still growing in length to howl and roar furiously, and to the hillbeast, it surely looked as though two giant fire dragons were coming straight at it!!


    By twenty meters, the two fire dragons blasted into the barrage of stone spikes. Upon the union of the two, the two streams started to twist and turn around each other! The resulting explosion was extremely fierce, and the fires and stones that sloughed off the two was extremely terrifying to look at!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Another explosion rocked the area as the two dragons vied for supremacy. One red, and one orange fought fiercely for some time before finally, one side won over the other.


    In a final burst of fire, the two red dragons joined together to become one giant flame pillar and devoured the earth dragon whole!


    When the two sides first struck against each other, the stone dragon looked as though it had the advantage at first.


    But when the two fire dragons joined together, the earth dragon was vanquished almost instantly!! With the earth dragon defeated, any stone spikes that were far enough away from the dragon fell to the ground, while those stones still intact in the fire dragon fell down in the form of lava to pour down onto the ground like rain!


    Even with the prior clash, the fire dragon hadn¡¯t slowed down in speed at all. Separating again into two, the fire dragons rotated in place as they traveled through the air, the intensity of the heat was actually growing stronger and stronger¡­..with nothing that could stop its indomitable force!


    ¡°Boom!!¡± Following a small explosion of stone and rubble, the two fire dragons slammed straight into the hillbeast¡¯s waist!! So ear-deafening was the explosion that even the earth beneath the hillbeast shook with sound! The two fire dragons colliding with the hillbeast had been so brilliant in light that it felt as though the sun itself was emitting a bright red light with fires that spread across the entire mountain in a flash!


    Like a bonfire, the entirety of the hillbeast¡¯s body was engulfed into flames!


    This powerful move of Bai Yunfei had a name.


    The Dual Dragons!!


    ¡­¡­


    Faced with such a powerful force attacking him, the hillbeast came to a sudden and complete stop for the very first time!


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± On top of his Tempest Sword, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief when he saw the hillbeast had stopped moving. Of all the times he practiced this one move, today¡¯s usage had been the best so far!


    ¡°Just as I thought, it takes a real fight to really see me at my best. What a huge improvement this was¡­..¡± He remarked while rubbing his hands.


    ¡°Houuuu!!!¡±


    Suddenly, a loud roar of a soulbeast brought Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. Stunned that the hillbeast could still move, Bai Yunfei looked down at wide eyes to see the flaming mountain start moving again towards him!


    ¡°It¡­it can still move?!¡± He screamed to himself, ¡°But how¡­.but how?!¡±


    The power behind his Dual Dragons was by no means weak, and Bai Yunfei had been confident in its ability to accomplish its task. So while he muttered to himself about the hillbeast, a wave of indignation and fury washed over his eyes. Giving a death glare at the hillbeast, Bai Yunfei began to go through another series of hand seals while saying, ¡°I doubt you won¡¯t go down, take this! Dual Fla¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hou¡­.¡±


    Right as Bai Yunfei was about to activate the second form of the Dual Flame Arts, the hillbeast let loose another roar. But this time, it was far weaker in tone, and filled with pain and anguish!


    ¡°Eh?¡± Pausing in his hand seals, Bai Yunfei gave a closer look at the struggling hillbeast on the ground. For twenty seconds the hillbeast continued to struggle, but at the second after that, it came to a pause. Two seconds later, it faltered, and then right under Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, the mountain peaks on its body¡­.collapsed!!


    It was like if an actual mountain was crumbling. Piece by piece, the hillbeast¡¯s body crumbled and gave way like in a landslide. The body that must¡¯ve took the hillbeast so many years to form was ultimately reduced to stone!


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Even after several seconds passed from when the aura of the hillbeast vanished, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t talk.


    As things appeared, the hillbeast had been in is final death throes from when Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Dragons smashed into it!


    ¡°Haha! So that¡¯s how it is! I¡¯ve said it before, but as long as I¡¯ve the Dual Dragons in this ¡®coil¡¯ form, a mid-stage class six soulbeast is no match for me!!¡±


    With a hearty laugh, Bai Yunfei stared at the ¡®corpse¡¯ of the hillbeast. Knowing that time was just about up, Bai Yunfei released the ¡®coil¡¯ form with a slap of his hand to his chest, expelling the second fireseed from it back into the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Once the form fully dissipated away from Bai Yunfei, his power levels dropped straight back down to that of a late-stage Soul Ancestor. The drop of strength had always left Bai Yunfei feeling dissatisfied since he could feel the powerful soulforce drain away from him.


    The Violet Soul Ring on his right hand flashed once, signifying the activation of its effects to transfer its stockpiled 2000 soulpoints back into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body and restoring his reserves back to a workable state.


    Still standing on his sword, Bai Yunfei looked over the entire area to where the Soulbeast Forest was. The ¡®path¡¯ left behind by the hillbeast had dug a hundred meter ditch in the ground behind it and ruined all the trees in sight.


    But no other soulbeasts were in sight either.


    He looked to the west of the Soulbeast Forest; no soulbeasts were coming out from that direction as well.


    It would seem that the soulbeast wave was coming to an end¡­.


    He let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Phew¡­.it¡¯s finally over, I wonder how the guild wil¡ª¡±


    ¡°Roar!!!!¡±


    Just as he was about to turn back to the direction of the Braves guild, the ear-piercing roar of a beast suddenly forced him to pause!


    This sound wasn¡¯t coming from the front, but from the¡­back!!

 Chapter 377: ‘Long’, Swordsman of the Three Swords Style

    Whirling around, Bai Yunfei stared off to where a large group of soulbeasts were now rushing towards him from the opposite direction. ¡°Pah! How did I forget that this could happen?¡±


    While the soulbeast wave did indeed stop, that only meant that no more soulbeasts were coming out from the Soulbeast Forest. The group of soulbeasts that had detached themselves from the main wave heading towards the village and town were previously heading straight for the gates to Praestia Pass were now on their way back!!


    Since the strongest of Praestia Pass knew that it¡¯d only be a matter of time before the soulbeasts try to invade the city, they mobilized the forces to drive the soulbeasts away. And after stopping the brunt of the forces, all that was left was to slaughter the rest of the soulbeasts there.


    The superiority of numbers the soulbeast had over the humans wasn¡¯t too big of an advantage. The people of Praestia Pass were strong, thus the name of their city being named as such. Having lived in such close proximity to the Soulbeast Forest, it was only natural that the forces would contain people who¡¯d be able to fight off the soulbeasts. In the long history of the city, the amount of soulbeast waves was plenty, and no matter how bitter or terrifying it was, the Praestia Pass stood steadfast against the trials of time. Today would be no exception.


    A great deal of the soulbeasts were already killed within the sparse several hours that had transpired. The soul cultivators had now the upper hand, and the soulbeasts¨Cwho were running away from the Soulbeast Forest in fear of something¨Cwere now starting to wake up to the situation. Countless of their brethren were dead; this wasn¡¯t something that could be ignored so easily.


    So thus, the soulbeasts began to flee.


    The wave that had been so tirelessly going forwards was now starting to flee the other direction. Due to the chaotic nature that had been their battle, the still quite scared soulbeasts ran off in any direction available to them. They needn¡¯t return to the forest by the official path, so as long as they could escape, they¡¯d be able to make their ways back to the forest eventual.


    But with this randomized pattern of fleeing, that made the village an inevitable destination for plenty of soulbeasts to run to¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Having been so caught up in trying to save the village from the soulbeasts in the front, Bai Yunfei had completely forgotten about the ones in the back. One would say that his understanding and experience with soulbeast waves was lacking, so there was a missing piece in what Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve thought of beforehand. As a result, Bai Yunfei was now in for a rude awakening in the form of a hundred soulbeasts within several hundred meters from the southern entrance!!


    ¡°Tsk! I only just cleaned up the front gates and now they¡¯re coming in from the back! Can¡¯t I ever catch a break?!¡± An exasperated sigh escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips due to his grievances. Fueling the Tempest Sword with his soulforce, Bai Yunfei flew off towards the south in a blaze of green light.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s speedy reaction and sword could only get him so far. The soulbeasts themselves weren¡¯t slow by any means either, and so before Bai Yunfei could reach them, a class five wind-seeking leopard was already at the helm leading the charge. Injured in many places of its body, the leopard was still somehow able to attain frightening speeds due to the green light under its paws!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The panther roared furiously as it discovered that the village was in the way of its escape route. Unwilling to make a detour, it opened its jaws wide. There was a burst of faint green light, and in the next moment, the hut that was in front of it was blown apart.


    Amidst the sounds of the hut being blasted apart, some of the villagers started to cry out in fear.


    ¡°Hey, bastard! Don¡¯t break the houses!!¡±


    In his anger from forgetting about these soulbeasts, Bai Yunfei was already at a boiling point. The beginning destruction of the village was all his fault, so his fury had multiplied exponentially. The Lightning Eagle appeared in his left hand in an instant to fire off a lightning bullet at the leopard¡¯s head, only to have the leopard dodge it.


    Bai Yunfei was above the village by now, making him only just a hundred meters or so away from the leopard. Just as he was about to fire another shot, the look on his face changed drastically, causing him to call out, ¡°Cataclysmic Seal, forward!¡±


    The reason for his sudden deviation in attack was due to the soulbeast behind the leopard. A class five goldwinged deer had flapped its wings so that several beams of elemental metal as sharp as knives shot out from them to fly towards a nearby house. No sooner did it pierce straight through it did the beams continue onwards to the center of the village!


    The Cataclysmic Seal wasn¡¯t being used for offense, but for defense, as one could tell. Before the beams of elemental metal could strike down the heads of the terrorized villagers, a barrier of orange immediately erected itself over them all, protecting them from any external harm.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡± The beams struck uselessly against the barrier and fell down, unable to fly any more.


    Relief flooded Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Now that the villagers were safe, he could continue his assault. Already over the airspace of the southern entrance, Bai Yunfei was about to attack when he realized something, ¡°Who¡¯s¡­¡±


    From the eastern entrance, a single figure in purple was flying over to the village with the speed of lightning almost through to head into group of soulbeasts!!


    ¡­¡­


    In the moment when Bai Yunfei protected the villagers with the barrier, a purple streak of light came bursting forth from the eastern entrance. The figure¡¯s right hand now had a blade about the length of a meter from handle to tip, and a vertical height of about two fingers (imagine a katana). Placing it in between his mouth, the figure then brought out another two identical swords to put in his left and right hands!


    The figure was already just twenty meters to the right of the leopard by this point. With a twitch of his arms, soulforce began to flood into the person¡¯s swords in the form of elemental lightning that coiled around his blades. On the other side, the leopard was getting ready to use its elemental wind in preparation against the person.


    ¡°Three Swords Style¡­.Demon Cutter!!¡±


    A guttural growl came from the the man¡¯s mouth despite his grip on the sword¡¯s hilt. In a flash of light where the man¡¯s speed practically doubled, he reappeared on the other side of the leopard without even a blur to be seen of where he used to be!


    ¡°So fast! So damn fast!!¡±


    That was what Bai Yunfei thought first when he saw the person move. The move at which this person was moving at was far faster than when Bai Yunfei would use the Flash Step!


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    Fresh blood escaped from the leopard¡¯s mouth as three separate cut wounds appeared on its body, slicing it down the middle!


    A late-stage class five wind-chasing leopard, even in an injured state, had been killed so quickly that it hadn¡¯t even the time to even twitch!


    ¡°Three Swords Style¡­.Ninety-nine Lightnings!¡±


    Another deep growl.


    The two hands reversed the direction of the swords they were holding before the man started to rotate on the spot!!


    ¡°Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish¡­.¡±


    The only thing that could be seen from this man were slashes of purple light that soared off in every direction¨Ceven the ground to leave behind scorched cut marks¨Cto strike down the incoming soulbeasts!


    ¡°Tzk! Tzk! Tzk¡­.¡± Blood blossomed out like a rose from the bodies of the soulbeasts unable to dodge the man¡¯s lightning quick attacks. About ninety percent of the soulbeasts had been cut down by the blades, causing them to howl in pain before tumbling to the ground, and some of them had simply been sliced straight in half!


    ¡°Three Swords Style¡­.Lightning Flash Slash!¡±


    Once about only ten percent of the soulbeasts were left, the man stopped his spinning and immediately flew to where the goldwinged deer was in a flash of purple light. Then in another flash of purple light, the man leapt ten meters away to where a mid-stage class five giant armored beetle was. When he arrived there, the goldwinged deer fell to the ground in a mess of blood and gore¡­.


    There was about seven flashes of light that seemed to refract the surrounding light from the man, and after the man came to a stop, seven soulbeasts were all suddenly cut in two!!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This¡­.this is¡­.¡± Still speechless, all Bai Yunfei could do was watch this male come walking towards him.


    From the group of almost a hundred soulbeasts¨Chalf of them being class five ones¨Cthis single man had single-handedly killed them all!


    Now that this person was no longer moving at speeds beyond Bai Yunfei¡¯s comfort level, his very person and personal effects could now be seen. He was about 1.8 meters tall and wore black short-sleeved robes the same color as his hair. His face was sharp as if chiseled from stone, and his eyes were perceptive, giving him the look of a very ¡®determined and steadfast¡¯ person.


    Bai Yunfei finally realized where he was when the man drew closer to him. Stepping down from his sword onto the ground, he cupped his hands in thanks. ¡°Friend, I thank you for helping me.¡±


    ¡°No need for thanks,¡± The man nodded calmly. He gave an odd look at the barrier still protecting the villagers behind Bai Yunfei, and then to the direction of the Soulbeast Forest, ¡°what I did wasn¡¯t as good as what you¡¯ve done.¡±


    It seemed that he saw Bai Yunfei¡¯s battle with the soulbeasts earlier. Or at the very least, the last part of it.


    ¡°This one is named Bai Yunfei, might I know your name¡­.?¡±


    ¡°Long.¡± The man gave a one worded name.


    ¡°Er¡­.Long?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated; this person seriously had a one worded name!


    The clues began to all fall in place.


    ¡°Are you the one Kun and the others are waiting for?!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± This time, Long was the one to look on in surprise. ¡°Do you know Kun?¡±


    His question served as confirmation to Bai Yunfei¡¯s guess. Since he met Kun earlier, people with one worded names no longer surprised him. ¡°I met with Zhang Yunpeng, Kun and the others a while ago in the Town of the Braves, I¡¯ll be joining your team for a while to go into the Soulbeast Forest. We¡¯ve been waiting for you the past few days¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Long nodded. ¡°Where¡¯s the others?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all back in the town to help the others fend off the soulbeast wave,¡± Bai Yunfei pointed off towards the direction of the guild, ¡°there¡¯s a lot of strong people in that direction, you should be able to find them.¡±


    Before Long could say anything more, Bai Yunfei moved a hand up to stop him and to point behind him, ¡°We should finish off the rest of the soulbeasts here before we talk any more.¡±


    From the southwest, two groups of hundreds of soulbeasts were starting their rampage down towards the village.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Long nodded.


    Brandishing his right arm, the Fire-tipped Spear appeared for Bai Yunfei to wield. Giving Long a look, the two of them nodded in conjunction.


    Pressing off against the ground, they began their own rampage towards the two groups of soulbeasts¡­.

 Chapter 378: The Final Battle

    The incoming group of soulbeasts were coming in two major groups. Between the two, a little over two hundred soulbeasts were gathered with class fours and fives taking up about half their numbers. If it was just Bai Yunfei fighting these groups, even his gun fu wouldn¡¯t be able to cover such a large expanse of area the soulbeasts were covering. Unlike the grouped together soulbeasts like before, these ones were all over the place. Any person would be hard pressed to go from one spot to the next in order to take down all of the soulbeasts.


    Unless Bai Yunfei reactivated the ¡®coil¡¯ form or made the Cataclysmic Seal grow big, him being able to kill all the soulbeasts would be a pretty difficult question to answer.


    So it was fortunate that Long was here with him. His strength was equivalent to Bai Yunfei as a late-stage Soul Ancestor, and with his outstanding abilities, his strength was definitely beyond that of any other average soul cultivator his level. Presumably, those three swords he was using were of mid-earth tier quality.


    Armed with their respective weapons, the two soul cultivators charged straight for the soulbeasts. Bai Yunfei toted his Lightning Eagle to fire off several rounds at the dozen class four soulbeasts. Clashing with the other soulbeasts as he did, Bai Yunfei¡¯s other arm wielded the Fire-tipped Spear to battle furiously with any soulbeast willing to engage in close combat with him.


    This time, Long didn¡¯t use the ¡®Ninety-nine Lightnings¡¯ like he did before to kill all those soulbeasts. It was clearly a move not meant to be used with reckless abandon. On the other hand, the ¡®Lightning Flash Slash¡¯ was used to charge straight into the group and behead a dozen soulbeasts in one stroke. Then in another bolt of purple light, Long killed another few soulbeasts in a flurry of blood.


    This way of fighting wasn¡¯t unfamiliar to Bai Yunfei since that was how he had fought for the last two hours to halt the advances of the soulbeasts. Each time a soulbeast came up, he¡¯d stab at it with his spear. The class five soulbeasts took some more effort to kill, and there were a few soulbeasts that managed to step far enough into the village, but Bai Yunfei would kill those off with a flying dagger or two.


    ¡°Swish!¡±


    Only having just stabbed a soulbeast through, Bai Yunfei heard the sound of whistling from behind, causing him to quirk his eyes. Shifting his feet just half a meter to the right with the Wave Treading Steps, Bai Yunfei watched as a sharp green blade swish down, leaving behind a deep hole in the ground where it struck.


    His new foe was a mid-stage mantis ant. This particular species possessed the body of an ant the size of a large boar and had long bladed arms like a praying mantis.


    When its first move failed to land, the mantis ant immediately struck again, this time a horizontal stroke at Bai Yunfei¡¯s midriff.


    In response, Bai Yunfei held his spear vertical to his body to block the strike. After the second strike had been blocked, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see the mantis ant try again with a downward stroke on his head, but he responded in kind. Lifting his left arm, he blocked the arm with his Returner Bracer with a ¡°clang¡±.


    Then, there was only a small screech from the ant before it was sent flying away from Bai Yunfei in a flash!


    +10 Additional effect of the Returner Bracer, activated!


    30% chance to deflect 15% of the damage done. The damage dealt cannot exceed the defensive power of this equipment and cannot deflect long-ranged attacks.


    Chasing up to the ant, Bai Yunfei lashed out with his fist rather than his spear since it was a little too close for that. Unwilling to give up the chance, Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand immediately activated the Ninefold Fist Force to deliver a blow on the still flying mantis ant.


    ¡°Bang!!¡± Came the explosion. A huge indentation formed on the carapace of the ant, but not deep enough to be fatal. Due to its body being sent even farther away thanks to the punch, and the positioning of everyone there, the ant found itself flying for Long who was fighting a little farther away!


    ¡°Skree!!¡± Realizing that it was heading ¡®straight¡¯ for Long, the ant lifted its long arms up into the air to make use of this opportunity to strike down Long!


    Bai Yunfei was prepared for this. At some point prior to the ant¡¯s screeching, the Fire-tipped Spear had already transferred to his left hand so that he could hold onto the Fire Eagle with his right.


    ¡°Click.¡±


    The trigger was pressed, and with a bang, a single bullet of elemental fire shot straight for the mantis ant.


    ¡°Skreee!¡± The ant screeched again upon notice of the incoming attack. A flurry of green light exploded forth from its body and towards its small legs, resulting in a green whirlwind to appear beneath it. It pushed the ant several inches away in a successful evasion of the bullet while also aiding the ant¡¯s next strike at Long!


    Since he had been so concentrated on fighting the soulbeasts in front of him, Long was caught off guard by the fact that a soulbeast from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side was suddenly coming towards him. As soon as he realized an attck was on him, he turned his head just in time to see the soulbeast shift several inches to the side, and then a small bullet filled with elemental fire graze past the soulbeast and towards himself!


    The pupils in his eyes rapidly dilated; this type of attack from Bai Yunfei was completely unexpected to him, and he hadn¡¯t the time to dodge this ¡®fatal¡¯ strike from him!


    Would Long meet his unexpected demise at the hands of his supposed comrade?!


    Of course not!


    No sooner did Bai Yunfei see the mantis ant dodge the bullet for it to head for Long did he smile, as if unworried about the fact that it was about to kill his fellow soul cultivator.


    ¡°Swoosh!¡± The displacement of wind could be felt around Long¡¯s ears in the next moment. Just as he was just about to resign himself to what came next, he realized that the bullet that had only been just inches away from his eyes had without warning turned slightly to the left!


    There was a muffled sound of flesh being penetrated before the mantis ant was heard screeching again. Looking at the ant, Long was surprised to see that the fire bullet had somehow shot into the ant¡¯s head and out its back as if it had eyes!


    ¡°Thud!!!¡± The mantis ant collapsed onto the ground and spasmed for several moments before finally dying¡­.


    ¡°Wh¨Cwhat¡­?¡± Long¡¯s mind went blank. He saw what just happened in front of him, but his mind was unable to completely comprehend it.


    It wasn¡¯t until Bai Yunfei dispatched another two soulbeasts trying to take advantage of his distracted self with his guns that Long realized where he was. With just a quick look at the Fire Eagle in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, Long suppressed his curiosity and began to fight again.


    What should¡¯ve been impossible to do was without a doubt due to the special effect of the Fire Eagle!


    Fire Eagle stats:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 950


    Additional Attack: 500


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Upon ascertaining a target within a 500 meter radius, the next shot will have the ¡®homing¡¯ effect applied to it.


    Cooldown of five minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    Its effect was different than the Lightning Eagle in that it had to be manually activated rather than by chance. Furthermore, its effect was the ultimate ¡®homing¡¯ effect!


    This meant that as long as he used his soulsense to target something, he could activate the effect with a fire bullet to chase it down! The bullet would chase its foe down until it hit or was blocked!


    The only drawback to this effect was its relatively long cooldown time, so Bai Yunfei tried not to use it too often.


    ¡­¡­


    Ten minutes later, Bai Yunfei and Long were both finishing up the rest of their soulbeasts. Not a single one had managed to make it into the village yet, but due to the outbreak of elemental power in the battle, two of the houses on the outer rim of the village were destroyed.


    Not even able to take a break, the two soul cultivators spotted a flock of soulbeasts head towards them. Injured they were, but the soulbeasts were coming with great speeds still!


    ¡°Damnit!¡± This flock of soulbeasts coming at them now made the situation even worse than when they were first fighting the two groups of soulbeasts since the area of coverage was now even bigger than before!


    ¡°We¡¯ve no choice but to attack with all we got!¡±


    Glancing at each other, the two men nodded and then sped towards the soulbeast with even more soulforce blazing from them than before.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Gun fu!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Three Swords Style¡­.Five Hundred Lightnings!¡±

 Chapter 379: The Subsiding Wave of Beasts

    The sun was setting now to make way for dusk.


    Corpses and blood littered the expanse of land between the Soulbeast Forest and Beast Suppression Pass, painting a scene not unlike the hells made by an asura. Amongst the countless corpses of soulbeast laid the bodies of several soul cultivators in between, but they numbered few in comparison and were not easily seen.


    Mournful cries of soulbeasts would occasionally ring out from the direction of the Town of the Braves, followed by a burst of elemental power. Aside from that, there was only eerie silence to be heard.


    The soulbeast wave this time ended in a complete victory for the soul cultivators. Not a single soulbeast had made it into the city and the rest of the soulbeasts had fled back into the forest. Rather than chase them, the soul cultivators chose to stay behind to clean up the field.


    ¡­¡­


    On the eastern edge of the battlefield in a nameless village.


    At the center of the village, the earthen barrier of the Cataclysmic Seal was still holding strong. Though the villagers were huddled together at first, not a single one of them moved from their original spots and were rooted where they were to look off to the west in absolute shock.


    Underneath the setting sun, two small ¡®mountains¡¯ about the height of a two story house were piled up on the western edge of the village about two hundred meters away. Two figures sat at the very top of the mountains, looking as if they were resting.


    The majority of the houses in the western part of the village was totally destroyed, and some of the carcasses of several soulbeasts could be seen soaking the grounds of the village with their blood. But the farther one went west in the village, the more corpses that could be seen ones or maybe even smaller groups.


    In fact¡­..the small mountains that were formed near the village was formed by the carcasses of a great deal of soulbeasts!!


    On the mountain to the left, a red spear could be seen stabbed down into the peak of it, and a person leaning against the spear could be seen going through several hand seals. A faint red outline surrounded his body with specks of red light slowly permeating his body¨Cit was Bai Yunfei.


    On the other mountain sat a person with two blades placed neatly next to him while he meticulously cleaned off the third blade in his hand. It was Long.


    Ten minutes had already passed since the battle had finished, but not a word was spoken between the two, and neither did either of the two look to see what the other was doing. In this moment, all they were trying to do was recover their spent soulforce.


    It wasn¡¯t until another ten minutes when the two finally finished what they were doing. Long was just cleaning off his final blade and Bai Yunfei had only just opened his eyes and cracked the muscles in his neck when the two nodded in satisfaction at how much soulforce they recovered.


    ¡°Long,¡± Bai Yunfei spoke first, ¡°thank you for your help¡­.if not for you, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to save the village.¡±


    ¡°Thank me?¡± Long gave a surprised look at the town behind him, ¡°Are you from the village?¡±


    ¡°Not at all, I¡¯ve nothing to do with this village,¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°You aren¡¯t from the village either, but didn¡¯t you come to their aid without hesitation as well?¡±


    The lips to Long¡¯s face twitched upwards into a small smile, ¡°Then there¡¯s no need to say thanks to me. I was only doing what I could. If I thought it was too dangerous, I would¡¯ve left a long time ago.¡±


    Bai Yunfei chose to look to the corpses of the soulbeasts around them, ¡°Brother Long, your strength is really admirable. Are those three swords of yours mid-earth tier?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve good eyes, brother Bai, they are indeed as you say. I managed to get them after a lot of trouble, but it was worth it. Half the power I showed today was because of these three swords.¡± Long stroked the sword in his hand before storing it away. He looked at the mountain beneath Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet with a curious light in his own eyes. Long¡¯s strength was surprising to Bai Yunfei, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength was absolutely stunning to Long.


    In the long arduous battle they just had, the strongest adversaries Long managed to kill were only three late-stage class five soulbeasts, and two of those three were already injured to begin with. The rest of the soulbeasts he killed were of low levelled strengths despite the numbers, but he managed to endure through it all with all his strength.


    What Bai Yunfei went through was far harder than what Long did, however. He didn¡¯t have the time to pay close attention to Bai Yunfei, but Long was certain that at least a dozen late-stage class five soulbeasts were killed by Bai Yunfei. But most importantly¡­.the three-eyed firebear Bai Yunfei killed at one point was without a doubt an early-stage class six!


    Fleeing was a very real thought to Long when the bear first showed up. He was confident in his abilities to kill a late-stage class five soulbeast, but class six soulbeasts was where his confidence stopped. The differences between the two classes was extremely vast, and Long himself wasn¡¯t capable of crossing the two realms in confidence.


    But then Bai Yunfei went and killed the bear with an instantaneous strike! In that short moment of time, Long clearly felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength spike drastically to levels comparable to a Soul Exalt before killing the bear as swiftly as a bolt of lightning!


    A curious light was in Long¡¯s eyes as he regarded Bai Yunfei who was walking back towards the village. Bai Yunfei was an enigma to him, with that strength of his. Practically anyone would be filled with admiration for such a powerful person.


    Long sighed. He didn¡¯t know just how Kun and the others managed to invite such a person into their team, but now that Bai Yunfei was here, their trip into the Soulbeast Forest would most likely be a peaceful one¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    At the center of the village, Bai Yunfei waved his hand to dismiss the barrier. Reclaiming the Cataclysmic back into his ring, Bai Yunfei smiled at the still shocked villagers, ¡°Now that everything¡¯s done and taken care of, is everyone alright?¡±


    ¡°Thud, thud, thud¡­.¡±


    Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s startled eyes, each of the hundred villagers suddenly fell to their knees in worship.


    ¡°Wha¨Cwhat are you all doing?¡± Heart skipping a beat, Bai Yunfei immediately moved to lift up the village elder to his feet.


    ¡°Our thanks to the hero, Bai Yunfei, for saving our lives!¡± The elderly man¡¯s quivering voice spoke out as Bai Yunfei tried to pick him up, only for him to fall back down to his knees to kowtow his head to the ground again.


    ¡°Thank you for saving our lives!¡± The other villagers behind the elder followed suit.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to do in this case since he couldn¡¯t force them back to their feet, so he waited for them to finish their acts of gratitude before helping the elder again to his feet. ¡°Please don¡¯t be like this, everyone get up on your feet.¡±


    Despite standing up now, the elder stooped at the waist, as if afraid to look Bai Yunfei in the eye. ¡°You are our benefactor, Lord soul cultivator. If a mighty person is willing to risk your life and lower yourselves to save the lives of us commoners, then we must do what we can to show our gratitude¡­.¡±


    ¡°Your words are too much, elder. I didn¡¯t risk my life at all, I only did what I was able to do; I couldn¡¯t let people die while I could save them.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I wasn¡¯t able to save the village completely¡­.¡±


    With how intense the battle was, stopping the soulbeasts from reaching the village proved far too hard for either Bai Yunfei or Long to prevent, resulting in several of the houses to be totally destroyed. Aside from the several dozen houses in the center, the entire western side of the village was in ruins, and several of the eastern houses had been riddled with stray elemental power.


    The elder shook his head. ¡°Houses can always be rebuilt. The fact that we villagers are still alive is the greatest fortune we could have¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that too,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°then lets all tidy up the broken pieces of the houses, we can talk more later.¡±

 Chapter 380: A Rendezvous

    After bringing Xiao Yu and his mother to their house, Bai Yunfei watched the other villagers start to help clean up the mess around the village before returning to the small corpse mountain where Long was still standing on.


    Walking to his side, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Long, why don¡¯t you head back to Zhang Yunpeng and the others first? I¡¯ll stay here and guard the place a little longer.¡±


    An eye of Long traveled over to the villager, ¡°Why? Are you worried that a soulbeast will come and injure any of the villagers?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°As a powerful soul cultivator, is there really a need to pay so much attention to the life or death of a commoner you don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°Soul cultivators are only just people with stronger powers,¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes, ¡°Weren¡¯t we all commoner once before? Brother Long, do you think that the life of a soul cultivator is worth more than that of a commoner?¡±


    ¡°Haha, not at all, that¡¯s not what I meant.¡± Long hurried to respond to Bai Yunfei, ¡°What I wanted to say was¡­.I was feeling the same way you are, brother Bai.¡±


    ¡°Found him! Bai Yunfei¡¯s over there! Ahh? That¡¯s¡­.brother Long is there too!!¡±


    Just then, the silvery voice of Ye Zi was heard from some ways away, causing Long to smile, ¡°Looks like we don¡¯t need to look for them; they found us first¡­¡±


    Turning to look, Bai Yunfei saw three males and two females coming towards them with greater speeds than before.


    The one leading at the front was Zhang Yunpeng.


    When the five came into eyesight, they were all surprised to see the mountain of soulbeasts there. But their eyes quickly landed upon Bai Yunfei and Long, ¡°Brothers Long and Bai, are you two alright? What brought you two together?¡±


    ¡°Haha, boss Zhang, do we look like anything¡¯s wrong?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°I was fortunate enough to have Long lend me a hand to help protect this village.¡±


    Long nodded his head at Zhang Yunpeng and the rest of the group, ¡°I just got here when the wave was just starting to retreat. I saw the battle taking place here, so I figured I¡¯d help out.¡±


    ¡°You two¡­¡± Kun looked off to the village first, and then the corpses of the soulbeasts all around them, ¡°Did you two kill all those soulbeasts¡­.?¡±


    ¡°That pile over here is mine,¡± Long nodded at the pile of soulbeasts next to his foot. ¡°the pile over there is Bai Yunfei¡¯s.¡± He gestured to another pile.


    ¡°Oh, and the ones over there is his work as well.¡± Then he pointed to the northern part of the village.


    ¡°¡­..¡± The mouths of everyone there dropped open in surprise.


    ¡°How did¡­.how did you two ki¨Coh! Bai Yunfei, your aura¡­..¡± Eyes widening first at the amount of corpses, Ye Zi suddenly pointed a finger at Bai Yunfei, ¡°You¡¯re not a late-stage Soul Sprite! You¡¯re¡­.you¡¯re a¡­.¡±


    Her remark led to Zhang Yunpeng realizing the same thing as well, causing the entire group to focus their attention on Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°What do you mean late-stage Soul Sprite? Ye Zi, what are you talking about?¡± Long asked, unsure of what was going on here.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t bothered to hide his strength after the battle was over since Long was already more than aware of how strong he was. And because of that, he forgot about hiding his strength when Zhang Yunpeng and the others got here, ¡°Well¡­.my apologies, everyone. I was hiding my strength earlier, but I really meant no harm in that.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.haha, don¡¯t worry, brother Bai. I can understand.¡± Of the six, Zhang Yunpeng was the first to respond with a wave of his hand. ¡°But¡­¡± He started with a sigh, ¡°I never imagined that brother Bai would be so powerful, seems like I was lucky in asking you to join our team!¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, are you really a late-stage Soul Ancestor?! You¡¯re as strong as Long! That¡¯s¡­.that¡¯s just ridiculous isn¡¯t it?!¡± Wide-eyed in disbelief, Kun gave Bai Yunfei an incredulous look, ¡°How old are you anyways?! You don¡¯t look any older than twenty-five¨CI bet I¡¯m older by a good five or six years¨Cso how are you so powerful?!


    ¡°Actually, how were you even hiding your strength? I never even noticed it!¡±


    ¡°I was just using a secret technique of mine, that¡¯s all.¡± Bai Yunfei answered nonchalantly, ¡°Boss Zhang, how¡¯s the town?¡±


    ¡°No major damages has been accounted for so far,¡± Zhang Yunpeng began, ¡°but part of the town outskirts was totally destroyed. A good amount of the people were hurt as well, so they¡¯re undergoing treatment while the others are cleaning up the place.¡±


    It was then that Bai Yunfei noticed the wounded state of the team. Almost everyone but Han Yan was covered head to toe with wounds; with Kun being the bloodiest. He had a terrifying wound on his left shoulder¨Cwhile treated¨Cthat looked like it hadn¡¯t been fully cleaned up yet. In comparison, Han Yan had the least amount of wounds and stood behind the others as though she was being protected. But it also meant that it was her who had set to cleaning the wounds of everyone.


    ¡°Ah, where¡¯s Xiao Kong? I don¡¯t see him around?¡± He suddenly realized that Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s soulbeast was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Xiao Kong¡¯s back at the town to collect several of the soulbeast corpses we killed. With the wave died down, there¡¯s plenty of profit to be had, and maybe a reward from the Tianhun School.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. The ones who were responsible for the Braves guild said something along the same lines before. Those who killed soulbeats would be rewarded twofold by the Tianhun School!


    Then Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but look at the massive pile of soulbeasts in front of him in joy.


    If the Tianhun School were to deliver up on their promises, then Bai Yunfei was in for a huge amount of profit! But¡­.the amount of soulbeasts he killed here was practically up to the several thousands, if not ten thousand, gathering all those soulgems wouldn¡¯t be an easy task at all!


    Clearly, Zhang Yunpeng and his group didn¡¯t see this as a ¡®problem¡¯ at all. All the soulbeasts on the ground was a profit waiting to be made, so all that needed to be discussed was how to most efficiently gather all the soulgems.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Just then, Bai Yunfei realized something. Looking up towards the direction of the Soulbeast Suppression Pass, his observation was soon shared by Zhang Yunpeng and the others.


    Up in the skies, three figures were flying towards them with breakneck speeds. Of the three figures, the two behind were skywalking at speeds slightly slower than the one in front. With each step they took, they could travel dozens of meters at a time.


    And at the front of the group was an elderly man in purple whose hands was behind his back and was flying easily through the air as if being pulled by an invisible force!


    ¡°The power of flight¡­.that¡¯s a Soul King!!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t the two Soul Exalts skywalking that caught the attention of the group, but the Soul King up front!!

 Chapter 381: A Request

    Under the stunned eyes of everyone, the three figures dropped down from the skies. Glancing around the area, a wave of surprise flickered across the eyes of the Soul King for just a brief moment before coming to a stop just several meters above the ground in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s group.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­.that¡¯ the vice lord-mayor of Beast Suppression City, senior Xia Zhengyan!¡± Recognition of the man was almost instantaneous from Zhang Yunpeng.


    At his warning, everyone else was quick to pay attention. Bowing their heads to the Soul King¨Cas courtesy dictated¡ª, they all spoke, ¡°We pay our respects to senior Xia!¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­no need, no need.¡± Xia Zhengyan nodded. Still browsing over the people in front of him with his eyes, he spoke again, ¡°How unexpected to meet a group of young heroes here. Is your group responsible for the battle here?¡±


    ¡°If I may, senior Xia, the five of us only just came from the Town of the Braves a while ago. The ones who actually fought here are these two.¡± Zhang Yunpeng pointed at Bai Yunfei and Long.


    Under Xia Zhengyan¡¯s watch, even Long had to pull back his normally cold expression. ¡°I only arrived here when the wave was just starting to subside. Brother Bai was the one fighting here from the very beginning.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Surprise bloomed on the elder¡¯s face as he turned to face Bai Yunfei. ¡°You¡¯ve been fighting off all the soulbeasts here from the very beginning? Are you also the one responsible for killing the class six hillbeast?¡±


    Him knowing that piece of information meant that Xia Zhengyan was a very informative person; but that was to be expected with him being a Soul King. He was amongst the beings who could use their soulsense in ways to detect individual beings in great clarity no matter how big of a battle was taking place.


    ¡°I am.¡± Bai Yunfei replied.


    Zhang Yunpeng and the others exhaled sharply. None of them had the full scope of what went on in this place, and so they were surprised to hear that Bai Yunfei had managed to kill a mid-stage class six soulbeast.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Xia Zhengyan spoke. On the outside, his facial appearance was calm, but on the inside, he was very much surprised at what he had just heard. This youngling in front of him was only a late-stage Soul Ancestor¨Ca feat that was already very praiseworthy for his age¨Cbut it was by no means a level strong enough to kill a mid-stage class six soulbeast.


    ¡°I am called Bai Yunfei, senior.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­.¡± Thinkin for a back with a pensive expression, clarity then appeared afterwards, ¡°Could you be the disciple of the old headmaster of the Crafting School, Zi Jin?¡±


    Since his identity was known now to the elder, Bai Yunfei saw no reason to deny it, ¡°My master is indeed Zi Jin.¡±


    ¡°Haha, so you¡¯re the favored student of his. No wonder you¡¯re as strong as you are.¡± Xia Zhengyan chuckled. ¡°A few dozen years ago, senior Zi Jin came to the Soulbeast Forest himself. He was only an early-stage Soul Exalt, but I was blessed in being able to witness the power and grace he wielded then. Is he still doing well?¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, senior Xia, my master is still well and healthy.¡± Bai Yunfei could hear the tonal shift taking place within Xia Zhengyan and concluded once again that his master was truly an amazing person to have his name known even here.


    ¡°Hero Bai, to have defended this area from harm and soulbeast by yourself is a great contribution to our Beast Suppression Pass and Tianhun Empire as a whole. This old man truly cannot thank you enough¡­.¡±


    This sudden change in Xia Zhengyan brought about a flutter of the heart in Bai Yunfei. Since when was he meant to be treated like such a hero? Quickly waving his hands, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Senior Xia¡¯s words are far too serious. Protecting the denizens of our empire from the soulbeast wave should be expected. To even talk about contributions is far too much; this junior feels terrified just talking about it¡­..¡±


    ¡°Haha, what a modest one you are. A very admirable trait to have¡­.¡± Xia Zhengyan laughed. ¡°You must be tired from your battle, young hero. Do not worry about cleaning up this area, this old man will have several of my men harvest the soulgems for you and arrange for the Tianhun School to issue out the appropriate reward in several days time.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. That would alleviate his troubles by a great deal. ¡°Then, I thank you for your troubles, senior Xia.¡± He clasped his hands together.


    ¡°Haha, it is to be expected, nothing more,¡± Xia Zhengyan smiled again, ¡°furthermore, the strength you¡¯ve shown in this battle is extraordinary to say the least. If you have any request of me, then I will do anything within my power of the Tianhun School to honor it.¡±


    ¡°That¡­.there¡¯s no need for that¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei wanted to refuse at first; accepting rewards wasn¡¯t always a good thing in some cases. But then he suddenly thought of something and hurried to rectify his words, ¡°Actually, this junior has one small request. This junior hopes that senior Xia will see to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What is it, there¡¯s no harm in voicing your thoughts.¡±


    Bai Yunfei pointed to the village not too far away, ¡°These villagers here have no home within Beast Suppression City and were forced to live within the outskirts of the Soulbeast Forest, a dangerous place to even visit. If it¡¯s possible, I hope that senior Xia will see to having shelter allocated to these villagers to live in peace and security within the city.¡±


    Not a single person listening to Bai Yunfei was able to hide their surprise at his request, Xia Zhengyan included.


    ¡°Is that the case?¡± He spoke, ¡°Were you two aware of this?¡±


    The second question was asked to the two Soul Exalts behind them, who both gave a slight shake of their heads in denial. That much wasn¡¯t strange, however. The living space of the lowest dregs of society wouldn¡¯t make its ways to the ears of the strong, and as the vice lord-mayor, Xia Zhengyan normally had other soul cultivators deal with administration and management. In extension to that, commoners would be hired to oversee management of other commoners.


    ¡°Hmph! A matter like this was unresolved after so much time?! Investigate to see who¡¯s responsible for this oversight when we get back immediately!¡± Xia Zhengyan spat, scaring the two Soul Exalts just enough to have them start to shiver.


    He turned back to Bai Yunfei with a smile, ¡°Haha, what a blunder my Beast Suppression Pass has made. Rest assured, hero, the commoners are the root of our empire; we will send out men to escort them to safety.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much then, senior Xia.¡± He hesitated for a moment, ¡°Then, if this junior could request for one more thing¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh? Speak what¡¯s on your mind, hero.¡±


    ¡°There is a sick villager woman who needs some stargrass for her illness. I hope senior Xia will have some¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, a small matter. Rest assured, hero Bai, I will resolve this problem as quickly as possible.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, senior Xia,¡± Bai Yunefi smiled, ¡°this junior has no more requests then.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­.¡± Xia Zhengyan looked on in surprise. ¡°Were you only going to request for aid for the villagers, not yourself? Haha¡­.no wonder you¡¯re the disciple of Zi Jin. A kindhearted soul, how befitting of a young hero.¡±


    ¡°Senior Xia is too kind.¡± Bai Yunfei replied modestly.


    ¡°Very well then. This old man will head out first to oversee some other matters. You should all head back and rest. I will send some people over here to take care of matters.¡± Now that the wave was over, Xia Zhengyan was ready to go back to his normal tasks.


    With a nod of his head, he and the other two Soul Exalts turned to leave.

 Chapter 382: Becoming Famous Again

    Up in the skies, the three men were flying back towards Beast Suppression City when one of the two Soul Exalts asked, ¡°Vice lord-mayor, is that young man really¡­.the disciple rumored to be taken in by headmaster Zi Jin two years ago?¡±


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any mistake. Would there really be a person brave enough to pretend to be someone else?¡± The other Soul Exalt spoke, ¡°But¡­was that mid-stage class six hillbeast really killed by him alone? Isn¡¯t that just a little too unbelievable?¡±


    A while back, the three of them were fighting the brunt of the soulbeast wave with the other soul cultivators. The aura of the hillbeast had naturally caught their attention, but before they could rally enough soul cultivators to head over to fight it, its aura was snuffed away shortly afterwards, causing no small amount of shock. Only Xia Zhengyan was able to sense what had gone on with his soulsense, so he came over to the area as soon as the battle was over/


    ¡°If he couldn¡¯t do the impossible, then he¡¯d be a mockery of a disciple of senior Zi Jin.¡± Xia Zhengyan explained, ¡°I heard two years ago he managed to kill an early-stage Soul Exalt as a mid-stage Soul Ancestor. How surprising it is to see his strength increased by such a large amount, and to do something like this no less¡­.


    ¡°In the future, our world will have yet another young prodigy¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Once Xia Zhengyan and the others had flown away, Bai Yunfei turned around to look at the others, only to start when he realized everyone was looking curiously at him, as if looking at a strange new thing.


    ¡°Er¡­.what are you all looking at?¡± Bai Yunfei touched at his body unconsciously, thinking that there was something on him.


    ¡°Brother Bai¡­.are¡­are you really from the Crafting School?¡± The first to speak was the youngest one there, Han Yan, who stared incredulously at him with curious eyes.


    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s what they¡¯re surprised about¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I am indeed a student there.¡±


    ¡°And disciple to headmaster Zi Jin?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Haha!! Your strength is terrifying, brother Bai, your identity too!¡± Unexpectedly, Kun started to roar with laughter. He slapped Bai Yunfei on the shoulder with a grumble then, ¡°You really led us blind! You didn¡¯t tell us anything about yourself in the beginning, why the secrets? Were you afraid we¡¯d be scared of you?¡±


    ¡°That¡­er¡­haha¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled sheepishly. In truth, he was in fact thinking about that, but he wasn¡¯t going to say that out loud.


    ¡°What wonders,¡± Zhang Yunpeng sighed, ¡°so you¡¯re the very same Bai Yunfei I heard about from two years ago. Rumors from the Forest Pass Province had you pegged as a very capable person, but I never connected the thoughts even after hearing your name¡­¡±


    Long gave a strange look at Bai Yunfei. Inwardly, he was thinking that for someone to have so many soul armaments and strength like Bai Yunfei, it was almost expected for him to be someone like that.


    ¡°Well, enough is enough. We should go back and rest. I¡¯m tired after today¡¯s battle, will probably need two or three days to fully heal.¡± Ye Zi stretched her arms.


    Zhang Yunpeng nodded, ¡°Ye Zi is right. Since senior Xia was more than kind enough to have people gather the soulgems for us, we can go ahead and rest up.¡±


    ¡°You guys can head back first. I¡¯ll stay here for a little while longer.¡± Bai Yunfei pointed to the back of the village, ¡°I want to notify the village of a few things and wait for the officials to come over.¡±


    Ye Zi was taken back at this. ¡°Wow! Bai Yunfei, you¡¯re really¡­.is there a need to do this much?¡±


    ¡°Haha, one should finish what they started, for the sake of the mind and heart.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. Turning towards the village, he waved his hand in farewell, ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving first, see you all soon.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Bai¡­¡±


    Looking as though she wanted to say something more, Ye Zi found herself being stopped by a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Forget it,¡± It was Long, ¡°let¡¯s not bother him for now and head on our own way¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Three days went by after the soulbeast wave.


    The plains from where the soulbeast wave took place was now completely devoid of soulbeasts. And with the rain from yesterday, a good portion of the blood was already washed away. However, the craters and ditches left from the battle were still there, and it would perhaps take several months before they would fade with age.


    Nonetheless, everything was back to normal; or at least, there wasn¡¯t anything different in regards to the lives of the denizens of Beast Suppression City. After the brief moment of panic that came with the soulbeast wave, the situation quickly mellowed back to normal. This situation wasn¡¯t something they could really do anything about in any case.


    Still, news of what transpired here spread like wildfire throughout the world of soul cultivators. The battle that had been so intense and fierce made its way throughout the entire empire and even to the ears of the current ruler of the empire and current head of the Tianhun School, Wu Hong. No sooner did he hear of the news did he immediately dispatch several men to investigate the matter.


    In this single soulbeast wave, several tens of thousand soulbeasts were killed. On the other hand, Beast Suppression Pass had roughly ten thousand soul cultivators fighting for them, and over a thousand of them were killed, five Soul Exalts included¡­.


    Of this one battle, only one name stood out heads beyond the rest. From the rumors, it was said that this person fought by himself to protect the lives of every single villager by killing almost ten thousand soulbeasts by himself; of those ten thousand soulbeasts, a few dozen of them were late-stage class fives, and one of them was even a mid-stage class six! And a hillbeast to boot!!


    But what was a hillbeast?


    Those who were in the know were absolutely shocked to hear of it. Those who didn¡¯t were even more shocked as soon as they learned of it. The fact that this hillbeast was a wild soulbeast of the legends was extremely surprising to hear appear in the wave, and it was without a doubt even more surprising to hear that it could even be stopped by someone!!


    And then came the final kicker. The one who had killed the hillbeast was only a late-stage Soul Ancestor!!


    It was an impossibility. An improbable feat that simply no one could believe their ears when they heard and dismissed it to be mere hearsay.


    But when they heard the name of the one responsible, everyone went silent as what seemed to be so improbable was suddenly starting to seem to be true¡­.


    The name of the one responsible was none other than¡­.Bai Yunfei!! The very same disciple of headmaster Zi Jin of the Crafting School from several years ago!!


    Two years ago, Bai Yunfei ¡®disappeared¡¯ off the face of the empire. And now, two years later, he was back, and with even bigger news than before!


    Time may have gone by, but news about Bai Yunfei this time made its way all over the empire, recementing him as an important figure to all soul cultivators.


    However, news of his gallantry spread without Bai Yunfei¡¯s knowledge due to the fact that he started his journey into the Soulbeast Forest with Zhang Yunpeng just two days afterwards¡­.

 Chapter 383: The Unusual Soulbeast Forest

    ¡°Swish¡­.swish¡­.¡±


    The ambient sound of footsteps whispered softly through the forests as a man-sized figure came out from the thickets. Then, seven figures came out into view. Side by side, they stopped right in front of a giant tree with the leader holding onto a gray scroll to inspect.


    Of the seven, five of them were males and two of them were females.


    Bai Yunfei and Zhang Yunpeng were leading the group.


    ¡°Boss Zhang, this should be the class two area, shouldn¡¯t it?¡± Bai Yunfei asked after a brief estimation of the area.


    Zhang Yunpeng looked around. ¡°Should be,¡± he nodded, ¡°we must¡¯ve only just crossed from the class one zone. Getting to the class three zone should take some time then¡­.¡±


    Already half a month went by since Bai Yunfei and the others first entered the forest, but only to the class one area. But while the area was said to have plenty of class one soulbeasts, Bai Yunfei and his group came across a decent amount of class four soulbeasts.


    This was without a doubt due to the influence of the soulbeast wave. Many of the soulbeasts had managed to flee back to the forest, but not all of them went back to their original hunting grounds. Some decided to make new homes in even the class one area.


    In other words, differentiating areas by classes was no longer useable. It was a temporarily defunct classification for the time being.


    Even the detailed notes and markings on Bai Yunfei¡¯s map with warnings and information on certain spots of the forest was for the most part useless. At most, he could only use the map to take a look at the topography.


    ¡°With how we¡¯re going right now, how long will it take for us to reach the class five area?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, brushing an insect off from his shoulder.


    Zhang Yunpeng shrugged, ¡°If this was before, it¡¯d take two months for us to reach the class four area, and maybe a month or two after that to reach the class five area¡­.but with how it is now, I can¡¯t even make a rough estimate anymore. It¡¯s unclear if we¡¯ll come across any soulbeast that might try to bar our way either.¡±


    ¡°Well now¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in understanding, ¡°boss Zhang, forgive me for being blunt, but your group came here today to search for a purple-crowned snake. You also said before that you gained some information on its whereabouts, but now that the soulbeast wave has changed some things¡­.do you perhaps have a better method of locating it?¡±


    Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s face darkened a bit at that. The fact that he was unable to locate the snake now wasn¡¯t lost on him, it was just that he was reluctant to give up the search.


    ¡°Sigh¡­.you¡¯re right, brother Bai. Up to this point, I¡¯ve been using just my eyes alone to look for the snake, but the forest is far too big and the soulbeasts far too many. To find a specific class of soulbeast is practically impossible¡­.but, I can¡¯t wait around for the next piece of information on its whereabouts. I have to try now, no matter if I fail or not!!¡±


    On the second day after the soulbeast wave ended, Zhang Yunpeng had actually started to ask around the place, asking if any purple-crowned snake had appeared during the battle. It was in his hopes that one had actually appeared, but unfortunately for him, the only one he found was a class four one, which didn¡¯t help him at all.


    Perhaps a class five purple-crowned snake did appear, but the one responsible for killing it had already left the town¡­.


    In either case, Zhang Yunpeng decided with a heavy heart to try his luck in the Soulbeast Forest in hopes of finding one.


    ¡°Senior, please don¡¯t feel discouraged. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s no hope; a purple-crowned snake might be rare, but there has to be plenty of them in the forest. We¡¯ve only been searching for a few months, we¡¯ll definitely be able to find one. It¡¯s just maybe¡­.we¡¯d be able to find one as in the class two and three areas? Didn¡¯t we come across one of the nests of a class five purple-crowned snake yesterday?¡± Ye Zi spoke up in comfort to Zhang Yunpeng while giving Bai Yunfei a small look, denoting that Bai Yunfei shouldn¡¯t depress him anymore with words.


    ¡°Haha, Ye Zi has a point. Don¡¯t feel so negative about things, boss Zhang. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to find one soon.¡± Bai Yunfei gave a small smile, thinking that he didn¡¯t say anything wrong. But nonetheless, he followed Ye Zi¡¯s warning and stayed silent after that to avoid making Zhang Yunpeng any more depressed.


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about me, everyone. I won¡¯t give up so easily.¡± Zhang Yunpeng managed to smile. ¡°Thank you all for be so willing to enter the Soulbeast Forest with me during such a chaotic time. Succeed or not, I, Zhang Yunpeng, give you all my utmost thanks!¡±


    ¡°Hey now, what¡¯s up with this talk? We¡¯re brothers, not strangers!¡± Kun slapped Zhang Yunpeng on the shoulder, ¡°We¡¯re only in the class one area of the forest, if we keep it up, we¡¯ll be able to find that snake in no time.¡±


    Everyone else nodded in agreement, earning a flash of emotions to flicker across Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s eyes. ¡°You¡¯re right, let¡¯s get moving then!¡±


    But before they could actually get moving again, Zhang Yunpeng and Long suddenly raised their hands to stop everyone in their tracks. Likewise, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows narrowed together.


    ¡°A class five soulbeast,¡± Long explained to the others, ¡°let me handle this.¡±


    He took two steps forward with all three of his swords in his hands. Placing one of them in his mouth, he lifted his hands so that they rose in front of the blade in his mouth and held the swords vertically parallel to the ground.


    ¡°Roar!!¡± Before he could go any further than two steps, a roar from beyond the trees erupted outwards followed by a tremendous shadow leaping towards them¨Cit was a mid-stage class five soulbeast, a stalking panther!


    ¡°Three Swords Style¡­.Tiger Hunt!!¡±


    Its speed was fast, but Long was even faster! Recklessly, the soulbeast was already three meters up into the air when Long¡¯s person disappeared from view, only to reappear behind the leopard with his back arched and his arms by his side so that the swords pointed downwards.


    Blood was dripping from the swords.


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    Blood splattered out from the panther¡¯s mouth followed by a horrible roar. With a mighty crash, the panther fell to the ground just two meters away from the group. Elemental lightning was even seen flowing from the orifices of the panther as it spasmed and and twitched before death took hold of it.


    ¡°¡­.¡±A silent thought of praise for Long was had from Bai Yunfei. Each time Long moved, he was like lightning in speed and could deliver victory with just a single move with style and power.


    ¡°Sigh, another mid-stage class five soulbeast¡­.we¡¯re only in the class two area. If any weaker team were to try to enter the forest now, it won¡¯t be pretty for them.¡± Kun gave a sigh as he looked at the corpse of the panther.


    There were actually plenty of soul cultivators within the forest right now. They wanted to take advantage of the situation to come in and kill some more soulbeasts, since more of them would be there. The bigger the risks, the better the rewards.


    On the inverse, it also meant that there¡¯d be plenty of soul cultivators who¡¯d most likely lose their lives here in the class one and two areas.


    And so the group continued onwards. From the class two area, they eventually made their way into the class three area. It took them about twenty days of traveling in order to get there, but there weren¡¯t any soulbeasts on the way.


    According to Zhang Yunpeng, this was what the class one area would normally feel like.


    It was only after they reached the class four area that Bai Yunfei felt a very clear discrepancy. For the sake of avoiding trouble, Bai Yunfei and the group traveled carefully, but slowly. In what was originally the area for class four soulbeasts to roam, class five soulbeasts were no in abundance here. As a result, the group was in no rush to get to the class five area and spent another ten days or so looking for a purple-crowned snake here.


    But even until the very last day, they came up empty-handed¡­.


    Then at last, when three months of travel was spent in the forest, Bai Yunfei and the group finally arrived in one of the more dangerous parts of the forest, the class five area.

 Chapter 384: Fighting a Pack of Wolves

    ¡°Howl!!¡±


    A wolf¡¯s howl echoed through the silent night, shattering the tranquility that was there before.


    Within the depths of the class five area of the Soulbeast Forest, countless lights of elemental power flashed throughout the forest.


    ¡°Damnit!! Don¡¯t let it call for its pack! If we don¡¯t leave right after we kill it, we¡¯re going to be in danger!!¡±


    A hurried voice spoke out from one of the dazzling flashes of light; it was Zhang Yunpeng.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Lifting a pistol up, Bai Yunfei aimed it towards the giant lunarwind wolf that was howling and fired off a shot. A bullet of fire traveled with explosive speeds towards the wolf, but as it approached, the wolf¡¯s entire body flashed green for a split moment before moving almost effortlessly towards the side to dodge it. However, the bullet didn¡¯t fly onwards in its original path and swerved around to chase after the wolf!


    Growling at the homing bullet, the wolf stood its ground rather than attempt to dodge again. Greenish light started to brighten its right paw in preparation for an attack, and when the bullet was within range, it swiped at it with astounding speeds!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Like the blossoming of a flower, the fire bullet exploded outwards in a flurry of elemental fire before being scattered away by the elemental wind gathered by the wolf.


    The homing bullet fired from the Fire Eagle had been dispersed without trouble!!


    ¡°Tsk! It¡¯s very close to becoming an early-stage class six soulbeast if the Fire Eagle can¡¯t even harm it!¡± Annoyance flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind as he blocked a claw swipe from another mid-stage class five gale wolf. With a kick, he sent the wolf flying away before slamming the spear in his left hand across another wolf trying to ambush him. The Fire Eagle in his right hand disappeared back into his right hand so he could swap the spear back to it, and with a mighty stab, he speared a third wolf straight through its body from the right.


    ¡°Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!¡±


    Three separate blades of wind came for his head from behind, prompting Bai Yunfei to twirl his spear around to block it. Just barely managing to block all three blades, Bai Yunfei was then quickly assaulted by three more gale wolves.


    ¡°Tsk! There¡¯s even more of them now!¡± Before he could even finish off the first three mid-stage class five wolves, another two were already surrounding him from behind.


    He¡¯d kill one wolf in an instant, but another two would quickly take its place¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Starlight!!¡±


    From behind, a deep growl made itself known to Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears just in time for him to turn around to see Zhang Yunpeng leap up into the skies. Twirling his golden staff fast enough to blur its shape, Zhang Yunpeng shot down a dozen golden flashes of light onto the pack of wolves. These golden flashes of light looked slightly similar to how the stars in the skies were like, and with several banging sounds, half of the wolves were struck by the lights.


    ¡°Eek!!¡± From another direction, a golden shadow shot forth from wolf to wolf in the surviving half of the wolf pack. Thrashing outwards with its muscular arms, five separate flashes of elemental metal immediately tore apart at the throat of a wolf. It leapt into the middle of the wolf pack right after, and with each swing of its arm, yet another wolf would fall prey to it.


    Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s macaque soulbeast was taking part in the battle!


    On the other side of the battlefield, Zhou Feng and Kun were wielding a dagger and longsword to protect Ye Zi and Han Yan from the incoming wolves around them.


    To the north, several flashes of purple arced out one after another as Long was killing the dozens of wolves around him by himself.


    Truly, this battle was a chaotic one¡­.


    The team had already experienced plenty of class five soulbeasts during their time in this part of the forest, but this particular one was the most difficult. By complete accident, the team had somehow stumbled upon the resting grounds of a pack of gale and lunarwind wolves, leading to them being ambushed before any preliminary preparations could be made. At first, there was only thirty of them to worry about with just a late-stage class five soulbeast and a mid-stage class five soulbeast, but then halfway through the battle, the wolf leader had summoned the rest of its pack with its howl!


    Then came hundreds of class five gale wolves, thrusting them all into a long and arduous battle.


    Unfortunately for Bai Yunfei, the most optimal time for him to use his gun fu had been missed when all of the wolves were surrounding him. Even more importantly, the pack leader as currently staring down Bai Yunfei without at all dropping its guard. Consequentially, this left Bai Yunfei with no room to try and land a fatal shot on the wolf, no matter how much he tried.


    Another ten minutes or so went by before Bai Yunfei started to feel as though he was trying to fight off a second coming of the soulbeast wave. Furthermore, they were in the Soulbeast Forest, making this situation even more dangerous than before!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Activating the explosion effect of the spear once another wolf was caught on it, Bai Yunfei killed off the wolves surrounding it before taking the opportunity to try and ambush the pack leader again.


    Concentrated on his task, Bai Yunfei maintained a very stoic expression on his face despite the slightly rushed spear stroke. His situation right now might be slightly worse for wear, but it wasn¡¯t unsalvageable just yet since he hadn¡¯t used his Cataclysmic Seal just yet.


    Gaining experience through battle was the entire point of why he was even here in the first place; if he used the Dual Flame Arts or the Cataclysmic Seal to resolve his problems, then that¡¯d ruin the entire point of his trip.


    On the other hand, Zhang Yunpeng and his team were by no means as calm. Without his ability to recover soulforce and improve it to several levels higher than it should be, a dragged out battle was not optimal at all. Some of them were already starting to tire.


    ¡°Howl!!!¡±


    Loud and clear, a wolf¡¯s howl was heard once again. This time, from farther away.


    Despite the distance, every person there¨CBai Yunfei included¨Cstiffened in fear, ¡°A¡­.class six soulbeast!!


    ¡°It¡¯s about time, can¡¯t delay any more!¡± Sensing the tremendous amount of soulforce, Bai Yunfei decided to end the battle. Class six soulbeasts weren¡¯t soulbeasts that could be killed at a whim, and with practically a thousand class five gale wolves, this battle was a mini soulbeast wave in itself!!


    ¡°We can¡¯t stick around, get ready to leave, everyone!¡± Bai Yunfei yelled aloud. Stepping forward, he leapt ten meters into the air with his Fire-tipped Spear disappearing back into his ring. In its place, the Cataclysmic Seal flew overhead with his second fireseed already wafting into his chest. Going through a series of hand seals, Bai Yunfei immediately felt the soulforce within him start to explode in intensity.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to waste, I¡¯ll finish this off in a minute! Dual Flame Arts¡­.¡¯Coil¡¯!!¡±


    Now at the final moments of his hand seals, Bai Yunfei waited for the ¡®coil¡¯ form start to manifest over himself.


    Due to his airborne status, the hundred wolves there immediately made him a target for their sharp claw swipes to strike him down.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    But with one explosive sound, Bai Yunfei was seen shooting straight up into the air as if he was leaping! His feet pushed off a flash of red light with each step, sending him even higher and higher up into the skies!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡±


    The blades of elemental wind exploded one after another as Bai Yunfei appeared almost instantaneously right in front of the pack leader!!


    The wolf was caught completely off guard. Unable to even understand how Bai Yunfei was even able to move so fast, the wolf didn¡¯t even have enough time to react as Bai Yunfei lashed out with a punch befitting that of a Soul Exalt.


    As soon as the deed was done, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand waved around to collect the wolf¡¯s body into his ring. Without a skip in his step, the class five wolves surrounding him were then struck down before they could properly defend themselves.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Three Swords Style¡­..Five Hundred Lightnings!!¡±


    ¡°Starfall!!¡±


    ¡°Hundred Blades Slash!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the other end of the battlefield, Zhang Yunpeng and the others were using their strongest moves as well. Faced with overwhelming numbers, the group was forced to retreat or be killed. Without the pack leader alive anymore, the wolf pack wouldn¡¯t be as threatening.


    Many of the wolves were already starting to show signs of cowering when faced against Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Now!!¡±


    Giving the command, Bai Yunfei shot towards the group to convene with them before running through the opening on the right to escape¡­.

 Chapter 385: Suddenly, A Purple-crowned Snake!

    It wasn¡¯t until the group could no longer feel the auras of their pursuers that they stopped running.


    By then, an hour had already passed.


    ¡°Is everyone alright?¡± Bai Yunfei asked from his position as the rearguard of the group. Everyone was resting by a small mountain to catch their breaths.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­.I¡¯m good¡­¡± Kun shook his hand dismissively from his seat next to a tree trunk. Still, his face had a delighted look on it. ¡°That was¡­.brilliant! Utterly brilliant! Haha, I¡¯ve never fought so hard in my life before, no wonder this place is called the Soulbeast Forest! I never felt so excited before!¡±


    ¡°Ah, stow it, you. We nearly lost our lives there and here you are trying to play hero.¡± Zhou Feng hissed, his right hand trying to clean the nasty-looking wound on his left shoulder.


    ¡°Ah! Brother Zhou! You¡¯re injured!! Here¡­.let me take care of that for you¡­.¡± Yelping in realization of his pain, Han Yan moved swiftly to his side. With a concentrated expression, she placed both hands onto his wounds. A wave of bluish light started to gather forth underneath her palms, and with time, the wound was completely basked in the glow¨Cthis was a very basic form of Hydrotherapy.


    ¡°Ah!! It hurts! Lil¡¯ Yan, my sister, I¡¯m hurt too! Come save me! It feels like my arm¡¯s about to snap off¡­.¡± Kun cried out as he clutched at his arm.


    ¡°Then amputate it, what are you crying for?¡± Ye Zi kicked at him in mock anger.


    The fact that they could play around like this meant that everything was fine. Relieved, Bai Yunfei shook his head and walked to a nearby tree to start recovering his own soulforce.


    Up above them, the foliage in the trees rustled slightly, revealing a small golden monkey that leapt down onto Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s shoulder. Scratching its head as it communicated to him, Zhang Yunpeng later turned around to face the group, ¡°The wolves gave up the chase. We should be able to rest here for now. We might¡¯ve lost a lot of energy, but we¡¯re not in danger yet.¡±


    Having no one to object, the group began to rest.


    ¡°Hey, Bai Yunfei, that move you used earlier¡­.¡±


    Feeling quite bored, Kun suddenly started to spark up conversation with Bai Yunfei, ¡°I know Long said so before, but aren¡¯t you just a little too strong? Becoming a Soul Exalt in an instant¡­.good Gods, I¡¯ve never heard of such a terrifying soul skill before. In fact, I can¡¯t even see any signs of backlash from you?! How in the world did you achieve that¡­?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s a secret of the Crafting School, a powerful secret that only the disciples of the elders are privy to learn probably. Have you forgotten just who brother Bai is?¡± Zhang Yunpeng spoke up.


    Bai Yunfei gave a noncommittal nod of his head.


    ¡°Wow! The Crafting School¡¯s amazing! I have to admit, I¡¯m pretty jealous!¡± Giving a wistful sigh, Kun shook his head and refocused on his recuperation efforts.


    Bai Yunfei looked back to Zhang Yunpeng who was looking at the map even while he was resting, ¡°Boss Zhang, where do you plan to look now?¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­.we¡¯ve been in the class five area for about a month now, but we¡¯ve already looked through a good portion of the place without even a trace of the snake. I¡¯d like to go deeper in to look, but what do you all think?¡± Zhang Yunpeng folded the map back up with a sigh.


    ¡°Deeper in? Into the class six area? Yunpeng¡­.are you really considering it?¡± Zhou Feng asked in concern.


    Zhang Yunpeng sighed. ¡°By this point, we can only give it a try. We can look for another month in the northwest part of the forest, but if we can¡¯t find anything, then¡­.let¡¯s give up. I can¡¯t put you guys in any more danger on my behalf.¡±


    The rest of the group went silent. Indeed, exploring the class five area for an entire month was already very taxing for the group. Some of the members were already unable to guarantee their own safety by their own strength, and that terrifying battle they were just in was proof of how dangerous it was getting. Aside from Bai Yunfei, the rest of the group had only managed to escape from that battle by the skin of their teeth.


    So the fact that Bai Yunfei was able to bail them out made them all extremely grateful that they invited Bai Yunfei into their team.


    ¡°That settles it then! We continue for another month!¡± Ye Zi announced, ¡°Don¡¯t feel so negative, senior. Who¡¯s to say we won¡¯t find the purple-crowned snake? Don¡¯t you worry, no matter how dangerous it gets, we¡¯ll be right there behind you. I¡¯m confident that we¡¯ll be able to save your wife!¡±


    The smiles and nods going around the group led to Zhang Yunpeng smiling himself, ¡°Thank you everyone. With you guys as my friends, I feel that I¡¯ve used up all the luck in my life!¡±


    ¡°Eh? That can¡¯t be right, I remember you saying before that having sister-in-law as your wife was the biggest stroke of luck in your life.¡±


    ¡°Er, I mean¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­¡±


    Even as an ¡®outsider¡¯ to the group, Bai Yunfei felt warmth radiate from himself as he watched the group laugh with one another.


    To have friends like those was truly a rare thing.


    Friends¡­.


    Bai Yunfei looked up at the starry canopy above him with a small smile. He hadn¡¯t even a single friend in his life until he turned eighteen. But right now¡­.the figures of several people flowed through his mind one after another.


    The smile grew wider by a fraction of an inch.


    He had plenty of friends now.


    ¡°Brother Bai, what do you have planned now?¡± Zhang Yunpeng asked, ¡°what I mean is, it may very well take us another month before we return to town. Are you willing to come with us?¡±


    ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t planning on leaving the Soulbeast Forest just yet.¡± He shook his head, ¡°I was thinking that I should stay here a little longer. And if possible, I¡¯ll probably take a look into the class six area¡­.¡±


    ¡°The class six area!!¡± Everyone was shocked to hear that. ¡°Haha, you¡¯re a courageous one, brother Bai! The class six area is something I can¡¯t even think about,¡± Zhang Yunpeng sighed, ¡°even those teams with Soul Exalts as leaders wouldn¡¯t go into the class six area so easily.¡±


    ¡°But if it¡¯s brother Bai, I¡¯m sure he¡¯d be fine. He killed a mid-stage class six soulbeast after all.¡± Long spoke.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Zhang Yunpeng nodded sagely. ¡°But still. I hope you won¡¯t find it offensive if I say this, but you might want to hold off on going to the class six area for now. The soulbeast wave only just happened, so we¡¯re not sure just how that¡¯ll affect the class six area. Prudence and patience is key here.¡±


    ¡°But of course,¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°thanks for the warning, though. I¡¯ll be sure to be careful.¡±


    ¡°It was destiny that brought you into our team, brother Bai. If we meet again in the future, I¡¯ll hope that you¡¯ll come visit my Shining Star School, I¡¯ll be sure to repay this favor to you then.¡±


    ¡°Haha, if there¡¯s a chance I¡¯ll vi¨C¡±


    ¡°Tschss!!!!¡±


    Suddenly, a piercing hiss filled the air, interrupting Bai Yunfei¡¯s speech and sending everyone else into shock.


    It was an extremely distinct sound with how it sounded halfway to being the hissing of a snake and the crowing of a chicken. Not only that, the pitch was slightly off-key, but it was loud enough to be heard for hundreds of meters around. But after this sound was heard, it was as though a chain reaction was had, as all of the soulbeasts in the forest immediately started to howl, hiss, and jeer, as if they were¡­.afraid?


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. This was not a normal response to the crying of a soulbeast. He turned around, ready to ask Zhang Yunpeng of his thoughts, only to see the man facing towards the direction of the soulbeast¡¯s cry with an expression mixed in between excitement and shock.


    ¡°Boss Zhang, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°This sound¡­.there¡¯s no mistaking it, it¡¯s a purple-crowned snake! That¡¯s the cry of a purple-crowned snake!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Everyone cried out in surprise and leapt to their feet.


    ¡°We¡¯ve finally found one?¡± A smile crept over onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. Rising to his feet, Bai Yunfei turned to the rest of the group, ¡°Then what are we doing here? Let¡¯s chase after it!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Heading for the source of the cry, everyone ran at dreadfully fast speeds. Without needing to stop, it only took the group ten minutes around to reach their destination when Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s face grew anxious, as if just realizing that they were going in the wrong direction. Another cry from the soulbeast came from the front along with a burst of elemental power.


    ¡°Over there!!¡±


    Pointing northwest, Bai Yunfei ran towards a small mountain from where the purple-crowned snake was currently behind.


    Running the short distance around the mountain, the group chased after Bai Yunfei before finally being stopped by Long, ¡°It¡¯s fighting another soulbeast! And judging from its aura, it¡¯s a¡­.¡±


    ¡°Early-stage class six soulbeast! Both of them!¡± Bai Yunfei finished his sentence.


    That was news to be surprised about. Blanching as they felt the aura of the soulbeasts for themselves, everyone found themselves involuntarily slowing down a notch.


    Upon seeing the hesitation on Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Everyone¡¯s low on soulforce, so let¡¯s take a look at the situation first. There might be two class six soulbeats, but if they¡¯re fighting each other, we¡¯ve a chance still.¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai¡¯s right. Let¡¯s observe the situation for now. An early-stage class six purple-crowned snake is what we¡¯re after. If we can wait for the right moment, we¡¯ll be able to get what we want!¡± Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s eyes lit up.


    Everyone else nodded in agreement.


    The group came to a stop on top of the mountain, hidden behind a giant rock that they used for cover while they peeped down on the situation. But when Zhang Yunpeng saw just who the snake was fighting, his eyes widened in fear.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­.that¡¯s a three-eyed bloodlion!!¡±

 Chapter 386: Three-eyed Bloodlion!

    Just about a kilometer away from the mountain, an area of a hundred meters circumference was completely obliterated. Where trees once stood, craters and rubble was all that remained from the result of battle between the two soulbeasts. Two glows, purple and red, flickered and glowed in the night, illuminating the skies like two candle wicks so that the nearby area was made completely visible.


    Of the two soulbeasts, one of them was about two meters thick, and almost fifty meters long. It was a large snake with three large horns on the top of its head, forming the shape of a purple-colored flash crown. Its entire body was washed with purple light, and whenever it opened its mouth to hiss, several streaks of purple lightning would spark outwards. Plenty of elemental lightning was already fully manifested in the form of lightning bolts that arced around the area around it, turning it into an electric field.


    This was without a doubt the soulbeast Zhang Yunpeng was looking for, the purple-crowned snake.


    Not too far away from the purple-crowned snake was the other soulbeast, a being with crimson-red light flickering off its body like the tongues to fire. From far away, the silhouette of the soulbeast made it resemble the shape of a large bison, but at a closer look, the large mane of a lion was clearly visible.


    But the most particular detail about the soulbeast was the fact that it had three eyes!!


    The fur on its body was red like fire¨Cno¡ª, it¡¯d be more accurate to say that it was like red like blood.


    It was an abnormally strange sight, but at the same time, it was also a very intimidating one. Not only did it give off a tyrannical feeling when looked at, there was also the nauseating stench of blood coming off from it.


    This soulbeast was a particularly rare breed, a three-eyed bloodlion!!


    The bloodlion was moving swiftly this way and that to weave in between the tail strikes of the purple-crowned snake. Each successful dodge was accompanied by an attempt to strike down the snake, but its claws only managed to spark against its purple scales.


    From how the two soulbeasts were fighting, their auras pegged them both as early-stage class six soulbeasts! That was the equivalent to a Soul Exalt!


    To demonstrate the parallels between the two, this bloodlion was skywalking just like a soul cultivator to dance and dodge the snake¡¯s strikes. With each paw stomp, there¡¯d be a flash of elemental fire, and then the bloodlion would leap nimbly up into the sky again.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Its¡­it¡¯s a three-eyed bloodlion!!¡± Terror filled Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s eyes, ¡°It¡¯s here! It¡¯s here!! Why of all things is that here?!¡±


    His reaction took the rest of the group off guard. No one expected him to react so strongly, and so randomly, to this soulbeast. Not only was he terror-stricken, the man had also taken several steps back in his fear¨Cso much that if not for Zhou Feng grabbing onto him, Zhang Yunpeng would¡¯ve fallen off the mountain they were on.


    ¡°Boss Zhang, what¡¯s wrong? What do you mean by ¡®it¡¯? Just what¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei started, but halfway through his words, a random thought flashed into his mind, ¡°boss Zhang, don¡¯t tell me this three-eyed bloodlion¡­.¡±


    The rest of the group was slowly coming to the same conclusion Bai Yunfei had and were staring at Zhang Yunpeng for confirmation.


    Somehow managing to bring his fear into control, Zhang Yunpeng exhaled slowly, but his arms could still be seen trembling on their own. Looking back up at the two fighting soulbeasts, Zhang Yunpeng spoke quiveringly, ¡°Yes¡­.this three-eyed bloodlion is the very same one I met five years ago!! I¡¯m not wrong. I¡¯d never forget this bloodlion! This aura, its sickening aura, and its cut-off tail!¡±


    Everyone looked back to the bloodlion, except for Han Yan whose strength wasn¡¯t high enough for her to see to clearly.


    But as Zhang Yunpeng described, the bloodlion that was still dodging the snake¡¯s attack had indeed a short tail!


    It was¡­.unexpected. Not only did they come across a purple-crowned snake, it was fighting against the very same soulbeast that once killed off the team Zhang Yunpeng was in, the three-eyed bloodlion!!


    Needless to say, it was a coincidental meeting of massive proportions.


    Almost too massive to even believe.


    But nonetheless, Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s current state of emotions could hardly be blamed on him.


    ¡°Brother, calm down!! Did you forget what our goal is?! The snake¡¯s right in front of us, we need to find a way to get its head and bring it back to save your wife!!¡± Grabbing hold of his shoulders, Ye Zi shook him furiously so as to try and wake him up.


    Her treatment was clearly effective on the man, as Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s eyes seemed to clear up a bit. While still not fully recovered, the traumatized look in on his face was abated to some degree.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, Yunpeng. You¡¯re not the same person you were those years ago. You¡¯re far stronger than before, and you¡¯ve with us to help you fight this time! We might not all be strong enough, but we¡¯ve Long, a late-stage Soul Ancestor! And there¡¯s Bai Yunfei, the class six soulbeast slayer! We¡¯ll definitely get that purple-crowned snake!¡± Kun slapped Zhang Yunpeng on the shoulder in motivation.


    ¡°But¡­.it¡¯s a class six soulbeast! The bloodlion will definitely be stronger than it was three years ago! Back then, it was an early-stage class six, it¡¯ll definitely be a mid-stage class six soulbeast now¡­.¡± Zhang Yunpeng spoke.


    After a while of surveying the battlefield, Long spoke, ¡°But isn¡¯t it fighting the purple-crowned snake on even grounds right now? Seems like a chance to me if they¡¯re both equal strengths, we¡¯ll just wait for the right moment and seize advantage! When both sides are hurt, we might even be able to get both the snake and the lion¡¯s body! We¡¯ll be getting revenge for your lost friends along with helping your wife.¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    Zhang Yunpeng was silent, and his fists were clenched tight. Watching the two soulbeasts fight, his fists subconsciously clenched tightly into itself before the right fist was raised up in front of his face. Closing his eyes, he breathed in, and breathed out. In, and out.


    Then he opened his eyes again. This time, with determination rather than fear.


    ¡°Alright, you make a good point! It took us hell to find this purple-crowned snake, we¡¯re not going to let it go by without a fight!¡± His voice boomed. ¡°Long¡¯s right, we have our best chance when the two soulbeasts are fighting! We¡¯ll approach it carefully, and wait for when both sides are critically injured or when one of them are dead. We must get that purple-crowned snake!¡±


    ¡°Zhou Feng and Kun, you two aren¡¯t strong enough, so try not to get involved if you can. Actually, I probably won¡¯t be much help either. Long, I¡¯ll be counting on you! And if things get really bad, we may need your help, brother Bai¡­.¡± As he was speaking, he noticed Bai Yunfei was looking off to the side, ¡°Brother Bai, we¡¯ll have to rely on yo¨Cbrother Bai?¡±


    ¡°Ah? Oh, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll do my best to help you get that snake!¡± Somewhat in a daze before he was spoken to, it took two calls to him before Bai Yunfei replied.


    But still, an odd light flickered in his eyes.


    ¡°Alright, hide your auras and get ready to close in!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Due to the chaotic influx of elemental force, the group was able to advance closer to the battlefield without much trouble. Roughly ten minutes later, they stopped two hundred meters from the two.


    From his spot behind a tree trunk, Zhang Yunpeng whispered to the others, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll hide here and wait f¡ª¡±


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    Before he could even finish his sentence, the loud roar of a lion immediately cut into his sentence, causing everyone to shiver slightly from the amount of elemental fire washing over them. A shrill hiss was heard within this roar, and just slightly after that, everyone felt the aura of the snake drop drastically!


    Blanching, Zhang Yunpeng turned to look at the fight, only to see the snake on the ground.


    But its head wasn¡¯t in one piece. The lower half the snake¡¯s mandible had been completely torn off from its head!!


    All that was a small segment of the jaw that hung uselessly near its neck¨Ceven the forked tongue of the snake had been ripped out!


    Blood gushed out like a small river from the snake¡¯s jaws as it stood in front of the three-eyed bloodlion.


    On the other side, the bloodlion raised its head up to the skies to let loose a loud roar!

 Chapter 387: A Sudden Breakthrough!

    Without any warning whatsoever, the purple-crowned snake had been killed by the bloodlion!!


    Having thought that the battle would take a longer amount of time before a victor could be determined, everyone was completely caught off guard by the sudden victory.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s dead!!¡±


    It only took a few short breaths before the aura of the snake to fully disappear. With the rest of its body crashing to the ground, the snake moved no more.


    Whitening in the face, Zhang Yunpeng made a hurried note to the others.


    ¡°The innards of a purple-crowned snake are only harvestable for ten minutes after its death, it¡¯s completely useless after that!!


    ¡°It¡¯s crown is extremely useful as a tonic ingredient as well, it¡¯s as precious as a soulgem! We have to act now, or else the bloodlion¡¯s going to eat it!¡±


    What he said brought Bai Yunfei back to reality from what he was thinking. Looking at the freshly-killed snake, and then back to the bloodlion with a doubtful look.


    ¡°We can¡¯t wait any longer, Long, let¡¯s go!!¡± Biting his lips, Zhang Yunpeng ordered the group forward. Withdrawing his golden staff from his ring, he moved to lead the charge with Long.


    ¡°Got it!¡± With a nod of his own, Long immediately took out his three swords. Alongside Zhou Feng and Kun, the four of them were now all ready to strike.


    ¡°Hold on, something¡¯s not ri¡ª¡±


    A warning came forth from Bai Yunfei, but it was too late.


    Zhang Yunpeng and the others were already charging out towards the bloodlion!!


    In an instant, Long¡¯s eyes flashed once with light before elemental lightning burst forth from his body. Dashing forward while Zhou Feng and Kun as support behind them, Long and Zhang Yunpeng moved out with Ye Zi and Han Yan watching anxiously behind them.


    ¡°Tsk!¡± Clicking his tongue, Bai Yunfei drew out his Fire-tipped Spear. Dashing forward with the aid of the elemental fire underneath his feet, Bai Yunfei rushed straight for Long to fight the bloodlion with him while Zhang Yunpeng charged towards the left to the purple-crowned snake.


    ¡°Roarrrr!¡±


    A roar erupted from the bloodlion when the five came out from their hiding spots. Previously closed when the soulbeast was enjoying the ¡®bloodbath¡¯, the third eye of the bloodlion¡¯s opened up, revealing a scarlet pupil within it.


    But the strange thing was¡­.when the eye opened up, the blood on its body started to move towards its eye, as if attracted to it.


    The blood was being¡­absorbed into its third eye!!


    Not even ten seconds went by before all of the blood on the bloodlion vanished without a trace! It had been such a startling sight that Ye Zi and Han Yan couldn¡¯t help but gasp in fright.


    Done cleaning itself of the blood, the bloodlion turned its head to look at Bai Yunfei and the others. Long was the first to strike with both his arms in an X formation with each other so that the blades ran in an intersection. Elemental lightning surged through his body in large amounts, increasing his momentum to deliver an astonishingly fast strike!!


    ¡°Three Swords Style¡­.Demon Slash!!¡±


    A blade of lightning let loose from each of his three blades to fly towards the bloodlion.


    ¡°Tzzk!!¡±


    A spurt of blood flew into the air but¡­.it was Long¡¯s blood, not the bloodlion!


    Still standing in its original position, the bloodlion didn¡¯t even look like it had moved a muscle. But from his position behind Long after he was thrown backwards gave Bai Yunfei a clear perspective of what had happened. After Long made his move, the bloodlion had merely swiped one of its paws to break through the elemental lightning infused Demon Slash move and then graze Long¡¯s body with the followup.


    If not for Long managing to move just enough out of the way, the move would¡¯ve killed him. But even then, this small moment of contact did enough to heavily injure him.


    ¡°Roarr!!¡±


    Again, the bloodlion roared, but it was Bai Yunfei who was attacking this time, and in triplets!


    Doppelgangers!


    Thanks to the +12 effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, he was able to call out two additional doppelgangers to stab at the head, waist, and tail of the bloodlion!


    Roaring furiously, it swung its shortened tail like a whip to slap against one of the incoming spears. With a pop, the doppelganger was swept aside to hit the other doppelganger aiming for its waist!!


    With two of the doppelgangers swept aside in one tail strike, this left the bloodlion free to swipe at the third Bai Yunfei with a single claw swipe, as one might try to take down a fly.


    There was a clanging sound as the claw struck against the spear, the force being large enough to cause Bai Yunfei to lose his sense of balance. By usage of the Wave Treading Steps, Bai Yunfei was able to orientate himself and move away from danger next to Long¡¯s side.


    ¡°Swoosh! Swoosh!!¡±


    Two distinct poofing sounds were heard when the bloodlion lashed out with another two claw strikes.


    And just like that, the two doppelgangers were completely dispelled!!


    ¡°Long, are you alright?¡± Worried about Long¡¯s physical health, Bai Yunfei knelt down by his side.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­.I¡¯m fine¡­.¡± Waving Bai Yunfei away, Long tried his best to stand back up, the three claw marks on his upper waist made it difficult for him to do so. Despite his best efforts to staunch the bleeding, the several seconds it took to do so took long enough for a puddle of blood to form underneath him.


    From his position ten meters away from the bloodlion, Long had a look of disbelief on his face. ¡°But¡­.but how though?! The bloodlion is a¡­mid-stage class six!¡±


    In just one instant, the battle prowess of the bloodlion was revealed not to be an early-stage class six soulbeast, but a mid-stage class six!!


    ¡°It brokethrough¡­..it brokethrough during the battle with the purple-crowned snake!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°It became a mid-stage class six soulbeast during that fight!¡±


    ¡°Im¡­impossible¡­!¡±


    ¡°It is what it is, we can¡¯t say it¡¯s impossible.¡± Replied Bai Yunfei. His eyes never wandered away from the bloodlion, ¡°Things are a little more annoying now!¡±


    Before he could even finish his sentence, the bloodlion was already gone from sight!


    Blanching in fright, both Bai Yunfei and Long moved into a defensive stance, but the bloodlion wasn¡¯t coming for them.


    ¡°Boss Zhang, look out!!¡±


    The target of the bloodlion wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei or Long, but Zhang Yunpeng, who was just about to start harvesting the purple-crowned snake!


    It was quite evident that the bloodlion wouldn¡¯t let anyone steal away its ¡®spoils of war¡¯.


    Thanks to Bai Yunfei¡¯s warning, Zhang Yunpeng was able to put up a guard just in time. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t strong enough to fully block or evade against the bloodlion, and so by the time the bloodlion was upon him, very little was done as the bloodlion slashed at his chest!


    ¡°Eeeek!¡±


    From behind Zhang Yunpeng, the figure of Xiao Kong flew up into the space between the bloodlion¡¯s claw and Zhang Yunpeng. With Xiao Kong there, it was able to bring up Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s soul armament, saving them from certain death!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Hit with the recoil of the blow, he and Xiao Kong were sent flying backwards like a bullet!


    Their trajectory brought them flying into Zhou Feng, bringing the three of them flying another hundred meters away before finally crashing to the ground.


    The left part of Zhang Yunpeng¡¯s waist had three terrible looking wounds that bled blood quickly, and as he tried to stand back up, a mouthful of blood came out violently from his mouth, promptly leading to him fainting straight away!


    He hadn¡¯t been able to fully fend off the bloodlion¡¯s attack and was almost killed because of it!


    ¡°Boss Zhang!¡±


    Following his fall, a small figure in blue darted out from behind the trees for him¨Cit was Han Yan!


    Ye Zi and Han Yan were coincidentally not too far from where Zhang Yunpeng landed, so it only took a few mere seconds for the girl to reach her team leader. Eyes brimming with tears, but silent in her panic, she pressed both hands to his wound and started to treat it with Hydrotherapy.


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡± Roaring again, the three-eyed bloodlion opened its bloody jaws wide. A fireball three meters wide began to form in the area in front of its mouth, and when it fully formed, it flew off towards the direction of the unconscious Zhang Yunpeng and Han Yan!

 Chapter 388: Fighting a Bloodlion Solo

    The fireball dragged against the ground in a gravity-defying act of traveling straight forwards. Filled with a decent portion of the bloodlion¡¯s strength, the fireball moved without deviation to strike down the unconscious Zhang Yunpeng and Han Yan who was healing him!


    And neither of the two would even be able to move away from being hit!


    With how fast the fireball was moving, a weak Soul Sprite like Han Yan wouldn¡¯t even have a snowball¡¯s chance of dodging it.


    Even with how much they wanted to save her, Zhou Feng and Kun weren¡¯t fast enough to do so. Long¡¯s body flashed with purple light as he tried to concentrate, but then another violent mouthful of blood was coughed out from his exertion!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    And just like that, the fireball exploded onto the ground, devouring at the space where Han Yan and Zhang Yunpeng were!


    ¡°Yan!¡±


    Ye Zi cried, tears brimming in her eyes. Zhou Feng and the others were all looking on in despair as well.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    It was Long who first realized something was off. Where was Bai Yunfei?


    He was only just right next to him a second ago, but where he was now?!


    Using his soulsense, Long¡¯s eyes widened with surprise when he realized what had happened.


    ¡°They¡¯re alright! Brother Bai¡­.¡±


    The dust kicked up by the fireball was starting to clear away now, revealing a translucent orange barrier in its place!


    The red-washed figure of Bai Yunfei stood behind the barrier with his right hand stretched outwards. The Cataclysmic Seal was clenched in his hand, and the orange barrier had erected itself two meters in front of the brick to protect the three of them behind it.


    From the aura Bai Yunfei was radiating now, he was as strong as an¡­early-stage Soul Exalt!


    Dual Flame Arts: ¡®Coil¡¯ form!


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold it off, you guys get back, now!¡± He yelled, startling the group into action.


    Beneath his legs, purple light was already starting to spark to life, allowing Bai Yunfei to Flash Step past Zhou Feng and Kun to fight the enraged three-eyed bloodlion with his Fire-tipped Spear.


    The bloodlion had noticed the change that overcame Bai Yunfei with just a brief pause. When it noticed Bai Yunfei coming rapidly for it, the bloodlion roared angrily and pounced forward to meet him head on with its claws!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Man and soulbeast clashed against each other in the form of claws versus Cataclysmic Seal. The Fire-tipped Spear had been knocked aside by another one of the bloodlion¡¯s claws, but Bai Yunfei managed to land a kick onto the flank of the bloodlion, only to hiss in pain. It felt as though he had kicked an iron plate, and the recoil forced him to take three steps back.


    Though at the very least, he managed to force the bloodlion back as well.


    For the sake of buying enough time for everyone else to run away, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t take even a single second to relax. Pushing off against the ground, he made another attempt to rush for the bloodlion again.


    One after another, the bloodlion and Bai Yunfei clashed against each other. Only the angry roars of the soulbeast and the metallic clanging between their weapons were heard with each clash. Thanks to Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®coil¡¯ form, he was able to temporarily gain the strength of an early-stage Soul Exalt.


    But compared to the mid-stage class six three-eyed bloodlion, there was still a very large gap that had yet to be bridged!


    With each time the bloodlion struck against his Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei tried his best to find a way to use either the Fire-tipped Spear, the Cataclysmic Seal, or even his flying daggers to bring down the bloodlion.


    Several dozen exchanges were had with Bai Yunfei having yet to be harmed¨Cphysically at least.


    Using the Cataclysmic Seal to defend against the bloodlion was extremely effective, but it was also very draining in terms of soulforce. There were even some times where Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been able to use enough soulforce to properly insulate himself from the blows, leading to several near-misses from a serious injury.


    It was fortunate that his soulforce was much higher than the average soul cultivator. His regeneration wasn¡¯t small by any means either, so he was able to maintain a calm demeanor throughout his fight.


    ¡°Bang!¡± Yet again, the Cataclysmic Seal blocked against the bloodlion¡¯s pouncing swipe. Readjusting itself, the Cataclysmic Seal withdrew its orange glow before pulsating with a powerful red glow instead. Flying at the bloodlion¡¯s waist, it flew quickly to try and strike it down, only for the tail of the bloodlion to come up!


    ¡°Pap!¡±


    Upon contact, the Cataclysmic Seal was sent rebounding away!


    Its tail was a surprisingly powerful tool!


    However, there was a difference this time when the two struck! A wave of fire manifested outside of the barrier and wrapped around the bloodlion¡¯s tail. As soon as it completely surrounded the tail, the halo of fire contracted rapidly to constrict around the entirety of the soulbeast¡¯s body!


    +10 Additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal, Flame Twister!


    10% chance to activate ¡®Flame Twister¡¯ and restrict the mobility of another by 10% for a maximum of ten seconds upon attacking.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    There was a noticeable difference in the bloodlion¡¯s movements after the Flame Twister had activated. Despite being a fire-type soulbeast, the Flame Twister wasn¡¯t something it could adjust and adapt to!


    Eyes lighting up at the chance presented to it, Bai Yunfei moved swiftly to the bloodlion and stabbed at its throat with his Fire-tipped Spear!


    Whilst moving slower than before, the bloodlion hadn¡¯t lost the entirety of its battle prowess. Dodging the spear by crouching, the bloodlion was able to avoid the spear by having it graze over the top of its head. Then, by arching its back to build up power in its front legs, it pushed off against the ground to retreat backwards and avoid Bai Yunfei from making a follow up.


    Harrumphing, Bai Yunfei leapt forward once again. Since the soulbeast wasn¡¯t yet off the effects of the Flame Twister, he¡¯d make use of the chances provided to him. He grabbed hold of the Cataclysmic Seal with his left hand and concentrated its elemental fire into the brick for a normal strike with it!


    Without hesitation, he slammed the brick down onto the right part of the bloodlion¡¯s waist!


    Threefold Slap!


    A move that hadn¡¯t seen the light of day in battle for a very long time, but a useful move nonetheless. The sound of contact was heard when the brick slapped against the soulbeast, but the bloodlion didn¡¯t look like it was hurt.


    But then in the next second, its body was sent flying away without warning!!


    +13 Additional Effect, Hurl!


    ¡°Roarrr!!¡± The soulbeast was caught completely off guard from this out-of-the-blue effect. In an attempt to stop itself from flying away, the soulbeast tried using its elemental fire, but to no avail.


    An irresistible force was forcibly moving the bloodlion, and even with its best attempts, it wasn¡¯t able to do anything to stop it!


    Due to its air-borne status, the bloodlion was at its most vulnerable state yet.


    But even with such a great opportunity to attack, Bai Yunfei had instead¡­.turned towards the other direction!


    The direction where the corpse of the purple-crowned snake was!


    With a few leaps, Bai Yunfei arrived at the snake¡¯s head. The Fire-tipped Spear made quick work of the corpse, and in just one swing, the entirety of its head was completely detached from the snake¡¯s body.


    Grabbing hold of the head, he tossed it with all his might!


    ¡°Long, catch!!¡±


    At some point during Bai Yunfei¡¯s battle with the bloodlion, Long managed to reach the area where Zhang Yunpeng was to move him farther away from battle with the others.


    When Long heard his name, his head snapped back just in time to see a purple object come flying at him. His hand caught the object, but then when he realized exactly what it was, his jaws dropped open, ¡°This is¡­¡±


    ¡°The snake¡¯s crown, take it!¡± Kun cried out in joy.


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with this soulbeast, get away from here as fast as you can. The farther the better, and don¡¯t come back!¡±


    Twirling his spear, Bai Yunfei turned back to look in earnest at the re-orientated bloodlion.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be brave!¡± Long snapped, ¡°I¡¯ll escort the others to safety and come back to he¡ª¡±


    ¡°Forget it!! I won¡¯t argue any more, I¡¯ve it covered! You guys have the crown, so leave the forest!¡± Interrupted Bai Yunfei right as the bloodlion pounced at him.


    ¡°You guys got what you came for, I¡¯ll be staying here to continue my training, so this is where we say our goodbyes!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    This wasn¡¯t an answer they were expecting to get.


    While what he was saying was true, to leave him here to fight while they fled was a little¡­.


    ¡°Brother Bai¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shut up and do as I say!!¡± Bai Yunfei snapped, anger radiating in his eyes.


    Long had been listening to the conversation in silence, as if thinking of his decision. With that final line from Bai Yunfei, he turned around to the others. ¡°Got it, we¡¯re leaving then!!¡±


    ¡°But¡ª¡± Ye Zi began.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just be a burden if we stay any longer.¡± Knowing that such a response would come, Long interrupted her. Already had he grabbed onto Zhang Yunpeng so that they could run away.


    The injured Xiao Kong was already being cradled by Kun, meaning that there was nothing else they had to do. Everyone gave one final look to Bai Yunfei in gratitude before running away with Long to flee the forest¡­.


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°What are you going to chase now? Your opponent is me!!¡±


    Stomping heavily onto the ground, he flew towards the soulbeast with renewed vigor to stop the bloodlion from chasing after the others.


    Forced to move to the side to dodge, the bloodlion turned around to glare furiously at Bai Yunfei. Indignation was in full force in its eyes, and with a mighty roar, it dove at Bai Yunfei to try and tear him to pieces.


    The rapidly dwindling auras of Long and the others as they made their escape wasn¡¯t lost on Bai Yunfei. Smiling in the fact that they would be safe, he twirled his spear and beckoned at the bloodlion.


    ¡°Well then¡­.I¡¯ll take you on here and now!¡±

 Chapter 389: A Mental Attack

    For miles around, explosion rocked the earth one after another. Dirt and rubble flew into the air along with the plant life with each explosion that shined even brighter than the stars above.


    All of the soulbeasts within the area were cowered in fear with each tremor that shook the forest. The tremendous auras that were radiating off a certain part of the forest had left them all with complete and utter fear.


    The Wave Treading Step was used in abundance as Bai Yunfei weaved left and right like a shadow. Each attack the bloodlion sent at him was dodged and followed up with the Fire-tipped Spear to stab with his left.


    In his right, the Ardent Sun Glove shined brightly with red light to infuse his flying daggers with power to stab into the bloodlion¡¯s waist.


    A fireball jettisoned out from the bloodlion¡¯s mouth, smashing into the two flying daggers in a brilliant explosion of red light and rebounding them away.


    By the time the fireball disappeared from sight, the bloodlion was already mid-leap in an attempt to tear down Bai Yunfei. In another clash of red, the two figures intersected with one another.


    Approximately ten minutes had passed since Long and the others managed to successfully flee the area. Combined with the prior five minutes before then, Bai Yunfei spent a total of fifteen minutes in his ¡®coil¡¯ form.


    What Bai Yunfei was waiting for was the complete departure of Long¡¯s aura from the forest. He didn¡¯t want Long and the others to come back, so them leaving the forest completely gave Bai Yunfei some semblance of relief.


    Landing on the opposite side of one another, the bloodlion roared, firing yet another fireball that streaked about a meter above the ground at Bai Yunfei. Even with this one meter of height, the ground beneath it had a linear burn mark, showing just how intense the fireball was in heat.


    The fireball was covering a large amount of ground by the time Bai Yunfei turned his head back. Rather than thinking about dodging or using the Cataclysmic Seal to defend, Bai Yunfei shifted a half step backwards with his right hand reared behind his body. The muscles in his arm bulged slightly as he prepared to punch, and then, in a flash of red light, he punched!


    ¡°Bang!!¡± The fireball made contact with his fist, leading to elemental fire scattering into every direction.


    ¡°So this is the strength of a mid-stage class six soulbeast¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei commented. Ideas and plans streamed in his mind one after another as he observed the lion. With the ten minutes spent fighting, Bai Yunfei had at least some semblance of familiarity fighting one now.


    Compared to the hillbeast, the three-eyed bloodlion was very different. The hillbeast placed emphasis on its defenses, which, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve found extremely hard to break if not for his Dual Dragon Burst whose strength could frighten even a late-stage Soul Exalt. The bloodlion emphasized offense over defense and gave even Bai Yunfei a feeling of awe for it.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®coil¡¯ form gave him strength to fight on par with the bloodlion, however. This in itself was already a clear testament to Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength and the support his equipment gave him. Combined, Bai Yunfei could fight as an early-stage Soul Exalt on equal footing with the mid-stage class six.


    ¡°My ¡®coil¡¯ form has another fifteen minutes left¡­if I keep waiting around, I¡¯ll lose!¡± Urging his soulforce now, Bai Yunfei pushed off against the ground in a blaze of purple light. His figure blurred into a shadow as he streaked for the bloodlion.


    On the way, one shadow turned into three to strike at the bloodlion from three separate angles!


    +12 Additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear; Doppelganger!


    The bloodlion didn¡¯t move from its spots, however. When the three Bai Yunfeis approached, the bloodlion only growled softly as it charged up its elemental fire. All three of its eyes gave Bai Yunfei the death glare with a particularly crimson shade of color began to show in them for an eery look.


    Then, its soulforce began to ripple and flow in a strange fashion¡­.


    ¡°Roarrrrr!!!¡±


    An ear-piercing roar of angry exploded out from the bloodlion¡¯s mouth, but there was no elemental fire. It was just an ordinary roar meant to intimidate rather than to harm.


    The three shadows were already upon the bloodlion, however. The one on the very left was just about to strike when his face whitened in fear!


    Feet locking up, Bai Yunfei stopped moving and fell forward¨Cit looked almost as if he had tripped and lost his balance!


    All four limbs of the bloodlion moved to dodge the strikes of the other two doppelgangers before opening its jaw wide open to bite down on the first Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    There was a crunch as the teeth of the bloodlion closed in on one another, but no flesh was caught in between.


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei managed to plant his spear into the ground and twist his body around enough to dodge the jaws of death onto his head. Still with the spear planted in the ground, he used that to help kick off the ground to slide a few meters to the side.


    Now that he was safe, Bai Yunfei could feel his face slick with sweat and his heart racing furiously.


    In that one moment before the bite came, Bai Yunfei felt as if countless of icy-cold spikes were stabbing into his brain, and even into his soul! In that moment, his soulforce refused to obey him. Even his body refused to obey his commands!


    ¡°This is¡­.a mental attack!!¡± His eyes contracted in realization.


    Second later, his eyes shifted over to the ring he wore on his right hand. He felt some of his soulforce enter the ring during the attack when he lost all control over himself, but it was because of this drain of soulforce that he was later able to regain control over himself in time to save his life.


    He wasn¡¯t a stranger to this type of sensation. That was the sign of an additional effect being triggered!


    The ring he wore now was one of the +12 rings he upgraded when he was trying to save Tang Xinyun back in Curopia City!


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Additional Attribute: +130 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    +10 Additional Effect: Decrease soulforce consumption of a soul skill by 5%.


    +12 Additional Effect: Decrease effects of mental attacks by 15%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 62 Soulpoints


    ¡°Damnit! It¡¯s just a class six, how can it use mental attacks already?!¡± He wailed.


    Then an idea hit him.


    ¡°Oh! A three-eyed bloodlion are special soulbeasts capable of learning how to attack the mind. But¡­..it¡¯s an extremely rare chance to see one know how! How ¡®lucky¡¯ of me, I came across a bloodlion that conveniently knew how?!¡±


    Mental attacks were methods of attack that only Soul Kings or class seven soulbeasts knew how to use. Aside from that, there were a few soul skills that could replicate said effects, and some of the more rarer breeds of soulbeasts were capable of using mind-based attacks as well.


    As said above, this bloodlion Bai Yunfei was fighting was exactly one of those rare breeds.


    The bloodlion originally didn¡¯t think it¡¯d need to use it against a human of all things, but after battling for so long, it had finally recognized Bai Yunfei as a predator, not prey.


    The longer they fought, the more this ¡®feeling¡¯ grew, so it finally decided to end things here and now with its ultimate move.


    ¡°A mental attack¡­.things have gotten thorny now!¡± Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei began to think of what to do next.


    There was no way that the bloodlion would give him enough time to think though. It pounced straight for him, forcing Bai Yunfei to leap out of the way before the bloodlion turned around and had its third eye flash crimson again.


    And in that moment, Bai Yunfei felt his own mind and soulforce slammed with a foreign force, producing a dizzying effect!


    ¡°Damnit¡­¡± Snarling, Bai Yunfei bit his tongue, but that didn¡¯t help him snap out from his bind.


    ¡°Boom! Booom!!¡±


    Two separate explosions were heard as Bai Yunfei retreated backwards. Before the explosion could hit him, an earthen barrier was erected in front of him to protect him from the worst, but by the time he regained control of himself, the barrier had already been brought down!


    A wave of fire flew for Bai Yunfei, but he was able to swiftly move out of the way by using the Wave Treading Steps.


    Since its attack failed to land, the bloodlion roared in anger and flashed its third eye again at him!


    ¡°Again?!¡± He cried out.


    Pushing his soulforce into the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei was relieved to see another orange barrier pop up in place in front of him.


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    For the second time now, the attacks of the bloodlion landed against the barrier, with each blast progressively stronger than the first. And when each blast landed, Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier rippled like if it was made with water, and seemingly ready to break at any moment.


    He was¡­.in danger now!

 Chapter 390: The Decisive Blow!

    Still standing in his original position, Bai Yunfei continued to transmit his soulforce from his body into the Cataclysmic Seal floating in front of him. Since the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s consumption of soulforce wasn¡¯t fast enough to keep with the demand, Bai Yunfei saw fit to transmit his soulforce in it as well.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s very person wasn¡¯t viewable from the outside due to the amount of orange light being shone from the barrier. Inversely, this also meant that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to see what was going on on the outside.


    But just from sound alone¨Cthere were explosions happening every few seconds¨CBai Yunfei could tell that the bloodlion was attacking the barrier again and again.


    ¡°This is the fourth time! If I let his go on, I won¡¯t have any other choice!!¡± Gloom filled Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, his mind racing to come up with a solution, ¡°I¡¯ve only ten minutes left in my ¡®coil¡¯ form. This bloodlion¡¯s mental attacks are annoying, but in the end, it¡¯s all a matter of who can outlast the other, and¡­¡±


    ¡°Roarrr!!!¡±


    Another wave of dizziness flooded his mind before the +12 ring on his right hand diluted the effects. Brought back to a state of semi-clarity again, Bai Yunfei felt the bloodlion¡¯s attacks renew on his barrier, causing it to weaken even more!


    Two seconds passed before Bai Yunfei was back to full status, to which he immediately started to fill his barrier with soulforce.


    But something was amiss.


    ¡°Did it¡­.stop?¡±


    After experiencing the mental attacks several times by now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s senses were starting to get a feel for things. Just seemingly, the follow-up of the bloodlion after a mental attack just¡­.didn¡¯t match up!


    ¡°Am I seeing things?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows scrunched together. He wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure, but a guess was already brewing in him, ¡°If not, then ¡®that¡¯ will be the time to strike!¡±


    Again and again, the bloodlion roared in anger while raining down bursts of elemental fire against the barrier without pause. It was a little frantic now, as it originally thought it could easily defeat the human if it used its ultimate move.


    But then came this stalemate where the bloodlion had already used its mental attack several times now without success!!


    The earth barrier this human was using was far too annoying to get rid of and was practically harder to penetrate than the shell of an early-stage class six rockshell tortoise. If not for the barrier, the human behind it would¡¯ve been turned into paste a long time ago.


    If its rate of soulforce usage was to be relied on, the bloodlion had only ten minutes left before its tank would run empty. And if that were to happen, it¡¯d be unable to battle, meaning that escape was the only possible solution after that. But¡­.was that really it??


    The very notion of fleeing was met with indignation by the bloodlion.


    It was the sovereign of this area, it would not simply relinquish its hold on its territory just like so!


    It could tell that as long as it maintained its mental attacks in conjunction with the bursts of elemental fire, the barrier would give away sooner or later, and the human behind it would die, it¡¯d just need to keep on firing!!


    The bloodthirst in the soulbeast was at its peak.


    ¡°Damnit damnit! That¡¯s another two minutes lost! If this goes on, I¡¯ll be in danger!!¡± A sense of urgency was starting to kick in in Bai Yunfei as well. Time had been spent waiting for the optimal moment to strike, and he had only just about gave up trying to attack in between the mental attacks in favor of focusing on defending.


    This situation right now was completely taxing on Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. If this goes on, I¡¯ll be in danger!¡± A sense of urgency swelled up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. All of his efforts had gone towards enduring these attacks in order to wait for the most optimal time to strike, but to take such a passive course of action didn¡¯t sit right with Bai Yunfei and was very taxing on him.


    Another mental attack came at Bai Yunfei just as he recovered from the initial one and was preparing to beef up the defenses of his barrier again.


    Who knew that the bloodlion would roar again at that moment!


    After recovering from another mental attack, Bai Yunfei was just about to reinforce the barrier, the bloodlion roared once more!


    It was attacking with a mental attack yet again!


    ¡°Crap!!¡±


    Fear and apprehension flooded Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. If the mental attack were to hit him now, he¡¯d lose the barrier once in for all.


    The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring on his left hand flashed with light once to cover Bai Yunfei¡¯s body with it, removing the feeling of dizziness away from his mind!


    ¡°It¡¯s here!!¡± Was the first reaction of Bai Yunfei. The moment he was waiting for this entire time had finally appeared!


    +12 Additional effect of the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring, activate!


    10% chance to be completely immune to a mental attack.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Complete immunity to mental attacks¡­.this was the moment Bai Yunfei was waiting for!


    He gave up on trying to reinforce his barrier. With this opportunity given to him now, Bai Yunfei looked to the bloodlion. The light hadn¡¯t even fully left its third eye and elemental fire was still being gathered in the soulbeast, meaning there was plenty of opportunities for Bai Yunfei to attack with!


    ¡°Here it is!¡± Bai Yunfei was ecstatic. After using its mental attack, the bloodlion was in a state of vulnerability!


    Excited as he was, it didn¡¯t impact how he moved. With the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring¡¯s effect activated, he could charge head on without hesitation!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡± His right hand swung forward to shoot out a single explosive flying dagger at the bloodlion¡¯s third eye!


    This one flying dagger was much stronger than the previous ones he threw, and when it closed in on the bloodlion¡¯s head, it exploded straight away!


    ¡°Roarr!!!!¡± A pain-filled roar came from the bloodlion. Now that its vulnerable moment was over, the bloodlion came back to its senses just in time to feel extreme pain!


    With the explosive flying dagger exploding, the bloodlion was naturally forced to shut its eyes close.


    Despite being aimed at the third eye, the flying dagger wasn¡¯t meant to explode and destroy it, but to deliver a burst of elemental fire to each of its three eyes to give its soulsense a huge jolt in the senses!


    His left hand came up after the flying dagger was thrown to release the Cataclysmic Seal. Orange light was replaced by red, and its shape expanded in size with each inch it made towards the soulbeast. By the time ten meters of distance was covered, the brick was already the size of a door and was still increasing in size.


    And while the soulbeast was busying roaring in pain from the dagger, the Cataclysmic Seal struck it!!


    ¡°Bang!!¡± The bloodlion¡¯s body lifted off from the ground when the brick struck, and two sharp teeth of the bloodlion was ejected out from its mouth upon contact.


    One flying dagger, one brick, and a short distance later, Bai Yunfei was just about to strike upon the bloodlion with his own fists!


    He paused for a moment with his right foot sinking two inches deep into the ground behind him. Arching his back, his left palm extended towards the bloodlion¡¯s head as his right hand clenched. He twisted his back and primed his right arm, allowing his soulforce to turn the right hand alight with elemental fire!


    There was half a second of pause before the light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes hardened. Then, his right fist punched at the bloodlion¡¯s belly!


    Ten percent power; Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    There was a sickening crunch of bone and flesh as the bloodlion¡¯s massive body was sent flying like a bullet through the air, blood streaming out from its mouth and nose without stop!


    But that wasn¡¯t the end!


    Eyeing the airborne bloodlion, Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms withdrew to his sides. Clapping, he folded his fingers over each other first before going through a series of complicated hand seals. With both essence fireseeds churning violently now, the elemental fire in him was about to erupt!


    It took two seconds for the final hand seal to be finished and his arms now back at his sides. Elemental fire coiled around both arms in tremendous amounts, like they were two malevolent dragons ready to be let loose.


    This move was¡­.the Dual Dragon Burst!


    Now that the bloodlion was two hundred meters away and on the ground, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glinted. Now was the time to strike!


    His arms twisted in preparation to punch¡­.


    The fiery dragons coiled around his arms were already starting to come out when Bai Yunfei suddenly leapt forward. He spun around in a half-circle to punch out not in the direction of the bloodlion, but to release the two dragons in the opposite direction!!

 Chapter 391: The Hidden Enemy

    The two dragons traveled over several hundred meters in a matter of seconds, the fires of its body revealing¡­.a black-robed person in its path!


    This figure had been waiting on the top of the mountain just a while ago. A few moments ago, this person had been moving closer and closer to the battle. And if his elemental fire underneath his feet was any indication, and the motions of his right hand, he was preparing to take action against Bai Yunfei and the bloodlion.


    But when the dual dragons drew close, his pupils contracted in fear. Pausing in his footsteps, the man¡¯s hand moved even faster to withdraw a black shadow to protect himself with!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two dragons hit their mark in an explosion of red light and a sound unlike any other. But from within the explosion was yet another layer of red light that seemed to block off even the Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Exalt¡­.a Soul King almost!!¡±


    The fact that the Dual Dragon Burst didn¡¯t stop the man didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Bai Yunfei. From the man¡¯s aura, Bai Yunfei was astonished to find out just how strong he was.


    ¡°Bang!¡± A secondary explosion scattered the Dual Dragon Burst into the area, and a black shadow came flying out to come crashing down on the earth near Bai Yunfei.


    Upon closer observation, Bai Yunfei realized that the object wasn¡¯t the person, but the corpse of a bird-type soulbeast!! In his moment of peril, the figure had used a soulbeast puppet to protect himself from the explosion of elemental fire. While the soulbeast died within practically milliseconds of contact, but the soulforce it used in that one moment revealed it to be a mid-stage class six soulbeast!


    ¡°A beast tamer!¡± His eyes narrowed in suspicion. That object the man pulled out had unexpectedly been a soulbeast that died before it could even scream when it was pulled out from its space ring¡­..


    In other words, the man was from the Beast Taming School!!


    ¡°F*ck¡­.f*ck!!!¡± From the remnants of the elemental fire came a figure in black. The first thing Bai Yunfei noticed about the man other than his black robes was his age. The man was in his fifties, and had frazzled gray hair to go with his age. The wrinkles on his face was pronounced, but did nothing to hide the sinister look on his face. In fact, his face was very intimidating.


    The robes on the right part of his person was burnt to at least half of what it used to be, and his right arm itself was burnt slightly black¨Ca clear sign that he had taken damage from the Dual Dragon Burst.


    ¡°Brat, were you planning to attack me?!¡± He glared angrily at Bai Yunfei. Not once did he imagine that he¡¯d be ambushed by the person he was going to ambush, and so powerfully too!!


    The move had been so powerful that even he himself had to go all out to protect himself! But it wasn¡¯t enough, and he lost both his mid-stage class six twinhead vulture and injured his right hand!


    Everything was going beyond what he expected, even for someone as far-sighted as he, a late-stage Soul Exalt. At first, he had been watching the battle with keen interest because of the youngster fighting, but he didn¡¯t expect to not only be greeted with such a powerful move, but to be hurt so much by it!


    How could he not be shocked in that case?!


    ¡°Me, planning all of this? You¡¯re mixing up the details here, it was you that was planning to attack me, how dare you have the gall to say that to me?¡±


    Bai Yunfei snorted. He wasn¡¯t at all intimidated by this powerful foe, but his body was already recovering his soulforce in preparation to fight.


    All of the actions Bai Yunfei took so far in this fight wasn¡¯t meant only for the bloodlion, but also for this hidden figure in the back!


    Something felt off from the very beginning, but Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. It was a weak feeling, and Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too sure if he was just being paranoid or not at first, but after using the Soul Concealment Art for so long, Bai Yunfei was sufficiently proficient at sensing soulforce when it was being suppressed.


    So he entered combat with the bloodlion with this slight suspicion in his mind. And then when he gained a boost in power in thanks to his ¡®coil¡¯ form, he was able to confirm his suspicions to find out the truth¨Csomeone was observing him from the mountain!


    His attempt to hide was well done, but not well enough to evade Bai Yunfei¡¯s senses. Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to tell just how strong the man was, but he at the very least a mid-stage Soul Exalt!


    In addition to that, this man had actually been watching the fight between the purple-crowned snake and the three-eyed bloodlion before Bai Yunfei and his group arrived; and didn¡¯t leave since then, meaning that he was clearly plotting something!


    This was the real reason why Bai Yunfei ¡®drove¡¯ Long and the others away. The real danger wasn¡¯t the bloodlion, but the mysterious man in waiting. Should they stay in the Soulbeast Forest, they¡¯d definitely be in danger.


    But if they were taken out of the equation, then Bai Yunfei would be able to fight this mysterious foe without needing to worry about any other external variables.


    Bit by bit, Bai Yunfei learned more and more about the situation at hand. At one point during the battle, Bai Yunfei felt the man¡¯s gaze switch from the bloodlion to him, and that was when it all started to click.


    After showing off plenty of his soul armaments, the malicious intent of the man was all too clear now.


    Anyone with a malicious heart would be tempted by the amount of soul armaments he had; that much Bai Yunfei was all too familiar with.


    Since the man¡¯s interest was in the bloodlion, Bai Yunfei was sure that the man wouldn¡¯t allow for it to be killed.


    So when he was about to deliver the final blow, he decided to ambush the man instead if he came forward.


    Of course, if the man decided not to show up, then Bai Yunfei would simply kill the bloodlion and flee straight away to avoid a confrontation.


    Bai Yunfei was right in his inferences. Prior to Bai Yunfei¡¯s arrival, the man came across the snake and lion and decided to observe the fight. After a while, he was ecstatic to find out that the bloodlion was capable of attacking the mind! It was then and there that he decided to capture the soulbeast, and with luck, he¡¯d be able to bind it to his will and turn it into a soulbeast puppet.


    Bai Yunfei and his group didn¡¯t bring up much attention at first. Adventurers like them were common here in the Soulbeast Forest. If this particular group were to decide to get in the way, he¡¯d kill them. Things were as simple as that.


    What they did next was particularly surprising; Bai Yunfei most specifically. A late-stage Soul Ancestor that could become a Soul Exalt was definitely very surprising. He¡¯d have to investigate this matter closely, so going after the group would be a waste of time.


    The more Bai Yunfei fought, the more the man found himself interested.


    And the more interested he became, the more his urge grew.


    The urge to¡­.kill and steal his secrets!!


    But the battle in front of him was a volatile one. Things could change in favor of another at the drop of a hat, and Bai Yunfei was still consistently surprising him with how he was pushing the bloodlion back¨Cand at some times nearly killing it!


    He couldn¡¯t allow the bloodlion to die. So when it all looked like Bai Yunfei was about to kill it, he leapt into action to stop him.


    But not once did he imagine that Bai Yunfei would suddenly attack him first!


    The fact that Bai Yunfei was so vigilant to him added another layer of surprise, but it also helped him realize that he had been underestimating Bai Yunfei the entire time.


    That mighty strike from earlier didn¡¯t even look like it exhausted Bai Yunfei by even a sliver¨Cthings were getting pretty ridiculous.


    All these factors combined made him furious beyond belief. He was an elder of the Beast Taming School and a late-stage Soul Exalt that stood just a step away from becoming a Soul King.


    In what way was it justifiable to suffer this ¡®disgrace¡¯?!


    To be injured to such a degree by a not-even Soul Exalt whelpling, it was preposterous!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s next words infuriated him even more. Up in the air now, his right arm flashed with all the indignation he had¡ª


    ¡°Brat, I¡¯ll tear you to pieces!!¡±


    The ring on his right hand twinkled ominously. A shadow, crimson in color and half the height of a person, appeared by the man¡¯s side. Soulforce as powerful as he was extended forth from the shadow¡¯s side as its four limbs stepped into the air with purple light sparking with each step. Before the figure could even be clearly seen, it disappeared in a streak of red to descend down onto Bai Yunfei like a shooting star!


    From the powerful aura of the being, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes opened wide in frightful surprise.


    ¡°Fire and lightning! This is¡­.a late-stage class six, a thunderfire wolf!!¡±

 Chapter 392: Thunderfire Wolf

    Like a three-eyed bloodlion, a thunderfire wolf was a rare strain of soulbeast. Aside from its large size, it didn¡¯t differ too much in appearance than from any regular wolf, but its unique factor was its ability in being able to train in elemental lightning and fire; the two elements that most soul cultivators usually had trouble pairing together.


    Unlike those soul cultivators, this wolf was capable of using both elements at the same time in battle!


    With even training and dedication, the average soul cultivator could probably switch in between elements; but not at the same time. This feat alone was hard enough to do for most, so to use two elements simultaneously was a definite advantage over anyone else in battle.


    To use two elements simultaneously required reaching a state of ¡®harmony¡¯ with both elements. A fusion of the two elements without losing control was practically impossible, and out of ten thousand soul cultivators, not a single one would be able to achieve said state.


    Soulbeasts were of a different scenario. Those gifted by the heavens could attain strengths that soul cultivators could only long for¨Cthis thunderfire wolf was one of them!


    Within the pyres of fire was the bolt of lightning, and with the lightning came the fire!!


    It was the beast tamer¡¯s strongest soulbeast puppet. He first received it when it was a late-stage class five, but with enough training, he was able to bring it up to its current level. He actually liked to fight with a second soulbeast, as per usual with how beast tamers usually fought, but the second soulbeast he normally used was already dead after serving as his meat shield¡­.


    That thought made the man even angrier. Coming to the Soulbeast Forest was just for business at first, so he counted himself lucky for coming across the three-eyed bloodlion. But before he could even capture it, Bai Yunfei and his group came along, costing him both it and his mid-stage class six twinheaded vulture.


    But the bloodlion was still alive. If he could just kill Bai Yunfei, he¡¯d be able to recoup his losses. And if he killed Bai Yunfei, he¡¯d able to seize all of the soul armaments on him.


    That¡¯d be enough to make him more than happy!


    He formed a seal with his left hand, commanding the thunderfire wolf to start with its most powerful attack. With his right, he summoned seven eagle-sized birds to his side, screeching as they followed the thunderfire wolves!


    Early-stage class five soulbeast, dreamwind hawks!


    They weren¡¯t very strong, but what they lacked in quality, they made up for in quantity. With the beast tamer controlling them, they¡¯d be able to attack as a cohesive unit and make use of their strongest combinational attack, the ¡®Great Whirlwind Wall¡¯.


    Neither the seven dreamwind hawks or the thunderfire wolves had any emotions in their eyes, except for the apathetic sense to kill.


    There was only a roar from the wolf before its entire body was basked in purple light. Elemental lightning sparked this way and that to make it seem about half as big as it was before, and within the elemental lightning was a tinge of fire. Circling around the wolf, its presence made the purple shadows of the wolf slightly more intimidating.


    With fire acting as a supplementary to lightning, the thunderfire wolf was able to increase its speed several times over to come snapping down onto Bai Yunfei in a matter of moments!


    The pervading elemental lightning was already making his body numb before the wolf¡¯s jaws could connect. He had been wary of its speed and was prepared for it. Stepping out of the way by using the Flash Step, he was able to move to the right of the wolf!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Stone and rubble shot everywhere when the thunderfire wolf landed on the ground where Bai Yunfei once stood. In its place was a crater nearly a hundred meters in circumference! But the wolf didn¡¯t stop there. No sooner did it land on the ground did it immediately leap towards where Bai Yunfei was!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s Flash Step took him well over a hundred meters away from the wolf, so he was unharmed by the initial crater. Even when the wolf missed, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move to attack it. Instead, he leapt several meters into the air and began to skywalk into the opposite direction to get away from the wolf.


    In his hands wasn¡¯t the Fire-tipped Spear, but both of his Desert Eagles! Turning around, he began to attack not at the thunderfire wolf, but¡­.the beast tamer!


    He paused his momentum so that he could fire accurately. With both guns lifted up, he adopted a strange posture to fire at the beast tamer.


    This was¡­.his gun fu!!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­..¡±


    Following the rapid sounds of gunfire, several bullets were fired at the beast tamer in large amounts. Whether it be in the quantity of the bullets or how fast it was going, the beast tamer could hardly understand what was being fired at him!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom¡­..¡±


    Seven distinct explosions were heard following the gunfire, with seven different bursts of blood.


    After that, seven objects suddenly dropped down from the skies!


    Despite how scattered apart the birds were, all seven of the dreamwind hawks were completely killed already!!


    Each of the seven hawks were riddled with bullets, but the ones that really mattered were the ones that hit them directly in the beak or its eyes. There simply hadn¡¯t been enough time for the beast tamer to command them to dodge before he lost connection with them, and that in itself lied one of the biggest shortcomings of soulbeast puppetry. Any puppet below a class six in strength lacked self-preservational skills, so without any directions, they¡¯d be easily killed in this bullet storm.


    ¡°Im¨Cimpossible!!¡± The beast tamer exclaimed. Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t used this way of attacking before when fighting the bloodlion, but the beast tamer didn¡¯t think that Bai Yunfei would actually have even more secrets up his sleeves!


    It took three seconds for Bai Yunfei to rid him of the seven deamwind hawks, and after they fell, Bai Yunfei was free to move forward again. Simultaneously moving out of the way to dodge the thunderfire wolf¡¯s attack, he aimed his two pistols at the beast tamer and pulled the trigger!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!¡±


    Four bullets were fired, two fire ones and two lightning ones. Of the two, the lightning bullets were faster, and one of the lightning bullets in particular was two times faster than the other three!


    The beast tamer widened his eyes in surprise. His seven dreamwind hawks dying to the bullets was already more than enough to tell him that these bullets were dangerous and shouldn¡¯t be touched. Moving his head, he was able to dodge the first lightning bullet before he pushed himself completely out of the way to dodge the other three.


    When the three bullets passed by him, one of the fire bullets began to curve towards him, as if attracted somehow.


    Without warning, it turned around when the beast tamer dodged and shot for his right eye!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a collision between bullet and flesh, with blood and bits of flesh flying out. Instead of the eye, the bullet had instead smashed against the beast tamer¡¯s palm! A late-stage Soul Exalt had skin and flesh strong enough to withstand this bullet, but the bullet would still be strong enough to tear out some flesh!


    ¡°Gods¡­.f*cking damnit!!¡± Hissing, the beast tamer whipped his hand over to examine the scorched area of his palm.


    This was the second time now. The second time that Bai Yunfei had caught him off guard and suffered from it!


    ¡°Die!!¡± He roared. The sinister look on his face somehow grew even more malevolent.


    The wound on his right palm didn¡¯t even matter to him anymore as he whipped through several hand seals before they melded into one last hand seal. Upon the last hand seal, his soulforce began to fluctuate strangely; but it wasn¡¯t his own body that a change was happening in, but the thunderfire wolf!


    ¡°Roarr!!!!¡±


    The thunderfire wolf was mid-stride when it roared again, but the soulforce in its body was starting to fluctuate more and more! With each cycle it made around its body, the soulforce grew rapidly, and within several moments, it was already at the levels of a late-stage class six!


    Before, it wasn¡¯t at the peak levels of a late-stage, but the beast tamer had made it so now. He couldn¡¯t allow it to go any farther than that, since forcibly making the thunderfire wolf a class seven wouldn¡¯t end well.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    From when the thunderfire wolf stepped off from the ground, a sonic boom was heard as it came for Bai Yunfei¡¯s head with its claws and jaws ready to tear and bite!


    The Cataclysmic Seal moved into action first. Erecting a barrier over Bai Yunfei, he heard a thud as the wolf slammed against the barrier with its fire-enhanced claws.


    However.


    Rather than the wolf being stopped by the barrier, the barrier trembled slightly before its claws began to tear half an inch through it!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The claw hadn¡¯t even made its way completely through the barrier when the barrier¡­..disintegrated!

 Chapter 393: A Challenging Battle

    The barrier had collapsed as soon as the the wolf was upon it!


    But the barrier did its job; the attack of the wolf had lost all momentum and power.


    Bai Yunfei leapt backwards as quickly as he could, widening the distance between them by several hundred meters before erecting another barrier when he came to a stop.


    Rather than to let its prey go, the thunderfire wolf followed suit. Its entire body was basked in purple and red light before disappearing in a blur to attempt to devour Bai Yunfei again!


    Bai Yunfei was afraid to use the Cataclysmic Seal to attack. Whether he enlarged it to attack with a push or a stamp, the wolf would be able to dodge both with ease and get close.


    He needed the Cataclysmic Seal more for its defenses than its offense!


    Its defenses was what he was relying most on right now. Thus, attacking the wolf was disastrously dangerous. His Desert Eagles were already back in his ring so that he could use the Fire-tipped Spear in conjunction with the Wave Treading Steps to avoid danger.


    Soon, one Bai Yunfei turned into three to stab at the thunderwolf!


    ¡°Bang! Bang!¡±


    The Bai Yunfei in the middle was snapped up in the wolf¡¯s jaws and the one on the right had been torn in two by its claws in a matter of moments!


    The doppelgangers served their purpose, however. They weren¡¯t meant to attack, but to distract! With the wolf distracted, the Bai Yunfei on the left was able to stab at its armors with a burst of concentrated elemental power!


    ¡°Booom!!¡±


    The spark of contact triggered the Fire-tipped Spear¡¯s additional effect, sending the wolf flying away from Bai Yunfei. Careening into several trees, it tumbled across the ground, but¡­.it wasn¡¯t hurt at all!


    ¡°So¡­.this is the might of a late-stage class six soulbeast¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei frowned. The two had only touched for just a small moment, but it was long enough for Bai Yunfei to really understand his chances against the wolf. Victory was practically impossible, and just withstanding one of the wolf¡¯s attacks would be a good question to ask right now¡­.


    ¡°Should I use that then?¡± Hesitation played on Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, ¡°No. I shouldn¡¯t. Even if I get rid of the wolf, how am I going to deal with the soul cultivator? Should I kill him first then?¡±


    He was operating under very bad conditions right now. There was a very powerful foe near him, and his ¡®coil¡¯ form was close to expiring, so he had to attack now!!


    He snarled. The thunderfire wolf would have to be forgotten about for now. Turning around, he flew off into the air to scale a hundred meters high into the sky to where the beast tamer was!


    ¡°He wants to attack me first? How ridiculous!¡± The beast tamer knew straight away what Bai Yunfei was planning. It was a common tactic for other people to attack the beast tamer, but how could he let Bai Yunfei do as he pleased? Lifting his right hand, a purple figure flew straight out from the forest to stop Bai Yunfei; it was the thunderfire wolf.


    Somehow, as if he knew just where and when the wolf would come from, Bai Yunfei came to a stop and raised his left hand to have the Cataclysmic Seal in it detach from him. The orange light from the brick was replaced by red and sailed for the wolf, increasing in size as it did.


    By the time the brick reached the wolf, it was already as big as a house!


    It was a perfect counter for the situation. The wolf hadn¡¯t a way to dodge the brick, but¡­..for a late-stage class six soulbeast, the brick wouldn¡¯t be enough to pose a threat to it!


    Howling loudly, the wolf¡¯s entire body flashed with even more soulforce than before before elemental fire and lightning came ¡®rushing¡¯ out from it to slam into the Cataclysmic Seal!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    Lights of purple and fire illuminated half the sky with countless sloughed-off blobs of elemental lightning and fire scattering this way and that to cover up the Cataclysmic Seal!


    The Cataclysmic Seal itself had stopped its forward momentum to freeze there in the air. And then, with time, it¡­.started to fly backwards!


    A sneer crawled onto the beast tamer¡¯s face.


    ¡°You think yourself impressive with all your soul armaments, but your own strength isn¡¯t equally impressive, even I can kill you!¡±


    His losses were bigger than expected, but victory was all but assured for him. Bai Yunfei was using those soul armaments like crutches, so if everything went according to his expectations then, Bai Yunfei would only be able to last for just another twenty-five minutes.


    After that, he wouldn¡¯t even have to step in himself to make sure Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to fight back.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Just then, something sparked confusion in the beast tamer, ¡°This feeling, it¡¯s¡­¡±


    Completely unexpected to him, the Cataclysmic Seal suddenly turned small to fly behind Bai Yunfei, where the beast tamer realized just what he was doing, ¡°This move again?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had retreated a hundred meters away from where he once was. His entire figure was completely overwhelmed in red, and both of his arms were by his sides with coils of intense flames around them as well.


    And just when the beast tamer caught sight of Bai Yunfei, Bai Yunfei punched out!


    Dual Dragon Burst!!


    The two fiery dragons came forth from his hands before spiralling towards the thunderfire wolf protecting the beast tamer!


    Before, this move costed the beast tamer his twin-headed vulture, so the beast tamer was extremely loathe to lose his thunderfire wolf here. With a mental command, he sent the thunderfire wolf away to dodge the dragons.


    This however, left the beast tamer himself open to the dragons, since the wolf had been the only thing in the way between him and Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Hmph! You think this¡¯d be enough to hit me?¡± The beast tamer sneered. The dragons might¡¯ve been moving at great speeds, but he was still a late-stage Soul Exalt¨Ca being just below that of a Soul King! How in the world would he be struck down by a move like this again?!


    Concentrating soulforce to his feet, the beast tamer pushed mightily off the ground to avoid the two dragons!


    The Dual Dragon Burst missing didn¡¯t seem to bother Bai Yunfei. Rather than disappointment, a flash of light entered his eyes.


    While the beast tamer was preoccupied with ordering the thunderfire wolf to attack him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand pressed against each other to form a seal before then pointing both hands forward and then to the side!


    The Dual Dragon Burst¡­.wasn¡¯t only capable of going in one direction!!


    In a spectacularly strange sight, the two dragons a hundred meters below the beast tamer suddenly split apart in response to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand movements!


    And then, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands flew up before clasping together again!


    Just like that, the two dragons changed directions like changing the corner, but upwards rather than left or right. They flew up to the same height as the beast tamer before following Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand to come together to¡­.¡­.hit the beast tamer!


    From the very start of the battle, the beast tamer had been put into a corner by Bai Yunfei one after another. It was almost as though the seventy years of experience the old man had wasn¡¯t worth a squat against Bai Yunfei, and right now, the beast tamer was in the most dangerous spot yet!


    Not only did the dragons change direction quickly, but without warning. The beast tamer hadn¡¯t even stabilized himself in the air yet when the dragons came from left and right to slam against him!


    His face paled drastically. There wasn¡¯t even time for him to even command the thunderfire wolf, the man had nothing else on his mind but to¡­.explode!


    Explode with all his remaining strength! This way, he¡¯d be able to save himself!


    ¡°Bang!!¡± Red light began to pour out from the beast tamer as all of his elemental fire drained away from his body and surround himself in it like an egg! In the next second, the two dragons slammed into the elemental fire shield!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    With terrifying force, the two dragons slammed into the egg. A maelstrom of fire exploded into the world and set the entire mountain behind the beast tamer on fire and even causing parts of the mountain to quake and collapse!


    All of the red light and fire flying off from this circular sphere the beast tamer was in made him seem like he was situated in a miniature sun. All of the trees and wood underneath him were unable to handle the height combusted into flames!


    On the other side when he was preoccupied, Bai Yunfei was assaulted by a strong gust of wind before a pair of very sharp claws came tearing for his chest!

 Chapter 394: Escaping

    When Bai Yunfei was preoccupied with attacking the beast tamer, the thunderfire wolf¡¯ had stuck its claws through his barrier. This time, the barrier had only lasted half a second before shattering into pieces!


    And this time, there was still enough power behind the wolf¡¯s claws to strike at Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Bang!¡± In a last ditch effort to save himself, he lifted his Returner Bracer to defend against the wolf¡¯s claw, drawing sparks and even bits of blood!


    It wasn¡¯t enough to fully stop the wolf¡¯s claws from reaching him, but at the very least, the area protecting his heart was safe.


    Then came a searing pain when the claws stabbed into his left shoulder!


    He retreated a hundred meters away, and the thunderfire wolf came zig-zagging in hot pursuit! Even without the beast tamer to command the wolf, it was still able to follow his last command to bite Bai Yunfei to death!


    ¡°Time¡¯s almost up, I¡¯ve got to go!¡± Bai Yunfei calculated, ¡°Three seconds¡­I just need three seconds!¡±


    It was unknown just what plan Bai Yunfei was thinking of, but his arms flashed through two hand seals before rushing back at the thunderfire wolf!


    And the speed he was traveling at¡­.was far faster than before!


    Since the wolf was zigging back and forth, knowing just where it would attack from was very difficult. But with how fast Bai Yunfei was moving, he¡¯d be able to contend with the wolf on equal grounds!


    With both beast and human moving faster than lightning, not even a second transpired when Bai Yunfei cut off the thunderfire wolf! If it were any other soulbeast, this situation wouldn¡¯t startled them, but the thunderfire wolf wasn¡¯t the regular soulbeast. Now that its prey was right in front of it, it opened its jaws wide open to bite down on Bai Yunfei with fangs filled with both elemental fire and lightning!


    Its jaws were situated so that it¡¯d snap down onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s head full. If it connected, Bai Yunfei would be dead for sure.


    Before it could bite, Bai Yunfei landed a ruthless right punch on the wolf¡¯s throat!


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The elemental fire from Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist clashed with the elemental fire and lightning from the thunderfire wolf¡¯s body in a chaotic explosion. And following the contact, the thunderfire wolf¡¯s body was sent flying into the forest!


    In the moment of contact, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had reached the levels of a¡­.mid-stage Soul Exalt!!


    The moment was only that, though. A moment and nothing more, as if it was an illusion.


    Thanks to the blow he dealt to the thunderfire wolf, Bai Yunfei had enough momentum in his attack to go even faster in the direction where the bloodlion was!


    The fierce battle between the beast tamer and Bai Yunfei had only been just a few minutes. Those few minutes were long enough for the bloodlion to recover somewhat from its wounds, but the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force had still done enough damage to completely break all of its bones and rupture several internal organs!


    Any other soulbeast would¡¯ve succumbed to such wounds a long time ago, but to the bloodlion, a wound like this wasn¡¯t even fatal. Given enough time, it¡¯d fully recover from its wounds.


    But a few minutes was clearly not enough time.


    So when it saw Bai Yunfei come charging at it, the bloodlion¡¯s eyes were filled with despair!


    There was nothing it could do to escape!


    Still, Bai Yunfei closed in on it without hesitation. His Fire-tipped Spear was already back in his right hand and ready to strike. With a swish, it flew forward to stab at the bloodlion with a glinting red light at its tip!


    ¡°Roar!!¡± Struggling to its feet, the bloodlion was operating in desperation now. Elemental fire leaked from its body as it prepared itself to make its final stand.


    But it was¡­too late! Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet flashed with red light, aiding his speed forward by another magnitude and turning his figure into a shadow. Disappearing and reappearing in front the bloodlion, he stabbed outwards again to strike the bloodlion in the mouth!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Ninefold Stab!


    The explosion effect of the spear was activated without mercy, and amidst the explosion of red light, the bloodlion was¡­.completely blown apart!


    Bai Yunfei twisted his arm, masterfully maneuvering the spear to retrieve the bloodlion¡¯s soulgem into the air. Catching it, Bai Yunfei turned away from the aftermath. His spear was replaced by the Tempest Sword so he could hop onto it, and in the next second, he flew off into the skies!


    In a fluid motion of events, Bai Yunfei was already flying far away from the scene!


    ¡°Damnit!!¡± A furious roar sounded out from below. Right after Bai Yunfei had killed the bloodlion, another boom was heard from within the fiery maelstrom from the Dual Dragon Burst. A dreadful amount of soulforce was felt following the explosion, revealing the elemental fire protected beast tamer after all of the fire was blown away.


    He looked very haggard compared to before the Dual Dragon Burst had hit him. Both of his sleeves were completely burned away, and his arms were flowing freely with blood. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot; but most particularly was his face, which was distorted heavily in anger as if ready to devour someone.


    He looked down at the segment of the forest where the thunderfire wolf was only just charging back out from, and then a little ways ahead, only to have his eyes widen in horror!


    The bloodlion was dead, and Bai Yunfei was escaping with its soulgem in hand!


    ¡°Trying to run away?! You¡¯ll die here today!!¡± A scream filled with great fury erupted from his mouth; clearly denoting just how close he was to falling off the brink of rationality. His anger was followed by a meteoric flash of red light as he chased after Bai Yunfei!


    His speed¨Caided by his anger¡ªwasn¡¯t any slower than the Tempest Sword, and in no time at all, he was already a kilometer high into the air!


    Bai Yunfei was already two kilometers away from the beast tamer however and was still gaining speed.


    The distance was widened by another few kilometers when Bai Yunfei¡¯s Tempest Sword suddenly swerved left behind a mountain, and then¡­.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce disappeared!


    Just like if he died, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce had vanished into thin air!


    ¡°What?!¡± Words couldn¡¯t even begin to describe what the beast tamer was feeling. A few minutes ago, he was locked onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura, and now, it was as if Bai Yunfei never existed to begin with!


    Several precious seconds went by as the beast tamer tried his best to locate Bai Yunfei. His eyes scanned the horizon, and his soulsense was working furiously for even the smallest of traces beneath the sea of trees.


    But the only thing he could sense was the aura of soulbeasts.


    ¡°Im¡­.impossible!!¡± The amount of times he already muttered this word today was lost to him.


    He was unwilling to give up the search though. Looking every within several kilometers, his eyes strained for even the smallest of caves that Bai Yunfei could¡¯ve hid in.


    But Bai Yunfei was still nowhere to be found.


    Shock, confusion, anger, humiliation, and refusal¡­.


    These five emotions swam around the beast tamer¡¯s mind like fish. There was nothing he could do.


    Nothing but to howl furiously to the heavens!


    ¡°Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!¡±


    The man was an elder of the Beast Taming School! A beast tamer of mighty power and position! And yet, here he stood today, humiliated by a late-stage Soul Ancestor whelpling!


    His mid-stage class six twin-headed vulture and seven early-stage class five dreamwind hawks were dead, the precious mid-stage class six three-eyed bloodlion he had his eyes on was killed, and his enemy¡­.had successfully fled!!


    All of his anger was practically tearing apart his body to come out from him, and screaming had only alleviated just a sliver of that anger¡­.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Something caught his attention.


    Whirling around to glare at a mountain point a few hundred meters away, he roared, ¡°Who¡¯s there?! Come on out!¡±


    A small fluctuation of soulforce caught his attention just a moment ago. In his anger, the beast tamer had completely disregarded the source, but now that he was slightly calmer than before, he finally noticed that this source of soulforce had a mysterious method of hiding themselves.


    The fact that this person could hide himself so well made him wary. He himself didn¡¯t think that there¡¯d be anyone possible of concealing their auras as well as he could and still hide close enough without being detected.


    That didn¡¯t stop him from commanding his thunderfire wolf after the figure though. Stopping midway between the figure and the beast tamer, the wolf growled dangerously.


    A sliver of blood remained on the wolf¡¯s fangs from its final gambit with Bai Yunfei, but the wounds it suffered from him wasn¡¯t too debilitating.


    ¡°Haha¡­.have no fear senior, this one means no ill will.¡± The figure chuckled. Even from two hundred meters away, the chuckle was still audible enough for the beast tamer to hear before the figure stepped out from behind the stone he was hiding from.


    Illuminated by the moonlight, it was easy for the beast tamer to see that this newcomer was a gray-robed young man of his thirties. His hair flowed freely behind his handsome, but slightly scrawny face. He had a small beard on his chin that was clearly not routinely kept, and his facial expression was that of a frivolous person.


    If Bai Yunfei was still here, he¡¯d be able to recognize this person straight away since this was the person who once gave him ¡®advice¡¯ back in Redfire City¡­.


    Na Lanyin!!

 Chapter 395: Reluctance!

    ¡°Who are you, and why were you hiding here?!¡±


    There¡¯d be no way that the beast tamer would drop his guard with someone coming out of nowhere, even if it looked like they meant no harm.


    To be more specific, this person didn¡¯t look like he had an ounce of wanting to fight, and his soulforce was as serene as one could possibly get.


    Still, the fact that his soulforce flared up a little bit beforehand meant that caution would needed to be had just in case.


    It didn¡¯t look like Na Lanyin minded the hostile look on the beast tamer¡¯s face, though. ¡°This one is Na Lanyin, I was just taking a nap here coincidentally, nothing too conspiratory. I didn¡¯t want to get caught up in your battle, so I hid my aura, so please don¡¯t mind me, senior.¡±


    ¡°Na Lanyin?¡±


    His name didn¡¯t seem like an important one, but for some reason, the beast tamer felt as though he had heard this name somewhere before.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m just a nobody from the newer generation. If there¡¯s nothing else more to be said, then I¡¯ll be taking my leave¡­.¡±


    Na Lanyin turned to the left to walk away, but a burst of soulforce from the beast tamer stopped him cold in his tracks.


    ¡°Senior,¡± Na Lanyin sighed, ¡°what¡¯s the meaning of this? I¡¯ve said already I¡¯ve no ill will.¡±


    Following the beast tamer¡¯s command, the thunderfire wolf growled menacingly at Na Lanyin before settling into a hostile stance.


    ¡°A nobody?! Would a nobody dare walk into the Soulbeast Forest right after a soulbeast wave happened? Speak! Who is your master? And why were you following me?!¡± The beast tamer demanded.


    He wouldn¡¯t let Na Lanyin go now; since he was seen in such a haggard state, Na Lanyin wouldn¡¯t live to tell the tale.


    This led to Na Lanyin furrowing his eyebrows together. The beast tamer was clearly ready to kill him and was only asking for his master just to reconfirm his identity.


    He looked at the beast tamer, who shivered slightly. It felt as though Na Lanyin was looking straight through him, but that feeling made him feel even more vigilant than before.


    Na Lanyin would have to die for sure. His urge to kill him was even stronger than before now.


    No matter who Na Lanyin¡¯s master was, he wouldn¡¯t be leaving here alive. As long as he covered his tracks well enough, no one should know what happened.


    But then, Na Lanyin¡¯s eyebrows raised upwards in surprise first before he smiled. ¡°Haha, you flatter me too much. My master ordered me to come to the forest to find a soulbeast to form a contract with, not grudges.


    He paused here to take a breath. ¡°My master is¡­.Ling Yin!¡±


    The beast tamer didn¡¯t care at all for the first part, but then when he heard the name, his eyes dilated instantaneously with shock!


    ¡°Ling Yin¡­.Ling Yin the Wanderer?!¡± The beast tamer exclaimed, ¡°You¡¯re the apprentice to him?!¡±


    Na Lanyin nodded with a smile.


    ¡°Ah! I know now! The first elder said before that Ling Yin the Wanderer has an apprentice named Na Lanyin!¡± Memories of where he heard Na Lanyin came flowing into the beast tamer¡¯s mind all at once.


    ¡°Haha, if there¡¯s nothing more the senior wants, then this one will be taking his leave then.¡± Na Lanyin smiled and bowed.


    The look on the beast tamer¡¯s face had taken on a shade even darker than before, but he didn¡¯t stop the other from leaping down the mountain and disappear into the night.


    He didn¡¯t move even an inch from his spot until Na Lanyin¡¯s soulforce couldn¡¯t be felt anymore. It wasn¡¯t as though he fully believed in Na Lanyin¡¯s words, but¡­.


    He couldn¡¯t risk it!


    ¡®Ling Yin the Wanderer¡¯, that was a name that could make any sliver of urge to kill evaporate from him!


    If Na Lanyin was from a major school or perhaps a youngling from a major house, he¡¯d probably take his chances and kill the boy. But, he couldn¡¯t do that if he was the apprentice of Ling Yin!


    If the deed was done, Ling Yin would be able to find out, no matter how much the beast tamer destroyed all evidence and hid his tracks. Even if Ling Yin had to travel the entire world, he¡¯d find the beast tamer and exact revenge!


    For it was said in the legends that Ling Yin the Wanderer was omniscient¡­.


    In this world, there existed five great wandering soul cultivators. There weren¡¯t many that knew about Ling Yin, but of those who did, ninety-nine percent of them had never seen him before, making him one of the most mysterious figures to all soul cultivators.


    Observer of the Heavens, the Allknowing, Seeker of the past, Oracle of the future¡ª


    ¨CAll these described Ling Yin¡¯s person in his legend.


    As a wandering soul cultivator, he had affiliations to no one and could stand shoulder to shoulder with even the headmaster of the Fate School!


    For that reason, the beast tamer didn¡¯t dare fight Na Lanyin and stood aside to watch him go by without another word.


    Meanwhile, Na Lanyin was already a good distance away from where the beast tamer was. Turning his head, he smiled before continuing his peaceful walk into the forest.


    Every so often, he¡¯d whistle a tune to himself or mutter something to himself under his breath.


    ¡°The people of the Beast Taming School are really overbearing, aren¡¯t they? If I didn¡¯t say master¡¯s name, he would¡¯ve attacked me for sure. That would¡¯ve been a hard batle to fight then¡­.


    ¡°Tsk. A ¡®death upon meeting¡¯, type of person. If a person like that were to die in this forest, that wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing¡­.


    ¡°It was surprising to see that kid here again, though. Seem¡¯s like we really are ¡®fated¡¯¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    In the completely opposite direction, Bai Yunfei was wearing his Walk-on Strawhat and using the Soul Concealment Art to the best of his ability to obscure his soulforce.


    With the aid of those two things, he was able to run through the forest on physical strength alone.


    Already an hour had passed since he fled from the beast tamer, but for the sake of maintaining his cover, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t dare use any soulforce just in case.


    He probably wouldn¡¯t be found out here, but Bai Yunfei thought it prudent to err on the side of caution and continue running under this cover.


    Since he was running using his own physical strength rather than using soulforce, none of the soulbeasts paid attention to him, and even if they did, Bai Yunfei ran away faster than they could catch up.


    In another two hours, Bai Yunfei was already a long ways away.


    Finding a small brook, Bai Yunfei decided to stop and take a rest here.


    Sitting on top of a giant stone, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief before gulping in the refreshing cold air.


    There wasn¡¯t a single spot on his body that wasn¡¯t hurting. It felt as though tens of thousands of ants were crawling over and biting his body, and the wound on his left shoulder was still bleeding slightly. The blood that had been spilt from it earlier had already stained his robes a crimson red, and if not for the blood clot that had formed and his bodily strength, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve fainted from blood loss a long time ago.


    Circulating soulforce around his body, Bai Yunfei sighed again in relief. He took to a crossed-legged position to get comfortable and started healing himself.


    By relying on the +13 effect of Yun¡¯s Soul Ring, he could heal himself without worry of running out of soulforce. His own soulforce had already replenished itself for the most part on his way here, so all that needed to be taken care of now was his physical wounds.


    About an hour later, Bai Yunfei opened his eyes back up. Taking a look at his own now uninjured body, he smiled.


    Standing up, Bai Yunfei stretched in a way to release the air between all of his joints with a satisfying pop.


    From the looks of things, he was fully healed!


    If the beast tamer saw him now, he would¡¯ve been so shocked at the sight that his eyeballs would pop out from their sockets.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together slightly upon realization that his robes were still a bloody mess. With a leap, he landed straight into the brook¡­.


    It didn¡¯t take long for him to fully wash himself in the brook. With a fresh new set of robes, Bai Yunfei was already back to a minty-fresh condition; as if he didn¡¯t even fight the bloodlion or beast tamer at all.


    He climbed onto a nearby tree and hid himself inside of the foliage. Now that he was hidden, he laid on top of a thick tree branch and relaxed.


    Soon enough, he fell asleep.


    Despite his physical wounds being fully recovered, the fatigue extolled on his mind was significant enough for him to take a rest to fully recover.

 Chapter 396: Meeting Na Lanyin Again!

    The days following Bai Yunfei¡¯s escape from the beast tamer were passed without further incident. Rather than stay in one area for too long, Bai Yunfei moved around every so often.


    Five days later, Bai Yunfei was already ready to forget about the beast tamer and continue on his own adventure.


    With how expanse the Soulbeast Forest was, it¡¯d be easier for the beast tamer to find a needle in a haystack than to find Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei came to the forest to train, but to have so many matters like the soulbeast wave and the beast tamer happen so quickly was beyond what he thought would happen. Experience was experience nonetheless. He could begin his ¡®ordinary¡¯ adventure now, if anything.


    For ten days, Bai Yunfei traveled through the forest before finally arriving in the class six area.


    He met plenty of soulbeasts on the way¨Cmany of them being late-stage class fives. There were a few class six soulbeasts, but they only served to be practice dummies for Bai Yunfei rather than being a threat.


    After so many battles, Bai Yunfei felt his combat experience being rather sizeable, but combat experience didn¡¯t directly relate to his strength of soulforce. He was still a late-staged Soul Ancestor, and he hadn¡¯t any signs of being able to make a breakthrough either.


    If Bai Yunfei could help it, he didn¡¯t want to kill any of the soulbeasts he came across. This was true even when he was traveling with Zhang Yunpeng and the others on their way to the class five area.


    The reason why he felt this way was probably in part due to Hong Yin¡¯s influence. Unlike the other soul cultivators, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to kill a soulbeast for its soulgem.


    Excluding the soulbeast wave where the soulbeasts were the invaders, Bai Yunfei felt it to be wrong.


    In the Soulbeast Forest, it was him who was the ¡®invader¡¯.


    As a secondary goal, Bai Yunfei was here for a soulbeast to form a contract with. But not once did Bai Yunfei come across any soulbeast that caught his interest.


    When it came to forming a soul contract with a soulbeast, the best method of doing so was to form a very amiable bond between the two. Not every soulbeast wanted to kill; there exists many peaceful and friendly ones too. But the latter type of soulbeasts were comparatively few, and without any extenuating circumstances, these soulbeasts wouldn¡¯t form a soul contract with any soul cultivator.


    Another way of doing so was to simply beat the soulbeast into submission and use soulforce to bend the soulbeast to one¡¯s will. This method wasn¡¯t always successful of course, and many soulbeasts would rather die than to submit. And the stronger and more aware a soulbeast was, the harder this method became.


    If Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t find any suitable soulbeasts in the class five area, going to the class six area was the only reasonable option after that. With how strong Bai Yunfei was, he should be fine as long as he stayed within the first half of the class six area.


    In his heart, he knew that he just had to find a class six soulbeast to form a contract with. If he formed one with a class five soulbeast, it wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with his strength¡­..


    Strength wasn¡¯t the only factor in choosing a soulbeast. Like humans, soulbeasts had also varying levels of aptitude and talent. Some soulbeasts could only go as far as being a class five or class six soulbeast, and some soulbeasts who were more gifted than others were potentially limitless. Between a soulbeast who was already a class five and a soulbeast who could potentially become a class six, it was a simple answer on which one to pick.


    And since Bai Yunfei trained in elemental fire, he wanted to find a soulbeast that was also capable of elemental fire, or elemental wood to supplement his strength.


    And so with all the caution he could muster, Bai Yunfei made his way into the class six area.


    Only two days transpired before Bai Yunfei found himself unfortunate enough to come face to face with three mid-stage class six green-eyed tigers. Battling hard in their cave, Bai Yunfei managed to make his escape rather than fight to the death.


    In this dangerous area, fighting a battle with one¡¯s life on the line was a very foolhardy task.


    Another five days passed without incident, but Bai Yunfei found it far more strenuous than his one month traveling in the class five area. It wasn¡¯t without benefit, however, as Bai Yunfei found himself gaining an exponential amount of combat experience and a lot of medicine.


    On the eve of the seventh night, Bai Yunfei found himself a nice resting spot near a river. For dinner, he fished himself several large fish and began to started to roast them over a fire.


    ¡°The map¡¯s getting really vague now, I¡¯m going to be on my own from here on out. Maybe I¡¯ll go a little deeper tomorrow¡­..¡± he muttered as he crunched on a fish.


    Sudden movement from behind him caused Bai Yunfei to narrow his eyes. Putting the fish down, he spoke without turning his head, ¡°Friend, if you¡¯re here, you may as well come and sit. I¡¯ve some fish you can eat.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You found me out that easily?¡±


    A sparse few seconds after Bai Yunfei spoke, another voice from a hundred meters away replied to him.


    Then a figure stepped out from the shadows.


    The fact that this person didn¡¯t seem to bear any ill will gave some semblance of peace to Bai Yunfei, but when he turned his head around, he found himself starting in surprise.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­.¡±


    He thought for another second to place a name to the face.


    ¡°You¡¯re Na Lanyin!!¡±


    ¡°Haha, so you still remember my name, brother? That¡¯s a hard feat¡­.¡± He chuckled.


    Walking on over, he took a seat on the stone in front of Bai Yunfei, ¡°It¡¯s been a few years since our last meeting, you¡¯ve changed quite a bit, brother!¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m Bai Yunfei.¡± Feeling somewhat awkward with how he was being addressed, Bai Yunfei introduced himself.


    ¡°Ah, so you¡¯re brother Bai, it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    A sweatdrop fell down Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°Well, you can call me Yunfei, brother Na Lanyin¡­..¡±


    ¡°Haha, alright then! If you don¡¯t mind calling me big brother, then I won¡¯t object to it.¡±


    He took a fish into his hands and took a tentative bite into it, ¡°Wow, you¡¯re quite skilled at cooking too, Yunfei. I ran out of rations a few days ago, so imagine my anguish when I had to subside on fruits and nuts.¡±


    Under the amazed eyes of Bai Yunfei, Na Lanyin devoured another three pieces of fish before he wiped his mouth in satisfaction and burped.


    ¡°Big brother, what brings you to this part of the forest?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°Ah, nothing much, just talking a walk,¡± Na Lanyin started to pick at his teeth with one of the fish bones, ¡°just tryin to find a soulbeast to form a contract with.¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡± Again, Bai Yunfei forced a smile to his lips. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d meet big brother Na Lanyin again, and here of all places.¡±


    The Na Lanyin of today looked very aloof compared to before, where he looked a little worse for wear before. Back then, Bai Yunfei knew better than to peg him as a nobody; he had a mid-heaven tier soul armament, how could anyone with one of those be a nobody?


    And his strength was a mid-stage Soul Exalt to boot!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s own senior, Jiang Nan, was only able to become a mid-stage Soul Exalt last year, and he was much older than Na Lanyin!


    There were of course, extenuating circumstances between the two. Crafters focused more on trying to achieve a higher level of soul compatibility between their soulbound armaments and them rather than training, so it took longer than usual for them to progress.


    But still, this didn¡¯t take away even an inch away from the fact that Na Lanyin was a soul cultivator capable of beating out any other prodigy in the empire!


    ¡°Ah, it really is a coincidence eh? I was just following wherever the earth took me when I found you. The gears of fate have started to move, perhaps¡­.¡± He nodded; the first half of his sentence had been fine, but the last bit was very mystic sounding.


    ¡°The gears of fate? Sounds like some sort of third-rate epic, since when did you become a storyteller, big brother Na Lanyin? Weren¡¯t you a fortune teller?¡±


    ¡°Oh? How¡¯d you know that I spent an entire month in the Town of Braves telling stories?¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±

 Chapter 397: Guidance (First)

    ¡°Wait wait, hold on! Did you say you¡¯re Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    Na Lanyin¡¯s head whipped back to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­.the same Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School?!¡±


    Since he didn¡¯t ask before, Bai Yunfei thought Na Lanyin didn¡¯t know who he was; but it turned out that he was just slow on the uptake. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡±


    Surprisingly, Na Lanyin didn¡¯t seem to look shock after getting his confirmation. He only nodded, ¡°I see, no wonder you had so many soul armaments. Even one of the Beast Taming School¡¯s elder wasn¡¯t able to compete with that¡­.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei was the surprised one here, ¡°You know what happened to me and the Beast Taming School?!¡±


    He nodded, ¡°I just so happened to see the fight. But since you looked like you had a handle on it, I didn¡¯t interfere, I hope you won¡¯t begrudge me for that?¡±


    ¡°How could I? You had nothing to do with it, so what reason would you need to join the fight?¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Hold on, you said elder of the Beast Taming School?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, his name is Xing Yuan. Of the five elders of the school, he¡¯s the last and weakest of them.¡±


    ¡°The fifth elder¡­.and the weakest?!¡± Bai Yunfei was astounded, were the other elders all Soul Kings?!


    Isn¡¯t¡­.isn¡¯t this a little too ridiculous?


    If he had to compare, the elders of the Crafting School were far weaker. Aside from Xiao Binzi, who was a Soul King, the second and third elders were only late-stage Soul Exalts. And the fourth elder Jiang Nan was only a mid-stage Soul Exalt¡­..


    This of course, was only on the surface. Bai Yunfei knew that there were still plenty of predecessors locked up within the Northern Point, but he neither knew how strong they were or what they looked like.


    ¡°But what¡¯s an elder of the Beast Taming School doing here in the Soulbeast Forest? Is he looking for more soulbeasts?¡± Confusion was starting to settle in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind now. He knew that he knew that the Soulbeast Forest was where the beast tamers usually went for soulbeasts, he didn¡¯t think that he¡¯d meet one here of all places, and an elder of all people.


    With that knowledge now, Bai Yunfei found it prudent to ask if Na Linyin had seen anyone else from the school.


    ¡°Ah, big brother Na Lanyin, yo¨Ceh? Big brother? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    A strange gleam was in Na Lanyin¡¯s eyes, as though he was pleasantly surprised about something. Standing up, he spoke with great urgency, ¡°Yunfei, something just came up, so I¡¯ll be leaving first!¡±


    And before Bai Yunfei could reply, he ran straight out to the right!


    ¡°Big brother Na Lanyin¡­.¡± He started to speak, but Na Lanyin was already gone.


    All that was left was a single sentence.


    ¡°Yunfei, what you¡¯re looking for is to the northwest. You¡¯ll come across ¡®good luck¡¯ there!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    With Na Lanyin¡¯s aura quickly retreating away, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move from his spot until he couldn¡¯t even sense the other man¡¯s soulforce anymore.


    ¡°Coming and leaving so quickly. He¡¯s a busy guy, that Na Lanyin. How strange.¡±


    The rest of the fish was polished off by him in silent thought.


    ¡°The northwest, huh¡­.¡±


    Dusting himself off, Bai Yunfei stood up from his seat. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go that way tomorrow then.¡±


    What Na Lanyin said to him wasn¡¯t disregarded. His warning before back in Redfire City had been invaluable, since what he said had truly taken place in Curopia City. If not for his warning, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve regretted the events that happened there for his entire life.


    Combined with the fact that Na Lanyin had a mid-heaven tier soul armament, Bai Yunfei was extremely curious on this mysterious person. He had a sneaking suspicion that Na Lanyin was from the Fate School, but before he could even ask, he was already gone.


    Since Na Lanyin suggested he go northwest, Bai Yunfei decided to give up on his plan to go just north like before.


    ¡°Northwest¡­.northwest¡­..¡±


    He glanced to his left, ¡°Should be that direction, right?¡±


    Not quite sure of the direction, Bai Yunfei shook his head and climbed up a nearby tree.


    ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll figure it out when the sun¡¯s up. Time to rest!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile on the other side, Na Lanyin was making his way through the dark forest with his lips trembling somewhat as he muttered to himself. His left hand would often swap between gestures, and his right had a constant faint glow of white, that upon further investigation, revealed itself to be a palm-sized tortoise shell!


    ¡°Is it you? Are you the one able that¡¯s calling to me¡­.¡±


    Who he was speaking to was unknown.


    ¡°Are you really as mysterious as master says you are? I¡¯m absolutely certain I want you as my partner, but did you know I was already coming? The feeling¡¯s weak, is this your test for me?


    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m excited. I¡¯ll definitely find you¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the morning of the second day, when the rays of the sun was bleeding through the leaves onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, he started to wake. Reaching a lazy hand up to rub his eyes, Bai Yunfei yawned and leapt down from the tree.


    ¡°Now, the sun¡¯s over there¡­.so that means east is over¡­.there. So this is northwest then.¡± After a moment of observation, Bai Yunfei embarked onto his journey northwest.


    Since Na Lanyin had told him to go northwest, Bai Yunfei was extremely careful to maintain this path, in case he got lost. Sometimes, he¡¯d come across a soulbeast, but he¡¯d defeat them and climb over their unconscious bodies in order to avoid a detour.


    ¡­¡­


    Half a month later, Bai Yunfei found himself starting to tire. The soulbeasts he was coming across were stronger than before, and in much denser amounts. Sometimes, Bai Yunfei was afraid to even initiate combat or peak the attention of a group of soulbeasts.


    One morning, Bai Yunfei was eating his meal in the hidden mini-cave of a large tree. Once that meal was done, he¡¯d continue on his journey.


    ¡°If nothing happens today, I¡¯ll give up for now. The path¡¯s a little different than before, but I¡¯m pretty close to the center of the class six area, aren¡¯t I?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself.


    ¡°What kind of soulbeast will I find here? Those bloodfire wolves from yesterday weren¡¯t bad, but their self-awareness was practically nil¡­.¡± After coming across the red magiboar and the quickshade bird, Bai Yunfei was adamant on finding a soulbeast as self-aware as they were.


    ¡°Maybe something like senior Jiang Nan¡¯s six-tailed firefox? But he found that by accident in the class six area, wonder if my luck will be good enough to find anything¡­.¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    A sudden explosion snapped Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. Looking towards the direction of the blast, Bai Yunfei noticed two strong amount of soulforce conflicting with each other and dispersing large amount of elemental power into their surroundings.


    ¡°Eh? Is there a fight?!¡±


    Eyes glowing with excitement, Bai Yunfei took out his Walk-on Strawhat to wear and began to conceal his soulforce to head straight for the area.

 Chapter 398: Battle Between Wolf and Bird (Second)

    The battles that took place in the Soulbeast Forest was by no means an irregularity to Bai Yunfei. With how long he¡¯d been in the forest, he had already seen plenty of battles take place between soulbeasts. But he spent most of his time observing those before leaving when the outcome of the battle was essentially determined. He was disinclined to try and steal the soulgem of a soulbeast from another, though he knew that if any other soul cultivator were to hear this, they¡¯d all curse him for his ¡®mercy¡¯ and stupidity.


    There was another reason why he was so interested in watching soulbeasts fight. Aside from observing how soulbeasts fought, the more important factor was to look at the soulbeasts themselves. If there was one he found interest in, then Bai Yunfei would ¡®lend¡¯ a hand when it seemed like that soulbeast was on the verge of death.


    This type of ¡®first meeting¡¯ would go a long ways away to establish a sense of friendship between soulbeast and soul cultivator, and that¡¯d make forming a soul contract a lot easier.


    This ¡®trick¡¯ was commonly employed by many soul cultivators to form soul contracts.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t sense any sliver of danger from this battle, so he didn¡¯t hesitate to run on over to observe it.


    After several minutes, Bai Yunfei found himself a nice tree to hide in and watch the battle take place down below.


    ¡°This is a¡­.late-stage class five?¡± What he saw disappointed Bai Yunfei somewhat. He had expected an intense battle between soulbeasts, but the ones fighting down below were basically mediocre ones and were quite weak for his standards.


    Despite being known as the class six area, it didn¡¯t necessarily mean only class six soulbeasts lived here. Class five soulbeasts were in abundance, but they generally stuck to a pack and lived in smaller denominations than their class six counterparts.


    One of the soulbeasts was washed completely in green light; it was a late-stage class five greenwood wolf.


    The other soulbeast was a bird the size of a crane with plumage the colors of the rainbow. It was a late-stage class five prisma oriole.


    Greenwood wolves were generally considered to be wood-type soulbeasts with better than average talent while looking pretty similar to any generic wolf.


    Prisma orioles were naturally gifted with the ability to train in multiple elements. The lowest amount they could learn was two, and at most they could learn¡­.seven different elements! For this reason, these prisma orioles were highly treasured as a rare species, but on the inverse, prisma orioles were also one of the least gifted soulbeasts. They could at their very strongest become a late-stage class five soulbeast, and never in recorded history had there been a class six prisma oriole.


    Because of that, no soul cultivator was willing to accept one as their soulbeast partner.


    Since neither of the two soulbeasts caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s interest, he was very disappointed and began to turn around to leave.


    But then when a sudden soft chirp was heard, Bai Yunfei noticed something strange and turned back to watch the fight.


    Observing the fight a little longer, Bai Yunfei was starting to understand something about it. ¡°I see, so this is a battle to try and breakthrough¡­.¡±


    The greenwood wolf was a late-stage class five, and based on its power, it was on the verge of becoming a class six. If it won this battle, it¡¯d be able to breakthrough.


    This was extremely similar to the battle between the three-eyed bloodlion and the purple-crowned snake, if not identical. In the ruthless world of soulbeasts that weren¡¯t class seven in strength, there needn¡¯t be words nor feelings; it was a survival of the fittest where only the strongest would make it to the top. Soulbeasts would kill, or be killed, and their soulgems would serve as sustenance for the victor for them to become even stronger.


    ¡°That prisma oriole is much stronger than any other late-stage class five, but not so much that it¡¯s probably at its peak level of strength. It also has an advantage in the skies even if it can¡¯t beat the wolf, but why is it fighting so hard?¡±


    No matter how much he observed the two soulbeasts, he couldn¡¯t understand why the bird was acting as it was.


    According to logic, the prisma oriole was no match for the greenwood wolf. Since the greenwold wolf didn¡¯t have the ability to skywalk, the bird would be able to flee without trouble if it wanted to, and the wolf¡¯s long ranged elemental strikes wouldn¡¯t do any harm at all.


    But rather than follow that logic, the prisma oriole was trying its utmost to grapple with the wolf in an attempt to engage it in a close-combat battle!


    Unable to make heads or tails over the matter, Bai Yunfei continued to watch the battle from his hiding spot.


    It seemed as if the oriole was protecting something.


    If he looked behind the two soulbeasts, there was a large cliff wall with a cave about thirty meters above ground. No matter how much the oriole fought, it never left more than a hundred meters away from the cave.


    ¡°Is¡­.is it hiding some sort of treasure?!¡±


    The possibility of treasure caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention. If there was treasure big enough to catch the attention of another soulbeast and warrant the safeguarding by another soulbeast to protect with all its life, why wouldn¡¯t he be interested?


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was in the middle of his conjecturing, the greenwood wolf suddenly let loose a roar and began to gather a concentrated sphere of elemental power in its mouth to fire!


    It¡¯s target wasn¡¯t the prisma oriole, but the¡­.cave it was protecting!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    There was a shrill chirp of fury from the oriole as it disappeared in a flash of multicolored light to fly towards the cave!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The elemental sphere was fired, but rather than hitting the cave, it slammed into the prisma oriole!


    Following the surge of elements from the blast, the prisma oriole dropped from the skies. It landed on the protruding part of the cliff where the cave was, creating a large crater in the ground.


    Due to the power of the blast, the oriole wasn¡¯t fast enough to take off into the skies before a dark-green light leapt onto the perch to strike!


    ¡°Chirp!¡±


    With its talons being held onto by the wolf¡¯s claws, the oriole bird could do nothing but cry out and struggle as best as it could.


    Just seconds after the two started struggling, they fell off the perch and to the ground down below!


    But no sooner did they fall did the wolf pry its jaws wide open and snap at the oriole¡¯s throat!


    ¡°Chirpp!!¡±


    An extremely loud but sorrowful cry was heard from the oriole then, filling the air with its verbal reluctance and attachment to life, but also a blood chilling sense of insanity!


    It was too late for the oriole to move, as the fangs of the wolf was already just centimeters from its throat.


    But it didn¡¯t need to move!


    Just before the fangs could make contact, when the wolf heard the cry of the oriole, it let out a yelp and disengaged from the bird to leap as far away as possible!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    What came next from the bird was a mighty explosion whose force was felt all the way to where Bai Yunfei was even. The trees all around him shuddered with the force, and light the colors of the rainbow exploded forth from the oriole along with its blood splashing against the nearby trees.


    In the end, the oriole decided to blow itself up!


    Despite leaping away in time to save its life, the greenwood wolf was not without injury. Its entire left side was a mangled mess with parts of it being charcoaled black even.


    Still, it was alive.


    It howled angrily at the crater where the oriole once was and then turned to go back towards the cave.


    Since it blew itself up, the prisma oriole¡¯s soulgem was gone. That act in itself was another factor in the wolf¡¯s anger, but the objects left in the cave was still enough to make up for the loss of that soulgem.


    Perhaps there¡¯d be something in the cave that¡¯d allow it to become a class six soulbeast¡­..

 Chapter 399: An Uneggxpected Discovery (Third)

    Right as the greenwold wolf was about to leap into the cave, a flash of green light flew overhead to enter the cave first!


    That flash of light was Bai Yunfei!


    Having flown onto the perch with his Tempest Sword, Bai Yunfei stared icily at the wolf, ¡°Scram!!¡±


    ¡°Rrr¡­.¡± The beginnings of a growl was making its way out from the wolf¡¯s throat when an indomitable amount of pressure began to flood it.


    Straight away, the hairs on the wolf¡¯s body started to prickle up as an instinctive warning sign to tell it that it was no match for this human!


    It was reluctant to leave, but even the wolf knew that only the strong survived, and the human was the clearly stronger one here.


    With one last withering look at the cave behind Bai Yunfei, the wolf turned tail and trotted back into the forest, no longer to be seen.


    Now that the wolf was gone, Bai Yunfei was free to do as he pleased. First, he looked to where the prisma oriole once. The fact that it killed itself surprised Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°It¡¯d go to such extreme lengths to protect whatever¡¯s inside the cave¡­.¡± sighed Bai Yunfei, ¡°Wonder what¡¯s inside then?¡±


    And so with curiosity deep in his mind, Bai Yunfei strode into the cave.


    The cave wasn¡¯t very wide at about two meters wide, and not all too deep with there only being ten meters to walk.


    Compared to the passageway, the dead end of the cave was slightly wider in circumference. Moss adorned the walls of the cave and parts of the ground, but aside from that, there was nothing else of notice.


    Bai Yunfei took several small steps into the cave so he could look around, and when his eyes landed upon something, they widened in surprise.


    ¡°This is¡­.¡±


    Rather than a pile of rare treasure like Bai Yunfei expected, what he saw disappointed him.


    ¡°Is this really what the prisma oriole sacrificed its life to protect?¡±


    A small ¡®nest¡¯ about two meters in circumference laid on top of the mossy center of the cave. Five separate eggs the size of footballs were neatly placed over the nest¨Cthese were the eggs of the prisma oriole.


    As things turned out, the prisma oriole that sacrificed its life was a female, and the mother of these five eggs.


    And since he had been expecting treasure rather than eggs, Bai Yunfei was rather disappointed at the outcome¡­.


    ¡°You sacrificed your life to protect them, and yet you were still unable to protect them¡­.¡± He sighed with pity.


    Of the five eggs here, all five of them were completely without life.


    Not a single crack was to be seen on these eggs, but Bai Yunfei could tell that the eggs were dead. Normally, eggs containing soulbeasts had signs of life that could be detected with soulforce, but these eggs were devoid of that.


    It was most likely that the outbreak of energy the greenwood wolf unleashed with its elemental attack during the final moments of the battle had been powerful enough to shock and ¡®kill¡¯ the fragile soulbeasts within the eggs.


    If these eggs were what the wolf wanted, it was no surprise that it tried so hard. The eggs could be used as a tonic with effects that were potentially better than the soulgem of any one prisma oriole.


    ¡°Ugh, I wasted my time for something like this? Prisma orioles might be priceless to some, but they¡¯re absolutely useless to me!¡± He ranted to himself. There was nothing else in the cave but these eggs, so Bai Yunfei felt it a waste of time to stay here any longer and prepare to leave.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    But then a glint of light caught his attention. Freezing in his steps, Bai Yunfei turned back to the nest to look closely at it.


    In between the eggs, there was a small fist-sized white stone.


    ¡°Could this be a¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened, unsure if what he was seeing was actually real or not.


    To confirm his doubts, his hands reached out and pressed a finger to it.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Special Effect 1: Increase chance of success when upgrading by 500%


    Effect cannot be stacked with any other similar effects.


    Special Effect 2: Increase chance of success when crafting by 300%.


    Effect cannot be stacked with any other similar effects.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    A stream of information ran through Bai Yunfei¡¯s head.


    ¡°Haha!! An upgrade stone!¡± Bai Yunfei whooped in joy; he hadn¡¯t expected to ¡®pick up¡¯ an upgrade stone here of all places!


    All of the earlier disappointment he was feeling was now completely gone. The upgrade stone made up for more than he wanted, and now, Bai Yunfei was excited enough to look more closely at the cave for anything else.


    But none of the corners of the cave showed anything else of interest. Not even a second upgrade stone was found.


    Presumably, the prisma oriole probably found this upgrade stone outside and took it home in hopes that the aura it was distributing would be able to strengthen its offspring.


    Unwilling to give up, Bai Yunfei dug through the nest for anything else.


    In the end, there was nothing.


    ¡°Haha, I was too greedy, just having one upgrade stone here is already a pretty good de¡­.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    His finger brushed against one of the eggs while he was speaking to himself, and when a stream of information began to flow into his mind, Bai Yunfei found himself going speechless.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Earth, Metal, Lightning


    Attack: 350


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    His fingers clasped tightly around the egg in disbelief, ¡°This¡­.this is equipment too?!¡±


    What an utterly strange sight! A soulbeast egg had stats?! And that of a mid-human tier?!


    Bai Yunfei released the egg from his hand, and then picked it up again to check.


    It still had those stats.


    The egg was indeed a mid-human tier piece of equipment.


    ¡°Is it because there¡¯s no life left in the egg?¡± Bai Yunfei conjectured. It was a relatively simple inference since the egg was indeed without life, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t understand how an egg that was basically the same as a rock would somehow become upgradeable.


    As far as tiers go, even a soulbeast egg¨Cwhich was several times harder than a rock, or even steel¨Cwould find it hard-pressed in being called a mid-human tier item.


    What Bai Yunfei was interested most in was this one line in the stats where it labeled their elemental affinities. Some of the eggs had three affinities at the very least, and at most six!


    He sat down next to the nest with one of the eggs with six affinities. Slowly rotating it over in his hands, Bai Yunfei looked closely at it, ¡°Should I¡­.upgrade it?¡±


    A situation like this was a first for Bai Yunfei. Curious beyond curious, he ultimately decided to try and upgrade them to see what would happen. Upgrading wasn¡¯t a dangerous thing, so there was no harm in trying. If he left the eggs here, another soulbeast would eat them, so why not use them as experiments¡­.?


    Anxious for the results, Bai Yunfei grabbed one of the eggs.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±

 Chapter 400: Renactment of Deja Vu and Bamboozlement (Fourth)

    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Earth, Wood, Metal, Wind


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 355


    Additional Attack: 180


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: 7% chance to inflict blind for 10 seconds when attacking.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    With the fifth egg being upgraded to +10, Bai Yunfei could sigh in relief and think about what he had learned.


    In front of him all five eggs were completely still on the ground. Perhaps it was because they were all +10 now, but with the light coming off of them, the cave felt slightly more mythical in nature.


    Bai Yunfei felt disappointed despite that. He had been expecting some unique stats, but none of these ¡®equipment¡¯ had anything special after being upgraded to +10. It really did feel like they were just normal mid-human tier equipment.


    ¡°Ugh, a wasted effort. It¡¯s just a soul armament in a giant egg form!¡± Bai Yunfei angrily sighed. ¡°What can I even do with this ¡®soul armament¡¯? I can¡¯t even trade them!


    ¡°Might as well upgrade them for the experience.¡±


    He took one of the eggs into his hand.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    Upon failure to upgrade, the egg was reduced to multicolored ashes that sprinkled down to the floor.


    ¡°Urgh¡­.¡± Disappointment filled Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth. This wasn¡¯t an unexpected result, and neither was it a painful outcome, so Bai Yunfei continued.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    Another one of the eggs was reduced to ashes, resulting in him taking a third.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Water, Wind, Earth, Wood, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 370


    Additional Attack: 255


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    +10 Additional Effect: 8% chance to inflict knockback when attacking.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    ¡°Oh? It worked?¡±


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei put the egg aside to work on another.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    ¡°Last one,¡± Bai Yunfei picked up the fifth egg, ¡°upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Wood, Wind Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 360


    Additional Attack: 240


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% chance to increase attacking power by 50%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    ¡°It worked again?!¡± Bai Yunfei was speechless, ¡°Two out of five! Tsk, why didn¡¯t I have this type of luck when upgrading other equipment before?¡±


    Despite two of the eggs being +11, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really care about them. They were still something he could amuse himself with and didn¡¯t care if they broke, so he took the egg withs ix elements into his hands.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    Watching as the egg was reduced to ashes, Bai Yunfei chuckled, ¡°Thought so¡­


    ¡°And now for the last one!


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Wood, Wind, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 360


    Additional Attack: 350


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% chance to increase attacking power by 50%.


    +12 Additional Effect: 40% chance to inflict confusion for 15 seconds.


    Cooldown of 20 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    ¡°Uhm¡­.¡± This time, Bai Yunfei was really without words.


    ¡°It worked again?!


    ¡°Really, what kind of luck is this? If I¡¯d known earlier, I would¡¯ve upgraded something more useful.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I managed to upgrade anything to +12, and an egg to boot. What kind of joke is this¡­.¡±


    Somewhat pained at his success, Bai Yunfei decided to go for broke.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Wood, Wind, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 360


    Additional Attack: 550


    Soul Compatibility: 45%


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% chance to inflict blind for 10 seconds when attacking.


    +12 Additional Effect: 40% chance to inflict confusion for 15 seconds.


    Cooldown of 20 seconds.


    +13 Additional Effect: Create a spatial blade with strength proportional to the amount of soulforce consumed.


    Cooldown of 30 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    Fury exploded onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face in form of a red light as he stared in disbelief at the egg in his hand.


    ¡°I¡­.thi¡­wha¡­I¡­¡±


    Incoherent at the event that had just transpired, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even believe his eyes. They were glued to the egg, and while his eyes were staring unflinchingly at it, his face was already going through several shades of red and green.


    In his anger, he flew to his feet and smashed the egg to the ground, ¡°F*cking hell, I¡¯ve been cheated!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    This wasn¡¯t the first time Bai Yunfei acted this way¡­.


    Having remembered such a feeling before, Bai Yunfei practically cried to himself, ¡°This is exactly just like that one time!¡±


    That one time he referred to was when the brick had been upgraded to +13¡­.


    Still slightly dazed by the results of the egg, Bai Yunfei took a while to retrieve the egg from the one meter deep hole in the ground. Dusting it off from any of the dirt, Bai Yunfei stared again at it in disbelieving silence.


    ¡°Is the Upgrade Equipment Technique ¡®intentionally¡¯ doing this to me? I blew up dozens of earth tier soul armaments the last time, and not one of them made it to +12!! And now, here I am with a +13 egg I picked up out of nowhere¡­.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Having the brick become +13 was already shameful enough. I can pass the brick off as being some sort of easy to use street weapon, but an egg? What am I going to do with that, throw it at my enemies?!¡±


    Just thinking about how he¡¯d use the egg to block an enemy¡¯s attack or use it to slam into their heads made Bai Yunfei shudder fiercely.

 Chapter 401: +14 and….an Anomaly! (Fifth)

    ¡°But¡­.what exactly is a spatial blade?¡±


    A question for the ages was asked by Bai Yunfei. He had never seen this type of effect before, and it was starting to pique his interest.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try it out.¡±


    Weighing the egg in his hand, he waved his hand horizontally at the cave wall.


    Despite being the size of his hand, the egg could be fastened to it by using the power of the elements or released at will.


    Activating the effects of any of his items was practically second nature to Bai Yunfei, so with just a thought, he activated the +13 effect of the egg.


    No sooner did he mentally command the egg did he feel a portion of his soulforce be siphoned out from his body into the egg when he released it. If he had to guess, nearly 1000 points of soulforce had been used in that one instant!


    At the same time, the power of an element he had never felt before began to form in front of him. Taking on the shape of a pitch-black crescent moon, it continued to grow in length as it expanded into the arc of his swing.


    The egg had sliced open space itself!


    He was stupefied. When the spatial blade touched the part of the cave walls it touched, the stone behind it disappeared without warning or sound. It was almost as if it the stone had been devoured!


    Continuing for another hundred meters, the spatial blade then petered out of sight¡­.


    For a while, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know just how to respond to the hole left behind by the spatial blade.


    ¡°This¡­.this was the spatial blade?!¡± He looked down at the egg in his hand tumultuously.


    ¡°Can¡­.can I really use this egg in a fight?!¡± The shivers down his spine grew even more intense at the thought.


    But the +13 additional effect was really something else! Any previous notion of ¡®I can¡¯t use this in a fight¡¯ was thrown straight out the window after he saw what it could do¡­.


    It was not only a powerful final move, but also a joke of a ¡®soul armament¡¯ that anyone would laugh their balls off.


    TL Note: Untranslated pun where µ°ÌÛ (Lit: egg pain) is a slang meaning to be ¡°ball breaking¡±.


    So, how should he use this item?


    He doubted he¡¯d have the courage to pull out the egg to use in any fight¡­.


    But while Bai Yunfei was so caught up in his own troubles, he failed to notice that the egg in his left hand was starting to glow softly with several colors and the interior of the egg was starting to churn¡­.


    Bai Yunfei clenched his teeth together; what happened with the egg didn¡¯t matter anymore. Having his mind made up, Bai Yunfei took out a white piece of stone from his ring¨Cit was the upgrade stone he had only just found in the cave!


    ¡°Worrying about the pros and cons is only going to be a pain in the ass, I found something completely by accident, so let that be it. Even if I rewind time and didn¡¯t find this egg or stone, it wouldn¡¯t be too big of a waste! But if I succeed in bringing this to +14, then who cares if people will laugh at me? If a brick can be used, why not an egg?!¡±


    Motivating himself even more, Bai Yunfei¡¯s left and right hand collided with one another, bringing the egg and stone together!


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    A faint milky-white light emanated from the stone following his growl and enveloped the entire egg up in it shortly afterwards!


    A prismatic ray of light shot out from the egg then. It was unable to escape from the milky-white layering over the egg, producing an extremely magnified burst of prismatic light!


    The light show had been so blinding and sudden that even Bai Yunfei found himself blinded and nearly threw the egg away.


    But the, a string of notifications began to make its way into his head, stopping him from doing anything¡­.


    Upgrade Successful


    It had worked! The upgrade actually worked!! ¡­¡­


    Just the fact that the upgrade succeeded was enough to stop Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart, but the following notifications was the real stunner.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Fire Wood, Wind, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +14


    Attack: 360


    Additional Attack: 1200


    Soul Compatibility: 75%


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% chance to¡­by 50% when attacking.


    +12 Additional Effect: ¡­.chance to inflict confusion for¡­seconds¡­.


    +13 Additional¡­.spatial blade¡­.


    +14¡­.


    Upgrade Requirement: 75 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The first few lines of notification had been rather slow in coming out, but still within normal parameters. The lines after those were definitely growing more and more distorted and hazy. What came next could only be described by Bai Yunfei as his mind suddenly going fuzzy, like the screen of a TV showing static due to a disruption in signal receiving.


    The notifications were flickering non-stop, the words were warping in on itself, and then after a second, the notification screen started to crumble away¡­.


    This too, felt like deja vu to Bai Yunfei. Back when he messed up the crafting process and ended up throwing in the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei felt his mind go haywire just like it was doing now.


    Just three seconds after the notification screen mishaps, Bai Yunfei felt a multi colored beam of light attack his eyes. But with the current problem with the notifications happening, Bai Yunfei could hardly care to notice the light.


    Gradually, the notifications disappeared from sight, but before he could even react to that, something even more terrifying started to happen!!


    In his left hand, the egg which had been shining furiously with light until now began to absorb any residual soulforce. The surrounding soulforce in the cave was sucked into the egg, and then not even a moment later, Bai Yunfei felt his own soulforce flooding into the egg as if a dam had broke!


    Before Bai Yunfei could even properly register these events in his mind, half of his soulforce was already gone to the egg!


    The first conscious thought he had was to throw the egg, but to add onto the nightmare, Bai Yunfei found himself unable to even move his hands. They were stuck to the egg like glue!


    ¡°F*ck, how did this happen? Stop dammit!!¡±


    Howling furiously to himself, Bai Yunfei tried his best to wrench his hands apart, but it was no use.


    He was at a loss for what to do. This was only supposed to be a careless upgrade, so how did it become something like this?


    Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened before when he upgraded the egg when he expected it to, but now when he was convinced nothing special really would happen, it did!


    How was he supposed to react to that?


    And after several attempts to pull his hands away, a great deal of his soulforce was already taken away!


    ¡°Calm down! Just calm down!¡±


    He bit his tongue in a forceful attempt to calm himself down. There wasn¡¯t any time to waste on frivolous thoughts or try to throw away the egg, so he abandoned that course of action.


    With a mental command, the essence fireseed in him began to quiver as a tremendous amount of elemental fire began to join with his soulforce to enter the egg!


    If he couldn¡¯t throw the egg away, he¡¯d have to break it!


    He expected to see the elemental fire to smash into the egg and break it to bits. What he didn¡¯t expect to see was the elemental fire to flow into the egg along with the soulforce and be absorbed!


    To say he was completely scared beyond his wits would be an understatement!


    And so, it was then that Bai Yunfei was horrified to find out the egg was not only absorbing soulforce, but the elemental fire in him!


    Not even ten seconds had transpired from start to finish before Bai Yunfei felt his soulforce practically zero. Even his essence fireseed was starting to wane in strength!


    ¡°Thump¡­¡±


    Meanwhile, while Bai Yunfei was filled with despair in this conundrum, the sound of something else made itself known to his ears¡­.

 Chapter 402: Hatching and Regressing!(Sixth)

    The egg was a bottomless pit. No matter how much soulforce it absorbed, it didn¡¯t seem to have any intentions of stopping. Bai Yunfei was a late-stage Soul Ancestor, and his soulforce was much higher than the average one, yet it barely took ten seconds to drain him completely dry of both soulforce and elemental fire!


    The lack of soulforce resulted in the warning signs of blacking out, and the absorption of elemental fire meant the coming instability of the essence fireseed!


    Unlike soulforce which could be recovered, losing all of one¡¯s elemental fire meant the debilitation of one¡¯s capability to be a soul cultivator!


    Not even a single thought was to be had for Bai Yunfei to respond to this situation. All he knew was that his soulsense was rapidly dimming, and his own vision fading away starting from the corners.


    Knowing not what he should do, despair filled at the very center of Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind and heart¡­.


    ¡°Th-thump¡­.¡±


    Another pecking sound was heard in his ears¡ª


    No.


    Saying that he could hear it in his ears would be wrong.


    He was hearing it straight in his mind!


    ¡°Th-thump, th-thump¡­.¡±


    It came again. If Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t hearing things, then the sound was becoming more clear, and louder!


    A bizarre sound was happening simultaneously inside his head.


    It felt a little¡­.familial. Like if the sound was ¡®connected¡¯ to him in a way he didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Crack¡­.¡±


    Another sound he hadn¡¯t heard before, but this time, it occurred in the real world rather than in his head.


    Like the switch for everything to break loose, the sound he heard was the start for Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body to suddenly lose any semblance of force on it. Even the suction force he had been feeling earlier from the egg disappeared without any prior warnings!


    The sudden change in his body was startling to say the least. Not even aware that he had dropped the egg, Bai Yunfei stumbled backwards, his head still unsure of what was going on.


    It took ten or so steps for his back to touch the wall, but even then, Bai Yunfei felt himself unsteady and slumped to the ground with a heavy thud!


    A few ways away, the egg thumped on the ground at the same time he did.


    ¡°Cerrrack¡­.¡±


    The sound of something cracking into pieces was heard next.


    This was the sound of an egg being broken from the inside out!


    For the first time in seemingly forever, clarity hit Bai Yunfei. Since he was still without strength, he could only stare out in front of him in disbelief. ¡°Thi¨Cwha? How¡¯s this happening!!¡±


    His mind was filled with disbelief, but the proof of what was going on was evident in his eyes.


    There was ¡®life¡¯ being born into the world just a few steps away from him!


    This wasn¡¯t told to him by his soulsense, but rather some sort of other signal that made itself known to his consciousness and mind. A multicolored light was starting to take form in the shape of an ovalish egg. A red beak was poking its way out of the egg and making even bigger cracks of it.


    Eventually, a small head poked through, and then, its wings¡­.


    ¡°Chirp chirp¡­.¡±


    A faint cry from the creature snapped Bai Yunfei awake. Stunned, his head beckoned downwards to look at it. The multicolored light that had previously been burning away at his eyes was already petered away to levels just barely visible from behind the egg shells.


    And at the very center of the egg, a small but colorful bird-shape figure was shivering just slightly in it¡­..


    At an estimation, the bird was roughly the size of two fists put together. Its plumage was the color of the rainbow, and little claws hung at the bottom of its feet. Its tiny head shook side to side softly, as if it was feeling muddle-headed.


    It let out a shrill chirp once before spreading its wings out. With a tentative claw on the ground, it tried to take a step away from its egg.


    When it noticed Bai Yunfei, the bird lifted its head to look at him with eyes filled with innocence found only in a newborn.


    ¡°Chirp chirp¡­.¡±


    For two seconds, Bai Yunfei and the soulbeast stared at one another. Then, when the bird let loose an excited chirp, it teetered towards Bai Yunfei!


    Completely caught off guard by the third chirp, Bai Yunfei found himself instinctively trying to move backwards.


    For some reason, the things that were happening in front of him was scaring him.


    ¡°D-don¡¯t come over, or I-I¡¯ll¡­.¡± He stammered incoherently.


    He originally wanted to say ,¡¯or I¡¯ll scream¡¯, but that didn¡¯t seem quite right, and neither did ¡®or I won¡¯t take it easy on you¡¯. The latter especially felt extremely wrong to say to a little bird of all things, so he chose to stay quiet instead.


    The longer Bai Yunfei failed to say or do something, the more the bird was able to move smoothly over to where he was. Soon, it was able to cross the two meters over to Bai Yunfei and leapt onto his thigh to embrace him while he was motionless¡­.


    ¡°Chirp chirp!!¡±


    The soft feathers on the head of the bird tickled at Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest. Chirping twice, it fluffed its wings and stared innocently at him.


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei had the feeling that the looks the little bird was giving him were of ¡®happiness¡¯¡­.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    A soft red gleam of light emanated from within the cave as elemental fire manifested into the cave to be absorbed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    He was in the middle of recovering his soulforce and elemental fire. Due to the unexpected mishaps a while ago, both his tanks were basically empty and would require some time for them both to fully recover.


    A small ball of fluff was curled on top of his right leg. Identified as a baby prisma oriole by Bai Yunfei, the bird looked as though it was sleeping with it being curled up and its eyes being closed.


    But in actuality, it was also absorbing some of the elemental fire along with Bai Yunfei!


    A while later, the elemental fire in the cave fluctuated by a tiny amount before being fully absorbed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    Sighing as he felt the last wisp of it enter him, Bai Yunfei slowly opened his eyes.


    Rather than relief, only depression existed in them.


    ¡°Is there really no way to recover my strength right now? I was so close to breaking through¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed to himself. ¡°I came to the forest to make progress, not regress!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had been negatively affected by the recent events, dropping him from a late-stage Soul Ancestor on the verge of breaking through to just a late-stage Soul Ancestor!


    From standing at the peak of a mountain to falling down to near the top of it!


    The average soul cultivator would¡¯ve blown their stack should this happen to them, since it¡¯d require several years of work in order to regain what they had lost. Luckily, Bai Yunfei was far more calm-headed than other soul cultivators, since he had several available resources, such as the Equipment Upgrade Technique, the Cultivation Pendant, and the Dual Flame Artes in order to help him train back to his original state.


    But still.


    Depression couldn¡¯t be helped. He¡¯d been training the Soulbeast Forest for so long for so hard already. To regress after all of that was painful, and the fact that it happened because of some sort of mysterious circumstance made him feel all the more terrible.


    It felt like he was serving out a punishment for a crime he was innocent of.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Just then, Bai Yunfei felt movement from the small ball of fluff on his leg.


    The bird was starting to wake¡­.

 Chapter 403: You Have to Be Amazing, Right Xiao Qi?!! (Seventh)

    Bai Yunfei sat crossed-legged against the walls of the cave. His arms were crossed together to sit against his chest, and his eyes were shut tight as if thinking about something.


    ¡°Chirp¡­.chirp¡­chirp chirp¡­.¡±


    A small multi-colored bird hopped around to and fro, chirping rhythmically as if singing a song.


    This was the very same little prismatic birdling that was hatched just a while ago.


    Despite being hatched for less than even a day, it was roughly at the same developmental stage as any other bird a month after birth. Its feathers were out in full force and vibrant in color, and it was already showing a great deal of curiosity in the world it was in already. Hopping this way and that, the bird would chirp and peck at the small holes adorning the cave as if to make play.


    But it never went beyond three meters away from Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Ugh¡­.I still don¡¯t get it!¡±


    Exasperation escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. Even after thinking for so long, he was unable to grasp the reasons behind the hatching of the prismatic oriole.


    ¡°Was it because I upgraded it to +14? Or was it because I used the upgrade stone? Or is it because of the nature of the equipment?¡±


    Any possible factor that could¡¯ve resulted in this strange scenario was taken into consideration, but not a single answer could be had.


    Countless equipment had been upgraded by Bai Yunfei ever since he first obtained the technique years ago. But even with all of the experience he¡¯d accumulated up to now, it was only limited to lower tier equipment that were +13 at most, and even then, he was still lacking in experience when it came to using the upgrade stone.


    So in other words, he was completely in the dark right now.


    If he had to make a wager though, he¡¯d say that it¡¯d have to do with the very nature of the item itself.


    It was unordinary one, so it stood to reason upgrading an unordinary item would lead to extraordinary results.


    And the fact that there was a very healthy prisma oriole jumping about in front of him served as evidence to that line of thought.


    ¡°The¡­..the egg was definitely dead, but a soulbeast hatched out from it! How does something like that even happen?¡± Pondered Bai Yunfei, ¡°Did it come back to life somehow?!¡±


    Strange was the inference he came to, but the more he thought about it, the more everything made sense¡­.


    An egg that had lost its chance to give life, yet able to be upgraded like any other equipment. And what followed after that was a ¡®resurrection¡¯ of life within the egg. It was possibly due to being caused by the upgrade stone, or because it was +14, or even another factor unknown to Bai Yunfei.


    Whatever the case, the egg was no longer a piece of equipment, or even an egg anymore.


    The absorption of his soulforce and elemental fire may as well have been the factors that led to the soulbeast egg coming coming back to life and hatching a soulbeast into the world.


    ¡°In the end¡­.did the upgrade really succeed?¡± Bai Yunfei gloomed, ¡°If it did¡­.where is my +14 equipment then?!¡±


    No matter how dissatisfied he felt about the egg, losing the egg just like that was even more hurtful to him.


    ¡°It was +14!! A +14 piece of equipment! I never even got to see the +14 effect¡­.¡±


    Sobbing at the loss of such a chance, Bai Yunfei continued to cry to himself in despair, ¡°My +14 equipment¡­.my +14 equipment, my +14 soulbeast egg, my egg, my¡­.¡±


    ¡°Chirp chirp!!¡±


    At some point when he was musing to himself, a chirp snapped him out from his thoughts. When he looked up, he saw the little prisma oriole tilting its head to look at him from its perch on his leg.


    ¡°Hold on¡­!!¡±


    A thought suddenly struck Bai Yunfei, ¡°Just hold on! You just came out from that egg didn¡¯t you? And didn¡¯t you absorb all of my soulforce in order to hatch yourself? Doesn¡¯t that mean you should be super powerful?!¡±


    The possibility of it being strong sparked renewed interest in Bai Yunfei. Taking the bird onto his hand, he stared expectantly at it.


    ¡°Chirp chirp?¡±


    Strangely, the bird didn¡¯t seem be at all frightened. Standing on top of his palm, it continued to stare quizzically at Bai Yunfei, as if excited by his attention onto it.


    Thinking about the bird, he lifted a finger to touch at the bird¡¯s head and began to inspect the soulforce in its body.


    A moment later, the excitement on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face waned in disappointment. ¡°Mid-stage class one, and nothing special about it either. I can¡¯t sense any hidden power, or any ¡®inherited¡¯ additional effects¡­¡±


    He tried again with the Upgrade Technique, but there was no reaction¨Cthough that was to be expected.


    It was a living bird now, how could it have any ¡®stats¡¯?


    ¡°Hey, little bird, are you really just an ordinary prisma oriole?¡± Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Your hatching was really cool, so you should have something special about you, right?¡±


    The bird tilted its head again quizzically. Chirping in response to the ¡®question¡¯, it flew up to his forehead and began to peck softly at it¡­.


    ¡°Tch, be serious!¡± Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°You destroyed the only +14 equipment I had and plummeted my strength back down to such a dismal level! If you¡¯re only an ordinary prisma oriole that can¡¯t even break through the class six level, shouldn¡¯t you feel a little embarrassed?


    ¡°Come on then! Let me see what hidden strength you have!¡±


    Seemingly vexed by not having his expectations met, Bai Yunfei tossed the bird away towards the nearby cave wall!


    ¡°Show me your true power!¡±


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    Sailing through the cave, the bird hadn¡¯t even the time to spread its wings before slamming into the opposing wall. It stuck to the walls for two seconds before sliding down, leaving behind a bird-shaped hole from the impact¡­.


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡±


    With a sweatdrop on his face, Bai Yunfei watched as the bird struggle back to its feet. It shook its wings free of dirt and then gave him a look of anger¡­.


    ¡°Well¡­er¡­.sorry about that, I didn¡¯t mean to do that¡­.¡±


    He felt a little foolish saying that, but he bowed his head to apologize to the bird.


    Somehow, the bird didn¡¯t seem to mind too much. Right after Bai Yunfei apologized, the resentment in the bird¡¯s eyes vanished straight away.


    And after that, it began to chirp and hop happily back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    ¡°Well now¡­.¡±


    It¡¯s magnanimous attitude towards himself was surprising to say the least, but it sparked the beginnings of a bond between and the bird.


    As it hopped to him, Bai Yunfei extended a hand down, and without another word, he allowed for the bird to leap onto his arm, only to be surprised when it leapt onto his shoulder.


    ¡°You want to come with me, little one?¡± He smiled.


    ¡°Chirrppp~¡±


    Even more surprising was how the bird replied to him. If Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know any better, he would¡¯ve thought that it was replying affirmatively to him with its swings spread out wide.


    ¡°Hm¡­.since you can¡¯t be my contracted soulbeast partner, I¡¯ll let you follow me for the time being.¡±


    Despite being only a normal prisma oriole, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel too unhappy about a soulbeast following him. Having a little pet like this wasn¡¯t all too bad, and if it wanted to leave after it matured, then so be it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s give you a name then!¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡°A prisma oriole has seven colors¡­.so let¡¯s call you Xiao Qi!¡±


    TL Note: Xiao meaning ¡®little¡¯ and Qi meaning ¡®seven¡¯.

 Chapter 404: Xiao Qi Powering Through the Levels, Through the Night! (Eighth)

    ¡°Chirp chirp~!!¡±


    In yet another seemingly responsive answer to Bai Yunfei¡¯s name for it, the bird opened its wings wide and flew up into the air!!


    It¡¯s sudden ascent into the air scared Bai Yunfei, but he could tell that it was clearly overjoyed. From how it was flying around him, the bird seemed as though it was trying to say, ¡°Look, look! I can fly!¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­.¡± For the first time in a while, Bai Yunfei smiled.


    Soon, Xiao Qi came back to roost on Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder, having tired itself out. Chirping twice when it landed, the bird began to groom itself.


    The two had only met each other for a short while now, but Bai Yunfei felt a great deal of intimacy with it, but why he felt the way he did was unknown to him.


    He looked outside of the cave¨Cit was dark now.


    Almost an entire day had passed in the cave!


    Bai Yunfei stretched his back with a sigh, ¡°Forget it then. I¡¯ll spend the night here! Today has been far too much, so I¡¯ll be taking a nice nap tonight!¡±


    What he experienced today in the cave had been far more taxing on his mind than any fight with a class six soulbeast thus far. Sleeping tonight would be without a doubt a great way to recover, so that was what he intended to do.


    Out of all the soul cultivators, he was probably the only who who enjoyed ¡®sleeping¡¯ just for the sake of sleeping.


    Eyes scanning the cave, Bai Yunfei found himself staring at the giant nest at the center. ¡°Xiao Qi,¡± he spoke to the bird, ¡°this used to be your nest, mind if I borrow it?¡±


    He moved without even waiting for Xiao Qi¡¯s response and laid down onto the nest. The nest had no stink as one might expect from one, and it was rather comfortable to rest upon, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s satisfaction. Getting comfortable, he placed his hands behind his head and slowly drifted off to sleep.


    Xiao Qi circled around Bai Yunfei¡¯s head twice before finally descending down to his right to curl up next to him. Resting its head to its waist to get comfortable, the bird followed Bai Yunfei and fell asleep.


    ¡­¡­


    Hour by hour, time slowly trickled by inside the cave. On the outside, the night sky was still bright as ever, and the moonlight forest was silently calm, aside from the occasional roar from a soulbeast.


    But not a single one of them came to the cave.


    In the cave, a bird and man was sleeping together, one of the two undergoing a strange change¡­.


    And the one that was changing was¡­.Xiao Qi!


    Both of the cave¡¯s inhabitants were asleep, but the prisma oriole was glowing from its roost next to Bai Yunfei. The light shined softly from its feathers, and despite being so close to Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, they were not so bright so as to be painful.


    Rather, it was a soothing glow, like something from a dream. It enveloped the area around them, filling the entire nest with that peaceful glow¡­.


    Furthermore, not even a single wisp of soulforce was to be felt here. If one had to make a comparison, then it¡¯d be as if Xiao Qi had turned into a multi-colored lantern that emitted only light, not soulforce or elemental power. It had¨Cfor lack of a better word¨Cmysteriously started to glow, but nothing else was happening on the surface.


    And since soulforce wasn¡¯t being used, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be roused from his sleep.


    Illuminated by the soft glows of Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei slept peacefully. Everything was all right in the world¡­.


    But in Xiao Qi¡¯s body, an unknown change was beginning to take place¡­.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The morning after, when the first rays of the sun hadn¡¯t even touched upon the small mountain the cave was in, Bai Yunfei was already starting to wake.


    ¡°Ah¡­..¡± Refreshed and renewed, Bai Yunfei stretched his body. ¡°That feels great¡­.I haven¡¯t slept that well in forever.¡±


    With a hop, Bai Yunfei leapt up to his feet and opened his eyes just in time to hear the sound of something hitting the ground.


    It took a moment for Bai Yunfei to realize that something had been pressing on him when he slept, and when he stood up, that ¡®something¡¯ had been thrown to the side!


    ¡°Chirp chirp¡­¡±


    It took a moment for Bai Yunfei to think of the chirping, and when he finally remembered, he smiled. ¡°Ah, Xiao Qi. What brings you running to me? Did you sle¡ª¡±


    His head was already turning to greet the bird while he spoke, but then when he saw Xiao Qi, his mouth froze mid-speech, and his eyes froze in absolute shock, as if he had just seen a ghost.


    ¡°Wh¨Cwho are you?!¡±


    He spoke after two seconds of silence.


    Not too far away, a brightly-colored figure was climbing back to its feet and dusting itself off while looking back at Bai Yunfei.


    It was the prisma oriole¡­..but! It was bigger than before!!


    What stood in front of Bai Yunfei now was a grown up prisma oriole!


    Xiao Qi was now the same size of a rooster, and its feathers had a glossy sheen to them. Its feet had sharp claws now, and its head had several shinier feathers even.


    It looked exactly the same as the prisma oriole Bai Yunfei watched fight the greenwood wolf yesterday!!


    ¡°Chirp chirp~?¡±


    Perplexed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction, the bird looked down at itself as well, only to let out a startled squawk when it realized the change. It hopped up and down where it stood and even started to shake its body a bit.


    Then, a soft glow started to glow from beneath its feathers. The glow persisted for a moment before Xiao Qi found itself shrinking in size back to the palm-sized bird it was once before!


    Back to its original size, the bird chirped twice in satisfaction and flew back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder.


    Bai Yunfei stared at the bird as it landed. Holding his hand up for the bird to leap on next, he raised it to his eye to look.


    ¡°Are you really Xiao Qi?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡± It replied in affirmation.


    ¡°But¡­but¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but doubt the answer, ¡°Your strength¡­.it¡¯s impossible!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s disbelief wasn¡¯t without reason! Not only was Xiao Qi capable of changing its size, it was now¡­. A lot stronger than before!


    It was a late-stage class four now!

 Chapter 405: Crafting! (Ninth)

    ¡°You were only a mid-stage class one soulbeast yesterday, how¡¯d you become a late-stage class four overnight?! And how come I didn¡¯t sense that?!¡±


    The fact that this happened without his notice dumbfounded Bai Yunfei with how out-of-the-blue it was.


    But the proof was standing right there in front of him.


    He scanned the cave for anything that might¡¯ve caused this change, but there was nothing to be found, and nothing strange was going on in Xiao Qi¡¯s body.


    Had Bai Yunfei not known about yesterday¡¯s events, he would¡¯ve thought Xiao Qi had always been an adult prisma oriole.


    ¡°Tsk tsk! So, Xiao Qi, you really are a special prisma oriole!¡± Having not a good reason for this change, Bai Yunfei gave up thinking about it to scratch Xiao Qi on the head in praise.


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡± Just like ever, Xiao Qi cooed twice. Spreading its wings, it took off into the air to fly again, though this time it looked like it wanted to fly out of the cave. However, since Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move from his spot, Xiao Qi remained in the cave as well.


    As Xiao Qi flew, Bai Yunfei dusted the hay off his shoulders and stretched his body. ¡°Well then, now that I¡¯m fully rested, it¡¯s time to continue my adventure!¡±


    But before Bai Yunfei could take even two steps towards the cave exit, a cry from Xiao Qi from behind stopped him.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Turning around, Bai Yunfei saw Xiao Qi stand behind him, chirping and hopping around a part of the nest as if unwilling to leave.


    At a loss for why Xiao Qi was acting this way, Bai Yunfei squatted down next to the nest. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you want to take this with you as a commemoration?¡±


    What Xiao Qi was hopping around wasn¡¯t the nest in particular, but the shells of the egg it hatched from.


    The eggshells weren¡¯t at all big; the largest pieces of them being the two ends of the egg, while the rest of the eggshells were sprinkled about here and there on the ground.


    Each of the shell pieces were still glowing softly with a prismatic light.


    Bai Yunfei had taken a look at the eggshells a while ago to see if there¡¯d be an notifications, but there was none. The Upgrade Technique no longer considered the eggshells to be ¡®equipment¡¯. Without there being any special energy, there was nothing else remarkable about it besides it being as hard as steel.


    ¡°Are you saying the eggshells are important?¡± Feeling that Xiao Qi wanted to keep these eggshells not for sentimentality, but for another reason, Bai Yunfei asked again.


    ¡°Chirp chirp chirp~!¡±


    The oriole hopped up and down several times in a positive response.


    ¡°Hm¡­.¡±


    Its answer mystified Bai Yunfei even more. He didn¡¯t know why, but he trusted the ¡®information¡¯ he was getting from the bird. So if the bird said that the eggshells had some sort of use, then so be it.


    ¡°But what can it be used for??¡± He held a piece of the shell up to examine.


    Then, an idea struck him.


    ¡°To craft, maybe?!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t the foggiest how this idea came to him, but now that it did, he was excited. Forget about adventure, it was time to craft!!


    ¡°Crafting¡­..crafting¡­..should I use this to craft a soul armament?¡± It was a little bizarre to even think about using the colorful eg shells to craft a soul armament, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel the urge to try it out anyways.


    He came to a decision nearly instantaneously, ¡°Let¡¯s try it!! Won¡¯t hurt me if it fails anyhow.¡±


    He¡¯d make a soul armament with these eggshells!


    Now that his mind was set to the task, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t hesitate to gather up all the eggshells. Stacking them neatly in a pile in front of him, Bai Yunfei waved his hand to bring out a giant-sized red object.


    The Lightningfire Cauldron


    Lightningfire Cauldron¡¯s stats:


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Special Effect 1: Increase chance of success when crafting by 300%


    Special Effect 2: 15% chance to add lightning affinity to an item when crafting.


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% chance to boost the overall stats of an equipment by 20% when crafting.


    Soul Compatibility: 13%


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    ¡°Haven¡¯t crafted in a long time¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed as he basked in the rich flow of elemental fire coming from the cauldron. It¡¯s soul compatibility with him had increased by 3% ever since he first received it.


    ¡°Well now, what shall I craft?¡± He rubbed his chin. ¡°Making a dagger would be pretty hard with the amount of materials here, should I make a flying dagger then? Doesn¡¯t feel right though, maybe some¡­accessories!


    ¡°A bracelet, that¡¯ll work!!¡±


    Now that he had an idea of what type of equipment to craft, Bai Yunfei began the preparations. Using eggshells as the primary material was a first; he didn¡¯t know if it¡¯d succeed, but if it did, then it¡¯d be a valuable learning experience.


    Carefully calculating the volume of eggshells he had and the other necessary subsidiary materials, Bai Yunfei finished up the meticulous other preliminary steps. Standing in front of the cauldron, Bai Yunfei breathed in deeply. ¡°Well then¡­..let¡¯s begin!¡±


    His left hand pressed against the cauldron, and the Cataclysmic Seal popped out from the Violet Soul Ring on his right hand. Hovering in midair, the brick shivered for a moment before Bai Yunfei¡¯s second essence fireseed appeared!!


    No sooner did it appear did it get ¡®sucked¡¯ into the middle of the cauldron!


    Several crackling sounds were heard from the cauldron as a connection opened up between cauldron and fireseed, and then, the fireseed was promptly taken into the cauldron¡¯s bottom!


    The cauldron shook violently when the second fireseed was deposited into it. Flashes of red light flowed out from the cauldron, and then from the inside, a roaring fire sprung to life!


    This was a crafting technique unique only to Bai Yunfei¨Cusing the essence fireseed to manipulate and control fire!


    He had learned this method from the predecessor and creator of the Dual Flame Artes. In it, it was said that the predecessor used his companion fireseed, but Bai Yunfei was able to take that concept a step further by using an actual fireseed!


    Through this special usage of the fireseed, Bai Yunfei was able to increases his chances of success when upgrading several times over!


    Only someone with two essence fireseeds could pull this off.


    Which meant no one else but Bai Yunfei could do this!


    Everything else about the world disappeared into the smoke as the fire rose. All there was was the cauldron in front of him, and the fire within it. The shattered pieces of the egg floated into the cauldron when he waved his hand, and so began the process to craft an item with them.


    Somehow knowing that Bai Yunfei needed time to himself, Xiao Qi flew up to a protruding stone on the cave wall to watch. Without even a chirp, it stood there, observing what Bai Yunfei did.


    Again and again, the flames within the cauldron danced. With each new material introduced to the cauldron, the flames danced without rhyme, but there was control in how Bai Yunfei did his work. Experienced in the art of crafting, Bai Yunfei was confident in his ability to craft without a problem.


    There was a huge difference on how accessories were crafted compared to weapons and armor. If proper care wasn¡¯t had, then the product would turn out to be defected.


    What it meant to have a defected good meant having an item without any special attributes, or using high grade materials to create an ordinary accessory.


    Even if one succeeded, there was also the chance that there wasn¡¯t many attributes added, or the end result wasn¡¯t equivalent to the grade of the materials. In both cases, the end product was a waste.


    So when Bai Yunfei decided to craft an accessory, it was meant to be a challenge if he excluded the fact that he was using eggshells as a material.


    Time trickled by bit by bit. Crafting high quality products required both time and patience, and Bai Yunfei was no stranger to that. Calm as ever, he focused at the task at hand to control the flames.


    From sunrise to sunset, the day was already turning back into night¡­.


    A flash of red light illuminated the entirety of the cave, brightening up not only the entire interior of the place, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°It¡¯s done!!¡±

 Chapter 406: The Unique Equipment, the Beast Taming Ring! (Tenth)

    There was a strong flash of light from the cauldron before the fire in it was extinguished. Bai Yunfei¡¯s second fireseed soon came flying out with a multicolored bracelet.


    The second fireseed melted back into the Cataclysmic Seal, and the bracelet fell safely onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Now that he had the finished product in his hand, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but look at the stats straight away.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Pet Loyalty +50


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    Straight away, a string of notifications popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, but the contents of the notifications surprised him greatly!


    ¡°Unique, mid earth, pet loyalty, and 20% soul compatibility!!¡±


    Each line of the notification brought Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrow higher and higher. He had no words to describe how he felt about the bracelet.


    He expected an ordinary bracelet with ordinary effects, not a unique piece of equipment with very rare stats!


    Making a low-earth tier soul armament would¡¯ve been good enough for him, but this one surpassed his expectations by being a mid-earth!


    Not to mention he had never seen one of the attributes before!


    Furthermore, it was very surprising to see that the soul compatibility was already at 20%!


    And so, Bai Yunfei was at a loss for words for a very long time. Even with repeated looks at the stats of the bracelet, he didn¡¯t know what to say.


    ¡°Jackpot! I¡¯ve hit the jackpot!¡± He finally managed to say, ¡°It was so worth it to craft! Using throwaway materials to craft a unique set of equipment, what a deal! I¡¯ve never seen this stat before!


    ¡°Pet loyalty¡­.pet loyalty¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself, ¡°Is it something a soulbeast should wear then?¡±


    ¡®Loyalty¡¯ is a relatively easy concept to explain. The degree of loyalty would differ from soulbeast and soul cultivators, and if the soul cultivator didn¡¯t treat the soulbeast well, then loyalty would drop. While ultimately, the soul contract binded the soulbeast to the soul cultivator, loyalty served as a major influence on how the soulbeast would act.


    ¡°If I let a soulbeast wear this, does this mean it¡¯ll be more loyal to me?¡± Mused Bai Yunfei, ¡°How much is 50 points of loyalty? Is that a lot? How about 100? Does it only work if a soulbeast wears it?¡±


    The question remained on his mind as he stored away the cauldron. Having no answer to it, he decided to turn around to look at Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Come here, Xiao Qi.¡± The way Bai Yunfei beckoned a finger was eerily similar to how a creepy old man might beckon to a child.


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡± Came a naive chirp. Seeing that Bai Yunfei was done, the bird wasted no time in flying to the outstretched hand of his.


    ¡°Try wearing this, Xiao Qi.¡±


    Pushing some soulforce into the bracelet, Bai Yunfei watched as the bracelet in his left hand start to shrink in size!!


    By adding in a morphing stone during the crafting process, it was possible to change the size of the product by a certain amount.


    In the blink of an eye, the bracelet turned into the size of a ping pong ball. While Xiao Qi remained faithfully still, Bai Yunfei slowly eased the bracelet onto its neck. With how multi-colored the bracelet was, it looked quite nice on Xiao Qi.


    Appearance didn¡¯t matter much to Bai Yunfei. All he cared about was experimenting with the stats. Though to his amazement, there didn¡¯t seem to be any change when Xiao Qi wore it.


    But from the faint connection he felt with the bracelet, he knew that it was still operating like any other soul armament he owned, meaning that it was ready to be used¡­


    ¡°Strange¡­.is this not how you¡¯re supposed to use it?¡± He picked the bracelet back up and restore it to its original size to inspect it.


    A new attribute required time to study and learn about. Experimenting or finding out any new effects of a soul armament was one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s great pleasures, so him not finding an answer yet didn¡¯t bother him.


    Xiao Qi said nothing, and stared quizzically as always at Bai Yunfei. Flying back to the nest, it folded its wings back up to prepare to sleep. After watching Bai Yunfei craft the entire day, it found itself slightly tired.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try upgrading it! Who knows if a new effect will appear, I can experiment it more then!


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A moment later.


    Upgrade Successful


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Pet Loyalty +50


    Additional Attribute: +25 Pet Loyalty


    Soul Compatibility: 60%


    +10 Additional Effect: Gain the ability to control the soulbeast wearing this item.


    Success rate is dependent on the difference in mental strength between user and target.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    Once again, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see the item after it was upgraded to +10.


    There was another effect he had never seen before!


    And what other emotion was to be expected after that but joy!


    ¡°The soul compatibility is at 60%! That¡¯s at the level of a soulbound armament!¡±


    The more intimate feeling he was getting from the bracelet was confirming his line of thought. ¡°And¡­..another powerful additional effect!¡±


    The additional effect of this equipment was practically deviant in nature! The ability to control soulbeasts, that¡­.that was¡­.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little similar to how the Beast Taming School works¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought. ¡°But it shouldn¡¯t be as cruel as how they do things. It only works when it¡¯s worn right? And without the effect, the soulbeast goes back to normal. This¡­.this is a miracle for soulbeasts!


    ¡°But still. I wonder if this¡¯ll be alright¡­.it should be, right?¡±


    For some reason, a grim smile was on his face. ¡°In this case¡­.ugh¡­.


    ¡°Was it because I used the +14 egg to craft this bracelet that the soul compatibility reached 60%?¡±


    The soul compatibility was abnormally high for what it should¡¯ve been, so Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but guess at the reason why.


    ¡°Never thought that I¡¯d be able to get yet another soulbound armament! It¡¯s a strong one too; coming into this cave was pretty damn worth it!¡±


    Obtaining this new soul armament was more than enough to clear away the feelings of sadness he felt from losing the +14 egg. Just looking at the bracelet was enough to make him pleased. ¡°If this is a soulbound armament, I should give it a name. A bracelet or ring that can control soulbeasts¡­.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it! Since there¡¯s a precedence, I¡¯ll call it, the Beast Taming Ring!!¡±


    Done with naming the ring, Bai Yunfei decided to look outside the cave. ¡°Another day¡¯s gone already, guess I¡¯ll spend the night here again.¡± he sighed.


    Plenty of concentration was used balancing the high grade materials together to craft the soul armament, so Bai Yunfei was more tired than usual. Stretching his back, he laid down next to Xiao Qi and slowly drifted to sleep.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ssss¡­.sssss¡­.¡±


    In the darkness of the night, where the forest was outside the cave, a slithering sound made itself known somewhere in there. A pair of blue eyes stared adamantly at the cave a few hundred meters away, and a low grumble was heard from it¡­.

 Chapter 407: Blue-eyes Wyrm

    On the eve of the sunset when the world was still dim in light, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open without warning.


    Rising slowly to his feet, he looked around the perimeter of the cave, ¡°It¡¯s not even bright out yet, geez¡­.Couldn¡¯t you have waitd two more hours or something? I was having a nice nap¡­.¡± he grumbled.


    He spoke to no one in particular. Dusting the hay off himself with a sigh, Bai Yunfei slowly walked outside.


    Because Bai Yunfei woke up, Xiao Qi found itself waking up as well. Still groggy, the bird was unsure what Bai Yunfei was doing, but before long, it shook itself once and flew after him.


    The bird reached Bai Yunfei as he stood at the entrance, taking in the sea of trees in front of him with a calm eye. The skies were still abundant with the stars and the moon, but only bright enough to illuminate just a little bit of the trees all around. Where some parts of the forest was sparse in trees, several other forms of plant life could be seen, but aside from that, there wasn¡¯t anything else visible to the naked eye.


    When Bai Yunfei strode out from the cave, he was intentionally looking at a specific part of the forest fifty meters towards the right. In that area, the trees were roughly ten meters high and was quite dense in plant life. Bai Yunfei smiled at the sight, ¡°I know you¡¯re there, stop hiding and come on out!¡±


    He didn¡¯t yell, but his voice was audible to anyone within three hundred meters of him. But despite that, there was no movement to be seen.


    Xiao Qi stared inquisitively at Bai Yunfei as if to try and guess what he was doing.


    ¡°I felt your presence already; you think yourself stronger than me and want to eat me? I know you were paying attention to the fight between the greenwood wolf and the prisma oriole three days ago, were you planning to take a part of the spoils yourself?¡± Bai Yunfei quipped, as if trying to make conversation with someone. When there was no response to be had, he felt a tinge of boredom in him start to stir, ¡°Is talking to soulbeasts with little rationality really impossible?¡±


    ¡°I told you to stop hiding and come on out!¡±


    This time, rather than wait silently, Bai Yunfei threw a fireball formed by his Ardent Sun Glove at the spot he was looking at!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡± The fireball whizzed through the air and into the spot behind the trees. Exploding when it hit the ground, the fireball soon set anything within a twenty meter radius on fire!


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    From the blaze, a furious roar exploded outwards following a large burst of soulforce. In a flash of blue light, a gigantic figure dashed out into Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyesight!


    Now the figure was in Bai Yunfei¡¯s line of sight, he could tell just what kind of soulbeast it was. The soulbeast stood about ten meters tall, had a huge head with sharp teeth, and a long neck. Further down its body was two bulky limbs, and at the front of the body was two comparatively shorter limbs. All four of its appendages were equipped with sharp claws, and the glint off the extremities gave Bai Yunfei no doubt that they¡¯d be able to tear through stone and rock without a problem if the soulbeast wanted to. At the very end of its body, a thick tail smashed through a tree thick enough for three adult humans to barely wrap their arms around. (Please imagine a soulbeast similar to a T. Rex)


    A light blue as the ocean rippled across its body, protecting it from the intense flames that assaulted it and quickly extinguishing the fires!


    ¡°A water type eh?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows rose slightly on his face. ¡°An early-stage class six blue-eyes wyrm. That¡¯s a rare one, didn¡¯t think I¡¯d see one here.¡±


    ¡°Roarr!¡± Again, the blue-eyes wyrm howled, angered by the look of contempt coming from Bai Yunfei. Its aquamarine eyes gave him the death stare as it charged its body up with blue light. As it charged up, all of the elemental water in the surrounding vicinity started to congregate in front of it in the form of a screen of water.


    In the second after it formed, countless of darts made of elemental water started fly at Bai Yunfei!


    The amount of projectiles coming at him didn¡¯t seem to faze Bai Yunfei. The Violet Soul Ring on his right hand twinkled with light once before the Cataclysmic Seal appeared in a burst of orange light to erect a barrier in front of him.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    A series of water darts slammed into the barrier, but not one made its way through it. The barrier held strong, with only several ripples to be seen on the barrier, but the parts of the cliff wall that wasn¡¯t protected by the barrier was immediately perforated by the darts!


    ¡°You¡¯ve good timing, let me use you to test the Beast Taming Ring!¡± Eyes glowing with excitement, Bai Yunfei took out the item and fed soulforce into it. When it started to glow with all the colors of the rainbow, and when the attack on him ended, he threw the object towards the blue-eyes wyrm!


    Almost expertly, the ring expanded to two meters in circumference and flew through the air straight and true towards the wyrm¡¯s head!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    It was only natural for the wyrm to react to an object being thrown at it. The blue light surrounding its body flickered briefly as it swung its tail forward. At the very tip of it, a bright blue ¡®whip¡¯ extended outwards to smash into the Beast Taming Ring!


    ¡°Pow!!¡± The ring was struck mid-air, causing Bai Yunfei to narrow his eyes and raise his hand into the air. As if summoned by a mysterious force, the ring flew back to his hand.


    ¡°Obviously, a soulbeast wouldn¡¯t let the Beast Taming Ring placed on it without a fight, that¡¯ll be a problem¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°Then I¡¯ll beat it first and then have it wear it!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Qi, go back into the cave.¡± He spoke to Xiao Qi.


    After the bird retreated into the cave, Bai Yunfei turned back to the wyrm. At his command, the Cataclysmic Seal released the fireseed in it and had it enter his chest¡­.


    Dual Flame Arts, ¡®Coil¡¯ form activate!!


    In a second, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength exploded in strength. Despite losing some strength from his mishap with Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei was still a late-stage Soul Ancestor in strength. After entering the ¡®coil¡¯ form, he could force himself to reach the early-stage Soul Exalt level. And overall, he was still strong enough to deal with the blue-eyes wyrm without much difficulty.


    His feet dug into the ground, allowing him to build up enough momentum to fly straight for the wyrm like an arrow shot out from a bow.


    His forward advancement was met with a mighty tail whip from the wyrm. Unphased by the attack, Bai Yunfei clenched his red light emitting right hand and punched out at it!


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!


    When fist met tail, Bai Yunfei was whipped to the side, but the wyrm wasn¡¯t left unharmed. Howling in pain, it¡¯s tail was thrusted in the opposite direction of Bai Yunfei with a slight shiver to its frame.


    ¡°Bang!¡± Flipping himself upright in the air, Bai Yunfei¡¯s legs bent at the knees as if preparing himself for impact.


    Then, red light glowed beneath his feet, serving as solid ground for him to step on! Pushing against it, he flew in the opposite direction of his original path to come flying at the wyrm¡¯s head again!


    But having not been paying attention to what the wyrm was doing, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see a giant gaping maw come forward to greet him! Not only did it look like the wyrm was about to eat him, but its jaws were filled with blue light to blast him with a ball of elemental water as well.


    Extending his right arm at the jaws of the soulbeast, the Ardent Sun Glove on Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand exploded with scorching red light and heat to strike at the sphere of elemental water with a burst of elemental fire!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡± The two elements collided with one another, resulting in an explosion near the wyrm¡¯s mouth, sending it backwards due to the blast!!


    ¡°Now¡¯s my chance!!¡± Granted the prime opportunity to strike, Bai Yunfei tossed the Beast Taming Ring in his left hand towards the right forelimb of the wyrm!


    Flying towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s target in a trail of rainbow light, the Beast Taming Ring flew onto the wyrm¡¯s arm and contracted quickly to latch onto it like a bracelet!

 Chapter 408: The Strength of the Beast Taming Ring, and A Cool Mount

    ¡°Success!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with glee when he saw the Beast Taming Ring latch onto the wyrm. With his goal accomplished, Bai Yunfei kicked against the ground to retreat to the cave entrance.


    He landed safely on the ground, but before he had time to turn around, his entire body staggered violently; threatening to fall down to the ground!!


    In the moment his feet touched against the ground, all Bai Yunfei felt in his mind was a deep stabbing pain! A completely mystifying force was being enforced onto his mind, not too unsimilar to if a soulbeast had materialized in his mindspace and was shaking the place with its roar!!


    ¡°This is the Beast Taming Ring¡¯s effect!¡± Needless to say, Bai Yunfei was quick to realize this was the additional effect of the ring!


    ¡°Success rate is dependent on the difference in mental strength between user and target¡­.is this what it means by ¡®success rate¡¯? By defeating the soulbeast in mental strength¡­.?¡± Having some sort of idea of the effect now, Bai Yunfei was quick to spur his soulforce into motion. Circulating it through his body, Bai Yunfei was pleased to feel a positive effect with his mind clearing up a bit.


    He looked to the wyrm in front of him. Unlike him, the wyrm was in a slight daze, but its body shuddered violently, as if trying to fight the invisible strings binding it in a desperate struggle for its life. The Beast Taming Ring stuck on its right forelimb continued to shine furiously with light that was stabbing into its body as well! Each time a different ray of light from the ring struck the wyrm, the wyrm shivered violently again.


    ¡°I get it now! Controlling a soulbeast isn¡¯t as easy as I thought! So I need more mental strength than it? Easy!!¡±


    Only a second was needed for Bai Yunfei to really understand the scope of the situation. Fully enlightened now, he sat down on the ground to concentrate. Gathering up all of his focus, he began to try and start a ¡®fight¡¯ with his mental strength.


    It had been a straightforward fight so far, so the blue-eyes wyrm was completely confused on why it was starting to feel so strange in the head. In fact, it was starting to feel like it could hardly feel itself think!!


    That mysterious power in its mind was unbelievably fierce, and was actually daring enough to try and imprison it¡¯s mind to control its body!


    The sensation was absolutely terrifying to the wyrm. Unwilling to even fight with the human in front of it anymore, the wyrm tried its utmost best to fight off the external forces acting upon it, and its body shivering slightly as it did.


    But the force was already growing rapidly in power over it. Not even a second after, the wyrm was rapidly losing its ground and was close to being overwhelmed!


    Bai Yunfei held several advantages to him in this battle. The Violet Soul Ring on his right hand, the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring on his left, the Cultivation Pendant around his neck, and the bracelet on his hand. All of them were glowing with light as Bai Yunfei made the best of their effects.


    With these items providing him a boost in spirit, Bai Yunfei had well over two thousand points in it!! That in itself was a very terrifying sum and gave Bai Yunfei the mental strength beyond any other soul cultivator of his level.


    The mental strength that the equipment gave him correlated with what ¡®spirit¡¯ was normally defined as. Not only did it mean how fast one could recover their soulforce, it also pointed to the strength of one¡¯s soulsense as well, and how well one could control the elements¡­..


    In his ¡®coil¡¯ form, Bai Yunfei had the mental strength of an early-stage Soul Exalt. Combined with the equipment he had, the amount of spirit, or mental strength he had now was equivalent to that of a mid-stage Soul Exalt. In other words, he could easily face off against the early-stage class six blue-eyes wyrm without discomfort.


    Since this was the first time Bai Yunfei used the Beast Taming Ring in a battle, he wasn¡¯t used to its effects. But right now, enough time had passed for him to gain some first-hand knowledge on how to use it best, so now was the time for him to ¡®end¡¯ the fight.


    When Bai Yunfei¡¯s mental strength overwhelmed the ¡®consciousness¡¯ of the wyrm in its mind, the consciousness came to a stop along with the wyrm¡¯s actual body. Its eyes were vacant and glossed over, as if in a trance.


    Now that it was still, the area around the wyrm grew quiet as well. When it was previously struggling against Bai Yunfei¡¯s control, the wyrm had been thrashing around the place with its tail.


    ¡°Phew¡­..is it over?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes blinked open; he couldn¡¯t feel any struggle coming from the wyrm now, so he looked over to the wyrm. Having a forehead slick with sweat, his right hand came up to wipe it aside.


    Fighting for domination over the wyrm¡¯s mind had been surprisingly tiring.


    ¡°The Beast Taming Ring¡¯s effect is strange as hell, but it¡¯s not easy to use!¡± he sighed. ¡°If I have to do that every single time, then the Beast Taming Ring¡¯s less useful than it is. I¡¯d be dead if I was attacked by something else in that time¡­.


    ¡°But using it just this once shouldn¡¯t be too bad. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get better at it sooner or later.¡±


    Bai Yunfei stood back up onto his feet. Sighing as he gave up thinking about the ring, he looked to the wyrm.


    ¡°Come.¡±


    After a few silent seconds of observation, he called out to it.


    The slight shiver in his mindspace alerted Bai Yunfei to the fact that something was happening.


    The previously slugged look in the wyrm¡¯s eyes flickered slightly with rebellion, but it bled away as quickly as it came. It¡¯s giant body rose up as one of its feet rose into the air. Coming back down to the ground, it slowly made its way to Bai Yunfei before stopping just ten meters away.


    ¡°So this is what it means to ¡®control¡¯¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei wondered. ¡°Fall back!¡±


    This time, the order was received instantly by the wyrm, who immediately move several steps backwards.


    Bai Yunfei smiled in interest at the situation.


    ¡°Turn left! Turn right! Lift your foot up! Swing your tail! Form a water ball! Elemental edge! Roar! Jump! Do a handstand!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    At the last command, the wyrm face planted into the ground.


    ¡°Oh¡­.your ¡®hands¡¯ are a little short, aren¡¯t they? Forget the handstand then, get up!¡±


    Humiliation and resistance flashed insistently through the wyrm¡¯s eyes, but nothing could be done. With each action it was forced to do, the fear the wyrm felt increased even more and more.


    Soon, the terror it felt reached a tipping point when it realized that every single action was up to the human in front of it to control.


    It could only submit itself to being manipulated.


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head in satisfaction. Forming a hand seal, he dispelled the ¡®coil¡¯ form and allowed the second fireseed in him to return to the Cataclysmic Seal.


    The ¡®coil¡¯ form dissolving meant that his mental strength would drop as well. But even then, it was still above a level where control over the wyrm was possible. Control after subjugation was easier than subjugation anyways, so the amount of mental strength needed to control the wyrm was lower now.


    If 100% of his spirit was needed to subjugate the wyrm, then only 70% would be needed to keep control.


    In other words, the Beast Taming Ring¡¯s effect was already in effect.


    Bai Yunfei looked up to the skies. Somehow, while he was busy with the wyrm, the skies were already brightening, and the fiery sun was already halfway above the mountains to the east.


    He looked back down at the wyrm in front of him, noticing that the size of its head was nearly as big as the cave entrance behind him.


    Thinking about it, he called out to Xiao Qi, ¡°Since it¡¯s day time, let¡¯s get going, come on, Xiao Qi!!¡±


    Kicking off against the ground, he landed on top of the wyrm¡¯s head to rest upon a spot on its blue scales.


    ¡°Chirp~!!!¡±


    An excited bird cry echoed from the caves before Xiao Qi came speeding out from it to circle around Bai Yunfei¡¯s head.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡±


    Following Bai Yunfei¡¯s finger, the wyrm gave out a low growl before moving into the forest¡­..

 Chapter 409: Xiao Qi’s Love for Singing

    Near a small river in the class six area of the Soulbeast Forest.


    ¡°Roarrrr!!!¡±


    From the south, the fearsome roar of a soulbeast scared a flock of bird soulbeasts into flight. Then came the shaking of the earth, where with each mighty footstep, a soulbeast as large as a three story building and blue as the ocean came running through the forest and towards a lake.


    The giant blue soulbeast was the blue-eyes wyrm, and this area was a part of the forest where very few soulbeasts walked.


    Two of the early-stage class six soulbeasts in the area retreated when it felt the blue-eyes wyrm invade their territory rather than come forward to stop it. Despite being of the same class, the blue-eyes wyrm was still stronger than its peers.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s have a drink here, Xiao Lan.¡±


    The wyrm came to a stop immediately by the lakeside at this command.


    The voice came from on top of the wyrm¡¯s head, and with a closer look, one would be able to see a young man sitting leisurely on top of it! On his right shoulder, a small bird the colors of the rainbow was carefully cleaning its feathers with its beak.


    This young man was none other than Bai Yunfei.


    Half a month had passed since Bai Yunfei left the caves. By using the Beast Taming Ring to tame the wyrm, Bai Yunfei had gained a mount to ¡®tour¡¯ the Soulbeast Forest.


    He hadn¡¯t a clear destination, so Bai Yunfei decided to just roam around the forest. Thanks to the wyrm¡¯s intimidation, any soulbeast below the early-stage class six level fled whenever they felt its aura, and even the mid-stage class six soulbeasts weren¡¯t willing to fight it.


    Thus, Bai Yunfei was able to go for days on end without meeting a soulbeast.


    That didn¡¯t mean that the blue-eyes wyrm had no enemies or equals in the class six area, however. On the fourth day, Bai Yunfei was stopped by a late-stage class six vinebeast, but with his ¡®coil¡¯ form and the cooperation of the wyrm, the two were able to fight it on equal grounds.


    In the end, Bai Yunfei emerged first from the fight as the victor.


    Bai Yunfei learned his lesson after that fight and had the wyrm curb it¡¯s aura by a bit. There was no helping its large frame, but with how many trees there were in the forest, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to travel out of sight from the other soulbeasts without earning any more unwanted attention.


    Having researched the Beast Taming Ring even more throughout the month, Bai Yunfei felt himself rather accomplished with it, and taming the wyrm through mental strength was done with even more ease than before.


    Just how Bai Yunfei was able to practice exerting his mental strength¨Cor will¡ªover another was rather obvious. Every so often, he¡¯d remove the ring from the wyrm¡¯s arm and wait for it to recover enough to start attacking Bai Yunfei again. Then, Bai Yunfei would find an opportunity in the fight to put the Beast Taming Ring back on and then subjugate it¡¯s mind again with his mental strength¡­.


    For the first few iterations, the wyrm tried its best to attack Bai Yunfei with all it got. But when that proved fruitless, it swapped tactics and tried to flee. But each time, Bai Yunfei would forcibly equip the ring onto it before it could even get far away enough.


    And after a month of ¡®torment¡¯, the blue-eyes wyrm was now completely terrified of Bai Yunfei. So submissive was the wyrm now that it didn¡¯t even need Bai Yunfei to use the Beast Taming Ring. If he had a command, the wyrm would subconsciously start to obey.


    Having noticed that, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to use the ring to control it. He gave the wyrm some degree of freedom, and had even promised it to let it go after some time.


    But whether it understood him or not, Bai Yunfei said it anyways.


    For the time being, though, Bai Yunfei decided to give it the name of ¡®Xiao Lan¡¯.


    TL Note: Like Xiao Qi, the Xiao here means little, and the Lan means blue.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei leapt down from the wyrm¡¯s head and waved his hand. ¡°Go hunt for some food, but come back when it gets dark.¡±


    As if being awarded amnesty, the eyes of the wyrm teared up. Turning about face, it ran into the forest to enjoy its ¡®period of freedom¡¯; the happiest part of its day.


    While it couldn¡¯t run away, it could at the very least enjoy moving about without being commanded.


    Bai Yunfei walked to the lakes. After successfully testing that the water was safe to drink, Bai Yunfei leapt into the waters without warning.


    Soaking comfortably in the waters, Bai Yunfei began to rinse his body of the accumulated filth from his travels. Once that was done, he started for the banks, splashing water as he left the waters. With a flash of red light, the robes on his body was dried in an instant, giving him an even more refreshed sensation.


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡±


    An excited chirp from Xiao Qi was heard before it dove into the waters with a splash like an arrow. Coming back out from the waters a few meters away, Xiao Qi could be seen with a small mudfish in its beak before it was swallowed whole.


    Still not satisfied by such a small meal, the bird disappeared in a flash of light to transform to the size of an eagle hawk. Diving back into the waters, it came back out with two even larger and fatter fishes in its claws to eat.


    Rather than eating the fishes straight away, it flew in a circle back to where Bai Yunfei was and dropped the two fishes in front of him with a chirp.


    ¡°Haha, you want to eat fish for dinner?¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled, ¡°Alright then, let me prepare the fire, go bring back another two.¡±


    ¡°Chirp~!¡± Hooting in joy, Xiao Qi took off again to bring back another two fish as requested.


    While it did so, Bai Yunfei expertly cleaned the fishes of the guts and other unwanted parts. Finding a bunch of sticks, he used some of them to skewer the fishes while using the others to start a fire to cook over.


    By the time the fire was made, and Bai Yunfei was finishing off the rest of the preparations, Xiao Qi was already back with the last two fishes. Perched on a nearby tree branch, it began to sing a happy tune to itself.


    Its tune was melodic, and very happy sounding to the ears with how soothing the rhythm was. With how dangerous and foreboding the Soulbeast Forest felt, Xiao Qi¡¯s song felt rather out of place, but not unwelcome.


    As he listened to its song, Bai Yunfei shook his head with a smile. He learned a lot about Xiao Qi over the past few days, and what he learned had been very surprising, to say the least. The biggest shocker was that Xiao Qi¡¯s intelligence and capacity to learn was beyond what Bai Yunfei had expected.


    Already, the Xiao Qi of today was capable of understanding every single word Bai Yunfei said without error, and even nod in response to Bai Yunfei¡¯s questions. All of the emotions on Xiao Qi¡¯s were succinctly expressed, and the chirps it spoke matched the expressions just as well.


    One more thing Bai Yunfei found hard to believe was the degree of closeness he and Xiao Qi had. In the short time they traveled together, Bai Yunfei felt like there was a deep ¡®mental connection¡¯ between him and the bird! More often than not, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even need to say anything to let Xiao Qi know what he was thinking. The bird would just chirp in response, signifying as a response to a question or sentiment.


    Situations like this were common occurrences for soul cultivators and their contracted soulbeasts, but Bai Yunfei knew that in his case, there was no contract between him and Xiao Qi.


    It most likely had to do with the +14 egg, Bai Yunfei guessed. He remembered seeing the soul compatibility being at 75% before the egg hatched, which was a level high enough that it¡¯d normally only be reached after contracting with a soulbeast.


    So in a sense, rather than being contracted with him, Xiao Qi was Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®soulbound soulbeast¡¯.


    He expected Xiao Qi to leap several levels of strength like it did that one night before, but that never came. Xiao Qi remained a late-stage class four even to this day.


    He tried his best to have Xiao Qi fight certain battles so he could try and see how strong it really was, but surprisingly, the bird was a ¡®pacifist¡¯. It never wanted to participate in battles and would fly to a faraway tree branch to watch Bai Yunfei fight, participating occasionally with a motivational chirp¡­.


    If Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t willing to fight, then Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t force the issue. It didn¡¯t really matter to him how strong the bird was since it wasn¡¯t much use in the place they were in.


    It was still interesting to see Xiao Qi emanate four different elements at times, fire, wood, wind, and lightning to be specific. These were the same four elements that the egg listed as an affinity.


    If anything, Xiao Qi was without a goal or danger in the world. It was content following Bai Yunfei around and was like a child exploring the unknown world for the very first time. Everything it came across was a source of curiosity for it, and each discovery filled the bird with boundless joy.


    Just listening to the bird¡¯s happy chirping for the past dozen days would fill anyone with a happy and peaceful mood¡­.


    ¡°Alright, Xiao Qi, time to eat!¡± He called out to the bird after finishing cooking.


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡± There was a gleeful chirp before a shadow swooped down to grab hold of one of the cooked fishes. Biting a piece off, it swallowed the piece before chirping in satisfaction.


    ¡°Haha¡­.¡± Smiling, Bai Yunfei took another one of the fishes to eat.


    Polishing off the first fish, Bai Yunfei was about to start on the second when suddenly he flew to his feet to look at the forest in front of him!


    In the darkness of the night, there was a faint bluish glow. It was traveling towards Bai Yunfei with the speed of a shooting star, and the light was getting brighter and brighter as it drew close!

 Chapter 410: One Azure Leaf Boat, Yun Liantian the Wanderer! (First)

    Like a bluish shooting star, the light came shooting towards Bai Yunfei with speeds that Bai Yunfei was barely able to even register!


    It was a flying soul armament!


    An absolutely strong one with speeds that was many times faster than the Tempest Sword!


    In the ten seconds of shock Bai Yunfei was in, the light had already traveled far enough for him to finally see two faint figures within the light¡­.


    And before he could even sense how strong they were, the two figures were already a hundred meters away!


    Freezing in place when it was a hundred meters away, the light gradually decreased in intensity to fully reveal the two figures inside it.


    When there wasn¡¯t much light left, Bai Yunfei was able to fully see what kind of soul armament they had been flying on.


    It was a¡­.small boat!


    Green and shaped like a leaf, its curved structure was very naturally formed at about a meter wide and three meters long without a sail nor paddle. A bubble of elemental wind surrounded the boat, allowing it to levitate in the air.


    On the boat, there were two figures dressed in black and white. The white-robed figure in the front was a young man who didn¡¯t look a day older than his thirties. His face was sallow, and his hair hung freely behind his head, but there was a mysterious smile on his face, as if Bai Yunfei was an interesting subject to observe.


    Behind him was a young man dressed in black. He was shorter than the other, and his hair covered parts of his face so that his impassive facial features couldn¡¯t be seen. But, if Bai Yunfei had to make a guess, this young man was the same age as him.


    ¡°Haha, how unexpected to meet a lone traveler in this part of the class six zone. And a young one at that¡­.¡± The older male laughed, his voice making him sound slightly older than Bai Yunfei expected.


    ¡°Young, and not too weak. He looks like yet another peerless individual in this genius generation. I wonder if he¡¯s the disciple of that old fogey¡­.¡± The man thought to himself, ¡°But young man, how did you arrive in the class six area of the forest as a late-stage Soul Ancestor?¡±


    ¡°Roarrr!!!!¡±


    Just at that moment, a roar bursted out from behind Bai Yunfei. The giant trees behind him were split apart to reveal the blue-eyes wyrm.


    It had been summoned by Bai Yunfei back when he first realized the boat was coming and rushed back to support him.


    ¡°Eh? A class six soulbeast?¡± The male commented in surprise. ¡°Is this your contracted soulbeast? If it¡¯s a blue-eyes wyrm, it¡¯s no wonder you were able to make it this far.¡±


    Clearly, these two men were misunderstanding the situation. ¡°Young man, don¡¯t be afraid. We¡¯re only here to ask a few questions. As long as you answer truthfully, there won¡¯t be any trouble¡­.¡±


    In other words, if Bai Yunfei were to answer dishonestly, he¡¯d die on the spot!


    The smile on his face showed that he was more than willing to carry out that threat.


    While Bai Yunfei was slightly surprised by the two, he was still calm enough to make several quick observations. His eyes flickered back from the boat to the man after he heard the threat, but rather than to answer rudely, he bowed his head politely to say, ¡°Whatever question senior Yun has, this junior will answer to the best of my ability!¡±


    ¡°Oh? You know of me?¡± This time, it was the other man¡¯s turn to look surprised.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°my master once told me about you, senior Yun.¡±


    ¡°And who is your master?¡±


    ¡°I am Bai Yunfei, student of the Crafting School and disciple to master Zi Jin.¡± Bai Yunfei reported.


    ¡°The Crafting School? Bai Yunfei¡­.hm, I believe I¡¯ve heard that name several months ago. You were one of the prominent ones during that soulbeast wave.¡± The man replied, ¡°Can you prove your identity?¡±


    This was a question Bai Yunfei was prepared to answer. Holding up the Violet Soul Ring, he spoke, ¡°Would you recognize this ring by chance, senior?¡±


    ¡°The Violet Soul Ring?¡± The man¡¯s eyes flashed in recognition of the ring. ¡°Haha, that settles things. I hadn¡¯t any idea big brother Zi Jin would take on another disciple, no wonder you were so calm.¡±


    Not only did this man know Zi Jin, he even called Zi Jin his ¡®elder brother¡¯!!


    Sighing in relief to himself, Bai Yunfei knew that he was safe for the time being. The reason why he announced his identity so quickly was because he didn¡¯t know what the person would do to him if he didn¡¯t.


    Rumors had it that the man in front of him didn¡¯t bother to follow common logic. At one moment, he could be wishing you a happy day, and the next moment, he¡¯d be breaking your arms and legs while asking how you were¡­.


    Owner of the One Azure Leaf Boat, Yun Liantian the Wanderer!! One of the five great wandering soul cultivators!


    Bai Yunfei knew better than to trust his physical appearance, the man wasn¡¯t thirty years old, but many many times older than that!


    He was a man that was older than even his senior, Kou Changkong!


    One more reason why Bai Yunfei knew this man was due to the flying soul armament, the one known as the ¡®One Azure Leaf Boat¡¯. It was the signature of the man and also the soul armament Zi Jin crafted himself!


    It could thus be said that Yun Liantian and Zi Jin were both friendly with each other.


    Yun Liantian¡¯s name was one that many people would bemoan while others would praise. In the world of soul cultivators, Yun Liantian was one who did deeds both heinous and virtuous.


    He was an oddity, a person who¡¯s emotions changed faster than the turning of the pages. He did what he wanted at the drop of a hat and without the fear of anything. As long as it was to his liking, he¡¯d do anything¡­..


    Sometimes, he¡¯d give items to people he liked, and other times, he¡¯d kill others for their possessions¡­.


    As for his strength¡­..


    It was said that twenty years ago, he was a mid-stage Soul King.


    As of right now, no one knew his actual strength.


    Even with things looking better for Bai Yunfei, Yun Liantian hadn¡¯t a reason to talk with Bai Yunfei. Nodding his head, the man spoke, ¡°Then let me ask you, have you come across the traces of anyone from the Beast Taming School?¡±


    ¡°The Beast Taming School?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat; he hadn¡¯t the foggiest that such a question would be asked of him.


    ¡°I won¡¯t lie, senior. This one came across one from the Beast Taming School a while ago.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Speak then! Who was it, and where did he go?¡±


    ¡°I came across one of the elders, his name was Xing Yuan. It was back in the class five area, but it¡¯s been two months since then, I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know which direction he went. Please forgive me, senior.¡±


    ¡°Xing Yuan?¡± Yun Liantian repeated, ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°That is all I know about the Beast Taming School, senior.¡±


    ¡°Forget it then. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll come deeper into the forest, I¡¯ll look for him myself.¡± Yun Liantian spoke. The boat beneath his feet started to glow once more as he prepared to leave, but before he could fly off, he suddenly spoke to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re brother Zi Jin¡¯s disciple, let me give you this warning. Go no further into the forest. Something major will happen soon, and with your strength, death would be the least of your worries. Best leave this place at once!¡±


    And with that, the man flew off into the air with his companion, disappearing to the northern skies before Bai Yunfei could respond¡­.

 Chapter 411: The Melancholy of Xiao Qi (Second)

    Bai Yunfei sighed as the boat left towards the skies. Though Yun Liantian not showing any hostility towards him, the pressure he felt was utterly uncomfortable.


    ¡°One of the five great wandering soul cultivators¡­.wonder what he¡¯s doing here in the Soulbeast Forest? If he¡¯s looking for the Beast Taming School, does he have a grudge with them too?


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like it. Master said that Yun Liantian¡¯s tends to travel without aligning himself with any group. Then¡­.is he with the Beast Taming School?! Are they planning something?


    ¡°Master also said Yun Liantian likes to travel alone. So who was that other guy with him?¡±


    Not even a few minutes were spared between Bai Yunfei and Yun Liantian, but he felt something was off about the man. ¡°Eh, who cares who he is? I¡¯ll only get a headache if I try to think about it¡­.


    ¡°He¡¯s one of the five great wandering soul cultivators, and a Soul King. Whatever he does isn¡¯t my business. And if he says death awaits me further ahead, then I¡¯ll just finish my business elsewhere!¡±


    And with that, Bai Yunfei gave up thinking about the two men to finish his own meal. Then finding a large tree to sleep in, Bai Yunfei began to take a nap.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, the One Azure Leaf Boat was sailing through the air countless of kilometers away.


    On the boat, Yun Liantian stood at the helm with a pensive look on his face. He was thinking about his meeting with Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°If that Bai Yunfei isn¡¯t lying, then the Beast Taming School are still in the forest. But is it only that Xing Yuan? Or are there more? According to my information, there should be at least two of the elders here, not just that Xing Yuan. That man must¡¯ve been a scout. Then¡­.then that other piece of information must be true!!¡±


    His eyes lit up with anticipation and his entire frame started to shake somewhat at the thought.


    It had been many years since he felt so excited about something¡­.


    ¡°But that Bai Yunfei is really something else!¡± Changing his line of thought, Yun Liantian sighed aloud in his comment about Bai Yunfei. ¡°Quick to react and quick to think. He has those two qualities in spades over his peers of age. But most importantly, he was able to form a soul contract with a class six soulbeast despite being a late-stage Soul Ancestor only. And to think he¡¯s traveling through this forest without anyone as his guardian, Zi Jin¡¯s method of training a disciple is rather outrageous¡­.¡±


    He turned his head back to the black robed male behind him, ¡°Gui Xiu, you¡¯ve seen Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength for yourself. You¡¯re both of the same age almost, but he¡¯s also a late-stage Soul Ancestor. You¡¯ve always thought yourself to be peerless, so how do you feel now?¡±


    The one now known as ¡®Gui Xiu¡¯ looked back at Yun Liantian.


    ¡°I will surpass him soon enough.¡± He stated.


    It was a simple sentence, but in it held his conviction and determination.


    ¡°Haha, very good! This is what I expect from my disciple! You must remain proud and peerless!!¡± Yun Liantian barked with laughter, evidently satisfied with the response.


    ¡°Rest assured, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s because of that class six soulbeast that Bai Yunfei was able to get to the level he is now. We¡¯re here in the Soulbeast Forest to find you a suitably strong soulbeast as well. When you form a contract, you¡¯ll leap into the levels of the Soul Exalt realm soon enough!


    ¡°You might be a little late in becoming known like the others on that ¡®top ten prodigies¡¯, but in time, you¡¯ll definitely outrstrip the entire list!!¡± Yun Liantian declared, ¡°The disciple of Yun Liantian must be the strongest disciple of them all!!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The next day.


    Fully refreshed from his nightly sleep, Bai Yunfei climbed down the tree he had been in. Urging the blue-eyes wyrm, he continued his journey through the forest.


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t ignore Yun Liantian¡¯s warning. The later half of the class six area is too dangerous for me anyways, if I stay there, I¡¯ll definitely find danger.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself, ¡°I¡¯ll start heading perpendicular then! The middle part of the class six area is a great place to train. If I keep going west, I¡¯ll be able to avoid whatever it is the Beast Taming School or that Yun Liantian is doing. And if I¡¯m not, I¡¯ll at least be far way enough to not matter.


    ¡°Then again, Na Lanyin said I should go northwest¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows scrunched together, ¡°Forget it! Safety¡¯s more important than heading deeper in. The ¡®fortune¡¯ Na Lanyin talked about might¡¯ve been about the events in the cave anyways. I don¡¯t need to go northwest anymore.


    ¡°Alright, that settles things! I¡¯ll go west!¡± Looking up to the sun, Bai Yunfei did his best to determine where west was. ¡°Xiao Lan, go that way.¡± He pointed for the blue-eyes wyrm to see.


    ¡°Xiao Qi, we¡¯re going¡­.¡± He called out for the bird, but when he got no response, Bai Yunfei looked up in surprise, ¡°Eh? Xiao Qi?¡±


    Xiao Qi would¡¯ve normally come chirping at him without him even needing to call out for it, but this time, Xiao Qi was nowhere to be seen.


    By concentrating on his senses, Bai Yunfei could sense that Xiao Qi was nearby enough to hear him, but for some reason, it wasn¡¯t coming out. But when he looked at where Xiao Qi was, Bai Yunfei did a double take in bafflement.


    Fifty meters to his right was a very large tree. Near the top of the tree was a small three meter wide bird¡¯s nest with six equally small gray-colored birds. They were all the size of a pigeon, and their beaks were wide open as they chirped incessantly as if waiting for food to be brought to them.


    And in the middle of these birds was a clearly different bird colored like the rainbow. It was the same size as the other birds and extended its beak upward to cry out as well.


    It was Xiao Qi.


    Just as Bai Yunfei wa about to head on over to check up on Xiao Qi, a black shadow came dropping down over the nest. It was a bird with a wingspan of twenty meters, and a tail that was as long as its wings. Shrinking in size when it landed, the bird lurched over the nest with a bowl-like container in its mouth. In the container were all sorts of still squirming fishes.


    This bird was the early-stage class six soulbeast, a phoenix-tailed eagle!


    With its mother arriving back home, the birdlings began to cry out in earnest and wait eagerly for their food.


    When the mother bird landed on the nest, its eyes landed firstly on the Xiao Qi that was disguising itself as one of her own. Pausing in disbelief at first, the bird then squawked twice from anger before tossing the small bird out from its nest.


    But like a stubborn child, Xiao Qi came flying back to the nest to be fed almost as if it wasn¡¯t thrown out in the first place.


    ¡°Haha! Xiao Qi, what are you doing?! Can you even pretend to be them like that? You¡¯re the color of a rai¡ª¡±


    For a while, Bai Yunfei mistook Xiao Qi¡¯s antics of that of a mischievous child and wasn¡¯t worried that it¡¯d get hurt with how preoccupied the mother bird was with her children.


    But then when he saw the expression on Xiao Qi¡¯s face, the smile on his lips and the words in his mouth died away.


    Not only was Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes broadcasting its emotions, but the emotional bond Bai Yunfei had with it was showing him an emotion from the bird he had never seen before¡­.


    The emotion of sorrow¡­.

 Chapter 412: Meeting the Greenwood Wolf Again (Third)

    From its birth, Xiao Qi was born without guilt or worry. Everything in the world was new to it, and everything made him happy.


    But in this current moment, the only emotion Xiao Qi was showing this time was of sorrow¡­..


    ¡°Chirp chirp¡­.¡±


    It chirped twice.


    Coming to a stop on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, Xiao Qi curled up on itself as if tired.


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    From the phoenix-tailed eagle to Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered in between as if slowly making the connection of what Xiao Qi was thinking.


    There was plenty to this world, and Xiao Qi was only just starting to learn more about it. So when it finally came across the emotion of ¡®familial love¡¯ being shown from the mother bird to its children, Xiao Qi yearned to experience it for itself.


    In its short lifespan, such a memory like the sight in front of him had never occurred before. It didn¡¯t know why it felt such a way before, but now that he knew that such a feeling existed, it became a problem Xiao Qi couldn¡¯t stop thinking about.


    Having no parents or siblings, Xiao Qi was unfortunately bereft the blessings other young soulbeasts had.


    ¡°A mother, huh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. He thought back to the fight that took place between the greenwood wolf and prisma oriole outside the cave, and how the prisma oriole sacrificed its life in order to protect her children.


    He just had to sympathize for Xiao Qi. Reaching a finger up, he stroked Xiao Qi¡¯s feather without a word.


    Patting the wyrm on its head with his other hand, Bai Yunfei directed it to start moving towards the west.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    For the next few days, Bai Yunfei guided the wyrm through the forest¨Cbut not deeper into it¨Cand fought many soulbeast for the experience. Having lost some of his strength back when Xiao Qi was in its egg, Bai Yunfei was quick to recover. It wouldn¡¯t be long before he¡¯d be back to full strength.


    Ever since that day with the phoenix-tailed eagle, Xiao Qi was distinctly different than before. It¡¯d still hum and chirp happily on a regular basis, but whenever it came across the heart-warming scene of a family of soulbeasts, it¡¯d grow sullen.


    No matter what Bai Yunfei did, he always failed to cheer the bird up.


    He debated telling Xiao Qi about its mother before but feared that it might backfire on him. Xiao Qi¡¯s mother had died as a result of the greenwood wolf, so to tell Xiao Qi that now would potentially be crushing.


    So Bai Yunfei decided not to tell it.


    On the fourth day, Bai Yunfei sat bored out of his mind on the top of the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s head. He had only just defeated the king of the territory here; a mid-stage class six four-armed golden bear. It had taken Bai Yunfei the ¡®coil¡¯ form in order to fight the bear, but he managed to defeat it in the end.


    Whilst he sat there recovering his soulforce, Xiao Qi came to a plop on his shoulder, as if in a sad mood.


    ¡°Howll!!!!¡± Before Bai Yunfei was fully recovered, he heard a fearsome howl not too far away.


    ¡°Xiao Lan, head towards the right.¡± He instructed.


    ¡°Grrr¡­..¡± It responded obediently, swinging itself to the right towards the mountain where the howl had came from.


    With so much soulforce and elements being concentrated in the area, it was obvious to Bai Yunfei that there was a battle taking place here. Having the ability to detect auras, Bai Yunfei could sense straight away if any two class six soulbeasts were to fight. Though normally this wouldn¡¯t be enough to catch Bai Yunfei¡¯s interest, something about this fight made him curious.


    When the wyrm circled around the mountain to the front, Bai Yunfei was able to see the two fighting soulbeasts a kilometer away.


    And what he saw caused his eyes to widen.


    ¡°Is that really it?! How did it come running all the way here?!¡±


    In the direction Bai Yunfei was looking at, there was a relatively open space where two dark-green figures were clashing with one another. Both were using elemental wood to fight, and if Bai Yunfei looked carefully enough, he could make out the two combatant¡¯s figures.


    One was a frog the size of a tiger, and the other¨Cmuch to Bai Yunfei¡¯s shock¨Cwas a greenwood wolf!


    Any ordinary greenwood wolf wouldn¡¯t be enough to make Bai Yunfei surprised like this, but this wolf in particular had a very prominent and new scar on the right side of its body. Clearly, this scar was a new one with how the tissue was still slightly raw.


    If Bai Yunfei focused on its aura, he¡¯d be able to notice something familiar about it.


    It was the very same greenwood wolf he had seen outside the cave!


    The same wolf that had killed Xiao Qi¡¯s mother!


    Bai Yunfei was bewildered. He hadn¡¯t expected to come across the greenwood wolf here of all places.


    The wolf looked nearly fully recovered from its wounds, judging from its appearances and how it fought. The other soulbeast was a late-stage class five soulbeast on the verge of breakthrough; this was a fight to break that bottleneck!


    Upon closer observation, the wolf was winning the battle. It wouldn¡¯t be long before it¡¯d kill the frog.


    ¡°The Soulbeast Forest is huge, but I happened to find you anyways¡­.alright, let me use you to solve my problems then!¡±


    Growing silent, Bai Yunfei thought for a moment to decide on the next course of action.


    ¡°Xiao Qi. There¡¯s something I should tell you.¡± As Xiao Qi curiously watched the fight, Bai Yunfei stroked its feathers.


    ¡°Chirp?¡± It replied, not sure what Bai Yunfei was about to ask.


    ¡°Do you want to know about your mother?¡±


    Xiao Qi froze straight away when Bai Yunfei asked. Feathers trembling slightly from its emotions, Xiao Qi hurried to chirp yes to him.


    ¡°Xiao Qi. Prepare yourself for what I¡¯m about to tell you. Your mother¡­..is no longer here.¡± He spoke softly. He wasn¡¯t treating Xiao Qi like a soulbeast, but any other human, so he tried to be as considerate as possible.


    The moment the final word was spoken, Xiao Qi frozen up straight away. Where it was hopping before in anxiety, it was now frozen still to the ground to look at him, disbelief in its eyes at what it had just heard.


    ¡°Xiao Qi,¡± he began, ¡°On the day I found you, there were two soulbeasts fighting outside the cave¡­.¡±


    He knew Xiao Qi could understand where he was going with this. Without a pause to his words, he slowly continued to retell what he saw between the prisma oriole and greenwood wolf.


    ¡°¡­.And in the end, the prisma oriole decided to blow herself up to force the greenwood wolf away¡­¡±


    ¡°That prisma oriole was your mother. And that greenwood wolf over there is the one that fought her. That wound on its abdomen there was inflicted by your mother.¡±


    ¡°Houuu!!!!¡±


    Before Bai Yunfei could say anything more, a loud roar of excitement came from the battle up ahead.


    The greenwood wolf had its head tilted up to the skies to howl while beneath it, the frog was thrashing on the ground with its intestines outside of its body.


    The greenwood wolf was injured quite badly, but it was excited that it had won the battle. Already, an impressive amount of aura was radiating from the wolf as it approached. Snapping its jaws onto the frog¡¯s head, it tore apart the frog to get to its soulgem before swallowing it whole!


    The moment when the soulgem entered the wolf¡¯s body, green light burst out from the wolf and begun to heal the wolf¡¯s wounds at amazing speeds. Simultaneously, the wolf¡¯s soulforce was rapidly climbing in amount!


    The breakthrough was¡­.starting!!

 Chapter 413: Xiao Qi’s Strength (Fourth)

    The battle hadn¡¯t been interesting to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Xiao Qi, I didn¡¯t tell you before because I didn¡¯t want you to think too much about it. But if you want to know, I¡¯ll tell you it today. Your mother sacrificed herself to protect your life. And today¡­.the enemy that forced her to sacrifice herself is right in front of you. I can help you take revenge, or if you want, I¡¯ll capture it first so that you can pers¡ª¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    A flash of violet light exploded out from Xiao Qi¡¯s body before Bai Yunfei could even finish speaking. Zooming from its spot next to him, Xiao Qi grew in size as elemental wind covered its left wing and elemental lightning covered its right. Like a bolt of lightning, it flew straight for the greenwood wolf!


    This time, Bai Yunfei felt yet another emotion coming from Xiao Qi he had never seen before.


    Fury!!


    ¡°Xiao Qi!!¡±


    He was surprised. No matter how much he might¡¯ve thought Xiao Qi was repressing its emotions, he never expected it to come coming out all at once!


    This Xiao Qi was completely different to the normally innocent Xiao Qi of before. The entirety of the soulforce Xiao Qi was exuding showed one emotion Bai Yunfei was all too familiar with¡­.the emotion to kill!


    Its speed was another surprising factor. This was the first Bai Yunfei had ever seen Xiao Qi fly so fast. The combined usage of elemental wind and lightning gave it a burst of speed that completely outstripped the capabilities of any late-stage class four soulbeast.


    In fact, it was faster than what most class five soulbeasts were capable of!


    By the time Bai Yunfei even finished calling out to Xiao Qi, the bird was already right above the greenwood wolf!


    At this current moment, the greenwood wolf was at a very important part of its life. Swallowing the frog¡¯s soulgem had been the catalyst for it to start its advancement into the next class. In just two seconds, its aura was already quickly reaching the limits of a late-stage class five soulbeast, and in two seconds, it was on the verge of becoming a class six!


    But right before it could smash through the final barrier to do so, Xiao Qi had arrived!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    Like a bolt of lightning, Xiao Qi came to a stop over the wolf¡¯s head. With fury in its eyes, Xiao Qi¡¯s entire body was awash with a red light blinding to the eyes. The light quickly manifested into a raging fire that covered the bird¡¯s entire body, turning it from a rainbow-colored bird into a raging phoenix!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    From the flames unfurled a giant wing to give the wolf a furious slap!


    In an instant, several hundred fireballs came raining down onto the ground whizzing and pelting the wolf in their descent!


    Not even five seconds had transpired from when Xiao Qi came flying out, landing above the wolf, and then summoning multiple fireballs to rain down on it!


    Whether it was in movement or attacking speed, both of the two were far beyond the capabilities of a late-stage class four soulbeast!


    Previously relishing in the sensation of powering up, the wolf had been completely distracted, and had only looked up at the skies when the fireballs were about to hit it!


    With nowhere to run or even enough time to dodge, the greenwood wolf could only do one thing; howl.


    Due to its soulforce prioritizing the recovery of its wounds, the wolf had only been able to have enough elemental wood cover its body before the attacks landed upon him!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom¡­.¡±


    Several hundred fireballs descended upon the earth like a hailstorm of fire. Each firestorm left a crater several meters wide while the other fireballs struck the wolf straight on. The elemental wood protecting the wolf rippled with each fireball that it touched, protecting it from the brunt of the force.


    Meanwhile, even the frog¡¯s corpse underneath the wolf had been rendered into fire and ash under the assault.


    ¡°Grrr¡­.¡± A low growl was uttered from the wolf. It hadn¡¯t been too harmed by the fireballs yet, but it wasn¡¯t sure how long it could last underneath the assault.


    The fireballs were extremely weird. The wolf expected them all to be equal in power, but there were a few of the fireballs that were more powerful than the others!


    Right now, the wolf was in a very critical state of being. It couldn¡¯t forcibly stop the process of ascending in class, else it be barred from it forever.


    It just needed five seconds at most to make the breakthrough and gain a dramatic increase in power. If it did, then it¡¯d definitely be able to tear apart this little bird as a reward!


    But even as the wolf was preparing itself to kill Xiao Qi, another fireball slammed into its throat!


    In that instant, a strange feeling shot straight through the wolf¡¯s head. It felt as though someone had taken a sledgehammer to its head; any thought it had was instantly scattered, and its mind was left in a daze!


    ¡°Houuu!!¡± It roared, trying its best to gather up even more elemental wood to protect itself. But even though it tried to do that, it instead raised its right forelimb to lash out with a blade of elemental energy to strike at a tree!


    This was¡­.confusion!


    From farther away, Bai Yunfei had been chasing Xiao Qi forward until a certain point. When Xiao Qi first flew to attack the wolf, he had activated the ¡®coil¡¯ form to skywalk over, but then when he got halfway, the rain of fireballs unleashed by Xiao Qi gave pause to Bai Yunfei. Stunned, he watched as the wolf was pelted by the fires before it attacked at something else without reason!


    He knew what that meant straight away. This was the state of ¡®confusion¡¯!


    ¡°But how¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth were as wide open as was his eyes, but coherent words failed to come out from them. His pupils followed Xiao Qi¡¯s movements as if he was watching a ghost rather than a bird.


    ¡°Th¨Cthis¡­.this is¡­.¡±


    Even now, he was having trouble speaking.


    Still several hundred meters ahead of him, Xiao Qi had no longer any elemental energy surrounding its being. The elemental fire that had previously cloaked it was gone with the attack, but this time, Xiao Qi¡¯s wings were shining with light still. Eyes still piercingly sharp as it glared down the wolf, it flapped another one of its wings as soon as the firestorm was finished!


    Following this second wing flap, the soulforce in Xiao Qi¡¯s body began to churn strangely. In front of its body, a black dot was starting to form, growing with each passing second.


    Soon, it grew into the shape of a large crack about a third of a meter in width and two meters in length!


    When Xiao Qi unfurled its wing, it was as though a command had been sent to the crack, as it began to fly at the wolf straight after!


    Simultaneously, Bai Yunfei was finally able to spit out the first coherent words in a while¡­..


    ¡°Spatial Edge!!¡±

 Chapter 414: Not an Effect But a Skill!

    The move Xiao Qi had just used was the Spatial Edge!


    Silently, the pitch-black fissure of space flew forward before moving through the still confused wolf without pause!!


    Locking up when it felt the attack touch its body, the wolf immediately lost all sense of color in its face as if its lifeforce was sapped away!


    From where the Spatial Edge touched, whether it was the elemental wood protecting the wolf, the wolf¡¯s body, or even the ground beneath it, all of it was gone!


    Eaten away by the Spatial Edge without a trace to be seen!


    The midsection of the wolf was completely gone, leaving behind only two halves still standing upright. Blood and intestines were flowing out from the halves left behind, filling up the moon-shaped crevice left behind in the ground¡­.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    On the other side three hundred meters away from Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei stood as still as a statue with his mouth dropped open. The instant death of the wolf and the appearance of the confusion and Spatial Edge effect was completely unexpected to him.


    In fact, he had completely forgotten that the two existed.


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    the melancholic voice of the bird making its way to his ears.


    In another burst of bright green light, Xiao Qi shot like an arrow towards the wolf¡¯s body!


    ¡°Ptch!¡±


    Two sharp hook-like claws clutched at the wolf¡¯s head, gouging out its eyes in the process. Carrying the head up into the air, Xiao Qi let loose another shrill chirp and burst of red light before rendering apart one of the halves into pieces!


    Blood splattered down onto the ground like rain from the messy parts. Its soulgem was briefly revealed in the air before Xiao Qi took it into its beak and gulped it down!


    ¡­¡­


    The summoning of fire, the evisceration of a soulbeast, and then the devouring of a soulgem!


    In just one short minute, Xiao Qi had done all of those things to kill the greenwood wolf out of revenge for its mother!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect Xiao Qi to swallow the soulgem; he was still finding it hard to believe that such a bloodbath of a spectacle could come from the normally pacifistic Xiao Qi.


    But before he could calm down, yet another unexpected development was already happening!


    After swallowing the wolf¡¯s soulgem, Xiao Qi¡¯s entire body started to glow with a green light, covering its entire body in it!


    Then, its soulforce as a late-stage class four soulbeast was fully felt before it started to expand in strength!


    From a late-stage class four to the limits of one, and then¡­.early-stage class five!


    But it didn¡¯t stop there! Continuing to climb, Bai Yunfei felt Xiao Qi¡¯s power reach¡­..mid-stage class five!


    ¡°Chirp~!!!¡±


    Another delightful chirp came from Xiao Qi as the green light started to recede back into Xiao Qi¡¯s body.


    With the green light gone, Xiao Qi¡¯s soulforce was back to normal, and with that calm now as well, Xiao Qi could be seen hovering in the sky for a brief moment. Then, with a flap of its wings, it turned around to fly back to Bai Yunfei several hundred meters away.


    ¡°Chirp chirp¡­..¡±


    It chirped twice. Turning back to the size of a sparrow, Xiao Qi landed onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder and curled itself up. Resting its head underneath its wing, Xiao Qi went into solitude¡­.


    The events of what just happened was still being processed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. He took a deep breath in before turning around to climb back onto the blue-eyes wrym¡¯s head.


    Dispelling the ¡®coil¡¯ form, Bai Yunfei commanded the wyrm to continue forwards slowly while he sat there with his left hand stroking Xiao Qi¡¯s feathers. His right hand was rested on his kneecap, and his index finger occasional struck against his knee rhythmically, so as to help him think.


    Even with the spectacle well over now, Bai Yunfei found it extremely hard to believe what he saw was real.


    ¡°The confusion status, the spatial edge, and if I look closely, that firestorm¡­..those fireballs were clearly very different than normal¡­.¡± he replayed the battle back in his mind, ¡°That must¡¯ve been the +14 additional effect of the egg, so Xiao Qi has the effect now, that¡¯s¡­.¡±


    The destruction of the soulbeast egg still left Bai Yunfei with some lingering regrets, especially when he thought about the spatial edge. But if he looked at things now, he had to admit, the stats of the +14 egg wasn¡¯t completely lost.


    Xiao Qi had ¡®inherited¡¯ them!


    He grinned at this. It was unexpected, but the results were what it was!


    He hadn¡¯t a reason why this might have occurred, but it¡¯d still be useless even if he did! Just trying to think about it was a waste of brain cells, since everything about Xiao Qi was definitely beyond the norms of what was normally expected.


    So to try and find logic in what was elsewise an illogical case would easier than to empty the oceans with a spoon.


    ¡°And then there was that abnormal increase in power¡­.¡± he swapped over to another line of thought. ¡°Even if it swallowed the soulgem of a wolf that was about to become a class six, Xiao Qi¡¯s increase in strength was far too bizarre. A soulgem is a supplementary item to gaining strength, but Xiao Qi should¡¯ve been hard-pressed becoming an early-stage class five, let alone a mid-stage¡­.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one other reason why Xiao Qi would¡¯ve had such a sharp increase in strength,¡± closing his eyes, Bai Yunfei thought more about the situation, ¡°that feeling back then felt a little weird, but also familiar at the same time. It felt like a¡­..


    ¡°Like if an effect was activated!!¡±


    His eyes flew open at the thought.


    ¡°It was slightly off, but the feeling is definitely there¡­.back when the wolf was hit by the confusion effect and when Xiao Qi used the spatial edge¡­.if I¡¯m not wrong, that was the feeling of an effect being activated!¡±


    The more he thought about it, the more he felt right about his suspicions. ¡°Does this mean that the ¡®equipment effects¡¯ influenced Xiao Qi¡¯s strength and development? I that¡¯s true, then that means¡­..the +14 additional effect!¡±


    He started to think about when he upgraded the egg to +14. The true results of that was a mystery to Bai Yunfei, but it more than likely had to do with the mystery that was Xiao Qi¡¯s strength now.


    ¡°An increase in attacking strength, the confusion effect, the Spatial Edge, and the mysterious +14 effect¡­..does this mean Xiao Qi is a type of ¡®living¡¯ equipment now?


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t call them ¡®effects¡¯. Xiao Qi isn¡¯t a piece of equipment, but a living soulbeast, it¡¯d be inappropriate to call them the effects. Maybe I¡¯ll start calling them the ¡®moves¡¯ or ¡®skills¡¯ of Xiao Qi¡­..¡±


    Having solved that last conundrum, Bai Yunfei felt himself rather elated, as if a feeling of joy was raising his spirits.


    ¡°Seems like I¡¯ve got myself a decent ¡®partner¡¯¡­.¡±

 Chapter 415: Reaching the ‘Limits’ in One Month?

    A change had overcome Xiao Qi ever since it killed the greenwood wolf. The change was so big, it was almost as if the bird was born again, but if the biggest change had to be said, it¡¯d be that the bird loved to battle now.


    Before, the bird loathed taking part in battles, but now it was fighting with even more vigor than than the blue-eyes wyrm.


    Taking flight to any opponent Bai Yunfei fought against, Xiao Qi fought as if fighting was the only way it could vent its feelings; sometimes, the attacks it used were so widespread that even Bai Yunfei had to leap out of the way to avoid.


    Xiao Qi¡¯s rate of improvement grew more and more astonishing with each passing day. From each battle, Bai Yunfei could note that Xiao Qi¡¯s actual strength was beyond what a mid-stage class five soulbeast should be capable of.


    In truth, it was fighting at the standards of a late-stage class five, and that was without taking into account of Xiao Qi¡¯s usage of the Spatial Edge.


    In another battle, Xiao Qi had used the Spatial Edge to kill yet another early-stage class six greenwood wolf. While not as impressive since the blue-eyes wyrm had been distracting it, the attack had still been a one-hit kill on the wolf, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise.


    Xiao Qi rarely used the Spatial Edge to fight, but it was doing so in this battle almost freely. Clearly, the hatred left behind by the killer of Xiao Qi¡¯s mother had been strong enough for Xiao Qi to take it out on the wolf¡¯s entire race.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want Xiao Qi to be completely overwhelmed by its emotions, but he knew that the bird needed some time by itself to readjust and recover from the emotional ordeal it went through recently.


    He did however, give words of comfort and motivation to Xiao Qi, which seemed to have taken a very apparent and positive effect on the bird. The day it killed the wolf, Xiao Qi was sullen beyond belief, but it slowly recovered its usual vibrancy over the course of the days after that, showing a strong mental growth. But from time to time, Bai Yunfei would be able to see a pondering light in the bird¡¯s eyes, though he never asked the bird about it.


    All in all, the past month passed by without much trouble. Having spent every day training, Bai Yunfei estimated his strength would soon be back at the limits of a late-stage Soul Ancestor.


    Rather than his strength being the unexpected one, it was Xiao Qi¡¯s strength that was the most surprising. After killing a second early-stage class six greenwood wolf and eating its soulgem, there was yet another substantial boost in strength.


    From Bai Yunfei¡¯s observations, Xiao Qi was already half of the way there to becoming a late-stage class five!


    This time, Bai Yunfei had some evidence to back up his previous guesses.


    Each time Xiao Qi killed, there was a strange energy that¡¯d appear and increase its strength rapidly.


    For the following time after that discovery, Xiao Qi killed several dozen soulbeasts. And by the time one month was up, Xiao Qi was already standing at the peak of what a late-stage class five soulbeast could attain!


    In other words, it was the same level of strength as Bai Yunfei now!


    Only two months passed since Xiao Qi was born, and yet it was a late-stage class five soulbeast ready to breakthrough!


    While not completely unique in the world of soulbeasts, only a few soulbeasts had a level of talent this great.


    Some of the soulbeasts were naturally born at the class four or five level, whether this may be due to their bloodline, or an inheritance of sort.


    Having either of the two factor in their strength was where soulbeasts shined over soul cultivators.


    But the most important thing was that Xiao Qi was a¡­.prisma oriole! An ¡®inferior¡¯ soulbeast that required many dozen years in order to become a class five soulbeast!


    And yet, the length of time it took Xiao Qi to do the same would¡¯ve sent waves throughout the entire soul cultivator world if they heard about it!


    Bai Yunfei was no stranger to how strange it was with improving so rapidly, though. Xiao Qi had already given him plenty of surprises, so its rate of improvement only felt ¡®right¡¯ to him and was quite the joy for him.


    There was some concern from Bai Yunfei when Xiao Qi¡¯s strength was stalled at the very edge of the late-stage class five level.


    Prisma orioles were known to only be able to grow to a late-stage class five soulbeast. In other words, their potential reached only so far. If that was true, it didn¡¯t matter how fast Xiao Qi improved if it would plateau in strength from there.


    But it was a little too early to say a thing. Xiao Qi had only just reached the limit, so Bai Yunfei could only watch anxiously for the results.


    After all, Xiao Qi had long surpassed what he expected from an ordinary ¡®prisma oriole¡¯. What future achievements Xiao Qi might have, Bai Yunfei was sure he¡¯d be very excite to see them.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Alright, Xiao Lan. Stop in front of that hill and take a break.¡±


    The sun was already nearing the highest point in the skies. Having noticed this, Bai Yunfei pointed the wyrm over to the side for it to stop by the several dozen meter tall hill for the day.


    Somewhat in a good mood today, Xiao Qi chirped once first before flying forwards. Circling twice around the hill, it came down to a tree and chirped several times at Bai Yunfei to say that the place was safe to camp in.


    Nearing the bottom of the hill, Bai Yunfei patted the top of the wyrm¡¯s head, ¡°Shrink yourself a little, Xiao Lan. You¡¯re a little too noticeable right now.¡±


    He dismounted from the wyrm first, allowing the wyrm to freely start to glow in light. Continuing to shrink in size, the wyrm continued to grow smaller and smaller before reaching a height that was barely at Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist.


    In the end, it was roughly a hundred times smaller than what it was before.


    A disproportionately large head, small claws, long tail, and eyes that were noticeably large.


    Even though it had shrunk proportionally in size, the previously fearsome blue-eyes wyrm was now looking a great deal more ¡®cuter¡¯, looking similar to a chibi plush toy, in fact¡­.


    Bai Yunfei nodded in satisfaction at the new size of the wyrm. He scratched its head in reward before turning towards the hill. A look of helplessness was still in the wyrm¡¯s eyes, but it followed Bai Yunfei with its tail slowly wagging behind.


    The trees in this area were far more sparse in numbers, and the top of the hill was high enough to poke up above from the rest of the trees below, revealing a blanket of green that expanded for miles on end.


    Thanks to his extraordinary eyesight, Bai Yunfei was able to locate a small lake and stream where he made a mental remark to head towards later.


    The thigh of a soulbeast was taken out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s space ring. Nearly fifty kilograms in weight, Bai Yunfei started the cumbersome task of preparing it for lunch while Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan stared off from the sides with drool leaking out from their mouths.


    In the case of Xiao Lan, the disgraceful status it was in now had only one special benefit in that it could eat delicious foods like this.


    Of course, it was only enough to fulfill its cravings. If it really wanted to eat its full, it¡¯d have to head out and hunt for itself.


    The meal was eaten without distraction and in peace. After it, Bai Yunfei sat upon the grassy grounds with a map of the Soulbeast Forest in one hand and a jade slip in the other. Carefully, he marked down everything he had traveled upon that day onto the map.


    Ever since he entered the class six area of the forest, Bai Yunfei tried his best to fill in the blanks of the map given to him by writing down the terrain of the forest or any other markings that might detail the situation of the soulbeasts there.


    Either way, it was done in hopes of helping him prepare for the future if he needed it.


    Not too far away, the chibi blue-eyes wyrm was laying on the ground to bask in the sun. Ever since it started ¡®following¡¯ Bai Yunfei, it was finally able to experience what it was like to ¡®enjoy life¡¯.


    Meanwhile, Xiao Qi was flying around the skies as if working off the meal.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    Then out of nowhere, the sudden chirp of Xiao Qi snapped Bai Yunfei out from his notes!


    Rising to his feet, Bai Yunfei looked towards the source of the chirp, where he could see Xiao Qi chirping happily for some reason just barely a kilometer away.


    Relieved that there was no danger to be seen, Bai Yunfei relaxed. It seemed that Xiao Qi had discovered something, so with that in mind, Bai Yunfei took out the Tempest Sword and pulled the chibi blue-eyes wyrm onto it to fly towards Xiao Qi¡¯s position.


    He came to a short stop right by Xiao Qi¡¯s side soon after, ¡°What¡¯s up, Xiao Qi?¡¯


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡± Xiao Qi chirped twice, pointing its beak forwards.


    Following its look, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look several hundred meters ahead where a sheer cliff wall was. All over the cliff was a green mass of what appeared to be a variety of plant life.


    Registering some of the botanical life in his eyes, Bai Yunfei looked stunned for a moment.


    ¡°Those are¡­.¡±

 Chapter 416: Thunderberry

    Already an extraordinary amount of time was spent by Bai Yunfei in this forest¨Cthe class six area alone took up a tremendous part of it. In that time, Bai Yunfei was fortunate enough to come across plenty of botanical treasures of considerable worth for even Soul Exalts.


    This area was already well known by all soul cultivators for being a veritable treasure trove of medicines and herbs, so many soul cultivators traded what botanical treasures they found for primal stones.


    But what treasures those soul cultivators might¡¯ve found before, they would¡¯ve paled in comparison to what Bai Yunfei was staring at, like a head of cabbage compared to a very old patch of ginseng.


    ¡°A thunderberry!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were glued to the small patch of purple light on the cliff wall, his mouth only being capable of saying those two words.


    Thunderberries were a rare sort of herb of the lightning variety. In a way, they were similar to the ¡®fireberry¡¯ Bai Yunfei had once ingested before.


    The berry was a kilometer away from him, but he could feel the elemental lightning swimming through the air very distinctly, meaning that this particular thunderberry was ripened to a marvelously old age of a thousand years at the very least!


    If Bai Yunfei had to appraise the tier of the thunderberry, then he could say with some confidence that it¡¯d merit a grade of being a low-heaven tier ingredient!


    Thunderberries were quite special on how they matured. For hundreds of years, they¡¯d be practically indistinguishable compared to any other ordinary berry until one got within a meter close to it. Without that distance, it¡¯d be almost impossible to tell what it was.


    And not only were they rare, they were also small in size, making it even harder to find them. Only after a thunderberry reached an age of a thousand would it start to emit its true worth as an ingredient.


    Bai Yunfei was by no means an expert on telling how old a thunderberry was. But there were a few things to consider. Since the aura a thunderberry emitted wasn¡¯t hard to find, it¡¯d be rather hard to avoid. Furthermore, since this was the Soulbeast Forest, there were plenty of soulbeast¡¯s that¡¯d wander around this particular area.


    With those two factors combined, there was only a few reasons why this thunderberry hadn¡¯t been eaten yet.


    Either it had only just matured a while ago, or a powerful ¡®master¡¯ was protecting the thunderberry from anyone that¡¯d dare try to eat it.


    The chances of the latter was quite high, but since Bai Yunfei had stumbled across it, he wouldn¡¯t let the chance go without a proper reason!


    The thunderberry wasn¡¯t very useful for him personally, but Xiao Qi would see plenty of benefit! If Xiao Qi were to eat the thunderberry, Bai Yunfei was sure that he¡¯d be able to find out if Xiao Qi was at its limits or not!


    Xiao Qi was very clearly thinking of the same thing as Bai Yunfei. As soon as it saw the thunderberry and chirped to let Bai Yunfei know, it was already flitting around the air impatiently.


    While impatient, Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t so impatient that it¡¯d charge in. The area in front of them was uncharted territory where danger might lurk if they weren¡¯t careful.


    Visibility couldn¡¯t be relied upon with how far away the mountain was, but Bai Yunfei could at least count on his soulsense to map out the place. Only a few dozen class five soulbeasts seemed to exist within several kilometers radius of the cliff wall, but aside from that, there didn¡¯t seem to be any powerful soulbeasts near the thunderberry.


    ¡°Strange¡­.¡±


    Doubt entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. It was suspicious that there¡¯d be no danger here.


    Most of the more valuable materials and ingredients he found in the Soulbeast Forest so far had been guarded by an especially powerful soulbeast in the area, so he found it strange that the thunderberry wouldn¡¯t have a soulbeast protecting it as well.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get closer and see.¡± Bai Yunfei decided. Urging his Tempest Sword forward, he and Xiao Qi flew closer to where the thunderberry was.


    From a kilometer, they gradually shortened the distance until they came to a stop a hundred meters away.


    Even now, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t find anything strange in his surroundings.


    ¡°Is my luck really just that good?¡± He began to think. His soulsense was coming up with nothing strange even after multiple scans, prompting Bai Yunfei to walk fifty meters closer to the thunderberry.


    ¡°There¡¯s a cave?¡± Upon spotting the cave, Bai Yunfei began to grow wary once more. The cave had been hidden a bunch of tall grass growing this way and that, but with his soulsense, he was able to detect a ten meter tall cave hidden behind them.


    With how tall the grass had grown in front of the cave, Bai Yunfei first thought that it had been abandoned a long time ago.


    But for the sake of making sure, Bai Yunfei probed inside the cave with his soulsense.


    If there was nothing in the cave, then he¡¯d turn back, take the berry, and leave.


    ¡°Skree!!!!¡±


    No sooner did Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense enter the cave did an ear-piercing shriek come echoing out the cave!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A brilliant gleam of purple light flooded the entirety of the cave following the screech. Traveling through the corridors of the cave, it disintegrated the entirety of the tallgrass in front of the cave with a burst of elemental energy before zipping out of the cave like a lightning bolt to attack Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Tsk!! I knew it wasn¡¯t going to be that easy!¡± Bai Yunfei howled to himself. He had been hopeful that such an event wouldn¡¯t happen, but he was prepared nonetheless. The Cataclysmic Seal materialized shortly afterwards and erected a barrier to protect him and Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Another burst of elemental lightning collided against the barrier, but unlike what he expected, Bai Yunfei was thrown off to the sides from the blast!


    Combined with the second fireseed, the barrier erected by the Cataclysmic Seal was stronger than normal, but faced against the strike just now, it had been nearly destroyed instantaneously!!


    If he had just used the barrier without the second fireseed, then the barrier wouldn¡¯t have even slowed down the attack before being destroyed!


    Recognizing that fact, Bai Yunfei was quick to make several leaps away. He was no stranger to ambushes like these and was usually quick to react. The miniaturized blue-eyes wyrm was thrown to the ground with a flash of light. Crashing to the ground, it returned to its full size and roared aloud in preparation to fight.


    Meanwhile, the second fireseed within the Cataclysmic Seal was already floating out from the Cataclysmic Seal. Flashing through a dozen hand seals from a safe distance away, Bai Yunfei allowed for the fireseed to enter his body, granting him more power!


    Dual Flame Art: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form!


    ¡°Chirp!!!!¡± Alongside Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi prepred itself for battle as well. Elemental fire, wood, wind, and lightning spun around its body like individual rings, showing off power that wasn¡¯t any weaker than an early-stage class six soulbeast.


    Only three or four seconds had passed since the purple figure came jettisoning out from the caves. With how many battles Bai Yunfei had taken part in, getting ready to battle in such a short amount of time was to be expected, especially when being ambushed.


    On the other side, the figure retreated a few meters away after it attacked, hovering in the air long enough for Bai Yunfei to see.


    ¡°A thunderwing bat!!¡± His eyes widened upon identifying the soulbeast, ¡°It¡¯s¡­.it¡¯s at the peak late-stage class six level too!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei expected to fight a powerful enemy when he first found the thunderberry, but he didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be this strong of a foe. If anything, a soulbeast this strong should be the strongest in the entire class six area and should¡¯ve been farther in the forest, not here!


    Standing at six meters tall and two meters wide, the bat¡¯s wingspan was more than ten meters in length when fully extended. Talons as sharp as eagle claws were at the tip of its wings, teeth just as sharp adorned the jaw of the bat, and ears that were equally pointy stood at the top of its head. Its eyes shined a purple hue slightly different to the purple coloration of its body.


    All in all, while it didn¡¯t look all too different from any other bat, it was still extremely terrifying to look at.


    And every so often, streams of lightning would stream out from the bat¡¯s wings to arc around the bat slowly.


    ¡°Damnit, I didn¡¯t think there¡¯d be a soulbeast like this here! No wonder there weren¡¯t any other soulbeasts here, this thunderberry was being protected by it¡­.


    ¡°Should I¡­.fight it? Or should I run?¡±


    He had mistaken this encounter with the thunderberry was a blessing, but perhaps it¡¯d be more accurate to say it was a curse. Fighting with the thunderfire wolf from Xing Yuan was more than enough for Bai Yunfei to understand just how strong these type of soulbeasts were. He had no confidence in beating one of them, so it¡¯d be better for him to leave now.


    ¡°Skreee!!!!¡±


    But there¡¯d be no way that the thunderwing bat would let Bai Yunfei enough time to even think. With a screech, it transformed into a bolt of lightning and flew straight for him!

 Chapter 417: Thunderwing Bat

    Needless to say, thunderwing bats were flight-capable soulbeasts with an affinity for lightning. In terms of intelligence, they ranked rather low, but their battle prowess was anything but. Only a few of them were capable of reaching the class six level, but not once had there been one that reached the class seven level.


    Meeting with one that was at the peak of the late-stage class six area only meant that this bat in particular had been alive for a lengthy amount of time.


    Becoming a class seven was the goal of the bat. Even if it meant surpassing the natural limits of its species, the bat would do whatever it took to do it. The entirety of its life was spent in pursue of this goal, killing any soulbeast or soul cultivator that¡¯d dare enter its area.


    After countless years of training, it was on the edge of it all. It¡¯d become one of the kings of the Soulbeast Forest, and death wouldn¡¯t stop it from reaching its goal.


    Several dozen years ago, it stumbled across this thunderberry and took it as a sign from the heavens. A golden opportunity that¡¯d have a one in a thousand chance if anything, but an opportunity nonetheless.


    Killing the mid-stage class six soulbeast that lived there, the bat claimed the territory as its own. From there on, the surrounding several kilometer area became its demesne, and any soulbeast that tried to enter would be killed


    Soon enough, very few soulbeasts dared to even set foot there.


    Dozens of years passed since then. The thunderberry wasn¡¯t yet ripe, and the thunderwing bat was in a semi state of hibernation.


    It was adjusting its body for the most optimal time to ingest the thunderberry. With it not being ripe yet, it could wait for a good chance to make a breakthrough.


    For years now, the area it lived in was essentially a forbidden zone to any other soulbeast. With no soulbeast daring to set foot here, the thunderberry continued to grow without trouble.


    That was¡­..until today.


    The thunderwing bat didn¡¯t know much about the world, but it didn¡¯t need to. All it needed to know was that any and every invader and would-be plunderers of the thunderberry would die!!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face paled. The fact that the thunderwing bat was attacking him right now meant that it wouldn¡¯t let him go even if he tried to flee.


    In other words, he¡¯d have to stay and fight!


    ¡°Attack!¡± He cried out, calling the Cataclysmic Seal forward.


    Since the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier was useless, that left only one other option¡­.transformation!


    It started to expand in size as it whistled through the air, by thirty meters, it was already as large as the cliff to try and smash against the bat!


    As that went on, Bai Yunfei did his best to lengthen the distance between him and the bat. In order to observe how the bat fought, he¡¯d need time and space.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Several meters overhead, Xiao Qi spread its wings wide, elemental fire surrounding its body to become like a phoenix. When it fully gathered enough energy, a storm of fireballs began to rain down within a ten meter radius of the bat!


    ¡°Houuu!!!¡±


    Down below, the blue-eyes wyrm unleashed a bolt of elemental water to attack as well!


    Faced against attacks from three different angles, the bat still didn¡¯t have any intentions of slowing down. Wrapping itself in elemental energy, it struck against the Cataclysmic Seal like a bolt of lightning!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    With an ear-rupturing explosion, the thunderwing bat accomplished the very same feat the thunderfire wolf had done¡­..knocking the Cataclysmic Seal back in the opposite direction!


    Bai Yunfei had only retreated a good distance away when he saw the Cataclysmic Seal rebounding back. Narrowing his eyes, he had the Cataclysmic Seal shrink back to its normal size, only to see another bolt of purple lightning come straight at him!


    Purple light traveled down the wings of the bat. After knocking back the Cataclysmic Seal, the bat hovered there a hundred meters up to dodge the attacks of Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan.


    Gifted with a brief respite from the attacks, the bat began to glow with a dazzling light. Elemental lightning flickered in small streams from its wings as it folded in on the bat, and when it was fully charged, the bat¡¯s wings extended outwards again, shooting hundreds of purple lightning bolts to attack all three of its enemies!


    Bai Yunfei clicked his teeth in annoyance. In response, the Cataclysmic Seal pulsated with light before erecting a barrier around Bai Yunfei. The bolts of lightning struck the barrier one after another, bringing ripples against the barrier, but the barrier endured it all. With its ample defenses, Bai Yunfei was fully protected.


    Green and purple light flickered across Xiao Qi¡¯s body as it flitted in between the streaks of lightning to try and avoid being hit. On the ground below, Xiao Lan was in a far worse of a state trying to bumble left and right. Several bolts of light had already left black scorch marks on its scales and a painful roar from the wyrm¡¯s mouth, but the wyrm was not too injured to be unable to continue fighting.


    Roughly eighty percent of the lightning bolts were aimed towards Bai Yunfei. Of the three combatants, the bat recognized Bai Yunfei to be the hardest to deal with. So Xiao Lan and Xiao Qi were both written off as unimportant targets.


    The bat paused briefly after the surge of lightning to charge up. Already, elemental lightning was being drawn into the bat for another attack. Concentrating in larger and larger amounts, the elemental lightning was quick to form a ball of lightning roughly the size of a water jar. Once fully formed, the bat fired the ball with a screech, sizzling through the air in hot pursuit of Bai Yunfei!


    A hand reached out to the Cataclysmic Seal, activating the barrier effect from it again.


    When the ball of lightning struck against the barrier, it was immediately broken apart like glass!


    ¡°Damn!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed. The angle it was coming at made evasion extremely difficult. He was more than capable enough of evading the ball, but if he did, then the attack would continue downwards and strike the blue-eyes wyrm instead.


    And if that happened, the wyrm would die without a doubt!


    Indecision danced about in his eyes as Bai Yunfei debated his options, but he soon came to a decision.


    Evasion was not an option here.


    His right arm flew up to face the ball of lightning with the palm, and his left hand clutched at the wrist of his right. Energy gathering from his body was fed into the Ardent Sun Glove worn on his right hand at an accelerated rate, drawing elemental fire into the space in front of his palm. In no time, a fireball a meter large in circumference was fully formed and ready to go!


    It whirred in the air to counteract against the lightning ball, but compared to that, the fireball was lacking in speed.


    Barely before any distance was had between the fireball and Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist, the ball of lightning had already descended onto it!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The forces of nature crashed against each other head on, rapidly disintegrating the fireball Bai Yunfei casted. Upon contact with it, the lightning ball dissipated into a shock wave of elemental lightning that rippled through the air. Only with quick thinking did Bai Yunfei protect himself with the Cataclysmic Seal, but he was forced to retreat a hundred meters away to safety while Xiao Lan on the ground was sent flying through several trees.


    Two attacks ago, Bai Yunfei had been standing several hundred meters up into the air. But now, he was sent down two hundred meters without even being able to launch a counter attack.


    This lack of action didn¡¯t go unnoticed by the thunderwing bat. Screeching again when it saw Bai Yunfei dodge its attack, it shot for Bai Yunfei in a spurt of elemental lightning enhanced speed!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    From elsewhere, Xiao Qi chirped furiously. Elemental wind gathered around its wings as it charged up to become hundreds of blades of wind to strike down the bat mid-flight.


    Despite being true to its aim, the blades of elemental wind failed to do any harm to the bat! Neglecting to even bother dodging them, the bat covered itself in a bubble of elemental lightning and allowed the blades to bounce harmlessly against it!


    Met with the uncontested charge of the bat, Bai Yunfei fed his soulforce into the Cataclysmic Seal to summon the strongest barrier it could muster, and his right hand bringing out his Fire-tipped Spear.


    The thunderwing bat was practically within striking distance now. Its claws twinkled a brilliant sheen of purple as it ripped at the barrier, tearing it apart without trouble!


    And when its claws came up again to rend Bai Yunfei¡¯s head from his shoulders, the Fire-tipped Spear of Bai Yunfei came up to try and perforate the bat¡¯s heart through its chest!

 Chapter 418: A Miscalculation!

    The thought of evading the bat¡¯s claws didn¡¯t even register in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind as he gripped his spear. When it came at his head, Bai Yunfei immediately launched an attack at the bat¡¯s heart!


    ¡°Skreee!!¡±


    The bat screeched again in recognition of this attack, but it didn¡¯t give up its attack plan. Flapping its wings briefly, it tilted its body to the side for the spear to stab into its left ¡®shoulder¡¯ while its claws shifted slightly to attack Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart!


    Letting the spear stab it¡¯s body was extremely painful for the bat, but it was only a wound and nothing serious.


    If its claws were to be true, then Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart would be torn out from his chest!


    But.


    There was something important about the spear touching the bat.


    With the spear successfully stabbing the bat, that meant¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Merely half an inch away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest, the claws of the bat was suddenly halted by an explosion!


    Screeching loudly in pain, the bat was forced away from him due to the blast!


    +10 Additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, explosion!


    Activation of this effect was practically guaranteed with the Ninefold Stab; and with this, the bat would be dealt a serious blow!


    A serious blow it was, but it wasn¡¯t enough to be fatal!


    True to its name as a peak late-stage class six soulbeast, the bat brought its soulforce up just in time to bear the brunt of its attacks. While it endured the attack, the explosion was enough to knock it away from Bai Yunfei in a trail of blood, with bone capable of being seen from its wound!


    ¡°Xiao Qi!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect for the explosion to kill the bat. Once the explosion happened, he roared out loud for Xiao Qi while he took a step back.


    The empathic understanding between Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi was beyond the levels of most. His callout to the bird was more than enough for it to understand what Bai Yunfei was getting at.


    Chirping loudly in response, Xiao Qi flapped its wings furiously, materializing a pitch-dark crescent moon-shaped blade to strike down the bat!


    Spatial Edge!


    ¡°Skreee!!!!¡±


    Fear flooded the eyes of the bat for the first time in this battle. It had surely not expected Xiao Qi to be capable of an attack this powerful. Gathering soulforce into its wings, it tried its best to retreat and flee to the right!


    But¡­.it was a bit too late to dodge! Just barely after it shifted itself, the Spatial Edge made contact with its legs, decapitating the bottom half of its legs from the bat¡¯s body!


    ¡°Skreee!!!¡±


    Pain unlike anything it had ever felt before flooded the nerves of the bat. Screeching, it flew several hundred meters away before coming to a stop in the air. It stared down to the ground where the Spatial Edge fell in the forest, only to see a large crescent moon-shaped hole there.


    After that, only joy was felt by the bat, happy that it wasn¡¯t hit by it.


    Then, fury and hatred started to fill the bat in endless waves. After living for over a hundred years uncontested in strength, it was finally being injured by three enemies who were barely above the level of a mid-stage class six.


    It was a disgrace the bat was unable to accept!


    It screeched in preparation to tear him to pieces and devour the remaining pieces!


    Its hate-filled eyes moved over to Xiao Qi. It¡¯d have to change its tactics to attack the one who was capable of attacking with such a powerful move.


    But as it prepared itself to fly towards the bird, the whirring of something else caused it to pause briefly and look down only to see two giant dragons barreling towards it!


    Dual Dragon Burst!!


    Like the explosion, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect the Spatial Edge to land the finishing blow onto the bat. As soon as Xiao Qi activated the skill, Bai Yunfei was already going through several hand seals to attack at the bat with his most powerful move!


    An explosion to Spatial Edge to Dual Dragon Burst.


    The three attacks were unleashed seamlessly so as to avoid giving the bat any time to think about dodging, only defending!


    The amount of area the Dual Dragon Burst covered was far bigger than the Spatial Edge, meaning that the bat wouldn¡¯t have any room to dodge like it did with the previous attack. With how experienced it was in battle, the bat knew that as well.


    Left with no other choice, the bat furled its wings in front of itself in an attempt to protect itself along with a bubble of elemental energy!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    With the Dual Dragon Burst covering such a large area, it soon engulfed the bat and its bubble of energy. Passing through it like a river flowing over a stone, the remaining energy washed over onto the next-door mountain, crumbling it to bits!


    Coincidentally, the thunderberry was within the collapsing area!


    ¡°Xiao Qi, we¡¯re going!!¡±


    What Bai Yunfei was aiming for wasn¡¯t the death of the thunderwing bat, but escape. The Dual Dragon Burst was merely meant as an opening for Bai Yunfei to release the Tempest Sword and use the Compliant Rope to snag Xiao Lan with it to run away. Shining in light when the rope touched it, Xiao Lan shrunk back to its miniature-sized shape before it was sent sailing into the air back towards Bai Yunfei.


    The Tempest Sword shined brightly with green light as it charged up with power before taking Bai Yunfei and Xiao Lan through the air away from the bat!


    Traveling at speeds not slower than the Tempest Sword, Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t going for safety with Bai Yunfei, but the¡­.cliffside!


    Flying swiftly like a dragonfly flitting across the waters, Xiao Qi touched upon the ground near the cliffs before taking off after Bai Yunfei, a purple-colored stem in its beak.


    This particular piece of vegetation was the¡­.thunderberry!


    A triumphant smile appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face when he saw the object in Xiao Qi¡¯s beak. Activating the additional effect of the sword, he started to fly even faster away from the area!


    ¡°Skree!!!¡±


    Hatred like none other spilled out from the middle of the vortex caused by the Dual Dragon Burst. Streaks of lightning splashed out from the area, dispersing the fire with elemental lightning with it and destroying a nearby mountain point!


    Sparks of purple filled the bat¡¯s eyes, highlighting them with a streak of malevolent hatred. Its wings were tattered and blood was pouring out from various parts of its body, but the purple lighting to its body made it a very gruesome sight to behold. The wound left by Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear on its left shoulder was already staining the immediate area around it crimson red with blood.


    The sight of Bai Yunfei thousands of meters away gave the bat no small amount of fury; screeching with indignation, it unfurled its wings and shot for him like a bat out of hell!


    Its soulforce was pulsating strangely now. Its jaws opened wide to reveal the bat¡¯s sharp teeth. In between, elemental lightning was taking material form as a lightning bolt to travel and strike down Bai Yunfei!


    After shooting the bolt of lightning, the bat didn¡¯t bother to shut its jaw. Instead, the lower half of it shook slightly before a strange vibration started to emit outwards at equally fast speeds.


    Not expecting the bat to recover so quickly, Bai Yunfei was only just taking the thunderberry from Xiao Qi when he felt the bolt of lightning approach him. Right as he was about to feed even more soulforce into the Tempest Sword, his entire body was suddenly overcome by a dizzying sensation!


    ¡°A mental attack!!¡± Bai Yunfei realized. He didn¡¯t know that the thunderwing bat was capable of that!


    The slip-up was only for a second, but that second was enough to lose him the chance to evade!


    The purple bolt of lightning struck against Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier like an arrow, shattering it like glass before stabbing into his back!!


    ¡°Pftch!¡±


    Blood spurted out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth. The strength of the lightning bolt after breaking past his barrier had been stronger than he anticipated. Even the Soulsilk Armor protecting him had been stabbed straight through, since he felt the elemental lightning from the attack start to flood his body, giving him the sensation as if a blade of lightning was cutting into him!


    The pain had been so immense he nearly fell off from the Tempest Sword


    Even worse, the thunderwing bat was half a kilometer away from him now!

 Chapter 419: A Serious Injury

    Bai Yunfei knew he wasn¡¯t a match for the thunderwing bat, hence why he tried his best to run away at first.


    He just never imagined that even after fleeing for such a long distance, the thunderwing bat would be able to inflict such a heavy wound onto him!


    Feeling the elemental lightning wreck havoc onto his body, the numbing sensation of it was starting to take away the freedom of mobility from Bai Yunfei. If this went on, then he¡¯d be heavily hampered for the rest of the battle, and the elemental lightning would persist to due even more internal damage to him.


    The pain he was feeling now was more than enough to kill the normal person, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s pain tolerance surpassed the average person, so he was able to bear the pain with just a grunt.


    Due to the aftereffects of being hit by the lightning, Bai Yunfei¡¯s control over the Tempest Sword dipped a bit, meaning it was starting to slow down enough for the thunderwing bat to catch up!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Infuriated by Bai Yunfei¡¯s injury, Xiao Qi¡¯s entire body flashed in red light before summoning countless fireballs to streak down towards the thunderwing bat.


    And amidst the firestorm was the Spatial Edge!


    Putting so much energy into that lightning bolt had seemingly weakened the bat, as the purple light around it was noticeably fainter than before. Undeterred, it continue onwards with no regard with the firestorm, but it still had to dodge the Spatial Edge. Flapping its wings, it ascended ten meters over the attack to let it sail harmlessly underneath it.


    But then when it came up, a second Spatial Edge appeared in front of it!


    Right after casting the first Spatial Edge, Xiao Qi had a second one fly after it!


    ¡°Skree!!¡±


    This time, a panicked screech came from the bat. Tilting its body, it flew like lightning ten meters to the left, dodging the second Spatial Edge at the cost of losing all forward momentum it had built up so far.


    Bai Yunfei was only just spitting out a second mouthful of blood on the other hand. The complexion of his face was gradually growing better and his escape was starting to get back on track. Thankfully, the bat¡¯s attack was only light enough to cause a momentary loss of control rather than being unflushable from his body with soulforce.


    But still, if nothing was done about the bat, it¡¯d still be able to catch up¡­.


    ¡°Tsk, looks like I¡¯ll have to use that move again!¡±


    At the same time he thought that, Xiao Qi was already launching the two Spatial Edges at the bat.


    Turning so that he¡¯d be facing the bat with his front rather than his back, Bai Yunfei had the Compliant Rope coil itself around his fist so that he¡¯d be free to use both of his hands.


    The bat was only just dodging the second Spatial Edge when Bai Yunfei finished a series of complicated hand seals. The soulforce in him hitched upwards irregularly upon the last hand seal being done before the elemental fire in him started to shake and undergo a transformation¡­.


    The hand seals he did were to reactivate the ¡®Coil¡¯ form to grant him the strength of an early-stage Soul Exalt¡­meaning that he¡¯d gain a power up!


    In just one mere second, the strength inside Bai Yunfei was already at the levels of a mid-stage Soul Exalt!!


    Veins of blood started to grow more apparent on the wide-open eyes of Bai Yunfei following this change. His teeth gritted together seemingly in pain as he concentrated solely on the bat in front of him. His hands had been a blur as it moved from seal to seal without stop!


    Only when he landed upon the final hand seal did Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands take a familiar-looking shape¨Cit was the seal for the Dual Dragon Burst!


    Another second was all it took for a magnificent fire to roar to life around both of his arms to take shape as two large dragons of fire!


    It was then that the thunderwing bat was successfully able to dodge the second Spatial Edge to renew its pursuit after the three!


    Pained by the amount of exertion needed for this attack, Bai Yunfei punched both hands forward!


    Dual Dragon Burst!


    There was a stark difference between this Dual Dragon Burst and the one from before. The trails of fire left behind by the dragons were mixing in with one another as normal, but there was a strangely powerful energy that¡¯d appear for a moment whenever the one-meter thick dragons intertwined with one another to attack the bat!


    ¡°Skreee!!¡±


    Memories of this move caused the bat to screech again in fear. Its wings flapped rapidly to give the bat enough force to ascend higher into the skies.


    By the skin of its teeth, the bat was able to evade the two dragons, but then as it was at the highest point of its evasive maneuver, Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms formed yet another hand seal!


    Detaching from one another, the two dragons bent at a right angle to sandwich the bat in between before coming at one another to smash the bat!


    Like it had done with Xing Yuan, the two dragons would now attempt to engulf the bat in the ensuing explosion when the two dragons collide!


    It forced Xing Yuan to try and protect himself to the best of his ability, and this time, the thunderwing bat would have to rely again on its heaven-gifted instincts to help it!


    Right before the point of collision, the bat was desperately flapping its wings to gather energy in front of its one remaining leg to fire off for additional propulsion!


    Due to the positioning of the dragons, the bat gave up its pursuit forward in favor of a backwards retreat, and with one final attempt, it just barely managed to dodge the two dragons!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Elemental fire cascaded everywhere following the blast, smashing against the bird and forcing it to spiral out of control through the air!


    Thanks to that explosion, an even bigger wedge of distance was driven between Bai Yunfei and the bat.


    ¡°Tsk!¡± A regretful tut escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth; but his actions didn¡¯t slow down in the slightest. Calling Xiao Qi to him, he powered up the Tempest Sword and flew off.


    ¡°Damnit, if only I knew! I¡¯d have used my strongest move at the very beginning! There wasn¡¯t a need to wait for this long¡­¡± he mourned during his escape.


    ¡°Hrk!¡±


    Just as several kilometers of distance was traveled, Bai Yunfei suddenly gasped. His face turned red as he was forced to spit out yet another mouthful of blood, but this time, a sliver of bloody steam was emitted from his mouth!


    Realizing the effects of what was going on in his body, Bai Yunfei slammed a palm to his chest, ejecting the second fireseed from his body and depositing it back into his Cataclysmic Seal.


    No sooner was the fireseed gone from his body did his aura dropped instantly back to the levels of a late-stage Soul Ancestor.


    He grunted somewhat in relief when the fireseed was gone from his body and the redness in his face was starting to recede.


    But rather than going back to normal, the color continued to bleed away from his face and his body shivered violently before falling forward!


    ¡°Chirp!¡±


    Startled, Xiao Qi expanded in size to carefully grab hold of Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms with its claws.


    No longer under Bai Yunfei¡¯s control, the Tempest Sword sputtered with light before starting to fall down to the ground, but thankfully, it was caught in the teeth of Xiao Lan before it could fall too far.


    Panic was starting to set in on Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes. Green and purple light shined simultaneously in its feathers as it tried to pick up speed. And with the aided power of elemental wind and lightning, it disappeared into a blur forward.


    And just like this, Xiao Qi held onto Bai Yunfei while the Compliant Rope was still clutched tightly around Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm to hold onto the Tempest Sword holding blue-eyes wyrm.


    Carrying a human and soulbeast wasn¡¯t too heavy of a burden for Xiao Qi. With hardly any time to waste, it was already a speck of light onto the horizon to try and leave the bat behind.


    Meanwhile, the force of energy left behind by the collision of the Dual Dragon Burst had finally dissipated enough for the bat to screech and fly after Xiao Qi again!


    Since it was injured, the bat was no longer able to continue flying at full strength, but it couldn¡¯t exactly give up Bai Yunfei either. He was injured and had the thunderberry with him, so how could the bat give it up!


    Even if it meant chasing him to the ends of the forest, the bat was adamant on smiting this foe and devouring him whole!


    Flying through the air as if its life depended on it, Xiao Qi flew around a mountain before turning around into another direction in an attempt to throw the bat off their trail.


    From his safe position in Xiao Qi¡¯s claws, Bai Yunfei had a depressed look on his face. If not for the soulforce recovering effect of the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring and the support of his Soulsilk Armor, he would¡¯ve fainted a long time ago. The elemental lightning in his body was gone for the most part, but the wounds left behind were by no means as easy to dismiss. Even now, breathing took a great deal more effort than before, and each time he coughed, a small amount of blood would come out.


    No matter how far they traveled, the aura of the thunderwing bat was an ever constant presence.


    Agonized annoyance flickered across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. This time, they had really kicked the hornet¡¯s nest¡­.

 Chapter 420: Form a Soul Contract!! (First)

    Every single time Bai Yunfei had to fight against an opponent that was stronger than him, he¡¯d make sure to unleash his strongest move in order to buy enough time to run away. With his powerful soul skills and equipment effects, any enemy he fought was basically forced to watch as Bai Yunfei successfully ran away from them.


    Any other soul cultivator would¡¯ve died in ways completely unknown to them if they fought against Xing Yuan, for example. Bai Yunfei on the other hand could not only land lasting injuries onto him, but escape with his life as well.


    Even against late-stage class six soulbeasts were used as tests for his strength¨Cand after he did that, he¡¯d run away¨Cno harm no foul.


    But as the saying goes; walk along the river long enough and your shoes will get wet.


    Unfortunately for Bai Yunfei, right now was that unlucky moment for him.


    And it wasn¡¯t a minor unfortunate event.


    Reaching that cliff and approaching the thunderberry was the moment when Bai Yunfei realized that he was about to reach the biggest piece of trouble since he stepped foot in the Soulbeast Forest. Those soulbeasts who were on the verge of becoming class sevens like the thunderwing bat were far more than a match for him. He knew this, and thus why he tried to run away first, but things still went as expected anyways.


    He got hurt. Quite seriously too.


    The worse part was, even after paying such a heavy price, he wasn¡¯t out of the woods just yet.


    ¡­¡­


    Over the course of the next half hour of Xiao Qi flying at the fastest speeds it could muster, countless distance had already been traveled.


    No matter which way it turned to, it was never able to fully throw off the thunderwing bat of its trail. Every so often, Bai Yunfei would feel the bat¡¯s aura weaken for just a second, but then it¡¯d come back shortly after.


    If not for the long head start they had and the occasional detours Xiao Qi took, the thunderwing bat would¡¯ve caught up with them a long time ago.


    Things couldn¡¯t go on this way, though. Xiao Qi was already exhausted with how long it had been flying at the speeds it was at, and if it weren¡¯t for Bai Yunfei holding onto its talons to send some soulforce to it, Xiao Qi would¡¯ve collapsed some time ago.


    There was no helping it. Bai Yunfei was using the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring to recover soulforce, but most of that prioritized his own wounds.


    He himself had used a laborious amount of soulforce already, so he needed to recover it all before it was too late for the both of them.


    If it were just him, he could¡¯ve dove into the Soulbeast Forest and used the Soul Concealment Art to conceal his soulforce. That way, hiding from the thunderwing bat would¡¯ve been several degrees easier, but Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan weren¡¯t capable of that.


    The thunderwing bat¡¯s soulsense was already locked onto their auras even from such a long distance away. All it needed to do was to head in their general direction and then make short work out of the two soulbeasts right afterwards.


    On the other hand, Xiao Qi could¡¯ve dropped Bai Yunfei so that it could go off into another direction to pull the bat after it, but Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have allowed that.


    ¡°Damn damn dammit!! What should I do?!¡± Anxiety flooded his face as his soulforce circulated around his body. His mind was in a panicked mess as he tried to think of the next step to take, ¡°We f*cked up and got hurt, we shouldn¡¯t have tried to run away so early¡­.no, we shouldn¡¯t have even got close to the thunderberry to begin with!


    ¡°But now¡¯s not the time to think about that!¡± He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind, ¡°Now that things have gotten this way, should we give the thunderberry back?


    ¡°No, with how injured it is, there¡¯s definitely no way it¡¯ll forgive us now¡­.


    ¡°But we can¡¯t keep on running away either, we can¡¯t shake it off! Should we stop and fight? But how? I wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat a peak late-stage class six soulbeast even if I was fully healed!


    ¡°There¡¯s just far too big of a difference between us that my equipment and soul skills can¡¯t even make up. A Soul Ancestor isn¡¯t an opponent for them at all, if only I was stronger¡­.


    ¡°If we can¡¯t run, then we¡¯ll have to fight! And if we fight, we fight to win! And if we win, we have to get stronger! Stronger than what we were before, I have to become Soul Exalt!¡±


    One by one, thoughts flickered past his head, but the final thought made Bai Yunfei feel agonized over the impossibility of the task.


    ¡°Hold on! Breaking the bottleneck to become a Soul Exalt might not be impossible¡­.¡± His eyes flickered first to the blue-eyes wyrm. ¡°No, I can¡¯t be careless. This won¡¯t guarantee me a success.


    ¡°In that case¡­.¡± The gears in his head turned slowly before Bai Yunfei looked up at Xiao Qi.


    The light in his eyes were flickering madly now. When another screech was heard behind him, the light in his eyes grew even brighter, as if he had decided upon something.


    Without anymore hesitation, Bai Yunfei pointed to a nearby mountain peak a kilometer away, ¡°Xiao Qi, stop down there!¡±


    ¡°Chirp?¡±


    This sudden request caught Xiao Qi off guard, but it didn¡¯t bother to question him. Tilting its wings, Xiao Qi deviated from its flight to fly down to the mountain.


    Settling on the ground, Bai Yunfei set Xiao Lan down before putting away the Compliant Rope. The coloration in his face was looking better now, but he sat down anyways for a moment to regulate his breathing. Looking up, he looked back at Xiao Qi who was staring anxiously at him.


    ¡°Xiao Qi, are you willing to travel and fight alongside me from now on as my partner?¡±


    ¡°Chirp?¡±


    Again, Xiao Qi didn¡¯t understand what Bai Yunfei was getting at, but this question was all the more puzzling to it.


    ¡®Travel with Bai Yunfei¡¯.


    This was already something it was already doing ever since it arrived in this world. It was more knowledgeable about this world now, and far more mature than when it was conceived, but it never thought to question this notion before.


    To follow Bai Yunfei was as natural as it was to breath, so what need was there to think twice about it?


    Traveling together, fighting together, and to being partners or whatnot¡­.isn¡¯t that what it was doing already?


    The confusion that was taking place in Xiao Qi¡¯s mind was also being transmitted to Bai Yunfei, allowing him to see what it was thinking about.


    ¡°Haha¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled, seemingly laughing at his own superfluous question.


    Then, the smile was replaced with a serious but grim expression.


    ¡°Then¡­.form a soul contract with me, Xiao Qi!!¡±

 Chapter 421: Concluding a Soul Contract!! (Second)

    Soul contracts. An extremely important matter to both soul cultivator and soulbeast. Not only did it mean that neither parties would betray each other as lifelong partners, it also meant a very easy way to gain even more power!!


    Jing Mingfeng broke the bottleneck to become a Soul Ancestor when he formed a soul contract with the wind squaller, and Tian Ming¡¯s father back in the Northern Cliff Province advanced a level when he formed a soul contract with the lightning eagle, for example.


    But a soul contract could only happen once in the life of either parties, making it an extremely valuable event. Very few soul cultivators used this chance at a whim while the majority would use this chance only when to break the bottleneck they were at.


    A soul contract was by no means a guaranteed opportunity to gain some strength. The higher the strength, the harder it was to grow significantly stronger.


    For example, if a mid-stage Soul King were to form a soul contract with a class seven soulbeast, it¡¯d be impossible for them to become a late-stage Soul King.


    Zi Jin sent Bai Yunfei here to the Soulbeast Forest with that reason in mind. If there was a problem with Bai Yunfei¡¯s training, then he could form a soul contract and make the breakthrough to become a Soul Exalt. Bai Yunfei had other things in mind, however, as he didn¡¯t want to waste such a precious chance so easily. If he could become a Soul Exalt by his own merits, then he¡¯d be able to earn a second burst of power afterwards with it.


    Thus, forming a soul contract with any soulbeast wasn¡¯t too high on his priority list.


    In his opinion, he was going to be staying in the forest for a long time anyways. There was no need to rush.


    His relationship with Xiao Qi was an abnormal one, with their soul compatibility being at 75%. By normal means, this percentage was achievable only by a soul contract, but there was no such bond yet between Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi. The idea of forming one with Xiao Qi never occurred to Bai Yunfei, since he didn¡¯t fully understand the prisma oriole just yet¨Cespecially in regards to the potential of the bird.


    Besides, if he found another soulbeast he could form a soul contract with, then he could say that Xiao Qi was his second soulbeast partner!


    No matter which way he thought about it, this plan seemed like the most profitable to him.


    But that plan had been tossed straight out of the window now that Bai Yunfei had stumbled across the thunderwing bat. Stuck in this quandary where escape was impossible and a battle to the death was inevitable, the only chance left for victory was to get stronger now!


    And the only method to do that in such a short time frame was to form a soul contract.


    It only took a second for Bai Yunfei to dismiss the notion of using the blue-eyes wyrm as his soulbeast partner. It wasn¡¯t suitable to be contracted with him, and he wasn¡¯t even sure if it¡¯d even work.


    Without the Beast Taming Ring, the blue-eyes wyrm had no other sentiments towards Bai Yunfei other than perhaps animosity. If so, then forming a soul contract with the soulbeast would be nigh impossible, and breaking the bottleneck would be out of his grasp.


    To be more succinct, there was a level of ¡®degree¡¯ needed between both parties for a soul contract to succeed. It might be summarized as the ¡®soul compatibility¡¯, or it might just be strength of a bond between the two. Either way, the higher the compatibility, the better chances of a better result.


    Xiao Qi was for this reason, a different choice than the blue-eyes wyrm. There was nothing stopping him from forming a soul contract with it, and it was very likely that he¡¯d get the highest level of benefits from doing so!


    ¡­¡­


    A soul contract?


    Xiao Qi skewed its head; it didn¡¯t even know what a ¡®soul contract¡¯ even meant.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain right now, but you¡¯ll understand once we form the contract.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke, reaching a hand to Xiao Qi¡¯s head to stroke its feathers. ¡°Calm yourself and follow where your soul leads you to.¡±


    Agreeing to a soul contract is done instinctively. As long as the circumstances match up, a soul contract would occur; much like how Jing Mingfeng formed his soul contract with the wind squaller.


    Already Bai Yunfei could feel his aura being homed in on by the thunderwing bat. It wouldn¡¯t take long before the bat would get here, so if Bai Yunfei wanted a chance to defeat it, he¡¯d need to form that soul contract now!


    What Bai Yunfei was asking for confused Xiao Qi, but it hadn¡¯t any reason to doubt him. Closing its eyes, Xiao Qi began to meditate and immerse itself into its soul.


    Bai Yunfei did the same, allowing himself to forget about the outside world for a moment to be one with his soul.


    Silence was had for several seconds before an abnormality occurred right as he touched upon the core of his soul!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Dazzling red light came pouring forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, materializing as elemental fire in the outside world to cover his entire body with it.


    At the same time, Xiao Qi¡¯s body was basked in four different glows of light, green, red, bluish-green, and purple. The elements of wood, fire, wind, and lightning were starting to form around it as well.


    Soon, the two forces of elements collided with one another to form one brilliant pillar of energy!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand was still pressing the top of Xiao Qi¡¯s head within this pillar of light. Both man and animal were completely still, but the energy rippling off their bodies were continuously pressing against each other to become one!


    Everything was going smoothly like water. Not even a single obstruction was felt by Bai Yunfei as he continued to travel within his own soul to enter another. At the same time he was doing that, another soul was doing the same to him.


    It was a subtle feeling, but not a strange one. Back in Gaoyi City of the Northern Cliff Province, he had nearly formed a soul contract with the lightning eagle there. While the contract didn¡¯t successfully go through, Bai Yunfei still experienced what it was like.


    Inside the confines of his soul, it felt like there was a hazy picture slowly taking form where both his and another soul was slowly being led to. Their souls moved with a trail that never seemed to fade, ultimately forming a mystical seal onto the picture .


    The more this seal took form, the more Bai Yunfei felt like his mind was becoming more clear to Xiao Qi¡¯s and vice versa; in fact, he began to feel like he could fully understand what emotions Xiao Qi was feeling right now¡ª


    Joy. Joy and devotion of the highest degree of innocence.


    The conclusion of the soul contract went on without any issues. In the end, not even two minutes had gone by before Bai Yunfei felt the seals formed by the soul contract start to exude power, filling his entire body with an unbelievable amount of elemental fire!


    As soon as the deluge of elemental fire started to pour into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, the second fireseed in his Cataclysmic Seal popped out of it to dive into the origin acupoint of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    Due to the instinctive nature bred by Bai Yunfei¡¯s usage of the Dual Flame Arts, neither of the fireseeds fought with one another.


    Instead, they hovered in place next to each other to start absorbing all of the elemental fire that came in.


    Simultaneously, the soulforce within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was rapidly increasing, and the wounds on his body were regenerating so quickly that his wounds were soon fully healed!

 Chapter 422: Advancing to Become a Soul Exalt! (Third)

    What would¡¯ve taken a dozen days at the very least to heal had instead taken only a short ten seconds to completely recover from!


    Even more remarkable was the amount of soulforce being outputted by Bai Yunfei¡­.it was rapidly reaching the peak of what a late-stage Soul Ancestor was capable of, and it still wasn¡¯t stopping!


    It was as though a dam inside Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Rather than water, his soulforce was slamming into the dam one wave at a time, each next wave being more furious than the last!


    And with each repeated collision, the dam was gradually being worn away!


    More and more, the soulforce within Bai Yunfei started to change, not in how it fluctuated, but the quality of the soulforce itself. It was being renewed into soulforce of a completely higher level of nature¡­.


    Right in front of him, Xiao Qi was undergoing a very similar process as well!


    Xiao Qi¡¯s entire body grew slightly larger with each second while all four elements within its body started to melt in with one another. More and more, its feathers took on a brighter sheen, and a substantially new type of aura was starting to come out from its body¡­..


    Then when several moments passed by, the rings of light around the two became a pillar of dazzling light that shot straight up into the skies!


    ¡°Skree!!!¡±


    Simultaneously, the shrill screeching of a bat echoed across the skies before a bolt of lightning shot towards them.


    The thunderwing bat had finally caught up!


    ¡°Grrrr¡­.¡± From its hiding spot behind a tree, the blue-eyes wyrm let loose a low growl of fear. It already knew that it wasn¡¯t a match for the bat and desperately wanted to run. But for some unknown reason to it, it simply couldn¡¯t leave Bai Yunfei behind.


    That was the consequence of the Beast Taming Ring and its ¡®pet loyalty¡¯ effect.


    It couldn¡¯t deny that Bai Yunfei was strong. Its time under his command was more than enough to prove that. Though despite being unwillingly and knowingly controlled, the wyrm enjoyed it somewhat. With Bai Yunfei being able to ¡®bully¡¯ any of the mid-stage class six soulbeasts, the wyrm was able to ¡®enjoy¡¯ the experience of being on top for a while, but now that this bat was here, it knew that even Bai Yunfei was powerless to it.


    So when this awe-inspiring pillar of elemental energy and aura blazed into the skies, anxious hope filled in the eyes of the wyrm.


    While this meant that they¡¯d be class six (and Soul Exalt) like itself after the breakthrough, the wyrm knew with Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength, the three of them would finally have a chance to win this battle.


    The screeches of the bat brought shivers up the spine of the blue-eyes wyrm. The anxiety in its eyes deepened as it took several instinctual steps backwards in fear, but then when the bat finally got close enough to be visible enough to the eye, the pillar of light nearby suddenly exploded apart!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    With an ear-deafening explosion, the pillar of light gushed out from the center, creating a huge vortex of energy that swirled around and sucked in anything within its radius!


    To the right half of the vortex was light as red as fire.


    To the left were four lights that represented the elements of fire, wood, wind and lightning.


    From a hundred meters, the two sides of the vortex continued to compress in on itself until it had a radius of only ten meters before then disappearing¡­into the bodies of Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi!


    As soon as the vortex disappeared, another two powerful auras were immediately felt!


    The auras of an early-stage Soul Exalt and¡­.an early-stage class six soulbeast!


    True to Bai Yunfei¡¯s expectations, he and Xiao Qi managed to surpass the bottleneck and breakthrough!


    Any soul cultivator unlucky enough to be around would¡¯ve fallen to the ground in absolute shock; this soul contract didn¡¯t even take five minutes to do!


    Not only that, this soul contract had given an unbelievable power up to both parties!


    The reason behind both those feats was due to the fact that Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi had a soul compatibility of 75%!


    Shortly after the burst of soulforce subsided, both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi reopened their eyes slowly to look at each other in joy.


    ¡°So¡­this is what being a Soul Exalt feels like?¡± Bai Yunfei looked down at his hand, basking in the sensation of his soulforce recirculate around his body. ¡°And Xiao Qi, you broke through as well! Looks like I was worried about nothing¡­.¡±


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡±


    A warning chirp from Xiao Qi broke Bai Yunfei away from any further thought he had. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he smiled, ¡°let¡¯s get rid of this bothersome pest first.¡±


    Standing upright, Bai Yunfei turned around to look at the bat. His hands flew into a blur as they went through a series of seals to meld his soulforce within his body, and soon enough, the elemental fire in him began to exude off from his body in a huge fire.


    Dual Flame Artes: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form!


    Pausing briefly to activate the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form, Bai Yunfei took out the Fire-tipped Spear and brandished it menacingly.


    His strength was now at the mid-stage Soul Exalt level!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A melodic cry came forth from Xiao Qi as it basked itself in a magnificent glow of prismatic light. Beating its wings, it ascended higher into the skies where it started to grow in size. In seconds, its wingspan was now a length of ten meters, and the prismatic light previously covering its body was being overtaken by the crimson red light coming from within. When the prismatic light was fully overshadowed, elemental fire suddenly materialized over its body, turning Xiao Qi into a tremendous firebird.


    ¡°Roar!!¡± Down below, the gigantic blue-eyes wyrm came crashing through the forests to come to a stop in front of Bai Yunfei. Turning around, it aimed another furious roar at the thunderwing bat.


    While their preparations for battle were being undertaken, the bolt of purple lightning that was the bat was already getting close. Shooting out a beam of purple lightning from its mouth, the bat followed up on the attack with a inaudible screech!


    A mental attack!


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes in wariness; being hit by this attack would mean being left wide open to be attacked. Lifting his right hand up, he touched the Cataclysmic Seal and had it erect another barrier around his person.


    A dizzying sensation overcame his mind as soon as he put up the barrier, but the +12 additional effect of the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring didn¡¯t activate in response to the attack. Instead, the +12 ring on his left hand shined briefly to weaken the attack by a bit.


    Still, the dizziness was enough to make Bai Yunfei grit his teeth and try his best to stabilize his body!


    But while he was trying his best to endure the attack, the bat was already getting very close to him!


    ¡°Boom!!¡± Not a second later, the barrier in front of Bai Yunfei came apart with the bat flying forward without pause!


    This time, the barrier had managed to stop the bat¡¯s attack before being shattered apart!


    It was an achievement that gave Bai Yunfei no small amount of confidence that he had gotten stronger!


    As the thunderwing bat swooped in to attack, Xiao Qi chirped once and flapped its wings. Its wings summoned about three hundred fireballs that surrounded the bat, and while those fireballs moved in to attack it, another three Spatial Edges were thrown into the mix!


    Simultaneously, the blue-eyes wyrm roared once before firing off a three-meter wide ball of elemental water!


    By now, Bai Yunfei had fully recovered from the mental attack. As the bat was being attacked by the other two soulbeasts, Bai Yunfei moved unflinchingly forward towards the bat in a burst of purple light under his feet!


    ¡°Now then¡­.let¡¯s fight for real now!¡±

 Chapter 423: Battling Again! (Fourth)

    There was a substantially different level of might in the firepower of Xiao Qi. Whether in the amount of fireballs or the strength of it, they were completely different in scale now that it was almost a mid-stage class six soulbeast in strength. Not only that, the Spatial Edges it attacked with materialized and moved two times as fast as before.


    Painful memories of this move sparked fear in the thunderwing bat. Flapping its wings as hard as it could, it dove towards the left to dodge the firestorm, but several of the fireballs had still struck its wings mid-dodge.


    But it had at the very least managed to dodge the Spatial Edges.


    After a successful dodge, the bat still had the ball of elemental water to worry about. The blue-eyes wyrm was an uncommon, but strong soulbeast with attacks that couldn¡¯t be ignored. Recognizing the ball as a threat, the bat¡¯s wings started to glow brightly with purple light before cleaving through the ball with its right wing!


    ¡®Boom!¡±


    Once cleaved, the ball was split into two pieces. They fell apart from the middle to allow the thunderwing bat an unimpeded path forwards¨Conly to be faced with a thrust of a fiery spear!


    ¡°Skree!¡±


    It was completely flustered by this sudden and unexpected attack from Bai Yunfei. There was barely any time to think with the spear nearly at its eye, so the bat had to completely alter directions and fly to the left.


    No sooner did it turn around did yet another crimson-red spear come up to greet it!


    And at the same time, the first spear it tried to dodge was now on the verge of spearing through it¡¯s right wing!


    This was the Doppelganger effect!


    When Bai Yunfei advanced forward, he didn¡¯t hesitate to use the +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear!


    He knew that the bat had been far too busy trying to catch up with them to even realize that Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were far different now. Now that the two of them were powered up thanks to the soul contract, they could launch a full-front assault onto the bat!


    So it wasn¡¯t surprising to see the thunderwing bat fall suddenly into a precarious situation!


    With nowhere to go and nothing it could do to evade the next spear thrust, the thunderwing bat folded its wings in on itself!


    Somehow, it managed to fold its right wing back just in time to avoid being stabbed, but the real body of Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t aiming for its wing, but its actual flesh!


    Contrary to popular opinion, the flesh of a thunderwing bat wasn¡¯t all too weak. It was in fact quite strong, especially when considering the bones in the wings. When the bat folded its wings in on itself, Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear had landed upon the most hardest bone in its right wing!


    ¡°Clink!!!¡±


    A metallic echo resonated in the air when spear met wing. Despite how hard the bones the thunderwing bat had, it was no match for the Fire-tipped Spear with its 2600 attack power.


    There was a secondary crack when the spear bore an inch into the bat¡¯s wings, and then¡­..


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The more terrifying attack of the spear had been activated; the explosion effect!


    If even the Ninefold Stab wasn¡¯t able to activate the explosion effect this time, it¡¯d mean that the bat¡¯s luck would¡¯ve been far too great. But unfortunately for the bat, it had no such luck this time and so when the explosion occurred, the bat was sent barreling through the skies with a screech of pain!


    Like a bullet, the bat was sent flying away from Bai Yunfei with blood sprinkling down from its air trail. Managing somehow to stabilize itself by flapping its wings, the bat came to a stop a good distance away from Bai Yunfei. Its right wing was a mess; a huge hole had been opened up at the upper edge of it, causing about a portion of its wing to the right of the hole to hang uselessly without the bone structure there to keep the wing taut!


    The bat had been slow in stabilizing itself due to this wound. Flapping its wings several times in retreat, it was staring at Bai Yunfei now with an expression of shock.


    But even after delivering a successful blow onto the bat, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t one to stop there! Pouncing at the opportunity, Bai Yunfei flew towards the bat like an arrow shot from a bow!


    The Flash Step!


    No matter how fast the bat was in retreating, Bai Yunfei¡¯s explosive advance was much faster! The Flash Steps increased Bai Yunfei¡¯s speed by over double what it was before, and with just two steps, it was already caught up to the bat!


    Twirling the spear around his waist, Bai Yunfei transferred it to his left hand to stab this time at the bat¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Skree!!¡± Again, the bat cried out in panic. Laying itself flat in the air, the bat managed to get away with the spear barely grazing its flesh before it tried to attack Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest with two lightning infused claw strikes!


    Bai Yunfei anticipated that his move would miss. So when the bat flew above the spear to attack him, he punched at its claws with his right hand!


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Once more, the thunderwing bat was thrown backwards by the force of the blow. The elemental lightning infused in the claws had been completely dissipated by the blow, and blood was already starting to leak from the bat¡¯s foot.


    The claw that had been hit was the one partially decapitated by Xiao Qi¡¯s Spatial Edge, but the remaining part of its claw now had a deep fist print!


    When fist met foot, the bat was sent flying away two hundred meters while Bai Yunfei staggered back only a few. The elemental lightning from the bat¡¯s claws rendered Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm numb, but it was enough to dissuade Bai Yunfei from attacking again afterwards.


    This time when the bat stabilized itself, a third emotion could be seen in its eyes aside from fury and hatred¨Cterror!


    With how long it had been chasing Bai Yunfei so far, it had been sure that that it¡¯d be able to kill him. Never did it imagine that the one to be heavily injured in their most recent exchange would be itself!


    The blow sobered up the bat of its anger-induced fury. It realized that its enemy was no longer heavily injured like it was before the chase. The human was fully healed, and a lot stronger than before!


    Unintelligent it may be, but the bat could at least tell that much. It didn¡¯t know how things ended up this way, but the only thing that really mattered was that the person who had so heavily injured it was standing right there in front of it! Indignation began to take root in the bat¡¯s eyes again, and before long, it screeched again in anger. Covering itself in a cloak of purple light, it shot towards Bai Yunfei to attack!


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei was rejoicing to himself. His clash with the bat earlier had told him something very important¡ª


    ¡°The bat¡¯s weaker now!¡±


    Two moves was all it took for Bai Yunfei to infer that.


    The thunderwing bat was no longer as strong as it was before!


    He could guarantee that the damages the thunderwing bat incurred from the Spatial Edge and the Dual Dragon Burst left it more than sufficiently injured. And after chasing him for half an hour, the bat had surely used up plenty of soulforce.


    So at best, this thunderwing bat had only the fighting potential of a soulbeast barely at the late-stage class six level!


    A smile crept onto his lips at that thought. Now that he was stronger, he no longer feared the thunderwing bat in front of him.


    He snorted as the thunderwing bat dove in to attack him. Brandishing his Fire-tipped Spear, he moved forward without fear to attack as well!


    ¡°Lucky one day, unlucky the next; since you didn¡¯t let me go earlier, I¡¯ll make sure you die here today instead!¡±

 Chapter 424: The Final Gap, and Victory!

    Emboldened by the previous attacks, Bai Yunfei¡¯s fighting spirit was burning at its brightest right now. No longer did he even think about escaping; he¡¯d duke it out with the bat right here and now!


    He had confidence that he¡¯d win!


    This conviction wasn¡¯t a baseless one. Perhaps it was because of the strength swelling through his body right now, but Bai Yunfei was sure he¡¯d find out the answer anyways through fighting!


    Unflinchingly, Bai Yunfei met the hate-filled strike of the bat with his own in a clash of red and purple light. Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve lost out to the bat in size, but not in might!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The spear of Bai Yunfei slid across the chest of the bat while the claws of the bat scratched against the robes of Bai Yunfei. The claws had been sharp enough to tear the robes apart without a problem and and even leave three deep scratch marks onto the Soulsilk Armor Bai Yunfei was wearing underneath it.


    The two combatants were now in the opposite places from where they started out. Bai Yunfei¡¯s right foot came up, pressing against what seemed to be a wall rather than air, and kicked off against it to come flying back towards the bat!


    On the other side, the bat was only just turning around when it realized that a hundred blades of wind was coming down onto its head above it!


    This was an attack from Xiao Qi!


    In unison, the blue-eyes wyrm unleashed yet another ball of elemental water. This time, rather than sticking together, the ball split apart in hundreds of water bolts to pelt down the bat!


    The bat screeched furiously. Its previous plan to turn around to fight Bai Yunfei was thrown to the side as it instead made a right turn to dodge the blades of wind. It¡¯d deal with the water bolts coming at him first.


    The blue-eyes wyrm hadn¡¯t an attack that was scarier than Xiao Qi. Folded its wings in front of it, the bat allowed the water bolts to splash across its purple-colored defenses without feeling an ounce of the damage.


    The bolts of water bounced harmlessly off of the bat¡¯s wings after being repelled by the elemental lightning running through it. And once the barrage was over, the bat dove to its right to dodge another spear strike.


    Stepping onto the air, Bai Yunfei disappeared into a blur, but the bat was as fast as he was and circled around him to strike at him.


    What carried on after that was series of exchanges between Bai Yunfei and the bat. Xiao Qi tried several times to strike at the bat, but they usually ended up in failure with the bat expertly dodging in between the empty spaces.


    The blue-eyes wyrm had resigned itself to become a spectator rather than a fighter during the course of the battle¨Cas an early-stage class six, it was capable of stepping into the air to fight, but its body was ill suited for it and would¡¯ve only ended badly for it.


    The more Bai Yunfei fought, the braver he got. His body was already brimming with wounds again, but he didn¡¯t even care. Even without the Wave Treading Steps, Bai Yunfei was able to travel almost explosively here and there to strike at the bat. With how injured its right wing was, it was only a matter of time before the bat was struck again by another explosion, causing it to fly away with a shrill screech of pain.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was only at the mid-stage Soul Exalt level, and no matter how many techniques or how fast his soulforce recovery was, his chances of victory against the late-stage class six thunderwing bat was still quite low.


    But with Xiao Qi added into the equation, his chances of winning drastically shot upwards so that they now had the upper hand!


    Thrice, the thunderwing bat wanted to widen the distance so it could attack Bai Yunfei with a mental attack, but each time was thwarted by Xiao Qi¡¯s Spatial Edge. Of all the things in Bai Yunfei¡¯s arsenal, the Spatial Edge was what the bat was afraid of most and took extra precaution against anything the bird did.


    For ten whole minute, the three combatants fought fiercely from first overhead a large mountain to down below on it. Their attacks had been so fierce that even the mountain itself startled to crumble in several places, and the sparks of light coming from their battle was visible all around.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Swish! Swish! Swish!¡±


    After intersecting with the bat once again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear started to glow fiercely with light as its +12 additional effect was activated.


    Two separate Bai Yunfei¡¯s split apart from the original to move to the left and right of the bat and strike at it from three different angles!


    No longer a stranger to such a tactic, the bat flapped its wings to sink down half a meter. It wasn¡¯t sure which one was the real body yet, but it could still at least dodge the three spears first before coming to a decision. Its left wing flashed with elemental lightning before forming a bright purple blade to then cut at the leg of the three!


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. The real one leaped up into the air, but the other two were swiftly cut down by the bat!


    The bat screeched triumphantly, its right wing glowing this time to focus energy into its claw. By shifting its body, it was able to shift the direction its left wing was cutting at to go upwards at the still mid-leap Bai Yunfei!


    If this were to be true to its aim, then it¡¯d be strong enough to cut Bai Yunfei apart from head to toe, starting with the balls¡­.


    ¡°Tsk!¡±


    Realizing the implications of such a horror, Bai Yunfei weighed his options.


    It was too late to call the Fire-tipped Spear back from mid-thrust, but his right arm was still free to strike. Arching his back, he swung his right arm down from the left shoulder towards the right, as if trying to backhand the wing!


    ¡°Clank!!¡± There was a muffled clank as the Flameblade Bracer blocked Bai Yunfei¡¯s body from the bat¡¯s wing!


    A painful vibration was sent through Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm, but he gritted his teeth in an attempt to endure it. Soulforce started to circulate in his right arm to try and repair the damage done, but the most important thing was that there was a portion of it that started to be absorbed into the bracer itself!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up¨Cthis was the sensation of the +10 additional effect of the Flameblade Bracer activating!


    9% chance to absorb and convert the damage dealt into additional attack power to be released with the nex attack.


    (Can be held for up to 3 seconds. Amount absorbed cannot exceed the total defensive power of the equipment. Cooldown of 30 seconds.)


    Unwilling to give up such a hard to come by opportunity, Bai Yunfei began to will a blade of fire to materialize out from the bracer.


    With a pop, a three meter blade of fire extended forth from it!


    +12 Additional Effect; the Flame Winged Blade!


    Upon the formation of the blade, Bai Yunfei twisted his body for extra build up before slashing down onto the bat!


    With its left wing pushed aside earlier by Bai Yunfei, the bat was left with no other choice but to use its heavily injured right wing to defend itself.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    When the Flame Winged Blade cut into the right wing of the bat, it unleashed a screech far more miserable than any other screech before. A black scorch mark was starting to appear over the spot where the Flame Winged Blade was touching its wing, and the pungent smell of something being torched was starting to become more prominent to the nose.


    But Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t over just yet!


    The Flame Winged Blade petered away from the bat¡¯s wing, unable to fully cut into it, but Bai Yunfei sunk his body so that he was at the same level of height as with the bat. His right fist clenched tightly on itself as he prepared the Ardent Sun Glove, and before the power in the bracer was wasted, he unleashed a mighty punch onto the bat¡¯s chest!


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!


    ¡°Bang!!!!¡±


    There was a heavy pounding sound as the fist slammed into the beast¡¯s stomach, and then with a frightening wail, the bat was sent spiralling away!

 Chapter 425: Another Power Up?

    By capitulating on the most optimal time to strike, Bai Yunfei managed to use the absorbed power in the Flameblade Bracer to power up his Eighty-one Fold Fist Force to strike down the bat when its defenses was down!


    ¡°Xiao Qi!¡±


    At his command, Xiao Qi flapped its wings, unleashing a storm of wind blades onto the bat!


    This time, the bat was unable to move in time and was surrounded by it all!


    In a last-ditch effort to protect itself, the bat tried to lash out with a elemental lightning infused strike, but it wasn¡¯t able to do a thing. Several blades of wind smashed into its body unceremoniously, and without any elemental lightning to protect itself, the bat was unable to stop the blades of wind from carving out bloody wounds into it.


    Then when a blade of wind smashed into it from behind, its body suddenly came to a stop. Screeching in surprise, its body went ablaze in purple light before shooting off rays of purple lightning everywhere!


    This¡­.this was the confusion status!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up upon realizing that the bat was struck by the confusion effect. Just as he was wondering if he should try to use the Dual Dragon Burst to try and kill the bat, a happy trill came from above his head!


    Upon its trill, Xiao Qi¡¯s body started to churn with soulforce as it prepared to strike. In front of Xiao Qi, three Spatial Edges formed from the air in a triangular position and moved silently to strike at the still confused bat!


    And in the next second, the shrill cries of the bat came to a¡­.stop!


    While somehow dodging one of the Spatial Edges in its confused state, it was unable to dodge the remaining two. One cut apart at its left wing, stopping briefly when met with the layer of elemental lightning and then moving onwards through it, leaving an empty space between the left wing of the bat and its main body!


    But the last Spatial Edge went through the bat¡¯s chest! Like the one before it, the third Spatial Edge paused briefly when it met with resistance before cutting into its right shoulder and leaving a gap where it touched!


    It froze in place for a moment before its bisected body fell down to the forest below in a rain of blood and guts!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was an explosion as the remaining elemental lightning running around the bat¡¯s body pieces scattered into the air. The severed left wing had blown up from the elemental lightning running through it.


    No light was to be seen in the bat¡¯s eyes, and not even a screech could be heard from the bat.


    It was already dead!


    Bai Yunfei watched the bat drop from the skies in surprise. His hands were frozen mid seal¨Che hadn¡¯t expected the bat to be killed so easily. Before he could even use the Dual Dragon Burst, Xiao Qi had landed the finishing blow with three Spatial Edges!


    ¡°Chirp~!¡±


    A loud and clear chirp came forth from Xiao Qi¡¯s beak. Then in a flash of light, it dove into the forest after the bat¡¯s body.


    It was after the bat¡¯s soulgem.


    ¡°Phew¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei heaved a heavy sigh in relief. As he headed down to where the blue-eyes wyrm was, Bai Yunfei slapped his palm to his chest, canceling the ¡®coil¡¯ form and dislodging the second fireseed from his chest.


    He nearly stumbled down from the skies now that the battle was over. It had been a very tough battle, and the ¡®coil¡¯ form had left his body aching all over. His soulforce was practically zero despite being refilled when he powered up, and the elemental lightning left by the bat had still a residual effect on his body.


    Furthermore, there were two heavy wounds on his left thigh that were still bleeding profusely. And on his chest, there was one more wound that he hadn¡¯t the time to start healing yet.


    Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunfei sat down and went into a meditative stance to try and heal up.


    By using the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring to recover his soulforce, Bai Yunfei was able to keep a consistent supply of soulforce to his wounds. In time, his body started to heal up quite nicely, and with the recovery effect of his armor, Bai Yunfei only needed several minutes to fully remove the elemental lightning in his body. The wounds had stopped bleeding by now, and the skin could even be seen knitting together at a steady rate.


    Soon enough, three quarters of the wounds were fully healed and the rest of the wounds were for the most part stabilized. The aching pain wasn¡¯t as bad now, and Bai Yunfei could finally relax to a certain degree.


    Then, something caught his attention, prompting him to open his eyes and look straight ahead of him.


    ¡°This is¡­¡±


    Just ten meters away from him, four different rays of light were shining brilliantly, but the purple ray of light was the most prominent¨Cpractically overshadowing the other three rays of light. A great deal of elemental lightning was starting to take form before being absorbed into the ball of light in the middle of it all.


    Within this light, the soulforce of an early-stage class six soulbeast could be felt, but some reason, it was getting stronger and stronger with each passing second¡­.


    Needless to say, the being inside this ball of light was Xiao Qi! After obtaining the soulgem of the bird, it ingested it into its body straight away!


    Every soulbeast knew instinctively that ingesting the soulgem of another would boost its power. It was a rule that every soulbeast knew and followed, so the blue-eyes wyrm looked on with extreme jealousy when Xiao Qi devoured the soulgem!


    But no matter how jealous it was, it didn¡¯t dare try to steal it.


    Aside from its strength being increased when it ate the soulgem, there was very clearly another type of energy wrapping around its body to further strengthen it, but only Bai Yunfei could distinctly tell apart this energy from the others.


    A curious gleam of light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, ¡°Is Xiao Qi advancing in level again?¡±


    It was only a thought, but how ridiculous that thought was! Xiao Qi had only just advanced to the early-stage class six level, how could it advance so quickly to the mid-stage class six level, even if it killed a peak late-stage class six soulbeast?


    But it really did seem that this was the case¡­.and that left Bai Yunfei practically giddy with excitement.


    He knew that the soulgem of the bat wasn¡¯t nearly enough to make such a huge change like this, the mysterious +14 additional effect must¡¯ve done something!


    Bai Yunfei had been lucky enough to have some time in the last few days to think about the +14 additional effect. He had inferred that it had to do something with being a ¡®gain additional attack with each person killed¡¯, since he had once an equipment that did the same thing.


    Each time he killed someone or something with that piece of equipment, its strength would increase by 3% for a total of ten minutes.


    But this effect was limited by time, and it was an effect on a rather low leveled item. Seemingly useless, Bai Yunfei blew it up in an attempt to further upgrade it.


    But if the +14 additional effect of the egg had an effect along the lines of that, this meant that¡­.the effects were permanent!


    It wasn¡¯t a stretch to say that either. He had never seen a +14 additional effect before, so having it be limited by an effect would¡¯ve been too much of a downer to be true. And since it was inherited by Xiao Qi¡¯s body, it was more accurate to call these ¡®skills¡¯, meaning it was turned into something that could help make Xiao Qi even stronger!


    He didn¡¯t know the concrete details, but the facts were there. Each time Xiao Qi killed an enemy, it grew distinctly stronger!


    On this fact alone, Xiao Qi was practically the most unique soulbeast in the world!


    So stunned was Bai Yunfei that he forgot about healing the rest of his wounds to stare unwaveringly at Xiao Qi.


    Feeling as Xiao Qi¡¯s soulforce continued to increase in strength, an expectant smile started to grow on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°Are you going to become a¡­.mid-stage class six soulbeast, Xiao Qi?¡±

 Chapter 426: Safe Zone

    In midair, Xiao Qi¡¯s wings were wrapped around itself as it floated in the thick flow of elemental energy. Seemingly asleep, it was left undisturbed by the elemental fire, wood, wind, and lightning as they flowed into its body. The elemental lightning had been the most noticeable energy that was strengthening Xiao Qi¡¯s body the most.


    Everything else in the world was at peace with only the occasional wind running through the trees to produce a rustling sound as Xiao Qi underwent this ordeal.


    Bai Yunfei was still looking at the glows of light expectantly. Each light that formed away from Xiao Qi was looked at by Bai Yunfei, and then looked at again when it flowed into Xiao Qi.


    With each stream of light that entered Xiao Qi¡¯s body, its aura begun to grow in intensity. It was a slow increase, but consistent for ten whole minutes, and soon enough, it was looking as if Xiao Qi would become a mid-stage class six soulbeast.


    But to actually become a mid-stage class six soulbeast was a different matter than being close to being one. At the rate Xiao Qi was going at, it¡¯d still take a very long time to actually become a mid-stage class six.


    And if Bai Yunfei¡¯s guess was correct, the rate Xiao Qi¡¯s aura was strengthening at was already starting to slow.


    Another ten minutes went by before Xiao Qi¡¯s aura suddenly came to a stop. And then in the next second, it surged drastically as if undergoing its final spurt of energy to absorb all of the rest of the elemental energy in the area into Xiao Qi¡¯s body.


    ¡°Chirp!!!!¡±


    A loud and clear cry was heard by Xiao Qi. Flapping open its wings, Xiao Qi emitted a dazzling glow of light from its body, looking more like a supernatural bird from mythlore rather than a prisma oriole.


    Gently flapping its wings in what seemed to be a stretching exercise of its body, Xiao Qi turned to look happily at Bai Yunfei before flying over to him.


    On its way to him, Xiao Qi¡¯s body downsized to the size of a sparrow to rest upon his right shoulder. Now perched on his shoulder, Xiao Qi rubbed its head affectionately against Bai Yunfei¡¯s cheek, chirping contently as it shared a happy feeling with him.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m fine now, don¡¯t you worry. I¡¯ll be fully recovered soon enough.¡± Bai Yunfei reassured it with a chuckle, though there was a small sliver of regret in his eyes.


    Much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s disappointment, Xiao Qi hadn¡¯t managed to become a mid-stage class six soulbeast, even with that last spurt of energy it unleashed at the end.


    In the end, it was only stuck halfway in between an early-stage and mid-stage class six.


    ¡°Ah¡­I was too greedy!¡± He thought to himself, ¡°To improve this much so quickly was already supposed to be impossible, I shouldn¡¯t have put my expectations up too high¡­.Xiao Qi¡¯s already unique beyond everything else, him reaching the class six level should¡¯ve been impossible as well. If it was that easy to become a mid-stage class six, I should be worried if anything.¡±


    A class six was the same level as the Soul Exalt title in the world of soul cultivators. So to jump so quickly in levels would¡¯ve been absolutely absurd. The path onward wouldn¡¯t be as easy as it was before either. Each bottleneck that would come next would have to be treated meticulously, else one risk being unable to control their power and have something bad happen.


    Bai Yunfei took some relief in knowing that and tried his best to focus on his own recovery efforts.


    Time went on slowly for Bai Yunfei as a ring of red light enveloped his body and healed up the rest of his wounds. The last vestiges of pain was now gone from his body, and the sun was already starting to set from the west at the same time as Bai Yunfei opened his eyes.


    Standing up from his spot, Bai Yunfei stretched his body, sighing contentedly whenever there was a popping sound from his joints.


    He looked up to the setting sky, and then all around him suspiciously.


    ¡°This place is a little strange¡­.¡± he remarked, ¡°there¡¯s not a single soulbeast around for at least ten kilometers around¡­.that¡¯s really strange¡­.¡±


    Now that he was a Soul Exalt, his soulsense was now a lot stronger as well, meaning he was able to sense things from farther away. And upon his search, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see that not even a single soulbeast was to be had within ten kilometers of this place! He didn¡¯t look any farther than ten kilometers, but Bai Yunfei had the feeling that even if he doubled his search radius, he¡¯d still come up with nothing.


    While he realized this fact during his battle with the thunderwing bat before, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really understand the implications of the matter until afterwards. At the time, he was relieved that it meant he could fight the bat without worry of being interrupted¨Cthey were after all in the dangerous class six area of the Soulbeast Forest, so if another late-stage class six soulbeast came out, then things would¡¯ve gone very badly for Bai Yunfei,


    But now that the threat that was the bat was gone, and his wounds were fully healed, Bai Yunfei was left with all the time in the world to fully understand the situation he was in.


    ¡°Where¡­.where am I in the class six area?¡± Bai Yunfei thought.


    He had been lead to this place by Xiao Qi when they were running away earlier, and with so many detours to try and shake off the bat, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know where they were anymore.


    Before, they had been in the middle of the class six area, but the chances of them still being there was very low.


    So this left him with two options¡­..


    Was he in the earlier half of the class six area, or the later half?


    If there had been any soulbeasts here, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve guessed that he was at the end of the class six area. But since not even a single soulbeast was to be found here, Bai Yunfei was absolutely at a loss.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of this before. Was there even such a place in the class six area?! How could such a large piece of land like this not have a single soulbeast¡­.? Is this the territory of a super strong soulbeast that drove away all other soulbeasts? Did I manage to come at a time the soulbeast isn¡¯t here?¡±


    The more Bai Yunfei thought about it, the less he understood. For the first time since Bai Yunfei stepped foot into this place, it was starting to feel more like a regular forest than the infamous Soulbeast Forest.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little strange, but there doesn¡¯t seem to be any danger here¡­¡± Bai Yunfei continued to think to himself.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then that¡¯s good. I should rest here for now, and then scout out the area tomorrow morning.¡±


    Since it was dark, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in a rush to leave any time soon. Coming across the thunderberry and fighting the thunderwing bat was definitely the most dangerous thing Bai Yunfei experienced so far in the forest, so he wanted to make sure he was back at full fighting strength before he continued on.


    His eyes lit up when the thunderberry came to mind. Shaking his right hand, the object materialized into the world, revealing itself to be a fist-sized strawberry in his hands.


    At first, Bai Yunfei was going to have Xiao Qi eat this to try and break through the bottleneck. But since he and Xiao Qi formed a soul contract with one another and broke the bottleneck that way, it was pointless to eat the thunderberry right now.


    Noticing that Xiao Qi was staring at the berry in excitement, Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°Let¡¯s save it for now. You need to familiarize yourself with your strength. When you¡¯re about to become a mid-stage class six, you can eat the thunderberry then.¡±


    He put away the thunderberry and stood up again to look at the hundred meter crater they were in. Just two steps after deciding to set up a fire near the base of the mountain, Bai Yunfei came to a stop again, ¡°Almost forgot to change into a new set of clothes.¡± he muttered to himself as he realized just how sorry of a state his clothes were in.


    They were a complete mess after going through such a rough battle. There was blood everywhere¨Cespecially around his left thigh where his biggest wound was¨Cand many parts of his robes were scratched apart due to the bat¡¯s claws.


    It was very noticeable to him when he took those two steps though, as blood drops sprinkled the ground when he walked.


    Since no one was around, Bai Yunfei decided to simply strip himself of his clothing and wipe the last of the blood off his body before changing into a new pair of robes and pants.


    But just as he was fitted one leg through his trousers and was preparing to put on the other side¡­.


    ¡°Oh? This prisma oriole is of the class six level?¡±


    The sound of a lady suddenly made itself known to Bai Yunfei, snapping himself out of shock so badly that he missed the opening of his trouser with his legs and tumbled to the ground!

 Chapter 427: The Two Winged Kings

    Bai Yunfei had been so startled by the sudden voice that he tripped over his trousers, tumbling to the ground and ending up with a mouthful of grass. Having not fit his second leg into the trouser hole, the trousers fell over on top of him as he sprawled onto the ground.


    He leapt back up, halfway mortified and halfway wary at this new arrival. Putting on his trousers and tying his belt in one swift motion, Bai Yunfei retreated several steps away with his soulforce already raring to go at a moment¡¯s notice.


    The moment he turned around to look at the one who spoke, Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupils dilated in shock.


    ¡°Soul¨CSoul Kings!¡±


    His heart seized with shock. Up in the skies above him were two individuals standing solemnly as they looked down at him.


    There wasn¡¯t just one Soul King, but two! Their aura wasn¡¯t radiating with the might of one, but the fact that they were standing above him without needing to be in constant motion proved them to be Soul Kings!


    There was one male and one female; both around the age of thirty.


    The male wore a robe of purple with sleeves that billowed in the air. His eyebrows were sharp like swords, his eyes bright like stars, and his expression handsome, but soldierly.


    The female on the other hand, wore robes a bluish-green and flowed gently with the wind. Her eyebrows were curved like a willow branch, her eyes clear, her lips cherry-red, and her beauty as capable of the downfall of a city.


    Both male and female smiled as they watched Bai Yunfei stumble over his words.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be afraid, little brother. We bear you no harm.¡± The female spoke first.


    Her words were soothing to the ears, and Bai Yunfei felt himself believing her. Even if she was lying, there was nothing Bai Yunfei could do anyways against two Soul Kings.


    ¡°Seniors¡­.what might this junior do for you?¡± Bai Yunfei bowed courteously.


    The female tilted her head to point a jade-like finger at Xiao Qi. ¡°We are here for him.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Qi?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated. He looked down at Xiao Qi, who in turn was looking at the two figures in the air with a mysterious expression.


    ¡°Xiao Qi? Is that his name?¡± She smiled. ¡°A prisma oriole that managed to become a class six, how surprising. Do tell, how did he manage to achieve that?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Not knowing just what the two wanted with Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei was hesitant to answer to them. But then, Xiao Qi rubbed its head to Bai Yunfei before chirping several times to him.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Xiao Qi was communicating something only Bai Yunfei understood, and its words had clearly been surprising to hear. Pausing to digest what Xiao Qi said to him, Bai Yunfei turned back to the two figures with more understanding of the situation than before.


    ¡°This junior is Bai Yunfei, disciple of Zi Jin from the Crafting School. My deepest respect for the ones known as the ¡®Two Winged Kings¡¯.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed once more.


    ¡°Oh? So you recognize us two?¡± This time, the male was the one to speak. ¡°Did he tell you that?¡± He nodded at Xiao Qi, ¡°Communication like that means¡­.you two formed a soul contract?!¡±


    ¡°Indeed, senior. Xiao Qi and I have formed a soul contract with each other,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°because of that, Xiao Qi was able to become a class six after it.¡±


    Now that he knew who these two individuals were, Bai Yunfei was a lot more calm in knowing that these two people wouldn¡¯t hurt him.


    Xiao Qi had told him that these two ¡®people¡¯ were actually like him! While not prisma orioles, they too, were soulbeasts¨Cand of the bird species to boot!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t understand at first, but with Xiao Qi¡¯s warning and some information told to him by Zi Jin once before, Bai Yunfei finally confirmed it for himself!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the world of soulbeasts, there was a rare type of soulbeasts known as the Jian, or the ¡®one-winged birds¡¯. These soulbeasts are naturally born with the level of a class four soulbeast, but what was most special about them was their lives itself.


    The Jian were by no means twins. But in the rare flock of Jian, every single newborn one would have a second half born at the same time. The mother and father would pair the eggs together, and when the eggs hatch, they would be forever destined to live with one another until their death.


    With this interdependency on each other, the two Jian become capable of a level of growth far beyond most soulbeasts. Their trainings would result in double the results for half the work, and when they fought together, their strength would get even stronger.


    Author note: In Chinese mythlore, the Jian were known to be birds with one-eye and one wing, meaning they¡¯d need their other half in order to fly and such. The Jian in this story will have its differences and is basically just borrowing the name, please don¡¯t pay too much attention to it.


    In the world right now, there were two Jians known as the strongest of them all as being both at the mid-stage class seven level. Together, their strength could be said to be a late-stage class seven soulbeast.


    They were the patron saints of all bird type soulbeasts and two of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers!


    And yet, here they stood right in front of Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi!


    Soulbeasts at the class seven level were already equivalent to the Soul Emperors of the soul cultivator world. As long as they reach this level, even the most savage and primal soulbeast would achieve the rationality of an intelligent being and be able to shapeshift into the form of a human.


    The male was known as Yi Gang, and the female known as Yi Rou. In the world of soul cultivators, they were known as the ¡®Two Winged Kings¡¯.


    ¡­¡­


    The one known as Yi Gang was surprised to hear that not only did a prisma oriole form a soul contract with a young human, but an extremely talented one at that.


    ¡°You say you¡¯re the disciple of Zi Jin from the Crafting School?¡± He queried, suspicious of his words, ¡°According to what I know, Zi Jin has only three disciples, and the youngest one is thirty of age at the very least.¡±


    But Bai Yunfei was calm. ¡°This junior was only accepted as a disciple a few years ago, so the news of my being hasn¡¯t yet been made widespread. My master told me that he once came across a pair of seniors when he traveled into the Soulbeast Forest, and made a soul armament for senior Yi Gang.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Then you must really be his fourth disciple?¡± Yi Gang¡¯s eyebrow perked into the air. What Bai Yunfei said was a confirmation of his identity, since not many soul cultivators knew about them or what they had due to their habit of staying inside the forest.


    ¡°Haha, I hadn¡¯t the foggiest that you were really the disciple of Zi Jin, little brother. It must be fate for us to meet today.¡± Yi Rou spoke, ¡°Bai Yunfei, was it? Do tell me, how did you meet this prisma oriole? Was it in the Soulbeast Forest? Why did you decide to make a soul contract? Was there some sort of fate that brought you two together?¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to say here. There was no way he could tell them that he and Xiao Qi only just met two months ago. No matter how nicely Yi Rou looked at and spoke to him, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t say it.


    But at the same time, he was talking with the two most friendly soulbeasts of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers, and he was afraid of angering them.


    Seeing that he wasn¡¯t responding, Yi Gang narrowed his eyes, but Yi Rou didn¡¯t seem to mind.


    Smiling, she beckoned to Xiao Qi, ¡°Come here, young one. I have something to ask you.¡±

 Chapter 428: The Fate of Xiao Qi

    ¡°Chirp??¡±


    A hesitant chirp escaped from Xiao Qi¡¯s beak. Yi Rou¡¯s words were like an unrefusable order to it, making Xiao Qi want to fly on over to obey, but it hesitated to do so thanks to its bond with Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Their bond has already deepened to such a degree like this? How curious, what kind of history do these two younglings have?¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s hesitance to come over was noted by Yi Rou. It was surprising to say the least, as her strength as a mid-stage class seven soulbeast allowed her an aura that exerted her will over other soulbeasts without her even needing to do so consciously. Very few soulbeasts would deny an order from her, but here Xiao Qi stood, doing exactly that.


    Noting Xiao Qi¡¯s hesitance, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°Go on, they¡¯re your seniors after all.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t wrong in his judgement. The Two Winged Kings really did had the purest of intentions for Xiao Qi. Zi Jin had once said before that they were essentially the guardians of the bird species. As long as any one of them weren¡¯t malicious in being, they¡¯d always find asylum under the protection of the Two Winged Kings.


    And the fact that they were looking at Xiao Qi with the purest of intentions was enough to show that they were merely caring for a youngling and wanted to make sure it was alright.


    Now having Bai Yunfei¡¯s approval, Xiao Qi saw no reason more to refuse Yi Rou¡¯s calling. At once, it flew towards her direction and landed on top of one of her fingers. Chirping twice, Xiao Qi spoke politely out in greeting towards the two.


    ¡°Haha, has your intelligence already grown so quickly? What a precocious child¡­.¡±


    Laughing as she watched Xiao Qi on her finger, Yi Rou began to speak in what seemed to be a series of warbles and chirps¨Cshe was communicating with Xiao Qi in the common tongue of the birds.


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. Yi Rou was speaking this way so as to avoid having Bai Yunfei have Xiao Qi refuse to answer while also allowing them to ask the question unimpeded.


    But¡­.


    They severely underestimated the bond between Xiao Qi and him if they thought thus. As long as Xiao Qi didn¡¯t refuse, he¡¯d be understand what Xiao Qi was thinking about at any given time.


    Without any other emotion showing on his face, Bai Yunfei communicated mentally with Xiao Qi, hinting that there were secrets he didn¡¯t want to say.


    So with a cocked head, Xiao Qi would chirp and answer Yi Rou¡¯s questions, but it¡¯d turn to Bai Yunfei every so often before doing so. Having noticed it, Yi Rou felt deeply surprised, feeling that there was more to Bai Yunfei than what was shown on the surface.


    The surprise and affection she felt for Xiao Qi grew with each question she asked and had answered. Xiao Qi had broken the ¡®common knowledge¡¯ of what was to be expected from prisma orioles by becoming a class six soulbeast. By the very end of her question asking session, Yi Rou couldn¡¯t even hide the excitement from her face anymore.


    To be able to shatter the common expectations of a soulbeast required both extreme luck and all the talent the heavens could possibly grant in order to become what was known as ¡®variants¡¯.


    Variants were the type of soulbeasts that would have a plethora of achievements and weren¡¯t uncommon in the world of soulbeasts.


    There were of course more than eight soulbeasts who had reached the class seven level, rather than having only just the ¡®Eight Soulbeast Rulers¡¯. They only represented the strongest or the most unique soulbeasts, and amongst the eight of them, the amount of ¡®variants¡¯ made up more than half of their numbers. The success those variants enjoyed far outstripped the success of others, and despite them being rather ordinary in the scope of their entire species, they were still rarer than others due to being variants.


    ¡°What an unfortunate child¡­.¡± Upon learning Xiao Qi was an ¡®orphan¡¯, the affection she felt for Xiao Qi grew even more.


    ¡°Do you wish to travel with us? We can bring you to the innermost parts of the Soulbeast Forest and impart onto you our special methods of training. It should help you most wonderfully as a variant species of the prisma orioles. I might not be able to tell your age, but you surely can¡¯t be of a hundred years of age. Even those of the class seven level rarely have talent like that. As long as you travel with us, we can assure you that you¡¯ll become even stronger¡­.¡±


    The question imposed onto Xiao Qi caused Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes to dilate. Thanks to his bond with Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei was able to listen in on the conversation, but the question asked now made his heart pound rapidly.


    The soul contract with Xiao Qi was a yoke of sorts, but it was by no means a physical one. Xiao Qi could freely choose where it wanted to go. In fact, there were plenty of strong soulbeasts that chose to stay in the Soulbeast Forest to train, and only left when summoned; the primary example being those soulbeasts who were of the class seven level.


    Bai Yunfei was reluctant to part with Xiao Qi¨Csince they had only just formed a soul contract with one another¨Cbut he wouldn¡¯t stop it from leaving if it wanted to.


    ¡°Chirp!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was worrying about how Xiao Qi would respond, the bird immediately chirped a response straight away.


    In that response, Bai Yunfei could only feel one tone behind it¨Crefusal!


    Refusal without delay!


    In fact, Xiao Qi was looking quite annoyed by Yi Rou¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Both Yi Rou and Yi Gang didn¡¯t expect to be refused. Being looked after by two of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers wasn¡¯t inferior to being with a young soul cultivator whose master was Zi Jin; even the most primal of soulbeasts wouldn¡¯t give up the opportunity to be taught by them¡­.


    And yet Xiao Qi did so without even thinking about it!


    Like Yi Rou and Yi Gang, Bai Yunfei was surprised, but he smiled when he heard it.


    Xiao Qi chirped twice before preparing to fly back to Bai Yunfei. Before it could fly away, however, an invisible power prevented the bird from moving, even its wings were left unable to flap.


    ¡°An adamant youngling, this one is.¡± Yi Gang eyed Xiao Qi, a look of admiration appearing in his eye. Only a rare few soulbeasts would dare treat the two of them like Xiao Qi did.


    ¡°Haha, there¡¯s no need for such emotions, young one. If you¡¯re unwilling to be apart from your contractee, then we won¡¯t force the issue.¡± Yi Rou stroked Xiao Qi¡¯s feathers. ¡°But us meeting here in the forest today is a meeting of fate. Allow me to offer you a present¡­.¡±


    A jade like finger pressed onto Xiao Qi¡¯s forehead as Yi Rou closed her eyes. Concentrating, her soulforce began to circulate in on herself.


    Bai Yunfei grew surprised; from the information he was gleaming from Xiao Qi¡¯s mind, he could sense¡­.this was the information of some sort of training method!


    Up until they reach the class seven level, soulbeast relied primarily on their own ability to absorb the elements of the world to grow stronger. After reaching the class seven level, their intelligence would become capable enough to understand even better and faster methods of training. And the one Yi Rou was giving Xiao Qi was a training method unique to birds!


    ¡°Wha¡ª¡± Taken back from the information he was receiving, Bai Yunfei could hardly contain his immense joy afterwards.


    This was no ¡®present¡¯! It was an immense blessing of fortuity!

 Chapter 429: Wind and Lightning Feathers

    Imparting training methods was but of no difficulty to someone like Yi Rou. With Xiao Qi not resisting the imparting of the technique, it only took a short three minutes before Yi Rou pulled her hand away and opened her eyes. Whilst Xiao Qi was processing the information, Yi Rou was looking at it with flashing eyes, ¡°However much you learn will be dependent on yourself. If you can learn it all, we of the avians shall have yet another strong one to our ranks¡­.¡±


    It took a while before Xiao Qi was back to full awareness. Chirping twice to Yi Rou, it then rubbed its head to her hand in a sign of thanks for being granted such a boon.


    ¡°Haha, your road is a long one. I hope that you¡¯ll be able to maintain that sincerity of yours and remain uncorrupted by the world.¡± Yi Rou stroked its feathers. Her eyes were flashing with a faraway light, as though she was thinking of something, before she followed up with, ¡°Since I¡¯ve given you a training method, I¡¯ll give you another present¡­¡±


    Her wrist shook slightly, bringing out a pair of feathers that shone violet and green when it appeared, meaning that they were made of energy rather than being material. They were transparent in light, but each individual feather could be seen faintly outlined.


    Yi Gang¡¯s eyes widened as the item was taken out. Giving her a questioning look, he looked as though he wanted to say something, but decided against it.


    Like Yi Gang, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were wide open as well when he saw the feathers. ¡°These are¡­.low heaven tier soul armaments!¡±


    The aura radiating from the feathers was weak, but the quality of a soul armament was all too noticeable for a crafter like Bai Yunfei¨Cthere was no hiding a heaven tier soul armament!


    The hand holding onto the pair of feathers unattached itself from it to let it float in the air. Whilst it floated there in front of Xiao Qi, Yi Rou pointed her index finger onto Xiao Qi¡¯s head. A droplet of greenish-glowing blood was then extracted from Xiao Qi¡¯s head!


    As soon as the droplet of blood was taken out, a pained chirp came from Xiao Qi, shuddering from the loss of half of its soulforce!


    Yi Rou drew her finger back, letting the blood swell in size as her own blood mixed with it. Letting the two droplets of blood seep and mix with each other, she pointed the finger to where the feathers were still floating and had the blood be sucked into the two feathers.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­..¡±


    The feathers started to hum as soon as the blood was absorbed into them, green and violet light blinking furiously as elemental wind and lightning started to ebb and flow into the area. Waving her hand, Yi Rou had the pair of feathers float over to Xiao Qi¨Cthe feathers changing in size as they matched the size of Xiao Qi¡¯s own wing feathers!


    And in the next moment, the soul armaments fastened onto Xiao Qi¡¯s wings as if fitted exactly for it!


    By the time the light disappeared from Xiao Qi¡¯s wings, the feathers that were fitted onto them disappeared as well!


    ¡°Its name is the Wind and Lightning Feathers, a soul armament crafted from our fallen feathers when we became class sevens. Even with its meager abilities, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll suit you well in your future¡­.¡± She petted Xiao Qi¡¯s head with a smile, ¡°Now, return to your contractee. Be sure to train hard so as to not disappoint us¡­.¡±


    ¡°Chirp chirp¡­.¡± Rubbing its head against her palm, Xiao Qi chirped coyishly like a child. There was a feeling of attachment to the female, making it reluctant to leave, but it flew back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side in the end.


    There was nothing strange about how Xiao Qi was flying about now, making Bai Yunfei curious about the feathers given to it. If a heaven tier soul armament could be made indistinguishable when worn, it meant that there was a secret behind it.


    Once Xiao Qi returned to its normal perch on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, Bai Yunfei bowed once more to the two class sevens in front of him, ¡°Thank you for bestowing your blessings and guidance upon Xiao Qi.¡±


    Yi Rou gave Bai Yunfei a long calculative look, ¡°I know not why you are here in the deepest parts of the class six area, but there is danger here. You¡¯d do well to leave this place at once, and be sure to look after yourselves¡­¡±


    Nodding to Yi Gang, she and her other counterpart stepped away and out of sight in the blink of an eye.


    In a matter of moments, it was almost as if the two had never been there in the first place, with Bai Yunfei being unable to detect either of the two.


    Now free to relax, Bai Yunfei let out the breath of air he had been holding. ¡°So we were in the deepest parts of the class six area!!¡±


    Now that he knew where he was, Bai Yunfei was determined to leave the area first thing tomorrow morning. ¡®Catching¡¯ the stare Xiao Qi was giving him, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°You¡¯re a very lucky one today, Xiao Qi! A training method and a soul armament! Your seniors treat you really well!¡±


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡± Flapping its wings in agreement, Xiao Qi chirped excitedly.


    ¡°Haha, let me see your soul armament, I want to see how good it is.¡± He chuckled, petting the bird somewhat impatiently.


    Xiao Qi nodded, allowing the wings it was given to appear with a pulse of soulforce. In a burst of violet and green, the two feathers appeared in Xiao Qi¡¯s wings with elemental wind and lightning emanating from the feathers. With a thought, Xiao Qi had the nearly-transparent feathers detach and float over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Eh? This feeling is¡­.¡± As soon as the feathers appeared again for him to see, Bai Yunfei felt something familiar to them, ¡°Are these¡­.soulbound armaments?!¡±


    It was a miraculous feeling that wasn¡¯t felt by Bai Yunfei personally, but through Xiao Qi and the connection they shared. This was what a soulbound armament felt like!


    In other words, the Wind and Lightning Feathers were a soulbound armament of Xiao Qi!


    ¡°It¡­.it can be done this way?!¡± He was stunned. The actions that led up to Yi Rou giving the Wind and Lightning Feathers to Xiao Qi had been incomprehensible to Bai Yunfei prior to this. But now, it was clear to him that what Yi Rou did was bind the Wind and Lightning Feathers to Xiao Qi!


    ¡°Damn! They really are class sevens if they can do something like that.¡± Bai Yunfei remarked as he touched the Wind and Lightning Feathers.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind, Lightning


    Attack: 2160


    Defense: 2270


    Equipment Effect 1: 10% increase in wind and lightning based attacks.


    Equipment Effect 2: 50% increase in flight speed.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei blinked.


    ¡°Has two elements, attack and defense, and two equipment effects!!¡±


    Contrary to his expectations, the stats of the Wind and Lightning Feathers were far stronger than he thought!


    Despite being just barely within the parameters in being considered as a low-heaven tier soul armament, the stats of the Wind and Lightning Feathers were still as precious as his own Ardent Sun Glove!


    ¡°They gave such a precious treasure as a greeting present to Xiao Qi¡­..can they form soul armaments when they become a class seven soulbeast then? No wonder these feathers are so special¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei remarked to himself as he inspected the feathers with increasing glee.


    ¡°Then¡­.if I upgrade it, what kind of effects will it have next?¡±

 Chapter 430: Is Something the Matter?

    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 2160


    Defense: 2270


    Additional Attack: 1000


    Additional Defense: 1100


    Equipment Effect 1: 10% increase in wind and lightning based attacks.


    Equipment Effect 2: 50% increase in flight speed.


    +10 Additional Effect: 100% increase in equipment effects.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    There were a few hit and misses in the attempt to upgrade it to +10, but other than that, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really find it challenging to do so.


    A small smile crawled onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as he basked in the stronger amounts of elemental wind and lightning coming from the feathers.


    In no time at all, the attack and defense of the feathers had increased by an entire half, making it into a mid-heaven tier soul armament!


    Whenever he had a piece of equipment that had a tremendous increase in strength like this, Bai Yunfei always felt amazed.


    ¡°100% increase in the equipment effects¡­.that¡¯s a new one!¡± His eyes lit up excitedly. ¡°It¡¯s a new type of effect, one that increases the effects of equipment effects, then? If it doubles the equipment effects, that means¡­.the first equipment effect goes from 10% to 20%, and the second equipment effect goes from 50% to 100%? That sounds about right¡­.¡±


    A feeling of satisfaction swelled inside of him as he thought about the additional effect of the feathers, ¡°The attack and defense went up by a half, and the speed doubled. This soulbound armament couldn¡¯t¡­.couldn¡¯t possibly fit Xiao Qi anymore than if it tried.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you got a decent soul armament there. You¡¯ll be a lot stronger with that now, Xiao Qi.¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled, returning the armament to the bird who then had the feathers fit itself back into its wings and out of sight.


    As soon as the feathers were reintegrated into its wings, Xiao Qi noted the change overcome it with a look of surprise. Tilting its head, the bird gave Bai Yunfei an inquisitive look.


    ¡°Haha, how¡¯s it? Impressive, right? This is my special power!¡± Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t a reason to hide the Upgrade Technique since it was Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Chirp??¡±


    It didn¡¯t know what the Upgrade Technique was, but it didn¡¯t take much to know that it was something Bai Yunfei used to upgrade his current weapons and armory. Knowing that, Xiao Qi didn¡¯t really need to concern itself with it.


    So it chirped twice in thanks instead.


    The sun was already starting to set, and the skies darkening with each passing moment. Having not yet eaten dinner, Bai Yunfei pulled out some rations from his ring and started the process to prepare it.


    ¡°Come on out, Xiao Lan. Now that they¡¯re gone, why are you hiding? With how cowardly you are, you¡¯re disgracing the ¡®wyrms¡¯!¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, throwing another piece of lumber into the fire. Arranging a skewer of meat, Bai Yunfei allowed for the fire to start cooking it while he sat on a nearby stone to rest.


    ¡°Rrrr¡­..¡±


    From not too far away, the hesitant growling of the blue-eyes wyrm was heard as it came out. Miniature in size still, the wyrm had been completely intimidated by the appearance of the Two Winged Kings and tried its best to hide all evidence of its presence when they were there.


    It had a wronged expression on its face as if to say¡ª¡±They were class seven soulbeasts, class seven! They¡¯d kill and eat my soulgem on a whim if they wanted to, how could I not be scared?¡±


    ¡°Look at you, you¡¯re acting nothing like a rare soulbeast should.¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei just had to laugh. The more he interacted with the blue-eyes wyrm, the more it felt like the wyrm was starting to gain even more human emotions and thinking.


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei attended to his meal preparations, a glow of violet and green light was traveling through the air thousands of kilometers away.


    It was Yi Rou and Yi Gang.


    Yi Rou had a fatigued expression on her face, prompting Yi Gang to ask, ¡°Rou¡¯er, giving that training method would¡¯ve sufficed for a slightly more extraordinary prisma oriole like that child, why hand over the Wind and Lightning Feathers too? Using some of your soulblood to bind it to that child surely must¡¯ve costed you almost a decade¡¯s worth of trai¡ª¡±


    Before he could finish, Yi Rou cut into his speech, ¡°It was only some of my cultivation that was expended, nothing more. I¡­I only felt sorry for that child¡­.¡±


    A twinge of pain streaked across Yi Gang¡¯s eyes at that.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve been thinking about Qi Ming, weren¡¯t you. That child had the same ¡®Qi¡¯ character as well¡­¡±


    Yi Rou froze. The very mention of ¡®Qi Ming¡¯ had that much of an effect on her, with pain overcoming every other emotions in her eyes by a large margin.


    Qi Ming was her child from long ago. When Qi Ming was born, it cried seven times as soon as its head peaked out from the carapace of its shell, thus why he was called ¡®Qi Ming¡¯.


    Qi Ming had been an extremely obedient and outrageously talented child, making every other members of the Jian to regard Qi Ming as their last hope. But¡­.


    Yi Gang immediately regretted saying the name as soon as it left his mouth. Qi Ming had been his child too, and Yi Rou was still very much mournful whenever the topic was brought up.


    Trying his best to erase the pained look on his own face, he drew closer to his wife and placed a hand onto her shoulder. He had nothing comforting to say, but rather, words filled with determination.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll definitely find him, and when we do, we¡¯ll take revenge for our child!


    ¡°He fled with half his life half a year ago, but he¡¯s still in the class six area somewhere. There¡¯s no way he¡¯ll be able to flee with so many individuals looking for him.


    ¡°He won¡¯t die an easy death!!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    With supper eaten, Bai Yunfei was free to relax on the stone he was on, both hands behind his head so he could look up at the starry canopus.


    Many things had happened today. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect to be so deep into the class six area first of all, but with the long series of events that started with the thunderberry, Bai Yunfei just had to accept it for what it was.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Soul Exalt now, and I don¡¯t need to look for a soulbeast to make a contract with either. Seems like I¡¯ve accomplished all my goals in the Soulbeast Forest by accident¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled, ¡°what should I do next then? Should I leave? Or should I stick around?


    ¡°This is already the deepest part of the class six area, so I should head south to get to the center, and head west from there. I should be able to leave the forest if I keep walking and reach the capital like I planned¡­.¡±


    With all his preparations made, Bai Yunfei started to reconfirm everything else that needed to be done for his future trip.


    ¡­¡­


    The night passed by without any further incident.


    The next morning, Bai Yunfei woke up ready to go, but when he looked up to the skies to find his direction¡­.


    The sun was nowhere in sight.


    Today was a cloudy day.


    It was a completely cloudy day, with not a speck of blue to be seen from above the gray blanket of clouds. Despite being already late in the morning, the only things to be seen were the black and gray clouds, looking like they were ready to let loose rain at any given moment.


    ¡°Where¡­.where do I go then?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered uncertainty.


    Navigational tools were pointless in the forest as the geography of the place rendered them all useless, and without the sun there to point his direction, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know which direction was what.


    Meaning¡­..he was completely clueless on where to go.


    ¡°How should I go about this? If I travel around without knowing where¡¯s where, I¡¯ll probably end up going even deeper into the forest!¡±


    As vexed as he was, Bai Yunfei shrugged. ¡°Not sure if I¡¯ll be able to find any guiding grass. Even if I do, I¡¯ll be wandering around either way until I find it. Guess just walking around¡¯s all I can do.¡±


    All around Bai Yunfei were four different mountains that obscured the nearby landscape, making it even more difficult for Bai Yunfei to tell.


    ¡°Xiao Qi,¡± He spoke at last, ¡°fly up over the mountains and see the surroundings.¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Heeding his command, Xiao Qi shifted into the size of an eagle and took off into the skies.


    Now several hundred meters into the air, Xiao Qi surveyed the area once over. But when its eyes looked to the mountain behind, it froze in the air as if it saw something startling.


    Seeing how Xiao Qi was staring so intently at the direction, Bai Yunfei looked quizzically at it, ¡°Is something the matter?¡±

 Chapter 431: Barren Battleground

    Ascending into the skies by using elemental fire as platforms to leap on, Bai Yunfei quickly made his way up to look at what Xiao Qi had found¡­.


    Thanks to the ¡®coil¡¯ form, Bai Yunfei was already quite proficient with traveling through the skies using this method. It took him a few attempts to do it now that he was a proper early-stage Soul Exalt, but overall, there weren¡¯t any problems.


    ¡°What did you find, Xiao Qi?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. But then when he looked at the same direction as Xiao Qi, his jaws dropped open.


    ¡°Wha¨Cwhat is this?!¡± He managed to say after some time.


    The Soulbeast Forest¨Cas its name implied¨Cwas a forest with an ocean full of trees. These trees were tall and plentiful, and the area in front of Bai Yunfei was only just a small portion of the overall geography.


    But what Bai Yunfei was looking at in front of him wasn¡¯t another patch of trees, but¡­.a barren wasteland!


    A barren wasteland that extended for hundreds and hundreds of kilometers!


    From the base of the mountain where Bai Yunfei was to roughly ten kilometers towards the wastelands marked a good portion of the forest where plenty of trees were still growing, if not felled in some places. With each incremental kilometer after that, the trees started to thin out, and then after one final kilometer, there was absolutely nothing but a wasteland!


    There were no trees, no grass, and no mountains.


    But what it did have was¡­.absolutely nothing for kilometers all around. There was even a tremendous gulch on the left side of the wastelands!


    Even from his faraway position, Bai Yunfei was still able to see that this gulch was several hundred meters deep at the very least!


    And the most terrifying thing was that it felt like if a giant mouth was the one responsible for creating the gulch¡­.


    In the end, it felt like a natural disaster had befallen that entire area to reduce it from a lush forest to a destroyed wasteland.


    Still in somewhat of a shock as he looked at the sight, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed brightly with light.


    ¡°This looks a little familiar, it kind of looks like a¡­.¡±


    ¡°A battleground!!¡±


    Spitting out those two words aloud, Bai Yunfei felt his heart skip a beat in shock.


    This wasteland in front of him was a textbook example of the aftermath of a tremendous battle!


    Bai Yunfei fought plenty of battles before with other soulbeasts where the aftermath was just like this, but smaller in scale. The area around them would be stripped of plant life, rock and sand were scattered to the skies, and the ground scarred with craters and ravines.


    The only difference between the aftermath of Bai Yunfei¡¯s battles and this was one was the size. Bai Yunfei¡¯s battles only created a field of nothing about fifty meters in radius at most, but Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even begin to tell just how big this wasteland was!


    ¡°But¡­.what kind of battle would leave behind such a tremendous sight like this?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Qi, I¡¯m heading over, bring Xiao Lan with you!¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Stepping onto his Tempest Sword, Bai Yunfei took off towards the wasteland while Xiao Qi carried a miniature-sized Xiao Lan.


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop above the wastelands before making his descent to inspect the area.


    Now that he was closer to the area, Bai Yunfei felt even more shock than before. It was a lot bigger than he originally guessed, and he could clearly see many different craters hundreds of meters deep scattered across the area as if a meteor storm had fallen onto the area.


    But he knew that this was the aftermath of several explosions of elemental energy.


    Most of the craters still had some water filling the bottom-most parts of them, with fragments of trees rotting away under the waters, meaning that they¡¯ve been there for a considerably long time by now.


    Some of the trees were already starting to grow moss.


    Observing the area from the skies, Bai Yunfei was quiet for a while to gather his thoughts.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened here, but it must¡¯ve happened at least half a year ago. It must¡¯ve been a fierce battle if no grass is growing. There aren¡¯t any soulbeasts around either, is it because of this battle? If they¡¯re afraid of approaching this place even after so long had passed, the battle must¡¯ve been extremely terrifying!¡±


    From down below, something caught his eye, ¡°What¡¯s that?!¡±


    In one of the empty craters was something that stood out amongst its surroundings. It was smaller in size and quite familiar, just like a¡­.


    ¡°A footprint!!¡± Exclaimed Bai Yunfei. There was the footprint of a soulbeast in the crater!


    Upon closer investigation, the footprint looked reptilian in nature¨Clike a lizard¨Cbut many times bigger!! The entire footprint was close to a hundred meters, and the claw marks were dozens of meters in length themselves!


    Looking even farther ahead, several more identical footprints were identified.


    ¡°The owner of this foot is huge!!¡±


    Sneaking a glance at the airborne Xiao Lan, Bai Yunfei compared the two sizes. If the blue-eyes wyrm were at its largest, it¡¯d footprints would still be the size of an ant compared to this footprint!


    ¡°How does a fight of this magnitude happen in the class six area? It¡¯s just not right¡­.a tremendous soulbeast like this shouldn¡¯t be in the class six area¡­


    ¡°Was this¡­.a battle between Soul Exalts?! Class seven soulbeasts?!¡± His eyes widened at the potential thought.


    The more he thought about it, the more plausible it sounded. The only ones capable of inflicting such tremendous devastation onto the world like this were of the Soul Exalt stage and higher¡­.


    The closer he got to the battlefield, the bigger the crater in the middle got. By time he was down on the ground, the crater was already over five kilometers in diameter, and the entire bottom half submerged with water!


    Now standing above the crater, Bai Yunfei was free to look at over half of the entire battlefield. There was nothing else to this place but the barren grounds, and now that the shock was gone, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really see anything else of interest.


    As he prepared to leave however, something else caught his eye.


    ¡°Whats this?¡±


    Just as he turned around, his eyes caught onto a flash of light coming from the ground. Even with the clouds making it very dim in the area, the light was still enough to catch Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention.


    Flying another kilometer to the spot, Bai Yunfei squinted his eyes to look at the object shining in the ground.


    Right there was a black object halfway stuck in the ground, but the part that was above the ground was shining with light.


    Curious, Bai Yunfei descended next to the object and alighted from the sword. Stooping over, he grabbed hold of the item and pulled at it.


    ¡°Crack!!¡± Dislodging the object from the ground, Bai Yunfei pulled out a black metallic ¡®plate¡¯ the size of a brick. The edges of the ¡®plate¡¯ was curved so that one side was wide, and the other side was pointy. It was only two fingers in thickness, but the weight of the object was a hundred and fifty kilograms almost.


    Equipment Grade: Low Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Water


    Defense: 600


    Upgrade Requirement: 90 Soulpoints


    A string of information trailed into his mind as soon as his hand touched the object.


    ¡°This¡­this is a low-earth tier equipment?!¡± He stared at the plate in his hand in absolute befuddlement.


    Staring at the object, Bai Yunfei noticed something familiar about it. ¡°Hold on, this looks a little strange. It looks kind of like¡­..¡±


    ¡°A scale!!¡±


    Realization struck Bai Yunfei like a bolt of lightning.


    What he was holding in his hand was without a doubt the scale of a soulbeast of some kind!


    Then without warning, the water within the largest crater there began to churl and glow a deep blue light. Surging intensely with each passing second, the lake soon gave rise to a waterspout that shot itself out from the crater to come circling around Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 432: Dragon’s Roar

    Having formed out completely out of the blue, the water spout startled Bai Yunfei. By the time he had noticed it coming at him, the spout was almost about to collide with him!


    Fortunately, Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction had been just as quick. Though he didn¡¯t have enough time to bring up the Cataclysmic Seal, his arms did go up, using the scale he had just picked up as a shield to have the water spout collide with that rather than him!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a muffled crack when the water spout smashed into the scale. With his hands holding onto the scale when impact happened, Bai Yunfei felt like his arms were on the verge snapping off. The force of the collision was large enough to send Bai Yunfei away, much to his relief, but then before he could get far, a sudden tightening sensation around his waist immediately dashed away any hope of escape!


    Rather than bouncing off when hitting the scale, the water spout had instead split around it to wrap around Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist behind it!


    Though clearly being made of water, the spout felt more like steel wrapped around his waist. Just having it tighten around him felt like his organs would pop from the pressure.


    Coming to a complete stop, Bai Yunfei had only enough time to groan before he was sent flying in the opposite direction!


    The force of this whiplash wrestled away the scale from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands, dropping it to the ground as he was sent flying. From within his body, there was the slightest of cracks from his bones starting to creak and break!


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    Unable to stop himself, a bloody mist escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth. Terrified, Bai Yunfei knew that if nothing was to be done about this, the tightening force of the spout would soon force all of his intestines out from his mouth!


    It had even been two seconds since the attack began!


    ¡°Chirp!!!!¡±


    In that one crucial moment, Xiao Qi came storming in with a furious chirp!


    Its angers felt no limit when it saw what was going on with Bai Yunfei. Lighting up in a flash of green, it delivered a stroke of elemental wind to try and cleave the two kilometer long water spout in two


    Whistling in the air as it traveled, the blade of elemental wind made its way over to the spout before passing through it, smashing into the ground and sending rubble flying.


    But¡­.the water spout was completely unharmed!


    Instead of falling apart when it was cut, the water spout remained completely intact when the blade cut into it by reattaching the two sides!


    But Bai Yunfei was still in danger and was now five hundred meters away from his original position!


    ¡°Damn!¡± Cursing to himself, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand up into the air. Blood dripped from his mouth as he sent soulforce into the Flameblade Bracer, materializing a blade of fire next to it.


    And now that he had a weapon, Bai Yunfei aimed it down at the water spout binding his waist!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Elemental water blew apart when the blade of fire smashed into the water spout, sizzling as the water started to evaporate. He was trying his best to evaporate the water spout with the fire, but it was no use. The water spout was already starting to regenerate in elemental water!


    No matter how hot the Winged Flame Blade was, it wasn¡¯t enough to evaporate the water spout! At most, the water spout would lose half of its volume, but then it¡¯d flash bright blue and then regain its lost volume instantly!


    And by now, Bai Yunfei was only just a hundred meters away from the crater!


    ¡°Xiao Qi!¡±


    Both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were bloodshot, but he still managed to gather elemental fire to his feet in an attempt to counteract against the water spout¡¯s pull, but even that was no use.


    At his command, Xiao Qi came flying down again. Rather than using any elemental energy, XIao Qi unleashed three Spatial Edges to travel silently down onto a segment of the spout where Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t.


    The Spatial Edges were traveling faster than the blades of wind beforehand, and under Xiao Qi¡¯s expert control, it managed to strike and bisect the water spout.


    When it struck, Bai Yunfei was only just about to be sent into the crater!


    And this time, the water spout had finally been fully dissected without coming back together!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The part of the water spout extending from the crater fell back down, powerless to attack at Bai Yunfei like before. The middle part of the spout exploded into a fine cloud of mist, showering the area with elemental water.


    The three Spatial Edges then inserted themselves into the ground, leaving behind three separate lunar-shaped marks.


    Just one footstep away from the crater now, Bai Yunfei sighed in relief as he felt the water spout around his waist lose grip. Pushing back, he leapt away from the crater!


    Still, the power in the water spout hadn¡¯t been completely lost. As he leapt back, the remaining segment of the spout tried to pull him back towards the crater. Raising his right hand, Bai Yunfei punched at it with all his might!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The punch shattered the cohesive power keeping the spout together and evaporated the water with a concentrated burst of elemental fire.


    Now completely free, Bai Yunfei renewed his retreat in a blaze of elemental fire to protect him from anything else!


    In three short seconds, Bai Yunfei managed to retreat back one full kilometer. Shaken from his escape, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire back was slick with sweat.


    Whilst he was being pulled towards the crater, Bai Yunfei felt like the crater had been the maws of a giant beast. If he had fallen in, death would¡¯ve been certain!


    Whatever it was that was attacking him, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know. What he did now was that this attack was completely and utterly terrifying¨Ceven now, his body was trembling.


    He had to escape!


    Escape at full throttle!


    The farther away he got from this place, the better, or else he¡¯d die!


    In a flash of light, the Cataclysmic Seal flew out from the Violet Soul Ring. Using as much as the Cataclysmic Seal could handle, Bai Yunfei activated its barrier to protect himself while simultaneously going through the hand seals for the ¡®coil¡¯ form.


    Combined with the flash of orange and red light, Bai Yunfei was able to fly back yet another kilometer!


    ¡°Rrrr¡­..¡±


    Suddenly, a low but deep grumble was heard.


    The ground beneath Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet started to tremble as the grumble began to grow louder and louder.


    From far away, the water within the giant crater was starting to swirl, turning into a giant whirlpool.


    And from within the whirlpool came a suffocating amount of aura!


    ¡°Roarrr!!!¡±


    As if being able to finally unburden itself, a furious roar was unleashed towards the heavens with a volume so loud it felt as if it was trying to reach the heavens!


    Like a verbal tidal wave, the roar surged straight into Bai Yunfei¡¯s eardrums. Rattling his head, the sound continued to wreak havoc onto his entire body, forcing him to lose control over his body and puke out a mouthful of blood!


    This roar wasn¡¯t one that any normal lion or tiger would make.


    This was the roar of a¡­.dragon!!

 Chapter 433: Appearance of the Powerful!

    So loud was the roar did Bai Yunfei decide to turn around from his run in morbid curiosity. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei saw a giant ball of water flying overhead!


    How big was it?


    A kilometer in diameter!!


    In other words, all of the water that had accumulated within the crater was now rising into the air!


    A powerful blue glow was surrounding all that water and slowly manipulating it to swirl.


    Slowly¡­.the water began to compress in on itself!


    Within two moments, the ball of water went from being a kilometer in diameter to being only a hundred meters!


    And with the blinding blue light radiating from it, the ball was like a miniature blue sun!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes dilated with fright. There was a good few kilometers between him and the ball now, but the sheer amount of elemental water being compressed was enough to make him unsteady.


    He¡¯d have to keep on running!


    If that sphere of water were to hit him¡­.there wouldn¡¯t even be a sliver of him left!


    Aside from the ball of water, there was yet another terrifying existence still in that crater. A being that hadn¡¯t shown its aura until after that roar.


    But now that it revealed itself, Bai Yunfei was faced with the full brunt of its existence!


    ¡°Cl¨Cclass seven!!¡± He stuttered. ¡°A¡­.late-stage class seven!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    From the depths of the crater, a figure was stepping out. It wore robes as black as the night with a miasmic aura dark enough to obscure the figure¡¯s appearance. The only thing to be seen from its face was a pair of red vertical slits where the eyes should be. Its hands sharp with how the nails extended farther than it should be, a frosty sheen emanating from the nails.


    A faint blue light was spiralling around the figure as well, like spirals of water.


    ¡°Keke¡­.¡± Arching his shoulders, the man gave a chilling laugh before he looked up to the air. When his head lifted up, the sphere of water overhead compressed even more before suddenly moving.


    When it started to move, dread flooded Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    Would this be the end of him?


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    But then whilst he was despairing, he noticed something!


    The ball of water wasn¡¯t flying towards him!


    Whistling through the air as it traveled, the sphere of water was flying not towards Bai Yunfei, but¡­.to the empty space to the right!


    Not a single living thing was in the area where the ball of water was heading. But just two hundred meters above the ground, the air around there was starting to ripple. Like if being distorted, the space in the area suddenly opened up as if there was a door of some kind, allowing for a figure to step out!


    It was an elderly man with white hair that stepped out from this space. And as soon as he appeared, the first thing to greet him was a blue miniature-sized sun!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Unphased, the elder raised his right palm up. A wave of white light gathered at the center, and then without a care in the world, he pressed it against the ball!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Somehow, the ball of water came to a sudden stop as soon as it touched his palm!


    Merely one second after coming into contact with the ball of water, the eyes of the old man narrowed together in concentration. The white light from his hands started to spread over the surface of the ball as elemental ice was emitted from his palm. Crinkling, the white light continued to spread more and more¨Cthe ball of water was turning into a ball of ice!


    In just two short moments, the entire ball of water had been frozen into ice!


    And in one last stroke, the elderly man slammed the ball back down into the crater to smash the figure still standing above it!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The black silhouette leapt out to meet the icy meteor, colliding noisily with it. It halted briefly in momentum before cracks formed all over the surface.


    Then, without at all harming the figure underneath it, the ball of ice crumbled to pieces.


    Now unobstructed, the black silhouette traveled two hundred meters up into the air to stand on the same plane as the elderly man.


    It was a relatively simple interaction between the two, but the amount of elemental fire both combatants used was so stifling Bai Yunfei found it hard to breathe.


    The old man was without a doubt a Soul King!


    And the black silhouette a late-stage Soul King!


    Now at the very edge of the wastelands, Bai Yunfei was rejuvenated. Safe from harm, he felt like life had given him yet another chance.


    Traumatized, Bai Yunfei looked back to where the two Soul Kings were standing. Coming to a stop, he jumped into a nearby tree and began to hide his aura as much as he could through the usage of the Soul Concealment Art. To maximize his hiding, Bai Yunfei took out the Walk-on Strawhat and capped it onto his head.


    Then, he didn¡¯t move an inch from his spot.


    Following his command, Xiao Qi took the blue-eyes wyrm to a giant tree and hide within the treetops to observe the situation.


    There was a reason why he came to a stop to observe the situation.


    When he turned his head back a moment ago, another distortion in space had appeared behind the elder in white. Two figures stepped out from it, revealing the back-most person to be¡­.


    Xing Yuan!


    The very same man he fought not too long ago in the class five area of the forest. The fifth elder of the Beast Taming School, Xing Yuan!


    At a loss for words at what this situation was becoming, Bai Yunfei decided to hide. Trying to run away would only result in his soulforce being leaked out, so it was within his best interests to try and stay hidden.


    ¡­¡­


    While not explicitly noticed, Xing Yuan turned towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s direction when he stepped out from beyond the spatial distortion.


    ¡°What is it, Xing Yuan?¡± The gray-robed elder in front of him asked.


    Xing Yuan peered suspiciously at the forest. ¡°I could¡¯ve sworn somebody was just there¡­.¡± he muttered.


    Glancing in the same direction, the elder¡¯s eyes flashed with light for a brief second before blinking again. ¡°An ant and nothing more. Ignore it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, elder Lin¡­.¡± Heeding his command, Xing Yuan turned away to stand upright and completely still. While he was the fifth elder of his school, he was nothing more than a whelpling in front of the second and third elders.


    The whole reason he was even here in the forest was to be their scout. So now that the goal had been found, he had no reason to do anything else. He had neither the right to fight or even speak for this upcoming battle.


    Standing respectfully behind the second and third elder, Xing Yuan stared at the figure who was giving each of the three a hateful glare, gulping silently to himself in fear.


    ¡°Is that him? The terrifying being that injured the first elder when ambushed half a year ago? The one that escaped soon afterwards¡­.¡±


    ¡°The Black Dragon King¡­..¡±

 Chapter 434: Black Dragon King

    Hidden and completely still in his hiding spot, Bai Yunfei observed the four figures from a distance. It was a little blurry, but with his powers as a Soul Exalt, the sight was clear enough given the distance.


    Back when the gray-robed elder in front of Xing Yuan looked at his direction, it was like an icy stab through his heart. His body trembled violently and his face paled drastically.


    ¡°He saw me! He sees me!!¡± Goosebumps rose all over his skin. There was not a single doubt in his mind that the elderly man had seen him! He might¡¯ve hidden himself from Xing Yuan¡¯s senses, but there was no way he¡¯d be able to hide from the Soul King!


    But the Soul King didn¡¯t budge from his spot. Not even Xing Yuan looked like he cared.


    Somehow, it didn¡¯t seem like the Soul King really cared about Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°What do I do? What should I do? Should I run?¡± Bai Yunfei was thoroughly drenched with sweat. Although it didn¡¯t seem like the Soul King cared about him, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t guarantee that Xing Yuan wouldn¡¯t do the same if he found out.


    He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.


    Thanks to being bound by the water spout, he had suffered heavy wounds from it. Not only were his ribs cracked, his lungs were in such a state that whenever he breathed, he¡¯d feel an acute pain in them.


    If Xing Yuan were to run after him now, Bai Yunfei would have no chance of victory.


    ¡°Xing Yuan hasn¡¯t found me yet, and the other three don¡¯t see me as anything but an ant, so I should be safe for now. I just need to find the best time to run away¡­..¡± Aside from Xing Yuan, Bai Yunfei was absolutely sure that the other three individuals knew he existed, they just didn¡¯t care to bother about him.


    Running now would be a hasty action. His top priority was to sit here and let his wounds heal first.


    Using a little bit of soulforce from this distance wouldn¡¯t be enough to ping Xing Yuan¡¯s notice. Carefully and slowly, Bai Yunfei applied some soulforce to his body to use the Face Change Technique to alter his face. As the soulforce washed over his body, he waited for the transformation to finish before then starting the process to heal his wounds.


    ¡­¡­


    The figure in black stared unflinchingly at the two elders, a barely noticeable light flashing in his eyes. ¡°Liang Xing, you whelpling. I just knew you¡¯d be waiting here,¡± he cackled. ¡°Where is that other whelpling, Yan Fei? Did you really think just two of you would be enough to capture me?¡±


    The figure was of course talking about the two elders only. Xing Yuan wasn¡¯t even a point of consideration to be brought up.


    Liang Xing was the one in white. A late-stage Soul King of the ice affinity and second elder of the Beast Taming School.


    The other person with him was the third elder, Lin Hefan, a mid-stage Soul King with the wind affinity.


    The ¡®Yan Fei¡¯ spoken about earlier was the first elder of the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Black Dragon King,¡± Liang Xing chuckled, ¡°how do you know the first elder isn¡¯t here? You were beaten halfway to death by us half a year ago, while you managed to heal since then, do you really think you¡¯ll be able to escape us this time? I strongly suggest you allow us to place the seal onto you and submit to the Beast Taming School. That is your destiny.¡±


    ¡°Submit? You ask me to submit?!¡± Fiery indignation burst to life into the Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes. ¡°What bullsh*it destiny! Even if I died, I would never be a soul puppet of your school! You¡¯re dreaming if you think you can force the Black Dragon King to submit! Come try it if you think yourself strong enough! We¡¯ll see if you can beat me today!¡±


    So loud was his roar that even Bai Yunfei had been able to hear who this figure was from his hiding spot.


    The ¡®Black Dragon King¡¯.


    Those three words sent him into shock. He drew in closer to look at the figure in amazement.


    ¡°The Black Dragon King? He¡¯s the Black Dragon King?!¡± He never thought that the Black Dragon King of all people would be the one to attack him from within the crater!


    It was the Black Dragon King that he managed to escape with his life from!


    He couldn¡¯t help but shiver at the memory.


    ¡­¡­


    The Black Dragon King, a late-stage class seven and one of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers!


    ¡°Black Dragon¡¯ was what it first called itself when it first appeared a hundred years ago. Storming into the world by killing and devouring its predecessor, the Blue Snake King, its ensuing roar brought shockwaves throughout the entire soul cultivator and soulbeast world alike!


    Although it called itself a ¡®Black Dragon¡¯, its body wasn¡¯t at all that of a ¡®dragon¡¯, but rather that of a¡­.jiao.


    TL Note: See here for what a Jiaolong looks like


    A jiao was much closer to being an oriental dragon than the blue-eyes wyrm, but still not quite there to being considered a true dragon. They were a dying breed compared to their numbers from millenniums ago, so right now, there was only one recorded sighting of a black jiao.


    It went without question that this specific jiao was probably over a thousand years old. It must¡¯ve hid itself patiently until a hundred years ago before storming onto the continent to strike terror into both soul cultivator and soulbeast alike!


    Class seven soulbeasts were capable of two things: the ability to take human form and the ability to fully awaken their rationality. They were beings that transcended into a whole different world, but in the world of soulbeasts, there was one constant rule from one soulbeast to another¡­.


    Soulbeasts of the class seven level couldn¡¯t kill one another whenever they wanted to!


    The battle for evolution under the class seven level could best be described as being mindless almost. Instinct and desire fueled the drive for soulbeasts to slaughter one another, and that was how their world worked.


    Survival of the fittest.


    But upon reaching the class seven level, it was a world with new rules.


    Practically every single class seven soulbeast was a part of one ruling body where agreements and rules were set up.


    Without any justifications such as revenge, they could not kill another class seven soulbeast!!


    After surviving the cruel world that was the class six level and below, every class seven soulbeast knew that the path to power was a hard one, and that there was no point trying to kill one another.


    But when the Black Dragon King appeared, he completely destroyed the rules put into place by killing not only the Blue Snake King, but another five class seven soulbeasts!


    When asked why, the only response they got was so the Black Dragon King could swallow their soulgems and grow even stronger!


    His actions infuriated every single soulbeast of the class seven level, prompting mass action against him in the form of banishment from the class seven area and injuries that nearly killed him.


    But his anger didn¡¯t weaken even after banishment.


    The Tianhun Empire was its next target and was basked in blood and fire as it devoured soul cultivator by the dozen.


    Finally, the strongest of the Tianhun School organized a group of other mighty soul cultivators into a subjugation group of over a dozen people. Joined together, they managed to fight back against the Black Dragon King and inflict many wounds onto him.


    He vanished into thin air after that. For dozens of years, not even a single thing was heard from him before he appeared again thirty years after.


    This time, he was found in the deepest parts of the class six area where it killed yet another three class seven soulbeasts!


    Another group of soul cultivators came forward again several years after that. Managing to wipe out one of the schools sent to kill him, the Black Dragon King then managed to devour two more Soul Kings and over a thousand men!


    After that, the Black Dragon King would appear throughout history in a storm of brimstone and fire. No matter if it was the sou cultivator world or the soulbeast world, the casualties were massive, and no experts brought in was enough to kill him.


    His last appearance had been from five years ago near the north-west frontier of the Soulbeast Forest. In that event, he managed to kill a pair of newly evolved class seven soulbeasts who were planning to travel into the human world.


    Those two class seven soulbeasts were in fact another one of the Jian¡­.

 Chapter 435: A Huge Battle Incoming!

    The existence of an ancient soulbeast like the black jiao wasn¡¯t widely circulated in the world of soul cultivators. Many didn¡¯t even know that there was such a species until the Black Dragon King descended onto the continent.


    As a soulbeast whose species was once prominent in the far more chaotic and primeval past, the strength of a black jiao was never put into question. Soulbeasts of the same stage had no chance against one, and those a stage higher stood a good chance at losing as well.


    When the Black Dragon King first appeared, it was a mid-stage class seven soulbeast. It was only after devouring the soulgem of the late-stage class seven Blue Snake King that it became a late-stage class seven as well.


    But like other soulbeasts, the Black Dragon King found himself at a stoppage in his path for power. Hundreds of years of slaughter and devouring countless individuals for their power was barely giving him progress towards reaching the limits of a class seven.


    It wasn¡¯t until half a year ago that the Black Dragon King picked a secluded part of the class six area of the forest in preparation to make the attempt.


    Never did he imagine that four Soul Kings would ambush him whilst he was busy meditating.


    Three of the four Soul Kings were the first to third elders from the Beast Taming School, but the last one was a person he didn¡¯t recognize. In any case, the first elder was hoping to make use of the Black Dragon King¡¯s vulnerability to enforce a seal onto him and turn him into a soulbeast puppet!


    Having lived a life fraught with battle and strife, the Black Dragon King was infuriated. It lived through plenty of ambushes and attempts on its life, but when had it ever considered a human being worthy to care about?


    With all that said, the battle that came next had been surprisingly tough on him. The four of them were on the verge of winning when the Black Dragon King decided to unleash his final life-saving move, injuring the first elder and killing the fourth Soul King he didn¡¯t know.


    Now injured, the three survivors weren¡¯t able to prevent the Black Dragon King from escaping with his life.


    What followed next was a game of cat and mouse between soul cultivator and soulbeast. As an expert of the game, the Black Dragon King went against all expectations by returning to the battlefield and hiding there by going into hibernation and concealing his aura completely.


    News of the battle was spread to the many powerful individuals of the continent, many of them encouraged to enter the class six area of the forest in search of the Black Dragon King. They all wanted to find and kill him¨Cnot only to eradicate the scourge of the continent and obtain its soulgem, but most importantly, ¡®that¡¯ object it possessed¡­.


    The priceless ¡®thing¡¯ that had been completely lost since a millenia ago, reappearing only when the Black Dragon King announced himself to the world!


    No matter how hard they searched, however, no one was able to find the Black Dragon King, causing many of them to quit in the end.


    Many had thought the Black Dragon King had already fled to some faraway corner of the empire, but there were a few that stayed behind in the forest to look for him, such as the Beast Taming School and the Two Winged Kings¡­.


    Injured by the Black Dragon King, the first elder of the Beast Taming School went back first. The second and third elders were left to lead the search efforts. The fifth elder, Xing Yuan, was ordered to pay attention to the battlegrounds since there was a chance that the Black Dragon King would be around.


    None of the elders thought what the first elder would be true, but they complied with his orders nonetheless.


    It was true though!


    The place that the Black Dragon King awakened was in the place the first elder said he¡¯d be at!


    If there was one thing Liang Xing was sure about, it was that the Black Dragon King wasn¡¯t fully recovered yet. The first elder¡¯s wounds were estimated to take at least ten years to heal. An ancient soulbeast like the Black Dragon King would surely take less time than ten years to heal from wounds of the same magnitude, but half a year was far too short to be right.


    Either way, there were more than just two Soul Kings here¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Liang Xing¡¯s words infuriated the Black Dragon King. Snarling, he thrusted both palms outwards to form claws with them both. Light as blue as the ocean swirled around into the space in front of his palms before he swung his hands!


    The blue lights were only big enough to cover the Black Dragon King¡¯s fists, but when they extended forth from them, they extended forwards to grow hundreds of times bigger. They were absorbing the ambient elemental water in the area to grow even larger before shooting countless bolts of water to pepper the three men!


    Fear gripped at Xing Yuan¡¯s body as he watched the bolts of water approach. The second and third elders may be in front of him, but the attack was still enough for his body to tremble uncontrollably.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Liang Xing snorted. His right palm came up to exude a large but dreadful amount of white frost. On the other side, Lin Hefan did the same with his own hand, but a green light came forth before a giant figure appeared in front of him.


    ¡°Cawww!!¡±


    ¡°Roarrr!!¡±


    Two figures appeared into the area amidst an explosion of sound and light as white and green mixed together. Countless blades of wind were shot out at the same time, cutting apart any of the bolts of water coming at Lin Hefan while the bolts of water aimed at Liang Xing were inexplicably frozen in midair as if stuck!


    Upon closer observation, they were indeed frozen¨Cinto ice that is!


    In no time at all, the elemental water in the area had been overtaken by elemental ice!


    By Lin Hefan¡¯s side was a type of green lion the size of an elephant, and by Liang Xing¡¯s side was a large avian with a wingspan of over a hundred meters!


    ¡°A mid-stage class seven Wind Squaller!¡± Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but gasp under his breath. This rare soulbeast was of the very same species as the one Jing Mingfeng contracted with; and this one in particular was a class seven to boot!


    The other soulbeast drove the stake of shock even deeper in Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart, ¡°And that¡¯s¡­a late-stage class seven Glacial Roc!¡±


    The Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly at the two, ¡°The Glacial Roc King and the Wind Squaller King¡­.you were made into soulbeast puppets by the humans I see. Rather than stay like this, you may as well let me devour you and save yourselves from the humiliation.¡±


    These two soulbeasts were once the kings of their species, but not strong enough to be considered a part of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers. They were nonetheless very strong, so it was a shame to see them reduced to puppets of the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Your soulbeasts weren¡¯t enough to defeat me half a year ago, and yet you¡¯re trying so again? So be it then,¡± The Black Dragon King cackled, ¡°I helped the Ape King free half a year ago, so I¡¯ll devour these two soulbeasts as well today!¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± The pejorativeness of the Black Dragon King¡¯s words caused annoyance to flare up in Liang Xing¡¯s head.


    He had once a mid-stage class seven fireclad ape, but that one had been killed and seemingly devoured by the Black Dragon King the last time they fought.


    Lin Hefan had only one soulbeast out since his other class seven soulbeast had perished as well, though his had perished not from the battle with the Black Dragon King but after it when he went searching for him.


    There were plenty of class seven soulbeasts that came looking for the Black Dragon King. With how large the class six area was, it still wasn¡¯t uncommon enough for the Beast Taming School to come across one of the class seven soulbeasts.


    With each meeting came a battle since every single soulbeast that held any iota of rationality within them hated the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Stop your yapping and fight!¡± Liang Xing¡¯s eyes flashed dangerously, his mouth saying something that only Lin Hefan could understand.


    ¡°You wish for our fight to end so soon?¡± The Black Dragon King cackled again, his hands again starting to shine with blue light, ¡°Then allow me to oblige!¡±


    Strands of soulforce exploded into every direction before pulling back every single elemental energy in the area¡ª


    ¡ªAnother battle of epic proportions was on the verge of breaking out!

 Chapter 436: The Fearless Black Dragon King

    At his command, the glacial roc took into the skies, shrieking as it extended its wings wide. Icicles numbering in the thousand materialized out of thin air to fly at the Black Dragon King like a storm of hail!


    The wind squaller moved synchronously with the roc. Extending its jaws wide open, it let loose a burst of elemental wind to attack it from another direction!


    Meanwhile, Liang Xing, Lin Hefan, and even Xing Yuan were all retreating backwards to gain some distance from the Black Dragon King.


    Since beast tamers used their soulbeast puppets to fight, they normally didn¡¯t even need to be on the battlefield.


    Furthermore, the Black Dragon King was already flying towards them while their soulbeasts were attacking, prompting the need to move into safety.


    The soulbeast puppets were once mighty soulbeasts standing at the top of the class seven level. But now that they were puppets, they were nothing more than tools to be used at will. Even though


    they were seemingly without emotions now, the slightest of sorrow could be heard whenever they roared¡­.


    The roars were loud to be heard by Bai Yunfei even from his hiding spot far away. Much to his surprise, he too felt sorrow, but not from the roars of the soulbeasts.


    Somehow, the feeling of sorrow was coming from Xiao Qi of all places. Staring at the two soulbeast puppets from its perch in the trees, an indescribable feeling of sorrow was coming from Xiao Qi as well. It didn¡¯t know for what reason why this feeling was happening, but it started when it heard their roars.


    ¡°The Beast Taming School¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei spat in disgust, he never imagined to come across the Beast Taming School here as well.


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    An indignant roar exploded forth from the Black Dragon¡¯s mouth as he prepared himself to fight. Both of his hands were shining with light to gather elemental water into the area in front of him. They materialized into two different balls of blue light; the ball on the left measuring at having a radius of a hundred meters to attack the burst of elemental wind, while the ball on the right transforming into a storm of miniature blue spheres to individually strike down each of the icicles shot by the glacial roc.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A series of explosions rung out one after another whenever one ball of elemental water collided with another one of the icicles, and with each explosion, elemental energy scattered apart here and there.


    Amidst the chain explosions, the Black Dragon King had his arms extended out again. Unlike before, the light around his hand was black like the fog around his body, and completely obscured his hands and making the red light in his eyes all the more ferocious looking.


    Elemental water wasn¡¯t the only element he was proficient at, he was actually a master of yet another element. One that was even more rare than water¡­.


    Elemental darkness!


    Slightly arching his back, the Black Dragon King¡¯s right heel lifted up slightly in preparation to move.


    He grew still for a moment, and then¡­.he flew out like an arrow towards the two soulbeasts!


    Though it seemed like he was aiming to meet the two soulbeasts head on, the Black Dragon King suddenly changed directions just a mere two meters afterwards. Spinning around, his hands exploded with dark light right behind him!!


    Riplets of elemental water started to vibrate in the area just a meter from where the Black Dragon King¡¯s back was. Then, from the ripples, a right hand came forth from the black smog to punch the Black Dragon King in the back.


    ¡°Bang! Bang!¡±


    Two smashing sounds were heard; one was from when the two fists collided, the other was from when the Black Dragon King¡¯s left fist slammed into the back of his own right hand!


    Waves of nearly-invisible energy flowed out from the point where both of his hands collided, disturbing the flow of black miasmic aura coming off from the Black Dragon King¡¯s person and revealing portions of his rather sinister-looking face. Even more importantly, the energy coming off from these waves were significant enough to slow down the two soulbeasts coming at him by a decent amount!


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    The fist retreated back into the ripples, having failed to do any damage to the Black Dragon King. A snort was heard, and then a figure in black came shooting out from an empty space a few hundred meters away from him!


    ¡°You¡¯re a hundred years too early to even think about ambushing me!!¡±


    The Black Dragon King sneered. Turning his head back to look at the two incoming soulbeasts, his body flickered away from sight only to reappear to the left of the wind squaller. Unflinchingly, he let loose a mighty punch at the wind squaller when it tried to claw him!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The wind squaller collided with the Black Dragon King, but rather than having the Black Dragon King move, the wind squaller was the only one to go flying backwards!


    No sooner was the wind squaller taken care of for the time being did another pair of shiny claws come down to strike! Taking advantage of the wind squaller¡¯s attempt, the glacial roc tried its best to ambush the Black Dragon King with claws filled with elemental ice!


    A claw strike from a mid-stage class seven soulbeast was more than strong enough to tear off a piece of his body if he wasn¡¯t careful! And with how weak the Black Dragon King was right now, his body would¡¯ve been damaged more than just that.


    His head flew up to stare at it, his eyes shining furiously with bloodthirst. Along with his head, his right hand shot straight up as if to clutch at the claws of the glacial roc!


    The black miasma around his body swelled in volume in accordance with his actions. Seemingly having a will of its own, it flowed around his right hand and formed several black-colored claws¨Ceach claw about several meters in length!


    ¡°Roar!¡± As if the Azure Dragon himself was roaring, a primal roar escaped from the Black Dragon King¡¯s mouth as he lashed out. His draconic claws managing to grab onto the glacial roc¡¯s own claws!


    Twisting his arm with a pulse of soulforce, the Black Dragon King swung the glacial roc a complete half-circle around him to send it flying into the wind squaller!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Dropping onto the wind squaller like a giant piece of stone, the glacial roc stuck to the wind squaller like glue for nearly a kilometer before either of the two could regain their balance!


    Though the two soulbeasts failed to do any damage to the Black Dragon King, the person who tried to ambush the Black Dragon King had managed to successfully retreat several hundred meters already!


    In just a short ten seconds, the Black Dragon King had been the target of several different methods of attack! From two different bursts of elemental energy, the ambush of a person in hiding, the onslaught of wind squaller and glacial roc¡­.none had succeeded in hurting him!


    In fact, the Black Dragon King had barely moved from his position in the skies!


    It was with bated breath that Bai Yunfei watched the several events happen. Dumbstruck at it all, Bai Yunfei was in complete shock with how strong the Black Dragon King was.


    ¡°So¡­.so this is one of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers¡­.the late-stage class seven Black Dragon King is incredible¡­.¡±

 Chapter 437: Twister

    Safe from harm now that the wind squaller and glacial roc were far enough away, the Black Dragon King gave a calm stare at the stunned group of humans in front of him. ¡°You may try to hide your heads, but I can still see your tail. Half a year ago, the person helping the Beast Taming School tried to attack me in the same fashion. He might¡¯ve been only a mid-stage Soul King when I slew him, but I will do the same today with you, you late-stage Soul King. Prepare to die!¡±


    Known as Ma Wu, the assailant held his trembling hand with the other. ¡°Black Dragon King,¡± a hoarse voice spoke out, ¡°I admit you are well experienced in dealing with ambushes like this, but my goal wasn¡¯t to try and kill you, but to verify something for myself¡­.¡±


    A smile crept onto his face, ¡°From what we know, the Black Dragon King is a being powerful enough to not even allow someone like me enough room to breathe, let alone let ambush. And yet in that moment where I should¡¯ve died, you instead turned around to deal with the two other soulbeasts. And how terrible you were in doing so, why is that?


    ¡°Perhaps¡­.you were worried of something unpredictable happening right after my ambush?


    ¡°Something unpredictable, such as¡­.your not yet healed wounds reopening up?¡±


    The Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes dilated slightly to give a level stare at Ma Wu. ¡°Try and see for yourself.¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    Ma Wu didn¡¯t respond. What he said earlier was only a conjecture to see how the Black Dragon King would respond. Whether or not the Black Dragon King was still injured or not, Ma Wu still didn¡¯t know.


    Logic dictated that the wounds the Black Dragon King sustained half a year ago would require more time in order to be fully recovered, but with that item in his possession¡­


    ¡°He¡¯s only pretending and bidding for time before someone else comes. Capture him before he can slip away!¡± Liang Xing spoke up, controlling the glacial roc into an attacking position once again.


    Light flashed across the Black Dragon King¡¯s eye.


    Indeed, he was truly waiting for another combatant to enter the fray, that way, he¡¯d be able to make his escape while the two other parties fought each other for him.


    The current situation right now would only lead to him being potentially captured if he waited, so waiting for a third party to come and stir the pot would increases his chances of escape, so the decision to run or run later was an easy one to make.


    Having several men fight in tandem to capture him would make escape difficult, but several men fighting each other to capture him made escape easier.


    Experience told him that much. He had many cases where people fought him to near death multiple times, but then they started to fight each other. Combined with him being so desperate to survive, he always ended up surviving the ordeal despite the odds.


    They wouldn¡¯t want to kill him that easily either, not with the many valuable things the Black Dragon King had in his possession.


    That too, was a form of human nature.


    The glacial roc and wind squaller were already back and ready to fight the Black Dragon King by now. Stepping upwards, the Black Dragon King moved to higher grounds.


    Rather than following the Black Dragon King up, the wind squaller stopped to glare at its prey. Throwing its head backwards, the wind squaller howled ferociously. A large amount of elemental wind began to gather just a few hundred meters beneath the Black Dragon King, and in time, the elemental wind started to pick up in speed and swivel in a circle.


    In the blink of an eye, a twister about a hundred meters in circumference had fully formed, completely obscuring the Black Dragon King from sight and completely ravaging the ground far below!


    Countless boulders dozens of meters large were sucked into the twister, crashing into each other as they ascended into the skies. Surely anything else that was unfortunate enough to be reduced to dust in this twister!


    The space between the ground and the skies were completely overtaken by this twister, and even the clouds were being sucked into the twister, making the area look like a calamity was soon to befall the place.


    By this point, the Black Dragon King was already a good distance high up in the skies. Though he wanted to go even higher, the twister completely surrounded him prevented him from even moving after that.


    Seeing that the twister around him was starting to shrink in size, the Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes narrowed. Black smog escaped from his fluttering black robes and began to mix in with the twister around him.


    ¡°You utterly insignificant ants!¡± Four disdainful words boomed forth from his mouth. His outstretched right hand unclenched, summoning a ball of water that quickly expanded to transform into a whirlpool.


    As soon as it formed, the Black Dragon King tilted his hand down, directing the whirlpool to fall a hundred meters or so before exploding with a dazzling blue light. Cutting into the twister around it, the place soon became an area where only blue could be seen. Strands of elemental water flowed into the whirlpool with increasing amounts, and before long, palm-sized whirlpool was just as tall as the twister!


    A waterspout!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a loud crack as the water from the waterspout began to clash with the twister!


    Rather than spinning in the opposite direction of the twister, the waterspout was rotating in the same direction and even speed as the twister!


    The Black Dragon King stood at the center of both the twister and waterspout, controlling the latter and its growth. Almost instantaneously, blue light shined in the waterspout, making it resemble a pillar of blue light!


    The blue light smashed into the ground with a heavy explosion, and just like that, it completely scattered apart the twister and the elemental wind feeding it!


    Simultaneously, the loud, but pain-filled cry of the wind squaller could be heard. From its perch down below, the wind squaller was trembling from head to tail with blood leaking from its mouth. It looked agonized, and that its health had been majorly depleted.


    Like the wind squaller, its controller, Lin Hefan, had a pale look on his face. Whatever the Black Dragon King did to stop the wind squaller¡¯s attack, it had clearly done a fair share of damage to him as well.


    ¡°Im¡­impossible. His strength¡¯s even stronger than it was half a year ago!¡± He cried. Soulforce was already being pumped through his body to mitigate the wounds, and the color in his face was already starting to look better than before.


    ¡°Skreee!!!¡±


    It took several precious seconds for the Black Dragon King to counteract the twister created by the wind squaller. And in those precious seconds, it left the glacial roc more than enough time to launch yet another attack!


    This time, the glacial roc was a kilometer above from where the Black Dragon King was. From this distance, the Black Dragon King could still see a white fog gathering around the glacial roc, and with a closer look, he could even see that several icy crystals were starting to take form in the shape of smaller birds. There were countless amounts of them, but they all floated in the air alongside the glacial roc¡¯s wings as if waiting to strike.


    The glacial roc shrieked, and with that, the icy crystals flew down like arrows to pelt the Black Dragon King!


    To use modern day terms to describe such an assault, it felt as though these icy birds were individual bombers ready to crash into the waterspout!


    Their individual flight patterns changed on their way towards the waterspout, with one icy crystal directly above or below another one!


    One by one, they smashed into the waterspout with a cracking sound, and with each successful hit, the surface of the waterspout begun to freeze over!


    The onslaught of ice overwhelmed the waterspout, and in time, the entire waterspout became one giant pillar of ice, with the remaining fragments of ice drifting around it!


    But that wasn¡¯t the end of it!


    The glacial roc shrieked again. The white fog that had been formed due to the icy-cold temperatures around the waterspout suddenly constricted in on itself, and before it even touched upon the pillar of ice, several icicles came flying out from the fog to touch the pillar first!


    From top to bottom, the entire pillar of ice was peppered with icicles!


    Furthermore, the pillar of ice wasn¡¯t only being attacked from the outside in, several icicles were stabbing at the pillar from the inside as well!


    On the passing moment where the final icicle perforated the pillar of ice, a dazzling glow of metallic light started to shine from the skies above. Piercing through the clouds that still remained, the light shined down on the pillar before revealing an immeasurably long sword of gold to descend down upon the pillar of ice!


    And just like that, the sword stabbed the pillar from top all the way down to the bottom!

 Chapter 438: Escape?

    A hundred meters away, Ma Wu¡¯s entire body was awashed with golden light. Soulforce was circulating at tremendous speeds around his body in correspondence with his hand movements. With each hand seal, the soulforce mutated in flow, and with each second, his eyes focused in on the golden sword stabbing into the pillar of ice.


    This was an attack only Ma Wu could activate. By accumulating the ambient elemental metal around his mid-heaven grade longsword, an even larger sword could be created.


    Sheathing into the pillar of ice as if it was a scabbard, the sword pushed deeper into it, forming cracks all over the pillar as it dug deeper. With each crack that formulated in the pillar, a golden light started to shine from behind it before ultimately, the pillar started to crumble into large chunks.


    It started from the top first. Each chunk of ice chipped away from the pillar revealed an even larger metallic glow from within while also slamming into the ground like an oversized hailstorm.


    Liang Xiang and He Fan stood with bated breaths as they watched the chunks of ice fall away from the pillar. Likewise, Xing Yuan¡¯s fists were balled tightly by the side of his waist. This was a high-leveled fight he was watching, and the attacks done by the wind squaller and glacial roc had only been a prelude to Ma Wu¡¯s attack.


    This was an attack that even a late-stage Soul King would find themselves troubled with, and to heighten the tensions even more, all four of the people there could distinctly sense that the Black Dragon King had been stuck in the ice pillar from beginning to end!


    ¡°Hah! Even if you¡¯re one of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers, I¡¯d find it hard to believe that you¡¯d escape unscratched from this! My Meteoric Demonsbane can pierce even the hide of a late-stage class seven soulbeast, I¡¯d like to see ho¡ª¡± Pleased with the results of his attack, Ma Wu¡¯s lips were curled upwards into a smile to laugh and gloat.


    Halfway through his gloating, however, the smile faded away from his face.


    ¡°Rooooarrrrr!!¡¯


    The primal roar of a dragon from the inner parts of the pillar interrupted Ma Wu, and further hastening the collapse of the pillar. Already, enough of the pillar was gone to show the tip of the giant golden sword, and coincidentally enough, that was the area where the roar was coming from.


    Like an ominous cloud of fog, an aura filled with chaotic energy rolled through the area. Though not as palpable as actual fog, it somehow filled the area enough to obscure the eyesight of all.


    However, Ma Wu and the others were still able to see that the giant golden sword hadn¡¯t yet pierced the ground. There was still a few scant meters between the tip of the sword and the ground, and a certain shadow in between the two!


    It was the Black Dragon King!


    Black miasma coiled around his body ominously, his feet pressed several inches into the ground. His right hand was hoisted above his head with some of that black miasma extending his arm length to grab onto the tip of the sword for him.


    He had actually blocked this awe-inspiring attack!!


    And aside from the ripped seams of his robe sleeves, not a single bit of his body was harmed!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡± Ma Wu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. To have the Black Dragon King completely unharmed came to him as a complete shocker, as Ma Wu had the utmost confidence that his move would¡¯ve done a significant amount of damage!


    Like Ma Wu, Liang Xiang and Lin Hefan were both bewildered, albeit on a slightly lesser scale. The two of them had been present in the battle with the Black Dragon King half a year ago, so they knew a little more about him than Ma Wu.


    ¡°Was that your strongest attack?¡± Still holding the golden sword above his head, the Black Dragon King scoffed at Ma Wu, ¡°That wasn¡¯t much!¡±


    His right hand clenched upon the final word, signalling for the giant black claws of his hand to follow his gesture.


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    From where the tip of the sword was, several cracks started to form from where the claws were touching! Extending through the blade like the webbing of a spiderweb, the cracks quickly overtook the majority of the blade before the entirety of it shattered into thousands of pieces!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Two seconds had been all it took for the giant sword to completely and utterly disintegrate! Pieces of the giant sword crashed to the ground noisily, but a golden sword about a meter long came flying forth from the middle to return to Ma Wu.


    The light in the sword was only half as bright as compared to its larger version, and Ma Wu was very surprised to see the sword in such a darkened state.


    ¡°I overestimated you all, you humans have no the right to stand in my way!¡± Exclaimed the Black Dragon King. His ascended back to the skies with a hateful glare at Ma Wu, though it seemed that the black miasma around his body was moving somewhat spasmodically.


    It was only for a short second that this anomaly was noticeable for, but Ma Wu noticed it nonetheless.


    ¡°He¡¯s hurt! He¡¯s only pretending that he isn¡¯t, attack! Attack!!¡±


    He took off after the Black Dragon King, his sword unleashing a stream of energy from the tip to strike down the Black Dragon King first. Waving the sword again, another hundred rays of energy were sent in a horde formation to attack.


    An ominous glint entered the Black Dragon King¡¯s eye. Dropping down towards Ma Wu, he roared, ¡°Pretending?! Then allow me to inform you, you¡¯ll all be dying here today!¡±


    The wind squaller and glacial roc came forward to greet him, bounding towards him with elemental energy bubbling around them for impact.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The series of explosions that happened next shook the earth, destroying the area that which had once been destroyed in a similar fashion half a year ago. Energy rolled through the area like a storm to tear apart the lands, creating ditches where once was plains, and craters where once was none.


    Hundreds of blades made of wind flew past the area where Bai Yunfei was, gouging out the earth as it went past and even numbing his skin.


    For ten minutes, the battle between the Black Dragon King and the others gave no small amount of excitement to Bai Yunfei¨Chis blood was practically boiling with how excited he was.


    This was truly a battle between the mighty!


    All that could be seen of the Black Dragon King was a trail of black. If not for the wind squaller and glacial roc, Ma Wu would¡¯ve been completely torn apart by the Black Dragon King. By himself, the Black Dragon King was still managing to hold one over the two soulbeasts and one man, though killing either of the three was still slightly beyond him.


    Several times, did the Black Dragon King think of whether or not if he should run. With each thought, however, Liang Xiang and Lin Hefan were there to stop him. After their last encounter half a year ago, there were clearly some understandings about his character that the two learned about.


    He couldn¡¯t even kill either of the two since they¡¯d call their soulbeasts back to them whenever any chance of death was close.


    Eyes shining with a contemplative light, the Black Dragon King¡¯s mind raced with ideas as he dodged yet another two of the wind blades sent in his direction. Several icicles pierced through his cloaky black miasma, but he managed to shrug off the damage to block a blade of energy from Ma Wu. Paying no mind to the blood sprinkling from his hand, the Black Dragon King then shot off into the opposing direction of Ma Wu!


    He was flying towards the south!


    The south, where Bai Yunfei was hiding!

 Chapter 439: Gathering of Kings!

    Another opportunity to attack was presented to the Black Dragon King, but before he could make good on that opportunity, a strange fluctuation in the air suddenly saw fit to him beating a hasty retreat! Simultaneously, his right hand blurred momentarily before a shield as black as a crow and as tall as a person appeared to hide his person.


    In the entirety of the battle, this was the very first time he had taken out a weapon!


    No sooner did the shield appear in front of him did two arrows the color of azure and violet appear out of nowhere and embed themselves into it!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    Resonating loudly, the two arrows immediately exploded upon contact!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    There was a thud as the wind squaller dove into the dust cloud, knocking the Black Dragon King away!


    He flew for almost an entire kilometer before coming to an eventual stop. As usual, his shield was still shining with a dim light, but the sound of something cracking alerted him to a problem with it.


    A small palm-sized piece had fallen off the left edge of his shield!


    He wiped at the corners of his mouth, realizing that he had been bleeding. ¡°You!¡± he snarled towards an area of space above him.


    Two figures¨Cazure and violet in light¡ª came stepping down from the skies. There was a male whose face was by no means average, and a female who was like a goddess in beauty.


    But right now, both of their faces were twisted in fury, a fury that fully expressed their desire to kill the Black Dragon King.


    Like the Black Dragon King, Ma Wu paused to take a look at the newcomers.


    ¡°The Two Winged Kings!¡± He exclaimed.


    These two figures were indeed Yi Gang and Yi Rou, the Two Winged Kings!


    Right after Ma Wu cried out the names of the two, the area to their east began to warp in on itself, revealing yet another person; this time in white!


    His arrival hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed. Liang Xing was the first to realize who the mysterious person was. ¡°The lord mayor of Praestia Pass, Wu Tianling!¡±


    Wu Tianling was a man who held many titles. Lord mayor of Praestia Pass, warlord of the Northern Mist Province, a core member of the Tianhun School, member of the royal family, and a late-stage Soul King.


    With their close proximity to the Soulbeast Forest, Praestia Pass had no shortages of trifles with class seven soulbeasts, but Wu Tianling had managed to kill any that dared to come near. At least ten of such soulbeasts had already met their ends by his hands, serving as a message to any of the more rational soulbeasts to stay away from this terrifying person.


    Wu Tianling ventured into the Soulbeast Forest half a year ago to investigate the cause behind the soulbeast wave. Being the closest one to come to this part of the class six area, he came to realize that something powerful was residing here and decided to wait for the right time.


    ¡°What timely arrival you have, lord Wu. We¡¯ve managed to finally hunt down the Black Dragon King, if you can please assist our efforts in capturing him, we can neutralize this scourge from our continent.¡± Liang Xing greeted the man courteously.


    Not many late-stage Soul Kings existed on the continent, so it was imperative that he treat the man with the utmost humbleness, even if he was the second elder of the Beast Taming School. And with the Two Winged King, it was even more necessary that he act this way.


    Wu Tianling levelled an evenly stare at Liang Xing first before looking to the rest of the group with him. ¡°I came here today not so to help your Beast Taming School earn a new soulbeast puppet. By your school¡¯s actions, the soulbeast wave caused tremendous damages to my Praestia Pass. As such, this matter will have a¡­.different conclusion.¡±


    He turned his eye next to the entrapped Black Dragon King. ¡°As for you, Black Dragon King. For terrorizing the Tianhun Empire for the last hundred years, I will strike you down today!¡±


    Liang Xing¡¯s face hardened at Wu Tianling¡¯s words. Wu Tianling was right. The soulbeast wave was caused precisely because of his group half a year ago. The chain reaction that was set off by their fight simply had consequences that none of them expected.


    What Wu Tianling was planning to do today wasn¡¯t to help them ¡®capture¡¯ the Black Dragon King, but to ¡®kill¡¯ him. Though, whether or not Wu Tianling wanted to kill the Black Dragon King for the sake of ¡®the people¡¯ or for his soulgem, Liang Xing wasn¡¯t sure.


    A late-stage class seven soulgem was precious after all, and there wasn¡¯t a single soul cultivator that wouldn¡¯t be tempted by one.


    ¡°Black Dragon King! We¡¯ve hunted you for five years, and at last, we¡¯ve found you! You¡­.you won¡¯t be leaving this place alive today!¡±


    Completely uninterested in the dialogue between Wu Tianling and the Beast Taming School, Yi Gang snarled at the sight of the Black Dragon King.


    The soulforce of the two jian were already raring to go, and if not for Liang Xing and the others, the two jian would¡¯ve attacked the Black Dragon King a long time ago.


    As such, this left the Black Dragon King in a very precarious situation. Liang Xing, Ma Wu, and the others were to his northwest, Wu Lingtian and his other newly-arrived companion Xia Zhengyan was to his east, and the Two Winged Kings were to his south.


    All in all, this meant they were in a triangular position with him at the center.


    The crease on the Black Dragon King¡¯s forehead grew even heavier. This development was an inconsistency to his plans. One or two new enemies was what he expected, but not four, or even the Two Winged Kings. Unlike the other humans who might¡¯ve wanted him for ¡®other¡¯ reasons, all the Two Winged Kings wanted was for his life.


    What they wanted was revenge for their dead son.


    The two class seven jians he once killed and devoured were the son and daughter-in-law of the Two Winged Kings standing in front of him today.


    It was a slip up of major proportions. Unlike other class seven soulbeasts, the Two Winged Kings were in a class of their own. The three of them were all mid-stage class seven soulbeasts, but the Black Dragon King was acutely aware that he had a very low chance of winning against them. Combined with the added presence of the others, the Black Dragon King was now fearful of dying to them today.


    The Beast Taming School was perhaps the only party interested in keeping him alive, since Wu Tianling was most likely after him for the items he possessed.


    If he wasn¡¯t careful, the Two Winged Kings would surely kill him!


    ¡°Damn! Damn it all! Why was it them of all people to come over! And why not anybody else?!¡± Like his face was showing, the Black Dragon King was deeply disturbed by his current predicament. The plan where he could escape while everyone was fighting for him was practically out the window, and he was in a very dangerous situation.


    There probably wouldn¡¯t be any other person coming from here on out. The Soulbeast Forest was a large one, and even though he had plenty of people after him, the people currently surrounding him right now would most likely be the only ones for a good while.


    ¡°What should I do? I¡¯ll die if I don¡¯t do something!¡± Desperation gripped at his mind as he tried his best to think of the best possible way to resolve this predicament.


    No matter how hard he tried though, the three parties had his every possible escape route blocked. If he tried, he¡¯d only be stopped by any two of the three. He¡¯d need to fight his way out.


    ¡°I can only bet it on that! I hate to lose it here, but my life is more important! I can get it back later anyhow!¡±


    Understanding that the Two Winged Kings were on the verge of attacking, he immediately withdrew a white object from his storage and held it in his hand.


    ¡°I know some of you are here for this item, if you want it so badly, then I¡¯ll give it to you!¡±


    And with a loud roar, he tossed the item away from him!!

 Chapter 440: Nephrite Throne

    The object the Black Dragon King took out wasn¡¯t a weapon to be used against his enemies. Instead, it was used as a distraction by¡­.throwing it to the west!


    It had only remained in his hand for barely even a second before it was tossed, but the people gathered here had eyesight that could easily perceived the item as if it was completely still!


    Before the object was too far gone, they all saw it¨Ca tremendous-looking seat completely white in color!


    At a glance, this three meter tall and two meter wide throne was sculpted entirely from pure-white jade. The armrests were sculpted to resemble dragons in shape, and the backrest of the throne had openwork done on it so that mysterious runic lines and stripes ran through the back very clearly. Rather than have four legs to stand upon, the bottom half of the throne was an entire slab of jade with even more runic script than the upper half. Even more mysteriously, the runic script emanated a soft glow of white that added to the illumination of the surrounding area by a tiny amount.


    Despite that light, no elemental energy could be felt from it, making it seem more like a ordinary throne made from mutton-fat jade rather than something special.


    But nonetheless, everyone who saw the throne immediately blanched at the sight.


    ¡°Could¡­.could that be the rumored¡­.¡± Lin Hefan gulped in anticipation, ¡°the legendary Nephrite Throne!!¡±


    The others didn¡¯t cry out in shock like he did, but their expressions were all the same.


    Having the Black Dragon King¡¯s miasma protect the throne, the Black Dragon King was free to toss it with all his might. With his throwing strength, the throne became merely a speck in the distance to everyone there!


    ¡°Correct! It¡¯s the Nephrite Throne, one of the Ten Great Regalia! It¡¯s yours to have, so if you want it, you¡¯d better chase after it! There are many strong individuals here in the forest, if you take your time, someone else will take it before you!!¡±


    With that shout, the Black Dragon King rushed off towards the north!


    Because of his sudden action with the Nephrite Throne, Ma Wu, Liang Xing, and the others were all distracted by it enough to pay attention only to the throne and not his running. Of the entire group, Wu Tianling was the most prominent person to have greed show in his eyes, but there was also hesitation.


    But all in all, the Black Dragon King¡¯s quick actions allowed him to fully distract two of the three parties. The only group that hadn¡¯t been swayed by the Nephrite Throne was¡­.the Two Winged Kings!


    True, they had been slightly surprised when the Black Dragon King took out the Nephrite Throne, but that wasn¡¯t their true objective at hand. Looking away from the throne as soon as it was thrown, the two immediately gave chase to him!


    Yi Gang was the first to move. Grunting, he shot forth like an arrow, violet light radiating from his back to become a pair of translucent violet wings.


    As soon as they formed, the wings flapped in tandem with his movements, further accelerating his speed to the point where he was able to outstrip the Black Dragon King by a kilometer, blocking him from getting anywhere!


    Surprise filled the Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes. This was a first. He had never fought against either of the Two Winged Kings before, so he hadn¡¯t the foggiest that either of the two could be capable of such a speed!


    And to add to his surprise even more, a multitude of violet feathers were fluttering down over his head!


    At some point when Yi Gang overtook him, the feathers from his wings began to flutter down in surprising numbers. Each feather was only as thick as a tree leaf, but they were well over ten thousand of them!


    Yi Rou¡¯s back had an identical pair of wings as Yi Gang, though her wings were colored in a greenish-blue rather than violet. But even more noticeably, feathers were molting from her wings to mix in with the ones from Yi Gang!


    With several tens of thousands of feathers sprinkling the area, the Black Dragon King was deeply and truly without a path of escape. Not a single gap was to be had within this area!


    ¡°Featherfall!!¡±


    As one, Yi Gang and Yi Rou glared at the Black Dragon King and pointed a finger at him!


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh¡­.¡±


    Moving with one another, the feathers shot towards the Black Dragon King with speeds that enabled them to be as fast as an arrow!


    Bellowing in anger, the Black Dragon King took out his black shield once more and had it grow in size to protect his overhead!


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    One after another, the Black Dragon King was assaulted by violet and azure colored feathers¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Only five seconds had transpired when the Black Dragon King tried to make his escape to when the Two Winged Kings assaulted him. That was enough time for the other two parties to recompose themselves and make a decision.


    Within those five seconds, Ma Wu was the first to make a break for the Nephrite Throne. Thinking about it for a split-second, he turned back around, his eyes completely devoid of any greed, to continue chasing after the Black Dragon King again.


    Like him, Liang Xing and Lin Hefan were also staring avariciously at the Nephrite Throne. Their heats pounded loudly with desire to chase after it, their minds thinking back to the legends surrounding the item. But when the Black Dragon King moved to flee, the two of them reshifted their focus to pay attention to him once more.


    ¡°Xing Yuan, bring back the Nephrite Throne no matter what!¡± Liang Xing spat to Xing Yuan before moving to join the fray.


    Not expecting to have been called, it took Xing Yuan a moment to respond to him. But without hesitation, he immediately took off to the west!


    Out of the entire group there, he was the only one that had bothered to go after the Nephrite Throne!


    Like Ma Wu, Wu Lingtian¡¯s eyes had sparkled when he saw the throne. He had in fact been the first to step towards it, but in the end, he stopped himself.


    It wasn¡¯t as though he didn¡¯t want to go after the Nephrite Throne, but he had already planned on fighting the Black Dragon King.


    The Black Dragon King was not allowed to leave this place alive, and Wu Lingtian had planned on dragging its corpse back to Praestia Pass to boot.


    The Nephrite Throne was a must have item to everyone, but the amount of individuals here made it a little less enticing. It didn¡¯t really matter to him if the Beast Taming School had it since he could just make a report to the Tianhun School, and with their power, they¡¯d be able to force the other school to hand over the throne as simple as that!


    The Nephrite Throne, after all, belonged to the Imperial Family!


    It was said that the founder of the empire, Wu Tianhun, once possessed this item two millenniums ago! To be even more specific, it was said that the Nephrite Throne was responsible for him having such a mindblowing talent for cultivation!


    After his time, the item became a treasured heirloom passed down within the Imperial Family. But at some point within the last millenia, an extremely powerful wandering cultivator had taken the item and vanished into thin air.


    From there, not a single trace was to be seen until the Black Dragon King descended upon the earth.


    The Nephrite Throne was said to have an ability that any soul cultivator would froth at the mouth to have.


    It could elevate the rate of cultivation by several magnitudes over!!


    Once that got out, the Nephrite Throne soon became known to the entire world and ushered into the ranks as one of the Ten Great Regalia!


    ¡­¡­


    From far away, Bai Yunfei watched the Nephrite Throne get thrown off into the distance. His eyes were shining brightly, though what he was thinking about was yet to be known.


    He didn¡¯t know what the Nephrite Throne was, and neither did he even know about the ¡®Ten Great Regalia¡¯, but he could at the very least understand that the item was of great importance to everyone.


    Furthermore, the Nephrite Throne had a mysterious aura that seemed to peak his interest in some way¡­..

 Chapter 441: The Black Dragon Kings True Form!

    The feeling Bai Yunfei felt from the Nephrite Throne was slightly familiar to him. He couldn¡¯t explain the feeling, but he just couldn¡¯t put his finger on it¡­..


    He had of course, never seen the Nephrite Throne before, so it went without saying that this Nephrite Throne was a stranger to him. But the feeling of familiarity was there, albeit very weak. Such a sensation was vexing to say the least, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but try to think of why this could be the case.


    ¡°Hold on! This feeling, it feels a bit like the¡­.¡± The missing gear suddenly popped inside his head, ¡°the Upgrade Stone?!¡±


    The final piece of the puzzle was finally there for him to place. This feeling he was getting from the Nephrite Throne was extremely similar to the feeling from the Upgrade Stone! It wasn¡¯t an identical match, but the similarity between them was far greater than the differences!


    Many a times, Bai Yunfei had tried his best to experiment and study the precious item that was known as the Upgrade Stone. He had been loathed to use the first one given to him by Hai Dongqing first and used it to study every so often whenever he was bored. For that reason, he was pretty familiar with what the stone felt like, and thus why he was able to sense the Upgrade Stone hidden away in the nest of the prisma oriole.


    ¡°So that thing is the Nephrite Throne, and a Great Regalia¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei ruminated on what the Black Dragon King said to everyone. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard it before, but it has to pretty precious if the Black Dragon King had to throw it away like that. Everyone wants it, but unfortunately for him, the only one to go after it was Xing Yuan, who didn¡¯t even matter in the fight¡­.¡±


    Author Note: Regalia was once used as equipment tier, specifically for heaven tier soul armaments before I decided to revamp the equipment tier system. I hope no reader will misunderstand the situation and realize that Regalia now has a new meaning in this novel.


    ¡°Even I was able to tell how unique it was even after it was thrown. Clearly this throne is many times better than the Upgrade Stones I came across!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with the utmost glee as he realized the significance of the item.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t this mean the ¡®Nephrite Throne¡¯ is made from¡­.a lot of Upgrade Stones?!!¡±


    His heart skipped a beat just thinking about that possibility, and the light in his eyes intensified in sharpness. Temporarily forgetting about the battle taking place, Bai Yunfei stared off towards the Nephrite Throne and the chasing figure of Xing Yuan with a great deal of uncertainty¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    The attack the Two Winged Kings announced onto the Black Dragon King, the ¡®Featherfall¡¯, had already plenty of feathers see to striking down at the shield of his, exploding with terrifying vigor whenever contact was had.


    Just a single feather wasn¡¯t very strong, but tens of thousands of them was a force to be reckoned with. With all of them exploding at once, the Black Dragon King was unable to move anywhere without being hit by one of them!


    Each explosion forced the Black Dragon King down towards the ground, and the black shield of his having a small dent on its face. Though a different explosion would erupt with each feather touching it, the shield would still have a black light relight on its surface afterwards.


    ¡°Is this the strength of the Two Winged Kings? A soulbeast at the limits of a late-stage class seven would be killed by such an attack, let alone a mid-stage class seven like they are!!¡±


    The Two Winged Kings was a new opponent for him to fight, but already did their fighting prowess blow his expectations out from the waters. Just the Featherfall move alone was enough for him to feel completely convinced that they were many times stronger than the Azure Snake King he once fought before!


    ¡°And¡­.why haven¡¯t any of them run after the Nephrite Throne?!¡± His ire grew even stronger at that. It pained him so much to throw the item away, and yet not a single one of the Soul Kings went after it!


    Xing Yuan was of no consequence to him, of course.


    ¡°Do they not care about the Nephrite Throne?!¡± he screamed mentally, ¡°This can¡¯t be! It¡¯s a Regalia any being in the world would drool over! How are they not swayed by it?!¡±


    He couldn¡¯t accept this resolution. Throwing away the Nephrite Throne was something he didn¡¯t want to do at all, and yet not a single person had taken the bait!


    Several dozen years ago, he was stuck in a situation very much like this one. In order to escape with his life, the Black Dragon King had used the Nephrite Throne as bait.


    Much to his glee, the people there took the bait and chased after it, allowing him to kill the ones that stayed behind and then kill the ones that went after the throne.


    That way, he was able to make it out with his life and take back the Nephrite Throne.


    That had also been his closest brush with death barring today.


    As long as he could avoid it, the Black Dragon King didn¡¯t want to resort to using the Nephrite Throne. It came under his possession several hundred years ago, and he was extremely fond of it.


    But to come under fire like this today with people such as the Two Winged Kings and Wu Tianling gave him no other choice. They weren¡¯t many in numbers, but their strength made up for that.


    Actually, the Black Dragon King had the feeling that there were several hidden foes lying in wait. It was only a feeling, or intuition, as he¡¯d like to call it, but it was with this intuition that he was able to live for so long. That was another reason why he was so willing to throw away the Nephrite Throne!


    True as it was that it was his most precious treasure, he had to be alive in order to even use it.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    One explosion later, the Black Dragon King impacted against the ground!


    ¡°Grab him alive! If not, then at least get his soulgem and corpse!¡± Liang Xing cried out to Lin Hefan, the two moving in with their soulbeast puppets to attack.


    Though things were going awry with the arrival of the Two Winged Kings, their chances of capturing the Black Dragon King alive became very slim. But even then, they had to try their best for the sake of the Beast Taming School to earn a profit somehow!


    Pausing briefly for a moment, Ma Wu waved his golden sword to attack. Due to the injuries he sustained from the Black Dragon King in their fight before, Ma Wu was afraid to attack him from up close, so he choose to stay behind and wait for the best time to attack.


    Standing in the air, Wu Lingtian had a grim expression on his face, though his soulforce was fluctuating in movement as he prepared himself to attack¡­.


    The attack of the Two Winged Kings was finally at its end, and no more dust was being kicked up from the ground now.


    Fractured all over, the black shield in the Black Dragon King¡¯s hand managed to stop one more explosion before finally crumbling to pieces in his hand!


    In the end, the low-heaven tier soul armament had been utterly destroyed by the Two Winged Kings!


    As soon as the shield fell apart, the Black Dragon King immediately found himself besieged by the strongest attacks his opponents had to offer¡­.


    The Black Dragon King¡¯s body began to quiver all over. His eyes were bloodshot due to the stress of fighting for his life, and his heart was filled with hatred. He tilted his head up to look at the Two Winged Kings, the pupils of his eyes already given way to his berserk fury!


    ¡°Roaarrrrr!!!¡±


    Extending his jaw wide open, an earth-shaking roar erupted from it along with a dense miasma of black light. It first enveloped his body in it before then spreading out to cover the surrounding area!


    From ten meters, a hundred meters, three hundred meters, and then five hundred meters¡­..


    The black miasma billowed outwards to eight hundred meters in the blink of an eye. A frightful aura manifested itself from within the miasma before it shot straight out into the skies!


    Another dragon¡¯s roar was heard again, seemingly calling for the clouds above to darken in color ominously.


    As the clouds grew darker and denser, droplets of rain began to fall before ultimately giving way to a downpour!


    A figure nearly a kilometer long in length slowly descended down from the clouds. Scales as dark as the night adorned its body, giant claws capable of shredding the earth at its hands, and a tail a hundred meters long hung at the very end of the dragon-like body before it let loose another roar that shook the hearts of everyone that heard it!


    This was¡­.the true form of the Black Dragon!


    ¡­¡­


    At the same time of its appearance, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with opportunity, ¡°Now!¡±


    Flying straight out like a bullet from the canopus of the tree he was hiding in, Bai Yunfei made a beeline for the west without any hesitation to his step!

 Chapter 442: Leaving the Battlefield (First)

    A battle between beings of the Soul King level wasn¡¯t a battle Bai Yunfei could hope to take part of. With his current strength, a stray elemental ¡®grenade¡¯ from the fight would be enough to turn him into a bloody smear on the ground. He wanted to run away, but he was also worried that Xing Yuan would notice and try to kill him.


    So Bai Yunfei decided to wait for when everyone was too busy on fighting while he continued to recover from his wounds.


    By relying on the effects of his armor and the ambient energy around him, Bai Yunfei enjoyed a brief moment of accelerated recovery to a point where Bai Yunfei felt comfortable enough to try and make his escape.


    It went without saying that this battle was wonderful to watch and invaluable to learn from, but the battlefield was getting bigger and bigger, and Bai Yunfei could not longer guarantee his own safety if he stayed. Leaving now rather than later would be a wise choice, especially now that the Two Winged Kings were here.


    Bai Yunfei sensed from Xiao Qi that the Two Winged Kings knew that they were here, so them leaving shouldn¡¯t be a problem to the Two Winged Kings.


    Furthermore, if the Two Winged Kings were so inclined to show their ¡®consideration¡¯ for them, all the Two Winged Kings had to do was exert some semblance of pressure onto Xing Yuan so that even if he realized Bai Yunfei was there, there¡¯d be nothing to do besides being blown up by the two jian for being a bothersome ¡®ant¡¯.


    This line of thought was dashed when the Black Dragon King tossed away the Nephrite Throne, causing Xing Yuan to chase after it. To make his decision even harder to make, Bai Yunfei realizing what the Nephrite Throne gave rise to a third option¡­.


    In all fairness, this was an extremely auspicious opportunity! If everyone but Xing Yuan wasn¡¯t willing to leave, then Bai Yunfei had a chance to partake!


    Every reward had its dangers, but Bai Yunfei was more than willing to risk it! The soulgem of a late-stage class seven soulbeast, revenge, or justification for the death of the many inhabitants of the continent wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei had the right to talk about. But if it was chasing after the ¡®unwanted¡¯ treasure, then Bai Yunfei had no problems in doing!


    So, with every single new development taken into consideration, Bai Yunfei came to a decision. Once the Black Dragon King revealed its final form, he¡¯d make use of the reveal to beat a hasty escape!


    As soon as Bai Yunfei leapt out from his hiding spot, Xiao Qi followed suit. Transforming in size, Xiao Qi grew large enough to catch Bai Yunfei in its claws before taking off towards the west like a shooting star!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi¡¯s sudden actions were noticed by each of the Soul Kings fighting, but not a single one of them cared. Only Liang Xing cared enough to give both of the two a slight glance, but when he realized how weak they were, he snorted and looked back to the fight at hand.


    Yi Rou had looked at Xiao Qi with concern, but a warning from Yi Gang pulled her glance away from the bird. Pressing their hands together, Yi Gang and Yi Rou had an extremely long strand of elemental energy fly down onto the Black Dragon King like a hammer!


    ¡°Roarrrr!!!¡±


    Down below, the Black Dragon King snarled and took a step back. Though it was only a step, over a hundred meters of ground was covered by that one step alone, and the ground trembled when his foot came smashing back down onto it, leaving a giant footprint in its place.


    Opening his maw up wide, the Black Dragon King snapped at the bolt of energy!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a clang as his fangs met with the bolt of energy, but with the black miasma increasing the strength of his bite, the bolt of energy was ultimately broken into several pieces! As for the other half of the bolt still left intact, the Black Dragon King redirected it towards the glacial roc. Upon contact with the bolt, the glacial roc let loose a pain-filled screech.


    Shifting its body slightly, the Black Dragon King lashed out with his tail to slam it into the three bolts of golden energy from Ma Wu. Pinging loudly with each bolt hit, he redirected the bolt towards the wind squaller a kilometer away!


    A figure cloaked in golden light suddenly appeared right behind the Black Dragon King¡¯s head at that moment, a giant blade ten meters tall and two meters wide in his hands and ready to give deliverance onto his head!


    It was Wu Tianling!


    ¡­¡­


    A few meters up in the air, Bai Yunfei was now riding on the back of Xiao Qi as they made their escape. Looking back just in time to see a series of explosions rock the earth, Bai Yunfei was pleased to see that no one looked like they¡¯d be coming after him. Sighing in relief, Bai Yunfei wiped off the sweat from his forehead.


    His hand reached down towards the Beast Taming Ring in Xiao Qi¡¯s mouth. Touching at the empty ring, Bai Yunfei looked back towards the tree they left behind.


    ¡°Xiao Lan, this is where we¡¯ll be saying goodbye. We can¡¯t take you with us from here on out¡­.¡± He sighed, shaking his head in sadness.


    The blue-eyes wyrm just had to go. It wasn¡¯t as though Xiao Qi couldn¡¯t carry the wyrm, but that Bai Yunfei needed the Beast Taming Ring back. And without the Beast Taming Ring to control the wyrm, there¡¯d be no way that the wyrm would be willing enough to follow Bai Yunfei.


    After traveling with the wyrm for so long, Bai Yunfei had a sense of attachment to it. The wyrm was a rather cool mount, but although it pained him to do so, Bai Yunfei had no other choice.


    Back in the tree Xiao Qi flew out from, Xiao Lan stood on one of the tree branches, staring at the two companions it had previously traveled with. In its eyes, a humanistic-like look of contemplation could be seen. With how its eyes flashed strangely with light, a myriad of emotions could be seen with each flash of light.


    Surprise, bewilderment, joy, and even a little bit of¡­.reluctance¡­.


    It shook its head wildly before turning back to look at the awe-inspiring battle with the Black Dragon King. Shivering slightly at the sight, the blue-eyes wyrm then leapt down from the tree before making a careful, but quick beeline towards the south away from the area.


    Since it was only an insignificant class six soulbeast, the people battling in the opposite direction wouldn¡¯t bat an eyelid at it¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Rain was pouring down in heavy amounts, the skies being especially dark at the moment with lightning bolt crashing down from the skies. At this moment, Bai Yunfei sat on the top of Xiao Qi¡¯s back, his Cataclysmic Seal hovering in front of him with its barrier protecting him and Xiao Qi from the chilling gale and the rain.


    They were traveling in the direction of where the Nephrite Throne was tossed, but not so far in that direction that they could be spotted by Xing Yuan. But with such a speed like that, Bai Yunfei was starting to feel uncertain if he¡¯d be able to catch up in time¡­.


    ¡°The Black Dragon King has a strong throwing arm. Even with all that elemental energy protecting it, he was able to throw it unbelievably far. I wonder just how far he threw it though¡­.¡±


    With his soulsense as his guide, Bai Yunfei made sure to think about what he thought about the Black Dragon King. ¡°It would¡¯ve been better to run a little earlier, but good thing there weren¡¯t any other experts nearby, otherwise they would¡¯ve joined the fight earlier. If they weren¡¯t strong enough, then they would¡¯ve been hidden far away like I was. If they were hidden far away though, the chances of me meeting them would¡¯ve been pretty high if they¡¯re going after the throne.¡±


    ¡°Xing Yuan¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei looked up, ¡°he has the advantage over me. But Xiao Qi is a lot faster than he is, so I should be able to catch up soon. Hopefully, he¡¯ll have the Nephrite Throne in hand so I can take it from him.¡±


    His first encounter with Xing Yuan had left him in a quandary where only escape was possible, but things were different now. Thanks to the elevation of strength he got with Xiao Qi, and the ¡®tide-changing treasure¡¯ he got, his chances of winning against Xing Yuan was even higher now!


    ¡°I could beat Xing Yuan, and even if someone else comes for it, I don¡¯t really need the throne, so I can just leave after that.¡±


    He nodded in satisfaction of his plan.


    ¡°Xiao Qi,¡± he affectionately patted Xiao Qi on the back of its neck, ¡°you just need to fly straight, if we don¡¯t, we¡¯ll never find the treasure.¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    As if to reassure him, Xiao Qi chirped once before flapping its wings to fly even faster¡­.

 Chapter 443: The Tragedy of the Throne Seeker, the Convenience Man (Second)

    In the later half of the class six area of the Soulbeast Forest.


    ¡°Aooooo!!¡±


    The cries of a beast reverberated through the forest, but its cries were quickly cut short a moment later.


    A man pulled his sword out from the throat of a recently killed leopard. From both the wound and the sword, blood dripped freely onto the ground.


    The man plunged the sword again into the leopard¡¯s head, excavating its soulgem into his hand.


    ¡°Man, I struck it rich today. Was going to leave, but then this late-stage class six soulbeast comes out of nowhere! What a convenient bounty!¡± He gloated to himself as he wiped the soulgem clean of blood before storing it away.


    ¡°Hehe, I really am just lucky. The others were killed by that late-stage class six delusion bear, but I had it in me to escape. Guess it¡¯s true when they say fortune follows misfortune. With this late-stage class six soulgem, I won¡¯t be going home empty-handed!¡±


    This man is Bian Dangnan, a wandering cultivator that was actually in his fifties rather than in his thirties as his appearance might show. He was actually quite strong as a late-stage Soul Exalt and was a part of an adventuring team with two other late-stage Soul Exalts and three mid-stage Soul Exalts. Their group came into the forest to go hunting for soulbeasts, but a rampaging late-stage class six delusion bear had nearly decimated the team, leaving Bian Dangnan as the only survivor. In his rush to flee from the area, he came across a half-dead late-stage class six zombie leopard and ambushed it.


    TL Note: This person¡¯s name (±åµ±éª) is a homophone to ±ãµ±ÄÐ (Biandang Nan), meaning a ¡®bento male¡¯, or a male who is seemingly financially secure. Or in this case, convenient.


    ¡°Wonder what the leopard was so panicked about, though.¡± Bian Dangnan tilted his head quizzically.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    A glow of white light off in the distance caught his eye. Realizing that something was flying overhead, he turned to look and see what it was.


    ¡°A chair?!¡± He was bewildered upon realizing what the flying object was, but then when he sensed the aura emanating from the chair, he smiled. ¡°This¡­.this is treasure! Time to get me another bountiful piece of treasure!!¡±


    He leapt into the air, not willing to miss out on this opportunity. Orange light glowed underneath his feet with each leap he took, and in a matter of a few steps, he was high in the skies ready to grab hold of the throne.


    He clapped his hands together with a grunt. Elemental earth started to gather in front of him, and when enough was gathered, it transformed into a wall of solid earth.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The throne collided with the wall, but rather than stopping like Bian Dangnan expected, the throne smashed straight through it!


    Nearly watching the throne fly past him, Bian Dangnan hastened to grab onto it with his elemental earth now being used to strengthen his grip.


    ¡°Hngh!¡± He grunted, exerting all of the muscle and strength he had as a late-stage Soul Exalt to stop the Nephrite Throne from flying away.


    But he was unsuccessful. The throne slipped away from his grasp and continued onwards to finally come crashing into the mountain to his left a few hundred meters away.


    ¡°Elemental darkness!!¡± Bian Dangnan was stunned, his eyes wide open in his disbelief. In the moment he tried to grab onto the throne, the elemental darkness still enveloping it had managed to soak into his body! It wasn¡¯t a large amount enough to be fatal, but his arms went numb as soon as it made contact with the elemental darkness!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡± Expelling the elemental darkness with his soulforce, Bian Dangnan¡¯s entire person lit up in a fiery glow of orange.


    The purge took a while before he could finally move again. With one last push, he drove out the last vestiges of the elemental darkness from his body!


    ¡°Whew¡­.that was scary! It was just a little strand of elemental darkness, but that was too much for me!¡± Bian Dangnan stretched his arms as he inspected his body all over. Upon seeing nothing was wrong, he immediately looked back to where the throne had gone.


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely treasure!!¡± He shouted in joy, but before he could move, a terrifying aura from behind caused him to turn around in fear!


    Right as he did, the large jaw of a bloody maw came forward to devour him!


    ¡°Roarrr!¡±


    All he heard was its roar before everything black for him. Pain wracked his entire body for a moment, and then, he felt nothing¡­.


    In one bite, the thunderfire wolf had clamped over the upper half of Bian Dangnan¡¯s body. Shaking its head, the thunderfire wolf split the man¡¯s body in two, allowing the bottom half to fall back down from the skies.


    The silhouette of a person came to a stop right next to his dead carcass. Stooping over, the figure collected the dead man¡¯s space ring and inspected its inner contents. ¡°Pah! Just an overzealous weakling lusting after something as powerful as the Nephrite Throne¡­.¡±


    A vacant look that of a dead man was still on Bian Dangnan¡¯s face. His eyes were glossy, though still holding the expression of bewilderment in them--he had been unlucky, by using his soulforce to counteract the elemental darkness, his awareness had been temporarily softened. So when the thunderfire wolf came up to devour him, he stood no chance at all¡­.


    ¡±But he was useful in slowing down the Nephrite Throne, else it fly even farther away for another person to take.¡± Xing Yuan murmured. Avarice filling his eyes as he stared at the throne, he moved to get closer to it to pick it up.


    ¡°So this is one of the Ten Great Regalia, the Nephrite Throne¡­.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but stare hungrily at it for a while. He knew that even as an elder of the Beast Taming School, he wouldn¡¯t live past a month if he tried to take the throne for himself¡­.


    ¡°Eh? It won¡¯t fit in the space ring?!¡± When he tried to store away the item, Xing Yuan was alarmed to find out that it wouldn¡¯t go in!


    ¡°There¡¯s another source of energy here, some type of soulforce imprinting!¡± It took a while for Xing Yuan to realize just how this imprinting came to be.


    ¡°The Black Dragon King! He turned the Nephrite Throne into a soulbound armament!¡±


    With the exception of those from the Crafting School, soulbound armaments are rare to find from any soul cultivator beneath the rank of a Soul King. But for Soul Kings and those even stronger, soulbound armaments were a relatively easy thing to make. Any Soul King could simply imprint their soulforce onto the soul armament and bind it to them.


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll have to wait for the second elder to take care of it, or wait for them to kill the Black Dragon King. With his death, we should be able to take it, I should fir¡ª¡±


    A sudden source of soulforce caught his eye, interrupting his speech. Turning towards the east, Xing Yuan saw a flash of azure and violet come flying over to him!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­..¡± Xing Yuan realized who it was instantaneously, ¡°it¡¯s him!!¡±

 Chapter 444: Battling Xing Yuan Again (Third)

    Xiao Qi was blessed with many factors to give it a speed that¡¯d outstrip that of a late-stage class six soulbeast. It had an affinity for both elemental wind and lightning, meaning that it was already naturally gifted with faster speed than most, and with the Wind and Lightning feathers, Xiao Qi was able to double its speed.


    So in a very short amount of time, Xiao Qi was able to fly extended distances in a flurry of multi-colored light, and far away enough to have the rumbling thunder decrease in volume.


    According to Bai Yunfei¡¯s own calculations, they¡¯ve must¡¯ve flown over a hundred kilometers by now.


    ¡°We¡¯re still not caught up¡­.just how far did was the Nephrite Throne thrown for?! If this keeps up, the throne will be taken by someone else!¡±


    A few seconds later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement, ¡°This is¡­.this is Xing Yuan¡¯s aura!¡±


    Standing up on Xiao Qi¡¯s head, Bai Yunfei looked off towards the direction where he sensed Xing Yuan, ¡°At last! He¡¯s stopped, does that mean the throne has stopped too?!¡±


    That final line of thought gave no small amount of glee to Bai Yunfei. Preparing himself to fight, Bai Yunfei spurred Xiao Qi onwards.


    Since he didn¡¯t know just how Xing Yuan would react to his arrival or if anyone else would be there, Bai Yunfei was careful in having them move carefully. They¡¯d need to move in the most optimal way for an ambush, since rushing to their deaths would be completely counterproductive to their goals of grabbing the Nephrite Throne.


    Killing a beast tamer wasn¡¯t anything bad, in Bai Yunfei¡¯s opinion. And that was before his grudge with Xing Yuan could even be factored in.


    Since Xiao Qi had no way of hiding its presence, Bai Yunfei chose to forgo hiding as well. He didn¡¯t even bother using the Face Change technique. Xing Yuan would know who he was when they fought, so the technique would be useless.


    No one else was within the vicinity, meaning no one would know who Bai Yunfei was if he killed Xing Yuan.


    ¡°No matter the case, I should hurry up and finish up this battle before making my exit!¡±


    The soulforce within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was nearing its optimal levels for combat now.


    Xing Yuan was ahead of him, standing ready for combat as well.


    ¡­¡­


    It was with surprise that Xing Yuan realized who the newcomer was. His entire body immediately tensed up after he did, though.


    ¡°It¡¯s him!!¡±


    While Xing Yuan was in the middle of his confusion, Bai Yunfei was already within a hundred meters of him. Stepping down from Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei leapt down to the ground.


    At first, he saw the corpse of Bian Dangnan. Then he looked to Xing Yuan¡¯s floating person in the skies, and then to the Nephrite Throne in his hands.


    ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡± Xing Yuan remarked, completely bewildered that Bai Yunfei of all people would be here.


    ¡°You¡¯re here of all places? As an¡­early-stage Soul Exalt? And with a soulbeast?¡±


    But then he smirked, as if ridiculing Bai Yunfei, ¡°A prisma oriole, though? Haha! Brat, where¡¯d you find the balls to even appear in front of me again? Did you think you can beat me now now that you¡¯re a little stronger? You ran away last time, but this time you¡¯re offering yourself up to me! Consider yourself unlucky that¡­.your life will be forfeit here!¡±


    Xing Yuan suffered plenty of humiliating feats by the hands of Bai Yunfei. Not only was his twinheaded vulture and seven dreamwind hawks killed, the three-eyed bloodlion he had been hoping to get was also slaughtered by Bai Yunfei!


    And to make it even worse, Bai Yunfei managed to even injure Xing Yuan before successfully escaping¡­..


    All of this combined made Xing Yuan absolutely furious with Bai Yunfei. So furious that Xing Yuan wanted nothing more than to tear him apart limb to limb if he ever saw him again.


    From the other side, Bai Yunfei stared at him with a look of utter passivity. ¡°You talk too much. I just want to say one thing to you, and it¡¯s the last thing you said to me before.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± He spat, holding his middle finger up, ¡°Are going to die here today!!¡±


    But the thunderfire wolf was already nearly upon Bai Yunfei and ready to clamp down on him! Xing Yuan had the Nephrite Throne pushed back to its cave as he prepared to take care of Bai Yunfei¨Cwith how precious the item was, he needed to be extra careful that nothing would happen to it while he fought, else he¡¯d be in hot waters afterwards.


    ¡°This time, I¡¯ll be sure to take away all of this brat¡¯s soul armaments!¡± Xing Yuan decided. This time, he¡¯d definitely kill off Bai Yunfei once in for all!


    Rain was currently falling from the skies, but that didn¡¯t matter much to either Bai Yunfei or Xing Yuan since they were both fire-type soul cultivators. In fact, the rain was probably more beneficial to Xing Yuan, as he had the thunderfire wolf, whose affinity for lightning would come in handy here.


    Xing Yuan smirked. He wouldn¡¯t even need to bother thinking about the early-stage class six soulbeast with Bai Yunfei.


    So with the utmost speed, the thunderfire wolf¡¯s jaws were ready to clamp down onto Bai Yunfei! Thanks to the relative distance between them and the wolf, it hadn¡¯t been a problem for it to get close!


    ¡°Heh! I won¡¯t be the same as last time!¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. He was already in the middle of activating his ¡®coil¡¯ form when the thunderfire wolf was ready to strike, meaning he could activate it with some time to spare.


    Now armed with the power of a middle-stage Soul Exalt, Bai Yunfei withdrew the Cataclysmic Seal, using its barrier to completely stop the wolf¡¯s fangs and claws from reaching his body!


    Blocked from biting down on him, the thunderfire wolf immediately went for another tactic. Again opening its mouth wide open, a ball of violet light began to shine in it to prepare to fire!


    Shifting his feet, Bai Yunfei traveled immediately to another destination by means of the Flash Step, resulting in the ball of light to sail harmlessly away from him.


    Without any other move to follow it up, the thunderfire wolf could only try again the snap at Bai Yunfei with its jaws!


    This time, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to dodge. Calmly waiting as the wolf approached, Bai Yunfei took a half step back with his right foot and extended both arms out.


    They collided noisily, with Bai Yunfei being knocked several meters backwards due to the built up momentum. Rather than being bitten, both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands were expertly fastened to the jawbones of the wolf!


    ¡°Die!¡± What Bai Yunfei did was an extremely silly move, and Xing Yuan was all too happy to capitalize on it. Sending the command, he had the thunderfire wolf gather up elemental lightning between its jaws again to fire it at point-blank range!


    A fireball was simultaneously brewing in the hand of Xing Yuan a good dozen meters away.


    Though beast tamers had soulbeasts to use as their main means of attack, they weren¡¯t completely helpless and had other ways to launch an offensive.


    But rather than being intimidated by the ball of lightning forming in front of him, Bai Yunfei smirked. The blue bracelet on his right arm suddenly began to glow and grow in size. Loosening around his wrist, it slid down and over the wolf¡¯s head!


    What he was doing wasn¡¯t an attempt to dodge the ball of light, but to clamp down the Beast Taming Ring over the wolf¡¯s throat like a collar!


    As if a switch had been flicked, the ball of light immediately went out, and its body started to tremble!

 Chapter 445: The Bane of the Beast Taming School (Fourth)

    Bai Yunfei had racked up a good amount of experience with the Beast Taming Ring due to experimenting with the blue-eyes wyrm. The wolf was a different soulbeast, but still a soulbeast in the end. The ring snapped over the thunderfire wolf¡¯s neck and then tightened over it with a mysterious glow.


    Earlier preparations had Bai Yunfei more than ready to protect himself with the Cataclysmic Seal while most of his concentration would be put towards to overwhelming the wolf¡¯s mind. To make his defense even more stalwart, Xiao Qi would distract Xing Yuan while Bai Yunfei was working on the wolf.


    Beast tamers placed the most of their fighting capabilities on these soulbeast puppets. Soulbeast puppets fought at their most efficient and without the fear of death, making it a very powerful tool for beast tamers to wield.


    On the inverse, this also meant that if the soulbeast puppet was taken out from the equation, the beast tamer would lose a drastic amount of firepower.


    So what Bai Yunfei planned was to have the Beast Taming Ring overwhelm the mind of the thunderfire wolf. As long as Bai Yunfei could shut down the communication between the thunderfire wolf and Xing Yuan, then Xing Yuan wouldn¡¯t be able to use it. And when Xing Yuan is distracted, Xiao Qi would make its attack!


    As expected from the Beast Taming Ring, Bai Yunfei could feel the energy from it activating start to happen.


    But.


    Something completely unexpected from what he thought would happen was starting to take place.


    It wasn¡¯t as though it failed, but¡­.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    A half-surprised, half-hectic choke was heard then. It was coming from Xing Yuan, a troubled expression on his face.


    The fireball he had been preparing to use to attack Bai Yunfei with had dissipated into the air, as if it had fallen apart. But the elemental fire still floating around him was being distorted as his soulforce fluctuated spasmodically!


    Meanwhile, the thunderfire wolf was trembling from head to tail, but¡­.it wasn¡¯t doing anything else!


    ¡°Hold on¡­.¡± This strange development caught Bai Yunfei off guard. As unexpected as it was, Bai Yunfei did notice something strange. Xing Yuan¡¯s face was completely contorted in on itself, and the elemental fire he had been radiating before was now going back into his body while his soulforce was trembling violently before compressing back into Xing Yuan¡¯s body!


    And at the same time, Bai Yunfei felt another resurgence of a mental attack in his mindspace!


    ¡°I get it now!!¡±


    The final piece of the puzzle clicked in his mind, it all made sense to Bai Yunfei now.


    This contest between wills wasn¡¯t between him and the thunderfire wolf, but with Xing Yuan!


    A smile of the utmost joy appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. As he concentrated at the task at hand, he cried out, ¡°Xiao Qi!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t needed to cry out like that, as Xiao Qi was more than ready when called. As soon as the Beast Taming Ring had been slipped onto the thunderfire wolf¡¯s neck, Xiao Qi had already lashed out with a blade of wind to attack Xing Yuan!


    The pupils in Xing Yuan¡¯s eyes dilated as the blade of wind approached. He held his right hand up, a barrier of elemental fire coating its palm, and allowed the blade of wind to smash into it.


    Despite being relatively unharmed, Xing Yuan was knocked backwards several steps.


    The true damage wasn¡¯t to his physical body, but towards his concentration. While Xing Yuan had to deal with that, Bai Yunfei managed to take the upper hand over him in the battle of wills!


    The battle of wills was taking place not in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mindspace, but the thunderfire wolf¡¯s. Not even a single iota of resistance could be seen or felt from the wolf, and it seemed as though its mind was completely devoid of anything.


    In this place, Xing Yuan was the master attacking Bai Yunfei, the gate crasher.


    Furthermore, the main goal in this battle wasn¡¯t a battle of ¡®subjugation¡¯ like it was with the blue-eyes wyrm.


    It was a battle of expulsion!


    The mindspace of the thunderfire wolf was a battleground to Bai Yunfei and Xing Yuan. It belonged to neither person, but as long as one of the two sides remained, they¡¯d hold control over it!


    Right now, Xing Yuan was absolutely overwhelmed with shock. Someone wrestling control of his soulbeast away from him was something he had never even heard of, let alone see before! The Beast Taming School made use of a method that imprinted a slave seal on the very depths of a soulbeast¡¯s soul. The seal allowed for the consciousness of the soulbeast to be erased while leaving behind its primal instincts for a soul cultivator to control with his own power, but controlling that power was already a very difficult task.


    It took Xing Yuan an entire year for in order for him to force the thunderfire wolf into submission.


    Once a soulbeast puppet was fully created, the seal on its mindspace was complete. Like a lock, the mindspace was safe from external attacks, and even a Soul King would be unable to force himself into it, since that¡¯d lead to the soulbeast¡¯s death if anyone tried!


    Never had Xing Yuan ever heard before of a soul cultivator trying to wrestle away control of a soulbeast puppet from its beast tamer!


    Coming in to strike Xing Yuan, Xiao Qi came descending down onto him like a bolt of violet lightning from the skies, forcing the man to break concentration and dive to the side again.


    Without his equipment, Bai Yunfei was only a mid-stage Soul Exalt, but with them, he was comparable to the levels of a late-stage Soul Exalt. Compared to someone who stood at the very apex of the late-stage Soul Exalt level like Xing Yuan, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mental strength would be weaker. It was only due to Xiao Qi¡¯s interference and Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise attack that he was able to get the upper hand, but in the end, it was enough to push Xing Yuan back in the battle of will!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here! What in the world is going on?!¡± Xing Yuan mentally screamed to himself. He couldn¡¯t believe what was going on, and neither could he understand it. But all he knew was that the Bai Yunfei fighting him today was completely different to the one from the first battle!


    He had already moved back several kilometers so that he could dodge Xiao Qi¡¯s movements, but each time he tried to widen the distance, Xiao Qi would chase after him and unleash hundreds arcs of lightning!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    Each arc of lightning struck uselessly off the coating of elemental energy around Xing Yuan¡¯s body. Though they didn¡¯t seem to do much against it, each lightning bolt was slightly stronger than the last, making the elemental fire around him flicker as if threatening to collapse.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    At last, the barrier could hold out no more. It shivered for a bit before finally collapsing in on itself and leaving Xing Yuan defenseless.


    And before he could put up another barrier, a dozen more bolts of lightning struck him


    ¡°Hmph!¡± A droplet of blood escaped from Xing Yuan¡¯s mouth. As a late-stage Soul Exalt, he could handle at least this much physical pain. Since he had elemental fire coursing through his body, the elemental lightning from the bolts wouldn¡¯t hinder his body much in any lasting way.


    But¡­.


    ¡°Urk!?¡± A gurgle of confusion also escaped from his mouth then. In that moment of contact with the lightning bolts, he felt a strange sliver of energy escape from the bolts of lightning into his body, moving past his soulforce and elemental fire to target his inner body. From his skin to his very soul at his center, the strange energy seemed to penetrate straight through it, and then¡­.


    He had been in the middle of retreating when the lightning bolts struck. And when that strange energy from the attack pierced into his body, Xing Yuan came to a sudden stop. Disobeying Xing Yuan¡¯s commands, his own hand came up with a ball of fire in it. Tossing it away, they then began to move strangely along with his feet, much to Xing Yuan¡¯s confusion and horror.


    He was struck with confusion!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    And this was precisely the moment Xiao Qi was waiting for!


    Extending its wings out wide, three separate blades made from a void in space formed in front of it. As soon as they reached their full size, each of the three then shot silently towards the direction of Xing Yuan!


    Like Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi had a few understandings of its own when it came to its own strength.


    Use swarming tactics to have the enemy afflicted with a confusion status, and then use the Spatial Edge to follow up.


    This battle plan was its most effective and most useful tactic with very little room for error.


    And this time was no exception.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    One of the Spatial Edges came into contact with the waist of Xing Yuan with a sound barely audible to the listening ear.


    It continued into the forest below where it then disappeared from sight.


    And as for Xing Yuan, his entire person came to a sudden and immediate stop¡­.


    He had been bisected!!

 Chapter 446: An Attack onto the Soul and the Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon’s Roar! (Fifth)

    The moment when the Spatial Edge tore into Xing Yuan¡¯s waist, Bai Yunfei felt the opposing source of resistance in the thunderfire wolf¡¯s mindspace slip away and out of existence.


    Fresh blood sprayed all over from both segments of Xing Yuan¡¯s body, leaving Bai Yunfei to stare at it in mute surprise.


    ¡°That¡­was easy??¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until Xing Yuan¡¯s corpse fell to the floor did Bai Yunfei finally fully realize that the battle was over. Staring oddly at the corpse below, Bai Yunfei looked then to the thunderfire wolf, not sure of what to think or say.


    His first battle with Xing Yuan forced Bai Yunfei into such dire straits where escape was the only path left for him to take.


    But this time, it didn¡¯t even take one full minute to completely devastate the man.


    This outcome was entirely beyond his expectations and his victory far too seamless for him to be convinced.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Hearing the excited chirps of Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei turned his head to face the bird. Lights four different colors were surrounding the bird, as if gathered to it with a increasingly mystique energy to them.


    ¡°Xiao Qi can get stronger this way too?!¡± Bai Yunfei thought. He was quite happy about this, actually. Xiao Qi¡¯s ability to grow stronger with each kill had always been a treat to see, but Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected to see the skill activate again with the death of Xing Yuan.


    This phenomena would need to be investigated, Bai Yunfei thought, but now wasn¡¯t the right time for it; there was the Nephrite Throne to be considered. Stepping towards it with a racing heart, Bai Yunfei knew that his guess was right:


    There was a connection between the Upgrade Stones and the Nephrite Throne!


    At a glance, the Nephrite Throne looked quite heavy, but the reality was nothing like Bai Yunfei imagined. At most, the throne was fifty kilograms, which wasn¡¯t a weight Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t lift.


    But the moment his hand touched the throne, a string of notifications rose up into his mind, leaving him speechless as he realized what the notifications was saying¡­.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡°Roar!!!!¡±


    A single roar echoed through the skies, emitting a strange energy that doubled as a type of forcefield. From where there used to be rain, not a single droplet of it could be seen for a kilometer in radius!


    At the center of it all was the Black Dragon King, who towered over everyone else with an aura of extreme intimidation. All over his body, scars and wounds decorated his once-shiny scales, and rivulets of blood dripped from the unprotected areas. Some areas were far more bloody than the others, and his giant tail had even been reduced by a good twenty meters!!


    He also looked far more furious than before, his claws swiping and the still-remaining portion of his tail thrashing in an attempt to fend off his foes.


    The glacial roc was still flying within attacking range of him, though the feathers to its left wing was for the most part gone. It was using ice as a way to hold the ten-meter wide wound on its belly together, but its mangled flesh was still a nasty sight to behold.


    Also not too far away from the roc was Liang Xing. Dried blood hung at the corners of his lips as he stared unflinchingly at the Black Dragon King. Despite his relative health to the Black Dragon King, his glacial roc wasn¡¯t in a shape where he could use it to freely attack like before.


    On the ground by his side was the wind squaller. Unlike the glacial roc, who was in fighting condition still, the wind squaller had an eerily large depression on the left side of its belly, with several of its rib bones sticking out. It laid weakly on the ground, and if not for the weak breathes it gave out every so often, it¡¯d look more dead than alive. Similarly, a very pale-faced Lin Hefan sat right by its side with his hands on the soulbeast to try and aid it in its recovery.


    In relatively decent condition compared to the others, Ma Wu still stood there on the battlefield with his golden sword still held tightly in his right hand. It was speckled with blood, though it was mainly his blood rather than the Black Dragon King¡¯s! There were claw marks running all over his arms so that rivulets of blood would drip from them onto the sword, but the most eye-catching detail was the miasma of black aura coiling around it. Another type of energy was seemingly combatting it, and it seemed as though if he couldn¡¯t deal with this black miasma, his wounds wouldn¡¯t begin to heal.


    These three men were on temporary retreat from the battlefield, leaving only the Two Winged Kings and Wu Tianling fighting the Black Dragon King.


    With his golden greatsword in his hand, Wu Lingtian was a powerful figure to behold on the battlefield. Each swing of his greatsword sent a blade of golden energy towards the Black Dragon King, and more often than not dealing another injury to the Black Dragon King.


    In this way, Wu Lingtian had contributed to over half of the wounds inflicted on the Black Dragon King¡¯s body.


    The Two Winged Kings remained in the skies, though their figures were never stationary. Flitting this way and that, their two persons attacked at the Black Dragon King without ever giving him any time to breath.


    Yet, it seemed as though they were waiting for something¡­.


    The Black Dragon King on the other hand, seemed to fighting woefully at sub-optimal strength than he desired.


    Over an hour had already gone by since the battle had gone by without a clear victor to be seen. Then at last, one lunar-shaped energy blade from Wu Lingtian cut deeply into the Black Dragon King¡¯s back despite the scales being strong enough to withstand even an earth-tier soul armament, eliciting a painful scream from the Black Dragon King¡­.


    ¡°Now!¡±


    Realizing an opportunity to strike, Yi Gang called out from his position a kilometer above to Yi Rou. Together, the two connected with each other through a mental link of theirs, their right index fingers pointing at the Black Dragon King like their eyes were!


    Not even a wisp of elemental energy was coming off from their fingers, but the soulforce within their bodies were very clearly fluctuating wildly before leaving their body in some sort of formless attack.


    Simultaneously, the Black Dragon King suddenly roared aloud in fury, despite not being visibly attacked!


    An attack onto the soul!!


    This was the strongest type of attack a Soul King could employ!


    Soul cultivators were generally categorized into three divisions:


    Soul Apprentices, Personages, and Warriors are capable only of using their soulforce to strengthen their bodies to battle.


    Soul Spirits, Ancestors, and Exalts are capable of manipulating the elements in the world as one of their primary offensive methods.


    But those who are fortunate enough to become Soul Kings are blessed with the true meaning behind what it means for a soul cultivator to ¡®cultivate the soul¡¯: the ability to manipulate the soul!


    Not only are they capable of manipulating their own souls, but the souls of another!


    And for that reason, the world of soul cultivators had a saying¡ª


    All soul cultivators beneath the Soul Kings are but only ants!


    As long as one became a Soul King could they turn their nose up to the rest of the populace as a being of strength! Anyone weaker than a Soul King wouldn¡¯t even have the time to attack one before having their soul extinguished!


    The greatest benefit a Soul King enjoyed over all else was their ability to directly attack the soul!


    Some Soul Kings would only need eye contact to reduce a weaker being into a soulless husk!


    In the wide world that was this one, there are a few special soul cultivators or soulbeasts that could employ attacks that attacked the soul. Compared to Soul Kings, however, they were nothing more but children pretending to experts in front of adults! What little strength behind their attacks was generally considered to be an attack on the mind rather than the soul, and it was generally child¡¯s play for a Soul King to replicate.


    And when they did, their attacks was always on a completely higher level.


    None of the Soul Kings bothered to use these type of attacks before since it was always a battle of life or death between attacker and defender. Whomever lost was always the one who died as a result! As for the one who won¡­.they¡¯d have the chance to ¡®devour¡¯ the soul of the other!


    Through this method, they could enhance their own strength!


    Thus, the Two Winged King had been waiting for the best time to use this type of attack.


    Simultaneously, the other Soul Kings realized what was going on and hastily moved to attack the Black Dragon King¡¯s soul as well!


    The Black Dragon King¡¯s death was written in stone now, all that was left to do was fight for supremacy over his soul!


    This was what everyone was thinking.


    Obviously, the Black Dragon King was the target of everyone¡¯s attacks, but like everyone else, he too had been waiting for this moment!


    At the very moment he felt the Two Winged Kings try to attack his soul, his crimson-red eyes flashed maliciously with opportunity!


    ¡°Rooooarrrrrr!!!!!¡±


    His head facing the heavens, the Black Dragon King unleashed yet another primalistic roar; this one far louder than any other roar before. All of the black miasma inside and around his body left him to ascend into the skies, bringing with it a powerful force of aura¡­.


    This was the strongest technique the Black Dragon King had available to it, the Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar!

 Chapter 447: High-Heaven Tier!

    The Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar was the name the Black Dragon King gave to his strongest move.


    With this move, he was able to escape from many situations where death was all but certain for him.


    Not only was this a soul attack, it attacked the souls of multiple people at once!


    At the same time of his casting, the other Soul Kings blanched as if they had been struck by an invisible wall of some sort.


    Not a single one of them believed that the Black Dragon King¨Cwho looked like he was at the end of his rope¨Ccould launch a soul attack as powerful as this.


    Their souls trembled violently from the center of their bodies, and it felt as though something was trying to wrestle their souls out from their bodies.


    But!


    It wasn¡¯t an illusion as they wanted to believe!


    The Black Dragon King was very clearly using a move that was trying its utmost best to tear their souls out from their very bodies!


    The weakest of the group, Lin Hefan, was the first to succumb to the Black Dragon King¡¯s attack. Since he had been busy with trying to attack the Black Dragon King¡¯s soul, the dragon¡¯s roar left him defenseless. Turning pale with pain, the man¡¯s body began to shimmer slightly at the edges before a transparent silhouette began to inch out from his body towards the direction of the Black Dragon King!


    This silhouette looked exactly like Lin Hefan for one simple reason¡­.it was his soul!


    Soul cultivators relied on their physical body to encapsulate the soul. Should the soul leave the body, then even a Soul King would succumb to death without a doubt!!


    The half of Lin Hefan¡¯s soul outside his body was seemingly struggling to sink back into its master¡¯s body, but it was fighting a losing battle! The half that was already out was already looking like it was being torn apart!


    Both of the Two Winged Kings were pale in the face, but neither of the two were particularly panicked about this attack. Rather, their eyes were shining furiously with burning hatred to kill the Black Dragon King.


    As strong as this move was, the Black Dragon King was still in very dire straits. The combined soul attacks from everyone else was wearing away his own soul, and his Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar hadn¡¯t helped his soul much. Right now, his soul was like a candle. The Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar helped it burn twice as hot, but at the cost of making it burn out even faster. With so many people attacking his soul, he¡¯d be very hard-pressed to survive.


    Even if he managed to devour Lin Hefan¡¯s soul within the next two seconds, it wouldn¡¯t do much for him.


    So he only had one desire.


    Live!


    He had to live!


    And to do that, he had to run!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Issuing another deafening roar, the Black Dragon King kicked off the ground with it mighty hind legs. A crater kilometers wide in radius formed from where his legs dug into the earth, but the push allowed for his body to go flying off towards the north-east like a bullet. As he flew, black miasma began to rise up from his body as he tried to revert to his human form.


    No matter what happened, he wouldn¡¯t go out without a fight!


    Countless kilometers of distance was traveled before his body started to shrink, but in the final moment before his transformation was complete, an azure shooting star suddenly and without warning shot out from a distorted piece of the skies and through his left side!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Going a few moments back to where Bai Yunfei was in the west¡­


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: 200% increase in the rate of cultivation.


    Equipment Effect 2: 200% increase in the rate of recovery.


    Equipment Effect 3: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +14 and below once.


    Equipment Effect 4: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (High Heaven tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded


    This was the notification Bai Yunfei got when he touched the Nephrite Throne.


    In other words, these were the stats of the Nephrite Throne¡­.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire person went still; his body as wooden as a statue as his mind processed this.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­.you¡¯re f*cking with me!!¡± For two whole seconds, not a single coherent word other than an expletive left his mouth. ¡°What¡­.what kind of stats are these?! Can this even exist? It¡¯s outrageous!¡±


    It was little wonder why Bai Yunfei was so worked up. The stats of the Nephrite Throne would stun any person.


    ¡°High heaven tier¡­.high heaven tier!!¡±


    Breathless with excitement and shock, Bai Yunfei tried his best to calm his wildly-beating heart. ¡°So this is what one of the Ten Great Regalias should be like? It¡¯s crazy what stats it has.¡± He muttered, his hand still on the throne.


    ¡°A 200% increase in cultivation, this means I get three times the benefits of what I¡¯d normally have!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth twitched excitedly, his head feeling almost faint with giddiness.


    What did this mean? It meant what normally would take thirty years to accomplish would only require ten years with the Nephrite Throne!


    ¡°Compared to this, my Cultivation Pendant is practically trash!!¡± Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°And the second equipment effect makes my Recovery Soul Armor equally trash.


    ¡°With this Regalia, is that why the Black Dragon King is so strong?


    ¡°The first two effects is already enough to make this a Regalia in the eyes of others, but for me¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glistened excitedly, ¡°it¡¯s the third effect that makes it absolutely outrageous!!


    ¡°A guaranteed chance to upgrade a +14 item, I didn¡¯t even know there could be such an effect like this! That¡¯s really similar to how the Upgrade Stone works, but it¡¯s way better!! +14¡­.¡±


    Only one +14 equipment existed in his possessions, or well, had existed; the egg Xiao Qi hatched from, but he didn¡¯t even get the chance to see the full stats of the egg. If he had a guess though, that +14 additional effect was extremely powerful despite the egg being only a mid-human tier.


    On the topic of +14, Bai Yunfei¡¯s next thought was about the Cataclysmic Seal. If he could turn that into a +14 soul armament¡­.


    He shivered at the thought. The prospect of that was simply a little too exciting.


    There was still the fourth additional effect to this throne, but Bai Yunfei was more interested in the third one still.


    ¡°But what if I can only use the third additional effect just once like the Upgrade Stones? Would the Nephrite Throne be turned into the soul armament?¡± Several questions arose in his mind, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it become a one-use item then? If I use it, would it be like the Upgrade Stone and disappear?!¡±


    The allure of having a +14 item be upgradeable was far too tempting, but the first and second effects were also very hard to part with. Like any other soul cultivator, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too willing to give up an enhanced rate of cultivation for the sake of upgrading his Cataclysmic Seal.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a hundred percent certain that it¡¯ll be like the Upgrade Stone¡­.maybe it¡¯ll just lose the effect after one use?¡± Bai Yunfei hoped. Right now, he was hoping that the Nephrite Throne would remain the same after it was used to upgrade an item, but that it¡¯d lose the third effect.


    ¡°In the end, I¡¯ll have to make sure of this later, but not right now. I need to get out of here first.¡±


    With that thought, Bai Yunfei looked back to Xiao Qi. Only a few dozen seconds had transpired since the bird went into that state, so it shouldn¡¯t be long before it was over.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised to see his Violet Soul Ring light up when attempting to store the Nephrite Throne away, but then not see the throne get stored in it.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be stored this way?!¡±


    ¡°I can feel the imprint of someone¡¯s soulforce, this must be¡­.the Black Dragon King.¡± He took a closer look at it.


    ¡°His soulforce must be preventing me from storing it away. That means if he escapes, he¡¯ll be coming to this area and take back the throne, crap!


    ¡°What?!¡± Just then, another sensation hit him, ¡°The imprint¡­is gone?!¡±


    Just one moment after he had realized the imprint was there, the imprint vanished literally a second afterwards!


    ¡°Is¡­.is the Black Dragon King dead?!¡± That was all Bai Yunfei could think of.


    One of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers, the mighty Black Dragon King, dead!


    Whilst his mind was processing this information, a black demonlike shadow came suddenly from the other side of the mountain. Black aura swirling around its right fist, the shadow lashed out to punch at Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!

 Chapter 448: Death of the Black Dragon!

    Mustering up the last of its strength, the Black Dragon King tried his best to unleash another Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar. And with the arrow still stuck in his body, he made one final attempt to flee towards the northeast.


    The Two Winged Kings followed swiftly after him. Yi Rou turned her body to face Yi Gang, their hands linking together to form a loop between them. Still staring hard at the Black Dragon King, the two of them opened their mouths and screamed!


    ¡°Chirrppp!!!¡±


    The warbling that came out from their mouths could only be described as being extremely strange. It wasn¡¯t loud, but the sound was piercing to the ears.


    But even more importantly, those who were still suffering under the effects of the Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar immediately realized what kind of attack this was!


    ¡°Tremolo of the Jian!¡±


    On the edge of chasing after the Black Dragon King himself, Wu Tianling knew what this attack was himself. Feeling as his soul was already starting to tremble in his body, Wu Tianling quickly moved to meld his soulforce together to act as a safeguard against this attack!


    It was a soul attack!


    The attack that the Two Winged Kings were using was a soul attack that wasn¡¯t any weaker than the Black Dragon King¡¯s Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar!


    Thankfully, there was only a slight fluctuations in his and the other human¡¯s souls. This attack wasn¡¯t aimed at them, but the Black Dragon King¡­.


    ¡°Roarrr!!!¡±


    Another terrifying roar erupted from the Black Dragon King, but fear was already permeating into it this time. His entire body was shaking, and the black mist around it was churling violently before¡­.a shadow rose out from his person!


    The Black Dragon¡¯s soul!


    It looked unstable, just like the Black Dragon King himself. Whenever he roared, the soul writhed as if suffering from a pain unlike anything other.


    And then, at last¡­..it went still!


    The roar that was coming out from the dragon¡¯s mouth came to a stop as soon as its soul went still. What was left of the dragon¡¯s furious desperation bled away from his eyes, leaving behind only a tiny sliver of light to flicker in them before that too, had disappeared¡­.


    In the mere moments before the Black Dragon King was truly dead, a rip in space opened up within the vicinity. Expanding until it took on the form of a door, the rip then released a bolt of shining azure light from within!


    The very last of the Black Dragon King¡¯s soul was on the verge of being drawn from his body due to the Two Winged King¡¯s attack, but before it could fully separate itself from the body, the bolt of azure light shot for the Black Dragon King¡¯s head with a chilling cry!


    The cry was unnatural sounding. Unnatural in the fact that it sounded not like the sound of any known living being, and not like the sound of any natural occurring piece of wind. In fact, it sounded more like the woeful cries of an unknown being!


    ¡°The Mourning Winds!¡± Ma Wu was the first to realize what this was, his eyes narrowing in his shock, ¡°Yun Liantian!¡±


    An ecstatic laugh cried out from within the ray of azure light. ¡°Haha!!¡± It responded, ¡°Just in time! The soulgem of the Black Dragon King is mine to claim!!¡±


    Coming to a stop just a brief ten meters away from the Black Dragon King¡¯s head, the light petered away, revealing the figure of Yun Liantian standing on top of his One Azure Leaf Boat. In his right hand was a sword completely enveloped in an azure light.


    Yun Liantian had a very eerie light in his eyes, making him seem more deranged than sane as he swung his sword at the Black Dragon King!


    Windbreaking Edge!


    It was a casual swing of the sword, but the series of lights that came out from the sword was exceedingly sharp and fast! Zooming out from his blade, the lights struck into the Black Dragon King¡¯s throat without resistance!


    Without at all stopping in his movements, Yun Liantian finished the decapitation of the Black Dragon King before withdrawing from the scene!


    A bubble of azure light enveloped the dragon¡¯s head briefly as it floated in the air. His sword was the first to go into his ring, and then the dragon¡¯s head disappeared with it.


    And where the Black Dragon King¡¯s body was, blood was pouring out from his exposed neck!


    Yun Liantian was already gone though. Before the first droplets of the Black Dragon King¡¯s blood could get on him, Yun Liantian had already ripped open the space in front of him before he stepped inside. It closed after him with a blink of azure light, and then the space where he once was returned back to normal¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    From start to finish, Yun Liantian hadn¡¯t even been there for five whole seconds!


    The other Soul Kings were all stunned. The abruptness of the Mourning Winds had forced them all to reinforce their souls, but now that the attack was over, all they could do was stand and watch the decapitated corpse of the Black Dragon King fall down to the ground!


    Yun Liantian¡¯s appearance, positioning, and cadence in his movements had all been spotless. Perfect in timing and flawless in execution, he had been as smooth as water itself!


    The winds he used to hide, move, and attack was a soul skill Yun Liantian was highly known for. It was so known that it went by another name¡­.the Stormful Swoop!


    ¡°Yun Liantian¡­.how despicable!!¡± Liang Xing spat. Anger flooded his body so heavily that it shook all over, but before he could move to take the rest of the dragon¡¯s body, Wu Tianling had already beaten him to it.


    Down on the ground, the man had already sucked the corpse into his ring before moving to run away!


    Liang Xing¡¯s face hardened again in consternation. He looked off towards the distance where Yun Liantian was but only a speck in the horizon, ¡°After him!¡± he spat.


    Between the corpse held by Wu Tianling and the soulgem held by Yun Liantian, the soulgem was more important to them!


    He leapt on top of the glacial roc, waiting only for a moment to let Lin Hefan meet him there with his wind squaller before the glacial roc took off. And in less than a second, the glacial roc disappeared in a flash of white light.


    Ma Wu was a little more hesitant himself. But after a second to contemplate his plans, he too, took after Yun Liantian with nothing but a snarl.


    High in the skies, the Two Winged Kings stood still. They had been one of the first to regain aware of their surroundings after Yun Liantian left, but they didn¡¯t move even a finger after him. All Yi Rou did was watch when the Black Dragon King¡¯s body fell and was taken away by Wu Tianling with an expression of fatigue and pain before she leaned onto Yi Gang¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Is¡­.is the Black Dragon King dead?¡±


    Yi Gang took her hands into his, a mixture of emotions swirling about on his face. ¡°Yes,¡± he nodded nonetheless, ¡°he¡¯s dead.¡±


    Yi Rou took a moment to respond to him, ¡°Then let us return¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Without another word, the two disappeared in a flash of light to return to the depths of the forest.


    The only person left in the area was Wu Tianling, who watched as everyone left the area. He looked around himself then to see if anything was amiss before flying off towards the south to leave the forest.


    In no time at all, a stifling silence descended upon this area. Where battle once reigned without pause, only the depressing pitter-patter of raindrops could be heard along with the slowly-dispersing rain clouds.


    ¡°Shaa¡­¡­shaaaa¡­..


    An indeterminate amount of time later, a rustling sound from the edge of the battlefield made itself known, a small figure appearing just for a moment before slinking away from the area as well¡­.

 Chapter 449: Destruction of the Throne!

    In the moment the Black Dragon King died, the imprint of his soul within the Nephrite Throne began to fade away out of existence, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s shock.


    But at the same time, a figure from the shadows lashed out with a mighty punch onto the back of his head!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s guard was understandably lessened since Xing Yuan was dead. Even the barrier put into place by the Cataclysmic Seal was gone since Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t sense any other dangers to be on guard for. The amazing stats that the Nephrite Throne had and the death of the Black Dragon King made him even more surprised, leaving this mysterious assailant an opening to capitalize on!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A warning trill from Xiao Qi immediately snapped Bai Yunfei back to awareness. Hair rising up in realization of the danger he was in, Bai Yunfei whirled around just in time to block the punch with his right arm.


    This move was Bai Yunfei¡¯s go-to sequence of defense. The Flameblade Bracer on his right arm usually gave him more protection than anything else, so the chances of him being harmed was usually pretty low. It¡¯d also give him enough time to back away and use the Cataclysmic Seal for any additional defense if he needed it, thus giving him even more time to ready himself for combat.


    But as things were right now, Bai Yunfei forgot about one extremely crucial thing.


    When he turned around, he was still holding onto something in his right hand, the Nephrite Throne!


    So when he turned around to block, it was the Nephrite Throne that took the impact rather than the Flameblade Bracer!


    It was by far too late when Bai Yunfei realized this mistake, and it was too late for his assailant to pull his punch back.


    In other words, what his assailant punched was the Nephrite Throne!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    Right in front of his very eyes, the Nephrite Throne¡­.crumbled into pieces!!


    The Nephrite Throne was one of the Ten Great Regalia, but by no means was it a defensive piece of armor. The jade that made up the throne was mysterious and enigmatic in the eyes of humanity, but no one had ever used it to stop the attack of another in its long history.


    And who would ever think to use it in such a manner?


    The Black Dragon King infused some of its energy into the Nephrite Throne when he threw it. Because of that black aura, the throne was safe from harm when it imprinted itself into the mountain, but now that the aura was gone, and the soulforce of the Black Dragon King nowhere to be seen or used, the Nephrite Throne was in an extremely fragile state.


    Naturally, the Nephrite Throne wasn¡¯t an object that would crumble at even the slightest of touches. It was a soul armament strong enough to withstand even the slashes of any normal blade without a scratch, but¡ª!


    The punch of a late-stage Soul Exalt with all his might behind it was a different story!


    No one would ever imagine that one of the Ten Great Regalia and the person regalia of Wu Tianhun himself would¡­..be destroyed just like that.


    And no one would ever believe it even if they were told¡­.


    Bai Yunfei went still. The Nephrite Throne crumbled from his hands, falling to the ground in pieces of threes and fours.


    He felt faint, and so did his assailant who looked at his right hand in a daze. The other person hadn¡¯t thought Bai Yunfei would use it to defend himself, and neither did he think the Nephrite Throne would be so fragile like that¡­.


    One second went by.


    Then ten seconds.


    A few dozen seconds after that.


    Bai Yunfei looked to the shattered fragments of the Nephrite Throne, and then to the middle-aged man in black.


    His body began to shiver with anger, and his eyes burned mightily with the fires of fury.


    ¡°You! F*cking! Bastard! You¡¯ll pay for this!!¡±


    Very rarely did Bai Yunfei elect to swear. But those were the times when Bai Yunfei was truly mad. The wrinkles on his forehead were extraordinarily wrinkled, and his soulforce was raring to burst out from his body.


    The fragments in his hands disappeared into his ring as Bai Yunfei cursed at his assailant, the fiery red light around his body growing in intensity with each passing second. In a flash of light, he was upon the other man with his right hand now holding onto the Fire-tipped Spear to stab the man in the throat!


    The other man had still been in a daze when Bai Yunfei moved. Though the man was looking at his fist when Bai Yunfei drew close, he was able to realize the danger he was in and drew back in an instant to dodge the spear.


    Hatred leaked into his eyes when he looked to Bai Yunfei.


    It was his fault! He was the one that used the Nephrite Throne to defend himself!


    If he hadn¡¯t used the Nephrite Throne to block the attack, the throne wouldn¡¯t have been destroyed!


    How would the man report this to his superiors?!


    Just thinking about his failures made the man shiver uncontrollably. His hatred was practically overflowing now as he stepped further backwards. Orange overtook black as light surrounded his body before a sword appeared into his right hand.


    Murderous, the man swung his sword at Bai Yunfei!


    Overflowing with the strength of a late-stage Soul Exalt, the man¡¯s sword pressed against Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear, knocking him backwards!


    Bai Yunfei was now on the defense rather than the offense!


    Somewhat sobered up from his anger, Bai Yunfei was now ascertaining the man to be a bigger threat than before. The Cataclysmic Seal flew up around him, blocking another strike from the man¡¯s sword before he called for Xiao Qi to come in and help him.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Another furious chirp from Xiao Qi came from up in the skies. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei looked just in time to see Xiao Qi fighting with a black bird.


    A late-stage class six soulbeast, the shadow vulture!


    This was presumably the soulbeast of his mysterious assailant. The shadow vulture was slightly stronger than Xiao Qi despite it having the Wind and Lightning Feather, and whenever Xiao Qi tried to attack with the Spatial Edge, the shadow vulture would dodge without fail.


    Bai Yunfei rubbed at his right arm, slightly worried with this development. Retreating with the Flash Step, he looked to the still motionless thunderfire wolf.


    At his command, the Beast Taming Ring around the thunderfire wolf lit up with light, jolting the wolf back into activity with a furious roar!


    Like lightning, it leapt towards not Bai Yunfei, but to the shadow vulture to join in the fight with Xiao Qi!


    His success in ordering the thunderfire wolf to attack the shadow vulture gave Bai Yunfei some measure of comfort. The added help of the wolf would mean Xiao Qi shouldn¡¯t be in any major harm, even if the wolf was still without sentience. In its current state, the most basic of commands could be given, and that was enough for Xiao Qi to give it an edge, and perhaps that way, it¡¯d be able to find an opportunity to kill the vulture.


    The man was surprised to see the thunderfire wolf attack the shadow vulture rather than him, but he smiled nonetheless. If Bai Yunfei was so arrogant in his abilities to think that the thunderfire wolf would be better put in attacking the shadow vulture, then Bai Yunfei was a fool. The man didn¡¯t know how he was able to control the soulbeast from the Beast Taming School, but that didn¡¯t matter.


    With all that said, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength was shocking to him. He had only fought with him for several blows and knew Bai Yunfei was far stronger than a mid-stage Soul Exalt should be, but not strong enough still to defeat him.


    Catching onto an opportunity, the man swung his sword to knock Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear aside before then striking at Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart with a fist filled with a strange black mist!


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes, this move was more than it seemed. Clenching his left fist tight, he gave a punch of his own at it!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    One impact later, both combatants were sent stumbling backwards several meters.


    Black mist coiled around Bai Yunfei¡¯s left arm, embedding his body with a strange sensation. It felt as if his innards were beginning to corrode and sap him of his soulforce!


    And at the same time, some of his soulforce was forcibly drawn out from his body when his fist collided with the other!


    It was a strange, but familiar sensation. A sensation Bai Yunfei felt like he recognized¡­.


    It didn¡¯t take long for him to realize why he felt this way. As soon as the realization hit him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes grew red with fury!


    ¡°The Soul Refining School!!¡±

 Chapter 450: Dual Flame Arts: Berserk Mode!

    Bai Yunfei needed only a moment to understand why this technique was so familiar to him. He saw it once before in Curopia City, and it was the very technique that nearly led to his death if not for Tang Xinyun blocking it, the Soul Refining Palm!


    This man was from the Soul Refining School!


    Fury like none other blossomed immediately in his head!


    Once before, Bai Yunfei vowed that the Soul Refining School would pay the price, and he would make good on that vow today!


    The only thing that stopped him from going after the school in its entirety was due to his lack of strength. He had to force himself to stomach his anger and bide for time.


    But now that a man from the school was here, how could he not be angry?


    Since that man was here¡­.that man would die!!


    The strange energy eating up his soulforce was sapping him of his strength and leaving behind only the sense of ¡®powerlessness¡¯ with each moment it remained unchecked. It was a sensation far stronger than what he once experienced back in Curopia City, and back then, that type of power had left him completely unable to move.


    But this time¡­.


    ¡°Hm!¡± A tingling sensation from the +12 ring on his left hand activated then, distributing a wave of warmth and comfort throughout his arm.


    This attack counted as a type of mental attack?!


    The two fireseeds now circling about in his body chose then to activate. Distributing elemental fire throughout his body, the fire began to burn at the intruding energy in an attempt to rid Bai Yunfei¡¯s body of it.


    Very little time was needed for Bai Yunfei to make a full recovery, allowing Bai Yunfei to glare hatefully at the other man.


    His recovery gave the other man no small amount of surprise. He hadn¡¯t thought Bai Yunfei would recover so quickly, but he smiled, ¡°Even if you hate me so much, your inferior strength will mean your death!¡±


    Drawing the sword close to him, the man kicked off against the ground to dash at Bai Yunfei. In a brilliant arc of orange, the sword swung down while his off-hand attacked Bai Yunfei again with the Soul Refining Palm.


    Both actions were observed calmly by Bai Yunfei, whose body began to shimmer slightly around the edges. The shimmering grew even more intense before two figures separated from him, showing three identical figures with identical spears ready to greet him!


    The +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, Doppelganger!


    Stepping back, the real Bai Yunfei shook his right hand, storing away the Fire-tipped Spear!


    The man from the Soul Refining School narrowed his eyes, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little too easy to see through? If your real body isn¡¯t attacking, that makes this attack silly.¡±


    But when the other two Bai Yunfeis stabbed at him rather than retreat with the main body, he put up his sword in surprise. He successfully parried the spear coming at him from the left, but then he was surprised to feel the spear from the right nick him across the side and drawing blood.


    This was the real one!


    His realization came almost far too late as the next salvo came at him. His sword slashed left and right as he tried to protect himself, but with each blow, the man came to realize that these two figures were ¡®weaker¡¯ than the Bai Yunfei who fought him before. Charging his sword with orange light, the man made a decisive blow onto the two by bisecting them in half!


    The two doppelgangers were dispelled without any further trouble, but before the man could relax, Bai Yunfei was starting up the next part of his plan!


    From his safe spot a hundred meters away, Bai Yunfei was¡­.powering up!


    Right in front of the other man¡¯s very eyes, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength exploded from being a mid-stage Soul Exalt to a late-stage Soul Exalt!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face twisted in on itself as if experiencing a tremendous amount of pain. The expression in his eyes was the most definite, as it looked like he was on the verge of going crazy.


    The seals Bai Yunfei formed gave life to two different streams of elemental fire, with both streams fluctuating differently to one another. As per usual whenever he entered the ¡®coil¡¯ form, the two essence fireseeds danced around an invisible center without ever touching.


    But this time, the fires they were released were flowing into one another!


    Harmonizing the flow between the two unique streams of elemental fire was impossible. One stream would have to devour the other in order to achieve ¡®harmony¡¯, but in the case that the two were fuse together without one dominating the other, then the resultant power would be¡­..many times stronger than normal!


    This was a form that acceded the ¡®coil¡¯ form. A form that gave an additional boost of strength by forcibly combining the two streams of elemental fire, the ¡®fusion¡¯ form!


    To draw a better comparison between the two forms, if the ¡®coil¡¯ form increased Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength by a degree of two, then the ¡®fusion¡¯ form increased Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength by three, four, and maybe even more!


    But this type of explosive power couldn¡¯t be controlled! Or at least, it couldn¡¯t be completely controlled!


    Under the ¡®fusion¡¯ form, the elemental fire becomes hard to control and explosive.


    That was why Bai Yunfei called this form, Berserk Mode!


    Back when he was was a peak late-stage Soul Ancestor, Bai Yunfei was able to maintain this mode for just a few scant seconds.


    But now that he was an early-stage Soul Exalt, he could maintain this mode for up to¡­.ten minutes!


    Ten minutes wasn¡¯t a very long time, so Bai Yunfei usually opted for a very fast battle!


    Bai Yunfei had never felt so much power course through his body before! It was so abundant in his body that it actually hurt, but Bai Yunfei could bear the pain. All of his muscles bulged with power and his internal organs began to groan under the stress, but he was still coherent enough to give a mighty death glare at his enemy. Lifting the Fire-tipped Spear, he went still for a second before immediately disappearing into a blur!


    The surprise the other man felt had already passed, though. What Bai Yunfei used was merely just a technique to boost his strength to the levels of a late-stage Soul Exalt, so no matter how surprising it was, he still wouldn¡¯t be a match for him!


    That was what he thought, but the more he fought Bai Yunfei, the more he started to doubt his initial statement. Bai Yunfei¡¯s attacks were harder than before and far more berserk in tempo! The Fire-tipped Spear was brandished so quickly that it was like the wind itself, and the stabs it brought were as dangerous as ever, and Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in the mood to retreat. He constantly dodged the man¡¯s sword strokes by either a hair¡¯s breadth or by using his own bracers to absorb the damage before retaliating with his spear, leading to both parties exchanging minor injuries again and again.


    An additional factor of surprise was Bai Yunfei¡¯s speed. Bai Yunfei belonged to the fire type, but his speed was by no means inferior to those belonging to the lightning type. Not once did his soulforce seem to wane, and his movements were as strong and robust as ever.


    A few precious minutes went by before the man start to feel his strength start to taper away, he was¡­.he was losing!


    The realization wasn¡¯t debilitating to him. The man knew Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to last for much longer under this state. Enemies like Bai Yunfei who could increase their strength temporarily wasn¡¯t a new thing to him, and he knew that if he could just persist for long enough, the enemy definitely suffer from the flaw in the technique.


    ¡°Cling!!¡±


    The doppelgangers of Bai Yunfei came at him again, leaving the man without any other choice but to defend against the spear.


    But then¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The explosion effect of the spear, activate!


    Unexpected thrusted backwards by the explosion, the man¡¯s chest was burning with fire and pain. Blood came out from the wounds on his chest and from his mouth in decent amounts despite having his sword to mitigate most of the damage.


    Emboldened by his success, Bai Yunfei pressed on, swapping the spear to his left hand so that he could activate the Flameblade Bracer on his right arm.


    It was time for the Flame Winged Blades!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    It formed in front of Bai Yunfei, extending three meters in length before it pelted straight through the elemental earth barrier of the man and cutting into his right arm.


    He grunted again, feeling as the pain shot through his arm in addition to the pain in his chest. When he looked up, Bai Yunfei had pointed the Cataclysmic Seal towards him, expanding in size to become a miniature mountain in an attempt to smash into him!


    The one-two combo he was hit with left him unable to regain his battle rhythm. So without any better option, the man could only cross his orange-lit arms in front of him to try and protect himself with his elemental earth.


    Using the strength offered to it by a late-stage Soul Exalt, the Cataclysmic Seal was at its strongest peak of power yet. It collided with the elemental earth of the man¡¯s barrier before breaking it into pieces and smashing into him!


    ¡°Ptchhh!¡±


    Dealt yet another blow, the man went flying in a spray of blood!

 Chapter 451: Battling a Soul Refiner, and the Soul Sucking Skill!

    Doppelgangers, the spear explosion, the Flame Winged Dagger, and the Cataclysmic Seal¡­.


    Bai Yunfei was relentless in his onslaught. Each move in the sequence flowed together with minimal superfluous movements. All of this was possible only due to Bai Yunfei¡¯s practiced hand with his equipment. The Bai Yunfei of today was no longer the weakling of before. He was Bai Yunfei, the late-stage Soul Exalt who was slowly beating his enemy bit by bit!


    Another spray of blood flew out from his enemy¡¯s mouth. Rattled by the unexpected blow, the man felt similar to being a piece of paper flowing in the wind with just how useless he had been in front of that brick!


    If he had to describe himself at the moment, it¡¯d be just one word: fear!


    Previous to this three-hit combo, he had been so sure that he was close to waiting out all of Bai Yunfei¡¯s attacks. He just needed to wait a little longer to defeat Bai Yunfei, but now that the tables had turned, he wasn¡¯t even sure if he¡¯d be able to last until then¡­.


    Damnit!


    He needed to launch a counter attack!


    He wiped the blood away from his mouth with furious passion. As an attendant of his school and late-stage Soul Exalt ready to step onto the next level, the man feared very few from those not yet at the Soul King level.


    So how was it that there was a weakling early-stage Soul Exalt beating him to a pulp?!


    The man forced soulforce to his legs, forming platforms for him to leap up and over the Cataclysmic Seal. Looking down at Bai Yunfei, his eyes started to shine brilliantly with golden light. Traveling down from his eyes to the sword in his hand, the light filled the sword with energy before the man swung it down to release a torrent of golden light!


    This was his soul skill, the Golden Blade Wave!


    As its name implied, the golden energy released resembled that of a sturdy wave as it ¡®poured¡¯ down onto Bai Yunfei as if threatening to drown him in it!


    Bai Yunfei observed the attack with narrowed eyes. From what he could tell, this attack had a wide area of attack and wouldn¡¯t be easy to dodge. He lifted the Cataclysmic Seal up in front of him, allowing for his soulforce to be drained into it and have it grow in size!


    From its original size of a hundred meters, the Cataclysmic Seal transformed three times its size to become as large as a mountain to stop the wave in entirety!


    The Cataclysmic Seal was now a gigantic block that stood on top of the earth, making it look like a natural mountain had springed up to divide Bai Yunfei and his enemy.


    ¡°It can still grow bigger!!¡±


    The man was nearly besides himself with shock. He had never heard of a soul armament whose original size being only the size of a palm being able to grow so tremendously large. As he stood in front of it, he started to feel the situation to be a little ridiculous even, and he began to wonder if he was stuck in some sort of illusion or something.


    But that notion was dashed when he watched his attack slam into the Cataclysmic Seal. It slammed against the wall like a proper wave would, and then as physics would dictate, it started to flow backwards back in his direction!


    Now completely safe from the attack, Bai Yunfei had the Cataclysmic Seal shrink back to its original size. Though having the brick in such a large state was extremely powerful, it was also extremely costly in soulforce.


    Unless Bai Yunfei was sure he could kill with it, he wanted to keep his soulforce consumption to a minimum just in case.


    With the ¡®great mountain¡¯ that stood between them now gone, Bai Yunfei was the first to race back up into the skies. A hundred meters above the other, Bai Yunfei placed away the Cataclysmic Seal when he realized the other person was preparing yet another soul skill!


    Activating the Flash Steps, he zoomed towards the man and threw three separate Burstfire Daggers and then another dagger that disappeared without a trace behind the other¨Cit was the Flickering Dagger!


    It was one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s most strongest daggers in his possession and had also a very practical effect added onto it.


    Flickering Dagger stats:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Wind


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 880


    Additional Attack: 400


    Soul Compatibility: 11%


    +10 Additional Effect: 60% increase in piercing strength.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    Dodging the three Burstfire Daggers without any time to waste, the man was beginning to feel safe before he realized a fourth dagger aimed at his heart!


    Completely unable to dodge, the man tried his best to reflect the dagger with his sword. The dagger slammed into it with a clang, but rather than seeing it deflected, the man felt a sharp pain in his chest!


    Looking down, he saw a hole in the middle of his high-earth tier soul armament, and a nearly-transparent dagger stabbing through it!


    Sweat immediately started to form over his skin as panic sunk in. It was truly fortunate for him that the dagger had only stabbed just an inch into his body, and not completely into it as he first feared!


    ¡°Just how many soul armaments does he have?!¡± The man cried out to himself. Over the course of the battle so far, the man had counted at least ten, including the daggers, making him go slightly mad with disbelief.


    But now wasn¡¯t the time for him to grumble and complain.


    A fiery spear was coming straight at his eye!


    Prior to the dagger landing, Bai Yunfei was already moving forward. He didn¡¯t care whether or not if it hit, Bai Yunfei just wanted to attack.


    The spear stabbed onto the broken sword of his enemy before pushing past it and across the man¡¯s right shoulder.


    Eyeing Bai Yunfei¡¯s position, the man¡¯s right hand suddenly flew up to grab onto the left hand of Bai Yunfei!


    It was with great joy that the man¡¯s hand clutched onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s wrist. Grunting in exertion as his body started to absorb the golden light around him, black mist replaced it as an outbreak of elemental darkness went from his right hand into Bai Yunfei¡¯s left arm!


    Bai Yunfei, who had just about to strike the man again, felt his body start to grow weak. Looking down to where his hand was being grabbed onto, Bai Yunfei was startled to feel his soulforce start to drain away!


    Secret art of the Soul Refining School, Soul Sucking Skill!!


    Author Note: This is another world version of Jin Yong¡¯s ÎüÐÇ´ó·¨


    A battle of close combat was what people from the Soul Refining School excelled at, and it was to Bai Yunfei¡¯s great misfortune and inexperience that he fell for it!


    The feeling of powerlessness grew heavier and heavier even with the +12 ring on his left hand working continuously against it. But in time, Bai Yunfei felt himself almost unable to move!


    It didn¡¯t seem the soul refiner was able to do anything else either, elsewise he would¡¯ve raised the still functional sword of his to slit Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat and end the battle there.


    He was actually surprised with how Bai Yunfei was resisting; the resistance he was experiencing was far stronger than he thought, and the absorption rate was a lot slower than he anticipated. He tried to calm down, though. With how panicked Bai Yunfei looked, the man was pretty confident his own victory was at hand. He just needed to clean out the rest of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce and leave him dry.


    From there, wouldn¡¯t it be a simple matter to kill Bai Yunfei?


    Sneering at the thought, the soul refiner pushed his soulforce a little harder to work the elemental darkness faster. And the more he pushed, the more Bai Yunfei¡¯s face started to pale and his soulforce start to lessen!


    Each push the soul refiner made pushed Bai Yunfei closer and closer down a cliff. If Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was a jar of water, the soul refiner was draining it out with a bucket once every second!


    Three seconds passed, then four, then five¡­.


    Ten seconds later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was well below the halfway point!!

 Chapter 452: Incinerated

    Due to his inexperience with fighting against soul refiners, Bai Yunfei had fallen for the trap, and now his soulforce was being drained away!


    In just under ten seconds, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was already down to less than half! He¡¯d die if the soul refiner was left unchecked!


    Then when the soul refiner made another push to absorb his soulforce¡­..


    The black mist around Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm was rapidly condensing when all of a sudden, the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring on Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand lit up in a brilliant gleam of light, preventing from anymore of his soulforce from being absorbed!


    Yun¡¯s Soul Ring¡¯s +12 additional effect, activate!


    10% chance of immunity to a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    ¡°Now¡¯s my chance!!¡±


    Eyes flying wide open, Bai Yunfei knew then it was the time to strike. Disregarding the fact that his left arm was still enshrouded with black mist, he punched at the soul refiner with a heavy right straight!


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The sound of bones cracking accompanied Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist punching the man, and under his startled eyes, the soul refiner flew a hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei!!


    Contrary to what the soul refiner thought, Bai Yunfei had actually been biding his time to wait for the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring to activate. It was an effect that was well worth the agonizing ten second wait since it¡¯d allow Bai Yunfei to attack with all he had!


    Prior to the fight, Bai Yunfei had swapped out several of his equipment for some others more well-suited to fighting a soul refiner. The rings on his were well suited for this battle, with the left granting him ¡°15% decrease to all spirit related attacks¡±, and the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring with its +12 additional effect.


    The soul refiner came to a stop a good hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei, coughing twice to spit up the blood. From how things were looking internally, his internal organs were in quite a bad shape. The Eighty-one Fold Fist Force had done a great deal of damage to him since he hadn¡¯t been expecting it, and the strength Bai Yunfei showed to him then was nearly enough to destroy his heart completely.


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei wheezed slightly to himself. The feeling of having his soulforce sucked out of him was very unpleasant to say the least.


    Looking hatefully at the soul refiner, Bai Yunfei bent a finger to call the Cataclysmic Seal to him. In response, the brick grew in size before flying at the soul refiner!


    Still looking unwell, the soul refiner gritted his teeth and moved to the side in an attempt to dodge. Due to his present weakness and the Cataclysmic Seal suddenly expanding in size just enough when it passed him, the sword was knocked out from his hand!


    Disarming the man of his sword hadn¡¯t been the only thing the Cataclysmic Seal did, as a stream of fire then wrapped itself around his body!


    +10 Additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal, activated!


    10% chance to activate ¡®Flame Twister¡¯ and restrict the mobility of another by 10% for a maximum of ten seconds upon attacking.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    It was with great fear that the soul refiner watched and felt the coil of fire wrap around his body and make him feel even slower than before!


    The wail of a bird behind him gave rise to yet another source of concern then!


    He knew this cry; this was his contracted soulbeast, the shadow vulture! Besides himself with fear, the soul refiner tried to turn his head to see what was the matter when an agonizing stab of pain in his chest halted his movements and forced him to spit another mouthful of blood out!


    The same mournful wail was heard by Bai Yunfei, who turned to look rather than attack. From what he saw, Xiao Qi had managed to land two Spatial Edges onto the throat and left wing of the shadow vulture before its dead carcass fell down to the ground below.


    The thunderfire wolf and Xiao Qi had managed to dispatch the shadow vulture faster than he thought!


    He turned back to the soul refiner who was preoccupied with the sudden feeling of pain he was having. Knowing an opportunity when he saw one, Bai Yunfei stored away his spear to bring his hands together. Formulating seal after seal, Bai Yunfei allowed himself to bask in the warmth of elemental fire as they converged around his arms.


    The Dual Dragon Burst!!


    He was willing to use his strongest move without hesitation. This attack would be undodgeable with the soul refiner¡¯s current state of health, and the Dual Dragon Burst would ensure that he¡¯d die without any further issues!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    A maelstrom of fire descended upon the plane, covering the soul refiner with the fire left behind by the two dragons.


    But rather than feeling satisfied, Bai Yunfei inhaled sharply, ¡°He¡¯s not dead?!¡±


    The aura of the soul refiner was very clearly still in the maelstrom! Somehow, the man had managed to pull up enough elemental energy to protect himself from dying.


    ¡°Chirp!¡±


    Xiao Qi chose then to dive into this battle, shooting a Spatial Edge to strike at the center of the maelstrom of fire!


    It dove into the eye of the maelstrom, carving out a crescent-shaped hole as it traveled¡­.


    There was a cry of pain then, and after that¡­..


    The soul refiner¡¯s aura was no more!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The soulforce holding the maelstrom together collapsed, inciting the maelstrom to explode in a flurry of elemental fire into the area!


    Hotter than what the soul refiner¡¯s body could handle, the elemental fire reduced it to cinders, leaving behind only a space ring for Bai Yunfei to call into his hand.


    The ring hadn¡¯t yet fallen into his hand when Bai Yunfei turned an eye to Xiao Qi.


    Had Xiao Qi actually been contesting against him for his ¡®prey¡¯?


    Both of Xiao Qi¡¯s wings were folded inwardly on itself¨Cthe natural pose of Xiao Qi when it entered its meditative pose to ¡®level up¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head; he¡¯d worry about that issue later.


    Looking all around, Bai Yunfei was this time prepared for any other ambushes. Soulsense on high alert, Bai Yunfei waited for it to warn him of anything.


    The detection of another living being came quick, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s dismay. Whirling around towards the direction of it, Bai Yunfei withdrew his Fire Eagle and fired off a bullet to the east!


    ¡°Skreee!!¡±


    From the area Bai Yunfei fired at, the shrill cries of a soulbeast made itself known to Bai Yunfei before a bat-shaped figure took off farther towards the east.


    But the bullet from the Fire Eagle continued onwards to chase down the fleeing soulbeast; this wasn¡¯t an ordinary bullet, it was a homing bullet!


    ¡°An early-stage class five blood bat¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei murmured, ¡°I¡¯m being overly cautious if I¡¯m getting riled up over an ordinary soulbeast¡­.¡±

 Chapter 453: Zhi Tian

    ¡°No matter I guess, gotta leave this place quick.¡± He spoke then.


    Moving quickly, Bai Yunfei first landed near where Xing Yuan¡¯s body was to take his space ring and other stuff. Then collecting the other dropped items he had, Bai Yunfei carefully swept up the fragments of the Nephrite Throne and stored them.


    Xiao Qi was about done with its levelling up when Bai Yunfei put away the last fragment. It chirped once to get Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention, who then turned his head just in time to see something strange.


    Xiao Qi was above the shadow vulture¡¯s body, but rather than taking its soulgem into its mouth, Xiao Qi floated the soulgem into the mouth of the thunderfire wolf!


    There was a swallowing sound when the thunderfire wolf swallowed the soulgem. Black mist started to exude out from the wolf¡¯s body, healing the wounds it sustained over the battles almost so quickly that the wounds seemed to melt away from its body!


    Since the soulgem was clearly of the darkness attribute, the thunderfire wolf would be unable to absorb the elemental darkness from it and only the pure energy.


    ¡°This¡­.¡±


    Tongue-tied by what was happening in front of him, Bai Yunfei watched what Xiao Qi was doing to the wolf in silence.


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to be gawking, though. He still needed to get out of here. Turning his eye towards a previously-missed white stone, Bai Yunfei busied himself picking up the missing fragments of the throne rather than watch the thunderfire wolf.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At the same time a good distance away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s current position.


    ¡°Zhi Tian, where are we going?¡±


    In the dense forest, a slightly tired voice called out to another. Two figures were walking slowly through the forest, with one tired young man in gray following listlessly behind the man in white ahead of him.


    This young man was Na Lanyin!


    The one in front of him was known as ¡®Zhi Tian¡¯, and was an old man with grizzly white-hair. Even his eyebrows were white from age, and his long white beard hung beneath his chin. Paired with his kindly expression, the man looked quite scholarly.


    He turned back to Na Lanyin, a smile on his face, ¡°We¡¯re going south simply because we need to leave the forest. Do you wish to stay here for another year, then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine that we¡¯re leaving, but why are we walking?! Can¡¯t we fly? And why don¡¯t you just some form of instantaneous movement to move?! And¡­.and can you please not antagonize anyone else like you did with those Soul Kings you blocked a while back?!¡±


    Na Lanyin pleaded almost angrily at him, ¡°If you want to anger them, go for it! They¡¯re afraid of you, but they¡¯re not afraid of me, so anger them when I¡¯m not around! Every single time you annoy someone, they always look at me like an insect¡­.just¡­.please¡­.I¡¯m only a mid-stage Soul Exalt, you know? Angering every Soul King and class seven soulbeast is only going to make my life harder, you know?¡±


    He added another line after that, ¡°Or are you starting to regret making an agreement with me and trying to kill me indirectly?¡±


    Zhi Tian shot him a glance, a small smile on his face. ¡°What uncouth words are coming out from your mouth? I¡¯m merely letting you get used to the killing intent of a Soul King, it¡¯ll help you in the long run.¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    What kind of reason was that?


    Rather than pressing the issue, Na Lanyin asked instead, ¡°Zhi Tian, why won¡¯t you tell me what happened over there?¡± he pointed his head to the east, ¡°why did you stop those two class seven soulbeasts and that Soul King? And why aren¡¯t we going there too?¡±


    Zhi Tian had actually stopped all of the Soul Kings he came across from heading towards the east!! It was no wonder no one else went after Bai Yunfei, they were all stopped by this man. If not for that, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve met several Soul Kings by now¡­.


    ¡°There¡¯s enough trouble in that direction, let¡¯s not add to whatever¡¯s left of it and stick to our own.¡± Zhi Tian shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s quite simple why I stopped those people. It was what I saw ¡®fate¡¯ wanted me to do.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Na Lanyin¡¯s head snapped to attention, ¡°Hold on! What are you saying, you can see ¡®fate¡¯?!¡±


    ¡°How would that be possible? Of course I can¡¯t see it.¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t you just say¡­.¡±


    ¡°What I said was your fate.¡± Zhi Tian pointed to him, ¡°Your ¡®fate¡¯ was telling me to stop them, and as per our agreement, I was helping you by having you meet those Soul Kings first.¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    Na Lanyin had a quirky frown on his face, his mind thinking, ¡°I¡¯d have to be brain-dead in order to stop people like that. Zhi Tian has something else to his words, I bet.¡±


    ¡°What does my ¡®fate¡¯ have to do with anything? Is what¡¯s happening over there related to me somehow?¡± Na Lanyin asked. Whatever it was that was happening over to the east, Na Lanyin knew none of it. Clearly, there was something Zhi Tian wasn¡¯t telling him, and that made him all the more curious to find out.


    ¡®It¡¯s not related to you, but at the same time, it is.¡± Zhi Tian spoke crpytically. ¡°I can just faintly see a ¡®strand¡¯ of your ¡®fate¡¯ intertwined with another, but whatever more is unknown to me. Me stopping those Soul Kings were merely whims of mine in respect to that strand. It is, after all, an important strand of fate.¡±


    ¡°A ¡®strand¡¯ of fate??¡± Na Lanyin asked, far more confused about what Zhi Tian was getting at. He knew he wouldn¡¯t get an answer, so he said nothing about it. Though, if not for the fact that he knew who Zhi Tian was, Na Lanyin would¡¯ve taken him for a swindler of some sort; he too, moonlighted as a ¡®swindler¡¯ like this to some degree, so this degree of mysteriousness wasn¡¯t new to him.


    ¡°When you say this ¡®strand¡¯ of fate¡­.¡± he began, ¡°I¡¯ve actually seen a person who had more strands of fate than others. In fact, I¡¯ve never seen anyone with more strands than him. He had more the second time I met him than the first; it really was quite strange.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Is that so?¡± Zhi Tian spoke, his eyebrows raised upwards. ¡°Those who are so heavily entwined with fate are special among their generation. They face more hardships than others, but their chances are many. Sadly, they often die well before their time.


    ¡°But if they can escape an untimely death, then they will become someone of glory¡­.¡±


    He looked up to the skies, ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s dispense with the walking. I¡¯ll take you there now.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Na Lanyin spoke, ¡°Don¡¯t you need to stop anyone else?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re all but done. I did say it was just a whim, so don¡¯t you mind your head about it. I was only stopping those from going in a certain direction, the other directions¡­.I can¡¯t do anything about it, like north where the class seven area is¡­.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been out of the Soulbeast Forest for a millenia, I wonder how much the continent has changed since then¡­..¡±


    Zhi Tian sighed at that, grabbing Na Lanyin¡¯s arm before taking one step forward into the a distortion in space and disappearing away from sight.

 Chapter 454: Saved Thanks to the Bloodhowl Mark

    The piece Bai Yunfei picked up then was the bottom half of the Nephrite Throne¨Cspecifically being the base of it¨Cso it was bigger in size than the other fragments.


    ¡°They were all scattered so far away¡­.I¡¯ve already collected a lot of them, but I¡¯m still not sure if that¡¯s all of it or if there¡¯s anymore anywhere else¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed, looking listlessly left and right.


    A hundred meters away, there was a river flowing quite rapidly¡­.


    ¡°You there! What are you holding in your hand?!¡±


    Suddenly, a furious voice called forth, breaking Bai Yunfei out into goosebumps!


    Whirling around, Bai Yunfei noticed then a person who had appeared out of nowhere. He wore plain clothing, but his bronze-colored eyes were extraordinarily piercing. There was no elemental energy being used to support his feet, and his soulforce was slightly different than what a soul cultivator would have¨Cwith it having a rather feral feel to it¡­.


    He¡¯s a class seven soulbeast!


    This man (or soulbeast), had the strength of an early-stage class seven. Unlike the Two Winged Kings, his strength was hidden well enough to escape Bai Yunfei¡¯s detection, but not his observation.


    Heart skipping a beat, Bai Yunfei tried to maintain a calm expression on his face. Most of his time had been spent trying to collect as many pieces as he can before he¡¯d make his leave, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t think that someone so strong would arrive so quickly.


    To make matters worse, he was in a pretty bad state, though even if he was at his best, there¡¯d be no way Bai Yunfei would want to fight against a Soul King levelled person¡­.


    ¡°But he doesn¡¯t seem to know about the Nephrite Throne, judging from his expression. Maybe I can bluff my way out of this¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei figured.


    Schooling his emotions, Bai Yunfei held up the stone in his hand, ¡°Junior Bai Yunfei pays his respects to Senior. I am a student of the Crafting School, and I¡¯ve been seeking special ores like this to use in my craft.¡±


    His words were half-truths and half-lies, but he hoped that his identity would be enough to hoodwink the soulbeast.


    ¡°The Crafting School?¡± The man narrowed his eyes, giving Bai Yunfei a closer look. Eyes flicking here and there as he looked about, the man saw several things; Xing Yuan, Bian Dangnan, and the corpse of a leopard.


    None of these three seemed odd to him, but then when he turned around to where two soulbeasts were hurrying over, his eyes widened as he saw the connection between them!


    Him seeing a class six soulbeast was startling to say the least, but when he saw the thunderfire wolf, his surprised expression twisted in on itself in anger!


    ¡°Beast Taming School!!¡±


    Furious at the seeming lies of Bai Yunfei, the soulbeast turned back to him with the intent to kill!


    ¡°Lies! You are scum from the Beast Taming School!!¡± He howled, purple light exploding from his body in great quantity. He raised his hand and pointed a finger at Bai Yunfei. In the next instant, a bolt of purple lightning came down from the skies to come down onto Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei knew that the situation had suddenly grown dire before the man could even shout. Frightened out of his skin almost, Bai Yunfei knew he had to act before it was too late.


    Summoning the Cataclysmic Seal, he forced in as much soulforce as he could into it to expand above his head for protection and an additional barrier to form around him. At the same time, his right hand flickered for a moment before he raised an item into the air.


    ¡°Senior, please stay your hand and look at this!!¡±


    The item he held was barely the size of his palm, but it appeared to be a fragment of a soulbeast¡¯s bone.


    This iem had actually been in his space ring for a very long time. It was, in fact, the item given to him by Hong Yin back in the Azure Cloud Province, the Bloodhowl Mark!


    Back then, Bai Yunfei then really understand what it was for when Hong Yin gave it to him. But he came to understand that it was precious; so he never forgot about it even when he entered the Soulbeast Forest.


    Knowing now that this person in front of him was a soulbeast and ready to kill him, Bai Yunfei spared no hesitation to show the item to him.


    As soon as the Bloodhowl Mark appeared, Bai Yunfei pressed his soulforce into it. The bone fragment started to shine a dark red light¨Cred not like the color of fire, but the color of¡­.blood!


    Just faintly, the image of a blood-colored wolf¡¯s head appeared above the bone fragment, showing it to be seemingly howling towards the skies, though no sound came out from him.


    And yet, a power like none else exploded from it to travel hundreds of meters away!


    ¡°The Bloodhowl Mark!¡±


    The soulbeast in front of Bai Yunfei realized what this symbol was straight away, his eyes widening even more.


    His hand dropped back to his side, which canceled out the bolt of lightning nearly upon Bai Yunfei and returning the elemental lightning back to the world.


    With the crisis averted, Bai Yunfei mentally wiped his sweat away, though he could still feel his entire back drenched with it. If he had been just a little bit later with the item, that bolt of lightning would¡¯ve most likely struck him dead on the spot.


    He sucked in a deep breath of air. Calming himself, Bai Yunfei spoke up as confidently as he could, ¡°You are correct, senior, this is indeed the Bloodhowl Mark, it was given to me by brother Hong Yin a long time ago. I really am from the Crafting School, and this thunderfire wolf was previously under the command of the fifth elder of the Beast Taming School, Xing Yuan. His corpse is over there, if senior would like to see proof!¡±


    Explaining as quickly as he could, Bai Yunfei tried to alleviate all the doubt away from the soulbeast¡¯s mind as possible.


    ¡°Hong Yin?¡± The man repeated in surprise. A pensive look crossed over his face to replace the killing intent, and his eyes followed Bai Yunfei¡¯s finger where Xing Yuan¡¯s corpse was.


    From farther away, Xiao Qi could only see a man attacking Bai Yunfei and chirped angrily in response. Spreading its wings wide, it was about to fly towards the enemy when the thunderfire wolf¨Cmuch to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise¨Cmoved in front of Xiao Qi as if to stop it.


    ¡°That was Xing Yuan?!¡± The man thought to himself. ¡°I did hear that Xing Yuan¡¯s main soulbeast puppet was a thunderfire wolf, so this young man¡¯s response might not be a lie¡­.¡±


    Ruminating a little longer on the question, he turned back to face Bai Yunfei, a calm look back on his face. ¡°I am the ruler of the thunder wolves, the Thunder Wolf King, do you swear by your words just now?!¡±


    The thunder wolves was a group of soulbeasts that were relatively numerous in the soulbeast world. As a part of the wolves clan, the thunder wolves had also the thunderfire wolves as a small division of their group.


    Eyes like fire now, the soulbeast stared unflinchingly at Bai Yunfei, as if peering into his soul to judge his next words. This was the last attempt for Bai Yunfei to speak the truth and nothing but the truth.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°This junior goes by the name Bai Yunfei. My master is Zi Jin of the Crafting School. It is an honor to meet you, Thunder Wolf King.¡±


    The soulbeast¡¯s eyes flickered once. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t change at all.


    The stand off continued briefly before the Thunder Wolf King finally made his decision by removing the pressure he had been exerting onto Bai Yunfei earlier.


    ¡°If there¡¯s nothing senior would like from me,¡± Bai Yunfei spoke up in relief, ¡°then this junior will be taking his leave.¡±


    He wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, so saying goodbye now would expediate that process.


    ¡°You may leave,¡± The Thunder Wolf King began, ¡°but the thunderfire wolf goes with me!¡±


    He stepped towards the Thunderfire Wolf as he spoke. Drawing close to the thunderfire wolf, he reached a hand towards it when the thunderfire wolf bolted away from his touch! Growling in warning, the thunderfire wolf arched its back in a ready to fight position, as if unwilling to allow the other soulbeast to get close.


    ¡°Eh?¡± The soulbeast paused, unsure of why the thunderfire wolf would react so violently.


    Then, his eyes began to radiate with fury once again to look at Bai Yunfei, ¡°You¡­.¡± he growled threateningly.


    But all he could see on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was his surprise and confusion; neither of which were faked to his knowledge.


    He furrowed his eyebrows, this situation was getting far more strange by the second. Bai Yunfei had the Bloodhowl Mark, so he couldn¡¯t force an answer, and neither was he willing to force the thunderfire wolf away.


    ¡°Forget it.¡± he acquiesced. ¡°Whatever secrets this youngster has, I¡¯ll have to report first, especially since he has that mark¡­.¡±


    He eyed Bai Yunfei once more, but without another word, he left the area.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Watching as the Thunder Wolf King¡¯s person disappeared off into the distance, Bai Yunfei shook his head. Calling out to Xiao Qi, he and the two soulbeasts quickly left the area.

 Chapter 455: A Clone!

    ¡°Shaaa¡­..shaaaa¡­..¡±


    A shadowy figure moved about in the haphazard forest, the trees and foliage hiding his figure from being seen.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the figure could hide no more¨Cas there was no more tree or foliage to hide behind in the barren wasteland he came onto.


    This wasteland was the battleground where a group of Soul Kings had once fought.


    Incidentally, it was also the area where the Black Dragon King had perished.


    With his death, the Two Winged Kings, Wu Lingtian, and others left the place a long time ago, turning the area into a silent but empty area to be in, especially at night like it was now.


    At the edge of this wasteland appeared a figure whose movements stood out among his surroundings. Slinking silently like a thief, the figure moved towards the edge of the forest, sticking only its head above the bushes to carefully look around the field with its eyes and soulsense.


    Hidden for a few additional minutes, the figure then stepped out into the open to run off towards the center of the wasteland.


    It was only when the figure ran out into the open its person could be seen. And if Bai Yunfei was here, he would¡¯ve been shocked to see who it was.


    It was¡­.the blue-eyes wyrm!!


    Somehow, the blue-eyes wyrm had unexpectedly stayed behind in the area after Bai Yunfei left it!


    A very human-like gleam of opportunistic light shined in its eyes as it stalked forwards. Seemingly interested in something in this area, it seemed afraid of turning back into its originally large size in favor of this ¡®chibi¡¯ sized version.


    Assumably, it would be a lot faster to run away in this form.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the wyrm to traverse the battlefield. Nearing the center of it all, it avoided a horrifyingly large gulch to reach a small pool of what seemed to be red water.


    This pool of red was about fifty-meters large and was filled with a thick red substance.


    It was blood!


    The blood of the Black Dragon King!


    This was where the Black Dragon King had been beheaded by Yun Lingtian, and where his blood was drained!


    All of the blood that had sprayed out from the Black Dragon King¡¯s neck had sprayed into this area to form a pool of blood. Even after so much time had passed, the blood hadn¡¯t congealed at all and was still simmering with heat.


    The blue-eyes wyrm stared avariciously at the pool of blood. It opened its jaws wide open, allowing for the blood to be drawn into its mouth!


    Like a black hole, the blue-eyes wyrm continued to take in all of the blood, and after an entire minute, the pool had been entirely drained!


    Smacking its mouth with its scarlet-red tongue, the blue-eyes wyrm looked seemingly satisfied. Looking all around itself to see if anyone was watching, the blue-eyes wyrm turned around and made a beeline straight for the forest and out of sight¡­.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Excluding the small interlude that was the blue-eyes wyrm, the entire area was soon returned to a deathly silence.


    And after a long amount of time¡­..


    There stood a crater in the middle of the wastelands. It was filled with the leftover rain water from the battle that took place, making it about several dozen meters deep with water.


    Within the waters of the crater, a series of runes started to float to the surface, and then¡­.a figure in black!


    Its ascent from beneath the waters had been without warning. It hadn¡¯t even the slightest of aura to it, making it seem like a demon.


    Now standing completely on top of the water, the figure could be seen in full clarity¡­.


    The Black Dragon King!!


    This person was the Black Dragon King!


    It was impossible!


    Completely and utterly impossible!


    He had clearly died in the battle earlier, his soul destroyed by the Two Winged Kings and his head beheaded by Yun Lingtian! Even his body had been taken away by Wu Tianling and his blood drunk by the blue-eyes wyrm¡­.


    So how was it that he was standing here in one piece?!


    Even the Black Dragon King looked to be in a daze of some sort, his eyes looking at the black aura swirling around his hands in front of him. His entire body began to tremble, his eyes exuding all the hatred he could muster from it!


    ¡°The Beast Taming School, the Two Winged Kings, and Wu Tianling¡­.¡± he spat their names with staccato, ¡°I will never forgive you all. Never in my entire life¡­..! Forcing I, the Black Dragon King, to such extreme steps¡­.I will kill you all slowly and painfully!!¡±


    This man was without a doubt the Black Dragon King!


    He lived!


    No.


    Saying he lived wouldn¡¯t be the right word for it. He did truly ¡®die¡¯ already. That peak late-stage class seven Black Dragon King had well and truly died¡­.


    This one was a clone!!


    In this world, there was perhaps nobody that knew that the Black Dragon King had another magical ability!


    The ability to form a clone!


    After great difficulty, the Black Dragon King became able to ¡®split¡¯ himself into another body!


    But this clone didn¡¯t have life to it. To be more accurate, it was a ¡®spare¡¯ body.


    Its physiological structure and blood was identical to the Black Dragon King, but it lacked one thing: a ¡®soul¡¯. The Black Dragon King never wanted to use this spare if possible, since it would only ¡®wake¡¯ when his real body was truly dead¡­..


    Half a year ago, the Beast Taming School had him surrounded and nearly dead. By using extraordinary tactics to escape and hide himself in slumber, he was able to evade death, and with the Nephrite Throne, he was able to dedicate half a year¡¯s worth of time to his self-recovery.


    But there was one thing he didn¡¯t account for: the Beast Taming School had known he was hiding here and posted several people here to guard him!


    Angered well and truly by that, the Black Dragon King grew afraid. His life was in danger, and he was without any other options.


    His attack on Bai Yunfei had been completely coincidental. At that time, he had only thought that a stupid soul cultivator had stumbled across his hiding spot, so he decided to ¡®partake¡¯ on this source of soulforce to hasten his recovery. But then when Bai Yunfei somehow escaped from his grasp, he decided not to give chase to prepare to deal with Liang Xing and the others.


    Time growing shorter than ever, the Black Dragon King decide to make use of his final trump card¨Ccreating a clone with a sliver of his soul in it.


    If his real body died, then the clone with that sliver of his soul would become the main body and waken as another ¡®him¡¯.


    The unexpected happened one after another during that fight, and even though he fought to the best of his ability and used the Nephrite Throne as a distraction, the Black Dragon King had only been able to take one step away from the crater¡­.


    He didn¡¯t ¡®completely¡¯ die, but he would no longer be the Black Dragon King, one of the Ten Soulbeast Rulers either. This clone of his had only the strength of a peak late-stage class six with just one special ability: the ability to transform into a human.


    So drastic was this change that even his aura was different than before.


    In other words, the Black Dragon King from before had been completely killed off from the world, with this one taking its place.


    ¡°No matter. I need to find the Nephrite Throne, as long as I have that, I can hide for the next hundred years and make use of my private stock to get back my strength. When the time comes, I¡¯ll devour them all!!¡± The Black Dragon King roared furiously to himself.


    He sucked in two deep breaths in preparation to leave the place.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting a long time for you, Black Dragon King¡­.¡±


    Right before the Black Dragon King could move, a person suddenly spoke out behind him, rooting him to the spot!

 Chapter 456: The Final Victor

    It was only after waiting such a long time that the Black Dragon King had dared poke his head out, and someone had actually been waiting for him as calmly as if they were waiting for their tea to brew!


    ¡°Im¨Cimpossible!!¡±


    The Black Dragon King¡¯s face ashened from disbelief straight away. Even though his strength was that of a peak late-stage class six, his soul was still that of a class seven and had the instincts to go with it.


    He didn¡¯t even sense this man until he spoke!


    That could only mean one thing¡­.the person in hiding is stronger than the Black Dragon King at his strongest!


    When the person spoke, his aura descended down onto the Black Dragon King, locking him into place while also confirming his greatest fears.


    Slowly forcing his body to turn around, the Black Dragon King turned up to look at where the voice was coming from.


    When he looked, the Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes widened fractionally.


    Up in the air above him stood not just one person, but two! One old man and one young man!


    The younger male stood up in the air, his dark-purple robes billowing gracefully with the wind to accentuate his dignified bearing.


    Standing behind him was a white-haired elderly man, but his cloak covered his face so it couldn¡¯t be recognized.


    The Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes widened again; he knew who that old man was. Practically besides himself, he spoke up in sadness, ¡°It¡¯s¡­.it¡¯s you, Qin Bangjie¡­.¡±


    He and this man had met before!


    The old man looked at him again, a voice speaking out from the black robes, ¡°It¡¯s been a very long time, Black Dragon King¡­.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Sixty years, has it? I never thought you¡¯d be able to become a peak late-stage Soul King. A Soul Emperor is within your grasp now¡­..¡± The Black Dragon King spoke as though he was chatting with a friend.


    ¡°I remember my fight half a year ago had several men in black helping the Beast Taming School. They belonged to you, I presume? They were killed before they could use their true strength, and here you stand today, hiding your strength as well¡­.


    ¡°Your cooperation with the Beast Taming School was within my expectations. Even if my true body died, I would still live on and wait¡­.but never did I imagine that you¡¯d know about my cloning ability. I had thought that there was no one in this world that knew my secret¡­.¡±


    His voice grew icy.


    ¡°But, do you really think that after I refused to form a soul contract with you sixty years ago, you can force me into agreeing to one now in my current state?!¡±


    Qin Bangjie once sought him out sixty years ago in an attempt to form a soul contract with him, but the Black Dragon King refused.


    Qin Bangjie didn¡¯t press the issue and had even helped him kill a Soul King after him but the Black Dragon King remained hesitant. There was something Qin Bangjie was planning on, but he didn¡¯t know what, so in the end, they remained only ¡®acquaintances¡¯.


    ¡°Black Dragon King, you misunderstand me.¡± Qin Bangjie spoke, ¡°I came here today to accompany the young master, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Young master?!¡±


    His eyebrows flew up. Looking to the young man standing in front of Qin Bangjie, the Black Dragon King was gobsmacked. This young man had been standing there the entire time with only a smile on his face.


    Returning the Black Dragon King¡¯s look with a warm smile of his own, the young man spoke, ¡°I¡¯m sure you understand the situation you¡¯re in today, Black Dragon King. Allow me to show you your two choices.¡±


    The Black Dragon King narrowed his eyes, but he remained silent.


    ¡°One, you die here and be erased from this world completely and utterly.¡±


    The young man smiled, his words chilling to the bones.


    But before the Black Dragon King could speak up in anger, he continued on with his choices.


    ¡°Two, you form a soul contract with me.¡±


    ¡°¡­.¡±


    The Black Dragon King¡¯s mouth snarled to give the young man a death glare, ¡°You¡¯ve guts, I¡¯ll tell you that much. Do you really think you can twist my hand like this?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already made your choice.¡± The young man laughed.


    ¡°You are no longer the same Black Dragon King who once sowed destruction onto the world. Any passing Soul King could easily kill you as you are now. You need a patron, that is your best and most favorable option.¡±


    He paused for a moment.


    ¡°Furthermore, you misunderstand me. I¡¯m not forcing you to do anything. I am not like the Beast Taming School¡­.


    ¡°Our soul contract will be half and half. Aside from forming a soul contract with me, you will remain the Black Dragon King and will experience no limitations. We will even help you to quickly restore your strength.¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    A look of impassivity crossed over onto the Black Dragon King¡¯s face now. His mind was filled with concern: he was at the complete mercy of these two people in front of him, and there was no leeway to make in the choices given to him.


    If he refused, he¡¯d die here¡­.


    As a proud and mighty being of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers, the Black Dragon King desired to live. After dying once, he wasn¡¯t keen on repeating the action.


    ¡°I¡¯ve one condition.¡± The Black Dragon King spoke at last.


    ¡°Say it.¡±


    ¡°I want my Nephrite Throne back. With that, I¡¯ll be able to regain my strength very quickly.¡±


    The young man smiled, ¡°We¡¯ve already dispatched someone to go grab it. That beast tamer Xing Yuan won¡¯t be able to find it¡­.it won¡¯t be long before they return, in fact.


    ¡°But since you given up on the Nephrite Throne, it belongs to me now. If you want to train with it, I¡¯ll be happy to give it to you. I hope we¡¯re both clear on this.¡±


    The Black Dragon King¡¯s mouth curled up to snarl, but he didn¡¯t say a word.


    Something about this man frightened him.


    From what Qin Bangjie was saying, everything seemed to be going to the tune of this young man¡¯s hand, from having him become a contracted soulbeast, his main body dying, and even using the Soul Refining School to do so¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Now with this compromise, the Black Dragon King hadn¡¯t anything else to do but rise up into the skies to stand behind the young man silently.


    As the three prepared to leave, Qin Bangjie suddenly drew in a sharp breath, looking to his west as he did.


    Noticing his actions, the other two turned their heads as well. Just over a kilometer away, a streak of scarlet light was flying towards them, screeching as it did.


    It was the palm-sized blood bat.


    ¡°A blood bat¡­.¡± The Black Dragon King remarked, looking at Qin Bangjie. The blood bat was heading for him.


    This must¡¯ve been one of his soulbeast pets. Pet soulbeasts were not like contracted soulbeasts and could raised like a normal pet by people as long as their intelligence wasn¡¯t too high. Many strong families and houses could arrange for soulbeast pets to raised without much trouble, though they were rarely shown to others. Soulbeast pets were extremely convenient to use as scouts or messengers, and perhaps fighting.


    Qin Bangjie¡¯s eyebrows were furrowed together when he noticed the blood bat coming for him, a strange look in his eyes.


    There was another streak of red light coming for the blood bat!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    When the blood bat finally ran out of strength, the red streak of light collided with the soulbeast, destroying it completely!


    It had been the same blood bat Bai Yunfei fired at earlier, and that red streak of light had been the homing bullet fired off from his Flame Eagle!


    The homing effect had no limits. As long as it had its target, the bullet would chase down its prey no matter where it went!


    Qin Bangjie frowned. This was the soulbeast he sent out to oversee the mission to take back the Nephrite Throne. It heading back alone and then dying meant that something unexpected had happened.


    The young man¡¯s eyes were narrowed as well.


    Suspicious, the Black Dragon King looked at the two, though on the inside, he didn¡¯t say a word.


    After a long moment of silence¡­..


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The young man finally broke the silence with those two words before leaving the two behind.


    The Black Dragon King chose then to speak, ¡°Ah, just who are you? Qin Bangjie said you were the ¡®young master¡¯, but can you be¡­.¡±


    Without even turning his head, the young man said.


    ¡°My name is Mo Ni.¡±

 Chapter 457: Fragments of the Nephrite Throne

    In the earlier half of the class six area of the Soulbeast Forest.


    In a giant mountain that towered a kilometer over others, there could be seen a large cave.


    The cave was dark, but by the entrance stood a giant wolf and a rather large prisma oriole sitting lazily on the side as if resting.


    At a first look, only these two animals were there. But with a closer look, one would be able to make out the blurry figure of a person inside, but his aura was practically invisible.


    Needless to say, the wolf and bird duo was the thunderfire wolf and Xiao Qi, and the person inside the cave was none other than Bai Yunfei. By using his Soul Concealment Art and the Walk-on Strawhat, he was able to hide his aura just enough so that any soul cultivator wouldn¡¯t be able to find it.


    All they¡¯d be able to see are two ordinary soulbeasts.


    Bai Yunfei had been speeding along ever since he picked up all the fragments of the Nephrite Throne. Unwilling to venture any deeper into the class six area, he stopped halfway to hide in a cave and take a break.


    From what his soulsense was telling him, there were only a few early-stage class six soulbeasts in this area, and that was it.


    He shouldn¡¯t be in trouble here.


    In truth, he had the Thunder Wolf King to thank for finding this cave. The direction he originally picked to follow would¡¯ve taken him deeper into the forest, but when the Thunder Wolf King left, Bai Yunfei chose the opposite direction, which took him towards the outskirts.


    Sitting crossed-legged on the ground of the cave, Bai Yunfei started to circulate his soulforce around his body. This way, his wounds would heal and he¡¯d have some time to think about several things.


    One of those things was naturally the Nephrite Throne.


    Back when the Nephrite Throne was shattered by that soul refiner, Bai Yunfei had felt his own heart shattering almost. Before he could even familiarize himself with this regalia, it broke. And that much was enough to drive him crazy.


    But there was still something strange he noticed, making him take a second look at the fragments he gathered.


    One of the larger pieces was currently in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands to inspect.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +10 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (High Earth tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded


    These are the stats of the Nephrite Throne fragment.


    Even the fragments of the throne had stats!


    Though he found that out a lot earlier, he didn¡¯t have much time to ruminate on it due to the soul refiner he had to fight. But now that the soul refiner was dead, Bai Yunfei had all the time in the world now to investigate the fragments.


    With a turn of his hand, the fragment in his right hand was replaced with a fragment that had once been a part of the throne¡¯s base.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +12 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (Low Heaven tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded


    His eyes shined brightly at this one. But not willing to say anything before every single fragment was looked at, Bai Yunfei took out another fragment.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +13 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (Mid Heaven tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded


    This one fragment was the largest of them with it being almost half of the entire backrest.


    The light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glistened even more.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +11 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (Low Heaven tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +6 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (Mid Human tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded


    ¡­¡­


    After a long time, each of the fragments had finally been studied by Bai Yunfei. There were about a hundred of these fragments with the smallest being only the size of a small marble.


    ¡°How strange! How does this work? Why does it work still?¡±


    Puzzled by the fragments in front of him, Bai Yunfei muttered to himself with a wrinkle so heavy on his forehead that it almost seemed as though they were permanent features.


    He really didn¡¯t understand why there was such a change like this after the Nephrite Throne was shattered.


    It seemed as though the Nephrite Throne had distributed its abilities into the fragments.


    The destruction of a piece of equipment wasn¡¯t rare to Bai Yunfei. He studied such cases before, but never had he had it turn out like this.


    If a piece of equipment was destroyed by a failed upgrade attempt, it¡¯d be reduced to dust and disappear forever. In the same line of events, if a piece of equipment¨Csuch as a stick¨Cwas broken by someone, the stats would still stay the same.


    To be more specific, if the stick had an attack value of fifty, then it¡¯d remain fifty after being evaluated again with the Equipment Upgrade Technique. Even the second half of the stick would retain the same value of fifty.


    Swords were no exception to this rule. Should it be broken into two pieces, both halves would share the exact same attack value.


    To extrapolate further on the matter, armor would also retain the same defensive value even if they were split apart. However, the rule was different in more extreme cases. Robes were fine if they were split in two, but if they were split into many many pieces, their defensive values would potentially drop. And in some cases, the pieces wouldn¡¯t even show as having any stats at all.


    In other words, they were no longer classified by the Equipment Upgrade Technique as being ¡®equipment¡¯.


    There existed another rule in this vein of things. If a sword had an additional effect and was broken in two, then only one half of it would have the effect and not the other. If the damage done to the piece of equipment was far too serious, then the effect would disappear entirely.


    And that was only pertaining to the cases of armor and weapons. Bai Yunfei applied these rules before on accessories and such, and they had special findings of their own.


    If a bracelet were to break, then it wouldn¡¯t have any stats at all and was basically a useless pile of junk.


    ¡­¡­


    But today stood an exception to what Bai Yunfei used to call ¡®common sense¡¯. The fragments of the throne had completely gone beyond what Bai Yunfei was confident about¡­.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t get it¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°I experimented before on low tier equipment, but this never happened before. Is it because these are way higher in grade than what I used before?


    ¡°Ah forget it. I won¡¯t get the answer by thinking about it. These ¡®results¡¯ in front of me are far more important.¡±


    Clearing his mind with a shake of the head, Bai Yunfei took one of the smaller fragments into his hand.


    This one fragment had a slight deviation to the others¡­.

 Chapter 458: Guaranteed Upgrade Stones

    This one fragment in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was ovallish in shape and was two fingers wide and half an inch thick. Aside from the two holes on two sides of it, this fragment was almost perfect in shape like jade with several seemingly haphazard notches cut into it.


    If the Black Dragon King was here, he would¡¯ve recognized this piece straight away as being the ¡®jade disk¡¯; the piece of jade that was located at the central most part of the backrest and where all of the mysterious runic script originated from.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect: 60% increase in rate of cultivation.


    Upgrade Requirement: 150 Soulpoints


    His shock had reached a maximum when he first saw that effect¨Cthis fragment had been the only one that didn¡¯t have to do with the ability to upgrade!


    And even more interesting¨Cthis fragment could be upgraded!


    He clutched this jade stone into his hand, breathing heavily in an attempt to calm himself down. Closing his eyes, Bai Yunfei tried to ease himself into tranquility.


    ¡°All the other fragments are responsible for the third and fourth additional effect of the Nephrite Throne, but this fragment was only able to ¡®inherit¡¯ the first additional effect and not the second one¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to really look at the Nephrite Throne, so I¡¯m not sure of the specifics. But this must¡¯ve been from the backrest of the throne, why is it so different from the others?¡±


    He studied the piece closely, making sure to memorize each of the finer details into his mind. Right now, an outline of the throne was weighing on his mind, and each of the fragments he had were slowly filling in that outline.


    ¡°I definitely didn¡¯t collect all of the pieces, and some of them were completely destroyed¡­.¡± His eyebrows furrowed together. Bai Yunfei was sure that he didn¡¯t have all of the pieces even after searching the entire area for them. Some pieces would¡¯ve been far too small for his eyes to see, and he had been in a rush to leave too.


    So roughly a third of the Nephrite Throne was completely lost to him, and so the backrest of the throne had its fair share of ¡®gaps¡¯¡­.


    ¡°Did they¡­.fall into the water?¡± He conjectured.


    There had been a river not too far away from where Bai Yunfei was searching. Surely, some of the pieces had to have fallen into the water, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t have picked them up if they did.


    The waters had been flowing far too fast for the fragments to anchor themselves into the waterbed. With their relative size and density, the river must¡¯ve taken them far far away from Bai Yunfei, meaning they were lost to him.


    ¡°What a shame¡­¡±


    It was with great pity that Bai Yunfei wrote off his losses. A great deal of the foundation was missing, many of these ¡®Guaranteed Upgrade Stones¡¯ surely would¡¯ve been able to upgrade a +12 or +13 piece of equipment. And with some of the backrest missing, Bai Yunfei was sure there would¡¯ve been some jade stones similar to this one that could¡¯ve helped him train even faster.


    ¡®Guaranteed Upgrade Stones¡¯. That was the name Bai Yunfei came up for these fragments. Like Upgrade Stones, they could upgrade equipment, but they were also capable of allowing equipment to be upgraded without fear of failure. Like the Upgrade Stone given to him by Hai Dongqing¨Cwhich had a higher chance of success than others¡ª, these fragments were special in that they were guaranteed successes.


    Bai Yunfei had a slight suspicion on why there might¡¯ve been a difference between the two stones, but they were merely suspicions and not facts¡­..


    He put away the jade disk in favor of returning his attention to the many upgrade stones he had.


    ¡°Although the Nephrite Throne was destroyed, the stones left behind by it will still help me¡­..I can¡¯t upgrade the Cataclysmic Seal anymore, but the other equipment have a chance now. Still hard to say if this is better or not, though.¡±


    After giving it much thought, Bai Yunfei finally decided to categorize the new Guaranteed Upgrade Stones into mini-groups.


    It went as following:


    The amount of upgrade stones that guaranteed success for any equipment +13 and under and enhanced items up to mid-heaven tier: One


    The amount of upgrade stones that guaranteed success for any equipment +12 and under and enhanced items up to low-heaven tier: Two


    The amount of upgrade stones that guaranteed success for any equipment +11 and under and enhanced items up to low-heaven tier: Four


    The amount of upgrade stones that guaranteed success for any equipment +10 and under and enhanced items up to high-earth tier: Eight


    The rest of the upgrade stones were only capable of guaranteeing success of equipment +9, +8, and all the way to +3 were far too many for Bai Yunfei to bother categorizing.


    Bai Yunfei was excited though. Aside from the smaller pieces, he had seven upgrade stones that were extremely useful to him, so useful that he felt like he was living a dream!


    With these upgrade stones, he¡¯d be able to upgrade any +10 piece of equipment without fear of failing!


    He had dreamed of having upgrade stones with these effects before, but this was a reality he never expected to come!


    Still. He wasn¡¯t so happy that he¡¯d use one of the more bigger upgrade stones. He¡¯d start from the bottom first with the smallest.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Superior


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +5 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (Superior tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded.


    These stones¨Cwhile inherently useless¨Cwere still good fodder to fuel his research.


    Taking out a golden blade in his left hand, Bai Yunfei looked down at the crack running through it.


    This was the soul armament that soul refiner had used.


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Attack: 1300


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    An ordinary soul armament that was only noticeable because it was a high-earth tier soul armament.


    First upgrading it to +6, Bai Yunfei looked at it, and then to the upgrade stone in his hand. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    He waited for the notification that¡¯d ask for confirmation if he wanted to use the upgrade stone, but it never came.


    ¡°As I thought, I can¡¯t use the stone if it doesn¡¯t meet the requirements.¡±


    This was the line that neatly divided the Guaranteed Upgrade Stones from the Upgrade Stones.


    He took out a +8 Upgrade Stone and then looked back to the sword.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Agreeing to the prompt, Bai Yunfei watched as the sword was upgraded to +7.


    The first signs of deviation started when the upgrade stone transformed into white dust to be absorbed into the sword. The notification hadn¡¯t even popped into his mind when Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together.


    ¡°This sensation¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought. Taking another +8 upgrade stone, he upgraded the sword to +8.


    But this time, he eyed the sword intently while the upgrading process took place.


    He had noticed something.


    The sword was upgraded to +9.


    He took out a +10 upgrade stone.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Attack: 1300


    Additional Attack: 600


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: +500 additional attack


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    An unordinary +10 additional effect. Though the sword had gained enough strength to qualify it as a low-heaven tier soul armament, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t paying any attention to that.


    His eyes were closed, as if thinking about something.


    Two minutes later, his eyes flew open.


    Shining with a strange light, Bai Yunfei looked as though he had realized something.


    ¡°Time to upgrade even more!¡±


    Putting away the sword, he replaced it with his Ardent Sun Gloves and took out a +11 upgrade stone¡­.

 Chapter 459: +12, +13, and Insights on Upgrading

    Inspired by the sudden epiphany he had, Bai Yunfei took out the Ardent Sun Glove after having the previous short sword reach +10.


    Thinking for another two seconds, he took out the +11 upgrade stone.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 2236


    Defense: 2580


    Additional Attack: 1060


    Additional Defense: 1215


    Soul Compatibility: 16%


    +10 Additional Effect: Summon a fireball with strength no greater than 50% of this equipment¡¯s attack.


    Upgrade Requirement: 10 Soulpoints


    At the time he upgraded this glove to +10, it had only 10% soul compatibility. With repeated usage though, Bai Yunfei was able to up that number by 6%.


    ¡°It sucks that I wasn¡¯t able to refine my equipment when I became a Soul Exalt, otherwise, I would¡¯ve had the chance to increase the soul compatibility even more¡­.¡± sighed Bai Yunfei.


    In the eyes of any crafter, the breakthrough to a higher level of cultivation meant another chance to increase the soul compatibility of one of their soul armaments. Many crafters intentionally stopped training when they were at the verge of becoming a Soul Exalt in order to increase the soul compatibility of their soulbound armament. That way, they¡¯d get a stronger soul armament.


    Unfortunately for Bai Yunfei, he had completely forgotten about this chance when he was being chased by that thunderwing bat.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    He used the upgrade stone without hesitation, it was time to upgrade the Ardent Sun Glove!


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 2236


    Defense: 2580


    Additional Attack: 1600


    Additional Defense: 1700


    Soul Compatibility: 26%


    +10 Additional Effect: Summon a fireball with strength no greater than 50% of this equipment¡¯s attack.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    It took only a second to upgrade, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother looking at the stats. What he was more focused on was the moment when the upgrade stone was absorbed into the glove. Meditating as he did, Bai Yunfei could distinctly feel the changes going on as the glove was absorbing the stone.


    Since that process had only been a moment, much like the upgrading process, Bai Yunfei had only been able to further his theories and understandings by a single step. The Upgrade Stone was gone, but the Ardent Sun Glove was shining a faint shade of red just barely brighter than what it was before.


    ¡°That¡¯s not enough¡­.again!!¡±


    His eyes flew open a few moments later, his hand taking out a +12 upgrade stone this time!


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 2236


    Defense: 2580


    Additional Attack: 2400


    Additional Defense: 2600


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    +10 Additional Effect: Summon a fireball with strength no greater than 50% of this equipment¡¯s attack.


    +12 Additional Effect: Steal 10 points of the enemy¡¯s attributes (Strength, Spirit, Endurance, and Agility) up to 10 seconds.


    Cannot steal over 50% of the enemy¡¯s original attributes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    The upgrade was a success, though Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem to care for the new +12 additional effect on it. Instead, his eyes were closed in order to focus on something.


    His eyes opened again roughly ten minutes later. Blinking a few times, Bai Yunfei put a finger to his chin, ¡°Hm¡­.I think I¡¯m starting to get it. It¡¯s a little foggy though, why can¡¯t I seem to understand it completely?


    ¡°Is it a problem with the soul compatibility?¡± He asked himself, his eye still lingering on the glove. It had a 40% soul compatibility with him, and though that was relatively high, it wasn¡¯t enough to satisfy his curiosity.


    ¡°Should¡­.should I try again?¡± The shadows of hesitation crossed over in his eyes.


    ¡°I can¡¯t just give up! This is my chance to finally understand this huge secret, I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯ll get this chance again!¡±


    The Violet Soul Ring flashed once with light as the Fire-tipped Spear tumbled out onto his hand!


    And then¡­.a +13 upgrade stone came out with it!


    He was going to upgrade the Fire-tipped Spear!


    Clenching onto the spear with his right hand and the stone with his left, Bai Yunfei concentrated on the task at hand.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    He didn¡¯t know if it was just him or not, but Bai Yunfei could¡¯ve sworn he heard a small sound of some sort from the upgrade stone. Strange ¡®white smoke¡¯ started to pour out from the upgrade stone like water into a bucket before it was sucked straight into the spear!


    In the next moment and under the watchful eyes of Bai Yunfei, his soulsense poured into his spear as well!


    Two short seconds later, the white smoke had entirely disappeared into the spear, where shining red light started to pour out into the cave. Its glow felt warm to the skin and bright enough to perk the attention of Xiao Qi, who turned its head to look into the cave.


    Though it was only two seconds that had passed, Bai Yunfei felt as though he was being ignored by the passage of time. Inexplicably, he felt estranged from it, with his soulsense being strangely moved about in a strange space.


    This space was familiar to him. Back when he first made the Fire-tipped Spear his soulbound armament, Bai Yunfei had the same sensation. And with the spear being his first soulbound armament, Bai Yunfei was extremely familiar with it. Each marking, notch, and material was no stranger to him, and nothing about it was unknown.


    But right now, there was also a sensation he had never experienced before. In this familiar ¡®space¡¯, there was a deviation of sorts happening.


    This was what Bai Yunfei was aiming for.


    In order to soak in on this sensation, Bai Yunfei ignored everything else in the world to hone in with his senses. His eyes, mind, and soul were all focusing in on this strange deviation in order to divine something from it¡­.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 1380


    Defense: 3200


    Soul Compatibility: 88%


    +10 Additional Effect: 20% chance to create an explosion with an attack of 150% of this equipment¡¯s attack when stabbing.


    Cooldown of 20 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: Summon two doppelgangers with strength equivalent to 50% of the user¡¯s total strength for up to 3 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +13 Additional Effect: Expend half the user¡¯s soulforce to ignore any one elemental-based defense upon the next strike.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    At last, a string of notifications started to stream into Bai Yunfei¡¯s head.


    This time, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t put away the spear without looking at the stats. He first looked at the 88% soul compatibility he had with it, and concentrated on the part of the spear he was holding onto. The pulsations from within the spear was slightly different than what he remembered.


    One minute went by.


    Then ten.


    Half an hour¡­


    The Fire-tipped Spear had long since fallen into its normal state, but Bai Yunfei remained still, unmoving, like a statue.


    Another hour went by before Bai Yunfei opened his eyes, revelation clear to be seen in them.


    ¡°Is this how it works? I think I understand now¡­.¡±

 Chapter 460: A Deeper Study of the Upgrade Technique

    The Equipment Upgrade Technique had never belonged to this world. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know about that at first, but that knowledge soon came to him when his mind started to incorporate the shattered memories of the transmigrator. It was with that transmigrator¡¯s knowledge that Bai Yunfei was able to learn that this was something from a ¡®game¡¯.


    Upon coming to this world, the transmigrator¡¯s memories fused with Bai Yunfei, and the imaginary ¡®skill¡¯ that had been made up in his world soon became a reality in Bai Yunfei¡¯s.


    What was once strange to Bai Yunfei soon became normal as he familiarized himself with this strange technique. Soon, he came to call it a ¡®special skill¡¯ of his own, albeit one that he ¡®couldn¡¯t understand¡¯ or even ¡®hope to understand¡¯.


    Thus why he never bothered to understand it as a whole.


    Then came his entry into the Crafting School. Due to the intricate relationship between the school and their studies in the art of crafting, Bai Yunfei gradually started to yearn the answers to the mystery that was the Upgrade Technique.


    The answer he wanted wasn¡¯t about the rules of upgrading, or even the study of the effects, but¡­.


    How did upgrading work?


    Yes, that was what he desired to know.


    In the one instant the upgrading took place in, what exactly was going on to make it work?


    The reforging and refinement of equipment was a type of ¡®skill¡¯ unique to the Crafting School. Embedding primal stones or soulgems onto a soul armament strengthened them, and even infusing special materials had the possibility of enhancing a soul armament¡¯s power and even grade. Though possible, it required a series of complex procedures and compatibility between materials in order to work.


    Even one of the secrets of the Crafting School, where a crafter was able to use the formation of their essence fireseed to refine one of their soul armaments and make it stronger had a basis in which the secret was formed upon.


    But the Upgrade Technique¡­.on what principle did that work upon?


    It didn¡¯t have any prerequisites to be used aside from the consumption of soulforce. Compared to the sacred arts of the Crafting School, the Upgrade Technique was worlds apart in requisites, process, and results.


    And that was without including the irregularity that was the additional effects.


    In the course of the last two years spent, Bai Yunfei was without a doubt much stronger than before, and it was mainly in part thanks to the Upgrade Technique. By upgrading soul armaments, he had inevitably strengthened himself. Many a times, Bai Yunfei studied the finer details of the equipment after they were upgraded, and just as many times was spent trying to understand the sensations he felt during the process.


    But no matter how many times he tried, it was all futile.


    One thing he did know was the difference when he used an upgrade stone and when he didn¡¯t. In the times he used to the upgrade stones, his sense of clarity was a hundred times stronger during the upgrading process than when he didn¡¯t. He experienced this first hand back in Curopia City, though it was only for a moment so he wasn¡¯t able to pursue that. It also required all his brain power, and without the right frame of mind usually gained by training, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to make the best of it when he tried.


    Today changed that. Now that he had the upgrade stones formed by the fragments of the Nephrite Throne, his mind was able to clearly sense the finer details when the white smoke from the stone entered the equipment.


    It was still a fleeting moment, but it was a longer moment than before. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to give up that chance. After several repetitions with upgrading the Ardent Sun Glove via the +11 and +12 upgrade stones, Bai Yunfei was finally able to gleam some more knowledge.


    But that wasn¡¯t enough for him, so he deigned to use the precious +13 upgrade stone!


    Deciding on using the Fire-tipped Spear to be the item to be upgraded took a moment, but in the end, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t regret his choice. The Fire-tipped Spear was his main weapon and was also one of his highest compatible weapons.


    The +13 upgrade stone failed to disappoint. Via its usage, Bai Yunfei at last managed to understand the mystery that had eluded him for so long!


    This was a first. He had never felt so understanding about the intricacies behind the Upgrade Technique, and surely, it¡¯d benefit him for a very long time¡­.


    It was still early to say Bai Yunfei had mastered the Upgrade Technique, but he had finally did it. He was finally one step closer to knowing the vital secret behind the Upgrade Technique and the ¡®methodology¡¯ behind it.


    Right now, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure what sort of thing he was researching, or even what kind of ¡®power¡¯ it was¡­.


    This ¡®power¡¯ was known as¡­.the power of Law!!


    The Planar Laws!


    In his journey for the answers, Bai Yunfei had inadvertently stumbled upon such an awe-shocking discovery without even knowing!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei sighed, catching his breath as he tried to calm himself.


    That feeling left in his mind wasn¡¯t something he fully understood, even now. But he had time. Before one learns to run, they must learn to walk.


    And that would be what Bai Yunfei would do.


    Now that his study was over, Bai Yunfei had the Ardent Sun Glove and Fire-tipped Spear in his hands to inspect.


    The Fire-tipped Spear had reached a cumulative amount of four thousand attack points now that it was +13, meaning it was good enough to be called a mid-heaven tier soul armament! If Zi Jin saw the spear, he would¡¯ve been absolutely floored! But Bai Yunfei was prepared to explain why his spear was so strong now, so he could worry about other things, such as the +13 additional effect.


    ¡°Ignore any elemental-based defense?¡± Inquired Bai Yunfei, this effect was¡­.overpowered beyond belief!


    Soul cultivators fought entirely with elemental energy as soon as they become a Soul Sprite and formed their origin essence. By harnessing the power of the elements, they could rely on that rather than physical prowess, whether it was in offense or defense.


    They were even used to fight in long-ranged battles.


    Through the power of a barrier powered by elemental energy, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t even be able to shatter it if he unloaded every single bullet he had from his two Desert Eagles. The absolute coverage brought to soul cultivators by using the elements as ¡®armor¡¯ was without a doubt one of the most important aspects a soul cultivator should know, if not the most important.


    And now, the Fire-tipped Spear had an effect that could completely ignore that said defense!


    What did this mean?


    It meant that in the face of an elemental barrier, the Fire-tipped Spear could go through it as if it didn¡¯t exist, no matter how strong the barrier was!


    So excited were Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes that they looked nearly bloodshot, reminding him to try and calm down a little.


    ¡°But the price for using this effect is huge! Using half my current soulforce¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei mumbled, ¡°Just using this effect means a sharp decline in my fighting ability. It doesn¡¯t even mean I¡¯ll be able to hit the enemy either. If I can¡¯t kill them in one blow with this, I¡¯ll be in danger.¡±


    Battles between Soul Exalts and higher made it very hard for a close-combat battle to open. More often than not, both soul cultivators would be fighting using long-ranged methods, and breaking through one¡¯s defense wasn¡¯t necessarily be-all and end-all. Unlike puppets whose movements would cease if their strings were cut, soul cultivators could retreat at any point they felt their lives were in danger.


    ¡°A risky gambit, that¡¯s what it is. But still, now I¡¯ve another ace up my sleeves to kill with.¡±


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei put away the spear in favor of looking at the Ardent Sun Glove.


    ¡°Since the gloves were inherently better than the spear, it has better stats at +12 than the spear at +13¡­..and it has defense in addition to attack. With that, I¡¯d be able to fight a low-heaven tier soul armament with just my gloved hand, probably with more ease than I think?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled happily as he looked at the stats.


    ¡°Stealing stats?! Another unbelievable effect!¡±


    Stealing ten points of the opponent¡¯s attributes with each strike was inconsequential, if not negligible. With Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength as an early-stage Soul Exalt, his basic attributes totalled to be around six thousand at the very least, so stealing ten from six thousand was a drop in the bucket.


    But the important thing to know here was that the effect read as ¡®with each strike¡¯. It could be stacked!


    It was only for ten minutes and had a limit of fifty percent, but ten minutes was a very long amount of time in a battle of life or death! Many a things could happen in that time window, and exchanging several hundreds of blows during then was nothing strange.


    If one blow represented ten points, and ten blows meant a hundred, then a hundred blows meant a thousand points! Even more importantly, Bai Yunfei had the Overlapping Wave Arts! An Eighty-one Fold Fist Force in the eyes of the Upgrade Technique meant ¡®eighty-one strikes¡¯¡­.


    Equally as importantly was the fact that these points would be ¡®stolen¡¯! It wasn¡¯t a debuff! Whatever the opponent lost, Bai Yunfei would gain!


    To imagine just how great this was, if Bai Yunfei were to fight against a person who preferred to fight with his hands and legs, the outcome would surely benefit Bai Yunfei¡­.


    ¡°What a shame that it only works in close-combat. If I can¡¯t hit the person, it¡¯s useless to me¡­.¡±


    As mighty as the effects were, the limits were also very clear to see.


    But all in all, the two new effects Bai Yunfei picked up satisfied him. The profits he gained in less than a few minutes would raise his strength by several levels.


    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s take a look at this.¡±


    Bai Yunfei fished a white piece of jade about two fingers in width. This was the piece of jade that could quicken the rate of training!


    Closing his eyes, Bai Yunfei thought of a single word.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±

 Chapter 461: Luck

    Upgrade Successful


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Additional Attribute: +2 Luck


    Soul Compatibility: 1%


    Equipment Effect: 60% increase in rate of cultivation.


    Upgrade Requirement: 150 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand clutched at the jade piece in his hand, his eyes frozen in place at what he saw.


    ¡°L¨CLuck?!¡± He uttered, not sure how to respond to this.


    Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Spirit, those were the stats Bai Yunfei were familiar with, and even after countless accessories being upgraded by him and all sorts of strange additional effects, he never saw anyone outside these four attributes.


    But today had saw to dropping a whole new ¡®attribute¡¯ for him.


    Many a times, Bai Yunfei considered himself quite unlucky with the Upgrade Technique when it came to looking for good +10 additional effects. He even wished that his ¡®luck¡¯ would be better all those times!


    If only he had a little bit more ¡®luck¡¯ to help him when upgrading!


    And now, here it was, the luck he was looking for.


    It seemed ever since he came across the Nephrite Throne, all of his ¡®desires¡¯ were being met.


    For a very long time, Bai Yunfei could only stare at the jade piece in his hands.


    ¡°Luck, luck, luck, luck!! Is this really that kind of ¡®luck¡¯? Even something intangible like luck can be added?!¡±


    His questions obviously had no man to tell him the answer to. But he didn¡¯t doubt what the Upgrade Technique was telling him. After many years of using it, there was one thing he knew about it for sure.


    The Upgrade Technique never lied with its stats!


    Whilst Xiao Qi was still staring strangely at him, Bai Yunfei looked at the jade piece, trying his best to calm his heart.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    A moment later.


    Upgrade Successful


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: +30 Luck


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: 60% increase in rate of cultivation.


    +10 Additional Effect: Double the chance of an equipment or additional effect activating.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°For a low-heaven tier +10 item, adding only 30 points of luck is a little low, isn¡¯t it?


    ¡°Does this mean that the ¡®value¡¯ of luck is weighed differently than for Strength, Spirit, and the other attributes? If this is a ¡®special attribute¡¯, I wonder what the standard is¡­.¡±


    The only thing he really knew about this ¡®luck¡¯ was its name, and nothing more. Though he had his suspicions, Bai Yunfei had no concrete answers, so he decided to delegate the question for a later time to focus on the +10 additional effect.


    ¡°Double the chance?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered with glee, ¡°Is this also an effect brought by ¡®luck¡¯? How useful¡­.¡±


    If the words of the effect could be believed, then the probability of every single effect¨Cmeaning the Desert Eagle¡¯s chance to double its attack, th Flameblade Bracer¡¯s chance to absorb an attack, and the chance for the Cataclysmic Seal to activate the Flame Twister¡ªwould increase by a substantial number¡­.


    With this jade, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had increased by a whole new level again.


    Having such good equipment made Bai Yunfei giddy with the prospect of wearing it.


    But then the logic of how to do that sobered him, ¡°How would I wear this? Is it a type of accessory?¡±


    Surely, this jade slip wouldn¡¯t have any effect if he held it in his hand or slipped it into his robes. Should he wear it like a belt? That never seemed to work as a piece of ¡®equipment¡¯ before, though.


    Taking out a golden piece of rope from his ring, Bai Yunfei slipped one end of it through the hole on the jade and turned it into a ¡®pendant¡¯.


    He replaced the Cultivation Pendant with this one, allowing himself to feel washed with a strange sensation, thus telling him that the effect of the jade piece was in fact working.


    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll call this the Luck Pendant!¡± Bai Yunfei smiled to himself. Though the pendant had the ability to help him train even faster, it was also special in that it could raise his luck, thus the name.


    Without any further use, the Cultivation Pendant was put away.


    ¡°Jackpot!¡± Bai Yunfei exhaled. ¡°I really hit the jackpot this time!!¡±


    Words couldn¡¯t even describe the emotions Bai Yunfei was feeling right now. Today was the day of ¡®luck¡¯ and ¡®profit¡¯ for him, and the danger he went through to get it was completely worth it.


    Looking at the remaining pile of upgrade stones, Bai Yunfei decided to continue upgrading another time. Todays research was enough for him; he¡¯d have enough time another day, especially with how many upgrade stones he had.


    ¡­¡­


    Now that the problem with the Nephrite Throne was solved, Bai Yunfei clapped his hand to look at Xiao Qi and the thunderfire wolf.


    ¡°Come on in,¡± He called out to Xiao Qi.


    The study he was conducting with the upgrade stones had piqued the curiosity from Xiao Qi. Even with all the strangeness that was going on, and the expressions on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Xiao Qi didn¡¯t disturb him.


    But when it heard its name called, Xiao Qi flew straight over to Bai Yunfei while the wolf remained where it lay.


    A small glisten of light flickered across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, ¡°Tell me, Xiao Qi. Can you control the thunderfire wolf? Or¡­are you able to use the Beast Taming Ring?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei had came across an extremely strange situation when he was in the middle of battle with that soul refiner!


    After he had killed Xing Yuan and stole control over the thunderfire wolf, Bai Yunfei had the wolf go help Xiao Qi fight the late-stage class six shadow vulture. Though it was a simple command, the thunderfire wolf would have trouble carrying it out.


    He didn¡¯t feel any problems occur during the battle, however. The three soulbeasts were spectacular in their high-speed fight.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really pay much attention to this at first, but then he realized¡­.there was a connection between Xiao Qi and the thunderfire wolf!


    It brought shock to him when he thought about it, but what shocked him first was when Xiao Qi had simply turned the shadow vulture¡¯s soulgem over to the thunderfire wolf!


    It was then that Bai Yunfei felt that Xiao Qi was simply ¡®sharing¡¯ the spoils of war with it.


    He didn¡¯t issue any commands to the wolf after that, but Xiao Qi and the wolf still came running over anyways, and the wolf was even ready to attack on Xiao Qi¡¯s command! That was made crystal clear to Bai Yunfei when the Thunder Wolf King came over and was ¡®resisted¡¯ against him.


    That had been the clincher for Bai Yunfei, since he knew he definitely didn¡¯t issue a command for that.


    So with those key events happening one after another, Bai Yunfei connected the dots and was able to come to one final conclusion.


    Xiao Qi was able to use the Beast Taming Ring!

 Chapter 462: A Change In the Thunderfire Wolf

    Xiao Qi was able to use the Beast Taming Ring!


    This conclusion was even more startling than the hints that preluded it, though Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t doubt it being true. When the blue-eyes wyrm was first here, it acted a little weirdly at times, especially when he himself was fighting. When Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t controlling it, the wyrm would seem to fight in ¡®tandem¡¯ with Xiao Qi.


    So Bai Yunfei decided to ask the question now that he was done with the Nephrite Throne problem.


    Having not expected this question, the bird cocked its head first befor enodding.


    ¡°It¡¯s real!!¡± Bai Yunfei was stunned.


    It was far too strange of a situation to think about. The Beast Taming Ring was his soulbound armament, and when it was on a soulbeast, that meant its effect was active. So to have Xiao Qi able to use it without Bai Yunfei realizing it was an oddity Bai Yunfei previously thought impossible.


    ¡°Is it because Xiao Qi and I are connected via our souls? Or is it because the Beast Taming Ring was created using the eggshells from Xiao Qi? Both seem pretty plausible¡­.¡±


    The fact that another per¡ª


    That another bird was able to use his Beast Taming Ring wasn¡¯t worrying to Bai Yunfei. In fact, he felt quite glad about it. This meant he¡¯d have less pressure to deal with in a battle.


    At his command, the wolf flew to its feet and leapt into the cave where Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were.


    Xiao Qi was perched now on his shoulder while the wolf stood in front of Bai Yunfei. No expression could be seen in its eyes, though a thick fog of red light was clouding its eyes from where it stood still. Listless, the wolf seemed more like an empty shell rather than a soulbeast.


    Bai Yunfei knew a decent amount about the modus operandi of the Beast Taming School with how often he fought them. With the death of the beast tamer, the soulbeast would stay there, forgotten.


    After he got the Beast Taming Ring, Bai Yunfei decided to try it out on the blue-eyes wyrm and study the results, though he never thought about ¡®releasing¡¯ it and thus never thought about using it as an experiment on actual soulbeast puppets.


    The thunderfire wolf would be the second soulbeast he¡¯d use the Beast Taming Ring, and it was by far a great different experience than to the blue-eyes wyrm.


    There was no ¡®resistance¡¯ from the wolf.


    From what Bai Yunfei saw from Hong Yin and his attempts to ¡®communicate¡¯, soulbeast puppets could be stored almost indefinitely inside special space rings where they were essentially in ¡®suspended animation¡¯.


    They didn¡¯t need to do anything, and when let out, all these soulbeast puppets would do is eat when needed.


    Aside from beast tamers, no one could prompt any sort of reaction from soulbeast puppets.


    That is, until now.


    The Beast Taming Ring was an aberration, a cheat of an equipment that could break the ¡®ironclad¡¯ rule of the Beast Taming School.


    Using the Beast Taming Ring to get rid of the control over the wolf, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel anything from it. Slipping it back onto the wolf, he watched as it went into a state where it was ready to be commanded again.


    If Bai Yunfei wanted to wrestle control over a soulbeast puppet, all he had to do was battle the beast tamer in a battle of spirit and will.


    ¡°This way, I can get rid of a beast tamer¡¯s control over a soulbeast puppet with the Beast Taming Ring¡­..¡±


    But the real question was asked right after, ¡°But if I do that, what makes me different from them?!¡±


    He had no good feelings for the Beast Taming School, but him stealing soulbeasts from them and then using them for himself would make him no better than the beast tamers.


    And doing that would violate his own personal principles, so he wouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°But these soulbeasts¡­.what should I do about them?¡± Sighed Bai Yunfei, ¡°If I had known the Thunder Wolf King would¡¯ve taken the wolf, I would¡¯ve let him¡­.


    ¡°I wanted to pass off the soulbeast puppets to brother Hong Yin if I ever saw him, but I never did. Is he off in the class seven area?¡±


    He laughed at that notion, the class six area had already claimed his life, would he really want to go into the class seven area knowing even more dangers existed there?


    The Bloodhowl Mark was useful, Bai Yunfei conceded that much. But not everyone would buy into it. The day when his luck would run out would surely come, and he didn¡¯t want to die in the forest like that.


    Knowing not any other choice, Bai Yunfei shook his head and prepared himself to put away the thunderfire wolf. But when he gave the command, Xiao Qi suddenly chirped once.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    He turned to Xiao Qi, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You want to stay with it?¡±


    What Xiao Qi seemed to be getting at was that it didn¡¯t want Bai Yunfei to put the thunderfire wolf away.


    ¡°Chirp~!¡± It chirped before flying to come to a perch on top of the wolf¡¯s head. In response, the wolf turned tail to return to the entrance of the cave where it could stand guard.


    As it walked, Xiao Qi turned to give Bai Yunfei a look and as if to say, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, let me take over.¡±


    ¡°¡­.¡±


    Speechless, Bai Yunfei watched the bird and wolf walk away. He had the impression that Xiao Qi was starting to think of the wolf as a ¡®younger brother¡¯ of sorts.


    But that didn¡¯t really matter. The assistance of a peak late-stage class six soulbeast was reassuring, and he wasn¡¯t like a beast tamer. He wouldn¡¯t see the soulbeast puppet as a ¡®tool¡¯ to be used.


    The sky was getting dark now, and the rain had finally ceased. With the clouds scattering apart, Bai Yunfei could see that night was clearly coming.


    Stretching his back, Bai Yunfei sat down in a corner of the cave and began to rest.


    ¡­¡­


    Early next morning, Bai Yunfei took off west with Xiao Qi and the wolf. With what just happened recently, they couldn¡¯t afford to stay in one place for long.


    For his safety, Bai Yunfei wanted out from the depths of the forest. He had spent enough time here and wanted to go west. He didn¡¯t meet any soulbeast on the way, and so that left him with some leisure time to think about the Upgrade Technique.


    The thunderfire wolf was now under the ¡®guidance¡¯ of Xiao Qi, and the two soulbeasts were basically moving like one. Any time they did meet a soulbeast, the two would fight together.


    On the eve before the third day, Bai Yunfei was decided to use a few of the +10 and under upgrade stones to get a better hang of the Upgrade Technique. Though he was doing some basic upgrading, he could still see some clues he hadn¡¯t before. And from these clues, he was starting to comprehend a little more about the ¡®origins¡¯ of the Upgrade Technique.


    What benefits he got from there wasn¡¯t large, but it was worthwhile. The doors that had once been closed to him were starting to reveal the smallest of cracks to what lied beyond.


    He couldn¡¯t see what that beyond was, but there would be a day where he would, and he was ready to face the answers.


    On the afternoon of the fourth day.


    Bai Yunfei found a small hilly area where an abundance of firewood was. Taking a few of them, he prepared himself a fire and started a barbeque.


    As usual, Xiao Qi hopped excitedly on its tree branch above him. The only difference was that rather than a drooling blue-eyes wyrm, there was a monotonous wolf standing underneath.


    Not too long later, the sweet smelling smell of meat wafted into the air. Tossing a finished slab to Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei then tossed another to the wolf.


    He had been accustomed to doing this. For the past few days, the thunderfire wolf was without awareness. Since it wasn¡¯t sleeping inside the ring, it still had to maintain the normal needs a living being required, and Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t inclined to ¡®mistreat¡¯ it.


    But then a second after he tossed the slab of meat, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened at what he saw next¡­.


    The thunderfire wolf leapt a meter straight up into the air to snag the slab thrown to it!


    It was a normal action the thunderfire wolf was capable of doing, but only when ordered!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t give the order this time! And Xiao Qi was far too busy enjoying its own slab of meat to bother with the wolf, meaning¡­.


    The thunderfire wolf had moved by its own voluntary action!


    ¡°Wha¡­.¡±

 Chapter 463: Mutation in the Slave Seal!

    The movements of the thunderfire wolf felt like a reactionary response. While this was normal in soulbeasts, it shouldn¡¯t be happening to the thunderfire wolf!


    For the past few days, Xiao Qi had to ¡®order¡¯ the wolf to eat the slabs of meat placed in its mouth. If not, the wolf wouldn¡¯t have moved at all, so the fact that it did so readily by itself was surprising.


    Observing the wolf a little longer, he noticed that the slab of meat was already almost fully devoured. Suspicious, he tossed another slab forward.


    ¡°Plop.¡±


    The piece of meat sailed past the wolf¡¯s nose, but it didn¡¯t move at all.


    Not even an eye twitch.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Bai Yunfei tossed another slab of meat. No reaction.


    ¡°Strange¡­.¡± He remarked. Sending a command to the wolf, he had it start to eat the meat beneath it.


    Nothing seemed wrong with it now. If he hadn¡¯t seen it earlier, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve dismissed its earliest actions as being a delusion.


    Bai Yunfei finished eating first. Watching as Xiao Qi guided the wolf to lie down on the grass to sunbathe, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows narrowed together again.


    He sat against a nearby tree trunk. Thinking for a long time, he decided to summon the wolf to him.


    Reaching out to touch the wolf¡¯s forehead, Bai Yunfei sent his soulsense into it.


    In an instant, Bai Yunfei felt his soulsense sucked into a strange ¡®space¡¯. He knew this to be the wolf¡¯s mindspace, but it was different than to the mindspace of the blue-eyes wyrm. In that mindspace, the wyrm was clearly there, but in the wolf, there was nothing. Now that he was here, it felt like Bai Yunfei was the one only here.


    If he fully concentrated, Bai Yunfei could feel like the thunderfire wolf was just another form of himself. He felt like he was the wolf.


    Bai Yunfei felt a sliver of difference compared to the last time he entered the wolf¡¯s mindspace. There was something he couldn¡¯t exactly put his finger on in the form of a nearly indiscernible mist that didn¡¯t seem to do anything but simply exist.


    In that moment, Bai Yunfei was suddenly aware of a second presence in this mindspace. It was a presence he was very familiar with¨CXiao Qi had entered the wolf¡¯s mindspace. Xiao Qi¡¯s presence was felt for only a moment before it left as soon as it entered.


    It must¡¯ve dove into the wolf¡¯s mindspace to order it to do something, but when it felt Bai Yunfei was doing something, it decided to leave.


    He didn¡¯t mind its intrusion. His soulsense continued to scour the wolf¡¯s body inch by inch, muscle by muscle, and see if it would respond to anything.


    This was the very first time he ¡®studied¡¯ the thunderfire wolf. But in the end, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really notice anything special. The thunderfire wolf was simply there and was empty like a tool. There was no ¡®consciousness¡¯.


    Disappointed with the fruitlessness of his attempt, Bai Yunfei decided to give up on that aspect. Withdrawing his soulsense, he dove into a more particular part of the wolf¡¯s body¨Cthe soulgem.


    ¡­¡­


    The soulgem of a soulbeast had uses similar to that of an origin essence in a soul cultivator, only that its applications were far greater. It served as a second heart to the soulbeast¨Ca far more important one at that. It was a crystallization of the soulbeast¡¯s soulforce, elemental energy, and training.


    The origin essence is something that is formed inside a soul cultivator after their birth. It could die out, it could be reformed, and it could even be detached from the body for a short period of time, but a soulgem was far more restrictive.


    A soulgem came with the birth of a soulbeast. There is only one, and it can only exist inside the soulbeast¡¯s body. In the case of its removal, the soulbeast will inevitably die.


    The soul of a soul cultivator is something that could be honed and trained. Despite their nominative name, many soul cultivators would probably be unable to truly explain what a soul was, or even where it ¡®resided¡¯. They knew that it existed, and they could even feel it, but that feeling was merely just a feeling.


    The soul of a soulbeast existed inside the soulgem. In some cases, there were accounts of some soulbeasts being able to live on in their soulgems following the death of their physical body. But these cases were few and far in between, and no low-leveled soulbeast would be able to do that. In the case that the soul did live on, they were without a conscious. Without sentience. They were nothing more but a crystallized form of data.


    In cases such that similar to Bai Yunfei where he received several soul fragments, they¡¯d be able to read and understand the memories left behind in them, but the fragments were no longer sentient.


    In these soulgems, the souls left behind in them were mainly filled with the many culminations the soulbeast had about cultivation or the power of the elements. By obtaining a soulgem, one could absorb the soulgem into their body and reap an enormous amount of power and understand these ¡®insights¡¯. To do so was in a way, cheating, but it really was a great benefit to the one who absorbed one.


    For that reason, soul cultivators all over the continent hunted down soulbeasts. The opportunity to obtain and absorb a class six or higher soulgem would¡¯ve caused no small stir in the community.


    ¡­¡­


    In time, Bai Yunfei came eye-to-eye with what appeared to be a fist-sized soulgem. Wave after wave of soulforce and elemental energy pulsated out from the center of the soulgem.


    The soulgem of a soulbeast was normally not an object that could be touched by any human. But in a few special cases, such as with the blue-eyes wyrm, Bai Yunfei had the chance to observe it.


    There had been resistance that stopped him, however! It had been such great resistance that the Beast Taming Ring had nearly failed several times, forcing Bai Yunfei to drop his attempts.


    But this time, the thunderfire wolf was offering up no resistance; almost as if it didn¡¯t even notice Bai Yunfei.


    The moment Bai Yunfei tried to probe the soulgem with his soulforce, did he finally meet an obstruction.


    It wasn¡¯t the wolf that was causing it, but an unknown energy of some sort.


    The energy from a seal.


    ¡°Is this the ¡®slave seal¡¯ of the Beast Taming School?¡± He guessed.


    Everyone knew that beast tamers branded the slave seal onto a soulbeast in order to control them. This way, the slave seal was the engine that put the machine into motion.


    From what Bai Yunfei could sense, the mysterious energy that was stopping him from accessing the wolf¡¯s soulgem was a lock that stopped any foreign probes and sealed away the wolf¡¯s soul.


    Trying again, this time stronger, Bai Yunfei ¡®saw¡¯ a mysterious but complex pattern appear. It didn¡¯t move from its spot, but the markings themselves were pulsating mysteriously.


    Following a brief moment of hesitation, Bai Yunfei decided to go ahead and ¡®analyze¡¯ the slave seal to see what it was made of.


    But this seemingly innocent action had sparked an extremely large fire!


    The moment his soulsense touched upon the slave seal and the pattern that made up the seal, Bai Yunfei was hit with a volatile reaction that sent him whirling! Retreating, Bai Yunfei watched as the seal start to warp in on itself and¡­.start to disintegrate!!


    It was all without warning. Bai Yunfei had barely gasped before the seal started to deteriorate. Trying to leave from the mindspace, Bai Yunfei was shocked to realize that he couldn¡¯t, he couldn¡¯t retreat!


    What is soulsense? An intangible piece of existence that was superior to soulforce. It is the mixture of soulforce and will to form outside the body as a type of ¡®presence¡¯. The soul wouldn¡¯t be hurt if the soulsense was destroyed, but it would still hamper the soul cultivator as a whole.


    Bai Yunfei had supplied a decent amount of soulsense into the wolf¡¯s mindspace when he first entered. Just the thought of half his soulsense being destroyed left Bai Yunfei in cold sweat.


    As if to press Bai Yunfei even more, the situation was unraveling faster and more violently than before.


    The slave seal was like a maelstrom of energy, with bits and pieces of soulsense being slung everywhere, trying to take in the rest of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense into it!


    If the rest of his soulsense was absorbed, then Bai Yunfei would definitely lose consciousness! And to do that here would be disastrous, even Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know the consequences of that.


    Thankfully for Bai Yunfei, his reactions were quick. He tried pulling his soulsense away from the ¡®maelstrom¡¯, and though the maelstrom had a tremendous force of attraction, Bai Yunfei was finally able to propel himself away from the soulgem, but not completely out.


    Just as he was considering the best way to deal with this problem, the slave seal started to mutate again!


    Energy exploded like from a volcano from the slave seal¡­.and it was starting to crumble even faster!


    The crumbling of the slave seal seemed like the signal for something else in the wolf¡¯s soulgem. Starting to tremble, a large amount of soulforce and elemental energy was pushed out from it while an ominous air started to descend¡­.


    It was¡­.self-destructing!!

 Chapter 464: The Crumbling of the Slave Seal and the Self Destruction of the Soulgem!

    The art of soulbeast puppetry has long since been a secret. An enigma that no outsider had ever learned the intricacies about. Even the students of the Beast Taming School knew only the ways of manipulation and control. They knew not the deeper secrets, and certainly never had they heard about a way to undo said methods.


    In other words, it didn¡¯t exist.


    That didn¡¯t mean to say there weren¡¯t people that tried. Undoing the slave seals put onto soulbeasts had been studied for ages, but not a single person was able to find a way, human or soulbeast.


    There was a reason for this. The slave seal could¡­not be ¡®touched¡¯!


    No matter how strong one was, even a Soul King wasn¡¯t able to try and ¡®analyze¡¯ the slave seal!


    To come into contact with the slave seal meant only one outcome:


    The destruction of the slave seal and the death of the soulbeast!


    The slave seal had no leeway and had no second chances! Even a class seven soulbeast puppet would have its soulgem blown up if its slave seal unraveled.


    Just like the process of self-destruction, if the slave seal unraveled, the destruction was near instantaneous and thorough.


    Either way. The amount of soul cultivators that wanted to study the slave seal and the amount of soulbeasts that detonated was immeasurable.


    ¡­¡­


    Unfortunately for Bai Yunfei, he didn¡¯t know that.


    His actions today had inadvertently activated this ¡®mechanism¡¯ and plunged the three of them into danger!


    Light started to emit from the soulgem inside the thunderfire wolf. Shaking, its entire body started to feel the pressure that came with the unraveling of its slave seal. A terrifying amount of energy was being let loose, and its body was expanding now with the threat of blowing up.


    From its perch on the tree, Xiao Qi¡¯s head snapped up in shock. From what it could see, Bai Yunfei had his hand on top of the wolf¡¯s head while purple and red light was shining out from it so that both were submerged inside of it. All of the elemental lightning and fire from the wolf was starting to swirl around the wolf and spasming violently as if threatening to explode.


    Inside the wolf¡¯s mindspace, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense was a little far from the soulgem. Seeing what was about to happen, Bai Yunfei felt himself faint and nearly ready to actually do the fainting!


    Two options floated into his mind.


    Stop it, or run away.


    He had to choose quick.


    So Bai Yunfei choose to stop it!


    If he chose to run away, that¡¯d be the same as abandoning the thunderfire wolf and watch it blow up. It was futile to try and run anyways. The explosion of a peak late-stage class six soulgem would certainly be a force that Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to defend himself from.


    There was no way of him knowing the soulgem¡¯s explosion was unstoppable, of course. He had never experienced this before, and the self-destruction he experienced with the eagle back in Gaoyi City was a different story. At that time, the eagle¡¯s self-destruction was caused by its beast tamer. But this explosion was a self-destruct defense mechanism implanted in the slave seal and was on a whole new level.


    He didn¡¯t have the time to think about that. Biting his teeth, Bai Yunfei urged his soulforce to aid his soulsense into storming the slave seal before it could fully collapse!


    He felt elated for a split-moment. As soon as his soulsense entered the slave seal, the crumbling started to slow down a bit!


    But it was only by a bit. His soulsense was then dragged into the ¡®maelstrom¡¯ and torn apart as the soulgem¡¯s self-destruction regained pace. It couldn¡¯t be fully stopped and would explode in a few more seconds!


    ¡°That¡¯s not enough!!¡±


    Snarling, Bai Yunfei pressed soulforce into the Beast Taming Ring around the wolf¡¯s throat this time. Energy started to spill out from it, but the tremors from the wolf only grew worse! In its eyes, a rarely seen light of resistance could be seen, and the soulgem¡¯s self-destruction suddenly dipped in intensity!


    ¡°It¡¯s working!!¡±


    Renewed in hope, Bai Yunfei forced even more soulforce into the Beast Taming Ring in an attempt to curb the soulgem¡¯s destruction.


    Never had a scene like this ever happened before. No beast tamer was silly enough to try and touch the slave seal in case it self-destructed. Anyone that tried to do so were always from outside the school and were often people that were trying to steal the soulbeast puppet away. But each study would always lead to this same result of self-destruction.


    Many would try to stop the process. Those strong enough could reduce the process by a decent amount, but never completely. What they did was merely delay the inevitable.


    But Bai Yunfei was special in that he was using the Beast Taming Ring to fully control the thunderfire wolf! Beast tamers used the slave seal to command the soulbeast, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t need to! Perhaps the slave seal wouldn¡¯t be stopped, but the soulgem stood a chance of surviving!


    A case of extraordinary circumstances, that was what this was. The destruction of the slave seal and soulgem happens at the same time and normally couldn¡¯t be stopped.


    ¡­.The situation with the flash eagle back in Gaoyi City was a different matter.


    Even if the headmaster of the Beast Taming School were to come, even he¡¯d be unable to prevent the wolf from self-destructing, and neither would he believe it possible.


    While useful, the Beast Taming Ring wasn¡¯t able to fully contain and remove the danger!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind and soul was completely dedicated to controlling the Beast Taming Ring. Through that as a medium, his soulforce was able to crawl into the wolf¡¯s mindspace to contest over the soulgem with another energy. One side was ordering it to explode, the other side was ordering it to stop.


    But the self-destructing process was only getting stronger and stronger. In time, the power would overwhelm the Beast Taming Ring and lead to the wolf¡¯s self-destruction!


    Nerves reheightened with the danger, Bai Yunfei poured even more soulforce into the ring, his forehead slick with sweat.


    From the side, the hurried chirping of a bird could be heard in his ears. In the wolf¡¯s mindspace, the sudden intrusion of another party of soulforce made itself known! Pausing briefly when it felt what was going on, it immediately started to pour its energy into the Beast Taming Ring to stop the self-destruction sequence as well!


    It was Xiao Qi!


    Like a god descending upon the earth, Xiao Qi¡¯s arrival had brought wonders to the situation! The trembles in the wolf¡¯s body was already lessening by a substantial margin, and the soulgem suddenly halted!


    In a flash, the situation had come to a pause. For several short minutes, the crumbling slave seal could be ¡®seen¡¯. Though incomplete, it was visible for Bai Yunfei to look at.


    Then the soulgem started to shake again as elemental fire and lightning splashed about. Whether it was his soul or body, Bai Yunfei felt the two energies slam into his mindspace like a piece of driftwood accosted by a storm.


    He wouldn¡¯t be able to continue if this lasted any longer! As long as the elemental energy around him subsided, he could continue to force the soulgem to halt its self-destruction!


    ¡°Damn damnit damnit!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed up a storm. His eyes were bloodshot from fear and exertion, but determination was clearly visible in them!


    ¡°Try and flood me out, I¡¯ll just suck it all up!¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A layer of fire appeared around Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Churling wildly, it took in the near-endless stream of elemental fire and took it into his own body!


    But the thunderfire wolf wasn¡¯t capable of only emitting elemental fire. It had another element, and that one was throwing chaos into the mixture!


    As he sucked up the elemental fire, his layer of fire was also taking in the elemental lightning!

 Chapter 465: Essence Lightningseed

    Under these circumstances, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t afford not to take in the elemental fire. It was dangerous, to be sure, and it certainly wasn¡¯t purely elemental fire. Due to bi-elemental nature of the wolf, it¡¯s elemental fire was a very different substance than to what Bai Yunfei¡¯s was, meaning it was exceedingly dangerous to absorb.


    Taking in the elemental fire, Bai Yunfei felt his fireseed start to tremble, as if trying to reject the elemental fire. Forcing him to stop the repulsion, Bai Yunfei had the fireseed try and fuse the foreign elemental fire with his own.


    But to do that caused a great deal of chaos and¡­.pain.


    Fire hot enough to burn even his heart came to being inside his body. Bai Yunfei was ¡®accustomed¡¯ to such pain, as he felt this same pain before when training in the Dual Flame Arts, so Bai Yunfei could grit his teeth and continue onwards without being too hampered.


    The truly dangerous element in this situation was the fact that he wasn¡¯t just absorbing elemental fire into his body.


    He was absorbing elemental lightning as well.


    Experiencing what felt like tendrils of lightning snake into his body and spark every centimeter of his nerves, Bai Yunfei felt his body grow numb to the touch. And combined with the burning sensation going on at the same time, his pain multiplied.


    The amount of perspiration starting to form on his body grew in proportion to the amount of seconds. Not a single droplet had fallen yet, but they were hot to the touch, and several parts of his body was starting to ¡®steam¡¯.


    Everything was going beyond Bai Yunfei¡¯s expectations. Not even a second of break was given as Bai Yunfei was pushed deeper into his conundrum without being able to think about it. The only thing he could rely on was his own instincts, and that was what he was doing in order to try and get through this.


    Controlling the wolf and taking in the elemental energy was proving it hard for Bai Yunfei to think about anything else. He didn¡¯t even have the time or ability to take the Cataclysmic Seal out and have the fireseed in that try and alleviate some of his pain.


    But what he was already doing was enough to suffice. The torrent of elemental energy was reaching a calm, and combined with his efforts with Xiao Qi, the situation was starting to get better.


    Several seconds went by in reality, but to Bai Yunfei, these seconds were practically eons. Elemental fire and lightning was running rampant in his body and surging through his veins; though the fire he was used to, the lightning was moving like snakes underneath his skin, wriggling here and there and making for a scary sight.


    Only a third of the seal was left. But the energy pouring out from it was still growing in momentum in its attempt to blow up the soulgem.


    Like Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi was hard at work trying to stop the self-destructive process. Bai Yunfei had even felt a message from the bird asking asking him to focus on absorbing the elemental energy while it focused on stopping the soulgem from exploding by itself.


    But why would Bai Yunfei do that?


    While it was true that Xiao Qi¡¯s current strength of soul was stronger than his, it was only because Bai Yunfei had already allocated most of it as soulsense to control the Beast Taming Ring!! If Bai Yunfei were to relegate the task to Xiao Qi, they might be able to truly do something. But if the explosion were to happen while Xiao Qi was the only one controlling the Beast Taming Ring, then its soulsense would be thoroughly wiped out!


    And should that happen¡­.Xiao Qi would have its soul wiped out!


    ¡°Damnit! I have to endure this!!¡± Bai Yunfei roared to himself, pouring some more of his soul into it!


    He wasn¡¯t using soulforce or soulsense this time, but the raw energy that originated from his soul! It was his soul that he was using!


    It streamed out from Bai Yunfei and into the wolf¡¯s mindspace. Without any obstructions, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul traveled into the wolf¡¯s soulgem!


    A while ago when the slave seal had lost half of its integral structure, a small ¡®crack¡¯ had formed on the soulgem. Continuing with the collapse of the slave seal, the crack had only grown wider. And behind it was¡­.where the wolf¡¯s soul was!


    As his soul entered this spot, a peculiar feeling suddenly registered to his mind. There was a faint existence within the vicinity of his soul. It was weak and hard to detect, but it was there for Bai Yunfei to see. He had felt this feeling many times before, it was the feeling of comprehension. Insights into the world and its elements.


    His eyes glimmered with light as the insights touched him. In the next moment, his absorption rate of the elemental energy around him rose drastically!


    Straight away, the previously volatile energy grew ¡®docile¡¯, as if Bai Yunfei had discovered a way to properly control it.


    But that wasn¡¯t enough. The slave seal was already in the most extreme phase of its self-destruction, and the energy that was coming out from the interior of the wolf¡¯s body was just as explosive. Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul entering the soulgem left Xiao Qi the only one there to control the Beast Taming Ring, meaning the force pushing for the wolf¡¯s soulgem to explode had grown stronger!


    He still had one final attempt to try out. There was a reason why he had his soul surge into the wolf¡¯s soulgem¡­..


    The elemental fire and lightning he was absorbing both had one destination. No matter where it entered his body from, the two energies had only one place to go to.


    The center of his body where the origin acupoint was!


    Obediently, the elemental fire flowed into the acupoint and joined with the essence fireseed there.


    As for the elemental lightning, it started to gather around itself and form a small sliver of ¡®concentrated¡¯ purple lightning.


    This was¡­.an essence lightningseed!


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei was trying to form an essence lightningseed!


    Insane.


    That was the only word that could describe this action.


    And yet, it was also the best method to handle this situation!


    The lightningseed was in an embryonic state of being, but with the rate of absorption Bai Yunfei had, it was already growing by several magnitudes!


    ¡°Chirp!!!!¡±


    A chirp from Xiao Qi signalled to Bai Yunfei, telling him that it knew what he was doing and was trying its best to work the Beast Taming Ring. Though it couldn¡¯t help him absorb the elemental lightning, there was still the ¡®connection¡¯ it had with Bai Yunfei, the soul contract!


    Xiao Qi had an affinity for both fire and lightning as well!


    Despite its relatively shorter time spent training in understanding the elements, Xiao Qi had something that was different than experience.


    It had instinct!


    Light blossomed from both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi. This was the result of their soul contract, allowing for a connection between the two and to have Xiao Qi share what insights it had about the two elements to Bai Yunfei. Knowledge and understanding poured forth from Xiao Qi¡¯s mind into Bai Yunfei, and once again, Bai Yunfei began to absorb the elemental energy faster than before!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body became the eye of a whirlpool, with his body being a bottomless pit for the elemental fire and lightning to go into and be absorbed!


    The events that was happening between Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and the thunderfire wolf was something no one could possibly understand or even attempt to talk about if they ever saw it!


    Time had almost no meaning to the two now. Bai Yunfei could still ¡®see¡¯ the slave seal crumbling away bit by bit, and as he absorbed the elements, he took notice of the slave seal having only a quarter of it left.


    Then a fifth of it.


    And then a tenth¡­.


    The essence fireseed in his body continued to absorb the special elemental fire from the wolf, swelling in size as it was fed. Right by its side, the embryonic essence lightningseed was already gaining in mass to form the shape of a lightning bolt.


    A cloud of elemental fire and lightning covered the hill Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and the thunderfire wolf was in, making it impossible for the naked eye to see in or out of it. All anyone could see if they looked was a tumultuous influx of energy and nothing else.


    In time, the air of death that once threatened Bai Yunfei started to clear up¡­.

 Chapter 466: Companion Lightningseed

    The disastrous event caused by Bai Yunfei was reaching a calm now. With Xiao Qi¡¯s assistance, Bai Yunfei was able to lull the tempest that was the wolf¡¯s elemental energy so that it wasn¡¯t as chaotic as before.


    Finally, the destruction of the slave seal reached its conclusion. It was gone without a trace.


    Xiao Qi was still controlling the wolf via the Beast Taming Ring, and Bai Yunfei was still concentrating on absorbing any rampant elemental energy coming out from its soulgem into his own body.


    After the slave seal collapsed, Xiao Qi became the dominant owner of the wolf¡¯s mindspace. The Beast Taming Ring flashed once with light in recognition of this, putting a stop to the energy coming out from the wolf¡¯s soulgem. Though horribly damaged, the soulgem was no longer exporting enough energy to destabilize it any further.


    He couldn¡¯t afford to be negligent still. Though no new energy was being exported, Bai Yunfei still had to fully absorb the elemental energy still there in the area. He was tired, and his eyes blood-shot, but there was still work to do.


    Bai Yunfei was at his limit. Despite his willingness, the amount of elemental energy was almost too much for him¡­.


    While the crisis with the thunderfire wolf was over, he couldn¡¯t relax. In fact, the situation was a lot scarier for him now that his organs were all screaming in pain from his toil and labor. Spasmodic twitches were happening all over his body and small sparks of purple lightning was sparking from his skin as if threatening to set him on fire.


    The elemental fire and lightning he was absorbing wasn¡¯t something his own body made, and neither was it something the world had supplied. It was from the peak late-stage class six thunderfire wolf! How could its energy not be so powerful!


    Any ordinary early-stage Soul Exalt would¡¯ve long since combusted and died if they tried absorbing all this energy. But Bai Yunfei was anything but ¡®normal¡¯. With his abilities, he was able to endure the pain and continue to absorb it.


    What Bai Yunfei was doing was foolhardy at best and suicidal at worse. To any soul cultivator, his actions were the actions of an idiot. Like entering the tiger¡¯s cave or slapping a dog with a meat bun, these two things were simply not to be done. Bai Yunfei may as well dressed his soul up with a ribbon to deliver to the wolf to eat.


    But the wolf was doing nothing in this case. It held no sentience, and it offered no resistance when Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul tried to enter its soulgem.


    In fact, the wolf was allowing Bai Yunfei to ¡®steal¡¯ the insights it had on elemental fire and lightning!


    The act of sending their soul into the soulbeast stronger than them was impossible for anyone to do. Even beast tamers couldn¡¯t, with or without the slave seal.


    A Soul King could ¡®impose¡¯ their souls onto a class three or four soulbeast¡¯s soul, but what was the point in that?


    Another factor that couldn¡¯t be ignored was Xiao Qi. Whether it was the bird itself or its usage of the Beast Taming Ring, Xiao Qi had supplied a plethora of wealth to Bai Yunfei via their soul contract.


    Although Bai Yunfei looked like he was on the verge of exploding, the rampant energy around him was no longer there, meaning he didn¡¯t have to worry about the pressure anymore. Pulling his soul out from the wolf¡¯s mindspace at the same time his left hand pulled away from its head.


    Sitting down on the ground, Bai Yunfei began to focus on the elemental energy inside his body.


    What was normally a simplistic series of actions gave Bai Yunfei a great deal of pain. Each movement gave him great agony, and his body seemed to be peeling away in places¡­.


    Not too far away, Xiao Qi was lying on top of a rather large tree branch and slowing breathing in and out. There was joy in its eyes when it was able to order the wolf to walk a short distance away from Bai Yunfei. Having it stand guard over them, Xiao Qi curled up and began to recover its energy.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    It was only midday, but the matters Bai Yunfei faced so far had been deadly enough to last a while. Ten minutes had gone by since Bai Yunfei first sat down, but nothing had really changed since then.


    And just like that, time trickled by so that day turned to night, and the sun turned to moon.


    Motionless like a statue, Bai Yunfei sat underneath a tree with his body shining both scarlet and purple. The elemental energy around his body was surprisingly normal, and the expression on his face was getting better with each passing moment. But still, the echoes of pain was still there, and the physical marks left behind by his ordeals had yet to fully heal¡­.


    Night turned into day, and day into night once again.


    Bai Yunfei had been stuck healing for an entire day!


    On the afternoon of the third day, the wounds on Bai Yunfei seemed all but gone. His facial expression was normal, the ring of fire around his body gentle, and just barely a hint of purple in that redness.


    Inside Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, his fireseed essence was noticeably larger than before, and a small ¡®purple snake¡¯ was wriggling around it, looking like a bolt of lightning.


    It was a essence lightningseed!


    But this lightningseed looked a little special¡­.


    At last, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body had fully absorbed the elemental energy outside of it, allowing him to open his eyes at last.


    A spark of fire glistened to life in his eyes, a spark of purple hidden in it. It disappeared right after, returning his eyes back to normal.


    Huffing in relief, Bai Yunfei bent his head down to look at his body with no small amount of joy¡­.


    ¡°I nearly lost my life there¡­.¡± He sighed. His heart skipped a beat when he thought about just how close he was to losing his life.


    ¡°For real, that was a super dangerous spot I was in. The slave seal is quite scary. Why do I always have to be stuck in these type of situations? Am I too reckless? I shouldn¡¯t have tried to take a look at the seal¡­.


    ¡°But it¡¯s a good thing I¡¯ve luck on my side to deliver me from danger.¡± He clutched at the Luck Pendant hanging over his chest, ¡°Me barely escaping from danger has been happening far too many times, but I¡¯ve been profiting quite a bit.¡±


    He smiled. Snapping his right hand, a small flame burst into life on top of his palm. Warm to the touch and dancing slightly with the wind, the fires had a touch of purple light swimming in it.


    Elemental lightning!


    There was elemental lightning inside the flame!


    ¡°I¡¯m a little early training in a second element, but I didn¡¯t really have any other choice. But that¡¯s not really a bad thing¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself, watching as the fire danced on his palm.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a true essence lightningseed, so I don¡¯t need to bother putting too much focus on it, and neither should it impact my training in elemental fire. But I wonder if this¡¯ll bring me any sort of trouble¡­.¡±


    The lightningseed in his body wasn¡¯t a true essence lightningseed! It was incomplete, meaning it was similar to what the Crafting School called a ¡®companion fireseed¡¯!

 Chapter 467: A Change in the Thunderfire Wolf

    ¡°A ¡®companion lightningseed¡¯, is it?¡± he smirked, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have any problems with it, besides not being able to train with a companion fireseed like the Dual Flame Arts talks about. But I¡¯ve a feeling that there won¡¯t be a problem with one elemental overshadowing the other, and that I¡¯ll be able to use a new method.¡±


    When Bai Yunfei was first absorbing all of the elemental energy coming out from the wolf, he didn¡¯t bother to fully form an essence lightningseed, and neither did he bother to absorb any other element. Not only was he unable to take in any element other than fire and lightning, Bai Yunfei had a plan.


    He¡¯d form an incomplete essence seed so that it¡¯d form a ¡®close¡¯ connection with his elemental fire. If he could have lightning and fire become close with one another, he¡¯d be able to form a companion seed!


    And to his great joy, it succeeded!


    Having a companion lightningseed meant he was able to use elemental lightning. It¡¯d be comparatively weaker to if he had a complete essence lightningseed, but on the other hand¡­.his elemental fire would be imbued with elemental lightning and would grow even stronger!


    On a side note. This also meant he wouldn¡¯t need to have an ¡®ammo clip¡¯ for his Lightning Eagle anymore¡­.


    ¡°But¡­¡± A problem occurred to Bai Yunfei as he thought about the companion lightningseed. Waving his hand, the Cataclysmic Seal appeared in front of him. With another wave, the essence fireseed inside it floated out.


    In normal times, this essence fireseed was placed in the Cataclysmic Seal. Compared to the second one in him, this one was the first one he had, and was much ¡®older¡¯. When he failed to form a second fireseed back in the Crafting School, the Cataclysmic Seal was there to absorb all of the elemental fire there. With all the elemental fire, his first essence fireseed grew a lot stronger and bonded quite a bit with the Cataclysmic Seal. After the second fireseed was born, it was weaker. Not so weak that it¡¯d impact him, but there was a very definite gap between the two. Thus, Bai Yunfei decided to keep the second one in his body to help it grow bit by bit and hopefully get the two fireseeds to an equilibrium.


    And now, the second fireseed had absorbed a great deal of elemental lightning from the thunderfire wolf and grew stronger in the process. The more important thing was that he now had a companion lightningseed. But the real question was if it¡¯d impact him in his training of the Dual Flame Arts¡­


    Breathing out to calm himself down, Bai Yunfei took the floating fireseed into his hand. Slowly, he absorbed it into his chest and allowed it to travel to his origin acupoint.


    He was very careful about this. If something bad were to happen, Bai Yunfei was ready to pull out at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Nothing strange happened at first when the first fireseed met with the second one in his origin acupoint. Carefully nudging the two to grow closer to each other, Bai Yunfei prepared himself to use the Dual Flame Arts and bring the two fireseeds into the ready position.


    As soon as the two fireseeds were about to collide, the companion lightningseed around the second fireseed suddenly began to shine with light, surprising Bai Yunfei.


    But the Dual Flame Arts was already being activated, much to his greater surprise.


    Already tinged with a touch of purple from its companion lightningseed, the moment when the second fireseed touched the first, the first essence fireseed turned purple in color!


    No. It was better to say that it was given some type of stimulant. The first fireseed immediately started to shine with a purple light slightly weaker than the second, but the more it touched the second fireseed, the brighter the purple light became until it was as bright as the second!


    Previously ¡®orbiting¡¯ around the second fireseed, the companion lightningseed started to orbit around both fireseeds now that the two were touching!


    Despite these unexpected happenings, nothing was going wrong with the Dual Flame Arts itself, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s pleasant surprise. He had only wanted to test out the ¡®coil¡¯ form to see if there¡¯d be any danger, but there was none.


    He even tried his ¡®Berserk Mode¡¯ for a few seconds, but that was safe as well.


    ¡°So the first fireseed had a bit of elemental lightning in it already? I didn¡¯t detect it with before how weak it was¡­.¡± Muttering to himself as he returned the fireseed to the Cataclysmic Seal. Thinking a while for why that might be, Bai Yunfei was suddenly hit with a thought. ¡°It must be because that flash eagle back in Gaoyi City!¡±


    Back when he first became a Soul Sprite, Bai Yunfei had nearly formed a soul contract with the flash eagle in Gaoyi City. It was strange now that he thought about it, but he could distinctly remember his origin acupoint being touched during that moment, hadn¡¯t it? A spark of elemental lightning had been imbued in his essence firesed during then. So that must¡¯ve been the reason why he was able to form a companion lightningseed so easily.


    Otherwise, things wouldn¡¯t have gone so smoothly like it did.


    ¡°Getting stronger as a Soul Exalt is pretty long and hard. Getting use to the recently absorbed elemental fire will take some time to get used to as well. I wonder when I¡¯ll be able to become a mid-stage Soul Exalt.¡± Sighing, Bai Yunfei folded his arms against his chest.


    His thoughts was interrupted by a soft chirp from Xiao Qi. Tilting his head over to look, Bai Yunfei saw a very concerned Xiao Qi standing on a tree branch. He smiled. Xiao Qi had helped him him so much during the danger with the wolf, so Bai Yunfei was very thankful to him. His feelings of thanks needed no words to be spoken due to their bond.


    Shifting his glance to the wolf a hundred meters away, Bai Yunfei had the wolf come over to him by sending a command through the Beast Taming Ring.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The moment when the Beast Taming Ring activated, Bai Yunfei felt something strange. When the ring took his soulforce into the wolf¡¯s mindspace, he felt a little bit of resistance!


    The wolf was already right in front of him by the time Bai Yunfei realized it, so Bai Yunfei had nearly missed the feeling of resistance.


    Yet, it was there, he clearly felt it. There was a ¡®fog¡¯ within the wolf¡¯s mindspace that was getting thicker¡­.


    ¡°This¡­.this is a late-stage class six?!¡± The thunderfire wolf was a peak late-stage class six soulbeast normally, but its current strength was definitely lower than before!


    The answer came to him shortly afterwards. When the wolf¡¯s soulgem was on the verge of destruction, it had lost plenty of elemental fire and lightning to Bai Yunfei. So much, in fact, that Bai Yunfei was able to form a companion lightningseed. In other words, the soulgem received enough damage to knock it down a peg in strength.


    Placing his hand back on top of the wolf¡¯s head, Bai Yunfei sent his soulsense into its mindspace to scout out its soulgem. He could sense that the slave seal was no longer there, so there shouldn¡¯t be any danger. Still, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to be careless, so he sent only a sliver of his soulsense into the soulgem.


    From inside, he could sense the insights the wolf had about elemental fire and lightning. He was wanting to get a second attempt at these insights, since his first attempt had been rather busy with all that danger surrounding it. If he could try again, then his attempts to assimilate the absorbed elemental energy would be a lot easier.


    But to his surprise, his soulsense was refused entry into the soulgem!


    ¡°It¡­.it has sentience now?!¡± He exclaimed to himself. The barrier preventing him from entering the soulgem was clearly the result of a defense system of a sentient being. Only in these cases would a soulgem ¡®prevent¡¯ any intrusions while it was alive.


    As he debated thinking about pushing more soulsense into the wolf¡¯s mindspace, Bai Yunfei suddenly felt a shock. It started with a shock to his soulsense, but then Bai Yunfei jerked his hand back from the wolf¡¯s head as well!

 Chapter 468: A Year Goes By in a Snap

    The feeling Bai Yunfei got within the soulgem was a warning. Warning that danger was near! Like the roars of an angry beast, it was warning Bai Yunfei that his next attempt would end in him being ¡®devoured¡¯, rather than being ¡®refused¡¯!


    Bai Yunfei felt this once before with the blue-eyes wyrm. But back then, the wyrm wasn¡¯t strong enough to do anything, so the feeling wasn¡¯t too bad.


    ¡°It¡­.it regained its sentience?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out. ¡°Will this be like the time with the flash eagle then?¡±


    Back with the flash eagle, the slave seal had undergone a unique type of mutation and wiped away the soulbeast¡¯s sentience. It was no longer a soulbeast puppet, but it was also empty, as if it was ¡®reborn¡¯ into the world¡­.


    Whether the thunderfire wolf was the same way would only be known with future experimentation.


    Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei pulled away from the wolf. He stood up to stretch his back, only to hear a series of grumbling sounds from his stomach.


    That was when he realized that he hadn¡¯t eaten for two whole days. With such a lengthy amount of time like that and the amount of energy he used recently, it was time for him to replenish his strength.


    Cooking a meal, Bai Yunfei took Xiao Qi and the wolf on to continue their journey west.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    For a good while, Bai Yunfei dedicated most of his time towards assimilating the rest of the absorbed elemental energy in him and acquainting himself with the companion lightningseed. The Upgrade Technique, he decided, would be dealt with another time.


    Very rarely did he come across any other soulbeasts, but the thunderfire wolf and Xiao Qi dealt with them when they did.


    Half a month later¡­.


    ¡°Aooo!!!¡±


    A blood-curdling screech was heard from somewhere within the deep Soulbeast Forest. Then from the skies, a dog-like soulbeast whose fur was green and coarse like tree bark and head strangely triangular came falling down to the ground. Its waist was completely gone, so when it fell, it fell in two halves.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    There was an excited chirp before a flash of prismatic light bolted down to where the corpse was. Talons as sharp as blades cut into the dog¡¯s head, extracting a green-colored soulgem before it flew back into the air to toss the soulgem. From another side, a giant wolf the color red and purple caught the soulgem into its mouth before swallowing it whole.


    The rainbow flash of light came to a stop in the air, revealing it to be a bird whose aura was slowly increasing in intensity.


    To its side, the wolf that had swallowed the soulgem stood still, body digesting the soulgem to add to its strength.


    This bird and wolf was Xiao Qi and the thunderfire wolf.


    A hundred meters away, Bai Yunfei stared monotonously at the two soulbeasts with shrugged shoulders and a sigh escaping from his lips.


    The two had practically been ¡®bandit kings¡¯ for the past few days. Whenever a soulbeast came forward to ¡®make trouble¡¯, the two would make short work of it and then take its soulgem. Over the course of their actions, Bai Yunfei had already lost count how many mid-stage class six soulbeasts had died by their hands¡­.


    In the earlier half of the class six area, mid-stage class six soulbeasts were primarily seen as being the stronger soulbeasts. But in front of Xiao Qi and the thunderfire wolf, none were able to even match them.


    Bai Yunfei did keep a close eye on the thunderfire wolf, however. His observations so far had hinted that the wolf was slowly regaining signs of sentience in its entire body. They weren¡¯t very noticeable, all things considered, but Bai Yunfei was sure that it wouldn¡¯t be long before the wolf would return back to normal. The only question left to be answered was if it¡¯d be back to normal, or if it¡¯d have to ¡®relearn¡¯ everything¡­.


    Xiao Qi was quite proud of its ¡®younger brother¡¯. The wolf was extremely strong, and there was virtually no soulbeast that¡¯d come close to meeting its strength in this part of the forest. Whenever Xiao Qi had trouble with a soulbeast, the wolf would come in to help. Xiao Qi would also treat the wolf right by giving it every single soulgem they got, even though it knew that it didn¡¯t matter to the wolf who got the soulgem or not. Only when they fought a particularly strange soulbeast did Bai Yunfei ask to save onto that soulgem.


    Soulgems were actually very important materials for crafting. Some soulgems were even the main materials in some recipes, and forming soul armaments generally required plenty of soulgems, meaning soulgems had a better use than using to absorb.


    For example, Bai Yunfei took the soulgem he extracted from the hillbeast and used it as the main ingredient in a particularly strong shield he called the Hillbeast¡¯s Shield.


    By the time Bai Yunfei was done thinking, the two soulbeasts were also done with their own preparations and returned to him. Rather than having no signs of life in its eyes, the wolf¡¯s eyes were ¡®vacant¡¯, meaning that it was truly on its journey back to becoming a sentient soulbeast.


    Mid-flight, Xiao Qi shrunk down to the size of a pigeon to settle onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡±


    Landing on his shoulder, Xiao Qi rubbed its head against his shoulder and then pointed a wing to its right.


    ¡°Hm?¡± He smiled, ¡°You want to go deeper in?¡±


    What Xiao Qi was saying to him was that the soulbeasts here were far too ¡®weak¡¯. It wanted to fight even stronger opponents and so it was asking Bai Yunfei to go deeper into the forest.


    Bai Yunfei rubbed his chin to think about it. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we can¡¯t¡­.¡±


    ¡°Chirp chirp!¡± Xiao Qi¡¯s wings flapped excitedly.


    ¡°¡­..¡± Unsure how exactly to respond to the antics of Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei scratched its head fondly, ¡°Haha, alright. Let¡¯s take a detour in that direction then.¡±


    They were by now, a long distance away from the battleground where the Black Dragon King fought. Heading deeper into this direction didn¡¯t seem like a problem to Bai Yunfei, since no one would know that he took the Nephrite Throne (albeit in pieces). He had also changed his appearances (so none of the people that fought the Black Dragon King could tell), and to make it even harder to be found out, he hide his soulforce (through the Soul Concealment Art).


    Aside from the Two Winged King, Bai Yunfei was confident no one else would know who he really was.


    Besides, those Soul Kings wouldn¡¯t even bother taking someone as weak as an early-stage Soul Exalt into consideration anyways.


    This way, Bai Yunfei was left unimpeded to go north-west to gradually go deeper into the forest. Xiao Qi and the wolf were both very excited to fight even more soulbeasts, and even if they were at the risk of losing, they could either run away or have Bai Yunfei step in. But that wasn¡¯t very likely.


    For the most part, Bai Yunfei was more dedicated to his own training and rarely participated in battle.


    And so the party of three continued deeper into the forest this way¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Two months later, they were back in the middling parts of the class six area and still moving further north-west.


    Another two months later, they were in the later-half of the class six area, but now they were back on track to go west.


    Bai Yunfei was back to full strength now and more than ready to gain some more precious combat experience. This part of the Soulbeast Forest was fraught with danger with late-stage class six soulbeasts and even peak late-stage class six ones. Whenever one of the latter did appear, it usually took the three of them to fight it off.


    His studies with the Upgrade Technique had been renewed during this time. By using most of the +8 and under upgrade stones, he was able to make some ¡®leeway¡¯ into his understandings. The +9 and +10 upgrade stones were kept since their effects were better put to use when crafting weapons.


    The art of crafting wasn¡¯t left to rot either. The Soulbeast Forest was prosperous with rare materials, so Bai Yunfei was able to craft many soul armaments.


    In the course of the past four months, Xiao Qi¡¯s strength had grown meteorically. Just in half a year, Xiao Qi was already a mid-stage class six soulbeast.


    The thunderfire wolf was nearly back to the level where it once was as well. Each passing day was another day where it was more life-like than before, so it didn¡¯t seem different to any regular soulbeast.


    Training, battling, crafting, and upgrading¡­.


    The metaphorical path Bai Yunfei was embarking on in the forest was the ¡®right¡¯ one. Every day was filled with experience Bai Yunfei could use to accelerate his growth.


    ¡­¡­


    Without at all caring for the passage of time, Bai Yunfei found himself spending a year in it.


    At last, Bai Yunfei walked out from the west side of the class six area.


    He had finally reached the Skywards Mountains¡­.

 Chapter 469: The Skywards Mountains and the Crack in the Sky

    In its natural position to the north of the Tianhun Empire, the Soulbeast Forest was immeasurably vast. Its most important ¡®exit¡¯ was Praestia Pass in the Northern Mist Province, and that was also the part of the forest where it was most concentrated. Going northwest through the forest would eventually see to the thinning out of the forest. By going east, one would begin to see less soulbeasts and more of what would expect from an ordinary forest before ultimately arriving at the endless strip of coastal regions to the continent.


    To go further west out of the Soulbeast Forest was to step away from the ¡®protection¡¯ of Praestia Pass and come onto the naturally-occurring barrier that also separated the Soulbeast Forest and the Tianhun Empire.


    The Skywards Mountains.


    Expanding for countless distances, this mountain range was not only vast, but tall. Its peaks couldn¡¯t even be seen through the clouds and had always stopped many strong soulbeasts from exiting the class six area.


    The other neighboring provinces past the Northern Mist Province was separated by the Soulbeast Forest and a wide patch of grassland, though no soulbeast would go through there.


    The Skywards Mountains was precipitous and nearly impossible to scale. Even Soul Exalts wouldn¡¯t have the strength to climb their ways to the top with its altitude. Strong winds and violent bursts of elemental energy made it perilous to fly up there, let alone climb. A place of chaos was what it was, and legends had it that even Soul Kings were unable to withstand the chaotic elements there for long.


    With the Skywards Mountains being the barrier between the class five and six areas, there was no other way to bypass the two areas besides going through the Northern Mist Province.


    However. There was no such thing as the impossible in this world. Even in the tremendously long Skywards Mountains, there stood a single ¡®gap¡¯ that served as a passageway.


    It¡¯s name was the ¡®Crack in the Sky¡¯.


    In the eyes of many, the Crack in the Sky was a beautiful piece of scenery that many people felt was more wondrous than Skywards Mountains. Some likened it to if someone had taken a sword to the mountain range to form a hundred-meter wide gap. As wide as a hundred meters was, compared to the entire mountain range itself, a hundred meters was truly a ¡®crack¡¯ in size¡­.


    So if one were to look up while walking in this gap, they¡¯d see a line in the skies, hence it¡¯s name.


    There was a legend that said His Majesty Wu Tianhun himself formed this passage with a swing of his sword¡­..


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Tianhun Calendar. Year 2013, the 15th day of the 10th month.


    Tonight was an especially starry night with the bright moon shining overhead.


    About a kilometer away from the Crack in the Sky, a fire flickered and danced in the night, illuminating the hill it sat upon, and the figure in which that sat next to it. Backed up by a large tree, this figure had his hand on a ring, as if looking for something. For a while, he did not move, but soon, a short sword with both edges of the blade having a saw-tooth pattern popped out from it. He gave the strange weapon a look before sighing in disappointment and putting it away back into the ring to look some more.


    The occasional light from the campfire would sometimes be bright enough to illuminate the figure¡¯s face, revealing it to be a young man no older than twenty-four years old. He wore gray robes that looked old, but not unkempt. His hair was unevenly long, as though not properly cut for some time, with the longest areas being able to reach his shoulders almost, even his bangs were nearly long enough to cover his eyes. Handsome could not be used to describe his face, but it was a mature and determined face. Added with the smile on it, this man looked like quite the free-spirited traveler.


    This young man was none other than Bai Yunfei.


    He had been traveling west ever since his ordeal with the Black Dragon King. Traveling for an entire year now, he had finally reached upon the entrance to the Crack in the Sky.


    Originally planning to head through the passageway earlier that day to enter the class five area, Bai Yunfei decided to retire for the night and rest, to account for his situation.


    Prior to him setting up shop for the night, Bai Yunfei had been ambushed right before.


    The ones who ambushed him were two peak late-stage class six bone-eating treeflies.


    This particular area he was in was considered the earlier half of the class six area, so it was reasonable to say that such soulbeasts shouldn¡¯t appear here.


    But they did.


    Bai Yunfei would only understand why they might¡¯ve appeared after the battle: it was because of the Crack in the Sky.


    The Crack in the Sky was the only passageway through the Skywards Mountains. Praestia Pass was usually the place where most soul cultivators would go through in order to get to the Soulbeast Forest, but there were a few that¡¯d enter through other means. The Crack in the Sky was a popular route for some if they wanted to go straight to the class six area without any detours.


    As such, the bone-eating treeflies were most likely acting as ¡®guardians¡¯ and waited for prey to come to it.


    These soulbeasts have an affinity for wood, but are also capable of flight. From the outside, they look like a regular housefly, just many times larger. But in reality, they were extremely terrifying with their razor-sharp mouthparts capable of stabbing into the brains of their prey and sucking it out. As capably strong as they are, bone-eating treeflies are also extremely dim. The rare few that became class sevens were still not able to ¡®unlock¡¯ their sentience and were nothing more than feral varmints.


    Their normal ambush tactics didn¡¯t work on Bai Yunfei, who had sensed them first and hid using his Soul Concealment Art. As someone who had been ambushed countless times, Bai Yunfei was no stranger to dealing with these situations. Going undetected, he was able to ¡®counter-ambush¡¯ them.


    Without at all being careless, Bai Yunfei went straight into his Berserk Mode and fought with Xiao Qi to kill off one of the treeflies. The other one was exceedingly fast and quick on its feet despite its low intelligence, meaning it tried to flee when its partner was dead. But Xiao Qi and the thunderfire wolf gave chase.


    Unable to maintain the Berserk Mode for an extended amount of time, Bai Yunfei decided to stay there and wait. Xiao Qi and the thunderfire wouldn¡¯t need any additional help to take care of one bone-eating treefly.


    And that was the reason why he was all by himself without Xiao Qi or the thunderfire wolf nearby.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t any idea just how long the two treeflies had been ¡®standing guard¡¯ near the Crack in the Sky, but he had to assume it was for a decently large amount of time, if the hundreds of bones laying about their nest was any indication.


    Fortunately for Bai Yunfei, there was a plethora of soul armaments laying about the nest along with space rings of those who died here. A wealthy profit was had in the end, he had to admit.


    The amount of space rings to skeletons was rather inconsistent, but with how messy the bones were laying about, Bai Yunfei just assumed that someone else had scavenged the area earlier. Clearly, someone did take the opportunity when the treeflies were away to make their scavenge.


    Taking the possessions of the dead was by far not a humane action, but to have so much treasure in front of one¡¯s eyes was tempting. And to not take any would be foolish. In order to make amends for what he did, Bai Yunfei dug a hole and buried some of the bones.


    He set up a bonfire here to wait for Xiao Qi and the wolf to return after that. To pass the time, he went through all the space rings he found.


    Most of them were very disappointing to look at, since not many of them had anything good. After a quick look, the best thing Bai Yunfei saw was a mid-earth tier soul armament.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Attribute: +230 Strength


    Upgrade Requirement: 80 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head in delight at the red bracelet in his hand, ¡°Not too high of an accessory, but it¡¯s not bad.¡±


    Every once in a while when he saw something decent, Bai Yunfei would upgrade it without hesitation.


    A while later


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Mid Human


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +230 Strength


    Additional Attribute: +110 Strength


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Increase in fire based attacks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 80 Soulpoints


    Eyes bright with joy with the effect, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Increases the strength of a fire based attacks! What a useful effect!¡±


    It was only 10%, but that was just an additional effect. Still, it was a lot better than any of the other low-earth tier soul armaments he upgraded so far.


    ¡°Not bad at all. My luck is really going for me today with all these soul armaments!¡± Smirking, Bai Yunfei swapped the spirit-increasing bracelet on his right hand for the new one.


    After looking through several more space rings, Bai Yunfei went still for a moment when he felt something in his mind.


    He smiled afterwards as he realized what it was. It was a message from Xiao Qi, telling him through their soul contract that they had killed the treefly and were on their way back.


    ¡°Alright, better make some food for them then¡­¡± He laughed, taking out several fatty fishes from his ring. They were already gutted and cleaned, meaning they were all ready to be cooked. Skewering the fishes through with tree branches, he stuck the branches next to the fire and sprinkled some seasoning onto it before letting the fire do the rest of the work.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Halfway done with the cooking, Bai Yunfei suddenly heard a terrified shriek.


    Leaping to his feat, Bai Yunfei turned to look at the Crack in the Sky.


    Under the light of the moon, he could only see a flash of red as a terrified woman in pink came running from the entrance. Her feet were a blur of red as she ran as fast as she could. Her face was filled with terror as she continued to yell in fright.


    Seconds after she came running out from the Crack in the Sky, another two blurs of orange and blue came shooting out after her. With his eyes, Bai Yunfei was able to take note of two rather large men with scary expressions on their faces. The man on the left held a large ringed sword, some blood clearly still dripping down from its edge.


    The moment when the woman saw Bai Yunfei on top of the hill, her face lit up with hope before changing direction towards him!

 Chapter 470: A Hero Saving a Maiden?

    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t shy away when he saw the three people come out from the Crack in the Sky. Standing his ground, Bai Yunfei prepared himself for battle by bringing the Cataclysmic Seal out to his side.


    The three of them were mid-stage Soul Exalts, so traversing a kilometer wouldn¡¯t be very hard for them to do. In no more than ten seconds, the woman was nearly upon Bai Yunfei, her robes blustering in the wind and her eyes brimming with tears of terror.


    ¡°Please save me, my lord!!¡±


    She pleaded towards Bai Yunfei before flinching in pain with her hands at her left leg. Blood was flowing freely from there, a nasty wound preventing her from standing any longer. With a yelp, she toppled into Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms.


    A sweet aroma immediately assaulted his Bai Yunfei¡¯s nose, intoxicating him with its smell.


    Perking an eyebrow, Bai Yunfei moved forward to grab her by her left wrist and hold her steady, rather than let her collapse into his arms. Keeping her steady, he then moved past her to take on the two men after her.


    ¡°I am a student from the Aroma School in the Northern Ridge Province. I came to the Soulbeast Forest for training, but these evil men attacked and killed all my companions in the Crack in the Sky, please my lord, save me!¡±


    The young woman cried out pitifully behind him. Her voice affected by the tragedy that befell her companions and the horrors that would¡¯ve happened to her. Even in her final few words, her voice was choked up.


    Casting a brief look at her, Bai Yunfei returned his glance then to the two men just two hundred meters away. The two of them were soaked with blood from head to toe, some of it being their own blood. Clearly, these two had just been through a mighty battle, but their auras were still raring to go, and their faces were twisted malevolently in anticipation.


    When the two of them saw Bai Yunfei come forward, the one holding the large sword gave a malefic laugh, ¡°Haha! A puny mid-stage Soul Exalt! Consider it your bad luck to meet us two today! Hand over the Aroma School girl and we¡¯ll make your death painless!¡±


    ¡°Kekeke!! We¡¯ve heard plenty about the proficiency your school has in dual cultivation, come here and accompany us two, why don¡¯t you? Or do you want to end up like your sisters and die a vengeful ghost!¡± The other one laughed, not even bothering to look at Bai Yunfei. His eyes leered lecherously at the woman behind him as he spoke.


    A small smile tugged at the corner of Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips.


    Without hiding his strength, Bai Yunfei would be placed at the level of a mid-stage Soul Exalt. With all his training the past year and the added benefits he got from the Dual Flame Arts and the Luck Pendant, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had been like a meteor with how fast it ascended.


    The two of them were strong enough where Bai Yunfei¡¯s current strength was still considered weak. With their strengths combined, they could kill a late-stage Soul Exalt with some difficulty. Killing a mid-stage Soul Exalt wasn¡¯t a problem for them at all.


    But when Bai Yunfei did nothing but smile ominously, they were infuriated. Rousing their soulforces, they flew forward to attack!


    The one with an affinity for earth was the first to make a move. His right foot slammed down onto the ground, disseminating elemental earth in the form of a serpentine drill. It burrowed several meters through the ground to underneath Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet before erupting up from it in as three separate stalagmites¨Cone to hit his head, chest, and waist. Flourishing his blade, the man swung his sword down to simultaneously send a blade of elemental earth onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s head.


    His brother, the one with an affinity for water, swung his right fist forward like a whip. The area in front of his fist rippled briefly before droplets of water formed. Growing to the size of his fists, the spheres of water froze over before pelting Bai Yunfei!


    Their tactics looked well practiced, as if they had done this many times before. One would move to limit the ways Bai Yunfei could move, and the other would pelt him with time-delayed attacks that could potentially kill him.


    This economy of motion was fluid, and struck fear into the heart of the woman behind Bai Yunfei. Shirking even farther behind, she looked to Bai Yunfei with greater fear than before.


    But for some reason, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move from his spot at all! Not even a defensive stance was put up! It was as if he was struck motionless with fear!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The two brothers¡¯ attacks impacted on the ground where Bai Yunfei stood, kicking up dust and stone around his figure.


    They were surprised, to say the least. Both of them expected Bai Yunfei to do something. But when their attacks landed, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura had just¡­disappeared!


    ¡°Is he¡­.dead?!¡± The earth type soul cultivator inquired, ¡°Haha! He didn¡¯t even last one blow! Some hero he is, overestimating himself that much!¡±


    Like the two brothers, the young woman¡¯s cherry-red lips quivered when she felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura disappear. Her eyes widened widely, and her feet threatened to buckle underneath her where she stood.


    The other brother was skeptical. Squinting his eyes, he immediately called out a warning, ¡°Careful!¡±


    Three separate daggers were thrown at shortly before he called out. Shooting out from the dust to target the first brother, who was still pleased with how successful his attack was, the daggers were followed shortly by a series of popping sounds. From the dust cloud, a dozen bullets the color red and purple pelted towards the two brothers!


    As sudden as the attacks were, the two brothers weren¡¯t caught too off-guard by it. Erecting an elemental barrier to protect themselves, the two threw themselves backwards to further alleviate the damage.


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡±


    The three Burstfire Daggers stuck into the barriers, exploding then after contact! The areas where the elemental barrier was hit by the daggers crumbled away, revealing three gaps in its defense! As if targeting these gaps, the bullets shot through them to attack at the person behind it!


    Unprepared for this outcome, the man took took his sword up to defend himself. His sword was large enough to parry several of the bullets, but one bullet made it through his defense and struck him squarely in the right shoulder, ripping a hole in its flesh!


    The other brother managed to fare better than the one hit, as he was ready for retaliation. Successfully parrying all the bullets aimed at him, the man was still surprised to see just how much power was in each of them.


    But whilst the two brothers were dealing with their predicaments, Bai Yunfei was already stepping out from beyond the dust cloud, showing his uninjured self!


    The Cataclysmic Seal glowed orange next to him, shining with the light that had protected him.


    ¡°Im¡­impossible!!¡±


    The two Soul Exalts¡¯ eyes flew wide open in shock. They had put all their might into their attacks, and this mid-stage Soul Exalt had been completely unharmed?!


    Furthermore, his aura had clearly disappeared a moment ago, so why was it back as if nothing had happened now?!


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Sneering, Bai Yunfei fed soulforce to his feet, and in a burst of purple light, he¡­disappeared without a trace!

 Chapter 471: Devotion of the Heart and Carnal Advances?

    Sneering, Bai Yunfei fed soulforce to his feet, and in a burst of purple light, he¡­disappeared without a trace!


    Disappearance was a bit of a misnomer. What really happened was that no one there saw what Bai Yunfei did. His actions had been fast enough to evade their eyes before he came to a stop right by the earth affinity Soul Exalt with a solid punch to his waist!


    Eyes dilating in shock, the man brought his sword back reflexively, hoping to slash at Bai Yunfei with the return stroke. But Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist slammed unflinchingly onto the flat side of it!


    ¡°Claangggg!!¡±


    Like the ringing of a bell, the sword echoed as it bounced, rebounding into the Soul Exalt¡¯s chest! Even more surprising was the fist-shaped indentation on its face!


    Struck by the deflected blade, the man was sent flying backwards with a splurt of blood coming out from his mouth!


    Surprised that such an outcome could happen, he dragged his feet against the ground, slowing his momentum. He looked back up only to see a crimson-red spear come straight for his eyes!


    ¡°Aaahhhh!!!¡± Furious with how he was being forced so much, he brought his sword up to protect himself once again, his soulforce bringing up another barrier of elemental earth.


    ¡°Pcht!¡±


    The sickly sound of spear stabbing into flesh was heard then. In disbelief, the Soul Exalt looked down first at the barrier in front of him, then to the spear that had stabbed through both that and his sword to penetrate his chest.


    The blood drained from his face first, and then his life drained from his eyes¡­.


    ¡°Y-you!¡± The other Soul Exalt came to a grinding halt. The sight of his brother struck dead by Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear left him practically speechless, and his actions to help his brother left uninitiated.


    His words was met with an ominous glare from Bai Yunfei, who turned to meet him. Feeling the area around him suddenly turn dark, the man looked up, only to see a giant ¡®stone¡¯ appear out of nowhere to come falling down onto him!


    It was as though a bucket of icy water was dumped onto him. Without consideration for anything else but his escape, the man tossed himself away from the impact zone. The burst of elemental water he was about to attack Bai Yunfei with was instead used to attack the object so that it¡¯d hopefully delay its fall by just a moment longer.


    There was an explosion as the elemental water smashed against the underside of the Cataclysmic Seal, failing to slow its descent down by even a millisecond. The man was happy to find himself outside the impact area by this time though, so he wasn¡¯t too upset with his failed attack.


    But before he could rejoice, the Cataclysmic Seal flashed red with light before expanding in size once again!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    With a sickening crash, the gigantic Cataclysmic Seal collided into the earth, burying the Soul Exalt out from sight and extinguishing his life like a candle!


    He had been killed!


    ¡­¡­


    Only a minute had transpired before the battle was over. In that one minute, two mid-stage Soul Exalts met their demise at the hands of Bai Yunfei before they even know what hit them!


    It took only a simple few attacks for Bai Yunfei to kill the first Soul Exalt; the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force and a stab from the Fire-tipped Spear to be exact.


    And the Cataclysmic Seal was all it took to take care of the next.


    He hadn¡¯t even needed to use the ¡®coil¡¯ form, pleasing Bai Yunfei with how strong he had gotten!


    He did use the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear though, meaning he had to sacrifice half his soulforce into order to disregard the barrier and kill the man behind it.


    A battle concluding this fast had its consequences. While Bai Yunfei looked quite at ease with himself, his soulforce reserves was substantially lower than what it was before.


    Taking the two dead Soul Exalts space ring into his own, Bai Yunfei turned around. As he made his way back towards the flabbergasted woman, his body swayed a little with fatigue, his face clearly showing the fact that he was not completely fine. But he still managed to make his way over without stumbling.


    The woman stood there, completely silent and still other than her eyes. They followed Bai Yunfei from where he was to where he walked to without ever stopping. What she was thinking about at that moment was a complete mystery.


    But then when she saw Bai Yunfei sway a little, she decided then to finally speak, ¡°My lord, are you alright?!¡±


    Her feet were already in motion as she spoke. Taking two steps forward, she suddenly gave a pained yelp before her injured leg gave out and sent her tumbling.


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei flew to her side, grabbing her by the shoulder so that she wouldn¡¯t fall. Slowly setting her down, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Worry about yourself first, how are you?¡±


    ¡°Th¨Cthank you, my lord. I¡­.I should be fine, aside from a few small injuries¡­.b¨Cbut they shouldn¡¯t trouble me too much¡­.¡±


    She fidgeted shyly, trying to disengage herself from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands with reddened cheeks. Her speech was stammered out, but whether it was from her pain or from her embarrassment was a mystery.


    It was only when she twisted away from him did Bai Yunfei see some tears in her robes, especially in the area where her chest was supposed to be hidden. A sword must¡¯ve torn through it earlier just enough to unearth her snowy-white skin. The area most revealing was where two ¡®mountains¡¯ were, and the valley in between¡­.


    A sight paired with such a beautiful face would¡¯ve mesmerize any single man, and even Bai Yunfei found his breathing hitch a bit¡­.


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    It was then that woman noticed the state of her dress. Both of his arms flew up to cover her modesty, but with how weak she was feeling now, her legs gave up, seeing to her drop to the ground completely.


    Subconsciously, Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of her in a semi-hug.


    ¡°Are you alright? You must be quite injured, let me help you.¡± He spoke, his hands preparing to send soulforce into her body to hasten her recovery.


    ¡°No! That¡¯s fine¡­¡± The woman spoke up suddenly and pushed herself away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands, ¡°Thank you for your concern, my lord¡­.but I practice a very particular style of cultivation and cannot accept the soulforce of another¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh? A style like that exists?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°You said you¡¯re¡­.from the Aroma School in the Northern Ridge Province?¡± He asked curiously.


    She nodded. ¡°I am. My name is Fen Die, an apprentice of one of the elders. I came with my sisters to the Soulbeast Forest through the Skywards Mountains in hopes of finding a soulbeast to contract with. But¡­.but we never thought we¡¯d be ambushed¡­..My sisters were killed, and their killers¡­.they¡­.they wanted to humiliate me¡­.I tried my best to run away, I did. I managed to make it out from the Crack in the Sky, and if not for you, my lord, I¡­..I would most likely not have been able to escape from them¡­.¡±


    She started to shudder, as if traumatized by her experience and what would¡¯ve befallen her if not for Bai Yunfei. Half-choked with tears, the woman looked extremely pitiful, and any man would¡¯ve long since been hit with the urge to console her with a hug.


    Even Bai Yunfei found himself breathing slightly heavier than usual¡­.


    ¡°My¡­my lord¡­.were you not hurt by those evildoers earlier?¡± She inquired, looking up to face him with concern.


    Quirking an eyebrow, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°I might¡¯ve exerted myself a little bit, but I¡¯m still fine. Thank you for your con¨C¡±


    He hissed softly, feeling his soulforce slacken slightly enough to draw sweat to his brows, though he covered his discomfort just as quickly as it appeared.


    Unfortunately for him, the woman noticed his discomfort. She bit her lips, as if hesitating for a moment, and her breathing grew slightly faster when she looked again at him.


    When Bai Yunfei looked curiously at her, she looked back with a flushed expression, ¡°My lord, I¡­I can perhaps help you with your healing¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± He asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Do you know why, my lord, I said I could not accept the soulforce of another?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°It is because¡­.we of the Aroma School have a very unique style of cultivation. If we take in the soulforce of another, especially that of a male, then¡­.then we start to feel lust, lust that we cannot escape from¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ah??¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s jaw dropped slightly open.


    The flush on the young woman¡¯s face grew to her neck with her embarrassment. Summoning up her courage, she looked at him straight in the eye, her own eyes filled with timidity. ¡°Our Aroma School is very well-suited to dual cultivation and in healing situations. It can increase the potency, especially if its our¡­.our first time¡­.


    ¡°My lord, you saved me from those evil men, and you were hurt as a result¡­.I¡­.I am will¨Cwilling to give my heart to you, my lord¡­.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± His mouth still half-way open, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure what to say and stared at the woman.


    Her hands had already dropped from her chest. Both of her ample breasts were trembling erotically for Bai Yunfei to see as the woman waited for his answer. Her upper teeth bit down softly at her bottom lip, and just faintly, Bai Yunfei smelt the soft aroma of something strange, nearly intoxicating him.


    ¡°Hu¡­.huff¡­¡± His breathing grew more and more labored, his face reddened like a tomato now. A never-before light in his eyes while he looked like he was trying to fight with himself over something.


    ¡°My lord¡­.¡±


    Her voice sounded melodic to the ears and as hypnotizing as magic.


    Unable to contain himself any longer, Bai Yunfei found himself stretching his right hand out to swipe at the tattered parts of the young woman¡¯s clothes!!

 Chapter 472: Striking Down a Delicate ‘Flower’? A Bewitching Fox!

    What kind of man would be able to resist the allure of a young woman willing to lay with him, with the act being able to not only heal his wounds, but increase his strength as well? And added with the absolute desolation of the area and having just recently saved her from her would-be r*pists and murderers, it was almost a given¡­.


    Such an erotic storyline like this isn¡¯t rare in many plots, and it often meant the addition of one more person to a male main character¡¯s harem.


    But unfortunately for everyone, this book isn¡¯t a harem novel, and neither will it have a happy wet dream like this one¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    The young woman¡¯s shyness was practically irresistible, and any other man would¡¯ve took it as their time to collect their dues already. With how her eyes were filled with longing for him, Bai Yunfei looked as if he could contain his carnal desires no more to thrust his hand towards her tattered robes!


    His actions sparked a reaction from the young woman, her eyes flashing with an almost undetectable light that didn¡¯t at all match with her shy demeanor!


    But then, the ¡®unbelievable¡¯ happened in the next second¡­.


    When Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand thrusted out to seemingly grab at the ripped parts of her clothes, his hand curled up into a fist to punch the woman¡¯s shoulder without hesitation!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Yelping in surprise, the woman flew backwards as if concussed by a heavy explosion from his punch!


    In the brief airtime she had, the woman flipped onto her feet and dragged them across the ground. Her hand flew to her aching shoulder, her face twisted in pain as she stared frightfully at Bai Yunfei, ¡°My¡­my lord. Wha¨Cwhat are you doing?!¡±


    It had been such a gentle and sweet background just a moment ago, but then Bai Yunfei suddenly went from a beast to a tyrant to so viciously strike down such a delicate little ¡®flower¡¯ like her?!


    Bai Yunfei stood up. His eyes stared at the young woman without the pitying expression he had before. The lust was no longer there either, in its place was a cold and detached expression, his lips curling together with what appeared to be a deliberating smile.


    ¡°My lord, what¡­.what are you doing? What reason are you hurting this woman of yours? I¡­.¡± Her frame shook gently with pain, her meek voice trembling with fear.


    ¡°Pah, are you still trying to pretend?¡± Bai Yunfei smirked in complete disregard for the pitiful-looking woman in front of him.


    His feet flashed with purple light as he moved forward, his right hand burning bright red with fire to aim another punch onto the woman¡¯s shoulder!


    Jolting in surprise, the woman was dumbfounded at his reactions, but her helpless demeanor vanished straight away as she dodged Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch almost gracefully¡­.so fluidly, as if she wasn¡¯t even injured in the first place?!


    Feeling nothing but air from his attack, Bai Yunfei came to a stop and allowed for the woman to retreat several steps backwards to stare at him.


    ¡°How did you find out?¡±


    Her voice was no longer sweetly sounding. It was cold to the ears, and her facial expression was equally as icy.


    ¡°I knew something was wrong with the situation as soon as you appeared.¡± He answered casually while he looked her over once more.


    Eyes widening once again with surprise, the woman cried out, ¡°Impossible! My acting was flawless back then, how did you¡­¡±


    ¡°Flawless, you say?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°Yeah, those two guys really were trying to kill you, and their blood was definitely real as well, so they definitely killed somebody¨Cprobably from the Aroma School as well. The only thing that was off was you. You weren¡¯t hurt by them, you were just pretending. And¡­.those two probably didn¡¯t know they were being tricked as well.¡±


    ¡°They were real, but you were not. I have to say though, your acting was perfect. Not many would¡¯ve been able to see through your act¡­.¡±


    ¡°Then how¡­.¡±


    ¡°Illusions and enchantment¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled, ¡°that¡¯s how you did it, right?¡±


    A response like that caused the woman to stagger half a step backwards. ¡°Ho¨Cyou, how did you know! I refuse to believe it! You¡¯re only a mid-stage Soul Exalt, how did you see through my mesmerizations?! This is impossible!¡±


    ¡°Mesmerization? Is there such a thing? Were those two guys caught in that then? I couldn¡¯t tell, but those two guys were probably caught up in that and their bloodlust¡­.


    ¡°You tried to mesmerize and make me more willing to save you from those two men. After that, it¡¯d be hook, line and sinker to have me fall to my lust before you kill me¡­.¡±


    He was speaking casually to her, but his soulforce was working itself in a frenzy to prepare for a fight. His Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his hand as a precaution, ¡°Just like you said, anyone not a Soul King would¡¯ve fallen for your Mesmerization. It¡¯s undetectable. But unfortunately for you, ¡®mental¡¯ attacks like these aren¡¯t as effective. I¡¯d find out about those in a second!¡±


    The smile on his face grew wider, ¡°I could see the fox tail behind you the moment you stepped out in front of me¡­.¡±


    All emotions were wiped away from the woman¡¯s face as she listened to Bai Yunfei speak. Everything she had worked so hard on had been completely useless on him!


    Something Bai Yunfei said did however, spark stupefaction to show on her face. Unable to stop herself, she cried, ¡°Preposterous!! You know that I am a bewitching fox?!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Such a question startled Bai Yunfei, his mind racing to think about what was just said to him.


    ¡°Bewitching fox? Oh f*ck, you¡¯re a soulbeast?!¡±


    ¡°Ahhh?!¡±


    Likewise, the woman cried out again, her face growing even stranger. Did she misread the situation?


    The ¡®fox tail¡¯ Bai Yunfei mentioned had been common saying he learned from the shattered memories of the transmigrator. But while it was common in the eyes of the transmigrator, such a saying didn¡¯t exist in the Tianhun Continent, so it was no wonder the woman was shocked. She had thought that Bai Yunfei had guessed out her true identity!


    She was one of the more rare types of soulbeasts in the world, a bewitching fox!


    Thunderfire wolves, wind squallers, and blue-eyes wyrms are all different types of rare soulbeasts, their intellect higher than most among their own. But there existed the bewitching fox clan, soulbeasts that could speak the human tongue when they reach the class five level and transform into a human form by the class six level!


    The most important aspect of bewitching foxes lied upon the ¡®bewitching¡¯ part of their name. When they take human form, their beauty would be devastatingly beautiful! It didn¡¯t matter if they were male or female, absolutely no one of the opposite sex would ever refuse their charm.


    Bewitching foxes were rumored to be adept in the art of ¡®Mesmerization¡¯, a combination of illusion and enchantment. They could ensnare the hearts of their victims without their knowing and control even their actions. From there, it¡¯d be a simple matter to kill them as they dreamed.


    In these legends, it was also said that there existed a class seven bewitching fox a thousand years ago, the Bewitching Fox Queen. Infiltrating the Tianhun Empire, it was able to use its Mesmerization to bewitch the heart of a certain warlord, one whose strength was of the late-stage Soul King level! The calamity she brought upon that warlord¡¯s province had been so harsh that the commoners were unable to make a living, and many soul cultivators lost their lives before the King himself came down to kill her.


    Three hundred years had already passed in the empire since the last known incident with the bewitching fox clan. So no one¨Cespecially Bai Yunfei, guessed that he would have run into one today¡­.

 Chapter 473: A Trap!

    This particular bewitching fox had the same idea as the bone-eating treefly. By ¡®squatting¡¯ near the entrance of the Crack in the Sky, it spent most of its time waiting for prey. This one was close to becoming a late-stage class six soulbeast and had spent a good twenty years or so preying on unsuspecting soul cultivators to kill and empower itself.


    Unlike the two bone-eating treeflies who only wished to devour soul cultivators for power, this bewitching fox knew soul cultivators had another valuable good on their bodies.


    Their space rings, to be exact. Countless primal stones and soulgems were hidden inside those rings, and the fox knew it¡¯d help its training out by a substantial degree.


    There was two reasons why the bewitching fox never drew close to the bone-eating tree flies. Firstly, they were stronger than it was, and their intelligence was far too low for its Mesmerization to be of any use.


    So it decided to kill any soul cultivator that might not have made contact with them or any soul cultivators fortunate enough to escape at its convenience. Due to its high intelligence, it would always stay far away from the area whenever a strong opponent such as a peak late-stage Soul Exalt came by.


    For twenty years the fox continued to grow and prosper until it was oh-so-close to becoming a late-stage class six. Its strength was substantially stronger than what it was when it first arrived, and it could fight a late-stage Soul Exalt sometimes. If it used its Mesmerization arts, then even they would find themselves virtually defenseless and die cursing it.


    At one point, the fox was able to use its Mesmerization to allure two late-stage Soul Exalts who already hated each other. It only took a little more prodding before the two of them were at each other¡¯s necks. From there, the fox watched as the two fought before coming in when both sides were near-death to suck up their origin essences and their lives.


    It was actually through that one encounter that the fox was able to become a mid-stage class six.


    Tonight, it just so happened that Bai Yunfei became the fox¡¯s next target. It was only just coming back from the class five area through the Crack in the Sky when it noticed Bai Yunfei fighting the bone-eating treeflies. Hiding a good distance away, it waited for Xiao Qi and the thunderfire wolf to chase after the one that left before planning its attack on Bai Yunfei.


    The fox didn¡¯t see Bai Yunfei use his Berserk Mode to kill the treefly, so it assumed Bai Yunfei was only a mid-stage Soul Exalt and was thus an easy enough target for it to kill.


    As it decided on a means of attack on Bai Yunfei, the fox was suddenly met with yet another intrusion on the other side of the Crack in the Sky. Peering in, it saw two mid-stage Soul Exalts massacring a group of students from the Aroma School.


    This particular bewitching fox had never once stepped beyond the confines of the Soulbeast Forest, but living for so long in this place gave it a good degree of knowledge on the neighboring provinces. It only took a quick few glances at the murdered students to morph itself into a similar appearance. By pretending to be a student, the fox then used its Mesmerization to catch the eye of the two brothers.


    Those who embraced their desires were a much easier target for the fox to influence. All it took was a single usage of its Mesmerization to heighten the brother¡¯s desire to kill and suppress their rationality. Through this, the brothers would take the fox to be a student of the Aroma School and would thus chase after it to kill.


    The next step in the plan was to have them run into Bai Yunfei and duke it out. The two would kill Bai Yunfei, and the fox would in turn kill the two Soul Exalts with ease.


    Every plan has its problems, and the fox had never guessed that Bai Yunfei would instead kill the two Soul Exalts!


    His quick work of the two filled the fox with fear, actually. Its first instinct was to run, but then it noticed that something was amiss with Bai Yunfei.


    From there, the fox deduced that he must¡¯ve used some sort of technique that took a lot of energy.


    And that meant Bai Yunfei would be an easier target to kill!


    A new step was added to the plan then. The fox would use its Mesmerization to inhibit Bai Yunfei¡¯s sense of reason and increase his libido. With an ample amount of time and acting, Bai Yunfei would be in the perfect situation to kill.


    But then the second problem in its plan came in the form of Bai Yunfei countering its ambush with one of his own!!


    His ridiculing sneer and ominous eyes brought a chill to the fox¡¯s skin then. And once again, it started to fear for its life¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    The revealment of the fox¡¯s ¡®identity¡¯ startled him more than the fox itself! Not once did Bai Yunfei think he¡¯d meet one of the ¡®legendary¡¯ bewitching foxes!


    ¡°Her Mesmerization is pretty amazing. I didn¡¯t even know about it until it was almost too late and lost myself¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. He spoke earlier that he had been in charge the entire case, but that wasn¡¯t true. For a brief moment, he was treading on very thin ice.


    He hadn¡¯t detected the Mesmerization, that was true. His strength as a mid-stage Soul Exalt wasn¡¯t stronger than the fox, so it¡¯d be impossible for him to personally detect it.


    But that¡¯s why he had his upgraded equipment!


    The +12 ring he had on his right hand decreased the effects of mind-based attacks, and it would tell him when such an attack was happening!


    It warned him as soon as the fox used its Mesmerization on him. Knowing that, Bai Yunfei knew this ¡®woman¡¯ wasn¡¯t as innocent as she seemed. Something was off with the two Soul Exalts as well, their bloodlust was a little ¡®too¡¯ much, even for the standards of this world. It seemed as though they thought about nothing but slaughter.


    After confirming that the two Soul Exalts were bewitched by the fox¡¯s Mesmerization, Bai Yunfei grew uninterested in ¡®saving¡¯ the two. Their deaths had been quick, but costly, due to the effects of the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear.


    There was a reason why he used that effect; it was to confuse the ¡®true enemy¡¯. He wanted to trick the fox into thinking that he had taken out the two Soul Exalts without problem, but he misjudged the effects of losing half his soulforce and ¡®accidentally¡¯ showed her.


    Bai Yunfei finding out she was a bewitching fox had been the real surprise though. So real, that Bai Yunfei forgot about attacking her after that.


    ¡°So you¡¯re a bewitching fox. You had the same idea as the bone-eating treeflies then. Killing all those people, I mean? Even me being here didn¡¯t escape your notice¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hmph! How brazen you are! One of us will live, and the other will die! I¡¯ll show you the true power of the bewitching foxes!!¡± The fox howled. Red light started to shine from the woman¡¯s as elemental fire started to manifest around her. In the next second, the woman¡¯s body blurred away and turned into a yellow-colored fox the same size of an ox!


    She had returned to her soulbeast form!


    The fox was afraid. For the first time in a while, it would have to reveal its full strength to make battle.


    ¡°Brat!! This place will be your burial grounds!!¡± The fox boomed. A giant tail swung out behind the fox, crashing through a tree.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei froze up. His eyes widened with yet another wave of shock. ¡°You¡¯re¡­.you¡¯re kidding! You¡¯re a guy! That¡¯s not fair!!¡±


    He was right! The reason why Bai Yunfei was surprised because of the voice he heard¡­.


    The fox¡¯s voice was not high-pitched like what a female would have. Instead, it was deep, just like a male!


    The fox was¡­.a male bewitching fox! That beautiful woman who had only just been standing in front of him a while ago ¡®genderbent¡¯ itself into a male!


    A wave of dread washed over Bai Yunfei. He thought about what he had done before then, and what the fox did. It¡¯s declaration of ¡®devotion¡¯, the ¡®half-hug¡¯ they shared¡­.


    Goosebumps came to life all over Bai Yunfei¡¯s skin¡­.


    The bewitching fox clearly took no hesitation in attacking Bai Yunfei as he was lost in thought. Opening its jaws wide open, it fired off a burst of elemental fire to aim at Bai Yunfei!


    Forming elemental bursts of fire like this wasn¡¯t uncommon for soulbeasts to do. Their attacks were far more concentrated with elemental energy, but the one the fox fired off was far stronger than what a late-stage class six soulbeast would be capable of. The fireball traveled closely to the ground, scorching the earth where it traveled.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was engulfed in a fiery explosion, kicking up dirt and stone where the crater formed.


    ¡°Bang!¡± Before the fireball could fully dissipate from sight, an even stronger stream of fire appeared from the dust cloud. Protected by the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei stepped out from it, his entire body also protected by a layer of fire. His anger was extremely noticeable to see in his eyes, and the Fire-tipped Spear was gripped tightly in his hands.


    ¡°You being a soulbeast wasn¡¯t bad enough. You¡¯re a male that loves to pretend to be a female and tried to ¡®seduce¡¯ me¡­.enough is enough!¡±

 Chapter 474: Thousand Fox Phantasm

    The Cataclysmic Seal protected Bai Yunfei from the fox¡¯s fireball, allowing Bai Yunfei to step forward from the crater. Gripping the Fire-tipped Spear tightly, he flew towards the fox to stab him!


    ¡°Whoosh!!!¡±


    But before he was even halfway to the fox, Bai Yunfei felt his eyes start to blur a bit, and then the fox had suddenly¡­.disappeared from sight?!


    Startled, Bai Yunfei began to turn around, but then his eyes started to blur again and the fox suddenly reappeared right in front of him! It hadn¡¯t moved at all from its original direction, but its sharp claws were just moments away from stabbing into his chest!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Bai Yunfei raised his spear up just in time. The fox¡¯s palm clashed with the shaft of the spear, but the claws were just long enough to scratch at the armor Bai Yunfei wore, creating sparks with the friction.


    Stepping backwards, Bai Yunfei dodged another claw swipe from the fox to return to his original spot.


    ¡°An illusion!!¡±


    When the bewitching fox disappeared the first time, Bai Yunfei felt his +12 spirit-resist ring pulsate; he was definitely in an illusion of some sort!


    He never fought against an illusionist before. While illusions were a type of attack on the mind, it was still a whole field of its own.


    And the illusions of the bewitching fox weren¡¯t as shallow as to only affect his vision. It affected his soulsense as well!


    Mind racing to find a solution, Bai Yunfei opted for the direct approach. Using the Flash Steps, Bai Yunfei flew straight for the bewitching fox faster than before!


    The difference in speed surprised the fox, who screeched once in response. Then, right in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, the fox turned into three!


    This was no mirror-image, this was an illusion!


    A faint buzzing sound was heard in Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears next. It came from all around him, making Bai Yunfei feel extremely wary.


    The ring on his right hand was a constant source of fluctuation, rousing Bai Yunfei from the illusions just in time for him to feel a claw come straight for his head!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    His spear came forward as well. The tip of it proved mighty enough to break through the fox¡¯s elemental barrier and straight into its body!


    But then¡­.the body faded away!


    Bai Yunfei felt soulforce start to gather from his right. Looking there, he saw the fox suddenly leap at him to tear at his heart with its claw!


    Hastily bringing up his spear, Bai Yunfei tried his best to protect himself. The fox¡¯s claw struck the spear down in the middle with a clang, but the power behind the claw was far stronger than Bai Yunfei anticipated! Severing the spear in half, the claw went straight through it and penetrated into Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    It was with glee that the fox admired its handiwork. But something felt off. The fox was sure that its claws hit something, since it felt the tactile feedback from the blow, but there was no blood! The corpse fell to the ground, and then out of sight!


    All of a sudden, two more Bai Yunfeis came at the fox¡¯s head from the left as if leaping out from a nightmare!


    The +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, Doppelganger!


    Knowing it hadn¡¯t enough time to defend itself, the fox threw itself to the right to just barely evade two spear strikes.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    One of the spears grazed across the fox¡¯s skin and exploded with an ear-deafening explosion. A furious blast of energy concussed into its body, tossing the fox several meters through the air! The ground where the tip of the spear struck had been reduced to a crater about thirty meters large!


    On top of the crater, Bai Yunfei stood there with slightly bent knees. Straightening himself up with his left hand on his spear, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand up to have the palm face the fox, who was trying to stabilize itself. The Ardent Sun Glove on his hand glowed a brilliant red light as a fireball about twenty meters in circumference formed over it. As soon as it formed, the fireball shot towards the fox with a speed far faster than it took to form!


    It was like a bullet with its speed!


    There was another flash of red light from the crimson-red bracelet on Bai Yunfei¡¯s right wrist, and then, the fireball grew in size yet again!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The fox was only just then brought its feet to the ground when the fireball had formed. By the time it was still and steady, the fireball was well on its way towards it. The initial explosion from the spear had left the fox speechless; it couldn¡¯t believe that a spear could create such a devastating explosion like that¡­.And by the time he looked back up, the fireball was nearly upon it!


    Instinctively, the fox pressed all four of its feet to the ground. With a push so mighty that it left claw marks on the ground, the fox leapt several dozen meters up into the air just in time for the fireball to impact on the ground where it once been, exploding and wrecking havoc!


    Airborne now, the fox focused elemental energy to its paws, allowing it to remain in the air. It threw itself to the side again to dodge another fireball from Bai Yunfei. Now in a safer position where it could catch its breath, the fox howled furiously!


    A headache so strong that it felt akin to being stabbed in the head with several daggers slammed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind the instant the fox howled. His body tottered unsteadily for a moment as he tried to regain his composure.


    But when he looked back up, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open!


    In that one moment he looked away, Bai Yunfei found himself¡­.surrounded!


    Thousands of bewitching foxes had suddenly surrounded Bai Yunfei for hundreds of meters around!


    With their numerous numbers, not even the smallest of gaps could be exploited. They all looked alike, and their fangs were sharp and ready to attack.


    This was the ultimate attack of the bewitching fox, Thousand Fox Phantasm!


    When the art of Mesmerization reached the pinnacle of what it could accomplish, its best feats was in the aspect of ¡®illusion¡¯ rather than ¡®seduction¡¯! Projecting its image into the world, the fox could split its body so well that no enemy would be able to tell which one was the real one!


    Thousands of foxes and only one of them being actually real. A situation like this meant that the fox could attack from anywhere at any given time!


    Even if Bai Yunfei was the same level of strength as the fox, he very much doubted that he¡¯d be able to tell where the fox was. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that the fox didn¡¯t escape.


    The only problem was that he couldn¡¯t tell which fox was the real one with how similar they looked to one another.


    Any lesser soul cultivator would most likely give in to despair by this point and try to attack at the swarm carelessly. Some might try to defend themselves fruitlessly even, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t flustered. The Cataclysmic Seal flew up above him to protect him with a barrier. He stared at the thousand foxes around him with a small smile, his spear disappearing back into his ring.


    Both of his hands blurred briefly before the Desert Eagles appeared in them both. Bai Yunfei¡¯s right foot took a half-step backwards, his chest leaning slightly backwards to adopt a strange stance.


    Gun-fu!!


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. His body blurred together as he started to turn in all sorts of direction, the Desert Eagles in his hands shooting bullet after bullet in an endless stream of attack!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!¡­..¡±


    The only things that could be heard for the next few moments was the loud ringing sounds of gunfire. Nearly a thousand bullets fired, each one aimed carefully to take down a different fox!


    Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to find out which fox was the real one if he used his soulsense. So he decided to rely on the bullets. The soulforce in the bullets would help them lock onto their targets, no matter if it was real or not!


    ¡°Over there!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop facing towards the left, his Desert Eagle pointing at one specific fox before firing off a round without hesitation!

 Chapter 475: Shattered Illusions

    The fox eyed the bullets Bai Yunfei was firing out one after another, his actions were very strange to the fox. It had never seen such movements before so it was confused at what Bai Yunfei was trying to do.


    Then when Bai Yunfei pointed both of whatever soul armaments he held in his hands at the fox, hundreds of little bullets were fired at it!


    The move it was so proud of, the Thousand Fox Phantasm, was beaten in just two short moments?!


    In disbelief, the fox inhaled sharply. All of the phantasms it had around Bai Yunfei were completely gone now, and the world around it was on fire now. With several banging sounds, the fox¡¯s defenses was rained upon by these hundred bullets.


    The strength of the two Desert Eagles were extraordinary, but the fox¡¯s defenses were even stronger.


    Availing itself to an opening in the burstfire of bullets, the fox leapt to the right, its eyes flashing strangely with a hallucogenic light. Crying loudly, it gave Bai Yunfei a full dose of its glare!


    As it was with human nature, it was inevitable that Bai Yunfei followed the fox when it leapt away from its original position. This meant when the fox glared at Bai Yunfei, their eyes met!


    ¡°Crap!¡±


    Bai Yunfei averted his eyes as quickly as he could, but it was far too late. The wolf¡¯s illusion was already taking effect on his mind by erasing the fox away from his eyesight and soulsense!


    The next thing Bai Yunfei heard was the faint chuckling of several young women. Without warning, a fog of mist descended onto the area, and a stunningly beautiful woman stepped out from it. A ribbon was all that covered several parts of her naked body, her eyes enchanting to the pupils as she sauntered over to him.


    She drew close enough to Bai Yunfei for him to smell the distinct aroma of orchid and her breathing. Her jade-white hand touched at Bai Yunfei¡¯s cheek, feeling at his warmth.


    It felt so real! Bai Yunfei was starting to feel himself burn on in the inside even¡­.


    His face refused to show the ecstasy he was feeling, however. His eyes were bloodshot, and his mind knew this was an illusion, but another voice was whispering to him, refuting his mind. ¡°This is real,¡± it whispered, ¡°lose yourself to your pleasures¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    He bit his tongue.


    Roaring furiously, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body went ablaze, expelling his soulforce into the surrounding area and dispelling the beautiful woman in front of him into ashes. Still bloodshot in the eyes, Bai Yunfei jabbed his finger forward!


    Obeying his actions, the Cataclysmic Seal flashed orange, and then red. Flying forward, it started to grow in size from just a scant ten meters to a kilometer!!


    Already some distance away from Bai Yunfei, the brick flew over his head as large as a mountain to swat everything in front of him!


    Bai Yunfei had only been stuck in that illusion for three seconds at most. So while the fox had time to move about, it wouldn¡¯t get too far away from the range of the brick for sure! With how vast the brick was now, there was very little the brick wouldn¡¯t hit!


    A good three hundred meters away, the fox was floating in the sky to prepare itself to attack. Bai Yunfei¡¯s entrapment into its illusion made it happy, it thought it¡¯d have some time to breathe. As it was preparing its ultimate move to strike Bai Yunfei down, the man had suddenly snapped out from the illusion with a roar! Not even a second after that, the tiny brick had transformed into a mighty mountain to go barreling towards it!


    Frightened out of its skin, the fox screeched, summoning several fireballs to pelter the brick with. They slammed against the brick, but to its dismay, the brick didn¡¯t slow down in the slightest!


    Its failure to slow down the brick took away the precious time it used to have to run away, and now it was too late! The brick was just an instant away from hitting it!


    The brick smashed through the fox¡¯s barrier as if it wasn¡¯t there, swatting the fox as if it would swat a fly. With a bang, the fox was flung away, its bones cracking in several places and blood coming out from many of its orifices!


    Instead of chasing after the fox, the brick came to a stop after they made contact. Straight away, it shrunk back to its original size as Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was no longer feeding it.


    Bai Yunfei looked deathly pale now, losing so much soulforce so quickly made his head spin. The Violet Soul Ring flashed brightly with light as the 2000 stockpiled soulpoints transferred to his body.


    His cheeks flushed with life as the soulforce ran through his body. Renewed, Bai Yunfei hoisted his right hand up to aim the Fire Eagle!


    It was time for a Homing Bullet!


    A bullet barely the size of a peanut shot out from the barrel of the Fire Eagle. The gun wasn¡¯t aimed directly at the fox, but the bullet swerved unnaturally to follow the fox as it flew through the air!


    The only emotion left in the fox now was fear. Not a single thing had gone according to plan ever since it met Bai Yunfei, and after several exchanges, the fox knew it had underestimated the mid-stage Soul Exalt. This man wasn¡¯t a brat, it was an opponent it couldn¡¯t beat!


    It had to run! It had to escape as far as possible! Spitting another mouthful of blood, the fox uprighted itself and used the momentum it still had to fly off away from Bai Yunfei.


    But no sooner did it upright itself did the fox hear a faint whistling sound. Looking behind, it saw a fiery bullet come chasing after it!


    If it was before, the fox would¡¯ve disregarded this bullet and let it hit its shield. But after it was hit with the Cataclysmic Seal, the fox was hardly in a shape to be doing any rapid movements, let alone reallocate its soulforce into a barrier. Before it could even do that, however, the bullet pierced into its injured waist and blew up!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    Shrieking with pain when the bullet hit, the fox watched in agony as a relatively large hole was formed on its skin. Blood was pouring out in large amounts now, and its bones could be seen from outside.


    Its vision was growing hazy now, but not so hazy that it felt like it¡¯d faint. Adrenaline and its preservation instincts were kicking in to help dull the pain, and with another kick, the fox flew even faster.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A moment after it kicked, the fox heard the furious chirp of a bird. Looking up, it saw a rainbow flash of light in front of it, and then a black disk¡­.


    Xiao Qi had returned!


    ¡°No!!!!¡±


    The fox screamed in despair. But it was too late. The Spatial Edge had cut across its neck¨Cdecapitating the fox!


    Swooping down, Xiao Qi¡¯s claws dug into the fox¡¯s head and tore out its soulgem without remorse. Trilling happily, it sent a message back to Bai Yunfei and returned to him with the soulgem.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. His body swayed unsteadily for a moment as he wiped his forehead, cleaning it of the sweat.


    In just a brief ten minutes, Bai Yunfei had experienced yet another bout of danger. This was the very first time heh ad fought against an illusionist, and his heart was still trying to calm itself down from the terrifying ordeal.


    Luckily for him, the fox hadn¡¯t been very strong and his equipment made up for the difference. The +12 ring was especially useful its resistance against the fox¡¯s Mesmerization. Without it, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to snap out from the illusions or finish the battle as quickly as he did.


    He forwent the Dual Flame Arts so that the fireseed in the Cataclysmic Seal wouldn¡¯t be removed from it. That way, the brick would be a lot stronger.


    All in all, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t physically injured, but he had used a lot of soulforce and his soul was quite fatigued.


    So he was happy for Xiao Qi and the thunderfire wolf returning. Sitting down, he tried to catch his breath.


    The night was quiet once again now. Any indications that a fierce battle had taken place here was masked by the night, and not a living being was stirring. All that was left to see was Bai Yunfei and his body with the occasional burst of red light.


    Daylight came soon enough. The rising of the sun was accompanied by a drawn out sigh from Bai Yunfei. Cheeks rosy with life, Bai Yunfei opened his eyes.


    ¡°Chirp chirp~!¡±


    Standing guard loyally on the side, Xiao Qi chirped happily. It flew into the air and circled around his head twice before coming to a descent onto his shoulder.


    Bai Yunfei smiled, taking the pink soulgem from Xiao Qi¡¯s claw. ¡°Haha, thank you,¡± he scratched the bird¡¯s head, ¡°I¡¯m fine now.¡±


    Before he could study the soulgem, Bai Yunfei was interrupted by another few chirps from Xiao Qi. Confused, he looked up, ¡°What?¡±


    Xiao Qi nodded its head.


    Still confused, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look a hundred meters away where the thunderfire wolf was still standing guard.


    The reason why he was confused was because Xiao Qi had told him that something strange had happened to the thunderfire wolf¡­.

 Chapter 476: Goodbye, Wolf

    There was something different to the thunderfire wolf. Before, it used to stand and move about like a puppet, but this time, it was more like an ordinary soulbeast.


    And there was the Beast Taming Ring on its neck. Bai Yunfei never bothered to ¡®control¡¯ its actions, preferring that Xiao Qi did all of the ¡®planning¡¯. Even in battle, the wolf moved autonomously. All the Beast Taming Ring did was to increase the feeling of loyalty it felt and guaranteed that it wouldn¡¯t betray him.


    Finally, there was the expression of the thunderfire wolf to examine. No longer did it have the ¡®fearsome¡¯ expression on its face. It never once harbored any ¡®feelings¡¯ of resistance from its ¡®master¡¯ before, but it would always have that same expression on its face. But now, it was looking at him like a docile pet would, making Bai Yunfei very curious.


    When it first begun to regain its sentience, the wolf¡¯s mindspace had been a mess. But even as a mess, it didn¡¯t offer up any resistance the few times Bai Yunfei commanded it, making it seem like an obedient child that didn¡¯t know anything about the world.


    Many months had already transpired since Bai Yunfei last entered the wolf¡¯s mindspace. He already felt the wolf to be like a ¡®companion¡¯ to him, especially in the eyes of Xiao Qi. The two soulbeasts were constantly together, even in battle. Their unison was even better than with Bai Yunfei.


    So Xiao Qi telling him that something was strange with the wolf alarmed Bai Yunfei. He was baffled that something else could be going on with the wolf.


    The wolf stood there in front of Bai Yunfei, vigilant at its surroundings, but otherwise looking barely different from normal. Focusing, Bai Yunfei transmitted an order to the Beast Taming Ring.


    And then what happened after that surprised him¨Cthe wolf didn¡¯t immediately obey the command¨Cfor the very first time, there was a very definite sign of ¡®refusal¡¯ in the wolf¡¯s mindspace!!


    ¡°Eh?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out loud.


    This was the very first time he saw the usually ¡®obedient¡¯ wolf disobey. Granted, the order he gave was a very small one, but to have the wolf outright refuse to obey stunned him! And before Bai Yunfei could give another command, the wolf was slowly making its way towards him.


    Not only did it disobey his command, it was walking straight towards him!


    Even more shockingly, Bai Yunfei saw a light in the wolf¡¯s eyes that looked surprisingly human-like!


    Bai Yunfei had never seen this before. The thunderfire wolf would normally have a light in its eyes, but those were usually reminiscent with what any other soulbeast would have. Even the blue-eyes wyrm and its unnaturally human-like intelligence didn¡¯t hold a match to the light the wolf had now. What the wolf had was completely similar to what a human would look like in the eyes!


    Actually, Bai Yunfei saw this once before. The red magiboar and the quickshade bird had both a similar look in their eyes, but Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes held a light that was both stronger and exactly the same as the wolf¡¯s.


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­.¡±


    By now, the wolf was standing three meters from, and then in the next second, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open like a startled cat whose tail had just been stepped on!


    ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯ve a matter I wish to speak to you about.¡±


    The voice of a hoarse male spoke to Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears, making Bai Yunfei temporarily forget himself.


    This voice was coming out from the thunderfire wolf¡¯s mouth!


    ¡°Y-you¡­.¡± Looking as if he had just seen a ghost, Bai Yunfei took a good twenty steps back, ¡°what¡¯s going on?!¡¯


    He looked to Xiao Qi, but the bird only shrugged its wings as if to say, ¡°don¡¯t ask me.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, don¡¯t be alarmed. We soulbeasts just a step away from becoming class sevens gain the ability to speak the human tongue. This much is nothing to be alarmed over.¡± The wolf spoke with a seeming smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ve regained some of my memories, one of which returned the ability of speech.¡± The same hoarse voice spoke again.


    The wolf¡¯s words were rather simple and held no hostility in them. But even with that, Bai Yunfei was extremely surprised. Not having the wolf speak for an entire year and then being able to do so all of a sudden would do that.


    ¡°Chirp chirp!!¡±


    This development was accepted quite warmly by Xiao Qi, who chirped twice in joy. Beating its wings, it flew around the wolf¡¯s head excitedly. It chirped several times more as if trying to communicate with it.


    The wolf raised it head to speak to Xiao Qi, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. After I swallowed the soulgem of the bone-eating treefly, I relearned the ability to talk. Don¡¯t be jealous, you¡¯ll have your day come soon.¡±


    It spoke to Xiao Qi like a friend would chat with another.


    Still dazed by this shocking development, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Are¡­are you really the thunderfire wolf? You could talk?¡±


    The wolf turned back to him, ¡°Correct. I knew how to talk before, but I forgot. After swalloing the soulgem of the peak late-stage class six was I able to remember the past and regain the ability.¡±


    The memories of the past was naturally referring to when he hadn¡¯t been transformed into a soulbeast puppet by the Beast Taming School. Since Bai Yunfei thought that the process wiped the soulbeast¡¯s mind clean like a sheet of white paper, he figured soulbeasts would have to relearn everything instead of being able to remember what it was like before.


    ¡°What¡­.what have you remembered?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, curious about what the wolf was feeling.


    ¡°Just a few memories. The biggest being the ability to speak again.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was still perplexed at this situation. The majority of soulbeasts would only gain human-like intelligence after they became a class seven. There were a few like the bewitching fox which could transform into a human form at the late-stage class six level and converse with humans at the class five level, but those were very rare cases. In a slightly lesser strain, there were other soulbeasts that were inherently gifted with amazing intelligence to speak at the class six level.


    Four months ago, Bai Yunfei had even spoke with a peak late-stage class six forest orangutan. It was gentle and smart, and Bai Yunfei had a very nice conversation with it before he left rather than fighting like he did with other soulbeasts. In the end, Bai Yunfei was left with the feeling he had been speaking with an elderly man rather than soulbeast.


    Regathering his thoughts, Bai Yunfei asked the wolf, ¡°You said you had something to speak to me about?¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± The wolf paused. ¡°Do¡­.do you plan to leave the Soulbeast Forest?¡±


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow, ¡°I do. I¡¯ll get to the class five area through the Crack in the Sky and return to the main continent.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡± His answer brokered no response from the wolf for a while.


    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve regained my memories, I¡¯ve remembered that I¡¯ve family here in the class six area. I¡­.I hope that you¡¯ll let me go¡­..¡±


    The wolf hesitated to speak a few times in its speech, but it made its request in the end. It knew that the strange thing around its neck would force it to obey Bai Yunfei¡¯s commands, so making a request like that wasn¡¯t inherently ¡®proper¡¯¡­.


    But in the end, it didn¡¯t want to leave the forest again. It wanted to return to the depths of the class six area and return ¡®home¡¯ where it could regain the rest of its memories.


    ¡°I see now¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    He smiled. ¡°Well alright then. I won¡¯t force you to do anything, you can go home to your family.¡±


    The Beast Taming Ring expanded in size around the wolf¡¯s neck. Detaching itself, the ring flew away from the startled wolf to land around Bai Yunfei¡¯s wrist and shrunk down to fit like a bracelet.


    ¡°Ao¡­.¡± The decisiveness of Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions brought the wolf to a daze. It hadn¡¯t expected Bai Yunfei to so readily agree to its request. In his mind, humans always desired to control a soulbeast as strong as a peak late-stage class six and would refuse to let them go if caught. The wolf knew Bai Yunfei was slightly different than the rest, so it decided to give it a try anyways after it regained its memories.


    But never did it imagine that it would have its request accepted so easily¡­..


    ¡°Since we¡¯ve traveled together for so long, aren¡¯t we ¡®friends¡¯? Now that you¡¯re sentience and rationality is back, I don¡¯t want to control you like before. If you¡¯ve your own things, then go do them. I just hope that we¡¯ll meet each other in the future.¡±


    ¡°Friends??¡± The wolf repeated, staring with wide eyes at Bai Yunfei. It couldn¡¯t tell whether or not Bai Yunfei was being honest, but after a while, the wolf spoke again.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    It turned around to face north, returning to the forest and its home.


    ¡°Chirp chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped twice, a hint of sadness in its voice.


    The wolf looked to it, its teeth showing in a smile, ¡°May we meet again, Xiao Qi. Thank you for helping me. If not for all those soulgems you gave, I would never have regained my memories.


    ¡°I will never forget you, and like Yunfei said, I hope that we meet again. Until then¡­.I hope to be able to repay you for your kindness.¡±


    It looked to Bai Yunfei next, to which Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Take care.¡±


    The wolf returned the nod and turned away. It leapt down from the hill and broke into a run to disappear into the forest and away from sight¡­.

 Chapter 477: Return to the Class Five Area

    Only when the thunderfire wolf¡¯s aura was too far away to detect did Bai Yunfei look away with a sigh.


    He was reluctant to part with the wolf in all honesty. Having the assistance of a peak late-stage class six was very reassuring and hard to come by, but the wolf had regained most of its intelligence and was no longer like an ordinary soulbeast. He could no longer treat it as an ¡®animal¡¯. In the end, he couldn¡¯t continue with the wolf at his side like this.


    If Bai Yunfei was selfish, the wolf wouldn¡¯t have been able to run away, though the difficulty in controlling the wolf would be many degrees harder than it was with the blue-eyes wyrm. A melon that was ripped away from the vine so forcibly wouldn¡¯t taste as sweet, and Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t interested in forcing the wolf to obey.


    There was also Xiao Qi¡¯s relationship with the wolf to consider. Bai Yunfei knew they were extremely close, and that Xiao Qi desired for the wolf¡¯s ¡®freedom¡¯. Bai Yunfei was more than willing to let the wolf go with just that reason alone.


    ¡°Chirp chirp¡­..¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped sadly after the thunderfire wolf.


    Consoling the bird, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. He¡¯s not like a regular soulbeast anymore. There won¡¯t be many soulbeasts in the class six area that could face him. If he does well enough for himself, he¡¯ll be able to become a class seven and become the ruler of his pack¡­.maybe we¡¯ll meet him again.¡±


    The bird flew back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder. Still feeling sad over the wolf¡¯s departure, it curled up and started to rest.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head. The day was only just getting started. The sun was just barely rising up from the horizons, and the night was still there on the opposite side.


    It was time for a new day to start¡­.


    ¡°Well¡­let¡¯s get going!¡± Bai Yunfei stretched his waist, ¡°Let¡¯s head on through the Crack in the Sky and return to the Tianhun Empire!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It was a simple matter for Bai Yunfei to travel through the stunningly beautiful Crack in the Sky. In no time at all, he was well on his way back to the class five area.


    Halfway through the Crack in the Sky, Bai Yunfei came across a few corpses, many of them beautiful young woman even in death. Without a doubt, these women were the students from the Aroma School that the two Soul Exalt brothers had killed.


    They only wanted to enter the Soulbeast Forest for training, and yet they had been slaughtered by an unfortunate happenstance.


    This too, was the reality of the cruel world of soul cultivators.


    Bai Yunfei buried their bodies before he resumed his journey. With how special the Crack in the Sky was, Bai Yunfei made sure to be on the constant move so as to avoid any powerful soul cultivator. The class five area didn¡¯t have any soulbeasts he was afraid of, so Bai Yunfei was able to travel quickly and without concern out from the Crack in the Sky.


    Now back in the class five area, Bai Yunfei could feel himself relax. He didn¡¯t fear any of the soulbeasts they met, and Xiao Qi made quick enough work to strike fear in the hearts of every soulbeast there.


    Bai Yunfei noticed most of the soulbeasts were just like common animals, soulbeasts that didn¡¯t have the talent to become class sixs, and very different to the class five soulbeasts that once attacked Praestia Pass in the soulbeast wave.


    This was actually another peculiar point that could be attributed to the Skywards Mountains. Soulbeasts blessed in birth were practically nil here since many soul cultivators from Praestia Pass would come through here to reach the class six area. The smarter soulbeasts knew how dangerous those soul cultivators would be, and moved accordingly.


    In other words, the soulbeasts left here were drastically ¡®weaker¡¯, so many schools and inexperienced soul cultivators liked to come here to train.


    On the third day¡­.


    Bai Yunfei sat upon a rock, his eyes wide open as he looked at a peculiar sight in front of him.


    A¡­.mushroom.


    To be more specific, these were mushrooms that were alive¡­.


    These were the class three soulbeasts, the leaping mushrooms.


    Their caps orange in color and their bodies white, these leaping mushrooms lacked hands and legs. Their caps have two large white eyes and just below it, a tiny tiny ¡®mouth¡¯.


    Five leaping mushrooms leapt down to Bai Yunfei when he slept. With Bai Yunfei¡¯s lowered soulforce and the lack of ¡®hostile¡¯ aura, these soulbeasts weren¡¯t afraid of him. They were far more curious in fact, and leapt all around him to look at the mysterious never before seen ¡®being¡¯ in front of them.


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei had never seen these type of soulbeasts before. And so for a while, the five mushrooms and one human stared at one another.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    All of a sudden, the chirping of Xiao Qi echoed through the forest. Having just returned from its fishing trip, Xiao Qi flew through the forest, ¡®startling¡¯ the mushrooms so that they leapt here and there before fleeing into the forest.


    A rainbow bolt of light descended onto the area before it dropped two fatty fishes right in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. The light came to a stop on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders, now as small as a pigeon to stare curiously into the direction the leaping mushrooms fled towards.


    ¡°Haha, so the class five area has strange soulbeasts like this too¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. What he was talking about wasn¡¯t the ¡®rare¡¯ soulbeasts, but the ¡®harmless¡¯ ones, even if they were of a lower level.


    But Xiao Qi was very curious. Taking off from his shoulder, Xiao Qi gave chase to the mushrooms. And in time, there was a happy chirp as Xiao Qi caught up to one of them.


    Xiao Qi was a mid-stage class six soulbeast. Just its aura alone would frighten a leaping mushroom to tears, let alone try to escape. But as curious as it was, Xiao Qi continued to give chase and observe them like how a child would.


    ¡°Ha¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. Xiao Qi was strong, yes, but it was also still just barely a year old. No matter how fast it grew, Xiao Qi was still like a child, and Bai Yunfei knew that it liked to ¡®play¡¯ with other soulbeasts.


    The farther Xiao Qi got, the more Bai Yunfei grew reluctant to interrupt it. Taking the two fishes, Bai Yunfei finally decided to follow after it.


    The leaping mushrooms weren¡¯t very intelligent, and after even after being chased by Xiao Qi for nearly ten minutes, none of the mushrooms knew anything but to run, and none of them had realized that they were being chased in circles¡­.


    And Xiao Qi¡¯s interest in them didn¡¯t wane at all, it seemed. Pretending to be hard at work chasing the mushrooms, Xiao Qi maintained a good few meters behind them and watched as the mushrooms ran themselves into exhaustion.


    At last, the five mushrooms leapt through a part of the forest and came to a stop. Their entire bodies lit up with orange light before they each drilled into the ground and went motionless.


    As soon as they were submerged, their auras disappeared.


    This way, they looked just like five ordinary mountain mushrooms.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Unfortunately for them, Xiao Qi saw what they did. Hovering in the air, Xiao Qi looked on in interest at the ¡®play-dead¡¯ actions the mushrooms were doing with great curiosity.


    Following from behind, Bai Yunfei could feel the emotions coming from Xiao Qi and how it felt about the mushrooms¡­.


    If they saw Xiao Qi staring at them so intently, the five mushrooms surely would¡¯ve sweatdropped by now.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t scare them so much, Xiao Qi. You¡¯ll frighten them to death.¡± Unable to stop himself any longer, Bai Yunfei laughed and moved to stop the bird.


    Just a little angrily, Xiao Qi came flying back to Bai Yunfei, sparing just a brief look to glance at the pitiful mushrooms.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find a place to make lunch. I¡¯ve lost the way with you flying around so much.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°we can find the route back afterwards.¡±


    Taking the two fishes, Bai Yunfei went for the nearby hill for its elevation.


    Xiao Qi brightened up at the sound of having lunch. Chirping happily, it flew after Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Roarrrrr!!!¡±


    From a little ways ahead, Bai Yunfei suddenly heard a furious roar come from the other side of the hill.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Bai Yunfei grew still, his eyes shining curiously. This sound seemed to have sparked a strange type of reaction in him.


    Looking off to the source of the sound, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t that sound a little familiar? Could it be¡­.¡±

 Chapter 478: Meeting Xiao Lan Again

    ¡°Chirp chirp!!¡±


    Like Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi registered this new sound as being familiar. Chirping excitedly as if realizing something, it flew straight towards the source.


    ¡°Could it really be?!¡±


    A guess was already on Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, but he couldn¡¯t be sure. It was a long-shot, but Bai Yunfei just had to find out. Without hesitation, he flew after Xiao Qi to run towards the giant hill with a spurt of soulforce.


    Quickly approaching the area now, Bai Yunfei came to realize that there was a battle taking place here, and it was a rough one!


    While he wasn¡¯t quite sure of the complete details, Bai Yunfei knew there were Soul Exalts fighting at the very least!


    The incoming hill was about a hundred and fifty meters tall and several hundred meters large. Uncaring for the windy route that¡¯d be required to scale it, Bai Yunfei flew high into the air to reach the peak faster and see what was going on.


    Already calling Xiao Qi back to him, he and the bird carefully flew to the top of the hill together.


    Bai Yunfei hid his soulforce by using the Soul Concealment Art. Xiao Qi could limit the amount of soulforce it had through the cultivation method imparted to it by the Two Winged Kings, but not as much as Bai Yunfei could! At most, it could suppress its soulforce to the levels of a class four, but nothing lower.


    When they reached the top, Bai Yunfei made sure to advance forward as carefully as it could. The closer they got to the peak, the more Bai Yunfei could feel the aura coming from the battle. There were at least four late-stage Soul Exalts existences there, one of them being a late-stage class six soulbeast!


    Now on the top of the hill, but not completely visible to the fighters, Bai Yunfei took a cautious step forward.


    He was a good distance away from the battle, but Bai Yunfei was still close enough to see what exactly was going on.


    Three soul cultivators were fighting. From their auras, Bai Yunfei could sense them as being an ice-type late-stage Soul Exalt, a wind-type late-stage Soul Exalt, and a metal-type mid-stage Soul Exalt. Besides the wind-type Soul Exalt, there was also a late-stage class six soulbeast, and another mid-stage class six soulbeast besides the metal-type Soul Exalt!


    The three of them were clearly a part of the same group. A little farther away, there was another group of people watching the fight¨Cprobably due to not being as strong as the previous three.


    Surrounded by the three soul cultivators stood a single soulbeast.


    A late-stage class six soulbeast.


    Bai Yunfei inhaled sharply. He had the feeling that this was the case earlier, but seeing it right in front of him was still a startling surprise.


    ¡°I was right!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei knew this soulbeast, he had seen it before! In fact, they were actually both very familiar with one another!


    It was¡­.the blue-eyes wyrm!!


    The very same blue-eyes wyrm released from that fiasco with the Black Dragon King a year ago was in this area as well!


    ¡°How did it get here? This is strange.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered under his breath, ¡°And how did it¡­.become a late-stage class six?! Isn¡¯t that a little too fast?¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm in front of them was a great deal larger than what it used to be a year ago. Now standing at four or five stories tall, the blue-eyes wyrm was now a late-stage class six soulbeast!


    Even with so many experts as its opponent, the wyrm was holding its own!


    But Bai Yunfei knew the reason why such a case was even happening. These soul cultivators weren¡¯t here to kill the wyrm, but to capture it. Otherwise, the wyrm would¡¯ve died a long time ago.


    ¡°Are they here on behalf of their families young master for a soulbeast to contract with?¡± Bai Yunfei surmised. The group not fighting the blue-eyes wyrm had a richly-dressed young man watching the fight excitedly in the middle.


    Having a group of stronger people accompany the younger generation into the Soulbeast Forest and help them find a soulbeast to contract with wasn¡¯t rare. It happened many times actually and was a happy benefit to belonging to a major family.


    With countless of beings living in the extremely vast Soulbeast Forest, Bai Yunfei came across this situation several times already in the class six area. He wasn¡¯t so kind-hearted to interfere and save the soulbeasts, as he didn¡¯t care as much as long as it wasn¡¯t the Beast Taming School.


    He didn¡¯t want to interfere in this fight at first, actually. But with this current situation and the one being attacked was the blue-eyes wyrm, the story was different now.


    No matter their history in the past, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t simply watch from the sidelines.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!!!¡±


    As soon as Bai Yunfei decided to enter the fray, a bolt of green and purple flew into the battle first.


    Even more impatient than Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi flew into the battle with a furious chirp.


    Unwilling to delay any longer, Bai Yunfei took out the Tempest Sword and flew towards the battle in a burst of green light.


    Just for safety, Bai Yunfei applied the Face Change technique to alter his appearance.


    The people fighting were by no means weak. As soon as Xiao Qi started for them, they all took in the bird as a threat and immediately gave up their assault on the wyrm in order to retreat to safety.


    Under the attentive eyes of the group, Xiao Qi approached them with its wings glowing purple in light. With a furious flap, several hundred bolts of purple lightning stormed down onto the group!


    They bounced the elemental defenses of the group one after another. Though failing to do any serious damages, Xiao Qi¡¯s attack accomplished its goal as a diversionary attack. Swooping down, Xiao Qi dropped onto the wyrm¡¯s head to stare hatefully at the group.


    Bai Yunfei followed from behind. Xiao Qi came in as fast as lightning, but it wasn¡¯t recklessly attacking the group. It was just standing on top of the wyrm as if passing a warning.


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop a little far away from the wyrm. The wind-type and metal type mid-stage Soul Exalts and their soulbeasts stood to Bai Yunfei¡¯s left, and the ice-type late-stage Soul Exalt stood to his right, forming a triangle with Bai Yunfei so that the wyrm was in the middle.


    Now that he was closer up, Bai Yunfei noticed the two soulbeasts with the Soul Exalts. One was a late-stage class six tornado bird, and the other was a mid-stage class six three-eyed kong bear.


    The other group of soul cultivators looked over Bai Yunfei at the same time he did them. When they saw that it was only just a mid-stage Soul Exalt, the group looked relieved. ¡°Brat!¡± The square-faced metal-type Soul Exalt boomed, ¡°Who are you?! Attacking the house of Xing will see to your life being forfeit if you¡¯re not careful!¡±


    The man was careful not to outright call for Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. He needed to know first who Bai Yunfei was; him being so young and yet so strong was strange. And him having a flying soul armament was even stranger. In the case that Bai Yunfei was from a major family, they¡¯d needed to know the facts first to better deal the situation.


    ¡°You cannot take this blue-eyes wyrm. It¡¯s leaving with me.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, not bothering with their questions.


    His lack of response surprised the group, ¡°Haha,¡± the same Soul Exalt barked angrily, ¡°You¡¯ve guts! Who do you think you are?! Stealing away our blue-eyes wyrm, think of the situation you¡¯re in! Then once you do, don¡¯t push your luck and scram!¡±


    The man couldn¡¯t sense the auras of anyone else in hiding, meaning Bai Yunfei was most likely with companions.


    The Tempest Sword Bai Yunfei was riding sparked some lust from the man as well. These type of things were rare and well-wanted by many soul cultivators. And they were in the Soulbeast Forest, if one soul cultivator died here, who would know?


    Their response wasn¡¯t surprising to Bai Yunfei. He never expected the situation to go well to begin with, his ¡®interference¡¯ was something that didn¡¯t make sense to begin with. So the only choice to go from here was the path of violence.


    Power is might, and might is everything. That was the iron-clad rule of this world.


    ¡°Spare me your bullsh*t and die here!¡±


    Much to his surprise though, the ice-type late-stage Soul Exalt was the first to take action and flew straight for him!

 Chapter 479: Carelessness

    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the only one surprised by the actions of that soul cultivator. The one who spoke on behalf of the Liu looked surprised as well.


    ¡°Are these people not together then?¡± Bai Yunfei thought. Thinking about the matter was pointless, though, and Bai Yunfei decided to ignore the matter. He turned around to let the man come for him.


    This man who was attacking Bai Yunfei was Wu Han. He didn¡¯t care who Bai Yunfei was or who he was with. All he wanted to do was kill anyone that stood in his path and accomplish the mission given to him by his school. Everything else could go to hell as far as he cared. The mid-earth tier ice soul armament he wielded was similar to the Glacial Pricker, but a little longer and translucent.


    This brat in front of him was just a mid-stage Soul Exalt; it wouldn¡¯t take more than ten rounds to deal with him.


    He was a little surprised at Bai Yunfei¡¯s subpar reaction, though. Wu Han had expected to get the drop onto Bai Yunfei when he was speaking to Xing Qiugu and be able to kill him before Bai Yunfei could put up any defenses. But the moment his Arctic Pricker drew close to Bai Yunfei, an orange barrier suddenly stopped it.


    Since the enemy attacked first, Bai Yunfei was disinclined to be polite himself. The Cataclysmic Seal protected him from Wu Han¡¯s attack as he unleashed the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force onto him!


    As Wu Han was about to unleash another attack, Bai Yunfei¡¯s fire-wrapped fist moved to strike Wu Han¡¯s chest!


    Realizing the power behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist, Wu Han resolved himself to strike first. Leaning backwards, tried to stab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s outstretched arm before it could hit him!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a metallic clinking sound as Wu Han¡¯s weapon touched upon Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm and gave off sparks. He was astounded, but that was to be normal¨Chow could a mere mid-earth tier soul armament overcome the defenses of the Flameblade Bracer?


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    And with his failure, Wu Han was rewarded with a sturdy punch straight into his chest! Doubling up in pain, Wu Han¡¯s body was sent flying several dozen meters away before finally coming to a stop.


    Despite how powerful the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force was, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to put down a mid-stage Soul Exalt or even incapacitate him. But it could at the very least hurt him to some degree and make him the loser of this particular exchange.


    The instantaneous exchange between Bai Yunfei and Wu Han wasn¡¯t fully watched by the other people there. As soon as Bai Yunfei started to fight, Xiao Qi flew into action as well. With a clear chirp, it launched a flurry of wind blades towards the other four soulbeasts and soul cultivators.


    Throughout all of this, the blue-eyes wyrm was experiencing a myriad of emotions as soon as it saw Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi. It was happy that Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi was here, and even without the Beast Taming Ring to control its movements, the wyrm still fought quite well with Xiao Qi in the past. Moving just half a beat slower than Xiao Qi, the wyrm roared furiously and unleashed three blades of water and swung its tail to slam into the three-eyed kong bear.


    Fighting a two-against-five was clearly not in the favor of Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan, Bai Yunfei thought. He looked back to the ice-type Soul Exalt in front of him. Since words were useless now, he¡¯d have to defeat this one as quickly as possible so that he could help Xiao Qi.


    He of course, was only thinking about ¡®defeating¡¯ them, and not killing. If he could defeat them and take away the blue-eyes wyrm, there¡¯d be no point in doing anything else. What group would so readily admit that they lost like that?


    The Cataclysmic Seal pulsated once with red light as the fireseed in it flew out from it and into his chest.


    ¡®Coil¡¯ form, activate!


    The Tempest Sword returned to his ring so Bai Yunfei could stand comfortably on the ground and feel as the power of a late-stage Soul Exalt coursed through his body. Stepping forward once, he took off into a sprint towards Wu Han!


    Needless to say, Wu Han was shocked. He took the brat in front of him to only be a mid-stage Soul Exalt, and yet, the brat was now boasting the strength of a late-stage Soul Exalt! How was that even possible!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s increase in strength wasn¡¯t the only factor of surprise, his increase in speed caught Wu Han off guard as well! Left with barely any time to react, Wu Han watched as Bai Yunfei reappeared in front of him with his right arm ready to punch!


    He blinked, refocusing on the situation at hand. He was a late-stage Soul Exalt, how could he be so easily defeated like so? Twisting his body with his soulforce, Wu Han moved so that the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force traveled right underneath his left armpit!


    Wu Han pressed his arm to his side, clenching Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm to him while bringing the Arctic Pricker in his hand to stab Bai Yunfei through the forehead!


    Unflinchingly, Bai Yunfei had the Cataclysmic Seal come forward to block the weapon and prevent Wu Han¡¯s arm from going forward.


    Wu Han¡¯s eyes narrowed dangerously. The left arm that was holding onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm tightly started to shake before his palm started to gather not elemental ice, but a black mist in it!


    His left arm relaxed then as the palm moved forward to grab onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist.


    ¡°Bang! Bang!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal and Arctic Pricker collided with one another, blowing his arm back and then him with it. But before he flew too far away, Wu Han¡¯s left palm slammed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist and send him flying back as well.


    His eye lit up with glee when he saw his palm connect. With a sneer, he pushed off against the sky and dived straight for Bai Yunfei again!


    A strange expression was on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. The palm strike hadn¡¯t been too powerful, but there was clearly something else at work, as Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was now slightly white with astonishment. For that one moment, Bai Yunfei felt like he had lost control of his body!


    Taking advantage of that loss in control, Wu Han drew forward to stab Bai Yunfei through the forehead with his Arctic Pricker!


    It was only when the item was practically centimeters away from his forehead did Bai Yunfei finally regain control and leaned towards the right. In the next second, he kicked off away from Wu Han to try and gain some distance.


    Seeing that his attack failed to land, Wu Han sneered. Rotating the Arctic Pricker in his hand, he angled downwards and stabbed it into Bai Yunfei¡¯s left shoulder!


    It drew blood, but Wu Han wasn¡¯t finished with him just yet. His left palm came out again and slammed itself into Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    Bai Yunfei ignored the wound on his left shoulder, as he felt the incoming palm strike to be the bigger concern and met the palm with a right punch of his own!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    This time, Bai Yunfei was sent flying backwards again, his face even more ashen than before, and his right arm laying uselessly by the side!


    To cover his retreat, Bai Yunfei had the Cataclysmic Seal erect a barrier around him. With the added distance between him and Wu Han, Bai Yunfei now had a little more breathing room.


    What once seemed like an ordinary battle had ended up with him eating up a loss just barely a minute after it started!


    Now that he was at rest, Bai Yunfei regarded Wu Han with a renewed look of surprise, anger, and then¡­.murderous intent!


    Clutching at his right arm with a trembling left hand, Bai Yunfei¡¯s teeth gritted together for a moment before he spat out three words!


    ¡°Soul Refining School!!¡±

 Chapter 480: Battling Yet Another Soul Refiner

    That was right! This person he was fighting right now was a student of the Soul Refining School!


    And the attack he used twice on Bai Yunfei had clearly been the Soul Refining Palm!


    This was the move that burned deeply into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. There was no way he could forget such a thing!


    It had been his mistake to think this man to be a regular soul cultivator with an affinity for ice. He didn¡¯t bother to use his Fire-tipped Spear for medium ranged combat and took the ¡®weak¡¯ palm strike to the waist with little regard since he never thought that it¡¯d inject malefic aura into his body and steal away some of his soulforce!


    Already, the corrosive energy from the soul refiner¡¯s strike was sapping away at his soulforce, making him lose concentration and then the next exchange!


    His battle with the soul refiner that destroyed the Nephrite Throne gave him some experience with how to deal with any soul refiner. Thinking about those memories, when he was first struck by the palm and lost concentration, the +12 ring he had helped him snap out of it to protect himself from the next attack.


    Although that next exchange caused him to lose some more soulforce, Bai Yunfei had prepared himself for it and didn¡¯t lose too much soulforce as a result.


    ¡°You¡¯re from the Soul Refining School!!¡± Bai Yunfei spat, his face contorted with anger. ¡°Prepare yourself to die then!¡±


    His hands started to make a series of complicated seals, melding his soulforce appropriately with each one, further elevating his power to even higher levels!


    Berserk Mode!!


    There would be no mercy for the Soul Refining School. Now at his strongest, Bai Yunfei was fully intent on slaughtering the soul refiner!


    He had only been a mid-stage Soul Exalt at the start of the battle. By going into the ¡®coil¡¯ form, he brought himself to the late-stage Soul Exalt level. And now with the Berserk Mode, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength was now at the peak late-stage Soul Exalt level!!


    To go any further from here would mean the Soul King realm, but no matter how miraculous the Dual Flame Arts was, they couldn¡¯t elevate his strength that high.


    His secondary powerup caused yet another storm of attention to be focused on him. Everyone looked to Bai Yunfei in surprise, including Xing Qiugu and his brother Xing Qiufeng, and even the people looking at the battle a good distance away in surprise!


    Even Wu Han was affected by this new development. Originally planning to attack Bai Yunfei before he could do anything, Wu Han thought otherwise as soon as Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength exploded drastically and leapt backwards in retreat!


    He couldn¡¯t believe what was going on in front of him. Bai Yunfei had already taken two blows of the Soul Refining Palm, and yet all the damage was already reversed! That wasn¡¯t possible!


    The Soul Refining Palm would corrode the soulforce of anyone afflicted by it. Anyone hit by it wouldn¡¯t even be able to defend themselves from further attacks and would be easy targets to kill afterwards.


    But Bai Yunfei was somehow an exception! His reaction to being hit with the Soul Refining Palm didn¡¯t look any different than being hit with a burst of elemental energy! Wu Han was thoroughly shocked by this. The Soul Refining Palm had been the move that allowed him to kill any soul cultivator, and never had he an opponent who shrugged off the move as easily as that.


    In addition to that, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had increased yet again after that!


    Him going from a mid-stage Soul Exalt to a late-stage Soul Exalt wasn¡¯t too exciting to him, he had confidence in his strength after all. But when Bai Yunfei became a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, Wu Han had to admit he was thoroughly intimidated.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s transformation was even more surprising to see than his initial appearance!


    Wu Han had retreated in fear, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to give him even that. The Berserk Mode wouldn¡¯t last long¨Cten minutes at the very most¨Cso he had to finish this battle as soon as possible or risk being in danger!


    Now that he knew the person in front of him was a soul refiner, he had only one goal: kill!


    Calling his Fire-tipped Spear to him, Bai Yunfei moved after Wu Han. Though he had his head start, it was only a hundred meters at most, Bai Yunfei could shrink that distance very quickly!


    Wu Han narrowed his eyes venomously, though his retreat maintained that speed. His arms readied themselves in front of him before he pushed outwards, forming hundreds of icicles to fire off at Bai Yunfei. The Arctic Pricker was replaced by a golden disk with many blades at the edge. Bringing his arm back, he tossed the disk forward to slice down Bai Yunfei, whistling and whirring as it traveled through the air.


    Bai Yunfei continued forwards, his left arm pointing the Cataclysmic Seal forward, growing in size as it flew!


    Growing to the size of a great wall, the Cataclysmic Seal met the hundreds of icicles to smash into it without letting a single one through it.


    ¡°Clank!¡± The first to the hit the Cataclysmic Seal had been the golden disk. Unlike the icicles that either disintegrated into powder or fell down, the golden disk bounced off of the brick back towards its owner without leaving a mark!


    And without losing any speed in the slightest, the Cataclysmic Seal continued forwards!


    Wu Han paled. He expected to slow down Bai Yunfei by just a little bit, but he didn¡¯t expect that his attacks would be so effectively countered. Not willing to take the Cataclysmic Seal head on, Wu Han tossed his arms wide to allow for white light to appear behind his back, forming a pair of icy wings almost instantly!


    ¡°Bang!¡± Nicely synchronized with a heavy kick, his wings beated together to send him soaring a good two hundred meters into the air and dodged the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Before he could sigh in relief, however, Wu Han saw a figure suddenly leap into the air with him. Reaching the same height he did, the figure suddenly dashed perpendicularly to greet him head on!


    Practically furious with how the battle was going, Wu Han decided to hold his ground on this one. His soulforce started to flow strangely in his body as he withdrew the Arctic Pricker again. He flourished it strangely in front of himself before stabbing at Bai Yunfei as if thrusting a spear!


    Elemental ice whirled around Wu Han before gathering around the Arctic Pricker. Crackling as it manifested into solid form, the ice lengthened the Arctic Pricker so that it became an icy spear a good dozen meters long! The ice continued down the spear and connected it to his arm, making it so that the spear and arm was as one to strike Bai Yunfei dead in the heart!


    But the stranger thing was that within the icy spear, there was a sliver of near-invisible black energy¡­..


    Arctic Strike!!


    This was the soul skill Wu Han could use. It was his greatest attack in his repertoire, and it was in his belief that the move was freakishly hard to dodge once locked upon!


    And as long as the target was struck by it, death was for certain!

 Chapter 481: Strike to Kill, Intimidate to Scare Away

    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    To Wu Han¡¯s pleasant surprise, Bai Yunfei ¡®slammed¡¯ into the icy spear without without dodging! The spear perforated Bai Yunfei, running through his back so that he was completely impaled on it!


    His excitement didn¡¯t last long, however. Not even a second after Bai Yunfei impaled himself, Wu Han watched as Bai Yunfei¡¯s body fade away into thin air!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was gone without a trace! It was almost as if he had been an illusion since the very beginning.


    Then the next thing he knew, a burning heatwave in the shape of two crimson spears flew at him from his left and right!


    The +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, Doppelganger!


    Left with very little time to think, Wu Han summoned even more elemental ice from his essence iceseed to form an icy carapace over his body. In another burst of energy, his right arm swung to the left, slamming his icy spear into the enemy to his right.


    ¡°Bang!¡± The spear slammed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist, sending him flying a good distance away before disappearing from sight just like the one that had been impaled!


    The spear coming at him from the left was left unimpeded however. It struck the icy carapace of elemental ice over Wu Han¡¯s body, and then¡­.stabbed through it without a problem!


    It was as if the carapace didn¡¯t even exist! Shearing through it like it was nothing, the spear stabbed Wu Han straight into the heart!


    ¡°Pccht!!¡±


    The following sound was like a clap of thunder to Wu Han¡¯s ears. His body froze up in pain, and lowering his head down slightly, he looked on as a red spear perforated him where his heart was in dread.


    The +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, the ability to ignore elemental defenses!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was an explosion as the elemental ice around Wu Han¡¯s body lost the soulforce binding it together. Exploding into thousands of tiny pieces of ice, the ice broke away to reveal Bai Yunfei standing near Wu Han with his spear stabbed straight through the latter.


    Both Xing Qiugu and Xing Qiufeng felt as if a bombshell had been dropped onto their heads when they saw Wu Han killed by Bai Yunfei.


    Then, Bai Yunfei turned his head and stalked straight for them.


    How strange it was, that the fire in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were burning hotter than anything, but all the two felt was a chilling frost in their own hearts. Feelings of apprehension shot straight through their hearts when they saw Bai Yunfei stare at them, and the killing intent he directed towards them!


    These men were with the Soul Refining School. Even if they weren¡¯t a part of the school, they were just as bad! So it was without remorse that Bai Yunfei decided to kill them as well.


    The late-stage Soul Exalt Xing Qiufeng was the first to respond. Sensing Bai Yunfei¡¯s murderous rage, his face went pale and took several steps back in retreat!


    ¡°That Wu Han has nothing to do with the house of Liu!! He is not one of us! Young sire, spare the innocent from your wrathful slaughter! The blue-eyes wyrm is yours, we shall leave at once!¡± He cried out, trying to appease Bai Yunfei¡¯s anger. He could guess that there was something between Wu Han and Bai Yunfei to cause such hatred, so he tried to remove themselves away from the equation to avoid Bai Yunfei¡¯s wrath.


    Bai Yunfei stared frostily at them, not saying a word and not moving at all. Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm did nothing either and retreated to move behind Bai Yunfei.


    When Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t come over, Xing Qiufeng sighed in relief. Without delay, he and Xing Qiugu took the others and left the place.


    Wu Han¡¯s death startled them more than they¡¯d like. He had been a late-stage Soul Exalt, and yet all it took to kill him was a short three minutes! And the one to kill him was a man who looked like he was only a mid-stage Soul Exalt! And then in the middle of the battle, the very same mid-stage Soul Exalt became a peak late-stage Soul Exalt with a snap of his fingers.


    Everyone had the same thought when he did that: to escape from the area as fast as possible.


    Watching as the group left, Bai Yunfei did nothing else but wait. He knew these people weren¡¯t from the Soul Refining School, so fighting them wasn¡¯t wise. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to kill them all, and if by chance he didn¡¯t and his Berserk Mode ran out, he¡¯d be left in very dire straits.


    He only wished to save the blue-eyes wyrm and kill the soul refiner. Aside from that, Bai Yunfei no longer felt inclined to kill the men from the Liu.


    Dispelling his Berserk Mode, Bai Yunfei allowed for the stockpiled soulforce in his Violet Soul Ring to fill his body, making up for the soulforce he used in such a short amount of time.


    He tossed Wu Han¡¯s corpse unceremoniously to the ground as if he would with trash before returning back to his normal expression.


    He of course, pocketed the space ring and weapon Wu Han had first.


    He looked to Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm behind it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave this place first.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Half a day later, by a small river relatively far away from the hill.


    Bai Yunfei sat on top of a large stone, watching as the fish he caught earlier cook on top of the open fire. Not too far away, Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm were ¡®conversing¡¯ with one another through a series of chirps and grumbles.


    Halfway through their talks, the blue-eyes wyrm was able to smell the cooked piece of fish Bai Yunfei was cooking and walked towards Bai Yunfei, its mouth slightly agape with drool.


    ¡°Ah¡­.after a year of not seeing you, you seem to gotten smarter!¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. He tossed the fished over to the wyrm, who caught it in his claws before devouring it.


    He watched the blue-eyes wyrm eat curiously. As he said, the wyrm in front of him was clearly a lot ¡®smarter¡¯ than from a year ago. Whether it was the light in its eyes or its human-like characteristics, the wyrm was acting a lot more like how the red magiboar back in the Crafting School acted. This was a sign that its intelligence was at a very high level.


    How strange. What kind of action would it take for such a drastic change like this to occur within a year?


    And yet, its increase in strength was the real anomaly. Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were already considered deviants with how quickly they improved by being able to improve from the early-stage class six/Soul Exalt level to the midstage level. But the blue-eyes wyrm was able to go from an early-stage class six to a late-stage class six¡­.


    ¡°What in the world did you come across?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°We said goodbye to each other a very long ways away from here, why in the world are you here?¡±

 Chapter 482: There’s Meat if I Follow You

    Obviously, Bai Yunfei knew nothing about the matter with the Black Dragon King¡¯s death, or that the blue-eyes wyrm came back to lap up all of his ¡®dragon blood¡¯.


    The blood of the late-stage class seven Black Dragon King was something the Soul Kings all disregarded as being unimportant, but to the blue-eyes wyrm, it was a miracle drug capable of strengthening the ¡®dragon¡¯ blood in it and alter it without a doubt.


    To the wyrm, the Black Dragon King¡¯s blood was very precious. It could alter its body to become renew itself at worst and turn it into a variant at best. Either way, it empowered him and awakened its intelligence.


    As for why it was here of all places, the wyrm spent countless months trying to get used to all the blood it sucked up. It had been hard, and the pain it felt was immense. It ran this way and that as it tried to deal with all the changing it was experiencing, and after meeting so many strong soulbeasts, the wyrm fled towards the class five area. From there, it headed west to the ¡®starting point¡¯ of the Skywards Mountains and then south from there.


    As it gradually got used to the Black Dragon King¡¯s blood, its strength and intelligence increased proportionately. But by then, it was lost and knew not where it was. With the barrier that was the Skywards Mountains, the wyrm could only wander about in the class five area. It had no enemies there, so it was free to roam wherever it want like it was today.


    But today, it came across a group of strong soul cultivators and was nearly resigned to its fate until Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi came down to save it like a pair of guardian angels.


    The wyrm didn¡¯t tell Xiao Qi about the Black Dragon King¡¯s blood of course. It knew that there were some things the wyrm needed to keep ¡®secret¡¯.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Eh? What was that?¡±


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow to look at Xiao Qi. The message transmitted in his mind from Xiao Qi had him in surprise.


    He looked to the blue-eyes wyrm then, ¡°You want to leave the Soulbeast Forest with us?!¡±


    ¡°Wuu~!!¡± The wyrm nodded energetically.


    ¡°Hm¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei hummed in surprise. He stared at the wyrm a little longer, ¡°Why do you want to go with us? What are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°Wuuu¡­.¡± It responded with small gestures. Since it wasn¡¯t able to talk, Bai Yunfei was naturally unable to understand. But knowing that there was something the wyrm was trying to say, he looked to Xiao Qi so that it could ¡®translate¡¯.


    Xiao Qi cocked its head at the wyrm, it chirped several times and then began to recite to Bai Yunfei as best as it could.


    ¡°It¡¯s boring in the forest,¡±


    ¡°The outside must be so fun¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s food to be had with you¡±¡­.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The intelligence the wyrm was showing was clearly levels higher than the average soulbeast, and just like the thunderfire wolf. But whereas the wolf wanted to return to the depths of its forest, the blue-eyes wyrm wanted to ¡®explore¡¯ the world. Every flower had its different shade of color, and soulbeasts were no different.


    ¡°You really want to go with us?¡± He asked again.


    It nodded.


    ¡°To leave the Soulbeast Forest and go to where the humans are?¡±


    Another nod.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    Nod.


    ¡°¡­.¡±


    After looking at the wyrm for so long, Bai Yunfei suddenly broke out into a smile. ¡°Alright then, you can come with us. But I¡¯m warning you now, if you want to come with us, you¡¯ll have to listen to me, otherwise, I don¡¯t care what happens to you. The many powerful soul cultivators outside the forest is something I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware of, if you cause trouble, I won¡¯t care if they take you away.¡±


    ¡°Wuwu!!¡± The wyrm cocked its head in surprise at first before nodding furiously, as if to say, ¡°You¡¯re the boss, of course!¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed. Watching as Xiao Qi started to ¡®chat¡¯ with the wyrm, Bai Yunfei felt happy. He never thought that after the wolf left them, they¡¯d have the wyrm join. It didn¡¯t even need the Beast Taming Ring in order for it to be obedient to it; that was the real shocker.


    He¡¯d never know that all it took for such a rare late-stage class six soulbeast to follow him would be such an ¡®inconceivable¡¯ story.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The next day, Bai Yunfei continued south just like he planned. He wanted to get back to the Tianhun Empire without delay.


    Now that the blue-eyes wyrm was with them, Xiao Qi was a lot happier than before. Very quickly, the two were established as ¡®good¡¯ friends once again, and many a times Bai Yunfei found himself following after their antics. Like how they would bully other soulbeasts. Their actions were practically indistinguishable to how playful humans would be.


    Gradually making their way through the class five area into the class four, the group found nothing being able to block their way. Danger was nothing more but a topic of a bygone time. Every so often, they¡¯d come across a soul cultivator, but even they would shy away when they saw the blue-eyes wyrm. Some were more willing to try and fight it, but when they saw Bai Yunfei there, they grew pacified.


    But while there were a few that knew their boundaries, there were also several that needed to be taught a lesson.


    Traveling without trouble, Bai Yunfei and the two soulbeasts only needed two months before they were back in the class three area.


    That night.


    Bai Yunfei found a small cave to rest for the night. After traveling for three days non-stop, they needed a rest.


    By the cave entrance, Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan were both resting now that they finished their meals. Bai Yunfei sat within the cave, his hands holding onto something to look at.


    In his hands was fist-sized pink colored soulgem. It distributed a slightly hot air that also gave the illusion of being stuck in a dream almost.


    This was the mid-stage class six soulgem Bai Yunfei got from the bewitching fox.


    A soulgem that had the elements for illusion and fire.


    A bewitching fox was a very rare soulbeast that would hard to come by every hundred years. This meant its soulgem was even more priceless than several heaven tier soul armaments. With that, the amount of benefit Bai Yunfei could get from absorbing it would be plenty. It was a true treasure among his hauls, and Bai Yunfei was thinking about using it to make a soul armament.


    The illusion element was an extremely rare element to both soul cultivators and soulbeasts, just like the space element.


    Using the illusion type soulgem to make a soul armament was definitely possible. And to use it would grant the soul armament an affinity for illusions or gain resistance towards it, making the soul armament even more valuable.


    There was a ¡®rule¡¯ in the Crafting School in regards to the continent. A class five illusion soulgem could be exchanged for a high-earth tier soul armament! And a class six illusion soulgem could be traded for a low-heaven tier! And a class seven for a mid-heaven!!


    As for those higher than class sevens¡­.those didn¡¯t even need to be said.


    Obtaining a mid-stage class six illusion soulgem would mean a great deal of power for Bai Yunfei in the long run. If not for the fact that it wasn¡¯t safe for him to craft in the Crack in the Sky, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve made a soul armament from it already.


    He calmed himself down. It wouldn¡¯t do to recklessly craft soul armaments. He¡¯d need to make the proper arrangements first.


    Crafting soul armaments also relied on the state of ¡®mind¡¯.


    And today, Bai Yunfei had to admit his state of mind felt pretty good today.

 Chapter 483: New Equipment and New ‘Attribute’

    Surely, there¡¯d be no danger to be had in the class three area. Since he was on the verge of returning to the Tianhun Empire, Bai Yunfei figured his future travels would be a lot ¡®safer¡¯ than the Soulbeast Forest was. Now was a good time to make himself another soul armament and increase his strength.


    Giving the idea a lot more thought, bai Yunfei finally decided.


    He waved his hand, bringing out the lightning fire cauldron with a plop.


    The seismic waves from the cauldron falling to the ground jostled Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan. Giving them a warning, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Xiao Qi, Xiao Lan, I¡¯ll be crafting now. Stand guard at the entrance and don¡¯t disturb me.¡±


    The two soulbeasts nodded. Standing guard over the cave wouldn¡¯t be a problem for them.


    The Cataclysmic Seal popped out from the Violet Soul Ring and spat out the fireseed within it. Entering the cauldron, the fireseed raised the temperature of the flames in it.


    Carefully, Bai Yunfei thought about what materials would go best with the illusion soulgem. One by one, he took them out, and then a white stone three times bigger than his fist.


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +10 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (High Earth tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded


    This was a +10 Upgrade Stone. Its usages in terms of upgrading wasn¡¯t substantial, but its second equipment effect was quite useful when crafting.


    He gained eight +10 Upgrade Stones from the Nephrite Throne and used three already. With him using another one today, that meant he¡¯d have only four left. Aside from that, he used a +11 Upgrade Stone as well.


    In total, Bai Yunfei had these four +10 Upgrade Stones, two +11 Upgrade Stones, and a +12 Upgrade Stone.


    That +11 Upgrade Stone had been used to upgrade the Luck Pendant, since he figured ¡®luck¡¯ was a mysterious, yet miraculous thing. It had plenty of benefits, and Bai Yunfei had faith it¡¯d help him.


    And after he upgraded it, Bai Yunfei found out that the pendant increased the probability of his effects activating by a decent amount. Furthermore, Bai Yunfei came across plenty of great treasures and such in his one year of travel, all of which he attributed to ¡®luck¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei felt tempted to use the +12 Upgrade Stone. He wanted to see what it was like, and what it would do, but he managed to stave off that temptation in the end.


    He only had one of those, so it¡¯d do him well not to waste it.


    Crafting a mid-earth tier soul armament wasn¡¯t a problem for him with his strength. Combined with the upgrade stone, it seemed possible to craft even a high-earth tier soul armament. Crafting an accessory would be hard as well, but Bai Yunfei could guarantee it being a mid-earth tier at the very least.


    Yes.


    Bai Yunfei was going for another accessory to craft.


    Both his hands had rings already, and rings were already in surplus. He couldn¡¯t swap off the Luck Pendant, and neither did Bai Yunfei want an earring.


    So that meant he¡¯d craft a bracelet.


    Decided, Bai Yunfei focused onto the cauldron. The upgrade stone in his hand turned into white powder to be sucked into the soulgem, which was then deposited into the cauldron along with the other materials.


    The crafting process was an arduous one (and this author is sure no one is interested in the details), fire and sparks filled the cave as Bai Yunfei focused on his craft¡­..


    He didn¡¯t dare be sloppy. What he was using was the illusion soulgem, so every single step had to be taken with great caution to ensure a high quality end product.


    Outside the cave, the night was replaced by day, and then day replaced by night once again¡­.


    It took Bai Yunfei two whole days and three nights to craft!!


    In the end, Bai Yunfei finally finished crafting near the dawn of the third day. The cauldron lit up gloriously with a light that illuminated the entire cave. It died away back into the cauldron, leaving behind a pink light that casted a hallucogenic atmosphere in the cave.


    Forehead slick with sweat, Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. He was tired, but also excited. Waving his right hand, he watched as the item within the cauldron flew out.


    The object flew out from the cauldron and into Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand, shining with light as it did. When the light died away, a plain bracelet was left in his palm.


    Surprisingly, the bracelet was transparent in color, like a clear crystal.


    Uncaring for the physical appearance of the bracelet, however, Bai Yunfei picked it up to inspect its stats.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Illusion, Fire


    +800 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 8%


    Equipment Effect: Reduce damage taken by illusions by 40%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled joyfully, ¡°Haha!! It worked! A high-earth tier soul armament that resists illusions! And 8% soul compatibility already! Wahaha! My ability to craft accessories has improved a lot!!¡±


    His excitement had been so uncharacteristic of him that Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan looked up in surprise, had he gone insane from crafting?


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t say anything like ¡®I am the strongest in the world!!¡¯. Instead, he was looking at the bracelet so lovingly that Xiao Qi felt a sudden chill.


    ¡°Hehe, gain resistance to illusions¡­.it¡¯s a little more specific than just saying mind-based attacks, so that means it won¡¯t work against those. But having it work against illusions is still stupendous! Not bad at all¡­.¡± He nodded happily.


    ¡°And now comes the important part¡­.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Illusion, Fire


    Upgrade Level: +1


    +800 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +2 Charm


    Soul Compatibility: 8%


    Equipment Effect: Reduce damage taken by illusions by 40%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was floored. With just one upgrade, he discovered yet another never-before-seen attribute!


    ¡°Cha¨Ccharm?!¡± He stammered. ¡°You can improve an attribute like that too?!¡±


    First was ¡®luck¡¯, and now came ¡®charm¡¯. What else would be next? Wasn¡¯t this getting a little ridiculous? What could the two of those do if put together?


    As confused as he was, Bai Yunfei knew he had to continue upgrading.


    A while later¡­..

 Chapter 484: Mental Link and the Charm Bracelet

    Upgrade Successful


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Illusion, Fire


    Upgrade Level: +10


    +800 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +25 Charm


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    Equipment Effect: Reduce damage taken by illusions by 40%.


    +10 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to establish a mental link with anyone within a kilometer.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    At last, the +10 additional effect appeared for Bai Yunfei to see, but the effect was far more astonishing than he expected.


    ¡°Mental link?? What is that?!¡± He raised an eyebrow. He assumed that the additional effect would have to do with illusions to some degree, like being able to use an illusion to attack. But instead, this strange effect was in its place.


    It was a short, but not simple effect. He didn¡¯t understand the wording at all. ¡°Mental¡­.link¡­.does that mean I can link my mind with another¡­.? Is that how it works?


    ¡°But if I do that, what¡¯s the point of it?¡±


    No matter how much he thought about it, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t think of an answer. He¡¯d have to experiment with it.


    Taking off the spirit bracelet and replacing it with the new one, Bai Yunfei felt the effects of the equipment wash over him. Aside from the increase in soulforce, he didn¡¯t feel any different in terms of ¡®charm¡¯. Narrowing his eyes, he looked to where Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan were.


    Establishing a mental link probably meant being able to communicate with one another. He was already able to do that with Xiao Qi, so Xiao Lan would be the experimentee here.


    Focusing on the blue-eyes wyrm, Bai Yunfei thought of something. The bracelet on his left arm flashed brightly with light as the familiar feeling of an effect being activated was felt.


    After that, Bai Yunfei began to sense something more was added to his mind¡­.


    At the same time, Xiao Lan suddenly looked left and right as if something had poked it.


    ¡°What?! Who?! What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    A panicked voice spoke out in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind the same time the wyrm leapt to its feet. Or perhaps it was better to say Bai Yunfei felt the voice in his mind, rather than heard it, since his ears wasn¡¯t the one that did the hearing. It was hard to describe, but Xiao Lan¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t.


    It sounded like a hoarse young male that wasn¡¯t yet done growing.


    Like Xiao Lan, Bai Yunfei had been so startled he flew to his feet. His mind raced furiously with thoughts as he regarded the wyrm in front of him


    ¡°Xiao Lan?¡± He thought.


    Straight away, Xiao Lan turned around to look at him, struck into shock by what was going on.


    ¡°Are¡­.are you talking to me?¡±


    The line Bai Yunfei heard in his mind felt very fitting with the emotions Xiao Lan was showing on its face. Clearly, it was ¡®speaking¡¯ to him.


    Now that he understood a little bit more about what was going on, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew back down to the bracelet he wore, and then back to the wyrm, ¡°Can you hear what I¡¯m ¡®saying¡¯?¡±


    Xiao Lan nodded its head frantically, ¡°I can! How did you get in my head? How do you know what I¡¯m thinking?¡±


    Laughter nearly bursted out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth. ¡°Haha! So this is what it¡¯s meant to be?! Doesn¡¯t this mean that as long as I¡¯m willing, I can communicate with anyone I want?!¡±


    Since this thought wasn¡¯t directed towards Xiao Lan, the wyrm didn¡¯t hear it. As things would appear, it seemed that even what wanted to be said could be moderated. As long as he wanted someone to hear something, they would.


    ¡°Chirp chirp?¡±


    At that moment, Xiao Qi¡¯s curious chirps alerted Bai Yunfei to a new understanding.


    It was plain to see that Xiao Qi didn¡¯t know what Bai Yunfei and Xiao Lan were doing¡­.in other words, no outside party would be able to tell there was even a mental link taking place!


    This was a great discovery! Looking to Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei activated the bracelet¡¯s effect again to bring the bird into the mental link.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on with you two, why are you both acting so strange?¡±


    Yes, this was a thought as well. But compared to the blue-eyes wyrm, this thought ¡®sounded¡¯ a lot younger, like a small boy.


    Again, Xiao Lan leapt up in surprise when it heard the ¡®voice¡¯. Like a startled cat, it swiveled to look at Xiao Qi, ¡°How are you in my head too?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes brightened again, the mental link wasn¡¯t limited to just one person!


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t panic, you two. I did this.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips curled into a smile, ¡°I¡¯ve just crafted a soul armament that can link our minds together. We can talk by sending our thoughts to each other now.¡±


    ¡°Minds? Link? Sending thoughts???¡± Xiao Lan and Xiao Qi both tilted their heads in confusion; Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was hit with a wave of question marks.


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei ¡®said¡¯, ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry about it right now. Just know that we can talk with each other from now on. It¡¯s more convenient.¡±


    Being able to communicate through a method like this was so convenient that there was probably nothing else that could beat it. It stood on levels higher than the bond that connected Bai Yunfei to Xiao Qi with their soul contract. A soul contract enabled the two to being able to communicate to a certain degree, but it wasn¡¯t as clear as being able to send their thoughts to each other.


    And it was very different to using the Beast Taming Ring. A limited degree of conversation could be had between him and Xiao Lan then through it, but it was on the level of a master sending an order to their slave. Through this bracelet, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t need to send his soulsense into Xiao Lan¡¯s mindspace.


    Through the bracelet, there was an invisible connection between the parties that made communication easily possible.


    Bai Yunfei would be able to communicate with the two soulbeasts through this method in the future. It was an interested way of communication, and to Bai Yunfei, it felt similar to having a nice chat at a tea party of sorts.


    He did feel his soulforce constantly draining away from his body the longer he maintained the connection though.


    That meant maintaining the mental link required a constant supply of soulforce. This first usage of the effect had already taken a decent amount from him, but Bai Yunfei reckoned that with constant usage, he¡¯d be able to grow accustomed to it and optimize the soulforce drain.


    Still, knowing just this much already gave Bai Yunfei no small amount of glee. This effect wasn¡¯t something that could help him grow stronger or help him last longer in a battle, but it was still something that had its uses¡­.


    Speaking via the soul was something only Soul Kings could do, and even then, not all of them were capable of it. It requires a great deal of talent in order to do so, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®mental link¡¯ accomplished the exact same thing by operating under a completely different set of principles. He¡¯d make use of this to the best of his abilities¡­.


    Touching at the translucent bracelet on his wrist, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a little different to what I was expecting, but it¡¯s still great¡­.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know what ¡®charm¡¯ does, but a special attribute like this can be studied later.¡±


    Thinking for a moment, Bai Yunfei finally decided upon a name.


    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll call this the¡­.Charm Bracelet!¡±

 Chapter 485: Return to the Empire, the Northern Ridge Province (First)

    Year 2014 of the Tianhun Calender. Twentieth day of the third month. Ventia City in the Northern Ridge Province.


    The Northern Ridge Province is one of the provinces that bordered the northern edge of the Tianhun Empire. As one of the smallest provinces in the empire, it had three other provinces, including Praestia Pass and the Northern Mist Province neighboring it.


    This specific province hadn¡¯t many soul cultivators, and the warlord overseeing it was only an early-stage Soul King. Coincidentally, he was the only Soul King in the province.


    Its most prosperous city was Ventia City. Rather than being at the center, like most major cities, this one sat at the edge of the province¨Cand the empire by extension.


    Right at this moment, it was high noon in the most luxurious two-story restaurant in Ventia City.


    Despite its relatively low number of inhabitants in the province, Ventia City saw to a good deal of commoners, and the House of Fresh Viands enjoyed a healthy business in general.


    But today, the second story to the restaurant seemed a little chilly.


    It had a floor capacity of twenty tables, but only two of them had customers. And of those two tables, only three clients in total¡­..


    Standing at the counter of that floor was the proprietor of the restaurant. From his position at the counter, he watched the window-facing clients nervously, but respectfully. Right besides him were several other waiters who were even more nervous than he was. Every so often, they snuck a glance at the clients and then away in fear.


    The reason why it was so empty and so cold was because of that one customer. Everyone else in the restaurant had been scared off.


    It wasn¡¯t that the young man himself was scary! He was just eating his meal in peace. And neither was the bird next to him the problem¡­.


    It was other one to the opposite of the bird that was the problem. A terrifying ¡®monster¡¯ was sat there at the table, devouring a plate of roasted meat by the plate.


    The proprietor knew that these monsters were called ¡®soulbeasts¡¯, and that they were not too far away from the ¡®Soulbeast Forest¡¯ where these things lived. The proprietor himself met with a good amount of soul cultivators, but never had he seen a soulbeast like this before.


    And what a terrifying soulbeast it was!! If it roared, the entire restaurant would definitely see itself being shaken to its core. Its terrifying aura was practically suffocating.


    It was exactly because it roared once before that all of the customers filed out of the restaurant¨Caside from the two beautiful young ladies sitting at another table, how bold they were!


    The proprietor didn¡¯t know if they were just unafraid, or if they didn¡¯t even know about the situation they were in.


    All he wanted was for the soul cultivator to hurry up and leave.


    The sooner he left, the sooner the proprietor could thank the heavens and earth.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    As of course, the soul cultivator eating here today was Bai Yunfei.


    Nearly two years had gone by since his arrival in Praestia Pass in the first place. At last, he was back in the Tianhun Empire.


    Ventia City was the first city he came across.


    He felt like a hermit returning from a life of seclusion in the mountains. Now back among hist fellow humans, Bai Yunfei felt himself grow excited.


    It had been nearly two full years since he had a ¡®decent¡¯ cooked meal. His first ¡®coming-back¡¯ feast definitely had to be carefully picked, so Bai Yunfei decided to head for the best shop in the city to eat like a king there.


    But the problem that happened afterwards made Bai Yunfei feel a little helpless.


    That problem had been the blue-eyes wyrm.


    Xiao Lan had been smart enough to shrink itself to what looked like a baby Agumon (For those who haven¡¯t seen Digimon, imagine a small T-rex), but that didn¡¯t stop the commoners of the city from pointing and whispering to one another. Everywhere they went, they conversed with one another, and some were even scared of it.


    But there hadn¡¯t been any major problems¡­.until they entered the restaurant.


    Xiao Lan had been even more excited to see humanity¨Cit had never seen it before compared to Bai Yunfei. Looking this way and that as they walked into the city, the wyrm was scared at first with so many humans looking at it.


    With time, the wyrm realized that most of the humans were far weaker than it was, practically as weak as the class one or two soulbeasts back in the Soulbeast Forest. The strongest he felt was still on the same level as a class three or four, which was still not a threat to it. Knowing that, the wyrm loosened up, waving its tail happily as it walked and talked with Xiao Qi.


    There had been a small ¡®commotion¡¯ when they arrived at the restaurant. A drunken Soul Personage had came across them and immediately decided then and there that he wanted Xiao Lan. In his drunken stupor, he cried out a ¡®This soulbeast is mine!¡¯ and moved to attack.


    But what kind of soulbeast was Xiao Lan? Before it met Bai Yunfei, it had been the sovereign of its small area of Soulbeast Forest. A sovereign that killed both human and soulbeast without even flinching. It may have awakened its intelligence to human levels, but its terrible nature wasn¡¯t gone. If not for Bai Yunfei to warn it not to hurt others, the wyrm would¡¯ve swallowed the poor man whole.


    So instead, it gave a terrible roar, and then¡­.


    The soul cultivator sobered up instantly. Scrambling back to its feet, he ran out from the restaurant along with everyone else there¡­.


    Feeling as though there was nothing he could do about the situation, Bai Yunfei sat down at a table. Ordering several dishes, he waited for them to arrive before digging in.


    ¡­¡­


    So all that was left on the second floor of the restaurant was Bai Yunfei and his soulbeasts who sat at one table, and two young ladies who sat at another.


    The older of the two looked to be about twenty-five years old with silky-black hair, though the aura she gave off felt very mature. She wore a velvety light-green robe that didn¡¯t entirely show her snowy-white skin. There was a small pink birthmark right above her left eyebrow, but it added to her beauty.


    The younger one looked to be in her late teens at the very youngest. She wore a blue robe over her delicate figure, and her hair was sprawled over her shoulders. Her cheeks were slightly-red, perhaps due to the spicy food she was eating, but all in all, she looked quite pretty.


    ¡°Senior Yu Li, what is that soulbeast? It looks scary-and a class six too!¡±


    The younger one spoke to the older. Her eyes were wide open to stare at the blue-eyes wyrm, but they were curious rather than fearful.


    ¡°It¡¯s a late-stage class six.¡± The one named Yu Li replied, casting a glance over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s direction. ¡°Yuexia, don¡¯t stare at it. That¡¯s not a docile soulbeast, there¡¯ll be trouble if you anger it.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Nangong Yuexia replied meekly, ¡°Is that the contracted soulbeast to that brother there? He looks like he¡¯s only an early-stage Soul Ancestor, that¡¯s weaker than me¨Cwhy is a late-stage class six his contracted soulbeast then?¡±


    She pointed a finger to Bai Yunfei, whose soulforce was currently suppressed to the levels of an early-stage Soul Ancestor.


    ¡°Is he only that? I wouldn¡¯t think so¡­.¡± Yu Li replied. She couldn¡¯t tell if Bai Yunfei was hiding his strength or not, but someone who traveled with a late-stage class six soulbeast surely had more than meets the eye.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going, Yuexia. We¡¯re heading for the Soulbeast Forest as soon as you finish eating. Let¡¯s hope to find you a soulbeast to contract with soon.¡± Yu Li smiled.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Nangong Yuexia smiled back before digging back into her food with renewed gusto.

 Chapter 486: The Second Young Master of the House of Xing in Ventia City (Second)

    Like the other two women, Bai Yunfei had noticed he wasn¡¯t the only party still left here. He could tell their strength was pretty strong for their age, but he wasn¡¯t very interested in striking up a conversation with them. He just wanted to eat his fill and then go out to buy stuff before retiring for the night.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the owner?! Come on out at once! We¡¯re here to book this place, bring out your best dishes at once!¡±


    A pompous voice boomed from the floor beneath before the sounds of footsteps hurried up to the second floor.


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes.


    A distressed expression emerged onto the proprietor¡¯s face. Forcing himself to smile, he whirled around to go and greet the newcoming group.


    ¡°Haha, we are honored by your presence, young master Xing. Had the young master warned us earlier, this humble one would¡¯ve prepared something already¡­.¡±


    He spoke, appealing to the group as best as he could.


    ¡°Do I need to tell you when I¡¯m coming over? I¡¯ve booked this place today, so kick out everyone else! And bring out the good wine and food for my good friends and I!¡± Xing Luo didn¡¯t bother to even look at the proprietor, ¡°Big brother Xu Shen,¡± he spoke to the older man next to him, ¡°this is the best restaurant our Ventia City has to offer! Let us live it up here with good wine and fine food, and then I¡¯ll take you to the enjoy the Aroma Flowerbeds, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll enjoy it!¡±


    The other man nodded, ¡°Thank you for your troubles, young master Xing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no trouble at all! Brother Xu Shen, you are a guest of our Xing, of course we¡¯ll treat you well.¡± Xing Luo smiled ¡®generously¡¯. When the proprietor didn¡¯t move from his spot, Xing Luo gave him a glare, ¡°Why are you still standing there?! Hurry up and move!¡±


    ¡°That¡­.¡± Clearly on the verge of tears, the proprietor choked over his words, sneaking a glance over to where Bai Yunfei was.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    It was then Xing Luo noticed the strange atmosphere on the second floor of the restaurant. Seeing barely anyone here, Xing Luo looked to Bai Yunfei, and then to the two young women not too far away.


    ¡°Haha!! So there were two beautiful young women dining here! We¡¯ve it lucky today.¡± Swaggering towards the two young woman as if he owned the place, Xing Luo spoke as courteously as he could to them, ¡°My dear ladies, please stay a while and keep us company!¡±


    ¡°As for you¡­.¡± His eyes darted over to Bai Yunfei, ¡°you can get lost!¡±


    Neither of the two women had been paying attention to Xing Luo until he came up to them. An angry tick appeared on Nangong Yuexia¡¯s face, but Yu Li completely ignored Xing Luo to feed a piece of food to Nangong Yuexia.


    Like Yu Li, Bai Yunfei continued eating his meal without looking like he even heard him. Xiao Lan did however, give Xing Luo a strange look of disdain before tossing a chicken drumstick into its mouth.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Their lackluster responses bewildered Xing Luo. His family had been the strongest one in the Northern Ridge Province, and Ventia City had virtually been his own personal playground for twenty years. Not ever had he been stonewalled like this before.


    The relative desolation of Ventia City meant that very few soul cultivators would venture here. Soul Exalts were very rare beings, so even a third-rate family like the Xing was able to enjoy a brief moment of time of being called the ¡®strongest¡¯.


    ¡°What a rude man you are. Where do you get off, interrupting the meal of another? Hurry up and leave already, I can¡¯t even eat with you standing here¡­.¡± Nangong Yuexia glared balefully at Xing Luo, whose face went pale at the response.


    The proprietor blanked in the face as well. He was concerned that these two unknowing women would know be in for it, but he himself was too afraid to say anything. All he could do was stare pointedly at Yu Li and hope that she would annoy Xing Luo no further.


    But Yu Li didn¡¯t do anything. She looked from the proprietor to the men standing behind Xing Luo. Her cherry red lips pursed together, ¡°My junior and I will not trouble you with our company, we shall take our leave after our meal.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Hehe¡­.¡± Xing Luo gave an ominous sneer at the ¡®naive¡¯ woman in front of him. Disregarding Bai Yunfei for the meanwhile, he sneered at Yu Li, ¡°Hehe¡­.how daring of you to refuse our company. You must not be from this city? As long as I give the word, you two should give up trying to leave here. If you don¡¯t attend to us, then don¡¯t even bother leaving this city!¡±


    The auras of the two women were unviewable due to his being only an early-stage Soul Ancestor, so he mistook them for being only ordinary women.


    ¡°Young master Xing¡­.¡± Noticing something was off, Xu Shen started to speak, albeit hesitantly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, brother Xu Shen! These two beautiful ladies will be ours today!¡± Xing Luo misunderstood his warning, ¡°In Ventia City, the house of Liu¡¯s word is law! No one would dare speak out against us on behalf of a mere two women!¡±


    Xing Luo was drunk with power, and even Xu Shen was finding the sight to be something to frown upon, or even scorn. ¡°What kind of family would have such a brainless ¡®young master¡¯ like this? He takes himself to be the emperor of the world! Who knows just how many deaths he¡¯d die of if placed in the outside world, let alone a small isolated place of nowhere like this city.¡±


    If not for the fact that he was being chased by other people, Xu Shen would never have come over to this place and rely on such a puny household like this¡­.


    Since these two women were being ¡®insensitive¡¯, then Xing Luo wouldn¡¯t beat around the bush either. Lasciviously, his eyes hovered over the bosom of Nangong Yuexia, a smirk still present on his face. ¡°Here in Ventia City, there is no women I cannot get!¡±


    A hand rose up to come stroke her face as he spoke, ¡°Hehe¡­.¡± the smirk on his face grew even more obscene, ¡°Are you a virgin, my lady? Follow me, and I will teach you the pleasures of a wo¨C¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    ¡°Young master, watch out!¡±


    ¡°Young master!¡±


    There was the sound of wood hitting flesh before Xu Shen and the other servants cried out in a late warning.


    It was a furious Yu Li that moved into action first. Before Xing Luo could finish his sentence, the chopsticks in her hand flew forward to slap against Xing Luo¡¯s head. With him being only an early-stage Soul Ancestor, he hadn¡¯t the reaction time to defend himself.


    There was the clattering sound of chinaware being broken as he stumbled away from the table, some blood dripping from his wound!


    Another two bowls flew at him while he was dazed. Before they could hit Xing Luo, Xu Shen stepped forward, a golden energy blazing out from the late-stage Soul Ancestor to shatter the two bowls.


    But before he could take another step, Xu Shen was surprised to see a red line of light streak underneath his arm and then wrap around Xing Luo¡¯s neck like a snake!


    It was a strip of red silk!


    And the other end of the silk was held in the hand of the woman named Nangong Yuexia!


    She looked angry as she held onto the strip of silk, though a bit of excitement was also visible in her eyes.


    Under the bewildered eyes of Xu Shen, Nangong Yuexia tightened the muscles in her arm, pulling Xing Luo towards him!


    Pursing her red lips, Nangong Yuexia tightened her pinkish fist and slammed it unceremoniously onto Xing Luo¡¯s eye!

 Chapter 487: Self-seeking Trouble (Third)

    None of the people there thought that such a dainty, innocent-looking, young woman would be able to bring down the early-stage Soul Ancestor Xing Luo without a problem!


    She pulled the red silk back towards her, simultaneously pulling Xing Luo towards her other fist. Holding back a little bit, she planted a punch right on top of his left eye.


    Even with his soulforce moving to protect him, the punch of the blow left stars in Xing Luo¡¯s vision. Everything was spinning in his head, and his vision was already starting to fade.


    He would be sporting a big bruise around his left eye for a good while.


    Everyone, including Xu Shen, was shocked to see Xing Luo injured and quickly moved forward to save him.


    Xu Shen paused just half a step later; his eyes widening as he realized Yu Li had at some point stood up and was no in front of him!


    Yu Li raised her hand and slapped it gently onto Xu Shen¡¯s left shoulder. There was a cracking sound from within his body before he was sent flying backwards as if struck by something enormous! Sailing through the air, he crashed into the four servants behind him, sending them all tumbling.


    Right besides Yu Li, Nangong Yuexia pulled the red silk in her hand again, pulling the still airborne Xing Luo back towards her¡­.


    ¡°Here comes another!¡±


    She laughed coyly. Raising her fist again, she landed yet another square blow onto Xing Luo¡¯s face.


    This time, it was his right eye.


    Back on planet Earth, they would call this as having ¡®panda eyes¡¯.....


    ¡°Pea¡ªpeak late-stage Soul Ancestor!!¡±


    Xu Shen cried out, his face pale with pain and realization at what Nangong Yuexia was, his right hand holding onto his left shoulder.


    It was only a moment, but he saw it! This young woman in front of him was a peak late-stage Soul Ancestor! That was stronger than him! And¡­.as for Yu Li, Xu Shen still couldn¡¯t see her strength, but that meant she was even stronger than the other!


    Xu Shen started to tremble. By trying to help out the moronic Xing Luo, he had kicked the hornet¡¯s nest and incurred the wrath of someone stronger than him¡­.


    In the soul cultivator world, people who were foolish enough to act like Xing Luo could expect to be killed at the very least, and Xu Shen didn¡¯t take the two beautiful women in front of him as being very generous¡­.


    But contrary to his expectations, the two women seemed to be as kind as they were beautiful and attacked Xing Luo no longer.


    Xu Shen sighed in relief at that.


    Casting a cold glance onto the people in front of her, Yu Li sighed, ¡°Yuexia, let¡¯s leave now. There¡¯s no need to mind these people.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡±


    Her companion replied a little reluctantly, she had still wanted to leave another bruise on Xing Luo¡¯s nose¡­.


    She tugged her right hand, detaching the red silk around Xing Luo¡¯s neck to pull back into her robes. Together with Yu Li, the two of them walked towards the stairs and out of the restaurant, but not without Nangong Yuexia giving Bai Yunfei a curious stare.


    From start to finish, he had been eating his meal without looking up once at what was going on around him.


    It was with great panic that the proprietor struggled with the gold coin tossed to him by Yu Li as they walked out. Taking it into the store purse, he stared back at the unsteady Xing Luo with a sweaty forehead and vexed expression.


    His soulforce healing his wounds, Xu Shen stood up, ¡°Help the young master up.¡±


    A servant hurried forward to help the dizzy Xing Luo to a nearby stool.


    Slightly out of it, Xing Luo said nothing for a while. Then when he finally regained the ability of speech, he roared, ¡°Hahaha!! How dare they hit me! How dare they!! Those sl*ts! Capture them! Capture them at once! I want them to die painfully and with regret!!¡±


    He didn¡¯t look at all like a Soul Ancestor now. Instead, he was acting like a self-entitled second generational.


    Xu Shen tried to dissuade him, ¡°Young master, please calm down. I¡¯ve a feeling that those two people aren¡¯t ordinary. You should avoid them for now.¡±


    ¡°Not ordinary?! What mean you by ¡®unordinary¡¯?! In Ventia City, we Xing are the strongest!¡± Xing Luo started to rant, ¡°Call my brother here! Call Wu Ming! And invite second uncle if possible! Invite Zi Mei too!! Those who anger the Xing won¡¯t leave Ventia City in one piece!¡±


    Tempted to give Xing Luo a hearty slap across the face, Xu Shen opted to frown instead.


    ¡°Are you the crown prince? Your family wasted so many primal stones and medicines to have you become a Soul Ancestor, and I have to say, it¡¯s wasted on you! Having a person like you as a son will only invite calamity onto your household.¡±


    ¡°Hah¡­..¡±


    A chuckle escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth. Since it had been so quiet then, everyone heard who it came from.


    It had been Bai Yunfei who laughed.


    He couldn¡¯t help it. Such an idiotic young master like this one was hard to come by, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but snort.


    His chuckle only served to anger Xing Luo even more. Eyes burning with fury, he glared at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Brat!! You dare laugh?! You outsiders fail to understand the power I have! Your encounter with me is an unlucky one for you! Men! I want you t¡ª¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head suddenly looked up, his one-eyed glare stopping Xing Luo dead in his tracks.


    It had only been for a moment, but it was enough. Drinking the last of his soup, Bai Yunfei placed a golden coin onto the table and stood up. He patted the wyrm on the back with a smile, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get going.¡±


    And just like that, Bai Yunfei left the restaurant as well.


    When Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and Xiao Lan disappeared from the restaurant, Xu Shen started to think to himself. From what he say, Bai Yunfei was only an early-stage Soul Ancestor, and the wyrm an early-stage class five soulbeast.


    He thought that Xing Luo would¡¯ve decided to rain fury onto the unlucky soul cultivator, but he calmed down surprisingly quick. Since he did nothing, Xu Shen decided to follow suit.


    Since he was only a late-stage Soul Ancestor, he wasn¡¯t able to see how strong Xiao Qi was. The only thing he knew was that the wyrm was a lot smarter than it looked. When Bai Yunfei had warned the wyrm to suppress its aura, it was able to do so to the levels of an early-stage class five, and Bai Yunfei had followed suit. That was why he appeared to be an early-stage Soul Ancestor.


    If he completely suppressed his soulforce, it¡¯d be extremely weird to see a commoner walking with an early-stage class five soulbeast right next to him. Anyone would be able to see that he was pretending.


    But that was the extent of what Xu Shen could see from Bai Yunfei.


    The reason why Yu Li was able to see through the wyrm¡¯s real strength was because she was a mid-stage Soul Exalt! Her ability in hiding her aura was a lot better than Nangong Yuexia, so she looked weaker than Nangong Yuexia despite actually being stronger. Xu Shen hadn¡¯t seen through her strength since he was weaker, but he had his doubts.


    There was a reason why Xing Luo had stopped talking earlier. His face had a hint of fear on it, and a little bit of excitement.


    Actually, there was two more reasons. Bai Yunfei¡¯s sharp glare had shut up him. And the other reason was that he recognized him.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t bothered to hide his appearance when he walked into Ventia City. He wasn¡¯t a fugitive, so he saw no reason on needing to hide his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­.it¡¯s him!! What¡¯s he doing here?! Haha!! He¡¯s here of all places!¡±


    Doubt, then excitement flooded Xing Luo¡¯s mind. He never imagined that Bai Yunfei would appear here of all places.


    He hadn¡¯t forgotten about Bai Yunfei ever since they first met, and never did he forget about the humiliation he suffered at his hands¡­.


    His head flickered up, hatred and venom practically flowing from his eyes. ¡°Hurry up and have Wu Ming come over!¡± He ordered to a servant.


    The servant left, leaving Xing Luo to stare down from the window with an ominous leer, ¡°There¡¯s no doors to hell, but you still came knocking. Even if you¡¯re from the Crafting School, you¡¯ll die here in my city!


    ¡°The humiliation you gave me those years ago, I¡¯ll pay it back to you today!¡±

 Chapter 488: Seeking Trouble (Fourth)

    ¡°The house of Xing from Ventia City¡­.why does it sound familiar?¡±


    It was a question that bothered Bai Yunfei as he left the restaurant, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger on it and decided to forget about it.


    Five years ago when he had only just joined the Crafting School, he, Tang Xinyun, Huangfu Rui, and the others went to Redfire City to enjoy the lantern festival. There had been an altercation with someone from the house of Xing in Ventia City, and that person was Xing Luo!!


    Something minor like this wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei wanted to dwell upon, so he forgot about it. Even if a soul cultivator¡¯s memory was longer than most people, it was hard to remember every little thing.


    Xing Luo on the other hand, held grudges for a very long time. The humiliation he was dealt by the hands of Bai Yunfei back in the lantern festival earned Bai Yunfei a lifelong grudge. Though it had been the red magiboar that injured him, he placed the blame solely on Bai Yunfei since he was here. And now that they were both in Ventia City, Xing Luo was more than ready to take out his anger and grudges on him.


    To Bai Yunfei, what happened in the restaurant was only just a small matter, and nothing he should care about. Now that he was back onto the streets, it was time for him to start shopping.


    Ventia City wasn¡¯t huge, but it had everything. Every area had their own interesting wares, and Bai Yunfei found himself buying up things that he had either run out of in his space ring, or needed to get more of.


    Time hit four o¡¯clock before long, and Bai Yunfei found himself buying up several spices and seasonings from a spice shop. Walking out from the store, he caught something out from the corner of his eye, but he continued walking on the road.


    Crossing another two roads, Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. Changing in direction, he walked down a road going perpendicular to before.


    He didn¡¯t enter any stores. Instead, he walked down the road where less and less people traveled¡­.


    It wouldn¡¯t be for another twenty minutes when he finally came to a stop. Where he stood now was one of the more isolated corners in the western quadrant of Ventia City. Shabby huts and garbage dumps were everywhere here and had long since been abandoned by its inhabitants. Only the occasional stray dog, cat, or mouse would appear here. No other person would dare come to such a dump.


    He came to a stop. Without turning back, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Alright, come on out. What business do you have with me?¡±


    His voice carried far despite not talking so loudly. But it was loud enough for several dogs to hear and run off in fright.


    ¡°Hehe¡­.you knew you were followed, and yet you still came to a place like this? You¡¯ve balls. Do you have confidence in your strength? Do you think you can deal with whatever troubles? Know your place¡­.¡±


    An ominous voice spoke from behind Bai Yunfei. There was the sound of rustling, and then three figures came out from behind a hut.


    Walking at the front of the three was Xing Luo. On his right was Xu Shen, and by his left was a bald-headed man with a dark expression on his face.


    Pleased with himself, Xing Luo spoke to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Hehe. Kid, never thought a day like this would come, have you? Now that you¡¯re in my territory, you should prepare yourself for my revenge. The humiliation I suffered all those years ago will be returned many times over to you!¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too surprised at their actions, though Xing Luo¡¯s words confused him to some degree. ¡°Who are you? Do I know you? We don¡¯t have any grudges between us, so what are you doing seeking me out for? Is it because of what happened in the restaurant? You should be going after those two women then and not me¡­.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.


    ¡°Don¡¯t act stupid!¡± Xing Luo spat impatiently, ¡°do you think you could bluff your way out of this?! I never forgot about what happened to me back in Redfire City!¡±


    ¡°Redfire City?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated. ¡°Sorry, but I really don¡¯t remember.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    What is the most depressing thing in the world?


    Xing Luo had the answer:


    Doing all this preparation in order to take it out on your most hated enemy so that they¡¯d piss themselves in fear and such, only to have this said enemy not remember you.


    What a mood killer.


    ¡°You¡­you¡­.¡± Xing Luo¡¯s body shook angrily, ¡°Back then in Redfire City! You were with that group! That idiot of a brat! And that damnable red magiboar! The one that made me unable to move for months! I¡¯ve never forgotten your face before! I¡¯m going to flay your skin to my hearts content today!¡±


    Bai Yunfei tried his hardest to remember.


    ¡°Oh¡­I think I¡¯ve got it,¡± he suddenly spoke up, ¡°I remember something like that. You must¡¯ve been that reckless second generational¡­..right? It¡¯s been five years, how¡¯d you become an early-stage Soul Ancestor?¡±


    ¡°You!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s casual demeanor towards him sent Xing Luo into a fury. ¡°Wu Ming!¡± He spoke to the person to his left, ¡°Capture him! Cripple him, but don¡¯t kill him! I want to be the one he begs to before he dies!!¡±


    An angry light flashed across the eyes of the one named Wu Ming at this order. But when he thought about being rewarded by the useless young master, he laughed. Stepping towards Bai Yunfei, he prepared himself to cripple Bai Yunfei.


    Wu Ming was once one of the Northern Ridge Province¡¯s most infamous evildoers who killed many people. He didn¡¯t go by his current name at first, but then when he decided to change his name to escape persecution, he thought having Wu Ming, or ¡®No life¡¯, would match what he did to others.


    He was one of the strongest in the area as a mid-stage Soul Exalt¨Ca rare being in this province.


    He had to admit he was a little confused about the situation though. The person in front of him was merely an early-stage Soul Ancestor. Xu Shen would¡¯ve have been enough to deal him, so why was he brought here?


    Xing Luo had actually put a little thought into this. He knew Bai Yunfei was from the Crafting School, and crafters were always known to be hard to deal with. He was also afraid that Xu Shen wouldn¡¯t be enough to deal with the soulbeast next to him, so he called Wu Ming over. With Wu Ming, there¡¯d be a great enough difference in power to deal with Bai Yunfei, no matter how many soul armaments he had.


    Of course, he didn¡¯t tell anyone else that Bai Yunfei was a crafter. Bai Yunfei was by himself here. If he killed him and got rid of the evidence, no one would know, and no one would tell.


    Wu Ming¡¯s eyes hovered over the blue-eyes wyrm next to Bai Yunfei. His eyes weren¡¯t as strong as Yu Li and was thus unable to tell exactly just how strong the wyrm was, even though he was a mid-stage Soul Exalt.


    ¡°Rrrrr¡­..¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm let loose a low grumble as if it was yawning. It looked over to Bai Yunfei with an expression of boredom.


    The people in front of it were nothing more than ants, and so the wyrm was confused why Bai Yunfei was wasting so much time chatting with them.


    Bai Yunfei shrugged and pointed a finger to Xing Luo, ¡°I don¡¯t want to cause any trouble, but since you¡¯re looking for it and even insulted my junior¡­.prepare yourself to be bedridden for another half year.¡±


    His ¡®impudence¡¯ astounded Xing Luo even more. ¡°Even in your f*cking death you¡¯re so arrogant! Did I stutter or something?! That sl*t was a fool! A sl*t! And your mom was a sl*t!¡±


    The complete disregard Bai Yunfei was showing him had brought him to a cursing frenzy. Without a filter, Xing Luo cursed Bai Yunfei out one after another.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    In the middle of one of his curses, a stream of fire shot forth from Bai Yunfei and surrounded a good hundred meters around them all.


    There was a fire that burned just as hot in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes now. Staring at the frightened Xing Luo, Bai Yunfei¡¯s next words were spoken with a bone-chilling frost.


    ¡°Now you¡¯ve done it!!¡±

 Chapter 489: What did….You Say?!

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s mother was one of his few sore points, as he allowed no one to disrespect her. Even if it was a mistake, he wouldn¡¯t forgive it!!


    And so when Xing Luo made the matters even worse by cursing her out, Bai Yunfei flew into a rage instantly!


    With how strong Bai Yunfei was today, he could limit his strength normally, but why would he ¡®limit¡¯ his strength for his? He was angry! He had the right to be angry, and the right to use whatever power he wanted!


    He wasn¡¯t planning on killing Xing Luo and the others at first. They might not have had the best intentions in mind with them wanting to teach Bai Yunfei a lesson, but now¡­.since they already said they were after Bai Yunfei¡¯s life, then he¡¯d be sure to let them know the feeling!


    The explosion of power from Bai Yunfei revealed his strength as a mid-stage Soul Exalt to them. The temperature in the area shot up drastically with the raging fire around them, a spark of purple occasionally flying out from the fire.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Thanks to the connection between the two, Xiao Qi was able to tell why Bai Yunfei was angry, and subsequently grew angry itself. Transforming to the size of a large eagle, it activated the Wind and Lightning Feathers and cloaked itself in its violet and azure light to look like a spirit bird of some kind.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Not really understanding what was going on, the blue-eyes wyrm roared as well and rapidly grew in size along with Xiao Qi. Excited that it could go loose for once, it bathed itself in blue light to grow back to its normally large size to stand behind Bai Yunfei and stare at the ants in front of it.


    Now that the three of them revealed their true strength, the other three men were petrified with fear.


    Wu Ming had been just twenty steps away from Bai Yunfei before their transformation. His body was washed with orange light to form a draconic claw over his right hand. But now, his eyes were wide open with fear as he stood as still as a statue.


    Xing Luo and Xu Shen were both standing equally still, their spirits taking temporary leave from their bodies.


    It had only been for a quick moment, however. The wyrm¡¯s roar had been the sound that broke the spell, and Wu Ming had been the first to respond. With a high-pitched scream, he turned tail and fled!


    But Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions were even faster than his!


    Wu Ming had only taken a small step in retreat when Bai Yunfei disappeared away from sight in a blur of purple light!


    And by the point inertia brought him to his second step, Wu Ming was met with Bai Yunfei appearing right in front of him!


    The Flash Step!


    Wu Ming couldn¡¯t even describe the terror he was feeling right now. He didn¡¯t even see Bai Yunfei move!! They were both mid-stage Soul Exalts, but the equipment Bai Yunfei had granted him far more speed than many thought possible!


    Wu Ming¡¯s first instinct was to bring up his right hand in defense when Bai Yunfei appeared out of nowhere. Bolstered by his fear and adrenaline, Wu Ming stabbed his ¡®dragon¡¯s claw¡¯ straight forward to attack Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    His claw could shatter stone and warp metal with his strength, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t afraid to unleash an Eighty-one Fold Fist Force against it!


    The elemental earth crumbled away upon contact, Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch breaking the bones in Wu Ming¡¯s hand. Not even another moment later, Wu Ming¡¯s entire right arm was completely pulverized with bone fragments sticking out!! Completely defeated, Wu Ming was thrown away from Bai Yunfei, his body flying even farther when Bai Yunfei kicked him. Blood was spat from his mouth as he flew, but before he could even land, a tail suddenly wrapped around his body!


    ¡°Bang!¡± Flinging him in a completely opposite direction, the blue-eyes wyrm sent the man flying through two huts before coming to a stop in the wall of the third.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even spare a glance at the hindrance. Disappearing again in another flash of light, he came to a stop in front of Xing Luo.


    It took only three seconds for Wu Ming to be dealt with.


    Xu Shen hadn¡¯t even been able to form a response during the time Wu Ming was being dealt with. By the time the idea occurred to him to flee, Bai Yunfei was already there in front of him to slap him away as he would slap a housefly.


    Eyes filled with utter terror, Xu Shen¡¯s body dragged violently across the ground. Each time he slammed against the ground, another mouthful of blood was lost. But before he could even pick himself up, a tornado about ten meters in circumference formed around him. The tornado surrounded him, completely preventing him from moving unless he wanted to be hurt.


    In less than a few seconds, Bai Yunfei was already in front of Xing Luo without anyone to protect him¡­.


    Of course, Xing Luo by now realized just what was going on. His knees gave out beneath him, causing him to fall to the ground with a plop to stare up at Bai Yunfei as though he was a ghost.


    ¡°What did you¡­.say?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked, his eyes still staring icily at him.


    ¡°I¡­.I¡­.¡± Xing Luo stammered, no other word managing to form in his mouth.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t answered fast enough. Bai Yunfei lashed out with a kick across Xing Luo¡¯s chest and sent him flying. He didn¡¯t put all his might behind it, but it was enough to force some blood out from Xing Luo¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°What did you just say?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei advanced two steps forward, asking the same question from before with even more emphasis.


    ¡°I¡­.don¡¯t¡­don¡¯t you kill me! I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m the second son of the Xing! The house of Xing is the strongest family in the Northern Ridge Province! We have a Soul King as our ancestor! You can¡¯t kill me, you can¡¯t! Don¡¯t kill¡­.me¡­.¡± He was completely cowed by now. The murderous intent in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shook him to his very core and practically brought him to hysteria.


    Fear had completely overtaken Xing Luo¡¯s mind now. He was starting to plead with Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Ah!!!!¡±


    An agonizing scream from behind Bai Yunfei brought everything to a grinding halt.


    Bewildered, Bai Yunfei turned around, only to see the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s right foot emerge from a pile of rubbish.


    Wu Ming¡¯s aura disappeared after that.


    He had been stomped to death by the blue-eyes wyrm!


    The blue-eyes wyrm wasn¡¯t a benevolent master. Xiao Qi held Xu Shen in contention so that Bai Yunfei could deal with him, but the blue-eyes wyrm didn¡¯t care at all for them. Since they had annoyed Bai Yunfei, they would die. Simple as that.


    Bai Yunfei was surprised, he hadn¡¯t expected the wyrm to kill the man just like that.


    While Bai Yunfei was preoccupied, Xing Luo saw his chance. In his last moment desperation, he summoned as much as his soulforce as he could and brought out a purple dagger from his ring.


    Fear-driven, he threw the dagger as hard as he could at Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Die!!!¡±

 Chapter 490: Poison!!

    The danger Xing Luo was in was overwhelming his mind. All the pressure he was feeling had inhibited his thinking capabilities, and because of that pressure, he didn¡¯t think about the potential consequences when he attacked.


    It was the only thing he could do. Because if he didn¡¯t do anything else, he would die¡­.


    Unfortunately for him, going down this path was only a futile attempt to prolong the inevitable¡­.


    An attempt to kill Bai Yunfei with what mediocre strength he had was a fool¡¯s dream, even with how close he was.


    Though Bai Yunfei was looking at the blue-eyes wyrm, the moment Xing Luo twitched, Bai Yunfei was already moving reflexively with his right arm coming up!


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    The dagger stabbed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s Ardent Sun Glove, but not through it. Now completely harmless, the dagger was taken into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand and thrown back at its owner!


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Xing Luo¡¯s realization where the dagger was going to came a little too late. Bai Yunfei had deflected the dagger so that it¡¯d cut into his left shoulder as it flew away!


    The cut wasn¡¯t big at all; just large enough to draw blood. To a soul cultivator, a wound like this could easily be staunched and healed.


    But Xing Luo¡¯s reaction gave Bai Yunfei some alarm.


    He had screamed, staring at the wound on his left shoulder in absolute terror. For such a tiny little wound, his face had the look of despair on it!


    Despair not from his imminent death by Bai Yunfei, but from the tiny cut mark!


    ¡°Ah! Ahhh!!!¡± He screamed again, his voice reaching a hysterical fervor. Clutching at his left shoulder with his right arm, he tore away the chunk of flesh where the cut mark was!


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die! I don¡¯t want to dieeee!! Save me!! Save meee!!¡± Even after tearing away a part of his shoulder, Xing Luo was still howling furiously in tears. ¡°Xu Shen, save me! Save me, father! I don¡¯t want to dieeee!!!¡±


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to think. Xing Luo¡¯s reaction scared him fiercely, and he didn¡¯t understand what was going on. He looked to the left shoulder of Xing Luo and focused in on it, realizing something.


    ¡°Is this¡­.poison?!¡±


    Xing Luo tore out enough of his flesh to reveal the pale-white humerus. Aside from the blood and flesh around the afflicted area, Bai Yunfei saw a hint of something else! Some parts of the blood was a darkly purple, and the strong scent of decay was already starting to mature¡­.


    Poison!


    The dagger Xing Luo tried on Bai Yunfei had contained poisoned on its blade!


    And what a fearsome poison this was, if even an early-stage Soul Ancestor wasn¡¯t able to stop it!


    A sliver of fear shot up Bai Yunfei¡¯s spine. If that dagger had hit him, how would he fare with it?


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­.want to die¡­.sa-save me¡­.¡±


    Xing Luo¡¯s face grew progressively darker with the same color of the poison, his face twisted in on itself with pain as the poison in him disseminated through his body and to his organs. He looked quite terrible.


    The poison must¡¯ve affected his vocal chords as well, as he was no longer screaming when he pleaded for Bai Yunfei to save him.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    But Bai Yunfei refused. He had no pity for a man who just tried to kill him. And with Xing Luo being killed by his own sinister weapon, that worked just fine for Bai Yunfei. It¡¯d save him the trouble of doing the deed himself.


    ¡°Sa-save¡­¡±


    Xing Luo¡¯s words were barely coherent now. His eyes were dimming, and his face was now entirely a dark purple. He laid on the ground, his body twitching as blood dripped from the several orifices on his face.


    Five minutes later, Xing Luo finally succumbed to the poison!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t moved from his spot as Xing Luo wasted away under him. When Xing Luo breathed his last, Bai Yunfei snorted. He casted a fireball onto the corpse, burning it away so that only ashes remained.


    With another wave, he collected the nearby dagger and Xing Luo¡¯s space ring for future purposes.


    Bai Yunfei turned around to walk towards the wind prison a few steps away.


    Xiao Qi chirped once in salute to Bai Yunfei before dispelling the tornado and revealing a very frightened Xu Shen inside of it.


    Having been rendered a prisoner in this tornado, Xu Shen had been forced to use his soulsense in order to watch what was happening on the outside. He felt it all; Wu Ming dying to the blue-eyes wyrm, and then Xing Luo¡¯s slow and agonizing death to his own poisoned weapon!


    Xu Shen trembled as Bai Yunfei made his way towards him. Him being a late-stage Soul Ancestor meant nothing in this one moment as he laid paralyzed with terror on the ground.


    Three men came forward to kill Bai Yunfei, and two of them were dead already. It still remained to be seen if he¡¯d be a survivor, though the chances of that wasn¡¯t looking good¡­.


    Bai Yunfei eyed Xu Shen, a hint of murderous intent in them.


    A lenient hand was taboo when resolving a matter of grudges between soul cultivators. Bai Yunfei was no evildoer, but if someone was coming after his life, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill.


    ¡°Do¨Cdon¡¯t kill me!!¡±


    That had been Xu Shen¡¯s first response when he saw the look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me! I¡­.I was only following orders! Xing Luo was the one behind this! He¡¯s dead now, and he got what he deserved, I¡¯m innocent in this! Please sire, spare my life! I¡­I won¡¯t say anything! I¡¯ll leave this city¨Cno, I¡¯ll leave this province! I¡¯ll go far far away where no one will know who I am! Sire, please grant me mercy, spare the life of this lowly mongrel!¡±


    Pride, determination, and intrepid. Not every person had each of these three qualities, and in the face of death, many would often throw away these qualities and give up their self-dignity in order to beg for their lives.


    ¡°Will you really not tell anyone? Will you leave this place, and never mention my name?¡± To Xu Shen¡¯s immediate surprise¨Cand relief¡ªBai Yunfei spoke what seemed to be the words of compromise to him.


    Unbeknownst to Xu Shen though, the crystalline bracelet on Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand flashed once with light as he spoke¡­.


    Xu Shen¡¯s eyes lit up. The ray of hope had shined down on him at last! He bowed his head at once, ¡°Yes! I will! I won¡¯t say your name ever! I never even saw you before, sire! Please spare my life!¡±


    In his abject terror and seemingly-earnest words, the man didn¡¯t look like he was lying.


    Bai Yunfei studied the man for a few seconds, his lips eventually creeping into a cold smile. ¡°I don¡¯t like liars¡­.¡±


    The blood drained away from Xu Shen¡¯s face. Whatever begging words he was going to say next dried up in his mouth as he looked up, eyes flashing with maddened desperation!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Yellow light exploded from his both, forming into a shining sword of elemental metal to try and stab into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Pushing against the ground from his kowtow position, the man flew to his feet and began to run away with all his might!


    The beckoning fear of death seized his mind. He didn¡¯t want to wait for it without a fight; if there was no chance to flee, he¡¯d go down fighting to his very last breath at the very least!


    The instantaneous velocity of a late-stage Soul Ancestor was fast enough to bring him a good two hundred meters away in one fluid moment. This brought him near the edge of this abandoned part of the city, and it didn¡¯t seem like Bai Yunfei was chasing after him!


    Hope started to fill Xu Shen again, if he could keep this up, he¡¯d be able to escape!


    But then as if like the envoy of death himself, a chirp from right behind his head dashed away his hopes. Turning around, he saw a black crescent-shape blade come down upon him¡­.

 Chapter 491: Yue Feng

    Ten minutes later, Bai Yunfei walked out from the slums back onto the main streets with Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan.


    Bai Yunfei knew better than to stick around in the same area after killing those three men. There¡¯d definitely be people that knew where and why Xing Luo went, like those four servants back in the restaurant. The Xing had plenty of influence in Ventia City, and it wouldn¡¯t take long for them to notice Xing Luo¡¯s disappearance and come looking.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t particularly afraid, but he didn¡¯t want to stick around for trouble either.


    ¡°Ugh! I just wanted to have a nice rest tonight, guess we¡¯re leaving this city now¡­.¡±


    He sighed as he made his way over to the southern gates out of Ventia City.


    ¡­¡­


    A group of people came out from their hidden corner when Bai Yunfei left for the gates. These people were soul cultivators.


    There weren¡¯t many in the city, but Soul Exalts could still be found here.


    They had caught onto the influx of soulforce from Bai Yunfei¡¯s fight earlier. It hadn¡¯t lasted long, but the fight still took long enough for the Soul Exalts come rushing over shortly after Bai Yunfei left.


    Several of the soul cultivators weren¡¯t able to see any clues, but there were a few that watched the battle from afar.


    These examples of said spectators could be seen a good two kilometer away, sipping tea from their balcony three stories high.


    It was the same two beautiful woman from the restaurant earlier, Yu Li and Nangong Yuexia.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead¡­.that annoyance is actually dead!!¡± Nangong Yuexia cried in surprise. ¡°And a mid-stage Soul Exalt! Was it¡­.was it that strange brother from earlier that killed the annoyance? Wasn¡¯t he an early-stage Soul Ancestor? How¡¯d he get so strong so quickly?¡±


    Like Nangong Yuexia, Yu Li was watching with amazement, though she smiled at her companion¡¯s words. ¡°That person¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t an early-stage Soul Ancestor at all! I couldn¡¯t see his strength, but I could for his soulbeast, so they must be the same strength. I just never thought that even the little bird would be a class six soulbeast.¡±


    She was a little confused by that revelation. ¡°How strange¡­.you can only contract one soulbeast, so is the other one a pet soulbeast?! Even one of the Ten Schools and Five Nobles would find it hard to make a pet out of a class six soulbeast¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­.I wonder what monster of a person took on such a genius like that? He¡¯s a brave one to kill the young master and guest of the Xing without hesitation.¡±


    A voice spoke out from the roof above the two women¡¯s heads before tumbling down and over it to stand on the balcony banister.


    It was a twenty-seven or twenty-eight year old man. He wore green robes, had long hair that reached his shoulders, sharp eyes and tall nose that made him quite handsome.


    The two women were surprised to see him, but Nangong Yuexia looked happy. ¡°Brother Yue Feng! It¡¯s you!!¡±


    ¡°Haha, sister Yuexia,¡± the man smiled, ¡°you¡¯ve gotten a lot prettier since I last saw you.¡±


    She ran up to the man, looking around expectantly, ¡°Where¡¯s Xiao Xiong? Is Xiao Xiong with you?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­.¡± The smile on Yue Feng¡¯s face faltered as mention of his old soulbeast came to mind¡­..


    Then, a small furry claw came up from behind his head to grab onto it.


    A mini-sized bear came popping up from his back.


    ¡°Yah! Xiao Xiong is here!¡± Nangong Yuexia cried out excitedly, hugging the little bear to her chest to affectionately scratch its head. ¡°Long time no see, Xiao Xiong! You¡¯re looking cuter than before!¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    Watching as Nangong Yuexia played around with the little bear of his, Yue Feng smile twitched, ¡°Ah, my poor friend, have fun playing with her¡­.¡±


    He walked up to Yu Li next, ¡°Long time no see, Yu Li.¡±


    ¡°Yue Feng, you¡¯ve become a late-stage Soul Exalt, I see.¡± She remarked, an odd expression on her face.


    ¡°Haha, it was because of that soul contract. You don¡¯t have a contracted soulbeast yet, Yu Li, but when you do, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll become a late-stage Soul Exalt too.¡± He laughed, ¡°Are you planning to enter the Soulbeast Forest this time?¡±


    Yu Li nodded. ¡°Indeed, Master said that I should try and find Yuexia a soulbeast a little sooner, so I decided to look for one myself.¡±


    ¡°I see. Everyone finds their contracted soulbeast a little differently. Sister Yuexia is a talented one, the moment she finds a soulbeast to contract with, she¡¯ll become a Soul Exalt no problem. And with her talent after that, it won¡¯t take long for her to take the world by storm as an up-and-coming prodigy.¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­.that won¡¯t be for many years from now.¡± Yu Li laughed, watching as Yuexia played with the little bear. ¡°She¡¯s been training hard since she was young. I wanted her to come see the outside world for once.


    ¡°What brings you to the small city of Ventia?¡± She changed the subject.


    ¡°I¡­well.¡± Yue Feng¡¯s eyes grew frosty, ¡°I¡¯m here to find someone.¡±


    Looking to where Yu Li had been looking at earlier, he said, ¡°That reminds me, the person that died over there¡­.was that the second son from the Xing, Xing Luo?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Perking an eyebrow, Yu Li turned back to look at her friend. She hadn¡¯t mentioned any names earlier when she was talking with Yuexia, but it seemed that Yue Feng knew already.


    So how was it that he knew who Xing Luo was? Had he been paying attention to him?


    ¡°It was.¡± She replied, nonetheless. ¡°Xing Luo angered someone he shouldn¡¯t have, and now him and two other guests were killed by the person he angered.¡±


    Yue Feng¡¯s eyes lit up. Turning to the south, he looked like he was thinking about something, something that excited him, but whatever it was, no one knew.


    ¡°Yu Li,¡± he spoke, ¡°I apologize, but I¡¯ve something to take care of.¡±


    He turned to Nangong Yuexia next to take the little bear away from her, ¡°Sister Yuexia, I have to go now, see you next time!¡±


    He leapt away from the balcony into the skies. Stepping off again, he leapt to another rooftop. From there, he jumped again and again to travel away from the two women in a hurry.


    ¡°Aww¡­..why¡¯s he leaving so soon?¡± Yuexia grumbled discontentedly, ¡°I didn¡¯t even get the chance to talk to him before he left, hmph¡­.¡±


    Yu Li was confused as well. Watching as Yue Feng traveled farther and farther away, she began to think.


    ¡°The direction he¡¯s traveling¡­..is his target him??¡±

 Chapter 492: Coming to Kill

    At the southern gates of Ventia City.


    Bai Yunfei was taking Xiao Lan and Xiao Qi out from the city and away onto the official roads.


    After killing Xing Luo and the other two, Bai Yunfei had no desire to stay there.


    He was as calm as he could be. He wasn¡¯t running away for his life, but he didn¡¯t want to stick around either, hence why he was just ¡®running¡¯.


    Now that it was five in the afternoon, the streets were primarily empty of people. Walking quickly with purpose, Bai Yunfei ensured that he was walking faster than the others, and in time, he was well out of Ventia City and far away enough to have the city be only a blur now.


    Several kilometers away, Bai Yunfei was now by a wide river where the only way across was a stone bridge. As he was about to step on it, Bai Yunfei found himself looking backwards.


    ¡°They¡¯re finally here? Looks like trouble¡¯s here then¡­.¡±


    He sighed, but he knew that the house of Xing wouldn¡¯t dawdle on a matter like this, and the only thing that helped hm in this matter was him leaving the city sooner rather than later. If the Xing hadn¡¯t found enough evidence, they wouldn¡¯t have caught up to Bai Yunfei so quickly, but since they were here already, that meant the obvious had happened and a fight was in bound.


    Fleeing wasn¡¯t an option for him. If they wanted to take revenge for Xing Luo, then so be it.


    Already seeing several people of the Soul Exalt coming out from Ventia City, Bai Yunfei looked around himself, and then to his companions to start traveling across the river.


    He wasn¡¯t running, he was just stepping away from the main roads and the bridge. A battle would definitely destroy the bridge, and that¡¯d impact the lives of the commoners that lived here. If he could help it, Bai Yunfei wanted to avoid causing too much environmental damage.


    The people chasing him from behind sped up when they saw Bai Yunfei move. Clearly, they thought Bai Yunfei was trying to escape.


    Fire formed underneath his feet as Bai Yunfei stepped through the air over the river. Xiao Lan was traveling beneath him over the surface of the water, though its movements didn¡¯t disturb the surface of the water in the slightest, as no ripples were coming out from where Xiao Lan stepped from.


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop roughly five kilometers afterwards. They were in a valley now, with two tall mountains standing next to each other and a river flowing nearby.


    As he came to a stop, the group chasing him from the city came to a stop several meters away.


    Bai Yunfei looked over to see who was chasing him.


    There was a late-stage Soul Exalt, two mid-stage Soul Exalts, and five early-stage Soul Exalts. There was also a late-stage class six soulbeast, two mid-stage class six soulbeasts, and three early-stage class six soulbeasts.


    Almost everyone here had soulbeasts of their own!


    This was definitely due to their close proximity to the Soulbeast Forest. With how wide the Tianhun Continent was, it was rare for people to have contracted soulbeasts, even Soul Exalts.


    ¡°Ah? He¡¯s here?¡± Bai Yunfei gave a small start in surprise. There was someone he ¡®knew¡¯! This person was one of the people that tried to capture the blue-eyes wyrm earlier, the late-stage Soul Exalt! He came riding on over with an equally familiar soulbeast, the late-stage class six tornado bird!


    Bai Yunfei also noticed one of the mid-stage Soul Exalts had a familiar looking mid-stage class six three-eyed kong bear.


    Come to think of it, Bai Yunfei could¡¯ve sworn he remembered these people calling themselves as people from the ¡®Xing¡¯¡­.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d meet them here. Guess I can¡¯t avoid a fight this time¡­.¡± He sighed, ¡°I didn¡¯t think much when they were with the soul refiner, but they probably have some sort of connection to the Soul Refining School¡­..¡±


    As he was thinking, the other group of people overtook it, seeing to Bai Yunfei being completely surrounded.


    Xing Qiufeng glared at Bai Yunfei first, and then to Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm next to him. ¡°Are you the one who killed a man from the Xing?!¡± He demanded.


    ¡°I am the one.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    His ¡®confession¡¯ surprised Xing Qiufeng a little bit. ¡°You¡¯ve balls!¡± He replied, ¡°Who are you to look down upon the house of Xing? To injure and kill so many innocent people without remorse, prepare to die here today!¡±


    But Bai Yunfei snorted in disdain. ¡°You of all people want to talk to me about reason? Don¡¯t play the idiot. You just want to take revenge for Xing Luo. If you¡¯ve the skill, then come. If you can win, then you can deal with me as you wish!!¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± Xing Qiufeng cried out, ¡°The audacity of you! I should cripple you and take you back to the Xing to see how to punish you!


    ¡°Take him!!¡±


    Everyone with him flew into action at his command, elemental energy of all kinds shining in the air to fill up the place with light.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with!¡±


    Bai Yunfei spat, his Cataclysmic Seal spitting out the essence fireseed in it to have Bai Yunfei absorb it into him.


    ¡°Chirp!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan flew into action faster than the opposing side. Xiao Qi¡¯s wings unfurled to a wingspan of ten meters as the Wind and Lightning Feathers shined in him. Hundreds of blades of wind flew through the air to attack the people to the left of Bai Yunfei. Xiao Lan¡¯s entire body grew in size until it was ten meters in height and blue in color. At the same time, the river underneath its feet churned violently before four waterspouts surged into the air to stab at the four people to Bai Yunfei¡¯s right with the sharpness of swords.


    Their sudden actions surprised the group, and all of them were forced to put up a barrier in order to protect themselves before it collided with them.


    Due to his preconceived notion that Bai Yunfei was ¡®too weak¡¯, Xing Qiufeng didn¡¯t see a need to act until the blue-eyes wyrm suddenly grew in size. When it saw the wyrm in its proper size, his eyes widened in shock.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s the blue-eyes wyrm!!¡±


    There had been a sliver of doubt when Xing Qiufeng first saw the wyrm. Since it was miniature-sized, he didn¡¯t think too much about it. But now that he was face to face with it, and its aura was fully revealed¡­.he remembered it as the same one he met in the Soulbeast Forest several months ago!


    How could he not be surprised!


    In the next second, Xing Qiufeng shivered, his eyes radiating with fear!


    ¡°If the blue-eyes wyrm is here, then¡­.¡±


    Before he could answer his own question, someone suddenly cried out in abject horror from the elemental energy filled area in front of him!

 Chapter 493: Killing Those Who Came To Kill

    In the one moment the elemental energy of the enemy descended into the area, the aura of three people suddenly vanished!


    They had been killed!!


    In the moment Xing Qiufeng connected the thoughts between the blue-eyes wyrm and Bai Yunfei, the fight had already its first casualties. Eyes narrowing together, Xing Qiufeng brought out his long green spear and pushed his soulforce into the spear to prepare himself for the enemy ahead. Underneath his feet, the tornado bird trilled angrily and shot a ten meter large tornado ahead.


    But at the same time, a long crimson spear came forth from the area along with a person holding onto it!


    It was Bai Yunfei!


    He was as strong as Xing Qiufeng at this moment; a late-stage Soul Exalt!


    ¡®Coil¡¯ form, activated!


    The tornado shot from the tornado bird was already upon him as he emerged from low-visibility area behind him. Without slowing down in speed, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body suddenly flashed orange in light¡ª+12 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal, activated!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The tornado collided against Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier mercilessly, but it had done nothing to Bai Yunfei at all!


    Xing Qiufeng narrowed his eyes as he regarded Bai Yunfei¡¯s approach coldly. His spear shivered slightly before it shot forward, elemental wind aiding it in its speed and its sharpness. A near invisible tip made from elemental wind extended from the spear¡¯s tip to fly towards Bai Yunfei!


    Though he didn¡¯t expect to be facing off against another spear user, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t falter. Choosing not to dodge or block the spear strike, Bai Yunfei clenched his spear tightly and stabbed outwards with it!


    ¡°Boom¡­.clink!!¡±


    The elemental energies of the two spears collided, each spear trying to fight against the other for dominance!


    Then, under the terrified eyes of Xing Qiufeng, he watched as his high-earth tier spear start to crack and melt underneath the might of the other spear!


    With the Fire-tipped Spear being a mid-heaven tier soul armament, there was no way the high-earth tier spear would be able to go against it!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Countless tendrils of elemental fire filled the air from where it exploded upon the contact of the two spears.


    It was the +10 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, the explosion!


    Xing Qiufeng hadn¡¯t expected for the explosion to happen, much less his spear breaking from the contact. As the spear crumbled in his hand, the power from the collision traveled from the spear remnants into his arm and fractured it in multiple places before being flung away!


    If not for the tornado bird exhaling a wall of wind to stop Bai Yunfei from chasing after them, Xing Qiufeng would¡¯ve most likely been yet another casualty in this battle!


    ¡°It¡¯s him! It¡¯s really him!!¡±


    Xing Qiufeng was astounded. He couldn¡¯t even think properly with the realization he just felt. Never had he possibly imagined that the person in front of him today would be the very same person who terrified him so much before back in the Soulbeast Forest!


    The tornado bird was only a late-stage class six soulbeast, its manipulation of elemental wind was perfect enough to stop Bai Yunfei from chasing after them. The wall of wind bounced Bai Yunfei away strong enough to buy them enough time, and to force Bai Yunfei from launching a secondary attack.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei stopped himself in the air, he heard a scream from behind, and then the disappearance of two more auras! It would appear that one of them had died before they could even scream.


    But the person who screamed out prior to his death caused Xing Qiufeng to cry out loud in anger, ¡°Third brother!¡±


    From where the battle was taking place with Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan, the blue-eyes wyrm stepped away from the river back onto dry ground. It raised its giant head up with a sinister look in its eyes. In between its sharp teeth, there was the body of a person!


    This person had been one of the mid-stage Soul Exalts that had attacked it back in the Soulbeast Forest. He was the attendant of the house of Xing and Xing Qiufeng¡¯s younger brother, Xing Qiugu!


    As if sensing Xing Qiufeng¡¯s line of sight, the blue-eyes wyrm turned over to look back at him. In its eyes was a sense of vengeful joy, and a bit of disdain¡­.


    Naturally, the blue-eyes wyrm knew just who Xing Qiufeng and Xing Qiugu were. Back in the Soulbeast Forest, the blue-eyes wyrm had nearly lost its life, if not its freedom if not for Bai Yunfei to save him from their ambush. How could it not feel happy taking revenge on these people?


    Opening its jaws wide, it spat Xing Qiugu¡¯s corpse as if spitting out a piece of inedible meat. Letting loose a mighty roar to the heavens, it thrashed its tail to the river so that it could use them to shoot down the rest of its enemies with the arrows formed from it.


    To the side of the blue-eyes wyrm, there was a black crescent-shaped hole in the riverbank. It was near enough to the river to have water fill in the hole.


    Two splashing sounds were heard as the corpse of a single person fell into the water¨Cthis was the man that hadn¡¯t had time to scream. Xiao Qi had bisected the man in half by using the Spatial Edge to kill him.


    In the eyes of Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm, these people in front of them weren¡¯t even strong enough to withstand even a single blow!


    There had been five early-stage Soul Exalts and two mid-stage Soul Exalts. But in less than two minutes, only two of the seven remained!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    In the middle when Xing Qiufeng was taking in the horrifying sight, a mountainous sized object broke through the wind barrier of the tornado bird to come slamming into them with terrifying speed!


    Since Xing Qiufeng was distracted by the death of Xing Qiugu, Bai Yunfei saw no reason to not attack him with the Cataclysmic Seal.


    It broke through the wind barrier and flew overhead Xing Qiufeng as he tried to fly. Come to an abrupt stop, it dropped down immediately!


    Right where the tornado bird was!


    Squawking in fear, the tornado bird surrounded itself in green light before the Cataclysmic Seal smashed into it, bringing it down to the riverbank below before flying back out later.


    He didn¡¯t attack the bird again. His real target was Xing Qiufeng!


    The Cataclysmic Seal returned to Bai Yunfei, forming a small platform underneath his feet so he didn¡¯t have to use his elemental energy to remain in the skies. By kicking off against the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei was able to increase his momentum to fly towards Xing Qiufeng!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Furious, Xing Qiufeng¡¯s body lit up with green light as he summoned as much elemental wind to him as he could. It manifested around him in the form of a giant tornado, protecting him from any potential external attack. Two giant blades of wind simultaneously flew out from the tornado before Xing Qiufeng had them fly towards Bai Yunfei to cut him down!


    Bai Yunfei swapped the Fire-tipped Spear to his left hand to clench his right fist tightly. The Ardent Sun Glove shined brilliantly with red light before he punched outwards! A single fireball about twenty meters in circumference formed, slamming into the two blades of wind when they came.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A fiery explosion rocked the world around them with great enough energy to concuss the waters below. It kicked up into the skies in a decently large amount of water, falling back down to the ground thanks to gravity.


    The two blades of wind and fireball had canceled each other out.


    Another blade of fire had been formed shortly after the first explosion, cutting into the tornado protecting Xing Qiufeng!


    For a moment, the tornado came to an abrupt stop as the blade of fire cut into it, and then a gap opened up right where the blade cut into it!


    Bai Yunfei leapt through the opening in the tornado, much to Xing Qiufeng¡¯s shock and despair. One Bai Yunfei became three, and then each with the same exact expression of indifference, they stabbed at him with their Fire-tipped Spears!

 Chapter 494: Yue Feng’s Goal

    ¡°Clack¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei stepped onto a nearby boulder with a clack.


    Right by his side was the blue-eyes wyrm, already back to its miniature form, and Xiao Qi roosting on his right shoulder. Underneath Bai Yunfei was the peak of one of the two mountains.


    He looked down over the mountain, looking over the the valley where a battle had just taken place. Aside from the fifty craters that adorned the riverbanks, nothing else about the valley seemed off.


    Many of these craters were filled with water from the river, so the results of the battle didn¡¯t look too devastating to the environment.


    But that didn¡¯t take away from the facts: eight bodies were currently lying down on the ground.


    The search and pursuit team that had gone after Bai Yunfei to kill him were on the inverse killed by him.


    Two of their contracted soulbeasts were killed, and the others had fled. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother chasing after them. A soulbeast without its contracted soul cultivator, where else could it go but return to the Soulbeast Forest?


    The entirety of the battle that took the lives of these ten beings took only a short five minutes¡­.


    Xing Qiufeng was the only one Bai Yunfei killed. The others were claimed by Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm.


    ¡°These have to be at least half the fighting force of the Xing, right? I heard their house head was only a peak-stage Soul Exalt, but he¡¯s not here¡­.Xing Luo said before that an ancestor of theirs was a Soul King, wonder if that¡¯s true.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really fear if the peak late-stage Soul Exalt, Xing Qiuhong would give chase, but if the so-called Soul King were to appear and give chase, there would definitely be a great ordeal for Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Ugh,¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°Better not take chances and fly away. Beats sticking around and fighting the rest of the Xing.¡±


    Truth be told, Bai Yunfei worried the ancestor. The Xing shouldn¡¯t have caught up to him so fast, but they did. Walking on foot would be a silly idea now with that in mind.


    ¡°But first things first¡­¡± The Tempest Sword appeared besides him.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been following me since you left Ventia City, what are your intentions? Continue with your stalking and I won¡¯t be as polite as I was before!¡±


    His voice was directed towards a portion of the river below.


    There was someone¡­.there?!


    Bai Yunfei continued to stare at the area a little longer, as if waiting for something. On the other hand, Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm stared curiously at Bai Yunfei, unsure why he was speaking to nothing but air.


    ¡°Haha!! So you saw me? You¡¯re good, I¡¯ll tell you that¡­.and here I thought I was completely hidden!¡±


    A good several seconds later, the embarrassed chuckles of a person responded to Bai Yunfei. From the foot of the mountain, a person leapt up to the canopus of a nearby tree.


    This person was the very same man that had been speaking to Yu Li and Nangong Yuexia earlier, Yue Feng!


    He kicked off from the tree, leaping from footrest to footrest to ascend up the mountain and to a respectful distance away from Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei said and did nothing but stare. This man didn¡¯t seem to harbor any ill-will towards him, but he was still unsure what exactly his intentions were.


    Yue Feng came to a stop. He smiled towards Bai Yunfei, ¡°Haha, I am no enemy, my friend, and neither am I with the Xing. I don¡¯t wish to cause any trouble.¡±


    The brows on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face furrowed together. This man in front of him was only a late-stage Soul Exalt¨Cnot a level that could intimidate him¨Cbut Bai Yunfei had the feeling he was a lot stronger and would be harder to deal with than Xing Qiufeng. There was also a rather silly-looking little brown bear slung around his back, and Bai Yunfei could see it was a late-stage class six!


    ¡°Why are you following me?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°I won¡¯t lie,¡± Yue Feng smiled, ¡°I¡¯m following you because I¡¯m waiting for somebody.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°What I¡¯m after has to do with the Xing. Since the Xing are chasing you, then the person I¡¯m after will be with them. So if I follow you, I¡¯ll meet him.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a grudge with the Xing?¡±


    ¡°Ah, no, that¡¯s not it.¡± Yue Feng dismissed Bai Yunfei¡¯s question, but he spoke again with a cold gleam in his eyes. ¡°The person I¡¯ve a grudge with is currently a guest of the Xing. He¡¯s hiding there, and even I don¡¯t have the strength to go after him as he hides. That is, until you came today¡­.hehe, I hope you don¡¯t mind, my friend, that I will take on that man when the Xing comes again. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find it helpful to you.¡±


    So that was it, Bai Yunfei realized. This man wanted to use Bai Yunfei as bait for someone, but that in itself wasn¡¯t too much of a bad thing since this man had nothing to do with him.


    And Bai Yunfei had nothing to do with his grudges.


    Not caring for the story, Bai Yunfei waved his Tempest Sword to him. Stepping onto it, he prepared to fly away.


    Yue Feng spoke up in a hurry, ¡°Woah, hold on! Brother, you can¡¯t leave! If you go, then the person I¡¯m after might no come!¡±


    He really didn¡¯t want Bai Yunfei to leave for a reason, of course. Should the person he was after come, he wouldn¡¯t be coming alone. The head of the Xing would most definitely be with him, and Bai Yunfei would be the one to fight him, leaving Yue Feng open to fight the other. But if Bai Yunfei left, then that¡¯d mean Yue Feng would have to fight the two of them without any help.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t concern me.¡± Was the response. Bai Yunfei was already on the sword, and the blue-eyes wyrm leaping on it with him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fly then! If you walk, they¡¯ll be here in a fl¡ª¡± As he was pleading with a finger pointing to Ventia City, a spike in soulforce alerted him to something.


    ¡°Haha, they¡¯re here!¡±


    His look of joy was not reflected by Bai Yunfei. Looking towards the city, Bai Yunfei saw two bolts of gold and purple light fly on over towards them.


    The second volley was here, and quick too!


    And these two men were both¡­.peak late-stage Soul Exalts!


    One of them men was surely the head of the Xing, but who was the other?


    ¡°The metal-type soul cultivator on the left is the head of the Xing, Xing Qiuhong. The lightning-type soul cultivator on the right is the strongest guest of the Xing, a wanderer infamous in the the Northern Ridge Province. Zi Mei the Wanderer¡¯. The person I¡¯m after is him¡­.¡±


    Yue Feng spoke to Bai Yunfei with a frown. The sight of Zi Mei had brought out a murderous intent from the man ever since he appeared.


    ¡°There are two people there, and two of us. We¡¯ll take one a piece, no problems with that?¡±

 Chapter 495: To Each, Their Battle!

    The way Yue Feng spoke, it seemed that he had all the confidence that he could deal with Zi Mei, and that he had faith in Bai Yunfei being able to take down the peak late-stage Soul Exalt, Xing Qiuhong.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. He had been able to kill peak late-stage Soul Exalts since he was an early-stage Soul Exalt, today would be no different. He was slightly happy that Yue Feng was here, fighting against two peak late-stage Soul Exalts would¡¯ve been annoying enough to make his victory uncertain.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard the Xing has a Soul King ancestor. Do you know if it¡¯s true or not?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, deciding to kill some time before the two Soul Exalts arrived to confirm.


    ¡°A Soul King?¡± Yue Feng repeated with some disdain. ¡°Hehe¡­.that¡¯s what they tell the entire world at the very least. Having a Soul King in any family brings up their name a lot, but according to what I know, they used to have an early-stage Soul King before.¡±


    ¡°Used to?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, curious on the usage of the past tense.


    ¡°Used to.¡± Yue Feng laughed, ¡°Outsiders might not know about it, but that Soul King died four years ago!


    ¡°Hehe, Soul Kings might be invincible in the eyes of ordinary soul cultivators, but to other Soul Kings, those at the early-stage have only managed to open the door. Four years ago, the Xing¡¯s Soul King fought another for a treasure and died as a result!¡±


    Yue Feng was quite knowledgeable about the situation of the house of Xing. Since Zi Mei was hiding with them, Yue Feng found it prudent to do a cursory investigation of them. This piece of information came to him entirely by accident, but not many people knew of it. It was in the best interest of the Xing to not let anyone know, since it¡¯d be unfavorable to them.


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. If this was the case, he didn¡¯t have much to worry about now.


    By now, the two Soul Exalts from the Xing were here, allowing Bai Yunfei to have a better look at them. Xing Qiuhong was flying on top of a green sword, and Zi Mei had a giant chained sword underneath his feet¨Cthey were both using flying soul armaments!


    The two came to an eventual stop, the light from their soul armaments petering out.


    Xing Qiuhong wore a golden robe. He looked to be in his fifties, and his face was contorted with fury.


    Zi Mei looked younger and in his forties. He wore a dark purple robe, and just like his name, his eyebrows were equally purple. To look even more strange, his eyes were like those of a serpent, giving him the aura of a very sinister person.


    Xing Qiuhong said nothing at first when they stopped. It was Zi Mei who stared at Yue Feng with wide-open eyes, ¡°It¡¯s you!!¡±


    His voice was hoarse-sounding and nearly threatened to give the chills to anyone that heard it.


    Yue Feng sent him a death glare, ¡°I¡¯ve finally found you, Zi Mei. This time, don¡¯t think on trying to escape! The lives of the fifty-three people in Frond Village will be paid for with your life!¡±


    This was the grudge Yue Feng had with Zi Mei!


    Yue Feng traveled to many places in his training, a small mountain village being one of those places. The villagers there had been nice and welcoming. But upon the second visit, Yue Feng was greeted with the sight of the village ruins! Not a single living person was in sight, only the maimed remnants of its inhabitants from what appeared to be the result of a beast eating them!


    His later investigations found that it was because of Zi Mei that these villagers died! They had died solely for the sake of ¡®feeding¡¯ his contracted soulbeast.


    Ever since that day, Yue Feng spent every moment tracking down Yue Feng like a man possessed. On their first meeting, Yue Feng managed to kill his soulbeast, but Zi Mei had escaped and fled to the Xing for refuge.


    Zi Mei had a dark look on his face as he stared hatefully at Yue Feng. ¡°Lord Xing,¡± he spoke to Xing Qiuhong, ¡°I have some matters with this one. I will kill him myself. I hope that you will take care of the other one yourself.¡±


    And now the situation was put into stone. Two one on one battles, to each their own.


    Without any words other than ¡®good luck¡¯ to Bai Yunfei, Yue Feng took off to the left to bring Zi Mei with him away so they could fight without worry of the other.


    Neither Bai Yunfei nor Xing Qiuhong bothered for the Yue Feng or Zi Mei. ¡°Are you the one who killed my family?!¡± Xing Qiuhong demanded.


    Bai Yunfei chose to look away rather than to look at Xing Qiuhong¡¯s hateful eyes, ¡°Don¡¯t try to play the victim here. Your son isn¡¯t innocent by any means, even in his death. And those people after him came of their own accord to kill me, not the other way around. If Your Xing wants to try and kill me, then they should in turn be prepared to be killed.¡±


    ¡°Hah! Alright then!!¡± Xing Qiuhong exploded with anger, ¡°You are but one man challenging the entirety of the house of Xing, brat! I will torture you before I kill you!!¡±


    ¡°The entirety of the Xing, you say? Is there even anyone left in it?¡± Bai Yunfei shot back, ¡°And just so you know, when Xing Luo sought me out, he ended up dying to his own poisonous weapon.¡±


    ¡°Yo¡ª¡± Xing Qiuhong¡¯s body trembled at the mere mention of his son¡¯s death. ¡°Die!!¡± He roared with as much hate as he could muster.


    ¡°Ah¨Cthat word. Your son said the same thing before he died¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei snorted. Mustering soulforce to his feet, Bai Yunfei took the first move by flying towards Xing Qiuhong!


    Instead of using his flying soul armament, Xing Qiuhong chose instead to fly at Bai Yunfei with a giant metallic axe in his right hand. His left hand thrusted forwards, shooting a jet of black light towards Bai Yunfei!


    It followed Bai Yunfei as it moved, twisting and turning to follow Bai Yunfei¡¯s movements as it swelled in size and let loose an ear-splitting hiss!


    This was no arrow, but a black python!! And from its aura¡­.it was a peak late-stage class six soulbeast!


    Xing Qiuhong had a such a powerful soulbeast as its partner!


    ¡°A darkgold boa!!¡± Bai Yunfei realized. This was a rare species of soulbeast that couldn¡¯t become a class seven, but it was endowed with the ability to have a dual affinity of darkness and metal. It was adept in hiding, as proved by how it had been hiding in Xing Qiuhong¡¯s sleeves without Bai Yunfei knowing about it.


    Extending to several dozen meters longer than its previous size with its tail still wrapped around Xing Qiuhong, the darkgold boa moved to devour Bai Yunfei.


    It came at him, eyes golden and incisors ready to clamp down on him. A putrid stench wafting from its maw.


    Kicking against the elemental platform holding him up, Bai Yunfei leapt on top of the boa and then use its head to run towards Xing QIuhong.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm roared once, its body exploding with blue light as it prepared for an airborne battle. Its giant body leapt up into the air, and then¡­.came falling back down onto the boa¡¯s head as if to ride it!


    This ¡®intelligent¡¯ move had caught the boa off guard. With the sudden weight, the boa was forced to fall down towards the river with the wyrm!


    Via communication with Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi chirped and followed the wyrm down to attack the boa.


    Bai Yunfei was already in his ¡®coil¡¯ form. The Cataclysmic Seal was protecting him, and his Fire-tipped Spear was out in his hands to attack the incoming blur of golden light.


    At the same time several hundred meters away on the other mountain, three furious sources of soulforce were blazing wildly as they clashed with one another.


    The battles had begun!

 Chapter 496: The Conclusion of a Battle

    ¡°Hiss!!!¡±


    There was an agonized hiss followed by a tremendous explosion on the riverbed below. Water surged into the skies due to displacement before falling back down to refill the new huge crater with water and rubble.


    The hiss came from the darkgold boa, countless streams of golden light escaping from it along with a tinge of black to attack the two enemies above it.


    ¡°Roarr!!¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm unleashed a roar of its own, turning the elemental water around it into a giant barrier of water. It protected the wyrm from any of the boa¡¯s attacks, but crumbled after the onslaught ended.


    To the side, Xiao Qi didn¡¯t bother to use any elemental energy to protect itself. Glowing violet and azure, it disappeared into a blur and dodged each of the golden rays without damage.


    The rays slammed against the cliff behind Xiao Qi, exploding and sending rubble flying everywhere.


    In response to the attack, Xiao Qi summoned five hundred blades of wind and then another five hundred bolts of purple lightning.


    Fearful at the attacks coming at it, the darkgold boa tried to swim away from the area, only to have the blue-eyes wyrm step into the waters and send three whips of water to coil around the serpent and hold it in place!


    Hissing furiously, the boa extended its tail out from its confines and swung around the blue-eyes wyrm to whip the wyrm!


    The wyrm roared in pain, stumbling backwards from the blow with a scary-looking wound on its waist. From its expression, the wound had been a decent one.


    Its distraction allowed the boa to escape from its confines, but it was a little too late! All five hundred of the blades and lightning bolts was already raining down on it!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!¡­.¡±


    Countless explosions rocked the river, along with a very furious hissing from the boa as water splashed everywhere. The destruction had been so heavy that even the blue-eyes wyrm chose to retreat a hundred meters back onto dry land.


    The explosion came to an end a short two seconds later. Now that the winds and bolts were gone, the battlefield was silent aside from the one hiss of fear from the boa!


    ¡°Hiss!!!¡±


    Several seconds later, Xiao Qi¡¯s chirping was heard as well!


    Five black dots appeared in front of Xiao Qi when it spread its wings wide. Feeding more soulforce into these five dots, they grew in length before becoming five ten-meter long blades of emptiness!


    The Spatial Edges!


    Upon formation, the five Spatial Edges flew noiselessly down to the ground and into the water.


    There wasn¡¯t even a splashing sound when it touched the water. The water that touched the Spatial Edge had disappeared along with the hissing of the snake!


    ¡­¡­


    The death of the darkgold boa wasn¡¯t lost to Xing Qiuhong. He paled when he felt its aura get snuffed out, and then he spat out a mouthful of blood!


    ¡°Im¡­impossible!!¡±


    Xing Qiuhong couldn¡¯t believe it. In just a short few minutes, his soulbeast partner had been killed by two soulbeasts even weaker it!


    The short few moments he spent fighting Bai Yunfei was already enough to surprise him. Through some sort of secret technique, Bai Yunfei had brought himself to the same level of strength he was! And the soul armament he was using was even more surprising!


    He was in bad shape now. With how a soul contract works, once the contracted soulbeast dies, the soul cultivator would be dealt a tremendous amount of damage, meaning he had lost his focus!


    And what did it meant to lose one¡¯s focus in a battle between the mighty? A swift and merciless death, of course!


    Xing Qiuhong¡¯s sudden decline in fighting prowess didn¡¯t escape Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Capitalizing on it as fast as he could, Bai Yunfei stored away his Fire-tipped Spear so that his hands were free to go through several seals.


    The Dual Dragon Burst!!


    Two coils of fire spun around his arms, building up energy and fire as Bai Yunfei continued through the seals. A hint of purple lightning ran through the coils before the dragons burst forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms!


    Seemingly roaring as they exited, the dragons grew until they reached ten meters in width and immeasurable in strength!


    With Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength, he was able to fire off the Dual Dragon Bursts before Xing Qiuhong could even recover, speeding towards the man faster than Xing Qiuhong could respond!


    Paling again in the face at the sight of the two dragons, Xing Qiuhong knew he couldn¡¯t escape in time. He dropped his golden axe in front of him, trying to supplement his defense with his elemental metal.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The loudest explosion yet rocked the world as the two dragons engulfed the man and traveled into the other mountain!


    The earth trembled as the dragons smashed into it. Collapsing, the right part of the mountain fractured in multiple places and eventually tumbled down to the base of the mountain! Even with so much destruction caused by it, the dragons were still trying to force their way through it!


    Within the two dragons, the aura of Xing Qiuhong started to grow weaker as his defenses weakened as well¡­.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Flying to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, Xiao Qi glared at the two dragons and flapped its wings. Three separate Spatial Edges flew out from its wings and towards Xing Qiuhong!


    Xing Qiuhong, at the moment, was trying his best to deal with the elemental fire all around him. Fear was setting into his eyes as the elemental fire started to overpower him. If he didn¡¯t know any better, he would¡¯ve thought these two dragons were formed by the power of a Soul King, not a Soul Exalt!


    It was to his great shock to see three blades of nothing sail into the dragons and towards him. As they approached, Xing Qiuhong began to feel the bells of danger start going off.


    His eyes went bloodshot, he himself unwilling to die just like this.


    ¡°No!!!!!¡±


    He roared, desperation finally kicking in. The soulforce in his body began to spark wildly as the elemental metal around him slowly started to force back the elemental fire!


    Xing Qiuhong was¡­.sacrificing his essence metalseed for more power!


    But it was already too late!!


    The three Spatial Edges cut through the fire and into his body, leaving behind parts of his body before it hit the mountain and disappeared¡­.


    With three separate Spatial Edges hitting him, only ten percent of Xing Qiuhong¡¯s body was left, such as a part of his arm and his head. But even those two were quickly swallowed up by the now unchecked elemental fire¡­..


    ¡°Ah!!!!¡±


    From the other side of the mountain, Bai Yunfei felt the aura of Zi Mei get extinguished as well!


    Yue Feng had somehow killed his opponent just as quickly as Bai Yunfei!


    The battle was over!

 Chapter 497: Apprentice of Elder Hai

    The fires from the Dual Dragon Burst burned away at the mountains for a while before Bai Yunfei cancelled out the technique. Waving his hand, he dispelled the remaining fires and watched as the rest of the mountain crumbled. With another wave, the space ring of Xing Qiuhong was brought over to him.


    He took the ring into his hand calmly and then looked to where Xiao Qi was. As of this moment, the bird was curled in on itself as it went through its levelling up mode. Bai Yunfei smiled.


    Xing Qiuhong would¡¯ve succumbed to the Dual Dragon Burst even without Xiao Qi¡¯s assistance. But by landing the killing blow, Xiao Qi had essentially ¡®stole¡¯ the experience, an act Bai Yunfei was already familiar with from the bird.


    In the rivers below, the blue-eyes wyrm was just satisfying itself by taking the head of the darkgold boa into its mouth and swallowed it whole. The water in the river surged upwards to surround the wyrm, serving as a barrier for it to digest the energy of the soulgem. From the outside, it looked as if the blue-eyes wyrm was in an ¡®egg¡¯ of sorts.


    Bai Yunfei turned to the left this time, where Yue Feng had been fighting. The elemental energy from that direction was already gone for the most part, since Yue Feng had already killed Zi Mei.


    Bai Yunfei had to admit, he was surprised. He didn¡¯t expect Yue Feng to be that fast in dealing with his opponent.


    Zi Mei was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, and Yue Feng only a late-stage. It was only a small word that divided the two classifications, but the division in reality for most soul cultivators was far bigger than what a word could possibly define. Even the aid of a late-stage class six soulbeast wouldn¡¯t be enough to make up for this difference.


    Yue Feng was very clearly not like ¡®most¡¯ soul cultivators.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the only one that had an armada of soul armaments and soul skills enough to kill people stronger than him.


    Bai Yunfei dispelled the ¡®coil¡¯ form, feeling as his soulforce started to wash back into him. He stared off towards the direction of Ventia City.


    ¡°Now that lord Xing is dead, will the Xing stop sending people after me? They shouldn¡¯t have anyone left.¡±


    That last line struck a chord in Bai Yunfei, ¡°Does that mean I pretty much destroyed an entire family?¡±


    A sigh escaped from his lips, ¡°This is why power is so important. Back then, I had to flee for my life when a Soul Ancestor was strong enough to put me in danger. But now, I can easily kill a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, and his family to boot¡­.¡±


    Yue Feng chose this time to come back to Bai Yunfei. There was a melancholic light in Yue Feng¡¯s eyes, as if there was something weighing him down. He didn¡¯t look hurt from his battle, but nothing other than that. The orange bear on his right shoulder looked slightly depressed as well, but that was more likely due to the amount of soulforce consumption.


    Before he was too close to Bai Yunfei, Yue Feng made sure to hide his sadness and replace it with a smile. When he saw the destroyed mountain peak caused by Bai Yunfei, a hint of shock passed through his eyes. He also looked curiously at Xiao Qi, but turned back to Bai Yunfei to say, ¡°Haha! You¡¯re an amazing one¡­.I never thought that you¡¯d kill Xing Qiuhong faster than I killed Zi Mei.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled back, ¡°You weren¡¯t too far behind.¡±


    ¡°Come to think of it, I never introduced myself. My name is Yue Feng, whats yours?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?¡± The name gave pause to Yue Feng for a moment. He had heard this name somewhere, ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­.sounds familiar. Where have I heard it?¡±


    It came to him in the next second, ¡°I remember! The Crafting School! Bai Yunfei! You¡¯re the disciple of headmaster Zi Jin! My master mentioned you before!¡±


    ¡°Your Master?¡± This time, it was Bai Yunfei who looked startled, ¡°And your master was¡­?¡±


    ¡°My master is Hai Dongqing, a good friend of senior Zi Jin. You¡¯ve meet him before, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°Senior Hai?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew to his brows, ¡°You¡¯re senior Hai¡¯s disciple, brother Yue? Haha, what a coincidence to meet you here.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had a pretty good impression of Hai Dongqing. Back when Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun returned from the Forest Pass Province, Hai Dongqing and Zi Jin had both been pouring over the game of Go. Unfortunately for Hai Dongqing, he was hopeless at the game, but he wasn¡¯t a bad person in general, and Bai Yunfei liked him a decent amount.


    Hai Dongqing continued to visit the Crafting School for a decent amount of time after that too. It wasn¡¯t until he got Zi Jin to make him a Go board and an amazing soul armament that he finally left.


    There was another thing¡­.Hai Dongqing was one of the five great wandering soul cultivators as well.


    If Yue Feng was Hai Dongqing¡¯s disciple, then him being so strong wasn¡¯t too strange.


    ¡°Yes, what a coincidence it was. I never thought to meet you, though my master has high praise for you¡­.He¡¯s mentioned many times to me that he took on an apprentice far too late, and that his good friend Zi Jin¡¯s apprentice was nearly stronger than he was. That¡¯s why he picked me as his apprentice, though he says that I can¡¯t lose out to the disciple of Zi Jin¡­.


    ¡°But I know now that you are without a doubt a true genius, brother Bai. A mid-stage Soul Exalt at your age and being able to kill a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, words can¡¯t even describe this¡­.¡±


    ¡°You over flatter me too much, brother Yue. I am only just a product of fate and happenstance.¡±


    There was a happy trill from Xiao Qi as it finished its levelling up. Bai Yunfei smiled as he turned his head to look at Xiao Qi.


    Right now, Xiao Qi¡¯s strength was strong enough to be a late-stage class six almost!


    Xiao Qi hadn¡¯t that feeling before, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t think that killing the peak late-stage class six darkgold boa and then peak late-stage Soul Exalt Xing Qiuhong would grant so much experience to the bird! If Xiao Qi continued to grow like this, the bird would be the first to breakthrough out of the three of them!


    Yue Feng¡¯s eyes were wide open with shock, ¡°Brother Bai, your soulbeast¡­.how hasn¡¯t it become a class seven yet¡­.?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Qi is a special type of soulbeast, being a variant.¡± He smiled.


    ¡°A variant soulbeast!¡± A look of envy crossed over Yue Feng¡¯s face, ¡°Wow, the one in a ten thousand kind of variant soulbeast? That¡¯s¡­.¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    An ecstatic roar from the river below interrupted Yue Feng. The ¡®egg¡¯ in the river fell apart, revealing the blue-eyes wyrm in it. Its wounds were all completely healed, and its body shined a fresh blue light and along with a tinge of black! Like Xiao Qi, its aura was slightly different now that it was a peak late-stage class six!


    ¡°Uh¡­.that¡­.that¡­.¡± Yue Feng¡¯s eyes opened wide again, ¡°Brother Bai, this blue-eyes wyrm, why¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei coughed. ¡°Haha, this one is a variant as well¡­¡±


    Yue Feng was speechless.


    ¡°Your contracted soulbeast must be that one?¡± Yue Feng spoke after a very brief moment of silence. He was pointing at Xiao Qi who was now on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°But then that blue-eyes wyrm must be¡­.¡± He pointed at the wyrm coming up towards them.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a soulbeast that decided to follow me after I saved it in the Soulbeast Forest. It¡¯s a very smart soulbeast and wanted to follow me for a while.¡±


    Again, Yue Feng had nothing to say about that.


    The sky was getting dark now, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t miss that. ¡°Brother Yue, I will be leaving this place, what about you¡­?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll be returning to Ventia City. I¡¯ve some friends there that want to go into the Soulbeast Forest.¡±


    He looked off to the direction of Ventia City. Yue Feng initially thought that it¡¯d take a lot longer to take his revenge, but now that he was done with it, he figured he could go find Yu Li and Nangong Yuexia.


    Bai Yunfei nodded with a polite salute, ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll take my leave then. Until we meet again, brother Yue!¡±


    ¡°Until we meet again!¡± Yue Feng saluted back.


    And so the two left, to each their separate ways¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Ventia City, in the mansion of the Xing.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    There was a mournful scream that broke the silence of the night. It had been very weak, and barely audible beyond the walls of the compound.


    Right now in this moment, there was a bone-chilling event that was happening to the number one family in the Northern Ridge Province¡­.

 Chapter 498: The Tragedy of the Xing! (First)

    A while back, Xing Qiufeng and Zi Mei had only just left the compound to chase after Bai Yunfei.


    Within the compound was a single hidden room.


    This was the most secretive room the house of Xing had in its compound, containing many of its most precious treasures and such. Only a select few knew of its existence, and even less were even able to enter. Even Xing Luo, the second son of the current head of the house, wasn¡¯t able to enter.


    In this moment where it seemed no one would be in the room, there was actually a single person searching through the place. All of the precious treasures that had been stocked neatly on the shelves were being thrown oh-so casually through the air by this person, as if uninterested by the things in his search.


    At the entrance of the hidden room stood a single person dressed richly in fine silk. The person didn¡¯t move from its spot, though his body trembled violently as if fighting against something as he watched the other person ransacking the place. The man was furious, but at the same time, terrified.


    This man was the eldest son of Xing Qiuhong, Xing Shu.


    Bai Yunfei saw this person once before actually. Back in the Soulbeast Forest, he had been the young man being protected by the others when they fought the blue-eyes wyrm. They had went into the forest for Xing Shu to find a contracted soulbeast, but thanks to Bai Yunfei, they returned to Ventia City empty-handed.


    A precious guest of the Xing had been killed by him at that time, and Xing Qiuhong was all too furious about it.


    The person currently ransacking the room was a friend of the one who died, the late-stage Soul Exalt. The two of them were at the moment being supported by the Xing and were highly regarded by Xing Qiuhong. But when all the experts went after to kill Bai Yunfei, this man took advantage of it to find the secret room and search for something.


    Xing Shu was very afraid that this man would injure or hurt him, but as long as his father came back, then this man could be captured and dealt with.


    ¡°It really isn¡¯t¡­.here. Is that thing really not in this room? Or¡­.did Xing Qiuhong take it with him?¡±


    The person muttered as he continued to ransack every single spot and corner in the room. Most of the secret mechanisms and spots were already found by him, but nothing had what he wanted.


    He whirled around and stalked towards Xing Shu. Thanks to the illumination of the lightstone there, this man¡¯s face could finally be seen.


    He stood at 1.8 meters tall and was cloaked by a black mantle. His short black hair could be seen by his neck, but his face could not¡­.since he was wearing a golden mask.


    Stripes of blood were painted on the mask, as if symbolizing scar wounds on a face, giving him a very demonic expression. And to add even more to his mystique, his eyes were a very peculiar combination.


    One eye was normal, but the left eye was a strange silver, and its iris was a slit!


    Yao Tong.


    TL Note: Demon, Devil, Monster, Evil Eye, etc etc.


    That was the name Xing Shu knew this man as.


    ¡­¡­


    Even from behind his golden mask, the icy glare could easily be felt by Xing Shu. ¡°If you answer my questions, you may live.¡±


    Once again, fear started to swell up in Xing Shu¡¯s heart. He didn¡¯t plea for his life, though, and nodded his head mutely. He was no idiot. Right now, following the man¡¯s directions was the best way he could live.


    ¡°Xing Shuangqing, has he returned?¡±


    ¡°Grandfather?!¡± Xing Shu hadn¡¯t expected for the man to ask about his grandfather. He shook his head, however, ¡°Grandfather left ten years ago and hasn¡¯t returned.¡±


    ¡°Ten years ago¡­.¡± Yao Tong repeated. Xing Shu didn¡¯t seem to be lying. But if this was the case, had his trip here been a waste?


    ¡°Has your family never received any messages recently?¡± He asked another question.


    ¡°I¡­.I don¡¯t kn¡­.¡± Xing Shu started to respond, but then when Yao Tong looked dissatisfied, he quickly amended his answer, ¡°Oh! I remember! Three years ago, I think I heard my father mention something about the third uncle coming across grandfather on his journey! He also said grandfather had only said a few quick words before leaving. I don¡¯t know anything after that, grandfather hasn¡¯t returned since then, I¡¯m telling you¡­.¡±


    ¡°Three years ago!¡± Yao Tong¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Do you know if your third uncle brought anything back with him?¡±


    Xing Shu¡¯s forehead was dripping with sweat now, ¡°I don¡¯t know about that¡­.father never mentioned it before.¡±


    His third uncle was Xing Qiugu, one of the fews sent to kill Bai Yunfei and died.


    ¡°If this is true, then perhaps Xing Qiugu brought it back home with him¡­.if this place doesn¡¯t has it, then it must mean Xing Qiuhong has it with him!¡± A pensive look entered Yao Tong¡¯s eyes. He hadn¡¯t accounted for Xing Qiuhong carrying it around, but this meant Yao Tong would just have to wrestle it away from him¡­.


    Xing Shu watched as Yao Tong thought to himself, fearful about accidentally doing something that might anger the man and lead to his death.


    Suddenly, Yao Tong¡¯s eyes dilated, as if realizing something. He looked up to his left, and then moving quickly, he disappeared from the room!


    Xing Shu was surprised to see him go, but it did his heart some good to see him gone. If he was gone, that meant Xing Shu could relax and celebrate that his life had been spared. But before he could even call for help, there was a scream from up above!


    ¡­¡­


    Right above the hidden room in the Xing compound.


    There in the wide open courtyards of the compound stood a single man dressed in white. His hair was equally white due to his age as a seventy-something year old man.


    There was a middle-aged man besides his foot, the fourth attendant to the Xing, Xing Qiuyang.


    Xing Qiuyang¡¯s eyes were vacant and without light, as he was dead already. But the more surprising thing was the bloody hole straight through his forehead! It looked as if something had ate its way into his head!


    A sense of forbidding was starting to settle in the courtyard as everyone started to run away in fright. But before they could even get far, they all fell to the ground, spasmed, and then moved no more.


    If one looked closely, several small black lines were flying through the air, and whenever a person was touched by it, they would grasp at their neck in fear and try to scream, but no sound was uttered.


    There was a flash of purple light in the courtyard before a giant cat with glowing red eyes and six tails came down to the ground. Even more surprisingly, there were five people wrapped up in its tails!


    These five people were the remaining five Soul Exalts of the Xing! Not a single one of them had escaped, and now, almost every member of the Xing was dead!


    Almost was the operative word. For there was still one person left alive.


    And that person was Xing Shu!

 Chapter 499: The Fourth Elder of the Beast Taming School! (Second)

    Xing Shu¡¯s face was a deathly sheen of white, his eyes filled with absolute horror as he was wrapped up in the tail of the soulbeast. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me!¡± He cried to the white-robed elder, ¡°Don¡¯t kill me!! I¡¯ll talk! I¡¯ll talk!! Whatever it is, I¡¯ll tell you, but please, just don¡¯t kill me!!¡±


    The elder gave him a cold glare, ¡°You¡¯re a tactful, one, but¡­.I don¡¯t need you to talk!¡±


    With a wave of his right hand, Xing Shu was suddenly thrown up to the air by his neck. From the right sleeves of the old man¡¯s robes, a bloody red earthworm shot out from it. It¡¯s body was entirely slick, and it had no eyes, ears, or nose. Its ¡®head¡¯ was shaped just like a drill!


    Under the frightened eyes of Xing Shu, the strange soulbeast landed on his body. With a ¡®shlick¡¯, the soulbeast dug¡­.into Xing Shu¡¯s forehead!


    Xing Shu¡¯s face slackened up and his face opened to scream, but then the emotions on his face froze as the strange soulbeast made its way to his head. Flashing red with light, the earthworm began to wriggle as if absorbing something, causing Xing Shu¡¯s eyes to start to dim, but¡­.he didn¡¯t die straight away!


    His eyes dimmed gradually, and then, the light of if he recalled something appeared in them!


    Under this strange and horrifying situation, Xing Shu¡¯s face continued to remain blank for a good ten minutes before the soulbeast popped out from his forehead. The moment it came out, Xing Shu¡¯s eyes dimmed for good as he died. Collapsing to the ground, his head made a hollow sound when it hit the ground¨Chis brain had been entirely devoured!


    The white-robed elder had his eyes closed when his soulbeast drilled into Xing Shu¡¯s mind. It appeared as though he was sensing something from Xing Shu, and from the movements within his sleeves¡­.it could be seen that the tail of the earthworm soulbeast was connected with his arm!


    The other end of its tail had tunneled into his body!


    After a while, the elder opened his eyes with a pensive look. ¡°It¡¯s not here in the Xing compound, then¡­.does Xing Qiuhong have it?¡± He turned to the south.


    ¡°This information has to be false. It can¡¯t be verified, but if the headmaster sends me to verify it, then I will do what I must. I just need to find that Xing Qiuhong¡­.¡±


    Not a single living person was left in the courtyard as the elder muttered to himself. The Xing was completely and utterly dead!


    The ¡®black lines¡¯ that had killed everyone in the courtyard had already returned to his body. At a closer glance, one could see that these black lines were¡­.a group of bees flying about!


    There had to be at least a hundred of them. Each one a pitch-black color with just two red dots on their heads¨Cthat was their eyes. Even more terrifying was that each one of them were soulbeasts¡­.and each of them were early-stage class five soulbeasts!


    Now that all the flying insects were back, the elder looked around once more to confirm that no one was left living. With a wave of his hand, the hundred flying insects disappeared without a trace, including the purple and black six-tailed giant cat!


    What this situation meant was¡­.this man was from the Beast Taming School!


    And after he stored away the soulbeasts, his body lit up with a green light and his robes started to sway as if being blown by a gentle wind. Levitating up into the air with his hands behind his back, he ¡®flew¡¯ away!


    This wasn¡¯t stepping into the air using elemental energy as platforms, this was the ability of flight!


    This man was a Soul King!


    This man was the fourth elder of the Beast Taming School, Huang Lin!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    A little off the main roads from Ventia City, in a small clearing.


    There lied a small forest. Right now, Bai Yunfei was sitting next to a tree with a campfire in front of him cooking his supper.


    Whether it was him or his two soulbeasts, the three of them were feeling a little tired from their previous battle. It wasn¡¯t fatigue brought by physical activities, but from their soulforce being used. They needed to replenish the amount of soulforce they had, so the three of them were eating three times their normal amounts while star gazing to their hearts content.


    Now that all his worries from the Xing were gone, Bai Yunfei felt himself at ease. He didn¡¯t stay in the area for long and left it after saying goodbye to Yue Feng. After some time, he stopped for the night.


    Aside from the fact that Ventia City had a little more trouble than he was used to, it wasn¡¯t too bad for Bai Yunfei. If anything, Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan both received quite a decent amount of ¡®benefits¡¯.


    After finishing their meal, Bai Yunfei took out a space ring into his hands.


    After the matter with the Xing, he obtained at least ten of their space rings. After checking each one, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t noticed anything good.


    This was how the soul cultivator world worked.When people fought, not only did one lose their lives, they lost their items. The ¡®spoils of war¡¯ system was common sense in this world, so many soul cultivators wouldn¡¯t put their most valuable objects in their space ring when they ventured out. This rang especially true for those part of a school or huge family.


    This time, Bai Yunfei was looking at the rings of Xing Luo, Xu Shen, and Wu Ming. After that came Xing Qiufeng, Xing Qiugu, and then Xing Qiuhong.


    Looking through the ring with his soulsense, Bai Yunfei noticed one item that was peculiar and took it out. It was a pointy purple dagger.


    This was the same dagger Xing Luo used to try and kill him.


    Equipment Grade: Low Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Lightning


    Attack: 550


    Upgrade Requirement: 90 Soulpoints


    An ordinary soul armament.


    ¡°Looks like the poison was applied to it and not an equipment effect¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei lost interest in the dagger. That poison had been extremely terrifying if it could immediately poison and kill a Soul Ancestor. What effects it would have on a Soul Exalt or higher was unknown to him, but it would surely deal a decent amount of harm, but only if it connected. The most important thing was that the poison didn¡¯t originate from the dagger and would go away with each use. With Bai Yunfei¡¯s current strength, a dagger like this was for the most part useless.


    Continuing to look through the space ring, Bai Yunfei saw plenty of things, but nothing worth mentioning.


    There were gold, primal stones, soulgems, and soul armaments, but nothing that Bai Yunfei really thought stood out. Not even a single high-earth soul armament was to be had, the highest grade primal stones were low-tier, and the soulgems weren¡¯t high quality either.


    At last that left only Xing Qiuhong¡¯s space ring to be looked through.


    The golden axe Xing Qiuhong used in his battle had been a high-earth tier soul armament. But unfortunately, it had been destroyed by Xiao Qi when it used its Spatial Edge on it.


    Fortunately, there was still several other goodies to be had in the ring for sure.


    But before Bai Yunfei could start looking through it, his head jerked upwards.


    Up in the night sky, there was a man with a golden mask stepping through the skies to him!

 Chapter 500: Fighting Yao Tong Again (Third)

    The moment Bai Yunfei sensed someone was approaching, he sucked in a sharp breath, ¡°Someone else from the Xing?!¡±


    But then when he saw the person coming over, his eyes widened in shock, ¡°It¡¯s him!¡± He thought.


    He had seen this person before!


    It was six years ago, but Bai Yunfei came across this man with a strange golden mask before!


    Back in Stonegroove City where he met Jing Mingfeng, this man had chased after him!


    At that time, Bai Yunfei had nearly lost his life in the stone forest outside the city. It was only with Jiang Fan¡¯s timely assistance that he was able to escape. (Refer to Bai Yunfei never imagined that he¡¯d meet the same man again six years later.


    But while he was thinking to himself about the surprise, the man was already descending down to the ground a few hundred meters away.


    ¡­¡­


    Yao Tong stared at Bai Yunfei, his eyes flashing with light from behind his mask. There was also a curious look when he took in the sights of the two soulbeasts with him.


    Of course, he didn¡¯t recognize Bai Yunfei. Too much time had already passed for that. The opposite wasn¡¯t true for Bai Yunfei since Yao Tong had left a deep impression on him.


    But what Yao Tong was doing was observing Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei stood up to stare back. He didn¡¯t know what the man was after, but he clearly wasn¡¯t here on good business, as he was already in a fighting stance.


    ¡°Hand over Xing Qiuhong¡¯s space ring and your life will be spared.¡±


    The man spoke after a long period of silence.


    Bai Yunfei lifted an eyebrow¨Chow ¡®arrogant¡¯ this man was!


    This man was a late-stage Soul Exalt, meaning he felt himself confident in his odds against a mid-stage Soul Exalt. There was also the other two soulbeast with Bai Yunfei to consider. Xiao Qi was a mid-stage class six, and Xiao Lan was a late-stage class seven. So Bai Yunfei found it very strange that the man was so confident in his chances.


    ¡°He¡­must have a strong soulbeast with him that makes him think he can win¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei guessed.


    And as if proving Bai Yunfei¡¯s guess, a gold streak of light flew up into the air behind Yao Tong like a shining meteor to land upon his right shoulder.


    It was a gold colored swift!


    ¡°What a rare soulbeast¨Ca golden swift! And a¡­.peak late-stage class six one!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened as he identified the soulbeast. This surely had to be the soulbeast Yao Tong was contracted with, it was stronger than Yao Tong himself!


    The golden swift was a soulbeast even rarer than the blue-eyes wyrm and thunderfire wolf. It had only one element, but its speed wouldn¡¯t lose out to even those training in the wind element. It couldn¡¯t change its size either, but with its small body and great speed, it could fly straight and true another person¡¯s body like an arrow.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s mood grew slightly grim at the appearance of the golden swift. He didn¡¯t know if his senses were dulled due to the previous battle, but Bai Yunfei had the distinct feeling that this person would be a lot harder to beat than Xing Qiuhong¡­.


    When Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t grace him with a response for ten seconds, Yao Tong¡¯s eyes hardened. His right hand extended outwards, a golden sword appearing in his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just have to kill you and take the ring from you then.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been trying to think of why this man would want Xing Qiuhong¡¯s space ring so much, but time had not permitted him to think any longer. He couldn¡¯t look at what was so special about the ring either since he had to deal with this guy before he could do it.


    Since his opponent was now ready to fight, Bai Yunfei saw no reason to not prepare either. His Fire-tipped Spear and Cataclysmic Seal appeared in his hand and above him in a flash of light.


    Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan prepared to fight as well.


    The golden swift on Yao Tong¡¯s shoulder chose then to let out a screech before flying forward!


    Quickly too!


    Bai Yunfei was completely caught off guard by its speed! It beat his Flash Step by a good margin in speed!


    He had been prepared for movement, but the speed at which the bird was flying at was nearly too fast for Bai Yunfei to see completely as it shot at him!


    It was almost easier to say the golden swift had transformed into a golden bullet to shoot Bai Yunfei through the heart!


    Bai Yunfei was confident that even with his armor, the golden swift would be strong enough to break through it and him!


    It was a good thing he had the Cataclysmic Seal!


    As fast as the golden swift could fly, a single thought travels even faster. Before the bird could get to Bai Yunfei, the Cataclysmic Seal had already erected a barrier to protect Bai Yunfei as he moved to the left.


    ¡°Crash!!¡±


    Like the shattering of glass, Bai Yunfei was astounded to see his earth barrier stop the golden swift for just a brief moment before shattering into pieces!


    He hadn¡¯t put in the maximum amount of soulforce, sure, but that didn¡¯t take away from how terrifyingly strong the swift was!


    Not even decreasing in speed, the golden swift blew past Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist and cut at his soul armor, leaving behind a gash in it!


    The golden swift¡¯s first attempt had failed to kill Bai Yunfei, and now the favor was being returned with a giant tail to hit it!


    The blue-eyes wyrm had calculated the golden swift¡¯s flight path and swung its tail accordingly. When it seemed like it would connect, the golden swift amazingly swerved out of the way and evaded the wyrm¡¯s tail!


    There was an angry trill as Xiao Qi launched itself at the swift, its wings glowing azure and violet to chase it down!


    A pre-emptive strike like the one done by the golden swift had signaled the start of the battle brilliantly. Bai Yunfei had only just a moment to himself after the blow when he saw a gleam of golden light in front of him¨CYao Tong was already in front of him with his golden longsword ready to stab Bai Yunfei through the throat!


    Yao Tong¡¯s speed was just as fast as Bai Yunfei¡¯s Flash Step!


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei brought his Fire-tipped Spear up to defend against the sword. Clashing with each other, Bai Yunfei kicked against the ground to bring him several meters away from Yao Tong.


    As Yao Tong was about to chase after him, he suddenly leapt to his right, abandoning the chase just in time for the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s tail to sail through the area where his head had once been!


    Given this reprieve, Bai Yunfei extended his hand towards the Cataclysmic Seal. The fireseed in it popped out, and then into his chest.


    Fighting this man as a mid-stage Soul Exalt would be pointless, he had to enter the ¡®coil¡¯ form!


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s sharp increase in strength elicited a small gasp from Yao Tong, but he didn¡¯t falter in his movements. In another burst of speed, he flew at Bai Yunfei again with his sword ready to pierce Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead this time!

 Chapter 501: Retreat (Fourth)

    Yao Tong¡¯s sword came to a stop just a brief three inches away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. The Cataclysmic Seal had stopped it!


    Now that the sword was stopped, Bai Yunfei brought his right hand upwards to knock the golden sword away from his forehead. When the sword was knocked away, Bai Yunfei struck with his Fire-tipped Spear!


    Yao Tong twisted to the side, evading the spear thrust with his strange foot and body movements. The spear barely managed to graze past his waist, but not enough to cause any damage.


    He took advantage of the spear failing to land its mark to get closer to the spear. Taking a half step closer to Bai Yunfei, Yao Tong¡¯s sword hand twisted a good a hundred and thirty degrees to bring his sword down onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s neck!


    In response, Bai Yunfei evaded the attack with the Flash Steps to retreat so that the sword missed his chin by just inches. Retreating another meter, Bai Yunfei stepped forward again to strike out with his spear!


    His unpredictable action had caught Yao Tong off guard, but not enough to get injured. He had failed to account for Bai Yunfei being able to dodge so fast, but as the spear grew close to his chest, Yao Tong stepped back and had his left hand come up in front of his chest. In the next moment, a golden shield appeared in it, protecting his front.


    This wasn¡¯t a shield created from elemental energy, but a soul skill of his!


    The golden shield looked almost real with the runes and lines on its surface. Even when the spear tip touched the shield, there was a loud metallic gong!


    But the spear wasn¡¯t an easy item to block! The tip of the spear embedded itself into the shield for a brief moment, and then¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The golden shield immediately collapsed as the explosion effect of the spear was activated, and the burst of fire trapped Yao Tong in it!


    Yao Tong¡¯s surprised stare was the first he shown since the start of the battle. The spear¡¯s explosion effect had been tremendously large, and the shockwave was strong enough to slam into his body and bring his blood a degree hotter almost.


    Because the elemental fire around him prevented him from retreating, Yao Tong knew something strange was happening. Looking up, he saw Bai Yunfei in the air with his right fist raised, and a blade of fire ten meters long coming down at him!


    Alarmed, Yao Tong raised his longsword up and transmitted his soulforce into it, turning the golden light from the sword into solid form to block the Flame Winged Dagger.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Once again, Yao Tong was engulfed in a fireball, but there was a fan-shaped beam of energy that shot through the fire to try and strike down Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!!¡±


    Yao Tong¡¯s surprised voice called out from the fire. From the fires, the eyes of Yao Tong stared in shock at Bai Yunfei.


    The fire explosion and the Flame Winged Dagger. He remembered seeing these moves used on him before!


    It was a very long time ago outside Stonegroove City, the very same person that surprised him long ago!


    At that time, Bai Yunfei had only been a trifling Soul Sprite. He was nothing like the Soul Exalt standing in front of him today, thus why Yao Tong was so surprised!


    But Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t give him any time to reminisce about the old times. Taking advantage of his shock, Bai Yunfei threw three Burstfire Daggers at him.


    Yao Tong blocked the three daggers, blocking even the explosions that accompanied them. But when he peered over his sword, Yao Tong saw a fireball twenty meters large come at him!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± He sneered. Chopping downwards, a golden beam of energy shot forth from the sword to cut the fireball in half, allowing the two sides to sail harmlessly by him.


    But the moment the fireballs exploded on the ground, a single ¡®giant stone¡¯ came flying through at him!


    The Cataclysmic Seal!


    Not willing to block this one, Yao Tong moved to the side. But as if responding with his movements, the Cataclysmic Seal swelled in size as it flew towards him!


    Again, Yao Tong was surprised. Narrowing his eyes, he lifted his left hand in front of him. Golden light swarmed his entire body, and then his aura¡­.began to increase! From a late-stage Soul Exalt to a peak late-stage Soul Exalt!


    A beam of golden light shot into the air--it was Yao Tong, flying into the air fast enough to dodge the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Bai Yunfei sucked in a sharp breath of air--the enemy had a technique to boost his strength as well!


    Watching as Yao Tong flew into the sky like a shining star, Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes.


    Biting his lip, he forced his aura to start to increase as well!


    Berserk Mode!


    Now as strong as a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes burned brightly. Kicking off against the ground with such force that a crater was formed, he shot into the skies after Yao Tong!


    There was a beam of golden light, and then a beam of fire as they clashed against each other in the skies!


    ¡­¡­


    On the ground, Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan were both currently hard at work fighting against the golden swift.


    The golden swift was basically a never stopping beam of golden light. Flying left and right, it was impossible to see its body clearly, and even with Xiao Qi¡¯s crowd tactics, it was unable to hit the other bird. Only with its Wind and Lightning Feathers was Xiao Qi able to keep up with the swift, and the blue-eyes wyrm was basically unable to keep up. Roaring incessantly, it flailed its tail wildly, but never once hitting the swift.


    ¡­¡­


    Now that he and Yao Tong were both fighting at levels as strong as peak late-stage Soul Exalts, the battle in the sky was far more fierce than what it was on the ground. Explosions happened one after another, and elemental energy sparked across the skies. Already, a good portion of the forest was destroyed by the fallout, and there were craters all over the ground.


    Bai Yunfei could only maintain the Berserk Mode for ten minutes, but Yao Tong would surely only be able to maintain his strength for so long as well. Each combatant were attacking and defending harshly in hopes of finishing the battle quickly.


    As the battle persisted, Bai Yunfei found himself growing more and more surprised. Yao Tong was stronger than he imagined, and it wasn¡¯t at all like what a normal peak late-stage Soul Exalt should be like. The man had also a decent amount of soul armaments; that golden longsword of his was definitely a low-heaven tier soul armament at the very least, and he had also armor, wrist guards, and other accessories as soul armaments!


    Likewise, Yao Tong was just as surprised as Bai Yunfei. Four minutes had already passed without him being able to harm Bai Yunfei. On the other hand, Bai Yunfei had already landed a blow onto his left shoulder.


    Again, the Cataclysmic Seal flew at Yao Tong, causing him to look in brief panic at what he should do. Raising his longsword and diverting his soulforce to it, Yao Tong¡¯s soulforce started to flow strangely as the sword started to shine.


    He was getting ready yet another soul skill!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew grim as he recognized the warning signs. Taking a split-moment to think, Bai Yunfei decided then and there on his own course of action. Putting away his Fire-tipped Spear, he went through a series of hand seals to use one of his strongest moves--the Fused Dual Dragon Burst!


    Yao Tong¡¯s eyes narrowed at what Bai Yunfei was doing, his forehead sweating from behind the mask. He could sense that whatever Bai Yunfei was doing, but it was just as strong as the soul skill he was doing! No¡­.it was stronger!


    If the two hit each other, it was possible that they would both be injured almost devastatingly!


    But Bai Yunfei had his Cataclysmic Seal, so Yao Tong would be the one that¡¯d be hurt most!


    Realizing how that would turn out for him, fear flickered in Yao Tong¡¯s eyes for the very first time. Conflicted, Yao Tong argued to himself if he should stay and fight, or stop and run.


    In the end, his aura dissipated, and then he¡­.fled!


    He wasn¡¯t moving to dodge Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack, he was simply running away!


    On the other side, the golden swift had received a message from Yao Tong. Trilling once in response, it took off in the opposite direction of the two soulbeasts and quickly disappeared over the horizon.


    The two chose to¡­.abandon the fight and run!

 Chapter 502: Xing Qiuhongs Space Ring (Fifth)

    Bai Yunfei was taken back by Yao Tong¡¯s decision to flee, but he was happy to see it. Dropping his arms, he dispelled the Dual Dragon Burst to look at the fleeing figure of Yao Tong. He didn¡¯t dare drop his guard, instead, he looked around just in case something else might jump out at him.


    A minute later, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t sense anything with his elevated soulsense capabilities. Yao Tong had truly run away. Without sensing anyone else there to fight him, Bai Yunfei sighed and dispelled the Berserk Mode to drop back to his normal state.


    He fell from the skies, his feet staggering a little as he stepped onto firm ground. Pale in the face, Bai Yunfei dropped on his butt and sat down. Using the Violet Soul Ring, he replenished his soulforce with the stockpiled amount in it.


    Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan ran up to Bai Yunfei. Neither of the two soulbeasts were harmed, so they stood guard by Bai Yunfei just in case there was anyone that might come up to attack.


    Yao Tong would definitely be the strongest enemy Bai Yunfei faced to date. Despite being a late-stage Soul Exalt, the way Yao Tong fought had been spectacular and dangerous--many times more than the other peak late-stage Soul Exalts Bai Yunfei fought.


    ¡°Just who is this guy¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei asked himself as he meditated.


    ¡­¡­


    At the same time, in a place far far away.


    Under the night sky, a single person walked slowly under the trees. He wore a black robe and had a golden mask on his face. On his shoulder was a golden swift.


    It was Yao Tong.


    He chose to walk on solid ground rather than through the step through the skies.


    If not for the mask, anyone would¡¯ve been able to see how pale and exhausted the man looked.


    The technique he used to improve his strength was mysterious and powerful with how the backlash from using it was a lot softer than most. But it couldn¡¯t compare to Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Flame Arts. He had already canceled out his technique before Bai Yunfei and was currently dealing with a backlash far stronger than what Bai Yunfei was experiencing.


    Not once did the man think that Bai Yunfei would be this strong. What should¡¯ve been in the bag had turned into a battle he was forced to flee from.


    If the battle continued, it would¡¯ve become dangerous for him.


    For something he wasn¡¯t even sure was there, Yao Tong had nearly lost his life. That wasn¡¯t a fair trade, Yao Tong thought, and had thus not went through with it.


    ¡°Forget it, that piece of information wasn¡¯t reliable. Something like that wouldn¡¯t appear so easily in this world, and the Xing haven¡¯t done anything with it for three years, so this makes less sense. I bet Xing Shuangqing didn¡¯t give it to his family¡­.perhaps even news that Xing Shuangqing having it was a false one¡­.¡±


    The thought Yao Tong had seemed to make sense to him the more he thought about it.


    ¡°I¡¯ve hide with the Xing for more than half a year ago, and not a thing to show for it. Even Wu Han was killed. This entire trip has been a huge waste of time and energy.¡± He sighed. ¡°His death has nothing to do with me, though. The news I have have to be brought back and reported that it was a false lead¡­.¡±


    Suddenly, Yao Tong¡¯s foot paused in the air as he felt something. Hiding himself into the bushes, Yao Tong hid his aura and didn¡¯t move a muscle.


    About ten seconds later, a figure in white flew overhead.


    It disappeared off into the distance, and several minutes later, Yao Tong came back out from the bushes to look at the direction the other person disappeared to.


    ¡°It¡¯s him¡­.he must¡¯ve been the other person back in the Xing. So even the Beast Taming School has received the same information? They sent a Soul King to investigate too¡­.¡± Yao Tong hesitated, ¡°He¡¯s moving quickly, so that other person most likely won¡¯t escape in time¡­.Xing Qiuhong¡¯s space ring will become his then, and the things inside¡­.¡±


    He grew silent for a moment, ¡°Forget it¡­.what good is it if I even had it? Me stealing it away from a Soul King is impossible, best to give it up.¡±


    No longer caring about the matter, Yao Tong continued on his journey.


    ¡­¡­


    It didn¡¯t take long for Bai Yunfei to recover his soulforce, it at least, was a lot faster than the wounds he had recovering. Not long after, his soulforce was completely back to the levels before he had fought in that battle.


    Exhaling, Bai Yunfei opened his eyes.


    Eyes twinkling now, Bai Yunfei touched the space ring he had in his hand, it was Xing Qiuhong¡¯s ring.


    ¡°Why did that person want this ring? What treasure is inside this¡­.?¡± Bai Yunfei asked himself, a little excited at what he might find out.


    He sent his soulsense into it.


    After a while, Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes in suspicion and confusion.


    There were soul armaments, soulgems, primal stones, but in small amounts. There was nothing Bai Yunfei found in being ¡®special¡¯ in there.


    Thinking more about it, Bai Yunfei waved his hand, pulling a silver longsword out.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Wind


    Attack: 830


    Equipment Effect: Consume Soulforce in order to enable flight.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    This was the flying soul armament of Xing Qiuhong. It was an ordinary one, and not too different to Bai Yunfei¡¯s Tempest Sword.


    Looking over it, Bai Yunfei pulled out a golden greatsword next.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Requirement: 105 Soulpoints


    It was a mid-earth tier soul armament, probably the personal weapon of Xing Qiuhong. But that weapon too, had nothing special about it, leaving Bai Yunfei to put it away.


    There weren¡¯t any other soul armaments in it, confusing him. As a lord, amount of treasure he had was pretty pitiful.


    In truth, all of the precious soul armaments and such were back at the compound, and not in the space ring.


    Not many primal stones and soulgems were had here, and their quality wasn¡¯t much to talk about. At most, they¡¯d be used to help him heal his wounds faster.


    Aside from that, there were clothes, coins, and other ordinary goods.


    Bai Yunfei looked disappointed.


    Such a mighty person this was, with people after his space ring, and yet, only to have this little?


    ¡°If I¡¯d known earlier, I¡¯d have given it to that man and spare the fight¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed.


    ¡°No one else should be chasing me now, right?¡±


    He looked around, his mind slightly peaceful at the night air around him. Just as he was about to rest, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open with surprise and anger. Flying to his feet, he cried, ¡°Heaven f*cking damn it! There¡¯s someone else!? When will this all end!!¡±


    No sooner did he cry out did a burst of light come flying in his direction. At a closer look, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened in fright.


    ¡°He¡¯s flying, that¡¯s a Soul King!¡±


    His face grew unsightly after that.


    Practically a few moments later, a figure in white came to a stop not too far away from Bai Yunfei and looked down upon him.


    ¡°Hand over Xing Qiuhong¡¯s space ring and I¡¯ll leave your corpse in one piece!¡±

 Chapter 503: Battling a Soul King! (Sixth)

    Bai Yunfei had thought Yao Tong was arrogant enough when he came, but now there was this guy who was even more arrogant than him!


    ¡®Leave your corpse in one piece!!¡¯


    In other words, Bai Yunfei was marked for death, the only difference was that his corpse would be prettier to look at¡­.


    What a harsh Soul King!


    Bai Yunfei leveled a stare back at the man, his face grim, but his mouth closed. He really wanted to say, ¡®if I give you the ring, may I leave?¡¯, but that wasn¡¯t possible. In front of a Soul King, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the right to ¡®bargain¡¯ with him.


    His eyes flickered again as his decision came to him. He had to fight for his life!


    Bai Yunfei had a good chance if he fought a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, but not against a Soul King.


    Even if it was an early-stage Soul King.


    He couldn¡¯t run away though. Escaping wasn¡¯t even an option. He could only fight for his life and hope for a chance to escape at some point in it¡­.


    Determined, Bai Yunfei glared at the Soul King, a fearsome gleam in his eyes. Because both of his fireseeds had been in his body to help him recuperate, Bai Yunfei was able to immediately explode with power.


    ¡®Coil¡¯ form, activate!


    Two more sources of soulforce exploded as well as Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan prepared themselves for combat.


    Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes radiated with anger and determination, but Xiao Lan¡¯s eyes had a tint of fear in them.


    Even without the Soul King in front of them exerting his presence, the two soulbeasts were already cowed.


    ¡­¡­


    This white-robed man was the one who had exterminated the entire house of Xing, Huang Lin.


    The fourth elder of the Beast Taming School and early-stage Soul King.


    He was surprised to see Bai Yunfei choose to fight. But the surprise made way for a sneer--a mere Soul Exalt wanting to fight? He was but an ant in front of a Soul King.


    ¡°How futile. Prepare yourself for an agonizing death then!¡±


    He sneered. Waving his right hand, Huang Lin sent a swarm of bees out from his left side, and then a six-tailed purple and black cat from his right.


    And then in front of him, a snowy-white canine the size of a large tiger appeared from a flash of white!


    The entrance of the three soulbeasts were immediately recognized by Bai Yunfei. Even in the middle of his powering up, he knew which soulbeasts they were!


    ¡°Early-stage class five venomous black bees!


    ¡°Peak late-stage class six amethyst multi-tailed cat!


    ¡°Early-stage class seven¡­..permafrost mastiff!!¡±


    Their classifications and strengths were cried out immediately before Bai Yunfei followed it up with another line, ¡°The Beast Taming School!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve a sharp eye. You must come from a powerful background, then? What a shame that you¡¯ll be dying here today¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was astounded when he realized he was up against a Beast Taming School, but then, another light flashed across his eyes!


    The Beast Taming School¡­.! If it was against the Beast Taming School, he had a chance!


    Heart pounding in his chest, Bai Yunfei began to formulate a plan while making sure his opponent wouldn¡¯t be able to see his excitement.


    When the three soulbeasts came out from their space rings, Huang Lin waved his hand, commanding the three to fly forth.


    He didn¡¯t want to squander any time and kill Bai Yunfei as soon as possible.


    The first to fly forth was the permafrost mastiff. With its snowy-white body and crimson-red eyes, it disappeared into a streak of white light with only a small point of red to be seen. It didn¡¯t need any sort of tactics other than a direct one. Its jaws flew open as it approached Bai Yunfei, ready to snap down and bite his body in half.


    Following behind it was the amethyst multi-tailed cat. Screeching loudly, it disappeared into a bolt of purple light behind the permafrost mastiff to attack Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm.


    The venomous black bees were flying behind the other two, buzzing as they moved as one.


    As danger drew close, Bai Yunfei launched his own attacks without hesitation. In fact, he was already in motion when Huang Lin was just starting to command the soulbeasts!


    The soulforce in his body exploded in intensity again, bringing him to the levels of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt!


    Berserk Mode, activate!


    Under Huang Lin¡¯s surprised stare, Bai Yunfei disappeared in a blur as well to meet the permafrost mastiff head on with a burst of fire!


    Dual Dragon Burst!!


    His first opening move was to use his strongest move. The Dual Dragon Burst while in Berserk Mode!


    The two fiery dragons exploded forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s fists, converging around the mastiff while Huang Lin looked on in disbelief. From what he could sense, this attack was on the level of¡­.a Soul King!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    Before the attack could land, Huang Lin ordered the mastiff to leap to the side. It had to abandon its attack in order to evade. There was another screech as the multi-tailed cat leapt to the side as well, due to its trajectory towards Xiao Qi making it also a potential target of the two dragons.


    But unfortunately, the swarm of black bees weren¡¯t as ¡®fortunate¡¯ as other two to dodge¡­.


    The swarm of bees had tried to move out of the way along with the mastiff and cat, even splitting the swarm in two in order to evade. But how could it evade such a powerful attack from Bai Yunfei? Drawing the distance between his arms aside, Bai Yunfei had the two dragons split apart and ¡®swallow¡¯ the swarms whole!


    ¡°Bzzz! Sssss¡­¡­¡±


    A collective sound of intense buzzing and sizzling was heard as the two dragons engulfed the bees. And in no time at all, the entirety of the swarm was reduced to ashes!


    Absolutely furious at this, Huang Lin didn¡¯t have time to issue another command when¡­.the two dragons suddenly came at him from both sides!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    There was an ear-deafening explosion when the two dragons converged onto Huang Lin. The beast tamer had been fast enough to extend both arms in opposite directions, erecting a green-colored barrier before he could be engulfed.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been surprised to see the Dual Dragon Bursts completely destroy the swarm of bees, as that had been his intention. Bringing both hands back to his side, he had the Cataclysmic Seal erect the strongest barrier he could afford to have around him.


    In the next moment, the mastiff came flying at him from the right side after it dodged the dragons. Staring down Bai Yunfei with its red eyes, it brought its giant paw up--elemental ice covering its claws to make it even sharper--and then swung down onto the elemental earth barrier!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    It took only half a second for Bai Yunfei¡¯s strongest defense to¡­.shatter completely!


    Now that the barrier was gone, the mastiff opened its jaws wide to snap down on the defenseless Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 504: Struggle! (Seventh)

    Unable to offer up any defense or evasion maneuvers, Bai Yunfei was powerless to stop the mastiff from landing a bite onto his waist!


    The mastiff¡¯s sharp teeth dug into Bai Yunfei¡¯s armor, and then pierced through it into his flesh!


    ¡°Ahh!!!!¡±


    Howling in pain and anger, Bai Yunfei raised his gloved right hand and lashed out a punch onto the mastiff¡¯s head!


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!!


    Putting as much strength as he could into the blow, Bai Yunfei smashed it onto the class seven soulbeast¡¯s head. The punch connected with a sickening thud, and then Bai Yunfei felt the pressure on his waist lighten a bit!


    Stepping away from the mastiff, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face paled from the pain he felt. On his waist, two horrifying rows of holes peppered it, blood leaking out from each of the holes. From the biggest of them, Bai Yunfei¡¯s internal organs could almost be seen!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A tremendous explosion rung out at the same time from Huang Lin¡¯s position. Having forced his elemental wind around him like a maelstrom of energy, the beast tamer had managed to overwhelm the two dragons pressing against him, and then in one final show, he forced them to dissipate!


    His face was extremely sinister-looking, but other than that, he was unharmed!


    Furious at the ordeal he just went through, Huang Lin sent a withering glare towards Bai Yunfei. He was fearful of how Bai Yunfei had such powerful strength, but also furious that he had been forced back by a Soul Exalt! The loss of his venomous black bee swarm was tremendous, and even dismembering Bai Yunfei from limb to limb as he was alive wouldn¡¯t be enough to make up for the loss!


    ¡°You will die!!¡±


    Absolutely furious, Huang Lin pointed a single finger at him. Elemental wind gathered at the point of this finger at extremely high concentrated levels, and then, with a roar, he fired an arrow of elemental wind ten meters thick towards Bai Yunfei!


    If hit with this, there wouldn¡¯t even be a single piece of Bai Yunfei left!


    Bai Yunfei immediately gave up thinking about the horrifying wounds on his waist now. Bringing the Cataclysmic Seal forwards, he had it grow to two hundred meters in length to stand in front of him!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The wind arrow smashed into the Cataclysmic Seal with a sound that seemed to shake even the skies themselves. Under the explosion, the Cataclysmic Seal was forced back twenty meters! It shivered briefly before returning to its regular size. And, as if it was completely without power, it fell down to the ground with a plop!!


    As soon as it fell, Bai Yunfei felt his soulforce suddenly decrease by roughly forty percent, and his mind immediately grew dizzy as a result!


    But he couldn¡¯t faint! Before his vision could grow completely black, Bai Yunfei bit at his tongue, freely drawing blood and snapping him out of it! He couldn¡¯t use the Cataclysmic Seal right now, and even worse¡­.the mastiff was coming at him again!


    Since he couldn¡¯t use the Cataclysmic Seal, that meant he had nothing to protect him from the mastiff¡¯s claw!


    In this perilous situation, Bai Yunfei opted to¡­.not move a muscle!


    As if struck into a daze, Bai Yunfei just stared at the mastiff, his eyes revealing the craze in them as the mastiff approached!


    Was he really in a daze?


    Of course not!


    He was waiting. Waiting for the most optimal moment to turn the tables on the situation!


    ¡°Not yet! Have to wait! I have...I have to wait!¡±


    Eyes practically bloodshot, Bai Yunfei waited anxiously as the mastiff came closer to it. He was concentrating so hard that time had practically stood still for him, and the mastiff was merely inching towards him.


    Then when the mastiff was no more than half a meter away, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open¡ª


    ¡°Now!!¡±


    Stepping back a step to widen the distance, Bai Yunfei lifted his right hand up towards the mastiff!


    His actions looked as if he was trying to sacrifice his own right arm to the mastiff¡¯s mouth!


    His right arm was practically in the middle of the mastiff¡¯s mouth when a brilliant gleam of prismatic light erupted from the bracelet on it. Expanding in size, the bracelet flew over the mastiff¡¯s head and clamped down on its neck!


    The Beast Taming Ring!!


    ¡°I did it!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes gleamed with success as he watched the Beast Taming Ring shrunk over the mastiff¡¯s neck!


    Its jaws were already closing in on Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm, and before he could jerk it back, the fangs of the mastiff were already touching his skin!


    ¡°Stop!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared, pushing as much soulforce as he could into that one command for the Beast Taming Ring to enforce!


    The Beast Taming Ring lit up brilliantly, stopping the mastiff¡¯s jaw from clamping down just as the fangs were just about to pierce through Bai Yunfei¡¯s skin!


    Seizing the opportunity to jerk his arm back, Bai Yunfei leapt several meters back in cold-sweat, his eyes boring holes at the mastiff with how hard he was staring.


    The layer of fire around his body disappeared as he gave up trying to protect himself. Right now, he was sending all his concentration into the mastiff¡¯s mindspace!


    After being stopped the first time, the mastiff was about to give chase after Bai Yunfei when it¡¯s body froze and shivered again. In its crimson-red eyes, there was the signs of a struggle!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What?!¡¯


    The moment when the Beast Taming Ring clamped onto the mastiff¡¯s neck, Huang Lin was only just recovering from his attack on the Cataclysmic Seal. The strange energy he felt coming from the mastiff surprised him greatly!


    ¡°Wha--what¡¯s happening!¡±


    Pain started to stab into his mind as he felt his control over the mastiff suddenly start to go out of control! It was as if a secondary presence within the mastiff was vying for control over it like he was doing!


    There wasn¡¯t a single person in this world that wouldn¡¯t be surprised by this situation, especially a beast tamer. Even a Soul King would fall into a state of shock at this!


    He realized what was going on when he looked at Bai Yunfei, it was his fault!


    Completely disregarding the question how Bai Yunfei was even accomplishing this, Huang Lin pulled in his soulforce to try and push out this ¡®external¡¯ force from the mastiff!


    With great deliberation, Bai Yunfei unleashed all of his stored up energy to seize the advantage in this battle of wills. The mindspace of the permafrost mastiff had become the new battlefield, and Huang Lin and Bai Yunfei were fighting silently against each other with their mental strength as the deciding factor!


    As an early-stage Soul King, Huang Lin¡¯s mental fortitude was magnitudes higher than Bai Yunfei. Even if Bai Yunfei had the first advantage, Huang Lin could easily catch up to Bai Yunfei and then force the other into a disadvantage!


    The permafrost mastiff paused where it stood, the struggle in its eyes growing more and more. Its body shivered non-stop as it started to lose control, elemental ice freezing the air around it with increasing strength!


    ¡°Chirp!!!!¡±


    As Bai Yunfei begun to feel himself be pushed back in the battle of wills, a furious chirp cried out before a third presence invaded the mastiff¡¯s mindspace!

 Chapter 505: Cutting a Soul King! (Eighth)

    Xiao Qi!!


    Right in an extremely pivotal moment, Xiao Qi¡¯s will invaded the mastiff¡¯s mindspace, fighting against Huang Lin¡¯s will valiantly, reigniting the battle like a reincarnated phoenix!


    Not even a hundred seconds had gone by since the start of this battle. Bai Yunfei had used the Dual Dragon Burst to start the battle, but Xiao Qi had been unable to help him. The amethyst multi-tailed cat managed to dodge the Dual Dragon Burst and forced Xiao Qi to fight with the blue-eyes wyrm against it after that.


    The cat was a peak late-stage class six soulbeast, but with its completely reckless fighting style, the soulbeast was a hard enemy to fight, and Xiao Qi hadn¡¯t the time to help Bai Yunfei even when he was attacked by the mastiff.


    But when Bai Yunfei used the Beast Taming Ring and began to fight Huang Lin for control, Xiao Qi saw its chance. Thanks to the bond it had with Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi knew how Bai Yunfei was faring and had no other choice but to help.


    This was a battle of will and mental strength and not a battle of physical prowess. Extending its wings, Xiao Qi flew up and away from the battlefield and sent its will into the mastiff¡¯s mindspace through the Beast Taming Ring to help Bai Yunfei fight Huang Lin.


    But that meant the pressure on the blue-eyes wyrm had doubled. Roaring, it sent another tail swipe at the cat.


    Now with Xiao Qi there to help, their combined strengths forced Huang Lin to falter.


    And for once, there was a sign of pain on his face!


    A Soul King he might be, but adding Xiao Qi into the mix in the mastiff¡¯s mindspace was enough to put even him in danger! Actually¡­.he felt himself slowly losing against their strengths!


    If he had the time to send his soulsense out, then he would¡¯ve realized that his control over the mastiff was eroding away! Losing control over a soulbeast meant losing a great deal of a beast tamer¡¯s fighting strength. And if Huang Lin lost control over the mastiff, it might be possible for the enemy to use the mastiff on him¡­.


    A hint of fear flickered across his eyes at that thought.


    But he didn¡¯t even know if he¡¯d be able to win this fight or not. He could perhaps wait for the multi-tailed cat to deal with the blue-eyes wyrm and have it attack Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi. That way, the two of them would be easily killable since they were focused on the battle of wills.


    Or else wise, he could give up the struggle to control the mastiff and use his strength to kill the others quickly before wrestling back control over the mastiff again.


    His mind raced to make the decision, each option sounding no better and no worse than the other. He didn¡¯t want to make a hasty decision, as it was his life on the line, and Huang Lin was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to recover if he made the wrong decision.


    Huang Lin felt disgraced. He was a high and mighty Soul King and elder of the Beast Taming School.


    And yet, here was a whelpling Soul Exalt fighting against him on equal grounds, and even pushing him back¡­.


    Huang Lin wasn¡¯t the only person to feel panicked. The amount of resistance from the Soul King was proving to be a lot more than Bai Yunfei expected. Compared to the time he had with Xing Yuan¡¯s thunderfire wolf, this attempt was ten times harder.


    But the most urging issue was the fact that he couldn¡¯t maintain this for long!!


    The superior willpower of Huang Lin allowed him time to think, but Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t that same luxury! Bai Yunfei was relying on the Berserk Mode to give him a boost in willpower, and his limits were definite in comparison. Huang Lin didn¡¯t even need to retaliate to have Bai Yunfei succumb to the time constraints and be killed straight after!


    The deadlock continued for two minutes more when Bai Yunfei made his choice. Sending a command to Xiao Qi, he immediately¡­.pulled himself out from the mastiff¡¯s mindspace!


    Having not expected that, Huang Lin gave a start. Bai Yunfei¡¯s retreat meant only Xiao Qi was left to fight Huang Lin, and Xiao Qi itself wasn¡¯t a match for him!


    Despite his surprise, Huang Lin wasn¡¯t beating himself over it. He capitalized on this development by pushing Xiao Qi¡¯s will back, and within ten seconds, he had already regained most of the lost ground and was nearly about to inflict damage to Xiao Qi¡¯s soul itself!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s retreat wasn¡¯t something that was unintended, though. Back in the real world, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glinted with opportunity. His right hand held the Fire-tipped Spear tightly before he wound it backwards.


    Then with all his strength, he sent it flying forwards!


    He was¡­.using the Fire-tipped Spear like an arrow! To spear Huang Lin through!


    His action had proved dangerous to his body, as the wound on his waist began to splurt blood in massive amounts. Still completely unconcerned about it, Bai Yunfei turned back to the mastiff as soon as the spear was thrown to send his soulsense back into the mastiff!


    It was with a sneer that Huang Lin watched the spear come at him. Did Bai Yunfei really think that an attack like that would hurt him!? How laughable!!


    Him dodging the spear would mean having to lose concentration for a moment, and that was precious concentration that needed to be put towards the battle for dominance over the mastiff!


    Huang Lin ¡®knew¡¯ straight away what Bai Yunfei was planning. Sneering to himself, he waved his right hand, erecting a ten-meter thick barrier of elemental wind to protect him!


    Huang Lin was entirely confident that this barrier could stop even a heaven tier soul armament!


    Xiao Qi¡¯s willpower was almost thoroughly crushed in the mastiff¡¯s mindspace. Bai Yunfei¡¯s temporary leave had been long enough for Huang Lin to make a great push, and even Bai Yunfei¡¯s second push wouldn¡¯t be enough to make up for that. It wouldn¡¯t be long before victory was Huang Lin, and with that victory, he¡¯d be able to inflict damages to the souls of both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi!


    Then with the mastiff, he¡¯d be able to kill them!


    But what Huang Lin didn¡¯t see was the calculative grin on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face!


    Trailing fire as it flew onwards, the Fire-tipped Spear took only a second or two before it reached Huang Lin¡¯s barrier in the attempt to stab through him!


    The spear struck against the ten-meter thick barrier, but instead of bouncing off like Huang Lin expected, something else had happened!


    The spear continued through the barrier--not even stopping at all in recognition of the barrier to sail through it!


    The barrier hadn¡¯t even touched the spear, let alone stop it!


    This was¡­.the +13 additional effect of the spear! The ability to ignore elemental defenses!!


    ¡°Impossible!!!¡±


    Huang Lin¡¯s confidence was nowhere to be found. In its place, shock filled his eyes as he watched helplessly as the spear stabbed into him!


    Even with his strength as a Soul King, evading a surprise attack like this was impossible for him. The most he could do was move by just the slightest of centimeters to evade a mortal wound.


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    There was the sound of flesh being stabbed and burned as the Fire-tipped Spear¡­.stabbed into Huang Lin¡¯s left shoulder and then out from his back. It had pierced straight through him!


    Elemental fire swarmed his body from the spear, burning at both his internal organs and seemingly even his soul!


    Unfortunately for Bai Yunfei, the explosion effect hadn¡¯t activated. If it did, then the Soul King would¡¯ve died then and there!


    Still, the damage was done. Huang Lin was so stunned that he temporarily forgot about the mastiff and the mental battle, paving the way for Bai Yunfei to seize the advantage in the mindspace!


    ¡°Gah!¡±


    Feeling as his will was pushed back, Huang Lin¡¯s face went from white to deathly white before he puked out a mouthful of blood!


    But it wasn¡¯t over yet!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    Having lost his concentration and awareness with this combo, Huang Lin almost failed to hear the chirping of Xiao Qi. Looking up at the bird, he saw five blades of nothingness sail towards him to slice him!


    ¡°These are¡­.spatial tears! No!!!¡± Huang Lin roared to himself.


    Despair clenched at Huang Lin¡¯s face when he realized what these attacks were.


    Elemental wind swarmed around his body as much as he could so that it shined as bright as a sun. He was trying to hide within the light, as he couldn¡¯t do anything else in what might be his final moments!


    But the five blades of nothingness tore through the light like the scythe of thee death god. Eating away at the light, one of the blades made its way onto Huang Lin¡¯s chest, and then through it!

 Chapter 506: Improvement in Strength (Ninth)

    The five Spatial Edges tore through Huang Lin and disappeared with the night. On the inverse, the elemental wind that had been cut by the Spatial Edges exploded!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    A series of explosions was heard as the elemental wind exploded all around, illuminating the night so bright that it looked like daytime for a moment before disappearing¡­.


    Then Huang Lin¡¯s aura disappeared shortly afterwards.


    The Soul King had died!!


    Not much of his body was left after the Spatial Edge was through with him, and the rest of his body had been caught up in the explosion of the elemental wind.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    There was a roar from the blue-eyes wyrm behind them. Scars adorned its body, and many of its scales were torn off from its body. Every so often, a spark of purple lightning shot off from its body and wounds, some places even showing some smoke rising from them¡­.


    A fierce glare was in the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s eyes as it snapped its jaws onto a suddenly immobile target!


    This target was the peak late-stage class six amethyst multi-tailed cat!


    The moment when Huang Lin died, its control over the cat was lost. So without any other commands to move the cat, the cat grew still like a statue and stopped moving.


    Having not realized why it stopped, the blue-eyes wyrm capitalized on the chance by risking it all to attack! With a roar of absolute fury and gloom, it launched itself at the cat with its jaws wide open.


    Before Bai Yunfei could do anything, the wyrm was already biting onto the cat. There was a cry from the cat, and then after that, its aura disappeared¡­.


    Bai Yunfei sighed. He couldn¡¯t blame the blue-eyes wyrm for this. He hadn¡¯t the time to care for the wyrm at the moment anyways and sat down to try and recuperate his wounds.


    The Cataclysmic Seal flew towards him, encasing him with its earth barrier.


    At his command, the permafrost mastiff stepped towards Bai Yunfei before standing guard to protect him from anything.


    The Berserk Mode was dispelled, and his soulforce now coming back thanks to the Violet Soul Ring and the Dual Flame Arts¡­.


    In time, Bai Yunfei was fully recovered with soulforce and could now focus on the wounds he had.


    The wound on his waist wasn¡¯t fatal for him, but to the ordinary person, they would¡¯ve died a very long time ago. With the mangled flesh and blood that dripped from it, the wound looked extremely terrifying, but the internal organs was still perfectly fine. Most of his blood had been staunched due to his soulforce, as the armor he wore was helpless in keeping it in. With this soulforce, he was able to increase his healing rate.


    Meanwhile he was healing, Xiao Qi furled its wings inwards to float in the air. Colors from four different elements streamed from the world around into it, feeding and strengthening Xiao Qi¡¯s soulforce¡­.


    After killing the multi-tailed cat, the blue-eyes wyrm didn¡¯t wait for it to swallow its soulgem into its stomach! This was something it did many times back in the Soulbeast Forest and was practically second nature.


    After swallowing the soulgem, the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s entire body was surrounded by elemental water and cocooned it in.


    For a while, a strange silence descended onto the area with only three sources of light serving as the only source of illumination as it pulsated.


    ¡­¡­


    Time slowly went by with the moon slowly setting back down for the sun to slowly rise back up...


    Bai Yunfei was the first to ¡®wake¡¯.


    His face was no longer pale, and his face wasn¡¯t as fatigued as before. The wound on his waist was gone, and only small blood clots clung to where there once were holes. Bai Yunfei was fully and completely back to normal.


    Shaking his arms, Bai Yunfei cracked his neck with a satisfying pop. Inspecting his entire person, Bai Yunfei smiled when he saw nothing amiss.


    In the span of one night, his strength increased by a great amount. The battle of life-or-death had indeed been a very enlightening experience for him to learn from.


    After he finished his own investigations, he looked to Xiao Qi and then to the blue-eyes wyrm with a strange eye.


    He knew that Xiao Qi had killed a Soul King, and the blue-eyes wyrm had swallowed the soulgem of a peak late-stage class six soulbeast. This meant that the two soulbeasts should by all rights gain a lot of strength--a lot more than before at least.


    ¡°Will they¡­.breakthrough maybe?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined expectantly.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A happy chirp echoed through the skies as Xiao Qi unfurled its wings, spreading four different elements into the world. Letting loose a long trill, it sucked back in the elements into its body, revealing its strength¡­.as a late-stage class six!


    There would of course be a great length of process made by Xiao Qi after killing a Soul King. It was a late-stage class six now! And at a closer look, it seemed like Xiao Qi was very close to the peak late-stage level too!


    This was¡­.a great improvement!


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    There was a third source of commotion as a draconic roar sounded through the heavens as the blue-eyes wyrm finished up as well.


    Its roar was happy and filled with excitement at its achievement.


    Peak late-stage class six!


    It was now just a small step away from becoming a class seven!


    A year ago, it had only been a little early-stage class six soulbeast. Its chance of becoming a class seven soulbeast was oh-so close, and it was excited to get there!


    If¡­.just if it could make that one step, it¡¯d reach a realm where many soulbeasts could only dream for!


    It could never forget what it saw in the Soulbeast Forest. The hair-raising battle where a group of unbelievable powers met. Their strength, their powers, and their auras, it was all utterly awe-inspiring¡­.


    The wyrm hadn¡¯t been smart back then and could only follow its instinctual directive to get stronger.


    But now that it was granted an intellect that rivalled even humanity, it thirsted for that realm like a man dying of thirst in a desert.


    The blue-eyes wyrm had always been a soulbeast of the water affinity, but the black color in its elemental water was stronger than before. There was another element growing stronger within the elemental water¡­.


    Roaring carefully, the blue-eyes wyrm sucked in the energy around it so that the light grew compressed.

 Chapter 507: Equipment Grade: Low Divine! (Tenth)

    Today was a nice and sunny day in a seemingly small town.


    In the second story of an ordinary inn.


    Bai Yunfei sat down next a table where a pile of random objects and things were laid about.


    ¡­¡­


    The city he was in was a great distance away from Ventia City. After killing Huang Lin, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t wish to stick around and left on his sword to travel for two full days and nights without rest.


    He was afraid of sticking around. What if a mid-stage Soul King came around. What would he say?


    ¡®Hand over Xing Qiuhong¡¯s space ring and I¡¯ll let you choose how you want to die.¡¯?


    So he traveled nonstop without even looking at the space ring of Huang Lin. It was only when he arrived in this small town that he made a pit stop to rest.


    This way, there¡¯d most likely be no one that¡¯d come after him¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    It was midday when he arrived in town. He came to the small inn he was in now for a good meal, and after he reserved a room, he could finally rest.


    There were three soulbeasts in the room. Xiao Qi, Xiao Lan, and a small white ¡®dog¡¯ that stood in the center of the room and moved and talked slowly.


    It looked quite cute with how its long white hair covered its eyes. But in actuality, this was the early-stage class seven permafrost mastiff.


    It was this size now due to Bai Yunfei¡¯s order so it could be like Xiao Qi¡¯s and the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s size.


    Bai Yunfei could control the actions of the class seven mastiff, which meant he could study it a bit with the Beast Taming Ring, but there were more important things to study.


    At last, Bai Yunfei could rest. The first matter to address wasn¡¯t Huang Lin¡¯s space ring but¡­.Xing Qiuhong¡¯s.


    Yao Tong¡¯s insistence for it made Bai Yunfei suspicious. He didn¡¯t see anything the first time, but he still remained suspicious. After the Soul King came knocking and demanding, Bai Yunfei decided then and there was definitely ¡®treasure¡¯ in the ring and decided to look again.


    This time, he looked through the items one by one to carefully inspect each one.


    Even the most ordinary of items were placed on the table and inspected.


    He figured that this so-called ¡®treasure¡¯ wouldn¡¯t necessarily have to be a high level soul armament or amazing technique. It didn¡¯t even have to be an object and could be just¡­.information, for example.


    Stuff like that could be hidden within the ¡®ordinary¡¯ things. Like a sheet of paper, or a slip of metal¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Defense: 80


    Upgrade Requirement: 35 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei took out a golden-colored robe, inspecting it for its stats as per usual. He looked through the robes, seeing nothing that might resemble words or something hidden in it anywhere. Without seeing anything, he put it away and then took out a golden belt next.


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Defense: 90


    Upgrade Requirement: 37 Soulpoints


    There was nothing special about this either. He put it away.


    ¡­¡­


    The items on the table were growing less and less as Bai Yunfei started to finish up his investigations without anything bearing fruit.


    He was starting to feel disappointed. He sighed.


    It would appear Huang Lin and Yao Tong were both mistaken. There was nothing in Xing Qiuhong¡¯s space ring, and certainly not treasure.


    Feeling his excitement fall bit by bit, Bai Yunfei forced himself to continue looking. There were only ten things left now, and Bai Yunfeit felt quite discouraged.


    ¡°Eh? This is a¡­.handkerchief? Or a towel?¡±


    After another useless robe, Bai Yunfei saw a gray ¡®cloth¡¯.


    It was a little big for a handkerchief and a little small for towel. What in the world was Xing Qiuhong doing with this¡­.


    He frowned, but he looked at the cloth nonetheless.


    But the moment he touched the cloth, Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression froze on his face as if struck by an illusion.


    He wouldn¡¯t snap back to reality for another five seconds. He looked down in disbelief at the ¡®cloth¡¯ in his hands.


    ¡°T--th-this¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei stammered, feeling himself at quite a loss. This ¡®object¡¯ captivated him, ¡°what is this!?¡±


    The reason for his loss of composure was due to the stats of the cloth.


    Bai Yunfei breathed in and out twice, his eyes staring closely at the cloth before he looked at the stats again.


    [100% SEALED] Equipment Grade: Low Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Water, Darkness


    Defense: 600


    [SEALED] Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.


    [SEALED] Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    [SEALED] Equipment Effect 3: 100% Increase in soul stabilization rate.


    Upgrade Requirement: 500 Soulpoints


    This. This was the stats of the cloth!!


    ¡°Divine?! Divine tier!!!¡± Bai Yunfei felt like he was dreaming. ¡°What kind of equipment is this¡­.I¡¯ve never seen it before!¡±


    He originally believed he knew all about equipment grades by now, from ¡®ordinary¡¯ to ¡®heaven¡¯. That was all there was to their grades. He had seen many low-heaven tier soul armaments, no mid-heaven, and only one high-heaven tier, the Nephrite Throne.


    But right now, there was a never-before-seen ¡®divine-tier¡¯, thus his shock.


    ¡°And¡­.three equipment effects!! Each effect is already ridiculous just by itself!!¡± Bai Yunfei could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage loudly, his shock hard to hide from even the soulbeasts. ¡°What a ridiculous effect! How could there be such an equipment effect like this?!¡±


    These three effects targeted the soul, the very root of how soul cultivators could act and grow stronger by! Needless to say, just the second effect alone where one¡¯s ¡®200% increase in healing from damage done to the soul¡¯ would make any soul cultivator go crazy for!


    Bai Yunfei closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. After a long time when he felt like he had calmed down enough, he reopened his eyes. The excitement in his eyes was replaced with a look of suspicion.


    ¡°But¡­.¡¯sealed¡¯. What does that mean?¡± He asked himself, ¡°What does it mean when an effect is ¡®sealed¡¯? Does that mean it can¡¯t be used? How does that even work?¡±


    From what he could tell from his vision given to him by the Upgrade Technique, there was nothing different to this piece of cloth, and even for someone as experienced as he was, he couldn¡¯t find any clues.


    This was probably due to it being ¡®sealed¡¯.


    He was still confused. ¡°And only 600 defense? That¡¯s the same as a high-earth tier, this doesn¡¯t really make sense. How is it so low¡­.is it because it¡¯s ¡®sealed¡¯? And to upgrade it requires 500 soulpoints! That¡¯s¡­.¡±


    He remembered Na Lanyin¡¯s mid-heaven earth tier soul armament. It had only required 260 soulpoints to require, but this low-divine soul armament needed 500!


    ¡°Does this mean ¡®divine¡¯ is higher than ¡®heaven¡¯?! There¡¯s something even higher than ¡®heaven tier¡¯?!¡±


    His eyes sparkled as his mind made the connections, ¡°Divine tier¡­.divine tier¡­.divine soul armaments¡­.are like Regalia!!¡±

 Chapter 508: Unraveling the Seal

    Bai Yunfei thought about the Nephrite Throne being one of the ¡®Ten Great Regalia¡¯. The Nephrite Throne was a high-heaven tier soul armament, but this item in front of him was even stronger than that¡­..did that mean this was also one of the Ten Great Regalia?!


    ¡°Is¡­.is it possible?¡± Bai Yunfei asked himself as he stared at the cloth, his eyes shining brightly with the possibility, ¡°It might just be one¡­.¡±


    His lips cracked into a smile along with the smug look in his eyes.


    Treasure! This was really a treasure! A treasure that couldn¡¯t be any more of a treasure if it tried¡­.


    Even if eighteen more people from the Xing came for it, Bai Yunfei would fight for it. It was that worth it.


    ¡°But this can¡¯t be considered a ¡®treasure¡¯ right now¡­.its sealed, but every lock has a key. As long as I can unseal the seal, then it¡¯ll become a true regalia. But what do I need to unseal this?¡±


    This crucial question came to him. With the cloth sealed, this ¡®regalia¡¯ was nothing more than an ordinary piece of cloth.


    ¡°Well, I can always study this later. The more important thing is see what happens when I upgrade it.¡±


    The idea of upgrading made him excited. He had never upgraded a ¡®regalia¡¯ before.


    Holding it in his left his hand, Bai Yunfei placed his right hand on top of it, staring grimly at it.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Five hundred points of soulforce was sucked away from him; the amount of soulforce taken from him was by no means ignorable.


    Upgrade Successful


    [95% SEALED] Equipment Grade: Low Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Water, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Defense: 800


    Additional Defense: 100


    Soul Compatibility: 1%


    [SEALED] Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.


    [SEALED] Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    [SEALED] Equipment Effect 3: 100% Increase in soul stabilization rate.


    Upgrade Requirement: 500 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open. This was a pleasant surprise!


    ¡°95% sealed!! Then¡­.does that mean upgrading can unseal it?!¡±


    The result of this had been a surprisingly profitable venture. The seal on the cloth could be unraveled by means of upgrading!


    Even more surprising--its defenses had been sealed as well! Another 200 points of defense had been added with just one upgrade!


    ¡°Upgrading only broke 5% of its seal, but it added 200 points of defense and then another 100 additional points of defense. Hm¡­.if I just upgrade it even more¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself, feeling his heart start to pound hard against his ribcage.


    It wasn¡¯t from fatigue, but from his excitement.


    Almost impatiently, Bai Yunfei continued to upgrade¡­.


    With Bai Yunfei¡¯s current strength and equipment, he had roughly ten thousand points of soulforce almost. So by the time he hit +10, Bai Yunfei was feeling out of breath and soulforce (He had failed several times in the process).


    Finally¡­.


    Upgrade Successful


    [25% SEALED] Equipment Grade: Low Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Water, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 6000


    Additional Defense: 2500


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.


    [SEALED] Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    [SEALED] Equipment Effect 3: 100% Increase in soul stabilization rate.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 500 Soulpoints


    He wasn¡¯t all too excited though when he got it to +10. ¡°It¡¯s still not unsealed after being upgraded ten times? 25% left¡­..I only managed to unseal the first effect, the second and third are still sealed¡­..


    ¡°But that +10 additional effect is still really strong!! This¡­.deserves to be called an additional effect of a divine tier soul armament if it can reflect attacks¡­.


    ¡°And the defense¡­.is at 8500 in total now! Doesn¡¯t this mean to say that even a mid-heaven tier soul armament wouldn¡¯t be enough to break through its defense? That¡¯s¡­..crazy.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t doubt the strength of this item. This equipment was for sure a ¡®regalia¡¯!!


    There had been a change that happened to the cloth when Bai Yunfei was upgrading it, though.


    It used to be as big as a large handkerchief, but with each successful upgrade--or maybe it was better to say with each successful unsealing attempt--it grew¡­.even smaller!


    The way it grew smaller wasn¡¯t equal either. Only two sides of it grew smaller while the other two sides lengthened, meaning that the cloth went from a handkerchief to a ¡®cloth strip¡¯....


    Bai Yunfei was skeptical about this. How was he supposed to wear or put it on?? Was it something he had to tie around his face, like a mask? Or something that wraps around the arm? Or maybe it was a type of belly warmer?


    The defensive properties of the item could be applied when worn forever, but the equipment and additional effects required the equipment being worn properly in order to be used.


    Now that he was at this stage of upgrading, Bai Yunfei had a hint of what it could be. ¡°Guessing from its shape, this is a¡­.scarf?!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t the type of scarf that could cover the entire head, but a strip that could at least cover the forehead.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to wear the scarf immediately. Instead of that, he took out a relatively large white piece of stone after a moment¡¯s debate.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +11 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (Low Heaven tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded.


    This was the +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!


    ¡°+10 Upgrades means there¡¯s only 25% of the seal left. If I keep upgrading, I should be able to unseal it.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. He still wanted to continue upgrading, even if there wasn¡¯t the matter of the seal. It was obviously very worth it to use the precious upgrade stones on something like a regalia.


    Bai Yunfei placed the two items together and prepared himself for the upgrade. Preparation and a steady hand was the best way to improve his upgrading chances, or so he learned after his experimentation. All those times spent studying the principles behind upgrading hadn¡¯t been wasted, and Bai Yunfei had a good chance about this.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    The upgrade stone turned to dust at his thought. It fell from his hands and into the cloth.


    Upgrade Successful


    [15% SEALED] Equipment Grade: Low Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Water, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 8000


    Additional Defense: 4000


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.


    Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    [SEALED] Equipment Effect 3: 100% Increase in soul stabilization rate.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 500 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei opened his eyes three seconds later, his eyes shining with understanding at the item in his hand.


    ¡°Only 15% of that seal left, and the second equipment effect has been unsealed. Now¡­.¡±


    A second later, Bai Yunfei took out basketball sized white stone from his space ring.


    This was the only +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone he had!


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±

 Chapter 509: Soul Sentinel Scarf, a Regalia With a Soul!

    Equipment Grade: Low Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Water, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 11000


    Additional Defense: 10000


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.


    Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    Equipment Effect 3: 100% Increase in soul stabilization rate.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    +12 Additional Effect: 200% Increase in spirit-based attacks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 500 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    By using a +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone, Bai Yunfei was able to bring the upgrade level of this regalia to +12.


    Like his previous upgrading success, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t open his eyes straight away this time. Instead, he sat there, eyes shut and calm as he concentrated. It wasn¡¯t until another minute passed when he opened his eyes, a new look of understanding in them.


    A new crucial aspect of the Upgrade Technique had been made known to him, and he was all the more closer to yet another breakthrough in his understanding.


    With this new understanding in place, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes landed upon the equipment in his right hand.


    Like before, the equipment shrunk in size again so that it was as wide as two fingers almost, and half a meter in length to form a scarf.


    Author Note: I wanted to say a head belt, but that doesn¡¯t sound pleasant at all, so it is called scarf, please understand, readers.


    ¡°Just as I thought, the seal is completely gone!!¡± Waves of excitement rushed through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, his mouth was unable to stop itself from twitching upwards in glee.


    ¡°Eleven thousand points of defense, and ten thousand points of additional defense¡­.¡± He was pleased as punch with this. If not for the stats being right there in front of him to see, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t thought that there was one zero extra.


    Twenty-one thousand total points of defense¡­.


    If he thought back to Na Lanyin¡¯s mid-heaven tier tortoiseshell and its four thousand points of defense, this piece of cloth in front of him made that tortoiseshell seem like a piece of crap¡­.


    Was there even a soul armament that could break through this??


    Unfortunately for Bai Yunfei, this was just a scarf. If it were his soul armor or bracer, he¡¯d be completely unstoppable. A mere two-finger sized scarf was only big enough to wrap around his forehead.


    But now if someone wanted to try and stab him through the forehead with a spear, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have to worry about that anymore.


    The seal was completely gone, the three equipment effects free to use, and the new +12 additional effect was¡­.extremely strong!


    A flat increase of two hundred percent in spirit-based attacks would make Bai Yunfei unstoppable to anyone at the same level of strength. Unfortunately for him, there wasn¡¯t really a way for him to test out the effects of the spirit related attacks unless another Soul King attacked him with one.


    After looking at the cloth for a little longer, Bai Yunfei noticed that it didn¡¯t look very special. In fact, it looked exactly like an ordinary gray strip of cloth. Bai Yunfei knew better than that. He didn¡¯t even have to use the Upgrade Technique to know it was special when he held it.


    When Bai Yunfei tried to put his soulforce into it, the scarf started to glow a faint blue light.


    ¡°Eh? I see words!¡±


    To Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise, a series of stroke lights were emerging from the scarf, revealing two words on it in blue!


    Soul Sentinel!!


    ¡°Soul sentinel?¡± Bai Yunfei said, ¡°Is this the name of it?¡±


    Soul Sentinel. Sentinel not as in the meaning to watch and control another¡¯s soul, but to protect it!


    All three effects of the scarf had to do with the soul, and each of them had to do with protecting the soul. So that was clearly the meaning behind ¡®Soul Sentinel¡¯.


    ¡°In that case, why don¡¯t I call you the ¡®Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯?¡± Bai smiled as he named the scarf in his hand.


    ¡°Bzzz!!¡±


    All of a sudden, the scarf started to buzz noisily with sound when it was named!


    Perhaps it was because it was unsealed, or perhaps it was because it was ¡®summoned¡¯, but there was something within the scarf that was being awakened!!


    ¡°Wha¡ª¡± Bai Yunfei gasped. Not sure what was going on, he sent a sliver of his soul into the scarf.


    In the next moment, his eyes flew wide open as his soulsense came rebounding back as if zapped by electricity. This was completely unprecedented for him!


    Within this scarf, Bai Yunfei could sense a ¡®soul¡¯!


    A ¡®soul¡¯ was living within this scarf!


    ¡­¡­


    The scarf shined continuously with a blue light, but Bai Yunfei was too afraid to make a second attempt to send his soulsense in. This blue light, Bai Yunfei thought, surely had to be from the presence within the scarf.


    If Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t wrong, the blue light coming from the scarf was pulsating slightly, like a heart beat of one¡¯s soul or something¡­.


    If not for fear of doing the possible danger, Bai Yunfei probably would¡¯ve dropped the scarf already.


    The pulsations came to a slow calm eventually as the soul finally finished waking. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t tell if anything else was changing.


    Still unsure of what to do, Bai Yunfei gritted his teeth. Carefully sending another probe of soulsense, he had it go into the scarf once again.


    This time, the strange sensation he felt the first time happened again, and then he felt himself get sucked into a ¡®mindspace¡¯!


    With that, Bai Yunfei was absolutely sure that the scarf housed a ¡®soul¡¯ in it! But this soul was extremely chaotic and had no ¡®sentience¡¯ to it.


    That was still very shocking to Bai Yunfei. He had never seen this before¡­.and yet something new and strange was coming to life in front of him!


    The soul within the scarf seemed to notice Bai Yunfei the moment it entered the mindspace. Then, a soft feeling energy from the soul came up all around him!


    Scaring Bai Yunfei, he was about to pull his soulsense back when he realized that this energy didn¡¯t have any hostile feel to it at all. In fact, it looked ¡®happy¡¯ and ¡®clingy¡¯ even, when it saw him.


    Surprised yet again, Bai Yunfei allowed for the energy to wrap over his soulsense.


    Even if this was dangerous, the sliver of soulsense Bai Yunfei put in wouldn¡¯t be enough to harm his soul.


    The moment when the energy wrapped around Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense, it started to twist and coil faster and faster. And before Bai Yunfei could even understand what was going on, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face paled at the next sensation that hit him!


    A sliver of his soul had been taken from him!


    It wasn¡¯t his soulsense that was taken. It was a part of his soul, the very core of his being!!


    This sliver of his soul followed the soulsense Bai Yunfei had into the scarf, and then joined with that ¡®soul¡¯ living within it!


    Light shone brighter than before as soon as the two entities combined. A series of complicated runes and script flew across the surface of the scarf as if Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul had been the key to its activation. After the entirety of the scarf had its runes lit up, the markings then faded away and returned back to normal.


    From a sliver of his soul being taken to the runes disappearing, everything took place within a matter of a second before finishing.


    Bai Yunfei came to realize after that that losing a sliver of his soul didn¡¯t really hurt. It was a strange sensation, like if a part of him was now placed in the scarf.


    And just faintly, Bai Yunfei could feel that one sliver of his soul transforming into a pattern of some sort in the scarf¡­.


    Another strange sensation popped up into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind next as he stood there. All of a sudden, Bai Yunfei had the feeling that there was an extremely close bond between him and the scarf¡­.


    By now, the things he could sense from the scarf was extremely clear to Bai Yunfei. Within the scarf was a ¡®soul¡¯, but it wasn¡¯t capable of thinking or having awareness like any other living being. It was just a ¡®spirit¡¯ with instinct.


    A regalia that had a¡­.spirit!!

 Chapter 510: The Second Lifebound Armament! (End of Book 4)

    A living weapon!!


    A new term popped into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    He didn¡¯t know whether or not if his master Zi Jin had told him, or if the transmigrator¡¯s memories had come across this situation before.


    Bai Yunfei had no idea what this world would even ¡®call¡¯ this, but he himself had an inkling of what he could describe it to be.


    A living soul armament.


    He had never heard of it before, let alone knowing if such a thing existed or not. Master Zi Jin had never said anything of the sort, but that was perhaps because Zi Jin wasn¡¯t strong enough to come across things like those.


    When he looked at the Soul Sentinel Scarf, Bai Yunfei had a feeling of apprehension. Something wasn¡¯t right. There was a new feeling to this scarf than before. A feeling of familiarity¡­.but he just couldn¡¯t figure out what.


    Without even knowing it, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind conjured up the stats of the Soul Sentinel Scarf again.


    Equipment Grade: Low Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Water, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 11000


    Additional Defense: 10000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.


    Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    Equipment Effect 3: 100% Increase in soul stabilization rate.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    +12 Additional Effect: 200% Increase in spirit-based attacks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 500 Soulpoints


    Yeah, nothing changed. Nothing exce--


    ¡°100% Soul compatibility!!!¡± Bai Yunfei did a double-take, staring incredulously at the scarf in his hand.


    What in the world?


    It clicked then. This strange sensation he was having--he felt it somewhere before.


    This was the exact feeling he felt towards the Cataclysmic Seal!!


    A 100% soul compatibility meant¡­..a lifebound armament!!


    But how was this possible! The scarf had only 25% when it was unsealed, meaning it wasn¡¯t even at the level of a soulbound armament. How could it suddenly shoot up to 100% and become a lifebound armament!


    From what his master Zi Jin told him before, lifebound armaments were extremely hard to find and get. But here he was today, this Soul Sentinel Scarf mysteriously becoming one for him!


    ¡°Is it because of the soul in there?¡± That was Bai Yunfei¡¯s only guess that made sense. It was the only factor that Bai Yunfei could possibly think would matter.


    The way how the Soul Sentinel Scarf became his lifebound armament differed greatly with how the Cataclysmic Seal became his lifebound armament.


    While true that the Cataclysmic Seal had housed a bit of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul before, that was when his soul and brick had fused with one another. In comparison, the Soul Sentinel Scard had forcibly taken a sliver of his soul and ¡®imprinted¡¯ it onto the scarf. In a way, it felt like that soul had been used to sign a ¡®contract¡¯ of sorts.


    Even more differently, his soul wasn¡¯t in the Cataclysmic Seal.


    But in the end, the Soul Sentinel Scarf was still his lifebound armament now. There weren¡¯t any bad side effects so far, and Bai Yunfei was disinclined to look to see if there were any problems. Right now, he felt far too out of his depth to be looking into this field of study. If he became stronger and more knowledgeable, the answers he was seeking would naturally come to him.


    ¡­¡­


    What Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know was that there was already a precedent of this on the Tianhun continent. In the world of soul cultivators, they called this act the Regalia¡¯s Pledge!


    Just like Bai Yunfei had guessed, the Soul Sentinel Scarf was one of the Ten Great Regalia!


    Aside from the weakest and the strongest, there were no ranking of regalia on their strengths or weaknesses in between.


    The Nephrite Throne was the tenth Regalia and as well as the ¡®weakest¡¯ of them. The only reason why it was counted among the Ten Great Regalia was solely due to its unique effect. It wasn¡¯t a true ¡®regalia¡¯, as Bai Yunfei could saw when he looked at its grade being only a high-heaven.


    There was one thing the Nephrite Throne lacked that all the other Regalia did not. It was a ¡®Regalia¡¯ without a spirit.


    The reason why the other Regalis were considered Regalias was because of the fact they¡­.had spirit within them!!


    Without a spirit living within the Regalia, the Regalia could not be as powerful as it was. It would not be able to go beyond the limits of a heaven tier.


    In order for a Regalia¡¯s spirit to truly show its strength, the spirit would have to swear fealty to its owner. To swear a Pledge and work for that master!


    From antiquity to modern times, the amount of people with these Regalia have been few. And those who had a Regalia Pledged with them were even rarer!


    The Regalia¡¯s Pledge was meant to be an extremely difficult task, but Bai Yunfei had managed to do so as easily as lifting his hand. The reason behind that was due to the state the Soul Sentinel Scarf had been--the sealed state it was once in.


    ¡­¡­


    The Ten Great Regalia appeared more than two millennia ago when Wu Tianhun unified the continent under his rule. Following that, those Regalia with no historical affiliation were disseminated through the continent while those that did remained with.


    Throughout the annals of history, the appearance of a Regalia would send waves through the continent, opening it to bloodshed and massacre as people fought for it.


    So it was surprising to see a Regalia just fall into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand without a sound.


    No one would¡¯ve seen this coming. Not Bai Yunfei, not Huang Lin from the Beast Taming School, not Yao Tong, and not the head of the Xing, Xing Qiuhong¡­.


    If the one who first got managed to grab hold of this Regalia before sending it home, Xing Shuangqing, was still alive, he would¡¯ve vomited three liters of blood if he heard about this.


    Four years ago, Xing Shuangqing was one of the few that decided to scout out a certain dangerous spot of land and came across the corpse of a once very strong person. From the state of being that corpse was in, they all surmised that it had been hundreds of years since the person died, but there had been a Regalia on him!


    The entire group flew into a rage at that. Turning the entire area over to look for any traces of the Regalia, the group soon fell to internal strife and broke apart. Within the confusion, Xing Shuangqing was thought to have written down the coordinates of where the Regalia was on a piece of cloth and fled.


    It was common in this world to have people kill others for treasure, especially soul cultivators. With more than half their group already dead due to their internal strife, the remaining survivors didn¡¯t bother to tell the world of this development and instead chose to chase after the one with the ¡®treasure map¡¯, Xing Shuangqing.


    It was at some point during his escape that Xing Shuangqing coincidentally came across Xing Qiugu and entrusted the ¡®treasure map¡¯ to him. Then, without being able to hide or run from his pursuers anymore, Xing Shuangqing finally met his demise¡­.


    None of his pursuers accounted for Xing Qiugu coming into the picture. Xing Shuangqing hadn¡¯t run back towards the direction of his Xing, so none of his pursuers took them into mind.


    In turn, Xing Qiugu entrusted the item over to Xing Qiuhong after he returned. At that time, Xing Qiuhong had been overjoyed to have a treasure map on his hands. But no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn¡¯t divine the secrets behind the ¡®treasure map¡¯ and thought many a times that his father had been mistaken. Xing Qiuhong knew the crime that was to own a treasure, and what calamity would befall his family should it be known to the outside world. So Xing Qiuhong obfuscated any information regarding the map and told very little people within the house about it.


    For several years, the Beast Taming School and Soul Refining School had also been looking for clues of this Regalia. With their informational network like spiderwebs, the both of them managed to piece their way towards the Xing. Even though the ¡®credibility¡¯ of their information was less than even ¡®one percent¡¯, neither of the two could hardly afford not to look. Many false and true rumors like this spread through the continent many times before¡­.


    So the Soul Refining School dispatched Wu Han and Yao Tong, and the Beast Taming School sent Huang Lin to verify the clues.


    Neither of the two sides predicted Bai Yunfei to appear. From him killing Wu Han, to the experts of the Xing, then Xing Qiuhong himself, taking his ring, beating back Yao Tong, and then killing even Huang Lin!


    But the biggest surprise was that the so-called ¡®treasure map¡¯ was in fact the Regalia itself!!


    Needless to say, no one expected that¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Ignoring the many questions he had, Bai Yunfei opted to tie the scarf over his forehead.


    The gray scarf didn¡¯t look special, and neither did it make him look like some kind of hero, but it did at least make him look a little more focused.


    From the mysterious sensation he felt from the scarf, Bai Yunfei knew the second and third effects of the scarf was starting to activate. Most effects normally needed to be manually activated, but these two were passive ones and was constantly active.


    His soul wasn¡¯t harmed, to his own knowledge of the second effect anyways. He didn¡¯t understand what the third effect meant by ¡®soul stabilization rate¡¯ either, but that could come later.


    Now that everything was done, Bai Yunfei smiled and then took out a second space ring into his hand.


    This was the space ring of Huang Lin¡­.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Prior to Bai Yunfei¡¯s departure from the Crafting School, his master Zi Jin had told him to go to the capital as soon as his training in the Soulbeast Forest was over. He had a letter for Bai Yunfei to give to a friend of his within the capital¡­.


    The next day, Bai Yunfei left the small town to head south.


    His destination: the national capital of the continent, the Capital!


    ----------------------


    End of Book Four


    ------------------------


    At last, I¡¯ve finished yet another book to this story. As per usual, I (Endless Clouds), will take tomorrow off and reorganize my thoughts on how to start the next Book.


    After two years of training, Bai Yunfei has gotten a lot stronger. He will be going to the Capital, a place where all the strong and geniuses gather. What will happen next? Until next time¡­..

 Chapter 511: A Sudden Event Outside the Capital

    The Heavenly Capital Province stood at the center of the fifty-six provinces of the Tianhun Empire. It was the largest and most prosperous province, and standing at the center of this province was the imperial city, the Capital.


    The being with the highest authority within the Tianhun Empire lived within the Capital. The Capital had no lord mayor for obvious reasons since it was the Emperor that oversaw the government of it.


    Officials and high-ranking members of the Capital could always be found here. And aside from having the most commoners there, the Capital boasted the most soul cultivators in one area.


    Even Soul Ancestors had to watch their steps when they walked into the capital. Countless people of unimaginable strength lived here, and the amount of Soul Kings here alone numbered above the hundreds.


    Not many people would go beyond the province of their own birth, let alone three provinces beyond that. The Tianhun Empire was tremendously large, but there were many that dreamed of traveling to see the Capital.


    ¡­¡­


    Year 2014 of the Tianhun Calendar. The twentieth day of the eighth month.


    The sun was finally starting to rise, and the moon starting to fall.


    To the north of the Capital, a white streak of light traversed across the skies like a shooting star to travel to the south as quickly as possible.


    At a closer look, a white mastiff could be seen in the white light, speeding across the skies in a blaze of glory and strength.


    If an experienced soul cultivator were to look up and see it, they¡¯d realize that this was a very rare soulbeast, a permafrost mastiff.


    And this permafrost mastiff wasn¡¯t traveling through the main means of transportation Soul Exalts could do--using elemental energy as platforms to remain in the sky--this mastiff was¡­.flying! Flying without using these platforms! The only reason it was using its four legs was to further increase its velocity through the sky.


    It was a class seven soulbeast!!


    And even more surprising was the fact that there was a person on top of the permafrost mastiff!


    It was being used as a mount!


    Not a single soul cultivator wouldn¡¯t create a stir at this sight.


    It was night time, but the mastiff didn¡¯t need to bother about the main roads or even about any other travelers since it was flying.


    ¡­¡­


    The one on top of the permafrost mastiff¡¯s back was naturally Bai Yunfei. And standing behind him was the miniaturized blue-eyes wyrm, and on his right shoulder was Xiao Qi.


    After traveling for half a year, Bai Yunfei had finally made it from the Northern Ridge Province to the Capital in the Heavenly Capital Province.


    Bai Yunfei had maintained his training on the way here. He partook in the local customs and terrain when he can, and learned plenty from what he saw.


    The reason why he was using the permafrost mastiff to fly now was because of their close proximity to the Capital. They¡¯ve been traveling nonstop for the last few hours or so now because Bai Yunfei wanted to find a nice inn in the Capital and rest well for the night.


    There were still fifty kilometers left to go to the Capital, but that distance was nothing for the class seven permafrost mastiff.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t changed much in half a year. Many soul cultivators found their physical appearances held in stasis when they reached twenty-five. They¡¯d be able to maintain this age for some time, making it hard for others to determine their true age. In short, while one looked like they were twenty-five or twenty-six, it was very much possible that they were in fact thirty to forty years old.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t seen any major improvements to his strength either. Even after half a year, Bai Yunfei was still a mid-stage Soul Exalt, but there was still improvements nonetheless. Becoming a late-stage Soul Exalt wasn¡¯t too far away. The blue-eyes wyrm was still a peak late-stage class six, but Xiao Qi had a bit of improvement and was now also a peak late-stage class six just like the wyrm, shocking everyone.


    There was also the permafrost mastiff Bai Yunfei got from the fourth elder of the Beast Taming School, Huang Lin. Now that he had control over it, Bai Yunfei had to admit it was a great addition to his strength.


    Many obstacles and troubles popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s path the last half year. But with the permafrost mastiff, Bai Yunfei was able to resolve these conflicts with barely any effort.


    This was only made possible through the Beast Taming Ring, which Bai Yunfei used to control it. He¡¯d often have Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan try to talk with it, but those never helped much. Not even a peep of a reaction was had from the soulbeast puppet, and the only thing it was capable of doing was obeying commands. Bai Yunfei opted not to try and change anything, especially the slave seal in its body like he did with the thunderfire wolf.


    Life felt peaceful to Bai Yunfei. He had nothing to worry about, and no grudges to be afraid of. He could focus freely on hsi training, living, and traveling to his greatest satisfaction.


    Aside from delivering the letter his master entrusted to him, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have much he wanted to do in the Capital but look around and see what it was like.


    Well. If he was there, he wanted to go see one youth. A youth that he owed a favor to from long time ago.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°I should be there soon, right?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. Thanks to his above-average eyesight, Bai Yunfei was already starting to see the distant outline of a city beyond the horizon.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Suddenly, a faint explosion echoed into the air, surprising him.


    Gingerly, Bai Yunfei commanded the mastiff to come to a stop in the air.


    The sound he heard just a moment ago had been a little weird. Seemingly, he thought, it felt as though it was supposed to be a lot louder, but something had muffled it.


    If not for his above-average perception, Bai Yunfei probably wouldn¡¯t have felt it.


    ¡°How strange¡­.it¡¯s so close by, but why couldn¡¯t I feel it?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. Trying his best to wonder what it was, Bai Yunfei gave up after a while and hurried onwards.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± He came to a stop again to look to his right. ¡°That was a wave of elemental energy!¡±


    He felt a new instance happen again, this time, the feeling was unmistakable!


    ¡°Something¡¯s up¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. He was curious now, he wanted to see what was going on.


    Closing his eyes, Bai Yunfei focused. He was trying to figure out where it was coming from. ¡°Over there!¡±


    He turned his head to a nearby mountain to his right.


    Thanks to the night, it was very dark still, and the mountain didn¡¯t look like there was anything was happening. It looked for the very most part like a normal mountain. But Bai Yunfei knew that the strange energy he was feeling was coming from there!


    Turning the mastiff, Bai Yunfei had it go towards the mountain. He was sure to hide his presence, and the other soulbeasts did the same.


    He came to a stop a little over a hundred meters up the mountain. Looking around, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t see anything strange. But from what he could tell, there was something going on behind the mountain!


    The permafrost mastiff slowly inched towards the mountain peak, but when it was about to reach around it, something¡­..changed!


    In one swift moment, Bai Yunfei felt the Charm Bracelet around his wrist and the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead shine softly before a strange energy entered his body!


    Then at the same time, the entire scenery around him started to twist!!


    Bai Yunfei was dazed. Realizing what was going on, Bai Yunfei said aloud, ¡°This is¡­.an illusion!!¡±

 Chapter 512: A Battle Hidden Behind the Illusionary Barrier!

    The activation of his Soul Sentinel Scarf was all it took for Bai Yunfei to realize that he was being hit with a spirit-based attack! And with the Charm Bracelet activating, that specified what kind of spirit-based attack it was.


    It was an¡­.an illusion!


    Bai Yunfei came across a situation like this once before half a year ago. There had been an early-stage Soul Exalt with a rare affinity for illusions and a class five soulbeast with an affinity for illusions as well. Together, they were able to put Bai Yunfei in an illusion where the ¡®environment¡¯ was an insidious and frightful hell where it felt like Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest was being stabbed again and again. But with his Soul Sentinel Scarf and Charm Bracelet, the sensations weren¡¯t as strong, and the illusion was easily shattered.


    Right now, it felt like the world around him was warping in on itself like a false piece of reality. The illusion was unable to ensnare him in it, and now that it was being broken, the reality of the world was showing through it!!


    Bai Yunfei had to admit, he was surprised. He hadn¡¯t expected the illusion to be found out and broken so quickly, even if it wasn¡¯t a very strong illusion (to him). Slightly at ease, Bai Yunfei had the mastiff come down.


    They touched onto the ground, but it wasn¡¯t until Bai Yunfei made sure it was ¡®real¡¯ ground they touched until Bai Yunfei felt relieved. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Soul Sentinel Scarf and Charm Bracelet, the effects of the illusion was much weaker to Bai Yunfei. He could see what the illusion was trying to show him wasn¡¯t all that much different to reality. For example, a giant boulder that was warping a bit in the illusion was there in reality as well.


    No. It seemed as though this illusion wasn¡¯t trying to ¡®change¡¯ something, but to ¡®hide¡¯ something¡­.


    The pulses of elemental energy was getting more and more obvious to Bai Yunfei¡¯s senses. As he carefully treaded forward, Bai Yunfei made sure to ready his soulforce just in case he had to fight.


    Little by little, Bai Yunfei made his way deeper in. It wasn¡¯t until he came to about twenty steps later that he came to an invisible ¡®barrier¡¯. A barrier that could be passed through to enter a special ¡®area¡¯.


    An ¡®area¡¯ that was completely invisible from the outside area.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a muffled explosion from beyond the barrier. A large wave of orange light erupted from beyond, but then it broke up the moment it hit the barrier.


    From there, Bai Yunfei felt at least ten different sources of soulforce!


    There were soul cultivators! Battling! At least a dozen of them!


    This was a sight to be surprised about!


    Crouching to the ground, Bai Yunfei hid his soulforce even more to try and determine what was going on beyond the barrier.


    About a kilometer from the other side, there was an intense battle taking place on the flatlands.


    In this battlefield, there were three figures surrounded by at least ten enemies, and on the ground, there were almost another ten corpses!


    Bai Yunfei had to suppress a gasp, these people were¡­.late-stage Soul Exalts! The three people surrounded were late-stage Soul Exalts, and the people attacking them were also late-stage Soul Exalts--some of them were even peak late-stage Soul Exalts!


    Bai Yunfei had never seen a battle like this before!


    There were another three people about a hundred steps to the side closer to Bai Yunfei. One of the three persons had their arms and legs bound together from his spot on the ground, and there were another two standing above him. From their clothes, Bai Yunfei surmised these two people were from the same group the other three people were.


    That was what Bai Yunfei saw.


    It was with great relief that Bai Yunfei realized no one had noticed him here yet. With how chaotic the influx of energy was, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was obfuscated, and the soulforce of the three soulbeasts were low enough to be considered invisible. So that left Bai Yunfei free to pay attention to the battle without fear of detection.


    Bai Yunfei swept his eyes across the battlefield, taking in everything that could be seen, and gawking as his eyes registered what those things were.


    The battle taking place was tremendous and conspicuous without a doubt. But when he was on the other side of the barrier a minute ago, he hadn¡¯t sensed a thing almost!


    It was because of the ¡®illusion barrier¡¯. The strength of the illusion was enough to hide everything within a kilometer radius of this mountain.


    Bai Yunfei could tell that this barrier was obscuring the area within this dome, hiding it from the eyes and senses of any outsider.


    And the reason why he felt like everything was ¡®fine¡¯ and ¡®normal¡¯ before was solely because of the effects of this illusion barrier.


    And not only was it hiding the visual reality from the outside, it was masking up the outflux of soulforce and elemental energy!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even heard of an illusionary construct capable of something like this before.


    The ones who were powerful and knowledgeable enough to place down an illusionary barrier like this had to be the people currently surrounding the other three. And with them having late-stage and peak late-stage Soul Exalts, a feat like this wasn¡¯t all too impossible¡­.


    Still awed by what he was in, Bai Yunfei made sure to take a look at the battle still going on farther away.


    Aside from the two people guarding the other person, there were twelve people fighting the three. Of those twelve, seven of them were late-stage Soul Exalts while the other five were peak late-stage Soul Exalts.


    But even against such a powerful force like this, the three late-stage Soul Exalts weren¡¯t losing. They were in fact holding their own quite well!


    From what Bai Yunfei could see, the three people fighting were all quite young. The tallest of the three was shining furiously with orange light, meaning he had an affinity for earth. He held a long zhanmadao, and with the orange light covering his entire person, he looked like a stone giant. Roaring loudly as he swung his weapon around, the man was able to create gulches in the ground with each swing and intimidate his enemies from getting too close to him. And with his armor providing a substantial amount of defense, the man looked all but impervious to damage.


    To his right was a young man bathed in green and blue light; this one held an affinity for both wind and water! And from how fluidly the man was swapping between the two elements to attack, this person was a genius in bi-elemental usage.


    This one had no weapon in his hand, choosing to use his hands for close combat. His footwork was strange with how he seemed to flow from place to place like a drunkard. With each time he leaned his body to dodge an attack, his arms would fly out in surprising ways to hit his enemies. And with this way of attack, he was completely able to fight the four people surrounding him without getting hurt!


    The third person wore white robes was being protected by the two fighters. He had no elemental energy radiating from his body, but there was was a strange flow of energy coming from him, so that none of his three enemies dared to get close to him.


    Every so often, the two people protecting him looked over at him, as if afraid of any danger befalling him.


    It was clear to see these twelve people were fighting not to kill their opponents, but to capture them like the one back there. Elsewise, the three wouldn¡¯t be able to fight for as long as they did.


    But then, the man with the zhanmadao suddenly roared loudly before stabbing his weapon into the ground!

 Chapter 513: Lending a Hand

    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The moment the giant zhanmadao stabbed into the ground, the orange light from the blade disseminated into the ground in waves, trembling and fracturing it as it spread in every direction around it!


    The elemental earth from the blade spread through the ground shortly before erupting from it to form a barrier of blades to surround the enemies!


    In order to evade being hit, the twelve Soul Exalts leapt into the air.


    It was then that the young man in white flew into motion. His soulforce erupted from his body as he swung his right hand, a folding fan suddenly appearing in it. Now armed, the young man swung his fan several times at the airborne enemies!


    What came out from the fan wasn¡¯t wind, but¡­.blades as black as night!


    At least twenty of these black blades flew through the air, each of them traveling silently through the air!


    The timing of his attacks had been extremely precise. It was as though he and the earth-affinity soul cultivator had planned this beforehand, and without trouble, the twenty blades traveled silently towards the enemies!


    None of the twelve looked terrified by the blades, though they each immediately summoned elemental energy to their feet to form platforms. Kicking off from it, they were each able to fly off in a different direction to evade.


    Their reactions were fast, but not unexpected by the young man in white, who sent another leading volley.


    There were several shouts of pain as several of the blades connected. Many of the people had dodged, but there were four that weren¡¯t so lucky!


    Of the four, three of them were cut at the waist. One of them--a peak late-stage Soul Exalt--had both his legs cut off at the knees!


    It was only a single move, but the young man¡¯s strength was terrifying!


    But it was too soon for the remaining people to feel safe. Taking advantage of their airborne status, the two other young men with the one in white lashed out, striking at the ones closest to them.


    The earth affinity soul cultivator roared, bringing his giant sword up into the air. With the blade being extended another ten meters by his soulforce, he swung it down, sending a wave of elemental earth at the nearest one, cutting the person in two from head to toe!


    Likewise, the Soul Exalt with a dual affinity for water and wind lashed out, a fist slamming into the throat of one enemy. Eyes bulging out in abject fear, the man hit by the punch flew backwards and back down to the ground where he didn¡¯t get back up.


    ¡°Ah!¡± There was another shout as the man in white slashed out his fan again, sending a black wave of energy at the legless Soul Exalt. This time, the Soul Exalt wasn¡¯t able to avoid being cut in half again.


    In just a matter of moments, the dozen enemies was reduced to six!!


    The three rendezvous together when they each killed another one of their enemies, the one in white in the middle. Each of the three looked tired it seemed, their energy nearing their limits now.


    But there were still two late-stage and four peak late-stage Soul Exalts left! The exhaustion of the three only encouraged the remaining six in attacking. And without pause, the six flew at them again for a new assault!


    The three youths were utterly spent. Their defenses were done half-heartedly, and if nothing were to change the predicament they were in soon, it would probably be another two minutes before they would fall and be captured.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the black energy come out from the youth in white. ¡°That¡¯s¡­.that¡¯s the Spatial Edge! He¡¯s a space-affinity soul cultivator!!¡±


    Of all things, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t expecting to come across a soul cultivator with the extremely rare space element!


    It was then that the man in white whirled around in the direction of Bai Yunfei, allowing him to get a good glance at the youth¡¯s face.


    In the moment he saw, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes registered the person¡¯s facial appearances, widening in surprise as he did. ¡°It¡¯s him!!¡±


    The remaining six were nearly upon the three men now.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined uncertainty for a moment as he debated what to do. Then, a second later, he flew out like an arrow with his body ablaze with red light!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The earth-shaking roar that erupted in the area startled all those fighting up ahead. From the three youths to the six people on the other side, they all paused to look at the source of it.


    And since Bai Yunfei no longer cared about hiding his soulforce, he was the first to pique all nine combatants¡¯ attention


    But the one who roared wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei, it was the one that was even faster than he was. The permafrost mastiff!


    The class seven soulbeast had revealed itself, staring down everyone within the area with its crimson-red eyes and bringing down a domineering amount of presence onto the area. With a class seven soulbeast here, everyone suddenly looked despondent.


    But the reason behind their despondence wasn¡¯t because of them fearing their lack of strength, it was because of a¡­.mental attack!!


    Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s command, the permafrost mastiff unleashed an unique attack of a class seven soulbeast, a mental attack!


    Due to the amount of enemies there, the attack used wasn¡¯t very strong. But even despite that, the six Soul Exalts paled in the face as the attack took effect on them, their fear sapping away at their bodies and their soulforce starting to shake--some of them starting to lose even control of it.


    Using the permafrost mastiff to take care of this fight was the fastest way to resolve this problem!


    The next thing the six Soul Exalts registered in their eyes was a streak of white as it blurred by. With a bang, the white light came to a stop right besides the three youths, a decently-sized crater where it stood. When the smoke cleared up, it was revealed to be the permafrost mastiff standing there, a headless corpse in its jaws--it had killed the strongest Soul Exalt there!


    Before the peak late-stage Soul Exalt could even react, the permafrost mastiff had died to its claws and jaws!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A bolt of violet and green followed behind the mastiff before five separate blades of space tore through the area and towards five different enemies.


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah!¡±


    Three blood-curdling shrieks were heard next. The group of five hadn¡¯t even had time to properly register how one of them had died to the mastiff before another three of them were struck dead by the Spatial Edges!


    All that that remained were two peak late-stage Soul Exalts. Managing to avoid death by dodging the Spatial Edges, the two immediately took off in a quick retreat!


    Their courage had been shattered! Before Bai Yunfei could even properly appear and take part in the battle, four more of the six had been killed, and the remaining two were fleeing for their lives!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The moment when the person on the right turned to run, a crimson-red spear had run through him!


    ¡°Boom!!¡± The peak late-stage Soul Exalt hadn¡¯t even realize he had been stabbed through the chest when the spear unleashed an explosion and scattered his body into pieces!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Another furious roar was heard as the blue-eyes wyrm lashed out at the same moment the Spatial Edges were fired from Xiao Qi. Transforming in a blaze of blue light as it flew into the air, the now giant-sized wyrm went after not the last survivor, but¡­..the ground towards the two late-stage Soul Exalts keeping watch over the immobile person!


    There was a mighty crash as the blue-eyes wyrm came down onto the two Soul Exalts. Having been distracted by the mental attack of the permafrost mastiff, the two Soul Exalts had failed to realize the wyrm was above them and died as a result!


    That left only one last peak late-stage Soul Exalt left. Shooting off to the left, he moved towards the direction of the illusionary barrier in his attempt to flee.


    His eyes were filled with joy as he approached the barrier. But then, a blur appeared right in front of him as the permafrost mastiff came to greet him face-to-face.


    And without any further resistance, the mastiff brought its paw down onto the man¡¯s chest and pushed him down.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The man smashed against the ground, creating a crater as he did. Blood splashed out from his mouth from the impact, but the man was very much alive.


    Bai Yunfei had commanded the permafrost mastiff to capture him alive for interrogation.


    ¡­¡­


    In less than a minute, the eight enemies were all dead or dealt with!


    Bai Yunfei nodded to himself in satisfaction at the still alive person in the crater. Turning around, he walked towards the three dumbfounded youths.


    He looked to the one in white robes first, a cordial smile on his lips as he spoke, ¡°We meet again, Zheng Kai¡­.¡±

 Chapter 514: Meeting Zheng Kai

    A very long time ago in Talus City, Bai Yunfei was only an ordinary young boy when he came across what was his very first instance of danger and crisis. There had been a young man from the Capital who helped him out then. The young man had only said a few simple words, but those words had saved Bai Yunfei¡¯s life.


    Back then, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even a soul cultivator. But he made a promise. One day, he vowed, he¡¯d repay the favor when he was strong enough.


    Six years had passed since that day, and Bai Yunfei was no longer that weak commoner he once was. Today, he stood proud as a mature and strong soul cultivator, and that promise had never been forgotten by him.


    In the few short words spoken to him, Bai Yunfei knew that his benefactor was Zheng Kai. From later days, Bai Yunfei learned he was the second son of the house of Zheng, one of the Five Great Houses.


    One of the major reasons why Bai Yunfei came to the Capital was to hopefully find a chance to go meet him.


    So it was completely unexpected to meet him here of all places rather than inside the Capital¡­.


    That¡¯s right. The person in white right in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes was none other than Zheng Kai!


    Six years had passed since the two last met, but Bai Yunfei recognized him still. Zheng Kai didn¡¯t change at all.


    And that was why Bai Yunfei was so unhesitant to charge out and help fight off those enemies.


    He hadn¡¯t any idea why there¡¯d be anyone that¡¯d want to capture Zheng Kai and his friends, but if Zheng Kai was in danger, then Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t hesitate to come out and fight, even if it was to his benefit or detriment¡­.


    Author Note: Hem hem. Zheng Kai is a character from many many chapters ago, so many readers will have probably forgotten about him. Please refer to chapter five and six.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Zheng Kai, we meet again¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned to him with a smile.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The three men stiffened at Bai Yunfei¡¯s words, Zheng Kai looking the most surprised out of the three of them, ¡°You¡­.you know me?!¡±


    None of the three were really recovered from the ordeal they just went through. They had all been despairing at the danger they were in and hadn¡¯t expected reinforcements to suddenly appear and save them. But when it did, they were all relieved.


    Zheng Kai studied Bai Yunfei with a still surprised eye. His mind was hard at work trying to figure out just who this mysterious savior was.


    His two companions were looking to Bai Yunfei and then back to Zheng Kai, unsure of what to say. They were waiting for Zheng Kai to say something and were obviously curious to hear the relationship between the two.


    But Zheng Kai couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. His eyebrows knitted tighter and tighter the harder he thought, but he just couldn¡¯t figure it out. ¡°Friend,¡± he gave up, ¡°Do we¡­.know each other?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t be blamed for not remembering. What happened in Talus City had been life-changing for Bai Yunfei, but not for Zheng Kai, who had only said and did the things he did on a whim. It was a minor interlude of his life that only really affected Bai Yunfei, and the lasting effects of the memory would only be long enough to last for a short amount of time instead than six whole years.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t mind, though. ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t remember, lord Zheng, but we met six years ago in Talus City of the Azure Cloud Province. We were at a place called the Beast Coliseum, my name is¡­.Bai Yunfei!¡±


    ¡°Six years ago?¡± Zheng Kai queried, ¡°Azure Cloud Province¡­..Talus City¡­...the Coliseum¡­?¡±


    Those four phrases spun around his mind as he thought. Savoring each word as if to try and recall lost memories, Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes suddenly widened in surprise, ¡°Bai Yunfei?! I remember now! You¡¯re that person from the Coliseum! You¡¯re Bai Yunfei! ¡°


    His eyes widened even more at the realization, as if he couldn¡¯t believe just what he was seeing or remembering.


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei was pretty surprised that Zheng Kai even remembered any of that.


    ¡°Haha, so you do remember, lord Zheng. I am that same Bai Yunfei, the one you helped save from trouble. I¡¯ve never forgotten the kindness you showed me ever since.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed politely to Zheng Kai.


    ¡°Is¡­.is it really you?! You were¡­.you were just a¡­.¡± Zheng Kai was thunderstruck. Now that he could remember, Zheng Kai could distinctly recall that Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even fully awakened to his soulforce when they met. So how was he so strong now¡­.


    Try as hard as he might, Zheng Kai simply couldn¡¯t make the connection between the young boy he saved six years ago to the man who saved him here today.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?! You said you¡¯re Bai Yunfei? The very same one from the rumors, the one from the Crafting School? That Bai Yunfei?¡±


    A hoarse voice cried out just then; it was the earth type Soul Exalt that had spoken.


    Bai Yunfei turned to look at him. The man was no longer wearing his stone armor, revealing his sturdy physique. He stood at about half a head taller than Bai Yunfei and was quite well-proportioned. With his short hair and sharp eyes, the man looked like a very straightforward and honest young man.


    Zheng Kai had been focusing on the ¡®six years¡¯ part when he was trying to remember who Bai Yunfei was, but hearing his name had also caused him to think of another ¡®rumor¡¯.


    The very same rumor everyone on the continent had already heard about.


    The rumors said that there was a new genius from the Crafting School named Bai Yunfei. Three years ago, his actions at Praestia Pass astounded everyone there and contributed to his fame. But then when people expected to see more, he vanished. Just like the short appearance he made back in the Forest Pass Province, his impromptu disappearance led to many people forgetting about him.


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°I am indeed a student of the Crafting School.¡±


    The tall man¡¯s eyes gleamed brightly. ¡°Ah Zheng,¡± He glanced over to Zheng Kai, ¡°never thought that you¡¯ve a friend like that!¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes grew even wider when he heard Bai Yunfei confirm his identity. But while he was thinking, Bai Yunfei pointed a finger to the tied up person farther away, ¡°Is¡­.that your friend? We should untie him first, perhaps?¡±


    Everyone blinked.


    Looking over to where Bai Yunfei was pointing, they all realized with a start just what they were here for to begin with. Thanks to Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance, they had all forgotten about the tied up person.


    ¡°Haha! My bad my bad!! Nearly forgot about him, fourth brother, your second brother is here to save you!¡±


    Zheng Kai laughed in embarrassment. Racing off towards the tied up person still glaring at them, he was quickly followed by his two other friends and Bai Yunfei.

 Chapter 515: Four Lords of the Capital

    From what Bai Yunfei could see, the tied up person in front of them was looking quite scared--a little more scared than before Bai Yunfei had appeared maybe with how white his face was.


    The reason behind that was the blue-eyes wyrm.


    Not even a meter in front of him was a single ten-meter wide ¡®footprint¡¯.


    The people guarding him from before once stood there, but when the blue-eyes wyrm fell from the skies, the two of them disappeared without a trace, and the craters from the footprint was now just barely any distance away from his nose, scaring him quite badly.


    Even though the blue-eyes wyrm was a lot smaller than before, the male was still scared out of his skin.


    Zheng Kai was the first to reach him. Cutting through the ropes in one fluid motion, Zheng Kai placed a hand onto him and transmitted his soulforce into the acupoints of his friend to unblock it.


    This fatty had only the strength of a Soul Ancestor, but the reason why he couldn¡¯t move was because of the fact that his soulforce circulation had been forcibly stopped.


    He leapt up to his feet the moment he recovered, the fat on his skin trembling with his movements, ¡°Motherf*cking sh*t! I thought I was going to die for sure!¡± He announced.


    The male spread his arms wide when he saw the three unharmed friends of his, ¡°Haha, my brothers! Good thing you¡¯re not harmed, I wouldn¡¯t ever be able to face myself otherwise, even if they flayed all the fat on me!¡±


    He was quite clearly trying to liven up the mood with a joke, but the fear in his eyes was still quite clearly there.


    Zheng Kai and the other two smiled and nodded though, choosing not to say anything. They dodged the bear hug offered and instead allowed him to tap his fist to their chests as a friendly greeting between brothers.


    Bai Yunfei was just then walking up to them, allowing Zheng Kai the opportunity to introduce him, ¡°Haha, brother Bai, let me introduce you to my three good brothers.¡±


    He pointed to the tall one first, ¡°This is our oldest, Huang Bin.¡±


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow as if remembering something, but he nodded his head anyways.


    Zheng Kai pointed his finger next to the frail-looking young man with two elements, ¡°He¡¯s our third brother, Chen Qiankun.¡±


    Then before Zheng Kai could even get the the next person, the fatty raced forward to introduce himself, ¡°Haha! My turn! I¡¯m the fourth brother, Jin Manlou! Brother Bai, is it? Thanks for saving me, I really can¡¯t thank you enough!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cupped his hands to everyone there, ¡°You must be the Four Lords of the Capital. This one has heard of you all before, I never thought that I¡¯d meet you four in person. It¡¯s nice to meet you all¡­¡±


    ¡°Pah, Four Lords of the Capital? What a bullsh*t nickname, none of us never wanted those nicknames to begin with.¡± Jin Manlou waved his hand, ¡°Brother Bin,¡± he looked to Huang Bin, ¡°should we start heading back now? This place is a little unordinary, so we should let our families come deal with it¡­..¡±


    Huang Bin¡¯s face hardened a bit at that. Looking all around, he nodded, ¡°We should. It¡¯s a little inappropriate to stay here, the sooner we get back, the better. Brother Bai, you should come with us to the Capital, we can thank you there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zheng Kai spoke, ¡°why don¡¯t you come with us, brother Bai?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me,¡± replied Bai Yunfei, ¡°I was planning to enter the Capital anyways. It¡¯ll save me the trouble of not being familiar with the place.¡±


    The environment around the group suddenly start to warp a bit as the illusion finally started to fade, revealing parts of the real world around them.


    ¡°This is¡­.an illusion!!¡±


    Zheng Kai cried out.


    The more the barrier started to warp, the more the illusion started to fade away. Now that the group was starting to focus, they saw a streak of green fly through the place. Each time it swooped down to the ground for a moment and back up into the air, the illusion would fade even more.


    After a few repetitions of this, the illusion finally crumbled completely, revealing the night sky of the true world to the group. Shortly afterwards, the green streak of light flew towards Bai Yunfei.


    It was Xiao Qi.


    Several balls of green light floated around Xiao Qi as it flew towards Bai Yunfei. In the light, they looked like stones of some kind that emanated a strange type of energy.


    As Zheng Kai and the others looked on in surprise, Xiao Qi touched down on the ground in front of Bai Yunfei and dropped the stones for him to place into his space ring.


    The four brothers looked at each other as if thinking of the same thing, but none of them said anything about Bai Yunfei¡¯s strange actions.


    Returning to its regular small size, Xiao Qi came to a perch onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s right shoulder. Realizing something, the four brothers turned around to look at half-human-sized thing come running towards around the area, holding something in its arms¡­..it was the blue-eyes wyrm!


    Whenever it came to a stop near a corpse, the wyrm would grab hold of the corpse¡¯s space ring before moving onto the next. Swiftly and smoothly, the wyrm managed to extract all the space rings of the dead soul cultivators, even the ones of the crushed two it killed earlier¡­.


    But what the four did notice was that the wyrm was collecting only the space rings of the ones Bai Yunfei and his soulbeasts had killed, and not the ones the four killed.


    The blue-eyes wyrm returned with a total of eight space rings. Running up to Bai Yunfei, it looked at Bai Yunfei as if pleased about something.


    Bai Yunfei smiled before taking the space rings from it.


    ¡°.....¡± The four were speechless, wasn¡¯t there something wrong with this situation right here?


    There were three soulbeasts right by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, they realized!!


    That giant mastiff had already returned to a highly ¡®adorable¡¯ shape of a small white ¡®dog¡¯, but they all knew just what the dog really was. A class seven soulbeast! If they hadn¡¯t seen the soulbeast and its true strength before, they surely wouldn¡¯t have made the connection between that and the loveable small dog in front of them.


    ¡°The class seven soulbeast has to be the one he¡¯s contracted to. There¡¯s very little Soul Exalts that have a class seven soulbeast contracted with them, but then, what is he doing with the other two soulbeasts then?¡±


    The mystery that was Bai Yunfei grew even deeper on their minds now¡­.


    ¡°Zheng Kai, what should we do with this one?¡± Bai Yunfei pointed to the still alive soul cultivator.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the Capital will send someone over in time. Let¡¯s have them deal with it.¡± Zheng Kai spoke. He walked up to the soul cultivator, and with a few expert jabs of his finger, the incapacitated man¡¯s acupoints were all clogged, preventing him from moving or killing himself.


    Though the illusionary barrier dampened the battle residue of the Soul Exalts, the permafrost mastiff¡¯s aura wouldn¡¯t be so easily stopped, meaning it wouldn¡¯t be long before someone from the Capital would notice and send someone over.


    And Zheng Kai was right. Just a few moments later, Bai Yunfei looked to the left, ¡°Ah, someone¡¯s here¡­.¡±


    Several streaks of light came touching down from the direction Bai Yunfei looked towards, but not before Huang Bin and the others stared at him strangely. Bai Yunfei had been the first to notice them.


    There were three streaks of light from the Capital. They flew over to where Bai Yunfei and the others were, and Zheng Kai was the first to identify who they were, ¡°Eh? Brother Bin, your second uncle is here!¡±


    Huang Bin gave a surprised chuckle, ¡°Haha, that makes things simpler. I¡¯ll make the report to the seniors and then we can all leave.¡±


    He leapt into the air after that to reach the three elders.


    As the elders approached, Bai Yunfei noticed that the three elders were all Soul Kings, their auras powerful to the senses.


    Up in the air, Huang Bin bowed to the three before quickly relating what had happened to them four. As he did, the three elders looked slightly surprised, but one of the three had a furious expression on his face. That one had to be Huang Bin¡¯s second uncle.


    Huang Bin pointed a finger to the still alive prisoner on the ground, and then to Bai Yunfei, making sure to speak a few words more about him before bowing and returning to the ground.


    ¡°We can all leave now. They¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡± Huang Bin spoke.


    Everyone nodded their heads. Bai Yunfei watched as Zheng Kai and the others waved their right hands to take out a flying sword. Even the weakest one there, Jin Manlou, had one.


    ¡°Brother Bai, do you¡­.¡±


    Zheng Kai turned his head to Bai Yunfei, a question halfway formed on his lips before Bai Yunfei took out his Tempest Sword.


    ¡­¡­


    Flying through the air on a flying sword was naturally a lot faster than traveling on their own soulforce. In less than half an hour, five streaks of light came to a stop in front of a giant city gate, revealing Bai Yunfei and the others.


    ¡°Brother Bai, the Capital forbids anyone from using flying soul armaments within its boundaries. If it¡¯s not any trouble, we¡¯ll travel the rest of the way on foot.¡± Zheng Kai explained.


    ¡°Ah, yes then. Thank you for leading the way.¡±


    ¡°Haha!! Today really scared me out of my mind! Let¡¯s head over to my Hundred Aliments for a meal, my treat!¡± Jin Manlou chuckled heartily.


    ¡°Of course you¡¯re treating, you really think we¡¯d pay for our own meals after today? Better bring out your God Intoxicating Wine for us to drink.¡± Chen Qiantan waved his empty wine pot merrily.


    ¡°You only ever think about my God Intoxicating Wine, third brother! Haha, fine, whatever! Since you shed so much blood for me today, I¡¯ll let you drink as much as you want!!¡±


    The four laughed to one another as Bai Yunfei followed from behind. He rarely interrupted the conversation and instead chose to look around the place in wonder at the sights of the Capital.


    The eighteen year old him never would¡¯ve imagined that he¡¯d be able to come to the Capital¡­..


    It was a prosperous and magnificent place of hidden dangers. Just what kind of stories would he be able to find here?

 Chapter 516: Friends Well Worth Having

    There is a grand restaurant within the Capital that often saw to a great amount of customers and such during its normal business hours. But today, it was a little more quiet than usual, and not even a single customer was to be seen on the first floor.


    It was the expansive second floor that had the only customers of today. The floor had all sorts of waitresses and waiters lined up at the walls, and a constant stream of delicious cuisine and drink was brought onto the floor.


    ¡°Haha! Come, brother Bai, let us toast! It was with your assistance that we four brothers evaded danger! We won¡¯t ever forget this, if you¡¯ve ever need the help of Jin Manlou, then all you have to do is ask! As long as I¡¯m capable, I¡¯ll do it!¡±


    A veritable mountain of food was being placed on top of the dining table, and only five men were gathered there to eat it. One of the diners--a fat young man--wore an exquisite gold robe as he raised his crystal glass up into the air to toast to the plain-clothed male in front of him. There was a great look of appreciation in the fatty¡¯s eyes as he made his speech, sounding earnest and excited.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so polite, brother Jin, it wasn¡¯t anything major. I¡¯ve said it before, Zheng Kai saved me once, so it was only right for me to return the favor.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled, though he raised his cup up to toast. His face was slightly flushed, though that would return to normal in time. With his current strength, it wouldn¡¯t take long for his soulforce to flush the alcohol out from his system despite his intolerance for it. With that, Bai Yunfei was free to drink and be drunk unless he didn¡¯t want to be.


    Zheng Kai and the others had led Bai Yunfei to the Hundred Aliments a little after they entered the Capital. With a gesture from Jin Manlou, he had the restaurant kindly pay for the meals and escort the other diners elsewhere while his group was led to the second floor to eat.


    Bai Yunfei was by no means a foodie or expertise on the fine dining of foods. He had his fair share of food from steamed buns to other meals from decent restaurants on his travels and delicacies, but today, Bai Yunfei had to admit the food he once called ¡®good-tasting¡¯ before had absolutely nothing on the food he was eating here today¡­..


    Prior to eating, Zheng Kai and the others pardoned themselves for a moment to freshen up. The battle had them looking worse for wear, and now that they were all refreshed and redressed, Bai Yunfei could clearly see their faces in their normal times.


    Zheng Kai looked completely like what a confident but easy-going young lord would look like. His long hair was tied neatly behind his head, his skin smooth and lustrous, and his face handsome enough to give more than enough credence to the ¡®rumors¡¯ of him being a lady-killer. But Bai Yunfei had to admit, he didn¡¯t see any traces of reason why he was called the ¡®Sex Lord¡¯. Zheng Kai right now looked very much like a free-minded heroic young man.


    Huang Bin looked very dignified, just like a respectable older brother. The one known as the ¡®Temper Lord¡¯ didn¡¯t talk much, but he did give Bai Yunfei the feeling of being a ¡®heroically upright¡¯ and ¡®straightforward¡¯ person that would treat people right and the other way around.


    Chen Qiantan had hair that reached his shoulders, and a face that wasn¡¯t all too bad, though he spoke very little. As soon as he sat down, in fact, he took a large vat of wine and began to drink from it, thus earning his name of ¡®Wine Lord¡¯.


    The last one to speak of was ¡®Avarice Lord¡¯ Jin Manlou. The young lord of the empire¡¯s most richest family. Bai Yunfei had a decent impression of him, as he was a great speaker and very considerate of others, though Bai Yunfei did have the feeling of him being a flatterer at best and a person who hide his intentions behind a smile at worst. Even with Bai Yunfei who wasn¡¯t good with speaking with others, he felt quite at peace talking to Jin Manlou.


    Their conversation hadn¡¯t been very long yet, but Bai Yunfei had learned a decent deal about their personalities as a whole when they talked about the day. It was only a simple conversation, but Bai Yunfei learned from them that Jin Manlou had been kidnapped by someone earlier that day. The other three were given a message to come out without help, and even though they all knew it was a trap, the three went anyways. To Bai Yunfei, that spoke a lot about their persons.


    But Bai Yunfei knew there was more to the story than just that. A kidnapping of a person like Jin Manlou like that never was, but with Bai Yunfei not being very close to the four, he didn¡¯t dare ask for more details.


    ¡°Ah, brother Bai, now that you¡¯re in the Capital, where do you plan to stay? Why not stay at my place if you don¡¯t have anywhere else? All you need to do is but ask.¡± Zheng Kai smiled.


    Thinking about it, Bai Yunfei nodded his head, ¡°If it¡¯s not too much trouble, lord Zheng. I don¡¯t know anyone in the capital, so it would be my honor to stay at your residence.¡±


    Zheng Kai waved his hand. ¡°No need to sound so polite, brother Bai, just call me by my name and treat me like a friend like you would anyone else. Since you¡¯re new to the Capital, we four can take you here and there. There¡¯s plenty to see and do here, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll love it here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Jin Manlou piped up, ¡°Allow me to do the honors and guarantee your satisfaction, brother Bai! Tomorrow, we should¡­.¡±


    The doors to the second floor suddenly opened up, revealing a stern-faced man as he walked in.


    Jin Manlou looked incensed by this interruption, ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?!¡± He stood up. ¡°I had orders that no one should be allo¡ª¡±


    Since his back was facing the door, he hadn¡¯t seen who it was that came in. His words died in his mouth when he turned around and saw an elderly person standing there, ¡°A--ah,¡± he gulped, ¡°uncle Wu, what brings you here?¡±


    The one who came in had been an ashen-haired old man. He was dressed in the robes of an attendant, but his aura was absolutely overwhelming to the senses.


    ¡°Soul King!¡± Bai Yunfei appraised with a wide eye.


    Not even sparing Bai Yunfei a glance, the old man nodded to Jin Manlou, ¡°The Lord has instructed me to escort you home, young master.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡±


    Seeing him hesitate, the elder continued, ¡°The Lord knows about what happened today. Seeing this is no trivial matter, it is best that we return now, young master.¡±


    He eyed Huang Bin and the others and nodded, ¡°I came across the men of the Huang and Chen on my way here. They should be here soon to take the young masters back with them.¡±


    A series of footsteps came to greet the ears of the inhabitants quickly afterwards. And then, the previously spacious room began to grow quite crowded.


    Needless to say, the men from both the Huang and Chen houses came by just like the elderly man said they would. Because of their arrivals, Huang Bin and Chen Qiantan stood up with helpless looks on their faces when they looked at each other.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be enough for today, Zheng Kai. You bring brother Bai back with you, we¡¯ll meet another day.¡± Huang Bin whispered to Zheng Kai.


    ¡­¡­


    The group left almost as quickly as they came. When Huang Bin and the others left, all that remained was Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai. Bai Yunfei had been watching the entire procession happen in front of him with a stunned expression; the ones who came to take the three of them were all Soul Kings!


    Zheng Kai stood up after that. ¡°Well!¡± He sighed, ¡°Since they all left, we should be heading back to othen. This way, brother Bai¡­.¡±

 Chapter 517: Illusion Stone

    To the eastern parts of the Capital stood a magnificent manor. Two giant stone lions adorned the light red-colored gates to the mansion, adding to the already great aura to the place.


    Zheng Manor.


    This place was the residence to one of the Five Great Houses, the house of Zheng, and by extension, Zheng Kai.


    Bai Yunfei sat in the guest rooms of the west side of the manor. Seated next to the table there, Bai Yunfei held a fist-sized rock in his hand.


    He had been in this manor for an hour already when Zheng Kai had the servants and maids prepare a guest room for Bai Yunfei before leaving in a hurry. Bai Yunfei knew that was probably due to him having to report to his seniors and report what happened today.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t any interest in seeing what Zheng Kai had to do, so he decided to rest in his room and look through the space rings of the people he killed today. The first thing he looked at was the strange stones Xiao Qi found and brought to him.


    Unique EquipmentEquipment Grade: High EarthEquipment Effect: Create an illusion a hundred meters in radius at largest. Effects become stronger the smaller in area it is. Effect can be stacked.Upgrade Requirement: 110 SoulpointsThe stats of this ¡®stone¡¯ made Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shine with excitement.


    ¡°An illusion type equipment!!¡± He surmised. A stone with stats like that would never fail to excite him.


    Back in the illusionary barrier, Bai Yunfei had found it weird that there was an illusion in place, but no caster there. To him, that meant there was some sort of soul armament that was capable of erecting an illusion and thus why he sent Xiao Qi to investigate the root of the illusions. Through their soul bond, Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t affected by the illusions either and so finding the stones hadn¡¯t been too hard of a task for the bird.


    When Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t sense any type of effect from it, Bai Yunfei decided to send his soulforce into it and see what would happen.


    The previously jet-black stones started to then shine with a prismatic light the moment his soulforce touched it. It wasn¡¯t a strong light, but it was hypnotic and even Bai Yunfei felt slightly mesmerized by the light.


    Much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise, the light hadn¡¯t been too large, spreading to about ten meters in radius around him at most. At his command, the light stopped growing, and with another thought, the environment around him started to look fake.


    ¡°This counts as activating its effect?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°It feels a little weak for having an illusion, but there¡¯s no actual illusion in place. What happens if I continue?¡±


    Curious, Bai Yunfei gathered even more soulforce into the stone to try and ¡®manipulate¡¯ the scenery around him.


    At his command, the area around him started to twist a little bit. The table was the first to disappear before the rest of the room followed. Like ripples of water, the area around him churned a bit before slowly returning back to normal as the area around him changed.


    The floors beneath him were riddled with potholes and the wall to his left was dilapidated. The ceiling window had long since been removed by someone, though Bai Yunfei knew not who took it. The night sky was shining overhead, and in front of him was a flimsy bed with one corner of the bed being shorter than the others, necessitating the need of a brick to uphold it.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body shivered slightly at the sight, his eyes shining with remembrance at the sight, tears forming underneath them¡­.


    This sight in front of him was¡­.the place he once called ¡®home¡¯ for nine lonely years!!


    The place where so many memories were had, the place he hadn¡¯t thought about for a very long time!


    It had been a warm and lively place when he was young many years ago with his mother and grandfather. But for nine years after them¡­.only he was left living in that house. On the bed, Bai Yunfei watched as a frail body laid on there, shivering and crying under the flimsy sheets to grasp at the cloud-shaped pendant around the neck.


    He closed his eyes, wiping away at the tears pooled around them and sucking in a deep breath. The area around him altered again, and two seconds later, Bai Yunfei was back in the guest room in Zheng Manor without anyone being any the wiser.


    Bai Yunfei opened his eyes again. Shaking his left hand, he took out a white cloud-shaped pendant from his ring and gingerly stroked the edges of it, a look of fond nostalgia on his face.


    This was the last remnant of his mother. In his fear of it being damaged in battle, Bai Yunfei had it held for safekeeping in his space ring rather than having it around his neck.


    ¡°Mother¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei lamented, ¡°Can you see me now? Yunfei has grown up. I am free like a cloud in the sky to travel wherever¡­.¡±


    All of a sudden, Bai Yunfei felt homesick.


    Talus City hadn¡¯t been his ¡®home¡¯ in many years. With no one there to tend to his mother and grandfather¡¯s graves, would they both be filled with grass and other weeds by now?


    He really wished to go back and visit their graves. He wanted to greet them and share the stories of how he was doing¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Chirp chirp¡­.¡±


    From next to him, the hesitant but comforting chirp of Xiao Qi crooned to him. The bird was rubbing its head next to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face affectionately from its perch on his shoulder. Its eyes were filled with sadness, though its heart was sending him comforting messages.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m fine, just thinking of some memories from long ago¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei stroked the feathers of Xiao Qi, his heart feeling warm at Xiao Qi¡¯s touch.


    Putting the cloud pendant away again, Bai Yunfei sucked in a deep breath again. Chasing away the mournful memories of the past, Bai Yunfei looked back to the stone in his other hand.


    ¡°Is this its effects? Even I felt confused by my own illusions¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei jeered self-deprecatingly. The illusion he fabricated for himself had been done unknowingly. Perhaps it had taken shape of what his mind was reflecting at the moment to create the illusion.


    With that said, the illusion was pretty strong if it could evoke a memory like that. That was also due to the small radius it was in, and if it was larger, the mirage wouldn¡¯t have been so strong.


    Now armed with this knowledge, Bai Yunfei fabricated another illusion, this time slowly changing the details of the mirage to see the extent of it. The illusion maintained itself after he stopped feeding soulforce into it as well, though he didn¡¯t bother seeing how long it could last.


    He nodded satisfactorily. ¡°Since this is a stone that can cast illusions, I¡¯ll call it¡­.the ¡®Illusion Stone¡¯.¡±

 Chapter 518: The Person He Needs to See

    His right hand flickered as another Illusion Stone was taken out.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Equipment Effect: Create an illusion a hundred meters in radius at largest.


    Effects become stronger the smaller in area it is.


    Effect can be stacked.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    An Illusion Stone with stats identical to the previous one. He tried several times again, but all the stones were the same.


    ¡°Twelve stones in total, so I guess they¡¯re all a part of a ¡®set¡¯, but don¡¯t have a ¡®set effect¡¯. They can be stacked, so having all twelve of them used at once means being able to create an ¡®illusion matrix¡¯. Wonder what¡¯s the difference between using one and using many is, or how they can be controlled¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei continued muttering to himself as he inspected the Illusion Stones. They were without a doubt precious, and he had confidence that if he got to be good at using them, then his strength would increase several times over. All he needed to do was carefully study and get used to it.


    ¡°Wonder what kind of effects will happen if I upgrade it?¡±


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei set himself to upgrading them¡­.


    After a while.


    Upgrade Successful


    Upgrade Successful


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: Increase range of illusions by 30%.


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: Create an illusion a hundred meters in radius at largest.


    Effects become stronger the smaller in area it is.


    Effect can be stacked.


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase strength of illusions by 50%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    They were rather ordinary effects with nothing special about them besides them boosting the already-there effects.


    Taking another, Bai Yunfei upgraded that stone again, but the additional attribute and effects were the same.


    After upgrading all twelve Illusion Stones, Bai Yunfei was startled to see they were all the exact same! He had never come across something like this before.


    But that wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. If he used all the stones together, the illusion would be considerably strong.


    Putting away the Illusion Stones, Bai Yunfei laid back on his bed to rest and gather his soulforce to him again. A little while after, Bai Yunfei heard several footsteps approach his room.


    ¡°Brother Bai, are you still awake? May I come in?¡±


    It was Zheng Kai.


    Rising from his bed, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Come in.¡±


    The doors pushed open for a smiling Zheng Kai to come walking in. ¡°Do you like the room, brother Bai? If there¡¯s anything you need, feel free to ask.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m satisfied, thank you for your consideration, brother Zheng.¡±


    Zheng Kai sat down on the chair nearby, ¡°Brother Bai,¡± he began a little hesitantly, ¡°I¡¯d like to ask you something, was there¡­.¡±


    ¡°Are you inquiring if there¡¯s anything that stood out among the space rings I picked up?¡± Bai Yunfei finished for him, ¡°I only just looked through them but didn¡¯t see anything. Some of the rings were empty actually and definitely didn¡¯t have anything that were like clues.¡±


    Zheng Kai looked startled for a brief moment. ¡°Haha, that makes sense. Those people were prepared, they wouldn¡¯t make a silly mistake like leave any clues around. We¡¯ll have to wait to hear from the Huang if the prisoner has anything to say.¡±


    He shook his head, ¡°Brother Bai, is there anything you need to do in the Capital?¡± He asked, ¡°If you¡¯re not in a hurry, then I can take you around the city and show you around. You¡¯ll definitely like it here.¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head as well, ¡°I¡¯ve a matter to do on behalf of my master. I am to¡­.go to the Tianhun Academy tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Tianhun Academy?¡± Zheng Kai asked, ¡°Why there? Er...brother Bai, you don¡¯t mean to tell me you¡¯re going to enroll there? With your strength, you could be an instructor. There¡¯s probably no one there that could teach you anything, and aren¡¯t you a student of the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s not it. I¡¯m going there to see a friend of my master and give him a letter on his behalf.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see¡­.¡± Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°Haha, that works out then. I¡¯m actually a sixth year at the Tianhun Academy, so I know the place well, you can come with me tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei spoke. ¡°You¡¯re a student there? A sixth year too? Huh¡­¡±


    Zheng Kai was a late-stage Soul Exalt, was there even a need for him to be studying there still?


    A sixth year of the academy meant to say they were Soul Exalts. People who became Soul Exalts were given the right to graduate from the academy, and only a few would decide to stick around until they were mid-stage Soul Exalts. Even if they did stay, they¡¯d become instructors to guide other students.


    With all that said, there weren¡¯t many late-stage Soul Exalt students there.


    ¡°Hehe, don¡¯t you know? Tianhun Academy has plenty of beautiful women, even in the Capital. If I graduate, then I won¡¯t be able to go flirting with any, hehe¡­.¡±


    A knowing smile appeared onto Zheng Kai¡¯s face, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s amazed shock.


    Bai Yunfei felt the corners of his lips twitch. No wonder Zheng Kai had the nickname of ¡®Sex Lord¡¯. If he was staying around the academy to pick up girls, that in itself was worthy of ¡®respect¡¯.


    ¡°Ah, brother Bai, who are you looking for, actually? Is it a student or instructor? I know practically everyone so if you tell me I can bring you directly to them.¡±


    ¡°My master said his friend was the chairman of the Tianhun Academy.¡±


    ¡°Ah, the chairman I see, don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll bring you straight to him tomo¡ª¡± He choked.


    Sputtering to himself for a second, he stared incredulously at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Who did you say you were going to see?!¡±


    ¡°The chairman of Tianhun Academy,¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°my master said his name was Mo Huangkong.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s lips twitched helplessly. ¡°I completely forgot your master is senior Zi Jin. A monster on the same level as my own grandfather, how could any friend of his be an ordinary instructor¡­.¡± He looked dejected at the thought of the chairman.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is senior Mo hard to meet or something? Bai Yunfei asked in confusion.


    ¡°Ah, er, well¡­.that¡¯s not really it. But the chairman, well¡­.er, he does normally stay to his quarters, so you do need to have permission before you can see him. But I¡­.might not be able to take you straight to him. If anything, I¡¯ll take you to the academy but you¡¯ll need to go pay respects to him yourself.¡±


    Bai Yunfei peered at Zheng Kai. The other male looked strange, or afraid even. ¡°Are you afraid of the chairman or something?¡± Bai Yunfei saw an opportunity to liven up the atmosphere with a joke, ¡°Did you try to flirt with his granddaughter or something, and that¡¯s why you¡¯re afraid?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    When Zheng Kai didn¡¯t respond for two seconds, his face was all Bai Yunfei needed to see to know the answer.


    ¡°No f*cking way, you really did that?!¡±

 Chapter 519: Tianhun Academy

    The Tianhun Academy was the empire¡¯s only institute for soul cultivators. Managed directly by the Royal Family in the Capital, the academy saw to recruiting any geniuses they could find and nurture them for the empire from Soul Apprentices to Soul Exalts.


    Graduation from the academy meant being inducted into the Tianhun School and by extension, increasing the strength of the empire. This wasn¡¯t always enforced, and there were many that decided to follow their own paths to explore and travel. But with every graduate that chose this option, they were without a doubt someone that every faction, school, or affiliation from the continent would try to recruit.


    The sons and daughters of many influential families, clans, schools, and even commoners would have a spot in the academy, if they have the talent. It was a gathering place for geniuses, and a place where many children from even the wealthiest and powerful factions would send despite the resources they had at home to help, though those that opted to forgo the academy were few.


    The academy has long since existed prior to the unification of the empire and was still known as the best institute there was. Following the unification, the academy became known as ¡®Tianhun Academy¡¯.


    It was said that the founder of the empire, His Majesty Wu Tianhun himself had once been a student here when he was young.


    One of the more special things about the academy was that it was supervised by the Royal Family without it being for their ¡®personal¡¯ use. For the most part, the academy was independent in government, and very rarely did the Royal Family interfere with it. Even the one with the most power in the academy wasn¡¯t from the Royal Family and was instead annointed to the position through the archaic but ironclad rules of the academy.


    If one looked at the Tianhun Academy from above, they would remark that it was shaped almost like a fan. The southernmost part was extremely large, but the area would shrink the more one went north, and by the very end of the north, it was no bigger than half of the south.


    The south was where the ¡®official gates¡¯ where with just two large stones a hundred meters tall stood. They towered over the walls and had the words ¡®Tianhun¡¯ on one pillar and ¡®Academy¡¯ on the other. They were only two words, but it commandeered respect from anyone that looked at it as if the words themselves were imbued with a special aura.


    Legends say that it was Wu Tianhun that carved these words into the pillars.


    Aside from the pillars, the walls that encircled the academy spread endlessly left and right along the bustling roads. From the other side of this wall stood Tianhun Academy.


    A part of the academy is divided up into six different arc-shaped sections from first years to sixth years.


    The largest area was the first year section where all the Soul Apprentices studied. To the north were the second years, the Soul Personages, and further north continued as so, third years being the Soul Warriors, fourth years the Soul Sprites, fifth years the Soul Ancestors, and the sixth years the Soul Exalts.


    To the east was where the students learned, and to the west is where the living quarters of students and instructors are.


    While on the surface the divisions of the academy was quite simple, the actual details were far more complex. There were countless buildings in the academy, and even forests, lakes, and woods that were divided up even more categorically. On both sides of the academy were forests that seemed endless unless viewed from above.


    To the northwest of the academy was a large mountain that towered over the Capital.


    ¡­¡­


    By the afternoon of the next day, Bai Yunfei was led to Tianhun Academy by Zheng Kai.


    Walking onto the grounds of the academy had been an experience for Bai Yunfei. Though it was called Tianhun Academy, it was essentially a city in its scale and size.


    They walked on the large paved roads, with Bai Yunfei taking in the sights along the way. There were plenty of young men and women along the way; many of them were above the age of ten, but there were a few under the age of that. But they were all soul cultivators.


    According to Zheng Kai, these were all newly-applied students. Some of the ones here had only just awakened to their soulforce and were being taught by specialized instructors to quickly get them on track.


    These students were of course not just limited to the first and second years, as years weren¡¯t divided by age. There were also plenty of stronger people here, people that joined the academy at some point in their life so they were Soul Warriors or even Soul Sprites by the time of their admission.


    Bai Yunfei could see that Zheng Kai had some name to him within the academy, as there were people that pointed at him every so often. Even some of the younger female students looked at him with eyes of worship, making Bai Yunfei feel incredulous. Was Zheng Kai really that popular? His nickname as the ¡®Sex Lord¡¯ surely had to be known by the people here, so why were there so many females ¡®worshipping¡¯ him?


    But not everyone was looking to Zheng Kai. There were eyes on Bai Yunfei, or perhaps actually, they were looking at the blue-eyes wyrm.


    Xiao Qi and the mastiff were both shrunk down to their pet-sized forms, but while the blue-eyes wyrm was also shrunk, everyone could tell it was a soulbeast straight away. Those first and second year ¡®little ones¡¯ had their eyes glued to the wyrm, and then to Bai Yunfei with envious eyes.


    If Bai Yunfei had a soulbeast this powerful-looking, surely he was a great soul cultivator?


    They walked for another half hour, with each passing moment having stronger and stronger students on the way. Soul Warriors, Soul Sprites, Soul Ancestors, and even a few Soul Exalt students were seen here and there.


    In time, Zheng Kai said that they were quickly approaching where the chairman was.


    Stopping at a stone and brick built three-storied building. Zheng Kai pointed to the very obvious building that towered overhead further beyond, ¡°Brother Bai, the chairman is typically in there. If you go there to pay your respects, the chairman will know, and with your status, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll see you.¡±


    And with that, Zheng Kai stopped there, reluctant to go any further than there.


    Bai Yunfei followed the direction of Zheng Kai¡¯s pointing, looking to the ten-storied stone building, Bai Yunfei noted that it had to be fifty meters tall at the very least and also the tallest building in the entire academy.


    Seeing how careful Zheng Kai was being, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go pay my respects to senior Mo, you¡­.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting here for you, we can go elsewhere afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Fine then. Thanks, brother Zheng.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded before walking towards the building.


    He came to a stop in front of the circular doors. Looking left and right, Bai Yunfei saw no guards or even a bell. Just as he was about to knock on the door, a faint wave of soulsense washed over him before an elderly voice spoke out.


    ¡°I have never seen you before, young one. If not a student, which family are you from, and for what purpose?¡±


    After a moment¡¯s surprise, Bai Yunfei quickly replied as politely as he could. ¡°Senior, I am Bai Yunfei, student of the Crafting School and disciple to master Zi Jin. I have come to pay my respects to senior Mo Huangkong.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Zi Jin¡¯s disciple?¡± The voice remarked, an octave higher than before. ¡°Come in then, head for the top floor.¡±


    There was a creaking sound as the wooden doors opened up. Without needing to be told twice, Bai Yunfei tidied his clothes and strode on in.

 Chapter 520: Mo Huangkong

    Much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s amazement, the doors closed behind him when he entered the room. The interior of the building was just a long hallway. On the stairway up even, there was just an empty space where no entrance seemed possible from where he was, as if entry upwards was blocked off.


    Still remarking at the sight, Bai Yunfei followed down the corridor before climbing a staircase to get the second floor. Upon stepping foot there, Bai Yunfei realized there was no second floor, merely just a staircase that continued onwards. In fact, from the moment he entered the building, there was only one path he could take, and that was upwards. The building he stepped in was merely a mezzanine to the actual one¡­.


    In other words, there were no floors to stop on besides the first floor, and the floor at the very top.


    Climbing several stories worth of stairs wasn¡¯t a very hard task for Bai Yunfei to do. It wasn¡¯t long before he reached the top floor, where another fan-shaped door met him. As he was about to knock on it, the door opened by itself, revealing a spacious room beyond it.


    Bai Yunfei strode respectfully into the room. When he did, the very first scent to assault his nose was the smell of books and ancient furniture. It wasn¡¯t repugnant to the smell, Bai Yunfei felt at peace instead. It was almost as if this room had some sort of aura that was meant to calm people down.


    About three hundred steps away were two rows of bookshelves, lining up the room to look like a library. There was only a corridor in front of the door that led to the center of the room, and then a large table where another set of bookshelves sat to the left. Behind the door, a single old man with a kind expression sat there, looking at Bai Yunfei.


    Not even an iota of intimidating aura was felt by the old man, and even Bai Yunfei himself was doubting his senses as he regarded the dark-purple robed man. His hair was a mixture of black and white, though his face was wrinkled with age. A white grizzly beard laid over his chest, making him seem like a regular old man, but this was most definitely the one Bai Yunfei was looking for.


    Bai Yunfei drew close to the elder and bowed, ¡°Junior Bai Yunfei pays his respects to senior Mo.¡±


    ¡°Haha, be at ease, young one. An old fogey like me cares not for etiquette.¡± Mo Huangkong nodded, ¡°Fourth disciple of Zi Jin, you are very much deserving of your fame. A young one like you becoming a Soul Exalt and having a class seven soulbeast partner, those are quite astonishing to see.¡±


    As chairman of Tianhun Academy, Mo Huangkong had seen many things and was a genius for his time, but he had only reached the level Bai Yunfei was at thirty years ago. But the more shocking thing to him was the fact that Bai Yunfei had a class seven soulbeast he was partnered to.


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei was equally surprised. He didn¡¯t bring the three soulbeasts with him and instead left them outside, though he did command the mastiff to conceal its strength so that no one would know. But in the end, Mo Huangkong did notice and see the mastiff¡¯s strength.


    ¡°Senior is too generous with his praises. This junior was only lucky in his journeys in the Soulbeast Forest.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so you came from the Soulbeast Forest? Zi Jin told me three years ago about you, so I assumed you¡¯d be here soon¡­.did your master have you do something for him?¡±


    Startled, Bai Yunfei took out the letter from his space ring. He hadn¡¯t thought that his master would¡¯ve told Mo Huangkong about him, but he handed the letter over without hesitation. ¡°My master said to come pay my respects to senior Mo in the Capital and to give this letter.¡±


    Taking the letter from Bai Yunfei, Mo Huangkong flipped it open and start to read. From the glimpse he saw of it, Bai Yunfei noted that there were only a few hundred characters in that letter at most.


    Skimming over the contents, Mo Huangkong gave a smile. ¡°Ah, your class seven soulbeast must be a permafrost mastiff, is it not?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Not having expected that question, Bai Yunfei stiffened in the back. Trying his best to hide his worry, Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve sharp eyes, senior Mo. It is indeed a permafrost mastiff.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­.¡± Mo Huangkong dipped his head, putting the letter in his hand down on the desk. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the fourth elder of the Beast Taming School, Huang Lin, has a permafrost mastiff as his strongest soulbeast puppet.¡±


    This time, Bai Yunfei found it impossible to keep his calm. The smile on his face slipped for a moment in his apprehension. He took a step back, the Fire-tipped Spear appearing from the Violet Soul Ring just in case he needed to protect himself. He hadn¡¯t thought that Mo Huangkong would be this ¡®knowledgeable¡¯!¡±


    A flicker of surprise flashed across Mo Huangkong¡¯s eyes as well. He looked as though the suspicion he had in his mind was being confirmed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions, though when Bai Yunfei started to prepare his soulforce in preparation for battle, Mo Huangkong help up a palm to stop him. ¡°Young one,¡± he spoke in admiration for Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions, ¡°don¡¯t be alarmed. Your master is a dear friend of mine, what reason is there for me to bring harm to you?¡±


    From start to finish, Mo Huangkong hadn¡¯t leaked any intent to battle at all, and neither did he do anything out of the ordinary. Bai Yunfei took a second longer to consider his actions before he sighed in relief. His actions had been a little too over-the-top, even if he didn¡¯t want anyone to know he had killed Huang Lin. If that got out, it¡¯d cause a great deal of trouble for him.


    ¡°Am I correct in saying that this permafrost mastiff used to be the soulbeast puppet of Huang Lin? Why is it by your side? And¡­.how are you able to control it?¡± Mo Huangkong questioned. From his senses, he could tell the mastiff was still a soulbeast puppet, but everything else had been a guess until Bai Yunfei confirmed it. If not for the fact that he knew Bai Yunfei was Zi Jin¡¯s disciple, Mo Huangkong would¡¯ve assumed he was a student from the Beast Taming School. After all, there was never any accounts of an outsider being able to control the soulbeast of a beast tamer.


    Knowing that Mo Huangkong shouldn¡¯t be lied to, Bai Yunfei came clean with his answer. ¡°You are right, senior. This permafrost mastiff came from a beast tamer before, but the reason I¡¯m able to control it is¡­.because of a special soul armament I have.¡±


    ¡°A soul armament?!¡± Mo Huangkong¡¯s eyes sparkled at that. ¡°There is a soul armament capable of such a thing?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°How interesting¡­.¡± A soul armament capable of such a perverse action like that stunned Mo HUangkong, requiring him several addition seconds to think of his next question. ¡°You said you took it from a beast tamer, is that said person Huang Lin, an elder of the Beast Taming School?¡±


    Bai Yunfei paused this time. ¡°This junior doesn¡¯t know his identity.¡±


    ¡°Is he an early-stage Soul King with an affinity for wind?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that was he.¡±


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no mistaking it. But how did you take it from him? I¡¯m sure with his temperament, there¡¯s no way he wouldn¡¯t attempt to take it back. Did you properly hide your identity? If an elder of the Beast Taming School comes here, there¡¯ll be no small amount of trouble for you.¡±


    ¡°Rest assured, senior,¡± Bai Yunfei smiled in reassurance, ¡°My identity is safe. No one knows I have his soulbeast, and neither does Huang Lin, seeing how he¡¯s dead.¡±

 Chapter 521: Classes?!

    ¡°What?!¡±


    For the very first time since their conversation started, Mo Huangkong¡¯s eyes were wide open in complete shock. ¡°Huang Lin is dead, you say?! Who killed him?¡±


    ¡°When this junior was in the Soulbeast Forest, I came across some trouble where Huang Lin came after me to kill. After a scuffle, he was¡­.killed by me.¡±


    ¡°By yourself?¡±


    ¡°Yes, senior. Myself and two other soulbeasts.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Mo Huangkong looked Bai Yunfei over once again without saying anything for some time. Finally, he sighed, ¡°Alas! I¡¯ve grown far too old. Since when have the youngsters of today been able to do something like that¡­? You truly are Zi Jin¡¯s disciple¡­.you¡¯re well on your way to surpass him!¡±


    He chuckled when he saw the look of concern on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°Rest assured, young one. Your permafrost mastiff is well hidden, even an ordinary Soul King won¡¯t be able to tell its origins. There should be no worries for you being found out.¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried about if other people would realize just how strange the permafrost mastiff was, and that they¡¯d make the connection between it and Huang Lin¡¯s permafrost mastiff. Like Mo Huangkong said, there would most certainly be trouble if the Beast Taming School learned about it.


    ¡°Senior Mo, this junior has a friend waiting for me on the outside. If there¡¯s nothing else to be done, then this junior will be taking my leave¡­¡± Bai Yunfei spoke after a while. He really wanted to leave this building now that the old man knew his secret. He was really afraid that he¡¯d find out about the Upgrade Technique next.


    ¡°Ah, you are new to the Capital, are you not? Familiar yourself with our city, and if you¡¯re ready, feel free to start your classes whenever.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± This wasn¡¯t what Bai Yunfei expected to hear.


    ¡°Classes?!¡±


    Mo Huangkong was taken back as well, ¡°What? Did Zi Jin not tell you? I thought you¡¯d know.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.forgive this junior for not knowing. My master wants me to study here? Begging your pardon, senior, but¡­.though the instructors here are very strong and can teach about plenty of things, this junior is accustomed to training by myself. I would not learn much under another¡­.¡±


    What was Mo Huangkong talking about, did his master really want him to learn here? Was Zheng Kai right?


    ¡°Learn?¡± Mo Huangkong reiterated, a faint smile of amusement on his lips. ¡°When did I say you were here to learn? You are Zi Jin¡¯s disciple, which instructor here has a right to take over as your teacher?¡±


    ¡°That¡­.¡±


    ¡°I ask of you to start your classes not as a student, but as an¡­.instructor.¡±


    ¡°What????¡±


    Will wonders never cease! Amazed, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth dropped open. ¡°Senior Mo, is this some sort of trick? Senior, what capabilities do I have as a teacher? I¡­.I don¡¯t even know how to teach anyone anything!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so harsh on yourself, young one. Your master said the opposite in regards to you¡­.¡± The elderly man smiled. The letter in his hand was motioned towards Bai Yunfei, ¡°Since you weren¡¯t aware of the details, take a look. This is what your master told you to do.¡±


    Not quite sure what to think, Bai Yunfei took the letter and began to read.


    The inner contents of the letter was rather quite simple. It consisted of Zi Jin mentioning of a promise made many years ago, saying that he would send someone to Tianhun Academy to become an instructor and offer a class.


    That somebody was Bai Yunfei.


    And the class to be offered was about¡­.crafting!!


    What Zi Jin promised was to have Tianhun Academy offer the art of crafting as a subject!


    ¡°I¡¯ve been asking your master for dozens of years, and at last he has finally agreed. We¡¯ll start with a preliminary type of class to test the waters. I¡¯ll make sure to address whatever needs you or your class has, you just need to focus on teaching the art of crafting and not worry if the course is a success or not.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± There was a look of reluctance on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°Senior Mo, this junior is an incompetent and only a novice in the art of crafting. How could I possibly be an instructor¡­.¡±


    ¡°A novice? You are too harsh on yourself.¡± Mo Huangkong spoke, ¡°Your master said before that you have the best success rate out of any other student in the school. Don¡¯t devalue yourself, I¡¯ve faith in your work.


    ¡°Or do you mean to tell me you don¡¯t wish to honor your master¡¯s wishes?¡± He added.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He couldn¡¯t continue to refuse now. If his master wanted it, then he was in no other position but to obey.


    But still. To come here and teach the art of crafting¡­.Bai Yunfei really didn¡¯t know what to think of this situation. How did his master come to think of this plan?


    Teaching the art of crafting to outsiders of the school--wasn¡¯t that a problem?


    What other kinds of secrets was he not aware of?


    But no matter if it was a secret or not, Bai Yunfei had no choice but to follow his master¡¯s wishes for now and start ¡®teaching¡¯ a class in Tianhun Academy¡­.


    He was here not as a student, but an instructor.


    Zheng Kai had said yesterday that he was strong enough to be an instructor, but he hadn¡¯t thought it to be true. Bai Yunfei supposed Zheng Kai would have the last laugh now.


    Mo Huangkong seemed to have noticed the ¡®compromise¡¯ they reached. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, young one,¡± he smiled, ¡°just try your best. As I said before, the academy will see to meeting your requirements, no matter if it''s the students you want, a place to teach, or even the materials, we will see to it. You may start whenever, but we do require you teach at least one class per week.¡±


    ¡°I¡­..thank you for your consideration, senior Mo. But the art of crafting isn¡¯t something that can be taught so quickly. We of the Crafting School require students with a high aptitude for crafting, an aspect that is irrelevant to aptitude for cultivation, so teaching students randomly would be pointless. And teaching students with low strength would also take several years before they become a Soul Sprite¡­.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that. We will send the students from the fifth and sixth year fire-type students. They are all very talented in elemental fire, but time will tell if they have the talent needed for crafting. Let us have a trial period of half a year to a year. If there¡¯s no one capable of it, we can give up the idea, a year isn¡¯t much time for us soul cultivators in any case.


    ¡°Our academy has plenty of materials for you to use for crafting as well. You may take whatever you need from the academy and use it as you see fit for your class.¡±


    Clearly, Mo Huangkong was prepared to negotiate for the crafting class. ¡°If¡­.if that is what senior Mo has prepared.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s settled, then. Why don¡¯t we have your class start three days from now. I¡¯ve some matters to take care of and students to select. I¡¯ll have them sent to your class three days later.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It was a dejected Bai Yunfei that stepped out from the stone building. He had originally came to this academy with the purpose of sending a letter, but now he had been ¡®shackled¡¯ with the burden of being an instructor to the academy.


    It would appear that he¡¯d be stuck in the Capital for longer than he thought.


    ¡°Ah! Did I keep you waiting? Sorry! I had to stop for something!!¡±


    As he walked away from the building, the delighted voice of a female called out to him. Looking up, Bai Yunfei saw a figure whose figure was glowing as red as the setting sun pounce onto him.


    Under his own amazed eyes, this woman stuck herself close to him, pulling herself close to hug his arm!

 Chapter 522: Mo Wanxia

    ¡°Wu Yang!! I told you to stop following me! Can you please act like a prince for once and stop thinking you can get any girl you want? Why do you have to annoy me so much! I told you I don¡¯t like you at all, so stop bothering me!¡±


    In the fifth year section of Tianhun Academy, the furious ranting of a female could be heard. Though slightly high in decibels, the owner of this voice was still definitely sweet-sounding to the ears.


    ¡°Wanxia, don¡¯t be so cold like that. And what do you mean? I only like you, aren¡¯t you the one ignoring me? Do you not think I love you? If it¡¯s for you, I¡¯m willing to do anything! What do I have to do for you to just accept me?¡±


    There was the pitiful sounds of a male that followed the angry female, though his words were filled with earnest affection and pleading for her.


    Three persons were in front of the three-storied building there. At the front of the group was a tall, provocative but graceful young woman in a red robe. Her skin was like ice, her eyebrows black and her lips cherry-red. She was a stunning woman in beauty, though she looked less patient than others, and she had been walking faster than the people behind her.


    Right behind her was a man in white. He was of ordinary make, though his aura was the opposite. He strode for the girl with a graceful air and smile, though he looked slightly afraid to get any closer than three meters from her.


    And in front of them was another person in green. He was silent as he followed the two and didn¡¯t seem at all interested in their conversation.


    The girl, Mo Wanxia, gave a glare at the young man, ¡°Wu Yang!¡± She blared, ¡°Can you please act like a prince?! Stop following me! I¡¯m meeting up with someone already, so stop bothering me!¡±


    The one named Wu Yang looked disheartened for a moment before he bounced back, ¡°Don¡¯t try and lie to me, Wanxia. I know you¡¯re meeting up with the same person from last time? How dare he look so lovingly at you--I made sure he won¡¯t be making that same mistake! I did make sure to pay him for his troubles though, so don¡¯t be angry¡­..you know, I managed to get a hold of an early-stage class three great-tailed ferret the other day, it¡¯s quite cute. It can even use its tail so cutely, why don¡¯t I give that to you? You¡¯ll love it for sure¡­.¡±


    Faced with such an endless amount of flattery, Mo Wanxia looked even more helpless than before, ¡°I don¡¯t like pets, so don¡¯t bother. I¡¯m off to meet my date, buzz off.¡±


    ¡°What date? We¡¯re already pretty much at the chairman¡¯s library, are you trying to hide in your grandfather¡¯s place? You¡¯ve done that so many times already, Wanxia. Don¡¯t bother running. Running is just hiding your emotions. You know it be true that you like me, don¡¯t you? Stop fighting it, you know I¡¯m serious about you. As long as you agree, you¡¯ll be my only concubine. I¡¯ll treat you right and good¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It was with raised eyebrows and gritted teeth that Mo Wanxia looked ready to commit murder. Right as she was about to let loose a torrent of her own onto him, she noticed a young man in green with his head hung low coming out from one of the buildings. Eyes lightening up with opportunity, she raced for the young man.


    ¡°Ah! Did I keep you waiting? Sorry! I had to stop for something!!¡±


    She cried, racing to him and latching onto his right arm. ¡°I¡¯m not lying to you this time,¡± She turned him towards the man chasing her, ¡°he and I have a date to the western lakes. We¡¯ll be going now, so don¡¯t wait up.¡±


    Wu Yang came to a pause to stare at the young man. ¡°Wanxia,¡± he smiled, ¡°you¡¯re pulling random excuses now. I can tell he isn¡¯t your sweetheart, so stop lying.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Having been alarmed to be pulled into the embrace of a young woman, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry after listening to the situation until he was pulled in as an excuse for the young woman. His heart had skipped a beat realizing what trouble he was going to be in until the other man pointed out the reality of the situation. Luckily for him, this Wu Yang was smarter than he looked and wouldn¡¯t be seeking confrontation. That¡¯d save them all one more piece of trouble.


    The anger Mo Wanxia was feeling from Wu Yang was immense. In her anger though, she didn¡¯t realize just how tightly her chest was as she clutched Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm, and the scent of her being was wafting into Bai Yunfei¡¯s nose, making him feel slightly embarrassed.


    As Bai Yunfei was about to push her away, she suddenly drew even closer to him. ¡°Who says I¡¯m playing around? He¡¯s one of my suitors, and I like him. If you don¡¯t believe me, then watch!¡±


    She swung her head to face Bai Yunfei, her eyelids fluttering close and her cherry-red lips drawing closer to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face--if he didn¡¯t stop this, then he and she would really be proving how ¡®close¡¯ they were!


    ¡°Wanxia!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt his heart skip a beat again as Wu Yang roared in anger. Already deciding to pull away before Wu Yang cried out, Bai Yunfei felt the aura coming from him and immediately narrowed his eyes.


    ¡°Wanxia, don¡¯t be like this. Even if I know you¡¯re joking, I can¡¯t guarantee I won¡¯t take it out on this man here. You of all people should know how jealous I can get.¡±


    Freezing up with anger, Mo Wanxia looked like she wanted to say something, but before she could, she felt her two arms suddenly fall away from the arm she was holding onto and pushed away as the young man next to her took several steps away from her.


    ¡°Miss, please don¡¯t play this type of joke, I don¡¯t even know you.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke to the young woman with narrowed eyes.


    This woman was clearly trying to use him, and that left a bad taste on his mouth. The changes going through Wu Yang¡¯s face as she was about to kiss him had been dangerous, so bai Yunfei felt it wise to ¡®come out¡¯ with the truth. If Wu Yang really was a person who acted on his jealousy, then there was no telling what would¡¯ve happened if the girl went through with her kiss. Any trouble that Wu Yang would¡¯ve stirred would¡¯ve fallen upon Bai Yunfei, and that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.


    So despite the anger he was feeling in his heart, Bai Yunfei tried to leave the conversation off with a short few words. ¡°Please have some respect for yourself, miss. Doing something as defamatory as this will only cause troubles for others.¡±


    Mo Wanxia¡¯s eyes blinked several times in surprise. She hadn¡¯t expected Bai Yunfei to say that; especially the first few words.


    No self respect? Where in the world did this guy get off telling her that? Was he calling her a shameless woman with no self-respect?!


    The apathetic look he was giving her affected her heavily. For some reason, she was actually starting to feel vexed and her eyes started to reveal her emotions of distress.


    But Wu Yang was not at all impressed with Bai Yunfei. Seeing the distress on Mo Wanxia¡¯s face, he immediately flew into anger, ¡°You! How dare you?! You dare humiliate Wanxia!? I¡­.I challenge you to a duel!!¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡±


    Now Bai Yunfei really didn¡¯t know if he should laugh or cry. How did things end up like this! And why a duel?!

 Chapter 523: Knockdown Via Brick

    The sixth year section was the closest to the center of Tianhun Academy where the chairman¡¯s building was, so there were plenty of sixth year students closeby to Bai Yunfei and the other two. Gathering in twos and threes, the early-stage or mid-stage Soul Exalts began to look at what was going on.


    They were all now looking and talking with interest at what was going on in front of the stone buildings.


    ¡°Hey, come quick! The fourth prince Wu Yang is bothering our senior Wanxia again. You have to give him credit, he¡¯s a persistent one!¡±


    ¡°Shhh¡­..don¡¯t let him hear that. He¡¯s always been going on about how senior Wanxia is ¡®his¡¯. If he hears you, you¡¯re definitely in for it.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s that guy in the middle? Never seen him before, is he new? A newbie that so stupidly angered Mo Wanxia or the prince Wu Yang maybe?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I remember that one time we had that guy who called himself the strongest one here. An early-stage Soul Exalt by the age of thirty, that¡¯s not too bad, but his ego was f*cking massive. The moment he started to speak dirty to senior Wanxia, the prince had him beaten til even his mom couldn¡¯t recognize him. I heard it took him an entire month to heal up¡­.¡±


    ¡°Makes you really wonder why is it the prince really likes senior Wanxia. She¡¯s always treating him so coldly, the fact that he isn¡¯t put off by that is really something else.¡±


    ¡°The prince is so stubbornly arrogant, don¡¯t you think? Not many would dare go against him. Plenty of people have tried getting close to senior Wanxia, only to have the prince beat them back. That new guy is unlucky.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the chairman¡¯s library right there, wonder if the chairman will come out to stop them.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯d probably see it as some sort of little kids squabble. Why would he even bother?¡±


    All the students here were long-time students of the academy. Even though they were in their twenties or thirties, they were all still considered ¡®young¡¯. They weren¡¯t like regular soul cultivators who left their homes to train when young, they spent the entirety of their time in the academy and focusing all their energy in training. So as a result, they were all a little juvenile in the mind and were quite interested at the sight in front of them.


    The life of cultivation was a boring one, so happenings like these were always seen with great interest to others.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡°I challenge you to a duel!¡±


    Wu Yang roared to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the only one surprised. Mo Wanxia and the person behind Wu Yang were both equally surprised.


    ¡°This is crazy¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. ¡°Friend, I¡¯ve no interest in dueling with you. I have nothing to do with this miss here, please continue, I¡¯ll be taking my leave.¡±


    Wu Yang looked like a hedonistic child that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to get involved with, so he turned around to leave.


    He didn¡¯t see Zheng Kai or Xiao Qi, so the two of them must¡¯ve went somewhere else.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s indifferent attitude towards him had left Wu Yang with surprise. Not many people would ever dare repeat those actions, did Bai Yunfei not know who he was?


    Before Bai Yunfei could take two more steps after whirling around to leave, Wu Yang suddenly exploded with anger, ¡°Running away after disrespecting Wanxia? You coward! Stand still and let me teach you a lesson!¡±


    What kind of words were those? ¡®Stand still and be taught a lesson¡¯? Bai Yunfei froze, his eyes narrowed together.


    But Wu Yang was already coming at him!


    Elemental fire surrounded the man as he pounced for Bai Yunfei. His right arm lashed for Bai Yunfei¡¯s back.


    The amount of aura he was giving off¡­.he was a mid-stage Soul Exalt!


    Wu Yang was a mid-stage Soul Exalt!


    This type of unreasonable preaching really annoyed Bai Yunfei. Eyes flashing dangerously, he whirled around and lashed out with a right punch of his own towards the other fist.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a muffled sound of collision as the two fists clashed together. Then, under everyone¡¯s amazed eyes, Wu Yang was the one that staggered back several steps!


    ¡°Oh?! So you do have some skill!¡± Wu Yang remarked, ¡°Haha, no wonder you¡¯re such an arrogant one, you¡¯re a mid-stage Soul Exalt too! I won¡¯t back then. You¡¯ll know that we¡¯re worlds apart!¡±


    He had been holding back with his punch earlier, but now that Bai Yunfei revealed himself to be a mid-stage Soul Exalt too, that ignited Wu Yang¡¯s competitive streak. He also didn¡¯t want to be embarrassed in front of Wanxia, so he¡¯d go all out to defeat this ¡®arrogant¡¯ person in front of him.


    Besides, maybe Wanxia would come to see him in a new light when she saw how heroic he was?


    ¡°Who¡¯s the arrogant one??¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei felt another wave of annoyance and helplessness towards Wu Yang. He really couldn¡¯t understand people like him.


    And neither could he bother to listen to anything more Wu Yang had to say or do. As Wu Yang leapt towards him again like a tiger, Bai Yunfei used the Wave Treading Steps to fall back, creating a mirror image for Wu Yang to punch. His speed was faster than Wu Yang expected, and before the prince could even make a follow up, Bai Yunfei was already launching his own counter attack. A flash of red light popped up in front of him before it followed his pointing and flew towards Wu Yang¡¯s head!


    Its speed was faster than Bai Yunfei¡¯s initial move! Unable to dodge in time, Wu Yang tried to bring his arms up, but the red flash of light had already smacked into his head, and then his world blacked out¡­.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Following the smacking sound, everyone there was stunned to watch Wu Yang¡¯s body go flying backwards through the air before crumpling on the ground¡­.he had been knocked out!


    A single move was all it took for a mid-stage Soul Exalt like Wu Yang to be defeated! The students there were gobsmacked, but no one there knew what exactly Bai Yunfei did to knock Wu Yang out.


    ¡°Fourth prince!!¡±


    The man in green previously standing behind him cried out. In a flash, he flew over to where Wu Yang rested on the ground and began to inspect him for his injuries. Aside from the small chicken-egg sized bump on his head and the fact that he was knocked out, Wu Yang was for the most part unharmed.


    The man let out a sigh in relief.


    His eyes traveled over to Bai Yunfei next in bewilderment. Based on what he saw of Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength, Wu Yang should¡¯ve been the victor of the battle, but instead, Bai Yunfei had knocked the fourth prince out!


    He took Wu Yang into his arms and stood up. Now wasn¡¯t the time to be teaching Bai Yunfei a lesson, he figured. Aside from an ominous glare at him to memorize his face, the man took Wu Yang and left the area.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected for the man to just leave with Wu Yang. He saw that the man was pretty strong himself, but if he was leaving, then Bai Yunfei was happy there wouldn¡¯t be a second fight.


    At this moment, Mo Wanxia was still standing there in shock. Her mind hadn¡¯t fully registered the fact that Wu Yang had been defeated by this man in front of her, so all she could do was stand there and stare at Bai Yunfei. With how lost she look--like a doe in the headlights--she looked quite cute.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, not at all caring for the looks around him anymore. He could sense Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t too far away from him to the right, so he made to move his way over there.


    ¡°Halt!! You think you can leave this place after injuring His Highness the Fourth Prince?!


    Not even a few steps later, a furious voice called out to him. A good few hundred meters away, a figure in red flew out from one of the buildings towards him. Like a meteor on fire, the figure shined a furious red light to travel towards Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 524: Intervention of an Instructor

    A wide web of fire over ten meters wide flew over Bai Yunfei¡¯s head before it shrunk down to capture him. This was definitely a soul skill of a fire-type soul cultivator and meant to capture rather than kill.


    Bai Yunfei frowned. This attack coming at him was a little disheartening with how strong and fast the other person was. Dodging it would be a little troublesome, so Bai Yunfei opted to strike. The Ardent Sun Glove appeared in his hand before five Burstfire Daggers flew out from his hand. They whirred as they traveled towards the net and exploded immediately upon contact.


    Each dagger opened up a two-meter wide hole in their respective parts of the net, causing it to crumble apart and return to being elemental fire, leaving Bai Yunfei completely safe where he stood.


    Bai Yunfei leapt up as soon as he threw out the Burstfire Daggers. Leaping into the air, his right hand punched upwards.


    There was an explosion of fire before a person leapt out from it, five fingers clawing at Bai Yunfei¡¯s outstretched right hand.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei staggered half a step back while the other person flipped through the air to land ten meters away from Bai Yunfei.


    He was a man who stood at 1.9 meters tall and had long hair like a shawl. His nose was sharp and his eyes even sharper. He looked like a twenty-eight or twenty-nine year old handsome man. Waving his right arm, he cleared away the remnant elemental fire in the area to stare at Bai Yunfei in amazement.


    Bai Yunfei stared back. This man was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt.


    ¡°Who are you, and why do you attack me?¡± Bai Yunfei demanded from him. Was this a companion of the one he had just knocked out? Here to attack him for revenge?


    ¡°That should be my line to you!¡± He spat back, ¡°Who are you? I¡¯ve never seen you before, are you a student here--which course are you from? You¡¯ve guts to to attack His Highness the Fourth Prince! Do you think yourself invincible if the Royal Family wishes to charge you?! You will remain here and await your punishment!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, His Highness the Fourth Prince? That was the person he knocked out? A member of the Royal Family?!


    ¡­¡­


    Far away, the students watching the spectacle finally started to remember where they were. Looking at the newcomer here to deal with Bai Yunfei, they started to point and gossip.


    ¡°Did I¡­.see that right? Did Wu Yang really lose? How? Did you guys see it?¡±


    ¡°It was too fast! I think I saw that guy pull out a weapon before slapping the prince with it.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t¡­.isn¡¯t that a little too strong? The Fourth Prince is a mid-stage Soul Exalt. He practices a style of cultivation only the Royal Family knows, no ordinary mid-stage Soul Exalt should even be a match for him. How¡¯d this guy beat him in one blow? What weapon was it? Was it a¡­.heaven tier soul armament?!¡±


    ¡°You think His Highness underestimated that guy? That¡¯d explain how he lost so fast. How unlucky for him, knowing Wu Yang¡¯s personality, he¡¯s going to declare revenge as soon as he wakes up¡­.¡±


    ¡°Look! He¡¯s fighting instructor Zhou Yu, the one in charge of the sixth years in class one of the fire course! Good heavens--did that guy block instructor Zhou Yu¡¯s attack?! That¡¯s ridiculous!¡±


    ¡°You think instructor Zhou Yu¡¯s going to detain that guy? He injured the Fourth Prince after all; if the instructor doesn¡¯t stop him, the Royal Family¡¯s going to go crazy on the academy. It¡¯d make sense for him to not let that guy go.¡±


    ¡°It makes sense? Not really? That guy didn¡¯t do anything wrong in my opinion. It was senior Wanxia that got him in this mess, that guy was just a random person. If you were branded as a criminal for being pulled into someone else¡¯s crap, you think you¡¯d be happy about it?¡±


    ¡°So what? He¡¯s just a mid-stage Soul Exalt, you think he¡¯s going to win against the peak late-stage Soul Exalt instructor?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It seemed to be that this man in front of Bai Yunfei was an instructor. For the sake of safeguarding the academy''s image, the instructor couldn¡¯t let Bai Yunfei go.


    But still, Bai Yunfei was mystified. ¡®Stand down and await punishment¡¯? What malarky was that?!


    Coming into trouble like this just one day into coming to Tianhun Academy--did people here not study rules and common sense or something?


    With already how unhappy he was about being an instructor here, Bai Yunfei felt his already-low opinion of the academy go down a notch.


    ¡°Zhou Yu! Stop! It wasn¡¯t his fault, so don¡¯t do an¡ª¡±


    Mo Wanxia finally spoke up. What Zhou Yu said aloud worried her, causing her to try and explain the situation on Bai Yunfei¡¯s behalf. Before she could even finish her sentence though, Bai Yunfei was already walking towards the exit, completely ignoring both Mo Wanxia and Zhou Yu.


    ¡°Leaving?! Then I¡¯ll detain you here by force!¡±


    Seeing that Bai Yunfei was trying to ¡®run away¡¯, Zhou Yu flew into rage. Red light exploding forth from his feet, he disappeared into a blur of red to grab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Stop with your bullying!!¡± Bai Yunfei finally lost his temper. With a roar, he whirled around and lashed out with a furious right punch onto the palm coming towards him.


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!


    With how angry he was and knowing how strong his opponent was, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother holding back.


    The expression on Zhou Yu¡¯s face hardened. Even with knowing that Bai Yunfei was a stage lower than him, Zhou Yu didn¡¯t want to risk anything. His open palm tightened into a fist to stop Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch with an all out punch of his own.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two fists collided amidst an explosion of fire. The two combatants leapt back with Bai Yunfei landing just five meters away while Zhou Yu¡­.flew a good ten meters back!


    But while Bai Yunfei looked completely unharmed, Zhou Yu¡¯s right arm was shaking uncontrollably!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A furious chirping sound sounded through the air right afterwards, prompting everyone to look up. A stream of prismatic light came flying towards Bai Yunfei and Zhou Yu, raining over a hundred balls of fire onto the scene to attack Zhou Yu with it!


    A peak late-stage class six soulbeast!


    The fireballs raining down onto the area were immediately realized to be unordinary by Zhou Yu. Without delay, he erected a barrier of elemental fire right in front of him, solidifying into a fiery shield to protect him.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    The fireballs struck against the shield one after another, each one aimed to hit only Zhou Yu and not Bai Yunfei. Like raindrops, they fell against Zhou Yu¡¯s shield nonstop.


    Dedicated fully to his defenses, Zhou Yu wasn¡¯t completely unharmed by the fireballs, but the expression on his face grew pained. The strength of the fireballs were stronger than he imagined, and trying to stop all of them was proving to be a lot harder than he thought.


    ¡°Xiao Qi!¡¯


    Bai Yunfei cried out as the fireballs rained down onto Zhou Yu. It was a command to stop rather than to continue, since Bai Yunfei realized that the next move Xiao Qi was going to use would be the Spatial Edges¡­.


    Xiao Qi stopped straight away in accordance to Bai Yunfei¡¯s command. Cutting the flow of soulforce to its wings, Xiao Qi flew around Bai Yunfei, staring hatefully at Zhou Yu while also being ready to attack any given time.


    The fire around Zhou Yu soon dissipated, revealing the other man standing there looking slightly fatigued. His expression was extremely ominous as he glared hatefully at Bai Yunfei. Though how tired he was, he looked like he was prepared to try and attack again.


    ¡°Instructor Zhou Yu, one moment!¡±


    Suddenly, a voice cried out to the man. A figure flew in out of nowhere between Bai Yunfei and Zhou Yu to confront the older male.


    It was Zheng Kai!

 Chapter 525: Here Comes Trouble

    Teleportation!!


    Zheng Kai¡¯s entry took everyone by surprise! What he did was clearly teleportation!


    The ability to connect one space to another or teleportation was an ability usually only Soul Kings were capable of. Even then, a Soul King needed to have some degree of knowledge on how space worked, and even mid-stage or even late-stage Soul Kings were incapable of understanding how to wield spatial energy.


    Every rule has its exceptions however. A soul cultivator with an affinity for space were especially rare, but their advantages were proportionally numerous. Those who managed to become a Soul Exalt were capable of learning how to wield spatial energy and teleport.


    Zheng Kai was one of them.


    There were also a few extremely rare soul armaments capable of bending space like that. It was said one of the Ten Great Regalia had a Regalia capable of that.


    Zhou Yu stiffened when he saw Zheng Kai, ¡°Zheng Kai?¡± He muttered, ¡°What are you doing here, did you bring this man her?!¡±


    ¡°I did, he¡¯s a friend of mine. I don¡¯t know what he did, but this man is a guest of the academy. What is the meaning of this, instructor Zhou Yu.¡±


    ¡°Guest?¡± Zhou Yu snorted, ¡°You call this a ¡®guest¡¯? If he causes trouble in the academy, then he should be penalized just like a student! This man injured His Highness the Fourth Prince! If the Royal Family chooses to investigate this manner, the academy could be held liable! And if they do, then the Fourth Prince won¡¯t leave matters like this--if we detain this man, then the Fourth Prince won¡¯t take his anger out on the academy!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Zheng Kai whirled around to face Bai Yunfei, ¡°Did¡­.did you injure Wu Yang? Really?! How¡¯d that happen?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shrugged, ¡°I didn¡¯t even know who he was. He¡¯s the one that decided to attack me. I just knocked him out, that¡¯s all¡­.¡±


    ¡°.....¡± A corner of Zheng Kai¡¯s mouth twitched upwards for a moment before he gave him a thumbs up of ¡®you did good¡¯. For some reason, Bai Yunfei had the feeling that Zheng Kai was taking enjoyment from Wu Yang¡¯s pains?


    Did Zheng Kai not like Wu Yang?


    Bai Yunfei decided now wasn¡¯t time for such thoughts though.


    Zheng Kai looked back to Zhou Yu, ¡°Brother Bai is a friend of mine and guest of the house of Zheng. There¡¯s no need for you to worry if he ¡®runs¡¯, instructor Zhou Yu. If the Royal Family decides to pursue the matter, have them ask for the Zheng, that way the academy won¡¯t be affected. Will that do?¡±


    Though Zheng Kai referred to the other man as ¡®instructor¡¯, Bai Yunfei had the feeling he didn¡¯t really respect the man at all.


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eye wandered over to Mo Wanxia for a moment, then as if he realized who she was, he hurried on back to where Bai Yunfei was, a little faster than expected, ¡°Well then, brother Bai, let¡¯s leave this place. Your business must be done, yes? Let me take you to North Thirteenth Street, there¡¯s a good restaurant I know, their food is one of the best¡­.¡±


    Seeing how strangely Zheng Kai was acting, Bai Yunfei decided not to remark about it. Leaving this place as soon as possible would be wise, and so Bai Yunfei nodded to leave with him.


    ¡°Stop ri¡ª¡± Zhou Yu stepped forward, ready to issue another halting order when he paused, as if suddenly hearing something. Turning to his right to the stone building there, Zhou Yu stood there incredulously for a moment, but he said nothing more to stop the two from leaving.


    Mo Wanxia was absolutely silent. Everything that had happened in the last two or three minutes had been far too much for her to process. By the time she had fully realized what was going on, Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai were already far away. ¡°Hmph! He¡¯s a friend of that pervert? If I¡¯d known earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have been so worried¡­.pah, I should¡¯ve let Wu Yang beat him!¡±


    Clearly, there was some sort of animosity between her and Zheng Kai, so her first impression of Bai Yunfei was of that she ¡®disliked¡¯ him¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    North Thirteenth Street of the Capital.


    Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai were seated on the second floor of a grandiose restaurant, eating and drinking the foods on the table to their delight.


    Bai Yunfei had given Zheng Kai a quick rundown on what had happened with Mo Wanxia and Wu Yang, eliciting a groan from Zheng Kai. ¡°Man¡­.you¡¯re an unlucky one. Your first meeting with another student was that crazy woman Mo Wanxia. It''s a good thing you were strong enough, who knows what would¡¯ve happened otherwise.


    ¡°But still¡­.don¡¯t you think you overdid it a bit? Knocking Wu Yang out in one blow? How¡¯d you do that?¡± He asked Bai Yunfei in between their bites.


    ¡°Haha, it was his fault.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Hey, Zheng Kai, is that person really the Fourth Prince? Is that how a prince should act? He was completely unreasonable to talk with.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You think a prince can¡¯t be unreasonable?¡± Zheng Kai laughed, ¡°Wu Yang is well known for being unreasonable. He¡¯s an incompetent prince and does nothing but idle around everyday. He¡¯s pretty much untouchable in the Capital though, so not many people try to bother him. He does now how to restrain himself sometimes, so all his misdemeanors are pretty small in scale. The Royal Family doesn¡¯t really bother him if it¡¯s small time issues.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head knowingly, ¡°And that girl, Mo Wanxia? Who¡¯s she? You sleep with her before?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Zheng Kai hesitated to answer, ¡°She¡­..she¡¯s a sixth year student of class one in the fire course. A genius she is as a late-stage Soul Exalt at the age of twenty-seven. But she¡¯s quick to anger and goes out of control sometimes. Just like Wu Yang, there¡¯s not many that tries to bother her since she¡¯s the chairman¡¯s granddaughter¡­.¡±


    ¡°Chairman¡¯s granddaughter?¡± Bai Yunfei spoke up, ¡°The same one you tried to pick up?!¡±


    ¡°Wha--shh!!¡± Zheng Kai spluttered, hurrying to shush Bai Yunfei, ¡°Can you not bring that up? Man, I regret that¡­.I first met her when I accidentally walked into the women¡¯s baths and saw her bathing there¡­.In all honesty, I swear I didn¡¯t look! I tried to leave the moment I felt her aura, but then she found me. She tried to kill me for a whole month after that, so I don¡¯t like going back to the academy¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei spat out his mouthful of soup, a baffled look on his eyes. ¡®Accidentally¡¯ entering the ¡®womens¡¯ bath¡¯?


    ¡°You were trying to peep weren¡¯t you, it doesn¡¯t matter if you saw or not, you deserved that¡­.¡±


    ¡°Also, do you and Wu Yang not like each other? Did he try and help Mo Wanxia chase you down?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, remembering how Zheng Kai looked back then when he heard about Wu Yang being hurt.


    ¡°Hehe, yeah, that¡¯s right. That ass was even angrier than Mo Wanxia. The way he looked you would¡¯ve thought I stole his wife. He wanted to duel me, but nothing came from that. Still, he never liked me since then.¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head. Whether it was Mo Wanxia, Wu Yang, or even Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei definitely weren¡¯t ¡®model students¡¯ by any means¡­.


    There was a sudden clamor from the floor below. Turning around, Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai saw the proprietor of the restaurant escort a scholarly-looking gentleman up to the second floor where they were.


    Standing behind this man were two other men with extraordinary auras of their own. They must¡¯ve be the bodyguards of the man in front, Bai Yunfei thought. The moment they stepped onto the second floor, the man came walking over to the table Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai was!


    Zheng Kai looked shocked at his entrance. ¡°The second prince?! He¡¯s¡­.why is he here?!¡±


    ¡°The second prince?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°You mean him?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the Second Prince Wu Zhuo¡­..Wu Yang¡¯s second brother!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew to the top of his head. Was danger already knocking on his doors so soon? Did the second prince want revenge for his younger brother?

 Chapter 526: The Second Prince, Wu Zhuo

    The second prince of the empire, Wu Zhuo, wore rich purple robes, though they had no runic marking or decorative lines on them. His hair was tied together in a braid behind him, and the smile on his face was curled upwards in a gentle smile. Combined with his calm demeanor, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t assumed this was a scholar who did nothing but read rather than a prince.


    The prince didn¡¯t look hostile either as he approached Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai. Rather, he approached the two looking more like he was a friend coming to say hello.


    Zheng Kai, as it appeared to Bai Yunfei, respected the second prince quite heavily. Giving Bai Yunfei a quick look, he stood up to bow and greet the man, ¡°Your Highness the Second Prince, what brings you here to this place?¡±


    He was familiar with the prince it would seem.


    Wu Zhuo shook his hand to wave the proprietor away. Smiling, he greeted Zheng Kai, ¡°Ah, Zheng Kai! It¡¯s been a long time since I saw you. I only just came back from the White Stone Province. I heard you and Huang Bin came across some trouble yesterday night? Are you alright?¡±


    Zheng Kai smiled. ¡°Thank you for your concern, Your Highness, but it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Our houses are taking care of it. Please, Your Highness, please have a seat.¡±


    Wu Zhuo sat in the seat next to table to look at Bai Yunfei, ¡°And you are¡­.?¡±


    A flicker of uncertainty crossed Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes, but he answered Wu Zhuo straight away, ¡°This is my friend, Bai Yunfei, student of the Crafting School.¡±


    He was unsure if Wu Zhuo knew about the fact that Bai Yunfei hurt Wu Yang or not, but it was best to establish Bai Yunfei¡¯s identity and status as quickly as possible, for Bai Yunfei¡¯s own sake.


    Bai Yunfei nodded towards Wu Zhuo, ¡°It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°The Crafting School?¡± Wu Zhuo replied with raised eyebrows, ¡°Bai Yunfei? Are you perhaps¡­.the new disciple of headmaster Zi Jin mentioned several years ago?¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked, he hadn¡¯t thought that his name would be known even here--was he really that famous?


    Zheng Kai replied on his behalf, ¡°That¡¯s right. Bai Yunfei is the newest prodigy from the Crafting School and the very same person who helped stop the soulbeast wave in Praestia Pass.¡±


    Another flicker of light crossed Wu Zhuo¡¯s eyes as he regarded Bai Yunfei with more admiration than before, ¡°How unexpected to meet you here, brother Bai. Your feats in Preastia Pass made its way to even here. I thought you¡¯d find your spot among the Ten Prodigies, but when you disappeared after that, I felt it quite regretful¡­.¡±


    He shook his head with a sigh, ¡°My brother¡¯s loss by your hands isn¡¯t a bad one. If it¡¯s you, he lost to a worthy opponent.¡±


    His words caused Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart to skip a beat¡ªWu Zhuo knew about the trouble that happened between his brother and Bai Yunfei!


    But it seemed that he didn¡¯t really care about revenge. How strange.


    Somewhat embarrassed, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Th--this one really didn¡¯t know it was His Highness the Fourth Prince. If this one may beg for pardon for harming your brother¡­.¡±


    Though he knew he did no wrong, Bai Yunfei tried his best to sound as honest and modest as possible so he could resolve the situation quickly.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t apologize, brother Bai. I know my fourth brother, he must¡¯ve been the one to start causing trouble. You teaching him a lesson will let him realize there are people outside his sphere of influence. I hope he¡¯ll learn from this and be less arrogant.¡±


    Wu Zhuo¡¯s words were noticeably surprising to Bai Yunfei. How was this man so ¡®reasonable¡¯? How was he so completely different to his younger brother!


    ¡°I came across my younger brother earlier, he told me he was defeated in one blow by someone of his age and was with Zheng Kai. I was curious so I came over to investigate, but I admit, I was surprised to find it¡¯s you, brother Bai.¡±


    As if suddenly thinking about something, he spoke, ¡°Brother Bai, you are senior Zi Jin¡¯s disciple and strong enough to defeat Wu Yang, your arrival in the Capital¡­.must be the Crafting School¡¯s wish? Is Tianhun Academy planning to open up a section on crafting, and¡­.taught by you?¡±


    The look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew even wider--just how did Wu Zhuo know all of this?!


    His reaction was more than enough for Wu Zhuo to confirm his doubts, ¡°Don¡¯t be alarmed, brother Bai. The Royal Family met with the chairman before on this issue before to request for the Crafting School to open a section in Tianhun Academy. It¡¯s not a widely-known fact, only I and a few select others know.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was still surprised, ¡°I see. You are correct, Your Highness, the academy is opening a section for crafting this time, and my master has ordered me to stay here and teach. I am unsure of my success, but it is my duty to try my best.¡±


    ¡°Haha, brother Bai, you are quite harsh on yourself. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do excellent and look forward to your work.¡± Wu Zhuo smiled, ¡°If there¡¯s anything you might need in the future, the academy and Royal Family will not hesitate to support you in your endeavors.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Zhuo and Bai Yunfei continued to talk a little more after that, exchanging pleasantries and other talks. In Bai Yunfei¡¯s opinion, Wu Zhuo didn¡¯t seem to hold himself like a prince much, but he was a great man nonetheless.


    After a while, Wu Zhuo finally bid farewell and left.


    After he left, Zheng Kai slammed his palm onto the tables in delayed surprise, ¡°Brother Bai! What was that you said earlier? You¡¯re going to be teaching?! A section on crafting?!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t been talking much when Wu Zhuo was here and was deep in heavy thought the moment Wu Zhuo even mentioned the ¡®course on crafting¡¯. But when Wu Zhuo left, he immediately started to speak to Bai Yunfei impatiently.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know about it until I went to meet chairman Mo Huangkong. My master had orders for me to teach a class here about the art of crafting.¡±


    ¡°.....¡± Zheng Kai was speechless. A commotion would surely rise up among the Capital and academy if people were to learn about this.


    ¡°Does that mean¡­..you¡¯re going to be an instructor for the academy?!¡± Zheng Kai suddenly realized.


    ¡°I will be, yes.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Again, Zheng Kai was speechless, but only for two seconds. ¡°Does this mean I¡¯ll be lower to you in rank?! I¡¯m only a student, but you¡¯re an instructor. You¡¯re going to be higher in rank than me in the academy?!¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± A sweatdrop rolled down Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry at his question, ¡°Well, why should we really care about that? You wouldn¡¯t think me of an instructor anyways, so let¡¯s stick with calling each other brother.¡±


    ¡°That works,¡± Zheng Kai sighed, ¡°Haha! What a development this was, you came to the Capital and will start class here as a¡­.an instructor, haha! How envious, I actually wanted to be an instructor too you know, but the chairman said no. I don¡¯t want to leave the academy, so I stayed as a student. You¡¯ve it good, you¡¯re the only crafting instructor the academy has¡­.tsk tsk, an instructor. Every single female student will want your ¡®guidance¡¯.....Teacher and female students¡­..class is over and they stay behind for one-on-one special tutoring¡­.¡±


    ¡°.......¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After finishing lunch, Zheng Kai took Bai Yunfei around the academy for a quick and easy tour. The Capital was large enough to need at least half a month to really get to know, so it was best that Bai Yunfei get acquainted with the place closest to him.


    They returned to Zheng manor by the time it was dinner--though it was Zheng Kai who was ¡®reluctant¡¯ to return. Bai Yunfei himself had enough for one day, so he declined Zheng Kai¡¯s proposal to stroll the night market and return for the night.


    It was on their through the corridors of Zheng manor when Zheng Kai spoke up, ¡°Why don¡¯t I take you to North Eleventh Street tomorrow and show you where students like to hang out around most. There¡¯s plenty of¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, thank you for the idea, brother Zheng, but I need to prepare for my classes in the next two days. I need time to prepare.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see¡­.that¡¯s too bad then. I¡¯ll take you another time then.¡± Zheng Kai spoke a little crestfallen.


    His reaction was a little surprising to Bai Yunfei. Zheng Kai clearly wanted to go to that place to play around, so why did he need Bai Yunfei there for, would he not go there by himself normally?


    Bai Yunfei himself didn¡¯t know, but Zheng Kai really didn¡¯t want to go if he didn¡¯t go.


    Huang Bin, Chen Qiantan, and Jin Manlou were all busy with their family ¡®forbidding¡¯ them to go out in the meanwhile.


    Zheng Kai would¡¯ve suffered the same fate if not for him divulging Bai Yunfei¡¯s identity to his head of house. Then under the pretense of helping Bai Yunfei with his affairs was he able to head out. If Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t go, then Zheng Kai wouldn¡¯t be able to leave either¡­.

 Chapter 527: Preparing for Class

    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t start his meditation training when he got back like normal. Instead, he laid back on his bed and began to think about what happened today.


    The fact that so many things had happened to him in his first whole day in the Capital had thoroughly destroyed what plans Bai Yunfei had.


    He originally wanted to go stroll around the Capital and take a look around for what there was to do. And after he finished what his master wanted him to do, he¡¯d wait around for a month or two before heading back to the Crafting School.


    But those plans, it seemed, would have to be put to rest.


    In the span of a single day, Bai Yunfei somehow became an instructor at Tianhun Academy where all the finest students gathered. Furthermore, he knocked out the fourth prince and got off on the wrong foot with another instructor there before meeting with the second prince¡­.


    Any one of those alone would¡¯ve made Bai Yunfei sigh regardless.


    This was the wonder that was the Capital! The people here weren¡¯t any weaker than Bai Yunfei, and even though they were older than Bai Yunfei, that didn¡¯t discount just how much of a genius they were. It was said that the granddaughter of the chairman became a late-stage Soul Exalt by the age of twenty-seven, that was a feat in itself not much worse than Jiang Fan, was it not?


    His third senior Jiang Fan had taken some time to make the breakthrough from a late-stage Soul Ancestor to Soul Exalt, but Bai Yunfei was sure it wouldn¡¯t take long for him to become a late-stage Soul Exalt.


    In terms of cultivation and training, the students of Tianhun Academy weren¡¯t any worse than those of the Crafting School, as they well deserved to be.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°But to become a teacher! What¡­.what can I even teach them about?¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed, thinking about his master¡¯s orders for him to be an instructor. Was he to be like what his master was to him? To teach the art of crafting? That didn¡¯t feel right at all!


    The way Zi Jin taught him was by taking into account the special circumstances of Bai Yunfei and hand-tailoring a personal teaching schedule for him. This wasn¡¯t an act that could be repeated and taught on a much higher scale, or at least, for Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know what kind of students I¡¯ll be getting. Senior Mo said he¡¯ll pick from the fifth and sixth year students from the fire section, so that means the weakest will be a Soul Ancestor at most¡­..every student here is a genius of some kind, so their understandings will be much higher than what I¡¯m used to, won¡¯t that make it harder for me to teach?


    ¡°I can¡¯t even say they¡¯ll even understand some of the stuff I¡¯ll be talking about¡­.


    ¡°Wonder how many students there¡¯ll be? If there¡¯s a lot, that¡¯ll be troublesome. I¡¯ll ask the chairman next time I guess, don¡¯t want to have too many students and be called incompetent¡­..hopefully it¡¯ll be less than ten.


    ¡°Won¡¯t there be people who¡¯ll be older than me, if they¡¯re from the sixth year? Will they even listen to me¡­.? I¡¯ll have to be careful and keep my real age a secret.¡±


    As of this current year, Bai Yunfei was twenty-four years old, though he was well experienced for his age rather than not. It was hard for people to define the actual age of a soul cultivator when they were in their mid-twenties to forties, so with Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength, there¡¯d definitely be people who would think he was at least in his thirties.


    ¡°Then again, it won¡¯t be too bad being an instructor¡­..¡± He thought about what Mo Huangkong had said to him, ¡°If he¡¯s going to be preparing several things, he¡¯s probably going to give me some rare materials that even the Crafting School hardly gets to use, right? I can take some of those materials for the sake of ¡®teaching¡¯, and that won¡¯t be a complete lie. It¡¯ll help me out a lot too¡­.¡±


    In truth, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really feel like he had mastered the art of crafting. He worked hard to attain the level of proficiency he had with it today, that much was for sure, but most of his efforts went towards increasing his own strength. He wasn¡¯t in much of a hurry now to improve himself with how strong he was now, so once again, he could slow down and dedicate himself to the art of crafting.


    He was after all a crafter. The skill of his school had to be mastered with perfection, and the soul armaments he made had to be flawless. This was also yet another way he could grow stronger.


    ¡°Three days to prepare, huh? Then I better think hard on what to teach! I can¡¯t disappoint master Zi Jin, I¡¯ll prepare for everything that might happen on the first day of class¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei rose bright and early the next day. He stepped out from his room in the spacious western courtyards--oh so graciously provided to him by the Zheng manor--Bai Yunfei thought his living quarters to be quite special. It was a relatively large place for him to stay without any other guests. And aside from the maids and servants, no one else would be there to bother him.


    It was in this courtyard that Bai Yunfei set up his cauldron along with the materials he gathered over the past few years in preparation to start crafting.


    He wasn¡¯t trying to craft a perfectly powerful soul armament at the moment. What he was trying to do was prepare himself for the best state of mind to be in while crafting so that he could make sure he¡¯d be able to teach his students about the topic without a problem on the first day of class.


    One of the things he planned on doing was to show off his skill with the craft. If he was to be teaching a course on crafting, it stood to reason he showed off what the art could do.


    He would be crafting a soul armament to establish his identity and credibility as an instructor capable of the art of crafting. With that, there wouldn¡¯t be any student that¡¯d deny elsewise.


    Since failure wasn¡¯t an option, Bai Yunfei had to concentrate all his energy into crafting a high-earth tier soul armament at the very least to show off the might of the Crafting School.


    Crafting one of those as a mid-stage Soul Exalt was relatively hard, but doable for someone like Bai Yunfei, who had two fireseed essences. For most crafter, it¡¯d require them being late-stage Soul Exalts before they could even hope crafting a high-earth tier soul armament.


    Heaven-tier soul armaments required a crafter to be a Soul King before they could pull it off. To the Crafting School, a heaven-tier soul armament being made wasn¡¯t anything to be wowed over, but not for the outside world. Everyone would go crazy over a heaven-tier soul armament being made.


    It was Soul Kings for the most part that had a heaven-tier soul armament, and even then, they were usually low-heaven tier. Only a scant few Soul Kings have mid-heaven tier soul armaments. Aside from them, only those belonging to a wealthy family or having some sort of high background would have one.


    Zheng Kai was another shining example of that. The black fan he wielded was a low-heaven tier soul armament and was also a very rare soul armament with a space affinity.


    Bai Yunfei starting to craft had caught the attention of many people in the courtyard. Those within a kilometer or two of the courtyard Bai Yunfei was in felt the increase of heat and the red light shining from the courtyards. Many had even panicked a bit, thinking that the courtyard caught on fire.


    Like the others, Zheng Kai was one of the few that came by in wonder. Watching as a powerful-looking soul armament popped out from the cauldron, he clicked his tongue in amazement.


    Bai Yunfei had first wanted to pay his respects to the leading figures of Zheng manor when he first arrived, but when he was informed that they were all currently busy managing other affairs, Bai Yunfei decided to worry about his own things first and meet with them later. And now that he was busy ¡®preparing for class¡¯, Bai Yunfei decided then that now wasn¡¯t the time to meet with them.


    And so in no time at all, three days went by, and Bai Yunfei was ready to start his classes¡­.

 Chapter 528: First Day of Class

    Tianhun Academy went into a flummox over the course of the next few days. Students and instructors alike were chattering up a storm as they discussed the newest piece of gossip to hit their academy.


    A¡­.crafting class was to be opened and offered!


    A student from the Crafting School was to come and teach the academy the art of crafting!


    The Crafting School was considered to be a very amazing school in the eyes of many soul cultivators. Although the majority of soul cultivators had a soul armament or two, soul armaments were still very hard to get. A mid-earth or even high-earth tier soul armament would see to many people fighting over them, and those who could craft them, namely the Crafting School, were thus seen as people to respect for their prowess.


    Crafters needn¡¯t fight others for soul armaments. They only need to ¡®create¡¯! They could craft as many soul armaments as their hearts content, and just one earth tier soul armament wasn¡¯t even much to them!


    Those who were happiest to hear about this piece of hot news were the fifth and sixth year students from the fire section. The new class on crafting would choose among them to be its newest students!


    Their happiness didn¡¯t last for long. Shortly afterwards, the chairman himself came out with a list of names for those that¡¯d be in the class, and the disappointment of many, there were only seven names on that list. The entire fire section was disappointed, but they couldn¡¯t argue with the chairman¡¯s decision, they could only accept his decision and look on in jealousy at those who were accepted.


    Every student accepted into the class was a genius among their peers. Even among the entire academy as a whole, they were the cream of the crop and not one student could possibly deny saying the chairman had made the right choice.


    And so, every single student--the newly accepted crafting students most definitely--waited expectantly for the day the crafting course would start, and for the ¡®rumored¡¯ crafting instructor to appear¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    By the dawn of the first day of classes, Bai Yunfei tidied himself up and prepared to leave to Tianhun Academy with Zheng Kai.


    He had the permafrost mastiff and blue-eyes wyrm stay behind this time. Only Xiao Qi would accompany him to class today, since he didn¡¯t expect to come across any trouble, and having multiple soulbeasts with him wouldn¡¯t be wise. With so many eyes on him today, having the permafrost mastiff there under scrutiny wouldn¡¯t be the best of ideas, just in case someone figured out its actual identity.


    Zheng Kai had leapt at the chance to leave the manor. After being ¡®cooped¡¯ in his own home for three whole days, he was even happier than Bai Yunfei that day. Like the other students, he was extremely curious how Bai Yunfei would teach the class and pestered Bai Yunfei with questions on the way there. But Bai Yunfei only smiled, saying to Zheng Kai that he¡¯d see in time, much to Zheng Kai¡¯s consternation.


    There hadn¡¯t been any welcoming ceremony or anything when they stepped onto the academy. No one saw anything out of the ordinary from Bai Yunfei¡¯s entrance to all the way in the fifth and sixth year sections.


    But the only difference there was that when Bai Yunfei reached this part of the academy, he would walk for one of the buildings to the east.


    But first, Bai Yunfei had to go to the stone building the chairman Mo Huangkong was in. Mo Huangkong had said that all preparations for the class would be handled by him, Bai Yunfei just needed to show up that day to teach. Unsure of what Mo Huangkong had in mind, Bai Yunfei decided to head there first to see what exactly it was. He also had a few plans for today''s lessons, so he wanted to ask the chairman for some help--Bai Yunfei was quite expectant to see just what kind of materials the chairman had promised.


    Zheng Kai didn¡¯t get too close to the stone building, leaving Bai Yunfei to walk there only to meet with the chairman.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re here, Yunfei.¡± Mo Huangkong smiled in greeting, ¡°How are things? Are you prepared for today? What do you plan to do?¡±


    ¡°Rest assured, senior Mo, I¡¯ve several things in mind. But I¡¯d like to ask first, just how many students will I be teaching?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, Yunfei. I won¡¯t unload too many students onto you all at once. I¡¯ve picked seven students in total: four sixth years and three fifth years, all of them being the top of their classes.¡±


    ¡°Only seven people.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in relief.


    ¡°I won¡¯t lie, senior Mo, I plan to craft a soul armament for everyone to see today. I know the academy has geniuses of all sorts gathered here, many might not be willing to accept me as their instructor. So if I can prove my abilities as a crafter, they might become more willing to accept me, or decide to drop the class if they choose. I only wish to teach those who are willing to learn from me.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Mo Huangkong laughed, ¡°That much will be of no issue. I did promise to meet whatever needs you have. If you¡¯re not satisfied with the students I picked, you are free to add or subtract from their numbers as you wish.¡±


    His answer was another weight off Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Furthermore¡­..senior Mo, as I said earlier, I plan on crafting a soul armament. For the sake of a high quality one, I will need to choose from the best materials offered. I recall senior Mo saying that the academy will offer its stockpile of materials, so if I may¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that can be arranged as well¡­.¡± Mo Huangkong nodded, ¡°it really is no problem really, I would¡¯ve brought you there to see our warehouse even if you hadn¡¯t mentioned it. I am not a man who makes empty promises. Allow me to show you at once where you are allowed to take materials from for your class.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s vision spun a little when Mo Huangkong placed a hand onto his right shoulder. The table that they had been sitting at fell away from the world, and before he could react, the two of them were¡­.


    Through a mysterious force of power, Bai Yunfei felt himself being taken through the world before his vision came back to him. And when he realized that, he saw that¡­..the environment around him was completely different than before!


    Or perhaps it was better to say where Bai Yunfei once sat within the stone building was now a completely different place!


    ¡°Tele--Teleportation!¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized with a start. Mo Huangkong wasn''t only capable of teleportation, he was capable of bringing Bai Yunfei with him!


    ¡°Take a look, Yunfei. You may take any materials here to help you craft a soul armament today. You may come and go here later for a second and third trip later.¡±


    Mo Huangkong spoke to the still dazed Bai Yunfei.


    For as far as the eyes could see, Bai Yunfei was looking at things that left him in absolute shock and joy¡­.

 Chapter 529: Materials Warehouse

    They were standing within a giant warehouse about a square kilometer in area and had shelves lining up row after row after row, just like in Mo Huangkong¡¯s library. But the only difference here was that the shelves were filled with all sorts of materials rather than books.


    Plenty of lightstones adorned the walls, providing enough illumination in the area to reveal just how many materials there were in the warehouse.


    They were only simple shelves with materials, but Bai Yunfei was left absolutely breathless with what he saw. He had been prepared to see a veritable treasure trove of materials, but this sight in front of him exceeded all expectations he had.


    All of the materials were neatly categorized, separated, and arranged to differ between size, usages, and how they were arranged on the shelves. It was so neatly arranged that Bai Yunfei felt like he was back in the warehouse of the Crafting School, since only crafters knew the uses between materials usually.


    From this alone, Bai Yunfei realized just how much effort the academy was willing to put towards having the academy offer a class on crafting.


    All sorts of ore, soulgems, primal stones, and even plants¡­.they shined and gleamed underneath the light.


    Off to the side, Bai Yunfei even saw five large shelves filled with supplementary powder used for solidifying the soul armament. That type of stuff was used only for crafting and nothing else.


    Looking around the warehouse would need more than just his eyesight to fully explore. Using his soulsense, Bai Yunfei was able to get a good grasp of what was stored here. He wouldn¡¯t be lacking in material here, as the warehouse had everything he could practically want. He took the best he could find, putting them onto a table in the corner to keep track of what was what. With those materials, Bai Yunfei was guaranteed a high-earth tier soul armament. One of the things Bai Yunfei found even was a clump of golden ore concentrate, an item Bai Yunfei once saw his senior Kou Changkong use before to craft a heaven tier soul armament.


    With each material he found, Bai Yunfei¡¯s gleamed even brighter with uncontrolled glee. It was a treasure trove of unbelievable proportions that no crafter wouldn¡¯t drool over.


    Mo Huangkong looked pleased at his reaction, ¡°Is it to your satisfaction, Yunfei? From today onwards, you may take whatever you need from here, whether it¡¯s for your classes or for your own crafting needs. Inform me if there is a shortage of something and I will have someone restock them.¡±


    Bai Yunfei sucked in a sharp breath of air, ¡°Thank you for your generosity, senior Mo! I will do my best to teach the art of crafting to my students!¡±


    If there was any slightest hints of hesitation or indifference Bai Yunfei had about the situation, there was none now. It was his responsibility to succeed now. If Mo Huangkong was investing so much on him, then Bai Yunfei could hardly let him down.


    ¡°Haha, you are an instructor of this academy, call me chairman from now on.¡± Mo Huangkong smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve faith in your abilities. Feel free to pick whatever other materials you need and I¡¯ll bring you to your class.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, breathless almost as he looked at the materials all around him. Previously, he hadn¡¯t thought that the academy would have such a comprehensive stock of materials, but now that he realized the possibilities, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to give it up. With these materials, he¡¯d be able to pick the best materials and create the best soul armaments to date.


    ¡­¡­


    Ten minutes later, two people appeared right in front of a large building in the eastern corner of the academy grounds. It was Mo Huangkong and Bai Yunfei, who traveled there by walking rather than teleporting.


    It was so Bai Yunfei would know where the warehouse was, and how to get to and from from there. Giving the ¡®warehouse¡¯ key to Bai Yunfei, Mo Huangkong instructed him to treat it well and allowed him free reign with the materials.


    ¡°Well then, I¡¯m sure your students are already waiting for you. If you¡¯re ready, you may begin your classes whenever.¡± Mo Huangkong pointed to a two-story tall building about a kilometer to the left. ¡°That is the classroom you¡¯ll be teaching in. You may, of course, choose any other place if this one isn¡¯t to your liking.¡±


    ¡°Will you not be coming with me, chairman?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for me to. I¡¯ve faith in your abilities, and I will wait for your good news. There will be people who observe how you run your class, but pay them no mind, do as you normally do and all will be fine.¡±


    As Mo Huangkong prepared to leave, Bai Yunfei suddenly spoke out, sounding a little embarrassed, ¡°Ah¡ªchairman, if...if I may, would it be possible for you to bring me back to the stone building?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Mo Huangkong spoke, ¡°What business do you have there?


    ¡°A friend came here with me and is currently waiting for me. I wish to walk with him back to the classroom.¡±


    ¡°I see, very well then, let us go.¡±


    Without minding at all, Mo Huangkong waved his hand, and the two persons disappeared from sight.


    ¡­¡­


    Back in front of the stone building, Bai Yunfei looked for Zheng Kai and Xiao Qi before making their way back to the ¡®classroom¡¯.


    ¡°Brother Bai, you said your classroom will be in that building?¡± Zheng Kai pointed, ¡°I remember that¡¯s where the sixth year students from the fire section spar with each other. Is the chairman really giving you that place? The entire building?¡±


    ¡°He must have,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°the chairman said the students will be waiting there, but I have to go see if that environment is suitable first. If it isn¡¯t, then I¡¯ll find a new place to hold classes.¡±


    His eyes drifted away to the giant mountain behind the academy.


    ¡°Wonder which students the chairman gave you, you said they¡¯re all from the fifth and sixth years, right? They¡¯ll definitely be the best of the bests, I¡¯ll tell you that. Your crafting class will be where all the geniuses among geniuses gather!!¡± Zheng Kai sighed before suddenly thinking about something. ¡°Haha, I just realized something, brother Bai. You¡¯ve just ¡®stolen¡¯ the students from the other instructor, and the best ones to boot. The fifth years has nine classes and the sixth years have five, wonder which instructors had just had their students ¡®stolen¡¯! With that, they¡¯ll definitely come to dislike you for that, haha!! Better take care of yourself now¡­.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei looked a little unsure at the words of Zheng Kai. Judging from his reaction, one of those instructors surely had to be the one who attack him several days before, could it?


    The two males continued walking for a moment on the roads before finally coming close to their destination.


    Right there in front of the building, both Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai saw a sight that caused them both to start in surprise.


    There weren¡¯t many students on the way here, and that was to be expected, but the sight in front of the building was definitely a sight to behold¡­.

 Chapter 530: Challenge From An Academy Instructor

    Bai Yunfei had been wondering why there hadn¡¯t been many students on their way here. At first, he had thought that they were all in class already, but as things turned out, they were all gathered over here.


    A good hundreds of meters away, Bai Yunfei could see groups of threes and fives all gathered up in front of the ¡®classroom¡¯.


    Many of them were young women and men in their twenties--though a few looked to be in their teens--they surely had to be the students of the academy and from the fifth and sixth years. There were a good few numbers of middle-aged men and women, though their auras were starkly different to the students gathered there. From what Bai Yunfei could sense, they had to be the instructors.


    If Bai Yunfei had to give a quick count of how many people were here, he¡¯d say there was at least four hundred to five hundred of them.


    The vast majority of them were from the fifth or sixth year fire section, though some were from the other elemental sections, and even fewer were ¡®outsiders¡¯.


    The establishment of the crafting class caused quite a stir among the academy. With today being its opening day, none of the students here wanted to miss it. If not for the academy taking control of the situation to ensure it didn¡¯t go out of hand, all of the soul cultivators in the academy if not the Capital would be gathered here to watch. Even with this ¡®small amount¡¯ of people here, it was still a very considerable amount of spectators.


    Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai¡¯s arrival didn¡¯t garner much attention from the crowd, as no one recognized Bai Yunfei as being the instructor. None of them knew for that matter and had no way of knowing just what their crafting instructor would even look like.


    Those that did take notice of Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai did exist, however. Several people were pointing in their direction, though Bai Yunfei noticed it was mainly the girls who were pointing fingers at Zheng Kai in either admiration or hatred. They must¡¯ve been the ones who he flirted with before¡­.


    Bai Yunfei had been fully expectant that there¡¯d be people wanting to ¡®observe¡¯ his class, Bai Yunfei never thought there¡¯d be such a large amount. Suddenly, Bai Yunfei felt himself grow nervous. He had never had a situation like this before.


    As Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai made their way towards the building, a voice suddenly called out to them¡­.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    A furious voice from the crowd cried out to Bai Yunfei, leaping out in a stream of red light. Flying hundreds of meters to them, the red light came to a descent just twenty meters away from Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai.


    Bai Yunfei ¡®knew¡¯ this man--it was the same instructor who came forward to detain him when he had knocked out Wu Yang a little over three days ago, Zhou Yu.


    Right now, the other instructor was glaring at Bai Yunfei with hateful eyes as if Bai Yunfei had stolen something that was rightfully his.


    Plenty of people had noticed Zhou Yu¡¯s reaction to Bai Yunfei and turned to look at the three.


    So surprised that he came to a stop, Bai Yunfei regarded Zhou Yu with a strange expression, ¡°Yes?¡±


    Could he really be here to try and detain him for hurting the fourth prince?


    ¡°I wish to challenge you, Bai Yunfei!¡±


    To mystify Bai Yunfei even more, Zhou Yu had not only called out his name, but also someting else!


    A challenge¡­..he wanted a challenge?!


    Bai Yunfei really wanted to blurt out his thoughts, but he suppressed it. The people around him were already buzzing with gossip at the scene.


    ¡°That¡¯s the class one instructor for the sixth year fire course, Zhou Yu! What¡¯s he doing?¡±


    ¡°Did I hear that right?? Did Zhou Yu really say what I think he said? A challenge?! With that guy with Zheng Kai? Is he even a student? What¡¯s the instructor doing that for?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s that guy? Does the instructor hate him or somethin--hold on! Bai Yunfei?! Is that what instructor Zhou Yu said? I swear I¡¯ve heard this name before!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the new instructor for the crating class called Bai Yunfei? Are they the same person? No way!¡±


    ¡°Him?! Are you kidding?! He looks like he¡¯s in his twenties! What¡¯s he playing at being the instructor?! He looks more like a student than instructor!¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard the crafting instructor is a genius from the Crafting School. And I also heard that the new disciple of their headmaster Zi Jin is a young man. Don¡¯t you think it might be him?¡±


    ¡°If it is, then¡­.I might know why instructor Zhou Yu is challenging him. Two of the seven students joining the crafting class are the students instructor Zhou Yu is proud of most. Now that they¡¯re Bai Yunfei¡¯s students, you can¡¯t really blame him for getting angry. He¡¯s probably sulking about it and wants to put the new instructor in his place, you bet?¡±


    ¡°Really? Instructor Zhou Yu isn¡¯t all that bad, but he¡¯s a little impulsive. No other instructor would like their star students being taken, but only he would do something like this. I heard when Bai Yunfei came onto the academy grounds three days ago, he fought with instructor Zhou Yu there, there has to be a grudge between them!¡±


    ¡°I saw what happened that day! I didn¡¯t think that was Bai Yunfei at first, he was super amazing! He beat the mid-stage Soul Exalt Wu Yang in one move and then stopped instructor Zhou Yu¡¯s attack like it was nothing. They didn¡¯t fight, but he¡¯s definitely super strong.¡±


    ¡°I never thought there¡¯d be such fun right before the class would even start, haha! A showdown between instructors? I¡¯ve barely seen any of those! Wonder how Bai Yunfei¡¯s going to react.¡±


    ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be, right? Instructor Zhou Yu is a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, aside from the Soul King instructors, he¡¯s one of the strongest instructors the academy has. Even if Bai Yunfei¡¯s strong, he¡¯s only a mid-stage Soul Exalt, how could he possibly beat instructor Zhou Yu?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain either though. It¡¯s his first day teaching here and he¡¯s already getting a challenge. If he doesn¡¯t address that now, how¡¯s he going to continue teaching?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    In a short ten seconds, the entire area was already talking about the fight. Though it was very noisy with their chattering, Bai Yunfei could understand what they were saying for the most part. Some of these people were making some sense though, there was a ¡®reason¡¯ behind this fight.


    Zheng Kai had called it earlier. It was because of the fact that Zhou Yu¡¯s students were ¡®stolen¡¯ from him that this happened¡­.


    None of the students or instructors were moving to intervene with the situation either, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise. They were all expectant to see how Bai Yunfei would deal with this situation with an almost sadistic eye.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, you are a new instructor, and I am but an instructor that wishes to see the might of the Crafting School. Comparing notes between instructors is a rather common thing here, we fight fairly and without fear of severely harming the other¡­.¡± Zhou Yu cupped his hands together with a voice as sweet as honey, ¡°Are you willing to take the challenge or not?¡±


    His final words were a little imperious sounding, as if daring Bai Yunfei to refuse to challenge and be labeled a timid coward.


    This was his way of knocking Bai Yunfei off his high horse without much trouble to himself. This way, it¡¯d show just how weak the crafting instructor and how his strength was by far lower than his mystique. By making a fool of Bai Yunfei, he¡¯d be able to vent off his own anger.


    Zheng Kai narrowed his eyes as if to rebuke Zhou Yu for his excessiveness. Turning his head to Bai Yunfei, he spoke, ¡°Brother Bai, you shouldn¡¯t have to li¡ª¡±


    But Bai Yunfei held his hand up to stop him. Taking two steps forward, Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips curled into a smile, ¡°This one will accept your challenge, instructor Zhou Yu. This¡¯ll be a warm up exercise before I start my lesson.¡±

 Chapter 531: Only Defending Never Attacking

    Everyone went silent at his answer--he was actually going to fight?!


    Did Bai Yunfei had that much faith in his own strength against Zhou Yu? Everyone there shook their heads at the foolishness of Bai Yunfei¡¯s overconfidence.


    ¡°Brother Bai, are you really going to fight him?¡± Zheng Kai gaped at him, ¡°He¡¯s a peak late-stage Soul Exalt and one of the strongest in the academy, you should¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, brother Zheng. I¡¯ve faith in my strength. I won¡¯t be losing.¡±


    Zheng Kai grew silent. He knew Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t a man to act on his impulses, if Bai Yunfei said he had faith in himself, then that was it. Even he didn¡¯t really know just how strong Bai Yunfei was, but that battle when they first met was more than enough for Zheng Kai to spare him the benefit of doubt.


    Like the others, Zhou Yu was a little surprised with how fast Bai Yunfei agreed to the challenge. Blinking several times before sneering in contempt, Zhou Yu grew confident. He had no doubt in his mind that he¡¯d win, and now that Bai Yunfei had agreed to the challenge, Zhou Yu could beat him black and blue in front of a large audience to prove that the crafting instructor wasn¡¯t as strong as people thought.


    ¡°Where shall we fight, here?¡± Bai Yunfei asked him.


    Zhou Yu pointed behind himself, ¡°There¡¯s an outdoors arena over there, we¡¯ll go there!¡±


    He took off towards the arena before Bai Yunfei could reply to that. The other students and instructors were already making their way over to the said arena, and when Bai Yunfei looked, he too saw an outdoor arena about about two kilometers away. There was an elevated platform about a meter high into the air and five hundred meters squared. Compared to the area around it, the arena was clearly of more durable make.


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei headed towards the arena. In his mind, he was already thinking about how to fight the upcoming battle.


    The reason why he accepted the challenge--aside from his faith in his strength--was to establish himself in the hierarchy. Him being a new instructor obviously landed him on the lower part of the power hierarchy of the academy, so he had to avoid being labeled anything negative before his first class even started. As such, he might as well fight it out this time to show everyone that he was strong and well deserving to be the instructor for crafting.


    By now, Bai Yunfei and Zhou Yu were both standing on top of the platform, and the audience all gathered around the ring, whispering and chattering to one another.


    ¡­¡­


    Standing just a hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei, Zhou Yu¡¯s eyes glistened, ¡°We are merely just comparing notes, and not fighting a battle to the death. But seeing how swords are blind, injuries are hard to avoid. If you wish to surrender, say it sooner rather than later.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Thanks for the warning. Let¡¯s compare notes then, I¡¯ve a class to teach.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± Zhou Yu spat, unimpressed with Bai Yunfei¡¯s attitude. Stepping forward, he flew off towards Bai Yunfei to make the first attack!


    Closing in the hundred meters of distance, Zhou Yu brought his right hand high, fire combusting out from it before lashing out a fiery punch onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest. It was only a precautionary attack, but the strength behind it was strong enough for even a late-stage Soul Exalt to handle.


    But Bai Yunfei¡­..didn¡¯t move, much to the shock of the others!


    His lips were curled into a smirk, as if uncaring for this attack. When the punch was close enough to him, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand, bringing out an orange flash of light from his ring to erect a barrier of orange light around his person.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Zhou Yu¡¯s fist smashed against the barrier, but he was unable to blow past it! Instead, he was flung backwards while Bai Yunfei remained steadfast! The barrier around Bai Yunfei had only flickered a bit before returning back to normal.


    Zhou Yu was amazed, but he rather than stand still in his amazement, he flew forward again with another mighty punch, only to achieve the same effect as last time where he was flung back again.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡±


    One blow after another, Zhou Yu¡¯s figure went back and forth to strike against Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier. With each hit, he was flung back again before he attempted once more from a different angle.


    Steady, Bai Yunfei watched again and again as Zhou Yu tried to strike at his shield without any success.


    The audience was amazed at what they were watching. They thought an intense battle would take place, but all it was was Zhou Yu striking at what appeared to be a ¡®wooden pillar¡¯.


    Those with sharp eyes could see that among the flashes of intermittent light was the Cataclysmic Seal, flashing whenever Zhou Yu tried to strike at Bai Yunfei.


    After a minute of striking non-stop, Zhou Yu was starting to feel more surprised than before. He was putting all of his strength behind each of his attacks, but it was doing absolutely nothing on his opponent. After one last blow where it did nothing, Zhou Yu narrowed his eyes and flew into the air. His soulforce began to climb rapidly as elemental fire spiralled around him. A needle-like cone made of fire materialized above his right hand, and like a drill, it start to rotate faster and faster. This had to be a soul skill.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up. Not even waiting for his opponent to attack, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand, sending the Cataclysmic Seal flowing forward with increased speed towards Zhou Yu before he could finish winding up his attack.


    Zhou Yu was startled--he hadn¡¯t expected Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul armament to be able to go from defense to offense like that. Its transition had been quick and deadly, and his fire needle hadn¡¯t yet fully finished when he was forced to bring his left arm up to block the Cataclysmic Seal


    ¡°Clank!!¡±


    There was a clanking sound as the Cataclysmic Seal was stopped inches away from Zhou Yu before it was deflected past his sides, spinning him around slightly. His left arm ached with pain from the blow even despite the high-earth tier bracer he had on his left arm for defense. But even despite the pain, Zhou Yu was remembered the task at hand and sent the fire drill down like a bullet towards Bai Yunfei!


    This elemental attack was far stronger than his normal blows with his fist. The Cataclysmic Seal was already far away enough for Bai Yunfei to not be able to make use of its barrier, making everyone believe Bai Yunfei would move out of the way in order to evade being hit by it.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move from his spot! He slowly raised his right hand at the drill, looking as if he was ready to meet the incoming attack with his right palm head on!


    Practically moments before the drill touched his hand, the audience could see a flash of stunning red light flash from the purple and black glove on his right hand. Then, with that light, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand pinched at the tip of the drill!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was an explosion as the drill came to a sudden stop, and then half a second later, it dissipated!

 Chapter 532: Rebound

    Elemental fire rippled everywhere from where Bai Yunfei stood, but Bai Yunfei himself was completely unharmed!


    Several people from the audience gasped at the sight. They all knew just from the sight alone that the glove Bai Yunfei wore on his right hand was a powerful soul armament!


    Zhou Yu stood there in the skies as well, his face was repudiating the fact that his strongest skill had been so easily stopped by Bai Yunfei!


    His left arm was still trembling from when the Cataclysmic Seal came forward to stop the fire drill from being sent out. Snarling, Zhou Yu¡¯s eyes flashed dangerously. His right arm shook to bring out a 1.3 meter long sword with a blade that was completely scarlet!


    If his fists and feet were useless, then he¡¯d use his soul armament!


    ¡°The Crimson Warblade! Instructor Zhou Yu is bringing out the Crimson Warblade! That¡¯s a low-heaven tier soul armament! Barely any of the other instructors have a soul armament like that, what¡¯s he doing taking it out now?!¡±


    ¡°I bet instructor Zhou Yu is feeling impatient. Now that he has the heaven-tier soul armament, there¡¯ll definitely be danger now. How¡¯s Bai Yunfei going to deal with this now?¡±


    There were some loud gasps from the audience when Zhou Yu unsheathed his Crimson Warblade. Aside from those instructors who were Soul Kings, not many people here had a heaven-tier soul armament. It was only by luck that Zhou Yu came across his weapon, but he cherished it heavily.


    He was unwilling to admit defeat. By bringing out his strongest soul armament, Zhou Yu would destroy Bai Yunfei¡¯s defense and claim victory.


    Zhou Yu brandished the blade, unleashing a scorch mark onto the ground several meters long with a grunt. Leaping off against the ground with enough strength to leave an impact, he flew towards Bai Yunfei to deliver a sword stroke onto him.


    And with this leap, he prepared himself to deliver a gravity-fueled strike onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s left shoulder!


    This strike was also a precautionary attack, or maybe Zhou Yu was just thinking that Bai Yunfei would ¡®move¡¯. He wanted Bai Yunfei to do that, that way, he¡¯d be able to make use of his swordsmanship to deliver a beautiful strike.


    But the thing that surprised him was the fact that Bai Yunfei still didn¡¯t make an attempt to dodge--even when the blade was nearly about to slice through his arm!


    All Bai Yunfei did was take a half step back with his left leg and bring his right arm up to meet the sword!


    Zhou Yu yelped in alarm. Trying as he might to pull his blade back up, it was a little too late for him to avoid contact. Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm greeted the sword with a loud clasng!


    ¡°Clanggg!!¡±


    The entire audience expected to see the sight of blood and flesh fly through the air rather than hear the sound of metal hitting metal. Several of the audience members gasped as Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure sunk slightly deeper into the ground--and fracturing it--while Zhou Yu¡¯s heaven-tier Crimson Warblade was¡­.rebounded backwards!


    The rebounding force had been strong enough to carry Zhou Yu with it. Staggering three full steps backwards, he managed to maintain his hold on it before staring at Bai Yunfei in shock.


    While his blade had failed to cut away at Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm, it did however manage to cut away the sleeves of his robes, revealing a bright-red bracer shining fiercely with light underneath it!


    It was a soul armament! A soul armament capable of stopping even a heaven-tier soul armament without a problem!


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Zhou Yu cried. Unwilling to accept this reality in front of him, he dashed forward again, this time his blade poised to slice through Bai Yunfei¡¯s neck from the left side! Whether it was in speed or strength, this second strike was several time more aggressive than the first!


    With Bai Yunfei having only just blocked Zhou Yu¡¯s blade with his right arm, he was put in a relatively more difficult position. It was best for Bai Yunfei to either step back or bend backwards at the waist to dodge Zhou Yu¡¯s next stroke, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions up until this point had been completely unpredictable, and he had no desire to break that streak.


    Under the attentive eyes of everyone there, Bai Yunfei this time raised his left arm up instead of his right!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was another metallic clang when the blade clashed with him. Twisting his left arm, Bai Yunfei deflected the blade away from him!


    On his left arm was yet another bracer!


    What happened next was even more surprising. The moment after Zhou Yu¡¯s sword was deflected, Zhou Yu had an appalled yet pained expression on his face. His sword arm trembled slightly, and small cracks were forming around his hand. And then a second later, the Crimson Warblade¡­..fell from his hand!


    The first time Zhou Yu clashed with one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s bracers, the rebound he felt had indeed been noticeable, but this second time, the rebound was way greater in magnitude than ¡®normal¡¯. It felt as if¡­.the strength he put into his blow hadn¡¯t been transmitted to Bai Yunfei and was instead turned back onto him! And since he hadn¡¯t been exxpeceing to need to defend himself, the strength of the blow was enough to disarm him of his warblade!


    Bai Yunfei looked slightly surprised too; he hadn¡¯t expected that the additional effect of his Returner Bracer would coincidentally activate then!


    Returner Bracer¡¯s stats:


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 890


    Additional Defense: 478


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    +10 Additional Effect: 15% Chance to deflect back 30% of the damage inflicted when defending.


    Damage cannot exceed the total defensive power of this equipment and cannot deflect projectiles.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    The defensive might of the Returner Bracer was just enough to be considered a low-heaven tier soul armament, but defending Zhou Yu¡¯s weapon wouldn¡¯t be too easy still. The fact that he was able to deflect thirty percent of the damage done to Bai Yunfei had not only made it look like Bai Yunfei had block the sword ¡®easily¡¯, but it even disarmed Zhou Yu!


    When Zhou Yu was staggering back in his bewilderment, Bai Yunfei saw his chance! He had spent most of his time in this match defending, now was his time to move!


    Be immovable like a mountain and move as fast as lightning!


    Zhou Yu had been quick enough to catch onto the fact that Bai Yunfei was on the move, but when he looked at him, Zhou Yu was startled to see that Bai Yunfei was even faster than he was!


    And on his way towards Zhou Yu, there was flash of red light before a familiar crimson spear appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand!


    Without any superfluous motions, Bai Yunfei stabbed outwards!


    Retreating, Zhou Yu tried his best to avoid, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear was already well on its way to his throat!


    The quickness that was the fiery spear terrified Zhou Yu. His eyes were flitting around rapidly as he tried to think of a way out from this, but the more he thought, the more he realized he was stuck in an ¡®undodgeable¡¯ situation!


    Still trying to move backwards, Zhou Yu¡¯s arms flew up and erected a fiery bubble around him, shining smoothly like the surface of water. In less than two quick moments, there was a seemingly impenetrable shield of fire being held up by his two palms.


    Zhou Yu planted his feet on the ground, he wouldn¡¯t retreat anymore in this fight¡­.he couldn¡¯t actually, as he was right next to the edge of the arena. To go any further was to lose, so he had to hold his ground here. He didn¡¯t need to anyways since Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear was only a meter away from his shield. As long as he could defend, Zhou Yu could take advantage of the brief respite to get out of the way and make some distance.


    But the next moment saw to Zhou Yu coming to an abrupt stop. Any idea of evading or doing anything was rendered useless as he stood there, fixed to the spot.


    The fiery tip of Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear was now just an inch away from his throat.

 Chapter 533: Assigning Homework Before Class

    The fire shield was still up and fully materialized in front of Zhou Yu¡¯s palms, but the Fire-tipped Spear of Bai Yunfei had stabbed through it to hover menacingly at his throat.


    The amount of strength Zhou Yu poured into his elemental defense was enough to stop even a low-heaven tier soul armament from piercing it. But in front of the Fire-tipped Spear, it was useless!


    That was because of the +13 additional effect of the spear--the ability to ignore elemental defenses!!


    Any last vestiges of color drained away from Zhou Yu¡¯s eyes from where he stood. His back with slick with sweat, his throat itchy with the tip of the spear hovering menacingly over it.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s Cataclysmic Seal was floating there just a meter to Zhou Yu¡¯s right as well. In other words, even if he tried to evade, the Cataclysmic Seal would be there to attack him!


    He lost.


    It was a simple but total defeat for him!


    The bitter taste of defeat weighed heavily on his tongue. Zhou Yu was neither willing nor ready to give up, but he had to. Stuffing away his emotions, Zhou Yu canceled out the elemental shield in front of him.


    A small smile appeared onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. With a twitch of his hand, the Fire-tipped Spear disappeared back into his ring along with the Cataclysmic Seal. ¡°Instructor Zhou Yu, it¡¯s my win.¡± He stated.


    ¡®It¡¯s my win¡¯, Bai Yunfei had said. Not ¡®you let me win¡¯ as customarily said for etiquette.


    Zhou Yu stiffened, his eyes focusing in on Bai Yunfei. His mouth opened as if to say something before thinking otherwise. He sighed. ¡°Indeed. You win.¡± He relented at last.


    Zhou Yu was a man who was more than willing to admit the reality of things without making excuses. But even admitting that he lost to Bai Yunfei was a hard thing to swallow, and the audience could all see that.


    He said nothing else and went to pick up his Crimson Warblade. Storing it away, Zhou Yu saluted Bai Yunfei politely once before leaping into the air to disappear behind several buildings farther away.


    ¡­¡­


    All was silent as the audience watched Zhou Yu leap away. It was only when he was fully out of sight that they immediately exploded into furious discussion.


    ¡°Did¡­.did I see that right?! Instructor Zhou Yu¡­..lost?!¡±


    ¡°And what was with that ending?! It¡¯s over? Bai Yunfei won?!¡±


    ¡°What the hell happened?! That was instructor Zhou Yu¡¯s strongest defense, how did that shield not do a thing against that spear?!¡±


    ¡°What kind of spear is that Bai Yunfei using?! Is it a mid-heaven tier soul armament?!¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even attacking for most of the match, did he really win in just one move? I¡¯m floored, just how strong is he?!¡±


    ¡°He has¡­.so many soul armaments! He didn¡¯t even use a single soul skill in that battle--he just used soul armaments to defeat instructor Zhou Yu! Just how many soul armaments does he have!?¡±


    ¡°Soul armaments that can stop a low-heaven tier soul armament, and sol armaments that can overcome the defenses of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt¡­.is that the strength of the crafting instructor¡­?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    All of the students there were gasping and raving to each other about Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength while the instructors and other strong ¡®outsiders¡¯ all grew silent. They were reevaluating Bai Yunfei¡¯s skill in subdued shock. Naturally, their powers of observation was much better than the students, so they saw things the others couldn¡¯t such as the fact that the floating soul armament besides Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even fully revealed its full power. There were other things, such as the inexplicable reason why Zhou Yu had been disarmed or how Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce suddenly depleted by almost a half when he stabbed through Zhou Yu¡¯s shield¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Uncaring for the gossip the audience were discussing about him, Bai Yunfei looked around the audience for a moment before looking to the giant building that was his classroom. ¡°Where are the students to my class? Step forward.¡±


    All discussion came to an abrupt stop when he spoke, the eyes of everyone there looking to the small group of students standing closest to the classroom.


    Those same students gave a start when addressed. Looking at one another, the group stepped forward.


    There were four males and three females; each one of them looked no older than twenty-seven and no younger than twenty.


    The younger ones of the students looked to Bai Yunfei with admiration and those older were far more dignified with their glances, but they were filled with respect for him as well.


    Only one of the seven had an expression that was rather unexpected. That person was looking at Bai Yunfei with a look of¡­.hostility?!


    When Bai Yunfei saw just who it was, his eyes widened by a fraction, ¡°You?!¡±


    It was a young woman who looked to be around the age of twenty-five. She wore a bright-red robe that accentuated her stunning body and had hair that went down all the way to her waist. Her snowy-white skin and ovallish face were both of great quality that any man would say to be the ¡®standard¡¯ of excellent beauty.


    Bai Yunfei had seen this person before--back on his first day here, this was the person that caused him so much trouble. The granddaughter of Mo Huangkong, Mo Wanxia!!


    She...she was one of his new students?!


    His look of shock seemed to have pleased Mo Wanxia, as her lips curled slightly upwards. Without backing down, she spoke, ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me! ¡®Teacher Bai¡¯, I will be your student from now on. I hope to see just what kind of amazing crafting you¡¯ll be teaching us.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei was still in disbelief. Was she not pleased with him? How strange¡­..


    But now wasn¡¯t the time to think about that. Looking at the other six, Bai Yunfei paid a good look at each student before speaking to them. ¡°I know you are all geniuses among your peers in cultivation in order to even be chosen for the class, and that much alone shows just how much the chairman believes in you. But allow me to say to you all right now, the path of crafting requires talent as well, talent that is unrelated to your talent in cultivation. I have decided today to craft a soul armament in front of you to the best of my ability, that way, I will prove to you I am qualified to teach.


    ¡°You will, of course, not only just be watching. As a part of your first class today, I will be requiring you all to write down the most important or fundamental understandings you have about the art of crafting after you go home today¡­.Think this as your first assignment. You will write down your thoughts and turn it in to me the next time we meet for classes.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The seven students weren¡¯t the only ones stunned by his words, everyone else was too!


    Bai Yunfei had been very straightforward with his words, it was just that what he was saying was completely unexpected.


    Before he even asked just who his students were, Bai Yunfei was already assigning ¡®homework¡¯ for the students after he crafts a soul armament?!

 Chapter 534: Soft Aurinium Ore

    Mo Wanxia was the first to speak out of everyone there. ¡°Are¡­.are you saying you¡¯ll be crafting one right now? Are we not going to go inside first?¡±


    ¡°No need,¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll do it here.¡±


    His actions today were already very high-profile. To go a little further with his feats would prevent people from trying to do any further investigations on the ¡®mystical¡¯ art.


    The art of crafting wasn¡¯t really a secret, but it wasn¡¯t something that could be replicated by any spectator after a single glance.


    Bai Yunfei stared at the seven with a solemn look, ¡°Pay attention what I said. Your understandings and experiences will be what I will use for my initial assessment of you seven.¡±


    He turned around to the people still watching him, ¡°This one will start crafting now. The process will take a very long time, but feel free to leave or come back anytime you wish. My only wish is that everyone will be quiet when they watch, thank you.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s words and actions thus far had brought nothing but the deepest respect from the audience. Many of them were students, but there were a few instructors who felt a great deal of respect towards him now. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, instructor Bai, we will watch quietly.¡±


    And just like that, the entire audience went silent, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s satisfaction.


    Nodding, Bai Yunfei walked back to the center of the platform. He no longer cared for the outside world as he set about to preparing to craft a soul armament. A giant cauldron the color of fire itself plopped onto the platform with several sparks of lightning sometimes emitting from the inside.


    It was the Lightningfire Cauldron.


    The Cataclysmic Seal popped up next to him to transfer its fireseed from it into the cauldron. At the same time, the fireseed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest moved from him over to the cauldron as well.


    His actions were simple, but no one from the audience knew what it meant. All they could see was that the cauldron was starting to light up.


    The second fireseed to enter the Lightningfire Cauldron was the one that came from Bai Yunfei. It was the fireseed with the companion lightningseed, and that meant the cauldron had now both of its corresponding elements in it so Bai Yunfei¡¯s chances of successfully crafting was now slightly higher.


    Pulsating his soulforce, Bai Yunfei activated the cauldron with a slight ¡®bang¡¯. Fire started to roar out from the center in large waves, bringing the temperature of the area high enough so that even the audience could feel it.


    Bai Yunfei took a step back to sit down on the ground. His right hand waved in the air, bringing out all sorts of materials into the world. Wrapped in elemental fire, they laid out over one another in one neat row. Whenever Bai Yunfei pointed at a material, it¡¯d flow into the cauldron.


    The crafting was starting.


    Everyone was extremely silent as they watched the items be burned up inside the cauldron. The seven students were most especially observant. Their eyes shined with extreme concentration to watch every single motion Bai Yunfei made. Every single second was spent focusing on him, and every so often, they would make sure to file away a thought for later reflection.


    Elemental fire began to pour out from the cauldron after the first row of materials were poured into the cauldron. Likewise, the intensity of the flames start to rise as the materials were decomposed and mixed together to form a concentrated drop of liquid within the cauldron that rippled every so often.


    This was where Bai Yunfei was starting to focus now. His right hand revealed a golden stone in his hand, pulsating strongly with elemental metal when it appeared. From just the energy alone, everyone in attendance could tell that it was comparable to even a high-grade primal stone or even a mid-earth tier soul armament.


    It was a strange-looking stone. Rather than having edges and corners like any normal stone, it was completely smooth and spherical, making it seem almost ¡®soft¡¯ with how Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand looking as if it was half an inch into the stone.


    Soft aurinium ore, a rare metal-type material that rarely was excavated by human hands. Its origins laid deep within the earth where only the Crafting School saw it being useful. A palm-sized chunk would mean having a purity level achieved by after a millennia of untainted growth. And having one would mean having a material that was worth as much as a low-earth tier soul armament.


    The one Bai Yunfei had in his hand was one that would need at least three millennia to form, which was about the same in price as a high-earth tier soul armament.


    This was one of the many materials the academy had provided for Bai Yunfei. When Bai Yunfei first saw this item in the warehouse, he immediately gave up the other materials he had in mind to use that one instead.


    With this item, crafting a high-earth tier soul armament wouldn¡¯t be a problem at all.


    In order to guarantee his success, Bai Yunfei was using enough materials for two soul armaments to create one. It was a bit wasteful, but the importance of his success here was imperative.


    The aurinium ore was placed into the cauldron for it to process. The fires within the cauldron immediately intensified with its addition, and the elemental fire around the cauldron was now even more intensive. The audience kept quiet, but even they could feel that the temperature in the area had risen again.


    For a while after the aurinium ore was deposited into the cauldron, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move. His two arms stayed pressed against the cauldron with his eyes closed. The only thing he was doing was regulating the flow of soulforce from his body to the cauldron to transmutate the inner contents, though his actions had several people think he was in a meditational trance.


    It wasn¡¯t for another hour when the audience heard a sign of activity from the cauldron in the form of crackling. The fires within the cauldron roared to life once more with such intensity that several people were entranced with its dancing movements.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open at the same time. His right hand waved again, commanding several types of materials float over to him and into the cauldron like a commander ordering his soldiers.


    The replenishment of materials in the cauldron was the start of Bai Yunfei¡¯s refocusing on the cauldron. Still motionless, his hands were now manipulating the soulforce flow to control the flame.


    Slowly, but surely, it went from midday to evening¡­.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move again for the entirety of that period!


    Those people who were most excited about crafting slowly started to wane in interest. From excitement, they turned to confusion, and then ultimately disappointment.


    So this is what the art of crafting was like. Tedious and boring.


    A small portion of the audience had already left by the time evening hit, unwilling to stay there any more.


    There were still a good amount of people that were watching Bai Yunfei with interest still. Perhaps it was the everchanging flames within the cauldron that excited them.


    The seven students had been the most patient. They were prepared for the wait, and not once did their attentions weaken. They watched Bai Yunfei earnestly, and even though Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t moving, the seven of them were making careful note of how his internal soulforce was moving, and how the cauldron itself was altering its contents.


    Evening was replaced with night, and the entire academy was basked in darkness except for the arena, where the fire from the cauldron was as bright as the midday sun.


    It wasn¡¯t until midnight when Bai Yunfei finally ¡®woke¡¯. He added a few more supplementary materials into the cauldron before again going into a state of stillness¡­.


    Night was replaced by day, and the audience found itself thinning again. There were several that came back, but more that left. Many of the audience had finally decided that the ¡®enigmatic¡¯ art of crafting was a ¡¯disappointment¡¯ and no longer wanted to waste any more of their time watching such a boring process.


    But those that didn¡¯t leave saw minute changes happening in the cauldron. The fire coming from the cauldron was more and more frequent now, and the aura from it stronger and stronger as if something on the inside was about to be ¡®born¡¯.


    There were also a rarer few that saw a change on Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression. He looked surprised almost, but definitely¡­.excited.

 Chapter 535: Armaments That Change the World

    Bai Yunfei was excited; the result that was his crafting was far better than he expected¡­.it was going completely without a problem!


    He had never such a success before!


    There wasn¡¯t even a single slip up in the entire process so far--he hadn¡¯t even needed to add in any materials to stabilize or revise the synthesis thus far! If crafting was a complex musical performance, then his prelude was perfect, and the ensuing rhythm was completely flawless!


    There wasn¡¯t any special reason for why he was having this success. Right now, Bai Yunfei was in a never-before experienced ¡®state¡¯ of mind. A state of clarity and achievement beyond all else he felt!


    Bai Yunfei forgot about the world when the soft aurinium ore was placed into the Lightningfire Cauldron. Right now, there was him and the cauldron, or more specifically, him and the soul armament being crafted in it.


    Everything happening within the cauldron was being memorized by Bai Yunfei as it did. When the aurinium ore was melted in the cauldron, whenever the mixture changed slightly, whenever a new material was added, whenever the liquid mixture changed in purity, whenever it pulsed with energy, and whenever it changed shape¡­.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know just how many soul armaments he crafted since the beginning, but this one attempt alone was special in that Bai Yunfei felt something ¡®special¡¯ in it.


    It was as if he could do anything he wanted without anything going wrong.


    Under his expert manipulation, the soft aurinium ore was liquified into the already-present mixture. With each impurity processed out from it, the liquid start to compress in size, from the size of a wash basin to a soccer ball, to a bowl, and then to the size of a palm¡­..


    He hadn¡¯t even noticed the passage of time flow around him. Oblivious to the world, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were only on the soul armament in front of him, slowly changing in shape and taking material form¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Not even a hundred people remained by the time of the second night of when Bai Yunfei started crafting. All those that did remain though were those strong enough to understand what was going on. Each one of them were staring at Bai Yunfei and what he was doing with eyes filled with shock and uncertainty.


    From what they could see, Bai Yunfei¡¯s current state was especially special. Even if they knew very little about crafting, they could at least see that Bai Yunfei¡¯s crafting attempt was going swimmingly.


    The most important thing was the amount of power radiating from the cauldron in front of Bai Yunfei. The amount of power coming from it was immense, and it was still growing.


    The soul armament hadn¡¯t even finished crafting yet, but people were already sure of one thing--this was a high-earth tier soul armament!


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei had the power to craft a high-earth tier soul armament!


    This conclusion was shared by almost everyone there. Not only the instructors, but even the ¡®outsiders¡¯ had the same feeling. As people who had extensive knowledge of the world in general, they knew bits and pieces of what crafters were capable of. With Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength as a mid-stage Soul Exalt, they all felt that it¡¯d already be extremely commendable for him to craft a mid-earth tier soul armament.


    So no one expected him to go a step beyond that and craft a high-earth tier soul armament.


    Today, the people still in attendance--or even the groups they were affiliated with--would leave this place today with a completely new impression of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Flames burst forth from the cauldron as if no longer restrained by an invisible barrier. Jettisoning into the skies, the flames roared loudly enough to startle everyone watching.


    ¡°Did he succeed?!¡±


    Someone cried out in anticipation.


    They saw Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flutter open, and the energy that was pouring out from the cauldron was fully affecting everyone¡¯s senses.


    The answer was as they said. Bai Yunfei had succeeded.


    A pleased smile was etched onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. This time, his crafting was an overwhelming success. This one soul armament in the cauldron right now was a high-earth tier, but it ranked higher than most of its kind in quality.


    All Bai Yunfei needed to do was put out the fires in the cauldron and let the cauldron burn off the rest of its energy. From there, he could pull out the soul armament and admire the finished product.


    But before he could do either of these two things to finish the process¡­.the cauldron started to behave differently!


    ¡°What?!¡± The moment when the soul armament should¡¯ve been fully crafted, Bai Yunfei felt some of his soulforce suddenly drain away from him into the cauldron, which then started to shine with light!


    ¡°This is¡­.¡±


    When he realized what was happening, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes began to shine with utter delight!


    This feeling was¡­.the feeling of an effect being activated! The Lightningfire Cauldron¡¯s effect was being activated!!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What? What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    Everyone in attendance began to gasp, unsure of what was happening. They had been so sure that the performance was finally over with the cauldron erupting what seemed to be a volcanic burst of red light. But now, a golden beam of light like a sword was shining out from the cauldron to pierce into the skies!


    The beam of golden light shot straight into the skies like a tower of light. For kilometers around, a wave of soulforce pulsated outwards from the epicenter that was the tower. Elemental metal materialized into the world in the form of golden wisps of light being drawn towards the cauldron beneath the golden tower of light!


    Everyone was stunned, unsure of what to say or even think at this sight. Then, a late-stage Soul Exalt elder suddenly jolted in his seat as he realized something about this situation. ¡°Is¡­.could this possibly be¡­.a Worldly Phantasm? Elemental energies are starting to materialize¡­.this isn¡¯t a high-earth tier soul armament, this is¡­.a heaven-tier!!!¡±


    ¡°A heaven-tier soul armament!!¡±


    Everyone around him gasped, repeating the words themselves.


    Earth-tier soul armaments were incapable of this phenomena, as the energy used to create one--even if it was a high-earth tier¡ª would be incapable of producing any kind of change onto the world. Only heaven-tier soul armaments would capable of producing a change onto the energies of the world and draw in those energies to finish off their creation.


    Such a change was known to many as when an ¡®armament changes the world¡¯. They were signs that a heaven-tier soul armament was crafted, and only those who were familiar with the Crafting School would be familiar with such a term.


    And the reason why such a phenomena was happening today was because of¡­.the soul armament Bai Yunfei crafted!


    The change was felt in the surrounding world for kilometers around. Elemental metal continued to materialize as it was being drawn to the cauldron, whirling around it and the pillar like a whirlpool of energy. At the center of it all was the cauldron, sucking in energy like a blackhole, but only that of elemental metal.


    Those watching were speechless. All they could do was sit there and watch as metallic light shined from the cauldron and illuminated even their figures.


    ¡­¡­


    In a small area a kilometer above in the skies, a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere without warning. Watching as the elemental energy continued to flow towards a certain area, the man had a suspicious look in his eyes.


    It was Mo Huangkong.


    ¡°A heaven-tier soul armament, how peculiar¡­.¡± He muttered. With his level of eyesight and knowledge, even he had to sigh in shock and admiration at the sight. ¡°I underestimated him. That Bai Yunfei has outperformed every single one of my expectations so far¡­.¡±


    Tendrils of elemental metal continued to be sucked into the pillar as he watched.


    ¡°I really do look forward to what this crafting class will offer¡­.¡±

 Chapter 536: Crafting a Heaven-tier Soul Armament

    Moments after Mo Huangkong appeared, the space around him started to warp again as several people stepped out into being. Their entrance had been strange--almost like a ghost even--and no one below had noticed. They floated there silently in the skies without either flying soul armament or elemental energy keeping them up in place.


    They were Soul Kings!!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s successful creation of a heaven-tier soul armament had drawn in the attention of even the Soul Kings!


    Twenty Soul Kings stood there now, transfixed upon the sight of so much elemental energy being drawn in by Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions. Those that realized what was going on heaved heavily in their admiration while those that didn¡¯t know who Bai Yunfei was stared suspiciously at him.


    But they did nothing other than watch. When they saw Mo Huangkong, the Soul Kings bowed politely to him, some of the Soul Kings looking even a little reveration at him.


    ¡­¡­


    Elemental metal continued to draw in to the cauldron for one whole minute before the whirlpool of it started to shrink. Being fully sucked in by the cauldron now, no more elemental metal appeared into the world now.


    Even with the world returning back to normal, the audience were still in a state of shock and unable to comprehend what had just happened.


    They weren¡¯t the only ones. Bai Yunfei, who had been standing right next to the cauldron, looked even more shocked than everyone else!


    Naturally, Bai Yunfei was stunned by the results of his crafting and the activation of the Lightningfire Cauldron¡¯s effect. His reaction to it was better than the others and was quickly suppressed. Now that the cauldron was beginning to finish up, his entire body started to shake with extreme trepidation.


    Power like none ever felt before when he was crafting started to flow out from the interior of the cauldron. He knew. He knew that the soul armament that¡¯d be in the cauldron would be¡­.a low-heaven tier soul armament!!


    It was a low-heaven tier! He had somehow managed to craft a low-heaven tier soul armament!


    No one expected this outcome. Not Bai Yunfei, and not the audience watching him. And yet only Bai Yunfei knew the secret behind this.


    By all rights, the soul armament currently in the cauldron should¡¯ve been a high-earth tier. The reason why it had been elevated to a low-heaven tier was solely because of the additional effect of the Lightningfire Cauldron!


    Lightningfire Cauldron¡¯s stats:


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Special Effect 1: Increase chance of success when crafting by 300%.


    Special Effect 2: 15% chance to add lightning affinity to item when crafting.


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% chance to boost the overall stats of an equipment by 20% when crafting.


    Soul Compatibility: 13%


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    The effect that had been activated was the one where the cauldron would increase the stats of the item by 20%!


    Never had Bai Yunfei such heavenly luck with the activation of its effect before. But it did its job. Without that activation, the soul armament would¡¯ve been stuck as a high-earth tier. But with its activation, the 20% boost elevated the stats just high enough to become a heaven-tier!


    This wasn¡¯t the result of Bai Yunfei upgrading the stats of an item to improve it. This was a brand new equipment that was already a heaven-tier!


    Without the Lightningfire Cauldron, attaining such a result simply wouldn¡¯t have been possible! This was Bai Yunfei¡¯s very first heaven-tier soul armament he crafted!


    Trying his best to quelm his emotions, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand, summoning the soul armament. It flew out from the cauldron in a bubble of golden light before then falling neatly into his hand.


    It was a surprisingly small soul armament--being only the size of his hand. It wasn¡¯t a weapon like a sword or saber, or even a piece of armor like a breastplate or bracer. It was¡­.a glove!


    The glove was silky smooth, though he could see the golden glow coming from the fingerless gloves!


    After using such a large chunk of soft aurinium ore, was the resulting product really just a tiny glove?


    Bai Yunfei touched the golden glove, waiting for its stats to pop up in his mind expectantly.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Attack: 2100


    Defense: 2200


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect: Increase damage dealt to wood-type enemies by 20%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    As expected, this was a low-heaven tier! It was barely enough to qualify, but it was one nonetheless! Furthermore, it¡­.had an equipment effect!


    Even the Ardent Sun Glove on his right hand didn¡¯t have an equipment effect!


    And it could increase the damage dealt to those with a wood affinity¡­.this surely had to be because of the Five Elements theory where Metal overcomes Wood. The concept of ¡®generating¡¯ and ¡®overcoming¡¯ between the Five Elements wasn¡¯t very clear to many until these said elements crossed against one another. The Ardent Sun Glove for example, held an affinity for fire. In the Five Elements theory, Fire overcomes Metal so the glove was very effective towards those with an affinity for metal. It wasn¡¯t normally clear for Bai Yunfei in these cases, but the ¡®effect¡¯ of this new golden glove was clearly saying it was effective towards those with an affinity for wood!


    There was also something else completely unexpected to this item. It had 20% soul compatibility before it was even upgraded!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart shivered with joy. Not only did the stats of the glove made him happy, there were two other things that added to his glee. One was the sense of pride and accomplishment for crafting a heaven-tier soul armament, and the other more important reason was because¡­.of the sudden understandings he just gained in regards to the art of crafting.


    Putting away the golden glove into his space ring, Bai Yunfei took in a heavy gulp of air. Turning around at the stunned people around him, Bai Yunfei looked then to the seven students standing behind him. ¡°Crafting this time was a success. Now that you¡¯ve seen the art in its entirety for yourself, you should know now how arduous and tedious it is to craft. If you still wish to stay in my class, prepare yourself for a similar process.


    ¡°That concludes class for today. As I said before, write down your thoughts and understandings from today and hand it to me the next class¡­.let¡¯s say in a week from today.¡±


    He looked up to the skies. ¡°It¡¯s getting late. Class is dismissed.¡±


    Bai Yunfei left the students there. Without caring for the people gossiping around him again, Bai Yunfei stored away his cauldron and strode for the outer gates to look for Zheng Kai so they could both leave the academy together.


    His sudden departure had been a little disconcerting to everyone. They didn¡¯t even have the time to talk to Bai Yunfei before he left in such a ¡®hurry¡¯, though they could understand why. He looked exhausted, and that much was to be expected. It was normal to feel as such after spending two whole days and nights to craft a soul armament, and a heaven-tier one at that. If he didn¡¯t want to stick around to talk, then the others didn¡¯t want to risk angering Bai Yunfei in talks. They could talk with him another day.


    But still, everyone was determined to talk with him eventually. Interpersonal talks and connections with him would be for the best--someone who could craft a heaven-tier soul armament was someone worthy of respect from even Soul Kings.


    And so today marked yet another day where Bai Yunfei¡¯s name was made known through the Capital, the world of soul cultivators, and beyond¡­.

 Chapter 537: Upgrade +1

    Later that night, Bai Yunfei was back in his room in Zheng manor.


    Both Zheng Kai and Bai Yunfei sought for a restaurant for dinner first after they left Tianhun Academy. After eating their fill, the two returned back home.


    Zheng Kai had been watching Bai Yunfei with great confusion on their way back, as if finally seeing Bai Yunfei for who he was for the first time since they met again. When asked about his accomplishment, Bai Yunfei had simply said that his state of mind when crafting had been optimal enough for that small chance of major success to take place, allowing him to craft a heaven-tier soul armament.


    That was in fact the truth of the matter.


    He was a little absent-minded in fact, and that much showed when Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t respond as quickly to Zheng Kai¡¯s questions on the way back, prompting his friend to wisely shut up. When they reached Zheng manor, Bai Yunfei had requested that he¡¯d be going into ¡®seclusion¡¯ and that no one should bother him as he thought about the ordeals of today.


    Though slightly surprised by the request, Zheng Kai acquiesced to it. He¡¯d manage everything else for Bai Yunfei while he went into seclusion.


    Now back in his room, Basi Yunfei had his three soulbeasts stand guard outside his room with instructions not to let anyone in to disturb him.


    This reason behind this was simple¡­.he really wanted to ruminate on the understandings he had today.


    Today¡¯s successful crafting had pleased him to no ends. He had been in the most ideal state for crafting, and after such a long time spent during it, Bai Yunfei was able to deduce several more things about the art to a degree unlike any previous time.


    But the most important thing aside from the aforementioned reasons was the soul armament he crafted today itself.


    There had been a murky feeling Bai Yunfei had when he started crafting two days ago. Those feelings gradually grew more and more clear the more he progressed with the crafting. And then when the heaven-tier soul armament unexpectedly came out, that feeling he had turned into a realization that grew into something intense after he finished.


    This soul armament was¡­.special. Very special. It was hard to describe it in words but¡­.Bai Yunfei felt like he understood every single notch, marking, and composition of the glove. Not to the same level as he would a lifebound armament, but to a particularly strong degree nonetheless.


    How could he explain? It was as if he¡­.understood the inner intricacies of the glove, like how each change happened to the glove, and how he could¡­.make even more ¡®changes¡¯.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t care for the fact that he was tired after spending two whole days and night crafting. Sitting crossed-legged on his bed, he held the golden glove in his hand and stared intensively at it.


    Right now, Bai Yunfei was preparing for something. Something he thought of and tried many times before, but never once succeeding yet.


    But right now as he stared at the equipment in his hand, Bai Yunfei felt an intense apprehension. This time, he¡¯d succeed!


    There was no doubt in his mind that his confidence was stemming from the understandings he gained today. He wouldn¡¯t let go of this precious moment. Focusing, the glove in his right hand began to shine faintly with golden light¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Time slowly went by, night turning to day without anything strange coming from Bai Yunfei¡¯s room. The three soulbeasts were still standing guard so that even the servants here to bring Bai Yunfei his food were stopped. And even Zheng Kai himself could only stand out in the courtyards in curiosity.


    Saying that he was curious didn¡¯t even cover most of it. Zheng Kai really wanted to know what Bai Yunfei was up to, as a faint stream of elemental energy was leaking from his room. Though Zheng Kai wanted to use his soulsense to peer into the room, the permafrost mastiff¡¯s own soulsense was preventing him from peering past it.


    Plenty of people came that day to Zheng manor. Every single one of them being reputable soul cultivator from the Capital clearly wanting to pay their ¡®respects¡¯ to Bai Yunfei.


    Unfortunately for them, Bai Yunfei was in seclusion and was in no mood to be receiving guests.


    The guests left in disappointment, though they were patient enough to want to come back. Some of them though were displeased even by this seemingly ¡®arrogant¡¯ refusal by Bai Yunfei, thinking him as a man who was overvaluing himself.


    But in the end, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even aware of these guests. All he could concentrate on was the glove in his hand. After spending an entire day of not moving, there was finally a glow of light from his body as the soulforce started streaming into the glove just like how an upgrade stone would.


    The next day went by, and then the third. Then finally, the fourth day came by¡­.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Attack: 2100


    Defense: 2200


    Additional Attack: 100


    Additional Defense: 100


    Soul Compatibility: 23%


    Equipment Effect: Increase damage dealt to wood-type enemies by 20%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    A string of notifications popped up into Bai Yunfei''s mind.


    It was the stats of a +1 upgraded glove.


    But! Even with the normality that was the stats, there was a look of great glee on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face!


    It was a look of glee not unlike that of when he got a piece of equipment to +13! His body began to shake so intensely that if any outsider were to see him now, they would¡¯ve been worried that something was wrong with Bai Yunfei¡­.


    The reason why he was so happy about it being +1 was because¡­.he didn¡¯t use the Upgrade Technique to ¡®upgrade¡¯ it!!


    That¡¯s right! He never gave the order to ¡®upgrade¡¯ the glove and instead ¡®altered¡¯ the glove itself. This time¡­.it came out as being +1!!


    ¡°I...did it. I really did it! It¡¯s possible!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined furiously, ¡°I don¡¯t need to use the Upgrade Technique, I can ¡®manually¡¯ upgrade it!¡±


    Correct! What he did was a manual upgrade!


    After spending so much time and energy in studying the Upgrade Technique, Bai Yunfei had¡­.finally made a breakthrough in his research!


    The Upgrade Technique¡­.Bai Yunfei had finally reached upon the very nature of what the ¡®Equipment Upgrade Technique¡¯ was!


    There had always been a mysterious ¡®power¡¯ whenever Bai Yunfei upgraded equipment. He never figured out what it was exactly, but he had a guess that it could ¡®manipulated¡¯! The Upgrade Technique always did the upgrading automatically, but right now, he could control it!


    Because of his increasing strength, Bai Yunfei began to sense the presence of that mysterious power more and more. The mysterious power wasn¡¯t something that appeared for ¡®no reason¡¯ whatsoever, and no matter how mysterious it was, Bai Yunfei knew there was a cause for its existence, and a reason!


    This notification in his mind now was a very profitable result to Bai Yunfei. The research for ¡®clues to the origin¡¯....had finally born fruit!


    It was a simple +1, but it was a historical step in Bai Yunfei¡¯s story that would allow Bai Yunfei to throw open the doors to the rest of the world beyond¡­.

 Chapter 538: A Change!

    From the time when he finished crafting the low-heaven tier soul armament to today, Bai Yunfei had only one day left until his next class.


    In this entire time of ¡®vacation¡¯, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even stepped a single step from his room, and neither did Zheng Kai come to see him. Though after almost an entire week of not seeing Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai was practically dying of curiosity at what in the world Bai Yunfei was doing.


    ¡­¡­


    In Bai Yunfei¡¯s room in the western parts of Zheng manor.


    Bai Yunfei was seated crossed-legged on his bed, though his face was looking fatigued. His eyes were a little sunken in, and his entire body was radiating with red light as he stared intensively at the golden object in his left hand.


    While his left hand held the golden glove in it, his right hand was a mere two inches above it with five fingers slightly arched over it, as if manipulating something with each finger twitch. Soulforce was streaming from his body into the glove, but the flow was slightly irregular.


    His actions had been practically zero, and it was unknown just how long Bai Yunfei had been in such a state. After a long amount of time, he finally opened his bloodshot eyes. His right arm dropped down to his side as the glove started to emit a transparent ripple of light around it. It was barely discernible to the naked eye and was practically invisible if one wasn¡¯t looking for it.


    Sighing, Bai Yunfei dropped his head, allowing the pooled sweat on his forehead to be wiped away before he looked back to the glove.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 2100


    Defense: 2200


    Additional Attack: 1000


    Additional Defense: 1100


    Soul Compatibility: 60%


    Equipment Effect: Increase damage dealt to wood-type enemies by 20%.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to deal 300% damage with the next strike.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    A string of notifications popped up in his mind shortly afterwards, prompting Bai Yunfei to smile even more at it.


    After spending nearly an entire week, Bai Yunfei had finally manually upgraded the glove to +10.


    It sounded a little strange just thinking about it. Taking a week to get to +10? It normally took him just a few minutes to do that, so why a week this time?


    It was simple. The reason why it took him all but a week to upgrade these gloves to +10 was because¡­.he was manually upgrading it--he wasn¡¯t using the Upgrade Technique!


    From +1 to +10, this golden glove had been manually ¡®upgraded¡¯ by him!!


    The moment he learned that he could upgrade the glove manually, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t stop for a moment to try and upgrade it even more. Without rest or stop, Bai Yunfei attempted many a times. He ¡®failed¡¯ several times to upgrade the gloves, but in the end, he managed to reach +10 without once using the Upgrade Technique!


    ¡°Triple attack?¡± He was elated to see such an effect on the glove; the ability to attack three times! This was an extraordinary effect. Something he wanted to try. If for example, he were to activate its effect when using the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force, then¡­..just how strong would the outcome be?


    ¡°And¡­.¡± A smile crawled onto his face, ¡°60% Soul compatibility!! This is a soulbound armament!!¡±


    The glove started out having about 20% soul compatibility when it started. And after it became +10, it gained another 40%!


    In normal times, upgrading an item to +10 with the Upgrade Technique would see to the soul compatibility rising by around 10% usually. This was a huge difference!


    Was it because of the unusual circumstances behind the creation of this soul armament? Or was it because of his ¡®upgrading method¡¯? Or was it because of the two reasons combined¡­.


    But now Bai Yunfei had yet another soulbound armament to his arsenal!


    He rested for a moment first before refocusing on his work. Now wasn¡¯t the time for him to stop, he had to keep on going.


    From here, the most important part of his research was about to start¡­.


    Shaking his right hand, an upgrade stone was taken out from his space ring.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +11 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (Low-heaven tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded.


    This. This was a +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!! And the most precious upgrade stone had in his possession!


    Biting his lips, Bai Yunfei hesitated for a moment, thinking about if he should really try to use it on the glove.


    But in the end, ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    This time, he was using the Upgrade Technique!


    There was a flash of white light as the upgrade stone was reduced to ¡®white smoke¡¯. Swirling around his left hand, the white smoke slowly begun to drain into the golden glove in his left hand.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 2100


    Defense: 2200


    Additional Attack: 1300


    Additional Defense: 1400


    Soul Compatibility: 70%


    Equipment Effect: Increase damage dealt to wood-type enemies by 20%.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to deal 300% damage with the next strike.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t care for the notifications running through his head. As soon as the white smoke was drained into the glove, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were staring closely at the glove and trying to feel for what was going on inside it.


    For a good while, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes remained closed as he ruminated.


    Then suddenly, his eyes flew open, his eyes were completely unfocused! As if he had just seen something, his eyes looked as if they had glazed over.


    Almost absent-mindedly, he took out another upgrade stone, one that was the size of his fist as he looked at the glove.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Increase the chance of success when upgrading by 700%. Effect cannot be stacked with the effect of another item.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the chance of success when crafting by 500%. Effect cannot be stacked with the effect of another item.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    It was an ¡®ordinary¡¯ upgrade stone, one he had gotten from the warehouse of Tianhun Academy. But only just one.


    If he had taken out the upgrade stone now, that must¡¯ve meant he was¡­.


    As if following a plan of some sort, Bai Yunfei pressed the upgrade stone in his right hand over to his left hand. With a slightly aloof voice, he spoke aloud, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    He was going to try and upgrade the golden glove!!


    The upgrade stone he was using right now wasn¡¯t a Guaranteed Upgrade Stone, it was just an ordinary one!! Even with the stone increasing the chance of success by 700%, would it be enough to get the glove to +12? Even with that increase, it would still surely be hard¡­.


    If he failed, then this soulbound armament would be reduced to dust!


    ¡­¡­


    The upgrade stone turned to smoke as it surrounded the glove again. As it was being absorbed into the glove, it started to shine white in light.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were still a little hazy, though he was still staring at the glove in his hand. His face was devoid of any emotions, making him seem very strange to look at.


    Two seconds later, the white smoke had entirely drifted into the glove. Golden light started to shine out from the glove, though it was spasmodic as if something was going wrong!


    Upgrade Fai--


    Failed!! This upgrade attempt failed! A power soul armament was going to be reduced to dust and ashes in less than a second¡­.


    But in that one moment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes suddenly shined with a brilliant gleam of light! As if anticipating such a result, his right hand flew forward to two inches above his left hand. In that split moment, it felt as if something sort of invisible entity was being invoked¡­.


    His movements had been fast enough that even the ¡®failure notification¡¯ that popped up in his mind hadn¡¯t yet fully read out the two words of failure!


    It seemed as if the notification came to a halt in his mind with that moment. And then, the glove started to emit a golden light ten times stronger than before!


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack....

 Chapter 539: Critical Glove

    To the northeastern parts of Zheng manor. A secluded courtyard with old-fashion housing.


    An elderly white man sat next to an incense table, his eyes closed in meditation.


    This elderly man was quite old, and his hair was grizzly-white and in various amounts around his face, though it failed to retract from his hale and hearty facial expression. He was an elderly man in every sense of the word, but his body was vibrant and muscular with life.


    But the most particular detail to him was the serpentine two-inch black scarring on the left side of his neck. It looked quite aged, though however way or however long it was he got this injury, it looked still quite strangely.


    In the middle of his meditation, the eyes of the elder suddenly flew open!


    ¡°This¡­the Planar Laws!¡±


    Shifting his eyes to the southwest, the elder¡¯s aged face showed an expression of confusion onto it.


    A short moment later, his eyebrows knitted together, ¡°Eh? It¡¯s gone?¡±


    ¡°Strange¡­.¡± The elder muttered, ¡°Was I just imagining things?¡±


    The force he felt was extremely weak, and it was only just for a moment. The elder hadn¡¯t even been able to ascertain where it came from other than the general direction.


    ¡°How strange, I¡¯ve never felt a type of Law like this before. It¡¯s weak enough to not be noticed by anyone else¡­.¡± The elder sighed. ¡°Perhaps some young Soul King has found themselves upon some luck by accidentally or purposefully touching upon one of the Planar Laws¡­..¡±


    Silent for a moment longer, the elder shook his head and returned back to his meditation.


    ¡­¡­


    The western courtyards where Bai Yunfei resided in.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 2100


    Defense: 2200


    Additional Attack: 2000


    Additional Defense: 2100


    Soul Compatibility: 85%


    Equipment Effect: Increase damage dealt to wood-type enemies by 20%.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to deal 300% damage with the next strike.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to grant the ability to deal 400% damage with the next strike.


    Cooldown of 5 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    With that one ¡®action¡¯ of his hand, Bai Yunfei had been given a different string of notifications.


    In that one moment, the ¡®upgrade failed¡¯ had been replaced by another!!


    He had¡­.¡®changed¡¯ the outcome of the upgrading result!


    This¡­.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes blinked several times at his achievement. His eyes were no longer glazed over, focused light now back in them.


    He had looked a little vacant in the moment before, though. As if realizing something, his eyes hovered over onto the equipment in his hand.


    Scanning over the stats of the equipment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glistened excitedly. His body shivered with emotion, his heart pounding equally fast.


    ¡°I¡­.I finally did it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei screamed internally, his mind filled with emotions. With his haphazard state and bloodshot eyes, Bai Yunfei looked a little ¡®crazed¡¯ at the moment.


    He couldn¡¯t be blamed for that, however. This was an outcome that was extremely important!


    His study in the Upgrade Technique had finally a true and useful discovery!


    Manually upgrading equipment from +1 to +10 was a little ¡®superfluous¡¯ at first glance. After all, if the Upgrade Technique could do it faster and easier, what point was there spending precious time and energy with manually upgrading it?


    The answer came to him in the form of this achievement. It wasn¡¯t too useful prior to +10, but afterwards, manually upgrading an equipment was useful!


    What manually upgrading offered him now was the amazing ¡®assistive¡¯ ability to ¡®change¡¯ the outcome of upgrading!


    There was a reason why Bai Yunfei opted to try and use this ¡®assistive¡¯ ability during the Upgrade Technique rather than manual upgrading from +11 and +12 was because of an assessment Bai Yunfei had. After researching for the past week, Bai Yunfei knew that manually upgrading to +10 was already extremely difficult. To try and repeat the attempt to +11 by manually upgrading would be insanely difficult.


    He had been in a trance when this miracle happened. It was an extremely rare situation, one that if missed, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve have to wait for an extremely long time before the chance would be offered to him again. By using the Guaranteed Upgrade Stone to upgrade the equipment to +11 and then soaking in the gained insights to try again, Bai Yunfei was able to go into this special trance to try and upgrade again. And then while he was still soaked in these insights, Bai Yunfei was able to touch upon an unknown ¡®power¡¯ to forcibly alter the results!


    It was a series of coincidences that required plenty of luck for any single one event to happen. But with luck backing him, Bai Yunfei was able to come out on top over everything else.


    The heavens favor the bold. If one was willing to take the risks, then they would naturally receive the rewards.


    The special trance he had been in was long gone now. Excited that such a success happened, and that his research was successful, Bai Yunfei felt his energy drain from his body and flopped back onto his bed.


    He was tired.


    Almost an entire week had gone by since he last ate or drank. This was a feat that¡¯d be extremely hard for most people to even imagine, but the fatigue he was feeling was far too much for Bai Yunfei to resist, and without any further ado, Bai Yunfei fell asleep¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t awake for another ten hours when it was evening. Blinking his eyes open slowly, he sat back up on his bed.


    A rate of recovery like this would be equally astounding to others. The coloration in his face was back to normal now, and Bai Yunfei¡¯s physical appearance was looking much healthier than before.


    Before looking at the +12 golden glove, Bai Yunfei flipped through his space ring to take out a normal mid-earth tier soul armament to concentrate on.


    His eyes were sharply focused on the soul armament for a while before disappointment shone in them.


    As hard as he might, Bai Yunfei knew he couldn¡¯t reenter that ¡®trance¡¯ he had been in before. Even manually upgrading this soul armament to +1 would take an extraordinary amount of effort now compared to when he was manually upgrading the golden glove.


    This unprecedented level of success one after another had to be mainly in part due to the special background of the golden glove. Without that special background, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have had succeeded so smoothly.


    Elsewise, using manually upgrading or even using the ability to ¡®change¡¯ the outcomes so easily would be an enormous stroke of luck for his future¡­.


    Still, not being able to pull off that ability wasn¡¯t too much of a disappointment for him. He had the ¡®experience¡¯ now. No longer did he have to ¡®guess¡¯ his way around how the Upgrade Technique worked. Bai Yunfei had faith that he¡¯d be able to pull off today¡¯s successes without difficulty with time.


    His hand back on the golden glove now, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but smile in glee at the results. He had now another +12 soulbound armament!


    Critical strike!!


    Both of the glove¡¯s effects related to the ability to have ¡®critical hits¡¯! And the +12 effect granted him a critical strike four times his normal strength! And at any time he wanted!


    This meant that as long as Bai Yunfei wanted, he¡¯d be able to attack someone with four times the strength possible!


    And to make it even better, the two additional effects didn¡¯t contradict with one another! He could activate the +10 effect with the +12 effect for¡­.an attack with seven times his normal strength!


    TL Note: Author is thinking additively rather than multiplicative.


    Seven times!! Just how strong was this? Wouldn¡¯t he be able to kill any soul cultivator at his level in one blow?


    Gingerly wearing the golden glove on his left hand, Bai Yunfei clenched it reflexively. It fitted his hand quite well and didn¡¯t cover his fingers completely, being fingerless gloves. It also covered just shy of an inch over his wrist, and without the light shining from the glove, it¡¯d look like any ordinary glove with a golden tint to it. But even with that golden lustor, many would be hard-pressed to note that this glove had been created with a metal affinity to it.


    Pleased, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°Critical strikes¡­.then in that case, I¡¯ll name you the ¡®Critical Glove!¡±

 Chapter 540: Heading Outside to Relax

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    ¡°Creak¡­.¡±


    There was a creaking sound as two doors to a room opened softly to reveal a person walking from the room within.


    Twilight was setting in on the world now as Bai Yunfei strode out from his room. Inhaling the outside air, Bai Yunfei felt himself feel at ease.


    ¡°You¡¯ve finally come out from your room, brother Bai!!¡±


    Not even a second after Bai Yunfei came out from his room, the pleased voice of Zheng Kai called out to him from the gates to his courtyard where he stood.


    Slightly surprised, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Er¡­.brother Zheng, have you been waiting here for me the entire time?¡±


    ¡°Course not,¡± Zheng Kai waved his hand airily, ¡°I don¡¯t have enough perseverance to wait an entire week for you to come out your room¡­..I only thought that since you have class tomorrow, you¡¯d come out sometime today. Good thing for me it only took an hour for you to come out. So, how goes it? Your training go well?¡±


    ¡°Chirp chirp!!¡±


    A small prismatic bolt of light dove from the skies above to land onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders. A small feathery head popped out from the light to rub at Bai Yunfei¡¯s cheeks affectionately.


    It was Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Haha¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei stroked the feathers of Xiao Qi with equal affection, ¡°Thank you for your concern, brother Zheng. I did quite alright.¡±


    ¡°You look a little tired to me, though??¡± Zheng Kai blinked in confusion. Though Bai Yunfei had already recovered somewhat from his week, Zheng Kai could still infer just how well he really was.


    ¡°Just a little tired, nothing too serious.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded with a smile.


    ¡°Growlll¡­..¡±


    Suddenly, a loud strange noise erupted into the air. Pausing briefly, both persons looked around for a moment before Bai Yunfei rubbed at his stomach in embarrassment. ¡°Haha, I won¡¯t lie, brother Zheng, but I haven¡¯t eaten anything for almost a week now. Could I ask for you to have someone bring me a meal?¡±


    Zheng Kai was stunned. Just what in the world was Bai Yunfei doing for him to forego his meals?


    ¡°No need for that, brother Bai,¡± Zheng Kai replied, ¡°I¡¯ll take you to a good place to eat. Since tomorrow¡¯s your next class, you should take it easy today!¡±


    Pausing for a moment to think, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. It¡¯d do him so some good to take it easy today.


    And so without any further ado, the two left the courtyards.


    Since the three soulbeasts had been hard at work standing guard in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s room, and Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm not willing to stay behind in Zheng manor, Bai Yunfei decided to take them two out with them.


    ¡­¡­


    The two walked to a good restaurant and waited for their meals to come before they started eat. Under Zheng Kai¡¯s amazed eyes, Bai Yunfei began to eat at such a fast and great rate that it didn¡¯t take long for him to finish enough food for ten men before Bai Yunfei was satisfied.


    ¡°Ah, brother Zheng, has anything happened in the past few days?¡± Bai Yunfei asked after finishing a bowl of soup with relish.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Zheng Kai asked, not quite all the way there at the moment, ¡°Ah, there was actually. You weren¡¯t aware of it, of course, but our doorsteps are practically gone with how many people have been stepping over them. You¡¯re a very well known celebrity now in the soul cultivator circles of the Capital, you know.¡±


    A fleck of admiration entered Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes. ¡°A soul cultivator that can craft even a heaven-tier soul armament¡­.no soul cultivator wouldn¡¯t want to have a figure like as their friend. Almost every single soul cultivator group that matters here in the Capital have been asking for you, some of them more than once, though we declined them on your behalf.¡±


    He paused to take a breath. ¡°But you know, brother Bai, there¡¯s several powerful factions I feel you should get to know sooner or later. If you¡¯re staying in the Capital, it won¡¯t be too bad of a thing to get to know them. Even the Royal Family will try to get in touch with you eventually.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°You¡¯re right, brother Zheng. When I¡¯ve the time, I¡¯ll deal with those matters.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s also something else, brother Bai¡­.¡± Zheng Kai looked a little embarrassed, ¡°there¡¯s a few elders in my family that want to meet you, if you¡¯re willing¡­¡±


    ¡°Not a problem,¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°I should¡¯ve meet them earlier with how long I¡¯ve been at your place.¡±


    ¡°That works, since you¡¯re staying here, feel free to meet them whenever you want.¡± Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°Well let¡¯s not talk about such annoying stuff. You haven¡¯t come out in so long, it¡¯s time for you to live it up tonight!¡±


    ¡°.....¡± Bai Yunfei said nothing. ¡°Is it because you were stuck at home the entire time that you wanted to drag me outside to ¡®relieve¡¯ your boredom?¡±


    A thought suddenly struck him, ¡°Ah, are Huang Bin and the others doing well? Why haven¡¯t we seen them recently? Aren¡¯t you usually with them?¡±


    The Four Lords of the Capital were known for being as thick as thieves, but Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t seen head nor hair of them ever since the first day they were in the Capital.


    ¡°Ugh. It¡¯s because of what happened last time.¡± Zheng Kai sighed, ¡°Some of their members actually tried to talk with you the past few days because of your assistance last time, but they had to go back since you were secluding yourself. It won¡¯t be for another while that they get their ¡®freedom¡¯ back.¡±


    Suddenly, Zheng Kai asked Bai Yunfei a question, ¡°Ah, actually, you might as well come with me somewhere. I¡¯m sure fourth brother will be there.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Bai Yunfei looked up, ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, you¡¯ll know when we get there¡­.¡± Zheng Kai smiled surreptitiously. ¡°It¡¯s a very fun place. We normally spend our time there.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    One of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows perked up before his face flushed a bit--was it that kind of place?


    Zheng Kai looked a little surprised at his reaction, but then he realized just why Bai Yunfei had reacted thusly, ¡°Ahaha, brother Bai, you thought I was going to bring you to a brothel?! Please, we¡¯re the Four Lords of the Capital you know? Think about it, what woman isn¡¯t willing to be with us if we want? Why would we go there? What an imagination you¡¯ve got there, but hehe, brother Bai, was that really your first thought? Were you interested? I won¡¯t say no, we can go there if you want?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his hands furiously in denial, ¡°No no. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m not interested.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Exiting from the restaurant, Zheng Kai led Bai Yunfei down to a street that was even busier than most streets in the daytime. With how turbulent it was on the street, a directionally challenged person like Bai Yunfei not even knowing which direction was which. Bai Yunfei sighed to himself, thinking that the Capital was extremely large. With how long he had been stuck indoors, being brought to a place like this would definitely see to him getting lost¡­.


    About a scant five minutes later, the two came to front of a spacious building.


    Looking at the nameplate hanging above the building, Bai Yunfei was surprised at what he saw.


    Never did Bai Yunfei expect that the ¡®fun¡¯ place Zheng Kai mentioned would be this of all things...

 Chapter 541: Casino Jin

    Bai Yunfei read the nameplate of the building to reveal two words.


    Casino Jin


    It was a casino of all places?!


    Jin¡­.was most likely referring to the house of Jin, to which Jin Manlou was a member of. Zheng Kai had said earlier that Jin Manlou was probably here, so did that mean the casino was being overseen by him?


    In Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, a casino was a place where commoners usually found fun in. Did Zheng Kai and the others really enjoy spending their time here?


    But even while he was debating that question, Bai Yunfei saw something strange--the people that were walking into the building were all soul cultivators!!


    Was this¡­.was this place where soul cultivators gambled?!


    Noticing the gobsmacked expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Zheng Kai chuckled. ¡°Brother Bai, this is the biggest casino in the Capital. As you can tell, the clientele here are all soul cultivators. Many of them enjoy themselves here.¡±


    ¡°Do soul cultivators really enjoy gambling for gold and valuables here?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°Gold and valuables? Haha, that¡¯s not it, brother Bai. Who said anything about gambling for money or whatnot? Soul cultivators have another type of ¡®currency¡¯ they can use.¡±


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow, ¡°Primal stones?¡±


    ¡°Primal stones.¡± Zheng Kai confirmed. ¡°We use stuff like that here. Primal stones are the most common choice, but stuff like soulgems, soul skills, soul armaments, and even precious materials and herbs¡­.whatever a soul cultivator might need or use can be gambled away here.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to fight to the death for them, and neither do they need to spend time looking for it. All you need is a bit of luck and you can find yourself landing the jackpot of things needed for your training, so why not? That¡¯s why so many soul cultivators visit this place.¡±


    So it was that way¡­.


    As surprised as Bai Yunfei was about it, Zheng Kai¡¯s words did make some measure of sense.


    ¡°But¡­.do you gamble normally with stuff like dice or something?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. For people like soul cultivators, would gambling with stuff like dices to see which number was what make any sense at all? All they had to do was use their soulsense and they¡¯d be able to tell right away.


    Seeing where Bai Yunfei was getting, Zheng Kai shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s not much difference in the way gambling works in normal casinos, but the chances for ¡®cheating¡¯ is a lot harder¡­.come on, I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded and followed Zheng Kai up the stairs to enter the casino.


    The two soul cultivators guarding the gates were clearly well acquainted with Zheng Kai, as they spoke out their greetings to him when they neared and allowed them entry. But they did, however, give the three soulbeasts with Bai Yunfei a strange look. It wasn¡¯t that soulbeasts were a strange sight to see in the casino, but three of them following one soul cultivator was a first¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    When they entered the casino, Bai Yunfei felt himself grow surprised.


    It wasn¡¯t that the casino had something special. It was just that it was¡­.too ordinary.


    Just from the looks alone, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t see anything different to this casino than any other! He had seen his fair share of casinos before, and from what he could remember from the times he was in them, this one looked no different.


    They were in a very spacious place with people as scattered as the stars in the skies. Tables for gambling were everywhere, and every so often, the people around them would either cry in happiness or in disappointment.


    The only noticeable difference Bai Yunfei could note so far was the fact that rather than coins being traded, it was¡­.primal stones.


    Most of them were just low quality primal stones, though there were a few that took out other objects for the casino staff members to accept and convert into primal stones. Of course, if there was a previous agreement between the gambler and the casino, other things could be betted with.


    If not for the strong aura coming from them that marked them as soul cultivators, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve thought that they were ordinary commoners instead.


    And their aura were strong. They weren¡¯t Soul Apprentices or even Soul Personages. Only a rare few Soul Warriors were here. Soul Sprites took the majority with a few Soul Ancestors, but there were also a good few Soul Exalts!


    This¡­.was a rare sight to see. Bai Yunfei was finding it hard to believe what he was seeing in front of him.


    But the more he looked with his two eyes, the more he realized the difference in this place.


    He had noticed that whenever there were soul cultivators, none of them were revealing their soulsense. Aside from the fluctuations in the air that marked their presence with soulforce, everyone had suppressed their soulsense so they couldn¡¯t see with anything but their eyes.


    ¡°I get it now¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei realized, the gamblers of this casino were forbidden from using their soulsense.


    If no one could use their soulsense, then they would be able to gamble like normal people.


    He also realized that some of the tables had items on them that seemed to hum and glow strangely. They were preventing the usage of soulsense!


    When he first walked into the casino, completely ignorant of the ¡®rules¡¯ of the house, Bai Yunfei had sent out his soulsense at first, only to have plenty of people look strangely at him, prompting him to stop right away. If not for the fact that Zheng Kai was with him, the workers surely would¡¯ve come up to him already.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Haha, second brother!! You¡¯re here!¡±


    Not long after, a rather fatty person in golden robes came walking out to meet them. It was Jin Manlou.


    As Bai Yunfei thought, Jin Manlou was actually here overseeing the place and even welcoming some people.


    ¡°Haha! Fourth brother, you¡¯re here too!¡± Zheng Kai smiled, ¡°I knew you¡¯d be more than likely here, so I brought brother Bai here to come play a bit.¡±


    It was then that Jin Manlou realized Bai Yunfei was there. Eyes sparkling, he boomed with laughter, ¡°You¡¯re here too, brother Bai? Welcome! Welcome! You¡¯re a well-known person in the Capital now, you know?¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s been a while, brother Jin.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°I¡¯m nowhere as well known as you say I am, though.¡±


    ¡°Ah, the modesty of you, brother Bai. Who doesn¡¯t know your name here in the Capital? Hehe, I feel quite honored to be one of people that knew you first!¡± Jin Manlou clapped his hands, ¡°Tonight you can gamble as you want, brother Bai! It¡¯ll be on me if you lose!¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hands, ¡°Thank you for your kindness, brother Jin, but gambling isn¡¯t something I¡¯m interested in. I¡¯ll be fine just watching.¡±


    But Zheng Kai and Jin Manlou were already dragging Bai Yunfei over to a nearby table. ¡°That won¡¯t do, brother Bai, how can you not gamble when you come here? It¡¯s a good time to relax. Besides, who cares if you win or lose? Gambling like commoners isn¡¯t too bad of a thing, give it a try!¡±


    Zheng Kai took out a few mid-grade primal stones and placed them onto the table, ¡°I call Big!¡±


    The casino usually used low-grade primal stones, but a single mid-grade primal stone could be converted to a hundred low-grade ones, which by itself wasn¡¯t such a bad sum. The people here seemed to know Zheng Kai however, as several of them smiled and greeted him before placing a bet of their own.


    ¡°Do you not have any primal stones on you? I can have some people bring you some, brother Bai¡­¡±


    ¡°No no, that¡¯s fine¡­..¡± Finding it slightly hard to refuse his kindness, Bai Yunfei still managed to bring out a mid-grade primal stone and placed it onto the table.


    Zheng Kai and Jin Manlou were both surprised. Not at the fact that Bai Yunfei was betting, but rather what he was betting on. Rather than the usual ¡®Big¡¯ or ¡®Small¡¯ bets with the highest probabilities of winning, he had placed it on the Specific Triples number, the ¡®All Five¡¯ [1]....


    ¡°Ah, brother Jin, I heard from Zheng Kai say that you¡¯re being ¡®confined¡¯? Are things not settled yet on why those people came after you?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. He wasn¡¯t at all paying attention to the table as he spoke to Jin Manlou.


    A bitter look crossed over Jin Manlou¡¯s face, ¡°Ugh! Actually, the three of us are being confined. Only second brother is able to go outside under the pretense of ¡®helping¡¯ you, brother Bai¡­.Our houses haven¡¯t found anything of worth yet, we don¡¯t even know where they came from, who we might¡¯ve angered, or who would even dare go against us four¡­.¡±


    He shook his head with a sigh, ¡°Well let¡¯s not talk about this¡­.brother Bai, I heard you became an instructor at Tianhun Academy? Haha, you¡¯re an amazing person!¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s nothing really. I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯ll be a good instructor or not¡­.¡±


    The banker at the table unveiled the cup just then before calling out to the gamblers there, ¡°All Fives! Leopard!!¡± [2]


    [1] TL Note: The game being played is called Sic Bo. A game of chance where three dices are rolled and certain combinations can be betted upon. Big refers to when the three dices are added up to being 11 to 17, and Small being from 4 to 10. Big and Small have roughly 48.6% chance of winning. Any Triples, or Alls, can be betted on, but specific Alls have the smallest probability of winning at about .46% chance. See here for more info.


    [2] TL Note: Leopard is actually a call from another gambling game, Cee-lo. It means an automatic win.

 Chapter 542: Fortune

    As he was talking with Jin Manlou and Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei noticed that the two of them were now looking at him in shock. Blinking several times in confusion, he looked down at the table where the banker was now pushing a pile of primal stones towards him.


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Still blinking, Bai Yunfei looked at the dices inside the dice up, ¡°What! Did I really win?!¡±


    The gamblers at the same table only gawked at him. To land a Leopard like that was just far too good of a luck, wasn¡¯t it?


    ¡°Er...haha, never took you to be super lucky at gambling, brother Bai? Landing a Leopard is a rare thing to come by.¡± Jin Manlou coughed once before smiling, ¡°It¡¯d be a shame to not continue playing when you¡¯re so lucky. Give it a try, brother Bai, no need to hold back on my account, I can stand to lose a bit.¡±


    ¡°Well...it was just luck, I guess. I never gambled before.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled in embarrassment, his hand on his winnings. Absentmindedly, he pushed them to a spot onto one of the options. He didn¡¯t really care about losing--these were from the casino to begin with, losing them wouldn¡¯t hurt him in the slightest.


    He didn¡¯t look where he had pushed his winnings onto, but¡­.it was the ¡®All Fives¡¯ spot again!!


    Lips twitched from the gamblers all around him. ¡°Are you kidding me? You don¡¯t have to do that if you want to lose! Those are twenty mid-grade primal stones you¡¯re gambling!! That¡¯s enough to last me ten whole days!¡±


    Now that he had ¡®betted¡¯, Bai Yunfei looked back to Jin Manlou, ¡°Ah well, brother Jin, I wanted to ask you something.¡±


    Jin Manlou snapped out from his ¡®fervent¡¯ look, ¡°What question is it?¡± He asked.


    ¡°The items you¡¯re using¡­¡± Bai Yunfei pointed at the dice cups, ¡°What do they do? Do they block soulsense from reaching inside? Are they a special type of soul armament?¡±


    He had been curious about these things ever since he walked in. Items that could stop soulsense was a very peculiar thing--he had never seen or heard of them before!


    ¡°Oh, those.¡± Jin Manlou smiled, ¡°They¡¯re made from a special material that can stop soulsense. But it¡¯s not very effective. They can only stop the soulsense of Soul Sprites and lower, plenty of Soul Ancestors can easily overcome them. Since what we¡¯re using can¡¯t really be extracted easily, that¡¯s all we can do with them. Our casino really only use them for the sake of convenience, since it¡¯s easy to tell if a person is cheating or not with them. If you¡¯re interested brother Bai¡­.I can gift you some. I know you¡¯re from the Crafting School, so you should be interested in how they¡¯re made?¡±


    ¡°It is as you say¡­.thank you brother Jin.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, slightly disappointed in the answer. He had thought that he could use the material to create a few special soul armaments, but if they can¡¯t be used that way, what was the point? But without research, he couldn¡¯t say it was a dead end just yet.


    The dice cup opened again, but this time, it took the banker two seconds of dazed staring to call out the combination.


    ¡°All Fi--All Fives¡­.a Leo--Leopard!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone around the table seemed to turn to stone as they stared transfixed at the three dices in the cup. It was as if they had all seen a ghost.


    Several spectators from the other tables were starting to float in to see the spectacle as well.


    ¡°Eh? A Leopard? Wow¡­.the banker was lost automatically then huh?¡±


    ¡°Hold on! Look at the table! Someone betted on it! And¡­.holy f*ck! Hold me--is that¡­.are those mid-grade primal stones?!¡±


    ¡°What?! Someone betted on a Leopard? And with twenty mid-grade primal stones?!¡±


    ¡°No way?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The mutterings of the other spectators caught the attention of even more people, and soon enough, everyone was coming over to take a look.


    The banker at the table had gone completely green in the face, looking as though he was hoping he was in a dream of some sort. Practically pleading, he gave a look to Jin Manlou for assistance.


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡­¡± Jin Manlou¡¯s face twitched several times before he laughed, ¡°Haha!! Brother Bai¡­.you¡¯re...you¡¯re something else, aren¡¯t you?! You won twice in a row?! I should bow my head to you¡­.¡±


    His words relieved the banker. If the young master was speaking on his behalf, then he could afford to relax a bit. Shakingly, he pushed a few primal stones towards Bai Yunfei.


    These stones were¡­.high-grade primal stones!!


    The surrounding clamor grew even louder. Winning high-grade primal stones was a rare sight, and usually only those big gamblers would be able to win high-grade primal stones after gambling long enough art the high stakes table. So it was highly unusual that someone from the ordinary tables would¡¯ve won a few of those primal stones so quickly.


    Bai Yunfei was surprised too. He had only started out betting with just one mid-grade primal stone. Somehow, that one mid-grade primal stone had turned into four high-grade primal stones after two bets?


    Author Note: I did a random conversion rate, it¡¯s not important, so please don¡¯t pay too much attention to it


    It took awhile for him to understand the reason behind his winning--the Luck Pendant!!


    The only way this extreme ¡®fortune¡¯ could be explained was with the Luck Pendant. Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected it to have a use like this.


    ¡°Haha! Brother Bai, you¡¯re amazing! Such a great profit after two rounds! Haha, looks like fourth brother will be bleeding money tonight!¡± Zheng Kai laughed, slapping Bai Yunfei on the shoulder in admiration.


    ¡°Well...it was just my luck that time¡­.¡±


    It really was luck, but he had a lot of it!!


    Several of the other patrons stared enviously at him.


    ¡°Ah, brother Bai! Come quick! Let¡¯s go to the VIP rooms! We can¡¯t waste your luck here! In here, ¡®wealth¡¯ is king, and you can beat out everyone else!¡± Zheng Kai cried out in excitement, pulling Bai Yunfei to the innermost gambling tables.


    Having only just collected his winnings, Bai Yunfei watched as Zheng Kai pulled him away with a helpless expression on his face.


    Jin Manlou followed from behind, a relieved sigh barely escaping from his mouth. Bai Yunfei was a strange one; if he won even more here, then he really would¡¯ve lost more money than he was willing to lose. Luckily, Zheng Kai was pulling Bai Yunfei to the VIP games where gamblers bet against each other rather than the house. Whether he won or lost, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be burdening Jin Manlou¡¯s financial situation.


    Some of the people still watching were disappointed that he left though. They were planning to follow his bets to strike it rich themselves, but now that chance was gone¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Zheng Kai was evidently very familiar with the casino, as he led Bai Yunfei through the place to where there were less and fewer people, and the ¡®gambling chips¡¯ on the table were becoming greater and greater. Furthermore, the people in this area were a lot stronger than those before.


    ¡°Brother Bai, this is the ¡®VIP Room¡¯. It¡¯s where the richest people in the Capital come to gamble against one another. The lowest denomination of currency is usually mid-grade primal stones. Most tend to use high-grade primal stones, soul skills, or even soul armaments to gamble. Sometimes the four of us come here to play around.¡±


    Zheng Kai gave a brief run down on the things here in this room. Bai Yunfei was surprised, he still was actually since he won those high-grade primal stones.


    How in the world did things like primal stone lose their values here? How absurd, was this really how ¡®rich¡¯ the people of the Capital were?


    ¡°There¡¯s some people here, let¡¯s take a look.¡± Zheng Kai paused for a moment to speak to Jin Manlou and Bai Yunfei before opening a door.


    The entrance of them three caught the eyes of the people in the room straight away. The inhabitants smiled and greeted Zheng Kai and Jin Manlou first with a friendly greeting.


    Bai Yunfei swept his eyes across the room: it was quite spacious inside with a large table in the center. Aside from the workers standing by the walls of the room, there were also six patrons seated by the table, each one of them having a dice cup of their own. Likewise, they each had a pile of mid-grade primal stones, some of them even having a few high-grade primal stones.


    Just then, a surprised but furious voice spoke out to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Bai Yunfei! It¡¯s you!?¡±

 Chapter 543: Another Challenge?!

    This sudden voice startled the inhabitants of the room, each of them turning to the violet-robed young man seated to the right side of the table.


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei blinked a few times before looking at the person, ¡°You? What are you doing here?¡±


    This person was the fourth prince of the empire, Wu Yang!


    The very same person he met back in Tianhun Academy and knocked out in one blow¡­.


    Of all places, the two of them were meeting here in a casino? Did even the empire¡¯s princes come here to gamble?


    Infuriated, Wu Yang spoke, ¡°Why can¡¯t I be here?! If anything, I¡¯m the one that should be surprised you could even get here.¡±


    Wu Yang was still feeling extremely angry with Bai Yunfei. Their last ¡®duel¡¯ where he had been knocked out before doing anything by a strange soul armament had led to a great deal of humiliation for him. Back then, he wanted to chase after Bai Yunfei and take revenge, but his second brother had for some reason forbidden him to!! He couldn¡¯t understand how his second brother would side with the one who hit him of all people, and neither was he willing to listen to the reasoning. Forbidden from doing anything to Bai Yunfei, Wu Yang swallowed his anger decided to first investigate who this person was before deciding on how to deal with him.


    It was afterwards that he came to realize this person was Bai Yunfei, a person that came to the Capital with Zheng Kai and was¡­.a student of the Crafting School! And a new instructor in Tianhun Academy no less!!


    But even if Bai Yunfei was an instructor, that wasn¡¯t enough for Wu Yang to give up on his revenge. He couldn¡¯t shirk away from something like that, so he decided to go to Bai Yunfei¡¯s first day of class and make a more in depth analysis of how strong he was.


    But then he saw Bai Yunfei easily defeat the other instructor Zhou Yu in battle.


    He was only there starting from the middle of the battle, but that was still enough to show him that even a peak late-stage Soul Exalt like Zhou Yu wasn¡¯t a match for Bai Yunfei. He couldn¡¯t believe it at first, but with time, he thought more about his own fight with Bai Yunfei.


    Even if he didn¡¯t want to accept it, the truth was there for him to see: he was no match for Bai Yunfei.


    He left before Bai Yunfei finished crafting his soul armament, but news that it was a heaven-tier soul armament reached him shortly afterwards, leaving him in shock once again. Then when Bai Yunfei went into seclusion, he became the talk of the Capital again, leaving Wu Yang quite depressed. Revenge onto Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be easy anymore.


    No matter how high Bai Yunfei was rising in the Capital, that didn¡¯t change the fact that Wu Yang didn¡¯t like him. And the fact that his crush, Mo Wanxia, was added into Bai Yunfei¡¯s crafting class made him even more jealous. It was an act akin to Bai Yunfei stealing his wife, and Wu Yang was consequently so angry he made a straw figure of Bai Yunfei to use as a pincushion.


    His inability to take revenge on Bai Yunfei made him twitchy with stress. So tonight, he decided to relieve his stress by going to the casino.


    And yet, he came across the very source of his stress, Bai Yunfei.


    The fact that Wu Yang was looking at Bai Yunfei as an enemy wasn¡¯t lost on the people there. Some of them sighed at first, but then when they realized Wu Yang had called out the name of ¡®Bai Yunfei¡¯, they all looked to Bai Yunfei in bewilderment.


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes narrowed at the sight of Wu Yang. Clearing his throat, he said, ¡°Ah, so the fourth prince is here too? I invited my friend brother Bai here today, does the fourth prince wish to chase him out?¡±


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Wu Yang glared at Zheng Kai angrily. He and Zheng Kai had their ¡®problems¡¯ before, and so he didn¡¯t care at all to be polite to him.


    Jin Manlou looked embarrassed slightly embarrassed. ¡° Everyone, everyone!¡± He clapped his hands, ¡°Please allow me some face here, we are here to enjoy ourselves, not to be angry and hurt another. It¡¯s best to resolve any misunderstandings before we start so we can gamble happily without spoiling the mood.¡±


    He casted a glance over to Zheng Kai, as if trying to signal if they should switch rooms to avoid a confrontation.


    There was a twinkle of light in Wu Yang¡¯s eyes as he suddenly thought about something. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I can do at least that much for you, master Jin. Since we¡¯re all here to gamble, the new may as well solve our problems through said gambling¡­.Bai Yunfei, I challenge you! We¡¯ll settle this through gambling!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. ¡°Just how much do you like to ¡®challenge¡¯ me?! And here of all places?!¡±


    He wanted to change rooms, actually. But before he could voice that request, Zheng Kai spoke up for him. With the problems between him and Wu Yang, Zheng Kai found himself getting angry on Bai Yunfei¡¯s behalf. ¡°Hmph! If that¡¯s how the fourth prince wants to play, then that¡¯s how we¡¯ll play then.¡±


    He glanced to Bai Yunfei next with a face that most likely wanted to say, ¡°We¡¯re counting on you, brother. Your luck is great. Teach that Wu Yang a lesson and beat him so badly he won¡¯t even have his underwear left.¡±


    Feeling helpless in his situation, Bai Yunfei knew it was too late to retreat. ¡°Alright,¡± he nodded, ¡°then let¡¯s play.¡±


    The two of them sat down by the spots of the table closest to the entrance while Jin Manlou took up a large bench behind them. He was just going to be a spectator.


    Bai Yunfei watched as a worker placed a cup with three dices in front of him, ¡°How do we play?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple, largest number wins. Everyone will call their stake and then roll their dices. Tally up the numbers and that¡¯s that.¡± A thirty-something year old young man explained with a friendly smile.


    It really was very simple¡­.Bai Yunfei nodded his head, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The man cupped his hands in greeting, ¡°No need. We¡¯re both instructors here, so such politeness isn¡¯t necessary.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei uttered, ¡°Are you an instructor at Tianhun Academy too, brother?¡±


    He stared to Zheng Kai who only shrugged his head with uncertainty. He only cared for the females of the academy, why would he bother paying attention to the instructors? Plus, there were far too many courses, sections, and divisions to bother paying attention to, and Zheng Kai clearly wouldn¡¯t be able to pay attention to them all.


    ¡°I am the wind course instructor for the sixth years third class, Mu Youqian. I happened to watch you craft a heaven-tier soul armament the other day, it was an enlightening experience, instructor Bai.¡±


    Bai Yunfei cupped his hands in return, ¡°Ah, instructor Mu, is it? Pleased to meet you.¡±


    Now that everyone in the room had confirmation that this person in front of them was the very same Bai Yunfei that was making waves through the Capital, they were stunned. None of them had thought that the person capable of crafting a heaven-tier soul armament would be so young.


    Bai Yunfei took that moment to take a look around the room. Aside from the guards and workers there, there were a total of eight people seated at the table including him and Zheng Kai. To the right side was the fourth prince Wu Yang, and a person Bai Yunfei distinctly remembered as being the young man in green that was normally seen walking with the fourth prince. To their left was a twenty-six to twenty-seven year old man in black. Then there was Mu Youqian in front of them, a rather lazy-looking forty-something year old uncle to his left, and then a rather pudgy middle-aged man to the right.


    ¡­¡­


    The rules of the game was very simple. Everyone would first place how many mid-grade primal stones they were willing to bet before they rolled the dice. Winner takes all. But the winner could only win as many primal stones from the other gamblers as they themselves put out. In simpler words, if one gambler staked thirty mid-grade primal stones, and the second gambler staked fifty, the first gambler would only be able to win thirty of those primal stones from the second. Naturally, this meant if one gambler lost, they stood to lose either most if not all their primal stones. If there were two or more people with the same cumulative sum, they can roll again to decide the victor.


    Aside from that, since it was a game where it pitted one gambler against another, the two gamblers can opt to make a private bet against one another as long as both parties were willing.


    The gamblers in this casino were stringent to the rules usually and relied on luck just like their commoner counterparts. Even methods to shake the dice within their cups were generally frowned upon and gamblers choosing to just shake the cup several times.


    Both Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai placed twenty mid-grade primal stones as their opening bet and shook their cups twice. Setting the cup upside down onto the table, they waited for the others to make a move.


    Just then, Wu Yang spoke out to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Bai Yunfei, let¡¯s make another bet!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Having guessed something like this would happen, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°What kind of bet?¡±


    Wu Yang snorted, ¡°I heard you craft a heaven tier soul armament the other day? I¡¯ll bet you for that! If I win, I want you to hand it over to me!¡±


    Was he that cruel that he wanted to steal over the work that had brought Bai Yunfei¡¯s name to light?


    Slightly surprised, Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips curled upwards with interest. ¡°Then¡­.what will you bet for it?¡±

 Chapter 544: Gambling With Heaven-tiers

    Wu Yang¡¯s lips curled into a sneer of disdain. ¡°Don¡¯t think the Crafting School is the only place with plenty of soul armaments, I have some too!¡±


    A silver dagger popped out from his space ring as he spoke. Its blade was surrounded by a frosty air noticeable at a glance, and everyone who saw it blanched with surprise.


    Bai Yunfei was no exception. ¡°Low-heaven tier!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s a low-heaven tier!¡± Wu Yang crowed, ¡°I¡¯ll use this to bet!¡±


    As expected from a prince of the empire. Heaven-tier soul armaments were within his capabilities to bring out and to use even to bet without a sweat. Bai Yunfei had to admit, he was surprised just like everyone else. Even he wasn¡¯t so cavalier to bet heaven-tier soul armaments so easily like that.


    Wu Yang was pleased by their reactions. It took him a lot of effort to acquire this particular soul armament. It wasn¡¯t his main soul armament, but it was still a very expensive one among his collection and one he was loathed to bring out unless to impress.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s answer a moment afterwards had been equally surprising, ¡°A dagger type soul armament¡­.I don¡¯t need that. Have you anything else? A piece of armor would be best.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± Wu Yang¡¯s breath hitched in his throat, ¡°Are you kidding me?! Can you even afford to be picky!? Am I a grocery stall of soul armaments?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shrugged, ¡°You¡¯re the one that wants to bet with me. You want something of mine, so it¡¯s only fair that I get something I want in return. Either way, I don¡¯t really care. If you don¡¯t want to bet, then we don¡¯t bet.¡±


    The knot in Wu Yang¡¯s throat tightened even more. Wasn¡¯t this just saying his soul armament wasn¡¯t good enough?!


    ¡°Armor, is it? Fine!!¡± Wu Yang¡¯s teeth gritted against each other as he replaced the dagger for a silky-like piece of armor into his hands.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up¡ªa low-heaven tier armor with a metal affinity!!


    He had only been saying that in the spur of the moment and hadn¡¯t expected Wu Yang to really agree to it. The Recovery Armor he was wearing had served him well, but it was reaching the end of its lifespan with it being unable to keep up with him. In that case, if he could obtain an even better one¡­.


    The expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face had struck a nerve in Wu Yang, but he managed to calm himself enough. ¡°How about it? Defensive soul armaments are rarer than offensive ones. It¡¯s a low-heaven tier piece of armor, that better?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes. Not bad¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded and then shook his head straight afterwards, ¡°But it¡¯s still not enough for my Critical Glove.¡±


    ¡°You¡­.¡± Wu Yang¡¯s voice sounded oddly strangled with fury, ¡°Are you f*cking with me?!¡±


    ¡°No no¡­.¡± Laughed Bai Yunfei, ¡°but why is the fourth prince interested in my glove? Why don¡¯t I make a change then? Take a look at this, it¡¯s not any worse than your armor.¡±


    With a shake of his right hand, a golden sword appeared onto the table.


    This was the soul armament he got from the fourth elder of the Beast Taming School, Huang Lin. It was his reserve soul armament and was a high-earth tier soul armament when he got it. But after a period of upgrading, Bai Yunfei had it to the same level as a low-heaven tier. And with the additional effects of it where the attack was boosted, Bai Yunfei was sure this specific soul armament was a lot better than most other low-heaven tier ones.


    The shining light radiating from the tip of the sword was captivating to look at, and even Wu Yang¡¯s eyes were caught onto the sight of the sword. He really enjoyed using weapons like the greatsword since he felt like using such items was very intimidating when used in battle. And this golden sword was very impressive if he had to say so.


    He ruminated on the idea. ¡°Fine! It¡¯s settled!¡±


    But then Bai Yunfei spoke out again, ¡°One second!¡±


    ¡°Now what?!¡¯


    Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Fourth prince, the way I see it, we should play a little longer since we¡¯re betting for heaven-tier soul armaments. Why don¡¯t we make it best of three sets? Winning just one doesn¡¯t feel very fun. If its three though, that¡¯s when it gets exciting.¡±


    Wu Yang said nothing. What Bai Yunfei said did make a little bit of sense. Best of three sets made it slightly thrilling, and if one had bad luck and lost once, there was time to make up for it.


    In the best ¡®generous¡¯ sounding voice he could muster, Wu Yang spoke, ¡°Fine then. If you¡¯re that afraid of losing, we¡¯ll go with what you said.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled but said nothing afterwards. He was secretly delighted by Wu Yang¡¯s answer. The man had fallen for his trap, even though he didn¡¯t realize it yet.


    The Luck Pendant had its uses in terms of gambling, and Bai Yunfei could confirm that now. But still, having luck didn¡¯t mean certain victory. Nothing was certain in this world. But¡­.if he could raise the amount of rounds, Bai Yunfei could guarantee a higher chance of winning!


    Bai Yunfei had confidence in his upgraded equipment. Why wouldn¡¯t that hold true for his +11 Luck Pendant?


    Luck Pendant stats:


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Additional Attribute: +40 Luck


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect: 60% Increase in rate of cultivation.


    +10 Additional Effect: Double the chance of an equipment or additional effect triggering.


    Upgrade Requirement: 150 Soulpoints


    Author Note: Bai Yunfei used a +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone back in the Soulbeast Forest to upgrade it to +11. There might be a few readers that¡¯ve forgotten, so I figured I should clarify again.


    ¡­¡­


    And now that the deal between Bai Yunfei and Wu Yang were done, the other gamblers began to open up their cups to reveal the dice underneath.


    ¡°Haha! I win!¡±


    ¡°Haha, my number¡¯s bigger, I win!¡±


    Two ecstatic voices cried out: one of them being Wu Yang, and the other being the twenty-something year old black-robed man to the left.


    Out of the eight people gambling at the table, the one in black robes had the highest number. And since he was the one who staked the highest amount of primal stones, he was the one who earned the entire pot.


    But the reason why Wu Yang was happy was because he had a sum higher than Bai Yunfei.


    Of the three sets, Wu Yang just won the first one.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat in disappointment, but also slightly in relief. As he expected, ¡®luck¡¯ did not equate to ¡®victory¡¯. Him losing this round was a normal outcome.


    While he was happy, Wu Yang felt himself feeling slightly regretful¡ªwhy had he agreed to having a best of three set? If it was just a one time deal, he would¡¯ve won already!


    Gambling was all about weighing the personal gains and losses, and acting accordingly.


    The young man in black robes was practically giddy with joy. He had staked everything in this one round, and he had made out like a bandit! Winning two hundred mid-grade primal stones like this just gave him the confidence that he¡¯d be able to sing loudly today and win back everything he lost earlier!!


    And so the second round started.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Haha¡­.I win.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled after he opened the dice cup and revealed his dices underneath.


    Five, five, and six. This was a result pushing the upper limit and was the highest of the eight there.


    Bai Yunfei smiled to himself at this result, his hand subconsciously touching at the Luck Pendant behind his robes.


    He might¡¯ve looked indifferent, though the truth was anything but that. When the time came to reveal their dices, Bai Yunfei had been extremely nervous¡ªbetting heaven-tier soul armaments was a very nerve-wracking thing!


    Wu Yang¡¯s face darkened. ¡°What are you happy about, we¡¯ve one more round still. Come on!!¡±


    The third round¡­.


    ¡°My apologies, but it¡¯s my win again.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled, revealing the five, five, and six dices under his cup.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone stared blankly at the results. Rolling a high result twice in a row was a rare sight.


    Wu Yang¡¯s eyes were wide open, his face in complete disbelief at the dices of Bai Yunfei. He looked back down to his own dices, a one, three, and three. His face hardened.


    He lost. Not only did he just lose several mid-grade primal stones, he also lost a heaven-tier soul armament.


    But he wasn¡¯t a sore loser. The golden armor was tossed to Bai Yunfei with a snort, ¡°Impressive luck you got there. We agreed on it, so here, it¡¯s yours!!¡±


    Receiving the soul armament, Bai Yunfei stored it into his space ring, ¡°You¡¯re a straightforward one, fourth prince.¡±


    No matter how Bai Yunfei smiled, Wu Yang took it as schadenfreudic smile. Not willing to give up, Wu Yang spoke, ¡°That¡¯s just one win! Don¡¯t be so happy!! Let¡¯s go again!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei raised his eyebrows, ¡°Oh? What are you going to bet this time, fourth prince?¡±

 Chapter 545: Losing Badly Hurts

    ¡°Haha, my apologies, but I win again.¡±


    Bai Yunfei announced with a smile towards the ashen-faced Wu Yang as he revealed his dices again.


    This round, the primal stones had all gone towards the kindly-looking uncle. But in terms of his bets with Wu Yang, he won again. It was a loss of ten mid-grade primal stones, but a gain of late-stage class six soulgem.


    And in terms of his bets, Bai Yunfei won two out of three again.


    ¡­¡­


    Already, the two of them had betted against each other for ten sets already And of those ten times, Bai Yunfei won at least six of those sets.


    Just from looking at the results, it was clear to see the outcome.


    Wu Yang¡¯s face was exceedingly dark.


    The very first thing to go was his metal affinity armor. Heading straight into the second match, Wu Yang lost a low-heaven tier lightning affinity dagger. An unfortunate loss both times¡­.


    Then came the third loss in the form a silver shortsword.


    Fortune came back around for him in the fourth round, seeing to the return of his shortsword.


    But it wasn¡¯t meant to be, as the fifth round saw to him losing it again...


    And then in the sixth round, he lost a precious fire-type class six soulgem¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°You¡­.you¡­..¡± Wu Yang stuttered out from anger after he lost a precious fire-type soulgem. Anger wracked at his body as he started to speak out, ¡°Impossible!! How can I keep losing to you?! How is your luck that good?! You¡­.you¡¯ve got to be cheating! You¡­!¡±


    ¡°Fourth prince!¡± Bai Yunfei interrupted, ¡°Please pay more attention to your words, fourth prince. Accusing someone else of cheating is improper to do. We are all admirable soul cultivators here, and several are stronger than I am. Whether or not I cheated is something that can easily be found out.¡±


    He honed in on Wu Yang¡¯s face, ¡°Fourth prince, remember your station as a prince. A bet is a bet. As a prince, a small matter like this shouldn¡¯t matter much to you, shouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°A small matter? I lost three heaven-tier soul armaments to you and a late-stage class six soulgem, can you really say it¡¯s a ¡®small¡¯ matter?!¡±


    Wu Yang was angry. Angry to the point where he wanted to lash out at the world around him. Though he lost plenty of his possessions, he didn¡¯t lose all of his rationality. Breathing in and out several times, he tried to calm himself down.


    ¡°Fourth prince¡­.¡± The indifferent-looking man to Wu Yang¡¯s right spoke up, ¡°Please don¡¯t act on rash impulses.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t known if it was that warning that snapped him out from his anger, but Wu Yang¡¯s eyes flew open to stare darkly at his companion. ¡°Relax,¡± He spoke in between gritted teeth, ¡°I know how to behave!¡±


    Today was another day where he found himself suffering at the hands of Bai Yunfei. The first time he had fallen to him, it was when he was knocked out. And this time, he had lost several of his more precious treasures¡­..


    How could he let that go!!


    But there wasn¡¯t anything else he could use to bet with Bai Yunfei right now¡­.


    The things he had betted with and lost were his own personal ¡®stock¡¯ and were dispensable, even if it hurt to lose them. The rest of his stuff were far more precious and couldn¡¯t be used in a bet. That much, Wu Yang was aware of.


    The fact that Wu Yang hadn¡¯t forgotten about that gave his calm companion some measure of relief. He hadn¡¯t interfered with Wu Yang¡¯s gambling since there hadn¡¯t been a need so far, but if things got a bit too out of hand, he was there as both a friend and bodyguard to ensure that it wouldn¡¯t continue.


    Deep in thought, Wu Yang sat still for a moment before ultimately shooting up from his seat. ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡± He spoke to his companion.


    He was leaving! This time, Bai Yunfei was the surprised one. ¡°What? Are you not going to stick around and play some more, fourth prince?¡±


    He was answered with a heavy glare, ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me. You¡¯ve already won plenty off me, that should be enough. I¡¯ll pay you back twofold for this one day!¡±


    And with that, he whirled around and left the room and quickly out of sight.


    Bai Yunfei had to admit, he was a little disappointed. He hadn¡¯t thought that the fourth prince would leave so soon, he still wanted to win a little bit more¡­.but then he scolded himself. Winning so many times was already a good thing, being greedy for more wasn¡¯t.


    ¡­¡­


    When he looked back to his winnings from the other games, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see a small mountain of mid-grade primal stones. There had to be almost a thousand of them, meaning roughly ten high-grade primal stones! He had been so focused on his bets with Wu Yang that he hadn¡¯t noticed that he won so many primal stones from the other six people there.


    He looked to Zheng Kai next to him, ¡°Brother Zheng, we should leave as well. We have to be at the academy tomorrow after all. It¡¯s always good to stop when one¡¯s ahead after all.¡±


    Zheng Kai lost a good amount of primal stones himself, but the fact that Bai Yunfei had straight up slaughtered Wu Yang in their bets had been more than enough to wipe his own losses from his mind. A bit reluctant to leave, Zheng Kai acquiesced, ¡°Alright then. If you don¡¯t want to keep playing, let¡¯s leave.¡±


    Mu Youqian took that moment to speak up then, ¡°Haha, in that case, let¡¯s adjourn here for tonight. I had more than enough excitement for one night, haha! Instructor Bai, your luck is astounding! The primal stones I won today were all completely taken in by you.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had the courtesy to look embarrassed, ¡°It¡¯s just luck, that¡¯s all. Luck was looking out for me today.¡±


    As everyone was preparing to leave, a voice suddenly called out to him, ¡°Hold on!! I want to make a bet with you!!¡±


    Pausing, everyone turned around to look at who spoke. It was the twenty-something year old young man in black to the right. Both of his fists were clenched tightly as he stared hatefully at the spot in front of him in dissatisfaction.


    He had clearly lost most of his things. And unfortunately for him, he didn¡¯t have Wu Yang¡¯s tact to leave before it was too late, so he had lost it all almost.


    ¡°Friend, gambling has always been something that is fun in small amounts and harmful in big amounts. Betting too much is just as bad as betting too little. With your bad luck, I think you should give up for tonight.¡± The gray-robed uncle shook his head, trying to calm down the other person.


    ¡°Who cares about what you think!! My luck can¡¯t be bad today! I won a great amount a while ago, I can still turn this around! Let¡¯s go again!!¡± The young man snarled, adamant that he could still win back what he had lost.


    The other man shook his head, but said nothing more.


    People like him weren''t rare in the casino. Losing a dreadful amount of their possession tend to affect their cognitive abilities. The more they gambled, the more they lost. And then in the end, they¡¯d have nothing left¡­.


    As the person in charge of this place, Jin Manlou chose then to speak up, ¡°Friend, this session is done for today. Let us leave and let this matter wait for another time. You already have nothing left to gamble with¡­.¡±


    ¡°Who says I don¡¯t?!¡± A scarlet streak ran across the young man¡¯s face. Determined to win back everything he lost today, the man shook his right hand to bring out a pile of things onto the table.


    Every single person found it hard to hide their exasperation from their faces. The objects he took out wasn¡¯t exactly precious, but¡­.they were all just miscellaneous goods. A few low-grade primal stones, a few soul armaments--the highest quality one being a low-earth and most of them being human-tier ones even--there were also a few class three and four soulgems. There were also a few ordinary herbs and plants and a few precious materials¡­.


    This man had definitely lost it all. However much he started out with today, it was clear to see that he had squandered even his family¡¯s fortune¡­.


    Ostinantly, he gave a dark glare to the people around him, ¡°I still have this! Bet with me one last time!¡±


    Everyone sighed. As a soul cultivator, he should have some semblance of self-dignity. Even if he was the son of a wealthy family, it was shameful how he was acting.


    But ultimately, even soul cultivators are human in the end. They had human-like characteristics, being human themselves, and losing so much from gambling, whether it be money or treasure, was something that¡¯d be hard to accept. Primal stones were specially precious to every soul cultivator. To lose so many of those to the point of complete regret and the loss of rationality was something that could even be said to be normal.


    The miscellaneous goods he brought out weren¡¯t something any of the people here wanted to even look at. Jin Manlou was about to repeat himself when Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered with suspicion. Hurriedly, he spoke up, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll bet with you one more round.¡±

 Chapter 546: Uncle Dan Teng

    The night was already at its peak, with the moon shining brightly from its perch up above in the skies. But Casino Jin was still taking in plenty of patrons, but a group of people were just then coming out from the inner rooms.


    It was Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai, and Jin Manlou.


    ¡°No need to send us off, fourth brother. Hurry back to your place, I¡¯ll bring brother Bai back home. He has classes tomorrow.¡± Zheng Kai waved to Jin Manlou.


    ¡°Have a safe trip,¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°let¡¯s have Huang Bin and Chen Qiantan come next time together.¡±


    A smile cracked onto Jin Manlou¡¯s face, ¡°Haha, sounds good! I¡¯ll see you off here then, brother Bai! Take care of yourself, and come back when you want to have some more fun! Seeing you win so much tonight was extremely satisfying to watch, haha!!¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯ll be coming back here quite frequently, I¡¯m sure.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed before leaving with Zheng Kai onto the roads leading to the right.


    ¡°Brother Bai, one moment.¡±


    Just two steps down the steps, Bai Yunfei and the others were stopped by someone calling out after Bai Yunfei. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei watched as the laid-back gray-robed uncle from before came walking after him.


    ¡°Is there something I can do for you, uncle?¡±


    ¡°Haha, nothing really. Just wanted to get to know you, brother Bai.¡± He laughed, ¡°Your gambling today has broadened my horizons, brother Bai. It¡¯s simply amazing how lucky you were. I don¡¯t come here often, but I¡¯ve never seen anyone with that kind of luck, so I wanted to see if we could be friends.¡±


    Sensing the oddity in his words, the man hurried to say, ¡°Ah, but don¡¯t misunderstand me, brother Bai. I¡¯m not someone wanting after something of yours. I am but only a shopkeeper of a teahouse near Tianhun Academy. I like to think myself as a rather laid back person who¡¯d rather make friends than power. Since you¡¯ll be an instructor at the academy, please feel free to come on by my teahouse, the Soothing Heart, on North Seventh Street. It¡¯s a quaint teahouse, but I¡¯m proud of it.¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s ears perked up at the name, ¡°Ah? So you¡¯re the shopkeeper of the Soothing Heart?¡±


    The man nodded, ¡°Haha, indeed, master Zheng. The Soothing Heart is a teahouse I opened.¡±


    Noticing the confused look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Zheng Kai explained it to him, ¡°The Soothing Heart is well-known in Tianhun Academy. They don¡¯t serve ordinary tea, but ones that have therapeutic effects. Many soul cultivators that are in a bad state of mind can come here and be soothed. It also helps with training¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei uttered, he hadn¡¯t thought that such a place would exist. Politely cupping his hands to the other man, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Might I ask for your name, uncle? The heavens must have decided it that we sit at the same table tonight. If your teahouse is next to the academy, then I will definitely come by soon enough.¡±


    ¡°You are always welcomed to my teahouse, brother Bai. Of course, the very best Soul Forming Tea will be served for you!¡± He laughed before introducing himself, ¡°My family name is Dan, and my given name is ¡®Teng¡¯, as in the character to ¡®soar¡¯.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Noticing the astonished look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Dan Teng looked curiously at him, ¡°Is there something the matter?¡±


    ¡°Ah, No, not at all¡­¡± Bai Yunfei wiped any emotions of his face before replying.


    This uncle¡¯s name was very ¡®strange¡¯.....Dan Teng¡­.?


    TL Note: Character¡¯s name is µ©ÌÚ (Dan Teng), which is a homonym to µ°ÌÛ (Dan Teng), meaning pain in the ass.


    This of course, was a fact only Bai Yunfei knew. This world didn¡¯t have slang like ¡®pain in the ass¡¯ here.


    ¡­¡­


    After saying goodbye to uncle ¡®pain in the ass¡¯, Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai continued on their way back to Zheng manor.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s relative silence had been picked up on by Zheng Kai, who asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Brother Bai, you seem to be thinking about something.¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Just thinking about what I won today. I never thought that in just a short few moments, I¡¯d be able to win this much¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha! I see!¡± Zheng Kai barked with laughter, ¡°It is a little ridiculous¡­.but that¡¯s just your luck, brother Bai. People who have more money than brains like Wu Yang are hard to come by, so it¡¯s not a bad thing. You definitely don¡¯t see stuff like this happening every day, man¡­.three heaven-tier soul armaments! If it was me, I¡¯d die of joy.¡±


    Zheng Kai was looking very pleased at the loss Wu Yang had incurred.


    ¡°Hey, brother Bai, I¡¯ve a question actually.¡± Zheng Kai suddenly remembered something. ¡°That last guy, why did you agree to bet with him? The stuff he brought out weren¡¯t even good, winning against him was pointless¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, just felt like it, I guess. That guy basically lost it all, but did you see how he wasn¡¯t willing to give up? That look of as if he became enlightened? I hoped he learned his lesson from this, that you can¡¯t be too excessive when gambling¡­.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, I see. You¡¯re a shrewd one, brother Bai. But there¡¯s no saving people like those who try to win back what they lost, only to lose even more. They won¡¯t even give up until all their valuables are gone¡­..that¡¯s just human nature, no matter if they¡¯re commoners or soul cultivators¡­.¡±


    Zheng Kai shrugged, ¡°Well, whatever. Brother Bai, you really gave it to Wu Yang tonight. With all those treasures he lost to you, and then the previous grudge he has with you, he¡¯s not going to live that down. You¡¯d better watch your step, brother Bai. Angering a person like him isn¡¯t something many people can get away with and live. Aside from me, that is, haha!!¡±


    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Bai Yunfei smirked back, ¡°What, you think Wu Yang¡¯s going to send people to assassinate us?¡±


    Zheng Kai waved his hand absentmindedly, ¡°Well...nothing that extreme. But in the end, he¡¯s still the fourth prince. He has plenty of people at his command, assassination¡¯s just one of tho¡ª¡±


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    Before he could even finish speaking, Zheng Kai was pulled into the air by a very grim-looking Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Pcht! Pcht! Pcht¡­.¡±


    No sooner than a second later when Bai Yunfei leapt into the air with Zheng Kai, the ground where they had been standing on was impaled by over a dozen black stone spikes!!


    If either of the two had been even a second late, their bodies would¡¯ve had even more holes than a hornet¡¯s nest¡­.


    The blue-eyes wyrm and permafrost mastiff had been traveling just far enough behind the two to safely dodge the spikes.


    With the ground beneath him filled with spikes, Bai Yunfei was prepared to use his elemental energy as platforms to kick off from. But before he could do so, the surrounding area began to shine orange before locking Bai Yunfei in place, preventing him from moving!


    The solidification of the elemental earth in the area had been quick enough to stop Bai Yunfei from escaping into any direction!


    Panic filled Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he felt the elemental energy lock his feet in place. Right besides him, Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes narrowed, but his right arm had been touching Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder before they could stop moving. Concentrating, Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes flashed with light before Bai Yunfei felt himself back on solid ground again. Looking around himself, Bai Yunfei realized they had somehow escaped the elemental prison and were back on the ground next to the blue-eyes wyrm and permafrost mastiff!


    Teleportation!!


    At the moment they teleported away, the elemental earth gathered above them revealed the silhouette of a person that then leapt towards the two!


    Seeing the figure appeared out from nowhere, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened in shock, ¡°A Soul King!!¡±

 Chapter 547: Ambush!!

    The attack had been far too sudden, even for Bai Yunfei whose senses were more acute than most. That first attack would¡¯ve left him open to an injury, and then he would¡¯ve been in danger against the follow ups!


    Their ambusher was a person Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t believe was attacking them¡­.a Soul King!


    A Soul King was here to attack!


    Both Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai had grim looks on their faces. Whether they liked it or not, they had to retreat!


    But before the two of them could even try to attempt that, the Soul King in the air lifted his hand and pressed it in the direction of the two of them!


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    A grunt came out from Zheng Kai¡¯s mouth. His face started to pale rapidly in color and sweat drops the size of small beans were already forming on his head as if from pain.


    At the same time, both the blue-eyes wyrm and Xiao Qi started to howl and chirp out in pain!


    Bai Yunfei had felt a faint stab of pain in his mind¡ªor the soul¡ª, a feeling that shook his body and left him a little breathless from the aftermaths.


    The +12 bracelet that added spirit-resistance on his right hand and the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead both flashed once with light before disseminating a strange energy through him, flushing the pain almost entirely out from his body!


    ¡°A soul attack!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He knew that Soul Kings were capable of attacks that could damage the soul!


    The Soul King was already closeby now. In his hand was a blade made entirely from elemental earth to strike down Bai Yunfei and at the same time grab onto Zheng Kai!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    A streak of white light flew towards the elder before he could succeed with his attack. A roar rumbled through the air as the white streak landed right in front of Bai Yunfei to protect him!


    The roar had sent a shiver to the body and soul of the Soul King. The blade of elemental earth crumbled under the roar, prompting the Soul King to come to a screeching halt and leap away to the right of his initial destination in shock.


    ¡°A class seven soulbeast! Impossible!!¡± The Soul King finally spoke before a white light shot around his body to trap him.


    White and orange traveled in every direction through the air, the permafrost mastiff sometimes roaring out loud under Bai Yunfei¡¯s commands. With its strength, the mastiff was strong enough to disallow the other Soul King from attacking him.


    It was a good thing the Soul King was only an early-stage, else the permafrost mastiff wouldn¡¯t have such an easy time.


    The street they were on wasn¡¯t too crowded compared to the other streets in the Capital, but there were still several passersby on there. When the Soul King appeared, they had all been scared to death almost and fled. With the abundance of soul cultivators in the Capital, fights were pretty common, so many people knew that the only thing to do in this case was to run away and wait for the guards to come deal with it.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The earth shook heavily as elemental energy spread throughout the area. One of the nearby two-storied buildings was blown apart by the energy, but thankfully, the people inside of it had already fled, so no one was hurt.


    The permafrost mastiff was quick and nimble, flying here and there as a way to ¡®surround¡¯ the Soul King. It rarely used any elemental attacks and was instead used to prevent the Soul King from attacking Bai Yunfei or Zheng Kai or even leaving.


    ¡°Wh¡ªwheeze¡­¡±


    His hands on his knees, Zheng Kai was stooped over as he tried to catch his breath. The attack on his soul just now had been very draining on him.


    ¡°Brother Bai, we have to go! We have to wait for reinforcements! Or else¡ª¡±


    Zheng Kai looked up to the battle taking place in the skies and then Bai Yunfei as he spoke. But before he could finish his sentence again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face changed expression once again. Grabbing onto his shoulder, Bai Yunfei leapt into the air once again!!


    ¡°Crackk, crackkkk¡­.¡±


    The moment after the two men leapt into the air, a white sheen of light covered the ground with an odd crackling noise. The white light turned into frost, plunging the temperature around the area several degrees!


    Ice!!


    A layer of ice about a meter thick had formed where Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai¡¯s feet used to be!


    The two of them had been fortunate enough to dodge the ice attack, but the blue-eyes worm hadn¡¯t been so lucky. As soon as the ice touched its feet, the wyrm was immediately encapsulated within the ice and turned into an ice sculpture!


    All the peak late-stage class six blue-eyes wyrm could do was move its eyeballs from within its icy prison, unable to do anything else!


    A power capable of doing something like that had meant only one thing¡­.a Soul King!


    There was another Soul King!


    Before he could even properly digest what was going on, Bai Yunfei felt the space twenty meters away start to distort, revealing a figure in white coming straight for him!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    The newly arrived Soul King snorted gently when he noticed that his attack failed, but to the ears of Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai, his snort was as loud as lightning. Paling in the face, Zheng Kai¡¯s soulforce began to deplete rapidly so that only half remained! Even Xiao Qi was affected by whatever it was the Soul King was doing and began to plummet to the ground with a chirp of pain!!


    Another soul attack!!


    An even stronger one than the first!


    This new person was¡­.a mid-stage Soul King!!


    The attack onto his soul was faster than Bai Yunfei realized. A feeling of despair welled up inside of him when he realized just how strong and fast this person was. He hadn¡¯t even been able to move or use his Cataclysmic Seal to defend himself when the person was already in front of him!


    But the pain in his soul had only been for a while before the Soul Sentinel Scarf flashed once more with light, flooding his body with a warm sensation and driving away most of the pain. But by the time the pain was alleviated, his soulforce was already¡­.at the halfway point of his usual reserves!


    Despite that, Bai Yunfei was relieved that the attack on his soul was no longer there! It was as if¡­..the attack on his soul had been ineffective against him and had been flushed out!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    And this time, the elder in front of him uttered a sound of pain rather than the cold snort of indifference from before!


    He came to a stop just five meters away from Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai, allowing the two of them to see just who it was. There stood an old man with a look of pain and shock on his pale face. The amount of aura radiating from him was now just two-thirds of what it used to be after his attempt on their lives!


    From his appearance, it seemed that his failure to take down the two of them with his soul attack had weakened him.


    Bai Yunfei was only surprised for a moment before he realized what had happened¡ªthe +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf!!


    Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s stats:


    Equipment Grade: Low Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Water, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 11000


    Additional Defense: 10000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.


    Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    Equipment Effect 3: 100% Increase in soul stabilization rate.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    +12 Additional Effect: 200% Increase in spirit-based attacks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 500 Soulpoints


    The ice-type Soul King had suffered from his very own soul attack because of the +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf! Not only had it saved Bai Yunfei from peril, it completely turned the tables onto the Soul King!


    It had 30% chance to activate, but with the Luck Pendant¡¯s ability, that turned 30% to 60%. The fact that its effect would activate now of all timing had been unexpected, but not unwanted¡­.


    From when the second Soul King appeared and attacked Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul, Bai Yunfei felt like he had stepped across the gates to the underworld to the first layer of it.


    But now that that feeling was gone, Bai Yunfei felt extremely happy. Kicking off from the ground, he took Zheng Kai backwards with him while sending the Cataclysmic Seal forward in a flash of red. As it flew through the skies, the brick grew with size to slam into the Soul King in a burst of fiery light!!

 Chapter 548: A Desperate Situation

    The ice-type Soul King hadn¡¯t expected to be hit with his own soul attack since he had disregarded the two puny Soul Exalts in front of him as being inconsequential and didn¡¯t hold back. But unfortunately for him, him putting so much power into his attack meant being hit with an equal amount of backlash, hurting him enough to drop a third of his normal fighting efficiency. It wasn¡¯t a fatal amount, but still something that noticeably weakened him.


    He didn¡¯t know how to expect such a thing. He hadn¡¯t any idea that this could even happen. As a Soul King, he had to admit he was absolutely shocked. And by the time he could reattune himself to reality, a giant ¡®wall¡¯ was already coming straight for him!


    ¡°Mid-heaven tier soul armament!!¡±


    The power behind the Cataclysmic Seal was astounding, and before he could do anything but put both arms up to defend himself and try to retreat to widen the distance between him and the wall.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Despite his best efforts, the brick was flying far too fast for him to escape. Mercilessly, the Cataclysmic Seal crashed into the front of him, sending him flying forward with the brick as it traveled. The two of them slammed into the ruins of a nearby building with a resounding crash.


    The feeling of contact was felt by Bai Yunfei through the connection. It hadn¡¯t done much damage, but it did its job. Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei called the Cataclysmic Seal back to him in its regular size so that it didn¡¯t use up any more soulforce.


    By now, he and Zheng Kai were both standing on the rooftop of a building two hundred meters away from the Soul King.


    Now that the Cataclysmic Seal was gone, the ice-type Soul King stood there among the ruins with a blank look on his face. When he looked up and saw Bai Yunfei standing there, anger registered in his eyes. The Soul King hadn¡¯t expected to suffer any damages by the hand of these two little Soul Exalts. Furious, the man sneered and flew towards Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai with the power of flight!


    Because of the backlash from his previous soul attack attempt, the Soul King was afraid of using another soul attack without knowing more about the situation or having a secondary piece of insurance. In either case, he¡¯d use his own strength and control over elemental energy to beat the two Soul Exalts. In those two aspects, he was still a lot stronger than them.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Damnit!! Who are these people?! They¡¯re even willing to fight us while inside the limits of the Capital!¡± Zheng Kai cried out in exasperated anger. ¡°We have to run, brother Bai! If we can just buy ourselves some time, the Soul Kings in the Capital will come! There¡¯s plenty of them among the guards, and a battle like this will definitely catch their attention. We¡¯re safe as long as they get here!¡±


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem to agree with Zheng Kai¡¯s plan. ¡°If they¡¯re willing to attack us, don¡¯t you think they¡¯ve planned it out already? Do you really think we can outrun a Soul King? There¡¯s no time but to protect ourselves!¡±


    He called the fireseed within the Cataclysmic Seal to him. Letting it enter his body, Bai Yunfei felt his strength explode into the stage of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt!


    He was going into Berserk Mode!


    While he was powering up, the ice-type Soul King was already making his way towards them with the speed of a demon!


    The sudden increase in strength from Bai Yunfei alarmed Zheng Kai, but not for long. Forcing himself into a state of calm, he withdrew a black folding fan from his space ring and prepared his remaining soulforce to fight against the Soul King.


    A feeling of dread washed over the two Soul Exalts before the Soul King was even there. Icy crystals were already spreading through the area as if trying to freeze the entire place.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    There was a furious chirp from Xiao Qi as it flew back into the air. With a flap of its wings, five large blades of space shot towards the Soul King in order to prevent him from reaching Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Eh?¡± The Soul King uttered in slight surprise at the fact that Xiao Qi was capable of such an attack. But before it could reach him, the Soul King concentrated slightly before flashing forward in a burst of strength, almost making it seemed like he teleported twenty meters in one single stride to get to Bai Yunfei! The Spatial Edges of Xiao Qi hadn¡¯t even been close enough to touch his robes and sailed harmlessly away from him!


    His speed had already been very hard to get a hold of beforehand, but now that he was even faster than before, both Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai were both completely caught off guard. In his fear, Zheng Kai moved to swing his fan to send out a cut in space, but before he could go through with the action, a white ray of elemental energy shot straight through his right wrist!


    Grunting in pain, Zheng Kai dropped his fan, unable to hold it anymore!


    Another ray of white light had shot towards Bai Yunfei as well, only to have Bai Yunfei try to smack it away with his Fire-tipped Spear. But when the two made contact, the concussive force from the impact had nearly dislodged Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear from his hands!


    Sneering in disdain, the ice-type Soul King lashed out with his right hand towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat, threatening to tear it out!


    His strength would be more than enough to do that, no matter how strong Bai Yunfei¡¯s defense was!


    No matter how fast Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai¡¯s reactions were, they may as well been a child in front of the Soul King!


    Like the claw of an eagle, the Soul King¡¯s hand drew closer and closer to Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat. If he didn¡¯t do anything, then Bai Yunfei would have his throat torn out!


    As he was about to bring up his left arm to defend himself, Bai Yunfei felt someone¡¯s arm grab onto his right arm. The world blurred in front of him for a brief moment before he was teleported forwards thirty meters so that his back was no facing the Soul King!


    Teleportation!


    His enemy hadn¡¯t been the one to teleport, it was Zheng Kai who brought the two of them away from danger in the nick of time.


    But barely any time after they teleported, the ice-type Soul King turned around and chased after them again!


    Exhaustion filled Zheng Kai¡¯s face. Teleportation required plenty of energy, and with his wounds, the exertion was even worse. He couldn¡¯t use it again and again either since in front of a Soul King, short-ranged teleportation wasn¡¯t very useful¡­.


    In a short two breaths, the enemy was already back on them. His forefingers were pressed together like a sword, elemental ice flowing outwards from the fingers to stab into Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Gritting his teeth, Zheng Kai was about to try and teleport the two of them out of the way again when he felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s person split¡­.into three!


    The Bai Yunfei on the right grabbed hold of Zheng Kai and then threw him away to safety!


    The other two raised their spears up high to then stab at the incoming Soul King from slightly different angles!


    +12 Additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, Doppelganger!


    A dangerous glint entered the eyes of the ice-type Soul King, ¡°You insignificant worm!!¡±


    Waving his left hand in front of him, a single blade made from ice materialized in front of him. Cutting into the head of one of the doppelgangers, the Soul King noticed the Bai Yunfei in front of him move to strike him through the heart with his spear. Rather than moving, the Soul King opted to aim for Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    In his eyes, the spear wouldn¡¯t be capable of breaking through his elemental ice barrier. And his own hand would more than enough to lacerate and tear apart Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!

 Chapter 549: Damage to the Soul!

    The ice-type Soul King was pleased with how this exchange was shaping up. He could easily kill Bai Yunfei through a strike in the throat with the power of the elemental ice gathered around his right hand, but Bai Yunfei could not say the same with his spear.


    But before his hand could even strike Bai Yunfei, the Soul King¡¯s eyes widened in abject horror and surprise.


    The reason behind his surprise was simple. The crimson red spear that should¡¯ve been stopped by his barrier had simply gone straight through it as if the barrier hadn¡¯t even existed!


    His elemental barrier was strong enough to defend against most low-heaven tier soul armaments, but it was good as gone when the spear stabbed through it!


    This was a surprisingly unexpected hair-raising situation for him. His back grew slick with sweat as the spear continued towards him. Even with how strong he was physically, getting stabbed through the chest with a spear would be extremely painful.


    The Soul King realized then that his current attack to kill Bai Yunfei would be foolhardy in the face of this spear. Bringing his hand back as quickly as lightning, he brought the hand to his chest to try and defend himself with the elemental ice.


    ¡°Clang!!!!¡±


    There was a sound of collision as both Bai Yunfei and the ice-type Soul King froze in place in the air.


    The Fire-tipped Spear had stabbed straight through the elemental ice around the Soul King¡¯s hand, but it stopped just half an inch away from the Soul King¡¯s heart!


    It hadn¡¯t stabbed into him!!


    The Soul King had stopped the Fire-tipped Spear from going any further in by clamping it in between his two fingers!!


    With just those two fingers, he had stopped Bai Yunfei¡¯s almost-certain killing move!


    Bai Yunfei had been so excited when the spear stabbed through the Soul King¡¯s barrier, but then when it was stopped by him, the look of excitement immediately turned into one of horror. The strongest move he had in his arsenal had been stopped almost effortlessly.


    The ability of the Fire-tipped Spear to ignore elemental defenses had worked multiple times in the past, and none of Bai Yunfei¡¯s foes had been one the wiser when hit with it. But¡­..this Soul King had grabbed at it so easily between his two fingers! How could Bai Yunfei not feel bad?!


    The shock hadn¡¯t slid off the face of the Soul King either. Though he made it look simple, catching the Fire-tipped Spear between his two fingers had actually needed him to use more physical strength than he was normally accustomed to using. He rarely used his physical body to fight ever since he became a Soul King, but there was no helping it this time. His elemental defense had ¡®failed¡¯, leaving him no order choice. It was only fortunate that he managed to defend himself, else he would¡¯ve been sorely hurt¡­.


    Noticing the look of shock on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, the Soul King¡¯s eyes flashed dangerously with a hint of ice. Murderous intent flooded the air as he stared at the Soul Exalt who had forced into such a state. Not only was this humiliating, it was unforgettable. He¡¯d make sure this whelpling would die in the most painful way possible for him to actually feel appeased.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    The Soul King roared, his right hand twisting so that the Fire-tipped Spear was wrestled away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands and knocked to the side. And then, now with his hand freed up, the Soul King slammed his right hand onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    His hand had been filled with elemental frost when it slammed against Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest. Even if Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have his organs broken to pieces, he¡¯d be rendered into an icicle anyways.


    And because of Bai Yunfei¡¯s earlier usage of the +13 additional effect of the spear, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was already a quarter of what it normally was. He was left unable to defend himself with his Fire-tipped Spear being too far away to be brought close, so he could only grit his teeth and take in the stockpiled soulforce in the Violet Soul Ring into his body. He took a half step back with his left leg, drawing elemental fire to the Critical Glove on his left arm. All charged up, Bai Yunfei lashed out to punch at the Soul King¡¯s palm!


    Such an action wasn¡¯t lost on the Soul King. A Soul Exalt who was trying to compete in strength against a mid-stage Soul King? It was a surprising way to die, but if Bai Yunfei wanted to do so, then so be it.


    He sneered, the murderous intent in him growing even heavier. He could tell from the golden light shining from Bai Yunfei¡¯s left arm that the glove on it was a powerful soul armament, but that didn¡¯t dissuade the Soul King. The sneer on his face grew even more sinister as his eyes flashed dangerously, the white light around his right hand immediately turning into a baleful wisp of black energy!


    The change had been instantaneous. The moment when both their hands clashed with one another, the black energy around the Soul King¡¯s right hand was transferred over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand!


    But at the same time, Bai Yunfei snarled, the soulforce in his body draining into the glove even more to make it shine unbelievably bright!


    +12 Additional effect of the Critical Glove, activate!!


    Consume soulforce to grant the ability to deal 400% damage with the next strike.


    Cooldown of 5 minutes.


    Eighty-one Fold Fist Force!!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    There was an ear-deafening explosion as white, yellow, red, and a bit of black light flew into any and every direction, with both Bai Yunfei and the Soul King also being blown away from each other.


    The only difference was that while the Soul King had been forced to stagger backwards, Bai Yunfei was¡­.blown off his feet and through the air!


    The Eighty-one Fold Fist Force with four times the strength was dreadful to even think about, but the +10 additional effect of the glove hadn¡¯t activated, so it wasn¡¯t the strongest it could possibly be. Though with just those two, the power behind the strike was more than enough to surprise even the Soul King. He wasn¡¯t fatally hurt, but his right hand was already wracked with pain as the force of the blow traveled up his arm and into his body in no time at all.


    The Soul King couldn¡¯t believe his eyes, Bai Yunfei had surprised him once again. The power behind the Soul Exalt was far stronger than what any other Soul Exalt the Soul King knew was capable of.


    But even with that shock, the Soul King was already certain that Bai Yunfei would be dead now that his right hand had connected¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Likewise with Bai Yunfei, the shock he was experiencing was many times that of the soul King. The collision between the two soul cultivators had left Bai Yunfei in both shock and then fear as he watched himself be launched through the air without any control over his body.


    He felt the black energy from the Soul King¡¯s hand the very instant he touched it. In the next moment, it was as if an unbelievably cold frost had invaded his bones and froze his body. But the more startling thing was the black aura that was sapping away at his energy!


    Black¡­.as in elemental darkness!


    As soon as it entered his body, Bai Yunfei felt the energy ¡®eat away¡¯ at his energy¡­.and sapping away at his soulforce!


    Even more dangerously, the foreign energy was withering whatever it touched throughout his body as it made its way towards¡­.his soul!


    Pain strong enough to tear at his soul started to erupt from him. Wide-eyed and shaking all over, it took all Bai Yunfei had not to cry out in pain!


    This...this was¡­..


    ¡°The Soul Refining Palm!!¡± Bai Yunfei mentally howled those four words. This was the signature move of the Soul Refining School, the Soul Refining Palm!! He had felt it once before, but this time the strength behind it was many times stronger than before!


    ¡°Ah!!!!¡±


    Flying a hundred meters away, Bai Yunfei let loose a roar as his soulforce started to go haywire in his body. Even the two fireseeds responsible for keeping Bai Yunfei in his Berserk Mode was starting to shake. The fires started to go out of control outside of his body, wrapping around his body to flicker, die out, and reignite over and over¡­.


    He couldn¡¯t even hold onto the Fire-tipped Spear, letting it drop to the ground as he clutched at his head with his hands. His eyes were turning red with blood as he continued to scream at the top of his lungs as the immense pain from the Soul Refining Palm ravaged his body.


    This was a pain he had never experienced before! Words couldn¡¯t even describe the pain! It was as if his soul was being torn apart bit by bit!!

 Chapter 550: Retreat!

    The ice-type Soul King nodded in self-satisfaction at the heart-wrenching scream Bai Yunfei was giving. No longer caring for the soon to be dead Bai Yunfei, the Soul King turned his attention to the doppelganger of Bai Yunfei with Zheng Kai.


    But before he could stalk towards the two, the Soul King shifted twenty meters to the side. Several blades of wind came rushing through where he had been in just moments ago before striking down onto the ground one after another.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    The chirp that came from Xiao Qi had been furious at the Soul King. Flapping its wings, it sent another three Spatial Edges to take advantage of the Soul King when he moved out of the way.


    Unfortunately for Xiao Qi, the Soul King didn¡¯t at all feel threatened by it. He only needed a moment to shift away from the range of the Spatial Edges and be completely unharmed.


    ¡°A variant soulbeast with a space affinity? That¡¯s a rare one¡­.¡±


    Sparing a quick glance at the bird, the Soul King quickly decided that Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t an enemy to fear. With a wave of his hand, he materialized three icicles above his head and sent them flying towards Xiao Qi!


    Not even caring to see if his attacks landed or not, the Soul King turned his attention back to Zheng Kai on a rooftop not too far away. There was a calculative glint in the Soul King¡¯s eyes as he checked the time. Three minutes had already gone by since they first appeared and launched this attack. According to their original plans, they should¡¯ve had Zheng Kai in their hands by now, but unexpected roadblocks came into the way. There wasn¡¯t any time to delay, they had to kidnap Zheng Kai and get out of dodge quickly before the other Soul Kings in the Capital were alerted and came to obstruct them. Escape would be near impossible then.


    ¡­¡­


    The exchange of blows between Bai Yunfei and the Soul King had been almost too quick for Zheng Kai to watch. He had only stood there on the rooftop after one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s doppelgangers took him away from the battle. By the time he fully realized what was going on, there was an explosion of different elemental energies and Bai Yunfei¡¯s howling screams of anguish!!


    Blanking in the face, Zheng Kai then cried out in fright after his friend, ¡°Brother Bai!!¡±


    He was already aware that the Soul King was looking at him, but without care for the man, Zheng Kai disappeared from where he was to teleport over to Bai Yunfei and caught him into his arms.


    Protecting his body with a layer of elemental energy, Zheng Kai was able to ward of the fire around Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Now in contact with him, Zheng Kai could now see the shape Bai Yunfei was in. His entire body was trembling heavily, his face was twisted in pain, and the screams of pain from him was already turning more hoarse like a soulbeast.


    In his hurry to catch Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai had temporarily forgotten about his surroundings. By the time he was aware again, a chilling air had already descended down onto him. Looking up, Zheng Kai was startled to see the ice-type Soul King just a short ten meters away. Frozen in place, all Zheng Kai could do was watch as the elder drew closer to grab onto his head!


    Right as the hand was about to make contact, Zheng Kai bit down onto his tongue hard enough to draw blood. Having the pain jolt his body, Zheng Kai took Bai Yunfei and teleported away!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    The elder harrumphed in annoyance. Soul cultivators with an affinity for space were very annoying. They didn¡¯t have any ¡®speed¡¯ to boast about, but their ability to teleport at will was very annoying to say the least. A soul cultivator who could wield spatial energy like that had the ability to teleport with even more proficiency than a Soul King who was able to understand spatial energy.


    But even with that advantage, Zheng Kai¡¯s teleportation skills wasn¡¯t high enough for him to evade the Soul King¡¯s senses. They had only just blinked out from sight when the elder turned to the right. Just a hundred meters away in that direction, Zheng Kai appeared with Bai Yunfei in his arms.


    Zheng Kai¡¯s face was extremely pale now, his eyes shining bitterly with exhaustion. Teleporting several times in quick succession was very tiring, and combined with his already weakened state, he was only able to take Bai Yunfei to the rooftop of a nearby three-storied building. He stumbled slightly when his feet touched solid ground again, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t slip much to Zheng Kai¡¯s relief. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t screaming anymore, and his eyes were starting to regain a bit of light back in them as a sign of him recovering.


    But the danger in front of them was still there, and their situation wasn¡¯t any better than before. The Soul King was already coming straight for them!


    The slightest bit of panic was in the eyes of the Soul King now. He could sense several large bursts of energy heading in his direction!


    He had to make his escape!


    Eyes shining furiously, the Soul King shot straight for Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai like a bolt of lightning. But then before he could get there, something from the corner of his eyes forced him to give up on that approach to leap backwards!


    ¡°Roarr!!¡±


    A white figure leapt up in between him and the two Soul Exalts. Roaring loudly, the figure slashed at the Soul King with its claws, only to miss and swipe at the air.


    The permafrost mastiff!


    ¡­¡­


    The ordinary Soul Exalt would¡¯ve died a long time ago if they were hit by the Soul Refining Palm of a Soul King. But¡­.Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t most Soul Exalts. He had gained a bit of experience with how to deal against the Soul Refining School, and while this Soul Refining Palm was stronger than usual, it wasn¡¯t enough to be fatal for him.


    A warm light was pulsing outwards from the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his head. Transmitting its energy inside Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, it counteracted against the corrosive energy trying to tear apart the body and was slowly ¡®mending¡¯ Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul.


    The pain was roughly half of what it used to be. Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was still worse for wear, but he was fully cognizant. He felt quite strange, the pain coming from his soul was a bit numbing almost, but there was an underlying throb of chaotic energy that made things hard to control¡­.


    With how rushed the situation was, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have enough time to consider what was going on inside his body. As soon as he was fully aware of what was going on outside of his body, Bai Yunfei saw that the Soul King was coming at him and Zheng Kai again. Sending a command through the Beast Taming Ring, Bai Yunfei had the permafrost mastiff break away from the earth-type Soul King to come and obstruct the ice-type Soul King instead.


    Narrowing his eyes, the Soul King took a step back to withdraw a soul armament. It was a pure-white staff about two-thirds of a meter long. Holding it in his hands, the Soul King swung the staff at the mastiff!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    There was the sound of metal hitting flesh and then a pained roar before the permafrost mastiff was sent flying away in the direction of the Soul King¡¯s swing. On the left side of the mastiff, a long red streak was already bruising on its white skin.


    But to his amazement, the permafrost mastiff turned around in midair and kicked off into the opposite direction of its flight to block his forward path again as if it hadn¡¯t even been hurt!


    The annoyance the elder was feeling multiplied even more . This early-stage class seven soulbeast wasn¡¯t strong enough to be a threat to his life, but it also wasn¡¯t a weakling he could kill in a few seconds. He needed time to kill the permafrost mastiff, time that he didn¡¯t have!


    ¡°Blast!!¡±


    The Soul King cursed to himself as he debated his options for a brief two seconds. When he came to his decision, he barked out a command to his other Soul King, ¡°We¡¯re going!¡±


    Not too far away, several specks of light were already quickly approaching while several other spaces in close proximity were warping in on itself--several Soul Kings were teleporting in! And from the looks of it¡­.there were at least seven or eight Soul Kings!


    As unwilling he was, the ice-type Soul King had to leave now before it was too late!

 Chapter 551: Stop!!

    The ice-type Soul King was already going through the motions to leave when he called out to his companion. Flying hundreds of kilometers in no time at all, he waved his right hand, opening up a ripple in space before he disappeared through it. He reappeared several kilometers away before repeating the process, and in no time at all, he was gone from sight¡­.


    The earth-type Soul King had only just managed to disentangle himself away from the permafrost mastiff. He originally planned to help out the other Soul King kidnap Zheng Kai, but then when he realized the danger they were in when order to retreat was given. Without hesitation, he took off after the ice-type Soul King as soon as he felt the incoming reinforcements approach.


    He was only an early-stage Soul King and hadn¡¯t a proper grasp on spatial energy, meaning he was unable to teleport. Thus, he had to rely on his flying speed to get away. Even without teleportation, the Soul King would still be fast enough to escape before the Soul Kings could get here.


    But there was one thing he hadn¡¯t accounted for. A good few meters away, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened as he realized what was going on. His anger reaching his breaking point, Bai Yunfei began to tremble where he stood. The two fireseeds in him began to expel even more elemental fire to his hands as he lifted a single finger to point at the escaping Soul King!


    ¡°Stop right now!!!!¡±


    He roared, furious beyond belief as he ranted at the Soul King. But then something strange happened. There was a strange pulse of light from his Charm Bracelet along with the Soul Sentinel Scarf on top of his head!


    In the next moment, the earth-type Soul King shivered, his entire body coming to a stop. The color drained away from his face as if something unbelievable was happening to him, and a look of fright appeared onto it!


    ¡°Stop!!¡±


    A voice like lightning cracked through his mind. It wasn¡¯t a voice the Soul King heard with his ears but¡­.a voice he heard from the depth of his soul!


    It was like if some ¡®man¡¯ was yelling at him from within his mind. Howling with a voice that echoed through his soul with murderous fury. Then came the buzzing sounds, making the Soul King feel like his entire body was vibrating!


    This ¡®attack¡¯ had appeared out from nowhere, and struck him dead on before he could even realize it!


    But he was a Soul King, so it only took him a second to shake his head clear of whatever it was. Still, that one second was enough to leave his forehead wet with sweat and left him unable to think properly¡­.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Beneath him, a soulbeast roared aloud, transmitting an attack towards the motionless Soul King and hitting him with it. Straight away, the Soul King realized just what kind of attack it was and paled!!


    The permafrost mastiff was attacking his soul!!


    This was the soul attack of a class seven soulbeast!


    The Soul King had been prepared against a soul attack from the permafrost mastiff earlier. He¡¯d be able to shrug it off and continue escaping. But then when he had suffered that strange ¡®attack¡¯ on his mind, his mental awareness had been shuttered for a second. But that second was long enough to press the Soul King into mortal danger!


    He and the permafrost mastiff were both of equal strengths. But when he was caught off guard and hit by the soul attack, his eyes went blank for a moment as his soulforce struggled to fight it off. With how much soulforce he had already used, the soul attack did enough damage to nearly knock him unconscious.


    A white streak of light shot towards him from the corners of his eyes, forcing the Soul King to bring his right hand up to block in his daze. There was the sound of something being torn apart as the white light streaked by, and then, blood began to drip in large amounts.


    Now fully free from the effects of the mastiff¡¯s soul attack, the very first thing the Soul King did when he was back to full awareness was let loose a loud scream of pain!


    ¡°Ah!!!!¡±


    Three bloody streaks of mangled flesh hung from the right side of his abdomen, revealing just parts of his internal organs. And his right arm had its skin and muscle torn off, revealing the white bone underneath!


    The permafrost mastiff reappeared thirty meters away from the Soul King its right claw dripping red with blood. Turning around in the skies, it let loose another roar towards the earth-type Soul King!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A two-meter sphere of elemental ice began to form just an inch in front of the mastiff¡¯s mouth. As soon as it fully formed, the mastiff shot the sphere towards the Soul King!


    Terrified at what had just happened to him, the Soul King attempted to raise both his injured and uninjured hands. Blood dripped from his mouth at the attempt before a barrier of orange formed in front of him. The sphere of elemental ice smashed against it, exploding with an ear-deafening explosion and sending elemental energy everywhere.


    But before the Soul King could relax, there was another source of energy coming from beneath him. Looking away, he was just in time to see two tremendous dragons fly up at him and attempt to swallow him whole!


    The Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡­¡­


    On the ground below, Bai Yunfei¡¯s fists were both raised into the air, wisps of smoke trailing from them after he released the two dragons. The fire around his body was still furiously hot, just like the murderous light in his eyes.


    Even with his considerable injuries, Bai Yunfei had released a Berserk Mode enhanced Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two dragons exploded upon contact with the Soul King, turning the area into a giant maelstrom of fire as bright as the sun itself. Light illuminated the area for an entire kilometer around before weakening in intensity and colored the area in a red glow.


    It was fortunate for the buildings below that the explosion happened seven to eight hundred meters above the sky, else they would¡¯ve been blown apart by the explosion.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Suddenly, an orange ball of light erupted from the center of the fiery maelstrom. A disheveled Soul King came flying out from the maelstrom as he tried to escape. But before he could even get a hundred meters higher into the skies, a second ball of elemental ice was shot at him!


    ¡°Crack¡­.crack¡­.¡±


    There was a sound of impact as the Soul King was struck by the elemental ice. In the blink of an eye, the Soul King was frozen within a ball of ice!


    Frozen inside, the Soul King¡¯s eyes started to betray a hint of despair and desperation! Orange light flooded out from the Soul King¡¯s body within the ice, and several crackling sounds later, the ball of ice was starting to crack apart.


    But then¡­.


    ¡°Chirp!!!!¡±


    A furious chirp was heard as a prismatic bolt of light dove from the skies. Reaching the ball of ice, Xiao Qi flapped its wings to cut down the sphere!


    The Spatial Edge!


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh¡­.¡±


    Several Spatial Edges flew forth from Xiao Qi¡¯s wings across the ball of ice before quickly disappearing into the night¡­.


    From within the ball of ice, the earth-type Soul King was¡­.cut into pieces!!

 Chapter 552: Escaped!!

    Already tens of kilometers away, the ice-type Soul King had only just finished teleporting away again when he decided to look behind, only to be bewildered by what he saw.


    Despite being so far away, the ice-type Soul King was still able to see through the pitch dark skies to see that his companion had¡­.been killed!


    ¡°What¡­.what happened?!¡±


    The Soul King simply couldn¡¯t believe anything that happened within the last few minutes. He had to abort the mission and flee for safety, but he had distinctly warned his companion ahead of time to run away. Furthermore, his companion had moved to leave not too long after he did, so¡­.how did he die in less than half a minute?!


    ¡°Blast!!¡±


    He really wanted to go back and check just how this situation came to be, but the people chasing after him would definitely catch up to him then--several of the Soul Kings were already on the verge of catching up to him right now. So with a snort, he turned around and continued to flee¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Zheng Kai stared blankly at the dissipating fiery maelstrom in front of him, and then the chunks of frozen ice as it fell to the ground. With each chunk that fell, moderate amounts of blood dripped down to the ground, though Zheng Kai found it hard to register that.


    What¡­.had just happened?


    He could only vaguely remember Bai Yunfei yelling out loud and pointing a finger at the escaping Soul King. Then he remembered seeing the Soul King freeze up, and then the permafrost mastiff chasing after it with a bolt of elemental ice¡­. After that, two brilliant flames flew out from Bai Yunfei to smash into the Soul King, and then the Soul King was frozen and shattered into pieces¡­.


    All those events had only taken a short few breaths in time, but even then, they were taking place far too fast for Zheng Kai to catch up.


    If his eyes wasn¡¯t leading him astray, then¡­.the earth-type Soul King had been killed just¡­.like that?!


    Zheng Kai found it a little hard to believe. The ones who had appeared out of nowhere to attack and force the two of them into such dire straits had been forced to run away while the other one was killed when he attempted to run?!


    As he thought, Zheng Kai¡¯s mind wandered over to the words Bai Yunfei roared a second ago.


    ¡°Stop!!¡±


    Things, as it were, was going exactly like Bai Yunfei demanded. The man had stopped, though the remaining pieces of his body were falling down to the ground rather than stopping in place...


    He shook his head before looking to Bai Yunfei, only to see him drop the ground in exhaustion.


    ¡°Brother Bai!¡±


    He cried out in fright. Flying over to him, Zheng Kai checked for Bai Yunfei¡¯s pulse, only to see that Bai Yunfei had only been knocked out. His face was pale with fatigue, and a black serpentine-like wisp of smoke was trailing out from under his skin. His eyes were closed shut in seeming pain as his soulforce circulated through his body. He was no longer holding onto the power of a late-stage Soul Exalt, and the elemental energy around his body was also weakened now that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t producing any more of it.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­.¡±


    Four separate noise of people descending down from the skies was heard as Soul Kings began to drop in onto the place, looking around the area before finally to the two soul cultivators remaining there.


    ¡°Xiao Zheng, what happened?¡±


    A voice spoke out from Zheng Kai¡¯s side. Recognizing that voice, he spun around to see a purple-robed young man appear nearby. ¡°Brother!!¡±


    This young man was Zheng Kai¡¯s older brother and the eldest son of the head of the Zheng, Zheng Cheng.


    Zheng Cheng had a grim expression on his face as he registered the hole in his younger brother¡¯s wrist, ¡°What happened here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­.I¡¯m not very sure, we were just suddenly attacked¡­.¡± Zheng Kai hurried to explain, ¡°Brother! Please check up on brother Bai, he was hit by the ice-type Soul King and is severely hurt!¡±


    Zheng Cheng raised an eyebrow at that before finally turning to look at Bai Yunfei. The expression on his face hardened a bit at Bai Yunfei¡¯s state. He moved to press his right hand against Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, but the moment his hand touched, Zheng Cheng brought his hand back as if zapped by lightning. At the same time, Bai Yunfei uttered a faint groan of pain.


    ¡°Is this¡­.elemental darkness?!¡± Zheng Cheng hissed in surprise, his mind racing to think of the possibilities. ¡°No! This isn¡¯t ordinary elemental darkness, this is¡­.the Soul Refining Palm of the Soul Refining School!!¡±


    He was only here to check up on Bai Yunfei¡¯s condition, but the diagnosis he made had been said aloud accidentally, prompting the other Soul Kings to take notice of what was said.


    ¡°What?! The Soul Refining School?!¡± Zheng Kai gasped, ¡°But¡­.but how! Brother, please save brother Bai! What do we have to do to treat his wounds?¡±


    Zheng Cheng grew silent for a moment to think of how to respond, ¡°We can¡¯t treat him here, we have to take him home and ask grandfather for assistance!!¡±


    Knowing how important Bai Yunfei was, Zheng Cheng couldn¡¯t simply ignore him to fend for himself. The wounds Bai Yunfei had weren¡¯t light by any means, but Zheng Cheng didn¡¯t have any method of treatment for him, and his father would most likely not either. That left only grandfather¡­..


    Zheng Cheng turned his head towards the gray-robed elder behind me, ¡°Uncle Qin, could I rely on you to take care of matters here? Coordinate with the Capital guards to investigate the place. Pay attention to anything that might lead to whom those people were.¡±


    The elder nodded his head, ¡°Rest assured, young master, I will do my best here.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Zheng manor. The western courtyards where Bai Yunfei¡¯s room was.


    Still unconscious, Bai Yunfei was laid on top of his own bed, though his face didn¡¯t look comforted at all. It was still twisted in pain and drenched with sweat. His face was equally parts pale and equally red, though black smoke would occasionally rise up from him.


    Five people stood in front of his bed. Fortunately, the room was large enough to accommodate them all.


    The one pacing anxiously around the perimeter of the room was Zheng Kai, and the one next to him was his brother Zheng Cheng. The two males in front of them looked to be in their forties, meaning one of them had to be their father and head of the Zheng, Zheng Shiqiu. The other male was a tawny middle-aged man and brother to the head of the house.


    In front of them four was a white-haired elder who was peering down at Bai Yunfei carefully. He was the previous head of the Zheng and Zheng Kai¡¯s grandfather, Zheng Tianya.


    In the corner of the room, the permafrost mastiff laid there weakly on the ground, white light surrounding its body as it tried to heal the nasty-looking wound on its fur. To the side, a small blue-eyes wyrm was currently biting onto the Fire-tipped Spear without letting anyone close to it, its eyes filled with humiliation. During the battle, the wyrm had been the only one trapped by the enemies and rendered essentially useless--this was something the wyrm did not like.


    As for Xiao Qi, the bird was on the rafters of the roof to stare down at Bai Yunfei, its eyes filled with concern and sadness¡­.


    The room was extremely silent. Zheng Tianya stood in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s bed for a moment longer before finally drawing his right hand back away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder to stand back up.


    ¡°Grandfather, how is brother Bai doing? Is he in danger?¡± Zheng Kai immediately leapt at the chance for more knowledge, pleading with his grandfather for information.


    A look of grim concern was on Zheng Tianya¡¯s face when he did, ¡°Not to worry, he¡¯s not in any mortal danger. The strength behind the Soul Refining Palm was major and should¡¯ve killed Bai Yunfei by all rights considering. But this is an extremely strange situation, his regeneration rate isn¡¯t any slower than an early-stage Soul King¡­.¡±


    He sighed after that. ¡°But nonetheless, recovering from such an injury won¡¯t be simple. His soul was damaged. Even after he wakes up, Bai Yunfei will be impacted by such an injury, and that¡¯ll be the troublesome part for him¡­.¡±

 Chapter 553: Recuperating

    ¡°Troublesome? How will it be troublesome for him?¡± Zheng Kai pipped up with concern.


    Zheng Tianya shook his head, ¡°It is difficult to say. He might see a decrease in his strength, feel weakened for a long amount of time, or at the very least, be prone to temperament changes due to his injured soul¡­.¡±


    ¡°Temperament changes?? What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll find it difficult to control his emotions. Since his soul was harmed, his control has weakened. But this is only a trivial problem that¡¯ll clear up with time.¡±


    With his grandfather saying it wasn¡¯t serious, Zheng Kai sighed in relief. He had faith in his grandfather¡¯s words, and it didn¡¯t seem like Bai Yunfei was in any danger anyways. Now that he was safe, it was as though a boulder had been lifted from Zheng Kai¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°Well¡­.when will he wake up then?¡± Zheng Kai asked. As of right now, it looked like Bai Yunfei was experiencing a nightmare of sorts.


    ¡°That is hard to say as well,¡± Zheng Tianya answered, ¡°But I would wager five to six days. With the Soul Refining Palm afflicted, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body cannot accept the soulforce of anyone else, so I was unable to make a detailed diagnosis on his body. I can only say that his rate of recovery is better than most, perhaps due to how he trains. But once he wakes up, he should be fine for the most part.¡±


    ¡°Five or six days¡­.¡± Zheng Kai muttered before facing the rest of the crowd, ¡°Grandfather, father, uncle, and brother¡­.I hope that you¡¯ll allow me to use several of the medicines we have in our treasury. I was the target of the ambush, and if not for brother Bai, I would¡¯ve been in great danger¡­.¡±


    Zhen Tianya smiled. ¡°But of course. He is the disciple of Zi Jin, him coming across trouble is a dereliction of duty when he is a guest of the Zheng. Pick out the right medicines when you head to the treasury and see to that Bai Yunfei recovers.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, grandfather!¡±


    ¡°Very well. We should let him rest in peace.¡± Zheng Tianya nodded, his face growing serious. ¡°We will head to the main halls. Xiao Zheng, tell us everything that happened as detailed as you can recall. The ones who tried kidnapping you today may very well be companions to the group from before. Any group that can afford to send two Soul Kings and launch a kidnapping attempt in the Capital of all places is by no means a weak faction, especially if the Soul Refining School is involved¡­.Say everything that you remember, and if there are any clues, your brother and uncle will go investigate.¡±


    With instructions of their own, everyone walked out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s room to do what they were told.


    Zheng Kai came back a while later, several rare medicines in his hand to apply to Bai Yunfei before he left again.


    ¡­¡­


    Very little had changed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s status over the first day. His face was still contorted with pain and his eyebrows locked together as if to repeat that fact.


    The second day went by, this time with a more noticeable change. Whether it was the medicines Zheng Kai was administering, or by Bai Yunfei¡¯s own strength, his face was looking much healthier. The wrinkles on his face was less pronounced and his face was gradually turning back to its normal expression.


    Much to the surprise of the Zheng, Bai Yunfei woke up on the third day, a time nearly half of what Zheng Tianya predicted.


    He had been very weak when he woke up. Unable to even move around much, Bai Yunfei had Zheng Tianya come around to diagnosis him before being told to stay in bed and recuperate.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected for the very first encounter he¡¯d have with the elders of the Zheng to be like this¡­.


    It was on the fourth day that Zheng Kai walked into Bai Yunfei¡¯s room to see Bai Yunfei sitting crossed-legged on his bed.


    ¡°Eh? Brother Bai, you can get up now?!¡± Zheng Kai rushed to his side at once, ¡°How are you feeling? Feeling sore anywhere? Do you want me to call my grandfather to check up on you?¡±


    ¡°No need, I¡¯m fine.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand. He didn¡¯t want to bother anyone. ¡°I can feel myself recovering pretty fast, so don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be long until I fully recover.¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s good then¡­.¡±


    He pulled up a stool to sit down on, ¡°Brother Bai¡­.I¡­.really got you into a fine mess this time. Thank the heavens you¡¯re alright, I¡¯d never be able to live it down if you weren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be like that. We¡¯re friends, aren¡¯t we? Sharing good times and bad times should be expected. I¡¯m alright now anyways, so don¡¯t feel guilty.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, though a sliver of suspicion crossed his mind.


    Was that person really after Zheng Kai?


    ¡°Alright! Since you said you¡¯re fine, then I won¡¯t say otherwise. We are brothers! Brothers that¡¯ll share good times and bad times!¡± Zheng Kai pounded a fist to his chest solemnly.


    Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded his head. ¡°How long was I out for?¡±


    ¡°Three days. Grandfather had said that he expected you to be out for five or six days almost, but your recovery is really abnormal.¡±


    ¡°Three days¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei mused, ¡°What happened in those three days? And the academy, do they¡­.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the academy already knows what happened. The chairman actually came to see you yesterday when you were still out. He¡¯s postponed your classes until further notice so you can take it easy and relax. He¡¯s willing to push it back even more if you¡¯re not feeling back to normal, so don¡¯t worry thinking about it.¡±


    ¡°I see. I feel relieved then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°And what about those two men?¡± He asked, ¡°Have¡­.have any clues been found yet? That ice-type Soul King was from the Soul Refining School.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we know of his affiliation with the school, but¡­.just like last time, we don¡¯t have any other clues.¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew silent, his eyebrows knitted together as if thinking about something.


    ¡°Ah, right. Brother Bai, this is for you.¡± Zheng Kai handed him a space ring. ¡°It¡¯s the space ring of that earth-type Soul King. We¡¯ve already looked through it for clues, but found nothing. There¡¯s a few soulgems and soul armaments though.¡±


    ¡°For me? What for?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in confusion, ¡°Wait, hold on. The earth-type Soul King? What happened to him?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Zheng Kai blinked, his eyes widening by a fraction, ¡°Do you not remember what happened?¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew even more curious, ¡°Remembered what?¡±


    ¡°.....¡± Zheng Kai was speechless for a moment. ¡°Right before that earth-type Soul King left, he was killed because of what you did¡­¡±


    ¡°What I did?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried, but he slapped his head as if a memory just occurred to him. ¡°I remember after I got hit by the Soul Refining Palm, I couldn¡¯t think very well. I had the mastiff block the ice-type Soul King before he left. And when they were about to leave, I remember wanting one of them to stop, but¡­.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. When you wanted that earth-type Soul King to stop, he did exactly that. I¡¯m not sure how you did it, but your mastiff and Xiao Qi killed him right afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Is that right?¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head as he tried to recall the memories of that night, ¡°I think I lost control of myself during that moment¡­.¡±


    ¡°Probably because of the wounds you got during the battle. Don¡¯t try to think about it, it¡¯s not very important. Just focus on recuperating, we can talk later about that.¡±


    Taking the space ring from Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei dipped his head. ¡°I¡¯ll do as you say, brother Zheng. But if in the future you come across any clues relating to the Soul Refining School, please inform me.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Zheng Kai was curious, ¡°Did something happen between you and them?¡±


    ¡°A grudge.¡± Bai Yunfei replied.


    Surprised, Zheng Kai acquiesced to the request. ¡°That works. Once my uncle and the others comes back, I¡¯ll make sure to find out what they know.¡±


    He rose out from his seat, ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave you to recuperate, brother Bai. Be sure to call upon the servants if you need something.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded.


    After Zheng Kai left, Bai Yunfei grew silent for a very long time as he thought to himself. Ultimately shaking his head, Bai Yunfei decided not to think about those things and focus on healing once again¡­.

 Chapter 555: The Lightning-type Ye Ming

    Early morning in Tianhun Academy.


    The first rays of sunshine was beginning to shine down on the campus grounds. A young man dressed in plain gray robes walked down the streets of the academy. Sometimes, he¡¯d turn his head left and right to smile at the younger students walking around him.


    He was already in the fifth year section but made no attempt to stop and instead ventured deeper to the sixth year section.


    This young man was Bai Yunfei.


    At a glance, Bai Yunfei was back to normal. Other than the lukewarm glow of as if he was still recovering, there didn¡¯t seem to be anything else that was wrong with him.


    His recovery had been extremely quick. The Soul Sentinel Scarf on his head paired with the Dual Flame Art had been surprisingly effective for Bai Yunfei¡¯s treatment. In barely any time at all, Bai Yunfei went from having the glow of death on him to looking almost perfectly healthy.


    Today was the promised date of classes. He didn¡¯t want to prolong his stay any longer and walked with Zheng Kai to the academy so he could go and teach.


    The reason why he was alone now was because of Zheng Kai suddenly finding the need to have a ¡®heart to heart¡¯ talk with someone from the fifth years, thus why he disappeared like a wisp of smoke.


    Fortunately, Bai Yunfei remembered the way to his class and trodded slowly there himself.


    He, of course, was with Xiao Qi. The bird was perched on his shoulder while the blue-eyes wyrm and permafrost mastiff followed from behind. Because of the dangers he faced last time, Bai Yunfei decided it best to have his soulbeasts with him to ensure his safety.


    In the eyes of the other soul cultivators, only the blue-eyes wyrm looked like a proper soulbeast. Xiao Qi and the permafrost mastiff looked more like regular animal pets. Only a few bothered to stop and think about what kind of person would bring out so many animals, but none of them cared that much.


    Very few people also knew that this young-looking man was also the highly gossiped about instructor for the crafting class.


    ¡­¡­


    The people within the class six area was significantly lesser than those in the previous areas. One of the nearby buildings had a wide mixture of soulforce radiating it¡ªpresumably from the students currently in a lesson in there¡ªbut that made Bai Yunfei curious. What kind of classes took place in this academy? He was especially curious about the sixth year courses. The students were all Soul Exalts, what could they possibly learn?


    He would ask later, Bai Yunfei decided. Perhaps he¡¯d be able to take a look.


    Walking a short distance longer, Bai Yunfei finally reached the area designated for his crafting class. There were already a few sources of soulforce waiting there, presumably his students. Somehow, they were there even earlier than he was.


    Bai Yunfei was now in front of the building where his classes took place. But before he could walk in, someone called out to him.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, one moment please.¡±


    Surprised by this sudden voice, Bai Yunfei paused mid-step and turned to look.


    Right there a few meters away to his right stood a young man. He had been leaned up against the wall before Bai Yunfei appeared and was now walking towards him.


    He looked like he was around twenty-five or twenty six. He wore a dark purple robe with his long hair tied up behind him. His eyebrows were sharp just like his eyes. He stood tall, but the look on his face gave the impression of him being a rather indifferent person, or at least, a proud but aloof person.


    Author Note: It¡¯s hard to tell the actual physical age of a soul cultivator who are in between the ages of 25-35. I know I say this all the time, but I hope you all don¡¯t find it monotonous.


    Bai Yunfei had never met such a person before, so he was by all rights confused on who this person was. ¡°Do you have business with me?¡±


    Striding up to Bai Yunfei, the young man had a strange look on his face, as if he wanted to say something but found it difficult to speak it out loud. He exhaled slowly, shaking his head before finally mustering up some courage. ¡°I am a sixth year student from class one of the lightning course. My name is Ye Ming.¡±


    ¡°Yes, nice to meet you.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded politely. ¡°Is there something I can do for you?¡±


    The other man hesitated for two seconds before retrieving a small book over a dozen pages in length. ¡°I wanted to give this to you, instructor Bai.¡±


    ¡°This?¡± Bai Yunfei grew even more curious, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°My experiences and insights from your crafting lesson two weeks ago. I wrote them down. If you could please look over them, instructor Bai.¡±


    ¡°Insights?¡± It took a moment for Bai Yunfei to realize. This had been the ¡®homework¡¯ he gave his students two weeks ago. He wanted them to write down whatever insights they had when they watched him craft and was to collect it on their next class.


    But this person was from the lightning section. He wasn¡¯t a student of Bai Yunfei, so that meant he must¡¯ve watched Bai Yunfei as one of the audience. But what business had he doing this ¡®homework¡¯?


    Bai Yunfei took the book into his hands, ¡°Why are you giving this to me?¡±


    It took half a second this time for Ye Ming to reply, ¡°I wish to join the crafting class.¡± He spoke bluntly.


    ¡°Pardon?¡± Bai Yunfei thought he had heard wrong this time. ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    ¡°Instructor Bai, I wish to join the crafting class and learn how to craft.¡± Ye Ming repeated firmly.


    ¡°You want to join my class? But¡­.are you not a lightning-type soul cultivator? The art of crafting requires an affinity for fire, you¡¯re¡­.¡±


    Before Bai Yunfei finished speaking, Ye Ming¡¯s eyes flashed once with a red tint of light. Elemental fire surrounded his body, a ring of elemental fire lighting up his body just faintly.


    ¡°A dual affinity?!¡± Bai Yunfei sucked in a sharp breath when he realized what that meant. But¡­.


    ¡°As surprising as it is that you have a dual affinity for lightning and fire, are you still not focused primarily in the path of elemental lightning?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. ¡°You¡¯re already a Soul Exalt in terms of elemental lightning, but your elemental fire manipulation surely can¡¯t be any higher than a late-stage Soul Ancestor. If you were to focus on the art of crafting, your future path would see a huge roadblock. The art of crafting cannot have another element be balanced equally with it. I suggest that you continue focusing on your current path. You¡­.are not suitable to learn the art of crafting.¡±


    A crestfallen look fell onto Ye Ming¡¯s face, but his eyes still held resistance. ¡°I still wish to learn. Instructor Bai, please help me.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± He didn¡¯t know what to say. He hadn¡¯t ever come across such a person like this before. It was praiseworthy how determined Ye Ming was, but his situation was regrettable. Having a focus on elemental lightning was unsuitable for learning how to craft. Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m unwilling to teach, but you are truly unsuited to learning it. You should focus on your current path.¡±


    Ye Ming was silent, his head dipped low in resignation and his eyes flickering with light.


    A moment later, he straightened back up to look at Bai Yunfei as determined as ever. ¡°If instructor Bai could first look over my insights in the meanwhile. I will come back for your next class. At that time, I hope instructor Bai will change his mind and allow me to join.¡±


    Any sign of pride he might¡¯ve had was gone now as he bowed to Bai Yunfei before leaving the area.


    Bai Yunfei could only watch him go with a shake of his head. His hand still holding onto the book given to him, Bai Yunfei walked into the building.


    As soon as he was inside, his eyes came across a spacious room about a kilometer in area. At the center, seven students were standing there, some of them looking around in boredom.


    But that changed when Bai Yunfei walked in. All eyes immediately flew over to him, several of the students calling out in greeting to him and others walking on over.


    ¡°They really are students of the crafting class.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, his own feet increasing in speed as he met with them halfway¡­.

 Chapter 556: The Students of the Crafting Class

    Seven students. Four males and three females, all of them fairly young. They had all initially been standing on top of the stone platform, but when Bai Yunfei came, they started to gather around him.


    Drawing closer to them, Bai Yunfei noticed that several of the students were actually older in age than he was, making him feel slightly awkward and nervous around them. As a teacher, he was undoubtedly less experienced in the way of the world than several of his students. He couldn¡¯t afford to slip up either, as an instructor required having dignity. For that reason, Bai Yunfei forewent shaving for two days so that he could look slightly older than he did. With all that he experienced so far in the world, his body was appropriately built and mature. And it was this external experience that Bai Yunfei felt himself having a huge difference in over the soul cultivators in the academy.


    ¡°Good morning, students.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded to the students in greeting.


    ¡°Good morning, instructor Bai.¡±


    ¡°This student pays his respects to instructor Bai.¡±


    ¡°Instructor Bai¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    One by one, the students called out their varying greetings to him with a bow.


    There was of course, one exception. The granddaughter, Mo Wanxia. The hostility in her eyes today was a great deal less than before, but the dislike she had for him was still palpable. With narrowed eyes, a crinkled nose, and a slight harrumph, she gave a reluctant bow to him like the other students.


    Bai Yunfei felt himself curious with her attitude towards him.


    Hadn¡¯t it been her who caused so much trouble for him? So why was she acting like it was the other way around?


    In any case, the students were all closer to him now, allowing Bai Yunfei a better look at each of his students. They were all handsome men and pretty women, and though their exact ages weren¡¯t clear, the oldest didn¡¯t look any older than twenty-eight and the youngest just barely twenty. Their strengths differed from a little mid-stage Soul Ancestor to Mo Wanxia who was a late-stage Soul Exalt.


    Bai Yunfei stood there, a strange feeling suddenly occurring to him. These people would be his students from now on?


    ¡°Haha, with all things considered, today shall be our first official class. But before that, I¡¯d like to get to know each one of you.¡± Bai Yunfei tried to act as ¡®dignified as a teacher¡¯ as he possibly could. ¡°Why don¡¯t you all introduce yourselves to me, even if by just a little bit. We can become more acquainted in time.¡±


    His eye wandered over to Mo Wanxia, ¡°You don¡¯t need to introduce yourself, Mo Wanxia. I recognize you. Granddaughter of the chairman and late-stage Soul Exalt. Admirable. I hope that you will achieve just as great of things in my class.¡±


    ¡°Hmph! You don¡¯t look any older than I am, where do you get off talking like an old man, how pretentious!¡± Mo Wanxia wanted to say. If not for her grandfather, she wouldn¡¯t have joined the crafting class. She wasn¡¯t any weaker than Bai Yunfei was and was very unwilling to accept him as her instructor. But she was already clear that should she and Bai Yunfei fight, she wouldn¡¯t be a match for him.


    Bai Yunfei had after all defeated the peak late-stage Soul Exalt Zhou Yu, and that fight was more than enough to emphasize just how strong he was in comparison to her.


    Completely disregarding the bitter look on her face, Bai Yunfei turned to the younger girl next to her. ¡°Let¡¯s start with you then.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡ªyes, well¡­.¡± She straightened herself up, revealing her height to be of about 1.65 meters around with two pigtails on her head. Looking slightly uneasy, she began, ¡°I...I¡¯m Fang Yong. Early-stage Soul Exalt and previous sixth year student in class one of the fire section. It¡¯s nice to meet you, instructor Bai.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded before turning to the other girl besides her.


    This girl looked quite younger than the two before her¡ªperhaps just barely twenty¡ªhad snowy-white skin and hair that reached down to her waist. With a cute bow to Bai Yunfei, she introduced herself, ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, instructor Bai. I¡¯m Fang Tianmeng. Mid-stage Soul Ancestor. Previous fifth year student in class four of the fire section.¡±


    Up next was were the four males, the oldest one of them giving a scholarly smile when it was his turn. ¡°My name is Ouyang Yuyun.¡± His voice was charismatically magnetic, ¡°Mid-stage Soul Exalt and previous sixth year student of class three of the fire section. I¡¯ve heard of your name before, instructor Bai, please instruct us well.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, my turn my turn.¡± A younger boy next to him piped up straight away. He wore black robes and looked like he was twenty-one or twenty-two at most. His hair was slightly long and his bangs covered covered up his right eye almost. Contrary to his frail physique, his eyes shined brightly with vivacious spirit. It only took one glance to know that this was a lively male.


    ¡°I¡¯m Mo Chen, a mid-stage Soul Ancestor. Previous fifth year of class five. I¡¯ve always admired instructor Bai, that battle you had with instructor Zhou Yu and then the crafting segment was super cool!! I hope that one day, I¡¯ll become as amazing as instructor Bai is!¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll can become even stronger as long as you work hard.¡±


    The sixth student to speak was a robust young man dressed in white. Smiling kindly towards his classmates and Bai Yunfei, he spoke, ¡°My name is Dongfang Yuhui. Mid-stage Soul Exalt and previous sixth year student of class four.¡±


    Nodding, Bai Yunfei turned to the last one. He wore purple robes and had long hair, though his face was completely blank with emotions. He had been completely silent until it was his turn, speaking only a few impassive words to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Zhang Zhifeng. Peak late-stage Soul Exalt.¡±


    He was a man of few words. He said those few words and then nothing more.


    ¡­¡­


    And now that he was done with the introductions, Bai Yunfei now had a decent grasp on each of the seven students and their personalities. Nodding, he spoke, ¡°Very well. Now that we all know each other now, I hope that we¡¯ll get along with each other as I teach the art of crafting to you all.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly remembered, ¡°Before I forget, everyone please take out your assigned ¡®work¡¯ and hand them to me.¡±


    Clearly prepared for this, each of the seven students took out pieces of paper from their space ring. Some of them had over ten pages, some only a few, but they all handed their portion over to Bai Yunfei.


    Now that Bai Yunfei had the ¡®homework¡¯ all together, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°I¡¯ll take a good look over them later. The insights you had over my crafting will be my first evaluations of you all.¡±


    ¡°Furthermore,¡± Bai Yunfei added on, ¡°since this is my first assignment for you all, I will have a reward for the one I deem being the best.¡±


    ¡°Reward?!¡± This caught everyone¡¯s attention.


    It was Mo Chen who spoke up first, ¡°What kind of reward, instructor Bai?¡±


    ¡°Haha, since this is the crafting class, of course it¡¯ll be a soul armament. Hm¡­.I can let you see it, I suppose. This will be the prize.¡±


    His right hand shook once, retrieving a golden longsword that shined brilliantly in the light.


    A sheen of sharp light exuded from the blade. Everyone was entranced by it; even the strongest one there, Mo Wanxia, couldn¡¯t help but speak out in amazement, ¡°This soul armament¡ªis it a¡­.heaven-tier¡­.?¡±


    ¡°Correct. This is a low-heaven tier metal-type soul armament. This will be the first reward I will give.¡±


    A heaven-tier soul armament as a reward!!


    It had been upgraded to +10 beforehand and had a +10 additional effect of further increasing its attack, allowing it to be strong enough to be considered a heaven-tier. Although it wasn¡¯t much in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, it was definitely quite something in the eyes of anyone else¡­.


    ¡°Ah!! Instructor Bai, I suddenly just remembered I forgot to write some things down. Can I have my paper back, I¡¯ll give it back as soon as I write them down!¡±


    Mo Chen broke the silence as he pleaded with Bai Yunfei. The one who had written down the least amount of things had been him.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°I cannot. Since I¡¯ve collected them already, it will be a fair evaluation this way.¡±


    He chuckled when he saw the mournful look on Mo Chen¡¯s face. Putting away the sword and clapping his hands, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°We can start class for today then. I will be teaching you the most fundamental of things today, so let us go to a place more suitable to have class.¡±


    Silent, everyone stared at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Instructor Bai, aren¡¯t we going to learn here?¡± Asked Fang Tianmeng.


    ¡°It¡¯s unsuitable here. We¡¯ll go to a different place to craft soul armaments.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head again.


    He turned around to walk out the building and to the left. Confused, the students followed suit.


    Hurrying up next to Bai Yunfei, Mo Chen asked, ¡°Instructor Bai, where are we going?¡±


    Bai Yunfei pointed ahead, ¡°To that mountain.¡±


    ¡°Behind? Why are we going there?!¡± Mo Chen¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°To dig a hole!¡±


    ¡°.....¡±

 Chapter 557: Dig a Hole!

    A giant expanse of forest and mountain laid behind Tianhun Academy and a part of it inside the Capital.


    The most noticeable thing about this area was the five hundred meter tall mountain peak that the students of Tianhun Academy called ¡®Back Mountain¡¯. The mountain was the only thing that separated Tianhun Academy from the wilderness beyond.


    Both sides of the academy had actually forests, but those were very general types of forest while the wilderness behind the mountain was considered quite ¡®special¡¯.


    That was because it had soulbeasts.


    Soulbeasts that were ¡®born and raised¡¯ within a small expanse of land!!


    They were there for students of Tianhun Academy to prepare on. It was the students who benefitted the most from this forest and mountain combination. Any student below the sixth year could come here, train, and get experience.


    There weren¡¯t many soulbeasts in this area either. The level and amount of soulbeasts were quite evenly distributed, and the ecosystem in this area was essentially self-sustaining.


    In general, the class six soulbeasts were carefully handled by the academy, and not many flying capable soulbeasts were had here (For the sake of internal safety within the Capital). The perimeter of the forest had its watchers, and there were also people within the forest that watched over it.


    There were legends that the strongest of the academy, such as the chairman or assistant chairman had their soulbeasts ¡®stationed¡¯ inside the area to watch over the other soulbeasts and let everyone live peaceful lives.


    Even students coming to the mountains couldn¡¯t kill soulbeasts unless necessary.


    People didn¡¯t come here to the mountains to train often. So for the most part, the mountains didn¡¯t have many people here, most of them being students from the younger years. Most of them were deathly afraid of this place, as it was one of the rumors that several of the younger year students once traveled up the mountain, only to be killed by a soulbeast¡­..


    ¡­¡­


    Today was a special day, however. Eight figures traveled from the back of the academy all the way up to the mountain.


    These eight were exceedingly quick. Every leap they made was at least ten meters traveled, scaling up the mountain with great speed. What should¡¯ve took the normal person half a day to climb had instead taken less than a minute to reach the top.


    These eight were Bai Yunfei and his students.


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop at the very top of the mountain. It was a rather spacious mountain point with about fifty meters of area with a small platform of sorts already there that seemed to scale upwards like stairs to the highest point of the peak.


    At the peak was another small area of thirty meters or so made from seemingly very durable stone.


    Bai Yunfei looked around the area, pleased with what he was seeing.


    One could see the entire academy and even farther beyond from above. From the buildings to the streets, Bai Yunfei could even see a magnificently large palace¡ª the Imperial Palace where the Royal Family lived.


    This point of the mountain was tall enough to have a layer of clouds and mist cover it. With the additional coverage of wind blowing here and there, the average person would¡¯ve been unable to endure the cold temperatures. But for soul cultivators like Bai Yunfei and his students, this type of weather wasn¡¯t anything much. In any case, this place would soon become a ¡®warm¡¯ place, and the clouds and mist would be expelled.


    The students looked incredulously at Bai Yunfei, unsure of what he was thinking about. Mo Chen was the first to speak up, ¡°Instructor Bai¡­.what are we doing here?¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked back to the students with a smile. ¡°This is where we¡¯ll be having our classes from now on.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    His words had a petrifying effect on them.


    Could it really be? Classes here of all places?


    None of the students could even respond to Bai Yunfei, stunned by his answer.


    ¡°Yes, this place will do. I¡¯m quite pleased with it, class will be held here from now on.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. Since he was teaching the art of crafting, he had to pass on the customs of the Crafting School and sought out for a place to create a ¡®crafting hole¡¯ for the class.


    But none of the students could believe it. With her eyes practically bulging out, Mo Wanxia declared, ¡°Are you kidding?! We¡¯re going to have classes here? In the middle of nowhere?!¡±


    Nodding almost as if it was to be expected that he should answer this way, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°This will be the crafting class¡¯ territory. The chairman has allowed me to choose anywhere I¡¯d like for classes. I¡¯ll speak with him the next time about the arrangements. From now on, whether it¡¯s for classes or for training, it¡¯ll be done here.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    When the students realized he wasn¡¯t joking, they all stared incredulously around the area as if trying to make sense of what could be done here.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s begin now. We can start class after we¡¯re done.¡± Bai Yunfei clapped his hands before walking to the nearby cliff wall.


    ¡°Done with what?¡±


    ¡°Digging a hole, didn¡¯t I say so?¡± Bai Yunfei quipped.


    ¡°......¡±


    Whilst everyone was still staring bemusedly at him, Bai Yunfei was already standing next to the wall, his hand touching at the stone to check its durability. Nodding, he gave a step back and then punched at the wall firmly.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a muffled boom and minor tremor in the ground as Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist slammed against the wall. It hadn¡¯t been very powerful, all things considered, but the stone in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist gave away to reveal a three meter deep ¡®cave¡¯.


    ¡°Ah? It¡¯s that durable?¡± Bai Yunfie remarked in surprise. He hadn¡¯t thought the mountain would be that firm. Staring at his own handiwork in displeasure, Bai Yunfei turned to Xiao Qi on his shoulder, ¡°Xiao Qi, please help out.¡±


    ¡°Chirp chirp!!¡±


    Chirping twice in confidence of itself, Xiao Qi flew into the air while Bai Yunfei stepped back. There was a glow of green light from the bird before it grew larger into the size of a large roc. Beating its wings once, Xiao Qi summoned a twister about several meters in diameter to strike exactly onto the area where Bai Yunfei hit. Dust and stone cracked away from the wall as the twister bore into the wall before trailing off.


    Once all of the wind had cleared away, everyone could see that the hole in the wall was now a cave about five meters wide and at least twenty meters deep.


    Satisfied, Bai Yunfei petted Xiao Qi when it landed back on his shoulder, ¡°Not bad, thank you.¡±


    He turned back to the still mystified students behind him. ¡°This will be our crafting cave from now on. Feel free to start making your own crafting cave.¡±


    As if bewildered by this, the students looked at each other, unsure of what to do or think.


    ¡°Haha!! Interesting¡ªI¡¯ll go first then!! I¡¯m going to choose the best spot!!¡±


    Speaking up suddenly as if ¡®enlightened¡¯, Mo Chen leaped almost impishly at the chance to take part in this interesting activity. Charging forward to about ten meters away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s cave, he swung his right arm around and around, charging up elemental fire with each revolution. And when his fist was entirely ablaze with elemental fire, he lashed out to give a furious punch!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The resulting sound was quite loud, and the entire mountain top seemed to quake. Larger pieces of stone and dust flew through the air, revealing a surprised Mo Chen.


    Right in front of him was a hole about four or five meters wide¡ªa hole that went straight through the entire mountain!


    Sunlight could be seen from the other side of the mountain, and also a faint breeze. Mo Chen had punched straight through the entire mountain!!


    ¡°Haha! My bad my bad! I used too much strength, instructor Bai¡­.what should we do?¡± Mo Chen rubbed his head in embarrassment.


    ¡°....¡± Bai Yunfei quirked his lips, ¡°I brought you all here to dig a hole, not blow parts of the mountain off. What do you think you should do?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Mo Chen flushed, his hand scratching his hair. ¡°Oh!! I know an earth-type instructor, he¡¯s amazing! We can have him seal up the hole!!¡±


    The realization that Bai Yunfei might be ¡®troubled¡¯ by his actions led to Mo Chen coming up with a method to undo the damages. And before Bai Yunfei could say anything, Mo Chen scampered off.


    A little speechless by Mo Chen¡¯s actions, Bai Yunfei turned back to other students. ¡°You should all get started, and keep in mind your strength. We don¡¯t want the mountain collapsing¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­.¡± Everyone replied. Now that they were given an example of what to do and what not to do, they all spread out to create their own ¡®hole¡¯.


    ¡°You there! What are you doing?! Do you not know that entry to Back Mountain is limited?!¡±


    An exasperated voice called out to the group, resulting everyone jumping where they stood. Turning around to look, they all saw a figure in black fly towards them to the mountain top.


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow; he hadn¡¯t felt this person approach them at all. And since this person wasn¡¯t using elemental energy as platforms to leap from, that meant this person was¡­.a Soul King!!

 Chapter 558: Unrivalled Swordsman

    Bai Yunfei felt his heart skipped a beat, his body preparing for battle at the arrival of the Soul King. He exhaled slowly, his mind pointing out to him that this person was most likely not an enemy, with how he spoke before coming and did not have any signs of hostility to him.


    The figure touched down not too far away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s group, and when Bai Yunfei had a good look at who the person was, he was taken aback¡­.


    This person was¡­.quite weird.


    He looked like a man in his forties and wore dirty gray robes¡ªthough Bai Yunfei would wager that the robes had once been white and was eventually turned gray with time. He wasn¡¯t tall and was a little more on the frail side. His hair, a grizzly white, was a mess behind his head. Compared to his rather large nose and pointy chin, the man¡¯s eyes were relatively small, though he tried his best to give everyone an angry look. The pensive light in his eyes only made him look quite strange though.


    If Bai Yunfei had to describe this man¡¯s appearance with just one word, he¡¯d have to say the man looked¡­.wretched.


    Especially wretched.


    The type of man that one could probably see tricking kids out of their tanghulu from a corner somewhere, but he was a soul King.


    Even more particular to this person was the 1.7 meter dark-blue longsword tied to his back.


    The sword was practically longer than the man was tall. Tied to his back with a dirty black sash, the sword hilt loomed over his head while the tip of the sword was nearly poking the ground. In fact, the sword was a little lopsided when he landed, and his hand reached up to tightened the sash as if to adjust it.


    It was strange, was it not? A soul cultivator should have a space ring or two, so there wasn¡¯t a point to having this sword being out in the open aside from just one reason alone: to show off.


    Clearly, this sword was a magnificent one. Just from the looks alone, Bai Yunfei knew the sword was beyond extraordinary. It was a heaven-tier soul armament for sure, possibly a mid-heaven or even¡­.a high-heaven tier one!


    A Soul King showing off such a magnificent sword like this was a little...annoying.


    ¡­¡­


    While everyone was looking at him in shock, the man in turn looked over at everyone else. His eyes first landed upon Bai Yunfei before sweeping over to the permafrost mastiff with a suspicious glint.


    ¡°Eh? This soulbeast is a class se¡ª¡±


    ¡°Uncle Wu!! What are you doing here?¡±


    Suddenly, a surprised voice spoke out¡ªit was Mo Wanxia who had spoken to this middle-aged man.


    Tearing his eyes away from the mastiff to look at Mo Wanxia, the man looked surprised, ¡°Oh? It¡¯s you, little Mo?! What are you doing here?¡±


    His eyes wandered up and down Mo Wanxia a little more, ¡°Ah, yes. Only a year it has been, but you¡¯ve grown a great deal prettier. And you¡¯ve matured greatly, especially in the chest area, not bad¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    His words had brought the other people listening to him to nearly do a faceplant, their eyes staring strangely at this vulgar man.


    ¡°Uncle Wu¡ªyou!!¡± A streak of red flashed across Mo Wanxia¡¯s face, ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be dignified as an elderly person, why can¡¯t you act your age!?¡±


    Scratching at his frazzled hair, the man laughed, ¡°How am I not dignified? You¡¯re always so uptight, little Mo. Do you not like being called pretty? I remember how mischevious you were when you were young. You¡¯d climb up onto my neck and wet yourself! And now look at you all grown up!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The crowd barely held their laughters in.


    Practically red like a tomato, Mo Wanxia¡¯s eyes looked like they were about to spit fire almost. And just ever so slightly, Bai Yunfei felt a hint of murderous intent rise from her¡­.


    ¡°Cough cough!!¡± Realizing that she was about to blow up with anger, Bai Yunfei decided to act like a teacher and ¡®mediate¡¯. Coughing twice, he bowed to the elderly man, ¡°Might I ask who this senior is¡­.?¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes landed on Bai Yunfei next, his eyebrows furrowed together. ¡°Who are you? I¡¯ve never seen you before, don¡¯t you know who I am? I am the assistant chairman, the one who oversees the students and instructors, how do you not know me?!¡±


    This middle-aged man spoke quite like how an old man would speak. How bizarre.


    ¡°Assistant chairman?!¡± Bai Yunfei repeated; he remembered that Mo Huangkong had two assistant chairmen to help him govern the academy, but he just never made the connection that this man in front of him would be one of those said ¡®assistant chairmen¡¯.


    Fang Yong took that moment to whisper to him, ¡°Instructor Bai, that¡¯s one of the two assistant chairmen, Wu Dijian¡­.¡±


    ¡°Wudi Jian?!¡± Bai Yunfei nearly choked on his own spit¡ªhow lowly can his person get?!


    TL Note: Another pun. ÎâµÏ½¨ (Wu Dijian) sounds the same as Î޵мú (Wudi Jian), or ¡®Cheap/Low without equal¡¯


    ¡°Indeed!! I am Wu Dijian!¡± He straightened his back to stand stall. ¡°The one people call the handsome, elegant, confident, graceful, and without equal, the ¡®Unrivalled Swordsman¡¯, is I! Little one, are you a new student of the academy?! You¡¯ll be scrubbing the bathrooms for three months if you don¡¯t know me, are you prepared for that?!¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Fang Yong took the time again to ¡®explain¡¯ to Bai Yunfei. ¡°People say that the sword on chairman Wu¡¯s back is a high-heaven tier soul armament. It¡¯s his most precious treasure, and even though he¡¯s a mid-stage Soul King, he can kill a late-stage Soul King with that sword¡¯s strength. He calls himself the ¡®Unrivalled Swordsman¡¯, but his skill with the sword is really good. I¡¯ve never even heard of anyone beating him before¡­.¡±


    ¡°Unrivalled Swordsman??¡± This time, the smirk on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was noticeable. He couldn¡¯t help it. A nickname like that didn¡¯t really¡­.fit with the person¡­.


    ¡°As long as you know me! Be sure to remember it!¡± Wu Dijian spoke. Taking Bai Yunfei to be the ¡®leader¡¯ of the group, he said, ¡°Kid! You never told me who you are! And furthermore, don¡¯t you know permission is required to enter the Back Mountain?!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Bowing respectfully, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°This junior is Bai Yunfei. Please forgive this junior for not recognizing senior Wu right away. This junior is the instructor of the new crafting class, and these are my students. This place is a far more suitable place to learn the art of crafting.¡±


    This man was an assistant chairman and senior to Bai Yunfei. By all rights, Bai Yunfei needed to be polite to him.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei? The crafting class?¡± Wu Dijian repeated to himself, ¡°You¡¯re the instructor of the crafting class? The Bai Yunfei being spoken about in the last few days?¡±


    ¡°I am, senior.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Oh ho, so it is you! I heard you were a young one, but I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d look like this¡­.¡± Wu Dijian nodded his head as he gave Bai Yunfei a second lookover.


    ¡°....¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to think¡ªwhat was he supposed to look like?


    ¡°You¡¯re having classes here, you said?¡± Wu Dijian asked.


    ¡°Yes. The chairman said I could choose whichever place I wanted. So I decided to come here to excavate a few caves for my students to use.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is that right?¡± Wu Dijian seemed to accepted his answer far better than the students had, hinting that he had some knowledge on how the Crafting School worked. ¡°In that case, feel free to do so. You¡¯re not a weak one, you should be able to handle any soulbeast that might come your way.


    ¡°Continue as you are then, I¡¯ve matters to discuss with the chairman, so I¡¯ll be taking my leave.¡±


    Readjusting his longsword again, Wu Dijian folded his hands and flew into the air to fly away.


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Dijian¡¯s interruption had been a brief interlude in Bai Yunfei¡¯s plans. But now that he was gone, the students were free to situate themselves by the wall and carve out a cave for themselves. Explosions and dust were continuous throughout the day as the students each had their own different method of digging a hole.


    As they worked, two rays of light were flying straight up the mountain from the ground below. One of the streaks was Mo Chen, and the other was seemingly the earth-type instructor Mo Chen talked before. Somehow, that instructor had actually come to help them¡­.

 Chapter 559: The Earth-type Instructor, Xiao Nan

    Soon, the two streaks of light came to a stop on the top of the mountain.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, I¡¯ve brought help! He can help patch up the hole¡­.¡±


    Mo Chen scratched his head with a chuckle, ¡°Instructor Bai, this is instructor Xiao, instructor for the fifth year earth section students of class three.¡±


    He nodded to the other man, ¡°Instructor Xiao, this is instructor Bai.¡±


    The man smiled and bowed towards Bai Yunfei. ¡°It is nice to meet you, instructor Bai. I am Xiao Nan, a fellow instructor. It¡¯s an honor to meet you, instructor Bai. You are a talented individual of your generation...haha.¡±


    This man looked to be in his thirties and wore a brown colored robe. Standing at about 1.8 meters tall, Xiao Nan had short black hair and a rugged face. His looks were rather average, though he did look mature and earnest. His eyes shined also with a warm light, making him seem like a fairly approachable person.


    Bai Yunfei returned the bow, ¡°You flatter me, instructor Xiao. I am but a regular person¡­.thank you for taking the time to come, instructor Xiao.¡±


    Xiao Nan waved his hand, ¡°You¡¯re too kind, this is but only a small matter, no need for thanks, instructor Bai. What exactly is your class doing here, if you mind me asking?¡±


    He could see the holes all over the mountain wall, he just couldn¡¯t understand the reasoning behind them.


    Mo Chen answered him first, ¡°This is the crafting caves for our class, we¡¯ll be learning how to craft in here.¡±


    ¡°.....¡± Not sure how to respond, Xiao Nan smiled. ¡°Well¡­.your crafting class is quite¡­.special.¡±


    ¡°Haha, instructor Xiao, I¡¯m embarrassed by this poor showing. The process of crafting is rather special and will affect the other students in the academy. That¡¯s why I chose this place, it¡¯s isolated and is quite suitable to learn how to craft here.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Xiao Nan nodded in understanding. ¡°in that case, what can I help you with?¡±


    He looked up at the eight holes all already excavated. What exactly did Bai Yunfei want?


    ¡°Instructor Xiao, over here over here.¡± Mo Chen tugged at his sleeves to walk him over to the hole he made. ¡°This¡­.I was hoping instructor Xiao would help me seal up this hole, hehe, if you could please!¡±


    Perhaps it was because of his relationship with Mo Chen, but Xiao Nan didn¡¯t rebuke the young boy straight away. ¡°Ah,¡± he laughed, ¡°is this your doing? It¡¯s a little¡­.over the top, don¡¯t you think? When will you ever learn to curb your impulses?¡±


    Mo Chen scratched his head with a sheepish laugh.


    From the way they spoke to one another, one could tell they were both on good terms with each other.


    Xiao Nan nodded his head soon afterwards, ¡°This won¡¯t be a problem then, leave it to me.¡±


    ¡°Thank you instructor Xiao!¡±


    Chuckling again, Xiao Nan walked up to the cave and pressed his hand to the wall.


    There was a flash of orange light before his soulforce spiked from his body, drawing in the ambient elemental energy in the area. Elemental earth started to materialize in front of him before enveloped around his person.


    ¡°What abundant elemental earth!¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself in surprise.


    The elemental earth Xiao Nan was gathering to him gave Bai Yunfei the feel of him becoming as indestructible as stone. Xiao Nan¡¯s strength was already a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, but his soulforce was far beyond what any peak late-stage Soul Exalt should be normally capable of.


    Was¡­.was he already a Soul King?!


    A sparse few seconds later, Xiao Nan¡¯s eyes flew open from within his orange circle. The hand pressed against the cliff shook before orange light traveled down from his arm and into the mountain!


    ¡°Bzzz!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought it was a mistake at first, but there was a buzzing sound coming from...underneath!


    The entire mountain point was shaking!


    Simultaneously, a large amount of elemental earth bled into the mountain and turned the surrounding hundred meters into a shining area of orange light. From what Bai Yunfei could sense, the earth was growing seemingly alive as it started to move.


    ¡°Crack, crack¡­..¡±


    There were a few crackling sounds from the hole Mo Chen made as the area around the opening started to rumble. Clods of earth started to form from the orange light, the opening slowly starting to close up as more and more earth started to replace what had once been air. In time, the opening was closed with the other side now a regular stone wall with orange light occasionally shining from it.


    Mo Chen¡¯s cave hadn¡¯t been the only part that had been changed, At the same time Xiao Nan was sealing up the cave, the entire mountain point was shaking almost like the ripples in water. It persisted for several minutes before finally stopping.


    The light gradually faded away from the area, leaving Xiao Nan standing there next to the cliff wall. Setting his arm down, Xiao Nan sighed as he had his soulforce recede back into his body. Now that he was done, Xiao Nan still didn¡¯t even look tired.


    Probing at the cliff with his own soulsense, Bai Yunfei was amazed to find that the mountain was exactly the same. But at the same time, there was something special now that wasn¡¯t there before.


    The entire mountain was¡­.more durable than before?


    The eight caves that had been rather haphazardly made before had been smoothed out. The walls were glossy, the space was wider by an inch, and the caves were far more durable-looking.


    In just a short few minutes, Xiao Nan had completely restructured the components of the earth on the mountain peak!


    Bai Yunfei was amazed, he had no idea that this type of manipulation was possible. Xiao Nan, as it appeared, was not a man to look down on.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, is this¡­.to your liking?¡± Xiao Nan smiled as he made his way back over.


    Bai Yunfei bowed towards him with a grateful smile, ¡°I really can¡¯t thank you enough, big brother Xiao. Crafting in this area will no longer be a problem, thank you!!¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to call me big brother, then don¡¯t mind me if I lay off the formalities. My friend, if there¡¯s ever anything you need that I can do, feel free to call upon me.¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± Bai Yunfei replied ¡®boldly¡¯, ¡°I¡¯ll lay off the formalities too then. If you ever need me for something, just say the word, big brother Xiao!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After chatting with Bai Yunfei for a few minutes, Xiao Nan said that he still had some students to assist and left the mountain.


    Bai Yunfei had a decent impression of Xiao Nan. Because of the fire instructor Zhou Yu, Bai Yunfei had initially a slightly negative bias towards the other instructors.


    Looking back at the seven students, Bai Yunfei waved his hand, ¡°Now that we¡¯re done with the holes, this place will be our ¡®base of operations¡¯ from now on. Come with me to my crafting cave first. I¡¯ll explain the basics of crafting as well as the basics of elemental fire manipulation.¡±


    The light in everyone¡¯s eyes glistened¡ªafter waiting for so long, they¡¯d finally be able to learn the art of crafting!!


    Without any further ado, the students followed Bai Yunfei into his crafting cave¡­.

 Chapter 560: How Unfortunate....

    Later that night, Bai Yunfei was back in his room in Zheng manor.


    Laid upon the table in his room was a single white stone that served as the only source of illumination for Bai Yunfei. In front of him were a stack of books, with one of them currently being read by him.


    This was the ¡®homework¡¯ he gave to the class.


    They were filled with the insights each of the student had about crafting when Bai Yunfei did it the other day.


    Today¡¯s class had gone pretty smoothly, if he had to say so for himself. He had been worried that he wouldn¡¯t do a good job of teaching, but as time went on, Bai Yunfei realized that it was actually a lot simpler than he initially thought.


    He just had to convey the meaning as clearly as he could so that the students could understand. They were very knowledgeable, just only not in the aspect of crafting. But with their great memory and capabilities of connecting the dots easily, the students were undoubtedly geniuses among their peers.


    By the end of class today, Bai Yunfei distributed several copies of the Art of Firebending to the students. In the aspect of fire manipulation, the Art of Firebending was top-notch. In other aspects, it wasn¡¯t as good as several other styles of training in elemental fire.


    In the end, the Art of Firebending was only just another way of how to manipulate elemental fire and several applications of said way. It wasn¡¯t revolutionary and it wasn¡¯t an esoteric secret. If he was to teach the class how to craft, then the Art of Firebending would definitely have to be given to them.


    It was Bai Yunfei¡¯s hope that the students would be able to almost master the Art of Firebending within the week.


    Such a request was quite demanding, but they were all extremely capable soul cultivators. Having a higher bar for geniuses was only natural.


    He had said that should they have even a rudimentary grasp of the Art of Firebending, he¡¯d let them try crafting a soul armament themselves the next class.


    The rate in which the seven were learning the art of crafting was already far better than what Bai Yunfei was capable of, but was that not what being a ¡®genius¡¯ meant? Their starting points were far different to Bai Yunfei with even the weakest of them being a mid-stage Soul Ancestor when they started.


    ¡­¡­


    After class ended earlier that night, Bai Yunfei went looking for Zheng Kai in the academy, only to find him sitting with a female student to ¡®teach¡¯ her how to control her soulforce. By the time Bai Yunfei left with Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei could see the sheer reluctance the female had about Zheng Kai leaving her. What in the world Zheng Kai had been teaching, he didn¡¯t know¡­.


    They returned to the manor after eating a simple dinner at a restaurant. And without further ado, Bai Yunfei headed into his own room to start reading through the ¡®homework¡¯.


    And what he was reading had beyond what he expected.


    In fact, they blew his expectations out from the water.


    Their understandings of what they saw from Bai Yunfei¡¯s crafting attempt had been exceedingly detailed in several cases. What many normal people wouldn¡¯t see, the seven had noticed. What supplementary Bai Yunfei used to stabilize the process, the seven were able to identify and roughly guess their usages. What fluctuations in his soulforce, the seven were able to tell. And what changes in elemental fire, the seven were able to see, describe, and even theorize about.


    Even Mo Chen, who wrote the least of the seven, had been able to concisely write about many different details on what happened.


    Bai Yunfei was in fact starting to doubt if the seven of them had spent some time as a student of the Crafting School before.


    This was also to say that they held an exceedingly strong comprehensive ability on soul armaments and the art of crafting. And it also meant to say that the seven of them had fairly decent talent for the art.


    Had they¡­.once tried to take the examinations to enter the Crafting school before?


    It was a random thought Bai Yunfei had, but it wasn¡¯t a very slim chance either.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The final book he was reading had surprised Bai Yunfei immensely, and he was only on the first page of the book!


    There was about twenty pages to this book, and the more Bai Yunfei read, the more surprised he felt about it. In the end, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even put his praise into words.


    This book was¡­.so detailed!!


    From when he first placed down the Lightningfire Cauldron to the fluctuations in the air, to the formation of the heaven-tier soul armament, every single little detail had been written down!


    Every single change in the fire of the cauldron had been noted, the intensity of the flames measured, and the amount of differing materials categorized, sequentialized, and even theorized on their potential uses and combinations¡­..


    Not only was each step of the procedure written clearly, the author had also written in their own analysis and conjectures. Some details were even unclear to Bai Yunfei on how to answer.


    It was a complete and utter analysis on the crafting attempt Bai Yunfei did two weeks ago. Many of the conjectures the author came up with had been right for the most part, and as a whole, the book could practically be used as a teaching manual on the crafting process.


    Bai Yunfei made his decision as soon as he finished reading: This analysis was without a doubt the best homework given to him.


    He flipped the cover to look at who wrote it, but when he saw the name, Bai Yunfei froze in shock.


    ¡°Him?!¡±


    On the top right corner of the cover had two words written neatly on there¡ªYe Ming.


    The very same sixth year student from the lightning section that came up to Bai Yunfei before class today!!


    At some point during the day, Bai Yunfei had put his book together with the books of the other seven students. And Bai Yunfei had gone through them all.


    He had no idea that the one book that he¡¯d be most pleased with would belong to the only one that¡­.wasn¡¯t his student.


    ¡°What a shame!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed in disappointment before packing away the books.


    ¡­¡­


    Allowing his soulsense to scan his space ring, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knitted together when he felt something different, ¡°Right, nearly forgot about this¡­.¡±


    Shaking his right hand, Bai Yunfei took out a pile of things from his space ring and plopped them onto the table.


    These things belonged to the young man who he won against back in Casino Jin. The one man who had practically nothing but random trash to his name.


    Low-grade primal stones, even lower class soulgems, human-tier soul armaments, and even clothes¡­..¡¯trash¡¯ in almost every sense of the word.


    But Bai Yunfei looked over the pile of things he won with a pleased smile. Aside from wanting to put a complete stop to the young man¡¯s gambling addiction, Bai Yunfei had found something very ¡®special¡¯ among the pile of things he had¡­.


    After rummaging through the pile, Bai Yunfei took out a small ¡®white cloth¡¯ about thirty centimeters squared in size. On it were several black lines that crisscrossed with one another as if messily scrawled on.


    Placing the shabby looking cloth onto the table, Bai Yunfei stared pensively at it, ¡°Can¡¯t believe there¡¯s actually a second piece¡­.¡±

 Chapter 561: Mysterious Pattern

    Now that he had the piece of cloth in front of him, Bai Yunfei began to rummage around his person for a moment before finally pulling out a black cloth. Pulling the drawstring open, he overturned the bag and allowed for almost a hundred space rings to come clattering out onto the table.


    The Violet Soul Ring¡¯s effect allowed for it to store other space related equipment as long as the ones being stored didn¡¯t have a cumulative capacity larger than the Violet Soul Ring itself. At the beginning, Bai Yunfei was fine with storing them in there, but with time, the amount of space rings he had was far too many to store, and since he didn¡¯t have enough fingers, Bai Yunfei decided to just put them all in a bag around his person.


    And where did all these space rings come from? Spoils of war from those who tried to kill him, of course.


    His stunt in the Soulbeast Forest had been where most of his space rings were found. By scavenging all the ones where the Carnivorous Treeflies were around near the Crack in the Sky, Bai Yunfei had roughly two hundred of them.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head in dismay when he looked at the rings. One by one, he started his search.


    With each ring picked up, Bai Yunfei would have his soulsense peer into it and search around its inner contents. If it didn¡¯t contain what he wanted, he placed it to the side and replaced the ring with another. And another. Repeat¡­..


    It wasn¡¯t until nearly half of the space rings had been searched when Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Found it!¡±


    In the one space ring currently held in his right hand, there was a white piece of cloth that was of equally shabby make as the first one. There was grime and dirt on it, but the black scribblings on it looked quite strange still.


    This piece of cloth was extremely similar to the piece of cloth on the table!!


    ¡­¡­


    Back in the Crack in the Sky, Bai Yunfei had found this grimier piece of cloth among the space rings he found. At first, he figured it to be a ¡®map¡¯ of some sort and was excited to find out what it contained, and if it was a ¡®treasure map¡¯ of all things. But even after discerning the scribblings for a good part of the day, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t a clue about it. The markings on the cloth didn¡¯t match with any geographical terrain he was familiar with, and he couldn¡¯t see any type of ¡®path¡¯ to speak of.


    There was very clearly a bigger picture, so to speak, but whether it was a treasure map was still unknown. Finding the other parts of this cloth seemed impossible to Bai Yunfei, so he gave up on it and stored it away somewhere for him to eventually forget.


    But then the other night in Casino Jin, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes laid upon a near identical piece of cloth in the pile of things the young man had. It was only by accident that Bai Yunfei saw it, and he had first mistaken it for a regular handkerchief at first, but then he realized it looked very familiar to the piece he had in his own possession.


    The second piece to the cloth had came to him!!


    And that was why Bai Yunfei decided to play one last round with the man and took his items away.


    He had wanted to look into the strip that one night, but with the ambush on their way back to the casino and his ensuing injury, Bai Yunfei forgot about it until now.


    Now that he placed the two strips of cloth together, Bai Yunfei could confirm that they matched up to form a better picture. He could feel himself grow excited. Was this really a treasure map?!


    Bai Yunfei could at the very least confirm that the two pieces of cloth were by no means random or ordinary. Even if it wasn¡¯t a treasure map, it was still hiding another secret of sorts. The pattern on the cloth was¡­.definitely special in some way.


    At a detailed glance, Bai Yunfei could see that the two cloths matched perfectly together. The lines followed from one piece to the other and fitted perfectly!!


    Excited to an unnatural degree, Bai Yunfei felt his own guesses finally start to confirm themselves. There was definitely some type of ¡®treasure¡¯ behind this!!


    ¡°I can¡¯t¡­.believe I have so much luck like this!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exhaled slowly. He had heard many a stories where a person had found a legendary treasure map of sorts and found their treasure after searching so painstakingly hard after it. Those type of legendary stories had been ridiculed by many as being just myths, but here Bai Yunfei was with something ¡®similar¡¯, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t feel any more delighted about it.


    But after another ten minutes of looking, Bai Yunfei felt himself growing disappointed again¡­.


    The two pieces of cloth indeed matched with one another, but¡ªBai Yunfei still couldn¡¯t find anything familiar on it.


    If the writing on the cloth could be described as being ¡®scribbles¡¯ before, they were just undecipherable now.


    Furthermore¡­.


    ¡°It¡¯s still missing two pieces?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt helpless now. Though the pieces matched up with one another, Bai Yunfei could see that it was still incomplete as a whole¡­.


    If he wasn¡¯t wrong, there was still another two pieces left. This was a four-pieced map!!


    The disappointment hit Bai Yunfei greatly. The pieces of cloth still had no use like before. He was missing half the pieces, and so that meant he was no better than before. The map was useless.


    After a long sigh of sadness, Bai Yunfei decided to think about what the patterns could possibly represent, and what the pieces of cloth were potentially hiding. He had a few ways to try and guess: use soulforce to see if there¡¯d be a reaction, heat the cloth up, use water, expose it to the sun, or even try upgrading it, but none of them worked.


    ¡°Damn!! What a waste of time¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei cursed to himself out of disappointment. Throwing the pieces of cloth down onto the table, Bai Yunfei sat there to think. If he had found a second piece, who¡¯s to say there wasn¡¯t a third or fourth piece potentially in the remaining space rings he had? Perhaps there¡¯d be something that might help him divine its secrets¡­.


    But his search was pointless. Angrily flopping onto his bed, Bai Yunfei decided to sit down and train instead.


    ¡­¡­


    Because Mo Huangkong said that only one class per week was fine, Bai Yunfei was free to use the rest of that week to plan his next class. And since there was an entire week before the next one, Bai Yunfei could relax and take it easy until then.


    No longer needing to worry about fighting others for his eating and living, or having to worry about sudden ambushes or whatnot, Bai Yunfei was truly experiencing what life was like in Zheng manor as a ¡®young master¡¯. It was blissful to say the least. He could be changed with a life of his hand and fed with the opening of his mouth, and Bai Yunfei was sure that if he really wanted to bed one of the maids, there¡¯d be no problem with that.


    For the next few days, Bai Yunfei rarely ventured out from his room, preferring to stay there to either train or to study a few things such as the Illusion Stone and how to control it. He had already a decent over it.


    Preparations for his next class was already done as well, with most of the lesson plan thought out and prepared for.


    Zheng Kai would come by every so often, each time wanting to head out with him. Because of the most recent ambush outside of Casino Jin, the curfew his family imposed onto him was even harsher than before. He was still only to head out with Bai Yunfei, but several other guards would accompany them too.


    There was also the one elder of his with the family name of Qin. Bai Yunfei had seen him before as the elderly man who was with him all the way back in Talus City. He hadn¡¯t known just how strong the man was before, but he did now. This man was an early-stage Soul King.


    With a Soul King as his guard, there was most definitely not a chance that Zheng Kai or Bai Yunfei would come across any further troubles.


    On the third day, Bai Yunfei had only just finished up his nightly training from before when he stepped outside to breathe in the fresh morning air. Zheng Kai chose then to pop into his courtyard with an excited smile.


    ¡°Haha!! Yunfei! Good news! We can finally head outside today!¡± He called out to him.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to say. Was him being able to head outside of the manor really ¡®good news¡¯? Bai Yunfei himself could at the very least head out whenever he wanted¡­.


    Curious, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Did your family ¡®lift¡¯ your curfew?¡±


    ¡°Nah,¡± Zheng Kai waved his hand, ¡°I¡¯m saying you can head outside to relax again. Hehe, you have to go, and I¡¯ll be there to ¡®look after¡¯ you.¡±


    ¡°I have to go?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°Why do I have to go?¡±


    Zheng Kai chuckled, ¡°Because¡­.someone¡¯s here to invite you to eat with them.¡±


    ¡°Oh? An invitation? From whom?¡±


    ¡°The first prince!¡±

 Chapter 562: The First Prince, Wu Ren

    ¡°The first prince?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed. ¡°The first prince wants to see me? What for?¡±


    Zheng Kai shrugged his shoulders, ¡°How should I know? I¡¯d guess he wants to get to know you? Or else he¡¯s trying to recruit you.¡±


    ¡°Recruit me?¡± Bai Yunfei was even more mystified, ¡°What value do I even have for that?¡±


    The first prince--the future sovereign of the empire--wanted to meet with him? And recruit him?


    ¡°You¡¯re really too modest, Yunfei,¡± Zheng Kai quirked an eyebrow, ¡°do you really think you don¡¯t have any ¡®value¡¯? You¡¯re an outstanding student from the Crafting School, instructor for the crafting class in Tianhun Academy, and a man capable of crafting a heaven-tier soul armament¡­.with ¡®value¡¯ like that, anyone would be more than willing to recruit you.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Bai Yunfei stroked his chin--had he really become a hot commodity to go after?


    ¡°What time did the prince want to meet? And where?¡±


    ¡°Today at high noon. He requested the meeting to take place at the Hundred Aliments.¡±


    ¡°The Hundred Aliments? Isn¡¯t that brother Jin¡¯s establishment?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the place.¡±


    ¡°I see. We should go together then¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei dipped his head, ¡°What...kind of person is the first prince?¡±


    He had seen the fourth and second prince already, and there was a huge difference in personality between the two. If he were to use those two princes as a measuring stick, how would the first prince differ?


    Zheng Kai thought for a moment on how to phrase his words, ¡°The first prince Wu Ren, he¡¯s going to be the next ruler of our empire. He¡¯s a sensible person and has the best training and education. He¡¯s always done what his Majesty Wu Hong has asked and has never failed at it. In terms of strength, his genius is something incredibly rare. In terms of him as a person, he¡¯s very kind hearted. Whether it¡¯s for the empire or for the people, he¡¯s served faithfully for them both. He once governed a province for a while and did extremely well. The people in that province loved him greatly. All in all, I believe the first prince will be a great ruler.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Bai Yunfei spoke. From what Zheng Kai was saying, this first prince was an incredible person.


    Zheng Kai nodded, ¡°Yes. Aside from him governing the commoners, he¡¯s very careful about all matters relating to the soul cultivator world. He¡¯s friends with people from every school, house, or clan. He also has a good eye for the strong and pays strict attention to those that he might need.


    ¡°He¡¯s actually quite similar to brother Huang Bin,¡± Zheng Kai chuckled, ¡°though brother Huang¡¯s nickname being the ¡®Temper Lord¡¯ isn¡¯t very comparable to the first prince, obviously. The first prince has countless guests at his door, many of them more likely to be Soul Exalts than not. The people the first prince tries to recruit have always been either insanely strong or fellow geniuses, meaning there¡¯s several Soul Kings in his circle¡­.¡±


    ¡°And how strong is the first prince¡­.?¡± Bai Yunfei just had to ask.


    ¡°He¡¯s thirty-seven right now, but he¡¯s a¡­.mid-stage Soul King!!¡±


    ¡°Mid-stage Soul King at the age of thirty-seven!!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped--that was a terrifying amount of talent the first prince had!


    The average soul cultivator would only be a Soul Ancestor by the age of thirty-seven! Being a Soul Exalt was more than enough to be considered strong, but becoming a Soul King--and mid-stage no less--was a rare feat to be seen in a single generation.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly how terrifying the first prince¡¯s talent is,¡± Zheng Kai agreed, ¡°there¡¯s a few other reasons for that level of strength though. He¡¯s the first prince after all, the resources he has available for him doesn¡¯t even need to be said. I heard that he was bathed in medicines over a thousand years old when he was born, and that he¡¯s been using high-grade primal stones to train. Whether it¡¯s in soul skill or personal skill, the first prince is by all rights where he should be.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Admiration filled Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Even though he had never met the prince, the man had his respect and Bai Yunfei could not wait to meet him.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei asked Zheng Kai for a few things more relating to the first prince to pass the time. And when it was nearly the designated time, the two departed from Zheng manor to reach the Hundred Aliments.


    He didn¡¯t bring the blue-eyes wyrm or the permafrost mastiff with him. He was seeing the first prince after all; so it stood to reason that there¡¯d be plenty of powerful people hidden there just in case anyone would dare try to hurt their charge. And with so many of those said people there, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to worry about anyone figuring out the circumstances behind the permafrost mastiff. So he only took Xiao Qi with him.


    This would be Bai Yunfei¡¯s second time coming to the Hundred Aliments. Before they arrived, Bai Yunfei had thought that the entire building would be reserved for the prince today, but when they got there, Bai Yunfei saw the entire place filled with people; and even the second floor was booming with noise just like normal. He stepped inside with Zheng Kai and was prompted by the greeters there by the door to follow them up to one of the private rooms on the second floor where the prince was waiting.


    Bai Yunfei felt himself rather humbled by the fact that the first prince was such a ¡®casual¡¯ person. But the fact that he didn¡¯t really feel like a prince due to that factor gave Bai Yunfei the impression that it¡¯d be pretty easy to get along with the man.


    He and Zheng Kai had only just arrived outside the room when the doors opened--the people inside had clearly felt their presence. Two beautiful maids held the door open and escorted Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai inside.


    The room was spacious and exquisite, the table inside already filled with plenty of fine delicacies and drink. A man with extraordinary aura sat at the middle, smiling as he watched Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai entered.


    The young man looked to be in his thirties and wore a simple white robe. While not exceedingly handsome, he held with him a aura of dignity (¡®kingly air¡¯ as the rumors might say), and the smile on his face didn¡¯t diminish that dignity in the slightest. His aura commandeered respect from people, though at the same time, he felt easy to approach and seemed quite kindly.


    This was without a doubt the main character of the room, the first prince of the empire, Wu Ren.


    Behind him stood a white-haired elder in purple and also a rather lazy looking young man in gray.


    Aside from those three, there was no one else in the room.


    Flashing Wu Ren a respectful smile, Zheng Kai bowed to the prince, ¡°Zheng Kai pays his respects to His Highness the First Prince.¡±


    Wu Ren didn¡¯t rise from his seat, but he acknowledged Zheng Kai¡¯s bow with a nod of his head. ¡°Haha, you¡¯re too kind, lord Zheng. Please, come and sit, you two.¡±


    He turned to Bai Yunfei next, ¡°And you must be Bai Yunfei? Your name precedes you. If today¡¯s invitation was a little presumptuous of me, please forgive me for that.¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt even more humbled by the absolute politeness of the first prince¡¯s words considering his relative station and strength. Bowing and cupping his hands to Wu Ren, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Bai Yunfei pays his respects to His Highness the First Prince. It is truly an honor to receive an invitation from the First Prince.¡±


    Once Bai Yunfei sat down with Zheng Kai, Wu Ren waved his hand for one of the maids to come. Ordering a few more dishes, he sent her off before smiling at his guests. ¡°I¡¯ve actually been wanting to meet with the esteemed genius of the Crafting School, but with so many incidents happening since your arrival in the Capital, those plans had to be put aside. Your acts in the past few weeks have been extraordinary, brother Bai. Haha, you set quite an example as a genius for all the others in your generation.¡±


    Just like his conversation with the second prince, Bai Yunfei was being deemed as a ¡®brother¡¯. Not like a blood brother, but one of equal station almost. It felt weird to be called such by the first prince, and so Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but respond meekly, ¡°The First Prince overestimates this one. In front of the First Prince, I am but nothing and not worthy of being called a ¡®genius¡¯. Not worthy at all¡­¡±


    Wu Ren laughed, ¡°A mid-stage Soul Exalt at your age, strong enough to defeat a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, and capable of crafting a heaven-tier soul armament. What other word could describe you but ¡®genius¡¯? If that cannot, there are truly no such things as ¡®geniuses¡¯ in this world then¡­.Furthermore, you managed to kill a Soul King when heavily injured in an ambush. Even I wasn¡¯t capable of doing such a thing when I was your age¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow. He knew that being the first prince, all happenings in the Capital would be known to him, but for him to know something like that was a little surprising.


    Wu Ren continued to speak before Bai Yunfei could say anything, ¡°Brother Bai. I actually invited you today so that I give you a welcoming gift of sorts.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to say--a welcoming gift before a proper conversation could even be had? Wasn¡¯t that a little too polite?


    Having not heard any complaints, Wu Ren spoke up rather carefreely, ¡°While I say it¡¯s a gift, it¡¯s more like some piece of information of sorts. That ice-type Soul King who ambushed you and Zheng Kai. I¡¯ve found him for you.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    This time, both Zheng Kai and Bai Yunfei cried out at the same time.

 Chapter 563: The Good Intentions of the First Prince (First)

    The ice-type mid-stage Soul King who had attacked him and Zheng Kai had been found?!


    Neither of the two had expected such a piece of information. The house of Zheng had been searching and investigating the entire time but had yet to find any solid trail or information.


    ¡°Is it true, First Prince?¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s face was solemn, ¡°Where is that man now?¡±


    ¡°Indeed it is,¡± Wu Ren nodded, ¡°We of the Tianhun School investigated the matter. He is currently south of this place in Baishan City.¡±


    Baishan City was a very far away city to the Capital, making it surprising that the Soul King had made it there¡­.how amazing the Tianhun School was if they could find even that man where the Zheng could not.


    Eyes shining, Bai Yunfei spoke up to the prince, ¡°If the First Prince has said the man has been found, has he been captured as well? Does he have any other companions or clues to his affiliation?¡±


    What Bai Yunfei was thinking was that if the Tianhun School had already located him, the Soul King wasn¡¯t able to run away. If he was in Baishan City, then that might¡¯ve been a base of sorts. And if he was from the Soul Refining School, then several more things could be inferred from there¡­.


    Knowing what Bai Yunfei was getting to, Wu Ren shook his head, ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, brother Bai, but unfortunately, we haven¡¯t had any other clues to follow.¡±


    ¡°What? Did he manage to escape?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡±


    ¡°Dead?! But how?!¡±


    ¡°He really is,¡± Wu Ren nodded his head, ¡°With the Tianhun School surrounding him, the Soul King chose to blow himself up along with¡­.two of our Soul Kings.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Neither Bai Yunfei nor Zheng Kai knew how to respond to that. A Soul King blowing themselves up!! The fact that such a person was willing to go through such lengths to ensure that they wouldn¡¯t be caught was simply terrifying to think about.


    The people of the Soul Refining School as it appeared, was not only merciless to other people, but to themselves.


    But at the very least, now that the person who had so grievously injured himself was dead, Bai Yunfei was relieved that there wouldn¡¯t be a second attempt from the man on his life or Zheng Kai. And that in itself was some semblance of good news¡­.


    Bai Yunfei cupped his hands towards Wu Ren again in thanks, ¡°Thank you for the information, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Haha, no need, no need. This has always been the responsibility of the Tianhun School. I merely wanted to do a small favor.¡± Wu Ren shook his hand, ¡°In any case, it was because of the negligence of our Capital¡¯s guards that you were hurt, brother Bai. We¡¯ve increased the patrols in the Capital in hopes that a repeat situation will not occur.¡±


    Seeing the pensive look on their faces, Wu Ren chuckled, gesturing at the delicacies on the table, ¡°Don¡¯t feel troubled by this, come, eat up and talk.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The three continued to talk to one another over the meals. Throughout the course, Bai Yunfei felt himself learning more about the first prince with their meal. From start to beginning, Wu Ren had been very easy to talk to. He had the grace of a prince while also remaining amiable. He wasn¡¯t very intimidating to talk to, and his treatment of his peers had been very genuine.


    The second prince, Wu Zhuo, in comparison was also equally friendly, but the second prince lacked the ¡®straightforward¡¯ nature Wu Ren had. With Wu Zhuo, it was possible to know and speak with him, but with Wu Ren, the man was someone one could be good friends with.


    That was only their first impression, however. Their true personalities had yet to be seen, so a final conclusion could not be made.


    After the third round of drink and fifth order to food, Wu Ren suddenly asked Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, do you have a place to live in the Capital yet?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°I¡¯ve been living with the Zheng since my arrival.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that I know.¡± Wu Ren nodded, ¡°But as an instructor of Tianhun Academy, surely you should find a place where you can live in the long term? Do you plan to live with the Zheng forever?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to respond. He hadn¡¯t thought about this problem before, but living for even several months to a year there wouldn¡¯t be a wise thing to do.


    Zheng Kai slapped Bai Yunfei on the shoulder, ¡°Is that something wrong? Yunfei, it¡¯s no problem if you stay with my family. Stay however long you like, we¡¯re brothers aren¡¯t we?¡±


    Wu Ren smiled, ¡°While that may be, I¡­.feel that it¡¯s best if Yunfei gets a place to call his own. It¡¯ll be more convenient and freeing for him.¡±


    ¡°First Prince, do you possibly mean that¡­¡± Zheng Kai started to speak.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared a place of residence near the academy on North Seventh Street, if Yunfei would like it.¡± Wu Ren spoke. ¡°Though the academy has room and board for their instructors, I feel that this residence will suit you just fine. It¡¯s not big, but it¡¯s special and close to the academy. Even if you don¡¯t return to it every day, it¡¯s still a fine place to rest in every once in a while. You¡¯ll enjoy it, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    The generosity of the prince was surprising to Bai Yunfei, ¡°I¡­.thank you for your generosity, First Prince. But I cannot accept a reward I didn¡¯t deserve. I¡­.¡±


    Wu Ren cut him off, ¡°Don¡¯t refuse it, Yunfei. It¡¯s merely a room to live in and not some sort of precious treasure. What kind of ¡®reward¡¯ would this be? You are an instructor of Tianhun Academy, you are teaching the next generation of geniuses of the empire. This is a great deal of accomplishment. I¡¯ve the address of your place here, everything will be prepared for you when you decide to live in it.¡±


    He slid a slip of paper over to Bai Yunfei. ¡°As I said before, the room isn¡¯t too large, but it¡¯s still large enough to need people to clean it. There aren¡¯t any maids now, but if you want to hire any, I can arrange that for you.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been thinking that Wu Ren was trying to spy on him, but if no maids were hired yet, that meant Wu Ren wanted to avoid such a thought by being considerate.


    Bai Yunfei hesitated for a moment, but he took the paper anyways. ¡°I will accept it then. Thank you for your generosity. I have no need for servants, I enjoy being left to my own devices.¡±


    Now that he thought about it, living in Zheng manor continuously wasn¡¯t a good thing. It was also inconvenient for him, since nothing he could do there would be a secret, it¡¯d be better if he could limit the amount of people around him.


    So if the first prince was willing to give him a place, Bai Yunfei would accept it.


    ¡­¡­


    The meal finished a while after with everyone leaving the restaurant with a smile on their faces.


    As the time came for them to say goodbye, Wu Ren suddenly spoke to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, my fourth brother¡­.is an impulsive one, but he isn¡¯t bad. I know there¡¯s some friction between you and him, but I hope that you¡¯ll see past that.¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected Wu Ren to suddenly bring up Wu Yang. ¡°You¡¯re far too serious with your words, First Prince. There¡¯s no such conflict between the Fourth Prince and I.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then. I hope that you¡¯ll...look after my fourth brother well in the future.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    His words puzzled Bai Yunfei. What did he mean by that?


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going then, Yunfei!¡±


    Zheng Kai spoke up to him.


    Bai Yunfei turned his head to Zheng Kai who looked expectantly at him, ¡°Where to?¡±


    Zheng Kai smiled. ¡°We rarely get the chance to go out, let¡¯s go somewhere fun before heading back. Come on, I¡¯ll take you somewhere interesting.¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew suspicious--what kind of interesting place? Where he was going to take him now?

 Chapter 564: Underground Ring (Second)

    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!!¡±


    The sounds of fist hitting flesh could be heard on top of a twenty-meter squared stone platform as two bare chested men fought it out against each other on it.


    One of the males was in his twenties while the other in his thirties. Both of their muscles were exceedingly pronounced and far larger than the average size. Each punch or kick was made with formidable strength, and their battle against one another was exhilaratingly fierce.


    Soulforce blazed from each person intermittently--both of these fighters were Soul Warriors!


    A ring of seats surrounded the platform, with people to be seen cheering loudly on them. Like the combatants, the audience were also soul cultivators, some of them weak, some of them strong, but power aside, they were all yelling out at the fighters in the middle.


    This was an underground fighting ring!! One where soul cultivators fought!


    ¡­¡­


    On the right side of the ring where the most people could be seen, Bai Yunfei stared incredulously at Zheng Kai, ¡°Is this the ¡®interesting¡¯ place you were talking about?¡±


    Smiling as he watched the two Soul Warriors duke it out, Zheng Kai smiled, ¡°Hehe, yep, how about it? This is the only ring where soul cultivators can fight in the Capital. You can watch great battles here, and all sorts of battles can be seen. Even Soul Exalts fight here¡­.feeling excited yet?¡±


    Bai Yunfei did not. He eyed the audience around the place and then the two people in the middle with furrowed eyebrows, ¡°I don¡¯t quite like places like this¡­.¡±


    Just the sight of this place brought back unhappy memories.


    Zheng Kai blinked once, realizing just how he came to met Bai Yunfei in the first place. Rushing to fix his faux pas, he said, ¡°Ah, please don¡¯t misunderstand, Yunfei. This isn¡¯t what you¡¯re thinking. It¡¯s completely different to the ¡®Coliseum¡¯ back in Talus City. Only people who are willing can fight in this arena, and the battles aren¡¯t to the death. It¡¯s merely a place where you can share pointers with one another, and the winner receives a considerable amount of primal stones as a reward. One can fight another soul cultivator on even grounds so plenty of soul cultivators like to come here and fight. The audience are all regular soul cultivators that either like betting or just like the thrill of watching a fight, that¡¯s all.¡±


    He tried his best to explain the place as best as he could so that Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t think this was some sort of dark and unlawful place.


    ¡°I see¡­.¡± The expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s relaxed a bit. Then again, how could a place like the one back in Talus City exist right underneath the foot of the city where the Royal Family lived?


    In other words, this was merely a fair wrestling ring. It wasn¡¯t like the Coliseum where commoners are brought to fight to the death. Only soul cultivators could fight here.


    There was plenty of similarities between soul cultivators and commoners, as one could see from Casino Jin and now this wrestling ring.


    According to what Zheng Kai said, this was a place where everything was on the surface and lawful to operate. Furthermore, it seemed like it was rather popular in the Capital. Any soul cultivator or noble could come here and either take part or watch the festivities. One could learn from here, spar with another equally matched opponent, and win prizes necessary to train for. What could possibly be bad about this place?


    With those previous concerns of his now alleviated, Bai Yunfei decided to forget about those bad memories and follow Zheng Kai into the place.


    There wasn¡¯t just one arena to fight on. This specific location was pretty big and had at least ten rings to fight from. From a simple glance, the avenue looked like it could support over ten thousand people, meaning the owner was most likely a powerful person, or at least someone with considerable influence. Bai Yunfei could tell that most of the workers here were Soul Sprites at the very least, and some of the ones in charge of holding the peace were Soul Exalts.


    Those who were fighting in the rings were averaging to be Soul Warriors, though there were a few Soul Exalts fighting. Bai Yunfei could also see two Soul Ancestors fighting each other on a ring several hundred meters wide. The two of them were leaping here and there as they fought. They intentionally kept their strengths to a controllable amount so that it wouldn¡¯t hurt the audience, but the few bursts of elemental that would¡¯ve flown were stopped by the barrier, preventing it from harming the audience.


    Watching the people fight intensely and listening to the excited roars of the audience had started to make Bai Yunfei¡¯s own blood start to boil. With so many people watching each of the battles with relish, Bai Yunfei started to think that such a thing wasn¡¯t all too bad¡­.


    Zheng Kai noticed the change on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face with a smile. ¡°So? Yunfei, you starting to see the appeal of this place yet? We used to come here often, and brother Huang loved fighting here. He said plenty of strong people gathered here, though it was mainly our third brother that fought the most. He¡¯s considered the ¡®champion¡¯ here, since he always won against his opponents.¡±


    That surprised Bai Yunfei. Chen Qiantan was? He remembered hearing that the house of Chen trained in the near-extinct art of the ¡®Drunken Fist¡¯, and that it was supposedly unbeatable in close combat. He saw a tidbit of it outside the Capital, but it hadn¡¯t been very interesting to him at that point, so Bai Yunfei never really thought about the technique as a whole.


    Zheng Kai laughed, ¡°So how about it, Yunfei? Want to give it a try? You can fight straight away if you want, the master of the place will arrange the opponent for you. You¡¯ll get a prize if you win, I know you don¡¯t really care for prizes, but sparring isn¡¯t too bad. You can learn something from your spars without fear of injury or death here.¡±


    Bai Yunfei waved his hand, ¡°No need, I just want to watch. I don¡¯t have an interest in fighting.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei turned his head to watch the two mid-stage Soul Ancestors from before fight, a cry from elsewhere caught his attention.


    Looking over to the direction of the cry, Bai Yunfei saw in one of the more isolated rings a brawl start to break out among seven or eight people.


    Tensions and conflicts would always happen in places where soul cultivators gathered. Bai Yunfei already saw several isolated incidents happen on the way here, but they were always resolved rather fast. The people in this case were only Soul Ancestors, and with so many Soul Exalts here, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too worried about anything bad from happening.


    About to turn his head away again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eye caught onto the figure of one of the people caught in the middle of it all. Doing a double take, Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes and started to stride over.


    ¡°Eh? Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Noticing Bai Yunfei¡¯s abrupt change in interest, Zheng Kai called out and followed after him in concern.

 Chapter 565: Cowardice (Third)

    In the corner where the newest conflict was happening, about ten people were involved. A richly dressed Early-stage Soul Exalt in his thirties stood there with an elderly man behind him and five Soul Ancestor guards stood around in front of him. In the center of those five, two males and a female¡ªall of them Soul Ancestors¡ªstood there.


    The three of them were in rough shape. The twenty-something year old fair-skinned male was held by his throat up into the air by the richly dressed Soul Exalt, his face pale and his arms and legs flailing wildly. By his side,the twenty-year old girl had her right hand up to her lips in fright at the scene and frozen still to the spot. The third person was knocked to the ground, his face twisted in pain and anger as he rubbed at his throat.


    ¡°You dare try to play dumb with me, the great Cao Jun? Do you want to die, brat?!¡± The richly dressed man spat in disdain at the person whose throat he was grabbing onto. ¡°Don¡¯t think I can¡¯t make you disappear from this world if I want you to!¡±


    The eyes of the young man in his grasp were filled with fright. As a late-stage Soul Ancestor, he hadn¡¯t the strength to push away the Soul Exalt grasping his throat. As best as he could, the young man struggled and rasped, ¡°Do¡ªdon¡¯t kill me! Cough, p¡ªplease, don¡¯t kill me¡­.¡±


    The one known as Cao Jun seemed pleased with this reaction. With a sneer, he threw the man to the ground.


    ¡°Ah!! Zhe Hao, are you okay?¡±


    The young woman cried out, taking the young man into her arms in great concern.


    Cao Jun cracked a ridiculing smile at the actions of the young woman, his eyes filled with a lustful light.


    Smirking, he said, ¡°You better pay up the eighty mid-grade primal stones you promised. If you don¡¯t¡­.then don¡¯t blame me for anything that might happen!¡±


    The young woman patted the back of the coughing young man with one hand before looking furiously at Cao Jun, ¡°You clearly said before the match the stakes was for eighty low-grade primal stones, not mid-grade ones! You¡¯re being completely unreasonable you¡ªyou menace!¡±


    But Cao Jun only cackled in response. ¡°Don¡¯t quibble with me little girl. One must pay what one bets. We agreed on the stakes before hand that it¡¯d be for eighty mid-grade primal stones. If you don¡¯t pay that amount after I win, that won¡¯t do¡­.¡±


    ¡°You¡ª! You said low-grade primal stones to begin with, how am I quibbling? You¡ª!¡± Clearly not experienced or proficient at justifying themselves, the young woman had been so infuriated by the actions of Cao Jun that her face was flushed red like a tomato, and her eyes were filled with fire.


    But she could not make a clear and coherent retort after that.


    ¡°Bo-boss...please let us go. We¡¯ve never reneged on a debt before, but we clearly betted on eighty low-grade primal stones. We¡­.we are only normal soul cultivators, where in the world would we be able to get eighty mid-grade ones? Please don¡¯t¡­.don¡¯t embarrass us¡­¡±


    The one known as Zhe Hao finally managed to speak. His eyes were still filled with terror and his speech was weak. He was regretting taking part in this bet. It had been so exciting at first that he could fight with someone in an amiable and friendly bet like this, but then everything changed after he lost with the opponent asserting that the stakes had been for mid-grade primal stones. And with their opponents being the stronger ones, their intimidation tactics had completely terrified him.


    ¡°Quit your bullsh*tting in front of me!!¡± Cao Jun sneered, kicking Zhe Hao into the chest. With a sickening crack, Zhe Hao was sent tumbling away before spitting out a mouthful of blood!!


    Completely lacking a merciful bone in his body, Cao Jun had cracked one of Zhe Hao¡¯s rib bones with a kick!


    ¡°Do you or do you not want to die, brat?¡± An ominous glint entered Cao Jun¡¯s eyes.


    Zhe Hao¡¯s body trembled with pain and fear. Completely and utterly cowed, he muttered, ¡°Do¡ªdon¡¯t ki¡ªkill me pl¡ªplease¡­.¡±


    Curling his lips in a cold sneer, Cao Jun suddenly gave a charming ¡®smile¡¯. ¡°Since I am a generous and reasonable person, I¡¯ll give you the chance to live.¡±


    Terrorized into obedience, Zhe Hao brightened up at this seemingly golden chance. ¡°Tha¡ªthank you, boss! Thank you so mu¡ª¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t finished talking,¡± Cao Jun¡¯s smile grew wider as he pointed at the girl with him, ¡°You boys can leave, but leave the young girl. The girl will accompany me for one night and we can call it even.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Zhe Hao blanked. His response had broadsided him, and his face turned pale as a result, his lips trembling in confusion on what to do or how to respond to that.


    The young woman in question froze completely still from her kneeling position next to Zhe Hao.


    Moments later, Zhe Hao spoke again, his voice trembling, ¡°How¡­.how could we do that¡­? Boss¡­.please let us go¡­.¡±


    He had realized it then¡ªthis was the goal of the man the entire time!!


    The glint in Cao Jun¡¯s eyes intensified, ¡°You willing to bet if I can make it so you¡¯ll disappear without anyone knowing?¡±


    Again, Zhe Hao¡¯s body trembled under Cao Jun¡¯s glare. Sweat pooled over his forehead as he recognized the threat. This person could well and truly kill him!! He was a soul cultivator without any backing or power, how could he go against someone like him? No one would know if he died by the hands of someone like Cao Jun, would they?


    Fear like never before gripped at Zhe Hao¡¯s heart. This was a completely terrifying situation he found himself in. A trembling hand of his pushed himself off of the ground. Eyeing the young woman next to him with guilt, he¡­.turned around to leave!!


    He was complying with Cao Jun¡¯s ¡®request¡¯ and abandoning her to save himself!


    The young woman stood there transfixed with mute shock at what Zhe Hao had just done. She couldn¡¯t believe the person that had personally been trying to court her for so long¡ªand herself having a touch of a fancy for him in turn¡ª was willing to throw her behind so that he could escape.


    ¡°Zhe Hao!! What are you trying to pull¡ªare you a man or not! How can you abandon Tianmeng like this?!¡±


    An indignant voice boomed out from the second male on the ground besides them. His frail frame trembled with anger and disappointment as he watched Zhe Hao try to leave.


    ¡°Ye Yu¡­.I¡­.¡± Zhe Hao opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw the cold look in Cao Jun¡¯s eyes, his mouth snapped shut again. ¡°Ye Yu, we should leave¡­.¡± He replied meekly, ¡°We¡¯re only normal person, we can¡¯t win against someone like him. He¡­.he really can kill us, he will kill us¡­..no one will help us here¡­.we should just¡­.just leave...he won¡¯t hurt Tianmeng, she¡¯ll be back tomorrow, maybe¡­.¡±


    His voice grew meeker and meeker with each sentence spoken. Him trying to save the other male companion seemed to be his way of trying to lighten the guilt of his current actions, though his words were barely audible by the time he finished speaking.


    But Ye Yu gave him a glare filled with disappointment. He had finally discovered what kind of person his years-long friend was. ¡°It was you that brought us here¡ªit was you Tianmeng believed in that she decided to come here¡­.And now¡ªnow you want to throw her away like that¡­? And that she ¡®won¡¯t be hurt maybe¡¯?! How¡ªhow can you even say such crap?! I misjudged you!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.I didn¡¯t know this would happen! I only came here because I heard this place was exciting¡­.¡± Zhe Hao tried to argue, but just one look from Cao Jun was all it took to shut him up again. Looking down at the ground so as to avoid his companions stares, he turned and left the place in defeat.


    The young woman watched him as he left, her eyes brimming with tears of despair, her mouth already starting to cry out at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Seemingly enjoying this type of reaction from her, Cao Jun laughed jovially, ¡°A guy like that isn¡¯t worth crying over, little girl. Allow me to treat you right, tonight, you¡¯ll know what it means to have a ¡®real¡¯ man, hehe¡­.¡±


    Her delicate frame shuddered in fear as Cao Jun approached. Having never been in such a situation, her face was deathly white, unsure of what to do. All she could do was back away slowly.


    At that moment, a person came forward to put himself in between her and Cao Jun.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Tianmeng, I¡¯m here!¡± The youngster named Ye Yu spat, glaring hatefully at Cao Jun. ¡°You bastard! I won¡¯t let you hurt her! We¡¯re students of Tianhun Aca¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A fist slammed into his stomach before he could finish his sentence. As a mid-stage Soul Ancestor, Ye Yu was completely powerless to stop Cao Jun from acting. Staggering backwards in pain, Ye Yu coughed twice and was immediately apprehended by the men with Cao Jun, preventing him from getting back up again.


    ¡°Ah!! Ye Yu!!¡±


    Frightfully screaming out his name, the young girl moved to rush towards him, only to be stopped by Cao Jun and forced to move in another direction in her fear.


    A lascivious smile was now on Cao Jun¡¯s face. Delighted in the young girl in front of him, his right hand caressed at the cheek of hers.


    ¡°You¡¯d best let your mongrel of a hand stay by your side, or you¡¯ll be eating with your left hand for the rest of your life.¡±


    Suddenly, a calm voice spoke out to Cao Jun, freezing him in place.


    Eyes flying to the person who spoke, the young woman¡¯s eyes widened in shock at first, and then in joy, ¡°In¡ªinstructor Bai!!¡±

 Chapter 566: The Young Master Visiting From Baishan City (Fourth)

    There was an ominous expression as Bai Yunfei stalked forwards, his eyes looking at the tearful young woman in front of him. Comforting her with a smile, he spoke, ¡°Fang Tianmeng, what are you doing here, and what is happening?¡±


    This young woman was one of his students, the youngest one there, Fang Tianmeng!


    Seemingly bolstered in courage by the smile of his, she rubbed at the tears on her face, ¡°Instructor Bai, I¡­.¡±


    But before she could explain the situation, the coarse voice of Cao Jun interrupted her, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he stared Bai Yunfei down, ¡°How dare you you brat!? Don¡¯t poke your nose in where it doesn¡¯t belong! Keep out or you¡¯ll regret it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei held a hand up to stop Fang Tianmeng from speaking so he could turn to Cao Jun. He didn¡¯t need her to say it since he heard what was going on more or less. Cao Jun was a man who was abusing his station to bully those weaker than him. A common scenario Bai Yunfei saw many times before.


    Eyeing the other people with Cao Jun, Bai Yunfei then spoke, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    With his strength, there was no way Cao Jun would be able to see how strong Bai Yunfei was. ¡°I¡¯m saying you should keep your nose out!¡± He snorted, ¡°I see this girl, I want this girl. If you know what¡¯s best for you, get the f*ck out!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei leaned back to look at Zheng Kai incredulously, ¡°Are people like him¡­.common?¡±


    He was answered with a shake of his head. ¡°Not at all. I¡¯ve never seen anyone as arrogant as him.¡±


    Though many battles were fought here, most of them were generally only verbal or settled out in the ring. Zheng Kai was a frequent visitor of this place and yet even he rarely saw matters such as this.


    The mediators of the place had already taken notice of the conflict going on here and stood on standby to intervene if need be. If Cao Jun tried to take Fang Tianmeng away, they¡¯d immediately step in to stop him, but now that Zheng Kai was here, they stepped back, knowing that Zheng Kai would settle this himself.


    Zheng Kai turned to look at Cao Jun, who was bridling with anger already. ¡°Hey, you there. Which family are you from? I¡¯ve never seen you before, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re being too arrogant?¡±


    Cao Jun blew his top. ¡°Who are you?! Why are you sticking your nose where it doesn¡¯t belong? I¡¯ve the right to be arrogant, if you know what¡¯s good for you, scram or I¡¯ll turn you into a cripple!!¡±


    Wide-eyed, Zheng Kai pointed a finger to himself, ¡°Do you not know who I am?!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t wrong to look surprised. There weren¡¯t many in the Capital that didn¡¯t know who he was. Blinking a few times, he asked, ¡°Are you an outsider then?¡±


    Harrumphing, Cao Jun spoke, ¡°I am the young master of the house of Cao in Baishan City. I came to the Capital for some fun, how bout it? What¡¯s it to you?! I¡¯m warning you, even if you¡¯re the local boss here, you can¡¯t go against the regional boss!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t but bark with laughter, casting a mirthful look over to Zheng Kai, ¡°You hear that? Seems like you¡¯ve come across a brave one, ¡®local boss¡¯!¡±


    Zheng Kai smirked and shrugged his shoulders as if powerless, ¡°Yeah, can¡¯t interfere in this as the ¡®local boss¡¯. You deal with this Yunfei. Feel free to do whatever you want.¡±


    Zheng Kai didn¡¯t care for some empty-headed second generational that had more arrogance than sense. Retreating to the side, he folded his arms to watch the show.


    But Cao Jun took this as a sign of cowardice. Sneering, he turned to look at Bai Yunfei with a dark look. ¡°Break his arms and feet first and we¡¯ll leave with the girl!!¡± He commanded his soldiers.


    A decent sum of people were gathering here to watch the spectacle. Having no desire to stay behind to be a part of said spectacle, Cao Jun wanted to leave, but he first had to deal with the impertinent ones.


    The elderly person behind him decided then to speak up, ¡°Young master,¡± he whispered to Cao Jun¡¯s ear, ¡°this is the Capital and not Baishan City. This old slave thinks we should try to avoid conflict and leave at once¡­.¡±


    But Cao Jun dismissed his words angrily, ¡°Are you the master here or am I?! I don¡¯t need you to tell me anything!!¡±


    The old man¡¯s face grew listless, but he didn¡¯t bat an eye and said nothing more.


    Still incensed to fight, Cao Jun glared at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Come on and let''s settle this, brat!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    In a large building to the east of the Capital, a large group of people was coming out with Cao Jun leading the front with a swagger. Fang Tianmeng and Ye Yu followed shortly behind, Ye Yu slightly injured still, but looking slightly better than before with Fang Tianmeng supporting him. Behind the two of them was a calm looking Bai Yunfei with the guards of Cao Jun all around him, as if afraid he¡¯d run.


    As for Zheng Kai, he was following the group from behind with his hands on his head as if to watch the procession.


    It was already turning dark now, but there was still some light to the day left. The group continued to walk towards a dark alleyway before Cao Jun came to a stop.


    Smiling predatorily at Bai Yunfei as a cat would at a mouse, Cao Jun started to mock them, ¡°Following me so obediently all the way here must be proof of your ignorance. Or maybe I should say you¡¯re a brave one??¡±


    He stared lasciviously at Fang Tianmeng, ¡°I¡¯ll be taking away the pretty girl, but as for you two¡­.¡±


    He gestured at Bai Yunfei and Ye Yu, ¡°Break off an arm and leg!¡±


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes, wondering just where in the world this guy had found all this arrogance from. Smiling to Fang Tianmeng to reassure her, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. As long as I¡¯m here, nothing will happen to you. Just wait a moment and you may return home.¡±


    Fang Tianmeng nodded, ¡°I believe in you, instructor Bai¡­.¡± came her quiet response.


    She had in truth been completely comforted the moment Bai Yunfei appeared, as if she had the utmost faith in him.


    ¡°Good. You two wait over there, I¡¯ll take care of these annoyances very quickly. ¡°Bai Yunfei pointed to the wall to their right just far away enough to avoid any potential damage.


    His cavalier attitude annoyed Cao Jun. Snapping a finger at him, the man shouted, ¡°Hurry up and cripple him!!¡±


    The five Soul Ancestor guards he had snapped to attention and leapt straight for Bai Yunfei at once, as if normal for them. But then the moment they stepped forward, Bai Yunfei had¡­.disappeared!


    ¡°Young master, watch out!!¡±


    The elderly man behind Cao Jun cried out in bewilderment. His body flashed with purple light as he flashed forward with his left hand to grab and pull Cao Jun behind him by the shoulder. Elemental lightning flowed around his right hand as he lashed outwards.


    This old man was¡­.a peak late-stage Soul Exalt!

 Chapter 567: Losing Emotional Control!! (Fifth)

    While the old man was moving into action to protect Cao Jun behind him, Bai Yunfei was already right in front of the two, his right hand grabbing at Cao Jun¡¯s neck while his shining left fist slamming into the elder¡¯s right hand.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Fist met fist in a messy explosion of sound before the elderly man was sent flying back like a bullet!


    And the five fingers on his right hand were all bent at an awkward angle¡ªthey had all been broken!


    Bai Yunfei had activated the +10 additional effect of the Critical Glove upon impact¡ªa critical blow worth three times the normal strength! Without putting in the proper amount of soulforce to defend himself or even realizing the damage, the elderly man was injured without a doubt!


    With the old man flung away by Bai Yunfei, that left Cao Jun wide open to fall prey to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. Before he could even react, Cao Jun felt himself be swung like a sack of potatoes into the five soldiers around him.


    ¡°Bang bang!¡±


    Two of the guards were hit by Cao Jun¡¯s legs and sent flying, the two in the middle managed to dodge just fast enough, and the last one managed to bring his arms up to protect himself.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    There was a cry of pain as the soldier and Cao Jun were sent staggering away, but the cry of pain came not from the soldier but from Cao Jun himself. In his hurry to protect himself, the soldier forgot about the dagger he had been holding. When he hit Cao Jun, the dagger had cut at Cao Jun¡¯s leg just deep enough to draw blood.


    In less than a moment, Cao Jun¡¯s group had suffered a crushing defeat!


    Standing where the elder once stood with his hand still on Cao Jun¡¯s throat, Bai Yunfei watched as the arrogance bled away from his face only to be replaced by one of foolishness and pain. But because of his fingers on the man¡¯s throat, all Cao Jun was capable of doing was breath rather strangely as he struggled to detach himself from Bai Yunfei. Already his eyes were starting to roll towards the back of his head from oxygen deprivation.


    Every single person but Bai Yunfei was in shock at what had happened. The elder still on the ground had his eyes bugged wide open, the soldiers were all afraid of moving, lest Bai Yunfei harm their charge anymore. Fang Tianmeng¡¯s hand had flown straight to her mouth in her shock, and Ye Yu right next to her was absolutely gobsmacked. Even Zheng Kai, while not amazingly shocked like the others, tsked twice in his admiration of Bai Yunfei¡¯s swiftness.


    In less than two blinks of an eye, a peak late-stage Soul Exalt was knocked away, an early-stage Soul Exalt was captured, and five Soul Ancestors were scattered into defeat. This was not a result anyone expected to see so quickly.


    The elder¡¯s head was slick with sweat now, though it still remained to be seen if it was due to the pain from his right arm or by the fact that Bai Yunfei seemed to be strangling Cao Jun to death. ¡°Stop!! Don¡¯t kill him!!¡±


    His cry garnered no response from Bai Yunfei, who at the moment seemed to be looking a little strangely himself¡­.


    When Cao Jun had been swung around in the air and cut by the dagger by one of his soldiers, some blood from the wound had splashed onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. A droplet or two had even made its way into his left eye, stopping him for a moment.


    His right hand was paused in the air with Cao Jun still held tightly in it. In his one second of blanking out, his left hand drew up to wipe the blood from his cheek. Though he got some off, his cheek was still splashed with several droplets.


    Noting the red blood on his left hand as he blinked his left eye several times due to the blood, Bai Yunfei could only see redness from the left side. For another two seconds, another strange flash of light came across both his eyes¡­.


    He could hear a scream of sorts somewhere, but that wasn¡¯t important right now. Sensing that Cao Jun was still struggling his hands, his eyes refocused the man¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei loosened his hand, allowing Cao Jun to drop to the ground and gasp for air in several heavy gulps.


    The elder sighed in relief as he watched Bai Yunfei drop Cao Jun. He was slightly bitter that the opponent was so unbelievably strong. As he was now, he doubted that he¡¯d be able to fend off any of the opponent¡¯s attacks, and if Cao Jun was held captive, there was nothing he¡¯d be able to do.


    Climbing back to his feet with one hand holding onto his right, the elder slowly stepped forwards. ¡°Sire,¡± He began to speak with his most negotiable voice, ¡°this was all just a misunderstanding, we were foolish to not know our places. Please forgive us for this slight sire. Let go of the young master and the house of Cao will defi¡ª¡±


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A gut wrenching howl was heard before the elder could finish his sentence, causing the elder to turn pale with fright when he saw why!


    Bai Yunfei had raised his right foot up while the elder was talking, stepping down heavily onto Cao Jun¡¯s injured right foot in the next moment. There was the crisp sound of bone snapping as Bai Yunfei exerted some force, continuing to do so even after breaking the bone!!


    But the strange thing was, while Cao Jun was screaming his lungs out, there was a¡­.an unbothered look in the eyes of Bai Yunfei!!


    He stared coldly at the howling Cao Jun beneath him. ¡°Did you not say you¡¯d break an arm and leg of mine?¡±


    ¡°I¡ªI¡­.do-don¡¯t kill...please¡­.I¡­¡± Cao Jun was close to faint, his mouths barely coherent as he tried to plead for his life.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei landed a swift kick onto Cao Jun¡¯s stomach to flip onto his back. Lifting his right leg again, Bai Yunfei stepped onto his right arm!


    ¡°Young master!!¡±


    Unable to stop himself from crying out, the elder charged at Bai Yunfei with the other five soldiers charging in after him.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Flying from Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, Xiao Qi took off and grew larger into shape. Rainbow light exploded from its body before a hundred purple lightning bolts crackled outwards to strike at the five Soul Ancestors and preventing them from getting within five meters of Bai Yunfei.


    The elder avoided each of the lightning bolts. Since his right hand was out of commission, he could only lift his left hand to bring out a giant blade to swing it down onto his head!


    A spark of fire shot across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Whirling to meet the elder head on, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand flew out. The blade came down onto his arm, but was unable to go any further!


    ¡°For helping him in his crime¡­.you are just as guilty!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice had been frosty, scaring even the elder. Clutching his left hand tightly, Bai Yunfei punched at the chest of the elder, cracking bones as he punched the man away. There was a small dent in the elder¡¯s chest now, and a mouthful of blood came out from his mouth as a result.


    The old man was unfortunately very unlucky. He was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, but even he wasn¡¯t able to avoid being hit and injured by Bai Yunfei on behalf of trying to save Cao Jun. And with the strange methods of Bai Yunfei, the man wasn¡¯t able to properly defend against Bai Yunfei before being hit again.


    Now that the old one was dealt with, Bai Yunfei turned his gaze towards the moaning five Soul Ancestors on the ground. Withdrawing the Desert Eagles into his hands, Bai Yunfei fired off five shots into the right arms of the five soldiers, shooting them straight through. It took a second for them all to realize the sensation of them being shot, and then they started to scream out in pain.


    And now with all other irrelevant parties taken care of, Bai Yunfei could finally focus on Cao Jun. Eyes glinting with an ominous glare, Bai Yunfei stepped down onto him again with his foot!


    ¡°Ah!!!!!¡±


    Stepping down once again, Bai Yunfei trampled onto Cao Jun¡¯s right hand!!


    Right now, half of Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was splashed with blood. His face was completely blank without emotions, but his eyes revealed a bloodthirsty look in them, making a strange contrast.


    ¡­¡­


    From his position farther away, Zheng Kai perked his eyebrows up when he saw Bai Yunfei step onto Cao Jun¡¯s arm. This newest development had sparked something in his mind, each second making him feel more and more confident in his guess.


    ¡°Oh crap¡­.brother Bai lost control! Is he going to kill those seven? This could be trouble¡­.¡±

 Chapter 568: Beastlike

    Normally with Bai Yunfei¡¯s personality, such a ¡®ruthless¡¯ scene like this wouldn¡¯t be something he¡¯d do. And the expression on his face could easily be seen by anyone that knew anything about him that he had lost all sense of rationality. It was as if some sort of vicious personality within Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind had broken loose and was now releasing a world of pain onto these insignificant ¡®nobodies¡¯ and deal significant injuries.


    Zheng Kai remembered his grandfather saying before that because of the Soul Refining Palm, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was damaged. Consequently, Bai Yunfei would have to deal with a variety of side-effects as his soul repaired itself¡ªsome of which were appearing now in the form of him losing emotional control.


    In Bai Yunfei¡¯s case, the small amount of anger and desire in Bai Yunfei was now manifesting in several degrees greater than what would normally be shown.


    Since Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t shown anything out of the ordinary since he recovered, Zheng Kai figured his grandfather had been wrong about his guess. But Bai Yunfei¡¯s situation right now only proved that his grandfather was right about Bai Yunfei losing control over his emotions and actions.


    Zheng Kai had additionally figured that Bai Yunfei would deal with the situation as he would. But now that things were progressing aberrantly, Zheng Kai was beginning to worry that Bai Yunfei might kill these seven. It was an extreme reaction to a relatively minor case, and it wouldn¡¯t be favorable to Bai Yunfei either if he killed them. While not too obscenely strong, Cao Jun did have some backing of sorts that could go after Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei stepping on Cao Jun¡¯s arm and leg heavily enough to break them had been more than enough for Zheng Kai to bear. Striding forward, he spoke up, ¡°Yunfei, that should be enough. They¡¯ve been properly punished, let¡¯s forgive the¡ª¡±


    He hadn¡¯t finished speaking when Bai Yunfei stared at him with the same expression on his face¡­.


    In the moment Bai Yunfei stared at him, Zheng Kai felt a sudden chill crawl up his spine, shutting him up instantly.


    Right now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face had been freakishly monstrous. Not only was his left eye dyed with blood, but even his right eye was starting to grow scarlet as if he was transforming into a beast. There was still not even a hint of emotion on his face, he looked nothing more like a beast getting interrupted by someone as it was about to have its meal. He stared Zheng Kai down with a bone-chilling glare. ¡°It¡¯s my business, don¡¯t interfere!!¡± He snapped.


    ¡°Ah¡ªyou got it!! I won¡¯t, I¡¯ll be good. You do you¡­¡± Zheng Kai obeyed with a ¡®smile¡¯. In that one moment he was snapped at, Zheng Kai felt as if he was about to be attacked. If he were to try and ¡®speak¡¯ again, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve used that strange soul armament in his hand to riddle him filled with holes¡­.


    Helpless to the situation now, Zheng Kai could only give a pitiful look at Cao Jun on the ground. ¡°How unlucky of you, I can¡¯t save you even if I try. May you have luck in saving yourself.¡±


    He was in fact in shock at the situation. He hadn¡¯t thought that the normally kind and harmless Bai Yunfei would become so terrifying like this at the flip of a switch.


    Bai Yunfei snapped his head back, his right foot grinding back and forth on Cao Jun¡¯s arm, creating a bone-chilling sound along with the howls of pain again from Cao Jun. In his actions, it seemed as if¡­.Bai Yunfei was taking enjoyment at this situation!!


    ¡°You made my student cry, so, I¡¯ll take your eyes in return!!¡±


    A freakish smile came onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. The words he spoke had immediately bled any remaining blood from Cao Jun¡¯s face, prompting him to plead with all his might, ¡°Pl¡ªplease don¡¯t! Please...please for¡ªforgive me. I was wrong! I was wrong!! Please¡­.please forgive me¡­.please¡­¡±


    But his pleas fell on deaf ears. Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand stretched forward with his index finger burning slightly with elemental fire at the tip. Extending towards Cao Jun¡¯s right eye, Bai Yunfei was prepared to stab and burn out the eyeball!


    ¡°In¡ªinstructor Bai¡­.¡±


    Suddenly, a meek voice called out to Bai Yunfei, somehow stopping Bai Yunfei for a moment.


    He looked up. Fang Tianmeng, who had been hiding for most of the time, was now slowly making her way forward, her face looking deathly white from her terror. Staring fearfully at Bai Yunfei, she couldn¡¯t help but yelp again in fright when met with a cold stare from him. She stepped back twice, her delicate body trembling mightily as if she had just seen a ghost.


    But she didn¡¯t shy away from him completely. Somehow managing to overcome her fear, she raised her head up to look back at him. ¡°Instructor Bai¡­.you...you can let him go¡­.it¡¯s...it¡¯s enough already¡­.¡±


    She was a sensible person. She knew that if news of this event were to get out, Bai Yunfei would get into a great deal of trouble. So even if she was terrified out of her mind, she just had to stop him.


    Bai Yunfei stared emotionlessly at her for two seconds. As if suddenly realizing something. He was doing this for his student after all, and if she was saying it was enough, then shouldn¡¯t he stop?


    Confusion and hesitation ran across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes for a moment. Emotions ran conflict with his mind as he tried to think about the situation. Pained, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to shake, his feet taking several steps away from Cao Jun. Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei looked like he was starting to turn back to normal if his eyes were any indication.


    Kneading his eyes as if to try and remove the remaining blood, Bai Yunfei blinked several times, revealing mostly-white eyeballs rather than scarlet. For what seemed to be the first time, he looked around himself and then to Fang Tianmeng, ¡°Fang Tianmeng¡­.what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    The fear in her eyes had been a very noticeable hint to Bai Yunfei that something was wrong. He was curious and confused on what was going on. He turned around even more, only to realize that everyone here was staring at him with similar fear.


    He looked to Cao Jun and his miserable group of companions in mute shock. Narrowing his eyes as the realizations started to hit him, Bai Yunfei slapped his head as if in pain, ¡°I¡­.remember. I did all of this¡­.I¡­.¡±


    He was completely stunned at his actions. While it was true he did these things, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to believe it. Though he did these things, Bai Yunfei had only wanted to teach them a small lesson, not do something do drastic to a degree like this. And if his memory served him correctly, then with the murderous intent that had been in him, Bai Yunfei really was on the verge of killing the group!!


    ¡°I¡­.what have I done?!¡±


    Rubbing at his temples in his incredulity, Bai Yunfei began to feel like hundreds or even thousands of insects were starting to wriggle around his head. Even in the depths of his soul, he was starting to feel like something was moving ¡®away¡¯ from him, something strange that was gradually starting to disappear.


    ¡°Whew¡­.Yunfei, you¡¯re finally back!!¡±


    Just then, the relieved voice of Zheng Kai spoke out, turning Bai Yunfei in his direction. Zheng Kai was already walking towards him with a look of concern and worry for him.


    ¡°Zheng Kai, I feel a little strange¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke.


    Zheng Kai waved his hand, ¡°Let¡¯s leave this place first. I¡¯ll explain it to you later.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, taking one last quick look around before to Fang Tianmeng and the other young man with her, ¡°Let us leave here.¡±


    The worry and fear on Fang Tianmeng¡¯s face gave way to relief when she saw that Bai Yunfei was back to normal. Nodding, she and Ye Yu followed Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai away from the alleyway.

 Chapter 569: The Side-effects of Having Ones Soul Damaged

    Under the moonlight, a group of people walked down the street one after another. Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai led the front with the former dipping his head low as if he had just been caught doing harm onto a child. Behind him, Fang Tianmeng followed dutifully with Ye Yu next to her.


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop when they reached the intersection of the road they were on. ¡°Fang Tianmeng,¡± he smiled at her, ¡°you should be able to return back to the academy from here by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Having nearly run into his back with his sudden stop, Fang Tianmeng eeped in response. She had been afraid that Bai Yunfei would yell at her, so the fact that he said absolutely nothing at all about it surprised her. ¡°Ye-yes¡­.instructor Bai.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded before turning to the other male with her, ¡°Are you from the academy too? What¡¯s your name?¡±


    Somewhat fearful of Bai Yunfei, the young man managed to bow still under his gaze. ¡°This student is named Ye Yu. Fifth year student of the fire section and once a classmate of Fang Tianmeng¡­.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°And that person with you before, was that your friend?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­.¡± Ye Yu started to nod, but then thinking about that person brought forth a wave of repulsion and anger. He shook his head immediately, ¡°No, he¡¯s no friend of ours, we don¡¯t need a cowardly person like him as our friend!¡±


    Seeing the look of disappointment and sadness on Fang Tianmeng¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°A situation like that always brings out a person¡¯s true character. You won¡¯t be dealing with him in the future, I hope.¡±


    Not willing to remark any more about the personal lives of his students, Bai Yunfei nodded towards Ye Yu, ¡°It¡¯s time for you to take Fang Tianmeng back, can you do that?¡±


    Blinking twice, Ye Yu nodded his head, ¡°I¡¯ll definitely bring Tianmeng back safe and sound!!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a crowded straight, what kind of danger is there? You sound as if you¡¯re tasked with trying to cut open a mountain, haha¡­.now hurry back home.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei took Zheng Kai down another street once the two of them were alone on the way back to Zheng manor.


    ¡°Zheng Kai, do you know what happened?¡± Bai Yunfei asked him on the way.


    ¡°Hm? Know what?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb,¡± Bai Yunfei ribbed him, ¡°Can you not tell me about it? Me losing control was something definitely strange. What do you know about it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what you meant¡­¡± Zheng Kai ¡®realized¡¯. ¡°Well¡­.I know a little bit, but I thought you were fine before and didn¡¯t really think much about grandfather¡¯s words until now¡­¡±


    ¡°Zheng Tianya? What¡¯d he say?


    ¡°Does it have to do with me being hit with the Soul Refining Palm?!¡±


    ¡°It does. It¡¯s a side effect of having your soul being damaged. My grandfather said before that even with your insane recovery, your soul is still damage. It healing in less than a month is impossible. You losing emotional control was rather light this time, and it won¡¯t impact your training. It won¡¯t be long before you heal, so I wouldn¡¯t worry much.¡±


    ¡°Will it?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°Is this the side effects? I see¡­.Is that why I had such a strange feeling somewhere in my soul? Losing control over my emotions can be trouble, I have to make sure I don¡¯t get too caught up in my emotions then¡­.¡±


    His Soul Sentinel Scarf had been healing his soul ever since he was hurt in the first place. But throughout that entire time, Bai Yunfei felt slightly ¡®empty¡¯ inside. As if there was a piece of his soul missing. Was it his ¡®self-control¡¯ then, that was gone?


    With this small interaction just recently, Bai Yunfei felt it imperative not to have a repeat of that. There¡¯d be trouble for sure if he killed someone by accident like this¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    It was with great concern that Bai Yunfei looked inwards onto his soul when he got back to Zheng manor. But he didn¡¯t find any sort of ¡®problem¡¯. It was as if there wasn¡¯t anything wrong, and his earlier slip up in emotional control had only been an illusion.


    Fruitless in his search, Bai Yunfei gave up in favor to think about what the first prince had said to him earlier that day.


    He had a good impression of Wu Ren, one that was even better than the one he had for the second prince, Wu Zhuo. From his talks alone, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the feeling that Wu Ren was trying to recruit him like Zheng Kai said. It seemed more like the prince was curious about Bai Yunfei and wanted to get to know him as a person. There hadn¡¯t been any requests, and he instead got a place to live in without doing anything.


    When he thought about the room, Bai Yunfei took out the slip of paper with the address written on it from his space ring. ¡°North Seventh Street¡­.that seems familiar, doesn¡¯t it? I¡­.I think that¡¯s the street with the teahouse that uncle ¡®Dan Teng¡¯ owns, right?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but smile at the thought of the uncle he met back in Casino Jin. ¡°What a person that uncle is. What was that place called again? The ¡®Soothing Heart¡¯ teahouse? I should take a look there another time¡­.¡±


    Even though he had his own place to live in, Bai Yunfei still had to go over and take a look. If it was to his liking, then he¡¯d go and live over there. Having a place to himself would be nice after all.


    But after the things that happened today, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but feel worried about the ¡®side effects¡¯ to his damaged soul and went into meditation.


    ¡­¡­


    For that same reason, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t step out from his room the next few days to meditate and train instead. Whenever someone from a powerful family or group sent an invitation to him, the Zheng would decline on his behalf.


    A few days later, Bai Yunfei left with Zheng Kai again to walk for Tianhun Academy. It was time for another class.


    Zheng Kai was happy. Today, his family would no longer restrict him going in or out. Perhaps it was because of the fact that the unknown enemy wouldn¡¯t be going after him again like before, but it seemed the other families had heard about it as well, and Huang Bin, Chen Qiantan, and the others were also ¡®free¡¯. So Zheng Kai planned that night to have a great feast planned for dinner.


    This time, Bai Yunfei was now acquainted with the academy grounds and didn¡¯t need Zheng Kai to guide him, letting his friend flirt with girls as he pleased. With his three soulbeasts, Bai Yunfei headed for where classes would be held--up in the Back Mountain.


    But when he stepped beyond the gates to the back of the academy to get to the mountain, he was stopped by a person¡­.

 Chapter 570: The Dedication of Ye Ming

    ¡°It¡¯s you?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked in slight surprise. He had actually been thinking about this person when he appeared in front of him.


    It was the sixth year student from the lightning section, Ye Ming!


    ¡°Hello, instructor Bai.¡± Ye Ming bowed respectfully to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Were you waiting for me here?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Is there something you needed?¡±


    Ye Ming was perhaps the one most interested in the art of crafting and the most studious of ones trying to learn the art. Bai Yunfei had a good impression of Ye Ming, but because of him being a lighting-type soul cultivator, Bai Yunfei felt it unfortunate he couldn¡¯t learn the art of crafting.


    Still looking as determined as ever, Ye Ming spoke to Bai Yunfei. ¡°I wish to join the crafting class.¡±


    It was with a sigh that Bai Yunfei replied to him, ¡°I¡¯ve said it before. Even if you¡¯ve a dual affinity, your main element is lightning. If you try to offset that by learning the art of crafting, it¡¯ll be trouble to yourself. You¡¯re a Soul Exalt with just your control in elemental lightning aft¡ª¡±


    Bai Yunfei paused. He stared at Ye Ming with his eyes wide open in shock, ¡°Wh¡ªwhat have you done?!¡±


    The reason why he was shocked was because that he just looked at Ye Ming¡¯s strength. He was...a late-stage Soul Ancestor now!!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t hiding his strength, this was his true strength! A late-stage Soul Ancestor!


    Just a week ago, Bai Yunfei distinctly recalled him being a mid-stage Soul Exalt! What in the world¡­.?


    Because of his shock, Bai Yunfei found himself scanning Ye Ming a little deeper with his soulsense. But afterwards, his expression grew even more shocked. ¡°You¡­.you¡¯re¡­ elemental energy, why is it¡­?¡±


    He could clearly feel the elemental energy coming from Ye Ming¡¯s body right now, and it was only elemental fire! He could hardly feel even a tidbit of the elemental lightning that had once been rampant before¡­.


    Bai Yunfei came to a startling realization, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve¡­.¡±


    Ye Ming nodded, his face betraying no emotions on it. ¡°I did. I¡¯ve destroyed my essence lightningseed and casted my elemental fireseed as the dominant one¡­.instructor Bai, am I able to join the crafting class now?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to say to that. He was still in shock at what was going on, and neither could he believe his eyes¡ªYe MIng had¡­.destroyed his own future in elemental lightning!!


    To forsake lightning for fire!!


    For the sake of being able to join the crafting class and learning the art of crafting, Ye Ming had destroyed his main essence seed, cutting his strength in half and turning himself towards the path of elemental fire!


    It was a thought almost far too absurd to think about. Bai Yunfei himself could still hardly believe it. Ye Ming had been a mid-stage Soul Exalt! And now he was a late-stage Soul Ancestor! This was over a dozen years of effort and training down the drain!!


    ¡°Instructor Bai. Am I able to join your crafting class as I am now?¡±


    Ye Ming¡¯s repeated question snapped Bai Yunfei awake. ¡°Why do you cling to the idea of joining the crafting class so much?¡±


    ¡°I want to learn how to craft.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡±


    ¡°I believe that the path of crafting will take me far beyond what the path of lightning can take me! I can walk farther, I can become stronger!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew silent again. Ye Ming¡¯s strong desire and belief had been rather overwhelming. Even he was starting to feel affected by it.


    After a while, Bai Yunfei gave him a small smile. ¡°Do you really want to join my class?¡±


    Ye Ming¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°I do!¡±


    ¡°Then follow me.¡±


    He turned around to walk towards the mountain. Needless to say, he would allow Ye Ming to join his crafting class.


    ¡°Thank you instructor Bai for helping me!!¡± Ye Ming cried out in joy. Bowing as he spoke, he quickly followed after Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    Soon enough, the two arrived at the top of the mountain where classes would be held.


    Earlier when they were scaling the mountain, Bai Yunfei felt the auras of the other students already there talking about something.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance caught their attention straight away. Turning towards him to bow, they spoke, ¡°Hello instructor Bai.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded in return. ¡°Is everyone prepared yet?¡±


    Doing a head count, he noticed something was off, ¡°Oh, Mo Wanxia isn¡¯t here yet?¡±


    Mo Chen answered on behalf of the students, ¡°Senior Mo was here a while ago, but I think she said she had to go bring someone somewhere.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. He turned to the rest of the class, ¡°Everyone, I¡¯d like to introduce our newest student.¡±


    He pointed to Ye Ming next to him, ¡°This is Ye Ming. He¡¯ll be a student of this class from now on.¡±


    Ye Ming took a step forward to give a rather uneasy smile, as if unaccustomed to such. ¡°Ye Ming. Please treat me kindly.¡±


    Everyone looked at him incredulously, they hadn¡¯t thought they¡¯d be getting a new ¡®classmate¡¯. But the one who looked the most incredulous had been Ouyang Yuyun on the right, ¡°Eh? Ye Ming? Aren¡¯t you the Ye Ming from the sixth year lightning section?¡±


    ¡°That is I.¡±


    ¡°Lighting section?¡±


    Everyone repeated the last two words Ouyang Yuyun said¡ªlighting section? How was he able to join the crafting class?


    Fang Yong was the next to spot the oddity, ¡°Sixth year lightning section? Why is it that when I look at brother Ye Ming¡¯s strength¡­.¡±


    Ouyang Yuyun answered for Fang Yong, ¡°Late-stage Soul Ancestor?! How is that possible¡­?¡±


    ¡°For the sake of joining the crafting class, Ye Ming sacrificed his future in elemental lightning to learn elemental fire. For that reason, I¡¯ve decided to allow him to join our class. I hope you will all get along with him.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    Everyone only looked even more surprised at Ye Ming at that.


    Mo Chen was the first to act. Rushing to Ye Ming, he spoke up with a tone of admiration, ¡°Big brother Ye Ming, did you really do something as crazy as that?! Gods¡­that¡¯s unbelievable! Why did you¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The other students began to talk it up with Ye Ming, leaving Bai Yunfei to smile and nod. Over the short few days the students of the crafting class had been with each other, they had already formed a decent relationship with each other. So Bai Yunfei was hoping that Ye Ming would find himself quickly integrated into the class without any trouble.


    At that moment, Bai Yunfei felt two more auras come up the mountain towards them. Looking down, he saw a figure in red and a figure in white quickly come scaling up the mountain.


    One of the two was Mo Wanxia, but why was there another person with her?


    Squinting his eyes, Bai Yunfei reared his head back in surprise when he realized who the other person was. ¡°Him?! What¡¯s he doing here?¡±

 Chapter 571: A Crafting Class of Ten

    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A figure in fiery red robes flew onto the top of the mountain, the red fabric on her shining like the sun and her black hair swaying softly. It was Mo Wanxia.


    ¡°Wanxia, hold on! I can¡¯t catch up with you!!¡±


    Another more exasperated voice called out to her from behind, sounding tired as if exhausted trying to catch up with her.


    The voice sounded...familiar.


    A flash of white from the man¡¯s robes were seen before he came to a stop on top of the mountain, startling everyone when they saw who it was.


    The fourth prince, Wu Yang!!


    With complete disregard for him, Mo Wanxia nodded in greeting to Bai Yunfei. Giving a strange glance at Ye Ming, she walked to stand besides Fang Tianmeng and Fang Yong and started to ask them what was going on.


    Now that he was here, Wu Yang didn¡¯t chase after Mo Wanxia again. Instead, he glanced to Bai Yunfei with a rather embarrassed grin on his face instead of anger like before. ¡°Er¡­.well¡­.hehe, hello instructor Bai¡­¡±


    ¡°Er¡­


    ¡°Fourth Prince?¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°What are you doing here, actually¡ªwhat did you did you just call me?¡±


    ¡°Instructor Bai¡­.I¡¯ll be a student of this class from now on, hehe. I hope you¡¯ll look after me, instructor Bai. The things I did before was wrong of me, please forgive this student for that¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open, as if feeling as though he was dreaming¡ªhadn¡¯t this fourth prince gone through an extremely turnabout personality change?!


    ¡°Hold on, what did you say?! You¡¯re joining the class?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out.


    Wu Yang nodded. ¡°Yes, hehe¡­.Chairman Mo Huangkong has already cleared it. I¡¯ll be in this class starting today.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to say. From Wu Yang, he looked to Mo Wanxia next, ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±


    Mo Wanxia casted a glance at Wu Yang with bitter disdain, ¡°He kept begging my grandfather to join, and it worked after enough times.¡±


    ¡°It was that simple?¡±


    ¡°It was.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Looking back to the still smiling Wu Yang, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Is it okay for a prince to be studying here?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it? My older brother was a student here too you know!! My older brother agreed to this idea too.¡±


    ¡°Older brother? The First Prince?¡±


    Wu Yang nodded, ¡°Yes. You talked with him before.¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized then¡ªthis was what Wu Ren meant to him the other day!


    The fourth prince, Wu Yang, was going to join the crafting class. And with the permission of the first prince AND the chairman¡­.this was utterly unbelievable!!


    But unbelievable or not, this was the reality in front of him. He didn¡¯t want to teach him, but if the chairman had agreed to it, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t fight the decision.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head in the end, helpless to the situation in front of him, ¡°Alright then. You¡¯ll be a student under my tutelage. I hope you¡¯ll get along with the other students.¡±


    Please don¡¯t be a ¡®problem student¡¯!


    Was what Bai Yunfei was sighing to himself.


    ¡°Hehe, I will. Don¡¯t worry, instructor Bai, I¡¯ll get along with everyone for sure!¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head, his eyes already looking to Mo Wanxia. The absolute adoration in them was completely genuine and made Bai Yunfei wonder¡ªwhat was it about her that he liked so much?


    ¡°Alright then! Everyone, I¡¯d like to make a few announcements then.¡±


    Bai Yunfei clapped his hands to get the attention of the other.


    ¡°We have two new students among us today for our crafting class. I hope that we¡¯ll all get along with each other and help each other in the future.¡± He turned to Ye Ming and Wu Yang, ¡°You two just joined, so I¡¯ll teach you two the basics of the art of crafting. You might be behind by a day, but I¡¯m sure with your talents, you two will be able to catch up very quickly.¡±


    He pointed to the mountain side next, ¡°Furthermore, you¡¯ll need to dig a cave in the cliff, that¡¯ll be where you¡¯ll be crafting.¡±


    Wu Yang and Ye Ming stared at the strange caves in the cliff; was that really the ¡®classroom¡¯ they¡¯d be learning from?!


    Unable to hold himself silent any longer, Mo Chen finally asked, ¡°Instructor Bai¡­.are you going to talk about the assignment from last time? Who won?¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes brightened when Mo Chen spoke. Like him, they were all excited to hear the results, though Wu Yang and Ye Ming both looked confused.


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll announce the results of that now. In general¡­.not bad. Your talents for crafting isn¡¯t bad, I look forward to seeing what you can all do in the future.¡±


    He shook his hand to take out a golden longsword. The very same longsword he offered as a prize before. ¡°As for this prize¡­.Ye Ming wins it, haha.¡±


    He tossed the blade at the said person, prompting Ye Ming to catch it into his hands.


    ¡°Ah?!¡±


    Mo Chen cried out in dismay, the other students all voicing similar lines of surprise while Ye Ming and Wu Yang still standing there in confusion.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, this¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you remember that book you gave me the last time? That was the book I wanted from my students as their first assignment. And this soul armament is a reward for having the best book written.¡±


    He turned back to Mo Chen, ¡°Ye Ming gave me a book that I felt was very insightful compared to the rest of the novels. I evaluated all of the books given to me, and they were all individually good, so don¡¯t feel discouraged. I believe that in time, you¡¯ll all be able to craft any soul armament you¡¯d want. You won¡¯t need to care about such a small prize like this one¡­¡±


    A small prize?? It was a heaven-tier soul armament!! Everyone wanted to scream out. They all looked to Ye Ming with looks of jealousy.


    To the side, Wu Yang was slowly starting to get the current situation and smiled. Bai Yunfei was a special person indeed, gifting a heaven-tier soul armament as if it was nothing? Then he remembered the heaven-tier soul armaments he had lost to Bai Yunfei and felt a sharp pain in his heart from the sadness.


    ¡­¡­


    After that, Bai Yunfei took a look at the progress the students had over what they learned from the Art of Firebending. Most of what he saw was very satisfactory to him, in some cases, they were surprising even. They deserved to be called geniuses.


    He had originally planned on teaching them the actual crafting process today, but because of the inclusion of Wu Yang and Ye Ming, he had to change his plans. First, he had the students explain to him what they learned from the Art of Firebending to the two new students before having them doing some more self-study in their caves.


    Bai Yunfei took the time to head to the ¡®warehouse¡¯ to restock on supplies and cauldrons for Wu Yang and Ye Ming. The cauldrons the academy had given the students had all been high-earth tier, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise.


    Now having the cauldrons for the two, Bai Yunfei headed back to the mountain just in time to see the students still giving ¡®pointers¡¯ of the Art of Firebending to the two. Waiting for them to be done, Bai Yunfei leapt to the top of the cliff and looked over to the other side of the mountain.


    Looking beyond to the other side, Bai Yunfei was surprised at what he saw.


    An endless ocean of trees with no end in sight!!


    In this part of the forest, Baai Yunfei felt more auras of soulbeasts than there were stars in the sky. If not for the sight of the academy behind him, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve thought he was back in the Soulbeast Forest.


    ¡°They say there¡¯s even a few class seven soulbeasts here, wonder if that¡¯s true¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself.


    In the moment he was looking over the mountain, Bai Yunfei felt a few weak sources of soulforce down below.


    ¡°Eh? A battle?¡±

 Chapter 572: Training Forest

    A single mountain stood in the middle of Tianhun Academy and the giant forest behind it. Plenty of ¡®entrapped¡¯ soulbeasts lived within the forest and served as a way for the students of the academy to train in.


    As such, this forest was usually dubbed the ¡®Training Forest¡¯.


    In the hearts of many of the students, the Training Forest was a very mysterious place. Only fifth years¡ªSoul Ancestors¡ªhad the prerequisites to enter the Training Forest. All of the lesser years of the academy were prohibited from entering, so they had only rumors of what it was like and feared it.


    Even the fifth years weren¡¯t allowed entry into the forest so easily. They could only go in at certain times or with an instructor. Experiencing the ¡®dangers¡¯ here and the primal nature of the beasts here was good for many of the students to learn from when they fought the soulbeasts.


    In general, it was pretty hard for most students to come across a potentially dangerous situation. But that wasn¡¯t always for sure. In the many many years of history, there had been plenty of accidents that happened within the forest.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hissss!!!¡±


    A snake hissed from somewhere in the forest. Normally, the hissing of a snake would be quite low and deep, but this one was very high-pitched and resounding for kilometers around.


    This place was a small lake within the forest. Only two hundred meters in length, countless trees covered the lake from above. What normally should¡¯ve been very clear waters had been instead churning wildly with violet light. With the banging going around, there was definitely a violent battle taking place.


    In the middle of the lush trees and foliage, a hundred meter long snake the width of a vat of water arose from the lake. Elemental water rose up with it like a barrier, and with a hiss, another ball of water was spat out.


    A peak late-stage class five soulbeast, a two-tailed watersnake!!


    Around the giant snake, the figure of five flitted around it like butterflies in the air. They were all water-type soul cultivators: two of them were male and the other three female. They were in their twenties around and were averaged to be around mid-stage Soul Ancestors. With their ability to stand on top of the lake by surrounding themselves with elemental water, they were able to fight the giant snake.


    ¡°Xiao Yun, pay attention to the snake¡¯s tail attack! Zhao Yu, you and Cui Ming try to catch the watersnake¡¯s attention! Xiao Lan and Xiao Cui will try to immobilize it!¡¯


    A voice called out from a nearby cliff to point at the giant snake the five were fighting. A sixth person stood there, a beautiful woman in thirties.


    She wasn¡¯t taking part in the battle. She was only there to give guidance to the five. With how her lips were curled slightly upwards in a smile, she was clearly not worried about the five being in danger. A blue-colored squirrel with a fluffy tail sat on on her shoulder, its tail twitching every so often. With how its eyes were shining bright, the squirrel looked ready to leap into battle as well.


    ¡­¡­


    This group was one of the groups there in the forest to train.


    They were clearly fifth year students from the water section. And the woman standing on the cliff was the instructor here to help them train.


    Under her guidance, the five students were fighting as one cohesive unit with a soulbeast that was stronger than any individual one of them. And they were even winning!


    ¡­¡­


    A short moment later, the two-tailed watersnake let loose a shrill cry before it toppled to the ground and moved no more. But it wasn¡¯t dead¡ªit was just unconscious.


    The woman there smiled when she watched the snake fall. ¡°Haha, not bad. Let¡¯s take a breather.¡±


    The five returned to the cliff, their faces all weary, but filled with satisfaction.


    ¡°Very good. You all did well. I hope this will be a good learning experience for you all. You¡¯ve all gone from being flustered with a soulbeast the same level of you to being able to win against a soulbeast even stronger than you all. Not bad at all¡­.¡±


    Not even bothering to stifle her praise for the five students, the young woman continued to speak, ¡°But there were a few places of possible improvements. Some of you used a soul skill when it wasn¡¯t optimal, and there were a few times you wasted more soulforce than you needed. Xiao Yun, I noticed when you were attacking the snake¡¯s tail from the left, you should¡¯ve¡­.¡±


    The woman continued to give a post-battle analysis to the five students, breaking down areas for improvement for the five students to listen intently.


    After a few minutes, the woman clapped her hands, ¡°Well, this should conclude our time here in the forest. This should be long enough, we can return to the academy today.¡±


    As they were preparing to leave, the blue squirrel on the young woman¡¯s shoulder perked its ears. Standing up, it began to squeak incessantly!


    And at the same time, the ground beneath them started to tremble!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Stone and dust started to kick up into the air, and right under the amazed eyes of the six people there, a hole opened up on the cliff there. A claw shaped like a drill extended out from the ground before shooting out towards the watersnake. In one fluid motion, it extracted the two-tailed bluesnake¡¯s soulgem!


    And just like that, the two-tailed bluesnake died!


    The soil around the dry land started to churn before a lobster-shaped soulbeasts the size of bisons came erupting from the ground!!


    ¡°Giant underground lobsters! And late-stage class six!! We have to leave right away!¡±


    The woman cried out. Revealing herself as a mid-stage Soul Exalt, she leapt forward with her squirrel, who flew into the air to grow several times its normal size. Falling back down to the ground with the power of a mid-stage class six, it gave a menacing cry.


    Stunned by the arrival of the three soulbeasts, it took a while before any of the five could respond. It was the woman who snapped out of it first. Flustered, she took one quick look at the two giant pincers before taking off towards the academy.


    A giant underground lobster was a earth-type soulbeast that specialized in hiding underground and was one of the more aggressive ones!


    Like the Soulbeast Forest, the Training Forest was split into several areas. This area the six were in was a gathering place for class five soulbeasts, and very rarely did any class six soulbeasts come by. Today it seemed, was an unlucky day for the six if a late-stage class six soulbeast was here now.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Yun!!¡±


    Having been caught up with trying to fight the lobster in front of it, the instructor suddenly heard several cries from behind. Whirling around, she saw yet another giant underground lobster blocking the way of the five students!


    There were two of them!!


    The lobster¡¯s right pincer had been raised in the air before the five students cried out, and with frightening speed, the pincer came down onto the young girl at the front!


    The other four students had been knocked a few meters back the upturned dirt when the lobster emerged from the ground. With the distance increased between them and the fifth, none of the students were close enough to come to her rescue in time!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    At that moment, there was a loud chirp before a giant bird draped in purple light came shooting down like a meteorite. Latching onto the lobster¡¯s pincer with its clawed feet, the bird took back off into the air. There was a loud tumultuous sound when the giant lobster was forcibly dislodged from the earth and sent airborne by the claws of the giant bird!!


    The bird took the giant lobster a hundred meters up into the air before spinning around. Picking up rotational speed, the bird let go of the pincer, allowing the lobster to go flying off into the distance and disappearing from sight¡­.


    ¡°Houu!!!¡±


    Not even seconds after the bird appeared, a loud draconic-sounding voice erupted through the air along with the exploding of ground. A nearby hill shook slightly before a giant figure leapt up into the air. It remained there for several seconds before smashing back down into the ground onto the remaining lobster there!


    The instructor, who had been looking in the direction of her students at first, turned back around to where the giant figure landed. The only thing she could see was a terrifyingly large blue-colored soulbeast pressed into the ground where the lobster had been. It opened its jaws wide and then clamped down onto the lobster¡¯s head!


    Then under the stupefied eyes of everyone there, they watched as the late-stage class six soulbeast was eaten by the new soulbeast in three bites¡­.

 Chapter 573: Shen Yirou

    All six of the people there were stunned into inaction by the sudden disappearance of two soulbeasts and the arrival of another two. It wasn¡¯t until the blue-eyes wyrm finished eating off the lobster when the instructor finally realized the danger of the situation. With a trembling body and widened eyes, she took several frantic steps back, ¡°We have to go now!¡±


    Though the danger that was the giant underground lobster was gone, an even great danger was no present in front of them. Even if they disregarded the giant bird that had just been there a moment ago, there was still the giant soulbeast in front of them, the soulbeast strong enough to kill a late-stage class six soulbeast in a matter of seconds! And furthermore¡­.this type of soulbeast was most definitely not one that was friendly with humans.


    ¡°You idiot! I told you to help them out, not kill the soulbeasts!! Didn¡¯t I tell you we can¡¯t kill any soulbeasts as we please here?!¡±


    A furious erupted in the direction from behind the six. Turning their heads, the six saw a young man in gray come floating down to the ground, an adorable white dog following behind him.


    And to the absolute shock of everyone there, the terrifying soulbeast in front of them started to¡­.whimper. Was it¡­.feeling abashed by the rebukes of this person?


    Though slightly abashed, the blue-eyes wyrm still managed to eat the last of the lobster¡¯s tail. With a gulp, it swallowed the rest of it down in guilty pleasure. Giving a small whimper, the wyrm downsized in a flash of blue light.


    The young man still in the air above smiled softly at the wyrm¡¯s response. ¡°Fine, I know you¡¯re a soulbeast, eating the weak is a rule of your kind. I¡¯ll forgive you just this once since you¡¯ve never eaten another soulbeast before, but remember this isn¡¯t the Soulbeast Forest. If you keep eating soulbeasts here, don¡¯t blame me if chairman Mo flays you alive.¡±


    The small blue-eyes wyrm cried out twice again in happiness, as if to say, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be more careful in the future.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone could only stare in dumfounded shock.


    Xiao Qi returned to the site by the time Bai Yunfei floated down to the ground. Looking at everyone, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Is everyone alright?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± For a while, no one said anything.


    So the two new soulbeasts that fought off the two lobsters belonged to this guy! In other words, this person came by just in time to save them from danger.


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± The Soul Exalt instructor sighed in relief, her face flushing red with emotion.


    She wasn¡¯t turning red because she was suddenly feeling shy, it was because of the situation she had just been in.


    Relaxing somewhat, the young woman first made sure to check up on her students and see if they were alright. After making sure every single one of her students were alright, she finally started to calm down.


    She stood up to bow towards Bai Yunfei, ¡°Thank you for saving us, sire. I really cannot thank you enough.¡±


    ¡°Haha, no worries. It wasn¡¯t anything much, are you a training group from the academy?¡±


    ¡°Correct. I am the fifth year water instructor for the class two of the water section, Shen Yirou. These are my students. We entered the forest ten days ago and were just planning to return to the academy when the lobsters attacked us. If not for your helping hand, sire, we would have been in great danger. Might I ask of your name?¡±


    ¡°I am Bai Yunfei. Instructor of the crafting class. Pleased to meet you, miss Shen.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei? The crafting class?!¡± Shen Yirou¡¯s eyes flickered back up to look at him for confirmation, ¡°You¡¯re the instructor for the crafting class?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei seemed a little embarrassed when he nodded. ¡°I am.¡±


    His ¡®shyness¡¯ was surprising to Shen Yirou, who noted it with a raised eyebrow. Covering her mouth with one hand, she smiled, ¡°I heard that the instructor for the crafting class was young, but I didn¡¯t think it was true until now. I had nearly thought you were a student!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei was even more embarrassed now. He looked a little distracted right now.


    Now that there was nothing going on, Bai Yunfei could take a good look at this woman in front of him. She wore robes as blue as the water that seemed to shimmer in the light. Her hair reached all the way past her waist. Gentle and graceful, she stood tall and confident with an allure greater than that of Mo Wanxia by a bit. Her skin looked very bright and supple while also adding to her mature charm. Overall, she had the grace of a young woman born from a rich family whose frowns or smiles could equally move a man. And her ample bosom was something that undoubtedly followed the dreams of every man that saw them¡­.


    Right now, Bai Yunfei was feeling slightly at a loss for words¡­.


    In the moment he was looking at Shen Yirou, the Charm Bracelet on his left arm gave a nearly undetectable pulse of light from it, his eyes also having a very faint glow of pink in them¡­.


    The fact that the ¡®rumored¡¯ Bai Yunfei was acting like a shy little brother was a little funny to Shen Yirou. But then when she realized that he was staring fixedly at her, his eyes pointing slightly towards her chest, she gave a slight pause. Resentment began to fill up in her mind, but when she was about to say something, the pink glow in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes met with her own eyes.


    Shen Yirou froze when their eyes met. Her heart started to beat a little faster as a mysterious feeling entered her mind out of nowhere. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes felt like a bottomless abyss in which she couldn¡¯t help but feel trapped in.


    ¡°Chii chii!!¡±


    Suddenly, Shen Yirou felt something leap onto her right shoulder. Looking down, she saw her little squirrel back, though it was giving a strange sound as if to call her.


    Jolting back to awareness, Shen Yirou suddenly felt her cheeks heat up with a red hue. She didn¡¯t know what had happened to her, and it seemed that she had even temporarily forgotten about her wanting to reprimand Bai Yunfei for his manners. ¡°Yo¡ªyou¡­.¡±


    Her words seemed to have startled Bai Yunfei awake as well, though his reaction was a lot bigger than hers, and a lot more strange.


    His entire body had quivered in horror as if realizing something, his panic reaching even his eyes. Taking two small steps backwards, he bowed his head and clutched at his left wrist with his right with gloom.


    It took a moment under Shen Yirou¡¯s suspicious gaze before Bai Yunfei shook his head, as if trying to shake away whatever strange thoughts he was having. Bai Yunfei looked back up, an apologetic look on his face. ¡°I¡­.miss Shen, I¡­.I apologize for my lack of manners just now. I had no ill intentions from my earlier actions. Miss Shen was just too beautiful that I lost myself.¡±


    His sudden apology and actions had been a little surprising to her, but she couldn¡¯t say she disliked hearing the praise. Her anger for Bai Yunfei¡¯s lack of manners a second ago decreased by just a small amount.


    But still. Her impression of Bai Yunfei had dropped for sure.


    Both persons were looking quite embarrassed by what had just happened, and so neither spoke for a while.


    ¡°Miss Shen, this one will be returning to his class now. If you are heading back to the academy, why not join me?¡±


    The usual graceful look on her face returned to Shen Yirou. ¡°That will do.¡± She nodded.


    She turned back to the five students behind her and spoke, ¡°If we¡¯re all ready, we can return to the academy now.¡±


    The five students had recognized Bai Yunfei when he first appeared so the five students had been talking to themselves. Some of them looked to Bai Yunfei with admiration as they talked, but when Shen Yirou started to talk to them, they all snapped to attention and prepared to leave.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t say much to Shen Yirou on the way back, perhaps as if in fear that he was afraid of her misunderstanding his intentions for something else. Instead, paid attention to the students and asked their questions succinctly.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the group to reach the edge of the forest and back onto the top of the mountain. A short walk later, the academy was already back in sight.


    Bai Yunfei tilted his head to look at the mountain peak, ¡°Miss Shen, my class sis waiting for me up here. This is where we¡¯ll part then.¡± He spoke to her.


    ¡°Ah?¡± Shen Yirou followed his gaze up to where several crafting caves were in sight, ¡°This¡­.this is where your class is?¡±


    She and her group had been in the forest before the caves were even made, so she had no idea that Bai Yunfei even made the caves to begin with.


    ¡°Haha, yes. Due to the special nature of crafting, I had to find a place suitable for classes to be had.¡±


    Shen Yirou gave him a strange look for a moment before smiling. ¡°Ah, so I see. Then I won¡¯t take up any more of your time, instructor Bai, we¡¯ll be heading back to the academy first.¡±


    ¡°Then farewell.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded before making his way up the mountain.


    ¡°This Bai Yunfei is¡­.a very strange person¡­¡± Shen Yirou¡¯s eyes flashed mysteriously as she spoke to herself. Turning around, she spoke to her students, ¡°Let¡¯s get going then.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Leaping back onto the platform at the top of the mountain, Bai Yunfei saw most of the students standing near the edge to peer down over to where Shen Yirou and her students had been.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Is everyone done?¡±


    ¡°Big brother Ye Ming and the Fourth Prince both learn really fast. They¡¯ve already memorized the Art of Firebending. We even dug two new caves for them.¡± Mo Chen nodded to report to Bai Yunfei, but afterwards, he asked, ¡°Instructor Bai, where did you go just now? And how did you come back with instructor Shen?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°You know Shen Yirou? I just went into the Training Forest and met her just now. We came back together afterwards, what of it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.¡± Mo Chen laughed. ¡°I just didn¡¯t think instructor Bai would meet instructor Shen so quickly¡­.She¡¯s the most beautiful instructor in the academy! Plenty of instructors and students see her as a goddess.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Really now?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. He didn¡¯t know Shen Yirou was that well-received? But that didn¡¯t matter to him in any case. ¡°Anyways, if everyone is prepared, then we¡¯ll begin class now.¡±


    The students answered affirmatively. With their answers, Bai Yunfei set about to walk towards the crafting cave, but then he saw Wu Yang standing carefully behind him, a strange look on his face. ¡°Instructor Bai, I feel that I need to warn you, avoid going after Shen Yirou in any way.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei paused to look at him, not sure if he should laugh or cry, ¡°Go after Shen Yirou? ¡­..What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t, that¡¯s good. Shen Yirou won¡¯t mind if you just think she¡¯s pretty, but you can¡¯t have any ¡®feelings¡¯ for her, because¡­.¡±


    Wu Yang¡¯s eyes flickered up to meet Bai Yunfei¡¯s, ¡°She¡¯s with my second brother!¡±

 Chapter 574

    ¡°The second prince?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed in surprise. ¡°Shen Yirou is the wife of the second prince?!¡±


    ¡°Wife?¡± Wu Yang laughed at his reaction, ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. She hasn¡¯t become his wife yet. But I don¡¯t think they¡¯re too far away from being married. My second brother loves her, and he¡¯s never felt so strongly about any other girl before Shen Yirou. They might have a lukewarm relationship right now since my brother hasn¡¯t initiated anything, but everyone knows sooner or later Shen Yirou will marry him.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is that so?¡± Bai Yunfei remarked, he hadn¡¯t thought that Shen Yirou was in fact the person Wu Zhuo took a liking to. And¡­.they had such a ¡®pure¡¯ love like that? To have a woman like Shen Yirou tolerate such a type of relationship like that while having such thoughts. It seemed that Wu Zhuo was a romantic.


    Bai Yunfei walked into one of the craftings caves with his students gathered in front of him. He took out the Lightningfire Cauldron and placed it onto the ground. ¡°Today I¡¯ll be demonstrating and explaining the crafting process with the most basic of fire manipulation. With your talent and control over elemental fire, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll all pick it up fairly quick. Your cauldrons aren¡¯t half-bad either. Pay attention to what I say, if you all pick up on my words, you¡¯ll all be able to quickly learn how to craft a soul armament. They¡¯ll be low in quality at first, but that¡¯s just how it is. Crafting higher grade soul armaments will come later.¡±


    With another wave of his hand, Bai Yunfei had several dozen materials float out from his ring and in front of him. ¡°Today I¡¯ll craft a few low-human tier soul armaments. Take a good look¡­.¡±


    With the basics of how to craft already instilled in the students, it didn¡¯t take much for Bai Yunfei teach them the harder things. He was teaching geniuses that soaked up everything he said like a sponge, making it even easier to teach. In time, Bai Yunfei¡¯s crafting cave was filled with warmth from the elemental fire dancing in his Lightningfire Cauldron. With each step on the way, Bai Yunfei explained the finer details of it and in great clarity.


    The sun was starting to descend from the skies when Bai Yunfei finished up class. How fast time had gone by¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    After finishing up class for the day, Bai Yunfei reminded them about class next week and told each of the students to go back and think over what they had learned today.


    Later that night, he, Zheng Kai, Huang Bin, and others all met together to celebrate their newfound freedom. Everyone was excited and merry as they ate and drank in the Hundred Aliments, and it took a good while before Bai Yunfei and them left the establishment to return home slightly intoxicated, even with their soulforce aiding their bodies.


    Since this group of four was the first he met in his age group in the Capital, and that he was already good friends with Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei found it easy to talk with the other three and fit in with the group. Knowing a bit more about them as a person, Bai Yunfei was able to become friends with each of the four. And even for someone who usually disliked drinking wine like Bai Yunfei found himself drinking more than usual today.


    After they returned to Zheng manor, Bai Yunfei had the servants bring up some hot water for him to take a bath in. After his bath, he reclined back onto his soft bed. Rather than train, Bai Yunfei opted to stare up at the ceiling in thought.


    He was thinking about the situation today with Shen Yirou.


    It wasn¡¯t as though the beautiful woman had been constantly stuck in his mind. What really was stuck was the moment where he ¡®lost¡¯ himself.


    ¡°At that time¡­..the thought I shouldn¡¯t have been thinking came out¡­..it felt like I couldn¡¯t stifle my emotions.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t deny it. Back when he first met Shen Yirou, he had a thought he normally wouldn¡¯t have. Although she was amazingly beautiful, the thoughts that popped into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind had occurred without him wanting it to as if he was being tempted by an outside force.


    The reason why such a situation occurred was simple to Bai Yunfei. It was because of his damaged soul.


    The inability to control his emotions wasn¡¯t limited to just anger. The other emotions would be affected as well.


    ¡°Seems like this will be an even bigger problem than I originally thoughtz! I have to hurry and fix this, or else it¡¯ll be like living everyday with an bomb. I won¡¯t ever know when it¡¯ll go off, and if I¡¯m not careful, then I¡¯ll make a mistake that I can¡¯t fix!¡±


    Bai Yunfei raised his left hand to look at the Charm Bracelet on his wrist in concern.


    Today¡¯s events had saw to him accidentally activating the Charm Bracelet to add to his charm and almost influenced Shen Yirou to a certain degree. If not for her willpower, there might¡¯ve been a great deal of trouble.


    The ¡®Charm¡¯ attribute that the Charm Bracelet bolstered was something Bai Yunfei now had a good deal of understanding about. The ¡®Charm¡¯ it talked about could be made equivalent to ¡®attractiveness¡¯, or ¡®personality¡¯. And from today¡¯s events, it had a strange effect on those of the opposite gender.


    If he activated the Charm Bracelet, then his appeal would be enhanced to those of the opposite sex. They would have a better opinion of him and potentially lower their guard.


    For many males, this would¡¯ve been a ¡®power¡¯ they all yearned for. But for Bai Yunfei, he felt this was a very troublesome side-effect and intentionally blocked off the bracelet ability to strengthen his charm.


    He had already had one person in his heart. He didn¡¯t need to have any other emotions for anyone else.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered to the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring at the very thought of the said person, a faint smile appearing on his face. He could almost feel her warm presence standing in front of her, giving him a sense of calm and nerves both at the same time.


    It had been a great deal of time since he left the Crafting School¡­.how was she now?


    ¡­¡­


    The next morning, Bai Yunfei decided to go look at the place the First Prince gave him. Calling up Zheng Kai, the both of them went over to it on North Seventh Street.


    With the address given to them by the prince, it didn¡¯t take long for the two to arrive at the right place. Looking up, the two of them were stunned by the sight in front of them¡­.


    According to what Wu Ren had said, the house he gave Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be ¡®very big¡¯, but at a glance¡­.his description was extremely modest!


    Standing in front of Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai was a large manor with gates that was no different to the ones that might stand in front of the more richer families. All that was missing here were the two stone lions that¡¯d normally stand guard over other homes. The walls that extended away from the gates reached another hundred or so meters before leading inwards. Within the walls, five separate buildings stood inside with a courtyard.


    Based on the area and buildings alone, a dozen people could live here without a problem.


    ¡°He¡¯s definitely the First Prince if he can gift a house like this so easily.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. Now that he thought about it, living in a place as big as this by himself seemed like a bit of a waste. And the other problem was¡­.with such a huge area to this place, it¡¯d make cleaning a pain!


    He didn¡¯t want to find any servants at first, but it really did seem necessary now to find a few servants and maids to come clean this place.


    Noticing the look on his face, Zheng Kai laughed, ¡°Haha, Yunfei. Why don¡¯t I hire some servants for you. They can help you clean so you don¡¯t have to.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°In that case¡­.thank you.¡±


    The two walked into the place to give it a look around. With a promise from Zheng Kai to have some people come over and clean the place, he and Bai Yunfei left the premises to walk around the street.


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop a short while later to point at a building not too far away, ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t that the teahouse of uncle Dan Teng?¡±


    At the corner of the street stood a simple two-storied building. On the top of the building was a name plate with three words carved into it.


    Soothing Heart Teahouse

 Chapter 575: Soothing Heart Teahouse

    Bai Yunfei remembered Zheng Kai saying before the Soothing Heart Teahouse was a rather well-known place in the northern parts of the Capital. He just didn¡¯t think that it¡¯d be such an ordinary looking little teahouse. It looked a little worse for wear actually. Compared to the richly area of the Capital, this teahouse looked like it was an ¡®inferior¡¯ place to be.


    Noticing the building Bai Yunfei was pointing at, Zheng Kai looked slightly taken aback as well. ¡°Eh? That¡¯s the Soothing Heart? It¡¯s that small?¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯ve never been here?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t. I only heard about it from other people. You know I don¡¯t care much for drinking tea, I like wine more¡­.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­.now that we¡¯re here, we might as well go in and sit down.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. With Zheng Kai, he walked towards the teahouse. He had heard several things about the teahouse before and the mysterious effects of the tea there. He had to admit, he was slightly curious. And with his soul currently in some trouble, Bai Yunfei decided to give it a try to ¡®soothe¡¯ his heart.


    The two walked into the teahouse, Bai Yunfei looking around the place. The first thing he saw was a rather large hall with several tables there. Four of which were already seated with customers drinking by themselves. In front of their tables sat a tea kettle and cup, each of the patrons taking slow sips from their cups pensively.


    It was unnaturally quiet in the hall. No one was saying a thing, and none of the patrons had even spared more than a glance at Bai Yunfei or Zheng Kai when they entered, choosing to drink their tea after a second¡¯s reprieve.


    But to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise, each of the four people were¡­.soul cultivators! And they weren¡¯t weak! Three of them were Soul Ancestors and the other one was a Soul Exalt!


    There was only a single counter in this hall where a young kindly-looking youth in his twenties sat. Seeing Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai walk in, the youth smiled at him. ¡°Dear customers, welcome to the Soothing Heart. Have you two sires decided on what tea to drink?¡±


    The young man at the counter was a Soul Ancestor like the majority of the patrons there and was clearly weaker than Bai Yunfei or Zheng Kai, but he didn¡¯t seem to fear either of the two. From that, it could be seen that this man was used to having people like Soul Exalts come frequent the place.


    Curious, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°What kind of tea do you sell here?¡±


    The young man was already showing the two to a table to their right when asked, ¡°Is this your first time here?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve heard of this place before, but that¡¯s it.¡±


    The man smiled and pointed a finger to the tablets hanging from the wall behind the counter. ¡°We¡¯ve the name and prices of the tea listed on these bamboo tablets. Please take a look and choice whichever tea you wish.¡±


    Following the direction of his finger, Bai Yunfei study the words on the tablets and was surprised as a result.


    LESSER HEART SOOTHING TEA ¡ª 50 LOW GRADE PRIMAL STONES PER POT


    HEART SOOTHING TEA ¡ª 80 LOW GRADE PRIMAL STONES PER POT.


    GREATER HEART SOOTHING TEA ¡ª 1 MID GRADE PRIMAL STONE PER POT


    LESSER SOUL SOOTHING TEA ¡ª 10 MID GRADE PRIMAL STONES PER POT


    SOUL SOOTHING TEA ¡ª 50 MID GRADE PRIMAL STONE PER POT


    GREATER SOUL SOOTHING TEA ¡ª 80 MID GRADE PRIMAL STONES PER POT


    The most ridiculous one Bai Yunfei saw was the last bamboo tablet.


    SOUL CONSOLIDATING TEA¡ª1 HIGH GRADE PRIMAL STONE PET POT


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    For a good ten seconds, Bai Yunfei stared at the tablets in front of him, wondering if he was seeing things right. His lips twitched halfway into a smirk--were they selling tea, or were they just committing robbery?!


    Zheng Kai had thoughts equivalent to Bai Yunfei¡¯s. ¡°Dear heavens¡­..we¡¯re not drinking tea here, we¡¯re drinking primal stones! I can¡¯t even afford to drink some of tea with my current ¡®allowance¡¯, isn¡¯t this something else?¡±


    Their surprised looks was nothing strange to the young man attending to them, who only laughed. ¡°Our tea is definitely worth the price. You¡¯ll understand it straight away if you take a sip.¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even heard of ¡®tea¡¯ that was this expensive before, let alone tasted one. He had definitely not thought the Soothing Heart would offer such expensive tea.


    But he had to admit, he was curious now. This teahouse was still here, after all, and was quite well known in the Capital. Both of those factors combined must¡¯ve meant there was something that gave this teahouse substance behind its reputation. If the teas were so outrageously priced, then they must¡¯ve had some sort of value to them. So Bai Yunfei might as well give them a try.


    It wasn¡¯t as though these prices were even much for him. Even the most expensive tea there, the ¡®Soul Consolidating Tea¡¯, was well within buyable parameters.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Very well then. I¡¯ll take two pots of the Soul Consolidating Tea.¡±


    ¡°Soul Consolidating Tea--two of them?!¡±


    The young man repeated in a quiet disbelieving tone, but loud enough for the other patrons to look over. Like him, the four patrons were quite surprised that someone was ordering a Soul Consolidating Tea, and two of them. This wasn¡¯t a drink any normal person would order.


    ¡°Yes, two of them please.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Also, is your boss here?¡±


    ¡°What? You know our boss?¡±


    A person came down from the stairs then. When he saw Bai Yunfei on the first floor, he paused briefly before breaking out into a smile and hurrying on over.


    ¡°Little brother Bai? Haha, I knew I felt the aura of someone familiar. Welcome to my teahouse, welcome¡­.¡±


    This person was the person Bai Yunfei met back in Casino Jin, uncle Dan Teng.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Could you drop the ¡®little¡¯ part? It¡¯s awkward¡­..¡±


    He cupped his hands in greeting to Dan Teng, ¡°Hello uncle Dan Teng. The two of us were in passing when we saw your teahouse, so we decided to take a look. Little did we know about the¡­.uniqueness of your teahouse.¡±


    ¡°Haha, the uniqueness, is it?¡± Dan Teng laughed at the implications behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s words. Any time a person came here for the first time, they probably had the same reaction as Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°It really does amaze me, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be worth it, won¡¯t it? I¡¯ve called for two pots of tea to be brought out.¡±


    ¡°Haha, if little brother Bai and lord Zheng are interested, then I¡¯ve no problems with that. I¡¯ve said it before that if you two came to my teahouse, I¡¯d offer you the best tea I had. Please follow me up to the second floor, it¡¯s much more tranquil up there--very suitable for drinking tea.¡±


    He turned his head to the young man still there, ¡°Yi Shu, bring up a pot or two of the Soul Consolidating Tea.¡±


    Yi Shu stiffened at the attention in surprise, but he replied with an affirmative before heading for the kitchens behind to go prepare the tea.


    Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai both followed Dan Teng to the second floor and then into a room where the entire place was refine in atmosphere and had the faint smell of tea to it. Bai Yunfei felt at ease with himself when he entered this room and was seated next to the table-for-four near the window. Dan Teng opened the windows, revealing a patch of verdant green grass growing right outside it. With the wind blowing inwards into the room, the smell of tea and grass mixed together for an especially relaxing smell.


    ¡°I had nearly thought you two forgot about my teahouse. But the fact that you visited today has brought my humble teahouse a great deal of honor.¡± Dan Teng smiled. ¡°I even went back to Casino Jin, but I never saw you guys there again. You must¡¯ve been busy, right little brother Bai?¡±


    Politely, Bai Yunfei responded, ¡°Please¡­just call me Yunfei. Indeed, I¡¯ve been busy as of late and rarely stepped out from my place. I came here today to look at a house and decided to come pay a visit. Haha, my new place is actually not too far away from here.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Dan Teng replied, ¡°Is that so? How coincidental. Then you simply must come visit my teahouse more often. As an instructor, I¡¯m sure teaching must be exhausting. Come visit and let your spirit relax. It¡¯s really a nice experience.¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course. I¡¯ll be coming here more frequently in the future.¡±


    ¡°Haha, well, I¡¯m not trying to brag, but the tea I have here is rather quite special. You two will understand after a few sips. We soul cultivators cultivate the soul, but that is a process in which many people tend to have problems with and become stressed or jittery about. The tea here has the capabilities of¡ª¡±


    In the middle of his spiel about the tea he sold, Dan Teng suddenly paused to look at Bai Yunfei for two seconds. ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re injured?!¡± He cried out.

 Chapter 576: Soul Consolidating Tea

    ¡°What?¡±


    Bai Yunfei replied, caught off guard at the fact that Dan Teng had found out.


    Dan Teng¡¯s eyes hovered onto him for a brief moment longer. ¡°You¡¯re injured. Your soul.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked astonished again that Dan Teng had caught onto that. ¡°You...how do you know?!¡±


    The ambush that had injured Bai Yunfei was something not many people knew about, especially in regards to the effects it had on Bai Yunfei. There weren¡¯t even many people that knew it was Bai Yunfei that was injured. And yet Dan Teng had clearly found out about it today. He was capable of seeing the state Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was in¡ªthis wasn¡¯t something normal people could do.


    By now, the state Bai Yunfei was in was more or less healed up. He only had a small sliver of his soul that required healing, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that Bai Yunfei had such a reaction to Dan Teng¡¯s discovery.


    Dan Teng smiled. ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be so surprised, Yunfei. As a person who spent many years studying all sorts of tea and its uses towards the soul, I would definitely be one of those people that are particular sensitive to the souls of others. You might look fine on the outside, but I can definitely sense the faint damages done to yours. The lingering effects of a strong attack, was it? Your soul was damaged from it?! You were fine when I last saw you at the casino, did you¡­.get into trouble later that night? And the state of your soul, did you fight with a Soul King? I¡¯ve noticed something peculiar with how your soul was damaged, did you...fight against a darkness-type soul cultivator?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai could only stare at him with wide-opened eyes at his acute eyesight. He had only looked at Bai Yunfei for a moment, and yet he was able to divine so many things from that moment, how amazing was that?!


    When Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t respond, Dan Teng looked apologetic. ¡°Haha, I spoke too much. Yunfei, if you don¡¯t want to say it, then don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Ah...that¡¯s not it.¡± Bai Yunfei hurried to correct the situation. ¡°I was only just surprised with how accurate you were, uncle Dan. Indeed, I was attacked by a Soul King a while ago and had my soul damaged as a result. I might¡¯ve healed for the most part, but there¡¯s still a few annoying side-effects. Most recently, I¡­.have found it hard to control my emotions. It¡¯s causing me a decent amount of trouble¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is that right?¡± Dan Teng rubbed his chin at Bai Yunfei¡¯s story. ¡°Losing control over your emotions when you had your soul damaged? As far as side effects go, yours is rather light¡­.Haha, Yunfei, you came to the right place. I can guarantee you that in twenty days or so, I¡¯ll fix up that problem for you.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed. ¡°Is that true, uncle Dan?!¡±


    ¡°In many other areas, I¡¯d never give my word, but when it comes to the soul¡­.I¡¯ve confidence in my words. My Soothing Heart Teahouse is meant exactly for these type of situations. Your injury isn¡¯t too serious, as long as you drink the Soul Consolidating Tea every day, you¡¯ll be able to get rid of those annoying side-effects within twenty days or so.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Bai Yunfei felt himself grow hopeful, ¡°That¡¯s¡­.that¡¯s amazing, uncle Dan. This would really help me out.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re being too polite, Yunfei. It¡¯s nothing much. You¡¯ll have to come everyday and drink a pot of the Soul Consolidating Tea for it to work.¡±


    ¡°Every day?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s best that you come twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. You can¡¯t repair damages done to the heart so sloppily unless you want to risk a relapse and have the damage get even worse. The chances of that are low, but it¡¯s always best to take things cautiously. The sooner you recover, the more you won¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei hesitated for a while before committing to his answer. ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll listen to you then, uncle Dan. I hope that my recovery will be a swift one.¡±


    Dan Teng was saying his wound wasn¡¯t very serious, but Bai Yunfei knew it wasn¡¯t as easy as he said it¡¯d be.


    While the time was practically nothing, the price on the other hand¡­.


    Dan Teng said that Bai Yunfei would need to come in for around twenty days and order a ¡®Soul Consolidating Tea¡¯, one which that costed about one high-grade primal stone per pot!! By doing some quick maths, Bai Yunfei was able to calculate the costs¡­.twice a day for twenty days meant forty high-grade primal stones! Just how many people could afford a price like that?


    But then again, such a price wasn¡¯t too much of a problem. He had won twenty high-grade primal stones back in Casino Jin after all. If he really needed the money, he¡¯d sell some of his less important heaven-tier soul armaments¡­.


    No matter the case, Bai Yunfei really didn¡¯t like this problem he was having with the side-effects of his soul being damaged. It was a problem that¡¯d only blow up in his face if he ignored it, so it was best that he get rid of this problem as soon as possible, and the prices in doing so would be well worth it.


    Dan Teng continued onwards to say, ¡°As for the price of the Soul Consolidating Tea¡­.well, I wouldn¡¯t be able to make a living if I let you drink them all for free, haha. I don¡¯t have much of it, and it¡¯s hard to restock them, but I¡¯ll give you a discount. Let¡¯s say fifty percent off. Surely that¡¯ll be enough to convince you I¡¯m no miser.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was astonished by his generosity. ¡°A miser? How could you be one? Uncle Teng¡­.you are far too generous, I cannot thank you enough¡­.¡±


    Was that not the truth? A fifty percent discount meant only needing to pay twenty high-grade primal stones. Bai Yunfei and Dan Teng didn¡¯t even have that close of a relationship with one another, so the fact that Dan Teng was willing to provide such an extensive discount for Bai Yunfei was mind boggling.


    The doors to their room opened up, revealing the young man attending to the store from earlier. In his hand was a tray with a teapot and three tea cups on it. Setting the teapot and tea cups in front of the three, the young man was then dismissed to return back down to the first floor to watch over it again.


    Dan Teng lifted the teapot to pour some of the tea inside into the tea cups of Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai. ¡°This pot here is the best pot of Soul Consolidating Tea I have, please take a sip and see how you like it.¡±


    He poured tea into the tea cups until it was seventy percent full before stopping. Gesturing at the cups, Dan Teng had Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai take their cups into their hands. Carefully, Bai Yunfei brought the tea cup up closer to his face to look at it. The only thing he saw was what appeared to be normal boiled water. If he wasn¡¯t told beforehand, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve assumed it was only just water with how transparent it was. But when he raised it up to drink, the distinct aroma of tea could be smelt, and Bai Yunfei could confirm then that this tea was anything but normal.


    Bai Yunfei would be the first to admit he hadn¡¯t his fair share of expensive teas. But when he took a sip of this one, Bai Yunfei would also not be afraid to admit that any tea he had drunk before felt like they had been brewed by the tree leaves of a random tree. This one cup of tea he had now was delicious. At a sip, he could feel himself transported to a different world where peach blossom trees could be had, and a gentle wind was blowing softly onto his face. The distinct sound of a spring could be had, and Bai Yunfei could even feel the soft warm rays of sunshine pelter his face in the signs of spring¡­.


    Bai Yunfei woke the next second, his eyes blinking when he realized what he just felt had only been an illusion of his own mind¡¯s creation.


    He felt spellbound!! It was as if he had been stuck in an illusion where all of his worries had been turned into nothing. Even his usual level of vigilance had been reduced to nothing!!


    This tea was enough to make Bai Yunfei feel vexed. How special this ¡®Soul Consolidating Tea¡¯ was!


    What he hadn¡¯t realized though was the fact when he was stuck in that illusionary state of calm, a flicker of surprise flew across Dan Teng¡¯s own eyes when Bai Yunfei snapped back to reality.


    On the other hand, it took Zheng Kai five or six seconds for him to come back to reality.


    Still slightly bewildered by what he had just experienced, Bai Yunfei blew at the teacup again. He wasn¡¯t having any strange feelings from it now, but his eyes remained fixated on it. Blowing several times again onto the surface of the tea, Bai Yunfei took yet another sip so that half of the cup was drained into his throat.


    He first felt the presence of the tea when it traveled into his throat and making its way down towards his stomach. But then along the way as it left behind a refreshing sensation, it¡­.disappeared!


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t mistaken. As the tea traveled down his throat and left behind a refreshing aftertaste, Bai Yunfei felt the tea start to evaporate inside his body!


    From liquid to gas, the tea evaporated and propagated through his body and traveled to even the extremities of his body!


    In the next moment, Bai Yunfei felt a sensation so soothing he wanted to sigh in content out loud. It was as if his entire body was being dunked into a hot spring of water and was basking him in a flow of utmost comfort. But more importantly, the feelings of vexation he had on his mind from earlier thoughts had been like a layer of fog coming into contact with a fierce burst of sun to scatter apart!


    Even more undescribable to Bai Yunfei was the fact that his Soul Sentinel Scarf lit up in accordance with the tea. A strange wave of energy mixed with the tea to circulate around his body. With each circulation, Bai Yunfei felt his mind grow clearer, and the ¡®sliver¡¯ missing from his soul was starting to regenerate!


    The part of his soul that was missing was starting to grow back and¡­.consolidate once more!


    The Soul Consolidating Tea was¡­.consolidating his soul!!

 Chapter 577: A Teachers Criticisms

    Ever since Bai Yunfei felt stepped into the Soothing Heart, Bai Yunfei felt his heart and mind start to grow healthier and healthier. The Soul Consolidating Tea was as good as a panacea for him, and it felt like his concerns and troubles were all melting away whenever he drank it.


    Another three days later, Bai Yunfei moved into the home given to him by the First Prince. He had now a place he could call home in the Capital.


    Now that he was being helped by the Soul Consolidating Tea, Bai Yunfei felt a little impatient to hurry up and cure the side-effects he was undergoing. So most of his time was spent in his room meditating. Only when Zheng Kai sought him out did Bai Yunfei go outside.


    Aside from his increased recuperation, Bai Yunfei found yet another thing that was increasing¡­.he was training at a far faster rate than before!


    Clearly, the Soul Consolidating Tea had done this!


    Not only was it helpful for curing damages done to the soul, it could be used to help one cultivate!


    This was a monumental benefit that made the tea more than worth the one high-grade primal stone. In Bai Yunfei¡¯s opinion, drinking the tea and using the high-grade primal stone were very comparable in terms of training either way.


    He was already cultivating at a decent speed. With the tea, Bai Yunfei felt like it wouldn¡¯t be long before he could become a late-stage Soul Exalt.


    Bai Yunfei had noticed a slight change undertake Xiao Qi as well. It was relatively ¡®silent¡¯ compared to before and frequently took to sleeping. Sometimes, it¡¯d sleep on top of his shoulder.


    Whenever he was training, Bai Yunfei would feel slightly different from normal¡ªa feeling of happiness was coming through to him from Xiao Qi.


    This meant¡­.Xiao Qi was on its way to advancing in class!!


    Right now, Xiao Qi was a peak late-stage class six. If it advanced again, then¡­..it¡¯d become a class seven!!


    Bai Yunfei felt more excited for that than him becoming a late-stage Soul Exalt. A class seven soulbeast! Countless people and soulbeast could only yearn of growing to such a level like that.


    But breaking through this bottleneck of a period wasn¡¯t as easy as it seemed to be. Bai Yunfei knew that it might¡¯ve looked like Xiao Qi was extremely close, but in reality, it would still need perhaps three or five years, if not a great opportunity¡­.


    The blue-eyes wyrm on the other hand, seemed jealous of Xiao Qi¡¯s current state. It was stuck in the late-stage class six level without making any noticeable levels of improvement. Irritating the soulbeast, the wyrm began to train as hard as it could. Although it wasn¡¯t making any leeway, it could still improve its soulforce slowly and surely.


    All in all, there were happy developments all around, and Bai Yunfei was content with that. After so many twist and turns in the Capital, Bai Yunfei was finally starting to feel that life was getting back on track¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    The days went by soon enough, and Bai Yunfei soon found himself on the day of his next class.


    Rather than go with Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei opted to leave from his home and head for the academy himself. He had been familiarizing himself with the layout of the Capital, and now that his home was close to the academy, he wasn¡¯t worried about getting lost.


    Now that he was starting to treat the damages done to his soul, Bai Yunfei was starting to feel better about himself. It was with satisfaction that Bai Yunfei walked towards the academy, looking around at the students there whenever they passed. A feeling of joy arose in his mind, and a small hum couldn¡¯t help but make its way towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips to whistle.


    But his happy mood would soon be shattered¡­.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! You stop right there!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been halfway through the sixth year area and on his way to the gates leading to the Back Mountain when a sudden voice called out to him.


    The voice hadn¡¯t been very polite at all, and Bai Yunfei could feel the hostile but strong soulforce leaking out from this person.


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei sighed and turned around.


    A group of people was coming up to meet him.


    He watched as the group of twenty to thirty people stop in front of him, three middle-aged men in particular leading the group. Behind the three were what appeared to be guards of some kind while everyone else were male and females¡ªevidently students of the academy.


    Since Bai Yunfei had stopped walking, it didn¡¯t take long for the group to catch up to him. In fact, some of them overtook Bai Yunfei so that he was stuck in a ring.


    He eyed the crowd, ¡°Is there a problem?¡±


    He didn¡¯t recognize anyone from the crowd, so what business had them with him? And why were they so hostile towards him?


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!! You have the nerve to pretend?!¡± The middle-aged man in maroon robes bristled, ¡°You¡¯ve been hiding for the past few days, but today you¡¯ll pay us an explanation or else you don¡¯t leave at all! Don¡¯t think that because the chairman made you the crafting instructor you can allow your students to do as they please!¡±


    Bai Yunfei only narrowed his eyes at the person pointing his finger at him, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°You¡­!¡± The man paused briefly, not expecting such a response with him taking the initiative to speak, or that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know who he was. ¡°I am the sixth year fire section instructor for class four, Lu Ren!¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°What business does instructor Lu have with me?¡±


    Before Lu Ren himself answered, the small-eyed middle-aged man next to him snorted, ¡°Hmph! So you¡¯re Bai Yunfei? Don¡¯t even try pretending your way out of this. You will be make things right for the young master of my house, else the house of Xue will be forced to take the issue up!¡±


    This man wore a rare and expensive looking robe and was looking quite stoutly. He didn¡¯t look like an instructor of the academy, so Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°And who are you?¡±


    Proudly, the man responded, ¡°I am here on the behalf of the Chancellor of Finance, Xue Chunhou¡­.and attendant to the house of Xue. Your student injured the young master of my house, so today you¡¯ll be paying the compense for it!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed¡ªbut not at the fact that there was a chancellor involved here. ¡°My student hit your young master? What is the meaning behind this?¡±


    He eyed in between the two middle-aged man to look at the young man whose hand was bandaged up. Besides him were a few other injured people.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this? This one is really unaware of the details, please explain this for me.¡±


    Thinking that Bai Yunfei was lying, the attendant snorted, ¡°How does an instructor not know when his student commits a crime as grievous as this?! Is this how an instructor should be¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed brightly, ¡°I won¡¯t trouble sire to teach me how to be an instructor. I asked you what happened, all you need to do is answer that question.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡±


    Not expecting such a backhanded response, the man was about to snap back when Lu Ren cut in. ¡°Bai Yunfei, it seems that you really don¡¯t know what happened. Fine, I¡¯ll tell you then. Two days ago in the dining hall of the academy, a scuffle broke out between nearly ten students. The instigator was very brutish in his actions and broke the arm of the third son of the lord of the house of Xue! There were even a few females that were bullied by your student, so¡­.how do you propose we deal with this situation?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei blanked, something like that had actually happened? ¡°Are you certain it was my student? Which one?¡±


    ¡°Of course it was your student?¡± The attendant boomed, ¡°Are you still trying to play the fool? The one who hit him was the fourth¡­.fourth¡­.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t seem to say what he wanted to say after ¡®fourth¡¯, prompting Bai Yunfei to ask, ¡°Fourth what?¡±


    Lu Ren snorted, ¡°The instigator was your new student, the Fourth Prince, Wu Yang!¡±

 Chapter 578: Events That Led to Fighting

    ¡°Wu Yang?¡±


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow at the mention of his name, ¡°Was it Wu Yang that hit him into that state?¡±


    Bai Yunfei pointed a finger at the ¡®wounded¡¯ person.


    ¡°Indeed, it was Wu Yang who led the others! He uses his power to bully other students, such an act is untolerable in the academy! Bai Yunfei, he is your student, how do you propose you deal with this?!¡±


    ¡°Led?¡± Bai Yunfei picked up on the keyword, ¡°Are you saying there are others?¡±


    ¡°Correct! There were several others, all of which were your students! I¡¯ve already figured out their names. Mo Chen, Fang Tianmeng, and Fang Yong!¡±


    ¡°Them?¡± Bai Yunfei recognized the names, ¡°What in the world happened? Can you explain this?¡±


    The attendant obliged, loudly. ¡°No matter the case, it was your students that instigated and harmed another, they are in the wrong! Our young master was grievously hurt and will need at least ten days to heal fully. As their instructor, you should take the blame on their behalf!!¡±


    What kind of bullsh*t reasoning was that?


    The absurdity of the situation had Bai Yunfei nearly cross his eyes in exasperation. But since he hadn¡¯t a clue of the situation and was too lazy to argue, Bai Yunfei decided to ask the source itself and turned behind him.


    He could tell a group of people was descending down from the Back Mountain, and that those students were his own. Wu Yang was among the students coming down, so Bai Yunfei decided to ask him since he was the ¡®instigator¡¯.


    When Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t speak, the attendant took this to mean that Bai Yunfei was feeling guilty. Confident now, he spoke, ¡°Bai Yunfei, allow me to tell you, though Wu Yang is the fourth prince, he cannot act without laws and morals, and in Tianhun Academy no less. Fairness and impartiality is key to our academy, and even if it¡¯s the fourth prince, you as the instructor should carry the blame for his actions!¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to say anything again. This man was clearly afraid of Wu Yang and was using Bai Yunfei as a ¡®scapegoat¡¯ for the actions of Wu Yang. By asserting the claim that a teacher should be fair and impartial, was the man not trying to have Bai Yunfei ¡®punish¡¯ Wu Yang for him?


    As for Lu Ren and the other instructor who hadn¡¯t spoken, Bai Yunfei could more or less tell that they were ¡®jealous¡¯ of him based on the hostility they were showing. It wasn¡¯t hard to see, and Bai Yunfei could guess the reason already. His installment as an instructor to the academy was still unaccepted by several instructors, so they wanted to take use of this chance to make trouble for him.


    Quickly, Bai Yunfei¡¯s students came from the gates leading to the Back Mountain, including Mo Wanxia and Wu Yang for a total of nine students.


    At the very front of the group was Wu Yang, his expression stormy as he stalked forwards. From the looks he was giving to the ¡®injured¡¯ parties of the people with Lu Ren, he clearly did not get along with them.


    But when Bai Yunfei looked past Wu Yang and onto the other students behind him, his eyes narrowed slightly.


    There was a bandage on Mo Chen¡¯s right hand, and Fang Tianmeng and Fang Yong both looked a little strange, the former a little timid in fact.


    As everyone stared at the group make their way over, Bai Yunfei held his hand up to stop Wu Yang from speaking momentarily to focus on Mo Chen. ¡°What happened?¡± He pointed at his fist.


    Thinking that Bai Yunfei was going to rebuke him, Mo Chen started to mumble with his speech, ¡°I...er...hehe...I accidentally hurt it.¡±


    But when Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look ¡®happy¡¯ with such an explanation, Fang Yong spoke up rather nervously, ¡°Instructor Bai, please don¡¯t blame Mo Chen. He was just protecting Tianmeng and I from being hurt.¡±


    She bit her lips slightly before pointing a finger at the young man with the injured hand. ¡°He¡¯s the one that hurt Mo Chen.¡±


    ¡°Hmph!¡± The attendant snorted, ¡°For a group of commoners to dare commit assault onto the son of the Chancellor of Finance, they are exceptionally undisciplined. The sinners have come forth now, Bai Yunfei! Hurry up and deal with the matter! Have your students apologize towards my young master and issue their punishment, or else we¡¯ll¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oh shut your mouth!!¡±


    Before the man finished speaking, Bai Yunfei gave him a glare cold enough to shut the man up and choke on his words almost.


    Not caring in the slightest for him, Bai Yunfei turned to Mo Chen and Fang Tianmeng. ¡°What in the world happened? Start from the beginning with what happened in the dining hall two days ago.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.Instructor Bai¡­.I¡­.¡± Fang Tianmeng hesitated, her eye flickering to the glowering young woman next to the injured young man from the Xue. She looked as if she was being wronged, but she didn¡¯t seem to know how to answer Bai Yunfei.


    Unable to hold himself any longer, Wu Yang pointed a finger at the injured youth, ¡°That Xue Gui there, I saw him hit Mo Chen first and was bullying Fang Yong and Fang Tianmeng, so I decided to help them out and teach him a lesson. I¡¯m the one to hurt them, I¡¯m the only responsible party here.¡±


    Inwardly, the attendant was worried. If the fourth prince was to try and refuse to acknowledge his wrongs, then it¡¯d be harder to resolve this issue the way they want. And if they didn¡¯t resolve it, then he himself would be the one that¡¯d take the fall for having the young master of his house injured. Glaring icily at Bai Yunfei, the man spoke, ¡°Bai Yunfei! Your student has already admitted to his crime, how do you suggest we deal with this?!¡±


    Lu Ren cut in at that moment, ¡°Fourth Prince, while you are a prince of the Empire, but you are also a student of the academy. You must adhere to the laws of our academy, please do not make use of your station to bully others.¡±


    Still ignoring the two others, Bai Yunfei continued to stare at the adamant Wu Yang, ¡°Tell me the details.¡±


    ¡°Let me explain it.¡± Dongfang Yuhui spoke from the crowd. ¡°At noon two days ago, Fang Yong and Tianmeng were both eating in the dining halls when¡­¡±


    Under Dongfang Yuhui¡¯s explanation, Bai Yunfei was able to understand the situation. As things were, it seemed that when the two girls were eating, Fang Tianmeng met with several people she knew before, one of which was one a previous classmate of Fang Tianmeng and the daughter of a rather wealthy family. When the two used to share a class, Fang Tianmeng had been the more popular girl in the class, which led to the other girl feeling jealous. But since Fang Tianmeng left the class to join the crafting class, that classmate became the class¡¯ ¡®princess¡¯. Feeling proud of herself, the classmate spoke down onto Fang Tianmeng when they met again and began to mock her.


    Since Fang Tianmeng was an orphan and usually had to do some tasks for the academy in order to pay for the educational costs, the classmate saw her as a ¡®lowly¡¯ commoner of sorts, calling her things such as an ¡®undesirable¡¯.


    Due to her kind nature, Fang Tianmeng didn¡¯t want to say anything in response, but she was already brought to tears. In the end, Fang Yong couldn¡¯t help it anymore and came up to slap the woman in Tianmeng¡¯s place. But the ¡®white knight¡¯ behind her--Xue Gui, came forward to stop Fang Yong and was about to hit her when Mo Chen saw it. From there, Mo Chen tried to stop him, only to be defeated due to his lack of strength. Wu Yang had been with Mo Chen at the time, and seeing his fellow classmate be hurt infuriated him. And from there, a brawl had started¡­.


    Not caring in the slightest for the consequences, Wu Yang dealt a heavy blow to Xue Gui, which left him as he was now.


    And that how it went. Or so it goes.

 Chapter 579: Apologize

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face looked a little dark after he listened to Dongfang Yuhui¡¯s explanation, though no one seemed to know what he was thinking about.


    ¡°How about it? You¡¯ve heard the story, Bai Yunfei. Your students were the one who instigated this, and over a little spat from your female students. A student of mine was grievously injured, your students should be heavily punished!!¡± Lu Ren glared at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!! You must have them apologize to my young master and the young miss from the Chen and accept a heavy punishment!!¡± The attendant from the Xue piped up next.


    Wu Yang¡¯s eyes flew open with anger, ¡°Outrageous! Apologize to them? I was the one to hit them, shouldn¡¯t you be asking me to apologize?!¡±


    ¡°Er...that¡­¡± The attendant blustered, his eyes shifting away to look at anywhere other than the fourth prince. The nature of the fourth prince was well known to many people there, and although Wu Yang wasn¡¯t acting on with imperial dignity yet, the attendant didn¡¯t dare simply ask for Wu Yang to ¡®take responsibility¡¯.


    The attendant was after all a member of the imperial system. To warrant hostilities with the fourth prince would be unwise. It was only because instructor Lu Ren was there in capacity as an instructor of the academy that the attendant could afford to throw around the word of ¡®fairness¡¯ in this conversation with Wu Yang.


    Just as the fourth prince was about to call upon his station as a prince to ¡®dissolve¡¯ the matter, Bai Yunfei spoke up.


    ¡°Yes. You¡¯re right. An apology is needed.¡±


    He had spoken after thinking for a long moment, but his words had completely caught everyone off guard.


    The attendant sighed inwardly to himself--he hadn¡¯t thought that Bai Yunfei would be so soft like that to concede. This also meant he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the fourth prince, and now he could come out from this messy affair looking relatively safe.


    Even the instructor next to Lu Ren looked astonished at Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction. He originally thought that Bai Yunfei would fight the accusations, thus why the instructor came with Lu Ren in the first place to stand on the side of ¡®fairness¡¯ to teach Bai Yunfei a lesson.


    But then Bai Yunfei simply gave up and ¡®conceded¡¯ then and there.


    The ones injured by Wu Yang all looked pleased with themselves as if they had just won a battle.


    The ones who reacted the most were Bai Yunfei¡¯s own students. Many of them looked incredulously at him, some of them having looks of disappointment in their eyes.


    Seeing the finish line in sight now, the attendant smiled with relief. ¡°Haha, so you finally admit it. Let¡¯s have these lowly plebeians apologize to the young master then. If my young master is pleased enough, we¡¯ll think about being lenient!¡±


    Bai Yunfei frowned. Looking at the man as if he was an idiot, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°You misunderstand. I didn¡¯t say my students will be the ones apologizing.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The attendant cried along with the others with him.


    Bai Yunfei pointed a finger at Xue Gui, ¡°Have those that bullied my students come forward and apologize to my students. I won¡¯t pursue the matter after that.¡±


    He then pointed at the attendant, ¡°As for you. You¡¯ve a filthy mouth. Slap yourself on the face ten times and I¡¯ll forgive you.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The entire crowd all stared incredulously at Bai Yunfei as if they weren¡¯t sure if what they heard from him was correct.


    ¡°This is absurd!!¡±


    The attendant responded after a few mute seconds. ¡°You...what is the meaning of this?!¡± He cried, growing practically purple in the face.¡±


    ¡°Was I not clear? Or do you not understand human language?¡±


    ¡°I...yo--you!¡± The attendant¡¯s body quivered intensely to glare at Bai Yunfei. He didn¡¯t know how to respond to Bai Yunfei¡¯s arrogant attitude towards him at all.


    Lu Ren stepped in to intervene, ¡°Bai Yunfei, how could you be so unreasonable?! Your students were the ones to injure the other. What logic is there in having the injured party apologize?¡±


    ¡°My student is also injured¡± Bai Yunfei pointed at Mo Chen.


    ¡°How can his injuries even compare to the injuries of Xue Gui?!¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t as if he¡¯s my student.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The big-nosed instructor next to Lu Ren finally chose then to break his silence with angry words. ¡°Bai Yunfei! You¡¯re being unreasonable here!! I came here today to seek fairness from you! Your student injured the other, stop twisting your words with your illogicalness!¡±


    ¡°I know that it was my student who was first bullied, thus why I ask your student to apologize.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Again, the crowd grew silent with how ¡®unreasonable¡¯ Bai Yunfei was being. None of them had thought to see that happen.


    Bai Yunfei stared at the quivering attendant from the Xue with a bored expression, ¡°Let¡¯s hurry it up then. I¡¯ve a class to teach.¡±


    He still wanted the attendant to ¡®hurry up¡¯ and slap himself?! Unable to hold himself any longer, his fatty cheeks started to jiggle in his anger, ¡°Filthy undesirables! Vagabonds and plebeians, all of you!! How dare you all! Teach them a harsh lesson they won¡¯t forget!!¡±


    He was the one responsible for the finance and attendants in the house of Xue, how could he stand for such disrespect like this? Already, he saw himself as a ¡®noble¡¯ that stood over the others people who didn¡¯t match him in station, such as Bai Yunfei. He only took Bai Yunfei to be an ordinary instructor that was daring to try and ¡®humiliate¡¯ him, thus why he was so angry today.


    He would teach Bai Yunfei a fierce lesson.


    ¡°You¡¯re noisy.¡±


    Several people gasped as Bai Yunfei disappeared from sight.


    The soldiers behind the attendant had been quick to follow his commands. None of them were particularly weak with three of them being late-stage Soul Ancestors and two of them early-stage Soul Exalts, but none of those five had even registered Bai Yunfei disappearing from sight when they leapt forward.


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    An ear-ringing sound was heard behind the soldiers.


    Looking back, the soldiers were alarmed to find Bai Yunfei somehow standing right behind them! His right hand was outstretched at the moment and was falling back down to his side, but on the left side of the attendant¡¯s fatty face was a single red palm mark!


    Bai Yunfei stared icily at the attendant as he held a hand to his own face. ¡°Don¡¯t keep saying words as dirty as ¡®filthy plebeian¡¯ or ¡®undesirable¡¯. I may have come from a commoner¡¯s life, but in my own eyes, ¡®nobles¡¯ like you who think yourself higher than us are nothing more but slaves.¡±


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    Another slap. The left side of the attendant¡¯s face was already swollen to fill a large amount of his face.


    ¡°Ah! Ahhh!!! I¡¯ll kill you!!¡± The man shrieked in fury. Golden light flooded out from his body as he revealed himself to be an early-stage Soul Exalt. Raising his right hand to bring out a golden blade, he moved to slice through Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat.


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    There was another ringing sound when Bai Yunfei slapped the man in the face again, completely disregarding the elemental energy and soulforce protecting the Soul Exalt!!


    Bai Yunfei had ignored both those two energies to completely overwhelm the man!


    The soldiers cried in alarm as they threw themselves at him again. But even the fastest of the five, the two Soul Exalts, hadn¡¯t been fast enough before Bai Yunfei disappeared, leaving them to grab onto nothing but air.


    With a few quick footwork, Bai Yunfei was already stepping past the soldiers and was raising his right hand again¡­.


    ¡°Pow! Pow! Pow¡­.¡±


    A series of frightening sounds echoed through the air as Bai Yunfei dodged the attacks of the soldiers. There was a total of ten slapping sounds before the attendant was completely out of it, his eyes seeing nothing but stars and his mouth silent.


    With Bai Yunfei using his fingers to slap the man in the face, there was a small flow of blood trickling down his mouth, and the left side of his face was at least two times bigger than his right.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!! Stop!¡±


    Unable to contain themselves anymore, the two other instructors moved forward to stop him.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Bai Yunfei snorted. Tossing the person in his hands away, he whirled around to bring both his hands forward to push against the two instructors with his palms.


    ¡°Bang!¡± ¡°Bang!!¡±


    And just like that, the two instructors were sent flying away!


    Completely caught off guard by how they were sent flying away by Bai Yunfei, the two instructors staggered back onto their feet in awe.


    In one simple move, Bai Yunfei had shown the two that they were no match for him!


    While they knew Bai Yunfei was strong due to him being able to beat Zhou Yu with his soul armaments, they hadn¡¯t believed Bai Yunfei was strong enough to force them back without even using all his strength!


    Eyeing the soldiers who were immobilized with fear, and then the injured Xue Gui standing slightly farther away, Bai Yunfei spoke calmly.


    ¡°Apologize.¡±


    The glare in his eyes had caused several of the students to gulp and quiver nervously. Xue Gui himself had been staring in fear at the knocked out attendant of his family when he started to stammer, ¡°I--I¡­¡±


    ¡°Apologize.¡± Bai Yunfei repeated again, a hint of severity added to his word.


    Xue Gui was practically bathed in sweat now as he looked to Mo Chen and the others. ¡°I¡¯m¡­.I¡¯m sorry¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded before turning to the nearly frightened out of her mind girl next to him.


    ¡°I--I¡¯m¡­.I¡¯m so--sorry¡­.¡±


    She managed to squeak out towards Fang Tianmeng. She looked ready to burst into tears at any moment now, making her look to be quite the pitiful sight.


    Lu Ren and the instructor was going to stop them from speaking, but the die had been cast already. Their students had apologized. Turning slightly green in the face, neither of the two spoke up again or did anything to Bai Yunfei.


    Looking at the quivering students in front of him, Bai Yunfei suddenly felt a little vapid, as if he thought he was bullying them now. He frowned. Sighing, Bai Yunfei turned away from them to look at his own students.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ve class to have.¡±


    With that, he lead his students away up to Back Mountain.


    Wu Yang, who had been stuck to the spot ever since Bai Yunfei had told the other party to apologize the first time, blinked twice. Giving Bai Yunfei an odd stare at first, he looked at the other stunned classmates of his before following him up the mountain.

 Chapter 580: An Especially Special Way of Teaching (First)

    It wasn¡¯t until they were outside the crafting caves when Bai Yunfei noticed the strange looks he was getting. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? What¡¯s with those looks?¡±


    A little moved, Mo Chen replied, ¡°I¡­.instructor Bai, I just didn¡¯t think¡­.that you¡¯d deal with the situation that way¡­.¡±


    ¡°What? Should I not have?¡±


    ¡°No no, I didn¡¯t think it was bad, it was¡­.it was cool! Haha!! I thought we were going to be punished, but then to see those smug asses get so scared¡ªthat was amazing!!¡±


    ¡°Punished? You did nothing wrong, why would I punish you? If you didn¡¯t do anything and watched Fang Tianmeng and Fang Yong be bullied like that, then I would punish you.¡±


    ¡°How would we? What kind of friend wouldn¡¯t help another when in need?¡± Mo Chen shook his head, ¡°It just sucks that I¡¯m not strong enough, big brother Wu Yang had to deal with the problem himself.¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave Wu Yang a look, ¡°Yes. You did well.¡±


    Wu Yang felt pleased. This was the first time he was being praised for something like this. Running a hand through his hair, he spoke airily, ¡°It was nothing. Nothing worth mentioning¡­¡±


    Some tears was had in Fang Tianmeng¡¯s eyes, ¡°Instructor Bai, thank you¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Thank me for what? You¡¯re my students, I can¡¯t allow other people to bully you like that.¡±


    By the side, there was a strange light in Mo Wanxia¡¯s eyes, ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought you actually were a shield all along.¡±


    ¡°A shield? How does something like this even count as that¡­?¡±


    In his mind, Bai Yunfei thought about the first elder back in the Crafting School. If it was him, then Xue Gui would¡¯ve been permanently short a hand by now.


    Clapping his hands, Bai Yunfei announced. ¡°The matter has passed, so let¡¯s not talk about it anymore. If something like this happens again, just tell me straight away. As your instructor, I should be the first to know about these things. Don¡¯t wait until class starts again to let me know.¡±


    ¡°But we don¡¯t even know where instructor Bai lives! How are we going to find you?¡± Mo Chen questioned.


    ¡°Oh, I nearly forgot about that.¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. ¡°Right now, I live on North Seventh Street facing the academy. It¡¯s the 87th number down, you may find me there in the future.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about our class. Today, I will be teaching you how to actually craft. Return to your crafting caves.¡±


    ¡°Our own crafting caves? Are we not going to instructor Bai¡¯s cave to have class?¡± A student asked.


    ¡°No need, I will have the ability to teach you all at the same time in your caves.¡±


    He turned to walk into Mo Chen¡¯s cave, his right hand withdrawing a gray stone from his space ring before placing it within the cave.


    He did the same thing for each cave, placing a stone within every student¡¯s cave.


    Under his instructions, the students walked into their caves quizzically. They each looked at the stone he placed, completely baffled by the mystery in which the stone Bai Yunfei put down was.


    A short moment later, they each suddenly felt a strange light pulsate from the stone, warping the area enough before Bai Yunfei suddenly appeared in front of them!


    ¡°This is¡­.an illusion!!¡±


    Everyone immediately realized what was going on in great shock.


    The more surprising thing was when Bai Yunfei smiled and moved his lips. Rather than him being silent, there was a voice that was being transmitted into each of their heads.


    ¡°Alright, lets begin class.¡±


    Everyone jumped when they heard his voice and looked around. The stronger ones like Mo Wanxia had been especially surprised, since they knew this sound wasn¡¯t coming from Bai Yunfei, but from¡­.their own mind!


    ¡°Soul Communication!!¡±


    Mo Wanxia¡¯s eyes were wide open as she realized the absurdity of the situation¡ªthis was soul communication! An act only Soul Kings and the like were capable of doing, how was Bai Yunfei doing this?!


    ¡°Everybody doesn¡¯t need to worry, I am using a special method that allows me to establish a mental link with you all. As long as you think about what you want to say to me, I¡¯ll be able to ¡®hear¡¯ what you say.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice spoke again into their minds. ¡°This is a special ability of one of my soul armaments, so it shouldn¡¯t be too surprising.¡±


    The ability of a soul armament?!


    Again, everyone was surprised. How could it not be? This was the first time they¡¯ve heard of a soul armament having an ¡®ability¡¯.


    But at the same time, everyone grew excited. Soul armaments such as this existed? This was amazing! If they were able to craft soul armaments like this, then¡­.


    ¡°Then allow me to start today¡¯s class. In our last class, I demonstrated a very basic crafting process to craft a low-human tier. Today, I¡¯ll do a demonstration again and then you¡¯ll all try it our yourself and see how you like it¡­.¡±


    Everyone saw as a cauldron came popping out in front of the illusion of Bai Yunfei. From there, he started to demonstrate for them all.


    ¡­¡­


    In his own cave, Bai Yunfei sat on the ground with his Lightningfire Cauldron sparking to life in front of him. Six stones were all around him and the cauldron, enveloping him with a mysterious bright light.


    They were the Illusion Stones.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Illusion


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Additional Attribute: Increase range of illusions by 30%.


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: Create an illusion a hundred meters in radius at largest. Effects become stronger the smaller in area it is. Effect can be stacked.


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase strength of illusions by 50%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    These were the stone set he found outside the Capital. After spending several days to study it, today Bai Yunfei resolved to try it out for once.


    Nearly the entire mountain peak was within the radius of his illusions. With all the Illusion Stones properly placed in the caves, Bai Yunfei was able to see into the caves and see what the students were doing.


    As for the way he was talking with the students, Bai Yunfei was using the additional effect of the Charm Bracelet.


    +10 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to establish a mental link with anyone within a kilometer.


    Though the illusions could imitate his speech somewhat, the Charm Bracelet would make his speech far more pronounced since it was speaking to their minds, which was a great deal better than the other options.


    The entire class went on in subdued shock as each of the students listened to the illusionary Bai Yunfei teach their class. They had never experienced such a class before, and they were mystified how Bai Yunfei was doing this, but it felt like they were all able to have a one on one interaction with him. With how Bai Yunfei was point out and explain whatever each student was doing right or wrong, his explanations made this style of teaching extremely succinct and clear to understand. Furthermore, they all felt that besides from a ¡®voice¡¯ being heard in their minds, there was also a ¡®insight¡¯ that was being shared with them, making them be able to understand what was being taught even more clearly. It was as though some sort of mysterious feeling iwas guiding them towards the right path.


    None of them had ever heard of such a way of teaching before, but they all believed that within the entire academy, Bai Yunfei was the only one capable of such a thing.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Class was dismissed, and Bai Yunfei soon went back to his own place to rest for the night¡­.


    The next morning, Bai Yunfei was in the Soothing Heart and had only just finished his half-hour tea time before returning home...


    ¡°Eh?¡± In the distance, Bai Yunfei saw a group of people gathered in front of his gates and quickly walked over.


    ¡°Mo Chen, what are you all doing here?¡± Bai Yunfei asked when he drew close. The people at his gates had been Mo Chen, Fang Yong, Mo Wanxia and Zhang Zhifeng.


    He noticed the anxious and nervous looks on their faces and felt his heart plummet a bit. Something bad, he felt, was about to happen¡­.

 Chapter 581: The Disappearance of Fang Tianmeng! (Second)

    ¡°Instructor Bai!!¡±


    Mo Chen¡¯s face light up in relief when he saw Bai Yunfei. ¡°Instructor Bai, something bad has happened!¡±


    ¡°What did?¡± Bai Yunfei asked grimly.


    Besides Mo Chen, Fang Yong cried out tearfully, ¡°Instructor Bai, Tiangmeng¡­.Tianmeng¡¯s gone!! What do we do¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°Tianmeng¡¯s gone? Where to? Calm down and talk to me clearly. What happened?¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Suddenly, a concern voiced called out to him behind. Bai Yunfei turned around. It was Zheng Kai.


    Without giving him a greeting, Bai Yunfei only nodded before turning back to Fang Yong.


    ¡°Tianmeng went out yesterday. But she never returned. I don¡¯t even know where she might be....¡±


    ¡°She never returned?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°What was she doing?¡±


    ¡°She said she was going walking with a male from the fifth year fire section for a walk. I think...I think his name was Ye¡­.Ye something¡­¡±


    ¡°Ye Yu?¡±


    ¡°Yes! His name was Ye Yu!¡± Fang Tianmeng nodded.


    ¡°Did you go look for Ye Yu?¡±


    Zhang Zhifeng nodded, ¡°Fang Yong came to find us earlier today, so we went out looking for Ye Yu. But his roommate said he hadn¡¯t returned since last night.¡±


    From aside, Zheng Kai decided to speak up with a theory of his own. He remembered Ye Yu and Fang Tianmeng just faintly, ¡°If...If I may be blunt, perhaps the two of them are currently engaging in something a couple might be doing? That might be why miss Fang hasn¡¯t returned last night¡­¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± Fang Yong refused, ¡°Tianmeng isn¡¯t that type of person! She might have a good opinion of Ye Yu, but there¡¯s no way she wouldn¡¯t spend the entire night without coming back!¡±


    Zhang Zhifeng interjected after that, ¡°Also, I went to speak with his instructor. He said that Ye Yu was supposed to have a task done this morning, so he should¡¯ve been back by now.¡±


    Fang Yong looked distress as she spoke to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Instructor Bai¡­.do you think¡­.do you think Tianmeng is in danger right now?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not blindly guess, that¡¯ll accomplish nothing.¡± Bai Yunfei consoled her, though he himself was starting to feel worried. This wasn¡¯t a common scenario; if two people haven¡¯t returned since last night, that might¡¯ve really meant something bad was happening¡­.


    But they were two ordinary soul cultivators. What kind of people would want to do anything against them?


    ¡°Do the two of them have any enemies?¡± Zheng Kai offered again. ¡°Would anyone wish to do harm to them? Yunfei, do you remember that young master Cao from Baishan City? Do you¡­.think he wanted revenge on them?¡±


    The wrinkles on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead deepened for a moment to ruminate on that thought. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be so? It hasn¡¯t been that long since we last met them, that Cao Jun probably hasn¡¯t even recovered from his wounds yet, let alone want to come back to seek revenge. And if it¡¯s revenge, he would¡¯ve come after me, why would he go after Tianmeng and Ye Yu?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be sure, but there¡¯s always a few hedonists whose minds work in ways you¡¯ll never understand, Yunfei¡­.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a too possible of a probability, let¡¯s think about other likely scenarios. If we are to assume someone kidnapped or ambushed them, who would it be?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered.


    ¡°Would it perhaps be the same people from yesterday?¡± Zhang Zhifeng offered coldly.


    ¡°Are you talking about the Xue?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°Yeah!!¡± Mo Chen lit up, ¡°It has to be them! They definitely wouldn¡¯t let what happened yesterday lying down, so they must¡¯ve gone after Tianmeng in revenge! I heard it before that there was a student commoner that once angered Xue Gui, so he had people torture that student so much that he had to leave the academy!¡±


    ¡°Did that really happen before?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed dangerously. Though he didn¡¯t think it was likely, if this was true, then¡­.


    ¡°The Xue? Which Xue?¡± Zheng Kai inquired, ¡°Yunfei, what happened yesterday?¡±


    Bai Yunfei quickly retold the story of what happened yesterday.


    ¡°The Minister of Finance from the house of Xue? You went against a family like that?¡±


    ¡°Why? Are they an influential family or something?¡±


    ¡°Ah, no. That¡¯s not it, they¡¯re a relatively ¡®minor¡¯ one.¡± Zheng Kai replied, ¡°But the Chancellor of Finance is in charge to a certain degree of the Tianhun Empire¡¯s financial system, so he¡¯s not quite an ordinary person either. Xue Chunhou is his name. While rather ordinary, he does have some skill in finance and has a bit of a relationship with His Majesty¡¯s wife¡¯s family, that¡¯s why he has the key position he does now. That key position means he has several experts to his house, but he¡¯s still not really a major player in the Capital. And I know that half-wit of a person Xue Gui. He¡¯s just a hedonistic second generational.¡±


    ¡°Then?¡± Bai Yunfei began, ¡°Do you think the disappearance of Fang Tianmeng has anything to do with Xue Gui?¡±


    ¡°Is this Fang Tianmeng¡­.a commoner?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s hard to say. A student commoner without any background are easy targets for second generationals like Xue Gui. He likes to bully said people, and with brains like his, it¡¯s hard to say if he¡¯s really involved in this or not¡­.¡±


    ¡°Zheng Kai, do you know where the Xue live?¡±


    ¡°What are planning to do?¡±


    ¡°Find out if it was Xue Gui that did it, let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    East Fifth Street of the Capital where the Chancellor of Finance lived.


    Standing by the gates stood several guards completely bored out of their minds. Suddenly, a wave of energy rolled over them, causing them to immediately clutch at the blades at their waist, ¡°Halt! Who goes there?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave them each a glance before looking to the gates in front of him, ¡°Call Xue Gui to see me.¡±


    ¡°The young master?¡± The guard captain repeated, ¡°The young master is currently in the middle of recuperating. Who are you and what do you want?¡±


    Bai Yunfei dipped his head. Unwilling to mince any more words with the guards, he stepped forward to walk in.


    ¡°How dare you!!¡±


    The guards immediately moved forward to intercept him.


    But how could guards as weak as Soul Sprites stop Bai Yunfei? With several blows, Bai Yunfei knocked them aside and led the students behind him in.


    ¡°Who dares trespass into Xue manor!!¡±


    Straight away, a voice boomed out to stop Bai Yunfei and the others. All around them, over a dozen figures landed in place to surround them.


    Bai Yunfei looked at them all, the strongest of them had only been a late-stage Soul Exalt. ¡°I came here for Xue Gui. I¡¯ve several questions for him, call him out to see me.¡±


    ¡°Watch your tone!! Who are you to intrude and demand things within Xue manor?!¡±


    Another voice called out to Bai Yunfei before a stoutly figure came rushing forward. He was dressed in a richly robe and was rather quite fat. There was a bulge on the left side of his face, making him look rather comically.


    This was the very same person Bai Yunfei had slapped and taught a lesson yesterday.


    He walked over to the courtyards, and when he saw Bai Yunfei standing there, he came to a stop for a moment.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei spared him a cold glance, ¡°You¡¯ve good timing. Let me ask you, were you the ones that took my student?!¡±

 Chapter 582: Intimidating the House of Xue (Third)

    ¡°What?¡±


    The attendant hadn¡¯t been expecting such a question. ¡°Bai Yunfei! What do you mean your student¡­? You¡¯ve the nerve to strongarm your way into Xue manor like this, have you no respect for the law?! Don¡¯t think just because you¡¯re strong you can run amok! Men! Arrest this man!!¡±


    The people around Bai Yunfei immediately leapt forward to capture Bai Yunfei and the others at his command.


    ¡°Roarr!!!!¡±


    A deafening roar boomed into the courtyard, startling everyone in there.


    From where the once adorable looking white doggie had been next to Bai Yunfei, it had transformed into a giant lion-sized white mastiff in a flash of white light. Standing in front of Bai Yunfei, it¡¯s paws cracked the stone tiles beneath it as it let loose another roar!


    Every single person that had originally planned to attack Bai Yunfei immediately blanched as if struck by something and immediately retreated!


    Those without enough strength had instead had their eyes roll to the back of their heads and faint to the ground!


    ¡°Cla--class¡­.class seven soulbeast!!!!¡±


    The attendant¡¯s face drained of all blood from his face as he stared wide-eyed at the mastiff. The fat on his face quivered incessantly, and sweat drops the size of beans started to pool all around his face. ¡°Class seven soulbeast! A class seven soulbeast! But how!?¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Another loud roar erupted from the courtyard, though this time it was the blue-eyes wyrm from Bai Yunfei¡¯s right that unleashed it. Growing to a larger size in a blaze of blue light, it waved its tail threateningly to fully show off how terrifying a two-storied soulbeast could be.


    This wasn¡¯t the true extent to the blue-eyes wyrm, as it had looked around to see how much room it had in the courtyard before growing in size. Towering over everyone next to the mastiff, it roared again and shook its tail so that it smacked into several of the Soul Exalts, knocking them flying away into the walls and turning the wall into rubble.


    This time, nobody dared moved and instead stared dumbfoundedly at the two terrifying soulbeasts.


    ¡°Call Xue Gui out to see me!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice thundered again, this time no longer patient enough to argue or fight with them. His two soulbeasts had done the intimidation for him, all he wanted right now was to accomplish his goals as quickly as possible.


    Frightened out of his mind, the attendant tried to drum up the very last vestiges of his courage, ¡°You¡­.what do you want with the young master? Bai Yunfei, I¡¯m telling you, even if yo¡ª¡±


    ¡°Call out Xue Gui to see me!!¡± Bai Yunfei repeated thrice. ¡°I only wish to ask him a few questions. If you don¡¯t call him out, then I¡¯ll go in myself!!¡±


    ¡°Sire, please calm yourself. We can talk civilized here. If my little son has angered you, I will punish him accordingly, please don¡¯t be extreme with your actions!¡±


    An elderly voice called out from the other side of the hall then. In the next moment, a rather plump elderly man in his fifties came walking out assisted by a middle-aged man.


    When the attendant saw the two, he cried out at once, ¡°My lord! Eldest master!!¡±


    From his speech, the elder surely had to be the head of the Xue and Chancellor of Finance, Xue Chunhou. He was an ordinary person, but the middle-aged man next to him was his son, and a late-stage Soul Exalt.


    He was currently being assisted by his son, as his face was deathly white and his body seemed like it had difficulty moving due to the overwhelming pressure of the permafrost mastiff and blue-eyes wyrm. But the fact that he was still able to keep moving despite not being a soul cultivator meant he was at least a person used to seeing people vastly stronger than him.


    Without a care for how the man was, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°I¡¯ve said it before. Call Xue Gui out, I¡¯ve some questions to ask him!¡±


    The wrinkles around Xue Chunhou¡¯s eyes tightened as he tried to smile. ¡°What business might sire have with my young son? He¡¯s in the middle of healing, I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s¡­.¡±


    ¡°Chancellor Xue, I feel that it¡¯s in your best interest to call out your son. My brother here has a few questions to ask. If he¡¯s innocent, then we¡¯ll leave at once and bother you no more.¡±


    A rather lazy-sounding voice called out then, causing Xue Chunhou to look at the source and look on in surprise, ¡°You¡¯re¡­.young master Zheng?!¡±


    Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°We didn¡¯t come here intentionally to make trouble. My brother here is Bai Yunfei, instructor of Tianhun Academy. One of his students has gone missing, and we¡¯re afraid your son might be involved somehow. If you could please call him out so my brother can inquire about her whereabouts.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    Xue Chunhou¡¯s eyes dilated at the mention of Bai Yunfei¡¯s name. In fearful reverance, he gave Bai Yunfei a look before looking a little disturbed. ¡°Lord...lord Bai¡¯s student has gone missing? How could my son be involved? He¡¯s been in his room healing the entire time¡­¡±


    But when he saw the unkindly look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, he gulped. ¡°Go,¡± he commanded one of the soldiers, ¡°Escort my son out!¡±


    A while later, a pale-faced and bandaged Xue Gui came quivering out to face Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei immediately started to question him when he appeared. ¡°Let me ask you, did you send anyone to kidnap Fang Tianmeng?¡±


    ¡°Fang Tianmeng?¡± Xue Gui repeated. He had been completely scared when he was told Bai Yunfei was there for him, but he didn¡¯t know what Bai Yunfei was talking about, ¡°What happened to her?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s missing, did you or did you not send people after her?¡± Bai Yunfei asked again, staring heavily at Xue Gui. The Charm Bracelet on his left hand pulsed slightly¡­.


    Xue Gui didn¡¯t know how to respond, the other party had thought that he had kidnapped Bai Yunfei¡¯s students. And that was why they were interrogating him?


    ¡°I...I did not!¡± He defended himself. ¡°I haven¡¯t done a thing at all! I¡¯ve been home and in my room all day yesterday to now. I didn¡¯t go anywhere, how could I even send anyone to kidnap Fang Tianmeng?¡±


    ¡°You swear?¡±


    ¡°It really has nothing to do with me!¡± Xue Gui half-sobbed.


    Bai Yunfei looked away to grip at his Charm Bracelet, his expression as stormy as ever.


    He didn¡¯t think Xue Gui was lying because¡­.Xue Gui was telling the truth.


    Through the Charm Bracelet, Bai Yunfei was able to establish a mental link with Xue Gui without the other party knowing. He didn¡¯t talk with him, but he was able to sense his emotions and roughly what he was thinking. The ability to do so was something he had found out about the Charm Bracelet after studying it. With this, he was able to roughly sense the mood of a person of those with lesser mental strength than him. He couldn¡¯t directly hear what they were thinking about, but he could at the very least infer if they were lying or not.


    Xue Gui was speaking the truth. He really had nothing to do with Fang Tianmeng¡¯s disappearance.


    But if he didn¡¯t, then how in the world did Fang Tianmeng disappear?


    For a few moments, Bai Yunfei thought to himself, but in the end, he looked towards Xue Chunhou, ¡°Apologies for the disturbance, we¡¯ll be leaving.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He spoke to the others.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was silent for a while after they left, leaving Mo Chen to ask him impatiently, ¡°Instructor Bai, is Xue Gui really not responsible for Tianmeng¡¯s disappearance?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded.¡± Xue Gui wasn¡¯t lying. Let¡¯s return to the academy and see if Dongfang Yuhui and the others have found anything.¡±


    A while back, Dongfang Yuhui and Ouyang Yuhun had gone looking for clues where Fang Tianmeng might¡¯ve gone. He only wished that the two would find a clue or something¡­.


    As they reached the gates of the academy, they saw Dongfang Yuhui waiting. When they saw Bai Yunfei, their eyes lit up before they ran towards him.


    ¡°What happened? Did you find any clues, where are the others?¡±


    Dongfang Yuhui replied first, ¡°They¡¯re in the academy, we¡¯ve found Ye Yu!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei looked pleasantly surprised, ¡°And Tianmeng?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know¡­.¡± Dongfang Yuhui shook his head.


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s the meaning of that? If we found Ye Yu, how could we not know where Fang Tianmeng might be?¡±


    ¡°While we did find Ye Yu,¡± Dongfang Yuhui spoke grimly, ¡°We can¡¯t really ask him anything right now, because¡­.he¡¯s in a coma from his wounds!¡±

 Chapter 583: The Whereabouts of Fang Tianmeng (Fourth)

    In the dormitories where the fifth year fire section students lived, Bai Yunfei was in the unconscious Ye Yu¡¯s room to check up on him. The bones in his arms and feet had been broken, half his ribcage shattered, and even parts of his internal organs damaged. If not for his fortitude and his relatively early treatment, he would¡¯ve died a long time ago.


    By the time Bai Yunfei was there, a group of students were already gathered outside his room with a young woman in the room to treat his wounds. It was the water instructor, Shen Yirou!


    After inquiring about the situation, Bai Yunfei found out that Ouyang Yuhun hadn¡¯t originally thought about taking Ye Yu back to the academy when he found him. They came across Shen Yirou on the way who decided to take over Ye Yu¡¯s healing treatment. It was only with her timely help that they were able to stabilize Ye Yu¡¯s health, else he would¡¯ve slipped further into danger.


    A soft glow of blue light filled the air as Shen Yirou¡¯s hands pressed against Ye Yu¡¯s body. Her elemental water was completely enveloping the young man¡¯s body as she circulated it through his body to clear out the irregularities in his body and aid its natural recovery.


    Not wanting to disturb her, Bai Yunfei decided to wait with the nervous students outside.


    It wasn¡¯t until three in the afternoon when the blue light within the room faded, and the fatigued Shen Yirou came walking out.


    Seeing that the situation in the room was now over, Bai Yunfei moved to be the first one to the door. ¡°Instructor Shen, how is Ye Yu?¡± He asked her.


    Shen Yirou nodded her head, ¡°He should be fine for now. His life is no longer in danger in any case. But he needs a few days of rest still.¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief inwardly, ¡°When will he wake?¡±


    ¡°I know that you¡¯ve some things you need to ask him, so I tried my best to help heal his consciousness. He might wake soon, but you have to ask him quickly, he needs to rest straight away.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded gratefully, ¡°Many thanks, instructor Shen.¡±


    She smiled, ¡°No need, I am an instructor of Tianhun Academy as well, I should do at least this much for him.¡±


    From within the room, the faint sounds of coughing could be heard as Ye Yu started to wake.


    Eyes brightening, Bai Yunfei gave one last word of thanks to Shen Yirou before making his way in along with the other students.


    Ye Yu¡¯s eyes were slightly glassy when he blinked open his eyelids. In a daze, he looked around himself as if unsure of where he was, but then when he saw the large amount of people around him, he looked surprised.


    ¡°Ye Yu, your wounds are very serious. Don¡¯t move. Just answer my questions for now.¡±


    Bai Yunfei gently pressed Ye Yu so that he wouldn¡¯t move and exacerbate his wounds. ¡°Tell me quickly now, what were you doing yesterday night? Where is Fang Tianmeng now? And who hurt you?¡±


    ¡°Instructor Bai??¡±


    Ye Yu was still looking slightly surprised to see Bai Yunfei standing there in his room, but then his mind reminded him of something, causing him to look flustered. ¡°Tianmeng!! Ah! Tianmeng!! Instructor Bai! Something terrible has happened! Tianmeng was kidnapped!!¡±


    Growing grim in the face, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Who took her? Do you know what happened? Be calm and tell me all that you know. I¡¯ll bring Tianmeng back!¡±


    Trying his best to calm himself, Ye Yu breathed in and out several times before responding. ¡°Yesterday night, Tianmeng and I¡­.went together on a walk. She said she wanted to go eat somewhere on North Third Street, so I took her there. When we were on our way back to the academy, we were suddenly attacked by a group of people in black robes. They were all Soul Exalts, I¡­.I wasn¡¯t a match for them. I tried my best, but they beat me so easily. After that, they took Tianmeng away¡­.I¡­.I was useless...I¡¯m sorry instructor Bai, I...I couldn¡¯t protect Tianmeng¡­.¡±


    Still looking as grim as ever, Bai Yunfei placed a comforting hand on Ye Yu¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Do you know what they looked like? Or who they are? What is their goal in taking Tianmeng? And where are they taking her to?¡±


    Ye Yu struggled to think for a moment before shaking his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­.I saw their faces, but no one that I can recognize. I don¡¯t know who they are, and I don¡¯t know where they might¡¯ve taken her too¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart plummeted--was there really not even a single clue?!


    But then, Ye Yu¡¯s eyes brightened as if he remembered something, ¡°Wait! I remember¡­.when they took Tianmeng and were about to leave, I was still slightly conscious. I think I heard one of them said to return somewhere¡­.somewhere¡­.¡±


    He racked his brain hard for the memory, ¡°Return to a city¡­.had to do with ¡®Bai¡¯....Bai something city¡­.¡±


    ¡°Baishan City?!¡± Bai Yunfei clutched at the straw.


    ¡°Yeah!! Baishan City! One of those people said they were to return to Baishan City!¡±


    Baishan City¡­.Baishan City where the house of Cao was!!


    Was the Cao really the responsible party?!


    A wave of shock surged through Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. Was what Zheng Kai really said true? The Cao were looking for revenge?!


    Zheng Kai looked surprised as well. ¡°Yunfei, could it really be that Cao Jun is looking for revenge?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew dark, his eyes flashing dangerously. The only one that had any connections to Baishan City and had a possible motive to kidnap Fang Tianmeng was perhaps only the Cao¡­.


    ¡°We know where Fang Tianmeng has gone. The Cao are the most suspicious right now! We must go straight away!¡± Bai Yunfei announced without delay.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go!¡± Mo Wanxia spoke up.


    ¡°Me too!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going too!¡±


    In quick succession, the other students there spoke up in agreement to go save Fang Tianmeng.


    But Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°You all cannot. I will go by myself. We don¡¯t know if Fang Tianmeng was really taken to Baishan City, perhaps they might not left yet. They might still be in the Capital, you should look for her here.¡±


    Before anyone could voice in dissent, Bai Yunfei continued, ¡°Don¡¯t argue with me and do as I say! If I fly straight to Baishan City as fast as I can, none of you will be able to catch up. I¡¯ve no way of carrying any of you there.¡±


    Zheng Kai still looked unsure, ¡°Yunfei, at least let me go with you. One person more is always a good thing.¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯ll go myself. That way, it won¡¯t take long for me to get there.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head.


    ¡°Do you have a map, though? I don¡¯t know which way Baishan City is.¡±


    ¡°Instructor Bai, are you planning to go to Baishan City?¡± A gentle voice called out from the other side of the room. Shen Yirou had finally chose then to speak up, ¡°If it¡¯s Baishan City, I¡¯ve a Way Stone that might be of use to you.¡±


    Her right hand shook to retrieve a crystal the size of an egg into it. In the middle of the crystal was a small arrow that seemed to shake slightly as it pointed in a certain direction.


    ¡°A Way Stone?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°What are those?¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Instructor Shen has an item like that? How lucky.¡±


    He explained it to Bai Yunfei, ¡°This is a Way Stone. Two years ago, the Royal Family tried to study these things. They¡¯re made from a special material that acts like a magnet of sorts. Its really mysterious. If you place the core in a place, you can use smaller bits of it and turn them into Way Stones that¡¯ll lead you into the direction of the core no matter how far you go away from it. All of the major cities in the empire have cores like this, but Way Stones haven¡¯t been available for the public for too long. Only those with power have them.¡±


    ¡°Such a thing like this exists?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, this was the first he had ever heard of such a thing.


    But no matter how strange this new item was, Bai Yunfei had no time to think about it. Taking the Way Stone from Shen Yirou, he thanked her again, ¡°Thank you very much, instructor Shen!¡±


    ¡°No need, instructor Bai. Saving a person is important.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded and looked around at the students in the room. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if Tianmeng is in Baishan City, I¡¯ll definitely save her!¡±


    And with that, the permafrost mastiff next to him leapt out the window to grow large in size. Stepping out the room, Bai Yunfei took the blue-eyes wyrm and Xiao Qi with him to land on top of the mastiff. With a loud roar from the mastiff, it transformed into a streak of white light to disappear into the distance.


    With Bai Yunfei gone, Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes flickered as he thought to himself. ¡°This feels strange¡­.I have to make sure of something. Better get home to report this to father and big brother¡­¡±

 Chapter 584: Rushing to Baishan City (Fourth)

    The sun was starting to set in the west to bring about the night with its descent when a white streak of light tore through the skies to travel north.


    Within this light was a permafrost mastiff flying at extreme speeds with Bai Yunfei sitting on its back.


    At the moment, he was staring hard at the Way Stone in his hand while thinking of the situation at hand.


    ¡°The ones who kidnapped Fang Tianmeng are most likely the house of Cao. But¡­.why did they kidnap her? Is it because Cao Jun wants revenge? Why didn¡¯t he come after me then? What¡¯s the point of going after Fang Tianmeng?


    ¡°Is it only Cao Jun¡¯s revenge? What if there¡¯s another reason¡­.¡±


    Those thoughts weighed heavily on Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. The situation as it seemed, was more complicated than it might look. Right now, he couldn¡¯t possibly think of anything he could do. It was already almost a full day since Fang Tianmeng had been captured. If the enemy was prepared and ready to go after they kidnapped her, they might be back in Baishan City by now. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t afford to delay. Every minute he was late meant Fang Tianmeng was closer and closer to extreme peril with every minute.


    He heard Zheng Kai mention before that Baishan City was only a minor city. The Cao were probably the most powerful in the city with one or two Soul Kings at most. This meant they were the strongest in Baishan City, but outside of that, they were a second-rate city compared to their relative proximity.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t afraid of a power like that. With his current strength, he had an ace or two up his sleeve. With Xiao Qi, he had at least some semblance of power to fight back. And with the permafrost mastiff, the entire house of Cao wouldn¡¯t be able to completely overwhelm him.


    Right now, he only wanted to guarantee Fang Tianmeng¡¯s safety and bring her back safe and sound.


    Of all the students, he was most familiar with Fang Tianmeng. She was a student who originated from one of the commoners. Gentle, smart, and determined despite her upbringing as an orphan, she had been picked up by one of the instructors who saw her talent. She spent the rest of her childhood growing up and training in the academy. In the day, she spent her time working in the academy to pay off her dues to the academy. She had great talent for cultivation and a great training ethic. She wanted to work hard and train so that she could graduate and join the Tianhun School. That much would be more than enough to satisfy her life completely. But now she was in danger¡­.


    For the past few days, Bai Yunfei had felt one with his role as an ¡®instructor¡¯. Though his students had been given to him, he felt responsible for their safety and didn¡¯t want anything to happen to any of them.


    ¡°If that braindead second generational just wants to make reprisals, then it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to diffuse the situation, but if he dares harm Fang Tianmeng¡­.An icy glint entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes--however much damage Cao Jun inflicted onto Fang Tianmeng would be returned onto him tenfold!!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°No matter the case, I have to be prepared for a battle. If the Soul King of the Cao fights, then it¡¯ll be a pain¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself as he absentmindedly touched at the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his head. After the near-death ambush on him last time, Bai Yunfei had a great deal of acknowledgement for the Soul Sentinel Scarf. With that, he was able to protect himself from the strongest attack of the Soul Kings and was able to launch a counterattack.


    He touched at the Charm Bracelet on his left arm as well. ¡°Good thing I tried out the effects before. Wonder how strong it has to be to protect myself from a Soul King¡­.¡±


    Thinking a little more about it, Bai Yunfei checked over the many soul armaments he had. He had a generous amount on him right now, most of them he was more than familiar with how to use.


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf, Cataclysmic Seal, Fire-tipped Spear, Ardent Sun Glove, Critical Glove, Flameblade Bracer, Returner Bracer, Desert Eagles, Cultivation Pendant, Charm Bracelet, bracelet that enhanced elemental fire strength, Violet Soul Ring, Yun¡¯s Soul Ring, and the Flash Lightning Boots¡­.


    There was also the metal-type armor given to him by Wu Yang. He was wearing it right now, so today would be a good time to test it out.


    Touching at the armor, Bai Yunfei watched as the stats appeared in his head.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 2300


    Additional Defense: 1100


    Soul Compatibility:112%


    Equipment Effect: Consume soulforce in order to double the defenses of this armor for one minute.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    It was a rather ordinary effect that had extraordinary applications. Double the defense meant having over six thousand points worth of defense, that was as good as a mid-heaven tier soul armament. With this, Bai Yunfei had yet another layer of protection in his battles.


    ¡­¡­


    With the speed of the permafrost mastiff¡¯s speed, Bai Yunfei was able to travel through the night until the late morning of the next day when a city was finally starting to show itself.


    On the walls of Baishan City, the guards standing around on the top of the walls were lazing about when one of them bugged his eyes out at something. ¡°Look!¡± He pointed, ¡°What¡¯s that!?¡±


    Following the gaze of his finger, everyone saw a white streak of light travel towards them, causing a disturbance in the forces. It was a tiny speck at first, but within the blink of an eye, it was already nearing them for the soldiers to see a white lion-like animal in side the light.


    The soldiers were only commoners, and the soul cultivators employed there were very weak--many of them Soul Apprentices. The guard captain was a Soul Personage himself and was hardly able of seeing what was in the white streak of light. But as it drew close, he was finally able to see what it was. ¡°That¡¯s¡­.that¡¯s...that¡¯s a soulbeast!!


    ¡°A terrestrial-type soulbeast that can fly¡­.a class six!!¡±


    The guard captain cried out. With his limited knowledge, he was only able to think about a class six. A class seven was something he had never thought about before.


    This caught the attention of every soldier there. Soon enough, the walls was like a hornet¡¯s nest before the white streak of light came to a stop overhead. The soldiers looked up to look at the wolf-like soulbeast in dread--on top of this soulbeast was a person!


    ¡°If I may ask, where is the house of Cao located in this city?¡±


    The question took the soldiers by surprise. The person speaking on top of this soulbeast sounded especially young.


    Blinking several times in surprise, it was the captain guard that spoke. With all the respect he could give under his fear, he replied, ¡°I...this underling¡­.my lord. The house¡­.the house of Cao is located to the northeast in the largest manor of the city.¡±


    Just the fact that there was a class six soulbeast in front of him meant that the person riding on top of it had to be a Soul Exalt at the very least. That was an entity a little guard captain like him could hardly afford to anger. So he could only reply and point his finger in the direction asked.


    Bai Yunfei followed his finger and took note of the direction. ¡°Thank you!¡±


    Under the stunned eyes of everyone, the permafrost mastiff took off again and disappeared from sight.

 Chapter 585: Trapped!!

    The house of Cao held a great deal of power in Baishan City. The amount of territory they held was massive and was practically comparable to the lord-mayor of the city, if not more lavish. The gates to their manor was a great road that barely any person walked on. There weren¡¯t even any vendors on that road in fear of the Cao. No one wanted to be the one to disturb the ¡®peace¡¯ there.


    Bai Yunfei hid his aura as soon as he entered the city. Leaping over the rooftops on the permafrost mastiff, Bai Yunfei finally landed on a small dark alleyway and walked out from it like any other passerby to head for the large manor.


    On the gates was a large sign board that had the words ¡®Cao Manor¡¯ written neatly on it.


    This was his destination.


    Taking a careful look around, Bai Yunfei could only find some Soul Warriors guarding the place. Aside from that, there was nothing that could signify anything was out of the ordinary.


    What he needed to do right now was make sure Fang Tianmeng was really in this place.


    Bai Yunfei withdrew the Walk-on Strawhat and placed it on his head to keep his soulforce to a minimum. Now fully prepared, he walked towards the right of the manor walls.


    With his back resting against the wall, Bai Yunfei looked like a person just trying to take a rest. Looking down, he spread out his soulsense to scan the entirety of the manor.


    He wasn¡¯t trying to map out the place. What he was doing was scanning for any familiar auras and thus appropriately weakened his soulsense so that it wouldn¡¯t be too noticeable obvious that he was doing so. There were Soul Exalts around, and he wanted to avoid catching their eye if possible.


    After scanning half of the manor, Bai Yunfei saw that roughly twenty Soul Exalts were there, only one of them being familiar. It was the elderly man in charge of protecting Cao Jun from before. He was currently in the southwest quadrant of the manor in a healing meditational trance.


    Another ten seconds later, Bai Yunfei felt himself grow worried when he couldn¡¯t find anything. He was also starting to worry if he was going to be discovered.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    As his soulsense was scanning the southeastern quadrant, his eyes suddenly lit up, ¡°Cao Jun!¡±


    He had finally located Cao Jun. Applying even more soulsense in his search, he scanned the approximate area and widened his smile in glee.


    ¡°This is¡­.Fang Tianmeng! She¡¯s here!¡±


    He could sense Fang ¡°Tianmeng¡¯s aura next to Cao Jun! But her aura was slightly chaotic and weak.


    Cao Jun was right next to her, meaning the two of them were in the same room!


    This sent Bai Yunfei into a slight panic. Now that he located her, Bai Yunfei had to go save her before the worst could happen!!


    Leaving the blue-eyes wyrm outside for safety, Bai yunfei took Xiao Qi and the permafrost mastiff with him. He leapt silently over the walls in a place where no one would be able to see him and quickly made his way over to where Fang Tianmeng was.


    There¡¯d be no way he¡¯d be able to save her without anyone knowing. But if he could avoid having people detect him for as long as possible, the chances of him saving her would be greater.


    But, Bai Yunfei was only able to get halfway to where Fang Tianmeng was before things took a turn for the worse!!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t noticed the aura of twenty Soul Exalts until they flew out at him all at once!!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh!¡±


    The sound of rustling wind was heard as people started to appear one by one to surround Bai Yunfei with seven of them standing in front of him while the rest surrounded him!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes dilated in shock. Pushing himself away from his hidden but disadvantaged spot in the corner of the wall to leap onto a nearby rooftop.


    From where he once stood, the entire area was filled with people¡ªaround eighteen of them at least!!


    They were all staring at Bai Yunfei with cold looks on their faces and weapons in their hands. Their auras had been locked onto Bai Yunfei, meaning they had been clearly waiting for Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei realized then¡ªthis had been a trap for him! And he had fallen for it!


    ¡°But how¡­.how did they know that I¡¯d even come to save her?!¡± Bai Yunfei thought furiously to himself. ¡°Eighteen Soul Exalts, that¡¯s troublesome. But the most important thing is that I make sure Fang Tianmeng is safe¡­.¡±


    A part of his soulsense was still scanning Fang Tianmeng and her circumstances while the rest of his mind raced towards thinking of a solution to this mess.


    Of the eighteen Soul Exalts, eight of them were early-stage, three of them were mid-stage, four of them late-stage, and three of them were peak late-stage. And furthermore¡­.it seemed as though the entirety of the experts were here to fight him, though Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t see where the rumored Soul King was, perhaps he was hiding somewhere¡­.


    The Soul Exalts didn¡¯t waste any time and flew straight for him at once. Without even saying anything, they launched an attack straight away!


    A small ¡®hah!¡¯ escaped from their lips as they charged up for battle. Elemental energy pervaded the air as blades of wind, bolts of lightning, fireballs and other such attacks flew at Bai Yunfei from every angle, leaving him practically nowhere to run. It looked as though he would be killed straight off the bat!


    Eyes flashing dangerously, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand, calling out the Cataclysmic Seal to him at once rather than dodging.


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom¡­.¡±


    Every single one of the attacks except for the ones that attacked the areas Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve fled to landed on the barrier around Bai Yunfei. Explosions rocked the area as elemental energy tore at each other upon impact. Even the attackers had to retreat a bit from the explosions they set off. The building Bai Yunfei had been standing on had been reduced to nothing but ruins.


    However, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was still there and without any change. He wasn¡¯t hurt in the slightest!


    The orange light around his person started to disappear as the barrier dissolved, leaving a completely intact and untouched Bai Yunfei standing there. But in the moment the barrier dropped, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands were already finishing up the last sequence of seals, activating a technique to bring him up to the level of a late-stage Soul Exalt!


    ¡®Coil¡¯ Form activated!


    It took a moment before the Soul Exalts were able to react to him surviving their first volley. Like birds of prey, they shot towards Bai Yunfei to strike him dead this time!


    Bai Yunfei focused his eyes as he watched the many enemies approach him. Both his hands shook slightly to retrieve a Desert Eagle in both of them. Leaning slightly to the side to adopt a strange stance, Bai Yunfei¡¯s person began to disappear into a myriad of mirror images as elemental bullets red and violet shot everywhere at his attackers.


    Gun-Fu!!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    A series of gunfire was had as Bai Yunfei fired at his attackers, pushing them back with each shot. Some of the early-stage Soul Exalts hadn¡¯t been able to stop themselves from being hit with the double strength lightning bullets and were riddled through the body. With a grunt, they fell from the skies!


    Disengaging from their attacking strategy, the three peak late-stage Soul Exalts retreated strangely before heading downwards as if to put something down and circling around the area in a ring.


    ¡°Buzzz!!¡±


    After forcing the attackers back with his Gun-fu, Bai Yunfei felt a strange buzzing sound as a prismatic ray of light shot into the air. It circled around him for five hundred meters around before the light completely shut him out from the outside!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes dilated in surprise, ¡°This is¡­.an illusion formation!!¡±

 Chapter 586: A Soul King Appears!

    Not only did the Cao have so many experts to call on, they even had an illusion matrix setup to deal with him!


    Shocked, Bai Yunfei felt the feeling of apprehension in him start to rise. He was in a far greater deal of trouble than he expected, these people had already been ready for him for a very long time!!


    The initialization of the illusion matrix started to warp the surrounding area near Bai Yunfei. It wasn¡¯t a perfect scenery change, but it made distance and enemy motions quite blurry and different than from the reality. Even his soulsense felt a little weak, meaning Bai Yunfei¡¯s fighting ability would be hampered.


    The Charm Bracelet and Soul Sentinel Scarf started to shine brightly, decreasing the harmful effects of the illusion matrix. Bai Yunfei stored away the Desert Eagles and Walk-on Strawhat to take out his Fire-tipped Spear instead. The Cataclysmic Seal hummed protectively around Bai Yunfei, pulsating with powerful energy as it waited.


    As if empowered by the illusion matrix, all of Bai Yunfei¡¯s enemies flew even faster at him to attack.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A roar erupted into the heavens as a white flash of light shot from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. The permafrost mastiff was finally taking action by attacking with a soul attack!


    The illusion around Bai Yunfei trembled slightly at the mastiff¡¯s roar, as did the faces of all his enemies. Some grunted in pain as if they had just been stabbed by something sharp, and several of the weaker early-stage Soul Exalts teetered in the air before crashing back down to the ground.


    How could an early-stage Soul Exalt withstand the soul attack of a class seven soulbeast?


    But the attack was slightly weak due to the range it covered and that it was meant more to intimidate. The other enemies were largely unaffected by it and were already raring to go attack Bai Yunfei after a second to recompose himself. But when Bai Yunfei raised his right hand to point at them, they saw the brick floating around Bai Yunfei grow to thirty meters in height to attack the three peak late-stage Soul Exalts and two other late-stage Soul Exalts!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    At the same time, Xiao Qi gave a furious trill as it flapped its wings. It transformed into a bird as large as a roc with its entire body flashing violet in color. The Wind and Lightning Feathers shined brightly before Xiao Qi attacked the side left of Bai Yunfei. Hundreds of lightning bolts about as thick as Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm immediately attacked the six other enemies on that side!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Another tyrannical and and angry roar erupted from outside the illusion matrix. The matrix violently shuddered again before a three-storied tall soulbeast came crashing into it¡ªit was the blue-eyes wyrm!


    The appearance of the blue-eyes wyrm saw to it seeing three enemies right in front of him. Without hesitation, it leapt forward to bite down on them!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    There was a howl of pain as one of the mid-stage Soul Exalts moved far too slow and was caught by the wyrm. Taken into its mouth, the Soul Exalt became the first to die so tragically in the battle.


    In the blink of an eye, most of the enemies that had been attacking Bai Yunfei were now finding themselves on the receiving end of an attack!!


    ¡°Bang bang bang¡­.¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal knocked several times against several enemies, sending them flying away. Shrinking in size, it returned to Bai Yunfei who was already taking off towards the direction in front of him!


    The direction where Fang Tianmeng was!


    He didn¡¯t want to fight these people at all; he had to save Fang Tianmeng first before he could worry about anything else.


    Right now, there were two enemies still in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s path. With his spear and fist, he sent them flying back charging for the room three hundred meters away.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    But when he only got a hundred meters closer to the room, a sneer came from one of the rooms nearby and brought Bai Yunfei into a pause straight away. In the split second he had stopped, a white flash of light came forward into the air and stopped right in front of him to tear out Bai Yunfei¡¯s head with a clawed hand!


    ¡°Soul King!¡±


    The realization hit him practically milliseconds later, prompting Bai Yunfei to kick back in rapid retreat. A Soul King had actually appeared!


    But it still remained to be seen if this was the Soul King of the Cao, or if there was still another Soul King hiding¡­.


    This new Soul King wore gray robes and had an extremely frosty look on his face. Bai Yunfei noticed a layer of frost surrounding the Soul King¡¯s body that seemingly froze the air around him, meaning Bai Yunfei¡¯s backwards momentum was starting to slow down!


    Even though he had only just barely evaded the first strike of the Soul King, Bai Yunfei found himself under a second attack again when the Soul King reached forward again with his still-outstretched arm to grab at his head.


    Clutching his right fist, Bai Yunfei lashed out with his Fire-tipped Spear, only to have the Soul King step to the side to dodge it. Bai Yunfei gritted his teeth and lashed out this time with his left fist where the Soul King was moving towards!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A golden light exuded from Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist when it collided with the chilling air from the Soul King¡¯s palm. There was a muffled explosion before Bai Yunfei was flung backwards while the Soul King somehow found himself also taking several steps back.


    Coming to a stop a hundred meters away, Bai Yunfei had a pained expression on his face. He had used the Critical Glove¡¯s effect to attack with a blow four times his regular strength, but even that much strength was only enough to send the Soul King back several steps¡­.


    When he managed to stabilize his footing, Bai Yunfei heard the sound of rustling wind coming at him. Looking up, he saw the right hand of the Soul King rising up to point his forefinger at Bai Yunfei. From the forefinger, an icicle half a meter long had formed from it. In less than two seconds, six individual icicles flew out to stab at his hands, legs, heart, and head!


    ¡°Tsk!!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed. The Cataclysmic Seal next to him hummed as it provided a barrier of elemental energy to protect him.


    The icicles impacted against the barrier, but in the end, the barrier held strong and successfully protected Bai Yunfei.


    Seeing that his attack failed, the ice-type Soul King narrowed his eyes and gave a small grunt. It was almost silent, but to the ears of Bai Yunfei, it was as loud as a clap of thunder! In that instant, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face turned deathly white and he started to look pained!


    A soul attack!!


    Sensing an opportunity, the ice-type Soul King raised his right hand again, summoning multiple icicles into the area.


    They were more like spears made from ice with their length. Catapulting themselves with so fast that it sounded like lightning was striking, the spears of ice shot towards the barrier of Bai Yunfei¡¯s!


    In normal situations, a Soul King would only need to use a soul attack and then their strongest move to kill their target. A Soul Exalt had neither the capabilities of dodging, stopping, or even getting their bearings straight before the combination killed them. But Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t a normal Soul Exalt. As soon as the spears of ice were coming towards him, Bai Yunfei was strong enough to calculate his options. There wasn¡¯t any time to dodge, so all he could do was hold his arms in front of him to protect himself.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    From tip to shaft, the icy spear started to disintegrate before finally returning back to crystals. But that didn¡¯t stop Bai Yunfei from being slammed backwards from the force. The right arm holding the Fire-tipped Spear started to tremble from the strain of the blow, and his face was looking even more pained.


    Most of the damage had been alleviated by the Flameblade Bracer on his right arm, but there was still a significant amount of force that had been transmitted past it and into his arm, making it practically impossible for him to contain holding onto the Fire-tipped Spear.


    Again, the Soul King found himself somewhat at a loss for words at how Bai Yunfei had managed to survive his soul attack and ice attack. He had put a lot of force behind his moves, but before he could even think about it, the howls of pain nearby wrestled his attention away from Bai Yunfei just in time to see the permafrost mastiff kill another three Soul Exalts!


    The Soul King gazed at the sight of their death in solemnity. Looking back to Bai Yunfei, the Soul King pointed a finger at the skies overhead. His entire body began to shine brightly with light, empowering the area with a stifling amount of energy. The air around him started to crackle, and countless crystals of ice started to formulate in the hundred meters around him!


    And the largest concentration of those crystals were in the space of air above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head where the Soul King was pointing at!


    Just a hundred meters above Bai Yunfei, a white mist was starting to appear with a crackling sound. Bai Yunfei stood at the eye of a whirlpool of elemental ice, swirling faster and faster over head like a tornado of ice with an icy tip that threatened to strike him down!


    This move was abnormally strong, and by the time Bai Yunfei had realized what was going on above him, the giant tip of ice was dropping onto his head!

 Chapter 587: And a Second (First)

    Like a drill made of ice, the icy tornado came touching down towards the ground with the might of a mountain as its weight to crush anything in its downwards path!


    Bai Yunfei had been worrying the other attacks of the Soul King when this icy tornado was forming overhead. It was only when the icy tornado had locked onto him that he realized he was stuck in this predicament! With how fast it was traveling, Bai Yunfei had barely looked up when the tip of the icy tornado was about ten meters away from his head!


    There...wasn¡¯t time to dodge! And even defending would be insanely difficult!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    As he was about to be hit by this terrifying attack, Bai Yunfei heard a tremendous roar coming from his side. And at the same time, a soulforce not inferior to that of the ice-type Soul King flared to life before a white streak of light slammed into the icy tornado from the side!


    It was the permafrost mastiff!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was another explosion as hailstones as large as his fist began to fall from the icy tornado as if it was hailing as the tornado began to fall apart!


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. Activating the Flash Step to travel away two hundred meters to the side to dodge the remaining pieces of ice, Bai Yunfei watched as the remaining pieces of the tornado crashed into the earth and reduced the place to rubble.


    The ice-type Soul King looked even more stern at his failed attack. But before he could launch another attack, the cries of several more Soul Exalts dying to Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm was heard!


    The task force meant to attack and kill Bai Yunfei had been reduced to such a miserable state in the span of a few minutes. The ice-type Soul King couldn¡¯t help but feel worried. Surely, the lord-mayor of the city would¡¯ve noticed this already, and even though there was the illusionary matrix up in place, it would still be hard to explain this situation¡­.


    As he was about to launch into another full-fledged attack on Bai Yunfei, a white streak of light came flying at him, causing him to move to the side in a hurry. At the same time, a claw came flying at where his head had been.


    He couldn¡¯t dedicate all his energy to trying to kill Bai Yunfei now, the permafrost mastiff was there to bother him!!


    He was only an early-stage Soul King, which meant he was on equal strength with the permafrost mastiff. But if they fought, it would be a difficult battle where he wouldn¡¯t be able to determine if he¡¯d win or not.


    Elemental energy was flung around the area, further destroying the buildings and environment as Bai Yunfei had the permafrost mastiff battle in a way that brought the Soul King away while he slowly made his way towards the end of the illusionary matrix in the direction where Fang Tianmeng was.


    Of the eighteen Soul Exalts that attacked Bai Yunfei earlier, nine of them had already died. Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm were far more than enough to deal with the remaining nine even without the permafrost mastiff, and within two to three minutes, the remaining survivors were completely suppressed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    Though the situation had started off on the wrong foot and had progressed in ways Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t like with the Soul King actually appearing, Bai Yunfei was starting to fall back into the rhythm. In fact, he was even starting to hold the upper hand now!


    Now that the situation was more or less controlled, Bai Yunfei shot towards the direction of the Fang Tianmeng again. As long as he could save her, Bai Yunfei would be able to fight or run with some peace of mind! But only once he had her in safety!


    But not even another hundred meters closer to Fang Tianmeng¡¯s location, Bai Yunfei felt a bone-chilling air descend on him as if death was about to strike again. Without hesitation, he flung himself to the left and bent his waist at a right angle to evade.


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    Just as he kicked off into a perpendicular direction, three bolts of lightning as thick as his arm shot at the direction he had been traveling from before striking the ground, leaving behind three smoking craters¡­.


    Drenched with sweat, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart was pounding with fear¡ªif he was late by even just one second, that crater would¡¯ve been him¡­.


    Before he could even fully think about how close to death he was, Bai Yunfei was once again struck with an invisible attack, forcing him to stagger backwards two steps!


    ¡°A soul attack!¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized. The Soul Sentinel Scarf was already working into overtime as it raced to bring his person back to a normal state. No sooner did he realize that he was under attack when a violet blade drop down from the corner of his eyes to cut at his head!


    Just barely after Bai Yunfei had dodged the lightning bolts, the space nearby him started to warp in on itself. Like ripples of water, the space pulsated outwards to reveal a black-robed man stepping out from it. Eyes radiating with murderous intent, the figure held a violet warblade in his hand!


    ¡°Clank!!¡±


    The sound of metal hitting metal was heard¡ªmuch to the black-robed person¡¯s shock¡ªas the warblade he used was stopped by Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear, stopping the strike that should¡¯ve killed Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Hss¡­.boom!!¡±


    Even though he was able to save himself from death, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been able to cast off the downwards swing. The resulting force of the swing had transmitted into Bai Yunfei, slamming him down into the ground below, creating a crater about ten meters deep where he landed.


    A second later, a figure leapt out from the dust, revealing a rather ragged Bai Yunfei back in the skies to stare at the black-robed man in pain and shock.


    A second Soul King had appeared!


    And this one was a mid-stage Soul King!


    Furthermore¡­.Bai Yunfei could feel that at the same time this Soul King appeared, several more figures had made their way through the illusionary matrix to join the fray!


    Nine¡­.nine peak late-stage Soul Exalts!


    The nine of them were separated into three groups, each group there to deal with Xiao Qi, the blue-eyes wyrm, and even the permafrost mastiff!


    The advantage Bai Yunfei had only started to enjoy had immediately been wiped out!


    Just¡­.how many people did the house of Cao have?!


    He couldn¡¯t even worry for Xiao Qi or the others since the lighting-type Soul King was already flying at him!!


    Moving in an instant, the second Soul King lifted his left hand swiped at the air in front of him before disappearing in a flash of light. In the next second, he was in front of Bai Yunfei to swing the giant glowing warblade in his right hand down again!


    Another soul attack!


    Originally planning on defending against the warblade with all he had, Bai Yunfei immediately felt the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring on his left hand flash with light before a strange energy enveloped his body. The faint shaking sensation he had only just started to feel in his soul had immediately vanished right afterwards!


    The +12 additional effect had activated!!


    10% Chance of avoiding a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    In the moment the ring activated, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed. There was a chance!


    If he had been hit by that soul attack, then the warblade would most likely deal a great deal of damage to him even if he blocked it. But since the soul attack didn¡¯t affect him at all...

 Chapter 588: How Despicable!! (Second)

    Biting his lips almost hard enough to draw blood, Bai Yunfei used the Wave Treading Steps to just barely evade the warblade coming down onto his head! A moment later, there was a flash of red light from the Fire-tipped Spear before Bai Yunfei¡¯s body shivered and split into three!


    Doppelgangers!


    The three Bai Yunfei¡¯s stood shoulder to shoulder with an identically red spear in their heads to stab at the lightning-type Soul King!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    The lightning-type Soul King drew backwards in surprise. He had been confident that the soul attack of his would be able to inflict a great deal of damage for him to land the finishing blow, but then Bai Yunfei had evaded his warblade instead of succumbing to it instead. And even more insulting, he didn¡¯t even look winded from the soul attack. Not only was he unharmed, he was striking back at the Soul King!!


    It wasn¡¯t as though he couldn¡¯t defend himself from this development. But the elemental fire radiating from each of the three spears was extremely real, his senses were telling him that the three Bai Yunfei¡¯s in front of him were all real!! Not even sure of what was going on, the Soul King brought is warblade back to defend himself from the spears.


    ¡°Clink! Clink! Clink!¡±


    With that one movement of his warblade, he managed to parry all three of the spears that came at him!


    Two of the doppelgangers were knocked back when their spears failed to connect with the Soul King, leaving the Bai Yunfei on the very left to be the real one. That Bai Yunfei had his spear aimed at the Soul King¡¯s throat when it had been stopped, but rather than be knocked back like the other two spears, this one¡­.had exploded in a flurry of red light!!


    +10 Additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, activate!


    20% Chance to create an explosion with an attack of 150% of this equipment''s attack when stabbing.


    Cooldown of 20 seconds.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A great deal of elemental fire exploded from the tip of the Fire-tipped Spear and encapsulated the Soul King straight away. There was a rustle of movement as a figure came flying out from the flames, his mangled and burnt right hand held in front of him. The warblade was nowhere to be seen in his hands as he retreated, but two objects fell from the fire a moment later, revealing two broken halves of the warblade!!


    The lightning-type Soul King couldn¡¯t even describe just how shocked he was. The strength of Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear had been far stronger than he initially expected. His own warblade had been a low-heaven tier soul armament, but¡­.it had snapped under the pressure, unable to withstand the power that was the Fire-tipped Spear!


    Bai Yunfei was overjoyed to see the weapon break. As he was about to press on with his attack, he saw the other Soul King point a finger at him. There was a crackling sound as purple light filled the area around the Soul King¡¯s body. Bai Yunfei immediately waved his left hand, bringing the Cataclysmic Seal forward to protect him again in its earth barrier.


    Immediately, purple spheres of lightning the size of basketballs started to fill the area for fifty meters all around to trap Bai Yunfei in like a cage. In the moment he had the Cataclysmic Seal protect him with its barrier, Bai Yunfei saw the Soul King clench his left fist to activate his move. In response to his fist clenching, the countless balls of lightning began to link with another with a crackle and pull towards each other!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A blinding amount of purple light flooded the area with sparks of lightning everywhere.


    At the edge of the lightning pool, the lightning-type Soul King pressed his left hand to his right wrist. There was a flash of purple light as the wound on his hand started to heal slowly, his eyes shining with a bright light.


    Sensing something from the lightning pool, the Soul King raised an eye just in time to see a fiery figure leap out¡ªBai Yunfei had been completely unharmed. ¡°He¡¯s unharmed!! Just¡­.how many defensive soul armaments does he have?!¡±


    There was no way the Soul King believed Bai Yunfei could escape unscathed from his attack. It had to be a soul armament of his. He had been surprised after all that Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear was able to break his low-heaven tier warblade. Even though he knew a little about Bai Yunfei before the battle begun, the proof in front of him was still very surprising.


    But no matter how surprised he was, the Soul King had still been prepared to find Bai Yunfei leaping out from his attack. With his right hand more or less healed, he raised it and curled his fingers. All of the elemental lightning in front of him flew back to the center of his palm as if drawn to it, converging in the center of it. When Bai Yunfei came to a stop just a dozen meters away from him, the Soul King grunted in exertion as a sphere of elemental lightning swelled in size from his hand. Shooting out, it took on the form of a violet tiger to leap and cry out with a very realistic sound of a tiger!


    At the same time he did that, Bai Yunfei was making a move himself. Rather than leap out of the way of the tiger, he was making a series of hand seals, his spear already gone back into his space ring. Upon the last seal, the elemental fire within his body exploded in intensity before swirling around his arms like flowing water. Clenching both hands at his waist, he then punched outwards!


    Dual Dragon Burst!


    Two fiery dragons flew out from his hands with an animalistic roar to strike at the lightning tiger!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Lightning and fire struck one another in a storm of energy. Elemental energy surged outwards from the epicenter of the collision with a great tremor, but what surprised the Soul King most was the fact that the elemental fire had been strong enough to push and overwhelm the elemental lightning to come towards him!


    Flying several meters higher in to the sky so that he was on the same level as Bai Yunfei, the Soul King watched as the surge of elemental fire impacted against the ground and created a fiery crater about a hundred meters deep.


    Bai Yunfei doubled up at the waist, his mouth exhaling and inhaling deeply. The toil of using the Dual Dragon Burst had been intense on him, and it had barely done a thing besides defeating the lightning tiger. He hadn¡¯t even been able to injure the Soul King. He frowned. Even with the Soul Sentinel Scarf nullifying the threat of a soul attack, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t on the same level of strength as the Soul King in terms of elemental manipulation. If not for his soul armaments, he wouldn¡¯t have been a match.


    Seeing the Soul King come at him, Bai Yunfei gritted his teeth and summoned the Fire-tipped Spear to him again. But as he was about to strike, he suddenly had to turn to the right.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!¡±


    Two figures broke away from the fight with Xiao Qi to not attack Bai Yunfei but¡­.to go to where Fang Tianmeng was!


    They were peak late-stage Soul Exalts. One wind-type and one wood-type. The wind-type Soul Exalt had a sword in his hand before he swung with it to unleash a blade of wind onto the room she was in!


    ¡°Bastard!!!¡±


    Eyes seeing red, Bai Yunfei roared in anger as he raised his right hand. The Ardent Sun Glove on it shined with light before a fireball ten meters in size flew forward to intercept the wind blade. The two exploded in a myriad of fire, but the explosion had been close enough to tear open the roof and reveal a terrified Fang Tianmeng in the corner.


    Without a skip in their step, the two Soul Exalts formed another blade of energy from their weapons and aimed it at Fang Tianmeng!


    These two people were clearly trying to divert Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention away from the Soul King and then be killed in his moment of negligence!


    With already two Soul Kings to help them fight, the Cao had essentially the high ground. So to do something like this in order to defeat Bai Yunfei was extremely despicable!

 Chapter 589: A Soul Attack?! (Third)

    In the ruined wreck of a room, a tied up Fang Tianmeng was in one of the still standing corners. Her face was dreadfully pale and her eyes were brimming with tears. Looking at the skies above, her eyes brightened up momentarily at the sight of Bai Yunfei, but also feeling terrified on behalf of Bai Yunfei.


    Not too far away from her was the bandaged figure of Cao Jun. Both of his eyes had rolled into the back of his head, and he himself was knocked out over his bed¡ªthe soul attack of the permafrost mastiff had knocked him out.


    Seeing that Fang Tianmeng was unharmed, Bai Yunfei allowed himself a small sigh of relief. But then when he remembered that there were still two peak late-stage Soul Exalts coming after her with their hands charging up with elemental energy, he worried. Unknown to him, the two Soul Exalts were looking at Bai Yunfei from the corner of their eyes to see how he would react.


    The two of them smiled cruelly when they saw the panicked look in his eyes. Raising their right hands, they lashed out with a blow of elemental energy.


    And at the same time, the lightning-type Soul King chose this time to fly straight for Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Stop¡­¡­stop!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were red, his fury causing his face to twist up in a rather unsightly way. His left hand was raised up to point at the two!


    ¡°I command you to¡­stop!!!¡±


    ¡°Bzz!!¡±


    A strange buzzing sound rang through the world as the Charm Bracelet on Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand started to shine with a bright amount of light. A series of white lines streaked out like a net from the bracelet before disappearing from sight again as if connecting to something.


    In the next moment, every single person in the area felt their heads reverberate with a furious howl.


    ¡°Stop¡­and die!!¡±


    It was as if someone had appeared right in their mindspace to roar at their souls¡ªstop, and¡­die!!


    Stop whatever they were doing and die¡­¡­stop whatever¡­and die¡­¡­stop. Die. Stop¡­Die!!!!


    The two words repeated over and over again like a mantra of some sort in their minds. As if a demon was whispering to them, the words arrested all other cognitive thinking from the people there and struck at their souls. Some of them gradually started to have the feeling that they should ¡®do as they were told¡¯ even¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    As if heeding his command, the two elemental energy in the two Soul Exalts¡¯ fist died away. Their eyes grow vacant for a moment and their motions slightly slow as if they were being suspended in the sky.


    In the other direction, those early-stage Soul Exalts who had been heavily damaged on the ground were standing blankly there. In their weakened states, their mouths were barely moving as if trying to say something. In one fluid motion, they brought a dagger into their hands and raised it to their throats. Then without hesitation, they sliced their throats in one horizontal motion¡­


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The blade cut through their throats deep enough to see to their blood expel from it like a jet¡­


    Their jerky actions ceased the moment after with them looking at their dagger in horror and pain. Eyes bugged out, all they could do was clutch at their necks and fall over¡­


    Only the weakest of the Soul Exalts had died in this fashion. The stronger ones didn¡¯t fully cut at their throats, but the voice in their heads had forced them to stop straight away. Aside from the two Soul Kings, everyone had stopped dead in their tracks.


    The fact that for a short moment everyone stopped fighting during this intense battle was very strange.


    Everything returned back to normal in the second after with everyone shivering as their eyes regained their original luster. They shook their heads, unsure of what exactly it was that had just happened to.


    Then came the trill of a bird.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Like a flash of lightning, Xiao Qi flitted straight through two of the people standing still, causing their comrades to cry out in shock and look to them¡ªtwo of their own had just lost their heads!!


    ¡°Pcht! Pchht!!¡±


    Blood splurted out from the two headless corpses like fountains as the bodies fell back down to the ground¡ªthe sight of their own bodies falling had been the very last thing the heads saw¡­


    When Xiao Qi flitted past them, it had used its razor-sharp wings to behead them!


    The lightning-type Soul King was already in front of Bai Yunfei again, his lightning covered right hand ready to smash into the temples of Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand had still been in the air when he was staring at the two Soul Exalts who were trying to attack Fang Tianmeng. It was only when he heard Xiao Qi kill two of the others that he then heard the sound of something flying towards his head.


    The red pupils in his eyes dilated. With practically instinctive reflexes, he tilted his head down just enough and pressed off the platform he was standing on to move his body away.


    Thanks to that motion, the palm strike of the Soul King had landed on his back instead of head!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The palm strike sent Bai Yunfei flying like a bullet. Blood escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth as violet lightning arced everywhere on his back, preparing to dig into his body to cause some damage. But after blowing apart the back part of his robes, the lightning came to a sudden stop as if blocked by something.


    Shining underneath Bai Yunfei¡¯s robes was the golden armor. Elemental metal was shining forth from the armor and preventing the elemental lightning from getting past it.


    Bai Yunfei flew another hundred meters before reorientating himself. He spun around and stabilized himself on top of a platform made of elemental fire. His feet skittered across the platform before his eventual stop. He doubled up to glare with crimson colored eyes to glare at the Soul King, a hint of berserk anger in them¡­but other than that, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem too heavily injured!


    When the lightning-type Soul King struck Bai Yunfei, he didn¡¯t chase after Bai Yunfei for a follow up. Instead, he retreated several meters backwards to stare at Bai Yunfei in disbelief.


    In that one moment he hit Bai Yunfei, it had been out of ¡®reflex¡¯ more than out of desire to hurt Bai Yunfei. The reason for that was because of the shock and awe he felt the moment before.


    ¡°Just¡­just now¡­that was¡­but impossible!!!¡± The lower lip of the Soul King trembled somewhat as if trying to say something. ¡°Controlling someone with a verbal command¡­that¡¯s a high leveled soul attack¡­how is he capable of something like that!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    While he was busy to himself, a loud explosion was heard. Snapping his head back up to see what happened, he saw a giant fire explode into being a hundred meters away where Bai Yunfei was. Inside the fire, Bai Yunfei was still bent halfway over, his eyes now almost as red as a primal beast¡¯s eyes might be. A bone-chilling aura of murderous intent flooded from his person, and from the surrounding fires, a hint of lightning could be seen sparking around in it¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had exploded drastically upwards at the same time of the fire. Already in the late-stage Soul Exalt level due to the ¡®coil¡¯ form, his strength was shooting towards the peak late-stage Soul Exalt and possibly even beyond that!


    With each moment his strength increased by, the fires around him grew even hotter and more intense. At a closer look, one could see that the fires were actually of two different ones, but as his strength increased, the two flames begun to mix with one another to be almost inseparable¡­


    Dual Flame Arts¡­¡­Berserk Mode!!

 Chapter 590: Berserk Mode and a Slaughter!! (Fourth)

    Berserk Mode was a double-edged sword that even now, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to fully control. If he used it sparingly in short intervals of time, all was fine, but if he kept it running for long enough, he¡¯d be hit with the backlash. The reason he didn¡¯t use Berserk Mode when he first realized he was in a trap was because he had been saving it up for the most optimal time.


    But right now, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t hesitate to use it.


    Perhaps it was to say that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t ¡®decide¡¯ to use it, but that¡­¡­he used it instinctively.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s current state was clearly abnormal. He was no longer in a rational state of mind, and the amount of murderous power coming from him made him look more like a beast in the skin of a human.


    With his nature, this type of stuff shouldn¡¯t have happened. Even if he was under extreme emotional duress, an extreme sight like this wouldn¡¯t have happened. But as it were, there was one likely reason why he was like this.


    The damage to his soul!!


    Right now, he was behaving exactly like he was back when he was teaching Cao Jun a lesson back in the Capital! And this time, he was far more aggressive!


    The last time, he was able to snap himself out of his craze due to an outside force. But right now¡­he wouldn¡¯t snap out of it that easily.


    His loss of self control was getting better with his twice a day visit to the Soothing Heart. For the most part, he had ten days left to go until he was back to normal, but those were under optimal conditions and hadn¡¯t accounted for something like this!


    Having so many people appear in this trap made things very obvious for Bai Yunfei. His coming to Baishan City wasn¡¯t just some sort of whimsical idea of revenge plotted by the second generational that was Cao Jun. This trap was clearly meant to specify him and kill him!


    They had been planning to capture Bai Yunfei from the very beginning, the kidnapping of Fang Tianmeng had only been the bait for Bai Yunfei to take!


    In other words, it wasn¡¯t because of Fang Tianmeng that Bai Yunfei had the trap sprung for. It was because of Bai Yunfei that Fang Tianmeng was in this mess!


    He didn¡¯t know why the Cao would even bother conspiring against like this, but that wasn¡¯t important right now. The important thing was that his student was in danger because of him!


    Fury like none other flooded Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind when he realized that. These despicable people were using Fang Tianmeng as a way to divert Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention.


    He became so angry that his murderous intent couldn¡¯t be stopped anymore. Any cold-hearted logic had been replaced by white-hot anger!


    Because of the damage to his soul, his self-control was practically non-existent, and that meant his anger couldn¡¯t be stopped anymore! In Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, there was absolutely nothing stopping him from wanting to kill everyone here!


    All Bai Yunfei wanted to do was kill. Kill everyone that¡¯d stand in his way!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    There was a swishing sound from behind Bai Yunfei as a figure in blue descended behind him. Somehow cleaving through the fire with his weapon, the man held a azure-blue shortblade to stab at the back of Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    He was one of the peak late-stage Soul Exalts that had been fighting Xiao Qi. But because the bird flew off to try and save Fang Tianmeng, this left this Soul Exalt free to change his target to Bai Yunfei. Because he saw how strangely Bai Yunfei was acting after being hit by the Soul King, the Soul Exalt thought it was his chance to strike. Right now, he thought Bai Yunfei had become some sort of beast at the final moments of his life, or he was even perhaps sacrificing his origin essence for a short burst of power. So he decided the best plan of action right now was to hurry up and take out Bai Yunfei before he could become a ¡®problem¡¯.


    He had clearly not been paying attention to Bai Yunfei due to his fight with Xiao Qi. While a pre-emptive strike like this one would be considered the right choice in normal situations, what Bai Yunfei was undergoing right now was by no means a ¡®normal¡¯ situation. The ¡®right¡¯ choice this Soul Exalt chose would become a mistake that would see to him paying a heavy price for¡­


    In the Five Elements theory, Water extinguishes Fire. So the Soul Exalt¡¯s elemental water would protect the man from Bai Yunfei¡¯s elemental fire. The high-earth tier soul armament he had would also be bolstered by the elemental water and was about to cut into Bai Yunfei, and that would be that.


    But then, the look of joy in his face froze up for a moment before turning into shock and fear.


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    There was a chafing sound before the man froze in the air, unable to push his weapon any closer to Bai Yunfei than it was already. On the other end of the blade was a single hand that held it.


    He didn¡¯t even see when Bai Yunfei had turned around. But right now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand was grabbing onto the blade! In that one moment the water-type Soul Exalt tried to attack with his soul armament, Bai Yunfei stopped it as if his hand was invincible¡ªhe was unharmed!


    With the strength of the Ardent Sun Glove, there was no way a mere high-earth tier soul armament would be able to pierce it.


    Shocked for a moment, the water-type Soul Exalt was quick to react. His first thought was to try and pull away, but then he felt a hand grip onto his wrist. In the moment Bai Yunfei stopped the dagger, his right hand went forward to grab onto the arm holding onto the blade!


    The other Soul Exalt felt something pull on him, forcing him to follow the momentum forward to Bai Yunfei. At first, the only thing he saw was the crimson-red eyes of Bai Yunfei and then¡­a fist with golden light shining from it.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    The feeling of death gripped at the Soul Exalt¡¯s heart. He scream aloud in fear and anger as his entire body wrapped itself up in elemental water to try and protect himself from Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch.


    ¡°Boom¡­crack¡­bang!!¡±


    The Soul Exalt heard something shatter following the explosion. Shortly afterwards, his eyes realized that his elemental barrier had shattered when the fist broke through it. As his eyes widened at the incoming fist, he felt a sharp amount of pain, and then, nothing¡­


    From the outside, all anyone could see was Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch shattering through the other person¡¯s barrier before hitting his head and shattering it into pieces!!


    The Soul Exalt¡¯s head had been like a watermelon smashed to pieces!


    Blood and bits of brain fell down from the skies like rain, some of the pieces catching on fire due to their near proximity to Bai Yunfei¡¯s flame. Several droplets fell on Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, dying him red with blood.


    In one punch, he had killed a peak late-stage Soul Exalt instantly!


    This was a feat that left any other person that had wanted to attack Bai Yunfei as well dumb with fear and awe!


    None of them could believe their eyes that they had just witnessed a peak late-stage Soul Exalt be killed so easily by someone that wasn¡¯t a Soul King!


    ¡°Hufff¡­¡­huffff¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei threw away the headless corpse, his free hand coming up to wipe the blood away from his face. A bestial grunt was coming from his lips as he breathed, sounding as if he was ¡®enjoying¡¯ the feeling. The murderous look in his eyes intensified for a moment as he looked up at the awe-shocked enemies all around him.


    There was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, two late-stage Soul Exalts, and a mid-stage Soul Exalt left.


    When each of the four Soul Exalts felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s gaze on them, their bodies shivered instinctively. They each worked up a defense for themselves, but then when they blinked once, Bai Yunfei had already disappeared from sight!


    In the moment they blinked, there was a feeling of heat coming from behind them. And then, a voice as gravelly as from someone from the nine layers of the underworld spoke into their ears.


    ¡°Die!!¡±

 Chapter 591: The Escalation of Strength, and Transformation?! (Fifth)

    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a squeamish boom as the mid-stage Soul Exalt in the group felt his chest tighten up. Looking down, he saw a bloody fist coming straight through his chest from behind!


    His heart had been speared through by a fist!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    The fist was drawn back out with a squelch. Blood flowed from the hole in his chest like a small river, and in the next moment, the dead mid-stage Soul Exalt fell back down to the ground.


    That was when the three remaining Soul Exalts realized the danger they were in!


    Two of them retreated away from Bai Yunfei in a flash, but one of them a late-stage Soul Exalt, did not. He had been the closest to Bai Yunfei and so decided to chance his luck by attempting to shear at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat with his half-moon dagger soul armament.


    But to his disbelief, Bai Yunfei caught the blade with his left hand!!


    The blade struck against the palm of the golden gloves on his left hand, creating sparks when the blade met with the fabric, but it didn¡¯t cut through!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed. Clutching at the soul armament so that it couldn¡¯t budge, Bai Yunfei clenched his right hand and punched at the Soul Exalt¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    His Ardent Sun Glove enhanced right fist slammed into the late-stage Soul Exalt¡¯s chest, bulging the man¡¯s eyes out and forcing blood out from his mouth. A charcoal-black dent was made in the man¡¯s chest as the rest of it splintered away and his internal organs were pulverized, killing the man straight away!


    The malevolent smile of glee on Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips was very pronounced after he killed the Soul Exalt. Somehow, the murderous intent from his body grew by a margin before he went straight for the other late-stage Soul Exalt to the right.


    Now locked on by Bai Yunfei, the targeted Soul Exalt had a look of despair on his face. Everything that had happened in the span of the last ten seconds had been incomprehensible to him. Right now, there was simply nothing as terrifying as what Bai Yunfei right now. Bai Yunfei was like the reaper coming here to reap his completely cowered soul!


    He had been the first to flee. With his comrades as the sacrifice to buy him time to escape, the man had only been able to traverse fifty meters. Those fifty meters had been nothing for Bai Yunfei to travel with his Flash Step. In the blink of an eye, he was already right in front of the fleeing person!


    By the time the Soul Exalt even noticed that, Bai Yunfei was already thrusting his Fire-tipped Spear at the person!


    As fast as Bai Yunfei was moving, it wasn¡¯t fast to the point where it was impossible to react to. With just milliseconds to spare, the man hastily took out a small golden shield to defend himself from the spear.


    But that shield was only an earth-tier soul armament, could it stop the Fire-tipped Spear? Of course not! The spear tip touched onto the shield for a moment before it cracked the shield open and speared straight through it. With no more defense to crush, the spear stabbed into the man¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Pch¡­¡­boom!!!¡±


    The man hadn¡¯t even time to let out a scream before an explosion of elemental fire engulfed him! An explosion exploded out from the spear and tore his body to pieces!


    Bits of flesh and bone rained from the ground while Bai Yunfei turned around to the final peak late-stage Soul Exalt trying to run away!


    The remaining Soul Exalt was completely pale. All of his comrades were killed in the blink of an eye, and he himself was panicked beyond all else. When Bai Yunfei came for him, the Soul Exalt clenched at his soul armament tightly in trepidation, but also with a hint of a plan ready.


    He was a shrewd man. He knew that his best chance of survival was to try and¡­flee towards the direction of the lightning-type Soul King!


    There wasn¡¯t even an iota of courage to fight the man. What he needed to do was to have the strongest man there deal with Bai Yunfei, and that¡¯d solve his problem for him!


    He glanced over to the incoming Bai Yunfei, and then to where the Soul King was, only to be gobsmacked with shock and anger! The lightning-type Soul King was just standing there, staring at Bai Yunfei as if to think about something. The Soul King wasn¡¯t at all planning to help save them!!


    By that point, the arid air of fire was already assaulting his person. Bai Yunfei had caught up and left the man with no choice but to fight for his life!!


    ¡­¡­


    The lightning-type Soul King had been standing there the entire time to watch Bai Yunfei battle the peak late-stage Soul Exalt. The entire time, he just stood there, his eyes growing with shock for each second that passed.


    In the matter of several seconds, Bai Yunfei had killed several of the Soul Exalts with him! While the Soul King did realize this was happening, he didn¡¯t move to help them out, choosing to instead observe the scene.


    He knew time was of the essence, but right now, the Soul King had his misgivings about attacking him. Or rather, he was afraid of making yet another hasty decision¡­


    Every concern he had stemmed from when Bai Yunfei used that ¡®soul attack¡¯.


    ¡°The ability to command through the spoken word, that¡¯s something only a late-stage Soul King is capable of using as a soul attack. Why¡­why is it that he can do that?! It¡¯s impossible, completely and utterly impossible¡­¡± The Soul King was besides himself trying to figure out the reason why behind this abnormality. ¡°It¡¯s impossible. Intelligence only said that he was a Soul Exalt with a few special tricks up his sleeves. It didn¡¯t say anything about this before¡­our intelligence had to be wrong¡­that just now was a soul attack! Could it be he¡¯s a Soul King?!


    ¡°But that can¡¯t be it either¡­so, why can he¡­¡±


    He thought back to the beginning of his battle with Bai Yunfei. Several times, his killing attacks failed to do just that to Bai Yunfei, and then, there was the ¡®soul attack¡¯ he did. Each thought he had given the Soul King some consternation and suspicion on if he could kill Bai Yunfei.


    He wanted to wait for his other Soul King companion to come help him kill Bai Yunfei, but when he saw that that man was still hard-pressed fighting the permafrost mastiff, the Soul King figured there¡¯d be no help coming from him.


    Perhaps he should go over and help try to kill that soulbeast? As he thought about that idea, another howl of pain snapped him out from his thoughts. Looking at the source, he saw the last peak late-stage Soul Exalt be perforated straight through the throat by Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear!


    A flash of light flickered across the Soul King¡¯s face when he saw the merciless smirk on Bai Yunfei after his kill. Looking suspiciously, the Soul King suddenly realized something awful!


    ¡°Wait!! His¡­his aura¡­it¡¯s still increasing!!¡±


    He knew from the very beginning that Bai Yunfei was using some sort of technique to increase his strength. So he didn¡¯t mind at first with the first increase of strength, but then Bai Yunfei went and did it again to bring himself to a peak late-stage Soul Exalt. It didn¡¯t make much of a difference at first.


    But that was when the Soul King realized his mistakes. Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura hadn¡¯t stopped when he reached the level of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt. Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had increased when he killed that Soul Exalt!


    Actually, with each Soul Exalt he killed, the barbaric glint in his eyes intensified again, and with each intensification, his strength increased by another notch!


    Right now, he was far beyond what a peak late-stage Soul Exalt was capable of. No matter in soulforce or anything else¡­he was almost in the realm of a Soul King!


    ¡°Impossible¡­utterly impossible!!¡± He voiced to himself under his breath.


    That did it. The Soul King couldn¡¯t afford to wait any longer. Without any further hesitation, he shot off towards Bai Yunfei!


    He had to do this. He was afraid. If he waited, then Bai Yunfei really would become a Soul King, or perhaps¡­even higher!


    In order to stop that, he had to kill Bai Yunfei at once!!

 Chapter 592: False Soul King Realm!

    Bai Yunfei had only just pulled out the spear from the dead Soul Exalt¡¯s throat when the lightning-type Soul King came flying over. Eyes flickering over to the Soul King, Bai Yunfei revealed a scornful smile. Shifting his spear, Bai Yunfei kicked off against his platform to shoot off like a shot arrow towards the Soul King!!


    Concentrated onto Bai Yunfei, the Soul King thought to himself about how Bai Yunfei was acting, ¡°What an arrogant child!!¡±


    Since his warblade was broken, the Soul King had to use another type of weapon. Shaking his right hand, a black and purple halberd was taken out!


    The Thunder Halberd!!


    The two fighters were three meters apart now. In Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was his Fire-tipped Spear to strike at the Soul King¡¯s chest.


    The lightning-type Soul King wielded the Thunder Halberd to strike at the Fire-tipped Spear. Both weapons clashed against each other, shrieking with a metallic clang and stopping one another from advancing!


    But not even a second after his spear was stopped, Bai Yunfei shift his body slightly to spin in a half-circle and pull his spear back to stab out again!


    This was a quick piece of movement made only possible by stretching the limits of his Wave Treading Steps. Even the lightning-type Soul King had been surprised with how fast Bai Yunfei was moving. He knew just how terrifying the spear was, and that he couldn¡¯t afford to be hit by it. Originally, he planned on using the Thunder Halberd to strike Bai Yunfei, but with this development, he brought his halberd back to parry the spear.


    But at that moment, Bai Yunfei lashed upwards with his foot to kick at the Soul King¡¯s groin!!


    The Soul King narrowed his eyes. A move as ruthless as that had been a first for him. Raising his right foot up to stop Bai Yunfei¡¯s, their feet collided with one another. With a bang, the Soul King fell back half a step before coming forward to punch at Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder with his left fist!


    ¡°Bang! Bang!!¡±


    Again, both persons were sent flying backwards.


    Bai Yunfei was emotionless while the Soul King was still surprised. In the short few seconds they fought, he saw Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength still increasing to levels far beyond what they used to be. It couldn¡¯t even be approximated to be within the levels of capability of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt anymore. It¡¯d be better to call him a¡­.Soul King!!


    A sense of insecurity began to rise up in the Soul King¡¯s mind. It was natural for man to fear whatever that was unknown to them, but it also wasn¡¯t as though the Soul King was scared out of his mind. He just didn¡¯t have enough time to fully process what was going on.


    When the two men had retreated, the Soul King took ten meters before he stopped himself. Right as he was about to come forward again, he suddenly realized that Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even bothered to stop. Instead, he took the momentum caused by their last interaction to fly away from the Soul King¡ª


    ¡ªAnd towards the area where the blue-eyes wyrm was fighting!!


    Not only was Bai Yunfei deciding not to fight the Soul King, he was taking this opportunity to kill everyone else!


    Realizing his plan with some fright, the Soul King gave chase. Clutching at the air with his left hand, the Soul King launched another soul attack onto Bai Yunfei!


    Before he had gone berserk, Bai Yunfei usually made use of the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring and the Soul Sentinel Scarf to launch a surprise attack whenever the enemy used a soul attack. But this time, he only glared angrily at the Soul King and pointed his left pointer finger at him!


    ¡°Get lost!!!!¡±


    The Charm Bracelet flashed with a white light at his words. In response, the Soul King¡¯s face paled when he heard those words and staggered to his knees!


    In that moment he heard those two words, an unknown energy had invaded his mindspace and tore angrily at his soul like hundreds of needles to stab into it!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡± Bai Yunfei grunted as well as the soul attack took hold of him. His soulforce started to fluctuate a bit before it stabilized and returned to normal.


    Or returned to his berserk state of mind, as it were. Although it hurt, Bai Yunfei was still heavily fueled by his anger, and like a shooting star, he traveled towards the ones fighting the blue-eyes wyrm with extreme speed!


    ¡°That was definitely a soul attack!!¡±


    The lightning-type Soul King had his confirmation now. ¡°Impossible! Just impossible!! How could he unleash a strong soul attack like that on me!? This shouldn¡¯t be possible, I refuse to believe it!!¡±


    He shook his head to get rid of the stinging pain in his head and clear his mind. Thinking about the soul attack he suffered just now, the Soul King looked startled. ¡°Wait!! That¡¯s not it! This isn¡¯t an ordinary soul attack. It¡¯s like a high-leveled soul attack, but this type of feeling isn¡¯t the feeling of being ¡®controlled¡¯, but the feeling of being ¡®influenced¡¯! This is being ¡®mesmerized¡¯!!


    ¡°No, this¡­.this is an illusion!¡± His eyes flew open in enlightenment. But then he dashed that thought. ¡°No, it¡¯s not quite like an illusion. How can there be an illusion that can act like a soul attack? And how is he able to enter my mindspace and affect my soul? It¡¯s impossible¡­.¡±


    He felt like he had seen through the ¡®cheap tricks¡¯ of Bai Yunfei, but at the same time, he grew more and more confused by what exactly it was Bai Yunfei was doing. He just couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    How could he know that the Charm Bracelet on Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was capable of such a magical effect like this¡­..like the mental link!!


    Indeed. The way Bai Yunfei was attacking the Soul King so that it was misconstrued as a ¡®soul attack¡¯ was due to the mental link!


    It wasn¡¯t the normal type of mental link either. After a series of experimentation, Bai Yunfei was able to invent a different way of application for it!


    Before, Bai Yunfei had figured that he was only capable of using the mental link to talk with other people with their minds. And then after he realized he could tell if a person was ¡®lying¡¯ or not, Bai Yunfei felt this ¡®small¡¯ ability of the bracelet wasn¡¯t half bad.


    It wasn¡¯t until later when he was ambushed by the Soul King right outside Casino Jin with Zheng Kai and hit with the Soul Refining Palm that Bai Yunfei realized there was more to the Charm Bracelet. The Soul Refining Palm had caused him to lose a bit of his rationality, but in the final moments when the Soul King was trying to flee, Bai Yunfei had managed to apply the mental link in a different way than normal¡­.


    For example, he found out that by linking with the mind of another, he could invade their mindspace and enforce his own thoughts onto the person enough to affect their soul!!


    If a person¡¯s mind were to suddenly think of a completely different idea, then the person would fall into a moment of conflict where two different ideas were trying to command the body. By using the mental link to enforce his thoughts, Bai Yunfei could use it to psychologically affect a person and influence their minds and behavior!!


    This was essentially not unlike the art of Mesmerization the bewitching fox was capable of!


    This could also be seen when Bai Yunfei told the Soul King to ¡®stop¡¯ with all his might. In those moments afterwards, Bai Yunfei found out about the uniqueness of this situation. By experimenting more and more, Bai Yunfei realized that this could be turned into a trump card to be used for a day like this!!


    And his usage of this ability was not at all different to a soul attack a Soul King might use!!


    Since Bai Yunfei in this moment was far beyond the level of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, his strength could go toe-to-toe with a Soul King to unleash attacks like a soul attack onto them.


    In his current state, Bai Yunfei could be said to be in the¡­.False Soul King realm!!

 Chapter 593: Battling a Soul King

    Just as the Soul King was thinking about the intricacies of Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®soul attack¡¯, several people all cried out in pain!


    ¡°Tsk!!¡± The Soul King cursed to himself. Several people were dying in front of him while he had been thinking, and that only made him even more flustered.


    The event horizon was rapidly approaching, and if Bai Yunfei was given any more time, then¡­.


    On the top of the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s head, a fiery Bai Yunfei was striking out left and right with his spear working like the reaper¡¯s scythe to perforate the chest of an enemy. There were only mid-stage and late-stage Soul Exalts here, and none of them were strong enough to fight against Bai Yunfei. Even if they were peak late-stage Soul Exalts, they still wouldn¡¯t be enough!!


    Any and all types of defense was virtually ineffective against the Fire-tipped Spear. With each stroke, the Fire-tipped Spear found itself spearing through another victim!


    Each of the mid-stage Soul Exalt expelled a mouthful of blood from their mouths when struck by the spear before crumpling to the ground, unable to fight anymore.


    In a matter of seconds, Bai Yunfei had killed four people, leaving behind only two peak late-stage and one late-stage Soul Exalts!


    Having been suppressed by the Soul Exalts until Bai Yunfei came, the blue-eyes wyrm could finally let loose. Roaring aloud, the wyrm lashed out with its tail to bisect a caught off-guard late-stage Soul Exalt! With its right forelimb, it clawed at a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, sending three separate blades of elemental water to force the Soul Exalt back.


    Bai Yunfei continued to attack the enemies to his left, but when he heard the sound of rolling thunder overhead, he narrowed his eyes. Without bothering to even look up, he waved his left hand to summon the Cataclysmic Seal to him. Expanding to over ten meters in size, it served as an overhead shield for him, blocking a thick bolt of purple lightning from striking him. The Cataclysmic Seal shuddered from the attack and was forced down to the ground, but not before Bai Yunfei leapt out of the way. Waving his hand again, the Cataclysmic Seal shrunk in size to fall back down to the ground to avoid being hit by the remaining lightning bolts.


    His left hand lashed out again, this time to block the Flash Halberd from striking at his left side. Raising his right hand, he lashed out with the Fire-tipped Spear to attack the figure in purple holding the halberd.


    The lightning-type Soul King had finally deigned himself to strike again with all his might!


    The attack of a mid-stage Soul King was without a doubt a very intimidating thing to face down. The surrounding hundred meters was washed with purple light as elemental lightning turned the place into a pool of lightning. At its very center, the Soul King¡¯s figure flickered like lightning to move around a figure on fire to attack at every angle.


    With all the lightning and explosions, the blue-eyes wyrm was forced to step beyond the boundary of the lightning pool and near the end of the illusionary matrix to fight the remaining Soul Exalts.


    If it were Bai Yunfei before he went crazy with Berserk Mode, an attack like this would¡¯ve left Bai Yunfei completely unable to deal with it, or at least, defend against the attack at the cost of a great deal of his health. He¡¯d normally want to back away and wait for one of his equipment effects to activate before making a counter attack.


    But right now, he could choose to fight with his spear and attack the Soul King without any fear!


    The Soul King himself felt like he was going crazy. Whatever it was that was happening in front of him, it shouldn¡¯t be.


    This Bai Yunfei right in front of him and the Bai Yunfei from before were practically two different people!!


    Bai Yunfei was fighting as if there wasn¡¯t any form of self-preservation to him anymore. Whenever they fought, Bai Yunfei would only move out of the way if the incoming attack would be a mortal one, increasing the amount of injuries he had one by one! Each time the Flash Halberd came at him, Bai Yunfei would parry it to the side and strike out with his spear. With each palm strike aimed at him, Bai Yunfei would return it with a palm strike of his own¡­.


    This kind of ¡®kill a thousand lose eight hundred¡¯ tactic was something that didn¡¯t suit well for the Soul King.


    And the more he fought Bai Yunfei, the more he learned about Bai Yunfei. The exchange of attacks between the two gave the Soul King some time to look and count each of the soul armaments Bai Yunfei had. Whether it was the Fire-tipped Spear, his two gloves, his two bracers, his armor, or even his shoes¡ªthey were all high-leveled soul armaments!!


    The force the Soul King was putting behind of his strikes was enough to kill any peak late-stage Soul Exalt. But Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even been losing any strength behind his own blows even after parrying each attack with his arms!


    In fact, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was¡­.still growing!


    If an outsider were to look at Bai Yunfei now, they would¡¯ve thought Bai Yunfei was also a Soul King!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    There was a cracking sound as the Thunder Halberd slammed into the Fire-tipped Spear and was met with an explosion. The explosion had destroyed the halberd and consequently numbed the hand of the Soul King holding it!


    But Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in good shape himself. The elemental lightning he was being constantly struck with was causing pain to Bai Yunfei whenever he was hit with it. He was happy that he had destroyed the weapon of the Soul King however, and he didn¡¯t seem to really care about the purple lightning arcing around his body. Raising a shining yellow left hand, he plunged it downwards to attack the Soul King!


    The light of opportunity shined in the Soul King¡¯s eyes at this. Having been completely inhibited by the self-mutilating tactics of Bai Yunfei, the Soul King had had enough. Without regard for the fist coming at his abdomen, the Soul King chopped at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat with the edge of his palm!


    Even if he his internal organs were struck, he¡¯d decapitate Bai Yunfei!!


    Both fighters were risking their lives with this, though the Soul King had never thought he¡¯d be forced to fight to an extent like this¡­.but that didn¡¯t matter anymore. Even if he was severely wounded, at least Bai Yunfei would be dead. His death would accomplish his mission, and he¡¯d be able to leave this place.


    The one thing that surprised the Soul King even more was the fact that Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes seemed to glow even more crazily. He bent his body in a way that brought his head not away from his hand, but¡­.towards it!


    Seeming as if he wasn¡¯t even considering his own life as important in this attack, Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead came forward to meet with the lightning-type Soul King¡¯s blade hand while his left hand was still heading for the Soul King¡¯s stomach!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    There was a muffled explosion as the Soul King was sent flying away like a bullet while Bai Yunfei himself had his head knocked backwards, but still very much connected to his body.


    But¡­.what surprised the Soul King most about this interaction was the fact that Bai Yunfei came to a stop ten meters away, his legs standing back on the platform as he shook his head. He spat out a bloody glob of spit, but other than that, Bai Yunfei had been completely fine!!


    ¡°Pfft!!¡±


    A mouthful of blood came out from the Soul King¡¯s own mouth from his injuries. Glaring heavily at Bai Yunfei, he stared at the dark light glowing from the Soul Sentinel Scarf with shock.


    ¡°Im¡­.impossible!!¡±


    The Soul King cried out loud this time. Eyes lighting up, Bai Yunfei put away his Fire-tipped Spear and brought both of his arms up. Elemental fire started to draw inwards into his body before swirling around his arms. With enough energy stored, he lashed out with both fists!


    Dual Dragon Burst!!


    Two dragons made completely from fire were expelled from Bai Yunfei¡¯s fists. Before their tails could even fully detach from Bai Yunfei, the heads of the dragons were already on the verge of swallowing the Soul King whole!

 Chapter 594: The Strongest Dual Dragon Burst

    Two fiery dragons several meters thick burst out form Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms. Faced with the dragons, the Soul King¡¯s face was entirely pale. This time the dragons were far stronger than before, and that first attempt had already been strong enough to be comparable to the attack of an early-stage Soul King. So this second Dual Dragon Burst was perhaps on the level of a mid-stage Soul King!


    Even for the lightning-type Soul King, it¡¯d take all of his might in order to unleash an attack of this magnitude!!


    Up until this point, Bai Yunfei had merely been surprising him with each unexpected twist. This time though, the Soul King was long past that point. He was now filled with fear. Complete and utter fear!


    He had to escape!!


    His mind knew this. His body knew this. He had to avoid this!


    He¡¯d be killed if he was hit by this, if not heavily injured!


    ¡°How can he pull off something of this magnitude?!!¡±


    The Soul King complained heavily to himself. The Bai Yunfei in front of him had strength that was completely omitted from the information the Soul King was given¡ªby a tremendous amount too! This new explosion of strength had the Soul King doubting if Bai Yunfei was actually a Soul King of some sort that deliberately hid his strength to trick others.


    It was completely unheard of for a mid-stage Soul Exalt to explode with so much strength that his attacks were comparable with a mid-stage Soul King!!


    A good three hundred meters divided him and Bai Yunfei, but it only took two quick blinks of the eye for the dragons to travel half that distance. Seemingly roaring as it traveled through the air, the dragons melted the air around it with its intense temperatures.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The Soul King submerged himself in a bright flash of purple light. Kicking off with his right foot, he tried his utmost best to ascend higher into the skies.


    His speed had been great enough for him to leave behind a mirror image when he leapt, the purple light around him taking a moment before catching with him and leaving the mirror image to be engulfed by the flames.


    Believing himself to be out of range of the dragon now, the Soul King looked down at the attack. Only his shoes seemed to be slightly singed¡ªmuch to his relief¡ªbut the experience left him in cold sweat still. He was ecstatic, he supposed, that he made it out alive from that. He hadn¡¯t felt something as heart-pounding as this ever since he became a Soul King¡­.


    The Soul King tore his eyes away from the his shoes to look at Bai Yunfei. After unleashing such a powerful attack like this, Bai Yunfei surely had to be exhausted, so this was the best time to strike him down!


    But what he was seeing from Bai Yunfei differed greatly than from what he expected! While Bai Yunfei looked pain, he was still staring hatefully at the Soul King with both of his hands raised into the air. They were pressed together by the palms as they rose before he pointed the face of the palms at himself. Suddenly splitting them apart, he had his palms come back towards himself!!


    It took only a moment for Bai Yunfei to complete these strange motions. Confused for only half that, the Soul King realized straight afterwards what that meant! The intense temperature beneath his feet hadn¡¯t gone away at all, and when he looked behind him, he was met with the head of a dragon! It was as if they were being guided by Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions and split apart before making a U-turn to try and swallow him again!


    Again left with no time to think, the Soul King tried to escape to his right in a flash of purple light!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A fierce blast of heat shot past his side, and the Soul King felt even a few strands of his hair catch aflame. His teeth clattered together in traumatic fear, but his eyes were adamant on not being caught off guard again. Retreating a hundred meters away, he looked back to Bai Yunfei.


    But soon after, he was shocked once again by what he was seeing!


    Bai Yunfei was still moving his arms again with intricate motions before slamming his palms together!


    ¡°Another attempt!?¡±


    The lightning-type Soul King cried to himself as he went through the motions to try and dodge again.


    But then he realized that the two flaming dragons hadn¡¯t ¡®turned¡¯ around to come at him again¡­.


    So¡­.what were these actions of Bai Yunfei meant to do?


    Confused by the enigmatic actions of Bai Yunfei, the Soul King observed the dragons. That was when he realized something¡ªthose dragons were¡­.heading straight for where two streaks of white light were fighting!!


    In that moment, he saw one of the white streaks of light be dealt a heavy blow by the other and sent flying away!


    And while one of them was sent flying away, the other was immediately ¡®engulfed¡¯ by the two flaming dragons!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    The lightning-type Soul King cried out, but his action came too late. Bai Yunfei¡¯s move hadn¡¯t been for him, but¡­.for the ice-type Soul King fighting the permafrost mastiff!


    His realization came far too late as did his warning. The ice-type Soul King had already been swallowed whole by the Dual Dragon Burst!


    The ice-type Soul King had been fighting the permafrost mastiff the entire time with the latter being almost oblivious to the wounds it had. The two were almost equal in strength, but he had the disadvantage. It was only with the help of the three peak late-stage Soul Exalts and other reinforcements that he was able to gain the upper hand, but then the soul attack Bai Yunfei made onto the place had turned the tides for everything. It didn¡¯t do much against the Soul King, but the three peak late-stage Soul Exalts had lost their concentration for just a moment. And a moment was all it took for the class seven soulbeast to capitalize on. Meeting their momentary lapse with a roar, it killed two of them before turning the third into an icicle.


    What followed after that had been a tiring battle. The permafrost mastiff barely left any openings for the Soul King to capitalize on. But in the end, he managed to land a good blow on the mastiff much to his great joy, but then when he was going in for the kill, the mastiff decided then for the first time in the battle to make use of the blow to retreat far away from him.


    As he was standing there in bafflement why this happened, he felt something approach him from behind. Turning, his eyes widened in abject fear!


    Just barely before the fiery dragon swallowed him, the Soul King could¡¯ve sworn he heard someone cry out a warning to him!!


    Beyond too late to try to escape, the ice-type Soul King could only bring both his arms up to try and protect himself in a bubble of elemental ice, as if he was trying to freeze himself. With him as the center, the fiery dragon then swallowed him whole...


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Within the maelstrom of fire that now formed, an anguished cry was heard as a flash of white light tried to escape, but the elemental fire around it made it impossible and drowned it out a second after.


    Sensing that the aura of his companion was gone, the lightning-type Soul King was crestfallen. He stared dumbly at the sea of flames as if trying to process exactly what had happened.


    The ice-type Soul King was only weaker than him by a stage, but he was still a Soul King in the end. Just a few ten years shy of a hundred years of training, and a man as mighty as that had just¡­.died.


    ¡°Whish!!¡±


    As he was trying to process the events, the Soul King heard the sound of displaced wind suddenly come at him. Completely caught off guard by that, the Soul King¡¯s eyes widened as he stepped to the right and turned around.


    A spear crimson-red in light was coming at his eye!!

 Chapter 595: Thrown!!

    With how distraught the Soul King was over the death of his companion, he hadn¡¯t noticed Bai Yunfei coming at him!


    But his response when he did noticed had been fast enough. Leaning back the upper half of his head, the Soul King made a hasty retreat to avoid the spear.


    Like his shadow, Bai Yunfei followed the Soul King for about a hundred meters so that the spear never left more than half a foot from the Soul King¡¯s head. The two of them continued on like this until they were at the end of the illusionary matrix before the Soul King flew up to the spear with a lightning covered hand. His palm slapped at the shaft, causing the spear to flinch upwards from the blow and granting the Soul King the opportunity to redirect his palm strike at Bai Yunfei¡¯s face!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand came up to stop him. With a pow, the palm strike landed against Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm. Not only strong, the palm strike transferred the elemental lightning infused in it over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm, numbing it as Bai Yunfei retreated backwards a few steps.


    Now Bai Yunfei and the Soul King stood twenty meters apart. Bai Yunfei was looking a little worse for wear as he struggled for breath. His body was more or less dyed with blood, most of it was from his enemies, but some was his own. Any uncovered part of his body, such as his face, neck, arms, and even the ripped parts behind his trousers were a strangely red glow as if they were being heated up.


    But perhaps the most ghastly sight was the blood that was leaking from Bai Yunfei¡¯s wounds. From several different parts of his body where he had wounds, the blood that leaked out were immediately being evaporated into the air to turn into red steam.


    The wounds on his face were comparatively less than the ones on the rest of his body, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was twisted with pain nonetheless. All five features to his face were twitching as if fighting back the aching pain he was feeling. Even someone who was familiar with Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize him as he looked right now¡­.


    Anyone could tell that Bai Yunfei was experiencing a great deal of pain right now. The crazed look in his eyes was still as strong as ever. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look like himself anymore with everything considered. Even under all this pain, he was still moving with the sole purpose of killing and satisfying his own desires.


    The Soul King noted this expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face with no small amount of relief. ¡°He¡¯s...he¡¯s as good as finished! I see now¡­.he couldn¡¯t have been that strong actually. He had to throw away his rationality to gain such an obscene amount of strength¡­.the fact that he¡¯s kept it up for so long is an amazing feat in itself¡­..¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    As he was thinking to himself, Bai Yunfei grunted again and stepped forward. He charged forward, the flames around him billowing even more intensely than before!


    ¡°Another spike?! Doesn¡¯t he care about his life?!¡± The lightning-type Soul King panicked. Dodging the incoming spear and then the incoming punch with his arms, the Soul King was forced into a small dance of sorts as Bai Yunfei began to rain spear after punch on him.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­.he¡¯s gone crazy!! A suicidal lunatic!!¡± He remarked to himself. He dodged each blow Bai Yunfei made, but the more he dodged, the more he began to feel angry at the situation.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky! I am a mid-stage Soul King, how could I ever lose to a person like you!!¡± When Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear came at the left side of his waist, the Soul King grew furious. Grabbing at the shaft of the spear with his left hand, he let loose a lightning infused punch onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    ¡°You¡¯ll die here!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The fist slammed against Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest, cracking several bones in Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest and forcing him to spit out a mouthful of blood that evaporated into the air shortly afterwards. The light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes decreased by a shade as he was sent flying backwards from the blow.


    Joy flashed across the eyes of the Soul King. He knew Bai Yunfei had a powerful piece of armor on him, but he put everything he had in this one punch and had even his elemental energy strengthen the blow. With everything combined, his punch would be enough to turn Bai Yunfei¡¯s body to paste even if his armor blocked even half of it!


    And it worked!! Several of Bai Yunfei¡¯s bones had been cracked and his flesh had ruptured in several places. When he spat out blood, there had been bits of flesh in it!!


    ¡°Haha!! Die!!¡±


    The lightning-type Soul King howled with sadistic glee. Pushing both palms forward, he sent a blast of elemental lightning to char and reduce Bai Yunfei to ashes!


    In that split-second, the light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes reignited with increased fervor. Snapping his body straight as if his wounds didn¡¯t even exist, Bai Yunfei spat out another mouthful of blood before staring down his enemy. The grinding sound of his teeth gnashing against one another added to the ghastly figure that was Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Bzzz!!¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear in his right hand shivered with bright flames along with the rest of his body. The flames concentrated to the top of the spear and swelled up. Arching the arm holding the spear back, Bai Yunfei twisted his waist before heaving the spear forward!!


    His throwing of the spear had been exceedingly power. The spear flew forward with a trail of fire flying through the skies to come at the Soul King!


    It wasn¡¯t until the Fire-tipped Spear was a hundred meters away when the sound of it being thrown was even heard!!


    The Soul King was appalled by this. He hadn¡¯t thought that Bai Yunfei would still be capable of unleashing such a powerful attack even now. Snarling, the Soul King reclaimed the elemental lightning meant to attack Bai Yunfei and spun it around to act as his shield to protect him while he tried to move out of the way.


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    There was a humming sound as the Fire-tipped Spear flew into his elemental lightning shield, and then¡­.


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The spear stabbed into his right palm and straight through his arm into his shoulder. Then with a squelch, the spear tunneled back out his body¡­.


    From his palm to his shoulder, there was a huge scorched hole going straight through his right arm!!


    The concentrated look in his eyes immediately bled away as he stared blankly at the wound on his right arm. Then he looked to the elemental shield in front of him, completely at a loss for words for what had happened¡­.

 Chapter 596: The End

    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    A loud explosion rocked the area as the lightning-type Soul King had his elemental lightning shield fall apart due to his lack of control. Blood poured from his mouth and wound as he stood there, transfixed at the wound he just got. Then when he felt the aura of Bai Yunfei drop by at least half, his head snapped up with a ferocious look.


    ¡°D¡ªdamn you!! Die! Die!!¡±


    Almost like Bai Yunfei, the Soul King had seemed to lost his mind. Not even caring for the hole going straight through him or the elemental fire burning at his insides, the Soul King lifted his left hand to gather as much elemental lightning to it. It swirled and arced around his intact left arm in massive amounts before forming in front of his hand.


    ¡°Die!!!!¡±


    He spat out as he swung his arm at Bai Yunfei!!


    ¡°Cerrack!!¡±


    There was a crack of lightning as the charged elemental lightning around his hand shot forth with alarming speed. Following his finger, it zapped through the air to travel towards Bai Yunfei in the shape of a lightning bolt!


    This was the strongest move he could muster under his current crazed state. The elemental lightning was at the limits of what he could control, but the strength behind it would kill anyone a mid-stage Soul King or lower!


    Thanks to the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei lost half of his soulforce. Though he was also injured, his eyes didn¡¯t lose any bit of his madness. He didn¡¯t seem to move from his spot though to try and dodge the lightning bolt, and neither did it seem like he was going to defend himself....


    And since he wasn¡¯t doing anything, the Cataclysmic Seal wasn¡¯t going up to protect him!


    On the verge of being hit however, a flash of purple flew in front of him!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    The world shook as elemental lightning slammed into the flash of purple that came in front of Bai Yunfei. A pair of wings folded over one another like a shield to protect Bai Yunfei!


    It was Xiao Qi!


    After killing the two Soul Exalts trying to attack Fang Tianmeng, Xiao Qi had flown to the girl¡¯s side to protect her. By that point, most of the enemies were already dead and left Xiao Qi free to kill any straggling or fleeing Soul Exalts. No one dared attack Fang Tianmeng anymore with the bird there to safeguard her, and it never left Xiao Qi¡¯s side afterwards to keep a watch on the battlefield.


    Able to sense what Bai Yunfei was feeling through their bond, the bird was feeling very worried for him. It also knew the importance of protecting Fang Tianmeng, so it didn¡¯t join the fight between Bai Yunfei and the lightning-type Soul King.


    It wasn¡¯t until Bai Yunfei unleashed his strongest move and still failed to kill the lightning-type Soul King that Xiao Qi finally felt it unbearable to sit by the side. When the Soul King moved to attack Bai Yunfei, it joined the fray.


    The Wind and Lightning Feathers combined with the strength of a peak late-stage class six soulbeast gave Xiao Qi more speed than what would normally be expected. And with that speed, it was able to move in front of Bai Yunfei fast enough to protect him!


    In the next instant, the bolt of lightning struck with the folded wings of Xiao Qi in a single explosion!


    A pained trill came from Xiao Qi from the middle of the explosion, its aura dropping sharply. It remained steadfast in the air where it was despite the pain it was in, and the purple lightning continued to wreak havoc onto the area, but never far enough to hurt Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­huffff¡­¡±


    Standing farther away, the Soul King was in a dreadfully bad state. His mouth was trickling blood and his body was barely glowing purple with light. His right arm and shoulder was trembling heavily as it tried to heal itself with any bit of soulforce given to it. But his eyes remained transfixed onto the elemental lightning that had struck Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Die¡­Die! Die damnit!¡±


    It was halfway a curse and halfway a prayer as he tried to will his hopes into reality.


    With the massive influx of energy and his current state of weakness, the Soul King didn¡¯t really know what was going on. All he could hope for was that his strongest attack would be enough to kill Bai Yunfei, otherwise¡­


    ¡°Chirppp!!!¡±


    A furious trill erupted from the lightning storm up ahead, much to the horror of the pale-faced Soul King. The next thing he saw were five separate crescent-shaped blades of nothing come out from the lightning storm to come flying towards him!


    ¡°N¡ªno!! This can¡¯t be!!!¡±


    His eyes as wide as dinner-plates, the Soul King was terrified. Any last vestige of soulforce was sent to his feet as he tried to escape upwards.


    But unfortunately, his current speed wasn¡¯t even fast enough to beat out an early-stage Soul King. He managed to dodge two of the five Spatial Edges, but not the others. Two of them caught him at his left and right sides, and then the third one flew into his waist, bisecting the Soul King in half!!


    He bent his head down low to look at his vanished midsection. When he could see parts of his internal organs sticking out, and the detached feet of his well underneath, his eyes glazed over¡­


    ¡°N¡ªno¡­this¡­this can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    His lips trembled with each word spoken, the light in his eyes gradually dimming before finally growing dark with death.


    ¡­¡­


    The mid-stage Soul King had died!!


    The remaining survivors in the area stood still, their eyes glued to the mutilated pieces of the Soul King fall back down to the earth in horror. Even the three Soul Exalts fighting the blue-eyes wyrm retreated away far enough to watch what was going on.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi slowly flapped its wings. Turning around to fly back to Bai Yunfei, it took him by the shoulders and rose him into the air.


    The permafrost mastiff was back into action by this point. It flew to Fang Tianmeng¡¯s side and hoisted her own its back before leaping up to join Xiao Qi.


    At Xiao Qi¡¯s cry, the battle-weary blue-eyes wyrm perked its head up in understanding. Blue light shined from it as it shrunk in size and leapt up as well into the air as if to escape.


    The remaining enemies were startled by their actions¡ªwere they trying to escape?!


    As the enemies were starting to think that, a tremendous red ¡®sun¡¯ almost five hundred meters in size descended down onto the area, shining red in light. In the next moment, the ¡®sun¡¯ grew larger in size to become a mountain to crush the area!


    Under the horrified enemies on the ground, the tremendous mountain descended onto the earth and touched down!!


    Higher up in the sky, Bai Yunfei¡¯s person trembled just slightly from where he was in the grip of Xiao Qi. As he pressed his hand downwards, he gave the people down below a disturbing smile of mirthful joy.


    ¡°You¡¯ll all die here!!¡±

 Chapter 597: Outside the Illusionary Array

    Practically a kilometer in size and length, the Cataclysmic Seal covered the entire area of the illusionary array almost. Even from the outside of the array, a scorching red light could be seen radiating in the sky, and some of the houses were starting to turn dark and burn from the heat.


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s going on!?¡±


    Five figures stood in the skies over several people who were mortally wounded, but not quite yet dead. At the present moment, none of the people there had been able to snap back to reality after the Soul Kings were killed. All they could do was stand there in shock without really an idea on what to do.


    And then in the next moment, a giant mountain crashed down onto the area!


    All of the Soul Exalts felt the blood drain away from their faces at the sight. They turned, ready to run away from the area when¡­


    ¡°Roarrr!!!!¡±


    An earth-shaking roar was transmitted through the area, reverberating through the heads of everyone there and shaking their souls. Everyone grunted in pain as their souls were struck, and some of those who were extremely weak were killed straight away!


    The permafrost mastiff was using its soul attack!!


    The Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the ground the next moment, squishing the Soul Exalts in the air and on the ground without any further resistance!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    It was a completely bone-chilling sight. An object as large as a mountain had dropped onto the ground and squashed everyone, a few of them screaming in pain as they were squished. Then came the shaking of the earth in which the entirety of Baishan City felt.


    There had been ten people left in the area when the Cataclysmic Seal fell, and after it did, not a single one of them was left!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Not much time had passed since Bai Yunfei entered the illusionary array and started battling.


    Outside the barrier.


    Just roughly three hundred meters away, there were two parties of people watching.


    Of the two parties, one of them had a middle-aged man leading eight figures. Each one of them wore golden robes and the one in front floated in the air without the assistance of elemental energy, meaning he was a Soul King.


    Of the eleven, the one at the front was the lord-mayor of Baishan City and early-stage Soul King. The eight people behind him were all Soul Exalts.


    The other party had only a single person, but he stood in between them and the array.


    That person was currently observing the array in front of him, sensing the chaotic energy flowing from within with a sense of urgency.


    ¡°Lu Fang!! What is the meaning of this?! What has the Cao done, and why are you stopping us?! If there is a battle within the city, do you wish to make the entire empire your enemy by stopping us?!¡±


    The one he was talking to was the black-robed figure standing fifty meters in front of them.


    The frail-looking middle-aged man smiled. ¡°Lord Zhang, I have no wish to make the empire or its officials my enemy. But this is a personal grievance of the Cao and will soon resolve itself. I only wish to spare lord Zhang a few headaches and invite that you wait a moment.¡±


    ¡°What kind of grievance is this?! What is going on in there¡ªwhy has the entire Cao mobilized themselves? Who are the people they are fighting?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, please forgive this one for his lack of knowledge, but this one knows not. It is always hard to tell what problems might exist in the world of soul cultivators, lord Zhang.¡±


    ¡°You¡ª!¡±


    Zhang Mo was fuming with anger, but he did nothing. While he was the lord-mayor, he couldn¡¯t be too overbearing while in the presence of others. This person in front of him was a rather well known traveling soul cultivator with an ill reputation. He liked to kill more often than not and was an early-stage Soul King. Despite that, he was a cut above the rest and stood even a good chance of victory when fighting against a mid-stage Soul King.


    All things considered, Zhang Mo couldn¡¯t afford to start a fight. This was Baishan City, and a fight here would affect the lives of the commoners here no matter if he won or lost.


    He had been one of the first to arrive here when he felt the fluctuations from the other parts of the city. But before he could go in to investigate, Lu Fang came forward to stop him.


    During that time, several people managed to make their way into the array¡­


    Things were hazy, but Zhang Mo could distinctly feel the auras of three Soul Kings in there! He was unsettled. Whatever it was that was happening between the Cao, it was something huge and he was really curious on the specifics of this fight.


    Prior to his arrival, he had orders to the other Soul Exalts to quarantined the area and prevent the commoners from getting too close to this area. There were a few people that fled from within the Cao, but they were just servants or guests. Many of the commoners living nearby the Cao were relocated, meaning that there was practically no one within three kilometers of the Cao except for the parties directly involved.


    As he waited with the others outside, Zhang Mo stared incessantly at the illusionary array. He could feel one aura start to fade while another spike of elemental energy led him to worry and feel even more curious.


    Just¡­what kind of fight was taking place in there?


    In front of him, Lu Fang was starting to look much more tense now compared to his previously relaxed version. The longer time went by, the more tense he became. ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­how did so many people die?! We¡¯re getting close to the allotted time, if they take any longer, then they¡¯re going to show up. We can¡¯t escape with them here!¡±


    The thoughts of the two parties had the same desires, but for contrasting reasons. Time slowly trickled by before a huge spike in energy led to everyone looking in surprise.


    ¡°Wha¡ªwhat¡¯s going on!? How did one more Soul King appeared?! What happened inside now?!¡±


    Both parties thought this time in unison. And then a second incident caused them to look surprised, but this time, it was because of the area to the north of the illusionary array!


    The two parties turned their heads, Zhang Mo with suspicion and Lu Fang with a rather unsightly amount of concern.


    To the north of the illusionary array a dark green of light was speeding towards the city. In one second, it was already several kilometers closer to them. In another moment, two figures stepped out from a warped piece of space!


    Teleportation!


    One of the new figures wore a gray robe dirty with time and grime. His hair was disheveled as if he had been traveling for a long time. He was rather short in stature and was forty years of age. But the most distinguishing detail to the man was the very long sword tied to his back!

 Chapter 598: A Single Slash!

    This man¡¯s hair was disheveled, and his entire person was quite in need of a bath. There was a long sword on his back that made it very easy to distinguish him. This was the man Bai Yunfei met back on Back Mountain, the assistance chairman to Tianhun Academy with a nickname that physically hurt almost¡ªthe ¡®Invincible Swordsman¡¯ Wu Dijian!


    He came to a stop relatively close to the illusionary array and spat out two goblets of sandy spit. Shaking his disheveled hair to reveal a sharp pair of eyes, he scanned the area before noticing Zhang Mo and his group.


    ¡°Hey. You there, who are you?¡± He pointed to Zhang Mo.


    Zhang Mo and Lu Fang both looked a little perplexed. They knew that this person was a very strong one, but the fact that he was acting like this made him seem a little cheap. Zhang Mo had a suspicious look on his face, but he cupped his hands together in greeting to ask, ¡°This one is the lord-mayor of Baishan City, Zhang Mo. Might this one ask if you are senior Wu of Tianhun Academy?¡±


    As the ruler of a city, he was a man of the Tianhun School. Furthermore, Baishan City wasn¡¯t that far away, so the matters and people of Tianhun Academy wasn¡¯t unknown to him. Wu Dijian was an especially well known figure, and although he had never seen Wu Dijian before, his title of ¡®Invincible Swordsman¡¯ combined with the especially long sword on his back made him very easy to pick out.


    Wu Dijian nodded. ¡°I am he. Are you the city¡¯s ruler? Good. Let me ask you then. Does the house of Cao exist here? Where are they?¡±


    He pointed to the giant illusionary array next. ¡°And what is this?¡±


    ¡°The house of Cao?¡± Zhang Mo repeated, his heart beating slightly. What was the Invincible Swordsman wanting to do with the Cao?! ¡°Senior Wu, the Cao live within the illusionary array here. A battle broke out here roughly minutes ago when I discovered it, and the illusionary array covers the entirety of the house of Cao¡¯s territory. I was on my way to investigate the interior when I was stopped by this man.¡±


    He pointed to Lu Fang.


    ¡°What? The Cao is in this place?!¡± Wu Dijian asked. He wasn¡¯t aware of the finer details of whatever was happening since he only just came here. The only thing he could sense was the influx of energy going on from within the array, but he just never thought that the Cao would be in that array of all place.s


    But in that case, then¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡± There was another explosion as a surge of elemental energy flew out with such a great amount that it was made noticeable to the people outside the array.


    ¡°This is¡­Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura!¡± Wu Dijian announced.


    Wu Dijian¡¯s face hardened at the familiar aura of Bai Yunfei. His eyes turned frosty as he flew at once towards the illusionary array!


    ¡°You¡ªhold on¡­!¡±


    Lu Fang had been startled as well by the burst of elemental fire, but when Wu Dijian made to enter the array, Lu Fang instinctively came forward to stop him.


    A murderous glare from Wu Dijian aimed itself at the man. Unsheathing the sword from his back, he spoke, ¡°You¡¯ve kidnapped a student of my academy, you¡¯ve ambushed an instructor of my academy, and now you hinder his aid¡­All enemies will¡­die!!¡±


    The air around everyone changed the moment the sword was taken out. Wu Dijian¡¯s eyes had a gleam in them that made them seem more like swords than eyes as he stared down Lu Fang, who shivered. A sharp aura like that made his own soul shiver with the possible threat of death!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    The blood bled away from Lu Fang¡¯s face as he realized his mistake. Golden light burst out from his body and into the skies. A giant golden ray of light gathered around Lu Fang as he prepared to launch it forward to try and cut down Wu Dijian!


    Zhang Mo, who had been quiet up until this point, started. This move of Lu Fang would probably hit Wu Dijian or be blocked by him, but the streets below would be destroyed! As the lord-mayor of Baishan City, there was no way he could permit such damage happen to his city. And so in a burst of orange light, he flew forward to stop this attack.


    But in that moment¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    There was a blur of light as a person flew past Lu Fang, the latter immediately freezing up as if to stand still where he was in the air.


    One second later.


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    A spurt of blood and a head popped up into the air!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The golden energy around Lu Fang¡¯s body exploded, smashing his body into pieces!


    Wu Dijian appeared at the edge of the explosion as if he was an apparition of some sort. There was a clinking sound, but his right hand was empty, almost making it look like he hadn¡¯t even used his sword to begin with.


    A single stroke was all it took!!


    Instant kill! This was the truest example of what it meant to kill instantly!!


    A mid-stage Soul King like Lu Fang had been killed without even offering a smidgen of resistance!


    This was the strength of the assistant chairman. The strength of the ¡®Invincible Swordsman¡¯!


    Wu Dijian didn¡¯t even look back at his handiwork. It was an act that required very little of him, and he had still other matters to take to. Like lightning, Wu Dijian was already just twenty meters away from the illusionary array.


    At that moment, his eyes widened before he launched himself to the left. In the same time he did, a crimson red streak of light shot out from the illusionary array in front of him and was caught by Wu Dijian¡¯s hand!


    It was the Fire-tipped Spear!


    A moment ago, Bai Yunfei had used the +13 additional effect to launch the Fire-tipped Spear to perforate the lightning-type Soul King. Having done its job, the spear continued onwards through the barrier and into the hands of Wu Dijian.


    He stared at the spear in his hands in surprise. ¡°I know this¡­this is Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul armament!


    ¡°Tch, was I too late?!¡± Wu Dijian hissed, continuing into the array with the spear in hand.


    He crossed into the array without much resistance. It wouldn¡¯t do much for someone of his strength, but the moment he entered, Wu Dijian was met with a furious wave of heat. He also heard a howl, and then¡­a powerful aura had been wiped out!


    ¡°The mid-stage Soul King is¡­dead?!¡±


    Wu Dijian¡¯s eyes widened. He was met with a complete wasteland the moment he entered the illusionary array along with five strange pitch-black blades of nothing disappear into the world and a disembodied body fall to the ground. Like the other Soul Exalts, he stood there in shock.


    Before he could even have a proper grasp on the situation, he felt the space around him darken in light. Looking up, he saw a gigantic mountain of an object come crashing down onto the ground!


    Eyes widening, Wu Dijian had a hint of alarm in his eyes, ¡°Wha¡ªwhat¡¯s all this?!¡±

 Chapter 599: Prevention

    The advent of the gigantic object up in the skies scared Wu Dijian greatly, but he was quick to retreat out of range before it could hurt him.


    As he was moving, Wu Dijian was suddenly met with a tremendous roar. It was the mastiff using its soul attack. Though it affected all of the Soul Exalts there into motionless, the soul attack wasn¡¯t very strong on him. He only narrowed his eyes before cancelling out its effects to escape in a black streak of dark light.


    Outside the array, Zhang Mo and his group only watched when Wu Dijian entered. Then when he came back out looking a little startled, they all looked surprised.


    And then what they saw next would then be burned into their memories forever¡­.


    A giant ¡®mountain¡¯ on fire came extending out from the range of the array before slamming down into the ground!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    Even though they were all up in the air, the entire group could practically feel the earth shake when the object crashed into the ground. The tremors had been as if the entirety of Baishan City had been shaken to its very foundations before the gigantic mountain disappeared from sight. There was a faint streak of red light when it disappeared, and then.


    And then.


    The area where Cao manor once stood was no more!


    For one entire kilometer wide and several hundreds long, there was a crater about a hundred meters deep!!


    Echoes of the mountain falling to the ground was heard for a while before the city returned to an unearthly silence with everyone standing there wide-eyed at the hole that had just opened up¡­.


    ¡°Gulp¡­.¡±


    One of the late-stage Soul Exalts behind Zhang Mo couldn¡¯t stay silent any longer. ¡°Am¡­.am I dreaming?¡± He cried out, ¡°Can someone tell me what in the world just happened?¡±


    No one replied to him. Like him, everyone had the same question on their mind as well.


    The illusionary matrix in front of them slowly faded away to reveal the area within. Standing above the crater were three soulbeasts and two humans.


    When Wu Dijian saw the two, he flew forward immediately.


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Dijian felt his heart beat faster when he first saw the ¡®mountain¡¯, but it didn¡¯t take long for him to regain his courage. He had heard before that Bai Yunfei had a soul armament capable of growing in size, but today was the very first time he actually saw it in action, or that i could even grow to that size. Once it returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side however, Wu Dijian immediately tossed away any suspicions he had to get close to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, are you alright?!¡±


    He half-spoke half-asked.


    But when he got fifty meters within Bai Yunfei, the man suddenly glared at him with still crimson-red eyes from his perch on Xiao Qi¡¯s back. Despite the heavy wounds he sustained from his battle with blood spilling from them, Bai Yunfei pointed his right finger at Wu Dijian and spat, ¡°Die!!¡±


    A giant blade made from fire materialized over his right arm before jettisoning towards Wu Dijian, who raised an eyebrow. Waving his left hand, he scattered the blade to pieces, ¡°Bai Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong with you?!¡±


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t respond and clutched at the sky with his right hand. Wu Dijian only felt the Fire-tipped Spear in his hand tremble slightly before it shined a brilliant red. Like heated iron, the spear grew red and forced Wu Dijian to drop the spear. It floated where it dropped for a moment before reorienting its point to his throat.


    ¡°Again?!¡±


    A strangled cry came from Wu Dijian before his right hand glowed green. Slapping the spear away from him, he sent the spear back towards Bai Yunfei.


    At the same time, Xiao Qi, the blue-eyes wyrm, and the permafrost mastiff readied themselves to fight again.


    The strangeness of the situation made Wu Dijian frown when he gave each of them a better look. ¡°What kind of person and soulbeasts are they! They¡¯re all nearly dead and yet they¡¯re still willing to fight¡­.¡±


    Before they could attack him, Wu Dijian cried out, ¡°Bai Yunfei!! It¡¯s me, Wu Dijian!! Have you gone crazy?! I¡¯m on your side! The enemies are dead, hurry up and snap out of it!¡±


    He was even attempting to communicate with Bai Yunfei through their soul, but even then, he wasn¡¯t getting any reaction. All he saw was Bai Yunfei rasp heavily under his breath as he got ready to ¡®fight¡¯ for his life again.


    ¡°Tch!!¡±


    Wu Dijian clicked his tongue. It seemed he¡¯d have to have Bai Yunfei stop by force. Eyeing Xiao Qi and the other two soulbeasts, he spoke. ¡°You three! Stand down! Can¡¯t you see Bai Yunfei¡¯s in great danger right now?! If he goes on, he¡¯ll die! You¡¯re all injured as well, hurry up and treat your wounds, or do you really mean to fight me?!¡±


    He gave Xiao Qi a pensive look, ¡°I¡¯ll knock Bai Yunfei unconscious. Act accordingly and don¡¯t act against!¡±


    Both Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm recognized Wu Dijian and both relaxed by a bit. The two of them hesitated a bit though at first before calming down. With a faint chirp, it crooned its head to look at Bai Yunfei in concern and worry.


    Wu Dijian sighed in relief himself. Flashing over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, he dodged the spear and pressed his right hand to Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. A flash of light exuded from Wu Dijian¡¯s eyes before Bai Yunfei went rigid for a moment and slumped over into his rams.


    Moving Bai Yunfei to the side, Wu Dijian spoke to Xiao Qi. ¡°Hurry up and heal your wounds. Any later and you won¡¯t have a life to heal.¡±


    The prismatic light around Xiao Qi¡¯s body dimmed a bit to show the blood flowing from its body. It had only been with the mid-heaven tier Wind and Lightning Feathers that Xiao Qi was able to block and endure the attack from the lightning-type Soul King meant for Bai Yunfei. Shooting five Spatial Edges took up the rest of his energy, so it was fortunate that it was able to kill the Soul King after that and filled its body with some extra energy to carry Bai Yunfei into the air after that.


    It was as if a boulder had been lifted off their shoulders. With a final nod to Wu Dijian, Xiao Qi wrapped its wings to itself to float in midair. Soaking in a strange energy, it looked like it was trying to use that energy to relight itself¡­.


    With only a strange look at Xiao Qi, Wu Dijian looked to the permafrost mastiff next and took Fang Tianmeng from it. The mastiff slowly drifted back down to the ground in a bulb of white light as it began to treat its own wounds.


    All things considered, the blue-eyes wyrm was relatively unharmed. It didn¡¯t have any serious wounds and was only battle-weary. Floating to Xiao Qi¡¯s side like a protective guardian, the blue-eyes wyrm waited for it while every so often glancing in Bai Yunfei¡¯s direction.


    Fang Tianmeng was floating by Wu Dijian¡¯s side in a bubble of green while Wu Dijian looked over Bai Yunfei¡¯s wounds for anything major.


    At the same time, his eyes flashed suddenly as he looked up to the north.


    There was nothing within eyesight of the direction he was looking at.


    He stared off into the distance for two seconds before looking away in suspicion¡­.

 Chapter 600: The Masterminds Behind the Scenes

    As Wu Dijian transmitted his soulforce into Bai Yunfei, Wu Dijian¡¯s eyebrows were narrowed together in thought. Zhang Mo didn¡¯t say anything when he came over in fear of disturbing him. Instead, he ordered several people to deal with the aftermath of the ruins below while he stood off to the side in case he was needed.


    He knew now that the person in Wu Dijian¡¯s hands was the very same person that had caused this commotion with the Cao. And now that the Cao was destroyed, it was natural as the lord-mayor of Baishan City that he¡¯d want to inquire Bai Yunfei about what exactly happened.


    The night skies in this part of the city only grew quieter while people gathered on the outskirts from all over the city to gossip about.


    About a minute later, Bai Yunfei was healed just enough for him to look up at Wu Dijian a little absent-mindedly, ¡°You¡¯re finally here¡­¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Several streaks of light came forth from the north.


    Just a dozen seconds later, the streaks of light came to a stop inside of Baishan City not too far away from Wu Dijian.


    The light faded away, revealing six figures!


    Zhang Mo looked surprised at first, but then when he saw just who it was, he immediately flew up to greet them as respectfully as he could, ¡°The lord-mayor of Baishan City, Zhang Mo, pays his respects to the First and Fourth Princes¡­..¡±


    The two figures on left and right was the fourth prince Wu Yang and the first prince Wu Ren!!


    Behind the two was a calmly elder with white hair. Zhang Mo didn¡¯t know who this elder was, but his very person commandeered respect. He was there clearly to protect the two princes and was without a doubt extremely strong.


    A person from the left side disappeared from the group as Zhang Mo was speaking to appear by Wu Dijian and Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, ¡°Yunfei!! What happened to you!?¡±


    This person was Zheng Kai!


    Behind him was his older brother, Zheng Cheng and another forty year old middle-aged man, Zheng Shisong, their second uncle.


    Aside from Zheng Kai and Wu Yang, everyone here were Soul Kings!


    When Bai Yunfei left the Capital to rush over to Baishan City, Zheng Kai immediately ran back to Zheng manor to report on the matter. While it was an ordinary student that disappeared, Bai Yunfei leaving for Baishan City took immediate notice within the manor. They moved without delay and had even Zheng Shisong and Zheng Cheng coming forward to lend a hand.


    As for Wu Yang and Wu Ren, Wu Yang tried to leverage his power as a member of the Royal Family to help the search for Fang Tianmeng. He coincidentally came across Wu Ren during this time who took the matter to personal interest after hearing about it. With a Soul King for additional help, the three of them set off for Baishan City.


    These two groups met up conveniently with one another right outside the Capital before they all rushed over.


    As for Wu Dijian. He was asked by Mo Wanxia when she came to her grandfather for help. As it just so happened, Wu Dijian didn¡¯t have anything planned in mind and decided to help out. He was the first to leave and beat Zheng Kai and the others by a sizeable amount of time.


    Zhang Mo took it upon himself to report to the matter to Wu Ren while Zheng Kai and Wu Dijian looked over him. The water-type Soul King, Zheng Shisong, began to treat Bai Yunfei¡¯s in a bubble of elemental water after that.


    ¡­¡­


    At the same time to the easter side of Baishan City, there stood a large mountain.


    This mountain was tall enough to pierce the clouds just enough to have mist gather at the peak. But even from there, Baishan City could be seen there.


    Several people were standing on the peak of this mountain!


    The mist covered their figures just enough so that no one would be able to tell who they were unless they were within ten meters of them.


    Standing at the very front was a young man in white. The mist obscured his facial appearances, but the dignified aura from the man was very noticeable still. He had his hands clasped behind his back as he stared down at the commotions happening in Baishan City with better eyesight than many thought would be possible.


    Behind him stood two other men. On the right was an elderly person who had a faint black wisp around his person, making him look extra sinisterly. On the left was a tall person cloaked in a red mantle. He looked extremely menacing and bone-chilling.


    The space nearby them twisted inwards before an elder wearing black stepped out from it.


    ¡°Young master, Wu Dijian from Tianhun Academy has appeared. With so many experts there, I¡­.¡± He bowed his head to the young man.


    ¡°No matter.¡± The young man smiled. ¡°You did well in returning. There¡¯s no forcing the issue forward like this.¡±


    He sighed after that and looked off into the distance. ¡°I never imagined that Bai Yunfei would grow to such an extent like this. He wasn¡¯t even a Soul Exalt several years ago, and now¡­.even a Soul King can¡¯t kill him. It¡¯s amazing, really¡­.¡±


    The black-robed one to the right sneered, ¡°Hmph! Didn¡¯t you say the person who might¡¯ve escaped back then? The Nephrite Throne has to be in his hands then, that¡¯d explain his sudden growth spike.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps¡­¡± The young man spoke. ¡°But it¡¯d still be a considerably large increase even with the Nephrite Throne in mind.¡±


    ¡°This person is far too dangerous¡­..I had believed that he¡¯d die here today. Even with a trap like this, he was still able to escape. How unexpected.¡±


    ¡°We took the time to think of this plan and had even a Soul King work for us, only for it to fail¡­.¡±


    Though the young man spoke as though it was a pain things happened like this, his facial expressions didn¡¯t denote any of those ¡®pained¡¯ emotions. What was surprising was the fact that the Soul King they had to fight Bai Yunfei had been one of their ¡®debtors¡¯!


    ¡°If we let this Bai Yunfei continue to grow, he¡¯ll only be a threat to us. As a student of the Crafting School, it remains to be seen if he returns their school back to its former glory. It took us plenty of time and effort to deal such a blow to them twenty years ago, we can¡¯t allow them to rise back up just like that¡­..we should try to go after Bai Yunfei again in the future¡­..¡±


    The young man thought to himself for a moment before turning to the people on his left. ¡°Xue Wei, how are things with Gui Nu?¡±


    The one known as ¡®Xue Wei¡¯ thought for a moment before speaking in a cold voice, ¡°Gui Wei told me a month before that Gui Nu¡¯s training in the Bloodsoul Dark Arts is reaching a critical moment. He needs to find ¡®prey¡¯ from all over the place, but it won¡¯t be long before he becomes a Soul King. In the case that happens, even mid-stage or late-stage Soul Kings will find him to be a hard opponent.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is that right?¡± The young man remarked, ¡°Haha, how unexpected. It was only a whim beforehand, but it seems we¡¯ve got ourselves a decent slave if he can train in the Bloodsoul Dark Arts that quickly. A Soul Ancestor with talent like that is only seen once every several hundred years¡­.


    ¡°We can have him do the deed himself next time then. I told him before after all, he can take revenge himself if he has the power¡­.¡±


    The young man gave one last look to Baishan City before speaking to the others, ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    Turning around in the sky, the young man and the others quickly disappeared beyond the white mist.

 Chapter 601: An Unexpected Situation

    Baishan City.


    Several hours had already transpired since the battle between the Cao and Bai Yunfei. The skies was only getting darker and darker as the sun setted beyond the horizon. All that was left now was the ruins of the Cao and a sparse few ray of sunshine to shine over it.


    In the current moment, the men of the lord-mayor of Baishan City was scouring the place in hopes for clues of some sort. With how squashed the area was, even the remnants of the people there were hard to distinguish, let alone their affiliations. As such, the searchers were stumped¡­.


    Up in the air, a group of people was standing around in silence as everyone around them moved about to fulfill their orders.


    Wu Ren was the first to speak, ¡°You are saying two Soul Kings appeared on the side of the house of Cao as well as multiple Soul Exalts. And that there was a traveling Soul King helping them too?¡±


    Zhang Mo nodded. ¡°Yes, we were unable to look into the matrix earlier due to that third Soul King, and neither were we able to find out who they were. It¡¯s impossible that the Cao could have a force like this, they have only a single early-stage Soul King and barely ten Soul Exalts. The numbers fighting here today exceeded that by double the amount, and that Lu Fang is strong enough to beat the Cao¡¯s Soul King, there¡¯d be no way he¡¯d willingly help them of his own accord¡­.¡±


    ¡°Where is the rest of the Cao then?¡± Wu Ren asked, ¡°You said most of them escaped before the aftermath, don¡¯t they know anything?¡±


    Zhang Mo looked behind to where one of the late-stage Soul Exalts stood. The man in question strode forward to answer, ¡°If I may report, First Prince, I and a few others went to do some preliminary questioning, but we came up empty. Most of the people that fled said the battle took place without warning and escaped as soon as it started¡­.but there were a few that did mention how strange it felt beforehand. They said that the head of the house hadn¡¯t been around for quite some time and many Soul Exalt guests began to appear out from nowhere. There were also a few other Soul Exalt guests that disappeared around that time¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh? They said that?¡± Wu Ren narrowed his eyes in suspicion. ¡°Don¡¯t let them go so easily. Continue the questioning and report any suspicion things back to me. Other than that, increase the security and investigations here. I want to know about anything new in regards of the Cao or those who tried to attack Bai Yunfei.¡±


    Wu Ren dipped his head low to think after the others left. ¡°Mysterious individuals in Baishan City¡­.the ice-type Soul King from the Soul Refining School was here as well¡­.does the Cao have a connection to the Soul Refining School then? But why would they try to trap Bai Yunfei? And in their own homes no less, that doesn¡¯t make sense. It¡¯s an act of suicide¡ªeven if they killed Bai Yunfei, their own homes would be essentially destroyed. Why would they do that?¡±


    His head snapped back up, ¡°Were they sacrificial pawns?! The masterminds of this didn¡¯t even plan for the Cao¡¯s survival, or the return of that other Soul King?! What...what kind of group has that kind of power...is it really the Soul Refining School? What are they up to¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ugh¡­.¡±


    A groan broke the silence of the area. Everyone turned towards the source where they saw Bai Yunfei stirring awake!


    ¡°Yunfei! Are you alright?!¡± Zheng Kai cried out in relieved concern.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t respond right away. He was only just waking up from his slumber and was still at a loss of what was happening around him.


    There was another grunt from Bai Yunfei before he spat out another mouthful of blood! His eyes were still unfocused and his face was squirming with pain¡ªblood was still continuing to drip from his mouth!


    ¡°Wha¡ªuncle! What¡¯s wrong with Yunfei?! Why¡¯s he still like this?!¡± Zheng Kai yelped at once for Zheng Shisong to reply.


    ¡°Be quiet!¡± His uncle snapped, ¡°He¡¯s still heavily wounded and in danger¡ªif you want me to save him, I have to concentrate on healing him!¡±


    Zheng Kai snapped his lips closed after that.


    The furious nature Bai Yunfei had been exuding during his battle was long since gone now. He was like a deflating balloon with his energy rapidly escaping from him within the bubble of elemental water he was in. Like a flickering candle, Bai Yunfei¡¯s vitality was slowly dying out...


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Just as everyone was paying attention to Bai Yunfei, the loud trill of a bird came forth from the skies above and startled them all. Looking up, they saw a sight that befuddled them¡­.


    A brilliant rainbow was pouring forth everywhere into the skies along with an indomitable energy. From the source, a tremendous being was ascending into the skies!


    ¡°Chirp!!!!¡±


    A joyful trill came out from the being, sounding both carefree and majestic like a phoenix!


    Xiao Qi!


    Previously cocooned in a strange bubble of energy, Xiao Qi had at some point exploded out from it!


    Everyone watched as it flew five kilometers into the sky with its wings stretched out wide. Like a multi-colored sun, rays of every color flew out from the bird¡¯s wings to illuminate the sky as it raised its head up to pierce through the clouds!


    A strange energy accompanied its trill as it ascended through the skies, and then¡­.the clouds began to swirl!!


    A giant whirlpool was starting to form in the clouds five kilometers above. The center of the whirlpool was touching down on top of Xiao Qi¡¯s head while the rest of the whirlpool continued to pick up speed. The light from Xiao Qi¡¯s body entered the whirlpool, seemingly staining it with prismatic light. It dyed the clouds and skies with increasing area, and before long, the entire whirlpool was completely dyed with that prismatic light!!


    All around the whirlpool, countless rays of energy was starting to be absorbed from the surrounding area. In just seconds, four colors of red, violet, blue, and green were forming at the center!


    These four colors shined the most prominently at the center of the whirlpool before slowly spinning downwards onto Xiao Qi!


    And throughout the entire time, Xiao Qi¡¯s aura was¡­.rapidly increasing!


    Even though it was five kilometers high into the sky, everyone could clearly see what was going on! This was a sight that felt like the world itself was being shaped! With a sight like this, everyone that saw it was stunned!

 Chapter 602: Xiao Qis Breakthrough!

    The things that were happening in the skies above Baishan City stunned everyone there, including Wu Dijian and the other Soul Kings.


    He was the first one to speak after a moment of being spellbound by the sight. ¡°Are you kidding me?! This¡­.this is a breakthrough?! It¡¯s becoming a class seven!?¡±


    Everyone gasped at his words in shock. Xiao Qi at this moment was making the breakthrough to become a class seven!


    A being on the level of a Soul King!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    A cry of erupted from Zheng Kai, snapping everyone¡¯s eyes to him. They saw him holding his left shoulder in pain and a very sheepish looking Wu Dijian, ¡°Why¡¯d you go and pinch me for, old man?!¡±


    Everyone noticed Wu Dijian¡¯s fingers had been pinching onto Zheng Kai¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Only seeing if we were dreaming...hehe.¡± Wu Dijian laughed it off before saying, ¡°But it is what it is, this is reality¡­.¡±


    Zheng Kai said nothing.


    In a soliloquy to himself almost, Wu Dijian thought to himself, ¡°But¡­.this is unbelievable really!! How is it making a breakthrough now?! It¡¯s a joke¡ªthe bird was nearly on the verge of death an hour ago, so how is it making a breakthrough despite the injuries it got?!


    ¡°I remember that bird was also a¡­..prismatic oriole, wasn¡¯t it?!¡± Wu Dijian¡¯s hand scratched at his white disheveled hair, ¡°Were they always able to become a class seven? That¡¯s a little outlandish, even for a variant¡­.what in the world did that Bai Yunfei feed it? It¡¯s advancing far too fast¡­..far too fast¡­.¡±


    Everyone else was thinking of similar things to what Wu Dijian was saying. The fact that Xiao Qi was making a breakthrough was extremely unusual.


    Xiao Qi¡¯s body was like a bottomless black hole up in the skies. Countless streams of elemental fire, lightning, wind, and wood flowed into its body to be gathered and absorbed.


    With each passing moment another stream of energy was absorbed into it, Xiao Qi¡¯s aura spiked like a rocket. Surpassing the limits of a peak late-stage class six, it continued to climb higher and higher¡­.


    At last when the bird¡¯s aura reached a limit of what it could increase to, the light around Xiao Qi¡¯s body ¡®froze¡¯ for a moment. It remained there in the sky where it was. Even the tumultuous light up in the whirlpool with its swirling multi-colored winds and clouds had stopped!


    Everyone¡¯s eyes bugged out at the sight, their hearts feeling as though it had stopped mid-beat as well.


    A moment after everything had stopped, the light from Xiao Qi¡¯s body exploded to ten times its previous intensity!


    Everyone gasped. Wu Dijian was the first to voice out his thoughts, ¡°It succeeded! It actually became a class seven!!¡±


    But the light around Xiao Qi didn¡¯t fade away. Its aura was clearly at the level of an early-stage class seven, but the elemental energy around it continued to flow into Xiao Qi¡¯s body to be absorbed, further increasing its strength!!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­.it¡¯s¡­.¡± Wu Dijian¡¯s eyes were nearly as wide as dinner plates when he realized what was going on. ¡°It¡¯s still trying to power up?! Is it trying to become a mid-stage class seven?!¡±


    For both soul cultivators and soulbeasts, Soul Kings and class sevens would immediately stop and try to consolidate their strength before they continued training. It was imperative to get used to their new energy since trying to do what Xiao Qi was doing now would almost always negatively affect their future training.


    But Xiao Qi didn¡¯t have these same misgivings as the others. Still absorbing the energy around it, Xiao Qi allowed for the elemental energy to be absorbed into itself and have its aura slowly increase in strength!!


    Becoming a mid-stage class seven soulbeast in one straight go was very unlikely. The normal early-stage class seven would definitely need more time, but Xiao Qi was different, it could improve at speeds far faster than the others¡­.


    Xiao QI had been egregiously injured a moment ago, but now it was a class seven soulbeast with an abundant amount of energy. The people gathered here were by no means untalented in their training, but even they couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration of Xiao Qi.


    But something else took place to startle them¡­.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A miserable cry came forth from Bai Yunfei, who was still in the bubble of elemental water. There was a loud bang as elemental fire came out from his body, forcing itself against the elemental water and wrapping himself inside a layer of it. Furthermore, there was also a strange pulse from his soul coming out!


    At the same time, the elemental fire was starting to churn and boil with a tremendous amount of heat and energy!


    Under the still-amazed eyes of everyone there, the weak vitality of Bai Yunfei was suddenly starting to make a quick comeback!


    When they looked closely, they realized that the pulses coming from his soul was¡­.very similar to what Xiao Qi was radiating!


    Everyone was once again startled by this revelation. None of them looked very sure of what was going on with him.


    But then the white-haired elder behind Wu Ren inhaled with a sharp breath when the answer hit him, ¡°Could¡­.could this be¡­.a soul contract....this is Symbiosis!!¡±


    ¡°A soul contract?! Symbiosis?!¡±


    Everyone there turned to look at the old man, some of them unable to stop themselves from repeating the words he said.


    ¡°Then¡­.this is the soulbeast Bai Yunfei bonded with?!¡±


    Wu Dijian asked in alarm, his eyes flickering back and forth between Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi. Like the others, he was unable to believe his eyes.


    Even Zheng Kai was astonished. Bai Yunfei first came to the Capital with three soulbeasts, and that in itself had been a very unique matter. Anyone would be equally surprised if they saw that. Zheng Kai had only figured two of the three soulbeasts were ¡®raised¡¯ like pets, thus their willingness to follow Bai Yunfei and felt slightly jealous. Of those three, Zheng Kai thought it had been the permafrost mastiff who Bai Yunfei had contracted with due to its strength, and Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm were those two aforementioned pets.


    No matter if it was Zheng Kai or anyone else, it was ¡®normal¡¯ to think that Bai Yunfei¡¯s contracted soulbeast was the permafrost mastiff, so Zheng Kai never asked, and Bai Yunfei never told him. So now that it was revealed that it was Xiao Qi that was the actual soulbeast contracted with Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai found himself speechless.


    But then that brought up another question. They all stared to the permafrost mastiff who was currently wrapped up in a ball of white light.


    Was this class seven soulbeast following Bai Yunfei of its own will then?!


    That¡­..that a class seven soulbeast without without a soul contract would be willing to follow around a human like that¡­.it was hard to believe.


    But that moment of disbelief lasted only for a moment. There was something else that was even more incredulou than that¡­..


    The matter that was¡­.Symbiosis!!

 Chapter 603: Symbiosis

    When a soulbeast and soul cultivator contracted with one another, they would both be able to communicate their thoughts with one another. They became partners that trained and fought together. To lend the other a helping hand that was always reliable, like family.


    Soul contracts, as it were, had varying ¡®degrees¡¯ of separations as well.


    Though a soul contract normally had both partners being able to communicate their thoughts with one another, there were always a few people with differing ideas. They could in a way be considered to be ¡®selfish¡¯ and would not be willing to fully bare their souls to the other. In this case, it could be said to be an example of their personal character or nature.


    The cooperation between a contracted soulbeast and soul cultivator had always been a process many people documented heavily. But if there was one thing everyone could agree about, it was that the ¡®relationship¡¯ between the two would have a deeper bond if their relationship was better.


    And thus why there was a type of ¡®soul compatibility¡¯ between the two parties of a soul contract.


    The most basic of soul contracts normally had both parties being able to roughly sense the emotions or thoughts of the other party. This type of depth was normally seen in those who forced a soul contract.


    Better ones only needed a look or word between the two for their thoughts to be understood by the other. Soul contracts that were even better than that could have a connection between the two so that both parties could essentially communicate with their minds. This was a method of communication that relied on emotion and thought.


    The ability to be able to infer said thoughts between the unfiltered minds of the other party was an extremely rare feat that required a very deep bond with one another. Soulbeasts and soul cultivators of this type would require a great deal of time before they could manage this.


    And above this was practically just shy of the pinnacle of what soul contracts could attain. When the ¡®soul compatibility¡¯ reached an extremely high level, an especially rare connection would be made.


    This connection is known as¡­.Symbiosis!!


    A feat like this was essentially beyond the scope of a ¡®soul contract¡¯. Not only would the souls of both parties be linked together, their very ¡®lives¡¯ would be joined together!


    In the case one party was close to death, they could potentially survive by borrowing the ¡®vitality¡¯ of the other party¡­.they would in nature be sharing lifeforce!


    It was something that was only talked about in legends, but it was actually taking place today between Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi!


    When Bai Yunfei was in extreme danger, he had managed to get in contact with Xiao Qi¡¯s vitality and was able to continue ¡®fighting¡¯ for his life!


    For the sake of argumentation, if Xiao Qi didn¡¯t share its vitality with Bai Yunfei, there was still a chance Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve survived, albeit there¡¯d definitely be plenty of dangers that might take place. But with Xiao Qi making the breakthrough to become a class seven, its soulforce had exploded exponentially almost and affected the bond between it and Bai Yunfei largely enough for ¡®Symbiosis¡¯ to take place between the two. No hesitation was to be had as Xiao Qi shared its vitality with Bai Yunfei, meaning Bai Yunfei was able to heal with an extremely decreased chance of any danger befalling him. And not only that, the near-fatal wounds he had all over his body was starting to regenerate over itself at astonishing speeds!


    But this came at a price. Even if Xiao Qi had only just became a class seven, it¡¯d go into a weak state after this event was done. And the price of helping Bai Yunfei through this crisis may or may not affect his future cultivation¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Wrapped in a layer of elemental fire as he floated in the air, Bai Yunfei could be seen quickly recovering inside of it while everyone gathered around him in shock.


    ¡°Symbiosis¡­.so this really is Symbiosis¡­..such a thing like this existed?¡± Wu Dijian sighed when he looked at Xiao Qi, ¡°It had the chance to keep going, but it gave up the chance of becoming a mid-stage class seven to feed that energy into saving Bai Yunfei¡­..¡±


    ¡°I wonder¡­.¡± Wu Dijian sighed to himself, ¡°What kind of bond do they have for such an act to take place between them?¡±


    As Bai Yunfei was undergoing this turn for the better, the skies above Xiao Qi came to a sudden halt along with the energy in Xiao Qi. Its soulforce stopped rising for a moment before starting to drip downwards as if being drained away. Even the whirlpool around Xiao Qi was slowly starting to dissipate now.


    The giant whirlpool rotated several revolutions longer before it fully scattered apart, redepositing the elemental energy inside of it back into the world for it to disappear.


    The four rays of elemental energy dimmed in light before ultimately disappearing away into the world. That left Xiao Qi¡¯s folded figure still up in the air with its aura slowly calming into a lull, its breathing somehow conforming with Bai Yunfei¡¯s.


    Not at all understanding what Symbiosis was, Zheng Kai worriedly stared at Bai Yunfei first before asking his uncle, ¡°Uncle, how is Yunfei now? Aren¡¯t you going to keep on healing him? He¡¯s¡­.¡±


    Zheng Shisong shook his head before looking at Bai Yunfei strangely, ¡°There¡¯s no need anymore. He¡¯s no longer in danger. What a completely surprising recovery¡ªI¡¯m sure that he¡¯ll just need some time before he¡¯s back to normal now.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s face brightened in relief, ¡°That¡¯s good¡­.¡±


    In his short time with Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai had already felt like Bai Yunfei was a proper and true friend of his. The fact that Bai Yunfei was so injured now made him worried and regretful that he couldn¡¯t himself help Bai Yunfei. So it was fortunate that Bai Yunfei was safe now, else Zheng Kai wouldn¡¯t have been able to live with himself.


    ¡­¡­


    It took another half hour before everyone heard Xiao Qi trill again, this time a little more quiet. Unfolding its wings as if coming out from a cocoon again, the bird had a faint shimmer of light exude from it. The light was comparatively weaker than before. Beating its wings, Xiao Qi dove down to return to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    At that moment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was still surrounded by a rich wave of elemental fire. It flickered softly as Xiao Qi approached and then was reabsorbed back into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body through his pores. In a flash, Zheng Shisong caught Bai Yunfei in a bubble of elemental water to keep him suspended in air.


    Zheng Shisong¡¯s right hand pressed against Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest, his eyes concentrating for a moment to diagnose Bai Yunfei¡¯s current state. ¡°He¡¯s fine. He¡¯s healed far more in this one hour than I would¡¯ve been able to do in ten. All his ruptured arteries and veins are back to normal and his soul doesn¡¯t seem any more injured than what it was before. Right now, it¡¯s his physical wounds on his flesh that are the worst. His elemental fire practically scorched most of it before, so recovery should be slightly slower in that regard. But other than that, he doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯ll be in anyway impacted in the future.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s condition was stabilized, and Xiao Qi¡¯s condition was also far better than before. It didn¡¯t take long before the permafrost mastiff finish its initial healing and come over to Xiao Qi to stand protectively over Bai Yunfei.


    By now, the skies was already very dark, and after some consideration and Zhang Mo¡¯s initiative, they all returned to his mansion to rest for the night. They would return to the Capital the next day even if Bai Yunfei was still unconscious.


    As such, Bai Yunfei¡¯s affairs in Baishan City was at a end, and Bai Yunfei had escaped from yet another crisis. But this time, another problem had opened itself up to potentially trouble him even more in the future¡­.

 Chapter 604: Awakening

    Five days had already passed since Bai Yunfei¡¯s fight in Baishan City. In those five days, both the Zheng and the Royal Family had their people investigate the matter with the Cao. After their group returned to the Capital, Bai Yunfei had been brought back to the Zheng so that they could treat and take care of his wounds.


    His wounds had stabilized for the most part in thanks to the Symbiosis, but he wasn¡¯t back to full health. There was still wounds to heal, and the most egregious ones was the damage done to his internal organs from the spike of elemental energy during his Berserk Mode. The suicidal nature in which he fought the Soul King had exacerbated his wounds even more.


    At that time, he had been fighting as if those wounds didn¡¯t even exist, but a reality like that couldn¡¯t be so easily ignored. By the time the battle ended, the wounds he sustained had accumulated to a terrifying degree. If not for Xiao Qi there to offer up its soulforce, Bai Yunfei would have needed more than three to five days to stabilize himself.


    Activity within Zheng manor increased by a certain amount in the following days as people came and went in large numbers. Bai Yunfei¡¯s students took up most of those days with Fang Tianmeng refusing to leave Bai Yunfei¡¯s side due to her guilt. Spending practically two days and nights to take care of Bai Yunfei, the only reason she went back to her place to rest was because of the forceful recommendations of the other students.


    Even the chairman of Tianhun Academy came to visit Bai Yunfei. The first and second prince did come by twice to check up on Bai Yunfei or give Zheng manor several precious medicines to help Bai Yunfei recuperate.


    News of Bai Yunfei¡¯s events and injuries made its way to the more influential families in the Capital, such as the other three major houses. Each one of them sent a representative with ¡®presents¡¯, that was astonishingly quantitative for being called such. If Bai Yunfei was injured for a hundred days, then the presents given to him would¡¯ve been enough to last him throughout that entire time span.


    What Bai Yunfei did in Baishan City was later made known to the rest of the Capital. From the information propagated, people heard that the more important and stronger members of the house had been wiped out without a trace, but not many people knew if it was because they were killed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand or if they fled before the battle even begun. But whichever the case or whatever the reason, one thing was for certain.


    The house of Cao was no longer.


    Not only were the key figures of the house gone, their place of residence was utterly destroyed. Not even a single tile was left untouched¡­.


    Rumors had it that it took over a dozen earth-type Soul Exalts from the Tianhun School several days before the crater was filled up and the place sufficiently patched together¡­..


    It was known to the more well-informed powers that Bai Yunfei was heavily involved in what happened to the Cao. From them, they spread the news that ¡®the Cao had angered Bai Yunfei and was subsequently destroyed by him¡¯. In time, Bai Yunfei became even more high profile than before. Before, he was known as the instructor who started the crafting class and the one who crafted that heaven-tier soul armament. But now, he was known as a major figure in the Capital¡¯s world of cultivators as a ¡®hegemonic¡¯ soul cultivator, earning him plenty of respect.


    There were a few that took the rumors with a grain of salt. The Cao was after all, just a minor family and not a power that others would pay attention to. They also felt that Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions were a little excessive and that he was a person who didn¡¯t know his own boundaries.


    While people knew that about Bai Yunfei, what they didn¡¯t know about him was the fact that he was currently bed-ridden and in an extremely weak and delirious state.


    The room Bai Yunfei was in had an internal temperature far higher than what it was outside, making it unbearable for most people to stay in his room. It was as if Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body was steaming where he laid on his bed. If not for the occasional rise and fall of his chest from breathing and the very faint amount of soulforce, it would¡¯ve been thought that Bai Yunfei had been burnt to death.


    Bai Yunfei regained consciousness on the noon of the sixth day.


    He was startled the moment he opened his eyes¡ªone of his students had at that moment conveniently been staring at him. A large group of his students were gathered there, each of them crying out with relieved joy when he woke.


    The room devolved into a chaotic squabble for a moment with Bai Yunfei still at a loss for what was happening. When the room finally settled down and he was cognizant enough to speak, Bai Yunfei spoke with them for a while before the group left. They all knew that while Bai Yunfei had finally woken up, he¡¯d still need some time to rest. Just the fact that he woke up had been a great deal of relief for them.


    With everyone gone, that left Bai Yunfei to be the only person left in his room. First inspecting the state of his body, Bai Yunfei could see that his soulforce was nice and full, though his physical body felt numbish and slightly weak. Trying several times, Bai Yunfei managed to upright himself up against the walls of his bed to look around.


    The permafrost mastiff was laying down in a corner of the room in a sleeplike fashion as if to either train or heal. The blue-eyes wyrm was staring at Bai Yunfei from the corner of his bed as if to ask if Bai Yunfei was alright.


    He replied with a nod to the wyrm before he noticed a small spark of prismatic light come flying towards him.


    ¡°Yunfei, you okay?¡±


    The prismatic light came to a stop in front of him, revealing it to be Xiao Qi inside. It was slowly hovering in the air with its wings flapping gently to stare at Bai Yunfei in concern.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m fine, just a little weak.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything wrong with me, I¡¯m sure it wo¡ª¡±


    He trailed off here to stare at Xiao Qi with wide-opened eyes. His mouth hung wide open like if he had just seen a ghost. Bai Yunfei tried to leap up from his bed, but the weakness of his body only resulted in him giving a small kick from the bed onto the wall behind him. The back of his head slammed into the wall before bouncing back in a hiss of pain.


    ¡°Eh? Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    A curious voice asked him as he rubbed his head. Again, Bai Yunfei looked back up at the voice, uncaring for the bump now on his head. In front of him was Xiao Qi, but Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but stutter, ¡°Xi¡ªXiao Qi. You¡­..you can talk now?!¡±


    Correct! Xiao Qi was ¡®speaking¡¯ with him now!!


    They weren¡¯t communicating with their souls or thoughts like before, they were having a conversation with words!


    He rarely used words to speak with Xiao Qi since he had the bond between him and the bird. Added with the mental link the Charm Bracelet offered him to talk via their minds, Bai Yunfei would even use it to communicate with the blue-eyes wyrm.


    But right now, this ¡®mental link¡¯ wasn¡¯t established. Xiao Qi was speaking to him with the words of the human tongue!

 Chapter 605: Xiao Qi Speaks...

    Before, the only sounds that¡¯d come out from Xiao Qi would be the chirps. So now that Xiao Qi could speak the human tongue, how could Bai Yunfei not feel surprised?


    Xiao Qi looked seemingly pleased at the stunned expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. Flapping his wings to fly twice in rotation around the room, he spoke, ¡°Haha, how about it?! I don¡¯t need to use that mental link to talk anymore! I can speak now!! Haha¡­I can actually speak!¡±


    His voice grew happier and happier as he flew faster and faster. But he soon returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side with a slightly dejected trill, ¡°But even though I can speak, I can¡¯t turn into a human!! Aya¡ªhow annoying! It took me a lot of effort to get to class seven, and I still can¡¯t turn into a human! Where did I go wrong?! Aren¡¯t even the most senseless of beasts able to transform when they become a class seven?! Why can¡¯t the handsome I be able to do it then? This is annoying!!¡±


    Xiao Qi flapped his wings in annoyance as he spoke while Bai Yunfei listened in surprise. Rather unsatisfied, the bird came to a perch in front of Bai Yunfei who was holding one hand to his head and the other hand out for Xiao Qi to stop speaking, ¡°Hold on hold on¡­.let me get my bearings straight¡­.you can¡¯t transform into a human? What do you mean? Wait¡­hold on!!¡±


    His eyes flew open as if he had realized something. Like last time, his head snapped back to look up, only to have his head slam against the wall behind him again. Hissing once more, Bai Yunfei ignored the bump on his head to speak to Xiao Qi, ¡°Are¡­are you saying you¡¯re a class seven now?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave Xiao Qi a quick scan with his soulsense. He could sense the abundant amount of soulforce from Xiao Qi, and combined with the energy he felt from their bond, everything was pointing to him that Xiao Qi was an early-stage class seven soulbeast now!!


    ¡°You...you actually broke through?!¡± Bai Yunfei asked in disbelief. ¡°Xiao Qi, how¡¯d you do that? How¡¯d you breakthrough?¡±


    ¡°How I did it?¡± Xiao Qi flapped his wings once in pensive thought. Hopping around Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, the bird tilted his head to think. ¡°Uwah, I¡¯m not very sure. I just remember killing so many people and feeling my strength grow in that battle. After killing that lightning-type mid-stage Soul King, I felt like I was about to drop dead. But then when that Wu Dijian came and stopped you, I started to heal my wounds right away¡­.


    ¡°After that, I felt a large amount of energy enter my body. Not only did my wounds heal up, I¡­I felt my strength increase again. I began to see a lot of things like the elemental energy that entered my body. I¡­after that, I felt like something in me broke, and then my energy started to skyrocket after that. Then I broke through.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s own memories of the battle was a little hazy, but from what he heard from Xiao Qi, the reason why he broke through was due to his ¡®hidden attribute¡¯.


    Xiao Qi¡¯s hidden ability to gain experience after killing was something Bai Yunfei was already aware of. But ever since he became a peak late-stage class six, Bai Yunfei felt like this ability had either faded away or had become ¡®weaker¡¯. Xiao Qi didn¡¯t seem to grow substantially after killing the early-stage Soul King that ambushed Bai Yunfei outside Casino Jin either.


    But now that Xiao Qi made the breakthrough after killing the mid-stage Soul King, Bai Yunfei had to guess that the experience Xiao Qi was getting beforehand hadn¡¯t been enough. It was only after this kill that Xiao Qi was able to amass enough experience to break the limits and become a class seven.


    All things considered still, Xiao Qi¡¯s advancement was¡­a little too simple. So simple it was hard to believe.


    A class seven! That was the soulbeast equivalent to a Soul King!!


    Many soul cultivators and soulbeasts wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to attain such a level no matter how hard they try. But Xiao Qi was able to do so without consideration and without preparation.


    With all the Soul Kings in this world, which one of them aside from the obscenely talented ones didn¡¯t work hard to reach the heights they were at? Soulbeasts especially had it a lot harder than soul cultivators. As blessed as they were with their longer lifespans, most soulbeasts lacked the ability to train under the many imparted styles of cultivation (aside from a select few). Soulbeasts had to work hard and rely on their own experiences¡ªmany would need at least a hundred to two hundred or even three hundred years in order to become a class seven.


    But Xiao Qi? If he had to count his age, Xiao Qi would be about¡­five years old at most¡­


    Xiao Qi popped out from his egg shell just four or five years ago. What kind of storm would brew up on the continent of the world heard about that?


    ¡­¡­


    Despite the sigh Bai Yunfei gave, he was quite happy that Xiao Qi became a class seven. It was truly a beneficial event for the both of them.


    ¡°You said you weren¡¯t able to transform into a human?¡± He asked.


    Class seven soulbeasts undergo a drastic transformation at the time of their breakthrough. Even those with sub-par intelligence would become as sharp as humans when they became class sevens, and many of them could take on human form. This didn¡¯t mean to say that soulbeasts preferred to do such, but with humans being the predominant race on the continent, it was prudent to do so. Many soulbeasts were curious about the human world, and so taking human form to travel to their world allowed them to do so without much harm. There were a few soulbeasts though that held disdain for humanity and preferred to stay in their soulbeast form.


    According to logic, the ability to humanize should be something that a class seven soulbeast should be capable of. It wasn¡¯t some sort of esoteric secret or skill that one had to learn. It was merely just an inherited ability that came with the breakthrough and normally wouldn¡¯t be limited from certain soulbeasts¡­


    This was of course, the general rule. Each rule had their exceptions, and in this case, there were definitely a few exceptions to this rule. The more primalistic ¡®beasts¡¯ were generally incapable of humanizing along with soulbeasts that were generally inferior to others in talent. They couldn¡¯t even become class sevens due to their inability, let alone try to take human form.


    In Xiao Qi¡¯s case¡­


    ¡°Is it because Xiao Qi¡¯s a prisma oriole?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. According to what he knew, there hadn¡¯t ever been a recorded case in history of a prisma oriole becoming a class seven. There were no records, and even for the myriad of years soulbeasts were alive, a class seven prisma oriole hadn¡¯t been known to humans, and neither could they claim to know anything about one¡­


    Perhaps it was exactly because Xiao Qi was a prisma oriole it wasn¡¯t capable of humanizing. Because of the genetic limits of his race, Xiao Qi was only capable of human speech, but not taking human form?


    Noticing the dejected look on Xiao Qi¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei decided to not think about it any more in favor of cheering him up. ¡°Haha, there¡¯s nothing you can change about that. If you can¡¯t transform, you can¡¯t transform. Maybe it¡¯s because of your ¡®age¡¯? Maybe you¡¯ll have to wait a bit before you become strong and old enough to transform.¡±


    He thought about it for a second longer before adding onto that, ¡°This alone is already pretty good.¡±


    In truth, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve had a hard time accepting the fact that Xiao Qi was capable of turning into a human. After these five years of being with Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei was very used to having him as a bird. If he could suddenly turn into a human¡­.Bai Yunfei thought it to be quite awkward just thinking about it.


    Probably because he rarely spoke with humanized soulbeasts before.


    ¡°Hope I can turn into a human soon¡ªthat¡¯ll be more fun for me¡­.¡± Xiao Qi chirped once to sigh, ¡°But that¡¯s that. Just being able to speak is nice enough, hehe¡­¡±


    ¡°.....¡± Bai Yunfei was speechless. Did Xiao Qi really take being able to humanize was something that could potentially be fun?


    The fact that Xiao Qi was able to talk now gave Bai Yunfei quite the strange feeling. Xiao Qi had grown quite fast. He had absorbed all the knowledge of the world it was given exorbitantly fast. Despite being only five years old, its maturity was that of a twelve year old human boy around. Like a child, Xiao Qi was a soulbeast that loved to play and was inherently very curious about any new thing he experienced. He was also more carefree about the world and more calm.


    But that wasn¡¯t anything bad. That was just Xiao Qi.


    Author Note: Xiao Qi is a male as I¡¯ve mentioned before. So for some of you readers, please don¡¯t start dreaming of some sort of dream that Xiao Qi will turn into a young girl or something¡­


    TL Note: Prior to this point, Xiao Qi was referred to with a gender-neutral pronoun meant for animals/non-human entities. Xiao Qi is now being referred to with the male pronoun character.


    ¡°Grr¡­.¡±


    A rather pitiful sounding growl came from the side of the bed next, prompting Bai Yunfei to turn his head. He saw Xiao Lan standing there, its eyes staring at Xiao Qi with a look of envy and hope.


    At its glance, Xiao Qi laughed and flew around the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s head. ¡°Haha, how about it? Jealous? I can talk now! Haha, you were bragging that you beat me to the peak late-stage class six level, but look at me now! Haha¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but sweat drop at the bragging going on. As if to console the blue-eyes wyrm, he spoke, ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll breakthrough soon enough, Xiao Lan. Wait until you become a class seven and you¡¯ll be able to talk. Maybe you¡¯ll be able to humanize?¡±


    Its eyes lit up expectantly at that. Nodding, it gave Xiao Qi a quick glance before growling several times. With a flick of its tail, it stalked back to its corner and proceeded to train by itself.


    The wyrm must¡¯ve jabbed at a sore point of Xiao Qi, as the bird immediately retorted, ¡°Hmph! Wait until you actually breakthrough before you start talking like that! Maybe you won¡¯t be able to humanize like me!? Let¡¯s see if you¡¯ll eat your words you annoyance¡­¡±


    Xiao Qi flew up after that, but not before speaking to Bai Yunfei, ¡°You should rest now, I¡¯ll stop bothering you.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled at the small banter taking place between the human tongue speaking Xiao Qi and the soulbeast tongue speaking Xiao Lan. Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei sat back to try and do a more in depth study of his current state.


    A great battle came with great wounds. Bai Yunfei was very curious to see the full extent of his body and its present state¡­

 Chapter 606: His Own Condition

    Bai Yunfei slowly exhaled, drawing the breath out from his body to calm down. In an introspective state of meditation, Bai Yunfei began to use his soulsense to scan his own body.


    Second by second, time went by with Bai Yunfei sitting there in silence. The only change that took place on a noticeable level was the fact his eyebrows grew more and more furrowed¡­


    If he had to describe the state his physical body was with the physical wounds, Bai Yunfei had only a few words to say: everything¡¯s an appalling mess.


    His body could be compared to a strip of land on earth. In the vein of that comparison, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was as if a drought and natural disaster had struck it. It was dry and cracked. Miserable and left unchecked, the place reeked with the scent of death.


    His muscles used to bulge outwards with power, but now it was a withered mess of weak flesh. His previously steel-like bones were now decadent almost, and his veins and arteries were no longer flush with vitality, they were dry and constrained together.


    Dread ran through Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind at the sight. Opening his eyes to stare at his right fist, he tried to clench his hand. But then that action only resulted in him unable to even crack his knuckles¡­


    It was as if he had lost all sense of power in his muscles. His body was virtually powerless. All it took was a slight movement for the rest of his body to feel the pain and weakness.


    ¡°How did this happen¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei despaired. Trying again to clench his fist, Bai Yunfei tried his best to summon whatever last traces of his strength existed, but he failed.


    ¡°If my body¡¯s this weak, what am I going to do¡­¡±


    The soul was the main aspect a soul cultivator trained, but before they could start on that, soul cultivators needed to hone the body. Mastery of control over the body was essential, and so soul cultivators worked their bodies as hard as they could to make it grow stronger. Even Soul Exalts had bodies that were essentially at the limits of what could be reached. They could tear apart leopards with their arms and crack steel or cliffs with a punch in ease. Even their muscle tolerance and regeneration was extremely high. What would normally be a fatal wound on a commoner would be nothing more but just a flesh wound. Even if their arms or legs were broken, they could fix those types of injuries relatively quick. The only way to hamper their regenerative ability was to have the soulforce of another be transmitted into their bodies and deliberately hamper it. But in general, it was safe to say that the physical wounds of a Soul Exalt could be easily healed.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s current situation was a little special. His wounds had been extremely severe prior to his healing with his muscles and bones being broken in more places than they hadn¡¯t been. Even his internal organs had been injured. While his body used to have cracks and such all over it, they were healed by now.


    So¡­where did this feeling of powerlessness come from?


    There were no physical ¡®wounds¡¯ on his body to be seen, but it felt like every cell in his body had been injured. He could circulate his soulforce and elemental fire through his body, but¡­it wasn¡¯t doing a thing to his body?!


    Bai Yunfei had never had such a situation like this before. If he excluded his soulforce, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was like that of a commoner, and barely even that.


    This feeling of powerlessness, Bai Yunfei remembered, had been experienced once before when he was extremely young. It had been when he first started working at the rice shop and moved a dozen of rice bags that he felt like his muscles were on fire.


    ¡°How did it get like this...what should I even do?¡±


    He panicked a bit in his mind. Fear gripped at his mind and lingered in his heart as he tried to slap his head to wake himself up. Diving again with his soulsense, Bai Yunfei tried to send his soulforce through his body again.


    Bai Yunfei opened his eyes again after a very long time in relief. Exhaling a drawn out breath, he sighed, ¡°I can still heal, that¡¯s good¡­¡±


    In that second observational round, Bai Yunfei had his soulforce scrub at his body. It had worked, much to his relief, the feeling of weakness in his body dissipating by a small margin.


    It was only a margin just like how a drop of water in a bucket would only be a drop. Seemingly insignificant on the quantitative level, this still meant that his body could still receive soulforce to heal it, meaning he wasn¡¯t crippled.


    ¡°As long as I can heal, everything¡¯s fine¡­¡± Bai Yunfei consoled himself. A feeling of worry still lingered on his mind though¡ªwhile he could heal, the scan of his body and the efficacy of his healing would still require a huge amount of time. He couldn¡¯t even estimate just how many days it¡¯d take!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei shook his head. He couldn¡¯t worry about that now. He had other matters to take care of.


    The other thing he noticed when he was circulating his soulforce had been large enough to surprise him.


    It was his essence fireseed!


    He was still in Berserk Mode when he was knocked out, so it was canceled out during a time he wasn¡¯t even in control of his thoughts, let alone his mind. This meant that he was unable to control his essence fireseed, and that the ¡®coil¡¯ form was canceled out as well. While he was in danger of dying, the Dual Flame Arts was somehow still running in his body so that both fireseeds continued to co-exist without a problem!


    For five whole days!


    When Bai Yunfei was knocked out by the Soul Refining Palm, he had been knocked out for two whole days with the fireseeds managing to co-exist. It had been unbelievable at the time that happened, but now the fireseeds managed to more than double the previous length!


    And the more important thing was the fact that both fireseeds hadn¡¯t yet split apart from one another in his origin acupoint!


    Not only did they not split, they were ¡®fused¡¯ together!


    Both fireseeds were connected with one another by more than half their size!


    This was clearly the result of the ¡®Berserk Mode¡¯ (The Berserk Mode is essentially the ¡®Fusion¡¯ Form), but right now, his fireseeds were stuck together as if it was ¡®regular¡¯!


    In its present state, the two fireseeds were not in a ¡®coil¡¯ form, or in a ¡®fusion¡¯ form. It was in the state of ¡®cultivation¡¯ as denoted by the earlier part of the Dual Flame Art manual.


    When Bai Yunfei tried to split the two fireseeds apart, he realized that he couldn¡¯t!


    The two fireseeds were stuck together and unable to split apart!


    It was an immensely strange situation. The two fireseeds would always try to devour one another whenever they made contact with one another. It was only when Bai Yunfei activated the Dual Flame Arts that the two fireseeds would calm down and co-exist with one another to either increase his strength in either the ¡®coil¡¯ form or the ¡®fusion¡¯ form. Either way, Bai Yunfei relied on the Dual Flame Arts for an ¡®explosive¡¯ increase in strength for a good period of time, though the fireseeds would have to be split apart at the end in order to avoid a fight between the two.


    But right now, the two fireseeds looked as though they had ¡®shook hands¡¯ to agree not to fight and ¡®fuse¡¯ together!


    Neither of the two were trying to eat the other. Bai Yunfei could tell that both the fireseeds were still distributing different waves of elemental fire, but the halves where they connected with one another were distributing separate waves of elemental fire that were slowly synchronizing in waveform the closer they got to one another!


    As such, the two fireseeds were in a state of being fused and not fused.


    As such, Bai Yunfei was then also able to discover that aside from his body, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was at the level of a¡­

 Chapter 607: Mixed Feelings

    Late-stage Soul Exalt!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce had reached the level of a late-stage Soul Exalt!


    ¡°I powered up?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined with incredulous surprise. Had he really become a late-stage Soul Exalt?


    Prior to this entire affair with Fang Tianmeng, Bai Yunfei had estimated that it¡¯d take him another hundred days or so before he could become a late-stage Soul Exalt. How had he managed to do it in such a short amount of time?


    He was similar to Xiao Qi in a way with how they both got stronger after fighting¡­..but his situation wasn¡¯t as absurd as Xiao Qi¡¯s. But still. It was a good thing¡­.


    However. This ¡®pleasant surprise¡¯ wasn¡¯t large enough to counteract against Bai Yunfei¡¯s concerns. Though he was a late-stage Soul Exalt in soulforce, his present predicament made him far weaker than before!


    He couldn¡¯t even walk steadily by himself right now, let alone fight. If he was stuck like this for a long time, then advancing a stage would be completely useless¡­.


    Bai Yunfei casted his worries away. It was time for him to focus on the issue with his two fireseeds.


    ¡°I can¡¯t split them, but they don¡¯t seem to be trying to devour or fuse with one another anymore. What¡¯s going on?¡± With his soulsense, Bai Yunfei was able to look deeply at the two essence fireseeds and how his soulforce would circulate around the two. There didn¡¯t seem to be any problems with how calm the two fireseeds took the soulforce, but Bai Yunfei did have the feeling like he was in a state not unlike when he normally practiced the Dual Flame Arts.


    That line of thought brought an idea to Bai Yunfei. In accordance to what was taught to him, Bai Yunfei immediately activated the Dual Flame Arts. The two fireseeds shivered slightly before ushering Bai Yunfei into a meditational trance for training.


    This time, the feeling he had was¡­.much better than before!


    Bai Yunfei stopped after a while. He was satisfied with what he was feeling. With another thought, he had the two fireseeds tremble again before the elemental fire from the two of them started to explode, bringing him to the level of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt.


    Dual Flame Arts: ¡®coil¡¯ form!


    Rather than needing to use hand seals like before, all it took Bai Yunfei to activate the ¡®coil¡¯ form was a single thought!


    But the second after his strength skyrocketed, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open and his face started to twitch. Straight away, his energy died down and the ¡®coil¡¯ form was deactivated.


    ¡°Huff¡­..hufff¡­.huff¡­..¡±


    Bai Yunfei gasped for breath, his back bent over to have his head facing his sheets. Beads of sweat dripped from his pained face, his mouth looking like it was ready to grunt in pain.


    ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?!¡±


    Xiao Qi had been comfortably resting on top of the laid down permafrost mastiff when he felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s energy spike up. He flew over straight away when Bai Yunfei doubled up in pain.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just an experiment. Don¡¯t worry¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand. Straightening his back to rest against the wall, Bai Yunfei sucked in a deep breath to try and regain his bearings.


    He wiped the sweat off his face while the other hand touched at his chest in trepidation, ¡°Damnit, has my body really gotten that weak?¡±


    In the moment when he activated the ¡®coil¡¯ form, Bai Yunfei felt an extreme pain coming from his body like if a sword was slicing apart at it and then countless ants were biting at every cell in him with such pain that he felt like fainting almost.


    Now that a good amount of time had transpired, the pain running through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body had abated somewhat. Resting weakly against the wall, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined pensively.


    ¡°My body might not be able to take it, but I can still use the ¡®coil¡¯ form without any hand seals. That¡¯s a lot better than before.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself after the pain was fully gone.


    ¡°I¡¯m a late-stage Soul Exalt now, and the ¡®coil¡¯ form brings me to the peak late-stage. Then¡­.if I go into Berserk Mode, how strong do I get then? If I surpass the peak late-stage Soul Exalt level, that only leaves one option¡­..I gain the strength capable to fighting a Soul King?


    ¡°Whether it¡¯s in strength in the body or soulforce, going into Berserk Mode allows me to surpass the limits of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt. Combined with the Charm Bracelet¡¯s pseudo spirit attack, doesn¡¯t¡­.doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯m basically able to fight on the same level as a Soul King?¡± Bai Yunfei had used Berserk Mode to its limits back in Baishan City to fight the mid-stage Soul King to a standstill. He didn¡¯t have any clear memories of it, but he did remember using the imitation of a spirit attack with his mental link to attack. And when he thought about that, his guesses felt a lot less like guesses and more like facts.


    Indeed. If Bai Yunfei were to go into Berserk Mode, he could fight an early-stage Soul King on equal grounds. This was what he could call¡­.the False Soul King realm!


    Bai Yunfei had been fighting under irregular conditions during the battle in Baishan City. Without his rationality there to keep him in check, Bai Yunfei did several things he normally would never do, and although they were extremely dangerous, some of those things did have a decent amount of use.


    ¡°I wonder how long the two fireseeds will stay like this. If they can¡¯t split apart then the Cataclysmic Seal will be much weaker¡­.I won¡¯t be able to control the flames in the Lightningfire Cauldron when crafting either¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. ¡°Though this is much better for me in terms of training. There¡¯s some benefit, but there¡¯s also some detriments¡­.¡±


    With the current weakness of his body, the aberration of his two fireseeds wasn¡¯t something he could study completely right now. There were some good benefits to it, but Bai Yunfei had mixed feelings about it still¡­.


    ¡°My body will heal sooner or later. I should take advantage of this time to try my best to train. Maybe I¡¯ll become a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, or maybe I¡¯ll have the chance to go even higher from there¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought. ¡°If I can become a Soul King, then I¡¯ll really have made it. Becoming one of the elites of this world would mean no more dangers every day. I don¡¯t have to fight for my life all the time.


    ¡°In the end, strength is all that matters!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei lifted his head to stare at the ceiling, his eyes shining with reluctance. His pursuit for power was a never ending one. Each time Bai Yunfei grew stronger, he¡¯d come into contact with people even stronger and brought even more pressure onto Bai Yunfei to train. Many a times Bai Yunfei grew stronger, and many a times someone stronger came forward to kick him down. Though Bai Yunfei was able to pull out a hidden ace from his sleeves to escape from the troubles, the fact that he had to go through these iterations so many time left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.


    Bai Yunfei fought every fight with his life on the line. All it¡¯d take was for him to lose just once for him to fall off that line and into the depths of no return.


    The only way to change this fate was to get stronger. Stronger and stronger until he was stronger than everyone else!


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why the Cao would¡¯ve gone through such lengths to kill me, but there¡¯ll be a day when I find out. Whomever it was that put them up to it, I¡¯ll make sure they pay for it dearly!!¡±


    He had not expected for them to use one of his students a bait for him to come into their trap. A furious glint of ice entered his eyes, an urge to kill leaking from them as well¡­.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand flew up to rub at his temples the moment he felt his murderous intent appear. ¡°Tch!! Still can¡¯t control my emotions¡­.dammit, I nearly forgot about this. Not only am I weaker, my soul fell into a relapse!¡±


    Now that he had a good idea of what kind of state his body was in, Bai Yunfei felt it to be very annoying. His soul had been more than halfway healed prior to him going to Baishan City, but now that this battle happened, all that time spent healing his soul was a waste now. It¡¯d take him even longer than before to heal now¡­.


    ¡°My body¡¯s weak and my self-control¡¯s even worse. How can I even start to feel optimistic about this¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°The first thing I have to do first is heal my body to at least being able to do basic motions. I can find uncle Dan Teng and have him prescribe me some more Soul Consolidating Tea to heal my soul.


    ¡°Step by step. I don¡¯t need to rush. Once I heal up, I¡¯ll be even stronger than before!¡±

 Chapter 608: Recuperation

    When Bai Yunfei woke up the next day, he immediately started to train in his room. Due to the weakness of his body, he had to have people come in to support him up. Rather than go out, Bai Yunfei practically secluded himself in his room for five straight days before he regained enough motor strength in his body to be able to walk around like normal. It took another five day for him to have enough motor ability to move like a commoner would.


    The keyword here being ¡®like a commoner would¡¯. His current strength was still immensely low compared to what it was before, and he could hardly be classified as being as strong as the average commoner his age, let alone being quite robust.


    In terms of the available soulforce for his body to use, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even said to be on the same level as a soul cultivator.


    Because of the change in his two essence fireseeds, the usage of his soulforce was very hard to distinguish. Even a Soul King would be hard-pressed to sense Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce.


    It was like Bai Yunfei had completely lost his strength and was now a commoner.


    The fact that he was able to regain enough bodily strength to move like a commoner had been gratifying enough. The horrifying thing was the fact that he found out that he¡­.couldn¡¯t progress from there after.


    Or well, it wasn¡¯t as though he ¡®couldn¡¯t heal. It was just that healing was taking ten times slower than before.


    According to the trend he was going at, returning to his peak level of strength would take an obscenely long amount of time¡­..


    Bai Yunfei was worried about it at first, but he soon came to the conclusion that he had to accept what life was giving him. If he had to heal slowly, then he wouldn¡¯t force the issue. He¡¯d put his effort to more meaningful tasks.


    Like¡­.upgrading.


    With Bai Yunfei regaining a certain amount of his strength back, Bai Yunfei was free to further deepen his research on the Upgrade Technique. Him upgrading the Critical Glove before had Bai Yunfei upgrading several more equipment he had, but he had unfortunately failed more often than not. Now that he was a stage stronger in soulforce though, Bai Yunfei was pleased to find out that manually upgrading the equipment was easier than using the Upgrade Technique. Because of that, Bai Yunfei spent most of his time using that method to pass the time.


    Aside from that, Bai Yunfei had a few other things he could do now that he could walk around.


    ¡­¡­


    One early morning on North Seventh Street.


    With Zheng Kai as his companion, Bai Yunfei and his three soulbeasts walked towards the Soothing Heart.


    Due to the relative earliness of that morning, there weren¡¯t many people inside the Soothing Heart. Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai¡¯s entrance into the building was met with Dan Teng coming down from the second floor to greet them.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally back, Yunfei.¡± He greeted them with concern, ¡°I heard about what happened to you in Baishan City, are you alright?¡±


    As small as the Soothing Heart was, the soul cultivators he had as patrons were by no means minor. They were people who traveled in certain circles and were thus privy to more knowledge over the rumors than others. By extension, Dan Teng was able to hear about the circumstances behind Bai Yunfei, and it wasn¡¯t as if the rumors were small in any case.


    Grateful for his concern, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Thank you for your concern, uncle Dan. There¡¯s a slight problem with my body that exacerbated the damage to my soul, if I could have uncle Dan help me out¡­.¡±


    Dang Teng blinked once before he honed his eyes onto Bai Yunfei, who felt a faint ripple of soulsense wash over him. The scanning took a while before Dan Teng sighed, ¡°As I thought¡­.the damage to your soul is worse than before. We can¡¯t even call this a side-effect anymore, but rather a full blown tear in your soul again. Fortunately, it¡¯s not incurable. It¡¯ll take a little longer with the Soul Consolidating Tea, but I guarantee you that you¡¯ll be fully healed!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°I feel reassured then. Thank you very much, uncle Dan¡­.¡±


    ¡°No need. Shouldn¡¯t I be the one to thank you for your patronage? Haha¡­.come up to the second floor with me. Yi Shu, prepare a teapot of some Soul Consolidating Tea.¡±


    Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai, and Dan Teng all enjoyed a cup of tea with each other before the former two left the Soothing Heart. How extraordinary the Soul Consolidating Tea felt to Bai Yunfei; the vexations in his heart felt like they had been drained away with each time he took a sip of that tea. And by the time he left the Soothing Heart, Bai Yunfei felt like he was gliding.


    He was truly thankful for the Soothing Heart of Dan Teng and the Soul Consolidating Tea offered by them. If not for those, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t even know where to begin with how to deal with his current predicament.


    Life soon fell back into an ordinary cycle. In the morning, Bai Yunfei would head to the Soothing Heart for some tea and return to his place to meditate and practice manually upgrading. He¡¯d return later in the day for another pot of Soul Consolidating Tea and return to his usual training. If not for the wounds he was trying to heal, it would be a very comfortable and relaxing lifestyle Bai Yunfei was living.


    Early one morning almost ten days later¡­.


    Bai Yunfei had only just stepped out from the Soothing Heart after finishing his tea. Rather than walk home, he took another path and headed for Tianhun Academy.


    Now that he was feeling much more manageable than before, Bai Yunfei wanted to resume teaching. As an instructor, he didn¡¯t want to ignore the students he was in charge of.


    Having been notified earlier, his students were already waiting for him at the top of the mountain. In regards to what happened to Bai Yunfei in Baishan City, the students were far more knowledgeable than others. It was only natural in any case with them all working hard to find Fang Tianmeng the day before her rescue. Though they didn¡¯t go to Baishan City to save her, what they heard from Fang Tianmeng astounded them all, and their respect for Bai Yunfei grew immensely.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the only one getting some measure of newfound respect; Wu Yang was being received quite well with the other students now. The matter in which the fourth prince had stuck up for Fang Tianmeng in the dining hall and his efforts in utilizing the Royal Family¡ªnamely the First Prince to go help save Fang Tianmeng in Baishan City¡ªhad left its mark onto the other students. To them, Wu Yang wasn¡¯t as hedonistic as the rumors claimed him to be. He wasn¡¯t a bad character at all.


    As such, even Mo Wanxia seemed to be treating him better than before, much to Wu Yang¡¯s secret satisfaction.


    The students and instructor spoke warmly with one another for a while before class started in earnest. ¡°It¡¯s been almost a month since our last class, I hope everyone has been practicing. How far have you all gotten?¡±


    Mo Chen spoke up first, ¡°Haha, of course we have! We¡¯ve already starting crafting our own soul armaments, and¡­.hehe, it¡¯s not so bad!¡±


    He shook his hand to retrieve a strange triple-tipped weapon and presented it graciously to Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei took the weapon into his hand to observe it. ¡°This is...a mid-human tier soul armament! Did you craft this?!¡±


    ¡°Ah, instructor Bai¡¯s amazing, you knew the tier of it with a single glance!¡± Mo Chen laughed, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the soul armament I crafted yesterday. How is it? Is it passable, instructor Bai?¡±


    He could already craft a mid-human tier soul armament?


    Bai Yunfei was surprised with Mo Chen¡¯s progression. Nodding his head, he praised him, ¡°Haha, not bad. Not bad at all. You¡¯ve really exceeded my expectations.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it was nothing. Aside from Fang Tianmeng and her circumstances, everyone else beat me in crafting a mid-human tier soul armament.¡± Mo Chen laughed in embarrassment. ¡°Big brother Ye Ming¡¯s even more amazing, he was able to craft a high-human soul armament.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The surprise in Bai Yunfei grew even larger as he regarded Ye Ming. ¡°Ye Ming, you¡¯ve¡­.become a Soul Exalt?!¡±


    Previously a Soul Exalt when he destroyed his essence lightningseed, Ye Ming had dropped himself down to a peak late-stage Soul Ancestor. But now that Bai Yunfei looked at him, Ye Ming was back to being an early-stage Soul Exalt!


    Ye Ming nodded. ¡°It happened two days ago when I crafted my high-human tier soul armament. Somehow I managed to breakthrough.¡±


    The art of crafting was another style of training that could help a person improve their strength. Unlike other methods of cultivation, crafting didn¡¯t prioritize the elevation of soulforce. But if a crafter were to have success in their crafting attempt, there would be a great deal of energy that¡¯d transfer from their attempt to themselves and benefit them greatly. Many crafters as a result took crafting to be a great chance to break the bottleneck they were at.


    It was just unbelievable how Ye Ming was able to craft a high-human tier soul armament so quickly after being introduced to the art. Talent this high was comparable to the disciples of the Crafting School.


    The students showed Bai Yunfei the fruits of their training one by one after that. Because of her kidnapping, Fang Tianmeng was slightly behind in terms of success, but even she was able to craft a low-human tier soul armament. The others were all able to craft a mid-human tier soul armament which gave Bai Yunfei no small amount of surprise.


    While he was giving them quite high praise, their average rate of progression wasn¡¯t at the same level as the students accepted into the Crafting School.


    ¡°Haha, the fact that you¡¯ve all managed to get this far in such a small amount of time is very good.¡± Bai Yunfei praised them all with a nod and smile, ¡°Let¡¯s return to our crafting caves then. I¡¯ll look over how you all craft and then teach you some of the more specific ways to use certain materials when crafting¡­.¡±


    The students all entered their own caves and soon enough, red light began to shine out from their respective caves. The heat in the area grew as well, and before long, the entire mountain peak was washed with a red glow.


    ¡­¡­


    As Bai Yunfei was teaching his class, a brown-robed figure stood high up in the clouds somewhere in the Training Forest. Peering through the clouds and over the countless distance away onto the mountain, the figure hummed to himself¡­.


    ¡°A class seven permafrost mastiff, a class seven prisma oriole variant, and a peak late-stage class six blue-eyes wyrm variant. How interesting¡­.¡±

 Chapter 609: Nighttime

    Bai Yunfei finished up the class with instructions for the next week¡¯s lecture before announcing the end of today. And with that, they adjourned for the day and left.


    Zheng Kai, Huang Bin, and the others were all off doing their own thing when Bai Yunfei was teaching his class, so Bai Yunfei left Tianhun Academy by himself to head for the Soothing Heart.


    Feeling thoroughly refreshed a pot of Soul Consolidating Tea later, Bai Yunfei stepped back out onto the streets to find a place to eat. Having not the desire to go back home and train, Bai Yunfei opted to go meander around the Capital after his meal.


    Well acquaintanced with the Capital by now, Bai Yunfei had a decent grasp of which direction was which. As a result, Bai Yunfei could take a nice stroll around the place without getting lost.


    In the Capital, the northern streets were separated into fourteen streets with North Seventh Street being the middlemost and closest street to Tianhun Academy. Though the streets were so categorically divided as such, each street wasn¡¯t limited to having just one linear street. North Seventh Street alone covered a wide strip of land and had many smaller streets run perpendicular to it in a way that it was rather complicated almost. But on the bright side, many types of shops could be found here.


    With how aimlessly Bai Yunfei was wandering around, he soon found himself back at the gates of Tianhun Academy. Looking up at the massive sign that hung overhead and was slightly red with the setting sun, Bai Yunfei hesitated for a moment before striding in.


    If he had to be honest with himself, Bai Yunfei had never seen Tianhun Academy at night before, so he decided that he might as well do so today.


    The sun was barely setting right now, but the streets were filled with multiple lightstones fashioned like lanterns so that whenever the students came walking past them, the streets looked as busy as it would in the day.


    Actually, the daytime hadn¡¯t many students walking on them since they were all in class. It was in night that the students had some free time to themselves, so they usually chose then to walk around the campus.


    Bai Yunfei walked through the streets from the first year area to the third year area. Plenty of students hardly in their double digits could be seen walking and talking. The very liveliness of their faces had Bai Yunfei sighing to himself. These students were carefree almost with very few concerns to worry over. Their path to becoming strong was almost without any bumps, and all they had to do was stay here in the comforting presence of the academy and listen to the guidance of their instructors. Through the academy, the students could quickly become strong¡­.


    Bai Yunfei compared their lives to his own. Back in Talus City, Bai Yunfei had to struggle deeply in order to live. He lived day by day, earning enough money to keep him alive with only the basic necessities by moving heavy sacks of rice one after another in an ordinary rice shop¡­.


    Those days had felt so long ago to Bai Yunfei¡­.it was as if that had simply been another life he had lived.


    When he looked at the youngsters walking towards and past him, Bai Yunfei suddenly realized he himself had grown noticeably larger.


    He had been eighteen when he left Talus City. Today, Bai Yunfei was somehow twenty-five already¡­.


    Seven years had passed since then, and it was like he was living a whole different life. It was an explosion of spectrum of colors whereas the first eighteen years of his life was spent in a monotonous world.


    At some point, Bai Yunfei walked to the fourth year area without him being aware of it.


    Not many students were here in comparison to the others, as the students here were all Soul Sprites. They were in their twenties, so they looked more mature than the other students, but also a lot more lively.


    It was here that Bai Yunfei began to see the students coupled in pairs.


    When he looked at the pairs walking shoulder to shoulder and their hands intertwined with each other, Bai Yunfei suddenly grew pensive. Lifting his left hand to stare at the milky-white ring on his finger, Bai Yunfei looked a little contemplative.


    How¡ªhow was she doing?


    A figure popped into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind then, a feeling of longing filling Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart and mind. At the thought of her, Bai Yunfei wanted nothing more than to throw down his Tempest Sword and return to the Crafting School at once.


    For a long moment, Bai Yunfei stood there. Several students were staring strangely at him, but he didn¡¯t seem to notice as he rubbed at his temples forlornly.


    ¡°I forgot myself for a moment¡­.that¡¯s not a good omen.¡±


    Gingerly shaking his head, Bai Yunfei continued onwards. He didn¡¯t want to pay attention to those thoughts and so he raised his head to the starry canopus overhead. His eyes shined as if retracting old memories, his mouth curling up in a smile as if to think about happier times.


    ¡°Maybe I should go back to the Crafting School for a while¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei wistfully thought to both himself and a shooting star in the sky.


    With how he wasn¡¯t paying attention to where he was walking, Bai Yunfei soon found himself at the sixth year area near the entrance to the Back Mountain.


    It was already eleven at night, how long had he been walking?


    The thought came to him in surprise. Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t even been paying attention to the passage of time. Looking around, Bai Yunfei was prepared to turn back and head home when he saw a glimmer of light.


    ¡°Eh? Someone¡¯s up there?¡±


    The place he was looking at was the top of the Back Mountain where he held his class.


    He noticed a glimmer of light in the dark skies coming from the Back Mountain. Something was shining red there.


    ¡°Is someone crafting?¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself in surprise. Was someone really trying to craft this late at night?


    Curious, Bai Yunfei decided to head up the mountain rather than go back home.


    ¡­¡­


    At the top of the mountain where it seemed almost possible to grab at the stars in the skies, ten pitch-black crafting caves were embedded in the cliff wall.


    Ah, no. Nine of the ten crafting caves were pitch-black. The tenth one was shining with red light.


    Waves of heat flooded out from the cave in droves, counteracting against the chilly night air and making the area warm. Every so often, there¡¯d be a spike of elemental fire that¡¯d drive up the temperature even more.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Suddenly, an explosion of red light came out from the crafting cave with an intensity many times greater than the before ones. The light shimmered intensely for a few minutes before another explosion of sound echoed from within the cave along with a pillar of fire to come spitting out from the depths.


    ¡°A failure?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been close enough to sense the influx of elemental fire and wondered to himself on the situation. He knew someone was inside in the cave, but because he was worried about disturbing the person, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to use his soulsense. Prior to this explosion, the crafting attempt seemed to be going quite well, so Bai Yunfei was surprised to see the attempt suddenly become a failure at the end.


    He released his soulsense then to inspect who it was. ¡°Him?¡±

 Chapter 610: Guidance

    Bai Yunfei watched as the person in the cave stared absentmindedly at the ashen materials in the cauldron in front of him for a moment. A bitter look entered the person¡¯s eyes before he waved away the useless materials in impatience. Several more materials appeared out from his ring before depositing themselves neatly into the cauldron for him to try again.


    ¡°In cases like this¡­.it¡¯s best to stop and think about why it went wrong. You have to wait for the anger and impatience in your heart to go away before you try again.¡±


    He calmly spoke out to the male, causing the person to start and turn around to look at him.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, what are you doing here?¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°I was going to ask you that question, Ye Ming. It¡¯s quite late, what are you doing crafting still?¡±


    The person in question was Ye Ming.


    Ye Ming stood up to give Bai Yunfei a respectful bow in greeting, ¡°After listening to your lecture today, instructor Bai, I felt like I was beginning to understand a few things I didn¡¯t get before. So I decided to take the chance and try tonight. I¡¯m an early-stage Soul Exalt anyways, I wanted to see if I¡¯d be able to craft a low-earth tier soul armament.¡±


    ¡°Oh? So you were trying to craft an earth-tier soul armament?¡± Bai Yunfei remarked. It was no wonder why Ye Ming¡¯s attempted failed so suddenly then. If Ye Ming was trying to craft a soul armament higher in tier, the chances of success would be a lot smaller compared to a high-human tier.


    And the fact that Ye Ming stood a decent enough chance to even attempt crafting an earth-tier soul armament was a slightly rushed one, but it was because of his jaw-dropping talent that he could even think about it.


    Bai Yunfei stepped into the cave and sat down on a nearby boulder. ¡°You trying to craft a low-earth tier soul armament is a little rash right now. You may be able to craft a high-human tier soul armament, but your crafting experience is limited. There¡¯s many aspects you still need to consider, so I recommend that you don¡¯t pursue that notion for the time being. Wait until you have a seventy percent chance of success when crafting a high-human tier before you try again.¡±


    ¡°Seventy percent?¡± Ye Ming looked crestfallen. His own personal record for crafting high-human tier soul armaments was only fifty percent. Reaching an additional twenty percent would take more time than he wanted to take.


    ¡°You¡¯ve only been learning the art of crafting for two months.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s impressive that you¡¯re able to do this much, especially since you ¡®switched¡¯ over to my class compared to the other students. You haven¡¯t crafted a soulbound armament yet, but with your talent, you¡¯d be considered a genius in the Crafting School. Have you taken the aptitude exams for the Crafting School before?¡±


    Ye Ming shook his head, ¡°I never been to the Crafting School¡­.


    ¡°But I did hear Mo Chen say before that they took a few of the fire division students over three years ago. They talked about a strange cave that got harder to walk in the further they walked. The ones in the crafting class are the ones who walked the farthest that time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. He had his guesses before, but this confirmed it.


    But three years ago? That was when he left the Crafting School to enter the Soulbeast Forest.


    In that case though, Wu Yang must not have taken the aptitude exams for the Crafting School. But the fact that his ¡®achievements¡¯ weren¡¯t any less than the others¡­.was a rather surprising and unexpected success.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered to the floating materials next to Ye Ming. From the ones he saw, Bai Yunfei had to acquiesce that they were the normal materials one would use to craft an earth-tier soul armament. ¡°As I said before, Ye Ming, you shouldn¡¯t think about crafting any earth-tier soul armaments right now. The worst thing you can do while crafting is be impatient and force your way ahead. You might be more talented than others and have more success right now, but crafting an earth-tier soul armament is different than crafting a human-tier soul armament. Master the basics first and your future path will be smoother than before. Furthermore¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei paused here to take a breath, ¡°I only briefly touched upon the topic about how to craft low-earth tier soul armaments today. And as you recall, I did say it was hugely different than the method to craft a human-tier soul armament. If you try to use what little information I said today to attempt crafting one, it¡¯ll be impossible¡­..I wanted to wait for you all to reach a substantial degree of mastery before I start teaching about how to craft earth-tier soul armaments, but since your aptitude is much higher than that of your classmates, I promise you that if you can reach a seventy percent success rate in crafting high-human tier soul armaments, I¡¯ll teach you how to craft earth-tier soul armaments earlier.¡±


    Ye Ming¡¯s eyes lit up as he nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±


    As Ye Ming went about to collect the materials, Bai Yunfei watched as the faint elemental fire around his body flickered away, ¡°Ah, Ye Ming, I recall that you were a fire and lighting type?¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Ye Ming blinked, unsure why Bai Yunfei was asking a question he already knew the answer to, ¡°I am.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered strangely as he pressed on, ¡°Have you tried training in elemental lightning again?¡±


    ¡°Training in elemental lightning again?¡± Ye Ming grew even more baffled at Bai Yunfei¡¯s question. ¡°My essence lightningseed is already gone, and I¡¯ve already focused on training with elemental fire to help me craft. I haven¡¯t spent any time trying to reform a essence lightningseed, and even if I tried, it¡¯d probably not work¡­.¡±


    ¡°That may be the case, but you are still gifted with those two affinities. To waste them here would be a bit of a waste.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ye Ming replied, ¡°Instructor Bai, are you saying¡­.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve a suggestion that¡¯ll make use of your background in elemental lightning and won¡¯t take up too much of your effort. Even better, it¡¯ll help you improve yourself by quite a bit.¡±


    ¡°What suggestion? Please say it, instructor Bai.¡±


    ¡°Form a companion lightningseed.¡±


    ¡°Companion lightningseed? What is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a more inferior version of an essence lightningseed, but the benefit in this is that your essence fireseed will remain there and will gain a boost in strength from it.¡±


    Bai Yunfei held his palm out as he spoke. With a bang, a small fireball appeared over his palmtop.


    Ye Ming stared at the fireball with slight confusion, but then something strange caught his yee. ¡°There¡¯s¡­.lightning in the fire?¡±


    He saw that within the flames Bai Yunfei was creating, there was a small spark of lightning that was boosting the intensity and heat of the fire!


    Ye Ming knew quite a lot about training in elemental fire and lightning at the same time, and the ¡®compatibility¡¯ between the two elements. However, despite that information, he wasn¡¯t able of reaching a point of synchronicity between the two elements, and neither was he able to make use of both the fireseed and lightningseed at the same time.


    ¡°Indeed. This is the effect of a companion lightningseed. It¡¯s not like a standalone essence lightningseed and cannot produce a large amount of power by itself. But. When elemental fire is used as a catalyst, the ensuing elemental fire becomes a lot stronger and is imbued with a sliver of elemental lightning.¡±


    ¡°Something like that can be done?¡± Ye Ming asked in surprise. This was a first for him.


    ¡°Yes, however it isn¡¯t an easy task I¡¯m afraid. For the normal soul cultivator with high aptitude for lightning would be better off forming an essence lightningseed. For someone who didn¡¯t, they might as well not try. This companion lightningseed of mine was formed after unordinary circumstances. I don¡¯t know if another person will be able to do it, but for someone like you used to train in elemental lightning and changed to fire, you might as well give it a try. If it works, you¡¯ll see plenty of benefit.¡±


    He turned to look at Ye Ming, ¡°So how about it, want to learn?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Ye Ming nodded his head emphatically, ¡°Please lend me your guidance, instructor Bai!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    An hour later after midnight, Bai Yunfei walked out from the crafting cave to leave Ye Ming there to train.


    Bai Yunfei had given a detailed explanation on the feeling of forming an essence lightningseed, and how long it took for himself to form one. Ye Ming listened carefully, but whether he was able to form one or not was up to him.


    Since it seemed like Ye Ming was going to spend the night training, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to stay and bother him. He leapt up to the peak of the mountain on top of a large boulder to enjoy the night breeze. He stared first off into the distance where the shining lights of the Capital was and remarked how lively it looked.


    Just as Bai Yunfei was enjoying the peace and quiet of the night, a warm voice called out to him from behind.


    ¡°Young one, this old one has a few words to speak with you¡­.¡±

 Chapter 611: Long Zhen

    The abruptness of this voice scared Bai Yunfei, who leapt up into the skies in fright. Darting away as he turned, Bai Yunfei took out his Cataclysmic Seal and had it protect him from the direction in which the voice spoke to him from.


    His reaction had been quick. Xiao Qi and the blue-eyes wyrm hadn¡¯t even moved when Bai Yunfei was already in the sky.


    When Bai Yunfei came to a stop, he saw that just twenty meters away, an elderly white-haired man in orange was standing right there.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know when the elder appeared, but he hadn¡¯t noticed him at all!!


    The elder smiled at Bai Yunfei, presumably because of the extreme reaction of Bai Yunfei to his presence. ¡°Haha, what an energetic young man. Don¡¯t be worried, this old one won¡¯t hurt you.¡±


    As he spoke, his eye glanced over at the three soulbeasts, each one of them ready to attack the old man at any moment. But when his eye fell on the three, the soulbeasts immediately shivered and their auras dropped rapidly.


    ¡°Senior, who are you? And what reason are you here?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. He was prudent in his caution, but Bai Yunfei wanted to know just who this person was.


    ¡°Why am I here?¡± The elder asked in surprise, ¡°I live here. Why can I not come out here? Haha¡­.young one, this old one poses no danger to you. Would one as old as several hundred years old like this one bother to trick a youngster like you?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei looked embarrassed. It was true, the old man had been behind Bai Yunfei before he even knew it. If the old man wanted to kill him, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve died a lot earlier without him knowing.


    But then something from the elder¡¯s words surprised him, ¡°Se¡ªseveral hundred years?!¡±


    If he had heard right, then this elder said he was ¡®several hundred years old¡¯!


    The very first thing Bai Yunfei could assume about this person was that the elder was a Soul King, one that was a mid-stage or even late-stage. Xiao Qi hadn¡¯t been able to sense his arrival, meaning he was stronger than the bird. And the fact that he was ¡®several hundred years old¡¯ was something very few humans were capable of, meaning that this person was most likely¡­.


    Bai Yunfei turned his head to look at Xiao Qi, his question already being sent to his companion¡¯s mind.


    Xiao Qi flew up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side with a confused look at the elder. ¡°Grandfather¡­.are...are you a¡­.¡±


    The old man smiled at Xiao Qi, ¡°Haha, you¡¯ve a keen eye, youngster. Correct, you and I are the ¡®same¡¯.¡±


    That confirmed it! This elder was a¡­.soulbeast!


    Flapping its wings in awe, Xiao Qi stared at the elder, ¡°Are you really a soulbeast, grandfather?! A soulbeast that can humanize! How amazing...you¡¯re even more amazing than I am¡­.are you really several hundred years old? What are you doing here? Oh oh, what soulbeast are you? Could you teach me how to humanize? I can¡¯t humanize¡­¡±


    Xiao Qi grew more and more excited like a young child admiring after an elderly figure.


    Surprised by the excitement coming from Xiao Qi, the elderly man gave him a strange glance, ¡°Youngster, you are a class seven, but you act like a child, it bears poorly on the regal dignity you should have.¡± He smiled.


    He was looking at Xiao Qi like an old man would stare affectionately at any young child. His words were spoken kindly as he continued, ¡°The person contracted with this old man is in the Capital, as such, this forest is my home. This old one has already lived for¡­.four hundred years, perhaps five hundred. I am not clear.


    ¡°As for what kind of soulbeast I am¡­.¡± The elder stroked at the long braid of hair resting against his chest, ¡°there¡¯s no harm in telling you I suppose. This old one is a ¡®seismic wyrm¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Seismic wyrm?¡± Xiao Qi cocked its head curiously, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of one before¡­.but, ¡®wyrm¡¯? Isn¡¯t that the same as Xiao Lan? He¡¯s a blue-eyes wyrm! No wonder your auras are so similar!¡±


    The elder couldn¡¯t help but smile at that, glancing at the blue-eyes wyrm with a strange look.


    Bai Yunfei was still standing there in shock as Xiao Qi and the elder spoke with one another¡ªthis elder really was a soulbeast!


    A seismic wyrm?! Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t a clue on what that was. The ¡®soulbeast compendium¡¯ given to him by his master hadn¡¯t a single thing about a soulbeast like that. Was he a¡­.very rare type of soulbeast?


    He was further shocked by what the elder said, his contracted soul cultivator was living in the Capital?! Was it Tianhun Academy? He had heard from other students that there were a few old contracted soulbeasts that lived in the Training Forest, and this old man did seem to have come from that direction. Who was he contracted to? With strength like that¡­.could it be the chairman?!


    Trying his best to concentrate, Bai Yunfei started to speak respectfully, ¡°Might this one ask how to address you, senior?¡±


    ¡°Address? This old one goes by the name ¡®Long Zhen¡¯.¡±


    ¡°What can this junior do for you senior Long?¡± Bai Yunfei asked the most important question on his mind.


    ¡°Ah, yes. This old one has a matter to discuss with you. But before that, tell me. Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Who am I?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, thinking for a moment how to answer. ¡°This junior is named Bai Yunfei. I am currently the instructor of the crafting class. This junior is a student of the Crafting School and disciple of Zi Jin.¡±


    Long Zhen¡¯s eyebrow raised at the latter half of Bai Yunfei¡¯s introduction. ¡°Student of the Crafting School?! You say you¡¯re the disciple of Zi Jin?!¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    The look on Long Zhen¡¯s face continued for a moment before he smiled, ¡°I had heard before that Zi Jin took on a new disciple¡­.ah, very good. No wonder you are so well achieved for your age.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised, it seemed that this old man and his master knew each other. The circles his master traveled in was surely an extensive one.


    Now that he knew Bai Yunfei¡¯s identity, Long Zhen seemed to look a little friendlier than before. ¡°Youngster Bai, I¡¯d like to ask you, which one of these three soulbeasts is your contracted one?¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked, not sure why he was being asked this question. Before he could answer, Xiao Qi answer it for him, ¡°It¡¯s me, it¡¯s me! Grandfather, I¡¯m Yunfei¡¯s contracted soulbeast.¡±


    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s you?¡± Long Zheng replied with a quirked eyebrow and smile, ¡°Does this mean to say that the blue-eyes wyrm and permafrost mastiff are traveling with you willingly? I see the blue-eyes wyrm is an easier one to travel with, but the permafrost mastiff¡­.does your Crafting School have a tradition of raising soulbeasts as pets? It¡­.¡±


    Long Zhen turned its eyes to the permafrost mastiff to look at it. As he did, the smile on his face froze. His eyes dilated for a moment as if he saw something shocking, and the words he was about to say died in his mouth.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart immediately skipped a beat at that, ¡°Crap!!¡±

 Chapter 612: Xiao Lans Apprenticeship

    ¡°Bz!!¡±


    A cracking sound exploded into the air, the bright moonlight in the area shimmering visibly as if it was a reflection over a rippling body of water. Power like none other emanated from the old man to encapsulate everyone inside, stifling them at once.


    This powerful aura was coming from Long Zhen!


    In the moment he inspected the permafrost mastiff, his entire aura altered from that of a kindly old man to a soulbeast ready to let loose.


    Sweat pooled over Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead as he cursed to himself. The fury Long Zhen was feeling was very noticeable to Bai Yunfei and so he quickly intervened. ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand, senior Long! This junior isn¡¯t from the Beast Taming School! This permafrost mastiff was a soulbeast puppet from an elder of the Beast Taming School. This junior killed that man and came into possession of this soulbeast!¡±


    It was clear to Bai Yunfei what Long Zhen was thinking, so he immediately told the truth of the matter to him straight away. He knew what exactly the Beast Taming School meant to soulbeasts and why they would wish for their complete and utter destruction. So when Bai Yunfei explained the circumstances behind the permafrost mastiff, he didn¡¯t hesitate to mention that he killed one of their elders.


    Long Zhen¡¯s head snapped to Bai Yunfei as he listened. The anger rising in him seem to subside a bit when he processed Bai Yunfei¡¯s words before he blinked once. Continuing to stare coldly at Bai Yunfei, he spoke, ¡°Do you speak the truth?¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt like his soul was being stabbed the moment their eyes connected. But he knew that the look he was being given was a great deal less angrier than before, and that he was getting close to being ¡®safe¡¯. Unwilling to avert his eyes in fear of being labeled guilty, Bai Yunfei replied at once, ¡°This junior¡¯s words are true. This junior has a grudge with the Beast Taming School. They¡¯ve already injured this one thrice before. This permafrost mastiff was obtained by me after I killed one of their elders, and because I have a soul armament that can control a soulbeast puppet, I took it with me. But I did it without the intentions like that of the Beast Taming School, I¡¯ve treated the permafrost mastiff as I would any other soulbeast. This junior speaks the truth and without a single lie!¡±


    The look of calmness and sincerity on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was taken into consideration by Long Zhen. Evaluating Bai Yunfei¡¯s words, Long Zhen¡¯s eyes began to warm up a bit.


    ¡°Grandfather, what are you doing! Yunfei isn¡¯t from the Beast Taming School, he¡¯s already killed many of their beast tamers! We really did come across the mastiff from someone in Beast Taming School when we left the Soulbeast Forest. He wanted to kill us, but we killed him instead and took the mastiff with us.¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped up in a hurry to explain for Bai Yunfei.


    Long Zhen looked at Xiao Qi first before turning his head to look at the blue-eyes wyrm. ¡°I ask you, do they speak the truth?¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm didn¡¯t respond for a moment, still stunned by what was happening. Then it nodded its head repeatedly and start to growl, its two claws waving in the air as if trying to describe the story.


    ¡°Oh? Is that right?¡± Long Zhen looked surprise, but it did seem that ultimately, he did believe in what the blue-eyes wyrm was saying. The hostile light in his eyes disappeared and returned to its normally gentle look. Even the normally stifling pressure was gone as if it never even existed in the first place.


    Long Zhen smiled at Bai Yunfei with an apologetic look. ¡°Haha¡­.so that was the case. This old one was a little rash, please pay it no mind, youngster.¡±


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei let out a mental sigh of relief. ¡°This junior understands. As long as senior believes in this junior¡¯s words.¡±


    ¡°However, what a surprise it is that you killed a Soul King from the Beast Taming School¡­.if the permafrost mastiff has been traveling with you for so long, then let him stay with you. I hope you treat him well.¡± Long Zhen mused after a while.


    Generally speaking, the strongest members of the soulbeast world would want to ¡®take¡¯ back any of the soulbeast puppets from the Beast Taming School. Though they had no way to revert them back to normal soulbeasts, they just didn¡¯t want to see their fellow kin suffer and be used as tools by the beast tamers. But Bai Yunfei¡¯s case was special, if Long Zhen tried to ¡®take¡¯ the permafrost mastiff, that would simply be a degrading his status. As it were, the permafrost mastiff wasn¡¯t doing too badly with Bai Yunfei, so Long Zhen decided to let it be.


    The area descended into a brief moment of silence as Bai Yunfei waited for Long Zhen to finish speaking. But after some time, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Senior Long, this junior still doesn¡¯t understand what I am needed for¡­.¡±


    Long Zhen looked up with a smile, ¡°Ah, haha¡­.actually, I didn¡¯t come for you.¡±


    ¡°.....¡±


    Long Zhen pointed a finger to the nearby blue-eyes wyrm, ¡°The one I came for is him¡­.I just wasn¡¯t sure if he was your contracted soulbeast and was going to discuss some matters with you, but since he is traveling ¡®freely¡¯, then I¡¯ll simply ask him myself.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Lan?!¡± Bai Yunfei spoke in surprise¡ªwhat was a person as strong as Long Zhen wanting with the blue-eyes wyrm?


    As if to soliloquize to himself, Long Zhen slowly spoke, ¡°The wyrm race is fading away. The blood of the dragons have long since become close to extinct, there¡¯s only a few of them left. Even the variant wyrms are practically none. This old one has lived for a hundred years since I last saw a wyrm. This blue-eyes wyrm is especially special. It¡¯s a peak late-stage class six, but if it makes a breakthrough, it may very well just awaken its dragon blood and become powerful.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered with the light of shock at Long Zhen¡¯s words. From the way Long Zhen was speaking, he was going to¡­


    Long Zhen turned and smiled at the blue-eyes wyrm next. ¡°Young one, this old one wishes to take you in as my student and teach you the path to becoming strong. Will you accept?¡±


    There it was!!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat¡ªLong Zhen was trying to take the blue-eyes wyrm in as a student!


    ¡°While you might not be too far away from becoming a class seven with how you¡¯re currently progressing, you will see that time cut in half if you study under this old man. There is a special training method this old man has honed and perfected for several hundred years for we of the wyrm race. It will help your future cultivation and make you stronger than your peers. I have also noticed that there is a strange energy in you that you¡¯ve yet to absorb. This is the reason behind your being a variant. It must be fate for us to meet here, this old man merely wishes to help you take that fate and put it to good use.¡±


    Long Zhen allowed himself a break to let the wyrm take in everything. ¡°Well then, young one. Do you accept?¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm just stood there on top of the mountain to stare gobsmacked at Long Zhen. Its eyes were wide open as if it was in shock.


    Bai Yunfei felt worried¡ª¡±This idiot!¡± Bai Yunfei screamed to himself. ¡°This is an unbelievable chance right in front of you, what are you hesitating for? An extremely powerful person is knocking on your doorsteps to take you in, that¡¯s your biggest miracle in a lifetime!¡±


    Unable to help himself, Bai Yunfei activated the Charm Bracelet on his left hand to connect to the wyrm¡¯s mind.


    The connection jolted the blue-eyes wyrm right away. Its eyes focused with a great amount of joy, and without any further hesitation it knelt down onto the ground like a human would to bow its head to Long Zhen in acceptance of him as its teacher!


    The sight of the wyrm doing that was slightly comical with how its claws were hardly able to press together in the formal bowing gesture, but its actions were being absolutely sincere. Even Long Zhen was surprised by it.


    He hadn¡¯t expected the blue-eyes wyrm to have as high of an intelligence it did, but he was pleased. Nodding and smiling, he laughed, ¡°Haha, very good, very good. Rise up then. Now that you¡¯ve agreed, you may come with me to the Training Forest and train. As your teacher, this one promises you you will soon step into the world of the strong.¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm rose to its feet excitedly before leaping up to stand behind Long Zhen.


    Long Zhen gave a slight nod to Bai Yunfei, ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving now then.¡±


    Hearing that it¡¯d have to part ways with his ¡®master¡¯ made the blue-eyes wyrm reluctant. It gave a look to Bai Yunfei as if looking to him for permission.


    Long Zhen looked surprised once again.


    ¡°Go with your master, Xiao Lan.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°Train hard and become a class seven. There¡¯s no need to be sad, since you¡¯re in the Training Forest, we can see each other as usual.¡±


    Xiao Qi piped up next, ¡°That¡¯s right! Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll come for you to play like before. But you need to hurry up and train or else you¡¯ll be left behind by us, hehe¡­.¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm let loose a heavy snort of ¡®disdain¡¯. Several growls later, it was arguing with Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Che, you blowhard. Talk like that after you become a class seven! Hehe. The way I see it, you won¡¯t be able to humanize even after you become a class seven!¡±


    It seemed that being unable to humanize was a bit of a sore spot for Xiao Qi and so he was ¡®cursing¡¯ at the wyrm to try and worry it into sharing his concern.


    Long Zhen took the blue-eyes wyrm away into the Training Forest. As they disappeared, a white streak of light flew back over to Bai Yunfei for him to catch into his hand.


    At the same time, Long Zhen¡¯s voice spoke out to him, ¡°Young one, since you are from the Crafting School, allow this to be a welcoming gift from this old one to you.¡±

 Chapter 613: Studying the Slave Seal

    It wasn¡¯t until Long Zhen and the blue-eyes wyrm was gone from sight that Bai Yunfei opened up his palm to look at the white object inside.


    ¡°Hehe, so he gave us a welcoming gift¡­.¡±


    The object in his hand was amazing to Bai Yunfei, his eyes widening as soon as he realized object it was.


    ¡°This is¡­.¡±


    In his hand was a fist-sized chunk of white stone. This wasn¡¯t the first time he had seen a stone like this before, for it was a¡­.an upgrade stone!


    He would¡¯ve been surprised enough that it was an upgrade stone, but this particular one had something different to its stats¡­.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any equipment +11 and under once.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (Low Heaven tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded.


    This was a Guaranteed Upgrade Stone, a +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t speak for ten seconds. His eyes glistened at the stone in his hand as he realized something. Something important¡­.


    ¡°Guaranteed Upgrade Stones exist still!¡±


    He screamed to himself. All of the Guaranteed Upgrade Stones he had before was from the broken fragments of the Nephrite Throne. The one he held in his hands right now was exceedingly smooth, as if it had been sanded and smoothed down into a circular fashion after years and years of wear. There was no way Long Zhen would¡¯ve picked up one of the fragments of the Nephrite Throne all the way in the Training Forest. This meant¡­.that aside from the Nephrite Throne fragments, the continent still had other ¡®natural¡¯ Guaranteed Upgrade Stones!


    This was an exceptionally great boon for Bai Yunfei.


    The Guaranteed Upgrade Stone Bai Yunfei had in his hand was worth just as much as a heaven-tier soul armament. For a crafter like him, this meant he could craft another heaven-tier soul armament. Who knew that Long Zhen would ¡®give¡¯ him such a great gift as a ¡®welcoming present¡¯.


    Perhaps he was grateful to Bai Yunfei for bringing the wyrm here. Or perhaps it was a sort of amend for the misunderstanding earlier.


    ¡­¡­


    Sleep didn¡¯t come easy to Bai Yunfei when he came home. He sat up on his bed to look at the slumbering permafrost mastiff.


    Things with the permafrost mastiff was getting a little troublesome now. Bai Yunfei worried before that the Beast Taming School would find out about it, but the actual trouble was with the stronger soulbeasts. He¡¯d incur misunderstandings like with Long Zhen if this kept going, and that was far too much of a hassle for Bai Yunfei to explain each time. What would he do if he came across a soulbeast that didn¡¯t particularly wanted to listen to Bai Yunfei¡¯s explanations before attempting to kill him?


    So¡­.Bai Yunfei decided to have the permafrost mastiff stored away.


    The only reason the permafrost mastiff was with him out in the open was in fear of a class seven or Soul King threat. Now that Xiao Qi was a class seven, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t need the permafrost mastiff to be on the outside. If he could have the permafrost mastiff stored inside a space ring, he could use it as a surprise attack in battle to help him.


    It was a bit grievous to the mastiff to do such a thing to it, but it was a temporary measure. Perhaps when Bai Yunfei had enough strength to no longer worry about any external threats the permafrost mastiff could walk outside like before.


    Following Bai Yunfei¡¯s command, the Beast Taming Ring detached itself from the permafrost mastiff¡¯s neck and returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. In direct response, the mastiff froze still like a statue.


    The Violet Soul Ring flashed once with light before a black space ring appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm. This was a customized space ring that could contain soulbeast puppets inside. With a wave of his hand, the permafrost mastiff was stored inside the space ring. Bai Yunfei paused for a moment to think if he should store the ring away before ultimately deciding to wear the ring on his right index finger.


    The reason why Bai Yunfei took off the Beast Taming Ring was because of something else he thought about and was ready to put into practice.


    Retrieving a black sack from his robes, Bai Yunfei opened the drawstrings and took out several space rings strung together with a piece of rope.


    These particular space rings were the ones worn by the beast tamers he had killed and collected over the years. Inside, many different types of soulbeast puppets were contained.


    Several of the rings contained ten soulbeast puppets, each of them in a type of ¡®suspended animation¡¯. Every so often, Bai Yunfei would feed them some food so that they wouldn¡¯t die. They could live inside the space ring for extended periods of time, but they still needed to eat.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes hovered over several space rings for a moment before he took out one of them. With a wave of his hand, a brown python appeared right in front of him.


    A late-stage class three crag python.


    This python was coiled up on itself and was decently long at about twenty to thirty meters long. It took up almost half of the room Bai Yunfei was in and looked quite dreadful. But its eyes were dull and its body stiff like a statue.


    The Beast Taming Ring in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand flew out and attached itself over the ¡®neck¡¯ of the python.


    In the next moment, Bai Yunfei issued a command to the python. A flicker of light appeared in the python¡¯s eyes as its body shook. In a flash of light, the python began to shrink in size before ultimately ending up the size of a small garden snake of about a third of a meter. Now smaller than before, the python slinked over to on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s bed.


    Allowing the small snake to coil around his right arm, Bai Yunfei watched as it paused on his palm. Exhaling, Bai Yunfei stared at it, the Beast Taming Ring shining as Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense probed at the python¡¯s mindspace.


    ¡®Meandering¡¯ around in the hazy mindspace that belonged to the python, Bai Yunfei slowly made his way deeper in until he came across a small soulgem. And around the soulgem was¡­.the slave seal!!


    Bai Yunfei was going to start studying the Beast Taming School¡¯s slave seal!


    Because of his rash decision to study the lightningfire wolf¡¯s slave seal, the wolf had nearly been killed and so did Bai Yunfei almost. If not for the intervention of Xiao Qi and some help from fate itself, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have been able to escape from that situation as well as he did. It had been luck that he managed to form a companion lightningseed, destroyed the slave seal, and return the wolf back to normal.


    But all of those were just that. Luck. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be so lucky as to have that event repeat multiple times, so he decided not to study the slave seal so rashly.


    But today, Bai Yunfei felt himself feeling strong enough to re-engage in the topic. Xiao Qi was a class seven soulbeast, and meeting Long Zhen gave Bai Yunfei more than enough to think about. It was time to restart his study!


    Thanks to the magical Beast Taming Ring, Bai Yunfei could do more than just control a soulbeast. And with the Charm Bracelet to connect their minds, Bai Yunfei could use the two soul armaments in conjunction for specific tasks.


    For example¡­.removing the slave seal!

 Chapter 614: Success? (First)

    Bai Yunfei had been thinking of a plan ever since he unraveled the slave seal of the lightningfire wolf. His meeting with Hong Yin had endeared Bai Yunfei to the plight of a soulbeast puppet to the point of sympathy. He felt that the fates of these said soulbeasts were rather tragic. So if he could find a way to ¡®save¡¯ these soulbeast puppets, it would be an incredibly virtuous ¡®achievement¡¯.


    It was said that even the Beast Taming School didn¡¯t know how to unravel their own slave seal, as it never had been done before in the hundred thousand years or so. But Bai Yunfei knew of two different occasions in which that was proved wrong.


    The first example was when he came across that eagle back in Gaoyi City. Back then, the Soul Ancestor beast tamer had ordered the self-destruction of the soulbeast, but Bai Yunfei was able to prevent it when it was halfway through the process. From there, a miracle appeared in the form that the eagle didn¡¯t self-destruct and the eagle was free of the slave seal. It regained its ¡®freedom¡¯ and contracted with Ye Tianming¡¯s father.


    The second example was the lightningfire wolf. The methodology was slightly similar, but the circumstances were devastatingly different. Bai Yunfei had wanted to study the slave seal and had thus activated the self-destruction sequence of the seal. The lightningfire wolf had nearly self-destructed if not for the Beast Taming Ring and the other factors of Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi preventing it. In the end, the slave seal was the only thing that was destroyed while the lightningfire wolf was able to completely regain its memories of before it became a soulbeast puppet.


    These two examples were very ¡®special¡¯. The first one was due to a timely coincidence. A repeat of those circumstances wouldn¡¯t even happen for another thousand years perhaps. The second example was also just as timely and special, but no hints were left behind for Bai Yunfei to follow.


    Bai Yunfei could however, confirm one thing from these two examples. To save a soulbeast puppet, the slave seal had to be destroyed.


    ¡ªBut that was easier said than done. Anyone that wanted to do such a thing had to pay attention to a vital step, the step on ¡®how¡¯ to destroy the slave seal.


    From the lightningfire wolf, it could be inferred that anyone that tried to ¡®touch¡¯ the slave seal would result in the activation of its self-destruction sequence. And with that, the soulgem would be destroyed as well.


    In other words, there was a single order that took precedence over everything else in the slave seal: destroy the slave seal and explode the soulgem!


    The next logical step was to do as such then. Let the slave seal be destroyed, but prevent the soulgem from exploding!


    A step that sounded simple in theory, but impossible in reality. The self-destruction of a slave seal was something anyone could do, but the prevention of the soulgem from exploding wasn¡¯t something even the beast tamers could do. Once the slave seal started to self-destruct, control over the soulbeast was gone. Who could stop the soulgem from exploding then?


    And for that reason, no one had been able to find a way for the last several thousand years. As a result, the slave seal gained the notorious reputation as being ¡®uncrackable¡¯.


    But this reputation was about to be broken by a single man and a soul armament.


    Bai Yunfei and the Beast Taming Ring!!


    His control over soulbeasts wasn¡¯t dependent on the slave seal, but the Beast Taming Ring. And in this situation, the Beast Taming Ring had a far better use than anything else.


    Because of that important distinction, Bai Yunfei could devise a very delicate plan: activate the self-destruction of the slave seal and use the Beast Taming Ring to stop the soulgem from exploding!


    It was a simple plan, but it took Bai Yunfei the better part of two years to devise after the lightningfire wolf had healed before Bai Yunfei felt comfortable testing it.


    Prior to that, Bai Yunfei simply didn¡¯t feel confident in this plan.


    Back with the lightningfire wolf¡¯s self-destruction, Bai Yunfei knew it was mostly in part due to his soulforce and mental strength that he managed to succeed. If not for his control, then not only would his life be in danger, but also the life of the soulbeast puppet.


    Right now, his soulforce was at the level of a late-stage Soul Exalt, and Xiao Qi¡¯s was at the class seven level. There was a huge leeway for Bai Yunfei to attempt trying his plan.


    But no matter what the case, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to try it on the permafrost mastiff. That¡¯s why he chose the weakest soulbeast puppet, the class three soulbeast to try it out.


    In the case that his experiment failed and the class three soulbeast blew up, Bai Yunfei would be able to take it.


    ¡­¡­


    Honing his mind onto the soulbeast in front of him, he approached the soulgem of the little python. On his shoulder, Xiao Qi stared anxiously at the snake in preparation to use the Beast Taming Ring.


    Finally, Bai Yunfei was ready to put his plan into action. Touching the soulgem, Bai Yunfei reached the slave seal around it.


    The slave seal activated at that moment. But unlike the time with the lightningfire wolf, none of the complicated runic markings appeared over the soulgem.


    At the moment his soulsense touched the slave seal and the soulgem, the dim slave seal immediately started to shine brightly with ¡®light¡¯!


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­..¡±


    The soulsense of Bai Yunfei felt a buzzing sound in the mindspace of the snake, as if the slave seal was starting to tremble. Simultaneously, Bai Yunfei felt a shrill hissing sound. Coiled around his arm, the small snake was suddenly larger in size to constrict around his arm with a brilliant glow of orange light.


    A second later, the slave seal started to disintegrate!


    ¡°It¡¯s here!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed in preparation. Not taking the chance to relax, Bai Yunfei activated the Beast Taming Ring and directed it towards the inside of the snake¡¯s body to the soulgem.


    Already the soulgem looked like it was going to burst!


    Another second later under the destruction of the slave seal, the soulforce within the snake¡¯s body was starting to grow chaotic and explosive. Its soulgem was trembling violently as energy poured out from it. In the blink of an eye, the power was already enough to match with a class four soulbeast!


    ¡°Stop! Stop! Stoppp!!!¡±


    Panic flickered across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Even with him trying his best¡­.there was no way he could stop the explosion! He did make the process slower, but¡­.he hadn¡¯t exactly ¡®stopped¡¯ it!


    ¡°Xiao Qi!¡±


    He called out to Xiao Qi. The bird chirped once in response before its aura as a class seven soulbeast came into play. The light coming from the Beast Taming Ring grew even brighter now and covered the entirety of the snake with orange light. A source of soulsense stronger than Bai Yunfei entered the snake¡¯s mindspace and immediately enveloped the cracking soulgem¡­.


    Bright light covered the entirety of Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm. Soulforce lashed out wildly from the snake as its body started to go out of control. Though it seemed like Xiao Qi¡¯s strength was enough to stop the soulgem, Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead was still slick with sweat from his anxiety.


    Would they succeed?

 Chapter 615: Disappointment (Second)

    Bai Yunfei had already forgotten about everything else but the Beast Taming Ring and the task in front of him. All he could do was concentrate on the late-stage class three snake to try and stop the ¡®self-destruct¡¯ order.


    The little soulbeast was like a machine operating under a single command. But at the moment, it was operating under two completely different ones. The first was from the slave seal, telling it to have its soulgem explode. The second was from the Beast Taming Ring, telling it to stop the self-destruction process.


    Under two conflicting orders like this, the snake¡¯s soul was being torn apart due to its inability to follow either.


    The chaotic energy in the room only grew larger from there on out. The snake¡¯s soulforce had only been a late-stage class three, but the energy it was outputting now was at the level of an early-stage class four and close to being on par with a mid-stage class four.


    With its current strength, unleashing this much energy would be reaching the limits of what it could handle. If it continued and reached an output corresponding to the strength of a mid-stage class four, then its body would ultimately explode and the snake would be killed.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Just a little more, we¡¯re nearly done!¡±


    Bai Yunfei could feel the slave seal of the snake¡¯s soulgem nearing the final part of its self-destruction process. Because of Xiao Qi¡¯s assistance, the explosion of the soulgem had stopped for a moment. Right now, it was looking a little plump and was ¡®shaking¡¯ somewhat.


    Finally, the slave seal turned into blue smoke that wafted upwards and out from the soulgem without a trace¡­.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    In that instant, Bai Yunfei heard a shattering sound somewhere in the mindspace.


    Startled, Bai Yunfei first thought it was soulgem that had exploded. But when he looked, the soulgem was still there, albeit shaking somewhat as the soulgem tried to stabilize itself. With the help of Xiao Qi, the rampant energy was being quelled like water onto a fire to restore the calm.


    Did it work?!


    But what was with this unsettling feeling?


    Bai Yunfei felt suspicious. Something was gnawing at his heart that unsettled him. Exhaling slowly, he wiped the sweat off his forehead to look at the snake.


    The snake was back to its normally brown color, though its eyes were still unfocused¡­..like it hadn¡¯t changed at all prior to this. If Bai Yunfei had to point his finger on it, he¡¯d have to say that the snake was in an extremely weak state now that the slave seal was gone. This was further hinted at with how weakly the snake clung to his arm.


    Impatient to satisfy this growing curiosity in him, Bai Yunfei probed the snake¡¯s mindspace again with his soulsense.


    Upon investigation, Bai Yunfei was pleased to find out that¡­.the slave seal was gone!!


    A pleased look of triumph etched itself on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face at his achievement. But then when he looked a little deeper, the smirk was wiped from his face to be replaced with a look of shock.


    ¡°Wha¡ªwhat¡¯s this?!¡±


    All of the air deflated from Bai Yunfei as he stared at the snake on his palm in surprise and sorrow.


    While the slave seal was gone and the snake was no longer a soulbeast puppet, something else had disappeared along with the slave seal.


    That something else was¡­.the soul!!


    Though the soulgem was still inside the snake, there was no ¡®soul¡¯ in it!


    The snake was without sentience and stood still like a statue. Soulforce was still inside the snake¡¯s body, but it was like stagnant water.


    The soul was clearly gone.


    The strange thing was that its body was still ¡®alive¡¯ in a sense with its blood still flowing through it.


    A live but soulless body. In other words, the snake was a vegetable. Or¡­.perhaps it¡¯d be better to say it was a ¡®vegetable snake¡¯.


    But in every other sense but the truest, the snake was ¡®dead¡¯.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Was this experiment¡­.a failure?¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked forlorned as he stared disappointedly at the snake.


    Suddenly, the snake reared its head up to swivel its eyes at him and snake out its tongue.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart filled with glee for a moment before he deflated again. ¡°Xiao Qi, stop playing around.¡± He sighed.


    Xiao Qi had been using the Beast Taming Ring to pretend the snake was alive and with a soul.


    The snake shook its head and slithered down from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm to reach Xiao Qi¡¯s side. ¡°Yunfei,¡± Xiao Qi chirped, ¡°don¡¯t feel bad. The soul might be gone, but so is the slave seal at least. It¡¯s not blown up either, so it¡¯s not a complete failure.¡±


    ¡°Even if the soulgem didn¡¯t explode, the soul¡¯s gone. How can that be a success¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head with a bitter smile. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t feel too beat up with just one failure. I didn¡¯t expect to succeed the first time.¡±


    Shaking the disappointment from his head, Bai Yunfei looked back to the snake on the ground. It was to his surprise that using the Beast Taming Ring was still effective on it.


    Even without a soul, the soulbeast could still be controlled?


    How strange. Soulforce still existed in the snake¡¯s body even without a soul there to produce anymore.


    Then¡­.


    Did that mean the snake right now was an empty shell filled with the soulforce of a late-stage class three soulbeast?


    Thinking back to what he did to the snake, Bai Yunfei came to a conjecture of sorts. Though the slave seal was gone, the soulgem had been prevented from blowing up. But under the tremendous pressure, the soul within the soulgem was unable to handle it and perished.


    ¡°Was it because its soul was too weak? Or...was my soulforce not strong enough to protect it¡­.?¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought. He felt like he was back at square one with the fact that his strength wasn¡¯t fully there yet. He could at the very least have Xiao Qi help him prevent the soulgem from blowing up though.


    But if the slave seal of a late-stage class three soulbeast was this hard to unravel, what did that mean for stronger soulbeast puppets? That perfect success with the lightningfire wolf was surely a stroke of good fortune then.


    After a lengthy period of silence, Bai Yunfei decided to take the Beast Taming Ring off the snake and back into his hand.


    The moment the Beast Taming Ring was detached from the snake, it immediately went stiff like a statue.


    As he was preparing to wrap up his experimentation and put away the small snake, a bubble of his soulsense wrapped around the snake for a moment before Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°Eh?? You can do that?!¡±

 Chapter 616: Conflict in the Teahouse (Third)

    When Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense enveloped the snake¡¯s body, Bai Yunfei suddenly realized that the snake was moving in accordance to how he shifted his soulsense inside it!


    The snake wasn¡¯t moving by itself, but rather by¡­


    ¡°I can control it this way?!¡±


    Both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up.


    He could¡­control the little snake still!


    Just by relying on his soulsense rather than the Beast Taming Ring, Bai Yunfei could control the snake!


    ¡°Weird¡­this is really weird¡ªhow does this work?¡± Bai Yunfei brought the snake to his palm for a closer look. He looked around the inside of the snake again with his soulsense, but he found nothing out of the ordinary.


    The snake was still a shell without a soul. But¡­did the addition of his soulsense turn into a replacement for the soul?


    Did that work?


    Having never heard of a case like this, Bai Yunfei was deeply curious. Was this yet another special ¡®exception¡¯?


    What happened to this snake was a rather rare event. Its soul was gone, but the body still lived on. In most regular situations, like when a Soul King used a soul attack onto a weaker opponent, the soul attack would extinguish the soul, and the body would die straight afterwards. But in this case, the snake¡¯s body was still alive.


    As hard as he might, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t figure out the reason behind this case and gave up for the timebeing. Though he could control the snake, it was still far too weak and had thus no meaning to even bother. No longer caring, Bai Yunfei stored the snake away and laidback on his bed to rest.


    Studying the slave seal, as Bai Yunfei thought, wouldn¡¯t be an easy matter. It¡¯d be best if he took this one step at a time¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Early morning the next day, Bai Yunfei stepped into the Soothing Heart for his morning tea.


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®sold out¡¯?! I wanted some tea and you say there¡¯s none left?! Have you not realized a regular patron like myself comes every second day of the week to drink some tea? How have you not prepared for such a case?!¡±


    A loud and grumpy voice assaulted the ears of Bai Yunfei in the first moments of him stepping in the Soothing Heart, causing him to pause.


    ¡°My humblest of apologies, lord Xu, but we are truly sold out on Soul Consolidating Tea. The Soothing Heart has announced since three days ago that we will be be out of it starting today. Please forgive us for this inconvenience. If you would like, this humble servant can offer some high-grade Soothing Tea, it is not a bad choice.¡±


    An apologetic but calm voice spoke out in response to this rowdy patron. It was the shop assistant of the Soothing Heart, Tian Yishu.


    Now that Bai Yunfei was in the hall, he could see just who was making all that commotion. Standing at the front counter were three men; two of them were guards, and the young man in the middle wore a richly robe, marking him to be someone of importance. Right now, his face was twisted in anger at the suggestion he was given. ¡°¡®Not a bad choice¡¯?! Is that not more water than it is tea? Your patron wants some Soul Consolidating Tea, so hurry up and find a way to serve me some!¡±


    All of the other patrons in the teahouse looked up at the belligerent man in surprise. But when they saw who it was, they quickly turned back around as if afraid of starting anything with this man.


    Even Tian Yishu had a crinkled look on his face, but even he made sure to still speak politely to the man. ¡°Lord Xu, please forgive this small teahouse. We¡¯ve already stopped selling Soul Consolidating Tea for the meanwhile. If you still wish to drink some, please come back in a month.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The man¡¯s eyes flew wide open on his face. ¡°You want me to wait a month?! Preposterous! Your patron here is feeling unwell, and so I demand to drink some Soul Consolidating Tea! I don¡¯t care what reason you have, hurry up and serve me some or else I¡¯ll have your teahouse shut down!¡±


    This time, Tian Yishu¡¯s eyes had a cold gleam in them. The smile faded away as his face hardened like steel. There had never been anyone that threatened the Soothing Heart before. It was a place for the unwell soul cultivators to come and recuperate in peace. So never had a person so unreasonable and brutish like this lord come threaten that peace.


    ¡°Our apologies, but we¡¯ve no Soul Consolidating Tea to sell to you. Please come back another day.¡±


    ¡°You¡ª¡±


    ¡°Brother Tian, what¡¯s going on?¡± A voice suddenly interrupted the conversation as Bai Yunfei came striding in to stand next to Tian Yishu.


    Tian Yishu smiled at Bai Yunfei¡¯s arrival. ¡°Haha, Yunfei, welcome.¡±


    He explained the situation to him as an aside, ¡°This is lord Xu. He came here to drink some Soul Consolidating Tea but became unhappy when he found out we had none left to sell¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°No more Soul Consolidating Tea? Then what will I¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, relax. There¡¯s of course some for you. Please head up to the second floor and I¡¯ll have some boiled for you.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s good. Thank you brother Tian.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. He was a little panicked when he heard there was none left. But for someone like him, it seemed there was still a little bit left. With a nod, Bai Yunfei headed up to the second floor.


    The young man stood there as Bai Yunfei and Tian Yishu spoke with one another, a look of bewilderment on his face. The fact that he was being so blatantly ignored was humiliating, and if he was hearing things right, then¡­


    ¡°Hold on!!!¡±


    The man exploded in anger to stop Bai Yunfei. ¡°Kid, did you or did you not just say you wanted some Soul Consolidating Tea as well?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei lazily glanced over to him with a single eye, ¡°And why do you care?¡±


    Furious, the man gave a brilliant glare at Tian Yishu next to Bai Yunfei. ¡°You said there was none left, and yet you¡¯re serving this kid here some Soul Consolidating Tea as soon as he asked, are you f*cking with me?!¡±


    Unable to bear with the man any longer, Tian Yishu snapped back, ¡°He ordered his tea in advance. Aside from him, the Soothing Heart has no more Soul Consolidating Tea left to sell on orders of the proprietor. I am not lying to you, so please stop making trouble out of nothing.¡±


    ¡°In advance?!¡± The young man looked even more incensed, ¡°I tried to order in advance last time and you said your teahouse didn¡¯t accept that¡ªand now you¡¯re telling me this kid here ordered in advance? How is that anything but a lie?! How dare you, do you really want your teahouse shut down? Do you not know who I am?!¡±


    Tian Yishu was starting to grow angry as well. ¡°There isn¡¯t anyone that doesn¡¯t know your name, lord Xu. But please do not take this teahouse to be any ordinary one. We¡ª¡±


    ¡°Pah!! A teahouse is a teahouse, yours is merely just one that happens to get my patronage. What else is there to it?! Let me tell you, my patience has its limits. You serve me some Soul Consolidating Tea or I¡¯ll flatten your little teahouse!¡±


    Tian Yishu looked a little taken aback, but his lips curled into a sneer. There had never been someone that dared speak like that to them ever since they opened up the teahouse¡­


    ¡°Sir. This is a teahouse, please follow the rules of this establishment. If you wish to drink some Soul Consolidating Tea, then¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei stepped in next to help mediate for Tian Yishu, but before he could even finish the rest of his sentence, the man snapped at him, ¡°What kind of f*cking mother did you have? Stay out of this! I¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The teahouse descended into silence at the young man¡¯s words. Even the young man himself stopped himself halfway through to stare oddly at Bai Yunfei.


    The calm and polite expression was gone from Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. In their place, a bone-chilling aura exuded from him.


    ¡°Apologize¡­.or I¡¯ll break your jaw instead.¡±

 Chapter 617: Son of A Minister (Fourth)

    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t wanted to pay any attention to this second generational whatever and instead wanted to drink his tea in peace. But then the words he said angered Bai Yunfei.


    Say what you want about him, but Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t accept any disrespect to his mother!!


    ¡°Apologize¡­or I¡¯ll break your jaw instead.¡±


    Bai Yunfei spoke, a chill in his voice.


    The young man was immediately spooked. His heart felt like it was being grasped by a cold hand, though he managed to look furiously back at Bai Yunfei¡ªwould he really let himself be ¡®intimidated¡¯ by this nameless wonder?!


    From the looks of things, this person was a weak Soul Ancestor with holes everywhere in his defenses. It¡¯d just take a single punch for the man to be knocked down. He was a mid-stage Soul Exalt, there was no need for him to take this humiliation from someone weaker than him.


    ¡°Kid, what did you say?!¡± The man roared at Bai Yunfei in anger. ¡°Kid, are you tired of living?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to repeat myself. I¡¯ll give you ten seconds to apologize or you¡¯ll bear the consequences of your words.¡±


    The sudden switch in Bai Yunfei¡¯s attitude startled even Tian Yishu, he had never seen Bai Yunfei in such anger before. Hurrying to him, he whispered, ¡°Yunfei, this is the fourth son of the Minister of the Left. His name is Xu Sihan and is famous for his hedonistic ways here in the Capital. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to anger him¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei held a hand up to stop him, ¡°Thank you for the warning, but I¡¯ve confidence in my ability.¡±


    The son of one of the empire¡¯s ministers? No wonder he was acting so arrogantly.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t care. Anyone that disrespects his mother would find themselves eating their words.


    Without a care for the status of the man, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°You¡¯ve five seconds to apologize still.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Xu Sihan stared incredulously at Bai Yunfei. He was still acting that arrogantly?!


    Under the wiltering glare of Bai Yunfei, Xu Sihan exploded with anger. Blue light came out from his body as he flew forward to punch Bai Yunfei with a mighty right punch!


    ¡°I¡¯ll apologize to your mom, die!!¡±


    Xu Sihan was a hedonist that was used to getting his way in the Capital. Very few people dared offend him in his day-to-day affair. He had heard about this teahouse from a friend and was astonished to feel the effects of Soul Consolidating Tea the first time he had it. He also heard many upper-class soul cultivators enjoyed coming here for drink, and so as a way to flaunt his status, he began to come here at ¡®fixed¡¯ intervals to drink the high quality tea the Soothing Heart offered.


    So the fact that there was no Soul Consolidating Tea for him today made him feel extremely moody. And now that there was an impudent kid who had ¡®booked¡¯ some Soul Consolidating Tea made him feel like he had been played for a fool. The kid fueled his anger even more by daring to challenge his station, and that was why he decided to attack the kid out of his anger.


    He had never seen this kid before, and there didn¡¯t seem to be anybody guarding him. His dress marked him as a commoner as well, so he shouldn¡¯t have any status to speak of.


    This meant Xu Sihan could ¡®teach¡¯ this person a lesson by beating him half to death and face no repercussions for it. An easy matter to start and resolve.


    Tian Yishan¡¯s eyes narrowed at the actions of Xu Sihan. His previous strength of a Soul Ancestor began to rise rapidly as he prepared to protect Bai Yunfei, but then Bai Yunfei took action first.


    Xu Sihan¡¯s first plan of action was to simply land a punch onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm and break it. But with how Bai Yunfei¡¯s physical strength was still sorely lacking so he didn¡¯t want to take on the blow head-on. Or rather, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even have to take on the blow himself.


    The Violet Soul Ring pulsated with light once as the Cataclysmic Seal popped out from it. Without any flash of light, the brick flew out at Xu Sihan.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The brick and Xu Sihan¡¯s fist made contact with each other with a loud bang, but the results shocked everyone there.


    As if struck by a thousand pound weight, Xu Sihan was sent flying back!


    The +13 additional effect of the brick, hurl!


    Hurled over several tables and sent crashing into another two, Xu Sihan fell to the ground and remained there motionless as if stunned.


    ¡°Young master!!¡±


    The two guards leapt to his side in an instant. One made sure Xu Sihan was okay while the other flew at Bai Yunfei with his right hand to grab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat.


    This man was a mid-stage Soul Exalt.


    But strength like that wasn¡¯t much in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. The Cataclysmic Seal let loose a burst of elemental fire before slamming itself into the mid-stage Soul Exalt¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Like Xu Sihan, the Soul Exalt was flung backwards. But unlike Xu Sihan, this time was simply due to the overwhelming strength of the brick.


    The other guard had already lifted Xu Sihan to his feet when his fellow guard flew at him. Startled, the guard raised his elemental water infused hands to catch the other man.


    Bai Yunfei ignored him to look at the now standing Xu Sihan.


    ¡°Bastard!!¡± Xu Sihan¡¯s face grew red as he pointed a finger at him, ¡°Punish him! Teach him a lesson!¡±


    Given their orders, the two guards reorientated themselves to then leap at Bai Yunfei again.


    ¡°Scram!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei yelled at the two, his Charm Bracelet glowing with light to target the two soldiers with a strange light. And then¡­the two guards came to an immediate stop!


    At the same time, a red streak of light flitted past the two guards to get behind them!


    Even Xu Sihan had been briefly stopped by Bai Yunfei¡¯s word. By the time he regained his bearings, the red streak of light was already in front of him!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a cracking sound as the red brick slammed straight across his face.


    Once again, his body was sent flying out the teahouse and right in front of the legs of a person about to walk into it.

 Chapter 618: A Fight (Fifth)

    The newcomer was startled to see someone come flying at his feet. Blinking a few times when he recognized the face of Xu Sihan, he looked to Bai Yunfei next.


    ¡°Xu Sihan? Bai Yunfei?¡± He muttered in surprise.


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    Blood was flowing from Xu Sihan¡¯s face. His nose was caved in and his lips were cracked in multiple places for blood to spill out. His eyes were wide open with fear, but the orange light surrounding those areas quickly staunched the wounds and returned to normal.


    Xu Sihan was only just picking himself up when he heard the voice. At the same time as Bai Yunfei, the two of them turned around to look at who it was.


    ¡°Xiao Nan?!¡±


    One of the two people cried out when they saw who it was, but it wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei who cried out, but Xu Sihan.


    Bai Yunfei came to realize him too as the instructor he had a decent opinion of, Xiao Nan.


    So he was acquainted with Xu Sihan?


    Xiao Nan gave a quick look at Xu Sihan and then to Bai Yunfei. Although he didn¡¯t understand what was going on between the two, it was obvious that there was a conflict happening between them. Quickly standing between Bai Yunfei and Xu Sihan, Xiao Nan held his hands up to stop the two. ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    ¡°Big brother Xiao Nan?¡± Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°You know him?¡±


    Xu Sihan spoke far more angrily. ¡°Xiao Nan!! Stand clear¡ªI¡¯m going to kill him!!¡±


    Xiao Nan gave the man a cold look, ¡°Xu Sihan, if you keep going on with your hedonistic ways and claiming to kill him or her, you¡¯ll meet your doom one of these days!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Nan!! Don¡¯t speak to me in such a way! You might be the husband of my cousin, but that doesn¡¯t make you invincible! Mind your business or I¡¯ll teach you a lesson too!¡± Xu Sihan cried out in a demeanor that seemed to broker no exceptions.


    ¡°You¡­.¡± Xiao Nan¡¯s face darkened with disgust. ¡°Even if you¡¯re the cousin of little Xiao Jie, I¡¯m far too lazy to bother with you. I¡¯m just warning you to calm yourself or else you¡¯ll end up biting off more than you can chew.¡±


    But Xu Sihan spat out in disdain at his words, ¡°Pah! Spare me your ¡®holier-than-thou¡¯ theatrics! How amazing can your little friend be? It¡¯s impossible to save him! I¡¯ll make sure to instill in him just how terrifying I can be!!¡±


    Xiao Nan sighed to himself at those words. Of the four sons of Minister Xu, the first three were all fine and mighty gentlemen. So why was it that the fourth one was so unbearable?


    Bai Yunfei was experiencing some strong emotions of his own. Xiao Nan was actually related to Xu Sihan in some way?!


    Seeing that Xiao Nan was trying to mediate this, Bai Yunfei gave Xu Sihan a final look. The man had already been taught some degree, so Bai Yunfei decided to call it there. ¡°Since you know him, big brother Xiao Nan, I¡¯ll call it there.¡±


    But Xu Sihan only looked angry at that, ¡°Calling it there?! Kid, do you think you have a say whether we¡¯re done or not?! You dare attack me¡ªI¡¯m telling you, you¡¯re finished! I¡¯ll¡ª¡±


    ¡°Xu Sihan!!¡±


    Xiao Nan barked out a furious command, shutting up Xu Sihan almost immediately. ¡°Don¡¯t humiliate the house of Xu any longer or else I¡¯ll teach you a lesson in your cousin¡¯s place! Leave at once!!¡±


    ¡°You¡ªI¡¯ll¡­!¡± Xu Sihan wanted to speak out against Xiao Nan, but he found himself lacking the words to offer up any resistance. A flash of fear spread across his face for a moment before he gave one final glower at Bai Yunfei. ¡°We¡¯re leaving!!¡± He spat to his two guards.


    Though he was giving up, anyone could tell that giving up was the very last thing he really wanted to do.


    Inside to himself, Xiao Nan was thinking that it served Wu Sihan right for him being embarrassed like this. In fact, Xiao Nan was starting to regret that he stepped in to mediate. He should¡¯ve let Bai Yunfei enforce his lesson before he tried to mediate.


    Xiao Nan spun around to apologize to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯ve let you see something embarrassing. He¡¯s nothing but an unworthy hedonist. I hope you won¡¯t take this matter to heart.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°No need to apologize on his behalf, big brother Xiao Nan. I¡¯m not one to take grudges, as long as he doesn¡¯t bother me anymore, I won¡¯t do a thing.¡±


    The matter with Xu Sihan was already thrown far back to the far recesses of his mind. ¡°Big brother Xiao Nan, are you here to drink some time too? I¡¯ve never seen you here before.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I come every so often, but generally in the noon. I happened to come by a little earlier today, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke. Since he himself came every morning and night, there¡¯d be no way he¡¯d see Xiao Nan who came in the afternoon.


    The fact that Bai Yunfei was here to drink some Soul Consolidating Tea was a little surprising, but Xiao Nan took it in stride. He and Bai Yunfei both walked up to the second floor so that the two of them could have their own tea and talk.


    ¡­¡­


    The two of them left the teahouse an hour later.


    ¡°Haha, how amazing the Soul Consolidating Tea is! Thanks to your generosity, Yunfei, I¡¯ve experienced just how good it is for myself, haha!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much, big brother Xiao Nan. The Soothing Heart is a very special teahouse, and its owner, uncle Dan Teng, is a great person. Just drinking some Soul Consolidating Tea has done wonders for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You happen to know the proprietor? I¡¯ve heard he¡¯s quite the mysterious person.¡±


    ¡°Mysterious? I didn¡¯t quite think so. He¡¯s unfortunately not here today, but maybe in the future you¡¯ll meet him. He¡¯s a really decent person.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. In any case, I have to get back to the academy, so we¡¯ll be splitting ways here. Please come by my house in the future, I¡¯ll show you the amazing cooking of my wife. It¡¯s quite a delicious meal.¡±


    ¡°Really? Haha, alright. I¡¯ll be your guest in the future then, big brother Xiao Nan!¡±


    The two parted ways at the teahouse with Xiao Nan heading for the academy and Bai Yunfei towards his own home.


    ¡°Yunfei, I know you¡¯re here, haha. Did you come and drink yet another high-grade primal stone away?¡±


    Just a few steps later, another person came forward to greet Bai Yunfei. It was Zheng Kai.


    ¡°Ah, yeah, I just came from the Soothing Heart.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded his head. ¡°Ah¡¯Zheng, you seem to be pretty happy? Did something good happen to you?¡±


    Zheng Kai smiled. ¡°Haha, you could tell? Something good did happen actually. I saw the fourth son of Minister Xu on my way here. I don¡¯t know what happened, but his face looked as if it was slapped, haha!! I nearly busted a gut laughing, that guy¡¯s always an pompous ass. I always wanted to teach him a lesson, but this works, haha¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Anyways, did something happen if you came to find me so early?¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s smile grew even wider. ¡°Ah, I nearly forgot about it. Yunfei, come with me, there¡¯s something good to watch.¡±


    ¡°What are you up to now?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to fight!¡± Zheng Kai laughed merrily.

 Chapter 619: A Consentual Fight (Sixth)

    ¡°A fight?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised by Zheng Kai¡¯s answer.


    ¡°Hehe, exactly. Brother Huang and the others will be there. How about it, interested?¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t respond.


    He didn¡¯t understand it, what was so ¡®interesting¡¯ about that?


    ¡°Even Huang Bin is going to be fighting?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°Who are you fighting, exactly?¡±


    ¡°No idea.¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei said nothing.


    ¡°What I mean is that we don¡¯t know who those people are. They¡¯re new faces, but probably people with some semblance of status. They¡¯re probably new to the Capital and are trying to make it their stomping grounds by disregarding us Four Lords of the Capital. They even challenged brother Chen so we¡¯re going there as backup. They¡¯ve picked today to be the day to fight.¡±


    ¡°Chen Qiantan? What happened to him?¡±


    ¡°Ah, he¡¯s fine. It was just yesterday night we were at South Twelfth Street. You weren¡¯t there, but there was a ¡®drinking party¡¯ that brother Chen wanted to go to, so we went with him. There was some trouble there, but with so many experts and such there, both parties decided to settle it in another place with less people today.¡±


    He chuckled. ¡°So? How do you feel about it now?¡± Zheng Kai asked.


    ¡°You all must be really bored.¡± Replied Bai Yunfei in earnest.


    Was that not the case? The sons of wealthy families were all very strong soul cultivators in their own right. The fact that they were duking it out with a bunch of hedonist was surely a pain to everyone involved.


    ¡°Bored?¡± Zheng Kai cried out as if hurt by such an accusation.


    ¡°We are, actually. We¡¯re always so bored, so we have to find some sort of fun thing to do.¡± Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°There¡¯s no fun in spending every day training!¡±


    ¡°....¡± Bai Yunfei was speechless, ¡°Are you making fun of me?!¡±


    ¡°Haha! I can see that you¡¯re doing pretty well now, so I decided to come seek you out. Don¡¯t stay cooped up in your room all the time, taking in the sights isn¡¯t all that bad.¡±


    If Bai Yunfei had to think about it, he was startled when he realized just when the last time he went out and did something was.All of his time was practically spent recuperating and upgrading.


    ¡°So? Want to come?¡± Zheng Kai asked again.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Bai Yunfei relented. ¡°I¡¯ll come watch with you. I don¡¯t have anything to do anyways.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Together with Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei walked down North Street to gather with Huang Bin and the others at the Hundred Aliments. It was there that Bai Yunfei heard the full story. The ¡®agreed fight¡¯ between the two parties was between the four of them and a few rather important guests of the ¡®King of Troublemakers¡¯ in the Capital. Many of these guests were outsiders of the Capital and people that usually ran amok in their own respective cities with unrelenting arrogance. This time, they didn¡¯t even bother to take note of the ¡®Four Lords of the Capital¡¯ and challenged them to a fight at once.


    And the one who was the ¡®King of Troublemakers¡¯ turned out to be the third son of the Minister of the Left, someone from the house of Cheng.


    Bai Yunfei found himself rather speechless. He¡¯d be meeting with the sons of both ministers today, and both of these sons were problem children. Did every single family in the Capital have a hedonist as a child?


    ¡°Won¡¯t there¡­be any problems if you fight? What if an accident happens?¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but ask Zheng Kai as the five of them talked about the upcoming fight.


    ¡°An accident? What kind of accident?¡± Zheng Kai asked. ¡°It¡¯s just a fight, not a battle to the death, what kind of accident would even happen? We normally do stuff like this anyways. Relax. We¡¯re all confident in our strengths, and neither are we going to cripple them.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei sweatdropped. Was a gang fight like this the secret technique of every young master in the Capital?? He simply couldn¡¯t comprehend this.


    Aside from Jin Manlou, the other three were all late-stage Soul Exalts. What kind of fight would it be then for them? From what Bai Yunfei later found out, fights like this weren¡¯t at all rare in the circles of the young men of the Capital. There were a few guidelines on how these fights should be fought, such as no fatal strikes or relying on the strength of their family. A scuffle between the younger generation should stay as such. Everyone that fought in these fights had confidence in their strength and would rarely bother to have the elders of their family try to help them. In any case, the elders tended to turn a lazy eye towards what the younger generation did.


    In a way, these fights tended to be a learning experience for most. As soul cultivators, the best way to learn was through experience, and experience could be easily had through an actual fight. And when they lived peaceful lives in the Capital, how could they get that experience in battles to the death? Thus, fights were established as a way to ¡®gain experience¡¯, and according to what Zheng Kai said, his strong and robust body was tempered as a result of fighting through so many years of fights.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was thoroughly defeated by Zheng Kai¡¯s logic. He¡¯d never understand the lifestyles of the young masters of the Capital.


    ¡°Who are the people you¡¯re fighting then?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll find out in a moment. They¡¯re pretty strong I¡¯m sure though. I saw a few of them were late-stage Soul Exalts.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯d you pick to fight at?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a villa to the south that¡¯s both big and has few people coming and going. Plenty of people choose there to fight.¡±


    ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°This afternoon at four. It¡¯s a little early, so let¡¯s eat first and slowly make our way afterwards.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The five of them ate a nice afternoon meal before making their way over to the established battleground.


    In the southern parts of the Capital stood a place many called the ¡®Villa Park¡¯. Bai Yunfei could see a mountain forest a little far away from the villa, and a large mountain standing behind the large villa.


    The guards standing near the villa seemed to know Zheng Kai, as none of them seemed to stop him as he lead the group through the pathway on the right towards a small lake.


    A small lake about five hundred meters in circumference met the gaze of the five with a decently large piece of land to the right. A bunch of people was already gathered there.


    At a glance, there were over ten people gathered here, each one of them wearing rich robes and having auras of considerable strength. Their soulforce had also marked them all to be someone strong.


    When they felt Zheng Kai and the others arrive, they all perked their heads up to look at them.


    A thin-lipped and pointy-chinned young man took the initiative to speak to them when the group drew near. ¡°Lord Huang, lord Zheng, your arrival is a little late.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s lip curled upwards, ¡°We came at the scheduled time, didn¡¯t we? Eager for a beating? Cheng Xin, I heard that you made some new breakthroughs with your Thirty-six Flashes, care to try it out against me?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Cheng Xin forced a smile to his lips. ¡°Surely you jest, lord Zheng. My Thirty-six Flashes is nothing compared to your teleportation. I was bedridden for an entire week the last time we fought. I couldn¡¯t possibly want a rematch. My friends here have heard of the reputation of the Four Lords of the Capital and wish to compare notes with you. I am only the one that referred them to you, that¡¯s all, haha¡­¡±


    He was smiling, but Bai Yunfei was perceptive enough to see a very quick gleam of hatred flash across his face before he turned to the people behind him. ¡°We didn¡¯t seem to introduce everyone well enough yesterday. Allow me to introduce you all then, these four gentleman are the ¡®famous¡¯ Four Lords of the Capital. This is Huang Bin, this is Zheng Kai, this is¡­¡±


    The third person he started to introduce was Bai Yunfei, someone he didn¡¯t know. ¡°Eh? And you are¡­?¡±


    ¡°A friend.¡± Zheng Kai spoke up. ¡°He came to watch only. He¡¯s not fighting.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Cheng Xin nodded in disinterest. ¡°Then let me introduce the others. These are the heroic figures from the Black River Province. They are¡­¡±


    A tall-standing young man in purple strode forward to clasp his hands together and bow towards Zheng Kai and the others. ¡°The Four Lords of the Capital is well known to us. It is our honor to meet you four today. This one is a student of the Wind Lightning School, Du Shaokong!¡±

 Chapter 620: Chen Qiantans Drunken Fist (Seventh)

    ¡°Wind Lightning School?!¡±


    Huang Bin and the others spoke aloud.


    They were from the Wind Lightning School?


    Bai Yunfei was surprised as well. Didn¡¯t Zheng Kai say they were the children of an influential family? How did it become the students of one of the Ten Great Schools?


    Cheng Xin spoke up to continue his introduction, ¡°Brother Du is an outstanding student of the Wind Lightning School. He¡¯s also the heir to the house of Du in Copsol City.¡±


    The Wind Lightning School was based in the Black River Province, that much Bai Yunfei knew. He didn¡¯t know who the house of Du was in Copsol City, but surely they had to be a relatively major house, and that much could be inferred with Du Shaokong being a late-stage Soul Exalt.


    ¡°A student of the Wind Lightning School¡­.¡± Huang Bin tasted the words before returning the bow. ¡°A pleasure.¡±


    There were another four males and three females after Du Shaokong. Of the seven, two of them were late-stage Soul Exalts and the rest were either early-stage or mid-stage Soul Exalts. From each of their introductions, they were all young prodigies from Copsol City.


    They all looked like they were in their twenties, some of them maybe being a bit older but still every bit a strong fighter compared to the younger ones and potentially even the prodigies in the Capital.


    Every single one of them looked proud of their own strength and not at all afraid of the status of Huang Bin and the others. In fact, some of them looked like they were raring to go.


    They were eager to win just as anyone else would be. These people looked both rich and powerful.


    Of the entire group, Zhao Jianzhang looked like he had a bone to pick with Chen Qiantian the very moment they saw one another. When he saw one of his female companions stare a little in admiration at Chen Qiantan, the look of hostility in him grew even more.


    It looked more like a social gathering with how everyone was talking and chatting with one another, though Cheng Xin had a very dark look in his eyes every once in a while. Zhao Jianzhang didn¡¯t quite seem to like this development either, much to his secret enjoyment, and it didn¡¯t take long before he leapt into the middle of the crowd to address Chen Qiantan. ¡°We¡¯re not finished yet from yesterday night, Chen Qiantan! I challenge you, let¡¯s see who¡¯s stronger than one another!¡±


    In Chen Qiantan¡¯s hand was a jug of wine in which he took a swig from. Wiping the excess wine from the corners of his lips, he spoke, ¡°I was actually feeling the same way. Meeting someone who¡¯s strong in close combat like you is rare. I¡¯d have ask for a match even if you didn¡¯t challenge me.¡±


    Though the two were ready to fight, they both had a contrasting look on their faces. Zhao Jianzhang looked like he wanted to vent off his anger while Chen Qiantan simply wanted to enjoy a good fight and compare notes.


    The rest of the crowd backed off. Now that both persons were ready to fight, the audience gave them both a hundred meters of empty space for them to fight in. Standing ten meters away from Chen Qiantan, Zhao Jianzhang held both of his hands forward and had his soulforce circulate slowly in his body. Chen Qiantan simply took another swig of his wine, his eyes starting to give away a hint of intoxication.


    Bai Yunfei was a little surprised. Was this really a fight? Why did it turn into a duel?


    But that was neither here nor there. He was actually extremely interested in Chen Qiantan¡¯s ¡®Drunken Fist¡¯, the martial art that gave him the nickname of being undefeatable in close combat. To have the opportunity to observe that was a very good thing.


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    Zhao Jianzhang cried out after ten seconds of silence. The orange light around his body swirled to his hands as if forming a protective layering over them like gloves. At the same time, elemental earth covered his body like armor.


    Zhao Jianzhang was a earth-type late-stage Soul Exalt.


    In the blink of an eye, Zhao Jianzhang disappeared as he pushed off in a flurry of dust to leap towards Chen Qiantan.


    His arms were crossed over one another like an ¡®X¡¯ with his fingers bent inwards to attack Chen Qiantan¡¯s heart.


    His actions were neither sloppy in its initialization or superfluous in motion. On the inverse, he was very fast and precise. With all the wind blowing rapidly at his actions, anyone could tell this one move of his was very strong.


    Chen Qiantan had only been taking one final swig of his wine when Zhao Jianzhang approached. The wine gourd disappeared as his legs ¡®gave out¡¯ beneath him. Giving a half collapsing stagger to the side, Chen Qiantan managed to just barely dodge Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s attack.


    Then he bent over with his arms spread out as if hugging a huge jar of wine. Swinging to the side, his arms moved to slam into whatever it was in his path.


    And it just so happened that Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s waist was in his path!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    It wa a mighty blow and had Zhao Jianzhang stumbling three steps away with a grunt. Chen Qiantan himself was sent stumbling back two steps in a very clearly drunk matter before he reorientated himself. His thumb and forefinger linked with one another before he came after Zhao Jianzhang again in a flash of green light.


    His fingers traveled for Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s throat. Crossing his arms over that area, Zhao Jianzhang tried to protect himself from Chen Qiantan¡¯s attack.


    But then Chen Qiantan ¡®stumbled¡¯, falling face first forwards for the attack to instead aim down at the abdomen of Zhao Jianzhang instead of his throat!


    ¡°Hngh!¡±


    A grunt of pain escaped Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s mouth as he took yet another step back. Despite the armor of elemental earth he wore, there was still a dent from where Chen Qiantan¡¯s hand had attacked. And judging by how large the dent was, Chen Qiantan¡¯s attack had been considerably strong.


    Chen Qiantan flopped onto the ground after he stumbled. But like a carp, he flipped back up onto his feet. Smiling at the pained look on Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s face, he shot forward like an arrow for a follow-up!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    Blow by blow, orange light mixed with green light as the two combatants exchanged both hand and leg against one another. Neither of the two were ever more than two steps away from one another, and neither of the two ever took out a weapon to fight. Each blow had light sloughing off their appropriate body parts and kicked up dust and stone. Sometimes, one of their blows would create a crater.


    The tempo of Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s increased with each blow, but he could never land a solid hit on the ¡®erratic¡¯ moving Chen Qiantan. Like a drunkard, Chen Qiantan was moving in ways completely unexpecting to his opponent. And sometimes, he¡¯d ¡®waken¡¯ from his drunken stupor to attack Zhao Jianzhang viciously.


    For ten whole minutes, the battle progressed in this manner¡­.


    And Chen Qiantan was winning!!


    Despite being of the same level of strength, anyone could see that it was Chen Qiantan who had the upper hand!!


    Bai Yunfei had to admit he was shocked by this level of display. Even a close combat match like this could be had! In his eyes, the footwork of Chen Qiantan was better than his own when he used the Wave Treading Steps. It was¡­.even more refined than it even!


    Every time he struck back, his hands moved in miraculous and strange ways that Bai Yunfei could only sigh in admiration for.


    ¡°So this is the Drunken Fist of the house of Chen? It¡¯s amazing¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed to himself. There was an explosion of orange light as Zhao Jianzhang finally decided to break the mold and unleash his strongest move!

 Chapter 621: Making Friends Through Battle (Eighth)

    The elemental earth around Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s body exploded in intensity by several degrees of magnitude. With a heavy slam of his foot, Zhao Jianzhang sent a tremor through the ground hard enough to allow even the audience to experience it!


    Chen Qiantan was the closest one to the epicenter of the tremors and so he found himself unsteady for a small moment of time.


    Zhao Jianzhang leapt up into the air like a graceful athlete. His arms were spread out and his legs snapped together as he started to rotate in the air. Picking up speed, he quickly turned into a high-speed drill to come flying down onto Chen Qiantan!


    A glimmer of light entered Chen Qiantan¡¯s eyes, for once he didn¡¯t look as drunk as he did before and looked instead rather happy. Grunting, his entire body was washed with green light as elemental wind coiled around his arms much like how Bai Yunfei would when he was about to unleash the Dual Dragon Burst. But rather than have the elemental wind unleash from his hands, Chen Qiantan had them stick around them as he made a quick back flip.


    Zhao Jianzhang was quick on the uptake and closed the distance quickly. Chen Qiantan held his fists up in a boxing stance before immediately launching in a hurricane-like blow of punches one after another!


    His fists looked like they were rather spring-like due to how his hands were moving so strangely fast. But each blow was trying to attack at the strong point of Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s attack!


    But Zhao Jianzhang didn¡¯t seem to slow down. All Chen Qiantan managed to do in his back flip and hurricane like blows was offload Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s drill move a bit to the side!


    The ¡®drill¡¯ glowed intensely orange with light before sending Chen Qiantan back twenty meters. Grunting a bit, Chen Qiantan¡¯s body flashed with green light before he spun his arms around!


    His arms glowed green with light as they spun around him. But rather than spin in the same direction as Zhao Jianzhang, they spun in the complete opposite direction to counteract it!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a banging sound as the space in front of Chen Qiantan exploded with light. Orange and green light swallowed the entire area, preventing anyone from seeing what was going on.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Another bang was heard from within the light along with a yelp of pain. From there, a person could be seen flying out from the light before crashing to the ground. It took the man another ten meters and a huge ditch from when he landed on the ground before he could orientate himself.


    This person was Zhao Jianzhang!


    His face was red and his right hand was holding onto his abdomen. His face was twisted in the utmost pain. The elemental earth around his body was more than half than its original strength, and it didn¡¯t look like he was able to stand!


    He was staring at Chen Qiantan in the light with an awestruck expression.


    The sound of footsteps could be heard from within as Chen Qiantan slowly made his way out from the light. In his hand was a wine gourd somehow. Taking another swig, he smiled at Zhao Jianzhang. ¡°I haven¡¯t fought like that in a while. Haha, thank you for a good match.¡±


    There was a stringent look on Zhao Jianzhang¡¯s face. Managing to make his way up onto his feet, he gave a reluctant but admirable smile to Chen Qiantan. A loss was a loss.


    ¡°I¡¯ve nothing to say for my defeat.¡±


    He walked back to the others after he lost. Though he still held a grudge for Chen Qiantan, he wasn¡¯t a man that wouldn¡¯t stubbornly deny his defeat.


    Likewise, Chen Qiantan walked back to Zheng Kai¡¯s group. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten a lot stronger it seems!¡± Zheng Kai laughed.


    Chen Qiantan gave a wry smile as he stretched his numb arm, ¡°It wasn¡¯t an easy win.¡±


    The fight was over, but both sides seemed quite restrained with their words and actions. Neither sides were trying to stir up any more trouble, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s relief, and it seemed that things were going back to normal. As things would appear, this was just a calm fight where ¡®friends¡¯ could compare notes.


    But then the normally stone-faced Huang Bin finally spoke with a smile. ¡°Haha, this won¡¯t die. I¡¯m itching for a fight. I¡¯ve been wanting to go the wrestling rings to fight, but now that there¡¯s this chance today, I want to fight!¡±


    His voice was loud enough for the other side to hear it. When they turned their heads, Huang Bin spoke out again. ¡°Du Shaokong, I¡¯ve long since heard of the illustrious name of your Wind Lightning School¡¯s Wind Lightning Battle Artes and wished to experience it for myself. Since you are here, will you do me the honor of comparing notes with me?¡±


    Du Shaokong looked slightly surprised, but he covered it out with a small smile. ¡°If lord Huang is so gracious to invite me, who am I to refuse? Likewise, I¡¯ve heard of the house of Huang¡¯s ability to use elemental earth both offensively and defensively. Let us compare notes then!¡±


    The two laughed and leapt out from their groups. In two separate streaks of light, they landed in the empty space in the middle before quickly fighting against one another.


    Huang Bin¡¯s entire body was enveloped in an orange light before it turned into armor, making him seem like he was a decent bit taller than before. His arms and legs had a rumbling sound similar to that of stone as they crashed against his opponent. Du Shaokong¡¯s body was glowing in both green and purple light as he moved, elemental wind and lightning striking back against Huang Bin¡¯s body intensely.


    The Wind Lightning School was separated into the ¡®Wind Hall¡¯ and ¡®Lighting Hall¡¯. Students and instructors were generally separated between the two depending on their affinity. The more special students that were blessed with both wind and lightning affinities were honored in the school and could learn the art of that allowed them usage of both elements at once. In the school, they were known as the elite.


    Du Shaokong was one of those said elites.


    His position in the Wind Lightning School wasn¡¯t low either as the disciple of one of the elders.


    He flew all around Huang Bin in a series of mirror images as he unleashed blow after blow onto him. In the air now, Huang Bin was as steady as a rock, but he¡¯d turn around to block each blow that came at him. Though he looked weary with all the attempts to defend himself, he was actually trying to find the right time to strike back.


    It was as though fireworks were being set off one after another each time Du Shaokong landed a blow onto Huang Bin¡¯s armor. From time to time, Huang Bin could be heard laughing. From their battles, it felt like both fighters were having the time of their lives.


    Everyone watching seemed to be caught up in their fight as well. Even Zheng Kai couldn¡¯t help but get in the mood for a fight. Before a winner could even be decided from Huang Bin and Du Shaokong, he and a wood-type late-stage Soul Exalt took battle straight away.


    Not yet fully satisfied, Chen Qiantan invited Zhao Jianzhang, who seemed to have completely forgotten about his grudge for the drunkard, to another battle. Knowing that he wasn¡¯t a match for Chen Qiantan though, he invited a mid-stage Soul Exalt to take part in the battle against him.


    In the end, even the late-stage Soul Ancestor Jin Manlou recklessly challenged an early-stage Soul Exalt.


    In no time at all, people were flying about in the skies and ground to fight noisily.


    The only ones that didn¡¯t take part in the battle were the three females and Bai Yunfei.


    Ah, there was also one more person, Cheng Xin. He was still standing far away from where the others were. He looked a little angry at the fact that these people should¡¯ve been fighting angrily against each other were now being friendly with one another. The dark look on his face intensified when he looked at the merry-looking Zheng Kai and his group, the hatred and jealousy in his eyes now very much noticeable¡­.

 Chapter 622: A Shadow (Ninth)

    Later that night on South Eleventh Street.


    Bai Yunfei took Xiao Qi with them as he walked down the hustling street. The exciting things on the sides of the roads took his interest with how several stores were selling strange things he had never seen before.


    He had just been eating from a restaurant not too long ago. Since he never explored this part of the city before, Bai Yunfei was surprisingly expectant to see what it offered.


    As for Zheng Kai and the others, they were all still in that restaurant drinking and eating with Du Shaokong and his group.


    The fight had ended a little unexpectedly earlier that afternoon. Everyone had ended up becoming friends with one another, laughing and chatting with great excitement. Even the one with the most hostility towards Chen Qiantan, Zhao Jianzhang, had forgotten completely about his grudge when he found out Chen Qiantan had a fiancee. After that was cleared up, the two of them became as thick as thieves.


    Their cravings to fight had been filled, so the group adjourned for the day to have supper with everyone that night to get to know each other better.


    Cheng Xin had some matters to take care of and left earlier than the others. When he left, Bai Yunfei was very sure that Zheng Kai had a cold smirk on his face.


    He hadn¡¯t been able to fit into the conversations everyone was having and decided to stick out from it. In the end, Bai Yunfei figured it best to leave the restaurant first since he couldn¡¯t take part. Telling Zheng Kai that he was going for a stroll, Bai Yunfei left for his home.


    Zheng Kai knew that it wasn¡¯t in Bai Yunfei¡¯s nature to enjoy these type of social gatherings and didn¡¯t try to convince him otherwise.


    Now that he was out from the restaurant, Bai Yunfei strolled aimlessly around the Capital. Since he was acquaintance with the southern parts, Bai Yunfei simply walked where many people were walking towards through several streets to get to one of the night markets.


    But how was he going to return home? If worse came to shove¡­.he could fly home since the air had no complicated terrain to take care of¡­.


    He bought several accessories to be upgraded later from a jewelry store on the way.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei reached the dead end of the street he was on and turned the corner onto a small alleyway when he raised an eyebrow. At the same time, he felt a streak of wind fly overhead.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A cat-like shadow came tumbling down the nearby alleyway wall and landed gracefully onto the ground. Two moments later, it disappeared down the intersection and to the right side of the street.


    His movements had been swift, almost swift enough for Bai Yunfei to not clearly see it move. But with his soulsense, he was able to see that the motions had been very cat like and almost impossible to see who it was.


    Another two moments later, Bai Yunfei perked his ears as he realized the shadow had been a Soul Warrior in strength. But his movements were beyond anything a Soul Warrior could do, even his soulforce was similar to that of a Soul Sprite.


    But his aura was a little frantic. It seemed as though he was...trying to escape?


    As suspicious Bai Yunfei was, he wasn¡¯t suspicious enough to chase after the shadow. With a small quirk of his lips, Bai Yunfei walked onto the intersection and perked his head right.


    It was only a good ten meters before this road would meet a dead end. Furthermore, the dead end looked extremely dirty as though no one had bothered cleaning it for a very long time with all the junk that was laid there.


    Bai Yunfei had only wanted to look once over, but then he gave a double-take in confusion at what he saw.


    From the dark parts of the alleyway in the jumble of junk, Bai Yunfei saw...a pair of eyes.


    When Bai Yunfei looked over, the pair of eyes hidden in the junk looked back at Bai Yunfei. The owner of the pair of eyes looked startled and frantic for a moment before looking down to disappear in the pile of junk.


    This person had to be the shadow that passed by him before. Bai Yunfei was surprised¡ªnot by the fact that someone was hiding in the pile of trash¡ªbut the fact that he couldn¡¯t sense him!


    He hadn¡¯t been intentionally looking for the person, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense shouldn¡¯t have been unable to sense him!


    He had the perception of a late-stage Soul Exalt. So how could he not be surprised at the fact that he couldn¡¯t sense a Soul Warrior?


    It was only after Bai Yunfei focused his soulsense that he realized the soulforce of the hiding person was extremely stealthy, but not through unordinary means. It was like hiding one¡¯s presence by holding one¡¯s breath rather than using a hiding technique. So that in itself was very surprising.


    This type of hiding was extremely dependent on the person¡¯s individual skill and being able to blend in with their environment. Neither a commoner or person stronger than this person would be able to sense the person in hiding. And perhaps it was more appropriate to say that his presence was extremely low enough to have people ignore him entirely.


    This type of situation wasn¡¯t unlike that of the Walk-on Strawhat¡­..


    While Bai Yunfei was feeling confused about the situation, several hurried footsteps soon came rushing down the alleyway and interrupted his thoughts. Turning around, he felt four distinctive auras come close to him.


    ¡°F*ck, how fast can that brat run! I didn¡¯t even see him move!¡±


    ¡°He has to be close! He can¡¯t have run far¡ªjust keep running, we¡¯ll find him!¡±


    ¡°Of course we¡¯ll find him! The vice-boss was killed by him, but we¡¯ll be dead too if we don¡¯t bring him back!¡±


    ¡°F*ck! That brat was only a late-stage Soul Warrior, how the f*ck did he kill an early-stage Soul Sprite like the vice-boss?! What an evil brat, we can¡¯t split up or we¡¯ll never find him!¡±


    Their words had snapped Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. As he turned around, he saw four people come racing towards him and come to a stop at the intersection.


    ¡°F*ck! Where¡¯d he go!?¡±


    One of the men cried out as he scanned the area. When he saw Bai Yunfei, he immediately spoke, ¡°Hey kid! Did you see a small kid in black robes come running by here? Where¡¯d he go?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow, his eyes wandering secretively to the right for a moment. A pair of pleading eyes looked back at him.


    This interaction was unnoticed by the four men as Bai Yunfei looked back to the four. ¡°Oh, are you talking about a frail but cat-like kid in black?¡±


    The eyes of the four men widened with delight. ¡°That¡¯s him!! Tell me, where¡¯d he run off to? I¡¯m warning you, we¡¯re from the Sand Wolves, if you lie to us, we¡¯ll skin you!¡±

 Chapter 623: The Killer Yi Zi (Tenth)

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense could feel the soulforce of the hidden person spike up for a moment nervously. Fortunately for him, the four men chasing after him were Soul Warriors and were unable to notice the presence or fluctuation in it.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded pleasantly. He pointed a finger to the north, ¡°I saw a person like that fly over from the walls where you came from. He ran ahead and then turned to the left, I think.¡±


    Without sparing even a second glance at Bai Yunfei, the four men immediately ran off to where he was pointing to in chase of their person.


    ¡°How easy they are to trick¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smirked, though he was also slightly surprised that it was that easy to trick them. What he didn¡¯t know was that the four men thought he was a commoner, and in their eyes, a commoner wouldn¡¯t dare lie to the Sand Wolves.


    It wasn¡¯t until the group left until Bai Yunfei looked back to where the pile of trash was. ¡°You can come out now.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    There wasn¡¯t any movement for ten seconds from the trash pile.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°I¡¯ll call them back if you don¡¯t come out.¡±


    His words weren¡¯t very truthful. Those men were already far away now, how would they come back? But that was more than enough to scare the other person. A scant few hesitant seconds later, the sound of rustling could be heard before a small person came crawling out from the trash pile.


    He looked a little filthy, and Bai Yunfei was very shocked at his appearance.


    It was a young boy!


    A frail cloth robe, short brown hair, frail stature, rather childish aura, and a rather delicate face--this was the look of a fourteen or fifteen year old boy.


    It was with a nervous look that the boy came up to Bai Yunfei. Only when he realized no one else was there did he sigh in relief and bow to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Thank you for helping me.¡±


    ¡°It was nothing much, no need for your thanks.¡±


    ¡°No! My grandpa said before to pay back both kindness and revenge appropriately.¡± The young boy shook his head vehemently. ¡°You helped me, so I¡¯ll repay you. I can help you kill a person to repay the favor.¡±


    His words were slightly alarming, even to him. Thinking for a moment, he appended, ¡°But only if they¡¯re bad people. I don¡¯t kill good people.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nearly face planted into the ground, ¡°What did you say?! What...what kind of person are you?¡±


    The boy retrieved a still bloody dagger from the side of his waist, ¡°I¡¯m Yi Zi, a killer.¡±


    ¡°.....¡±


    Yi Zi fingered the dagger as if to try to make himself look slightly more impressive with his words. But to Bai Yunfei, it looked slightly appalling.


    ¡°You¡¯re an¡­.a killer?!¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    Yi Zi nodded. ¡°I am. From today onward, I¡¯m a killer.¡±


    From today onward¡­.


    The corners of Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips curled as he stared at the young boy. It seemed as though he met with a little child that knew nothing but destruction.


    ¡°Why do you want to be a killer?¡± He probed carefully.


    Yi Zi¡¯s eyes narrowed in on themselves, sorrow and hatred filling them as he spoke, ¡°I want to kill the bad guys with my own hands to pass on punishment for them!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was a little taken aback at the two emotions showing on the little boy¡¯s face. What kind of pains had this little boy gone through?


    ¡°Those men just now¡­.said you killed the vice-boss of the ¡®Sand Wolves¡¯?¡±


    Yi Zi nodded. ¡°I did! He was my first victim since he deserved to die!¡±


    ¡°Those men said the vice-boss was an early-stage Soul Sprite? How¡¯d you kill him?¡± Bai Yunfei was very curious to know just how Yi Zi did it.


    ¡°How I killed him?¡± Yi Zi repeated. ¡°I just paid attention to his regular route and hid there until he showed up. Then I popped up and slit his throat to kill him.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    That was how he killed him? A late-stage Soul Warrior was able to hide from the soulsense of a Soul Sprite and kill him!? That was¡­.


    But then he remembered just how easily Yi Zi hid his soulsense and how Bai Yunfei had nearly missed him. If he had missed Yi Zi, then an early-stage Soul Sprite would have no way of sensing him.


    Yi Zi looked a little uncomfortable under Bai Yunfei¡¯s gaze. ¡°Hey, do you have anyone you want to kill or not? Tell me, and as long as they¡¯re a bad guy, I¡¯ll kill them for you!¡±


    For...for someone who was only starting to be a killer, he was quite enthusiastic about it!


    Sweat dropping to himself, Bai Yunfei answered, ¡°That...won¡¯t be needed. I have no one I want to kill.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no one you want to kill?! What a good life you must live¡­¡± Yi Zi blinked, trying to look ¡®mature¡¯. ¡°I tried to repay you, but you gave that up. I¡¯ll be off then.¡±


    In one fluid movement, he leapt onto a nearby wall. With one final look to Bai Yunfei, he said, ¡°Fine then. If you have anyone you want to kill, find me in the future and I¡¯ll help you kill them. I live under the first bridge on South Third Street.¡±


    And with that, he was gone from sight.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had nearly stumbled into the nearby wall at those words--was there really a ¡®killer¡¯ like that?! Just randomly giving out where he lived so easily like that¡­.


    For a brief period of time, Bai Yunfei stood there to think to himself. ¡°This Yi Zi...feels a little weird. His aura is quite strange. But¡­.I wonder what kind of terrifying killer he¡¯ll become¡­.¡±


    ¡°The first bridge on South Third Street, was it? Should I find him later then? But what would I even do then? Turn him into a better killer?¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered to himself as he left the alleyway.


    ¡­¡­


    Continuing down the street, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but think of the killer ¡®Yi Zi¡¯. By that point, he was already down two more streets and the skies were quite dark with less and less people walking on them.


    Finally, as Bai Yunfei was considering to himself if he should return home or not, something unexpected happened¡­.

 Chapter 624: Kidnapped? (First)

    Bai Yunfei stood in the middle of an isolated corner, thinking to himself if he should go back home via the skies when he suddenly realized¡­.he was surrounded.


    A group of cold-looking middle-aged men had him surrounded from every direction he could look at.


    There were plenty of soul cultivators in the crowd, though that was nothing strange to Bai Yunfei. The Capital had a great number of soul cultivators, Bai Yunfei just never expected to have five to six of them surround him right now.


    ¡°Am I being mugged?¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought at first, but that thought was dashed rather quickly. There were two early-stage Soul Exalts and three late-stage Soul Exalts here. They wouldn¡¯t bother doing a group shakedown like this.


    ¡°What matter is this? Have you the wrong person?¡± Bai Yunfei asked the group bluntly.


    The leader of the group seemed a little surprised that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look panicked, but he covered it up with a cold snort afterwards. ¡°Kid, come quietly with us if you know what¡¯s good for you!¡±


    ¡°Come with you?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t get the wrong person?¡± He repeated, ¡°I don¡¯t know you.¡±


    ¡°The one we¡¯re looking for is you, so shut your yammering!¡± The scarred man barked, ¡°If you keep resisting then I¡¯ll just knock you out!¡±


    His body flashed purple with light to show his ¡®powerful¡¯ strength as a Soul Exalt to try to intimidate Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei was floored.


    Was this¡­.a kidnapping?!


    But wasn¡¯t it a little laughable, this ¡®kidnapping¡¯? Did they not know just who Bai Yunfei was and how strong he was?


    Did these guys really want to try to kidnap him? Just who were they?


    The scarred man leading the group didn¡¯t take kindly to the baffled look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, ¡°Take him!¡±


    Three Soul Ancestors came forward at once to knock out Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly spoke up, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    Then he took a step towards the scarred man to follow him.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The scarred man had to admit, this was a surprising reaction from Bai Yunfei. How was a Soul Ancestor (As far as the man could tell) able to remain so calm in a case like this? Still, whatever reaction Bai Yunfei had didn¡¯t really matter to him. He had his orders to carry out. It¡¯d save him some trouble if Bai Yunfei was being cooperative anyways. Three of the Soul Ancestors stepped behind Bai Yunfei so that he wouldn¡¯t be able to run away. Together, the group walked out from the alleyway onto the main streets.


    Bai Yunfei walked with them, a curious expression still on his face--just who in the world was ¡®kidnapping¡¯ him?


    One thing was for sure, they didn¡¯t know who exactly Bai Yunfei was. If they did, there¡¯d be no way they¡¯d have sent these people to get him. There would¡¯ve been a slaughter if Bai Yunfei felt disinclined to go with them.


    That should also mean there probably wasn¡¯t any Soul Kings lying in wait for him either.


    He had the class seven Xiao Qi with him and the permafrost mastiff in its ring. If there was any trouble in the Capital, Bai Yunfei was confident that he could run away to safety.


    Hence why Bai Yunfei decided to go with them rather than tell them to go away. He was curious to see just who was looking for him.


    ¡­¡­


    Walking with the group, Bai Yunfei was led this way and that around several corners and turns. Soon enough, he was thoroughly confused which way was where.


    Around twenty minutes later, they came to a relatively quiet area and entered a medium-sized manor.


    Several lesser commoners and servants were walking in and out from this place, and Bai Yunfei himself was led to the right side of the manor into a rather large room.


    The scarred man had a reverent look on his face when he entered the room. Bowing to the young man sipping tea at the table in front, he spoke, ¡°Young master, we¡¯ve brought the person back.¡±


    ¡°Very good. You may go.¡±


    The young man dismissed him and turned to Bai Yunfei.


    From there, Bai Yunfei saw just who it was, ¡°Cheng Xin? It was you?!¡± He blurted out.


    He had just seen this person this afternoon! The one known as the ¡®King of Troublemakers¡¯, the hedonistic third son of the Minister of the Right Cheng Bowen, Cheng Xin!


    Never had Bai Yunfei imagined that the person who was ¡®kidnapping¡¯ him was this person.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me.¡± Cheng Xin had a disparaging look in his eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t feel scared, do you?¡±


    ¡°Scared?¡± Bai Yunfei quirked his lips. He shook his head, ¡°We¡¯re not well acquaintanced with each other, so what business have you with me?¡±


    As things would have it, Zheng Kai never really introduced Cheng Xin to Bai Yunfei, so the two of them were never really ¡®acquainted¡¯ with one another and thus didn¡¯t say a word to one another. So what was Cheng Xin playing at now trying to ¡®kidnap¡¯ him?


    There was a ¡®profound¡¯ smile on his face as Cheng Xin asked, ¡°Let me ask you, are you friends with Zheng Kai?¡±


    ¡°Zheng Kai?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked once, ¡°We¡¯re decent friends, what makes you ask that?¡±


    He wanted to see just what kind of game Cheng Xin was trying to play.


    ¡°What benefits has he given you?¡± Cheng Xin asked.


    ¡°Benefits?¡± Bai Yunfei was mystified now. ¡°We are friends, not master and servant.¡±


    ¡°Pft!!¡± Cheng Xin snorted derisively, ¡°Friends? You¡¯re nothing more but an attendant. Do you really think Zheng Kai thinks of you as a friend? You¡¯re nothing but an insignificant Soul Ancestor with no status, do you really think he treats you as a true friend?¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to respond to Cheng Xin, this wasn¡¯t how he expected the conversation would go. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡®Kindly¡¯, Cheng Xin gave him a ¡®heartfelt¡¯ smile. ¡°The Four Lords of the Capital have always been a group of four. They¡¯re great friends with one another, and never has anyone ever been able to join in their group. Even though you might think you¡¯ve it good with them, you¡¯re nothing more but an insignificant attendant, that¡¯s all. If you want to get more out of life, you¡¯d be better off choosing other companions than those four.¡±


    The final puzzle piece landed in its place. Unsure if he should laugh or cry, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Meaning?¡±


    ¡°Meaning you should find an even better patron to support.¡± Cheng Xin offered ¡®magnanimously¡¯. ¡°Follow me and have all your desires met. Riches, women, land, cultivation needs¡­.I can get them all for you, how about it?¡±


    A part of Bai Yunfei¡¯s smile twitched at the look of absolute confidence on Cheng Xin¡¯s face. ¡°What would you have me do then?¡±


    Even Cheng Xin found himself smiling even more at the sight of Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression. He had him now. ¡°You¡¯ll be my eyes and ears. Continue by Zheng Kai¡¯s side and report back to me on whatever they do.¡±


    ¡°He wants me to be a ¡®spy¡¯!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was amazed, ¡°And if I choose to decline?¡± He smiled.


    ¡°Decline?¡± The smile on Cheng Xin¡¯s face grew icy. ¡°If you decline, then do you really think you¡¯ll be able to leave from this room alive?¡±

 Chapter 625: Kill Him! (Second)

    Bai Yunfei was surprised by the sudden iciness in Cheng Xin¡¯s words.


    It wasn¡¯t as though he was scared, he was just surprised that it happened.


    Up until this point, Bai Yunfei thought this was merely just one of those small ¡®enticements¡¯ between those young masters with power in the Capital and those with less. So when Cheng Xin suddenly started to speak a message so obviously meant to be bear ill-will towards Zheng Kai and his group, Bai Yunfei was stunned. Was the man not afraid he¡¯d go back and ¡®report¡¯ to Zheng Kai of what transpired in this room?


    But then Cheng Xin went and made this a deal where Bai Yunfei would be killed to keep the secret a secret!


    Could the death of a person be so easily done over something as silly as this?


    The truth of the matter was that Bai Yunfei¡¯s life didn¡¯t amount to anything in the eyes of Cheng Xin. He was a mere Soul Ancestor with no background. If a person like that was killed and the body hidden, who would know?


    Still, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be cowered by such a situation. ¡°And even if I agreed? Are you not afraid that I¡¯d ¡®betray¡¯ you?¡± His eyes grew noticeably colder.


    ¡°Betray?¡± Cheng Xin laughed at the notion. His right hand shook once to retrieve a black colored pill. ¡°This is a Spirit Seizing Pill, formed by synthesizing the toxins of sixty-six poisonous soulbeasts. You¡¯ll feel an indescribable amount of pain as your soul starts to tear up in ten days. Your soul will be ripped apart in a month if you don¡¯t eat the antidote. Even a Soul King will have to expend a great deal of effort to expunge it from their bodies. Do you think that the Soul King of the house of Zheng will even bother to help you?¡±


    The sinister smile on his face was bone-chilling to say the least.


    What an absolutely vile means of doing things!


    Cheng Xin looked pleased at the shocked expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry. I won¡¯t treat you badly as long as you serve me faithfully. You¡¯ll see plenty of good benefits in the future¡­.¡±


    Confident that he had Bai Yunfei now, he tossed the pill towards Bai Yunfei. ¡°Eat it then and I¡¯ll show you just how well it is to serve me.¡±


    Bai Yunfei studied the pill in his hand for a moment, his eyes later turning back to Cheng Xin. ¡°My apologies, but I¡¯ll have to decline.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Cheng Xin cried out in disbelief. ¡°What did you say!? Repeat yourself!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shrugged, ¡°I said I¡¯ll have to decline. My apologies. I¡¯ll be leaving now. Please find someone else to play the spying game with you, lord Cheng.¡±


    He turned around abruptly, much to the shock of everyone else there in the room. When Bai Yunfei took several steps away from the room, Cheng Xin snapped in anger, ¡°Brat, do you want to die?! I¡¯ll give you one last chance or you¡¯ll die here today!¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned around for one brief moment to smile mockingly at him. ¡°Are you not afraid of the trouble killing me will have?¡±


    ¡°You talk big game,¡± Cheng Xin sneered, ¡°but you¡¯re a nameless pawn trying to act like a king. Do you really think I¡¯d fall for that? I could have you disappeared and killed in a single night! There¡¯d be no one that¡¯d pay attention to a nobody like you!¡±


    A nobody?!


    Cheng Xin was still looking at Bai Yunfei like an ordinary Soul Ancestor. He had lived in the Capital his entire life, there wasn¡¯t anybody of any importance he didn¡¯t know. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look like anyone he should know, and his power was far too low to even be a guard for anyone important. And the fact that Zheng Kai had failed to introduce them only reinforced this misconception, hence why Cheng Xin was treating Bai Yunfei as such.


    The indifference on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face infuriated Cheng Xin. Feeling that his goodwill had been taken for as a joke, Cheng Xin barked, ¡°If you want to die, then I¡¯ll give it to you! Kill him and feed his carcass to the dogs!¡±


    Spoken like an overlord of death, Cheng Xin signed off on the death of Bai Yunfei.


    A cold light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. The actions of Cheng Xin were laughable to Bai Yunfei and not at all something he felt like trying to resolve. Taking one final look at the clownish expression on Cheng Xin¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei left the room.


    But the fact that Cheng Xin was really intent on killing him meant that Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t leave things lying like that¡­.


    Two late-stage Soul Ancestors flew forward as soon as they were given the order as if they had been prepared to do so long before.


    One man had a dagger in his hand and the other had a metallic claw equipped on his hand. From both sides, the two rushed at Bai Yunfei in a pincer attack. They weren¡¯t too fast, but they managed to get to Bai Yunfei quick enough with their weapons aimed at his throat and heart.


    Bai Yunfei stopped Xiao Qi from moving from his shoulder and stood there. His hands flashed crimson and violet before the two Desert Eagles appeared in them.


    ¡°Bang! Bang!¡±


    Gunfire ran through the air as a red and violet bullet fired out from the guns to pierce through the thighs of the two Soul Ancestors before they could dodge!


    The two men immediately crashed to the ground by Bai Yunfei. Clutching at their legs, they howled in pain and confusion at what had happened.


    Hardly anyone had even noticed what Bai Yunfei had done with how fast he moved. All they could see were two mists of blood as two of their own fell to the ground.


    ¡°Protect the young master!¡±


    Someone cried out, spurring everyone else into action. The strongest, a late-stage Soul Exalt elder behind Cheng Xin, was the first to act. Stepping in front of Cheng Xin, the elder exploded in a layer of orange light.


    With his warning, everyone else was able to respond as well. Yelling aloud, nearly ten more figures came rushing at Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s legs remained where they stood, but his hands were a blur as his Desert Eagles fired repeatedly. Bullet after bullet was fired to strike down anyone that drew close to Bai Yunfei, and some of the soul cultivators were hit with at least five of them!


    In no time at all, four Soul Ancestors came crashing down to the ground with howls of pain. Two of the early-stage Soul Exalts were able to dodge half of the bullets before being forced back while the two mid-stage Soul Exalts were able to dodge them all. But like the others, they drew back in fear of trying to press their luck.


    ¡°Wha¡ªwhat kind of soul armament is that?!¡±


    Everyone had the same question on their minds.


    A peculiar light came over Cheng Xin¡¯s eyes as they fell upon the Desert Eagles in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands. From behind the elder, he cried out, ¡°Kill him! Thirty mid-grade primal stones to whomever kills him!¡±


    The two mid-stage Soul Exalts immediately went forward at that along with one of the slightly injured early-stage Soul Exalts. Biting their lips, they clutched their weapons and charged at Bai Yunfei.

 Chapter 626: To Kill or Not? (Third)

    The weapons Bai Yunfei was wielding were definitely powerful, but that was the extent of it. To the eyes of the Soul Exalts, Bai Yunfei was relying on the two powerful soul armaments to make his stand. The bullets could be dodged if the mid-stage Soul Exalts focused, and as long as they got close enough to Bai Yunfei, they¡¯d be able to kill him quite easily.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes grew colder when he saw the three Soul Exalts come at him again. Lifting his right hand, the Fire Eagle in it fired a single bullet.


    His hands shook slightly when he fired the Fire Eagle, prompting Bai Yunfei to store both Desert Eagles away. He hadn¡¯t been using any of his gun-fu earlier since he felt like his arms were already close to their physical limits. Doing this much was more than enough and had already numbed his arms more than he¡¯d like. His body right now wasn¡¯t in the proper shape to use the Desert Eagles.


    If it wasn¡¯t necessary, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to tax his already extremely beaten body any more than it should be.


    The final bullet sped towards the early-stage Soul Exalt rather than either of the two mid-stage Soul Exalts closer to Bai Yunfei. The early-stage Soul Exalt looked panicked when he saw the bullet fired at him, but then he sighed in relief. He had enough confidence in his strength dodge just one bullet.


    Green light flooded the area beneath his feet before he leapt to the left to dodge. This way, he¡¯d be able to dodge the bullet.


    But then something unexpected happened.


    The bullet flew past his shoulder after he dodged, but before the Soul Exalt could do anything else, he saw the bullet make sharp turn and enter his chest from the right!!


    It had entered the right side of his chest, meaning his heart was safe, but the bullet then immediately detonated in his chest! In an explosion of blood and gore, the person fell to the ground and died at once.


    The Fire Eagle had fired a homing bullet!


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to see if the bullet even hit the early-stage Soul Exalt or not. As soon as the Desert Eagles were placed away, Bai Yunfei retrieved the Cataclysmic Seal and had it protect his body in a layer of elemental earth. The brick then glowed red before flying out from the shield!


    ¡°Bang! Bang!!¡±


    The two mid-stage Soul Exalts flew in the opposite direction of Bai Yunfei before unceremoniously crashing into several pieces of furniture and then to the ground.


    Silence descended upon the area instantly. The only ones left standing now was Bai Yunfei, Cheng Xin, and the elder protecting him.


    ¡°Who¡­.who are you?!¡±


    The elder cried out. When Bai Yunfei used the Cataclysmic Seal to protect himself, he had leaked out a bit of his soulforce to tell the elder that Bai Yunfei was a late-stage Soul Exalt! In that moment, the elder realized that his young charge had angered someone he shouldn¡¯t have.


    It was too late to back out from this situation peacefully however, and neither did it seem like Bai Yunfei would answer his question. When Bai Yunfei pointed his finger to direct the strange soul armament again, the elder blanched. ¡°Young master, you must flee!!¡± He cried out to Cheng Xin before summoning his elemental earth to him.


    Both of his hands pressed against each other in front of him as he converged all of his elemental earth in front of him, erecting a two-meter thick tortoise-shell shield to stop the Cataclysmic Seal from crashing into them.


    Cheng Xin had been stunned into non action ever since the other Soul Exalts had been knocked out. The elder¡¯s cry had snapped him out from his shock, and without further ado he began to flee in panic!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    Cheng Xin had barely even turned around to flee when he heard an explosive sound from right behind him. It was so loud and close that it hurt his ears, and then he saw the figure of a person go flying past him faster than he was running!


    It was the elder that was meant to protect him! Blood was spilling out from the now pale-faced elder, and his arms were both bent at an awkward angle. The elder flew for a short moment before crashing through the wall of a room and onto the stone ground behind it!


    A terrifyingly strong amount of soulforce crept up behind Cheng Xin right afterwards. As strong as he was as a mid-stage Soul Exalt, his strength was useless as he felt something smash heavily into his spine. Crashing into the ground, he spat out a mouthful of blood onto the spot beneath him.


    Pained, Cheng Xin hurried to turn onto his back when he heard footsteps approach him. Right now, Bai Yunfei was walking towards him, much to Cheng Xin¡¯s fright.


    ¡°Do¡ªdon¡¯t come over!! Who are you?! How are you this strong?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei bent his head down to look at Cheng Xin. ¡°Who am I?¡± He laughed, ¡°I¡¯m just a ¡®nobody¡¯ that lord Cheng wouldn¡¯t even bother to pay attention to, aren¡¯t I? You...tried to kill me just now, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Cheng Xin was filled with fear as Bai Yunfei drew closer to him, ¡°What...what are you going to do?! I¡¯m warning you, I¡¯m...I¡¯m the son of a minister!! If you dare hurt me, you¡¯ll die a dog¡¯s death! Let me go and I¡¯ll allow you to leave in one piece!¡±


    Bai Yunfei closed his eyes. Even now, Cheng Xin wasn¡¯t very willing to admit his wrongs. ¡°The son of a minister? That is indeed a huge status, but¡­.you did try to kill me just now¡­.¡±


    Killing intent flooded from Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes¡ªhe was already marking Cheng Xin down for death.


    However, Bai Yunfei did have a sliver of hesitation. Cheng Xin was indeed who he said he was, killing such a person would bring him some troubles. If people were to find out just who killed Cheng Xin, Bai Yunfei would definitely suffer.


    If he were to kill Cheng Xin, then he¡¯d have to do it without leaving behind a trace. This by extension meant¡­.he¡¯d have to kill every single person here! Even those ordinary men who saw Bai Yunfei walk in would have to die, else Cheng Xin¡¯s death would still be linked back to him¡­..


    Either way, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t even bother doing that. Killing others didn¡¯t really rank highly on Bai Yunfei¡¯s list, and neither did Bai Yunfei enjoy taking away the lives of another¡­.


    After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Bai Yunfei sighed.


    He¡¯d let them go. Or at least¡­.they¡¯d live for now.


    But even if he was sparing their lives, some reparation was still in store. Bai Yunfei stepped towards Cheng Xin.


    Cheng Xin was nervous when Bai Yunfei approached. His only saving grace was the fact that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem like he¡¯d kill him now, but he was still terrified and shivering all over. ¡°What¡­.what are you doing?!¡±


    ¡°Teaching you a lesson to remember. In the future, you shouldn¡¯t call for the life of another so easily. And from now on, don¡¯t bother me or else the punishment will be ten times worse than this!!¡±


    As he spoke, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right foot stamped down onto Cheng Xin¡¯s right hand!!

 Chapter 627: The Start of a Feud (Fourth)

    Cheng Xin wanted to run. He really did. He was completely terrified by Bai Yunfei, but no matter how much he wanted to, his spine remained motionless where he laid on the ground. All he could do was watch in horror as Bai Yunfei¡¯s foot drew close.


    ¡°Stop!!¡±


    An enraged voice called out before showering the area in a tremendous amount of soulforce!


    This was¡­.the soulforce of a Soul King!


    Cheng Xin¡¯s eyes lit up with great relief when he felt the aura. ¡°Second uncle!¡± He cried out, ¡°Save me uncle! Sa¡ªaahh!!!¡±


    Before he could finish, a sickening crack and a pained scream interrupted his pleas for rescue¡­.


    While Bai Yunfei was surprised to feel a Soul King come into the area, that didn¡¯t stop him from what he was doing. Without a pause in his step, Bai Yunfei ignored the Soul King and stamped down with his right foot!


    His foot came into contact with Cheng Xin¡¯s left wrist and snapped it!


    It was fortunate for Cheng Xin that Bai Yunfei¡¯s physical strength wasn¡¯t what it was before, else his left hand would¡¯ve been reduced to a pulp¡­.


    The wall to Bai Yunfei¡¯s right collapsed into pieces as a streak of dark green crashed through it. Murderous in its flight, the light coiled around Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat like a snake!


    The strength of this whiplike wasn¡¯t weak enough to just strangle Bai Yunfei to death, it was trying to snap his neck!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi finally took action. Still in its tiny form, he flew off in a flash of purple light to strike at the whip!


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    Xiao Qi collided with the whip and was sent flying back, but not without success. The whip fell apart when it was hit and turned into fragments of elemental energy.


    At a detailed look, the green whip had been the vine of a tree and strengthened with elemental energy!


    Xiao Qi flew back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side and shook its wings in annoyance, ¡°That hurt!¡±


    ¡°A class seven soulbeast!!¡±


    A figure in dark green suddenly called out in shock.


    The figure took a step closer to be just ten meters away from Bai Yunfei. Staring him down, the figure looked closely at Xiao Qi.


    And now Bai Yunfei could see who that figure was. A forty-something year old middle-aged man stood there, the aura of a Soul King radiating from his person. The look on his face looked especially terrifying.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t thought a Soul King would come, but one did. Thankfully, this one was an early-stage Soul King and wasn¡¯t all too terrifying to fight.


    ¡°Ah¡ªah!! It hurts!! It hurts!! Save me, uncle!!¡±


    Cheng Xin cried out again. At his cry, the Soul King immediately leapt towards Bai Yunfei to try and save Cheng Xin.


    At the same time, Bai Yunfei leapt away from Cheng Xin to land twenty meters away.


    As surprised as the Soul King was, he couldn¡¯t care for Bai Yunfei at the current moment. He reached Cheng Xin¡¯s side and immediately covered him in a bubble of green light. The pained look on Cheng Xin¡¯s face alleviated a bit before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and fainted.


    The Soul King allowed himself a single breath of relief now that Cheng Xin wasn¡¯t in danger anymore, though Cheng Xin had still been hurt quite heavily. His glare at Bai Yunfei darkened by a notch.


    ¡°Who are you and why have you harmed my nephew?!¡±


    The Soul King really wanted to first beat Bai Yunfei half to death before he interrogated him, but the presence of Xiao Qi on his shoulder made it more prudent that he asked before he did anything.


    Bai Yunfei gave him a cold smile. ¡°Your nephew was the first to kidnap me and try to treat me unwell. The fact that I didn¡¯t kill him is an act of mercy already. As for what happened, perhaps you should hear it from your own nephew first.¡±


    ¡°Kidnapped?!¡± The elder cried out to himself. With how strong Bai Yunfei was, how could Cheng Xin possibly kidnap him?!


    Not wishing to stay or try to explain himself to the Soul King, Bai Yunfei turned to leave the place without at all caring.


    But the Soul King barked at him to stay still, ¡°Stay where you are!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A giant golden streak of light leapt from behind the Soul King to rush onwards to Bai Yunfei and hold him in place!


    At a detailed glance, this was a giant tiger the size of a bison!


    This was the soulbeast contracted with the Soul King. It wasn¡¯t a class seven yet, but it was still a peak late-stage class six in strength!


    The Soul King himself could deal with Xiao Qi, so that left his tiger soulbeast to deal with Bai Yunfei. Since the tiger was a peak late-stage class six and Bai Yunfei only a late-stage, the Soul King figured it wouldn¡¯t be too hard for him to have Bai Yunfei remain here.


    But even when he was planning to subjugate Bai Yunfei, he realized that Bai Yunfei had already turned around to stare at the tiger. ¡°Scram!¡±


    The moment he spoke, there was a pulse of light as the Cataclysmic Seal grew to the size of a wall and slammed into the tiger with a sickening thud!


    Unable to even properly respond in time to the sudden embiggening of the Cataclysmic Seal, the tiger wailed loudly before being struck backwards!


    As the tiger flew away, the Soul King stood there, one foot outwards from the other to stare at Bai Yunfei in shock.


    ¡°That¡­.that was a soul attack!!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t the fact that the tiger had been struck back that alarmed the Soul King. it was the fact that Bai Yunfei had unleashed a soul attack when he spoke up!


    That had been the reason why the tiger didn¡¯t look like it had enough time to respond to the brick before the brick sent it flying away.


    As such, the Soul King was forced to re-evaluate Bai Yunfei before he could do anything else.


    Bai Yunfei gave the Soul King a single cold look. ¡°I¡¯m going to leave. You¡¯d best not stop me.¡±


    And with that, Bai Yunfei leapt into the air with his legs shining red.


    There was some hesitation from the Soul King, but he could only stand there and watch as Bai Yunfei grew farther and farther away from sight.


    He hadn¡¯t the confidence in stopping Bai Yunfei. The Soul King was starting to doubt if even he could stop Bai Yunfei from leaving, let alone his soulbeast. That Bai Yunfei had a strength that was surely beyond that of a late-stage Soul Exalt¡­.


    ¡°Blast!!¡±


    The elder cursed aloud before turning his attention back to Cheng Xin and his wounds.


    ¡­¡­


    In the night sky above, Bai Yunfei slowly made his way over the Capital before finding a familiar landmark to descend back down and make his way back to his home from there.


    Xiao Qi had been scanning the area beforehand to see if anyone was following them, but after his scans revealed nothing, Bai Yunfei sighed in relief.


    But there was still a helpless look on his face.


    ¡°Sigh¡­.looks like I¡¯ve become enemies with the house of Cheng. If only that Cheng Xin wasn¡¯t so stupid in trying to start trouble with me, otherwise¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed, his eyes shining with a cold light.


    He didn¡¯t want to cause trouble, but he wasn¡¯t scared of it either. If there were people wanting to die, then he¡¯d all too happy in helping them do so.

 Chapter 628: The Attention From the House of Cheng (Fifth)

    It was with a heavy heart that the Soul King let Bai Yunfei leave the area. He couldn¡¯t stop Bai Yunfei from doing so. All he could do was stand next to Cheng Xin and try to heal him as much as he could.


    The room they were in was already in a tragic state. It was shattered into two pieces with the walls hardly standing and not even a single tile there in one whole piece. Aside from Cheng Xin who was being healed by the Soul King, Cheng Changlin, there were also the other ten or so members Bai Yunfei injured healing their own injuries.


    Of the ten was one of the elders initially there to protect Cheng Xin. He was bowing to Cheng Changlin apologetically, but his apologies were only replied to with Cheng Changlin saying, ¡°Heal your wounds first. We¡¯ll speak about this later.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Several long moments would go by before Cheng Xin¡¯s face was back to normal levels in coloration and a rosy red hue in his cheeks. At the same time, Cheng Changlin heard four separate individuals come flying on over to this area.


    Soon enough, these four people came to a stop by the ground not too far away and strode over to him.


    At the head of this group was a white-haired elder. Right besides him was a middle-aged man who looked rather similar to Cheng Changlin in appearance. The two men behind them were only guards.


    ¡°Second uncle, third brother, you¡¯ve arrived.¡± Cheng Chanlin greeted them.


    This elderly man was Cheng Xin¡¯s grandfather, Cheng Chaochuan, a mid-stage Soul King. The middle-aged man next to him was the third uncle of Cheng Xin, Cheng Changshan and a peak late-stage Soul Exalt.


    Cheng Chaochuan¡¯s eyes swept the area before looking to Cheng Xin on the ground, ¡°How is little Xin?¡±


    ¡°His spine is cracked and his carpal bones are broken, but he¡¯s not in danger of dying and the wounds aren¡¯t unhealable. They aren¡¯t light either, I¡¯ve already applied first aid to him, but he¡¯ll need to rest for a good amount of time.¡±


    ¡°Who was it that hurt little Xin? Who?¡± Cheng Changshan spat angrily.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure myself,¡± Cheng Changlin sighed, ¡°The person who did already left¡­.¡±


    ¡°Left?!¡± Cheng Changshan¡¯s eyes flew open, ¡°Brother, how could you let that person leave?!¡±


    ¡°That person was very strong, I¡­.I couldn¡¯t keep him here.¡±


    ¡°What?! Even you couldn¡¯t keep him here?!¡± Cheng Changshan suddenly noticed the injured tiger next to his brother, ¡°Was that person a mid-stage Soul King?!¡±


    ¡°Most likely not, though I¡­.I couldn¡¯t figure out if he was even a Soul King or not.¡± Cheng Changshan despaired, ¡°He had a class seven bird with him and could even use a soul attack. His soul armament was extremely strong too, it slammed aside my sandstorm tiger in an instant and nearly crippled it¡­.¡±


    ¡°That strong?!


    ¡°If he could use a Soul King, then he has to be a Soul King, and if there was also a class seven soulbeast, it¡¯s no wonder you couldn¡¯t keep them here¡­..blast! How did little Xin anger a person like that?! Who in the world is he?!¡±


    Cheng Changshan shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m not very sure. He was very young, but very strong. I¡¯ve never seen him before, so I cannot ascertain who he is¡­.¡±


    Cheng Changchuan walked over to the injured elder next to them, ¡°Cheng Yu, tell us what happened.¡±


    Having been trying to heal his wounds, the elder struggled to rise to his feet, ¡°Yes¡­.this afternoon, the young master¡­.¡±


    With clear details, Cheng Yu began to retell the story of what happened from when Cheng Xin, Du Shaokong and the others fought with the Four Lords of the Capital to when Cheng Xin had people bring Bai Yunfei over, and then to when Bai Yunfei suddenly defeated everyone and left. Not even a single detail was left out.


    Cheng Chaochuan had an ugly look on his face, ¡°Pah! What a mess!! This is all because you¡¯ve spoiled the boy! He should¡¯ve learned to behave properly, and now look at what mess he¡¯s gotten us! If not for Changlin just happening to be training in this particular area, who knows if little Xin¡¯s life would¡¯ve been saved!¡±


    Neither Cheng Changlin or Cheng Changshan dared to say anything until the elder man was finished speaking.


    ¡°You said he came with Zheng Kai?¡± Cheng Changlin asked Cheng Yu.


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    ¡°Just who is this person and how strong is he to be with the Four Lords of the Capital? How is there such a powerful youngster all of a sudden?¡±


    Suddenly, his eyes lit up as if he had just remembered a crucial detail, ¡°Do you remember if that class seven soulbeast was a prisma oriole?¡± He asked Cheng Changlin.


    ¡°Prisma oriole?¡± Cheng Changlin repeated, ¡°I didn¡¯t look too closely, but how could a class seven prisma oriole exist?? Those¡­¡±


    He trailed off his words as he thought carefully of the bird from the fight. ¡°Hold on, a class seven prisma oriole? Second uncle, are you perhaps saying that youngster is¡­.Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was a name that was making waves through the Capital. Even the Soul Kings had heard of his name once or twice already.


    ¡°They say that Bai Yunfei is good friends with Zheng Kai, it may very well be him!!¡± Cheng Chanlin concluded.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei? The instructor of the crafting class in Tianhun Academy¡ªthat Bai Yunfei?!¡± Cheng Changshan snorted, ¡°If we know who he is, we should have him captured and avenge little Xin then, brother!¡±


    ¡°Stop!!¡± Cheng Chaochuan boomed, ¡°That Bai Yunfei is very special, how can you act so rashly? We still aren¡¯t even sure if it¡¯s him, do your due diligence first before doing anything else!¡±


    Cheng Chaochuan had a strange look in his eyes after he looked at Cheng Xin, ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­.he¡¯s been in trouble after trouble ever since he came into the Capital. And the disciple of Zi Jin from the Crafting School¡­..we¡¯d need to do a more comprehensive investigation before anything else¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei had finally gotten home where he immediately stopped thinking about the headache with Cheng Xin. He sat down on his bed and looked at the pile of rings in front of him in thought.


    These rings were all¡­.space rings!!


    After realizing that he had a great amount of space rings, Bai Yunfei decided to have all of them upgraded.


    He had more space rings than he knew what to do with them, so upgrading them all and seeing if he could find a ring with great stats wouldn¡¯t be too bad of a thing.


    At the same time, this would allow him to search for yet another clue on the secrets of upgrading.


    Calming himself down, Bai Yunfei allowed himself a slow exhale. Taking a space ring into his hand and sweeping his eyes over it, Bai Yunfei thought:


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±

 Chapter 629: Upgrading Difficulties (Sixth)

    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    The final space ring in the pile of of rings bursted into ashes in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands. Likewise, Bai Yunfei looked like he was ready to burst into tears.


    ¡°Am I in a nightmare? Two hundred space rings and they¡¯re all destroyed¡­.¡±


    After spending several hours tirelessly working on upgrading the two hundred space rings, Bai Yunfei was able to upgrade several of them to decent stats. But¡­.in the end, not even a single +12 ring was to be had!!


    Even with the aid of the Luck Pendant, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to override his bad ¡®upgrade luck¡¯ today.


    Sighing, Bai Yunfei looked at the black ring on his left forefinger.


    Equipment Grade: High


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Additional Attribute: +130 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 28%


    +10 Additional Effect: 5% Decrease in soulforce consumption when using skills.


    +12 Additional Effect: 15% Damage reduction from spirit-based attacks.


    This was one of his +12 space rings that gave resistance to soul attacks and had also been a great deal of help to him since the very beginning.


    But it was a retired space ring now and now only there for when Bai Yunfei had need of its specific purposes. Its effects were rather limited, so Bai Yunfei opted for the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring rather than this one in general times. The right hand had the Violet Soul Ring and helped him greatly in battle in terms of increasing his spirit, even if it didn¡¯t really have any battle-specific effects. There was also the Charm Bracelet and the Soul Sentinel Scarf, so a 15% reduction in spirit-based attacks wasn¡¯t much. Thus, Bai Yunfei had this ring as a reserve item.


    Bai Yunfei stared at the ring for a moment in hesitation. ¡°Forget it¡­.¡± He sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t be rash. This has a hard to get effect, it¡¯ll be a great pain if I destroyed this one¡­.¡±


    He already knew that upgrading non soul armament items (Superior grade and under) had a tremendously low chance of success. He didn¡¯t know just why this was the case, but the truth was the truth. For rings who were only ¡®High¡¯ grade in quality, upgrading them to +13 would be an even smaller chance.


    When he was upgrading the +11 space rings he had from another time, Bai Yunfei tried replicating the ability in changing the upgrading outcome like he did with the Critical Gloves. Unfortunately for him, he wasn¡¯t able to replicate it whenever he wanted.


    It was at least worth mentioning that he was able to at least replicate the effects of that one miraculous time. At one point when he was upgrading right now, he had been able to change the outcome, but¡­.that time had only been when he was upgrading it from +6. Being able to change the outcome on such a low upgrade level like that had almost no value at all though.


    He could at the very least confirm that the ability to ¡®change¡¯ the outcome was still possible. And that much was more than enough for Bai Yunfei to continue trying to learn more about upgrading.


    ¡­¡­


    Aside from that, Bai Yunfei would come to the Soothing Heart for his morning and evening Soul Consolidating Tea. Its effects were truly miraculous to Bai Yunfei and he could already feel a substantial difference in how his soul was now. Though neither he nor Dan Teng could tell just when his soul would fully heal after going through that ordeal in Baishan City, they both agreed that taking it nice and slow was all that was needed.


    Still, to drink away a high-grade primal stone a day was still taxing on Bai Yunfei and he found himself feeling like he had to find a way to alleviate the burden on his finances a little bit.


    Perhaps he should go play at Casino Jin for a while?


    Zheng Kai came to see Bai Yunfei still, but relatively less than before. Twice before he wanted to have Bai Yunfei come with them and Du Shaokong¡¯s group to play. It seemed as though the two groups were getting on quite well with each other, but the trouble that came onto him due to Zheng Kai and the Cheng weighed quite heavily on Bai Yunfei, so he declined both of Zheng Kai¡¯s invitations to stay in his home and focus on researching.


    The only other thing worth mentioning were his students. Every so often, they¡¯d pay his house a visit now that they knew where he lived so they could ask him a few crafting-related questions.


    ¡­¡­


    Time quickly went by before the first day of the week came.


    Eating his meal and drinking his tea, Bai Yunfei took Xiao Qi with him to Tianhun Academy.


    He traveled down the busy roads without stop through the academy and soon came to the mountaintop.


    As per usual, Bai Yunfei leapt onto the part of the mountain where classes was to be held and where his students were usually gathered. The difference this time today was the fact that his students were all gathering around a single person to talk rather than their usual seminar with each other to discuss the matters of crafting.


    In the middle of them all was a single relatively short little girl.


    Everyone saw Bai Yunfei when he came and immediately greeted him. Afterwards, Bai Yunfei heard Mo Chen say to the girl, ¡°Sister Ping¡¯er, this is our instructor Bai Yunfei.¡±


    The group split apart to allow Bai Yunfei a better look at this girl. She was about fourteen or fifteen years old and had pearly-white skin that seemed to shine like crystals almost. Her eyes were wide but lively, and her lips a cherry red. Her nose was gentle-looking like that of a baby. Anyone that saw her would most likely be seized with the temptation to want to rub her cheeks.


    She looked a little familiar to Bai Yunfei, however. Staring closely for a second, Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped up, this girl somehow looked familiar to that girl Huangfu Rui back in the Crafting School!


    It was at that time the young girl swiveled to curiously look at Bai Yunfei as if to measure him up.


    She crinkled her nose in slight confusion. ¡°This is my brother¡¯s teacher?? He looks super young just like brother is. How is he a teacher?? Aren¡¯t teachers supposed to be old wrinkly men with long white beards and have closed eyes?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± No one knew exactly how to respond to that. Even Bai Yunfei scratched at his chin in embarrassment, ¡°Haha, who is this little girl?¡±


    His question was posed to everyone, but it was the girl herself who answered, ¡°I¡¯m Wu Ping!! I came to play with fourth brother!¡±


    Wu Ping?! Fourth brother?


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes, didn¡¯t that mean¡­.


    Wu Yang suddenly looked bashful behind Wu Ping. ¡°Hehe, instructor Bai¡­..this is my fifth sister, Wu Ping. She really wanted to see how the crafting class is like and I couldn¡¯t refuse her, so I brought her here. I hope you won¡¯t mind, instructor¡­.¡±


    Wu Yang¡¯s fifth sister¡ªthis girl was a princess then!?

 Chapter 630: The Fifth Princess Wu Ping (Seventh)

    The current ruler of the empire, His Majesty Wu Hong, had five children in total: the First Prince Wu Ren, the Second Prince Wu Zuo, the Third Princess Wu Xiu, the Fourth Prince Wu Yang, and the Fifth Princess Wu Ping.


    Bai Yunfei had met the first, second, and fourth prince before. He had also heard that the third princess was engaged to the son of the Minister of the Left and that the fifth princess was usually in the Royal Palace due to her young age.


    He just never expected that today would be the day he¡¯d meet the fifth princess.


    And what a very cute young girl she was.


    Bai Yunfei was initially surprised to see just who she was, but he managed to smile at her. ¡°Haha, Bai Yunfei pays his respects to Her Highness the Fifth Princess.¡±


    ¡°Heehee, oh stop it. I hate it when people call me Her Highness. Just call me Ping¡¯er.¡± Wu Ping giggled, her long hair braid swinging when she shook her head.


    A princess that didn¡¯t enjoy having people call her ¡®Her Highness the princess¡¯? That was a bit interesting¡­.


    ¡°If you¡¯re fourth brother¡¯s teacher, are you amazing then?¡±


    ¡°What does it mean to be¡­.¡¯amazing¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­.my eldest brother is really amazing, are you as amazing as he is?¡±


    Said eldest brother was a¡­.mid-stage Soul King.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei looked embarrassed, ¡°The First Prince is a genius, I could never compare to him.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re not amazing then¡­¡±


    ¡°.....¡±


    If the First Prince was to be the golden standard for if one was amazing or not, then everyone in his generation would have to slam their heads to the wall.


    ¡°Fourth brother said that you¡¯re amazing at crafting, is that true?¡±


    Wu Ping asked another question.


    ¡°I suppose so¡­.¡±


    ¡°Really?! I saw my fourth brother try crafting before. He threw in so many materials into his cauldron but everything burned to pieces. Sometimes the soul armaments he crafts look even worse than the stones he throws in. In my opin--mphm¡­!¡±


    Before she could finish her sentence, Wu Yang quickly put his palm over her mouth.


    ¡°........¡±


    The way Wu Ping was trying to ask so many questions like a curious cat left Bai Yunfei unsure if he should laugh or cry. In his mind, she was a lot like Huangfu Rui. If the two ever met, Bai Yunfei was sure they¡¯d get along with each other perfectly.


    Bai Yunfei was able to answer several of the questions from the princess, but then when she said that the scarf on his head made him look stupid, Bai Yunfei felt like puking blood. With a final sigh, he spoke, ¡°Well then, princess Ping¡¯er, I¡¯ve class to start. Why don¡¯t you¡­¡±


    ¡°Class?¡± Wu Ping lit up with excitement. ¡°Okay okay! I want to see what classes are like!¡±


    Feeling slightly embarrassed, Wu Yang took the girl by her sleeve. ¡°Come on, sister, I¡¯ll show you the crafting cave I use. You¡¯ll be able to see what class is like in there.¡± He whispered to her.


    ¡°We can go in the caves?!¡± Wu Ping looked even more excited. Her eyes stared down the caves for a moment before she spoke with concern, ¡°It¡¯s such a small cave, won¡¯t it collapse on us? Didn¡¯t you collapse one of the rooms in the Eastern Sun Palace?¡±


    Wu Yang looked ready to burst into tears at that, ¡°You silly girl, didn¡¯t you promise to not tell anyone about that¡­.¡±


    Everyone was silent at that.


    As Bai Yunfei prepared to go into his cave to start the class, Xiao Qi spoke up from his shoulder. ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯m going to find Xiao Lan. I¡¯ll come back when class is over.¡±


    Before Bai Yunfei could even respond, Wu Ping spoke up first, ¡°Ah!!! The little bird can talk!!¡±


    All the other students of the class had been surprised the first time they heard Xiao Qi speak, but they treated him with great respect after they found out. That much should¡¯ve been a given with how Xiao Qi was a class seven. A Soul King or class seven were both existences countless people could only dream of reaching.


    Wu Ping was only an early-stage Soul Ancestor and was unable to see through Xiao Qi¡¯s strength. And with how he was sitting without talking on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, it was only natural that she feel surprised when he started talking.


    A brilliant gleam of light entered Wu Ping¡¯s eyes after her shock subsided. ¡°A soulbeast that can talk!! Just like Da Huang! You¡¯re even cuter than Da Huang!¡±


    Xiao Qi gave the little girl a small glance of disdain, ¡°Is there something strange with being able to talk? Is it a bad thing for me to be a class seven?¡±


    ¡°What? Class seven?!¡± Wu Ping¡¯s eyes grew wide like dinner plates, ¡°You¡¯re¡­.a class seven?!¡±


    ¡°What? Don¡¯t believe me?¡± Xiao Qi chirped, ¡°You¡¯re too weak, it¡¯s no wonder you can¡¯t tell.¡±


    ¡°Hmph!¡± She pouted, ¡°Who said I couldn¡¯t tell? Fourth brother told me before that his teacher had a class seven bird, so it was you! But Da Huang back home is a lot stronger than you¡­¡±


    ¡°Does your family own a class seven soulbeast too? How strong is it? Let him meet me.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t. Da Huang usually stays at home and never comes out¡­.¡±


    ¡°Che, what point is there in telling me? I don¡¯t want to listen to your bragging!¡± Xiao Qi ruffled his wings, ¡°Anyways, I¡¯m going to play with Xiao Lan.¡±


    And just like that, Xiao Qi disappeared into the Training Forest in a blur of light.


    ¡°Ah!! Don¡¯t you run little bird! Who¡¯s Xiao Lan?! I want to play too!¡±


    Wu Ping cried out after the bird, but it was too late. Xiao Qi was already gone.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go to our caves and begin class then.¡±


    His words rekindled the excitement in Wu Ping who immediately ran after Bai Yunfei when he turned to walk into his cave. Wu Yang had to pull her back into his own cave after that so she wouldn¡¯t disturb Bai Yunfei.


    With everyone entering their crafting cave, Bai Yunfei had the Illusion Stones activate. He also heard the little girl gasp when they did.


    ¡­¡­


    Like always, Bai Yunfei explained a few important concepts to the class before then making sure they understood the finer concepts by using more detailed explanations on the usage of materials and methodologies. From demonstration, to explanation, to guidance¡­.


    Bai Yunfei slowly taught the class concept from concept. While he was explaining something, Bai Yunfei felt something strange. Raising an eyebrow, he sent a message to everyone, ¡°Please put into practice what I¡¯ve taught you so far, I will be right back.¡±


    And before anyone could ask, Bai Yunfei suddenly took back his Lightningfire Cauldron and left his crafting cave.


    Stepping off from the ground to fly into the air, Bai Yunfei traveled for the Training Forest. His eyes narrowed as he traveled further into the forest, and with another press of his foot, Bai Yunfei flew even faster into the skies.

 Chapter 631: A Furious Xiao Lan

    In the depths of the Training Forest countless meters away from Tianhun Academy.


    There lied a small hill where explosion after explosion rung out. With each explosion, a gleam of shining light could be seen.


    Five figures stood there to fight with one another against a gigantic figure. From their auras, the five of them were all Soul Exalts. Two of them were mid-stage and the other three were late-stage.


    The five men were fighting excitedly, several of them even laughing every so often as they played with the giant foe in front of them.


    ¡°Haha!! So there was even a class six blue-eyes wyrm here, what a rare soulbeast!¡±


    ¡°None of you better take him! I¡¯ll defeat the wyrm and make it into my contracted soulbeast! Haha! A class six soulbeast will increase my strength by a lot!¡±


    ¡°As if! I saw this blue-eyes wyrm too! You¡¯ve already killed the white-horned deer I gave you, so don¡¯t even think about stealing this one from me!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no point in fighting, this blue-eyes wyrm doesn¡¯t want to contract with any of you guys! Let¡¯s just kill it! Its soulgem will definitely be worth a pretty penny, I might be able to become a late-stage Soul Exalt with this!¡±


    ¡°That works!! I¡¯ve never had the meat of a blue-eyes wyrm before! I bet it¡¯ll be delicious!!¡±


    The men around the blue-eyes wyrm spoke with each other nonchalantly to discuss what they¡¯d do with the soulbeast. Already, many of them had already started to think about how the soulbeast would taste in their bellies.


    The soulbeast fighting the five men from the middle was the blue-eyes wyrm Bai Yunfei knew, Xiao Lan!


    But the strange thing was the fact that it was a mid-stage class six soulbeast in strength now, hence why it was being beaten into such a disadvantageous state.


    There was fury in the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s eyes. Elemental water splashed out with each strike from the wyrm¡¯s claws. Three blades of elemental water would come out from its claws as well as a swing of its tail in order to force the five men around it away from it.


    But even as hard as it was fighting, the wyrm wasn¡¯t able to beat back all of its enemies and keep track of them all. Every so often, a wave of elemental energy would slam into the wyrm and hurt it. Even in its disadvantageous state, it was still capable of hearing and understanding what the five men were talking about. It was furious, unwilling to give up, and above all else, unafraid.


    Up in a giant tree about a hundred meters away from this fight was a prisma oriole the size of a pigeon. From its high perch, the bird watched the fight without ever looking away.


    It was Xiao Qi.


    The bird turned around to look at a figure who just suddenly came into the sky next to him.


    The figure quickly came to Xiao Qi¡¯s side with a stunned look, ¡°What happened here, Xiao Qi?!¡±


    It was Bai Yunfei.


    He had felt Xiao Qi send a message through their bond when he was teaching the class. Knowing something had happened, Bai Yunfei quickly stopped teaching in order to come to where Xiao Qi was, only to see Xiao Lan being besieged from every side while Xiao Qi watched.


    The fact that Xiao Qi was at a disadvantage in this fight puzzled him. He wasn¡¯t sure of what was going on, but his soulforce immediately started to spike so he could enter the battle to help out.


    ¡°Wai! Yunfei, we shouldn¡¯t interfere.¡± Xiao Qi suddenly called out to him. ¡°Xiao Lan didn¡¯t want me to help him, he said he wanted to do this by himself.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Bai Yunfei paused. So that was why Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t helping out Xiao Lan earlier.


    ¡°But why is that?¡± He asked, ¡°What¡¯s Xiao Lan trying to do?¡±


    ¡°Eh?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out when he realized Xiao Lan¡¯s soulforce, ¡°Xiao Lan¡¯s soulforce¡­.why is it only a mid-stage class six?!¡±


    ¡°Oh, Xiao Lan¡¯s master used some secret to seal up his strength. He said that this way would be a lot faster for him to become a class seven. I don¡¯t really get it though¡­.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s something like that?¡± Bai Yunfei had never heard of such a thing before. ¡°What in the world is going on?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who these people are,¡± Xiao Qi began, ¡°but Xiao Lan and I were talking when we saw a battle nearby. Xiao Lan said he was the boss of this area so he wanted to see if someone was trying to make trouble. Then we saw those group of people killing a bunch of soulbeasts, chee!! What a group of scum!Xiao Lan was angry and wanted to eat them, but he didn¡¯t want me to help. In the end¡­.he started to fight with those people.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± The more Bai Yunfei heard, the more mystified he was about Xiao Lan¡¯s current situation. Not only was the wyrm the boss of this area, these people were¡­.


    ¡°Killing soulbeasts? What are they trying to do?¡±


    ¡°They had already killed a lot of soulbeasts by the time Xiao Lan and I came. They were super happy when they did it too, how annoying!¡± Xiao Qi chirped in anger, ¡°One of them was skinning a live wind antelope when we came in too!! And they were enjoying it while they were doing it!¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced over to the edge of where the group were fighting. Over there, a pile of crimson-red sacks of flesh could be seen. It was a pile of dismembered soulbeast arms and legs!!


    It was a grotesque sight. All sorts of soulbeasts were killed so wantonly by these group of five without even having their soulgems being extracted. The soulbeasts were killed simply for the sake of being hunted and killed, meaning their deaths was completely pointless and excessive.


    Bai Yunfei felt his eyebrows start to narrow at the sight¡ªhow could such a thing happen in the Training Forest?


    It was no wonder the blue-eyes wyrm was so angry. If so many of its fellow soulbeasts were being tortured and massacred like this, any rational soulbeast would be unable to stomach the sight. But unfortunately for the soulbeast, these people weren¡¯t easy to kill. It was still unknown just what Long Zhen used seal Xiao Lan¡¯s strength to the levels of a mid-stage class six, and despite the fact that it was losing the battle, it was still impressive that Xiao Qi was able to last as long as it was.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    A pained cry erupted from the blue-eyes wyrm as a golden beam of light slashed viciously onto its back. The beam of light sliced into its flesh, and soon enough, blood was spitting out from the dreadful looking opening.


    ¡°No!! Xiao Lan¡¯s in danger! Yunfei, should we go help out?¡± Xiao Qi chirped in concern.


    ¡°Of course we¡¯re going to help out. It doesn¡¯t matter if he said not to interfere. He¡¯s not as strong as before, he¡¯s only going to end up in a wok if this continues!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out to Xiao Qi, already speeding towards the group of five in a burst of wind.

 Chapter 632: I Want to Eat Them

    The fury the blue-eyes wyrm was feeling now was far worse than before. If only it had its actual strength! It would¡¯ve swallowed these annoying gnats a long time ago. But its master had sealed its strength a few days ago and warned that the seal wouldn¡¯t be removed so easily. As a mid-stage class six soulbeast, it didn¡¯t have enough strength to defeat the group of five anymore.


    But now that the fight had progressed longer than it thought, the wyrm wasn¡¯t even sure if it would be able to live after this. Furious, the wyrm wanted to try and force open the seal on it, but before it could try, the wyrm felt two familiar sources of soulforce from behind. It gave up the thought after a moment¡¯s hesitation. Even though it had told Xiao Qi to not help him earlier, the disadvantage it was in now made it think twice about that particular matter.


    The five men smiled to themselves at the harmed state of the blue-eyes wyrm. Laughing, they all prepared for the final blow to kill the wyrm when¡­.


    ¡°Stop right there!!¡±


    An exceedingly loud voice called out to the five men, causing them to stop in their footsteps. In the next moment, they turned their heads to see a single blade of fire shoot into the area in front of them.


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!¡±


    The five men brought their arms up to protect themselves from the blade of fire. Though they managed to protect themselves, the impact of the explosion had them scurrying away from the wyrm and to the right where they all bunched together in fright.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to unleash another attack after that. Instead, he came to a stop to the left side of the blue-eyes wyrm.


    At that moment, Bai Yunfei saw just who the five where, and of the five, he was surprised to see one of them¡­.


    ¡°You?¡±


    His face scrunched up as he asked the question.


    There was someone he ¡®recognized¡¯ among the five!


    ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±


    Another voice spoke to him at the exact same time he did. The man looked at Bai Yunfei in equal parts shocked and furious.


    This person was...Cheng Xin!!


    The other four people realized that Cheng Xin recognized who Bai Yunfei was at his cry of anger. ¡°Cheng Xin, you know this person??¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°Know him? Of course I do! He¡¯s the one who injured me a few days ago!!!¡± Cheng Xin gave Bai Yunfei a death glare, his face red and his teeth gnashed together.


    ¡°What?!¡± One of them cried, ¡°He¡¯s the one who hurt you super badly?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s him!! I¡¯d recognize him even if he was a pile of ashes!¡± Cheng Xin bitterly reaffirmed.


    An odd sensation welled up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. It would appear that fate had something in store for him and Cheng Xin if they met twice in such a short amount of time. It seemed that Cheng Xin had already healed from the wounds he gave?


    He didn¡¯t know that Cheng Xin had a Soul King heal his wounds, thus how the man was able to heal so fast. A wound like that was a trivial matter for a Soul King.


    After his recuperation, however, the elders of his family forbade him from trying to enact revenge onto Bai Yunfei. Cheng Xin still didn¡¯t know who Bai Yunfei was actually. The elders were afraid that Cheng Xin would try something stupid and even put him under house arrest to hopefully cool his head.


    Unfortunately for them, Cheng Xin didn¡¯t take that house arrest seriously and slipped out from his home. Calling for a few of his rogue friends, he decided to come to the Training Forest to vent off his anger and go ¡®hunting¡¯.


    The people he was with were people of similar circumstances to him. They were all born to great families and lacked very little. Blessed with a bit of talent and a plethora of resources to become Soul Exalts with, these particular nobles were quite fond of coming to the Training Forest to go ¡®hunting¡¯. Hunting, as it was, was a quite special ¡®event¡¯ for people like them.


    The Training Forest was primarily used for the students of Tianhun Academy to train in, though it didn¡¯t always make sure to keep out outsiders, especially those with ¡®special¡¯ statuses.


    The hunting they did wasn¡¯t known to many, and even the ones that knew were careful not to tell. Their hunting was generally kept to a low profile by going after the lower leveled soulbeasts, and if they did get caught, their families were powerful enough to bail them out if needed.


    It was just this time, the group decided to rely on their strength to go a little deeper into the forest to try their luck. And as it just so happened, they came across a blue-eyes wyrm.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Who are you people?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked the group in front of him.


    The people with Cheng Xin had already known what happened to him prior to their excursion to the Training Forest. This person stopping their ¡®fun¡¯ was also the hated enemy of Cheng Xin, and if that was the case, should they fight him here and now?


    ¡°Who are we?¡± The mid-stage Soul Exalt to Cheng Xin¡¯s right snapped in disdain. ¡°You¡¯ve some balls to not know who we are. Kid, let¡¯s see if you¡¯ll ever be able to forget who we are after we break your arms and legs!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei stared incredulously at the young man who spoke just then. He really wanted to ask if his head had been slammed against a door if he was younger for him to be able to say such hedonistic words like that so easily. For a person who was a mid-stage Soul Exalt, his ability was as wasted on a dog as it was on him.


    He was using elemental platforms to stay in midair, meaning that the group was taking him to be an early-stage Soul Exalt right now, hence why they were being so aggressive towards him. Cheng Xin knew just how strong Bai Yunfei was, but the rancor he felt towards Bai Yunfei was far stronger than his fear for him. The events that happened to him the other day had gone by far too fast for him to really remember, and the pain he felt had blurred the other memories as well. Now that his most hated enemy was right in front of him and his fellow ¡®brothers¡¯ were with him ready to fight together to take down Bai Yunfei, Cheng Xin was more than ready to take revenge.


    Even if they couldn¡¯t defeat Bai Yunfei, Cheng Xin was planning to have Bai Yunfei make enemies with the families of the four here with him¡­.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    There was a furious roar as the blue-eyes wyrm recovered from the near-death experience it was in. Retreating to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, the wyrm glared at the five men with a look that promised pain.


    It knew that there wasn¡¯t a need to fight to the death right now. With Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi here, these ants could easily be dealt with, wouldn¡¯t they?


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to ask anymore questions from the other group. If Cheng Xin was with them, these group of people were surely not people of good characters. Looking to the blue-eyes wyrm, he asked, ¡°Well, Xiao Lan, what do you think we should do with these people?¡±


    Xiao Lan turned its head to gave Bai Yunfei a look. It gave two short growls before again glaring hatefully at the five.


    The Charm Bracelet on Bai Yunfei¡¯s wrist pulsated as a mental link was established between Bai Yunfei and the wyrm, allowing Bai Yunfei to understand what the wyrm was trying to say. Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips twitched at the wyrm¡¯s message, his eyes looking a little helpless, ¡°You...want to eat them. That¡¯ll probably won¡¯t do, it¡¯s a little excessive after all¡­.¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm repeated its desire, ¡°I want to eat them!!¡±

 Chapter 633: Breaking Both Arms

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips twitched at the wyrm¡¯s message, his eyes looking a little helpless, ¡°You...want to eat them. That¡¯ll probably won¡¯t do, it¡¯s a little excessive after all¡­.¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm was simply thinking about ¡®eating¡¯ any human that dared try to kill it. It was survival of the fittest in the most simplest of terms, but that kind of ideology wouldn¡¯t work in this place. Even if they excluded four of the five people there, Cheng Xin was the son of one of the ministers, he couldn¡¯t be so easily killed and eaten like that.


    While killing Cheng Xin would make Bai Yunfei feel slightly happy, it¡¯d also bring down a great deal of trouble onto them all. Bai Yunfei had thought about this matter before, hence why he didn¡¯t kill Cheng Xin the first time.


    ¡­¡­


    While the five men were trying to figure out what was going on, Bai Yunfei was giving Xiao Lan¡¯s proposal some serious consideration.


    ¡°How about this,¡± Bai Yunfei compromised, ¡°we can break both their arms and call it there, alright?¡±


    ¡°Mrrr¡­.¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm didn¡¯t like that idea at all, but it agreed nonetheless. Bai Yunfei¡¯s opinion mattered greatly to the wyrm, and it was already used to following whatever plan Bai Yunfei had. The wyrm could only ¡®agree¡¯ with whatever it was Bai Yunfei was saying this time.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Cheng Xin and the others took immediate response to the compromise Bai Yunfei had. Shocked, the young man behind Cheng Xin was the first to respond, ¡°What...what did he just say?! Did I hear that right? He said he was going to break our arms?!¡±


    ¡°Haha!! Is this person touched in the head?! What a joke, I¡¯m dying here!¡± Another man by Cheng Xin¡¯s side roared out in scornful laughter.


    The mid-stage Soul Exalt next to Cheng Xin had an odd look on his face, but it quickly gave way to anger. What Bai Yunfei said left him seeing red almost. He was making a mockery of them, and for people like them who spent their days living well beyond most others, how could they take such humiliation like that?


    It was only Cheng Xin whose heart went still with dread when he heard what Bai Yunfei said. Fear gripped at his heart for a moment before the words of his companion snapped him back out of it. He couldn¡¯t show any fear right now. He had to maintain his face all the way to the end.


    Not even caring for the reaction of the five, Bai Yunfei started to speak aloud, ¡°Since you haven¡¯t stated your identities, I no longer care to find out. You¡¯ve angered my friend here and tried to take advantage of it. Breaking both of your arms will serve as your discipline of sorts.¡±


    Breaking both arms would serve as discipline of sorts?!


    The ¡®warning¡¯ Bai Yunfei was giving about their ¡®verdicts¡¯ angered the five people even more and caused several of them to start seeing red.


    ¡°You ignoramus of an idiot!! Who do you think you are?! Breaking both our arms? Fine!! Just try it! We¡¯ll be the ones breaking both your arms and legs! We¡¯ll show you we¡¯re not people to mess with!!¡±


    The person next to Cheng Xin spat in anger, ¡°Get him!!¡±


    The reason why this person had all five people move at once wasn¡¯t because they knew how strong Bai Yunfei was. It was because they were afraid of the blue-eyes wyrm attacking them with Bai Yunfei. Preventing that didn¡¯t require much thought.


    If a person that the blue-eyes wyrm obeyed without much thought appeared, would that person really be an early-stage Soul Exalt?


    The five men moved in unison with each other to come rushing at Bai Yunfei with their soulforce blazing to life.


    Xiao Qi was planning to make a move as well before Bai Yunfei stopped him (Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to risk Xiao Qi killing them with a Spatial Edge). It was a little laughable with how strong these people were. They were beneath his notice still, and with a flash of light from his Violet Soul Ring, Bai Yunfei fished the Cataclysmic Seal out from it.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    There was a faint buzzing sound as the Cataclysmic Seal expanded into the size of a wall in front of Bai Yunfei before sweeping forward to meet the five.


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    ¡°Get back!¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    The five of them grew alarmed when the Cataclysmic Seal came at them. Everyone crying at once, their first instinct was to back up, but with a late-stage Soul Exalt manipulating the Cataclysmic Seal, how could it possibly be dodged so easily?


    There were several thuds as the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into them and knocked them away.


    The Cataclysmic Seal returned to its normal size in a flash of light and returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side as a small red blur of light. The blow from the Cataclysmic Seal had brought Cheng Xin and the others back to their original locations, though each of their faces weren¡¯t filled with as much anger and loathing as before. They all looked rather panicked in fact.


    One of the early-stage Soul Exalts hadn¡¯t been able to protect himself in time and belched out a mouthful of blood!


    Of the entire group, it was Cheng Xin whose face was the whitest of them all. He had seen Bai Yunfei use the Cataclysmic Seal before, and he remembered seeing Bai Yunfei use the same soul armament to send his protector flying away through a wall after being hit with it.


    But he didn¡¯t realize that this soul armament could expand in size!!


    The ¡®leader¡¯ of the group looked displeased at the sight, but he wasn¡¯t fearing for his life just yet. They were a group of Soul Exalts after all, and this was only just a single strong soul armament. Something like that didn¡¯t mean they wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°No wonder you were so arrogant if you were relying on a soul armament like that, pah! You think that¡¯d be enough to deal with us? Split apart! We¡¯ll attack him from the gaps!¡±


    Seemingly not wanting to offer up ¡®meaningless resistance¡¯, the group split up, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s annoyance. The Cataclysmic Seal took flight again this time into the air. Looking up, Cheng Xin and his friends were all surprised to see a giant object come flying down onto their heads!


    ¡°Scatter!¡±


    A panicked voice cried out before each of the five tried to bolt out from the impact area of the Cataclysmic Seal in a burst of elemental energy.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    There was a snort from Bai Yunfei. It wasn¡¯t loud, but oddly enough, each of the five men felt their souls quake a moment their bodies locked up mid-flight!


    By the time each of the five realized what was going on, they saw their bodies lean slightly away from the drop zone of the brick while sticking both their arms out¡­.


    A series of screams and grunts rang through the air as a mountainous of an object dropped down from the skies onto their arms with a great amount of strength.


    Paralyzed in the new crater they found themselves in, the five men stared blankly at the sight in front of them.


    Something completely beyond their understanding happened to them for a moment and knocked their minds out for a loop.


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahh! It hurts! It hurts!! What happened! What in the world happened?!¡±


    The silence was broken afterwards as one of them starting scream as if they were being killed slowly. He had been the worst of the group and had his right thigh bent at an awkward angle. Sweat pooled his forehead as he screamed at the top of his lungs.


    As if a chain reaction went off, the other early-stage Soul Exalts began to wail in pain as well.


    The only one who was in relatively better shape was Cheng Xin due to his better level of strength. But like the others, his face was abnormally pain and twisted with pain. And even more prominent was the shock on his face.


    Now that their resistance was stripped from them, Bai Yunfei slowly made his way down from the skies. Sweeping his eyes at the one wailing the most, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand. Under the amazed eyes of the five there, the Cataclysmic Seal smashed down onto the person¡¯s right arm!


    ¡°Bang!! Crack!!¡±

 Chapter 634: Save Me Fourth Prince!!

    There was a sickening banging sound followed by a bone-chilling crack as the person¡¯s arm was bent at an unnatural angle. From the collision with the brick, it seemed as though the man¡¯s arm had broke in three separate sections.


    Then as if it had a will of its own, the brick swiveled around and repeated the action onto his left arm!


    A second crack was heard as the man now had both his arms broken.


    ¡°Ah¡ªAh!!!¡±


    The pain was practically making the man¡¯s eyes bug out from his eye sockets as he let loose a wail like none other.


    He cried for another second or two before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fainted from the pain!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The area descended into silence for a moment after the person fainted. The other four people with him were as good as stone with how still they were.


    Bai Yunfei had done it¡­.Bai Yunfei had really done it!! He had really broken their arms!!


    Not even a single person there had thought it possible that Bai Yunfei would actually be able to do such a thing.


    If there was a first though, Bai Yunfei definitely planned on having a second. Stone-faced, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand again and brandished it. Weaving expertly with his command, the Cataclysmic Seal whizzed towards the second person!


    ¡°Bang! Crack!!¡±


    Like patchwork, the two early-stage Soul Exalts had their arms broken!


    Somehow, these two Soul Exalts didn¡¯t faint like the first one had. The pain was almost unbearable for them, but they managed to keep themselves fully conscious and scream despite no longer being able to use their arms for now.


    Seeing Bai Yunfei ¡®cripple¡¯ three of his companions so quickly and the soul armament come for him next, the mid-stage Soul Exalt next to Cheng Xin blanched. His face drained of all color as he tried to protect himself with a layer of elemental wind. At the top of his lungs, he screamed, ¡°Stop! Stop!! I¡¯m Li Chen, son of the Minister of Justice!! You can¡¯t hurt me, my dad is Li¡ª¡±


    TL Note: This is a reference to the infamous Li Gang incident and meme ¡®My dad is Li Gang¡¯.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Not liking the noise coming from him, Bai Yunfei had the brick slap the man across the face first, completely overwhelming the elemental energy around him as if it was a pile of wet paper.


    Bai Yunfei had been just about to use the Cataclysmic Seal to break the arms of Li Chen when he turned his head in the direction behind him, ¡°What are they doing here?¡±


    A group of people was coming from the direction of Tianhun Academy. Striding through the skies in a blaze of elemental fire, these group of people had familiar auras to Bai Yunfei.


    They were his students.


    Mo Wanxia was leading the group with Ouyang Yuyun and Zhang Zhifeng behind her. The Soul Exalts were able to leap through the skies while Mo Chen, Fang Tianmeng, and the other Soul Ancestors had to follow them from the ground. Meanwhile, Wu Yang was carrying a person as he ran with them¡ªit was the little princess Wu Ping.


    When Bai Yunfei left during their lesson, the students were all slightly curious at why he left and paused in their practice for a moment. During that time, Mo Wanxia picked up on the fight and managed to link it together with the reason why Bai Yunfei left. Curious on if something had happened, they decided to go after Bai Yunfei to see.


    The Training Forest was generally prohibited to the students of the academy, but for Mo Wanxia and Wu Yang, neither of the two really had to care about such a ¡®prohibition¡¯. In any case, they were ¡®following¡¯ their instructor to enter the forest.


    It didn¡¯t take long for them to catch up to Bai Yunfei. The first thing they saw was a gigantic soulbeast and several people lying on the ground groaning and crying out in pain. Realizing it was something serious, the students flew even faster towards their instructor.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei noted the arrivals of his students with a stern look. ¡°What are you all doing here? Didn¡¯t I tell you to practice in your caves?¡±


    Everyone had thought that Bai Yunfei was being attacked by a giant soulbeast, but the scene became a lot more clear when they got closer. They looked first at the blue-eyes wyrm and then to Bai Yunfei and the five people he was facing. Baffled by what he was saying, Fang Tianmeng spoke up, ¡°In¡­.instructor Bai, we thought you were in trouble, so...so we came to look.¡±


    ¡°Fourth Prince?! Fourth Prince!! It¡¯s really you, save me, Fourth Prince! Save me!!¡±


    An ¡®overjoyed¡¯ voice spoke out to Wu Yang when he arrived. It was Cheng Xin. When he saw Wu Yang get here, Cheng Xin immediately tried to latch onto him like a piece of rope.


    Everyone was doubly confused by his pleas. Blinking as he looked at Cheng Xin, Wu Yang gasped, ¡°Er¡­.Cheng Xin?! Is that you?! What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Fourff Prinff?! Sa-saff uff!! Saff uff Fourff Prinff!!¡±


    Blood was leaking from Li Chen¡¯s face as he approached Wu Yang. Like Cheng Xin, he was overjoyed to see him. Because of the slap in the face, Li Chen¡¯s mouth had lost a few teeth and made his speech a little garbled.


    Wu Yang blinked several times again to try and recognize who this person was.


    ¡°Are¡­.are you Li Chen!?¡±


    ¡°Fourth Prince! Please save us, Fourth Prince!! This man¡­.this man¡¯s going to kill us!! Take justice for us, Fourth Prince!!¡±


    Warm tears were flowing from Cheng Xin¡¯s face now. He was acting like a little brother crying to his older brother, never at all minding just how absolutely strange everything looked to everyone else.


    Even Bai Yunfei was surprised. Casting Wu Yang a careful look, he asked, ¡°Wu Yang, do you know them? Are they your ¡®friends¡¯??¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­..¡± Wu Yang hesitated for two seconds to answer. As he was not an idiot, the general gist of the situation took only a second for Wu Yang to understand. From how Cheng Xin was speaking, he and his friends had to have annoyed Bai Yunfei somehow and was being taught a lesson instead.


    ¡°Well¡­.I do know them, actually. As one of the princes, how could I never have heard of the son of the Minister of Justice? I¡¯m not really familiar with them though.¡± The slightly disappointing look he was being given by Bai Yunfei led to Wu Yang making the decision to renounce his relationship with Cheng Xin and the others. It was the truth after all anyways. He didn¡¯t really talk with these people, and as the prince, he was normally fawned upon by these people anyways.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, how have these people offended you?¡± Wu Yang asked.


    Cheng Xin might not be his ¡®younger brother¡¯ but he was still the son of a minister. Wu Yang had the obligation to ask around the situation and see if he could mediate somehow.


    Bai Yunfei stared at the five, ¡°They were trying to take advantage of Xiao Lan, so I taught them a lesson. I wasn¡¯t going to kill them at all, just break their arms.¡±


    Everyone turned to look at Xiao Lan, ¡°What?!¡± Wu Yang cried out incredulously, ¡°This...this is Xiao Lan?!¡±


    The battle mode of Xiao Lan had never been seen by the students before. They had always seen Xiao Lan just lazing around by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side in a very small state, so they didn¡¯t expect it to be such a terrifying beast. In fact, some of them were even wondering just why they hadn¡¯t seen Xiao Lan in a while, had it been here in the Training Forest the entire time?


    Craning his head practically ninety-degrees backwards, Mo Chen sighed in admiration. ¡°So this soulbeast was Xiao Lan?! This must be its battle mode! Good heavens...it¡¯s amazing!! Instructor Bai, why did you leave Xiao Lan here in the Training Forest? I was going to say I hadn¡¯t seen Xiao Lan in a while.¡±


    ¡°Ins¡­.Instructor Bai?? Instructor?!¡±


    Both Cheng Xin and Li Chen were stunned from the conversation between Bai Yunfei and Wu Yang. It felt as though their heads were spinning almost¡ªthis man¡­.this man was an instructor? The instructor of Wu Yang?!¡±


    Suddenly, the two men remembered a string of information they got a long time ago.


    Wu Yang had been chasing the granddaughter of the academy¡¯s chairman, that much was known. It was heard that he joined a newly installed class for the sake of chasing her, and that class was¡­.the crafting class!!


    And the instructor of this class was a young man from the Crafting School named Bai Yunfei!


    Anyone that was ¡®someone¡¯ in the circles of the Capital would definitely know about Bai Yunfei and how big of an ¡®upstart¡¯ he was. Many heard about Bai Yunfei¡¯s fight with the fourth prince and then how he stirred up trouble with the family of the Minister of Finance¡­..


    Acts like that were beyond the little ¡®games¡¯ arrogant nobles like them would play.


    But the Bai Yunfei they heard so much about was¡­.this person right in front of them?!

 Chapter 635: You Can Get Lost

    Wu Yang looked a little hesitant to speak after that. ¡°Instructor Bai, one of these two is the son of the Prime Minister and the other is the son of the Minister of Justice, and the others¡­¡±


    He glanced at the three knocked out or still-howling men next to Cheng Xin and Li Chen. ¡°Are also the sons of some ministers in our empire. Is there a chance¡­¡±


    Cheng Xin and Li Chen both brightened up, their eyes hopeful for what Wu Yang was starting to say.


    But then Bai Yunfei¡¯s words immediately dashed their hopes¡­.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head before Wu Yang could even finish speaking. ¡°If you¡¯re asking if I can be lenient on them, then don¡¯t bother. I can¡¯t let them get off so lightly after they tried to kill Xiao Lan.¡±


    ¡°Furthermore¡­¡± Bai Yunfei looked at the already ¡®punished¡¯ three people there. ¡°I¡¯ve already punished half of them. To stop now wouldn¡¯t be fair.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Cheng Xin and Li Chen both wanted to cry out in anger. ¡®Unfair your mom!¡¯, they wanted to say. But the cold look Bai Yunfei gave the two of them immediately shut themselves up. Their hearts and bodies shivered as they stewed silently in their own panic.


    ¡°That¡­.¡± Wu Yang hadn¡¯t thought that Bai Yunfei would be that determined about this. It wasn¡¯t as though he didn¡¯t care if these people were ¡®taught¡¯ or not. He had only tried for a moment to see if he could mediate the conflict. Since that didn¡¯t work, he decided to give up and shrug his shoulders. ¡°You¡¯re the instructor. If you say it must be done, then it will be done. But there will definitely be some trouble in the future, please prepare yourself for it, instructor Bai.¡±


    ¡°Trouble?¡± Bai Yunfei quirked his lips, ¡°I knew that a long time ago. If I wasn¡¯t thinking about the potential troubles I would¡¯ve had Xiao Lan eat those people and be done with it. That¡¯d be real trouble. What this is right now is settled. If there¡¯s trouble, it¡¯ll come.¡±


    The reason why he stood against these men wasn¡¯t because of some righteous reason like for the soulbeasts the five tortured.


    It was because Xiao Lan was an ¡®enemy¡¯ of these five, so he¡¯d naturally stand with the wyrm.


    ¡°Fourff Prinff, you...you canf jusf leaf us here!! Saff us!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei glared at Li Chen, sending a shiver up the man¡¯s spine before the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into his arm. Like his three other companions, he fell to the ground with his arms broken.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    There was another two loud spikes in noise as Cheng Xin was unable to hold withstand the pressure of ¡®torment¡¯ anymore. Using up all his strength, he tried to escape as fast as possible in the opposite direction of Bai Yunfei!


    His sudden dash for escape was surprising to the group as was his speed. In less than the blink of an eye, he was already over a dozen meters away due to the all-or-nothing attempt he was making.


    Unfortunately for him, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t caught off guard by this. The Cataclysmic Seal flew forward and struck Cheng Xin squarely on his left shoulder. Despite the impact, Cheng Xin only grunted in pain while maintaining his escape.


    In the next moment, he saw a black shadow come at him from the right¡­.


    ¡°Bang!!!!¡±


    It struck Cheng Xin with a muffled bang and sent the man flying away like a rocket. At some point, the wyrm had swung its tail like a baseball bat to send Cheng Xin flying!!


    Cheng Xin¡¯s decision to try and make a break for it was one even worse than just staying here. His left arm had been broken by the Cataclysmic Seal, but his right arm had¡­.been thwomped with the tail of the blue-eyes wyrm with righteous vengeance. The bones in his right arm would definitely be far worse than the ones in his left, and even if he was a Soul Exalt, his body would definitely need a great deal of time to heal from this¡­.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t trying to cripple anyone when he broke their arms. For soul cultivators like them, it¡¯d require the amputation of both their arms in order to be considered crippled. The wounds in a soul cultivator¡¯s arm could still be healed no matter how bad it was. Bai Yunfei was only using the elemental fire in the Cataclysmic Seal to deal some relatively worse injuries onto the five here. At worse, it¡¯d take longer than usual to heal, but there¡¯d be no problems afterwards.


    But it was much harder to say that about Cheng Xin¡¯s right hand¡­.he got what he deserved.


    ¡­¡­


    With a plop, Cheng Xin tumbled to the ground far away from the group. His soulforce was at a lull and he didn¡¯t get back up after he was hit.


    He had been knocked out.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone grew silent, even the ones who had only just been screaming in pain a moment ago. For that one moment alone, the four of them thought themselves ¡®lucky¡¯. Compared to Cheng Xin, they were only let off with a minor ¡®scratch¡¯....


    Bai Yunfei gave the proud looking blue-eyes wyrm a helpless look. ¡°Well, you can get lost now.¡± He addressed Li Chen.


    The three men snapped back to attention at that. Gritting their teeth in pain as they got up, they began to use their soulforce to stabilize their wounds. Shakily, they loyally made their way over to the knocked out fourth person and Cheng Xin. Wrapping them in a bubble of elemental energy, the three then started their long and painful journey away.


    As they left, several of them couldn¡¯t help but give Bai Yunfei looks of hatred and fear, only to have Bai Yunfei respond with a smile of his own.


    ¡­¡­


    Everyone was speechless after the five left.


    Though none of the students saw what happened the events that led up to this situation, they all saw just how Bai Yunfei had broken the arms of Li Chen and Cheng Xin. Stunned, it was the very first time they had ever seen Bai Yunfei be so ¡®ruthless¡¯ like this¡ªexcept for Fang Tianmeng who saw Bai Yunfei kill several people one after another.


    Wu Yang watched Li Chen and his group hobble away with squirmed eyes, ¡°Instructor Bai¡­.you¡¯ve...you¡¯ve really done it¡­.¡±


    ¡°Wow!! Instructor Bai is amazing!!¡±


    There was a worshipful voice, prompting Wu Yang to fall into a state of shock¡ªit had been his younger sister who spoke out this time!!


    Her hands were still wrapped around Wu Yang¡¯s neck, but she was staring at Bai Yunfei¡¯s back with stars in her eyes.


    ¡°Er¡­.¡±


    Stiff as a statue, Wu Yang immediately said, ¡°Sis¡ªsister! What are you saying?!¡±


    ¡°I said instructor Bai is amazing! Those people were Soul Exalts!! He didn¡¯t even move and he beat them all up! Even what he said was¡­.so amazing¡­.¡±


    Wu Yang was speechless.


    What kind of logic was that!!


    He felt pained by this. He had never heard of his sister using such logic like this before.


    He had known about that earlier, he would¡¯ve brought her out to see some of his fights. If he had, wouldn¡¯t he be her hero by now?!


    Wu Yang had to admit he felt a little panicked at the look of worship his sister had in his eyes. If he had to put it into words, it felt like his younger sister was being ¡®stolen¡¯ away. ¡°Sister, you are forbidden from worshipping instructor Bai, got it?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Wu Ping cocked her head in confusion.


    ¡°Because¡­.because¡­.¡± Wu Yang struggled to find an excuse, ¡°Because our instructor¡¯s wife will feel jealous if you keep saying that! So don¡¯t worship instructor Bai from now on.¡±

 Chapter 636: The Incoming Retaliation

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was storing away his Cataclysmic Seal back into his space ring when he saw Wu Yang and Wu Ping whispering to each other and grew curious on just what could be so secretive.


    Wu Yang coughed, ¡°It¡¯s nothing¡­.¡±


    A strange look was given to him for a moment before Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°Well now that this matter is taken care of, we can go back and restart class.¡±


    After bidding the blue-eyes wyrm to be more careful, Bai Yunfei and his students headed back for the academy.


    ¡­¡­


    A single figure stood high above the clouds to stare down at the direction of Bai Yunfei and the others. Unmoving, he stood there and watched them leave.


    This person was Xiao Lan¡¯s master, Long Zhen!


    He had been here since the beginning of Xiao Lan¡¯s battle with Cheng Xin and the others. When Bai Yunfei came to end the conflict, he saw it all.


    He smiled when Bai Yunfei left. ¡°What an admirable young man. He¡¯s yet to failed expectations¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After returning to top of the mountain, Bai Yunfei began to teach class again as if there hadn¡¯t been anything wrong.


    The class quickly went by before it came time for class to be dismissed for the evening. When that time drew close, Wu Ping came happily up to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Instructor Bai, can I come play again next time?¡±


    ¡°Next time?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled after a moment, ¡°Well¡­.alright. I¡¯ll have Xiao Qi accompany you the next time you come, Princess Ping¡¯er.¡±


    Wu Ping had actually looked quite bored half the day. The other half of the day was spent with her speaking with Xiao Qi, having clearly taken interest in a bird that could speak.


    ¡°Heehee, okay! I¡¯ll come with fourth brother next time!¡± Wu Ping giggled, ¡°Then...will I see your wife next time too?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. ¡°Wife? What wife?!¡±


    ¡°Your wife, instructor Bai! Fourth brother said so! He said I can¡¯t admire you because your wife will get jealous¡­.¡±


    ¡°I er¡­.haha! Actually, instructor Bai, I was just curious. Why hasn¡¯t she accompanied you to the Capital?¡± Wu Yang boomed with laughter, trying to save some face for his made-up excuse from earlier.


    It was meant to be a simple line to save him some face, but then when Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew curiously suspicious, Wu Yang noticed something.


    Was Bai Yunfei¡­.looking a little embarrassed?


    Could it be¡­.?


    Wu Yang¡¯s eyebrows floated up on his face, ¡°Do you really have a wife, instructor Bai?! Haha! Why haven¡¯t we heard about her before?!¡±


    ¡°What? Instructor Bai¡¯s wife? Instructor Bai has a family?!¡± Mo Chen¡¯s ears perked up at the news and immediately came scampering over in excitement to hear more about it.


    His loud voice attracted the attention of the others who immediately came around to surround Bai Yunfei. They were gossipy people by nature and wanted to know if this ¡®great news¡¯ was true or not.


    None of them knew anything about Bai Yunfei¡¯s personal life and were thus naturally very curious to hear more.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, where is your wife? Why haven¡¯t we seen her before? Did she not come with you?¡± Fang Yong asked.


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei looked slightly embarrassed when he thought about Tang Xinyun. The others could already tell just what it was he was thinking about from his expression, so he couldn¡¯t simply deny the question. ¡°She¡¯s...er, she¡¯s in the Crafting School still.¡±


    ¡°So there is one!!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes grew wide open. ¡°I told you all!¡± Mo Chen crowed, ¡°Instructor Bai is an amazing specimen of a man, how could he not have a wife? He¡¯s been living by himself even in the Capital, so of course his wife has to be in the Crafting School.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.no, actually we haven¡¯t¡­.¡±


    ¡°But instructor Bai, if you¡¯re teaching in the academy, why hasn¡¯t she come with you? You¡¯re living in such a big home, it has to be lonely¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, instructor Bai, what¡¯s her name?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s¡­.Tang Xinyun.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The torrent of gossip had been endless, and Bai Yunfei even found himself being asked if he had any children. With these questions, Bai Yunfei was starting to regret even mentioning Tang Xinyun¡¯s name.


    He felt guilty. Wasn¡¯t it inappropriate to say to his students that Tang Xinyun was his wife?


    On the other hand, he felt a little happy about the thought. It was a very happy one¡­.


    Unable to handle the questions of Mo Chen and the others anymore, Bai Yunfei finally ¡®dismissed¡¯ everyone.


    He left the academy with Xiao Qi and headed for the Soothing Heart as per usual. Sipping on some Soul Consolidating Tea, Bai Yunfei returned home.


    ¡­¡­


    Late that night in Cheng manor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stop me, second uncle! I¡¯ll kill that Bai Yunfei and take revenge for third brother!¡±


    A furious voice boomed throughout the quiet building, shattering the fragile silence that had been there earlier. The voice had been so loud the room they were in shook a bit.


    Within this room, Cheng Changlin could be seen holding one of his nephews back. ¡°Little Hu, don¡¯t be rash. I¡¯ve told you before Bai Yunfei isn¡¯t an easy person to deal with. Your victory isn¡¯t certain if you go to him now.¡±


    In front of him was a tall robust man around 1.9 meters tall. He was Cheng Xin¡¯s second brother, Cheng Hu. Having been on the outside for some matters, Cheng Hu came back just tonight in time to see the ¡®practically-crippled¡¯ brother of his. Furious beyond belief, he immediately planned to go out and avenge his brother.


    ¡°I won¡¯t win against him?!¡± Cheng Hu spoke out in surprise first before sneering, ¡°So what?! I¡¯ll bring a few people with me then. He won¡¯t get away with this so easily!¡±


    ¡°Little Hu is correct! We shouldn¡¯t let this matter go! So what if this Bai Yunfei has a special status?! He¡¯s openly injured the son of a minister, that¡¯s more than enough to go after him! Why should we grit our teeth and bear this humiliation, how will outsiders view our family?! Little Hu and I should go drag this Bai Yunfei out!¡±


    Like Cheng Hu, Cheng Changshan was quick to anger and was absolutely furious with this situation.


    ¡°Third brother, don¡¯t be rash. Why act in such a way towards someone from the younger generation?¡± Cheng Changlin furrowed his eyebrows, ¡°This Bai Yunfei is from the Crafting School and is Zi Jin¡¯s disciple. He¡¯s now also the instructor of the crafting class where even the Royal Family regard it highly. His status is especially hard to act against.¡±


    ¡°And what of it?!¡± Cheng Changshan snapped, ¡°Are we supposed to be cowered by that?! Bai Yunfei will pay the price, our house of Cheng will not be made a mockery!¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouths!!¡±


    A loud voice called for silence as Cheng Chaochuan finally stood up from Cheng Xin¡¯s bedside to reprimand the others.


    Straight away, Cheng Changshan and Cheng Hu kept silent and said no more.


    ¡°Second uncle, how is little Xin?¡± Cheng Changlin asked in concern.


    ¡°Worry not, I¡¯ve healed up most of his wounds for now. His broken bones have been reset, and his arms are saved.¡± Cheng Chaochuan spoke lowly, ¡°But this time, the time of recuperation will take at least a hundred days. And his right arm will take at least a year to fully heal¡­..¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that serious?!¡±


    Cheng hu cried out in anger, ¡°How vicious! We should kill that Bai Yunfei!¡±


    ¡°I told you to shut your mouth!!¡± Cheng Chaochuan spoke again, ¡°If you don¡¯t wish to end up like your third brother, you should avoid angering that Bai Yunfei.¡±


    It was with great reluctance that Cheng Hu backed down, unwilling to argue with his second grandfather. ¡°Are¡­.are we really going to let third brother¡¯s injury stand like this without lifting a finger?!¡±


    ¡°Of course we won¡¯t let this matter stand as it is. But this isn¡¯t a matter you should bother with. I¡¯ll speak with your father in a bit and see how we¡¯ll handle this¡­.


    ¡°How are the other families dealing with this?¡± He turned to Cheng Changlin.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure as of yet, but they were very quick to react. Plenty of people wanted to deal with Bai Yunfei, but after they found out who he was, they quieted down. With how the Li usually act, I¡¯m sure someone from their household will soon do something though.¡±

 Chapter 637: Invitation

    The next afternoon, Bai Yunfei was relaxing in the courtyard of his home. Basking in the sunlight, he was thinking about a few crafting related things when he heard Zheng Kai come rushing into his courtyard.


    ¡°Yunfei! I heard you debilitated Cheng Xin, Li Chen, and several others yesterday, is it true?¡±


    Zheng Kai asked as soon as he was within close proximity of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°How did I know? Almost everyone in our ¡®circle¡¯ knows about it. Cheng Xin went ¡®hunting¡¯ in the Training Forest and was beaten badly by an instructor from Tianhun Academy¡­.isn¡¯t that you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it is. I broke both his arms, he¡¯ll probably need a hundred days to heal from that.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Haha, how should I even describe you, Yunfei? You¡¯re¡­.like a kite!¡±


    He flashed Bai Yunfei a big thumbs up.


    ¡°What kind of ¡®kite¡¯ would I be? I was just teaching him a lesson.¡± Bai Yunfei frowned, ¡°Xiao Lan wanted to eat them, so I had to stop that.¡±


    ¡°.....¡±


    Zheng Kai couldn¡¯t help but shake his head after he heard the story of what really transpired, ¡°Tsk tsk, Zheng Kai and Li Chen deserved it. They would¡¯ve gotten away with it if it was anyone else, but since it was you, they really bit off more than they could chew, haha¡­.it sucks that I wasn¡¯t there, I missed a great show!¡±


    He laughed, but his face grew slightly somber afterwards. ¡°But I have to warn you, Yunfei. You¡¯ve managed to anger the houses of five ministers in the Capital. They most likely won¡¯t take the fact that you¡¯ve mistreated their younglings without an argument. I¡¯ve heard that aside from the Cheng, the other four have already joined together in their anger for you. They¡¯ll most likely try to start something soon, so be prepared.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei uttered, so Zheng Kai was here to ¡®report¡¯ to him? ¡°How do you think they¡¯ll ¡®start¡¯ something?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but there¡¯s a possibility that they¡¯ll simply just have people come over and kidnap you.¡±


    ¡°Kidnap me?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Do they have Soul Kings, how many do you think?¡±


    ¡°Soul Kings?! And how many?!¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes grew wide, ¡°You¡¯re taking this rather easily, do you think Soul Kings are like carrots waiting to be pulled from the ground? There¡¯s almost a million soul cultivators in the Capital alone, and no more than five hundred of those will be Soul Kings. Do you really think a Soul King will do something because of something this minor?¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief, ¡°That¡¯s good then, no one strong will come then.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    The absolute calmness of Bai Yunfei was nearly praiseworthy. But when Zheng Kai thought about just how strong Bai Yunfei was and how strong his two class seven soulbeasts were, he had to admit, there wasn¡¯t really much of a need to be scared.


    ¡­¡­


    At that moment, another person came to the outside of the courtyard.


    ¡°Lord Bai, your underling has a report to give.¡±


    This man didn¡¯t walk inside the courtyard, he merely stopped in front of the gates to the place. It was an old man in his fifties. As regular as he seemed, he looked quite hale and hearty for his age. This was the housekeeper Bai Yunfei hired to take care of his home.


    With how large his home was, Bai Yunfei knew he himself wouldn¡¯t be able to clean it. In order to avoid it becoming a haunted house with dust and such, Bai Yunfei had a few people hired to take care of the place. They cleaned up the entirety of his home aside from this isolated courtyard where Bai Yunfei would be by himself without any servants or maids. Aside from housekeeping, protecting, his servants had also the responsibility of passing on messages to him.


    The entirety of the cleaning staff had been hired by Zheng Kai on behalf of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Uncle Xu, come in.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°What is it?¡±


    The old man came into the courtyard to respectfully hand Bai Yunfei a red letter. ¡°This just came in from a guest. They said it is an invitation for lord Bai to attend.¡±


    ¡°An invitation?¡± Bai Yunfei took the letter in confused surprise, ¡°Did they say who it was from?¡±


    The old man shook his head. ¡°They left after handing the invitation. They said that lord Bai would understand as soon as you see the letter.¡±


    ¡°Ah, very well then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°You may leave then, uncle Xu.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What does it say? Who¡¯s inviting you?¡±


    Zheng Kai asked rather strangely as soon as the letter-bearer left.


    ¡°Haha, just as we were talking about it, this invitation came¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed and handed the letter to Zheng Kai to see.


    Zheng Kai took the letter, flipping it open to look. ¡°The houses of Li, Zeng, Zhu, and Peng?! They sure do move quickly, but¡­.an invitation to a ¡®banquet¡¯?? What kind of banquet is this?¡±


    ¡°What kind?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°One like the Hongmen Feast. How unexpected that they¡¯d try this kind of tactic instead.¡±


    TL Note: The Feast of Hongmen. Liu Bang was nearly killed under the pretense of a feast by rival Xiang Yu.


    ¡°The Hongmen Feast? What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.it was a malicious one, nevermind. Basically, they¡¯re inviting me to a banquet and then while I¡¯m there, they¡¯re going to teach me a lesson, doesn¡¯t that sound about right?¡±


    This letter of invitation was from the houses of the four people Bai Yunfei punished yesterday.


    It was however short one name, the house of Cheng. And that in itself made Bai Yunfei quite suspicious. Of the five people he angered due to yesterday, the Cheng should¡¯ve been the most furious. Why weren¡¯t they a part of this banquet, were they planning something else?


    ¡°It says the banquet will be held in a villa outside the Capital, that doesn¡¯t bode well¡­.¡± Zheng Kai narrowed his eyes. ¡°If they¡¯re going to host this banquet together, are they afraid of you then? There¡¯s no way they¡¯d forget about what you did yesterday, but to join together like this¡­.Yunfei, what are you going to do? Do you want me to come with you?¡±


    ¡°Come with me? Who says I¡¯m going to go?¡± Bai Yunfei frowned.


    ¡°Ah?¡± Zheng Kai whipped his head to look at him, ¡°You¡¯re not going?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shrugged, ¡°Why should I go when they ask? Aren¡¯t they just going to try and mistreat me if I do go?¡±


    So¡­.a situation like this could be answered in such a way like that?!


    Then again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s answer wasn¡¯t a wrong one. He didn¡¯t have to go at all.


    ¡°But, you not going will be clearly sending a message that you don¡¯t care for them. How do you think they¡¯ll react to that? Won¡¯t they really try and ¡®kidnap¡¯ you then?¡±


    ¡°Who cares then. Fight fire with water and water with earth. I¡¯m far too lazy to go of my own accord. If they really want to take revenge, they¡¯ll have to come and start it themselves.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The next day, Bai Yunfei really did just ignore the feast as he said he would in favor of living his life as he did normally.


    As for however the people at the banquet reacted his no-show, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know, and however angry they got, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t care.


    Strangely enough, another day went by without any sign of movement from the four houses.


    On the evening of the fifth day since Bai Yunfei broke Cheng Xin¡¯s arms, Bai Yunfei came back home from the Soothing Heart to yet another invitational letter.


    But this letter was a little different than expected¡­..

 Chapter 638: The Summons of His Majesty

    Two days after he refused the invitational letter from four major families, yet another letter had been delivered to Bai Yunfei.


    But this time, it wasn¡¯t from the same four families. It wasn¡¯t even from the Cheng either. This time, the letter came from a group Bai Yunfei never expected to get a letter from.


    This invitation was from¡­.the Royal Family!!


    Delivered by the fourth prince himself, this letter was more of a ¡®edict¡¯ than it was an ¡®invitation¡¯!!


    The current dynast of the Tianhun Empire, Wu Hong, was summoning him!


    Bai Yunfei was shocked when he first received the invitation. It was only after he read the invitation several times again that Bai Yunfei was finally convinced this wasn¡¯t some type of joke being played on him by Wu Yang.


    The highest ruling figure of the entire empire was summoning him!!


    He was baffled and confused. Could this be because of what happened several days ago in the Training Forest? Was even the Emperor himself getting involved in this?!


    He didn¡¯t even ask any questions of Wu Yang, who said that he had his own instructions from his father. He was only here to deliver the message, whatever meaning there was behind it, Wu Yang himself wasn¡¯t aware of it.


    This time, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t simply ignore it like he did with the previous letter. There was no way to ignore a summons from His Majesty.


    Bai Yunfei was also confident that there¡¯d be no ¡®trap¡¯ waiting for him at the Royal Palace. Bai Yunfei was nowhere near strong enough to be warrant needing the Royal Family having to ambush him.


    So¡­.was this just an ordinary summons then?


    ¡­¡­


    It was with a curious head that Bai Yunfei left early in the morning the next day towards the palace. With Xiao Qi, he followed Wu Yang to the very heart of the Capital where the Royal Palace was.


    The imposing awe that was the Royal Palace wasn¡¯t something new to Bai Yunfei. He had walked by the northern corner of the palace several times now in his walks in the Capital.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, this is the Harmonic Heaven Hall, allow me to go in first to report to my father. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be here afterwards.¡± Wu Yang pointed to a glorious-looking palace in front of them to Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei looked over to the glorious-looking palace and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go in and wait then.¡±


    ¡°Heehee, you really came, instructor Bai!!¡±


    A happy giggle came a little far from the far right. Pausing briefly, Bai Yunfei turned to look towards the source of the sound, only to see a young girl wearing a silky skirt and robe come running towards him and Wu Yang.


    Who else could it be but the princess Wu Ping?


    ¡°Princess Wu Ping, what brings you here?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡°This is my ¡®home¡¯!¡± Wu Ping craned her head to look at the palace when she got to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Of course I¡¯m here¡­.heehee, Xiao Qi is here too!¡±


    Her attention was immediately given to the little Xiao Qi on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Hello there, Princess Ping¡¯er.¡± He spoke.


    Feeling slightly helpless, Wu Yang spoke to his sister, ¡°Sister, didn¡¯t I tell you not to come over? Father will be on his way soon. If he were to find out you snuck out from your Bright Duckweed Palace and not studying, he¡¯ll chide you again.¡±


    ¡°Aiyah, that old granny is always going on about some boring old history of our empire. She wants me to memorize so many different people¡ªhow boring!¡± Wu Ping stuck hern ose up, ¡°It¡¯s not fun at all, I don¡¯t want to learn something boring like that!¡±


    Still, she seemed like she was slightly afraid of the scolding her father would give her. Glancing around the place, she spoke, ¡°I was only here to take a look anyways! If father really does come, then I won¡¯t be here when he is. But¡­.¡±


    She looked to Xiao Qi, ¡°Xiao Qi, come play with me, why don¡¯t you? I can take you to the imperial flower garden! Da Huang is over there too! I can take you to see Da Huang and we can play together.¡±


    ¡°Da Huang?¡± Xiao Qi stared strangely at the princess for a moment. With how many times the princess had been going on about this mysterious ¡®Da Huang¡¯, Xiao Qi was in fact a little curious about this figure. That and combined with his interest for the Imperial Palace, Xiao Qi had found himself piqued by the princess¡¯ invitation.


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Haha, Xiao Qi can go with you for a while, princess Ping¡¯er.¡±


    With how he was going to be meeting with the ruler of the empire, Bai Yunfei was rather reserved as of late. Even before today, Bai Yunfei had spent a good amount of time warning Xiao Qi of the several things he could or couldn¡¯t say to His Majesty when the time came. At the time, Xiao Qi was a little impatient at the lessons and was even considering not going, but then with the princess willing to ¡®receive¡¯ him, Xiao Qi decided it was better that he went to play with her.


    ¡°Okay then, I¡¯ll go play for a while. Tell me if you need anything, Yunfei, and I¡¯ll come flying.¡±


    Xiao Qi nodded before he flew away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder to land on Wu Ping¡¯s. ¡°Let us go, Princess Wu Ping.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The Harmonious Heaven Hall was a very grand and beautiful palace. Maids adorned both sides of the palace gates along with several strictly-standing guards. Bai Yunfei and Wu Yang both sat on the chairs to the left and drank some tea to wait for the ruler, Wu Hong.


    ¡°Wu Yang, do you really not know what His Majesty has summoned me here for? Could it not be for what happened in the Training Forest a few days ago?¡±


    Admittedly, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel very calm. Meeting with the ruler of the empire was very nerve-wracking, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know what the king wanted to see him for. Since he had some time to kill now, Bai Yunfei wanted to make one final attempt to see if he could gleam any last-minute information from Wu Yang.


    Wu Yang frowned. ¡°I really don¡¯t know, but I don¡¯t think you should be too worried about it, instructor Bai. My father wouldn¡¯t summon you here to the palace to exact punishment. Trash like Cheng Xin aren¡¯t even people that my father would personally care for.


    ¡°However¡­.¡± Wu Yang paused here to think, ¡°The Minister of the Right came to the palace to see my father two days ago, perhaps it was because of you injuring his son. Father said he wanted to see you after that, so this summons might really have to do with that topic¡­..maybe father wants to mediate this problem between the two of you?? I don¡¯t really feel that my father will help them punish you, instructor Bai. You are the instructor both the Royal Family and the academy have ¡®invited¡¯ from the Crafting School to teach the crafting class, so it¡¯s hard to do anything against you.¡±


    Minister of the Right? That was Cheng Xin¡¯s father; did he come to the palace on behalf of his injured son? Were they trying to have His Majesty bring down ¡®justice¡¯ onto this matter?


    Bai Yunfei was surprised. He had been waiting to see what the Cheng would do ever since he broke Cheng Xin¡¯s arms in the first place. With each day that went by without any information, Bai Yunfei was even more surprised. The Minister of the Right of all people would definitely want to exact punishment onto the one who hurt his son, no matter just how special this person was.


    The two continued to talk for a while after that before Bai Yunfei felt several people near the palace and turned his head towards the front gates. These newcomers had auras far more intimidating than anything else he felt, and the entire palace was washed over in the tides of their powerful soulforce. It felt a bit like the night sky with how deep and profound the soulforce felt, and Bai Yunfei felt a slight stifling sensation that made it slightly hard to believe.


    But at the same time, the very first thoughts he had was to bend the knee, bow, and acknowledge his allegiance to the newcomer.


    This was a special type of feeling and power that Bai Yunfei had never felt before.


    As he was surmising to himself on just how surprising this was, every single guards near the gates bowed their heads in salute to the tall and straight figure walking past them.


    This figure was a middle-aged man looking to be in his forties. He wore an expensive golden robe and had his long hair tied up behind his head. His face was clean and steadfast. His eyes bright like stars and his eyebrows sharp like swords. His firm face had a smile on it that made him look friendly, though his entire person demanded respect at the sight.


    When hit with such powerful aura, Bai Yunfei thought about what people had meant when they talked about having ¡®Kingly Disposition¡¯.


    So something like that really existed.


    This person was a true and living example of such a phrase¡­.

 Chapter 639: Prince Hao

    Bai Yunfei and Wu Yang rose to their feet as soon as they felt the entrance of this person. Just as Bai Yunfei was debating on just what to say, Wu Yang spoke out to the man first. ¡°Are you staying here as well, uncle??¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked¡ªUncle?!


    This person wasn¡¯t His Majesty, Wu Hong?!


    The person Wu Yang spoke to was younger brother of His Majesty Wu Hong, Wu Hao!


    Prince Hao!


    The previous ruler of the empire had two sons. One of them was the current ruler, Wu Hong, and the other was Wu Hao, the sole ¡®Prince¡¯ of the previous generation.


    This man was the vice-headmaster of the Tianhun School while his older brother was the headmaster. With how hard managing the entire empire was, Wu Hong had his younger brother take care of everything in regards to the Tianhun School and other day by day affairs.


    Prince Hao was a man that stood at a level above that of the Ministers of the Left and Right. In other words, he was a man that stood beneath only one man and above tens of thousands of others.


    ¡­¡­


    Having earlier known about the members of the Royal Family, Bai Yunfei was quick to react, ¡°Junior Bai Yunfei pays his respects to Prince Hao.¡± He bowed.


    Wu Hao nodded his head to Wu Yang first before regarding Bai Yunfei with a calm look. ¡°Now now, no need for niceties, you must be Bai Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Uncle, this is the instructor of our crafting class.¡± Wu Yang preambled from the side, ¡°Father summoned him here. We weren¡¯t expecting to see you here as well, uncle¡­.¡±


    Walking to one of the chairs in front of Bai Yunfei and Wu Yang, Wu Hao sat down. He gestured with an open hand for them to sit as well before speaking. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a few things as of late and decided to come take a look at just what kind of genius the Capital has been saying was.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled in return to the man. ¡°This junior is by no means a genius. Your praises are wasted on me, Prince Hao.¡±


    If the personal disciple of the Crafting School¡¯s previous headmaster isn¡¯t a genius, then no one else in the world should dare show their faces.¡± Prince Hao chuckled. ¡°So young and yet already a peak late-stage Soul Exalt. Truly, I mean it when I say you are a genius of your generation.¡±


    For someone of his caliber, seeing how strong Bai Yunfei was wasn¡¯t a problem.


    Right next to Bai Yunfei, Wu Yang was stunned.


    Bai Yunfei was being treated so friendly by his uncle? That was an extermely rare sight to see.


    Normally, Wu Hao was a man known to rarely give smiles to others and was a more stern man than his older brother. Whenever Wu Yang himself got into trouble, it was usually his uncle that punished him when the family found out.


    But none of that stern rigidness was anywhere to be seen from his uncle right now. He was currently treating Bai Yunfei like a friend from the previou generation, asking him if he was accustomed to the Capital yet or if his classes in the academy have been going as planned.


    Just slightly, Wu Yang was starting to doubt if this man in front of him was the very same uncle he knew.


    Wu Yang sighed to himself. ¡°Instructor Bai is instructor Bai. Even my uncle treats him well¡­.¡±


    ¡°If I recall correctly, you were assaulted by someone from the Soul Refining School. Was it not the Soul Refining Palm from a Soul King? Have you healed from that?¡± Wu Hao asked in the middle of their conversation.


    Not expecting that question to be asked, Bai Yunfei took a second before he responded. ¡°Thank you for your concern, Prince Hao. I was injured then, but I am more-or-less recovered from that.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Wu Hao nodded. ¡°The events of that time was due to the folly of my Tianhun School. We hadn¡¯t believed a Soul King would dare launch an attack so easily, but due to our slacked defenses, a grave mistake was nearly made. As the overseer over the public safety and security of the soul cultivators in the Capital, I will take responsibility over this.¡±


    ¡°Prince Hao, your words are far too serious. The Capital is a large place, overseeing the entire Capital is by no means an easy feat. The Soul Kings that attacked planned the assault for a very long time. Not being able to respond as quickly as back then is only natural. If not for the intervention of the many Soul Kings that came, I wouldn¡¯t have made it out with only a few injuries.¡±


    Wu Hao smiled. ¡°I heard that an early-stage Soul King was killed by the combined efforts of you and your soulbeast. When the other Soul King fled, I personally led a group to go capture him. He unfortunately decided that death was a better option than capture, and thus we were unable to find out anything more.¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t thought that the one to led the group to chase down the other Soul King would¡¯ve been Wu Hao.


    ¡°However¡­.Bai Yunfei, do you know why the Soul Refining School might¡¯ve attacked you? Has there been issues between you and them before?¡± Wu Hao asked, this time more inquisitive than before.


    ¡°In truth, Prince Hao, there has been some knots between this junior and the Soul Refining School. We¡¯ve fought several times in the past and this one has already killed several of their students. There is already a ¡®grudge¡¯....¡±


    ¡°Oh? Several times you say?¡± Wu Hao raised an eyebrow, ¡°The Soul Refining School has always been secretive when one of their own heads outwards. But never has it been for anything good, and rarely can people attribute it to them until after the deed is done. Just meeting them several times would be a very hard thing to do¡­.¡±


    ¡°Rare to see?¡± Bai Yunfei sighed to himself, ¡°Why do I feel like they¡¯re everywhere. I¡¯m never rid of them.¡±


    ¡°All things considered, the Soul Refining School has been more active as of the past few years. This time, they¡¯ve appeared in the Capital, I wonder just what plot they¡¯re crafting this time.¡± Sighed Wu Hao, ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate how cunning the Soul Refining School is. Even the information my Tianhun School collects has rarely any important details. Any important details only come after it¡¯s too late to act on them, alas¡­.¡±


    ¡°That is the ¡®advantage¡¯ of being a ¡®villain¡¯.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°They are always hiding in the shadows. But¡­.the Soul Refining School is a wicked school. I have faith that one day, their school will be scattered like dust.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The more Bai Yunfei chatted with Wu Hao, the more calm he felt. This Wu Hao didn¡¯t seem as strict as he appeared, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really feel any arrogant airs coming from him.


    ¡°Feels like all the Royal Family are people that are easy to get along with, or at least the ones I¡¯ve met so far.¡±


    At some point while they spoke, Wu Hao raised an eyebrow and turned to the gates of the hall. ¡°Haha, my older brother is here. Why don¡¯t we go out and greet him?¡±


    Brother? That meant¡­.His Majesty has arrived!


    Bai Yunfei quickly rose to his feet after Wu Hao did. Side by side with Wu Yang, they strode towards the gates of the hall.


    When they were outside the hall, Bai Yunfei could see a small group of people come walking towards the gates. Standing at the front of a large procession of guards and servants were four men.


    The man up front wore a golden dragon robe. His appearance couldn¡¯t be discerned due to the distance, but this man was undoubtedly His Majesty, Wu Hong. By his right side was a middle-aged man who walked half a step behind him. Two younger males walked behind the second man.


    ¡°Ah?? They came too?!¡±


    Wu Yang uttered a gasp when he recognized the people following his father. ¡°Instructor Bai,¡± he whispered, ¡°the person to my father¡¯s right is the Minister of the Right, Cheng Huayu.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew to the top of his head. The father of Cheng Xin was coming with His Majesty, Wu Hong?


    Did this mean to say that he was here to seek justice for his son?!

 Chapter 640: His Majesty Wu Hong

    The Minister of the Right coming with the ruler clearly meant that the man was here for Bai Yunfei. However the Minister of the Right was planning to go after Bai Yunfei, he didn¡¯t know.


    As Bai Yunfei and Wu Yang looked on in shock, the group was already near enough for Wu Hao to step forward. ¡°Brother.¡± He nodded.


    Wu Yang took that as his cue to step forward as well. ¡°Father.¡± He bowed.


    Snapping back to reality, Bai Yunfei tried his best to quash the bad feeling in his heart to look at the group in front of him. Bowing his head to the man in front, he spoke, ¡°Ju¡­.Junior pays his respects to His Majesty¡­.¡±


    Kowtowing to the ruler was a necessary thing to do, but Bai Yunfei had never done so before and was a little hesitant. As he was moving to his knee, a kindly voice spoke to him, ¡°Haha, you must be Bai Yunfei? No need to be so reserved, you may dispense with the formalities.¡±


    Dispense with the formalities¡­.did that mean he didn¡¯t know to kowtow?


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief, the pressure he was feeling in his mind was starting to lighten a bit.


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±


    Bai Yunfei spoke gratefully as he raised his head to look at the people in front of him.


    The man in gold dragon robes was the very definition of dignified. His shoulders were straight and his chest broad. Aged forty in years or so, the man had a faint but noticeable smile on his face, though his calm and sharp eyes were measuring up Bai Yunfei. With how sharp the man¡¯s eyes were, Bai Yunfei felt like his very soul was being searched.


    This man was the current ruler of the empire, Wu Hong.


    Bai Yunfei felt intrinsically small in front of this man. In his presence, Bai Yunfei felt like he was a little man staring up at a eternally tall mountain.


    This!


    This was what people meant by having a King¡¯s Disposition! Even Wu Hao¡¯s aura felt diluted by several degrees in comparison to this.


    ¡°Your old servant pays his respects to His Highness Prince Hao and Fourth Princeling Wu Yang.¡±


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was feeling lost in the mighty aura of Wu Hong, the elderly man next to the ruler spoke, followed by the middle-aged man in purple who bowed to Wu Hao and Wu Yang.


    ¡°Cheng Yao pays his respects to Prince Hao and Fourth Princeling Yang.¡±


    Another young man in white robes bowed as well.


    This young man next to Cheng Yao was the first prince, Wu Ren. ¡°Uncle.¡± He nodded to Wu Hao.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s talk more inside.¡± Wu Hong waved his hand to dismiss the guards around them. With a nod of his head, everyone walked into the hall.


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Hong sat himself at the topmost chair while Wu Hao sat to his left. Wu Ren sat down next with Bai Yunfei by his side. To show his respect for the title Bai Yunfei had as his instructor, Wu Yang sat to the right of Bai Yunfei.


    To the right of Wu Hong was the Minister of the Right, Cheng Huayu. There was also the young man Cheng Yao, eldest son of Cheng Huayu and oldest brother to Cheng Xin.


    After everyone was well and seated, Wu Hong smiled at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Chairman Mo told me a while ago that the crafting class we have been trying to prepare for so long had finally opened, and that he appointed the instructor to be someone from the Crafting School. I have to admit, I was curious in seeing just what kind of genius Zi Jin would send over when I heard about it, but with so many things happening one after another, that had to be postponed until today, haha...Now that I see you, you are indeed a genius as I expected. Truly, you are fully deserving to be called Zi Jin¡¯s disciple.¡±


    ¡®Being worthy to be called the disciple of Zi Jin¡¯. This type of praise from his seniors had always made Bai Yunfei feel a little helpless, but at the same time, it also help pointed out just how amazing his master was.


    Even His Majesty, Wu Hong, had the light of respect in his eyes when he talked about Zi Jin.


    ¡°Your Majesty is far too kind. This¡­.this junior is still unsure if this junior is worthy enough of being the instructor of the crafting class. This junior will try his best to live up to Your Majesty¡¯s expectations.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke courteously. He didn¡¯t know how to address himself in conversation with Wu Hong, so he decided to opt for calling himself ¡®junior¡¯. It was better than just saying ¡®I¡¯, ¡®this one¡¯, or even ¡®this commoner¡¯.


    ¡°No need to be so modest. I already know just what kind of achievements your crafting class was able to pull off in a single month.¡± Wu Hong smiled. ¡°My son Wu Yang gave me a soul armament he crafted just two days ago, that in itself is already a fantastic feat. I had never thought that the crafting class would take off so quickly, but it is all due to your own efforts. As the ruler of the empire, I must thank you for allowing for my empire to have a new set of talents in this field.¡±


    From the praise Wu Hong was speaking to him, Bai Yunfei could heard the pleased tone in his voice and was slightly at ease. Slowly, Bai Yunfei was starting to feel that Wu Hong was somewhat down to earth like anyone else and not at all that scary like he first imagined.


    ¡°Thank you for your encouragement, Your Majesty. This junior will do my best to continue to teach the crafting class well.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have faith that you won¡¯t disappoint us.¡± Wu Hong smiled. ¡°Were the materials sent to you enough for you to teach with? Please ask if there¡¯s any other requests you might have, even if its to the academy or the Royal Family, we will do our best. It¡¯s only natural to supply your class with the best materials we can offer for your services.¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± Nodded Bai Yunfei, ¡°In truth, this junior has only been teaching the basics of how to craft, so the materials needed aren¡¯t very particular, we only require a decent quantity of them. The warehouse in the academy has been more than enough for the lessons, so we should be fine for the time being.¡±


    ¡°Very well then.¡± Wu Hong smiled in response to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Speaking of time being, I know your journey to the Capital was a long one. Have you grown accustomed to life here yet?¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. This junior has been living well in the Capital. It is all thanks to His Highness the First Prince for allocating a home for this one.¡±


    He nodded to Wu Ren to show his thanks.


    ¡°Oh? Is that right? Very good¡­.¡± Wu Hong gave Wu Ren a strange but pleased look.


    ¡­¡­


    After a few more basic words of conversation with Bai Yunfei, Wu Hong gestured to the silent Cheng Huayu to his left. ¡°I haven¡¯t introduced you two yet. This is the Minister Cheng of the Right, and this is his eldest son Cheng Yao. We are here today to discuss a matter several days ago¡­.I heard that there was some friction between you and the youngest son of Minister Cheng?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened fractionally, ¡°Here it is!¡±


    ¡®Friction¡¯ though? It wasn¡¯t friction but a full on out feud¡­..


    What was Cheng Huayu planning on doing today? With his youngest son injured so badly, how would he try to take ¡®revenge¡¯?


    Or perhaps His Majesty Wu Hong was here to try and have the two parties ¡®compromise¡¯ somehow?

 Chapter 641: Cheng Yao

    From the very moment Bai Yunfei first laid his eyes on Cheng Huayu, Bai Yunfei felt that this man didn¡¯t look all too friendly. He was more unfriendly than not, but Bai Yunfei could ¡®understand¡¯ that much. If he was all smiles to the one who nearly crippled his son, Cheng Huayu would be a terrible father.


    In response to being introduced by Wu Hong, Cheng Huayu looked up to gave a small quirk of his lips to ¡®smile¡¯, albeit a slightly more cold one than friendly.


    Knowing what could possibly happen if he answered wrong, Bai Yunfei nodded his head calmly. ¡°If this junior may report, Your Majesty, there was indeed something between Cheng Xin and I. He provoked me twice, so I taught him a slight lesson.¡±


    Everyone froze at his words, Cheng Huayu most of all. Startled along with Cheng Yao, both of the two gave Bai Yunfei a stare that had a cold light in them.


    Wu Hong included, everyone thought that Bai Yunfei would try to be as polite as possible to say this was a ¡®misunderstanding¡¯ or ¡®apologize¡¯ when this topic was brought up. None of them thought that Bai Yunfei would be adamant in his response.


    ¡®I did hit him, but he deserved it.¡¯


    ¡°Hmph!! A slight lesson?! The bones in both my son¡¯s arm have been fractured into pieces. It¡¯ll take many months before he¡¯ll regain full usage of them. Do you think that to be a slight lesson?!¡± Cheng Huayu sneered at the ¡®arrogance¡¯ of Bai Yunfei¡¯s words. ¡°Bai Yunfei! Don¡¯t think you can afford to get away with being excessive with your status! The house of Cheng might not be as impressive as your Crafting School, but we will not stand to be bullied by anyone!¡±


    ¡°Excessive?¡± The smile on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face widened by a bit. ¡°Does Minister Cheng think my actions were excessive? Do you know what your son was trying to do? He went after my life upon our first meeting. I was kind enough to punish him slightly for that knowing that he was your son. He did heal in a few short days after that, did he not? Then the second time¡­.he and a few others were in the Training Forest to wantonly kill several soulbeasts. They were even planning to kill one of my soulbeast friends, who wanted to eat your son if not for my intervention. In light of his status, I only injured him. If anything, you should be thanking me.¡±


    ¡°You! You¡ªwhat utter rubbish!!¡± Cheng Huayu stuttered in anger, ¡°I already inquired about what happened in the villa. My son was indeed slightly in the wrong, but you were clearly pretending to be a Soul Ancestor to trick my son. You deliberately led him on and injured him! If you didn¡¯t hide your strength, would my son really try to make life difficult for you?!¡±


    ¡°Oh?? Do you mean, then, Minister Cheng¡ªthat if I was a weak and ordinary Soul Ancestor, I should¡¯ve allowed myself to be killed by your son?¡± Bai Yunfei sneered back. ¡°Me deliberately pretending to be a Soul Ancestor? I am free to hide my strength if I choose to. Not seeing how strong I am is a fault in the eyes of your son and his guards. Furthermore, I was never one that¡¯d use the name of my master or elsewise to threaten others.¡±


    ¡°You¡ª!¡± Cheng Huayu was at a loss for words. This was the first anyone had ever talked back to him in such a fashion. As the minister of the empire, how could he be treated elsewise other than with respect? But now, a mere Soul Exalt from the younger generation was mockingly refuting every single point he was trying to make in this debate. It was making him furious.


    The others were watching this exchange with different emotions. Wu Hong and Wu Hao were both looking on with a calm, but strange look at Bai Yunfei. Wu Ren was sighing to himself, thinking that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t a very flexible person with how he was acting in this situation. Wu Yang on the other hand, was looking on with interest.


    On the other hand, Cheng Yao was staring at Bai Yunfei with a strange glint in his eyes, though the emotions on his face were practically nonexistent.


    ¡°Brother Bai¡¯s words are quite rational. It was my third brother that failed to see the truth of the matter, and his punishment by your hands, brother Bai, was a good lesson. He should take this lesson to heart and know that there are people in this world that he shouldn¡¯t anger.¡±


    Two seconds while Cheng Huayu was steaming to himself, Cheng Yao spoke up with a faint smile to Bai Yunfei. ¡°My third brother has never been disciplined in his life and has always stirred up trouble. We should be in fact thanking you, brother Bai, for disciplining my insensible third brother.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡±


    This time, it was Bai Yunfei¡¯s turn to be stunned for once. The politeness of Cheng Yao¡¯s words seemed practically enigmatic to Bai Yunfei, but he somehow managed to respond. ¡°How kind of you. As long as he keeps this lesson in mind, I believe he¡¯ll suffer less in the future. How he hasn¡¯t lost his life yet I am unsure.¡±


    ¡°As you say, brother Bai, I hope that my third brother will have sufficiently learned his lesson and grow up.¡± Cheng Yao¡¯s lips twitched upwards. ¡°I only just came back to the Capital two days ago, but even then, I¡¯ve heard of how strong you are, brother Bai. Is it true that you defeated an early-stage Soul King?¡±


    ¡°An early-stage Soul King was indeed killed by me a while ago, but that was in part due to having a class seven soulbeast help out.¡±


    Cheng Yao was talking about what happened the night of when Bai Yunfei came out from Casino Jin. What happened in Baishan City was known to only a select few, and Bai Yunfei had no desire to show off that feat either.


    Relying on a class seven soulbeast to kill an early-stage Soul King wasn¡¯t anything special. That was what Cheng Yao had heard, and like many others, that was what he felt about the situation.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that brother Bai is a late-stage Soul Exalt that can defeat even a peak late-sage Soul Exalt with ease. With your arsenal of powerful soulbound armaments, even those the same level as you are unable to win. How admirable.¡±


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes, there was something strange to his words. ¡°The rumors are exaggerated. I am nowhere as amazing as they say I am. I am only fortunate enough to own a few decent soul armaments.¡±


    Cheng Yao smiled as if to agree with what Bai Yunfei was saying. ¡°I have always been fascinated with the soulbound armaments of the Crafting School and wanted to see one for myself. Unfortunately, the students of your school rarely venture out from the mountain and so I¡¯ve been unfortunate in not seeing one. Fortunately, you are here in the Capital, brother Bai. If I could, will you do me the honor of comparing notes with me?¡±


    Comparing notes?


    So that was his plan¡­.


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. This was what the Cheng was planning after all. They didn¡¯t outright ask for Bai Yunfei to pay the price. They were using this as an excuse to take revenge for Cheng Xin!


    To ask to compare notes right in front of the empire¡¯s ruler was basically the same as forcing for a duel and then taught a lesson in front of everyone?


    Was Cheng Yao that confident in his own strength?


    Wu Hong hadn¡¯t even spoke since the very moment Cheng Huayu started this conversation with Bai Yunfei. Did he agree with the Cheng, then?

 Chapter 642: Sparring In Front of Nobility

    Bai Yunfei could see it now.


    The Cheng knew they couldn¡¯t use their status to try and force Bai Yunfei to do anything, so they opted to swap to a more cunning strategy to take revenge for Cheng Xin. By issuing a ¡®challenge¡¯ they¡¯d be able to take back the face they had lost.


    Comparing notes was a theoretically safe sparring session, but neither the leg or arm had any eyes, and so injuries were often very hard to avoid. If they could have Cheng Yao¡ªwho was from the same generation as Bai Yunfei¡ªfight and win against Bai Yunfei, not only could they reclaim the face they had lost ¡®fair and square¡¯, they could also use it as a way to mask their intentions of teaching Bai Yunfei a lesson.


    The fact that Wu Hong was silent was proof enough that he was agreeing with this plan, or at the very least didn¡¯t have any other way to mediate this conflict. The son of a minister had been severely hurt, after all, and no matter who was right or wrong, the Cheng had to do something about it. Their honor was at stake after all.


    Comparing notes would be a very simple and ¡®fair¡¯ way of resolving this conflict between both parties.


    Perhaps Wu Hong didn¡¯t really care for this matter and was only interested in seeing two talented geniuses of the same generation compete and potentially learn from the battle.


    The die had already been cast, so who was Bai Yunfei to refuse it?


    ¡°If lord Cheng wishes to compare notes, then this one will be honored to do so. Please instruct me well.¡±


    Cheng Yao¡¯s eyes lit up at his response. Lips curling into a meaningful smile, he rose up to face Wu Hong, ¡°Your Majesty, as you have heard, brother Bai and I wish to compare notes. If Your Majesty could be a witness, the two of us will fight well and without regrets!¡±


    Wu Hao smiled from besides Wu Hong, ¡°Haha, very well then. Two youngsters fighting one another is a good learning experience. To have two geniuses compare notes today is a very difficult thing to come by. Please let us see a befitting match from two geniuses.¡±


    Wu Hong gave a slightly deep look at Cheng Huayu first before he nodded. ¡°Very well. You two are both well known youths of your generation, and having two of those in one place is quite rare. Comparing notes wouldn¡¯t be too bad of a thing. I¡¯ll allow it. You may proceed outside.¡±


    Wu Hong stood up to lead everyone into the outside of the hall with Wu Hao and Cheng Huayu right behind him. Giving Bai Yunfei a quick look, Cheng Yao followed behind his father while Wu Ren and Wu Yang walked with Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, that Cheng Yao is one of the more outstanding students from the Wind Lightning School. I heard that he became a peak late-stage Soul Exalt several years ago and can use both elemental wind and lightning to a point where his strength is beyond those of his same level. Please be careful.¡± Wu Yang whispered in warning to him.


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes, ¡°The Wind Lightning School? Cheng Yao is from that school?!¡±


    ¡°He is. Cheng Yao is gifted in using both elements. He¡¯s rumored to be able to use them in strange ways too. The Wind Lightning School personally came to scout him out and so he was taught since he was small in the school. He¡¯s one of their major students.¡±


    Wu Ren chose that moment to speak up as well. ¡°Yunfei, Cheng Yao¡¯s current strength isn¡¯t something that can simply be classified as a peak late-stage Soul Exalt. He¡¯s very close to becoming a Soul King and can be considered one of the strongest under Soul Kings. You must be very careful when you fight him.¡±


    The look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face hardened by a fraction of a degree. ¡°Yes.¡± He nodded, ¡°Thank you for your warnings, I will take note of it.¡±


    He hadn¡¯t thought that Cheng Yao would have a story like that behind his person. Being the eldest son of a minister was already very superior by itself, but to hear he was one of the core disciples from the Wind Lightning School was more than enough to make Bai Yunfei reconsider the importance of this person. He had already met another person from the Wind Lightning School, Du Shaokong who had been very amazing. From what he heard already, this Cheng Yao was definitely far more amazing than Du Shaokong.


    There was also the unordinary aura he was picking up from Cheng Yao¡¯s person. That type of soulforce was far beyond what any peak late-stage Soul Exalt should be capable of. In a way, he felt similar to that of instructor Xiao Nan back in the academy who was extremely close to becoming a Soul King.


    Him being a core disciple of the Wind Lightning School by being able to use both elemental wind and lightning made him even more amazing than most soul cultivators. Combined with the fact that the Wind Lightning School had definitely taught him several extremely strong techniques, Cheng Yao¡¯s strength could definitely be considered extremely strong. Being known as one of the strongest beneath Soul Kings would definitely not be wasted on him.


    While Bai Yunfei had fought several times against a Soul King, those times had always been with the help of his soulbeasts like Xiao Qi, the blue-eyes wyrm, or the permafrost mastiff. If he were to fight someone else of the same caliber as an early-stage Soul King by himself, even if it was just comparing notes, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t very confident in his chances.


    This was also including in the fact that Bai Yunfei¡¯s current physical condition was far from optimal. To fight against Cheng Yao who was second only to a Soul King, it was definitely unknown to Bai Yunfei just how this battle would go¡­.


    It was too late to retreat now, though. The opponent had already asked the ruler to take witness in this challenge, and the die had already been cast for Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    Outside the hall was a giant plaza that spanned for a great deal of space. With everyone walking outside, Wu Hong stared at both Bai Yunfei and Cheng Yao. ¡°This is a spar to compare notes rather than a battle to the death. Do not do anything that might threaten the life of the other, understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Cheng Yao responded and bowed at once to Wu Hong. In a gust of wind, he took off into the skies and came to a stop roughly two hundred meters high in the sky. Rather than using elemental energy to form solid platforms to stand on as custom for all Soul Exalts, Cheng Yao¡¯s back had a pair of wings made of wind to help keep him ¡®afloat¡¯ in the air without falling.


    Looking back at Cheng Yao staring from the skies, Bai Yunfei bowed once to Wu Hong and Wu Hao and nodded once to Wu Ren and Wu Yang. His feet glowed red as he stepped into the skies, each step he took had a small platform of elemental energy to take him higher and higher before he came to a stop just twenty meters away from Cheng Yao on the same level of height.


    Cheng Yao¡¯s eyes were focused on Bai Yunfei as he came up. Not even a bit of hostility was leaking from him, but he seemed more than ready to use all his strength to fight and test just how strong Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength was as it was known in the ¡®rumors¡¯.


    He didn¡¯t know much about Bai Yunfei besides what he was told from the elders of his family. From them, he had heard that a few late-stage Soul Exalts protecting Cheng Xin had been defeated in a single blow. He also learned that his second uncle had been unable to stop Bai Yunfei from leaving, and according to him, this Bai Yunfei was capable of using a soul attack somehow.


    But if he looked at Bai Yunfei right now, there didn¡¯t seem to be anything special to him. The aura Bai Yunfei was showing wasn¡¯t any different than to what a late-stage Soul Exalt might show. Even more curious was the state of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Normally, a body filled with energy would normally have the sensation of being bottomless almost with how much energy there was, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s body hadn¡¯t that same feeling to it.


    ¡°Could he still be hiding his full strength then?¡± Cheng Yao wondered to himself.


    The two men regarded each other for two seconds before Cheng Yao cupped his hand customarily to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Brother Bai, please instruct me well.¡±


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei lifted his right hand, ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­.be careful, brother Bai!¡±


    With that opening remark, Cheng Yao took action with a grunt. Eyes glowing with a cold light, the wings on his back flapped once before his entire person was propelled forward. Both hands a blur, Cheng Yao weaved elemental energy through them for an attack.


    Rather than elemental wind, it was¡­.elemental lightning!


    He closed the distance between him and Bai Yunfei in the blink of an eye with both hands now at their opposing side of his waists and bent slightly at the fingers as if to grab onto something. As soulforce circulated through his body, his arms both swung outwards!


    Elemental lightning surged out from him as soon as he took action. As if caught by his hands and whipped open like a curtain, the elemental lightning within the surrounding area immediately came alive to surge and spark chaotically for a hundred meters all around!


    Like a chain reaction, more and more elemental lightning started to spark to life. Purple colored lightning spanned the entire area to cover both Bai Yunfei and Cheng Yao at the center!


    A series of crackling could be heard as the elemental lightning grew stronger and stronger. Ray after ray of elemental lightning shot this way and that, creating a net of lightning all around.


    In the blink of an eye, the space around Bai Yunfei had turned into a lightning field!


    This was a technique of the Wind Lightning School: Lightning Purgatory!

 Chapter 643: Electric Purgatory

    ¡°This is one of the supreme techniques of the Wind Lightning School, ¡®Lightning Purgatory¡¯. If Cheng Yao is using this move right away, he must be trying to finish this battle as soon as possible then?¡±


    In front of the Harmonious Heaven Hall, Wu Ren was watching the area in the sky turn into a field of lightning with fascination.


    ¡°Lightning Purgatory?! That must be amazing, isn¡¯t it?¡± Wu Yang asked nervously, his eyes staring focusedly onto the sight up ahead.


    ¡°By condensing elemental lightning into a certain area, Cheng Yao can control the current of the lightning into a field of sorts. While inside, any person will be affected by the elemental lightning, especially in speed. If they¡¯re not careful, then they¡¯ll be struck by a great extent of the gathered elemental lightning. It is truly a powerful soul skill.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that amazing?!¡± Wu Yang remarked, ¡°No wonder they¡¯re one of the Ten Great Schools then. This ¡®Lightning Purgatory¡¯ sounds even stronger than some of the stuff we learn.


    ¡°But something like this seems like it¡¯s also dependent on the user¡¯s skill. Instructor Bai should be able to deal with something like this¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    In the middle of the electric field, Bai Yunfei looked around himself at the countless streaks of purple lightning. Like tiny snakes, they spanned across the area around him. Though they weren¡¯t attacking him, Bai Yunfei felt his body start to tingle a little bit in numbness, and his speed felt like it was dropping.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a crackling sound as a flower of fire bloomed to life from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Flickering rhythmically, the fires scattered the nearby elemental lightning, though in some parts of the field, some of the elemental lightning could be seen entering the flames to join with the tiny purple spark in the fire. The rich elemental lightning from the field seemed to be feeding the fire, fueling it to full bloom and making the flames dance even brighter and bigger¡­.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    There was a sneering sound as Bai Yunfei observed the elemental lightning around him. In the next moment, a strong amount of energy was felt before what appeared to be a bolt of lightning came striking down onto Bai Yunfei.


    Still armed with a pair of wind wings on his back, Cheng Yao was traveling at hyper-fast speeds. There had only been seventy to eighty meters of distance between Bai Yunfei and him at first, but now that distance had been cut into half with this charge. As he moved, his right hand lashed out and clutched at the air. A bolt of lightning formed inside of his grasp, and with a mighty throw, he launched the bolt at Bai Yunfei!


    Even with the intimidating crackling sounds of the lightning all around him and then the attack coming at his front, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem unsettled at all. Not even looking like he was going to dodge, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand and swung his hand at the bolt of lightning!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The bolt of lightning made contact with the fires around Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm. Clenching his palm to make a fist, Bai Yunfei crushed the lightning bolt into pieces!


    This bolt of lightning was only the preamble to Cheng Yao¡¯s true attack. Right after Bai Yunfei took apart the bolt of lightning, his eyes narrowed. Taking advantage of the propulsion offered by the elemental lightning when it exploded, Bai Yunfei used the Flash Step and the Wave Treading Steps to instantaneously move backwards away from his original spot.


    At the same time, Cheng Yao¡¯s person came diving down like an eagle where he had been with his right hand like a claw to strike.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s instantaneous movement had been surprising to Cheng Yao. Though his attack had failed to land, Cheng Yao followed it up with a kick with his left leg to propel him forward. The wings on his back flapped at the same time to add to his forward inertia to give chase to Bai Yunfei.


    Elemental lightning gathered to his right fist as he launched an unhesitating punch onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    Shifting his feet, Bai Yunfei kicked off to the right side of Cheng Yao¡¯s punch before weaving his head back under. Having his punch fail, Cheng Yao stretch his hand wide to sweep his hand at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat.


    Lifting his head back and twisting his body, Bai Yunfei was able to successfully swing himself under and to the other side of Cheng Yao¡¯s arm.


    The two were moving at insanely quick speeds, and with Cheng Yao¡¯s fierce motions, his arms and legs were simply ripping through the air almost with clattering sounds while Bai Yunfei dodged each strike made at him. Nine out of ten times did Cheng Yao¡¯s attacks fail to land while the tenth would always have its strength reduced by a half before Bai Yunfei parried it.


    Nearly a hundred blows were made by Cheng Yao, but the more he attacked, the more astonished he felt. ¡°What amazing flexibility he has! Even in my Lightning Purgatory he¡¯s still able to dodge my attacks like this. But¡­.why is he only defending? He hasn¡¯t actually attacked me yet, it feels like¡­.he doesn¡¯t have the energy in his body?!¡±


    Just like Cheng Yao had guessed, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was currently lacking in strength. If Bai Yunfei had the strength, he would¡¯ve used the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force onto Cheng Yao¡¯s first punch. But right now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body couldn¡¯t handle that strain and wouldn¡¯t be able to handle a straight on punch from Cheng Yao either.


    That was why he decided to use the Wave Treading Steps and the Flash Step to help himself react to Cheng Yao¡¯s barrage of attacks. By dodging again and again, he was able to think a little about how to best fight this battle.


    He wasn¡¯t planning on using one of his trump cards or strongest moves to take the victory. Though this battle was meant to be the Cheng¡¯s way of teaching him a lesson, Bai Yunfei felt like this was also a chance to learn something.


    He¡¯d be able to learn how the people from the Wind Lightning School fought if he were to keep this up.


    But aside from the opening move, the Lightning Purgatory, the rest of Cheng Yao¡¯s attacks had been relatively minor. He wasn¡¯t using any special soul skills and was instead fighting like he was trying to get a feel for Bai Yunfei.


    Barely dodging Cheng Yao¡¯s moves one after another for about seven minutes, Bai Yunfei finally dodged one of Cheng Yao¡¯s chops before he leapt ten meters backwards. Scanning the area, Bai Yunfei kicked off again to bring him up to speed like a crimson shooting star towards the edge of the cage of purple lightning. From the looks of it, he was trying to escape from the electric field.


    ¡°Trying to run away?! It¡¯s too late!!¡±


    Cheng Yao¡¯s called out at once in triumph. Rather than give chase, he brought back hands forward to launch a giant ray of elemental lightning.


    ¡°This is one of my Wind Lightning School¡¯s strongest attacks. Electric Purgatory: Thunder Compression!!¡±


    With his cry, his hands swung out to have his palms face Bai Yunfei!


    From far away, it looked as if the entire electric field was starting to tremble as if being pulled by something. Then it started to swirl like a whirlpool before condensing into one spot!!


    The entirety of the electric field¡¯s energy was being focused onto the center!


    It shrunk within the blink of an eye in front of Cheng Yao before hovering just thirty meters in size in front of him.


    Twenty meters.


    Ten meters.


    Eight meters.


    Five meters¡­.


    Two meters!


    The electric field was now an electric ball that was gathered around Bai Yunfei¡¯s person.


    He was inside the ball!


    As if compacted to the point of no more, the electric ball froze before exploding!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±

 Chapter 644: Pulsing Winds

    It was as if a miniature sun had exploded in the area. The compressed electric ball immediately exploded into a flurry of elemental lightning and light that even the guards and servants several hundred meters away in the Harmonious Heaven Hall had to close their eyes shut. Several of them had even felt a wave of electricity run over their bodies, turning them numb.


    There was no way Wu Hong or the others would be affected by this surge of elemental lightning. They were all only surprised for a brief moment that such a powerful explosion would suddenly happen.


    ¡°How amazing¡­.is this the strongest explosive technique from the ¡®Electric Purgatory¡¯? This¡­..is something that could beat even an early-stage Soul King in strength!¡±


    Wu Yang exclaimed in shock.


    Wu Ren nodded. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s no wonder it¡¯s one of the supreme techniques of the Wind Lightning School. Compressing the energy into a ball that small sounds simple to do, but the elemental lightning makes it very hard to do so. One would need an extraordinary amount of strength to compress it that much. The fact that a peak late-stage Soul Exalt like Cheng Yao was able to do so without much soulforce consumption is very surprising.


    ¡°But¡­.¡± He continued, the look of shock in his eyes increasing by a bit to look at the glow of purple light spreading through the skies. ¡°What¡¯s more amazing is Bai Yunfei¡¯s defense. At the moment of that tremendous explosion, not only was Bai Yunfei able to defend himself, he did it without being hurt in the slightest¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The explosion of elemental lightning was beyond Cheng Yao¡¯s control. It dissipated quickly, revealing first Cheng Yao still floating there in the skies with his wings. His aura was slightly subdued as if he was trying to regain some strength. His eyes were both staring forward at something in shock, however.


    From the epicenter of the explosion, a bubble of orange light was starting to show from behind the purple. It was about two meters in length and circular as well like the electric ball that used to be there, but the orange light remained even after the former disappeared. Shimmering a bit, the orange light finally collapsed to reveal Bai Yunfei behind it.


    Bai Yunfei was absolutely calm and his entire person standing straight. He seemed to even be smiling¡ªhe was completely unhurt! An attack that could be on par with what a Soul King could put out had done nothing on him!


    ¡°A defensive soul armament? One that can expel elemental energy¡­.¡± Cheng Yao muttered as he watched the orange light collapse. Just faintly there in the light, he could see an object. ¡°If it can block the strongest move from my Electric Purgatory, then it has to be a low-heaven tier soul armament at the very least, if not a mid-heaven.


    ¡°But¡­.I won¡¯t believe that you¡¯re completely fine!! Even if you defended yourself, your soulforce has to have taken a hit! I¡¯d like to see just how many times you can take a hit like that!¡± The light in Cheng Yao¡¯s eyes hardened.


    ¡°If elemental lightning is out of the question, then what about elemental wind?!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    There was a strange shift of light in Cheng Yao¡¯s eyes. All around him, the wind started to pick up strangely to blow at the corners of his and Bai Yunfei¡¯s robes. Even more curious was the fact that beyond the three hundred diameter area, everything was completely calm. As it were, even the trees within the area had only wind blowing across the treetops from one side.


    There were a few other minute changes in the surrounding atmosphere as well. Bits of green light was starting to appear out of nowhere and started to dye the flow of the wind with an unnatural light.


    Cheng Yao felt himself a little unhappy that one of the strongest moves in his arsenal had failed to defeat Bai Yunfei. If that failed, his other more ordinary moves wouldn¡¯t fail then. There wasn¡¯t any need to probe Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength anymore, it was time for his strongest move.


    With the wind swirling around him, Cheng Yao raised his right hand to allow for an object to appear on it.


    It was a circular weapon that had a sharp blade almost all around the object. The object was about a third of a meter in diameter and three fingers wide with a hair width in edge. In one section of the object, there was a small palm-sized section for the ¡®blade handle¡¯.


    This was a soul armament, the Lunar Chakram!


    Crafters from the Crafting School weren¡¯t the only ones with powerful soul armaments. The more outstanding individuals from the more powerful clans and schools would also have one or two of them as well, wouldn¡¯t they?


    The Lunar Chakram was a soul armament bestowed from the headmaster of the Wind Lightning School, a low-heaven tier wind-type soul armament!


    The wind seemed to pick up a bit when the soul armament came into being. The wind around Cheng Yao spun with an even faster velocity as if being drawn to the perimeter of the soul armament and hone the edge with its energy.


    ¡°A heaven-tier soul armament.¡± Bai Yunfei stated. His eyes stared at the weapon in Cheng Yao¡¯s hand, but not in surprise. He was more curious about the weapon and its make itself rather than its grade.


    He also noticed the wind picking up around Cheng Yao and his weapon, ¡°This¡­.must be a wind-type soul skill?¡±


    Back when Cheng Yao was using his explosive technique with the elemental lightning, Bai Yunfei had immediately used the strongest defense the Cataclysmic Seal had to offer to protect himself .


    The strength of the Electric Purgatory was surprising, but the real surprise was with how strong the defenses of the Cataclysmic Seal was. This was the first time he was able to use it since Baishan City, and Bai Yunfei could tell that it had gotten a lot stronger compared to before despite him only increasing by one stage in strength.


    Even with his opponent opting to use elemental energy to attack, Bai Yunfei was still adopting a wait-and-see approach to let Cheng Yao take the initiative.


    His ¡®relaxed¡¯ posture infuriated Cheng Yao to a certain degree. The soulforce in his body began to bubble in accordance to his emotions. The elemental wind was still being wrapped around him, but its trajectory was slowly becoming like a single belt of wind that was crossing this way and that around the area on itself.


    ¡°Wrrrr¡­..¡±


    The sound of the wind started to grow louder and louder, piercing the ears of everyone that was within the vicinity. Soon enough, even Bai Yunfei was starting to feel the wind to sound somewhat like if someone was wailing.


    But...how could the wind pull off a sound like that?


    Suddenly, Bai Yunfei blanched, ¡°This is bad!!¡±


    ¡°Chiyah!!¡±


    In the next moment, Cheng Yao¡¯s eyes lit up with a bright light and uttered a strange sound from his lips.


    At his command, the wind around his person started to echo his cry. With each time there was an echo, the sound grow louder and louder!


    Simultaneously, the elemental wind swirled forth towards Bai Yunfei with great speeds!


    Not only was he being attacked by a gale of wind, a wave of sound was accompanying it! Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but clamp his hands to his ears as the ringing in them started to get worse. His head felt faint as both the wind and the noise surged through his ears. With how the wind was attacking him, Bai Yunfei felt like it was trying to tear apart his person from the inside and entwine his soul!!


    This was¡­.a mental attack!!


    Cheng Yao was capable of using a mental attack!


    This was one of the ultimate techniques of the Wind Lightning School.


    Secret Arte of the Wind: Pulsing Howl!


    Through the usage of elemental wind, a mental attack could be made!


    In the moment Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was distracted by this attack, Cheng Yao availed the moment to fly towards him. With the wings on his back and the wind around him, Cheng Yao was able to speed towards Bai Yunfei in no time at all!


    Blinking the dizziness away from his mind, Bai Yunfei realized in alarm that there was a cold gleam of light already in front of him. With practically no time to think, Bai Yunfei tilted his head backwards to allow for the cold streak of light to graze over his nose.


    Flipping over to his right rather than snap his head back, Bai Yunfei felt something like a claw come at his face. Though he dodged the throat strike, Bai Yunfei was unable to stop the second blow to land on his stomach and send him flying backwards.


    He flew ten meters away with his hands clutching his stomach as he doubled up. But right as he steadied himself, his back was drenched with sweat as he realized something.


    There was a cold gust of wind coming right at the nape of his neck!

 Chapter 645: The Anomaly in the Soul Sentinel Scarf

    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm flew to behind his head, colliding with the object coming at him with a metallic clang when his bracer parried it.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­.¡±


    The streak of green light flew away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s bracer and then back towards Cheng Yao who caught it.


    It was that heaven-tier soul armament!


    ¡°He...how was he able to regain himself so fast!!¡±


    Cheng Yao was in shock. The ¡®Pulsing Winds¡¯ was a mental attack! It was something that could affect even the soul! There should¡¯ve been no one other than Soul Kings that wouldn¡¯t be affected for as long as Bai Yunfei was. Most people would¡¯ve fallen into a state of despondence, but Bai Yunfei had only been stuck for as long as it took one to blink their eyes before he was back to normal!


    ¡°He was able to block my Lunar Chakram, does that mean¡­.the bracer on his arm is also a heaven-tier soul armament?¡±


    The sleeves that used to hide Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm from sight were cut open due him having to block the Lunar Chakram.


    Cheng Yao looked pained¡ªany regular soul cultivator would¡¯ve tried to dodge the blow and would¡¯ve left them open to another attack, but Bai Yunfei reacted differently to what he thought and blocked with his arm. That way, Bai Yunfei was able to avoid a follow up from Cheng Yao without fear of being hurt.


    His face darkened. With a grunt, he swung his arm to release the chakram again to fire it at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    From far away near the Harmonious Heaven Hall.


    Wu Hong had been watching the fight go on with wide-open eyes. From when Cheng Yao used the Pulsing Winds to when Bai Yunfei managed to snap out from his stupor and defend himself, Wu Hong felt himself at a lost almost. His soulsense was starting to creep forward into the battle to cover the place.


    His eyebrows furrowed a moment after as he felt something. ¡°Strange¡­.¡±


    The sharp Wu Hao next to him caught onto the the tone in his voice at once. ¡°Brother, what is it?¡±


    Wu Hong looked strangely to Wu Hao as well before he shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I was merely surprised by their strengths, that¡¯s all, haha. Neither of the two are Soul Kings, and yet one is capable of a soul skill that is similar to a soul attack, and the other is capable of immediately countering it. What a miraculous exchange.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, it does feel a little breathtaking to watch.¡± Wu Hao smiled, ¡°The strengths of these two youngsters transcend every other peer they have in their age group. They are well worthy of being the ones to lead their generation.¡±


    They were talking with one another, but their eyes were glued to the fight taking place in the skies away from them. The battle was indeed a ferocious, but amazing one. With them here to watch the fight, they could immediately stop the fight if it seemed if one person wouldn¡¯t be able to evade a killing blow in time.


    Wu Hao himself had nearly leapt into action when Bai Yunfei had nearly been hit by the Lunar Chakram, but then when he felt the change take place in Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura, he immediately disregarded his previous plan.


    And so the two came to a lull in their conversation to fully enjoy the battle between Bai Yunfei and Cheng Yao in peace.


    But while Wu Hao was watching the fight without seeming like anything was the matter, Wu Hong himself had a strange look in his eyes. They flickered with light as he thought to himself, ¡°If Hao didn¡¯t feel it¡­.was I mistaken then?? I could¡¯ve sworn I felt ¡®it¡¯ appear¡­..


    ¡°But I can¡¯t feel anything anymore. Was I just imagining things then? Perhaps it was something else? How strange¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    When Cheng Yao had used his ¡®Pulsing Winds¡¯ to attack Bai Yunfei, it had actually hampered Bai Yunfei¡¯s movement by a great amount. But due to some sort of miracle, his next attack failed. Even if Cheng Yao were to try again with the move, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to deal with Bai Yunfei.


    Even if an actual early-stage Soul King were to try and do the same thing with Bai Yunfei, it wouldn¡¯t work. How could Cheng Yao and his imitation of an attack work then?


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was entranced by the effects of Cheng Yao¡¯s attack, the Soul Sentinel Scarf on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead had emitted a noise that Bai Yunfei could hear. It was soothing to the ears and immediately flooded his body with relief and energy to drive away the foreign energy sapping his ability to move.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s mental fortitude was on par with Cheng Yao. Combined with the effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf, there was no way Cheng Yao¡¯s Pulsing Winds would be able to do a thing to Bai Yunfei.


    But still, there was a look of bewilderment in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes when the attack took place. Even if he was able to block it, he was still panicking at the situation.


    This bewilderment wasn¡¯t because of the mental attack Cheng Yao unleashed, but because of something else¡­..


    There was a feeling he had never felt before coming from the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    It wasn¡¯t a feeling he¡¯d normally have whenever an effect of one of his equipment activated. This was the feeling of something ¡®resonating¡¯ mysteriously with him!


    As mentioned before, Regalias are usually with a soul, and the one in the Soul Sentinel Scarf was merely a small trace of one without any actual sentience. Even with how much time Bai Yunfei spent into trying to study what a soul armament with a soul meant, he wasn¡¯t able to find a thing about it. Aside from when the soul armament had registered him as his master, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel anything else from the depths of the Soul Sentinel Scarf. Actually, Bai Yunfei had nearly forgotten that there was such a thing in the Soul Sentinel Scarf to begin with.


    But this time he clearly felt it. The soul within the Soul Sentinel Scarf had ¡®woken¡¯ without even a warning!


    It was as if a signal had been given to the soul and it was finally ¡®responding¡¯!


    Or in other words, it was ¡®resonating¡¯ with Bai Yunfei!!


    In that short moment, Bai Yunfei could sense a feeling of excitement coming from the scarf. It was as if something was truly coming to life within the Soul Sentinel Scarf in order to resonate with him!


    This sensation lasted only for a moment before it faded. The effects of the Soul Sentinel Scarf was already being activated, and Bai Yunfei was already snapping out from his stupor from Cheng Yao¡¯s attack. Without even being able to think if what he felt was real or not, Bai Yunfei had to respond to the Lunar Chakram.


    He had to dodge the weapon without sparing anything else a second thought. And by the time he dodged that, he had to dodge yet another throat grab from Cheng Yao before he was hit with a blow to the stomach and sent flying away.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Clang! Clang! Clang¡­.¡±


    Green met crimson as the two streaks of light mixed with one another. A series of metallic clangs could be heard whenever the two lights intersected and a small shower of sparks were seen.


    Each time Cheng Yao released the Lunar Chakram, he was able to try to attack at places Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t defending as he parried the Lunar Chakram.


    But Bai Yunfei was still able to dodge most of his moves with the same grace as always. Every blow Cheng Yao tried to land with his fists usually hit air, and each time the Lunar Chakram came forward, Bai Yunfei¡¯s Cataclysmic Seal would come forward to stop it.


    This was quickly becoming a battle Cheng Yao felt like puking blood from. From each time he tried to attack, Cheng Yao could see Bai Yunfei ¡®examining¡¯ each of his moves as if his fighting style was supposed to be a performance Bai Yunfei was enjoying.


    There was also another aspect to Bai Yunfei that Cheng Yao had a hard time believing his eyes. From the looks of things¡­.Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce didn¡¯t look like it had depleted at all!


    He himself had already used the Electric Purgatory and the Pulsing Winds, which took a decent amount from him. If he added on the attempts he tried to hit Bai Yunfei, his soulforce was already a quarter gone. But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even look like anything had changed since the battle even begun!!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength didn¡¯t seem like it was on par with his, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was definitely holding out for far longer than his!


    Despite him hardly able to believe that notion, Cheng Yao had to admit that if things were to continue on like this, the one that¡¯d end up losing would most likely be him!

 Chapter 646: Thundercloud Tempest

    ¡°He has to have used up some soulforce by now, so why is it that it looks like nothing¡¯s changed?!¡± Cheng Yao¡¯s eyes looked pained.


    Frost overtook them though with his next thought, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll have to use that move then¡­.you¡¯ve led me no other choice!!


    ¡°With His Majesty and Prince Hao here, they should be able to save Bai Yunfei before any damage becomes fatal¡­.but if he does get severely injured, that¡¯s just his bad luck then!!¡±


    Determined to launch a new plan of attack, Cheng Yao¡¯s eyes landed back onto Bai Yunfei. Looking as though victory was certain, Cheng Yao whiffed his right hand to unleash the Lunar Chakram again. This time, the chakram took an irregular arc that left behind several mirror images that all then shot towards Bai Yunfei like one!


    The wind wings on Cheng Yao¡¯s back flapped twice to accelerate him into the skies and to widen the horizontal distance between the two.


    His arms were right in front of his chest as he retreated. They flipped through countless hand seals to meld his soulforce around in his body. With each hand seal made, his soulforce made a different circulation through his body, and when the final one was made, his soulforce immediately flew out from his body to shine in the area around him. For a brief few moments, the ripples from his soulforce became two separate forces of elemental wind and lightning!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­.cerrack!!¡±


    The sounds of wind screeching and thunder cracking could be heard then. The clouds above their heads were starting to darken and gather together to form a thundercloud above Cheng Yao!


    Three hundred meters below Cheng Yao to where the ground was, several pieces of vegetation and trees were starting to quiver tremendously as if being pulled at by something. Several of the loose stones from the flower garden in fact were already flying into the skies.


    The area in which the skies used to be clear were now dark with clouds, and the fierce weather in the area was already changing for the worse with a tempest starting to take place.


    ¡­¡­


    In the moment when Cheng Yao was forming his hand seals, Wu Hong, Wu Hao, and Wu Ren were all looking on in strange surprise. ¡°A soul skill that requires hand seals? Could it be¡­?¡± Wu Hao muttered.


    Practically before any breathing could be done by the spectators, the area in front of them was already darkening quickly.


    ¡°This weather change¡­.this is the ultimate artes of the Wind Lightning School, the Thundercloud Tempest!¡± Wu Ren exclaimed.


    ¡°Thundercloud Tempest? Is that move amazing?¡± Not knowing much about the Wind Lightning School, Wu Yang asked his older brother in curiosity.


    Wu Ren nodded. ¡°The Wind Lightning School practices both elemental wind and lightning to an astonishing degree, but it''s only when the two elements are used in conjunction that the school¡¯s true might can be seen. From the Wind Lightning School, they¡¯ve an ultimate arte known as the ¡®Thundercloud Tempest¡¯. By controlling both wind and lightning, the user can bend the power of a natural disaster to their will. They say that there was once a battle between the Wind Lightning School and the Water School where one early-stage Soul King from the former used this move to immediately kill another early-stage Soul King from the Water School! Even between Soul Kings, a soul skill that can immediately kill another is a very strong soul skill indeed¡­.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that strong?!¡± Wu Yang exclaimed, ¡°Then if Cheng Yao is going to use a move like that, wouldn¡¯t¡­.that kill instructor Bai then?!¡±


    ¡°What? You think he¡¯s overdoing things? Haha, the way I see it, he doesn¡¯t have any other choice. He¡¯s already seen that he won¡¯t be able to win against Bai Yunfei if he doesn¡¯t do this¡­.¡± Wu Ren shook his head. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be worried either. I might not know if Bai Yunfei will be able to take this move, but with father and uncle here, neither of the two will stand to the side and let anything bad happen to either of them. Let us wait by the sidelines and see what happens next¡­.¡±


    In the time taken for the two brothers to talk, the area where Bai Yunfei and Cheng Yao were fighting was already completely different than before. All of the wind within a three hundred meter diameter was already being taken in and add to the gale!


    An immaterial pillar of wind was already spiralling into the skies with increasing speeds without actually going anywhere like if it was locked in place in front of the Harmonious Heaven Hall. The wind screamed and roared as it picked up the loose objects nearby--the fact that this entire construct was formed by someone¡¯s control over elemental wind was very impressive to the onlookers.


    There was a hurricane taking place on the ground and rolls of thunderclouds in the skies. Every so often, the dark thunderclouds would unleash an arc of lightning, but never with any sounds of thunder.


    Bai Yunfei was within the eye of the hurricane. All around him, the hurricane screeched and roared at his ears while he looked up at the forming thunderclouds above with a grim look.


    The hurricane took ten seconds only at most to form around him. Bai Yunfei had planned to escape beyond the hurricane¡¯s initial radius, but Cheng Yao¡¯s chakram seemed to have a life of its own whenever it came at him. Though Bai Yunfei was able to sue the Cataclysmic Seal to block the chakram, he was still forced back whenever he tried to run and was in the end stuck in the hurricane.


    Trying to escape anymore would¡¯ve left him open to a sneak attack, so Bai Yunfei decided to spend all his effort in protecting himself.


    Of course, Bai Yunfei was a little curious on how strong this attack would be.


    He could see that this mysterious ultimate arte from the Wind Lightning School wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d be able to come across any normal day. He had to admit, he was curious to see how he¡¯d fare against this. He¡¯d of course understand that being careful was extremely important here, but he was also confident that he had enough strength to weather this situation.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    Several cracks of thunder echoed in the area before blades of wind formulated from the hurricane. They flew this way and that, leaving behind heavy gulches in the earth when they landed while several bounced off from the barrier the Cataclysmic Seal formed. The barrier shimmered slightly, but it was able to hold its own.


    But the look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s hardened by a margin. He could sense that the amount of wind blades were starting to grow larger and larger, and more powerful with each one that formed¡­.


    The hurricane itself was also starting to take on a purple hue to it. Just barely, Bai Yunfei could see a striking resemblance to the hurricane and the Electric Purgatory¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    At last, there was the cracking sound of thunder as a purple bolt of lightning a meter thick came crashing down onto Bai Yunfei!


    Having been prepared for this, Bai Yunfei kicked off from the area he was in, activating the Flash Step to travel ten meters in a split-moment. The purple bolt of lightning crashed into the ground with an ear-splitting crack and left behind a deep crater there.


    But this was only the start. After Bai Yunfei dodged that bolt of lightning, yet another purple bolt was dropping down on him again!


    One bolt, two bolts, three bolts¡­.time after time within the hurricane, at least a hundred bolts of lightning started to come crashing down from the thunder clouds while Bai Yunfei was barely left with any room to dodge!


    Aside from the multiple bolts of lightning, the hurricane around Bai Yunfei was still jettisoning several blades of wind at him. Like a web of blades, they combined with the web of lightning arcing from the clouds to surround Bai Yunfei!


    At this, the onlookers near the Harmonious Heaven Hall were finally starting to look wary. Wu Hao¡¯s soulforce was slowly coming to a boil as he prepared himself to step in if necessary.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    But there was a single snort from within the hurricane that utterly baffled everyone that heard it.


    By all rights with all the howling winds and crackling lightning, no one should¡¯ve been able to hear this snort in the first place. But everyone did hear it. It was as if¡­.this snort was being transmitted into their minds directly rather than through their ears!


    At the same time the snort was made, the hurricane and even the thunderclouds seemed to stop for just a single second!


    It was as if time had stopped for just half a second where everything ceased to move!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    In the next moment, there was a deafening explosion from within the hurricane before a brilliant beam of fiery light came into being. Flames as sharp as the wind blades from the hurricane came to life before the entire hurricane was swallowed up by a giant swirl of fire!


    Shortly afterwards, everyone could feel a tremendous amount of elemental fire burst out from within the hurricane. There were two deep roars before two pillars of fire shot into the heavens like if they were two dragons made of fire trying to ascend into the skies! Breaking free from the hurricane, they collided with the thunderclouds and scattered the dark clouds apart!!


    The Dual Dragon Burst!!

 Chapter 647: Victory

    The explosion gradually dissipated away to reveal a now very dusky area where flames were still licking away at the remnants of Cheng Yao¡¯s attack. With the hurricane more or less gone and the thunderclouds scattered, everyone could see that the skies were back to to their normal color and that the natural disaster-like image from before was gone as if it had only been an illusion before.


    But the entire area was sweltering with heat as if there was now a severe drought in the area, reminding everyone that the events taking place here was indeed real.


    ¡°Yao¡¯er!!¡±


    A horrified cry erupted from the audience. A streak of purple light came flying from Wu Hong¡¯s side with such great speed that the person moving had disappeared completely from sight just three meters after he moved. Reappearing half a kilometer away, the person was holding a person in his arms.


    The one who suddenly came forth from the audience was the Minister of the Right, Cheng Huayu, and the person he was holding was his son Cheng Yao!!


    Cheng Yao¡¯s robes was in a raggedy state. Singed all over and his hair messy, Cheng Yao looked as if he had only just escaped from a burning wildfire. Having fallen from the skies before Cheng Huayu took him into his arms, Cheng Yao was having a hard time trying to stand right now. His entire body was trembling fiercely and his face was deathly white. But both of his eyes weren¡¯t look at his father who saved him, but at the area where he fell from with a look of shock.


    His lips trembled for a moment as if he was trying to search for the right words to say. Then, his mouth dropped open to ¡®puke¡¯ out a large amount of blood!!


    ¡°I...Impossible¡­.I...I...I can¡¯t¡­.believe this!!!¡±


    He spoke in between mouthfuls of blood. His eyes rolled over to the back of his head and then¡­.he fainted!


    ¡°Yao¡¯er!!¡±


    Cheng Huayu cried out again before his entire body glowed purple in light as he transmitted his own soulforce into his son¡¯s body to heal his wounds.


    Cheng Huayu was a lightning-type mid-stage Soul King.


    As he was feeding his son his soulforce, Cheng Huayu was also scanning Cheng Yao¡¯s body with his soulsense in panic. After not seeing anything too serious, the panic in Cheng Huayu¡¯s face faded away. He turned away to stare where Cheng Yao had fallen with wrathful indignation and even a bit of killing intent.


    Floating a hundred meters high in the sky from where the elemental fire was still burning was a single person who slowly stepped forward and out from the fires.


    It was Bai Yunfei.


    Like Cheng Yao, his robes were in a state of disarray, but not as badly as the other. His face was slightly pale, his breathing hitched, and his soulforce slightly waned. But compared to Cheng Yao, Bai Yunfei was in a far better state.


    By now, the spar in front of the nobles of the empire was over, and the result was¡­.clear to see.


    Bai Yunfei watched on as Cheng Huayu gave him a nasty glare with raised eyebrows. He wasn¡¯t really afraid. He was sure that Cheng Huayu wanted to kill Bai Yunfei but couldn¡¯t due to the current place they were in.


    The sounds of footsteps echoed through the air as Wu Hong and the others came forward.


    Bai Yunfei stood to attention and faced Cheng Yao being held by Cheng Huayu. ¡°Lord Cheng, I¡¯ve won.¡± He spoke ¡®politely¡¯.


    It was an unkindly thing to say at the end of something and nearly led to Cheng Yao fainting again. There was a hiccup in his breathing as his lips trembled slightly. Reluctant and wanting to say something, Cheng Yao found himself unable to actually speak any words and could only think about how unbelievable it was for him to lose.


    Bai Yunfei turned back to face Wu Hong and the others, ¡°Your Majesty¡­.¡± He began respectfully.


    Wu Hong gave him a slight nod. ¡°Very good. It was a wonderful fight between the two of you. I am pleased to see it.¡±


    The ruler turned to Cheng Huayu and his son next, ¡°How is Cheng Yao?¡±


    Eyes still burning slightly with anger, Cheng Huayu managed to reply to the ruler, ¡°Thank you for your concern, your Majesty. Yao¡¯er is slightly injured, but nothing consequential.¡±


    Anyone could tell that Cheng Yao was definitely not ¡®slightly injured¡¯, but Cheng Huayu would never admit that his son had been more than just ¡®slightly¡¯ injured by Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, are you alright?¡± Wu Yang rushed to Bai Yunfei to whisper to him.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, nothing consequential either.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head.


    Bai Yunfei was making use of the same lines as well. He might¡¯ve looked a lot better than Cheng Yao, but he was putting up a good front to hide his pains. The battle just now had done a number onto him, and he was already having a hard time continuing to stand. His head felt like hundreds of needles were stabbing into him, and also, he felt slightly out of it.


    But all in all, he was in a much better state than Cheng Yao.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A brilliant streak of multi-colored light came flying towards the group. As everyone turned their heads, the streak of light came to a sudden stop right in front of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Yunfei--are you alright?! What happened?¡±


    A frantic voice came from within the streak of light before it disappeared, revealing a little bird in it.


    It was Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s nothing. I was just comparing notes with somebody else, that¡¯s all.¡±


    He took Xiao Qi to introduce him to everyone else. ¡°Your Majesty, this is my contracted soulbeast, his name is Xiao Qi.¡±


    Using the bond between him and Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei reminded the bird to be respectful to the people here. Chirping respectfully on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, Xiao Qi spoke to both Wu Hong and Wu Hao, ¡°Xiao Qi pays his respects to Your Majesty and Prince Hao.¡±


    ¡°Oh? This is your contracted soulbeast?¡± Wu Hong gave an appraising eye to Xiao Qi. ¡°A class seven prisma oriole¡­.how unprecedented, haha. Even your soulbeast is quite special¡­.but why wasn¡¯t he with you before?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know to respond at first, but then he saw a small figure come running towards the group from a distance.


    ¡°Xiao Qi came with me to the Royal Palace, but then he went to play with Princess Wu Ping.¡± He admitted.


    ¡°Xiao Qi! Xiao Qi! Wait up for me! Why are you flying so fast, I can¡¯t keep up!!¡±


    Wu Ping¡¯s half-tired cries could be heard as she ran towards Xiao Qi. When she realized Wu Hong and the others were here, she came to a screeching halt. Sticking her tongue out, she teetered to her father, ¡°Father, uncle¡­¡±


    Wu Hong shook his head helplessly, but his eyes had a doting light in them, ¡°Ping¡¯er, you snuck out to play again I see.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.I was just trying to relax¡­¡± Wu Ping pouted. Seeing that her father wasn¡¯t angry with her, she turned to obediently walk to where her fourth and first brother were.


    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Cheng Huayu bowed to the ruler, ¡°your humble servant wishes to return home to treat his son¡¯s wounds, if Your Majesty will allow it.¡±


    Wu Hong raised an eyebrow inquisitively, but he nodded. ¡°The battle just now was a hard one and surely requires time to rest. I¡¯ll allow it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty, your humble servant will withdraw now!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Cheng Huayu left with the injured Cheng Yao in tow, and Bai Yunfei took this pretense to leave as well. Saying only a few words more with the man, Bai Yunfei was granted permission to leave and left with Wu Yang leading him.


    On the roads leading out from the Royal Palace, Wu Yang was staring at Bai Yunfei with wide-open eyes. ¡°Instructor Bai,¡± He spoke at last, ¡°you really are super amazing¡­.Cheng Yao was on the same level as a Soul King almost, and yet you beat him so easily¡­.¡±


    He knew Bai Yunfei was a strong one ever since he defeated instructor Zhou Yu, but then today was the real icing on the cake to prove just how immensely strong Bai Yunfei was.


    ¡°Easily?? It wasn¡¯t that simple¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head with a laugh, touching the Charm Bracelet on his hand subconsciously, ¡°I was actually in trouble there¡­.¡±


    In that battle when the Thundercloud Tempest was nearly upon him, Bai Yunfei found himself at a bit of a loss. He had only protected himself against half of the wind blades coming at him when the protection from the Cataclysmic Seal had failed him. Without being able to resupply the barrier with any more soulforce before it collapsed, Bai Yunfei knew he had to act now and make use of his strongest technique.


    So he used the Charm Bracelet to activate his pseudo soul attack.


    He put all his strength into the soul attack so that the Thundercloud Tempest would lose control for just even a little bit. Then in that pause, Bai Yunfei used the Dual Dragon Burst to further break the control Cheng Yao had on the technique.


    Doing that had led to Bai Yunfei¡¯s own body practically collapsing from exhaustion though. The ¡®coil¡¯ and ¡®fusion¡¯ form and then the soul attack had drained a great deal of strength from Bai Yunfei and made his head feel slightly light. If he was at his peak strength, using those three wouldn¡¯t even had done much, but in his current weakened state and the traces of his soul still somewhat damaged, the fatigue the three things had on him was unexpectedly immense¡­.


    However, Bai Yunfei still learned a lot from this battle, and Bai Yunfei felt like the insights he gained from it was great.

 Chapter 648: The Regalia in the Royal Palace

    After Bai Yunfei had left, Wu Hong remained behind in the palace by himself. Wu Hao and Wu Ren had left the palace already, and Wu Ping had left rather unhappily with them to go back to her ¡®lesson¡¯. Behind in his own resting quarters, Wu Hong sat upon his throne and appeared to be deep in thought.


    After a while, his right drifted across a piece of space in front of him, an illusionary door about a meter tall appearing where his hand trailed.


    Rays of silver light was shining forth from beyond the spatial door. From beyond, a room could be seen, but before anything within the room could be made out, the spatial door blinked out from sight.


    However, there was now a new addition to the room Wu Hong was in after the door disappeared.


    A sword.


    It was a little over a meter in length and about three fingers wide in blade width. The blade was translucent, but of delicate make.


    Shiny in light, it felt like this long sword was made from crystals almost.


    It also didn¡¯t seem like there was really an ¡®edge¡¯ to this sword, and that it¡¯d shatter if swung.


    Wu Hong had taken this sword from beyond the mysterious spatial door earlier, but the sword itself flew out from the room rather than Wu Hong physically retrieving it.


    ¡°Soul Slayer, is that feeling you had still there?¡±


    Surprisingly, Wu Hong opened his mouth to say something, but aside from him, there wasn¡¯t any other ¡®person¡¯ in the same room as him!!


    But when he spoke, he was looking at the floating crystalline sword as if¡­.as if he was waiting for the sword to respond back to him!!


    The real surprising thing was what happened after that. The crystalline sword trembled for a moment, and then¡­.


    ¡°The feeling is long gone. It was only at that moment when I connected to you that I felt it. But I didn¡¯t feel anything afterwards, I¡¯m starting to doubt if I even felt the right thing or not.¡±


    A voice that sounded neither like a male or female rang through the room, and the source of that voice felt as if it was¡­coming from the crystalline sword!


    ¡°It isn¡¯t too likely that you were mistaken. With your perception, is there even a way being mistaken is a possibility? At the same time you felt it, I could have sworn that there was something special that was calling you.¡±


    ¡°Do you think¡­.this sensation is due to another ¡®Regalia¡¯?¡±


    The sword he called ¡®Slayer¡¯ responded then. ¡°Only a sentient soul armament would have the same fluctuations in its aura like the one I sensed. And only those types of fluctuations would pique my perception as it did. Unfortunately, I was only able to sense that this fluctuation was ¡®familiar¡¯ before it disappeared from my senses¡­.¡±


    ¡°A familiar sensation?¡± Wu Hong exclaimed, ¡°Then was it really a Regalia?!¡±


    ¡°If we are to speculate based on that feeling alone, then I would surmise that a sentient soul armament was just born. If I were to speculate a little more, then I would say that the ¡®Throne¡¯ was finally given sentience¡­..¡± Light shined again from the crystalline sword as it talked, pulsating slightly with each word ¡®spoken¡¯. ¡°The familiar feeling shines a new light on the situation, however. If I had to put my finger on it, it was the feeling of an ¡®old friend¡¯. But the feeling was hidden quickly afterwards¡ªintentional perhaps¡ªso I was unable to make sure of which.¡±


    Wu Hong looked pensive. ¡°But if it was a Regalia, why hadn¡¯t my brother¡¯s ¡®Ironheart¡¯ feel a thing then?¡±


    ¡°Of all the Regalia within the Royal Palace, I am the one with the strongest perception. If even I was unable to sense anything more for just a single moment, then ¡®Ironheart¡¯ not feeling it wouldn¡¯t be unnatural. I spoke just now with ¡®Flame¡¯ and ¡®Hundred¡¯, neither of them sensed anything.¡±


    The sword paused here for a moment as if to sigh. ¡°I cannot even be certain if it was an ¡®old friend¡¯, why would they ¡®hide¡¯ from me then? Ai¡­.if ¡®Seeker¡¯ was here, he¡¯d be able to find out just who it was¡­.¡±


    Wu Hong sighed with him, ¡°The Ten Great Regalia my ancestor gathered¡­.the Tianhun School have spent a thousand years to look for all that were lost to us. From beginning to even now, they were all gone from us, gone without a trace¡­.


    ¡°Ah, Tianhun¡­.he was a master beyond all others I have seen in my many years. A youngster like you might be considerable for your time, but Tianhun was far beyond you.¡± Slayer replied wistfully. ¡°It was unfortunate he did not take me with him when he left. He said then, that ¡®we Regalia would have their fates with another¡¯, and he took ¡®Seeker¡¯ and ¡®Underworld¡¯ with him to disseminate to the world. I truly wonder where they are now¡­.¡±


    Wu Hong wasn¡¯t angry at being called a ¡®youngster¡¯. By all rights, he was one. ¡°The Patriarch was a genius beyond all else without anyone being his equal even now. There is no way I¡¯d ever be able to compare to him¡­.tell me, if the sensation you felt really belonged to one of the wandering Regalia, which one do you think it¡¯d most likely be?¡±


    The sword was quite for a moment before it responded. ¡°I would surmise that it would be one of the ¡®soul¡¯ Regalia. ¡®Soul Seeker¡¯, ¡®Soul Sealer¡¯, or ¡®Soul Sentinel¡¯. The three of them are most likely. ¡®Underworld¡¯, ¡®Heart¡¯, and ¡®Throne¡¯ are the less likely.¡±


    ¡°Seeker, Sealer, and Sentinel¡­.¡± Wu Hong repeated the three. His eyes flew open as he repeated the last one, ¡°Sentinel!! I remember¡­.there was something on Bai Yunfei¡¯s head¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Slayer asked, ¡°Have you found a clue?¡±


    ¡°I saw a person with a long cloth strip wrapped around his forehead. If I¡¯m correct, that must be¡­.¡¯Sentinel¡¯?¡±


    ¡°You saw so yourself? It was wrapped around the head?¡± Asked Slayer in astonishment, ¡°And not around space itself? It seems unlikely¡­.if that were true, you should¡¯ve been able to tell.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that was what I thought too. But if there really is a Regalia, then I would wager it to be very likely that person has one.¡± Wu Hong sighed. ¡°But how in the world would that person come to own a Regalia¡­.?¡±


    ¡°If possible, why not send some people to investigate?¡± Slayer recommended. ¡°Do not tell me you would try to steal it away in that case then? Whether this person has a Regalia or not isn¡¯t even verified yet. I strongly advise you try not to take it away if the Regalia has accepted that man as its master¡­.¡±


    ¡°Steal?¡± Wu Hong repeated in surprise, ¡°Worry not. As you said before, a Regalia will have their ¡®fates¡¯ with another. I have no desire to steal any away. I only wish to pay attention to any that show up.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Back on North Seventh Street, Bai Yunfei headed straight home from the Royal Palace. With the strictest orders to not to be disturbed, Bai Yunfei secluded himself in his room. Xiao Qi stood by the window next to the door while he sat on his bed and began to investigate how his body was faring.


    It was a while later that Bai Yunfei reopened his eyes with a sigh and a shake of his head. ¡°It was only a small outburst and yet my body was hurt again. The road to the recovery of my soul is a long and bumpy one¡­.¡±


    Even now, his head felt quite light and his cognitive abilities a little scattered. Unable to rein in his emotions, Bai Yunfei had nearly fallen prey to his stomach on the way back. There had been a stall selling some steamed buns when Bai Yunfei came across. His mind suddenly had the urge to eat, as if he hadn¡¯t already for days on end. It was after he took several steps towards the stall that Bai Yunfei realized now wasn¡¯t the time to eat. He had his injuries to look after and heal still¡­.


    Massaging his temples, Bai Yunfei muttered to himself, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t try to use anything like a soul attack for the time being¡­.¡±


    He touched at the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead to think about the instantaneous outburst from it during his battle. ¡°If I wasn¡¯t wrong, there was a ¡®resonance¡¯ from it as if it sensed something alike to it. What was it that it sensed? Could it be¡­.the Royal Palace had a ¡®Regalia¡¯ there as well?!


    ¡°It¡¯s possible, how could the Royal Palace not have a Regalia, if not multiple? Then¡­.was I found out? Or was it not found out with how quick the outburst was?


    ¡°I can¡¯t even imagine what would happen if someone else were to find out I have a Regalia. I hope I can keep on hiding that¡­.as long as I¡¯ve the strength, no one should be able to find out¡­.¡±


    Unfortunately for Bai Yunfei, Wu Hong was already guessing that Bai Yunfei had a Regalia on him. Fortunately for him, Wu Hong wasn¡¯t planning on anything bad towards him¡­.

 Chapter 649: Kicking Someone While Theyre Down

    After his battle with Cheng Yao in the Royal Palace, Bai Yunfei rested for an entire day before it was time for his weekly class at the academy.


    Today, as it seemed, was a day where Zheng Kai was free. Coming to find Bai Yunfei, the two of them were ready to head to the academy together. It was after a small chat that Bai Yunfei found out that Du Shaokong and his friends had already left the Capital, and Huang Bin and the others were busy with a few things, hence why Zheng Kai was here today to come find him.


    ¡°Are you alright, Yunfei? You seem a little different than before¡ªare you thinking thinking about something? Were you hurt yesterday with your battle with Cheng Yao?¡±


    Zheng Kai had noticed on the way to the academy that Bai Yunfei was rubbing his temples with his hands and his eyebrows were furrowed together.


    His battle with Cheng Yao in the Royal Palace wasn¡¯t known to many, but Zheng Kai was one of the privileged few that did know. Only a few people that heard about the battle knew of the results, so Zheng Kai only knew after Bai Yunfei told him that he had won against Cheng Yao. Admittedly, Zheng Kai was surprised. Even without Cheng Yao being in the Capital, it was widely known there that he was one of the strongest of his generation. Many elders praised his abilities heavily and there were even a few that were equating Cheng Yao to be on the same level of genius as Zheng Kai¡¯s eldest brother, Zheng Cheng. And the two of them were on the top of the list for the ¡®Top Ten Prodigies¡¯.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing to worry about, just feeling a little tired. My battle yesterday was pretty big, and I haven¡¯t yet healed from it.¡±


    The battle yesterday had been a short one, but the soulforce he used up to defend himself had been plentiful. That Dual Dragon Burst and the soul attack had been extremely taxing despite how easily he had beaten Cheng Yao with it. With how heavy the price was, even an entire day to heal wasn¡¯t nearly enough for Bai Yunfei to feel normal. Right now, he felt weaker than even the normal person, and his mental strength wasn¡¯t back to normal either. As he was, Bai Yunfei was not at optimal levels of anything; he was feeling fidgety, his mind was unable to concentrate, and he was completely distracted with everything else.


    Fortunately, this was something that¡¯d only take two or three days to fully recover from.


    The two continued to talk on their way to the academy. As they were just about to crossover into the sixth year area, the two slowed to a stop.


    A group of people was in their way. As with how things looked, this group were waiting for somebody.


    Somebody meaning them two.


    With Bai Yunfei¡¯s arrival, the entire group looked up. The leader of the group spoke a few words to the people around him before he strode on over.


    As the group came over, their sweltering attitudes seemed to increase with each step.


    Each of these people were Soul Exalts, and there were at least thirty of them!


    ¡°They¡­.seem to be looking for you, Yunfei? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Zheng Kai blinked a few times, unsure of what was going on in this situation.


    Like Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei watched them walk on over with a raised eyebrow and surprised expression. ¡°I¡­.don¡¯t know either¡­.¡±


    ¡°Did you perhaps flirt with some rich girl, and now her family is coming for your head?¡±


    ¡°Is there a story like that in your book?¡± Bai Yunfei glanced at him.


    ¡°.....Hehe.¡±


    ¡°.....¡±


    The two chattered with one another without even bothering to look at the group in front of them.


    While the two were chatting, the group was already splitting up to surround Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai from every side. The four leaders were right in front of Bai Yunfei, and a thick-browed middle-aged man from the right stepped forward after looking at him for two seconds. ¡°If I may ask,¡± He clasped his hands together, ¡°might you be Bai Yunfei, sire?¡±


    Eh? They were actually being polite?


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. ¡°I am, whom might you all be?¡±


    ¡°This one is Zhao Feng. I am here on behalf of Justice Minister Li to escort lord Bai as a guest!¡± The man replied with a serious voice.


    ¡°Justice Minister Li?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, turning to Zheng Kai for clarification.


    ¡°That¡¯s Li Chen¡¯s father.¡±


    Li Chen was one of the people Bai Yunfei broke the arms of back in the Training Forest!!


    ¡°War Minister Ceng wishes to invite lord Bai as a guest!¡±


    ¡°War Minister Zhu sends a cordial invite to lord Bai to be our guest!¡±


    ¡°Revenue Minister Peng wishes to have lord Bai as a guest!¡±


    The three other people next to Zhao Feng replied one after another¡ªthrough this, they were revealing their affiliations.


    ¡°The Li, Ceng, Zhu, and Peng¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°It¡¯s them¡­¡±


    These four families were the ones who tried to invite Bai Yunfei last time before he ignored them. As things turned out, the four families hadn¡¯t given up on Bai Yunfei, and now it seemed they were going for a more direct approach.


    The lords of the four houses were all people of high statuses. There was no way any of them would sit quietly with their sons being beaten so badly. Bai Yunfei¡¯s special statuses wasn¡¯t strong enough to fully protect him from their machinations, so the four families tried to ¡®invite¡¯ Bai Yunfei the first time. With the end result being them being ignored, the four of them were infuriated beyond belief. Because the Cheng hadn¡¯t lifted a finger, none of the four did anything until now. And then when Cheng Yao returned to the Capital, they figured the Cheng would cause trouble for Bai Yunfei now, so they waited for the Cheng to do their thing.


    But then new information came in: Bai Yunfei and Cheng Yao had a spar in front of the Royal Family!


    None of the four families knew the outcome, but they didn¡¯t care. This was the signal they were waiting for, this was the time to act!


    The battle between Cheng Yao and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seemed to have left any visible wounds on Bai Yunfei, but what they were here for was to kick Bai Yunfei while he was down!


    They didn¡¯t want anything from Bai Yunfei, they just wanted to regain some of the face they had lost. So the four families debated with each other to see what could be done. And the plan they came up with today was to send some people to the academy to ¡®invite¡¯ Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°You trying to kick me while I¡¯m down? This must be their way of regaining some of their lost honor¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself now that he knew just who these people were.


    He smiled, ¡°Do they really think I¡¯m that easy to bully¡­?¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your kindness, but I¡¯m afraid that this one hasn¡¯t the time to accept your master¡¯s ¡®invitations¡¯.¡± Bai Yunfei declined at once.


    Zhao Feng narrowed his eyes. ¡°Lord Bai, it is with great sincerity that my lord wishes to invite you to his abode.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it already, I¡¯m busy!¡±


    Before Zhao Feng could say anything else, a dark-skinned middle-aged man sneered. More impatient than the other, this man replied, ¡°Pah!! My lord has already said that we are to invite lord Bai back no matter what. Please come with us, sire!¡±


    Revealing himself to be a late-stage Soul Exalt, the man shot forward like lightning to grab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s robes with an outstretched hand!!

 Chapter 650: Losing Control Again?

    This dark-skinned man was a rather impetuous one. Once he saw Bai Yunfei was being ¡®uncooperative¡¯, he immediately decided to just force Bai Yunfei to come with him!


    He was of course just a reckless man working on the commands of another. He didn¡¯t know anything about the situation.


    But no matter what the case was, it was simple what was happening¡ªaction was being had.


    His actions were followed up by another five of his companions who came forward to grab at Bai Yunfei.


    This wasn¡¯t an ¡®invitation¡¯, this was a ¡®kidnapping¡¯!


    Together, the five men drew closer to Bai Yunfei with the dark-skinned man at the front. A distance of just over ten meters was nothing for a late-stage Soul Exalt to travel so quickly. Blazing orange in light, his right hand was already nearly touching at Bai Yunfei¡¯s collar!


    As a man who stood at two meters in height and burly in stature, rushing at this sickly-looking young man who also looked fatigue seemed like there¡¯d be a very obvious outcome. They¡¯d collide, and the young man would probably fall apart with exhaustion.


    But reality was not as it seemed. The moment this person¡¯s hand came forward, Bai Yunfei looked briefly startled by it before his eyes narrowed onto it. In a flash, his right hand rose up as if to flick away an annoying fly.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a loud crash as Bai Yunfei commandeered an object with a wave of his hand. In the next moment, the dark-skinned man was thrown far away with the trajectory like a bullet!


    He flew past the five men running behind him, practically slamming into Zhao Feng and his men almost. The dark-skinned man dug his feet onto the ground and teetered a few steps backwards before coming to a complete stop, his right hand holding his stomach and his eyes staring at Bai Yunfei in shock.


    The other five men had managed to dodge the dark-skinned man when he fly backwards. With their ¡®boss¡¯ beaten back, the five of them were alarmed, but not discouraged. Continuing forward, each of them slammed into the orange barrier from the Cataclysmic Seal with a sickening thud before they flew backwards as well!


    ¡°You are all¡­.very annoying.¡±


    There was dark look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. With a wave of his right hand, Bai Yunfei had the Cataclysmic Seal circle back to him before he flew at them himself!


    Having not expected Bai Yunfei to take action, Zheng Kai was surprised. He didn¡¯t think that Bai Yunfei would take the initiative like this.


    Even in his sickly state, Bai Yunfei was quick like a leopard. Traveling to the middle of the five in an instant, Bai Yunfei took the Cataclysmic Seal into his hand and slammed it into the face of the dark-skinned man now getting back onto his feet.


    ¡°Watch out!¡±


    Zhao Feng cried out a moment too late. Even his attempts to step forward wasn¡¯t fast enough.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed dangerously. His right hand shifted direction abruptly to go from the dark-skinned man to Zhao Feng¡ªmuch to the mans shock as he threw up his arms to protect himself.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The resulting sound from impact wasn¡¯t all too loud, but there was still a surprising result. As if struck by a thousand pound weight, Zhao Feng was sent flying away!


    The +13 additional effect of the brick, Hurl!


    With Zhao Feng sent hurling away, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right leg came up to kick at the dark-skinned man next.


    His leg connected with the man, sending him two steps back while Bai Yunfei¡­.staggered three steps back!


    From how he looked, it seemed as if Bai Yunfei had kicked off a wall and fell backwards due to the rebound force.


    The dark-skinned man frowned in confusion. He clearly felt that there was something wrong with the kick just now. Rather than being painful, the kick actually felt pretty weak!


    On the other side, Zhao Feng came tumbling back down to the ground five to six meters away. As startled as he was, he wasn¡¯t very hurt.


    Everything transpired within a few seconds worth of time almost, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions were the signal for everyone to start fighting. Once they saw Zhao Feng and the dark-skinned man get hit, the rest of the people in the group immediately formed several smaller groups to attack Bai Yunfei from several angles!


    One by one, they flew forward with their fists and legs flying to surround him!


    Their goal was to ¡®humiliate¡¯ Bai Yunfei. Since Bai Yunfei chose to face them rather than to run away, the group felt satisfied with being able to use force onto him. Without even a word from Zhao Feng, everyone came forward to attack.


    As ferocious as their assault was, none of the people there brought out any weapons. Their actions was considerably ¡®restrained¡¯ for what it was worth so that the extent of the damages would be limited to just this small area of the land.


    These people, or ¡®instigators¡¯, were afraid of beating Bai Yunfei so badly that he¡¯d become crippled or even die. If that was the case, then the Crafting School would definitely be angered.


    But clearly, their misgivings were for naught as not even a minute after the battle started, something completely unexpected happened¡­.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    One thud after another, a crimson streak of eerie light floated from one of the twenty-or-so persons to the other. A red brick was in this crimson streak of light, and every three seconds, the streak of light would send one of the enemies flying out from the group.


    Those that flew out were the lucky ones. If the object landed on them and didn¡¯t get hurled away, then there¡¯d be a loud cracking sound as the brick slammed heavily onto them and left behind a devastating injury¡­.


    Bai Yunfei realized from his interaction with the dark-skinned man that a battle with physical flesh wasn¡¯t possible. He didn¡¯t have the strength for that anymore. Rather than to use his fist or feet, Bai Yunfei decided to use his agility to his advantage. By using the Wave Treading Steps, Bai Yunfei was able to wield the Cataclysmic Seal to fight.


    The battle continued for several quick minutes, but none of the people fighting Bai Yunfei could even lay a hand onto Bai Yunfei. Of their entire battalion, almost half of them were early-stage Soul Exalts, nearly a quarter were mid-stage, and the rest were late-stages. Zhao Feng himself was the only peak late-stage Soul Exalt.


    A force like this should¡¯ve been more than enough to deal with even a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, but the longer they fought, the more they realized that their entire group was being played!


    With their level of strength, a battle like this wouldn¡¯t have been too much. But since they weren¡¯t trying to kill Bai Yunfei and weren¡¯t using any weapons, their battle prowess was noticeably decreased. And with the addition of Bai Yunfei using the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s normal and special mode for its additional effects, the group was at a disarray and unable to fight properly.


    Thus, the battle was a one-sided one.


    As for Bai Yunfei, no one noticed that the more Bai Yunfei weaved in and out of the group to strike at a person, the more his eyes started to change¡­.


    He hadn¡¯t the patience to fight these people before, he just wanted to teach them a quick lesson. But right now, the impatience in his eyes were replaced by the emotions of ¡®enjoyment¡¯ and even ¡®cruelty¡¯.


    For the next dozen people hit by Bai Yunfei, they had definitely noticed the change after they were struck. Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions were becoming more and more deadly!!


    It was now every time someone was hit by the Cataclysmic Seal, they were accompanied by a mouthful of blood being forced from them. Some of these people were already unable to fight anymore, but they were still struck mercilessly by Bai Yunfei away from the battlefield and knocked out!


    There was something wrong here¡­.


    More and more students from the sixth year area were starting to gather at the outskirts of the battlefield. Even Mo Wanxia and the other students from the crafting class came over from the gates where they were waiting before to watch in surprise at Bai Yunfei¡¯s battle.


    After a while, when they saw the way Bai Yunfei¡¯s attacks were starting to pick up in violence, Mo Chen voiced his doubts. ¡°Hey¡­..what¡¯s going on? Why is instructor Bai so warlike all of a sudden?? Doesn¡¯t it look like he¡¯s going to kill those people?¡±


    He wasn¡¯t joking with his words. As of right now, everyone could sense the killing intent starting to leak from Bai Yunfei¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    There was a loud explosion of red light and sound that answered Mo Chen. Scorching heat billowed outwards from when Bai Yunfei slammed a gigantic Cataclysmic Seal into Zhao Feng and sent him flying!


    Not stopping after it hit Zhao Feng, the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into a few more enemies that hadn¡¯t the time to dodge and sent them away with more than light injuries!


    The battle should¡¯ve been finished with everyone in their current state of shock, but then¡­.they were shocked even more by what Bai Yunfei was doing next!


    Enveloped in red light, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand. The twenty-meter square wide Cataclysmic Seal vibrated with energy before it flew high into the skies and then¡­.started to drop!


    And right below the brick were at least a dozen seriously wounded people!


    He was going to...kill them!!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! Stop!¡±


    As several people were starting to cry out in alarm at the potentially killing blow, a single larger voice cried out from afar. A streak of gray light came shooting over towards the area and then pressed his palm up against the bottom of the Cataclysmic Seal!


    Somehow, the palm thrust was enough to force the Cataclysmic Seal to deviate from its original path. Veering to the right, the Cataclysmic Seal smashed into the rock garden fifty meters away!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, what are you doing?!¡±


    The figure spun around to face Bai Yunfei with disappointment after he knocked the Cataclysmic Seal aside.


    But Bai Yunfei only snorted in cold response before commanding the Cataclysmic Seal back at the person!!

 Chapter 651: Prevention

    ¡°Assistant headmaster Wu is here!¡±


    Mo Chen cried out at once in joy, ¡°Thank heavens! If he was late by even a second, those people would¡¯ve been killed!¡±


    From the side, Zhang Zhifeng spoke, ¡°I¡¯d assume the assistant headmaster Wu was actually here sooner and was watching the battle, he only took action when it seemed like instructor Bai was going to kill them¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Mo Chen scratched his head, ¡°I was going to say how timely he was¡­.¡±


    But Fang Tianmeng cried out then, ¡°Ah!! Instructor Bai is attacking assistant headmaster Wu! Why is this happening?!¡±


    Alarmed, everyone turned their heads just in time to see the Cataclysmic Seal fly towards the gray-robed person!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Wuuaaah!! Bai Yunfei¡ªhave you gone mad?! What are you attacking me for?!¡±


    The person who stopped Bai Yunfei from killing those people was the assistant headmaster Wu Dijian. He realized with a start that the brick was coming at him rather than the people he had just saved and slapped away the Cataclysmic Seal with a cry.


    Because he was worried that the brick would hit the others if he dodged, he had no other choice but to forcefully stop the brick.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a loud bang as the mountain-sized Cataclysmic Seal was smacked down again.


    It might¡¯ve been a dangerous object to block for a Soul Exalt like Zhao Feng, but for Wu Dijian, he could do so without a problem.


    While Wu Dijian stopped the Cataclysmic Seal with ease, the outcome didn¡¯t leave him as well as he thought he¡¯d be.


    No sooner did his hand leave the Cataclysmic Seal did a burst of fire materialize out from the Cataclysmic Seal to wrap around his arm and then spread to the rest of his body!


    +10 Additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal: Flame Twister!


    10% chance to activate ¡®Flame Twister¡¯ and restrict the mobility of another by 10% for a maximum of ten seconds upon attacking.Cooldown of 1 minute.


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    Wu Dijian stared at the spreading fire around his body¡ªhe couldn¡¯t dispel the flames!! Even more shockingly, he could feel his body start to slow down when the fire touched him!


    ¡°What a strange flame!!¡±


    Even with the long expanse of knowledge Wu Dijian had accumulated over his lifetime, he had never experienced something like this before in his life. The soulforce in this flame was strange beyond belief, and the flames persisted on his person for a moment before finally disappearing.


    The Flame Twister usually persisted for ten seconds on most people, but for Wu Dijian, it lasted only two seconds!


    Wu Dijian glared angrily at Bai Yunfei as soon as the flames faded away. As he was about to reprimand Bai Yunfei, he paused once he saw the coloration in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes.


    They were crimson. Both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were bright-red with craze.


    ¡°This¡­.¡± Wu Dijian realized with a start. Remembering what happened to Bai Yunfei back in Baishan City, he cried out, ¡°This again?! What¡¯s going one?!¡±


    No longer angry, Wu Dijian shouted out to Bai Yunfei in grim concern this time. ¡°Stop, Bai Yunfei! If you don¡¯t snap out of it, I¡¯ll have to rough you up a bit!¡±


    Unfortunately for Wu Dijian, his shout did nothing to snap Bai Yunfei out of it. Raising his hand, Bai Yunfei pointed a finger at the Cataclysmic Seal.


    And at once, his soulforce exploded to the level of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt!


    ¡®Coil¡¯ form, activated!


    The Cataclysmic Seal exploded in size in accordance to Bai Yunfei¡¯s power-up. Swelling to the size of a small mountain, it flew three hundred meters in the air to come crashing down on Wu Dijian again!


    ¡°Again!!¡±


    Wu Dijian cried out, ¡°You leave me no choice then!¡±


    Gathering his soulforce to him, Wu Dijian started to look serious. His entire aura churned violently as he unsheathed his treasured sword to reveal and use its shining edge against Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Xiao Qi cried out in worry from farther away, but even he was unable to waken Bai Yunfei from his berserk rage. He hadn¡¯t cared what Bai Yunfei was doing when he was just teaching the people a lesson, and even when Bai Yunfei was starting to leak his murderous intent, Xiao Qi didn¡¯t care. These people didn¡¯t mean anything to him, but then when Bai Yunfei had finally lost control over his emotions, Xiao Qi realized it was too late. Trying to communicate with him through their soul bond and then a mental link when the former was fruitless, Xiao Qi was rebuffed in all of his attempts. Having not experienced this before, Xiao Qi was at a loss for what to do or even think.


    Xiao Qi was in a tough situation. Wu Dijian was about to attack Bai Yunfei seriously enough to cause some harm, but at the same time, Bai Yunfei might not snap out of it if Wu Dijian didn¡¯t.


    Just as Wu Dijian was about to fly forward and knock out Bai Yunfei¡­...


    ¡°Yunfei¡ªstop!!¡±


    There was a cry from farther away that seemed a little garbled by the time it reached Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears, but even then, everyone was alarmed to see it have effect!


    Somehow, the completely unresponsive Bai Yunfei came to a halt as soon as he heard this voice!


    The berserk aura radiating from Bai Yunfei dipped by a notch as did the tint in his eyes. Alarm took their place as Bai Yunfei seemed to have realize something. Stunned, Bai Yunfei turned behind towards the source.


    Likewise, Wu Dijian was startled by the response of Bai Yunfei and froze in midair along with the Cataclysmic Seal.


    When he looked at the staggering Bai Yunfei, Wu Dijian craned his head to look where he was going and to where the source of that cry came from.


    Everyone turned as well towards the source of the voice. They were all surprised to someone¡¯s cry could have an effect¡ªjust who could snap Bai Yunfei out from his rage with just a few words?!


    Just who?


    With hundreds of people looking in the same direction, everyone could see three people hurrying on over. At the front of the three was a figure in white and two more people a hundred meters behind. They were all racing with crimson-red light shining underneath their feet as they ran, and some could just barely make out the figure of a female leading them.


    Alarmingly, once the female came close enough into sight, she headed straight for Bai Yunfei and then...into his arms!


    ¡°Yunfei! You...what happened to you? Don¡¯t scare me¡­¡±


    A voice filled with concern and worry rang into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears.


    Bai Yunfei was frozen stiff ever since he first heard the voice. When he felt something warm envelop him, a smidgen of rationality came back to him.


    In disbelief at the first thing he saw in front of him, he cried out.


    ¡°Xi¡ªXinyun?!¡±

 Chapter 652: Reunion

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Yunfei, it¡¯s me¡­¡±


    The woman in his arms nodded, ¡°Yunfei, what happened to you? Why are you like this? Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s...it¡¯s really Xinyun!!¡±


    By now, the light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were back to normal with full clarity. Bringing his hands up to touch at the shoulders of the young girl in his arms, Bai Yunfei gingerly held her further away from him so he could take a good look at her face.


    Skin so seemingly fragile that even blowing on it would bruise it, lips a crimson hue like cherries, eyelashes long but dainty, eyes filled with both tears and concern¡ªthis was the face Bai Yunfei had longed to see for many days and night.


    Who else could this be but Tang Xinyun?


    ¡°Xinyun¡­.it really is you!!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°How...how did you get here?¡±


    He was a little startled by the concern she was giving him. Blinking once before he realized the reason why, Bai Yunfei smiled at her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine. I lost control of my emotions for a moment, but I¡¯m all good now.¡±


    ¡°Lost control?¡± Tang Xinyun studied him for a good two seconds, ¡°What in the world happened? How could you lose yourself like that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story, I¡¯ll tell you later¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t worry. Just look at you¡ªyour close to ears already. It¡¯s been a long time since we last met and I¡¯ve already made you cry almost. Auntie Zhao would think I¡¯m bullying you if she were to see this.¡±


    ¡°Nnh¡­¡± Tang Xinyun nodded meekly before smiling. ¡°As long as you¡¯re fine¡­.I was scared to death seeing how you were just now¡­.¡±


    ¡°Brother strawhat!! Brother strawhat!! I¡¯m here too! How come you¡¯ll hug sis Yun and then just ignore me?!¡±


    Another exuberant voice called out next before the two figures behind Tang Xinyun finally caught up to them. Shortly afterwards, a shorter and younger girl came flying to Bai Yunfei with a disgruntled pout on her lips.


    ¡°Err¡­.¡± It took a moment before Bai Yunfei was able to tell who they were, ¡°Doraemon?! Tingting? You two are here as well?¡±


    These two people were Huangfu Rui, the little princess of the Crafting School, and Kou Tingting, the daughter of headmaster Kou Changkong.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Still in contact of both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms, Tang Xinyun let out an embarrassed cry from her intimate position with Bai Yunfei and pulled herself away.


    ¡°Heehee, sis Yun¡¯s done hugging, it¡¯s my turn now!!¡±


    Huangfu Rui giggled, tossing the little white piggy in her hands to the ground to run and hug Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Haha¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled as he hugged the young girl back. ¡°You¡¯ve grown up, Doraemon, but why do you seem more playful than before?¡±


    With the passage of a few years, Huangfu Rui was truly a lot taller than she was before, though the juvenile air to her person was still the same as ever. From her actions, her cute mischievous side could still clearly be seen, but strangely, she looked like she was sixteen or seventeen years old still on the outside.


    He nodded to Kou Tingting with a smile, ¡°Long time no see, Tingting.¡±


    As always, Kou Tingting was wearing a long blue dress as gentle as the ocean colors and looked even more kind as before. ¡°How have you been, Yunfei? Doing well?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve let you all worry, don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned his attention next to the little white pig on the ground and the little bird on Tang Xinyun¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Xiao Hong, Xiao Bai, it¡¯s been a long time. You two look a lot stronger than before.¡±


    Xiao Hong was what Bai Yunfei named the red magiboar, rather than the name Xiao Rourou Huangfu Rui gave it. Xiao Bai was of course, the quickshade bird that contracted with Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Snrf¡­.¡± The red magiboar snorted twice and pawed at the ground in greeting. From the looks of things, it didn¡¯t look all too pleased at being tossed the ground for Huangfu Rui to greet Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Chirp chirp~¡± The quickshade bird tweeted at Bai Yunfei. It looked a lot more intelligent and lively than it was before.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hey!! Bai Yunfei! Are you going crazy or not? If you¡¯re done, maybe you can clean up your toys? I¡¯m starting to get nervous here!¡±


    From a good distance away, the voice of someone calling out to him caused Bai Yunfei to turn around. In the skies, the assistant headmaster Wu Dijian was holding the Cataclysmic Seal up above his head with a disgruntled look.


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Quickly, Bai Yunfei waved his hand to call the Cataclysmic Seal back to him. He bowed apologetically to the elderly man, ¡°I¡­.this one apologies, assistant headmaster Wu. Please forgive this one for my actions¡­.¡±


    Wu Dijian gave him a long look before he finally nodded. ¡°Are you really fine there, you brat? You¡¯ve the balls for trying to go against me, it¡¯s a good thing you woke up as soon as you did, or I¡¯d knock you out for two whole days. What is wrong with you? Going crazy over such a small matter like this, where is your dignity?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei dropped his head in embarrassment. He knew he was in the wrong here.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s leave it at that since you¡¯re all fine and dandy now. You can deal with this situation here, I¡¯ll be leaving.¡±


    Wu Dijian gave a final look at the injured people laying on the ground before flying away from the place.


    Bai Yunfei turned to the fearful looking people laying on the ground in front of him. ¡°You may go,¡± He spoke to the bloody and bruised Zhao Feng, ¡°report to your lords and tell them that if they really want to take revenge for their sons, I don¡¯t mind. I¡¯ll play their game. But if they still wish to continue after this, I¡¯ll be sure to find the time later to pay a visit to your homes in the future.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    After Zhao Feng and his group left, Tang Xinyun gave Bai Yunfei a strange look, ¡°Who are those people, Yunfei? They¡¯re all Soul Exalts¡­.just what do so many experts like those want with you?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the experts from some of the families of the empire¡¯s ministers. There was a conflict between them and I, so they came to look for trouble. I¡¯ll explain this story later too.¡±


    Xiao Qi finally flew on over back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Yunfei, are you okay? Who were those guys?¡±


    ¡°Wow!! This bird can talk!¡±


    Huangfu Rui exploded in delight as she pointed at Xiao Qi¡ªthis reaction was almost identical to princess Wu Ping when she first saw Xiao Qi as well.


    Likewise, Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting were surprised. Even the red magiboar and quickshade bird had shocked looks in their eyes.


    ¡°Haha, let me introduce you all.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°This is Xiao Qi, my contracted soulbeast. He¡¯s a class seven prisma oriole and can talk.¡±


    ¡°Class seven!!¡±


    The group exclaimed, giving Xiao Qi yet another stare in astonishment.


    ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m Xiao Qi. Please treat me kindly.¡± Chirped Xiao Qi in greeting to everyone. When he saw Xiao Bai on Tang Xinyun¡¯s shoulder, a curious look entered its eyes.


    Just at that moment, another group of people came forward to greet Bai Yunfei. It was Mo Wanxia and the other students, and a curious Zheng Kai.


    ¡°Are you alright, instructor Bai?¡±


    Mo Chen asked while giving Tang Xinyun and the other two females a glance.


    ¡°Yunfei, you alright? Who are these young misses?¡± Zheng Kai asked as well.


    ¡°Yunfei,¡± Tang Xinyun started, ¡°These are¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt slightly dizzy with so many people gathered around him. Waving his hands, he spoke, ¡°Please don¡¯t rush everyone, I¡¯ll introduce you all in a moment.¡±


    He pointed first to Mo Chen and the group behind them. ¡°Xinyun, you should probably know by now that I¡¯m teaching here in Tianhun Academy, right? These are my students.


    He glanced to Mo Chen next, ¡°These three are fellow students from the Crafting School, this is Tang Xinyun¡­.¡±


    The eyes of everyone in the group sparkled at the very mention of her name. Confused, Bai Yunfei trailed off his words to think about just why they were making that reaction. Heart skipping a beat, Bai Yunfei realized then just what kind of mistake he had just made!


    Gleeful, Mo Chen took a step forward to bow respectfully to Tang Xinyun and spoke the very words that made Bai Yunfei nearly faceplant into the ground¡­.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, instructor Bai¡¯s wife!!¡±

 Chapter 653: A Warm Recount

    ¡°Ah¡­.¡±


    A sweatdrop dripped down from Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead before he rushed to explain to Tang Xinyun, ¡°I¡­.he¡¯s just poking some fun, don¡¯t mind him¡­.¡±


    He gave Mo Chen a glare while Tang Xinyun wasn¡¯t looking.


    But Mo Chen didn¡¯t seem to get the hint, ¡°What? Instructor Bai, she isn¡¯t your wife?¡±


    ¡°Wi¡ªno¡ªme¡­?¡± Tang Xinyun seemed to finally respond, her face scarlet. ¡°What are¡­.I¡¯m not¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not instructor Bai¡¯s wife?¡± Mo Chen repeated, ¡°But instructor Bai said before his wife was called Tang Xi¡ªerr¡­.¡±


    A second glare from Bai Yunfei finally caught onto him. Now that he realized just what Bai Yunfei was trying to tell him, Mo Chen blinked and scratched his head in mock embarrassment, ¡°Haha!! Maybe not now, but later! I was a little early I guess, but hehe, it¡¯s all the same¡­.¡±


    The red flush on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face was already traveling down to her normally white neck. She casted Bai Yunfei a quick look, but other than that, she said nothing in response to Mo Chen.


    Was¡­.was that silent approval??


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up on his head with delight, though he coughed when he thought about just how inappropriate this question was starting to get. ¡°And this is Kou Tingting, the daughter of the Crafting School¡¯s current headmaster. She¡¯s also a student of the Water School¡­.and this is the daughter of our second and third elder, Huangfu Rui.¡±


    ¡°Xinyun, Tingting, these are the students of the class I¡¯m in charge of. This is Mo Wanxia, the granddaughter of headmaster Mo. This is¡­.¡±


    One by one, Bai Yunfei introduced Tang Xinyun to each of his students. When he reached Wu Yang, both Kou Tingting and Tang Xinyun were surprised beyond belief.


    He was only using a few words to introduce everyone, but it was still taking a decent amount of time with just how many people there were.


    ¡°Hem hem!!¡±


    As Bai Yunfei was wrapping up the introduction of his students, there was a loud unnatural cough as if trying to remind Bai Yunfei just who he was forgetting.


    Blinking, Bai Yunfei turned to Zheng Kai with a perplexed face.


    ¡°Ah, I nearly forgot,¡± he smiled, ¡°Xinyun, this person is a good friend of mine from the Capital, he¡¯s Zhe¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hem hem! This one is Zheng Kai. Zheng as in the character for Solemn, and Kai as in the character for victory. Pleased to meet you three.¡±


    Seemingly unhappy with how Bai Yunfei was introducing him, Zheng Kai chose to do so himself. Speaking in a refined manner like that of a scholar, Zheng Kai introduced himself, though both Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting were a little taken aback.


    ¡°Ah, lord Zheng...it¡¯s nice to meet you¡­.¡± Kou Tingting bowed her head politely, though her face looked a little strange.


    Was she¡­.a little ¡®guarded¡¯ against him?


    Clearly, Zheng Kai¡¯s nickname of being the ¡®Sex Lord¡¯ was not lost on her. As no idiot, Kou Tingting wasn¡¯t disarmed by the smiles Zheng Kai was putting up and looked very cautious.


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± The smile slipped a bit on Zheng Kai¡¯s face, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s secret amusement.


    With the introductions all well and done finally, Kou Tingting asked, ¡°Yunfei, were you about to start class?¡±


    ¡°I was planning to when these people came came forward and delayed that.¡±


    ¡°Then please teach your class first, we¡¯ll pay our respects to headmaster Mo first. Our teachers have matters to talk with with senior Mo.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Alright then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Then please do that, I¡¯ll be on the mountain top for my class. If I¡¯m not here when you¡¯re done, you can find me up there.¡±


    He pointed to the right, ¡°Headmaster Mo¡¯s building should be in the stone tower over there.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei watched Kou Tingting and the others leave before he clapped his hands to catch the attention of his students. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head up the mountain for our lesson.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still going to have a lesson?¡± Mo Chen groaned, ¡°Instructor Bai, it¡¯s not every day you can have a reunion with your wife, why not go see her? We can put off class for today even¡­.¡±


    ¡°.....¡±


    They turned afterwards to head up the mountain. A few steps later though, Bai Yunfei realized the addition of one more person. ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, why are you following us? Don¡¯t you have a female student to chase after?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I want to see the scenery from the mountain top, that¡¯s all. I¡¯ll leave when you guys are done for the day¡­.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really coming with us?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in surprise. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re trying to wait for Tingting and the others to come back?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei saw earlier the type of looks Zheng Kai was giving Kou Tingting. ¡°I¡¯m warning you, Tingting is the only daughter of our headmaster, don¡¯t you dare treat her badly!¡±


    ¡°What are you even talking about? Who said anything about treating her badly? Why do I feel like you always think I¡¯m up to nothing good?¡± Zheng Kai retorted, ¡°Am I some sort of vulgar and crude scourge on women in your eyes?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei levelled a calm glance at him, a small smirk on his face. ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°You¡ª!¡± Zheng Kai choked, ¡°I might be known as the ¡®Sex Lord¡¯, but I¡¯ve never bullied or harmed a pretty young girl yet. All those females have been with me willingly, and we even broke up without trouble. I¡¯m actually a pretty innocent guy, you know?¡±


    ¡°....¡± Bai Yunfei stared at him a moment longer ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just say you¡¯re a virgin?¡±


    ¡°Why would I? That¡¯d be embarrassing. But¡­.hehe, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re a virgin?¡±


    ¡°Go die!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Late that night at the Hundred Aliments.


    In honor of Tang Xinyun, Kou Tingting, and Huangfu Rui¡¯s arrival in the Capital, Bai Yunfei held a welcoming party after class was over.


    But aside from the four of them, there was one more shameless person.


    Zheng Kai.


    As confidently and suave as always, Zheng Kai spent the entire supper speaking attentively to Kou Tingting. Bai Yunfei watched from the side with a twitching lip, determined to find out just what Zheng Kai¡¯s intentions were as soon as he could.


    During their meal, it was only after Bai Yunfei asked a bit before he found out that the group was here because of him. Tang Xinyun specifically, was worried about his wellbeing and finally was able to make the trip here to find him.


    It all started two months ago when Bai Yunfei¡¯s life jade started to grow fainter in light. When it dimmed so drastically, the entire upper echelons of the Crafting School was startled. If not for the fact that his life jade started to improve in color directly afterwards, elder Xiao Binzi would¡¯ve come to the Capital himself to see what was going on.


    Two months ago was when Bai Yunfei was with Zheng Kai right outside Casino Jin and was nearly killed by the Soul Refining Palm.


    Despite the seemingly fatal period coming to an end, Tang Xinyun was still worried. Without even waiting for Bai Yunfei to send any information back from the Capital, she made up her mind.


    She¡¯d go to the Capital to find Bai Yunfei!


    Three years had gone by since Bai Yunfei left the Crafting School. It wasn¡¯t a very long time for soul cultivators, but for two people that longed for one another, every day that passed felt exceedingly lost almost. In Tang Xinyun¡¯s case, she¡¯d always be thinking about Bai Yunfei whenever she wasn¡¯t training or crafting. Even though she was waiting for him to return, Tang Xinyun was more willing to be at his side or even take care of him if he was injured¡­.


    The emotions between Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun was without a doubt deep. Neither of the two had touched upon the topic of marriage or such, but something like that was already a done deal well before Bai Yunfei even left the Crafting School.


    The fact that Tang Xinyun was so determined to come so far away to the Capital for him made Bai Yunfei extremely delighted.


    There was no way the Crafting School would allow Tang Xinyun to come to the Capital by herself. As it just so happened, Kou Tingting had only just returned from the Water School, and Huangfu Rui said she wanted to go see Bai Yunfei as well, so the two went with her. Aside from them three, there was also the second elder Huangfu Nan as their guard. But for some odd reason, he circled back to the Crafting School when they were nearing the Capital in a hurry.


    Once Bai Yunfei heard the reason for their coming to the Capital, he decided to ask, ¡°How has the Crafting School been in the last three years?¡±

 Chapter 654: Changes in the Crafting School

    It had been a very long time since Bai Yunfei left the Crafting School. Ye Zhiqiu, Mo Xiaoxuan, Zhang Sanxian, Fei Nian, and the others, just how were they doing? Bai Yunfei really wanted to know.


    ¡°Everything is well in the Crafting School, though plenty of the students have suddenly started to become stronger all of a sudden. Most of the disciples are already Soul Exalts. Seniors Song Lin, Li Tiechui, and Lian Lingmin are all late-stage Soul Exalts. Ye Zhiqiu, Fei Nian, and the others are mid-stage Soul Exalts, and there¡¯s already plenty of the inner students who have become Soul Exalts as well¡­.


    ¡°The second and third elders became a Soul King two years ago, and senior Jiang Nan is a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, he¡¯s trying to become a Soul King, we just don¡¯t know when he¡¯ll become one.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    This was alarming news. When he first left the Crafting School, Song Lin, Li Tiechui, Xiao Nanren, and Lian Lingmin were only just early-stage Soul Exalts. Somehow in three short years, so many people had advanced further in strength?


    Comparatively, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t as surprised to hear the two elders becoming a Soul King. The both of them could¡¯ve become a Soul King earlier if not for one important reason¡ªfinding the best time to craft a lifebound armament.


    At that thought, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Has¡­.has either of the two elders formed a lifebound armament?¡±


    ¡°They haven¡¯t,¡± Kou Tingting sighed, ¡°crafting one of those is extremely difficult, and even after preparing so many years, neither of the two elders were able to do so¡­.¡±


    Huangfu Rui piped up next, ¡°Dad was so hurt after that happened! I even saw him crying his eyes out like a kid! He even wanted mom to comfort him, how embarrassing!¡±


    ¡°Eh?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed alongside Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting.


    Was the failure in crafting a lifebound armament really that bad that the second elder Huangfu Nan was reduced to such a state?


    ¡°Xinyun, did something happen to the second and third elder¡­.?¡±


    ¡°I...I¡¯m not sure. I never heard of such a thing.¡± Tang Xinyun shook her head negatively. ¡°But I did hear my master say in the past that she was trying to become a Soul King before. She also said that if she advanced now, she¡¯d be able to become a mid-stage Soul King in a short amount of time. I don¡¯t know why she and the third elder decided to try and become a Soul King earlier than they were planning¡­.¡±


    There it was¡­.a hidden motive?


    Suspicious, Bai Yunfei asked a second question, ¡°Was it the headmaster¡¯s idea to have so many students become a Soul Exalt?¡±


    The reason why he was asking was due to the fact that students of the Crafting School normally didn¡¯t advance in strength so quickly. Even with how many ¡®gensiues¡¯ there might be in the school that¡¯d normally advance in strength faster than usual, training wasn¡¯t something the Crafting School particularly emphasized. Even Song Lin, Li Tiechui, and the others mentioned earlier would usually hang around their levels of a late-stage Soul Ancestor for a while. So for them to all become a Soul Exalt meant that the school was telling them to pursue that route.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Xinyun nodded, ¡°The headmaster said for us to all concentrate on our training and try to advance as fast as possible. He said that he or the elders will personally help anyone strengthen their soulbound armament and soul compatibility if we become a Soul Exalt to compensate for the rushed timing.¡±


    The crease between Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows increased, ¡°Did anything out of the ordinary happen in the school?¡±


    ¡°Not that I can recall¡­.¡±


    ¡°Strange¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. Though he was unsure of the reason behind all these things, Bai Yunfei knew there was definitely something strange. Was¡­.the Crafting School in some sort of trouble?? Was a powerful enemy drawing close? Is that why the headmaster wanted everyone to get stronger all of a sudden?


    He was slightly more experienced with how the world worked now.


    There was plenty of things Bai Yunfei understand about the world, and now that he was a part of the Crafting School, Bai Yunfei could say that in terms of strength, they weren¡¯t very strong, aside from the previous generation. The current generation¡ªwhich was Song Lin and the others¡ªleaned towards the ¡®weaker¡¯ side. They were like an unripe fruit that hadn¡¯t reached maturity yet. With the average rate of training for those in the Crafting School, it¡¯d take them a good ten years of experience or so in order to become strong like the previous generation. Normally, this substantive increase in strength would be a happy one, but Bai Yunfei felt like there was still half the story he was missing.


    ¡°No matter the reason, there has to be someone that¡¯s trying to take advantage of the Crafting School. It doesn¡¯t matter who they are¡­.I¡¯ll make sure they won¡¯t get away with this!!¡± Bai Yunfei clenched his fist.


    Afterwards, Bai Yunfei told the story of his travels and the many diverse experiences he had during that time. It took a full half hour for him to summarize what happened to him, and everyone was astonished as they listened.


    The moon was already high in the sky when the group left the Hundred Aliments. Led by Bai Yunfei, Tang Xinyun and the others were walked back to his home. With how rushed the group was in coming to the Capital, the three of them were in a decent rush to take a nice nap.


    Zheng Kai and Bai Yunfei walked at the front while the three females from behind to appreciate the night time scenery and chat with one another.


    They came to an intersection of the street. Normally, Zheng Kai would turn left to return to his manor while Bai Yunfei went right, but for some reason tonight, Zheng Kai followed him to the right.


    ¡°What are you doing? Your house is that way.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zheng Kai smiled, ¡°I¡¯m going to be sleeping over at your place for tonight.¡±


    ¡°My place?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, just what are you planning?¡±


    Zheng Kai snuck a glance at Kou Tingting behind them as she was looking at a street stall. Pulling Bai Yunfei another two steps forward, he whispered, ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯ve got to do your brother a favor.¡±


    ¡°What favor?¡±


    ¡°I...don¡¯t think Tingting likes me very much,. What do you think I should do to change her mind about me? Also, what kind of clothes and accessories do you think she likes? What color? What foods, actually? What type of guy does she like?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.how should I know?¡± Bai Yunfei stammered a bit before his eyes flew wide open, ¡°Are you really trying to go after her?! Ah¡¯Kai, I told you before Tingting isn¡¯t your average girl. I cannot allow you to go after her like you do with most girls. If you hurt her, then the the Crafting School will definitely flay you alive, I can¡¯t help you then.¡±


    ¡°Hey, watch what you¡¯re saying, how can you treat a brother like that?¡± Zheng Kai spoke as if wounded, ¡°Of course I won¡¯t treat her like that. She¡¯s on a whole different level than everyone else¡­.¡±


    The expression on his face froze for a moment before he looked at Bai Yunfei in earnest. ¡°Yunfei, do you believe in love at first sight?¡±


    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t believe it at first, I¡¯m a firm believer now. Ever since I saw Tingting, I knew. Brother, I¡¯m being absolutely serious about this!


    ¡°I¡¯m want to be with Tingting and have her be my wife!!¡±

 Chapter 655: The Restless Second Generational

    It was getting late at night with the full moon shining brightly overhead. Several dark clouds would roll and obscure the moon from sight, leaving parts of the Capital darker than usual at times.


    In the western parts of the Capital, there stood a relatively isolated villa away from the other buildings.


    In one of the more luxurious rooms, five young men sat around a round table to talk with one another.


    ¡°Damn!! I didn¡¯t think that this Bai Yunfei would be that amazing¡ªeven the combined efforts of our experts weren¡¯t able to do anything!¡±


    A young man with a wide forehead and small eyes grumbled, his fist slamming down onto the table. With how heavily bandaged his arms were, he yelped in pain as soon as his hand touched the hard surface. Gritting his teeth and pushing his soulforce to his arms, the man tried his best to alleviate the pain.


    Amusingly, every single one of these five people were all similarly injured with both their arms at the very least injured to some degree. Everyone else had bandages wrapped around their arms, and one of them had also a plaster cast on his right leg. With how everyone here was injured, it looked like a gathering for the crippled.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this ridiculous? With the Soul Exalts from each of our four families, there was at least thirty of them there. And they couldn¡¯t beat a single person? He isn¡¯t even a Soul King! Just what in the world do we have to do?? I heard the assistant headmaster was involved, did he help Bai Yunfei?¡±


    A young man with a small birthmark on his chin cried.


    ¡°No¡ªcan¡¯t be. I heard that the assistant headmaster tried to stop Bai Yunfei. If not for him, I heard that all of our men would¡¯ve been killed by him!!¡± Another bellowed, ¡°That Bai Yunfei went crazy, I think. He was completely reliant on a super strong soul armament of his and didn¡¯t even move a finger to defeat all of our men!¡±


    ¡°That must be what his Crafting School calls a ¡®soulbound armament¡¯. Didn¡¯t we get beat up by something like that that day? Damn! Crafters are an annoying bunch! They rely on their soul armaments to harass others and beat others that¡¯d normally be stronger than them!! Why can¡¯t I have a soul armament as strong as that!!¡±


    ¡°Pah, you¡¯re too full of yourself. Bai Yunfei would beat you even without his soul armament!¡± One of the more silent members on the right finally spoke, ¡°My elder brother fought with him. Even without his soul armaments, that Bai Yunfei knows some amazing soul skills. No one that isn¡¯t a Soul King isn¡¯t a match for him, not even my older brother!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The other four cried out at once, ¡°Xin, are you serious?! Your older brother was the one that lost in the spar?!¡±


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯d really say something untrue at the expense of my own house?! I¡¯m telling you the truth, that day, it was my brother that lost! That Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t without his own injuries. I recall my brother saying that Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was injured. The reason why he went crazy and nearly killed the people you four sent was because of the instability of his emotions.¡±


    The one they were calling ¡®Xin¡¯ was none other than the youngest son of Minister of the Right Cheng Huayu, the one Bai Yunfei had a ¡®grudge¡¯ with, Cheng Xin!!


    Both of his arms were likewise heavily injured, but his facial expressions looked a far magnitude better than the others. His treatment was presumably better than the others, though his right arm was extremely bandaged up and hung limply at his side.


    Cheng Xin and the other four people gathered here were the ones Bai Yunfei taught a lesson from that day in the Training Forest.


    The reason why the five of them were gathered here was simple.


    With the elders of their family not being able to teach Bai Yunfei a lesson, how could they not be angry? Thus, they were here to vent and discuss to one another.


    Li Chen sat to the right of Cheng Xin. ¡°Fuck!¡± He swore, ¡°Why couldn¡¯t that Bai Yunfei just go full on out crazy?! Our families would have all the reason to take action against him if he killed the ones we sent! The more trouble he makes, the less likely he¡¯ll be able to get away! Even my dad is afraid of dealing with Bai Yunfei, I think he¡¯s hoping to drop the issue...damn! There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to take this lying down, you know?!¡±


    ¡°But¡­.with how our elders are trying to keep the peace, how are we supposed to do anything? We tried to fight him and lost, and we aren¡¯t even a match to him in status. How are we going to take revenge?¡±


    The one with a birthmark asked¡ªhe was the young son of the Zhu, Zhu Yizhi.


    ¡°If we can¡¯t do things by right, we¡¯ll do it out of sight! We¡¯ll find a criminal and have him assassinate Bai Yunfei!¡± The one with a large forehead cried, this one was Zeng Fei, son of the Zeng.


    ¡°Out of sight? If several late-stage Soul Exalts were defeated by him, do you think an ¡®ambush¡¯ will work? Aside from a top-notch assassin, they¡¯d have to be a mid-stage Soul Exalt at the very least. I¡¯m not saying we shouldn¡¯t hire one, I¡¯m saying we probably can¡¯t find one.¡±


    The last one to speak was Peng Huaguang, son of the Peng.


    ¡°Then what are we going to do?!¡± Zhu Yizhi exploded in anger, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re trying to find a Soul King to deal with Bai Yunfei? How are we going to find someone like that?!¡±


    ¡°Lord Xin, what do you think we should do?¡± Li Chen asked when he saw Cheng Xin not saying a word.


    ¡°Yes, lord Xin, we¡¯ll listen to your ideas!¡±


    In the perspectives of the others, Cheng Xin and his house was the strongest of the five, so it was natural that they wanted to listen to him.


    Cheng Xin grew silent for a moment to think. ¡°If we really want to stick it to that Bai Yunfei, we don¡¯t necessarily have to make a move on him¡­.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Everyone spoke.


    ¡°Lord Xin, what do you mean?¡± Li Chen asked for clarification, ¡°According to what I know, Bai Yunfei came by himself to the Capital, are we going to go after one of his students then? Would that even be enough to threaten him?¡±


    ¡°He came here alone, true, but now¡­.I heard that there were a few people that came to him today in the academy? The one that stopped him from going crazy wasn¡¯t the assistant headmaster, but a girl that appeared out of nowhere¡­.¡±


    ¡°Was there?¡± Li Chen¡¯s eyes grew wide, ¡°Could it be that that girl is Bai Yunfei¡¯s¡­.?¡±


    Cheng Xin nodded, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be wrong. I¡¯ve already sent some people out to look into the matter. That girl is currently with Bai Yunfei and resting in his home.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­.¡± Zhu Yizhi started to speak, ¡°We should go after Bai Yunfei¡¯s girl?¡±


    ¡°Think about it,¡± Cheng Xin barked in laughter, ¡°If Bai Yunfei were to know someone assaulted his woman, how angry do you think he¡¯d be? If he loves that woman enough, don¡¯t you think he¡¯d be willing to sacrifice his training or life possibly?¡±


    The eyes of everyone sparkled in fantastical glee at that, Peng Huaguang most of nodded.


    ¡°I like it! Let¡¯s do that! If we can¡¯t do anything to Bai Yunfei, why not his woman then?! I very much doubt Bai Yunfei will be constantly with that girl! Once we¡¯ve the chance, we should go after her! Hehe¡­.I can¡¯t wait to see the look of pain on his face, you think he¡¯d become a lunatic? Haha!!¡±


    But Zeng Fei voiced his doubts, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we first confirm her identity? If in the chance she¡¯s¡­.¡±


    ¡°What is there to investigate? She¡¯s most likely just another student at the Crafting School,¡± Cheng Xin waved his hands arbitrarily. ¡°But so what? This is the Capital, not the Great Plaints Province! We don¡¯t even have to do this ourselves, we can have a servant or guest do the dirty work! Let¡¯s find a criminal and give him some incentive. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be willing to sacrifice himself for us. And even if it fails, it won¡¯t be led back to us, so we¡¯ll be fine!¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s what lord Xin has come up with, then let¡¯s do as lord Xin says! Allow us to prepare for a moment and find some incentives! This time¡­.we¡¯ll definitely get our revenge!¡±


    Now at the end of their conversation, the five men stepped out from their rooms and out the villa. It was late at night, so the five were prepared to return to their own homes when two figures suddenly came walking into the villa and met them by the gates.


    At the sight of the elder on the right, Cheng Xin immediately bent down into a bow.


    ¡°Sec¡ªsecond grandfather!!¡±


    This elder was Cheng Chaochuan!

 Chapter 656: Secrets

    Like Cheng Xin, Cheng Chaochuan was a little surprised to see him.


    ¡°What are you all doing here?!¡± He asked dangerously.


    ¡°We¡ªwe were just¡­.bored¡ªwe came here to talk and were just going home¡­.¡± Cheng Xin didn¡¯t dare look his grandfather straight in the eye as he stammered.


    Cheng Chaochuan sent a chilling glare at the five men in front of him, ¡°Pah! You¡¯d best be on your best behavior. If anything else happens, I¡¯ll break your legs to go with your arms!¡±


    ¡°Ye¡ªyes¡­..your grandson will listen obediently¡­¡±


    Cheng Xin bowed his head repeatedly before he led the other four away from the place.


    Cheng Chaochuan had wanted to say a few things more to them, but since the person he was accompanying didn¡¯t seem patient at all, he ignored the matter with Cheng Xin to gesture towards the villa behind, ¡°This is one of the properties we the Cheng own. In ordinary times, there¡¯ll be a few youngsters coming and going, but if sire needs a place to stay, there will definitely be no one to bother you here.¡±


    By his side was an elderly man in gray robes. He had a dull expression on his face, but his eyes were chillingly dark enough to have even a mid-stage Soul King like Cheng Chaochuan give him the polite treatment. In other words, this man was by no means weak.


    The elder nodded his head, ¡°I won¡¯t be here in the Capital for long. As soon as I finish that, I¡¯ll leave. During that time, I¡¯ll do all that I can to help you, I hope you won¡¯t fail to disappoint me either¡­.¡±


    Cheng Chaochuan arched an eyebrow, a hint of displeasure showing in his eyes for just a moment.


    ¡°Worry not, sire. We are only just waiting for the best possible moment to ensure nothing goes wrong. Due to the importance of this matter and the fate of our entire Cheng, we must do all that we can to be careful. And so, let us please confer over a few crucial details¡­.


    ¡°But this isn¡¯t the place for that. Please sire, follow me into this room.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    From far away, Cheng Xin and his band of five were far away enough from the villa to look back at it.


    ¡°That...scared me,¡± Li Chen patted his chest, ¡°no wonder he¡¯s a Soul King if he can scare us out of our minds with just a few words. Lord Cheng, what is your grandfather doing here?¡±


    Cheng Xin shrugged his shoulders, ¡°How should I know? It¡¯s a good thing we finished as soon as we did, otherwise my grandfather would¡¯ve heard what we were talking about. Let¡¯s go home, we can¡¯t let anyone find out about this. We meet again in two days!¡±


    ¡°Are...are we still going to go through with this plan?¡± Zhu Yizhi asked timidly, ¡°Your grandfather said to behave ourselves. What if he already knows about our plans? If we go through with this, what if¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Watch what you¡¯re saying!¡± Cheng Xin glared at him, ¡°Don¡¯t make me look down on you, little Zhi. Are you afraid? I¡¯ve heard my grandfather say those words so many times already, and even if I did get into trouble after that, he only scolds me at most. I¡¯m not afraid, are you?!¡±


    ¡°N¡ªno! I¡¯ll do as you say, lord Xin!¡±


    Continuing to walk into the Capital, Li Chen suddenly spoke up, ¡°Lord Xin, I heard that¡­.Xu Sihan has had some trouble with Bai Yunfei before. Do you think we should rope him in? If by chance we get caught, we¡¯d have one more person to help us. And if anything¡­.we could use him as our scapegoat.¡±


    Zeng Fei and Zhu Yizhi both lit up at that suggestion, ¡°That¡¯s a good idea! That Xu Sihan is a pretty stupid one. If we say just a few words to him, we can probably use him to our advantage!¡±


    But Cheng Xin quirked his lips, ¡°Did it really take you all this long to think about that? I asked Xu Sihan to come earlier today, but he wimped out saying he didn¡¯t want to anger Bai Yunfei any more.¡±


    ¡°Ah? You already went looking for him, lord Xin?¡± Li Chen spoke, crestfallen. ¡°Is that Xu Sihan that cowardly, what a loser! He might be the son of a minister like lord Xin, but his actions and personality aren¡¯t even a tenth of what lord Xin is!¡±


    ¡°The Xu have always been a cowardly house. They can¡¯t beat my family, so they choose to retreat inwardly. Sooner or later, there¡¯ll only be one senior minister in the entire empire, the Cheng!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei took Tang Xinyun and the others back to his residence. Having the servants draw up a room for the three travel-weary females, Bai Yunfei was ready to let them retire early for the night.


    He didn¡¯t even speak more than a few words with Tang Xinyun, and the thick-faced Zheng Kai didn¡¯t have the chance to speak with Kou Tingting either. Rather than giving up, he rounded on Bai Yunfei to ask him a few questions about her. Bai Yunfei was willing to answer only a few questions before he got tired of it all and slammed the door shut on Zheng Kai¡¯s face, much to the cursing of his friend.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head as he listened Zheng Kai order one of the servants to draw up a room for him. As good as a friend Bai Yunfei felt Zheng Kai was, he still couldn¡¯t shake off the negative ¡®reputation¡¯ he had. Even worse, with how recent his latest escapades with several women were, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t feeling confident in helping Zheng Kai pursue Kou Tingting.


    The emotions of Zheng Kai today was a rare one, admittedly. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know if he should treat Zheng Kai seriously or not.


    Either way, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t exactly forbid Zheng Kai from pursuing Tingting, or even if the two were a well match for one another. It was Zheng Kai¡¯s personal choice, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t care much as long as he wasn¡¯t being used as an ¡®accomplice¡¯.


    The days following that night was considerably far better than usual in Bai Yunfei¡¯s opinion. With Tang Xinyun here, it was like the world had gotten a lot brighter than before with the rekindled flames of emotion from not seeing Tang Xinyun in a long time fueling that light. Just being able to wake up in the morning and feeling the aura of her being close by filled Bai Yunfei with a great deal of happiness from morning to evening.


    Being new to the Capital, Tang Xinyun was extremely curious on how the city was. Together with Bai Yunfei, the two of them roamed around the Capital from one place to the next. One day, they¡¯d explore the academy, another day, the northern parts of the Capital, and then the day after, the eastern parts¡­.


    In the course of these days, there was an uninvited ¡®host¡¯ who seemed to take it upon himself to lead the ¡®tour¡¯ around the Capital. Taking them from west to east and south to north, this person was so excited to lead them that it felt like he was taking some drugs to keep up his energy.


    That person was Zheng Kai.


    Most of his time was spent paying extra attention to Kou Tingting almost. Unfortunately for him, Kou Tingting felt neither graceful nor wanted his attention and hardly gave him the opportunity to be alone with her to say a word or two. If not for Zheng Kai knowing when to back off when he did, Kou Tingting would¡¯ve most likely have an even worse opinion of him.


    Stuck in his own enjoyment with Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei had hardly cared for Zheng Kai¡¯s predicament, causing Zheng Kai to mutter under his breath that Bai Yunfei was someone that chose a lover over a friend.


    It might¡¯ve been his imagination, but Bai Yunfei felt as if the wounds on his body and soul was healing even faster than before now that Tang Xinyun was here. Perhaps it was because of his good mood, but his body felt better than usual for the next few days. The feeling of weakness was gone for the most part. In fact, Bai Yunfei felt like he was back to the levels of strength before his match with Cheng Yao. There also didn¡¯t seem to be a chance of him losing control of his emotions again as badly as just a few days ago.


    If things kept on like this, it wouldn¡¯t be long before he¡¯d regain enough strength to be back at his optimal level of power.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Several days later on the sixth day of the week.


    It was night time, and Huangfu Rui was feeling a little tired with how much time she spent playing today. With Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting deciding to take the younger one back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s place, Bai Yunfei decided to go to the Soothing Heart himself to have a pot of Soul Consolidating Tea.


    As soon as he entered the teahouse, someone already seated from within called out to him.


    It was one of the other instructors from the academy, Xiao Nan.


    Bai Yunfei took a seat in front of him, ¡°Big brother Xiao, what a coincidence. I don¡¯t normally see you here drinking tea.¡±


    Xiao Nan smiled back, ¡°This is by no means a coincidence, Yunfei. I was actually waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°Waiting for me?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°Is something the matter, big brother Xiao?¡±

 Chapter 657: Xiao Qi Falling in Love?

    Xiao Nan spun his teacup on the table with an idle finger, ¡°You said you¡¯d visit me in my home, Yunfei. I¡¯ve been waiting a long time and yet you haven¡¯t come yet¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei looked embarrassed, ¡°I¡­.was a bit busy as of late and the matter slipped my mind. Please forgive me for my slight, big brother Xiao.¡±


    ¡°Haha, merely joking with you, Yunfei.¡± Xiao Nan slapped the table, ¡°But I did speak with my wife about the matter about bringing home a ¡®famous¡¯ person to be our guest. She¡¯s been asking me ever since about it, so why not come to my home for a dinner party, would you be interested in one sometime soon?¡±


    ¡°Of course¡ª! Tomorrow would be fine with me, if tomorrow works for you, big brother Xiao.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, though he was a little confused. For a friend like him, was there really a need for Xiao Nan himself to come and see khim out for an invitation to this ¡®banquet¡¯?


    ¡°It¡¯s settled then. I¡¯ll go home and tell my wife then. She¡¯ll prepare a nice meal tomorrow at noon, we can have a nice drink then!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the way back home, Bai Yunfei was suddenly imposed a question on by Xiao Qi, ¡°Yunfei, are you going to take Xinyun with you to brother Xiao¡¯s house tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Bai Yunfei asked as he tilted his head back, ¡°She probably won¡¯t want to go¡­.she doesn¡¯t know big brother Xiao after all, so staying with Tingting will probably be more likely.¡±


    In truth, he did want Xinyun to come with him as his ¡®plus one¡¯ to Xiao Nan¡¯s house, but that wasn¡¯t very likely. Xinyun would be embarrassed to go, and Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to have Kou Tingting and Huangfu Rui come with him either. So in the end, he decided to go by himself and let Xinyun and the others up to their own devices.


    He could have Zheng Kai bring them somewhere, there was no way Zheng Kai would do anything that¡¯d besmirch his own honor anyways.


    ¡°In that case¡­.¡± Xiao Qi chirped and tilted its head in deep thought, ¡°I¡­. won¡¯t go with you then. Brother Xiao¡¯s house is in the academy, so there probably won¡¯t be any danger. I¡¯ll keep Xinyun and Tingting company and protect them from danger.¡±


    ¡°Eh??¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised, he hadn¡¯t thought Xiao Qi would have a reason like that.


    That didn¡¯t make sense¡­.


    He raised an eyebrow to give Xiao Qi a curious glance.


    Why did he feel like Xiao Qi was looking a little weird?? Wasn¡¯t this the first time Xiao Qi had said something like this before?


    And didn¡¯t Xiao Qi¡¯s tone and look in his eyes look a little familiar to Bai Yunfei??


    Bai Yunfei observed Xiao Qi for a moment longer before he realized just where he remembered this sight.


    Zheng Kai had the same exact expression on his face!


    Was the expression on his face not the same as the one Zheng Kai had whenever he spoke to Kou Tingting as of late? If there wasn¡¯t a difference between Xiao Qi and Zheng Kai, then that meant the reason behind the two of them were the same¡­.


    In other words¡­.


    Flashing through the memories he had of Xiao Qi over the course of the past few days, Bai Yunfei quickly came to an ¡®understanding¡¯. At the same time, he was a little curious. ¡°Hey, Xiao Qi. Do you want to stick with Xiao Bai?¡± He glanced over at the bird.


    That was right! Over the course of the past few days, weren¡¯t Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai constantly together? That was pretty likely since Bai Yunfei himself was stuck to the shoulder with Tang Xinyun, so it made sense that their soulbeasts were next to each other too. He hadn¡¯t paid much attention before to this tidbit, but now that the looked back, the two birds looked like they were ¡®stuck together¡¯ like shadow and person.


    ¡°Yea. I promised Xiao Bai I¡¯d take her to North Fifth Street to look at a show¡­.¡± Xiao Qi nodded. He didn¡¯t seem to be willing to hide his emotions or plans, or else he just didn¡¯t bother to hide anything from Bai Yunfei.


    Or perhaps he wasn¡¯t even feeling ¡®embarrassed¡¯ about this at all¡­.


    ¡°Damn, he¡¯s even got a date at the theaters¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt flummoxed almost. Without Xiao Qi even needing to say anything, Bai Yunfei was able to clearly feel the excitement and happiness from Xiao Qi at the thought of this date. It was extremely familiar to Bai Yunfei, as he himself had the exact same emotions run through him when he was with Tang Xinyun for the past few days¡­.


    So! It was confirmed then¡­..Xiao Qi had fallen in love!


    And it was with the soulbeast partner of Tang Xinyun.


    Was this what people called a ¡®soulmate¡¯?


    Wearily, Bai Yunfei stared at the oriole, ¡°Xiao Qi, do you like Xiao Bai?¡±


    ¡°Like?¡± Xiao Qi cocked his head before nodding, ¡°I do¡ªXiao Bai is really pretty! I feel happy playing with her, and I like being with her. I never had this feeling before when I played with Xiao Lan.¡±


    What a truly naive child¡­.


    Bai Yunfei smothered a snicker. Perhaps Xiao Qi didn¡¯t understand what the emotion called ¡®love¡¯ was? Or actually, wasn¡¯t this the purest form of love there is?


    ¡°Xiao QI, do you always want to be with Xiao Bai?¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Again, Xiao Qi cocked his head, though his response took a moment later to be said, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to be with Xinyun for your entire life?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t formulate a proper response to that sudden change of a topic, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You and Xinyun are always together. I am your soulbeast partner, and Xiao Bai is Xinyun¡¯s soulbeast partner. Of course we¡¯ll always be together.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    What formidable logic!


    But still¡­.it wasn¡¯t as if he was wrong either¡­.


    Bai Yunfei would definitely endorse it if Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai were always together. It might be a little early to be considering marriage for someone like Xiao Qi, but it wouldn¡¯t do any harm if Bai Yunfei kept the topic in mind, would it?


    Elated, Bai Yunfei patted Xiao Qi on the head, ¡°Haha, no problem! You can always be with Xiao Bai, and protect Xinyun too.


    ¡°Chase after your fortune, I¡¯ll support you with all my strength!!¡± He quipped.


    Zheng Kai would¡¯ve fallen to the ground and thrown a tantrum in protest if he heard that.


    He was a ¡®brother¡¯ to Bai Yunfei, so why couldn¡¯t he get this type of treatment and support in his chase!?


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The next morning.


    In the instructor dormitories in the fifth year area of Tianhun Academy.


    With how large the academy was, the dormitories was basically a city in itself with the instructors living well and freely. Everyone had their own ¡®little villa¡¯ almost.


    As per the directions given to him by Xiao Nan, Bai Yunfei managed to make his way to Xiao Nan¡¯s place, but not before asking several people for the way.


    Xiao Nan¡¯s place was relatively average with just two stories and a small courtyard in the back and front. Several flowers and grass grew in both courtyards for the rabbits to eat.


    Since he didn¡¯t bother to hide his strength, Bai Yunfei was greeted by Xiao Nan at the door before he could even knock.


    ¡°Big brother Xiao, please excuse my disturbance.¡± As he was led in, Bai Yunfei realized he had no gifts to bear and was immediately embarrassed.


    ¡°Haha, what disturbance? Yunfei, you¡¯ve made me happy by just coming, come on in now¡ªlet¡¯s talk inside.¡± Xiao Nan laughed nad led him in.


    ¡°Xiao Jie, Yunfei¡¯s here, come and greet him.¡±


    Led by Xiao Nan, Bai Yunfei walked to an elegant drawing room before Xiao Nan called out to the room to the right. A clear-sounding voice called back in return before a figure came slowly into their room.


    It was a young woman who looked to be twenty-six or twenty-seven around. She had a tall, but slender figure and was dressed like a very homely wife. An ovallish face and tender-white skin, her black hair accentuated her beautiful and refined appearance of being a daughter of a noble.


    ¡°Yunfei, this is my wife, Zhao Jie.¡± Xiao Nan introduced her as soon as she walked in.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, sister-in-law.¡± Bai Yunfei greeted her at once.


    TL Note: When referring to the wife of a fellow brother, especially older, you call them ¡®Saozi¡¯.


    Zhao Jie smiled. ¡°Haha, so this is the Yunfei my Nan is always talking about? Please, come sit, I¡¯ll pour you both some tea.¡±


    Bai Yunfei watched as Xiao Nan pulled up a chair and took a seat with him, but Zhao Jie turned her head towards the interior of the house to speak, ¡°Xiao Han, are you still in there? Why don¡¯t you come on out?¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked¡ªthere was someone else here as well??


    Who was it?

 Chapter 658: Goodwill of the House of Xu

    According to what Bai Yunfei knew, Xiao Nan and his wife had always lived in Tianhun Academy so they didn¡¯t normally go out. Was there another guest here with him today?


    It being impolite to use soulsense in the home of another, Bai Yunfei refrained.


    A moment after Zhao Jie called out, Bai Yunfei heard a set of footsteps slowly walk towards the room.


    When he saw just who it was, his face revealed some surprise, ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± He spoke subconsciously.


    Bai Yunfei ¡®knew¡¯ this person. They met before actually¡ªback in the Soothing Heart, he had a bit of a tiff with this person.


    The son of the Left Minister, Xu Sihan!


    Bai Yunfei had taught him a lesson the last time they met in the Soothing Heart. It was only because of Xiao Nan that an all out fight hadn¡¯t happened. While Bai Yunfei knew Xu Sihan was Xiao Nan¡¯s cousin from his wife¡¯s side, what was Xu Sihan doing here still?


    Was it a coincidence?


    A flicker of hate and fear flashed across Xu Sihan¡¯s eyes for a moment. He trawled a little hesitantly to Zhao Jie¡¯s side to whisper, ¡°Cousin, I¡­.¡±


    ¡°What? Speak clearly, are you getting cold feet now?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡±


    As reluctant as he was, he looked like he was finally about to say something when Zhao Jie placed a hand onto his shoulder and pointed him to the seat next to Xiao Nan, ¡°Go take a seat. Your family might¡¯ve sent you over, but your cousin isn¡¯t here to force you to do anything. If you want to leave, go, but I won¡¯t stop them from punishing you if you do.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A frown appeared on Xu Sihan¡¯s face as he walked over to the chair next to Xiao Nan and sat down with his head bowed low.


    What kind of showing was this??


    Bai Yunfei felt suspicious, just what was Xu Sihan planning?


    Zhao Jie spoke up apologetically to him next, ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯ve heard that little Han has offended you. I wanted to take the chance today to apologize on his behalf. Little Han has been spoiled by his family since he was small and his behavior isn¡¯t always the best. I hope today you and he will be able to work things out.¡±


    ¡°Ehh???¡±


    Bai Yunfei uttered in surprise¡ªwas Xu Sihan really trying to apologize?


    With his cousin speaking on his behalf, Xu Sihan looked as though he had made up his mind. Biting his lips, he forced himself to look at Bai Yunfei with an earnest expression. ¡°I unintentionally offended brother Bai the other day. Please excuse the slight I¡¯ve made and forgive this one for it.¡±


    As reluctant as he was to say those words, it didn¡¯t feel like he didn¡¯t mean his words either, so he really was trying to reconcile with Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°I¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to respond. He had never expected Xu Sihan to apologize like this. He hadn¡¯t even thought about Xu Sihan at all, in fact.


    Ever since his conflict with the family of the Right Minister, the matter with Xu Sihan and the Left Minister had been completely overshadowed, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to think much about it.


    What Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know was that there were others that took this event pretty seriously. The house of Xu. It wasn¡¯t a major topic, though the higher-ups of the family had still managed to hear about it. As it so happened, they also heard about how Bai Yunfei also got into a conflict with Cheng Xin and then even the four sons of the other families that got along with the Cheng. When it ended with the five of them eating a loss, the Xu snickered to themselves and admitted that it was Xu Sihan that offended Bai Yunfei rather than the other way around, which is why the higher-ups didn¡¯t care much for this.


    The mess the Cheng was in now was all in due part with how their pampered son had angered Bai Yunfei, after all.


    So the elders of the Xu sent out the order to have Xu Sihan not only cease his hostilities with Bai Yunfei, but to apologize!


    Whether it was in personal status or strength, Bai Yunfei was racking up a great deal of value in the eyes of many other influential powers in the Capital. If this series of events with the Cheng was making them an enemy out of Bai Yunfei, then the Xu¡ªwho were fundamentally opposed to them¡ªwould definitely want to have Bai Yunfei¡¯s support.


    Or at the very least, not make an enemy out of him as well.


    Xu Sihan had actually wanted to form a ¡®feud¡¯ with Bai Yunfei as well after he was hurt. But then when he heard about the conflict between Bai Yunfei and Cheng Xin, he grew a little cautious and decided to take the ¡®wait and see¡¯ approach. Things got even more unpredictable with Bai Yunfei dealing with the experts from the Li, Zeng, Zhu, and Peng ordered to ¡®deal¡¯ with him. Disbelieving almost at Bai Yunfei¡¯s victory, Xu Sihan was starting to doubt the reasonability that was his grudge. At the same time, he was given a stern ¡®talking¡¯ to by his elders and was told to apologize to Bai Yunfei.


    As hedonistic as he was, Xu Sihan was no simpleton. He could see how serious the elders were, and he didn¡¯t dare go against their demands. Remembering that Bai Yunfei got along with his cousin and husband, Xu Sihan went reluctantly to them to see if his cousin would be able to help out or be ¡®mediators¡¯ at the very least. He felt quite embarrassed to be making the apologies, since he had never had to ¡®apologize¡¯ with him being the son of the Left Minister.


    The stunned look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face gave Xiao Nan the impression that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite ready to forgive Xu Sihan, so he decided to speak up. ¡°Yunfei, I was there at the time and know that Xu Sihan¡¯s behavior wasn¡¯t right. However, I¡¯ve already punished him several times after that and so I¡¯ll hope you¡¯ll spare me some face and forgive him.¡±


    Xiao Nan didn¡¯t really like Xu Sihan in truth, but he was still related to him through his wife, and the two of them were on good terms with one another. Zhao Jie herself had asked Xiao Nan if an apology could be arranged on Xu Sihan¡¯s behalf so that the hatchet could be buried between him and Bai Yunfei.


    Blinking oddly at the sight, Bai Yunfei waved his hand, ¡°Big brother Xiao, you are far too serious with your words. I...haven¡¯t even thought about the events that day, let alone think about forgiving or not.¡±


    Since Bai Yunfei had already taught Xu Sihan a lesson, he never really thought about the matter. He wasn¡¯t one to split hairs over everything and form long-lasting grudges with people.


    If only Cheng Xin himself were to come and do the same thing.


    Xu Sihan sighed to himself inwardly. He had been worried that Bai Yunfei would turn the nose and try to humiliate him. To have this matter resolved so easy had done wonders for his mind.


    ¡°Then¡­.thank you for your magnanimously, brother Bai. This is just a small gift of my thanks, please accept it on my behalf.¡± Xu Sihan took out a white stone from his space ring and sent it over to Bai Yunfei in a bubble of elemental energy.


    He was giving a gift too?!


    Bai Yunfei was doubly alarmed. Planning to refuse the gift at first, Bai Yunfei opened his mouth to do so when he saw the object floating over to him. Eyes sparkling when he recognized what it was, Bai Yunfei accepted the item and took it straight into his space ring. ¡°Then this one will thank you for your kindness, lord Xu. Let us consider this matter settled then.¡±


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Special Effect 1: Increase the chance of success when upgrading by 1000%. Effect cannot be stacked with the effect of another item.


    Special Effect 2: Increase the chance of success when crafting by 700%. Effect cannot be stacked with the effect of another item.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    The object Xu Sihan gave him was an upgrade stone! One that was a Low Heaven in grade!


    Bai Yunfei held an undoubted interest in upgrade stones and thus wouldn¡¯t refuse one offered to him.


    But there was no way the Xu would give him such a ¡®precious¡¯ item as an apology present. They were clearly also trying to enter Bai Yunfei¡¯s good graces as well.


    Since he wasn¡¯t enemies with the Xu, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have to worry about losing any face by accepting this gift. It wasn¡¯t a bad thing either to make friends with the Xu and the Left Minister, so Bai Yunfei took the gift without much of a fuss.


    All of the worry evaporated from within Xu Sihan as soon as he saw Bai Yunfei take the gift. By accepting the gift, Bai Yunfei would most likely not treat him bad in the future. He was a little fearful of Bai Yunfei and didn¡¯t want to end up a half-cripple almost lie Cheng Xin and his group¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Zhao Jie went off back to the kitchens to prepare some food while Bai Yunfei, Xiao Nan, and even Xu Sihan began to talk to one another in the drawing room.


    It was a rather harmonious lunch the four had with one another. Xu Sihan had dropped the hedonistic air he normally had and wasn¡¯t quite the disgusting person Bai Yunfei first pegged him to be, causing Bai Yunfei to have a new perspective on him.


    Of course, he still didn¡¯t care much, and neither was he really looking to make friends with Xu Sihan either.


    With the meal wrapping up, Bai Yunfei found it time to take his leave and bid everyone farewell before he left with Xu Sihan.


    They walked together through the academy, though Xu Sihan still looked slightly embarrassed as he followed behind Bai Yunfei. Hesitating here and there, Xu Sihan finally managed to speak aloud after some time, ¡°Brother Bai, there¡¯s¡­.something I feel I need to tell you about¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°You better be careful for now, brother Bai. There might be some people who¡¯ll try to do you harm¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What makes you say that, lord Xu? Who would do that?¡±


    ¡°Cheng¡­.Cheng Xin and his friends. I know what I¡¯m saying might make you suspicious of me trying to instigate some disharmony, but I truly am speaking honestly here. Cheng Xin came to me a few days before and wanted to know if I had a grudge with you, brother Bai. He wanted to see if I¡¯d be interested in taking revenge, but I refused. I think he and his friends haven¡¯t given up yet, so I wanted to inform you of the potential, brother Bai.¡±


    ¡°This again?¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eye. ¡°I¡¯ll take that in mind, thank you for your warning, lord Xu.¡± He cupped his hands to Xu Sihan.


    After bidding farewell to Xu Sihan, Bai Yunfei headed straight home, though he shook his mind at the words spoken to him by Xu Sihan.


    ¡°What a bunch of restless second generationals. You¡¯d all better not be too much, or else I won¡¯t just leave you all as half-cripples next time¡­.¡±

 Chapter 659: Flame-shaped Lightningseed

    The first day of the week came by again, meaning it was yet again time for classes.


    Since Bai Yunfei would be teaching that day, Tang Xinyun and the others decided not to bother him, though neither did they take a tour in the Capital either. They woke up rather early today, and the sun wasn¡¯t yet out, so they chose to head to the outskirts to the south to watch the sunrise from the mountains.


    So Bai Yunfei headed for the academy by himself. Not even Xiao Qi was there with him. He chose to stay by Tang Xinyun¡¯s side.


    As per usual though, the students of the crafting class were all gathered and waiting for him by the foot of the mountain. As soon as Bai Yunfei appeared, Bai Yunfei was a little surprised to see the meaningful looks he was being given.


    ¡°What are you all doing?¡± Bai Yunfei looked down at his own body in confusion. ¡°Why are you all looking at me like that?¡±


    Mo Chen laughed mischievously at him, ¡°You look pretty well today, instructor Bai! You must¡¯ve had a lot of fun the past week and a half! A healthy face full of vigo¡ªactually, a refreshed face beaming with happiness suits you better!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Does it?¡± Bai Yunfei touched at his face, ¡°Ah, well, I have been sleeping well as of late. Much better than before.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably not the only reason, is it? There must¡¯ve been one more person by your side that¡¯d make you feel like this I¡¯m sure!¡± Mo Chen gazed down the academy. ¡°Eh?¡± He cried out in ¡®surprise¡¯, ¡°is instructor¡¯s wife not here with you today?¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ªaway with you! Stop making fun of your instructor! Return to your crafting caves so we can start class!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The students were learning the art of crafting at an extremely fast rate now. Crafting a mid-human tier soul armament wasn¡¯t a problem for them anymore, and now most of them were embarking on the attempt to craft high-human tier soul armaments. Ye Ming, for example, was already capable of crafting high-human tier soul armaments and was nearly at the crux of being able to craft earth-tier soul armaments.


    The lesson today wasn¡¯t anything hard, it was just explaining the process of crafting a earth-tier soul armament and the more important parts to look after. This way, the students would have a better chance of craftine one.


    It was a dry and dull lesson that skipped over the unimportant details. So time slowly went by before Bai Yunfei dismissed the class at sunset.


    He bade the students a few words of farewell before each of them took off. Only Ye Ming stayed behind, asking to speak with Bai Yunfei before he left.


    ¡°Instructor Bai, if I could have a moment, please.¡± Ye Ming walkd apologetically up to him, ¡°I¡¯ve a few questions I hope you can answer, instructor Bai.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei turned his head back, ¡°What kind of questions? Was there something you didn¡¯t understand today?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about crafting,¡± Ye Ming shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s about a companion lightningseed.¡±


    ¡°The companion lightningseed?¡± Bai Yunfei arched an eyebrow at the question. ¡°Let¡¯s go in there to talk.¡± He motioned to one of the crafting caves.


    Upon entering the cave, Bai Yunfei took out two stone stools for the student and teacher to sit on. ¡°I¡¯ve almost forgot to ask you about it after all this time, how goes your development of a companion lightningseed?¡±


    ¡°If you could please take a look, instructor Bai.¡± Ye Ming smiled as his right hand rose up to have his palm facing the ceiling. Concentrating on his palm, Ye Ming had a flash of red light appear first on it, distributing a wave of heat through the room.


    Left there on his palm was a chicken-egg sized ball of fire.


    Ye Ming had taken out his essence fireseed!! And in the perimeter of his essence fireseed, there was an even smaller sized ¡®flame¡¯ the color of violet as it floated around the fireseed like a satellite.


    This was¡­.a companion lightningseed!


    ¡°You¡¯ve succeeded already?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°You formed a companion lightnignseed already?!¡±


    Ye Ming nodded. ¡°I only managed to do so three days ago. I was really close to giving up since I thought I wouldn¡¯t be able to do it. But I decided to do something a little differently than you described it and it worked. I...I never thought it¡¯d actually work.¡±


    ¡°Changed?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, his eyes narrowing a bit when he picked up on that bit of the sentence. ¡°Eh? Your companion lightningseed, why is it¡­?¡±


    He realized then that the companion lightnignseed was like¡­.a fire!


    ¡®Lightning¡¯ in the shape of fire!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s companion lightningseed was a small spark of lightning in the shape of a bolt.


    Aside from the difference in shape, Bai Yunfei could feel something else was different. Ye Ming¡¯s companion lightningseed seemed a little more ¡®lively¡¯.


    It wasn¡¯t just that though. It felt as if the companion lightningseed and essence fireseed had some sort of ¡®agreement¡¯ between the two to have one another be more ¡®spirited¡¯. The companion lightningseed rotated around the essence fireseed with a rhythm identical to that of the fireseed. Bai Yunfei could even feel Ye Ming¡¯s companion lightningseed was incomparably close to the fireseed and flickered at the same time the fireseed did. If he didn¡¯t know any better, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve thought this companion lightningseed was just a miniature part of the fireseed!


    He didn¡¯t have the time to make a careful conclusion of his findings, but Bai Yunfei could at the very least confirm that Ye Ming¡¯s companion lightningseed was ¡®superior¡¯ to his own companion lightningseed!!


    A moment after his shock subsided, Bai Yunfei looked back to Ye Ming with a questioning look, ¡°Ye Ming¡­.how did you manage to do this?¡±


    ¡°Instructor Bai, is there a problem with my companion lightningseed? I feel like it¡¯s different to yours, and I¡¯m not very sure how to describe this since it¡¯s still new to me. I¡¯m afraid of something going wrong, so please lend me your advice on this matter, instructor Bai.¡±


    He drew back his fireseed into his body as he spoke. For regular soul cultivators, one¡¯s essence seed shouldn¡¯t be left out in the open for an extended period of time.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, though your lightningseed is a little different from mine, it¡¯s definitely not a bad thing. I just wish for you to tell me, how in the world did you manage this?¡±


    Ye Ming thought for a moment before he spoke. ¡°I tried so many times and failed whenever I tried doing it the way you taught me, instructor Bai. It was three days ago when I was training when¡­.¡±


    He explained the state of mind he was in along with several of the thoughts he was having at the time. All of his thoughts were very thought-provoking, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly enlightened by them. In the end, Bai Yunfei could only sigh in admiration of the explanation.


    What Ye Ming did to form his companion lightningseed wasn¡¯t inherently difficult to put into words. For the sake of over-simplifying the feat, what Ye Ming did was¡­..treat ¡®lightning¡¯ like fire!


    The way to manipulating each of the different elements in the world were different, some of them being almost opposing in nature. It was only those soul cultivators with dual affinities that wouldn¡¯t have trouble in this aspect. For Ye Ming¡¯s lightning companionseed, he treated the energy coming from it like how he would treat his essence fireseed so that while any elemental lightning would lose some of its ¡®nature¡¯ as lightning, it would become more like fire. And by doing this, it made the companion lightningseed a lot easier to control and have his fireseed accept the companion lightningseed.


    This was a method Bai Yunfei had never even heard of before.


    His companion lightningseed had been formed almost completely accidentally! Furthermore, he had tried to learn how to control elemental lightning so that he could control his companion lightningseed, so trying to control it via that method had his essence fireseed carry some of the nature of the elemental lightning had. With nature taking its course like that, Bai Yunfei¡¯s lightning was never able to become like fire.


    Though Bai Yunfei had ¡®seen the light now¡¯, Bai Yunfei was still at a loss for how he had never even thought about this method before.


    Ye Ming¡¯s methodology had given Bai Yunfei a whole new path to walk on!


    So this was the true way the companion lightningseed was meant to be used!

 Chapter 660: Anger

    Thinking to himself for some time, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand and focused on his overturned palm. A streak of purple light sparked to life over it, dancing erratically on top of his palm.


    It was his companion lightningseed. His control over it was a little better than Ye Ming¡¯s control over his. Just calling out the companion lightningseed was no problem for him.


    He carefully observed the companion lightningseed, though Bai Yunfei could already feel his soulforce start to change in him. Feeling the companion lightningseed start to tremble and look like it was starting to crumble a bit, but not enough to disappear completely. Just faintly, he could feel the lightning bolt shape of his companion lightningseed start to destabilize a bit and pulsate with energy before starting to change.


    The change was made quickly, but the reversion back to its lightning bolt shape took two seconds as if unable to hold onto that change indefinitely. Controlling the companion lightningseed, Bai Yunfei tried to alter the lightningseed¡¯s shape again, only to have his efforts be rebuffed.


    With each time he tried, the lightningseed seemed to have a bigger change to its shape. Slowly, it was attaining the shape of ¡®fire¡¯.


    Several minutes went by with the companion lightningseed of Bai Yunfei growing closer and closer to being a flame in shape. It was also remaining in said shape for several seconds now.


    The more Ye Ming watched, the more he was amazed by what he saw. It took him countless attempts to succeed when he first thought of the idea, but now it was only taking Bai Yunfei a few minutes to get him closer and closer to the point of success. At this rate, Bai Yunfei would succeed in no time at all.


    It wasn¡¯t for another ten minutes almost when Bai Yunfei decided to give up. Putting away his companion lightningseed back in his body, Bai Yunfei started to recirculate his soulforce to freshen up. ¡°Ye Ming, thank you.¡± He spoke gratefully to the other.


    ¡°Ah¡­.instructor Bai, what do you mean?¡± Ye Ming replied, feeling Bai Yunfei¡¯s words to be wrong. ¡°I ignored your teachings, instructor Bai, how could you be thanking me for that? This isn¡¯t proper¡­¡±


    ¡°The one who was instructing the other should be you actually. I should be thanking you, proper or not.¡±


    It was true. Ye Ming started off with trying to ask for some advice from Bai Yunfei, but it ended up with Bai Yunfei becoming the one to ask him about how to deal with his companion lightningseed. Ye Ming¡¯s perspective on how to train the companion lightningseed gave Bai Yunfei a great deal of benefit, and so it was only right that Bai Yunfei thanked him.


    The two talked for a moment longer before Bai Yunfei finally spoke, ¡°Ye Ming, you shouldn¡¯t worry. Your companion lightningseed is completely fine. If you keep training like this, you¡¯ll definitely see yourself getting stronger and stronger. In my opinion, using the companion lightningseed won¡¯t net much power by itself, but using it in conjunction with your elemental fire will see to a fifty percent increase at the very least!


    When Bai Yunfei used his companion lightningseed, he¡¯d normally see the strength of his elemental fire increasing by twofold or even threefold. With Ye Ming¡¯s ¡®flame-shaped lightningseed¡¯, he¡¯d be able to experiment himself and see just how much his own strength would increase by.


    ¡°Then I am relieved.¡± Ye Ming nodded his head. Thinking a bit, he spoke up again, this time a little more hesitantly, ¡°Instructor Bai, you said before that when I reached a seventy percent success rate with crafting high-human tier soul armaments, you¡¯d help teach me the method of how to craft earth-tier soul armaments. I feel that I am already at such a percentage, would it be possible¡­.?¡±


    ¡°Oh? This quickly?¡± Bai Yunfei looked surprised, ¡°You¡¯ve already reached seventy percent success rate?¡±


    Ye Ming nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Ye Ming¡¯s talent for crafting was unexpectedly extremely high¡­.


    Bai Yunfei felt pleased about Ye Ming¡¯s success. He smiled, ¡°In that case then, we ca¡ª¡±


    His words died in his mouth mid-breath. Mouth freezing in place, Bai Yunfei suddenly whirled around to look outside the cave.


    His sudden action startled Ye Ming. Turning his head to the outside as well, Ye Ming was confused. He didn¡¯t see anything there, and his soulsense wasn¡¯t sensing anything out of the ordinary. ¡°Instructor Bai, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression looked murderous almost, his eyes seemingly spitting fire. ¡°Ye Ming, we¡¯ll talk about teaching you how to craft earth-tier soul armaments another time. I¡¯ve an important matter to take care. I¡¯ll be leaving first!¡±


    His feet flashed violet in light before Bai Yunfei flew out from the cave. His Tempest Sword came out from his space ring, and in no time at all, Bai Yunfei took off into the skies on it.


    Ye Ming stood there inside the cave for some time after that. Feeling as Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura disappeared into the distance, he looked at the skies, ¡°Did instructor Bai find out something if he¡¯s so hurried?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Just five kilometers away from the southern gates of the Capital stood a small forest with a small clearing.


    A young woman dressed in a flowery robe where she sat over a small patch of flowers with a smile. Sometimes, she¡¯d bend down to pull one or two wild grasses while a small white pig by her feet roamed around the area. Not too far away from the two, two other beautiful woman smiled and spoke to one another in small voices.


    These three women were Tang Xinyun, Kou Tingting, and Huangfu Rui.


    Aside from them three just a hundred meters away almost, there were another eight middle-aged man scattered about on the ground. One of these men on the ground had only a single eye and no eyepatch even to hide his missing eye. Without anything to cover his missing eye, the man looked rather scary, and the many scars on his face didn¡¯t help. Just at a glance alone, anyone could tell he wasn¡¯t a very friendly man.


    All of the men on the ground were knocked out, and flying above them all was a small bird the colors of the rainbow looking down on them all. It was Xiao Qi.


    A green streak of light coming towards them caught Tang Xinyun¡¯s eye. As she turned to look, Xiao Qi¡¯s chirp was made known to her, ¡°Yunfei¡¯s here!¡±


    A moment later, the green streak of light came to a stop right next to Tang Xinyun and the others, revealing Bai Yunfei inside.


    ¡°Xinyun, Tingting, are you all okay?¡±


    Bai Yunfei spoke up in concern, looking around the area as he did.


    Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°Yes. No need to worry, Yunfei, we¡¯re fine.¡±


    That was when Bai Yunfei noticed the people laying down on the ground. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± He sighed.


    ¡°Bro strawhat, you¡¯re here!¡± Huangfu Rui came running up to him with Xiao Rourou in hand. ¡°We went mountain climbing today! It was a tall mountain¡ªmuch taller than Mt. Crimson! There was also a strange stone that was like Xiao Rourou! Heehee, we wanted to pick it up, but sis Ting said no¡­.we can take you there next time!¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­¡± Bai Yunfei patted her on the head, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll come with you next time, for sure.¡±


    He gave a glance at the group of people still laying unconscious on the ground. ¡°Xinyun,¡± He whispered to her, ¡°are those people the ones that attacked you? Are there anyone else?¡±


    Xinyun shook her head, ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be anyone else but the ones there. We were going to return to the Capital when we were stopped by them. They were going to kidnap us before Xiao Qi knocked them all out. I didn¡¯t see anyone escape.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°You should all go back first then. I¡¯ll deal with this.¡±


    He nodded to Xiao Qi, ¡°Can you send Xinyun back and then come back?¡±


    ¡°I can.¡±


    Tang Xinyun looked a little concerned, ¡°Yunfei, you¡­.you should be careful. Don¡¯t do anything dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be careful. I¡¯ll be back before it¡¯s late.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Watching as Tang Xinyun and the others skywalked back to the Capital, Bai Yunfei whirled around when he saw them safely reach their destination. Stalking towards the group, the smile on his face slowly receded away and was replaced by a bone-chilling look.


    The reason he was so hurried on his way out the crafting cave was because Xiao Qi had communicated to him through their soul bond that someone had tried to attack Tang Xinyun!


    Xiao Qi had also told him that the nuisances had already been taken care of, hence why Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too overly panicked. While he was flying over to Tang Xinyun, Xiao Qi was already describing what had happened.


    While Tang Xinyun were about to return back to the Capital from their excursion, a group of people came forward to stop them. They weren¡¯t normal bandits but¡­.a group of Soul Exalts!


    The leader of the group was a late-stage Soul Exalt! Furthermore, three of them were mid-stage Soul Exalts and four were early-stage Soul Exalts!


    Not only was such a high levelled group trying to stop Tang Xinyun, they were trying to kidnap her!


    As of today, Tang Xinyun was only an early-stage Soul Exalt and Kou Tingting was a mid-stage Soul Exalt. The little genius that was Huangfu Rui was a late-stage Soul Exalt (thought not yet fully accustomed to her strength). Combined with the early-stage class six Xiao Bai and the mid-stage class six red magiboar, the group themselves were at a disadvantage. If they fought, Tang Xinyun and the others would stand a very small chance of winning.


    But the situation wasn¡¯t as bad as it seemed, for there was still one entity not yet accounted for¡­.


    Xiao Qi!


    The group of ¡®bandits¡¯ didn¡¯t seem to realize the situation of Tang Xinyun¡¯s group and was more than ready for an ¡®easy¡¯ kidnapping. But unfortunately for them, Xiao Qi resolved the issue in no time at all and knocked them all out.


    For a class seven soulbeast like Xiao Qi, people like those Soul Exalts were powerless.


    Xiao Qi had only knocked them out rather than kill them since he wanted to wait for Bai Yunfei to come and deal with them.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei sat down on a large rock in front of the group of people and looked at them one by one. Lifting his left hand to take out his Lightning Eagle, Bai Yunfei shot at the thighs of two Soul Exalts.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Two loud cries of pain rang out as the two victims were roused out from their slumber with pain.


    One of the two was the one-eyed man and a late-stage Soul Exalt. The other person was a scrawny early-stage Soul Exalt. Because of Xiao Qi forcing their soulforce into a lull, neither of them were able to move.


    Bai Yunfei waited for the two to stop screaming before he spoke. ¡°Speak. Who are you and who sent you?¡±

 Chapter 661: One-eyed Mara

    Being Soul Exalts, the cries of the two victims were quickly suppressed. They were only just looking around themselves when they heard what Bai Yunfei said and looked up to see the young man sitting in front of them.


    The scrawny man with a pointed lip and monkey-like cheeks immediately felt the paralysis on his body and began to sweat. ¡°Who are you?!¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A loud bang echoed in the air and replied his question. All the man saw was the young man hold a strange object in his hand before he felt something impeccably fast strike his left thigh. A burst of blood flew out from the area as he looked at the wound. A moment later, he started to cry.


    ¡°Ah!!!!¡±


    Since his soulforce was blocked from being circulated, he was unable to treat his wound or even minimize the amount of pain from it. Soul Exalt or not, he couldn¡¯t help but cry again.


    Bai Yunfei shot him a glare, ¡°I¡¯m the one asking you the questions. You¡¯ve not the right to be asking me anything.¡±


    He turned back to the one-eyed man, who had been up to this point relatively stoic. ¡°I¡¯ll ask again. Who are you and who sent you.¡±


    There was a slight scowl on the other man¡¯s face, though he regarded the Lightning Eagle in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand with some fear. Looking away, he said, ¡°Friend, we brothers were here blind and offended you. We admit our wrongs, please be lenient with us, sire, and spare our lives. We¡ª¡±


    ¡°All you need to do is answer my questions.¡±


    Bai Yunfei interrupted him.


    The man clenched his jaw tightly as he hesitated. ¡°This one is Qiu Bailu, the one known in these areas as the One-eyed Mara. If sire can forgive me, I will owe you my life. Whatever it is sire wishes for me to do, I will not hesitate!¡±


    The reason why he mentioned his name was to try and emphasize his importance in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. As it were, he had some degree of fame to his name as a wandering soul cultivator and was a relatively strong expert. With a value like that, Qiu Bailu was sure no one wouldn¡¯t easily kill him.


    ¡°The One-eyed Mara?¡± Bai Yunfei replied. The name was familiar to him. This was one of the more well known wandering soul cultivators around the Capital who specialized in shady practices such as killing and looting.


    He pointed to the others behind him, ¡°And these are?¡±


    ¡°They are like me, wanderers. I can vouch on their behalf sire, if you spare our lives, we will sell our lives to you!¡±


    The scrawny man to his side nodded his head repeatedly despite the pain.


    Bai Yunfei felt indifferent to Qiu Bailu¡¯s ¡®promise¡¯, however. Taking two seconds for consideration, he asked then, ¡°Who hired you to kidnap those women.¡±


    ¡°That¡­.¡± Qiu Bailu looked troubled. ¡°Was a misunderstanding, sire. We were hired by no one. When we saw three young women on the road, we¡­.succumbed to a moment¡¯s temptation, sire, and offended those young women. Please be magnanimous, sire, spare our lives.¡±


    ¡°No one?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together, ¡°Is it worth throwing your life away for whatever it was Cheng Xin gave you?¡±


    ¡°Cheng Xin?¡± Qiu Bailu¡¯s face went blank. ¡°I don¡¯t know any Cheng Xin. This really is a misunderstanding, sire. We were hired by no one.¡±


    He didn¡¯t seem like he was lying. It seemed as though eh didn¡¯t know any Cheng Xin.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed dangerously, ¡°Then was it Li Chen? Zeng Fei? Zhu Yizhi? Peng Huaguang? Which one of them called for you?¡±


    He studied the man¡¯s expressions, but none of the names sparked any reaction from him.


    Were they really not here because of those second generationals?


    Bai Yunfei was starting to doubt himself. No matter what the case was, Bai Yunfei was sure that Cheng Xin and the others would try to take revenge on him. And if they couldn¡¯t go after Bai Yunfei, they¡¯d definitely go after the ones close to him.


    After a while, Bai Yunfei focused his attention on the scrawnier one. His cold glare froze the man stiff for two seconds before the glare warmed up a bit. ¡°Tell me who sent you here and I¡¯ll spare your life.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.I¡­.¡± The scrawny man trembled. He wasn¡¯t as enduring as Qiu Bailu was due to the relative strength between he and Bai Yunfei. Combined with the intimidating tactics of Bai Yunfei, the man was starting to fill up with terror. ¡°Milord, there really wasn¡¯t anyone that sent us here, we¡­.we were blind to offend you, please spare our lives.¡± He stammered.


    Ignoring his pleas, Bai Yunfei turned his his attention to the bald man to the other side of the scrawny man. Firing a bullet into his right thigh, Bai Yunfei ¡®woke¡¯ the man up.


    There was a loud scream as the person was roused. Raising his right hand, Bai Yunfei lashed out with a crimson thread of light that wrapped around the bald man and dragged him to the space in front of Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Tell me who hired you and I¡¯ll spare your life!¡±


    Bai Yunfei demanded, not even caring to clear up the situation for the bald man.


    ¡°Who are you? I¡¯ll¡ªah!!¡±


    There was another scream of pain as Bai Yunfei shot him straight through his left thigh.


    ¡°If you won¡¯t answer, you¡¯ll end up like him!!¡±


    He spat coldly, jerking his thumb in another direction, forcing the bald-headed man to follow his pointing at the startled scrawny man.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A bloody hole appeared in the middle of the scrawny man¡¯s eyebrows as a lightning bullet speared straight through him and exited out from the back of his head. Growing blank in the ace, the scrawny man fell back down to the ground and didn¡¯t move again¡ªhe didn¡¯t even know that he died and succumbed to his wound without another thought.


    Bai Yunfei had killed him without warning.


    His actions astounded the bald-headed man and Qiu Bailu. Pupils dilating, both their faces grew incomparably pale.


    ¡°Tell me who sent you and I¡¯ll spare your life!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice grew heavier by a notch as he heaved the Lightning Eagle to aim it in between the bald man¡¯s eyebrows. ¡°Now or you¡¯ll end up like him!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.I¡­..¡±


    Flustered and panicked, the bald-headed man was absolutely terrified by Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions. His strength as an early-stage Soul Exalt wasn¡¯t nearly enough to help him in this case. He knew that in a moment, what happened to the scrawny man next to him because of the strange soul armament in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand would happen to him.


    ¡°Tell me!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice thundered. At the same time, there was a spark of light from the Charm Bracelet that hit the bald man¡¯s eyes!


    Having been so startled by Bai Yunfei¡¯s intonation, the man tilted his head up to look at Bai Yunfei, and the moment he met Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, the man saw a pink light appear in them. Almost as if he was in a dream, the man went slackjawed and the light in his eyes dulled a bit!


    He stayed in that trance for several seconds before at last he finally mumbled, ¡°I¡­.I¡­ don¡¯t know who. Big brother send us the score this time, we don¡¯t know who our client is¡­.¡±


    His voice was nearly silent, but to Qiu Bailu, it may as well been a clap of thunder in his ears. All of the blood drained away from his face as he whipped his head first to the bald-headed man and then to Bai Yunfei, ¡°What...what did you do to him!? This is impossible¡­.!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a bang and a splatter of blood from the bald man¡¯s head. ¡°If you don¡¯t know, you don¡¯t need to live¡­.¡±


    He turned his head to look at the appalled Qiu Bailu. ¡°Now can you tell me who sent you?¡±


    He smiled.

 Chapter 662: A Strange Occurence

    ¡®Smiling¡¯ in between killing people.


    Qiu Bailu¡¯s heart skipped a beat in fear, his mind unable to do anything but to look on in fear.


    His fear wasn¡¯t because of Bai Yunfei killing people. His name wasn¡¯t given to him in vain, and neither was nickname of ¡®Mara¡¯. After several dozen years of killing, his victim list was perhaps in the thousands if not the hundreds, he wouldn¡¯t even bat an eye if he killed a commoner.


    What surprised him was the fact that Bai Yunfei was killing these people without event a warning!! He couldn¡¯t even see Bai Yunfei move as he killed!


    It was important to note that Qiu Bailu was a man who walked the path between life and death almost constantly. He was more than familiar with the sensation of ¡®killing¡¯ and all that applied to it. In his experience, any one person would always reveal a hint of intent to kill the moment before they do so and their soulforce would fluctuate just slightly. As a late-stage Soul Exalt, his perception on the act was far more sensitive, and he¡¯d even be able to sense when an early-stage Soul King was prepared to kill. (But even if he could feel that murderous intent, it didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d be able to evade it in time)


    But right now, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t revealing even a bit of that murderous intent. From start to finish, his aura had been the exact same, and even after he killed the two persons, there wasn¡¯t even a change in his expression!


    An ¡®unordinary behavior¡¯ like this was what truly gave Qiu Bailu the fear he was feeling.


    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t even know just when this youth in front of him had used the strange soul armament in his hand and shot his two companions through the head¡­.


    To make the matters even worse, the last words of his bald-headed companion had revealed that all he was saying was a lie. This meant the youth would be even more likely to kill him now.


    ¡°Fuck! My life is important, so don¡¯t blame me for trying to preach for it! That damnable person didn¡¯t tell me I¡¯d come across such a killer, this is all his fault!!¡±


    Qiu Bailu gritted his teeth before finally staring back at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Fine¡ªI¡¯ll speak! There really was a person that hired us to come. We were only pawns, people that had debts! Sire, please spare us and I guarantee you I can bring you to that person! There¡¯s no need for you to do anything, we¡¯ll help you take revenge on him!¡±


    But his words didn¡¯t even spark a single emotion on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°Speak.¡±


    Qiu Bailu hesitated for a moment before he continued. ¡°Sire, could you first please release our bonds? I¡¯ll personally take you to that person!¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    There was a loud echo of gunfire, followed by the groans of another three of his companions before they were killed.


    Bai Yunfei was still expressionless.


    ¡°Speak.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s crazy! He¡¯s f*cking gone crazy!!¡± Qiu Bailu rorared to himself. ¡°The leader of the ¡®Desert Wolves¡¯ in the southern parts sent us here, he told us to kidnap a few girls for him!!¡±


    The ¡®Desert Wolves¡¯?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated in surprise. Feeling that the name was familiar to him, Bai Yunfei thought for a moment¡ªwasn¡¯t that the gang that little ¡®killer¡¯ Yi Zi was running from the same day he went with Zheng Kai to go fight?


    He remembered that the vice-leader of that gang was only a Soul Sprite before Yi Zi killed him off. The leader himself was only just a Soul Ancestor, and the gang itself was very weak. How could they possibly employ a group of Soul Exalts like Qiu Bailu and the others??


    Qiu Bailu could tell from Bai Yunfei¡¯s expressions that he was doubting what he said. ¡°The leader is a mid-stage Soul Ancestor, but he¡¯s just a middle man. The reward being offered was tremendous, a sum that only the major factions can even hope to give. I¡¯m speaking the truth. There¡¯s half of the reward in my space ring, we can offer it to you sire. Everything I¡¯m saying is without a lie. Sire, if you allow me to go after the Desert Wolves, I can force them to say who the real mastermind is!¡±


    Eyes flashing dangerously to the right hand of Qiu Bailu, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand and forced Qiu Bailu¡¯s right arm up. The space ring on his right index finger came flying off of it and into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Taking the ring, Bai Yunfei looked through it for a moment before then looking back to Qiu Bailu, ¡°Was it really the Desert Wolves that sent you?¡±


    ¡°Yes!!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    ¡°....¡± A muscle in Qiu Bailu¡¯s face twitched.


    ¡°You interrogated me when you thought I was lying, and now you don¡¯t believe me when I¡¯m telling the truth, are you f*cking with me?!¡±


    His next words were spoken in a hurry, ¡°I¡¯m speaking the truth!! Sire, if you can bring me to the Desert Wolves, you¡¯ll see for yourself the truth!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Bai Yunfei spoke. ¡°But if you set a trap for me there, wouldn¡¯t that just mean I¡¯d be walking into it?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Another facial twitch. In his mind, Qiu Bailu was thinking that whatever Bai Yunfei was thinking was merely just conjecture and not reality.


    At this moment, Qiu Bailu saw Bai Yunfei raise that strange soul armament of his and point it towards him.


    ¡°Ho¡ªHold on, what are¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was another bang as the person two persons to his right had his head blown up. The body twitched reflexively from the shot before it went still for the last time.


    ¡°Do you speak the truth?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s words were practically like ice.


    Qiu Bailu¡¯s pupil dilated within themselves, ¡°It¡¯s true! It¡¯s true! I wouldn¡¯t lie to you!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    Again, those four words were said again. Another shot was heard as yet another one of Qiu Bailu¡¯s companions was killed. Blood and brain splattered everywhere¡ªsome on his face¡ªand his ears were ringing now.


    ¡°He¡¯s gone mad! Truly and utterly mad!!!¡± Qiu Bailu howled to himself. He didn¡¯t know what Bai Yunfei would do next. Killing a person without even showing any intent and completely incapable of communication either!


    When he saw Bai Yunfei point the soul armament to his own head, Qiu Bailu¡¯s eye dilated again to become practically a pin hole in size. Fear gripped at his heart as he howled, ¡°I¡¯m really not lying to you! I¡¯m speaking the truth! Honestly!! What else do you want from me!?¡±


    ¡°Look at my eyes!!¡±


    Qiu Bailu flinched reflexively at the roar. Fearing for his life, Qiu Bailu did as Bai Yunfei said and looked up. Somehow, Bai Yunfei was now right in front of him, and the moment he looked up, he saw an eerily strange light as if he was staring into a pair of whirlpools rather than eyes¡­.


    ¡°Who sent you here?!¡±


    An explosive-like voice rang in his mind, freezing Qiu Bailu to the core. Memories flickered across his eye before he himself went slugged. His single eye grew unfocused as he stared in the direction of Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s position in front of Qiu Bailu was a little strange with how he was stooped over to stare at his eye. In Bai Yunfei¡¯s own eyes, there was a pinkish light in them that shined in the same way his Charm Bracelet was shining with a type of ¡®frequency¡¯ in between the two like never before.


    Clearly, Bai Yunfei was looking at Qiu Bailu¡¯s eye and ¡®searching¡¯ his soul for something¡­.

 Chapter 663: A New Application of the Charm Bracelet

    Bai Yunfei could ¡®see¡¯ a picture in the mind of Qiu Bailu. There was a room where Qiu Bailu and a vulgar-looking man was sitting together. The other man was treating Qiu Bailu extremely courteously as he handed him a space ring. Then the two began to talk.


    Unfortunately, this was only a ¡®picture¡¯ of the events and so there was no sound.


    Several seconds later, the pictures began to skip as Qiu Bailu started to look for people and gather up a group¡­.


    The scenery changed around again as Qiu Bailu led his group out from the Capital. Soon, they were on the same road as three women and was prepared to kidnap them when a small bird the colors of the rainbow defeated them all¡­.


    These images were a lot clearer to see for Bai Yunfei compared to before. Then the images began to flicker and grow unsteady like a television receiving static. Blurring together and skipping from image to image, the scenery started to grow hazy, the people a mosaic, and everything unclear before hopping to the next image. In just a matter of seconds, plenty of recollections and images had gone by.


    The more Bai Yunfei looked through the images, the more they started to look like they were beginning to crumble apart.


    ¡°Ahh!!!!¡±


    There was a cry of agony. Qiu Bailu¡¯s remaining eye was starting to bulge out from his eye socket and his body was trembling non-stop as if shocked. Blood was even spilling out from his nose!


    ¡°Stop!!¡±


    With a slight grunt from Bai Yunfei, Qiu Bailu¡¯s screams came to a stop. His body slowly went back to normal before he crumpled back down to the ground and his eye unfocused in its gaze.


    The strange light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes disappeared as well. He took two stumbling steps backwards and shook his head. Both his hands pressed against his temples to massage it, and his face looked slightly fatigued as well. But in his eyes, the unmistakable light of joy could be seen along with a smile.


    ¡°It worked! It actually worked!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out in jubilation. Closing his eyes to exhale and calm himself down, Bai Yunfei let his arms drop from his head. He looked at the Charm Bracelet on his left wrist with a pleased smile.


    ¡°The mental link effect has so many applications¡ªjust in this application alone makes this effect far better than even any other +12 additional effect so far.¡± Bai Yunfei gingerly touched the crystalline bracelet. ¡°This is the only spirit-related attack I have so far, and its effects are drastically different than any other additional effect my other equipment has¡­.if it affects the ¡®soul¡¯, just how flexible is the soul? How unfortunate I can¡¯t test it, if only another soul-related effect would appear¡­.perhaps in the future I can upgrade the Charm Bracelet to +12? I wonder what kind of effects it¡¯ll have¡­.¡±


    Thinking to himself for a moment, Bai Yunfei turned his gaze back towards Qiu Bailu. With a wave of his right hand, a wave of elemental fire mixed with his soulforce entered Qiu Bailu¡¯s body and began to clear up the blockages in his acupoints, allowing him to move once more.


    The strange thing was that Qiu Bailu didn¡¯t move as soon as his acupoints were cleared up. He remained on the ground still to stare lazily at wherever his head was pointed towards.


    Bai Yunfei touched at his Charm Bracelet again. When he sensed something, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Stand up.¡±


    He repeated this command verbally, and then with his mind. Then the ¡®impossible¡¯ happened¡ªQiu Bailu ¡®rose¡¯ to his feet!


    Even though there was a bullet wound straight through one of Qiu Bailu¡¯s thighs, it didn¡¯t seem to bother him when he stood up and stared at Bai Yunfei.


    A flash of light flickered across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Happy, he looked at the wound on Qiu Bailu¡¯s thigh and ¡®commanded¡¯, ¡°Heal.¡±


    There was a flash of red light from Qiu Bailu¡¯s body as his soulforce began to heal the bloody wound on his thigh.


    Qiu Bailu¡¯s person was still¡­..just like a statue that would only listen to commands!


    And the one ¡®controlling¡¯ him was Bai Yunfei!!


    ¡­¡­


    This was a ¡®derivative¡¯ ability of the +10 additional effect of the Charm Bracelet!


    From his studies in the applications of the Charm Bracelet, Bai Yunfei was already capable of two derivative abilities from the mental link effect. One was the ability to detect lies, and the other was the ability to unleash a pseudo soul attack. Feeling extremely interested in this study, Bai Yunfei continued to do his research to see what else could be done with it.


    Last time in Baishan City, Bai Yunfei could remember when he first used the mental link effect to launch that pseudo soul attack during the battle. There was another instance shortly afterwards where when Bai Yunfei was filled with murderous intent, he had used thought with all every single fiber in his body to have everyone there ¡®kill themselves¡¯.


    In the end, several of the early-stage Soul Exalts slit their own throats.


    While this wasn¡¯t an example of controlling the ¡®mind¡¯, it was still in the end¡­.¡¯control¡¯!!


    By borrowing the ability of the mental link effect, Bai Yunfei was able to inject his own thoughts into them and affect their bodily movements!


    That ability felt similar to a type of ¡®Mesmerization¡¯, or perhaps it was¡­.Hypnosis.


    He guessed that by using the mental link effect to enter someone¡¯s mind, he could use a great deal of mental energy to force the other mind to submit. And when he exploded with anger that one time, he was able to fully subjugate the mind and through a method almost like ¡®magic¡¯, he was able to know what the other was thinking and redirect their thoughts enough to a point where it could be considered ¡®manipulation¡¯!


    Bai Yunfei was never able to confirm his suspicions since this type of ability to control would do a great deal of harm to the person afflicted. Without any other real way to investigate his findings, Bai Yunfei was left unable to do anything until today where Bai Yunfei was able to ¡®properly¡¯ experiment.


    With Qiu Bailu as his test subject, Bai Yunfei whittled away at his rationality and allowed fear to grip at his mind. Then connecting to his mind with the mental link effect, Bai Yunfei invaded his mindspace and flipped through it!!


    The surprising thing to him was how fluidly everything went!


    He managed to invade Qiu Bailu¡¯s mind and take away some rather important information from it.


    However, there was also a very serious effect Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect to have. With how vicious he was in his invasion, Bai Yunfei somehow managed to not only subjugate Qiu Bailu¡¯s mind, but¡­.destroyed it!


    The Qiu Bailu right now had no rationality in him right now. As far as people was concerned, he was already ¡®dead¡¯!! His mind wasn¡¯t there, he was just a braindead husk!


    The end result was a bit similar to when Bai Yunfei was studying the slave seal and ended up with that soulless class three little snake.


    The movements Qiu Bailu was doing was only because of the commands Bai Yunfei was giving him.


    In short, the method of controlling was similar between the Charm Bracelet and the Beast Taming Ring. But in this case, the Charm Bracelet controlled people rather than soulbeasts!


    Even now, Bai Yunfei found it very hard to believe at what he was capable of doing now.


    As the wound on Qiu Bailu¡¯s body healed, Bai Yunfei looked at him with a pensive stare. The Charm Bracelet was still shining with a soft glow, and after a while, Bai Yunfei decided to cut the connection between him and Qiu Bailu.


    After he cut off the connection, Bai Yunfei tried to send another order for Qiu Bailu to heal himself.


    Once the connection was cut, Bai Yunfei paid attention to what was going on in Qiu Bailu¡¯s body. He could see that Qiu Bailu¡¯s body was still sending soulforce to heal the wound, but the more time went by, the less soulforce was being used. But even more importantly¡­.was his life!


    Bai Yunfei could sense that the lifeforce of Qiu Bailu was waning with each passing second. At this rate, he¡¯d probably die within an hour or so!


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei hurriedly re-established the mental link between him and Qiu Bailu. Entering Qiu Bailu¡¯s mindspace, Bai Yunfei saw his soulforce started to circulate like normal again, and his lifeforce had ceased to wane.


    ¡°I see now. In this case, this ability is a little less useful than I thought¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. ¡°But still, it¡¯s still a nice desperation move. I can also try to adapt its usage, it¡¯s worth a shot researching a little more¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    As he was thinking about how to use this new ability of the Charm Bracelet, a streak of lighty was flying in his direction.


    Xiao Qi had returned.


    ¡°Yunfei, I brought Xinyun and the others back home.¡± Xiao Qi reported as he dropped down to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. ¡°What are you doing? What¡¯s wrong with that guy?¡±


    Deep in thought, Bai Yunfei nodded his head to him, ¡°I¡¯m trying to see how to use this new mental link effect. Let¡¯s go to another place for now.¡±


    ¡°Another place?¡±


    ¡°The south parts of the city. Let¡¯s see just who hired these people.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­.¡± Xiao Qi looked down at the remaining people there, ¡°And what about these people?¡±


    Commanding Qiu Bailu back to his feet, Bai Yunfei stared at the people Xiao Qi was looking at.


    ¡°Kill them!¡± He spoke mercilessly.


    Never did Bai Yunfei even think about sparing these people.


    This time, these people had truly infuriated him.


    It had been trouble after trouble that greeted him since he came to the Capital. He had been patient and merciful even when they came to kill him, but now that this was happening, Bai Yunfei would no longer bear it.


    This was because they were now trying to use Tang Xinyun to get to him.


    Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to hurt her. If anyone tried, they¡¯d be eliminated!!


    No matter who it was, they¡¯d die!


    ¡­¡­


    With the night rapidly approaching, Bai Yunfei took Qiu Bailu and Xiao Qi back to the Capital to get to the southern parts of the Capital.


    They found the Desert Wolves hideout after a decent amount of time and immediately found the boss.


    Even Qiu Bailu was more than enough to deal with the likes of a mid-stage Soul Ancestor. It took no time for Bai Yunfei to interrogate the man and then end his life.


    After that, Bai Yunfei followed the clues left behind by the Desert Wolves to another place in the Capital.


    The outskirts of the western part in the Capital.

 Chapter 664: Investigating the Western Outskirts

    According to what the Desert Wolves said, their client was someone they didn¡¯t really know. Since this person was extremely strong, none of the Desert Wolves dared to treat him with anything but respect. And with such a hefty reward, the Desert Wolves was quick to find Qiu Bailu. All they were told to do was to kidnap a certain person and bring them secretly back to the western outskirts where someone would collect them.


    But Bai Yunfei saw no one there to receive them when he got there.


    ¡°No one¡¯s here¡­.did they find out their plan was a failure?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered as he waited at the foot of a mountain. ¡°If¡­.they¡¯re being so careful about this, then there must be a spy of some sort. Maybe¡­.it¡¯s because they saw that Xinyun returned home safe and sound and found out it was a failure. That¡¯s why no one¡¯s here.¡±


    If that was the case, then didn¡¯t that mean the clues would end here?!


    Bai Yunfei leapt up into the air to stand three hundred meters in the sky to look around the place.


    ¡°They said they¡¯d be here, so maybe they might still be around. In that case¡­.I¡¯ll take a good luck around this place!¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t give up now that he was so close. Even if he had his doubts now, Bai Yunfei wanted to make sure of everything. If that didn¡¯t work, then he¡¯d try something else.


    In his perch high above the skies, Bai Yunfei could see a good part of the surrounding area. The properties of the richer people in the Capital were all brightly lit with lanterns and such, and just five kilometers away from where Bai Yunfei was, he could see a several villas having their inhabitants celebrate from one place to another with feasts.


    Carefully, Bai Yunfei stared at the celebrating villas, staring from left to right to see who was who.


    Though he was being very observant on what each group of people were doing, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t trying to eavesdrop on them, he was trying to feel if their auras were familiar or not.


    He wanted to find...Cheng Xin, Li Chen, and the others!


    They were the main suspects. In Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, finding them within the vicinity would almost prove their guilt in this matter. He just needed to investigate and see if his suspicions were true.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s current strength was enough to allow him to scan the area without anyone really noticing him. There weren¡¯t many soul cultivators here, and especially not Soul Kings, meaning Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have a very high chance of being found out.


    Either way, Bai Yunfei made sure to be as careful as he could just in case. As low as the chances are, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to anger and cause trouble with a Soul King.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t notice anything after he scanned half the villas in the area. As luxurious as the events going on in several villas, nothing suspicious was to be had.


    From the positioning of the bright white moon, Bai Yunfei guessed it to be around ten at night now. Flying through the forest, Bai Yunfei soon found himself approaching yet another villa.


    This one villa was a lot more quiet than the other ones, as if no one was inside.


    Bringing Qiu Bailu with him as he investigated each villa was a bit of a hassle, so Bai Yunfei had Qiu Bailu wait in a far away area for him while he and Xiao Qi sped off towards this villa.


    As he approached the corner of the villa, Bai Yunfei extinguished his soulsense and hid himself from sight.


    A few seconds later, Bai Yunfei was close enough to look into one of the rooms, where his eyes immediately lit up afterwards!


    ¡°Cheng Xin, Li Chen, and three others¡­.they¡¯re all here!!¡±


    The fact that he found them here was far too unlikely to be coincidental¡­.


    Cold fury flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Stepping over the villa walls to land on top of the rooftop, Bai Yunfei headed for where Cheng Xin and the others were.


    There were a few experts in the villa, but the strongest was only a late-stage Soul Exalt and wasn¡¯t strong enough to sense Bai Yunfei.


    In no time at all, Bai Yunfei was hidden in the top of a nearby tree and away from sight near where Cheng Xin and the others were.


    Hidden in the foliage, Bai Yunfei had his soulsense spread slightly outwards to peer into the room.


    ¡°Lord Xin, do you¡­.do you think Qiu Bailu and the others are already killed?¡±


    The moment Bai Yunfei started to eavesdrop into the room, what he heard immediately caused him to narrow his eyes!


    ¡­¡­


    In the room, Cheng Xin, Li Chen, Zeng Fei, Zhu Yizhi, and Peng Huaguang sat together around a large table just like a few days ago. They were looking better than before, though Zeng Fei and Zhu Yizhi still had one of their arms in a sling. Everyone else was looking much better, though it was still clear to see that their arms were to some degree limited in movement.


    When everyone decided on how to deal with Bai Yunfei, they each went back home to prepare a few things like pooling together their primal stones and selling their earth-tier soul armaments. While they did that, Cheng Xin had one of his trusted aides go find an unremarkable gang hire a group of mercenaries to go kidnap ¡®Bai Yunfei¡¯s girl¡¯.


    Zheng Kai didn¡¯t come with Bai Yunfei when he had his lessons today. As it so happened today, Zheng Kai was busy so he didn¡¯t accompany Tang Xinyun and the other two when they went to play today. Grabbing onto this opportunity, Cheng Xin gave the command to have Qiu Bailu and his group do the kidnapping today and bring them back.


    That afternoon, Cheng Xin and the others waited for the group to come back and bring Tang Xinyun back to them.


    The only problem was when they waited until the sun was already setting down the mountains without anyone coming. That was when they received the message: Bai Yunfei¡¯s woman had already returned to the Capital!


    That astounded Cheng Xin and the others. Qiu Bailu and his men had actually failed in their task?


    Afterwards, Cheng Xin had someone head over to the Desert Wolves, but their men came back saying the Desert Wolves were nowhere to be found!


    That was because the Desert Wolves was already completely wiped out.


    Feeling slightly panicked at that, everyone began to discuss wildly amongst themselves on what to do.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t we succeed? Wasn¡¯t that Qiu Bailu a late-stage Soul Exalt? He had plenty of early-stage and mid-stage Soul Exalts with him, how could their combined strengths not be enough to deal with those few women? How¡¯d they like them get away?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t have. Didn¡¯t you hear what our men just told us? Those women came back to the Capital without a scratch. That means they didn¡¯t even fight. Did Qiu Bailu and their men not even do anything?¡±


    ¡°How couldn¡¯t they? We gave them their orders, and our men saw them exiting the Capital.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even if they didn¡¯t move, we would¡¯ve got a report from them. But not even one of them came back!¡±


    ¡°And the Desert Wolves being gone is a problem too. They were here when we gave them their orders this afternoon, so why can¡¯t we find any one of them?¡±


    ¡°Something must have happened! Damnit, what happened to them?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Li Chen looked to the silent Cheng Xin in hesitation. ¡°Lord Xin, do you think¡­.Qiu Bailu and his men were all killed?¡±


    ¡°What a useless group! ¡®One-eyed Mara¡¯? He couldn¡¯t even kidnap a few women! He might as well be dead!¡± Cheng Xin snapped in anger.


    ¡°Lord Xin thinks something has happened to them too?¡± Li Chen frowned, ¡°But¡­.our informants said both Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai were in the Capital when the kidnapping attempt was made. There shouldn¡¯t have been anyone strong enough to protect them women. How in the world did Qiu Bailu fail to kidnap the three then?¡±


    ¡°How should I know what happened?¡± Cheng Xin groused, ¡°Maybe we¡¯re wrong, or maybe something really did happen. All I know is that our plan most likely failed. We¡¯ll have to come up with a new one.¡±


    But Zhu Yizhi looked worried. ¡°But, lord Xin, won¡¯t we get found out if our plan failed? If Bai Yunfei were to come¡­.¡±


    ¡°Pah!¡± Cheng Xin sneered, ¡°Even if Qiu Bailu and the others were kidnapped, they¡¯d only lead Bai Yunfei back to the Desert Wolves. There wouldn¡¯t be any clues that¡¯d link them back to us, how would we be found out?¡±


    ¡°Lord Xin is right. Zhu Yizhi, you shouldn¡¯t worry. Do you think Bai Yunfei is from the Fate School and will find us by divining it? Even if he¡¯s suspicious, there¡¯s no proof. What can he do without that?¡±


    Cheng Xin waved his hand, ¡°Let¡¯s get talking about our next plan then¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The group continued to talk, but what they never imagined was that Bai Yunfei was listening in on their conversation from their side!


    On the tree outside, there was a series of rustling sounds from where Bai Yunfei was. His right hand was grabbing onto a tree branch, and the pressure he was exerting was enough to break it off. The look on his face was especially dangerous, and his killing intent was nearly leaking out from his hiding place.


    Since he had his proof now, Bai Yunfei had nothing to hesitate about. These people would die today!!


    It was the last straw. Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was already circulating in his body as he prepared himself to attack and kill these people.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Just at that moment when he was about to strike, Bai Yunfei suddenly ceased in his movements and hide himself. His right leg snuck back into the tree and in no time at all, Bai Yunfei had taken out the Walk-on Strawhat and dropped it onto his head to hide his presence.


    He drew himself deeper in in the tree and remained motionless to further hide his aura.


    On his shoulder, Xiao Qi hid his aura as well and began to distribute a small amount of elemental wood to envelop him and Bai Yunfei inside. This way, the two of them would be mistaken for the tree rather than people.


    No sooner did they finish this did Bai Yunfei slowly turn his head to the right to look at a rooftop just twenty meters away from where Cheng Xin and his group was¡­..

 Chapter 665: An Astonishing Discovery!

    In almost a second after Bai Yunfei managed to hide his aura completely, Bai Yunfei felt two strong auras come out from the right side of the villa.


    Soul Kings!!


    A moment prior to their arrival here, Bai Yunfei could feel a disturbance in the space in the villa. Luckily, he was able to react in time and hide himself, else the two Soul Kings would¡¯ve found out about his presence here.


    He could feel a weak amount of soulsense wash over the area as soon as Xiao Qi managed to hide his own presence. Bai Yunfei could feel his own breath caught in his throat and his heart practically refusing to beat due to his nervousness. It was fortunate for him that their soulsenses were only doing a very lazy scan. If it was stronger, then Bai Yunfei definitely would¡¯ve been found. And combined with the fact that Xiao Qi¡¯s ability to hide now was a lot better than before, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were able to successfully hide themselves from the two Soul Kings.


    Their scanning was only within the perimeter of the villa itself, so Qiu Bailu who was hiding a little distance away wasn¡¯t found out.


    These two Soul Kings were clearly not expecting to have enemies in this area, so their soulsense scanning was done very lazily and not at all expecting any visitors to suddenly pop up.


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief when he felt the soulsenses retreat away from him. But still, he refused to move from him spot so he could observe what would happen next in relative safety.


    ¡­¡­


    On the right side within one of the rooms.


    In the center of one of the darker rooms, the air was twisting slightly within itself to reveal a two meter tall pitch-black hole of sorts. This black hole remained for only two seconds before it disappeared from sight, but not before revealing a figure in white and another figure in black.


    When the figure in white appeared, he waved his hand to activate the light stones in the room. Straight away, the room light up with light, revealing the appearance of the two people in the room.


    One of them was an elderly man in a greying hair.


    The elder in white was one of the strongest in the house of Cheng and Cheng Xin¡¯s second grandfather, Cheng Chaochuan. The person in black next to him was the person had first been with him when Cheng Xin was first scheming against Bai Yunfei.


    The very first thing both Soul Kings did was send their soulsense throughout the villa and scan it for people.


    Their eyebrows furrowed together when they detected someone. But what they detected was Cheng Xin and his group, not Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°A small group of senseless youngsters, let us pay them no mind, brother Wu Shang.¡± Cheng Chaochuan withdrew his glance to grab onto a chair to sit on as he spoke to the disdainful looking elder with him.


    The one named ¡®Wu Shang¡¯ nodded, sparing a lazy glance at the bickering group. He walked with Cheng Chaochuan to where the chairs were and sat down without a word as if resting.


    Cheng Chaochuan didn¡¯t seem to care much for the cold attitude he was getting from him. ¡°Brother Wu Shang, we¡¯ve already dealt with Xu Jiang with a great deal of success we weren¡¯t anticipating. Should we take action against that Xu Jinlin then?¡±


    Wu Shang looked up at Cheng Chaochuan, replying with his gravelly voice. ¡°You are too impatient, sire. I only just took care of Xu Jiang, the house of Xu will most definitely be wary now. Do you believe it be wise for us to take action now? Furthermore, what kind of person is this Xu Jinlin? He¡¯s a Soul King that wouldn¡¯t lose to you or I, how could a mere Soul Exalt like Xu Jiang compare to him? If we want to take care of him, we must be very careful with our next plan, or at least find a way that¡¯ll allow us to use Xu Jiang for it¡­.¡±


    ¡°I know that, naturally, but¡­¡± Cheng Chaochuan looked worried for a moment, ¡°I heard that Cheng Jinlin has been trying to become a late-stage Soul King recently. If he succeeds, then the equilibrium between the Cheng and Xu will become imbalanced, and fighting him then would be hard. Even if the two of us were to band together, it¡¯d be a little¡­¡±


    But Wu Shang frowned, ¡°Late-stage Soul King? Is advancing to the next stage so easy to do when said? That Xu Jinlin is hardly even eighty, breaking through to a mid-stage Soul King was already difficult for him. With his talent, becoming a late-stage Soul King is nothing more but a fool¡¯s wish! Pah, let him try to advance. If he fails, his strength will fall, and that will suit us just fine!¡±


    Cheng Chaochuan casted Wu Shang a meaningful look. He himself had only just became a mid-stage Soul King, so he didn¡¯t know just how difficult it was to become a late-stage Soul King. It did however seem that Wu Shang had experienced this before from how he was speaking. Did he perhaps fail to become a late-stage Soul King before?


    Despite never experiencing the difficulties of becoming a late-stage Soul King, Cheng Chaochuan had still been able to become a mid-stage Soul King. From that experience, he could infer just how difficult the next step would be. The advancements of a Soul King was different than any of the stages below. Using the ¡®bottleneck¡¯ metaphor wouldn¡¯t fit how Soul Kings and the higher levels grew in power. Not only was a great deal of strength needed, one also had to have luck, making advancement very difficult.


    Cheng Chaochuan himself didn¡¯t want to try and become a late-stage Soul King for at least thirty years. If anything, he wouldn¡¯t even think it all too bad if he remained at a mid-stage Soul King for the rest of his life.


    But even then, the world was not so kind to listen to him! That Xu Jinlin had rare talent, and his growth was unsettling to Cheng Chaochuan. In the case Xu Jinlin did breakthrough, that would really be a great deal of pain, and so he would have to hurry to deal a blow against the Xu for the sake of the Cheng¡­..


    He had already ¡®taken care¡¯ of the heir apparent to the Xu, Xu Jiang, but today Cheng Chaochuan felt the need to hurry up and deal with the actual patriarch of the house, Xu Jinlin. If he could succeed in that, then¡­.


    ¡°You needn¡¯t worry about Xu Jinlin for the time being. Wait until the ¡®situation¡¯ with Xu Jiang settles down first, then we can plan for how to take care of Xu Jinlin.¡± Wu Shang glanced at him. ¡°We should avoid a confrontation with the Xu for now.¡±


    Cheng Chaochuan nodded. ¡°That is easy to be done. We the Cheng have lived like this for the last hundred years, waiting a short amount of time like this is nothing.


    ¡°Will you be resting here in the meanwhile then, brother Wu Shang?¡± He asked a moment after. ¡°With the matter of Xu Jiang, the entire house of Xu will most definitely be searching the area, and the Tianhun School might get involved. If that¡¯s the case, then staying in the Capital might be dangerous.¡±


    Wu Shang nodded. ¡°I used up a great deal of energy and must recuperate for the meanwhile. I will hide here for now. But in the meanwhile, I want your Cheng to do me a favor¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Cheng Chaochuan quirked an eyebrow, ¡°Please ask away, brother Wu Shang.¡±


    ¡°I want you to investigate a person named Bai Yunfei. Compile everything you know about him for me.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Cheng Chaochuan gasped, ¡°You want to deal with Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    Wu Shang glanced at him, ¡°Will that be a problem?¡±


    ¡°No...no problem at all.¡± The stunned look disappeared in an instant to be replaced with a smile. ¡°I will have my men investigate everything about Bai Yunfei as quickly as possible. We will whole-heartedly cooperate with you.¡±


    He never thought that Wu Shang would actually want to deal with Bai Yunfei himself. That would be doing the Cheng a great favor in fact, so it was only natural that he agreed to help.


    Wu Shang nodded, ¡°Also, according to what I know, there¡¯s been several people that came looking for Bai Yunfei. One of them is the young daughter of the patriarch of the house of Tang in the Forest Pass Province, and the other two are the daughters of the current headmaster and elder of the Crafting School. I want information them as well. The more the better.¡±


    Cheng Chaochuan¡¯s pupils dilated, and he couldn¡¯t help but gasp again.


    Was he planning to take action against Tang Xinyun and the others too?!


    There was no way he couldn¡¯t feel stunned about that. This was an absolutely major action to take!


    He wasn¡¯t the only one stunned. There was someone else that was even more bewildered¡ªthe ¡®eavesdropper¡¯ Bai Yunfei standing right outside!

 Chapter 666: Being Chased!

    With how strong Bai Yunfei was, he didn¡¯t need to use his soulsense to eavesdrop on the conversation between Cheng Chaochuan and Wu Shang. His ears alone were perceptive enough to be able to hear anything within this silent part of the villa.


    Bai Yunfei had been surprised enough when he heard of the names ¡®Xu Jiang¡¯ and ¡®Xu Jinlin¡¯. Those two people belonged to the house of Xu, and the Left Minister was also from the Xu. It was the family of Xu Sihan.


    This Cheng Chaochuan¡ªor perhaps it was better to say the Cheng¡ªwas conspiring against the Xu!


    Furthermore, Bai Yunfei heard them say that the eldest heir, Xu Jiang, had already been ¡®taken care¡¯ of!


    Many people within the Capital was already aware of how the two Ministers of Left and Right didn¡¯t get along. It was also known that the two often fought with each other in secret, but Bai Yunfei just couldn¡¯t believe that the Cheng would even go as far to attack one of the major members of the Xu!


    And their next target was the current head himself!


    While hearing the names of those two was surprising enough, Bai Yunfei was sent into an even deeper level of shock from what two said next.


    They had mentioned his own name!


    From the person Bai Yunfei knew was ¡®Wu Shang¡¯, he found out Wu Shang was going to conspire against him as well!


    If that wasn¡¯t enough, Tang Xinyun, Kou Tingting, and even Huangfu Rui were being targeted as well!


    At this, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t hold his stasis anymore. His heart was beating rapidly, and his aura was now going into a frenzy!


    And the moment his aura started to fluctuate wildly, Bai Yunfei realized his mistake. ¡°Crap!¡±


    ¡°Tsk!!!¡±


    Far too late to hide himself now, Bai Yunfei immediately began to feed soulforce into his feet to shoot into the skies!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A moment later, there was an explosion from where he used to be hiding. A fireball about twenty meters in size came flying out from the room from the right and impacted against the tree. Upon collision, the tree blew apart and the surrounding area was reduced to ash!


    Bai Yunfei frowned at the amount of elemental fire fired at him. If he had been a moment too late, then Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve had to block the attack, and that wouldn¡¯t have ended well for him, let alone allow him enough time to escape.


    Not even caring in what direction he ran away towards, Bai Yunfei ascended to the skies a hundred meters up. His feet were flashing violet in light as he used the Flash Step to travel over a dozen meters each activation. His Tempest Sword was already out now, and stepping onto it, Bai Yunfei was able to fly even faster to blaze through the skies like a shooting star!


    From when he fled the tree to when he was on his Tempest Sword, not even three seconds had passed!


    An idea struck Bai Yunfei as he was fleeing from on top of the Tempest Sword. His right hand touched at the Charm Bracelet on his left wrist, allowing for a mirage-like light to glow, and then his soulforce dropped by a portion!


    At the same time he was flying, a red and green light was flying out from the half-destroyed room from the right like bolts of lightning. Wu Shang was a step behind into the air when he saw Bai Yunfei start to fly. Sneering, he took off with renewed speed after him!


    Cheng Chaochuan was slower than him by a step. When he saw the startled five young men peek their heads out form their rooms, he cried out to them ¡°Stay in your rooms and don¡¯t come out!¡±.


    Then without further ado, he took off after the direction Bai Yunfei was traveling towards.


    ¡­¡­


    In the night sky, a light green blur of light could be seen with a red and a dark green streak chasing after it.


    Within the green light, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were flashing rapidly as he tried to think of what to do as he fled.


    Chasing after him were two mid-stage Soul Kings. He would definitely die if the two caught up to him, no matter how powerful his options were!


    Suddenly, Bai Yunfei forced his Tempest Sword to turn abruptly so that it¡¯d fly to the right at once!


    Just a hundred meters in the original direction Bai Yunfei was traveling in, a figure in red was stepping out from a distortion in space. He was slightly surprised to see Bai Yunfei turn direction, but he sneered and chased after him again.


    Bai Yunfei looked a little more troubled after he changed direction, ¡°Xiao Qi!¡±


    ¡°Chirp!¡±


    There was a resounding chirp from Xiao Qi on his shoulder. Extending its wings wide and activating the Wind and Lightning Feathers, Xiao Qi revealed itself as a class seven soulbeast to fill the area around his wings with elemental wind and lightning.


    Storing away the Tempest Sword, Bai Yunfei leapt onto the back of Xiao Qi.


    As soon as he was safely secured on Xiao Qi¡¯s back, Bai Yunfei took off with speeds even greater than before!


    ¡­¡­


    Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t as strong as Wu Shang or Cheng Chaochuan who were both mid-stage Soul Kings, but he was still a soulbeast capable of flying and had the advantage in this aspect. He could go even faster with the Wind and Lightning Feathers. Though Cheng Chaochuan and Wu Shang could teleport every so often, Xiao Qi would be able to change direction fast enough so that he and Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be hard-stopped by either of the two.


    The more they gave chase, the more Wu Shang and Cheng Chaochuan felt surprised about. They could tell just who they were chasing: a Soul Exalt and a class seven soulbeast. It was surprising enough neither of the two felt them when they were hiding, but it was even moreso that they weren¡¯t able to catch up with their strengths as mid-stage Soul Kings!


    Cheng Chaochuan was prepared to use teleportation even to block off Bai Yunfei, but as he was preparing to do so, he came to a screeching halt. Whipping his head back, he looked off in a distance in their original direction in abject shock.


    Almost two seconds later, indignant wrath flooded the eyes of Cheng Chaochuan. ¡°Damn you!!¡± He roared out loud.


    Seemingly no longer caring for Bai Yunfei, he took off to fly back in the direction where he came from without even warning Wu Shang.


    Wu Shang on the other hand looked strangely at Cheng Chaochuan when he heard him curse out loud. Still curious as he watched him fly away, Wu Shang hesitated for a moment before deciding to chase after Bai Yunfei.


    From up ahead, Bai Yunfei looked a little pleased when he heard the roar of Cheng Chaochuan, though he didn¡¯t look back. Instead, he patted Xiao Qi on the back of his neck and transmitted his thoughts to him. Xiao Qi chirped once in response and then turned direction again to fly quickly in that direction.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Anger filled Wu Shang¡¯s eyes as he saw Xiao Qi try to fly away. Sneering, he increased the soulforce circulating through him to fly even faster after them.


    With him going full speed, it didn¡¯t take long for Wu Shang to catch up. The head-start Bai Yunfei had before was now all but gone now, and the distance between him and Wu Shang was almost non-existent. Wu Shang didn¡¯t even have to teleport anymore, and it felt like within ten minutes, Bai Yunfei would definitely be overtaken by him.


    At last, there was only fifty meters between Bai Yunfei and Wu Shang when the latter took action. Throwing his right hand out, chains seemingly made from fire flew out from his robes to fly at Xiao Qi and Bai Yunfei as if it was alive!


    ¡°You¡¯ll stop here!!¡±

 Chapter 667: To Battle

    The chains were tiny, like the size of an infant¡¯s arm almost, but they were red all over and had a pointed rhombus-shaped tip at the very end of it. When Wu Shang swung out with it, his target had been the back of Bai Yunfei¡¯s head to hopefully spear through him with the chain traveling as fast as a fire dart.


    When the chain was about ten meters away from the back of Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, Wu Shang saw Bai Yunfei turn his head and swing his right arm back to throw something!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal came flying out, shining bright red as it struck against the chains.


    It was with contempt that Wu Shang watched Bai Yunfei try to use his soul armament to stop his chains. Shaking his right arm slightly to send some soulforce into the chain, Wu Shang had his weapon coil and spin to allow for a ¡®passageway¡¯ in the middle of the chain to go through it. He¡¯d allow for the weapon to enter the passageway before he narrowed the spiral and catch Bai Yunfei in it as well!


    But. Would things really work out that way?


    Of course not.


    The moment the chains started to change in flight pattern, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed once with light! His right hand¡ªpreviously closed together after he tossed the Cataclysmic Seal¡ªthrusted open his fingers! As if the activation signal for something, the Cataclysmic Seal started to tremble before it exploded in size!


    In no time at all, the Cataclysmic Seal went from being the size of a brick to being as tall as a wall!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a ringing sound as the tip of the chain struck against the enlarged Cataclysmic Seal. The tip bounced backwards, and then so did the rest of the chains behind it as the Cataclysmic Seal continued on its path!


    ¡°A heaven-tier soul armament!¡±


    Wu Shang remarked in surprise. He jerked his right hand back to recall the chains to him. Traveling back into his sleeves, the chains began to shrink in size to become as tiny as his pinky so that the last segment of the chains could wrap around his arm.


    It took some time for the extremely long chain of chains to shrink and coil around his arm, and Wu Shang came to a stop.


    It wasn¡¯t as if he was giving up the chase, but that Bai Yunfei had stopped as well to turn to face him.


    Unharmed due to his Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei faced Wu Shang with Xiao Qi. Leaping to the side, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands flipped through several hand seals and immediately felt his soulforce start to increase in strength!


    Dual Flame Arts: ¡®coil¡¯ form!


    Dual Flame Arts: berserk mode!


    He was entering his strongest mode for fighting! This meant¡­.he had given up trying to flee and was prepared to fight!


    The Cataclysmic Seal seemed to shrink away from sight as Bai Yunfei went into berserk mode. It flew around to Xiao Qi who gave a small chirp and flew to Bai Yunfei¡¯s head in a protective position.


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Shang felt surprised by Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions. Was Bai Yunfei really trying not to run? Did he think he could fight against him?


    ¡°A power-enhancing soul skill?¡±


    Wu Shang muttered as he witnessed Bai Yunfei increase in strength. But then his eyes flickered with the light of disdain¡ªBai Yunfei was going to fight like that?


    He was overestimating himself!


    Hiding his sneer, Wu Shang didn¡¯t even bother to say anything to Bai Yunfei. He just needed to capture him and then slowly interrogate him for what he needed to know. Raising his left hand, Wu Shang swiped it through the air!


    The temperature in the surrounding area increased by nearly half of what it used to be. Red light started to fill the air and area as more and more red light started to converge here. Elemental fire began to flicker into being, and soon enough, the entire place was engulfed in fire.


    The changes in the area wasn¡¯t anything much compared to what was being changed above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. After Wu Shang had swiped his hand, a ¡®cloud¡¯ of fire began to form over Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. Swirling in on itself as if to build up power, the cloud then took on the shape of a giant palm to smash down on him!


    Eyes flying up to stare down the flaming palm, Bai Yunfei threw up his own right hand to have the Cataclysmic Seal fly up. Shining with light as bright as a miniature sun, the Cataclysmic Seal increased in size again to stop the giant palm!


    At the same time, Bai Yunfei was feeding his soulforce to his feet to shoot forwards against Wu Shang. From behind, Xiao Qi flew in close pursuit.


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    The flaming palm and Cataclysmic Seal slammed together. Wu Shang¡¯s eyes narrowed for a moment, the fingers on his left hand bending slightly as he increased his soulforce to increase the gravitational power of the palm!


    In the next moment, the flaming palm smashed down even harder onto the Cataclysmic Seal!


    The Cataclysmic Seal was unable to fully stop the flaming palm!


    Bai Yunfei spared a quick glance at the situation of the brick before having it grow larger in size again. Its downwards descent slowed by a small amount, allowing Bai Yunfei enough time to escape from the radius of the palm and into the airspace right in front of Wu Shang!


    Eyes still flashing coldly, Bai Yunfei called his Fire-tipped Spear to him. When it appeared, the Fire-tipped Spear soon split into three to attack at Wu Shang from three different angles!


    Simultaneously, the Cataclysmic Seal behind Bai Yunfei shrunk in size and fell to the side, allowing for the flaming palm to smash fiercely into the ground without anything to resist it anymore.


    Wu Shang hadn¡¯t the intention to even move from his spot to dodge Bai Yunfei¡¯s spears. Instead, he flew forward to meet the spear-wielding ¡®doppelgangers¡¯ and swung his right arm around to hit them all!


    ¡°Crash!!¡±


    The faint clanking of his chains hitting against the three spears could be heard as Wu Shang used his chains to stop the spears advances!


    Having timed it perfectly, Wu Shang had his chains continue onwards to Bai Yunfei to try and slam into him!


    ¡°Bang! Bang!¡±


    The chain swung through the midriff of two of the doppelgangers, and with the blade-like properties the chains had with its swing, the two doppelgangers were immediately dispelled!!


    After the two doppelgangers were destroyed, the crimson-red chain continued onwards with only a slight decrease in speed to attack the real Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was another bang, but this time, the chain didn¡¯t cut apart Bai Yunfei. It slammed into the left part of his waist and tore at his robes to reveal the golden armor he wore underneath. Paling in the face from the blow, Bai Yunfei was forced to stop his spear just three inches away from Wu Shang¡¯s chest. He stumbled backwards and whirled away from the chain¡¯s path to retreat!


    Because of the chain hitting Bai Yunfei in the waist, the forward half of the chains coiled around Bai Yunfei to wrap around him!


    If Bai Yunfei were to let the chains fully wrap around him, escape would be extremely difficult, hence why Bai Yunfei had to bend his body as he retreated.


    While Bai Yunfei was able to avoid being wrapped up before the chain could even make a half-circle, he wasn¡¯t fully safe from danger. At the same time as he was retreating, the tip of the chain took on a strange trajectory and coiled around to stab into his right leg!

 Chapter 668: Difficulties

    Blanching as the chain came at him again, Bai Yunfei twirled his Fire-tipped Spear downwards to stop the chain from hitting his leg.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    A strange buzzing sound began to vibrate into his ears and through his mind the moment afterwards, causing Bai Yunfei to fall into a state of disarray!


    A soul attack!


    Bai Yunfei paled. The Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead was already transmitting its warm energy throughout his body to repel the soul attack. Moving his right hand, Bai Yunfei twirled the Fire-tipped Spear and blocked the tip of the chain, diverting it away from his leg.


    Taking advantage of the miss, Bai Yunfei kicked off into the air to escape even farther away.


    ¡°Eh??¡±


    An expression of surprise escaped from Wu Shang. He had felt the soul attack land on Bai Yunfei and be immediately rebuffed, surprising him. Before this, Wu Shang had already pegged Bai Yunfei as someone who over estimated himself and didn¡¯t really think of Bai Yunfei as being a threat. A Soul Exalt was nothing more but an ant, no matter how much they tried to power themselves up. To kill them was easy, and Wu Shang threw out his Flaming Palm Press, soul attack, and chain as a casual way of attacking since he figured that¡¯d be enough to kill Bai Yunfei. But somehow, Bai Yunfei was still alive.


    Still, this wasn¡¯t too unexpected of an occurrence. Wu Shang could tell that Bai Yunfei was relying on the bird soulbeast to escape. And now that he caught up, there wasn¡¯t a chance Bai Yunfei could flee. Even if Bai Yunfei had something special up his sleeves, it was futile in the face of true power.


    Sending some more soulforce into his weapon, Wu Shang had the now thick-as-bones chain start to twine around Bai Yunfei again.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    There was a loud chirp from the skies above, causing Wu Shang to frown in shock. Abandoning his attack on Bai Yunfei, he quickly flew backwards.


    Three separate blades of darkness dropped down from the skies not even a moment too soon on where he used to be.


    ¡°A spatial tear!!!¡±


    Wu Shang cried out in his disbelief. He looked back up at Xiao Qi with renewed shock, unable to believe his eyes.


    ¡°This is a space-type soulbeast?!¡±


    From what he observed from Xiao Qi, Wu Shang took him to be a wind and lightning-type soulbeast. The fact that Xiao Qi was capable of using space-related attacks was extremely astonishing. The space element was extremely rare to see, and a class seven soulbeast capable of that element was even more so. There wouldn¡¯t be a single person that wouldn¡¯t be surprised.


    In the beginning Wu Shang hadn¡¯t even considered Xiao Qi to be a problem. But now that he knew of this particular ability, he had no choice but to treat the bird as a threat. Space-type attacks were merciless and couldn¡¯t be blocked. Though he was stronger than Xiao Qi, he couldn¡¯t treat the bird lightly anymore.


    ¡°No wonder he¡¯s so brazen if he has a special soulbeast like this. He¡¯s not a Soul King, but he has a class seven soulbeast. What kind of person is this¡­.¡±


    Wu Shang hadn¡¯t been in the Capital for long, and even then, most of his time spent in the Capital was spent in training. He didn¡¯t come out from isolation often before the Cheng invited him to the Capital for help. That was why he only knew Bai Yunfei from his name and reputation and couldn¡¯t recognize the fact that this person was actually one of his targets.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei had finally managed to disentangle himself from the chains and moved himself a hundred meters away. Coming to a stop now, he glared at Wu Shang.


    ¡°Damn, so attacking up close won¡¯t work!¡±


    Bai Yunfei grumbled to himself. After this exchange, he knew close combat was all but impossible¡ªhe was no match for Wu Shang this way! The chains Wu Shang wielded were far more powerful than he expected, and under the control of a mid-stage Soul King, Bai Yunfei was completely unable to properly defend himself from it!


    He was already in berserk mode, meaning he was as strong as he could possibly be. Whether it be his strength, speed, or perception, bai Yunfei was still unable to even contend with an early-stage Soul King. So in the face of a mid-stage Soul King, Bai Yunfei was powerless.


    If he couldn¡¯t take the advantage by taking the initiative¡­.Bai Yunfei would have to be on the defense and hope for the ¡®right¡¯ timing, wouldn¡¯t he?


    Battles where Bai Yunfei was weaker than his enemies wasn¡¯t a very uncommon sight. By using the effects of his equipment and timing the effects to activate at the right time, Bai Yunfei was normally able to either equalize or win the fight.


    But right now¡­.that situation couldn¡¯t be applied here!!


    He could maintain berserk mode for twenty most at most. But since he still wasn¡¯t fully healed from his wounds from Baishan City, Bai Yunfei was under a great deal of pain in the berserk mode. Every action he took felt like he was being stabbed again and again. And even with his strength, enduring all this pain was making fighting in the berserk mode very difficult. Furthermore, if he were to persist in this mode, the backlash afterwards would be extremely unbearable, and how would he fight against his opponent then?


    So his options were to beat his opponent within twenty minutes or run away!


    But both these options were as doable as scaling the heavens¡­.


    If Bai Yunfei were to think about how to turn the tide, then he had several opportunities available to him:


    Use the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s to rebound soul attacks.


    Use Yun¡¯s Soul Ring to ignore any single spirit-related attack.


    Use the Fire-tipped Spear to ignore any elemental defense.


    Use Xiao Qi¡¯s attacks to catch the Soul King off guard.


    Combine the Dual Dragon Burst and the Charm Bracelet¡¯s pseudo soul attack together¡­..


    He had plenty of ¡®opportunities¡¯ to choose from, but those were easier said than done. If by chance he failed, there probably wouldn¡¯t be a chance to recover from it¡­.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be too pessimistic. I managed to survive the battle in Baishan City, I¡¯ve it ¡®better¡¯ than before. If I go all out, I should be able to hold it out until the right moment. And this time¡­.I have ¡®that¡¯ to help me. If I do it right, I should be able to turn the tables!¡±


    Watching as Xiao Qi weaved about and around as Wu Shang tried to beat him back with his chain, Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. Storing away the Fire-tipped Spear, he raised his right hand and aimed his palm at Wu Shang. Gathering his soulforce to his palm, the Ardent Sun Glove he wore began to light up as he activated the +10 additional effect. A fireball about twenty meters wide formulated in his palm before shooting outwards like a bullet!


    After the first one was shot, the Ardent Sun Glove fired off a second and third fireball right afterwards!


    A flicker of shock crossed Wu Shang¡¯s eyes when he saw the three fireballs come at him. Rather than parry the fireballs, Wu Shang instead flew higher in the skies.


    His raise fifty meters higher into the sky wasn¡¯t too hurried. Dodging the fireballs without an issue, Wu Shang looked back to Bai Yunfei just in time to see Bai Yunfei point his middle and index finger at him and bend his fingers up!


    The fireballs flying underneath Wu Shang at this moment changed directions in accordance to Bai Yunfei¡¯s fingers to chase Wu Shang upwards!


    At the same time, Xiao Qi¡¯s entire body glowed red before he flapped his wings and sent down a hailstorm of fire!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A series of explosions rocked the world as the three fireballs and the rainstorm of fire covered Wu Shang¡¯s person and the entire area in a sea of fire.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look happy, however. He knew this wouldn¡¯t be nearly enough to even hurt Wu Shang. He wouldn¡¯t let a ¡®chance¡¯ like this go though. Arms extending outwards to have them in front of his chest, Bai Yunfei began to flip through several hand seals¡ªnow was the time for the Dual Dragon Burst!


    At the same time, Bai Yunfei was telling Xiao Qi to get ready to use the spatial edge.


    But, just as he was about to attack¡­.


    ¡°Whoosh!!!¡±


    From the ocean of flames, a crimson-red chain of chains flew forth to come striking down Bai Yunfei in almost no time at all!!

 Chapter 669: "Devouring" Chains!

    The speed in which the chains were coming at Bai Yunfei was beyond fast. Before Bai Yunfei could finish even the third hand seal, the tip of the chain was already right in front of him!


    Blanching, Bai Yunfei gave up activating the Dual Dragon Burst to have the Cataclysmic Seal come forward to block the chain. It hummed slightly before the barrier activated and protected Bai Yunfei from within.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The barrier trembled as the tip of the chain stabbed onto its surface. Vibrating and humming with a metallic echo, the barrier then¡­.


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    Then Bai Yunfei watched with a furiously beating heart as the barrier protecting him was penetrated by the chain!!


    The fragments of the barrier was dropping around Bai Yunfei as the chain continued onwards, albeit slightly slower than before. Winding around like a lively snake, the chain seemed to make one final push to try and stab Bai Yunfei through the throat!


    Fortunately for Bai Yunfei and unfortunately for Wu Shang, the barrier Bai Yunfei had around him gave enough time for Bai Yunfei to make the next move. Flinging his arm up, Bai Yunfei had his bracer deflect the chain tip.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was another clang and a flurry of sparks as the tip of the chain struck against the Flameblade Bracer and bounced off.


    This bone-chilling attack had been very easily dissolved, allowing Bai Yunfei to sigh in relief. Kicking back, Bai Yunfei moved away to safety.


    But this time, danger was quickly approaching him again!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei was thinking he was safe from the chains, he heard the chains start to shake and clank again before it suddenly came back at him again to coil around his right arm!


    ¡°Crap!!!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. He hadn¡¯t thought that the chain would be able to do anything after he deflected it, but it was still capable of pulling off an attack like this!


    The ability to control the chains to move so fluidly like this was capable only because of the large amount of soulforce being fed into the chain. When the barrier broke and Bai Yunfei deflected the chain with his Flameblade Bracer, Bai Yunfei assumed that this would¡¯ve been enough to exhaust the soulforce running through the chain. If Wu Shang wanted to keep using the chain as a weapon, he¡¯d have to pull the chain back and refill it with soulforce before he tossed it out again. He¡¯d at the very least have to fill the tip with soulforce so that he could control that part of the chain.


    But the situation unfolding in front of Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going as he thought it was¡­.this meant that the soulforce Wu Shang put into his chain was far more than Bai Yunfei initially thought!


    Or perhaps there was another way to offload some soulforce into the chain!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was surprised. He had been planning on attacking Wu Shang again before the chain came at him again. As fast as he was, the chains were faster than he was, so in no time at all Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire right arm was looped four or five times around with the chain!


    There was a whooshing sound as the chains tightened around his arm, squeezing it with a considerable amount of force and turning the cloth of his robes around his arm to cindered ash!


    It wrapped only around his forearm where his Flameblade Bracer, so it didn¡¯t hurt Bai Yunfei too much when the chains constricted around his arm. It was only that the fact that Bai Yunfei stumbled forward a bit when it constricted. Managing to stabilize himself, Bai Yunfei pulled his right arm back and bent his arm so that he could resist the force acting on him through the chain.


    He could only hold onto this equilibrium for a moment before the next change suddenly took place!


    The chains that used to be as crimson as flames almost immediately extinguished its lights, plunging the chains from red to jet-black. And at the same time, the chains went from feeling extremely hot to be extremely cold!


    In a single moment, the change in the chains started to take on a new effect and shined with a jet-black light!


    Feeling the change taking place, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened in shock. Rather than being shocked about the external changes taking place, he was¡­.


    The moment when the chains turned dark black, a sinisterly dark light starting to shine from the center of the chain into his arm. And then¡­.the soulforce in his body began to drain out!


    The chains around his arm was draining his soulforce!


    An equally sinister aura was starting to emanate from the sea of flames. The flames quickly drew apart and retreated from the center before elemental fire reignited in the area to illuminate the figure of Wu Shang.


    Wu Shang didn¡¯t look at all injured when the elemental fire died back down. When he raised his right hand, the other end of the chain was held in it. His expression couldn¡¯t be seen too clearly, but a foggy aura clung around to his body.


    Before, it was elemental fire that Wu Shang was releasing from his body. But right now, it was dark and foreboding¡­.this was elemental darkness!!


    The moment Bai Yunfei felt his soulforce leave his body, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart forze for a moment.


    ¡°This sensation¡­.the Soul Refining School?!¡±


    The very first thing he thought of when he felt his soulforce being drained was the Soul Refining School. Was this person someone from the Soul Refining School?!


    Something was different this time though. The previous few soul cultivators he fought before drained his soulforce only when they had physical contact with him. In this case, Bai Yunfei was in fact losing his soulforce, but it was seemingly because of the chain...


    Thinking about it for a moment or two, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes latched onto the jet-black chain and grabbed onto it with his right hand so he could check the stats.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Attack: 2800


    Equipment Effect: Drain up to 10 soulpoints per second of any constricted target (One at the most). (Amount is determinant on the difference in strength between user and target).


    Amount of soulforce drained cannot exceed total soulforce reserve.


    Upgrade Requirement: 180 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but let out a gasp when he saw the stats of the chains fly through his head. ¡°An equipment that can drain soulforce!¡±


    There was actually an equipment that could absorb and drain someone¡¯s soulforce!


    This meant¡­.the reason his soulforce was being drained was due to the equipment effect of the chain and not because of some secret art from the Soul Refining School? Did this mean this person wasn¡¯t from the Soul Refining School then?


    Debating with himself for a moment, Bai Yunfei quickly came to a decision, ¡°No!! This type of draining is...far too much for only 10 soulpoints to be drained!¡±


    The quantification of soulforce was something Bai Yunfei could easily say he was an expert of. He could tell just how much soulforce was leaving his body, and 10 soulpoints was far too little a sum for how much was leaving his body now! If he had to guess, at least 20 points of soulforce was being drained away!


    This was a result two times bigger than what the equipment effect pointed out!

 Chapter 670: Break!

    To put it simply, Wu Shang was also using another method with the chains as the ¡®medium¡¯ to absorb Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce!


    ¡°Does this mean¡­.he still might just be someone from the Soul Refining School?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed as the idea came back to his mind. This man might really be a soul refiner.


    After all, he had never heard of anyone that wasn¡¯t from the Soul Refining School being able to absorb someone else¡¯s soulforce.


    This was a secret only the Soul Refining School knew.


    Furthermore, it felt as though everyone that was in the Soul Refining School was a soul cultivator with two affinities. Aside from one of the more commonly seen elements, they had also darkness as their secondary¡ªWu Shang was fitting the same examples right in front of him.


    ¡°Again the Soul Refining School! They¡¯re absolutely everywhere¡ªjust how large are they?!¡±


    His conjecture on Wu Shang¡¯s identity was startling to Bai Yunfei. Now wasn¡¯t the time for him to be thinking about what kind of machinations the Soul Refining School was up to now, however. Now that he knew the stats and general information of the chain, Bai Yunfei had to think about what to do now.


    The very first thing to do was to disentangle the chains around his right arm.


    Not even ten seconds from when the chains first touched Bai Yunfei to when Bai Yunfei figured out the stats of it had passed. Though it was a short amount of time, Bai Yunfei had already lost almost three hundred points of soulforce!! It wasn¡¯t a relatively very large number in his case, but losing soulforce like this would gradually build up. And even more importantly¡­.it¡¯d make an extended battle even harder!


    So he couldn¡¯t let the chain stay close to him any longer. If Wu Shang were to try and attack him now, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge it!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm shook so as to try and dislodge the chains around his forearm off. Unfortunately for him, a low-heaven tier soul armament like these chains wouldn¡¯t be so easily thrown off. No matter which way he shook his right arm, the chains shook with him like a snake to stay on. In the end, the chains only wrapped around his arm even more so that the four coils that had previously been around his bracer was now multiple crings reaching to his shoulder!!


    The unbelievably sharp tip of the chain was moving fluidly with a sheen of black light to stab into Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder!


    Alarmed, Bai Yunfei brought his left arm up to block the tip from hitting him!


    ¡°Xiao Qi!!¡±


    He didn¡¯t need to call out to Xiao Qi however, as the bird was already flying on over with a furious trill. Wu Shang¡¯s attack onto Bai Yunfei with the chains had ruined Xiao Qi¡¯s original plan, causing the bird to briefly pause for two seconds before growing angry at seeing Bai Yunfei get attacked. Wings flashing green, nearly a hundred blades of wind were thrown out at the emerging figure of Wu Shang. Unfortunately, all Wu Shang had to do was raise his left hand and block all of the blades of wind coming his way. Several of the blades of wind aimed at the chains had only smashed onto the links in a myriad of sparks, but the chains remained intact!


    Xiao Qi already knew regular attacks were useless before Bai Yunfei had called out to him. Still furious, Xiao Qi began to materialize five different Spatial Edges in front of them. They formed into five long blades of absolute nothing before sailing towards Wu Shang and his chain!


    This time, Wu Shang looked at the attacks coming at him with a solemn expression. He had been on guard against Xiao Qi ever since he found out about his affinity for space. As the Spatial Edges approached, Wu Shang pushed off with his left foot to easily dodge the attacks!


    ¡°Damn! Xiao Qi, again!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out to the bird while trying to retreat himself¡ªwhen Wu Shang dodged the Spatial Edges, he took off into the direction Bai Yunfei was in!


    There was slack in between the chains now that Wu Shang was rushing for Bai Yunfei. Now with some freedom to move, Bai Yunfei started to run back as well. Needless to say, Wu Shang being close to Bai Yunfei would only be dangerous for him, but because of the strange motions of the chains, he was well on the way to becoming as wrapped up as a present.


    The more Wu Shang drew close to Bai Yunfei, the more the chains in Wu Shang¡¯s hand began to shrink. That also meant that the distance between Bai Yunfei and him was shrinking! With him being faster than Bai Yunfei, Wu Shang had confidence that he¡¯d be able to easily defeat Bai Yunfei when the time came.


    In truth, Wu Shang had actually many methods of killing Bai Yunfei from far away. The only thing preventing him from using those methods was him wanting to interrogate Bai Yunfei before he killed him.


    But when he was within fifty meters of Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi made his second attempt. The first volley of Spatial Edges failed, but with another circulation of his soulforce, xiao Qi materialized another five blades to attack Wu Shang with them!


    Not even caring for the effort it took to materialize five Spatial Edges at the same time, Xiao Qi had the five go straight for the midway between Bai Yunfei and Wu Shang!


    If Wu Shang continued forward, he¡¯d be hit by the Spatial Edges. If he retreated, then the chains would be hit by the Spatial edges instead!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    A mocking sneer appeared on Wu Shang¡¯s face rather than indecisive concern. Coming to a stop, Wu Shang swung his right arm towards the right. By doing this, the chains in his hand clanked around for a bit before extending the number of chains between him and Bai Yunfei by a certain amount and forcing Bai Yunfei to fly towards the right!


    The chains in the middle lengthened in size while also arcing to the right to swing Bai Yunfei.


    And in the end, the Spatial Edges failed to hit their targets!


    Because of the effort it took to create the second volley of Spatial Edges, Xiao Qi¡¯s strength took a sharp dip while also preventing him from doing anything else in response to Wu Shang¡¯s action.


    Casting a quick glance to the bird, Wu Shang smirked before continuing his rush at Bai Yunfei. It was then that he realized there was a humming sensation coming from his chains¡­.


    Raising an eyebrow, Wu Shang looked sixty meters in front of him where Bai Yunfei was violently yanking at the chains, causing a parabolic motion to transmit horizontally across the chains. Because of the increase in slack and him being swung to the side, Bai Yunfei had a good ten meter segment of the chain to work with.


    Wu Shang¡¯s face whitened a moment later when he saw Bai Yunfei pull out his Fire-tipped Spear and thrust it into the segment of the chain he had manipulated into coming closer to him!


    ¡°Clink¡­.¡±


    The clear sound of collision could be heard when the spear touched onto the chain. It was a long, but single sound, and although Wu Shang heard what seemed like a single blow, there was actually eighty-one attacks in that one spear thrust!


    This was...the Eighty-one Fold Stab!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A tremendous explosion rocked the world as dazzling flames shot forth from the midpoint between spear and chain. Within the explosion and flames, a faint cracking sound could be heard¡­.


    Bai Yunfei could be seen leaping away shortly afterwards. In his right hand was a dozen-meter long segment of the chains!


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    A moment after the explosion effect of the Fire-tipped Spear activated and broke the chain, Wu Shang felt his face whiten again and his mouth drip with blood!


    For once since this battle begun, Wu Shang felt a strong amount of fear and disbelieving shock¡­..


    ¡°How¡­.how did my Devouring Chains break?!!¡±

 Chapter 671: Damage to the Armament, Damage to the Soul!

    Wu Shang¡¯s Devouring Chains were of extremely strong make. He didn¡¯t know just how strong it was, but several attempts to see how strong it was before had him concluding that it was close to being a mid-heaven tier soul armament. Heaven-tier soul armaments like this one wouldn¡¯t break even if another one of the same tier were to hit it. But¡­.a mid-heaven tier soul armament would!!


    ¡°Is that spear¡­..a mid-heaven tier!!¡± The man stared at Bai Yunfei in shock. ¡°No¡ªhe destroyed my Devouring Chains with little difficulty, that means¡­.it¡¯s a high-heaven tier!!¡±


    A high-heaven tier soul armament!


    Wu Shang could hardly believe his own mind.


    A high-heaven tier! Was there even fifty of those known to exist on the continent, and each of them already in the hands of a supreme existence? Soul armaments of that high of a grade were the treasure of any few sects that owned them! Wu Shang found it preposterous that someone who wasn¡¯t even a Soul King yet would own a high-heaven tier soul armament.


    Wiping his mouth with his hand, Wu Shang looked down at the blood. Staring blankly at it for a second, his eyes soon began to shine with joy and ¡®greed¡¯!


    To a mid-stage Soul King, a high-heaven tier soul armament was an irresistible prize to be won!


    ¡°I might have lost some energy when the Devouring Chains broke, but it¡¯ll be fine when I go back and let ¡®him¡¯ heal. But this spear¡­.I want it!¡± Wu Shang¡¯s eyes flashed avariciously. ¡°Aside from that spear, there¡¯s still a few other soul armaments of strange make on him. That strange block soul armament that could block the Devouring Chains, that armor he¡¯s wearing, the bracer on his arm, and even his glove¡­.all of those soul armaments are unordinary! They might even be¡­.heaven-tier soul armaments!!¡±


    ¡°Wearing heaven-tier soul armaments all over¡­.¡± Counting each article of soul armament Bai Yunfei was wearing, Wu Shang felt a feeling of pleasure like none other before in the last hundred years almost. This was a bounty of the utmost proportions¡ªhe had only three heaven tier soul armaments himself, and he was a mid-stage Soul King!


    So coming across Bai Yunfei with so many heaven-tier soul armaments felt like Wu Shang had come across a free meat pie sent to him by the heavens. If he could take these soul armaments, then¡­.


    ¡°Hold on!!¡±


    A sudden thought brought Wu Shang to a sobering start. ¡°He¡¯s very strong despite his young age. A fire-type soul cultivator as well. More importantly, for someone to get so many powerful soul armaments like this, this person has to be¡­.


    ¡°The Crafting School! Zi Jin¡¯s newest disciple, Bai Yunfei!!


    ¡°That has to be it! It all makes sense if this is him! He has to be Bai Yunfei!¡±


    Wu Shang had finally realized who he was fighting!


    ¡­¡­


    The thoughts flew through Wu Shang¡¯s mind quickly. By the time he had figured out who Bai Yunfei was, the broken half of his chains was already speeding back into his sleeves.


    Though now that he had a good look at the half-melted ruined part of his chains, Wu Shang looked furious. Glaring at Bai Yunfei, he gave him a healthy dose of killing intent!


    Now that he knew who Bai Yunfei was, he didn¡¯t even need to interrogate him. Wu Shang could simply¡­.just kill him!


    But when he looked up at Bai Yunfei, Wu Shang¡¯s pupils dilated rapidly, and the killing intent he had in them immediately turned into shock.


    ¡°Bastard¡ªwhat are you doing?! Stop!!¡± He cried out in discomposured anger.


    At his last word, Wu Shang lashed out with a soul attack!


    The soul attack struck against Bai Yunfei, who wobbled slightly under its influence, but it ultimately failed to stop Bai Yunfei. His actions continued onwards, and the only thing Wu Shang could do was watch as Bai Yunfei brought his right hand down onto the segment of the chain in his left hand still!!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    Flustered for a moment, Wu Shang was unable to stop Bai Yunfei and once again had blood spill from his paled face!!


    ¡­¡­


    Just ten seconds ago.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t hesitated to retreat as soon as he broke the chains with the Eighty-one Fold Stab. Still holding onto a segment of the chains with his left hand, Bai Yunfei flew backwards with at least ten meters of chain unwrapped from his right arm.


    Something had inadvertently caught his eyes when he looked at the chains, causing him to stare in confusion.


    At the end of the chain¡ªwhere it had been severed¡ªthere seemed to be something¡­.shining red¡­..


    It wasn¡¯t the molten metal that¡¯d normally be caused by the explosion, for this was red. Was this¡­.blood?!


    There was blood within the chains?!


    Confusion ran rampant through Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind for a split second before he came to a realization. Flicking his head towards Wu Shang, Bai Yunfei took notice of the trail of blood spilling from his mouth!


    He felt then that Wu Shang¡¯s soulforce was slightly weaker now as well, and that was when it all made sense to him. ¡°Damage done when the armament is damaged¡­..this is a soulbound armament!¡±


    The state Wu Shang was in was a textbook example of what would happen when a soulbound armament was damaged¡ªthis is what happened when the soul was harmed!


    What is known as ¡®soul compatibility¡¯ is a measure that any soul cultivator and soul armament would have. Soulbound armaments, as known to everyone in the know, were soul armaments that had a soul compatibility of 50% or higher. Aside from Soul Kings, it was generally accepted that only those from the Crafting School would have a soulbound armament (some exceptions may apply). But when one became a Soul King, soulbound armaments were no longer a rare thing.


    The nomenclature that are soulbound armaments are something understood by many to be the result of an extremely enigmatic relationship between soul cultivator and soul armament. Once one becomes a Soul King, their understandings about what a ¡®soul¡¯ is increases many times over. From there, they can freely ¡®force¡¯ any one of their soul armaments to be branded with an imprint of their soul. Over time, this brand can be reinforced to ¡®reforge¡¯ the soul armament into a soulbound armament. But this was a method that was many times more troublesome than the method the Crafting School knew.


    Soul armaments that could endure this strain of being branded and reforge were only heaven-tier soul armaments, however.


    Soulbound armaments are very particular things. When the relationship between a soul armament ad a soul cultivator reached a particular point, a sliver of the soul cultivator would enter the soulbound armament (similar to having the soul armament recognize its ¡®master¡¯). This way, the soulbound armament would be able to create feats of strength beyond what it would normally be capable of. Correspondingly, this relationship between the soul cultivator and soul armament meant that should a soulbound armament be injured, it¡¯d cause harm to the soul cultivator.


    When a soulbound armament was damaged, the soul was too!!


    The amount of damage to the soul was dependent on how large of a compatibility there was between the two. It wouldn¡¯t be lethal, but it also wouldn¡¯t be light either. When damage was done, the soul cultivator would be very clearly affected by it.


    A good example would be what was going on in front of him. Wu Shang¡¯s soulbound armament¡ªthe Devouring Chains¡ªwas heavily damaged, and Wu Shang¡¯s soulforce was noticeably lower than before.


    It was an instantaneous judgement on what caused this, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened when his mind caught up to the realization!


    Soul armaments and soulbound armaments are something only the Crafting School would probably have a great deal of knowledge about. And in this moment as he held a segment of the Devouring Chains in his hands, Bai Yunfei was sure that there was still a sliver of Wu Shang¡¯s soul inside of it. The reason why the tip of this chain could move so fluidly as if it was alive was because of the soul imprint on it and was thus probably the most important part of it¡­..


    Without Wu Shang being able to control this segment of the chain, the part Bai Yunfei was holding would most likely lose the soul imprint it had on it with given time. But if Bai Yunfei were to forcibly remove the imprint¡­..then it would do a great deal of damage! Furthermore, Wu Shang couldn¡¯t recall this part of the soul armament back since this ¡®segment¡¯ was no longer part of the soulbound armament!


    Forcibly scrubbing the soul imprint within the damaged Devouring Chains was well within Bai Yunfei¡¯s current abilities.


    Putting away the Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei pushed his soulforce to his hands and then forcibly transmitted a large amount of it into the Devouring Chains.


    There was a furious howl from Wu Shang as he caught onto what Bai Yunfei was trying to do. He felt a surge of pain assault his head as Wu Shang¡¯s soul attack hit him head on. Nearly fainting form the pain, Bai Yunfei was able to make a comeback due to the Soul Sentinel Scarf. Blinking, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand and immediately slammed it against the chain!!

 Chapter 672: Forced Back Step by Step

    Wu Shang hadn¡¯t even finished fully unleashing his soul attack when he felt his own soul be attacked, prompting him to spit out a mouthful of blood!


    Meanwhile, Bai Yunfei was just snapping his head out from the pain of the soul attack. Wu Shang¡¯s attack hadn¡¯t done too much damage for Bai Yunfei to quickly snap out of. Without a break in his step, Bai Yunfei raised both of his hands in front of his chest and began to go through a series of complicated hand seals!


    Weakened by what Bai Yunfei did, Wu Shang looked a little dejected almost from his ordeals. Feelings of shock and even indignation swam through his mind as he thought about the wounds inflicted onto him.


    How could he not be angry?


    Spurring his soulforce into healing the damage done to his soul, Wu Shang¡¯s body began to blaze with intensified killing intent. He just needed a few seconds at most to heal from this, and then he¡¯d completely destroy Bai Yunfei to make him pay for what he had done!!


    But why would Bai Yunfei allow Wu Shang the few seconds he needed to heal?


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Wu Shang blanched at the sound, his head snapping towards the direction of the chirp!


    Xiao Qi was using a soul attack!!


    As a class seven soulbeast, Xiao Qi now had a new powerful technique in his arsenal. Taking advantage of the injured state of Wu Shang, Xiao Qi launched with his own soul attack. Though Wu Shang was stronger than Xiao Qi, his weakened state would still reel from Xiao Qi¡¯s attack!


    It took an additional second for Wu Shang to fully neutralize the soul attack and regain enough of his cognitive functions to respond to his surroundings. When he lifted his head again, his eyes widened in shock¡ªeight separate Spatial Edges were already nearly upon his head!!


    ¡°Tch!!¡±


    Wu Shang clicked his tongue. Before he could even regain his usage of soulforce, he twisted his right leg into another direction and scurried forward.


    That¡¯s right¡ªWu Shang had ¡®scuttled¡¯ forward! He was actually being forced to scuttle!


    He fled ten meters forward as the Spatial Edges just barely graze the back of his spine. Parts of his robes that had fluttered in the wind were eaten up by the Spatial Edges, leaving behind nothing but sweaty flesh and a nearly traumatized Wu Shang¡­..


    Before he could even finish reacting to that, Wu Shang felt an indomitable amount of soulforce start to gather right in front of him!


    Heart skipping a beat, Wu Shang tilted his head up to look at the now flame-enveloped figure of Bai Yunfei. His right hands were clenched tightly by his side, and a terrifying amount of elemental fire was gathering around him to coil around his arms!


    This was a soul skill! A soul skill that was powerful enough to threaten the life of even him!


    Even at a glance, Wu Shang was thoroughly filled with fearful emotions. Once again urging his soulforce to help him, Wu Shang fled backwards while trying to attack Bai Yunfei with his soul attack to hopefully cancel out Bai Yunfei¡¯s ultimate move.


    But¡­.with how Bai Yunfei had been taking advantage after advantage against him earlier, this time was no different!


    ¡°Chyiah!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared abruptly. It wasn¡¯t very loud in the audible sense, but it echoed through Wu Shang¡¯s mind very clearly like a sharp sword to stab into his soul. Freezing as it reverberated throughout his body, Wu Shang¡¯s soulforce began to slow down!


    This was the pseudo soul attack from Bai Yunfei¡¯s Charm Bracelet!


    Practically the moment after he cried out with this attack, Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms punched outwards!


    Berserk mode: Dual Dragon Burst!!


    Two dragons materialized out into the world in a burst of fire. Intertwining around each other so that one another seemed to touch each other almost, the two Dragons flew with terrifying speed and power!


    By the time Wu Shang was back to semi-decent clarity, the two dragons were already about to devour him!


    It was too late for him to even try to dodge!


    ¡°Damn!!!¡± Wu Shang howled to himself with wide-open eyes. Abandoning the idea to dodge, Wu Shang¡¯s eyes flickered dangerously as his hands went through several quick hand seals!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Fire exploded out from Wu Shang¡¯s body as soon as his hands landed on the last seal. Forming a giant whirlpool all around him, the flames circled first around Wu Shang before spreading outwards.


    But a second before the whirlpool formed, the two flaming dragons had converged into the center of the whirlpool onto Wu Shang!


    The Dual Dragon Burst had hit their target!


    Like how a misstep led to stumbling, Wu Shang was being forced back again and again in increasing intensity starting with his soulbound armament being damaged. Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions had been completely unpredictable and beyond his imagination. In that one moment of negligence, Wu Shang ended up being forced into a situation where he had to endure the Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    There was an ear-deafening explosion as a shockwave exploded outwards for nearly a kilometer in radius. As if a miniature sun had appeared out of nowhere, the entire evening sky was illuminated by light.


    The Dual Dragon Burst exploded with terrifying turbulence where Wu Shang was. With how devastating and tremendous the area of effect was, it was for certain that Wu Shang wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge this without being able to instantaneously teleport!


    For several hundred meters in radius, the area was washed in a sea of flames and stifled with scorching heat. Even Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi had to retreat a few hundred meters away so they could stare anxiously at the heart of it.


    Because of how powerful the Dual Dragon Burst was and how chaotic the elemental fire was being, peering into the area with soulsense was impossible, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even hope to guess how it was going with his naked eye.


    ¡°Did it work? It has to, please¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face looked a little haggard. His reserves was noticeably deplenished and his breathing was rough. A faint red light was still flickering around his body as if trying to replenish the amount of soulforce he had just used up.


    At last, the painfully ¡®long¡¯ ten seconds had passed. The aftermath of the Dual Dragon Burst was starting to fade, and Bai Yunfei could finally start to make out a few things.


    ¡°It¡­.worked?! He¡¯s definitely pretty injured!¡±


    Bai Yunfei whooped internally in delight. He could sense with the sea of flames that Wu Shang¡¯s aura was weaker by over half of what it was before! His aura was flickering as if unsteady, meaning he was seriously hurt!


    ¡°This is great!! In this case, I can¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was thinking to himself in delight when his thoughts came to a pause. Eyes widening, Bai Yunfei saw something that caused his joy to turn into shock!


    The flaming whirlpool that had been around Wu Shang had all of a sudden¡­.stopped!


    For some strange reason, the flames had all froze where they were!


    A second later, Wu Shang¡¯s aura exploded dramatically before the whirlpool started to move again, but this time in the inverse direction!


    Even more shockingly, Bai Yunfei could see two pillars of flame rise up from the center of the whirlpool as Wu Shang¡¯s aura increased. The whirlpool began to reduce in size as if being drawn into the pillars. Rising into the sky, the pillars began to twist around one another before turning into two flaming dragons to head towards Bai Yunfei!


    Incredibly fast like lightning, they closed the distance quickly enough to be right on him!


    This was¡­..the Dual Dragon Burst?!

 Chapter 673: Replicating Flames

    Whether it was how the dragons roared or how they moved, these two dragons looked¡­.exactly like the Dual Dragon Burst!!


    Exactly like the two Bai Yunfei had just thrown at Wu Shang!


    When it seemed as though everything was coming to a finish, the flames around Wu Shang turned back into two giant dragons to fly back towards Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°What¡­.what in the¡ª!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was planning to use the Dual Dragon Burst as the opening move to give Xiao Qi the opportunity to attack again with the Spatial Edge. Then, he figured he could use the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear to attack as well. But before he could even do any of that, the situation took out an extremely unpredictable turn of events.


    He was actually being attacked by the Dual Dragon Burst?!


    Could Wu Shang use the Dual Dragon Burst as well?!


    But¡­.how was that even possible? The Dual Dragon Burst wasn¡¯t any ordinary trump card. It was the ultimate trump card that not even a fire-type Soul King would be able to learn. This was something someone from the Crafting School created and had subsequently refined for a thousand years before the move found its second user in Bai Yunfei. Bai Yunfei simply couldn¡¯t believe that this was possible!!


    Trying to snap himself out of his stupor, Bai Yunfei stared briefly at the dragons coming at him. There was something to it that caught his eye. ¡°Ah! It¡¯s not a real Dual Dragon Burst!¡±


    Using elemental fire to construct two giant dragons made of fire was a feat possible for those talented in the path of elemental fire, but the power behind the dragons would be less than that of the Dual Dragon Burst. The Dual Dragon Burst required a special way of melding soulforce and elemental fire together with a special frequency in order to achieve an astronomically high amount of power.


    Within the Dual Dragon Burst was an aspect that no other technique would be able replicate¡­..and that aspect was the way the two dragons of elemental fire spiralled and interacted with each other! This was the quintessence of the technique!


    The two flaming dragons coming at him might¡¯ve looked like the Dual Dragon Burst in terms of appearance, but something was different if one took a closer look. There was a difference in the frequency of the elemental fire!


    Which meant that in essence, the very nature of these two flaming dragons were incomparably different to the actual Dual Dragon Burst.


    But still¡­..that didn¡¯t mean the power behind this imitation was negligible either!


    In the end, this was still an attack that a mid-stage Soul King pulled out with all his might! If Bai Yunfei was hit with that, he¡¯d be seriously hurt!


    ¡­¡­


    Slightly reassured now that he knew it wasn¡¯t the actual Dual Dragon Burst coming at him, Bai Yunfei still felt the hair-raising pressure coming at him and rushed back without a second thought. The Cataclysmic Seal came flying up in front of him to defend against the attack.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    A sneer came ringing out at that moment¡ªreaching Bai Yunfei even faster than the two flaming dragons did, a powerful attack slammed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind and attacked at his soul!!


    A soul attack!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face went deathly white. Coming to a stop due to the immense amount of pain, Bai managed to fight off the pain just enough to bring his right arm back. The Cataclysmic Seal, which had paused briefly when Bai Yunfei was struck by the soul attack, glowed orange in light before enveloping him in a sphere of energy.


    And in the next second, the two dragons landed onto it!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Like when Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Dragon Burst hit Wu Shang, there was another loud explosion and surge of elemental fire into the surrounding area. Only this time, it was Bai Yunfei that was in the middle of this chaotic outflux of elemental fire.


    ¡­¡­


    Standing several hundred meters away at the edge of the sea of flames, Wu Shang stood slightly stooped at the waist. His face was pale, his breathing labored, and his eyes were looking a little unsettled.


    ¡°How dangerous¡ªI would¡¯ve been heavily hurt if I didn¡¯t respond fast enough. This is preposterous. He is only a mere Soul Exalt, but he can unleash a powerful soul skill like that. I¡¯ve never heard of the Crafting School having an art like that. Wouldn¡¯t even the greatest arts of the Fire School lose out to something like this?¡±


    He was surprised to feel that half of his soulforce was more or less gone. He had been pushed to an astonishing degree in such a few rounds. And to make things worse, he lost the majority of his soulforce in an instant. If he hadn¡¯t though, Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack would¡¯ve most likely dealt a near-fatal blow on him¡­..


    His hands had been going through a series of complicated hand seals as the Dual Dragon Burst came for him. At the same time, his body was exporting a great amount of elemental fire. On the eve of the Dual Dragon Burst hitting him, he materialized a tsunami of fire to swallow up the dragons. He wasn¡¯t trying to forcibly scatter the Dual Dragon Burst; he wasn¡¯t trying to assimilate it into his own attack and control it!


    This was a mid-heaven tier soul skill: Replicating Flames!!


    It was a souls kill he took off the body of an unbelievably strong person who had died in their training. It became the strongest skill in his arsenal as soon as he learned it, and even now, it wasn¡¯t perfect and was still be closely researched and trained in.


    As its name implied, what it could do was¡­.replicate the soul skills of another person!


    ¡®An eye for an eye¡¯, and a ¡®tooth for a tooth¡¯. That was what this soul skill symbolized. By itself, the soul skill wasn¡¯t anything special. But when it came into contact with another soul skill, then¡­..not only did it stop the soul skill, it¡¯d fire back at the offender with a near-identical version of it!!


    Of course, the soul skill couldn¡¯t replicate soul skills of a higher level than itself and could only replicate fire-type soul skills.


    ¡°He really is Bai Yunfei. His strength is even more preposterous as people say it is. This is a terrifying talent with a bottomless amount of potential. No wonder the young headmaster wants to eliminate him sooner than later¡­.¡±


    There was a look of delight in Wu Shang¡¯s eyes when he saw how troubled Bai Yunfei was in the maelstrom of fire. Urging his soulforce into action, he prepared to rush Bai Yunfei to re-engage him in battle.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Suddenly, the furious cry of Xiao Qi came down onto him along with a soul attack.


    ¡°Pah! You reckless brat!!¡± Wu Shang snarled before retaliating with his own soul attack. He blocked Xiao Qi¡¯s attack and swung his right hand. There was a clanking sound as the remaining segment of his chains came out to strike down Xiao Qi!!


    Having been prepared to use the Spatial Edge, Xiao Qi was caught off guard by Wu Shang¡¯s attack and was struck in the abdomen. With a pained cry, Xiao Qi came tumbling down from the skies!


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Wu Shang uttered in surprise after Xiao Qi was dealt with. Turning his head, he saw the churning maelstrom of fire up ahead start to flicker as if on the verge of collapsing. At the center, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura had suddenly spiked again as if becoming even stronger. From his actions, it seemed as if Bai Yunfei was about to make his escape from the maelstrom.


    ¡°Quit your death throes!¡±


    Wu Shang wanted to scream, the killing intent in his eyes increasing in intensity. Both of his hands began to go through a series of hand seals for another technique!


    ¡°To have forced me to expend so much soulforce and use two heaven tier soul skills to kill you¡ªyou should feel proud in your death!¡±


    A few seconds later, Wu Shang pointed his right hand out to point at Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A ten meter thick pillar of fire exploded out from the ground where he pointed at to pierce straight into the middle of the maelstrom where Bai Yunfei was!


    Author Note:


    The reason behind this long battle is because of the importance in plot progression and it being a pivotal point in Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength development. For readers that believe this fight to be taking forever, please bear with me.


    I¡¯ve been beset with a very problematic situation as of late, and I¡¯ve been feeling very uneasy about it since then. This in turn has affected the quality and frequency of my chapters, and I do apologize greatly for that. While I cannot say much, I can however say that life is filled with countless moments of helplessness. I can only hope that my life will get back on track soon¡­.


    No matter what difficulties or troubles that might occur, I will not give up on this book. I have everyone¡¯s support and company after all!

 Chapter 674: Death Throes?

    The pillar of fire that erupted from the ground wasn¡¯t made from ordinary fire, but¡­.lava!!


    By calling upon the powers of the earth, Wu Shang was able to summon lava from the very depths of the world¡ªthis was a heaven-tier soul skill!


    Like a magmatic sword, the pillar of fire speared straight through the fiery maelstrom in the air and into the clouds. Any neighbor cloud was immediately evaporated upon contact. The advent of gravity soon caused the pillar of lava to fall back down to the earth, sprinkling down like rain. With how vast of an area the sprinkles covered, it didn¡¯t take long before the entire forest was turned into a sea of fire!


    Wu Shang watched the pillar of lava spear through Bai Yunfei¡¯s position with a satisfied smile on his face. He could barely sense the chaotic¡ªbut weakening¡ªaura of Bai Yunfei and was slightly impressed that Bai Yunfei was even able to endure for so long. He was still sure that Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier would soon collapse, and his life would be extinguished.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Another trill from behind caused Wu Shang to turn a frosty eye towards the source, ¡°You¡¯re noisy!!¡±


    He sent another powerful soul attack at Xiao Qi while also blocking the one sent at him. Evading the Spatial Edges sent at him, he whipped his left hand upwards to send a flame blade towards Xiao Qi!


    With how injured he was, Xiao Qi¡¯s soul attack was no match for Wu Shang. And with how the Spatial Edges took a good amount of soulforce from him, Xiao Qi was barely able to defend himself from the blade of fire sent at him with his wings.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    This time the Wind and Lightning Feathers protected Xiao Qi from the brunt of the attack. The blade of fire exploded and sent Xiao Qi tumbling to the ground!


    With Xiao Qi temporarily out of the battle, Wu Shang didn¡¯t care to pay attention to him. Killing Xiao Qi wouldn¡¯t do, since he wanted him alive to give to the Beast Taming School later. A class seven soulbeast with a space affinity¡ªeven if contracted¡ªwas a prize the Beast Taming School would gladly pay a large sum for.


    But first he had to make sure that Bai Yunfei was dead before he took Xiao Qi and left. They were a decent ways away from the Capital, but such a commotion near their borders would surely catch the eyes of the many Soul Kings there. If any of them decided to come over and check, then there¡¯d be a great deal of trouble.


    The moment he turned to look at where Bai Yunfei was, his eyebrows suddenly perked upwards in surprise. Somehow, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce had spiked yet again while still protecting himself within the maelstrom of fire and lava!!


    Wu Shang narrowed his eyes to look closely and think about the situation. ¡°A meaningless struggle. Even if you sacrifice your essence fireseed, you¡¯ll only have strength for one short moment. You are like the final rays of light the sun brings, you cannot escape death!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    What Bai Yunfei was doing right now could actually be said to be similar to being the final rays of the sun!


    The Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier was the only thing protecting Bai Yunfei when the ¡®Fake Dual Dragon Burst¡¯ from Wu Shang¡¯s ¡®Replicating Flames¡¯ hit. Given only a short time to breathe, Bai Yunfei was now backed into a corner.


    He had never thought that he¡¯d be hit with the Dual Dragon Burst¡ªeven if it wasn¡¯t the true version of it¡­.


    Countless waves of elemental fire pulsated and lashed out with destructive force against his barrier. It destroyed everything else within the area they covered, and even the earthen barrier around him was starting to ¡®melt¡¯. He had already all his soulforce into the barrier, but Bai Yunfei knew the barrier wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer.


    In a short few seconds, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce had already depleted by two-thirds! In light of that, Bai Yunfei would most likely succumb to the Fake Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Damn!¡± Bai Yunfei gritted his teeth in frustration. Calling upon the stockpiled soulforce in the Violet Soul Ring, he managed to send some more soulforce into his barrier to hopefully reinforce it long enough to make it through this ordeal.


    A pained cry from Xiao Qi made its way to his ears during this time. At the same time, he felt Xiao Qi¡¯s aura drop drastically.


    ¡°Xiao Qi!!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out to himself, but before he could do anything, the area beneath his feet rumbled dangerously!


    A moment after, the pillar of fire completely enveloped him and the barrier!


    At first stuck in the middle of a maelstrom of fire, there was now a pillar of lava on him!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a popping sound as the earthen barrier suddenly collapsed!


    Countless streams of elemental fire immediately covered Bai Yunfei!


    ¡­¡­


    All Bai Yunfei could see around him was red. Like being submerged in water, Bai Yunfei felt it hard to move with his arms and legs having some sort of force moving against them.


    The elemental fire was trying to devour away at his body, but the essence fireseed within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was exporting a large amount of elemental fire itself to serve as a layer of protection just two centimeters over his skin to prevent the elemental fire to get across.


    Unfortunately for him, the elemental fire only grew stronger the more it tried, and soon, Bai Yunfei could feel some parts of his final protection start to give.


    ¡°So¡­.in the end I couldn¡¯t beat a mid-stage Soul King after all? Ironic that someone like me who depended on soul armaments and chance was finally beaten with ease by a person with two soul skills¡­..


    ¡°Is this how I die then? Dying like how some of my enemies died before, being burned to cinders¡­.


    ¡°In the end, I was still too weak!! If I was only just a little stronger. Just a little stronger¡­.¡±


    ¡°I¡­..I don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    Despair was settling in on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face now. But it seemed that he was really on the verge of death!


    He was already in berserk mode, which was his strongest state, there was no more powerups from here!


    He could hear Xiao Qi¡¯s faint chirps, and through their soul bond, Bai Yunfei could feel Xiao Qi¡¯s aura weaken again as if struck by another attack. He could feel the many emotions Xiao Qi was feeling¡ªanger, shock, panic, and concern¡ªXiao Qi was trying with all his might to continue fighting, fighting as if he¡¯d die if he stopped.


    ¡°Xiao Qi¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei wanted to say something to him through their bond, but already Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was starting to fade. He couldn¡¯t do it.


    ¡°What a joke! How can I die here? I won¡¯t die¡ªI still have so many things I haven¡¯t done yet. I can¡¯t die, I won¡¯t die!!¡±


    Clamping down on his tongue strong enough to draw blood, Bai Yunfei snapped his eyes open with renewed life.


    Circulating the remaining soulforce in his body, Bai Yunfei began to think of a plan only a desperate madman would do¡ªif he couldn¡¯t block it, he¡¯d absorb it!!


    ¡°Bang!¡± There was a light cracking sound as the final protection Bai Yunfei had disappeared, allowing for the seemingly endless amount of elemental fire to devour at his body!!


    His clothes were the first to go. They burned to ashes and then to nothingness a moment later. Now without any obstruction, the elemental fire began to enter Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    From all over, Bai Yunfei was beset with elemental fire. Every single inch of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body seemed as if it was being burned¡­.No¡ªevery single cell in his body felt like it had been doused with gas and was starting to burn his body from the inside out!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    A pain-filled cry erupted from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth before stopping almost straight away when the elemental fire came pouring into his body through his mouth!


    With how fast and hard the pain was hitting him, Bai Yunfei felt numb all over his body. It was as if his body wasn¡¯t his own anymore. Cracks were starting to form and fire were starting to seep through, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even seem to notice that¡­.


    A moment later, his clarity suddenly came back as he felt the influx of elemental fire start to pour into his body and start to destroy everything inside on its way towards his origin acupoint where the only thing left to fend off the intruders were.


    But with the berserk mode meaning both his essence fireseeds were at their strongest, the two fireseeds were trying their best to break apart this flow of elemental fire and absorb it. Bai Yunfei¡¯s origin acupoint was like a bottomless hole with his body constantly taking in the elemental fire to be absorbed, hence why his body was able to handle it so far.


    But there was just far too much elemental fire to absorb. It was a futile attempt to even try, but Bai Yunfei had decided to do so. After a while, Bai Yunfei felt like his heart was starting to bulge a bit and the pain of his organs being burned was starting to reach his heart.


    The feeling ¡®death¡¯ was getting closer and closer. Bai Yunfei could already feel his soul start to melt away and his own lifeforce start to drip. Parts of his body was starting to fail, and it felt like any second now, he¡¯d be blown apart and the rest of his body burned to cinders¡­..


    ¡°Pa¡­.¡±


    From within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, he heard something seemingly shatter. It wasn¡¯t his body, but his¡­..essence fireseed!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    Erupting again with a cry of agony, both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes began to shine with a furious beam of light. As if given the signal to be renewed in life, his body began to spike in energy!


    It was said those that were about to die would have one final spurt of strength like the final rays of sunlight before the sun set. Was¡­.Bai Yunfei going through such a phase like that?!

 Chapter 675: Breakthrough! Experiencing the Soul King Realm!

    A brilliant gleam of light erupted from within the maelstrom of elemental fire and the pillar of lava. The light coming from this third source was different than from the previou two, as the flames were slightly violet in light. Exploding into view, this third flame turned into a whirlpool of its own to encompass every single other source of elemental fire!!


    There was a tremendous amount of soulforce radiating from the center of the whirlpool before the already tremendous soulforce skyrocketed even higher!


    This explosion of power was continuing to increase in level. From a peak late-stage Soul Exalt to a¡­.Soul King!


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Shang¡¯s eyes perked upwards in surprise at what was happening within the center of the maelstrom. The escalation of soulforce within the maelstrom was causing him to look on in shock.


    ¡°No!! This isn¡¯t sacrificing his essence fireseed, and neither is this his final death throes. This is¡­.a breakthrough!!¡±


    He could hardly believe his eyes or even what he was sensing. Bai Yunfei¡ªwho was on the verge of death¡ªwas going to make a breakthrough rather than die?!


    Wu Shang couldn¡¯t believe such a preposterous event was happening!


    ¡­¡­


    But that was exactly it!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t as bad as it was before. He was no longer on the verge of dying. His strength was making a comeback with him ¡®breaking through¡¯!


    The fireseed essence within his origin acupoint had indeed ¡®shattered¡¯ when it absorbed more than it could take in. But¡­.rather than disappearing, it had instead formed a completely new fireseed!


    Like a cicada undergoing metamorphosis, Bai Yunfei now had a new lease on life!


    This was completely unpredictable to both him and Wu Shang. Neither of the two predicted that such a thing would happen!


    The reason behind this special situation was all in due to the ¡®special situation¡¯ Bai Yunfei was in!


    His soul, body, and origin essenceseed had all been injured back in Baishan City, especially the two fireseeds. Using the Dual Dragon Burst and his strongest Berserk Mode when in ¡®fusion¡¯ form brought Bai Yunfei to new unbelievable levels. At that time, Bai Yunfei was essentially at his limit, and it was fortunate that Wu Dijian stopped him when he did, otherwise Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve suffered even more damage than he already did.


    Bai Yunfei had noticed the peculiar state his two fireseeds were in, but he decided not to think about it much in favor to try and heal his body. The two fireseeds during that time got to familiarize themselves with each other more, though Bai Yunfei never imagined that at the moment when his body was again at its ¡®weakest¡¯, the two fireseeds would help him break the bottleneck!


    When Bai Yunfei was in this moment of peril with the elemental fire all around him, he made the last-ditch effort to try and absorb it all. This act had inadvertently fulfilled one of the special requirements for the two fireseeds!


    Limits had their own ¡®classifications¡¯ to speak of. When reaching the limits of a level, there was definitely those who weren¡¯t able to overcome the challenge and succumb to it. But there was also the chance that someone would overcome this challenge and survive to reach a new realm.


    The breakthrough!!


    Bai Yunfei had two fireseeds, meaning he had double the tolerance, unmatched talent in harmonizing the Dual Dragon Burst, and a determination stronger than most. Along with the many strengthening and healing-capable upgraded equipment, Bai Yunfei was able to profit from the danger he was in and ¡®borrow¡¯ the boundless amount of elemental fire to metamorphose into a new stronger being!


    After the Soul Exalt level was the Soul King realm!


    ¡­¡­


    Within the flames, Bai Yunfei stared at the large amounts of elemental fire dance around his body in surprise. He felt as snug and cozy as ever within this warm heat and could feel the wounds in his body start to heal quickly. It was like there was a gentle warm breeze blowing onto him. If before his body was a dried up barren wasteland, then right now that same wasteland was being transformed into a fertile grassland filled with life.


    Bai Yunfei still wasn¡¯t absolutely sure of what was going on, but he was sure of one thing¡ªhe wasn¡¯t dead and he had broken the limits. He had become¡­.stronger!


    ¡°I broke through? This¡­.¡± He clenched his right hand to feel the raw power course through it. ¡°This is the Soul King realm? This is really it?! The Berserk Mode could take me into the Soul King realm?!¡±


    Indeed, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t exactly a true Soul King just yet. By conjunction with the Berserk Mode and the Dual Flame Arts, Bai Yunfei was able to ¡®temporarily¡¯ reach the Soul King realm. His actual strength was still at the Soul Exalt level, and at best, he was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt. With the Berserk Mode he was of course¡­.able to breakthrough the barrier usually known to many as being normally impossible to become a Soul King!


    As he was looking on in shock, Bai Yunfei suddenly realized something and jerked his head up. Raising his right hand, the Ardent Sun Glove in that hand exploded with light before a fireball about twenty meters large flew out of it to hit a fifty meter long blade of fire coming at him!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The two fiery objects collided with one another to transform into a deadly rain of fire. A figure in black came out from the fires, his entire person shrouded with black energy. The black energy coiled around his right hand before materializing into a giant sickle to slash downwards onto Bai Yunfei!


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Shang was beyond shocked. What he was looking at right now defied every bit of logic he was aware of. He knew¡­.that he had to kill Bai Yunfei at once! He couldn¡¯t delay any longer!


    For once in this battle, he felt ¡®threatened¡¯! ¡®Fear¡¯ was starting to appear in his mind!


    The unknown was something any single person would fear. And right now, Wu Shang was absolutely ¡®terrified¡¯ at this!


    He had a prediction: If he didn¡¯t kill Bai Yunfei today, then the situation would spiral out of his control and endanger his life!


    The black ephemeral sickle he had in his hand wasn¡¯t made of ordinary elemental energy. This was an attack that left the body untouched. What it actually harmed was¡­.the soul!!


    This was a physical soul attack!!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the sickle attack come down onto him. Just from looking at it, his body felt a great deal of foreboding!


    This was a soul attack!


    As fast as lightning, Bai Yunfei thought up of that observation. He didn¡¯t know why, but he could just ¡®tell¡¯ this was a soul attack!


    At the same time, he was now aware of something he had never been aware of before¡­.


    It was hard to even describe it, but it felt as if his eyesight was being split into two different modes. One was the normal vision, the other had no world, no mountains, no forests, and no Wu Shang even. There was only a body of hazy ¡®mist¡¯ that felt extremely strange.


    ¡°Is this...a soul?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized right away what it was. What he was looking at was Wu Shang¡¯s soul!


    By the point he realized that, the tremendous black sickle was already about to drop onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!

 Chapter 676: The Killing Blow

    As the dark sickle dropped down towards his head, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand to point a finger at Wu Shang!


    A soul attack!


    He didn¡¯t use the Charm Bracelet this time. This soul attack was powered purely by his abilities as a Soul King to launch a true soul attack!


    He could see something akin to a flow of water spread out from his finger to instantly spread towards Wu Shang. From there, he saw the ¡®mist¡¯ that was Wu Shang¡¯s soul start to churn. The dark sickle Wu Shang was attacking with flickered for a moment as if on the verge of collapsing!


    Using the Flash Step to move away, Bai Yunfei zipped back in retreat to dodge the giant attack¡ªhe wouldn¡¯t dare try to block this attack!


    ¡°Damn!! How can his soul attack be this powerful!!¡± Wu Shang cursed to himself. The dark sickle was gone now, but with a shake of his hand again, Wu Shang sent the Devouring Chains in his sleeves to go after Bai Yunfei.


    He sneered when he saw Bai Yunfei try to run away. With his left hand, he swiped out at the space towards Bai Yunfei!


    Another soul attack!


    Bai Yunfei blanched. From his ¡®special vision¡¯ he could see a series of transparent ¡®claws¡¯ come flying out from Wu Shang to seemingly grab hold of his own soul!


    Lifting his left hand up, Bai Yunfei was prepared to try and block against this attack when all of a sudden, he felt the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his head start to pulsate strangely!


    In the next moment, the soul attack from Wu Shang seemingly came crashing into an invisible wall. It paused there for a second before going into the opposite direction of which it came from!!


    This was¡­.the +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf!!


    30% chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    A 30% activation rate combined with the doubling effect of the Luck Pendant (double the chance of an equipment or additional effect triggering) meant that this was now a 60% chance of activating! It hadn¡¯t activated the past few times, but it was finally doing so now!


    ¡°Now¡¯s my chance!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up. He took out the Fire-tipped Spear without hesitation and dove at Wu Shang!


    Wu Shang¡¯s face had gone white the moment he used his soul attack. His eyes widened in fear as his aura suddenly dropped drastically! As if hurt by something, Wu Shang stumbled backwards. Even the Devouring Chains lost half their brightness and speed.


    Being hurt by his own soul attack was something new to Wu Shang. As soon as he was hit by it, he froze, unsure of what to do or think.


    Eyes glistening with opportunity, Bai Yunfei rushed past Wu Shang¡¯s chains to deliver a stunning thrust of his spear at Wu Shang¡¯s chest!!


    Having been lost in his own thoughts, Wu Shang had nearly allowed himself to be speared through by the Fire-tipped Spear. He drew back in panic, his feet moving one after another to beat a hasty retreat!


    His reaction speed was fast, as expected from a Soul King. Even under a state like this, he was still able to dodge a fatal blow like that!


    Bai Yunfei had thought that Wu Shang would use his elemental energy to try and block the spear and preemptively activated the +13 additional effect of the spear. But since Wu Shang fled backwards rather than activate a shield, Bai Yunfei lost half his soulforce for nothing!


    Because of the sudden loss of half his soulforce, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t fast enough to do a follow up on his attack. Eyes filled with anguish at this lost opportunity, Bai Yunfei waved his left hand out with a violent vigor!


    This wasn¡¯t an attack with soulforce, elemental fire, or even a command for his Cataclysmic Seal to attack. What he was doing was sending soulforce to the black ring on his hand. At the farthest reach his left hand could get, all Bai Yunfei could see was a bright flash of white light before a gigantic white figure pounced towards Wu Shang!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    There was an ear-deafening roar when the figure appeared. A chilling aura descended upon the place and immediately dropped the temperatures down from roasting hot to a gentle warm.


    This was the¡­.permafrost mastiff!!


    At last Bai Yunfei had decided to unleash one of his strongest weapons to help him fight!


    ¡­¡­


    In this current moment, Wu Shang was alarmed. He hadn¡¯t finished rousing himself from the soul attack yet when this white streak of light came at him. The fear he felt was elevated to new levels, and as he brought his right hand up to try and protect himself, there was a tremendous roar that revertebrated through his head and shook his soul even.


    A soul attack from the permafrost mastiff!


    ¡°Whoosh!!!¡±


    Nearly faster than he could respond, the white streak of light that was the permafrost mastiff streaked towards Wu Shang!


    The jaws of the mastiff could clearly be seen when it was only a good ten meters away from Wu Shang. Its jaws clamped down onto Wu Shang¡¯s arm, the one with the chains coiled around it!


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    There was a splurt of blood from Wu Shang¡¯s arm as the mastiff¡¯s jaw clamped down. As the blood drained from his shoulder, Wu Shang stared at the spot in disbelief.


    His entire right arm had been ripped off by the mastiff!!


    ¡°Ah!!!!¡±


    A second later, Wu Shang let loose an agonized scream!


    His left hand came up to grab at his right shoulder to try and staunch the blood while also staring at the permafrost mastiff. His face was twitching violently from both shock and pain, ¡°A soulbeast puppet! This is a soulbeast puppet!! How¡­.are you from the Beast Taming School!? How is this possible?!¡±


    He had been so sure that this person in front of him was Bai Yunfei. But now that he was using a soulbeast puppet to fight, Wu Shang was no longer sure. He was so certain that only beast tamers would use such soulbeasts to fight. It was almost common sense, so¡­.was he wrong about this person being Bai Yunfei?!


    As shocked as he was, he was still fully capable of rational thought. Re-evaluating the situation, Wu Shang had only one option left. He had to run!!


    He hadn¡¯t thought that he¡¯d be brought to such a desperate state like this in this battle. His right arm was gone and his soulforce was all but depleted. He himself was injured and fighting against an early-stage Soul King and two class seven soulbeasts. If this fight continued, the only end result left for him would be death!


    As unwilling as he was to flee, Wu Shang really had no other choice but to accept the reality of the situation. He had lost this battle. He needed to escape if he wanted to live!


    The remaining soulforce he had in his body wasn¡¯t going to his right shoulder to heal his wounds, but to his feet so he could ascend to the skies!


    A hundred meters was ascended within an instant before Wu Shang came to a stop to run back towards the direction of the Cheng¡¯s villa.


    But how would Bai Yunfei let him escape like that? The usage of the permafrost mastiff had been extremely effective, and now it was finally time for him to counter attack¡ªhe¡¯d settle this battle once in for all!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The permafrost mastiff roared again before unleashing a soul attack onto Wu Shang. At the same time, a burst of elemental ice streaked out to strike down Wu Shang!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    There was a chirp from the right as an injured Xiao Qi came flying back up to follow up with a soul attack of his own! And at the same time, another five Spatial Edges came up to attack him!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed dangerously. His left hand came up to point at Wu Shang¡ªnot only was he attacking with a soul skill, he was using his Charm Bracelet embolstered with the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s additional effect to deal the final blow onto Wu Shang!


    Even for a mid-stage Soul King, there was no way he¡¯d be able to withstand three simultaneous soul attacks!!


    His entire body came to a stop as if he had turned into a statue in midair!


    ¡°You¡¯re a beast tamer¡­.from the Beast Taming School! How can you kill me! How can you kill me!!!¡±


    Wu Shang roared in fury and in despair, but the only response he got was a resounding explosion!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The elemental ice attack from the mastiff collided with the elemental fire Wu Shang put out, creating a bright explosion of red and white.


    Simultaneously, the five Spatial Edges went straight through the center of the explosion of colors¡­.

 Chapter 677: Tragedy at the Manor

    This time, the five Spatial Edges sliced straight through the explosion of white and red light without much trouble.


    And by the time it came out the other side of the explosion, Wu Shang¡¯s aura was nowhere to be felt!!


    Several pieces of flesh fell down from the skies where Wu Shang used to be. Dropping into the sea of flames down below, they were immediately brought to cinders.


    ¡°Phew¡­.¡±


    At last Bai Yunfei sighed. The enemy was well and truly dead now, and the tired Bai Yunfei could relax for once.


    ¡°Finally¡­.I managed to live¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei wiped the sweat off his forehead. ¡°I really thought I was going to die back there, how dangerous¡­.


    ¡°My enemy this time was a Soul King, my lucky really isn¡¯t all that great¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei lamented, his finger touching at the Luck Pendant on his chest. ¡°Your ¡®luck¡¯ doesn¡¯t really seem to work in cases like this¡­.¡±


    He clenched his fists tightly, ¡°But¡­.I was able to gain such a huge boost in strength after this. That¡¯s some great ¡®luck¡¯ in itself. Desperation really is the easiest way for a person to surpass their limits. It feels like every time I breakthrough it was because of a situation like this¡­.


    ¡°But if I had a choice¡­.I wouldn¡¯t want to always be in situations like this! In the case that I fail just once, I won¡¯t have a life to fall back on¡­.¡±


    He sighed. Looking around himself with a wistful smile, Bai Yunfei tried to cheer himself up. ¡°Is this what being a Soul King feels like? It¡¯s a strange feeling, like if I really am someone strong¡­.this feels far different than to what a Soul Exalt feels like¡­.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t stuck in his fantasy-like state for long, however. The elemental fire around his body gave a violent shiver before it was forcibly drawn back into his body. Simultaneously, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face paled as an unstoppable force forced his aura to drop intensively!


    In a matter of moments, the powerful feeling Bai Yunfei had before was all but gone. He had fallen from essentially the heavens to revert back to a Soul Exalt. Staggering back like a drunkard in a drunken stupor, Bai Yunfei nearly fell down from the skies from his abrupt change in feeling.


    ¡°Huf¡­.hufff¡­.hufff¡­.¡±


    He gasped heavily, taking in deep heavy breaths to try and quell the flushed colors on his face. He looked as if he had just emerged from a very long dip under water. After a good ten or so breathing cycles, he managed to tilt his head high enough to look at Xiao Qi, ¡°Xiao Qi, look around the place. Then we go home¡­.¡±


    He turned his head to look further away, ¡°From the elder¡¯s reaction, something must¡¯ve happened back there. I wonder if it went as smoothly as I thought¡­.but no matter. Even if Qiu Bailu fails, I won¡¯t be harmed. And if there¡¯s any survivors, I¡¯ll think of something later¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    A little while before after Bai Yunfei and the other two Soul Kings left the Cheng property.


    It was only after Cheng Chaochuan and Wu Shang left the place to give chase after Bai Yunfei that Cheng Xin and the others timidly poked their heads out from their room. Watching as the three streaks of light disappeared beyond the horizon, they all looked then at each other with a hint of fear.


    ¡°Whe...lord Xin, what was your second grandfather doing here? And who was he chasing after? Didn¡¯t it look like that person was hiding just outside our room?!¡±


    Li Chen asked Cheng Xin.


    But he shrugged his shoulders in response, ¡°How should I know?? My grandfather hasn¡¯t come back to this place ever since that one time. They weren¡¯t here when we first got here, were they? Soul Kings can go wherever they want, do you really think we can predict where they go?? I don¡¯t even know where they were before, let alone just who they¡¯re chasing.¡±


    ¡°What kind of battle happens between Soul Kings? We shouldn¡¯t stay here and guess, I¡­.I think we should leave, this place isn¡¯t safe. Right??¡± The relatively more cowardly Zhu Yizhi proposed.


    Ruminating on the idea, Cheng Xin nodded his head. ¡°That works, this place is already being used as a place to receive more secretive guests for my second grandfather. I don¡¯t think we should come back here for now. Let¡¯s¡­.return to the Capital. We can meet again in another place next time.¡±


    Just as they were planning to leave this place¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a loud explosion that rocked the earth underneath Cheng Xin and the other four. Out of nowhere, a powerful aura revealed itself in the area to come rushing over to them!


    The guards around the villa sprung to action at once to whatever intrusion was happening. But as soon as they drew close to the source, they were blown to the side one by one. Crying as they were smashed away, the guards were powerless to stop this intrusion to get close to Cheng Xin and the others!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    Startled, Cheng Xin and the others began to send out their soulsense in an attempt to see who it was. But before they could even do so, the doors to their room was blown apart to allow a person to come in!


    Amidst the sand and dust that kicked up into the area, this figure in red came to a stop into the room.


    ¡°Who¡ªwho are you?!¡±


    Someone cried out from within the room. Everyone was backed as far away as they could away from this person in a defensive formation.


    ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t¡­.isn¡¯t this Qiu Bailu?!¡± Peng Guanghua cried out, ¡°You! What are you doing here? Aren¡¯t you¡ª¡±


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    Before he could even finish his sentence, Li Chen and Cheng Xin from the side cried out in warning. There was a streak of red light before a flaming fist blew past them with great vigor¡­.


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    There was a muffled explosion as if something exploded. Red and white matter exploded everywhere, splattering the wall behind with its color¡­.


    ¡°Plop¡­.¡± Peng Guanghua collapsed to the ground, his arms and legs spasming slightly. But his head¡­.was gone!!


    The lightning-quick movement of Qiu Bailu had been done to smash his fist through Peng Guanghua¡¯s head!


    Peng Guanghua was only an early-stage Soul Exalt while Qiu Bailu was a late-stage Soul Exalt. He had no chance of dodging, let alone coming out of this alive!


    Cheng Xin and the others watched in stunned silence as Peng Guanghua¡¯s body gave its final spasms. Qiu Bailu brought his bloody fist back to turn his eyes at the other five. At his glance, the other four jumped a bit before scattering in every way possible.


    Zhu Yizhi was the first to start crying out.


    ¡°Ahhh!!! Ahhhh!!!! Guards! Guards!! Save me!!!¡±


    Unfortunately for him, all of the remaining guards were elsewhere due to the earlier privacy they were giving the five for their ¡®meeting¡¯. The ones who did come here fast enough had already been completely defeated by Qiu Bailu when he first stormed in!


    There were no emotions in Qiu Bailu¡¯s eyes. Almost like a bloodthirsty animal, a guttural growl escaped from his lips as he stared down the noisiest one first, Zhu Yizhi. Straightening the fingers on his right hand, he lashed down with his right hand at him!


    A stream of red light flew out from his hand, cutting apart the ground and table in between him and Zhu Yizhi several dozen meters away!


    ¡°Save me! Save meee!! Sa¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    Due to his flustered state of being, Zhu Yizhi hadn¡¯t thought that he¡ªbeing the ¡®farthest¡¯ target away from Qiu Bailu¡ªwould be the first one to be chased down. By extension, he hadn¡¯t thought to dodge and was ultimately cut into two by the flying streak of red light from Qiu Bailu!


    There was still no emotion in Qiu Bailu¡¯s face after he killed this second person. Kicking off the ground, he went after yet another person to the left.


    This time, his target was Cheng Xin!

 Chapter 678: Alleviating the Final Headache

    Luckily for Cheng Xin who was a mid-stage Soul Exalt, he was not as terrified as his other companions and was quick to react to Qiu Bailu¡¯s maddened rush. Only sparing a moment to widen his eyes, Cheng Xin whirled to face the man and brought out a golden longsword to send a wave of soulforce at the killer!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A golden energy wave flew out from the sword with great power to attack Qiu Bailu. Without even caring to see if it landed or not, Cheng Xin turned direction and leapt out the window.


    It took only a moment for Qiu Bailu to reflexively dodge the blow. Heading for the right, he aimed another sword swing.


    But this was a failure as well. Cheng Xin was already too far away. As it so happened, Zeng Fei was now the closest one to him!


    Qiu Bailu turned on him without any further consideration. Stalking for Zeng Fei with an outstretched hand, he lashed out to grab at Zeng Fei¡¯s throat! Like a savage beast, all Qiu Bailu cared about was landing his prey!


    ¡°Ah!!! Get away from me!!¡± Zeng Fei shrieked. He had been relieved to see Qiu Bailu go after Cheng Xin first and was planning his escape, but then when Qiu Bailu turned his attention onto him, Zeng Fei was terrified. Bursting with soulforce, Zeng Fei tried to emulate what Cheng Xin did to beat Qiu Bailu back. Unfortunately for him, he was far too weak and lacked a good soul armament, so Qiu Bailu caught up to him in a flash!


    ¡°Ah¡ª¡­¡± The terrorized scream from Zeng Fei came to an abrupt stop. He hadn¡¯t the chance to dodge and was powerless to stop Qiu Bailu from gripping onto his throat. There was a sharp crack as the pressure in Qiu Bailu¡¯s grip tightened, and then in a nasty spray of blood, Zeng Fei¡¯s throat was reduced to a pulp!


    In less than ten seconds, three of the people were already killed!!


    All that was left was Li Chen and Cheng Xin, both of which were terrified beyond belief. Giving each other only a brief look, they ran off into the opposite direction while Qiu Bailu came exploding out from the window behind them!


    ¡°Hrnf¡­..Huuuu¡­¡±


    Qiu Bailu was stooped at the waist with his breath exhaling deeply with emotion. His soulforce was fluctuating crazily as blood began to drip from each of his seven apertures! Not even caring in the slightest for his own state of being, Qiu Bailu glared with his bloodied eyes down at Li Chen. Locking down on his target, he took off like a bullet to give chase!


    Cheng Xin hopped onto the roof after he split ways with Li Chen. Qiu Bailu going after Li Chen had filled him with joy, and since he hadn¡¯t any intentions to help Li Chen out, Cheng Xin took off into the skies to get as far away as he could possibly get. He could feel several powerful guards stationed within another part of the property¡ªtwo of which were late-stage Soul Exalts¡ªif he could just get to them, he¡¯d be safe.


    ¡°Ahh!!!!¡±


    A howl of pain from behind saw to Cheng Xin snapping his head back in fear. Qiu Bailu had caught up to Li Chen and had a fist of his punched straight through him!


    Cheng Xin¡¯s heart nearly came to a stop at this frightening sight. Any last vestige of color was now gone from his face as he redoubled his efforts to run like a madman! Now that Li Chen was gone, Qiu Bailu would be going after him next!


    ¡°How did this happen! How the f*ck did this happen!! Why is Qiu Bailu coming to kill us, why!!¡±


    Cheng Xin was brought up in the safety of the Capital where no danger had ever been anywhere close to him. For him to have all four of his companions die such violent deaths in front of him terrified the living daylights out of him. There wasn¡¯t any time for him to even think. There was only time for him to run!


    To run for his life!


    ¡°Young master!!¡±


    Two figures came to view up on the rooftops¡ªthe two late-stage Soul Exalts he felt earlier. Several other guards Cheng Xin first brought with him were already starting to gather due to the most recent disturbance. None of them had thought that there¡¯d be someone willing to attack this property, but they were quick to come over. And when they saw Cheng Xin running so doggedly as if being chased by the dogs from hell, the guards looked a little farther away just in time to see Qiu Bailu toss the now deceased Li Chen to the ground!


    Everyone¡¯s heart trembled in fright¡ªespecially the two late-stage Soul Exalts that were Li Chen¡¯s guards. Their eyes were filled with despair since their young charge was now dead. ¡°Die!!!!¡± They cried in fury.


    Bodies lighting up with soulforce, one person brought out his green longsword to swing it in Qiu Bailu¡¯s direction to send out ten blades of wind!!


    Following his lead, the other late-stage Soul Exalt fired off an orange ball of elemental energy about twenty-meters forward!


    The two powerful auras that were the late-stage Soul Exalts blew past Cheng Xin to attack Qiu Bailu. As they blew past, Cheng Xin sighed in relief and changed directions to head downwards and to the side so the guards could deal with Qiu Bailu.


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    There was an explosion of power as soulforce blew outwards behind Cheng Xin. Surging with such power that a shockwave was created, the only thing the guards saw was a person completely on fire come charging at them!


    Qiu Bailu!!


    He was a terrifying sight to see by this point. Wounds deep enough to see bone could be seen on his body, and his abdomen had been cut deep enough to have a part of his intestine start to trickle out. Even more terrifying, his left arm had been blown straight off to have only his shoulder remain, blood spraying out like a spring of blood.


    He¡­.he had simply brute-forced his way through the two late-stage Soul Exalt¡¯s attacks!


    As terrifying as his wounds were, everyone was simply astonished that he¡­.he was moving as if he didn¡¯t even notice it!! There wasn¡¯t even a twitch in his face! His soulforce was still fluctuating crazily as if it was¡­.as if it was on the verge of explosion!


    Anyone could tell that whatever Qiu Bailu was doing was beyond abnormal!


    ¡°This¡­.this is¡­.he¡¯s self-destructing!! Young master, watch out!!¡±


    The earth-type late-stage Soul Exalt exclaimed in horrified realization at what Qiu Bailu was doing.


    He was right!! Qiu Bailu was definitely trying to self-destruct!


    ¡°Self-destruct?!¡± Cheng Xin cried out with wide-open eyes. His relief was gone as quickly as it came. Anxious as ever, he began to make his retreat with all due haste.


    But Qiu Bailu had made a beeline for him and was already right in front of him!


    ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer¡ªget away! Get awayyy!!¡± Cheng Xin howled at the top of his lungs. As hard as he tried, he simply couldn¡¯t get away from Qiu Bailu and was within arm¡¯s reach in just two seconds. With a right arm dripping with blood, Qiu Bailu grabbed onto Cheng Xin¡¯s shoulder!


    His soulforce spiked violently with elemental fire gathering all around him now. Surging and churning like a storm, it looked like explosion was imminent now!


    ¡­¡­


    A thousand meters high in the skies of the western corner of the villa, a distortion in space ripped open to reveal a frantic-looking elder.


    It was Cheng Chaochuan.


    He scanned the area with soulsense as soon as he arrived. The moment he felt what was going on, his eyes widened with horror!


    ¡°Little Xin!!¡±


    His face drained of all color. He knew that Cheng Xin was right on the verge of being blown up by Qiu Bailu!


    Back when he was chasing Bai Yunfei, Cheng Chaochuan had felt an unnatural aura fluctuate on its way to the villa. Knowing that Cheng Xin was there, Cheng Chaochuan gave up chasing Bai Yunfei to hurry back to the villa. In his mind, Wu Shang would¡¯ve been more than strong enough to chase down that one person and come back. His run back to the villa had been a bit long, and it looked like he was a bit too late!


    ¡°Bastard! Stop right there!!!¡±


    He spat in murderous fury. Green light exploded from Cheng Chaochuan to display his might as a mid-stage Soul King and aimed a soul attack at Qiu Bailu!


    There was still a chance for him to stop Qiu Bailu from self-destructing if he launched a soul attack against him,


    But that was only if a soul attack worked on the person in the first place¡­.


    Cheng Chaochuan¡¯s eyes flew open a second later in disbelief. ¡°Nothing! He has no soul¡ªbut how!¡±


    He wanted to strike down Qiu Bailu at once with his soul attack, but¡­.it didn¡¯t even affect Qiu Bailu because he had no ¡®soul¡¯ in him!


    ¡°No!!!!¡±


    A mixture of anguish and fury filled the air as Cheng Chaochuan watched the area in front of him explode with blinding red light!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Qiu Bailu, a late-stage Soul Exalt, had self-destructed!!


    Almost half the entire villa was engulfed by the explosion. Like a lotus blooming into the air and shaking the ground, the explosion of light kicked up a storm of dust.


    Cheng Xin¡ªwho was being protected by a circle of soldiers¡ªhad no chance of avoiding the self-destruction of Cheng Xin. Try as hard as he might to protect himself from this life-taking explosion, there was no way he¡¯d be able to survive. Even the auras of the two late-stage Soul Exalts had their auras snuffed out the moment they came into contact with the explosion!


    And with that, the masterminds behind this entire plot, Cheng Xin, Li Chen, and the other three, were all dead!


    And the one who killed them was the one they hired to go after Bai Yunfei¡¯s loved one!


    ¡­¡­


    Qiu Bailu invading the villa, killing Cheng Xin and the others, and then self-destructing were all ¡®orders¡¯ given to him by Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei communicated with Qiu Bailu earlier when he was escaping through their mental link. He gave him a single order, and that was to¡­..kill Cheng Xin and the others! At any price! And then to self-destruct!


    Bai Yunfei continued to run away as soon as the order was given to until the mental link was at its limit. No longer able to give the command for Qiu Bailu to hold on, Bai Yunfei knew Qiu Bailu would carry out the command left in his mind as soon as he was out of range. He waited for Wu Shang and Cheng Chaochuan to chase after him before Qiu Bailu could carry out his orders. Hidden in the bushes when the two of them were chasing after Bai Yunfei, Qiu Bailu ran into the villa to deal with Cheng Xin and the others!


    The development went better than Bai Yunfei thought even. Cheng Xin and the others were all dead, and Qiu Bailu was gone without a trace. No one would be able to link it back to him.


    Him stumbling upon the private conversation between Wu Shang and Cheng Chaochuan was an accident and earned him a new enemy, but Bai Yunfei was already gone by now. The Cheng could investigate as much as they wanted, and it was possible that they might link what happened to Cheng Xin and the others to Bai Yunfei, but since they were all dead and the Desert Wolves¡ªwho were the only outside link that knew about this mission for Bai Yunfei¡ªwere gone, Bai Yunfei was safe. Qiu Bailu had thrown away his life for everyone to see, and his death destroyed any evidence that it was Bai Yunfei that did it all while getting rid of this final headache.


    But still. The events today were very serious. Was it possible that he¡¯d invite new dangers and trouble onto his head? How would he deal with that then??

 Chapter 679: The Spoils

    Late that night on North Seventh Street in the Capital, where Bai Yunfei lived.


    Inside one room, a person sat on top of his own bed. Red light flowed off from his body and into the surrounding air as he tried to meditate.


    It was Bai Yunfei.


    The very first thing he did after killing Wu Shang was to return home at once. Not even speaking with Tang Xinyun or anyone else when he did, Bai Yunfei shut himself up in his room and began to recuperate.


    It only took a single glance for Tang Xinyun to know Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t fine. She didn¡¯t ask him about it either. Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve looked fine on the surface, but she knew him. She knew that he was simply faking it. The injuries he had sustained were worrisome to her, but she didn¡¯t want to ¡®expose¡¯ him and his lies.


    It was only when Bai Yunfei was in his own room and had meditated long enough for his breathing to return to normal that Tang Xinyun was reassured and allowed herself to sigh in relief that Bai Yunfei was okay.


    As it were, Bai Yunfei¡¯s wounds weren¡¯t all that serious.


    The most egregious of the wounds he had were healed up when he made that breakthrough. He hadn¡¯t been hurt after that, but him canceling out his Berserk Mode meant that he was in a particularly fragile state right now.


    By borrowing on the powers that were the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring and the other upgraded equipment he had, Bai Yunfei was able to replenish his soulforce. Even the debilitated state he was in for using the Berserk Mode was all but almost healed up before the night was over.


    In fact, Bai Yunfei was feeling even better than before.


    This was because right now, his regular state of being was now at the level of a¡­.peak late-stage Soul Exalt!!


    The extremely weakened state he was in before due to the battle in Baishan City was completely gone. He was healed well and truly, and even the damage to his soul was gone since his strengthened soulforce at the time had cleared that problem up.


    There was another difference in that of his two essence fireseeds. They were back in their original positions split apart from one another. No longer were they in a half-fused state one with one another, though it seemed that the level of friendliness between the two fireseeds were a lot better than before. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even using the Dual Flame Arts to adjust the frequency between the two fireseeds, but the two fireseeds seemed to be getting along without at all looking as if they¡¯d be trying to devour one another, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s delight.


    The moon in the sky slowly waned in place for the sun to overtake it. By the time the first rays of the sun was starting to bear down on the world, Bai Yunfei was only just starting to wake. Exhaling slowly, he stretched his shoulders and popped the muscles in his neck with a satisfying cracking sound.


    He smiled. Never had he ever felt as good as today.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t felt like this in a very long time¡­.I¡¯ve basically made a complete recovery¡­.¡± He thought to himself as he continued to stretch his waist.


    ¡°How¡¯re you, Xiao Qi?¡±


    He inclined his head to look at the roof.


    Up on the rafters was a bowl-sized ¡®house¡¯. It was filled with hay and even silk to adorn the place¡ªthis was the ¡®nest¡¯ Xiao Qi made for himself.


    Xiao Qi came down in a flash of light to appear in front of Bai Yunfei, ¡°I feel great, haha! I feel stronger than before! I gained a lot of experience after killing that guy, it took me an entire night to process it. How convenient this is¡­..with how much I gained, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ll just need a few more times to become a mid-stage class seven.¡±


    ¡°A few more times¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s lip twitched. ¡°Forget it, I don¡¯t want to always be stuck in these dangerous situations. In any case, are there even enough mid-stage Soul Kings in this world for you to kill for ¡®grinding experience¡¯?


    ¡°Grinding Experience? What¡¯s that?¡± Xiao Qi tilted his head.


    ¡°Ah¡­.it¡¯s nothing.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand, ¡°You were injured pretty badly yesterday, are you sure you¡¯re alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m completely fine, don¡¯t worry.¡± Xiao Qi chirped and flew two quick loops in front of Bai Yunfei to prove it.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. He sighed to himself. Compared to himself, Xiao Qi was even more ¡®ridiculous¡¯. He hadn¡¯t even the help of any recovery equipment and was hit so many times by Wu Shang yesterday night. As much as he over-exerted himself, once Xiao Qi managed to kill Wu Shang was he enveloped by a strange glow of energy and start to heal. Practically every wound he had was healed within minutes of being in that bubble, and not only were his wounds healed, his strength grew.


    ¡°Everything is because of that +14 additional effect of the ¡®egg¡¯. Whatever special effects that egg had, it was super ¡®abnormal¡¯....¡±


    He sighed again. It was unfortunate he¡¯d never be able to know just what that +14 effect was. How had he longed to see the concrete details of the effect¡ªif he had a +14 piece of equipment, just how much stronger would he be??


    If he could perhaps strengthen some of these ¡®high quality¡¯ equipment to +14¡­..


    Bai Yunfei shivered in delight at the thought.


    ¡°I¡¯ve hit a wall in my research for the Upgrade Technique. I have to keep on going and get familiar with the ability to turn ¡®failure into success¡¯. Maybe at that time I¡¯ll be able to up the levels of one of my equipment¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    When he thought about equipment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up in remembrance of something. With a shake of his arm, a long set of chains came to view on his hand.


    It was the shrunken form of the Devouring Chains.


    He took out a detached segment of the chains¡ªthe tip¡ªand studied it for a moment.


    ¡°The chains¡¯ are really strange. Too bad it was destroyed, I wonder if I¡¯d be able to reattach the segments with my current strength¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed to himself, ¡°This is a challenge. I¡¯ve become a lot stronger, so I should have a chance. Maybe I can try in the future.¡±


    He stored the chains back into his ring to take out the space ring he found on Wu Shang. Peering into it, Bai Yunfei stared to look through each of the items inside.


    It wasn¡¯t until a good while later when Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled with delight. Shaking his right hand, he took out a crimson-red scroll from within.


    A soul skill scroll!!


    A little flabbergasted at the discovery, Bai Yunfei poured over the scroll to read its contents.


    The sparkle in his eyes shined even brighter after he was done reading it, a pleased but astonished smile showing on his face.


    ¡°The Replicating Flames¡­.so there was a soul skill like that. No wonder then. Wu Shang being able to ¡®replicate¡¯ my Dual Dragon Burst was because of this¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°What a strong soul skill. So he was brave enough to leave the scroll on him, hah, how convenient for me. If I can learn this skill, it¡¯ll become one of my trump cards in the future.¡±


    Bai Yunfei put away the scroll so he could continue to look through the space ring. Rummaging through it, Bai Yunfei found plenty of earth tier soul armaments and a considerable amount of soulgems and primal stones. There were also a few high quality medicines, but nothing out of the ordinary.


    What Bai Yunfei really wanted to find was some sort of proof of identity on who Wu Shang was. But there wasn¡¯t even anything that¡¯d link the man together with the machinations of the Cheng.


    If he thought about it, there was no way people like Wu Shang would be so stupid to leave behind some sort of undeniable proof on their identities or affiliation.


    ¡°What a shame. If I had proof that the Cheng and the Soul Refining School were working together, then I could¡¯ve sent in that proof to have the Cheng looked after. My word alone won¡¯t be enough to do anything, and it¡¯d only expose me as being in the know. That wouldn¡¯t end well for me if I want to live in peace¡­.¡±


    He sighed once again. If this was the case, should he simply just not interfere in this matter?

 Chapter 680: Sudden Happenings

    ¡°Yunfei, are you awake?¡±


    As Bai Yunfei was ruminating on the problems of yesternight, a knock on the door and a voice from behind signalled to him a visitor.


    Snapping out from his thoughts, Bai Yunfei gave a small smile. Rising up to walk to the door, he opened it to see a young woman wearing a white-robe stand on the other side.


    ¡°You¡¯re a little early, Xinyun. You must¡¯ve been tired yesterday, a little more rest wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    ¡°We were only strolling yesterday, what is there to be tired about?¡± She smiled, ¡°But what about you? Are¡­.are you fine?¡±


    She looked up and down at him, only to see how bright and energetic his soulforce was. Without any other wounds to be seen, Tang Xinyun sighed inwardly in relief and felt at ease.


    A warm sensation filled Bai Yunfei from the chest up. He nodded his head, ¡°Haha, I¡¯ve said not to worry about me. You know about my circumstances. With all my ¡®stuff¡¯ on me, a little wound will heal quickly.¡±


    ¡°You say that, but weren¡¯t you covered with bruises yesterday? You only went to investigate yesterday, so how did you get into a fight?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­.that¡ªwell, it¡¯s a long story, but in short, I didn¡¯t really have a choice.¡±


    The two moved their conversation out to the courtyards where Tang Xinyun sat on a stool next to the central stone table. With a gentle wave of her hand, Tang Xinyun had bowls of congee and vegetables places onto the table. ¡°Let¡¯s eat first or the meal will get cold.¡±


    A little surprised at the prospect of having a meal, Bai Yunfei acquiesced nonetheless. Sitting at the table, he took a bowl of congee into his hand and drank a bit of it. As the grains flowed down his throat, Bai Yunfei smiled warmly at the taste¡ªthe congee was quite sweet to the taste.


    He kept drinking the congee, never once touching at the vegetables on the table, much to Tang Xinyun¡¯s displeasure. She pursed her lips so that her dimples could be seen on her cheeks and deposited some vegetables into his bowl. Handing his chopsticks to him, she asked, ¡°What¡­.happened yesterday night? You said you were only going to look, but how did you end up like this? How did you end up fighting someone else?¡±


    Bai Yunfei pinched at the vegetables with his chopsticks and washed the rest of the congee down in two gulps. Eating the vegetables afterwards, he wiped his mouth and looked around the area. ¡°Yesterday was¡­.¡± he spoke slowly, ¡°is actually my fault. When I came to the Capital, I¡­.came into a bit of trouble. I never thought they¡¯d go after you. But it¡¯s fine now. I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t be causing trouble for us again.¡±


    The eyebrows on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face rose in astonishment, ¡°Did¡­.did you kill them?¡±


    There was only cold fury in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. ¡°They asked for it! I was so patient with them, but this time, I¡¯ve gotten rid of the problem. They won¡¯t be causing any more troubles now.¡±


    Tang Xinyun looked at Bai Yunfei. There was something off about Bai Yunfei, she could tell that much. The aura of one who was prone to killing was more palpable to him now.


    ¡°But¡­.won¡¯t this cause any problems?¡± She asked him in concern. ¡°Who were those people? Won¡¯t you be at risk of revealing your identity? If someone finds out it was you who did it, won¡¯t they¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. I was very careful on how I did this. There won¡¯t be any proof, they won¡¯t be able to find out anything.¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought for a moment before continuing on, ¡°But¡­.it¡¯s not like everything¡¯s right in the world. I can¡¯t guarantee that they won¡¯t dare do anything else, so I have to pay careful attention from here on out. It¡¯s best that you, Tingting, and Doraemon don¡¯t go off to anywhere beyond the busy parts of the Capital just in case.¡±


    Not quite assured by that either, Bai Yunfei said again, ¡°How about this? I think it¡¯d be best if you all live within Tianhun Academy for now. It¡¯ll definitely be safe there, haha¡­.you can experience what life will be like as students.¡±


    ¡°Live in the academy?¡± Tang Xinyun restated in surprise, ¡°If that¡¯s what you want,¡± she nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll talk with Tingting and little Rui, I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t mind much. We¡¯ve done plenty of playing recently, staying in the academy won¡¯t be too bad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Xinyun¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei apologized, ¡°You haven¡¯t even been in the Capital for long and I¡¯ve already brought you all into danger. I¡¯m¡­.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say it like that,¡± Tang Xinyun reassured him with a smile, ¡°What ¡®danger¡¯ is there? There¡¯ll always be things like this. Don¡¯t worry, we can take care of ourselves. We¡¯re Soul exalts too, don¡¯t take us for women that needs protecting.¡±


    ¡°Ah, if you say so then, haha¡­¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, though he let out a sigh to himself. After fighting with a Soul King, Bai Yunfei no longer really thought a Soul Exalt to be anyone strong. There was probably no one within the Soul Exalt realm that was stronger than he was¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Yunfei! Yunfei!!! I¡¯ve big news to tell you, big news I say¡­!¡±


    A hurried voice called out to Bai Yunfei from outside the courtyard. A moment later, a person came running into the courtyard¡ªit was Zheng Kai.


    He came to a screeching halt in the courtyards as soon as he saw Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun both sitting next to each other at the stone table. Embarrassed, he scratched his head. ¡°Ah¡­.was I...er¡­.am I disturbing you two? Shall I wait outside then?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s lip twitched.


    ¡°Wait my ass, come on over, what are you so excited for? What big news have you got?¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­.¡± Zheng Kai walked over to the other open chair at the table and sat down. Kou Tingting and Huangfu Rui came from behind to sit next to Tang Xinyun. Huangfu Rui looked a little groggy, clearly having not yet fully wakened yet and leaned her head to rest on Kou Tingting¡¯s shoulder to close her eyes to make for a rather laughable sight.


    Bai Yunfei turned on Zheng Kai, ¡°What is it, spit it out now.¡±


    Looking as mysterious as possible, Zheng Kai whispered surreptitiously, ¡°This is definitely big news. Something has happened to the sons of the Left and Right Ministers!!¡±


    ¡°Oh???¡± Bai Yunfei perked an eyebrow, ¡°What kind of something? Should you be so excited about the happenings in the Royal Court?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, the next generation of the two families had accidents happen to them!¡± Zheng Kai pressed on, ¡°The heir to the Xu, Xu Jiang, was attacked by someone yesterday afternoon!¡±


    ¡°Xu Jiang?¡± Bai Yunfei pretended to be curious, ¡°Someone attacked him? What happened?¡±


    ¡°I heard he was taking care of a few things outside the Capital when he was ambushed. All of his guards were killed¡ªeven an early-stage Soul King!! Xu Jiang¡¯s entire body was a bloody pulp, they said he would¡¯ve been dead if not for his family getting there in time. No one saw the attacker either, and Xu Jiang¡¯s still unconscious. No one knows when he¡¯s going to wake up, but it looks pretty serious. I think it¡¯s going to take a year and a half for him to even heal.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that serious?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed.


    ¡°It is. No one¡¯s sure just what kind of grudge his attacker had for him. What a shame, big brother Xu Jiang wasn¡¯t half bad a person. He gets along with my brother and was also one of his friendly rivals. He¡¯s on par with Cheng Yao almost, though I think I heard he was on the way to becoming a Soul King sooner or later. Him getting hurt like this will definitely set him a good ways back in his training, how unlucky¡­.¡±


    ¡°Does anyone know who might¡¯ve done it?¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Zheng Kai frowned, ¡°The majority of people are guessing that it¡¯s the Cheng, but those are just rumors. No evidence has been found yet, though the Cheng are the most guilty in my opinion. The Xu and Cheng have never gotten along, but they¡¯ve never done something like this against one another. We can¡¯t rule it in either way¡­.¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s the Cheng. Their plans were supposed to be a lot worse than this¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. He couldn¡¯t say what was on his mind, so he changed the topics, ¡°You said something happened to both the sons, so what happened to the family of the Minister of the Right?¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes lit up brilliantly at that. Seemingly relishing at the impending news, he laughed, ¡°Hehe, what happened to the Cheng was a lot worse actually. Do you remember the third son, Cheng Xin? That guy was killed yesterday night in his villa in the western outskirts!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun both looked shocked at this.


    Bai Yunfei was of course, pretending to be shocked, while Tang Xinyun¡¯s emotions were genuine. While Zheng Kai wasn¡¯t looking, she gave Bai Yunfei a quick look. Putting two and two together, she had already a good feeling Bai Yunfei and this person was connected, but¡­.the one Bai Yunfei killed was actually the son of a prime minister! That was what she was shocked most over. However, she did a nice job in masking her emotions before Zheng Kai could see it.


    ¡°Cheng Xin was killed?¡± Bai Yunfei replied in ¡®astonishment¡¯, ¡°How? By whom?¡±


    ¡°Not sure, but I heard the killer blew himself up at the end so we don¡¯t even have any clues. The Cheng don¡¯t know who it might be, or who might¡¯ve done it.¡± Zheng Kai shrugged, ¡°Other than that, the killer also killed a few other influential sons. Those who were killed were Li Chen, Peng Guanghua, Zeng Fei, and Zhu Yizhu!¡±


    ¡°They were killed too?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡®surprised¡¯.


    ¡°Yeah, I heard they were all gathered for something, but they were killed right afterwards.


    ¡°In any case, those idiotic hedonists annoyed you before¡­.¡± Zheng Kai stared at Bai Yunfei with a bit of a smile on his face, ¡°Yunfei, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re involved in this somehow?¡±

 Chapter 681: Plans

    Tang Xinyun and Bai Yunfei froze at this careful accusation with the latter giving Zheng Kai a strange look and smile. ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, you can¡¯t just say things like that out of the blue. If someone overheard you, there¡¯d be trouble if they misunderstood. What makes you think I had anything to do with this?¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s lip curled up into a smile. ¡°I was just joking. There¡¯s only us here, what are you acting so ¡®scared¡¯ about? If it was really you that did it, you¡¯d be one amazing person, haha¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered under his breath, preferring to say nothing else.


    ¡°Anyways, there¡¯s been a big commotion since this happened to the two families. Both the Xu and the Cheng have been going into a craze, and so are the families of the four other victims. Even the Royal Family is getting involved. They¡¯ve the Tianhun School sending plenty of people everywhere even. I heard from my brother earlier this morning that several of the earlier ¡®suspects¡¯ were dragged out by their heads almost. The Tianhun School have their own suspects, the Xu theirs, and the Cheng theirs¡­.I wonder just how many more ¡®suspects¡¯ will appear.¡±


    ¡°Oh? They¡¯re going full force so quickly?¡± Bai Yunfei remarked in surprise. Having people arrested already since last night was indeed a fast reaction to this information, but¡­.to have arrested so many people, Bai Yunfei was really curious on what basis these people were supposed to be ¡®suspects¡¯.


    Actually, Bai Yunfei was curious if he supposed to be a ¡®suspect¡¯ as well? What Zheng Kai said about those five deceased people annoying Bai Yunfei was true, and many people knew about it. There would be no doubt people that¡¯d be suspicious of him as well. This also meant there¡¯d definitely be people who would want to implicate him in this matter. However, the fact that the Cheng, Li, or the other houses weren¡¯t coming to him now meant they were afraid of moving against him without a solid plan.


    Even if they had their ¡®doubts¡¯ about him, they didn¡¯t have proof. And if they did try to arrest him, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t a person they could simply try to do so without consequences.


    He had his mind made up. He wouldn¡¯t say anything about this matter even if he died, and with how chaotic things were getting, Bai Yunfei was doubly assured that he wouldn¡¯t be telling anyone anytime soon. The conflict between the Xu and Cheng had nothing to do with him after all. While it seemed that the Soul Refining School was getting involved, Bai Yunfei was only guessing that, he had no proof that they were really involved or not.


    With so many chaotic elements in the mix, it was best to simply stay out of the entire thing and wait.


    After talking about the matters with the two families, Zheng Kai changed the topic, ¡°Ah, Tingting, did you all have fun yesterday in the southern outskirts?¡±


    ¡°Haha, it was quite fun, the mountains and clouds were very beautiful to look at, it was very satisfying.¡± Tang Xinyun answered on her behalf. She was afraid that Kou Tingting would say something about them being ambushed yesterday and wanted to divert the topic so that no suspicion would be had.


    A little surprised by Tang Xinyun answered for her, Kou Tingting nodded her head and didn¡¯t say anything. She didn¡¯t even have any intention on talking with Zheng Kai, let alone tell him about what actually happened. The polite treatment she was getting from Zheng Kai had done nothing to sway her opinion for him in any major way. Whereas she used to think Zheng Kai was a decent person before, he was now only just an ordinary friend and nothing more.


    As the daughter of the Crafting School¡¯s headmaster and disciple of an elder from the Water School, Kou Tingting had her fair share of suitors. Even within the Water School, there was a large group of people vying for her attention, and a junior headmaster from the Fire School himself was trying to win her affection. Being as tactful as she could, Kou Tingting refused all that came to her, citing that she wanted to focus on her training and didn¡¯t have the time to pursue personal relationships. Soul cultivators had longer lives than ordinary people, so pursuing a romantic relationship in their thirties or forties the usually the norm. Therefore, even the ¡®Sex Lord¡¯ Zheng Kai wasn¡¯t able to captivate the heart of Kou Tingting.


    ¡°What a pity I wasn¡¯t there¡­.¡± Zheng Kai sighed regretfully. ¡°Though, the sunset at the eastern outskirts is a rather pretty sight. Every sunset, the lake near there is dyed almost a brilliant ruby-red. How about we head over there today to see it?¡±


    Tang Xinyun replied for Kou Tingting again. ¡°We are feeling a little fatigued from our times yesterday still and plan to rest in the Capital for the meanwhile. Thank you for your consideration, lord Zheng.¡±


    ¡°Ah?? Not going huh¡­.¡± Zheng Kai folded his arms in thought, ¡°Then we can stay in the Capital. I know of a decent theatre in the southern district. We can watch a play there and feel at ease.¡±


    It was rather admirable how Zheng Kai was trying so hard to find an excuse to be with Kou Tingting.


    Unable to hear this conversation any longer, Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t. I was planning to take them to the academy today to find them a place to stay. We don¡¯t have time to go elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Finding a place to stay in the academy? Why?¡±


    ¡°I was curious on what life is like in the academy.¡± Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°Bai Yunfei offered to arrange for a few things as well. Tingting said before she was curious how classes were like in the academy, so we¡¯ll be living in the academy to see what being a student is like.¡±


    Kou Tingting flashed her a strange look, but the pinch Tang Xinyun gave her underneath the table was more than enough for Kou Tingting to get the message and nod her head in agreement to Zheng Kai.


    ¡°I see¡­.¡± Zheng Kai sighed, crestfallen. There was a small tint of suspicion in his eyes when they flickered over to Bai Yunfei to give him a quick look.


    The four of them continued to talk for a little longer until the sun was now fully visible in the sky. By now, Huangfu Rui was fully ¡®awake¡¯ and as energetic as ever. Prepared now, Bai Yunfei was ready to take Tang Xinyun and the others to their lodgings in the academy, and Zheng Kai was all too happy to tag along with them to see if he could help expedite the process.


    He wasn¡¯t actually very useful in this case. All Bai Yunfei did was find Mo Wanxia and Zheng Kai was suddenly nowhere to be seen.


    Led by Mo Wanxia, Tang Xinyun and the other two girls were given a tour of the ¡®dormitory¡¯, which was basically a villa in size and a dormitory in name. It was wide and had a decent scenery where several other students from the crafting class like Fang Yong and Fan Tianmeng resided.


    There was a wall that divided them from the male students from the crafting class. When they were first enrolled into the class, they all decided to move into this dormitory so they could all talk with one another when convenient, and leave for the mountain together to reach their crafting caves.


    While Tang Xinyun and the others were getting acquainted with the area, Zheng Kai decided to give his antics a break. Since he couldn¡¯t go find a young woman to chat up, he decided to chat with the males in the dormitory like Mo Chen, since he was already rather acquainted with the male students in Bai Yunfei¡¯s class.


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have anything to do while Tang Xinyun and the others were doing their thing. Without anything better to do, he walked up the mountain and entered his own crafting cave.


    Once inside, Bai Yunfei sat down and waved his right hand. With a bang, the Lightningfire Cauldron came plopping out.


    With another wave of his right hand, the two sections of the Devouring Chain came into view.


    He was planning to try and see if the Devouring Chains could be reconnected to have the soul armament repaired for usage.

 Chapter 682: Repairing a Soul Armament

    The reparation of a soul armament differed greatly to the crafting process of one. In some cases, repairing a soul armament was even harder than crafting a soul armament of the same grade.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t all too experienced with repairing soul armaments, for he had very little reason to be. All of the equipment he had¡ªespecially the earth-tier ones¡ªwere just fodder for him to upgrade and see. If they failed, they exploded into dust, and there was no repairing that.


    But this time, Bai Yunfei was truly excited to tackle this issue of repairing the soul armament. The item in question was a heaven-tier soul armament.


    If he could pull this off, then he¡¯d earn yet another powerful equipment with an effect already on it.


    As mentioned before, the stats of equipment that might¡¯ve been broken wouldn¡¯t lose its stats. For example, if a sword has an attack of 100 and was broken in half, both parts of the sword would still have the same attack of 100 since the sharpness was still the same. At most, the biggest change was that the sword no longer had a tip to attack with. Defensive equipment were the same, no matter how defensive an armor was, it''d have the same defensive strength even after being split into several pieces.


    Of course, this was in the case of a regular situation of ¡®damage¡¯. If an upgrade failed and turned everything to dust, that was a different story.


    In the case that a +10 piece of equipment broke, one of the two pieces would inherit the additional effect while the other part wouldn¡¯t.


    First, Bai Yunfei tried to line up the two segments of the chain together. As it was right now, they were just two soul armaments. Using the Upgrade Technique to get them to +10, Bai Yunfei would try and see if either of the two pieces would have an additional effect and then try to repair it from there. If both pieces had an additional effect and then were melded into one, it might mean that one of the two effects would disappear when it was put back together.


    But the most important thing was that repairing it this way was a lot harder than usual!


    So Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in much of a rush to try and upgrade the two parts of the Devouring Chain. He¡¯d rather first repair the chains and then upgrade the finished product.


    ¡­¡­


    Holding the Devouring Chains in his hands, Bai Yunfei took careful notice of each and every detail on the chain. Sending his soulforce into it to better his understanding, Bai Yunfei began to analyze its composition, structure, and break marks to ensure nothing was missed.


    ¡°These chains are a little¡­.weird¡­.¡±


    There was a hint of confusion in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes the more he looked at the chains. Something to this soul armament was different to any other soul armament he had felt before.


    But what was it?


    It felt like¡­..the ¡®aura¡¯ was different, firstly.


    Perhaps it was because of this equipment having the very rare element of ¡®darkness¡¯. But that didn¡¯t seem to be the reason either. Dark-type soul armaments gave a person a ¡®shadowy¡¯ sensation, but these chains weren¡¯t giving off that aura. It was more like a¡­.


    ¡°A bloodthirsty aura?!¡±


    It took a moment for Bai Yunfei to find the right word to describe the aura he was feeling.


    From this chain, Bai Yunfei could indeed sense an abnormally bloodthirsty aura!


    It would appear that the chains had already claimed the lives of many, hence the aura it had to it now. Just touching the links would render any person uncomfortable. A deeper scan of the chains would reveal its bloodthirsty nature, and an ordinary commoner would certainly go mad if they were to be hit by this aura.


    But there was something else strange to the Devouring Chains. As he was scanning the entirety of it, Bai Yunfei came across yet another peculiarity to the object.


    The interior of the chains wasn¡¯t completely solid. There was some liquid in it that ran through a small ¡®passageway¡¯ inside of the chains.


    Never met with such a case before, Bai Yunfei was surprised.


    ¡°What kind of liquid is this? What¡¯s it for?¡± Bai Yunfei asked himself. Thinking back to his battle with Wu Shang, Bai Yunfei remembered there had been a little detail he saw when he broke the chain¡­.


    ¡°I remember at that time¡­.¡± He started slowly, eyes inching open with surprise, ¡°There was¡­.blood?!


    ¡°Is that possible? Isn¡¯t it too weird?¡± Bai Yunfei tried to clear his mind with a shake of his head, ¡°Blood as a material in a soul armament¡ªis this a method of crafting I¡¯ve never heard before? Is there a usage for blood in a soul armament? Or is this a type of liquid material that I¡¯ve never heard before?¡±


    He sighed after a while to think. ¡°Forget it, if this really is a rare material I¡¯ve never seen before, I can¡¯t just break it open to research, that¡¯d break the entire soul armament, it¡¯s just not worth it¡­..might as well try and repair it first. If I can¡¯t, then I can break it open.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    With a plan now in mind, Bai Yunfei called out his Cataclysmic Seal. The fireseed inside of it came out of it to go into his chest and replace the one with the companion lightningseed, which went into the Lightningfire Cauldron.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Lightningfire Cauldron lit up almost instantly to bask the entire cave with a moderate wave of heat.


    A string of materials came flowing out from the Violet Soul Ring next. One by one, Bai Yunfei picked out the ones to be used for this reparation and had them thrown into the cauldron.


    Just the mere preparations of knowing which material to use or not took nearly an hour. Feeling that he had more or less prepared everything, Bai Yunfei threw in both segments of the chain into the cauldron.


    ¡°Clack! Boom¡­..¡±


    There was a loud bang from the cauldron. Several of the supplementary materials he had in there had immediately gone up in smoke.


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow. Waving his hand, another pile of materials were thrown in¡ªthis time plenty of refined stones were thrown in and a single dark-type primal stone. Circulating his soulforce into the cauldron, he heated the flames a bit higher.


    Time slowly ticked on by. Zheng Kai and Tang Xinyun came up to the mountains to call him out for lunch, but they were stopped by Xiao Qi right outside the cave, who told them that Bai Yunfei was in the middle of crafting and was not to be disturbed.


    From there, time went on by again to become evening¡­.


    ¡°Tsk!! It still doesn¡¯t work? As expected from a heaven-tier soul armament¡­..repairing one is just too hard!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cursed to himself in front of the the Lightningfire Cauldron, a bitter smile on his face. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead and dripping down from his nose. Even with the spirit-increasing accessories and the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring to provide extra soulforce regeneration, Bai Yunfei was essentially out of soulforce almost. Everything he tried had already failed, and it seemed like an overall failure was all but imminent.


    The chains were still in the cauldron. Upon first appearance, the two segments were connected without even a scar to be seen, but Bai Yunfei knew that once the fires went out, the two chains would break apart again. Trying to hold them together was essentially useless, and no amount of soulforce was enough to meld them together.


    ¡°It was going so well before, so why¡­.why can¡¯t I get it to perfectly meld together now? Feels like I¡¯m missing something¡­.¡±


    He was persistent on succeeding here. Reluctant to give up, Bai Yunfei knew that if he could just resolve this issue, then the chains would be fully repaired.


    ¡°What am I missing¡­.just what am I missing¡­.?¡± He bit his bottom lip in bitter annoyance.


    A single sweat drop dripped from his eyelid and over his eye.


    And when it passed, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined with realization!


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it!! It¡¯s got to be¡­.¡±

 Chapter 683: Blood as the Medium

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head flew up. Raising both hands above the cauldron, his left hand extended out his index and middle finger together. Elemental energy formed around his fingers like a sharp blade, and with a careful cut, he sliced across the palm of his right hand!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The blade of energy sliced apart the skin easily, creating a wound deep enough to see bone almost! And from the wound¡­.blood came flowing outwards!


    Was¡­.was Bai Yunfei so disappointed in his failure to repair the chains that he was starting to cut himself?!


    Of course not.


    Just the look of concentration on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was enough to tell anyone otherwise. As exaggerated the blood coming out from his palm was, it was simply just a result of Bai Yunfei¡¯s own actions.


    A ¡®ball¡¯ of blood soon came to be on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm. Enveloped in a bubble of elemental fire to sustain that shape, Bai Yunfei flicked his hand and had it enter the cauldron when he deemed the quantity to be enough.


    ¡°Hisss¡­..¡±


    As soon as the blood touched upon the chains, there was a violent hissing sound of liquid evaporating and then a brilliant burst of crimson red light!


    Rather than the usual color of fire, the colors of the light right now was as dark as blood!


    ¡°It really works!!!¡±


    The light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s own eyes increased several times over in delight. When his blood entered the cauldron, Bai Yunfei felt movement from within the chains he hadn¡¯t seen before. It looked almost ¡®delighted¡¯ in having a source of blood and absorbed the blood into its links!!


    The blood submerged one of the links of the chain within its bubble for a moment. Shining darkly with its bloody light, the link began to shine an even darker color a moment afterwards!


    In no time at all, the blood had been fully absorbed into the link. But that link in the chain had only light one-tenth as bright as the other links in the chain!


    ¡°Not enough?!¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow in surprise. ¡°Then have at it then!!¡±


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    Pressing down on his hand, Bai Yunfei forced the wound on his hand to burst open again. As if a major artery was cut, a great volume of blood started to pour out!


    This time, Bai Yunfei held his right hand over the cauldron and let the blood pour out from it like a ¡®faucet¡¯ over the cauldron!


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡­¡±


    Rather than have its flames be extinguished with all the blood coming down onto it, the cauldron began to burn even more vibrantly than before! There was a faint humming sound coming from within the cauldron, but it was the chains that was doing the humming rather than the cauldron!


    The reasons behind this strange occurrence wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei wanted to look into in this current moment. Right now, he had only one thought he was excited about¡ªthe repairs was about to be completed!


    ¡­¡­


    Nothing out of the ordinary happened this time. Everything went as Bai Yunfei expected, and the light within the cauldron grew more and more condensed with time.


    The more Bai Yunfei¡¯s face paled, the more sweat gathered on it. He was looking a little fatigued, but it didn¡¯t seem like he himself had noticed it with all the excitement he had in his eyes. Staring intently at the contents of the cauldron, Bai Yunfei was using up most of his soulforce to keep the repairing process going and control the flames.


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    There was a small explosion before a ring of light shot straight out of the cauldron and into the roof above. Disseminating through the cave, a wave of elemental fire started to bring about a scorching heat. Strangely enough, there was also a damp sensation in the cave as if there was a faint red mist of some kind.


    Two seconds later, the red light within the cave started to churn in on itself. Several seconds later, it was ¡®sucked¡¯ back into the cauldron!


    ¡°Success!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out in joy. The fires in the cauldron were dispelled with a wave of his right hand, and the object within the cauldron flew out to be grabbed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    The temperature in the cauldron was starting to settle again, and the light fading away to return the cave back to its normal state.


    ¡°It actually worked. I actually did it¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei breathed out. He grasped at the chains in his hand with a great deal of excitement.


    It wasn¡¯t because he was too weak that it nearly failed, it was because this object was just beyond strange!


    But he had done it¡ªhe had repaired a heaven-tier soul armament!!


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei exhaled slowly to get rid of his nerves. Letting the chains slip away from his fingers for a moment, Bai Yunfei called out the second fireseed in the cauldron and activated the Dual Flame Arts to have his two fireseeds help him replenish his soulforce as fast as possible.


    There was probably only a few people in the world that could match Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce regeneration rate. It didn¡¯t take long for Bai Yunfei to completely replenish his soulforce, though his face still looked a little weak. He might¡¯ve regenerated his soulforce, but his body would still take some time to replenish the blood it had lost.


    The amount of time Bai Yunfei allowed himself to bleed wasn¡¯t very long, but there was a dreadful amount of blood that he lost. Any regular person would¡¯ve died of blood loss a long time ago, but for soul cultivators, it wasn¡¯t too much of an issue. He¡¯d need a few days to recover, but that was it.


    He finished up his recuperation after several more deep breaths. Taking the chains back into his hand, he gave it a closer look.


    ¡°So in the end, the special liquid inside the chains was blood¡­.how unusual. There exists a soul armament like that¡­.?¡± Bai Yunfei touched at the chains with a finger. He sighed. A soul armament like this was a very unusual one. It was a first for him to see blood being used to repair a soul armament.


    ¡°With the owner¡¯s blood as the medium, the soul armament is imbued with the ¡®sensation¡¯ of being ¡®alive¡¯. This is a really strange and different method than to leave a soul imprint, but it¡¯ll deepen the soul compatibility between the chain and the owner nonetheless.¡±


    Basking in the sensation of ¡®kinship¡¯ he had with the chains, Bai Yunfei decided to turn his thoughts elsewhere and looked to the chains stats next.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Attack: 2800


    Soul Compatibility: 5%


    Equipment Effect: Drain up to 10 soulpoints per second of any constricted target (One at the most).


    (Amount is determinant on the difference in strength between user and target).


    Amount of soulforce drained cannot exceed total soulforce reserve.


    Upgrade Requirement: 180 Soulpoints


    Everything was the exact same except for one line: a 5% soul compatibility.


    ¡°This must be because I infused my own blood into it, did I gain five percent soul compatibility with it then?¡± Bai Yunfei guessed to himself.


    Now that he was done repairing the soul armament, Bai Yunfei had now one more special heaven-tier soul armament. But the most important part had yet to come¡­.


    Eyes shining with expectation, Bai Yunfei looked at the chains.


    ¡°Upgrade!!¡±

 Chapter 684: Yet Another Powerful Equipment

    In the Back Mountains of Tianhun Academy, Bai Yunfei was currently sitting in his crafting cave.


    At this time of the day, the sun was already setting beyond the horizon so that only a few rays of sunlight could be seen. Several stars were already visible in the sky, barely shining from where they hung near the moon.


    There was a weak sheen of light from Bai Yunfei¡¯s cave. Inside the cave, a single person could barely be seen, barely moving and deep in heavy thought.


    This person was of course, Bai Yunfei. In his hands was the newly-repaired Devouring Chain, but right now, the chains looked dark like any other normal chain did.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +8


    Attack: 2800


    Additional Attack: 1000


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    Equipment Effect: Drain up to 10 soulpoints per second of any constricted target (One at the most).


    (Amount is determinant on the difference in strength between user and target).


    Amount of soulforce drained cannot exceed total soulforce reserve.


    Upgrade Requirement: 180 Soulpoints


    There was a glimmer of light from the Devouring Chains for a moment. Eyes flashing, Bai Yunfei stared at the chains with excitement.


    +8.


    He started upgrading the chains when it was already evening. Two hours passed since then, but he was only able to get the chains to +8?!


    From the looks of Bai Yunfei, he was actually extremely happy about upgrading it to +8?!


    ¡­¡­


    Indeed. Bai Yunfei was quite happy with the results because of one simple thing. Rather than using the Upgrade Technique to get the Devouring Chains to +7, he had used¡­.the manual upgrading method himself!


    He wanted to used the manual style of upgrading for the Devouring Chains. Because of him upgrading through this method rather than the usual Upgrade Technique, it took a lot longer to actually upgrade.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel the passage of time, however. All he could think about was upgrading the chains in his hands. Right now, he was in the best ¡®state¡¯ of mind to upgrade.


    As soon as the Devouring Chains was upgraded to +8, Bai Yunfei took a moment to think. Curling his lips as if coming to a decision, he gripped at the chains with his left hand.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    The Devouring Chains shined this time with light different before. He was using the Upgrade Technique.


    He succeeded.


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. Was he displeased even with upgrading the chains with his Upgrade Technique??


    He exhaled slowly. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    The moment he gave the order to upgrade, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glinted with a strange light. Fast like lightning, his right hand rose up to the space above the chains three inches away from his left hand and swiped down!


    It was a strange piece of motion, but also a fast one. In the moment he tugged at the chains, there was a small ripple of energy that seemed to appear in the area around the chains, as if agitated by Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions. As quick as it appeared, however, the ripple dissipated fast enough that if anyone was potentially looking, all they would¡¯ve saw was Bai Yunfei swiping at thin air.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 2800


    Additional Attack: 1500


    Soul Compatibility: 33%


    Equipment Effect: Drain up to 10 soulpoints per second of any constricted target (One at the most).


    (Amount is determinant on the difference in strength between user and target).


    Amount of soulforce drained cannot exceed total soulforce reserve.


    +10 Additional Effect: Add an additional target that can be drained.


    Increase the amount of soulpoints drained per second to 15.


    Targets lose additional soulforce equivalent to 50% of their soulforce drained when breaking free.


    Upgrade Requirement: 180 Soulpoints


    As a result of his strange action, a set of notifications popped up into Bai Yunfei¡¯s head afterwards.


    ¡°It worked!!¡±


    His eyes lit up brilliantly in joy. In this one moment, Bai Yunfei had successfully ¡®changed¡¯ the upgrading outcome!!


    The ¡®Upgrade Failed¡¯ notification had only just started to pop up into his head a split-moment before he did anything. But before it could fully appear, he had moved his hand and consequently changed the outcome. The notification¡ªwhich had the failure message on it¡ª¡¯flickered¡¯ for a moment before it was turned into the ¡®Upgrade Successful¡¯ message!


    For a second time now, Bai Yunfei was able to change the upgrading outcome!!


    ¡°This is it! This is the feeling!¡± Bai Yunfei was lost in his own thoughts, muttering to himself about his new insights. The +10 additional effect of the Devouring Chains was already lost to him as he kept thinking.


    ¡°It can be done¡­..it really can be done¡­.¡± Eyes still bright, Bai Yunfei felt his heart pound furiously against his chest. ¡°Again!!¡± His eyes flew open in anticipation.


    Honing in on the chains, Bai Yunfei lifted it up to eye level.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    His hand got ready to move as he spoke the two words. His mind was fully-concentrated on the chains, waiting for the right moment to act.


    But¡­.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 2800


    Additional Attack: 1950


    Soul Compatibility: 43%


    Equipment Effect: Drain up to 10 soulpoints per second of any constricted target (One at the most).


    (Amount is determinant on the difference in strength between user and target).


    Amount of soulforce drained cannot exceed total soulforce reserve.


    +10 Additional Effect: Add an additional target that can be drained.


    Increase the amount of soulpoints drained per second to 15.


    Targets lose additional soulforce equivalent to 50% of their soulforce drained when breaking free.


    Upgrade Requirement: 180 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Uhm¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei froze up. His right hand hovered in midair for a good two seconds as he stared strangely at the notification.


    ¡°It¡­.the upgrade actually worked?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out. He was in disbelief as he stared at the chains, and just a little bit¡­..disappointed?!


    Even after a successful upgrade, he was feeling disappointed?


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what it is¡­..¡± He sighed and shook his head. The chains came up for him to take a second look at.


    In all honesty, Bai Yunfei really did feel ¡®disappointed¡¯. He was prepared to use whatever insights he had on this ¡®power¡¯ to alter the outcome of the upgrade¡ª


    ¡ªbut that moment never came. The upgrade stones weren¡¯t even needed as the Devouring Chains was immediately upgraded into a +11 rather than fail. He had been so prepared for the Upgrade Technique to fail so he could relish in that power to change the outcome again.


    Reality was reality in the end, however¡­..he had instead succeeded in upgrading the first time around! Needless to say, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t anticipated that.


    ¡°Should I try again then?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. There was hesitance in his voice.


    ¡°Nah¡­.it¡¯s too risky.¡±


    He shook his head.


    ¡°But what a shame! What a great big shame¡­.¡±


    Being in the ¡®state¡¯, or ¡®zone¡¯, was as quick to go as it was to come. The spark of enlightenment that hit Bai Yunfei was now gone, and Bai Yunfei no longer felt confident in his chances to change the outcome now. If he were to try, he would most definitely fail to succeed. And if he failed, then the +11 heaven-tier soul armament would be lost to him.


    And that would really be a crying shame.


    ¡­¡­


    Still, he learned a lot in these past few hours. That ¡®power¡¯ to be able to change the upgrading outcome felt a little more familiar to him now, and that was already a great big step in improvement.


    There¡¯d definitely be a day where he¡¯d be able to grasp and use that ¡®power¡¯!


    Calming down, Bai Yunfei this time looked at the chain to check on its stats.


    ¡°Another +11 heaven-tier soul armament, and its soul compatibility is forty-three percent somehow. If I upgrade it again, it¡¯ll become a soulbound armament.¡± Bai Yunfei quirked a smile. ¡°It¡¯s additional effect seems to¡­.increase the effects of the equipment effect and lower the soulforce of an enemy at the same time. Not bad¡­.¡±


    After a briefly study of the chains, Bai Yunfei stored it away into his space ring along with his cauldron. Stretching lazily, he strode out from the cave.


    ¡°It¡¯s already night time huh¡­.¡± He thought as he stared up at the starry canopus up above.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally done, Yunfei! I was starting to think you¡¯d be sleeping here for the night!¡±


    Xiao Qi immediately came to greet him when he came outside.


    Xiao Qi told him that Tang Xinyun and the others tried to come see him earlier in the evening, but since Bai Yunfei was busy repairing the Devouring Chains, they didn¡¯t want to disturb him. Waiting a while, they decided ultimately to go back and rest. Crafting and repairing armaments was a lengthy process, and sometimes it¡¯d take multiple days to do. Tang Xinyun and the others were no stranger to such an event, and so they didn¡¯t find it weird.


    ¡°Ah, well, let¡¯s go back and rest then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded and started for the road back to the academy.


    At the foot of the mountain, Bai Yunfei was only just walking past the gates into the academy when he took in the sights. Since it was already late at night, the entire Tianhun Academy was deathly quiet and dim. As he walked across the paved ground, Bai Yunfei could even hear his own footsteps.


    Up ahead was a building several dozen meters tall. It was chairman Mo¡¯s ¡®library¡¯.


    ¡°Bzz¡­..¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei was a hundred meters away from the library, a strange sound started to hum into his ears. At the same time, the ground beneath him was starting to shake!


    This sound was coming from down below!!

 Chapter 685: Intruder

    Bai Yunfei came to a sudden stop at this intrusion of sound and looked down to his feet.


    ¡°What powerful elemental earth¡­.what¡¯s going on?!¡±


    If not for his power of perception, the sudden spike in elemental earth would¡¯ve escaped his notice.


    Two short moments after it went by, Bai Yunfei saw something from the left suddenly spark up in a brilliant shade of orange. The ground near the center of the lights rippled outwards like water for a moment before it started to rise and¡­.let a single person explode out from it!!


    The person ¡®leapt¡¯ out from the ground like a fish out of water. As the person slipped out, the two halves of the ground seemingly melded together to turn into solid earth once again.


    The appearance of this person startled Bai Yunfei. Prior to this moment, he hadn¡¯t thought someone else would be able to get this close to him without him noticing it beforehand!


    He leapt backwards ten steps in precaution, adopting a defensive positioning against this person. ¡°Who are you?!¡±


    Having just appeared out from the ground, the man spat hatefully onto it when he resurfaced. When he realized Bai Yunfei was there, he looked surprised for a moment before immediately growing furious with killing intent! No sooner did Bai Yunfei shout out to him did the person bring their right hand up and thrust it into his direction!


    A powerful amount of soulforce gathered around the palm before it disseminated into the air. The next thing Bai Yunfei felt was the earth around him starting to shake and glow with orange light. And then after several crackling sounds, nearly a hundred sharp points began to jut out from the ground to stab into Bai Yunfei!!


    ¡°Grrrrrrnnnnnnn¡­¡­¡±


    Like if the stone spikes were iron, they started to strike against each other with a chafing sound, completely encapsulating the area where Bai Yunfei was!


    Whomever was standing in the center of it all surely would¡¯ve been filled with more holes than a hornet¡¯s nest¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    All was still for a second before a different shade of orange light started to shine between the cracks before blowing all the spikes apart. Clanging loudly, the spikes disintegrated away to reveal an orange sphere in the middle, and Bai Yunfei standing inside.


    He stared at the enemy with an ominous expression. This person had tried to kill him without even saying a word. If not for his fast reflexes, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve lost his life here.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Having planned on killing Bai Yunfei quickly, the person looked startled at their failure. The person hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. Then in a burst of orange light, the person took off to the left to try to escape from the area.


    ¡°Trying to run?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes followed after the person. ¡°Xiao Qi!¡± He barked.


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    The bird took off from his shoulder at his command. Transforming larger in size, he flapped his wings once and sent five Spatial Edges at the person!


    ¡°Spatial tears!!¡±


    The person cried out in astonishment and stopping dead in their tracks to allow the five Spatial Edges to fly past them. From their voice, the person was revealed to be a rather elderly person.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A red streak of light shot towards the elder at this moment of distraction. Moving swiftly like a snake, the light coiled around the elder¡¯s right leg!


    ¡°Ho!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, surprised that he ¡®caught¡¯ onto the person so easily. He activated the Devouring Chain¡¯s effects as soon as he saw it connect.


    The Devouring Chains shined darkly for a moment before seemingly turning into a pipe of some kind to transmit soulforce into Bai Yunfei.


    The elder¡¯s eyes flew wide open as soon as they felt their soulforce start to be drained away into the soul armament. ¡°The Devouring Chains!! You¡¯re from the Re¡ª¡±


    The person broke off from their sentence, their head turning abruptly to the left in panic. With another ¡®tsk¡¯, the elder revealed their aura at once. Orange light spilled out from the person¡¯s body as their power started to grow exponentially. With a small sneer, the person shook their right leg and shot upwards¡ªthe Devouring Chain had been shaken off without even a second of resistance!!


    Bai Yunfei gave pause after the explosion of power, ¡°A Soul King!¡±


    He had thought the person was only a late-stage Soul Exalt before, but the person was actually a Soul King instead! But with an aura like that, this was only an early-stage Soul King and not a mid-stage one. That meant this was still a fightable battle.


    The elder didn¡¯t even spare Bai Yunfei a second glance after the Devouring Chains was thrown off. Scanning the area, the elder took off towards the west as fast as possible, but the person didn¡¯t get far before a beam of light flew forward to slash down onto their face!


    At some point during this altercation, a third person had entered the fight! This newcomer was relatively short and had a sword on their back almost as long as they were tall. The moment when that beam of energy was blocked by the elder, the newcomer could be seen resheathing the sword back into its sheath.


    This person was¡­.the assistant chairman, Wu Dijian!


    With their path forward blocked by Bai Yunfei, the other side by Wu Dijian, and a third by Xiao Qi, the elder glanced around furiously. Hesitating for a split moment, the elder immediately fled towards the one direction not covered!


    The direction to the north of the academy where the Training Forest was!


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Dijian looked around the area when he first appeared. He already saw that the person was trying to flee towards the north, but he was surprised to see Bai Yunfei here. ¡°Bai Yunfei? What are you doing here?!¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not safe here, hurry on back!¡±


    Wu Dijian was already shouting for Bai Yunfei to go back though. Not even waiting for a response, the swordsman looked off towards the escaping person. ¡°Hm¡­.coming when the headmaster isn¡¯t here, are they trying to get the attention of ¡®that¡¯? But having someone that isn¡¯t even a mid-stage Soul King¡­.they really aren¡¯t treating me with any respect¡­.¡±


    With that, Wu Dijian took off into a blur of dark green light to give chase.


    In the blink of an eye, the two people were beyond the Back Mountain. With them two gone, the area around the library was back to its normal quietness as if nothing had even happened in the first place¡­.


    Bai Yunfei stared at the two people flying away for a moment before looking away, ¡°Well¡­.what¡¯s going on here?


    ¡°An intruder in Tianhun Academy? They¡¯re clearly not here for anything good, but who are they?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself, eyeing the ground beneath him where the elder had appeared from. ¡°That person¡­.was looking for something, maybe? What...was he looking for?¡±


    He spread his soulsense out as he spoke, letting it travel towards the Training Forest.


    ¡°Eh?¡± No sooner did his soulsense reach a hundred meters away did he feel a strange energy prevent it from going any further!


    ¡°Strange¡­¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. This barrier wasn¡¯t something he could break. Did that Soul King from earlier fail to get across the barrier as well then?


    ¡°Forget it. Secrets of the academy are obviously secrets¡­..¡± Bai Yunfei sighed after a while. Preparing to leave in the opposite direction of Wu Dijian¡¯s direction, Bai Yunfei decided that whatever was going on, it didn¡¯t involve him.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Roar!!!!¡±


    But several steps later, a faint roar could be heard from the north.


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop several stops later at the sound. Turning his head back, he exclaimed, ¡°This voice¡­.


    ¡°That¡¯s Xiao Lan!!¡± He cried out in surprise.


    Stunned, Bai Yunfei whipped his head back to look at the direction of the cry, ¡°Could this be¡­.oh no! Xiao Qi, we¡¯re going!!¡±


    Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei took out his Tempest Sword and took off into the skies in a blaze of green light. Xiao Qi took off after him, flying with speed no slower than Bai Yunfei.

 Chapter 686: Xiao Lans Battle

    The depths of the Training Forest was normally a quiet place to be. But right now, it was a place filled with noise and light.


    A giant beast three stories tall could be seen thrashing about in the forest. Cloaked in blue light as it thrashed underneath a giant mountain, the giant beast swiped out with its claws and swung its tail to fight.


    This giant ¡®beast¡¯ was without a doubt a blue-eyes wyrm. Fighting with all its might, the wyrm was trying to attack what seemed to be an orange housefly flying around it.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Another furious roar exploded from the wyrm. Eyes glinting with a fearsome light, the wyrm leaned backwards and swung its giant tail out. It crashed against the mountainside with a resounding crash and sent dust and stone flying everywhere. Large pieces of stone shrapnel were sent out like a barrage from the impact zone to pelt at the orange figure.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    There was a sneer from within the orange light. A hand could be seen waving once, and then right in front of the orange light appeared a giant wall made of elemental earth. There was a crashing sound as the tail came smashing into it. Though the wall crumbled, the tail was sent flying back!


    The right hand of the person within the orange light waved around again. A beam of orange light shot forth like an arrow to strike at the tail of the wyrm. Seemingly piercing through its elemental defense, the arrow struck into the wyrm¡¯s flesh with a sickening squelsh!


    Blood poured down like rain as the wyrm let loose a pain-filled roar. Not at all weakening from its wound, the wyrm swept to the right with a determined glare. Roaring loudly, it let loose a beam of elemental water to strike down the enemy!


    The person in orange didn¡¯t seem like they were wanting to even fight the wyrm. Blocking the attack, the person cast a glance over to the left. Pausing for a moment, the person snarled and then flew to the left. From the looks of it, it seemed the person wanted to leave this place as fast as possible.


    But no sooner did the person move did the elemental attack of the wyrm come into his trajectory to stop them!


    ¡°Damn!!¡± The person howled in anger. Killing intent kicking up by a notch, the person whirled around to stare at the wyrm and raised their right hand up. As if consolidating to become a sword, the energy around their hand then extended outwards to slash at the wyrm!


    So much energy had gathered around the hand that it looked like a giant sword a hundred meters tall to strike down the wyrm!


    ¡°Roarrr!!!¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm stared at the incoming attack with angered determination. Roaring loudly, it brought both its short forelimbs up and gathered as much power it had as a peak late-stage class six soulbeast. Elemental water converged all around the top of its head before forming a giant barrier to protect the wyrm from the incoming blade of elemental earth!


    It was trying to stop the attack of a Soul King!


    Even the earth-type Soul King was surprised the wyrm was trying to do so.


    As was Bai Yunfei when he got within a kilometer of the two and saw what was going on.


    ¡°Xiao Lan!!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out in alarm. Pushing even more soulforce to his feet, Bai Yunfei called out his Cataclysmic Seal and had the fireseed inside it fuse into his own chest for preparation for battle.


    ¡°Hold on you two!!¡± Suddenly, a person came flying out from the side to stop Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi.


    It was Wu Dijian.


    Bai Yunfei looked incensed that Wu Dijian was stopping him, ¡°Assistant chairman Wu, what do you mean by this?! Why are we not fighting that person? That soulbeast is a friend of mine, I must go help it, so don¡¯t stop me!¡±


    Wu Dijian looked a little unhappy at Bai Yunfei¡¯s anger, ¡°Bai Yunfei, what are you in a hurry for? Take a good look at the situation. With senior Long Zhen nearby, what right have you to interfere?¡±


    ¡°Senior Long Zhen?¡±


    Bai Yunfei repeated numbly before staring to where Wu Dijian was pointing at. Two kilometers away to the right, there stood a single at the edge of the battlefield. This person was a little hard to see with it being night time, so if it weren¡¯t for Wu Dijian¡¯s pointing, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve missed this person entirely.


    As if sensing that Bai Yunfei was looking at them, the person raised their head to stare back. At the same time, Bai Yunfei heard a gentle voice transmit itself into his mind.


    ¡°Have no fear. This old man is quite confident in his strength.¡±


    This voice¡ªit really was Long Zhen! Bai Yunfei nearly gasped at the voice.


    This sensation felt extremely similar to the mental link his Charm Bracelet was capable of...Soul Communication! This was something only a late-stage Soul King was capable of doing!


    That reassured Bai Yunfei almost immediately. Though surprised by how Long Zhen spoke, he was now completely confident that the blue-eyes wyrm was no longer in any real danger.


    With Long Zhen there, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have to do anything.


    ¡°Yunfei, what is senior Long Zhen trying to do?! How is Xiao Lan even going to win against that person? Are we really not going to help him? Xiao Lan¡¯s going to get killed!¡±


    Unlike Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi was still in a flux. He observed the battle with unease as he spoke to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you see? Senior Long Zhen is trying to draw out the the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s latent power so it can breakthrough¡­.is that wyrm close to becoming a class seven then? Fighting a battle like this is the best way to breakthrough then.¡±


    Wu Dijian answered casually. He was watching the battle take place with some interest.


    ¡°I see¡­..¡±


    Bai Yunfei understood the meaning behind that. It was in the moments of greatest danger that one would have a great chance to breakthrough. He himself was no stranger to opportunities like that, Bai Yunfei just never thought that Long Zhen would be employing a method like that to train the wyrm.


    Compared to his own experiences, the wyrm was in an extremely ¡®safe¡¯ situation. With the master watching nearby, there wouldn¡¯t be any chance of danger getting out of hand.


    ¡­¡­


    As they were speaking, the battle between the Soul King and the blue-eyes wyrm had already underwent several developments.


    The barrier the wyrm put all its energy into had only lasted against the elemental earth for a scant few seconds before it burst apart with a loud bang. The force of the blow had been strong enough to cause the ground beneath the wyrm to crater even deeper, and the wyrm itself was bent down in fatigue. Blood could be seen dripping from its many wounds onto the ground like rain.


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    Another pain-filled roar erupted from the wyrm as it staggered two steps back, still reeling from the blow. It crashed against the mountain behind it, and the remaining energy from the previous blow had dissipated soon afterwards. Raising its head to look back at the enemy, the wyrm wanted to try and attack again, but it couldn¡¯t even gather any more soulforce anymore. Eyes brimming with reluctance, the wyrm gave a deep grumble from its bloody jaws and began to form elemental water in front of it. The convergence of the elemental water looked a little unsteady, as if it was ready to collapse at any second. But somehow, the elemental water grew denser and denser in color and energy and¡­.had a tint of black in it!!


    As if some sort of power had suddenly awakened inside the wyrm, everyone could feel a strange energy emanate from it. It wasn¡¯t very powerful, but it gave a very gloomy sensation to the senses.


    But it didn¡¯t matter just what kind of transformation was taking place inside the wyrm¡ªit was already in a state where it could hardly even stand. If the earth-type Soul King bothered to strike, the wyrm would be killed!


    The eyes of the earth-type Soul King lit up at the opportunity. With another raise of their right hand, the nearby mountain started to tremble and the boulders on it started to avalanche. By his command, the boulders slowly rose into the air, encapsulated by elemental earth, and transformed into giant bullets as they sped towards the injured wyrm!


    As soon as the boulders were sent out, the earth-type Soul King immediately took off in the opposite direction! The Soul King didn¡¯t even care to see if it hit, they just wanted to get away as soon as possible!

 Chapter 687: The Power of Long Zhen: Soul Extraction!

    The earth-type Soul King had only one goal, and killing the blue-eyes white wyrm wasn¡¯t it. As long as the Soul King could get the expert watching the battle from far away distracted enough in trying to save the wyrm, the Soul King would hopefully be able to get away.


    The Soul King felt so much regret that he wanted to die right now. He had only gone into the Training Forest because of an on-the-spot judgement call. As he was thinking himself lucky in not coming across any blockades, this damnable class six soulbeast came into his path. Though normally he¡¯d be able to kill such soulbeasts with a flick of his finger, this one was somehow stopping him!


    The many powerful soulbeasts in the Training Forest wasn¡¯t unknown to him, and he also felt it extremely fortunate that none of the class seven soulbeasts came over to him. He felt a little worried when the auras of Wu Dijian and Bai Yunfei came to a stop a little farther away, but the bigger fear on his mind was¡­..he could feel an even greater danger somewhere in the nearby vicinity. It was just his ¡®intuition¡¯ speaking, but even for those in the Soul King realm, ¡®intuition¡¯ was something many people relied heavily on in order to live.


    Hence why the Soul King was in such a desperate rush to leave this place.


    The Soul King was also feeling a little furious at his current predicament.


    While he infiltrated Tianhun Academy by himself, he had a comrade that was meant to coordinate and plan with him, but right now, neither rescue or support was coming!


    But that wasn¡¯t very important right now. He had only one thought on his mind, and that was to¡­.escape with all his might!


    The attack was just twenty meters away from the wyrm by now, and it didn¡¯t seem like either Wu Dijian or Bai Yunfei would make a move¡ªthis made the Soul King very happy.


    But then a sneer immediately vanquished any single hope he had left¡­.


    ¡°Hmph!!!¡±


    A relatively silent voice spoke out from the skies, almost so faint that people thought they were just hearing things. But it was real. As if activated by that sneer, the entire area around the Soul King froze up!


    It really was as if the world froze. Like a silent picture, everything went still in the air.


    Even the giant boulders flying at the blue-eyes white wyrm seemed to pause in the air just ten meters away. Likewise, the earth-type Soul King froze there like a statue. Even the light around his body wasn¡¯t moving an inch!


    The world froze for a second before without warning, it went back into motion yet again.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An explosion rung through the area as soon as everything was back to normal. The boulder that had been so close to claiming the wyrm¡¯s life had suddenly exploded into fine dust! It scattered into the air and across the wyrm¡¯s face, but it did nothing to exacerbate the wyrm¡¯s wounds.


    When the earth-type Soul King regained control over himself, the Soul King looked panic-stricken and remained stuck to his spot!


    A single person had somehow reached the front of him!!


    This person wore gray robes and had grizzly-white hair. Almost as if he had been there the entire time, this person stared at the earth-type Soul King with a calm look.


    This person was Long Zhen!


    ¡°You¡­¡± The earth-type Soul King¡¯s eyes widened and his pupils dilated to the size of needles. Then like a coiled spring, the Soul King launched himself backwards with all his might to try and retreat backwards.


    But before a single step could even be taken, the stare in Long Zhen¡¯s eyes intensified for a moment with a glimmer of light. Simultaneously, the earth-type Soul King came to an immediate stop! Even the soulforce in the Soul King¡¯s body was squashed down! There was a grunt from the Soul King, and then his eyes grew unfocused!


    This was¡­.a soul attack!!


    If a soul attack could cause such a reaction from an early-stage Soul King like this one, it only stood to reason that Long Zhen was a terrifyingly strong person¡­.


    Then came an event that fully cemented just how terrifying Long Zhen was¡­..


    Still staring at the frozen earth-type Soul King, Long Zhen slowly reached out with his right hand and pressed it against the Soul King¡¯s head.


    Then¡­..


    ¡°Agggghhhh!!!!!¡±


    A shriek of pain erupted from the earth-type Soul King¡¯s mouth! His eyes were as wide as dinner plates now, bulging so much that they almost seemed like they would pop out from his head. His jaw was stretched wide open to scream loud enough to make his throat hoarse, and his body was spasming as if shocked by lightning for an extremely grotesque sight!


    This chilling sight continued for two seconds longer before Long Zhen grunted and took away his right hand and brought it upwards.


    What Bai Yunfei saw next nearly saw to his heart coming to a stop almost.


    When Long Zhen¡¯s right hand detached from the earth-type Soul King¡¯s head, it looked as if he was grabbing something out from the Soul King¡¯s head. Then when it pulled away, there really did was ¡®something¡¯ being pulled out!


    A black ¡®shadow¡¯ could be seen in his hand, seemingly coming from the interior of the Soul King¡¯s head to be pulled out by Long Zhen!


    When this black ¡®shadow¡¯ was pulled out, the earth-type Soul King stopped screaming immediately. His body stiffened at once as if really becoming like a statue, and then¡­.he dropped from the skies!


    There was no soulforce left in his body!


    ¡°Soul Extraction!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei heard Wu Dijian exclaim under his breath. Turning his head, he saw Wu Dijian staring at Long Zhen in shock. The older man looked as if he wanted to say something, but had thought the better of it and said nothing.


    ¡°Soul¡­..Soul Extraction??¡± Bai Yunfei rolled the two words over on his tongue in confusion.


    Then his eyes flickered back onto the black ¡®shadow¡¯ in Long Zhen¡¯s hand, ¡°Is¡­.is that the ¡®soul¡¯ of the Soul King?!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t seeing things¡ªthis black ¡®shadow¡¯ he was looking at right now looked exactly like that of a person¡¯s silhouette! But the most important thing was that he could feel an unbelievable amount of soulforce from the shadow!


    It was soulforce at its very essence! An intangible state of being that could very much be said to be pure energy¡ªthe energy of soulforce!


    ¡­¡­


    Just as Bai Yunfei was trying to digest this inexplicably amazing sight, Long Zhen gave one last look at the soul energy in his hand and then at the head in front of him with a small smile. With a shake of his hand, the soul was¡­..thrown away!


    The black shadow sailed through the air and traveled several kilometers before ¡®hitting¡¯.....the blue-eyes white wyrm! Rather than bounce off, the soul simply melted into its head!


    Originally, the blue-eyes white wyrm had been bent down low to the ground, growling slightly in fatigue. Its black and blue energy was flickering and trembling around its body, flickering as if they would be extinguished at any second. The moment when the soul entered its body, the wyrm froze up. The minute tremblings of its body started to grow even more fearsome, and then after a few seconds, it brought its head up to let loose a heaven-shattering roar!


    ¡°Roarrrrrr!!!!¡±


    Soulforce poured out from the blue-eyes white wyrm like never before. The black and blue energies in its body exploded in intensity before taking material form as two twisters of energy to swirl and protect its body!


    As Bai Yunfei looked on in both confusion and shock, he heard Wu Dijian right next to him sigh. ¡°As expected as Long Zhen, he¡¯s capable of something like ¡®Soul Extraction¡¯....Haha, with ¡®luck¡¯ like this, breaking through to become a class seven will definitely not be a problem for it¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was even more surprised at Wu Dijian¡¯s words, though his eyes lit up with a great deal of joy.


    Was Xiao Lan really on the verge of becoming a class seven soulbeast?!

 Chapter 688: Xiao Lans Breakthrough

    The black and blue energies that wrapped around Xiao Lan like twisters started to calm down almost immediately. Shrinking and wrapping around the wyrm, it soon became a giant black and blue cocoon about three stories tall to cover the wyrm completely. Cut off from the world, the only thing that could be felt inside it was the wyrm¡¯s soulforce and nothing else.


    Bai Yunfei stared nervously at the cocoon, watching intently on just what was going on to Xiao Lan. He saw a person flicker to their side, and then Long Zhen¡¯s person came into sight right next to Wu Dijian. He hesitated for a second before taking Xiao Qi over to greet him.


    When he arrived in front of Long Zhen, Bai Yunfei bowed and spoke, ¡°This junior pays his respects to senior Long.¡±


    Long Zhen gave him a curt nod. Appraising Bai Yunfei, Long Zhen looked slightly surprised, ¡°It has been but a moment since we last met, and yet you¡¯ve become a peak late-stage Soul Exalt already? Hm...very good. You are as talented as I expected.¡±


    Bai Yunfei took the praise in stride, ¡°Senior praises this one too much. It was but only a fortunate matter.¡±


    Wu Dijian too ka second look at Bai Yunfei at this. Although he was surprised at the leap in Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength, now wasn¡¯t the time to be talking about it. Turning to Long Zhen, he spoke, ¡°Senior Long Zhen, that person was hidden underneath the academy library, but we know not his identity¡­.¡±


    Long Zhen smiled. ¡°Worry not, this old man scanned through his soul when I Extracted it and learned plenty enough. This person is a wandering soul cultivator from the Brocade Province. His name is Zhang Fanren. As you surmised, he was trying to infiltrate the academy and get ¡®its¡¯ attention. However, I was unable to find any information on the real mastermind. The most important information was hidden deep in his soul and I was unable to retrieve it. He has a few comrades with him, but since they¡¯re not here, they must¡¯ve fled by now¡­.¡±


    ¡°Soul Scan!!¡± Bai Yunfei took a half-step back. Just as the name applied, the ability to scan souls meant one was able to look through one¡¯s soul and view their memories!


    ¡°So¡­.something like that is possible!¡± He exclaimed to himself. He himself was capable of something similar to this¡ªlike in the case of Qiu Bailu. By using the effect of the Charm Bracelet, Bai Yunfei was able to sift through Qiu Bailu¡¯s memories. But he was only able to do that through a combination of luck and the application of his Charm Bracelet¡¯s additional effect. Long Zhen was able to do the same thing with just a lift of his hand!


    He wasn¡¯t using the effect of an equipment or anything, this was just the application of his actual strength!


    ¡°When one becomes strong enough like that, will they be able to scan souls easily like that?¡± Bai Yunfei questioned, ¡°But¡­.what kind of level is that? A late-stage Soul King? Or maybe even¡­.stronger than that?¡±


    Wu Dijian narrowed his eyes at the name. ¡°Zhang Fanren? I¡¯ve heard of him before, but never did I hear anything about him joining any group¡­.why is he here in the Capital? And if he was hiding underneath the library means he was prepared for this. His comrades¡­.who are they?¡±


    He looked over to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Bai Yunfei, you were the first to see him, right? Was there anything out of the ordinary when you saw him?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°I was only passing by the library when I saw him leap out from the ground. I saw him try to leave right before you came, but nothing out of the ordinary.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­.then there¡¯s no clues then¡­.¡± Wu Dijian sighed in sorrow. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll speak to the chairman when he gets back. Not like this is the first time this happened. There¡¯ll always be people who are plotting for ¡®it¡¯. Not strange at all¡­.¡±


    His mutterings surprised Bai Yunfei, ¡®not strange at all¡¯?! An intruder coming into the academy was¡­.¡¯normal¡¯?!


    And¡­.¡¯it¡¯??


    Bai Yunfei was curious. He already heard that there was ¡®something¡¯ underneath the academy, but to have people actually spying on ¡®it¡¯....what in the world was it??


    As curious as he was, Bai Yunfei knew better than to think about things he didn¡¯t have the answer to. Whatever ¡®it¡¯ was, it was a giant secret and a problem for the seniors to worry about. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t nearly strong enough to be allowed in on this ring of seniors and had no right to know about whatever it was.


    ¡­¡­


    Afterwards, Wu Dijian cleaned up Zhang Fanren¡¯s body while Long Zhen observed the blue-eyes wyrm¡¯s situation. Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi both stood nearby to watch the wyrm nervously.


    A group came by some time later to speak with Wu Dijian. They conversed softly to one another for a moment before leaving together, indicating that they were from the academy and were here to investigate the source of the intrusion.


    Bai Yunfei had never seen these people before, but they were all Soul Kings!


    As things would appear, the object underneath the library was something extraordinarily important if the strongest of the academy were all here to come investigate the matter.


    Time went by slowly after that. The moon was already drawing to an end on the other side of the horizon when all of a sudden, the wyrm suddenly lit up up in energy!


    The night sky was interrupted by a tremendous outburst of energy. Shining and dazzling in light as it shined, the energy illuminated the area for an entire kilometer. Countless rays of black and blue light shone from the wyrm and then reconverged back onto it.


    ¡°Elemental water and elemental darkness¡­.? When did Xiao Lan have an affinity for darkness? I remember that it only had an affinity for water when I first met him¡­..what in the world happened to Xiao Lan in that small moment we were apart in the Soulbeast Forest?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself in confusion over the wyrm¡¯s elemental darkness. He did notice before that Xiao Lan had a second affinity in it, but it wasn¡¯t very clear before. Right now, Bai Yunfei could clearly tell this second affinity was for elemental darkness, and right now, it was almost as strong as its affinity for elemental water¡ªwhich was very odd.


    All of the elemental energy within a kilometer radius of the wyrm was forcibly attracted to where the wyrm stood. Before long, the wyrm was completely surrounded by a large ball of elemental energy so massive that Bai Yunfei took a step back in fear. Wisps of soulforce could be felt from within the ball of energy, and it was slowly growing stronger and stronger¡­.


    The owner of that soulforce was the blue-eyes wyrm!


    ¡°Roarrr!!!!!¡±


    A draconic roar exploded into the air from where the wyrm stood. Like a surging torrent of water, the elemental energy in the area started to whirl around with the wyrm standing at the center!


    With every breath, Bai Yunfei could see a blue and black ball of elemental energy grow in size. Pulsating like a heart, the ball of energy had light shine from its body with each ¡®pulse¡¯. Slowly, the ball started compress bit by bit. From several hundred meters to a hundred meters, then from several dozen meters to just ten meters¡­.


    Finally, the bicolored ball of energy shrunk to about three meters in diameter, but still big enough to fully hide the blue-eyes wyrm from sight!


    But its soulforce was completely hidden inside of the ball!


    ¡­¡­


    Long Zhen smiled at the sight from his position far away. ¡°Haha, it¡¯s finally over.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement as he tried to see just what was going on within the ball of energy and light.


    ¡°Crack¡­..¡±


    There was a sharp cracking sound as a single line ran through the ball of energy, shattering the silence that had been there before. A dazzling glow of light poured out from the crack, and with it, a tremendous wave of soulforce exploded outwards!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The cracks over the ball of energy multiplied before a joyful cry could be heard from within. Like two halves of a shell, the ball of energy fell apart to reveal a large but built man inside!!


    Blue and black light shined from behind the man so his face couldn¡¯t be seen. However, this man was gigantic in size in that he looked to be at least two meters tall. He was muscular in frame and was like a tower of intimidating muscle.


    Needless to say, this man was the blue-eyes wyrm!


    It¡­.no, the wyrm was now a he¡­.


    He was finally a class seven soulbeast and was now capable of taking human form!!

 Chapter 689: Long Lan

    The massive flow of energy slowly started to ebb away from Xiao Lan as he observed his new body in delight. Seemingly trying to open his mouth, Xiao Lan looked as if he was trying to speak and say something in his excitement.


    He snapped out from his excitement a brief moment later to turn his head and fly on over to where Bai Yunfei and Long Zhen were.


    ¡°Master.¡±


    Xiao Lan spoke in happiness as he greeted his master respectfully. His voice was gravelly and a little deep-sounding, but also very straightforward.


    There was a look of affection on Long Zhen¡¯s face, who nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Very well, you¡¯ve done your master well.¡±


    He retrieved a set of gray robes and handed it over to Xiao Lan, ¡°But first put on some clothes.¡±


    Xiao Lan was naked at this moment!


    Xiao Lan lit up with excitement once again after being praised by his master. Taking the set of robes and putting it on, he looked to Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi next with a rather silly-looking smile. ¡°Yunfei, Xiao Qi, you¡¯re both here too I see.¡±


    Now could Bai Yunfei see his body clearly. Xiao Lan was quite obviously a head taller than he was and was of a stockier built. Both his arms and legs were quite thick, and his muscles were as hard as stone almost. Despite the ¡®intimidating¡¯ appearance he had, his aura was rather childish. His hair was short and was no longer than an inch all over his head. His eyes, while large, were more pure rather than ¡®evil¡¯, making him look a bit like a blockhead.


    If not for the familiar soulforce he could feel from this person, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve refused to believe this person was the very same blue-eyes wyrm. The transformation from soulbeast to human felt a little too sudden for him to take in.


    ¡°Haha, Xi¡­.Xiao Lan, congratulations. You¡¯ve finally become a class seven.¡±


    To call such a ¡®man¡¯ ¡®Xiao Lan¡¯ felt far too strange, Bai Yunfei had barely been able to say it.


    Xiao Lan didn¡¯t seem to care, however. He merely smiled in response. ¡°Haha!! I have! I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d really be able to breakthrough this quickly, but it was all thanks to master¡¯s guidance! Haha¡­.I forgot to tell you, master has already given me a name, I am now¡­..Long Lan!¡±


    ¡°Long Lan?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated the name before nodding. ¡°Haha, then congratulations on having a proper name now. I¡¯ll be sure to call you that from now on.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Lan, you¡¯ve finally become a class seven, congratulations!¡± Xiao Qi flapped his wings on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders without at all caring for Xiao Lan¡¯s new name. At the same time, the bird gave him an inquisitive look, ¡°But¡­.how¡¯d you turn into something like this?? You¡¯re like a mountain, stupid and heavy. You probably won¡¯t be able to walk through some of the smaller doors, what¡¯s so good about your new height then?¡±


    Long Lan paused briefly for a moment, not expecting such an answer. A short second after, he smirked, ¡°Che, what¡¯s so bad about being tall? Don¡¯t you think I look far more ¡®formidable¡¯ now? Haha¡­..I¡¯m a class seven like you now AND I can take human form!! Didn¡¯t you say before I wouldn¡¯t be able to humanize? Well how about now? Hmph¡­.¡±


    Pleased with his retort, he gave a stunning smirk and stroked his chin.


    ¡°Hmph! What¡¯s so good about humanizing anyways. I¡¯ll be able to do that sooner or later!!¡± Xiao Qi chirped in annoyance. ¡°Besides, even if you¡¯re a class seven and can humanize, it doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re stronger than me!¡±


    ¡°Hey, that might not be true! I¡¯m a lot stronger than I used to be, I¡¯m sure I can beat you now!¡±


    ¡°Keep dreaming! You never beat me when we were both class six, it won¡¯t be any different now!¡±


    ¡°The past is the past, and the present is the present. If you¡¯re so scared, why don¡¯t we fight?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s fight then, I¡¯m not afraid of you!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed and shook his head at the banter between Xiao Qi and Long Lan. ¡°Alright you two,¡± he interjected, ¡°you¡¯ve both said your piece. Now that you¡¯re both class sevens, you shouldn¡¯t be acting like children, will it hurt if you two act more like your actual strengths? In any case, senior Long Zhen is present, stop being a bother to him.¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s quite alright.¡± Long Zhen chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t try to change who you are just because you¡¯ve gotten stronger. A child as ¡®pure¡¯ as this is something this old man hasn¡¯t seen in a very long time, how excellent¡­.¡±


    He turned to Long Lan.


    ¡°However, now that you are a class seven, you must earnestly try to cultivate and stabilize your strength. Say goodbye to your two friends for now, you can speak with them another da.¡±


    Bai Yunfei immediately spoke to Long Lan in response, ¡°Train well, Long Lan, go with senior Long Zhen and cultivate.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Long Lan nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be going back with master first then. I¡¯ll come look for you two when I¡¯m done.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The skies was barely starting to light when Bai Yunfei came out from the Training Forest. Feeling a little fatigued, Bai Yunfei headed straight home and collapsed onto his bed to rest.


    He had spent the majority of today trying to repair the Devouring Chains and then upgrading it, then in the middle of the night, he also had to look over Long Lan. He really wanted to sleep.


    He fell into a nice and sound slumber soon afterwards. By the time he woke up and strode out from his room refreshed, it was already nearing the end of the day.


    At a second glance, Bai Yunfei realized Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t here. By using their soul contract, he could sense that Xiao Qi was within the academy.


    ¡°That kid, did he go looking for Xiao Bai?¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, a faint smile on his lips.


    Exiting his compound, Bai Yunfei first headed for the Soothing Heart. He wanted to tell Dan Teng that the tear in his soul was fully healed, so he needn¡¯t come to the Soothing Heart twice a day for some Soul Consolidating Tea anymore.


    After that, he headed straight for the academy.


    The more he drew close to the academy, the more students he saw on the way. Clumped in groups of twos and threes, a greater number of students than usual were walking out from the academy, many of them bidding farewell to one another.


    Today, as it seemed, was the final day of instructions for the year. Plenty of students were preparing to leave the academy and return home for a reunion.


    Bai Yunfei prepared for this ¡®weekend¡¯ to be the final day of instructions as well. Telling his students there¡¯d be a test, then the class would be adjourned for three months in observance of the break.


    Bai Yunfei walked through the sixth year area on the way and straight towards where the dormitories of the crafting class were. As he drew close, a group of people were just on their way out.


    He could recognize most of them: Tang Xinyun, Kou Tingting, Fang Tianmeng, Fang Yong, Zheng Kai, Mo Chen, and even Ye Ming.


    Likewise, the people in the group recognized Bai Yunfei when he got close. It was Zheng Kai who spoke out first, ¡°Hey, you still came here, Yunfei? We heard about what happened last night from Xiao Qi, are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°I didn¡¯t take part in the fight, so I wasn¡¯t injured. Where are you all going?¡±


    ¡°Ah, well, we were on our way to eat dinner.¡±


    Bai Yunfei eyed the group, ¡°And the others?¡± He asked Mo Chen.


    ¡°Big brother Ouyang and the others had to go.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. Suddenly realizing someone was missing from their group, he gave a double take. ¡°Eh? Where¡¯s Doraemon?!¡±


    ¡°Little Rui and the Fifth Princess went to the Palace to play, I think they won¡¯t be back until later.¡± Tang Xinyun smiled.


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked, ¡°The Palace? And¡­.with the Fifth Princess?¡±


    ¡°Yes, haha. The Fourth Prince came by earlier this afternoon with the Fifth Princess. She met little Rui at the time and the two got along great enough for the princess to invite her to the Palace, so they¡¯re both there now¡­.¡±


    ¡°.....¡± Bai Yunfei was astonished, Doraemon was with the princess Wu Ping?? Were the two of them really such good friends already? While he did want to introduce the two sooner or later, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t think they¡¯d go ahead and meet by themselves and get along so easily.


    And the two were already such good friends that they were both in the Palace of all places for their playdate¡­.

 Chapter 690: Vacation Plans

    The group chattered with one another as they walked out from the academy. Watching the students thin from here on out, Bai Yunfei looked back to Mo Chen and the others, ¡°Now that the academy is in recess, do you plan on going back home, Mo Chen?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, most of us are going to go back home. My home¡¯s a little far in the Prosperous Hill Province. Big brother Ye Ming and Zhang Zhifeng both live even farther. Even with an airship, it¡¯ll take them ten days at least.¡±


    Airships, as it was known on the continent, were ¡®advanced¡¯ forms of transportation. Like a Way Stone, airships were a relatively modern invention introduced to the continent. Simply put, they are flying-type soul armaments on a very large scale. While not relatively fast compared to their tiny counterparts, they were long-lasting and quite practical.


    Even Soul Kings aren¡¯t capable of flying several consecutive days non-stop. Their bodies would get worn down sooner or later, and their soulforce would have to be replenished. Airships on the other hand were powered by plenty of wind-type primal stones and the soulforce of multiple ¡®aviators¡¯ who¡¯d switch off day and night to power it.


    Of course, crafting such a massive vehicle like an airship required a staggering cost and were thus not available to the public for use. Even with the tremendous manpower the empire had, their continent had only a few major cities in which the airship would fly to. And even then, only the ¡®honorable¡¯ could ride upon the airship. ¡®Admission¡¯ onto the airship was so expensive that the majority of soul cultivators could only give up on their dreams to ride on one.


    Aside from Fang Tianmeng who was an orphan, the rest of the students in the crafting class were all from important backgrounds, the fourth prince Wu Yang and Mo Wanxia most especially. Their families were all powerful and thus why they sent their children to Tianhun Academy. It was in their hopes that their children would be able to distinguish themselves here in the academy and be invited into the Tianhun School, which would serve to boost their family¡¯s prestige even more.


    So now that Tianhun Academy was done for the year, these students would naturally go back home and be ¡®interrogated¡¯ by their families. Since they were the ones to join the only class that taught the art of crafting, just how happy would their families be with them when they get back?


    The gears in Zheng Kai¡¯s mind turned as he listened to Bai Yunfei talk about their vacation plans. Glancing over to Kou Tingting first, he spoke to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Speaking of vacations, what do you plan to do, Yunfei? Stay in the Capital? Or go somewhere else?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. Now that he thought about it, he never really thought about it himself. There were plans to go back to the Crafting School, but right now¡­.since the person he wanted to see was here in the Capital, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really feel the urge to hurry on back just yet.


    He turned the question over to Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting, ¡°Xinyun, Tingting, what plans do you two have? Will you both be returning to the school?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­.¡± Tang Xinyun¡¯s words trailed off. The three of them had only just came from the Crafting School, and none of them were really in any rush to go back. Not knowing what to say, Tang Xinyun looked to Kou Tingting for help.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about returning back to the school for now. It took us a while to get here after all, let¡¯s stay a bit before anything¡­.¡± Kou Tingting responded, ¡°Why don¡¯t we take a look in the provinces around the Capital? The beautiful world we live in¡­..there¡¯s so many places we¡¯ve yet to see! As soul cultivators blessed with longer lives than commoners, we can¡¯t just waste it away in our training. We should travel and take in the sights. We¡¯ve only one life in this world after all, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°Traveling, is it?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°I can agree with that. Now that I think about it, all of the places I went to were mainly for the sake of training. I never really took in the sights of the places I went to¡­.we should go traveling like commoners do, then, and see just how beautiful the world can be.¡±


    He looked to Tang Xinyun, ¡°What do you think, Xinyun?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°I would like that, we¡¯ve¡­.seen most of the Capital already. Traveling would be a nice change of pace.¡±


    Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t have too high of a favorable opinion of the Capital. She knew just how many times Bai Yunfei was in danger here, so she felt the Capital to be an unsafe place. To leave such a place like this sooner rather than later would only soothe her worries.


    The three of them talked a little longer about their plans to travel. By the side, Zheng Kai was squirming a little bit. He was hoping that Kou Tingting would want to stay in the Capital so he could take her to a few more places. But with how things were developing, his chances of that were getting smaller and smaller, weren¡¯t they?


    ¡°Well then, which places are you all planning to visit?¡± He clapped his hands in interjection.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t really thought about it¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei tapped his chin, ¡°I think I heard the Southward River Province is a beautiful place. I¡¯ve never been there either, why don¡¯t we go there?¡±


    Having no objections to that, Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting both nodded their heads in approval.


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Southward River Province? That¡¯s a very good place to visit, and they say there¡¯s plenty of beautiful gi¡ªer, beautiful landscapes. Legends actually say that¡¯s the place where the Founder Wu Tianhun was born. I¡¯ve been there several times and I heartily recommend going there to tour.¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave him a small cryptic smile, ¡°What, do you want to come with us?¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­.¡± Zheng Kai smiled almost apologetically, ¡°You have to have someone that knows the area in order to have a tour, don¡¯t you?¡±


    What he was going for was obvious for everyone to see. Both Fang Tianmeng and Fang Yong smiled behind their hands while Mo Chen looked on at him in admiration at his tactic.


    ¡°Well¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei glanced over to Kou Tingting who had a strange look on her face. ¡°I won¡¯t be the one to make that decision¡­..¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be¡ª¡± A little panicked, Zheng Kai took Bai Yunfei aside. ¡°Brother, don¡¯t be so disloyal to me like that! The eternal happiness of your brother is fully dependent on your help, brother!¡±


    Right as Bai Yunfei was thinking about whether or not he should help Zheng Kai, Tang Xinyun spoke up first, ¡°Oh? Little Rui is back!¡±


    Everyone glanced over to where she was pointing. Coming from the gates of the academy, a shade of pink light was flying quickly over to them with feet blazing red in light and face flushed with a red hue. Her skirt floated with the wind as did her pigtails, and a white pig could be seen in the young woman¡¯s arms. With how she was traveling, plenty of people on the road turned to look at her.


    Who else could this be but Huangfu Rui?


    Bai Yunfei was excited to see Huangfu Rui at first, but then his smile faded away into surprise when he saw just how out of breath she was. ¡°Doraemon? What¡¯s wrong? Why are yo¡ª¡±


    Huangfu Rui thrusted the little white boar up for him to look at before he could even finish his sentence, ¡°Brother Strawhat¡ªlook!! Look!! Xiao Rourou can talk now!!¡±


    ¡°Ah?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know what to make of the situation when the little white pig tried to squirm out from Huangfu Rui¡¯s arms. A little peeved, it spoke, ¡°Dai Dai, speaking isn¡¯t something to be surprised about. I¡¯m a peak late-stage class six, aren¡¯t I? Being able to speak is normal, why are you trying to ¡®show me off¡¯....?¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes flew wide open as soon as the pig started to speak, Fang Tianmeng most of all. She pointed a finger at the pig, ¡°Ah!! The little pig can speak!!¡±


    Xiao Rourou glanced over in her direction, ¡°So what if I can?? Are peak late-stage class six soulbeasts that can talk so strange? What a big fuss over nothing¡­..¡±


    No one said a thing to that.


    A few seconds later, it was Bai Yunfei who spoke up next. Still slightly surprised, Bai Yunfei gave the pig a suspicious look, ¡°But¡­.what¡¯s¡­.hold on, you say you¡¯re a peak late-stage class six soulbeast? But how?!¡±


    He could very clearly remember yesterday morning, Xiao Rourou had clearly only been a mid-stage class six! How did it become a peak late-stage in the span of a single day?!


    ¡°Hehe, isn¡¯t he amazing??¡±


    Huangfu Rui hugged Xiao Rourou to her chest and rubbed its head affectionately, ¡°It¡¯s all because of ¡®Da Huang¡¯ helping him. It only took a moment for Xiao Rourou to get so strong, and now Xiao Rourou can even talk!¡±


    ¡°Da Huang?!¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°What¡¯s Da Huang?¡±


    ¡°Da Huang from Ping Ping¡¯s house.¡± Huangfu Rui¡¯s eyes shined with admiration, ¡°What a big¡­.big tortoise!! It¡¯s even bigger than old uncle turtle!¡±


    She spun her hands around her head to emphasize just how large it was. With Xiao Rourou sticking to her right arm in order to stay on, the little pig rolled its eyes.


    The ¡®old uncle turtle¡¯ Huangfu Rui was talking about was the soulbeast partner of her father (the second elder Huangfu Nan), a winged turtle from a long time ago¡­.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked several times before he finally made sense of what she was trying to say.


    This ¡®Ping Ping¡¯ surely had to be referring to the fifth princess Wu Ping, and ¡®Ping Ping¡¯s house¡¯ must¡¯ve meant the Imperial Palace. So this ¡®Da Huang¡¯ was surely¡­.


    Now that he thought about there, he had heard of a ¡®Da Huang¡¯ in the palace somewhere. Wu Ping mentioned it before seemingly one of the times she brought Xiao Qi with her. They went to the stone area where Da Huang was said to live in the palace, but even with Wu Ping calling at the entrance for a very long time, Da Huang didn¡¯t come out.


    Claiming that Da Huang was ¡®probably sleeping¡¯, Wu Ping said it was best to not wake him up. Xiao Qi had his concerns about this amazing ¡®Da Huang¡¯, however, and felt that it was potentially a lie¡­.


    But now that Huangfu Rui had mentioned this ¡®Da Huang¡¯ again, it would seem to be that it was a ¡®giant tortoise¡¯? And¡­.somehow it was able to elevate Xiao Rourou¡¯s strength to a peak late-stage class six?!


    With Huangfu Rui not going to be telling him anything important, Bai Yunfei stared at the little white in her arms still, ¡°Brother pig, can you tell us what happened??¡±


    Because the nickname of ¡®Xiao Rourou¡¯ was given to it by Huangfu Rui, Kou Tingting, and Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei would sometimes call it ¡®brother pig¡¯.


    The pig was probably a lot older than he was, so calling him older brother wasn¡¯t too wrong.


    Xiao Rourou rolled its eyes, ¡°Kid, before I tell you, there¡¯s one thing I need to make clear. I just found out myself actually¡­.¡±


    He paused here to preen in the attention of the others, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m a dragon¡­.¡±

 Chapter 691: Dragon Boar.....

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m a dragon¡­..¡±


    The faces of everyone froze up as soon as they heard what Xiao Rourou said. None of them knew how to react to something like that.


    For a while, no one said a thing.


    The fact that no one even gasped at what it said filled Xiao Rourou with discontent. ¡°What, frightened? Snrk, is that it? Am I too amazing? I am a soulbeast who has the blood of the dragons running through my vein, it¡¯s just dormant and was undiscovered. Senior Long Gui was able to see my potential and helped me awaken it, that¡¯s why I¡¯m suddenly so much stronger now. If I wasn¡¯t afraid of rushing things, then I would¡¯ve been a class seven already. But...I¡¯ll definitely become a powerful being in the future!!¡±


    It was trying to show off to everyone, but everything it said only made it sound very narcissistic and completely self-deluded almost. In its eyes, it already saw itself as a budding being to be beheld on the continent.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone looked at one another with a strange look on their faces. Bai Yunfei himself had a quirked smile on his lips as he ¡®exclaimed¡¯, ¡°You¡¯re¡­.you said you¡¯re a¡­.dragon?!¡±


    ¡°That is correct!¡± Xiao Rourou stated in pride.


    ¡°Who told you?¡±


    ¡°Senior Long Gui.¡±


    ¡°Er...who is that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be Da¡ªwell, I cannot call him that name. The senior Dai Dai was just talking about. He is a ¡®dragon turtle¡¯, a soulbeast with the bloodline of the dragon race in him. He is powerful beyond measure and one of the strongest in the world!¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about that ¡®Da Huang¡¯?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out, this time in earnest. He could disregard the question about Xiao Rourou being a ¡®dragon¡¯ for now with this ¡®Da Huang¡¯ now back into play. Since Xiao Rourou was saying Da Huang was a ¡®dragon turtle¡¯, then there was a person¡ªa soulbeast actually¡ªthat could somehow easily elevate Xiao Rourou¡¯s strength due to being a super powerful soulbeast!


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes flew wide open. ¡°Oh hell!!¡± He cried out in alarm, ¡°You said ¡®dragon turtle¡¯ just now, didn¡¯t you?! Are you talking about the legendary guardian of the Royal Family, the Dragon Turtle?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked at him with a raised eyebrow, ¡°You know about it?¡±


    ¡°Of course I know about it. Who doesn¡¯t know about the legendary guardian of the Royal Family? But¡­.who would¡¯ve known the ¡®Da Huang¡¯ the Princess Wu Ping was talking about was that same being!¡± Zheng Kai exclaimed, ¡°The Dragon Turtle is the ¡®Guardian Beast¡¯ the Royal Family has ¡®worshiped¡¯ for thousands of years. There¡¯s a lot of stories about it, but I think the Dragon Turtle is one of the rare soulbeasts who can¡¯t humanize and have one of the strongest defenses of them all. But how strong it is, no one really knows¡­.people say that it¡¯s been around since even before the Empire was founded, though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been living since then?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up on his head, ¡°Then¡­.it¡¯s been alive for at least two thousand years? Is that even possible?¡±


    ¡°Those are the rumors, how should I know?¡± Zheng Kai shrugged. ¡°Even if they¡¯re true, who¡¯s going to know except for the Dragon Turtle itself?¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt amazed. He never thought that the ¡®Da Huang¡¯ Wu Ping was talking about would be such an amazing existence as the ¡®Guardian Beast of the Royal Family¡¯. That was by no means an appellation to take lightly. He had never heard of a dragon turtle before, but the fact that it was able to make Xiao Rourou even stronger in no time at all was proof of its strength. It was beyond what a class seven soulbeast should be capable of, so was it a¡­.class eight? Or possibly even stronger maybe?!


    Somewhat realizing everyone was now gossiping and talking more about the dragon turtle rather than itself, Xiao Rourou snorted in displeasure, ¡°Hey hey, you lot. Don¡¯t bother guessing wildly about what it is you¡¯re thinking about. Even senior Long Gui doesn¡¯t know how long he¡¯s been living for himself. As for how strong he is¡­.I don¡¯t know myself. It¡¯s definitely not what you all think it is though.¡±


    Bai Yunfei reconcentrated his attention onto the little boar after that. ¡°Then this Da¡­.I mean ¡®senior Long Gui¡¯, said you have the blood of the dragon race in you?!¡±


    Xiao Rourou stuck its chest out, ¡°Correct! Senior Long Gui doesn¡¯t know just how many generations it was hiding for, but he said that my body really does have the blood of a ¡®dragon¡¯. And¡­.it¡¯s as pure as senior Long Gui¡¯s!! He said that with luck, I¡¯ll definitely be able to ¡®dragonize¡¯!! I¡¯ll become a soulbeast stronger than anything in the same class!¡±


    ¡°Dragonize??¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow, this was a relatively special sounding term. Xiao Rourou didn¡¯t say that it¡¯d be able to turn into a dragon, but it¡¯d be able to ¡®dragonize¡¯. In other words, it wasn¡¯t able to transform to become a true dragon, but it¡¯d gain a few ¡®dragon-like¡¯ qualities¡­..


    Still, there was an odd look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face at that. He stared at the snowy-white body of Xiao Rourou and then thought about how its body would turn crimson red like a ¡®healthy boar¡¯ whenever it fought. If the ability to Dragonize lead to things like that¡­.the more such an ability felt amazing to Bai Yunfei.


    But then came the hardest question to answer. How could a boar ¡®Dragonize¡¯?


    The fact that Xiao Rourou was a magiboar was something that didn¡¯t need verification. It was already a very rare soulbeast in its own right, but now that it was revealed it had the blood of the dragon race in it, then¡­.


    Bai Yunfei rubbed at his chin with his finger to think. ¡°Well, in that case, you¡¯re a¡­.dragon boar?!¡±


    Xiao Rourou rolled its eyes again, ¡°I said I¡¯m a dragon! Can you not add the ¡®boar¡¯ bit?!¡±


    ¡°Even if your relative is a dragon, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re a boar! You can¡¯t just completely ignore one part of your ancestry like that!¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Afterwards, the entire group listened to Huangfu Rui as she renarrated the ¡®epic¡¯ of her journeys in the Imperial Palace, her adventures with Wu Ping, and all the ¡®beautiful¡¯ things she saw in it. They continued out from the academy as she talked, and when Tang Xinyun told her about the plans to travel outside the Capital, all anyone could hear was Huangfu Rui¡¯s excited shouts¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    That night in a dark room somewhere in the large compound of the Cheng.


    ¡°Damn it all!!¡±


    A gloomy voice suddenly spoke out. There was a thud and then a flash of dark green light before the entire table was reduced to ashes. A single white-haired elder sat behind with his left hand holding onto a white jade slip, his eyes burning furiously as he stared at it.


    This white jade slip was a recording slip. On the slip had but only five words. ¡°The plan has been postponed.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Outside the Capital, two figures in black soared through the night sky. The person on the left looked back to the Capital, which was growing tinier and tinier in the distance, ¡°Are we really going to give up just like that? Mo Huangkong has gone to the Fate School, this is a rare chance to have. If we miss this opportunity, then just when will we have a chance like this again?¡±


    The other person didn¡¯t look back. ¡°Mo Huangkong might not be here, but there are still plenty of strong ones in the Capital. Now that things in the Capital have gotten tense, the Tianhun School are using what happened to the two Ministers¡¯ families to take action. All of our plants have been rooted out, we¡¯ll only be found out if we tried to stay. There¡¯ll be a time when we¡¯ll get ¡®that thing¡¯, but I can¡¯t guarantee our safety when we do.¡±


    He paused for a moment to sigh. ¡°That thing has already been sealed for a thousand years. We can afford to wait. But one day, it¡¯ll see the light of day and let the whole world know that the strongest type of soul armament aren¡¯t just the ¡®Regalia¡¯!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    At the same time under a different part of the skies. In a completely unknown city countless distance away from the Capital.


    The strongest person in this city was a person who hadn¡¯t been able to become a Soul King for the last few dozen years. It was more than likely this person would forever stay at the level of a peak late-stage Soul Exalt until he died. He was also the lord of the city¡¯s most powerful family.


    Sitting alone in his ancient-looking room, the grizzly-haired man was meditating. Despite not being so sure about his future, the man always spent his days working towards to breaking through and reaching his own personal goal of strength.


    Suddenly, the old man felt something alert his senses. Eyes flying wide open, he suddenly realized there were two strangers standing there in the same room as him!


    One of the two persons wore black robes as they stood there. This person¡¯s aura felt almost non-existent as if they were a ghost. The other person wore red robes, but it was a type of red that was stained with black shading. It was almost as if it was¡­.the exact shade and color of congealed blood!


    ¡°Who¡ª¡±


    The old man was barely finished speaking when the person in the blood-colored robes disappeared from sight. All the old man saw was a withered hand suddenly spring up in his vision and latch onto his face!


    Almost immediately, the elder¡¯s face began to shrivel up. Almost as if being sucked up, the man¡¯s vitality and lifeforce began to decline sharply.


    It didn¡¯t even take a minute for the very last vestiges of his soulforce to be sucked up before the elderly man had been turned into a¡­.dried up corpse!


    Tossing the corpse away, the figure in red let out a satisfied groan. Turning his head towards a source of light, his eyes shined a strange red light that seemed to still thirst for blood almost.


    Simultaneously, the ground beneath the place started to shake a bit, sending the previously silent compound into a loud commotion.


    But rather than the commotion being that of confusion, it was that of¡­.the howls of despair and anguish!

 Chapter 692: Southward River Province

    Known since the beginning of time for its beautiful landscape, the Southward River Province was the most scenic place in the entire Tianhun Continent. Two thousand years ago, the area was known as the ¡®Southern Nation¡¯, but with the founding of the empire, it was later called the ¡®Southward River Province¡¯.


    The weather in this province was beautiful all year round, and the scenery was almost supernatural in beauty. It was a veritable paradise of beautiful landscapes and wonderful mysteries.


    At the borders of the Southward River Province was a giant mountain that towered over the land around it. There was a single road on this precipitous mountain, and right now, only a single group could be seen walking on it. There was a faint layer of fog around the mountain that made walking on the mountain road slightly dangerous. If one wasn¡¯t careful, then they¡¯d find it very easy to make a misstep and go tumbling to the ground thousands of meters below where they¡¯d die a violent death. But right at this moment, the group of people traveling on it seemed to be walking rather care freely, stepping across the road as if it was just an ordinary road without any dangers. They were even looking around the place and talking to themselves.


    The group consisted of six people: three males and three females.


    It was Bai Yunfei and his friends.


    Leading the group from the front was the gray-robed Bai Yunfei. And right by his side was the just as young person, Zheng Kai. Behind them was Tang Xinyun, Kou Tingting, and Huangfu Rui. Walking behind those three were the stoically tall blue-eyes wyrm who was in his newly-discovered human form, Long Lan.


    Previously, the group made plans to go traveling as a vacation and left first from the Capital on an airship. They decided to walk the rest of the way after traveling across several provinces and take their time in reaching the Southward River Province.


    As brazen as always, Zheng Kai managed to tag along on the trip. All the finer details of the trip, such as where they¡¯d eat, sleep, rest, and visit was handled by him, as was all the pampering of Kou Tingting. Through his unrelenting effort, Zheng Kai was at least able to have Kou Tingting have a slightly better opinion of him. As of now, she was at least willing to treat him as an ordinary acquaintance.


    Long Lan on the other hand, was fed up with the past few days as of late. Ever since it became a class seven soulbeast, the entire Capital seemed to be in a buzz about it. With people coming left and right to the Training Forest to pay their respects to him, Long Lan had enough. When he heard Bai Yunfei was preparing to leave, Long Lan of course asked to go with him, as they used to travel before.


    The ¡®circle¡¯ that was the Soul King community wasn¡¯t very large. The Soul Kings would come out to congratulate any newcomer and hopefully get to know them enough to establish a decent relationship. The case was Long Lan was slightly different, as when everyone came to him for their visits, most of them had the goal of trying to form a soul contract with him.


    Many of the Soul Kings hadn¡¯t yet a soulbeast to contract with. Most of the Soul Kings Bai Yunfei met for example, didn¡¯t have a soulbeast partner.


    There was one big difference on how a soulbeast and soul cultivator got stronger; one of the biggest difference was in the aspect of ¡®time¡¯. Soul cultivators had lives longer than a commoner, but they were still lacking in age span compared to a soulbeast. To make up for that, a soul cultivator had the inherent ability to learn even faster than a soulbeast.


    A soul cultivator with decent talent for example, could get to the Soul Exalt realm within forty to fifty years and be considered normal. A soulbeast on the other hand, would need almost a hundred years to become a class six.


    And herein lied a problem.


    If a soulbeast and soul cultivator of the same strengths were to enter a soul contract with one another, the soulbeast¡¯s increase in strength wouldn¡¯t compare to the soul cultivator¡¯s.


    To better visualize the problem:


    If there was a Soul Ancestor that contracted with a class five soulbeast, there¡¯d be a chance for the Soul Ancestor to become a Soul Exalt, but the soulbeast would only become a late-stage class five.


    Soul cultivators lived in a world of turmoil and danger. Any corner they traveled to would have their fair share of dangers, and battles to determine who¡¯d live or die was unavoidable. Those soulbeasts who were weaker than their partner would always be in danger, and death was sometimes inevitable for them.


    This rang extremely true for Soul Kings. Aside from the extraordinary few, just how many times did one have to struggle, fight, and kill for their lives to reach the height they were at now?? If the Soul King had a soulbeast partner, they were most likely not yet at the level of a Soul King yet. Class six soulbeasts were essentially useless in a battle where Soul Kings were involved, and at the same time, they were also very prone to dying.


    Subsequently, those soul cultivators that had a soulbeast partner would often times find themselves losing their soulbeast partner by the time they became a Soul King.


    A determined soul cultivator might then try to forge their own path on becoming a Soul King. Reaching the Soul King realm by themselves was comparatively harder than without one, and if they by chance failed to do so, then what was the point of going without a soulbeast partner?


    Therefore, the choice of having a soulbeast partner or not was a hard one everyone had to make.


    On the other side of things, those who managed to become a Soul King without the help of a soulbeast partner would obviously try to find a class seven one to contract with. Class six and class seven soulbeasts were worlds apart in strength, and they were also a lot harder to contract with. None of them would contract with any soul cultivator without a good reason.


    There was also a second consideration to take into account.


    For those soulbeasts who didn¡¯t end up dying in a battle with their contractor, there was a chance that they¡¯d simply outlive them. Since a soulbeast had a longer lifespan than a soul cultivator, they¡¯d only grow stronger and stronger after time. But if their contractor was dead, then they wouldn¡¯t be able to contract with anyone else for as long as they lived.


    So the fact that Long Lan was both uncontracted and a class seven soulbeast made him a veritable delicacy for everyone. Many Soul Kings came forward in hopes they¡¯d be able to contract with him, or with someone from the younger generation of their families.


    But Long Lan didn¡¯t care at all for these things. He didn¡¯t want to contract with any of them.


    Long Zhen hadn¡¯t intervened on Long Lan¡¯s behalf, so Long Lan had to find Bai Yunfei out to leave. Long Zhen didn¡¯t intervene on that subject either and merely warned Long Lan to keep up with his training.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Wow!! Sis Yun, sis Kou, look!! Look! That boulder looks a lot like a pear! Eh?! And look at how beautiful that bird is! Look look! There¡¯s a strange cave!! Bro Strawhat, there¡¯s definitely treasure in there. We should go check it out! Or¡­.I can go myself! Then the treasure will be mine!¡±


    Amidst all the chatting was the very loud but happy voice of Huangfu Rui as she hopped, skipped, and leapt forward on the road in excitement.


    ¡°Come back, Doraemon. That¡¯s just a cave where snakes live in, there¡¯s no treasure in there.¡± Bai Yunfei warned her right as the little girl was about to leap into the air after the cave.


    Tang Xinyun took Huangfu Rui¡¯s hand into her own to stop her from going anywhere. She looked up at the skies next, ¡°It¡¯s getting late, Yunfei. Should we start finding a place to rest for the night? We can just fly the rest of the way down the mountain instead of walking so we can find a place suitable to camp.¡±


    It only made sense for them to travel like commoners if they were traveling, so everyone decided not to fly.


    Zheng Kai took out an azure scroll from his space ring and unfurled it. Looking at its contents for a moment, he said, ¡°According to this map, the closest city to us is Formagua City. It¡¯s a little far still though. There¡¯s a few villages on the way, so if we fly from here on out, we should be able to find one or two soon enough.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. As he was about to say something, he frowned and looked off into a distance just in time to see two streaks of light green light come flying at them.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one to notice the lights, ¡°Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai are back.¡± Tang Xinyun mentioned.


    They waited for both Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai to return before anything else. Pointing his right wing off into a distance, Xiao Qi spoke, ¡°Yunfei, we saw an inn that way!¡±


    ¡°What??¡±


    Everyone, Bai Yunfei most especially, was surprised, ¡°What? There¡¯s an inn up ahead?¡±


    ¡°There is!¡± Xiao Qi nodded, ¡°It¡¯s just up ahead on the mountain top, it doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s many people! But they¡¯re all soul cultivators.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was astonished, there was an inn on the mountain top?!


    Thinking about it, Bai Yunfei turned to the others, ¡°It¡¯s a little strange but¡­.since there¡¯s an inn here, we don¡¯t need to keep on looking. Let¡¯s go up first and see if we can rest there for the night.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Unlike the perilous path before, the way up the mountain was exceedingly smooth. They arrived at the top of the mountain in no time to see a large area of flat ground and grass the same size of a plaza almost. In the middle of the land was a building that normally shouldn¡¯t even exist in a place like this, a two-story tall wooden structure.


    It was about a kilometer square meters in area, and pillars of ten meters in height were right next to the gates. A long strip of white cloth was hung between the two pillars, with just two words written on it:


    ¡°Vacancy Inn.¡±

 Chapter 693: Vacancy Inn

    ¡°Hey, it really is a ¡®vacant inn¡¯! What a strange name, but there¡¯s soul cultivators inside, let¡¯s take a look then.¡± Zheng Kai laughed curiously before striding on over to the large gates to the place.


    This inn was piquing the interest of everyone in the group. As one, they walked towards the inn. Before long, Huangfu Rui suddenly pointed out to the side in excitement, ¡°Ah!! Look!! There¡¯s a giant butterfly there! It¡¯s so colorful!! I want to go capture it!¡±


    Off to the flower gardens to the right was a butterfly about the size of a palm was resting on top of a flower. Its strangely colorful wings were changing color as it fluttered on the butterfly¡¯s back.


    Just like she said, Huangfu Rui immediately bounded over to the butterfly, leaving Tang Xinyun to call out helplessly behind her, ¡°Ah, little Rui! Don¡¯t run about like that¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry about it, Xinyun. Let her have her fun. She¡¯s so close by anyways, let¡¯s go in and ask the innkeeper about our rooms.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    He turned over to Long Lan, ¡°Long Lan, look after Doraemon, alright?¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Long Lan nodded.


    Leaving him to look after Huangfu Rui, Bai Yunfei and the others headed for the entrance of the inn.


    Before they even got in, Bai Yunfei felt the aura of at least ten people inside, and each of them were decently strong¡ªthe weakest of them all was only a Soul Sprite.


    They were all scattered about in the room, with some of them in their own rooms while five or six people were inside the lobby.


    Crossing the gates, Bai Yunfei pushed open the gates and strode into the lobby.


    A gust of wind brushed into his face as he walked into the room along with the gaze of everyone in there.


    The lobby was rather ordinarily decorated. There was a giant countertop and over a dozen tables, some of them already having people seated next to them. The moment when Bai Yunfei first entered the room, everyone in the lobby immediately looked up at him and scanned him with their soulsenses.


    Scanning another soul cultivator with soulsense was a rather impolite thing to do in this world. So to have so many people do so at once in the same room already meant these people weren¡¯t very kind to begin with.


    But their soulsense was only strong enough to tell them that Bai Yunfei and his group were all ¡®Soul Exalts¡¯ and nothing more. Not even the specifics of just how strong of a Soul Exalt they were could be found.


    Xiao Qi for example, couldn¡¯t even be measured. Most of the people here probably thought he was nothing more but a class two or three ¡®pet soulbeast¡¯ at most.


    Still, a group of four Soul Exalts wasn¡¯t exactly a group anyone in the inn would want to make trouble with. The people all gave Bai Yunfei and his group a quick look after that, but no reaction showed on their face other than their eyes lingering on the two women for just a moment longer than when they looked at the men.


    After they walked into the lobby, Bai Yunfei strode up to the counter at the front of the lobby.


    ¡°Honored guests, welcome to this inn, how might I serve you all today?¡±


    A man with a small smile on his face nodded at everyone from his spot behind the counter. He was a Soul Sprite in strength, but his demeanor was hardly any different from from the waiter or receptionist in a regular inn.


    If not for the fact that there shouldn¡¯t be any commoners here, Bai Yunfei really would¡¯ve thought this was just an ordinary inn of some kind. ¡°We¡¯d like to rest here for tonight, four rooms, please.¡±


    One room for each of the males and Long Lan, and then a room for the three women.


    The small man-servant smiled, ¡°Four rooms? No problem at all! A single night here will cost five mid-grade primal stones. Four rooms will cost twenty stones in total, please pay up front.¡±


    ¡°Damn! Twenty mid-grade primal stones, are you trying to rob us here?!¡± Zheng Kai cried out in alarm at what the man-servant was quoting.


    But the man-servant continued to smile as if accustomed to such a reaction, ¡°The rules of this inn is to provide those weary travelers a place to rest their legs for the night. This inn is in a special place, as you all can see, but that makes for hard business. Please understand, dear guests.¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­.¡± Zheng Kai suddenly hummed. No longer caring for the price of the room, he asked, ¡°Then why did you open an inn here? Your boss has a great sense doesn¡¯t he, does this place even have guests usually?¡±


    ¡°The master enjoys living away from the mundane world, and this inn is merely just one of his whims and something for him to use to receive his friends in. As for guests¡­.we are usually lacking those, in truth. Today is a rather special day, hence why we are almost at full capacity.¡±


    ¡°What an interesting boss you have,¡± Zheng Kai smiled. ¡°Is he here? I¡¯d like to see just what kind of person he is.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.the master is currently out and won¡¯t return until later tonight perhaps.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine then, you can book us our room for now.¡± Zheng Kai nodded and handed twenty mid-grade primal stones over the counter. ¡°We¡¯d like dinner as well, will the food cost extra?¡±


    ¡°Haha, it will be free of charge. Please sit down, honored guests, we will bring out the food in a moment.¡±


    The group of four took up a table on the right side of the lobby and sat down. As they sat, Zheng Kai whirled around to glare at the late-stage Soul Ancestor staring at Kou Tingting two tables down. Starting in his surprise, the man looked down at his table. He looked a little indignant at Zheng Kai¡¯s action and seemed to mutter to himself.


    Since no one was really paying attention to him, none of them heard him say, ¡°Hm, two absolutely stunning women. What a shame they chose today of all days to come. They won¡¯t die a good death if they meet the ¡®Rapist Bees¡¯....what a shame¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It was with a curious heart that Zheng Kai spoke to the others as they got comfortable, ¡°Well, I really want to see just what kind of person would open an inn like this. It¡¯s a creative idea, I¡¯ll give him that. You can really find all sorts of things in this world¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, people have their ambitions,¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°Everyone has their own way of living their life. Plenty of older people like to live a life away from others, this place might be relatively ¡®hidden¡¯, but to open an inn for soul cultivators is an interesting idea. I¡¯d like to meet him too and see just what kind of person he is¡­.¡±


    This ¡®Vacancy Inn¡¯ was a bit like Dan Teng¡¯s ¡®Soothing Heart¡¯, but this was a whole new level of creativity.


    Eyes lighting up suddenly, Zheng Kai whispered to Bai Yunfei, ¡°I just thought of something, do you guys think this is a ¡®black inn¡¯....?¡±


    TL Note: A black inn is an inn that kills/robs the guests that stay in it.


    ¡°Er¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. ¡°You¡¯ve a rich imagination, Zheng Kai. Everyone here is a Soul Exalt, and there¡¯s still at least ten other people in this inn. Do you really think even a ¡®black¡¯ inn would be able to take down this many people? Or are all these people in on the scheme to trap us?¡±


    Somewhat embarrassed by his own thoughts, Zheng Kai chuckled, ¡°I hope it¡¯s not the latter. But if there really are people stupid enough to try and seek trouble with us, then we can just fight back and end this ¡®black inn¡¯. It¡¯d be doing the world a favor.¡±


    ¡°Why must you always think about wishing harm on others?¡± Bai Yunfei asked helplessly.


    ¡°Why must you be always so trusting? Yunfei¡­.your ¡®gullible¡¯ ways won¡¯t do. Be wary of others. To live in our world is to always be thinking about the worst case scenario. This is the only way you¡¯d be able to prepare yourself for the unexpected when it comes.¡±


    Bai Yunfei shrugged, ¡°Well¡­.I just thought that the person back then was pretty honest. Doubting someone for no reason isn¡¯t a good thing.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Zheng Kai shook his head in disappointment, ¡°People as ¡®naive¡¯ as you aren¡¯t very many in this world¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed. Though he himself knew that such a personality trait wasn¡¯t very suitable in the dangerous world of soul cultivators, or even the commoner world, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help it. It was in his nature. If he were to change that, he wouldn¡¯t be him anymore. He didn¡¯t want to change.


    Changing the topic, Bai Yunfei and the others soon began to talk about their plans for the future of their trip. Before long, platters after platters of food was brought out. ¡°Xiao Qi,¡± Bai Yunfei nudged the bird on his shoulder, ¡°can you call Doraemon and Long Lan in to eat?¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go¡­.¡± Xiao Qi took off towards the door.


    But Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t even fully out the door when Bai Yunfei and the others suddenly perk up towards the outside!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    There had been a loud scream coming from the outside of the inn¡ªthe owner of the voice was Huangfu Rui!


    Several powerful auras blazed up a split-second after, followed by a loud explosion!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was the first to disappear from his spot to charge outside with Zheng Kai and the others catching up shortly afterwards. The disturbance happening outside was already catching the attention of the others inside, some of them already rising up to make their way outside to see what was happening themselves.


    There was a total of five soulforces flaring up outside, one of them being Xiao Rourou, but its soulforce wasn¡¯t yet in complete battle mode. There was also Long Lan who hadn¡¯t fully revealed his own strength either. The other unfamiliar auras however, were all Soul Exalts.


    By the time Bai Yunfei was outside, the battle was already coming to an end. The very first thing he saw was an alarmed Huangfu Rui standing behind Long Lan who had only just knocked out three people in front of him.


    Long Lan was only just bringing his right leg up at that time to give a mighty stomp onto the head of the most injured scrawny person on the ground!!

 Chapter 694: Hornets of Plum Valley

    ¡°Stop!!!!¡±


    Watching as the foot of Long Lan was about to burst open the man¡¯s head, Bai Yunfei cried out to Long Lan to try to stop him.


    Without even fully understanding the situation, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t have Long Lan kill anyone.


    ¡°Stop!!!¡±


    Another voice cried out to Long Lan the same time Bai Yunfei did. From the right side of the second floor of the inn, a single person came barreling out from the window.


    Long Lan¡¯s foot came to a stop merely half an inch over the scrawny man¡¯s head, but the wind pressure from his foot was more than enough to drive the man almost an inch deeper into the ground. The man¡¯s eyes were filled with terror and his entire body was shivering with cold sweat to flow into the ground.


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop in front of Long Lan. First looking to the safe and sound Huangfu Rui, he then looked to the three other men on the ground. ¡°Long Lan, what in the world happened just now?¡±


    The second person who had called out to Long Lan came descending from the skies. Landing a little farther away to where the other two men were knocked out, he stood there to stare at Long Lan and Bai Yunfei. It was a middle-aged man dressed in purple, but the strange thing to this person was that his head was abnormally larger than average, making him look comically unproportional. But the aura he was blazing out was anything but laughable. He was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt.


    The man had wanted to break into a fight straight away, but seeing one of his own underneath Long Lan¡¯s foot caused him to rethink his actions. He raised an eye to look ahead at the inn only to see a group of people come flying out from it. Treading through the skies, they came charging over.


    Long Lan drew his right foot back at Bai Yunfei¡¯s words. He pointed to the one by his foot, ¡°This one tried to bully the little girl, so I knocked him out.¡±


    He pointed his finger to the two people slightly farther away, ¡°Those two tried to help him out, so I knocked them out as well.¡±


    He then pointed back at the man beneath his foot. ¡°Then this one tried to attack me when he was down, so I decided to stomp him to death.¡±


    It was a short and concise summary explained in three sentences. But the fact he spoke about killing a person so readily and without any emotion had been a little bone-chilling to hear.


    Trying to bully Huangfu Rui??


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed at such a notion. Growing slightly frosty in the eyes, he turned to Huangfu Rui who was still holding onto the squirming Xiao Rourou, ¡°Are you alright, Doraemon? Did he hurt you?¡±


    Huangfu Rui shook her head angrily, ¡°I was playing with the butterfly when this person came flying out of nowhere and scared away the butterfly! He said to come with him, but I didn¡¯t want to, so he tried to pull me away. He said something about being comfortable on a bed. His smile was so ugly that it scared me, so I screamed and that''s when Giant came to knock him out.¡±


    She was an innocent girl who didn¡¯t even know the meaning behind the ¡®obscene¡¯ words being spoken to her, so it sounded innocent almost when she repeated the words, but Bai Yunfei and the others all felt themselves narrowing their eyes.


    Eyes brimming with anger, Bai Yunfei was about to speak when Zheng Kai beat him to it, ¡°F*ck!! A rapist!! I hate those type of people the most! How dare you try to do anything to little Rui! You¡¯ve a death wish!! Long Lan, don¡¯t bother with them, kill them!¡±


    ¡°Impudence! You wouldn¡¯t dare!!¡±


    An even more furious voice called out after Zheng Kai finished his sentence. It was the middle-aged man in purple. Smiling coldly at Zheng Kai, the man spoke, ¡°Brat! If you dare do anything to my sixth brother, I can guarantee that none of you will be leaving this place a live!!¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯d this idiotic brat come from? You must be in a hurry to die if you¡¯re willing to anger us brothers! Big brother, let¡¯s just fight already! The innkeeper isn¡¯t here, so if we kill these brats, we can leave right away!¡±


    ¡°Yeah!! These people hurt fifth, sixth, and even seventh brother! We can¡¯t let them off so easily, we have to let them know just how amazing we are!¡±


    ¡°Heh! These two more beautiful girls over there, and this little one isn¡¯t half-bad. No wonder sixth brother took action first. But you¡¯ll have to pay for his injuries with her body! Kill the boys and take away the girls! We don¡¯t need this inn anymore, we can find a random place to enjoy the night, haha!!¡±


    ¡°Third brother¡¯s right, let¡¯s go after them big brother!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The people behind the big-headed person started to jeer one after another. They were started to get rowdy, and every single word of theirs was practically an obscenity.


    These men were devilish in nature and monstrous in appearance. Two of the people in the group were one of the people that had scanned at Bai Yunfei¡¯s group with their soulsense earlier in the inn.


    There was a total of nine people in the group, three of them being the ones already knocked out by Long Lan and the other six being the big-headed man and his group standing behind him. With the big-headed one being the strongest one as a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, the two people standing directly behind him were late-stage Soul Exalts. There were also another two mid-stage Soul Exalts, and the rest were early-stage Soul Exalts.


    A group of nine Soul Exalts was definitely a considerable force of strength that could probably take on a medium leveled school or so. In the middling stratum of the soul cultivator world, this was a group that barely anyone would anger easily. In other words, they had the power to back up their arrogance.


    Such a fighting force wasn¡¯t anything much in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, though. Even Zheng Kai, Kou Tingting, and the others weren¡¯t very afraid.


    What a hilarious situation. Even if he disregarded the fact that he was stronger than anyone in the same realm of strength as him, there was also Xiao Qi and Long Lan. Both of which were class seven soulbeasts who could very easily defeat the entire nine Soul Exalts.


    Incensed on Huangfu Rui¡¯s behalf, Bai Yunfei was starting to feel the urge to kill these people and stop their lecherous words once in for all. With how they were speaking and acting, they were clearly people used to the ¡®shadier¡¯ side of life. And with people like that, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes increased in frostiness.


    Holding a hand up to stop Zheng Kai from saying something, Bai Yunfei stared down the big-headed one. ¡°Who are you people?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The man cried out as soon as the question registered to him. A look of disbelief was etched onto his face, ¡°You¡­.you don¡¯t know who we are?¡±


    ¡°Haha!! You hear that, second brother? He doesn¡¯t know who we are!! No wonder they¡¯re so eager to die, they don¡¯t know us! What ignorant children!¡±


    ¡°Hah, it¡¯s true when they say ignorance is bliss! Consider it your bad luck to cross the Hornets of Plum Valley! We¡¯ll have this lesson ingrained into your heads for the rest of your lives, but¡­.the lesson probably won¡¯t settle in until you¡¯ve kids!!¡±


    Several of them jeered with laughter in response to what Bai Yunfei said. These people were looking at him and the others as if they were idiots or if they were listening to the greatest joke they ever heard.


    ¡­¡­


    Several more people were coming out from the inn by now. In smaller groups, they huddled around the entrance. Several of them narrowed their eyes with loathing when they heard the laughter of the group, but none of them said a thing or moved. Clearly these people just who the ¡®Hornets of Plum Valley¡¯ were and how strong they were, but they themselves weren¡¯t willing to get involved on another person¡¯s behalf.


    ¡°Sigh¡­.what a reckless group of youngsters!! Though they were strong enough to knock out the three weakest of the Hornets, they¡¯re no match for the Boss Hornet, the peak late-stage Soul Exalt! Their second and third brothers aren¡¯t weak either. I can see those youngsters are quite strong, but they¡¯re no match for the Hornets!! How unlucky of them¡­.¡±


    ¡°Tch, I knew those people were going to get into trouble the very moment they walked in. The sixth brother of the group, the ¡®Rapist Hornet¡¯, is infamous for his lecherous deeds. Any beautiful girl that manages to get into his grasps won¡¯t die a peaceful death. And if my prediction isn¡¯t off, those people will definitely die a painful death for hurting their sixth brother¡­.¡±


    ¡°How unfortunate boss Lei isn¡¯t here. Those Hornets wouldn¡¯t dare act the way they are now, let alone fight in the surrounding area of the inn. He could¡¯ve saved those youngsters¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The people in front of the inn talked amongst themselves as they watched the two groups start to prepare for a battle. Behind them, the receptionist from the inn stared at Bai Yunfei¡¯s group for a moment before secretly releasing a small bird from his side. Spreading its wings, the bird took off towards the south direction into the night.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hornets of Plum Valley??¡±


    Zheng Kai snorted upon hearing the name of their group. Cleaning out his ear with his left pinky, he jeered, ¡°To be proud of such a sh*tty group name like that, what a bunch of idiots you guys are¡­.¡±


    ¡°What did you say you brat!!¡±


    ¡°F*ck! You looking to die?! Let¡¯s save sixth brother and kill them!¡±


    The group of eight were incensed by what Zheng Kai had said. The two who had been knocked down by Long Lan earlier were already back onto their feets, and now the eight of them were more than ready to leap into action any second now.


    ¡°Che! Have at it then, you think we¡¯re scared of you?!¡±


    ¡°Sixth brother, get out of the way!!¡±


    Just as Zheng Kai was about to ask Bai Yunfei if it was okay to fight, the ¡®Boss Hornet¡¯ took the initiative to leap forward. Grunting, the man clenched his right fist tightly. The muscles in his right arm bulged with power as the purple light around his body began to converge in it. Traveling from his left arm to his right, the man lashed outwards with a mighty punch!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a sound reminiscent of lightning as the fist came forwards. A thick bolt of lightning came out from his fist to go charging at Long Lan!


    The scrawny little man that had been underneath Long Lan¡¯s foot earlier, the ¡®Rapist Hornet¡¯, suddenly blazed to life with soulforce. Diving to the side by kicking off the ground, the man took off in retreat. The wretched state of pain the man was in earlier had all been a ploy to bide for time to make his escape!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡± Long Lan sneered. Having been waiting for Bai Yunfei¡¯s orders to attack, Long Lan had neglected to keep a proper guard on the scrawny man. With the powerful attack of purple lightning coming at him, Long Lan¡¯s lips curled in disdain before he clenched his right hand. A dreadful amount of energy began to rise up from his person as he prepared to take part in the fight.


    ¡°Long Lan, let me!!¡±


    As he was about to make a move, a voice called out to him. Then, a streak of red light came flying past him to take on the bolt of purple lightning!

 Chapter 695: Unable to Withstand Even One Hit

    This bolt of red light wasn¡¯t a person, but Xiao Rourou who had managed to get away from Huangfu Rui¡¯s arms!


    By this point, Xiao Rourou was no longer a pure white colored boar, but a completely red one. Even more remarkable, it was standing on its hind legs and adopting a combative stance!


    And when it rushed past Long Lan, its true strength was revealed as a peak late-stage class six!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    There was a ringing explosion as the bolt of purple lightning exploded just five meters away from Long Lan. The red magiboar¡¯s body was like a crimson red blade that cleaved through the purple lightning bolt without resistance!


    There had been around a hundred meters separating the two groups, but the red magiboar had somehow managed to traverse that distance in the blink of an eye. Not only had it stopped the Boss Hornet¡¯s powerful attack, it was now close enough to the enemy group to start attacking them from up close!


    Blanching at the quickness of the boar, the big-headed man brought up both his arms to defend himself while moving back in retreat.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    But his attempt was far too late. No sooner did he try to lift his arms did the red magiboar¡¯s hoof collide squarely onto his arm. There was a muffled crack from the Boss Hornet¡¯s arms before he groaned and flew backwards away like a bullet!


    He slammed into one of his companions and carried him a few dozen meters away. His companion tumbled onto the ground while he managed to reorientate himself back onto his feet. Still having to stagger backwards a few steps, the man steadied himself. His right arm was trembling violently. It wasn¡¯t a heavy blow, but the man was shocked that he had lost the advantage after the very first blow!


    But even more importantly, he didn¡¯t even know what kind of enemy he was fighting!


    He didn¡¯t have the time to even calm himself down though. No sooner did he come to a stop was the red magiboar already shooting off towards the side to where the others were!


    The first one in the red magiboar¡¯s path was the second brother, the ¡®Horned Hornet¡¯. Like his name implied, there was something like a wart on his head that looked a bit like a horn. Stunned by the fact his eldest brother was sent flying, this man almost nearly lost track of the red streak of light coming at him. Raising his arms up, an orange shield immediately appeared in front of them. It was a low-earth tier soul armament with very strong defensive properties due to it being an earth-type. In their band of nine, this brother was in charge of providing the defenses needed.


    Feeling slightly better now that his shield was out, the man had his soulforce surge around his body. Orange light filled the air around him as his muscles started to bulge outwards. Almost as if he himself was growing in size, the man took of half step back with his right foot to try to take on the blow head on.


    The other brothers were just starting to regain their wits now too. Without needing to be told once, they immediately pulled out their weapons one after another and prepared to strike back at the enemy attacking the Horned Hornet.


    The defense of the Horned Hornet was practically impregnable in their perspective, so the enemy would definitely be rebuffed and be left wide open for a counter attack. And with that counter attack, the enemy would be killed!! This was a strategy that was practically tried and true, and very rarely had they ever failed to kill their opponent after that.


    Unfortunately for them, the enemy they were fighting today was the red magiboar.


    ¡°Gongggg!!!¡±


    The hoof of the red magiboar struck the earthen shield of the Horned Hornet squarely at its center. The shield vibrated like a bell before it started to crack, leaving the Horned Hornet defenseless and sent flying away from the red magiboar¡¯s kick!


    ¡°Crack¡­.¡± The center most part of the Horned Hornet¡¯s shield cracked as it and its owner flew away. A second later, the shield was completely into pieces!! There a strangled cry from the airborne person before a spurt of blood erupted from his mouth!


    On the other hand, the red magiboar took advantage of the rebounding energy from the blow to dive towards the other direction to attack the next person!


    ¡°Be careful, third brother!!¡±


    ¡°How in the¡ª!!¡±


    ¡°Retreat!¡±


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    Cries all around the place started to fly out as the red magiboar descended upon them like a wolf onto a group of sheep. As arrogant as they were all before, none of them were even able to last even a single blow against the red magiboar!


    The red magiboar didn¡¯t even slow down at all from start to end, so none of the brothers were even able to see just who they were fighting!


    The group of people watching from the entrance of the inn were flabbergasted. None of them could even think of what to say as they watched the scene develop in front of them. They weren¡¯t the only ones however, as Bai Yunfei and his group of friends were similarly surprised. They knew that Xiao Rourou was strong and all, but not so strong that it¡¯d be capable of something like this. They had watched the red magiboar fight in close combat and use its own body to defend against the multiple weapons the brothers had. Such a terrifying prowess of strength like that was surprising to even them.


    Not even a minute went by before the fight was more or less finished. The only person left standing was the ¡®Boss Hornet¡¯. Everyone else was already knocked out on the ground.


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    There was another colliding sound as the red magiboar struck at the belly of the Boss Hornet with its hoof. The man flew away into the air again, dropping his purple lightning-bolt shaped blade onto the ground and coughing out a mouthful of blood. His energy thoroughly spent, the man tried his best to stagger away in fright. Now that the red magiboar was no longer flying around from place to place, and he himself no longer foolish enough to attack so recklessly, he was now able to see just who it was he was fighting.


    ¡°What¡­.what are you?! How are you this strong?!¡±


    The man cried out in furious disbelief. He didn¡¯t know what a red magiboar was, and in truth, he and his band of brothers didn¡¯t really know that many soulbeasts. They were always traveling around the northern parts of the Southward River Province and rarely left the area, meaning they hadn¡¯t gone to the Soulbeast Forest before. This by extension meant none of the brothers had a soulbeast partner.


    They thought they could kill these group of ignorant youngsters. But none of them thought that they¡¯d be defeated without the youngsters even moving, and by a soulbeast they had only thought was a pet no less! It was a humiliating defeat that someone like the ¡®Boss Hornet¡¯ would never accept. But even if he couldn¡¯t accept it, reality was reality after all. A soulbeast that wasn¡¯t as well-known as his band of brothers had not only defeated him, but his entire group of brothers by itself!


    After living for so many years, today was finally the day they met their downfall!


    ¡°Damnit!! Retreat!!¡±


    Furious, the man let out the command for them all to retreat.


    Unable to even fight, his brethren struggled to their feet when they heard their boss¡¯ call to retreat. Trying to find whatever remaining energy they had in their bodies to stand up, they all fled towards the east of the inn to flee. But with their speed, it¡¯d take them longer to run away than they had lasted in battle.


    ¡°Trying to run away?¡±


    The red magiboar snorted out two hot bursts of air from its nose. It stepped gently onto the ground with its ¡®right foot¡¯. Building up power, it kicked off against the ground with so much power it left a crater about a meter in diameter. Like an arrow shot out from its bow, the red magiboar flew towards the slowest one there, the sixth brother, the ¡®Rapist Hornet¡¯.


    It hadn¡¯t killed any of the brothers to avoid letting Huangfu Rui see such a bloody scene where arms, legs, or even heads would go flying. But now that these people were trying to run away, the red magiboar wouldn¡¯t let them go so easily. Catching up to the ¡®Rapist Hornet¡¯, the red magiboar prepared to strike at his legs with its ¡®right arm¡¯ and see if the others would want to have it apprehend the others as well.


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were shining brightly as he watched the brothers try to run away. He nodded his head to Long Lan to give him permission to stop the brothers from running away. Zheng Kai chuckled once before he disappeared from his spot next to Bai Yunfei and reappeared just a hundred meters away to catch up with the people trying to run.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Halt!!!¡±


    Just as the red magiboar and Zheng Kai were dealing with the brothers, and Long Lan getting ready to move to stop them as well, a voice suddenly called out to them from the skies. At the same time, a green burst of wind flooded into the area to sweep up Zheng Kai and the red magiboar. Under the effects of the wind, the two of them were frozen to the spot and unable to move!


    Likewise, Long Lan was stopped by the sudden gust of wind. Narrowing his eyes, he looked up at the skies where the voice came from.


    A hundred meters above the area they were in was a middle-aged man in green robes. Somehow appearing from nowhere, the man was enveloped in a bubble of green light to levitate in the air. Right behind him, a ripple in the skies was slowly starting to smooth out back to normal.


    That was the sign of Teleportation¡ªthis man was a Soul King!


    The gust of green wind stopping Zheng Kai and the others disappeared, allowing the two to retreat backwards. They looked warily up at the skies, unsure of what to do but wait until they could see if this new person was a friend or foe.


    The middle-aged man scanned the area with some surprise before he smiled down at them all. ¡°The Vacancy Inn has prohibited any fighting to take place within five kilometers of the area. Honored guests, please grant me some face and cease your fighting.¡±

 Chapter 696: Boss Lei

    The middle-aged man looked to Long Lan as he spoke, clearly thinking he was the one in charge of the group.


    Since this person that had just shown up wasn¡¯t a weakling like the ¡®Hornets¡¯, Long Lan didn¡¯t have a look of contempt on his face. Instead, he looked to Bai Yunfei to see what should be done in this case.


    His actions hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed by the man up in the skies who turned to look strangely at Bai Yunfei as well.


    At first, Bai Yunfei had thought this Soul King was a comrade of the Hornets when he first appeared. But then he thought against that notion when he heard what this person was saying. Bai Yunfei looked back to the fleeing Hornets. By now, they were all escaping down the mountain. And with that moment of hesitance, they were already gone from sight.


    Bai Yunfei sighed. Shaking his head, he spoke to Long Lan, ¡°Forget it. Chasing and killing those people is pointless now. Since this senior is asking us to adhere to the rules of the inn, we should accept.¡±


    It wouldn¡¯t do to be overbearing while residing in the territory of another, especially if it was in the territory of a Soul King. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to risk trouble with a Soul King over a group of inconsequentials like the Hornets.


    That didn¡¯t mean he forgave them. Bai Yunfei had already memorized their faces so that he could properly pay them company the next time they meet.


    Cupping his hands in salute towards the middle-aged man in the skies, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°Greetings, senior. We didn¡¯t wish to cause any trouble outside your inn, but those people started it first. If senior will please forgive us, we will leave matters at this as you say.¡±


    There was a strange light in the man¡¯s eyes. He never thought that the one making all the decisions in this group would¡¯ve been the youngster there. And the fact that this one was so polite was even more surprising to him.


    ¡°Haha, what a reasonable young man you are. Thank you for sparing Lei Xi some face, youngster. I should be the one thanking you. Since those trouble starters are gone now, let us not get off on the wrong foot because of them. Let us please return to the inn, I¡¯ve a few vats of hundred-year wine on hand for everyone to sample. Please accept it as our apologies for the disturbance just now.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Boss Lei is very kind, we will take boss Lei on your offer then.¡±


    He waved to the people behind him, ¡°Let¡¯s ignore those people and go back in.¡±


    As unsatisfied as they were about the group of nine fleeing, Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting weren¡¯t the type of people to hold grudges. Since they were gone, the two were far too lazy to bear a grudge or go after them. Huangfu Rui was fully satisfied herself since Xiao Rourou had beaten them up on her behalf. Only Zheng Kai was looking a little angry still, feeling as though they should¡¯ve at least pulled out their tongues if anything. But since Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going after them and a Soul King was here, Zheng Kai only sighed to himself on the luck of the nine before walking with Kou Tingting back into the inn. Lei Xi followed the group as well into the inn.


    The people who had been watching the spectacle at the front of the inn were all astonished by the upturn in events. But since it was over and everyone was going back to the inn, the soul cultivators all began to voice their greetings to Lei Xi.


    Most of them had never seen Lei Xi before, but after the receptionist greeted the man, everyone realized that Lei Xi was the innkeeper of the Vacancy Inn. Some of them had heard rumors of the man before, and the fact that he was a Soul King was already more than enough to earn him their respect. They all bowed and greeted him as ¡®boss Lei¡¯, but the man himself didn¡¯t have the aura of that of a Soul King. Instead, he felt more like an ordinary innkeeper who smiled and returned the greeting back.


    ¡°Is this really the very same person known as the ¡®Evil Faced Thunder Lord¡¯? He doesn¡¯t seem very similar to the one capable of killing without even blinking.¡±


    ¡°Shh¡­.those are only the rumors from a long time ago. Boss Lei gave up that life more than twenty years ago and dissolved the Lightning Gang he created. He opened the Vacancy Inn after that to help serve the soul cultivators in the world.¡±


    ¡°The rumors said that boss Lei changed from being a man of evil to being a man of virtue, guess it¡¯s true then. I heard it was because of a woman. Tsk tsk¡­.never would¡¯ve thought the infamous ¡®Evil Faced Thunder Lord¡¯ would be turned by his ¡®emotions¡¯....¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Several people within the inn were gossiping quietly to themselves now that everything was settled. Bai Yunfei, who had been listening in, was slightly surprised to hear that information.


    Lei Xi gave a self-deprecating smile. ¡°Haha, I am quite ashamed,¡± he sighed. ¡°I was up to no good in the past and did many evil things. Sigh¡­.I cannot bear to return to such a past¡­¡±


    As he spoke, his eyes glazed over a bit with those memories, his expression changing slightly as well.


    Lei Xi sat down with Bai Yunfei when they were back in the inn. Ordering the receptionist to prepare few more dishes, Lei Xi turned to Bai Yunfei, ¡°I believe I never heard mention of your names?¡±


    ¡°This junior is Bai Yunfei, and these are my friends, Zheng Kai, Tang Xinyun, Kou Tingting, Huangfu Rui, and Long Lan.¡±


    The man didn¡¯t have a change in his expression at all when he listened to the names, meaning he had never heard of them before. As amazing Bai Yunfei was, his name was hardly on a level yet where the entire world would know his name, and neither would someone who lived in solitude like Lei Xi would know him either.


    Lei Xi nodded to Zheng Kai and the others one by one before finally reaching to Long Lan. Unable to stop himself from his curiosity anymore, the Soul King cupped his hands, ¡°Haha, forgive me for my boldness, but I can see you are not quite like any ¡®ordinary¡¯ soul cultivator, brother Long¡­.¡±


    Long Lan never thought his identity to be something of a secret, and neither did he believe that he had to hide anything from someone who was as strong as he was.


    ¡°I am a class seven blue-eyes white wyrm.¡± He confirmed.


    ¡°As I thought.¡±


    Lei Xi¡¯s eyes sparkled. He could tell that Long Lan was a Soul King in strength, but he just couldn¡¯t confirm if he was a soulbeast or not. And now that he had confirmed his own suspicions, the man was a little surprised. There weren¡¯t many class seven soulbeasts that roamed the world of soul cultivators, so it was hard to see them. Not only was Lei Xi able to see one today, the class seven soulbeast was actually traveling with a group of Soul Exalts. But the most important thing was that it looked like it was traveling with Bai Yunfei as a type of ¡®bodyguard¡¯....


    ¡°These youngsters are all of considerable strength, they all must be from a powerful school or family then? These soulbeasts are quite unordinary too. That soulbeast with the young girl must be one of the rumored ¡®red magiboars¡¯, it¡¯s even stronger than she is¡­.is the class seven blue-eyes wyrm the contracted soulbeast of Bai Yunfei?¡±


    Lei Xi¡¯s eyes swept across Xiao Rourou and Xiao Bai¡¯s bodies for a second before landing upon Xiao Qi on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder. His eyes paused there for a moment, Lei Xi¡¯s expression betraying his surprise. ¡°Hm?? This¡­.this is¡­.¡±


    Xiao Qi winked an eye at him, ¡°I was thinking you had forgotten about me, uncle. Hehe, I¡¯m Xiao Qi. I¡¯m also a class seven, but I can¡¯t take on a human form.¡±


    ¡°Also a class seven.¡±


    Lei Xi¡¯s eyes betrayed his surprise again at that statement. In all honesty, he really did think Xiao Qi had just been an ordinary pet soulbeast when he first looked at it. But now that he could sense the power of a class seven soulbeast from it, Lei Xi was thoroughly shocked.


    ¡°These youngsters¡­..just who are they?¡± He sighed to himself. Having two class seven soulbeasts travel with these youngsters was even more particular than having Soul Kings act as guards. Lei Xi had to admit, he was very curious to see just who these youngsters were affiliated with--as far as he knew, there was no family with this much strength in the Southward River Province.


    Since they had only just met, Lei Xi didn¡¯t want to be asking questions beyond the social norms. Instead, he asked a few questions such as if Bai Yunfei and his group were from the province or not before telling them a bit about the local traditions and cultures in the province. He also recommended them a few noteworthy places to go to to see the scenery there, but throughout the entire conversation, Lei Xi didn¡¯t seem to have that ¡®air¡¯ a Soul King had and felt more like a regular innkeeper.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ah, pardon me for asking, young brother Bai, but does your group have any considerations to go to the Crushed Stone River?¡±


    In the middle of their conversation, Lei Xi suddenly asked a new question to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°What kind of river is it, boss Lei?¡±


    ¡°Crushed Stone River.¡± Tang Xinyun whispered to him.


    ¡°Crushed Stone River?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°What kind of place is it? Why do you mention it, boss Lei?¡±


    A hint of confusion crossed Lei Xi¡¯s eyes for a moment. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing, just merely asking.¡±


    He changed the topic then, remarking on a few wonders not too far away from the inn. Though they noticed how abrupt the question had gone and went, no one in the group said anything about it and said nothing about it.


    Bai Yunfei however had committed the name to memory since he had never heard about it before.


    Crushed Stone River.

 Chapter 697: Formagua City

    In the forests just north of the Southward River Province, the bushes could be heard jostling with movement as a group of men and women came walking out from behind it.


    Looking at the sun setting behind the mountains, Bai Yunfei turned to Zheng Kai, ¡°Ah Zheng, are you sure it¡¯s this way? Didn¡¯t you say there¡¯d be a city here?¡±


    In Zheng Kai¡¯s hand was a map in which he was studying. Turning around to look at the place, Zheng Kai pointed a slight ways right. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, look there, that¡¯s ¡®Teapot Mountain¡¯. It¡¯s a local landmark that has Formagua City right next to it. It¡¯s a small one, but we should be able to reach it by nightfall. In any case, Teapot Mountain is a nice tourist spot, so we can rest a few days here.¡±


    ¡°Wow, it really does look like a teapot pouring water! How interesting!¡± Huangfu Rui cried out with great interest at the mountain.


    A great distance away was a single large mountain. It was circular from bottom to top and had a large ¡®bump¡¯ on the top and upper right side so that it looked just like a teapot. Even more strange was the fact that on the left side, there was a singular large pillar that stemmed outwards like the spout to pour water from.


    But the most prominent feature to this landmark was the fact that water was actually pouring out from the ¡®spout¡¯ of the teapot.


    The water pouring from the spout of the teapot was tinged slightly red like the tea water of a teapot. Combined with the setting sun behind it, the water sparkled with a shining lustor as it poured out from the spout, making for an amazing sight for everyone to wonder over.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry along then, it¡¯d be great if we can find an inn in the city to rest for a few nights.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    Three days had passed since they left Vacancy Inn. For those three days, the group had been camping in the great outdoors for the night. Both Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai were well accustomed to camping in the outdoors, and so were the girls for that matter, but neither of the two wanted them to go for so long without a proper bed and such.


    ¡°Finally we can sleep in a nice bed! Sis Kou, sis Yun, come on, let¡¯s go!¡±


    Huangfu Rui was the happiest to hear that bit of information. Skipping ahead, she called out to the others to catch up.


    ¡°Whoosh.¡±


    While the group was walking and minding their own business, a sudden gust of wind blew across the area. Then, a streak of green light shot out from up ahead and flew towards the left of the group.


    ¡°A late-stage Soul Exalt¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow as he stared at the streak of green light fly away from them.


    ¡°A peak late-stage Soul Exalt using a flying soul armament to fly. Wonder what he¡¯s in a rush for?¡± Zheng Kai wondered aloud.


    ¡°He looked like he was running for his life.¡±


    Xiao Qi piped up from on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°He also looked injured, and quite badly too.¡± Said Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Hm, you think someone is trying to kill him?? Must be some sort of grudge match between him and an enemy. That other party has to be strong if they can make a peak late-stage Soul Exalt run away like that. But why aren¡¯t we seeing anyone chase after him yet?¡±


    Zheng Kai was staring in the direction the man had came from. There should¡¯ve been at least someone here by now, but as he said, no one was here.


    Bai Yunfei shrugged, ¡°Who knows? Maybe they don¡¯t care to chase him? No point in thinking about it, we¡¯re not involved in their mess. Let¡¯s just get going.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A great distance away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s group, a single figure was flying as fast as he could on top of his flying sword. It was a middle-aged man with his right hand pressed against his stomach. Pained from his wounds, the man was doing his best to urge his flying sword to go faster.


    ¡°Cough¡­.cough¡­.¡± Excess blood dribbled from his mouth with each cough. Turning his head back, the man looked in the direction of Bai Yunfei¡¯s group. He looked indecisive for a moment, as if wanting to go back, but he ultimately looked away and continued flying in the same direction he was going.


    ¡°Forget it, I don¡¯t know them, I¡¯ve no obligation to warn them. Their deaths have nothing to do with me.


    ¡°What the f*ck was that? I nearly died back there¡­..Since when did Formagua City become something like that? Why hasn¡¯t anyone said anything about it yet? Did¡­.were there no survivors?


    ¡°Tch. I shouldn¡¯t stick my head into this. The Tianhun School should take care of it¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The sun was now gone, and the moon was rising up in its place. Bai Yunfei and his friends finally made their way from Teapot Mountain to see a giant city a little ways away.


    Though Zheng Kai had said Formagua City was a ¡®small¡¯ one, it still looked decently large to everyone else. They couldn¡¯t even see the other end of the city from here. Plenty of tall buildings littered the place with most of them alight with beacons of lantern light.


    ¡°We¡¯re finally here.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed when he saw the outline of the city.


    ¡°We are.¡± Tang Xinyun smiled. ¡°We¡¯re close now, I didn¡¯t think it would take this long to reach it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said we should fly,¡± Huangfu Rui muttered from the side, ¡°but everyone said we should walk. We could¡¯ve been eating by now.¡±


    ¡°Haha don¡¯t be so impatient, little Rui. We¡¯re here now aren¡¯t we? Let¡¯s go in and find the best restaurant there, I¡¯ll treat you to whatever it is you want to eat.¡± Zheng Kai laughed.


    ¡°Really? Then let¡¯s hurry up and get going! I want to hurry up and eat!¡±


    It was with smiles and laughters that everyone picked up their paces to reach the city. But when they reached the gates, Zheng Kai frowned, ¡°Hm? Why aren¡¯t there any guards here??¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought it was odd too. Motioning for Tang Xinyun to hold Huangfu Rui, Bai Yunfei slowly stepped forward to look around the place first.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just the guards,¡± Kou Tingting spoke, ¡°why aren¡¯t there any people on the streets? It¡¯s night time and all, but surely they can¡¯t all be resting for the night?¡±


    Now that the group was fully in the city and could see the inside streets, they all noticed that not even a single person could be seen on the streets.


    Not only that, they couldn¡¯t even sense the auras of anyone in the buildings on the side of the streets.


    ¡°It¡¯s far too quiet¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. Indeed, the city was extremely silent. Ever since they entered the city in fact, absolutely nothing could be heard.


    Throughout the entire city, not even a single peep could be heard.


    Zheng Kai¡¯s soulsense was being used to search the surrounding area. ¡°I don¡¯t sense anyone here. Strange, is everyone gone from their houses to go somewhere or something?


    ¡°Is today a special holiday? Why isn¡¯t there anyone here?¡± Zheng Kai sent his soulsense even deeper into the center of the city.


    ¡°Wait, I found someone!¡±


    He spoke up in excitement, ¡°And a decent amount of people too. There¡¯s probably something going on in the center of the city. Maybe an event or something? But everyone¡¯s over there.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked to where Zheng Kai was pointing at. With his own soulsense, he could see several auras over there as well. With how weak they were, they were most likely just commoners, but there were also a few soul cultivators there too.


    ¡°Strange.¡± He muttered, ¡°What kind of event would bring everyone in the city there?¡±


    ¡°Heh, who cares? Why don¡¯t we look ourselves?¡± Zheng Kai shrugged, ¡°I want to see what it is that¡¯s got everyone looking. Let¡¯s go take a look.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s go over and see what¡¯s going on, and then we can find ourselves a place for the night. Come on¡­.¡±


    Now that they had a plan, the entire group headed for the city center. Two steps ahead of Long Lan, Bai Yunfei turned his head back, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He asked him.


    Long Lan had been staring at a well just two hundred meters away from the right of the gates the entire time. Looking back to Bai Yunfei when he was called out to, Long Lan shook his head and walked back to the group, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just felt something was strange.¡±


    ¡°Strange?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Is there something else about this place strange to you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Long Lan shook his head. ¡°The atmosphere here feels uncomfortable. But I can¡¯t tell what it is¡­.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little strange, but we should figure it out when we get to the center. Let¡¯s find someone and ask to see what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Long Lan nodded and took his place behind Bai Yunfei so they could continue down the streets to the center of the city.


    ¡­¡­


    At the bottom of the well Long Lan had just been staring at was a small body of clear water. Unmoving, the water was clear and calm enough to reflect the stars up in the sky on it.


    Then, a series of bubbles started to form underneath. Popping as they reached the surface of the water, the bubbles began to pick up in quantity and churn the waters. Originally clear on the surface, the water began to turn a murky red¡­.


    ¡°Blip blip blip¡­.¡±


    Even more bubbles started to form now. A murky black figure rose out from the waters for a moment before submerging itself back into the depths¡­.

 Chapter 698: A Strange City

    ¡°Yunfei? Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?? We haven¡¯t seen a single person yet, it feels like this is a ghost city¡­.¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s face was starting to pale a bit.


    It had been ten minutes since they entered the city, and they had yet to come across a single person. ¡°There¡¯s definitely people up ahead right, or am I sensing things wrong?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s definitely people up ahead, and a whole lot of them.¡±


    The tense look on Zheng Kai¡¯ face loosened up a bit, though he was still feeling a little uneasy about things. ¡°Xiao Qi, your soulsense is stronger than mine. Can you sense what¡¯s going on in the center?¡±


    He was given an annoyed glance in return. ¡°You¡¯ve already asked me this so many times. There¡¯s definitely a lot of people up ahead. They¡¯re all pretty weak, so they have to be commoners, but there¡¯s as many people as there are stars in the skies. With how they¡¯re moving, it¡¯s definitely an event or something.¡±


    Zheng Kai didn¡¯t look convinced at that. ¡°But that¡¯s what so strange about it!!¡± He exclaimed.


    ¡°Even the biggest national holiday in the empire wouldn¡¯t bring out so many people like this! What kind of event is going on in Formagua City to have a turnout like this? It¡¯s suspicious, we should definitely be careful about this¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡¯Zheng¡¯s right. We should be careful.¡± Bai Yunfei turned away from a nearby building. ¡°The beacons up in the buildings are all lit up, but there¡¯s no one in them like if they all had to leave suddenly. Some of the buildings are using light stones, but there¡¯s a few using candles and oil lamps to light up there places. I can tell that most of them are almost out of fuel. If it was just one or two buildings like that, it¡¯d be a coincidence, but there¡¯s at least twenty houses on this street alone like this. It¡¯s definitely strange¡­..¡±


    ¡°You noticed even that? But¡­.then that means¡­..¡± Zheng Kai trailed off.


    ¡°That means a long time has already passed since they were lit up. Most of the oil lamps and candles are made from fat, so they can burn for a decent amount of time. I¡¯d guess that it¡¯s been at least a day and a half¡­.¡± Kou Tingting picked up after him.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s definitely a problem here, isn¡¯t there?!¡± Zheng Kai exclaimed.


    Bai Yunfei continued forward. ¡°We¡¯ll get our answers when we get to the city center. Let¡¯s be careful until then. Don¡¯t split up no matter what and be prepared for anything.¡±


    Seeing that everyone was nervous, Bai Yunfei smiled to cheer them up, ¡°Haha don¡¯t be nervous. We¡¯ve a strong party here. Even if there is danger, we can handle it.¡±


    Zheng Kai blinked. ¡°Oh...I nearly forgot we had two class seven soulbeasts with us. And with us, we¡¯d be able to fight off one or two Soul Kings together. Why were we even worried¡­.¡±


    Clearly much more relaxed now, the group continued onwards to the center of the city.


    ¡­¡­


    It took another ten minutes before the group were nearly at the heart of the city. The auras of those inhabitants of the city were getting clearer and clearer as they drew close. Most of them were just commoners, and there were definitely a few soul cultivators, though their soulforce was on the weaker side of the spectrum. This meant they were either quite weak as soul cultivators, or they were trying to suppress their auras.


    The auras of those in the center were fluctuating nonstop almost like the dancing embers of a flame.


    Even for such a tremendous amount of people in one small area, this was very strange.


    At last, Bai Yunfei and his group came to a stop right next to a three-story tall building. In the street beyond this building would be the area where everyone was at.


    ¡°Finally here.¡± Zheng Kai sighed, ¡°How mysterious, I¡¯m dying of curiosity here. Wonder what kind of event is taking place here.¡±


    As Zheng Kai was about to cross the street to look, Bai Yunfei suddenly called out to him. ¡°Hold on! Something¡¯s wrong here!!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Startled by his cry, Zheng Kai turned to look, ¡°What problem?¡±


    ¡°Listen!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s face looked grim, ¡°Do you realize we haven¡¯t heard any voices or sound ever since we entered the city?!¡±


    ¡°Voices?¡± Everyone blinked at first, though they too quickly looked grim when they realized Bai Yunfei was correct.


    He was right!! No one in the group had heard even a peep since they entered the city! It was one thing to not hear a thing at the city gates, but to be so close to the center where tens of thousands of people would be, it was still deathly quiet here!


    That was¡­.far too suspicious!


    Everyone had been far too focused on trying to sense for any auras in the buildings as they walked down the streets. Because they had been used to not hearing any sound since the beginning, they had practically forgotten how strange that was!


    ¡°Don¡¯t move you guys. Xiao Qi and I will go in first. Long Lan, pay attention to the surroundings.¡±


    Bai Yunfei spoke to the group after two terse seconds. Stepping forward, he leapt several dozen meters into the sky to take a closer look.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    As soon as he did, Bai Yunfei suddenly went as still as a board. His eyes widened in abject shock as if he had seen something unbelievable.


    No one moved as they watched him.


    It was Zheng Kai who finally couldn¡¯t handle the suspense. ¡°Yunfei, what in the world is going on? What can you see?¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked a few times, startled by Zheng Kai¡¯s voice. ¡°There¡¯s¡­.there¡¯s no one¡­.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± With how quiet he was, Zheng Kai didn¡¯t hear him. ¡°There¡¯s no what?¡±


    Eyes still straining wide open in shock, Bai Yunfei repeated what he said, ¡°There¡¯s...there¡¯s no one here at all!!¡±


    ¡°No one?¡± Everyone spoke. ¡°What kind of joke are you playing at?¡± Zheng Kai cried out, ¡°There¡¯s thousands of people here, how can there be no one? Forget it. I¡¯ll go myself.¡±


    He leapt up into the air to get to where Bai Yunfei was. When he looked over, his jaw immediately dropped wide open to be as stiff as Bai Yunfei was. ¡°What¡­.what the f*ck!! There really isn¡¯t anyone! What is going on here?!¡±


    The reactions of the two confused Tang Xinyun and the others. Leaping up into the skies, they went to look for themselves.


    And when they looked down to where the center of the city was¡­.


    There really wasn¡¯t anyone there!!


    A giant plaza stood at the center of the city. Where everyone felt the auras of the inhabitants, not even a single person could actually be seen there!!


    Even though they couldn¡¯t see it, everyone could clearly sense that tens of thousands of auras were right where they were looking at!


    Sensing a person¡¯s aura and not seeing the actual person was one thing. But to sense the auras of tens of thousands of people and not see them was another!


    This was a freakish situation of the utmost proportions. Even as as inexperienced as they were, no one in the group had no idea what in the world was going on here and were shocked.


    Several seconds went by as Bai Yunfei tried to process what was going on in his head. ¡°Xiao Qi, Long Lan, scan the area!¡± He called out to the two.


    The Charm Bracelet on his left hand pulsated with light as he connected to the minds of the two so they could combine their efforts.


    Xiao Qi and Long Lan nodded and spread out their soulsense throughout the city center.


    They weren¡¯t simply scanning the area like they normally did, but were now completely focused in their actions. With the Charm Bracelet combining their minds together, the three¡¯s perception could be enhanced greatly. With their efforts, they could scan the entire Formagua City!!


    Even a mid-stage Soul King would have to exert a great deal of energy in order to replicate what the three were doing.


    With their senses heightened to their extremes, Bai Yunfei and the other two were able to sense the abnormality of the auras in front of them!


    The auras of everyone here looked different to one another at first. But now that they were all focusing on it, the three realized that at the very root of all the auras, the way they were all fluctuating were¡­.identical to one another!


    ¡°Bzz¡­..¡±


    As if touching upon something when they looked closely at it, the three started to hear a buzzing sound, and then, something began to stir!!

 Chapter 699: Saving a Young Girl

    It was as if something realized the intrusion on the auras. Like a flickering television signal, the auras flickered for one last time before disappearing!!


    In a single instance, tens of thousands of auras had disappeared all at once as if they hadn¡¯t existed in the first place!


    Everyone was so startled by the sight that some of them let out a strangled cry. They scanned the area but felt nothing in response. It was as if the auras they sensed earlier had only been an illusion.


    ¡°F*ck! What is going on here!! This is freaky, Yunfei, far too freaky. We shouldn¡¯t be here, let¡¯s leave right now!¡±


    Zheng Kai pleaded to Bai Yunfei as he looked back down at the now deserted city center.


    Tang Xinyun and the others had the same ideas well, but Bai Yunfei was still looking off into a distance at a large building in the center of the place as if thinking about something.


    ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Tang Xinyun noticed what Bai Yunfei was looking at and asked.


    Bai Yunfei pointed at the large building after several seconds, ¡°There¡¯s¡­.people in the lord-mayor¡¯s place.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°There are?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Just one person, and most likely a commoner judging from their aura¡­.¡±


    With the combined efforts of Xiao Qi, Long Lan, and Bai Yunfei, the three of them were able to sense the aura of a single person in the lord-mayor¡¯s mansion. And since all of the other auras were gone now, that one aura was all the more obvious.


    At Bai Yunfei¡¯s prompting, everyone else started to look around with their soulsense as well.


    ¡°Save me¡­.¡±


    A voice suddenly called out to them, a weak voice that was just barely loud enough for them to hear!


    Someone was calling for help!


    ¡°Save me¡­.someone save me¡­.¡±


    Straining their soulsense in trying to pinpoint the aura, everyone could sense the exact same thing. This wasn¡¯t an illusion, someone really was calling for help!


    And this voice clearly belonged to a young girl!


    It was a very weak voice and wouldn¡¯t have been heard by the group if they weren¡¯t Soul Exalts. The voice was very strained as if the owner was in pain and filled with terror. In fact, the voice was practically being murmured as she was falling out of consciousness.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here¡­.now we find a person, and they¡¯re at the very center of the city. What¡¯s going on here? So many auras disappeared at once, and now someone¡¯s calling for help¡­.¡± Zheng Kai muttered to himself. ¡°Yunfei, what do you say we should do? Should we just leave this place? Or¡­.¡±


    ¡°Of course we¡¯ll go save that person, are you really just going to ignore someone in need of help?¡± A cross Kou Tingting interrupted, looking unhappy at his question.


    ¡°Er¡­.no, of course I was planning on saving them. I just wanted everyone¡¯s opinions first. I want to save that person too¡­.¡± Realizing that Kou Tingting didn¡¯t like her response, Zheng Kai moved to correct himself. He sighed to himself though, ¡°If we really are going to save somebody, is it really wise if there¡¯s something strange afoot?¡±


    Silent for a moment to think, Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°Something strange is out here. Leaving would be the safest idea, but if there really is someone asking for us to save them, we can¡¯t just leave them to die. It¡¯s a small child too, we should try to save her no matter what¡­.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a little girl hiding on her bed?? There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything else around her. We can just go in and take her and leave, can¡¯t we? It seems pretty simple¡­..¡± Xiao Qi suggested.


    ¡°It¡¯d be great if it goes that way¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed.


    ¡°How about this, Xiao Qi and I will go in to save her. You all wait on the outside. If something happens, then leave at once. Everyone''s safety is the most important thing here.¡±


    ¡°Just you two? That¡¯s not good, is it? I think we should all stick together. It¡¯s not too far away, and we¡¯re all in the middle of the city anyways. Waiting outside or sitting here isn¡¯t too different.¡± Zheng Kai objected.


    ¡°Zheng Kai is right,¡± Tang Xinyun agreed, ¡°We should go together, Yunfei. It¡¯s a young girl, so Tingting and I would be of some assistance. It¡¯s best if we all go together.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei seemed to want to object, but he acquiesced. ¡°Fine then, we can go together.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    With their plan set in stone, everyone headed off for the large mansion. They flew over the walls and then into the large hall to walk into the receiving room.


    This was where the young girl was calling from. Standing by the door, the group scanned the building again with their soulsense to hear the girl call out again.


    Bai Yunfei was looking through the place as carefully as he could. There was nothing out of the ordinary it seemed, and the entire place looked empty, aside from the young girl hiding on the upper floor.


    Both Kou Tingting and Tang Xinyun looked worried as they listened to the weakened cries of the young girl, and even Huangfu Rui looked a little pained at it. Pulling at Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand, she whispered to her, ¡°Sis Yun, she sounds like she¡¯s in pain¡­.we should hurry up and save her¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll be in there shortly.¡± Tang Xinyun nodded and sent a glance over to Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei glanced in turn to Long Lan to tell him to stay in the back while he went up first. Walking up to the right door, Bai Yunfei pressed his hand against it and pushed it open.


    ¡°Creak¡­..¡±


    The door was pushed aside without anything else inside the room activating, meaning Bai Yunfei was able to peer into the room without a problem.


    It was slightly dark inside of the room with there only being a single candle inside. Up to the left side of the room was a single bed where Bai Yunfei could see her.


    A scrawny young girl was huddled on top of the bed, shivering with terrified eyes to look at Bai Yunfei.


    She looked to be around seven or eight years old, though with how frazzled her hair was it was impossible to see what she looked like properly.


    The moment the door opened saw to the young girl starting. She looked to Bai Yunfei in terror, but when she saw his friendly face, hope began to resurface in her eyes. Opening her mouth, she managed to say two words.


    ¡°Save me¡­.¡±


    Looking a little concerned for the young girl, Tang Xinyun side stepped past Bai Yunfei to hurry into the room towards her with Bai Yunfei right behind her.


    ¡°Little sister, are you alright? What happened?¡±


    Quickly arriving at the little bed, Tang Xinyun reached out to give the young girl a hug.


    ¡°Xinyun¡ªwatch out!!¡±


    Suddenly, Bai Yunfei stepped out from behind her. Grabbing onto Tang Xinyun, he swung her behind and quickly stepped back away from the bed!


    ¡°Pow!!!¡±


    The bed underneath the girl immediately started to shake. Tendrils of shadows came flying out from underneath with one tendril wrapping around the little girl on the bed and pulling her under! The other two tendrils shot forth like snakes to coil around the retreating Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun!


    ¡°Ayahhh!!!¡±


    At the same time, the high-pitched scream of Huangfu Rui could be heard outside the room!

 Chapter 700: Surprise Attack From Underneath

    ¡°Little Rui!¡±


    It was with great concern that Tang Xinyun detached herself from Bai Yunfei¡¯s back to leap out from the room. Huangfu Rui¡¯s cry from outside the room had startled her so much that she tried to leave the room. But she turned her head back around to look at the young girl as she was being dragged underneath by the dark tendrils, ¡°Yunfei!¡± She cried out, ¡°The girl!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I got it!!¡± Bai Yunfei called back. Pushing Tang Xinyun out of the room, he stepped further in. ¡°Xiao Qi, protect Xinyun!!¡±


    Xiao Qi had just started to fly into the air towards the tendrils when he was stopped by Bai Yunfei¡¯s command. Turning around, it flew back towards Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Bang! Bang!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal appeared in the room when Bai Yunfei shook his right hand. It struck against the two tendrils coming at him and rebuffed the two with a slight sizzling sound. The two tendrils curled backwards before shrinking back as if hurt.


    Bai Yunfei arrived at the front of the bed in a flash. There was a single hole that extended from the middle of the bed down into the ground where he could see the young girl be brought away through a small drop of about thirty meters before turning a small corner and out of sight.


    ¡°Tch!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue. Without thinking twice, Bai Yunfei erected a barrier around him and dropped down the hole after the young girl.


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were both dealing with the interior of the room, Long Lan was busy smashing apart a black shadow and getting ready for battle along with the red magiboar. While Huangfu Rui hadn¡¯t been paying attention, a dark-red object had coiled around her waist. Since she hadn¡¯t been expecting to be attacked, Huangfu Rui let out a scream when she realized what was going.


    It was however a good thing Long Lan was there and took care of the issue before anything could happen.


    By the side, Zheng Kai had used his black fan to cut apart at the two tendrils coming at him and Kou Tingting with a burst of spatial attacks.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    While Tang Xinyun was rushing outside in her panic, Xiao Qi let loose a loud chirp. Shining brightly with light, he unleashed a wave of wind blades towards the right and tore apart at the shadows there which dripped dark-red liquid from them.


    Xiao Bai was getting ready for battle too. It flapped its wings to provide a protective layering of elemental wind around Tang Xinyun¡¯s body to protect her.


    As quick as they came, the ¡®things¡¯ that came out from the ground were quickly smashed apart and left to shrink back into the ground.


    Aside from the tendrils Xiao Qi had torn apart, the rest of the tendrils fell back down to the ground with a bang where everyone could see ¡®what¡¯ exactly it was¡­..


    ¡°What¡­.what is this?!¡± Zheng Kai cried out in bewilderment. Eyeing what it was in front of him closely, he saw something as thick as his own arm and several meters long. It was shaped like the tail of a snake and was dripping red with something. Bewildered, Zheng Kai managed to find his voice a little later, ¡°Am I seeing things right?! An octopus?!¡±


    He was right! The thing that had attacked everyone just now had been the tentacles of an octopus!!


    There over a dozen of these tentacles with suction pads stuck all over them that looked like mouths almost. Even now, the suctions were still opening and closing!


    ¡°An octopus that¡­.that can hide in the ground?!¡± Zheng Kai remarked, ¡°If the tentacles are this big, just how big is the octopus itself?! And...how did we not notice the octopus earlier?!¡±


    Now that everyone was back together, Long Lan peered down towards the ground. ¡°I didn¡¯t even sense it until it attacked. This place is¡­.a little strange. It¡¯s preventing my soulsense from entering¡­.¡±


    Xiao Qi nodded his head from above their heads. ¡°I didn¡¯t sense it either. That thing was hiding deep in the ground as if it was one with it. I can¡¯t even sense where it¡¯s gone now.¡±


    Kou Tingting frowned. ¡°Then what¡­.what should we do now?¡±


    ¡°The very first thing we should do is get out of here. We¡¯re not sure what¡¯s going on here, it¡¯s not safe if we stick around.¡± Zheng Kai voted.


    ¡°But¡­.Yunfei dove into the hole to save that girl¡­.¡± Tang Xinyun said.


    ¡°What?!¡± Zheng Kai whirled around to look at the room Bai Yunfei had been in. ¡°I can¡¯t sense him¡­.damn! He really did go down that hole?!¡±


    Try as hard as they might, no one in the group could sense Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura from down the hole! It expanded for several hundred meters down and was like a swamp where one could hardly make head or tail of the geographical layout underneath.


    ¡°I know where Bai Yunfei is! He¡¯s right now nearly six hundred meters down deep into the ground!¡± Xiao Qi suddenly spoke up. He was different to Zheng Kai due to his soul contract with Bai Yunfei and could tell the general area Bai Yunfei was in.


    ¡°Really?¡± Tang Xinyun spoke, ¡°How is he doing right now?!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell that,¡± Xiao Qi shook his head. ¡°But he¡¯s still chasing¡­.no! I have to go in after him!!¡±


    And just like that, Xiao Qi disappeared from the room to dive deep into the hole after Bai Yunfei.


    I¡¯m going too!!¡±


    Growing panicked, Tang XInyun moved to go down to but was stopped by Kou Tingting holding onto her arm.


    ¡®Don¡¯t be rash, Xinyun. It¡¯s too dangerous down there, you can¡¯t go.¡± She shook herh ead.


    Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t look convinced, ¡°But¡­.¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re worried about Yunfei, but we don¡¯t know what¡¯s down there. It could be a trap, if you can¡¯t help out Yunfei, you might end up getting trapped yourself.¡±


    ¡°Tingting¡¯s right,¡± Zheng Kai backed her up, ¡°I think it¡¯s best if we leave this place for now. Believe in Yunfei and Xiao Qi. The two of them are a lot stronger than even I¡¯m aware of. Even a mid-stage Soul King won¡¯t easily win against them, believe in them.¡±


    He thought about it a little more. ¡°How about this, if you¡¯re still not convinced, then we can have Long Lan go help them when we get to a safe spot.¡±


    ¡°Sis Yun, why is bro Strawhat gone? Where did he go? And what was that just now, it was so scary¡­..can we leave this place? I¡¯m scared¡­.¡± Huangfu Rui clutched at Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand as she trembled.


    ¡°I¡­.¡± A little hesitant, Tang Xinyun finally gave in after a while. ¡°Fine then, we can leave.¡±


    But as everyone prepared to leave the room and take to the skies, yet another development started to take place!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­..¡±


    The ground beneath their feet started to tremble as if an earthquake was starting to take place. Cracks and crevices started to open up, threatening to plunge them down into the earth!!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    Zheng Kai cried out to the others, pulling Kou Tingting with him as he did to take off into the skies.


    But even as he tried to stabilize a foothold in the air by making use of the elemental energy to dos, Zheng Kai came to the startling realization that he couldn¡¯t! As if there was something from the hole draining their energy, it started to pull everyone towards the ground!


    He wasn¡¯t the only person affected. Aside from Long Lan, everyone else was started to be sucked in to the ground!


    Long Lan was astonished. He had thought the enemy had already retreated for now and hadn¡¯t thought another surprise attack would come so soon. He crossed over to Tang Xinyun who was the closest and pulled her to him. In another moment, he made his way to Zheng Kai and Kou Tingting a few meters away.


    On the other side, Xiao Bai was try to make the most of its flying advantage by pulling Huangfu Rui up with its leg, but it was no use¡­..


    The group fell down beneath the earth and quickly disappeared from sight down the pitch dark hole. There was only a faint crumbling sound as the hole slowly started to squirm a bit. Its mouth grew smaller and smaller until¡­.it closed up on itself!


    From what used to be a hundred meter large hole, a completely intact piece of ground was left on it! Not even ten seconds had gone by before the ground was back to normal! Even the sod and stone tiles that had previously been there was back to perfect condition, and it looked like nothing even happened in the first place!


    Under the night sky on this earth. In this small courtyard, the mansion, and the city, everything was deathly quiet¡­..


    With Please look forward to Book Six: Pill Royale!

 Chapter 701: Underground Chase

    A sphere of fire was burning brightly in the otherwise pitch-dark hole to illuminate the surrounding four to five meters around it.


    This place was the very bottom of the hole and was extremely far away from the surface of the earth. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know just how long it had been since he first entered the hole, and to make matters even worse, all the twists and turns had caused Bai Yunfei to lose his sense of direction.


    At first, Bai Yunfei thought it was a singular passageway he was chasing the tentacle down in. But the more he traveled, the more he came to realize this was actually a series of tunnel networks that branched off into multiple tunnels in complicated directions. If not for his soulsense latching onto the weak aura of the young girl, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been lost in the tunnels.


    The more he chased down the tentacle, the more grim Bai Yunfei felt about the situation.


    His feet continued to take him deeper into the darkness after the unfocused aura. ¡°What am I even chasing after, and where is it taking me¡­.?¡± He muttered to himself.


    Bai Yunfei was already more than well aware of how strange this area was. It was just ordinary soil around him, but at the same time there was a ¡®suffocating¡¯ feel to it.


    He felt this type of feeling before¡ªit was similar to when he was back in the illusion outside of the Capital!


    There was an abundant amount of strange energy that was targeting his motions, senses, and even soul to hamper their max efficiency.


    But the most important thing was the fact that the surrounding soil was capable of blocking soulsense from traveling through it!!


    Bai Yunfei had realized then that he couldn¡¯t sense what was going on around him! His soulsense was hardly able to spread even a hundred meters around him! Fearful that he might lose track of the enemy, Bai Yunfei hurried after them without stopping.


    Everything had been far too strange since they arrived in Formagua City. With all things considered, Bai Yunfei had at least a few things figured out.


    The inhabitants of Formagua City were gone somewhere unknown, causing the city to become what it was right now. And the cause of their disappearance had to be because of this ¡®thing¡¯. The countless auras in the city center was the doing of ¡®that¡¯, and even the little girl was used as bait for ¡®its¡¯ plan.


    That didn¡¯t mean to say the little girl was a fake. Bai Yunfei was definitely convinced she was an actual commoner and was actually in danger. She was just used by ¡®that¡¯ as bait to attract people like Bai Yunfei!


    Whatever ¡®that¡¯ was, it was trying to avoid a battle out on the surface where it¡¯d surely lose against any person. By dragging them underneath, the chances of victory for ¡®it¡¯ would be higher.


    Or perhaps there was yet another comrade with this underground thing. Because of the strange properties of the earth, the underground thing was able to continue on with its actions unhindered. But the cause of the changes in the earth was most likely due to the actions of a second being.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Do you think you¡¯d win against me even if we¡¯re underground?¡±


    Bai Yunfei snarled. Having the Cataclysmic Seal come to his side, Bai Yunfei had the fireseed inside of it melt into his own body and increase his strength!


    Dual Flame Arts: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form!


    Bai Yunfei knew better than to stick around and be led back to its nest to fight. The best course of action was obviously to take out the thing right now, rescue the girl, and then leave as quickly as possible!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a sharp crack as Bai Yunfei¡¯s foot kicked off against the ground. Shooting around a corner with so much force that the earth quaked, Bai Yunfei sped towards the retreating black shadow with the speed of lightning!


    He didn¡¯t attack in fear of accidentally striking the young girl somehow. Instead, he reached his right hand out to try and grab onto her and pull her away from the snake-like thing that was grabbing onto her.


    Before he could even get within two meters of the young girl, three black shadows shot out from the left and right side of the girl at him!!


    As it turned out, Bai Yunfei had turned the corner onto a fork in the road. With at least one tunnel on both sides of the one the shadow holding onto the girl was going through, Bai Yunfei was being attacked by the shadows in the other tunnels!


    Startled, Bai Yunfei took the Cataclysmic Seal and pressed it forwards.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!!¡±


    The three black shadows slapped onto the bubble of elemental energy around Bai Yunfei like whips of liquid. Though they weren¡¯t strong enough to destroy the barrier, they did manage to exert enough force onto the barrier to divert Bai Yunfei into the roof of the tunnel.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was an explosion as Bai Yunfei slammed into the roof. A large crater formed where he struck against the earth, causing dirt and stone to fall. A moment later, a crimson streak of light shot back towards the black shadow!


    ¡°It¡¯s attacks aren¡¯t too strong, but it¡¯s clearly holding back too. I can¡¯t find out just how strong this thing is, or what it even is¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei dropped the barrier after he was hit and rebounded back at the path of the shadows. Several thoughts were racing through his mind as he tried to think about the possibilities of what he was facing. Unfortunately for him, the three black shadows that attacked him were already gone from sight.


    The only thing he was positive about right now was the fact that he was up against a soulbeast with an earth affinity. It had multiple tentacles just like an octopus as well, but aside from that, he wasn¡¯t sure about anything else.


    Even with this brief altercation, Bai Yunfei was moving fast enough to catch up to the shadows. In the blink of an eye, he was already back within two meters and just in time to be attacked by another two black shadows!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Bai Yunfei was prepared this time. Coming to a stop for some reason, Bai Yunfei took a half step back with his right foot and clenched his right hand. Bringing it up to have the Flameblade Bracer shine, Bai Yunfei summoned a Winged Flame Blade tall enough to touch the roof of the cave.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The two black shadows were coming at him from two perpendicular angles now. With him at their center, the two shadows were forming an ¡®X¡¯ as they came at him.


    In response, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand down to have the Flame Winged Blade shoot off down the center towards the ¡®X¡¯ attack!


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    There was a squelching sound as the Flame Winged Blade cut straight through the black shadows and left behind a trail of scorched earth before finally disappearing.


    ¡°Bang! Bang!¡±


    Two black objects fell to the ground. An acrid burning smell pervaded through the tunnels as the two black shadows zipped back away from Bai Yunfei, leaving behind the tips of whatever had come forward.


    ¡°These¡­.these really are the tentacles of an octopus!!¡±


    At last, Bai Yunfei was finally able to see whatever those ¡®black shadows¡¯ were. He was a little surprised. Though scorched a bit, Bai Yunfei could see that the shadows were well and truly the tentacles of an octopus! He had guessed earlier that this strange beast was ¡®like¡¯ an octopus with how it had plenty of tentacles, but in the end, it really was an octopus he was dealing with!


    But now wasn¡¯t the time to be surprised about that. In the time Bai Yunfei stopped to deal with the tentacles, the little girl was already taken yet another hundred meters away. Picking up the pace, Bai Yunfei gave chase after the girl again.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Yunfei!¡±


    A voice called out to him from behind. Straight afterwards, a streak of violet and green light shot through the tunnels towards Bai Yunfei. Without pausing, it flew past him to continue onwards!

 Chapter 702: Trapped

    Xiao Qi is a class seven soulbeast. Fitted with the Wind and Lightning Feathers to accentuate his dual affinity for wind and lightning, Xiao Qi could fly faster than what Bai Yunfei could possibly hope to achieve even in his ¡®coil¡¯ form. Even as Xiao Qi flew, the wind pressure caused by his flight was tearing up the walls with blades like wind and leaving behind heavy scratches. Even Bai Yunfei had to bring up his arms to protect himself as Xiao Qi flew past him. As he brought his arms down, Bai Yunfei could see Xiao Qi was already nearly upon the tentacle holding onto the young girl.


    ¡°Be careful not to hurt the kid!¡±


    Bai Yunfei communicated with Xiao Qi through their soulbond almost hastily.


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    Xiao Qi responded as he came to a stop over the little girl. With his back practically touching the tunnel roof, Xiao Qi¡¯s entire body lit up with green light as it prepared to sever the tentacles with a blade of wind.


    But somehow, the soulbeast had a seemingly infinite amount of tentacles. The surrounding tunnels trembled for a moment before three more tentacles shout out from the tunnels to strike down Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Chirp!¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped once in response to this attack. Because of the size of the tunnel, Xiao Qi was the size of a small crane almost. Whipping his wings back and forth, the bird conjured several dozen blades of wind and scattered them everywhere.


    ¡°Pcht pcht pcht pcht¡­.¡±


    None of the tentacles were even able to come within half a meter of the bird before they came apart in a gory mess of blood and flesh all around Xiao Qi.


    None of the blades of wind touched upon the tentacle holding onto the young girl despite how chaotically they scattered around the place. But even despite his controlled actions, this didn¡¯t mean Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t ready to let down on his assault on the beast. Just as the tentacle holding onto the young girl was about to get any farther away, Xiao Qi¡¯s entire body lit up soulforce before sending a special blade of energy towards the tentacle.


    The Spatial Edge.


    This blade of nothingness wasn¡¯t meant to go directly after the tentacle. Instead, it was going at a forty-five degree downwards to sever the tentacle connecting from the main body with the tip holding onto the little girl.


    The Spatial Edge came into contact with the tentacle without much trouble or noise. Without pausing after it phased through the tentacle, the Spatial Edge collided into the ground and left behind a dreadful lunar-shaped hole after it.


    ¡°Wuuuu¡­¡­.¡±


    A moment after the tentacle was severed, the tunnels all around Bai Yunfei started to tremble with sound. Even with the many tunnels there, Bai Yunfei could distinctly hear the echoing sounds of pain and anger coming from somewhere. Loose stone and dirt fell from the roof of the tunnels, making it seem like the place was ready to come apart.


    Blood sprayed out from the bisected section of the tentacle in greater amounts than from when the other tentacles were hurt before. Image wise, it was as if this was a giant pipe that had burst, sending red liquid all over the place. Soon, blood covered the vast majority of the tunnel and filled the already stale air with its stench.


    This tentacle was probably the manifestation of a large amount of energy from the soulbeast and was more particular than the other tentacles.


    The tunnels shook for a moment before the earlier part of the tentacle disappeared into the darkness of the tunnels. The other half dropped down to the ground and squirmed a bit as if trying to drill into the ground to try to form another tunnel.


    ¡°Trying to run away?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s cold voice called out to it as he approached. Swinging his right hand, a red line flew out from his robes to wrap around the tentacle with a clattering sound.


    ¡°Clank¡­..¡± The red whip-like object coiled twice around the tentacle with the movement of a snake. Tightening after coiling twice, it went still long enough to be seen¡ªlinks of metal as thick as one¡¯s arms were held steadfast around the tentacle!


    It was the Devouring Chains!


    As if something about these chains were influencing it somehow, the tentacles began to trash around even more violently. But a dark red light was emanating through the chains and sending a large amount of energy back into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    ¡°There¡¯s a large amount of soulforce for just one small segment of a tentacle.¡± Bai Yunfei remarked in surprise. Clenching his hand, he tightened the chains enough so that they would constrict even more around the tentacle.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The wet sound of something being torn apart could be heard as the chains tore apart the tentacle. Since it had no bone, the tentacles looked as if it was being pushed inwards before it reached its limit and was torn apart.


    This one small section of the tentacles had yet again been split into two sections.


    It was near the tip of the tentacles Bai Yunfei was going for. Located not too far away from where the young girl was, the tentacle was ripped apart by the chains so it couldn¡¯t try to dig its way away. Without something to coil around, the chains loosened up and retreated back into Bai Yunfei¡¯s sleeves. Putting the weapon away, Bai Yunfei took the unconscious child into his arms.


    ¡°Time to go!¡±


    Now that his goal was accomplished, Bai Yunfei knew what he had to do next. He didn¡¯t care to find out just what kind of soulbeast this was, he just wanted to leave this place. Even without careful observation, Bai Yunfei could tell the young girl¡¯s aura was extremely weak as if she was on the verge of losing her breath any second now. What Bai Yunfei wanted to do was to get to a safe spot where he could see what was wrong with her.


    ¡°Wuu¡­..wuuuuu¡­..¡±


    An even louder wail of pain echoed through the tunnels again, accompanied by several heavy quakes. Almost as if a colossus of some kind was starting to stir from the earth, Bai Yunfei felt the entire area tremble violently. The bit of the tentacle trying to dig into the earth had already collapsed lifelessly onto the ground, but Bai Yunfei could sense the amount of elemental earth in the area start to churn violently.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    The ¡®main¡¯ tunnel Bai Yunfei was in finally started to collapse, bringing several large chunks of stone and dirt down into the middle of the tunnel!


    ¡°Damn! We¡¯re going to have to charge our way out.¡±


    Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. There wasn¡¯t the time to go back the way he came. Looking up with the plan to break through the earth above him, Bai Yunfei leapt up.


    The Cataclysmic Seal erected a barrier of around two meters wide around Bai Yunfei and the little girl to protect them from any loose stone or dirt. Xiao Qi was already back to its normal pigeon size on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, since he was at a disadvantage if any falling stone were to hit him if he was large still.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s left arm held onto the little girl and his right hand was now free of the Devouring Chains. Looking up, he lifted his free right hand and shot out a large fireball. There was a loud explosion as the fireball tore through a good chunk of the earth around it. But moments later, the hole closed up as if healing from the damage.


    ¡°Let me try.¡±


    Xiao Qi flew above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head in a flash and sent a blade of powerful elemental wind up to open a passageway.


    But already the earth was seemingly starting to melt together with the stone. Growing thick and mucous, the tunnel felt more like a swamp of earth so when Xiao Qi¡¯s blade of wind went through it, the roof didn¡¯t crack at all. It swallowed the blade and then covered up the hole left behind by it.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Xiao Qi chirped in surprise.


    Bai Yunfei stared hard at the roof and the ¡®liquid¡¯ seemingly moving around them with a suspicious and startled expression.


    ¡°We¡¯re¡­.sinking.¡±

 Chapter 703: The Lair

    All of the surrounding dirt was starting to turn into ¡®mud¡¯ and was also starting to churn violently as it flowed. The longer Bai Yunfei waited, the faster the mud started to flow downwards. Much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s own surprise, the mud wasn¡¯t the only thing flowing, he was starting to sink down with it!


    Even within the barrier, Bai Yunfei felt like a bubble of air deep underwater. With all of the water flowing against him, Bai Yunfei was being battered around with the pressure of all the water on top of him trying to force Bai Yunfei and the barrier downwards!


    The motions of the water and everything around Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve sent any lesser person into motion sickness and black out. But after Bai Yunfei managed to recover from his shock, Bai Yunfei transmitted more of his soulforce into the barrier. A pulse of elemental earth was released from the barrier, stopping the water from pushing him down.


    Bai Yunfei looked back to the roof with a curious light. Sending the Cataclysmic Seal back up, Bai Yunfei leapt up to try and force his way through the roof!


    Before, the roof used to be as hard as stone and break apart when struck. But now that it was soft due to the surrounding liquid, the roof wasn¡¯t exploding apart anymore. Still, Bai Yunfei was able to force his way through somehow!


    Without enough strength, the current of the water flow would¡¯ve forced any person to follow the tide. But for Bai Yunfei, who had enough strength, he could go against the ¡®current¡¯ and break free.


    With Bai Yunfei¡¯s previous act, Bai Yunfei was no longer inhibited by the downward current of the liquids in the tunnel. Like a motor going against the tide, Bai Yunfei was traversing upwards from the tunnel.


    Bai Yunfei was paranoid that he¡¯d be attacked again as he swam up the tunnels, but after several minutes of doing so, he had yet to be attacked. Aside from the current trying to force him downwards, Bai Yunfei was in no other danger.


    ¡°Is it afraid of us since we cut off one of its more special tentacles?¡± Bai Yunfei wondered to himself. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter I guess, it¡¯s best for us if that¡¯s the case. I should be back to the top in this case then? I should be safe from this mysterious soulbeast as long as I make it out from the underground¡­¡­¡±


    He looked back up at the roof. The water around him was starting to grow lighter in color almost, and the sticky sensation he had been feeling was starting to ebb a bit. It seemed that he was getting closer to the surface.


    ¡°It was a surprising trip, but not a dangerous one¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief to himself.


    But then Xiao Qi chirped in bewilderment, ¡°Wait!! Yunfei! We¡¯re in trouble! We¡¯re¡­.we¡¯re not going anywhere!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei turned his head towards Xiao Qi, unsure if he had heard correctly. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°The direction! The direction¡¯s not right¡ªwe¡¯re not going up, but¡­.¡±


    ¡°Blip¡­.¡±


    Before Xiao Qi could finish his sentence, a strange sound popped off into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears. The area up ahead suddenly brightened up and the space around him seemed to lighten up. The pressure that previously been around him was now completely gone as well. Before he could fully comprehend the changes that was taking place, another sensation was starting to disseminate through his body¡­.


    His center of gravity!


    His center of gravity changed, or perhaps it was better to say that the direction of ¡®gravity¡¯ had been suddenly altered!


    It took only a split-second for him to realize he was suddenly ¡®laying¡¯ down on the ground.


    The vertical direction that had been so clearly the ¡®roof¡¯ was now just horizontal to him to run parallel with his current resting position!


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­.what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was completely shocked by the turn of events and took a moment before he was able to ¡®rise¡¯ to his feet.


    Somehow, the changes that was taking place through the earth in the tunnel had done something: it managed to change the direction of gravity!


    The initial torrent of liquid that previously swept Bai Yunfei up had disorientated him. Him reorientating himself by standing ¡®upright¡¯ was actually right, since the direction of gravity had changed then. Misguided by this new change in direction, Bai Yunfei traveled in the wrong direction of the tunnel to reach the center of it all without ever once being the wiser to it since he had never experienced such a thing before. Never did Bai Yunfei realize he was facing the wrong direction.


    The direction he thought was ¡®up¡¯ was in fact the opposite direction of going down.


    He thought he was getting close to the surface, but in reality, Bai Yunfei had been traveling in the opposite direction for a very long time.


    This was a first for Bai Yunfei, he had never heard of such a thing happening before.


    He had been tricked by the enemy¡¯s plan! As surprised as he was, Bai Yunfei forced himself to calm down and held his barrier up. His soulsense was already gathering around the area to warn him for anything.


    Sweeping around the place, Bai Yunfei realized that he was inside of a body of water!


    That was right¡ªhe was inside a body of ¡®water¡¯. Behind him was a body of turbid mud like the liquid he started from. Another ten meters behind that was something like an invisible barrier that prevented the mud from flowing over. And across that barrier was a body of pure liquid.


    But it wasn¡¯t ¡®clear water¡¯.


    This type of liquid had a definite pigment to it¡­..a red pigment.


    It was like a tremendous lake with liquid a deep dark red¡­.like blood.


    ¡°What¡­..what is this place¡­.?¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself in amazement. His eyes swept across the dark red liquid with his soulsense scanning the place vigilantly.


    ¡°Wuuuu¡­..¡±


    Moments after his soulsense scanned the area, a heavy voice came out from the depths of the water. Then Bai Yunfei felt his soulsense be met with a powerful but murderous aura!


    Simultaneously, a blue light started to shine from underneath the waters. The next thing Bai Yunfei knew, ten black shadows shot out from the waters to try and wrap around Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei realized then right there with a start¡ªthis was the ¡®real body¡¯ of the mysterious soulbeast.


    But from the aura he felt from the soulbeast, this was¡­. A peak late-stage class six soulbeast!! It was as strong as he was!!


    Several tentacles as thick as his arm was already started to come for him from every direction by the time Bai Yunfei snapped back to awareness. Kicking against the water, Bai Yunfei propelled him upwards to evade three of the closest tentacles. Another four tentacles followed before he managed to move out of the way fast enough. Circling around in the small area he was in, Bai Yunfei was able to just barely avoid most of the tentacles. But because he was holding onto the little girl still, Bai Yunfei was unable to attack the tentacles. And because Xiao Qi had never been in an ¡®underwater¡¯ battle before, Xiao Qi couldn¡¯t think of what to do to fight.


    ¡°Bang bang¡­.¡±


    At last, two of the tentacles slammed against the barrier Bai Yunfei had. Like snakes, they wrapped around the barrier with amazing force and started to constrict and pull the barrier deeper into the center of the lake.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    There was a loud explosion from one of the tentacles as a loud spark popped out from it. In the next second, both tentacles exploded with a sizzling sound as a figure in red escaped from the tentacles and came to a stop underwater.


    Completely enveloped by a bubble of elemental fire to press back the water, Bai Yunfei stared grimly at the direction ahead while Xiao Qi kept himself in a bubble next to him.


    ¡°Wuu¡­..¡±


    There was another deep grumble as the tentacles writhed in the water. A mountainous thing started to rise from the depths of the water to slowly appear in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes¡­.

 Chapter 704: A Pool of Blood!

    It was unknown just how deep the waters were here. There was no light down here, and visibility was very poor. The only thing that could be seen was the bright burst of elemental energy concentrated in one small area of the space. Since he was concentrating extremely hard at the task at hand, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense was only four hundred meters in radius from him. But from that small area of coverage, Bai Yunfei could at least ascertain he was in a very dark red body of water.


    There was a gigantic shadow rising from the depths of the water. Now just three hundred meters below the surface of the water, a circular outline of the thing could just barely be seen. A ¡®ball¡¯ about a hundred meters tall was visible now with two red ¡®slits¡¯ on one side of the sphere. As they drew closer, Bai Yunfei felt like they looked like a pair of gigantic red lanterns.


    But then when he got a closer look, he realized they weren¡¯t ¡®lanterns¡¯, but a pair of furious red eyes!


    Following the appearance of the eyes, a blue sheen of light started to emanate from the rest of the body. Thick tentacles sprung from the body one after another to form a network of tentacles.


    At last, the mysterious soulbeast had finally revealed itself to Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei felt his mouth drop open at the sight, ¡°This¡­this really is an octopus!¡± He exclaimed!


    That was right! Floating right in front of him was a gigantic octopus!


    Animals known as octopuses are extremely rare in the Tianhun Continent. They existed only in the coastal areas of the continent, which were already quite rare compared to the rest of the continental terrain. Only the ¡®privileged¡¯ members of the empire would even know what one was. Commoners could go their entire lives without ever once knowing what an octopus was. Even Bai Yunfei had only heard about these animals when he arrived in the Capital.


    Obviously, the giant ¡®octopus¡¯ right in front of him wasn¡¯t the little aquatic type of animal meant to be eaten. This was a soulbeast that was even more powerful than it was rare.


    ¡°An aquatic soulbeast¡­..and with a water affinity. It sounds familiar¡­.what is it called again?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered pensively as he thought about the compendium given to him by his master about the many soulbeasts. There were plenty of things he didn¡¯t quite remember due to the sheer contents of it all, and he didn¡¯t bother to read up on it after he left the Soulbeast Forest. He felt like he came across a soulbeast like this once before, but he just couldn¡¯t put his finger on it.


    Aquatic-type soulbeasts were rarer compared to the other soulbeasts, so information on them were a little limited. They had to live in the water and would become weaker if they were taken out of it. In some cases, some soulbeasts couldn¡¯t even move. There were only a few large bodies of water in the Soulbeast Forest that could foster marine life, but other than that, aquatic soulbeasts were hard to find.


    For example, there was the River Churning Rat ¡®Xiao Tang¡¯ that traveled with Hong Yin. It was a water-type soulbeast but wasn¡¯t a ¡®fish¡¯ and didn¡¯t have to live in water.


    The rarity of an aquatic soulbeast was limited only to the Tianhun Continent, however. It was said that beyond the continent, such as the ¡®Eternity Ocean¡¯ to the south, an endless amount of water-type soulbeasts lived there.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°How strange to see a water-type soulbeast like this here¡­.and judging from before, it has a dual affinity with earth. Having two contrasting elements like that is super rare.¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself. He stared at the octopus to try and figure out what to do. ¡°Fighting a soulbeast like this in the water is a stupid thing to do. It has an advantage in affinity over mine as well. Good thing I¡¯ve Xiao Qi here, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem to fight it. But aside from the octopus, it still remains to be seen if there¡¯s anyone else¡­.¡±


    He wanted to leave this place at first, but now a battle was unavoidable since he was stuck here in the lair. His elemental fire was practically useless in this case, so he had to be careful and move with caution.


    ¡°Wu¡­..¡±


    A low grumble came forth from the octopus¡¯ ¡®mouth¡¯. Circles of vibrations passed through the air with such force that it was visible to the naked eye even. Water started to splash everywhere and churn violently so that some of the stones underwater started to swirl through the water, forcing Bai Yunfei to break them apart when they got too close.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A beam of elemental fire shot out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand. It¡¯s speed was slower than normal due to it being underwater, but it was still strong enough to break apart a large piece of stone. As they were sent reeling away from Bai Yunfei, a second black object was thrown at Bai Yunfei yet again.


    Prepared to send this one scattering away, Bai Yunfei started to gather soulforce to his hand again. But right as he was about to fire it, he paused briefly, a surprised look etching itself onto his face.


    This thing being thrown at him wasn¡¯t a ¡®stone¡¯, but a¡­.person!


    Or actually, it was a ¡®corpse¡¯!!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a completely intact body either¡ªthere were bones sticking out from certain parts of it!


    Ceasing his attack in favor to simply dodge it, Bai Yunfei looked back at where the body came from and focused. When his eyes adjusted to the dimness, Bai Yunfei nearly let out a gasp in shock!


    There were¡­.so many bodies here!!


    As it turned out, all of the black shadows that came ¡®floating¡¯ up with the octopus weren¡¯t just giant boulders or botanical life. They were¡­.corpses!


    The blue energy radiating from the octopus was getting stronger and stronger. Finally, it reached a point where it was bright enough to illuminate the entire underwater area for Bai Yunfei to see clearly. Underneath the octopus wasn¡¯t just dirt, but a layer of corpses!


    It was essentially a forest of white bones that covered the entire ground! The upper layers of the bones had a bit of meat to them still, and trails of blood mixing into the water could be seen coming from some parts of the flesh.


    That was also when Bai Yunfei realized that when the octopus started to stir, the entire lake became even more concentrated in red light¡ªor black.


    ¡®This¡­.this is¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were wide open now now that he understood what was going on. He knew why the waters was so red now. Furthermore, he also knew why there was such a pungent smell in the area¡­..


    It was blood!!


    The waters was mixed completely with blood! And the horrible odor in the air was due to the decomposing bodies in the water!


    This was no lake he was in! The lake was more blood than it was water!!


    This¡­.this was a body of ¡®blood¡¯!!


    Where the blood was coming from was easy enough to answer when he looked at the amount of bones. And the reason why Formagua was suddenly a ghost city was no longer a mystery. The answer was right there¡­..


    ¡°Bastard!!¡±


    A myriad of emotions flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as all the puzzle pieces started to fit together. Shock, horror, denial, realization, and then¡­..anger!


    This soulbeast had killed off an entire city! An entire city of people!


    ¡°Damn you!!!¡±

 Chapter 705: The First Battle Underwater

    Bai Yunfei roared furiously, his face an extremely dark shade of anger. As his soulforce coursed through his body, Bai Yunfei took out his Fire-tipped Spear from his ring. Kicking off against the waters, he rushed towards the octopus!


    ¡°Look after the girl, Xiao Qi!¡±


    His left hand released the young girl before he left. The Cataclysmic Seal stuck close to her and erected a barrier about a meter wide in radius to protect her within it like a bubble of air in the water.


    Xiao Qi had wanted to fly forward to fight the octopus with Bai Yunfei at first. But with Bai Yunfei telling to stay behind, Xiao Qi froze up and returned to the young girl''s side.


    Through their soulbond, Xiao Qi was able to tell just how angry Bai Yunfei was about this situation. It wasn''t as bad as the ''fury'' Bai Yunfei went through back in the Capital where he lost all rational thought, but the soulbeast in front of them had well and truly angered Bai Yunfei into wanting to kill it.


    It wouldn''t take very long to kill the octopus if Xiao Qi and Bai Yunfei fought together. Bai Yunfei could do it himself if he went all out too though, so Xiao Qi decided to listen to him and stay behind to protect the young girl. They were in a very strange situation after all, and anything could really happen, so Xiao Qi needed to protect the young girl just in case.


    Because of the sticky nature of the ''pool of blood'', Bai Yunfei''s movements were more sluggish than usual. Still, he was able to achieve the fast speed of a fish in water if he used the Flash Step to move. His body leaned forward. His left hand rotated in a circular fashion to have a cone-shaped burst of elemental fire form around it. Heaving the Fire-tipped Spear with him, Bai Yunfei launched himself like a torpedo towards the octopus a few hundred meters away.


    ¡°Bang bang bang.....¡±


    Any bodily fragment from the floating corpses were blown apart as Bai Yunfei shredded his way forward. He wasn''t too concerned on their behalf since the corpses were already dead, and there was no way forward without doing so. He wouldn''t be able to reach the octopus if he didn''t. Killing this murderous soulbeast would resolve any grievances from the dead.


    ¡°Wuuu....."


    There was another deep grumbling from the octopus. The blood water around Bai Yunfei started to churn violently again as a gigantic tentacle shining with blue light tore through the countless bodies to come striking at Bai Yunfei!


    Narrowing his eyes at the beam of light, Bai Yunfei continued onward rather than try to move to the side. His right hand clenched tightly around the Fire-tipped Spear as he spun it to stab at the tentacle. Without any fear, he moved forward to meet the tentacle head on!


    "Pcht...."


    There was a squishing sound as the Fire-tipped Spear stabbed into the meter-thick tentacle. It inserted itself halfway in before stopping like a needle in a pincushion before Bai Yunfei yanked the spear back out!


    Before Bai Yunfei could swim around the tentacle, the tentacle froze up and started to emit a bright red light from it. Cracks traveled down the tentacle like a spiderweb, and soon, even more red light started to shine from between the cracks!


    "Booom!!!"


    The tentacle exploded in a muffled explosion due to the dampening properties of the water. And from within the bloody mess of tentacle flesh, Bai Yunfei came flying forward!


    +10 Additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, activated!


    "Wuuu....."


    There was a pained gurgle from the octopus as its tentacle exploded. Clearly furious at its wound, the glowing-red eyes of the lantern flashed several times in response. Glaring, the octopus sent several more tentacles at Bai Yunfei from every direction!


    Using the explosion of the Fire-tipped Spear on the tentacle had only been a test for Bai Yunfei. Now that he had his answer, Bai Yunfei drew away from the others. Kicking again and again against the water to swim away, Bai Yunfei dodged the incoming tentacles. Despite all the tentacles coming at him, Bai Yunfei had the advantage in that he was ''tiny'' compared to the octopus. The gigantic tentacles left behind cracks in between each other whenever they tried to grab onto Bai Yunfei, and he was more than willing to swim through these cracks to escape. As diminished as the Flash Steps and the Wave Treading Steps were underwater, Bai Yunfei was still able to travel fast enough to evade the twenty-something tentacles underwater.


    With each tentacle dodged, Bai Yunfei was able to progress just a little bit closer to the main body. And within ten seconds, Bai Yunfei was within a hundred meters of the octopus!


    There was a considerable amount of pressure on Bai Yunfei though. Just traveling these several hundred meters had forced Bai Yunfei to use a decent amount of soulforce. Battling underwater made his elemental fire a lot weaker than they would be on land. And without replenishing his soulforce, Bai Yunfei was in a disadvantageous situation.


    ¡°Can''t let this drag on any longer, I have to finish this soon!¡±


    Focused at the task at hand, Bai Yunfei activated the Violet Soul Ring''s effect. Reinvigorated by the flow of stockpiled soulforce into his body, Bai Yunfei kicked off against the waters with his right foot again. He swam forward like a scorching fireball, leaving behind a trail of bubbles to get close to the right eye of the octopus!


    ¡°Wuuuu!!!!¡±


    Since Bai Yunfei was taking on a different approach, the octopus did the same. Its entire body glowed bright blue again, and it was starting to gurgle, but higher pitched this time. A slit underneath the eyeballs opened up wide....was this its mouth?!


    ¡°Gurgle gurgle....¡±


    Bubbles flowed forth from the ''mouth'' in great droves. It looked like the giant body of the octopus was drawing in on itself for a moment before a dark red liquid came shooting out from its ''mouth''!


    The waters around the octopus was already a very dark red from all the blood, but the liquid being spat out from the octopus was even more crimson somehow. It jettisoned through the water with even greater speed than Bai Yunfei was traveling. In the blink of an eye, it blew past the area between the octopus and Bai Yunfei and engulfed him in it.


    With how fast and sudden it was, the beam of liquid was just too wide-reaching for Bai Yunfei to escape from!


    Alarmed, Bai Yunfei had no other choice but to stop dead in his tracks. Looking as hard as he might, Bai Yunfei simply couldn''t see anything past ten meters of him! Even worse, the liquid around him was stickier than before, making it even harder for him to even move!


    That wasn''t the only thing! The liquid around Bai Yunfei was seemingly corrosive to his elemental energy barrier, as it was dissolving it even more with each passing second!


    As Bai Yunfei fed even more soulforce into his defenses, Bai Yunfei realized a black shadow was already coiling around him!


    It was another tentacle, and a thinner one at that. It was only as thick as his legs were and didn''t have a protective layering of blue light around it. This one was a dark red color in fact, but the more important thing was that it was a lot faster than the others! And by the time Bai Yunfei realized that, it was already coiled tight around him!


    ¡±Hngh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei groaned in pain when it constricted onto him and felt his pupils dilate rapidly from how abrupt the attack was!


    Somehow, the dark red tentacle had shattered his barrier as soon as they touched!


    Its soft squishy flesh closed in upon Bai Yunfei''s body, wrapping around his arms like a python constricting around its prey. There was a soft creaking sound from Bai Yunfei''s body as his bones started to groan under the pressure.


    Inexperienced because of the fact this was his very first underwater battle, Bai Yunfei was now in danger due to an unexpected development!

 Chapter 706: Blood Octopus

    "Gurgle...."


    The bones within Bai Yunfei''s body started to creak even more as the pressure from the dark-red tentacles exerted even more pressure onto him. Even as a Soul Exalt, he was powerless to completely resist the constrictive force acting upon him. As the tentacles tightened even more around him, Bai Yunfei started to grunt with pain!


    "What dreadful power....this octopus really is a peak late-stage class six soulbeast. It''s even stronger than a class seven when underwater!"


    Bai Yunfei''s face was grim. His entire body was trembling a bit as he tried to resist the pressure on him. He gritted his teeth, trying his best to escape from the grasp of the tentacles.


    But even as he was trying to gather up his soulforce, the tentacles around his body started to glow with a faint black light! Wrapped around Bai Yunfei''s body, the tentacles seemingly started to bulge a bit. A crack opened up on the side of the tentacle facing Bai Yunfei, looking almost like an actual mouth!


    The suction pads on the tentacle spat out a wisp of black light before they shrunk back down to their normal size to stick to Bai Yunfei!


    "Urgh...."


    A pained grunt erupted from Bai Yunfei''s lips. For once, there was actual fear in his eyes! The soulforce he had been gathering had suddenly....disappeared!


    Or in better words, drained away!


    Something was acting as an absorbent force onto his body, sucking the soulforce from the many pores on his skin and draining it away!


    And at the same time, the black light shining from the tentacle around him grew brighter, and the tentacle grew tighter!


    Bai Yunfei realized then¡ªthis tentacle was draining his soulforce!


    To add onto that, Bai Yunfei felt slightly dizzy with his soulforce being drained. His face was paling, and even his blood started to have a strange flow to it! Like his soulforce, a great amount of his blood was coming out from his body and pass his clothes to be sucked into the tentacles!


    Not only was this tentacle draining soulforce, it was draining blood!


    "This...." Bai Yunfei started to speak. He never thought that the octopus would be capable of something like this too!


    "Damn!" Realizing his blunder, Bai Yunfei began to fight off the force acting upon him, "Xiao Qi!!" He called out.


    "Chirp!!"


    There was a piercing trill that sounded through even the waters from Xiao Qi. Following that trill, a series of ripples through the water could be seen bursting outwards! Xiao Qi couldn''t attack the octopus with Bai Yunfei, so he did the next best thing¡ªa soul attack!


    "Wuuu....."


    There was a low-sounding gurgle from the octopus. It flashed with a faint blue light several times as the soul attack started to wreck havoc on it. Just barely, Bai Yunfei could sense the tentacle around him start to loosen up under the influence of the soul attack.


    But even with that soul attack....


    It didn''t do any significant harm to the octopus!!


    "Hmph!" As surprised as he was by the octopus'' might, Bai Yunfei gritted his teeth and began to send soulforce into his Flameblade Bracer the moment he felt the tentacle loosen.


    Amidst the cracks between the tentacles shined a bright red light. It shined out from where the tentacles failed to latch onto and started to burn and sizzle at the parts of the tentacle touching it. Being burnt by the light, the tentacles around Bai Yunfei started to loosen up again!


    "Bang!!" At last, the tentacles could hold it no longer and were forced away from Bai Yunfei. An intense flame shot out from the right side of Bai Yunfei''s arm to form a giant blade to go onwards!


    "Whoosh!" The flames blossomed in the waters for only a moment before it disappeared. There was a brilliant scorch mark all over the tentacle around Bai Yunfei, expelling a dark shade of blood out from the wounds and adding to the murkiness of the water around Bai Yunfei.


    "Wuuuu....." Finally, there was a distinct sound of pain from the tentacle. As if experiencing some sort of tremendous pain, the tentacle withdrew its tentacle away from Bai Yunfei.


    And at the same time, another ten tentacles came forward to attack.


    Bai Yunfei''s breathing was a little labored. The crisis he was in a moment ago hadn''t been a very painful one in the physical sense, but a great deal of soulforce and blood had been lost due to his negligence. His face was showing signs of blood loss as well, and his body was slightly red from being constricted. Thankfully, his armor had protected him to a certain degree, but the part of his robes around his arms and legs were dyed with a red tint¡ªit was the result of the blood the octopus sprayed at him.


    Taking two heavy breaths, Bai Yunfei immediately retreated away from the octopus with the Flash Steps. He dodged the several tentacles coming at him and bent his body just slightly. Both his arms came up in a cross formation as a shining blue tentacle came forward to slam onto him. It connected with a bang, and Bai Yunfei was forced back a bit due to the blow. Though he managed to come out from the blow with only an aching pain in his arms, Bai Yunfei was helpless to stop himself from being thrust forwards!


    "Bang! Bang! Bang...."


    There were several colliding sounds as Bai Yunfei was sent flying back and forth like a ping pong ball from being hit by the many tentacles. Each time he was hit, there was a pained look on Bai Yunfei''s face, though he managed to divert his trajectory in a ''Z'' formation towards the octopus.


    When another tentacle slammed painfully onto his back, Bai Yunfei felt as if his internal organs would burst. Suppressing a grunt, he gritted his teeth and shot forward. Looking ahead, Bai Yunfei''s eyes caught notice of something and immediately straightened his body in response to it. Exploding with soulforce, he clenched his left fist tightly so that golden light started to emit from it, and with a powerful spin, he lashed a mighty punch onto an incoming tentacle!


    "Bang!!"


    Bai Yunfei''s left hand practically embedded itself into the tentacle''s flesh as he punched it. From where his fist touched the tentacle, there was a deep impression of it that only got deeper as time went on. Again and again, the impression grew even deeper before finally, the tentacle exploded with a bang!


    Not at all caring for the extent of the damage he''d do to the octopus, Bai Yunfei borrowed the explosive power of his move to fly twenty-thirty meters away out of the ''dangerous'' zone of the octopus'' tentacles!


    All there was left now was just fifty meters before he''d be right in front of the octopus!


    The octopus had been so immersed in trying to thrash Bai Yunfei with its tentacles that it had been almost far too late when it realized Bai Yunfei was out of the ''blood zone''. Furious, another ten tentacles came forward to try and corral Bai Yunfei back into it.


    "Hmph!" Bai Yunfei sneered. He placed the Fire-tipped Spear back into his ring and crossed his arms in front of his chest again. Lighting up in a crimson-red light, Bai Yunfei''s essence fireseed began to export a large amount of elemental fire from Bai Yunfei''s body. Bringing out both arms in front of him, Bai Yunfei unleashed a two-meter large ball of elemental fire into the water. Like a miniature sun, the ball traveled through the waters before expanding in size when it got close to the tentacles!


    "Booom!!!"


    As if a volcano was erupting, there was a tremendous explosion from underneath the waters as red and blue light shot up into the air. There was a slight tint of purple light to be seen amidst the explosion, spiraling throughout the explosion like a bolt of lightning.


    "Wuu!!" Came the shrill grumble of the octopus. Its gigantic frame trembled underwater for a moment before it brought its several tentacles back to its body. Most of the tentacles were charred black, and some of them had parts of their flesh blasted straight off.


    With the end of the explosion, the water that had sprung up because of its force finally came falling back down. The brilliant gleam of lights from the explosion was no longer there as well. Bai Yunfei stood at the edge of where the explosion took place to stare at the mountain-sized soulbeast with a curious light. "An octopus that can suck blood and soulforce.....I think there was a deviant type called the ''blood octopus''...."


    Blood octopus'' were a very rare type of deviant soulbeasts. They had low intelligence but were especially prone to killing and were supposedly said to be extinct by now. So it was surprising for Bai Yunfei to come across one here.


    "What kind of person would bring a blood octopus here of all places, and what kind of goals do they have? And why haven''t they shown up yet?"


    Bai Yunfei swept his eyes around the area cautiously. The destruction that had been invited into Formagua City was definitely due to the hands of a soul cultivator. This blood octopus had a master. But where was this master now? After battling with the blood octopus for so long, it was suspicious that no one had come to see what was going on yet.


    "Forget it. Let''s just first kill the blood octopus. And if that person doesn''t come then, then forget about it! Someone who can do something like this isn''t any ordinary person anyways. If that person ends up being too strong, then it''s only going to end up dangerous for me...."


    The Fire-tipped Spear came back out into Bai Yunfei''s hand. Stepping forward, Bai Yunfei shot forward like an arrow to charge at the blood octopus. As he charged forward, his left hand came forward to have the Charm Bracelet send a beam of light towards the octopus!


    And in this moment, the two giant crimson eyes of the blood octopus could barely register Bai Yunfei''s figure coming at it.....


    ¡­¡­


    At this current moment within a haze of red, there was a single person sitting upon the many bones of the corpses underwater. His entire figure was shining bright red and his face couldn''t be seen. It seemed that he was in the middle of training.


    His entire person trembled slightly. Opening his eyes to reveal crimson-red pupils, the man looked already way too far gone into insanity.


    "It''s him! It''s him! Bai Yunfei!! Bai Yunfei!!!" As if pumped full with adrenaline, the man started to tremble heavily. A terrifying aura started to exude out from his body, shattering the many bones into tiny fragments and dust around him!


    "I''m going to kill him! I''ll kill him!! Aahhhh!!!!!!"

 Chapter 707: Boiling!

    For once, the blood octopus looked a little agitated. Bai Yunfei coming at it from twenty meters away must''ve fired off its danger senses.


    This was something of a rare event for the blood octopus. Back in its ''hometown'', the blood octopus had been practically uncontested in strength for many hundred years. Then a few several years ago, someone amazingly strong had taken it away from its hometown to a strange new place. What came after that was a feast of magnificent proportions, and the octopus never felt better. It was living a life far better than what it had the first few hundred years of its life. Eating and gorging on the things brought to it, the octopus didn''t even bother to think of anything else. All it knew was to eat and get stronger.


    It knew that the people that brought it here was ''stealing'' a part of the energy it was creating, but the blood octopus didn''t dare say or do anything about it. The remaining energy was more than enough for it to digest. The limit it was unable to break for so many years now, the octopus was close to breaking it.


    The blood octopus was happy. Even when it seemed like all the prey in the area was already corralled up and taken, even more prey would stumble into the area every so often. The people who brought it here taught it of a ''method''. A method the octopus wasn''t really sure how it worked, but knew that other people would try to ''save'' another human. The octopus did as it was instructed though, and it was only a matter of time before those prey were corralled up without any other problems.


    The people today seemed a lot stronger than the ones from yesterday. Attacking them from underground did nothing to them. In fact, it was the only one who lost out from that brief interaction. Having lost some tentacles, the octopus tried to rely on its ''last resort'' and split up the group. Thankfully, two of the people in the group were led away and into its nest.


    In the blood octopus'' opinion, it was the strongest in this area. No enemy would be able to defeat it here.


    Due to its cautious nature, the octopus decided it was best to focus completely on the battle here. The people in the main group on the surface could be ignored for the time being.


    There was a completely terrifying factor in this current situation. This human in front of it was extremely powerful that could swim practically as fast as a fish inside of its blood pool. Even its attack with congealed blood didn''t do a thing to the human. Aside from a burning sensation on its tentacles, the octopus also felt a ''tingling'' feeling that it really hated.


    "Wuu!!"


    It gave a loud roar in indignation. Hundreds of tentacles came out from the blood octopus to try and tear the human in front of it into bits. Opening its mouth wide open, the octopus sent another torrent of blood water at Bai Yunfei!


    "Again!" Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. He knew now just how annoying the blood water was and kicked off to ascend to higher levels of water.


    The blood octopus let out another cry again. Its tentacles started to move even faster, and upon a closer look, Bai Yunfei could even see that the tentacles seemed to be....moving in a rhythmic dance for some reason!


    Bai Yunfei swam several dozen meters up beyond the edge of the blood water to where the top of the blood octopus was. When he was about to turn direction and continue forward again, Bai Yunfei realized the area over his head was turning pitch-dark for some reason!


    The abyss of the waters didn''t have much light to begin with. The only sources of light throughout the battle were the explosions of elemental energy from either Bai Yunfei or the blood octopus. Even without a tangible source, the elemental energy was still bright enough to light up the entire area, but not enough to light up every corner of the water. The area where Bai Yunfei was at now was an impenetrable area of darkness where no amount of elemental energy was bright enough to shine up!


    But that wasn''t all. Bai Yunfei soon realized this new entire area of the water was like this!


    It was like a cage of darkness, and he was at its center. This feeling was just like how it was when he was in the attack of congealed blood earlier!


    From the outside, it looked like a small portion of the lake was summoning all the blood in it to get ready to attack Bai Yunfei. The area around the bubble of blood was exceedingly clear and without blood.


    Caught this time in the darkness caused by the blood, Bai Yunfei could feel the blood octopus concentrating all of its soulforce to try and end the battle with one final move.


    "Damn!! It''s so difficult to try and defeat this monster underwater!" Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. This octopus wasn''t even a class seven soulbeast yet, but it was giving him as much trouble as he expected from a Soul King. He couldn''t even fight with all his strength due to being underwater, so Bai Yunfei was fighting with double the handicap.


    "Water.....Water......" Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. "If that''s the case, then here''s a strong move myself!"


    The Fire-tipped Spear was put away to free up his right hand. Clenching both hands and placing them by his side, Bai Yunfei gave up the idea to run away. Flipping through several hand seals, Bai Yunfei''s strength began to spike tremendously!


    Dual Flame Arts: Berserk Mode and the False Soul King realm!


    Now in his strongest possible state for battle, Bai Yunfei could begin to fight in earnest. Flipping through another series of hand seals, Bai Yunfei began to glow in a bright red light. A bubble of red expanded outwards from Bai Yunfei''s body to evaporate the nearby water around him before traveling to both his arms!


    This was....the Dual Dragon Burst!


    Was he really going to use the Dual Dragon Burst underwater?!


    There was the possibility that the blood octopus would dodge the Dual Dragon Burst. And even if it did hit, the Dual Dragon Burst would zap away a significant portion of his strength. In a prolonged battle like this, losing that much energy was foolhardy to do so!


    But Bai Yunfei didn''t have any hesitation on what he was doing. Still spiking rapidly, his energy was getting ready to launch!


    "Roarr!!!"


    Two gigantic dragons flew forth from Bai Yunfei''s arms. Sailing out into the waters with a loud roar, they flew for the blood octopus!


    "Pcht!!"


    The two dragons made contact with the blood water a short moment after. Even with how fast it was traveling before, the two dragons slowed down by a decent amount afterwards.


    The flames from the Dual Dragon Burst weren''t made from ordinary flames, so they could exist without much trouble underwater. But the properties of the blood water was different. When one hit another, it was no longer a question of ''fire'' hitting ''water'', but more like ''elemental fire'' vying with ''elemental water'' for supremacy.


    In the system of elements, the only way elemental fire could ever hope to beat elemental water was to simply have more power put into it. Or else elemental water would win.


    So even after traveling just ten meters, the size of the dragons was already half of what it was before and its strength even less!


    By the time it reached the blood octopus, the two dragons were only as thick as a relatively muscular thigh for the octopus to knock aside!


    But then something unexpected happened when the blood octopus'' tentacle tried to knock aside the Dual Dragon Burst!


    "Wuu!!"


    There was a miserable cry from the blood octopus shortly after it batted away the Dual Dragon Burst. The tentacle that hit it was brought back in no time at all and shrunk as if it had lost all semblance of energy in it to flop in the water! At a detailed glance, the latter half of the tentacle was a strange red color that was definitely different in color than the earlier half of it.


    It was a little strange to look at, but it seemed as though the latter half had been....fried?!


    The wailing from the octopus kicked up several notches as it started to writhe around in the water as if it was being assailed by an known danger.


    All around the octopus, the water in the lake started to change somehow. The red waters was starting to bubble, and there were even a few bubbles of air starting to make their way up to the surface.


    The water was being....boiled!


    That was right! The entirety of the lake seemed to be looking like it was being boiled!


    Or actually, the lake was actually being boiled! There was no doubt about it!


    Perhaps it was because of that fact that the blood water around Bai Yunfei was starting to dim in color. Floating up above Bai Yunfei''s head, bubbles of red and wisps of crimson started to make for the surface of the water.


    Bai Yunfei''s eyes were shining with excitement as he watched all of this take place. "It worked!"


    This was his plan all along!


    Fire might not be able to burn things in the water, but it could at least bring up the temperature and boil it!


    Unlike in the air, heat wouldn''t dissipate and be reduced to nothing inside the water. As poor as it was as a conductor of heat, water could still be heated up! A few degrees might not do much, but crank up the temperature just enough and even water could boil!


    This entire lake was now a lake filled with boiling blood water!

 Chapter 708: Sudden Changes

    The might of the Dual Dragon Burst was beyond strong. Under Bai Yunfei''s control, he had the ''heat energy'' of the Dual Dragon Burst transfer over into the water. And it worked! The water was beginning to boil!


    Bai Yunfei could confirm the blood water around him already less than half than its original darkness. The pressure that had been forcing Bai Yunfei to move at sub-optimal speeds was growing less, and now Bai Yunfei could even send his soulsense to the surface of the water!


    To which, there was one thing he noticed. The water level was dropping rapidly!


    Somehow, the Dual Dragon Burst was evaporating a good portion of the lake water!!


    Something as strange as this was actually within the realm of probability to Bai Yunfei''s plans, and the Dual Dragon Burst was the key for him to put the plan into motion!! Even an early-stage Soul King wouldn''t be able to export as much elemental fire as Bai Yunfei did without expending even more energy.


    The boiling point of water was roughly around one hundred degrees Celsius, and that was just in the case of regular water. Special water like this had definitely a much higher boiling point. Someone on the level of a Soul Sprite would probably not be strong enough to withstand the temperature of the waters now. A great ways away, Xiao Qi was still protecting the little girl in the brick''s barrier and a secondary bubble of elemental wind, else the little girl would''ve died a long time ago.


    "Wuu!!"


    There was an unprecedented level of pain and terror in the octopus'' wail this time. It was still writhing around in the water with its tentacles flying everywhere as it tried its best to shrug off the extreme heat. Never had it experienced a situation like this before. It didn''t even know how to best handle the situation with its level of intelligence other than to try and use its elemental water to try and bring the temperature around it back to manageable levels.


    But without the assistance of its special blood water the octopus was extremely hampered in what it could do. To make matters even worse, the panic it was in was making it even harder to control its elemental water. But with each passing second it couldn''t, the temperature of the lake only grew even higher and the water levels even lower.


    It took only another ten seconds before Bai Yunfei felt the pressure on him decrease by practically eighty percent. He smiled when he tilted his head up and saw the water levels significantly lower than before. Looking back to the octopus, Bai Yunfei calmed his soulforce and prepared to start the second round.


    "Pcht....pcht...."


    A series of bubbling sounds invaded the ears of Bai Yunfei, and the next thing he knew, the top of his head was popping out from the surface of the water. Looking up, he noticed then the starry canvas of the night skies above, followed by a kilometer wide surface area of water all around him.


    There was another loud pop from a little farther away. Bai Yunfei turned his head in time to see a waterfall come pouring down from the night skies.


    "Isn''t this.....Mount Teapot??"


    Bai Yunfei remarked. Wasn''t this deluge of water coming from the ''spout'' of Mount Teapot?


    So they were in the back of Formagua City this entire time! The waterfall originating from Mount Teapot was crashing down into the crater of the lake Bai Yunfei was in with a great rumble. From beyond the lake, a series of rivers was flowing into it from different areas.


    Bai Yunfei scanned the environment he was in. Now that there wasn''t any water to obscure his vision and nothing to stop his soulsense, he could scan the surrounding kilometer. There wasn''t anyone, so that meant Bai Yunfei could focus on killing the blood octopus in front of him and then get back to the city to regroup with Zheng Kai and the others.


    He was back in the air now to stand above the lake. Bai Yunfei looked down to the bloody waters, watching as the lake steamed a bloody red to enshroud the nearby area in a bloody mist.


    "Xiao Qi."


    Bai Yunfei spoke, still watching the giant writhing figure of bright blue down in the lake below.


    "Chirp!" Xiao Qi called out in response. Wrapped in a green light, the bird flapped his wings and sent a fearsome gale through the area to sweep around the mist and allowing Bai Yunfei to see everything in the lake without distraction.


    There was practically no water left in the lake. All there was was a ''block'' of blood congealed black due to its age. There was also a sea of bony-white fragments at the bottom....


    The sight of that of course only served to infuriate Bai Yunfei even more. Eyes like daggers, Bai Yunfei glared at the octopus.


    There was something happening to the blood octopus he hadn''t expected though. The hundreds of tentacles writhing about without energy was within expectations. But that the octopus was bent slightly at the side as if slightly drunk so it couldn''t remain upright.


    In a way, it looked kind of like a ''beached fish'' that was halfway to death.


    "Was it really that effective??" Bai Yunfei was slightly surprised. He hadn''t thought that the blood octopus would be this easy to take care of when the blood water was all taken care of. As much of a good thing this was, Bai Yunfei hadn''t much room to err still. He raised his right hand to have his palm face the octopus. Transmitting his soulforce to it, he powered up the Ardent Sun Glove and fired off a fireball three-meters large at it!


    "Wuu!!" The blood octopus cried out loud. It didn''t move, but it lashed out with one large tentacle to try and bash the fireball away from it.


    "Booom!!!"


    There was an ear-deafening explosion as the fireball exploded and reduced the octopus'' tentacle to ashes.


    "It really is a lot weaker now...." Bai Yunfei murmured after noticing just how weak the soulforce coming from the blood octopus was. "There''s still too many tentacles to fight up close though. And with those feelers sucking up soulforce and blood, it''s just not worth it. "If a close-combat battle is out of the question, then I''ll just bombard it from afar and turn it into fried octopus!"


    He backed up a bit to prepare for his next move. His hands moved through several hand seals with rapid speed to gather an abundant amount of elemental fire in both arms.


    From the looks of it, he was going to use the Dual Dragon Burst again!


    "Wuu!!!"


    There was a very clearly terrified wail from the octopus. Its gigantic frame trembled violently as it tried to move away from the area. Glowing orange with light, the blood octopus lashed out with over a dozen tentacles towards Bai Yunfei. There were another hundred tentacles that drilled straight into the ground as if trying to excavate the area. Like drills, they dug at the ground in a way that surprised Bai Yunfei with their efficiency.....


    "Bang!!!!"


    There was a mighty crash as the octopus suddenly flew up into the air like a bullet! Airborne, the octopus flew off into the skies to try and slam into Bai Yunfei!


    It''s leaping height was tall enough to shoot past even Bai Yunfei and come crashing back down like a mountain with a plethora of thorns!


    Because he had been priming up the Dual Dragon Burst, Bai Yunfei lost his target for a moment and was immediately besieged by hundreds of tentacles!


    Needless to say, this startled Bai Yunfei. Growing flustered for just a second, Bai Yunfei locked back onto the octopus and was right about to attack with the Dual Dragon Burst!


    But the moment before he did came yet another distraction!


    "Booom!!!"


    There was a loud explosion from where the blood octopus jumped from. Casting his look down, Bai Yunfei saw the ground explode, sending both dirt and bone flying everywhere. A red light shot out like a beam of lightning from the storm to come straight at Bai Yunfei!


    "Someone''s here!!"


    Bai Yunfei blanched. He hadn''t thought that there really would be an enemy here, and hiding under the blood octopus no less!!


    Traveling at unbelievably fast speeds, the figure was soon right in front of Bai Yunfei''s eyes almost! This person''s timing was impeccable, as Bai Yunfei was nearly done with aiming the Dual Dragon Burst!


    "Damn!!"


    He cursed to himself. Unable to cast his ultimate attack, Bai Yunfei canceled it by disengaging his hands away from one another. As the elemental fire was still wrapped around his arms, Bai Yunfei borrowed its power to lash out with a punch at this person coming at him!


    "Bang!! Crack!!"


    There was a bone-cracking sound as Bai Yunfei''s punch landed squarely onto the other person''s stomach! The person didn''t even bother to dodge!


    "Keke....."


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was trying to understand why this person didn''t even bother dodging, a sinister croak started to play from the person. Something clasped around his right wrist before he could bring back his arm. Then Bai Yunfei felt another hand grapple onto his shoulder. Then the person began to laugh out loud right in front of his face!


    Even after being hit with an Eighty-one Fold Fist Force, this person was completely unaffected by it!


    When this person started to cackle with their face in front of Bai Yunfei, he could see a set of teeth sharp and pointy like a beast jutting out from their gums. Then the person.....snapped their jaw onto Bai Yunfei''s throat!!


    "Whoosh!!"


    A gust of wind from overhead came as a black-colored tentacle came down like a sword to try and pierce his head from the top!

 Chapter 709: Who Is It?

    ¡°Pcht....¡±


    The very distinct sound of teeth meeting flesh rang through the air before Bai Yunfei felt his right side start to hurt!


    The two fangs of the person he was being held by had broken through his flesh and stabbed into one of his main arteries!


    Bai Yunfei''s face drained of blood at the pain and his pupils dilated somewhat in his surprise. Never did he think he''d be attacked with such a method!


    But while he stood there in shock the enemy was already doing something else! The pain in his neck took only a second before it spread throughout to the rest of his body and brought his body to a slight sliver. Then.....like a balloon with a hole in it, blood started to flow out from the holes in his throat!


    Or perhaps it was better to say that there was a strange sucking force taking place over those two holes as both his blood and soulforce was being drained out from him!!


    This was the exact same sensation he felt from when the black tentacles of the blood octopus first touched him before!


    It had only been a quick second when the fangs of the person he was fighting touched his throat, and it was only their fangs. Bai Yunfei shuddered to think what would''ve happened if the entirety of the person''s teeth managed to break through his defenses and skin!


    That wasn''t the only thing affecting him though. From where his wrist and shoulder was being clamped, Bai Yunfei''s soulforce was being drained out from those places too!


    And the black tentacle from the blood octopus was still coming ever so closely to him. If Bai Yunfei didn''t move, the tentacle would go straight through his head like a skewer....


    ¡°Chirp!!!!¡±


    A loud chirp rang through the air in his moment of utter peril. A series of ripples traveled through the air with extreme speed before ''colliding'' with the blood octopus! There was no physical reaction where they touched, but the blood octopus immediately came to a stop!


    Xiao Qi was coming to the rescue with a soul attack!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Practically milliseconds after the blood octopus came to a stop, a sparrow-sized bolt of violet and green came bounding through the air to collide furiously with the octopus'' head!


    As tiny as Xiao Qi was, the colliding force enacted onto the octopus was still dreadful to behold. The part where the octopus was hit curled inwards a bit before the octopus was sent trailing away with a wind trail following it!


    ¡°Arghh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei howled in anger when he realized his momentary crisis was over. Gritting his teeth and allowing his eyes to bleed over with rage, he redirected his soulforce into his Charm Bracelet to emit a soft glow from it!


    It was a pseudo-soul attack!


    Though it was primarily aimed at the blood octopus, the soul attack managed to affect the person holding on Bai Yunfei as well. The fangs sucking on Bai Yunfei''s throat paused for a moment before Bai Yunfei burst forth with a tremendous amount of power. The Charm Bracelet was beginning to pulsate wildly with light before it sent an incorporeal blade of light into the other person''s head!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    There was a guttural growl from the fanged person''s mouth as the soul attack took hold. Bai Yunfei felt the pressure around his wrist and shoulder loosen just enough to step back and lash out with a vicious kick onto the person''s throat!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The two were thrust apart from one another when the kick landed. Holding a hand to his throat as he fled, Bai Yunfei widened the distance between him and the other person by a hundred meters.


    It took only a sparse two seconds for Xiao Qi to knock the blood octopus away and Bai Yunfei to disentangle himself from the other person. Xiao Qi let out a chirp of relief when he saw Bai Yunfei escape before going after the blood octopus again.


    ¡°Whew.....whew....¡±


    Bai Yunfei breathed in and out laboriously. Sweat drops were forming on his forehead as he pressed a hand to his throat. His face was abnormally pale.


    ¡°Soul....Refining....School!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei spat out the three words with great indignation. This sinister way of stealing soulforce from their enemies was even more dangerous than the previous methods Bai Yunfei came across before in his life!


    How long had Bai Yunfei been stuck to the other person? A mere three seconds, but in those three seconds, Bai Yunfei had at least a tenth of his soulforce and blood taken straight out from his body!


    It was only natural for Bai Yunfei to assume this person was from the Soul Refining School with how they were able to drain soulforce. But a method of draining soulforce like that was completely unheard-of by Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°A peak late-stage Soul Exalt.....Is this person the one behind the blood octopus?? That''s weird, even if the blood octopus was hiding their soulforce, I should''ve been able to sense their aura a lot sooner than this....


    ¡°And judging from their aura.....this person''s just like the blood octopus, are they both about to become Soul Kings?? Is that the reason? Is that why Formagua City was turned into a ghost city? So they could use a dastardly method like this to become Soul Kings?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was thinking to himself as he waited for the wound on his throat to heal. He did notice that the aura of the other person seemed to be fluctuating wildly as if unsettled. The other person was shining a dark red color to match with their blood-red robes, making them look as though they were blood-soaked. Even the bloody-stench of death could be smelt from their person.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked. He had heard something just now. The other person was mumbling something just barely audible enough for him to pick up on.


    ¡°Bai....Bai....Bai Yunfei.....Bai Yunfei! Bai YUNFEI! Ahhhh!!!¡±


    As Bai Yunfei was trying to hear what was being said, he suddenly realized that it was actually his name being spoken!!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! I''m....I''m going to kill....kill.....kill you! Die! Die! Die!!¡±


    The person threw their head backwards to scream out to the heavens. Stooping back down, the person kicked off against the sky with such force there was a ripple of wind in the air to come flying at Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°He knows me? Who is he??¡± Bai Yunfei was taken aback at the resentment this person seemingly had for him. The next thing he saw as a blur of light before he had to throw up both arms in front of him to protect himself. There was a clang of metal hitting metal and sparks flying everywhere before he was forced back several dozen meters.


    The robes on his left arm were torn apart by something and his Flameblade Bracer had three white marks on it as if struck by an intense source of heat.


    Bai Yunfei looked up. The other person was only just steadying themselves when Bai Yunfei honed in onto their right arm with his eyes. There was a dark-red glove made of metal on it, and jutting out from the spot above the knuckles were blades as sharp and cold as steel.


    If it weren''t for his Flameblade Bracer, Bai Yunfei probably would''ve lost his hand in that exchange.


    ¡°Kill! I''ll kill you....Bai Yunfei! Die!!¡±


    The other person garbled again. Eyes as furious as anything Bai Yunfei had ever seen before stared him down before the person started to go through a series of hand seals!


    ¡°Hand seals!¡± Bai Yunfei''s eyes widened in shock. The usage of hand seals meant only one thing: there was a soul skill about to come into play!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    But then just a second later, the person spat out a mouthful of blood as if they were seriously harmed by something!


    Before Bai Yunfei could even gather his thoughts on this latest development, the blood coming out from the other person''s mouth was already disseminating through the air. Turning into a bloody mist, the blood spread to around the other person''s being and started to shine red with light as if it was starting to become alive!


    ¡°This....this is....¡±


    Bai Yunfei had no words to say almost as he watched the sight. The mist of blood had already formed a sphere around the man and continuing to grow in size with each passing moment. Before long, the sphere of blood had turned into a gigantic humanoid figure about ten meters tall!!

 Chapter 710: Blood Construct

    ¡°What kind of soul skill is this?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei just had to scream when he saw the gigantic figure of blood in front of him. Never had he heard of such a soul skill before, and the appearance of a being like this was huge shock to his person.


    The blood that came out from the other person had formed the upper half of a person about ten meters tall. The head and arms were the most distinguishable points to the blood construct, and only two bright red ''eyes'' were formed on its ''face'' as it stared Bai Yunfei down.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    It took less time for the blood construct to actually form than for Bai Yunfei to actually react to it. As he was standing there still, the blood-red robed person was already taking action. Brandishing their right arm, the person came flying at Bai Yunfei again!


    There was something strange to the motions of the arm though. It looked as if the person was holding something that''d bisect Bai Yunfei in two from the waist across, but Bai Yunfei couldn''t even see any elemental energy or soulforce forming there. But the more important thing was the blood construct above the person!


    ¡°Crash!¡±


    At the same time the person was moving, the blood construct above their head was also....doing the exact same thing the person was doing!


    But instead of being ''weaponless'' like its master, there was definitely ''something'' in the construct''s ''hand''. The blood around the area was squirming and changing itself to elongate and form a crimson-red scythe about ten meters in length!!


    The ''arm'' was now the ''shaft'' for the scythe, and the ''hand'' was the blade with a curved edge about four meters in width!


    A being made of blood with a gigantic scythe.... This looked like the reaper of death himself!


    Wielding the giant scythe, the construct swung it down with sickening speed to have it try to cut off Bai Yunfei''s left shoulder!


    Bai Yunfei right now was in a state of power almost equivalent to that of a Soul King. But there were a set of factors that made even that difference in skill slightly insignificant. The soul skill formed far too fast and was moving quicker than he thought. The other person was coming at him as well, so Bai Yunfei had to keep an eye on that. And Bai Yunfei had just never thought that the two would attack in such a way!


    He leapt back with his left arm going up over his head to protect it from the incoming attack from above.


    ¡°Whoosh!!"


    But in a completely strange twist, the blood scythe had....phased through Bai Yunfei''s arm rather than be stopped by it!


    This slash was completely out from left field. There had been no stoppage and no resistance when the scythe went past his arm. It continued onward through his left shoulder before through and out from the right side of his waist!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    There was a loud scream just a moment after the scythe came out!


    It was from Bai Yunfei!!


    He was still running backwards in an attempt to retreat from the other person and blood construct, but his hands were pressed to both sides of his temples and his eyes were wide-open as he screamed. His face was ashen-white as if he was experiencing an excruciating amount of pain!


    It was a pain that Bai Yunfei had practically no tolerance for. It was also an injury that left no physical marking on his person. That meant only one thing. It was an attack onto his soul!


    At that moment the scythe went through his body, his soul was experiencing the pain of what it felt like to be cut apart by a blade!


    ¡°Bzzz.....¡±


    A soft humming sound started to play out in the depths of Bai Yunfei''s mindspace and comfort his soul, decreasing the amount of pain he was feeling. It was also flowing through his body like a spring to rejuvenate his soul back to its normal condition.


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf!!


    Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.


    Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    ¡°Whew....whew....whew....¡±


    Like a fountain himself, Bai Yunfei was gasping for air. All over his body, sweatdrops started to formulate and cascade down from his face and back. When he was ''cut'' by that scythe, Bai Yunfei felt as if his soul would''ve been extinguished if not for the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    As expected, this soul attack was a terrifyingly powerful one! The other person was only a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, but the soul attack was enough to kill even an early-stage Soul King!


    ¡°What a powerful soul skill.....I can''t let them do that again!¡±


    It took a second for Bai Yunfei to regain the right mindset for battle. As shocked as he was by the appearance and effects of the blood skill, Bai Yunfei couldn''t afford to slack off again. Gritting his teeth, he waved his left hand towards the enemy!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    There was a sneer as he activated the Charm Bracelet. As the bracelet activated, the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his head pulsated with light as well.


    His actions were identical to what the other person did a moment before. The only difference was that the gigantic blood construct above the other person''s head obviously didn''t move with Bai Yunfei. But there was one other similarity, and that was in the aftermath!!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Another loud roar erupted into the air, but this time.... It was coming from the mouth of the enemy!


    A change was already starting to take place over in the body of the blood-red person. The person looked a little scrawnier than before now, and the aura was a lot weaker than what it was before they used the soul skill. Even the blood construct above their head was looking a lot more faint than before. The attack the two just did took a large amount of energy, it seemed, but that was of no importance to the person. The person was happy that the move even connected. The soul skill used was one the person normally liked to employ. The person hadn''t expected Bai Yunfei to be hit by it, but since it did, the person fully expected Bai Yunfei to be without a life sooner or later, and his soul would be completely vanquished!


    However! Just two seconds after the scythe finished its motions through Bai Yunfei, the other person saw Bai Yunfei lift his hand up towards them. A sharp piercing pain stabbed straight through their head and into their soul the very next moment!


    Just like how Bai Yunfei didn''t expected to be hit by that soul attack, the other person didn''t expect Bai Yunfei to survive the encounter and counterattack with a soul attack of his own!


    Those who weren''t as strong as Soul Kings were essentially defenseless when struck by a soul attack. The only thing they could do when hit by one of those was to simply scream out in pain!


    The gigantic blood construct over the person''s head looked like it was in pain as well! Writhing about, the construct looked as though it was on the verge of fading away from sight.


    Even a peak late-stage Soul Exalt would be rendered incapable for battle in that one moment when hit by the soul attack of Bai Yunfei. But the figure in red was no ordinary soul cultivator. The person screamed for another two seconds before they recomposed themselves. Their aura was nearly half of what it was before, but the person could fight! The person had managed to ward off Bai Yunfei''s soul attack!


    ¡°Bang bang bang bang.....¡±


    Yet while the person had only managed to recuperate from the soul attack of Bai Yunfei, a series of popping sounds snapped the person to attention. At some point, Bai Yunfei had pulled out two strange soul armaments in front of himself to fire off a series of pellets of elemental energy!


    The person''s pupils dilated at the sight. Leaping backwards, the person waved their right hand in front of their face to protect them from the incoming fire.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang.....¡±


    In the next moment, nearly a dozen bullets of violet energy exploded onto the person!

 Chapter 711: The Final Strategy

    The pseudo-soul attack took a lot out of Bai Yunfei in his injured state, so it took him a second for him to catch his breath. Instead of getting up close to the enemy after the soul attack with his Fire-tipped Spear, he instead took out the Desert Eagles.


    He fired six bullets from each gun first. And since the enemy was so startled by the soul attack, they hadn''t enough time to make it away from danger before the twelve bullets broke past their defenses and exploded on contact.


    It was a cacophony of explosions as the bullets exploded one after another. There were a few that didn''t manage to hit the person, but at least seven or eight of them managed to make contact. Two bullets crashed into the metallic glove the person was wearing and was deflected aside while the others exploded on the other parts of the person''s body. But none of them managed to pierce into their chest!


    The blood-red robes of the person was burnt away in those spots where the bullet collided, revealing a dirt-gold plate of armor!


    ¡°Tsk!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue in disappointment. A strong soul cultivator like that would obviously have some defensive type of armor, and the Desert Eagles weren''t nearly strong enough by themselves to pierce through the armor of what a peak late-stage Soul Exalt might wear.


    But his attack wasn''t without profit. The chest might''ve been protected by this piece of armor, but their thighs weren''t. A fire bullet had only managed to create a superficial wound onto the left thigh, but a lightning bullet had managed to fire straight through the right thigh!


    +10 Additional Effect: 8% Chance to fire a bullet twice as fast and strong.


    ¡°Urgh!¡±


    The person grunted in pain as they took one staggered step behind. Their soulforce was looking a little disturbed, and before they could recover, a single spear was already coming up to stab them through the head!


    Taking advantage of his small victories, Bai Yunfei replaced the Desert Eagles with the Fire-tipped Spear to chase down the person!


    The other person had still their right arm in front of their head to protect them from the bullets when Bai Yunfei came forward. Eyes realizing the danger, the person used that hand to try to knock away the Fire-tipped Spear.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a spark of fire as the Fire-tipped Spear scratched onto the palm of the glove. Before the other person could relax, another two Fire-tipped Spears came at their heart and throat!


    +12 Additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear: Doppelganger!


    Left with hardly any time to relax, the other person swung their right hand down to try to bring the spear he had just deflected down onto the other spears!!


    As the spear came down, it scratched and left behind a bloody line onto the person''s front.


    The fact that the person was able to avoid the two potentially fatal blows with one swing of the spear was a testament to how fast the person was. But.....there wasn''t only two spears to dodge, but three!


    The two spears he managed to stop had only been doppelgangers and not the real ones! The real spear was the one that was coming for his heart!


    ¡°Clang! Pcht!¡±


    There was a metallic clang, and then, the squelching noise of flesh being penetrated!


    The Fire-tipped Spear was a spear that even an early-heaven tier soul armament wouldn''t be able to defend against. In other words, the armor the blood-robed person was wearing wouldn''t be nearly enough to stop the Fire-tipped Spear. Helpless, the person could only watch as the spear stabbed five inches deep into their chest!


    But it wasn''t through the heart where the spear was going into, but the left shoulder! The person had been able to dodge at the very last moment to prevent the spear from being a fatal one.


    The person was lucky in yet another way: the Fire-tipped Spear''s additional effect hadn''t activated either!


    Disappointment bled in Bai Yunfei''s mind for a moment, though he continued on with the attack. The Fire-tipped Spear was at the end of its momentum, so he stepped forward with his left foot to deliver a mighty punch with his left hand!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a metallic glint from his left fist as it landed squarely onto the abdomen of the other person!


    +12 Additional effect of the Critical Glove: Consume soulforce to grant the ability to deal 400% damage with the next strike. Cooldown of 5 minutes.


    But that wasn''t all! The punch onto the other person had also managed to activate the +10 additional effect as well!


    +10 Additional effect of the Critical Glove: 30% Chance to deal 300% damage with the next strike. Cooldown of 1 minute.


    With power like that behind the blow, it was little wonder that the person came flying away like a kite without a string. A trail of blood was left behind as the person spiraled into the air and beyond.


    ¡°Booom!!!¡±


    The person flew for another two hundred meters before finally crashing back into the body of the blood octopus!


    ¡­¡­


    Xiao Qi had been battling the blood octopus at the same time Bai Yunfei was battling the blood-robed person. As the stronger one of the two soulbeasts, Xiao Qi had the advantage in dealing with the octopus, but the other soulbeast had a strange property to it that made battle with it difficult. Even as the weaker peak late-stage class six soulbeast, it was still able to fight on the same level of equity with Xiao Qi almost. And since Xiao Qi also had to mind the little girl not too far away, the bird wasn''t able to fight to his fullest.


    It was like describing night and day when talking about Xiao Qi and the blood octopus. The tentacles from the blood octopus were many and large, but Xiao Qi was impeccably fast. The octopus didn''t have to worry about having any of its tentacles broken or anything, as it only cared about stopping Xiao Qi within the network of coverage it was making with its other ones.


    With his innate advantage in power and speed, Xiao Qi was dodging each tentacle with relative ease. Raining fire, wind, and lightning onto the blood octopus, Xiao Qi was also resorting to using the Spatial Edges to try to gain a second advantage. It was working too, as the bird had already managed to fell several of the octopus'' tentacles, including two of the special black-colored ones.


    But while he was fighting the octopus, something suddenly came flying over to careen into the blood octopus.


    Like a red eraser of some kind, the blood-robed person crashed into the blood octopus. In turn, the blood octopus was hurt and sent flying away into the ground where it created a crater upon impact.


    ¡°Yunfei!¡±


    Xiao Qi turned around to look at Bai Yunfei. He was shocked at just how weak Bai Yunfei was looking right now. Hesitating for a moment, he flew back to Bai Yunfei and came to a stop above his head.


    Bai Yunfei really was feeling very weak right now. Experiencing that soul attack and then attacking with one of his own did a heavy number onto him. So much energy was used that Bai Yunfei didn''t even feel like chasing after the other person. Instead, he just stopped in the air to try to suppress the pain he was feeling from his soul and the usage of his soulforce.


    Since he already gave the Yun''s Soul Ring back to Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei was currently down a soulforce recovery item and was subsequently a little slower to heal.


    ¡°That....should be it....¡±


    Bai Yunfei gasped out. That last punch he landed onto the person had been extremely powerful, and Bai Yunfei was sure he heard several bones cracking after it connected. There would surely be damage done to the internal organs from the sheer force of the blow as well, so Bai Yunfei was confident that the other person would at least be down for the count.


    The blood octopus looked to be at the end of its rope as well. Xiao Qi would just need another few minutes and the octopus would be in just as bad a state as its master.


    As Bai Yunfei was recovering his soulforce, he gripped onto the Fire-tipped Spear tightly to speak, ¡°Xiao QI, lets....¡±


    But then a loud roar interrupted him before he could finish his sentence!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    Having been stuck to the blood octopus when they collided into it, the blood-robed person came standing up. The very same person who should''ve been completely unable to fight!!


    ¡°Die.....Die.....Die!! I''ll kill you!¡±


    The person called out again and again, blood spraying from their mouth with just time they repeated themselves. There was bits of flesh being sprayed out from their mouth as well, but the person didn''t quite seem to notice just how injured they were. The person was as angry as ever, and it didn''t seem like they were capable of rational thought right now with all their screaming. Raising their right fist up, the person tried slammed it into their chest again!!


    ¡°Pcht....¡±


    Another mouthful of blood came out from the person''s mouth as they cackled with laughter. Not even caring for their own health, the person began to go through a series of hand seals again!!


    ¡°Again?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei blanched when he saw the hand seals being formed. For some reason, the enemy was trying to do the same soul skill as before!


    The soul skill was a powerful one, Bai Yunfei could admit that much. But for the person to do it again when they were in such a state already meant that the person was traveling the road to self-destruction for the sake of killing Bai Yunfei!


    But just a second later, something else happened to cause Bai Yunfei to feel even more surprised than before....

 Chapter 712: Breakthrough by Devouring!

    The blood construct over the person''s head trembled for a second. The blood that came out from the person was seemingly replenishing the missing portions of its construct, allowing it to grow even bigger. Now fully restored and better than ever, the construct gave a loud ''roar'' of happiness.


    When the person raised their right hand outwards with their fingers forming a blade, the construct mimicked their actions, but its arm was actually a blade.


    Bai Yunfei felt his heart skip a beat at the idea of the blood construct attacking him like it did before. Thinking that the person would come after him again, Bai Yunfei took off in a hasty retreat before either of the two could actually make a step towards him.


    But the other person was already making a move. Their right hand was already coming down as Bai Yunfei was moving. It wasn''t coming down onto him, however, but.....below his feet!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei watched in absolute shock as the blade arm of the other person came down onto the head of the blood octopus below them!


    The person wasn''t after Bai Yunfei but the blood octopus!


    The person''s right arm stabbed into the weakened octopus without resistance where they twisted their arm once inside. A little ways away, Bai Yunfei watched as a blood-colored energy started to crawl out from the blood octopus'' head and onto the other person''s arm.


    And since that person was moving, so was the blood construct overhead! It roared as its right arm came up before plunging the sharp blade ''arm'' into the blood octopus'' body just like its master had done!


    The only difference was in the sound. The blood octopus didn''t have a new wound onto its body when the blade came down, as the construct''s ''arm'' wasn''t solid and phased through it without resistance.


    The actions of both the person in bloody robes and the blood construct had been fast and quick. No one there knew what to expect, from Bai Yunfei to Xiao Qi, and even the blood octopus itself!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The entire battlefield was plunged into silence for a moment before a miserable wail rang through the air!


    It was the blood octopus!


    Its giant eyes were beginning to grow hazy and its body started to bulge outwards with a violent tremble. The hundreds of tentacles connected to it danced frantically as elemental energy started to shine out from it!


    A red light, an orange light, and a bloody light....


    Then the elemental energy coming out from the blood octopus started to fluctuate erratically. As if getting ready to burst, the energy started to fly outwards!


    The energy flew for a good dozen meters before it was attracted somewhere else. Converging together in one spot, it all came to rest right in the middle where the bloody-robed person was!


    It was as if was a mysterious force acting as a vacuum for all that energy in the person as all the elemental energy coming out from the blood octopus went there! If there was a straw, then the person was using that straw to siphon every bit of energy from the octopus into themselves!


    There was also a great deal of blood being drawn out from the octopus and into the person. Following up the person''s arm, all of its blood was being taken into their body!


    There was also a transparent flow of energy being drawn out. It wasn''t elemental energy or blood, but....soulforce!


    The soulforce of the blood octopus was being sucked up by the blood construct!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What''s....what''s going on here?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was thunderstruck. He blinked a few times, mystified by what he was seeing. The enemy was killing its own blood octopus!


    ¡°He''s....he''s devouring it!¡±


    He didn''t know the reason for it, but the situation was as clear as day for him. The other person was clearly devouring the blood octopus!


    Draining its elemental energy, its blood, and its soulforce....this devouring the soulbeast in all but body!


    As Bai Yunfei watched the events go on, the blood octopus was starting to shrink in size as if losing water!


    There was a loud wail of anger and shock from the blood octopus, though its body was already growing weaker by the second. Growing still like a statue, it could only stand there and watch as its lifeforce was rapidly flowing away. It wasn''t even sure what was going on even, with its low intelligence. The human that had brought it here and ''helped'' it hunt for a great deal of delicious prey. Why was the human now attacking it?


    Now feeling most of its lifeforce already gone, the blood octopus trembled with fear. In one final desperation for its life, the blood octopus tried to struggle to move, but even as hard as it might, the blood octopus couldn''t move.


    ¡°Wuuu.....wuuu.....¡±


    The wails coming from the octopus now were a lot more miserable in tone. It was mourning for itself. The tentacles were gradually coming to a still and the last of its lifeforce was nearly taken from it. It crumpled to the ground in a shriveled state. The mighty blood octopus was now as weak as it ever was, like a tiny candle on the verge of being snuffed out if even a weak gust of wind were to blow on it.


    In contrast, the blood and other energy was being sucked up by the other person. Cloaked in a multi-colored light show, the person was bent at the waist as they let loose a strange cry of some sort. A short moment later, their aura exploded in strength almost as fast as a rocket!


    The person was already a peak late-stage Soul Exalt prior to this. But now....the person was very close to becoming a Soul King!


    ¡°He''s close to a breakthrough!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized with a start. His backward retreat came to an abrupt stop before he ran straight ahead for the person!


    Bai Yunfei didn''t think it was likely for this person to become a Soul King, but there was one thing for sure: He couldn''t just sit there and let the person try to do so without obstruction!


    But it was already too late!


    Bai Yunfei''s actions had already caught the eye of the other person. Lifting their head up, the person cackled menacingly at him before their aura exploded again in intensity!


    ¡°Wuu!!!¡±


    The blood octopus let out one final howl at the same time!


    ¡°Booom!!!¡±


    A loud explosion followed right afterwards!


    The blood octopus had....exploded!


    Countless bits of flesh came flying everywhere to saturate the surrounding hundred meters with the rest of the blood-colored energy being sucked up into the person.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A pained, but happy cry erupted from the person as they threw their head back. Like its master, the blood construct swung its head back and let out a tremendous roar that shook the heavens. So loud was its scream that the blood that made up the construct vibrated before expanding in size again!


    Likewise, the ball of blood forming around its master was seemingly starting to split apart almost as quickly as it formed. Inside of it, an intense aura was still continuing to rise!


    Then the person stood up. Eyes as crimson as the blood around them, the person glared hatefully at Bai Yunfei and growled. Stepping forward Bai Yunfei, the person then disappeared into a blur to fly after him!


    ¡°He....he really broke through!! How!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei''s eyes were as wide as dinner plates due to his shock. Now that he was too late, Bai Yunfei came to a stop and made an immediate backtrack to get as far away from the person as possible. The now even more gigantic blood construct was coming for Bai Yunfei now with its blade arm to come slice down onto him!


    This time, Bai Yunfei was well and truly afraid. If this blade connected, Bai Yunfei had no doubts his soul would be torn apart for sure....


    Just as Bai Yunfei was making his last-ditch effort to escape from the dropping scythe, a voice suddenly called out to the two!


    ¡°Gui Nu, stop!!¡±

 Chapter 713: One Wave Subsides, Another Rises!

    This voice was completely unexpected and out of the blue. It chimed through the air clearly and without a direction. Then right besides the bloody-robed man, a space in the area warped in on itself to allow for a person draped in black mist to come walking out.


    Teleportation!


    ¡°Soul King!¡±


    Heart skipping a beat, Bai Yunfei flew back away from the two. In order to cover for his retreat, Bai Yunfei was about to have Xiao Qi send out a Spatial Edge at the two.


    But rather than help the other person, the newcomer raised his hand to grab at the bloody-robed person. Was he stopping them for Bai Yunfei?!


    ¡°Is he not an enemy then?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was suspicious now. This man did call out the name of the person he had just been fighting, so it was obvious they were companions or something. Him stopping the other was definitely not a gesture of goodwill towards Bai Yunfei, there had to be another reason for that.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    But it didn''t even seem like the newly advanced Soul King even noticed the hand on their shoulder. Aura not even weakening in the slightest, the bloody-robed person continued to stalk towards Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    The other Soul King narrowed his eyes. Raising his right hand and stabbing a finger into the other person''s flesh, the Soul King had the black aura around the bloody-robed person!


    ¡°Refrain from using that move or you''ll die! Your death is inexcusable to the young master, so stand down at once!¡±


    The last few words of his command was accentuated with a burst of power only a mid-stage Soul King was capable of. In response to that outburst, the furious aura of the newly-advanced early-stage Soul King started to calm down. Even though it didn''t seem like the person had heard the other Soul King, they were definitely looking a lot more restrictive in their movement. The indomitable aura that seemed raring to explode at Bai Yunfei was slowly starting to calm a bit, and the guttural growls was starting to grow silent. Even the blood construct was warping in on itself as the blood that made up its body started to fade or return to its master''s body.


    Then the bloody-robed person crumpled like paper into the arms of the other Soul King. The person was completely unconscious now!


    Their aura was completely deflated now. From where it used to soaring to the skies, the person''s aura was now at an all time low. With all the blood flowing out from the multiple wounds on their body, it seemed as if the person was a corpse rather than a deranged Soul King.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei watched everything happen in front of him with a dropped jaw. As surprising as it was though, he was finally starting to understand what had happened in the fight. That mysterious technique the bloody-robed person used to devour the blood octopus and increase their strength was powerful beyond belief, but not perfect by any means. An explosive spike in power like that was at the cost of burning away their own lifeforce. If the person had actually used their strongest attack without being stopped, then they would''ve definitely died, even if the attack landed or not.


    So the Soul King came in to stop his comrade before the final attack could be used. It served to help Bai Yunfei escape with his life, but it was an indirect effect of trying to save his comrade''s life.


    Even with the two powerful foes being dealt with, Bai Yunfei wasn''t entirely happy with the situation just yet. In fact, he was still feeling quite sour. Right in front of him was yet another mid-stage Soul King after all......


    ¡°He has to be someone else from the Soul Refining School. I never thought they''d have a Soul King like this, how troublesome......¡±


    Now that the bloody-robed person was fully unconscious in and the arms of the other Soul King, the Soul King looked over to where Bai Yunfei was.


    Bai Yunfei felt himself start when their eyes met. Taking one careful step backwards, Bai Yunfei prepared himself to go on the defense.


    But the Soul King didn''t seem on planning to do anything. He just stared. His eyes swept over Bai Yunfei first before to Xiao Qi, and then to the ''remnants'' of the blood octopus down below. The black mist around him trembled a bit as if angered by its death, but the Soul King didn''t do anything about that either. Looking away with a sigh, the Soul King started to....fly away to the north!


    The space in front of him warped in on itself when he waved his left hand. Stepping across it with his comrade in his hands, the Soul King disappeared and reappeared a great distance away. And with several repetitions, the two were now gone beyond the horizon.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It was with silence Bai Yunfei watched the two leave the area, ¡°Are....are they really just going to leave like that?!¡±


    He thought he was in for a dreadful battle actually. The fact that the two of them left without fighting was completely unexpected to him!


    Still feeling uneasy about the situation, Bai Yunfei looked around the area carefully before he made any sudden movements. He turned back towards the direction where the Soul King came from first. Formagua City. He could sense a few auras coming from that direction; it had to be Zheng Kai and the others.


    Their imminent arrival gave Bai Yunfei a great deal of relief. Not only did it mean they were safe, it also meant Bai Yunfei was too.


    ¡­¡­


    A streak of blue light came flying down from the skies before coming to a stop next to Bai Yunfei. It was Long Lan. He swept his eyes around the area to make sure there were no enemies before asking, ¡°Yunfei, Xiao Qi, are you two both alright?¡±


    Bai Yunfei''s Berserk Mode was canceled out, leaving Bai Yunfei temporarily breathless. He managed to wave his arm at Long Lan. ¡°I''m fine, the enemy''s gone now, are you all alright?¡±


    He was completely at ease and could smile now. But then when he looked to the group coming towards him, he paused. Several of them looked quite grim, especially Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting who both looked like they were close to tears.


    A little perplexed by the situation at hand, Bai Yunfei gave an inquisitive look at them. ¡°What happened?¡±


    He came to a quick realization before any of them could answer, however. ¡°Wait, where''s Doraemon?!¡±


    Doraemon was missing! Everyone was here and accounted for in the group except for one little girl....Huangfu Rui!


    And not only was she gone, her red magiboar was too!


    ¡°Yunfei....little Rui....little Rui is missing! What do we do...?¡± Tang Xinyun asked him in panic, her face twisted up and ready to cry.


    ¡°......¡± Bai Yunfei grew somber at the predicament. Tearing his eyes away from the despondent two girls, he turned to Zheng Kai, ¡°Ah''Zheng, what happened? How''d Doraemon go missing?¡±


    Zheng Kai was quick to calm down enough to tell the story. ¡°When you disappeared down the hole to give chase, we were about to leave the city when we were ambushed out of nowhere. We were trapped in a strange underground labyrinth after that where we couldn''t even use our soulsense. Plenty of tentacles attacked us while we were trying to find our way out, but we managed to gather together eventually. But we....never managed to group back with little Rui in the end.....¡±


    ¡°And the red magiboar? He has a soulbond with Doraemon, they weren''t together, were they?¡±


    Zheng Kai shook his head. ¡°They weren''t. At first, the red magiboar was heading in the direction of little Rui, but then he said something was blocking the connection to her and could no longer sense her.....We tried looking around for her but then we sensed someone fighting something. We knew you were in danger so we decided to come to you first, and then the red magiboar....decided to continue to look for little Rui. We....we don''t know where either of the two are now....¡±


    The knot in between Bai Yunfei''s eyebrows grew tighter as his mind raced to think of a plan.


    ¡°Yunfei, what should we.....do now?¡± Zheng Kai asked.


    Bai Yunfei cast a glance over at the night sky, ¡°What else can we do? Look! It doesn''t matter where, but we have to find Doraemon as fast as possible!¡±


    He was about to instruct Xiao Qi to go searching for her when he noticed a strange look on Zheng Kai''s face. ¡°Ah''Zheng?¡± Bai Yunfei turned back to him, ¡°Is there something you didn''t tell me?!¡±


    ¡°While we were in the labyrinth....¡± Zheng Kai started, ¡°We found the tracks of one of the ¡®Hornets of Plum Valley¡¯....¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei looked shocked. ¡°You''re saying one of them are close by?!¡±


    ¡°Most likely.¡± Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°I sensed at least two of them, though they were a little faint, so they were probably stuck like we were. We also sensed some signs of battle, so there''s probably other survivors near Formagua City.....if little Rui came across them.....¡±


    ¡°Damn!!¡± Bai Yunfei clenched his fist tightly with a curse. ¡°Then we don''t have time to waste! Xiao Qi, Long Lan, you two go look somewhere. Ah''Zheng, Xinyun, Tingting, you''ll come with me and don''t split up! We''ll look here and look further into Formagua City. We have to find Doraemon!¡±


    Xiao Qi and Long Lan both nodded at once and were prepared to leave when Bai Yunfei spoke to them, ¡°Hold on. If you two come across any of the Hornets.....kill them!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    To the south of Formagua City away from Bai Yunfei and his group, there was a dark cave where a young girl was currently walking towards.


    Basked underneath the bright rays of moonlight, it was possible to see just who this person was! It was Huangfu Rui!


    But unlike her usual excited and spirited expression, Huangfu Rui looked completely wooden and despondent like a statue. Walking one step at a time, she stepped towards the depths of the cave in front of her.


    Just....just what in the world was going on here?!

 Chapter 714: The Crisis of Huangfu Rui!

    Still stuck in a dreamlike state, Huangfu Rui was traveling through the southern outskirts of Formagua City. She had no expression to her face and looked like she was just a marionette being controlled by someone.


    It was just a dark forest all around Huangfu Rui. With only the near silent jeerings of the insects and the occasional barking of a feral dog or soulbeast, there was no other sound as Huangfu Rui walked. With everything considered, it was an extremely strange sight.


    It took only a while before Formagua City was but a shadow to the world around her before Huangfu Rui found her right in front of a valley. It was a silent area where Huangfu Rui had to navigate around several trees and tall grass before she was able to come to the center of the valley and to a complete stop!


    She stood there for a moment before the glossy sheen in her eyes faded away. Two seconds later, her eyes were back to their regular shiny look.


    It took a little while longer for Huangfu Rui to get her bearings back after the glossy light was gone from her eyes. It took an additional second before she was aware of her surroundings. ¡°Eh? How''d I get here? Didn''t I fall into the ground?¡±


    The very last thing she remembered was falling into that large hole and following her bond with Xiao Rourou back to him. Much to her surprise, she couldn''t remember anything else, like how she got all the way here.


    Then she realized there wasn''t anyone else with her as well!!


    This startled the little girl to a large degree. ¡°Xiao Rourou....sis Yun....sis Ting....bro Strawhat....giant....where are you all? I....where am I? Where is everyone??¡±


    ¡°Whoosh....¡±


    As if responding to her, the baying of a distant soulbeast echoed through the little mountainside, scaring the little girl even more. Practically forgetting that she was a Soul Exalt, Huangfu Rui ran over to a large boulder and hid herself behind it to wait for the soulbeast''s cry to fully fade away. It was then that she poked her head out and then sat against the boulder with two of her hands clutching at her robe seams. ¡°Why am I here....¡± She whimpered, ¡°Don''t leave me alone here....Xiao Rourou, where are you....please come soon....¡±


    Now that she was aware of it, Huangfu Rui could sense Xiao Rourou''s aura from a great distance behind her. Xiao Rourou seemed to have noticed her as well, as the aura was now running quickly in her direction with increasing speed.


    She clenched her fist in an attempt to cheer herself up. ¡°Don''t be afraid, little Rui is a strong girl who isn''t afraid of the night. I''ll find Xiao Rourou and then find bro Strawhat and the others....¡±


    She nodded to herself. Leaping out from behind the boulder, she started to make her way back towards Formagua City.


    But just after a hundred meters in her journey back, several figures came whistling out from the bushes!


    These people looked as though they came out from the ground themselves. They weren''t exactly running towards Huangfu Rui and looked more like they were trying to run for their lives off to the side.


    ¡°Someone''s here!!¡±


    Even as panicked as they were, the group of people were still scanning the area with their soulsense as they fled, meaning they picked up on Huangfu Rui''s aura. The first person to realize her existence cried out a warning to the others, causing them to in turn look at her.


    There were six people in total, all of them middle-aged men and Soul Exalts in strength. But right now, they were all very haphazard in dress and were injured as if they had just fought in an intense battle.


    Like a startled chicken, Huangfu Rui leapt into the air. She looked nothing more but a young girl, so the six men sighed in relief when they saw her. Barely sparing her a second glance, the six made the near immediate decision to start running away from the place afterwards.


    ¡±Eh??"


    But then the last one of the six came to a grinding halt to look back at Huangfu Rui.


    His pause caused the other five to follow suit. Stopping, the one in the front spoke, ¡°We have to go, sixth brother, what are you looking at? Don''t tell me you''re thinking about women now of all times!¡±


    ¡°It''s not that, second brother, but....this brat here...it''s the one from the other day!¡±


    The ''sixth brother'' had a more thunderous look on his face now. ¡°It''s that person we met back in ''Vacancy Inn''!¡±


    Everyone else looked to Huangfu Rui in surprise. ¡°It really is her!¡± Someone cried out.


    Somehow, Huangfu Rui had come across the ''Hornets of Plum Valley''!!


    The people Bai Yunfei and the others were worrying about were right now in contact with the one person they didn''t want them to meet!


    Just thinking about that day back in Vacancy Inn was enough to make everyone remember the losses they incurred. The second brother, the ''Horned Hornet'' was especially chilled at the memories. His eyes swept across the features of Huangfu Rui to have a better look at her. His eyes flashed once with recognition. He knew just what his sixth brother, the ''Rapist Hornet'', was wanting. The punishment they got at the hands of Bai Yunfei had been disastrous and weighed heavily on each of their minds after that day. Though they didn''t have the strength to get revenge, coming across someone from their most hated group of people by themselves was naturally a golden opportunity none of them wanted to give up on.


    Still, that didn''t mean they forgot about what they were escaping from. Hardly sparing a moment to weigh the two choices, the Horned Hornet spoke, "Capture her! We take her and then we go! Now!"


    "Yes!" The Rapist Hornet lit up with ecstasy. Snapping his head to look at Huangfu Rui, he gave her a sinister smile and made his way quickly over to her!


    The others were already starting to run as he made his way towards Huangfu Rui. Because of her, he was a step behind the others, but only a few seconds would be needed for him to catch up afterwards.


    .......


    It had been with great curiosity that Huangfu Rui watched the six pop out from the ground. When one of them came over to her in the blink of an eye, she realized just who it was with a startled cry. "Oh! A bad guy!!"


    She clearly recognized who the Rapist Hornet was as the one who ''startled'' her a few days ago. Taking an instinctive step backwards, she raised her left hand up her eye as if unwilling to even look at him. Her right hand came forward to slap at him.


    "Bzz!!"


    Much to the shock of the Hornets, the five watched as the little girl who should''ve been only a Soul Sprite in strength suddenly show more power than she should have. There was a quick flash of red as fire sprung out from her palm and slammed into the Rapist Hornet a brief second later!


    "Bang!! Ah!!"


    There was a miserable cry one slap later as the Rapist Hornet was struck by the fiery palm and sent back down to the ground ablaze.


    "Sixth brother!!"


    The Horned Hornet was the first to cry out for his downed brother. Shocked, he and everyone else took out their soul armaments to send wave after wave of elemental energy after Huangfu Rui!


    "Ahhhh!!" Huangfu Rui was terrified now. Like a rabbit, she leapt up into the air and took out the little pink bag she had tied around her waist. Rummaging through it for something, she took something into her hand and threw it outwards.


    There was a flash of golden light as a golden ring of light appeared into the world. It spun around for a moment before colliding with the first beam of elemental energy coming at Huangfu Rui. There was an explosion as the ring of light cut straight through the energy and left it in two. Without weakening in speed, the beam of light shot through the second and third attacks of elemental energy before slamming into the earth-type soul cultivator who couldn''t dodge in time!


    "Ah!"


    There was another cry of pain before a second person crumpled to the ground.


    Huangfu Rui still looked panicked at her predicament however. Not even noticing that she was winning the exchanges so far, she rummaged through her bag again. This time, a palm-sized bamboo chicken was taken out. Not even sparing a glance at that, Huangfu Rui tossed it outwards as well.


    Huangfu Rui''s eyes shined bright green with light as soon as the bamboo chicken left her hand. There was a small explosion of light before a two meter tall green chicken appeared out from it!


    Like a rocket, the bamboo chicken flew towards Huangfu Rui''s enemies with great speed. Its wings were sending out blades of sharp wind to cut down the remaining attacks coming at her. It sliced through the attacks and then just barely missed the Hornets before sailing into the small mountain behind them and left behind a great hole after a small explosion.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone was stunned. It was almost the most ridiculous thing they''d seen in their entire life, but no one could even do anything but stare as Huangfu Rui tried to rummage through her bag even more.


    "Hah! Little Rui is super powerful! I won''t be bullied by you all!!" Huangfu Rui crooned. A little calmer than before, she was finally starting to think the enemies weren''t ''all that strong'' compared to her. Now that she had a few small victories so far, Huangfu Rui took out something like a butterfly net with confidence to use in the battle.


    Already trembling from the previous attacks, the Hornets were already preparing themselves to dodge this next attack.


    ¡°Eh??"


    But then Huangfu Rui came to a sudden stop. When she tossed out the butterfly net, it did nothing but fall slowly to the ground without at all doing anything else.


    "........"

 Chapter 715: Crisis Averted?

    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Huangfu Rui was confused, as were the other Hornets fighting her. They had been prepared to evade whatever it was being thrown at them, but this item was actually a bluff of all things. No attack was coming for them, and the powerful aura from the little girl wasn''t even there anymore!


    At that moment she threw the last object from her bag, the powerful energy radiating from her person had....disappeared!


    In actuality, Huangfu Rui''s body had always been quite strange. Even despite her talented upbringing and achievements when she was younger, her strength was unsteady and prone to moments just like these where it''d weaken for no reason!


    ¡°What''s.....eh....?¡±¡±


    In her panic, the little girl started to try and push her soulforce out again. But no matter how much she tried to summon it up, it was as if every last bit of it was hiding from her. It just wouldn''t come out no matter how much she tried!!


    She was just like a commoner now--completely unable to use any soulforce!


    She had times in the past where her strength would waver and ebb just enough to go one or two stages weaker. Rarely did her strength ever waver past the point of a Soul Sprite, and never had her strength gone out completely like right now!


    So since she couldn''t use any soulforce right now, none of the soul armaments on her would work without soulforce being fed into it. She couldn''t even use her spatial bag anymore. As of right now, Huangfu Rui was trying so hard to bring out her soulforce that her face was red, but she was completely without it.


    ¡°........¡±


    The Hornets stared strangely at her for a moment. Then the Horned Hornet began to smile creepily. Gripping his giant sword, the man cackled before leaping straight for her!


    He didn''t know what was going on with the girl right now, but he''d take the chance and use his strongest attack onto her if she was so kind to leave them an opening!


    Likewise, the other three brothers with him took action as well. Shortly after the Horned Hornet came forward, the other three moved in to follow him!


    With their speed, it didn''t take more than a moment for them to cross the dozen meters dividing them and Huangfu Rui. Now close enough to her, the four of them lashed out with their weapons to strike!


    They didn''t care if their enemy was a delicate little girl. They already saw just how strong Huangfu Rui was earlier and didn''t hesitate to strike out with all they had. They needed to take the opportunity while the enemy was weakened to kill her!


    ¡°Yaaaah!!!¡±


    Their actions weren''t even visible to Huangfu Rui. All she felt was a blast of wind onto her face as they drew close along with several flashes of light. Covering her face with her hands, Huangfu Rui shut her eyes tight and let loose a panicked scream.


    There was no protection she could offer up against four Soul Exalts. The only thing that could be done now was give up and wait for the blades to cut her fragile body apart!


    A strange flow of energy suddenly pulsated out from her body when the blades were all just three steps away from her body. Unlike her soulforce, this wave of energy was transparent with a very very faint tint of white light....


    The energy enveloped her entire person as if like a protective layering of something.....


    ¡°Hmph....¡±


    At the same time, a cold sneer could be heard....


    It was a quiet sound; almost even more quiet than the rustling wind of the brothers when they moved, but all of the Hornets could hear the sound loud and clear!


    A miraculous event took place as soon as the sneer subsided. The four people who were coming at Huangfu Rui had been stopped mid-air!!


    Their bodies were like statues. Pictures that were frozen in time where they stood. Not only were their bodies frozen, even the blades of elemental energy from their weapons were being stopped by something just two steps away from Huangfu Rui''s head!


    A second went by. The moon was still shining down bright on everyone when the blades of elemental energy....was forced back onto the four Hornets!


    ¡°Wha--aaah!!¡±


    The mid-stage Soul Exalt let out a confused cry that turned into pain a moment later. The ball of fire he had shot out had turned back onto him and exploded, engulfing him within its flames!


    ¡°Booom!!!¡±


    Sparks flew everywhere as the flames ravaged the Soul Exalt inside. Soon, the silhouette of the person couldn''t be seen anymore. He had been turned into ashes and dust!


    The attack meant for Huangfu Rui had for some reason been repelled backwards with a hundred times the original strength! And without being able to put up any resistance, the Soul Exalt had been burnt into ashes!


    Likewise, his fellow brethren were currently experiencing the very same aftermath with their own elemental attacks!


    The only one to escape with their life was the strongest one there, the Horned Hornet. Due to his strength and good fortune, the Horned Hornet was able to protect himself with a layer of elemental energy and his sword. The following explosion still took out his sword and right arm, but....he was alive still!


    He backtracked away from Huangfu Rui with a pained howl and a mouth full of blood. Clutching at the stump of his right shoulder with his left hand, the man looked up to the sky.


    At some point during the short fight, a figure had appeared a hundred meters in the sky above them!


    It was unknown just when this person appeared. There had been no aura to indicate they were here, and the night was far too dark for anyone to even see the face of this person, only that their robes were floating in the wind.


    ¡°Si....Sire....¡±


    The Horned Hornet was pale in the face right now. This person in front of him was without a doubt an enemy and the one responsible for what had just happened to him and his brothers. Hence why he was quavering to speak.


    But before he could even say more than just one word, the person in the sky was already waving his right hand.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Two abrupt cries rang through the air behind the Horned Hornet. Like daggers stabbing into his heart, the Horned Hornet whirled around to look at the fallen fifth and sixth brother Huangfu Rui had knocked down earlier. But they were gone! In their place was just one giant puddle of blood!


    ¡°Wha--aah!!¡±


    The Horned Hornet nearly stumbled back in fright. As he opened his mouth to say something, both his eyes started to bulge outwards. He clutched at his chest, his mouth screaming in pain as his organs within his body started to expand!


    ¡°Booom!!!¡±


    His body continued to expand outwards like a human balloon before....he exploded!


    A shower of blood rained down from the skies, sprinkling and dying the ground with its red color. Soon, the valley was returned to its previously silent state....


    ¡­¡­


    In the time the Horned Hornet and his brothers attacked, were stopped, and killed, only a few seconds went by. When all was silent, Huangfu Rui was still hiding her face with her hands.


    Another two seconds went by before Huangfu Rui peeked nervously from behind her fingers. It was dark out, but not even the bursts of elemental energy from the enemies before could be seen now.


    ¡°Eh?? Where''d they go?¡± The girl looked around in confusion. She couldn''t see anyone there, so she looked up at the sky.


    But when she did, the person that had been up in the skies was slowly making their way down towards her!

 Chapter 716: Dongfang

    It was with great fear that Huangfu Rui watched the shadow ''descend'' from the skies. Shrinking away from the person, the little girl moved to try to open up her spatial bag but to no avail. The bag simply wouldn''t open without any soulforce being fed into it. Panicked now, she started to run. Without knowing what to do in this case, Huangfu Rui looked very close to tears.


    ¡°Haha....don''t be afraid, I won''t hurt you....¡±


    As Huangfu Rui was turning to run at full sprint, a kind and warm voice spoke out to her.


    It was the person who had just descended from the skies. From the voice, the person could at least be identified to be a middle-aged man. The smile on his face was now noticeable due to the moonlight, and rather than looking scary like Huangfu Rui thought, the man looked more like a doting figure.


    He was standing in front of Huangfu Rui now. His fire-red robes could be seen clearly now due to the bright moon shining overhead. He looked to be in his forties around. Built with broad shoulders and a high nature, the man had a rugged, but distinct face and eyes with light as sharp as swords. His hair was sprawled out behind his neck, but overall, the person looked like quite the honest and gentle person.


    For reasons unknown to her, Huangfu Rui suddenly felt at ease with him around. There was a ''friendly'' feeling she was getting from him. A feeling that made him seem very familiar, so it was easy for her to believe in his words. She came to a stop to look at him.


    She was rewarded with a warm smile as if to comfort her. ¡°Be at ease....those people have been dealt with. They won''t hurt you anymore.¡±


    Huangfu Rui turned her head back towards where the others used to be, confused on where they had gone. Her eyes then widened when she realized just what exactly was said by the man. ¡°Did...did uncle beat up and force those bad guys away?¡±


    ¡°Force them away?¡± The person blinked. ¡°Ah yes, I''ve already sent them off.¡±


    He smiled at the piece of the ground where the Hornets used to be. Eyes flicking back, he gave another grin towards Huangfu Rui.


    ¡­¡­


    Farther to the right where the Hornets first came out from, a figure was laid face-down on the ground, hiding in the shadows and trying to slink away from the area without making a sound.


    This person was....the head of the Hornets, Boss Hornet!


    He didn''t attack Huangfu Rui with the others or even came out from underneath the same time as the others did. As the strongest, he was responsible for protecting the vanguard. By the time he came out from underground, the others were already attacking Huangfu Rui and then subsequently killed by the mysterious people up above!


    He didn''t even know what was going on here. The first thing he saw and felt was the blood and gore from his brethren flying everywhere when he finally made his way up.


    The next thing he did was suppress his soulforce to the max and dive down to the ground, afraid to move even a finger.


    Soon afterwards, he watched as the one person in the skies walk towards Huangfu Rui before daring to make even a single step off into the opposite direction!


    The ''Hornets of Plum Valley'' had experienced nothing but misfortune as of late. The prelude to their tale of woe was Bai Yunfei and the others teaching them a harsh lesson back at Vacancy Inn. Then the next thing to occur was them fleeing to the strange ghost city that was Formagua. It was there that they were attacked by a mysterious soulbeast they couldn''t even see and dragged underground. Even with the combined might of them nine, it took them several hours before their final escape.


    Two of their numbers didn''t make it out with them, and the rest of the brothers had nearly thought they''d die there as well. But for some reason when all hope seemed lost, the tentacles that were attacking them stopped, allowing them to continue on and make their escape. They didn''t know why that was happening, but no one really cared either. By finding a tunnel up, they were able to make it above ground.


    What the group didn''t expect was to jump out from the frying pan and into the fire. No sooner did they make their long-awaited escape did all but one of their numbers perish.


    Boss Hornet didn''t even care to know if Bai Yunfei and his friends died or not now.


    The only thing he could care about was running away as fast as he possibly could!


    He did his best to make his way forward for a good while. But then when he felt the pointed gaze of someone land onto his back, the man immediately dropped to the ground. Back and forehead slick with sweat, he had only one thought now. He was definitely dead now....


    But the feeling lasted for only a moment before it disappeared without him being worse for wear. The Boss Hornet was stupefied, but ecstatic that he was still alive. Renewed with hope, he made his way forward to leave.


    The middle-aged man had very clearly seen the man. But the Boss Hornet was just an ant in his opinion, someone not worth chasing after. A mighty soul cultivator wouldn''t bother to go out of his way to step on the insignificant ants on the ground. The Boss Hornet was such an ant, and there was no point in stepping on him.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Are you....Huangfu Rui?¡±


    The middle-aged man suddenly asked her.


    ¡°Eh??¡± Huangfu Rui blinked. ¡°Uncle, how do you know my name?¡±


    He placed a hand on top of her head to pat it affectionately, ¡°Of course I know your name, haha. I....am quite familiar with you after all, very familiar even....¡±


    Huangfu Rui wrinkled her nose and swung the hand off her head. ¡°You liar. I don''t know you. How do you know who I am?¡±


    ¡°Haha....¡± The man smiled when he saw the look on her face. He pulled back his hand to say, ¡°Of course you don''t recognize me. You weren''t even....¡±


    He trailed away with his words to sigh. ¡°Twenty years.....has twenty years really gone by....? Little girl, your mother....how is she now?¡±


    ¡°Mom? Mom''s fine....¡± Huangfu Rui nodded her head. ¡°Eh? Do you know mom?¡±


    The man smiled and nodded.


    She cocked her head. ¡°Who are you, uncle? Do you really know mom and I? Why haven''t I seen you before?¡±


    The man smiled again. He placed his hand back onto her head for a while before then dropping it. ¡°I''m Dongfang¡ª¡±


    ¡°East?¡± Huangfu Rui interjected before he could finish, ¡°Why aren''t you called West?¡±


    TL Note: Dongfang is a surname, but has also the same characters for east.


    ¡°Ah....¡± The middle-aged man looked truly stunned by the question, ¡°It''s my surname....¡±


    ¡°Oh...¡± Huangfu Rui nodded her head sagely. ¡°Uncle Dongfang, do you know my mom? Why haven''t I heard her talk about you before?¡±


    This time, the expression on the man''s face stiffened in sorrow. He sighed. ¡°It''s true. I....I know your mother, but....she definitely wouldn''t talk about me.....¡±


    ¡°Then, do you know my dad?¡± Huangfu Rui tried to change the subject.


    The air immediately chilled as soon as she asked the question. The pupils to the man''s eyes dilated with hatred at the very mention of Huangfu Rui''s father. His aura pervading through the air had made a substantial change on Huangfu Rui, causing her to shiver and back away from him in fear.


    ¡°Uncle Dongfang, you....you....¡±


    Realizing his loss of emotional control, the man snapped back to awareness. The cold aura dropped at once as he gave a self-deprecating smile towards her. ¡°Let''s not talk about that. Come, little girl. Let me see just how much you''ve ''grown''....¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Huangfu Rui asked, ¡°What do you mea¡ª¡±


    The man pressed his palm against her head before she could finish, and then....she went still as a board!


    Her words had died in her mouth as she went still, her eyes growing listless and without emotion!

 Chapter 717: Hes....

    No sooner did the man¡¯s palm touch Huangfu Rui¡¯s head did the girl freeze up like a board. Her eyes were listless and his face was completely devoid of any emotion!


    As for the middle-aged man, the warm look on his face was nowhere to be seen! In its place was an expression as cold and indifferent as ice!


    A faint red light emanated from the man¡¯s body. It flowed through his right hand and enveloped Huangfu Rui¡¯s body like a cocoon. Beating rhythmically, it left no place around her untouched and started to even flow into her. From the outside, whatever was happening to Huangfu Rui looked quite startling.


    The moment didn¡¯t last for long. At some point, the man had realized something unexpected to him and pulled his hand away from Huangfu Rui in surprise.


    The faint red light faded away, leaving behind only the two people to be basked in the moonlight. Even when his hand was no longer touching Huangfu Rui, the girl was still emotionless and transfixed to the spot like a statue.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little slower than I thought¡­.¡± The man muttered to himself. ¡°Compared to before, it¡¯s definitely a lot more suppressed, almost sealed even. She should¡¯ve been at this point three years ago¡­.¡±


    The man shook his head and laughed. ¡°Haha, master¡­.so you were still capable of something like this? But surely a heavy price had to be paid? You were already weakened before, and then with this? Not ever will you make it back to the realm of the Emperors¡­..¡±


    He cast his eyes to Huangfu Rui, a shadow of warmth flickering across his eyes for just a split-second. He stroked Huangfu Rui¡¯s cheek with a finger, ¡°You really do look alike¡­.Just like Yu¡¯er¡­.¡± He reminisced.


    Those memories cheered the man up to a small degree, but the smile soon started to fade away back to indifference. His hand dropped.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity your his daughter¡­.¡± He spat.


    ¡°Huangfu Nan¡­.I can¡¯t fault you for accusing me of secretly trying to craft a demonic armament. Master had already known about it a long time ago, but perhaps it was due to his role as master that he knew. The heavens truly are waiting for me to ¡®repent¡¯ for that.


    ¡°But. The fact that you made Yu¡¯er leave me is absolutely unforgivable¡­.


    ¡°Killing you would be as easy as crushing an ant, but I don¡¯t want do something like that¡­.Just you wait. There¡¯ll be a day when you come to know what it feels like to be ¡®betrayed¡¯ by the one closest to you¡­.¡±


    The next words that came out of his mouth were unintelligible to everyone but him. Fully withdrawing his right hand, the man clenched his slightly trembling fist, allowing for a drip of blood to fall from his fingers and onto the ground¡­..


    ¡­¡­


    Hiding his hand in his sleeve, the man turned to his right. ¡°Gui Wei. Come on out.¡±


    Under the night sky was just Huangfu Rui and this man. So when he spoke for someone to come out all of a sudden, it was a baffling to hear and was a little strange to hear.


    But he looked to a corner of the valley in particular and waited. Over there in one of the nearby trees, the space around it warped in on itself before a person came walking out from it!


    From where there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone earlier, a person had actually come out from absolutely nowhere!


    This person was dressed completely in black and had a wide-brimmed hat to hide his head. It would¡¯ve been hard to see his face in the daytime, let alone in the night when there was no visibility. It looked like he was one with the shadows with how it stuck to his body. Even his aura could hardly be felt when he walked.


    The one known as ¡®Gui Wei¡¯ came to a stop just ten meters away from the middle-aged man. He bowed at the waist in a respectful greeting for the man. ¡°Gui Wei pays his respects to the vice-headmaster¡­..vice-headmaster, what matters bring you here?¡±


    From his voice alone, this person was a middle-aged man. From his appearance, any guess from between thirty and sixty could be had, but no one would be able to see just how old he really was.


    The man didn¡¯t answer Gui Wei. He instead nodded his head and asked a question back, ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    The look on his face now devastatingly different to the one he showed Huangfu Rui earlier. He didn¡¯t even bother to give Gui Wei a proper look in the eyes. His expression was dark and stormy, and his voice was exceedingly sinister. There was a baleful aura radiating from his person that demanded respect and obedience, and Gui Wei was all too happy to give both. In fact, the person looked a little fearful upon realizing just how superfluous his question had been.


    ¡°This servant reports that the junior headmaster had instructions for Gui Nu and the blood octopus to train here. We were instructed to have the two come to a suitable place for proper ¡®nourishment¡¯ to become Soul Kings.¡±


    Gui Wei bowed his head in respect. Someone like him was important enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the elders of his affiliation, but in front of the vice-headmaster, the man didn¡¯t dare do anything but submit.


    ¡°Gui Nu?¡± The man quirked an eyebrow. ¡°The one brought to us a few years ago, the one that managed to learn the Bloodsoul Dark Arts without dying?¡±


    ¡°That is the one.¡±


    The middle-aged man looked a little more interested now. ¡°I heard it was nothing more but a passing fancy from Mo Ni. Has his plan really succeeded that much? How far has that ¡®Gui Nu¡¯ learned in the Bloodsoul Dark Arts?¡±


    ¡°He has reached the late-stage Blood realm already. It is presumed that once he breaks through to become a Soul King, he will soon reach the early-stage Soul realm.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The man replied in surprise. He smiled, ¡°We haven¡¯t had a person had such a success like that for several hundred years now. That person will become a powerful tool for us in the future.


    ¡°But¡­.¡± He paused briefly to think. ¡°The Bloodsoul Dark Arts is one of our greatest secrets. As powerful as it may be, it is also hard to control. It¡¯ll be an annoyance if that person decides to break away, has Mo Ni put in the preparations in case of that?¡±


    ¡°Please rest assured, vice-headmaster. There was trouble once before with Gui Nu¡¯s training that the junior headmaster had a special restriction placed upon his soul. No matter how much Gui Nu forgets himself and goes berserk, he will never be out of junior headmaster¡¯s control.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine then. You tell Mo Ni to behave himself. The headmaster wants him to train hard these next few years so he will be ready to pick up the heavy responsibilities in the future. I only hope he won¡¯t disappoint us.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your humble servant will pass the vice-headmaster¡¯s message to the junior headmaster.¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°Go about your business then,¡± he waved his hand. ¡°The stench of blood is quite heavy, that blood octopus must¡¯ve made its nest already then? Best leave this area then. No matter how well you¡¯ve quarantined the area, someone strong is bound to come looking. It¡¯s best to leave when it¡¯s still silent.¡±


    ¡°Please rest assured, vice-headmaster. I will be prudent in my task. We are at the final stages before Gui Nu and the blood octopus breaks through. I am confident it won¡¯t be any time until they are fi¡ª¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A loud explosion from the direction behind Gui Wei saw to him snapping his mouth shut in shock.


    He whirled around in bewilderment to look off into the direction of the explosion.


    It came from the back of Formagua City!

 Chapter 718: Not Yet the Time

    That was the time the bloody-robed man had gone off into the deep-end and devour the blood octopus to try to breakthrough!


    Such a powerful shockwave from his attempt could be felt from all the way where Gui Wei and the other person were.


    Gui Wei looked infuriated at the results. ¡°Damn!! What is that Gui Nu trying to do?!¡±


    The middle-aged man next to him had a strange look in his eyes. ¡°This is¡­.¡¯Bloodsoul Devouring¡¯ and¡­.¡¯Bloodsoul Shadow¡¯?¡±


    A look of understanding dawned upon the man¡¯s face as he peered over to where the explosion came from. A smile appeared on his face as if to ¡®praise¡¯ someone, he turned to Gui Wei. ¡°Head on over there, Gui Nu seems to have gotten into some trouble. If something were to go wrong with him, then someone as capable as him in the Bloodsoul Dark Arts won¡¯t be seen for another several hundred years¡­.¡±


    His words were surprising to Gui Wei, but the person didn¡¯t hesitate to follow his orders. With hardly even a bow towards the man, Gui Wei stepped into a spatial warp and teleported another kilometer away towards the source of the explosion.


    As he was leaving, the voice of the middle-aged man spoke out to him, ¡°Take Gui Nu and leave. Forget about the young man there.¡±


    He didn¡¯t even need to be told that though. Gui Wei had no intentions of doing anything with Bai Yunfei. He just wanted to get in, take Gui Nu, and get out. If he didn¡¯t find a place to help Gui Nu settle down the new powers he had, then Gui Nu would be dead, if not crippled by the instability of his abrupt power up¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    The middle-aged man watched as Gui Wei disappeared off into a distance with a faint smile on his face. ¡°So this is the rumored student of master. My ¡®junior¡¯ then¡­.haha, what a brave young hero he is. So strong, and yet so young¡­.but he is still a ways away from Mo Ni.¡±


    He stayed quiet after that to look off into the distance. After a while, he turned his eyes back towards Huangfu Rui.


    A tall and short figure stood in the center of the valley without moving. After a while, there was a sigh loud enough to be heard echoing through the valley before the middle-aged man turned around. A transparent door appeared in front of him before he took a step through it and disappeared.


    The only thing left in the valley to prove he was there was but a single sigh¡­.


    ¡°Now is not the time, not just yet¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    He disappeared, leaving behind Huangfu Rui as the only person left in the valley. She stood there, her robes drifting with the wind for several seconds before she snapped out from her dreamlike state with a start.


    ¡°What¡¯d you say, uncle Dongfang?¡±


    She spoke, giving a delayed question to the man who wasn¡¯t even there anymore.


    ¡°Eh?¡± She blinked once. Looking around for the man, Huangfu Rui couldn¡¯t see him at all. ¡°Uncle Dongfang?¡±


    When she realized no one was there in the valley, Huangfu Rui scratched her head in confusion.


    ¡°Where¡¯d he go?


    ¡°Eh? My soulforce is back!¡± A second revelation hit her a moment afterwards, this one a lot happier than the one before. It was true! Her soulforce was now back to normal levels!


    ¡°Whew¡­.all is good. Little Rui managed to protect herself¡­.¡± She patted herself on the chest with a relieved sigh.


    ¡°Little Rui! Little Rui!!¡±


    A voice from farther away called out to her while she was mumbling to herself. Surprised, she turned her head to look at the several bolts of light coming for her through the sky.


    ¡°Xiao Rourou!¡± She cried out in excitement. ¡°Bro Strawhat! Sis Yun! Sis Ting!!¡±


    These people coming for her was Bai Yunfei and the others!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei and the others went back to Formagua City after they were all settled down to look for Huangfu Rui. They came across the red magiboar at some point in their search underneath the passageways, who said that he had a trace on Huangfu Rui now. Excited, everyone immediately took off away from the city towards where she was said to be.


    The several beams of light dropped down from the skies with the red magiboar leading the front. An audible sigh of relief escaped from the red magiboar when he saw that Huangfu Rui was safe. Still a bit concerned for her wellbeing, the boar asked, ¡°Are you alright, little Rui?¡±


    Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai, Tang Xinyun, and Kou Tingting dropped down next to get to Huangfu Rui. In Zheng Kai¡¯s arms was the little girl Bai Yunfei saved a while ago.


    It was with some grievance that Huangfu Rui dug herself into the arms of Tang Xinyun. ¡°You¡¯re finally here, sis Yun¡­.how could you leave me all alone here¡­.I...I didn¡¯t know what to do¡­.¡±


    Pained, Tang Xinyun stroked and patted the little girl on her back. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, little Rui. You¡¯re fine now, safe and sound¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was noticeably calmer now that he could see for himself that Huangfu Rui was safe. He stood off to the side when Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting hugged Huangfu Rui to their chests to scan the area vigilantly.


    The first thing he saw was the ¡®aftermath¡¯ of the battle between Huangfu Rui and the Hornets, one of the most noticeable things being the crater left behind by the bamboo bird she used earlier. Also more noticeable was the puddle of blood a little ways away from Huangfu Rui. This puddle of blood was surprising to Bai Yunfei, and he could see that the blood was still quite fresh.


    ¡°How¡¯d you get all the way here, Doraemon?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°And were you fighting here?¡±


    Everyone else looked around to see what Bai Yunfei was looking at. Like him, they all looked surprised at their surroundings and turned to Huangfu Rui for answers.


    Still hiding in Tang Xinyun¡¯s chest, Huangfu Rui took a moment before she answered Bai Yunfei¡¯s question. It took another second for her to formulate a response.


    ¡°I¡­.I don¡¯t know. I was already here when I woke up. Then¡­.I um¡­.saw some bad guys that wanted to bully me¡­.¡±


    Everyone looked surprise. They couldn¡¯t help but feel surprised even though they knew Huangfu Rui was completely fine. ¡°Was it the ¡®Hornets¡¯?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. ¡°The people we came across back in Vacancy Inn.¡±


    ¡°It was them.¡± She nodded.


    A grim light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. ¡°And then what?¡±


    A head tilt.


    ¡°I fought with them and was winning when my soulforce stopped working. I was nearly hit by them when¡­.¡±


    She looked a little reluctant to mention that part. Patting her chest for reassurance, she continued, ¡°Uncle Dongfang came in to save the day. I don¡¯t know what he did, but those people were scared off¡­.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Dongfang??¡±


    Again, everyone looked confused. ¡°Who is this ¡®uncle Dongfang?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know¡­.¡± Huangfu Rui admitted, ¡°but he¡¯s a really good uncle. He knows mom.¡±


    ¡°Where is he now then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, he disappeared all of a sudden¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Each question Bai Yunfei asked only served to make him even more confused. All the questions he asked weren¡¯t getting him any answers, meaning they still didn¡¯t know why Huangfu Rui was all the way here in such a faraway place. They also didn¡¯t know why they would come across the Hornets here of all places. And last but not least, this ¡®uncle Dongfang¡¯ was a point of interest for Bai Yunfei now. Why was he gone? It was very suspicious.


    And with all the blood and gore nearby, it was very obvious to Bai Yunfei to say the Hornets weren¡¯t simply ¡®scared off¡¯ like Huangfu Rui said uncle Dongfang did.


    They were simply killed.


    ¡°Ngh¡­.¡±


    A small sound broke the train of thought Bai Yunfei was having. Whirling around, he realized the voice was coming from the unconscious girl in Zheng Kai¡¯s arms!


    Like Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai tilted his head down to look at the girl. ¡°Yunfei!¡± He barked, ¡°Something¡¯s¡­.something¡¯s wrong with the girl!!¡±

 Chapter 719: Powerlessness

    The little girl they rescued from the blood octopus had been asleep ever since she was first taken down underground. With everything that was happening, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have the time to take a proper look at the girl and how she was doing. Then when Huangfu Rui was said to be missing, Bai Yunfei was left with even less time to think about the little girl. All he could do was entrust her to Zheng Kai as they left to find Huangfu Rui.


    Since the little girl seemed fine as she slept, no one expected her to suddenly be in a lot of pain!


    Zheng Kai had been holding onto her the entire time. Her dirty clothes were still stained black with the inky liquid from the blood octopus, and her face was slightly grimy with the combination of sweat and dirt on it. Her mouth was twisted in pain as if trying to cry out, and her eyes were squirming in an effort to open them, but had seemingly no strength to do so.


    Everyone crowded around her with Bai Yunfei the one closest to her excluding Zheng Kai. He placed a palm onto her forehead. It felt hot to the touch, but there was something else that bothered him. Scanning her body with his soulsense, Bai Yunfei quickly realized just what it was that was wrong and jerked his hand back!


    ¡°What is it, Yunfei?¡±


    A strong reaction like that was surprising, and Tang Xinyun just had to ask what was going on.


    ¡°Elemental darkness¡­.it¡¯s corroding her energy!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Of everyone there, it was Tang Xinyun who was most surprised and understanding. ¡°Could it be¡­.the Soul Refining Palm?! Was a little girl like her really hit by such a poisonous attack?!¡±


    ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t seem like the Soul Refining Palm.¡± Bai Yunfei replied. ¡°But the aura feels familiar. I felt something like this when I was fighting the blood octopus earlier. If I¡¯m not wrong then she must¡¯ve been affected due to overexposure¡­.that blood octopus was a soulbeast with a dark affinity. The blood it spat out and the sticky liquid it shot from its tentacles were both very hard to deal with. It has to be like a poison for a commoner, and their bodies shouldn¡¯t be able to handle it all, that¡¯s why she¡¯s like this now.¡±


    His guess was right. The girl was indeed being poisoned by the energy of the blood octopus. In order to be properly used as bait, the blood octopus had the girl put into a state of ¡®suspended death¡¯. Whenever she was needed, the octopus would ¡®wake¡¯ her up and allow her to call out for help in the lord-mayor¡¯s mansion. The blood octopus would even feed her some of its soulforce to keep her alive for just a little longer. If it didn¡¯t, the girl would¡¯ve died a long time ago. But now without the soulforce to counteract against the blood octopus¡¯ energy, the girl¡¯s body was ¡®infected¡¯. If not for Bai Yunfei appearing and killing the blood octopus, the girl would most likely be dead already.


    The only way the normally unintelligible blood octopus would know of such a method to ¡®fish¡¯ for prey was simply because of the guidance of its master and Gui Wei.


    So to reiterate, the malignant symptoms showing up in the girl¡¯s body was the result of her body no longer being fed any soulforce to stop the elemental darkness in it! It would¡¯ve been possible to prolong the stasis her body was in if the blood octopus was still alive to feed its soulforce into her, but that was no longer the case! She was in pain now, and if nothing was done about it, the girl would die in excruciating pain!


    The look of pain on the young girl¡¯s face was unbearable for Kou Tingting, the resident expert on healing due to her training in elemental water. ¡°Let me try something.¡±


    She walked up to the girl and raised both hands forward. Elemental water coated her hands before she pressed them onto the head and stomach of the young girl.


    ¡°The corrosive energy is highly resistant to external forces and is prone to outbursts.¡± Bai Yunfei warned her, ¡°Take it slow and use a little soulforce for a preemptive scan first, else you¡¯re going to hurt her even more.¡±


    Kou Tingting nodded. Biting down on her lip, she maneuvered her soulforce slowly into the young girl¡¯s body to start her treatment.


    ¡°Nghn¡­¡±


    The young girl¡¯s body trembled violently upon the new intrusion. Her whimper of pain caused Kou Tingting to pull her hand back in great concern. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­.It¡¯s as difficult as Yunfei says. I can¡¯t treat this¡­.¡±


    ¡°Then...should I give her the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring?¡± Tang Xinyun asked.


    As a victim of the Soul Refining Palm and the corrosive energy of elemental darkness, Tang Xinyun was more than aware of how effective the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring was for it. Since this little was in the same boat she had been, Tang Xinyun saw it prudent to offer up such a solution.


    But her suggestion was denied. ¡°It won¡¯t work. Her soul¡¯s already too weak since she¡¯s a commoner, and she can¡¯t even circulate her own soulforce. The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring won¡¯t help her here.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­.¡± Crestfallen, Tang Xinyun asked, ¡°what are we to do? Watch as this young girl in front of us suffers until she dies?¡±


    The group stood there unsure of what to do.


    Two streaks of light were heading over to where they stood¡ªit was Xiao Qi and Long Lan. Having gone to look for Huangfu Rui in a different direction from the others, it wasn¡¯t until Xiao Qi was notified by Bai Yunfei through their soulbond that Xiao Qi in turn looked for Long Lan to convene with the others.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up when he sensed the arrival of the two soulbeasts. ¡°Long Lan! Long Lan can give it a try!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Long Lan asked as he came down.


    ¡°Long Lan, come here,¡± Bai Yunfei gestured for him to come over, ¡°Send some of your soulforce into this girl, use your elemental darkness! And be slow about it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±


    Long Lan didn¡¯t quite understand what was going on, but the urgent looks on everyone faces told him that now wasn¡¯t the time to ask questions. Two steps later, he was right by the girl¡¯s side with the palm of his right hand pressed against the girl¡¯s forehead. A moment later, a wisp of black smoke started to rise from his hand!


    It was elemental darkness!


    Long Lan was given an affinity for elemental darkness after he became a class seven soulbeast, meaning he was now a blue-eyes white wyrm with an affinity for both elemental darkness and elemental water¡ªa world¡¯s first perhaps in terms of every other blue-eyes white wyrm. This was all because of the Black Dragon King¡¯s blood in which Long Lan lapped up all the way back in the Soulbeast Forest. By ingesting his blood, Long Lan was able to digest and absorb the power inside the blood to make it into his own.


    His control over elemental darkness could hardly be considered strong or of any particular notice compared to his elemental water. But together, the elemental darkness could boost his elemental water control to a rather effective degree much like how Bai Yunfei could use his companion lightningseed to boost his control over elemental fire.


    What Bai Yunfei was thinking was a little simple. If the little girl was afflicted with elemental darkness, then Long Lan could in turn try to control that energy and remove it.


    And to his great surprise and pleasure, it was working!!


    The improvements to the young girl¡¯s situation was extremely noticeable the very moment Long Lan¡¯s elemental darkness entered her. Like a snake, the elemental darkness that was in her body started to slow down its weaving to calm down and go into hibernation.


    This was however a ¡®temporary¡¯ measure. Long Lan couldn¡¯t pull his hand back in fear of the elemental darkness flaring up again and sending the girl back into a world of pain.


    The girl was safe from danger for now, but that didn¡¯t mean they were well on the way to curing and saving her life.


    Bai Yunfei pressed a hand to his aching temple. ¡°Ai, what should we do now¡­.¡±


    It had been a great pain for Bai Yunfei to save the young girl from the blood octopus. To see her in pain and without being able to do a thing was heartbreaking, and Bai Yunfei found it hard to just watch to see her life slowly drain away from her.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­.¡±


    A tiny voice spoke to Bai Yunfei.


    It was Xiao Qi, whose head was cocked towards the left side of the forest. His voice spoke out to Bai Yunfei in his head.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone there!!¡±

 Chapter 720: Another Enemy?!

    ¡°There¡¯s someone hiding to the left!!¡±


    What Xiao Qi said to Bai Yunfei was alarming to say, since he didn¡¯t sense a thing. Fighting back the instinct to turn his head in that direction, Bai Yunfei activated the Charm Bracelet to link his mind with Xiao Qi. This in turn allowed the two to ¡®share¡¯ what each other was sensing, allowing Bai Yunfei to sense just a short hundred meters to the left, two people were hiding there in the bushes!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know when those two people had appeared in the forest, and neither did he know that they were even here!


    As battle weary as Bai Yunfei was, he wasn¡¯t so tired that his perception of aura wouldn¡¯t be able to pick up somebody hiding within such a short distance away from him.


    This meant these two people were considerably strong!


    Fearful that he might catch the attention of the two people hiding, Xiao Qi¡¯s soulsense was only just strong enough to be able to sense their existence and not gauge how strong they are. The only reason he even sensed them to begin with was because of them entering his range of perception.


    Already fidgety due to him trying his best to save the young girl from dying, Bai Yunfei was extremely vexed by the fact that there were people hiding within such a close range. Even if he tried to exclude the shock he was feeling from it, there was no helping him feeling angry about it¡ªpeople hiding so secretly like that must mean they were enemies!


    And it still remained to be seen if they were the people responsible for the disappearance of Huangfu Rui! Or they might even be people from the Soul Refining School!


    ¡°Ah¡¯Zheng, Xinyun, Tingting, don¡¯t panic and watch over the little girl. Long Lan, keep healing her.¡±


    His eyes darted to Zheng Kai and the others, issuing them orders to warn them of the situation.


    ¡°Eh? Yunfei, what are you ta¡ª¡±


    Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t even finish her question when Bai Yunfei suddenly took off towards the forest to the left with his soulforce blazing for combat!


    His entire body was aflame with his soulforce pushed to its limits to burn with solemn determination.


    Xiao Qi took off after Bai Yunfei, his soulforce burning comparatively less frightful to provide Bai Yunfei with support.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s explosive leap forward took him a good several dozen meters forward. A secondary leap took him up into the trees where he lashed out with his right hand. There was a clanking sound as a stream of red chains came out from his sleeves to snake towards the bushes twenty meters forward.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The burning heat from the chains raised the temperature of the surrounding area by a good few degrees, incinerating any piece of foliage in its path to head towards its target!


    At the same time the chain was flying forward, the soulforce of two peak late-stage Soul Exalts leapt out from their hiding spots!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Sneering at their attempts to dodge, Bai Yunfei curved the Devouring Chains left to go after and entangle the one on the left.


    A soft gasp came from the one the chains was coming after. Kicking off a nearby tree, the person¡¯s right hand shook with a black light before a short sword appeared in it. In a flurry of sparks, the blade clashed against the chain and deflected it away!


    ¡°Eh!?¡±


    What surprised Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the fact that this person was a female, but that the light that came from the person¡¯s body was¡­.black!


    Elemental darkness!!


    ¡°So they are from the Soul Refining School?!¡± The glare in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes was kicked up by a notch.


    He pulled his right hand back to turn the chains away from the person. Changing targets, the chains went straight for the waist of the person to the right.


    ¡°Be careful, senior! These chains are strange!¡±


    The woman with the short blade called out to her companion as she kicked off from a tree. Borrowing the strength from the rebound, she flew for Bai Yunfei to hopefully force him back and cancel his attack on her companion.


    The one known as her ¡®senior¡¯ didn¡¯t seem flustered. Raising his right hand, a longsword appeared in it. It came down onto the sword when he flicked his hand and elicited a clanging sound when the blade hit the chain. He gasped to himself when he felt the force behind the chain and twisted his sword up to deflect the chains up into the air, effectively removing the chains as a threat.


    Given a clear shot at Bai Yunfei since the chains were going elsewhere, the female soul cultivator flew towards Bai Yunfei. When she was just ten meters away, her shortsword came out to stab at his throat in a burst of dark light!


    Not flustered in the slightest at either his chains being parried or the female soul cultivator coming at his throat, Bai Yunfei simply stood there and waved his left hand at the woman.


    There was a faint buzzing sound before a fiery object came out from behind Bai Yunfei to slam into the incoming person!


    The Cataclysmic Seal!


    A bit surprised at the incoming attack, the female soul cultivator shifted her trajectory to dodge. Even as close as the object was coming, she was able to dodge it completely and leap onto a nearby tree branch.


    It was a quick and simple exchange of battle between Bai Yunfei and the other two soul cultivators. But in that short amount of time, Bai Yunfei was able to gleam a decent amount of information on them.


    They were both peak late-stage Soul Exalts, but their strength was probably a lot stronger than most people in that respective stage, whether it be in speed or strength. One of the more surprising things was their fluctuation of soulforce throughout the fight and how calm they had been. Though Bai Yunfei also had to admit their soul armaments were quite impressive, with both of them being a high-earth tier at the very least.


    The man looked as if he wanted to say something after his companion dodged the brick, but before he could, his junior drew forward to attack Bai Yunfei again!


    A coil of black energy whirled away from her person when she stepped forward. With that step, she thrusted forward the short sword in her hand to throw it at him!


    Like a black mamba, the black light snaked out from her arm to chase down Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow. Rather than dodge it, he lashed out with a left straight!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Under the bewildered eyes of the female soul cultivator, Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand slammed into the jet black beam of light and knocked aside the short sword in it.


    ¡°No way!!¡±


    She was thunderstruck by what Bai Yunfei did. Bringing her hand up to recall the sword, a burning sensation from behind her head caused her to turn around. When she did, her eyes widened in shock when she saw a giant ¡®boulder¡¯ coming straight at her to knock her down!

 Chapter 721: A Misunderstanding

    ¡°Crack!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal came crashing through several tree branches, careening and burning through them with an intensive heat and nearly missing the female soul cultivator when she dodged it.


    Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to call the Cataclysmic Seal back to him. As he did, he swung his right hand behind to counter the gust of wind coming at him from behind!


    The Devouring Chains curved backwards to fly towards the right. Sweeping around the figure, the tip of the chains turned swiftly like a snake to wrap around the incoming person¡¯s waist!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression took a turn for the better when he saw the chains connect. Tugging on it, he had the chains brighten up in a flash of red light and just a tad bit of black before soulforce began to ran through it back into Bai Yunfei!


    The special effect of the Devouring Chains had activated!


    Devouring Chains¡¯ stats:


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 2800


    Additional Attack: 1950


    Soul Compatibility: 43%


    Equipment Effect: Drain up to 10 soulpoints per second of any constricted target (One at the most).


    (Amount is determinant on the difference in strength between user and target).


    Amount of soulforce drained cannot exceed total soulforce reserve.


    +10 Additional Effect: Add an additional target that can be drained. Increase the amount of soulpoints drained per second to 15.


    Targets lose additional soulforce equivalent to 50% of their soulforce drained when breaking free.


    Upgrade Requirement: 180 Soulpoints


    It was easy to see the surprise the man was feeling when the Devouring Chains started to take away his soulforce, since his speed dropped drastically. Contrary to what Bai Yunfei had thought though, the man remained calm despite his soulforce being drained and began to move with even greater power than before.


    Still maintaining his direction forward, the man ignored the chains at his waist and struck out with his sword towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t planned on dodging since he thought the Devouring Chains would deal with his opponent well enough. But now that he was being attacked, Bai Yunfei gave up the idea to tighten the Devouring Chains and lifted his right arm up to protect himself.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Sparks flew as the sword stabbed through Bai Yunfei¡¯s robes, revealing the Flameblade Bracer beneath it. The sword had managed to pierce his robes, but not the bracer, saving Bai Yunfei from harm.


    For a moment, Bai Yunfei was relieved and nearly dropped his guard, only to be surprised yet again when he saw a black wispy hand get within three inches away from his throat!


    The abruptness of the person¡¯s hand was in part due to the longsword which was abandoned so that the owner could grab at Bai Yunfei!


    The bone-chilling winds brought forth with the man¡¯s hand brushed against Bai Yunfei, but before the hand could land, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body burst out with a furious killing intent!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei grunted, activating the Charm Bracelet on his hand to unleash a pseudo-soul attack!


    Before the hand could latch onto him, Bai Yunfei Flash Stepped away from it and countered with a heavy left punch onto the hand!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The two combatants split apart from one another, but it was the other man who was the worse off of the two! Still entangled in the Devouring Chains, he was unable to break away and was left stuck there!


    ¡°Senior!¡±


    The female soul cultivator cried out before flying straight over to his side.


    He raised his hand up to stop the girl from coming over. The aura radiating from his person was a great deal stronger now along with his stare at Bai Yunfei. Black mist flowed off from his person in droves before he spoke out to Bai Yunfei with a great deal of hatred.


    ¡°The Devouring Chains!! You really are from the Soul Refining School!!¡±


    His angered roar startled Bai Yunfei, who was prepared for anything but that. Raising an eyebrow, he replied, ¡°What?! Aren¡¯t you from the Soul Refining School?!¡±


    What the man said wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei expected to hear. Not only did it mean this person wasn¡¯t from the Soul Refining School, the Soul Refining School was actually an enemy of theirs too.


    The other man was surprised by Bai Yunfei¡¯s response as well, though the woman with him snorted, ¡°Pah!! You wicked soul refiners, don¡¯t even bother pretending! You¡¯ve killed the every single commoner in a city and exterminated the lives of every soul cultivator, the Heavens will not tolerate this! We¡ª¡±


    Her companion held his hand up to stare quizzically at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Where are you people from?¡±


    The anger Bai Yunfei was feeling was wiped away almost at once. ¡°Friends, there might be a mistake here. We believed you to be the evildoers from the Soul Refining School and attacked you¡­.but the two of you were hiding in the bushes and looking at us, what was the meaning behind this?¡±


    Now that he was calmed down, Bai Yunfei realized neither of the two had bothered to use their full strength to fight. It wasn¡¯t until the final moments where the man thought Bai Yunfei was from the Soul Refining School that he was beginning to grow serious. But Bai Yunfei was given the impression they didn¡¯t like the Soul Refining School either.


    In other words, these two people were possibly not enemies and were just soul cultivators with the rare affinity for elemental darkness. But the fact that they recognized the Devouring Chains was a little surprising, and Bai Yunfei made a mental note of that for future reference.


    Slightly surprised at what Bai Yunfei was saying, the man gave him a second look over and then to Zheng Kai and the others. ¡°Friend,¡± he said after a long time, ¡°we two have no ill will towards your group. By the orders of our masters were we instructed to investigate Formagua City. We sensed several people coming out from the city and decided to take a closer look. Please forgive us for any slight we might¡¯ve caused.¡±


    His soul armament was already sealed back into his space ring, indicating that he was trying to convince Bai Yunfei of their good will.


    But the female with his didn¡¯t look convinced. ¡°What are you playing at, senior? Don¡¯t believe in his words! They came out from Formagua City not too long ago, they might be the soul refiners we¡¯re looking for! And didn¡¯t you say that¡¯s the Devouring Chains in his hands? Who else but the Soul Refining School would have a special soul armament like that?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so rash,¡± the man spoke soft enough so only his companion could hear, ¡°they might not be from the Soul Refining School. I might just be mistaken too, that weapon might or might not be the Devouring Chains, I can''t be sure¡­..but surely you must¡¯ve realized that we¡¯ve no chance of success in winning if we start fighting!¡±


    He cast his eyes towards Xiao Qi and Long Lan standing behind Bai Yunfei. ¡°If my senses aren¡¯t wrong, that bird is a class seven!! And that tall man over there is a Soul King!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± She whirled around to give Long Lan and Xiao Qi a glance before immediately growing silent.


    The Cataclysmic Seal and Devouring Chains were stored back into Bai Yunfei¡¯s space ring as the two were talking. ¡°It seems this really was a mistake. Please rest assured, friends. We aren¡¯t from the Soul Refining School either. This one is Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School. Whom might you two be?¡±


    ¡°Crafting School!¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!¡±


    The two gasped at the same time, staring at him almost incredulously as if they didn¡¯t believe him.


    Silent for just a second, the man cupped his hands in greeting. ¡°What a surprise to meet brother Bai from the Crafting School here today. This one is Xu Ran, and this is my junior, Han Yue. We are¡­.¡±


    He hesitated to speak, but in the end, he finished the rest of his sentence.


    ¡°We are¡­.from the Underworld School.¡±

 Chapter 722: Underworld School

    Xu Ran looked a little hesitant to answer Bai Yunfei on where he was from, but managed to say it in the end. The Underworld Sect didn¡¯t have much of a ¡®name¡¯ in the world of soul cultivators, but it was all a misunderstanding of sorts. Xu Ran wasn¡¯t afraid of the trouble this misunderstanding of his school might give him, and neither did he care to hide his affiliation half the time. To him, being a part of the Underworld School was something to be proud about and not something he should hide from others.


    This did differ from person to person though. Xu Ran wouldn¡¯t even bother to say anything if he was talking to just any regular person.


    ¡°The Underworld School?¡±


    Bai Yunfei repeated the name, tasting the words on his tongue.


    ¡°The school that focuses on elemental darkness, that Underworld School?!¡±


    ¡°It is as you say.¡± Xu Ran nodded.


    His confirmation was even more surprising to Bai Yunfei. Never did he imagine that a student from the Underworld School would appear here.


    Bai Yunfei heard of the Underworld School before from one of his seniors back in the Crafting School. They were a mysterious group that specialized in elemental darkness. Not only was the school special in that it was mysterious, it was also quite strong. Though not strong enough to be considered one of the Ten Great Schools, that was primarily because of their relatively low numbers. Those soul cultivators with an aptitude for elemental darkness was much rarer than the other elements.


    The Underworld School had been a ¡®secluded¡¯ one ever since its founding a thousand years ago, meaning they rarely ventured out into the world, so very few commoners and soul cultivators even knew of their existence. Due to the ¡®darker¡¯ side to elemental darkness, the people in the Underworld varied in personalities in strange ways. And combined with their tendency to avoid contact with the outside world, the entire world hadn¡¯t a very good opinion of them.


    One reason why the Underworld School didn¡¯t venture out into the world often was due to them being mistaken for the Soul Refining School by others. Since people weren¡¯t familiar with the Underworld School and were instead familiar with the Soul Refining School. With both schools focusing in training in elemental darkness, it was impossible for most soul cultivators not to mistake those from the Underworld School from the Soul Refining School.


    Elemental darkness wasn¡¯t a type of elemental energy that was easy to train in. As far as all the elemental energies go, elemental darkness was the easiest one to go wrong and have practitioners ¡®go down the wrong path¡¯. It was those who trained in elemental darkness that took up the majority when considering those who caused all sorts of tragedies on the continent to date. In this world, soul cultivators that trained in elemental darkness was often led down the path where their very nature was warped, and the Soul Refining School was all too happy to take in those said people.


    There were those that were never led astray from their moral paths. Those who trained in elemental darkness without deviation would join the ¡®Underworld School¡¯, but their numbers were very, very few.


    Most people didn¡¯t even know where the Underworld School was located. But Bai Yunfei¡¯s master was one of the few that did. From Zi Jin, Bai Yunfei learned that they were located somewhere in the Southward River Province, and it just so happened they were here in Formagua City.


    ¡­¡­


    So here stood two people from the Underworld School now. With their elemental darkness flying off from their bodies, it looked as though it was actually a dark fire that was burning from them.


    Thanks to the assistance of the moonlight, Bai Yunfei was able to see what the two looked like.


    Xu Ran wore a gray robe simplistic in material and design. He was tall but scrawny with skin relatively white. His eyes were dark and deep, shining with a light that made him look a little unapproachable just like how his demeanor would otherwise indicate.


    The dark smoke radiating from his companion Han Yue was comparatively less than Xu Ran, allowing Bai Yunfei to see even more detail of her. She wore a dark-purple robe that hugged her body rather tightly. She had a pointy chin and eyebrows with eyes that had a sharp gaze to them, making her look more like a strong and independent woman rather than a fragile one.


    ¡°Friends from the Underworld School, I see. Then please forgive me for my past transgressions. This one has a few important matters to take care of, so if you would please excuse us, my group has to leave now.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled and cupped his hands, though he glanced towards Zheng Kai with some concern at the young girl in his hands. Leaving behind one final word of conversation to the two, Bai Yunfei turned away.


    His actions were surprising to Xu Ran. In his time in the Underworld School, Xu Ran came across all sorts of reactions from people when told about where he came from. There were people who were afraid, those who were hostile, and those who tried to curry favor with them. But Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®indifference¡¯ was a first for him.


    So when Bai Yunfei turned around rather hurriedly, Xu Ran hesitated for a moment before following after him.


    His companion Han Yue followed after him, but with a suspicious glance at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Do you really believe in what he¡¯s saying, senior?¡± She whispered, ¡°Do you really think he¡¯s that Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School? Hmph. He looks like a haughty person, we can¡¯t trust someone like him so easily. We should leave though, he¡¯s not our enemy. You said we can¡¯t beat him too, so let¡¯s just head back and meet with teacher Mu¡­.¡±


    Xu Ran shook his head, ¡°There¡¯s no need for him to lie to us. He would¡¯ve done something by now if he wanted to. I believe him in any case. Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School¡­.it¡¯d be a good thing to get to know him if we meet him. He probably knows more about what happened to Formagua City than we do. We were told to find out about what happened here, so let¡¯s ask them a few questions. I sent a message to teacher Mu already, so he should be on his way over soon. Let¡¯s just wait.¡±


    Their conversation was a very quiet one, but not quite enough for Bai Yunfei to not hear it. Han Yue¡¯s suspicions of him was a little humorous to Bai Yunfei, and he found himself smiling at that.


    ¡°Haughty? Me? Aren¡¯t you more ¡®haughty¡¯ than I am with that cold attitude of yours?¡±


    Like her though, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t fully convinced of their words either, so he had Xiao Qi on the lookout just in case they tried to do anything.


    ¡°How¡¯s it looking?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked Zheng Kai when the two reconvened.


    ¡°Long Lan can¡¯t get it stabilized even though he¡¯s putting in a continuous stream of soulforce. If he stops, then the girl¡¯s soul will be completely devoured by the corrosive energy¡­.¡± Tang Xinyun spoke up for Zheng Kai with concern.


    She noticed Han Yue and Xu Ran behind Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, these two are¡­.?¡±


    Bai Yunfei fighting the two mysterious strangers was startling to the group at first, but they help Bai Yunfei fight them since they were warned about it beforehand. Luckily, the battle was only for a short few rounds before it was ¡®solved¡¯ amicably. Confused by the going-ons between them and Bai Yunfei, the group decided to wait for Bai Yunfei to explain it to them.


    ¡°Just a misunderstanding,¡± Bai Yunfei replied. ¡°These two people came to investigate Formagua City, they¡¯re from the Underworld School.¡±


    ¡°The Underworld School?¡± Zheng Kai perked an eyebrow in surprise, ¡°They¡¯re from that school?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded, but declined to introduce the two to the rest of the group. Instead, he stared at the little girl in concern and thought hard on what to do.


    A thought occurred to him then.


    Turning his head to Xu Ran, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Brother Xu Ran, as a student of the Underworld School, you must be an expert on elemental darkness, correct?¡±


    Not expecting to be asked such a question, it took Xu Ran a second to respond. ¡°Why ask a question like that, brother Bai? Though yes, when it comes to elemental darkness, I have a decent knowledge of it¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°In that case, this one would like to ask for your help, brother Xu Ran. We saved this little girl from Formagua City, but she was affected by whatever it was the Soul Refining School was doing and had elemental darkness enter her body. She¡¯s at the edge of death right now, but we can¡¯t do much to help her. As an expert, brother Xu Ran, please help us save this little girl. This one will be more than happy to heavily compensate you for your help!¡±


    ¡°Oh?? That¡¯s the issue?¡± Xu Ran¡¯s eyebrows rose up on his face. He had been a little puzzled on what was going on, and now that he had an idea behind the situation, Xu Ran broke out into a smile. ¡°Then if brother Bai was so kind to ask, I will be more than happy to give it my all.¡±


    He took two steps past Zheng Kai and gave a polite nod to Long Lan before taking a good look at what was going on with the little girl.


    Surprised at Xu Ran¡¯s actions, Han Yue blinked a few times in confusion. The normally quiet and antisocial senior of her looked like a completely different stranger today with how active he was being.


    As that was going on, Bai Yunfei suddenly turned to the skies. He was followed by Xiao Qi, Long Lan, Zheng Kai, and even Xu Ran and Han Yue to all look at something there.


    Something in the distance was coming towards them with the speed of two green shooting stars!

 Chapter 723: Suddenly Meeting Huangfu Nan

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s reason for asking Xu Ran for help had two main factors in it. One was to fully confirm that Xu Ran was proficient in elemental darkness. The other was to see if Xu Ran was willing to help. If he was, then Bai Yunfei could spare him the benefit of the doubt.


    And it worked. Xu Ran¡¯s immediate acceptance to help them was refreshing to Bai Yunfei, and he felt himself expectant of the results.


    But even before Xu Ran could even finish, two new figures were already making their way over!


    ¡°Again¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. ¡°Every single time when I thought it¡¯s over, something else pops up¡­.who are these people this time?¡±


    But then when the two figures drew close, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Xiao Qi was telling him these people were Soul Kings!


    Two Soul Kings!!


    Just one would¡¯ve been more than enough to shock him, but there was two.


    And if they were enemies, then there would definitely be trouble afoot¡­.


    But then Han Yue called out to one of them with joy, ¡°Teacher Mu!!¡±


    Were they elders from the Underworld School then?


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped to Han Yue when she called out to them. She was a lot closer to where the two figures were coming from, so she could see them a lot earlier than Bai Yunfei could. But then when the two got close, Bai Yunfei found himself staring in confusion at the two incoming figures again.


    A happy cry erupted from Huangfu Rui a moment afterward¡­..


    ¡°Dad!!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The two bolts of lightning descended from the skies right in front of Bai Yunfei and the others, storing away their flying soul armaments back into their space rings.


    One of the two figures was a man in his fifties with a graying beard under his chin. The wrinkles on his face weren¡¯t very noticeable despite his physical age, and his eyes were as sharp as any other person in their prime. His aura was calm, but intimidating to the degree that it demanded respect from anyone that could see it.


    This person surely had to be the ¡®teacher Mu¡¯ Xu Ran and Han Yue were talking about.


    But the person to the side wasn¡¯t from the Underworld School like this teacher Mu was. This person was none other than Huangfu Rui¡¯s father, the second elder of the Crafting School, Huangfu Nan!!


    He wasn¡¯t looking at all like Bai Yunfei last remembered, though. His normally clean and orderly brown robes were matted and dirty, his face was looking fatigued, his breathing disorderly, and his eyes looking very shocked.


    In one instant, he was down to the ground where Huangfu Rui was.


    Sweeping her into his arms, Huangfu Nan immediately started to bombard her with questions.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Rui?! What are you doing here in this place?!¡±


    His voice was filled with confusion, panic, and even alarm.


    ¡°It really is you, dad!!¡± Huangfu Rui cried out in happiness in his arms. ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± She repeated, ¡°Heehee, why are you here, dad?¡±


    By now, Bai Yunfei, Tang Xinyun, and Kou Tingting were moving in to greet the man. ¡°Second elder.¡± They bowed.


    ¡°What¡­.what brings you here, second elder?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    Now over his shock at seeing his daughter here, Huangfu Nan gave Bai Yunfei a long look. ¡°What are you youngsters doing here?¡± He replied.


    ¡°We came to the Southward River Province to go sightseeing¡­.¡±


    ¡°Sightseeing?!¡± Huangfu Nan exploded with anger, for some reason. ¡°And here of all places?! What in the world possessed you to do that?!¡±


    ¡°........¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to respond. Huangfu Nan being angry wasn¡¯t something he expected to see, and so he didn¡¯t really know the best answer to give.


    It was only supposed to be a normal sightseeing tour¡­.how it ended up becoming a trip straight into danger was a complete mystery to Bai Yunfei.


    As confused as he was, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t stop himself from asking, ¡°Second elder¡­.why are you here in this place as well?¡±


    It was an even bigger mystery on why Huangfu Nan was here in this place. There was no possible way that Huangfu Nan would be here to ¡®sightsee¡¯, after all. Bai Yunfei remembered that Huangfu Nan came with Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting to the Capital and then left abruptly for some odd reason. To have him show up here of all places was an extremely odd coincidence.


    ¡°Yeah dad, why are you here? Are you looking for me, dad?¡± Huangfu Rui tilted her head to look up at her dad. Then she wrinkled her nose in disgust, ¡°You smell weird, dad. Did you not shower for days or something?¡±


    ¡°Hnmm¡­.¡± Huangfu Nan looked almost embarrassed by the question asked of him by his daughter.


    Because of his day and night chase after that person, he had indeed skipped out on showering.


    ¡°Elder Huangfu, are these people¡­.from your Crafting School?¡±


    A slightly surprised voice asked Huangfu Nan from behind him. It was the other elder that came with him.


    Huangfu Nan released his daughter from his grasp to give the man a nod. ¡°Indeed, these are students from my school.¡±


    His eyes paused briefly on Zheng Kai and Long Lan, prompting Bai Yunfei to hurriedly try and introduce them. ¡°Second elder, these are my friends, Zheng Kai and Long Lan.¡±


    With how hurried this situation was, Bai Yunfei opted to just say their name rather than properly introduce them.


    Huangfu Nan gave Long Lan a strange look at how he was treating the little girl there. But when he ascertained his strength as a fellow Soul King, Huangfu Nan bowed politely to him.


    Since the little girl was still in his arms, Zheng Kai opted to bow his head rather than his whole body. ¡°This junior pays his respects to senior Huangfu Nan.¡±


    Huangfu Nan nodded. Turning back to the elder with him, he introduced him to the group. ¡°This is elder Mu Chen, an elder from the Underworld School, pay your respects to him.¡±


    ¡°This junior pays our respects to senior Mu.¡± Bai Yunfei, Tang Xinyun, and the others all bowed to the man.


    ¡°Haha, be at ease.¡± Mu Chen waved his hand in a manner that betrayed his stiff expression. His eyes traveled over to Xu Ran and Han Yue, ¡°This is elder Huangfu Nan from the Crafting School, hurry up and pay your respects.¡±


    ¡°This junior pays our respects to senior Huangfu.¡± The two bowed obediently.


    Huangfu Nan waved his hand just like how Mu Chen had done. ¡°Elder Mu, there are a few things I¡¯d like to ask my students, let us talk about that matter latter then?¡±


    Mu Chen nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like to ask my students a thing or two myself.¡±


    He beckoned Xu Ran and Han Yue to come with him.


    Huangfu Nan eyed his daughter briefly before turning his eye towards Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai, and Long Lan. Massaging his temple with one hand to calm himself, Huangfu Nan looked back to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Speak then, what in the world happened here? In Formagua City? And what happened to that girl there?¡±


    He pointed at the girl in Zheng Kai¡¯s arms.


    Since the arrival of the two elders caused Xu Ran to step away, Long Lan had to step back in to stabilize the matter. Bai Yunfei thought about how to explain the situation to Huangfu Nan. In his mind, Bai Yunfei thought that since an elder from the Underworld School was here, their chances of saving the girl would be a lot higher if he helped.


    Now with a proper explanation in mind, Bai Yunfei started to explain the situation to Huangfu Nan without leaving out even the smallest of details starting when they first arrived in Formagua City.


    A while later¡­.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying a mysterious person ¡®saved¡¯ little Rui? Do you know who this person is, or what this person is called?¡±


    That was the first question Huangfu Nan asked Bai Yunfei after he listened to the story.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t thought that¡¯d be the first question he¡¯d be asked, but he didn¡¯t have a question regardless. ¡°He was gone by the time we came. According to what little Rui said, his name was¡­.Dongfang something¡­.¡±


    ¡°What?!!!¡±


    Huangfu Nan exploded in shock at the name. Both hands flew forward to grab Bai Yunfei on the shoulders as Huangfu Nan gave him a wide-eyed stare of panic and confusion. ¡°Did you say his surname was Dongfang?! A man named Dongfang?! Was he Dongfang Ming?! Was it Dongfang Ming?!¡±

 Chapter 724: Dongfang Ming?

    Just hearing the name ¡®Dongfang¡¯ sent Huangfu Nan into a panic. His normal regal demeanor of a Soul King was all but gone now as fury blazed out from his person. Like a lion nearly ready to pounce on its prey and devour it, Huangfu Nan¡¯s aura was blaring with furious intensity into the surrounding area. Even the surrounding ten meters of ground was impacted like a crater from the pressure he was exerting on the area.


    His reaction startled everyone within the vicinity, including Mu Chen and the others who were standing a good distance away.


    Feeling as though his shoulder was about to shatter, Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead started to drip with sweat. ¡°Second elder,¡± He managed to cry out, ¡°please calm down! What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    His words activated the Charm Bracelet on his wrist and layered his words with a mesmerizing aura to be transmitted into Huangfu Nan¡¯s mind.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s words saw to Huangfu Nan freezing immediately into place. Gasping slightly, he released Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders and suppressed his aura.


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief as soon as the pressure on his shoulders was gone. Not even waiting for a response from Huangfu Nan, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°We don¡¯t know that person¡¯s full name, senior. We never even saw the man. But from what little Rui said, his surname is definitely ¡®Dongfang¡¯, and that¡¯s all we know¡­.¡±


    An unhealthy shade of puce now, Huangfu Nan whirled around to Huangfu Rui and grabbed her by the shoulders with a great deal less pressure than before. ¡°Little Rui, did that man do anything to you? Did he say anything? Do you feel strange or anything?¡±


    His soulsense was already scanning Huangfu Rui¡¯s body as he was asking, seemingly panicked over if Huangfu Rui was injured.


    It was with confusion that Huangfu Rui looked back at her father. ¡°What are you saying, dad? Why are you so worried dad? Are you talking about uncle Dongfang? He didn¡¯t do anything but scare away the bad guys!¡±


    ¡°Do not call that man ¡®uncle¡¯!!¡± Huangfu Nan exploded. ¡°He doesn¡¯t deserve such a title!! He¡­.he¡­!!¡±


    His abrupt loss of emotional control frightened Huangfu Rui, and he noticed that. ¡°Little Rui. Think hard. What did he say to you, what did he do?¡±


    Still confused, Huangfu Rui gave the question a little more thought. ¡°He didn¡¯t do anything though. He scared away the bad guys and then asked if I was Huangfu Rui. Then he asked how mom was. He said he knew mom¡­.¡±


    The look on Huangfu Nan¡¯s face darkened several shades over at that. The furious look in his eyes turned into hatred, but without the explosion of anger like last time. Though his teeth were gritted tightly as he listened to his daughter explain.


    ¡°I asked if he knew you, dad, but he didn¡¯t look very happy. Then he touched my head, and then¡­.and then¡­..¡±


    Huangfu Rui¡¯s eyebrows knitted together as she tried hard to think. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡± She shook her head later. ¡°I think it went dark, but then I blinked and then he was gone. Weird¡­.¡±


    Huangfu Nan¡¯s pupils dilated in fear. The muscles on his face quivered violently as he tried hard to suppress the panic and anger he was feeling. A trembling hand came up to touch his daughter¡¯s forehead. Focused, he sent his soulsense into Huangfu Rui¡¯s body to further scan her.


    His hand drew back in no time at all. Seemingly a lot weaker than before, Huangfu Nan started to mumble to himself in despondency, ¡°What have you done to my daughter¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was confused on just why Huangfu Nan was liked this. He saw that just hearing the name ¡®Dongfang¡¯ was enough to cause such a violent reaction from him, and clearly, this ¡®Dongfang Ming¡¯ was someone of importance rather than a nobody. Also very clearly was the fact that Huangfu Nan hated this Dongfang Ming. And the most obvious thing was that Huangfu Nan was clearly angered and worried that this person had injured Huangfu Rui somehow.


    ¡°Dongfang Ming? What kind of person is that¡­.and why does second elder hate him? What was his goal in getting to Doraemon? Was he doing something to her?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind raced with questions. ¡°Does this mean that the reason why Doraemon suddenly disappeared all because of that person?!¡±


    He continued to stare at both Huangfu Nan and Huangfu Rui. ¡°I always thought it was weird. Doraemon has definitely a secret to her¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t dare interrupt Huangfu Nan¡¯s thoughts though. With how focused the man was, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to have that train of thought broken.


    ¡°What do you plan to do now, elder Huangfu? Will you be going along with me to the Underworld School and discuss that matter from before?¡±


    A voice spoke out to Huangfu Nan a moment later. It was Mu Chen, who was done talking with Xu Ran and Han Yue.


    Huangfu Nan snapped out from his thoughts. Seemingly coming to a conclusion, he eyed the man and cupped his hands. ¡°I must apologize, elder Mu, but I cannot pay a visit to your esteemed school. There is an urgent matter I must return to the Crafting School for. Our discussions for an alliance will have to be discussed in another time.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Mu Chen asked, his eyebrows furrowing together when he noticed how apologetic and hurried Huangfu Nan looked.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we can discuss the matter later then. It¡¯s a shame that your esteemed self cannot pay my school a visit, haha¡­.¡± He spoke in understanding of Huangfu Nan¡¯s predicament.


    Likewise, Huangfu Nan replied courteously. ¡°Thank you for your understanding, elder Mu. Though I myself cannot go, I would like to appoint a representative of the Crafting School to go in my place as a sign of good will.¡±


    He pointed a finger at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Mu Chen both blinked. ¡°Him?¡± Mu Chen asked.


    ¡°Yes. This youngster is Bai Yunfei, the personal student of our previous headmaster and fellow junior of the current headmaster. He is a fitting representative of our Crafting School to pay your esteemed school a visit.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was dumbfounded by this sudden ¡®mission¡¯ thrust into his arms by Huangfu Nan. ¡°Second elder, what do you¡­.¡± He started to speak.


    ¡°Young Bai, I must return to the Crafting School. You will go in my place to the Underworld School. Aren¡¯t you trying to save that young girl? You¡¯d have to go to the Underworld School to do so.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had already told Huangfu Nan the story of how the young girl came to be in such an injured state like that and how he hoped that elder Mu would help them out.


    To hear Huangfu Nan say this now probably meant that in order to save the girl, they¡¯d have to go to the Underworld School then?


    Huangfu Nan turned back to Mu Chen. ¡°Elder Mu, this young girl has elemental darkness eating away at her insides. It¡¯s some trouble, but I hope that you may be able to take a look and save her.¡±


    The man glanced over at the young girl in Zheng Kai¡¯s arms. ¡°That¡¯ll be no problem. Xu Ran already told me what happened. Please rest assured, elder Huangfu, I will do my best to save her.¡±


    Huangfu Nan nodded his head in appreciation. ¡°You heard elder Mu,¡± He spoke to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Bring that girl to the Underworld School with elder Mu. Do as you think best. After paying the Underworld School a visit, return to the Capital or back to the Crafting School, whichever suits you.¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei wanted to say something, but he acquiesced. ¡°I will do as you say, second elder.¡±


    Then Huangfu Rui spoke up. ¡°Are you going back home, dad?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and you¡¯ll be coming back with me, little Rui!¡± Huangfu Nan nodded.

 Chapter 725: Black Cloud Valley

    Of every single province in the Tianhun Empire, the Southward River Province was the most beautiful of them all and perhaps even in the entire world. With all the beautiful mountains and verdant forests, every single person who visited the province felt like they had stumbled onto a paradise.


    Some tourists would even forget to leave.


    Those who lived in the Southward River Province¡ªwhether they be a soul cultivator or commoner¡ªhad but only one wish:


    To visit every single beautiful place there was to see in the province before they died.


    There was, of course, just one single place within this holy land of nature where people didn¡¯t dare step into. Like the other places of the province, this one place was beautiful beyond knowledge, but those with said knowledge would know to give this place a wide berth.


    This place was a valley known as ¡®Black Cloud Valley¡¯.


    One of the three danger zones of the continent.


    Two long ranges of mountain bordered Black Cloud Valley from both sides with a length that was nearly inconceivably long and practically equal in name to the ¡®Skyward Mountains¡¯ next to the Soulbeast Forest. Though as long as the mountain ranges were and how beautiful it was, there was also a valley in the middle of the two rarely visited by humans.


    Aside from the freakish terrain of the valley and its mountains, Black Cloud Valley had a special characteristic to it that earned it two-thirds of its nickname.


    The entirety of the valley had a single continuous black cloud hanging above it!


    The black clouds weren¡¯t storm clouds that rained thunder or water. It was just a black mist that disallowed any ray of sunlight from getting past it, meaning the entire valley below was always dark.


    On normal mountains, the clouds within any other valley would have clouds or mist either white or rainbow-like in color to paint the entire place a beautiful color like in a fairyland.


    But Black Cloud Valley was different.


    The black clouds gave an intimidating color and feel to the place that made the place like a valley of gloom. Whether it be entering the valley or observing it from afar, the valley had a stagnant air that made it resemble a ghost city.


    But surely the black clouds and its strange environment wasn¡¯t the only reason why Black Cloud Valley was known as one of the three danger zones, was it?


    Of course not.


    This place was a ¡®death zone¡¯ just like the other two areas.


    A hundred meters deep into Black Cloud Valley was an area where absolutely nothing lived. No plants, no animals, no humans.


    It was an area of nothingness!


    It wasn¡¯t limited to just ¡®one hundred meters¡¯ either. It was only that this was the extent of what commoners knew of the place since anyone that even stepped into the area never returned alive!


    ¡®A place of no return¡¯ was what most commoners knew Black Cloud Valley by.


    The fear soul cultivators had for Black Cloud Valley wasn¡¯t any less than the fear commoners had for it. They knew more about Black Cloud Valley than commoners did and were more than happy to spread that information to the rest of their world.


    Not only was soulsense useless here, the amount of beasts that lived here was innumerable!


    The clouds within the valley made visibility so poor that people wouldn¡¯t even be able to use their eyes to navigate the place. When their eyes weren¡¯t of any use, soul cultivators used their soulsense as means of sight.


    But it was absolutely useless in Black Cloud Valley! Like an electric signal in a magnetic field, Black Cloud Valley rendered soulsense useless and incapable of doing anything due to some sort of mystical power.


    It was that reason alone that made Black Cloud Valley a place to be feared for soul cultivators. Hindrances to both types of their senses was something that was extremely dangerous.


    And that wasn¡¯t even the final nail to the coffin, there was still the second reason behind this.


    All the soulbeasts!


    All of them were inexplicably strong and beyond dangerous!


    These feral and dangerous beasts lived in Black Cloud Valley for their entire lives, so it was their home. The vile and dangerous conditions of the place wasn¡¯t an issue for these beasts. Any soul cultivator that made it into this place would simply die to these soulbeasts, and that was that¡­.


    Countless soul cultivators would venture into Black Cloud Valley over the years in an attempt to divine its secrets. But of all the soul cultivators that entered, only an extremely small minority would be ¡®fortunate¡¯ enough to make it back out. Those who did were injured beyond belief, and rarely said a thing about what they saw in there.


    Soon, the fear that surrounded Black Cloud Valley spread to such a degree that nearly no soul cultivator would even step foot into the place.


    So it came to Bai Yunfei as a complete surprise that the Underworld School was based in such a ¡®danger zone¡¯!!


    With the black mist formulating above the skies and the clouds looking like it¡¯d rain, Bai Yunfei really found it hard to believe he was about to step into one of the three danger zones¡­..


    For he was currently standing in Black Cloud Valley!


    To be more accurate, it was Mu Chen who led his group here to nearly a hundred meters deep into the valley. Bai Yunfei could distinctly remember that just a moment ago, the sun was shining quite brightly, but now, it was as if night had already fallen on this place.


    They couldn¡¯t even see the mountain ranges from where they were in the valley. Absolutely no grass sprouted from the grounds here, and the place was a desolate area where not even the buzzing sounds of insects or the cawing cries of birds could be heard. As the group walked in a single line through this place, most of them couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill in their hearts.


    Six people walked the line of this valley. Elder Mu Chen, Xu Ran, and Han Yue of the Underworld School, and Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai, and Long Lan. Also with them was Xiao Qi on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder and the little girl they saved from Formagua City in Xu Ran¡¯s arms.


    About five days ago, Huangfu Nan took Huangfu Rui back to the Crafting School with him along with Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting. The two of them knew that Huangfu Nan looked worried about something in regards to Huangfu Rui, and so the two decided to call an end to their tour here. Bidding goodbye to Bai Yunfei and the others, the two of them left to go back with Huangfu Nan.


    This abrupt ending to their tour plans was a little disheartening to both Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai, but nothing could really be done about it.


    After their goodbyes, the four of them followed Mu Chen and his students to the Underworld School.


    Then they came here to Black Cloud Valley.


    ¡°Hey, Yunfei. Do you¡­.do you think we¡¯ll be fine going in here?¡±


    Zheng Kai asked Bai Yunfei from the side. ¡°This is Black Cloud Valley! How creepy¡­.are we really going to go into this place without any preparation? I remember right before we left, my brother told me to not even get close to Black Cloud Valley as soon as he heard where we were going¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei only smiled. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine here. Since when did you become such a coward? As bad as the rumors might be about Black Cloud Valley, don¡¯t we have a guide? Do we really need to be worried then?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, aren¡¯t you feeling comfortable.¡± Zheng Kai snorted. ¡°If we¡¯re being honest, we don¡¯t even really know much about this elder Mu or the Underworld School. If we¡¯re going to be heading into one of the three danger zones on this continent without any preparations, of course I¡¯m going to feel a little nervous. Just think about it. If those three don¡¯t really care about us, then we might just¡­.¡±


    ¡°What a coward!¡± Han Yue snapped at Zheng Kai before Bai Yunfei could do so. ¡°You¡¯re a late-stage Soul Exalt, but you¡¯re so cowardly! If you¡¯re scared, then just leave! You¡¯re not from the Crafting School, so our Underworld School won¡¯t be welcoming you anyways!¡±


    With only the sounds of their footsteps being the only source of noise in the valley, the conversation between Zheng Kai and Bai Yunfei was very clearly audible despite how quiet Zheng Kai was trying to be.


    ¡°Hey, what kind of talk is that? Do you really think I wanted to come? If not for my brother here, I would¡¯ve left this ghost land already.¡± He retorted back.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was really afraid of this place, it was just that he was feeling dejected now that Kou Tingting was gone. To add onto that, he was pretty bored and wanted to make some small talk. Which in turn led to there being something of a disagreement between him and Han Yue. Though in a way, these quibbles between the two of them served as a way for Zheng Kai to pass the time.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so rude, junior. Brother Zheng is a guest of ours.¡± Xu Ran chided his companion before she could say anything. ¡°Brother Zheng, please rest assured. As dangerous as Black Cloud Valley might seem, it¡¯s not as dangerous as the rumors say it is. This early half of the road is safe, but the later half¡­.would be best to follow us to avoid any trouble.¡±


    The only one exporting soulforce among the group was Xu Ran since he had to be responsible for keeping the young girl¡¯s health stabilized. Her current status was something that couldn¡¯t be easily healed even with an early-stage Soul King¡¯s strength like Mu Chen. The best they could do was stabilize her for now and wait for them to return to the Underworld School before they could do anything.


    With all of the attentive care Xu Ran was giving the young girl, Bai Yunfei had a favorable impression of the three of them.


    In his mind, anyone that behaved in such a manner was surely a nice person. So when the three said that they¡¯d be traveling into the dangerous Black Cloud Valley, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t any fear.


    Still, Zheng Kai couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°Brother Xu. Your Underworld School is¡­.really inside Black Cloud Valley? Isn¡¯t that a little ridiculous? Can people even live there? Don¡¯t rumors say there¡¯s countless soulbeasts that live there? How¡¯d you form a school in there? And why haven¡¯t we seen anything so far? My soulsense is a mess, are you sure we¡¯re not lost?¡±


    His barrage of questions gave rise to yet another snort from Han Yue. Xu Ran on the other hand, smiled. ¡°We¡¯re only going to be heading for the ¡®entrance¡¯ to Black Cloud Valley. It¡¯s not really considered a part of Black Cloud Valley so it¡¯s safe, all things considered. With us leading the path, there¡¯s no chance of getting lost.¡±


    ¡°Oh? So brother Xu has a way of telling which way is what in this place?¡± Asked Zheng Kai.

 Chapter 726: Crossing Through

    The way how Xu Ran smiled but said nothing gave pause to Zheng Kai.


    ¡°Ah,¡± He spoke, ¡°it seems I was asking for too much. Please pretend I said nothing, brother Xu.¡±


    It was said that somehow, distinguishing landmarks could be used to point the way in Black Cloud Valley, and that the people of the Underworld School had some sort of secret that allowed them free entry to and from the valley.


    In other words, it was a secret that would never be told to an outsider.


    Bai Yunfei and the others continued to walk for some time, but no one could tell what time of day it was with how the clouds were blocking the sky. He could only guess that they walked approximately a fifty kilometers which while not even a distance that¡¯d work up a sweat, the surrounding environment was so monotonous and foreboding that it felt like they were still in the same spot.


    Then when a cumulative hundred kilometers was reached, the scenery up ahead started to change.


    The dark clouds above their heads were starting to grow fainter, allowing them to see a good two hundred meters around them now. Tufts of grass and weeds were even growing in places along with one or two trees, though they looked a little black in color, perhaps as a result of the environment.


    From that point on, Xu Ran said, was the real entrance of Black Cloud Valley. Bai Yunfei was also told to not stray more than a hundred meters away from the group or else he¡¯d get lost.


    That was a warning Bai Yunfei took to heart. The aura he was feeling from the area wasn¡¯t ordinary by any means, and Bai Yunfei could feel the ¡®pressure¡¯ that had been weighing down on the group grow considerably from what it was before the entrance.


    It was a type of pressure that came as a response to his soulsense. Whenever he tried to use that to scan the area, some sort of intangible energy would reject his soulsense. The feeling was a bit similar to if hundreds of hands were stirring the water. To him, the rejection of his soulsense felt a little unreal and very uncomfortable to deal with.


    In another way, this feeling was a bit similar to when he was stuck in an enemy¡¯s illusion matrix. The only difference was that the feeling was artificially created by soul cultivators through an illusion stone as the medium. The pressure being exerted right now was ¡®natural¡¯ and would probably induce the same feeling of exhaustion and hard of breathing onto a regular person as if they were climbing a tall mountain. Impossible to live in and impossible to ignore, the only way was to adapt.


    Bai Yunfei shared an uneasy glance at Zheng Kai and then to Xu Ran and Han Yue where the two both blinked in surprise.


    Were none of the people from the Underworld School affected by this pressure?


    ¡°Tsk, it feels uncomfortable here. Hey, Xiao Lan, are you not feeling anything wrong or something?¡±


    ¡°Feeling anything wrong? Like what?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel a little uncomfortable?¡±


    ¡°No, why?¡±


    Xiao Qi and Long Lan were both talking at that time, causing Bai Yunfei to turn his head to stare at Long Lan. ¡°Long Lan, do you really not feel anything different?¡±


    Long Lan looked back to Bai Yunfei and shook his head, ¡°Nothing at all.¡±


    ¡°Is it because of him training in elemental darkness¡­.? Are soul cultivators and soulbeasts of that affinity not affected by this?¡± Bai Yunfei thought.


    Up ahead of them, Han Yue casted a glance to Xiao Qi and Long Lan with the unmistakable light of shock and envy. She was still finding it quite hard to believe that these two were both class seven soulbeasts, and that one of them was contracted to Bai Yunfei.


    It was very hard for her to believe that a class seven soulbeast would contract with just a Soul Exalt.


    The more they walked, the more the surrounding area started to grow more clear, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise. The black mist around the area was clearing up with more distance covered, and even more plantlike could be found on the ground now. Traces of animal and insects could even be seen, and shortly afterwards, Bai Yunfei could¡¯ve sworn they were in an ¡®ordinary¡¯ mountain valley again.


    Two mountain ranges were covering the sides of the valley still, but from here on out was just a large expanse of grass and trees. Everything looked quite ¡®ordinary¡¯ if you excluded the dark clouds still hanging overhead.


    The sense of ¡®regularity¡¯ was also just limited to the physical sense. The same pressure Bai Yunfei and the others were feeling at the entrance of the valley hadn¡¯t gone away at this point. If anything, it got even larger.


    Mu Chen and the others were walking a lot faster than before now that they were in this part of the valley. Soon, the area changed again after another fifty kilometers. Bai Yunfei could feel the auras of soulbeasts now.


    And very powerful ones too. Most of them were class five and class six and were sprinkled on both sides of the mountain range as if trying to hide their ¡®territory¡¯. Though the auras of the soul cultivators could most definitely be felt by the soulbeasts, they were never attacked.


    The group walked to a precipice a few meters tall when Mu Chen stopped to speak to Bai Yunfei. ¡°We¡¯ll be taking to the skies from here on out. Be sure to follow after me and don¡¯t disturb the soulbeasts or we¡¯ll attract trouble.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Rest assured, senior Mu. We will be careful.¡±


    They took off to the skies with Xu Ran and Han Yue both using flying swords. Likewise, Bai Yunfei had his Tempest Sword and Zheng Kai his own flying sword to fly upon. Ascending upwards, they were followed by Xiao Qi and Long Lan.


    Underneath them was a sea of trees and above them was an endless blanket of black clouds. Contrary to what Bai Yunfei thought about Black Cloud Valley, there was actually an abundant amount of plant life here. But the most important thing were all the powerful soulbeasts living within the forest!


    The soulbeasts within this place were either lording it over the others in their own domains or living together as a collective. Soulbeasts of both types lived here with strength of roughly the same level as one another. There were a few soulbeasts that were comparatively way weaker than the average, but they were just soulbeast babies.


    Plenty of class five soulbeasts were had here and even a few early-stage class sixes. As for late-stage class six soulbeasts, Bai Yunfei and his group hadn¡¯t come across any yet.


    The group flew swiftly beneath the dusky clouds. Looking up ahead, Bai Yunfei could see just beyond the horizon a part of the land where it was even darker than the surrounding area as if it was night.


    ¡°Tweee!!!¡±


    As Bai Yunfei was staring at the black cloud in wonder, an ear-piercing trill cried out from the right before a powerful aura came exploding forward!


    It was a soulbeast with the body of a bird and head of a black snake. Rising out from a thirty meter tall tree from the right, the soulbeast flew up to try to swallow Bai Yunfei¡¯s head whole with its snake maw!


    The soulbeast¡¯s ambush was extremely out of the blue. It was almost as if it was hibernating before Bai Yunfei and the others flew over its head!


    ¡°Careful, Yunfei!¡±


    Zheng Kai cried out in alarm from behind. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed. Though just a little surprised, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t completely caught off guard and prepared himself to counter the soulbeast.


    Mu Chen, who had been leading the group at the front, was about to turn and attack when he heard yet another trill. Two blades of darkness flew out away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s back and slammed into the incoming soulbeast just five meters away from him.


    Xiao Qi had landed the first move and blow!


    Then under the amazed eyes of both Xu Ran and Han Yue, the incoming soulbeast was split into by one of the blades!


    Blood sprinkled down from the skies as the two halves of the body crashed to the ground. A dark-colored soulgem the size of a fist flew out from its corpse and landed in the outstretched hand of Long Lan.


    ¡°Tch. I¡¯ve never seen such an ugly bird before in my life. It had a snake head! How disgusting.¡±


    Not at all looking like he had just done anything major, Xiao Qi fluttered his wings and flew to Long Lan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°A dark-type soulgem? This should help you, right, Xiao Lan?¡±


    Crushing the soulgem in his right hand, Long Lan stared at the pieces turn into smoke to be absorbed into his body. ¡°It¡¯s better than nothing.¡±


    Up ahead, Xu Ran and Han Yue were both stupefied. A late-stage class six snakeagle, the strongest soulbeast in this area, had been so easily killed like that?


    Bai Yunfei stared solemnly at the corpse of the soulbeast down below. ¡°Xiao Qi, you can¡¯t go killing soulbeasts like we used to in the Soulbeast Forest¡­.¡±


    He turned to Mu Chen and bowed apologetically. ¡°Senior Mu, please forgive Xiao Qi for not knowing his manners.¡±


    Since this was the Underworld School¡¯s territory, Bai Yunfei felt it wrong to be killing soulbeasts that lived here.


    But Mu Chen only gave Xiao Qi a small look of surprise and shook his head. ¡°Haha, no worry, we can continue on our way.¡±


    The soulbeasts that lived here weren¡¯t ones that the Underworld School raised, though the school did see them as ¡®property¡¯ still. All the students that studied here generally came out here to either train or find soulbeasts to contract with. The school had rules and other stipulations in regard to the general killing of soulbeasts here, but there¡¯d be no way that Mu Chen would blame Bai Yunfei for what happened.


    In any case, Mu Chen had already been aware of the snakeagle¡¯s presence. He just wanted to ¡®see¡¯ what would happen if it were to attack, and how Bai Yunfei would respond to it. He just never thought that Xiao Qi would be the one to respond first, and that the bird would be capable of using spatial attacks. In the end, he was surprised and had a higher level of respect for the soulbeast partner of Bai Yunfei.


    Now that there weren¡¯t any other obstructions, the group could continue to travel for another two hours before Xu Ran turned his head back, ¡°Brother Bai, brother Zheng, we¡¯ve arrived.¡±


    He pointed up ahead.


    ¡°Arrived?¡±


    Bai Yunfei followed Xu Ran¡¯s finger with a strange look¡ªthere was just a sea of trees in that direction and nothing else!

 Chapter 727: Mountain Protecting Barrier

    Where Xu Ran was pointing at was very clearly an ocean of trees and nothing else in sight. Zheng Kai and Bai Yunfei looked all around for anything man-made or something hidden on the ground, but neither could find anything.


    Xu Ran gave a faint smile at that. ¡°Haha, there¡¯s no need to look like that. You can¡¯t see it right now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. ¡°Can¡¯t see it? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out in a moment¡­¡±


    Mu Chen was standing up ahead while Xu Ran was talking to Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai. A black jade slip was in his right hand as he waved it, emitting a dark glow of light to wash over the ten meters in front of him.


    Then to Bai Yunfei¡¯s amazement, the air in front of Mu Chen began to tremble. Like a stone dropped into a pool of calm water, the air was rippling with the dark glow of light from the slip!


    The waves of air disseminated for several meters before disappearing, allowing for Bai Yunfei and his group to be able to see a transparent wall from where there used to be nothing but air.


    Mu Chen strode forward and placed the jade slip in his hand onto the wall. A pulse of soulforce flowed from his hand to the slip.


    ¡°Bzzz.¡±


    The air began to ripple again as a black ¡®whirlpool¡¯ about a meter wide and two meters tall opened up in front of him.


    He turned his head back to Xu Ran and the others. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Then he stepped into the black whirlpool and beyond, disappearing from sight.


    Han Yue followed shortly afterwards. ¡°Brother Bai, brother Zheng, behind this is the gates to our Underworld School. Please follow me.¡± Xu Ran nodded his head to the two before stepping into the whirlpool.


    Bai Yunfei looked to Zheng Kai who in turn shared a surprised look back.


    ¡°This¡­.has to be an illusionary barrier?¡± Zheng Kai guessed.


    ¡°Probably,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°I didn¡¯t even sense it before, how strange. Let¡¯s go on in then. I¡¯m interested in seeing what¡¯s going to be behind this¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Following Xu Ran¡¯s example, Bai Yunfei stepped into the dark whirlpool.


    Pressure from all over surrounded his person when he stepped into it as if he was dunked into a small body of water. The sensation disappeared as quickly as it arrived, and Bai Yunfei soon found himself fully across the threshold and feeling completely fine.


    But that one step had changed the entire scenery in front of him!


    A mountain peak five hundred meters tall was now right in front of Bai Yunfei!!


    Strangely enough, all sorts of boulders and such stood on top of the mountain and yet even more stones paving the way up. A black-colored temple was erected near the top. It exuded a powerful aura in every direction and barely overshadowed the auras of the many people that were moving about in it.


    It was with a smile that Xu Ran turned towards Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai, ¡°Brother Bai, brother Zheng, these are the gates to our Underworld School. You two must be tired after traveling for so long, please come with me to your lodgings.¡±


    Bai Yunfei followed behind him, his face still showing the signs of shock at the entire site. He turned behind them, the black whirlpool was nowhere to be seen. It had disappeared as soon as everyone had crossed. But if Bai Yunfei looked carefully, there was a very faint outline of the barrier there.


    ¡°Man¡­.so there¡¯s a kind of barrier like this? It¡¯s hiding practically everything within a kilometer radius inside it. I¡¯ve never seen a barrier as ridiculously strong as this before¡­.¡± Zheng Kai clicked his tongue in praise.


    Flying was generally prohibited in most schools, and the Underworld School was no exception.


    Coming to the foot of the mountain, the group soon came into view of a few students standing guard there. As soon as the group dropped down, the students bowed at once to them. ¡°Elder Mu, senior Xu, senior Han.¡±


    They looked curiously at Bai Yunfei and the others. Outsiders were very rare to the Underworld School, but none of the students had any business asking what these guests were doing here.


    ¡­¡­


    Since it was already late at night, Bai Yunfei and the others were brought to their rooms on the top of the mountain to rest. The little girl was brought away by Mu Chen so that they could have someone adept in healing take a look at her.


    Their traveling over the past few days accumulated a decent amount of fatigue in the group. In addition to that, the pressure exerted onto them from Black Cloud Valley made their fatigue even worse. So Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai went to their rooms after eating the meal brought to them by the school to rest for the night.


    While Long Lan was perfectly fine¡ªenergetic even about this place¡ªhe was warned by Bai Yunfei to not walk randomly around the place, so he decided to take up post as the night watch. There shouldn¡¯t be any danger here in the Underworld School, but it didn¡¯t hurt to be extra careful in unfamiliar locations, and Long Lan was used to doing this for Bai Yunfei since his time in Soulbeast Forest anyways.


    The night passed without incident, and it was in the early hours of sunrise that Bai Yunfei rose, only to realize it was still dark outside the window.


    He walked out into his small courtyard to observe the skies. A small crack in the layer of clouds revealed just a small portion of sunlight, confirming that it was indeed daytime.


    Black Cloud Valley hadn¡¯t many areas where the sky could be seen, but the entire Underworld School was seemingly accustomed to that. How the students were able to live every day like this was a strange thought to Bai Yunfei.


    Xiao Qi flew around the skies for a moment to indulge in his curiosities while Bai Yunfei watched him from the courtyards. Soon, Zheng Kai and Long Lan came from their own rooms before breakfast was brought up.


    It was after their meal was eaten that Zheng Kai looked up at the skies and then to Bai Yunfei. ¡°What do you plan on doing next, Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really have anything in mind right now. The plan was originally to keep on touring, but I guess after we stay in the Underworld School for a few days, we should probably wrap it up and return to the Capital?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still pretty early to call it quits, why go back to the Capital?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shrugged. ¡°Where should we go then?¡±


    A mirthful smile appeared on Zheng Kai¡¯s face. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go back to the Crafting School? Didn¡¯t you want to go back? I¡¯m pretty interested in seeing what it¡¯s like, plus we should go and see how little Rui is doing now¡­.¡±


    ¡°Heh¡­.just say it outright that you want to see Tingting.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°What¡¯s next, are you going to try proposing marriage when you come to the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°Paying my respects to the elders of your school wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing. Getting to know people and all that¡­.don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re not thinking about your Xinyun?¡± Zheng Kai fired back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t drag me in with your reasoning,¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°it¡¯s not like we can¡¯t go back. In any case, I¡¯ve a few friends I miss back there. Alright, you win, we can go to the Crafting School after our business with the Underworld School is finished.¡±


    As the two chatted with one another, Xu Ran came walking into their courtyard and greeted them. ¡°Were you able to sleep well?¡± He asked with a gentle smile.


    ¡°It was a good sleep. I¡¯m just not used to this daylight, I nearly thought it was night still when I woke.¡± Answered Zheng Kai.


    ¡°That¡¯s just how it is here,¡± Xu Ran smiled, ¡°it¡¯ll get a little brighter around afternoon. It¡¯ll only last two hours before it¡¯ll start getting dark again. Please forgive me if you¡¯re not used to it.¡±


    ¡°Brother Xu,¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°How is the little girl doing, can she be saved?¡±


    The smile receded away from Xu Ran¡¯s face.


    ¡°I came here just for that. Please come with me, the headmaster and elders were talking about it and had me come escort you over.¡±

 Chapter 728: Mo Yanbai

    Calling Xiao Qi back over, Bai Yunfei and the others followed Xu Ran up the road to the mountains before coming right in front of a giant black hall.


    It wasn¡¯t until they were close to the hall that Bai Yunfei realized just how large it was. On both sides stood two gigantic stone statues with depictions of spirits on them. Black-faced and with tusks, the statues had claws for hands and were shown roaring to the heavens as if trying to swallow the clouds and devour the moon.


    Furthermore, Bai Yunfei and the group came to realize just how strong the aura coming from here was when they got close. It was even more foreboding than before, and the prevalent elemental darkness in the area made them all feel rather unwell. Despite it being only the aura of the people here, rather than the environment, it was still a very unsettling experience on the mind.


    As they walked through the black halls, the group soon came to a stop right in front of throne with an elderly person in violet-black robes sitting on it. His hair was white and his face was wrinkled. A cup of tea in his hands as he talked with several people in front of him, the elder was smiling as he observed the people coming in now.


    This was without a doubt the headmaster of the Underworld School. Before Huangfu Nan left, he told Bai Yunfei that this man was Mo Yanbai and an expert of the same level and generation of Zi Jin.


    At Mo Yanbai¡¯s two sides were two other older men. Mu Chen was one of these figures, so the other person surely had to be another elder of the school.


    Xu Ran took the group to the middle of the room before bowing to Mo Yanbai. ¡°Master, the guests have arrived.¡±


    ¡°You may leave.¡± Mo Yanbai nodded.


    Xu Ran left the hall.


    Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai both bowed towards the man with respect. ¡°This junior pays his respects to headmaster Mo and the elders.¡±


    Long Lan did nothing but stand there. He as a soulbeast didn¡¯t care for etiquette for human elders. Furthermore, he was the disciple of Long Zhen and also a class seven soulbeast, hence why he had some pride here.


    ¡°Haha, my dear guests, be at ease and sit down.¡± Mo Yanbai laughed. He wasn¡¯t displeased with how Long Lan was acting, he was after all a Soul King. Class sevens and Soul Kings treated each other as equals, and only when there was some sort of hierarchy like in schools or else wise would the situation be a little different.


    Bai Yunfei and the other two sat down onto their stools.


    ¡°As rare as it is for my Underworld School to receive any information from the outside world, we did manage to hear Zi Jin take on a talented student as his disciple a few years ago. The achievements of this said student was startling to hear, but now that I see you today, it seems those rumors were more true than false. Nephew Bai, you seem close to becoming a Soul King! What a prodigy, Zi Jin has truly a good eye. He was later than I by twenty years in taking on a student, but it seems that we are both blessed with prodigies for disciples.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised. He thought that the headmaster of the Underworld School would be rigid and stern in attitude, but the man sounded a lot more friendly than he thought. And he was friends with his master Zi Jin too?


    ¡°Senior Mo is too kind. The world has many prodigies in the world, and every school has their fair share. This junior has seen many others on par with me, and many that make me unworthy of being called one. I am only lucky in having the opportunity to become stronger a little faster than usual.¡± Bai Yunfei replied modestly. If he was being praised this much, then he¡¯d surely have to be as modest as he could.


    ¡°This one comes here today on behalf of the Crafting School to wish the Underworld School good tidings. Though our two schools have never met with one another, we hope that this will change in the future. Whatever trouble there may be, may our two schools share in the good times and bad and help one another.¡±


    These were the words Huangfu Nan instructed him to say. He hadn¡¯t much experience as a representative, but Bai Yunfei knew that the Crafting School was trying to make friends with the Underworld School. Huangfu Nan even mentioned before about an ¡®alliance¡¯.


    ¡°Haha, but of course. We of the Underworld School may not venture out in the world often, but we are honored to have the goodwill of the Crafting School.¡± Mo Yanbai knew this as well. ¡°Now that I think about it, Zi Jin and I had many chance encounters in the past. One of those times was back in Soulbeast Forest at our primes. A hundred years must have passed since then? How much the times changed, and how the two of us have grown old¡­.¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei was surprised to hear about the friendly relationship Zi Jin had with Mo Yanbai. He had never heard his master talk about it before, and the words ¡®in their primes¡¯ and ¡®a hundred years ago¡¯ were definitely referring to events in the far past. No elderly person would just carelessly talk about precious memories like that on a whimsical though.


    Mo Yanbai turned to Zheng Kai next with an equally large smile. ¡°Nephew Zheng, how might your patriarch senior Zheng Lin be doing?¡±


    Having been listening to Mo Yanbai talk to Bai Yunfei, Zheng Kai was in the middle of sipping his cup of tea when Mo Yanbai turned to him. Nearly coughing on his cup, Zheng Kai placed it down with a thunderstruck expression. ¡°You¡­.senior¡­.senior Mo knows my ancestor?!¡±


    ¡°I was honored with the chance to see the grace of senior Zheng Lin when I was young. He stepped into the realm of Emperors several dozen years ago I heard. Has he made any progress and reached into any higher realm?¡±


    Zheng Kai wiped the sweat off his forehead, ¡°I¡­.my ancestor has closed himself off many years ago. I¡¯ve never even seen my ancestor¡­.¡±


    ¡°Haha, for someone as strong as senior Zheng Lin, worldly matters shouldn¡¯t even matter to him anymore.¡± Mo Yanbai nodded sagely. He didn¡¯t pursue the question, after all, how would a youngling like Zheng Kai know anything about Zheng Lin¡¯s situation?


    Bai Yunfei was really surprised now. This was the first time he had ever heard about Zheng Kai¡¯s ancestor before. And from what Mo Yanbai had just said¡­.


    The realm of Emperors? Was that the Soul Emperor realm? And ¡®even higher¡¯? That couldn¡¯t mean¡­.


    As expected from a hundred-year-old man. He could amaze anyone with just a few words.


    Mo Yanbai continued to talk with both Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai a little longer, though his eyes were usually staring at Bai Yunfei, making him feel a little awkward.


    ¡°Senior Mo,¡± Bai Yunfei spoke at last. ¡°How is the treatment of the little girl we brought going¡­.can she be healed?¡±


    The smile on Mo Yanbai¡¯s face paused briefly, ¡°I took a look at her condition a while ago. Truthfully speaking¡­.the chances of healing her aren¡¯t very large¡­..¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt his heart skip a bit, ¡°But how can that be¡­? Isn¡¯t it elemental darkness that is corroding her insides? Can¡¯t elemental darkness be used to treat and expel it from her body?¡±


    The pointy-chinned elder to the right of Mo Yanbai¡¯s side snorted. ¡°Hmph! What would a baby know of our arts! It¡¯s because of her affliction that she can¡¯t be treated! The flow of elemental darkness has no pattern and is hard to treat. Don¡¯t forget that she is only a commoner, regular methods can¡¯t even be used on her! It¡¯s a miracle that she¡¯s lived this long already. We¡¯d need plenty of ingredients if we¡¯d want even a chance of saving her, and it¡¯s not even guaranteed! It¡¯s not worth saving her life!¡±


    This man was a very straightforward person, and his words very clearly saying that the price needed to be paid to save this one girl wasn¡¯t worth the effort.

 Chapter 729: Conditions

    Feeling that the other elder was being a little too straightforward, Mu Chen came up to soften his words. ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand, nephew Bai. It¡¯s not as though we don¡¯t wish to save her life, but that the girl¡¯s body is simply far too weak to endure any regular treatment. The best way to treat her is the most difficult way and requires a great deal of ingredients. Our reserves are incomplete and are lacking a few resources, so we¡¯d have the enter the Black Cloud Forest to find the rest, but our chances of finding any are slim. In other words, we are powerless to help¡­.¡±


    The other elder gave Mu Chen a disapproving glare as if his explanation was unnecessary. Or maybe the elder truly didn¡¯t think it was necessary to even bother extolling such a price to save a commoner.


    Pained, Bai Yunfei took a moment to think of what to say. He clasped his hands, ¡°Senior Mo, if there is a chance, I beg of your school to save this young girl¡¯s life. This junior cannot thank you enough for it!¡±


    The pointy-chinned elder snorted again. ¡°Don¡¯t presume yourself to be an expert on matters you¡¯re not, whelpling. Do you know just how many rare ingredients will be needed to save her? Why should we go through such trouble to save the life of an unwor¡ª¡±


    ¡°This junior knows how difficult it will be for your esteemed school. That is why even if her treatment succeeds or fails, this junior will be willing to craft a heaven-tier soul armament as thanks!!¡± Bai Yunfei interrupted.


    His words ushered the entire hall into silence. Everyone¡¯s eyes were drawn to Bai Yunfei, their facial expressions filled with doubt at what they had just heard.


    ¡°Pah! A braggart as well as a whelpling!¡± The pointy-chinned elder boomed out again. ¡°Crafting a heaven-tier soul armament?! Even a Soul King hasn¡¯t the chance to perfectly craft one. Do you wish to make yourself a fool with words that big?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was without emotion now. ¡°This one is a man of my word. If your esteemed school is willing to go through the effort in treating her, then this junior will naturally pay back the efforts with mine own. As long as your esteemed school agrees, then this junior will set to crafting a soul armament. However¡­.since your esteemed school requires soul armaments with an affinity for elemental darkness, the materials will need to come from your esteemed school.¡±


    ¡°Words without proof are as good as no words at all. How do we know that you¡¯re even capable of the feat?¡± The elder spoke. He clearly didn¡¯t believe in Bai Yunfei. ¡°The materials for that will only go to waste and become ashes.¡±


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes at the accusation.


    ¡°If by chance this junior fails in crafting one¡­there are still plenty of heaven-tier soul armaments in my possession that your esteemed school can pick. None of them will be unworthy of the price.¡±


    This time, a calculative light entered the elder¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Xu Ran mentioned that you have a soul armament similar to the Devouring Chains from the Soul Refining School. If that much is true, you will hand over that soul armament to us, are you willing?¡±


    Blinking once, Bai Yunfei smiled before retrieving the dark-red chains from his space ring onto his hand.


    ¡°Is this the soul armament senior is talking about?¡±


    The eyes of the elder lit up as soon as the Devouring Chains appeared, Mo Yanbai¡¯s eyes included. ¡°The Devouring Chains!¡± The elder remarked.


    ¡°This junior won¡¯t lie. This soul armament came from the Soul Refining School after I killed one of their Soul Kings. It¡¯s a soul armament with an affinity for both fire and darkness. There is also a very special functionality that I¡¯m sure seniors are aware of¡­..¡±


    He turned to the elder he was ¡®negotiating¡¯ with. ¡°If senior requests this item, then so be it. If by chance this junior fails in crafting a heaven-tier soul armament, then this soul armament is yours!¡±


    ¡°By your word?¡± The elder¡¯s eyes were ecstatic now.


    ¡°By my word.¡±


    ¡°Very well then!! You have a deal!¡±


    The agreement came rather quickly now. The elder was smiling ear to ear with a great big smile.


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei had troubled hiding the grin on his face. Storing away the Devouring Chains into his space ring, he turned to Mu Chen. ¡°Elder Mu, you said before that your esteemed school is lacking in a few of the ingredients. If there is none here, then will venturing into the Black Cloud Forest be enough to find them? Or where else may these ingredients be found?¡±


    It took a second for Mu Chen to properly respond to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Indeed, we are missing ingredients such as the snake gall of a black-scaled serpent. It¡¯s a rare type of ferocious soulbeast that lives in the depths of the forest and a mountain. It took an elder and I one month to capture in the past¡­.¡±


    ¡°Then do you know where a black-scaled serpent might live?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°We do. There is one living just a hundred kilometers north of the Black Cloud Forest. An early-stage class seven black-scaled serpent lives in the mountain peak there.¡±


    Mu Chen replied, unsure of why he was being asked such a question.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I cannot let your esteemed school do all the work in saving the life of another. If we are lacking in the ingredients, then this junior will take on the task of scavenging for it.¡±


    Again, the entire hall was surprised by what Bai Yunfei was proposing. Even Mo Yanbai couldn¡¯t help but narrow his eyes at the thought. ¡°Nephew Bai, do you really wish to go after that black-scaled serpent? It¡¯s a ferocious class seven soulbeast stronger than most others. The forest is dangerous enough for even Soul Kings to have trouble traveling through. As a guest of my Underworld School, how could we let you experience such a danger like this¡­.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks for your warning, senior Mo, but please don¡¯t worry. This junior won¡¯t be going just yet.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. He pointed at Long Lan and Zheng Kai behind him. ¡°My friends and I will be going together. If it¡¯s just an early-stage class seven beast, then it won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    Mo Yanbai gave Long Lan a calculative look. He didn¡¯t say anything for or against what Bai Yunfei wanted to do and changed the topic instead. ¡°I admit that I am quite curious, nephew Bai. Why are you so intent on saving the life of this young girl. As I am told, she is only a commoner you picked up from in Formagua City?¡±


    ¡°That is correct.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t even know her name.¡±


    ¡°Then why go through all this trouble to save her?¡±


    ¡°If there is a chance to save her, why shouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°.......¡±


    Another blanket of silence descended down onto the hall.


    The pointy-chinned elder turned his nose up at Bai Yunfei¡¯s words. What Bai Yunfei said was truly naive to the world. Saving the life of a commoner and completely stranger for such a heavy price like what was being offered onto the table was laughable and completely not worth it.


    It wasn¡¯t as though Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what they were thinking about, but he didn¡¯t care to quibble over it. He didn¡¯t care if people thought he was silly or naive for being the way he was. His soulsense had touched upon the young girl¡¯s soul when he was trying to save her back in Formagua City, and the immense feeling of terror and suffering she had touched Bai Yunfei. She was the very last survivor of an entire city of people, and Bai Yunfei had no desire to see such a life be thrown away when there was still a chance to be saved.


    Though the ¡®price¡¯ other people thought to be very heavy, Bai Yunfei saw it as something not even needing to be thought about.


    The goals of the pointy-chinned man was also very obvious to Bai Yunfei. Still, he figured that if the Underworld School was willing to help, it was only natural that they be rewarded for their troubles, hence why Bai Yunfei was willing to use a heaven-tier soul armament as their compensation.


    He had to laugh at the elder¡¯s ploy to get his Devouring Chains though. The elder really did think Bai Yunfei was unable to craft a heaven-tier soul armament, but Bai Yunfei was confident in his abilities. But not so confident that he could craft a heaven-tier soul armament consistently. Even if he failed, he could still craft a high-earth tier soul armament and upgrade it a few times to have it cross the threshold into the heaven tier. So that wasn¡¯t a problem. The elder wanting to grab a hold of his Devouring Chains was a lost cause.


    There was also the issue of finding the black-scaled serpent. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to owe the Underworld School too many favors so he opted to find this one himself. He had the strength to do so anyways, so this¡¯d be a nice time to gain some experience.

 Chapter 730: Going Deeper into Black Cloud Valley

    Mu Chen handed Bai Yunfei a map of where the black-scaled serpent was shortly afterwards. With a bow towards the elders after he received it, Bai Yunfei and his group left the hall.


    That left only the men of the Underworld School there.


    After a moment of silence, Mo Yanbai spoke to one of the elders that never spoke the entire time. ¡°First elder, what do you think about this Bai Yunfei?¡±


    This elder appeared to be in his seventies and had long white hair and a white beard that hung low enough to hang on his chest.


    ¡°Arrogant and conceited.¡±


    He spoke those three words first before continuing his evaluation. ¡°But from another perspective, he is someone who is confident since he has the ability to do so.¡±


    The pointy-chinned elder frowned. ¡°He¡¯s a greenhorned brat whose hair hasn¡¯t even grown yet. He¡¯s arrogant and reliant on having a powerful master like Zi Jin. I don¡¯t believe he¡¯s capable of crafting a heaven-tier soul armament at all. With all his bragging, I¡¯m confident that the Devouring Chains will soon be offered to us.¡±


    He sighed and shook his head. ¡°How truly surprising to see him have the Devouring Chains from the Soul Refining School. How could he have gotten the mysterious soul armament of their school? Elder Mu, do you really believe he¡¯s capable of killing a Soul King from that school and taking his soul armament?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s unwise to underestimate this Bai Yunfei, elder Qi. He isn¡¯t a Soul King yet, but he has two class seven soulbeasts with him. With his added status as Zi Jin¡¯s disciple and all his soul armaments, killing a Soul King from the Soul Refining School is within the realm of possibility for him.¡±


    Elder Qi snorted. ¡°Forget it. Everything said so far is just hear-say. He¡¯s still a guest of our school in any case. Us getting a heaven-tier soul armament after all of this is still a very good accomplishment. The men of the Crafting School are quite ¡®overbearing¡¯. Even one of their youngsters don¡¯t see a heaven-tier soul armament as something too worth keeping. Using one of those to save the life of someone they don¡¯t even know¡­.should we say they¡¯re a spendthrift or a saint?¡±


    Mo Yanbai laughed, ¡°It¡¯s good for a youngster to want to save someone.¡±


    ¡°Headmaster, are we really going to allow those youngsters to go after the black-scaled serpent? Is that not unwise?¡± Mu Chen asked. ¡°If something happens to them, we¡¯d have to apologize to both the Crafting School and house of Zheng¡­.¡±


    ¡°Unlike those youngsters, we of the Underworld School are not blind to the dangers of the forest, are we?¡± Mo Yanbai nodded, ¡°How could we let them enter Black Cloud Forest themselves? We¡¯ll have the first elder follow them. We cannot allow anything to happen to them when they go hunting for the black-scaled serpent. Since we are saving the life of that girl, we may as well kill the serpent for them if they cannot.¡±


    The first elder nodded. ¡°Rest assured, headmaster. I will do as needed.¡±


    Outside the hall, Zheng Kai sent Bai Yunfei a wary glance. ¡°Yunfei, do you really plan on looking for the black-scaled serpent.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°What, you scared?¡±


    ¡°Watch what you¡¯re saying,¡± Zheng Kai groused, ¡°am I really that much of a coward in your mind?¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s the Black Cloud Valley and Forest we¡¯re talking about¡­.¡± His voice took on a tone of concern. ¡°It¡¯s one of the three danger zones on the continent. Won¡¯t us going in rashly end badly for us? Why don¡¯t we bring someone from the Underworld School with us? Maybe that Xu Ran fellow?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not bother them, we¡¯ve already a map, don¡¯t we? Xu Ran¡¯s pretty strong, but how does he compare to Xiao Qi or Long Lan? What¡¯s there to worry about with them? Even if there is danger, you can run away without a problem.


    ¡°Plus¡­.¡± He turned back towards the hall they had just came from. ¡°Do you really think the Underworld School will really let us go as we please without escort? Didn¡¯t you see the map they gave us? It only had the path there and back and nothing else. This entire area is controlled by the Underworld School, so how can there be any hidden spots on the map? And don¡¯t forget, we¡¯re ¡®guests¡¯. Whether it¡¯s protecting us from harm or seeing that we don¡¯t go to places we shouldn¡¯t, we¡¯re not going to be ¡®alone¡¯ when hunting for the black-scaled serpent.¡±


    Zheng Kai took the map into his own hands to look at it. ¡°Damn! You really thought this out, didn¡¯t you? I thought you were just trying to gamble against that old man.


    ¡°When do we leave then?¡± He asked while fiddling with the map.


    ¡°The sooner the better to save a person¡¯s life. Let¡¯s get going then!¡±


    He called out his Tempest Sword and immediately zipped off towards the right.


    ¡°Hey! Yunfei, hold up!¡± Zheng Kai howled after him.


    Bai Yunfei stared unhappily at Zheng Kai, ¡°What? Aren¡¯t we rushed for time here? If we go now, we can probably make it back before it gets dark.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant, I¡¯m trying to tell you you can¡¯t fly that way!¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the wrong direction!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei and the others took off into the sky with speed that surprised many of the students there. Having not been fast enough to stop them, they reported swiftly to their higher-ups, only to be told not to mind them.


    It didn¡¯t take them long to reach the barrier protecting and hiding the Underworld School from sight. Concentrating a bit, Bai Yunfei flew forward to head ¡®out¡¯ to the other side. Like when he first came in, there was a feeling of being submerged in some type of liquid before he was back out. Turning around, Bai Yunfei was greeted with the sight of an ocean of trees. The Underworld School was nowhere to be seen.


    The air outside the barrier was relatively cleaner than the inside, though the pressure was even greater. Aside from Long Lan, everyone else was feeling once again unwell under the pressure.


    A few thousand meters into the air, the black clouds were just barely revealing a crack in them to shower a part of the valley with bright daylight. As Xu Ran said, this was around the time of afternoon.


    With Zheng Kai holding onto the map and leading the group, they were soon able to fly over to the depths of the Black Cloud Forest.


    ¡°Hey, Yunfei. I¡¯ve been thinking about it earlier but, is that flying sword of yours a heaven-tier?¡± Zheng Kai asked as they flew. ¡°It¡¯s ridiculously fast¡­.I¡¯m pretty jealous of you crafters. The high quality soul armaments most people can only dream about are things your school seems to have an infinite supply of.¡±


    Glancing down at the flying sword underneath Zheng Kai¡¯s feet, Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°Haha, lend me your flying sword when we get back and I¡¯ll ¡®refine¡¯ it for you. I¡¯m sure I can get it to heaven-tier.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me, you can ¡®refine¡¯ soul armaments? I heard it¡¯s a skill that¡¯s even harder than crafting soul armaments. Even Soul Kings have a hard time doing it, did you really learn an art like that?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget who I am. I know a lot more than the average crafter¡­..¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s that. You said you¡¯ll refine it, so don¡¯t you dare lie to me.¡±


    Since he saw Bai Yunfei craft a heaven-tier soul armament before, Zheng Kai didn¡¯t have as hard of a time believing in what Bai Yunfei could or couldn¡¯t do compared to other people. If anything, he was immune to a good degree of Bai Yunfei¡¯s capabilities and had the idea that there wasn¡¯t much Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t ¡®have enough power¡¯ for.


    The two males chatted with one another as they flew, not at all feeling the pressure of danger in the surrounding area. Only the auras of class six soulbeasts could be felt, and those type of soulbeasts weren¡¯t a threat for either of the two. Long Lan was exerting his aura as a class seven soulbeast, so none of the soulbeasts even dared to poke their heads out.


    As far as class seven soulbeasts went, the first one they felt was when they were already ninety kilometers deep into the forest. But since it was still hard to use soulsense, Bai Yunfei could only sense that it was far away to their right side. Luckily, it never bothered them as they traveled ahead.


    The group soon came to a stop a hundred kilometers within the depths of Black Cloud Valley where the Underworld School said to go. Taking out the map and looking at the area, Zheng Kai pointed at a hill three hundred meters away. ¡°If the map¡¯s not leading us wrong, this is where we should be.¡±


    Looking up at the hill, Bai Yunfei noted that the black clouds felt like they were being attracted to the top of the hill. ¡®Dropping¡¯ from the skies to hang around the tip of the top, they formed a swirling whirlpool of sorts that seemed rather mystical.


    Zheng Kai stored the map away. ¡°We¡¯ve the location, why don¡¯t we go hunting for a black-scaled serpent now?¡±


    Bai Yunfei pointed to a certain direction, ¡°No need to go ¡®hunting¡¯. I¡¯ve already found it¡­¡±


    The black clouds around this certain hill were fainter than the surrounding area. And so at a closer look, one would be able to see a strange stone statue at the top.


    But¡­.


    This was no statue, it was the head of a giant black serpent!


    It¡¯s body was coiled practically around the hill almost. With its ten-meter wide head, the snake opened wide to swallow the clouds drifting down from the skies!

 Chapter 731: Serpent Engulfing the Clouds

    Bai Yunfei never thought that they¡¯d be able to find the black-scaled serpent so quickly. From what Mu Chen told them, this serpent enjoyed hibernating within the hill itself and rarely ventured out from its nest. Just forcing it to come out from its nest was a very difficult task, so how lucky was it that the situation was completely different than expected?


    Bai Yunfei took a closer look at the serpent. The giant serpentine head poking out from the top of the hill was as black as ink and triangular in shape. The middle of its head had a single black scale as large as a door on it and larger than every other scale it had on its body. Though there was barely any light here, there was a faint reflection shining off from its scales like if being illuminated by a dark light.


    This was truly the black-scaled serpent without a doubt.


    How lucky was Bai Yunfei, to catch the black-scaled serpent as it was in the middle of taking a deep breath?


    Secretly elated at the situation, Bai Yunfei motioned for Zheng Kai and the others to not do anything for now. They¡¯d first observe the situation from afar before doing anything else.


    ¡°Is it¡­.training?¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered after a moment of observation. This black-scaled serpent really was training! This peculiar method of training by swallowing the dark clouds was a strange sight, so it took Bai Yunfei a moment to understand.


    ¡°Swallowing the dark clouds¡­.what kind of kick-ass black-scaled serpent is this?¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes were wide open as he watched the serpent. ¡°I guess when people say they¡¯re [1], this is what they mean! Is this how the soulbeasts of Black Cloud Valley behave and grow?¡±


    He glanced over to Bai Yunfei. ¡°It seems to be concentrating pretty hard right now, Yunfei. Now¡¯s the best time to strike in my opinion, should we strike it down as it does that?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had a similar thought as well. If the black-scaled serpent was working so earnestly on swallowing the dark clouds without even scanning the surrounding area, then things should work out for them. If he, Xiao Qi, and Long Lan were to fight together, then they¡¯d definitely be able to capture or kill the serpent.


    He tilted his head to think about it.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s what we¡¯ll do! Xiao Qi, Long Lan, you two prepare for battle. Xiao Qi will attack from the left and Long Lan from the right. I¡¯ll attack it head on with my fastest attack. Let¡¯s hope to strike it down in one, if it doesn¡¯t work, don¡¯t let it hide back into the mountain or we¡¯ll never get it back out!¡±


    ¡°Hey, what about me then?¡± Asked Zheng Kai.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Zheng,¡± Bai Yunfei glanced at him. ¡°Don¡¯t take any risks. That¡¯s a class seven soulbeasts, not a joke. Xiao Qi and Long Lan should be enough. Just wait here and be on the lookout.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­..¡± Zheng Kai frowned briefly before waving his hand. ¡°Fine, whatever. I know I can¡¯t compare with a deviant like you. If I can¡¯t join in on the fight, I¡¯ll be your ¡®watchdog¡¯ then.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Standing several kilometers away from Bai Yunfei and the others was a single person whose aura was completely hidden to watch the group.


    It was the first elder of the Underworld School.


    ¡°So today is the day for the serpent to feed on the clouds¡­.these youngsters have considerable luck. It seems the chance for capturing or kill will be easier than expected, perhaps I won¡¯t need to do anythi¡ª¡±


    The man went rigid, his eyes glued to the flowing clouds off in the distance.


    ¡°Something doesn¡¯t seem right here¡­.¡± He muttered to himself with crinkled eyebrows.


    It took him another two seconds before he was able to figure out the reason. ¡°No!! Today shouldn¡¯t be the day the black-scaled serpent should come out for that!!¡±


    The black-scaled serpent wasn¡¯t something the Underworld School was interested in for just a day or two. They¡¯ve been keeping tabs on it and writing down its behavior for a very long time now. Every twenty-five days, the black-scaled serpent would poke its heads out and take in the black clousd to train. But according to the first elder¡¯s calculations¡­..today shouldn¡¯t be the day the black-scaled serpent should be doing that!


    As someone familiar to the behavioral patterns of the black-scaled serpent, the first elder knew there just had to be a special reason why the serpent was breaking its pattern!


    He took a closer look at the serpent. The serpent didn¡¯t look off or anything, but the amount of dark clouds it was taking in was clearly a great deal larger than before!


    What did that mean?


    Another few seconds went by before the elder found his solution. ¡°Is it¡­is it about to advance?! Impossible!¡±


    The elder went from being relaxed to being on-guard almost instantaneously from this terrible predicament. His soulsense went out at once to scan the serpent in front of him.


    But there was already a loud hiss ringing through the skies the moment before his soulsense could confirm anything!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei and the others were already in position with their minds linked together thanks to the effect of the Charm Bracelet. Giving the OK to one another, the two soulbeasts and man dashed off in their respective directions to get to the serpent.


    The serpent didn¡¯t even seem to notice them even as they ran, seemingly focused whole-heartedly on its task.


    Elated by this stroke of good luck, Bai Yunfei advanced another ten meters forward. Priming himself to attack, Bai Yunfei prepared himself to make the first blow when¡­.everything changed!


    It all happened just another few steps after Bai Yunfei was priming up his soulforce. As he took himself just one step further, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face immediately darkened!


    ¡°Hiss!!!¡±


    Almost instantaneously, the black-scaled serpent unleashed a heaven-shaking hiss before giving Bai Yunfei a furious death glare at being interrupted!


    The black-scaled serpent hadn¡¯t been completely defenseless¡ªit had merely shrunk its defensive perimeter to a minimum. Nothing would be able to get past that perimeter without it being detected, and Bai Yunfei and the others were definitely well past that perimeter!


    ¡°Damn! We¡¯ve been spotted! Xiao Qi, Long Lan, attack!!¡±


    Not one to disappoint, Bai Yunfei immediately called out for the other two to attack. His Cataclysmic Seal flew out from his space ring and spat out the fireseed in it. Then, the fireseed melted into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body who then went straight into his ¡®coil¡¯ form!


    Meanwhile, Xiao Qi and Long Lan flew forward, their soulforce blazing with great energy as they charged at the snake!


    ¡°Hiss!!!¡±


    There was another furious hiss from the serpent. It swung its head around to look around itself, but thankfully, the serpent didn¡¯t hide back in its hill as Bai Yunfei was afraid of. Instead, it extended its jaws wide open to bite down onto Long Lan with its black liquid coated fangs!


    Long Lan¡¯s human form was larger than the average person, but he was still a small speck compared to the maw of the serpent. Having originally planned on attacking with a blade of elemental energy, Long Lan decided otherwise when the black-scaled serpent moved after him. Eyes glowing with a tint of battle-lust, Long Lan withdrew his hand and unleashed a howl no weaker than the one the serpent gave off earlier!


    ¡°Roarrrrr!!!!¡±


    The roar of a dragon was imbued into his howl. Blue light shined outwards from Long Lan¡¯s body with a brightness as intense as if he himself was the sun itself. The surrounding area was washed in a wave of blue light as a giant figure appeared in front of the serpent!


    The blue-eyes wyrm!


    Since he was in battle, Long Lan opted to transform into his strongest battle form. Now blazing with the true aura of a class seven soulbeast, Long Lan was ready to fight without reserve!


    1. ¡®swallowing clouds and blowing out fog¡¯

 Chapter 732: Battle of Dragon and Snake

    Now that Long Lan was back in his original form, he was now far too large to be eaten by the maw of the serpent. He looked down at the incoming maw and bent down to use one of his arms to grab onto the lower mandible of the serpent!


    The embarrassing thing was that his forelimb was a little short than average, so the fangs of the snake was already nearing his chest by the time he grabbed onto the mandible. He had no way to tear apart the snake, but neither did the snake have a way to bite down onto his chest.


    It wasn¡¯t his claws that were the most powerful weapons Long Lan had. As soon as the serpent was caught, he opened his mouth wide to chomp down on the serpent!


    Long Lan¡¯s transformation was surprising to the serpent, but not enough for it to stop its attack. The serpent wanted to clamp down onto Long Lan even when its maw was caught, but it thought otherwise when Long Lan¡¯s claw was poised to stab through its maw if it did. Instead, it hissed. A dark shadow darted out from its mouth to strike at Long Lan¡¯s own jaw.


    It was the tongue of the serpent!


    The serpent¡¯s tongue was as thick as a man¡¯s arm was. The tongue had two black tips to it and was flying so fast that its exact likeness could hardly be seen. If the serpent really wanted to eat Long Lan, then it¡¯d definitely have to ¡®stab¡¯ at him first before taking him into its maw.


    Long Lan¡¯s eyes narrowed ominously. Tilting his head, Long Lan allowed for the tongue to graze past his ¡®cheekbone¡¯ and beyond.


    The tongue traveled a few meters longer before seemingly reaching the end of its reach. Rather than flopping, the tongue softened in the middle before whirling around. The tip of the tongue still sharp as ever, it traveled around Long Lan¡¯s head and then moved to stab at his left eye!


    Long Lan hadn¡¯t thought the tongue of the serpent would be able to do something as flexible as coil around his head. The tip of the tongue was already just three inches away from his eye, so he knew to not let it extend any further. Without any other choice, he disengaged from the serpent and flew up into the air with enough speed to propel his giant body a hundred meters high into the air and several dozen meters backwards.


    Now free again, the black-scaled serpent swung its head up to glare at Long Lan. Its tongue was back in its mouth as it prepared to go after it. But then the upper half of its body swung backwards like a bow. Five Spatial Edges came tearing through the places where the serpent¡¯s body used to be a split-second afterwards¡­..


    Because of their ambush being found out and the first strike being done by the serpent instead, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even able to attack the serpent before the three class seven soulbeasts were already engaged in a fight between themselves.


    Xiao Qi trilled in annoyance when he saw his Spatial Edges miss. Spreading his wings wide, the Wind and Lightning Feathers started to glow with violet light and was transformed into a bird of lightning as soon as it was fully charged up. All around him, the air crackled with purple lightning that only increased in size and intensity with each second. Xiao Qi flapped his wings again to summon several hundred bolts of lightning to send towards the serpent!


    Long Lan howled again at this time, gathering a massive amount of elemental water to him. In preparation for the strongest move in his repertoire, Long Lan formulated a giant ball of elemental water in front of him with a hint of darkness inside of it to slam into the serpent!


    Faced with two powerful attacks from both sides, the serpent had to unleash a powerful attack of its own. Its body compressed down on itself so that it went from being several dozen meters tall to just about two stories tall around the mountain. There was a powerful glow of dark light as the black-scaled serpent¡¯s entire body compressed down on itself. With every second the dark light shined from the serpent¡¯s body, the serpent¡¯s body grew even more rigid before its mouth snapped shut and went still. From the outside, it looked as though the gigantic black-scaled serpent had turned into a crystalline statue or something.


    The bolts of purple lightning came striking down as soon as this transformation was made along with the spheres of elemental water!


    Elemental lightning and water splashed across the black-scaled serpent a moment afterwards, sending beams of violet light flying everywhere!!


    Xiao Qi¡¯s attack of hundreds of lightning bolts had been¡­.reflected back away from the serpent!


    Somehow, the serpent¡¯s body had transformed into a series of mirrors that reflected everything. The purple lightning bolts slammed into the serpent¡¯s scales, but they were each reflected without exception!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    The world was rocked with the sound of lightning bolts striking the ground. With each bolt of lightning, the ground was burnt black and purple with clods of dirt and dust being kicked up and leaving behind giant craters about ten meters tall.


    As like usual, the serpent¡¯s aura was completely unaffected by the bolts of lightning. Xiao Qi¡¯s attacks had failed to leave even a scratch onto them, and Long Lan¡¯s elemental water had only managed to surround the serpent¡¯s scales in it.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was another mighty explosion that not only affected the serpent, but the hill it was hiding on. Just thirty meters above the base of the mountain, the ground was starting to be split apart!


    ¡°Hiss!!¡±


    A dreadful hiss cried out halfway before the prior explosion could even subside. A giant black shadow sprung out form the mountain to reveal the entirety of the serpent¡¯s giant body. Now free of its earthen nest, the black-scaled serpent flung itself towards the right at Long Lan!


    And judging from the light shining off from its scales¡­.the two attacks Xiao Qi and Long Lan did on it had done absolutely nothing on it!


    The earth shook again when Long Lan¡¯s gigantic body landed on the ground. He had to do so in order to evade the serpent¡¯s lunge at him, as his body wasn¡¯t as agile when he flew compared to when he was on the ground. The serpent was also a very powerful foe that didn¡¯t give him much breathing room. Even moreso, Long Lan¡¯s giant body wasn¡¯t as large as the serpent now that its body was fully out there for everyone to see.


    The two soulbeasts were engaged in a battle of supremacy now. Coiled and hissing, the black-scaled serpent tried its best to ensnare the blue-eyes white wyrm in an attempt to subjugate him. With its tail swinging violently and its head poised to strike, the earth shook whenever the serpent make another move against Long Lan. The forest beneath them was already being torn apart with their physical movement and shockwave of elemental energy.


    Flying overhead was Xiao Qi, whose body was rather insignificantly sized compared to the serpent and Long Lan. Every so often Xiao Qi would find an opportunity in battle to unleash a volley of fireballs or wind blades, but the effects of his attacks were rather limited.


    The three soulbeasts were engaged in a fierce battle of supremacy, but Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even find a chance to partake in the fight!


    Bai Yunfei had to admit he didn¡¯t really have a master plan against the black-scaled serpent. He didn¡¯t even know if his Eighty-one Fold Fist Force or Winged Flame Blade would even leave a scratch onto the serpent or not. The explosion effect of the Fire-tipped Spear would definitely only leave behind a sore spot at best, and do nothing else if he didn¡¯t land it on the right area. So Bai Yunfei gave the battleground a wide berth to stand there with his spear out to watch the battle and see if there was a way to kill the snake.


    The battle taking place beneath him was already far beyond what he initially thought would happen. Thankfully, the black-scaled serpent didn¡¯t decide to hide back in its mountain rather than fight, but the serpent was still a lot stronger than he gathered.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t just an early-stage class seven soulbeast. It¡¯s probably already a mid-stage class seven!!¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself on just how strong the soulbeast was.


    Xiao Qi and Long Lan were both strong for their respective levels, and yet they were still hardly able to win against the black-scaled serpent when fighting together. This definitely meant that the serpent¡¯s strength was comparable in intensity than to the both of them despite not being an actual mid-stage class seven. Still, this meant that it had more soulforce or power than either Xiao Qi or Long Lan individually.


    If Bai Yunfei had to guess, then this black-scaled serpent had to have a reason why it didn¡¯t hide in its mountain like the other times with the Underworld School. If it was fighting so earnestly against two other class seven soulbeasts, then it had to mean it was close to becoming a mid-stage class seven¡­.it was close to advancing!


    This was a battle to help the snake advance in stage!


    It wanted to kill Xiao Qi or Long Lan and devour their soulgem in order to help it succeed!


    Or perhaps the black-scaled serpent felt happy about this situation. It was in the middle of training when ¡®prey¡¯ knocked on its doorstep for it. This would save the serpent any time and energy to go hunting. If it could just kill these two soulbeasts and devour their soulgems, then it would definitely succeed in advancing in strength!


    Bai Yunfei stared fixedly at the intense battle taking place beneath him. His left hand subconsciously touched upon the black ring on his left hand.


    He originally planned on having Xiao Qi and Long Lan capture the black-scaled serpent by themselves, but it seemed that he¡¯d need to call upon the permafrost mastiff if the snake was somehow a lot stronger than they thought.


    ¡°We can¡¯t delay this fight. We¡¯ve already started the fight, so we can¡¯t hesitate or let it return to its nest¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei stared hard at the snake a while longer. ¡°We¡­.we have to kill the snake off in one strike!¡±

 Chapter 733: Violent Methods

    The first elder from the Underworld School was still standing up there in the skies away from Bai Yunfei and the others. He was staring at the battle with a strange expression. He had been thinking about joining the fray a moment ago, but when he saw that neither Zheng Kai or Bai Yunfei were in danger, he decided to refrain for the time being.


    His eyes lingered on the black-scaled serpent for a decent amount of time before he started to mutter to himself. ¡°What a blunder, the black-scaled serpent is already at the level of a mid-stage class seven while we weren¡¯t looking. How strange¡­.did it have some good fortune recently?¡±


    Incidents of good fortune weren¡¯t just limited to soul cultivators. The world was fraught with soulbeasts, and where the soulbeasts lived was a place where plenty of rare things could be found, meaning the chances of something good happening was high. Soulbeasts finding some type of rare natural resource and consuming it to help their training wasn¡¯t a very rare occurence.


    But ones that could help a class seven soulbeast increase in strength so substantially were a lot harder to find. The first elder had even made sure of there being none by looking all around and even in the serpent¡¯s nest before.


    ¡°Those two soulbeasts became class seven only a while ago. It won¡¯t be easy for them to fight the black-scaled serpent¡­.and those two youngsters are only Soul Exalts. I might have to fight after all¡­..¡± The first elder decided, albeit with some hesitation. He wanted to see Bai Yunfei fight and see just what the disciple of Zi Jin could really do. Unfortunately for him, Bai Yunfei was doing nothing but watch the fight from the sidelines without actually fighting himself.


    Something strange in the vicinity of the battle then caught the first elder¡¯s eyes, ¡°That¡¯s¡­.¡±


    He was still staring at Bai Yunfei, who had been nearly motionmless up to this point. His left hand waved once before a flash of white light flowed out from it and subsequently had a white figure dash out into view in front of him.


    ¡°Ha!!!¡±


    And for some strange reason, Bai Yunfei shouted out loud!


    Before the first elder could even think of a response to that, another three cries came out at the same time!


    ¡°Chirp!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    ¡°Aooo!!!¡±


    Xiao Qi, Long Lan, and even the permafrost mastiff were all crying out at once with Bai Yunfei!


    The shouts of theirs weren¡¯t just an ordinary one, they were each a¡­.soul attack!


    The combined efforts of three class seven soulbeasts¡¯ soul attacks and then Bai Yunfei¡¯s Soul Sentinel Scarf boosted pseudo-soul attack were all heading towards the black-scaled serpent!


    It was a good bet to say that aside from Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and Long Lan, no one else expected for this development to happen. The black-scaled serpent was already warpped around Long Lan¡¯s foot and was slowly winning the fight when it was struck with different soul attacks without warning!


    The eyes of the serpent dilated to practically slits and the serpent started to quiver violently once struck. Loosening from its grip onto the blue-eyes white wyrm, the serpent fell to the ground where it then hissed with an increasingly angry cry.


    ¡°Hiss!!¡±


    It was a hiss that was just as loud as the roars that came at it earlier. Noisy and loud, the hiss just barely weak enough for Zheng Kai to get away with just wincing in pain and plugging his ears in retreat.


    This hiss was a soul attack just like the other roars were!


    The class seven black-scaled serpent¡ªwhile being a soulbeast with low sentience¡ªwas still capable of a soul attack. It deigned not to use it during this fight since one of those was somewhat useless in a fight between class seven without the proper moment. They were regularly meant as last resorts or the the prelude to a finishing blow. In this current case, the serpent was in mortal peril and had to call out the strongest soul attack it could do.


    The contest of strength between soul attacks started and ended quickly with the black-scaled serpent convulsing on the ground and letting out a panicked hiss!


    Individually, the black-scaled is the strongest of the four. But in a battle of one against four, the black-scaled serpent was no match for Bai Yunfei and the three soulbeasts!


    There was a mournful hiss as the serpent coiled in on itself, forming the shape of a fried dough stick with black energy wisping off of it rather than steam. Its soulforce was heavily disturbed now, and a large amount of it was disseminating into the air along with the dark energy. Whatever plant life in the area that it touched, the plant life quickly started to dry up and wither.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    First came an angry roar, then came a loud explosion. Long Lan made the first move by taking two large steps forward and swinging his large tail firmly onto the serpent!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The serpent was flung backwards into the mountain behind it!


    Before the serpent could collide into it, five black blades flew forward to hit it mid-route¡ªthese were the Spatial Edges of Xiao Qi!


    With how large the serpent was and how evenly spaced the Spatial Edges were apart from one another, the serpent would without a doubt be cut into several bloody chunks if it continued on backwards!


    The black-scaled serpent was clearly feeling the impending doom it was in even despite the flummox it was in due to the soul attacks earlier. Somehow managing to twists its body mid-flight, the serpent thrashed out with its tail. There was a bang as its tail collided with a seemingly invisible wall and flew off into a perpendicular direction away from the Spatial Edges, thus allowing it to escape with its life!


    But even though it managed to make it out with its life, its maneuver didn¡¯t fully allow the serpent to escape fully unscathed. A single Spatial Edge had managed to shear through a segment of its tail¡­.


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    Dark red blood erupted from the two halves of the serpent before a six meter long portion of the tail dropped from the skies.


    ¡°Hisssssss!!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    There was a short-lived hissing sound of pain from the serpent before it crashed into the mountain. Stone and dust flew everywhere as a crater formed where it landed.


    Amidst the dust cloud, the serpent¡¯s eyes were now filled with fear. For once since this battle started, the serpent was fearing for its life. No longer willing to fight, the serpent turned its injured body around to face the mountain it was in. Curving back its head, the serpent shot a hundred meters up into the air before spinning vertically and coming back down onto the mountain!


    Was it¡­.trying to kill itself by slamming into the mountain rather than die by the hands of Bai Yunfei?


    But rather than falling to the ground in a bloody mess, the serpent disappeared from sight!


    And in its place, a cave ten meters in circumference opened up in the mountain!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were wide open when he realized what the serpent had done. He really hadn¡¯t expected that the combined strength of four different soul attacks would still not be enough to kill the black-scaled serpent!


    Truly, it was unexpected for the black-scaled serpent to survive against something like that. And not only had it managed to avoid Xiao Qi¡¯s carefully aimed Spatial Edges, it managed to escape with a light enough wound to hide into the mountain!


    In his mind, Bai Yunfei was fully expectant that the serpent would¡¯ve died at the hands of Xiao Qi. But¡­..it dodged them! Not only did it dodge the Spatial Edges, it was running away!


    So stunned was Bai Yunfei by this that he stood there, motionless and completely forgetting about reacting to this development.


    ¡°F*ck!! You¡¯re letting it run after all that? Are you crazy?! Yunfei, hurry up and think of something! It¡¯s going to be impossible to kill if you let it hide in the mountain!¡±


    Zheng Kai slapped Bai Yunfei on the shoulder to jolt him out from his stupor.


    The slap roused Bai Yunfei back to normal. The muscles on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face twitched angrily, but Zheng Kai didn¡¯t know if that was from him losing composure or from the serpent not dying.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s burrowing into the heart of the mountain. This isn¡¯t good, how do we force it out¡­?¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­..¡±


    A faint buzzing sound caused Zheng Kai to pause briefly. Realizing the sudden rising of temperature, he looked up just in time to see a giant ¡®fiery stone block¡¯ appear over his head¡­..


    And it was growing even larger in size!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand called the permafrost mastiff back into its ring. He canceled the ¡®coil¡¯ form with his right hand and had his second fireseed go back into the Cataclysmic Seal. Once deposited, the fireseed roused the Cataclysmic Seal and had it start to expand in size¡­..


    Bai Yunfei stared angrily at the mountain in front of him and felt the aura of the serpent grow farther and farther into the mountain.


    ¡°Push it!!¡±


    He spat those two words vehemently.

 Chapter 734: Mission Accomplished

    Bai Yunfei had used three class seven soulbeasts in order to kill this one black-scaled serpent, even if it was a bit ¡®shameless¡¯ and overdid things. But in the end, not only did he fail to capture or kill it, the serpent was running away!


    That made Bai Yunfei sullen and just a tiny bit annoyed.


    He was wholeheartedly wanting to save the life of that young girl, so Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to tolerate any mistakes in obtaining the snake gall of the black-scaled serpent. But if he didn¡¯t think of a way to force the snake out from its burrow, then it¡¯d be far too late. And if the black-scaled serpent fled, then there¡¯d definitely be no chance of capturing it within a reasonable amount of time afterwards¡­..


    ¡°Pu¡­.push it?!¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes were wide open as he repeated those words. ¡°What do you...mean by that?¡± He asked.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were still honed in on the three hundred meter tall and one hundred meter wide mountain peak in front of him. Eyes practically burning with heat, Bai Yunfei fed even more soulforce into the Cataclysmic Seal, allowing it to transform into a floating ¡®fiery mountain¡¯!


    This was the Cataclysmic Seal in its supersized mode!


    The transformation from a tiny brick to its current size took only a matter of seconds. It floated over Bai Yunfei¡¯s head and covered hundreds of square meters beneath him.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t answer Zheng Kai¡¯s question. Instead, he pointed the right finger of his hand at the mountain!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    A loud hum could be heard for kilometers around as the giant Cataclysmic Seal flew straight into the mountain!


    Bai Yunfei was just a few hundred meters away from the mountain, but the Cataclysmic Seal was within a hundred meters. Flying for just a short moment, the Cataclysmic Seal struck the mountain with great velocity!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The ensuing explosion practically cracked the mountain from top to bottom. Zheng Kai stood there in midair, watching with his jaw agape as the earth beneath him shuddered and fractured as if it was all falling apart!


    All sorts of bird type soulbeasts took off to the skies in fright, cawing and chirping as they flew. The entire forest was turned into a cacophony of sound as soulbeasts from every direction started to flee away from the mountain!


    Zheng Kai was dumbfounded. The giant mountain that had once stood right in front of him was now just a pile of silt. Under the weight of the Cataclysmic Seal, the entire mountain collapsed without resistance!


    There was one final explosion as the Cataclysmic Seal pressed against the spot where the mountain once stood. The rest of the mountain had been pushed two hundred meters away from its original position and ruined the forest that once stood behind it.


    Bai Yunfei had really¡­.pushed the mountain.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t¡­.isn¡¯t this a little too unbelievable¡­?¡±


    Zheng Kai murmured to no one in particular.


    ¡°Found it!¡±


    He was roused out from his stupor when Bai Yunfei called out to the group. He followed Bai Yunfei¡¯s gaze down to where the base of the mountain was.


    ¡°Hiss!!¡±


    There was a terrified hiss as a storm of dust was kicked up again!


    A black shadow writhed from within the dust storm for a moment before trying to escape towards the left¡ªit was the black-scaled serpent!


    There was a ring of fire wrapped around the serpent at a closer look. It wasn¡¯t a very bright flame, and the black energy coming off from the serpent looked strong enough to drown it out almost. But the fire wasn¡¯t fading away from the serpent. Like a snake made of fire, it continued to stick around the bigger serpent without letting go.


    This was¡­.the +10 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal: Flame Twister!


    10% chance to activate ¡®Flame Twister¡¯ and restrict the mobility of another by 10% for a maximum of ten seconds upon attacking.


    When the Cataclysmic Seal slammed against the mountain, it did so much damage to both the mountain and its surroundings that the serpent had been unable to avoid all damages. It was knocked head over tail by the upturning of the ground and was struck by the additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal. As like a slight drizzle that became a downpour, the serpent was worse off than before and desperately trying to make its escape into the deeper parts of the forest.


    The mountain peak was in ruins, and the base of the mountain had still one last hole it had to hide in. This hole, however, was now blocked off due to the Cataclysmic Seal. And since the black-scaled serpent wasn¡¯t able to drill into the mountain again, all it could do was try to head for Black Cloud Forest and find somewhere else to hide itself in.


    But even if it wanted to, there was no way the serpent would be able to escape¡­..


    It was at the end of its rope while Xiao Qi and Long Lan were both essentially unharmed. As soon as the serpent was bounding out from the base of the mountain, a giant figure in blue and another in violet were flying alongside the Cataclysmic Seal. The figure in blue came bounding for the serpent by ground and the one in violet from the skies for a pincer attack.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    As if hitting on the emergency brakes of some kind, Long Lan came to a sudden stop to slam his tail onto the serpent. Like a long blue whip, the tail slammed accurately onto the serpent and sent it airborne!


    The tail landed onto the serpent without fail and so the serpent was sent flying like a ball up into the air where Xiao Qi was waiting!


    Trilling at the opportunity, Xiao Qi flapped his wings and sucked in the surrounding elemental energy into himself. A wide spectrum of light and color started to shine from his body before his wings turned darker. The darkness spread throughout his wings before he unleashed three different Spatial Edges!


    With a flap of his wings, Xiao Qi sent the three Spatial Edges down towards the incoming black-scaled serpent.


    ¡°Hiss!!¡± Trying as hard as it might, the serpent tried to invoke its soulforce in an attempt to move. Its attempts were awarded with it being able to avoid the first Spatial Edge, but the other two sliced into its body from the left and right side without resistance¡­.


    There wasn¡¯t even any sound when the two Spatial Edges landed, and neither did the Spatial Edges come to a stop after they connected. They continued onward down towards the ground and disappeared while chunks of the serpent¡¯s body came crashing back down, leaving behind a very bloody serpent¡­.


    The hiss coming from the serpent came to an abrupt stop after that. The three parts of the serpent fell to the ground somewhere in the forest while droplets of blood rained down from all over the skies¡­.


    When the last of the dust had settled, all that was left was the ruined mountain and scattered trees of the forest. The serpent was dead, and the three parts of its bodies was completely without movement.


    Everything was back to normal as if all was right in the world.


    Zheng Kai was still breathless. Staring at the carcass of the serpent, it took him a while before he could find the right words to say.


    ¡°Is¡­.is it all over?!¡±


    He turned to Bai Yunfei and was then startled by what he saw, ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was flushed red and sweaty with fatigue. His chest was heaving heavily and his breathing was labored as if he had just gone through a very intensive moment of exercise.


    Bai Yunfei waved his hand as if to dismiss Zheng Kai¡¯s concerns. ¡°Just used up a lot of soulforce, I¡¯ll be fine after some rest.¡±


    Using the Cataclysmic Seal to utterly demolish the mountain wasn¡¯t as simple as it looked. It needed a massive sum of soulforce in order to accomplish all that. In terms of soulforce consumption, this one attack took more than it normally needed to use the Dual Dragon Burst.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Zheng, can you go look at the corpse of the serpent and see if the gall is alright?¡± He asked.


    Since the corpse of the serpent was in three, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure or not if the gall of the serpent was intact or not. If the Spatial Edge had hit where it was located, then this entire trip would end up as being a fruitless endeavor.


    Zheng Kai paused for a moment. ¡°Yeah, alright. I¡¯ll go take a look.¡±


    He flew down to the ground. Bai Yunfei took this time to look around himself. Long Lan was already back in his human form and was flying over to him along with Xiao Qi. Sighing, Bai Yunfei waved the Cataclysmic Seal back to him and reverted it to its normal brick-sized form before storing it back into his space ring.


    ¡°It¡¯s all over¡­.¡±


    Though this took a lot more effort than expected, Bai Yunfei could say his goal was met almost. He smiled and took a step forward to reach where Zheng Kai was.


    Two hundred meters later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows rose upwards when he saw something strange. Pausing, he raised his right hand to his forehead and looked off into a distance towards the right.


    Over there was the mountain peak where the Cataclysmic Seal had pushed away a few moments ago¡­.

 Chapter 735: Gone!

    A giant crater had opened up from where the Cataclysmic Seal pushed open the mountain. Trees and leftover rubble littered the crater where the mountain once stood, but now that the peak was ¡®pushed¡¯ away, all that was left was a large expanse of black stone as flat as a platform.


    This ¡®platform¡¯ had a hole in it about ten meters in length, but because of the surrounding black stones, it was hard to tell there was even a hole here without taking a good look.


    But Bai Yunfei had seen it. His eyes made contact with the cave.


    About four emotions rippled across Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. A third of those emotions was shock, the second was suspicion, the third hesitation, and the last ten percent was of joy.


    Who knew what kind of things was going on here?


    Xiao Qi and Long Lan changed directions when they saw Bai Yunfei head for Zheng Kai. They flew off towards where the corpse was, Long Lan looking quite excited to have yet another item to boost his strength (the soulgem of the black-scaled serpent), and Xiao Qi feeling a little distracted with him thinking about just how much of a boost he¡¯d get from killing the serpent.


    So because of their distraction, neither of the two soulbeasts noticed Bai Yunfei stopping. He stared at the place for a moment and then changed direction to head for the area.


    ¡°Was I imagining things? But that feeling definitely felt more real than not. What is it¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was muttering to himself, his right hand touching at the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead.


    When he was flying on over to Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei felt a strange pulse of energy come from the scarf on his head. It was just for a moment, but Bai Yunfei felt it. Something was guiding him, and it was because of that feeling that he turned that direction and found out the cave that had been hiding there.


    It was unfortunate that the feeling was only for a split-second. It was just short enough that Bai Yunfei was left doubting himself over if what he felt was real or if it was just his Soul Sentinel Scarf using up soulforce for something.


    Soon, Bai Yunfei was at the center of the platform where the hole was.


    There wasn¡¯t a reaction coming from the Soul Sentinel Scarf now. Bai Yunfei lowered his right hand and stretched his waist. Sizing up the hole, he sent his soulsense forward and started to probe it out.


    It was a rather ordinary-looking hole that went for several hundred meters into the ground this way and that.


    This was very clearly once a hidey-hole of the black-scaled serpent.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing we stopped the serpent when we did. Otherwise it would¡¯ve gone down this hole and be completely out our reach.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed to himself with a shake of his head. His curiosity now fully satisfied, he prepared to head to where Zheng Kai was.


    It would appear that his senses were wrong. There was nothing special about this hole in particular.


    ¡°Hey¡­..¡±


    A voice spoke into his ears as he turned.


    No¡­


    This was no voice, something was speaking into his mind!


    Bai Yunfei froze in the air. He remained still for just half a second before he turned around.


    This time, there was a highly suspicious look on his face.


    There was nothing to be seen or felt from this hole still.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t leave straight away this time. He hovered around the hole as if waiting for something, staying still to listen intently.


    ¡°Hey¡­¡±


    It was another few seconds later, but Bai Yunfei heard it. He really did ¡®hear¡¯ a voice speak to him!


    He couldn¡¯t put his finger on just what this was, or if the speaker was a boy or girl. The only thing he knew was that the voice was very weak and short as if it was coming from far away. His eyes were staring intently at the hole though. His mind was telling him one thing and just one thing alone:


    The strange feeling he was having was coming from the hole!


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­.what is this¡­..?¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. His soulsense was already probing the hole and was about half a kilometer deep already, but he couldn¡¯t find anything out yet. The summons from his mind was gone now, and everything seemed like he was just imagining things again.


    ¡°Forget it, perhaps this is some sort of mysterious energy wave from Black Cloud Valley. I just need to get the snake gall and bring it back to the Underworld School¡­.¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei decided to give up on whatever this hole was about. He hadn¡¯t really the time or inspiration to wonder about this cave and reminded himself of him needing to help save the life of the girl back in the school.


    As he prepared to leave, Bai Yunfei slowly gave one last look at the hole.


    But in that one last look, something strange took place without anyone realizing it¡­.


    ¡°The snake gall should be here, doesn¡¯t look like we have anything to worry about. I¡¯d wager it¡¯s completely safe and can be taken home, what do you thi¡ªYunfei? Eh?¡±


    Zheng Kai had been observing the carcass of the black-scaled serpent and speaking to Bai Yunfei when he turned around at last to look at him.


    That was when he realized Bai Yunfei was absolutely nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Yunfei!!!¡±


    That was when a startled cry erupted from overhead as well.


    It was Xiao Qi!


    Zheng Kai looked up in concern, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Xiao Qi?¡±


    Xiao Qi was circling around the area now, his eyes searching frantically throughout the area. In his panic as he combed the area through, he spoke, ¡°Yunfei¡­.Yunfei¡¯s gone!!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean gone? Wasn¡¯t he just right the¡ª¡±


    He pointed a finger off to the right, but then he froze when there was absolutely nothing in that direction to point at.


    He looked around again.


    ¡°F*ck! He really is gone!¡± Zheng Kai swore.


    As they were both saying, Bai Yunfei was¡­.gone from sight!


    It wasn¡¯t just in the visible sense either. Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura couldn¡¯t even be detected!


    ¡°That can¡¯t be, there¡¯s no way Bai Yunfei would play a joke like that at this time¡­.¡± Zheng Kai muttered to himself. Taking off to the skies, he flew to where Xiao Qi and Long Lan were now to look around. Scouring the skies and ground, none of them could see even a trace of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Ah, Xiao Qi! Don¡¯t you have a bond with Yunfei?¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes lit up with that suggestion, ¡°You should be able to sense where he is with that, right?¡±


    But Xiao Qi only shook his head in abject despair. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­..I can¡¯t even sense his aura through our bond!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± This time, Zheng Kai was well and truly startled. ¡°Are you joking with me?! How can he disappear from even your soul bond?!¡± He cried out in exasperation.


    A bond made between soul cultivator and soulbeast was a connection that allowed one to sense one another no matter how far the distance. If one couldn¡¯t sense the other, that usually meant one of two things.


    Either one of the two parties was making the connection faulty between them through an enigmatic method of some kind, or¡­¡­one of the two parties was already a very empty shell devoid of life.


    The first option was clearly not possible.


    Bai Yunfei would never sever the connection and neither did he know of a way to do so.


    And there was also no way he could¡¯ve died so quickly like that. Xiao Qi would¡¯ve felt Bai Yunfei dying and be hurt by the damage to his soul.


    So then¡­.where in the world did Bai Yunfei disappear to?!

 Chapter 736: Unexplained Disappearance and....A Major Event

    Bai Yunfei was gone!


    Gone without a trace and within a second! His person was nowhere to be seen, his aura nowhere to be felt, and his very being not able to be sensed through Xiao Qi¡¯s bond with him!


    Everyone had been so relaxed when they finished the battle with the black-scaled serpent. But now that this happened, everyone was back in high tension and alarmed beyond all else.


    ¡°Eh? There¡¯s someone over there!¡±


    Zheng Kai cried out as they looked around. Ecstatic, Long Lan turned to where Zheng Kai pointed at, thinking that they had found Bai Yunfei. To the left where the Cataclysmic Seal had once flattened the mountain there stood a single man in black robes.


    It took a brief moment for Zheng Kai to identify the person. ¡°That¡¯s not Yunfei! That¡¯s¡­.the first elder?!¡±


    ¡°So there really was someone from the Underworld School following us¡­..If the first elder is here, then maybe¡­.¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes flashed with the light of deep thought. ¡°Let¡¯s see if the first elder has anything to see, let¡¯s head on over!¡± He spoke to the two other soulbeasts.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!¡±


    Two beams of wind were already flying on over before Zheng Kai was even done with his sentence.


    ¡­¡­


    The first elder of the Underworld School was standing there on the flat ground with a look of confusion on his face. He was staring at the hole Bai Yunfei had been in front of just a moment ago.


    ¡°First elder! Do you know where Yunfei¡¯s gone to?!¡±


    The two soulbeasts and Zheng Kai touched down on the area next to the first elder, with Xiao Qi already speaking to him.


    The first elder glanced at Xiao Qi for a moment and then nodded. ¡°I saw¡­.Bai Yunfei falling into this hole¡­.¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Without waiting for anything else, Xiao Qi dove straight into the hole!


    ¡°Xiao Qi! Hold up!¡± Zheng Kai cried out, but it was too late, Xiao Qi was already too far deep into the abyss of the hole.


    His hand flew up to stop Long Lan from entering the hole, ¡°Don¡¯t go in, Long Lan! Listen to what the elder says first!¡±


    A little surprised by the abrupt action of Xiao Qi, the first elder shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s no use. Bai Yunfei is¡­.no longer here.¡±


    The juxtaposition of the elder saying Bai Yunfei had fallen into the hole and that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t here confused Zheng Kai. ¡°First elder¡­.what do you mean by that?¡±


    The first elder didn¡¯t look very clear himself. Taking a moment to recompose and think, he replied, ¡°I won¡¯t lie to you. I was watching your group battle the black-scaled serpent from afar. When you killed it, I saw Bai Yunfei come here and stare at the hole.¡±


    He pointed at the hole. ¡°He only glanced at it and turned away. But then when he looked back at it for a better look¡­.it looked as though he was dragged in. Sucked in. And then¡­.he was gone.¡±


    ¡°I¡­..¡± Zheng Kai didn¡¯t know what say. He blinked a few times. ¡®Dragged in¡¯? ¡®Sucked in¡¯? What did that mean?


    And why was it that they couldn¡¯t sense Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura when he was sucekd in? The first elder¡¯s recounting of the events didn¡¯t really make sense, but he hadn¡¯t a reason to lie, so¡­.what in the world was going on?


    ¡°If Yunfei really is in this hole, then why¡­.¡±


    ¡°I cannot say for certain¡­.I may have seen Bai Yunfei drop into the hole, but his aura disappeared the very moment he fell out of sight¡­.¡± The first elder shook his head. ¡°I can guarantee that Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura does not exist here in this hole.¡±


    Zheng Kai was even more confused now. Sending his soulsense into the hole, he scoured it for any signs of life. For several hundred meters he felt nothing, and after a while, Zheng Kai reached the limit of how far he could send his soulsense. By that point, he couldn¡¯t even sense Xiao Qi¡¯s aura.


    ¡°Long Lan, can you sense anything?¡± Helpless, Zheng Kai could only ask Long Lan who was stronger than him.


    ¡°I can sense Xiao Qi¡¯s aura¡­.¡± Long Lan nodded, ¡°But¡­.not Yunfei¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°What in the world is going on here!¡± Zheng Kai bursted out with great vexation. ¡°How can a living person just disappear like that?!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Back in the main halls of the Underworld School.


    The headmaster Mo Yanbai was still seated upon his large throne. The other elders like Mu Chen were standing by his side as they all listened to a middle-aged woman give a report.


    ¡°....The entire continent is already aware of this. From what I¡¯ve seen, the major schools and families are already mobilizing, and so are several of the more minor ones. Everyone¡¯s heading for the Southward River Province. By the time I made my way back, I came across the Water and Wood Schools, and even someone from the Wang in Wenhan City.¡±


    The woman paused here to take a brief sip of her tea. After the sip, she set the cup down and waited for Mo Yanbai to say something.


    The entire hall was silent. No one even knew what to say and were still trying to digest the information.


    It was Mu Chen who spoke up first after a while. ¡°Elder Wu, do you think this piece of information is true?¡±


    The woman was elder Wu, an elder of the Underworld School. Understanding the questioning tone behind Mu Chen¡¯s voice, the woman shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t believe the information at first. That was already something of the legends from nearly a thousand years ago, how could an entire ¡®furnace¡¯ of it appear? It¡¯s ridiculous beyond belief¡­.but with all the major factions mobilizing their forces, I had to rethink the information. If there¡¯s smoke, there¡¯s fire, and something like this wouldn¡¯t spread so far without some semblance of truth to it. The Beast Taming School was the first to disseminate this information, but they were the first to mobilize their forces. As such, I would have to posit that this information is true¡­.¡±


    She turned to Mo Yanbai. ¡°What do you think we should do, headmaster? Since we are the closest school to the spot, we have the advantage if this piece of information is true. We might not be able to win by ourselves, but we are still strong enough to get a fair share of the profits. It¡¯s a once-in-a-thousand-years chance for our school¡­.¡±


    The headmaster stared at everyone there for a long moment before he responded. ¡°It certainly does sound unbelievable to hear, and I would prefer that it be untrue, but in the off-chance that this really is true, it would be our school that would be missing out on the chance. As elder Wu said, the legendary place is within our boundaries, so we hold the advantage. We may as well take the plunge, it won¡¯t take much effort on our behalf.


    ¡°Therefore, I declare that our school will be participating!¡±


    The faces of the elders all lit up with elation at the announcement. As like the elder, the words of elder Wu was a bit skeptical, but they all wanted to believe in the miniscule chance that the information was true and not miss out on such a ¡®grand event¡¯ like this.


    ¡°As elder Wu said before, this is an event where every major school or house is participating in. This means the older generation will be bringing the best talents of the next generation and have agreed to not fight themselves. What might that be?¡± Mo Yanbai asked elder Wu.


    ¡°That¡­.is something far harder to believe. ¡®That¡¯ place everyone is heading towards has a restriction where no Soul King can enter. Every faction is bringing the strongest of their prodigies, all of which are peak late-stage Soul Exalts¡­.the whole soul cultivator world is calling this a gathering of the greatest geniuses to fight over ¡®that¡¯ thing.¡±


    Mo Yanbai nodded. ¡°Hidden areas like those are generally with restrictions of some kind. But to limit even Soul Kings from entering must mean the rules of restriction are very strong¡­..¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as if Soul Kings can¡¯t enter,¡± Elder Wu supplemented. ¡°But it¡¯s said that this hidden area is ¡®extremely¡¯ weak. The soulforce of a Soul Exalt is within the limitations of what this hidden area can withstand, but the soulforce of a Soul King will trigger a collapse. To try and force it again will lead to unpredictable results.¡±


    ¡°So I see¡­.¡± Mo Yanbai muttered. ¡°In that case¡­.all of the competitors should theoretically be starting off on the same foot. A competition between Soul Exalts¡­.hm. If we are to believe this is all true, then the winner of this little competition will also signify that one winning party has a prodigy far stronger than everyone else. That in itself is already a very big advantage¡­¡­¡±


    Elder Qi began to chuckle then. ¡°Haha, the benefits of such an arrangement like this is easy to see, but what about the disastrous detriments? The schools and houses might be in agreement now, but when the battle truly begins, then it¡¯ll be every man for themselves. The prodigies of every faction will be gathered there, and many of them will be buried there. That in by itself will be a tremendous blow to any group¡­.¡±


    ¡°That is a risk we cannot ignore.¡± Mo Yanbai nodded gravely, ¡°So we must be careful as we go through with this. If possible, we will pull out and not risk the lives of our talent pool.¡±


    The other elders nodded in agreement. ¡°Then by the will of the headmaster, whom shall we bring with us?¡± Mu Chen asked.

 Chapter 737: The Mountain Over There

    Seemingly already with an answer to that question, Mo Yanbai spoke. ¡°We¡¯ll have the first elder and elder Wu lead the group. Xu Ran and Han Yue will go, if something happens, then we¡¯ll plan accordingly.¡±


    Elder Wu saw nothing wrong with such an answer and nodded her head. ¡°By your will then. Where is the first elder anyhow?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve a few guests here today,¡± Mu Chen chuckled, ¡°the first elder should be accompanying them outside. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be back soon.¡±


    ¡°Guests? Who?¡± Elder Wu asked, ¡°And outside¡­.? To Black Cloud Forest?! The first elder is protecting them?¡±


    Mu Chen chuckled again, ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but these guests are quite special¡­¡±


    He re-narrated the story of how Bai Yunfei and the others came to be here today for elder Wu to listen.


    ¡°Disciple of Zi Jin of the Crafting School and peak late-stage Soul Exalt? A class seven soulbeast as a soulbeast partner and another class seven soulbeast traveling with him?! And offering up a heaven-tier soul armament and killing a black-scaled serpent just for the sake of saving a commoner they don¡¯t know?!¡±


    She repeated the key points to the story, but her voice was filled with doubts over the truth of them.


    ¡°An admirable act and code of conduct, but¡­.¡± Mu Chen trailed off when he noticed an aura come flying over to the hall. ¡°Eh? The first elder is already back?¡±


    Sensing the familiar aura, everyone else turned to look in the same direction as Mu Chen.


    The moment the aura came within the range of the elders, it ¡®leapt¡¯ a kilometer away and into the hall.


    Everyone was surprised at the sudden leaping of this aura. The fact that the first elder was using teleportation to move from place to place signified that there was something urgent that needed to be done.


    There was a flash of light as a person came flying into the hall. It was the first elder.


    Mu Chen gaped at him. ¡°First elder, what is goi¡­.?¡±


    ¡°Headmaster, Bai Yunfei is missing!¡± The man interrupted Mu Chen.


    His words put an end to everyone¡¯s words. ¡°What did you say?!¡± Mo Yanbai¡¯s face paled drastically.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡¯s missing?! What does that mean?!¡± Mu Chen replied as well.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei disappeared without a trace, I don¡¯t know where he¡¯s gone!¡±


    Attempting to calm himself down, Mo Yanbai wiped all emotion off his face. ¡°Tell me what happened in detail!¡±


    Without mincing words, the first elder retold what he saw happen to Bai Yunfei. He didn¡¯t spare details on the battle, and then his recap of how Bai Yunfei ¡®disappeared¡¯ after the battle was told without room for error either.


    After he spoke, the entire hall was completely still with silence.


    Elder Qi was the first to speak after a while. ¡°How can a living being just disappear like that without warning?¡±


    ¡°I definitely didn¡¯t feel anything out of the ordinary at the time. Bai Yunfei disappeared right then and there, and I didn¡¯t know how he did or how to find him either. Even his soulbeast partner couldn¡¯t sense his aura.¡±


    ¡°If his soulbeast couldn¡¯t sense him, then wouldn¡¯t that mean¡­.¡± Mu Chen¡¯s face darkened.


    The elder shook his head. ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be dead. We might not have been able to sense him, but the soulbeast didn¡¯t feel the effects of having their partner die. That means Bai Yunfei is still alive.¡±


    Everyone sighed a breath of relief at that. They gave each other mystified looks, each of them completely unsure of what in the world was going on.


    ¡°Then¡­.is Bai Yunfei perhaps playing a trick on us?¡± Elder Qi posited a half-step later, ¡°Perhaps he has a goal here he can¡¯t tell anyone?¡±


    ¡°How could that be?¡± Mu Chen asked with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°Do you really think someone of Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength would be able to escape the eyes of the first elder?¡±


    Knowing that his own suggestion was a tad bit ridiculous, elder Qi shrugged and stayed quiet.


    ¡°The area where the black-scaled serpent lives,¡± Elder Wu spoke up, ¡°there shouldn¡¯t be any secrets there, should there? All of the nearby pockets aren¡¯t very close to the Black Cloud Forest, so Bai Yunfei shouldn¡¯t have found himself going into one, much less one we haven¡¯t discovered. It¡¯s even more strange that he disappeared without a trace and without being able to be traced, just how¡­.¡±


    The first elder shook his head in response. ¡°It was only just a nest for the black-scaled serpent he fell into. Nothing strange about it. I scanned the surrounding ten kilometers for clues and found nothing either.¡±


    ¡°Where are the people that came with Bai Yunfei?¡± Mo Yanbai suddenly asked. ¡°Why are they not back with you?¡±


    ¡°They¡­.aren¡¯t willing to leave.¡± The first elder sighed. ¡°Especially the soulbeast partner of Bai Yunfei. It¡¯s been sweeping around the entire area now without giving up. I didn¡¯t have much of a choice but to return to the school and report the problem. That Zheng child was relatively calm-headed though. He promised that they¡¯d be back by midnight.¡±


    The entire hall grew silent again. No one knew how to best address this issue since everyone was thinking just how preposterous the entire situation was.


    Still stormy in expression, Mo Yanbai thought about the potential ramifications of this. Bai Yunfei was gone without a trace while in his Underworld School. If they didn¡¯t find him soon, then this would spell trouble for them.


    ¡°First elder.¡± He spoke at last. ¡°Bring elder Mu and elder Qi with you to search the area¡­..actually, I¡¯ll do it myself¡­.¡±


    He rose up from his chair and was preparing to leave when the new auras of several more people could be felt. ¡°They¡¯re back?!¡±


    The first elder noticed their auras as well. ¡°I¡¯ll go greet them!¡± He spoke with a happier voice.


    He disappeared as soon as he spoke. In no time at all, Zheng Kai, Long Lan, and even Xiao Qi were back in the hall.


    The first elder was back now too, a much happier look was had on his face. Before even waiting for Mo Yanbai to ask, he spoke, ¡°Headmaster, Bai Yunfei has been found!¡±


    Everyone was shocked, but happy to hear it. ¡°Found? Where is he?¡± Mo Yanbai asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­.¡± The first elder hesitated to answer. He turned to Zheng Kai.


    Zheng Kai bowed to everyone first before replying, ¡°While we did find Bai Yunfei¡­.his location is a little strange¡­.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that? Where is he?¡±


    From on top of Long Lan¡¯s shoulder, Xiao Qi was the one to chirp the answer. ¡°I sensed Yunfei on the other side of the mountain range.¡±


    Everyone was mystified yet again. ¡°Weren¡¯t you unable to sense him? How is he¡­.on the other side? What do you mean by that?¡±


    Xiao Qi shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, but I really did lose connection with Yunfei for a while. But then after a while, I was suddenly able to sense him. He¡¯s really far away and I was only able to sense just a little bit, but from what I could see, he¡¯s on that mountain over there.¡±


    He pointed his left wing east.


    Mu Chen followed Xiao Qi¡¯s pointing with wide-opened eyes. ¡°Are you saying¡­.he¡¯s on the other side of the Black Cloud Mountain Ranges?!¡±


    Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what Xiao Qi senses. Yunfei was with us when we killed the black-scaled serpent, but now he¡¯s on the other side of the mountain ranges¡­.it¡¯s hard to believe, but that¡¯s what Xiao Qi senses. We¡¯ll be on our way to go find him, but seniors, how might¡¯ve this happened?¡±


    No one was able to respond to him. This was a question they still had no answer for.


    ¡°Making it out over to the other side of the mountain range from within Black Cloud Valley¡­..how can that be?¡± Mu Chen muttered, ¡°Are you certain your senses are right?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Xiao Qi nodded. ¡°I can sense him even now. Yunfei is on the other side! I don¡¯t know why, but we¡¯re going to find him right now!¡±


    Xiao Qi was planning to leave the valley to go straight to where Bai Yunfei was. He actually wanted to just fly up and over the mountain range, but the mountain ranges was so high that it was beyond even the Ninth Heaven, which in turn was a point of height where only Chaos existed. Even Soul Kings had no method of surviving in such a place, so the only way Xiao Qi could leave Black Cloud Valley was through the way he came. The only problem was, Xiao Qi didn¡¯t know how to follow that route. And since Zheng Kai said that they needed to transport the black-scaled serpent¡¯s gall back to the Underworld School, Xiao Qi came with them back to the school to see what could be done.


    ¡°You said the black-scaled serpent¡¯s nest led Bai Yunfei to the other side of the mountain range?¡± Elder Qi suddenly asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zheng Kai nodded.


    An odd expression crossed elder Qi¡¯s face. Turning to Mu Chen, he started to speak, ¡°If I¡¯m not remembering things wrong, then that place must be¡­.¡±


    Everyone else came to the same conclusion elder Qi was coming towards. Gasping as a collective whole, elder Wu cried out, ¡°Crushed Stone River!!¡±

 Chapter 738: A Mysterious Place

    The entirety of the elders from the Underworld School were in shock at the realization of where Bai Yunfei was. Like elder Qi, elder Wu¡¯s face darkened at the mention of ¡®Crushed Stone River¡¯. She stood up to look at everyone, ¡°Could¡­.could it be a coincidence? Or¡­.¡±


    ¡°Coincidence?¡± Elder Qi replied, ¡°Quite a big ¡®coincidence¡¯ isn¡¯t it?


    ¡°Could his disappearance have possibly mean he has entered ¡®that¡¯ place?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s far too good of a coincidence. Why would he ¡®disappear¡¯ for such a short amount of time and then ¡®appear¡¯ out again then?¡± Asked Mu Chen.


    ¡°If he really has entered ¡®that¡¯ place, then that would explain why his soulbeast partner wasn¡¯t able to sense him. And then being able to sense him again when he left ¡®that¡¯ place¡­.that answers the question.¡±


    ¡°Being able to go ¡®there¡¯ from within Black Cloud Valley?!¡± Elder Qi exploded with excitement, ¡°Then would we not be able to¡­.¡±


    Elder Wu shook his head. ¡°Did the first elder not say that he scanned the entire ten kilometer around the area? If there really was a ¡®passageway¡¯, then how would the first elder miss it?¡±


    Zheng Kai had been listening to everyone talk to one another, but he couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of what was going on. ¡°Elder Mu,¡± He asked, ¡°What are you all talking about? What is ¡®that place¡¯, and what ¡®passageway¡¯ are you talking about?¡±


    It was not Mu Chen who replied, but Mo Yanbai.


    ¡°Nephew Zheng, you must be tired after running around for the entire day. Please take a rest. Nephew Bai will be fine. The first elder will take you out of Black Cloud Valley in a moment and reconvene you with Bai Yunfei in Crushed Stone River.¡±


    Zheng Kai crinkled his eyebrows. This was a secretive talk he was currently listening to, and he was worried about Bai Yunfei still. But if Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t receiving any danger signals from him, there wasn¡¯t much of a need for them to hurry.


    Zheng Kai hesitated for a moment, but he bowed and left the hall soon after.


    Xiao Qi and Long Lan both wanted to leave the Underworld School at once, but there wasn¡¯t anyone else that could take them out. Like Zheng Kai, they could only rest and wait for the elders to finish.


    Back in the hall, the first elder spoke up after the three had left. ¡°Headmaster, that Crushed Stone River¡­.what exactly is it? I recall that it was just an ordinary mountain river, was it not?¡±


    ¡°It used to be just that before, but now¡­.¡± Elder Qi shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s become a ¡®place of legend¡¯.¡±


    Afterwards, elder Wu retold the story and information she had gathered outside to the first elder. Like they planned beforehand, the first elder and elder Wu decided to take the strongest two disciples with them to Crushed Stone River. Zheng Kai and the other two soulbeasts came with them, as they had also the same destination.


    Since Bai Yunfei¡¯s disappearance and reappearance over to the other side of the Black Cloud Mountain Ranges was far too likely to be relating to the ¡®pocket¡¯ they were talking about before, none of the elders saw fit to speculate about any other possible reasons. It surely had to be because of that ¡®pocket¡¯, but still, the school had to be sure. In order to clear away any confusion, Mo Yanbai had elder Zhao and elder Mu scour the place again to see if they could find anything.


    Elder Qi was responsible for taking the black-scaled serpent gall Zheng Kai gave him to try and heal the young girl.


    And Mo Yanbai obviously couldn¡¯t handle every mundane task himself, so he sat in the hall and gave orders to manage everything.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    So what in the world did Bai Yunfei come across?


    Let us rewind time for just a little bit¡­.


    Things went like how the first elder said. Bai Yunfei came down to the hole and looked at it. Then without warning, it was as if someone had swung a hammer onto the back of his head! Stumbling forward, Bai Yunfei fell into the hole!


    It was like if he was a stalk of grass being planted into the ground when he fell into the hole. There was a dizzying sensation for just a moment before Bai Yunfei felt everything clear up. Rotating himself around, he planted his feet onto the ground.


    But when he stood up straight and took a look around, Bai Yunfei was startled into silence by what he saw¡­¡­


    The very first thing to tip off his senses was the fact that he shouldn¡¯t be standing on ground. The hole was very deep, and Bai Yunfei was well aware that he wasn¡¯t at the bottom of the hole. He should¡¯ve been standing on nothing but air, but it felt like he was standing on solid ground!


    But the most important thing was when he looked back up. The sight around him was completely different and unfamiliar to Bai Yunfei!


    The surrounding fifty meters of ground was solid stone with all sorts of broken up stones making up the ground. Some were small like eggs, others were as large as a soccer ball. Some were smooth, others were jagged and sharp. Walking on such a ground would be difficult, if not impossible without injury for the common person. But even more importantly, everything was a blur beyond these fifty meters!


    Something akin to a white mist was enveloping the area and turning the air around Bai Yunfei into an undistinguishable blanket that looked like a waterbrush painting. He could just barely make out the sight of a mountain peak and several trees beyond the fifty meters, but he wasn¡¯t sure. Layers upon layers of mist were warping the sight that made everything unclear and mirage-like.


    He couldn¡¯t see what was beyond those fifty meters, and neither did he know what this place was, but there was one thing that was clear to him.


    This place wasn¡¯t the place he was in before!!


    Stunned almost into inaction by the realization, Bai Yunfei rolled out his soulsense to try and scan the entire area.


    But that was when he realized something else!


    His soulsense¡­.wasn¡¯t able to penetrate beyond these fifty meters!!


    Like how everything looked very vague, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense felt as though it was entering a swamp as soon as it tried to extend beyond the boundary. His soulsense was unable to take another step, and neither could he sense a thing from the chaotic surroundings.


    ¡°Xiao Qi¡­..¡±


    In his shock, Bai Yunfei called out for Xiao Qi. But no sooner did he even attempt that did his face start to pale drastically, for he couldn¡¯t sense Xiao Qi¡¯s aura either!


    ¡°Poof¡­.¡± The Fire-tipped Spear appeared into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand along with the Cataclysmic Seal. His soulforce was already raring to go just in case for battle as he looked cautiously around himself.


    ¡°Damn¡­.how did this happen? Why am I suddenly in a strange place like this?¡± Bai Yunfei grumbled as he tried to find a hint to where he was at.


    ¡°Is this an illusion?!¡± His eyebrows flew up when that thought came to him, but he waved the thought away. As something of an expert on the Illusion Stones, Bai Yunfei was more than well aware of what the effects of an illusion felt like. He was also wearing a few pieces of equipment that fended off against illusions, and several of them, such as the Charm Bracelet, hadn¡¯t shown any signs that he was in one. So for that reason, Bai Yunfei had to believe this was no illusion.


    So if this wasn¡¯t an illusion, just what in the world was going on here?


    ¡°I was definitely in Black Cloud Valley, so how did I get here? This is some sort of unknown land I was transported to¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself.


    ¡°Hold on, instantaneous movement?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°No¡­.apportation!¡±


    Those adept in space manipulation or Soul Kings are capable of ¡®instantaneous movement¡¯. Moving as fast as the eye could see or even sensing everything in an area, these people could even link one place to another in space.


    But ¡®apportation¡¯ was a skill a level higher than ¡®teleportation¡¯. It was capable of exceeding the distance limit of teleportation and bring something from one space to another space.


    Bai Yunfei had seen something like this before. When he first joined the Crafting School, he walked through a mysterious space as red as fire before. That was a very special pocket of the Crafting School.


    ¡°Was I brought to a spatial pocket?¡± Bai Yunfei wondered aloud, ¡°But...how¡¯d I get here?!¡±


    ¡°Hey¡­.¡±


    A weak voice spoke into his ear right as Bai Yunfei was in the middle of his anxious thinking.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out, whirling around with his left hand ready to strike. There was another flash of light as the permafrost mastiff came out from its ring to protect Bai Yunfei.


    Since he was in the middle of nowhere with no one to rely on, Bai Yunfei had to make use of the permafrost mastiff.


    But never did Bai Yunfei think that as soon as he did that, the whole world around him would start to change!

 Chapter 739: Passing Through

    ¡°Bz¡­.¡±


    The moment the permafrost mastiff appeared in the space and distributed its powerful aura into the air, the surrounding area started to tremble and shake violently!


    Outside the boundary, the distinct shadows that previously could be seen slightly before was starting to mix. Black and white mixed with one another like paint being stirred with great vigor to form a chaotic mess of light and shadow.


    A second later, the entire area began to shrink! As if being pushed inwards by the chaotic energy outside, the fifty meters was starting to grow smaller. In just three seconds, the boundary shrunk down to just under ten meters!


    ¡°Damn, what¡¯s going on now?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei swore out loud to himself. The Cataclysmic Seal trembled slightly before a five meter large barrier erected itself over Bai Yunfei and the permafrost mastiff.


    By the time the barrier was fully manifested, the boundary was already nearly touching it¡­.


    ¡°Pop¡­.¡±


    A faint popping sound echoed into the air when Bai Yunfei raised his left hand up to shield his eyes, then everything in front of him went bright.


    Rays of moonlight began to sprinkle onto his face along with a gust of wind. It breezed through his clothes and brought a chilling frost onto his body. Putting his hand back down, Bai Yunfei was alarmed once again by the sight in front of him¡­.


    Underneath him was still the same stony ground from before. But no longer was he in a limited boundary of nothingness. Above him was the night sky with a half-moon resting there. Countless stars filled the skies and gave little light to the otherwise dark area around him. There was also a rather short mountain with trees on it nearby.


    Bai Yunfei was perhaps in a grassland at night now.


    Wary, Bai Yunfei looked around himself. His soulsense scanned the area and found that nothing was blocking him from sensing anything within a kilometer away from him.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on??¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered to himself like a broken record. He scratched his head, completely at a loss for words at what was going on.


    He didn¡¯t know how long he had been stuck in that spatial pocket, but surely at least ten minutes had to have passed before he was brought to the second location. As ¡®experienced¡¯ as he might be with everything, Bai Yunfei was still completely mystified with everything that was going on.


    ¡°So where is this place?¡± Bai Yunfei glanced around. This was very clearly not Black Cloud Valley since he could see the sky without an issue. If he ignored the fact of apportation, Bai Yunfei still wanted to figure out where he was now.


    ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t that¡­Black Cloud Mountain Range?!¡±


    An extremely large mountain range met Bai Yunfei¡¯s gaze when he turned to the right. From how tall it was stretching into the heavens, Bai Yunfei could verify that this was the Black Cloud Mountain Range.


    His eyes followed the mountain ranges, but the length and height of them made it impossible for Bai Yunfei to accurately tell where he was. He was at the very least not too far away from the Underworld School.


    The feeling of being able to sense Xiao Qi again made Bai Yunfei smile. He couldn¡¯t communicate with him, but the connection was back again at the very least. Xiao Qi was just on the other side of the mountain range.


    ¡°Does this mean¡­.I¡¯m on the opposite side of the mountain from where I killed the black-scaled serpent?¡±


    Bai Yunfei scratched his head. If this was the case, then if he were to turn left, he¡¯d be able to make it back to the opening of Black Cloud Valley and return to the Underworld School.


    Though he was unable to communicate with Xiao Qi due to the barrier that was the mountain range, Bai Yunfei was still at the very least able to send a signal that he was safe. Putting away the permfrost mastiff, Fire-tipped Spear, and Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei flew off into the skies leftwards.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A loud explosion rocked the world just as he took off into the skies. Nearly a kilometer away, something had exploded there, sending a figure flying upwards.


    ¡°Agh! Damn you!!¡±


    The figure cursed out aloud. Somersaulting, the figure landed back onto his feet on the air.


    This person was wearing purple robes and was relatively robust-looking. It was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt.


    Coincidentally, the direction in which this person was knocked towards was the direction Bai Yunfei was in. Though the person managed to stabilize themselves quickly, they weren¡¯t able to reduce the backwards motion in which they were flying at, so by the time the person came to a stop, they were already close enough to sense Bai Yunfei.


    He whirled around to look.


    The night made it hard to see, but that meant nothing for people as strong as this person and Bai Yunfei. With a direct gaze for one another, both persons were able to see just who the other one was.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    The purple-robed man cried out Bai Yunfei¡¯s name in shock.


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei was surprised to recognize the person. He bowed with his hands clasped together. ¡°How coincidental to meet you here, brother Lin. Pleased to see you.¡±


    This young man was the junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School, Lin Dongxiao!


    Lin Dongxiao had only been an early-stage Soul Exalt three years ago, but now he was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt just like Bai Yunfei was!


    As surprised as Lin Dongxiao was to see Bai Yunfei, he didn¡¯t seem all that surprised that he was here, for some reason. ¡°So the Crafting School was quick to come here as well. Your esteemed school must be determined to win that thing then¡­.¡±


    ¡°What thing?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, confused. The auras of several other people¡ªpresumably from the Beast Taming School¡ªmade Bai Yunfei decide he didn¡¯t care enough for the answer to keep talking with Lin Dongxiao. ¡°I was only passing through. I¡¯ve a few matters to take care of, so I¡¯ll be taking my leave first.¡±


    Then under the amazed eyes of Lin Dongxiao, Bai Yunfei took out the Tempest Sword and took off.


    ¡°Pa¡ªpassing through?!¡± It wasn¡¯t until Bai Yunfei left that Lin Dongxiao regained his wits. ¡°What is he, an actor? Pah!¡± He snorted derisively.


    Five figures soon came up by Lin Dongxiao¡¯s side: two elders, two young men, and one young female. One of the two elders spoke up, ¡°What happened, Dongxiao? Did you try forcing the pocket open again? And¡­.who was that person?¡±


    Lin Dongxiao nodded. ¡°I felt a strange flow in the pocket here, so I tried to make the most of it. But as you can see, it ended in failure¡­..¡±


    He looked off at the direction Bai Yunfei disappeared from, ¡°That person was¡­.Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!¡± The same elder cried out. ¡°So even the Crafting School has come here?!¡±


    ¡°Must have. ¡°Ling Dongxiao shrugged, ¡°They came quite fast though.¡±


    ¡°How repulsive¡­.the strong are starting to gather here in droves. The pocket hasn¡¯t opened yet, that only makes our lives more cumbersome. Will we really have to fight the entire continent for the prize in the end?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been prepared to just force the pocket to open, even if it means it might collapse it. If we can¡¯t have it, then no one else will¡­..that¡¯s fine then. Let them gather here and stalk us. Even if we try again to force the pocket open, the others won¡¯t sit idly and watch, they¡¯ll try to force open the pocket themselves. We¡¯ll just have to wait for the pocket to open by itself.¡±


    ¡°I had no idea the leak would spread so fast. It¡¯s too late to regret such matters now, I suppose. Opening the pocket first is our only advantage now to get that thing¡­.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei was already several kilometers away. He passed by two mountain peaks before noticing that just down underneath in this area was¡­.a great deal of soul cultivators!


    They were gathered in groups of threes and twos, but the entire area was filled with people. But the most terrifying thing about this was¡­.that everyone was at least a Soul Exalt in strength!


    And hardly anyone were mid-stage Soul Exalts, the vast majority of them were all late-stage Soul Exalts or peak late-stage Soul Exalts!


    Furthermore, there was also a few Soul Kings gathered here!


    Practically every few groups had a Soul King in their numbers!


    Bai Yunfei had only caught a small glimpse when he flew by, but he counted at the very least twenty Soul Exalts and five Soul Kings in this small area alone!


    ¡°Damn, what¡¯s going on here?! A party?!¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself as he flew along. ¡°What in the world is going on here for so many strong people to gather¡­.¡±


    Coming across such a large group of people like this in an unknown land meant usually one thing: danger.


    Bai Yunfei had two options in front of him. The first was to remain behind and see what was going on. The second was to leave this place at once.


    He chose the latter. Safety was paramount, and Bai Yunfei was by himself here. He could at the very least find Xiao Qi and the others and then come back here to see what was happening.


    ¡°Eh??¡±


    The feeling of something watching him cut Bai Yunfei away from his train of thought. Eyes darting towards the right side of the forest, Bai Yunfei stared frostily at whatever was there.


    He was being followed.

 Chapter 740: A Reunion Between Good Friends

    A single person had been watching Bai Yunfei from afar down in the forest below. Though Bai Yunfei noticed him now, he didn¡¯t know just how long the person had actually been following him for.


    ¡°He¡¯s strong.¡±


    Bai Yunfei could still see that this person in hiding was quite strong. People like this one were normally perfect in their attempts to hide themselves so that hardly anyone could tell that they were even there, but Bai Yunfei was different. With his especially sharp perception, he was able to sense not only the presence of a person, but their approximate strength as well.


    A second quick glance told Bai Yunfei that he was already far away enough from the other soul cultivators all gathered in that one area from before. With him being in a relatively ¡®empty¡¯ area and a far ways away from the entrance to Black Cloud Valley, Bai Yunfei decided to change directions. Deviating from his path very slightly, he flew for the small lake near the forest.


    He soon came to the side of the lake where he dismounted from his blade and stepped down onto the lakeside to pretend to rest and freshen up.


    Bai Yunfei was in the middle of washing his face and drying himself up when he wrung his hands to dry. In mid-motion, his hands flew out to throw three separate daggers into a nearby bush and out from sight.


    The Flickering Dagger!


    For being a part of a skill that Bai Yunfei used to be sorely dependent on in the past, the throwing knives were no longer something Bai Yunfei preferred to use now. All of his enemies were far too strong to employ such a tactic now, and so the throwing knives were no longer usable to a helpful enough level for that. But in cases like these, they were still helpful as a preliminary warning attack.


    The Flickering Dagger was the one most suited for suprise attacks due to its special nature and construct. Practically disappearing from sight when it was thrown, the Flickering Dagger was special in that it could strike down the enemy without them even knowing when or where it struck from.


    This particular Flickering Dagger was of an earlier make. It¡¯s grade wasn¡¯t very high and the upgrades put to it only made it on the level of mid-earth tier soul armament. Even its additional effects weren¡¯t anything considerably good. ¡®Increase in throwing speed¡¯ and ¡®increased penetrative force¡¯ were both normally obsolete effects but were still great in times like now. Using three Flickering Daggers for an ambush like this made it so that even late-stage Soul Exalts would have to exert a decent amount of energy to evade them.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    When the three Flickering Daggers drew close, a black shadow leapt out from the left side of a tree thirty meters away from Bai Yunfei. There was three separate ¡®thwocks¡¯ as the daggers embedded themselves into the tree and then flew out from behind it. They flew through a second and third tree before finally coming to a stop on the fourth one.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A second shadow came out from the first one with a roar. It detached itself from the first shadow to ten meters to the left and immediately turned into the size of a lion. Body shining bright with green light, the canine-like beast snapped its jaws menacingly at Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei blinked. While he did expect an attack from a soul cultivator, a secondary attack from a soulbeast was a bit out of his expectations. But this soulbeast was just an early-stage class six and overall not even a threat to him.


    The one that was an actual blip on his radar was the first shadow. Just the fact that he dodged the three Flickering Daggers alone revealed how strong he was.


    A late-stage Soul Exalt.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t relax knowing that he was up against two enemies. Whether they were friend or foe or if there was actually any danger, the two shadows had still been following him, so Bai Yunfei had to make sure of everything first.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so rude, Xiao Feng, he¡¯s one of us.¡±


    The first shadow spoke before Bai Yunfei could, slapping the side of the soulbeast with a small rebuke.


    Then the shadow looked up to Bai Yunfei and spoke a sentence that surprised him.


    ¡°Haha, so it really was you¡­.but to think you get scarier and scarier with your introductions each time¡­.Ol¡¯Bai.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was also able to see his face when the person raised his head. The first feature Bai Yunfei saw was the eyes that grew narrow when the person smiled, and from that alone Bai Yunfei could determine this person wasn¡¯t an enemy. There simply wasn¡¯t enough hostility in those eyes for that.


    The face didn¡¯t look familiar, and Bai Yunfei was absolutely sure he had never seen this person before.


    But the name he was being called by¡­.


    Ol¡¯Bai¡­.


    Of everyone he knew, only one person would call him by such a name¡­.


    Jing Mingfeng!!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open. He stared down the young man in front of him, ¡°Mingfeng?!¡±


    The young man smiled again. ¡°Haha, as expected from my brother, you can tell who I am in just a second. It¡¯s me!¡±


    A wave of soulforce flowed out from his body, changing the tune of his aura and allowing Bai Yunfei to see who this person was. There was no doubts about it.


    This person was Jing Mingfeng!


    Not only shocked, but happy to see him, Bai Yunfei roared with laughter. ¡°Haha!! Mingfeng, it really is you!¡±


    He was already striding forward to greet Jing Mingfeng with a great big hug.


    The two men hugged one another, their hands slapping the other on their back as a sign of just how joyful they were to see one another after so long.


    The hug lasted only for a moment. Breaking away from each other, Bai Yunfei slapped Jing Mingfeng on the shoulder with mock anger, ¡°Some good friend you are, stalking me like that until I exposed you. I was surprised to see someone who was so good at hiding themselves, but it definitely had to be you.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng laughed back. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure it was you at first, so I didn¡¯t want to pop out just yet. You¡¯re a mean one, Ol¡¯Bai, attacking me before you knew I was a friend or not. If I didn¡¯t dodge those daggers, I¡¯d have three holes in me by now.¡±


    ¡°Oh come off it. Anyone that¡¯s shadowing me like that would definitely warrant me thinking they¡¯re an enemy. If you can¡¯t even dodge a few throwing knives, you¡¯re not a wind-type soul cultivator.¡±


    He gave Jing Mingfeng a look over. ¡°You¡¯ve done well. It¡¯s been a few years since I last saw you, but you¡¯re already a late-stage Soul Exalt, what a ridiculous growth.¡±


    Six years had nearly passed since he and Jing Mingfeng split ways in the Forest Pass Province. At that time, Jing Mingfeng had only just become a Soul Ancestor, but now he was a late-stage Soul Exalt. A growth rate like that was even more absurd than the one Lin Dongxiao had.


    The only who could beat him in speed was Bai Yunfei¡­.


    Jing Mingfeng quirked his lips with anger. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard you say that before, but why don¡¯t I feel happy about it? I was so prepared to be stronger than you when we meet again. And yet here you are, still stronger than me. How in the blazes do you manage to do this?¡±


    Bai Yunfei chuckled. Looking at the small soulbeast next to Jing Mingfeng, he spoke, ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t this your wind howler? It¡¯s grown this much already? How¡¯d you raise it to become a class six?¡±


    Beckoning to the wind howler, Jing Mingfeng recalled it to his side for him to pet. ¡°Xiao Feng has seen his fair share of days with me. The both of us nearly died multiple times, I tell you. Life-or-death experiences like that are the best way to improve.¡±


    The two men quickly sat down to talk. ¡°Hey, Mingfeng,¡± Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°what are you doing here anyways?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng blinked. ¡°Why else? I¡¯m here for the ¡®Extreme King Pill¡¯.¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked back. ¡°The Extreme King Pill? What¡¯s that?¡±

 Chapter 741: Extreme King Pill!

    Jing Mingfeng was blown away by the look of confusion on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. He gave Bai Yunfei an incredulous look as soon as he made sure Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t pretending not to know. ¡°Really? You don¡¯t know about the Extreme King Pill?! Why¡¯d you come running all the way here then?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled in embarrassment. ¡°Well¡­.to make a long story short, I accidentally ended up here. I was only just heading on back to meet with my companions.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well where are they then?¡±


    Bai Yunfei pointed towards the Black Cloud Mountain Ranges and then to the south. ¡°They¡¯re in Black Cloud Valley. I was heading back in that direction.¡±


    The Underworld School being in Black Cloud Valley was a rather big secret to those not in the know, so Bai Yunfei decided not to divulge the secret himself.


    ¡°Black Cloud Valley?! Don¡¯t tell me you came from within?!¡±


    ¡°Haha. I did. But how I came out¡­.I don¡¯t really know myself, to be honest.¡±


    It took Jing Mingfeng two seconds to think before he responded. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­.you went to the Underworld School?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei drew back in surprise, ¡°You know about it?¡±


    Seeing that his answer was spot on, Jing Mingfeng smiled. ¡°Hehe, there¡¯s not many people that know about the Underworld School being there, but I¡¯m one of them.


    ¡°So what did you do in there?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a story for another time, I guess.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°It¡¯ll take too long to explain¡­¡±


    But seeing the curious expression on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei relented. Starting with the events of Formagua City, Bai Yunfei retold the events that led to him going to the Underworld School.


    The story was listened to by Jing Mingfeng with wide-open eyes from start to finish. ¡°Now I get it¡­.¡± He sighed. ¡°I was wondering what in the world happened there. People said everyone in the city was killed and that a group of people were doing some sort of dark ritual. So it was the Soul Refining School.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about me,¡± Bai Yunfei decided then, ¡°tell me, what¡¯s all this about the Extreme King Pill? From what you said earlier, it¡¯s what everyone else is here for?¡±


    He pointed off to the side where it seems most of the soul cultivators were waiting in.


    Knowing that Bai Yunfei really was clueless about the going ons happening here, he nodded. ¡°Yeah. The area all around Crushed Stone River is filled with people. They¡¯re all here for the same reason: the Extreme King Pill.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled as he guessed the reason why such a pill was being so sought out for. ¡°This ¡®Extreme King Pill¡¯....is it a legendary medicine of some sort?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s not your every day pill, I¡¯ll tell you that.¡±


    The fact that such a pill was able to catch the eyes of so many Soul Kings was already proof that it wasn¡¯t an ordinary pill. ¡°What does the Extreme King Pill do?¡±


    ¡°The Extreme King Pill¡­.should tell you a good bit on what it does just from the name alone. The point of this pill¡­.is to allow the person that ingest it a shortcut to the Soul King realm! To breakthrough and become a Soul King!! Even an early-stage Soul King can become a mid-stage Soul King after eating one, and a mid-stage Soul King can gain the same amount of power as from twenty years of training from what I heard!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open in shock. ¡°Such a pill like that can even exist? But how!¡±


    ¡°For someone of your strength and status, should you really be surprised about something like that? There¡¯s all sorts of treasure in this world, and the world of soul cultivators has always been filled with goodies like that, you know? As good as the Extreme King Pill is, it¡¯s not exactly as ¡®inconceivable¡¯ as you might think, right?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s laughter reminded Bai Yunfei that his reaction was a bit too out of composure for him. Coughing once, he tried to recompose himself. ¡°Medicinal pills¡­..what kind of sorcery are they? Wasn¡¯t the Alchemy School wiped out years and years ago? How could any Extreme King Pills suddenly show up now?¡±


    ¡°The Alchemy School may have disappeared, but that doesn¡¯t mean their pills have.¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed. ¡°Pills from their school have been popping up every dozen years for the last thousand years. They¡¯re always found in the hidden caves of several soul cultivators before our time along with their treasures. But it¡¯s been nearly a thousand years since the Extreme King Pill last appeared. Only a pill like that could cause the entire continent to be worked up into a frenzy like this.¡±


    ¡°So¡­.where is this Extreme King Pill? Do you know?¡±


    ¡°No one knew at first. I heard it was the Beast Taming School that heard about it first. I don¡¯t know when it started or how it came to be with all the rumors, but long story short: There¡¯s a pocket somewhere near Crushed Stone River. The Extreme King Pill will be in that pocket.¡±


    ¡°Crushed Stone River?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated. The name felt familiar to him, but where had he heard it before?


    Vacancy Inn!


    Boss Lei had asked him before if he was planning to go to Crushed Stone River!


    That was the time news of the pill was spread throughout the continent, it would seem. It wasn¡¯t strange for Boss Lei to know of the Extreme King Pill since he was both a native of the province and Soul King. And for that reason, it wasn¡¯t weird for him to ask if Bai Yunfei and his group was headed for Crushed Stone River.


    ¡°The Beast Taming School found it first?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. ¡°No wonder I saw Lin Dongxiao back there then. Then¡­.was he trying to force himself into the pocket?!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jing Mingfeng replied. ¡°Lin Dongxiao tried to break into the pocket again?¡±


    ¡°Again?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed, ¡°they were the first to find it, so they¡¯ve been here all this time. There were all sorts of people here by the time I got here, and he was said to have been trying this entire time without success.


    ¡°Actually,¡± He leaned in secretively, ¡°I tried a few times too, never got anywhere though.¡±


    ¡°What exactly is this pocket? If people can¡¯t get in, how do we know there¡¯s an Extreme King Pill in there?¡±


    ¡°They say that an image of the inner contents appears once in a while from the mirages that comes out. They also said that a beast tamer was the first to realize that within one of the mirages was an Extreme King Pill!¡±


    ¡°Is the pocket so strong that even Soul Kings can¡¯t get in?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the opposite actually. The pocket¡¯s so weak that Soul Kings don¡¯t dare enter it. If anyone beyond the strength of a Soul Exalt enters, then the pocket will collapse. The collapsing of the pocket means the space in there will fold in on itself, and that¡¯s bad news for everyone in the pocket.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in understanding. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he froze up as if he had just realizing something.


    What he thought of was of when he was teleported from Black Cloud Valley and apported into that one area right before he was brought back out to Crushed Stone River¡­.


    He didn¡¯t find anything there, but that wasn¡¯t the important part. The important part was when he called out the permafrost mastiff. The entire area started to collapse in on itself when it came out, and that was when he was ¡®thrown¡¯ out.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked.


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°So if Soul Kings can¡¯t go in and Soul Exalts can¡¯t open the pocket, what can be done then?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t know. But from what I know¡­.there¡¯s a rule to this pocket. It¡¯s probably going to open by itself¡­.¡±


    ¡°From what you know?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°How do you know that then?¡±


    A smile appeared on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face, ¡°Someone told me.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to chase the question and changed the topic instead. ¡°But¡­.isn¡¯t this a little too ridiculous still? For people close to becoming Soul Kings like you and I, an Extreme King Pill might be tempting, but not so much like this. Why are there so many people from so many factions here? Even the Soul Kings wouldn¡¯t try this hard for the next generation to get an Extreme King Pill, or bring so many people with them, right?¡±


    ¡°I never said there¡¯s just one Extreme King Pill, did I¡­.?¡± Jing Mingfeng chuckled.


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei turned his head back towards Jing Mingfeng, ¡°How many are there then?¡±


    ¡°Hehehehe¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed. This was a situation he liked to be in.


    ¡°An entire furnace worth!!¡± He declared.

 Chapter 742: Determined to Participate

    ¡°Clunk!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped back in shock and knocked against the sturdy tree trunk he had been sitting against. Rubbing the spot on his head, Bai Yunfei stared incredulously at Jing Mingfeng, ¡°How¡­.how many?!¡±


    A pleased as punch smile was still on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face as he stared at Bai Yunfei. ¡°An entire furnace worth of Extreme King Pills!¡±


    ¡°And¡­.that is how many, exactly?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips twitched.


    ¡°No one really knows how much that is, but rumors say there¡¯s enough for a ¡®vapor¡¯ to come out from them. And judging from what we know of the Alchemy School¡­.an entire furnace would mean over a dozen pills at the very least!!¡±


    ¡°Over a dozen¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes bulged outwards, his heart pounding at the number spoken. Bai Yunfei could feel his blood practically boiling at the revelation.


    Over a dozen Extreme King Pills!!


    What did this mean? It meant that there were enough pills to foster at least ten new Soul Kings!


    Soul Kings! Soul cultivators strong enough to be the pillar of their community just by themselves!


    Just having one Soul King was enough to propel any faction into the middling ranks of society. Having three Soul Kings made them in the upper-mid ranks. Having five meant being in the higher echelons and being the strongest in the area almost! And having a total of ten Soul Kings made the faction one of the best!


    Needless to say, this was an event good enough to propel anyone to the levels of any of the Ten Schools or Five Families¡­¡­


    Of course, everyone aspired to be as strong as either of two groups. Not only did it mean to be strong by having Soul Kings, there was another factor to it¡­.


    And right now, the chance to earn at least ten Extreme King Pills was a bombshell of drop of information to have.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was all the more shocked by this revelation. Over and over again, he muttered the words ¡®Extreme King Pill¡¯ almost despondently. In his minds, the beginnings of a plan was starting to form.


    Knowing what he was thinking about, Jing Mingfeng decided not to interrupt him and sat back to smile to himself.


    But his patience wore thin after some time. ¡°Hey hey, what¡¯s up? Ol¡¯Bai, what are you thinking about now?¡±


    Bai Yunfei only nodded at him in silent response.


    ¡°Are you going to¡­.fight for the Extreme King Pills?¡±


    Bai Yunfei quirked a smile at him, ¡°But of course!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s mention of the Extreme King Pills sparked a fire in Bai Yunfei ever since the first time he heard it, but the fact that it was just one pill hadn¡¯t tipped the scales yet. With so many strong people fighting for them and such, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the interest in fighting them all for just one pill. But if there was at least ten of them, then that changed things. Bai Yunfei would have to reconsider a few things.


    For Bai Yunfei who was stuck as a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, having an Extreme King Pill was extremely tempting. His rate of training was beyond ridiculous and faster than anyone else he knew, but that all ended here. To breakthrough and become a Soul King within the next ten years was impossible with normal training, and it was more than likely he wouldn¡¯t have any improvement at all.


    Crossing the threshold to become a Soul King was the desire for practically every soul cultivator, but there was no one that desire to be a Soul King more than Bai Yunfei did. He wanted to find out what heights could be reached as a Soul King. All the Soul King enemies he had as of late was taking a toll on his mind, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to throw his life on the line with every battle. If he could find a way to increase his strength fast, then Bai Yunfei would finally be able to fight the other Soul King as an equal!


    Bai Yunfei had confidence in his strength, present or future. If he became a Soul King, any Early-stage Soul King or even Mid-stage Soul King would be no match for him! If he became a Soul King, he wouldn¡¯t feel bothered anymore with all those annoying enemies coming at him!


    So now that a shortcut to becoming a Soul King was right in front of him, how could he not take it!


    And there were at least ten of them! He wasn¡¯t a greedy man by any standard, so being able to have just one would be more than enough for him!


    ¡­¡­


    Jing Mingfeng nodded in excitement with him. ¡°Haha¡­.I did say so before. How could anyone give up the chance? It¡¯s worth a try even if we don¡¯t succeed. And because of the limitations of the pocket, we don¡¯t even have to worry about any Soul Kings barging in on our fights. With us two working together, everyone else doesn¡¯t even stand a chance.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded in agreement. He really was feeling excited now. If all his opponents were just Soul Exalts, then Bai Yunfei was completely confident in himself.


    Of course, he didn¡¯t think he had a chance of monopolizing the Extreme King Pills either. Trying to do that would only sign his death warrant and the criticisms of everyone. A dead end so to speak.


    ¡°The three of us. I¡¯ve a friend who should be here soon. The three of us can work together, that should be enough to guarantee our lives.¡±


    The two of them had already been speaking for quite some time now. It was finally getting bright, and Bai Yunfei could sense Xiao Qi¡¯s aura getting closer and closer to him. He had been planning on flying over to him, but he gave up on the idea of going back to the Underworld School to stay here instead. Xiao Qi and Long Lan wouldn¡¯t be able to go into the pocket with him, but Zheng Kai could on the other hand.


    ¡°A friend? What kind of friend? Reliable, I hope?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s a friend for life.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°He¡¯s the second son of the house of Zheng, Zheng Kai. A Late-stage Soul Exalt with a space affinity.¡±


    ¡°The house of Zheng from the Capital?!¡± Jing Mingfeng remarked, ¡°Zheng Kai¡­.the ¡®Sex Lord¡¯?!¡±


    Seeing Bai Yunfei nod, Jing Mingfeng asked, ¡°How did you meet him? Did you go to the Capital?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded again. ¡°You haven¡¯t been traveling the continents for long, have you?¡±


    ¡°Eh? How¡¯d you guess?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked. ¡°I actually was shut away in the backwoods for three years. I only just started wandering out.¡±


    That was what Bai Yunfei figured. Otherwise, Jing Mingfeng should¡¯ve known what Bai Yunfei was up to. Him opening a crafting class in the Capital wasn¡¯t by any means small news. Jing Mingfeng should¡¯ve heard about it if he was actively traveling.


    But. Jing Mingfeng closed in meditation for three whole years!? That was where Bai Yunfei felt surprised about.


    ¡°You really went into meditation for three whole years?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out, ¡°What caused you to live three years like that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story!¡± Jing Mingfeng sighed. ¡°I wandered the continent a bit after we split ways in Mo City. I even went to one of the three danger zones, the Lost Swamps. I wasn¡¯t able to get far in, but my luck wasn¡¯t half bad. I found a few things here and there, and then¡­¡±


    One by one, Jing Mingfeng told Bai Yunfei what he had experienced while the other man listened as if in a trance. Half the continent had practically been traveled by him, and all sorts of dangerous adventure was had by him. Battles with criminals, exploring dangerous and mysterious places, he had done them both. An epic of his journeys could practically be written with room to spare.


    But he said no more than one brief sentence about whatever happened during and after those three years of meditation.


    Jing Mingfeng took a swig of water from his bottle after his story. ¡°Don¡¯t let me take up all the talking, Ol¡¯Bai. Tell me about yourself. I remember hearing that you went to Soulbeast Forest and took part in the soulbeast wave before I closed myself off. Was that true? Did you really train for so long there? Why didn¡¯t you contract with a soulbeast yet?¡±


    ¡°Haha, I did contract with one, he¡¯s just not with me right now. But he¡¯s coming now with that friend of mine, they¡¯ll be here soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± That got Jing Mingfeng¡¯s attention. ¡°What kind of soulbeast did you contract with? The best of the best can be had there in Soulbeast Forest, it has to be special, right?¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­.¡± A chuckle escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. ¡°In all seriousness, Xiao Qi is definitely quite ¡®special¡¯....¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in much of a hurry for Xiao Qi and the others to get here. In any case, talking to Jing Mingfeng about their journeys was a nice way to past the time. They could also talk a little bit about Crushed Stone River, and like that, the two found themselves passing more than enough time¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An explosion from the north interrupted the two as they talked, cutting them off from any further conversation.


    Bai Yunfei glanced over to the direction of the explosion, ¡°Did something happen?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes were especially bright when he looked over at the source. Watching enthusiastically as people started to gather there, he said, ¡°Hehe, someone couldn¡¯t handle it any longer? Let¡¯s go take a look! Come on!¡±

 Chapter 743: Gathering of Prodigies

    Everyone was here exclusively for the Extreme King Pills. Jing Mingfeng estimated that already ten families of major importance were already gathered here. None of the families were getting along unfavorably with another it seemed, but that wasn¡¯t the case for the schools that were here. The schools were eyeing each other with a mean glare and kept to themselves. They were all competitors for the Extreme King Pills, so it wasn¡¯t strange for the schools to have such an unfriendly and competitive air to them.


    It also wasn¡¯t strange that confrontations would break out, but those were generally silenced and put under control before an actual fight could. If not for the objective here today, everyone would¡¯ve devolved into fighting a long time ago.


    Together with Jing Mingfeng, Bai Yunfei flew down the road near Crushed Stone River. It didn¡¯t take long for them to reach a small mountain where the river seemed to flow into, and at the top of the mountain were two sparks of red and gold as the figures within the sparks fought one another.


    Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng came to a stop a good kilometer away from the battlefield to watch. When he saw just who were fighting, Jing Mingfeng quirked his lips in dissatisfaction, ¡°Pft, it¡¯s just two Soul Exalts. And here I thought we¡¯d be able to see a Soul King fight!¡±


    The fighters were Soul Exalts like Jing Mingfeng said. The fire-type one was a Late-stage Soul Exalt, and the metal-type soul cultivator was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt. Their fight was loud and vigorous, but neither were aiming to kill. They were fighting, as it would seem, to just see who would be the victor and who would be the loser.


    About a hundred meters away on both sides stood even more people. They were sprinkled about with some standing together in groups and others standing by themselves to watch the fight take place.


    ¡°Do you know the two?¡± Bai Yunfei asked as they watched the spectacle.


    ¡°I do.¡± Jing Mingfeng nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve been here a while so I know a good bit about the people here already. The fire-type guy is from the Hengyang School and the metal-type one is from the Huayue School. Both schools are from the Southward River Province and are considerably strong¡ªthey both have three Soul Kings. I saw both schools bring one Soul King and three of their Soul Exalts when I came and they didn¡¯t look very happy with one another. I had a feeling they¡¯d fight each other sooner or later.¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced over to Jing Mingfeng. His notes on the people already gathered here was a little more detailed than he thought. Not bad. As someone once said, ¡®if you know yourself and know your enemy, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles¡¯. Knowledge was a great boon to have in a competition like this.


    His eyes swept around the entire vicinity to look at each spectator. ¡°Do you know how many people there are here then?¡±


    ¡°From my count up to yesterday, at least eighteen factions have gathered here. Most of them are watching this fight¡±


    Jing Mingfeng pointed to a group of five standing on a mountain far to the right of the fight. ¡°The ones there are from the Flying Snow School, the strongest school in the Southward River Province. They specialize mainly in elemental ice. That white-haired guy over there is Bai Han, someone who became a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt three years ago. He¡¯s known as the number one prodigy in his province. The old guy behind him is one of his school¡¯s elders, a Mid-stage Soul King.¡±


    Bai Yunfei followed his gaze to look at the young man named Bai Han. Sure enough, the guy had white hair to match his white robes and trousers as if he was some sort of person made from snow. His face was clear and smooth, his body tall and straight, and both hands clasped behind his back. He watched the battle in front of him with a look of disdain on his face¡ªthe sight of which made Bai Yunfei frown.


    Bai Han was decked completely in white, including his hair. Bai Yunfei shared the exact same surname as he did, but his hair was a completely natural color of black¡­.


    TL Note: Both Bai Han and Bai Yunfei share the same surname of °×, which means White.


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s finger moved away from the Flying Snow School to several hundred meters away. ¡°Those are from the house of Ji in Rang City, one of the top-ranking factions in the Southward River Province. The two young ones are the heirs to the house of Ji, Ji Wushang and Ji Wubing. They¡¯re twins, as you can see, and both are fire-type Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt. Rumors has it that they both have an extremely strong unison soul attack that can beat anyone in their level of strength. The old man behind them is the head of the Ji, a Late-stage Soul King.¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei followed to where Jing Mingfeng was pointing at to the three people standing in the skies. The two younger looking men were identical looking in appearance. Both were rather frail, had long hair, and eyes that had a piercing glance. They didn¡¯t look at all like morally upright citizens.


    From there, Jing Mingfeng pointed at the third group of people. ¡°They¡¯re from the Fire School. That¡¯s the second elder, and those three are the strongest students they have. See there¡­.that Zhong Liyan, remember him? We met him five years ago at the auction house with the Tang, he¡¯s the guy who bought a dragonfruit. I heard he became a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt after he ate it. As expected from the top ten schools, the students there defy all logic¡­.¡±


    This time, Bai Yunfei stared at Jing Mingfeng. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the same?¡±


    He looked away back to the young man standing there. It really was Zhong Liyan.


    Right as he was considering if he should head over and pay his respects, Jing Mingfeng started onto the next round of introductions. ¡°Over there is the Wood School. They¡¯re basically the same. One Soul King bringing along three young students.¡±


    ¡°Senior You?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened, snapping his head towards the people Jing Mingfeng pointed at.


    ¡°Eh? You know them?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked.


    Bai Yunfei pointed at the thirty-something year old man wearing green robes off in the distance, ¡°That¡¯s senior You Qingfeng of the Wood School. I know him.¡±


    ¡°You Qingfeng?¡± Zheng Kai squinted. ¡°Oh, so he¡¯s a friend of yours? He¡¯s considered a very outstanding student from what I heard, despite his age. A Late-stage Soul Exalt, but he¡¯s not as strong as the other one with him, Lin Zihao.


    ¡°Hey hold on¡­.why do you call You Qingfeng ¡®senior¡¯?¡± Jing Mingfeng suddenly asked. ¡°As strong as he might be, but in terms of hierarchy, you¡¯re a lot higher than he is!


    ¡°Actually, no one should even compare to you in hierarchy. Your master is senior Zi Jin, you¡¯re on a level of hierarchy far beyond the newest generation of soul cultivators¡­..¡± Jing Mingfeng shook his head.


    Bai Yunfei chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s not¡­.talk about hierarchy when I¡¯m outside the school. It¡¯s only fine when I¡¯m in the Crafting School.


    ¡°I came to know senior You a little after I started my journey as a soul cultivator. He helped me a long time ago, I never expected to see him here today¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed with nostalgia.


    He decided then that he¡¯d go meet with You Qingfeng later, it¡¯d be inexcusable otherwise. He heard from Zhao Xiluo say before that his sworn sister Chu Yuhe was taken by You Qingfeng off to the Wood School a long time ago, but it had been a very long time since then. Bai Yunfei wondered just how well the little girl had grown.


    Ah. With how long it had been, perhaps calling her a little girl wouldn¡¯t be wise¡­.


    Memories of the times he last saw You Qingfeng sprung into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, causing him to feel a little happy over those memories.


    By the side, Jing Mingfeng was still giving introductions. ¡°Right besides the Wood School is the the Metal School. The one up front is the strongest student they have, Li Haodong. He¡¯s a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt.¡±


    ¡°Of the Five Elemental Schools, they¡¯re the first three to come. The Water and the Earth School have yet to arrive, but it won¡¯t be long now¡­.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s finger drifted slightly farther away towards a group of two. ¡°Those two are from one of the Five Families, the House of Wang. The younger one is the sole heir of the Wang, Wang Kunpeng and ranks third on the continent¡¯s list of prodigies. He¡¯s twenty-eight right now, but he became a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt five years ago. People say he¡¯s about three to five years away from becoming a Soul King and probably doesn¡¯t need the Extreme King Pill. The one behind him is his dad, the head of the Wang and Late-stage Soul King.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng watched as the shocked settled in on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    A twenty-three year old becoming a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt?! That wasn¡¯t something the word ¡®genius¡¯ could describe. A ¡®freak¡¯ would probably be a better name, wouldn¡¯t it? Though he couldn¡¯t sense it accurately, Bai Yunfei could see that the aura of this person was anything but normal. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even want to look at him for too long just in case there was a misunderstanding and averted his eyes away to look elsewhere.


    ¡°Over there is the Wind and Lightning School. That¡¯s their strongest student, Lu Chenhong, he¡¯s mastered his schools arts I heard¡­.


    ¡°And then over there is another one of the Five Families, the house of Li from the Westward River Province. The one on the left is the young heir, Li Yuchun, a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt with an affinity for space¡­.


    Then we¡¯ve the the Returning Sword School from the Blue Mist Province. They¡¯re said to be second-to-none to the Ten Schools and all their students learn the art of the sword with a pure offensive style to it. That young man in purple is the junior headmaster, Liu Zhe¡­.


    ¡°Over there is the house of Yue from the Common Ridge Province¡­.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Pure Melody School¡­.


    ¡°And that¡¯s¡­.¡±

 Chapter 744: A Completely Unexpected Development

    With each person Jing Mingfeng pointed out to Bai Yunfei to introduce, he was not only able to tell him who each person was, but also each of their major accomplishments. Bai Yunfei was alarmed with just how knowledgeable Jing Mingfeng was and just a little filled with admiration at his thorough intelligence report.


    Neither of the two were even really paying attention to the battle. With Jing Mingfeng introducing each person and Bai Yunfei listening, the two people fighting each other was completely forgotten about.


    ¡°....And that should be it. Not everyone is here, of course, but the major players are nearly all accounted for. I remember there was a wandering soul cultivator of some kind, but I don¡¯t see him. He¡¯s probably not interested in this fight.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng finished off his introductions with just one final note to remember.


    He did talk about the few people who didn¡¯t show up to watch the fight, but they were given only a simple introduction. Eighteen factions were already gathered here, and aside from three of the second-rate groups that didn¡¯t have any Soul Kings, every single faction had at least one Soul King with them. Most of the groups were primarily composed of having one Soul King and three or four Late-stage Soul Exalts.


    When Bai Yunfei looked at each person there, he had the feeling that using the word ¡®prodigy¡¯ felt a little stale to use now. With everyone being able to be described as being a ¡®prodigy¡¯, the word had lost all its meaning almost. Everyone here was either a Late-stage Soul Exalt or Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, some became one earlier than others, and some later. But whatever the case, they were all of the same level of strength as one another for now and perhaps in the foreseeable future.


    The Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt level marked the blockade in a soul cultivator¡¯s life. From there on out, it was remarkably hard for people to advance. Some could be ten years earlier than another before they finally were able to breakthrough and become a Soul King.


    That was why the Extreme King Pill was such a priceless treasure and why so many people were willing to fight each other for one. If any one faction could borrow this chance to have their next generation become Soul Kings, it¡¯d serve their faction a great deal of power and allow them to beat the other families.


    The prize was tempting for all parties equally, so they came together, and it only made sense for some parties to agree to work together. Countless competitions had been started over the past thousand years, and the world of soul cultivators had always a certain ¡®rule¡¯ of sorts where they banded together. If any one faction tried to monopolize the prize for themselves, they were always certain to face a unified opposition force. To continue and try fighting the entire competition for the prize would only mean their sole destruction. No faction would dare fight off everyone else by themselves, so they formed ¡®agreements¡¯ with other factions for the best resolution.


    Each group bringing about four Soul Exalts for the Extreme King Pills was about just enough for them. They were here to get the Extreme King Pills for themselves to use. They didn¡¯t care to fight for the Extreme King Pills and then give the others any of the remainders (though they¡¯d love to gain a surplus if there was). What everyone was aiming for was getting just enough for their own party to benefit from. They didn¡¯t care what happened to the rest as long as they got what they came for. If the other factions fought and killed each other to tatters for the remainder, then they¡¯d watch from the sidelines and laugh.


    It wasn¡¯t as if they didn¡¯t want to monopolize all of the Extreme King Pills, they would if they could, but it was an impossibility. It would¡¯ve been a different story had the Beast Taming School not had the matter leaked, but it was a moot point now that everyone knew about it. Should any one faction try to act on their ¡®greedy¡¯ desires, then the other factions would rise up against them. No matter which one of the Ten Schools or Five Families they are, none of them would be able to handle the entire continent¡¯s soul cultivators.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Che, slugging at one another one punch after another, are they trying to see whose skin is thicker? It¡¯s not entertaining if they¡¯re not trying to kill each other¡­.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng complained whilst Bai Yunfei was thinking about the matter with the Extreme King Pills. He was still looking at the battle in front of him with a look of boredom.


    As mentioned before, neither of the two combatants were trying to kill one another in hopes of trying to save up their strengths for the competition that laid ahead. Though they were fighting with a rather intense aura glowing from them, the ensuing blows coming from both Soul Exalts were less than impressive. They fought in the air, but without the usual intensity that came with blows enhanced with soulforce, their battle may as well be one between regular fighters using their arms and legs to fight. Two Late-stage Soul Exalt fighting like so was laughable and thereby justified for Jing Mingfeng to be so full of complaint over it.


    Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t the only one to complain. Everyone else who was looking at the battle was also looking on with contemptuous expressions. Some were even heading back to their original spots.


    ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go. Ol¡¯Bai, you can tell me what you did in the Capital.¡±


    No longer interested in the battle, Jing Mingfeng turned around to scoff and talk with Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head though. ¡°Hold on, I want to go visit some acquaintances first.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you talking about that You Qingfeng?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, since he¡¯s here, it¡¯d be rude of me if I didn¡¯t go pay him a visit. There¡¯s also Zhong Liyan, why don¡¯t we go together?¡±


    ¡°Forget it. I don¡¯t like talking with strangers. I¡¯ll just wait here for you, come back when you¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Fine by me. I¡¯ll be back in a bit.¡±


    Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei prepared himself to head for the right and meet up with You Qingfeng.


    But at that moment, a new development started to take place in the battle ahead¡­.


    ¡°You can shut up now!!¡±


    There was a short roar from the metal-type soul cultivator, as if he was angered by something the other person said. Soulforce blared out from his body and enveloped his right hand with a shining golden light. With a mighty roar, he lashed out and slammed his right fist down onto the fire-type soul cultivator¡¯s chest!


    There hadn¡¯t been any time for the fire-type soul cultivator to react. The fist slammed successfully onto his chest and sent him flying down like a meteorite!


    Since no one had really been paying attention to the battle, this sudden development came to them as a surprise. Those who were already planning to leave were now looking back at the fight. But the aftermath of that one blow was what really caught the eyes of everyone, including the Soul Kings!


    When the fire-type Soul Exalt was sent flying down to the ground, he did so with blood coming out from his mouth. But¡­.just about fifty meters after impact, something behind his back began to change¡­..


    The direction in which the fire-type soul cultivator was flying towards wasn¡¯t either one of the places where their comrades were. Instead, the fire-type soul cultivator was flying towards an empty area near the mountain. Now in the airspace around it, the soul cultivator was expected to stabilize and orientate himself, but neither of the two things happened¡­.


    When his body came into contact with the space fifty meters away from where he used to be¡­.it looked as if he crashed into a transparent but liquid-like wall. The soul cultivator¡¯s body descent was slowed down a bit, but then he went straight through into it!


    There had been pain on the fire-type soul cultivator¡¯s face when he touched upon the wall. About to turn his head and see what was going on, his entire person disappeared from sight!


    It was like a stone dropping into a body of water. As soon as he disappeared, the air around the mountain started to show several ripples¡­.

 Chapter 745: Opening of the Pocket and the Appearance of the Extreme King Pills!

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone watched as the fire-type soul cultivator disappeared beyond the airspace of the mountain with shock.


    A brief moment went by without anyone saying a thing. Not even the Soul Kings were commenting on the situation. Everyone was far too shocked to do so as they looked at one another with rising joy.


    There was a blur as a Soul King from the nearby group of the Hengyang School appeared in front of the area. Reaching a hand out, the Soul King touched at the ripples in front of him with a finger.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were on this Soul King, watching as he in turn looked at his right hand as if wanting to know what he was doing.


    Everyone was waiting. Watching. Thinking about what would happen when this Soul King¡¯s hand would touch onto the ripples!


    There was a flash of light from the Soul King¡¯s eyes before he decided to try and step into it!


    A wave of change flowed across the Soul King¡¯s expression the moment his foot drew across. So furious that several nearby people could feel his killing intent, the Soul King unleashed an aura that dropped the temperature of the surrounding area by several degrees. Some of the other Soul Kings who were prepared to move in as well ceased their movements to watch as his foot slowly drew back down to its original spot.


    Everyone then watched as the elder slowly drew back from the invisible ¡®door in front of him and retreat as if he had been shocked!


    A series of ripples reverberated through the air at the same time he moved back, trembling as if reacting badly to something.


    Realizing what this meant, every single Soul King blanched and shot the Soul King from the Hengyang School a displeased warning glare.


    Having felt a little unwell already from what he had just done, the Soul King frowned when he felt the gazes of everyone else. He knew that what he did had earned him the ire of everyone there, but as only an Early-stage Soul King, he hadn¡¯t the right to be so ¡®brash¡¯ in front of them all. As if trying to make up for his loss of composure and foolish action, he drew back away from the area. ¡°Everybody! This old man has verified that the entrance to the pocket has...already been opened!¡±


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­..¡±


    Everyone was sent into a flurry at what he said. All of the Soul Exalts there gave surprised looks at one another and then at the rippling area in front of them. Chatting to one another, they all looked excited for what that meant.


    ¡°Haha!! At last the pocket¡¯s open! Move aside, I¡¯m going to be the one to go in first!!¡±


    A loud voice cried out from a group from the left. A single person came shooting out then to fly straight for the mountain where the pocket was.


    It was Lin Dongxiao from the Beast Taming School!


    Everyone looked a little pensive when someone from the Beast Taming School came. While it wasn¡¯t accurate to say they were afraid of them, most of the people there were still slightly peevish at the idea of going against the powerhouse that was their school. Several of the prodigies stayed behind with their group to allow Lin Dongxiao to go in first, and even those from the Ten Schools stayed behind, but only due to their less competitive streak and silent agreement with one another to see what would happen. Wang Kunpeng and Li Yuchun from the Wang and Li both just gave Lin Dongxiao a sneer when he passed by.


    The elder from the Beast Taming School didn¡¯t seem to look inclined in stopping Lin Dongxiao from acting as arrogant as he was. He merely just stared at the entrance of the pocket with a faint trembling of the lip as if speaking to his other students about something.


    Soon, the other groups started to set out. Lin Dongxiao was at the front of the group with his three other students to head into the pocket.


    ¡°Haha! I¡¯ll be going in first!¡±


    Laughing merrily, Lin Dongxiao and his three fellow beast tamers disappeared from sight while the elder from the Beast Taming School came to a stop half a kilometer away from the pocket to stare at it.


    Now that the students from the Beast Taming School was gone, everyone was now free to do as they pleased. The nearest group¡ªthe Hengyang School¡ªtook the initiative to have their two students go charging in after getting the approval from their elder.


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    But before they could go in, yet another development happened and caused everyone to look on in shock!


    As if something had prompted its activation, the surrounding hundred meters of the pocket started to show a series of rippling waves!


    It was as if the entire pocket was starting to grow agitated by something. The space inside the pocket was twisting in on itself and misting over as if being blocked by a fog of some kind. The scenery was starting to look nearly like a mirage with how unreal it looked, but everyone could still see a scenery of some kind!


    A mountain, a forest, and some sort of river of water with crushed stones all around it were mixing together to form one whole piece of scenery. No one knew what was going on, but there was something about this scenery that immediately caught the attention of everyone there¡­.


    Within the foggy and illusion-like scenery and just five hundred meters above the mountain, there was a small grove of stone forests. In one of the stone trees was a single large furnace!


    This furnace looked especially old and red in color. It had a dark glow to its surface and looked a little ordinary even. At a glance, this looked just like any other furnace or stove with several decorative markings running all over it. No one knew if it was just the distortion in the air or not, but a few ¡®wisps¡¯ of something was rising out from the furnace.


    An indescribable ¡®smell¡¯ started to disseminate through the air, penetrating the seemingly illusionary scenery right in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. From the smell, everyone could immediately sense a fantastical ¡®aroma¡¯....


    The moment when the furnace appeared, everyone could instantaneously place their finger onto what this ¡®aroma¡¯ was. The eyes of all the Soul Kings were all shining bright with shock and joy, and the elder of the Beast Taming School couldn¡¯t help but exclaim out loud, ¡°The Extreme King Pill!¡±


    This was¡­.the Extreme King Pill!


    Aside from the Beast Taming School, no one else had really seen what this ¡®furnace¡¯ full of Extreme King Pills meant. Most of the factions there didn¡¯t even believe in the rumors of how many there were, but now that they were greeted with this sight, every single Soul King were already telling their Soul Exalts to head into the pocket to fight for the Extreme King Pills.


    The illusionary landscaped started to change shape a second later. Everyone looked at it again, curious on what it would show next.


    There was a single person running quickly through the area. A closer look would reveal this person to be Lin Dongxiao!


    He was by himself. Though he had gone into the pocket with three others, none of the three were to be seen at this moment.


    But the most important thing was that he was running in the complete opposite direction of the Extreme King Pills¡¯ location!


    Everyone had a strange look on their faces at that, though most of them were quite pleased to see it. The elder of the Beast Taming School on the other hand, looked as though he had swallowed something rotten¡­.


    ¡°The pocket has opened, this must be showing what¡¯s going on inside the pocket being shown over the fabric of reality outside of it! We should be able to see what¡¯s going on for now, but who knows for how much longer? Peng¡¯er, hurry on in and remember where the Extreme King Pills¡¯ are located! And be sure to be careful, don¡¯t let your greed overshadow everything else!¡±


    The head of the Wang was already instructing his son on how to deal with this situation.


    Wang Kunpeng¡¯s eyes flashed with readiness. ¡°Worry not father, I know what to do!¡±


    And with that, he charged off into the pocket.


    Several other soul cultivators were already running off towards the pocket with him.


    ¡°There¡¯s another entrance over there!¡±


    A person cried out from the other side. Looking over towards the source, they saw another ripple from when two people entered into the pocket from another side.


    The pocket had more than one entrance!


    Soon after, everyone was looking for the closest entrance to them. There was no hesitation behind everyone¡¯s actions. Those who were previously hidden were now flying out from their hiding spots to charge for the closest entrance to them.


    In a matter of moments, only just a few ten people were left. Every single Soul Exalt was gone from the area, leaving behind the Soul Kings that were there to accompany them and stand guard on the outside.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°The pocket¡¯s open! Ol¡¯Bai, let¡¯s hurry on in!¡±


    The illusion created by the pocket had covered almost the entirety of Crushed Stone River. Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng had both been standing at their original place when they saw multiple disappearing into the pocket. A little panicked now, Jing Mingfeng slapped Bai Yunfei on the shoulder as a way to urge his friend into motion.


    Wrinkling his eyebrows, Bai Yunfei turned his head. Xiao Qi and the others weren¡¯t here yet¡­..


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to wait for your friend, it¡¯s going to be too late if we do! Crap!! The illusion¡¯s already starting to disappear! Does that mean the entrance will close up too?! Ol¡¯Bai, we have to go!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped back to the pocket at Jing Mingfeng¡¯s words. True to his word, Bai Yunfei could see the illusion start to fade into obscurity!


    If it was true that the complete disappearance of the illusion meant the entrance would disappear, then that meant the chance to get the Extreme King Pills would be gone as well!


    ¡°Tch, let¡¯s go!!¡±


    With no time to lose, Bai Yunfei gave up on the idea of waiting to charge with Jing Mingfeng towards the pocket entrance.


    The entrance closest to them was the one that first opened up. Running quickly, they were able to give one last glance behind them before both entering beyond the ripples denoting the boundary of the pocket.


    Not long after they headed in, the illusion that had been reflecting over the surface of the barrier disappeared, returning the scenery within the pocket back to normal.


    But after the illusion disappeared, all of the entrances to the pocket was still rippling slightly, meaning they were still open¡­.

 Chapter 746: Entering the Pocket and a Very Strange Restriction

    Even though the illusion was gone, the entrances to the pockets were still there. All of the Soul Kings standing there looked a little surprised at that, some of them even wrinkling their eyebrows at the sight.


    ¡°What a strange pocket this is. Does this mean the entrance will last for a longer time? A pocket that only opens after a set amount of time like this one shouldn¡¯t behave like this¡­.¡±


    The one who spoke was the red-robed elder representative from the Fire School. His aura was blazing wildly so that he looked like a human fireball with his aura intimidating the others. His eyes were glued to the entrances of the pocket as he muttered to himself.


    ¡°How truly strange. I¡¯ve never seen a pocket have this many entrances either. It¡¯s almost as if the pocket meant to have multiple people enter it¡­.¡± The green-robed elder from the Wood School muttered in confusion next to him.


    ¡°Who knows how many years this pocket laid undetected.¡± The elder from the Metal School spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s not implausible to say the Extreme King Pills have been resting here for a thousand years. With how ridiculous the rules of this pocket is, I wonder just what kind of precursor created this pocket. I¡¯d have to wager that someone as strong as a Mid-stage Soul Emperor would have to be responsible for this. Is this the place where he died then? If he¡¯s dead, then¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t finish talking, but the other two elders with him knew what he meant.


    If there really was the body of a deceased Soul Emperor in there, then the Extreme King Pills would only be the tip of the iceberg in terms of treasure¡­.


    It was a guess no one really had the answer to though. If this pocket really did belong to a Soul Emperor, then how could anyone be so easily allowed in? Besides, no Soul King was even able to enter the pocket, so that made this theory a little less plausible.


    The elder from the Wood School sighed. ¡°It¡¯s useless guessing about anything with these restrictions in place. We can¡¯t even go in, so we can only hope one of our youngsters will be able to get the prize¡­.¡±


    The other two nodded. ¡°Now that the pocket is open, we shouldn¡¯t have to dwell about these things. But the longer we wait, the more annoying this will become. Those factions who haven¡¯t yet arrived will soon be here, and that only means more competitors for the Extreme King Pills. There aren¡¯t enough pills for everyone, so a battle will surely break out. Once it does, the safety of our younger ones will be hard to guarantee¡­.¡±


    The elder from the Metal School nodded in agreement. ¡°I agree, but nothing can be done about it. It¡¯s not as if we can¡¯t stop the others from going into the pocket, can we?¡±


    His question was more of a joke than a question. Combined, the three of them might be able to push back one or two factions without trouble, but that would be an egregious act, one that would paint them out to be immoral characters. Neither would they care to do such a thing anyways.


    ¡­¡­


    Aside from those three, the other Soul Kings were gathered in either groups of three, two, or by themselves. They couldn¡¯t enter the pocket or know what was going on, so the only thing they could do was wait outside.


    The Soul King from the Hengyang School stood alone next to a tree, his eyes shining with a calculative light. Of all the Soul Kings, he was the one most unnerved by the current situation.


    No one knew what had happened really when he touched the pocket and tried to gain entry, and the events that transpired in that moment brought not small amount of vexation to the Soul King.


    He withdrew from the barrier almost instantly when he tried to enter, everyone saw that. It wasn¡¯t because of the pocket starting to show signs of instability that he did it though¡­.


    In reality, the reason why he left so quickly was because of the repelling force from within!


    It was as if the pocket was actively trying to force him out!


    He even felt something like the aura of a person furious at him before he was ¡®pushed¡¯ out!


    ¡°Impossible¡­..all investigations indicated that this pocket was sealed for a thousand years, how can this be¡­.¡±


    A guess was already formulating in his mind. This guess was a chilling one and his eyes reflected his sentiments with a look of dread and terror.


    ¡°I have to be wrong. Those people stronger than me can be found anywhere. The Beast Taming School came into this pocket earlier and felt nothing, I have to be wrong¡­.¡±


    The ¡®outside world¡¯ was looking calm, but what about inside the pocket where every single prodigy was?


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei felt stifled the moment he crossed over into the barrier. It wasn¡¯t too different than the feeling he got after he crossed the barrier that protected the Underworld School, but this one was far more noticeable in its effects. Everything was a pure white light in front of him, and it felt like all five of his senses, six including his soulsense, had shorted out. But they came back to him after a moment.


    ¡°Clack¡­.¡±


    Hearing the sound of something solid beneath his feet, Bai Yunfei looked down to see a boulder about the size of a dinner table. He had entered the pocket through the air, but somehow, he was now standing at the ground level almost.


    The very first thing Bai Yunfei did afterwards was call out his Cataclysmic Seal and adopt a defensive position to scan the vicinity.


    Wind blew through the area, blowing parts of his uncut bangs over his eyes.


    All was clear.


    Verifying that there was no danger around, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief and looked ahead to the mountain in front of him. ¡°Mingfeng, why do I feel like this pla¡ª¡±


    Already turning to Jing Mingfeng as he spoke, Bai Yunfei came to an abrupt stop when he realized something.


    He was alone.


    Jing Mingfeng had entered with him through the pocket, but now he was nowhere to be found!


    He got over the shock soon enough to think about what might¡¯ve happened. ¡°The entrance¡­.how strange. It splits us apart even if we enter through the same entrance at the same time. Is¡­.is that why Lin Dongxiao was all by himself¡­.?¡±


    He was one of the people that saw Lin Dongxiao running by himself earlier and thought it was strange to see since he had entered with three other people. But now he knew the reason. He didn¡¯t know why exactly, but the pocket was forcibly separating everyone so they would have to be by themselves.


    ¡°But¡­.what¡¯s the point of splitting everyone up? There¡¯s no one within a kilometer of each other¡­..what is this pocket trying to do?¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked up to the skies. It was a blue sky with a few white clouds, but he didn¡¯t see the sun here. This was very clearly not the real sky and just a ¡®fake¡¯ rendition of it from within the pocket. Staring at it for two seconds longer, Bai Yunfei took off into the skies to check the ground from there.


    But after he leapt, Bai Yunfei nearly stumbled back face-first into the ground¡ªhe wasn¡¯t able to Skywalk into the sky!


    Skywalking meant the formation of elemental energy to act as a temporary platform for the feet to either kick off or stand upon. By Skywalking, Soul Exalts could ascend into the sky!


    Steadying himself so he didn¡¯t fall, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were wide open now. ¡°What¡¯s going on now?!¡±


    He raised his right hand and circulated his soulforce to it. There was a bang as a fireball appeared in his hand. No problems there.


    Bai Yunfei vanished the fireball and scratched his head.


    He tried to leap into the skies again.


    It was a fruitless endeavor that resulted in the exact same result as his first attempt. Hew flew a good few dozen meters into the air before his legs tried to kick off against the sky again¡ªonly to fall back down.


    Elemental fire had indeed formed underneath his feet, but it hadn¡¯t condensed to form solid enough ground for him to leap on. For all good this was, it meant his feet were basically just burning elemental fire.


    ¡°We can¡¯t Skywalk in here then?!¡± Bai Yunfei concluded after his second attempt. ¡°There¡¯s even a ¡®restriction¡¯ like that?!¡±


    This situation was something Bai Yunfei knew to be special to pockets in general. ¡®Restrictions¡¯!


    A spatial pocket in the simplest sense of the word is a separated bubble of space that exists outside normal space. The most basic ones came in the form of space-type soul armaments and could only store dead objects inside its otherwise small area. More advanced pockets of space had generally very few differences between them and reality and allowed people to go into them. Strong enough factions had one or two of such pockets to store their more peculiar things in there.


    There were also very special types of pockets a few of the even stronger soul cultivators had where they could stay and train in without disturbance. These pockets are bigger than their weaker counterparts and would normally replicate the outside landscape such as the mountains, trees, and water. In a way, the pocket ¡®copied¡¯ what was outside into the inside so as to make it very hard to discover. These types of pockets would not allow entry from anyone else without the master of it saying otherwise.


    And lastly, there were a few very special pockets that had its own ¡®rules¡¯. ¡®Restrictions¡¯ that it could impose, such as not being able to burn anything inside, having a stronger force of gravity than outside, etc. But of course, these types of pockets were extremely rare.


    And if Bai Yunfei¡¯s guess was right, then this pocket he was in was very much one of those very rare pockets!


    He couldn¡¯t Skywalk in here!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the strength to unravel or even explain the restriction in this place. Giving up on trying to experiment with it, he looked around the place to see if there was anything else.


    To come across such an annoying problem right off the bat was a bit vexing, and it made Bai Yunfei worried on what other problems he¡¯d run into in here¡­.

 Chapter 747: The Massacre Has Already Begun!

    The next thing Bai Yunfei attempted to do was use his Tempest Sword, only to find out even flying soul armaments were unable to be used. Aside from his shock, some begrudging respect was to be had as well. With no way to fly through the skies, Bai Yunfei could only try the last remaining option to simply run up towards the mountain.


    He could vaguely remember the outline of the landscape where the Extreme King Pills were. With that in mind, he plotted his course and ran accordingly in that direction.


    Bai Yunfei took in the sights around him as he ran towards the strange mountain. All sorts of smaller peaks were adorning the place along with trees and grass. There were even a few insects, flies, and small rodents hiding throughout the landscape and near the rivers. In the river, a few fish were swimming lazily through it. If not for the restriction on not being able to fly, this place would¡¯ve looked just like an ordinary rural countryside place.


    Halfway up the mountain, Bai Yunfei was scaling the place like a graceful monkey. Leaping from foothold to foothold, he made it to a small flat area of the mountain before scaling another very tall tree. As soon as he reached the canopus, he stuck his head out to look around.


    Aside from the mountains within his line of sight, this height and area should allow Bai Yunfei a great vantage point to take in the sights of everything.


    But it was with disappointment that Bai Yunfei looked away. He couldn¡¯t see a thing. The mist around the area he was in was blocking almost half his sight, and the other mountains nearby had the same fate to them. He couldn¡¯t see anything that might¡¯ve looked interesting or even anyone. The other mountains were all relatively far away too despite how close they might look, and his soulsense was unable to stretch that far.


    But if there was one thing Bai Yunfei could confirm, it was that this pocket was even larger than he imagined, stretching beyond the horizon with its size.


    Looking closely in hopes of finding something, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes perked with light when something did pop up. Hopeful, he leapt off the tree and began to run down towards the right.


    He saw several people over there!


    They weren¡¯t Jing Mingfeng, but it was without a doubt one of the other prodigies that entered the pocket. In situations such like this where there were too many unknowns, it was best to travel with a group of people. It wasn¡¯t a half-bad choice to make in this type of competition, since the issue of the Extreme King Pill could be put aside until afterwards.


    Even though he did see somewhere there, Bai Yunfei had no desire to want to call out ¡®hello there¡¯ or ¡®hold up¡¯! He hid his aura instead and made sure to get closer to them without them noticing he was there or calling out to them.


    Since he couldn¡¯t Skywalk and had to run with relative stealth, it took a while before Bai Yunfei was able to reach the area where he saw the others. They were already gone by then, but Bai Yunfei could see the footprints of their group that seemed to lead to behind another mountain.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    As Bai Yunfei was studying the footprints to see where it was going, he heard an explosion just several hundred meters around the mountain.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s fighting?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat with curiosity and surprise, but he suppressed the desire to send his soulsense out to see what was going on. Instead, he inched forwards slowly without leaking his soulforce.


    Bai Yunfei came to a clearing several minutes later with a tuft of grass and trees bordering the right side. Over there, several trees had fallen over and the ground nearby was cratered like cheese. There were even a few burn marks¡ªthis was clearly the signs of a battle.


    But the most important part was that a person was laying on a part of the scorched earth! Or to be even more specific, the corpse was!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes focused in on the corpse. This body was already burnt so heavily that the robes and hair were all burnt away, but it was still identifiable as being a male.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s already killing the others, how excessive¡­.¡±


    A secondary sweeping of the area revealed that this corpse was missing its space rings, meaning that someone had already taken it. Bai Yunfei sighed, but he understood why.


    Everyone that was in this pocket right now were all contenders for the Extreme King Pill. A furnace filled with Extreme King Pills didn¡¯t mean everyone here would be able to get one. Many of the factions here probably wouldn¡¯t be in the ¡®sharing¡¯ mood either. So the simple solution was to fight. Fight and kill for the prize.


    Bai Yunfei could understand that much, and he did anticipate such a thing would happen. He just never thought that it would happen right off the bat.


    Needless to say, this person was killed by someone else with great vigor. Then after killing this person, the one responsible ran away.


    Or actually¡­.the person was in hiding¡­.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The sound of rapidly displaced air came whistling from behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. Swinging his right arm nonchalantly, he smacked a relatively long black needle down to the ground with his bracer.


    There was a flash of red light as a fiery longsword suddenly flew through the air to pierce Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead!


    The ¡®suddenness¡¯ of this person¡¯s attack didn¡¯t bring any type of panic from Bai Yunfei. Without even resting his arm when he knocked the needle away, Bai Yunfei flexed his five fingers and brought it forward. The tip of the blade struck the palm of his hand, but rather than stab into it, the blade started to bend!


    A moment afterwards, a person flew out from behind the trees to stand ten meters away from Bai Yunfei.


    Not even bothering to give chase, Bai Yunfei dropped his arm to look at the surprised youth. ¡°Was this person¡­.killed by you?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    At the same time in a forest in another part of the spatial pocket.


    ¡°Lin Dongxiao! Don¡¯t get too ahead of yourself! Everyone¡¯s here for the Extreme King Pills and fighting fair and square, doing this is far too much!¡±


    A young man wearing white robes was sitting on the ground, his right arm clutching at his bleeding left shoulder. In front of him was a giant black bear and a golden horned tiger at his left and right. This speaker was speaking with a quivering voice, and his eyes were filled with dread when he looked at the two soulbeasts in front of him. Still, he managed to find enough anger in him to howl at the figure sitting on top of a tree branch a hundred meters away.


    The one sitting there was Lin Dongxiao of the Beast Taming School. Cracking a smile at the predicament of the other person, Lin Dongxiao said, ¡°Haha¡­but of course. This ¡®fight¡¯ you¡¯re talking about, doesn¡¯t it mean exactly that? It¡¯s going to happen sooner or later, so why not start it now? You¡¯re from a two-bit school, coming to an event like this should¡¯ve told you that you¡¯re only heading towards your death¡­.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The young man¡¯s face paled even more. ¡°What...what are you going to do?! I admit I¡¯m not stronger than you, and I can¡¯t even look for the Extreme King Pills anymore. Don¡¯t you da¡ªagh!!¡±


    Before he could even finish speaking, the black bear in front of him struck out with a furious paw onto his body!


    He went flying in a spray of blood and gore!


    On top of the tree, Lin Dongxiao touched gently at the space ring he was holding. ¡°What a group of idiots. Do they really think this is a ¡®friendly¡¯ competition? In a place where no Soul King can enter, it¡¯s a paradise for killing. What naive idiots, it¡¯s better that they go visit the underworld sooner rather than later!¡±


    ¡°The strongest ones here are the Peak Late-stage Soul Exalts, and the strongest soulbeasts are only late-stage class six. And I¡­.I have an endless stock of soulbeast puppets¡­.¡±


    An ecstatic light entered Lin Dongxiao¡¯s eyes. ¡°Who can possibly be my opponent in here?!


    ¡°The Extreme King Pills¡­..were found by our Beast Taming School, it¡¯s only right that belongs to us!


    ¡°In here¡­.I am the strongest!!¡±

 Chapter 748: Coming One After Another

    ¡°Was this person¡­.killed by you?¡±


    Bai Yunfei calmly asked the black-robed person in front of him.


    The person stared anxiously at Bai Yunfei, choosing to stay quiet rather than answer his question. Bai Yunfei¡¯s casual neutralization of his two attacks had been more surprising than not. This person was also trying his best to figure out who Bai Yunfei was. Flipping through each and every single prodigy, the person hadn¡¯t even a single clue on who Bai Yunfei was though.


    Bai Yunfei waited for two seconds before he decided that he had enough of waiting. Speaking to himself, Bai Yunfei soliloquized, ¡°I get trying to thin out the competition sooner rather than later, but to be this vicious¡­.isn¡¯t that a bit too much?¡±


    ¡°Pah!¡± The other person overheard Bai Yunfei¡¯s words and sneered. With his grip still on his longsword, the man spoke, ¡°The prize is a treasure nearly a thousand years old. Everyone should¡¯ve realized it¡¯s kill or be killed in here a long time ago. You coddled geniuses know nothing about the savage reality of this world¡­.and spare me your high-and-mighty attitude, who cares about that? I highly doubt you''ve ever killed anyone before in your life!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was again surprised by this person¡¯s words. From what he was saying, this person had to be a wandering soul cultivator. He rarely saw people like him.


    He didn¡¯t even want to talk about morality with this person. It was just meant to be a small quip and not a debate. Ignoring the issue, Bai Yunfei closed his eyes and asked, ¡°Are you planning to kill me too?¡±


    His calm demeanor was unsettling to the other person. His eyes gleamed as they looked all around. No other person or soulbeast was there, meaning it was safe to fight. A murderous gleam entered his eyes.


    ¡°Shaa¡­.¡±


    A few meters to the left of this person, the grass there started to rustle with wind. Having been stuck in silence as he waited, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but look over to the source of the rustling¡­.


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    All at once, the aura of a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt started to blaze out from the person at once. Like a leopard leaping at its prey, the other person immediately closed the distance between him and Bai Yunfei and struck out with his sword poised to stab into Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    That wasn¡¯t the entirety of his attack. At the same time he was moving, a dozen black needles came flying out to strike at Bai Yunfei from the left!


    A nasty sneer was on the other man¡¯s face as he lashed out. He fully expected Bai Yunfei to be caught off guard by the two-pronged attack and be stunned into inaction until his death!


    But he was in the one that was stunned however. His sword stab had¡­.struck nothing but air!


    In that one moment the person took action, Bai Yunfei fell seemingly backwards to be almost parallel with the ground. He zipped backwards and then flew back onto his feet as if nothing had even happened to begin with.


    Even with the sword of the other person hitting nothing but air, its relative direction to Bai Yunfei allowed the man to continue forward. Kicking against the ground, he charged after Bai Yunfei to try to attack again with another sword stab towards him.


    ¡°Clang clang clang¡­.¡±


    As he was setting forward, the front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s person flashed orange with light. There was a series of clanging sounds as the ten needles were deflected away!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand waved while the other person was distracted, summoning a flaming object from his space ring and sending it forwards.


    Sweat pooled onto the back of the other person. If this flaming object were to fly straight into him, he wouldn¡¯t have enough time to dodge it!


    But the object flew away from him. The very next thing he saw was Bai Yunfei push his palm down towards the ground. The flaming object¡ªnow a healthy distance away¡ªcame crashing down into the ground like a miniature wall!


    A muffled thud exploded from the earth along with an equally muffled howl, but the latter was cut short after a second. Paling in the face, the man let out a mouthful of blood next!


    The howl that came from the part of the forest behind Bai Yunfei had been from his hidden soulbeast partner. Because of Bai Yunfei, the soulbeast was dead! And the death of his soulbeast partner meant a devastating blow to his soul!


    Because of how fast Bai Yunfei attacked, the other person hadn¡¯t even felt his soulbeast partner in trouble until it died. Looking back towards Bai Yunfei, the man¡¯s eyes widened and his face paled yet again!


    A flaming red spear was flying straight for his chest!


    Spooked beyond belief, the man threw himself backwards and raised his longsword up in an attempt to block the Fire-tipped Spear.


    ¡°Clang¡­.pcht!¡±


    A joyous light entered the man¡¯s eyes when he saw the spear collide with his sword. But then horror sunk in when he realized something wrong with his defense¡­.


    The Fire-tipped Spear had simply destroyed his high-earth tier crimson longsword when it collided with it. In disbelief, the man could only watch as the spear continue onward through his high-earth tier armor and out his back!


    As the life faded away from his body, the man heard one last sentence before he died.


    ¡°What you said earlier isn¡¯t wrong. In this world, it¡¯s kill or be killed¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei burned the corpses afterwards. He didn¡¯t really feel anything after he killed this person; instead, he felt a lot more ready for anything else now.


    In truth, his previous ideology of how the competition for the Extreme King Pills would be a friendly was far too optimistic. The cruel world of soul cultivators hadn¡¯t such a happy sight like that. Killing was fundamentally the fastest and best way to reap the profits, and even if he didn¡¯t want to kill anyone for the pills, he¡¯d be put on the list of being one of the first people to be killed.


    ¡°We¡¯re all representatives of the next generation of our schools. Why must we kill each other¡­.?¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed. It was a fruitless endeavor not to kill, but he had to get his mind back into the game. Calming down, he looked around the place to see what to do.


    ¡°Seems like I can¡¯t approach anyone else but friends so easily. Wonder how I¡¯m going to get back to Jing Mingfeng¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was climbing a decently-sized mountain now. He wanted to look at the surrounding area and scout for anything else that might help him.


    Suddenly, the air a kilometer above his head started to fluctuate wildly before a single person in blue appeared out from nowhere!


    This newcomer was an extremely vigilant one. Already ready for anything when he appeared, his eyes zoomed in onto Bai Yunfei the moment he was in.


    The two looked at one another, their eyebrows raised in surprised recognition before they opened their mouths to speak.


    ¡°You?!¡±


    Simultaneously. Outside the pocket in Crushed Stone River.


    The elder from the Wood School heaved a heavy sigh. ¡°Another youngster has gone in. The competitors are increasing with each wave¡­.¡±


    ¡°Already ten people have come in the last half day.¡± The elder from the Fire School nodded his head, ¡°It¡¯ll be an even higher number soon enough. There¡¯s by my estimate around a hundred people in the pocket, I wonder what¡¯s going on inside now¡­.¡±


    ¡°Fights are inevitable in there.¡± The elder from the Metal School commented, ¡°But self-preservation won¡¯t be too hard if they work together.¡±


    None of them knew that the pocket was dividing everyone the moment they entered, and that everyone was already fighting one another with the intent to kill¡­.


    The elder from the Wood School raised his head up to look at the skies, ¡°Here comes another!¡±


    Several figures came into view then, allowing each of the elders to see just who they were. ¡°The Underworld School!¡± One of the elders called out in shock.


    Seven beams of light came flying in to land on the top of the mountain on the other side of the river.


    When the light dispersed, the people from the Underworld School and Zheng Kai¡¯s group was revealed!


    Now at a stop, the two elders from the Underworld School scanned the area. They were a bit surprised to see all the Soul Kings gathered in the area, but when they saw the transparent bubble and the fluctuating ripples all around it, one of the elders cried out, ¡°The pocket¡¯s already opened! There¡¯s the entrance!¡±


    The first elder¡¯s eyes honed in on the pocket. ¡°So many Soul Kings are already here I see¡­.then have all the little Soul Exalts entered already? I wonder what¡¯s going on inside¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei¡¯s inside it!¡± Xiao Qi cried out from his perch on Long Lan¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°That must be why your connection with Yunfei got weaker then, he¡¯s inside the pocket. He must¡¯ve saw the pocket open and went in before we got here. Let¡¯s go inside ourselves then!¡± Zheng Kai suggested.


    Zheng Kai was already aware of the deal with the Extreme King Pills. Prior to their arrival here, the first elder had explained the situation with him, Xu Ran, and Han Yue. The latter two looked grim, but they nodded and followed Zheng Kai into the pocket.


    The moment the three disappeared, another beam of cyan light flew into the area like a meteor to come to a stop a decent distance away from their group.


    The first elder regarded this new beam of light with great shock, ¡°The One Azure Leaf Boat...Yun Liantian! He¡¯s here as well?!¡±

 Chapter 749: Meeting Another Friend

    This new person was someone Bai Yunfei came across once in Soulbeast Forest. One of the five wandering soul cultivators, Yun Liantian!


    It was back with the battle over the Black Dragon King. Right before his death, Yun Liantian appeared onto the battlefield and took his soulgem.


    Yun Liantian stood on top of his One Azure Leaf Boat, his robes swaying gently in the wind. The years had done nothing on his face, and he stood there with the very same vulture-like expression he had from years ago. ¡°Hah, what a lively place this is¡­.¡± He observed.


    It took him two or three glances to see the general shape of the people gathered here. The first glance was towards the pocket in front of him, ¡°It¡¯s good timing for us then. We might not have seen it the pocket opening, but it would appear the rumors of there being an Extreme King Pill is true. And if so many Soul Kings are out here, then¡­.only Soul Exalts can enter it. Go in, my disciple. Your master will wait outside.


    There was a young man in black standing right behind him. He bowed at Yun Liantian¡¯s words. Raising his head, everyone could see the dark expression on his face¡ªit was that the young boy Yun Liantian once referred to as ¡®Gui Su¡¯ back in Soulbeast Forest.


    Or perhaps it was best to say the young man now.


    On Gui Su¡¯s shoulder was a black cat the size of his palm almost with how it was curling in around his neck. If people didn¡¯t give a second look, everyone would¡¯ve thought the cat was actually a cape.


    There was an icy-cold look of determination in Gui Su¡¯s eyes. ¡°Yes, master.¡± He replied to Yun Liantian.


    He leapt off the One Azure Boat and flew straight into the pocket soon afterwards.


    Every single person in the area was only just getting over their shock at Yun Liantian¡¯s appearance. Some paled a bit, and several of the Soul Kings from the lesser factions gave shared looks of fear and concern.


    ¡°That¡¯s Yun Liantian! What¡¯s a hot-headed mad man like him doing here?!¡±


    ¡°He has a youngling with him, is that his disciple? I¡¯ve never even heard of Yun Liantian having a disciple!¡±


    A Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt¡­he¡¯s clearly here for the Extreme King Pill. This spells trouble, a disciple of that Yun Liantian can¡¯t be up to any good. Him joining in on the competition only means it¡¯s even more trouble for ours¡­.¡±


    ¡°We should be thankful it¡¯s him that came here and not Feng Jianyuan. It would¡¯ve been a bloodbath if the disciple of that person was here¡­.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing mentioning the name of that demon?! He hasn¡¯t even appeared in the last ten years or so, he might be dead even!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the most vile of the five wandering soul cultivators, how can he die that easily? I¡¯m sure he¡¯s just biding his time training somewhere. If he advances in strength again, then our world will see another bloody massacre¡­.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The disturbances happening outside the pocket went unknown to the Soul Exalts inside. They had no way of knowing what was coming in. All they could do was look for others inside the pocket, whether they be enemy competitors or friendly allies. Some were already long dead inside¡­.


    On the hillside of one part of the pocket, Bai Yunfei was currently staring down an equally surprised young man in front of him. ¡°You?!¡±


    The other person stared back. Like his robes, his hair was flowing freely in the wind. His handsome face was twisted slightly with surprise as he stared at Bai Yunfei. ¡°You?!¡± He echoed.


    A smile soon appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face afterwards. He took a small step backwards to maintain a polite distance from the other person. ¡°Long time no see, Yue Feng. It¡¯s a surprise to see you here.¡±


    This person was the one man he met once before outside Ventia City in the Northern Ridge Province, Yue Feng!


    It had been back when Bai Yunfei first left Soulbeast Forest. He was in some trouble with the house of Liu after he killed their heir. When the last wave of the Liu was out for Bai Yunfei¡¯s blood, Yue Feng had appeared to kill one of the enemies for Bai Yunfei. He had helped him out, and in a sense, the two were friends that once stood shoulder to shoulder together in a battle.


    Other than that, Yue Feng was also the disciple of Hai Dongqing, another one of the five wandering soul cultivators.


    Snapping out from his surprise, Yue Feng remarked, ¡°Bai Yunfei? It¡¯s you? Haha! Long time no see!¡±


    It was a happy occasion to meet someone he knew and was friendly with. As he was about to start reminiscing with Yue Feng, Bai Yunfei noticed him looking around himself as if searching for something.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you come with someone else?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°I did.¡± Yue Feng nodded, a little frantic. ¡°She was just right behind me, where did she go? Did she not enter the pocket? That can¡¯t be¡­.¡±


    ¡°She came in,¡± Bai Yunfei answered, ¡°but she was transported somewhere else. This place is strange. Even if we head in the same entrance with another, we¡¯ll be forcibly split apart.¡±


    ¡°What!? This pocket can do that?!¡± Yue Feng cried out, the panic on his face intensifying, ¡°This spells trouble then! It¡¯s dangerous for Yuexia to be by herself!¡±


    Bai Yunfei levelled a strange look at him, ¡°A girl? She¡¯s a Late-stage Soul Exalt or Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt right? She shouldn¡¯t be in too much trouble if she came in here then¡­.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Yue Feng clutched at his head in vexation, ¡°She¡¯s only just a Mid-stage Soul Exalt! Damn! I would¡¯ve told her to stay behind if I had known!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The danger was apparent to Bai Yunfei now. ¡°A Mid-stage Soul Exalt? Why¡¯d she come in then? Did you not know everyone fighting for the Extreme King Pills are all Late-stage Soul Exalt almost?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Yue Feng sucked in a deep breath, ¡°Yuexia has always stuck by my side since she was young. I came here with a second Late-stage Soul Exalt, but I didn¡¯t want to leave her behind by herself so we decided to take her in with us. I didn¡¯t know this would happen if I brought her in¡­.¡±


    His right hand flew up to the spot around his neck. Eyes lighting up with joy, Yue Feng cried, ¡°Oh! Han Xiong¡¯s with her!¡±


    Focused now, Yue Feng closed his eyes. ¡°I can sense him! Thank goodness¡­.I can find out where she is then!¡±


    ¡°Han Xiong?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. ¡°Brother Yue, what do you mean? How are you managing to do that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Han Xiong¡¯s my soulbeast partner. I had sister Yuexia hold onto him when we came in. Since they¡¯re together, I can sense where she is then. As long as I can find him, I can find Yuexia!¡± Yue Feng explained to Bai Yunfei. Whirling to his right, he spoke, ¡°Brother Bai, I¡¯ll be taking my leave now then, would you care to accompany me?¡±


    ¡°I was about to ask the same.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    Yue Feng leapt up into the air in an attempt to Skywalk before Bai Yunfei could warn him and subsequently tumbled back down like Bai Yunfei had when he first tried.


    Seeing the look of surprise on Yue Feng¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei spoke up, ¡°We can¡¯t Skywalk in here, brother Yue. And neither can we use flying soul armaments. We can only run.¡±


    Yue Feng clicked his tongue at Bai Yunfei¡¯s explanation, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind much. Soon enough, the two people were well on their way away¡­.

 Chapter 750: A Blocked Path

    ¡°Brother Bai, I remember you having a bird-type soulbeast before, correct? Is it not with you? And that blue-eyes wyrm¡­.did it split ways with you?¡±


    Remembering the two soulbeasts that had been with Bai Yunfei before, Yue Feng asked him about the two.


    ¡°Ah, they didn¡¯t come in with me. It¡¯s a long story, but I found myself in Crushed Stone River by accident and found the pocket. I wasn¡¯t able to wait for them and headed in first.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Yue Feng nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten quite famous, brother Bai.¡± He smiled, ¡°I heard you established the first class on crafting in the Capital¡¯s academy. How amazing.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I can¡¯t disobey my master. I didn¡¯t have anything else to do but spend some time in the Capital anyways.¡±


    ¡°Anything else to do?¡± Yue Feng¡¯s lips twitched at that. ¡°How carefree you are, brother Bai¡­.¡± he sighed.


    ¡°You¡¯re already a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt so fast. I¡¯ve trained my entire life to get to this stage, so I admit I feel quite ashamed of myself¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. Getting to where he was now was nowhere as ¡®carefree¡¯ as Yue Feng said it was.


    ¡°There¡¯s a fight over there!¡±


    Yue Feng¡¯s attention was caught by something else. He turned his head towards the right along with Bai Yunfei, who noticed the influx of elemental energy as well.


    Off in a distance a little over a kilometer away, the two of them noticed a fight taking place between Late-stage Soul Exalts. Their soulforce was heavily mixed with one another as a testament to how intense they were fighting.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a loud explosion as a bolt of purple lightning came crashing down from the skies, immediately annihilating a person!


    ¡°One of them died!¡± Yue Feng commented.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. His senses were already noticing that the survivor was already leaving the battlefield. Evidently, this survivor had already noticed Bai Yunfei and Yue Feng and was trying to escape.


    ¡°This¡­.¡± Yue Feng looked slightly breathless. ¡°This competition is a lot more harsh than I expected. The killings have already begun¡­.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s far too many people in here, it¡¯s unavoidable to have deaths occur. I¡¯ve already met one person before you, and there¡¯ll definitely be much more. Many people will die here today, I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    The anxious light in Yue Feng¡¯s eyes grew a little darker at that. ¡°Then there¡¯s no time to waste. I have to find Yuexia and Yu Li!¡±


    The two continued onwards even faster now. They traveled through a small ravine before the two seemingly came to a stop at the same time to give each other strange looks.


    ¡°Hey¡­.so people are already doing things like this¡­.I seem to recall everyone coming in here for the Extreme King Pills, why does it feel like their objective has changed?¡±


    Yue Feng shook his head with a sigh.


    Bai Yunfei had the same look on his face. ¡°I feel the same way, but thinking about that isn¡¯t going to help us. Everyone has their own way of doing things, and it seems to me that we¡¯re not in the company of a few friendlies.¡±


    A flash of cold light entered Yue Feng¡¯s eyes. ¡°Come on out!¡± He snarled, ¡°There¡¯s no need to ambush us, I don¡¯t have the time to deal with you lot!¡±


    It was quiet for a small moment, and the impatience in Yue Feng¡¯s eyes only grew more concentrated.


    Then at last, four people came out from the left and right side of Bai Yunfei and Yue Feng. And to the right of the two was a single soulbeast!


    It was an ambush!


    One of the men in blue robes stared strangely at Bai Yunfei and Yue Feng as if measuring them up to see just why they were so calm when being ambushed.


    Of the four of them, they had two Late-stage Soul Exalts and two Peak Late-stage Soul Exalts. There was also two peak late-stage class six soulbeasts.


    In the pocket where everyone was split up when they entered, how could this particular group of four not be?


    They were actually from different factions. Somehow meeting one another in the pocket, the ¡®like minded¡¯ fellows decided to band together for one common goal.


    That was what Bai Yunfei thought, anyways.


    A wrathful type of aura was radiating from each of the four. Two of them had a few scrapes and injuries on their person, meaning that they had very clearly been a part of a battle recently. Subsequently, this meant there was at least one other person to be ambushed by these four before Bai Yunfei and Yue Feng.


    These people were very evidently just like the person Bai Yunfei killed beforehand. But that person, as greedy as he was, was working by himself while these people were working in a group. In other words, this was a group of raiders.


    Perhaps it was because of how undisturbed these two males were, the four ambushers looked slightly unnerved. In order to break the stiff air that was starting to settle, a gray-robed man barked out at the two, ¡°Cut the chatter and leave behind your space rings if you know what¡¯s good for you!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll let us go if we hand over our space rings?¡± Bai Yunfei asked with interest.


    His seemingly agreeable words was a bit startling to hear, but the man only snarled in anger, ¡°As long as you don¡¯t try anything, we¡¯ll just make sure you won¡¯t be able to continue on for the Extreme King Pills! Wait here and we¡¯ll let you leave in one piece after we get the Extreme King Pills!¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but smile, not even a child would believe in their words.


    ¡°They even have two soulbeasts with them¡­.brother Bai, how many can you take on at the same time?¡±


    Compared to Bai Yunfei, Yue Feng had a slightly more stiff expression his face. He was looking at the enemies around him before whispering to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°How many can you take on?¡± Bai Yunfei asked in return.


    ¡°How about I take the one in front of us along with his soulbeast and the other person to the left?¡±


    A sliver of surprise crossed Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes at Yue Feng¡¯s conservative answer. The difference in strength between the two of them wasn¡¯t all too different from one another, and in a normal one-on-one fight, their strengths couldn¡¯t even really be compared. Excluding Bai Yunfei¡¯s circumstances, Yue Feng was the disciple of Hai Dongqing, one of the five wandering soul cultivators of the continent. If he was weak enough to be done over by one or two people of the same level as he was, then he¡¯d be a disgrace to his master¡¯s name.


    Bai Yunfei acquiesced. ¡°We split them then. That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll take the ones on the right side.¡±


    Their conversation was spoken with relative silence, but not so quiet that the others couldn¡¯t hear them. Infuriated by what they said, the gray-robed man roared, ¡°Watch yourself you damnable brats! Do you think we¡¯re going to be bea¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oh stow it! I¡¯m rushed for time as it is, let¡¯s get this over with!¡±


    Yue Feng exploded forward in a burst of violet light, cutting the other man off mid-sentence. Disappearing from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, Yue feng dashed to the Late-stage Soul Exalt twenty meters to the left with a punch aimed at his eye.


    ¡°Bang! Ahh!!¡±


    There was a howl of pain as the person was blown backwards. He smashed against one tree, snapping and breaking through it to continue onwards through another three trees. He tumbled onto the ground for a few meters before coming to a stop where he remained unmoving.


    He was knocked out.


    Everyone was stunned by Yue Feng¡¯s actions other than Bai Yunfei. They looked at Yue Feng as if they had just seen a ghost, their eyes wide open with shock.


    Instant knockout!


    Yue Feng had completely neutralized a Late-stage Soul Exalt before the person could even finish speaking!


    He was already moving onto the gray-robed person before anyone else even realized it. His feet now a blur, Yue Feng was already halfway to the person.


    ¡°Brother Bai, the sooner the better!¡±


    At the same time as Bai Yunfei and Yue Feng were fighting in another section of a forest an indeterminable distance away.


    ¡°Xiao Xiong, are you sure brother Yue Feng is in this direction? We¡¯ve already walked a long time and still haven¡¯t seen anyone?¡±


    A crystalline-like voice broke the silence in the forest. Several rustling sounds echoed in the forest as a large shadowy figure emerged out from behind the trees.


    This shadowy figure was a two meter tall brown bear!


    The brown bear surveyed the area around it like how a human would. Turning towards one direction, it growled twice as if calling out to someone.


    Behind this brown bear was a comparatively small figure in blue. It was a young female in, roughly twenty-four in age maybe. She had a rosy-white skin tone that complimented her large eyes and ovallish face. In those eyes, a hint of anxiety was reflected in them as they darted around the place. In her arms was a small white cute-looking ferret.


    Bai Yunfei had seen this young woman before. It was back in Ventia City where the two shared the same restaurant despite not actually talking to one another. She was Nangong Yuexia, the one Yue Feng was looking for.

 Chapter 751: Li Yuchun

    The ¡®Xiao Xiong¡¯ Nangong Yuexia was referring to was anything but ¡®small¡¯. This giant brown bear is the Yue Feng¡¯s contracted soulbeast partner.


    TL Note: Xiao means small/little. A common prefix to pets/nicknames.


    It was a late-stage class six brown bear with an affinity for both lightning and earth. It wasn¡¯t capable of human speech, but its intelligence was top notch and comparable to that of humans. It had been shrunk to a miniature-sized version of itself prior to them entering the pocket. Since they were all split up, the bear saw fit to it changing into the size it was now to guide Nangong Yuexia towards the direction of Yue Feng.


    The bear took a few steps deeper into the forest before it stopped. Vigilantly, it looked around with bared fangs and a guttural growl.


    ¡°Eh? Xiao Xiong, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Nangong Yuexia stopped as well. Her eyes lit up, ¡°Did you find out where brother Yue Feng and senior Yu Li are?!¡± She speculated.


    Something was wrong with that hope though. Her eyes narrowed right afterwards, ¡°But¡­.I don¡¯t sense their auras¡­.eh? Are¡­.are people fighting over there?!¡±


    As fragile as she seemed, this young woman was still a Mid-stage Soul Exalt in strength. Spreading her soulsense outwards, she started to look at the battle taking place several hundred meters away.


    ¡°Shhh¡­...shhhh¡­..¡±


    The sounds of the trees and bushes rustling could be heard as someone ran through the forest. It was a panicked type of run from what Nangong Yuexia could sense, and whoever it was, they were running in her direction.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s coming! Who is it?¡±


    Nangong Yuexia looked worried. Inching closely to the brown bear for protection, she held the white ferret to her tightly for comfort. The ferret¡¯s ears perked upwards as it stared at the same direction Nangong Yuexia was, its eyes as vigilant as the brown bear¡¯s.


    It squirmed out from Nangong Yuexia¡¯s embrace to stand on top of her left shoulder. Fur bristling, the ferret started to growl.


    ¡°Gr¡­..¡±


    The brown bear growled several octaves lower then, brown light leaking from its giant frame. Like the ferret, its hair was standing up on its ends and the bear¡¯s claws were looking sharp and ready for combat.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A golden beam of light shot forth from twenty meters away. Within this light, a thirty-something year old man could be seen running away as if his life depended on it. His face was deathly-white and his hair a frazzled mess. The golden energy around his person was fluctuating wildly as if out of control, but the most important thing was his left arm.


    It was¡­..gone beneath the left elbow!


    His entrance into the vicinity of Nangong Yuexia took him slightly to the left of her. His eyes widened with joy when he saw her, relief flooding his systems at the thought of being saved. He deviated from his original flight path to head for her, ¡°Save me!¡± He pleaded with all the hope he could muster.


    ¡°Please save me!! There¡¯s someone that¡¯s going to ki¡ª¡±


    Something blew open his chest before he could finish. His head bent down to look at it. Horrified, the man¡¯s eyes slowly started to fade in light before he fell to the ground just ten meters away from Nangong Yuexia. He was dead.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    A high-pitched scream came forth from Nangong Yuexia. Her pace, already slightly pale with anxiety, drained of blood almost immediately. Her hands, shaking now with fear, flew to her mouth to hide her scream. And her eyes, wide open in shock, stared at the corpse in front of her.


    A pool of blood was already forming around the corpse, especially where the hole was in his chest. Based on the size and shape of the hole, Nangong Yuexia could determine that it was about the shape of a fist!


    Right before this person was killed, Nangong Yuexia saw a black ball of some kind fly straight through his chest and produce the hole and killing the man!


    The black ball flew away from Nangong Yuexia after it killed the first person. Affected by gravity, the ball fell to the ground and left behind an insanely deep hole¡­.


    ¡°How¡­.how¡­.how did he die?!¡±


    The events that had led up to the death of this man in front of her had nearly been far too fast for Nangong Yuexia to see, and she still couldn¡¯t really determine what it was exactly.


    ¡°Shh¡­..shhhh¡­..¡±


    Several more rustling sounds. Someone was walking towards her. Far more calmly than the first person though. It was a casual jaunt with naught any fear.


    A single person dressed in black and violet robes emerged from behind the bushes in the same direction the first male came from. He was a young skinny man with a tall nose and thin lips. His eyes were fiercely-lit with a light that screamed out the intentions of an unkind person. This man spelt trouble.


    This person was one of the people Jing Mingfeng told Bai Yunfei about before. In the Westward River Province lived one of the Five Families, the house of Li. This person is Li Yuchun!


    The first thing he did was look at the corpse of the man in front of him before shifting directions to Nangong Yuexia.


    His eyebrows lifted up in surprise. ¡°A Mid-stage Soul Exalt?¡±


    Then he looked towards the hostile brown bear next to her. ¡°And this soulbeast isn¡¯t very weak¡­.¡±


    ¡°Who¡­.who are you?¡±


    Nangong Yuexia asked, her voice practically a whisper.


    ¡°That¡¯s not for you to know.¡± Li Yuchun replied. ¡°Because¡­.you¡¯ll be a corpse in just a moment!¡±


    His words were chilling to the bone to hear. Bringing his right hand up, he pointed his index finger at Nangong Yuexia and fired a beam of black light out from it. It formed a fist-sized sphere of black light as soon as it left his fingers and flew towards Nangong Yuexia with blinding speed!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The brown bear had sensed Li Yuchun¡¯s hostile aura at once. Roaring furiously in response, it slammed its right foot down onto the ground. A giant boulder flew up in between the sphere and Nangong Yuexia to protect her. Not ending things there, the bear swept the girl into its arms and took off towards the right.


    Only a second had passed since the two sides sprung into action. The black ball of light soon came into contact with the giant boulder, but rather than collide with it, the black sphere had simply¡­.gone straight through the boulder. Although it emerged from the other size a little smaller, the ball of light continued onwards to hit a tree from behind where Nangong Yuexia used to be standing in.


    Nangong Yuexia¡¯s eyes flickered from the boulder to the tree as she was being carried away by the bear. From both where the ball had hit the boulder and the tree, a hole the size of the ball was in its place!


    ¡°This¡­..¡± Nangong Yuexia¡¯s face paled drastically, ¡°You¡¯re a space-type soul cultivator!¡±


    She announced this to Li Yuchun, but her eyes widened even more when she realized another important fact¡­.he wasn¡¯t standing there any longer!


    The shadow of a person flew up behind her then. Li Yuchun had appeared out of nowhere with a jet-black blade in his right hand to slash unmercilessly at the head of Nangong Yuexia!


    ¡°Shnk!!¡±


    The sound of something sharp tearing through flesh was heard as blood sprinkled everywhere. Shocked, Li Yuchun drew his sword back and looked down at the purple claws that had scraped past his chest.


    He looked down at the wounds on his chest first before back to the brown bear, whose body was now glowing purple. ¡°So a soulbeast with an affinity for both lightning and thunder, no wonder you¡¯re a fast one¡­..¡± He remarked begrudgingly.


    ¡°Xiao Xiong, are you okay?!¡± Nangong Yuexia saw the blood sprinkling down from the bear¡¯s left arm. She was alarmed. Though the brown bear had managed to repel Li Yuchun, its arm was equally hurt.


    She turned back to Li Yuchun with a face as red as a tomato, furious at the situation she and the bear was in. ¡°You¡ª! What kind of person are you?! Why are you attacking us for no reason! I¡¯m telling you, my master¡­.my master is Mu Yanling!!¡±


    ¡°Mu Yanling!?¡±


    There had been a sneer on Li Yuchun¡¯s face when he first regarded her and the bear. But when he heard the name ¡®Mu Yanling¡¯, his face drew blank with shock.


    Nangong Yuexia¡¯s teeth gritted together at his reaction. Determined to act, she flew through several complicated hand seals. Light as blue as the ocean burst out from her body to spread into the surrounding area. And soon, the entire area was reflecting that same color before it contracted in on itself with Li Yuchun as the target!


    The pigmentation of the blue light intensified as it condensed. Reaching half the diameter in less than a second, the light was already a very sapphire blue in color. It started to swirl around to form a two-meter tall and one-meter wide ball of water with Li Yuchun inside!


    In no time at all, Nangong Yuexia had trapped Li Yuchun inside her attack!


    ¡°Let¡¯s run, Xiao Xiong!!¡±


    She didn¡¯t bother to continue attacking after she finished the ¡®Water Prison Technique¡¯ and immediately made plans to run away!


    She knew this person wasn¡¯t someone she could fight and win against. Even with the brown bear and ferret, Nangong Yuexia had a very slim chance of success! This person was a space-type soul cultivator! Battles against such people were intensely difficult to win against since no elemental energy was enough to overcome the difference between them. The space element¡­.didn¡¯t fall under the ¡®five elements¡¯ system!


    A wind-type soul cultivator could win against another wind-type soul cultivator if their wind blade was a lot stronger than the other. But¡­.if a space-type soul cultivator attacked, the collision of any elemental energy would by default be swallowed up by space, making such attacks ¡®unblockable¡¯!


    She knew in her heart how terrifying battles with a space-type soul cultivator was, hence why Nangong Yuexia was so quick to use her master¡¯s name. By taking advantage in the shock of the other person, she used a soul skill to stall for time and make her escape in hopes she could borrow the brown bear¡¯s speed to get away from this person.


    The brown bear wasn¡¯t slow to pick up on her plan. Lifting her to its shoulder, the brown bear took off in a bright beam of violet light towards the direction of Yue Feng¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Droplets of water flew everywhere as the Water Prison Technique burst apart from the inside. A drenched Li Yuchun swung his wet hair to behind his shoulders to look at the escaping three beings with a small look of astonishment.


    ¡°Haha¡­..what a plan that girl had¡­.the disciple of Mu Yanling eh? That¡¯s a bit of trouble¡­..


    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± He chuckled, ¡°you¡¯re going to die anyways!!¡±


    His right foot kicked off against the ground to disappear from his original standing position. He reappeared another hundred meters away before repeating his previous action to speed towards Nangong Yuexia!

 Chapter 752: One Against Many

    Back in the small ravine, Bai Yunfei and Yue Feng were still battling the people ambushing them. Despite the superiority of their strengths, getting rid of these people wasn¡¯t as easy as a snap of the fingers. The enemies were after all either Late-stage Soul Exalts or Peak Late-stage Soul Exalts in strength. People who managed to make it this far are all people with a large amount of experience gained from battle. In situations where life and death was split only by one small line, experience was a huge deciding factor.


    Yue Feng had only managed to get rid of the Late-stage Soul Exalt because of the element of surprise. After the battle had truly begun, Yue Feng was busy juggling the gray-robed man and his soulbeast partner. Bai Yunfei had to deal with two other soul cultivators and a soulbeast by himself.


    It didn¡¯t take long to see that Bai Yunfei and Yue Feng had the upper hand in the battle despite having the fewer numbers. Whether it was in their movement, defense, or offense, they were beyond any of the enemies. In just twenty minutes, the two were hardly injured while the others were more than lightly injured.


    ¡°Damn! Who are these guys? How are they so strong?!¡±


    The gray-robed man cried out as he lashed out with a punch onto Yue Feng¡¯s shoulder. It collided and knocked Yue Feng back, but then he was struck with an elbow and sent flying away several meers. If not for his soulbeast partner attacking from the side, he would¡¯ve been struck by Yue Feng¡¯s leg to the face. Steadying himself, the man watched as his soulbeast partner tried its best to attack Yue Feng with a pained expression.


    His soulbeast partner was is a luminous tiger. As a metal-type soulbeast, it was capable of producing eye-blinding light that made visibility almost impossible. Offense and defense wise, the tiger was very strong, and whenever Yue Feng landed a leg or fist onto it, there was always something akin to a metallic clang from its skin.


    There was an annoyed look on Yue Feng¡¯s face as he fought with the tiger. He had wanted to finish this battle in a hurry, but he had yet to actually finish off anyone else. Nearly half an hour had already passed since the battle began, and his patience was running thin. Murderous with annoyance, Yue Feng was no longer willing to try and just knock out these people. In order to get to Nangong Yuexia and Yu Li sooner rather than later, he¡¯d simply use his soul skill to kill these people.


    ¡°Eh?!¡¯


    His eyes widened as if sensing something. Head snapping off into a random direction, Yue Feng¡¯s face paled with anxiety!


    ¡°Crap!!! Yuexia¡¯s in trouble!!¡±


    Yue Feng¡¯s face was of fright and anxiety as he communicated with the brown bear through their soul bond. The warning signals he was getting from it was telling him that Nangong Yuexia was with the brown bear, and that they were both in danger!


    He hadn¡¯t any signal from the bear before that they were in danger, so Yue Feng hadn¡¯t been too worried beforehand. But now that this was the case, Yue Feng was more worried than before. And because of that worry, he inadvertently let himself open to an attack!


    Realizing his chance, the gray-robed man leapt forward. A golden sword appeared in his hand for him to lash at Yue Feng¡¯s head. The tiger roared and pounced to attack at that spot as well!


    ¡°Yue Feng!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had Yue Feng in his sights due to their positioning, so he was in prime position to see what was going on, and to call out a warning in advance to him.


    ¡°Clang!! Tzzzzzkt¡­¡±


    There was the sound of metal hitting metal and fabric being torn as Yue Feng bolted into action. Bai Yunfei¡¯s warning had given him enough time to bring out a dazzling violet sword to block the other sword and leap out of the way just in time to dodge the tiger¡¯s claws.


    He hadn¡¯t managed to dodge the claws completely. The fabric on the back of his robes was torn to shreds and sparks were sent flying as the tiger¡¯s claws raked against the armor underneath. Yue Feng wasn¡¯t hurt, but the blow was enough to send him away several steps with a pale face. The claws had done a number on him with the concussive force.


    ¡°Bastard, you can f*ck off now!!¡±


    Furious at the state he was in, Yue Feng waved his right hand with furious aplomb and a burning gaze!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    A clap of thunder and a violet bolt of lightning struck the sword Yue Feng was holding. Raising the sword, he sliced across the body of the luminous tiger!


    ¡°Aooo!!¡±


    A pained howl echoed through the ravine as the tiger was surrounded by a net of violet lightning. A scorch mark was on the right side of its waist as it started to roll around the ground!


    ¡°Brother Bai! Something¡¯s happening over there, I have to hurry over!¡±


    Not even caring for the gray-robed person or the tiger after he struck it, Yue Feng turned to Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei was at that time slamming a fist onto a Late-stage Soul Exalt sneaking behind him. Swinging his Flameblade Bracer, he the other soul cultivator and soulbeast on his right away from him and glanced over to Yue Feng. He nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fine. You go ahead, I¡¯ll take care of these people.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! Be careful now then!¡±


    Even as nervous as he was, Yue Feng nodded in thanks to Bai Yunfei. Now with a new goal, Yue Feng turned away from the people there and took off towards the other side of the ravine, traveling fast enough that not even his person could be seen.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    All the enemies were a little stunned to see him go. Most of them had already given up almost on winning against the two and were in the middle of considerations if they should run away or not when Yue Feng decided to ¡®abandon¡¯ his comrade and leave.


    This was a chance for them! The despair that had previously been in their eyes were now replaced with hope.


    They didn¡¯t really know what was going on, but only one person was left now! They had a chance to win!


    The luminous tiger was only just rising back to its feet now. Ready to fight once again, the gray-robed man¡¯s eyes lit up with determination. He glanced over to his two other comrade without hesitation, ¡°Kill him!!¡±


    The three Soul Exalts and two class six soulbeasts all leapt towards Bai Yunfei in one great attempt to kill him!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand was a blur as he shook it. Having previously been fighting empty-handedly, Bai Yunfei took out the Fire-tipped Spear and the Cataclysmic Seal.


    ¡°Well¡­.it¡¯s about time for me to show my actual skill. I wanted to ask a few questions, but forget it¡­.time to finish this!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Towards the north side of the ravine in between two giant stones, a single figure was standing behind one of them to stare through the cracks at Bai Yunfei as he fought the five, a maliciously happy smile on his face.


    ¡°Hehe¡­.so we meet again here¡­.Fight then! Fight until you¡¯re both exhausted and ready to collapse! I¡¯ll be the one to end your life afterwards!!¡±

 Chapter 753: A Hero Saving the Maiden

    Nangong Yuexia was right now in the middle of her escape. She was holding tightly onto the large leg of the brown bear from their position in a large expanse of grass, her teeth biting nervously into her cherry-red lips. Under her palms on the brown bear, a devastating wound could be seen! The muscles and flesh around this bone-deep wound were slowly pulsating as if it was trying to regenerate the missing chunk!


    The brown bear had a dispirited look on its face. Aside from the wound on its right leg, the rest of the bear¡¯s body had injuries all over, sprinkling the grass and ground with drops of blood.


    Right next to Nangong Yuexia¡¯s foot was the loveable-looking white ferret. Like the bear, the ferret was heavily injured with one part of its fur gone. Ice was the only thing keeping the wound in stasis as it tried to use its soulforce to heal its wounds.


    Nangong Yuexia had blood on her person as well, but the majority of it belonged to the brown bear. There was a relatively deep wound on both her waist and right shoulder, but not enough to be debilitating. Also on her left shoulder was another wound where blood was still flowing down from.


    ¡°Clack, clack¡­.¡±


    The close sounds of footsteps caused Nangong Yuexia¡¯s face to pale. Whipping her head towards the source, she looked to where a shadow was just coming into view with a look of dread.


    Li Yuchun was moving slowly towards her with a small smile on his face. His robes were a little messy-looking, but he himself was unharmed. His right hand was still holding onto the black sword from before with droplets of blood still hanging on the tip.


    ¡°I admit, I¡¯m a little astonished at how far you managed to run, but I¡¯ve no interest in playing this game of cat-and-mouse anymore. I¡¯ll let you die a quick death¡­¡±


    He brandished his sword as he spoke. Cutting at the air, a beam of black light emerged from the blade and flew a hundred meters away to strike at Nangong Yuexia!


    ¡°Gr¡­.¡±


    The brown bear looked flustered. Trying its best to force its soulforce to cooperate with it, the bear was trying its hardest to ignore the wounds it had. From its soulbond with Yue Feng, it could tell that Yue Feng wasn¡¯t too far away. They just needed to hold out for just a little longer and help would soon be here!


    But the attack coming at Nangong Yuexia was quick, and in no time at all it was already coming very close to where they were!


    ¡°Bang¡­.¡±


    The spatial attack sent by Li Yuchun came to a stop just fifty meters away from Nangong Yuexia. Something had crashed into it and reduced the attack into a wisp of black energy to quickly fade away into the atmosphere!


    ¡®Now now¡­.frightening a young miss like this so badly is an act far too unbecoming of a man¡­¡±


    A faint voice spoke from behind Nangong Yuexia, prompting her to turn her head. Right behind her was a young man in white who quickly stepped past her to stand in front and shield her from Li Yuchun.


    This young man had a straight back and a tall figure. His hair was fair and his face handsome. Held in his hand was a single black folding fan that made him look all the more gentlemanly.


    Who else could this be but Zheng Kai?!


    ¡°Zheng Kai?!¡±


    Li Yuchun realized as soon as his attack was defeated. The expression on his face seemed to change slightly for the worse at his entrance. It wasn¡¯t a too drastic of a change where he was afraid of Zheng Kai, but he did look at the very least surprised enough to see him here that he called out his name.


    Zheng Kai was a little surprised as well at being called out like that. He looked closely at Li Yuchun for a moment to see just who this person was before finally breaking out in a smile.


    ¡°I know who you are, you¡¯re brother Li from the house of Li in the Westward River Province, aren¡¯t you? So you¡¯ve come to this place as well.¡±


    These two people knew each other!


    That wasn¡¯t all that strange though. It was totally normal for youngsters of the same generation to know someone else from one of the Five Families. The two had seen each other many times before, but it didn¡¯t seem like they liked each other very much.


    The current head of the Li had only one son, and that son is Li Yuchun, a youngster who was a little older than Zheng Kai but was weaker than the eldest brother of Zheng Kai, Zheng Cheng. Still, he had plenty of cousins¡ªone of which was a Soul King who was a little older than Zheng Cheng was. So in terms of generational hierarchy, the house of Li was slightly beneath that of the Zheng, but that was only on the surface. The reality of things was slightly different¡­..


    Not only was Li Yuchun just a little bit older than Zheng Kai, he was also a space-type soul cultivator, though that didn¡¯t mean the two were particularly friendly with one another. The two were rivals since their first meeting, and their last meeting had been just three years ago.


    ¡°Don¡¯t poke your nose where it doesn¡¯t belong!¡± Li Yuchun sneered at the smiling Zheng Kai.


    His sword became a blur for a moment as he sent another spatial attack at Zheng Kai. This spatial attack wasn¡¯t really meant to do damage onto Zheng Kai, but to go beyond him and hopefully hit Nangong Yuexia behind him.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Zheng Kai flourished the fan in his hand, a spatial attack of his own coming out to strike at the one incoming. Like before, the two attacks struck each other and was canceled out to become just wisps of black energy.


    The fan Zheng Kai used wasn¡¯t something he used to just make himself look nice. It was a very powerful space-type soul armament.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to have a chance like this to save a maiden, how could I just the chance slip away?¡± Zheng Kai smiled calmly at Li Yuchun. ¡°Now that I¡¯m here, I can¡¯t just simply stand aside and let this pretty little miss be killed by you. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re doing all of this to reduce the amount of competitors for the Extreme King Pills and not for revenge of some kind, so let¡¯s call it quits here. Do you really think a Mid-stage Soul Exalt like her is going to be a threat for a Late-stage Soul Exalt like you?¡±


    Li Yuchun sent a glowering glare at Zheng Kai. ¡°I said¡­.don¡¯t poke your nose where it doesn¡¯t belong!¡± He spat one word at a time.


    Zheng Kai closed his eyes, the smile finally dropping form his lips. He took in a deep breath and sent a cold glare in return at Li Yuchun, ¡°If you¡¯re going to be like this, then so be it. Shall we fight then?¡±


    He turned back to look at Nangong Yuexia, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be running away now, young miss?¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡±


    Not expecting to be spoken to, Nangong Yuexia looked strangely at Zheng Kai, ¡°I¡­.you¡­.¡±


    Zheng Kai held his palm up to stop her, ¡°No need to mince words. Just go. I¡¯ll worry if you stick around.¡±


    That¡¯s when it really hit Nangong Yuexia with what was going on.


    This stranger was truly trying to save her! Her large eyes blinked once in uncertainty before she bit her lips. She scooped the ferret into her arms and whispered something into the ears of the brown bear. Right in front of his own eyes, Zheng Kai watched as the bear turned into a miniature-sized version of its older self before the girl took it into her arms.


    With both animals in her hands, she stood up and bowed to Zheng Kai. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Then without hesitation, she turned away and ran off.


    When she was just a hundred meters away, a second figure popped out just twenty meters behind her to lash out with a sword strike onto her¡ªit was Li Yuchun!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    His sword struck Zheng Kai¡¯s fan mid-stroke. Zheng Kai had moved in between the two before Li Yuchun could fully attack Nangong Yuexia!


    ¡°I don¡¯t get this chance everyday to save a maiden. How could you possibly try to stop me from being successful?¡±


    Zheng Kai smiled. He pushed outwards with his right arm, forcing the longsword in Li Yuchun¡¯s hand away before he lashed out with a left punch at Li Yuchun¡¯s face!

 Chapter 754: Battle Between the Space-types

    The fact that Zheng Kai had blocked his attack for a third time infuriated Li Yuchun. In all honesty, he hadn¡¯t even really cared about if Nangong Yuexia died or not, otherwise he would¡¯ve killed her earlier in his pursuit rather than delay. But now that Zheng Kai was sticking his nose in where it didn¡¯t belong, he couldn¡¯t give up now. To do that would be to symbolize he was listening to Zheng Kai, and by extension that meant he was afraid of Zheng Kai.


    Both these thoughts were unbearable to have.


    He didn¡¯t particularly want to fight Zheng Kai either. Already twice had he attempted to try and kill Nangong Yuexia, but the damnably determined Zheng Kai was there to stop him both times and save the girl. Not only was he saving this girl, he was also allowing him the first step in every exchange!


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to bicker with you, but if you keep getting in my way then I won¡¯t show you any mercy!¡±


    That was what Li Yuchun was currently thinking.


    Zheng Kai¡¯s incoming left punch was met by a left hand of Li Yuchun. The two hands collided with one another and brought Li Yuchun a half-step backwards. From their positions, Li Yuchun was forced to look at the face of Zheng Kai, and Li Yuchun looked all the more disgusted by the face of his. With each second that passed, Li Yuchun¡¯s killing intent increased in intensity!


    ¡°Go die!!¡±


    Li Yuchun spat out the two words and twisted his longsword to pull the sword back to slice at Zheng Kai¡¯s head!


    ¡°Hey there, what¡¯s all this about dying? You¡¯re far too violent.¡±


    Zheng Kai bantered with a faint smile, though his reaction was brutally swift. He pulled his left hand back and kicked off against the ground to get away from the path of the sword.


    The sword missed Zheng Kai by inches, but from the tip of the sword a beam of black energy was already shooting out to cross that short distance to strike down Zheng Kai!


    Zheng Kai¡¯s pupils narrowed at the sight. His retreat took him to only just ten meters away before his momentum died. Concentrating on his soulforce, Zheng Kai swiftly disappeared from sight before the black energy could hit him!


    The blade of black energy continued to fly onwards beyond where Zheng Kai used to be. It flew a little longer before disappearing away from sight, failing to do its job of hitting Zheng Kai.


    Li Yuchun was fully focused on trying to locate Zheng Kai as soon as he disappeared. Sensing something to his right, he snapped his head there just in time to see Zheng Kai appear just ten meters away!


    Zheng made an exaggerated motion with his hand as if to wipe the sweatdrop away from his forehead. ¡°Hey, are you serious?!¡± He grumbled. ¡°If I was any slower with my reaction you would¡¯ve been able to scoop my brains out with a ladle!¡±


    His eyes floated over to the direction Nangong Yuexia was escaping to. The person in question was already gone from sight, drawing a smile from Zheng Kai at his accomplishment.


    That expression infuriated Li Yuchun even more. Nangong Yuexia wasn¡¯t even an issue of contention for him anymore. His anger was fully focused on Zheng Kai. Drawing all his soulforce in his body, Li Yuchun prepared himself to fight with all he had.


    ¡°This is my best time to kill him. No one will know who did it if I hide his body here!¡±


    He glared at Zheng Kai. He was determined to kill Zheng Kai in this pocket!


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Zheng Kai turned his gaze back towards Li Yuchun, the aura coming from the other male catching his attention. Noticing the look being given to him, Zheng Kai gasped. ¡°Hey hey! Don¡¯t tell me...you¡¯re really trying to kill me?¡±


    In response to Zheng Kai¡¯s question, Li Yuchun struck out with his sword thrice to form three separate blades of spatial energy towards Zheng Kai¡¯s direction!


    The largest difference between an attack of spatial energy and elemental energy was the fact that there normally wouldn¡¯t be a bright display of light from a spatial attack as was normal from elemental-based attacks. Spatial energy generally formed distortions that¡¯d rip through the air without sound and be generally empty of elements. The only noticeable thing about it would be the spatial energy¡¯s flight path.


    No longer smiling to focus on the battle, Zheng Kai focused in on the three spatial attacks coming at him. His legs pushed against the ground to take him towards the right, and then he disappeared from sight again!


    He reappeared twenty meters away with the same inertia as when he first was dodging the three spatial attacks.


    Teleportation was a skill that space-type soul cultivators employed most.


    But no sooner did Zheng Kai reappear did his face blanch slightly. His right hand flew up with his fan to shield his head from attack above.


    Li Yuchun had at some point appeared above him to attack with his sword!


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    There was another clash of metal and sparks as the black sword landed on top of the fan.


    ¡°Chhh¡­.¡±


    In the quick moment the two weapons clashed against one another, the black sword twisted just ever-so-slightly to make it away from the fan to strike at the right hand of Zheng Kai!


    Zheng Kai swiftly pulled his hand back, but Li Yuchun¡¯s attack had been swift to transition into a slash to aim at his unprotected right shoulder!


    As fast as Li Yuchun was, his attack failed to hit anything with Zheng Kai once again teleporting ten meters away.


    A look of surprise was finally on Zheng Kai¡¯s face, since Li Yuchun was nowhere in sight when he looked up! Eyes-widening, Zheng Kai gritted his teeth and teleported away again.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Just scant milliseconds after he teleported, Li Yuchun¡¯s sword appeared in the position where he was once standing.


    Zheng Kai appeared again another twenty meters away, but Li Yuchun was already gone from sight just as quickly as he had disappeared!


    This time, Zheng Kai whirled around instead of teleporting away. The fan disappeared from his hand in favor of a dagger to strike at seemingly nothing.


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    A person materialized into sight from where Zheng Kai struck out, revealing the figure of Li Yuchun. Somehow, Zheng Kai had deduced where Li Yuchun would strike from and attacked first. Much to Li Yuchun¡¯s surprise, he had to pull his sword back to protect his chest from a dagger strike.


    Capitalizing on his chance, Zheng Kai aimed a kick onto Li Yuchun¡¯s stomach. The kick failed to hit anything though with Li Yuchun simply teleporting away.


    Zheng Kai didn¡¯t pull his foot back. His other foot pivoted around on the ground to spin his body and leg around to kick at the position behind him.


    ¡°Bang!¡± This time, there was collision as Zheng Kai¡¯s foot slammed into Li Yuchun¡¯s body. It had been a solid blow where his sweeping leg hit the right arm of Li Yuchun. Li Yuchun stumbled backwards a step or two, but he was ultimately unharmed.


    The fan was once again back in Zheng Kai¡¯s hand as he sent two spatial attacks towards Li Yuchun to take advantage of his distracted moment!


    In the moment before the two attacks could collide with Li Yuchun, the person disappeared from sight and reappeared another twenty meters away.


    ¡­¡­


    The exchange between Li Yuchun and Zheng Kai was stop and go with their attacks forcing the other to teleport from place to place, making for what seemed to be a very dazzling fight.


    A battle between space-type soul cultivators didn¡¯t really emphasis the factor of ¡®speed¡¯, or ¡®trajectory¡¯. It emphasized attacks that couldn¡¯t be blocked and teleportation.


    ¡°Haha! This is a battle I like, again!!¡±


    There was an excited glow from Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes as he again charged at Li Yuchun to attack!


    ¡°Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    ¡°Bang! Bang¡­.¡±


    The area was filled with the sounds of fist hitting fist and leg hitting leg. Every so often, the metallic clang of weapons could be heard, but only every so often. The two fighters were like apparitions with how they were disappearing and reappearing in random areas of the field. They disappeared when one person appeared, and appeared when another person disappeared. Every time they clashed with either their fists or weapons, they would disappeared shortly afterwards again only to clash again in another place. Their soulforce was completely all over the place as they unleashed one spatial attack after another.


    The two were comparable in strength and were both of the same affinity. In this strange battle, just what would the outcome possibly look like?

 Chapter 755: Battle In the Middle of the Small Ravine

    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    A person on fire flew ten meters into the air after having been struck. He came flying through a boulder before finally down onto the ground, spent in both momentum and energy to even consider getting back up to fight.


    The man had been punched a flaming fist from Bai Yunfei. He drew his right hand back to step half a step backwards just in time to dodge a tiger claw poised at his chest. His left hand drew the Fire-tipped Spear up to stop the gray-robed man from stabbing him with his sword from his left.


    He punched outwards with his right hand, slamming it into the tiger right on its waist and drawing a pained roar from it before he sent it flying away. Not even drawing his hand back this time, Bai Yunfei swung it to the side to block a blade of wind with the Flameblade Bracer. The attack bounced uselessly off from the bracer before he kicked off the ground.


    His leap upwards into the air hadn¡¯t been fast enough to prevent something from slamming into his back. Rather than do any harm to him, the blow merely aided Bai Yunfei in his leap up to go a few dozen meters. He landed softly on the ground and turned to stare at the remaining two soul cultivators and two soulbeasts.


    A minute had gone by since Yue Feng left Bai Yunfei to deal with the five soul cultivators and two soulbeasts, and in that time, Bai Yunfei had managed to only just deal with one of the Late-stage Soul Exalts. Not only had he managed to do so while dodging the fierce attacks of the other four, Bai Yunfei had also managed to break out from their encapturing after the deed.


    The gray-robed man was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt and his soulbeast a late-stage class six luminous tiger. There was also a stout man in green robes that that was a wind-type Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt with his late-stage class six four-armed wind ape. The blow Bai Yunfei last experienced on his back had been when the wind ape slammed one of its fists onto his back. His armor had nullified most of the damage by dissipating the concussive force in the punch and neutralizing the elemental wind from messing with his internals. All that was left by the end of the punch was just a light jolt that merely served to push Bai Yunfei away more than hurt.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­.strong! How is he this strong? Just how many soul armaments does he have?!¡±


    A look of disbelief was on the gray-robed man¡¯s face. He hadn¡¯t a single clue that fighting Bai Yunfei would end up like this. In just that one minute of battle, Bai Yunfei had fought with a level of skill far beyond what the group expected from a lone person. None of their attacks even seemed to make a dent onto Bai Yunfei with how he was punching them or blocking with his arms. Even worse, he was essentially shrugging everything off like how he simply allowed a single blow to hit his back to aid his escape. The worse they managed to do to Bai Yunfei was ruin his clothes.


    And that was when the gray-robed man could see Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Both sides of Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms and hands had defensive covers on them, and when he took a closer look at them, the man realized that the grade of each of the four soul armaments were at least high-earth tier in quality!


    ¡°Impossible! Is he¡­.is everything he¡¯s wearing heaven-tier?!¡±


    The man¡¯s lips twitched and spasmed in disbelief at what he was seeing and thinking.


    ¡°He¡¯s just a brat relying on his high-leveled soul armaments to fight us! I doubt he¡¯s really strong enough to defeat all four of us! Attack him all at once! Don¡¯t attack where he¡¯s wearing a soul armament! If we kill him¡­.then all of his soul armaments is ours!¡±


    There was a tint of hesitation as he spoke. He gritted his teeth and spurred his soulforce into the golden longsword in his right hand, extending the blade another meter in length with light. Settling into an offensive stance, the man prepared to launch a soul skill.


    The eyes of the other man lit up at his words. He nodded and prepared to attack Bai Yunfei with all he had.


    The two soulbeasts growled menacingly, prepared to tear Bai Yunfei to shreds.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head was turned in the direction Yue Feng disappeared to. He couldn¡¯t even sense his aura anymore, which by extension meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up if he didn¡¯t finish up soon. He turned his head back towards the gray-robed man when he heard his shout, but not before casting a quick glance to the right a moment before.


    ¡°Forget it¡­.no point in being merciful. It¡¯s a battle of life or death, so I shouldn¡¯t be holding back either. I don¡¯t really have time to be messing with these people¡­.¡±


    For the first time since the battle begun, killing intent began to leak from Bai Yunfei¡¯s person. From the Cataclysmic Seal at his side, Bai Yunfei withdrew the fireseed within it and had it melt into his body.


    The gray-robed man felt a chill go up his spin the moment the look in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes took a change. He could see some sort of epheremeal form of fire come out from the strange weapon by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side come out and enter Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, and when he realized what it was, his eyes widened in shock, ¡°Tha¡ªthat¡¯s¡­!¡±


    He never managed to say the words ¡®essence fireseed¡¯ since Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura began to spike rapidly the moment before he could!


    Dual Flame Artes: Coil Form!


    Bai Yunfei was a man who was already a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt. In his Berserk Mode, he could fight a Soul King on equal levels almost. In his ¡®coil¡¯ form, Bai Yunfei could still manage to make do with an early-stage Soul King while maintaining the level of a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt. In a way, his ¡®coil¡¯ form was a mode in which Bai Yunfei was already pushing the limits and essentially a Soul King.


    Power coursed through his body in unending amounts the moment the second fireseed entered his body. Bai Yunfei looked around himself with a curious glance, he could¡¯ve sworn the atmosphere of the pocket was drawing away from him as if stung from something.


    ¡°As I thought¡­this pocket can¡¯t handle the energy of a Soul King. How strange, how can such a tremendous pocket like this be so ¡®fragile¡¯?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I can¡¯t use Berserk Mode or else the pocket will collapse.¡±


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was off thinking to himself, the gray-robed man was already in motion. Kicking off to the ground to launch himself at Bai Yunfei, the gray-robed man unleashed a shower of golden light as his sword danced in the air. Golden swords were starting to materialize all around him before shooting forward to shower Bai Yunfei in a rain of swords!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The winds around Bai Yunfei was starting to pick up in speed at the same time the gray-robed man took action. A violent gale of wind was kicking up stone and grass within a hundred meters of him, hundreds of wind blades forming as well to cut at the surrounding trees and boulders into pieces before closing in on Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Roar! Roar!¡±


    Then the luminous tiger and four-armed wind ape leapt forward to strike at Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 756: Unable to Withstand Even A Single Blow

    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom¡­.¡±


    Explosions rocked the ravine along with earth tremors and violent bursts of wind to accompany them. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even be seen anymore with everything happening around him. All that could clearly be seen were the golden swords raining down, the wind blades ripping through the place, and the explosions that erupted from the ground.


    ¡°Tsk tsk¡­.those two men play it rough. I wonder if that brat¡¯s going to die after all that¡­.¡±


    From his hidden spot on the right of the ravine, a single person was watching the disaster that was taking place there with shock and just a little bit of excitement. Before he could finish what he was saying, his eyes bulged outwards in shock as he realized just how wrong he was about the situation!


    ¡°Bang! Bang!!¡±


    Two explosions that didn¡¯t sound at all like elemental energy caused explosions was heard before two black figures were flung straight out from the dust storm!


    And at a closer glance, everyone realized it was the luminous tiger and four-armed wind ape that had been thrown out! They flew a hundred meters away before tumbling to the ground in a jumbled mess.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­..¡±


    A soft humming sound could distinctly be heard above everything else. From the chaos that was the dust storm, a crimson-red light started to expand outwards. One second later, a giant red ¡®boulder¡¯ came flying out from the dust storm without at all caring for the myriad swords or wind blades hitting it. Whenever they hit the object, they only managed to create a few sparks before disappearing into the atmosphere, spent of energy!


    But if that wasn¡¯t enough, the object continued to fly forward unimpeded by everything that was hitting it to fly at the gray-robed man!


    ¡°What is that thing?!¡±


    The usage of his most powerful attack was extremely taxing on the gray-robed man. Practically bent over on the ground, the man had barely any time but to widen his eyes and brace his arms in front of his chest to protect himself from the incoming object¡­.


    ¡°Bang¡­.pcht!!¡±


    The object collided into his person with a large thud. Like a kite with no strings, the man was flung flying into the skies with a great deal of blood coming out from his mouth.


    ¡°Im¡­.impossi¡ª¡±


    The other soul cultivator watched his companion fly through the skies with a wide-open jaw. A streak of red light flew out from the dust storm before he was finished talking to strike him down!


    His pupils dilated with fear at the sight. Waving his right hand at once, an orange-colored shield appeared over his person. It glowed even brighter as he poured more of his soulforce into it, and soon, the shield was about three inches in thickness.


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    ¡°Pcht!¡±


    The red streak of light broke through the golden shield in seemingly no time at all, shattering it into multiple golden pieces before entering the wind-type Soul Exalt and exiting out his back!


    ¡°Thwock!¡±


    The red streak of light continued several dozen meters forward before finally embedding itself halfway into a large boulder where it continued to tremble a bit.


    It was then that everyone could see a crimson-red spear in the boulder!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An explosion followed quickly afterwards when the giant Cataclysmic Seal came crashing into the ground!


    The gray-robed man had been right underneath where the Cataclysmic Seal came down on! And just a little under a hundred meters away was the Soul Exalts Yue Feng and Bai Yunfei knocked out a little earlier!


    In other words, three people had all met the same fate underneath the Cataclysmic Seal. Words weren¡¯t needed to explain how they were right now.


    ¡°Pow!¡±


    The wind-type Soul Exalt, the one spear through the heart with the Fire-tipped Spear, fell back down to the ground near them¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The gale of wind around Bai Yunfei slowly started to die down now that nothing was feeding it with energy. Bai Yunfei stepped out from it, the Cataclysmic Seal back by his side now in its originally small size. He walked past the corpse of the wind-type Soul Exalt and took out the Fire-tipped Spear from the boulder.


    ¡°Gr¡­..gr¡­..¡±


    The weak but mournful cries of two soulbeasts could be heard a little farther away. Turning his head, Bai Yunfei watched as the luminous tiger and four-armed wind ape shiver with fright as they looked at him.


    With their fatigue and the deaths of their soul cultivators, the two soulbeasts were so heavily injured that they were no longer capable of fighting.


    The two soulbeasts howled once with fear at the sight of Bai Yunfei coming closer. Summoning the very last of their strengths, the two leapt away from him to escape.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to give chase. He merely shook his head and turned away. Two soulbeasts without their soul cultivators were no threat to him. He didn¡¯t really care to kill them either.


    ¡­¡­


    A little farther away, the person in hiding from behind the two boulders was shaking where he sat. His eyes were wide-open in disbelief with what he had just witnessed.


    He didn¡¯t say anything for a very long time, his mind trying its best to process everything.


    Finally, his body started to shake with fear. ¡°Impossible¡­.just impossible¡­! How is he so strong, how can he be this terrifyingly strong?!¡±


    He was trying his best to calm his racing heart now, though the fear was still prominent in his eyes. Whatever initial bravado he had when plotting his idea to attack when both sides were tired was gone now as he realized just how wrong that plan was now¡­.


    ¡°I have to escape!!¡±


    That was the only thing on his mind now. He couldn¡¯t hope to fight Bai Yunfei here. His only hope was to run as far away as Bai Yunfei as was possible!


    Taking in one deep breath, he bolted from the boulder like an arrow into the direction of the ravine. He took one final glance to look at where Bai Yunfei was, but he couldn¡¯t see Bai Yunfei anywhere!


    One second later, his eyes widened in fright as he realized just where Bai Yunfei was!


    ¡°Is it me you¡¯re looking for?¡±


    A voice spoke from behind his head. Slowly turning it to look at the speaker in the face, he was treated to the sight of Bai Yunfei walking out from one of the boulders to stare icily at him!


    His fearful face was clear for Bai Yunfei to see the moment he raised his head. Bai Yunfei started, a look of surprise on his own face when he realized this person was familiar. It took him a second to really think who this person was before he exclaimed, ¡°You?!¡±


    There was a look of glee on his face when he fully placed just who this person was. Smiling, Bai Yunfei spoke, ¡°So you didn¡¯t die after all. That¡¯s good. I¡¯ve a few questions to ask you¡­¡±

 Chapter 757: The Dreg of the Hornets

    The man hiding behind the two boulders made for a rather comedic sight with how his head was size bigger than average. This was the the leader of the ¡®Hornets of Plum Valley¡¯, the Boss Hornet, Yi Feijian!


    Twice had the two met before. First was back in Vacancy Inn back when ¡®Rapist Hornet¡¯ tried to do away with Huangfu Rui. The entire group had been taught a quick lesson and forced to flee the inn, but the lesson hadn¡¯t been too harsh since they all managed to get away in one piece. Bai Yunfei and the group hadn¡¯t even really bothered to keep them in mind, and it only took a few days before the Hornets were forgotten completely.


    But the second time they met was what made Bai Yunfei really furious with them. It was back in Formagua City when they met Huangfu Rui during their escape. Once again, the group tried to do away with Huangfu Rui before being attacked and killed. Even though Huangfu Rui wasn¡¯t hurt, Bai Yunfei was still furious with the group anyhow and vowed to kill every single last one of them if they met again.


    From what they heard from Huangfu Rui near Formagua City, several of the Hornets corpses were there where Huangfu Rui fought, but there was still one person left unaccounted for from her story. Huangfu Rui didn¡¯t say anything about the big-headed person, and so Bai Yunfei figured that the person somehow managed to escape with his life during that event.


    So never did he think that he¡¯d meet ¡®Boss Hornet¡¯ here of all places.


    A flicker of light crossed Boss Hornet¡¯s eyes, prompting Bai Yunfei to smile in warning. ¡°It¡¯s best that you don¡¯t do anything unwise, else I won¡¯t mind breaking one of your legs or arms before asking my question.¡±


    Boss Hornet stopped almost immediately, his body shivering at the threat.


    His courage was all but gone now. He hadn¡¯t seen how strong Bai Yunfei really was back in Vacancy Inn, but now he had truly seen what power Bai Yunfei had after the fight less than a minute ago.


    Bai Yunfei was a figure far more powerful than he was, and it was possible Bai Yunfei was at the limits of what a Soul Exalt was capable of. In his many years of wandering the continent, Boss Hornet had seen many weaklings and was always vicious to them when possible. On the inverse, he was also always afraid of those stronger than him.


    Like a balloon, his courage deflated away from his person as he took two staggered steps backwards to lean against the boulder. ¡°If I answer your questions, will you spare my life?¡± He asked, tired.


    His question was very appropriate for his situation, but the regret he was feeling right now was enough to turn his intestines green. If only he had not thought that he could benefit from waiting for Bai Yunfei¡¯s fight to finish. He figured either Bai Yunfei or the other side would be killed, and the other side far too tired to fight back against him.


    But reality had other plans, and it was too late now. If only he had known, he would¡¯ve ran away sooner instead of staying behind.


    He had ventured into the tiger¡¯s den hoping for treasure and met with the tiger. What a blunder. What a terrible blunder indeed¡­.


    Bai Yunfei leapt right in front of him and measured him up with one quick glance. ¡°As long as you answer my questions, I will.¡±


    That got his attention. ¡°On your word then! As long as you spare my life, I¡¯ll tell you some very useful information! It relates to the Extreme King Pills!¡±


    He gave out his bargaining chip at once. It was his best chance to survive and was also very important and relevant information anyone here would want to hear, hence why they were in this pocket to begin with.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei perked an eyebrow, not expecting to hear such a line. He smiled. ¡°As long as you can answer my questions you may leave.¡±


    ¡°Then as you say¡­.¡± Boss Hornet replied.


    Bai Yunfei cut into his words before he finished. ¡°Were you or were you not near Formagua City in the past weeks or so?¡±


    The fact that Bai Yunfei looked completely indifferent to potentially hearing about something regarding the Extreme King Pills was astounding to Boss Hornet. His lips twitched a bit at the ridiculousness of the situation, but he hadn¡¯t the power to say anything about it in fear of angering Bai Yunfei. He nodded, ¡°I was. My brothers and I made the mistake of entering Formagua City and was attacked by some kind of terrifying soulbeast there. Several of my brothers were killed underneath, and the others above ground. I¡­.I¡¯m the last survivor¡­.¡±


    Just thinking about the name ¡®Formagua City¡¯ brought back terrible memories of what happened then. How several more of his brothers had died trying to get back at a young girl there. Just thinking about it made him want to howl with distress.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t care at all for the look on Boss Hornet¡¯s face. ¡°When you escaped Formagua City, did you head towards the mountains to the south?¡±


    The lips of Boss Hornet twitched as if bracing himself for impact, ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    ¡°Then surely you must¡¯ve seen my young sister, correct?¡±


    ¡°That¡­.I didn¡¯t do a thing to her¡­¡±


    ¡°Did you or did you not.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­.¡±


    ¡°When your brothers came out, you must¡¯ve been the last to show up? And when they were killed, did you see it?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Ye¡ªyes¡­.¡±


    One question at a time, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were glowing with increasing intensity now. Now was the time for him to ask the most important question.


    ¡°Then did you see the one who killed your brothers? And did you or did you not see what he did to my young sister?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Boss Hornet blinked. He didn¡¯t expect things to progress like this. His eyes narrowed with concentration as he tried to think about what really did happen that day. But when Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were seemingly staring deep into his own, the man shivered and tried to ignore everything else to think. ¡°I¡­.I remember seeing a middle-aged man appear, but¡­.it was dark that day, so I didn¡¯t see what he looked like. And¡­.I ran away before he did anything¡­.so I didn¡¯t see what he was doing to the little girl¡­.¡±


    The more he spoke, the more panicked he started to feel. Boss Hornet knew that this was a worthless answer as far as Bai Yunfei was concerned. It was the same as not answering Bai Yunfei¡¯s questions, which in turn meant his life was still in jeopardy.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± But much to his surprise, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look as disappointed as he thought. It was almost as if Bai Yunfei was expecting him to answer that way. He didn¡¯t say anything more after that ¡®oh¡¯ and chose to think to himself about something.


    Not knowing what in the world Bai Yunfei was thinking about, Boss Hornet started to worry. Him having to wait was driving him to madness, and his eyes were already shaking somewhat as he tried to think about what to do.


    ¡°Alright then, tell me what you know about the Extreme King Pills.¡±


    At last, Bai Yunfei broke his silence to speak to Boss Hornet, causing him to leap with fright at the suddenness. ¡°I...I can tell you where the Extreme King Pills are!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°You know about it?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Boss Hornet nodded. ¡°I saw the mountain where the Extreme King Pills are located next to a while ago outside the pocket. If my estimation isn¡¯t wrong, then it¡¯ll take half a day to get to that mountain. I was actually just coming from that direction just now!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave him a smile that didn¡¯t quite reach his eyes. ¡°You came from that direction? You knew where the Extreme King Pills were and so you headed in the opposite direction of it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Boss Hornet stuttered, knowing how absurd his answer was. ¡°That¡¯s because¡­.there was a lot of stronger people blocking the path up ahead. I knew I wasn¡¯t a match for them and decided to double back for the meantime, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here now¡­.¡±


    A look of understanding crossed Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, ¡°Do you know who those people were?¡±


    ¡°I...I do! They were two beast tamers! They were extremely strong and controlled two or three late-stage class six soulbeasts each! All of the other soul cultivators they fought died just like that! And they¡­.when I left, they were fighting against the students from the Wood School!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows had furrowed when he heard about the beast tamers, but then the final part of Boss Hornet¡¯s sentence was what really caused Bai Yunfei to look astonished!


    ¡°You mean...the beast tamers are currently attacking the people from the Wood School!?¡±

 Chapter 758: That Figure....

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise was in turn surprising to Boss Hornet. Quickly guessing that Bai Yunfei must know the five, Boss Hornet quickly replied, ¡°That¡¯s correct. When I last saw them, two of the people from the Wood School was being attacked by two of the beast tamers.¡±


    ¡°When, and where?¡±


    ¡°It was about half an hour ago in that direction¡­.¡± Boss Hornet pointed towards the left. It should be a twenty-minute run if you run full speed. Right by the river. By the time I left the battle was already very intense, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s already over by now.¡±


    Bai Yunfei followed Boss Hornet¡¯s finger to look, but he narrowed his eyes at what he heard. ¡°Are you saying the people from the Wood School are already killed by the beast tamers?¡±


    He didn¡¯t really believe in that. Though the people from the Beast Taming School had the advantage in numbers, the Wood School weren¡¯t ordinary soul cultivators. They were the best of what their school had to offer and wouldn¡¯t be so easily killed by beast tamers.


    ¡°I only saw a bit of the fight before I left. The two people from the Wood School were ambushed by the beast tamers. I think there was also a few wandering soul cultivators from the Westward River Province with them before they were killed by the beast tamers during the three-way battle. The students from the Wood School had to be tired from that battle, I didn¡¯t see their strongest student, Lin Zihao, there either. One of them were only Late-stage Soul Exalt and the other a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, so¡­¡±


    With how many people that was participating in the fight for the Extreme King Pills, it didn¡¯t mean to say that everyone here was the best of what their particular faction had to offer. Some of the participants were merely the closest ones their faction had that could get there in time. For example, some factions had a few select strong people participating, but not their best. And others had several of students who were conveniently in the vicinity there as well.


    The students from the Wood School was a very good example of this. This group right here was comprised of the students who were training in the nearby provinces before they got the message to hurry on over to the Westward River Province. Of these students, their strongest one, Lin Zihao was conveniently there, but You Qingfeng and the other one with him were not strong enough to be normally considered for this competition had their school more time.


    The Beast Taming School had the most time to prepare out of all the schools. Aside from Lin Dongxiao, the other three members with him were the elites of the school. In every sense of the word were they stronger than You Qingfeng, whether it be in talent, skill, or strength.


    ¡°So you mean¡­.Lin Zihao wasn¡¯t with them?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked Boss Hornet.


    ¡°Ye¡ªyes.¡±


    From what Bai Yunfei remembered, the Wood School had only three people enter anyways. So that meant You Qingfeng had to be one of the two people fighting!


    What little hesitation Bai Yunfei had before he listened to Boss Hornet was now gone. He had to head over to where You Qingfeng was as soon as possible!


    You Qingfeng had been kind to him in the past. It wasn¡¯t a particularly heavy favor, but it was especially special to Bai Yunfei considering how weak he was before. Like the favor with Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei had never forgotten about it, so he didn¡¯t dare daze about on his feet now that he knew one of his benefactors was in danger.


    Boss Hornet knew just from looking at Bai Yunfei¡¯s face that he was going to head on over to the battlefield. He hesitated for a moment, but he ended up saying, ¡°I¡¯ve said everything you asked for without lying. The battle¡¯s over there, so could you spa¡ª¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re coming with me!¡± Bai Yunfei glared at him.


    He took Boss Hornet by the right hand and immediately took off into the direction You Qingfeng was said to be.


    But the moment Boss Hornet¡¯s hand was latched onto, a fierce light crept into his eyes at the absurdity of the situation!


    Bai Yunfei not willing to let him go was the last straw for Boss Hornet. No matter what, he wouldn¡¯t allow himself to be controlled like so! He¡¯d die if he was! Having nothing left to lose, Boss Hornet decided to put his life on the line in order to fight Bai Yunfei for it!!


    With all things considered, Boss Hornet was a man who killed many many people in his life, so he knew just how dangerous cornered people could be. His current situation was already enough to push Boss Hornet beyond what fear could even induce onto a person, and now he was willing to do anything to survive.


    A cornered rat would bite a person if need be, a desperate dog would climb a wall, and an anxious bee would sting a person if it had no other choice.


    So Boss Hornet chose to fight for his life one last time!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Eyes filled with all the utmost resentment he had for Bai Yunfei, Boss Hornet let loose a tremendous roar to bolster his courage. A jet-black dagger appeared in his hand as he swung it straight at Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart!


    But what he didn¡¯t realize was that Bai Yunfei was smiling sinisterly in response to his actions¡­.


    ¡°Halt!!¡±


    As if uttering a chant, Bai Yunfei spoke one word and that word only with an imperative voice.


    Then as if responding to his activation word, the Charm Bracelet on his left hand flashed once with white light!


    Though Boss Hornet didn¡¯t exactly come to a stop like Bai Yunfei expected when he said ¡®halt¡¯, the expression on Boss Hornet¡¯s face looked exceedingly startled. As if some sort of mysterious power had slammed full force into him, Boss Hornet¡¯s movements became extremely slow by several degrees over!


    Bai Yunfei reached out with his right hand to slap the dagger in Boss Hornet¡¯s hand away. At the same time, his left hand came up to yank Boss Hornet¡¯s head!


    ¡°Look at me!¡±


    He commanded. The expression on Boss Hornet¡¯s face slackened immediately as his eyes met with Bai Yunfei, looking at him with such an attentive gaze that it looked like he was in love.


    All emotion was quickly gone from Boss Hornet¡¯s eyes now. His face was slugged like an idiot without emotion or thought as he continued to stare at Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed. Summoning his soulforce, he had the Charm Bracelet activate with light again. His soulsense swiftly penetrated into Boss Hornet¡¯s mindspace to rummage through it!


    This was a deviation of the mental link ability of the Charm Bracelet, soul scanning!!


    In the chaotic ¡®space¡¯ that was Boss Hornet¡¯s mindspace, Bai Yunfei could ¡®see¡¯ a series of mixed paintings. The vast majority of them were jumbled and undistinguishable, but there were a few that caught his eye¡­.


    One painting for example had an image of Crushed Stone River with a mountain of some sort there. There was also a painting of several people hard at work fighting one another, and another painting of the battle Bai Yunfei had just been in¡­.


    Though he called this ability ¡®soul scanning¡¯, it was but a poor imitation of what it really meant to Soul Scan. Soul Scanning was an extremely powerful ability that Late-stage Soul King were capable of doing to gleam information off of people. With the Charm Bracelet, Bai Yunfei could replicate that same ability to a lesser extent to look into someone¡¯s mindspace and hopefully come across the information he wanted to see.


    Because of the questions he asked Boss Hornet, the relevant memories of those events were fresher and more clear in Boss Hornet¡¯s mindspace compared to the others. With these paintings, Bai Yunfei could confirm that he hadn¡¯t been lying.


    But those paintings wasn¡¯t what Bai Yunfei was after. Scanning through them, he finally came to what he wanted to see most right as Boss Hornet¡¯s mindspace was finally starting to collapse¡­.


    One painting in particular was very dark with one figure in there glowing with elemental energy. Even despite the illumination from that energy, the figure was hard to describe or even see. But the more the painting moved, the more Bai Yunfei could make out the features of the person¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Plop¡­.¡±


    Boss Hornet¡¯s body collapsed to the ground, his eyes vacant and his breathing non-existent.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®soul scanning¡¯ was a method that essentially brute-forced its way through into a person¡¯s mindspace when they were least prepared. It was a method that harmed the soul the more he rifled through their memories and would lead to the person¡¯s death if Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t careful. Boss Hornet¡¯s soul being extinguished was a result of such an event, and even though his face looked calm, his soul was gone and his person was dead.


    ¡°That person is Dongfang Ming eh¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered to himself with some disappointment. He hadn¡¯t been able to see very clearly what that person did to Huangfu Rui in the end.


    Still, what little he saw was enough for Bai Yunfei to burn into his mind for the rest of his life¡­.

 Chapter 759: Meeting You Qingfeng Again

    ¡°Roar! Roar!!¡±


    Two soulbeasts roared loudly through the plains, accompanied by one tremendous explosion after another and a burst of multi-colored light. From far away, this scene looked almost beautiful to watch.


    But from up close, this ¡®beautiful¡¯ scene was anything but. Within one of the flickering beams of light was a terrifying-looking soulbeast that was snapping and biting down with its jaws with a bone-chilling ferocity.


    There was a total of six soulbeasts and four soul cultivators here. At the current moment, the six soulbeasts were currently surrounding two young men dressed in light green, and the other two soul cultivators were standing on the outside of the entrapment.


    Two of six soulbeasts were earth rhinos, one was a brown dire wolf, another was an elephant with four golden tusks, the fifth was a dark-green beetle, and the last was a gray praying mantis.


    Not only were the majority of them of different affinities, they were also all late-stage class six soulbeasts! Another distinguishable feature was the crimson-red look in their eyes and their emotionless expressions. They also looked like they were going insane with bloodlust.


    The two people the six soulbeasts were fighting were bloodied all over. Their green robes had long since been stained red from all the attacks the soulbeasts had done. Each time the soulbeasts attacked, the two would just barely move away or avoid being hit.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was an explosion as the male on the left lashed out with his sword to block a wave of elemental energy from the praying mantis. Retreating backward to dodge the dire wolf¡¯s attack, he made two backward steps to come back to back with his companion.


    ¡°Huff¡­.huff¡­.senior You, I¡­.I can¡¯t hold on for much longer!¡± The male coughed, his breathing labored and his body heaving with pain. ¡°They¡¯re trying to tire us out, and if we don¡¯t do anything, they¡¯ll completely drain us of energy without them feeling a thing!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give up, the message slip has already been used. I don¡¯t know how vast this pocket is, but if Zihao is nearby, he¡¯ll come running over in no time. We can¡¯t escape, so we must hold out here. We just need to wait for Zihao.¡±


    The other male behind him spoke. This male was thirty-something in age and had a steady but mature face. Though he was in a dangerous predicament, his eyes were unflinchingly determined as he stared at the nearby soulbeasts and spoke to his companion.


    This person was none other than the one Bai Yunfei once met when he first became a soul cultivator, an outstanding student of the Wood School from all the way back in Jadewillow City, You Qingfeng!


    Many years had passed since Bai Yunfei last saw him, but there wasn¡¯t much that looked different to You Qingfeng now.


    ¡°Damn!! If only we didn¡¯t use that much energy in the previous battle, how humiliating is it to be treated by the beast tamers like this?! I never thought that they¡¯d be willing to stoop so low. If they¡¯re willing to kill students from one of the Ten Schools, are they not afraid the others will challenge them?!¡±


    The first man who spoke cried out, his hand balling with anger as he stared at the two beast tamers.


    ¡°Killing should be expected if everyone¡¯s aiming for the treasure in this pocket. It¡¯s a safe tactic, and I¡¯m sure they were already planning on weeding out the weaker competitors. If they kill us, who¡¯s going to know they did it? I¡¯m sure most people in this pocket are already aware of this fact¡­.¡±


    You Qingfeng glanced over at the two smiling beast tamers as well, a forced smile on his face. Though he fully anticipated that the Extreme King Pills would have a dreadful battle between the competitors, he never expected the Beast Taming School pick their fights like this.


    ¡°Tch! What bastards the beast tamers are, they can control three soulbeasts each! If it was just me versus the tamers, I would¡¯ve knocked the two flat a long time ago!! And if only we had soulbeast partners¡­.¡±


    ¡°......¡± You Qingfeng couldn¡¯t help but shake his head at the naivety of his fellow student. There was no such thing as having dirty tactics in a battle like this. If the students of the Beast Taming School didn¡¯t use soulbeast puppets to fight, they simply wouldn¡¯t be the Beast Taming School then.


    He had to agree with his companion on the aspect of having a soulbeast partner though. Most schools would generally have their students find a soulbeast to contract with, especially if they were among the strongest of their peers. Most of them wanted a soul contract so they could stand a better chance of breaking through, hence why most decided to find one when they became a Soul Exalt. Another common thing was finding a late-stage class six soulbeast to contract with since that soulbeast would have a better chance of becoming a class seven. Needless to say, the result was something that was good for both soul cultivator and soulbeast.


    In fact, the group had been on the way to Soulbeast Forest to find a soulbeast to contract in when they were told about the Extreme King Pill and decided to change directions here.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­.¡±


    The earth beneath their feet started to shake, causing both You Qingfeng and his bushy-eyed companion to blanch. They kicked off into the air just in time before the two giant rhinos stampede through the area where they used to be. There was a clash of sparks as the two rhinos hit each other head-on and continued past each other.


    They fell back down to the ground just in time for the giant elephant and beetle to come at them next, embroiling them in fierce combat once again. With how tired the two were, they were hardly willing to use any of their more stronger moves. It was more energy-conservative for them to just spend all their effort trying to evade being hit, but even that was a very hard effort.


    On the other side of the battlefield, the two beast tamers watched as You Qingfeng and his friend try their best to survive with a look of disdain. ¡°This is the strength of the students of the Wood School? It¡¯s nothing much¡­.I was thinking I¡¯d lose three late-stage class six soulbeast to deal with them.¡± Spoke the skinny one.


    The fatty one next to him laughed. ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier than expected, but it¡¯s best we don¡¯t take any chances just in case they run away.¡±


    The first time they were caught in this encirclement, You Qingfeng unleashed one of his most powerful attacks in order to scatter the crowd and hopefully secure a kill. When the battle started to drag out, You Qingfeng was forced back by a water-type late-stage class six soulbeast.


    Not only do the core students of the Beast Taming School have soulbeasts on the same level of strength as You Qingfeng and his companion, but they also had more than just ¡®three¡¯ of them. Losing one or two wouldn¡¯t be too devastating of a loss and could easily be replaced.


    That was how the Beast Taming School operated.


    ¡°Defeating them isn¡¯t really a problem, but¡­.should we just kill them? They¡¯re not the two-bit wandering soul cultivators like the group before. If news of this gets out¡­.¡± The skinny one hesitated.


    The fat beast tamer had a ruthless light in his eye, ¡°Hehe, so what if we kill them? No one is here to see, who¡¯ll know we¡¯re the ones that did it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, then let¡¯s¡­.eh? Someone¡¯s here!!¡±


    The skinny beast tamer¡¯s head snapped towards a different direction just in time to see a bolt of red light come flying over!


    ¡°Fast!¡± He cried, ¡°Is this someone else from the Wood School?!¡±


    But the fat beast tamer shook his head, ¡°Can¡¯t be, don¡¯t you see he¡¯s a fire-type soul cultivator? Looks like he¡¯s coming towards us, most likely going to try and do something¡­.hmph! He¡¯s looking to die if he¡¯s coming by himself!¡±


    He was already commanding the praying mantis to break out from the encirclement. It turned away from You Qingfeng to fly at the incoming red streak of light!


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    The wings on the back of the mantis back started to flutter, and in no time at all, it started to fly! Like a rocket exploding into orbit, it flew into the skies and unleashed a large blade of elemental wind out from its blade arms.


    The incoming person didn¡¯t seem to pay the attack any mind as he flew forward. Just about a hundred meters away now, the person within the red streak of light waved his hand, sending a small red object outwards with increasing speed to block the blade of wind!


    ¡°Pow!!¡±


    As if struck by a large wall, the praying mantis came to a screeching halt. It stuck to the red object as it flew in the opposing direction to fly straight into the encirclement!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The large object smashed into the ground, coming to a stop only when it was submerged almost a hundred meters into the ground. Beneath the object, a second crater about twenty-meters deep could be seen before the praying mantis staggered on out from it.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone was deathly silent as they watched the praying mantis fly shakingly upwards. You Qingfeng and his bushy-eyed friend had been at the edge of this ¡®giant stone¡¯, and the two beast tamers hadn¡¯t even had time to react to what they saw. And since they were stunned, their soulbeast puppets were doing nothing either.


    Right in front of their very eyes, the giant ¡®stone¡¯ started to shrink in size before it flew away from everyone to go back to the incoming youth¡¯s side.


    Then the youth walked up to You Qingfeng.


    ¡°Senior You, it¡¯s been a long time since we last met¡­.¡±

 Chapter 760: Battling the Students of the Beast Taming School

    You Qingfeng blinked a few times in recognition of the fact this person was talking to him. What was being said sent him into another round of surprise, though.


    The smiling expression on this person¡¯s face confused You Qingfeng. He didn¡¯t recognize this person, but he could at least confirm that he wasn¡¯t an enemy of theirs. Easing up a bit, he glanced at his companion to stand down before looking back at this person to try and see who he was.


    He was strong, there was no doubt about that. Otherwise, he would never cut into a battle like this without a second thought. But this person was far stronger than he was, and it seemed that¡­.he knew him? And to be called ¡®senior¡¯? This was¡­.


    Something about this person was familiar to You Qingfeng. His eyes glimmered with light as he thought hard on just who this might be. He had definitely seen this person somewhere before. He just couldn¡¯t put his finger on it.


    After a long moment of silence, You Qingfeng gave up, ¡°And you are¡­.?¡±


    The smile didn¡¯t disappear from Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s been many years, it¡¯s normal to have forgotten about me, senior You. Do you remember of the events seven years ago in Jadewillow City in Azure Cloud Province? This junior is¡­.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    You Qingfeng burst out with realization.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hints had reminded him of who he was, and You Qingfeng couldn¡¯t help but look on in shock after he declared Bai Yunfei¡¯s name.


    Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded. ¡°Haha, it¡¯s me. Long time no see, senior You.¡±


    ¡°You¡­.you¡¯re¡­.¡± Even though Bai Yunfei was right in front of him, You Qingfeng still found it hard to accept it. His eyes were blinking rapidly, unsure of the truth in front of him. ¡°Are you really Bai Yunfei?¡± He asked in doubt, ¡°The Bai Yunfei from Jadewillow City?!¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?¡± The bushy-eyed companion next to You Qingfeng repeated, ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­.the genius from the Crafting School?¡±


    You Qingfeng snapped to his companion, and then back to Bai Yunfei with even more doubt and confusion. ¡°You¡­¡±


    A little embarrassed, Bai Yunfei scratched his nose, ¡°That¡¯s me as well, haha¡­¡±


    This time, You Qingfeng was finally fully convinced of who Bai Yunfei said he was. His eyes were still wide-open, ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­it really is you! How¡­but how?!¡±


    The bushy-eyed companion of You Qingfeng was still staring at Bai Yunfei and at You Qingfeng. He was confused how his senior knew of such an outstanding person from the Crafting School. But. What did ¡®but how¡¯ meant? Was it normal to greet an old friend as if they were seeing a ghost?


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a rare opportunity to meet with you here of all places, senior You. But let¡¯s put this off in the meanwhile, we¡¯ve some annoyances to take care of first.¡±


    He gave a close look at the two people in front of him, ¡°You¡¯re both quite injured, please stand aside, I¡¯ll handle the two beast tamers.¡±


    Though the two were standing straight and tall, their soulforce were practically fully depleted and their wounds were surely taking a toll on their bodies by now. They were merely putting up a strong front, but it wouldn¡¯t take much to send them falling over.


    ¡°What¡­.let you handle them?!¡± The bushy-eyed one stared incredulously at Bai Yunfei. ¡°You¡¯re going to handle the two beast tamers by yourself?!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t take long.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    His Cataclysmic Seal was already flying into the skies, shining orange in light as it did to protect You Qingfeng and his friend in a barrier.


    Bai Yunfei stepped forward to look at the two beast tamers standing there.


    From in the barrier, You Qingfeng stared blankly at Bai Yunfei, not sure of how to take in all of this. He wanted to say something, but Bai Yunfei was already more than far away. You Qingfeng hesitated, but in the end said nothing. All he could do know was watch and try his best to recuperate as much as he could in this limited time.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s arrival onto the scene had been a little surprising for the two beast tamers, and they hadn¡¯t done a thing while Bai Yunfei was talking to You Qingfeng due to their surprise. It was only when You Qingfeng started talking that the two beast tamers started to pay attention to the conversation.


    ¡°Eh?¡± The skinny one blinked. ¡°Bai Yunfei? I think I heard that name somewhere before¡­.¡±


    His fatter companion was quicker to put the figure to the name. ¡°Bai Yunfei?! The same Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School?!¡±


    ¡°What?! Even the Crafting School¡¯s here?!¡± The skinny beast tamer cried out, ¡°This spells trouble if the Crafting School is here to fight for the Extreme King Pills!¡±


    The fatty had been listening intently to You Qingfeng and Bai Yunfei speak to one another, his face a dark color. ¡°He knows the people from the Wood School! He¡¯s really here to help them! Damn¡­.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School¡­I heard a lot about him recently. Didn¡¯t he open a crafting class in the Capital? He shouldn¡¯t have heard about the Extreme King Pills to come here to Crushed Stone River that fast¡­.senior Zhu, what should we do?¡±


    In the time the two were talking to one another, Bai Yunfei was already done with his conversation and walking towards them!


    The skinny one picked up on that. ¡°Senior Zhu, should we fight?¡± He asked again.


    The fat beast tamer contemplated with himself for several quick moments. Eyeing Bai Yunfei when he was just fifty meters away, he snarled. ¡°Fight! Why shouldn¡¯t we?! So what if he¡¯s from the Crafting School, are we afraid of them or something?!


    ¡°Halt!!¡± He spat at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Skree!!¡± The giant beetle screeched menacingly, moving in between Bai Yunfei and the beast tamer.


    The two rhinos came in from the left and right, their horns poised and their feet pawing at the ground ready to charge at Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei paused briefly to level a calm stare at the two beast tamers.


    With their soulbeasts surrounding Bai Yunfei and the person in question coming to a stop, the fat beast tamer felt his courage be bolstered. ¡°Crafter,¡± He announced, ¡°Stick your nose somewhere else!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes swept over the two beast tamers without at all caring for the other soulbeasts there. ¡°I¡¯ll give you both one minute to leave this place. I¡¯m willing to not fight you both.¡±


    ¡°What??¡±


    The impudence of Bai Yunfei was astounding to hear, and the fat beast tamer was practically boiling over at his words. ¡°How dare you!! Do you really think you can beat the both of us by yourself?!¡±


    The two of them were the cream of the crop and one of the strongest their school had to offer. Very few people were even able to compare to them, and this was something like a mark of pride for them. So to have Bai Yunfei speak to them like so infuriatingly insulting.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed, he wouldn¡¯t be bothering with any more words with them. There were no hard feelings lost between him and the Beast Taming School. In fact, Bai Yunfei had more complaints than anything else with them. It was only because of him not wanting to waste any soulforce that he was giving them the option to leave. But since they weren¡¯t willing to do so anyway, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t cry over killing them.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­.¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his right hand as Bai Yunfei prepared himself to fight the two beast tamers.


    ¡°Hmph!! How arrogant! If you¡¯re so willing to die, then I¡¯ll be more than happy to kill you! Attack!!¡±


    Fully intent on killing Bai Yunfei now, the fat beast tamer waved his right hand, commanding for his soulbeasts to attack! And at the same time, his other beast tamer companion did the same thing with his own right hand!


    ¡°Roar! Roar! Roar!!¡±


    Several soulbeasts leapt forward at the same time towards Bai Yunfei. The giant beetle came from the front, the rhinos came from both left and right, and the giant wolf was coming from straight behind to attack Bai Yunfei all at once!

 Chapter 761: Illusions That Shock the Enemy

    The beetle was like a tank with how fast it was approaching and how large it was. The dark green light around the beetle started to converge in its single horn. Tilting its head down, the beetle pointed its horn and flew forward to try and strike Bai Yunfei down!


    The soulbeasts coming from the sides and behind were already closing in as well. Under the magnificent control of the two beast tamers, the four soulbeasts were moving in unison and the gaps between their attacks miniscule. Even if Bai Yunfei were to dodge the first attack, one of the other soulbeasts would be sure to get him.


    First to attack would be the giant horn on the beetle¡¯s head. Everyone was looking expectantly on what Bai Yunfei would do in response, but¡­.he was just standing there!!


    ¡°Is he too scared to move?!¡±


    The beast tamers smiled in delight. Though it had started quite rocky, things were finally looking to be smoothing out for them. The giant green horn of the beetle was already moving into jab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s person!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    Everyone could hear the sound of something being penetrated as the giant horn of the beetle stabbed straight into Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist and tore into two!


    ¡°Wha¡ª¡±


    You Qingfeng¡¯s face drained of all color as he watched Bai Yunfei get torn apart. Likewise, his companion had his eyes wide open and his jaw dropped in utter shock at the results. Even the two beast tamers hadn¡¯t expecting Bai Yunfei to die so easily with just one blow¡­.


    But then everyone realized something was wrong. The two halves of Bai Yunfei quivered for a moment before disappear from sight!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    The skinny beast tamer cried out in disbelief, was this a mirror image?! But he had been so sure that the ¡®real¡¯ body had been the one to be hit by the beetle¡¯s horn! How was it that a mirror image was the one to be hit!?


    The fat beast tamer had a similar reaction to Bai Yunfei¡¯s disappearance, though his following action was a lot faster than his friend. ¡°He¡¯s over there!¡±


    The giant stag beetle was already following his tamer¡¯s command towards the left where Bai Yunfei was currently leaping from. The fat beast tamer was exceedingly fast despite his physique, and his right hand was already forming commands for the rhino soulbeast to follow. Roaring strangely, it flew towards Bai Yunfei to try and slam him into the ground!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a loud bang as Bai Yunfei was flung to the ground and then stampeded over by the other rhino as a follow up!


    Like a bullet, Bai Yunfei was thrown into the air after the second rhino was done with him and straight into the fanged maw of the wolf!


    ¡°Kshhh!!¡±


    A pair of shiny rows of teeth bit into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, snapping him in half starting from the waist!


    But just like last time, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body disappeared as soon as the wolf¡¯s teeth bisected him from the waist. Everyone watched as the fragments dissipated and was reduced to smoke!


    ¡°Again?!¡±


    This time, the fatty could hardly hide his surprise. He was starting to have some misgivings about Bai Yunfei. When the rhino slammed into Bai Yunfei, the fat beast tamer had been even more confident they had the right body! This wasn¡¯t an illusion and this wasn¡¯t some sort of fast-moving mirror image! But right now¡­..


    ¡°He¡¯s over there!!¡±


    The skinny beast tamer called out, forcing the other to look over to the right side of the beetle.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A flash of red light surged out from the beetle¡¯s shadow before charging straight for the two beast tamers!


    This time, it was the real Bai Yunfei that was attacking!


    The previous two Bai Yunfeis had simply been the +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, Doppelganger!


    It was a distraction, the two of them. Solely meant to distract the four soulbeasts, the doppelgangers made sure at least three seconds of time would be given to the real Bai Yunfei to use the Wave Treading Steps and Flash Step to get close. By sticking to the beetle, Bai Yunfei was able to slip in through the cracks to attack the two beast tamers!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s charge was like an arrow released straight from its bow. The two beast tamers were hardly left with any time to react before the enemy was right in front of them! For people as adept in fighting with soulbeasts from far away, they were ill-equipped for close-ranged combat and were not a match for anyone in their same level of strength!


    But as elite students of their school, both beast tamers had a plethora of high quality soul armaments. They also had a few soul skills to supplement their own personal skill and could fight for at least an extended period of time without giving away much of an advantage. They could at least fight long enough for their soulbeast puppets to make it there and help them out. But if they were to fight against the elite students of one of the other Ten Schools, such as the Crafting School¡­..


    And that was why the two beast tamers were so panicked! They couldn¡¯t allow Bai Yunfei to get close no matter what!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Furious, the fat beast tamer¡¯s body shined with violet light before a long spiral-shaped soul armament was thrown like a lightning bolt towards Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Die!¡±


    The skinny beast tamer wasn¡¯t slow in his reaction either. He didn¡¯t take out any soul armaments, but his left hand did shoot a beam of orange energy into the ground. There was a slight shaking sensation from his part of the ground before a giant orange python erupted from the ground as if exiting from water. It dove back into the ground another meter away and tore apart at the dirt in its path to go snaking towards Bai Yunfei!


    They were also sure to move back just so they could widen the distance between them and Bai Yunfei.


    The object the fat beast tamer threw was a lot faster than expected, and it was almost like actual lightning as it zoomed towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s face!


    But even with the object thrown at him, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look like he had any intentions of slowing down. He only held his left hand outwards as if to grab onto the incoming thing¡­.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Violet light burst out from where the object collided with his gloved hand before Bai Yunfei swung his hand to the side!


    Just like that, the terrifying lightning bolt like soul armament had been tossed aside by Bai Yunfei!


    In the next moment, the ground in front of him burst open to reveal the orange python to come snapping at him with its jaws wide open!


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    A clap of thunder thundered into the area as Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet lit up with violet light. Then as fast as fast, Bai Yunfei zipped past the giant maw of the python!


    The Flash Step!


    Lightning Boots stats;


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 900


    Additional Defense: 460


    Soul Compatibility: 13%


    Equipment Effect: Use soulforce in exchange for a 100% increase in movement speed for 1 second.


    Cooldown of 1 second


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    With his Lightning Boots and Flash Step, Bai Yunfei was able to quickly close the distance between him and the two beast tamers so that only fifty meters remained!


    The two tamers were trying their hardest to retreat now, but Bai Yunfei was clearly catching up to them. It wouldn¡¯t even take ten seconds for Bai Yunfei to be right in front of them!


    ¡°Don¡¯t come over!!¡±


    The fat beast tamer cried out in a fearful bluster. The battle had only been for half a minute and it seemed like Bai Yunfei had them on the top of his palm. He still couldn¡¯t even understand how those two ¡®mirror images¡¯ felt so real, and the increase in Bai Yunfei¡¯s speed and strength was enough to make his heart race with anxiety and shock.


    ¡°Bz!!¡±


    At the same time the fat beast tamer cried out, Bai Yunfei could a loud buzzing sound from the area to his left. The praying mantis was coming for Bai Yunfei!


    This praying mantis had been struck by the Cataclysmic Seal at the beginning of the battle, so the blade arm on its right was heavily damaged and ruined. It was still shaking as it omved, but it was clearly unable to sense the ¡®pain¡¯ it was in. All of its soulforce was being used to aid its forward speed so it could catch up to Bai Yunfei as quickly as possible and catch him before he could catch up to the beast tamers. Using its one remaining good arm, the praying mantis chopped at the waist of Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The blade arm of the mantis was stopped by Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear, but¡­.Bai Yunfei had actually been brought to a stop!


    And because of the angle of its attack, the praying mantis continued to fly forward towards the two beast tamers while Bai Yunfei was forced away!


    The two beast tamers looked on in relief as the praying mantis flew towards them. Now that they had the mantis in between them and Bai Yunfei, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to attack them as easily as he had before. And this meant that the two would be able to call for their other soulbeast puppets to encircle and attack Bai Yunfei, which meant the two of them would be safe!


    But one thing the two beast tamers hadn¡¯t notice was that when Bai Yunfei and the praying mantis came into contact with one another, something had flown out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand¡­.


    That thing was a crystalline little hoop!

 Chapter 762: The Might of the Beast Taming Ring

    The crystalline hoop detached itself from Bai Yunfei¡¯s left arm when he and the praying mantis clashed with one another, and it had gone unnoticed by the two beast tamers due to the relief they were feeling. They had been glad that Bai Yunfei had been stopped, but just two seconds later when both Bai Yunfei and the praying mantis were at a stop, the fat beast tamer who was controlling the praying mantis realized that something was coming towards the mantis.


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    He cried out. His heart rate skyrocketed again when he thought Bai Yunfei was throwing some sort of powerful soul armament as an explosive or something towards him. Those of the Crafting School used soul armaments that were beyond the levels of what normal soul armaments could do, but he realized that the hoop wasn¡¯t going for either him or his other beast tamer friend. It was flying straight for the praying mantis for some reason. As long as he himself was safe, the beast tamer didn¡¯t really care if the hoop was targeting the near-dead praying mantis.


    But then he realized something was off with the incoming ring. True, it was flying with considerable speed, but the amount of energy coming from it was pitiful as if it hadn¡¯t any energy to begin with.


    Though he didn¡¯t really understand what was going on, something was definitely going on. The fatty sneered and pointed his finger, commanding the praying mantis to cut at the incoming hoop.


    The skinny beast tamer was already making several commands with his hands. Right behind Bai Yunfei, one of the rhinos, wolf, and even the large elephant was making another attempt to kill Bai Yunfei. Each soulbeast let loose a loud roar before they charged.


    Since the fatty was controlling the mantis, his attack onto Bai Yunfei was a little slower with the second rhino and beetle, but he managed to have the two soulbeasts go in to surround Bai Yunfei anyways.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt something tighten around his right leg. Looking down, he realized that the tail of the orange python from earlier had wrapped around it! Rather than disappearing when it failed to hit him, the python had merely used its tail to sink his leg into place!


    In one sparse second, the tides of battle were already starting to change with Bai Yunfei being at the receiving half of things!


    The looks of joy You Qingfeng had when he was watching Bai Yunfei earlier was already turning back into concern again while the two beast tamers looked pleased at their handiwork.


    Compared to them, Bai Yunfei was still as calm as ever almost as if it didn¡¯t even matter if he was a disadvantage or not. Perhaps things were going as he planned, but even when his right leg was caught, Bai Yunfei simply stabbed his Fire-tipped Spear into the ground behind his foot!


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    Like stabbing into tofu, the spear sunk deep into the ground before¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    +10 Additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, explosion!


    As if an underground bomb had gone off, a wave of fire burst out from where the Fire-tipped Spear had stabbed into the ground. The blast had been so strong that Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire person was thrown a few meters to the left away from his original position.


    Subsequently, this meant Bai Yunfei was able to move far away enough to dodge everything since¡­.the only thing wrapping around his leg now was a piece of the snake¡¯s tail!


    The explosion from his spear had stabbed into the area where the snake had been, and so the explosion had thus eviscerated it!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even glance at the portion of the tail wrapped around his leg. His eyes were stuck on the path ahead as he leapt forward, his left hand arcing from left to right as if to cut something.


    Right in front of him, the praying mantis was just waving its remaining hand in a circular motion when Bai Yunfei waved his left hand. As if being controlled, the hoop followed Bai Yunfei¡¯s motions to dodge the blade arm of the praying mantis!


    And then after it dodged the blade, the hoop flew to the top of the mantis¡¯ head!


    As soon as the two touched, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with a powerful gleam of light!


    The wrist-sized hoop began to expand in size and circumference. Turning into the size of a wash basin, the hoop then slipped over the mantis¡¯ head and over its neck!


    Not knowing what the hoop was doing, the fat beast tamer looked on in confusion, but it was too late to do anything. The hoop had already tightened around the mantis¡¯ neck!


    ¡°Success!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined even brighter with light. He was already a good fifty meters ahead from the other soulbeast, meaning he had some time to act. With one swift motion, he pointed his left hand at the fat beast tamer!


    ¡°What are yo¡ªagh!!¡±


    Initially about to order the mantis to cut the hoop away from its neck, the beast tamer was surprised by Bai Yunfei pointing his finger at him. He was going to say something more, but then a fierce stabbing pain in his head forced him to cut all communication short and clutch at his head before he let loose a pained howl!!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s finger was the activation signal for the Charm Bracelet to activate its pseudo-soul attack onto him. It wasn¡¯t a very strong attack, but it was enough to jolt the beast tamer¡¯s mind and cause him to have a look of concentration. And then the resulting scream was because of the sudden lighting up of the ring around the mantis¡¯ neck!


    Needless to say, this ring was the most prized possession Bai Yunfei had to use against those of the Beast Taming School, the Beast Taming Ring!


    Beast Taming Ring stats:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Pet Loyalty +50


    Defense: 2200


    Additional Effect: Pet Loyalty +25


    Soul Compatibility: 65%


    +10 Additional Effect: Gain the ability to control the soulbeast wearing this item.


    Success rate is dependent on the difference in mental strength between user and target.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    With all his uses of the Beast Taming Ring to this point, Bai Yunfei was a master of it. As soon as it snapped in place around the mantis¡¯ neck, Bai Yunfei summoned all of his mind power and connected with the Beast Taming Ring to storm into its mindspace!


    Then without waiting for even the fat beast tamer to react, Bai Yunfei immediately took control of the cognitive mindspace of the mantis with his soulsense!


    ¡°Senior Zhu! What¡¯s wrong?!¡±


    The howls of the fatty caused the skinny beast tamer to look at him, his hands supporting the other from falling to the ground.


    But even before he could steady the man, the skinny beast tamer felt the mark of death descending down on him. Straightening with extreme fear, he tossed himself to the side at once!


    As a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, the skinny beast tamer had more than enough reaction and speed to get himself far away enough from his original spot. The moment he was out of the clearance zone, a giant golden light swept across the area where he used to be!


    But even though he had managed to get away, the fat beast tamer friend of his was still barely managing to get back onto his feet!


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    A single object tumbled through the air, blood spilling through the air all over!


    ¡°Se¡ªsenior Zhu!!¡±


    The skinny beast tamer cried out in abject shock at what he had just witnessed!


    ¡°Plop¡­.¡±


    There was a soft thud as the flying object tumbled next to the skinny man¡¯s side. It rolled a bit longer before finally coming to a stop, allowing everyone to look at just what it was. And when the skinny beast tamer saw it, his face drained completely of blood!


    This was¡­.the head of the fat beast tamer!


    That golden beam of light had been an attack that decapitated the fat bast tamer when his guard was down!


    Blood was pouring out like a fountain from his headless corpse just a few meters away¡­.


    Horrified, the skinny beast tamer stared at the decapitated head and then to the killer of his brother, his eyes filled with a blank shock.


    ¡°How¡­.how! How how how how how!!¡±


    The skinny beast tamer cried out again and again as if that was the only word he knew. He started to retreat as if he had just seen a ghost¡ªthe horrifying thing was that it wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei that had killed his brother, it was the soulbeast puppet of the fat beast tamer, the praying mantis!


    For no reason whatsoever, the soulbeast puppet had killed its master, a beast tamer, without warning!


    It was because of that reason that the skinny beast tamer was frightened completely out of his mind.

 Chapter 763: Escaping From the Madness Ahead!

    The instantaneous kill was something even Bai Yunfei was startled to see. He had been planning on controlling the praying mantis to send an attack command onto its master, but he was only imagining something like snapping his leg since he had to deal with the soulbeasts behind him first.


    So it was to his great surprise that the praying mantis attack was so devastatingly brutal and swift. That fatty hadn¡¯t even been able to do anything before he was attacked by his own soulbeast puppet. And without any proper guard of any kind, the fatty was simply decapitated by the blade arm of the praying mantis without fuss nor trouble.


    It couldn¡¯t really be blamed that the fatty was far too weak. As one of the strongest students in his generation, the beast tamer was actually very strong and wouldn¡¯t die easily. But because of how strange the circumstances was and his ignorance of the abilities of the Beast Taming Ring, the fat beast tamer wasn¡¯t able to wrestle back control of the praying mantis.


    The control he had over the praying mantis was gone thanks to what Bai Yunfei did, and though the results of that wasn¡¯t enough to severely wound him, the beast tamer was still quite injured in a way like if an ordinary commoner was thwacked behind the head with an iron rod. In these circumstances, the praying mantis was meant to protect him from Bai Yunfei, so how was he supposed to know his protector would actually become his executioner?


    Soulbeast puppets were tools for war for those of the Beast Taming School. They were like large soul armaments that could be freely controlled just like how Bai Yunfei could freely control his soulbond armaments.


    By direct comparison, if Bai Yunfei was using his Cataclysmic Seal to attack people and suddenly went out of control to smash into Bai Yunfei, how was he supposed to react or defend in time to it?


    So even as unlucky the fat beast tamer was, his death wasn¡¯t unjustified. The overwhelming effects of the Beast Taming Ring was beyond what anyone else knew, and even a Soul King of the Beast Taming School had already lost his life due to the very same soul armament. A mere Soul Exalt had no chance against it.


    Still surprised by the unexpected results of the Beast Taming Ring, Bai Yunfei was quick to capitalize on it. While the skinny beast tamer was trying to retreat, he was already issuing a command with his mind to have the praying mantis aim another chop at the beast tamer!


    ¡°Whoosh! Bang!!¡±


    The skinny beast tamer leapt several meters into the air to avoid being struck by the blade. But a beam of orange light flew forward and struck him in his shoulder, severing a chunk of it from the rest of his body.


    A large body of sweat pooled on the forehead of the beast tamer from the pain he was in. If not for his fast movements, it would¡¯ve been his life that would¡¯ve been lost rather than just his shoulder. Still retreating, he gaped in fear at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Who...how did you do that?!¡±


    He knew that the soulbeast puppet that was normally under senior Zhu¡¯s control was now being controlled by someone of the Crafting School!


    It was a piece of information that threatened to shake his entire world. He joined the Beast Taming School when he was young and spent his entire life training in it. Many many battles had been fought and won by him, but never had he ever heard of someone managing to do what Bai Yunfei did. Never had an ¡®outsider¡¯ been able to control the soulbeast puppets of the Beast Taming School!


    But it was clear to see that something had ¡®wrestled¡¯ senior Zhu¡¯s control away from his praying mantis! It was completely incomprehensible to him. A question without any foreseeable answer and something he was in complete shock and denial over.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    As if in response to his question, the praying mantis let loose another blade of elemental energy again, The beast tamer managed to dodge this one attack with a calmer mind, but still, he was in complete fear at his current situation!


    And how could he not be? His unbelievably strong senior Zhu had been killed for some inexplicable reason, and now he was by himself! He had always followed his senior around, and now that he was by himself, the only thing he could think of doing now was to¡­.flee!


    Not even a speck of courage was left in him now. He hadn¡¯t the balls to even think about fighting Bai Yunfei again. Even as afraid as he was, it wasn¡¯t too hard to understand just why!


    As a beast tamer, he relied on using soulbeast puppets to fight. To fight against someone who could ¡®use¡¯ their soulbeast puppets against them without trouble was terrifying and an enigma. How could any beast tamer be brave enough to keep on fighting?!


    ¡°Don¡¯t come over!!¡±


    In his fright when he saw the praying mantis come for him, the beast tamer waved his right hand to call out a pangolin-like soulbeast from his ring. It stood in front of him in a protective stance to stop the elemental attack from the mantis from hitting him.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The pangolin was only a mid-stage class six soulbeast in strength, but its defensive properties were far beyond that classification. And since the praying mantis wasn¡¯t at its peak strength, the elemental attack it attacked with wasn¡¯t nearly enough to break the pangolin¡¯s scales. Under the control of the beast tamer, the pangolin roared and bounded forward to whirl around in the air. Its four claws extended outwards to grab onto the praying mantis and then tried to rip it apart with its sharp fang and teeth. In one bite, the pangolin was holding onto the mantis¡¯ head!


    The beast tamer gave up on the praying mantis as soon as it was stopped by the pangolin. He pointed a finger at Bai Yunfei, crying out, ¡°Go die!!¡±


    Three soulbeasts sprung onto Bai Yunfei from behind. Having not been used to fight earlier due to the beast tamer¡¯s shock, the three soulbeasts were now being commanded to hold Bai Yunfei off while he made his escape. The beetle and other rhino had stopped moving since the fat beast tamer was the one controlling them, but the other three were still being controlled just enough to stall for time.


    Under his careful control, the beast tamer had the giant elephant raise its two giant feet up into the air before slamming them back into the ground with an bright orange wave of energy!


    ¡°Crackle¡­..¡±


    A giant two-meter deep crack ran through the ground from where the elephant stepped to chase after Bai Yunfei!


    The sudden tremors in the ground had been sudden enough to catch Bai Yunfei off guard. His feet staggered to keep their balance, but he managed to leap into the air before the ground beneath him crumbled away into the chasm opening up there.


    He wasn¡¯t safe in the skies either. As soon as he leapt up, a giant shadow flew up with him to slash at him with several elemental energy infused strikes at his heart!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clutched at his Fire-tipped Spear, using it to strike against the incoming attack and using that concussive force to send Bai Yunfei away from the enemy.


    He flew a good dozen meters back to the ground where he managed to steady himself. He charged towards the beast tamer once again, but was then forced to leap to the left not even a second after.


    He turned his head around just in time to see the skinny beast tamer commanding a giant dark eagle. Leaping onto it, he slapped the eagle and immediately took off into the skies with him on the eagle¡¯s back!


    It was a wind-type mid-stage class six soulbeast. With its wings, the eagle was powerful enough to fly several dozen meters into the sky!


    The beast tamer was trying to escape! Even without any of his three soulbeast puppets still there on the ground!


    ¡°Be careful, Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    Surprised by what the beast tamer was doing, Bai Yunfei was forced to look away when he received the warning from You Qingfeng not too far away from him. It had only been a moment ago when the wolf had forced him out from the skies, but now the rhino was just a short ten meters away from him!


    In that instant, the skinny beast tamer whirled around to look at them, his eyes shining with furious killing intent. He raised both hands to go through a series of hand seals, each seal increasing the chaotic flow of soulforce by a fraction. The pain from his injuries was killing him, but he didn¡¯t care. All he could do was glare angrily at Bai Yunfei and cry out:


    ¡°Die!! Just explode!!¡±


    Having planned on dodging the rhino before this cry came from the beast tamer, Bai Yunfei¡¯s widened in alarm for the very first time since the battle begun as he realized what the beast tamer was doing!

 Chapter 764: The Big Bang

    The rhino charged with the speed of a rampaging vehicle towards Bai Yunfei, and by the time it was only just ten meters away, its entire body started to shine bright orange light. Like a miniature sun, the light coming off from the rhino¡¯s body was piercingly bright and chaotically hot!!


    This was an amount of elemental energy that wouldn¡¯t normally be exported for anything. This was¡­.self-explosion!!


    The skinny beast tamer was trying to blow up the rhino¡¯s soulgem!


    ¡°Self-explosion!!¡±


    Cried the bushy-eyed student from right besides You Qingfeng. Both he and You Qingfeng were sporting a pale-white color on their faces from their shock.


    Self-explosion. An extreme method that almost assured mutual-destruction of the user and enemy. Very few were willing to use it for obvious reasons, but for beast tamers, they could simply have their soulbeast puppets do it in their place, as was evident in this case! The skinny beast taker had turned the rhino into a bomb to blow up Bai Yunfei!


    It was a reckless act. The self-explosion of a late-stage class six soulbeast would be large enough to catch even him within the blast radius! The beast tamer didn¡¯t seem to quite care though. When he met Bai Yunfei¡¯s chilling stare, it was as if a sword was stabbed into him.


    No matter what, he had to stop Bai Yunfei from coming over! With his mind racing furiously to think of a solution, the only one that came to him was this extreme one!


    ¡°If I can¡¯t bring my soulbeast puppets back, then I¡¯ll have it buried with you!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei slammed his foot into the ground, ricocheting himself to where You Qingfeng and his friend was in an instant and set up a barrier around the three immediately!


    ¡°We need to run, senior You!¡±


    Yelping, the terrified bushy-eyed man pulled at You Qingfeng in an attempt to get them both to run away.


    But he was stopped by the hand of another person clamping down onto his shoulder to prevent him from moving!


    ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± Bai Yunfei barked at the two.


    ¡°What are you doi¡ª¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Cutting into his sentence, a world-shaking explosion was set off in the area in front of him. Elemental earth exploded everywhere, engulfing the three males in the shockwave¡­.


    A giant mushroom cloud floated overhead, filling the area for kilometers around with dust and stone!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A hundred meters high in the skies, a single ray of green shot out from the mushroom cloud. It was a black eagle. The skinny beast tamer was on its back.


    He was currently laid on top of the eagle¡¯s back, his face devoid of any blood and his chest heaving in and out as he tried to breath. He was very clearly out of energy.


    Though he wasn¡¯t close to the epicenter of the explosion, the explosion of a late-stage class six soulbeast was still very formidable. He himself had to use a earth-type shield soul armament in order to ward off most of the damages. But even then, the shield had been blown apart and the beast tamer had to use half his remaining soulforce in order to survive. Combined with making the rhino self-destruct, he had only a third of his soulforce left.


    He looked at the chaotic mess beneath him. His face was fatigued, but his eyes had the unmistakable look of joy at the aftermath. ¡°Hahah¡­.So¡­.so what if you¡¯re strong? I doubt you can last the self-explosion of a late-stage class six soulbeast! Haha¡­.hah¡­.¡±


    Though he wanted to stay behind and see what his destruction had wrought, the explosion of the place would attract more people than not in time. If he didn¡¯t leave now, then he¡¯d certainly be in trouble as even a Late-stage Soul Exalt would be able to beat him with his current weakened state.


    Under his control, the eagle took off away into the skies¡­.


    The self-explosion of a late-stage class six soulbeast made the area chaotic with soulforce so the skinny soulbeast wouldn¡¯t be able to see what was inside the blast radius. Were Bai Yunfei and the other two people from the Wood School not blown to pieces due to the explosion anyways?


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­.¡±


    Waves of elemental earth flew everywhere, creating ditches and craters all over the earth with varying diameters, but there was a single crater that was four hundred meters wide and a few dozen meters deep!


    This was where the late-stage class six soulbeast had self-destructed.


    In the middle of this crater was a three meter wide and tall orange barrier that floated right above the ground!


    Everything around this spherical barrier was a mess, but this barrier was completely calm. Every so often, a wave of elemental earth would bounce off from the barrier.


    Suddenly, the barrier started to tremble. It spun around itself slowly like an actual ball before descending down to the ground.


    The elemental energy around it was finally starting to settle to manageable levels by the time the barrier was near the ground. The outer layer shined brightly before it became transparent in color.


    There were three people inside!


    Already, the barrier was very faint in color to reveal that a single rectangular item was providing the barrier with energy. The portion where this rectangular object was touching was brighter in light than the other areas, and a single person could be seen with both palms pressing against the object as if offering soulforce into it.


    ¡°Whew¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief when he saw the calming levels of energy outside the barrier. Dropping his hands, he allowed for the Cataclysmic Seal to drop the barrier around them.


    He was happy his reaction was as fast as it was, else the self-destruction of the late-stage class six soulbeast would¡¯ve done far more damage than what it already did.


    Bai Yunfei had used the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier right before the rhino self-destructed, protecting the three of them in a powerful barrier of elemental earth.


    Anyone that wasn¡¯t a Soul King hadn¡¯t a chance of survival if they were standing literally right next to the epicenter of a late-stage class six soulbeast¡¯s self-destruction. But for Bai Yunfei...this wasn¡¯t much of a problem.


    The +12 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal boasted a very powerful defensive property and could be bolstered even more by Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength. The true limits of what the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier wasn¡¯t even fully shown today actually. When Bai Yunfei was in proper control and boosted with the second fireseed, he could produce a barrier that even a Soul King wouldn¡¯t be able to penetrate. Compared to them, a late-stage class six soulbeast hadn¡¯t anything on it.


    Though it wasn¡¯t wrong to say Bai Yunfei was unharmed, it was wrong to say he didn¡¯t use much soulforce to protect the three of them. The amount of soulforce Bai Yunfei used to reinforce the barrier was enough to make Bai Yunfei feel lightheaded and swoozy on his feet.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! Are you alright?!¡±


    You Qingfeng moved swiftly to hold Bai Yunfei by the shoulder.


    His bushy-eyed companion was still standing rock-solid from where Bai Yunfei had held him down. Even now, he was as still as a statue to stare dumbly at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Just used a lot of soulforce, I¡¯m fine¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head and steadied himself. Touching at the Violet Soul Ring with his left hand, Bai Yunfei waited for the two thousand points of soulforce flow into his body, smiling in satisfaction when it did.


    +10 Additional Effect: Up to 2000 soulpoints can be stockpiled for later use.


    You Qingfeng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Bai Yunfei was unharmed. He was a little skeptical though. He highly doubted that Bai Yunfei could handle the self-destruction of a late-stage class six soulbeast without much trouble.


    Bai Yunfei surveyed the area around them, observing the fallout of the explosion first before looking for the other soulbeasts, but there was none to be seen.


    Though the other soulbeasts were also late-stage class six, they stood no chance at all against the self-destruction of the rhino and were blown to pieces.


    He scanned the area again, this time a little more in-depth. His eyes lit up when he spotted something and waved his left hand.


    There was a whooshing sound as a little rainbow hoop flew out from the dirt back towards Bai Yunfei.


    It was the Beast Taming Ring.


    He heaved a sigh of relief at the intact form of the ring, but his eyes stared at the skies in front of him with a very cold glance.


    ¡°Senior You, the soulgems of the soulbeasts should be scattered around. It won¡¯t be too hard to find while I¡­.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± You Qingfeng blinked a few times when he caught onto what Bai Yunfei was implying, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Since one is dead, we can¡¯t have the other one remain alive, can we?¡±

 Chapter 765: Chased Down

    Up in the skies, the skinny beast tamer had already flown a good few kilometers away by now. Though he had survived the battle with his life, the beast tamer felt nothing but humiliation and shame in his heart.


    The Extreme King Pills weren¡¯t even something he could hope to get now, and all of his strongest soulbeast puppets were dead. To go back to the Beast Taming School and report this to his elders would warrant a mighty punishment and potentially lose his spot as a core student.


    He turned his head back at the spot where the rhino had self-destructed, his eyes filled with hatred. ¡°Crafting School¡­.Bai Yunfei! Don¡¯t think it¡¯s over since you¡¯re dead! You better make sure I don¡¯t come across another one of you craters, or I¡¯ll kill them all!¡±


    No matter how much hatred he had for Bai Yunfei, the beast tamer was still curious about one other matter in regards to him. ¡°I wonder what that strange hoop was¡­.it seemed to be able to control our soulbeast puppets, too bad I can¡¯t bring it back to the Beast Taming School¡­it has to be something the Crafting School created, what if it¡¯s not just Bai Yunfei that has it, but several others¡­.¡±


    It was a chilling hypothetical. That ring Bai Yunfei used was without a doubt the bane of the Beast Taming School, and he couldn¡¯t help but think just how the Beast Taming School would survive if multiple soul cultivators had soul armaments like that¡­.


    ¡°This is important! Even more important than the Extreme King Pills!! I have to report this to the school! If the Crafting School has something like this, then they must be planning something against our school!¡±


    The realization in the beast tamer¡¯s eyes overshadowed the initial fear he thought. The more he thought about it, in fact, the happier he felt. If he could report this issue back to the Beast Taming School, then it remained to be seen if this would make up for his losses. Maybe he¡¯d be given a bonus for the information¡­.


    His mind was made up now. Whatever plans he had before of meeting up with Lin Dongxiao and getting the Extreme King Pills together was gone. He had to leave this place at once!


    This pocket was extremely dangerous for him right now. The best thing to do was to leave this place and seek protection under his elder.


    ¡°Entrance¡­..the entrance¡­.it¡¯s pretty far from where I came in from. Should I find another entrance then? I wonder where there¡¯s one...:¡±


    The entrance he was talking about was the place he had entered the pocket from. Those entrances weren¡¯t closed off from the other side, meaning people could leave if they wanted. They were simply places of rippling air where if located, people could come in and out from.


    ¡°I remember seeing an entrance somewhere before, I think it was¡­¡± The skinny beast tamer thought to himself as he looked all around himself. But as he turned his head, his eyes noticed a streak of light coming from behind him. He looked away for a moment and then jerked his head back in abject surprise.


    The very next thing he knew, his entire body was starting to shake. His pupils were dilated to the size of pin needles and his face was completely drained of color. The more he looked at the area behind him, the more he looked as if he had just seen a ghost. His lips quivered violently, as if trying to form words and failing to do so.


    But in the end, only two words managed to form on his lips.


    ¡°No way!!!¡±


    In the airspace behind him from the faraway dust clouds, a single beam of green light was flying towards him. Within this beam of green light, a snowy-white eagle was inside. And on the back of this eagle was a single person. Though the beast tamer was far away, his eyes were still able to see just who this person was.


    It was Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°He¡¯s alive! How is he not dead?!¡±


    The beast tamer howled in fear. He couldn¡¯t even believe his eyes at what he was seeing. In his mind, Bai Yunfei had been blown to pieces when the rhino self-destructed. So how in the world was Bai Yunfei giving chase after him right now?!


    As shocked as he was by this revelation, the beast tamer wasn¡¯t stunned into inaction. Still pale in the face, he fed even more soulforce into the eagle underneath him, commanding it to fly even faster ahead.


    Thus began the chase between eagles with the skinny beast tamer maintaining a nervous glance behind. But the terrifying thing was that the eagle chasing him was quickly catching up!


    The eagle Bai Yunfei was riding was very clearly a stronger level than the one the beast tamer was. This meant it was a peak late-stage class six soulbeast!


    ¡°Impossible! How did he bring out a soulbeast like that out of thin air?!¡±


    He distinctly remembered Bai Yunfei being alone, and there being no soulbeast with him. But then another thought occurred to him.


    ¡°No...no way! Is he using one of our soulbeasts?! He had one of our soulbeast puppets with him?!¡±


    The strange method Bai Yunfei had of controlling soulbeast puppets was not forgotten by the beast tamer. The eagle Bai Yunfei was riding was one of the soulbeast puppets from one of his fellow beast tamer¡¯s space ring! In other words, Bai Yunfei was using the soulbeast puppet of the beast tamer he killed in the past!


    ¡°Which one of us had a late-stage class six soulbeast? Who did he kill?!¡± The beast tamer cried out, his eyes trying to figure just which beast tamer had the large snowy-white eagle Bai Yunfei was riding.


    ¡°Wait! Isn¡¯t¡­isn¡¯t that¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s the fourth elder¡¯s whitegale eagle!!¡± The beast tamer shrieked at the top of his lungs. ¡°It is! The fourth elder¡¯s whitegale eagle! How did it get into his hands?! Did¡­did¡­no¡ªit can¡¯t be!!¡±


    The fourth elder of the Beast Taming School was called Huang Lin, the very same beast tamer Bai Yunfei met outside Ventia City in the Northern Ridge Province during his grudge with the house of Xing. He was one of the people Bai Yunfei killed while he was being chased down for the space ring of Xing Qiuhong. Coincidentally, the permafrost mastiff was one of the other soulbeasts Bai Yunfei got from him.


    That was when Huang Lin was out on an errand to check up on the ¡®rumors¡¯ of a ¡®Regalia¡¯. The Beast Taming School hadn¡¯t heard any information from him after he left to go see, resulting in the school having to send even more people to look for him. Their search was fruitless though, and their attempts to find Huang Lin had to be abandoned.


    The Beast Taming School knew he had been killed though. While they didn¡¯t have the ¡®life slips¡¯ like the Crafting School did, the Beast Taming School had their own methods of keeping track of their more important members. The more important members of the Beast Taming School generally kept a soulbeast puppet back at the school. It wouldn¡¯t be a very important soulbeast puppet, just one that could be found anywhere. Normally, these soulbeast puppets wouldn¡¯t be controllable, but if their master died, then the soul imprint on the soulbeast puppet¡¯s slave seal would disappear, rendering them into ¡®masterless objects¡¯.


    From that, it was easy for the school to determine that a person was dead or not.


    Now that he could see one of the fourth elder¡¯s soulbeast puppets, the skinny beast tamer was beginning to connect the dots. The killer of the fourth elder and the person they had been looking for all this time¡ªit was Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School! Even if it wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei that personally killed the fourth elder, it meant the Crafting School was implicitly involved!


    All of the inconceivable developments that were happening one after another was already numbing his mind. The gears in his brain were churning so quickly they were threatening to melt down.


    Biting down on his lips, the beast tamer formed two hand seals and pressed his palm onto the eagle¡¯s back. The eagle froze for a second before the aura radiating from it exploded in intensity!


    But while it got stronger, the eagle¡¯s aura was also becoming more erratic as its body struggled to process the amount of soulforce running through it. Whatever the beast tamer was doing, it was clearly not good for the eagle¡¯s body despite the speed boost.


    From behind, Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes when he saw the eagle in front of him start to speed up. Feeding some soulforce into the eagle beneath him himself, Bai Yunfei watched as the giant eagle screeched and took off with greater speed to give chase.


    When Bai Yunfei saw the beast tamer escape by eagle earlier, he had a sudden revelation. An answer to the problems he had been having in the pocket.


    If he couldn¡¯t Skywalk or use his flying sword, then he¡¯d use one of the flying soulbeasts to fly!


    The Beast Taming Ring had been kept on the permafrost mastiff the entire time it had been with him, and Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the need for any other of the soulbeast puppets he had. They were after all from the Beast Taming School, and Bai Yunfei had no intention on relying on them like the beast tamers. But using a flying soulbeast wasn¡¯t a half-bad idea to chase down someone here.


    The peak late-stage class six soulbeast underneath his feet was indeed one of the soulbeast puppets he got from the beast tamer Soul King he killed, and this was the very first time he was ¡®using¡¯ it.


    Bai Yunfei was determined. This beast tamer in front of him couldn¡¯t leave the pocket alive! He had already killed one of the other core students, to allow this one leave alive would only bring him a great deal of trouble. This one knew about the Beast Taming Ring, and Bai Yunfei knew that it was only a matter of time before it¡¯d get reported to the Beast Taming School. If that were to happen, then he¡¯d become the school¡¯s number one target in order to silence him and take hold of the ¡®threat¡¯ he had over them.


    And now that he was using the whitegale eagle to chase the beast tamer, Bai Yunfei could definitely see that the beast tamer would recognize who it belonged to. There was no way he could turn back now.


    He had to kill this beast tamer, or he¡¯d regret it for life!


    Two streaks of light flew through the air as they played a game of cat-and-mouse. Already two kilometers had been traveled since the start of the game, and the distance between them was already shrinking down to just one kilometer!


    Though the beast tamer had essentially forced the black eagle underneath his feet to go beyond its limits, his control over it was lacking. But the eagle underneath Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet was a peak late-stage class six soulbeast and the instantaneous velocity he was having the eagle travel at was far faster than the one up ahead.


    ¡°Where is it where is it where is it!! Damnit, where is that entrance?!¡±


    The beast tamer was nervous. Sweat was dripping profusely from his forehead and nose as his eyes scanned everywhere for signs of the exit out of this pocket.


    ¡°Over there!!¡±


    His eyes brightened up with joy when he saw it. Commanding the eagle to shift towards the left, he flew towards the top of a mountain some ways away.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    The joy in his eyes started to revert back to shock when he realized something. There was a burning hot aura coming from behind his head!


    He veered off to the side, forcing himself to deviate from his path to the exit and allowing Bai Yunfei¡ªwho was already not too far away¡ªto catch up with him!


    At the top of the mountain next to a large boulder, the exit awaited.


    And right behind him was a large boulder on fire flying towards him!

 Chapter 766: Another

    As he was fleeing for his life, the beast tamer could feel the burning hot sensation of an object drawing closer and closer behind him.


    ¡°Just¡­.just a little bit more!!¡±


    He gritted his teeth in furious anxiety. Leaping down from the eagle, the beast tamer was just in time to see a giant object collide with the eagle in a flash of bright red light!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Without him controlling the eagle, it was defenseless as the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into it. Even just twenty meters away, the flames from the collision were enough to burn at his person. Falling to the ground, the beast tamer made a mad dash for the pocket exit.


    ¡°It¡¯s close! It¡¯s close!! I just need one final burst!¡±


    Desperate hope was abundant in the beast tamer¡¯s eyes. He was so close to making it out!


    But as he neared the exit, he heard a single shout before something akin to a clap of thunder slammed into his head, putting a stop to his forward momentum. His feet stumbled, causing him to trip over them and stumble to the ground!


    A pseudo-soul attack!


    With how weak he was, the pseudo-soul attack was practically unblockable and extinguished all hope he had in running away into the exit.


    Bai Yunfei called back the Cataclysmic Seal and shrunk it back down to its normal size in order to conserve his soulforce. A fireball about two meters in diameter materialized over his hand before he threw it at the beast tamer.


    It was with cold sweat that the beast tamer watched as the fireball drew close to him, his eyes reflecting not the light from the fireball, but the dimness of his despair.


    ¡°Who dares fight against one of us beast tamers, you tread dangerously!!¡±


    A furious voice called out from far away. There was a whooshing sound as a violet streak of light came flying towards the skinny beast tamer!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The fireball came crashing into the ground and created a scorched crater where it landed, but Bai Yunfei had missed his target. Shocked, Bai Yunfei looked to the left where the beast tamer had went.


    There was a cat-like creature a little ways away from the crater, and on the back of it was a single young man with a pointy-lip.


    It was another beast tamer!


    He was located a good thirty meters away from where Bai Yunfei was. Only a small mountain peak divided the two, but neither Bai Yunfei or the beast tamer made an attempt to attack the other. Instead, the beast tamer flew into the air in a streak of violet.


    The soulbeast looked very much like a cat, but it had two violet wings on its back and even a long coiled tail that had someone already wrapped up in it¡ªa person who looked like they were on the verge of death!


    In the last crucial moments before contact, this lightning-type soulbeast had managed to save the skinny beast tamer!


    The said beast tamer looked almost faint at the realization he had managed to survive. Weakly, he remained wrapped up in the tail and looked to the young man who saved him with a quiver on his lips.


    ¡°Junior Zhou, what happened?!¡±


    The man with a pointy-lip looked thunderous at the sight in front of him. He was speaking to the other beast tamer, but his eyes were pointed straight onto Bai Yunfei with a murderous intent. His eyes flickered to the white eagle underneath him with a strange glint of suspicion, but he looked away afterwards.


    His words had been the words needed to snap the other beast tamer out from his muddled-headedness. ¡°Senior Zhang!¡± He shrieked and pointed at Bai Yunfei, ¡°That¡¯s Bai Yunfei! From the Crafting School! He killed senior Zhu!! And the fourth elder!!¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School?¡±


    The beast tamer was taken aback at the name, but then the second half of what the other beast tamer said caused him to turn white with shock!


    ¡°What did you say?!


    ¡°Junior Zhu is dead?! And the fourth elder too? By this person? Explain!¡±


    The skinny beast tamer¡¯s finger pointed at the white eagle underneath Bai Yunfei next. ¡°That¡¯s the fourth elder¡¯s whitegale eagle!¡±


    The other beast tamer snapped his head back to take a better look. His face grew even whiter in recognition of it, and for once, he was speechless.


    ¡°I¡­.what?! He¡¯s¡­.he¡¯s¡­.¡±


    The skinny beast tamer looked back to the exit with a frantic expression, ¡°Senior Zhang, we¡­.we need to run! We need to get out of here!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± A blank expression appeared next on his face, ¡°Run?! Why do that?¡±


    The pointed-lip beast tamer was still staring at Bai Yunfei, his eyes filled with disbelief at everything he had just heard and seen. Bai Yunfei was only a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt just like him and had used up more soulforce than he had right now.


    He could believe that Bai Yunfei had killed junior Zhu, but to kill the fourth elder? That wasn¡¯t well within the realm of possibility. ¡°Run? Junior Zhang, do you think I¡¯m no match for him?¡±


    The skinny beast tamer¡¯s face looked conflicted. ¡°No, senior Zhang, it¡¯s only that Bai Yunfei has¡­¡±


    Before he could tell his senior about the extremely crucial piece of information regarding the soulbeast-snatching soul armament Bai Yunfei had, a wave of elemental energy was already surging in the form of a fireball at them!


    Bai Yunfei was launching his attack!


    He hadn¡¯t done a thing at first when the two were talking since he had been surprised with how fast and sudden the second beast tamer had appeared. In that time period of inaction, Bai Yunfei focused on him to see what he could learn about him before attacking.


    The two beast tamers conversed with one another for a moment, but Bai Yunfei had gathered enough information. It didn¡¯t seem like Lin Dongxiao would be coming.


    Now that he had a decent grasp on what to expect from this, Bai Yunfei felt a little more relieved. He was on a warpath right now, no enemy who saw his secrets could live!


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t so bored as to allow the two people to continue talking though. The sooner he neutralized the threats and left, the better and safer it¡¯d be. To wait was to allow for more people to come, and that¡¯d be unwise, even if they weren¡¯t from the Beast Taming School. To kill those people, or not to kill, was a question he didn¡¯t want to figure out.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Since the pointy-lipped beast tamer had been paying attention to Bai Yunfei the entire time he was speaking to his junior, he had been prepared to fight at any given moment. Swinging his right hand, he materialized a violet disk right in front of him before it expanded in size to two-meters around and flew forward to strike down the fireball.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The violet disk sliced through the fireball and cut it in two! The two halves of the fireball exploded upon being bisected while the violet disk flew onwards to try and do the same to Bai Yunfei who was standing in the path behind the fireball!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight. His Cataclysmic Seal came forward and expanded in size as well to stop the disk from getting too close from him.


    Right as the two objects looked like they were going to collide, the violet disk suddenly stopped in motion¡ªthough the bright light remained there¡ªand took an abrupt turn up into the skies to avoid the Cataclysmic Seal.


    It wasn¡¯t a disk, but a soulbeast! A butterfly-shaped soulbeast with two giant violet but transparent wings!


    The wings of the butterfly started to flap as soon as it was over the Cataclysmic Seal, spreading a blanket of fine dust down to cover the area where Bai Yunfei was!


    But what Bai Yunfei did next surprised the pointy-lipped beast tamer. Leaving the safety of the eagle¡¯s back, Bai Yunfei leapt off onto the Cataclysmic Seal and then kicked off that in turn to jump for the beast tamer!


    ¡°Hmph! An idiot!!¡±


    The beast tamer snorted, mocking Bai Yunfei for his ridiculous action. In an area where Skywalking was impossible, to do what Bai Yunfei was doing was practically an act of suicide.


    He waved his right hand, summoning a golden lion by his side. This lion had also a pair of wings on it!


    The soulbeast puppets he was taking out were all soulbeasts capable of flight. In other words, he had the advantage here.


    The late-stage class six golden lion let loose a mighty roar as soon as it appeared onto the world. A second after, it pounced at Bai Yunfei, its shiny and sharp fangs ready to take apart its prey!


    Then came the frightened shriek of someone right into his ears!


    ¡°Be careful, senior Zhang!!¡±

 Chapter 767: Extermination

    ¡°Be careful, senior Zhang!!¡±


    The panicked shriek coming from his junior was confusing to him, and he couldn¡¯t help but look down at him in confusion.


    Then he heard the next few words the other beast tamer wanted to say.


    ¡°That hoop he has can control soulbeast puppets!¡±


    The pupils of the beast tamer dilated in both fright and shock. That was when he took a good look and saw what Bai Yunfei was doing.


    When Bai Yunfei leapt forward off the eagle, there had been a flicker of movement from his hand. The hoop that had been around the eagle¡¯s neck came off of it and was back in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand by the time he was on the Cataclysmic Seal. Then when he leapt off, Bai Yunfei threw the item straight towards the beast tamer!


    The white eagle had gone stiff the moment the ring detached from it and plummeted straight to the ground as stiff as a statue. On the other hand, the lightning-type butterfly was still spreading its powder around the area, and in hardly any time, the area was like if a thunderstorm was brewing there.


    Everything was going as Bai Yunfei expected. The Beast Taming Ring was thrown, and the beast tamer was having one of his soulbeast puppets attack.


    Just according to plan.


    In the eyes of the beast tamer, Bai Yunfei was completely defenseless in the air, but that wasn¡¯t so. Bai Yunfei¡¯s aim was to throw the Beast Taming Ring at the incoming golden lion!


    The beast tamer had seen Bai Yunfei throw the hoop, but he disregarded it since there wasn¡¯t any type of energy coming from it. True as it was to throw a hoop like that without a purpose, the beast tamer was more worried about Bai Yunfei¡¯s onward momentum and so had the lion come forward to stop him.


    He was in the middle of having the lion use a wave of elemental metal to attack Bai Yunfei when his junior beast tamer cried out a panicked warning and brought him to the disarray he was in now.


    What he heard from his junior was very puzzling to him.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?!¡±


    He cried out. His right hand jerked back, calling for the lion to return as a precautionary action against whatever Bai Yunfei was planning.


    While he didn¡¯t fully believe in what his junior was aying, the beast tamer had still enough suspicion in the ring to do as he was warned. Pointing a finger at the hoop, he had the lion try to dodge it.


    But the warning from his junior came far too late!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t any intentions to dodge the wave of elemental metal. His eyes were focused entirely on the lion and the ring. With one slight tilt of his fingers, Bai Yunfei had the ring shift to the side and expand large enough to go over the lion¡¯s head!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a muffled explosion as Bai Yunfei came crashing into the attack of the late-stage class six lion. The wave of elemental metal exploded, showering Bai Yunfei with an explosion of bright light!


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    The beast tamer was stunned. Rather than let the attack hit him, the beast tamer thought Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve dodged it. But it seemed like all his worrying was for naught since Bai Yunfei was hit! Even if that attack wasn¡¯t enough, it was still a good first move to capitalize on!


    ¡°Tch!! F*ck off!!¡±


    He spat. His fingers flexed with soulforce as he had the butterfly soulbeast go over to where Bai Yunfei was again. Its petal-like wings stiffened slightly before the edges grew jagged like a saw blade. The butterfly started to spin around, rotating faster and faster before it took off towards Bai Yunfei!


    The beast tamer was in a hurry. Not having all the information on his enemy was a little discomforting, and the beast tamer wanted to make sure he could kill Bai Yunfei without even the smallest of problems. That was why he launched a powerful attack straight afterwards!


    The lightning-type butterfly flew towards Bai Yunfei to attack while the beast tamer had the lion rev up for a second attack!


    But¡­.when he tried to send that command for the lion to attack, he realized that the lion wasn¡¯t responding to him!


    ¡°Senior Zhang, dodge it!!¡±


    Beast tamer Zhou shrieked in morbid despair, but the pointy-lipped beast tamer didn¡¯t seem to notice with how his wide-open eyes were glued to the lion in absolute shock!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Then came a stinging pain so sharp he clutched both hands to his head and wailed out loud!


    ¡°Roarrr!¡±


    While he was screaming, the lion he was trying to control suddenly turned around and¡­.slashed him across the chest with its golden glaws!


    ¡°Tzzzz¡­.bang!!¡±


    The first to tear was his robes followed by chunks of red. The claws streaked across his belly and tore away at the soft golden armor he was wearing. Though the claws weren¡¯t sharp enough to pierce into his skin, it was still strong enough to send him flying away into the cat-like soulbeast behind him!


    It was only just a brief twenty meters of fall distance, but it took only half of that for the beast tamer to remember where he was. Shaking his head, he had the soulbeast under him halt their descent.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    There was a soft ringing sound as the beast tamer came to a stop. Turning his head, he saw a red beam of light come straight for him!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡± A beam of violet light burst forth from him. Since he hadn¡¯t any soul armaments that could protect him in time, he had his elemental energy materialize as a shield in front of him instead.


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The barrier he erected proved to be useless. The red beam of light tore straight through it without being stopped for even just a second. The only obstruction to be had was when the beam of light struck the beast tamer¡¯s armor, but even that was pierced straight through to have the beam exit back out his back!


    The beam of light exited from the beast tamer¡¯s back and embedded itself into the mountain beneath, shaking slightly when it came to a stop¡ªit was the Fire-tipped Spear!


    ¡°Ah!! Senior Zhang!! Ahhh!!!¡±


    Shrieked the skinny beast tamer as he watched his senior fall and smash onto a hard boulder below with enough force that his head was deformed by impact. The death of his senior meant control of the cat-like soulbeast would be lost, and that he¡¯d be unable to disentangle himself from the tail. He shrieked again at the realization and tried his best to escape, but to no avail.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die! I don¡¯t want to die!! Ahh!!!¡±


    ¡°Bang! Crack¡­.¡±


    One final scream later, the skinny beast tamer slammed into the ground, conveniently where a rather sharp stone was, spearing through the person. With his weakened state, the beast tamer had simply no defenses against the impact and had his entire person be dashed against the unforgiving ground. His bones fractured and his spine cracked, thus ultimately ending his life.


    After the lion struck the pointy-lipped beast tamer, it returned towards the area where Bai Yunfei had been hit earlier. The Fire-tipped Spear had came out from this area a while ago before a person dropped down from the skies, and the lion had gotten there fast enough to catch him before he fell too far.


    Though targeted by the attacks of both the butterfly and lion, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem too injured. Only his robes were worse for wear. He first decided to weather the lion¡¯s attack after he tossed the hoop but the butterfly¡¯s attack made him decide otherwise. Activating the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s effect, he had the barrier protect him from the two attacks instead.


    Bai Yunfei landed on the lion¡¯s back and had it float slowly down to the mountain peak. Behind him, the butterfly floated slowly to the ground.


    The battle between him and the two beast tamers had only taken ten seconds at most before fully resolving!


    When it came to the Beast Taming School or the beast tamers, Bai Yunfei was wholly confident in his ability to take care of them.


    Four beast tamers had gone in to the pocket, and now, three of them had died within the span of ten minutes of meeting Bai Yunfei¡­.

 Chapter 768: Boltgrass? Or Just a Figment of the Imagination?

    Bai Yunfei heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the two dead beast tamers on the ground. Killing the second beast tamer hadn¡¯t been a snap of the fingers for Bai Yunfei, he had to give up half his soulforce in order to have a guaranteed kill onto him. Using the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear was a bit of an overkill, but it got the job done, and Bai Yunfei had no qualms about it.


    The next thing Bai Yunfei did was to reclaim his Fire-tipped Spear and store it back into his space ring. The space rings of the beast tamers, on the other hand, were looted by him shortly afterwards. One fireball later, the two corpses were completely disintegrated and the evidence of their being here wiped from the earth.


    Bai Yunfei also helped himself to the soulbeast puppets of the beast tamers. Now that he knew it was possible to fly on soulbeasts, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t very inclined to use his feet to run. He called out an early-stage class six thundertail bird and used the Beast Taming Ring to fly away from the mountain peak.


    He¡¯d have to stay away from the soulbeast puppets of the beast tamers he killed here for the time being. The whitegale eagle for example was far too conspicuous with most of the beast tamers knowing who it belonged to. The early-stage class six thundertail bird he was using was the soulbeast puppet of a beast tamer he killed long ago, and was a fairly common type of soulbeast. No one would take much consideration into a soulbeast like that beyond thinking it was his soulbeast partner.


    According to his senses, Bai Yunfei could feel the auras of several people within his range of detection. They were clearly here because they felt the disturbance in the air and came to observe, but only just observe when they saw it was Bai Yunfei that was one of the fighters. None of them saw who it was he was fighting, and some of them left shortly afterwards to avoid being caught up with any trouble.


    ¡°I¡¯ll meet up with senior You first before looking for Yue Feng. I wonder if he managed to save his friend¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself as he flew through the air.


    Flying through the air was a great deal better than walking, and Bai Yunfei was able to see far more than he would¡¯ve on the ground. His eyes took in the sights here and there, then something bright caught his eye.


    ¡°That mountain over there!!¡±


    The mountain he had been fighting the two beast tamers on was at most a hundred meters tall, a height which was a great deal shorter than the surrounding ones. For that reason, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to see much when he was fighting, but now that he was up above it, Bai Yunfei could see off in a distance a mountain peak that was shining slightly red in color!


    It was still a great ways away from where Bai Yunfei was, but he recognized it! This was the same mountain peak the mirage outside the pocket showed to have the Extreme King Pills!


    ¡°I found it! It¡¯s over there!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shouted out in joy to his mind. He wasn¡¯t too blinded by his excitement to rush straight for the Extreme King Pills first, he still had to go the other way and group up with the others. You Qingfeng and his friend were both in a very weak state due to their battle, and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to leave them unprotected.


    He also didn¡¯t really know what was going on with Yue Feng, and even though he didn¡¯t know him as much, the man was a student of someone he knew and respected. To journey with him would make their life safer, so it was worth the attempt. Now that he could use a soulbeast to fly, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t need to waste any time or energy to fly then to where the Extreme King Pills were.


    The thundertail bird¡¯s flight was considerably fast and took only a few minutes before Bai Yunfei was nearly back to where he had left You Qingfeng and his friend.


    ¡°Eh? That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was making sure he was traveling in the right direction when something in the corners of his eyes caught his attention. Focusing a little more on this sight, he exhaled slightly from curiosity and had the thundertail bird stop for a second.


    Just about two hundred meters to the right was a mountain peak about three hundred meters tall. He leered at the top of the peak for a second, unsure if what he was seeing was real or not.


    ¡°That¡­.looks like¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. Wracking his brains for what it was exactly, it took him a good few seconds before he had his answer. ¡°Are those boltgrass?! It is! They are!¡±


    Boltgrass is a type of plant that is entirely violet in color and had forked leaves so that it looked like several bolts of lightning were running through them. While rare, the grass themselves aren¡¯t worth much in value. Their true worth is in what grew nearby¡­


    A vein of boltstones!!


    Compared to thunder ores, boltstones were a rarity a thousand times better than the former! It was practically an essential material for when crafting a heaven-tier soul armament!


    Even the Crafting School hadn¡¯t any boltstones! It was only because of an ancient record of materials Bai Yunfei once read that he even recognized what they were.


    ¡°A vein of boltstones! There¡¯s a vein here!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined with excitement. For a crafter like him, a rare material that could be used to craft soul armaments was something to salivate over. Directing the bird towards that direction, Bai Yunfei made a hasty approach to where the boltgrass were growing.


    He reached the cliffside in a few seconds, but he was stunned to realize¡­.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing?!¡±


    Not even a single blade of boltgrass was to be seen here. His lips twitched nervously as he scanned the entire area.


    ¡°You¡¯re f*cking kidding me!!¡±


    He ascended to the skies in hopes, scratching his head as he did. His soulsense was working overtime to try and locate even the smallest of hints on where the boltgrass might be. He found nothing in the end.


    ¡°Nothing¡­.was I seeing things? But why boltgrass of all things¡­?¡±


    All happiness practically evaporated from his person, Bai Yunfei was starting to fly away from this place when¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An explosion not too far away caught his ears. Bai Yunfei whipped his head into the direction of the source¡ªit was coming from where he left You Qingfeng!


    ¡°Crap!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cursed out loud before making a beeline for the source.


    In his hurry to leave the place, Bai Yunfei had failed to notice the slightly transparent ripples in the air here. The airwaves resonated with something else in the area and quickly revealed the rest of the ¡®cliffside¡¯ here, revealing all sorts of grass planted on the ground, each of them violet in color and shaped just like miniature lightning bolts¡­.


    But the sight was only for a moment before it disappeared¡­.


    Behind this mountain was a giant plains just a kilometer away. A crater several hundred meters deep had formed in the plains with three different figures of light shining. Of the three, two figures were cloaked in red and the third was in green. They were fighting.


    On the perimeter, there were two other people watching. It was You Qingfeng and his bushy-eyed friend.


    When Bai Yunfei saw who was fighting, his eyes widened in surprise, ¡°Them?!¡±


    He ¡®knew¡¯ the three. Jing Mingfeng had told him about them before.


    The figure in green was You Qingfeng¡¯s companion, one of the strongest students of the Wood School, Lin Zihao! The other two fire-type soul cultivators are the twins from the house of Ji in the Southward River Province, Ji Wushang and Ji Wubing!


    The three of them were fighting furiously so that they were visible only because of the three streaks of light that represented them three. No one had a weapon out as they were relying on their arms and feet to fight. Each time they clashed, the area lit up with multicolored sparks and sent dust and stone flying everywhere.


    Bai Yunfei was only just five hundred meters away from the still-developing battlefield when You Qingfeng and his bushy-eyed friend realized his coming.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    There was a muffled blow as Lin Zihao clashed with the two enemies again. Borrowing the momentum of the blow, he retreated up to You Qingfeng¡¯s side while the other two retreated as well to widen the distance and look warily at the newcomer Bai Yunfei.


    The thundertail bird came to a stop right next to You Qingfeng and the others for Bai Yunfei to leap off of. He first looked around the area at the two Ji brothers, then gave a nod to Lin Zihao, and then looked to You Qingfeng.


    ¡°Senior You, what¡¯s going on here?¡±

 Chapter 769: The Days Of Before

    Both Lin Zihao and the two Ji brothers gave Bai Yunfei a strange look as if they weren¡¯t sure if they had heard Bai Yunfei correctly.


    ¡°Senior You?!¡±


    It was¡­.especially strange to hear such a title given to You Qingfeng. This young man was extremely strong, so how did it make sense for him to be addressing You Qingfeng as if he was from the younger generation?


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡±


    You Qingfeng felt the same way. He was slightly embarrassed by such an appellation and was in fact still trying to get over the rather abrupt events while Bai Yunfei was off chasing down the beast tamer.


    The ¡®Bai Yunfei¡¯ he met before and the ¡®Bai Yunfei¡¯ standing in front of him today felt like completely different people. Only when Bai Yunfei came back did he slowly accept that it is what it was.


    Here was the facts.


    This person, Bai Yunfei, is the very same young man he came to know back in Jadewillow City in the Azure Cloud Province. That young man was fairly new to the world of soul cultivators and was only a Late-stage Soul Warrior at the time. He was also being bullied at the time.


    You Qingfeng also remembered Bai Yunfei forcing into the Soul Sprite realm in order to be able to fight an early-stage Soul Sprite. There had been another figure, the ¡®Wolf¡¯s Child¡¯, Hong Yin, who had helped Bai Yunfei do so by giving him a fireseed spirit mushroom, but that had nearly ended up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s death.


    And yet!


    Here was that very same young man now seven years later. A Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt! And someone who could easily kill two elite beast tamers of the same level of strength as he was!


    But even more importantly, he was the same Bai Yunfei of the rumors! The Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School!


    With all those thoughts swimming through his head, You Qingfeng nearly felt like he didn¡¯t even know this Bai Yunfei.


    Those thoughts were made even more complicated when Bai Yunfei suddenly called him ¡®senior You¡¯. It was very disorientating to be called by such a title as if he was an esteemed elder, and You Qingfeng couldn¡¯t help but even more embarrassed by the looks everyone was giving him. ¡°Ah¡­Bai Yunfei¡­there¡¯s no need to call me senior. It¡¯s not very appropriate¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked, unsure of what there was to be embarrassed about until a moment later. ¡°Haha, in that case¡­.would big brother You suffice?¡±


    ¡°That would be much better.¡± You Qingfeng sighed.


    He pointed to the two people next to him, ¡°Brother Bai, let me introduce you to these two. This is the strongest student of our Wood School, Lin Zihao. And this is my junior, Xu Rui.¡±


    He pointed to Bai Yunfei next, ¡°Zihao, this is Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School.¡±


    Lin Zihao was the strongest student of his school, but he was younger than You Qingfeng. And since he had entered the school later than You Qingfeng had, You Qingfeng was considered the senior student.


    The light in Lin Zihao¡¯s eyes flickered a bit when he heard just where Bai Yunfei was from. A surprised look crossed his face before he bowed politely to him. ¡°Ah, brother Bai from the Crafting School, it¡¯s an honor meeting you.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± Bai Yunfei returned the greeting before he looked off to the two twins. ¡°Big brother You, what happened? Why are we fighting?¡±


    Before You Qingfeng could answer, the junior named Xu Rui right by his side snorted. ¡°Hmph, it was all calm when you left, brother Bai. We were looking for the soulgems as you said, but then those two appeared and wanted to steal them away from us. It¡¯s a good thing senior Lin got here when he did, otherwise they would¡¯ve took the soulgems with them and left!¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded in understanding. Stealing away the profit of another person¡¯s hard work was a common thing in this world, especially if it was something as pricey as the soulgem of a late-stage class six soulbeast. It wouldn¡¯t be at all weird for people to try and fight over those soulgems. Neither Lin Zihao or the two twins looked like they were really trying to kill each other, so the battle was somewhat constrained with neither side willing to kill the other for the prize.


    You Qingfeng¡¯s introduction was heard by the two brothers. Their reactions was completely identical to one another, so it wasn¡¯t sure which one was the younger brother and which one was the older brother. Looking at one another, they nodded and silently made their retreat.


    They were very clearly not willing to fight over the soulgems anymore and was making their leave.


    Xu Rui snorted at the sight of them leaving. He was planning to say something but was stopped by You Qingfeng. Bai Yunfei and Lin Zihao both didn¡¯t plan on doing anything but watch the two brothers leave, so You Qingfeng didn¡¯t want Xu Rui to do anything.


    ¡°But senior You, they were so arrogant! Shouldn¡¯t we teach them a lesson?¡± Xu Rui groused in complaint as he watched the two leave.


    ¡°We¡¯re not here to fight other people. You and I aren¡¯t in good condition, do you want to waste Zihao¡¯s energy? How are we going to get the Extreme King Pills then?¡±


    Xu Rui said nothing after that.


    That left You Qingfeng free to give Bai Yunfei a better look now that the commotion had died down. ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­I never would¡¯ve expected that you¡­you¡¯ve grown so much. It¡¯s really hard to believe¡­¡±


    The accomplishments of Bai Yunfei was really shocking. He had only been a Soul Sprite seven years ago, and now he was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt.


    It was hard to even describe what he was feeling. He himself was after all just a Late-stage Soul Ancestor at the time. Him reaching the level he was at was already astonishing, so Bai Yunfei¡¯s feat was practically world-defying.


    ¡°I never forgot about the justice you helped me with back in Jadewillow City, big brother You. I just never thought that I¡¯d see you here of all places so many years later¡­¡±


    A nostalgic look flitted across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Those memories of days before had been of when Bai Yunfei was very new to the world of soul cultivators before already having an unforgettable lesson etched into his bones¡­


    ¡°Come to think of it, I came with my master to the Crafting School two years ago. I wanted to see if the Bai Yunfei I heard about in the rumors was you, but you weren¡¯t anywhere to be found. Yuhe was with me at the time and was hoping that it¡¯d be you. She was disappointed when you weren¡¯t there though. I recall her moping about being forgotten about by her older brother¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­.two years ago, was it? I was in Soulbeast Forest at the time¡­¡± A sweatdrop fell down Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead. Truth be told, he really hadn¡¯t thought much about his ¡®sworn sister¡¯ Chu Yuhe in recent memory. To in turn have her think about him made him feel ashamed to be called her ¡®sworn brother¡¯. ¡°How has she been lately?¡±


    TL Note: Check chapter 29 for Chu Yuhe.


    ¡°She¡¯s doing fine,¡± You Qingfeng smiled, ¡°our fourth elder took her in as a student. She¡¯s very talented and is growing quickly. She¡¯s an early-stage Soul Exalt now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good¡­.I¡¯ve some time as of late, so perhaps I¡¯ll visit your esteemed school afterwards and see Yuhe.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll welcome you with wide-open arms, of course! In fact, I¡¯ll have to return to the school after this matter is done, why not come with us?¡±


    ¡°That¡­I will have to decline. I¡¯ve a small matter I¡¯ve yet to finish.¡±


    Their conversation about the past had only lasted for a short moment since Bai Yunfei was worried about Yue Feng and wanted to catch up to him. ¡°Big brother You, the Extreme King Pills are in that direction. Look for the glowing red mountain peaks. It¡¯s about twenty-five kilometers maybe. Are you healed enough to go?¡±


    ¡°Over there?!¡± You Qingfeng¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement, ¡°You found it already?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the mountains here are blocking the line of sight, but if you travel down that way, you¡¯ll be able to see it. It¡¯s rather obvious, so you should be able to find the location quickly.¡±


    You Qingfeng gave an excited look to Lin Zihao right next to him. ¡°This should mean we can start heading on over, Zihao. Junior Xu and I can recover our soulforce on the way. We shouldn¡¯t have any fights to worry about, so recovery won¡¯t be impossible.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no time,¡± Lin Zihao nodded in agreement, ¡°the others will definitely be there soon. If we leave early, we can get there first hopefully.


    ¡°Will you not be coming with us, brother Bai?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°I have a friend I need to find first, so I¡¯ll be splitting ways here. But I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll meet each other there shortly afterwards.¡±


    Lin Zihao and the other two were a little surprised that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going straight for the Extreme King Pills, though they want to spend what little time they had to dwell on it. Without anything else needing to be said, the three of them first gave the soulgems they found to Bai Yunfei before leaving straight for where Bai Yunfei said had the Extreme King Pills.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t spend much time here either. Summoning the thundertail bird to him, he headed off towards the direction Yue Feng traveled to with a great deal of haste.


    It was already almost half an hour since Yue Feng left him. The battle would surely not take that long to finish, and Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure if they¡¯d even be in the same place as he was told they¡¯d be. He had to go over and confirm things for himself before he could try and head for the Extreme King Pills.


    The area he was going for was the place where Zheng Kai and Li Yuchun were fighting. How was the fight going on between the two of them?

 Chapter 770: The Other Side

    A good while ago while Bai Yunfei was busy fighting the beast tamers.


    Yue Feng¡¯s feet were like a streak of violet light as he leapt several dozen meters at a time. Bounding through several trees with swift and dexterous movements, Yue Feng¡¯s eyes were looking even more worried by the second. He had already been sprinting for ten full minutes now, but the connection he had with his soulbeast partner was only getting fainter and fainter. This was the sign of his soulbeast partner being injured quite heavily.


    Since he hadn¡¯t a level of compatibility like Bai Yunfei had with Xiao Qi, he had no way of knowing what exactly was going on. All he knew was that his soulbeast partner was sending distress signals over and over.


    ¡°Please be safe, Han Xiong¡­.and please let sister Yuexia be safe too¡­.¡±


    Yue Feng repeated to himself again and again as he flew through the landscape.


    ¡°I¡¯m close!!¡±


    As soon as he cleared the forest and made his way onto a mountain slope, Yue Feng was happy to see that he was close to his soulbeast partner. In another burst of soulforce, he took of with renewed speed up the mountain.


    Soon, the sight of a person soon made its way into his eyes.


    ¡°Yuexia!¡±


    ¡°Brother Yue Feng!!¡±


    A relieved cry called out back to him a short distance away. Just about several hundred meters away, a hurried figure in blue robes came rushing out to meet him.


    On the shoulder of this young figure was a white ferret and in her arms was a toy-like brown bear.


    This person was Nangong Yuexia.


    The two came to a stop in front of each other in one final burst of speed. Noticing the bloody robes of hers, Yue Feng¡¯s eyes grew wide. Both of his hands grabbed onto her shoulder, ¡°Yuexia, are you alright?!¡±


    He was already scanning her body with his soulsense. Besides her labored breathing, there didn¡¯t seem to be anything else off about her.


    He sighed in relief.


    But then he saw the scary wound on the brown bear¡¯s leg. All color bled away from his face at the sight.


    ¡°Han Xiong! How did you get this injured?!¡±


    Murderous intent like none other flooded Yue Feng¡¯s eyes, ¡°Who dares?!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Xiong¡­¡± Nangong Yuexia started tearfully, ¡°Xiao Xiong was hurt when he protected me. That¡­.that person was too strong¡­.he¡¯s a space-type soul cultivator! We couldn¡¯t fight him¡­¡±


    ¡°A space-type soul cultivator?¡± Yue Feng raised an eyebrow, ¡°What happened? Sister Yuexia, don¡¯t lie to me¡­.what happened exactly. Who hurt you?¡±


    Much to her own credit, Nangong Yuexia was a mentally strong girl and was able to calm down enough to tell Yue Feng her story.


    ¡°When I¡­realized that you and my senior weren¡¯t here when we entered, I was really worried. It was a good thing Xiao Xiong and you were able to hold contact still. We were following the connection back to you when¡­.¡±


    She talked about Li Yuchun and how he gave chase in trying to kill her. Then she talked about Zheng Kai and how he stopped Li Yuchun and helped her escape.


    Yue Feng¡¯s eyes were as red as fire as he listened to Nangong Yuexia¡¯s story, but he didn¡¯t do anything until she finished. Just slightly, there was also a look of shock and worry.


    He looked up at the direction Yuexia came from. ¡°Sister Yuexia, we have to go back to where they¡¯re fighting!¡±


    ¡°Brother Yue Feng, are you going to help him?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Someone else risked their life to help you escape, how could we let him fight by himself! If they¡¯re not done fighting, then I definitely want to go back and kill that bastard Li Yuchun myself!¡±


    And that was that. Nangong Yuexia took Yue Feng with her down the path they came. When they approached a small mountain, Yue Feng could sense two strong auras currently fighting one another up ahead.


    ¡°The battle¡¯s not done yet!¡± Yue Feng¡¯s eyes lit up with a light of joy that quickly turned into merciless anger.


    ¡°Sister Yuexia, hide here and don¡¯t come out. I¡¯m going to help him!¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Be safe, brother Yue Feng.¡±


    Suppressing his aura, Yue Feng slowly snuck up to the battlefield and tilted his head over to see what was going on on the other side of the mountain. From there, he could see a large plains, but not much else could be seen. Yue Feng¡¯s eyes widened a bit before he threw himself a half-meter over to the right.


    ¡°Blip¡­.¡±


    A black ray of light flew past him and landed on a large boulder just a little bit to his left, carving out a hole in it without even a sound.


    Yue Feng¡¯s eyes were glued tight to the hole in the boulder, the hairs on his arms and legs rising up with cold sweat. He swung his head over to where the two people were fighting.


    ¡°Damn! This is what a battle between two space-type soul cultivators is like?!¡±


    The troubled look on his face was kicked up a notch as he sighed to himself.


    Several hundred meters ahead, Yue Feng could see two shadows flickering from one spot to another. Black energy was flying everywhere, but strangely without sound. The black energy seemed to crumble and disintegrate whenever it touched one another. Sometimes, it¡¯d fly straight up into the skies or down into the ground. If it flew into the skies, then the black energy would dissipate after some time.


    The black energy that had nearly grazed him had only just been a small ball about the size of his thumb.


    The battle was already in a very intensive moment, as Li Yuchun suddenly disappeared from the ground to reappear several meters high in the sky. From there, he disappeared again to appear even higher up!


    ¡°Bz¡­.¡±


    The jet-black sword in his hand started to hum violently now. Soulforce was pouring out from his body in larger amounts into the sword.


    One sword became two, two to four, and then four to eight¡­.


    Soon, over a hundred identically-black blades were floating all around him before he sent the command down to rain a volley of black swords onto his enemy!


    ¡°Damn! Your final move?! I have one too!!¡±


    Zheng Kai shouted at Li Yuchun at the sight. He tossed the fan in his hand up into the air and formed five different seals with his hands. Upon the fifth seal, he stooped his waist just slightly and flared his soulforce in preparation to unleash his move.


    His right hand flew out to touch upon the face of his fan with his palm. Then, with his right foot as the axis of rotation, he began to spin around!


    His rotation was hypnotic almost with his movements being like the steps to a dance. The fan in his palm flitted high and low through the air, seemingly cutting a pitch-black tear in the space behind it as it moved. Instead of flying outwards like before, the black tears only expanded in size as Zheng Kai spun around. From one meter to three, the black energy soon transformed into a ¡®shield¡¯!


    A parabolic parasol made of space that would protect Zheng Kai from anything above his head!


    The formation of this shield was not a moon too early as the swords from Li Yuchun began to fall then. One by one, they dropped from the skies like droplets of rain to crash into Zheng Kai¡¯s shield!


    Instead of both forces disappearing into nothing like before, whenever one of the black swords touched Zheng Kai¡¯s shield-like boundary, they melded into it and expanded it!


    It almost looked like the falling blades of space were being absorbed into Zheng Kai¡¯s shield!


    In the snap of a finger, dozens of black swords had already fallen into the shield and disappeared out from sight, proportionally expanding the shield in size!


    Originally, Zheng Kai planned on just using teleportation in order to just evade the spatial blades. He couldn¡¯t let them touch him, of course, but with so many of them, it was a better idea to simply use this parabolic umbrella of space to just protect him from the clusters of blades raining down on him!


    But that wasn¡¯t all this shield was meant to do!


    Since Li Yuchun had teleported far up into the skies to attack him, Zheng Kai was using his attacks to expand that shield so that it¡¯d swallow Li Yuchun whole when he came back down!


    Skywalking was impossible here, Li Yuchun¡¯s usage of teleportation was slightly slower than Zheng Kai¡¯s. It¡¯d be all over for him if he fell down!


    Li Yuchun was shocked at the sight of Zheng Kai¡¯s response. Whenever one of his swords fell into that shield, he could sense the boundless energy in his swords being transferred into the shield rather than being cancelled out!


    Those swords that struck the ground rather than Zheng Kai¡¯s shield dug out a large scar over the ground in ever eerie shapes.


    In the skies, the black shield was only flying higher in the skies, and a lot larger.


    From a hundred meters, to two hundred meters, then three hundred meters¡­.


    The higher up the shield went, the smaller it looked from the ground below. From where Zheng Kai stood, it looked like a hole had appeared in the sky for a rather demonic sight.

 Chapter 771: Convergence

    Soon, the black parabolic shield was practically out of sight. Underneath, Zheng Kai was reeling back from how much energy he used. Breathing heavily, he took in two labored breaths and looked up with self-pity.


    ¡°Tch, so he managed to dodge it, what a shame¡­¡±


    Just about a hundred meters in front of him, Li Yuchun was standing there. His eyes were a slanted in anger to glare at Zheng Kai.


    Suddenly, his eyes flitted elsewhere as if he realized something behind Zheng Kai. The light in his eyes hardened.


    A brief two seconds later, Li Yuchun glanced back at Zheng Kai and sneered.


    The next thing Zheng Kai saw was his figure disappearing from sight. One second later, he was a good several dozen meters away with his back to Zheng Kai as he started to run.


    ¡°Eh? You¡¯re running?!¡±


    Zheng Kai cried out. He turned around to look at where Li Yuchun had been staring at, and then that¡¯s when he realized the reason why.


    A figure in violet was coming straight for him!


    Just from the speed alone Zheng Kai could figure out this person wasn¡¯t someone to mess with. Though he didn¡¯t know if this person was a friend or foe to Zheng Kai or him, Li Yuchun decided it definitely wasn¡¯t good for him and ran for it. Winning against Zheng Kai wasn¡¯t easy, and to throw in someone strong into the mix was just asking for trouble.


    That was why he ran. It was the easiest choice.


    Everyone was here for the Extreme King Pills. To fight one another was a waste of energy. That in itself was a very stupid thing to do, so Li Yuchun hadn¡¯t any qualms about turning and leaving.


    Zheng Kai hadn¡¯t the same luxury. He didn¡¯t give chase to Li Yuchun and instead stared warily at the incoming person, hoping that this person wasn¡¯t also like Li Yuchun and trying to run away from someone else.


    ¡°I am no enemy of yours, my friend!¡±


    The figure within the violet streak of light called out to Zheng Kai, who started a bit at the voice. He didn¡¯t teleport away, and neither did he drop his guard. He just stood there, staring at the incoming person.


    In order to prove that he wasn¡¯t a hostile figure, Yue Feng came to a stop twenty meters away from Zheng Kai to eye at the already almost out of sight Li Yuchun. There was a sliver of hostility when he glared at Li Yuchun as if not willing to give up on the chase. But the enemy was far too fast. It was too late to give chase.


    Zheng Kai stared at Yue Feng warily. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Yue Feng saluted Zheng Kai in greeting, ¡°This one is Yue Feng. You¡¯ve my thanks for helping my friend, brother.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zheng Kai raised an eyebrow, ¡°Are you talking about that young miss?¡±


    ¡°That is correct.¡±


    Yue Feng nodded. Sending a message to his soulbeast partner through their bond, Yue Feng had the bear tell Yuexia to come running over to them.


    It was only when he saw Nangong Yuexia that Zheng Kai believed in what Yue Feng had said. No longer wary of him, he saluted back to him. ¡°You¡¯re a loyal one, brother Yue, to have come back to help me. This one is Zheng Kai. Pleased to meet you.¡±


    Yue Feng smiled.


    ¡°It only makes sense that I do. You were kind enough to help out a stranger when you didn¡¯t need to. That is a very admirable feat.¡±


    Nangong Yuexia had finally made it to where Yue Feng and Zheng Kai were standing then, her ears already picking up on what they were talking about before she arrived. She bowed gratefully to Zheng Kai when she arrived. ¡°Thank you so much for saving me, big brother Zheng.¡±


    Zheng Kai waved his hand, ¡°Haha, don¡¯t mind me. It wasn¡¯t much!¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­.¡± Yue Feng suddenly thought about something at mention of his name, ¡°Zheng Kai¡­.could you be from the house of Zheng from the Capital, brother Zheng?¡±


    ¡°I am, do you know of me, brother Yue?¡±


    ¡°Ah nothing¡­I¡¯ve been wanting to meet you for a long time now¡­.¡± Yue Feng bowed again, this time with a quick glance over to where Nangong Yuexia. He had heard of Zheng Kai¡¯s reputation before. With that said, it didn¡¯t really seem like he was trying to make something out of this trouble to ask for something from Nangong Yuexia.


    Those rumors, he decided, were probably biased against Zheng Kai, so Yue Feng decided not to think much about them.


    Afterwards, the three decided to take up a temporary shelter behind a mountain to rest. Nangong Yuexia was still focusing on treating the bear¡¯s wounds, and Zheng Kai was sitting on the ground to recover the soulforce he had lost during the battle.


    Having already warmed up a bit to Zheng Kai now, Yue Feng asked, ¡°Brother Zheng, do you happen to know the person that ran away just now?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    The cold light of hostility flickered back across Yue Feng¡¯s eyes, ¡°Whom might he be?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the heir apparent to the house of Li from the Westward River Province, Li Yuchun.¡±


    ¡°The house of Li?¡± Yue Feng realized straight away which house that was. ¡°No wonder he was so arrogant! Pah! So what if he¡¯s from the Li? He better hope he doesn¡¯t meet me again or else he¡¯s in for it!¡±


    Zheng Kai looked a little taken aback from what Yue Feng was saying. To not fear one of the Five Families wasn¡¯t something that could be easily done. It would appear that this Yue Feng had a high status as well.


    Yue Feng committed the name of Li Yuchun to memory first before focusing back on the conversation. ¡°Since you¡¯re here, brother Zheng, you must be after the Extreme King Pills as well. With how dangerous it¡¯s getting, and if you don¡¯t mind, we could travel together. It¡¯ll do us both good, what do you say, brother Zheng?¡±


    Yue Feng hadn¡¯t any intentions to hog the Extreme King Pills, so to look for a companion to travel with was the wisest decision. It¡¯d help them improve their chances on getting one.


    From their conversation before, Zheng Kai was told that people were already starting to kill one another to improve their own chances of getting the Extreme King Pills. Giving the question just a moment to think about, he nodded, ¡°Alright. That works fine with me. I actually had a friend who came here before I did. But this place is as big as you said. But since he¡¯s after the Extreme King Pill like everyone else, I¡¯ll meet him again there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. I actually have a friend waiting somewhere else. We just need to reconvene with him and then we can head towards the Extreme King Pill together.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s also senior Yu Li,¡± Piped up Nangong Yuexia, ¡°we should find her too.¡±


    Yue Feng smiled to console her, ¡°Yu Li is a very strong person. I¡¯m sure she won¡¯t be in any danger. What brother Zheng said is right. If we head for the Extreme King Pills, we¡¯ll be able to find her there.¡±


    Nangong Yuexia nodded. ¡°Okay then. Let¡¯s go quickly then. A lot of people came in before we did, it might be too late to get the Extreme King Pills if we don¡¯t go now.¡±


    Yue Feng and Zheng Kai looked at one another. They nodded and stood up to head for the direction Yue Feng said his friend was in.


    Zheng Kai and Nangong Yuexia were both told by Yue Feng that prior to him arriving here, he and another person had been attacked by a group of enemies. He was able to break away from the group to hurry after Nangong Yuexia, but his friend stayed behind to take care of the others.


    When Zheng Kai heard that this friend of his was able of fighting three soul cultivators and two soulbeasts of the same level, he was impressed.


    ¡°That friend of yours is a very amazing person, brother Yue. Which school might he be from?¡±


    ¡°Haha, he¡¯s¡­.¡± Yue Feng was about to answer Zheng Kai¡¯s question when he swung his head over in the direction they were running in, ¡°Hold on, someone¡¯s coming!¡±


    Zheng Kai noticed the presence just a split-second after Yue Feng did and looked up as well.


    ¡°Brother Bai!¡±


    ¡°Yunfei!¡±


    The two called out at the same time and then looked at one another in surprise.


    ¡°You know him?!¡±


    They cried out in unison.


    Up in front, a streak of violet was flying straight for them. Bai Yunfei soon came dropping down from the thundertail bird to land in front of them. When he saw just who was there, he blinked a few times. ¡°Brother Yue, and Ah¡¯Kai?! How are you two with each other?¡±

 Chapter 772: Even More Chaos

    One short moment later after everyone told their stories, everyone stood there in surprise at the coincidences.


    Yue Feng introduced Bai Yunfei to Nangong Yuexia first, and it was from her that Bai Yunfei realized the two of them had met before back in Ventia City in a restaurant. But since neither had any strong impressions of the other, it took a while for them to realize it.


    ¡°Haha! So the friend of brother Yue who was fighting five enemies at once was you!¡± Zheng Kai roared, slapping Bai Yunfei on the shoulder. ¡°And here I was thinking how stupidly strong that person was. If it¡¯s you, that¡¯s just normal!¡±


    Noticing the calm aura of Bai Yunfei, Yue Feng asked, ¡°Brother Bai, what happened to those people?¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be a problem anymore.¡± Bai Yunfei quipped. ¡°I had a little detour on my way here and had to help an acquaintance from the Wood School. I came rushing over here after that, so that¡¯s why I¡¯m late.¡±


    Yue Feng was surprised by how Bai Yunfei had just said he was ¡®late¡¯. From the events he said, rushing on here from that in the time Bai Yunfei had was astonishing. That meant taking care of the five people after Yue Feng left was practically done in no time at all.


    ¡°Oh? You met You Qingfeng? Did something happen to him?¡± Zheng Kai asked.


    ¡°Yeah. He was in some trouble when I met him, so I helped him out. I met Lin Zihao after that. He and the other two left for the Extreme King Pills, we could probably catch up if we hurry.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Both Zheng Kai and Yue Feng uttered, ¡°You found where the Extreme King Pills are?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°There¡¯s a mountain with an entire furnace of them. It¡¯s in that direction.¡±


    He pointed in the direction he had just came from.


    ¡°Mountain?¡±


    Yue Feng, Zheng Kai, and Nangong Yuexia all had a look of confusion on their faces. They hadn¡¯t been here when the pocket first opened and so they didn¡¯t see the mirage of where the Extreme King Pills were.


    They came to understand only after Bai Yunfei told them the story.


    ¡°What are we waiting for then?¡± Zheng Kai announced, ¡°We should hurry up and go! It¡¯s going to be stolen by someone else! You¡¯re so naive, Yunfei! You not only told the Wood School where it was, but you also let them go there first! What are you doing helping the competition!¡±


    ¡°Er?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°What¡¯s wrong about it? They would¡¯ve found out even if I didn¡¯t tell them. It¡¯s a little far away from where they were, but we can still catch up to them if we hurry.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose then, let¡¯s get going!¡± Yue Feng declared.


    The group set out towards the Extreme King Pills after that. Since there was no way the thundertail bird could handle the weight of four people, they had the weakest one there, Nangong Yuexia, sit on it while the three males ran on the ground below. From there, Nangong Yuexia could also look out for the red glowing mountain peak Bai Yunfei had mentioned before and as well make sure the three of them weren¡¯t going in the wrong direction.


    Soon enough, Bai Yunfei and the others were near where he parted ways with the three from the Wood School. They crossed over where Bai Yunfei had killed the fat beast tamer and then continued onwards around several mountains. Without needing much assistance from Nangong Yuexia from up above, the group was soon well on track towards their destination.


    It was after they crossed over a small hillside that Yue Feng noticed the messy patch of grass to the left and the body left there.


    ¡°That makes the sixth person killed here. And it¡¯s not the same person killing them all. The competition here is tough, it¡¯s only getting even more chaotic the more we get closer.¡±


    They traveled another ten kilometers before they finally came across the scar marks of what had to be a rather battle. There were the corpses of six people there, but up ahead was what really caught the group¡¯s attention.


    ¡°There¡¯s people fighting!¡±


    Nangong Yuexia called out in surprise. The group all looked up to Nangong Yuexia to see where she was pointing before following her glance over.


    Towards their right was a mountain a little too far for their soulsense to reach. As they expected, wisps of elemental energy could be seen.


    They drew close enough to the mountain to see three people fighting. Of the three, it was a battle of one against two. There was also a strange sound being played in the mix.


    Yue Feng squinted his eyes to look closely at the fight. ¡°The two people there are from the Melodic School from the Fanzang Province.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You know of them?¡± Zheng Kai asked.


    Yue Feng shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t, but the Melodic School are experts in sound-based soul skills, as you can see.¡±


    Zheng Kai nodded, ¡°Should we go over, Yunfei?¡±


    Bai Yunfei stared for a little bit before he shook his head. ¡°We don¡¯t know them, so we shouldn¡¯t bother.¡±


    The other two males nodded without saying another word. They continued onwards without even a look back. They weren¡¯t envoys of justice and didn¡¯t have the time or business to poke their nose in every battle they saw.


    From far away, where the three people were fighting.


    The two people who were wearing green were from the Melodic School. In the hands of one of them was a short rod of a soul armament. There was several holes in this soul armament, and whenever the person waved it, a series of sharp sounds would come out from it. In the hands of the other person was a decently-sized hammer. Rather than use these hammers on the enemy, this person was slamming the hammers together for a vibrational gong that made the skin scrawl at the sound.


    The person they were fighting was a young man in all black. This was the disciple of Yun Liantian, the one known as ¡®Gui Su¡¯!


    Sound-based soul skills were a relatively rare type of soul skill since it required special soul armaments in order to be used. By utilizing certain elemental energies and motions, these soul skills were made even special in a series of ways.


    They were incorporeal and were hard to block. It affected the ears and could induce dizziness and other side-effects almost instantly in a way similar to a soul attack.


    But right now, both students of the Melodic School were alarmed. The enemy they were fighting was extremely fast and hadn¡¯t even been affected by any of the soul skills they were using!


    ¡°Damn! We messed up!¡±


    The one waving the short rod cried out. With a nod to his companion, the two began to prime up their strongest soul skill.


    ¡°Clang.¡±


    But at that moment, the sound of metal clanging against metal could be heard as Gui Su¡¯s sword expanded in size. The rings attached through the holes on the face of the blade started to wriggle as if being affected by the wind as soulforce gathered in it. With a swing of his blade, Gui Su sent a blade after blade of elemental wind to strike down both students!


    ¡°Woooo¡­.¡±


    From the top of the mountain ahead, there was a very strange sound being carried by the wind!


    This type of wind was piercing to the ears and instantaneous in motion. The sound it carried resounded louder and louder with each echo, sounding more and more like the wailing of a ghost!

 Chapter 773: A Strange Man and a Terrifying Needle

    ¡°A sound-based soul skill!!¡±


    One of the students cried out; the enemy was capable of a sound-based soul skill! And even more terrifying¡­this incoming energy was even stronger than theirs! That was saying something considering how proficient the two students were in sound-based soul skills.


    Already, the screeching of the winds was assaulting their heads with stabbing pains, forcing them to clutch at their ears in pain.


    ¡°Swish! Swish! Swish¡­.¡±


    Blade after blade fell down from the skies to assault the two students. Try as hard as they might, the barriers of elemental energy around them was already broken down after repeated blows.


    ¡°Swoosh!!¡±


    A sudden noise that was different to the blades of wind attacking them from all sides was heard by one of the students. Eyes widening, the student tried his best to turn and protect himself from the incoming attack, but¡­


    It was too late! A figure in green flickered into sight ten steps behind the student, revealing himself to be Gui Su with a long sword ready to strike.


    The student Gui Su appeared behind went rigid. His neck slowly revealing a red line on it, the man then spat out a mouthful of blood!


    ¡°Senior Zhao!!¡±


    The other student cried out in horror as he watched his senior fall dead to the ground. A silent scream on his mouth now, the remaining student turned around to try and run away.


    ¡°Meow!!¡±


    Out of nowhere, the meowing of a cat could be heard. The student running away had caught Gui Su¡¯s attention and whipped his head to look at him. A small black shadow could be seen flitting forward, and then the student felt something cold travel across his throat¡­


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡± Blood splattered out from the cut in his throat. Like his senior, the student¡¯s eyes bugged out wildly before he too fell to the ground, lifeless.


    The howling winds soon came to a stop, ushering the area back into a state of natural silence as Gui Su merely stared at the two corpses in front of him. ¡°They overestimated themselves!¡± He muttered to himself.


    Taking the two space rings from their corpses, Gui Su looked to the area where Bai Yunfei and the others had been. He hummed, thinking about something before leaping up the mountain and then into the nearby forest.


    Not long after he disappeared, a ripple of space started to appear in the pocket. A moment after, a figure in black walked out from behind it.


    This was clearly a newcomer to the pocket. He wore completely black robes with a hood that covered his face just like how Gui Su had. The first thing he did was look around the place. On the first look through, his eyes fell upon the two corpses not too far away.


    He quirked an eyebrow in surprise. Studying their corpses a moment longer, a small grin appeared then on his face. ¡°Haha, so the killings have already started? That¡¯s good¡­¡±


    As he was talking to himself, something in the corner of his eyes to his right caught his attention.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!¡±


    Two soul cultivators, one female and one male, were coming into view on the mountain peak nearby.


    The black-hooded man¡¯s eyebrow remained high in the air still at their entrance. The clothes they were wearing matched the clothes of the two corpses down there.


    ¡°Junior Zhao! Junior Tai!!¡±


    One of them cried out. The two of them recognized the corpses on the ground, evidently.


    The black-hooded man did nothing but stare with a smile as the two soul cultivators ran down to where the corpses were.


    ¡°Junior Zhao! Junior Tai!!¡± The taller one of the two soul cultivators howled. His entire body shook with anger and frustration as he held onto their corpses. Eyes filled with hatred, he swung over to meet the stare of the black-hooded man there. ¡°Was it you?! Did you kill them?!¡±


    Their corpses were still very warm. That meant their deaths hadn¡¯t been very long ago.


    Much to his credit, the black-hooded man didn¡¯t falter on the glare of the other person. He merely smiled and nodded his head to speak.


    ¡°It was I.¡±


    ¡ªThat¡­.that was his answer!


    ¡°Then you can die!!¡±


    The tall student howled, not at all caring for the strange person in front of him. The other person had already ¡®confessed¡¯, so there was no need to do anything but fight!


    Howling, the student flew forward to pounce at him like an infuriated tiger chasing its prey!


    His howl even sounded very much like what a tiger would sound like, and the air was visibly shaking with how loud it was. A giant halberd appeared in his hand when he shook it, and in a flash of gold light, the man swung his weapon down onto the hooded figure!


    ¡°Senior Jin!¡±


    His female companion cried out. Not only was her companion rushing recklessly, there was something strange about this hooded figure.


    But it was too late for her to call him back. Gritting her teeth, she took out a green longsword and ran forward to provide support.


    The hooded-figure didn¡¯t look like he had any intentions of evading the man. His feet remained stuck in place, but his right arm shook slightly to take out something.


    A black five-inch double-sided ¡®needle¡¯.


    It twirled around his fingers swiftly like a person might twirl a baton for some sort of rhythmic practice. After several rotations, the person sent it flying towards the incoming person with a flick of his wrist.


    The needle flew out just as the golden halberd was dropping down on the person!


    Rather than evade the halberd, the hooded-figure merely raised his left hand up to stop the blade with the palm of it!


    ¡°Crack¡­.¡±


    The ground beneath his feet splintered under the force of the downward swing of the halberd. But the hooded-figure was completely unharmed by it!


    The man attacking him was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt. That combined with his huge burst in strength would¡¯ve by all rights sliced straight through the other person¡¯s hand!


    While that was going on, the seemingly unimportant black needle continued to fly towards the other man¡¯s face. Whatever damages it could do seemed unimportant with how it was aimed at the left side of his abdomen and how his barrier of elemental metal would stop the needle. No matter how much the man looked at it, this black needle wouldn¡¯t do a thing to him..


    But¡­.the needle slipped through his barrier! It was as if the barrier didn¡¯t even exist! From there, it flew into the person¡¯s abdomen and straight out from the other side! Not only had the barrier failed to stop the needle, so did the soul armament the man was wearing!


    Ordinarily, wounds like this wouldn¡¯t be much. The size of the wound was practically negligible as a ¡®superficial wound¡¯, and even commoners would probably think it was a mosquito that had bitten them.


    But this needle was very clearly not something that would fit under ¡®ordinary¡¯ situations¡­.


    The man¡¯s face went rigid the moment the needle entered his body. The soulforce in his body came to a slugged halt, and from where needle entered, a black wisp of energy started to flow out from it¡­.


    ¡°Bang¡­.¡± The elemental energy of the person exploded out of existence a short second after, and with a plop, the person fell face forward onto the ground!


    ¡°Senior Jin!!¡±


    His female companion cried out in fear from behind. She had been trying to attack the hooded-figure from the other side with her sword when her senior was attacked. As she screamed, there was a squelching sound as a black line came out from the man¡¯s forehead!


    It was a black needle!


    Calm-faced, the hooded-figure brought his right hand up to stop the blade of elemental energy the female shot at him. Another wave of his hand later, the black needle flew forward.


    There was a thud as the female followed her senior and succumbed at the hand of the hooded figure¡­

 Chapter 774: Whys There So Many?

    It took only a moment for this hooded figure to kill two Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt in the blink of an eye, and he didn¡¯t even take a single step from his starting place!


    If this was the outside, a feat like this could be rationalized by saying this person was a Soul King. But this was inside the pocket, and no Soul King could be in here without the pocket collapsing. That meant this person was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt at strongest!


    What a terrifying prospect.


    There was something else about how he fought. He had exuded the aura of a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt when he received the halberd¡¯s edge with his palm, but that was about it. The killing of the two others didn¡¯t even resonate any bit of soulforce from him. He was like a calm pool of water when the deed was done, completely tranquil and without at all exerting his true strength.


    He was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, but how could there be such a drastic difference in power like this between him and the others?


    The only reasonable explanation available right now would perhaps be that previously unassuming black needle of his¡­.


    Killing two people without at all being stopped by elemental energy or soul armaments. Flying fast and true. And being able to be controlled after being thrown.


    The most incredible aspect of the needle was how the first person had died.


    Compared to him, his female companion had it lucky. Taking the needle through her forehead was without a doubt a surefire way to kill somebody, but the male had the needle go through his abdomen. No vital organ was in the proximity, and neither were there any special meridians that could be blocked. So how could the needle have killed him just as quickly as it did with the female?


    The black needle flew back to the hooded figure. He twirled the needle around his fingers a few times before finally holding it in place with his forefinger and thumb with a satisfied smile.


    It was only when the needle came to a stop that something special could be seen on it. In the moment the hooded figure pinched the needle, two wisps of black smoke rose up from it as if alive. The eyes of the man shined synchronously with his soulforce pulsating, the two black wisps of smoke then transferring from the needle into his body through his palm.


    A flicker of emotion traversed across the person¡¯s eyes as he ¡®absorbed¡¯ the wisps of smoke.


    It looked as if he was¡­enjoying something?


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m barely able to use you, but the effects are great. I can¡¯t wait to completely perfect you, how strong will I become¡­?¡±


    A pleased whisper escaped from him as he stored away the black needle.


    He drew in his soulforce after he was done and focused on listening to his surroundings for any fluctuations in the air. ¡°I know I felt the space tremble a moment ago¡­so this pocket can really only handle the soulforce of a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt at most? Then in that case¡­what happens if someone stronger than that were to enter¡­.?¡±


    His eyes wandered over to the halberd he was holding in his left hand as he soliloquized to himself. Sneering, he tossed it down to the ground as if it were a piece of trash. A the edge of the halberd where his hand had been, several cracks could be seen¡­.


    On the inverse, on the left hand of this man was a black glove. Not even a single tear or imperfection could be seen on the palm after it was struck. This meant that the glove was a powerfully defensive soul armament.


    Blocking the downward swing of the halberd couldn¡¯t be solely placed on the glove though. It still required a tremendous amount of physical strength in order to not be affected by the concussive force, which meant this hooded figure was also terrifyingly strong in the physical sense.


    And yet he pulled it off as if it was nothing.


    The man looked away from the corpses. Nothing of interest was to be seen there, so he opted to look at the scenery around him instead.


    The surveyance of the surrounding scenery showed him something of interest. Of all the mountains in the area, only one of them had a peak glowing red. None of the other mountains or other types of landscape had anything else of extraordinary notice.


    His eyes remained on the glowing red peak for a few seconds longer before they shifted slightly to the right. From there, he could see two streaks of light flying across the sky. It was clearly a flying-type soulbeast and a person riding it on top. As he thought, the two figures were flying straight for the strange peak.


    ¡°That direction, is it?¡± The hooded figure looked pensive. ¡°Alright then. That¡¯s the direction to head in, perhaps I¡¯ll be able to find the Extreme King Pills there¡­¡±


    He sighed after taking another step forward, ¡°Can¡¯t kill the next person I see. I¡¯ll have to question them first¡­¡±


    Without even looting the space rings or soul armaments of the two people he had just killed, the man left the area soon after.


    He had been calm when he talked about the ¡®Extreme King Pills¡¯, though his face looked strangely excited when he talked about ¡®killing¡¯.


    What¡­.was he here for?


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the other side with Bai Yunfei¡¯s group.


    For once, Bai Yunfei felt like the saying ¡®running a horse dead to a faraway mountain¡¯ finally had some credence to them. He did say before that the mountain peak was roughly ¡®twenty-five kilometers¡¯ ahead, but now he was realizing just how off his estimate was¡­


    About thirty-five kilometers had already been traveled by now, and the mountain peak was still ¡®off in the distance¡¯....


    ¡°Dear heavens, how much longer do we have to run?!¡±


    Zheng Kai cried out at last. ¡°I¡¯ve never run so much before in my life¡­.f*ck this place for not letting us use flying soul armaments! Exhausted has never meant so much to me before than now!¡±


    At some point, even Zheng Kai was starting to pick up on the words Bai Yunfei loved to use.


    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s getting close, maybe another two or three mountains¡­¡±


    Up above, Nangong Yuexia was still seated upon the thundertail bird. She looked much more relaxed than before, and a lot more healthy. All of the soulforce she had used before was more or less recovered, and she was even able to wash out the blood in her robes with her elemental water.


    Zheng Kai rolled his eyes and looked enviously at the thundertail bird up above. Right now, he was thinking that life would be great if he had a flying soulbeast partner.


    ¡°I should go to Soulbeast Forest after this. I¡¯ll get the Extreme King Pill first, and then find a class seven soulbeast. And if I can¡¯t, I¡¯ll find a peak late-stage class six soulbeast and help it breakthrough¡­.It¡¯ll definitely be a flying-type soulbeast.¡±


    Zheng Kai muttered to himself.


    ¡°There¡¯s more and more people here now¡­¡±


    Yue Feng relayed to the others with just a little bit of growing concern.


    From what Bai Yunfei could see in the surrounding kilometer, there were several others traveling either by themselves or in groups towards the same destination. There was even a streak of light flying through the skies above them.


    ¡°Seems like everyone has realized that mountain peak is different than the others. Everyone¡¯s rushing on over here.¡±


    Not only had the group seen their fair share of battle scars and such, they were also seeing plenty of soul cultivators traveling the same direction as they were. They were all maintaining a safe distance from one another so as to avoid any possible chance of conflict for until they reached where the Extreme King Pills were.


    There were a few people they met earlier that were clearly up to no good. But those people were few, and even less people were willing to try and stop them in favor of paying close attention to them instead.


    In the end, it took another hour before they made it over the mountains and forests to reach a large expanse of plainlands. The single mountain that shined red was now in everyone¡¯s sights.


    It was just another thousand or two kilometers more to the foot of it. Zheng Kai looked ahead with a keen eye, his mouth dropping slightly at what he saw.


    ¡°Damn, there¡¯s that many people here already?¡±

 Chapter 775: Gathering

    Now that they were close to the mountain, the group could finally see just how special it was. Standing tall at three kilometers and one kilometer in width, the peak of the mountain pierced into the clouds so that hardly anything could be seen above it.


    But the most peculiar thing about the mountain was that just about five hundred meters above ground level, a faint red mist was lighting up the mountain. It floated around the entirety of the mountain at that height with the mid-section about one and a half kilometers above ground level being the most concentrated. Anything above two kilometers was the peak of the mountain.


    The upper half of the mountain was extraordinarily wide, making the mountain look like it was a rather fat hourglass.


    But with the red mist and clouds gathering at the top, the mountain looked as if it was a cone of cotton candy.


    Bai Yunfei and his group soon made it to the base of the mountain where groups of threes and fives were. Like everyone else, they were all staring up or looking around the mountain.


    A quick count gave Bai Yunfei the estimate of there being around fifty people here.


    ¡°What¡¯s all this?¡± Zheng Kai clicked his tongue in surprise, ¡°Why¡¯s everyone down here still. I would¡¯ve gone up the mountain to get the Extreme King Pills, are they trying to be polite and let someone else climb up first?¡±


    As Zheng Kai mentioned, most of the people gathered here was standing at the base of the mountain. There was a few people who were standing up on the trees of the nearby forest, but that was only a slightly taller elevation.


    It didn¡¯t seem like anyone had the intention of rushing up the mountain.


    ¡°It¡¯s strange.¡± Yue Feng shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s probably something about this mountain that makes other people unable to climb it. Let¡¯s get over to the base first before we conclude anything else.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡° We might be late to the party, but it doesn¡¯t seem like anyone¡¯s gone up the mountain yet. We¡¯ll monitor the situation carefully and see what¡¯s going on so we can maximize our chances.¡±


    Slowing to a stop, Bai Yunfei had the thundertail bird descend down to the ground and let Nangong Yuexia alight. Since storing the bird back into its space ring would alert everyone to that it was a soulbeast puppet, Bai Yunfei had it turn into a small sparrow. Having it hop onto his shoulder, he controlled the sparrow so it¡¯d curl its head inwards as if it was trying to sleep, just like a regular soulbeast would.


    Now that they were at the base of the mountain, Bai Yunfei could see everyone else staring at them. The arrival of a group was an annoyance to everyone else, as that meant it was just another challenger.


    Sizing up the people there, Bai Yunfei and the others then decided to head for an empty patch of ground to set up base.


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai! Ol¡¯Bai!! Over here!!¡±


    A loud but happy voice called out to Bai Yunfei then. All eyes shifting towards the source, everyone saw a young man in violet jumping up and down on the boulder he was standing on and waving his hand violently.


    Surprised to have someone call out to him, Bai Yunfei jerked his head over towards the source. When he saw just who it was, he smiled in excitement, ¡°Mingfeng!¡±


    It was the person he had entered this pocket with in the first place: Jing Mingfeng!


    Following his gaze over, the people with Bai Yunfei took a moment to realize what was going on. ¡°You know him?¡± Zheng Kai asked.


    ¡°Ah yeah, I do. Let¡¯s head on over.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded and strode on over.


    It was only when he drew close to Jing Mingfeng that he realized there were several other people standing with him.


    ¡°Big brother You? Zhong Liyan?¡±


    The people standing with Jing Mingfeng were from the Five Elements Schools, the Wood, the Fire, and the Metal! Of the group, Bai Yunfei could recognize You Qingfeng and his other two fellow students, and also Zhong Liyan from the Fire School.


    Jing Mingfeng waited for Bai Yunfei to actually be within arm¡¯s reach before he chuckled out loud. ¡°You¡¯re a slow one, Ol¡¯Bai. I¡¯ve been waiting for you for a while now.¡±


    ¡°Haha, it was a little chaotic when I came in. How went things on your side?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know which way to go at first, but I managed to learn about this mountain after a while. Zhong Liyan and I came across each other at first, and then we met several others from the Metal School. By the time we came here, the three from the Wood School arrived as well, so we grouped together.¡±


    Zhong Liyan took this moment to stride forward two steps in greeting. ¡°Long time no see, brother Bai.¡±


    ¡°Brother Zhong, it¡¯s been a long time indeed. ¡°Bai Yunfei greeted back, nodding to You Qingfeng and the others.


    Jing Mingfeng gave a brief look at Zheng Kai and the others, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, these are¡­?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re friends of mine. This is Zheng Kai, this is Yue Feng, and this is Nangong Yuexia.¡±


    He waved his hand at Jing Mingfeng, ¡°This is my friend, Jing Mingfeng.¡±


    ¡°Zheng Kai?!¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes flew wide open in recognition, ¡°Are you the Zheng Kai, the ¡®Sex Lord¡¯ from the Capital?!¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­.¡± Zheng Kai grimaced slightly in embarrassment at the nickname, ¡°Haha, that¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Haha!! I¡¯ve been wanting to meet you for a long time, a very long time now!¡± Zheng Kai chortled with laughter as he shook his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve heard legends of master Zheng every now and then, but I never thought that I¡¯d actually meet you myself, what an honor, haha!!¡±


    Though his eye twitched at hearing the implications of what kind of stories Jing Mingfeng meant, Bai Yunfei turned away to introduce Yue Feng to You Qingfeng and the others before he in turn was introduced to the people from the Metal School.


    Soon enough, the entire group sat below an extremely tall tree to talk with one another.


    ¡°How long have you been waiting here, Mingfeng? Why haven¡¯t you gone up the mountain? Why hasn¡¯t anyone else?¡±


    Bai Yunfei finally asked the most important question.


    ¡°Well¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t want to go up, it¡¯s that¡­.we can¡¯t go up.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t go up?¡± Bai Yunfei stared quizzically, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng pointed at the red mist hovering halfway up the mountain. ¡°That mist¡­.it¡¯s weird. We can¡¯t go through it.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t go through it? Is it dangerous in there?¡±


    ¡°No no, it¡¯s not dangerous,¡± Jing Mingfeng shook his head, ¡°but that ¡®mist¡¯ is disorientating. If anyone goes in, they¡¯ll come back out sooner or later.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was mystified, ¡°Come back out? Do people get lost in there? Do they not walk in a straight line or something? How do they come back out the same direction?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the weird part.¡± Jing Mingfeng explained, ¡°Visibility is practically nil in there. You can¡¯t see anywhere past ten steps, and soulsense is kaput beyond a hundred meters. Even if they walk straight, they somehow manage to walk back to where they originally started.


    ¡°No one¡¯s been able to make it through as far as I know.¡± Jing Mingfeng pointed at the mist, ¡°Because they¡¯ve all walked back out shortly after they tried.¡±


    Following his finger, Bai Yunfei saw two people come walking back out from the mist. They were familiar to Bai Yunfei, he had seen them just not too long ago at the base of the mountain. At some point while Bai Yunfei was distracted in the conversation, they must¡¯ve tried to enter the mist and were only just walking back out.


    The two of them look perplexed. Staring at one another and then the mist, they sighed walked back down the mountain.


    With mist that blocked not only eyesight but soulsense, this mountain was definitely an enigmatic one. It was even stranger than Black Cloud Valley and the Underworld School¡¯s strange way of navigating through it.


    Speaking of the Underworld School, would they by chance be able to unravel the secret of this mountain?


    From what he heard from Zheng Kai, Xu Ran and Han Yue had both entered the pocket as well. He hadn¡¯t seen either of the two since he came in, so either they weren¡¯t here yet, or they were on the other side of the mountain.


    It took his group half the day to get here. Now that they were here though, they weren¡¯t able to walk up the mountain and could only wait for further notice. It was a very worrisome situation that made them all feel helpless.


    What in the world was going on here? Are the Extreme King Pills really at the peak of this mountain?

 Chapter 776: Spatial Barrier

    After digesting the information Jing Mingfeng told him, Bai Yunfei had a pensive look on his face. ¡°If the mist is so strange and can¡¯t be walked in, then what about¡­flying?¡±


    He pointed a finger up, ¡°If we use a soulbeast that can fly to go over the clouds, we should be able to get to the top straight away, right?¡±


    Though he asked the question, Bai Yunfei had more or less the answer to it already. There were plenty of people with flying soulbeasts gathered here, but none of them were seemingly in a rush to go up. That meant there was something else about this place that didn¡¯t make that option possible.


    Jing Mingfeng shook his head, of course. ¡°We wouldn¡¯t even be here if the answer was that simple. In the skies above is¡­¡±


    His finger pointed upwards, ¡°A spatial barrier.¡±


    ¡°Spatial barrier?!¡± It wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei that cried out in shock, but Zheng Kai. ¡°A spatial barrier here? What kind is it?¡±


    ¡°What kind?¡± It was Jing Mingfeng¡¯s turn to look surprised. ¡°Are there different types to spatial barriers, then?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Nodded Zheng Kai. ¡°The most basic ones aren¡¯t any different than ones made from elemental energy. It¡¯s just like a wall, but one that can be easily broken just like any other. Another type of spatial barrier is one that can transport objects or people just like a door. When you step from one side to the other, you¡¯re sent somewhere else. But it¡¯s not so easy to transport people through these types. These barriers have multiple layers of space folded in on it so that walking in between these spatial barriers is like walking on a line. If you step out of line, you¡¯ll find yourself in multiple folds of space at once, and that basically means you¡¯ll physically be in different places at once. That means an ugly death beyond everything else¡­¡±


    The very moment the topic of spatial barriers was brought up, Zheng Kai adopted the persona of a scholarly figure to explain all about it.


    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± Jing Mingfeng was struck speechless by the amount of knowledge being imparted on him. ¡°In that case¡­this barrier is probably the second one you¡¯re talking about. Whenever someone tries to fly a little within five hundred meters of the mountain, they end up disappearing and reappearing on the other side of the mountain.¡±


    ¡°Really now?¡± Zheng Kai nodded knowingly, ¡°Must be a spatial fold then. It¡¯s a bit similar to how Soul Kings can teleport. They rip open a tear in space and walk through it to travel a kilometer away to travel through another fold in space. By walking through the two folds, you¡¯re basically ignoring whatever¡¯s in the middle. This side and the other side of the mountain are connected to the same plane of space, but the mountain is detached. To fly into that space barrier will mean being forcibly entered through the fold in space to come out from the other side¡­now that I think about it, entering the mist and coming back out is the same result of entering a spatial fold.¡±


    He sighed at the end of his explanation. ¡°But¡­.I¡¯ve never heard of a spatial barrier with a fold as large as this. Just how strong does someone have to be make something like this¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really understand the explanation a hundred percent, but he gave Zheng Kai a slap on the shoulder, ¡°You¡¯re quite educated on this.¡±


    He sighed as well, however. ¡°But in short, we can¡¯t fly, and we can¡¯t walk into the fog. There has to be some sort of special way to be able to get through that fog. We¡¯ll need extensive research in order to find even a clue¡­¡±


    Yue Feng nodded, ¡°It makes sense though. If the Extreme King Pills were hidden in an ordinary place without any protection, I¡¯d have second doubts on its authenticity¡­¡±


    ¡°No time to waste then. Let¡¯s prepare to see what we can find inside the mist.¡± Bai Yunfei suggested after a moment¡¯s thought.


    He turned his head to look at the other groups around them, ¡°Besides¡­it seems like everyone else has the same ideas as we do. They¡¯re all looking quite impatient¡­¡±


    Just like he said, several people around him were already starting to head up the mountain in varying places.


    Zhong Liyan nodded, ¡°Alright! We won¡¯t get the Extreme King Pills by thinking about it here, let¡¯s go on into the mist ourselves!¡±


    Lin Zihao looked a little hesitant on his side, however. ¡°But all of us going in at once would be a little conspicuous. It won¡¯t do us much good if we go in all at once, why don¡¯t we...go in from two different routes?¡±


    Was that not the case? They had about a dozen people in their group, which was to say they had the largest number of people in one place out of everyone here. The gathering of so many people in one group was a huge threat to the others, and many of them were already making another attempt up the mountain because of their fear of this group. To have so many people in one group meant that the chances for everyone else to get the Extreme King Pill would be very low¡­


    Lin Zihao¡¯s suggestion had a second reason to it. If by chance they didn¡¯t split up and found the Extreme King Pills, there was a possibility there wouldn¡¯t be enough pills for them all. An outcome like that would be extremely awkward to have. The Five Elements Schools could at least trust each other to work together for the Extreme King Pills, but Zheng Kai and Jing Mingfeng on the other hand¡­


    It was a lot harder to say in their cases. Complete trust was an impossibility, and Jing Mingfeng would surely think the same as them.


    This second reasoning wasn¡¯t something the entire group didn¡¯t get. They all nodded, and Bai Yunfei said nothing about it. He nodded at Zheng Kai and Jing Mingfeng, ¡°We¡¯ll split the group in two then. After we exit, we¡¯ll come back here and share what we learned so we can figure out the secret faster.¡±


    Since no one disagreed, they all split up with one group being the three students from the Wood, the two from the Fire, and three from the Metal for a total of eight. There was actually a third from the Fire School, but that person wasn¡¯t here. Whether he wasn¡¯t here yet or met an untimely demise had yet to be seen¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded to Zheng Kai. He and his group headed for the same direction after bidding good luck to the other group to walk in to the mist.


    ¡°Yuexia, don¡¯t do anything else but follow us, alright?¡±


    Yue Feng warned Nangong Yuexia the moment they started for the mountain. There was no way Yue Feng would leave her by herself, so the only option left was to bring her with them. Yue Feng would pay attention to her just in case there was a chance of danger. Even if it meant not getting the Extreme King Pills, the safety of Nangong Yuexia was his first priority.


    He had something else he was worried about as well actually. This entire time they had been at the base of the mountain, Yue Feng had been looking around for someone, but try as hard as he might, he couldn¡¯t find Yu Li anywhere. Whereas he wasn¡¯t worried before, Yue Feng was now thinking to himself where she could be or if she was still safe¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, brother Yue Feng, I can protect myself.¡± Nangong Yuexia nodded seriously.


    With everything set, the group stepped onto the beaten path up the mountain. Soon, the group disappeared out of sight behind the mist¡­

 Chapter 777: Within the Fog

    The ground beneath their feet was stone and dirt, and the surrounding air was a crimson mist for as far as the eyes could see. Left or right, only those three things could be seen.


    Already ten minutes had gone by since Bai Yunfei and his group of four entered the mist. Their travel pace was practically a crawl so that they could slowly take in everything they could. But even after walking hundreds of steps it didn¡¯t seem like anything had changed. If not for the linear motion they were walking in, the group would¡¯ve thought they were walking in circles.


    What they could sense however, was the auras of the other groups of soul cultivators walking nearby. It was fuzzy with all this mist as interference, and as time went on, those auras drew farther and farther away until they couldn¡¯t be felt anymore.


    It was as if Bai Yunfei¡¯s group was the only one on the mountain.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, how¡¯s it looking?¡±


    Having been looking around the place intently, Bai Yunfei decided to ask Zheng Kai for his thoughts.


    Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai were standing at the front of the group with Yue Feng and Nangong Yuexia in the middle and Jing Mingfeng taking on the responsibility of being the vanguard. He was also tasked with the mission of leaving a deep impression of his foot every few steps or so so to mark their way.


    Prompted by Bai Yunfei¡¯s asking, Zheng Kai shook his head to share his thoughts. ¡°Can¡¯t sense anything. I don¡¯t even sense any spatial energy.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already walked for half a kilometer around,¡± Yue Feng piped up from behind them, ¡°If we convert that to height, we must be about three hundred or four hundred meters above ground level around. Aside from our eyesight and soulsense being hindered, I can¡¯t really sense anything different. Are we just lucky, or is this the right path?¡±


    ¡°The mist is getting thicker and thicker. We¡¯re most likely at the midway point as you say. Let¡¯s keep going then.¡±


    It was going exactly as Jing Mingfeng said it would. Not only could they hardly see ten steps away, they couldn¡¯t even use their soulsense to scan past a hundred meters.


    This feeling was exactly like what Bai Yunfei felt back in Black Cloud Valley, and that was extremely perplexing to him.


    ¡°You know, if not for the fog being white instead of black, I would¡¯ve thought we were back in Black Cloud Valley¡­¡± Zheng Kai muttered to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯ve been to Black Cloud Valley before, brother Zheng?!¡± Yue Feng spoke out in surprise.


    Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°Yes. We were there befo¡ªwha?! Hold on, stop!¡±


    He came to a screeching halt, startling everyone in the group into listening to what he said.


    Heart skipping a beat, Bai Yunfei stared at him, ¡°What is it?¡±


    Zheng Kai looked around himself warily, his face very pale and suspicious, ¡°We just¡­.walked into a spatial barrier¡­.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Everyone in the group cried out. Jing Mingfeng whirled around at once to confirm it for himself, ¡°It¡¯s true! My footprints are gone!¡±


    ¡°But¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei was thunderstruck. He scanned the area in desperate hope for a clue, ¡°How is this possible? We didn¡¯t sense any spatial energy before this!¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­.speak for yourself. I felt a sliver of it the moment we stepped across.¡± Zheng Kai looked even more surprised than Bai Yunfei, his eyes were glistening with excitement. ¡°This is crazy, an undetectable transportation barrier, who could do such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Then where are we now? Should we try and walk back to where we came in from?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked, ¡°We could at the very least confirm the distance traveled, can¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re most likely brought down to a lower level than where we used to be. Have you noticed that the mist around us isn¡¯t as thick anymore?¡±


    He turned his head back to look up, ¡°I think we should keep on going and try a few more times. There¡¯s no danger here so far, so we might as well try a few different roads.¡±


    And so the group decided to walk ahead again. This time, they were far more cautious and careful by stopping every hundred steps to concentrate on sensing for any spatial energy.


    It wasn¡¯t until another twenty minutes when Zheng Kai cried out again that everyone stopped. Jing Mingfeng looked behind for his steps as soon as he heard Zheng Kai, ¡°The footprints are still here, we haven¡¯t been transported!¡±


    ¡°Of course. But if we walk just a few steps more it¡¯ll be gone.¡± Zheng Kai stared grimly at the space ahead. ¡°If I¡¯m right, then right in front of us is a spatial barrier!¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow, ¡°You can sense it?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a hundred percent sure¡­.but should we try it out??¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Yue Feng looked at one another for a moment before they nodded.


    They were already transported once down the mountain. The peak was out of his grasp for now so it was well worth a shot to try it out.


    ¡°Alright, follow closely, everyone!¡± Zheng Kai nodded to Bai Yunfei and the others before stepping forward.


    ¡°Nothing...nothing¡­.nothing...let¡¯s keep going¡­¡±


    Zheng Kai remarked on the changes he was feeling with each step he take. It wasn¡¯t until the fifth step that his eyes shined with light, ¡°It¡¯s changed!!¡±


    The hearts of everyone skipped a beat. Jing Mingfeng, whose hand had been on Yue Feng¡¯s shoulder the entire time, let out a cry of surprise, ¡°Damn!! The footprints are gone! The ground is different!¡±


    Confused, Bai Yunfei put a finger to his chin to think. Even though he had been focusing so much on trying to sense for any external energies, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been able to sense it. If not for Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve even known they walked through a spatial barrier.


    It wasn¡¯t just shock that was in Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes. He was also excited for some reason, like a young child staring at a new toy for the first time in his life. ¡°This isn¡¯t a ¡®single-layered¡¯ type spatial barrier, it¡¯s a ¡®channel¡¯ type barrier¡­.and taking in account for the spacing between us all? It¡¯s not a coincidence¡­.this barrier adapts from case to case?! How in the¡­?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, what are you talking about? What¡¯s a ¡®single-layer¡¯, what¡¯s a ¡®channel¡¯? What do you mean adapt?¡± Bai Yunfei groused, not quite understanding what Zheng Kai was talking about.


    ¡°Normal transportation barriers are like doors. In those cases, Yue Feng who was in front of us wouldn¡¯t have been able to see us. But this was different. That¡¯s because this barrier has ¡®thickness¡¯ to it. It was only after we walked through the entire depth of the barrier that it transported us to somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°It can get that complicated?¡±


    ¡°Yes. But the most important thing is that this time the thickness of the barrier was as long as our group itself. It¡¯s too unlikely to be a coincidence, that¡­that means¡­¡±


    As if he couldn¡¯t even find the words to describe this strange phenomena, it took Zheng Kai two seconds to actually say what he wanted to say.


    ¡°That means there¡¯s someone intentionally controlling the barrier!!¡±

 Chapter 778: Leaving the Fog?!

    Thunderstruck, everyone rounded onto Zheng Kai with wide-open eyes, ¡°Someone¡¯s controlling it?! No way!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed.


    ¡°I felt the same way.¡± Zheng Kai replied quizzically. ¡°As I was saying, this pocket was said to be unopened for at least a thousand years or so. What kind of person would be able to live for that long? Furthermore, we never saw even a single soulbeast on our way here, didn¡¯t we? And this pocket¡¯s unsteady nature has already seen to it that only Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt are allowed entry.¡±


    ¡°But that spatial barrier.¡± Bai Yunfei replied.


    ¡°I can only guess that this is some sort of ¡®array¡¯ that adapts based on the number of people walking in. I heard long ago that many of the strong were capable of constructing arrays that were ¡®intelligent¡¯ in nature. They could do many things depending on many different factors. Those arrays are mostly gone now, but it still remains to be seen if this is one of those types of ancient arrays.¡±


    Arrays. A long-lost relic of the past that was very rare on the continent. The way to ¡®create¡¯ these arrays were long lost to the world, and very few arrays were even made, much less survived the passage of time.


    It was said that the Five Elements Schools had a set of arrays for their own special elements and were known as the highest quality arrays known to public knowledge. There were also a few major families or schools that had their own arrays, such as the protective array of the Underworld School, which too, was a relic from the ancient past.


    Bai Yunfei thought back to the way how the Illusion Stones had been placed in very specific coordinates. It was something similar to an array, but it wasn¡¯t quite there yet.


    ¡°If it¡¯s something that old, do we even have a chance of unraveling it then?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    It¡¯d probably take a Soul King erudite in order to crack the code behind an array this mysterious. But everyone in the pocket was people of the next generation of soul cultivators. As powerful as they were, they hadn¡¯t the skill or knowledge to unravel the mysteries of long before.


    ¡°Can¡¯t say. I think I might have a guess actually.¡±


    No one expected Zheng Kai to say that, but it was Jing Mingfeng who voiced the question. ¡°What? You know a way to bypass this array, brother Zheng?!¡±


    ¡°A way to bypass it?¡± Zheng Kai smiled in self-deprecation. ¡°It¡¯s only just a guess. I¡¯d need to try it out a few times before I have anything solid to go on. Shall we test it out then?¡±


    ¡°Alright!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei and the others nodded. All their hopes were on Zheng Kai right now since he was the only person proficient in space. Hopefully, he¡¯d be able to unravel its secrets and find a way to bring them to the top of the mountain.


    Time trickled slowly by as the group traveled through the mist once again. Several times had they been transported by the barrier, but with each repetition did Zheng Kai learn more and more about the barrier. There were times where he¡¯d cry out loud at a realization, much to the shock of the others before growing silent again to think. No one dared to interrupt his thinking process either and chose to just follow behind him silently.


    After well over an hour of walking in the unchanging scenery, even Bai Yunfei had had enough. If it had been an ordinary mountain, they would¡¯ve at the top a long time ago. But they were still at the waist of it and were still an unknown measure of time away from it.


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    Zheng Kai cried out. Everyone stopped. Only when Zheng Kai said ¡®stop¡¯ did everyone know there was a barrier in front of them.


    Zheng Kai looked carefully at the area in front of them, his soulsense scanning the surrounding area for any fluctuation in energy or something. He extended his hand outwards as if groping or pressing against an invisible wall.


    It was taking Zheng Kai a little longer to research the barrier this time. After one long minute of silence, he strode rightwards ten steps with a bright eye. He gave a knowing look at Bai Yunfei and the others and then strode forward.


    Following right behind him, the group noticed a slight difference this time. Jing Mingfeng noticed it first when he saw his footprints still there even after ten steps into the area where the barrier should¡¯ve been. None of them had been transported anywhere.


    Zheng Kai called for them to stop again after ten minutes of walking. His right hand extended outward for that same motion. Then like if turning the handle of something, he motioned for everyone to head a hundred meters to the left and then back onto their original direction.


    This stop and go path forward continued for an hour, but no longer were Bai Yunfei and the others feeling tired. They were all looking very excited!


    They hadn¡¯t been transported even once since Zheng Kai first started his strange motioning!


    ¡°Has Zheng Kai figured out a way to bypass the spatial barrier? Are we really going to be able to head up to the mountain peak?!¡± Everyone had the same excited thought on their minds.


    Aside from Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei had been the one most ¡®thorough¡¯ on his investigation of the mist around them. He was also the first to realize that the mist was getting thinner and thinner, much to his own relief.


    It really did seem like the final portion of the misty mountain was coming to the end. Would they really be coming to the peak of the mountain soon?!


    After another twenty minutes of walking, everyone realized then a bright spark of light up ahead!


    ¡°Damn! You¡¯re kidding me?! Are we really out of the mist?! Are we at the top?!¡± Jing Mingfeng was the first to voice his shock.


    Yue Feng looked similarly excited. ¡°Could it possibly be?! Let¡¯s keep going!!¡±


    Their footsteps quickened. The white light was getting brighter and brighter, and everyone¡¯s mood getting lighter and lighter. The fog was already very thin and faint, and soon, everyone could see a rough outline of the skies above!


    At last, everyone could see clearly what was in front of them and as well as what was around them. There were a few boulders and plant life on the ground, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky above them.


    ¡°Haha! We¡¯re really out of there! Are we at the top?!¡± Jing Mingfeng hooted out loud with joy.


    As he took one step forward, Jing Mingfeng had barely any time but to utter a quick squalk of confusion before face-planting into the ground!


    Bai Yunfei and the others had all been extremely excited just like Jing Mingfeng when they stepped out from the fog. But when they took that step forward like Jing Mingfeng, they too felt their expressions stiffen on their face.


    Feeling as though the sky was spinning and the earth shaking, everyone¡¯s feet buckled and dropped them mercilessly to the ground. Something strange had dropped onto their minds, forcing them to lose their sense of balance and dropping them to the ground!


    Bai Yunfei stumbled forward from his sudden loss of balance, but his reaction was quick and he was able to stagger forwards two steps and reorientate himself.


    By the time he was able to do so, he looked back up only to have his eyes open wide at what he saw!


    ¡°Damn!! No way?! What in the world is this?!¡± Zheng Kai cried out in shock at the same time as Bai Yunfei noticed.

 Chapter 779: Leaving Without A Prize

    The moment Bai Yunfei and the others stepped out from the mist, their feet drew forward in expectancy of climbing up. But instead of that, their feet met with air! Without a foothold, the group fell down to the ground!


    In front of them was a large expanse of the flat ground, and behind them, the very same mountain they had been trying to scale¡­.


    They weren¡¯t at the top of the mountain, they were at the bottom where the entrance to the mist was!


    After walking several hours and winding several twists and turns, they were pushed back to their starting point!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­.?¡±


    Now that everyone was back on their feet and able to see what was around them, they were in shock at what they were seeing. ¡°We were¡­walking ¡®up¡¯ the mountain the entire time, weren¡¯t we? Why are we¡­.¡±


    When they were in the mist, the group could at the very least confirm that they were traveling up by the incline of the ground beneath them. There is a stark difference in the sensation of walking ¡®up¡¯ or ¡®down¡¯ a mountain, and everyone could tell that they were walking the former.


    It was when they reached the point beyond the fog and near the ¡®top¡¯ when everyone was assaulted by the strange bout of dizziness and realized they were at the bottom of the mountain again. And not only that, they had been walking downwards as well¡­


    ¡°Changing the direction of gravity¡­.we¡¯ve been tricked by the array!¡± Bai Yunfei realized after taking a moment to think about it. ¡°I¡¯ve battled with a soulbeast who could do something similar to this. Not only can that mist hinder visibility and soulsense, but it can also change how we feel gravity! The array made it so we couldn¡¯t tell if we were going up or down the mountain¡­.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?! No way!?¡± Jing Mingfeng howled in vexation, ¡°Isn¡¯t that crazy?! Who¡¯d be able to make it to the top then!?¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­doesn¡¯t seem like we¡¯ll be able to figure out how to get the Extreme King Pills in a short amount of time¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°We all must be tired after walking for so long in the mist? Let¡¯s take a break for now and think about what to do next.¡±


    Dismayed, everyone walked away from the entrance to the mist with some giving one last look at it. With a sigh and shake of the head, they turned away.


    ¡°Hm? This isn¡¯t where we came up the mountain from!¡± Jing Mingfeng spoke out after several steps, ¡°I remember there being a giant tree nearby, where is it?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked around the area. He didn¡¯t seem as surprised as Jing Mingfeng. ¡°We¡¯re probably on the other side of the mountain. With all that misdirection and transportation going on, we must¡¯ve walked to the other side of the mountain instead.


    ¡°Should we go back to the other side and group up with the other party then?¡± Yue Feng asked.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how they¡¯re doing, but it¡¯s probably not any different than what we learned. It¡¯d be a little bit pointless to go back¡­.¡± Bai Yunfei said, ¡°We¡¯re here now anyway, they¡¯ll probably be transported elsewhere and won¡¯t go back to their original point. And with how large this mountain is, it¡¯d be hard to find them¡­forget it, let¡¯s stay here for now.¡±


    By the base of the mountain further down were a few others¡ªroughly twenty or so people with several in groups. Like Bai Yunfei¡¯s group, these people had also tried their hand in trying to scale the mountain but were unable to do so.


    Nangong Yuexia¡¯s eyes lit up when she saw something from the corners of her eyes. Excitement filled her person before she pointed out at a person standing not too far away, ¡°Senior Yu Li!!¡±


    ¡°What?! Where!?¡± Yue Feng was the first to respond.


    He followed Nangong Yuexia¡¯s pointing to the group in front, ¡°It really is her!¡±


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei and the other two with him looked as well. Just about several hundred meters away from the mountain, a woman in light green robes could be seen. She had long hair that reached to her waist like a miniature waterfall that swayed a bit from left to right whenever she moved. But the truly ¡®breathtaking¡¯ sight for the males was her physical stature.


    But she wasn¡¯t alone. By her side was four other males who seemed to be talking to her about something. They were also starting to spread out in a way that made it seem like they were trying to prevent her from escaping.


    ¡°Is it trouble?¡± Zheng Kai asked.


    Yue Feng¡¯s eyebrows furrowed together. Without even a word, he flew straight towards Yu Li with Nangong Yuexia in close pursuit.


    ¡°We should follow them.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke to Jing Mingfeng and Zheng Kai before the three took off to follow.


    Having five people rush towards the same destination was something that caught the eyes of many people there, including the four males trying to surround Yu Li. By the time Yue Feng was down the mountain and just two hundred meters away, the group of four was already heading away from Yu Li, clearly intimidated by the group¡¯s coming.


    When she saw both Yue Feng and Nangong Yuexia, Yu Li¡¯s eyes lit up with joy. Since those four males were gone, she could freely walk up to meet the two.


    There was a swishing sound as Yue Feng came to a sudden stop in front of Yu Li, ¡°Yu Li, are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± She smiled.


    Yue Feng looked at the four men now several hundred meters away from them. ¡°Who were they? Were they trying to do something to you?¡± A dangerous glint shined in his eyes.


    Yu Li glanced over to the four for a brief moment. ¡°Just a couple of wandering soul cultivators. They saw I was by myself and wanted me to go with them. I refused, but they kept insisting. You were coming over just as I was refusing them¡­.¡±


    ¡°Senior!!¡±


    Nangong Yuexia flew forward then to tackle the woman into her arms, ¡°You¡¯re finally here! We¡¯ve been looking for so long!¡±


    Yu Li let a sigh of relief at the sight of Nangong Yuexia. ¡°I was looking for you too. It makes me glad to see you safe and sound¡­¡±


    She turned to look at Bai Yunfei and the other two males by Yue Feng¡¯s side, ¡°And these are¡­?¡±


    ¡°Ah, they¡¯re some friends I met along the way.¡±


    Yue Feng waved at the three, ¡°This is Yu Li, the senior of Yuexia.¡±


    It was only now that they were up close Bai Yunfei was able to see what Yu Li looked like, and he was pleasantly surprised to see her.


    She was a beautiful young woman with tender white skin tones. Her entire person, demeanor or physique, was graceful and lithe with the right amount of curves in the right amount of places. There was a small red mole just above her left eyebrow, but that only added to her appeal.


    Yu Li looked surprised when Yue Feng mentioned Bai Yunfei¡¯s name, ¡°Bai Yunfei? Might he be the same Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°The very same.¡± Yue Feng nodded.


    ¡°Hey Ol¡¯Bai,¡± Jing Mingfeng nudged him, ¡°You¡¯ve become quite famous. Everyone seems to know you. I¡¯m even more handsome than you but everyone seems to gravitate towards you.¡±


    ¡°My thoughts exactly.¡± Zheng Kai nodded enviously.


    ¡°.......¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s find a place to sit down and rest, we can talk then.¡± Yue Feng pointed to a nearby patch of grass with relative distance from the other soul cultivators here.


    The group walked on over to the area and were preparing to sit down when Zheng Kai suddenly pulled a decently-sized jade table out from his space ring. Out came enough seats for everyone there before he started to place fruits and other foodstuffs onto the table. ¡°Nearly forgot about this stuff,¡± he gestured for everyone to sit, ¡°please sit down, we can talk while we eat and drink.¡±


    His thoughtfulness was surprising to see, but everyone had a grateful look in their eyes as they sat down.


    Zheng Kai smiled. ¡°Hehe¡­.it¡¯s something I normally use anyhow¡­.Yunfei, start a fire and boil some tea will you¡­¡±


    ¡°.......¡±


    While Bai Yunfei sought to boil the tea, Yu Li raised her head to look at the mountain. ¡°How long have you been here, Yue Feng? Did you come down from the mountain?¡±


    Yue Feng nodded. ¡°We arrived just half a day ago and decided to go up the mountain.¡±


    ¡°Did you make it to the top? Were the Extreme King Pills there?¡±


    ¡°The Extreme King Pills are probably up there, but no one¡¯s been able to get to the top because¡­¡±


    He explained the situation about the mist and mountain succinctly to Yu Li.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a clue right now how to get to the top of the mountain. Maybe if we try a few more times, we¡¯ll find something or some way to bypass the array.¡±


    ¡°What do you plan to do next time then?¡±


    ¡°We¡­.we¡¯re not sure yet.¡± Yue Feng shot a glance to Bai Yunfei at that.


    Bai Yunfei, in turn, looked to Zheng Kai, ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, have you any clues about the mist or barrier?¡±


    He was responded with a shake of the head.


    ¡°I think I have a rough outline on the details, but it¡¯s rough as I said. There¡¯s not much information to go on. We¡¯d have to try several more times before I can get a better idea on how the spatial energy is fluctuating before I learn anything new¡­¡±


    ¡°Well let¡¯s take a rest for now then. We can keep investigating later.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    The conversation soon veered off into a more general and broad range of topics. Each person talked about what they had come across when they came into the pocket.


    And when the mood was finally very comfortable and happy¡­


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    A scream was coming from the mountain!

 Chapter 780: The Reaper Approaches

    The abruptness of the scream saw to everyone swinging their heads over at the source at once.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A bear¡¯s roar could be heard as well. All everyone saw was a tremendous black bear just at that moment stabbing its claws into a person¡¯s chest and swing him up! Still screaming, the person had barely any time to react before the bear tore the person in two like how one would tear open a bag!


    Despite the relative distance between this sight and Bai Yunfei¡¯s group, the sight was unbearably grisly to parts of the group. Nangong Yuexia for example, let out a cry of alarm and shielded her eyes from it.


    ¡°Lin Dongxiao! You demented person! We were only ju¡ªurk!!¡±


    A horrified voice boomed out to rebuke another, but he wasn¡¯t even halfway done with his sentence before something golden came crashing into him. A giant tiger had snapped the man up into its mouth and bit down onto his upper half, killing the man instantly!


    The mountain grew quiet again now that those two people were dead. Everyone watched as the two soulbeasts disappeared from sight. There was a shrill bird¡¯s cry before a white crane came descending from the skies with a man in purple sitting on it.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s Lin Dongxiao!¡±


    ¡°The junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School, Lin Dongxiao! Didn¡¯t he head up the mountain an hour ago, what¡¯s he doing back down here?¡±


    ¡°What in the world happened? Why¡¯d he go and kill two people for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure those two people were from the house of Qi from Expleta City in the Southward River Province, what did they do to Lin Dongxiao to piss him off?!¡±


    ¡°What a brute Lin Dongxiao is! It¡¯s already a gentleman¡¯s agreement to not fight each other here, but there he goes killing two people! Does he think the Beast Taming School is invincible?!¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t, but they¡¯re not people we can annoy either. Don¡¯t let him catch what you¡¯re saying, or else you¡¯ll be the next one to die¡­¡±


    ¡°There used to be four beast tamers here, but Lin Dongxiao is by himself. I heard the other three were already killed by someone. That must be why Lin Dongxiao looks so angry. The next person to piss him off won¡¯t be dying in one piece¡­¡±


    ¡°What what? Really? The beast tamers were killed?! But how! The strongest ones here are only Late-stage Soul Exalts, we¡¯re at a disadvantage against the Beast Taming School and their ability to use so many soulbeasts at once. How could they be killed? Did an entire group ambush them?¡±


    ¡°Who knows? I¡¯m only repeating what I heard¡­pah, they¡¯ve been treating the rest of us like scum. I met one of the beast tamers when I got in and had to flee for my life. If they¡¯re really dead then¡­.I¡¯d like to thank whoever did it¡­¡±


    Lin Dongxiao¡¯s entrance caused no small amount of stir in the community here. People from all over started to talk about what they had witnessed while maintaining a fearful stare at the still-flying Lin Dongxiao. As angry or discontent they were with Lin Dongxiao¡¯s actions, they were still afraid of being caught by him.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Lin Dongxiao¡­So he¡¯s here as well. And here I thought he¡¯d be off at the edge of the pocket instead of here.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng tsked. The fact that Lin Dongxiao was sitting on top of his crane and being protected by another two late-stage class six soulbeasts and having that look on his face seemed to annoy Jing Mingfeng.


    Bai Yunfei was surprised as well. He remembered seeing Lin Dongxiao running off in the opposite direction of the Extreme King Pills when he first entered. He must¡¯ve heard from someone else and turned back. Judging from his positioning, Lin Dongxiao must¡¯ve come out from the mist as well.


    ¡°Beast tamers?¡± Yue Feng had a look of annoyance on his face, ¡°I remember coming acrossd one back in Soulbeast Forest. He was an arrogant annoyance.¡±


    His impression of the Beast Taming School wasn¡¯t very high as it would seem.


    ¡°Why¡¯s it only Lin Dongxiao? I remember he came with three others, didn¡¯t he?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked.


    A sadistic gleam entered Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes, ¡°Did they come across someone even stronger than they were and got themselves killed?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei sipped his tea without a word.


    There was no way he¡¯d talk about him killing the three beast tamers. The only ones who knew of the deed would be the three people from the Wood School (to which they only knew he killed two of them). Since Bai Yunfei killed those two beast tamers for the sake of saving them, there was no way the three would divulge that secret either.


    Lin Dongxiao glanced over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s group as if sensing their gaze. When he saw Bai Yunfei, there was a flash of light in his eyes, but he ultimately did nothing and averted his gaze.


    ¡­¡­


    Dozens of minutes went by as Bai Yunfei and his group sat there and talked to themselves. Over this time period, more and more people had been coming out from the mist, each one looking sad over their fruitless endeavor. Some of them were even looking impatient.


    ¡°Here comes another two¡­¡± Yue Feng muttered as he watched two figures walk out from the mist, ¡°There¡¯s more and more people here now¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned his head to look. He stood up after a moment to think to himself, ¡°We should go back up one more time. It doesn¡¯t matter how many people are here if they can¡¯t figure out the secret. It¡¯s a race now, whoever can get up to the mountain will get the Extreme King Pills.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get going then!¡± Zheng Kai agreed.


    After tidying up their things, the group set out back to the mist.


    From off in a distance, another person stood up at the same time Bai Yunfei and his group did. It was Lin Dongxiao. Storing away his soulbeast puppet, he strode for the mountain as well¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Simultaneously, at a place roughly five kilometers away from the mountain.


    Two streaks of orange light blazed through the forest. It was a male and female pair of Peak Late-stage Soul Exalts. The male was of stocky build and the female of ordinary stature. The two of them were traveling as fast as they could towards the mountain that glowed red with mist.


    Suddenly, the male grabbed hold of his companion and stopped the both of them where they stood.


    His companion was surprised by his sudden action, but the male wasn¡¯t looking at her. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± He barked, staring at a large tree up ahead, ¡°Come on out!¡±


    Surprised again, the female looked to where he was looking and simultaneously prepared herself for battle.


    ¡°Haha¡­so you were able to sense me? As expected from the elites of the Earth School, you¡¯re both quite strong¡­¡±


    Faint laughter echoed through the forest before a young figure in black appeared in front of the two students.


    ¡°Who are you? Why ha¡ª¡±


    ¡°Senior, watch out!!¡±


    Whilst the male was demanding for an answer from the figure, his companion seemed to have realized something and cried out a warning. Pushing him behind, she slammed her foot into the ground and brought an earthen slab of elemental earth up from the ground to protect the two.


    ¡°Pcht!¡±


    The two heard a slight ringing sound the moment after the shield was erected. From the other side of the shield, a tiny black streak of light shot straight through it and through the place where the male once stood! If not for his companion pushing him away, the male would¡¯ve had his heart pierced by this flying object!


    ¡°A fast one aren¡¯t you? But¡­it¡¯s no use¡­¡±


    The figure remarked, a slight smile on his lips when he watched the two dodge his attack.


    There was a flicker of black light as the black streak came to a sudden halt in the air. Turning straight around, it flew at the head of the female!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    With how close the object was and how unexpected of a direction it traveled, the female was unable to react or dodge. All she could do was watch with wide open eyes as the needle shot straight through her forehead, leaving behind a single hole in it!!


    ¡°Junior!!!¡±


    The male roared in disbelief. He kicked off against the ground and made for a mad dash to grab hold of her body before it could hit the ground.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Faster than he could react, the black streak of light came flying back again and flew for his head fast enough to hear a crack in the air!


    Having swifter reflexes than his female companion, the male managed to stamp on the ground in the same way the female had done. Instantaneously, a giant orange shield the size of a door came up to protect him.


    ¡°Clang¡­¡±


    There was a metallic clang as whatever it was chasing him slammed into his shield. Instead of stopping, it stabbed straight through the shield and through his low-heaven tier soul armament towards his throat!


    ¡°What the!¡±


    The male cried in terror. He threw himself to the side just fast enough for the sharp object to stab through his right shoulder. A normally negligible wound, but only under normal circumstances¡­


    He came to an immediate halt the moment after the object pierced him. For a moment, he did nothing.


    Then came the fall. His person collapsed to the ground and all of his elemental earth dissipated from his person.


    He was dead!!


    The object stabbed only through the man¡¯s right shoulder, but it had claimed his life in an instant!


    ¡­¡­


    The figure in black robes slowly walked out from his original place. He looked to the mountain with mist floating around it. ¡°Is that where the Extreme King PIlls are? Then, in other words, is everyone gathered there? Haha¡­very well then, that saves me the trouble of looking for them all¡­¡±


    He started to walk towards the mountain¡­


    To this moment, not a single person within this pocket knew that this person wasn¡¯t here for the Extreme King Pills. This person was like the Reaper, here to reap and harvests the lives of every single person he came across¡­


    And right now, the Reaper was heading for where everyone else was!

 Chapter 781: Surprise Attack

    ¡°Do you think we¡¯re walking up or down the mountain, brother Yue?¡±


    After walking for a good while through the mist, Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t hold in his boredom any longer.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point asking me¡­¡± Yue Feng shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ve already gone through five spatial barriers, who knows just which direction it¡¯ll send us to next?¡±


    ¡°Ugh, doesn¡¯t that mean we might just get sent back down the mountain the next time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only our second time going up the mountain, don¡¯t be so impatient, brother Jing.¡± Yue Feng smiled. ¡°We¡¯ve been at it for two hours and came across five barriers. That¡¯s a lot better than before. Brother Zheng is getting more familiar with the spatial barriers. Just wait a little longer and we should be able to bypass the barriers and make it up to the mountain peak without trouble.¡±


    ¡°Ai¡­I wonder just how much longer it¡¯ll take¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    Zheng Kai cried out, immediately putting a stop to the idle chatter between Jing Mingfeng and Yue Feng.


    Bai Yunfei glanced over to him, ¡°What is it, is there another spatial barrier in front of us?¡±


    Zheng Kai wasn¡¯t staring hard at the space in front of him like usual. Instead, he was listening with his ear, as if trying to listen in on something. ¡°That¡¯s not it,¡± he shook his head, ¡°there¡¯s...people in front of us.¡±


    ¡°People?!¡±


    The group exclaimed. They hadn¡¯t come across any other person in all their time spent in the mist so far, though that didn¡¯t mean it was impossible. It was just unlikely. So to have someone appear now for the first time was surprising enough to them all.


    Due to his proficiency in sensing the peculiar nature of spatial energy, Zheng Kai¡¯s perception of the area was stronger than the others with their usage of the soulsense. Having been the first to sense someone within the vicinity, he made sure to warn the others so as to prepare themselves for battle if needed.


    And no sooner did his warning fully play off Zheng Kai¡¯s lips did Bai Yunfei sense with his own soulsense a group of people up ahead!


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes widened by a fraction a moment afterward, ¡°Careful! They¡¯re enemies!!¡±


    He pulled his folding fan out from his space ring and shook it thrice to send three blades of spatial energy forward!


    Bai Yunfei watched as the three spatial blades fly through the air. Just a little further ahead, another three identical blades of spatial energy were flying in the inverse direction. The six blades collided into one another and promptly disappeared without a trace!


    One of their enemies was also a space-type soul cultivator!


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Someone from up ahead muttered under his breath as soon as he saw the attack get neutralized. Then a moment afterward, nine streaks of different colored energy flew out to surround Bai Yunfei and his group!


    They hadn¡¯t even seen who the enemy was yet and everyone was attacking all at once!


    ¡°Let me!¡±


    Just who were these people? It was an abrupt attack, but the enemies didn¡¯t seem all too hesitant on attacking.


    Right as the people behind Bai Yunfei were preparing themselves to move out of the way or block the attacks, Bai Yunfei barked out those two words and waved his right hand. The Cataclysmic Seal flew out from his space ring with a buzzing sound and erected an orange barrier over his group.


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom¡­¡±


    There was a string of explosions as four of the streaks of energy slammed into the ground and the rest onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier. Lights of every color splashed around the group to engulf them and scattered the mist within fifty meters of Bai Yunfei¡¯s group.


    Standing there forty to fifty meters away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s group was a group of eight soul cultivators. All of them were males, and four of them had soulbeast partners. Right now, they were all staring incredulously at where Bai Yunfei¡¯s group was.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t dodge?!¡±


    A young man in fancy yellow clothing was taken aback for a moment before he snorted. ¡°Let¡¯s beat them while they¡¯re down! He who strikes first wins!¡±


    He waved his right hand to retrieve a black short blade from his space ring. Swinging it in front of him, three blades of spatial energy flew out from the blade towards the group¡ªthis was the space-type soul cultivator!


    The other seven people behind him scattered apart to form a semi-circle. Soul armaments of every shape and size started to appear in their hands before they charged at Bai Yunfei¡¯s group to attack.


    ¡°Oh? ¡®Beat us while we¡¯re down¡¯? Don¡¯t we have to be ¡®down¡¯ before you can ¡®beat¡¯ us?¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s calm voice called out from within the area that the group had just attacked. There was a heavy gust of wind that blew away any remaining energy before another three blades of spatial energy flew forward like last time to cancel out the opposing spatial blades!


    Then five figures flew out from behind!


    Bai Yunfei led the group at the front with his Fire-tipped Spear out in his hand. Already was he swinging it at the two people and soulbeast standing closest to him.


    Jing Mingfeng stood at his left. He was the one responsible for the preluding gust of wind that blew away the energy that surrounded them earlier. After that was done, he took it upon himself to attack another two soul cultivators and one soulbeast by himself.


    Yue Feng was at the right of Bai Yunfei. Like the previous two, he was fighting two soul cultivators and one soulbeast by himself.


    Yu Li wasn¡¯t too far behind the first three with a long silver blade in both her hands to deal with a soul cultivator and soulbeast pair.


    As for Zheng Kai, his initial bombardment was already gone, so he lashed out to deal with the opposing space-type soul cultivator all by himself.


    Since it was a group of people they were fighting, Bai Yunfei and his friends knew that the best way to deal with this would be to divide them up and protect the weakest one of them all¡ªNangong Yuexia¡ªfrom fighting. She stood at the very back of the group with Yue Feng¡¯s soulbeast partner there to protect her.


    The eight enemies they were fighting blanched slightly at the reaction. It was a first for them to see that their welcoming barrage had done absolutely nothing to their foe. It was also a little hard to believe to see what they were doing in response.


    They had a group of twelve, and their enemies just barely less than half of that! To forge ahead while being completely outnumbered was the act of a foolish person, so how could they be so calm and fearless?!


    In fact, two of the people rushing at them looked¡­excited even?!


    It wouldn¡¯t be until the two groups clashed that the ambushers would know just why the group was so calm¡­


    After exchanging several rounds of blows with their enemies, the ambushers realized one thing. Though they were all of the same strength as Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt or so, and had the numbers to back that up, there was still a definitive difference between the two groups.


    In terms of fighting strength and soul armaments, this group they were ambushing were far beyond them!


    To be called a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt was just a classification of their level of cultivation. But fighting prowess and control over elemental energy. These two criterions are very important in relation to a person¡¯s actual strength. And in these two factors, the ambushers were well below their opponents!!


    These people were wandering soul cultivators and weren¡¯t the elite members of a school or faction used to fighting with each other. Their specific group was only formed when they reached the mountain and decided to unite the wandering soul cultivators together.


    The wandering soul cultivators were people that were more than aware of how brutal the outside world was, and killing another for material possession wasn¡¯t something none of them had done before. So the group had all agreed on one thing when they formed the group together.


    It didn¡¯t matter who got the Extreme King Pills. They¡¯d kill the other soul cultivators and lay claim to their possessions. That in itself would be a worthy prize.


    To ambush other people in the pocket outside of the mountain would be a folly on all of their parts. It¡¯d only serve as a way to attract the ire of the others, so the group decided to use the mist of this mountain as a means to hide. It was a natural cover that allowed them to kill without care, and as long as they didn¡¯t let their prey escape, everything would remain a secret¡­


    So it was with malicious intentions that the group entered the mist. With the space-type soul cultivator as their guide, the group sought out to ¡®hunt¡¯ for prey.


    Then came prey after a solid two hours of searching.


    Unfortunately for them, the prey they had been looking for was Bai Yunfei¡¯s group¡­

 Chapter 782: Battle in the Mist

    1At some part of the mountain, waves of soulforce was crossing over one another along with elemental energy as soul cultivators and soulbeasts fought one another.


    Hardly a quarter of an hour had passed since the start, and the group with the advantage was the one with lesser people. The other group didn¡¯t even have a chance since the very beginning.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    The cries of a person could be heard in the middle of the chaos, and just like that, a person had been killed!


    ¡°Ah!! Ahh!!¡±


    As if to follow up on that person, another two cries were heard and another two souls were snuffed out.


    ¡°Mo¡ªmonsters!! They¡¯re all monsters! Run away! Run away!!¡±


    At last, one of the fighters couldn¡¯t handle it anymore and cried out to scatter.


    And so the group began to scatter and run.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late for that!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng sneered. Eyeing the person fleeing away from him with a baleful glare, he bent down slightly towards the ground. A furious gust of wind kicked up around his person as his soulforce flared up. Then, in the next second later, he was gone!


    ¡°You should¡¯ve been prepared to be killed if you were trying to kill us. My apologies, but I¡¯m not the type of person to let my would-be killer go¡­¡±


    The fleeing earth-type soul cultivator took a moment to glance behind himself to see if Jing Mingfeng was still there, but Jing Mingfeng was already gone from sight! He blanched at the sight and turned back just in time to hear a rustle of wind and a cold sensation flit across his neck.


    Then after that, he felt nothing¡­


    ¡°Skree!!¡±


    There was a second source of sound as something started to scream. Because of his death, the soul cultivator¡¯s soulbeast partner started to screech aloud before a second gust of wind flitted past it. A gigantic soulbeast had pounced at it and snapped its mighty jaws onto the soulbeast¡¯s head¡ªit was Jing Mingfeng¡¯s soulbeast partner, the wind squaller!


    Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t the same immature and naive youngster he was when he first met Bai Yunfei many years ago. The many years he spent traveling the world had hardened him. In many ways, Jing Mingfeng was far more aware of what it meant to live in a world where the ¡®strong prey on the weak¡¯ than Bai Yunfei. He knew what people were capable of doing when tempted by avarice, and all too many times had he seen the death of another be the result of it.


    Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t a merciful person. If his enemies were to try to kill him, then he would reciprocate even if they were far beneath his own strength.


    Yue Feng had the same idea. The sword in his hand was like a bolt of violet lightning as it moved about. Earlier, his sword had reduced a person to practically charcoal, and now he was on his way to chase down another person and his soulbeast to kill.


    Zheng Kai, on the other hand, was still fighting the other space-type soul cultivator. Having ascertained where the other person would teleport to, he beat him to the punch and landed a literal punch onto his nose. Sending the man flying away, he looked back just in time to see Jing Mingfeng and Yue Feng chase after their enemies to kill them.


    ¡°Damn!¡± He gasped, ¡°That ruthless?!¡±


    The other space-type soul cultivator was completely devoid of any color in his face now that he realized most of his companions were either dead or dying. A flicker of shock ran across his face for a second as he decided his options. When Zheng Kai looked away, the man decided then and there what to do.


    Not even allowing himself time to reorientate himself on the ground, he teleported away.


    ¡°Ah? Trying to run?!¡±


    Zheng Kai narrowed his eyes angrily. With a wave of his hand, he shot a long beam of spatial energy out from his fan.


    It didn¡¯t seem like there was anyone in the area where Zheng Kai shot the beam of spatial energy towards at first, but then the space-type soul cultivator suddenly materialized in that direction.


    The beam of spatial energy was nearly upon the man¡¯s back now. But before it could land, the person suddenly disappeared!


    ¡°A spatial barrier?!¡±


    Zheng Kai narrowed his eyes. The other person had managed to escape through one of the spatial barriers on the mountain!


    ¡­¡­


    The battle in the mist soon came to a closure. It didn¡¯t even take ten minutes for Bai Yunfei¡¯s group to win, and of the eight people that attacked them, only three of them managed to escape with their life.


    Of the people and soulbeasts Jing Mingfeng and Yue Feng fought, not a single one had escaped. Bai Yunfei killed one of the people he was fighting, and the other one only managed to escape by sacrificing his soulbeast partner to run into the mist. Bai Yunfei hesitated to follow him there and decided to give up.


    Yu Li had been primarily focused on trying to ensure Nangong Yuexia¡¯s safety and didn¡¯t manage to fight at her full capacity. Knowing that she was distracted, her opponent took the chance to flee. He had been the one who cried out to the others to run away. Yu Li hadn¡¯t bothered to chase him either.


    Watching as Jing Mingfeng and Yue Feng picked up the soul armaments and space rings of the people they had just killed, Zheng Kai gave an exasperated sigh, ¡°Damn! Why does it look like you¡¯re a bunch of bandits?¡±


    He might¡¯ve been a little depressed about having his own enemy managing to escape.


    Jing Mingfeng stared calmly at the corpses of the soulbeast he had just killed. ¡°If someone wants to kill me, I¡¯ll kill them first.¡± He stated calmly, a finger holding onto one of the space rings he got, ¡°That¡¯s the reality of our world, it might be a little hard for you to understand, brother Zheng¡­¡±


    Still a little displeased, Zheng Kai responded, ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve gone through my fair share of life-or-death battles too, alright? Why does it sound like you¡¯re making me out to be someone who can¡¯t kill?¡±


    Bai Yunfei slapped Zheng Kai on the shoulders. ¡°Let¡¯s change the topic, alright? Let¡¯s get away from this place¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Another two hours later, a group of people came walking out from the mist to the bottom of the mountain.


    ¡°Ugh¡­we¡¯re back here at the foot of the mountain.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng groaned the moment he recognized the sight around him.


    Even Bai Yunfei had a flash of disappointment flicker across his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s to be expected. Let¡¯s go down and take a rest.¡±


    They weren¡¯t back in the original place they left the mountain from. A little farther down from them was a forest of stone without many people. They must¡¯ve gone into the mist to go searching again.


    The group walked down to the stone forest to set up a place to rest. Placing a stone table down, the group started to eat and drink so they could rest from their previous travels.


    At least thirty hours had gone by since Bai Yunfei first stepped foot into this pocket. From start to finish the skies had been as bright as day. The night was probably not something that could be simulated in the pocket then.


    While everyone else was resting, Zheng Kai sat by himself with his head bent towards the table. His finger was pressed against it and drew a line from spot to spot. He was clearly drawing out the layout of the spatial barriers, so no one bothered him and sat there to watch him.


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, do you see something¡¯s¡­a little strange?¡± Jing Mingfeng nudged his shoulder to Bai Yunfei. ¡°It looks like there are less and less people here, doesn¡¯t it? It¡¯s been an hour, but only three groups of people have come out from the mist. That¡¯s not even ten people¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had a grim look on his face. He too had noticed this. When he looked at the three groups that emerged from the mist, he nodded. ¡°Plus¡­they¡¯re all injured¡­¡±


    ¡°Did they fight someone inside the mist?¡± Yue Feng¡¯s eyes narrowed together. ¡°It hasn¡¯t even been a day, has the fighting and killing started already?¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°The area inside the mist is the perfect place to kill people. Don¡¯t you think the people who tried killing us were only one of the many groups that had the same idea? It was already a rough ride on the way here, there definitely won¡¯t be any safety when two groups meet each other in the mist. As long as one group has it for the other, a fight¡¯s inevitable¡­¡±


    It was only then that Zheng Kai looked up from what he was doing. He stared at the people that had very clearly been a part of a fight recently and snorted. ¡°There¡¯s always going to be people like that, who cares about them! If they want to fight, let them fight, as long as they don¡¯t bother us.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded in agreement. ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, did you figure out anything?¡±


    Everyone looked over to him expectantly for a positive response.


    Zheng Kai flicked his hair behind his shoulders with a confident smile. ¡°Hehe, actually, I¡¯ve already understood a bit about the secret behind the spatial barrier¡­¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement, ¡°Don¡¯t keep us in suspense then. Did you find a way to bypass the mist?¡±

 Chapter 783: Spatial Maze

    ¡°I¡¯ve more or less understood how to get past the mist to get to the mountain peak¡­¡± Zheng Kai nodded his head. He scratched his nose in embarrassment at the look of joy and excitement everyone was giving him. ¡°But. What I can¡¯t guarantee is finding the ¡®path¡¯ out of the mist¡­¡±


    ¡°Come the f*ck on! You say you can, and then you can¡¯t? Can you be any more confusing? Say the important parts!¡± Bai Yunfei complained.


    Zheng Kai held his hands out in a defensive shrug, ¡°What I meant is that I know what has to be done in order to get across the mist. But I don¡¯t know if we can do it.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you tell us how we¡¯re supposed to get to the top?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked.


    ¡°After our second time, I realized that there are about a hundred and thirty-six spatial barriers in the mountain barrier¡­¡±


    ¡°That many?!¡± Yue Feng couldn¡¯t help but exclaim.


    ¡°That many.¡± Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°The number of barriers we ¡®went through¡¯ and ¡®came across¡¯ totaled to be that many. After going through so many of the barriers, I realized a hint¡­the spatial barriers are placed in a special way.¡±


    He dipped a finger into his teacup. Slowly, he traced his finger on the surface of the table and began to draw several intersecting lines and such on the table while everyone else looked on in amazement.


    Bai Yunfei was the first to realize what it was. ¡°You¡¯re telling me¡­the layout of the spatial barriers is in the form of a maze?!¡±


    What Zheng Kai drew on the table was a complicated layout of a maze!


    ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s a maze.¡± Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°I found out in our second time in the maze. We came across about fifty-two spatial barriers in that maze, and since we were basically transported to somewhere we didn¡¯t know, I wasn¡¯t able to figure out which place was connected where in the maze.¡±


    He pointed his finger at a set of roads that were intersected with one another. ¡°We were walking here and then came to the middle of here. There¡¯s also this place and this place¡­both roads had spatial barriers every direction but backward, so it was a dead end. This other road was the longest path that went straight, but because I wasn¡¯t able to sense the barrier there, we were transported away. Instead of going straight, we should¡¯ve made a left, too bad we can¡¯t confirm that now¡­¡±


    His talking points swapped from one to another with a quickness that lost several people, Jing Mingfeng included. ¡°Damn, it¡¯s that complicated? So what you¡¯re saying is that in order to make it across, we can¡¯t touch any spatial barriers and find the longest continuous path through the maze until the end to reach the top?¡±


    Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°That¡¯s basically it. The layout of the spatial barriers makes this place a definite maze. So finding the path out should be the only logical conclusion, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Yu Li spoke up, a little perplexed by Zheng Kai¡¯s explanation, ¡°If what lord Zheng says is true, then we have only explored a small portion of the maze. The mist covers a very large expanse of the mountain, so there should be a countless amount of barriers blocking this way and that. I¡¯m afraid that¡­¡±


    Though her words trailed off, Yue Feng spoke up to supplement her, ¡°You¡¯re afraid that it¡¯ll take us a very long time to succeed? Would we have to stay in this area for a long time then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just one way of doing things,¡± Zheng Kai shrugged, ¡°but now that I¡¯ve adapted to this maze situation, we can try a few more times and I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll get the hang of things. We just have to avoid any spatial barriers we come across until the very end, and if we can get to the right path, we¡¯ll be out of the mist in no time.¡±


    Feeling as though his words were a bit too optimistic, he added on, ¡°Though honestly, this maze is very complex with all the spatial barriers. Each one has a different frequency, and my soulsense isn¡¯t that strong that I¡¯m able to sense them straight away. There¡¯ll be times I miss one because of that. If I concentrate as much as I can, I think I should be able to sense them all though¡­¡±


    It was with a downcast expression that everyone looked at each other. The method being offered to them by Zheng Kai wasn¡¯t a very reliable one, but it seemed like that was their only option. Would they really have to stay here for that long of a time and go through the maze again and again?


    An extended period of wait time wasn¡¯t all too bad if it was for the Extreme King Pills. But with other people here, it was a risk. Just how long would it take before something terrible would happen?


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined powerfully, the gears in his mind were shifting quickly as a plan formulated inside of it. ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, you¡¯re saying if your soulsense was strong enough, you¡¯d be able to sense all of the spatial barriers, correct? If your strong enough to not even miss a single one, and with a bit of luck, we should be able to find our way out of the maze?¡±


    Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°Yes. As long as I don¡¯t miss a single barrier, I¡¯m confident we¡¯ll have success in no time at all.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­let¡¯s try one more time!¡± Bai Yunfei stood up to address the group, ¡°We¡¯ve been relying on Ah¡¯Kai to lead the group all this time while the rest of us followed him. This time, let¡¯s all lend him our aid!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng looked startled. ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, what are you saying? We¡¯re not space-type soul cultivators. Even if we try, it won¡¯t do anything!¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Come with me and you¡¯ll find out.¡±


    It was with confusion that the group followed Bai Yunfei up into the mountain. As soon as they entered the mist, Bai Yunfei activated the Charm Bracelet on his arm with a moment¡¯s thought.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s combine our soulsense together and help Ah¡¯Kai sense the surrounding spatial barriers.¡±


    The moment Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice was heard in their minds, Jing Mingfeng and the others started and whipped their heads towards Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Are you talking to us, Ol¡¯Bai?!¡± Jing Mingfeng gaped at the motionless Bai Yunfei in surprise.


    ¡°I am. But I¡¯m speaking directly to you all through a mental connection.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice spoke out once again through everyone¡¯s mind. His explanation shocked everyone into momentary silence.


    ¡°This¡­this is Soul Communication!!¡± Yue Feng gaped in awe. ¡°Brother Bai, you can do that?! You can¡¯t possibly be a Soul King, can you?!¡±


    ¡°Haha,¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled, ¡°how could I be if this pocket doesn¡¯t allow for Soul Kings to enter?¡±


    That only made Yue Feng even more confused. ¡°Then how are you¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his left hand, ¡°Have you forgotten who I am? I¡¯ve all sorts of special soul armaments on me. This one in particular allows me to connect to the minds of others and speak to them through thoughts. Aside from that, everyone can also layer their soulsenses on top of one another for a boost. With this, we should be able to help Ah¡¯Kai search the surrounding area. If the six of us work together, I¡¯m sure we¡¯d be able to gain the perception of an Early-stage Soul King or so. That should be enough to find all the barriers.¡±


    ¡°A soul armament like that exists?!¡±


    Everyone was shocked, and Zheng Kai was all the more surprised about it. Surprised, but happy. ¡°If it¡¯s the soulsensing capabilities of an Early-stage Soul King, then that should be more than enough to find each spatial barrier!¡± He exclaimed with shining eyes.


    It took a moment for everyone to recompose themselves. The fact that they could talk to one another with their minds was a fresh and new concept to them, so they needed a bit of time to get used to it.


    After a while of practicing, the group decided they were good and headed into the mist again.


    Through their powers combined, Zheng Kai¡¯s perception was far stronger than before. Not only could he sense things within a three hundred meter radius, but he could also sense them all in perfect clarity! He was able to sense even the faintest of spatial barriers without an issue, and the group was able to as well! Through this ¡®collaborative effort¡¯, the group was able to see the ¡®walls¡¯ that they weren¡¯t able to see before. Now that they could see it, the group was able to discuss to one another about what they were seeing, and that opened up new avenues of discussion. Furthermore, since they could see what the barriers, they could go through the maze even faster and without worry of a misstep.


    Just like that, the group continued onwards without confusion or skepticism. The mist was getting thicker and thicker around them, meaning that they were getting closer and closer to the top¡­


    Would they be able to make their way out from the maze without an issue this time?

 Chapter 784: The Killing Shadow

    ¡°How far up do you think we are, brother Yue?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked Yue Feng as they walked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve walked a fair way horizontally and had a few repeated walks, so it¡¯s a bit hard to estimate, but I¡¯d wager we¡¯re a bit over half a kilometer up the mountain, what says you?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng nodded. ¡°My guess is about six hundred meters, there¡¯s not much of a difference between our guesses. Hehe, it¡¯s only been an hour but we¡¯ve made it up this far, what good luck!¡±


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ve already reached the farthest area we go to our last two times.¡± Yue Feng smiled. ¡°If we keep going forward, we should be able to get to the top eventually. This method is very effective, I¡¯m feeling very confident now.¡±


    ¡°Careful now, there¡¯s a barrier up ahead!¡±


    Zheng Kai called out in warning, prompting everyone to focus up ahead and connect their soulsense with Zheng Kai. Through their connection, they were able to see a transparent ¡®barrier¡¯ that stood a hundred steps away.


    They walked up to it only to see that the path diverged into two opposing directions. ¡°Another fork, should we go left or right, Ol¡¯Bai?¡±


    Every single time the group met a fork in the road, it was decided by Bai Yunfei that he choose what paths to take. The reason, he said, was because that he had very good ¡®luck¡¯.


    As speechless as the group was about it, Bai Yunfei¡¯s choices were surprisingly leading them onto paths without dead ends. It was about every three or four out of ten choices that they¡¯d bump into a dead end.


    Bai Yunfei looked at the two paths and immediately spoke whatever direction popped up in his mind first. ¡°Left.¡±


    The group didn¡¯t argue. They turned onto the path left and headed down that direction. Now that Zheng Kai¡¯s soulsense could reach three hundred meters away, he was able to get a far better read on the area around him with better details. Before, he was only able to sense a single barrier within a hundred meters, but now that his range had effectively tripled, he was able to sense at least two barriers at any given time. He also knew to turn left or right whenever a barrier would appear right in front of him. That meant Zheng Kai could sense three or even four spatial barriers whenever they needed to turn. Path by path, the group was systematically going through the channels of the maze and eliminating the dead ends to get onto the right path.


    After walking for half an hour without going through even a single barrier or being teleported away to an unknown part of the maze, the group was finally starting to feel the proper sensation of walking ¡®up¡¯ the mountain. In other words, they were on the right path, and the group couldn¡¯t feel any happier about it.


    ¡°Eh? Be careful everyone, there¡¯s someone up ahead!¡±


    Zheng Kai warned in a hushed tone, though everyone else was already sensing the multiple sources of soulforce.


    ¡°Eh? It¡¯s gone?¡± Quicker than it appeared, the soulforce disappeared from their senses, much to the shock of the entire group.


    One of the auras they felt had simply just vanished without a trace.


    ¡°Were they transported away?¡± Jing Mingfeng guessed. Only one aura had disappeared through. There was still another three auras there. If the first aura really did walk into a spatial barrier, the other three should¡¯ve vanished with them.


    Since this was the only path forward, the group couldn¡¯t exactly shy away from it. They continued onwards, but it wasn¡¯t even another fifty steps when another aura vanished out of thin air!


    ¡°Who are you people, come on out!!¡±


    A terrified scream echoed through the air. Though just a bit over two hundred meters away, the absolute terror and dread were very palpable to hear.


    Everyone stiffened in alarm at the voice. Spurring their soulforce, the entire group started to rush forward.


    ¡°Watch out!¡±


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Another warning and another scream. Yet again, another soulforce disappeared without a trace!


    By now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire group was completely alarmed with what was going on. They advanced another fifty meters to reach the spot where they heard the voices and looked left to right to see for themselves what was going on.


    The very first thing to register in the eyes of the group was the terrified speaker who cried out earlier. It was a man in golden robes and shining with an equally golden light. Floating in the air in front of him was a golden shield to protect him from anything in front while he himself retreated backward.


    As the group was trying to figure out what exactly it was that was scaring this person, they all suddenly noticed a small black light flit across their eyes!


    The black object wasn¡¯t very large¡ªthe size of a pinky finger in thickness at most¡ªbut there was a faint sinister feel to it as it whistled through the air with seemingly little energy.


    But the metal-type soul cultivator looked terrified. His face drained of blood as he screamed. The golden shield in front of him swelled in size as it tried to protect its master as he fled to the side.


    As if it had a will of its own, the black beam of light turned direction along with the metal-type soul cultivator. It swiveled around the shield with unexpected swiftness and flexibility to chase after the soul cultivator, but it was stopped by the golden shield!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a faint metallic echo before the black beam of light shot through the shield as if it was a rotten piece of wood. Piercing straight through the golden shield, it shot straight through the right side of the man¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    The black beam of light exited out from the other side of the man¡¯s body with a black trail of light behind it as it turned around and flew back the direction it came from¡­


    From start to finish, Bai Yunfei¡¯s group was completely bewildered by what they saw. Eyes wide open, their soulsense followed the black beam of light as it flew away from them.


    In practically two moments, the small beam of light was already three hundred meters away from where it used to be. Then standing right there was a black shadow that no one in the group had even noticed beforehand!


    The shadow grabbed hold of the black beam of light with one hand and walked forward. He took only a few steps before he noticed several presences behind him and turned around!


    ¡°Oh??¡±


    A surprised murmur arose from his lips before his figure disappeared from sight. The place where he stood had been coincidentally a spatial barrier, meaning he had been transported away from the area before he could properly face the group¡­


    The group stared at the spot where the figure had disappeared from, their eyes still wide open from their shock.


    For a good while, no one said a thing on what they had just witnessed.


    ¡°What¡­what was that?¡± Jing Mingfeng muttered after a very long period of silence.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go see!¡±


    Bai Yunfei ran off towards where the man had fallen up ahead.

 Chapter 785: Widespread Panic

    Four corpses adorned the path ahead of Bai Yunfei¡¯s group as they walked forward to inspect them.


    The look of tensions didn¡¯t fade away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s face even after a cursory examination of the corpses. If anything, he looked even more pensive by the results.


    ¡°There wasn¡¯t even any resistance¡­Four Late-stage Soul Exalts were killed without even being able to protect themselves besides the last one¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng muttered in confusion and shock.


    Yue Feng looked skeptical as well, ¡°But the more important thing is how they died. I can¡¯t even make any sense of it¡­¡±


    The only strange thing about these corpses was the tiny hole that was somewhere on their bodies. Of the four corpses, one of them had a hole through their forehead, and another had it through their throats. Their death was at the very least not very hard to imagine, but the other two had only one hole going through their left shoulder and right part of the chest!


    Not even commoners would die from a wound like that. It wasn¡¯t even a fatal blow. But somehow, two soul cultivators had seemingly died without even being able to do a thing. Bai Yunfei and the others would¡¯ve thought otherwise if not for the fact that they witnessed the last person being killed by that black beam of light through his chest. There hadn¡¯t been any other wounds besides that.


    Zheng Kai crouched down next to the dead metal-type soul cultivator and touched at the metal shield. He stared briefly at the item before inspecting the chest area of the soul cultivator. ¡°Not only did that black beam of light pierce his mid-earth tier shield, but it also went through his high-earth tier armor as well. Not even his elemental energy was able to stop the thing. Weird¡­what is that thing? How can it be so strong?¡±


    He sent an inquisitive glance over to Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei shrugged. ¡°No point asking me. I might be a crafter, but I¡¯m not able to see everything about a soul armament at a single glance. With that said though, the soul armament in that black beam of light is most likely a high-heaven tier with a special ability in it.¡±


    ¡°High-heaven tier!!¡±


    Everyone gasped. ¡°For the love of everything, Ol¡¯Bai, can you not just say things like that as if you¡¯re talking about the weather? High-heaven tier?! The soul armaments that even the strongest disciples and scions of the Ten Great Schools and Five Families can hardly use? The treasured heirlooms any whos-who?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s just a guess, it might possibly be a mid-heaven tier.¡±


    ¡°No matter what grade it is, there¡¯s one thing for certain¡­Someone out here in the mist is easily capable of killing Late-stage Soul Exalts with a power none of us understands. He¡¯s killed these people and didn¡¯t even bothered to take their things, but why? Did he hate these people? It doesn¡¯t seem like it¡­¡± Yue Feng conjectured.


    ¡°Furthermore, didn¡¯t it seem like he realized we were right before he was transported away? I¡¯ve been thinking about it this entire time¡­¡± Yu Li brought up.


    ¡°Exactly!!¡± Exclaimed Yue Feng, ¡°We were at the very edge of his range right before he disappeared. Think about it, we were barely able to sense him at first, and yet he was able to sense us?! Doesn¡¯t that mean¡­his soulsense is as strong as the six of us combined?!¡±


    ¡°Dear heavens, stop it with the scare tactics. The strongest people here are Peak Late-stage Soul Exalts and nothing else,¡± Jing Mingfeng spoke in exasperation, ¡°even if someone were to have obscenely powerful soulsense because of their training, it being that strong is a little too much, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Then why do you think he turned around and looked like he was saying something before he was transported away?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng scratched his head as he tried to think of an answer, ¡°Alright, fine. Maybe it¡¯s true what you¡¯re saying, but¡­doesn¡¯t it seem intimidating? That there¡¯s someone like that in here with us in this mist? Who is he? Why is he killing these people? If it¡¯s for the Extreme King Pills, aren¡¯t we also considered prey for him? What if he attacks us? Would we even be able to defend ourselves from that black light?¡±


    A chilling air descended upon the hearts of the group as everyone thought back to how the black beam of light tore straight through the metal-type soul cultivator. If they were ambushed, would their defenses hold?


    No one had a confident look as they debated the answer.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll ever meet this person again, let¡¯s try not to scare ourselves.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke to change the topic. ¡°He¡¯s already been transported away, who knows where he is? We just need to keep going forward.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei¡¯s right!¡± Zheng Kai nodded his head, ¡°If we just keep going forward, we¡¯ll make it to the top of the mountain. If we can get the Extreme King Pills and leave, it doesn¡¯t matter to us who is killing who.¡±


    And so the group was decided. They took the space rings of the four corpses before Bai Yunfei burnt them into ashes. Now that their mental tribulation was over, they continued onwards.


    What they saw must¡¯ve weighed heavily on their minds, however. An hour after the group left the sight, they reached one of the more dense parts of the mist and accidentally crossed over into a very faint spatial barrier. By the time Zheng Kai realized their error, it was too late.


    The group was transported away to another place, and the collective mood of the group was at a low. They didn¡¯t even know where they were, and if they were heading up the mountain or down anymore. Without any clues to tell where they were, the group conferred with each other for a bit before deciding to try and head down the mountain to rest.


    Still, this mountain wasn¡¯t built so that they could leave the mountain if they wanted. Unlike the last two times, the group was unable to be transported to the bottom of the mountain even after just wandering around the place. As such, they were forced to wander the mountain for even longer.


    It wasn¡¯t until another hour that the group was finally transported to the base of the mountain and made their way out from the mist.


    Though they made their way out from the mist, the looks on everyone¡¯s faces looked quite unhappy for some reason.


    At some point in their ¡®meandering¡¯ around the mountain an hour prior, the group came across two things, in particular, that was especially worrisome.


    First off was the fact that they had come across three other groups of soul cultivators ho fought them. A battle was to be expected with how restless people were getting in the mist, but the chaotic flux of soulforce and elemental energy from these battles were somehow affecting the maze itself. Bai Yunfei and the others weren¡¯t very sure if it¡¯d change the layout of the maze by changing locations of the barriers or anything, but it was still a very worrisome thing they didn¡¯t want to have happened.


    The other thing was that the group would come across several ¡®special¡¯ corpses every so often. As different as the corpses were, their deaths were always the same in one way¡­they had holes in them inflicted to them by that mysterious black beam of light and shadowy figure! With so many deaths in the mist, Bai Yunfei¡¯s group grew all the more confident that this shadowy figure was here in the mist to try and kill everyone it came across!


    It was with luck that the group was able to make it back to the stone forest of last time. Back in their last resting spot, the group sat down and began to recollect their soulforce. They weren¡¯t even in the mood to drink any tea or eat any snacks, they were all too busy recuperating.


    ¡°There¡¯s even fewer people now¡­¡±


    It was Yu Li who spoke up first to break the silence.


    There weren¡¯t even thirty people left here at the base of the mountain. Though people were still going up and down the mountain, the area looked especially sparse with the people coming down from the mist looking haggard and heavily injured.


    There were plenty of people standing away from the base of the mountain trying to rest. At a glance, all of these people looked especially grim. And from the eyes of the others, some of these soul cultivators looked deeply terrified about something¡­


    It was as if something called ¡®horror¡¯ was slowly being spread about the area¡­

 Chapter 786: Change in the Pocket, Time to Go

    While everyone else was resting, Jing Mingfeng took it upon himself to go around the area and chat with the other soul cultivators. He was extraordinarily friendly for some reason, and soon, he was managing a conversation with each person he came across. After making a complete circle, he came back over to where Bai Yunfei was.


    ¡°How about it, what did you find out?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked in concern when he saw the wrinkled eyebrows of Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡°More than half the people here are talking about the same problem.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What kind of problem?¡± Yue Feng asked in curiosity.


    ¡°A black shadow and a black light!¡± Came the hushed response.


    Everyone narrowed their eyes. ¡°What did they say?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Does anyone know who that black shadow is?¡±


    ¡°All they know is that he¡¯s a young man in black robes.¡± Jing Mingfeng shook his head, ¡°No one¡¯s been able to see what he looks like, and no one knows which faction he belongs to¡­¡±


    He pointed to a person standing relatively far away from them, ¡°He¡¯s from the Strange Ground School in the Southward River Province. They used to be a group of four, but two hours ago when they went scouting, three of his members were speared through by a black beam of light and were killed. The beam of light went for him next, but he managed to retreat into a spatial barrier and fled. He said that before he left, he saw that the black beam of light came from a black shadow.¡±


    He pointed to another group, this time it was a group of three. ¡°The wandering soul cultivators over there went up an hour ago. They saw three corpses there, one of those corpses extremely fresh even. Like the first guy, he saw a black beam of light follow a black shadow before he disappeared¡­those guys don¡¯t even know about the spatial barriers, so they don¡¯t know that the black shadow stepped into a spatial barrier and was transported away.¡±


    One by one, Jing Mingfeng talked about what he heard. Most of the stories were of the black shadow indiscriminately killing anyone he saw. It was only because of luck that most were even able to evade the black shadow and be transported out, but the corpses of all those people inside the mist were starting to catch attention now. Everyone knew now that a black shadow was killing Late-stage Soul Exalts as easily as a hot knife through butter in the mist.


    Everyone remained quiet as they digested the information they heard from Jing Mingfeng. No one could even believe their ears in what they had just heard.


    ¡°Just how scary is this black shadow?! Are we sure he isn¡¯t a Soul King?!¡± Zheng Kai cried in disbelief. ¡°This goes beyond what a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt should even be capable of! And not to mention that his soulsense is on the level of a Soul King already! I¡¯m having a hard time believing that Soul Exalt could have capabilities like that.¡±


    ¡°Only way to find out is by meeting him¡­¡± Yue Feng laughed morbidly, ¡°But I¡¯d much rather that we don¡¯t come across that reaper while we¡¯re in here¡­¡±


    Knowing that the group was disheartened or feeling off now because of this worrisome black shadow, Bai Yunfei decided to change the topic.


    ¡°Alright let¡¯s talk about something else, like the maze. If I¡¯m not wrong, we should be more than halfway through the maze. If we keep on going, we should be able to make it to the top on our next run.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei¡¯s right!¡± Zheng Kai nodded his head fiercely in agreement. ¡°We were too careless last time and made a mistake. It seems that our perception of the spatial barrier is directly proportional to the amount of mist there. In other words, it gets harder to sense things if we¡¯re in a very foggy part of the maze. But if we make it through, the maze should get a lot simpler. Our chances of making it through are pretty big, I feel!¡±


    Everyone started to think happier thoughts now at that. ¡°And if we can get even higher up, then those people who don¡¯t even know about the spatial barriers or how to navigate through the place will be left behind. Our chances of coming across the black shadow will be even lower if he¡¯s going after the others!¡±


    ¡°We somehow managed to return to the place we came in from before, but if we were to go into the spatial barrier we left from, would we¡­be able to get back on the same path as before?¡±


    ¡°We could!¡± Zheng Kai exclaimed in happiness. ¡°If the spatial barriers are fixed, then if we can just find that one spatial barrier we exited from before, we don¡¯t need to look any harder. We can just go back to where we messed up! We can simply just start our path from where we messed up last time!¡±


    Even Bai Yunfei looked excited at the prospect, ¡°There we have it then! We¡¯ll rest for a bit and then go back up the mountain!¡±


    Everyone nodded their heads and descended back into silence once again as they started to rest.


    But moments later, a series of explosions from far away startled them awake¡­


    ¡°Boom!! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    The explosions were popping off one after another. Snapping open his eyes, Jing Mingfeng looked around the place, ¡°What¡¯s going on, is someone still fighting out here?¡±


    ¡°No!! It¡¯s not from the foot of the mountain!!¡± Zheng Kai exclaimed, ¡°It¡¯s coming from the mountain itself!¡±


    Confused, everyone looked up to stare at the mountain. As Zheng Kai said, there were several explosions coming from the mountain! Several bursts of elemental energy could even be seen from behind the mist!


    But this was strange. If people were fighting in the mist, the disturbances shouldn¡¯t be strong enough to be seen or heard outside the mountain! With all the spatial barriers, people could travel without even hearing people fighting a few hundred meters away!


    Something had changed! But what exactly prompted that change, and why?


    Zheng Kai peered into the mist in confusion. ¡°Things aren¡¯t looking very good, the mist is starting to change for some rea¡ª¡±


    His words dried up in his throat as something out of the corner caught his eye.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Noticing the strangeness in Zheng Kai¡¯s actions, Bai Yunfei looked over to where Zheng Kai was looking at. He couldn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary.


    ¡°Things really are getting bad!! The space in here is¡­.it¡¯s destabilizing!¡±


    ¡°Destabilizing? What¡¯s that mean?¡± Jing Mingfeng curiously asked, mostly distracted by the explosions he was hearing.


    ¡°The pocket we¡¯re in hasn¡¯t been very ¡®stable¡¯ to begin with, that¡¯s why Soul Kings can¡¯t enter. But¡­I can sense the spatial energy in this pocket starting to grow weaker and weaker. It wasn¡¯t like this before, this means¡­something is changing the pocket for the worse¡­


    ¡°If I had to guess, then those battles in the mist were probably too much for the pocket to withstand. The outflux of elemental energy was too much for the mist to contain, and so the pocket is destabilizing. If this keeps going on, it won¡¯t even need a Soul King to risk complete destabilization, this entire pocket will collapse by itself!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Everyone gasped. ¡°The pocket will collapse?! You¡¯re kidding me!¡± Jing Mingfeng exclaimed, ¡°What will happen to us then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll probably be like what happens when a space ring is destroyed. The fabric of space in this pocket will meld with the outside, and we¡¯ll be tossed out. But there¡¯s also the possibility that if the pocket collapses, we¡¯ll be devoured by a crack in space¡­¡±


    The latter possibility put a grim look on everyone¡¯s faces. ¡°Don¡¯t be too afraid, that¡¯s just the worse case scenario,¡± Zheng Kai reassured everyone, ¡°the pocket won¡¯t destabilize that fast. We probably still have a few days before that happens¡­¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Another explosion rang through the air, this time, the earth trembled softly beneath their feet. Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes flew back up to the mountain. ¡°But with that said, if the soul cultivators here keep on fighting, that destabilization process will only get faster and faster¡­¡±


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no time to waste!¡± Bai Yunfei flew to his feet, ¡°We have to go! We need to make it through the mist and to the top!¡±

 Chapter 787: The Loss of Control and Destabilization of the Pocket!

    The group charged into the mist without sparing even a moment to look behind. Once they were in, they were all relieved to see that the layout of the maze remained untouched.


    They didn¡¯t need to waste much time looking for the way back since they left markers every so often. By following those, the group was able to hurry along. Their progress was further hastened since they could ignore the dead ends. It took the group an hour before they reached the same place as before where the fog was at its thickest. Only the surrounding five meters could be seen, and fifty meters if one were to use soulsense. Even with the combined powers of the six, it still took Bai Yunfei and the others a great deal of effort in order to scan the surrounding hundred meters.


    The explosions that had been so prevalent in the area before Bai Yunfei and his group entered the mountain was still going strong as people all over the area fought one another.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s group came across a large battle in fact on their way through the maze. With how wide the passageways were in the maze, Bai Yunfei¡¯s group was able to go on by without any issues. That didn¡¯t stop the people fighting from freezing up when the large party drew close. They all sighed when it looked like Bai Yunfei¡¯s group meant no trouble, and instead of fighting after the group left, the two parties took the opportunity to retreat.


    The other people along the way wisely gave Bai Yunfei¡¯s group a wide berth whenever their presence was felt. Even those who had other intentions thought otherwise when they realized how large Bai Yunfei¡¯s group was.


    Despite being back on track towards the finish line, Bai Yunfei¡¯s group didn¡¯t look all too happy as they sped along. In fact, they looked worried.


    The mist around them was distinctly different than before. It was no longer calm and still like the water in a tranquil lake. The mist now was like a banner flapping in the wind with how the mist swirled in on itself in irregular patterns. It wasn¡¯t a prelude of something drastically gone out of trouble, but it still gave off an unwelcoming feeling.


    That wasn¡¯t the only change either. The spatial barriers here were also feeling the brunt of the coming changes. Bai Yunfei¡¯s group had been traveling a little farther ahead when one of the weaker spatial barriers to their side practically disintegrated, revealing what used to be a dead end and two Late-stage Soul Exalts fighting one another. The bursts of elemental energy from these two Late-stage Soul Exalts had been strong enough to shatter the spatial barrier when the two collided!


    The sight of the spatial barriers shattering apart gave Bai Yunfei¡¯s group a fright, but Jing Mingfeng had a sudden delusion upon seeing that.


    If the spatial barriers could be broken, could they not simply break apart all the spatial barriers in front of them in order to reach the top?


    His hypothesis warranted testing, and the group was more than willing to give it a try. Putting it to the test, the group were soon disheartened to see their attempts fail.


    Perhaps there was a special method in shattering the spatial barriers, or perhaps the two fighting Late-stage Soul Exalts had managed to strike the spatial barrier at just the right spot. Whatever the case, the group hadn¡¯t the slightest of clues on how to replicate it.


    ¡°Focus on the connection everyone. The paths are getting even more narrow and complicated from here on out. The fluctuations being given off from the barriers are weaker as well, we can¡¯t afford to lose concentration here!¡±


    Scribbling another marker to denote a dead end, Zheng Kai gave a warning to the group to focus. From here on out, they at the farthest they had ever been, and the layout of the maze were now more difficult to deal with than before.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Another ten minutes and two hundred cautious meters later, the group was rewarded with the sounds of explosions rocking against the mountain. Bursts of elemental energy exploded into the world simultaneously, alerting Bai Yunfei¡¯s group that someone was here.


    ¡°There¡¯s people even here?!¡± Jing Mingfeng whispered angrily, ¡°How amazing are these people to make it here before us?!¡±


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    There was a scream just a moment after Jing Mingfeng¡¯s angered whispering. Like a dying ember flickering out from a candle, the soulforce of the person who screamed was extinguished.


    By the time Bai Yunfei¡¯s group made it to the fighting grounds, the area was in tatters and the corpses not even in one piece. A little far away, a person could be seen fleeing towards the right and was soon transported away thanks to the barriers.


    ¡°They probably weren¡¯t following us. I¡¯d bet one of the spatial barriers coincidentally brought them here.¡± Bai Yunfei guessed.


    ¡°Even here can be reached via barriers?¡± Yue Feng narrowed his eyes, ¡°I would¡¯ve guessed that the barriers would¡¯ve transported people to the halfway point at the very farthest. If barriers could send people anywhere in the maze, wouldn¡¯t one be able to reach the top of the peak if they had good enough luck? Even someone who didn¡¯t know about the maze would be able to reach the top if they just keep walking, couldn¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s theoretically possible.¡± Zheng Kai nodded, ¡°But the chances are slim and probably not even worth talking about.¡±


    ¡°Likely so.¡± Yue Feng agreed, ¡°Let¡¯s keep on going then. The sooner we make it out, the better. It feels terrible here, like something¡¯s trying to suffocate me.¡±


    ¡°You feel that too?!¡± Jing Mingfeng announced, ¡°And here I thought I was the only one thinking that!¡±


    The two looked at one another for a brief second before simultaneously looking to Zheng Kai for an explanation.


    ¡°You can feel that too?¡± Zheng Kai gave a grim smile, ¡°It¡¯s not just your imagination. This sensation is the feeling of being ¡®rejected¡¯ from this space.


    ¡®Rejected?!¡± Jing Mingfeng cried out, ¡°You¡¯re telling us that¡­¡±


    ¡°Things are getting worse than I initially thought,¡± Zheng Kai nodded, ¡°The space around this mountain is starting to destabilize even more now. I can¡¯t even say how long it¡¯ll last. Maybe in less than a day, the space of this pocket will start to collapse starting from this mountain first. If the pocket is agitated even more, then what will happen is poss¡ª¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    As if emphasizing the worst-case scenario Zheng Kai was about to delve into, an ear-splitting detonation went off somewhere relatively nearby!


    A violent gust of wind blew through the air, displacing the mist and sending it flying everywhere while also a wave of elemental energy blustered through the spatial barriers!


    Everyone froze at the sudden detonation. Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes were wide open when he realized what it was, ¡°Damn!! Someone self-destructed?!¡±


    The outflux of elemental energy just now wasn¡¯t something that¡¯d normally result from an attack. Something of that major of a scale was the result of someone destroying their origin essence!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The shock of the first explosion hadn¡¯t even worn off when yet another explosion of equal proportions went off!


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes widened even larger at the sudden sound. ¡°F*ck! What¡¯s wrong with these people! A second one?! What¡¯s the point of that?!¡±


    Somewhere on the mountain, two people had opted to self-destruct! The waves of elemental energy from the explosion ripped through the mountain and shook the earth as it passed along. Even the mist floating in the air was heavily displaced like a whirlpool in its wake.


    But the people down at the base of the mountain were treated to an even worse of a sight.


    At the middle of the mountain, where the explosions had gone off, a gigantic whirlpool of mist was starting to form. Several hundred meters in diameter, this whirlpool was moving in a way that even the bottom of the mountain was starting to have mist gather.


    Streaks of red and violet light were shooting out from the center of the whirlpool, twisting, crashing, and absorbing one another in an attempt for supremacy over the other force of elemental energy and shocking everyone who saw it¡­


    As the bolts of lightning and whips of fire struggled against one another, some parts of the two elements split away from the main groups and seemingly drilled into the air and left behind black holes from where they disappeared. With each strand of elemental energy that followed suit, the black holes seemingly expanded in size as if the pocket was being split open!


    Though these holes were frozen in the air, even more elemental energy was being absorbed into these holes at an accelerated rate and directly expanding them!

 Chapter 788: Two Portals

    Though plenty of soul cultivators were at the foot of the mountain, none were able to solve the mystery behind the fog. Instead, they focused on reaching the top and claiming the Extreme King Pills for themselves, even if that meant ignoring the competition


    Because of that, a temporary truce had been established amongst the participants. It wasn¡¯t likely that they would meet each other in the mist anyway, so this type of cooperation worked best for everyone.


    However, the allure of the Extreme King Pill led more and more people to the mountain, despite the numerous failures that only served to increase the anxiousness of every participant. Their moods soured as it became ever more likely to meet each other within the mist. With each successive failure, the participants grew ever more restless.


    The fights started for different reasons. Some saw it as an opportunity, whereas others saw it as a means to get rid of the competition. Others simply wanted to steal whatever they could get their hands on.


    It was then that a person, much akin to a reaper, had made a name for themselves amongst the other soul cultivators in the mist. Rumors of the reaper quickly spread like wildfire throughout the rest of the cultivators, and soon the mountain was covered not only with a blanket of mist, but also one of paranoia and fear.


    No longer was it safe traverse the mist, as those who traversed the mountain was as likely to be scared as a bird was to the twang sound of a bow being released. If someone were to meet another in the mist, they would attack first out of self-preservation, even if the other side meant no harm. To strike first was to be safe, and since there were already people ¡®preying¡¯ on others, the entire mountain soon descended into madness.


    The soul cultivators who sought to ascend the mountain were very similar in strength, thus the battles between them were especially intense. Even just two Soul Exalts fighting could result in a large amount of elemental energy being released, which would result in the destabilization of this dimension. As of right now, one or two occurrences wouldn¡¯t be much, but currently, dozens of fights were breaking out all over the mountain.


    And then, to make matters even worse, two soul cultivators decided to take their enemies down with them by self-destructing!!


    The self-destruction of two Late-stage Soul Exalt was a force to be reckoned with. The resulting discharge of energy was much too large for the dimension to bear, causing its destabilization to accelerate!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s group was shocked by the fact that two soul cultivators had decided to self-destruct. Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes were honed in on the black spots appearing throughout the pocket around them, ¡°Watch out!!¡± He shouted in warning, ¡°Those are spatial fractures!!¡±


    A hundred meters away from the group, several jagged black lines were appearing in the air. The cracks made their way towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s group, sucking in the fog around them!


    Zheng Kai¡¯s warning was the signal everyone needed to snap out from their stupor and move backwards.


    The fractures of space quickly traveled down to the ground, devouring the earth so as to leave naught but a bottomless crater in its wake¡­.


    ¡°Another one! Look out from behind and to our right!¡±


    Before the group could even relax, Zheng Kai had called out another two warnings!


    ¡°Ah!! Ahh!! Ah¡­¡±


    As the group frantically tried their best to evade the incoming fractures, they could hear several screams echoing from the other parts of the mountain!


    ¡°Damn! Here comes another¡­and another! Be careful!!¡± Jing Mingfeng shrieked as he dodged a tendril from the distortions. ¡°Hey now, brother Zheng,¡± Jing Mingfeng looked disgruntled, ¡°didn¡¯t you say we had plenty of time still? So why does it look like the pocket¡¯s about to collapse any second now?!¡±


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m from the Fate School?¡± Zheng Kai fired back, ¡°I¡¯m not some oracle who can divine the future. How should I know people would decide to self-destruct in here?!


    ¡°It might seem bad, but it¡¯s just the area destabilizing around us. The pocket should stabilize itself in time, which means the spatial fractures should disappear and return back to normal. The entire pocket won¡¯t collapse that ea¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A strange sound began to buzz while Zheng Kai was reassuring the group. It was coming from the very space itself! Before they had assumed that the mist was swirling around itself, however, that was not the case. In fact, it was the space itself that was swirling!


    Flustered, Bai Yunfei looked to Zheng Kai, ¡°Now what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Zheng Kai looked a little speechless at the sight in front of them as he replied. ¡°Bro¡­ don¡¯t make me out to be a know-it-all, even I don¡¯t know everything¡­¡±


    He looked like he was scowling in exasperation.


    ¡°If the spatial energy in the pocket is starting to flow strangely, then that means¡­¡±


    ¡°Then that means¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been looking at warping singularity before them for an answer. When no answer came, Bai Yunfei glanced back to Zheng Kai.


    His eyes widened.


    The Cataclysmic Seal was brought into this world, and formed a barrier around him. As he gripped onto the newly-materialized Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei looked around himself with a wary eye.


    Why had he reacted so strongly?


    It was because Zheng Kai was gone!


    Not only was Zheng Kai gone, but the rest of his group was as well! They had disappeared into thin air!


    Not a single person was left but him! He was the only person here!


    ¡°Damn! What¡¯s going on here!?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s used his soulsense to scan the area wildly for some sort of clue. He couldn¡¯t even connect to them through a mental link. Something was clearly off.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The world around him was already changing while Bai Yunfei tried his best to understand the situation. Meanwhile, just five meters away, two whirlpools spanning two meters wide and two meters tall had formed out of nowhere!


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Thought Bai Yunfei.


    The two whirlpools that had formed on his left and right side weren¡¯t nearly as chaotic as other examples of the pocket destabilizing that he''d seen. They were calm in their flow. In fact, both whirlpools had very very distinct images imposed upon them!


    On the left, the whirlpool seemed to be the peak of a stony mountain.


    Whereas, on the right, the whirlpool seemed to be a small plain littered with tiny stones.


    Bai Yunfei stared at the two images suspiciously. His eyes flickered back to the image on the left as he realized something.


    ¡°Is this¡­ the mountain peak?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was at a loss for words at the realization¡ªthe whirlpool on the left was showing him the peak of a mountain!


    That was right!


    It was showing the peak of the very mountain he was standing on!


    An apprehensive look appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, ¡°Could this be¡­ a spatial tunnel?!¡±


    Was this tunnel showing him the way to the mountain peak? Did this mean¡­ he¡¯d be able to teleport straight to the top if he walked through it?!


    His group had spent practically an entire day trying to traverse the spatial maze. Sweat and tears had been shed for their group to learn the secrets behind the mist. And now, a gate to the top of the mountain had suddenly appeared right in front of him?

 Chapter 789: A Decision

    Now that a door straight to the top of the mountain point was right in front of him, Bai Yunfei felt mystified.


    What was going on?


    What was the point of all that hard work if this shortcut was given?


    Bai Yunfei surveyed the door with the image of the mountaintop with pursed lips. He had sent his soulsense into the door a moment ago, and to his surprise, it had gone through!


    That meant this door really was leading him to the top of the mountain!


    ¡°The Soul Sentinel Scarf and Charm Bracelet aren¡¯t reacting, that means¡­this isn¡¯t a trick?¡±


    At last, Bai Yunfei came to a conclusion. This portal was the real thing, and it was allowing him direct passage to the actual mountaintop¡­


    His lips couldn¡¯t help but throb a few times with glee, though Bai Yunfei quashed the sensation down a moment after. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter why it appeared for now. But in any case, since a channel is there for me to take¡­should I go for it?¡±


    His eyes flickered to the portal on the right. ¡°Where does¡­this portal take me to then?¡±


    Studying the image on the portal, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t really see anything special about it. The ground was filled with crushed stones and pebbles of all sizes, and it looked very much like the stream of stones outside the pocket.


    ¡°A river of rocks?¡± He raised an eyebrow, ¡°Is this Crushed Stone River?! Can I exit from here?


    ¡°But if this portal really does take me to outside to Crushed Stone River, then¡­what¡¯s the point of it?¡±


    Confused by the two portals presented to him, Bai Yunfei stared at the two for a while to think.


    ¡°Is it giving me two choices??¡± He realized, ¡°The option to take the Extreme King Pills I¡¯ve fought hard for, or the option to have an immediate and safe passage out from this place?!¡±


    His guess felt a little outlandish at the thought. How could such a ¡®humanistic¡¯ option be presented to him in such a case?


    ¡°But¡­I¡¯m clearly stuck here in this one part of the pocket. Does this mean I need to make a decision if I want to leave this place? Are the others in a similar situation then? Is this some sort of special reaction the array has in cases like this?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­¡± He muttered and swept his eyes to the portal on the left. ¡°I don¡¯t need to think about which portal to take¡­¡±


    He was decided, but even before he made a motion to step towards the portal to the mountaintop, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open and he froze where he stood!


    He swung his head over to the portal on the right, ¡°This feeling is¡­¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    On the other side in the mist, several others were being presented with the same set of choices as Bai Yunfei.


    Zheng Kai stared at the two portals with shining bright eyes. As he was thinking about his situation, something registered in the corners of his eyes.


    ¡°Someone made their choice already?!¡±


    In the image on the portal to the left, a figure could be seen darting to the top of the mountain!


    Clearly, there was someone that had already decided to go left straight to the top!


    The actions of the first person were like the starting signal for everyone else to go. In practically seconds, a second figure followed suit, but this person appeared a hundred meters closer to the top of the mountain than the first one for some strange reason. Surprised for a brief second, the person took it in stride and ran for the top of the mountain.


    Like a chain reaction, people started to run through the portal one after another. Alarmed, Zheng Kai dove straight through to the portal on the left!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Damn that Lin Dongxiao! I¡¯ll never forgive him!!¡±


    There was another person who was currently being presented with these two options. A young man wearing white was seated on the ground as he groused and complained while healing from his wounds.


    This person was one of the people Jing Mingfeng introduced Bai Yunfei to prior to entering the pocket. He was the strongest student of the strongest school in the Southward River Province, ¡®Bai Han¡¯ of the Flying Snow School.


    As mighty as he sounded, the person looked nowhere as impressive right now. His clothes were in tatters and his hair a mess. His breathing was labored and his face twisted in pain and anger. What used to be a powerful and elegant man was now withered away into someone completely different. His waist had three deep marks that cut deep practically into his bones. Clearly, some sort of giant beast with sharp claws had done this, and parts of his ribs had been broken.


    From what he was grousing about, the person he was angry with was most definitely Lin Dongxiao from the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Damn¡­even if I were to try and grab the Extreme King Pills, I¡¯m only going to fail in this state¡­¡±


    Sighing in defeat, Bai Han stared at the portal to the right with just a small amount of hesitation.


    ¡°Eh?!¡± Something caught his attention. He turned his head, ¡°Who¡¯s there!?¡±


    As injured as he was, Bai Han managed to slam the ground and leap to his feet to stare at the right. A white scaled soul armament appeared in front of him protectively and a layer of ice formed around his person.


    ¡°Clang¡­¡±


    No sooner did his double-layered defense appear in front of him did Bai Han hear something striking against his white soul armament. Then a black streak of light broke through and stabbed straight in between his eyebrows!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    The black streak of light exited through the back of his head with a black-colored gas at its tail. Turning around, it flew the other direction back to where a figure in black stood.


    ¡°Thud.¡±


    Bai Han¡¯s body collapsed to the ground, his eyes vacant and unmoving. The man was already dead.


    The young figure in black recollected the black needle without even a glance at the corpse. Curiously, he glanced over to the portals in front.


    ¡°So even something like this can appear? Is this the work of an ancient array? If it is, then why has it decided to ¡®reject¡¯ only me?¡± The figure muttered to himself, ¡°If it¡¯s ¡®intentional¡¯, then could¡­could it be ¡®that¡¯?¡±


    As if thinking about something utterly inconceivable, the normally calm expression on the young man¡¯s face looked stupefied. Smiling, he muttered, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then today¡¯s harvest will be a splendid one¡­¡±


    He was already moving towards the two portals as he spoke to himself¡­

 Chapter 790: A Chaotic Battle

    ¡°Get the f*ck off the road or risk the consequences!¡±


    ¡°Who gives a crap about you, don¡¯t block my path! The Extreme King Pills aren¡¯t for you!¡±


    ¡°The Extreme King Pills are just at the top! Senior, we have to hurry!¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m at the very front, the Extreme King Pills are mine!¡±


    ¡°Qian Chou! I see you hiding over there! My junior¡¯s life will be avenged!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t fight each other, everyone! The Extreme King Pills aren¡¯t at the top, this is a trick!¡±


    ¡°Trick my ass! What are you doing running up there then?! Stay down then!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m hurt, I can¡¯t go after the Extreme King Pills, don¡¯t kill me!¡±


    ¡°Who gives a sh*t? You should¡¯ve chosen the other portal then! Taking this one means that you agree to kill or be killed like the others, go die!!¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?! I¡ªah!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    ¡°Boom boom!!¡±


    The mountain was a complete mess. Though barely even half a kilometer in diameter, the mountain peak had nearly a hundred people fighting one another for dominance!


    Their onslaught was murderous, and their expression bloodthirsty as they fought and wrestled their way up.


    The strange thing about the sight was that some people were situated in places either farther ahead than the others, or farther behind. There were a few people who were at the edge of the peak where the mist were¡ªroughly seven to eight hundred meters away¡ª, and there were a few that were basically two to three hundred meters ahead of the rest of the group.


    Those who were behind the rest of the group saw it necessary to attack and stall those in the front with all the might they could muster. Those in the front were in a rush to get to the top, but there were a few who had no other choice but to stop every so often to dodge an attack from behind. Others in the front would even stop for a moment to lash out at those in the nearby area without mercy if to either stop the others from going forward or for monopolizing the path ahead.


    Then there were the people who had already suffered a loss or defeat at some point in the mist. Their aim wasn¡¯t the Extreme King Pills, but whoever attacked them in the mist.


    A select few pretended to be injured and unable to continue forward, but that was only a guise for them to wait for the most opportune time to attack whoever was gullible enough to take them as an easy target¡­


    Bursts of elemental energy and screams and curses rang through the air non-stop. All sorts of light flashed through the skies with so much intensity and variety that the mountain peak was like a multi-colored beacon.


    ¡°Look!! What¡¯s going on on that mountain?!¡±


    At the bottom of the mountain, those few people who chose to flee the mountain after the two self-destructs could see the light coming from the top of the mountain and were stunned by the sight.


    ¡°That¡¯s the mountain peak! They¡¯ve reached the top! But how?!¡±


    A soul cultivator who was at the very edge of the mist¡¯s entrance cried out in disbelief. There was no doubt to what he was seeing, as all sorts of elemental energy and soulforce was emanating from the area, and that was more than enough proof for people to understand that a huge war was breaking out.


    ¡°Look!! The mist is dissipating!¡±


    Another person cried out. The mist on the mountain, which had been churning and swirling in on itself the entire time, looked as if it was no longer bound to the mountain. No longer swirling around the mountain, the mist started to move away from it to reveal all that was happening on the mountain.


    ¡°Quick! Quick! We have to get up there or else the Extreme King Pills will be gone!¡±


    No one knew who exactly said that, but it was the wake-up call for everyone there. All at once, the soul cultivators who hadn¡¯t been transported to the top of the mountain made an immediate dash for the top!


    ¡°Damn! There¡¯s so many people here!¡±


    Zheng Kai exclaimed as he stepped out from the portal to the top of the mountain. He of all people was no stranger to portals and transportation and the such, so he realized what was going on at once.


    He had been placed just about four hundred meters away from the peak of the mountain. Which placed him essentially at the front of the group almost. Only four or five people were ahead of him, and even the first few people who arrived here weren¡¯t that close to his back.


    It wasn¡¯t even a second or two later when a few more people appeared out of thin air behind him, revealing the four figures of Jing Mingfeng, Yue Feng, Yu Li, and Nangong Yuexia.


    The four of them took a moment to recompose and take a look around the area before they did anything else. Jing Mingfeng looked off to the mountain¡¯s peak with a grand smile, ¡°Haha!! I don¡¯t know how we did it, but we¡¯re at the top! The Extreme King Pills are just right there, let¡¯s get going!¡±


    Even Yue Feng and Yu Li had excited looks on their faces. ¡°Yuexia, stick with me.¡± Yu Li whispered to Nangong Yuexia.


    ¡°Wait?! Where¡¯s Yunfei?!¡± Zheng Kai had been preparing to rush forward when he realized there was a person amiss in their group.


    The others looked around in confusion, only then realizing that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t there with them.


    ¡°No way? Did Ol¡¯Bai not choose? What¡¯s he playing at?¡± Jing Mingfeng muttered to himself.


    ¡°Stop blocking the road! Move it or lose it!!¡±


    The murderous roar of a person behind prompted the group to take a second to glance behind. Three rather funnily-dressed people were rushing towards them; a middle-aged man with a large scar on his forehead was charging straight for Jing Mingfeng. It had been him who cried out just then, and already he was sending three different-sized fireballs to force the group apart.


    ¡°Scram!!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes grew frosty. Raising his hands, he formed three seals with them and then waved his right hand through the air. A gust of wind blew at the three fireballs and sent them flying back towards the caster.


    ¡°We¡¯ve no time to waste waiting for Ol¡¯Bai, let¡¯s get going first!!¡±


    There wasn¡¯t any hesitation in Jing Mingfeng¡¯s voice. The Extreme King Pills were right there for the taking, and he was loathed to lose out on this opportunity.


    The others didn¡¯t hesitate either. They all nodded and ran straight up the mountain.


    ¡°Ah! Senior! It¡¯s that person!!¡±


    At some point as the group ran up the mountain, Nangong Yuexia let loose a loud scream and pointed at a person to their right. Turning their heads to follow her direction, everyone saw a young man dressed in rich-purple robes leaping from boulder to boulder. Every so often, he¡¯d disappear from sight to reappear on another boulder thirty meters away.


    ¡°It¡¯s him! Li Yuchun!¡± Zheng Kai muttered in surprise.


    Li Yuchun had arrived on the mountaintop at roughly the same time they did. And his positioning was even closer to the peak than they were!


    ¡°Li Yuchun?!¡±


    Yue Feng and Yu Li¡¯s eyes honed in on the person at once. A purple sword appeared in Yue Feng¡¯s hand, and without any hesitation, he thrusted it towards Li Yuchun!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    A bolt of violet lightning shot forth from the tip of the sword up into the air. As thick as Yue Feng¡¯s arm, the bolt of lightning then came crashing down onto Li Yuchun¡¯s head!


    Having been fully focused on running forwards, Li Yuchun barely had any time to throw himself to the side before the bolt of lightning crashed into the ground where he had been. A smoking crater was left in his place, and Li Yuchun shot a withering glare at Yue Feng. In retaliation, he waved his hand and sent three blades of spatial energy back at him!


    The three blades of spatial energy were stopped by three equally sized blades of spatial energy. Hitting one another, they froze in the air for a second before disappearing from sight!

 Chapter 791: Battles Everywhere

    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    An ear-splitting roar could be heard next, contributing even more to the noise of the battlefield.


    ¡°Agh!!¡±


    After that, there was a pained howl.


    ¡°Move out of the way! Get in my way and die!¡±


    In the next second, there was an intimidating shout encompassed by the roar of another soulbeast.


    ¡°It¡¯s Lin Dongxiao!¡±


    ¡°Get out of the way! That Lin Dongxiao doesn¡¯t listen to reason, he¡¯ll kill you for no reason at all!¡±


    ¡°We came up the mountain from his side, don¡¯t get in his way!¡±


    There was a loud ruckus when Lin Dongxiao made his arrival. Dozens of soul cultivators immediately moved out of the way for him, allowing him a relatively empty passage forward.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Lin Dongxiao had a pleased sneer on his face as everyone moved away from him. Judging from his position, Lin Dongxiao was about five hundred meters from the top. This put him at the middle of the group with plenty of people both in front and behind him. Sneering again, he rushed forward, no longer caring for those people behind him.


    There were roughly twenty to thirty people in front of him still. His soulsense wasn¡¯t able to sense the people on the other side of the mountain peak, but he didn¡¯t care much. With a wave of his hand, a white crane appeared in front of him to sit on.


    He stored away the golden tiger that had been protecting him previously and leapt onto the back of the crane. Slapping it on the back, he ordered the crane to take off towards the peak of the mountain.


    Him sitting on the crane allowed Lin Dongxiao a greater speed than running on foot like the others. In practically seconds, he was far beyond anyone else of the same position he had been.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one with a flying soulbeast, however. In the air with him were another seven or eight people with the same idea he had.


    But that didn¡¯t mean they were given freedom and safety up in the air. One of the people flying above was immediately shot down by a burst of fire from down below. Flying on soulbeasts was an act that earned the hostility of everyone down below and so they were one of the first to be struck down. Not a single person was willing to let them fly into the skies if they had anything to say about it.


    So very few of the people there were able to fly into the skies. Those who tried were either forced to come back down or spent too much time evading and dodging the attacks to make any progress towards the top.


    That left about four people up in the air, Lin Dongxiao included. The three others were all riding on top of a late-stage class six double-headed eagle, and each of them wore robes identical to one another. It was evident that they were all from the same faction.


    ¡°Get in my way and die, scram!!¡±


    Again, Lin Dongxiao demanded the people in front of him to move. The crane underneath him flapped its wings in an attempt to fly even faster. In the blink of an eye, Lin Dongxiao was practically trailing behind the three eagles. He waved his right hand like if he was wielding a giant golden claw on it to strike at the back of one of the people there.


    ¡°Pah! Lin Dongxiao! You¡¯re an arrogant one!!¡±


    Unlike the first time, these people weren¡¯t giving way to him. They looked prepared to take on Lin Dongxiao, and the soldierly-looking person in the middle waved his right hand in response. A brown turtle shell appeared over his arm and stopped the golden claws from striking him down.


    Outrage flickered across Lin Dongxiao¡¯s eyes as he drew his weapon back. ¡°Die then!¡± He spat with thunderous rage.


    The ring on the forefinger of his left hand gleamed with light before a dragonfly the size of a tuna appeared in front of him. It buzzed threateningly once it came out before flying straight towards the man in the middle like a cannonball!


    To follow up on that, Lin Dongxiao activated the ring on his right hand. It flashed once with white light before a crystal-like pigeon appeared in front of him. Though small in size, the pigeon was a late-stage class six soulbeast! It appeared into the world with a faint burst of wind, and then it took off with a secondary burst of wind to fly like an arrow towards the man on the right.


    Then he swung his golden claws out again to strike at the short male on the left!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    The soldierly-looking man in the middle barked out. White light flowed out from his body as his hands went through several hand seals. The soulforce in his body started to spike drastically before spiraling around his right forefinger. Jabbing it behind him, the man had his soulforce freeze the air around him. In seconds, hundreds of icicles formed out of thin air like a barrage of spikes to pelt down Lin Dongxiao!


    There was a flash of green and cyan light as his two companions started their own preparations. It took them a second more before they could send a burst of their elemental energy towards Lin Dongxiao.


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡±


    A series of explosions rocked the airspace above the mountain as the attacks crashed against Lin Dongxiao. Waves of elemental energy surged out everywhere, including the bottom where most of the people had to move out of the way from.


    While Lin Dongxiao was fighting the three other equally-strong enemies of his, another fight was breaking out on the other side with Zheng Kai¡¯s group and another.


    That other person was Li Yuchun.


    Nangong Yuexia had nearly met her end at the hands of Li Yuchun when she was separated from Yu Li and Yue Feng. It was only because of Zheng Kai¡¯s timely intervention that she was able to escape. For that, Yue Feng held a grudge over Li Yuchun. Now that the two were face to face, Yue Feng would bother to demand justification, he¡¯d skip over that and head straight for execution.


    Li Yuchun had two slight advantages over Zheng Kai¡¯s group. He was a few dozen meters ahead of them and was also capable of teleporting away. But even if they didn¡¯t have a grudge against him, they¡¯d still fight him in order to stall and prevent him from advancing.


    Yue Feng wasn¡¯t the only group Li Yuchun was fighting either. Several others had the same idea as Yue Feng and attacked Li Yuchun in order to stop him!


    Yu Li hadn¡¯t bothered to attack him since she was more focused on protecting Nangong Yuexia. Blow after blow, Yue Feng moved to attack Li Yuchun with all he had. He had a dual affinity for both elemental ice and lightning, but he preferred to use elemental lightning to attack. Rays of lightning arced out from his body one after another like tiny tendrils to seemingly create a territory of his own. Not only did it protect him from attacks, but it was also charging up his own attacks on Li Yuchun every other second.


    The rigorous storm of lightning bolts made it difficult for Li Yuchun to teleport away. It was annoying that he had to weave left and right to dodge them all. A blade of spatial energy would be sent every so often at Yue Feng, but Zheng Kai would stop it with a blade of his own.


    Despite this intense battle, both groups were advancing up the mountain at the same time they fought, albeit a slightly slower rate than if they were to focus on running.


    After several moments went by, the group behind them were already caught up.


    And when they caught up and saw the two groups ¡®blocking¡¯ the way, the newcomers had no hesitation in joining in on the fight to clear them out.


    The other side of the mountain was enjoying a battle that was equally fierce. The most noticeable group was the one comprised of the students from the Five Elements Schools. You Qingfeng and Zhong Liyan, for example, were cutting through every other group like hot knives through butter to clear the path up. If nothing was to be done about them, then they¡¯d be the most likely ones to reach the peak of the mountain first.


    Despite the amazing strength of their vanguard, the group looked less numerous than before¡­


    There were other people here that Jing Mingfeng once introduced Bai Yunfei to before, such as Wang Kunpeng from the house of Wang, Liu Zhe from the Returning Sword School, and the Ji twins.


    Right now, there were approximately a hundred people left standing still on the war-embroiled mountain. Every single person had either one of two thoughts:


    Run up the mountain, or stop the person in front of them from running up the mountain.


    Roughly ten minutes had passed since the portals transported everyone to the mountain. Not even a single person had made it to the topmost part yet, though the closest ones were within a hundred meters now. The closer one got to the top of the mountain, the more intense the battles were. If there was anyone that was substantially stronger than the others, then the surrounding people would turn on him first. In the merciless battlefield of this mountain, the flow of the battle was only getting more and more chaotic towards the top¡­


    As the mountain was reaching a peak level of intensity, a loud explosion suddenly rocked the entire mountain, freezing everyone in place!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The explosion was so loud that every single person had to stop what they were doing to look at the source of the explosion. Not only had it been loud, but the entire mountain they had been standing on wobbled fiercely from it!


    It¡­.it wasn¡¯t only just the earth that shook. The entire pocket had shaken even!


    Much to the shock of everyone, the ¡®skies¡¯ above them started to fracture like a piece of porcelain being hit with a hard enough pebble!

 Chapter 792: Bai Yunfeis Choice

    The chaos that had been so prominent all over the mountain was now completely gone now as everyone¡¯s eyes were transfixed to the sight in the sky with a look of horror on their faces.


    ¡°No!! That¡¯s the sign of the pocket about to collapse!¡±


    Possibly hundreds of soul cultivators had entered the pocket for a chance to get the Extreme King Pills. Of those people, only the extraordinary had managed to survive every single obstacle so far to get the mountain. And yet, of all these extraordinary soul cultivators here, every single one of them could only stop and stare for a while at the fracture over their head.


    ¡°What?! The pocket¡¯s going to collapse!? But how! Weren¡¯t we safe as long as a Soul King doesn¡¯t come in here? Can¡¯t the pocket handle anything but that?!¡±


    Someone else cried out in disbelief. It was hard to believe what he was hearing, but it was true.


    And just at that moment¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The surrounding air had a stinging feel to it that numbed the skin at the touch. The air was crackling with energy as the fracture spread farther and farther away from its epicenter in the sky!


    Everyone felt the crackling energy bearing down on them. It prickled not only their physical skin but also their souls and made control of their soulforce harder than normal even.


    ¡°This is¡­this is¡­¡±


    ¡°This is the aura of a Soul King!! Damn! What¡¯s going on?! Is a Soul King really coming into this place!?¡±


    A moment later, someone cried out in realization of what was going on!


    The blanket of raw power descending down on them was indicative of the presence of a Soul King!


    ¡°A Soul King came in here! The pocket¡¯s going to collapse! We¡¯re all going to die in here!!¡±


    In practically milliseconds, widespread horror began to spread to everyone on the mountain!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The developments that were taking place on the top of the mountain had been going on for a decently large amount of time, but throughout that entire period, Bai Yunfei was nowhere to be seen. So where was he?


    A little while ago before the chaotic battle had yet to even begin¡­


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei was about to cross over into the portal to the left, his eyes flickered back to the portal on the right in surprise. ¡°This is¡­¡±


    Several emotions flickered across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he thought to himself. Something from the right portal had pinged his interest. Something familiar. He raised his right hand up to touch at his own forehead.


    To touch the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    The Extreme King Pills were essentially right in front of him. No matter what other thing caught his eye, it was almost a given that Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve chosen to go into the left portal. But for some reason, whatever he senses from the other portal gave him a familiar sensation to the Soul Sentinel Scarf. And it was that sensation that made him stop and think for a brief moment.


    Now that he was fully stationary, Bai Yunfei really could feel a strange rise of activity from his Soul Sentinel Scarf. It was as if something within the Soul Sentinel Scarf was stirring, something like an emotional response.


    Bai Yunfei knew that the Soul Sentinel Scarf held a spirit inside of it.


    The ¡®spirit¡¯ of the armament wasn¡¯t something he really thought about, but it at the very least was a confirmed existence for him. At certain times, such as when one of the effects of the scarf activated, Bai Yunfei could feel the spirit inside the scarf trying to ¡®control¡¯ it.


    Normally though, the Soul Sentinel Scarf would usually remain still and silent. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even normally able to feel its existence if he meditated.


    Something was different this time. Bai Yunfei could sense that the spirit within the Soul Sentinel Scarf was ¡®excited¡¯! As if experiencing a thrill of some kind, it was releasing a very special type of energy!


    To put it simply, this was an example of¡­resonance!!


    Bai Yunfei felt this feeling before! It was back in the Royal Palace in the Palace! The Soul Sentinel Scarf had the exact same reaction while he was speaking with the dynast of the Tianhun Continent, Wu Hong!


    Back then, Bai Yunfei as more than confident that another Regalia was resonating with the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    Was that not the same case here if the Soul Sentinel Scarf was resonating again?


    ¡°Th-thump.¡±


    Bai Yunfei could hear his heart pounding in his chest as the implications of the situation started to set on him. He couldn¡¯t confirm his guess, but neither could he deny the possibility.


    Was there not another Regalia here?!¡±


    This specific frequency of resonance wasn¡¯t the first of its type. It was the second time actually!!


    The first time had been back in Black Cloud Valley when Bai Yunfei had just killed the black-scaled serpent. That was how he came to notice that hole to begin with and was transported to that mysterious place. It was in there that he felt this sensation, but his reaction to pull out the permafrost mastiff saw to him being transported from Black Cloud Valley to Crushed Stone River.


    Only this time, the ¡®resonance¡¯ felt a lot weaker than before. Bai Yunfei had hardly felt the resonance. Had it been any weaker, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve mistaken it for something else.


    But right now, the response from the Soul Sentinel Scarf was inversely stronger than before! Though the resonance was weaker from the other side, Bai Yunfei could feel it through the Soul Sentinel Scarf. Now that he was fully aware of it, Bai Yunfei found himself more and more confident in that he was close to a Regalia!


    ¡°Can it really be? This ¡®resonation¡¯ is coming from another Regalia?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself as he touched at the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    ¡°The spirit of the armament¡­and this pocket¡­are they connected to a Regalia somehow?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open as his mind made a second guess. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then is it the spirit¡¯s doing?! Is it giving me this second choice because it wants me to¡­find it?!¡±


    This idea felt a lot more outlandish than the first, but Bai Yunfei still felt excited nonetheless.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked back over to the portal on the left. He could very clearly see many people had already chosen that portal and were currently starting to fight each other for the Extreme King Pills.


    The portals flickered for a second as if urging him to make a decision quickly.


    ¡°The Extreme King Pills¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered in hesitation. It was very much possible that choosing the left portal would take him to where the Extreme King Pills were, and if he were to get that, he could very easily become a Soul King as he dreamed of.


    ¡°A Regalia¡­¡± His eyes flicked back to the portal on the right. It was an uncertainty if a Regalia would even appear if he went to the portal on the right. If he was by chance mistaken in his senses, then not only would he lose out on the Regalia, but also the Extreme King Pills.


    The decision should¡¯ve been an easy one to make considering the probabilities of success for both outcomes. Becoming a Soul King was something Bai Yunfei had only dreamed about, and the possibility of becoming one was practically killing him.


    But Bai Yunfei just couldn¡¯t avert his gaze away from the portal on the right.


    No one could understand soul armaments, or even ¡®equipment¡¯, the way Bai Yunfei did. They held a special allure over him, and even more so if it was a Regalia! Bai Yunfei was far more than aware just how valuable a Regalia was¡­


    ¡°Tch!! I¡¯ll become a Soul King by my own strength sooner or later, forget the Extreme King Pills!¡±


    Bai Yunfei made his choice. He would give up on the Extreme King Pills! Taking a step forward, he stepped across the portal on the right!

 Chapter 793: The Other Space

    Everything was a blur as the surrounding scenery started to change when Bai Yunfei stepped through the portal.


    He hadn¡¯t even fully adjusted himself to the change when Bai Yunfei took out the Fire-tipped Spear and pointed it to his right.


    ¡°Ah! Hold on, stop! I don¡¯t mean any harm!!¡±


    A terrified voice called out to him.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear was just less than an inch away from the person¡¯s throat.


    Bai Yunfei glanced at him. The man was practically as pale as a ghost, either from blood loss due to all his wounds or from being frightened by the Fire-tipped Spear. Either way, the man was in bad shape. His aura was severely weakened and his already sparse soulforce was far too busy trying to heal his wounds.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked, his hand and spear never wavering from its spot.


    ¡°Zhao Xijun! Head of the house of Zhao from the Capital! I came to this pocket to look for the Extreme King Pills like you, sire. I decided to take the other portal to safety because of my wounds, I thought this was the way out¡­I just wanted to leave this place, please spare me, sire¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei could see Zhao Xijun was beside himself with terror. The man really did want to leave this place and never expected to come across another person here. There was also a hint of dissatisfaction at the fact that Bai Yunfei was here¡ªif Bai Yunfei was completely unharmed, what was he doing here instead of up on that mountain? This was supposed to be the way out!


    Bai Yunfei stared at the man for a few seconds longer before he withdrew the Fire-tipped Spear. ¡°Stay a hundred meters away from me.¡±


    ¡°Ye-yes¡­¡±


    Sweat dripped from Zhao Xijun¡¯s nose as he furiously nodded his head as if he had been pardoned and flew not one hundred meters backward, but three hundred.


    The house of Zhao was nothing more but a second-rate family in the capital since he was the strongest person they had. The Extreme King Pills were meant to be his family¡¯s saving grace and way to fortune, but that didn¡¯t happen, unfortunately. The talented and younger generation had seen to him being unable to complete his task and having to bow out after being injured in the mist.


    When the two portals were presented to him, Zhao Xijun decided that his life was far more important and chose to leave. Unfortunately, Bai Yunfei showed up in this place as well and nearly killed him.


    It was suspicious though. Why was Bai Yunfei here? Someone as young and strong as him should¡¯ve been heading up the mountain for the Extreme King Pills with the others!


    That wasn¡¯t very important though. Zhao Xijun first fled to safety a few hundred meters away before anything else. He heaved a sigh of relief when he was certain that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t mean to kill him.


    But when he looked around himself, tragedy struck him again!


    The place they were in was not the outside world, but a hill out of a sea of hills! What he thought was Crushed Stone River was actually somewhere else in the pocket!!


    It looked a little similar to Crushed Stone River, but everything beyond a kilometer of where they were was just¡­a blob of chaotic nothingness!


    In other words, they were somewhere else in the pocket!


    While Zhao Xijun was panicking by himself over this realization, Bai Yunfei was coming to the same conclusion, albeit with a calmer reaction. Where he was wasn¡¯t his primary concern though. He was only focused on narrowing the direction of where his Soul Sentinel Scarf was reacting strongest to.


    He touched at his scarf again with glee as he felt the resonance grow stronger. Scanning the area, Bai Yunfei sent his soulsense around to see what was there.


    ¡°I can only sense up to a little over a hundred meters around me just like before. Is this place like before? It looks the same, is this a separate part of the pocket then?¡±


    Bai Yunfei took a second look around.


    ¡°I can feel it though. Something¡¯s ¡®calling¡¯ me¡­or calling the Soul Sentinel Scarf actually. It¡¯s here. I just can¡¯t see what¡¯s doing the calling, what does this mean? Is this intentional? Do I really have to go find it?¡±


    He looked around at the seven hills in the vicinity. A first, second, third, and even fourth glance would just tell him the same thing. The place was just filled with stones and nothing else¡­


    There was no vegetation, no animals, and not even dirt. It was just stones and pebbles all the way through.


    The hills he and Zhao Xijun were standing on was composed entirely out of pebbles and stones!


    ¡°It¡¯s only stones¡­what does this mean¡­?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t understand it. There was nothing here that stood out amongst the rocks, there wasn¡¯t anything but the rocks. If not for the resonance he was feeling from the Soul Sentinel Scarf, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve regretted his decision not to go to the mountaintop for the Extreme King Pills.


    One step at a time, Bai Yunfei walked around the place to look area by area in hopes of finding something that would prompt a change in the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s response. But that ¡®signal¡¯ was still the same as always.


    He came to the top of the hill he had been standing on and peered over the pile.


    Right over there was another figure.


    The person was a few hundred meters away, meaning they were beyond his soulsense but not out of eye range. Like Zhao Xijun, this person was quite heavily injured as well. When he saw Bai Yunfei appear over the hill and stare at him, the figure turned white in the face and immediately made for the other hill away from Bai Yunfei and out of sight.


    ¡°Seems like plenty of people thought this was the way out¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. He, of course, hadn¡¯t any idea of ¡®killing¡¯ those who were injured as long as they didn¡¯t try to cause trouble with him. He walked back down the hill to look around the place again.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    On the hill to the right, the person Bai Yunfei saw heaved a sigh of relief when he realized he wasn¡¯t being chased. He glanced around the eggshell-like place he was in and cursed to himself. ¡°Damn! This isn¡¯t Crushed Stone River, where in the blazes is this!¡±


    ¡°Excuse me¡­¡±


    A voice from the side called out to him, scaring the man something fierce. He whirled around with a golden shield appearing in front of him to use what little soulforce he had left to protect himself from whoever was in front.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so hasty, friend, I mean no harm! I¡¯m injured like you and just want to leave this place.¡± The same voice spoke, this time with a little more urgency. A middle-aged man in yellow appeared into view. It was Zhao Xijun and two middle-aged men in their thirties came up into view.


    The young man sighed again in relief when he saw these three men meant no harm. Still not putting away his soul armament though, he glanced at them warily, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Zhao Xijun managed a smile. ¡°Friend, can you not see that we are like you? Unable to fight anymore? We only wish to invite you to our group for a better chance at survival¡­¡±


    He paused briefly. ¡°We are all heavily injured and no longer need to fight for the Extreme King Pills. It¡¯d be in everyone¡¯s best interest to work together and find the way out¡­¡±

 Chapter 794: A Crushed Stone

    Bai Yunfei stared at the curtain of chaotic energy in front of him with a contemplative look.


    It hadn¡¯t even been a minute since he came here, and yet Bai Yunfei felt like he had investigated a decent portion of the area. Broken stone and rubble were all that his eye could see besides from the soul cultivators, but he didn¡¯t even pay attention to them.


    He was standing at the edge of the area now so he could take a closer, yet perplexed look at it.


    This place was reminiscent to the area Bai Yunfei had been transported to from Black Cloud Valley. There was a small circle of land and a curtain of chaotic space all around it. And then there was the ground in which broken stone and rubble were covered all over by¡­


    ¡°If this place is anything like that place, or if it¡¯s the same place even, then¡­my guess really might be true!!¡±


    His eyes gleamed at the thought. Turning around, Bai Yunfei walked to one of the many piles of stones to think.


    ¡°Aside from the stones and whatnot, this place seems pretty magical. Maybe...it¡¯s underneath all the stones?¡±


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop in front of a pile of stones. Reaching his right hand out, he faced his palm towards it.


    There was a flash of soulforce as his Ardent Sun Glove started to light up with color. A swirl of red light started to form around the center of the glove. Slowly expanding in size, the swirl of red light soon turned into a small fireball about two meters in diameter.


    ¡°Wizzz¡­.boom!!¡±


    The ground beneath Bai Yunfei trembled as the fireball impacted against the hill. Every single stone that hadn¡¯t been blown away had been vaporized when the fireball landed, leaving behind only a crater and a few flaming bits of stone.


    After that pile was blasted apart, Bai Yunfei sent his soulsense around himself to scan around the blast radius.


    It was with disappointment that Bai Yunfei turned away from the sight. His scan had turned up with nothing. This pile of stone had only been just that, a pile of stones.


    ¡°Tch! Like finding a needle in a haystack¡­¡± Bai Yunfei cursed to himself, feeling a little helpless at the task at hand.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What was that? What was that?! Is someone fighting here?!¡±


    Just as Bai Yunfei blew up one of the stone hills, a voice was crying out in terror. There was someone hiding behind one of the hills nearby next to the barrier curtains.


    One of the people initially afraid and shocked was Zhao Xijun. He looked over to the source of the explosion for a brief moment before turning back to his blue-robed companion. ¡°It¡¯s not a battle, brother Xue. It¡¯s that person I told you about before. He¡¯s blasting apart that hill¡­I don¡¯t know why, but he doesn¡¯t mean any harm I¡¯m sure. Brother Li, sister Qin, and even brother Qi said it before didn¡¯t they? That they came across him and his group, but they never did them any harm.¡±


    Everyone else on the hill let out a sigh of relief after they heard that. In their weakened state, everyone was afraid of practically even their own shadows. If by chance someone of malicious intent were to come after them while they were weakened, it¡¯d be all over for them.


    Though plenty of people had chosen to go up the mountain to fight for the Extreme King Pills, there was still a decent portion of people who decided to give up and chose the ¡®escape route¡¯. While Bai Yunfei was looking around the area, Zhao Xijun was doing the same, but for entirely different reasons. He was looking for fellow ¡®victims¡¯ to gather them together in one group¡ªthe group in which they could all band together for survival.


    Right now, he had eight people in his one group, with him being the ninth. They were at the tallest hill now, so they had the vantage point and could look down at the rest of the area and wait for other injured people to come up to them.


    ¡°Just who is that person? He¡¯s not hurt at all, what¡¯s he doing here?¡± A young man asked, confused by what Bai Yunfei was doing.


    ¡°Looks like he¡¯s looking for something¡­¡± Zhao Xijun shook his head, ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. As long as he doesn¡¯t come after us. We shouldn¡¯t annoy him either. The most important thing is finding out how we can get out from here.¡±


    ¡°Eh?! Someone¡¯s coming over from that direction!¡±


    Just then, a young man in gray robes noticed someone coming over from the left.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone we missed?¡± Zhao Xijun blinked. ¡°Continue healing up everyone, I¡¯ll go invite them over¡­¡±


    Their group was filled with people who were dependent on each other for their mutual survival. Not a single one of them had any intentions of doing anything to another. They just wanted to leave this place in one piece. So if they could find even more like-minded people, they would feel even more calm about the situation.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Where is it, and what in the world is it¡­?¡± On the other side, Bai Yunfei was muttering to himself in dejection. He stared around at all the rocks in the area, unsure of what he should do.


    ¡°There¡¯s only rocks here¡­am I supposed to be looking for a rock then?!¡± He scratched at his head in vexation.


    ¡°The Soul Sentinel Scarf isn¡¯t reacting much. I¡¯m basically relying on my eyesight and soulsense here. Am I really going to have to rely on those two to find it?¡±


    He stooped down to the ground and picked up an egg-sized stone.


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Attack: 4


    Upgrade Requirement: 1 Soulpoint


    The attributes of the stone flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind for a second. He dropped the stone, his face twisting together in frustration.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me I¡¯m going to have to look at each and every stone here?!¡±


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Just as that outlandish thought crossed his mind, his attention was diverted back to the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead. Something from the Soul Sentinel Scarf had caused his eyes to widen.


    The ¡®resonance¡¯ from the Soul Sentinel Scarf had suddenly disappeared!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was trying to figure out what was going on, a scream echoed through the air!


    He whirled around towards the source. In one quick moment, he was charging up the closest hill to take a better look.


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    There was another scream the moment when Bai Yunfei took one single step onto the top of the hill!


    ¡°Boom!! Boom!!¡±


    Now that he was at the highest point of the hill, Bai Yunfei could see about a good few hundred meters away, there was a flurry of different colored elemental light being tossed about everywhere along with a few frantic and pained screams.


    ¡°Are¡­are those people fighting?!¡±


    He was shocked. Bai Yunfei could distinctly remember Zhao Xijun ¡®uniting¡¯ with several others, but their strengths were most likely weak enough to fall to even an early-stage Soul Exalt right now. He didn¡¯t really pay much attention to their group since he was the only ¡®uninjured¡¯ one.


    But why was the group fighting then?

 Chapter 795: An Encounter

    His soulsense wasn¡¯t working well enough in this place to be able to tell what was going on, so Bai Yunfei had to rely on his eyesight alone. All he could see were a few bright bursts of elemental energy along with the hazy outlines of several people. He hesitated for a few seconds, but in the end, Bai Yunfei took off towards the area.


    Originally, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been planning on doing anything about this. But then he realized that with the outburst of elemental energy and their general proximity to the curtains of the barrier, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to risk the pocket here collapsing. If that were to happen, it¡¯d spell trouble for them all.


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah¡­¡±


    The screams were a constant in Bai Yunfei¡¯s sprint towards the source. It would take Bai Yunfei another ten seconds before he¡¯d even reach the place where the fighting was happening. But before he was even within two hundred steps of the place, Bai Yunfei soon came to the realization that¡­the screams had stopped!


    It wasn¡¯t just the screams. Even the elemental energy was finally starting to die back down to normal levels!


    ¡°It¡¯s over?!¡±


    Confused and shocked, Bai Yunfei sprinted the last hundred meters before he was able to use his soulsense. Reaching out with it, Bai Yunfei quickly came to a startling realization why the screams had stopped!


    He couldn¡¯t sense a single living being with his soulsense! The elemental energy that had been caused by the fight was starting to die and come back to a lull. It wasn¡¯t as though the people had escaped from this place, it was that they had all...died here! They were all corpses here on the hills!


    Bai Yunfei leaped down from the boulder he was standing on to the half-ruined slope of the hill. Peering over the edge, he could see many craters and fissures left down on the ground below. In one crater was eight corpses strewn about the area.


    Of these eight, Bai Yunfei recognized some of them. Searching a little longer, Bai Yunfei saw another corpse just twenty meters away. This one belonged to the man Bai Yunfei first came across, Zhao Xijun.


    ¡°They¡¯re all dead?!¡± Bai Yunfei wondered to himself. He quickly scanned the area around him as if realizing something.


    As heavily injured as the nine were, they were still in the end, nine people. It didn¡¯t even take Bai Yunfei a minute to get here, and yet they were all dead still!


    But most importantly¡­Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even sense any fluctuations in the air here!


    In other words, the killer of these nine had left the place before Bai Yunfei could get here!


    Or if not left, they were definitely two hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense range!


    ¡°Bz¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal materialized into the air and surrounded Bai Yunfei with a barrier of elemental earth. Bai Yunfei found nothing even after scanning the area twice over. Looking back, Bai Yunfei stared at the corpses down beneath him.


    This time, Bai Yunfei was more thorough in his observation. Studying each corpse carefully, Bai Yunfei tried his best to look for a clue of some kind.


    ¡°It¡¯s him!!¡± He gasped as soon as he took notice of the new wounds on their bodies.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A slight whistling sound alerted Bai Yunfei to a rapidly incoming presence coming from right behind him. Even when he was in his heightened state of observation, something was flying at extremely fast speeds towards him from behind!


    His reaction was half a step faster than average, whirling around, Bai Yunfei reinforced the barrier around him to the most of its abilities.


    And right as he turned around, he saw it¡ªa black streak of light!


    But that wasn¡¯t the only thing! His soulsense had also picked up on something else! There was something he managed to detect when he turned around!


    ¡°Blip!¡±


    There was a faint blip as the object struck against the barrier. But then rather than the object being deflected by the Cataclysmic Seal¡ªwhich could stop the attack of even a low-heaven tier soul armament from passing through¡ªthe object started to shine brighter with black light before slipping through the barrier! Leaving behind only a small hole, the object needled through it to continue forward!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open at the sight. He leaned his head backward and brought his right hand forward to protect his forehead!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a distinct clanging sound as the black object was stopped by a burst of red light before being deflected away!


    At what was possibly the very last opportunity to protect himself, Bai Yunfei had managed to procure the Cataclysmic Seal and put it in front of his head to protect himself!


    Now that the black streak of light was flying away from him, Bai Yunfei was able to see what exactly had tried to hit him.


    It was a black needle not even as thick or barely as long as a finger!


    ¡°Clack clack clack¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet stepped non-stop across the pebbled ground beneath him to gain at least a hundred meters of distance away from where he used to be. Looking down at the Cataclysmic Seal, a cold shiver traveled down Bai Yunfei¡¯s spine¡­


    Right in the middle of the brick was a small dent!


    Not willing to even think about the dent for now, Bai Yunfei looked up at the top of another hill. Standing there was a young man in black robes. At some point, this person had appeared there for the black needle to fly back towards.


    ¡°It¡¯s him! What¡¯s he doing here?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was unnaturally serious now. The Cataclysmic Seal was back in its place floating next to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side so he could use the Fire-tipped Spear. Shifting it slightly, he pointed the spear at the enemy to prepare himself to fight.


    This person, needless to say, was the one responsible for the deaths of the other nine people and as well as the countless people beforehand. The ¡®reaper¡¯ of the rumors from everyone else in the pocket, and the young man who could kill even Late-stage Soul Exalt with just a flick of the wrist and that black needle!


    At that current moment, the black-robed young man was in an equally shocked state as Bai Yunfei. While he had managed to take hold of the black needle, the young man was currently not doing anything else.


    ¡°He blocked it?!¡± Was all he said. He stared down at the black needle in his hand, and then to the Cataclysmic Seal floating next to Bai Yunfei. ¡°A high-heaven tier soul armament?!¡±


    The shock lasted for only a moment before glee started to take over his face. Smiling to himself, he spoke, ¡°How interesting¡­no wonder you¡¯re the strongest student of the Crafting School. It¡¯s been a while since we last met, you¡¯ve grown a lot since then¡­


    ¡°If you¡¯re here, you must¡¯ve felt ¡®it¡¯ as well, then? That wasn¡¯t within my expectations¡­¡± The young man continued to speak. His words hadn¡¯t been loud enough for Bai Yunfei to hear, but his eyes were cold enough to convey his hostility towards Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°You came knocking at the gates of hell because of fate. Allow me to personally send you through those gates then!¡±

 Chapter 796: Waging Battle

    From his first glance to now, Bai Yunfei remained alert in his vigilance against the black-robed person in front of him, just in case he attacked.


    In all honesty, Bai Yunfei was slightly afraid of this person, and for two good reasons.


    The first was the black needle, which Bai Yunfei was almost sure was a high-heaven tier soul armament. It was a terrifyingly powerful weapon that would¡¯ve killed the ordinary Late-stage Soul Exalt without a problem.


    The second was because of this person¡¯s Soul King like soulsense. He had noticed Bai Yunfei before Bai Yunfei noticed him and hid accordingly.


    Had it been an ordinary Late-stage Soul Exalt, the black needle would¡¯ve pierced them through before they¡¯d even be able to notice its presence!


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even figure out just when this person had appeared, let alone how he managed to do it. But there wasn¡¯t time to think about that. He had to fully concentrate on his defenses against this person.


    The man didn¡¯t move though. For ten full seconds, Bai Yunfei and the man stared at one another as if sizing each other up. The other person had a calculative glance that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel comfortable under at all.


    It wasn¡¯t for another few seconds while Bai Yunfei was debating his options when the black-robed man took action. Smiling as if taking part in some kind of ¡®entertainment¡¯, the man flicked the black needle in his hand to send it flying at Bai Yunfei!


    There had been no physical strength put into the flick and yet the black needle was already flying at breakneck speeds. That meant the velocity of the needle wasn¡¯t dependent on physical strength, but soulforce and will! In other words, this was a soul armament that was near the same level as Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear and Cataclysmic Seal¡­


    They were soulbound armaments! And the soul compatibility of the black needle and man was very high!


    ¡°It¡¯s coming!!¡±


    Eyes staring down the needle, Bai Yunfei stepped not backward, but towards the needle!


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal unleashed a wave of orange light as a barrier formed again. Protected now, the Cataclysmic Seal flew forward ahead of Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Blip¡­¡±


    Again, the black needle made contact with the barrier before piercing through a second later!


    But it was that one second Bai Yunfei was looking for! As the black needle came to a stop for just a second, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm was already swinging the Fire-tipped Spear against the needle!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The spear slammed into the side of the needle, causing it to deviate from its direct path towards Bai Yunfei to a meter to his right instead!


    But even though the needle had missed, the black-robed figure didn¡¯t look sad. Instead, he had a mocking expression on his face!


    The needle, having not yet flown past Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, froze in mid air before turning direction and pelting towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s temple from the side! It had managed to change trajectory mid-flight!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    This time, the expression on the black-robed person froze on his face. His black needle had been blocked again by a red light!


    When it came to controllable soul armaments, who else but Bai Yunfei could be said to be an expert on them? He had long since been prepared for the enemy to do something like that and wasn¡¯t surprised to see the needle actually change directions. Without skipping a beat, he had the barrier-protected Cataclysmic Seal slam itself into the black needle this time to stop it!


    Because of the loss of kinetic force due to its forced redirection, the black needle wasn¡¯t as strong as before. This by extension meant the Cataclysmic Seal could slam into it without being dented like before and force the black needle away again!


    The second redirection of the black needle was the impetus for Bai Yunfei to suddenly take action. Disappearing into a crimson blur, he rushed for the black-robed figure at once!


    As astonished as the man was to see Bai Yunfei stop his black needle twice, he wasn¡¯t all too surprised to see Bai Yunfei rush at him. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a golden hexagonal shield in front of him to protect himself.


    And just as the shield dropped down, Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear came thrusting forward!


    Though a soul armament had appeared in front of his weapon, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t change his attack pattern. Instead, he put even more strength behind his spear to strike at the heart of the shield!


    ¡°Clanggg!!!¡±


    A metallic gong resonated through the air as the spear clashed against the shield. As the sounds echoed in the pocket, sparks of gold and red light flashed in the air!


    At Bai Yunfei¡¯s current strength, he was capable of not only the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force, but the Eighty-one Fold Stab, if not with a bit of difficulty.


    This one spear thrust was only the Ninefold Stab, since Bai Yunfei was only looking to activate the Fire-tipped Spear¡¯s +10 additional effect:


    Explosion!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The area between the shield and spear exploded violently amidst a flurry of sparks and fire to engulf both the shield and the person behind it!


    The black-robed man immediately realized something was wrong the moment when the Fire-tipped Spear struck his shield. Even as the explosion was taking place, the man was already trying to retreat as far as he could.


    Retreating several dozen meters back, the man stared down at his shield, a low-heaven tier metal-type soul armament. In the center was a ragged hole with cracks running towards the edge of the shield from it!


    ¡°A mid-heaven tier soul armament!¡± The man¡¯s eyes grew wide as he looked back to the Fire-tipped Spear in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    There was another flicker of light as Bai Yunfei used the Flash Step to chase after his opponent. His arm was slightly numb due to the attack just now, but he couldn¡¯t afford to give his enemy any time to rest. Clenching his left hand to activate the Critical Glove, Bai Yunfei slammed his fist down onto the man¡¯s shield again!


    ¡°Boom! Crack¡­¡±


    The Eighty-one Fold Fist Force combined with the +12 additional effect ¡®4x critical strike¡¯, and the +10 additional effect ¡®3x critical strike¡¯!!


    The three of those combined to make for a very powerful strike that not only broke the shield but had enough power to go after the man¡¯s chest!


    Shocked, the man made a second retreat backward while also crossing his arms in front of his chest for a last-ditch defense.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a muffled thud as Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist slammed against the person¡¯s arm. There was a flash of gold light from the man¡¯s arm¡ªhe clearly had a defensive-type soul armament on his arm like a bracer¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t strong enough to prevent the man from being blown away.


    Like a bullet, the man flew dozens of meters away before slamming into another hill behind him. He sunk deep into the hill, causing stones and dust to fly everywhere¡­

 Chapter 797: Equally Matched?!

    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom¡­¡±


    One after another, explosions rocked the pocket Bai Yunfei was in with enough intensity to make even the ground quake. The Fire-tipped Spear was in Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand now as he used his right hand to fire fireball after fireball from his Ardent Sun Glove. With each fireball that flew towards his enemy, another crater and explosion were made when they missed.


    This ¡®relentless¡¯ barrage of attacks wasn¡¯t meant to kill the opponent, but to tire them out.


    It wasn¡¯t for another dozen seconds and another hill to be obliterated before Bai Yunfei retreated a few meters to stop.


    To keep going on would be to use up more soulforce than necessary. He didn¡¯t want to be too excessive with his soulforce usage, so Bai Yunfei decided to stop for the meanwhile and think of a second plan. Since visibility was at a low due to all the dust, Bai Yunfei was using his soulsense to scan for anything out of the ordinary.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A squall of wind blew towards Bai Yunfei the moment he stopped his attacks. The dust in the air was blown violently out of the way as the squall progressed forward, leaving behind a trail of misplaced stone on the ground.


    At the front of the squall was the black-robed man, calm and collected as ever!


    The wind around the young man disappeared when he waved his left hand. He looked up at Bai Yunfei, revealing that he was completely unharmed!!


    ¡°The glove on his left hand, is it a heaven-tier soul armament? Maybe a mid-heaven tier soul armament¡­¡± The young man muttered to himself. ¡°And that glove on his right hand is also heaven-tier¡­he has plenty of precious items on him¡­¡±


    Though he was up against a person who seemed to be decked out in heaven-tier soul armaments, the black-robed man didn¡¯t seem intimidated at all. A crimson-red sword materialized out from thin air for him to grab onto with his right hand.


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei was very much surprised by the relative intactness of his opponent. None of his attacks had left even a scratch onto him! It didn¡¯t even seem like the man was at all afflicted by the destruction of his low-heaven tier shield earlier.


    ¡°A wind-type soul cultivator? With fire-type soul armaments?¡±


    The man had clearly used elemental wind a while ago, meaning he should be a wind-type soul cultivator. But the sword he was using was a fire-type, which was a strange thing to use considering his affinity.


    ¡°Eh?!¡± As Bai Yunfei was thinking about the difference in elements, something from the corner of his eye caught his attention and had him leaping towards the left!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Practically a second after he leaped towards the side, a black streak of light flew through where his head used to be!


    Bai Yunfei tumbled into a roll and waved his right hand. The Cataclysmic Seal flew back to Bai Yunfei and then slammed into the black needle when it flew around to attack again.


    Like last time, the needle was slammed away by the Cataclysmic Seal, allowing Bai Yunfei to sigh in relief. But then before he could get too comfortable, he was forced to raise his right hand up and wave it in front of himself!


    ¡°Clank!!¡±


    There was a clanging sound as the tip of a crimson-red sword suddenly appeared not even three inches away from his throat!


    ¡°When did he ev¡ª¡±


    Bai Yunfei was shocked. The black-robed man had been more than a hundred meters away from him before, so how did he suddenly turn up right in front of him?!


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei¡¯s opponent was equally surprised. He hadn¡¯t expected to see Bai Yunfei grab hold of his sword bare-handedly. But still, he yanked at the sword with his right hand and lashed out with a left straight towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    Feeling the force of the sword being yanked, Bai Yunfei heard the sound of metal scraping against metal as the sword tried to pull itself out. Already, two scratch marks were forming from where the gloves were grabbing hold onto the sword!


    Were it an earth-type soul armament, the blade would¡¯ve been most likely broken or the tip destroyed when Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of the blade with his glove. But somehow, this crimson-red blade was still completely intact and powerful enough to leave marks on his Ardent Sun Glove.


    That meant this was a heaven-tier soul armament as well!


    Already, the left fist of the other person was nearly at his chest. Making use of his right arm being pulled away from him, Bai Yunfei angled himself so that the dark-light glowing fist would hit the bracer on his right arm!


    The fist made contact with his arm, eliciting a loud clang and an electrifying jolt up his arm, but he was still unharmed. The force of the blow had caused him to be thrust backward to fly into a pile of rock a good dozen meters away!


    Cratered into the pile of rock, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body shook slightly before he leaped back up to his feet to re-engage the enemy!


    ¡°Clang! Clang! Clang¡­¡±


    ¡°Bang! Bang¡­¡±


    One after another, fist met fist and leg met leg as the two fought. Their blurry figures traveled non-stop from place to place, leaving behind only just a crater whenever the two clashed with one another before disappearing again.


    What Bai Yunfei planned on doing was to engage in a series of close-combat exchanges with his enemy and eventually drive him into a corner. But the more Bai Yunfei fought, the more Bai Yunfei came to the realization that he wasn¡¯t gaining the advantage at all!!


    Even with all his equipment aiding his speed and physical strength, the enemy he was fighting wasn¡¯t any weaker than him!


    Actually¡­it seemed like the enemy was even stronger than he was!


    ¡°Clang¡­¡± Once again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear met with the enemy¡¯s longsword for a metallic clang. The two exchanged blows with their left fists again. Bai Yunfei was using the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force to beat the opponent back, but without the additional effect of the Critical Glove, the punches were only causing his opponent to have a slight stagger to his step while he himself was forced to retreat several steps!


    To make matters even worse, there was a stabbing pain in his left shoulder like if it was dislocated! And his opponent was unharmed still!


    ¡°How is he so strong? This shouldn¡¯t be what a Late-stage Soul Exalt should even be capable of! I might not be able to win as I am right now¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei stared down his opponent with a grim expression. Raising his left hand, he swiped at the Cataclysmic Seal and grabbed at the fire within it to put into his body.


    Dual Flame Artes: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form!


    ¡°Oh? A powerboosting soul skill?¡±


    Realizing that Bai Yunfei was powering himself up to the limits of what a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt could achieve, the black-robed man raised an eyebrow. He smirked however and raised his left hand to swipe a finger across his forehead...


    A series of runic scripts started to appear in between his eyebrows. Flashing with light, the runes pulsated for a brief moment before they disappeared back underneath his skin.


    But after that, his soulforce started to spike drastically in strength!


    In a short few seconds, the black-robed man was doing the exact same thing as Bai Yunfei. They were both powering themselves up!


    He had a mocking grin on his face when he saw the look of shock on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. His foot stepped forward, scattering the stones beneath his feet as he dashed towards Bai Yunfei to strike first!


    ¡°Bang bang bang¡­¡±


    Every so often, two shadows would come to a stop just slow enough to see a flicker whenever they clashed.


    Even in his ¡®coil¡¯ form, Bai Yunfei came to the realization that he was still fighting on equal grounds with the enemy!


    ¡°Just¡­just how strong is this guy?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even hide his shock from his eyes. Using the Flash Step, he swung his spear in the direction of his enemy, deflecting his sword away from him. Before he could lash out with an attack, a beam of black light shot at him again!


    The black needle had been shot out from his enemy¡¯s hand to strike at Bai Yunfei again!


    There was no way Bai Yunfei wanted to be hit by the black needle, but there was hardly any distance between him and the black needle. To do anything with haste now would be to leave himself wide open. Concentrating as hard as he could, Bai Yunfei gripped the Fire-tipped Spear tightly and immediately split into three people!


    The +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear: Doppelganger!


    He¡¯d normally use this effect to land a surprise attack onto his opponent, but now, he was using it to dodge the black needle.


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    The sound of metal penetrating flesh could be heard as the black needle went through the forehead of one of the Bai Yunfeis!

 Chapter 798: The Appearance of Someone Who Shouldnt

    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    It was with surprise that the black-robed person watched as his black needle pierce through one of the Bai Yunfeis. But instead of Bai Yunfei dying, the one struck by the needle faded away into nothingness while the other two Bai Yunfeis stabbed at him with their flaming spears!


    He wasn¡¯t at a complete loss for words. Reacting swiftly to the two Bai Yunfeis coming at him, the young man brandished his longsword and blocked the spear coming at him from his right. There was a clang as his sword stopped the spear before he twisted his sword and lunged for Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    A slit opened up on Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat as the sword connected, but this time, the man watched in shock as the Bai Yunfei disappeared into smoke rather than spit out blood from his wound!


    Bewildered by the strange cloning technique he was facing, the man had barely any time left to react before he had to deal with the last Bai Yunfei on the left.


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    The black-robed man came to an immediate halt the moment when Bai Yunfei grunted. His body locked up on him, and his eyes started to glaze over!


    By using the pseudo-soul attack, Bai Yunfei was able to catch the man off guard for just long enough to stab at his chest!


    The spear was only centimeters away from his chest when the man¡­sneered! The glazed look in his eyes disappeared in an instant as he started to smile!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    It was hardly a very loud sneer, but it thundered in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind like the ringing of a large bell and forced his body to lock up immediately!


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf flooded his body with a warm glow a second later, ridding his body of the foreign energy. But when he blinked and saw what his opponent was doing, his eyes widened in horror!


    His opponent was already a few meters away from him and his spear, but the black needle was merely inches away!


    ¡°Bang!!¡± Bai Yunfei slammed his foot against the ground to aid him in his escape. Leaning towards the left, Bai Yunfei was able to evade the black needle just enough before he steadied himself.


    While the black needle hadn¡¯t scraped his cheek when it passed, the black energy from it touched at it, bringing a chilling cold to Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    Bai Yunfei slammed his Fire-tipped Spear into the ground to brace himself up. Safe from danger for the time being, Bai Yunfei brandished his left hand forward!


    In response to his actions, the Cataclysmic Seal expanded to the size of a door to stop the black needle. The two objects made contact with one another, and again, the Cataclysmic Seal proved successful in stopping the black needle!


    Bai Yunfei took this opportunity to Flash Step ten meters to the right, his boots aiding his forward momentum by a substantial margin.


    Still surprised by what he experienced at the hand of his opponent, he stared at him for a moment before saying two words, ¡°Soul attack!¡±


    Back then when Bai Yunfei used his pseudo-soul attack to catch his opponent off guard, the young man had in turn met him dead on with a soul attack of his own!


    And to make matters even worse, the man hadn¡¯t even been affected by Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack! He faked it! Bai Yunfei¡¯s pseudo-soul attack had done essentially nothing to him!


    A chill traveled up Bai Yunfei¡¯s spine. ¡°A soul attack¡­is a very special type of attack, this can only mean¡­¡±


    ¡°He dodged it?! Impossible!!¡±


    On the other side, the black-robed man was currently in an equally shocked state as Bai Yunfei. He had been so sure that Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have been able to dodge that attack of his.


    ¡°He can use a soul attack and can¡­snap himself out from my own soul attack. Can he be¡­¡± Likewise, the young man was currently thinking along the same lines of Bai Yunfei, though he quickly dismissed that thought right afterward. ¡°No way! It has to be some sort of special soul armament of his!¡±


    ¡°Pah, it doesn¡¯t matter how many heaven-tier soul armaments you have, you¡¯re dying here!¡± He sneered at Bai Yunfei. Killing intent rose in even larger amounts from his body as his soulforce started to spike. Green, orange, red, and violet light started to rise from his person; and very faintly, a slight sliver of black smoke was rising from his person¡­!


    At the same time, Bai Yunfei was undergoing something very similar!


    Cold determination was all that was left in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he steadied his Fire-tipped Spear. He stepped backward, but his left hand was pointing at the black-robed man to have the Cataclysmic Seal go flying towards him!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal was only ten meters into its path when it exploded into a burst of fire before expanding in size!


    Under the wide-open eyes of the black-robed man, the Cataclysmic Seal expanded to the size of a small mountain large enough to cover a fourth of the entire pocket!


    In an instant, a large area of the pocket was completely overshadowed by the mountainous object above it. The black-robed man could only stand there and gap at the brick for a moment before he realized the situation he was in and start to back away rapidly!


    That was because Bai Yunfei was already standing outside the landing perimeter of the brick and commanding it to smash down!


    And when Bai Yunfei pointed his hand down, the Cataclysmic Seal was sent crashing towards the ground with devastating force!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The entire pocket trembled violently when the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the ground. For meters all around, the earth was heavily impacted from where it landed, leaving a very shocked black-robed man barely outside its perimeter.


    ¡°What kind of soul armament is that?!¡±


    Was all he could think about. He looked up at the gigantically red mountain in front of him, looking on in shock as elemental fire exuded from it!


    The Cataclysmic Seal slowly shrunk in size, leaving behind only the crater as proof of its existence. When the crater could be fully seen from both sides, the only thing that was left was a brilliant bonfire. They flickered for a moment before turning into two flaming twisters!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    From the flame twisters, two giant dragons materialized from them to twist around each other. There was a spark of violet light in between the two as they coiled together. In a spiralling motion, the two dragons released a mighty roar and flew towards the black-robed man!


    This was Bai Yunfei¡¯s strongest attack, the Dual Dragon Burst!!


    If the eyes of the black-robed man weren¡¯t wide open before, they were now. Cursing to himself, he kicked off against the ground to fly back as fast as possible!


    Bai Yunfei watched as his opponent tried to escape from his attack. In response to his retreat, Bai Yunfei flashed through three hand seals and pushed his palms outwards!


    In response to his action, the two dragons immediately made a swift turn to follow after the black-hooded man!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The entire pocket revertebrated heavily with each time the dragons roared with a force equivalent to that of the Cataclysmic Seal. An ocean of fire swept across the area to engulf half the pocket in the flames of the dragon.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    Doubled up at the waist, Bai Yunfei was trying hard to gasp for breath as he watched the ocean of fire in front of him.


    ¡°That should do the trick¡­¡±


    As he was thinking to himself, the unexpected sighting of something from the corners of his eyes caused him to blink and widen his eyes in horror!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A transparent bubble of energy burst out from amidst the sea of flames. Like a hurricane, it blew apart the flames with devastating power to subdue everything within its area!


    The very same moment the energy appeared, the pocket started to tremble violently. As if being jolted by a charged bolt of electricity, the pocket started to tremble and fall apart!


    ¡°What the¡­no way!!¡±


    Feeling the air vibrate with energy and the pocket start to fall apart, Bai Yunfei could hardly breathe out the two words that would¡¯ve described the situation in front of him.


    ¡°S¡ªSoul King!!¡±

 Chapter 799: Soul King

    In all honesty, Bai Yunfei had the same suspicion Jing Mingfeng had about the supposed black-robed ¡®reaper¡¯. This person was not only able to easily kill Late-stage Soul Exalts, his soulsense was even stronger than what a Soul Exalt should even be capable of. This person had to be a¡­a Soul King!


    The only thing that made Bai Yunfei doubt this hypothesis was the pocket they were in and the restriction behind it.


    But right now, Bai Yunfei had his answer. What was happening in front of him was more than enough as proof.


    This black-robed man was an actual Soul King!!


    From it being ¡®impossible¡¯ to it being ¡®as expected¡¯, everything made sense now. Why this person had such powerful soulsense and how this person was so devastatingly strong. It was also no wonder why Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to take the upper hand despite being of the same level of strength as him.


    That was because Bai Yunfei was actually the same level of strength as him, the man was a Soul King!


    He didn¡¯t know what sort of method this guy had used to suppress his soulforce to the levels of a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, but the man¡¯s soulsense was definitely still at the level of a Soul King. That particular aspect of him couldn¡¯t be reduced to the level of a Soul Exalt.


    And while his soulforce was suppressed, that was only on the external level. The number of soulpoints was still on the level of a Soul King, and that was why it looked like the man was filled with a seemingly infinite amount of power as he fought Bai Yunfei. Even with Bai Yunfei expending so much soulforce to fight him, a Soul King had a far greater amount of soulforce and faster recovery rate, so it was no wonder¡­


    It was only because of the many powerful equipments Bai Yunfei had on that he was able to fight for as long as he did without dying. If it had been any other Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, they would¡¯ve died a long time ago without fail.


    ¡°A Soul King! He really is a Soul King! What¡¯s he doing here for?!¡±


    There was still another question Bai Yunfei had about the situation. But that question could wait. Bai Yunfei had a far more pressing issue to worry about besides the Soul King. Looking around himself, the look on his face grew even more troubled!


    That was because¡­


    ¡°No!! The pocket¡¯s going to collapse!¡±


    The curtains to the barrier around the pocket started to show several fractures here and there. So frightened by the situation, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but cry out his thoughts.


    Everyone knew when they came into the pocket that there was no way the pocket could sustain the entry of a Soul King! With how fragile the pocket was, the powerful soulforce of the Soul King would¡¯ve destabilized the pocket and lead to the ruin of it! For that reason, every single Soul King that came to the place could only watch from the outside as the younger generation fought each other for the Extreme King Pills¡­


    But right now, Bai Yunfei was up against a Soul King!


    On the topic of suppressing one¡¯s aura.


    If a Soul King were to do such a thing, they could probably fool everyone else weaker than them that they were a Soul Exalt. Most Soul Kings were capable of doing such a thing given time and experience. If they used a special method of some sort, they could probably fool even those of the same level of strength as them.


    Suppressing their auras was only superficial though. It was a tactic meant to fool one¡¯s soulsense, and that was it. Their actual strength would still be that of a Soul King.


    Only a few rare secret techniques would be able to truly ¡®suppress¡¯ their strength. In a way, this second type was more along the lines of ¡®sealing¡¯ their strength. Their true strength would be revealed when they unsealed it, but until then, their strength would be lowered on a deeper level.


    A technique like that was not very useful though. There wasn¡¯t a need to seal their strength, why would they want to become weaker? If they were to die to any random dangers, then wouldn¡¯t they become a laughingstock?


    A Soul King was so willing to get the Extreme King Pills that he forcibly sealed his strength to enter the pocket!


    And for the sake of stopping Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Dragon Burst, the man undid the seal on him to fully reveal himself as an Early-stage Soul King to defend!


    The instant he undid the seal and revealed himself as an Early-stage Soul King, the pocket around the two of them started to tremble violently. Like a balloon with too much energy, it looked like it was on the verge of collapsing in on itself!


    Bai Yunfei was terrified, but not due to the fact he was fighting against a Soul King. With the barriers showing fractures along its surface and the pocket distorting in on itself, Bai Yunfei knew that the worse to come wouldn¡¯t be from the Soul King, but the pocket.


    If the pocket collapsed, how would he escape?!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Damn damn damn!!¡±


    In the sea of flames in front of him, Bai Yunfei watched as a figure slowly came into view from within the hurricane of energy. Kneeling on the ground at the center, the man was in a frazzled mess. His robes were half burnt off and his hair was a complete mess. His eyes were a frightful calm, burning silently with the flames of shock, anger, and venomous resentment.


    A series of demonic markings was inked in over the man¡¯s forehead. They floated eerily over his head until his strength was fully unsealed and disappeared like the flickering of a candle light.


    Three silver jadeite disks circled protectively around the person, projecting a layer of transparent light that protected the man inside. Clearly, these three objects were used to protect him from the Dual Dragon Burst just now.


    ¡°To force me this far¡­Bai Yunfei¡­you won¡¯t leave this place alive!!¡±


    The young man barked with resentment. Looking up at the fractures up in the ¡®sky¡¯, the man looked a little pensive at how the pocket was reacting to his presence. He wasn¡¯t nearly as panicked as Bai Yunfei was, and it looked almost as if he wasn¡¯t concerned with what damages the collapse of the pocket might incur onto him.


    ¡°It can at least be confirmed now that this pocket was created by ¡®it¡¯. Knowing that, the collapse of the pocket won¡¯t be as destructive as the collapse of an ordinary pocket. If I¡¯m not wrong, then¡­it¡¯ll most likely kick everyone out back into the real world. The fractures in the pocket won¡¯t harm us either¡­¡±


    He looked a little knowledgeable of the situation around himself. ¡°Furthermore, ¡®it¡¯s¡¯ nearby somewhere in this place¡­.if I leave this place, I should be able to find it still. No one else seems to know about it¡­I¡¯ll definitely be the one to find it!¡±


    Unrestrained glee crossed over onto his face at the thought.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Not even a second after that happy thought, the man realized Bai Yunfei was again doing something shocking!


    He could sense Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce increasing yet again!


    Tossing out everything irrelevant to Bai Yunfei, the man stood up. Now fully concentrated on killing Bai Yunfei, he bent forward slightly and then disappeared into thin air to charge at Bai Yunfei!!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was an ear-splitting crack when he disappeared. When he reappeared again, the man was two hundred meters away from his original position! Then he did it again, he disappeared into thin air and out of sight!


    A spatial distortion was left behind from where he disappeared into thin air. In that distortion, spatial energy could be seen further distorting the surrounding area!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The next thing Bai Yunfei felt was a gust of wind before a crimson-red blade came slashing forward to slit his throat!

 Chapter 800: A Powerful Enemy!

    Bai Yunfei lifted his head to evade the sword stroke. Eyes flashing red with determination, he drew the Fire-tipped Spear out from his space ring and blocked the sword!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Spear met blade as the two fighters fought for supremacy. Though the sword was powerful in its horizontal stroke, the spear was strong in its own might. Bai Yunfei advanced a step once with his left foot and then lashed out with a right fist!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The black-robed man met Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch with a punch from his left hand. His left hand was slightly black in color, and the following collision saw to red and black light mixing with one another as they blasted away from the epicenter. The two men were stuck together for one silent moment before they were forced apart due to the blast!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang¡­¡±


    The black-robed man left footprints behind on the ground with each step he took. Any stone beneath his foot was reduced to powder with how much force he was putting in each step. Ten powerful steps were taken by him before he finally came to a rest, sufficiently surprised by how much power Bai Yunfei had met him with.


    ¡°A Soul King?! Impossible! How does he have the strength of an Early-stage Soul King?!¡±


    The man couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He had put all his might in that attack, but Bai Yunfei had somehow met his attack with an equally powerful strike!!


    A Soul Exalt shouldn¡¯t be capable of reacting fast enough to stop his sword stroke or even punching him with enough force to push him back. Even the most powerful of Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt shouldn¡¯t be capable of such a feat.


    It went beyond what a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt should be capable of. Even his aura was showing him to be on the level of an Early-stage Soul King!


    ¡°Is he a Soul King just like me?! Impossible! I refuse to believe it!!¡±


    The man was finding it hard to believe Bai Yunfei was possibly the same level of strength as he was. He focused on Bai Yunfei for a moment, searching desperately for something.


    And that was when he noticed it. The look of pain on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    He understood then.


    ¡°I knew it! It has to be that power boosting soul skill of his! What a powerful soul skill, it¡¯s strong enough to temporarily bridge the gap between the levels, it can have a Late-stage Soul Exalt have the power of a Soul King for a brief moment!!¡±


    The man was all the more surprised by that tidbit. He felt a little better now in fact. The cold sneer was back on his face. ¡°Even if you use a double-edged method like that, will you even be a match for me? How naive¡­no matter how much you struggle, you¡¯ll still die in the end!¡±


    Filled with a renewed vigor to kill Bai Yunfei, the man took off towards him to try and kill him.


    ¡°He¡¯s a dark-type soul cultivator!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized. The explosive start of this person along with the other times they fought had revealed to Bai Yunfei that the person was a user of elemental darkness!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    With all the explosions setting off one after another in the pocket, the battle before seemed nothing more but a battle between ants. The giants were now duking it out against one another for supremacy. Between the spatial distortions and fractures, the shadows of the two fighters couldn¡¯t even be seen besides from the hint of red and black light that¡¯d collide with one another. The space would ripple like a stone across a body of water every once in a while, distorting the pocket even more and more while the stone on the floor were all reduced to powdered dust. This pocket was quickly being reduced to nothing more but powder¡­


    At least a hundred blows had been exchanged by the two in the last ten seconds. Even up against a Soul King, Bai Yunfei was surprisingly managing to hold his own while in his Berserk Mode!


    When it came to fighting Soul Kings, Bai Yunfei had already his fair share of experience. He had Xiao Qi and Long Lan helping him those times normally, so this was the only time where Bai Yunfei was truly fighting a Soul King by himself.


    So this was the true testament to Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength. He could fight a Soul King to a stand still!


    Though he wasn¡¯t at the disadvantage, that didn¡¯t mean to say Bai Yunfei could afford to loosen up. Compared to the Soul King, Bai Yunfei looked far grimmer, and even a tad bit frantic.


    He wasn¡¯t like the Soul King who had a decent grasp on the situation around him. He knew the pocket was quickly folding on itself with parts of it already less than ideal to be around. With each passing moment Bai Yunfei was in the pocket, Bai Yunfei grew more and more frantic.


    He didn¡¯t know just how much longer the pocket would be able to hold out, and he didn¡¯t even know how he¡¯d be able to deal with that. He wasn¡¯t capable of teleporting, and he didn¡¯t know how to manipulate spatial energy. How to escape the spatial fissures was beyond him. If the pocket were to collapse, how would he get away?


    The only ¡®comforting¡¯ piece of information was the expression on the man he was fighting. Bai Yunfei had no doubts that this person knew of the impending collapse of the pocket. If he was fighting Bai Yunfei wholeheartedly, then that meant the person wasn¡¯t afraid of the pocket¡¯s collapse. And in that case, Bai Yunfei was somewhat assured that the situation wasn¡¯t as bad as he thought it¡¯d be¡­


    There was no way Bai Yunfei would be able to ask for an armistice to find a way out of here, and neither was he willing to ask for such a thing to begin with. The only thing left to do was to thoroughly beat down his opponent, but he wasn¡¯t confident in that aspect. If he wasn¡¯t careful, then that black needle of his opponent would surely kill him¡­


    By now, Bai Yunfei was more than aware that the soul armaments of this person weren¡¯t any weaker than the ones he wore and used!!


    The crimson longsword the man was using was without a doubt beyond a low-heaven tier. It was a mid-heaven tier soul armament for sure. There was also the three jadeite pieces of orbiting soul armaments the man had. They were most likely low-heaven tier with a defensive strength no weaker than the Cataclysmic Seal. The black glove on his left hand was also a heaven-tier. There was also the armor he was wearing, that was a heaven-tier as well. And then the space rings and bracelet the man was wearing, Bai Yunfei was sure those two weren¡¯t weak in grade either.


    This was the very first time Bai Yunfei had met someone else with so many strong soul armaments. Even all the previous Soul Kings he killed before had only two or three heaven-tier soul armaments. If not for the circumstances, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve thought he was fighting against someone else from the Crafting School.


    The soul armament Byf was most afraid of was without a doubt the black needle. Not once had Bai Yunfei touched the black needle yet, and neither was he willing to test his armor against it, nor his Ardent Sun Glove, Critical Glove, or the Flameblade Bracer. They were all low-heaven tier in strength, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to use them at all.


    In Bai Yunfei¡¯s current Berserk Mode, he was comparable to an Early-stage Soul King. The barrier of the Cataclysmic Seal was strong enough to deal with the black needle on a level far superior than before, but still, the black needle was still able to break through the barrier given time. That only went to show just how terrifying the black needle was.


    It wasn¡¯t the piercing strength of the needle Bai Yunfei was worried about. He still remembered what happened to the last people to be struck through by the black needle. It was a fatal wound if it got to you, and Bai Yunfei was convinced there was a special effect to the needle he didn¡¯t want to find out about. He had no way of laying his hand onto the black needle without putting his life in danger, so Bai Yunfei was powerless to find out what effect the needle had.


    So the Cataclysmic Seal was the only thing Bai Yunfei could use to protect himself. The Cataclysmic Seal never left Bai Yunfei¡¯s side whenever the black needle came into play. Due to his fear of the needle, Bai Yunfei was rarely able to find an appropriate time to strike back at his opponent. Since his opponent knew that Bai Yunfei had something that could nullify soul attacks, his opponent didn¡¯t bother to pursue that avenue of attack. This rendered the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s ability to deflect soul attacks onto the caster useless if Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to use it in the most crucial moments.


    Bai Yunfei was proud of his equipment and his versatile ways to deal with any of his opponents. So now that he was up against an opponent he couldn¡¯t use any of his equipment effects on, Bai Yunfei felt powerless despite not exactly being on the losing end.


    ¡°What?! What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    As he defended himself against another onslaught of attacks, Bai Yunfei suddenly realized the strength of his enemy had drastically weakened for some reason.


    And at the same time, something within the pocket was changing rapidly!

 Chapter 801: Theyre Out!!

    The barrier around the pocket was filled with cracks now. Spiraling this way and that, they spread throughout the entire place and distorted even the air in the pocket. Only the area around the two sparks of light was relatively stable. But even then, the area there was starting to fracture as well.


    Aside from the ongoing crisis taking place around him, Bai Yunfei felt a second source of pressure slowly penetrating the pocket and encompassing the area!


    ¡°This is¡­the pressure of a Soul King!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized right away that the pressure he was feeling was coming from the aura of a Soul King!


    And it wasn¡¯t coming from the black-robed man, but someone else!


    ¡°Is there another Soul King in here?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s face paled at the thought, ¡°The pocket really will collapse then!¡±


    The black-robed man could sense the aura as well, though he looked a little more aware of where it was coming from, and why.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­a class seven soulbeast! Is that Lin Dongxiao?!¡±


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    A faint cracking sound went off in the pocket, causing the two fighters to snap their heads upwards at the source.


    A large fissured had opened up on the barrier over their head. Then like a mirror, the barrier broke into several pieces that rained down from the sky!!


    With each part of the barrier that rained down, they disappeared into blobs of multi-colored light. In their place, black chaotic space was left behind the holes in the barrier.


    Piece by piece, the barrier started to lose more of itself. The entire pocket was starting to violently shake and twist as if it was on the verge of collapsing any second now.


    ¡°Damn!! What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was deathly white now. The Cataclysmic Seal formed an orange barrier around his person so he could take a close look at the surrounding area. He cast a quick glance over at the black-robed man.


    Compared to him, the black-robed man was far calmer than Bai Yunfei. In fact, the man was still staring warily at Bai Yunfei to wait for a good opportunity to strike at Bai Yunfei.


    His vigilance was chillingly intimidating to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°He¡¯s not doing anything?! Doesn¡¯t he care about the pocket collapsing?!¡±


    The fact that he was so calm made no sense to Bai Yunfei. He had expected the man to do something, not ¡®wait and see¡¯ for what Bai Yunfei would do.


    ¡°Pop¡­¡±


    Then while Bai Yunfei was trying his hardest not to succumb to his panic¡­


    While everything was falling apart around him, Bai Yunfei realized the broken-up scenery around him was starting to change as well! Everything went white for a second before the chaotic fractures and distortions in the area disappeared along with the scenery before being replaced by a clear sky and a mountainous forest!


    ¡°Wha?! What¡¯s this¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was tongue-tied at the sight, his brain hardly able to register the change taking place here.


    It was as though the danger Bai Yunfei was worried about wasn¡¯t even there anymore. In an instant, the pocket was now a completely different area!


    Everything was completely new except for the ground. Like before, there were still broken stone underneath with craters and scars from the battle so far.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. The black-hooded man had a look that seemed to say, ¡®just as expected¡¯, though.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    As the two people were just starting to accustom themselves to the new area, a heaven-shaking roar erupted from the skies to their side.


    They turned their heads.


    Roughly five kilometers away in the skies, a figure in blue was flying on over to them. The figure was slightly reptilian-like with its wings. Despite the distance, the two were able to see that the soulbeast was as large as a four-story building.


    There were about a hundred bright lights flying around the gigantic soulbeast. Upon a closer look, each of these lights was just another soul cultivator skywalking!


    There were also a few people on the ground below. Darting this way and that in what appeared to be panic, most of the soul cultivators looked like they were trying to run off towards the side or fleeing for their lives. A good portion of those soul cultivators in the air seemed to be flying for the same area even!


    About a hundred meters ahead of everyone was something that was seemingly floating like a miniature red sun that illuminated the entire area with its light.


    Whenever the red light abated for a moment, a red cauldron could be seen at its center!


    While Bai Yunfei was focused on this new sight, the black-robed man narrowed his eyes at his enemy. Flicking his wrist, he sent the black needle from his left hand to fly towards Bai Yunfei as fast as possible!


    No matter how distracted Bai Yunfei was from the new area they were in, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t so distracted that he missed what the black-robed man was doing. He was up against a Soul King after all. The moment the black light left the man¡¯s hand, Bai Yunfei was already leaping backward and into the air to evade the black needle without worry.


    He had noticed from the bright lights off in a distance that some soul cultivators were skywalking.


    And his evasion maneuver just now confirmed it for himself¡ªhe could skywalk now!


    That meant this place wasn¡¯t within the pocket anymore. There were no more restrictions, and his soulsense was back normal now. He could skywalk.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei dodged the black needle by leaping into the air. By the time he was back on the ground, the needle was already flying back to the black-robed man. What he saw the man do made Bai Yunfei extremely confused, however.


    The man had stabbed his sword into the ground and raised his index and middle finger against the edge of the sword. Slicing his fingers open, he flung the droplets of blood into the air so that they floated in front of him.


    Black light rose from the man¡¯s body next as he concentrated on the droplets of blood in front of him. His hands were nearly a blur as he flipped from hand seal to hand seal, his soulforce warping strangely with each hand seal formed. On the very last one, his soulforce extended forth from his hands and mixed in with the droplets of blood and condensing into it!


    The longer Bai Yunfei watched, the more the black light from his opponent coiled around the droplets of blood. Soon, a humanoid figure was taking form with the blood as its core! In the end, a figure fully plated in black armor and holding a giant warblade stood right in front of Bai Yunfei!


    This ¡®shade¡¯ was a construct made from elemental darkness. The only part of its body a different color was its eyes, which were crimson-red and swiveled about everywhere like how a human eye would move.


    A second later, both of its eyes locked in onto Bai Yunfei as if it had received a signal of some kind. Heaving its giant warblade, the shade kicked off against the ground to fly towards Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°What¡­what kind of soul skill is that?!¡±


    A humanoid figure had been created from practically nothing, Bai Yunfei had never heard of a soul skill capable of doing something like that before!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei brought his Fire-tipped Spear up to block the warblade from crushing him. The force of the blow had been so heavy that Bai Yunfei was forced back two steps!


    This ¡®shade¡¯ was powerful!


    The reality of the situation shook away the last of his shock. As he readied himself, a gust of wind blew across his face, signifying that the black warblade was making a return stroke!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Successfully blocking the warblade from hitting him, Bai Yunfei landed a punch onto the shade¡¯s chest. There was a muffled thud as the shade flew backward. A fist-sized hole was in the shade¡¯s chest, but the surrounding black plating quickly formed together and repaired the hole as if nothing had happened to begin with.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were wide open at that. He had watched as the shade fell to the ground with a hole in its chest, but then by the time it was back on its feet, the hole was completely gone. Then the shade was charging back at him again with its warblade ready to strike!


    And coming with him was the black-robed man!


    Somehow, this battle was now a one versus two!!

 Chapter 802: Developments From the Other Side

    A while ago when the battle was only just starting out on the top of ¡®mist mountain¡¯.


    ¡°The aura of a Soul King! What?! A Soul King is here!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a Soul King doing in here?! Don¡¯t they know the pocket won¡¯t be able to handle their aura?!¡±


    ¡°No! The pocket¡¯s going to collapse!¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to die if that happens?! I don¡¯t want to die! We have to flee! Where¡¯s the other portal?! I change my mind, I want to leave! I don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Near the top of the mountain, everyone who had been fighting was now starting to panic. The appearance of all the fractures and distortions in the space around them was terrifying everyone into a panic far greater than their lust for the Extreme King Pills.


    The fractures started to appear around the moment when Bai Yunfei used the Dual Dragon Burst and forced the black-robed man to undo his seal to reveal himself as a Soul King.


    While the two of them were fighting in a different part of the pocket, they were still in the same pocket with the same restrictions. The moment when the aura of a Soul King made itself known in the pocket, the entirety of the pocket started to crumble under its weight. Not only was the part where Bai Yunfei and the Soul King was fighting started to destabilize, but the area with the large mountain was also as well.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    It didn¡¯t even take a moment for the fractures to multiply. The skies of the pocket were starting to have more lines than uninterrupted space, and the aura of the Soul King was now fully noticeable to everyone in the pocket!


    Then Bai Yunfei went into his Berserk Mode and entered his self-called ¡®False Soul King¡¯ state.


    ¡°No way?! Another Soul King?!¡±


    Another person on the mountain shrieked in terror.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°No! A Soul King is in here! The pocket¡¯s going to collapse! Brother Zheng, what do we do?! How do we get out from here?!¡± Yue Feng spoke.


    Because everyone had stopped fighting for a moment, Zheng Kai¡¯s group was given a small moment of rest. Even if they weren¡¯t shouting in terror, most of the people in the group were still looking extremely worried and looked to Zheng Kai for instructions.


    He was the one most knowledgeable about the pocket, so it went without saying that the group would look to him first.


    Compared to the others, Zheng Kai was far calmer. He didn¡¯t immediately respond to Yue Feng¡¯s question and looked around the area as if trying to feel for something.


    Relief flashed across his face after a while of searching. Looking back to the group, he smiled. ¡°We don¡¯t need to worry, it won¡¯t be as bad as everyone thinks it is. I don¡¯t feel the spatial energy on the verge of going volatile. Aside from the spatial distortions and collapsing of the pocket, I can feel a calmer type of spatial energy¡­¡±


    The group looked confused, so he explained even more, ¡°Remember when I talked about there being two results of the pocket collapsing? We¡¯re lucky, I¡¯m pretty sure that once the pocket collapse, we¡¯ll experience the ¡®safer¡¯ result¡­¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°The pocket won¡¯t blow up or anything, but it¡¯ll mix with the real world and then we¡¯ll be back in it once the pocket collapses?!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng nodded. ¡°More or less. I tried this once with a space ring. When the space ring was destroyed, the inside of it was as well. All of the objects inside started to pour out, and I could feel a similar spatial energy to what¡¯s going on right now.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re not in danger?!¡± Yue Feng asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m about seventy percent sure. When those small fractures started to appear, I was even more confident about it.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes seemed to sparkle even brighter at that. He looked to the top of the mountain, ¡°If we don¡¯t need to worry about the pocket collapsing, then should we¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Zheng Kai nodded in glee. ¡°Forward!¡±


    In a burst of soulforce, the entire group made for a mad dash towards the top of the mountain!


    Not too far away, Li Yuchun had the same look in his eyes as Zheng Kai. Moving almost as fast as Zheng Kai¡¯s group, he raced up the mountain after them!


    A few other people on the mountain had the same idea as them and were renewing their efforts up the mountain as well.


    Like a chain reaction, more and more people started to follow suit. Whenever one person raced up the mountain, another few would run after them to get to the top as fast as possible!


    Soon, more people were running up to the top of the mountain than the ones running back down from fear!


    This time, no one was trying to fight one another. They were all more focused on trying to get to the top as fast as they possibly could.


    ¡°That¡¯s Li Yuchun from the house of Li in the Southward River Province? And that¡¯s Zheng Kai from the house of Zheng from the Capital¡­both of them are space-type soul cultivators¡­¡± Lin Dongxiao stared at the two soul cultivators with a pensive look.


    ¡°Haha!! I see now! You¡¯re both not worried about the pocket collapsing? Alright then!!¡±


    Standing on top of the white crane, Lin Dongxiao looked off at the zenith of the mountain with an ecstatic look!


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to worry anymore about the pocket collapsing? Haha! Then the heavens are helping me! The Extreme King Pills are¡­mine!!¡±


    His last word was accentuated with a happy tremble. Waving his right hand, the dark blue ring on his finger flashed once with light!


    There was a secondary flash of blue light when he flung his hand forward. Then, a powerful aura came into being in the pocket!


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    Amidst the flash of blue light, a being as tall as three stories came into the pocket with a loud roar!


    It was a giant lizard of some kind with large blue scales all over its body and two large fleshy wings on its back. It unfurled its wings as soon as it came into being and knocked aside the nearby soul cultivators with a gust of wind.


    The moment the soulbeast appeared into the pocket, a large crack appeared in the sky followed by a tremendous quake through the ground with enough intensity to make the scenery a blur for anyone standing on it.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s¡­a class seven soulbeast!!¡±


    There was a brief moment of silence before someone shrieked in fear.


    ¡°A class seven soulbeast! Lin Dongxiao has a soulbeast puppet on the level of a Soul King?!¡±


    ¡°Bastard! The pocket¡¯s already about to collapse and he brings out a class seven soulbeast! Is he trying to kill himself?!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao didn¡¯t care at all for what people were saying about him. He was focused on himself only. Flipping through several hand seals, Lin Dongxiao sent a large portion of his soulforce into the soulbeast in front of him. As soon as the soulforce was transmitted, the class seven soulbeast let loose an elemental water filled roar!


    The beam of elemental water traveled forward into the three soul cultivators he had been fighting earlier. Without even being given the chance to evade, all three of them were struck by it and killed instantly.


    ¡°Haha!! Get in my way and die!!¡± Lin Dongxiao roared with laughter.


    While the class seven soulbeast was killing those three, he stored the white crane back into his space ring and leaped onto its back to point it forward. With a mighty flap of the wings, the soulbeast took off for the mountain!


    With how strong it was, it didn¡¯t take even a moment for the soulbeast to overtake everyone else in front of him and bring him to the front of the pack.


    Now that his initial three opponents were dead, Lin Dongxiao didn¡¯t care for anyone else and flew straight for the top of the mountain.


    About fifty meters beneath the topmost part of the mountain were a circle of giant boulders. And at the center of the boulders stood a rather archaic-looking cauldron¡­

 Chapter 803: The Final Struggle

    ¡°The Extreme King Pills!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao¡¯s eyes lit up at the sight of the archaic cauldron!


    Right on his trail was Zheng Kai¡¯s group and Li Yuchun. Just like him, when both parties saw the cauldron, their eyes lit up with excitement.


    They all moved at once, but it was Lin Dongxiao who was at the front. Moving several meters forward, he was the first to get within ten meters of the cauldron!


    But Zheng Kai and another two space-type soul cultivators were practically side by side with him due to them teleporting!


    Behind them were Jing Mingfeng, Wang Kunpeng, and several others. Though they weren¡¯t capable of teleporting, they weren¡¯t too far behind either.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before¡­the Extreme King Pills are mine!!¡±


    A loud roar echoed through the area as Lin Dongxiao reached for the cauldron. The fact that several others were trying to fight him for the Extreme King Pills made him furious. The soulbeast he was riding on let loose a mighty roar at his command, forcing every other person racing towards the Extreme King Pills to come to an immediate stop!


    A soul attack!!


    Beings like class seven soulbeasts and Soul Kings were different than those like Soul Exalts or class six soulbeasts. Their soul attacks were virtually unstoppable by anyone weaker than them, and it was essentially like running into a solid wall when hit by it. Anyone would find themselves being more slugged in reaction and their actions forcibly stopped.


    A moment after its soul attack, the class seven soulbeast spat out a ball of elemental water at the cauldron everyone was heading for!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The first thing everyone saw when they managed to shake their heads and clear their minds from the soul attack was the burst of elemental water. Everyone gasped and prepared to defend themselves from the attack when they realized that they weren¡¯t the target. It was the cauldron! The soulbeast had sent the attack at the ground underneath it to send it airborne!


    Lin Dongxiao laughed from his perch up in the air. Using the soulbeast, he had it fly up into the air to chase after it!


    The launching of the cauldron seemed to have caused a stir in it. A crimson-red glow was starting to flow out from the cauldron, filling the air with an unfamiliar scent. When everyone on the ground below smelt it, their essence originseed started to tremble with excitement!


    Zheng Kai and the others chose to give chase while everyone else was distracted. Kicking off the ground, they ascended to the skies!


    ¡°Crack¡­crack¡­¡±


    Of course, everyone else was paying attention more to the airborne cauldron than Lin Dongxiao. That was why it came as a surprise when the space in the pocket started to crack. No longer capable of withstanding the force of the class seven soulbeast, the space started to crackle and buckle. Before anyone could even move a finger, parts of the pocket started to shatter and fall apart like broken pieces of glittering glass!


    Behind the fractured parts of the pocket wasn¡¯t the black void of space like in Bai Yunfei¡¯s section of the pocket. Behind it was just a bright-looking scenery like any other place!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?! What¡¯s going on?! Is the pocket collapsing?!¡±


    ¡°Heavens!! How are we in the air?! I can¡¯t see the mountain beneath us!¡±


    ¡°Everything looks different now, what¡¯s going on?!¡±


    ¡°This is¡­this is Crushed Stone River! How are we here again?!¡±


    ¡°Eh?! We can skywalk now!¡±


    One by one, people started to shout in shock. Everyone was quickly realizing that the worst-case scenario wasn¡¯t happening and that they were able of skywalking in this place now!


    Those who were bemoaning their fate were now starting to rejoice in joy now. And those who had been deathly afraid of the class seven soulbeast were now starting to dash away via skywalking to escape.


    There was a larger portion of the populace that immediately focused their gaze at the sky above. They were all looking at a particular place where the cauldron was currently flying straight up into the air!


    They were planning to fight for the Extreme King Pills!!


    Greed flooded into their minds, overriding every other emotion so they could ascend to the skies!


    About a hundred figures were now several hundred meters high into the air. Though a small portion was fleeing, the vast majority were running as fast as they could towards the cauldron.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    There was a flash of blue light as a giant arm about twenty to thirty meters long swiped at the cauldron to try and take it into its grasp!


    It was Lin Dongxiao!!¡±


    ¡°Pap¡­¡±


    There was a soft sound of contact as the cauldron was swept up into his ¡®palm¡¯! Rejoicing at his fortune, Lin Dongxiao moved to bring his elemental water formed arm back.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    But that was when he realized his arm was refusing to do so!


    That was because two other arms made of elemental energy were also grabbing hold onto the cauldron! From down below, they held fast to the legs of the cauldron so that Lin Dongxiao wouldn¡¯t be able to pull it!


    The owners of those hands were Zheng Kai and Li Yuchun. They had their arms extended forward, but it was an ethereal arm made of elemental energy that did the actual grabbing! Forming body parts with elemental energy wasn¡¯t all too strange, but it required a decent amount of strength in order to manifest one. Despite the difference in what spatial energy was compared to elemental energy, it was pure energy at its very basic form. Manipulation of spatial energy was no different to Zheng Kai and Li Yuchun as manipulation of elemental energy was to any other soul cultivator and could be formed just as fast.


    Though Lin Dongxiao had been the first to act, the other two weren¡¯t slow enough to lose out on the fight.


    ¡°Bastards, do you want to die!?¡±


    Lin Dongxiao was furious. But just as he was about to order his class seven soulbeast to attack them, a tugging force on the cauldron caused him to reconsider his options. Pressing his left hand to his right wrist, he forced even more soulforce to his elemental arm, making it shine even brighter with light.


    That was because¡­while he had been busy with Zheng Kai and Li Yuchun, another ten arms came from below to grab hold of the cauldron!


    He hadn¡¯t even had the time to react to the second barrage of arms before even more of them came forward. One by one, they grabbed hold of the cauldron, some of them grabbing the mid-section of the cauldron instead of the legs!


    With the cauldron at the center of everyone, it was transformed from a bright speck of red light to a multi-colored ball where all sorts of elemental energy were trying its best to bring it their way¡­.


    Absolutely no one was willing to let go of the cauldron now that they had their hands on it!!

 Chapter 804: Destruction of the Cauldron!

    All was silent within Crushed Stone River. The sky was gloomy, and the entire earth was dark.


    ¡°It¡¯s already been two days since everyone went in, why hasn¡¯t anyone come out yet? Is there no Extreme King Pills in there?¡±


    An elder in dark green robes spoke from his perch on top of a nearby mountain. He was an elder from the Wood School. From the very beginning, he had been watching the entrances of the portal, but no person of importance had yet to come out.


    Three other elders stood by his side, they were elders from the Metal and the Fire School. There was also a rather tall elder in orange robes. He looked unusually older than the others, but his physique made him seem a great more robust than his peers. It was like his body was brimming with a great deal of energy.


    This was one of the elders from the Earth School, a person who came later than the others.


    ¡°I wonder if Feng Yan has met up with Lin Zihao and Zhong Liyan yet.¡± The elder spoke, his voice sounding relatively concerned.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be concerned,¡± Spoke the elder from the Fire School, ¡°we know from the images before that the area inside the pocket is extremely vast. It¡¯ll take time to find one another. We of the Five Elements School will naturally be more willing to form alliances with each other. Very few would try to fight them then. Our chances of getting the Extreme King Pills is very likely.¡±


    A few people had already come out from the pocket, though they were grievously injured from their attempts to get the Extreme King Pills. They were people of relatively low importance and backgrounds, and were people that decided it was in their best interest to give up on the Extreme King Pills. It was from these people that those people waiting outside were able to find out about the situation inside and the massacre taking place. Most of the people had expected something like that though. And neither were they surprised to hear that those from the lesser backgrounds were already ¡®washed out¡¯ from the competition.


    ¡°What?! What¡¯s happening, something¡¯s changing!!¡±


    The elder from the Metal School pointed a surprised finger at the pocket then.


    The other elders followed his finger to stare with raised eyebrows. Off in a distance, it looked as though the space was twisting in on itself as if something was pulling at it. It slowly expanded in size and in intensity before showing a hazy image.


    Like a fuse going off, the distortion in the area exploded in size. The surrounding area was devoured by the distortion and soon caught the attention of everyone there.


    In a matter of seconds, everyone in the area was staring at it. This wasn¡¯t just a distortion of ¡®space¡¯, the entire surrounding area was being fed into it!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?! Why are things like this happening?!¡±


    ¡°This¡­no! It looks like the pocket¡¯s about to collapse!¡±


    Being Soul Kings, their understanding of spatial energy was deeper than the average person. Realizing at once what was going on, everyone had a pale look on their faces¡ªif the pocket was collapsing, what would that mean for their youngers inside of it?!


    What every Soul King didn¡¯t expect to see was that after several moments of the distortion expanding, another development would quickly follow it!


    ¡°Pop¡­¡±


    There was a near inaudible popping sound before everyone realized that the distortion had collapsed in on itself. In less than two seconds, the distortion was gone from sight!


    Sensing something above their heads, they all snapped their heads up to look. Up there several kilometers in the sky, over a hundred people had suddenly appeared out of nowhere!


    Of these hundred or so people, a small portion of them were trying their best to run away from the area. But a decent portion was still ascending even higher into the sky or using elemental energy to grab hold of a miniature ball of multi-colored light.


    Absolutely none of the Soul Kings in the area expected for this to happen. Not even a single one of them made a move for a while as their minds raced to keep up with what was going on. They watched as several of the people above their heads try to fight over something. A few of the faster Soul Kings were quick to realize what it was the rest were fighting for and lit up with glee at the sight!


    ¡°Those are¡­the Extreme King Pills!!¡±


    None of the Soul Kings were even sure of what was going on, but they knew what they saw. In a split-second, the entire area was flooded with light as everyone took off into the skies!!


    Now that the Extreme King Pills were right here in the real world, the Soul Exalts weren¡¯t the only ones fighting for them. The Soul Kings were now here and more than willing to take part in the fight for it!!


    But¡­even as fast as the Soul Kings were going to fly up to where the Soul Exalts were, not a single one of them were even close to reaching the cauldron before¡­


    About three kilometers up high in the air where dozens of Soul Exalts were fighting over the Extreme King Pills, the cauldron holding the Extreme King Pills twenty to thirty meters above them was shining with all sorts of color. Arms made of every type of elemental energy were trying their best to grab hold of the cauldron and hold it tight in place.


    But what happened a moment after that would cause everyone to look on in a mixture of horror and panic!


    Just a second before, when everything looked grim and serious with everyone fighting for the pills, the cauldron was held tightly in place with everyone trying their best to pull it towards themselves!


    Since everyone was pulling tightly onto the cauldron from every direction, it was little wonder why the cauldron wasn¡¯t moving anywhere!


    ¡°Bastards!! Let go or I¡¯ll make you!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao snarled furiously. Stamping on the head of the class seven soulbeast, he had the soulbeast send a pulse of elemental water from its body through Lin Dongxiao and into his arm!


    There was a pained look on Lin Dongxiao¡¯s face as he tried to weather it, but then as if he had powered up, Lin Dongxiao tugged heavily with his arm to pull the cauldron back!


    ¡°Pcht! Pcht! Pcht¡­¡±


    When Lin Dongxiao¡¯s arm pulled the cauldron back, the immense force of his elemental arm had managed to dispel several of the other ones. Down below, the owners of those dispersed arms shuddered as they felt the force of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s arm and were sent flying back down to the ground with blood pouring out from their mouths!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    A cracking sound made itself known to everyone else, Lin Dongxiao included. Alarmed, they all stared at the center of the ball of light where the cauldron was in!


    A single crack had appeared on the old-looking cauldron. Increasing in size with each passing moment, the crack started to run through the cauldron in its entirety!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao howled in fear, but it was too late!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The cauldron exploded!


    Light of every color exploded into the air as the ball of light detonated in on itself. People were sent flying in every direction, and even the Soul Kings coming up were forced to stop in the air where they were.


    The explosion had taken placed right in the aggregation of everyone¡¯s elemental energy where the cauldron was!


    As unordinary the cauldron was, the tensile force acting upon the cauldron from every single direction was far beyond what it could handle and was torn apart!


    An explosion of elemental energy following the destruction of the cauldron was to be expected. But what would happen to the pills that had been inside the cauldron?


    Would the cauldron be done just like that?!¡±

 Chapter 805: Fragrance of the Pills

    Filled with devastating power, the explosion sent energy flying in every single direction while the group of Soul Exalts in horror from underneath. When they were ultimately struck by the blowback of energy, most of them tried to use their soul armaments or elemental energy to protect themselves, but they were still blown away¡­


    It wasn¡¯t just energy that was flying off everywhere from the cauldron. Fragments of the cauldron were flying off in waves, striking a few unfortunate ones with great velocity and bringing despair to the eyes of everyone that saw the pieces.


    People were already using their soulsense to scan the area before the energy could even disappear. They were trying to look for something, but no one could sense the presence of any of the pills¡­


    Had the Extreme King Pills¡­been destroyed in the explosion?!


    Most of the people there looked ready to puke blood at the thought. They had fought and worked so hard to get the pills, and now all of their hard work had gone up into literal smoke?!


    ¡°Damn damn damn!! Damn it all!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao was screaming aloud to himself, infuriated at the sight of the explosion in front of him. So spiteful was he that he turned around to face the other Soul Exalts in the area with a murderous aura.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    But just as he was about to voice his anger and desire to kill them all, his eyes suddenly snapped back to the original site of the explosion.


    From the middle of where the explosion took place, where the Extreme King Pills used to be, there was a faint red ¡®mist¡¯ somehow managing to stay in one place. Somehow, the mist was unaffected by the energy going everywhere and was slowly expanding in size even. Because of its slow rate of expansion, Lin Dongxiao had failed to notice its presence until now.


    Under his amazed eyes, the edge of the cloud of mist was right in front of him. The moment when it touched him, Lin Dongxiao¡¯s body jolted as if shocked, and his eyes started to shine with shock!


    He wasn¡¯t the only one. Zheng Kai, Jing Mingfeng, Li Yuchun, and those who had been closest with him to the mist were being basked by the red light now, their reactions almost identical to Lin Dongxiao.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A few dozen meters away from the red mist, a tear in space opened up to reveal two people walking through it just in time to see the red mist start to expand.


    ¡°Aha! Just on time!! I told you I wasn¡¯t off!¡±


    Of the two people that appeared, one of them was someone that looked to be twenty-seven or so. A youngster in gray robes that was currently looking around the area with interest.


    A hand of his was scratching lazily at his disheveled hair, though the face underneath looked rather handsome. It was only because of that disheveled look that he looked sloppy at all. If Bai Yunfei were to be here, he would¡¯ve recognized straight off the bat that this youth was Na Lanyin!!


    The last time they met had been back in Soulbeast Forest. It was because of his ¡®advice¡¯ that Bai Yunfei was able to meet Xiao Qi.


    Coming out of the tear in space with him was an elderly man wearing white robes. His face was noticeably calmer than Na Lanyin, but his eyes betrayed his shock when he looked around themselves. When he heard what Na Lanyin said, he smiled. He was about to say something when something above their heads caught his attention.


    Another several dozen meters away, space was starting to twist and churn before an elder and youth pair walked out from a tear just like they had done.


    The newly-arrived elder in gray glanced over to Na Lanyin and the elder with him, his eyebrows raising up on his face in surprise.


    Likewise, the elder in white looked rather astonished. ¡°Ah, little Ge, haha¡­how many years has it been, several dozens?¡±


    The two elders knew each other!


    This ¡®little Ge¡¯ had a head filled with white hair, but a face that was benevolently kind. This person was none other than the one who turned Bai Yunfei onto the path of a soul cultivator. The person who imparted knowledge, soul skills (such as the Wave Treading Steps), and even the Fire-tipped Spear to Bai Yunfei, Ge Yiyun!


    The headmaster to the mysterious Fate School, a man of myth and rumors, Ge Yiyun!


    When Ge Yiyun saw the elder in white, he had to gasp with surprise. ¡°Zhi Tian! You¡­you came out from Soulbeast Forest?!¡±


    The elder¡ªnow known as Zhi Tian¡ªsmiled. ¡°Haha, the timing was right for it.¡±


    Ge Yiyun¡¯s eyes drifted to Na Lanyin right next to him, ¡°Could this person be your¡­¡±


    Zhi Tian smiled but gave no answer to his question. ¡°Let us do what we must first.¡±


    ¡°Very well then!¡± The shock on Ge Yiyun¡¯s face receded away.


    Giving one last smile, Zhi Tian turned to Na Lanyin, ¡°Need I say more? Go and absorb as much of the fragrance as you will.¡±


    ¡°I was waiting for you to say the word!¡± Na Lanyin smiled back.


    He was already gone by the time the last word was spoken, his person already off in the distance to head into the red ¡®mist¡¯.


    Ge Yiyun chose then to look at the young man next to him, ¡°Chengfeng, a chance like this is hard to come by. Go and absorb as much as you can.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master!¡± The youth replied.


    Like Na Lanyin, he too flew straight for the red ¡®mist¡¯.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This is the fragrance of the Extreme King Pills!!¡±


    Touched by the red mist, Lin Dongxiao took a moment to realize just what the red mist was before shouting aloud in shock.


    The moment when the red mist touched his person, Lin Dongxiao realized his entire body had started to quiver as if being stimulated by something. The soulforce in his body was rapidly increasing in amount and filled his entire person with a fantastical sensation. Never before in his training had he felt his soulforce act so well before, and neither had he felt his power ever so substantially increase in quality so quickly!!


    He was no idiot. There was only one thing that could elicit such a reaction. It was what he and the others had been fighting for for so long, the Extreme King Pills!


    The Extreme King Pills were no longer there in pill form, but the strange mist that was expanding in the area surely had to be it. If he could only have one guess, then Lin Dongxiao would bet on it that the red ¡®mist¡¯ was the result of the cauldron exploding and turning the pills into ¡®fragrance¡¯!


    They weren¡¯t pills any longer, they were ¡®fragrance¡¯, a fragrance that had still the same effect as they would in pill form!


    Lin Dongxiao was practically beside himself with joy at the realization. Without any further hesitation, he started to take in as much as the fragrance as he could into his body!


    ¡°This mist isn¡¯t normal, it''s ¡­it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s the Extreme King Pills! This is the blown up fragrance of the pills!¡±


    The other people around Lin Dongxiao were starting to realize it as well. In a matter of moments, Jing Mingfeng gasped when he realized what it was.


    Though barely audible, his gasp was heard by Zheng Kai, Yue Feng, and the others. Those who heard it immediately had excited looks appear on their faces before they started to take in as much of the fragrance as they could into them.


    They weren¡¯t the only ones either. More and more people were starting to come to the same conclusion, and more people were starting to absorb the fragrance themselves.


    The mist was already covering an area of a hundred meters, but because of the numerous people absorbing it, the amount of mist was starting to shrink. The outer edge of the mist was already growing faint of color, and the outwards expansion was slowly coming to a stop.

 Chapter 806: Fortune For the Younger Generation

    ¡°The pills! This is the fragrance of the Extreme King Pills!!¡±


    Underneath the Soul Exalts, most of the Soul Kings had already realized what was going on from the explosion of energy and were quick to realize what the expanding mist was.


    They didn¡¯t need to come in contact with the mist like the Soul Exalts to know what it was. Most of the Soul Kings knew right away that the pills had been turned into fragrance when they saw it.


    Though the pills were no longer ¡®pills¡¯, they were still there. It was only just a change of state of matter. The fragrance was just as effective as it would be in pill form!


    No one knew just how many pills had been blown up. Everything had happened far too fast for the pills to be counted. But to take in the fragrance as it was now would definitely be taking in the fragrance of at least one whole pill!


    The most important and primary function of the Extreme King Pills were to help a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt breakthrough and become a Soul King. It still had an effect for Soul Kings, specifically Early-stage Soul Kings. Though weaker in effect, they could still help Early-stage Soul Kings become Mid-stage Soul Kings, so it wasn¡¯t just the Soul Exalts that wanted the pills. The Soul Kings would want it just as much.


    So not a single person there shied away from the mist. The moment they realized what it was, everyone flew straight into it with ecstatic joy! Even the Early-stage Soul King and other Soul Kings were mobilizing straight into it. Those who were Mid-stage Soul King or so could still make use of the fragrance if they could just gather a bit of it, and even if they didn¡¯t, then they could at the very least stop the other Soul Kings so their young charges could absorb more of it.


    Whether it was for selfish or for selfless reasons, all of the Soul Kings were heading out!


    ¡°The young ones have stumbled onto their own fortune, we of the previous generation shouldn¡¯t stick our hands in on this!!¡±


    Just as every single Soul King was moving upwards, a cry as loud and intimidating as a dragon¡¯s roar came down from even higher up in the skies. Though it was just a cry, every single Soul King immediately came to a stop the moment they heard the cry!


    They turned their heads upwards with a start. Standing just about three kilometers above them (and even higher up than the Extreme King Pill fragrance) were two figures!


    The one who spoke was the one on the left, Ge Yiyun!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s Ge Yiyun! Ge Yiyun of the Fate School!!¡±


    Three kilometers wasn¡¯t a distance any Soul King would fail to see from. It only took them a single glance for someone to realize just who the speaker was.


    ¡°What?! Ge Yiyun?! That person¡¯s Ge Yiyun?!¡±


    ¡°One of the strongest from the Fate School? The one who¡¯s a Peak Late-stage Soul King and rumored to have already become a Soul Emperor? What¡¯s he doing here!¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s that person with him? From his aura¡­he has to be a Peak Late-stage Soul King as well!¡±


    The power felt by the auras of both Ge Yiyun and Tian Zhi was equal parts awe-inspiring and equal parts intimidating. Not a single person there was able to fully look at either of the two straight in the eye after sensing their strength.


    The only thing Ge Yiyun did was cry out to the people there. He did nothing else but fold his arms to his chest and watch as the younger generation took in the Extreme King Pills.


    Hardly a dozen seconds went by before the fragrance¡ªwhich was originally spread to about a hundred meters in circumference¡ªwas now just half of that. Those people at the edge were already more or less fully apart from the fragrance.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Just at that moment, both Ge Yiyun and Zhi Tian both raised an eyebrow. Their senses alerted them to something near the distance.


    The other Soul Kings noticed the disturbance as well and turned to look.


    Over there where every single Soul King was looking at, space was again starting to distort and twist in on itself!


    The distortion was only for a moment, but it was a moment long enough for most of the people to catch sight of it before it returned back to normal. It was barely strong enough to affect the surrounding area to any degree, but the Soul Kings were still able to sense and be amazed at the cause of the changes behind it!


    The area where the distortion was coming from was¡­coming from the very center of the fragrance!


    When the strange fluctuation in the space happened, the fragrance that had been within its area was¡­.gone now!


    What used to be half of the original amount of the fragrance was now reduced by a half of that for some strange reason!


    Not a single Soul King knew what to say or even think when they saw this change take place.


    ¡°A spatial quake¡­did a part of the pocket merge with the real world again? But¡­it seems a little too coincidental¡­¡±


    Gei Yiyun muttered to himself.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    A second sight to the right of him caught his attention.


    Just about a little less than five kilometers away to a mountain, there was a faint flash of red light¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    While the Extreme King Pills were being dispersed and absorbed in, how was Bai Yunfei doing with his battle against the hooded enemy?


    ¡°Clang¡­bang!!¡±


    Once again, Bai Yunfei blocked the incoming black needle with his Cataclysmic Seal and evaded the man¡¯s sword strike by leaning forward. But even as he leaned forward, a black warblade slammed against his back with enough speed to send him flying away.


    The thing that attacked him was the black armored ¡®thing¡¯ made from elemental darkness.


    Bai Yunfei came to fully realize just how strong the armored entity was after a short minute fight with him. Not only was it as strong as a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, it was ¡®undying¡¯!


    He blew its body up with elemental fire, blasted its chest apart with his fist, speared it through and through with his Fire-tipped Spear¡­all sorts of methods were done to try and kill it. His Fire-tipped Spear had even managed to blow apart the entity when its explosion effect was activated, but the entity would simply reform itself after a few seconds!


    It was most definitely a first for Bai Yunfei to fight an armored entity like this before where he didn¡¯t know how to best deal with it.


    He did notice that the entity would lose a bit of energy with each time it attacked and was attacked, but the loss wasn¡¯t significant enough to fully put it down. If Bai Yunfei had to guess, it¡¯d take a far longer deal of time for it to die out by itself¡­


    And his ¡®Berserk Mode¡¯ had only a time limit of ten minutes at least¡­


    He still had the permafrost mastiff as his backup plan, but considering the situation, he didn¡¯t want to do that unless necessary.


    It wasn¡¯t because of his worry of the pocket being unable to withstand the power of a Soul King or class seven soulbeast. They were on the outside now, so that was a moot point.


    The reason was because¡­the people from the Beast Taming School were here, and one of them included a Soul King leveled elder.


    Using the permafrost mastiff would only cause that elder to notice it. That¡¯d definitely bring Bai Yunfei a great deal of unwanted trouble.


    Fortunately for him, now that they were back in the ¡®real world¡¯, Xiao Qi and Long Lan were able to come into contact with him. The moment he realized they were out of the pocket, Bai Yunfei had Xiao Qi come rushing on over immediately.


    But that was a problem in itself. The black-hooded man noticed that as well.


    Eyes glistening strangely, the black-hooded person glanced over to the direction where three entities were flying over to them. It wouldn¡¯t be long for them to arrive where he and Bai Yunfei were fighting.


    ¡°He¡¯s only just a mere Soul Exalt, why is it taking so much time¡­¡± The man was steaming mad, ¡°I can only use that then! I¡¯ll kill him and wait for those people to leave, then I¡¯ll come back for it! No one else knows but him and me in any case¡­¡±


    The man drew back his crimson-red sword and stored it away into his space ring. Eyes glaring at Bai Yunfei, he started to flip through a series of complicated hand seals!


    The entire process was finished in less than three seconds. Upon the very last hand seal, his soulforce exploded with power like the eruption of a volcano!


    ¡°A power-boosting soul skill!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized with a start. In just a matter of seconds, the man¡¯s power went from being an Early-stage Soul King to a Mid-stage Soul King!


    A soul skill that could strengthen the power of a Soul King! This was a soul skill that was even more terrifying than Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Flame Artes!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes honed in on Bai Yunfei straight away. A half-second later, he disappeared from Bai Yunfei¡¯s sight!

 Chapter 807: Black Skull

    Fast!


    The enemy¡¯s movement had simply been far too fast for Bai Yunfei to catch even considering his False Soul King level!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    He barely had enough time to bring both arms up to his right before a tremendous force slammed into them and knocked his entire person away!


    The right arm, which had been the area most heavily affected by the blow, was so numb now that Bai Yunfei could barely hold onto his Fire-tipped Spear. His entire body was trembling and reeling from the blow with his face a flushed-red color. Bai Yunfei came to a stop several dozen meters away as he tried to steady himself. But before he could calm himself completely, a sneer echoed through the air and struck at his soul hard enough to nearly force him to fall to the ground.


    A soul attack!!


    The other person was using a soul attack! And the worst thing was that Bai Yunfei¡¯s Soul Sentinel Scarf didn¡¯t even activate its effect against it!


    It took a moment before the warm sensation of the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s energy washed through Bai Yunfei¡¯s mindspace and flushed out the dizziness from him. But that was a moment too long, and Bai Yunfei realized with a start that another attack was already on its way!


    The man didn¡¯t chase after Bai Yunfei after his fist connected with him. He instead flipped through several hand seals with great enough speed to finish off the sequence by the time Bai Yunfei was back on his feet. The soulforce in his body pulsated wildly once again, and then a hair-raising roar could be heard behind him!


    The one who roared wasn¡¯t the hooded man, but¡­the armored entity behind him!


    The entire body of the armored entity shook uncontrollably when the man finished the last hand seal. As if being stimulated by power, it bent its head back and roared loudly before disintegrating!!


    But it wasn¡¯t a complete disintegration. Only the outer layer was stripped away to reveal a three-meter tall skull made of bones completely black in color!


    The black skull was made entirely out of condensed elemental darkness. Despite its artificial construction, the details to its body were very lifelike and the blood-red lights that were its eyes were bone-chillingly eerie. As soon as it was free from its armor, the skull opened its jaw and charged straight for Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei was still reeling from the after-effects of the soul attack onto him when the skull was charging. Given hardly any time to recover, Bai Yunfei only realized the skull was coming when he felt a strange gust of wind assault his face!


    As agile as he was with the Wave Treading Steps, Bai Yunfei was nowhere fast enough to dodge this skull. Eyes widening in surprise, he was only able to wave his left hand to have the Cataclysmic Seal form a barrier around him while striking out with the Fire-tipped Spear in his right.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    A gust of wind blew onto him with a sound reminiscent to a ghost wailing and turned the area dark in light. Not only did Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear fail to hit its target, but his barrier was also starting to sizzle when the black smoke from the skull touched it. Sizzling as if it was being burned away by a corrosive substance, the barrier soon revealed a small hole in its layering!


    ¡°Pop¡­¡± There was a popping sound as the barrier shattered, leaving Bai Yunfei defenseless as the black energy swarmed in to engulf him!


    From the outside perspective, anyone watching would¡¯ve seen Bai Yunfei be ¡®swallowed¡¯ up by the maw of the black skull!


    Rather than stop when it swallowed Bai Yunfei, the skull continued forward to bring him along for the ride to the ground!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    There was a mighty crash as the skull came crashing down into a pile of stone dozens and dozens of meters down below. The black energy dissipated away to reveal a twenty-meter area of black smoke wisps and destruction. Amongst the destruction, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was slammed into the ground with cracks running everywhere in the ground around him due to the impact. Stones flew everywhere, but whenever they touched at the black energy, they immediately disintegrated into powder!


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± From the middle of the stone pile, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but grunt in pain. He felt like he was in some sort rotten pile of sticky liquid with how the black energy was sticking to his skin and burning at it. The impact brought enough pain to his body that it hurt to even move, and the black smoke was also doing work by counteracting his elemental fire and soulforce!


    The power of elemental darkness had that kind of terrifying ability to nullify or lessen the effects of soulforce!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was furious with how he was being treated by the enemy. His teeth were gnashed together as he tried to force his soulforce into action.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Fire burst out from his body like a raging bonfire, a faint sliver of purple light crackling within it.


    The sudden explosion of elemental fire drove away from the nearby wisps of elemental darkness. In some places where the elemental darkness was corroding away the surrounding environment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s fire was burning it away at an even faster rate to leave behind black ashes.


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared. The fire around his body exploded in size again in accordance with his roar. Like a wave of water surging against the shore, the fire exploded outwards with enough force to shake even the earth. It transformed all that it contacted into cinders and ash and struck against the black energy surrounding Bai Yunfei with enough force to dispel it once in for all.


    This explosion of fire to dispel the elemental darkness had forced Bai Yunfei to use up half of his remaining soulforce. The flames receded back towards Bai Yunfei like a tide, causing Bai Yunfei to shake slightly at the effort. The Violet Soul Ring on his right hand flashed once with light before the stockpiled soulforce inside it flooded Bai Yunfei¡¯s body and stabilized him.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t even a moment after that to rest when Bai Yunfei realized that the enemy was doing something and immediately turned to look.


    As Bai Yunfei was calming himself down, he turned his head to glare at the enemy above him. When he turned his head, however, Bai Yunfei realized something strange.


    His line of sight with the enemy had something strange in the peripheral vision. A single stone was currently in the middle of the path between them both.


    It was a stone that had been sucked towards him when his flames were reabsorbed back into his body, a stone about the size of an egg and the shape of a seal.


    His explosion of elemental fire had disturbed practically every stone with five meters of him. Either they were pushed farther away from him or drawn closer and turned straight to ash, but not a single stone was left intact after the tongue of his flames touched them. But here there was, a single stone that was completely fine and normal!


    This was an incredibly abnormal, but strange, situation¡­


    Even more importantly, Bai Yunfei felt something within the Soul Sentinel Scarf stir when he looked at the stone!


    Eyes glinting with suspicion, Bai Yunfei lashed out with his left hand to grab hold of the small stone.


    He didn¡¯t store it away into his space ring when he came into contact with it. The moment his fingers touched it, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body shook with absolute joy!


    That was because several notifications were running through his mind when his fingers first made contact with the stone¡­


    Unique EquipmentEquipment Grade: Mid Divine


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

 Chapter 808: Counterattack!!

    ¡°He withstood my Maw of the Nether! How did he manage to expel that much soulforce!!¡±


    The black-hooded man didn¡¯t expect for Bai Yunfei to shrug off the attack. The armored entity was created using his power as an Early-stage Soul King, but its power was severely diminished with how many times it was blown apart by Bai Yunfei. The Maw to the Underworld technique sacrificed the regenerative properties of the entity when it transformed into a black skull, but it grew stronger to make up for that loss. Surely the black skull would be powerful enough to take care of Bai Yunfei, he thought. Bai Yunfei shouldn¡¯t have had enough soulforce to withstand the attack, and even if he did, it¡¯d only be temporarily before the attack would overtake him.


    But somehow, Bai Yunfei managed to dispel his technique with his elemental fire. Even more surprising was the fact that the fire was infused with a bit of elemental lightning; which had a stimulative property to it that neutralized parts of elemental darkness.


    ¡°And those soul attack hindering soul armaments of his¡­just how strong are they if they can withstand the brunt of a Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s soul attack!¡±


    Somehow, the thought of killing Bai Yunfei was a lot more unfeasible than it seemed from before. He wanted to be one-and-done with Bai Yunfei and be on his way, but it seemed that he¡¯d have to expend a bit more energy now.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Now, the man looked even more shocked for some reason. The smoke clearing up around Bai Yunfei allowed him to see what he was doing, but a strange expression crossed over his face when he saw what Bai Yunfei was doing¡ªpicking up a rock.


    The rock Bai Yunfei was holding onto stunned the man. His pupils dilated briefly as if realizing something before shock overtook him!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The ground beneath him fractured into dozens of cracks as the man exploded forward. Reappearing instantaneously in front of Bai Yunfei a moment later, his right hand lashed out to grab at the stone in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand!


    ¡°Hand it over!!¡±


    He roared with intense joy and impatience.


    His hand failed to grab hold of anything, though. Bai Yunfei was already retreating backwards via the Flash Step to escape from the man¡¯s reach.


    As he retreated, Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand shook slightly, debating if he should place the stone into a space ring. He decided otherwise though, and instead placed the stone within one of the inner folds of his robes.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    The black-hooded man looked a great deal more anxious than before, as if angered that Bai Yunfei had taken something from him. Practically exploding with killing intent, the man gave chase after Bai Yunfei with his hands forming seal after seal. Upon the last one, a giant two-meter claw formed right in front of him to extend forward and grab hold of Bai Yunfei!


    He didn¡¯t hesitate to unleash a second soul attack. Knowing Bai Yunfei had a soul armament or two to help him alleviate the effects of a soul attack, the man was still confident that a Mid-stage Soul King-powered soul attack would be more than enough to hinder Bai Yunfei for even a second longer than needed. This ghastly claw of his would most definitely kill Bai Yunfei!


    But because of this all-out soul attack, the tides of the battle would turn on its head almost instantly!!


    Bai Yunfei was surprised to see the ghastly claw fly towards him, but seeing the ¡®ripples¡¯ of space come flying towards him were even more startling to see in his opinion.


    A soul attack¡ªas intangible and invisible as it might seem¡ªwas actually not invisible given the proper strength. If someone was strong enough, they would be able to see the pattern and route of a soul attack. And given his current strength thanks to his ¡®Berserk Mode¡¯, Bai Yunfei had the soulsense capabilities of a Soul King. In other words, he could see the ¡®trajectory¡¯ of the ripples and understand that it was a soul attack.


    The Cataclysmic Seal flew forward to stop the incoming claw. Simultaneously, Bai Yunfei activated the additional effect of the armor he wore to try and ward off the potentially fatal attack.


    Stats of the Soul Armor:


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 2300


    Additional Defense: 1100


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    +10 Additional Effect: Double the defensive capabilities of this armor for one minute.


    Cooldown of 5 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoint


    His eyes were shining particularly bright as he prepared himself to take on this soul attack, though there was a strange glow in them hardly visible to anyone else¡­


    Though it was possible to see the ripples that was the soul attack, they were traveling so incredibly fast that it reached Bai Yunfei in no time at all!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    There was already a buzzing sound coming from the Soul Sentinel Scarf on Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. As expected, the stinging pain from the soul attack couldn¡¯t be felt by Bai Yunfei, and a portion of his soulforce slipped away into the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡­


    The +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf had activated!


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf had a 60% chance of activating this effect if combined with the passive effect of the Luck Pendant, though it hadn¡¯t activated the last two times Bai Yunfei was hit by a soul attack. As unlucky as it was, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t totally out of luck since it activated at least once this time!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Suddenly, the black-hooded man who had been so intent on killing Bai Yunfei came to a freezing halt and let loose an ear-piercing scream!


    His entire body started to shake. The elemental darkness flowing around his body looked like it was struck by a giant fist and immediately blew apart. Even the ghastly arm coming towards Bai Yunfei came to a stop and was blown apart by the Cataclysmic Seal when the two collided!!


    The moment when the warm sensation died away from his Soul Sentinel Scarf, Bai Yunfei kicked off against the ground to launch forward at the black-hooded person!


    Since he was being pursued earlier, there was only just twenty meters of distance before the two stopped. So it took very little time for Bai Yunfei to cover that distance and reach to the spot in front of him!


    ¡°Bzzz!!¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear shook slightly as half of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce went into it. There was a burst of fire from the tip of the blade before the spear was thrusted towards the man¡¯s throat!

 Chapter 809: The Finishing Blow!

    It didn¡¯t matter just how much mental fortitude any one person had. It was completely natural for them to be put into panic and be overwhelmed by everything. Being hit now by his own soul attack made the black-hooded man be temporarily unable to control his soulforce and bodily actions.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    He still had preventative measures put up into place, such as the three jade disk soul armaments revolving around him. As if responding to an imminent attack, the three disks started to tremble and shine with a green light before covering the man behind them with a bubble of energy to protect him.


    It was a near instantaneous reaction to the soul attack and came up before Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear could even come into contact with it, though the part where the two would collide was especially thick in preparation of contact.


    But. The moment when the spear looked like it was going to be stopped by the seemingly impenetrable barrier, it melded straight through without pause! As if nothing was even there, the spear slid straight on through!


    The +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, activated!


    Expend half the user''s soulforce to ignore any one elemental-based defense upon the next strike.Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Bai Yunfei was using the ultimate effect of his spear for this one final attack!


    It didn¡¯t matter if the barrier was ten-times as strong as what it was now, the spear would ignore it all the same!


    Now beyond the ephemeral barrier, the spear was well on its way to strike down the man behind it. The heat from the spear was hot enough to cause the hair of the man to catch on fire, but before the tip could reach his throat for the final blow¡­


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    A white object blocked the spear from going forward¡ªone of the three jade disks had stopped it!


    The energy radiated from the three disks hadn¡¯t been enough to stop the spear, so the man used the disk itself to stop the spear just like how Bai Yunfei used the Cataclysmic Seal to stop the black needle.


    It still remained to be seen if these jade disks were high-heaven or mid-heaven, but regardless, it seemed that not even the 4500 attack-power strong Fire-tipped Spear was able to pierce through them¡­


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    But!


    A crisp cracking resonated in the air. Mere moments after the spear touched upon the disks, the disks fractured into multiple pieces and fell apart!


    It was only a moment for the spear to break through the first disk and be completely free from any further obstruction. Neither of the other two disks was even close enough to stop the spear before it was just three centimeters away from the man¡¯s throat!


    No matter which way or angle Bai Yunfei looked at it, the man had no chance of surviving his thrust. Pleased, Bai Yunfei watched as the spear grow ever the closer towards the man¡¯s throat.


    But when it looked like the spear was about to strike¡ª


    The man disappeared into thin air right before the tip of the spear could stab into him!


    A strange wisp of energy came out from the disk when it broke apart under the spear¡¯s attack. Enveloped by energy so rich that it created ripples in the space around him, the man was then surrounded by a secondary outline of black light when the two other jade disks lit up.


    And then he was gone!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear traveled straight through the air, leading to him stumbling forward two steps at the unexpected miss.


    ¡°What the¡ª!¡±


    Bewildered, Bai Yunfei looked all around himself to find where his enemy could appear next. A hundred steps to his right, there was a flash of light before a person appeared from it¡ªit was the black-hooded youth!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!¡±


    A shriek erupted from the man¡¯s voice as if his terror of Bai Yunfei had gripped at his heart and soul with the strength of a soul attack. Brandishing his hand, he sent the black needle forward while he himself tried to run backward as fast as possible while also covering himself with a layer of elemental darkness to aid his defenses.


    The brunt of the soul attack from earlier had already worn off, but the aftermath was still lingering on his mind. He stumbled backward a few dozen steps before looking back to Bai Yunfei. His face was slack-jawed, and his hand was clutched at his throat. He could feel a trickle of blood.


    Some sort of unknown technique transported the youth away from the spear before it was too late. Before he could be transported away though, the spear had still left a small wound deep enough to draw some blood from his throat.


    The bleeding had already stopped by the time he was aware that he was injured. It was just a superficial wound, but still, he was terrified at the fact that he was even brought to such a state.


    That terror soon bled away into anger, and soon his eyes started to burst with wrathful indignation¡­


    He quivered. No longer was he as calm as before, and even his face was contorted with anger. If looks could kill, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been dead many times over and his body burned into ashes. Wisps of elemental darkness bent and twisted around his person to form a malevolent skull around him.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!!¡±


    A primal roar erupted again from him again. Launching himself off the ground, the man leaped well over a hundred meters into the air before coming to a stop at the peak of his leap to stare down at Bai Yunfei.


    The clouds darkened when the man made his leap. By the time he came to a stop, the clouds were already nearly pitch-black and well over a hundred meters in radius!


    It was a cloud made entirely from elemental darkness!


    While Bai Yunfei was busy staring at the dark clouds over them, the other man was already flashing through dozens of hand seals. With each seal made, his soulforce leaped and twisted from within his body, though there was a difference now; he was back at the levels of an Early-stage Soul King. He must¡¯ve canceled out one of his power-boosting soul skills.


    A lot of elemental darkness was pouring out from his body in a torrent of forbidding energy to feed into the dark clouds Bai Yunfei was looking at!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Elated fury flashed through the man¡¯s eyes as he roared. Bringing his right hand up, he swiped it back down with his palm stretched outwards as if to simulate a crushing motion onto Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Rumble!!!¡±


    An ear-deafening roll of thunder exploded from the clouds. From within the dark clouds of elemental darkness, a whirlpool had started to form directly above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. The dark energy rolled about with increasing intensity as elemental darkness gathered in the space above the man¡¯s right hand. When the man brought his hand down, a giant black palm descended down from the whirlpool!


    This technique was presumably something that used the owner¡¯s motions as a medium. The elemental darkness had formed a giant palm to come crashing down onto Bai Yunfei!


    It was only just a few dozen meters when it first came out from the whirlpool, but as it continued to fall, the palm expanded to nearly a hundred meters in circumference!


    Compared to the palm, Bai Yunfei was basically just an ant in size, and if he were to be hit by a powerful technique like that, he¡¯d be squished as easily as an ant as well¡­


    What a fast reaction this man possessed. The +13 additional effect drained away half of Bai Yunfei¡¯s remaining reserves, and there was hardly any time in between his failed attack to now to recover a significant amount of soulforce. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even expect to have to dodge from an attack like this and was a little taken aback. By the time he was even fully aware of what was going on, the palm was already dropping down onto him!


    The notion of escape didn¡¯t even cross his mind, though. His head tilted upwards to stare down at the clouds in determination. He wouldn¡¯t run away!


    Now was the time for both people to unleash their final blows, how could he run away from this and give up the advantage to the enemy?!


    Bai Yunfei stabbed the Fire-tipped Spear into the ground next to him and raised both hands to his chest. In a flurry of motions, he began to go through a set of familiar seals!


    ¡°Bang¡­.¡± A sea of fire immediately exploded out into the world as soon as he finished his last seal!


    The flames coiled around his body shortly after they materialized. Crawling and coiling up his body when he grunted, the flames soon came to rest around his arms. Arching his upper half back a bit, Bai Yunfei primed his arms back¡ª


    ¡ªAnd then he lashed out!


    Only two pillars of fire could be seen after that, accompanied by a furious roar that quaked the earth with its vocal strength. It was only when the ¡®tail¡¯ could be seen escaping from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand that anyone else could realize what Bai Yunfei had unleashed.


    The Dual Dragon Burst!!


    A small mountain-sized dark palm. Two dragons burning as bright as the sun.


    One going down, and the other going up.


    And at about three hundred meters above the ground, they collided!

 Chapter 810: Reinforcements Have Arrived

    A ways away from Bai Yunfei and his enemy, the fragrance of the Extreme King Pills was already more or less absorbed by all the Soul Exalts there. Just a little bit of it was left, but even that wouldn¡¯t last for much longer at its going rate.


    By the time the last vestiges of the fragrance was gone, all that was left in the air were the Soul Exalts. They floated there in the air, their eyes closed as if to ruminate and fully digest the fragrance.


    Countless people had entered the pocket in hopes of the Extreme King Pills, but less than a hundred of that original number was left standing by that point. Even then, the number was even less with many of the people fleeing when Lin Dongxiao brought out his class seven soulbeast. Because of their attempts to flee, several of the people were late on their return to absorbing the fragrance of the Extreme King Pills and were only able to take in the edge-most parts of it¡ªwhich wasn¡¯t as charged with power as compared to the ones closer to the center.


    The fragrance of the Extreme King Pills didn¡¯t even take a minute for it to be fully absorbed. Most of it was absorbed by those closest to the center, namely Lin Dongxiao, Zheng Kai, Jing Mingfeng, Yue Feng, Li Yuchen, Wang Kunpeng, and a select few others.


    Of the aforementioned select few others, there were two people that especially stood out. They were the two individuals that came slightly after the others but descended down to the fragrance rather than down¡ªNa Lanyin and the other figure in white.


    Because of their unique angle into the fragrance, the two were able to divvy up the fragrance there and be one of the few that took in most of the fragrance.


    A timely entrance if there was ever one. While Zheng Kai and the others were fighting ever so bitterly to reach this step, these two individuals came in to enjoy the fruits of the labor of others. So timely was it that it seemed like the timing was predicted beforehand, and the two decided only then to come in to ¡®partake¡¯.


    Two full days and night had passed since the pocket first opened. Of the three hundred people that entered the pocket, not even half of that number was left.


    Having backed off from the fragrance, most of the Soul Kings were instead making use of their time to look for their young charges. Those who found them alive and well had a great deal of relief on their faces, but those who didn¡¯t look especially troubled and doubled their attempts to find them.


    But at that moment.


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    A sudden explosion rocked another part of the area, immediately alerting everyone to the sight of two black and red balls of light exploding against each other. The skies seemed to separate into two stratums of black and red following the explosion, though everyone was more interested in looking towards the source.


    ¡°Oh! What¡¯s all this? Are people fighting over there?!¡±


    ¡°This power¡ªare they Mid-stage Soul Kings?¡±


    ¡°A fight at this point and time? Is it a grudge fight?¡±


    Many of the Soul Kings were quick to realize the fighters power levels and were subsequently surprised by it.


    While everyone was staring on in shock, one of the figures there seemed to have noticed something. In no time at all, the figure disappeared into a blur to shoot off towards the fight as a streak of orange.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    Standing several hundred meters up into the air was the black-hooded man. He was doubled up by the waist and was as pale as a sheet of paper from fatigue and exertion as he glared down below him. Two of his three defensive jade disks had already blown up from the chaotic explosion of energy earlier.


    ¡°This is impossible! Utterly impossible! How can a mere Soul Exalt push me this far!!¡±


    Not even the strongest technique the black-hooded man had in his arsenal proved effective in killing Bai Yunfei. The fact that Bai Yunfei was alive filled the man with such disbelief that he couldn¡¯t help but feel his confidence in himself buckle under the pressure.


    Two colors of elemental energy, red and black, was spinning rapidly underneath him. Like a giant tornado, they spun around one another with enough intensity to create even ripples in the space. In the middle of the tornado was a small but decently-sized hole to fit a person cloaked in red in it.


    It was Bai Yunfei.


    He wasn¡¯t looking much better than the black-hooded man, admittedly. The flames flickering of his person was comparatively weak, and his Fire-tipped Spear was propped up against the platform he was standing on as if being used as a crutch. Still, his back was straight and his eyes were bright and focused with determination to stare down his opponent.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you! Kill! I¡¯ll definitely kill you!!¡±


    The other man was incensed by the stare he was being given. As he cursed Bai Yunfei under his breath, his hands started to fly through another series of hand seals!


    There was a flash black light, but it was only for a moment before it receded away. Failing to unleash his technique, the man stumbled forward.


    ¡°Young master, are you alright?!¡±


    An arm held onto him, preventing the man from falling to the ground.


    The owner of this arm belonged to a tall figure in blood-red robes. Somehow, this person had managed to appear right next to the black-hooded man without any warning. And with him was another elder, this one scrawnier than the first and wrapped in a black mist to complement his black robes.


    ¡°Xue Wei! Black Dragon!! Good timing¡ªkill him! I want you to kill him!!¡±


    The young man in black robes gave Bai Yunfei an icy glare, though he was happy that reinforcements were here now.


    ¡°Young master! What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s going on here!¡±


    The middle-aged man¡ªXue Wei¡ªwas confused and aghast at the state of the young man. He had never seen the younger man be so angry like this before.


    On the other side of the young man, the black-robed elder narrowed his eyes. He pressed his right hand to the man¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Calm down and remember yourself!¡± He commanded.


    It was nothing more but a whisper, but the power behind his words was tremendous and immediately took effect on the young man, who trembled slightly before straightening up!


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    No sooner did he calm down did his entire face drain of blood. Unable to stop himself, he belched out a mouthful of blood!!


    ¡°Young master!!¡±


    Blanching at the sight, both men immediately stuck their hands forward to diagnose his injuries.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± The young man in black waved them off. Wiping off the remaining blood from his lips, the man glared at Bai Yunfei. He was already looking much better than before.


    ¡°Young master, what¡¯s going on here?? Who is this person, and how has he managed to hurt you this badly?!¡±


    Though relieved that there was no inherent danger, the man was still anxious to hear the answers.


    The young man sucked in a deep breath. Now, there was a hint of fear when he glared at Bai Yunfei. ¡°That¡¯s Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School, he can¡¯t be allowed to live! Xue Wei, hurry up and kill him!!¡±

 Chapter 811: Retreat of the Enemy

    Bai Yunfei was at a disadvantage. The young man he was fighting clearly didn¡¯t care to kill Bai Yunfei by his own hand¡ªas was common in most grudges. He looked a lot calmer than before. If anything, he looked even more determined to kill Bai Yunfei. Bai Yunfei¡¯s couldn¡¯t be postponed, it had to be done now!


    If left alive, Bai Yunfei would become a tremendous threat to them!


    Still, even though the black-hooded man was commanding Xue Wei to kill Bai Yunfei, he was looking a little unconfident about that likelihood now.


    His reinforcements were here, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s reinforcements were there now as well! And three equally powerful ones to boot! One figure in gray, one in blue, and a small bird were now right beside Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°What?! He¡¯s Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School?!¡±


    Xue Wei let out a small gasp underneath his breath. He had only now just realized the circumstances of this fight and was quickly realizing the severity of the foreseeable future. ¡°Young master,¡± He whispered, ¡°We must leave this place at once!


    ¡°Half a day ago,¡± He continued without letting his young charge speak, ¡°the first elder of the Crafting School brought three students with him! We won¡¯t stand a chance if they arrive!!¡±


    ¡°The first elder?!¡±


    The young man blanched at the implications. He frowned, eyes blinking rapidly at the implications of that. ¡°Damn! We¡¯re leaving then!!¡±


    Xue Wei didn¡¯t hesitate to act this time. The space around them rippled slightly as he opened up a tear in the space.


    The young man gave one final glance at Bai Yunfei down below, his eyes burning with enough hatred to make anyone shiver. He stepped through the tear right behind Xue Wei while the black-robed elder behind him stared strangely at Long Lan before following through the spatial tear.


    One second later, the three were well over a kilometer away. A few more tears later, the three were completely gone and out of sight.


    ¡­¡­


    While Xue Wei was speaking to the black-hooded man.


    Bai Yunfei had an uneasy look on his face at the sight of the two other people with the black-hooded man. But he was excited to feel the familiar presence of several people coming towards him. Turning around, he watched as the space behind him opened up to reveal two figures coming through it.


    One of the two figures was a small prisma oriole. The moment when it came out from the other side of the tear, it flew straight for Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, are you alright?!¡±


    Visibly more relaxed than before now, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡±


    The one who had an aura of blue light was, of course, Long Lan. And the woman in gray robes next to him was elder Wu of the Underworld School.


    Xiao Qi was the first to realize Bai Yunfei was out from the pocket due to their bond and rushed over. The other two elders from the Underworld School was a little uneasy when they heard from Xiao Qi that Bai Yunfei was fighting, and combined with their young charges currently in the middle of absorbing the Extreme King Pills, two of the three elders decided to stay behind. The third, elder Wu, took Xiao Qi and Long Lan with her so they could go after Bai Yunfei.


    As fine as Bai Yunfei said he was, Xiao Qi could still tell that Bai Yunfei was practically exhausted of soulforce despite being physically unharmed. His ¡®Berserk Mode¡¯ took a heavy toll on his reserves, and his muscles looked like they were close to withering as well with all the fine lines and cracks on them.


    ¡°Damn!! Who was it! Yunfei, who were the people that attacked you?! Xiao Lan, we¡¯re going to devour them!!¡±


    Xiao Qi was furious right now. He was staring at the three figures off in the distance with a very uncharacteristic aura of murderous intent. To even hear the bird tell Xiao Lan to ¡®devour them¡¯ was a testament to how angry he was.


    ¡°Xiao Qi, don¡¯t bother.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. He of all people knew just how terrifying the black-hooded youth was, and the two new people with him were even stronger than he was. To attack them three would be foolish.


    ¡°Who were those people, Bai Yunfei? How did you start fighting them?¡±


    Elder Wu had a focused stare onto Bai Yunfei. She was secretly surprised about the sight she saw earlier, the maelstrom of black and red energy from Bai Yunfei¡¯s fight. Even at her strongest, she¡¯d be hard pressed to come out with an attack as strong as Bai Yunfei¡¯s¡ªshe still had a hard time believing it was him that unleashed the attack in all honesty. Bai Yunfei was a Late-stage Soul Exalt. Him being strong enough to do something like this was unbelievable.


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know myself. The young man in black with them sealed his strength somehow and pretended to be a Soul Exalt to get into the pocket. Most of the people inside were massacred by him. Somehow, I managed to come across him, and that¡¯s how¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Elder Wu exclaimed, ¡°Massacred?! Why would he do such a thing?!¡±


    ¡°Who knows¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re leaving!¡± Came Xiao Qi¡¯s cry.


    The elder in blood-red robes was opening up a spatial tear now for them three to walk through.


    ¡°Yunfei!¡± Xiao Qi cried out again, this time inquiring if they should give chase.


    But Bai Yunfei said nothing. He stared at the three without an emotion to be seen on his face. And not one to wait for something to be done against them, the three walked into the spatial tear and disappeared.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Xiao Qi cursed as the three disappeared and reappeared farther away. ¡°Xiao Lan, what¡¯s wrong with you?! Aren¡¯t you going to do anything? Are you afraid?!¡±


    Long Lan had been stuck steadfastly to his feet from the very beginning. Having not moved a muscle or said a thing, Long Lan looked almost like a statue, which was very strange for someone of his personality. Normally, he would¡¯ve gone after the three individuals as soon as Xiao Qi gave the word.


    ¡°Long Lan, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned to him. Like Xiao Qi, he was also confused by Long Lan¡¯s silence. In fact, Long Lan looked almost ¡®terrified¡¯!


    A shiver traveled up Long Lan¡¯s spine at the questioning of both Xiao Qi and Bai Yunfei. Blinking several times, he turned away from where the black-hooded man and two others disappeared to slowly exhale.


    ¡°Long Lan, wh¡ªerk!!¡±


    As he was in the middle of asking what was wrong again, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but grunt in pain as the injuries and fatigue from his battle caught up to him. Swaying slightly in the breeze, he sat down and brought his palm to his chest. A small burst of fire came out from his chest before disappearing, and soon after, his power level dropped from an Early-stage Soul King back to a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to rest, Xiao Qi. Keep an eye out.¡±


    With one quick message to Xiao Qi through their soul bond, Bai Yunfei closed his eyes and began to meditate.


    ¡°Xiao Lan, stand at guard!¡±


    Xiao Qi urged Long Lan at once. Straight away, the two took up positions to the left and right of Bai Yunfei, leaving elder Wu to stare quizzically at Bai Yunfei for a second before she moved to cover their behind.


    A few dozen seconds later, elder Wu tilted her head up to stare at the space up ahead.


    An orange beam of light was coming straight at them from the direction elder Wu was looking at. It disappeared when it was a kilometer away from the four before then reappearing as a single person just ten meters away!


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?! Stop where you are!!¡±


    Xiao Qi shouted at once. His entire body blared with elemental fire as he transformed into a fiery roc to intimidate and prepare himself for battle.

 Chapter 812: Conclusion of the Competition

    ¡°Late-stage Soul King!!¡±


    The aura of the newcomer hit elder Wu immediately. She couldn¡¯t help but gasp, her eyes filling up with fear. She cast a quick glance over to Long Lan, silently conveying to him that absolutely no action should be taken against this person.


    Because of the orange light still shining from the person¡¯s face, it was impossible to see what this newcomer looked like. All that could be seen were the eyes, which looked a little dark when they saw Bai Yunfei seated on the ground. The person averted his gaze over to Xiao Qi, Long Lan, and then elder Wu. ¡°Who are you three?¡± The person asked.


    ¡°This one is from the Underworld School. This young friend is Bai Yunfei, a disciple of senior Zi Jin of the Crafting School. And these two are his soulbeast partner and fellow soulbeast¡­might this one ask for your illustrious name, senior?¡± Elder Wu bowed.


    Elder Wu was an Early-stage Soul King, a person who by right was strong in comparison to the worldly average. But in front of this person, she was someone who couldn¡¯t call herself to be equal and so decided to use Bai Yunfei¡¯s name to hopefully pacify the person in front of them.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    The person raised a surprised eyebrow and turned back to look at the wary-looking Xiao Qi. He smiled.


    ¡°No need to worry, I would never harm any of my precious juniors¡­¡±


    ¡°Your precious juniors?¡± Elder Wu asked, ¡°Senior, are you¡­¡±


    By now, the orange light was completely gone from his person and his aura was now fully brought to control. ¡°I am called Xiao Binzi.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Binzi!!¡± Elder Wu exclaimed, ¡°The first elder of the Crafting School?!¡±


    This person was the first elder of the Crafting School, Xiao Binzi!!


    ¡°The first elder?¡± Xiao Qi was similarly surprised. ¡°Are you Yunfei¡¯s senior then?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Let me through and I¡¯ll see how he¡¯s doing.¡± Xiao Binzi nodded and strode forward to take a look at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°No!!¡± But Xiao Qi chirped in defiance to stop him in his tracks. ¡°I don¡¯t know you, who¡¯s to say you¡¯re not who you say you are? Wait until Yunfei is done healing and then we can talk! He doesn¡¯t need your help to heal!¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­¡± Both Xiao Binzi and elder Wu looked slightly taken aback from Xiao Qi¡¯s defiance.


    Elder Wu was all the more surprised at the courage Xiao Qi had. The person in front of them was a Late-stage Soul King. He didn¡¯t have to lie and pretend to be someone else if he wanted to harm Bai Yunfei since he had the strength to do so without obstruction. And to lie about his identity with someone of that status would surely be foolhardy.


    But Xiao Qi didn¡¯t care for that. Bai Yunfei was injured, and someone he didn¡¯t know was trying to get close to Bai Yunfei. There was obviously no way Xiao Qi would allow for such a thing. In any case, Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Flame Artes wasn¡¯t something that an outsider could easily help with the recovery process.


    Xiao Binzi furrowed his eyebrows, but he didn¡¯t seem angry at all. He gave Bai Yunfei a small look before turning away in another direction. ¡°Very well,¡± He muttered, ¡°let him heal for now. I¡¯ll be back in a moment, do not leave his side until then.¡±


    He rose higher into the skies after that. Like a shooting star, he took off towards the area where the other students from the Crafting School were currently absorbing the Extreme King Pill fragrance.


    ¡­¡­


    A while later.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei drew a long heavy sigh from his lips and opened his eyes. His face looked far healthier than before, though still a ways away from being fully healed. At the very least though, he¡¯d be able to move about without much difficulty.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, are you alright?¡± Elder Wu asked as soon as she noticed his waking.


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, senior Wu. I should be fine now. Nothing a few days rest can¡¯t heal.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then,¡± She sighed in relief. ¡°The first elder of your school came by a while ago. He went back to Crushed Stone River when he saw you were meditating and said he¡¯d be back in a bit.¡±


    ¡°The first elder?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked, ¡°Elder Xiao Binzi is here?!¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Elder Wu nodded her head. ¡°A few of the students came as well. They should be fighting for the Extreme King Pills by this point and are most likely being protected by him right now.¡±


    ¡°The Extreme King Pills!?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows nearly flew off his forehead. He had nearly forgotten about such an important thing. ¡°What¡¯s it looking like over there right now?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­not very clear myself.¡± Elder Wu shook her head. ¡°The pocket folded in onto real space before it collapsed and brought everyone out. The furnace with Extreme King Pills came out with them, but you weren¡¯t there with the rest. Xiao Qi said you were in danger, so we came here at once just in time to see the burst of energy from your fight and knew something was amiss¡­¡±


    She felt worried herself. She didn¡¯t know how the students from her own school were faring and really wanted to go back and check herself.


    Bai Yunfei looked off in a distance. Not feeling anything of any difference, he spoke, ¡°Then let¡¯s reconverge with the others.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Flying on the Tempest Sword, Bai Yunfei followed elder Wu and the others back to Crushed Stone River where the others were. Several other streaks of light soon flew over to where Bai Yunfei was and came to a stop. When he saw who the people were, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with joy.


    ¡°First elder!¡± He bowed first to Xiao Binzi before looking to the two males and female with him. ¡°Brother Song, brother Li, sister Lingmin, you¡¯re all here too!¡±


    With Xiao Binzi was one of the head students of the Crafting School, Song Lin. There was also the students of the second and third elder, Li Tiechui and Lian Lingmin. The three of them were one of the strongest the Crafting School had to offer in students.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be taking my leave to check on my own students, senior Xiao. We will be back in a moment.¡± Elder Wu bowed to Xiao Binzi before flying off.


    The three students were also overjoyed to see Bai Yunfei. After greetings and such were given all around, the group settled down on the mountain nearby.


    ¡°First elder,¡± Bai Yunfei looked to Xiao Binzi. ¡°When did you all get here?¡±


    ¡°About half a day ago.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei looked to Song Lin. ¡°Then did you go into the pocket, brother Song? Did you reach the mist mountain and get the Extreme King Pills?¡±


    ¡°We went in and arrived at that mountain, yes, but the pocket was already on the verge of collapsing and the mist was starting to disappear by that time. We could see a lot of people fighting at the top too. The pocket collapsed before we could get to the top, but we were all brought here afterward.¡± Song Lin smiled. ¡°Luckily, we were relatively close to the furnace before it was destroyed and took in a good amount of the Extreme King Pill fragrance. Not bad, all things considered.¡±


    ¡°The furnace was destroyed?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°It was destroyed? The fragrance? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Too many people had their eyes on the furnace,¡± Song Lin laughed bitterly. ¡°And with so many people fighting for it, it was inevitable that there¡¯d be chaos over it. Lin Dongxiao from the Beast Taming School brought out a class seven soulbeast puppet and started to fight over the cauldron, in the end¡­¡±


    He told the story of what happened. How the furnace exploded when too many people tried to pull it towards them. How the Extreme King Pills in the furnace exploded into a fragrance that everyone started to absorb. ¡°We had to go into meditation after we took in all that fragrance. We couldn¡¯t move, and we couldn¡¯t start fighting. It wasn¡¯t until the fragrance was gone when we started to wake again.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was amazed by the story. He didn¡¯t think that the fight for the Extreme King Pills would have an ending like that. It wasn¡¯t half-bad though. A decent amount of people got what they wanted at the very least, it wasn¡¯t a wasted trip.


    ¡°How do you feel now? Feel close to a breakthrough after taking in all that fragrance?¡± He asked the three.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that easy,¡± Song Lin smiled, ¡°though admittedly, the fragrance has done a lot for us. My body feels like it¡¯s still being improved many times over. I¡¯ll need a while before I can see how close I am. I¡¯ve a feeling though becoming a Soul King won¡¯t be a problem anymore. It won¡¯t take long.¡±


    Not every Soul Exalt could become a Soul King. Many Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt would be unable to breakthrough in their entire lives and would be forced to remain as a Soul Exalt until they died. For Song Lin to mention this possibility only symbolized how effective the fragrance had been for him.


    ¡°Hey, Yunfei. Why didn¡¯t you come to get the Extreme King Pills? The first elder said you were fighting someone somewhere else? What happened? You don¡¯t look well either, are you alright?¡±


    Song Lin asked.


    ¡°Ah¡­it¡¯s a long story, but don¡¯t worry, I just used up more soulforce than I thought, that¡¯s all.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what happened later, I¡¯ve a few friends here that I¡¯m waiting for before I say it¡­¡±


    He turned his head back, ¡°Actually, they¡¯re on their way here now.¡± He smiled.


    A group of people was already heading towards Bai Yunfei¡¯s group. To the left were the three elders, Xu Ran, and Han Yue. To the right were Zheng Kai, Jing Mingfeng, and the others.

 Chapter 813: A Unique Soul Skill

    ¡°Yunfei! Are you alright?!¡±


    The voices of Zheng Kai and Jing Mingfeng called out first to Bai Yunfei. Their owners soon came to a stop in front of Bai Yunfei, with Yue Feng and Yu Li giving a look of concern to Bai Yunfei from behind the rest.


    It wasn¡¯t until after they finished absorbing the Extreme King Pill fragrance that the group went after Bai Yunfei. Similarly, they didn¡¯t even know where he was until they came across the Underworld School, who pointed the way and went with them.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He smiled. ¡°How about you guys? Did you make sure to get in a lot of the fragrance?¡±


    Zheng Kai and the others all looked relieved at his response. Chuckling, Jing Mingfeng said, ¡°Haha¡­it wasn¡¯t half-bad, I feel better than before.¡±


    Bai Yunfei took this moment to introduced Xiao Binzi and the others to Zheng Kai, Jing Mingfeng, and the others. When they all realized just who Xiao Binzi was, they all immediately made sure to bow to him.


    ¡°Hey, Yunfei. What brought you here anyways? Why didn¡¯t you appear at the mountaintop with us? Elder Wu said you were fighting someone, who was it?¡±


    After all the polite conversation and introductions were dealt with, Zheng Kai asked the question he was most curious about.


    ¡°Well¡­I came across something special.¡± Bai Yunfei made sure not to mention the regalia he picked up. ¡°It was that strange black-hooded guy with the strange black needle. He was actually an Early-stage Soul King who sealed his strength. Fighting him was hard, and I was injured, and to make things even worse, I didn¡¯t even win¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! Him?!¡±


    ¡°He was a Soul King?!¡±


    Everyone gasped. Even the two elders from the Underworld School and Xiao Binzi both looked taken aback. No one thought that a Soul King of all people would be in the pocket, much less without detection.


    ¡°Wait a minute, you¡¯re saying¡­the collapse of the pocket was because of your fight? Because he unsealed his strength?!¡± Yue Feng realized.


    ¡°That has to be it!¡± Zheng Kai snapped his fingers. ¡°There was an unbelievable surge of energy that went through the pocket. It was the aura of a Soul King¡ªit had to be that person. And then the next aura, was that you using your ¡®Berserk Mode¡¯, Yunfei? There was no way the pocket wouldn¡¯t collapse after those two outbursts. Then with a class seven soulbeast, the pocket was doomed.¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai, you¡¯re talking about that person who used a black needle?¡± Xu Ran gasped, ¡°The killer everyone was calling the ¡®Reaper¡¯?! He was a Soul King?! You were fighting him? Did you see who he was or what he looked like then?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. I¡¯m not really an expert on other schools or families, so I didn¡¯t have a clue. I only know he¡¯s a user of elemental darkness and has plenty of heaven-tier soul armaments. There¡¯s also of course that black needle soul armament, which I¡¯m sure is mid-heaven or high-heaven tier at the very least.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Again, everyone gasped. Even the three Soul Kings couldn¡¯t help but feel surprised by something like that. ¡°Are you sure he had multiple heaven-tier soul armaments? And a high-heaven tier one? What was it, describe it for me.¡± Xiao Binzi said.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. Starting from the beginning, Bai Yunfei explained what and how the black-hooded man moved about. This also included a description of the soul skills the man used in conjunction with the black needle soul armament.


    He, of course, didn¡¯t talk about how he killed the three elite students from the Beast Taming School.


    Neither Xiao Binzi nor the elders from the Underworld School reacted to the descriptions of the soul armaments, but when Bai Yunfei described the strange soul skills, the Soul Kings immediately all had the same reaction at once!


    ¡°Wraith of the Nether! Maw of the Nether! Extinguishing Seal!¡± The first elder of the Underworld School exclaimed in bewilderment, ¡°The Soul Refining School!!¡±


    ¡°The Soul Refining School?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked surprised at the fact that the elder could name the three soul skills. Senior Xu, are you saying that was someone from the Soul Refining School?!¡±


    ¡°It has to be!¡± Elder Xu nodded. ¡°Those three soul skills are the ones that made the Soul Refining School famous! Only Soul Refiners know those techniques!¡±


    ¡°Those soul skills?¡± Bai Yunfei murmured, ¡°Then that person is¡­¡±


    ¡°The one who made those soul skills is the headmaster of the Soul Refining School, the one known as the ¡®Nether Asura¡¯! No one knows his name or even who he is.¡±


    It was Xiao Binzi who answered Bai Yunfei this time, but his answer was even more astonishing than the discovery before.


    ¡°The headmaster of the Soul Refining School!!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped, ¡°These are his soul skills?! Then the young man I fought was¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not soul skills the Soul Refining School would teach to just anyone in their school. It had to have been someone close to the Nether Asura, a disciple or family member.¡±


    ¡°So even the Soul Refining School is getting mixed in this mess, a Soul King even. To so wantonly kill others without quarter¡­¡± Elder Wu sighed regretfully. He was secretly overjoyed that his two young students hadn¡¯t come across such a person, else their chances of living would¡¯ve been nil.


    ¡°Soul Refining School¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered angrily to himself. He failed to think that they¡¯d appear even here since the person he fought didn¡¯t even use the Soul Refining Palm. Had he known about it earlier, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve tried to stop them earlier.


    He also learned, after the subject was changed, that Xiao Binzi came across Huangfu Rui and Tang Xinyun on his way here. It was from them that Xiao Binzi learned Bai Yunfei was with the Underworld School and would most likely take part in the battle for the pill. If they came here too, then Song Lin and the others would most likely meet up with Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    And so, the conversation came to an end. Yue Feng was the first to excuse himself, citing that he had to leave with Yu Li and Nangong Yuexia.


    Jing Mingfeng said something about having an important matter with ¡®fate¡¯ and had to leave first.


    The elders of the Underworld School invited Xiao Binzo over to stay for a while, to which the latter agreed. Since Song Lin and the others had to take a while to fully ingest the fragrance, it was in their best interest to rest in the Underworld School rather than return home to the Crafting School.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Just as everyone was prepared to leave, a loud explosion some distance away from them caught their attention.


    ¡°Are¡­are the Soul Kings fighting?!¡± Zheng Kai gasped.

 Chapter 814: Battling?

    Two powerful auras were blaring into hyperactivity from in the middle of two mountains. They spiked rapidly together and then exploded against each other, unleashing a whirlwind of energy across the area.


    ¡°They¡¯re still planning to fight even after the Extreme King Pills are gone? And two Soul Kings no less¡­do they hate each other?¡±


    Zheng Kai muttered.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A third aura, this one accompanied by a loud roar, burst into the area. The third aura was powerful, and its roar shivered the bodies of everyone that heard it.


    ¡°A¡­a soulbeast?!¡± Elder Wu snapped his head over to look.


    ¡°Its aura feels weird¡­¡± Xiao Qi cocked his head from on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°It¡¯s a soulbeast puppet!¡± His head snapped up, ¡°It¡¯s a beast tamer!¡±


    ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s the aura of a soulbeast puppet.¡± Xiao Binzi agreed. ¡°A class seven soulbeast puppet¡­that must be an elder of the Beast Taming School among one of those three.¡±


    He hummed. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look.¡±


    The elders from the Underworld School gave each other a look, but they nodded. Plenty of people were already flocking to the sight to watch from the sidelines.


    A decent amount of time had already gone by since the ending of the battle for the pills, so many of the groups had already left the place. Those that were left here were generally those who were late to the party and failed to absorb much of the fragrance. The rest were the parties that were still looking all around the place for their young charges, hoping with all their hearts that they wouldn¡¯t find them as one of the many corpses in the area. After the pocket collapsed, all of the people that had been killed inside it was transported outside for the Soul Kings to grieve and be furious over when found.


    Soon, Bai Yunfei and his group of people were at the top of one of the two mountains. Nearly forty to fifty people were also there on the nearby mountains watching the space in between where four people were staring at one another.


    Two soul cultivators stared off against another two soul cultivators. Both sides had an elder and a youth. On the left side, the elder wore a white robe and had long hair that drifted gracefully in the wind. He was a graceful sight, though his eyes had a chillingly cold stare with an inversely heated anger.


    A wave of chilled energy was radiating off his person. The air was visibly white with frost, indicating that this elder was an ice-type soul cultivator. Behind him was a young woman wearing white. Her face was nearly as white as her robes and her aura was relatively weak, meaning that she was injured. With how she was shaking and hiding behind the elder¡¯s back, it was clear to see that she was scared and afraid to move.


    About two hundred meters away stood an old man in purple robes and a young man in dark gold. The young man looked furious but had a cold sneer on his lips. He stared off against the elder without any fear at all despite the looks he was being given¡ªit was Lin Dongxiao!


    As domineering he looked during the battle for the pills, his clothes and body still took a beating. It seemed though he had a change of clothes and such right afterward and was now looking much better than before.


    To his side was an elder with white hair that reached his shoulders. The elder was sneering almost as coldly as Lin Dongxiao as he leveled a glare at the other elder in front of him.


    But the most eye-catching thing of this sight wasn¡¯t any of the four soul cultivators. It was the three-meter tall soulbeast next to him!


    Its entire body was black and violet in color and stood on its hind legs as a human would. The soulbeast had two claws, a body filled with scales, and a head like an ox fitted with a horn on the top of its head.


    The soulbeast didn¡¯t even need to use its aura, its presence alone was enough to intimidate everyone that saw it. Both Soul Exalt and Soul King alike could tell that this soulbeast was a¡­mid-stage class seven soulbeast!


    ¡°That¡¯s Zhang Lengyi of the Flying Snow School! What¡¯s he doing against an elder of the Beast Taming School?!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng gasped from beside Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Flying Snow School?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. He remembered Jing Mingfeng mentioning once of a person named Bai Han belonging to that same school before. If his memory wasn¡¯t wrong, then the Flying Snow School was one of the strongest factions in the Southward River Province. A flicker of realization flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes; the genius of their school, Bai Han, wasn¡¯t here!!


    Everyone should¡¯ve been back out in the real world now that the pocket had collapsed. If they were alive, they would¡¯ve already met with their respective groups, so if Bai Han wasn¡¯t here, that could only mean¡­


    ¡°Ma Xucheng! Don¡¯t delude yourself in thinking your Beast Taming School can kill others as you please! My Flying Snow School won¡¯t stand to be bullied so easily! Explain yourself or face the consequences of our fury!¡±


    Having been close enough to the group of five, Bai Yunfei was able to hear the dialogue taking place between the two sides.


    The one named Ma Xucheng said nothing, however. Lin Dongxiao laughed. ¡°Explain?! What explanation is there? Is the dead going to come out and demand an explanation from me? Hundreds are dead in the pocket, are they all going to ask me for an explanation? Bai Han was killed because of his lack of skill, it serves him right! I¡¯ve said it before, I wasn¡¯t the one that killed him.¡±


    ¡°Who else could it be but you?!¡± Zhang Lengyi snarled, ¡°The wounds on his person were inflicted by a soulbeast, a specific earth-type that you have, a late-stage class six berserker bear! Don¡¯t pretend we don¡¯t know!¡±


    ¡°I did inflict that wound, yes, I didn¡¯t say elsewise before.¡± Lin Dongxiao¡¯s lips curled upwards to sneer. ¡°I fought him before, but he ran away when he realized he was no match for me. That¡¯s all there is to it. He would¡¯ve died if he didn¡¯t, but he was definitely alive when he ran away. I¡¯m not the type of person to deny killing a person if it really was me. But that¡¯s enough of that. The dead won¡¯t tell you anything. If the Flying Snow School is looking to fight, then we of the Beast Taming School won¡¯t back down!¡±


    ¡°You!¡±


    Infuriated that someone of the younger generation would even dare talk back to him, Zhang Lengyi¡¯s eyes were practically blood-shot. ¡°Ma. Xucheng! What have you to say about this?!¡±


    ¡°What is there to say?¡± The man replied with a sneer. ¡°Even if he was killed by Dongxiao, what of it? It¡¯s expected to kill or be killed for treasure. Blame it on that person for being weak, hasn¡¯t it always been this way? If you want to fight, then fight and be done with it!¡±


    ¡°Very well then!¡± Boomed Zhang Lengyi. His anger had reached a boiling point. ¡°As expected from the Beast Taming School, the tyrants of one of the Ten Schools! Allow me to experience just how powerful your soulbeasts are!¡±


    No longer could he hold his anger back. An aura even colder than before blasted across the area, filling the air with crystals that flourished across the sky.


    In the blink of an eye, the entire area was filled with snow and hail!


    Were they¡­about to fight?!

 Chapter 815: Domain of Ice and Snow, Snowbeast Crystallization

    Soul Kings are people who enjoyed a level of power far beyond the average of the world. They are normally unshakeable. Unmoveable from things that might sway the emotions of those weaker.


    But it seemed that Zhang Lengyi had none of that emotional control now.


    He couldn¡¯t be blamed for it. Anyone would¡¯ve felt the same if they were to be put in his shoes. Of the three elite students he brought to fight for the pill, only one of them remained, and even that one survivor had failed to absorb any of the fragrance due to her injuries. Rather than partake in the fight, she hid somewhere in the pocket and waited until the pocket collapsed to be sent out¡­


    To make matters worse, one of the two people that had died was a genius the Flying Snow School had failed to have for the last several hundred years! He was the hope, the rising star of the school! And the son of the headmaster no less!


    The Flying Snow School was more than aware that the Ten Schools and Five Families would definitely participate in the battle for the pills. It wasn¡¯t too big of an issue for them, and they weren¡¯t afraid of any of the other contenders. When it came to prodigies, the Flying Snow School had confidence in their own. It was within their expectations that Bai Han would get one of the pills, if not several. And if by chance he didn¡¯t, the school was still confident that Bai Han would remain alive by the end¡­


    Bai Han didn¡¯t even need the Extreme King Pills in fact. He was expected to breakthrough in the next ten years and lead the rest of the students to the further increase in strength for their school. The Flying Snow School would¡¯ve shot up on the power hierarchy like a shooting star.


    But he died! Bai Han was dead!!


    How could Zhang Lengyi be calm at that? How could he not be angry? Losing two of his brightest two students without gaining anything from their deaths. How could he ever face the headmaster like that?!


    The wounds he found on Bai Han¡¯s corpses had the markings of a soulbeast. He would, of course, be infuriated by Lin Dongxiao of the Beast Taming School, whose beast was most definitely the one that inflicted the peculiar wounds. Even if Lin Dongxiao wasn¡¯t the one to kill Bai Han, his actions were still an indirect or direct cause that led up to Bai Han¡¯s death.


    Zhang Lengyi wouldn¡¯t allow the Beast Taming School to leave after knowing those circumstances. If he didn¡¯t demand an explanation, the Flying Snow School¡¯s reputation would take a hit and be called a cowardly school that¡¯d stand by the side while the Beast Taming School killed their strongest students.


    And so, there was only one thing left! He would have to put his foot down and fight!


    ¡­¡­


    The moment when Zhang Lengyi started to disperse his aura, the entire area drastically dropped in temperature. Where once was a mountainous landscape was now a world of ice and snow like a tundra!


    ¡°They¡¯re really fighting! The elder from the Flying Snow School is fighting!!¡±


    ¡°Has he gone mad?! That¡¯s a Late-stage Soul King he¡¯s fighting up against!¡±


    ¡°Heh, someone¡¯s finally had it with the brutish Beast Taming School!!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back! It¡¯s going to be dangerous if we stick around here!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Already the area around Zhang Lengyi was a maelstrom of energy. Most of the Soul Exalts and even a few of the Early-stage Soul Kings were backing up to get out of the crossfire.


    ¡°Yunfei, Song Lin, get behind me!¡±


    Xiao Binzi immediately called for the two to get behind him.


    Not one to tarry, Bai Yunfei stepped back behind Xiao Binzi, though his eyes shined brilliantly as he watched the spectacle.


    Any battle involving a Soul King beast tamer was a hard battle to come by. Bai Yunfei might have killed two elders before, but they were of the lower rungs of the ladder with one barely being a Soul King. Now that he had the chance to take a look at how a beast tamer fought, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to let the chance go.


    The entire Beast Taming School was already his enemy in his mind and would most definitely be his enemy for the future. To know how they fought would be a helpful tool for his future battles.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hmph! You overestimate yourself!!¡±


    Ma Xucheng spat as the person in front of him advanced. Turning his head, he motioned for Lin Dongxiao next to him, ¡°Dongxiao, get behind me.¡±


    As proud as he was, Lin Dongxiao knew that the matter in front of them was a serious one. He nodded and stepped back.


    The female student behind Zhang Lengyi stepped backward as well, choosing to retreat to safety onto a nearby mountain.


    ¡°Whooo¡­whoooo¡­¡±


    The snow falling in the area was getting more concentrated by the second. Combined with the fierce gale that swept the falling snow around, the place was soon swallowed up by a blizzard!


    Not a single person watching the sight could prevent themselves from shuddering from the cold. The amount of elemental ice in the area was bone-chilling, and those with the power of a Soul Exalt would surely feel their blood freeze up in their bodies if they were to step even an inch into the blizzard.


    Standing at the center of the blizzard, Ma Xucheng and his ox-headed soulbeast were surrounded by a layer of light to protect themselves from the snow. Even after being attacked, the man was especially calm. He wasn¡¯t that worried that he¡¯d bring out a soul armament of any kind. Instead, he chose to stand there and wait for Zhang Lengyi to make another move.


    Zhang Lengyi was already at this time holding onto a crystalline longsword whose blade was nearly translucent as if the blade was made of ice almost. For those with a more perceptive eye, they could tell that the sword was a heaven-tier soul armament.


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    There was a thunderous crack of sound from amidst the blizzard as someone cried out. As if being summoned, the petals of snow immediately dove straight for the center of the storm!


    From what was once a half-kilometer area of snow was now half of even that size. Infused with a large amount of energy, the snow took only a sparse moment before they clumped together to form the figures of several snow beasts!


    ¡°That¡¯s the Flying Snow School¡¯s Domain of Ice and Snow! I heard it¡¯s original use was just a congregation of elemental ice, but Zhang Lengyi is using it to power up another one of his soul skills! In his Domain, all elemental ice based attacks will become even stronger while other elements are dampened!¡±


    ¡°A snowbeast! That¡¯s a construct made from the ultimate technique of the Flying Snow School!! Look at how many heads it has! Each head it has is probably as strong as a Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s final attack!¡±


    ¡°Creating something powerful like that Domain and that construct definitely has to be using at least half his strength. Zhang Lengyi is really looking to kill his enemy!¡±


    ¡°Just how many people can survive something like that, even if it¡¯s a lot of people at once?! Even Ma Xucheng will have to use up a lot of energy if he wants to survive that combination!¡±


    A wave of amazed spectators was commenting on the fight now. Most of the audience familiar with the Flying Snow School was surprised at what they were seeing and explaining it to those who weren¡¯t.


    In the span of just a few words, the blizzard was already taking on a new form. No one could tell what was going on inside of it, but they could at the very least see that the snow petals were falling less and less.


    But that was because most of the snow petals were heading and forming more and more snowbeasts!


    There was the head of a fearsome tiger, an intimidating eagle, and even the head of a majestic jiao. All sorts of strange beasts were forming within the blizzard!


    And at the center of the ring of snowbeasts was Ma Xucheng! Surrounded by so many snowbeasts, both he and even his ox-headed soulbeast looked tiny.


    The snowbeasts were all beautifully sculptured and were filled with distinct details and characteristics. Moving almost as if they were alive, the snowbeasts all gave a bone-chilling howl one after another before charging straight for Ma Xucheng!!

 Chapter 816: A Barrage of Soul Skills

    Over a dozen snowbeast constructs stood side by side one another to form a singular ring. It was a sight that amazed everyone. To be situated at the center of all that was surely a sure death¡­


    ¡°Roar!! Roar!!¡±


    With the amount of snowbeasts surrounding Ma Xucheng¡¯s person, hardly anyone outside the ring could see what was going on with him other than a red glow of light. It started as a small flicker at first, but then in no time at all, the flicker exploded in intensity and with a tremendous roar!!


    The roar came from the ox-headed soulbeast puppet of Ma Xucheng, but there was an intensive glow of light that came from another gigantic figure.


    It was a second soulbeast! A horse-like soulbeast that was also a class seven soulbeast! Ma Xucheng was using two of them to fight!


    Both soulbeasts were roaring loudly now. Their voices were loud enough to startle even the snow petals falling around them. This was a sign of Ma Xucheng about to attack!


    There was a third sound which wasn¡¯t quite as loud as the two roars, but everyone realized what it was as soon as they heard it. Several of the bystanders shivered before using their soulforce to steady themselves.


    ¡°This is a¡­a soul attack!¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized as soon as the warm sensation of the Soul Sentinel Scarf flowed through his body. Ma Xucheng was opening up the battle with a soul attack! And it wasn¡¯t just one soul attack! The other two soulbeasts were using a soul attack as well!


    Everyone could feel the soul attack to some degree, but its effects weren¡¯t as strong on them since they weren¡¯t the primary targets. Regardless, the explosive might of the three soul attacks were strong, and it would be without a doubt extremely powerful against Zhang Lengyi, the actual target!


    ¡°Clang...bang!!¡±


    Suddenly, two distinct sounds came forth from within the blizzard. The air blustered frantically with the outflux of energy before two of the giant snowbeasts disintegrated into pieces without warning. There was a secondary sound of rustling wind before a shadow flew out from the blizzard zone like a speeding bullet!


    This person was Zhang Lengyi!! He flipped several times through the air as he tumbled away, but eventually, he came to a stop and managed to recompose himself by catching a foothold onto a platform of frost beneath his feet.


    Nearly half of the snowbeasts inside the blizzard fell apart at once, seemingly losing all form of power when Zhang Lengyi was forced out from his Domain!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    A violet thunderbolt fell down from the heavens, striking down onto a giant snowbeast to the left of Ma Xucheng and rendering it apart.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    An intense ball of fire shot out from one of Ma Xucheng¡¯s soulbeasts, turning another snowbeast into a puddle of water.


    The two soulbeasts charged from behind Ma Xucheng with an explosive leap to take care of the remaining snowbeasts that hadn¡¯t yet collapsed.


    ¡°Pcht¡­.¡±


    Standing far away from the Domain, Zhang Lengyi straightened his back. Pale in the face, the elder spat out a mouthful of blood!!


    The crystalline blade in his right hand shook non-stop with blood dripping down onto it. His right hand had parts to it where the flesh was parted.


    ¡°Whoosh, whoosh¡­¡±


    Peals of wind blew through the area without rhythm and blew snow petals further, expanding the Domain in an irregular-shaped circle. But these snow petals that were farther out from the original zone wasn¡¯t charged with Zhang Lengyi¡¯s energy. They were just ordinary petals of snow that soon melted away into thin air when they flew outside of the zone¡­


    Visibility within the blizzard was soon restored back to ordinary levels. Only one person was left standing in that area, and that was Ma Xucheng of the Beast Taming School. In front of him were two large soulbeasts standing solemnly where they were in the air. They looked as if they didn¡¯t even move in the first place, and their auras looked as calm as ever.


    He looked up at Zhang Lengyi, a look of contempt and pure loathing appeared on his face. ¡°You¡¯re but a worm that dreams itself a butterfly.¡± He sneered.


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    Zhang Lengyi¡¯s mouth twitched again. So angry was he at the words spoken to him!


    A mouthful of blood escaped from his lips again, and with that mouthful of blood so did his strength. It seemed that his soul had taken a tremendous blow from the battle so far¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Watching from the sidelines, the entirety of the audience was completely still. Some of them looked to the calm-faced Ma Xucheng, and then to the deathly-pale Zhang Lengyi. A few of the audience didn¡¯t even know what to think.


    It had been only a moment! Just only a moment!! A Mid-stage Soul King like Zhang Lengyi, an elder from the Flying Snow School, had been defeated in just a moment! Zhang Lengyi was basically but a child in front of Ma Xucheng!


    ¡°This is absurd¡­is this the strength of the Beast Taming School¡¯s second elder? Two class seven soulbeast puppets and three soul attacks attacking at once¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes danced with uncertainty and shock. This battle left him with no room for doubt, the difference in strength between him and Ma Xucheng was far too massive to even count.


    ¡°Three soul attacks were cast at the exact same time almost. This has to be some sort of secret from the Beast Taming School, it¡¯s on a completely different level than my Charm Bracelet¡¯s abilities. Even if Xiao Qi, Long Zhen, and I were to use our soul attacks, it wouldn¡¯t have nearly enough power as this. I have to be careful of any future battles with Soul Kings¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei made sure to make a mental note of what he saw for future references.


    Ma Xucheng was a Late-stage Soul King, which meant Zhang Lengyi wasn¡¯t even a match for him on that very basis alone. But in this battle, where Ma Xucheng didn¡¯t even move a finger and yet Zhang Lengyi was easily defeated.


    It was hard for Bai Yunfei to think about just how strong the combined power of three soul attacks could have one a person. Even a Mid-stage Soul King like Zhang Lengyi wouldn¡¯t be able to deflect or get away from it fast enough. The plan was for him to use a dozen snowbeasts as a diversion to get close enough to Ma Xucheng. But before that plan could be fully acted upon, or even initialized, he was struck. Struck by the soul attacks and his attack blocked by the ox-headed soulbeast before being blasted back.


    Not only was his soul injured, but the attack from the ox-headed soulbeast had also managed to snap half of his bones in half and ruptured a few organs. The blow would¡¯ve been devastating if he was a Soul Exalt, but thankfully, he was not. It wasn¡¯t negligible for a Mid-stage Soul King, but he¡¯d live after some time to heal. An injury to the soul, however, wasn¡¯t as easy to recover from and would need a much longer time to heal from.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, still want to fight?¡±


    Ma Xucheng¡¯s cold voice rang through the air, sparking a bit of indignation from Zhang Lengyi. The muscles on his face twitched and his eyes flashed with humiliation and anger, but there was nothing he could do. Biting his lips, he swiveled around and traveled to where his female student was. Together, the two left the place.


    It was the action of a loser, but he couldn¡¯t afford to fight. He didn¡¯t even think he¡¯d win in the first place. What Zhang Lengyi was hoping for was to hopefully cause some damage to Ma Xucheng. In the end, he was dealt such a devastating loss and given no prize to head home with. He would return home a thoroughly beaten man.


    Ma Xucheng sneered one last time when Zhang Lengyi left. As the winner and elder of the Beast Taming School, it was beneath him to try and stop the man from leaving. The man was only a Mid-stage Soul King, and to kill a Soul King without further provocation would only further sully that reputation of Ma Xucheng. In any case, the Flying Snow School wasn¡¯t so weak that to kill the elder would have no repercussions. It was even possible that a war might break out between the two schools; a future with more harm than good.


    As if having just finished a very trivial task, Ma Xucheng rustled his robes and turned to leave with Lin Dongxiao in the opposite direction¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Not a single person in the audience expected for the battle to end so quickly, and so unexpectedly like that. But with both combatants gone, no one found any reason to stay either.


    ¡°Damn, it ended that easily? I didn¡¯t even get to see much, what a mood killer¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng muttered in discontent. As if the show he had been waiting for had been abruptly ended, he slinked down from the tree he was standing on to turn away into the forest.


    A few other figures were leaping down from the mountain not long after Jing Mingfeng disappeared. They stopped not too far away from the tree he had been standing on before, staring silently at the area before chasing after him¡­

 Chapter 817: Jing Mingfengs in Danger?

    To the east of the Black Cloud Mountains stood a mountainous forest just a few hundreds away from the nearby Crushed Stone River.


    Dusk was already approaching. The setting sun cast an orange light over the forest and just barely illuminated the silhouette of a single person leaping nimbly from branch to branch.


    This person was Jing Mingfeng.


    He was no longer traveling with Bai Yunfei. Like the others, he left for his own journey in another direction. And it seemed that he was all alone in this vast expanse of a forest.


    But the strange thing was, Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t using a flying soul armament to travel. He was traveling by foot.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    Leaping over a tree top, Jing Mingfeng descended back down to the ground onto a hill and came to a stop.


    That was because three people were blocking his way.


    Three males, two of which were elders and one youngster. The elder on the left wore dark-gold robes and was slightly plump to the figure, giving off the impression of being an amicable person. The elder in the middle was slightly skinny, but facial expression was far darker than his companion. His eyes were practically venomous to the stare. And the youngster looked roughly the same age as Jing Mingfeng. He wore embroidered robes to complement his handsome features, though his eyes were staring at Jing Mingfeng with hatred.


    Jing Mingfeng looked slightly surprised at the fact these three figures were standing in front of him. ¡°Ah¡­? Is this a mugging?!¡±


    He looked around himself wildly, as if to look for a savior of some kind. ¡°How can there be a mugging here way out in the boondocks¡­¡± he lamented dramatically, ¡°We can compromise on this, can¡¯t we? If you really want to mug me, then I¡¯ll fight back, how about it.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The three men in front of Jing Mingfeng were slightly speechless at his act, but then the elder in violet robes smiled ¡®kindly¡¯. ¡°Calm even under these circumstances, as expected from the sole survivor of the Jing. You¡¯re right. This is indeed a ¡®mugging¡¯. Hand over the Soul Concealment Arte and Face Disguise Technique and we¡¯ll consider letting you live.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng was actually shocked this time. The muscles on his face froze for a second as he studied the two elders in front of him closely. An eyebrow raised, as if he remembered something, ¡°I was wondering just who it was that was following me, but it¡¯s the old man of the Qi, Qi Duanbei. You¡¯ve an eye on my family secrets, do you? Do you think your tiny family would be enough to intimidate me?¡±


    His words were spoken mockingly, and Qi Duanbei¡¯s eye twitched once with anger at his words. That was the only noticeable change to appear on his face, though. ¡°Were it like before, we would indeed never think to offend the Jing clan. But now¡­what ¡®clan¡¯ is there? Do you think the name of an extinct clan would scare anyone?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes narrowed. He tilted his head and looked to the young man standing next to the elder. ¡°He looks familiar, but I don¡¯t know him. Who is he?¡±


    ¡°Pah! There¡¯s no use putting up any bravado now!¡± The young man sneered at the impassive look on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face, ¡°But there¡¯s no harm telling someone¡¯s about to die. We¡¯re from the Dark Hand Sect!¡±


    ¡°The Dark Hand Sect?¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed. ¡°One of our old ¡®neighbors¡¯ I see. We¡¯ve never had any grudges between us before, so why now?¡±


    He took a second look at the young man. ¡°Oh I remember now,¡± he snapped his fingers, ¡°I think I remember stepping over you to get to the Extreme King Pills¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡ª!!¡± The young man lurched forward in anger, ¡°It¡¯s all your fault, you know?! If it wasn¡¯t for that ambush of yours, I would¡¯ve made it to the center of the fragrance¡­I¡¯ll never forgive you for that!¡±


    ¡°Ambush?¡± Jing Mingfeng snorted, ¡°Think you can pretend not to be the same? The Dark Hand is a killer group, everyone knows that. But the things you guys do¡­you¡¯ve hardly dipped your fingers in the waters.¡±


    ¡°Hardly dipped our fingers?!¡±


    The scrawny elder sneered. ¡°As expected from the best clan of assassins, their sole remaining son is an arrogant one. Hurry up and hand over the Soul Concealment Arte or else you¡¯re in for a great deal of suffering¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s impossible for you guys to get your hands on it.¡± Jing Mingfeng looked pensive, ¡°But before that, I¡¯d like to ask you a question¡­how did you know it was me?¡±


    ¡°How did we know? Hehe¡­do you think your disguise techniques are that powerful? You¡¯re not invincible, you know!¡± The young man mocked him, ¡°Sure, I didn¡¯t recognize you at first thanks to your disguise, but the moment I felt your aura during the battle, I realized it right away. Did you think I couldn¡¯t figure it out?!¡±


    ¡°So you did know it was me?!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyebrows rose up on his face in confusion and skepticism. ¡°I might not be able to multi-task and use the Soul Concealment Arte when I fight, but still, it couldn¡¯t have been that bad. Unless you¡¯re familiar with how our techniques work or fought us befo¡ª¡±


    He froze.


    Starting from the bottom of his feet, boiling hatred started to rise up to the top of his head. He glared at the young man. ¡°Did you¡­were the Black Hands involved with what happened to my family?!¡±


    The gray-robed elder furrowed his eyebrows. His young companion had let slip something he should¡¯ve have. He was about to chide the young man to stay quiet when Jing Mingfeng suddenly burst out loud again, ¡°I¡¯m asking you if your Dark Hand had anything to do with my family¡¯s massacre!!¡±


    ¡°Haha!! You look as mad as a dog! How fitting now that you¡¯re a ¡®stray¡¯¡­how does it feel? Are you angry? Want to know why we know things about your technique we shouldn¡¯t have? The Dark Hand once had a contract to chase after a group of soul cultivators. And guess what? They were survivors of the Jing! Haha! The best clan of assassins my ass, they weren¡¯t hard to kill at all! They might as well be just a bunch of hay bags! I killed ten of them myself; they were a bunch of trash, that''s what they were!!¡±


    The more he laughed and jeered, the more the young man seemed to enjoy the look of pure devastation in Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes. It seemed he couldn¡¯t get enough of making fun of Jing Mingfeng and the tragedy of his family.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    But then while he was in the middle of laughing, the man immediately felt something cold pressed against him!


    The hairs on his entire body shot straight up on his arms and legs. There was a jet-black dagger pressed against his nose and threatening to stab into his head if he took so much as a step forward!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Before he could even scream, the young man heard a muffled thud as Jing Mingfeng was flung backward as fast as he did coming forward. He staggered a few steps backwards before coming back to a stop where he was before.


    Beads of sweat dripped down from the young man¡¯s forehead to his neck. He looked up to the elder who saved him, fear apparent in his eyes.


    The elder looked surprised as well. He looked to Jing Mingfeng with a very obvious look of greed.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    There was a loud roar as the wind squaller next to Jing Mingfeng suddenly exploded in size. Standing as tall as a lion, the soulbeast gave an ear-deafening roar to the three people in front of it.


    ¡°Xiao Feng, don¡¯t move.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng urged. His face was a nasty hue of pain and red as he tried to calm himself, but the murderous intent in his eyes and the fury burning away at his heart simply couldn¡¯t be stopped. ¡°Excellent¡­I¡¯ve been looking for clues all this time, but I guess I shouldn¡¯t have bothered if it was going to drop right in front of me. The Dark Hand Sect¡­¡±


    He whipped his head to look over to the ¡®smiling¡¯ Qi Duanbei. ¡°Then were the Qi a part of this too?¡±


    Qi Duanbei didn¡¯t like the look Jing Mingfeng was giving him and glared back at him.


    It wasn¡¯t a verbal response, but it was a response nonetheless. Jing Mingfeng snarled, a sadistic sneer curling at his lips.


    ¡°Haha!! I wasn¡¯t wrong to come here then! I finally found what I was looking for, the Heavens has been kind to me! Haha!!¡±


    The three men looked on in surprise at his sudden outburst, though the young man thought Jing Mingfeng had snapped under the revelation. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, has he gone mad all of a sudden?¡±


    After a short bout of laughter, Jing Mingfeng leveled another glare at the three men still with the same smile on his face. ¡°Alright then, if you old fogeys tell me who was it that told you to go after my family, I¡¯ll make sure your deaths will be just a bit quicker.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Again, this was a response they weren¡¯t expecting. Qi Duanbei glared at him, ¡°Has he really gone mad? Let¡¯s spare this conversation and capture him at once!¡±

 Chapter 818: Jing Wuying

    There was something to Jing Mingfeng¡¯s confidence and attitude that unnerved Qi Duanbei. Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t as scared as he thought he¡¯d be, but that would most likely change once they got their hands on him for interrogation.


    As he was about to give the order to have Jing Mingfeng captured, the person in question leaped backward to cry out, ¡°Ancestor, I can¡¯t fight them for long!!¡±


    ¡°Pah! Don¡¯t spout silly lies!¡±


    Qi Duanbei sneered. It was ridiculous to be hearing such a lie coming from Jing Mingfeng now, and it was equally ridiculous to think anyone would fall for it. Did Jing Mingfeng think Soul Kings to be as common as commoners? Was there even someone behind Jing Mingfeng?


    Not even caring in the slightest for Jing Mingfeng¡¯s cry, Qi Duanbei was already circulating his soulforce into motion. But just as he was about to take action¡­


    He realized the moment before that something was wrong with the scrawny elder with him. The elder looked frightened. As if something had forced him to take action as quickly as possible in preparation to defend himself.


    ¡°What?!¡± Qi Duanbei was dumbfounded by his actions. The elder didn¡¯t look at all ready to capture Jing Mingfeng, but to turn around and¡­


    There was something else that added to his confusion. In that one moment when the scrawny elder¡¯s eyes met with his, Qi Duanbei noticed a flicker of emotion run through them.


    The emotion of¡­


    ¡°Fear?!¡±


    Again, Qi Duanbei was confused.


    He felt something in the back of his head start to hurt exactly like if a sharp object had poked into it. Then, the world grew dark and he knew no more.


    ¡°Thud!¡±


    Qi Duanbei¡¯s body fell to the ground, completely still as if he fainted. And yet, that wasn¡¯t the case. There wasn¡¯t a bit of life to Qi Duanbei¡¯s body.


    He was dead!!


    A fate most similar to Qi Duanbei was also happening to the scrawny elder at that moment. He was hardly beyond a half rotation before he too came to a complete stop. Now completely stricken with fear, the man was completely motionless but alive.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    As if the world had gone still for that one moment, none of the three persons uttered even a single sound.


    ¡°Ahhh!!¡±


    Then, someone cried out.


    It was the young man drabbed in embroidered robes. Reacting as if he was a cat whose tail had just been stepped on, he flew backward, a shaking finger pointed at the area behind the scrawny elder.


    ¡°Wh¡ªwho are you?!¡±


    Right there behind the elder, an elderly person in black robes and grizzly-white hair had appeared!


    His right hand was stretched outwards from where he stood, the forefinger pointed in the direction of Qi Duanbei¡¯s head. His left hand was raised upwards as well, though the forefinger of that hand was currently pressed against the scrawny elder¡¯s temples¡­


    This newly-appeared elder had not even an eye to spare towards the young man. He was focused on the scrawny man in front of him. Calmly, he moved his left hand downwards and pressed his finger to the points on the chest where the heart was located.


    The elder trembled with each point that was pressed. Less and less soulforce was coming out from his body now, and after a few points were pressed, his soulforce was practically locked within his body like it was being bottled up and sealed.


    By the time the elder was done poking at the points, the scrawny elder was already buckling at the knees and fell to the ground! From the looks of his bloodless face, it seemed that his entire person was completely devoid of energy to do anything¡­


    In what could hardly even equate to two seconds, one Early-stage Soul King was killed and the other was rendered incapacitated!!


    The young man was struck dumb. This felt like a nightmare, one of which he couldn¡¯t wake up from. Jing Mingfeng was looking on as if nothing was strange though. In fact, he was smiling at the situation with a glare as frosty as winter.


    Even the elder that had taken care of the two other Soul Kings looked as though he had done nothing of significance so far as he stared at the still alive Soul King on the ground.


    ¡°The Black Hand Sect¡­a tiny sect that hadn¡¯t even a Soul King up until a hundred years ago. Who gave you the right to act as you did to my Jing family?¡±


    As if those words being spoken directly to his soul, the scrawny elder trembled heavily at them.


    ¡°You¡­you are¡­¡±


    The elder was hardly able to believe his eyes at what he was seeing. This elder who looked to be over a hundred years old¡ªhadn¡¯t Jing Mingfeng called him ¡®ancestor¡¯ just a moment ago?


    That could only mean one thing!


    ¡°The ancestor of the Jing! You¡¯re Patriarch Jing!! ¡®Shadowless Death¡¯ Jing Wuying!! How are you still alive?!¡±


    He was shivering intensely now. Even his voice was quivering like the ringing of a gong, completely terrified and not at all showing any of the calm bravadoes he had before.


    ¡°Ah, so there was someone that still remembers an old man like me¡­¡± Jing Wuying sighed in sorrow, ¡°But that was not the answer to my question.¡±


    ¡°It really is you! Impossible! You haven¡¯t been seen in the last hundred years, everyone thought you were dead! You didn¡¯t even appear when your entire family was massacred, how are you still alive then?!¡±


    There was a reaction to Jing Wuying when the scrawny elder mentioned the word ¡®massacre¡¯ and of his absence from it. Pain and guilt flashed across his eyes shortly before giving way to chilling anger. Lifting his right hand, he pressed it against the elder¡¯s left shoulder!


    ¡°Pcht!¡±


    There was a large splurt of blood as an entire arm fell down to the ground¡ªthe scrawny elder¡¯s left shoulder had been severed!


    Jing Wuying had only ¡®pressed¡¯ against his shoulder, but it managed to completely sever it!


    ¡°Aghhh!!!¡±


    There was a heart-wrenching scream from the elder as he tried to clutch at his left shoulder with his right arm. All he could do was widen his eyes and scream in pain, however. Try as hard as he might, his soulforce was completely sealed and unable to staunch the bleeding, so the pain he was feeling was almost enough to make him feel like passing out.


    ¡°You talk too much. Tell me what I want to know. Who was it that ordered you to go after my family?¡± Jing Wuying demanded.


    Barely managing to stop himself from passing out, the elder clenched his teeth together from the pain. Sweat dripped from his forehead for one brief moment as he despaired to himself.


    He looked up to face Jing Wuying, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you but¡­spare him!¡±


    Unable to point his finger, the elder flicked his eyes over to the still stunned young man near him.


    Jing Wuying didn¡¯t avert his eyes at all. ¡°Tell me what I want to know and I won¡¯t kill him.¡±


    The elder looked a little surprised that Jing Wuying had actually agreed, though it still remained to be seen if Jing Wuying would actually abide by his words. There was no room for him to bargain or even make sure about, so the man could only pray for the best-case scenario. ¡°It was a wandering soul cultivator that handed out the reward for killing any surviving member of the Jing. We did our investigation and found out that the actual person is someone from the house of Qin from the Swallow Province¡­¡±


    ¡°House of Qin from the Swallow Province?¡± Jing Wuying glanced over to Jing Mingfeng.


    Jing Mingfeng narrowed his eyes, ¡°Them? That¡¯s a lie! The Qin and the Jing have never any conflict before! We haven¡¯t even come into contact with them even, why would they suddenly attack us without any reason?!¡±


    ¡°Reason? That¡¯s not something we investigated for. But has our world always needed a ¡®reason¡¯ for conflicts? Perhaps¡­they wanted to take the hidden secrets of your clan for themselves?¡± The elder fired back in defiance, ¡°It matters not to me if you don¡¯t believe me, but that is what our Black Hand Sect found and is what it will be.¡±


    ¡°Is that it?¡± Jing Wuying pressed again.


    ¡°We were only able to meet their middleman in our dealings. There¡¯s nothing else I can tell you. If you want to know more, then you¡¯ll have to do the resea¡ªwhat are you¡ªagh!!¡±


    Jing Wuying had suddenly raised his hand as the other elder was talking, and before he could finish his sentence, Jing Wuying had struck his hand out! Without meeting any resistance, Jing Wuying had grabbed onto the man¡¯s head!


    His screams came to a quick and abrupt stop. Eyes rolling to the back of his head, the elder¡¯s body started to convulse as if his soul was being ransacked.


    This was¡­Soul Scanning!!


    Suspended in the air like how a goose might be caught by its neck by a human, the Early-stage Soul King was held there briefly before being dropped.


    But he was dead by the time he hit the ground.


    There was a flash of light in Jing Wuying¡¯s eyes as he took in the information he had just got. It took several moments before he closed his eyes and turned to the young man there.


    By now, the man was a shivering mess that could only just stand there and watch as the elder turned to him, ¡°D¡ªdon¡¯t kill me! You promised to elder Li you wouldn¡¯t kill me!!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t kill you. Leave this place.¡± Jing Wuying replied half-heartedly as if he was still trying to process some information.


    Gaping at his stroke of fortune, the young man immediately turned to flee with a smile of joy on his face!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    It was with great speed that the young man ran away from this place. It was only when he was a great distance away that he decided to turn his head back.


    Seeing Jing Wuying there, the man sighed a sigh of relief.


    But there was also something that made him startled!


    Jing Wuying was standing right where he was, but there was something missing. A person to be exact!


    ¡°Looking for me?¡±


    A cold voice spoke out, the words were spoken so close to his ear that they practically tickled it.


    ¡°My ancestor said he wouldn¡¯t kill you, but I didn¡¯t. You can¡¯t run away from me, so¡­


    ¡°Die!¡±


    The last word was accentuated with a thrust of a dagger through the man¡¯s throat. With hardly a chance to fight or even gasp, the young man looked on at the black dagger that had just blossomed from his throat¡­


    ¡­¡­


    It was in silence that Jing Mingfeng returned to Jing Wuying¡¯s side. ¡°Ancestor, where shall we go next? To the Swallow Province?¡±


    ¡°Let us slow down¡­¡± Jing Wuying shook his head, ¡°You absorbed a decent amount of the Extreme King Pill fragrance. Take your time and absorb it. We¡¯ll let you breakthrough to become a Soul King. Then we can head for the Swallow Province.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng quickly looted the corpses of the two Soul Kings of their possessions before he and Jing Wuying took off into the air and disappeared into the horizon¡­

 Chapter 819: It Was Him!

    In the vicinity of the Black Cloud Mountain Ranges. One rather ordinary-looking mountaintop.


    A young man dressed entirely in black was seated up against the trunk of a tree. His eyes were shut closed and his hands pressed together in a hand seal. A black light shone from his body like a flickering candle. He was clearly in meditation.


    Right beside him was a middle-aged man in blood-red robes and another elder dressed in black.


    Needless to say, the young man resting up against the tree trunk was the mysterious assailant that had killed so many people back in the pocket and the one who had fought Bai Yunfei to a stand-still.


    The sun was already setting beyond the mountains by the time the young man¡¯s internal soulforce was stabilized to a certain level. Coughing once to clear his throat, he opened his eyes.


    ¡°Are you alright, young master?¡±


    Xue Wei immediately asked.


    ¡°I used too much soulforce, but there should be no other problems.¡±


    The young man waved his hands. He looked calm, but his eyes were shining with an intimidating glare. His soulforce was still flickering somewhat and the muscles in his face twitched whenever the black energy around him did.


    It took several moments longer before he took in his soulforce back into his body. The black energy receded away from his face, which in turn started to turn into a completely different one!


    This young man had been hiding his true physical appearance!


    It wasn¡¯t just the muscles in his face that was changing, even the bones themselves seemed to be reshaping with time. The altering of the face was something most soul cultivators could do, but very few could pull it off on a level like this. Most techniques required the usage of soulforce in order to change the appearance, but the flaw to it was that the technique would usually unravel as soon as they fought since it required concentration in order to maintain.


    But even after fighting so many battles, especially one as intense as the battle with Bai Yunfei, the young man¡¯s true appearance hadn¡¯t been revealed for even a second.


    This meant that the technique he was using was beyond what an ordinary one was capable of.


    The technique he was using was most definitely a rare one too; one that was of the same level of Jing Mingfeng¡¯s Face Change Technique. It was even possible that the technique he was using was the Face Change Technique¡­


    If Bai Yunfei saw who this person was, his mouth would¡¯ve dropped wide open.


    That was because this person was¡­Mo Ni!


    The person he met several times before, once even as a young master from the Western Frontier Province. The exact same person who had tried to have Bai Yunfei killed so many times before!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Tell me what happened while the battle for the Extreme King Pills was happening.¡±


    Mo Ni commanded Xue Wei as he looked to the faraway horizon.


    ¡°Yes, young master.¡± Xue Wei replied before launching into a retelling of what he witnessed. He spoke until the very end of when the pocket collapsed and everyone spilled back out onto Crushed Stone River.


    ¡°So there was still so many people left¡­¡± Mo Ni murmured to himself, ¡°Seems like I only killed a ¡®small¡¯ sum of people¡­not a single person that I should¡¯ve killed was killed.¡±


    He had killed at least fifty people inside the pocket, if not eighty, and yet this was still considered a ¡®small¡¯ sum in his eyes. To add onto that, he said that he had failed to killed a few select people¡­


    ¡°An entire furnace of Extreme King Pills was turned into fragrance and subsequently absorbed. This type of ending is a bit special¡­¡± Mo Ni wondered aloud, ¡°Those people who absorbed it,¡± he turned to Xue Wei, ¡°will it take long for them to digest and absorb it?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t Xue Wei who responded, but the other elder with them. ¡°Of course. The Extreme King Pills are a rare treasure with potency like none other. It¡¯d take no more than ten days for someone to fully take in one whole Extreme King Pill. Most of the people hardly took in even that much, so it¡¯ll most likely take even shorter than ten days.


    ¡°I told you before to take at least one Extreme King Pill before we got here. It¡¯s main purpose might¡¯ve been to help a Soul Exalt become a Soul King, but it still would¡¯ve helped you become a Mid-stage Soul King. Why did you decide to fight Bai Yunfei instead? He was but a mere Soul Exalt and you didn¡¯t even kill him! Pah, what a useless endeavor!¡±


    This elder was the one Mo Ni called the ¡®Black Dragon¡¯. The one entity that so many experts from Soulbeast Forest once fought an intense battle over before being forced to becoming Mo Ni¡¯s soulbeast partner. One of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers, the Black Dragon King!


    Mo Ni¡¯s eyes flashed several times. Not at all trying to cover up his ¡®mistake¡¯, he replied, ¡°I underestimated him. The soul armaments he used were beyond what I expected and failed to adopt the appropriate counter-measures. I messed up and let him put me on the spot with his eccentric methods.


    ¡°But the reason I didn¡¯t go after the Extreme King Pills was¡­because I realized there was something even more important than the Extreme King Pills. I wanted it. And that¡¯s why I came across Bai Yunfei and fought him.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The Black Dragon King raised his eyebrows, ¡°Something even more valuable than the Extreme King Pills? What is it?¡±


    A burning fervor crossed over into Mo Ni¡¯s eyes, ¡°Core.¡±


    ¡°Core?¡± The Black Dragon King repeated in confusion.


    Then he realized. ¡°Core as in one of the Ten Great Regalia, the Core Stone?!¡±


    Mo Ni nodded. ¡°Exactly. This pocket was the work of the Core Stone.¡±


    ¡°It really was Core!!¡± The Black Dragon King was growing even more excited by the moment. ¡°You found the Core Stone?! Have you manage to grab it then?!¡±


    That was where the expression on Mo Ni¡¯s face crumbled. ¡°The place where I came out from was where the Core Stone was, but¡­I didn¡¯t manage to get it. It¡¯s most likely that Bai Yunfei is the one that has it now¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The Black Dragon King roared in anger, ¡°It was taken by someone else?! Why didn¡¯t you take it from him?! Not only did you fail to kill him, you failed to even take the Core Stone! How can you be this useless?!¡±


    ¡°Black Dragon King! Don¡¯t forget your manners to the young master!¡± Xue Wei immediately exploded in retaliation.


    Mo Ni raised a hand to stop Xue Wei from saying anything more. He stared icily at the Black Dragon King. ¡°It was a very peculiar circumstance. Bai Yunfei is a very special student of the Crafting School. His sense for soul armaments is without a doubt better than mine, so the fact that he found it isn¡¯t strange. But it¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll let him have it for safekeeping for now. We¡¯ll be there to take it back from him soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Pah, then you better do it sooner than later. If it accepts him as his master and imparts its inheritance onto him, then your chances of stealing it will be nigh impossible.¡±


    Clearly, the Black Dragon King was discontent with Mo Ni. He snorted once and said no more about it.


    ¡°Young master, what should we do next then?¡±


    Xue Wei couldn¡¯t help but ask after seeing the thunderous expression on his face.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take care of the matters with the Extreme King Pill for now.¡±


    ¡°The Extreme King Pills?¡± Xue Wei repeated, confused, ¡°What do you mean by that, young master?¡±


    ¡°The Extreme King Pill fragrance is still in the bodies of those who took it in, are they not? And before the fragrance is absorbed, it lays dormant in their bodies, am I wrong?¡± Mo Ni spoke. ¡°Find Gui Wei. Tell him to bring Gui Nu, isn¡¯t he still unused to being a Soul King? We¡¯ll have him eat his fill¡­¡±


    ¡°Is the young master wanting to have Gui Nu use the Bloodsoul Dark Artes and take in the soulforce and fragrance of the others?!¡± Xue Wei asked for clarification in surprise.


    Mo Ni nodded. ¡°Exactly. As long as they haven¡¯t fully absorbed the fragrance, Gui Nu will be able to use their lifeforce and take it in for himself.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Xue Wei replied before disappearing to do as he was told.


    Looking away to the faraway setting sun, Mo Ni¡¯s eyes flickered with light. Taking out a black needle from his space ring, he had it float around his finger and hand as if to play around with it.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­we¡¯ll meet again soon enough, and I will kill you next time!!¡±

 Chapter 820: Mid-Divine Tier Stone!

    There wasn¡¯t really a reason for Bai Yunfei and the others to stay behind in Crushed Stone River. Now that their business had concluded there, the group took off for Black Cloud Valley. The younger generation was slightly tired due to their fights and attempts to absorb the Extreme King Pill fragrance, so the three Soul Kings enveloped them in a bubble of energy and took care of their flight back towards the Underworld School.


    Likewise, there wasn¡¯t much to do or talk about at the Underworld School. After a few words were exchanged between the two parties, the people from the Crafting School returned to their rooms to rest.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t said much on their way back to the Underworld School. He appeared to be thinking about something and so hardly said anything even when they got back. The most he said was just a few words of goodbye to Zheng Kai and the others before he shut himself up in his own room to rest.


    Lian Lingmin looked a little concerned at how Bai Yunfei had been in such a rush to leave. ¡°Does¡­Yunfei feel a little strange to you? He was so absent-minded earlier, do you think¡­he¡¯s disappointed with him not being able to take in the Extreme King Pill fragrance?¡±


    ¡°Yunfei not participating in the final bout for the Extreme King Pills is a great shame. His talent is much better than ours. If he had taken in some of the Extreme King Pill fragrance, he definitely would¡¯ve become a Soul King soon. Feeling disappointed is only natural¡­¡± Song Lin sighed, ¡°We should try to avoid mentioning anything about the Extreme King Pills whenever he¡¯s around just in case.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Everyone was worrying for the wrong reasons. Bai Yunfei was absent-minded not because of disappointment. It was the exact opposite in fact. He was extremely impatient and excited for something in particular.


    He branched off with Long Lan to head into his own room with Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s going on? You look like you¡¯ve a big secret.¡±


    Xiao Qi was, of course, able to sense the emotions Bai Yunfei was having all in thanks to the bond they had.


    ¡°Hehe¡­it¡¯s a good one.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled excitedly, ¡°I hadn¡¯t the chance to look at it until now and its been killing me.¡±


    ¡°A good one?¡± Xiao Qi chirped, ¡°What good one? Did you find something good in the pocket?¡±


    ¡°Take a look!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded before fishing an object out from his robes for the bird to look at.


    ¡°Um¡­a rock?!¡± Chirped Xiao Qi. He stared at the rock incredulously, ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re telling me this ¡®good one¡¯ is a rock? Are you crazy?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, this isn¡¯t an ordinary rock¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s special about it?¡±


    ¡°It¡­¡± Bai Yunfei wavered off, ¡°well, I¡¯ll find out in a moment.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Still confused, Xiao Qi gave Bai Yunfei one final look before allowing him to sit at the center table and study the ¡®stone¡¯ in his hand.


    The stone was a gray-brownish one. About the size of a chicken egg and the shape of a small stamp, it could easily fit in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. It was sleek and glossy on the surface without even a single marking, just like a stone eroded over the years by a running stream of water. There wasn¡¯t even much to be noted about the stone when soulsense was used to look at it.


    Bai Yunfei heaved a sigh as he studied the stone. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with light as he grasped the stone, allowing for a wave of information to spread into his mind¡­


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Earth


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    It was just a few short lines of information, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glistened like none other after looking at it. But after a moment, he frowned as if puzzled by something.


    ¡°It¡¯s divine alright¡­it¡¯s definitely a regalia like the Soul Sentinel Scarf!!¡± Bai Yunfei declared to himself. His special powers had allowed him to confirm to the stone to be what it was, but his eyes were still unable to see just what made the stone a ¡®regalia¡¯.


    But the Upgrade Technique never lied. If it said this stone was a divine-tier equipment, then it was without a doubt a divine-tier equipment. He himself might not be able to understand, but that was only because he hadn¡¯t grasped it yet.


    ¡°But this is still too strange. It only has a grade, element, and upgrade requirement. Where are the attack, defense, or even effect values?¡±


    That was the real quandary on his mind. The only thing he knew about this was that it was a regalia. What kind of magical power or special use did it have?


    ¡°There¡¯s most likely something else that¡¯s stopping me from being able to see the stats¡­¡± Bai Yunfei furrowed his eyebrows. He remembered once before¡ªthe first time he had used the upgrade stone and furnace¡ªthere had been something similar. At that time, the special effects of the upgrade stone hadn¡¯t shown itself to Bai Yunfei. It wasn¡¯t after he managed to upgrade the Cataclysmic Seal that he was able to figure out the effects of both objects. He hadn¡¯t even really figured out why the change in elemental affinity happened, and if it was because of the upgrade or of its elevation in tier.


    He thought back to the matter with the Soul Sentinel Scarf, ¡°The stats of the Soul Sentinel Scarf wasn¡¯t hidden to me back then. It was just ¡®sealed¡¯, but that went away after I upgraded it. Both items are divine-tier, so is this an issue with the item itself? But this isn¡¯t showing that it¡¯s sealed¡­


    ¡°The Soul Sentinel Scarf isn¡¯t reacting either, why is that?¡± He touched at the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead. There was definitely a ¡®resonance¡¯ with the stone before, so why wasn¡¯t it reacting now? It was as if one side of the connection wasn¡¯t sending a signal at all anymore.


    Bai Yunfei tried to send some soulforce into the stone. When he got no reaction, he tried to do the same with the Soul Sentinel Scarf, but there was still nothing to be felt.


    ¡°Then¡­I¡¯ll have to try one last thing to see if there¡¯s any change¡­¡±


    After a series of experiments failed to net anything, Bai Yunfei decided on one last approach.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    He stared at the rock in his hand one more time. Focusing, he allowed a sliver of soulforce to escape him.


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Soul Compatibility: 2%


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei paused, a hint of disappointment lied noticeably in his eyes. ¡°Only thing that increased was the soul compatibility and nothing else¡­


    ¡°Will it get an additional effect if I get it to +10?¡±


    With that thought in mind, Bai Yunfei tried to cheer himself up. ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Time passed slowly before the stone in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand reached +5. Aside from the increase in soul compatibility, there still hadn¡¯t been any change in the stats. With how Bai Yunfei already failing thrice to get the stone to +5, he was duly reminded of how hard it was to upgrade a divine-tier equipment.


    ¡°Whew¡­it¡¯s even harder to upgrade than the Soul Sentinel Scarf.¡± Bai Yunfei grimaced. He was only at +5 with the stone and it had already taken half of his soulforce¡ªhow ridiculous.


    Every upgrade took 700 soulpoints, and each failure saw to the equipment lowering in upgrade level. So in other words, it took a total of 7700 soulpoints to get the stone to where it was now; a sum even greater than what was needed for the Dual Dragon Burst.


    If accounting for his equipment, Bai Yunfei had well over ten thousand points of soulforce, so this wasn¡¯t a negligible sum of soulforce consumption. Luckily, he had Tang Xinyun¡¯s Yun¡¯s Soul Ring with him, and his own soulforce recovery was quite decent. So it wouldn¡¯t take him long to regain his energy.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +6


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    Once again, there was nothing new to see after a successful upgrade. Without anything to show for his troubles, Bai Yunfei sighed and continued.


    But at that moment¡­


    There was a faint voice.


    A faint voice that was speaking in the room!


    ¡°Ah¡­how comfortable¡­¡±

 Chapter 821: The Regalia Core, the Spirit Xiao Fang

    The voice that spoken so abruptly in the room had been so shocking to Bai Yunfei that he dropped the stone like if it was on fire.


    That was because this voice was coming from the stone itself!


    It was a sharp but groggy voice, as if the speaker was a young boy only just waking up.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there! Who¡¯s speaking!¡±


    Even Xiao Qi was startled out from his boredom. Head twitching from corner to corner, Xiao Qi scanned the room with his soulsense to detect the owner of the voice, only to find nothing but Bai Yunfei and himself in the room.


    ¡°Eh? I¡¯m¡­you there! What did you do to me!?¡±


    Before Bai Yunfei could even say anything, the stone was again saying something, this time a little more flustered than before.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei looked stunned. There was now a faint orange light radiating from the stone now, a warm light that was finally starting to resonate with the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead.


    ¡°Are you the one talking??¡±


    He looked directly at the stone.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s me that¡¯s talking, are you deaf?¡± The stone replied derisively. A ¡®hologram¡¯ of another stone appeared just three inches above the head of the actual stone. With how this stone was flickering as it moved, it looked as though it was ¡®turning¡¯ around to scan the room. ¡°It¡¯s you¡­so I was found by you after all. Good. I wasn¡¯t disappointed then.¡±


    The hologram flickered yet again, looking as though the stone was nodding its head, to which, Bai Yunfei felt a little strange about. It really did feel like to him that this stone was giving him a ¡®cursory look-over¡¯, but this stone had no eyes, so it was strange how it was ¡®looking¡¯ at him.


    As strange as the situation was, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t exactly feel like it was a ¡®dangerous¡¯ situation. Had it been such a ¡®dangerous¡¯ situation, he would¡¯ve thrown the stone at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°What¡­what kind of object are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not an object, pah. You¡¯re the real object here¡­I¡¯m a spirit, a spirit of the armament, you understand?! How haven¡¯t you seen one before? Don¡¯t you have Sentinel? How do you not know then?¡±


    The voice of disdain he was hearing from the stone confused Bai Yunfei, but the stone paid no heed to that.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± The stone gasped after a moment¡¯s silence, ¡°Sentinel? ¡­Sentinel?! Why can¡¯t I sense Sentinel¡¯s presence?! What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    The hologram of the stone rose a little higher up as it spoke. Soon, it was at eye-level with Bai Yunfei so that it could study the Soul Sentinel Scarf on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead. At the same time, Bai Yunfei could feel the pulsations from the Soul Sentinel Scarf grow stronger and stronger. The spirit within the stone was ¡®communicating¡¯ with the Soul Sentinel Scarf somehow.


    ¡°Nothing¡­there¡¯s nothing! Why! Sentinel¡¯s presence is gone!¡± Came the incredulous response two seconds later. Lowering its head, the stone ¡®glared¡¯ at Bai Yunfei, who could feel the ¡®anger¡¯ radiate from the stone.


    ¡°What have you done to Sentinel?! Why can¡¯t I feel Sentinel¡¯s sentience?!¡±


    Something within Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind started to shake with each word spoken by the stone. ¡°I¡­what have I done?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, confused. ¡°You recognize the Soul Sentinel Scarf?! It had ¡®sentience¡¯ before? It was like this when I got it. I did sense a ¡®soul¡¯ inside of it, but it never had any sentience before.¡±


    ¡°Impossible!! Sentinel was fine the last time I saw him! He was a bit stupid but he could still talk at the very least! How is he like this now?!¡± The stone pressed on.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know¡­¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°I said it before, it was like this when I found it. It was also sealed, I had a lot of trouble when unsealing it¡­¡±


    ¡°Sealed?!¡± The stone sounded taken aback, ¡°Sealed you say? Is that true?¡±


    ¡°Without a doubt.¡±


    ¡°Sealed¡­a spirit will only become sealed when there¡¯s damage done to it. How was Sentinel damaged?¡± The stone muttered, primarily to himself rather than Bai Yunfei.


    It ¡®turned¡¯ back to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Are you Sentinel¡¯s master already? You said it was sealed, and that you unsealed it? You¡¯d have to be an Emperor or so¡­oh. Just what did you do to me earlier! What did you do? And why didn¡¯t you ask for permission before messing with my workings?!¡±


    ¡°Ho¡ªhold on a second¡­¡± Bai Yunfei waved his left hand as if to reassure the stone¡¯s hologram. ¡°You¡¯re asking too many questions, at least let me ask first, yes? What are you? The spirit of this Regalia? How does a stone become a Regalia? What can you do?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m the spirit of the Core Stone.¡± The stone ¡®nodded¡¯. ¡°I am the Regalia known as the Core Stone. My name is Xiao Fang; that was the name given to me by master Tianhun.¡±


    ¡°Core Stone?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°What can the Core Stone do?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know even that?¡± Xiao Fang gasped, ¡°The Core Stone is the pinnacle of space-type soul armaments. There¡¯s thousands and thousands of kilometers of space inside, like a world within a world.¡±


    ¡°Kilometers of space?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out with bulging eyes, ¡°Is the stone an equipment like a space ring? But with a much greater area of storage?!¡±


    A space-type soul armament with that large of a volume of storage¡ªwhat kind of item was that?! The normal space ring was no more than just a few meters in storage, with the larger ones being several dozen meters usually. The Violet Soul Ring Bai Yunfei had was only capable of nearly a hundred meters in storage, and that was already considered a tremendous amount. But this Core Stone boasted of a volume almost infinitely larger than that!


    ¡°Space ring?¡± Xiao Fang snorted. ¡°How can an inferior product like that be compared to the Core Stone? It¡¯s not just a place of storage. It¡¯s a ¡®world¡¯. The environment of the Core Stone is no different than to the world outside of it, didn¡¯t you already come inside before?¡±


    ¡°No different than the world outside of it? I went in before?¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked.


    ¡°You mean¡­the spatial pocket?! The pocket I went in before was the world inside the Core Stone?!¡±


    ¡°That space was just an artificial construct I made, not the genuine world of the Core Stone. You¡¯ve not the right to enter, but in any case, it¡¯s origins are based on that world. I only created a secondary pocket to that world for people to enter. So in simpler words, what you entered was an artificial layer and extension of that world.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±Bai Yunfei thought back to the explanation he got from Zheng Kai earlier in regards to spatial pockets. Between that and what Xiao Fang was telling him, Bai Yunfei was completely befuddled. ¡°So you¡¯re saying¡­the spatial pocket was created by you? Everything?¡±


    ¡°Something like that. I created the pocket, but the collapse was a result of your actions. It was only just a weak pocket of space and unable to withstand the energy of a Soul King. With so many people fighting and killing each other inside, there was definitely no way it¡¯d be able to handle anything after that. I had no other choice but to throw you all out.¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked several times again. He hadn¡¯t thought that Xiao Fang would be so powerful to create a pocket like that. Still not quite sure of what was going on, he asked, ¡°Then¡­why did you do that?¡±


    ¡°I¡­can¡¯t tell you that.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­what?!¡± The shout Bai Yunfei made then was the loudest one yet; he hadn¡¯t expected such a response.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you tell me?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s important information I can only tell my master, which you are not.¡±


    ¡°Your master?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°The Core Stone is in my hand, so doesn¡¯t that make it mine? Am I not allowed to be your master?¡±


    ¡°You think just holding onto me would make you my master? What do you think I am, a piece of trash soul armament?! How naive¡­¡± Xiao Fang cried out with disdain, ¡°The Core Stone is a Regalia, and I, Xiao Fang, am its spirit. I am the Core Stone, and the Core Stone is me. If I don¡¯t agree, then the Core Stone will never accept you as its master and you will never be able to use it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was speechless. He never thought that he¡¯d have to gain consent of the soul armament of all things. Today would mark the third time he had ever any experience with a Regalia, and yet this one experience with the Core Stone was drastically different to his experiences with the Nephrite Throne and the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    The experience he was having with the Core Stone was leaving him dumbfounded, and even just a little bit ¡®revereful¡¯ for it.


    ¡°Then¡­what do I have to do to be recognized?¡±

 Chapter 822: Conditions

    This was a first for Bai Yunfei. Negotiations with a soul armament of all things.


    Things were starting to make sense though. This would explain why he wasn¡¯t able to see the stats of the Core Stone. Without Xiao Fang¡¯s approval of Bai Yunfei being the master, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it.


    The image of the stone shimmered upon hearing the question of Bai Yunfei. It said nothing for several seconds, as if thinking to itself.


    ¡°Hm¡­well to be my master, you¡¯d need to agreeable to my eye¡­¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    A mental sweatdrop fell from within Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Tianhun always said that to be a man is to be indomitable and without guilt. And to not lose one¡¯s way even after the death of thousands. A man can¡¯t kill whenever he wants, wherever he wants¡­.like that black-robed guy. I knew at once I wouldn¡¯t like that guy. Him killing so many people nearly messed up my ¡®test¡¯....but you¡¯re an agreeable one at the very least. You might not be a space-type soul cultivator like I hoped, but you¡¯ve Sentinel¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about, Xiao Fang. What test?¡± Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but pick up on a few of the things the stone was muttering. ¡°Are you saying that the fight for the Extreme King Pills was just a ¡®test¡¯ to see who¡¯d become your master?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. That was my plan.¡± Xiao Fang replied. ¡°I drifted in nothingness for a very long time. Through a crack in that, I was able to reach the area where you first found me. I rested there for a very long time. But nobody came.


    ¡°Even if someone did come, there was no way they¡¯d be able to notice me. I had no choice. I had to cause a stir. So I decided to use the Extreme King Pills to draw people¡¯s attention to me where I could then find and pick a master.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± This was shaping up to be a very strange series of events. Xiao Fang talking about using the Extreme King Pills in such a way so easily was especially surprising to Bai Yunfei. Everything was surprising, really. The fact that the Core Stone was a superpowered space-type soul armament and the fact that it was a Regalia. Just what other things could be hidden in there? And if the Extreme King Pills was just one of the things inside, what other goodies could be had?!


    That last line of thought sparked curiosity in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. ¡°Xiao Fang, could you tell me what kind of criteria there are for one to gain your approval?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Xiao Fang muttered, ¡°You tell me first. What did you do to me? How can you deepen your synchronization with me without my knowledge or permission?¡±


    ¡°Synchronization?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯m not aware of what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?!¡± Xiao Fang exclaimed, ¡°What kind of joke is this? I can feel a very faint connection between the two of us already. You¡¯ve clearly done something to deepen the unity between us while I was asleep. That¡¯s why I was woken up in the first place. I would¡¯ve needed a few dozen days before I recovered from the collapse of the pocket otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­are you talking about my ¡®upgrades¡¯? And synchronization¡­is that the same as soul compatibility?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It can be said to be soul compatibility. But upgrade? What is that?¡±


    ¡°Upgrade is¡­a special method of mine that can refine and strengthen soul armaments.¡±


    ¡°Refine you say? Are you a crafter?!¡±


    ¡°Yes. I am from the Crafting School.¡±


    ¡°I see now. Refining can probably cause an effect like that¡­.wait! That¡¯s not right! What joke are you playing at now! How can the Core Stone simply be refined, even an Emperor can¡¯t do something like that! How do you have that ability then?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­well, I won¡¯t lie to you. I¡¯ve a very special power that allows me to easily strengthen any soul armament.¡±


    ¡°A special power? What mean you by that? What is this ¡®upgrade¡¯ of yours?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like this¡­¡± Bai Yunfei took the stone back into his hand. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Soul Compatibility: 2%


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°What are¡­eh? Eh?! Ho¡ªhold on! What¡­what¡¯s all this?! What did you do, what did you do?!¡± Completely shocked, all Xiao Fang could do was stutter and demand from Bai Yunfei what had just happened.


    ¡°Take a look. This is the ¡®upgrade¡¯ I¡¯m talking about. My luck¡¯s pretty good right now, I managed to succeed.¡±


    ¡°Quit playing around!! What is this?! This is impossible!!¡± Xiao Fang repeated. ¡°Just by saying a single word?! You didn¡¯t even move and I felt the unity between us grow even stronger. What kind of arcane art is this?!


    ¡°Eh? Wait¡­¡±


    Xiao Fang picked up on something.


    ¡°The space¡­the space inside the Core increased! What is this! Did you do this too?!¡±


    ¡°The space increased?¡± Repeated Bai Yunfei. The only information he got from the upgrade was just the increase in upgrade level and soul compatibility. When he thought about it though, it was probably the still-hidden result of being upgraded.


    ¡°So upgrading can increase the space of storage even¡­¡± He nodded to himself. ¡°This is the power of upgrading. This is how I can make soul armaments stronger.¡±


    ¡°This¡­this is¡­¡± Xiao Fang didn¡¯t know how to respond.


    ¡°This is unbelievable. It doesn¡¯t even make sense¡­have I drifted for so long in that abyss of nothingness that the entire world has changed? It can¡¯t be, can it? What year is this even?¡±


    ¡°Year? It¡¯s 2015 of the Tianhun calendar.¡±


    ¡°2015?!¡± So I¡¯ve been stuck in this place for a millennium?!¡±


    ¡°A millennium!?¡± Gasped Bai Yunfei. ¡°In nothingness? What even is that? And how could you drift for an entire millennium like that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the layer between each plane of existence. My last master had an intense battle with another, and I was dropped into a crack that led to that space of nothingness for an entire millennium as a result.¡±


    ¡°This ¡®upgrade¡¯ of yours,¡± Xiao Fang continued, ¡°What is it exactly? Is it some sort of new art that the soul cultivators of today have invented?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely not something anyone has ¡®invented¡¯. I¡¯ve said it before, this is my ¡®superpower¡¯. I¡¯m the only person in this world with the ability. As for what it is¡­I¡¯m not sure myself actually. I can just upgrade soul armaments with a thought if I want.¡±


    ¡°With just a thought!? Isn¡¯t that totally insane?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shrugged.  This wasn¡¯t a question with specifics he could answer.


    ¡°Then keep on upgrading the Core Stone and I¡¯ll see what exactly is going on.¡± Xiao Fang spoke.


    To this, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t respond right away. ¡°If I help you, will that mean you¡¯ll recognize me as your master?¡±

 Chapter 823: Upgrading the Core Stone

    ¡°What?¡± Gasped Xiao Fang, ¡°Are you negotiating with me?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± Came Bai Yunfei¡¯s response. ¡°My Upgrade Technique is very powerful for you, is it not? If I increase the capabilities of the Core Stone without becoming the master for it, wouldn¡¯t I basically be doing free work for another? If the Core Stone is mine, then it¡¯s only natural that I¡¯ll do all I can to upgrade it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Xiao Fang had never met such a negotiating person before, but what Bai Yunfei said did have some merit to it. His Upgrade Technique was a wonder to behold, and the sensation of being upgraded was equally unforgettable. Being upgraded had an allure Xiao Fang wanted more of and was impatient for.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s words would require some consideration over before a response could be given.


    As a rather patient person, Bai Yunfei naturally decided to wait for Xiao Fang¡¯s response.


    ¡°This ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯ of his is magical, there¡¯s no doubting that. Even Tianhun didn¡¯t have an ability like that. It¡¯s ¡®power¡¯ that goes beyond common sense. It doesn¡¯t even matter how he got this power to begin with, it¡¯s real, and that¡¯s the miracle in itself! I have to let him keep ¡®upgrading¡¯ me¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m not just getting stronger from being ¡®upgraded¡¯, it¡¯s somehow increasing the compatibility between him and I. If he keeps upgrading me, I¡¯ll end up having no choice but to accept him as my master anyhow. I might as well allow him to upgrade me. He¡¯s the one that found me and passed my test anyway¡­


    ¡°Fine.¡± Xiao Fang relented. ¡°I¡¯ll agree if you can ¡®upgrade¡¯ me until I¡¯m satisfied.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparkled with joy. This was a bountiful answer he hadn¡¯t expected¡ªso easily at least. He acquiesced nonetheless, ¡°To what extent would you be satisfied with my upgrading?¡±


    ¡°If you can expand the space within the Core Stone by a tenth, then I¡¯ll accept you as my master.¡±


    ¡°A tenth? How much have I expanded it so far?¡±


    ¡°A fifth.¡±


    ¡°Just a fifth?¡± Bai Yunfei murmured. If upgrading the Core Stone to +6 equated to a 5% increase in volume, then +10 would most likely be enough to get him over that threshold imposed on him.


    ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll do it!¡±


    He took the Core Stone into his hand without delay. ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    There was a shiver of light when Xiao Fang heard that one word. He was eagerly anticipating the feel now.


    ¡°Ow! That hurt!! You! You¡­what have you done? Did you lie to me?!¡±


    Rather than the pleasant sensation of being upgraded, the stone felt a sharp stab of pain instead and its hologram flickered in accordance to its pain.


    ¡°Eh? It hurt?!¡± Bai Yunfei looked surprised by Xiao Fang¡¯s reply. Confused, he thought for a moment.


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    A sheepish grin appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°Sorry about that¡­the upgrade failed and you dropped a level¡­¡±


    ¡°Failed? Upgrading can fail?!¡±


    ¡°Success is only called success if there¡¯s such a thing called failure. But don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll take just a few more times and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be back on tip-top shape.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you lie to me! Is it easier to fail or succeed? Your failure actually hurt me, I feel the space shrinking even. But more importantly, that actually hurt!¡± Xiao Fang groused with enough anger and indignation.


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was naturally surprised to hear of this. He never thought about the ¡®pain¡¯ a soul armament might feel after failing to be upgraded, besides when it disintegrated. ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t do any damage if it fails. I can easily bring back whatever was missing after a success.¡±


    He coughed once to recompose himself. Touching at the Luck Pendant behind his robes, Bai Yunfei whispered, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    ¡°Ah¡­this is bliss¡­¡±


    A comfortable groan escaped from the stone before Bai Yunfei could even register that the upgrade had succeeded.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡± Bai Yunfei took this as a sign to continue.


    Upgrade Successful


    Once again, the upgrade succeeded, meaning the stone was now +7.


    ¡°I¡¯m even stronger now! This feels so good¡­again, I want more¡­¡±


    Another blissful moan escaped from the stone. Bai Yunfei felt himself blanch at the responses from the stone.


    Admittedly, Bai Yunfei felt like if this continued, he¡¯d forget about the chance of the stone blowing up if he got carried away. He furrowed his eyebrows, not very sure of what to do.


    ¡°Ah, how could I forget about that?¡± He slapped his forehead.


    Waving his left hand, he took out a small chicken-sized egg from his space ring.


    It was a +8 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    Pressing it against the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei tried again.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    When that succeeded, he took a +9 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone and swiftly upgraded the Core Stone again.


    With how the moans and groans of the stone were starting to permeate more than just Bai Yunfei¡¯s room, it would be especially worrying if someone outside misconstrued the noise to be something else¡­


    Bai Yunfei waved his left hand again to bring out another white stone¡ªthis one the size of a goose egg¡ªit was the +10 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    The expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was far grimmer this time. It wasn¡¯t as though he wasn¡¯t confident about his chances, but that he was prepared for the changes of the upgrade.


    It was possible that he might not reach the goal Xiao Fang set for him with this upgrade. And if that was the case, he wouldn¡¯t be able to randomly upgrade the stone afterward. This was a last chance of sorts.


    Taking in a deep breath, Bai Yunfei put the two stones together.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    There was still not even a single line to be found on the Core Stone¡¯s stats even after upgrading it to +10. But that wasn¡¯t of much importance to Bai Yunfei. He was completely focused on the Core Stone in his hand.


    He was unable to see how big of a change happened to the Core Stone since he was unable to see its stats. That wasn¡¯t what he was looking for though either. As the Guaranteed Upgrade Stone dissolved into white mist to enter the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei made sure to feel for the ¡®energy¡¯ that was flowing with the mist.


    He didn¡¯t know if he was just ¡®familiar¡¯ with the energy or because of the unique nature of the equipment he was upgrading, but he could clearly feel the difference in the different energies this time.


    An indescribable feeling flowed into his mind, to which he quickly ignored in favor for trying to feel for something that was already starting to fade from him¡­


    In a matter of moments, the atmosphere around the Core Stone was already returning back to normal.


    While Bai Yunfei was busy chasing after that feeling, the groans from Xiao Fang came to an immediate stop and replaced with a cry of surprise¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­the Planar Laws!! What in the world!!?¡±

 Chapter 824: Fidelity of the Regalia

    ¡°Planar Laws? What are you talking about, Xiao Fang?¡±


    Having been caught up in his thoughts, Bai Yunfei was jolted out from them in surprise when Xiao Fang cried out.


    ¡°You¡­you¡­were you using the Planar Laws? How is that possible?!¡±


    Incredulous, Xiao Fang asked Bai Yunfei a question it itself could hardly believe.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow, ¡°What was that? What¡¯s this ¡®Planar Law¡¯?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know it?!¡± Xiao Fang grew even more incredulous at his response. ¡°I clearly felt the Planar Laws in that one moment! So the power you were using to ¡®upgrade¡¯ me was coming from the Planar Laws! I almost missed it at first, but I caught hint of it in that last time¡­that was definitely the Planar Laws! But¡­I don¡¯t see how you can even use the Planar Laws! You¡¯d have to be a Saint¡­no, no. This is impossible, but clearly, you¡¯ve done the impossible. How?¡±


    The more it spoke, the more Xiao Fang¡¯s voice quivered with uncontained emotions as if it was starting to doubt the validity of its own perception.


    ¡°The Planar Laws¡­so that is what the Upgrade Technique lies on?¡± Bai Yunfei thought. ¡°I guess I finally know what kind of ¡®power¡¯ I¡¯ve been using then¡­


    ¡°This ¡®Planar Law¡¯ you¡¯ve been talking about, what exactly is it? How do you control it?¡±


    ¡°Planar Laws are what constitutes this world. The fundamental principles and roots that create and govern this world to make what is common sense, well, common sense. From how wood can catch fire or how water extinguishes fire. Or how objects that go up must eventually come back down. Or the feeling of hunger and the need to eat. How people grow old and die of old age¡­everything. These are all stipulations of the Planar Laws.


    ¡°These Planar Laws also govern how you soul cultivators cultivate soulforce, manipulate elemental energy, and the basis of supremacy between the five elements and subsidiary elements. Everything you could possibly know stems from the fact that these ¡®Planar Laws¡¯ made it such.¡± Xiao Fang explained.


    ¡°But ¡®control¡¯? That¡¯s laughable. An Emperor wouldn¡¯t be able to do such a thing. The only ones that could comprehend the Planar Laws on a substantial level are the Saints, let alone make ¡®use¡¯ of them. Saints are the ones who can truly understand the Planar Laws and walk the Way of the Law of Truth.¡±


    ¡°The root of the world?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out. It absolutely stupefied Bai Yunfei that such a thing could exist¡ªEmperors and Saints¡­no wonder Xiao Fang was a spirit of the armament. Even its words was shocking to hear.


    ¡°Are you sure that the energy you felt when being upgraded was because of these ¡®Planar Laws¡¯?¡± Bai Yunfei asked just to be sure.


    ¡°Absolutely. When I traveled with Tianhun, I met many Emperors and Saints that made use of the Law of Truth. I was even there when Tianhun started his studies on the Law of Truth and managed to make use of a little of its powers. That was without the Planar Laws.¡± Xiao Feng spoke with absolute confidence. ¡°But brat, what kind of art is this ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯. And how can it call upon the Planar Laws?¡±


    ¡°Tianhun¡­¡± Bai Yunfei repeated the name with reverence. He knew that this was most definitely referring to the progenitor and founder of the Tianhun Empire, Wu Tianhun. A legendary figure beyond all else and previous owner of the Ten Great Regalia. The one who unified the warring continent and become something like a god to all humans that lived now.


    He had to admit, Bai Yunfei was extremely curious about what Xiao Fang said to be the ¡®Law of Truth¡¯ Tianhun was supposedly dabbling in. But that was a matter for another time. He had more important matters to attend to, such as becoming the master of the Core Stone.


    Eyeing the hologram of the stone, Bai Yunfei said, ¡°I¡¯ve finished upgrading you, Xiao Fang. I¡¯m sure that the space within the Core Stone has grown by at least a tenth of what it was before, right? Will you recognize me as your master now?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    Xiao Fang looked hesitant.


    ¡°Well that does seem to be the case¡­but why did we have to stop? If you can somehow use this energy, then you should keep on upgrading me until I¡¯m thirty or forty percent bigger than before. Or maybe even double my original size, I¡¯d definitely approve of you then¡­¡±


    ¡°Thirty or forty percent? Or double?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open. ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too greedy here? Don¡¯t you see how ridiculous something like that sounds? The Core Stone has already been upgraded ten times; that¡¯s the highest we can go while remaining in the ¡®safe zone¡¯. If I try to upgrade you and fail, then it won¡¯t be an issue of you dropping a level, it¡¯d mean your total destruction! Failure from this point onwards means the disintegration of the soul armament. I¡¯m not even confident about what will happen to a Regalia since I¡¯ve never experimented on it before.


    ¡°But if you¡¯re really interested in me upgrading you and you don¡¯t care about potentially being reduced to dust, then by all means¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! Disintegration?! Turned to dust?!¡± Xiao Fang shouted.


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me that if you upgrade the Core Stone and fail, I¡¯ll be destroyed?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my most likely guess, yes¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. He took out an ordinary piece of equipment he had already upgraded to +10.


    ¡°Allow me to demonstrate. This is a soul armament I upgraded to +10 already. And¡­upgrade.¡±


    He used the Upgrade Technique.


    Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    Just as he expected, the upgrade failed. The dagger in his hand immediately turned into dust and was blown away into the wind.


    ¡°It¡­it broke apart?!¡± Xiao Fang let out a sound that was filled with disbelief. He didn¡¯t see Bai Yunfei do anything that might suggest anything underhanded, but the dagger had indeed disintegrated as he said it would.


    ¡®Fear¡¯ stroke at Xiao Fang¡¯s mind at the thought of it sharing the same fate¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s a very weak pulse of energy, but that is without a doubt the Planar Laws. He¡¯s right. As I thought, there was a limit to this ridiculous art of his¡­¡±


    ¡°So, Xiao Fang. Want me to continue upgrading?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s question came ringing into Xiao Fang¡¯s mind as it was muttering to itself.


    ¡°Forget it. We can stop things here then¡­¡± Xiao Fang declined. Now that it knew that this ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯ had something to do with the Planar Laws, Xiao Fang wasn¡¯t willing to risk its life on this chance even if it was confident on its sturdiness as a Regalia.


    Bai Yunfei grinned. This was the response he expected. He would¡¯ve refused to do the upgrade even if Xiao Fang said yes. He was even more reluctant to take on the risks than Xiao Fang.


    ¡°Now then¡­tell me. Are you going to accept me as the master of the Core Stone now?¡± Bai Yunfei asked again.


    ¡°Haha fine. I won¡¯t make things hard for you anymore.¡± Suddenly, Xiao Fang¡¯s voice started to sound a great deal more amicable than before. ¡°You found me after all, that¡¯s more than enough to be considered my master for this generation. I¡¯m only the spirit of the Core Stone, and the Core Stone is a soul armament. If a strong soul cultivator wants to use it, then I won¡¯t refuse them to be my master unless I disliked them.¡±


    It took a pause here.


    ¡°I can feel that the unity between the Core Stone and you has already reached thirty percent or so. You could easily become its master if it was just a little higher, but leave it to me. Send some of your soulsense into the Core Stone along with a bit of your essence originseed.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Oh, alright¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was a little slow on the uptake, but he quickly did as Xiao Fang said.


    ¡°Bz¡­¡±


    A buzzing sound immediately erupted from the very depths of his soul the moment Bai Yunfei allowed some of his soulsense into the Core Stone. A mysterious sensation floated from within his mind into the Core Stone, and from there, he could sense something living inside the Core Stone. That was most likely Xiao Fang. The presence in the Core Stone wrapped around the sliver of his essence originseed as if fusing with it. Then like if properly catalyzed, the presence quickly started to branch out into a myriad of complex lines to form a matrix of sorts¡­


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The pain to his soul came abruptly. Like if it was being poked by a sharp needle, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was being pulled at by something with such great pain that forced Bai Yunfei to cry out from it. But just as quickly as it came, the pain went.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei? Are you alright?¡± Xiao Qi gave a concerned chirp from the rafter he was. He had been watching Bai Yunfei this entire time in dumb shock.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded at the bird before turning back to the floating image of the stone in front of him. ¡°What did you just do, Xiao Fang?¡±


    ¡°Swearing fealty, what else?


    ¡°You are now the master of I and the Core Stone and will remain to be until the day you die.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­it¡¯s done already?! It¡¯s that simple?!¡±


    ¡°Were you thinking of something else?¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked. He looked down at the physical stone in his hand. Indeed, there was now a special connection he was feeling between him and the stone. It was a familiar feeling, just like¡­the feeling of a soulbound armament!


    ¡°Has¡­has the Core Stone become my soulbound armament?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened wide open. ¡°Oh right, the stats!!¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened, but this time with the light of impatience as he quickly tried to look at the stats.


    In the next second, a series of information started to flow into his mind¡­

 Chapter 825: A Powerful Attribute

    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Equipment Effect 1: Create a pocket world a thousand kilometers in diameter identical to the real world.


    Can freely manipulate the Laws of the pocket world.


    Equipment Effect 2: Gain ability to sense spatial energy within fifty kilometers.


    Equipment Effect 3: Gain ability to teleport anywhere within a perimeter of fifty kilomters:


    Can teleport instantly if within a single kilometer


    Charge up period of 1 second if distance is less than 5 kilometers.


    Charge up period of 2 seconds if distance is less than 25 kilometers.


    Charge up period of 3 seconds if distance is greater than 25 kilometers.


    Cannot teleport if the surrounding spatial energy is disturbed.


    Cooldown of 3 seconds.


    Additional Attribute: Amplify Equipment Effect 1 by 15%, Equipment Effect 2 by 10%, and Equipment Effect 3 by 10%.


    Soul Compatibility: 85%


    +10 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce t osend any target within ten meters into a sealed dimension for two seconds.


    Target cannot attack and cannot be attacked.


    Target maintains original visibility.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Word by word, Bai Yunfei read the information slowly over the course of several seconds. The more he read, the more his eyes widened, and by the time he was done reading, the grin on his lips was practically splitting his face.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    He exhaled. Slowly trying to regain his calm after reading the stats of the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei started to mutter to himself.


    ¡°No wonder it¡¯s a Regalia, its stats and effects are utterly ridiculous¡­¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, what¡¯s wrong? What kind of stats does the Core Stone have?¡± Xiao Qi chirped curiously. He, of course, knew one or two things about Bai Yunfei¡¯s Upgrade Technique and how an equipment could have stats and effects.


    ¡°It¡¯s a space-type soul armament, so its effects are related to that.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°There¡¯s a total of three effects, the first being¡­¡±


    He could hardly stay calm as he explained the stats to Xiao Qi, and Xiao Qi could hardly believe his ears as he listened.


    ¡°You¡ªwhat? How...how do you know all that?!¡±


    Xiao Fang was even more shocked than Xiao Qi. He had never told Bai Yunfei or Xiao Qi about his abilities, and yet here Bai Yunfei was, telling the entire room exactly what it could do.


    ¡°Hold on!¡±


    But then Xiao Fang¡¯s ears caught onto something else. ¡°What did you say? +10 Additional effect? Send any target into a sealed dimension to avoid being attacked?! How come I didn¡¯t know I had that ability?!¡±


    ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s the result of my Upgrade Technique.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. He was very proud of his technique. ¡°Xiao Qi, come here. I want to try it out.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± The bird flew obediently over to Bai Yunfei.


    Still holding onto the stone, Bai Yunfei activated the +10 additional effect. He felt the stone vibrate for a second in his hand before the space around Xiao Qi started to twist and turn. Then without warning, Xiao Qi¡¯s aura disappeared!


    But the strange thing was¡­


    Xiao Qi was still right in front of him! Despite the space around him distorting his figure by a little bit, Xiao Qi was still right there for him to see.


    ¡°Are you already in another dimension?!¡± Bai Yunfei reached out to grab at Xiao Qi.


    To further add to his amazement, Bai Yunfei watched as his hand simply went straight through Xiao Qi! It was as if he was waving his hand through a mirage of some kind! Somehow, his hand had gone straight through Xiao Qi¡¯s figure!


    Two seconds went by before Bai Yunfei jerked his hand back just in time to watch as the distorted space around Xiao Qi disappear and return the bird back into the real world.


    ¡°A fold in space?!¡±


    Right as Bai Yunfei was thinking about the wonders of this additional effect, Xiao Fang chose then to pipe up, ¡°The layers of space folded onto each other, perfectly and instantaneously too! How¡­how did you do that?!¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me that did it, but you¡­¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°That¡¯s the +10 additional effect. Dimensional space¡­that¡¯s probably what you¡¯re referring to. This is huge¡­it can dodge any attack? I can use this to hide from any attack that might kill me then¡­¡±


    ¡°How¡­how is this something I did?!¡± Xiao Fang bellowed, ¡°That¡¯s something I can only do inside the world of the Core Stone, how could I ever do something like that in real space?! And additional effect? Is that what the Planar Laws changed in the Core Stone?!¡±


    ¡°Did you feel anything different, Xiao Qi?¡± Bai Yunfei asked the bird rather than answer Xiao Fang¡¯s question.


    ¡°It did feel like I entered somewhere different. I could see you, but my soulsense wasn¡¯t picking up anything. I even saw your hand go through my body. How weird¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded in satisfaction. ¡°In that case, I have one more thing I need to test¡­¡±


    ¡°What kind of test is that?¡± Xiao Qi asked.


    ¡°That moment of ¡®crossing¡¯ over into it. We¡¯ll look into it right now.¡± Bai Yunfei looked back to the stone.


    Once the cooldown time was over, Bai Yunfei waved his left hand to have two soul armaments appear within a bubble of elemental energy. It was just an ordinary hammer and rod, nothing special about the two of them.


    Bai Yunfei focused on the wintermelon-sized hammer first. Activating the +10 additional effect, he watched as the space around the hammer grow faint before grabbing onto the small rod and stabbing at the hammer with it.


    The rod went straight through the hammer¡¯s outline as he expected. But instead of pulling the rod back, Bai Yunfei held it there and waited.


    When two seconds was over and the additional effect wore off, the space around the hammer returned back to normal, but the hammer itself was half a foot to the left of where it used to be.


    ¡°I get it now¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded sagely. ¡°The dimension the target is sent to isn¡¯t the same as the original location the target used to be in. If something else is standing in the place where it used to be, then the target will be moved away once the effect wears off to the closest possible space¡­¡±


    Now with a much clearer perspective on the details of the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei looked at it with a happy smile. ¡°And the soul compatibility is at 85%....it¡¯s another soulbound armament. Does a Regalia swearing fealty just mean a soulbound armament? I thought it¡¯d become a lifebound armament¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s wishful thinking.¡± Xiao Fang replied. ¡°Swearing ¡®fealty¡¯ as you say is what you of the Crafting School call ¡®soulbound armaments¡¯, but it¡¯s not as simple as you think. Soul Unity¡ªor what you call soul compatibility isn¡¯t something you can normally increase like with ordinary soul armaments. Without the consent of us spirits, you¡¯ll never increase the unity between us. Of course, this ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯ of yours is an exception to this.¡±


    But Bai Yunfei was already thinking of another exciting prospect. ¡°Xiao Fang, you never told us about what kind of things are in the ¡®Core World¡¯, did you??¡±


    ¡°Core World?¡± Xiao Fang replied. ¡°Well fine then, you can come in and take a look for yourself¡­¡±


    ¡°Come in?¡± How do we go in?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the master of the Core Stone. You just need to think about it.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Then¡­aside from me, can other people go in that world? Also, if I go in, what happens to the Core Stone?¡±


    ¡°As long as they¡¯ve your permission, anyone can go into the Core World. The Core Stone can¡¯t go in itself, of course, so when you enter the Core World it¡¯ll drop to the ground.¡±


    ¡°I see. Then it¡¯s similar to how a space ring works, right? I just need to wrap the object in soulforce to store it?¡±


    ¡°No, you just need to confirm it with your soulsense and have the other person accept it to go in. But if the surrounding elemental energy is too chaotic, then it¡¯ll take some time for people to be sent in.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Several thoughts crossed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. He was reviewing the Core Stone¡¯s abilities, or rather, the ¡®effects¡¯ of what it could do.


    Now that he was clear on what the Core World was and the inner details about it, Bai Yunfei was ready to enter the Core World.


    With just a thought and a sliver of soulforce, he and Xiao Qi blinked out of sight from the room...


    ¡°Thud.¡±


    The Core Stone fell to the table. The hologram of Xiao Fang receded into the stone and the bubble of energy that used to be glowing from the stone was no longer there. It was for all intents and purposes just a regular rock now.

 Chapter 826: Core World

    All Bai Yunfei saw at first was a glimmer of light before it receded away to reveal a completely different landscape than the room Bai Yunfei used to be in.


    No longer were they in one of the rooms of the Underworld School. He wasn¡¯t even standing on the ground anymore. No, he was high up in the air in a vast expanse of a different world.


    Three kilometers beneath him stood a large range of mountainous trees. Above him was the azure sky and white clouds he was accustomed to. There weren¡¯t any harsh winds as he expected for being at such a height, but rather, a nice gentle breeze Bai Yunfei could hardly even described as being anything other than ¡®comfortable¡¯.


    ¡°Is this¡­the Core World?!¡±


    No matter how prepared Bai Yunfei felt like he was, the sight in front of him was still something to behold.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. This is the Core World.¡± Xiao Fang¡¯s voice called out to them.


    It spoke again, this time with a haughty air.


    ¡°My world.¡±


    Turning his head, Bai Yunfei watched as the image of a small stone appeared.


    Admittedly, Bai Yunfei had been quite curious about the shape Xiao Fang chose to be. ¡°Xiao Fang, why is your image that of a stone? Why not something of your own choosing? And if you don¡¯t mind me asking, are you a male or female?¡±


    ¡°I am the spirit of the Core Stone, of course I¡¯ll choose to look like it.¡± Xiao Fang replied, somewhat taken aback by the question. ¡°This is my ¡®original¡¯ form. As for my gender¡­I was born from the Core Stone, not a spirit that was sealed into it afterward. I have no gender.¡±


    ¡°Born?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out, ¡°Are you saying you were formed from within the Core Stone?! The stone gave birth to a sentient spirit?!¡±


    If Xiao Fang were to have a face that could show expression, it would surely be giving Bai Yunfei a derisive look at such a question. ¡°What¡¯s so strange about being born a sentient spirit? Did you think sentience can only be derived from living beings? In the ancient past, the world was filled with spirits. A blade of grass, a tree, a lake, a stone. Everything had a soul, a spirit. But when the world¡¯s energy began to flow irregularly, many forms of sentient life started to die out. A few lucky sentient spirits managed to survive the disruption, and I am one of them. It was nearly ten thousand years before my first master, Tianhun, found me and created the Core Stone from my being. That is how I became a Regalia.¡±


    Seeing the gobsmacked expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Xiao Fang carried on. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. ¡®Why have I never heard of everything have a spirit before?¡¯ That was from a time long past. An ancient past more than ten thousand years ago. Several thousand years ago, the world saw to it having less spirits. Two thousand years ago, there were hardly any objects that could be given sentient life. Tianhun scoured the continent in his process of Sainthood, and not even a trace of new spirits being birthed could be found.¡±


    ¡°I¡­I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei slowly nodded. ¡°You mentioned something about a sealed spirit, what are those?¡±


    ¡°By sealing the soul of a living being into a soul armament, they can become a spirit of the armament. Many soul armaments used to have a spirit in them, but almost all of them have disappeared in the last several thousand years. Most of the Ten Great Regalia are examples of those soul armaments with a soul sealed into them afterwards. We used to be sprinkled across the continent as inheritances throughout time, but Tianhun gathered us together.


    ¡°Inheritances¡­¡± Bai Yunfei repeated. ¡°Xiao Fang, how much do you know about the soul cultivators in your time? According to what you¡¯ve said so far, it was common for soul cultivators to have soul armaments with spirits inside of them. Why are there so few now then?¡±


    A detailed history of the continent had only started just two thousand years ago since the founding of the Tianhun Empire. Prior to that, any historical records was either lost or destroyed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know much, but it¡¯s probably five thousand¡­no, six thousand years ago. There was a world-wide disaster. The soul cultivator world practically collapsed with so many of the strongest dead, and humanity was a whole went nearly extinct. Though humanity managed to rebuild after that, it¡¯s a lost era with practically nothing left from before almost.¡±


    This was an explanation that made Bai Yunfei feel so ignorant about the world, like a frog that knew nothing but the world that was the well it lived in. This was the first time he heard of such a history. Everyone he spoke to before had only ever mentioned that the history of the Tianhun Continent had a few thousand years at most.


    ¡­¡­


    Recollecting himself with a sigh, Bai Yunfei slowly digested the information he was given and then looked down to the world beneath him.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. I was sent to a mysterious place back when I was in Black Cloud Valley and then relocated on the other side near Crushed Stone River where the pocket was. Was that your doing?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that was me. I spent nearly a hundred years to create that pocket to have such a large area. It just so happened that an entrance to the pocket was in the middle of Black Cloud Valley. I remember a small snake having reached the pocket a while back and took in a bit of the Extreme King Pill fragrance I had in the furnace before I threw it out¡­I felt Sentinel¡¯s aura at that time and was excited. I didn¡¯t even have time to ask though before you took out that class seven soulbeast. I was afraid of the pocket collapsing so I threw you out as well.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Bai Yunfei replied, he had finally an answer to yet another question that had been on his mind.


    ¡°The Core World has to have about five hundred kilometers, no, five hundred and fifty kilometers now, right? Am I standing at the center? Where is the edge?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°The edge? It¡¯s the curtains of chaotic space. I¡¯ll take you there.¡±


    Sooner than Bai Yunfei expected, the world in front of him exploded in light before he was brought to another place in the Core World.


    In front of him was a curtain of prismatic light with nothing else to be seen slightly before it.


    Looking at the scenery, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°The edge is the space in front of us, right? Then what¡¯s with the area before it?¡±


    ¡°This is the area where you just expanded.¡± Xiao Fang explained, ¡°But the landscape couldn¡¯t be created so quickly and from nothing. So it¡¯s a blank space for now, you can develop it later.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­how can I develop it?¡±


    ¡°The earth, mountains, plantlife, and all that.¡± Xiao Fang explained. ¡°You can just bring that stuff in here from the outside and I can turn this area into something similar.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then I¡¯ll make sure to do that soon enough.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°It looks really weird without anything being here. Let¡¯s go back to where we used to be.¡±


    ¡°Okay, no problem.¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s world exploded in light before he was brought back to where he was when he first entered the Core World.


    ¡°Is this the center of the Core World, Xiao Fang?¡±


    ¡°It is, why?¡±


    ¡°We were just at the edge of the world, so isn¡¯t that saying¡­you teleported us through such a large distance in no time at all?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about that? This is the Core World, my world. What I want, I do. What I wish, I will. I can even make my own laws. Instantaneous travel is nothing.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was thunderstruck by that line. Though he remembered seeing the ability to ¡®create his own laws¡¯, Xiao Fang confirming it was still something unbelievable. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­you can create your own Planar Laws in this world?! In other words¡­you are the equivalent to a ¡®god¡¯ in this world?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a wrong thing to say that I¡¯m like a ¡®god¡¯ here, but it¡¯s not completely right either. I can¡¯t create my own ¡®Planar Laws¡¯. This world isn¡¯t a proper ¡®plane¡¯ of existence to be begin with. It¡¯s a world formed within a dimension, I can¡¯t change the Law of Truth, so things such as dying from old age cannot be changed. In short, I can only change laws that relate to the Law of Energies.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. This was something that would need further research. But now was the time for the even bigger question¡­


    ¡°Xiao Fang, where are all the soul armaments, soul skills, treasures and all that?¡±


    Author Note: Dear readers, for the sake of painting a clear picture, let us assume the Core World has a radius of about 500 kilometers. Combined with the increase of 15% to its stats, that means the Core World will have an additional 15% increase to its area. Some readers might argue that this way of measuring is incorrect, but to think any more about the specifics of the area would make it a bit too hard to understand. Please don¡¯t pay too much attention to this tidbit.

 Chapter 827: A Pleasant Surprise

    Bai Yunfei looked to Xiao Fang expectantly. He was excited to hear for the answer.


    Just where was he right now? The inner world of one of the Ten Great Regalia, the Core Stone. A Regalia! One of the magical armaments of His Majesty and founder of the Tianhun Empire, Wu Tianhun. He was a peerless individual and powerfully strong. So what kind of things would a person like him leave behind in a storage device like the Core Stone?


    In his mind, Xiao Fang using the Extreme King Pills as ¡®bait¡¯ to find a master was far too extravagant a thing to do unless there were things in its possession that made even the Extreme King Pills a paltry object.


    ¡°Treasure? What treasure? There¡¯s no such thing like that in the Core World¡­¡±


    But much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s chagrin, Xiao Fang replied to him with a completely unexpected answer.


    ¡°No way?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed.


    ¡°You have to be joking, Xiao Fang, you¡¯re a Regalia! In this great world, how could there not be a great treasure or two?¡±


    ¡°There aren¡¯t any,¡± came Xiao Fang¡¯s reply. ¡°This might be my world, but it¡¯s not a place where things are stored. Why would I need to?¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± The muscles on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face twitched. ¡°But¡­didn¡¯t you have an entire furnace of the rare Extreme King Pills? Did you have nothing else but the Extreme King Pills then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I only had the Extreme King Pills. That was what my last owner managed to find. He was planning to give it to his disciples but then came across an enemy on his way back. For safekeeping while he fought, he had the furnace placed in my world and said to give it to the next destined master. As for soul armaments or other treasures such as medicines, my last master used it all up in his final battle. There¡¯s none left.¡±


    It was as if the entire world was crashing down onto Bai Yunfei. He felt like puking blood just hearing what Xiao Fang had to say. There had been nothing else in the Core World but the Extreme King Pills. And even worse, Xiao Fang had already used the Extreme King Pills as an ¡®award¡¯¡­


    ¡°Ugh¡­forget it. Chances to get treasure aren¡¯t very likely to come by. Lucky to live, unlucky to die, I should just be happy that I even got the Core Stone. I can¡¯t be too greedy. Avarice is a sin¡­¡±


    He sighed as a way to comfort himself.


    ¡°You seem disappointed?¡± Xiao Fang asked. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be though. I might not have treasures as you say, there are still things I can give¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?!¡± Bai Yunfei snapped straight up to look at Xiao Fang with excitement. ¡°What do you  mean?!¡±


    ¡°As I was saying, my previous master gave me those Extreme King Pills so I could pass it on to the next ¡®fated¡¯ one, or in short, my next master. Because of the unexpected outcome of my ¡®test¡¯, the entire furnace was destroyed. All thirty-six of those pills were reduced into fragrance and half of that was absorbed. I did manage to recover some of the fragrance, a decent sum that should still be more than enough for a single person¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you saying¡­that a portion of the Extreme King Pill fragrance was taken back into you?!¡±


    ¡°That is exactly what I¡¯m saying.


    ¡°Though I had my hands full with dealing with the collapse of the pocket, I did have enough time to take back a portion of the Extreme King Pill fragrance.¡±


    ¡°Really?! Then where is it right now?¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s right here.¡±


    Bai Yunfei watched as space nearby started to distort like ripples of water across the sky. Then, a red mist started to pour out from the distortion to disseminate through the place.


    ¡°This¡­this is the Extreme King Pill fragrance?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was beside himself. Unable to stop himself, he reached out with his right hand towards the mist and tried to grab at it despite it being only just mist.


    ¡°It might¡¯ve changed shapes from solid to gas, but the effects are still the exact same. That said, it won¡¯t be able to last for long, so I had it sealed elsewhere to preserve it. You might not be able to touch or feel it, but the fragrance will only last another few days before it¡¯ll disperse¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! It¡¯ll dissipate?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out, ¡°Then I should hurry up and absorb it all before it disappears!¡±


    Truth be told, Bai Yunfei had still been brooding over the fact that he hadn¡¯t been able to get the Extreme King Pills like the others did. If not for the fact that he managed to get the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve still been brooding over it.


    But now with Xiao Fang revealing that he had some of the Extreme King Pill fragrance, Bai Yunfei was overjoyed. And a little panicked when he heard that the fragrance would dissipate soon. He wanted to absorb it as fast as possible to avoid that problem.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, didn¡¯t I say that you¡¯d have a few days to absorb it?¡± Xiao Fang replied. ¡°I guarantee that you¡¯ll regret it if you absorb the fragrance now in the hurry you¡¯re in.¡±


    ¡°What? What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt right now? Absorbing the fragrance now might help you become a Soul King and still have some to spare, but it¡¯s a waste if you do so that way. It¡¯s not the most efficient way of absorbing it, and plus, you¡¯ll gain resistance to the Extreme King Pills, so the remaining portion won¡¯t be much help for you to become a Mid-stage Soul King. In any case, you¡¯ve a few days to absorb it all, which you don¡¯t have with the fragrance expiring soon¡­¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that¡­you¡¯ve a secret method of some kind to best make use of the Extreme King Pill fragrance?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re fast on the uptake.¡± Xiao Fang complimented him. ¡°That¡¯s exactly the case. There was something else my last master left me along with the Extreme King Pills. It¡¯s a specialized method meant for taking in large amounts of energy at once. It¡¯s called Realm Accretion.¡±


    ¡°Realm Accretion? That¡¯s a weird name¡­what does it do exactly?¡±


    ¡°Realm Accretion simply means to accumulate soulforce and stockpile realms. The way it works is as thus: when a soul cultivator is on the verge of breakthrough to a new realm, they can instead stockpile that energy just like one might allow wine to ferment. Once it reaches the peak of accretion, then this energy can be used all at once for an explosive power up.¡±


    ¡°Stockpiling realms¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. ¡°There¡¯s a way to do do something like that?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a secret technique that originated from the Alchemy School. A heaven-tier arte that was specifically meant for those alchemists to use with their medicines. Tianhun wasn¡¯t able to find it, but my previous master was able to do so when he found the furnace filled with the Extreme King Pills.¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that this Realm Accretion goes well with absorbing the Extreme King Pill fragrance? In that case, what kind of result can I expect?¡±


    ¡°According to what my last master said to expect, a person could take ten Extreme King Pills, use the Realm Accretion, and then watch as they go from a Late-stage Soul Exalt to a Late-stage Soul King.¡±


    ¡°What?! Late-stage Soul King?!¡± Though prepared for a ridiculous result, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t so prepared for a realm that high.


    ¡°You have to be joking?! A Late-stage Soul Exalt becoming a Late-stage Soul King after using the Realm Accretion? That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s skipping far too many steps isn¡¯t it?!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re making a fuss over nothing¡­¡± Xiao Fang replied. ¡°Even if the Late-stage Soul Exalt didn¡¯t use the Realm Accretion, they would¡¯ve broke through to become an Early-stage Soul King and then Mid-stage Soul King, but the Extreme King Pills won¡¯t help them from there on out. With the Extreme King Pills, this limit can be raised so they can become a Late-stage Soul King, it just needs more Extreme King Pills.


    ¡°Besides¡­shouldn¡¯t you be happy about this? Though this existed for several thousand years now, not a single person has been able to get a hold of this and such a bounty at the same time. This entire furnace of Extreme King Pills was said to be the handiwork of the last alchemists of the Alchemy School before it was eradicated during Tianhun¡¯s unification of the continent. But in the end, they weren¡¯t able to use it for their future savior and collapsed. The furnace went missing after that until a thousand years after where my last master found it.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but sigh after hearing all of that. He calmed himself down after thinking a little more about the situation. ¡°Then¡­will the amount of fragrance in front of me be enough to help me become a Late-stage Soul King?¡±

 Chapter 828: Soul Anchor Technique

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re not an idiot and learn Realm Accretion, you should be able to become a Late-stage Soul King with this amount.¡±


    Bai Yunfei found himself smiling yet again at this, his eyes wide open with glee and excitement. He¡¯d become a Late-stage Soul King with this technique?! This was something he couldn¡¯t even make up in his dreams.


    After a few more seconds, Bai Yunfei finally found himself calm enough to ask, ¡°Then¡­how long will it take to become a Late-stage Soul King if I were to use Realm Accretion?¡±


    ¡°That¡­depends. According to what the technique says, all that buildup of energy in a single realm will explode quickly in a very short amount of time. It¡¯s dependent on the person and their level. Some people will take months, other people will take just one. But if there¡¯s one similarity between people, the technique says that the longer you build up energy, the better the results will be. In any case, I¡¯ll tell you the details and then you can look over it on your own time.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then please impart this Realm Accretion onto me then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in anticipation.


    ¡°Will do. Focus on me now.¡± Xiao Fang spoke. The hologram of Xiao Fang glimmered once with light right before Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind started to buzz slightly. As if being connected to something, Bai Yunfei felt as though a mysterious technique was starting to flow into his mind.


    It took a moment for Bai Yunfei to realize what was being transmitted to him and that it was Xiao Fang that was the cause of this. Not one to be slow on the uptake, Bai Yunfei quickly gathered his wits to him and started to soak in the knowledge being given to him.


    Several moments passed before Bai Yunfei slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a drawn out breath.


    ¡°This is just too magical¡­how in the world did our precursors have the ability to create something like this? It boggles the mind really¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. He looked back to the Extreme King Pill fragrance, ¡°I¡¯ll wait until tomorrow morning after I greet the others before I focus on taking in the fragrance then. It¡¯ll take a few days for me to assimilate the fragrance into my body and allow for Realm Accretion to seal it up. From there, it¡¯ll be a slow wait¡­¡±


    ¡°Xiao Fang,¡± he looked back to the stone with a curious glance, ¡°do you have any other technique to give me?¡±


    Now that he knew Xiao Fang was a spirit of the armament well over two-thousand years old. Even if it was drifting in nothingness for a millenia or so, that was still another millenia in which Xiao Fang was around for, and not to mention Xiao Fang was once with Wu Tianhun himself. His later masters were most definitely people beyond ordinary measures as well, so Xiao Fang would most definitely know a thing or two.


    There might not be any soul armaments or treasure of worth in the Core World, but things such as soul skills could be transferred from person to person by means of mouth rather than using material objects. The Realm Accretion technique was an example of such, and Bai Yunfei was left wondering if Xiao Fang had anything else like that.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, but let me tell you this now. I¡¯m not some kind of archive. My previous master never told me anything about his old techniques or secrets. My ¡®memory¡¯ isn¡¯t all that good so I wouldn¡¯t have remembered much anyways. It was only because of the fact that the Realm Accretion technique pairs well with the Extreme King Pills that I even memorized it.¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s words were like a dagger that stabbed deep into Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart.


    ¡°But¡­I might not have many ¡®soul skills or techniques¡¯, there is one specific soul skill Tianhun had me memorize a long time ago. He said it was a soul skill that was well suited with the Core Stone¡­¡±


    ¡°So there is one?! Haha, Xiao Fang, what kind of soul skill is it?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a soul attack related soul skill. It¡¯s called the Soul Anchor Technique.¡±


    ¡°A soul attack skill!!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°Soul Anchor?¡± Anchoring souls¡­is it some sort of skill that freezes the soul of another?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, as you can tell from the name, ¡®soul anchor¡¯ refers to anchoring the soul of another person to where it is. They¡¯ll be unable to use soulforce or control their bodies when under its effects. It¡¯s a heaven-tier soul skill that works against even those with higher soulsense than the user. Even people of the same level of strength would have a hard time shrugging off the effects.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to use their soulforce or even be able to move?¡± Bai Yunfei gasped. An ordinary soul skill was something that jolted the soul and made soulforce circulation sluggish, but didn¡¯t freeze it. The other person would still be able to react and move accordingly, albeit a little slowly, so this Soul Anchor Technique was leaps and bounds greater than anything Bai Yunfei had heard before. If a Soul King were to attack a Soul Sprite, then the Soul Sprite would of course have their soul destroyed. But if a Soul King were to fight another Soul King, the soul attack would hardly do a thing but be a momentary distraction.


    But the Soul Anchor Technique was something that wasn¡¯t limited in such a fashion. If used on another person of the same level of strength, it would still have an effect! That alone made the technique a very powerful one.


    ¡°Uh¡­Xiao Fang, what did you mean by ¡®well suited to use with the Core Stone¡¯?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. The Soul Anchor Technique seemed wonderful. Even a moment¡¯s lapse during combat would be enough to decide the victor and loser, but he couldn¡¯t figure out just how this technique could be used in conjunction with the Core Stone.


    ¡°Do you think that the Core World is just an ordinary world?¡± Xiao Fang replied, ¡°Don¡¯t forget what I said before. I can freely control the ¡®Laws¡¯ of this world. In here, I¡ªyou as well¡ªam invincible! Think about it. If a person you couldn¡¯t defeat was sent here¡­what would happen?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes grew wide at the implications.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­that if I use the Soul Anchor Technique to freeze them in place, I can forcefully transport them into the Core World and fight them here?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly!


    ¡°You might have a chance to beat or kill them in one final blow if you use the Soul Anchor Technique, but in the case that doesn¡¯t work, or there¡¯s multiple enemies, or the enemy is even stronger than you are, the Soul Anchor Technique won¡¯t last long enough to be of much use to you. So in that case, use that short moment to transport them into the Core World! We could do whatever we want to them then. It¡¯ll only take a short few moments for even the strongest to perish in here¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s possible?!¡± Bai Yunfei was amazed and could hardly even say anything else after that. Bai Yunfei did think about bringing enemies over into the Core World to fight them before, but he gave up on the idea when Xiao Fang told him that the target would only be transported in if they didn¡¯t resist. With the Soul Anchor Technique, Bai Yunfei now had a way to lock onto his enemies and force them to not ¡®resist¡¯. Then, they could be forced into the Core World!


    If a person¡ªeven one that was stronger than Bai Yunfei¡ªwas to be brought into the Core World, how the fight go? They wouldn¡¯t be able to use any elemental energy while Bai Yunfei could. Was that even a fight still?


    So excited was Bai Yunfei that if not for the fact that Xiao Fang was an immaterial figure, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve wrung its shoulders with more force than intended. ¡°Please teach me this soul skill at once, Xiao Fang!¡±


    ¡°Are you really that excited for it? Your priorities are a bit lacking, isn¡¯t it?¡± Xiao Fang muttered. ¡°Fine then. Listen up then, I¡¯ll say it to you just once. It¡¯s not my fault if you don¡¯t memorize it¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Now that he was done learning the Soul Anchor Technique, Bai Yunfei could finally calm down enough to think about everything he had learned thus far. It was still hard to believe that this was reality, and Bai Yunfei felt like he was dreaming.


    ¡°Are you sure there¡¯s nothing else you can give me, Xiao Fang?¡±


    ¡°Of course. What else could I even give? Are the Extreme King Pills, Realm Accretion, and Soul Anchor Technique not enough for you?¡±


    ¡°Haha it is, I¡¯m more than satisfied¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Xiao Fang returned with Xiao Qi a moment later to go traveling around the Core World. With them being in a whole new world with so many fantastic things to view, Bai Yunfei had obviously wanted to go all around the area and take a good look.


    ¡°It really does look like the pocket from before¡­the rivers are identical, and so are the mountains. Isn¡¯t that one ¡®Mist Mountain¡¯ actually?¡±


    Every so often, Bai Yunfei would point out something he saw in the world and made parallels to the sight he saw back in the pocket.


    Then all of a sudden, he cried out, ¡°Ah! If that¡¯s the case, then¡­¡±


    He looked around the place for a moment longer. Not even waiting for Xiao Qi or Xiao Fang to ask him what he was doing, Bai Yunfei quickly flew towards the right side with meteoric speed¡­

 Chapter 829: A Vein of Boltgrass and a Ruined Garden

    ¡°Haha!! Just as I thought, it¡¯s really here!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s laughter could be heard echoing across the Core World.


    From his position halfway up a two hundred meter tall mountain, Bai Yunfei was staring at a large mountain with joy.


    A cliff wall with a small grassy area was right in front of Bai Yunfei. The grass that was growing here was especially strange. It wasn¡¯t green in color like normal grass, but a violet shade of light and was shaped like a bolt of lightning.


    Boltgrass!


    The wondrous object Bai Yunfei thought he had seen back in the pocket! It was only for a moment, but Bai Yunfei never saw it again after that. And yet, here it was now!


    ¡°What? What¡¯s so special about some purple-colored grass?¡±


    Xiao Fang asked Bai Yunfei suspiciously.


    ¡°Oh? You don¡¯t know?¡± Bai Yunfei whirled around to address the stone. ¡°This is boltgrass, an entire vein of it no less! Boltgrass is an extremely rare material for crafting! You were lying to me, Xiao Fang! I asked if there was anything like this and you said there wasn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Boltgrass? A vein of it?¡± Xiao Fang was still quite confused. ¡°What are these things?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know? How do you not know about something like this?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they just a few blades of weed? There¡¯s all sorts of plant life here in the Core World, what¡¯s so special about that?¡±


    ¡°How can you say this is like any ordinary weed?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were wide open with confusion for a moment before he realized the reason.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying this vein of boltgrass wasn¡¯t something someone else planted here, but was¡­naturally formed in the world?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying there¡¯s some rare ores in this mountain?¡± Xiao Fang asked, ¡°Then it has to have formed by itself over the years. Otherwise, I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that after two thousand years of existing like this, it¡¯s completely normal that the boltgrass would¡¯ve formed here.


    ¡°I¡¯ve a lot of uses for boltgrass, can I take some then?¡±


    ¡°Of course. This is your world now. Any vein you find is up to you to make use of.¡±


    ¡°Alright, don¡¯t mind if I do then!¡± Bai Yunfei whooped with joy before sending a ball of fire towards the cliff.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a loud explosion as the fireball exploded with the cliff wall and left behind a small crater several meters deep.


    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s rather deep.¡±


    The dust and smoke cleared away several moments later, allowing Bai Yunfei to see just what his handiwork had done. From the crater where his fireball landed, the boltgrass was all but gone except for the roots, and even those were scattered all around the crater. Seeing that, Bai Yunfei threw another fireball down at the cliff.


    A while later¡­


    ¡°Haha!! This is definitely a vein of boltgrass! An entirely large vein of it!¡±


    Bai Yunfei came leaping out from the bottom of the crater with a joyful laugh. In his hand was a large piece of violet ore.


    This ore was entirely violet in color and translucent like a dazzling gem. It had a soft sheen of violet light with a very faint streak of lightning in the middle of the ore. Also, it had a faint prickling sensation to Bai Yunfei as he held it.


    This was an object even the Crafting School didn¡¯t have. Boltgrass was merely just an object that their archives had records of.


    ¡°What a large chunk, it¡¯s as big as a watermelon almost. I could create a very large soul armament with this even if I were to get rid of the impure parts¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei spoke with glee to himself before storing the chunk into his space ring.


    ¡°I wonder what other kinds of goodies the Core World has¡­¡±


    Now that he knew about the vein of boltgrass, Bai Yunfei was excited to see what else the world had in store for him.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just a piece of ore? What could be so exciting about that¡­?¡± Xiao Fang muttered from the side. ¡°But now that you mention it, there¡¯s another area you might be interest in.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei swung his head over to smile at Xiao Fang¡¯s image. ¡°What area? Didn¡¯t you say no one stored any type of treasures in this world?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not treasure, but when it comes to natural resources, there should still be a fair bit in here. Hm¡­if I remember correctly, there¡¯s a garden of soulgrass somewhere¡­but it¡¯s probably a mess now. My last master used up all of the soulgrass last time, so I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s any left¡­¡±


    ¡°Soulgrass?!¡± Again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement. This was yet another are and exotic material he hadn¡¯t any of. ¡°The Core World has been cultivating soulgrass?! Where is it? Take me there at once.¡±


    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s go then.¡±


    By go, Xiao Fang was of course not talking about walking or even flying there. Through teleportation, the two were immediately transported to a completely different place. A valley several hundred meters long with a midway a hundred meters wide.


    The sight in front of Bai Yunfei was a powerful one to behold. Bai Yunfei was astonished by what he was seeing and even feeling. A rich fragrance of soulgrass was wafting up in the air and assaulting his nose with every sniff and bringing an electrifying sensation to his mind.


    When Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes adjusted to the new scenery, they flew wide open when they shifted over to the patch of plant life down below¡­


    It wasn¡¯t as though the valley was filled with plants, in fact, it was the opposite. There were hardly any plants to speak of aside from several dozen different types of plants.


    ¡°Soulboosting grass¡­?! And even a heart-calming fruit?! And that¡¯s skyfire flower! And seven of them!! That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei could hardly even gasp with how much shock he was feeling. Seeing the different types of flowers and fruits, Bai Yunfei was like a commoner who had just came across a pool of gold and silver.


    Soulboosting grass is, as its name implied, a type of grass that was capable of nourishing the soul and treat damage done to it. In legends, it was said that the soulboosting grass was the main ingredient for the mid-heaven tier medicine, the soulboosting pill.


    Heart calming fruit; a type of fruit capable of stabilizing the mind and dispelling any evil temptations. It was also very useful to have around when attempting to make a breakthrough.


    Skyfire flower. An extremely rare fire-type material that could greatly enhance the powers of any fire-type soul cultivator. Back when Bai Yunfei was in the Crafting School and trying to form his companion fireseed, one of the materials he used had been a two-thousand-year-old skyfire flower.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even name more than half of the materials standing right in front of him. But still, that only served to make him even happier.


    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s a thunderberry right there!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the only surprised, Xiao Qi was also having a moment of his own. Swiftly flying forward, he flew to where he spotted the thunderberry and quickly transformed into an even larger size to gulp down the berry in one go.


    This fruit was a familiar one to both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi. Back in Soulbeast Forest, the two of them had come across a thunderberry and had barely managed to survive the encounter with the soulbeast that had been guarding it. It was a memory still fresh on both their minds, but Xiao Qi was overjoyed to see the thunderberry here since not a single person or being would fight him for it now.


    ¡°As I thought, all that¡¯s left are some weeds. This garden is practically a wasteland ¡­¡±


    While Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were busy being overjoyed, Xiao Fang was sighing to itself in sorrow.


    ¡°We¡ªweeds?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei practically toppled over to the ground upon hearing that word. ¡°You¡­you¡¯re calling this a bunch of weeds?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing special¡­it¡¯s just a bunch of ordinary ingredients¡­¡± Xiao Fang muttered off-handedly, ¡°The rest are just the ones my last master wasn¡¯t able to use or just sprouted by the time of his death. After so many years of being stuck in nothingness and being unable to use the elemental energy, the garden has been left unable to be cultivated. I also forgot about this place too, so all that¡¯s left are the ones that just barely to survive unsupervised care. The nutrition in this area isn¡¯t so good either. But with some proper care, the plants here should grow a bit. Still, this amount should do you some good for now¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re calling this just ¡®ordinary ingredients¡¯?!¡± Bai Yunfei shouted. He was thunderstruck by this evaluation, his mind completely unable to comprehend the high level of standards Xiao Fang had for things.


    Moments passed before Bai Yunfei had his emotions all under control again. ¡°Xiao Fang, you said just now¡­you can use elemental energy to nourish the ingredients here?¡±


    ¡°I can. How else do you think these plants were grown? Normal plots of land wouldn¡¯t have this many plants otherwise¡­¡± Xiao Fang replied. ¡°This valley used to be teeming with elemental energy. It was a place where elemental energy gathered in tremendous amounts with enough energy to vitalize a person every inch. But after such a long period of negligence, there¡¯s hardly any left. I just need some time and I¡¯m sure I can bring this plot of land back to normal.¡±


    A spark of curiosity entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes at that. ¡°You can bring elemental energy from the outside world into this place? And then gather all of that energy here? Couldn¡¯t¡­couldn¡¯t that instead be used to help someone train?!¡±

 Chapter 830: Preparing to Train

    ¡°Train?¡± Xiao Fang responded. ¡°Of course you could. That¡¯s one of the main points of the Core World. If I concentrate, then I can have the entirety of the elemental energy in the Core World amplified and brought here. It¡¯ll definitely make training a lot faster than in the outside world. It¡¯s not as fast as if you were using the Nephrite Throne, but still¡­¡±


    ¡°Really?! Why didn¡¯t you say that earlier¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were wide-open at that, his face shining with radiant joy at the information he had just heard.


    ¡°There¡¯s too many things to even say, how am I supposed to say it all so concisely?¡± Grumbled Xiao Fang, ¡°I was going to tell you the next time you were planning to train.¡±


    Excited, Bai Yunfei clenched his fists. He could hardly contain the beating of his heart as he thought about the implications of this. So he could train here in the Core World at an even faster rate!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t a use for most of the ingredients in the garden right now. Most of them were rare strains he had no idea how to even use, and Bai Yunfei figured that since Xiao Fang was going to nourish the place, he may as well leave them here and let it continue growing for a little longer. Xiao Fang said it¡¯d remind Bai Yunfei when the time came at any case.


    He had more or less a good idea of what the Core World was and its finer points now. The rest of the things could be explored or looked into at a future point in time. There were more important matters to attend to.


    Although Xiao Fang did say that the Extreme King Pill fragrance would linger for a few days longer, Bai Yunfei was still in a hurry to get started. Things like this were always better to settle sooner rather than later, and Bai Yunfei wanted to start training as soon as possible.


    As much as he wanted to start now, Bai Yunfei knew that there was still one more thing he had to do before he could start. He¡¯d have to leave the Core World and say a few words to the first elder and the other people from the Underworld School before he could start.


    Making an excuse wouldn¡¯t be very hard. Since he did take part in the fight for the pills, Bai Yunfei could easily state that he needed a few days to go over what he had learned in solitude.


    ¡­¡­


    Back in Bai Yunfei¡¯s room, a single person suddenly materialized out of thin air onto the ground. It was Bai Yunfei. Xiao Qi was perched right on top of his shoulder looking as though neither of the two had even left from their room to begin with.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei eyed the Core Stone on top of the table with a relieved sigh. He felt like a lot had transpired in such a short amount of time, and a lot had been gained from it. Even now, he was still feeling the excitement from it. Bai Yunfei felt like a winner now after his trip into the Core World.


    ¡°Eh? It¡¯s already morning?¡±


    Judging from the hourglass situated on top of a shelf, Bai Yunfei concluded that it was already the morning of the next day. Looking out the window told him very little as the clouds were still obscuring the skies so that the place still looked as dark as night.


    Securing the Core Stone in his robes, Bai Yunfei took it and Xiao Qi with him outside to head to the room Long Lan was staying in.


    ¡°Yunfei, what were you¡­doing last night? I couldn¡¯t sense your auras at some point, why was that?¡± Long Lan asked both him and Xiao Qi as soon as the three were together.


    ¡°Hehe¡­we went to place you¡¯ll never be able to guess!¡± Xiao Qi chirped secretively.


    ¡°You went out?!¡± Long Lan sputtered, ¡°Impossible, I didn¡¯t sense your auras come out from your room before you two disappeared¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯ll tell you about it later. Let¡¯s first head on over to the others. Call Zheng Kai for me, I¡¯ll go meet with the first elder, Song Lin, and the others.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Long Lan nodded, realizing that now wasn¡¯t the time to be asking any questions. ¡°Zheng Kai already went out a while ago. He was here for about an hour to wait for you most likely, but he left after thinking you were training. He told me to tell you that he¡¯d be with Xu Ran and the others.¡±


    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s get going then. He¡¯s probably going over to talk about ways to absorb the Extreme King Pill fragrance.¡± Bai Yunfei remarked as they walked.


    ¡°Hey, Long Lan. I¡¯ve a question I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. Back when you were watching me fight those people in Crushed Stone River, what was with that look on your face? Did you see something?¡±


    Bai Yunfei suddenly asked Long Lan as they walked together on the road.


    ¡°What?¡± Long Lan looked a little surprised at the question.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know myself actually. But when I saw the old one in black robes, the aura I felt coming from him was unbelievable. It was as if it was penetrating deep into my soul to a level I couldn¡¯t even defend against¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. How strange, what kind of aura would it take to inspire that much fear in Long Lan as he was now?


    ¡°If I had to guess, that person was probably of the dragon race¡­¡± Long Lan murmured, ¡°His blood is far purer than mine as well. It was his blood that the pressure originated from. I felt the same thing from my master once before, but that person¡­he¡­the pressure he gives off is even stronger than my master!! And for some reason, I¡­I feel like I ¡®know¡¯ this person somehow. I don¡¯t know why or even how, but that¡¯s the feeling I¡¯m getting¡­¡±


    ¡°Pressure that originates from the blood?!¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow. He had heard before from Xiao Qi that the elder was a class seven soulbeast in human form and even a descendant of the ancient dragon race, but the fact that he was stronger than Long Zhen was a new piece of information. If that person was as strong as Long Lan said he was, then¡­didn¡¯t that mean his dragon blood was even purer than Long Zhen?!


    ¡°That old man¡­has to be the soulbeast partner of the young man in black. But to have a soulbeast partner as strong as that¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed, his fear of the young man growing by a large amount.


    Now that he was thinking about the young man he fought, Bai Yunfei grew a little gloomy. He grew quiet and didn¡¯t say much to Long Lan or Xiao Qi after that.


    The group wasn¡¯t even inside the courtyard before they could feel the auras of the others. A few words of conversation could also be heard, and each one of the speakers were sounded very familiar to Bai Yunfei and the other two. It was Zheng Kai, Song Lin and Xu RanBai Yunfei¡±


    ¡°Ah, Bai Yunfei, you¡¯re here. Come in.¡±


    Zheng Kai was the first to notice Bai Yunfei¡¯s presence and quickly called out to him.


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei walked a little faster to enter the courtyard. In the center of the peaceful courtyard was a stone table with a group of people seated around it. Zheng Kai, Song Lin, Li Tiechui, Lian Lingmin, Xu Ran, and Han Yue were all right there.


    ¡°Were you hurt from your battle with that one person, Yunfei? You alright?¡±


    Again, Zheng Kai was the first to speak out to Bai Yunfei, this time out of concern. He thought that Bai Yunfei had been hurt before and was in the middle of healing, hence why he was in isolation earlier.


    Noticing the looks of concern on everyone¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Haha, I¡¯m fine. I learned a few things from that battle actually, and lost track of time when I was meditating on those thoughts.¡±


    ¡°Learned a few things?¡± Zheng Kai repeated in admiration, ¡°Tch, so you can get stronger so quickly after a fight like that? Aren¡¯t you a little too ridiculous?¡±


    ¡°Brother Song Lin,¡± Bai Yunfei took a seat next to Zheng Kai, ¡°where is the first elder?¡±


    ¡°The first elder is in the next room over. He¡¯s talking with the elders of the Underworld School.¡± Song Lin pointed to one of the rooms to their right.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded his head. Any matter their seniors were discussing was naturally not a matter the juniors should be worrying or even thinking about.


    ¡°Brother Song Lin, brother Li, how do you two feel now? Have you absorbed the Extreme King Pill fragrance? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be needing some meditation time soon, right?¡±


    His casual bring up of the Extreme King Pills startled Song Lin and the others. Everyone had agreed beforehand to not bring up the matter around Bai Yunfei so as to avoid making things awkward. They all thought Bai Yunfei would feel sad by his missed opportunity, so no one expected to see Bai Yunfei be the one to first bring it up. Seeing that Bai Yunfei looked completely fine with the topic, Song Lin decided to reply, ¡°Ah, yes. You¡¯re right. The first elder is prepared to let us stay in the Underworld School for a while to meditate. We¡¯ll head back to the Crafting School after we absorb the Extreme King Pill fragrance and then go into meditation there. Hopefully, we¡¯ll become Soul Kings soon enough¡­The elders of the Underworld School have the same plan with brother Xu and sister Yue.¡±


    ¡°That would be the best approach.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°The Extreme King Pill fragrance will dissipate from the body if it isn¡¯t properly absorbed. Devoting all your time to absorbing it into your body and meridians would be the best choice.¡±


    ¡°Brother Song Lin, Ah¡¯Kai, brother Xu Ran¡­it won¡¯t be long before you all become Soul Kings with the help of the Extreme King Pill fragrance. I¡¯d like to extend my congratulations.¡±


    ¡°Ai, we¡¯ve only managed to get a few steps further than others. We¡¯re bound to become Soul Kings sooner or later in any case.¡± Zheng Kai waved his hand airily, ¡°Brother Song, I recall you saying that in the Crafting School, there¡¯s¡­¡±


    The group of soul cultivators soon started to chatter and gossip once again. With each one of these well-known figures talking, time quickly went by before several footsteps could be heard. Turning their heads, everyone saw the elders of the Crafting School and Underworld School come out into the courtyard.

 Chapter 831: Absorbing the Fragrance

    ¡°First elder, headmaster Mo, and elder Xu.¡±


    Bai Yunfei and the others quickly stood up from their seats to bow to the three figures.


    ¡°Haha, be at ease.¡± Mo Yanbai smiled in response. ¡°Take a seat, we would like to say a few things to you all.¡±


    He glanced over Xu Ran and Han Yue with a grateful eye before then looking over to Song Lin and the others. ¡°You¡¯ve all managed to come across a good fate this time around. As a result of you all coming into the Extreme King Pill fragrance, our preparations are a bit lacking this time, but elder Xiao and I have talked it over and decided that our matters can be discussed after you all finish with your closed-door meditation.¡±


    The fact that the first thing he mentioned was about closed-door meditation only served to show how much he and the others were concerned for their student¡¯s future training. But the students nodded. This was something they expected to hear.


    ¡°We will be allocating several rooms for you all to meditate in. Should the need for something arise, say the word and we of the Underworld School will comply to the best of our abilities.¡±


    Mo Yanbai spoke.


    ¡°Thank you very much, senior Mo.¡± Zheng Kai bowed respectfully to him.


    ¡°Song Lin, do your best to take in all of the Extreme King Pill fragrance. Don¡¯t worry about the time, we can return to the Crafting School after you¡¯re done.¡± Xiao Binzi warned his student.


    ¡°Yes, first elder.¡± Song Lin nodded.


    Bai Yunfei took this moment after they were done talking to speak up. ¡°Senior Mo, this junior has a request, if I may.¡±


    ¡°Nephew Bai,¡± Mo Yanbai smiled, ¡°all you need to do is ask.¡±


    ¡°Senior, though I wasn¡¯t able to get any of the Extreme King Pill fragrance, there were a few things I came across in the pocket that expanded my knowledge of things. I¡¯d like to request a place to meditate as well, senior Mo.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Mo Yanbai examined Bai Yunfei closely, ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem at all then.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks, senior Mo.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed in respect. ¡°If this junior might ask, has there been any leeway in the little girl from before?¡±


    ¡°Haha, what a considerate one you are, nephew Bai. It¡¯s quite rare to see one as concerned as you are these days¡­¡± Mo Yanbai chuckled. ¡°But rest assured, that little girl is safe and sound. The poison to her soul reached quite deep, but it¡¯ll only take some time to be completely removed. I¡¯m certain that she¡¯ll be back to normal as soon as you all finish your meditation.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good, thank you and your school for your troubles, senior¡­my promise to make your esteemed school a heaven-tier soul armament will have to wait until my meditation is done, I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that is to be expected, take your time.¡±


    ¡°Your promise? To make a heaven-tier soul armament?¡± Xiao Binzi spoke up in surprise, ¡°Did you make such a promise, Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I made such a promise as thanks for the Underworld School helping us save a person.¡±


    An indescribable light entered Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyes. ¡°A promise is a promise. Leave this matter to me then, I¡¯ll have one crafted for the Underworld School while we wait.¡±


    This time, it was Mo Yanbai¡¯s turn to have a light enter his eyes, though his were of happiness. If Xiao Binzi was the one to craft them a heaven-tier soul armament, there would be no problems at all. They wouldn¡¯t have to worry about Bai Yunfei potentially not being able to craft a heaven-tier.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Bai Yunfei hesitated, ¡°First elder, I promised that I would be the one to craft one.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Xiao Binzi gave Bai Yunfei a strange look, ¡°Are you able to craft a heaven-tier soul armament?¡±


    ¡°I am willing to try my best. If in the chance I fail, please lend me your guidance in the matter, first elder.¡±


    ¡°Haha, very well then! If you say you can, then I¡¯ll wait to see your attempt.¡± Xiao Binzi roared with laughter and praise. In truth, the man had been worried that Bai Yunfei had made a promise with the intent of relying on an elder like him to fulfill. Because of that, Xiao Binzi had every intention to admonish Bai Yunfei at first, but now that he knew Bai Yunfei had every single intention on fulfilling that promise himself, Xiao Binzi was eager to see his results.


    ¡­¡­


    It wasn¡¯t long after that the group of students returned to their rooms to wait. A while later, several of the students from the Underworld School came in to report that all preparations were done.


    Together with Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei and the others followed the students away from the dorms to a mountain peak behind the main point.


    As they walked, Bai Yunfei noted that less and less buildings could be seen. Furthermore, Bai Yunfei also realized that there were several smaller mountain peaks behind the one where the Underworld School was primarily based on.


    There weren¡¯t any buildings on this particular mountain peak, and neither were there any signs of any of the regular students ever being on here.


    Clearly, this mountain peak was meant for those to use for their closed-door meditation.


    After they traversed this mountain peak, Bai Yunfei and the others split ways and took off to different mountain peaks of their own.


    Bai Yunfei followed the student guiding him to a small mountain peak a hundred meters to the left. On this mountain peak was a single but large cave. It wasn¡¯t until Bai Yunfei walked into the cave that he realized the area inside was drastically different than from what he expected. The interior was not at all rough like what a cave might¡¯ve looked, but rather a wide and spacious room with all sorts of tools prepared.


    He didn¡¯t spare much of his time to think about it though. Thanking his guide, Bai Yunfei excused the student and then sat down in the center of the silent cave.


    As restricted as his soulsense was due to the special characteristics of Black Cloud Valley, Bai Yunfei was still at least able to tell he was the only person here for a decent distance.


    ¡°Xiao Qi, I¡¯ll be going inside the Core World. Let me know if something happens.¡± Bai Yunfei asked of Xiao Qi.


    Someone had to be on the lookout on the outside of the Core World, hence why Bai Yunfei brought Xiao Qi with him. Long Lan was also waiting at the base of the mountain for an extra layer of security.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. With Xiao Lan and I standing guard, we¡¯ll make sure no one interrupts you.¡± Xiao Qi chirped.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. Without anything else to be said, he placed the Core Stone on top of the table and then disappeared from sight.


    ¡­¡­


    Within the Core World.


    ¡°Xiao Fang, take out the Extreme King Pill fragrance. I¡¯m ready to start.¡±


    Bai Yunfei spoke the moment he entered the Core World and took a glance around himself.


    ¡°All prepared? Okay then. Let¡¯s get started.¡± Came Xiao Fang¡¯s voice before an image of a stone flickered into sight.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. He sat down and waited for the space in front of him to ripple slightly with a faint red light. It was the Extreme King Pill fragrance.


    As like Xiao Fang mentioned before, the fragrance of the Extreme King Pills was being contained through a mysterious barrier that was already starting to recede. Wisps of the fragrance were leaking out for Bai Yunfei to smell, and his body was beating rapidly as the fragrance started to stimulate every part of it.


    Not one to delay any longer, Bai Yunfei immediately gathered the entirety of the fragrance in a ball of elemental fire. Compressing it, he had the ball float over to him and then enveloped him in it completely.


    The moment he was enveloped by the ball of fragrance, Bai Yunfei felt his entire body grow at ease. The fragrance was seeping into his body and filling it with all sorts of incredible energy to stimulate both it and his soulforce.


    Concentrating on the task at hand, Bai Yunfei closed his eyes and slowly began the absorb the surrounding fragrance.


    Not a single thing went wrong while Bai Yunfei took in the fragrance. With just a bit of time, Bai Yunfei had the entirety of the Extreme King Pill fragrance taken into his body to be absorbed.


    Now that the fragrance was in his body, there was no longer any red light to be seen around his body aside from the light of his elemental fire. Instead of dying out, the elemental fire grew even larger in size to make the mountain look as though it was on fire.


    From within the flames, Bai Yunfei was still seated with an extremely calm expression on his face. Not a single wisp of the Extreme King Pill fragrance could be seen anymore. Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei called out the Cataclysmic Seal and took the fireseed from it into his body.


    ¡°Eh? That¡¯s¡­an essence fireseed?! He¡­he has two of them?!¡±


    From somewhere else, Xiao Fang¡¯s shocked voice cried out at the sight of the second fireseed.


    But Bai Yunfei ignored Xiao Fang. Not even bothering to open his eyes, Bai Yunfei continued to concentrate. Through the usage of the Dual Flame Artes, Bai Yunfei had his internal soulforce take in the Extreme King Pill fragrance to digest it.


    The more time went on, the more the fire within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body burned away at him. His forehead was slick with sweat and his veins were bulging prominently while his own aura was starting to increase in volume¡­

 Chapter 832: Realm Accretion Seal

    What Bai Yunfei was doing was most similar to what the other people were doing when they came across the Extreme King Pill fragrance back in Crushed Stone River. Rather than focusing on the rapidly dwindling fragrance around them, they were all using the fragrance in their own bodies to fuel their own training methods and digest the fragrance.


    The potency of the Extreme King Pills was most apparent when digested into the body, as the pill would disseminate and be absorbed into the ingester¡¯s soul. Once absorbed, the pill would easily allow a person to train half as hard for twice the results. By extension, this allowed the person to have a much easier time to break the bottleneck entry into the Soul King realm.


    That being said, the pill didn¡¯t make the breakthrough into the Soul King realm amazingly easy. Like how one would lose more and more drinking water through the slits of their fingers if they were to cup their hands in it, the pill would lose its efficacy with time if not properly digested. And even after being drunk, time would still need to be had before the water¡ªor pill¡ªcould be properly absorbed.


    And that was the main reason why the elders were all wanting Song Lin and the others to start their meditation now rather than later.


    The Extreme King Pill wasn¡¯t without its limits, however. Everyone had their own limits on what they could take in and what they could absorb. Even if they had a hundred Extreme King Pills, a single person wouldn¡¯t be able to absorb them all. It was an unknown variable on how many pills worth of fragrance Song Lin and the others took in, but the amount Bai Yunfei was taking right now was most definitely beyond his normal capabilities. In a normal situation, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been only able to absorb just half of what he was taking in.


    He was, of course, not in an ¡®ordinary¡¯ situation. He had the Realm Accretion technique, so he could use this specialized method for unobstructed training.


    Realm Accretion. One of the arcane arts of the ancient Alchemy School. Its specialty lied in its ability to allow for the efficacy of a pill to mature within the body for an extended period of time for an even greater effect in the future.


    Normally, the ingestion of a pill normally meant the person taking the pill to develop a ¡®resistance¡¯ to it. The stronger the pill, the more likely the resistance. In even simpler terms, the stronger the resistance towards the drug, the weaker the drug¡¯s effect will be.


    But Realm Accretion allowed one to bypass such a factor through a very mysterious mean. The user of this technique would be able to ingest a pill and not develop a resistance to it, meaning the pill would be absorbed without imperfection. And through this, the person could use that untouched energy as a catalyst for further growth!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was using the Dual Flame Artes to empower himself at an astonishing rate. Already, the Extreme King Pills was halfway fully absorbed into his bloodstream and soul, but that was also where the Extreme King Pill fragrance was starting to falter and resist the absorption¡­


    So that meant Bai Yunfei had half of the Extreme King Pill fragrance left undigested!


    ¡°Now¡¯s the time!¡±


    Lowering the amount of soulforce he was using for the Dual Flame Artes to half its normal levels, Bai Yunfei began to circulate the other half of his soulforce throughout his body!


    His soulforce was reaching into meridians that normally wouldn¡¯t be used during his training sessions. It was reaching corners and parts of his body he normally touched over, slowly pulsating and vibrating in intervals both strange and fascinating to look at.


    It was completing a circuit around his body in a very peculiar pattern. But when it reached all the way around, the trail of the soulforce circulation was showing a very distinct¡­seal!


    The seal of Realm Accretion!!


    The key to the Realm Accretion technique!


    The moment this seal was formed, the soulforce going around his body immediately pooled together with the undigested fragrance to form in a different area near Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    The area right near where his heart was, the origin acupoint where the essence fireseed resided!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei could feel something within his body explode with a bang. Like a dancing flame fed by several drops of oil, the two essence fireseeds immediately swelled up in size!


    ¡°Ngh¡­¡±


    An involuntary cry escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. Beadlets of sweat were dripping down Bai Yunfei¡¯s face from the high temperatures rising from within his body. Already, it felt like something was trying to burn away at him from the inside while also threatening to blow him up if he wasn¡¯t careful.


    It took a second for Bai Yunfei to complete the second circulation for the Realm Accretion to do its work again. The moment it finished though, Bai Yunfei felt like the fierce sun that was in him was now being cooled by a small breeze. A small breeze it was, but it was enough for the heat to die down by a bit.


    From there, a cycle of ¡®searing heat¡¯ and ¡®cool breeze¡¯ began to play across his body¡­


    With a tremendous amount of energy centered in his origin acupoint and stimulating his essence fireseeds to incredible levels. Bai Yunfei felt like his body was being overloaded with more energy he could even handle to absorb the Extreme King Pill fragrance in a far shorter time than earlier projections. This was the type of scenario most would deem foolish and reckless since no one would be able to be able to handle this much power. To overload on energy beyond what their bodies could handle only meant the self-destruction of the human body.


    But every single time it seemed like Bai Yunfei¡¯s body would explode like a balloon filled with too much air, the Realm Accretion technique would kick in and forcibly suppress and condense the energy into a more dense form like liquid.


    And so this way, the Realm Accretion technique allowed for Bai Yunfei to continue onwards with his training. Every time his two fireseeds expanded to dangerous levels, the technique would bring the two back into safety.


    As such, Bai Yunfei was able to make use of the fragrance without losing a drop of its efficacy and without destroying himself in the process despite the pain.


    Bit by bit, Bai Yunfei was digesting the Extreme King Pill fragrance into his bloodstream!


    And while this overwhelming change was going on in Bai Yunfei, the space around him was similarly growing with unrest¡­


    The red light that had once shined only around the mountain peak was no spanning for several kilometers around, and it was still increasing in distance!


    Spanning throughout the Core World with Bai Yunfei as its centerpiece, the red hue spread like wildfire without the actual flames to burn away at the world. Spreading and flowing, the light ebbed to and fro like the rippling of waves throughout the world¡­


    ¡°Hm hm¡­so this is the power of Realm Accretion? It¡¯s a tad crazy, isn¡¯t it?¡± Xiao Fang¡¯s image tutted to itself. ¡°The elemental fire in the world is already being affected¡­I guess I should start doing my part and let help him on his way¡­¡±


    The whole world trembled upon his final intonation. An even larger rip suddenly opened up in the world to usher in a tremendous flow of elemental fire from the other parts of the world¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Faint ripples in the space around Bai Yunfei¡¯s mountain outside the Core World could be seen appearing in the world. However, no one was around to even notice these sights, and the entire Underworld School was left completely in the dark about these mysterious sightings.


    But outside the Underworld School. Roughly twenty-five kilometers away, a very shocking change was taking place in the nearby scenery¡­


    For roughly everywhere within fifty meters of a certain point, the world¡¯s elemental fire was converging within a single point in space before disappearing out from sight.


    It was as if a large amount of elemental fire was being drawn to a spot and then spirited away¡­


    If a Soul King or a soul cultivator attuned to space had been around, they would¡¯ve felt the minute fluctuations in the surrounding space. They would¡¯ve also felt a hundred strands of elemental fire being whisked away. Whisked away to an unknown place rather than back to the world where it came from. Any of the three factors surely would¡¯ve warranted even more questions had anyone saw them.


    This was planned by Bai Yunfei. He knew that his usage of the Realm Accretion would¡¯ve perked the attention of those listening to the changes in the elemental energy in the world. That was why he had Xiao Fang gather all of the elemental fire from outside the Underworld School so as to avoid bringing any attention onto them.


    One of Xiao Fang¡¯s abilities was the ability to sense the changes in space from within fifty kilometers. Aside from being able to sense those changes, Xiao Fang was also able to create small fluctuations in space. It was useless against other beings, but it was still capable of gathering elemental energy from the surrounding area.


    Xiao Fang watched the elemental fire gather within the Core World with a seemingly pleased air. Watching as the fire gathered around Bai Yunfei, it nodded. ¡°Hm¡­there shouldn¡¯t be any problems supplying energy this way. It¡¯s up to you to do the rest of the steps, I really am looking forward to this¡­¡±

 Chapter 833: A Setup to Smooth Sailings

    ¡°It¡¯s been fifteen days, why hasn¡¯t there been anything at all yet¡­¡±


    The bored chirpings of Xiao Qi could be heard from within Bai Yunfei¡¯s room. Xiao Qi was currently resting on top of the stone table, his two eyes staring with boredom at the small stone on the surface.


    For fifteen days Xiao Qi had been standing guard in the room. Very rarely did he even stray away from the stone, let alone step out from the room even once.His bond with Bai Yunfei had weakened a bit ever since Bai Yunfei stepped into the Core World, though that was because of the Core Stone dampening their bond. He was still able to sense that something mysterious was happening to Bai Yunfei and that his strength was slowly, but surely, growing.


    He knew that Bai Yunfei was meditating with the use of the Extreme King Pills. Because of that, Xiao Qi was afraid of going into the Core World and disturbing Bai Yunfei. For that same reason, Xiao Qi decided against trying to see what was going on inside the Core World or try talking to Xiao Fang to see what was up. He would serve as a guard bird in the outside world.


    ¡°Oh? Seems like¡­something stopped?¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he received a new sensation from his bond with Bai Yunfei. The pause he felt was signifying that Bai Yunfei was done with his training.


    A while later, Bai Yunfei suddenly felt something invisible wrap at his being. There was a single thought that was transmitted into his mind before he realized what was going on and relented to the sensation.


    In the next moment, Xiao Qi¡¯s figure was gone from the room.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Wow! This is some intense elemental fire!!¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped in surprise the moment he landed into the Core World. The entire world had been a crimson red when he stepped in, and the air was hot like the desert. The most noticeable aspect was the white clouds in the sky, which were now dyed red in hue.


    Xiao Qi was unable to stop himself from drawing in a deep breath. Inhaling, he took a large amount of the red light into his own body. Sighing in content as it entered, Xiao Qi looked down to the mountain where Bai Yunfei was.


    ¡°Yunfei! How¡¯re you feeling?!¡± Xiao Qi zipped on down over to Bai Yunfei to chirp excitedly at him.


    Bai Yunfei was at the moment seated on the surface of the mountain with an expression as normal as ever. He nodded when Xiao Qi flew on down to him. ¡°Everything went as planned, it was a great success.¡±


    ¡°Really?! That¡¯s great!¡± Chirped Xiao Qi, ¡°How strong are you now then?¡±


    Xiao Qi was already checking Bai Yunfei over when he asked the question. He froze up when Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura registered to him, ¡°Wha?? But¡­you¡¯re still a Late-stage Soul Exalt? You didn¡¯t change at all!¡±


    ¡°Haha, I used Realm Accretion, remember? My current strength is the exact same as before. Any increase of strength I had a moment before has been sealed away to mature. When I undo the seal, I¡¯ll have an instantaneous burst of power then.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Xiao Qi nodded in understanding, ¡°How much power did you store away then? Just how strong will you become afterward? Will you be able to breakthrough to become a Soul King?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I¡¯d be a Soul King even if I undid the seal even now. But there¡¯s no way I¡¯d do that now. There¡¯s still a large portion of the Extreme King Pill fragrance I haven¡¯t digested yet. I¡¯d lose all of that if I undid the seal. I¡¯ll have to wait until then before I even think about undoing anything, but you can expect when I do, I¡¯ll become a lot stronger! Maybe I¡¯ll be able to become a Late-stage Soul King in one go!!¡±


    ¡°A Late-stage Soul King! Really?!¡± Xiao Qi chirped, ¡°From a Late-stage Soul Exalt to a Late-stage Soul King?! That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s ridiculous isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s ridiculous about it. It¡¯d be a waste if the Extreme King Pills couldn¡¯t do something like this to begin with.¡± Xiao Fang¡¯s voice spoke out just then. ¡°Still, it¡¯s only theoretical that the Realm Accretion can get you to being a Late-stage Soul King. It won¡¯t be a cakewalk and should definitely take a while to figure out.¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course. How long do you think it¡¯ll take before I become a Late-stage Soul King then?¡±


    ¡°How should I know that? I¡¯ve never seen anyone use Realm Accretion before. All we know so far is that the initial stages of Realm Accretion will be the fastest and most noticeable. In normal situations, we know that the usage of the Extreme King Pills would take several months at the very least. You¡¯ve only been at it for several days. Let it mature for now, accretion will take some time before a significant enough of a boost can be seen. I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯ll take several months before you can become even a Mid-stage Soul King. Maybe it¡¯ll take a few years to become a Late-stage Soul King¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes, that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been thinking too¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. From what he had seen from his studies of Realm Accretion, Xiao Fang¡¯s estimation was in line with his own.


    ¡°It¡¯s already a speed far beyond what¡¯s to be expected. Becoming an Early-stage Soul King would take at least a dozen years at the very minimum. And that¡¯s not mentioning the bottleneck when an Early-stage Soul King tries to become a Mid-stage Soul King. I can skip over that problem all thanks to Realm Accretion, and that in by itself is an incredibly perverse ability.¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself.


    ¡°Me using the Dual Flame Artes will become a new variable in how strong I become. I¡¯ll definitely get a lot stronger a lot quicker the more I use it. By the time I reach the full maturity of what Realm Accretion can handle, it won¡¯t be impossible say it won¡¯t take that long to become a Late-stage Soul King¡­¡±


    ¡°That training style of yours is already very peculiar in that it uses two fireseeds. Even I¡¯ve never heard of something like that before.¡± Xiao Fang pointed out, ¡°But don¡¯t be too proud of yourself. It¡¯s good and all to grow stronger, but there¡¯s danger in growing too strong too fast. The scroll itself said that the burst of power from undoing the seal will cause a heavy strain on the body. If you neglect yourself, then you¡¯ll explode from the resulting energy and die. And don¡¯t forget, if your mind isn¡¯t up to par with your body, then you¡¯ll suffer even worse side-effects on your mind than your body. You¡¯ll go crazy, and if you do, then all that newfound strength of yours will be pointless.¡±


    ¡°I know that, I won¡¯t be undoing the seal anytime soon. I¡¯ll definitely be sure to prepare myself for the future and any of the possibilities.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was confident in his ability to weather out any potential storms. When it came to power, Bai Yunfei was confident no one was stronger than he was in his level group. As a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, he could become as strong as a Soul King if he used Berserk Mode, and that was all in thanks to the Dual Flame Artes. Aside from that, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t afraid of losing himself as Xiao Fang mentioned. His willpower was unordinarily strong first of all. Second of all, Bai Yunfei had his equips that could boost his ¡®spirit¡¯. This was his second advantage over others. And lastly, he had the Soul Sentinel Scarf with its ability to stabilize his soul by 100%. That was detrimental in keeping his sanity.


    ¡°But the only thing that worries me is that I have to keep being a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt in the meanwhile¡­¡± Bai Yunfei clenched his fist with a sigh.


    From now to until he undid the seal, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength would remain unchanged.


    ¡°Oh stow it. That¡¯s what¡¯s worrying you? Don¡¯t think everything goes as well as you plan. Patience is a virtue. And if you can¡¯t handle that, then just undo the seal and become a Soul King right away.¡± Xiao Fang harrumphed in annoyance.


    ¡°Haha, I was only just making a small remark.


    ¡°Xiao Qi, has anything happened on the outside?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Long Lan came by two days ago saying that Song Lin, Xu Ran, and even Zheng Kai are all done with their meditation. He said that the rest should be done soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh? That fast?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ve no reason to stick around here. Let¡¯s head out and see what else has to be done¡­¡±

 Chapter 834: The Aftermath of the Pill Royale

    All was silent in a single cave before Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi appeared out of thin air and onto the cave floor. Stooping over, Bai Yunfei picked up the Core Stone and stored it away before walking out from the cave.


    From the cave entrance, Bai Yunfei walked down the mountain just in time to watch a blue streak of light come flying at them.


    It was Long Lan.


    ¡°Yunfei, has your training finished?¡± Long Lan asked as soon as he came to a stop.


    ¡°All went as planned.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then,¡± Long Lan started to smile, ¡°But hold on, why don¡¯t you feel any different?¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s a rather special circumstance, I¡¯ll tell you about it later.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°Let¡¯s leave this place first, how are the others?¡±


    ¡°Everyone else is already done. You¡¯re the last one.¡± Answered Long Lan.


    ¡°Excluding you, Lian Lingmin was the last one to finish at noon today. Because no one knew when you¡¯d be done, everyone decided to wait elsewhere for the meanwhile.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s head on over there.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Under the guidance of one of the Underworld School¡¯s students, Bai Yunfei and the other two soulbeasts left the mountain and returned to the residential area of the school.


    They walked until they reached the courtyard where the other people of the Crafting School were, and as Bai Yunfei expected, a large group of people were already there and aware of his arrival.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here, Yunfei!¡± Zheng Kai boomed in greeting from his seat in between Song Lin and Xu Ran.


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow when he took in Zheng Kai¡¯s substantially different aura. Before, Zheng Kai was only a Late-stage Soul Exalt. Now, Zheng Kai¡¯s aura was definitely that of a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt. The Extreme King Pill had definitely a strong effect on him.


    Song Lin was of the same situation. His aura wasn¡¯t tremendously different than before, but there was a strange feeling that made it feel a lot thicker and more refined.


    ¡°Haha, has everyone¡¯s meditation gone smoothly?¡± Bai Yunfei bumped fists with Zheng Kai before he took a seat on the right side of the table. ¡°Judging from everyone¡¯s expression, you all had a good time? It won¡¯t be long before you all become Soul Kings, you all have my early congratulations.¡±


    ¡°It was indeed a plentiful harvest. The wall I always felt was impassable is no longer there. I feel like the road forward was opened to me.¡± Song Lin nodded. ¡°But I¡¯m still standing in front of the door. It¡¯ll take some hard work before I can push open those doors and become a Soul King.¡±


    ¡°No need to rush things. If the road is open, then you¡¯ll reach its end soon enough. Let it take you where you need to go.¡±


    ¡°What were you even training in this past half month, Yunfei? I don¡¯t see any difference in you.¡± Zheng Kai suddenly asked, confused by the lack of change in Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Haha, I was only going over a few things I learned from my battles.¡± He smiled. ¡°Brother Xu Ran,¡± He turned his head to change the topic, ¡°Do you know if the treatment of that girl is going well?¡±


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d ask such a question, brother Bai.¡± Xu Ran chuckled, ¡°Rest assured, she¡¯s fine. Her treatment finished yesterday in fact. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be able to walk by herself soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s great to hear!¡± Bai Yunfei broke into a smile.


    He took a look around the courtyard then. ¡°Where¡¯s the first elder?¡± He asked Song Lin.


    ¡°Discussing things with the elders of the Underworld School.¡±


    ¡°Again?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked, ¡°How hasn¡¯t his negotiations finished yet?¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s not the same matter as before. Some news suddenly came out from the outside so the elders are talking about it to themselves.¡±


    ¡°News from the outside?¡± A gleam of curiosity entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, ¡°Does it have to do with the battle for the pills?¡±


    ¡°Eh? You could tell even that?!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it? What happened exactly?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s what we were just talking about!¡± Zheng Kai laughed with excitement. ¡°The aftermath of the battle was pretty big. The entire structure of our world, and the prodigies of it, have changed drastically.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. So far, what Zheng Kai was saying didn¡¯t seem all too strange to Bai Yunfei. Aside from those who were too far away from the province, there had still been a considerable amount of powerful factions that took part in the battle. Even the strongest of the schools and clans had been involved.


    It was inevitable that plenty of participants died within the pocket. Even if it was just one person that died, it was still a tremendous blow to their respective group¡¯s strength. As for those who managed to tough it out till the end and managed to get a hold of some of the Extreme King Pill fragrance were obviously granted an advantage over the others. No matter what, the list of prodigies would have its shake-ups.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s start from the top now¡­¡± Zheng Kai cleared his throat, ¡°There¡¯s not really a point talking about the Underworld and Crafting Schools, aside from you, everyone else managed to take in some of the Extreme King Pill fragrance. Of the Ten Schools, the Wind and Lightning School lost one of their three students, the other two took in some of the fragrance. From the Fire School, two students were heavily injured and one managed to get some of the fragrance. Of the Wood School, one person was heavily injured and two managed to take some of the fragrance. Of the five clans¡ªme included¡ªWang Kunpeng from the Wang and Li Yuchun from the Li managed to get some of the fragrance. Then there are some of the relatively major schools like the Returning Sword School had three of their students¡­¡±


    Faction by faction, Zheng Kai listed each of the participating groups and which one of the students received what. Soon, more than half of the people who participated in the whole thing had already been listed.


    But there was something that felt off to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, aren¡¯t you forgetting about a few schools? What about the Metal and Earth Schools? And the Water School? They took part too, didn¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush me, I wasn¡¯t finished yet.¡± Zheng Kai took a sip of his tea with one hand held up to stop Bai Yunfei. ¡°I didn¡¯t forget about them, I was just about to mention them, in fact.


    ¡°As I was saying, those mentioned just now are the ones who benefitted the most, or at least to some degree, from this entire thing. The next few are the ones who suffered greatly¡­


    ¡°First up is the Beast Taming School. While Lin Dongxiao took in a decent amount of the Extreme King Pill fragrance, the other three beast tamers that went in into the pocket with him were all killed! They couldn¡¯t even find the corpses! What a blunder¡­


    ¡°Then there¡¯s the Metal and Wood Schools¡­the Water School failed to get there in time, so they didn¡¯t get anything. But the Metal and Wood¡­all their students were gravely injured, if not killed! Of the three students from the Metal School, two of them died and the third one is still in critical condition!! The Metal, Wood, and Fire Schools banded together, but they got lost when they were trying to climb the mist mountain. From there, the Metal School was attacked by someone! As for the Wood School, they had their strongest three students enter the pocket and yet they were all killed by someone on the way!


    ¡°Even the three elite students of the Tianhun School from the Southward River Province were all killed by someone in the pocket!!


    ¡°Then there¡¯s Bai Han from the Flying Snow School. As you know¡­ he¡¯s dead. And then there¡¯s the Melodic School from the Jade River Province, all their students were killed¡­The house of Yue had all their participating memories killed too¡­¡±


    The more Bai Yunfei listened to Zheng Kai, the more he felt surprised by what he was hearing. While he knew that plenty of people had been killed in the pocket, it was still surprising to hear it from Zheng Kai.


    ¡°The Wood and Metal, and even the Tianhun School¡­these are all schools far stronger than all the other schools. How could they have their members killed just like that¡­?¡±


    As Bai Yunfei was thinking to himself, memories of a figure in black came back to mind. ¡°Was it him?!¡±

 Chapter 835: An Unpredictable Piece of Misfortune

    There was still something bugging Bai Yunfei even after listening to the entirety of Zheng Kai¡¯s speech. ¡°As widespread as the aftermath was, wasn¡¯t all of this to be expected still? It doesn¡¯t even concern us still, so what¡¯s with all this urgency between the elders to talk about it?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, if it was just the deaths from within the pocket, there¡¯d be nothing to discuss.¡± Zheng Kai chuckled with a knowing look. ¡°But what they¡¯re discussing to one another is about something else. It¡¯s about the events that happened afterward¡­¡±


    ¡°The events that happened afterward? What happened?¡±


    ¡°From what the students on the outside heard, almost every single faction that left the area came across an ambush of some kind.¡±


    ¡°An ambush? Are you saying someone attacked the ones that took part in the battle for the pills? But none of the remaining parties are people to be easily attacked, they¡¯ve Soul Kings leading their groups, who¡¯d even possibly want to attack them?¡±


    ¡°No one knows who the ambushers were because¡­almost nobody survived the ambushes! Nearly everyone was killed!! There are only rumors of a single Mid-stage Soul King that managed to escape, but even he was halfway to death and out of his mind. No one could even make sense of what he was saying!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped. ¡°A Mid-stage Soul King? Pushed to such an extent?! What¡­was the ambusher a Late-stage Soul King?!¡±


    ¡°Probably not, otherwise there¡¯d be no way that Zhang Lengyi would¡¯ve escaped.¡±


    ¡°Zhang Lengyi? The Mid-stage Soul King that nearly went insane is the same Zhang Lengyi from the Flying Snow School?¡±


    ¡°The very same one. He was already pretty injured after his fight with Ma Xucheng back in Crushed Stone River. So everyone¡¯s assuming that the ambusher might not even be a Mid-stage Soul King if Zhang Lengyi was able to make his escape. Popular rumors say that there¡¯s multiple ambushers. That¡¯s probably how Zhang Lengyi got so hurt and broken like how he is now.¡±


    ¡°Several Early-stage Soul Kings?¡± Repeated Bai Yunfei. Thinking about something, he asked, ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t it be possible to take a look at the corpses and see how they died as a way to find out the ambushers¡¯ identity?¡±


    Zheng Kai nodded. ¡°That was the idea. When it comes to slaughter, everyone would definitely think about that ¡®Black Reaper¡¯ from back in the pocket. Judging from what you said, not only is he an Early-stage Soul King, but he has two companions with him that are also Early-stage Soul Kings. We¡¯ve more or less confirmed they¡¯re from the Soul Refining School, and we¡¯ve also surmised that they¡¯re the ones responsible for the ambushs.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Zheng Kai trailed off in suspense, ¡°no one was able to make sense of the bodies. There weren¡¯t any particular wounds on the bodies, but¡­every single one of them were reduced to withered husks!!¡±


    ¡°Withered husks?! How does that even happen?¡±


    ¡°People are saying that it¡¯s some sort of demonic secret. No matter if they¡¯re male or female, young or old, strong or weak, they¡¯ll all be reduced to husks that are hardly even recognizable. It makes identifying the corpses hard. And to make it even worse, every single corpse had their soulforce, blood, bone marrow, and even essence drained away!¡±


    ¡°Drained of their blood, marrow, soulforce, and essence?!¡± Bai Yunfei exhaled sharply. This was a merciless description of an attack that¡¯d make anyone shiver at the thought.


    The death of a soul cultivator had several aspects to it. While the soul would dissipate upon death, the soulforce, essence, and other vital energies of the body would generally linger in the corpse for a short amount of time before dissipating into the world. This was known as ¡®decaying aura¡¯ and was noticeable to any soul cultivator above the levels of a Soul Exalt. Generally, the decaying aura of a corpse would remain around the area, even if the corpse itself was destroyed.


    In the written records of the soul cultivator world, only the most demonic of soulbeasts were capable of harvesting this decaying aura for their own strengths. But those types of soulbeasts were rumored to exist in the ¡®Doomed Mountains¡¯.


    The Soul Refining School had demonic arts that were capable of draining soulforce and use it for their own training. This was already something already called unacceptable in several corners of the continent.


    But whatever happened to the corpses of these people was of a level far more malicious than what the Soul Refining School was already known for.


    ¡°How many victims are there?¡± Bai Yunfei asked after taking in a deep breath.


    ¡°Twenty people at the very least. Five Early-stage Soul King are amongst the count.¡± Replied a stone-faced Zheng Kai. ¡°There¡¯s no connection between the victims at all. It seems like it was just a series of random killings but¡­there was one common point between the victims.


    ¡°Of every single group that was killed, they all had Soul Exalts who managed to take in some of the Extreme King Pill fragrance!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei reeled back in shock. ¡°Then the ambushers were after those who managed to get a hold of the Extreme King Pill fragrance? Doesn¡¯t¡­doesn¡¯t that mean the ambushers were able of draining the Extreme King Pill fragrance from within their corpses?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even begin to try and comprehend the reason behind the deaths of those people. By all that he knew, the reason should¡¯ve been an impossibility.


    ¡°That¡¯s what everyone is assuming. It sounds almost like something straight out from a fantasy story, but if we take into account of everyone¡¯s strange deaths, that¡¯s the only likely reason we can take from it. After all¡­if even the decaying aura of the corpses was drained away, that means practically everything of value from a corpse was taken, the idea that the unabsorbed Extreme King Pill fragrance was taken as well isn¡¯t too improbable¡­¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re to assume that¡¯s the case, then these demonic culprits, they¡¯ll surely be a lot stronger after taking in the Extreme King Pill fragrance, wouldn¡¯t they? It¡¯s not just the Extreme King Pill fragrance they took, the soulforce, soul, blood, and even decay aura. Everything was taken. These victims were practically ¡®cannibalized¡¯. How terrifying¡­¡±


    A cold shiver traveled up Bai Yunfei¡¯s spine. Everything he had heard so far was mortifying to hear at the very least.


    ¡°The entire soul cultivator world is in shock at what happened. All the affect parties have practically gone mad trying to figure out what has happened, but they¡¯re all too late. Not even a trace can even be found. Though they haven¡¯t appeared again since the ambushes, the entire soul cultivator world is on high-alert. And that¡¯s why the elders are currently in talks with one another right now.¡±


    ¡°Tch¡­who would¡¯ve thought something like this would happen after something as surprising as the Extreme King Pills appearing¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed again.


    The conversation had brought about a heavy atmosphere onto the group. In order to lighten the mood, Zheng Kai decided to change the topic. Coughing once, he started to ask everyone on their plans. Hearing his words, Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Now that you mention it, I plan to return to the Crafting School with the first elder after all this, what about you, Ah¡¯Kai? Are you going to return to the Capital and continue processing the fragrance there? Or¡­¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I wanted to go see the Crafting School before? My plans haven¡¯t changed at all. Besides, can¡¯t I train practically anywhere? Is there anything to worry about if I stay as a guest at the Crafting School? I could exchange advice with brother Song Lin if I¡¯m there, so everything works out.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re a determined one.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, knowing exactly the reason why Zheng Kai was so adamant on going. ¡°Fine by me. We can go back together then.¡±


    Zheng Kai laughed as well. ¡°I remember you saying you¡¯d help me strengthen some of my soul armaments, don¡¯t forget about that now.¡±


    ¡°No problem, no problem. I¡¯m preparing myself to fulfill my promise with the Underworld School in any case. Just give me your soul armaments and I¡¯ll refine them when the time is right.¡±


    ¡°What?! Yunfei¡­you can already refine soul armaments?!¡± in the middle of Bai Yunfei and Zheng Kai¡¯s conversation, Song Lin suddenly interrupted it to ask a question of his own while Li Tiechui and Lian Lingmin looked to Bai Yunfei in shock.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯ve some experience in it. You three know about my special training method. Now that I¡¯m able to craft a heaven-tier soul armament, I¡¯ve gained a few insights on the art of refining¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    As if to cut their conversation short, the presence of another person came into range of the group. Recognizing the aura, Han Yue turned her head towards the source, ¡°Isn¡¯t that elder Qi? What¡¯s he doing here?¡±


    A single person dressed in white came walking into the courtyard just then. A single elderly male with a pointy chin and thin physique. It was the very same elder Qi who hadn¡¯t a friendly impression of Bai Yunfei at first.


    And walking behind him was a very tiny figure who seemed almost cowardly with how they were following the elder. Peering from behind him, a tiny face looked up at the students all gathered around in the courtyard.


    It was a young little girl.

 Chapter 836: Xiao Ling

    ¡°Elder Qi¡­¡±


    Everyone stood up from their seats to bow towards the elder. Rising from their bowing posture, they all then shifted their eyes to look at the little girl in slight surprise.


    ¡°Hn.¡± The elder nodded without emotion. He turned to look at the little girl behind them and then pointed to Bai Yunfei. ¡°This is the one who saved you, girl.¡±


    He seemed a little impatient at that. Perhaps he was tired of being around this girl for as long as he had already.


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow at the elder¡¯s actions, his mind already coming to a quick conclusion at what was going on when the little girl shifted her feet to shuffle towards him. Peering up at him with her delicate little face and wide-open eyes of child-like innocence, the girl looked hesitant for a moment.


    Her feet shuffled slightly beneath her as if trying to muster up some courage.


    ¡°Big¡­brother¡­th¡ªthank you for saving me¡­¡±


    Already had Bai Yunfei realized that this was the little girl he saved back in Formagua City. Her childish actions sparked a hint of affection from Bai Yunfei. He lifted a hand to pat the girl on the head, ¡°Haha, are you fully healed now? That¡¯s good.¡±


    The girl looked as if she wanted to shy from his hand at first, but in the end, she stood there and allowed Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand to pat her head. She felt something warm pass through her starting from her head; it was Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce. He was checking to see if she was completely back to full health or not.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled patiently at her.


    But the girl didn¡¯t have a positive response to that. Looking pained, she weakly replied, ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know...I don¡¯t remember anything¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped up to look at elder Qi.


    ¡°The blood octopus¡¯ venom reached deep into her body and left a large mark on her. Her memories are gone. All she remembers is being dragged away by something and someone running after her from behind. That is most likely her memories of you chasing her underneath Formagua City.¡±


    ¡°Lost her memories?¡± Bai Yunfei looked worried, ¡°Can she recover that?¡±


    ¡°Recover?¡± Elder Qi snorted derisively. ¡°It¡¯s improbable. And for what reason has she? Do you really believe it¡¯d be a good idea for her to remember?¡±


    It took a moment of silence before Bai Yunfei nodded in silent agreement.


    This girl was most likely the sole survivor of the Formagua City incident. Her family was most likely dead, and it was unsure what other tragic horrors she witnessed back then in the city. Remembering traumatic events like that would be nothing good. And with her age, starting a new life wouldn¡¯t be too difficult.


    ¡°So this is the girl we saved? She¡¯s a cute little kid.¡±


    Zheng Kai spoke out. Like the others, he was smiling at the girl as soon as he saw her.


    The little girl turned timidly towards Zheng Kai at his words. ¡°He¡ªhello uncle¡­¡± She bowed.


    ¡°Hey now¡­¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s face nearly slid off the palm he had been resting on when he heard the appellation he was being called by. ¡°Little one, are your eyes alright?¡± He cried in mock-hurt. ¡°Do I look that old to you? Call me brother. Big brother!¡±


    ¡°Haha!!¡±


    Lian Lingmin laughed jovially at the interaction between the two. ¡°What a cute little girl. She doesn¡¯t even know her name, so we should give her one. Yunfei, since you saved her, you should give her a new name.¡±


    ¡°A new name?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. He looked first at his friends and their looks of approval before then to the little girl who also had an expectant look on her own face. Scratching his nose, Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°Fine then¡­¡±


    He looked over at the girl. The area around her neck had a single golden bell about the size of a peanut tied onto a small strip of cloth around it. Thinking back to it, Bai Yunfei remembered seeing the bell when he first saved her. It must¡¯ve been a gift to her from her parents.


    ¡°Then what about ¡®Xiao Ling?¡± He smiled at last.


    TL Note: Ling means bell.


    ¡­¡­


    Afterward, Xiao Ling was surrounded by everyone else. Both Lian Lingmin and Han Yue were at her left and right side to tease her while Zheng Kai¡ªmost likely still hurt from her earlier remark¡ªwas trying his best to have her call him big brother. Song Lin and the others watched the four interact with each other with smiles on their faces.


    While they were doing that, Bai Yunfei sneaked a glance over to elder Qi. Even the unfriendly-looking old man had a sliver of a smile on his lips.


    ¡°Elder Qi,¡± Bai Yunfei clasped his hands together, ¡°I thank you for trying your best to heal her.¡±


    ¡°No need for your thanks, this was no chivalrous act of charity but a ¡®deal¡¯.¡± Elder Qi replied neutrally.


    ¡°Haha, rest assured elder Qi. This one hasn¡¯t forgotten about our promise. I will prepare myself to craft a heaven-tier soul armament for your esteemed school at once.


    ¡°But I would like to ask, is Xiao Ling really okay? If that ¡®poison¡¯ really did rob her of her memories, wouldn¡¯t that mean there¡¯s any lingering danger in her?¡±


    ¡°Worry not. The poison has already been removed. She should be fine, she won¡¯t ever have to be afraid of any poison or venom.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Her situation was very special. She should¡¯ve been dead by all rights with her commoner¡¯s physique. But fate smiled upon her and she lived. Her body adapted to the misfortune that happened to her¡­


    ¡°Before, the poison had essentially melted into her body, changing it to a form most beneficial to the poison. A ¡®poison pearl¡¯ of the same quality of an earth-tier soul armament had already formed inside of her by the time we forced the poison out. Mutation. That¡¯s what happened to her. What used to be the body of a commoner is now the body of one that¡¯s ¡®immune¡¯ to poison.¡±


    ¡°Immune? To poison? Do you mean to say that her body gained resistance against ¡®poison¡¯, and that she¡¯s impervious to poison?!¡±


    ¡°That is indeed what I meant. Even the poison of an early-stage class seven soulbeast wouldn¡¯t be able to affect her. If she were to complete her training and become stronger, then very few poisons in this world would be able to hurt her¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that amazing?!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped, Xiao Ling had a body so powerfully immune at the tender young age of seven or eight! If she had such a level of immunity as a commoner, what would she be like if she were to become a soul cultivator and fight against any poison user?


    ¡°Aside from that,¡± Continued elder Qi. ¡°The treatment of our school played another part on her body. She¡¯s gained talent as a soul cultivator of elemental darkness. Should she start her training in our Underworld School, she¡¯ll become a very powerful student.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow, ¡°Does that mean your esteemed school is planning on taking her in?¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± Elder Qi nodded. ¡°We¡¯ve already asked her, to which she agreed.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei went silent. He had been considering taking Xiao Ling back to the Crafting School with him before, but if she had a talent for elemental darkness, it¡¯d best that she remain here in the Underworld School rather than the Crafting School.


    ¡°Elder Qi, I recall you said something about Xiao Ling¡¯s body forming a ¡®poison pearl¡¯ of the same quality of an earth-tier soul armament? Would it be possible for me to take a look?¡±


    Though slightly confused by his request, the elder acquiesced and took out a small dark-purple pearl. ¡°I was only surprised at the fact that it formed within her body. Despite its rarity, it¡¯s only as strong as a low-earth tier soul armament and not at all very strong.¡±


    Still curious, Bai Yunfei nodded his head and took the dark-purple pearl into his hand.


    Equipment Grade: Low Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Poison, Water, Darkness


    Attack: 600


    Equipment Effect 1: 25% Increase in poison resistance.


    Equipment Effect 2: Inflict poison upon contact. Reduce target''s attributes proportional to their strength.


    Upgrade Requirement: 90 Soulpoints


    The stats of the poison pearl immediately popped into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind as soon as he touched it, and upon seeing the stats, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered with shock and excitement.

 Chapter 837: Crafting Yet Another Heaven-tier Soul Armament

    Eyes still twinkling at what he saw, Bai Yunfei leveled a gaze back to elder Qi. ¡°Elder Qi, this junior has an unusual favor to ask of you. May I keep this pearl?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s but an unusually rare poison pearl. Take it if you¡¯d like.¡± The elder replied monotonously.


    ¡°Thank you very much, elder Qi.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled in appreciation. ¡°Has your esteemed school readied the materials for the soul armament yet?¡±


    ¡°All preparations have been taken care of already.¡± The elder spoke with gleaming eyes. ¡°Are you perhaps¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I will begin right away, may I take a look at the materials?¡±


    ¡°Of course! I will send a person to bring them over. Where do you wish to start crafting? I¡¯ll have our students prepare at once.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be at the cave where I was in meditation in. Please have your students send the materials that way, elder Qi. I¡¯ll be taking my leave first then.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    With there being nothing else to say, Bai Yunfei gave a few words of conversation to the other students before following several of the Underworld School¡¯s students to the small mountain cave he had been in before.


    Though he didn¡¯t really grow any more powerful due to Realm Accretion, the latent power being stored away in his body was still there. His entire body felt powerful as if filled with strength. He didn¡¯t even feel tired from training for fifteen days straight¡ªin fact, he never felt better before and very much ready to start crafting.


    The only one left in the cave was Bai Yunfei yet again. Even Xiao Qi and Long Lan weren¡¯t there with him. He sat on top of a small straw mat laid across the ground so as to collect his thoughts and prepare himself.


    Several rows of items were laid on the ground in front of him, making it seem as though he was a vendor peddling a few wares. But the items there were shining with a light most extraordinary, and by extension meant they were no ordinary items to be peddled. They were all precious materials like ores and metals.


    ¡°Pure ebon¡­so the Underworld School had something as rare as this. I guess that¡¯s to be expected, though¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself as he held a jet-black ore the size of a small wok in his hand.


    This was the prized item of this round. It wasn¡¯t a metal as precious as the boltgrass he just received from the Core World, but it was a rare find nonetheless as a mid-heaven tier material. To use pure ebon as material for a low-heaven tier soul armament was a bit of an overkill, but it was a material most suited for elemental darkness, the element most useful to those of the Underworld School.


    The school wanted Bai Yunfei to craft a sword-type soul armament this time, one of the most commonly used soul armaments in the world. Right now, Bai Yunfei was in the middle of looking over the materials to see what would be best suited for the soul armament he needed to craft.


    After an hour, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief and waved his hand to take out the Lightning-fire Cauldron.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The cauldron dropped to the ground with a muffled thud and flooded the cave with a wave of light as red as fire. As if responding to its presence, the temperature in the cave rose by several degrees.


    ¡°Eh? A cauldron? Are you going to be crafting a soul armament?¡±


    A sudden voice spoke out from the previously silent room, spooking Bai Yunfei by the suddenness of it.


    Then the image of a small stone appeared near him. It was Xiao Fang.


    ¡°Correct, I¡¯m planning to craft a low-heaven tier soul armament.¡±


    ¡°A low-heaven tier?!¡± Came Xiao Fang¡¯s surprised voice, ¡°Are you joking? Can you even craft one of those? I thought only Soul Kings were capable of that, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re planning to undo your seal already?!¡±


    ¡°No way,¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°It¡¯s just a test. With how my training method allows me two fireseeds, I¡¯ve an advantage when it comes to crafting. My chances of success are a lot higher than most people. I¡¯ve already succeeded in crafting one before, but that was under special circumstances. This time, I¡¯m prepared to see if I can craft a heaven-tier soul armament under my own strength.¡±


    He glanced over to Xiao Fang, suddenly curious about something. ¡°Hey, Xiao Fang, are you perhaps familiar about the art of crafting?¡±


    As a two millennia old spirit of the armament, Xiao Fang must¡¯ve traveled with a great number of people. What were the chances that he heard of the art of crafting before?


    But Xiao Fang¡¯s answer shut him down.


    ¡°I¡¯m not, I¡¯ve never even seen a person craft a soul armament before. Insights into the art of crafting were limited to crafters like you. None of my previous masters were from the Crafting School. Even Tianhun himself didn¡¯t know the art. He had a very strong expert help him create the Core Stone even.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei looked dejected at that. ¡°Then you can take a look from the side. I¡¯ll have a soul armament made in a moment, but please don¡¯t disturb me as I do.¡±


    A little curious, Xiao Fang responded, ¡°You¡¯re going to craft one here? Why not in the Core World? From what I know, the crafting of a soul armament could be influenced by the surrounding elemental energy, can¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei snapped his eyes back at Xiao Fang. His eyes widened by a fraction at the realization, ¡°That¡¯s right! Why didn¡¯t I think of that!? If we can freely control the energy in the Core World, it¡¯ll definitely help me craft a soul armament!!¡±


    The flames that powered the crafting cauldron was a manifestation of the elemental fire in the area. This flame was a separate entity than the elements that¡¯d go into the soul armament, so that meant the crafter had to focus on a second source of elemental energy as they crafted. It was normally a very crucial moment for crafters, but this would be nearly a trivial matter if he were to control the elements from the Core World! In that case, his previously small chances of success would increase by a significant amount!


    Bai Yunfei was excited beyond belief by this realization. Without even a second to think twice about it, Bai Yunfei gathered up the materials and then disappeared from sight¡­


    ¡­¡­


    One entire day and night went by without incident. On the second day, the residents of the Underworld School were all suddenly met with a morning like none other they saw or even heard of before.


    On that morning, everyone was woken by a crack of ear-deafening thunder.


    Thunder?


    Something was happening within the dark clouds of Black Cloud Valley that normally shouldn¡¯t have been happening.


    The crack of thunder had been especially startling to those standing outside at the time, as they were treated to not only the sound of it but the sight.


    A bolt of violet lightning enormously large in size had fallen from the skies to drop down on a small mountain behind the Underworld School¡¯s main mountain, obliterating more than half of the mountain peak!


    And if that wasn¡¯t enough, the part of the clouds where the lightning bolt dropped from had turned into a fierce maelstrom of whirling clouds!


    Wisps of dark light were forming at the center of the clouds, gathering there like flies to a light to float around the mountain peak. In a few moments, the broken mountain peak was surrounded by a mist of black light.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh¡­¡±


    Several figures zoomed through the skies from the Underworld School. In a matter of seconds, the area near where the lightning struck had a dozen or so figures standing there. Behind them, several students from the Underworld School were a little behind in their approach, but everyone was in shock and were discussing with one another on what had just happened.


    ¡°Damn! When Yunfei does something, he goes all in, doesn¡¯t he?!¡± Zheng Kai exclaimed in disbelief at the sight.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­has¡­did he really succeed?! This is a Worldly Phantasm, he¡¯s really crafted a heaven-tier soul armament?!¡± Li Tiechui couldn¡¯t even believe his wide-open eyes at what he was seeing.


    Song Lin was in shock as well. ¡°And¡­it only took him a single day. One day to craft a heaven-tier soul armament¡­.that¡¯s just¡­¡±


    ¡°Did he really succeed? If everyone¡¯s acting like this, does that really mean brother Bai managed to craft a heaven-tier soul armament?!¡± Somewhat confused by everything that was going on, Xu Ran¡¯s eyes were snapping back and forth from the sight in front of him and the faces of everyone there.


    From the skies above the main halls of the Underworld School, there stood the figures of several people. They hadn¡¯t rushed towards the source of the commotion at first, choosing to stay behind to ascertain what was going on from their position instead.


    ¡°Haha, it seems nephew Bai has managed to craft us a heaven-tier soul armament. How remarkable. How remarkable indeed¡­¡± Mo Yanbai stroked his beard in praise at both Bai Yunfei and in amazement at the Worldly Phantasm in front of them.


    Standing next to him was Xiao Binzi. A myriad of emotions was currently running through his face as he took in the sight. Shock, praise, confusion, and satisfaction. He was feeling all sorts of emotions. Even as a Late-stage Soul King, he was all sorts of overwhelmed. No one knew better than him what this meant if Bai Yunfei was capable of crafting a heaven-tier soul armament.


    ¡°So he managed to do it¡­and in a single day! The Worldly Phantasm is showing signs of a soul armament that definitely isn¡¯t a low-heaven tier. These are signs of a mid-heaven tier¡­he was able to craft a soul armament that strong?!¡±

 Chapter 838: Continuous Craftings

    At the center of the Worldly Phantasm was the broken mountain top where the lightning had struck. Because of the violet bolt of lightning, the rocky roof to the cave was blown wide open to reveal the cave. Black clouds were still swirling around in the skies above while tendrils of elemental darkness were seemingly flowing into a rectangular stone at the bottom of the cave as if being absorbed into it.


    This sight was nearly as quick to disappear as it was to appear. Barely even a minute later, the skies were already back to normal.


    Inside the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei was sitting on top of a decently-sized mountain, the bottom of it having been burnt for so long that it had already been scorched black. In front of him, the Lightning-fire Cauldron was shining with a violet light while a fire was burning away at a black-colored sword floating inside. Despite the flames wrapped around the sword, tendrils of elemental darkness were still leaking through the flames and into the sword.


    When the final strand of elemental darkness was sucked into the sword, Bai Yunfei slapped the cauldron with one hand. The slap sent a wave of vibrations through the cauldron and extinguished the flames in it.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Sighing, Bai Yunfei drew his eyes away from the cauldron as he started to wrap up everything.


    As fatigued as he was from his attempt, Bai Yunfei was also quite pleased and excited. With a wave of his hand, Bai Yunfei watched as a jet of black light flew out from the cauldron and into his hand.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness, Lightning


    Attack: 2600


    Equipment Effect: 50% Chance of inflicitng Paralysis upon successful contact. Decrease mobility by 10%.


    Cooldown of 3 seconds.


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Upgrade Requirement: 170 Soulpoints


    The stats of the sword were immediately transmitted into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind the moment he touched it.


    ¡°2600 Attack!¡± Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but gasp at the attack.


    This was a success beyond what he expected!


    Last time, the Critical Glove he made back in Tianhun Academy had been because of the additional effect of the Lightning-fire Cauldron adding 20% attack to it. Because of that external factor, the glove went from being a high-earth tier soul armament to a low-heaven tier soul armament.


    But the Lightning-fire Cauldron didn¡¯t activate this time. He had actually made a low-heaven tier soul armament without the cauldron¡¯s help! And the sword had 2600 attack¡ªthis was an attack that was almost on the cusp of becoming a mid-heaven tier soul armament.


    The greatest contributing factor to this success wasn¡¯t his own efforts, Bai Yunfei had to admit. It was the Core World that did most of the work.


    Bai Yunfei never would¡¯ve thought that the Core World would be of such great help to him while he crafted. Throughout the entire crafting process, the Core World had been supplying a large amount of elemental energy to Bai Yunfei, making the process at least seventy percent more efficient and easier!


    It was hard to beckon and shape elemental energy while in the regular world. But in the Core World, it was almost as easy as counting sheep. He could control the energy without a single problem!


    It was especially true for when he was manipulating the flames for the cauldron. Manipulating those flames became as easy as moving his own hand even. Every motion required only a single thought and was done with perfect execution.


    This was a superb advantage that¡¯d allow Bai Yunfei to dedicate more thought elsewhere, such as the preparations for the materials. From start to beginning, he could dedicate most of his time to ensuring the materials would be processed without imperfection and without accident.


    Essentially, this meant Bai Yunfei was able to craft under a situation far better than when he crafted the Critical Gloves. He was in a better situation than ever before.


    Looking at the still-burning sword floating above his hand, Bai Yunfei slowly then closed his eyes. After a moment¡¯s silence to think, he reopened them to smile with joy.


    He raised the sword up with his left hand and swished it through the air.


    ¡°Swish!¡±


    An excellent sound.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see an effect that corresponded to its main attribute. It having a sword that can inflict ¡®paralysis¡¯ is pretty unexpected.¡±


    The materials he used this time for the sword hadn¡¯t any materials that were particularly attuned towards elemental lightning. The sword was meant to be a soul armament with just one single element; elemental darkness. But somehow during the process, one of the special effects of the Lightningfire Cauldron activated (15% chance to add lightning affinity to an item when crafting).


    Subsequently, the sword was given an affinity for lightning and brought out an effect like ¡®paralysis¡¯.


    As mentioned many times before, soul armaments with elemental affinities would have a particularly special amount of abilities and powers. A water-type soul armament, for example, would be able to create a frosty aura to impede the movement of any opponent it was used against. Lightning-type soul armaments had the ability to inflict paralysis. That was the elemental system inherent to the world, and it seemed that even the equipment effects of the Upgrade Technique followed that system. The only difference was that with the Upgrade Technique, the system assigned a quantitative amount to the elemental abilities of the soul armament and could be improved upon.


    This jet-black sword, for example, had an effect that didn¡¯t even need manual activation to happen. For a dark-type soul armament, attacks would normally cause a hindrance in the opponent¡¯s soulforce or mobility when struck. Normally, though, those type of effects would need manual activation.


    Turning the sword over in his hands, Bai Yunfei decided to store it away into his space ring. He had planned on upgrading it if the attack was a little too low, but it seemed he¡¯d be able to save up on some energy.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t stand up to leave the Core World after he stored the sword away. He didn¡¯t even move to put away the Lightningfire Cauldron. Instead, his eyes were shining as if thinking about something.


    The glimmer in his eyes came to a halt several seconds later. Determined, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to take out an object from his space ring.


    The object was entirely violet in color and shined with light. This was one of the boltgrass from earlier!!


    Dropping the boltgrass onto the ground in front of him, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand again and again to take out several materials one after another.


    Was he going to craft a second soul armament right now?!


    ¡­¡­


    In the skies above the Underworld School¡¯s main hall.


    Mo Yanbai and Xiao Binzi watched as the Worldly Phantasm slowly faded away with expectant looks on their faces. They were both waiting to see Bai Yunfei come out with the newly-crafted heaven-tier soul armament.


    But even after waiting for several moments, neither of the two men could see Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure come out from the mountains. A little impatient now, Xiao Binzi was just about to send his soulsense over to see what was going on when his eyes registered something strange.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one. The others were all looking on at the skies in surprise.


    The skies, which was already back to its normal black cloud self, was now sporting a crimson-red glow that was spreading across the entire place again. A large amount of elemental fire was again being drawn from the surrounding area back down into the mountain peak where Bai Yunfei was.


    There wasn¡¯t another bolt of violet lightning or a maelstrom of black clouds, but the convergence of all the elemental fire was still quite surprising to all the spectators.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Wasn¡¯t he done crafting?¡± Elder Mu Chen gave an inquisitive glance over at the sight from right behind Mo Yanbai.


    Xiao Binzi didn¡¯t look like he had an answer at first, but after several seconds of close observation, he sighed. ¡°It means that Bai Yunfei is going to start crafting again! And with a tremendous source of elemental fire like this, whatever soul armament he¡¯s crafting this time will require a large amount of fire for the cauldron. Only the materials for a heaven-tier soul armament will be able to handle a fire like that.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei is¡­going to be making another one? He¡¯s making two heaven-tier soul armaments?! That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Up by this point, even Xiao Binzi was thoroughly amazed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions.

 Chapter 839: Bewilderment

    The creation of heaven-tier soul armaments was a complicated process and consumed a tremendous amount of energy. Any single person wouldn¡¯t even be able to imagine the strain a crafter might go through to make one. In the Crafting School, the amount of energy a Soul King might use up crafting a heaven-tier soul armament was the equivalent of a commoner running well over forty kilometers of distance. So heavy would be the fatigue that several days of rest would be needed for a full reset.


    A Late-stage Soul King like Xiao Binzi would need to rest after making a single heaven-tier soul armament. That didn¡¯t mean to say he didn¡¯t have the energy to keep on going after it, but that he wouldn¡¯t be in an optimal state. The process of crafting a heaven-tier soul armament was an arduous one that required the utmost concentration. And with the many rare materials that a heaven-tier soul armament required, not even the most experienced of crafters would be willing to undergo the chance when not at their best.Even Xiao Binzi, a late-stage Soul King, would need to take a break after crafting a heaven-tier soul armament. This didn¡¯t mean to say he was completely exhausted whenever he crafted one, but that he wouldn¡¯t be at an optimal state to be making another soul armament.


    The process of crafting a heaven-tier soul armament was one that couldn¡¯t be done sloppily. The utmost consideration and care had to be had for the process and required multiple rare materials compared to any other soul armament. Without the right circumstances, no one from the Crafting School would even be willing to consider making a heaven-tier soul armament.


    And yet, here Xiao Binzi could see Bai Yunfei was doing just exactly that! After finishing a single soul armament, he was going straight for a second soul armament. And a heaven-tier one at that!!


    He was stunned at Bai Yunfei¡¯s audacity. He simply couldn¡¯t understand Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions; was Bai Yunfei so blind to his abilities?


    The rich flow of elemental fire was starting to wane now. Now half of its original volume, the energy was starting to stabilize while still maintaining the shroud of mist-like appearance around the mountain.


    This was a surprise to Xiao Binzi. The calming of the elemental fire in such a way meant that the initial tempering of the materials was done.


    Mo Yanbai and the others were quick to realize what was going on as well. ¡°Elder Xiao,¡± Mu Chen looked on in disbelief, ¡°Is¡­is Yunfei going to be crafting a second soul armament?¡±


    While not knowledgeable about the crafting process, Mo Yanbai and the others could take the hint on what was going on. ¡°Elder Xiao,¡± Mu Chen looked almost incredulous. ¡°Is Yunfei¡­crafting a second soul armament?¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Xiao Binzi nodded. ¡°That is his intention. Ai, what an impulsive student. My deepest apologies for his showing.¡±


    Xiao Binzi nodded.


    ¡°He is. This youngster has always been an impulsive student, my apologies in advance for his poor performance.¡±


    But Mo Yanbai had a twinkle in his eyes. ¡°Haha, I actually find myself looking forward to what nephew Yunfei does next. Perhaps¡­he will surprise us all yet again?¡±


    Xiao Binzi grew silent. Would Bai Yunfei be able to craft a second heaven-tier soul armament? Xiao Binzi didn¡¯t believe so.


    He sighed. It was far too hasty for Bai Yunfei to do as he did. Ultimately, Xiao Binzi couldn¡¯t blame him for that. It¡¯d do Bai Yunfei some good to have a setback now as a reminder of his own limits.


    ¡­¡­


    Time trickled by tick by tick. Rather than leave, Xiao Binzi and the others remained in the skies to wait. Of everyone there, Xiao Binzi was the one most concentrated on the changes of the space around them, waiting to see just how long Bai Yunfei would be able to hold out until the next step.


    A little ways away from the elders, Zheng Kai, Song Lin, and the others were waiting as well. The other students of the Underworld School were there, though they could hardly make sense of what was going on. All they knew was that someone of the Crafting School was there crafting soul armaments, and that the Worldly Phantasm had already marked the success of one successful crafting. All that was left to do was wait for the very end for the final results.


    Standing on top of a mountain farther away from the elders, Zheng Kai, Song Lin, and the others stood together to watch. Most of the students of the Underworld School were there as well, though they didn¡¯t understand first that someone from the Crafting School was crafting a soul armament. After they found out, everyone began to chatter and stand there patiently in hopes of being able to see the final results.


    Day and night made a full cycle again in Black Cloud Valley, though the elemental fire being fed into the mountain cave where Bai Yunfei was had yet to have even a single fluctuation in it. Over the course of everything, the expression on Xiao Binzi¡¯s face had been constantly changing.


    At the start, Xiao Binzi had been fully convinced Bai Yunfei would fail in his second attempt.


    This time, he was noticeably in awe now and eagerly awaiting for Bai Yunfei to finish.


    By the time another day and night went by, Xiao Binzi was thoroughly convinced and hard-pressed to hide the shock on his face.


    By the dawn of the second morning, there was yet again a change in the elemental fire that astounded everyone!


    The flow of elemental fire used to be calm, like the waterflow of a quiet river. Now, the flow was nearly chaotic, churning and billowing rapidly so that in a matter of seconds, the elemental energy was swirling around the mountain like a maelstrom!


    The elemental fire was picking up in intensity as well. As if gaining the properties of a magnet, the maelstrom was taking in even more elemental fire from its initial hundred meter radius into itself!


    Soon, the maelstrom of elemental fire was nearly a kilometer in radius and nearly touching the area where Zheng Kai and the others stood. Most of the students there had already fell back in fear at the rapid growth of it, but before their fears could completely overwhelm them, the maelstrom was already starting to change in form.


    As if a bottomless hole had suddenly appeared at its center, the maelstrom was quickly losing its mass as the elemental fire was swallowed up into the mountain peak!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    Right as everyone was still processing what was going on, a clap of thunder resounded through the area right before a dazzling bolt of violet lightning struck the ground!


    This bolt of lightning was identical to the other one a few days ago. But this time, it wasn¡¯t just one bolt this time¡­


    ¡°Crack! Crack!! Crack! Crack!!¡±


    The first bolt of lightning hadn¡¯t even fully dissipated when another four bolts dropped from the skies onto the small mountain of Bai Yunfei!


    Another five bolts descended from the skies, but none of them slammed into the mountain. Instead, they fell behind the mountain where it was seemingly taken into the maelstrom of elemental fire and was erased from sight!


    Bolts of lightning were starting to crackle to life all over the place now. They converged together to gave rise to one singular bolt that seemed to wriggle almost like a snake made completely of lightning.


    Just like the maelstrom of fire, the gigantic bolt of lightning started to shrink after a while. In moments, it too, was gone behind the mountain¡­


    Every single person that had been watching the spectacle was tongue-tied. Most of them were completely bewildered by the sudden and large-scale changes going on in the world around them, but for those who knew a little bit of what was going on, such as Song Lin, were in disbelief at the sight.


    ¡°He¡¯s done it!! He¡¯s actually managed to succeed!!¡±


    In the skies above the main halls of the Underworld School, Xiao Binzi cried aloud his own thoughts. He couldn¡¯t help it, he was just so surprised by the significance of what Bai Yunfei did.


    A split-moment after he cried out, Xiao Binzi started to grow extremely excited.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    But before the shock could even wear away, Xiao Binzi took notice of something else and gasped at the realizations.


    From the corners of his eyes, Xiao Binzi could see that crimson-red light was starting to gather yet again!!


    ¡°This¡­this¡­¡± Xiao Binzi was nearly at a loss for words.


    With his knowledge and experience as a Late-stage Soul King who had lived for over a hundred years already, Xiao Binzi never had such a hard time as he was right now trying to control himself. He could hardly even believe what he was seeing.


    Not only had Bai Yunfei crafted two heaven-tier soul armaments in a row, he was right now trying to craft a third one without even resting!!


    ¡°Has¡­has Bai Yunfei reached the ¡®Enlightened Realm¡¯?!¡±


    Xiao Binzi couldn¡¯t help but voice out what he was thinking of at the time.


    The Enlightened Realm. A mental frame of mind that could not be forcibly sought out. If there was something that could be studied, it had a realm of Enlightenment.


    A soul cultivator that entered the Enlightened Realm would be able to reach heights beyond what they would normally be able to reach otherwise. They would be able to see through problems they would have once been stuck by, and be able to break through bottlenecks. The Enlightened Realm for crafters meant being in the best possible state of mind for crafting. In this state of mind, a crafter would have not only a better chance of crafting, but also a higher chance of being able to craft even better soul armaments.


    But reaching such a realm required a countless sum of experience and knowledge. It required having to craft well over tens of thousands of soul armaments before such a realm could be reached. Even for Xiao Binzi, who boasted a hundred years of being a soul cultivator and crafter, had only been able to reach that state once to craft two heaven-tier soul armaments.


    And now somehow, Bai Yunfei¡ªwho had only been crafting for less than a decade¡ªhad somehow¡­reached the realm of Enlightenment?! And to not only be able to craft two heaven-tier soul armaments, but three!


    As he was thinking to himself, Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyes glanced back over to where the mountain Bai Yunfei was on. His eyes flashed once with light as he realized something off about the situation.


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s¡­not the feeling of a third heaven-tier soul armament being crafted¡­.¡±


    Though the elemental fire around the mountain was starting to gather again, he was still able to tell that the soul armament Bai Yunfei was crafting this time was only a heaven-tier soul armament.


    Seeing this, Xiao Binzi had to let out a sigh. Even he himself didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d react if Bai Yunfei were to craft a third heaven-tier soul armament without rest.


    ¡°Even if he fails to craft this third soul armament, Bai Yunfei has done something that no one in our Crafting School has ever done before. Reaching the ¡®Enlightened Realm¡¯ before he is even a Soul King and crafting two heaven-tier soul armaments is still an incredibly shocking task¡­.¡±


    Xiao Binzi was trying his best to calm himself down. He smiled at the mountain, pleased at what Bai Yunfei was doing.


    ¡­¡­


    Half a day went by this time before Bai Yunfei was done. By that afternoon, the elemental fire was sucked into the mountain, though there was no Worldly Phantasm this time after.


    ¡°Yunfei¡¯s out!¡±


    It was Xiao Qi who cried out a moment later to Zheng Kai¡¯s group.


    There was a bolt of red light that flew towards them from the mountain as Xiao Qi spoke¡­

 Chapter 840: The Flying Sword Heavens Thunder

    Bai Yunfei looked a little tired as he skywalked through the skies. Though tired, his eyes shined with an excited light.


    ¡°Just how far do you plan to go, Yunfei? First that heaven-tier soul armament back in Tianhun Academy, and now this! This is even more ridiculous!¡± Zheng Kai cried out in disbelief at Bai Yunfei.


    From the side, Song Lin gave Bai Yunfei a bewildered look, ¡°How went your crafting, Yunfei? I think I saw you craft three soul armaments? And two of those were¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed at the disbelieving look on Song Lin¡¯s face. ¡°I did. I crafted two low-heaven tiers and one mid-earth tier¡­¡±


    ¡°I knew it!!¡±


    Song Lin responded with even more shock than before. By his side, Li Tiechui and Lian Lingmin both gasped.


    The three of them were far more knowledgeable about what Bai Yunfei did and the significance behind it all.


    Still. The three of them still felt like it was all just a dream of some kind and so they needed Bai Yunfei to verify it himself.


    ¡°Yunfei, take them out and let¡¯s have a look! How in the world did you craft two heaven-tier soul armaments?!¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes were glowing with excitement. He wasn¡¯t the only one; everyone else was eagerly awaiting for Bai Yunfei to take them out.


    ¡°Haha.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. But before he could say anything else, his eyes flickered off to the right.


    The space in the direction he was looking at warped in on itself before several figures stepped out from the distortion.


    ¡°Headmaster Mo, first elder¡­¡±


    Realizing the figures at once, Bai Yunfei bowed at once with the other students with him scrambling to follow suit.


    Xiao Binzi gave Bai Yunfei an evaluating stare. He nodded, pleased. ¡°You gave us all a startling sight. Very good of you, very good indeed¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t any high praise, but the look in Xiao Binzi¡¯s eyes gave Bai Yunfei all the praise he could want.


    Mo Yanbai heaved a sigh from his lips.


    ¡°How spectacular, nephew Bai. Your talent wouldn¡¯t lose out to Kou Changkong when he was in his thirties. I don¡¯t even see any limits in your potential. As the saying goes, the ¡®waves of the river before push those after¡¯. I admit, I feel quite regretful to be your senior in age, and yet, junior in ability¡­¡±


    ¡°Senior Mo, you are far too kind. This junior has done nothing to warrant such praise¡­¡±


    Without mincing words any further, Bai Yunfei withdrew a jet-black sword from his space ring and presented it to the elder. ¡°This is the heaven-tier soul armament this junior promised to craft for your esteemed school. Please, take a look, senior Mo.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes shined brightly with excitement as soon as the sword was taken out. Mo Yanbai took the sword into his hand and gleamed over it with his soulsense. As more and more of the sword was revealed to him, he grew more and more pleased. However, as a man of his power and stature, he wouldn¡¯t be too excited with a low-heaven tier soul armament. It took less than a second for him to look it over before he stored the sword away.


    ¡°Yunfei, you crafted a lightning-type heaven-tier soul armament as well, didn¡¯t you?¡± Xiao Binzi smiled at Bai Yunfei as soon as the jet-black sword was taken. ¡°Take that one out for everyone to see.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei obeyed. With eyes that shined bright with pride, he waved his right hand and took out a violet-colored sword that shined translucently in the light. Rather than holding onto it, Bai Yunfei dropped the sword, allowing it to hover over the ground by itself.


    ¡°A flying sword?!¡±


    Xiao Binzi uttered in surprise as soon as he saw the sword hover. The creation of a flying sword was far harder than crafting the average soul armament. But somehow, Bai Yunfei had managed to craft such a soul armament; this was something Xiao Binzi didn¡¯t predict.


    Bai Yunfei retook the sword into his hands and stored it away. ¡°Senior Mo, this junior apologies, but crafting took up most of my energy. If this junior may be permitted to leave early and rest¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be no problem at all.¡± Mo Yanbai chuckled, ¡°You¡¯ve worked long and hard, nephew Bai, return to your room and rest up well.¡±


    Zheng Kai and the others could see how tired Bai Yunfei was for themselves and didn¡¯t say anything more to hold him up. Most of them had been studying the scene attentively over the course of the past few days and were tired themselves. So they too decided to return to their rooms.


    It wasn¡¯t until Zheng Kai was back in his own room that he slapped his own head. ¡°Ah! I forgot to ask if Yunfei refined me my soul armament yet!¡±


    He turned his head to look at the courtyard Bai Yunfei¡¯s room was in. Thinking about it, he sighed and shook his head afterward. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll ask him about it when he¡¯s rested. Not like he can run anywhere¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    When Bai Yunfei was back in his own room, he spoke a few words to Xiao Qi to keep an eye on things and to not have people disturb him before he jumped into the Core World.


    A portion of the Core World had been made into a mess after Bai Yunfei had gone through it with his crafting process. But with the help of Xiao Fang, the mess was entirely cleaned up and returned back to normal.


    Bai Yunfei scanned the area for a mountain to rest on. Finding one, he flew over and sat down at the top to start gaining his breath.


    He hadn¡¯t lied back there with Mo Yanbai. Bai Yunfei was well and truly tired. Crafting two heaven-tiers and one earth-tier soul armaments sapped a tremendous amount of energy from him. It would¡¯ve been impossible for him in the past, but he had somehow managed to accomplish it with the assistance of the Core World.


    His mental strength and energy were still at dreadfully low levels despite that assistance, however. He was nearing a level of tired that couldn¡¯t even begin to be told from his face. Waves of dizziness were spreading through his mind with every step, making it nearly impossible for him to even walk without stumbling at times.


    Mustering the last of his soulforce, Bai Yunfei had the surrounding elemental fire in the Core World gather to him so he could absorb it into his body for more energy.


    Even breathing had a better effect in the Core World. In just a few cycles, Bai Yunfei was already substantially better than before.


    But after an hour of this breathing meditation, Bai Yunfei opened his eyes.


    He wasn¡¯t fully recovered, but he wasn¡¯t all too bad either. There were more pressing matters he had to get to before anything else could be done.


    He took out the lightning-type flying sword he crafted earlier into his hands.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Lightning, Wind


    Attack: 2400


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect 1: Enable the ability of flight by consuming soulforce.


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Chance to drop a bolt of lightning on target when attacking. Lightning bolt has 50% of the equipment''s attack.


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    There was a pleased smile on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face at the stats. Back when he finished crafting the jet-black sword, Bai Yunfei went straight onto crafting his second soul armament while he was in that best mental frame of mind of his.


    He knew that crafting multiple soul armaments in a row was a dangerous thing to attempt, but since he had the Core World and didn¡¯t feel that tired after his first soul armament.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to waste such a golden opportunity.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that during his crafting, he had entered the realm Xiao Binzi described as being ¡®Enlightened¡¯. It had been fortunate for him that he chose the right materials such as the boltgrass and was able to craft a heaven-tier soul armament. After that, he took advantage of the ¡®wave¡¯ he was on to go for a third soul armament, an earth-tier soul armament.


    The reason why he chose to make a sword again was because of his success the first time. Since he wasn¡¯t exactly fond of using a sword, Bai Yunfei decided to make the sword a flying sword instead.


    He had the Tempest Sword, but Bai Yunfei was all too happy to use an even better one if one presented itself to him.


    And he wasn¡¯t disappointed with the results. So happy was he with it that he decided to give the flying sword a name.


    Heaven¡¯s Thunder


    There was a difference between the makes of a flying sword and any other soul armament. Within the interior of the flying sword, a ¡®wind seal¡¯ had to be made on the interior of the blade so flight could be enabled. Because of the dual nature of the material he used for the main component, the lightning shardstone, Bai Yunfei was able to have the sword have a bit of elemental wind go into it.


    In truth, flying swords didn¡¯t need that much elemental wind to work. There wouldn¡¯t even be a Worldly Phantasm made from the changes in the elemental wind. The energy in the Core World was more than enough to do all the work.


    He didn¡¯t upgrade any of the soul armaments he made because of his lack of energy. Bai Yunfei that everyone would be looking forward to see what soul armaments he made, so if he were to upgrade them and turn them into mid-heaven tier soul armaments, it¡¯d be very hard for him to explain to everyone.


    But now that he was recovered, the very first thing he¡¯d do would be to upgrade them.


    And since this sword had already 20% compatibility with him, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be so rash as to use the Upgrade Technique to get it to +10. He¡¯d manually upgrade the flying sword himself and see if he could delve deeper into its secrets.


    Bai Yunfei inhaled slowly. Calm-faced, he had his soulforce envelop the Heaven¡¯s Thunder and began to try and upgrade it¡­


    There was no ¡®day night¡¯ cycle within the Core World, so Bai Yunfei had no concept of just how much time was passing by. Sometimes, Bai Yunfei would succeed in his attempts, and sometimes he failed. But regardless of pass or fail, Bai Yunfei persisted¡­


    And in the end¡­


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    He sucked in a deep breath of air and wiped the sweat off his forehead to smile down at the sword in his hand.


    At last, he had managed to upgrade the sword to +9.


    ¡°The final step! Just one more level to go!!¡±


    He soliloquized to himself. With one final deep breath to clear his mind of any unnecessary emotions, Bai Yunfei focused.


    Perhaps it was because his level of understanding had reached a certain level of some kind. Or perhaps it was because the goddess of fortune was smiling upon him. But when sweat was starting to appear on his forehead again and it seemed that he had failed, Bai Yunfei watched as the Heaven¡¯s Thunder suddenly started to shine brightly with violet light!


    Xiao Fang was startled by the sudden light. Looking to Bai Yunfei, the hologram began to tremble at the edges as if excited.


    ¡°Law¡­the Law of Thunder! That¡¯s the Law of Thunder!! But how!?¡±

 Chapter 841: A First Look Into A Mystery, and the Purifying Earring (End of Book Six)

    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Lightning, Wind


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 2400


    Additional Attack: 1300


    Soul Compatibility: 60%


    Equipment Effect 1: Enable the ability of flight by consuming soulforce.


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Chance to drop a bolt of lightning on target when attacking. Lightning bolt has 50% of the equipment''s attack.


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    +10 Additional Effect; Grant mirror image of identical attack power with the next attack in exchange for soulforce.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    The violet light shining from the sword wasn¡¯t even gone when the stats were already appearing in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder was finally +10!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t pay too much attention to the +10 additional effect though. He had his eyes closed now as if trying to think hard about something.


    After a period of silence, he opened his eyes in understanding, but also in confusion. There was some sort of mystery he was close to unraveling.


    He shook his head.


    Turning to Xiao Fang, Bai Yunfei had a confused look on his face, ¡°Xiao Fang, what did you say a moment ago? Law of Thunder? Whats that?¡±


    Xiao Fang had gone silent after it uttered those words, perhaps in realization of the fact that he wasn¡¯t to disturb Bai Yunfei during such a crucial time. But when Bai Yunfei asked Xiao Fang the question, Xiao Fang¡¯s image flickered out of sight to reappear in front of Bai Yunfei. It studied the Heaven¡¯s Thunder in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand for a good moment before responding.


    ¡°I¡­I felt the Planar Laws just now! And this time, it was the Law of Thunder! Yunfei, you¡­how can you even draw in the Laws of Thunder?! But how?! This doesn¡¯t make any sense at all!¡±


    ¡°The Planar Law of Thunder!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°You¡¯re saying that the power I felt when I upgraded the flying sword was from the Law of Thunder?¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, then that was without a doubt the Planar Law of Thunder!¡± Xiao Fang repeated in confirmation, ¡°How do you not know?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, he was as confused as Xiao Fang. ¡°I see now¡­when I upgraded the sword to +10, the Planar Law of Thunder appeared. In that case, the +10 additional effect was something that the Law of Thunder bestowed on it?


    ¡°Xiao Fang,¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Did it appear only during the final moments of me upgrading? And¡­Law of Thunder¡­is that just one of the many different types of Planar Laws?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the only time I felt it. In the last moments. It was only for a split-second too.¡± Xiao Fang confirmed.


    ¡°Of course the Law of Thunder is one of the Planar Laws¡­It¡¯s one of the collective Laws under the Laws of Truth. In other words, these ¡®Planar Laws¡¯ are the source of the Laws of Truth. It seems like your ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯ relies upon the Laws of Truth to bestow upon the soul armament an ¡®additional effect¡¯. Now that I think about it, when you were upgrading the Core Stone, I could feel one of the Planar Laws appear then too. If I had to put my finger on it, then it was probably the True Law of Space. This is crazy. I¡¯m not even sure if I understand this.¡±


    Though it was all speculation, Bai Yunfei could see Xiao Fang was still very clearly bewildered by everything.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just¡­too inconceivable? Your ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯ being able to draw upon the different Laws from the Laws of Truth? How can it do something like that even¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was pensive. He already knew from earlier observations that his Upgrade Technique had something to do with the Planar Laws, but the ¡®Laws of Truth¡¯ was something new to him in regards to the Upgrade Technique. He was more or less convinced that the ¡®additional effect¡¯s were being bestowed onto the soul armament by the ¡®Laws of Truth¡¯ now.


    He didn¡¯t understand, but that didn¡¯t mean Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to take advantage of it either. He was aware of its existence now, for better or for worse, so he wouldn¡¯t need to be making half-guesses now.


    Afterwards, Bai Yunfei asked Xiao Fang a little more about the Planar Laws and the Laws of Truth, but Xiao Fang didn¡¯t really know much. It was still a substantial amount of information to take in. For example, Bai Yunfei learned that one had to be a Soul Emperor in order to even start touching upon the Laws of Truth, and that only a Soul Saint would be able to start exercising control over them. The more the thought about it in that aspect, the more Bai Yunfei was convinced that he should forget about it for now.


    After letting his mind drift off to think about every new piece of information, Bai Yunfei decided to think about the mysteries he had just learned about in regards to the Upgrade Technique.


    There wasn¡¯t enough he learned to pt into practice, so it took a moment before Bai Yunfei turned his attention to the Heaven¡¯s Thunder.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take this for ar ide first.¡±


    Twitching a finger, Bai Yunfei had the Heaven¡¯s Thunder float up next to him. In a flash, he was up onto the sword and standing upright on the blade¡¯s flat surface.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡± In a burst of violet light, the sword took off into the skies.


    It was like a violet meteor traveling through the skies as the Heaven¡¯s Thunder took Bai Yunfei through the Core World. Flying around a mountain in practically no time at all, Bai Yunfei directed the flying sword with a gleeful smile on his face. The speed of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder was tremendously faster than the Tempest Sword.


    That meant the Tempest Sword would most likely be retired after this.


    But of course, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t created the Heaven¡¯s Thunder solely for the purpose of using it to fight¡­


    Pushing his soulforce into the sword, he pointed it towards the direction of a large mountain a few hundred meters away.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder vibrated for a moment before a beam of violet light shot forth from the sword¡¯s tip. There was only a ¡®pcht¡¯ as the beam of light easily speared straight through the mountain like it was made of tofu.


    With another wave of his hand, Bai Yunfei had the Heaven¡¯s Thunder fly up and down like the beating of a butterfly¡¯s wing. Spinning in every direction and shooting beams of light everyone, Bai Yunfei looked ecstatic at the sensation.


    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder was quite a powerful tool even for combat, it would seem.


    ¡°And now for the last test: the additional effect.¡± Bai Yunfei mumbled.


    Brandishing his hand, Bai Yunfei commanded the sword to fly towards the mountain he had just stabbed through and activated the effect.


    He locked onto a gigantic boulder with his soulsense, and in that instant, the Heaven¡¯s Thunder suddenly started to glow in light before an identical sword appeared right next to it!


    It looked identical in every single way and from every angle. Spinning for just a brief second, the two swords flew together before smashing through the giant boulder. A cloud of dust kicked up into the air along with a vibrant display of violet light before the Heaven¡¯s Thunder zipped back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Again, I¡¯ve gained another strange but powerful ace¡­¡±


    Ecstatic and beyond pleased with his newest addition, Bai Yunfei marveled at how beneficial the Heaven¡¯s Thunder was for combat.


    ¡­¡­


    Now that he was done looking at the stats of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder, Bai Yunfei decided to look at one more thing. With a shake of his hand, a small object came out from his space ring.


    It was a small earring. An earring completely translucent and red in color like a cherry.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Poison, Water


    Attribute: +430 Strength


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Equipment Effect: 50% Poison resistance.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    This earring was the third soul armament Bai Yunfei created. Its main ingredient had been the poison pearl he got from elder Qi beforehand and was also created by refining a small cherry-red crystal soul armament he had before.


    The poison pearl itself had been a low-earth tier in quality. It counted as a hidden weapon type of soul armament, but Bai Yunfei had it refined and created so that it¡¯d become an accessory instead.


    Prior to crafting it, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t bothered to upgrade the poison pearl since it¡¯d change the quality of the entire product. He wanted to refine an already created soul armament in his possession to see if it was possible. This was the result of the many observations and experiments Bai Yunfei had done in the past.


    There had been a massive change in the earrings after the poison pearl was added. The crystal used to have attack power and an attack-related equipment effect, but the poison pearl had changed that so that it increased one¡¯s resistance to poison by a half. This was something Bai Yunfei was pleased to see since he wanted something exactly like that.


    The reason why Bai Yunfei was so intent on making a soul armament with this type of effect was because of Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother. The mother had a poison of some type that was near her heart, which made her physical constitution quite weak. For the past few years, Bai Yunfei had been searching for materials that went well with poison so he could create even more poison resistant soul armaments. Those items were rare and few, sadly. Bai Yunfei had found very few of those, and his attempts to create a soul armament with the desired effect ended in failure more times than not. Of the few times he managed to craft a soul armament with the right materials, most of them didn¡¯t even have the effect he wanted. All in all, this left Bai Yunfei quite vexed.


    So it went without saying that Bai Yunfei was quite ecstatic to see such a soul armament today.


    After he had crafted the second soul armament, Bai Yunfei made the careful decision to use the poison pearl. By using that and refining another soul armament, Bai Yunfei had the impression that he¡¯d be able to craft a soul armament with the desired effect. And then he¡¯d be able to upgrade it. The end results did not disappoint him.


    ¡­¡­


    Because of the fact that manually upgrading of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder took too much of his energy, Bai Yunfei opted to use the Upgrade Technique for the earring.


    He managed to upgrade it to +10 without any further problems.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Poison, Water


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +430 Strength


    Additional Attribute: +200 Strength


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    Equipment Effect: 50% Poison resistance.


    +10 Additional Effect: 100% Increase in recovery rate when poisoned.


    Upgrade Requirement: 100 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    After that, Bai Yunfei took the folding fan soul armament and flying sword he got from Zheng Kai out.


    A brief moment later.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Space


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 2222


    Additional Attack: 1000


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: 10% Increase in space-related attacks.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to create a blade of space to attack the enemy when defending.


    Cooldown of 5 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 130 Soulpoints


    Creating what equivalated to a Spatial Edge when defending wasn¡¯t half-bad of an effect. It¡¯d catch the enemy off-guard at the very least and death would most likely be certain then.


    As for Zheng Kai¡¯s flying sword, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t see anything special to it after he upgraded it. There was only an increase in attack and flying speed, nothing more.


    Now that he was done with everyone, Bai Yunfei sighed and took in a deep breath. Refreshed, he left the Core World.


    It was after he came out from the Core World that he realized twenty hours had passed in the real world. It was already the evening of the next day.


    ¡­¡­


    Two days later, Xiao Binzi took Bai Yunfei and the other crafters with him away from the Underworld School to return to the Crafting School.


    When he thought about it, Bai Yunfei realized it had been over three years since he left the Crafting School. To come home after wandering the continent for such a long time made Bai Yunfei quite happy.


    But what Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know was that there¡¯d be a wave of dangerous events cascading across the continent and awaiting for him to find out¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    End of Book Six


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    For the sake of chapter management, I put the last chapter of Book Six as the first chapter of Book Seven. Please don¡¯t pay that too much mind, dear readers. The new book will feature a new arc, and I, Sea of Clouds, am writing as quickly as possible to get it ready. I hope this new arc will be to everyone¡¯s satisfaction.

 Chapter 842: Return to School and the Kings Phenomena

    It was a beautiful day. The sun¡¯s rays were sprinkling down onto the earth with a warm glow, and the gusts of wind felt refreshing to the face. In the skies above, several streaks of light flew through it.


    Six people were traveling within these streaks of light. At the forefront of the group was Xiao Binzi, and behind him was Bai Yunfei and the others.


    The group headed straight for the capital of the Southward River Province after they left the Underworld School. From there, they rode one of the still developmental and not yet ready for public ¡®airships¡¯. It took them only half a month for them to fly from the Southward River Province to Redfire City in the Great Plains Province.


    ¡°We¡¯re here. That¡¯s Mount Crimson in front of us, the place where our Crafting School is.¡±


    The group had disembarked from the airship and flew the rest of the way afterward. It took no time at all for them to reach the mountain where the Crafting School was. Since Zheng Kai had never seen the school before, Bai Yunfei pointed at the mountain with the crimson-red fogs for him to see.


    ¡°That¡¯s Mount Crimson? It looks as majestic as the rumors say.¡± Zheng Kai praised at the sight of the towering mountain.


    Since this was the first time for Xiao Qi and Long Lan, the two of them both had an interested look on their faces.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Just as everyone was getting close to Mount Crimson¡ªjust about a few dozen kilometers away now¡ªthe group came to a sudden stop.


    In the skies above Mount Crimson, the crimson-red clouds were started to churn violently!


    And then, a pillar of fire shot straight up from the mountain through the clouds!


    ¡°Is this¡­a Worldly Phantasm?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°Did someone craft a heaven-tier soul armament?¡±


    ¡°No! This isn¡¯t a Worldly Phantasm, this is¡­the King¡¯s Phenomena!!¡± Exclaimed Xiao Binzi in direct opposition to Bai Yunfei¡¯s thought. There was something to this Xiao Binzi took notice that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t.


    He grew silent for a second to confirm what he was sensing.


    ¡°This is it! This is the King¡¯s Phenomena! This aura¡­is Jiang Nan¡¯s! He¡¯s become a Soul King!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Senior Jiang Nan?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed. ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s become a Soul King?! This is what happens when someone becomes a Soul King?!¡±


    ¡°This is Jiang Nan without a doubt! He¡¯s broken through so quickly¡­¡± Xiao Binzi looked shocked at the sight. ¡°Faster now! Seeing the King¡¯s Phenomena is a rare sight, it¡¯ll do you all some good.¡±


    The group flew even faster at that to rush towards Mount Crimson.


    ¡­¡­


    Now that they were closer to the Crafting School, Bai Yunfei could see that the pillar of fire was coming from the Northern Point of the school behind the main halls. That was the mountain point where the elders and their students would normally have their closed-door meditation in.


    Throngs of people were gathered in the main halls of the Main Point. It seemed like almost everyone from the Crafting School was there to look up at the giant pillar of fire sprouting up from one of the mountains.


    Most of the students were standing on the ground, though there were a few that were floating in the skies. But regardless, everyone had their eyes on where the pillar was sprouting from.


    The figures in the skies were the key figures to the Crafting School, namely the headmaster Kou Changkong, second elder Huangfu Rui, third elder Cang Yu, and even Bai Yunfei¡¯s master Zi Jin.


    Under the guidance of Xiao Binzi, the group flew through the skies to approach the skies above the main hall.


    With so many powerful auras rapidly approaching, it didn¡¯t take for the group to catch the attention of the people on the ground.


    ¡°That¡¯s the first elder! The first elder¡¯s back!¡±


    ¡°Senior Song, Li and Lian are all back! Did they get any of the Extreme King Pills?¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­? Isn¡¯t¡­isn¡¯t that teacher Bai?! Teacher Bai is back too!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true, it¡¯s true! That¡¯s teacher Bai! Wasn¡¯t he in the Capital? What¡¯s he doing with the first elder?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know? I heard from senior Tingting when she came back from the Southward River Province that teacher Bai was nearby when the Extreme King Pills were being fought over. She must¡¯ve known that teacher Bai would¡¯ve participated. And the two must¡¯ve come across each other, so they came back together.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s two strangers with them, I can¡¯t tell who they are¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The approach of Bai Yunfei and his group gave rise to the chattering of many of the crafters gathered there. Like a hive of bees, the entire plaza was soon abuzz with chatter before Huangfu Nan sent a glance over to the plaza and immediately quieted them.


    ¡°Master, senior, second elder, and third elder¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei dropped down to the elevation of the elders and immediately bowed to them.


    Song Lin, Zheng Kai, and the others were quick to follow suit. ¡°This junior is Zheng Kai from the house of Zheng, it is an honor to pay my respects to seniors¡­¡±


    Zi Jin and the others had an odd expression on their faces when they saw Zheng Kai, but when his eyes swept across onto Bai Yunfei, Zi Jin smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Let us wait for Jiang Nan to finish before we talk.¡±


    It was a crucial moment for Jiang Nan¡¯s breakthrough right now. Now was most definitely not the proper time to be talking.


    And so the entire group turned back to look towards the Northern Point. Feeling the burning heat of the elemental fire, Bai Yunfei felt quite surprised. This was the first time he had ever seen a soul cultivator become a Soul King. He did see Long Lan become a class seven, but there hadn¡¯t been anything as awe-inspiring as this sight. Perhaps there was a difference in how a soul cultivator and soulbeast broke through.


    At first, the waves of elemental fire had been extremely powerful to feel. In time though, the pillar of fire started to transmit waves of soulforce as well. It was rhythmic, like the beating of a heart. The palpitations started very weakly at first, but after a dozen seconds or so, the fire pillar was now enveloped in a great bubble of soulforce.


    Soon after, the elemental fire started to look as though it was being reined in now. Like being guided, the energy started to compress in on the pillar and be absorbed into a point on the Northern Point.


    Upon seeing that, Huangfu Nan¡¯s eyes sparkled with glee, ¡°Haha! He¡¯s done it!¡±


    Likewise, Zi Jin, Kou Changkong, and the others all had a smile on their faces.


    Jiang Nan was very clearly breaking through to become a Soul King.


    As the pillar of fire continued to shrink, the crimson red fogs around them started to calm down a bit. As the area with the densest levels of soulforce and elemental fire, the Northern Point was soon settling down¡­and in time, the Kings Phenomena was gone without a trace.


    ¡°It¡¯s a success! The fourth elder has become a Soul King!¡±


    ¡°Our Crafting School has gained another Soul King!¡±


    Gradually, the entire plaza soon started to pick up in steam once again. This time, Huangfu Nan didn¡¯t bother to silence them. While the students were left free to talk as they pleased, the people up in the skies flew into the halls to talk.


    Jiang Nan had become a Soul King, but he still needed some time to consolidate his power and get adjusted to them. For that reason, he¡¯d need to stay where he was for the meanwhile and shouldn¡¯t be disturbed.


    Now that everyone was seated, Bai Yunfei and his group first spoke to Kou Changkong of the matters with the Extreme King Pill and the fight that happened in the pocket. Though the headmaster and elders had heard rumors of what happened, they were still surprised to hear the finer details of it all. They looked even more pleased when Bai Yunfei spoke about Song Lin and the others obtaining some of the Extreme King Pill fragrance and silently commented in sorrow when they heard about Bai Yunfei not being able to get any.


    With their talks now over, Kou Changkong decided to let Song Lin and the others to rest. He instructed then that after their rest, Song Lin, Li Tiechui, and Lian Lingmin should go into closed meditation and make use of the Extreme King Pills in their bodies to grow stronger and try to become a Soul King.


    Zheng Kai and Bai Yunfei retreated after that to allow for the elders to discuss amongst themselves.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was immediately set upon a crowd the moment when he walked out from the main hall.


    ¡°Bro strawhat!! You¡¯re back!!¡±


    A cheerful cry rang through the crowd first before a figure in pink-red clothes came running up to Bai Yunfei. It was Huangfu Rui in her normally-innocent demeanor as always to laugh and greet Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m back.¡± Bai Yunfei returned the smile with one of his own. Unable to stop himself, he patted the girl on the head and rubbed it, resulting in a wide grin from the girl.


    ¡°Tingting, you¡¯re here too!¡±


    It was Zheng Kai¡¯s turn to cry out. Breaking out into smile and stride, Zheng Kai rushed to speak to Kou Tingting from behind Huangfu Rui.


    ¡°Zheng Kai? You¡¯re here too¡­?¡± Kou Tingting looked surprised to see Zheng Kai but responded to him with a greeting of her own before nodding to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Tingting, is little Rui alright?¡± Naturally, Bai Yunfei thought about what happened to Huangfu Rui back in Formagua City and was worried.


    Kou Tingting shook her head, ¡°She¡¯s fine¡­she¡¯s exactly the same as before.¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief, though there was still a nagging worry in the very depths of his heart that he couldn¡¯t get over.


    He was still cautious about this mysterious ¡®Dongfang Ming¡¯ and what he might¡¯ve done towards Huangfu Rui.


    ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re finally back!¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai! Welcome back!¡±


    ¡°Brother Bai¡­¡±


    A second set of cries greeted Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears. Turning, he saw a group of people coming through the current crowd to get to him.


    Fei Nian, Mo Xiaoxuan, Xi Yan, Zhong Xuhao, Liu Mang, Zhang Sanxian, Si Kongxian, and a few others. These were all the close friends Bai Yunfei had within the school.


    Seeing these familiar faces, Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded at them all.


    He was happy to see them.

 Chapter 843: Unexpected Information

    Having been a long time since he saw everyone, Bai Yunfei gave everyone a long few words of greeting and conversation. He spoke then about the three others having to need to go into closed-door meditation as soon as possible. Before they left, Song Lin had even asked Zheng Kai if he would need a place to go into closed-door meditation as well. There was no way Zheng Kai would even dare approach the matter of becoming a Soul King so sloppily. He had already planned on training here in the Crafting School and readily agreed to the request.


    As the group continued to speak with one another, Zheng Kai noticed Bai Yunfei glancing around the place as if looking for something. Not wanting to call out Bai Yunfei for his actions, Zheng Kai grinned. ¡°Oh?¡± He swept around the area with his eyes, ¡°I don¡¯t see Tang Xinyun here, is she training at the moment?¡±


    ¡°Sis Yun went back home!!¡±


    Kou Tingting hadn¡¯t even responded before Huangfu Rui beat her to the punch.


    Bai Yunfei looked startled. ¡°Returned home?! Tang Xinyun went back to Mo City? When?¡±


    ¡°Three days ago,¡± Kou Tingting replied. ¡°I was going to accompany her, but the second elder said little Rui wasn¡¯t allowed out the school, so I decided to stay behind and keep her company.¡±


    ¡°Daddy is so mean! He won¡¯t let me play with sis Yun!!¡± Huangfu Rui pouted.


    It was known that Huangfu Rui was more or less a shadow to both Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting. She¡¯d be unhappy if she wasn¡¯t following either of the two, so if Kou Tingting and Tang Xinyun both left to go to the Tang, then the girl would definitely want to go. And if Huangfu Nan said no, then that meant Tang Xinyun would have to return home by herself.


    Seeing the look on Kou Tingting¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei surmised something was off. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did something happen to the Tang, is that why Xinyun went home?¡±


    ¡°Something did happen.¡± Kou Tingting spoke. ¡°Otherwise Xinyun wouldn¡¯t have been in such a rush¡­the Tang came by with a message saying that Xinyun¡¯s mother is seriously ill. Xinyun started back home that day.¡±


    ¡°What?! Aunty Xue is ill?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out, ¡°Why now?! What kind of illness? Did the poison relapse?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not aware of the details,¡± Kou Tingting shook her head, ¡°the message only said that she was ill¡­but poison? Yunfei, why do you say that?¡±


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t reply to her. The expression on his face clouded over as he thought about something¡­


    ¡­¡­


    That afternoon, a violet and blue streak of light flew out from Mount Crimson to fly in the direction of Redfire City.


    Bai Yunfei stood within one of the two streaks of light. He was flying on the Heaven¡¯s Thunder with Xiao Qi on his shoulder. The blue streak of light was Long Lan, of course.


    Their destination was Redfire City so they could use the airship to fly towards the Forest Pass Province.


    Aunty Xue falling ill was a very grim matter for Bai Yunfei. He had been worrying about it ever since he heard about it. He felt uneasy about the matter and immediately drafted up the plans to travel there. He had planned to use the airship scheduled three days later to fly for the Forest Pass Province, but he found it impossible to wait and immediately set out from the Crafting School after getting permission from his master.


    It hadn¡¯t even been half a day since he came back to the school.


    Zheng Kai decided to remain behind in the Crafting School. He had been planning to go into closed-door meditation, so it¡¯d be unsuitable for him to go running off with Bai Yunfei now. Secondly, it wasn¡¯t his right to involve himself in Xinyun¡¯s family business. Bai Yunfei could do to his relationship with Tang Xinyun, so that was normal. But Zheng Kai had no right to try and be as familiar as Bai Yunfei was.


    ¡°Yunfei, you don¡¯t have to worry so much. Xinyun¡¯s mother will be fine.¡± Xiao Qi consoled him.


    Bai Yunfei gave a slight nod of his head, but Xiao Qi¡¯s warning seemed to have done nothing for him. He was completely focused on flying as fast as possible, but after a while of flying on top of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder, Bai Yunfei came to an abrupt stop.


    ¡°Flying¡¯s too slow, Xiao Fang, teleport us!¡±


    Right as Xiao Qi and Xiao Lan were both coming to a stop, Bai Yunfei was already patting at the folds of his robes.


    The Core Stone was being held there. He had used an abnormally strong material to fashion a rope to act as a necklace. By fastening the Core Stone through a small hole in it, Bai Yunfei was able to have the item close to him at all times and hidden away in his robes. Of course, this didn¡¯t count as a pendant and was just a convenient way for Bai Yunfei to carry it.


    An image of a stone materialized into being soon after Bai Yunfei spoke. ¡°Teleport? No problem, which direction?¡±


    ¡°Forwards.¡±


    He turned to Long Lan and Xiao Qi next, ¡°You two wait in the Core World, it¡¯ll be more convenient for me to travel this way alone.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± The two soulbeasts nodded before allowing themselves to disappear into the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei stored away the Heaven¡¯s Thunder and remained motionless. Feeling as the space around him started to distort, Bai Yunfei allowed a sliver of his soulforce to enter the Core Stone. Three seconds later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure disappeared without a trace!


    ¡­¡­


    Redfire City was the most prominent city within the Great Plains Province and had carriages and horses adorn the streets in large numbers. Normally, most cities would have a few soul cultivators, but Redfire City had an ample sum of soul cultivators.


    Right now, a single Soul Sprites was just walking out from a soul armament store in glee at the items he had just purchased. He walked out from the store and turned into a small alley to make his way onto the main roads.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    But just as he was nearing a small fork, the Soul Sprite came to an abrupt stop to look towards the right.


    A person had just suddenly appeared out of nowhere there!


    The Soul Sprite hadn¡¯t even sensed the person there! His eyes honed in on the person, his heart pounding rapidly in his throat in fear that this person might try to attack him.


    Acting entirely on instinct, he shook his right hand to take out a golden dagger to brandish at the person.


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    The hand holding his dagger went numb immediately afterward. No longer attached, the dagger flew off to the side to embed itself into the wall a little ways away.


    The expression on the man¡¯s went slack before he could see the appearance of the person he had just attacked. It was someone younger than him.


    The person glanced over at him, immediately striking fear in the Soul Sprite¡¯s mind. The Soul Sprite stumbled backward and collapsed onto the wall behind him in abject terror.


    ¡°Excuse me¡­where might the airship station be?¡±


    Just as the man was about to submit to his fear and give himself up to be killed, the pressure he felt weighing on him suddenly disappeared and a voice spoke out to him.


    ¡°Eh?¡± He gasped.


    ¡°Airship station?¡± He was scrambling to respond now, ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s that way. Make a right and then go straight, you¡¯ll be there in ten minutes¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± The figure turned his eye to look in the direction the man was pointing out. He turned back and clasped his hands together, ¡°You¡¯ve my thanks.¡±


    To the surprise of the Soul Sprite, the figure then turned around to leave the alley towards the direction where he had just pointed at.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until the figure had blended into the streets that the Soul Sprite finally managed to get his wits to him. Breathing in a shaky breath, the man started to count his lucky stars.


    ¡°He was just¡­asking for directions¡­¡± He gasped. ¡°But that was teleportation, wasn¡¯t it? Was¡­was he a Soul King?! I¡­I actually attacked a Soul King¡­and I wasn¡¯t even killed for it¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The one who had suddenly appeared on the street and caused that small misunderstanding was Bai Yunfei, of course. By borrowing the powers of Xiao Fang, he was able to teleport a large distance to reach Redfire City.


    ¡°It¡¯s an extraordinary amount of power to travel so far so fast¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself after he left the alley. It had only taken him a few leaps and a bit of soulforce to net him a result completely ridiculous.


    Ten minutes later, Bai Yunfei was standing at the airship station of Redfire City. The next airship scheduled for the Forest Pass Province was in just two hours, so Bai Yunfei handed an obscene amount (for regular soul cultivators) of primal stones and boarded the airship.


    It was a giant airship with all sorts of rooms big and small. Bai Yunfei was able to find himself a small room to close himself in and focus on his own self.


    When he was done recovering his lost soulforce, Bai Yunfei took out a large amount of accessories and started to upgrade them.


    The earrings Bai Yunfei gave to Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother the first time had been of the wood-type, but it had an additional effect that helps cure the poison in her still. Knowing that Bai Yunfei wanted to see if he could find another accessory and upgrade them to have a poison-resistant effect or so.


    Time went by slowly on the airship. Right as Bai Yunfei was in the middle of upgrading his accessories, he noticed that there was a small cacophony of sounds coming from outside his room. There was a disturbance of some sort¡­

 Chapter 844: Reserving the Airship

    ¡°I¡¯ll be reserving this entire airship!!¡±


    At the entrance of the airship, a group of men were escorting a richly-dressed youth in his twenties. The youth didn¡¯t have any distinctive features to his face, but he could at the very least be considered somewhat handsome if push came to shove. There was a prideful smile on his face as he spoke down to the Tianhun School students managing the airship.


    ¡°Excuse me¡­¡± The student looked quite troubled. ¡°Lord Qin, this airship will be leaving in half an hour and has already several dozen people onboard. To suddenly book the entire airship now is a little¡­¡±


    ¡°A little what? Is the house of Qin not even able to book a single airship?!¡± The young man sneered derisively, ¡°I know the rules, isn¡¯t that why I¡¯m paying double the price? I¡¯ll send people to do the work, so you don¡¯t need to poke your nose into it.¡±


    He motioned his head at the few guards with him. In response to his glare, the guards immediately went past the students to head for the rooms with people inside.


    The student gave up. He was no stranger to the antics of wealthy males like this one, and if he wanted to pay two times the regular price for booking an airship, then so be it. The only thing the student hoped was that there would be no conflict after all this.


    The people currently within the airship weren¡¯t any regular people, after all. But the one doing the asking, the second son of the head of the Qin¡ªa house inferior only to the Five Houses¡ªwas also somebody that people wouldn¡¯t normally cross.


    Airships wasn¡¯t so much a popular item to use for transportation, but it allowed for a variety of options. A large amount of the more influential soul cultivators would ride these airships, but most weren¡¯t fond of traveling with others or wanted to go on routes that would generally deviate from the set path. If either of these two things wanted to be changed, then the soul cultivator wanting the change would have to reserve the airship.


    The act of reserving an airship wasn¡¯t disallowed. The Tianhun School¡ªthe ones responsible for overseeing the management of the airships had their own unwritten rules in regards to reserving an airship. Firstly, the people already riding the airship had to ¡®agree¡¯ to giving up their spot. And secondly, the Tianhun School would not kick anyone off. If someone wanted to reserve the airship, then they¡¯d be responsible for seeing to everyone being rightfully compensated. Compensation came in the form of double the primal stones the soul cultivator used for their entry ticket.


    For the most part, only the wealthiest and the most powerful of groups would be able to reserve an airship. In these cases, the soul cultivators already on the airship would agree to the compensation to avoid any trouble.


    ¡°Notify the pilots, the destination will be changed to Swallow City in the Swallow Province.¡±


    The young man ordered to the Tianhun School student standing nearby. They were in the halls of the airship now, and he had only just found a nice soulbeast-rug chair to sit on and be with the beautiful ladies in his arms.


    The Swallow Province was the neighboring province to the Forest Pass Province. It was a relatively large province but had no airship routes allocated there. The only change of an airship going there would be if someone were to have the route of another airship altered, hence why this one person was reserving the entire airship.


    ¡°Well¡­please rest assured, lord Qin. We will naturally notify our pilots as soon as your side of things is done.¡±


    As respectful as the student sounded, he wasn¡¯t at all being subservient. His eyes swept towards the few guards that were negotiating with the soul cultivators. Very clearly, the student was saying that only when all the other soul cultivators were successfully negotiated with would the airship alter its scheduled route.


    ¡°Pah!¡± Came the sneer. Sparing not even a single word more with the student, the young man turned his attention to the stunning woman with him.


    On the other side of the hall¡ªand the only other person there besides the two¡ªan elderly figure sat there with a slight frown on his eyebrows. But he said nothing and continued to sit there.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Knock knock knock¡­¡±


    A series of rough knocking on the door saw to Bai Yunfei frowning. He had thought about going out to see what was going on earlier, but it seemed that someone had decided to come see him instead. It¡¯d be best for him to go open the door in that case then.


    He opened the door. A burly middle-aged man stood on the other side.


    Bai Yunfei glanced at him for a brief moment. ¡°Is there a problem?¡±


    ¡°My apologies, but the Qin is reserving this entire airship. If sire would accept compensation of twice the primal stones you paid, then please leave the airship.¡±


    Emotionlessly, the man handed Bai Yunfei a bag filled with primal stones. His tone of voice had been polite, but there wasn¡¯t a single tone of negotiation in there. It was like he was merely ¡®telling¡¯ Bai Yunfei what it was and that there was no room in the matter for elsewise.


    ¡°Reserving the airship?¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°My apologies, but I can¡¯t allow that.¡± He responded a tad bit colder than before.


    Then without any further ado, he started to close the door on the surprised man.


    About an inch before the door could fully close, the man pressed his foot in between it. Staring deeply at Bai Yunfei from between the crack, the man spoke, ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you heard me, sire. I am here on behalf of the house of Qin from the Swallow Province. Please take note of that.¡±


    ¡°The Qin from the Swallow Province?¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even twitch a muscle. ¡°I don¡¯t quite care just who you are. I wish to sit on this airship, so you¡¯d best do the same if you want to go anywhere on it.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡±


    The nerve of this one! He hadn¡¯t thought that a childish brat like Bai Yunfei would have the gall to talk back to him like this. As a Late-stage Soul Exalt, there was no way for him to even sense Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength now that he had hidden it. With that strength hidden, Bai Yunfei looked like just a mere Early-stage Soul Exalt that didn¡¯t know his bounds.


    It also seemed like he was alone. The man didn¡¯t see anyone else with the person. Curious and more curious.


    ¡°Who might you be, sire?¡± Asked the man. He wanted to ascertain who Bai Yunfei was in case he was someone important.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know, stop bothering me.¡± Bai Yunfei replied icily. Now fed up with the conversation, he moved to closed the door again.


    Again, the man was stunned by Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions. But even more surprising was the fact that his right hand¡ªthe hand holding onto the door¡ªwas slowly being pushed away from it!


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s with your tone? Are you trying to ignore my house of Qin? Are you tired of living?¡±


    A sinisterly-cold voice spoke out to Bai Yunfei from the side, causing him to narrow his eyes with just the slightest bit of anger.


    ¡°Second young master.¡±


    The guard immediately let go of the door and bowed to the man when he saw him coming. Retreating two steps away, he gave way for the newcomer so he could stare at Bai Yunfei incredulously.


    The young man walked up to Bai Yunfei to stare haughtily at him. ¡®Seeing¡¯ how strong Bai Yunfei was, the man snorted. ¡°I am Qin Shoufeng of the house of Qin from the Swallow Province. Who are you, you brat?¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt a little disgusted with how the man was trying to intimidate him, but he was still loathed to listen to such a man. He instead swept his eyes over to the elderly man sitting a little farther away in the main halls.


    A disagreeable light entered Qin Shoufeng¡¯s eyes when he realized Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even paying attention to him.


    ¡°What? Was my compensation too little for you? Fine, I¡¯ll give you three or even four times the compensation. That should be enough for you to train for several dozen days at your level of strength, satisfied?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to waste my breath talking to you. Give up on whatever thoughts you have.¡± Bai Yunfei finally spat out in annoyance.


    ¡°I¡¯m in a bad mood, don¡¯t annoy me any further.¡±


    Then in front of the amazed eyes of Qin Shoufeng, Bai Yunfei slammed the door shut.


    Qin Shoufeng stood there for two whole seconds. Mute and still like a statue, he stared at the door that had just slammed shut in front of him.


    He stared daggers at the door, the anger within him reaching a boiling point that left him so infuriated that he slammed his palm onto the door!


    ¡°You refused my kindness when I offered it and even talked back to me¡­you¡¯ll die for that!!¡±

 Chapter 845: The Qin from the Swallow Province

    ¡°Lord Qin, please stop!!¡±


    The Tianhun School student cried out at once when he saw what Qin Shoufeng was going to do, but his words came a moment too late.


    Qin Shoufeng¡¯s fist was already crashing through the wooden doors with a fiery fist and sending splinters everywhere.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a loud explosion as the wooden door fractured and sent a wave of heat further into the room. So hot was the heat that even the Tianhun School student had to step back. Qin Shoufeng was a Late-stage Soul Exalt so he wasn¡¯t exactly a very weak person.


    The student of the Tianhun School wasn¡¯t a stranger to the antics of people in his wealth class and how they bullied others. He was even more understanding of how illogical and reckless people acted when they were angry, but this was a case he felt safe in. Bai Yunfei seemed neither strong nor supported by a powerful group. If anything, Bai Yunfei looked like he was just an ordinary soul cultivator with somewhere to be or presumably thought himself to have more sway than he did.


    But even if he had any type of sway, it seemed unlikely to Qin Shuofeng that Bai Yunfei would be as influential as the house of Qin.


    Should a death occur on the airship because of this matter, it¡¯d be the fault of the student for not mediating the affair. The student was afraid of the fight blowing out of proportion for that reason.


    He stepped forward, ready to open his mouth to start the mediation process. However, it was his eyes that widened first as the scene in front of him revealed something he hadn¡¯t expected¡­


    The door splintered apart when Qin Shoufeng¡¯s fist slammed against it, that much was expected.


    But rather than see Qin Shoufeng stride in to for his next plan of action, all the student saw was another fist come at Qin Shoufeng from the other side!


    The glimmer of red light coming from this second fist was faint, but still more noticeable than the light coming from Qin Shoufeng¡¯s. Furthermore, the Tianhun School student didn¡¯t even notice any change in elemental energy coming from within the room prior to the fist, so it came as a complete surprise to everyone there.


    Even more surprising was the fact there was even resistance. To defy Qin Shoufeng like this was to bring troubles onto themselves.


    ¡°Bang!! Crack!!¡±


    One of the two fists gave out a sickening crack when the two collided. A secondary groan was heard a split moment afterward with everyone gasping in disbelief.


    It was Qin Shoufeng that both sounds came from!!


    ¡°Young master!!¡±


    The guard that had been speaking with Bai Yunfei before cried out. In one swift motion, he drew forward to grab onto his charge and anchor him to the ground.


    Unfortunately for him, the blow had been so strong that even he was forced off his feet and sent flying back!


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    The two flew across the corridor for several seconds before crashing through a door and into another room!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Silence.


    Everyone could only gape at the scene in front and behind them in disbelief.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, don¡¯t annoy me or you¡¯ll regret it!¡±


    Stepping out from behind the splintered ruins of his door, Bai Yunfei gave a withering glare at the floored Qin Shoufeng. His words had been icy enough to shy away the stares of the audience around him.


    ¡°No way! He¡­he actually sent the Late-stage Soul Exalt Qin Shoufeng flying!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s standing up against the Qin!¡±


    ¡°What an arrogant one! Look at him¡ªhe doesn¡¯t even care about who Qin Shoufeng is!¡±


    ¡°Pah! Qin Shoufeng has always been like this. Finally he¡¯s got his comeuppance. I don¡¯t know who this person is, but he¡¯s not afraid of the Qin it seems.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t recognize him¡­anyone of you know who he is?¡±


    ¡°Not me¡­¡±


    Whispers were going all around the halls now. Everyone that had been on the airship before was now talking to one another about what they had just witnessed. Many of them were soul cultivators that had been unhappy with how the airship and their rooms had been ¡®compensated¡¯, but they had no choice but to pack up and leave and grumble as they did so.


    It came as a complete surprise to them to see this happen though, and even though most of the witnesses had been relatively far away when Qin Shoufeng was sent flying back, most of them were still very happy to have witnessed it.


    Whilst everyone was whispering to each other, Bai Yunfei was already looking away from Qin Shoufeng to the Tianhun School student. ¡°I¡¯d like another room.¡±


    The student could only just gape at him. ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah!! I¡¯ll kill you!! Guards, stop him!!¡±


    Before the second word could even come out from the student, a furious roar came forth from Qin Shoufeng. He had only just crawled to his feet to gnash and snarl angrily at Bai Yunfei.


    Five guards sprung at his command to encircle Bai Yunfei.


    Another helpless expression fell onto the Tianhun School student¡¯s face. Exchanging a glance to the other students with him, he had them run off to go find someone.


    An unhealthy sheen of color shined on Qin Shoufeng¡¯s face; perhaps due to his injury. ¡°What are you staring around for?!¡± He barked at the guards, ¡°Arrest him already!¡±


    The glare in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes hardened. He turned around, ready to teach Qin Shoufeng a lesson.


    ¡°Stop, Shoufeng!¡±


    Stopping everyone in place was the voice of an elderly person. The voice echoed across the hallway despite being spoken at a normal level, but it had its desired effect. Every single guard immediately stood to attention and retreated to the side in fear.


    The owner of the voice came stepping in front of Qin Shoufeng to face Bai Yunfei in his stead.


    It was the elder who had previously had his eyes closed back in the lobby.


    Not a single person in the room had noticed this elder step in between the two, but the pressure exuding from his person had been noticeable to all. Every single shuddered in fear.


    This was a Soul King!


    ¡°Why stop me, uncle? This person is standing up against us, let me teach him a lesson!!¡± Qin Shoufeng couldn¡¯t understand why his uncle was stopping him.


    The old man was the third uncle to Qin Shoufeng and one of the Soul Kings of the Qin, Qin Pingzhi.


    Qin Pingzhi glanced back to Qin Shoufeng, ¡°Had I not stepped forward, you would¡¯ve been knocked onto the floor again.¡±


    In his confusion, Qin Shoufeng swung his head back at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Kid, what¡¯s your name? Which family are you from?¡±


    Despite the soulsense coming from Qin Shoufeng¡¯s body, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t intimidated. Without even a single change in his facial muscles, Bai Yunfei leveled a calm stare at Qin Pingzhi. ¡°I don¡¯t want any trouble, don¡¯t force me!¡±


    Again, everyone was surprised by this. Not only was Bai Yunfei not backing down against a Soul King, but he was also even talking back to one¡­


    Even the Soul King looked slightly surprised.


    ¡°It¡¯s good for a youngster to be confident, but it¡¯s also good to respect your elders. Many others have met bad fates from not having that. Geniuses meeting an early death isn¡¯t as uncommon as one might think¡­¡± The elder laughed.


    ¡°Respect?¡± Replied Bai Yunfei, ¡°That¡¯s something given to those I do respect. You¡­are not one of them.¡±


    ¡°Hah! Very well then! You¡¯ve a mouth on you, youngster! If you¡¯re not willing to state who you are or your master, then I¡¯ll teach you in their place!¡±


    This time, the laughter that came from Qin Pingzhi was far colder.


    He disappeared so quickly that everyone could barely even see a blur. The next time the elder appeared, he was in front of Bai Yunfei to slam his palm into Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead!


    Bai Yunfei had already his left arm brought up to protect himself, though. There was a ¡®thud¡¯ as the two forces collided, but completely unexpected to everyone was the fact that it was Qin Pingzhi that drew back as if hurt.


    He retreated several meters back with his right arm drawn back to him, his face looking at Bai Yunfei in complete surprise.


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei had only taken a single step back!


    ¡°Am I seeing things?! That person took on a Soul King¡¯s attack?! And even better than the Soul king?!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s a Soul King too!?¡±


    The whispers around the place kicked up yet again, though the people were now staring at Bai Yunfei with fearful respect.


    Qin Pingzhi raised an eyebrow. He was perplexed by what had just happened. He had anticipated that his palm strike would¡¯ve fractured Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm. He also expected Bai Yunfei to be sent flying farther than he himself had. And yet rather than any of his expectations coming true, Qin Pingzhi saw to nearly a third of the power behind his own attack be repelled back onto himself. It wasn¡¯t too strong to do any major damage, but his arm was still feeling quite numb from it!


    He wasn¡¯t the only one surprised, Bai Yunfei was too. He hadn¡¯t expected for the Returner Bracer¡¯s effect to reflect 30% of an attack to activate, but that was what happened.


    15% Chance to deflect back 30% of the damage inflicted when defending. Damage cannot exceed the total defensive power of this equipment and cannot deflect projectiles.


    Definitely, the old man hadn¡¯t put all his strength behind his attack since he wasn¡¯t planning to do anything but to instill a lesson onto Bai Yunfei. Yet somehow, this attack led to him losing the advantage he thought he had.


    That made Qin Pingzhi quite angry, in fact.


    He snorted. A flash of green light rose out from his body as he aimed a second palm to strike across Bai Yunfei!


    Large amounts of elemental wind started to pick up around the area. Swirling around the airship, they converged around Qin Pingzhi¡¯s palm to form a giant palm made of energy to try and blow Bai Yunfei away!

 Chapter 846: Setting Sail

    The wind-infused palm strike was without a doubt a strong move beyond what everyone watching had expected. Most of them were forced to shut their eyes due to the energy and shied away from the area.


    This elder was without a doubt a Soul King. Only such people could have so much power contained with a single wave of their palm.


    Bai Yunfei looked almost indifferent to it all, still. The only change that overcame him was the fact that his eyes narrowed slightly before his glowing-red right hand drew forward¡­


    ¡°Whoosh¡­boom!!¡±


    To the further amazement of everyone there, a fireball the size of a large water jar materialized in front of where Bai Yunfei swung his hand. The displacement of air could be heard as the fireball traveled forward and struck the green palm strike. A deafening explosion echoed through the air with such force behind it that even the airship itself trembled for a moment. Unable to take the pressure of the explosion, several of the nearby doors splintered into pieces.


    ¡°He stopped another one of a Soul King¡¯s attack! How is he doing this!?¡±


    ¡°Materializing so much elemental fire so fast? But how? Is¡­is he also a Soul King?!¡±


    ¡°No wonder he¡¯s willing to fight the Qin then, he has the strength to do so.¡±


    Billows of energy rolled across the hallway as the audience muttered to one another. Just like the audience around him, Qin Pingzhi was in a state of flummox himself.


    He hadn¡¯t used all his strength in this one attack due to his misgivings. Still, the power in his attack was definitely beyond what any normal Soul Exalt should¡¯ve been able to defend against. By all rights, any Soul Exalt would¡¯ve been blown away, but this young man in front of him had not only been blown away, he shrugged off the attack with hardly any trouble at all.


    By now, Qin Pingzhi was half-convinced that Bai Yunfei was a Soul King in disguise.


    Of all the people in the airship, Bai Yunfei was the calmest and collected. He was staring at Qin Pingzhi was a calculative gleam in his eyes as if thinking about the best way to deal with this. With his current strength, an Early-stage Soul King like Qin Pingzhi was of no major concern to him. He didn¡¯t even care about the Qin, no matter how big of a tree it was.


    So¡­should he use his name and affiliation then?


    It was certainly a plausible method in dealing with this case, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really want to go down that route. Like all times before this, Bai Yunfei disliked the notion of using his name to deal with or bully others if it wasn¡¯t necessary.


    Now seemed like a better time to do so, though if it meant he could get to the Forest Pass Province without any further incident.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The area was silent now. Neither Bai Yunfei nor Qin Pingzhi made a move, choosing instead to stare at one another with a glare that grew increasingly more tense with each passing second.


    ¡°Dear sirs, no fights are allowing within the airship!!¡±


    From the entrance of the airship, a relatively large group of people rushed over to where Bai Yunfei and Qin Pingzhi was. The one who cried out was one of the two youths leading the group from the central-right side.


    Aside from the two youths leading them, the rest of the group wore the garbs of the Tianhun School. They were quite strong too¡ªa Soul Exalt at the very least¡ªand were most likely the elite students responsible for the security of the airship.


    ¡°That¡¯s young master Sima! Even they got caught up in this mess, I see.¡±


    ¡°The airship¡¯s generally managed by the lord-mayor of the city, it¡¯s not weird to see young master Sima here. The Sima are probably one of the only people in this city capable of mediating this conflict right now¡­¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s here, then there won¡¯t be another fight. I wonder how he¡¯ll deal with this¡­¡±


    The Tianhun School students and two other youths arrived in front of the surrounding spectators and settled right in. A young man in his thirties and dressed in white-robes faced Bai Yunfei and Qin Pingzhi. He clasped his hands and bowed in greeting, ¡°This one is Sima Ran. Dear sirs, if there is a disagreement between you two, please do so civilly.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Bai Yunfei?! It¡¯s you?!¡±


    The youth next to Sima Ran spoke up in surprise before Bai Yunfei and Qin Pingzhi could even speak. This one youth was dressed in a gold robe and looked quite similar to Sima Ran.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered over to the second youth. His eyes widened briefly as soon as he recognized just who the speaker was.


    ¡°Haha, Sima Dong? Long time no see.¡±


    The youth dressed in golden robes was one of the sons of the lord-mayor of Redfire City, Sima Dong. Bai Yunfei still recognized him.


    Sima Ran looked taken aback at the outburst from his brother. ¡°Brother, did you say he¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s Bai Yunfei, brother!¡± Sima Dong broke out into a smile, ¡°Weren¡¯t you always talking about wanting to meet him? Now¡¯s your chance.


    ¡°Brother Bai,¡± he turned around, ¡°this is my second brother.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, lord Sima.¡±


    ¡°Haha, your name precedes you, brother Bai. At last I¡¯ve the honor to meet you, it¡¯s an honor¡­¡±


    And now with the polite greetings out of the way, Sima Ran drew himself upright to address Qin Pingzhi.


    ¡°You must be an elder from the esteemed house of Qin, correct? I¡¯m sure senior already knows the rules, but please allow me to reiterate. Reserving the entire airship requires the agreement of every single passenger. If Bai Yunfei is unwilling to relinquish his room in the airship, then please do not strongarm him in giving it up. This airship is a spacious one, riding together wouldn¡¯t be much a problem, I¡¯m sure. Would senior please consider about it?¡±


    Qin Pingzhi had a strange expression on his face ever since he heard Sima Dong mention Bai Yunfei¡¯s name. The expression softened a bit when Sima Ran started speaking to him. Knowing he had to reply, Qin Pingzhi reverted back to a neutral expression. ¡°If young master Sima asks of it, then I cannot refuse your request. There are plenty of men traveling with us today, so if I could trouble you to reserve us a larger room, young master Sima. We don¡¯t wish to be disturbed.¡±


    ¡°That can be done, of course. I¡¯ll have my men make the preparations right away.¡±


    Now fully back to normal, Qin Pingzhi looked neither angry nor pleased. One last glance was given to Bai Yunfei before the elder turned to leave with the rest of his guards walking behind him.


    With the permission of Sima Ran, one of the Tianhun School students immediately moved to go make the preparations for the Qin.


    The glare Qin Shoufeng gave Bai Yunfei was a bit puzzling to him. It seemed that if anything, Qin Shoufeng was even angrier and more envious of Bai Yunfei now that he knew who he was.


    Ultimately, the fierce battle everyone was expecting had been stopped in just a few sentences. Stunned when they heard who Bai Yunfei was, the audience kicked up into another storm of chatter. They were all happy to hear that they¡¯d be able to stay on the airship again as well. Finding the nearest member of the Qin, most of the soul cultivators returned the ¡®compensation¡¯ given to them earlier and returned to their rightful rooms again to wait for the airship to leave.


    Sima Ran and Sima Dong spoke to one another a moment after before the two bid farewell to Bai Yunfei and left, leaving the latter free to return to his room and upgrade his equipment.


    ¡­¡­


    Staring from one side of the transparent crystal windows of the airship, Bai Yunfei watched as the clouds and rays of sunshine pass by.


    Right now, the airship was far high up in the skies and moving at a speed shocking to most. On the inside, the ship didn¡¯t even feel like there was any movement at all with only the occasional turbulence to remind the passengers that they were indeed flying.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡±


    A disappointed sigh escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips as green powder fell from his fingers.


    Yet another equipment had been destroyed.


    Well over an entire day had gone by since Bai Yunfei started his upgrading attempts. Over a thousand accessories and several hundred other equipment had been prepared before he stepped onto the airship, but Bai Yunfei had already gone through half of them by this point. The results were disappointing to say the least, and Bai Yunfei had yet to see any one of them with an additional detoxifying effect.


    Sure, he was seeing all sorts of additional effects; but not the one he wanted. It was like trying to find the needle within a haystack.


    Far too lazy to continue upgrading, Bai Yunfei sat up on his bed and began to recollect his soulforce.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Hardly seconds after starting his recovery attempt, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes blinked open again one more time in surprise to look out his room.


    His soulsense was telling him that someone was approaching his room.


    And judging from that aura, this person was Qin Shoufeng!


    What was he planning on doing??

 Chapter 847: A Strange Conversation, Arrival in the Forest Pass Province

    Did Qin Shoufeng had something in mind, like challenging him again? Was he really that overconfident about his strength?


    Having not the answer to his own question, Bai Yunfei shrugged and moved to slam open the door.


    With how abrupt the door opened in front of him, Qin Shoufeng leaped back a step in fright. Adopting a cautious stance, he glared at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yo¡ªyou, what are you doing?!¡±


    A little pleased by his reaction, Bai Yunfei stared at him, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be asking that? What are you doing here, looking for me?¡±


    Now realizing the loss of composure that must¡¯ve come over himself when he neared the door, Qin Shoufeng straightened up. Coughing once to recompose himself, he asked, ¡°Are¡­are you really Bai Yunfei? The same Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°Forgive me for not wanting to offer you any more company if you¡¯re going to ask a pointless question like that.¡±


    He turned to close the door, but Qin Shoufeng¡¯s next question stopped him before his hand could do so.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard things aren¡¯t that bad between you and Tang Xinyun, correct?¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned his head.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Nothing at all, just a curious question.¡± Qin Shoufeng had a small grin on his face at the surprised expression of Bai Yunfei. ¡°While we¡¯re on the topic, the Qin and the Tang have always been good friends. Lifelong friends, in fact.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Again, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure where this was going. He hadn¡¯t expected this line of conversation to pop up.


    But that got the gears in his mind to start to turn.


    Was this person trying to use Tang Xinyun as a means to become friends with him? With how the question and conversation were posed, it didn¡¯t really feel as such to him, though.


    ¡°What are you getting at?¡± Bai Yunfei asked again.


    ¡°Do you like Tang Xinyun?¡±


    Once again, yet another abrupt question.


    ¡°That¡¯s not relevant to you. What are you trying to get at?¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­it actually is quite relevant to me¡­¡± Qin Shoufeng cackled to himself.


    ¡°Are you going to the Tang? Are you perhaps¡­going to propose?¡± Qin Shoufeng changed the topic.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this¡­¡± Bai Yunfei looked impatient, ¡°I don¡¯t see the need to answer this question. If you don¡¯t have anything else to say, then go away and stop bothering me.¡±


    Qin Shoufeng looked almost amused by Bai Yunfei¡¯s response, rather than being angry. ¡°Did I hit it in on the nail? Hehe¡­hate to break it to you, but you should give up on that idea. You¡­won¡¯t ever be with Tang Xinyun.¡±


    Again in the middle of closing the door on Qin Shoufeng, Bai Yunfei paused to gave him a deathly glare. ¡°Are you trying to provoke me? If our last meeting wasn¡¯t enough for you, I¡¯ll be more than happy to cripple your right arm for you.¡±


    There was a reaction this time from Qin Shoufeng. He was planning on saying a few more provoking words to Bai Yunfei, but then he realized that it was a plan that¡¯d most likely see to Bai Yunfei doing as he said he would.


    Seeing Qin Shoufeng cowered, Bai Yunfei saw no reason to prolong the conversation. Stepping back, he closed the door shut onto Qin Shoufeng¡¯s face.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Qin Shoufeng stood still on the other side of the door. Now that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t there, he couldn¡¯t see the dark expression on Qin Shoufeng¡¯s face. There was a faint smile on his face as he laughed to himself and walked away.


    ¡°Hehe, he doesn¡¯t look like he knows what¡¯s going on at all. Didn¡¯t Tang Xinyun tell him? Tragic¡­I wonder what kind of expression he¡¯ll have on his face, haha! It¡¯ll be great I bet¡­¡±


    The surprise visit of Qin Shoufeng was puzzling to Bai Yunfei, but he soon paid it further attention after not being able to make much sense of it in favor of continuing upgrading his equipment.


    Bai Yunfei rarely ventured out from his rooms the following few days. Aside from upgrading his equipment, Bai Yunfei was completely focused on his training. With Realm Accretion, Bai Yunfei was seeing very little returns whenever he trained. Still, he could see that the technique was doing its job. The energy he was ¡®fermenting¡¯ like wine was going at a faster pace than Xiao Fang expected.


    All in all, things were progressing in ways Bai Yunfei liked.


    It took Bai Yunfei nearly twenty-something days the last time he accompanied Tang Xinyun from the Crafting School to her home. This time, it took just barely a week for the airship to reach the Forest Pass Province.


    The airship was slowing down now that it had reached the designated province. Now cruising at a height of just a kilometer above ground, the airship was starting to ¡®drop¡¯ certain soul cultivators at their desired stops. From what Bai Yunfei could tell, the people from the Qin had already left the airship a while back. A height of just a kilometer was insignificant for Soul Exalts and higher.


    ¡°We should be near Mo City by this point¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced out the window to stare at the familiar landscape all around him. Nostalgia came flooding back into his mind.


    This was the place he and Tang Xinyun first met, along with the Flying Dagger brothers.


    He thought next about the Flying Dagger Compendium. With his current strength, the usage of flying daggers was nothing more but a hobby now, but the compendium said that there were still quite a few amazingly-strong flying daggers. He hadn¡¯t crafted any of those before due to his strength, but now was a different story. All he needed was the time and materials to craft them¡­


    Waves of happy nostalgia rose up within Bai Yunfei when he thought about his first meeting of Tang Xinyun. Then he remembered what Qin Shoufeng said to him a while back¡ª


    Marriage. Should he actually consider bringing up such a topic? It hadn¡¯t crossed his mind before. Due to their life expectancies, it wasn¡¯t strange for a soul cultivator to be married when they were in their thirties or forties.


    He and Xinyun weren¡¯t glued at the hips either. Their feelings might¡¯ve been mutual, but there was still one final paper-thin threshold that had yet to be crossed.


    Perhaps he should think about bringing up the topic when he got there?


    Trying his best to shake his minds of these thoughts, Bai Yunfei focused on the landscape. It wouldn¡¯t be long now; he could already see off in a distance something violet.


    An ocean of violet flowers.


    Mt. Orchid. A beautiful place where butterfly orchids grew naturally and where Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun traveled to once. Aunt Xue loved the flowers here, and subsequently, Tang Xinyun loved to travel here once in a while for them.


    A reminiscent smile appeared onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face at the memory. ¡°I don¡¯t need to go all the way to Mo City if I¡¯m here. I can get aunty Xue some butterfly orchids as a present¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei suddenly felt a faint hum coming from where the Core Stone was as he soliloquized to himself. A semi-transparent wave of energy pulsated outwards before the figure of Bai Yunfei disappeared from his room.


    In the space beneath the airship, a tremendous landscape of butterfly orchids was growing all over the mountain. And standing most prominently in the area was the figure of Bai Yunfei.


    But something about his surroundings was suspicious to Bai Yunfei. The more he looked around the area, the grimmer his expression became.


    The place where he was standing on should¡¯ve been at the top of Mt. Orchid where the most beautiful butterfly orchids grew. The last he remembered of the place, it was an untouched garden of beauty.


    But today, there was very clearly a single line that traveled across the mountaintop as if to split it in two!


    This was¡­the signs of a battle!


    Upon scanning the large crack, Bai Yunfei could see several other smaller cracks splitting away from it. These cracks were indeed the marks made from battle, but not one that was of tremendously powerful scale. This was from a  fight that was over in about one or two moves.


    His follow-up of the scenery around him saw to him seeing something strange. With a wave of his hand, something white flew out from the right side of the mountain to fly to his hand.


    It was a feather. It was about a meter long from tip to tail, meaning the bird itself was of significant size.


    ¡°Is this¡­Xiao Bai¡¯s feather?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had no way of telling what type of bird the feather belonged to just from the sight, of course. But his senses were able to pick up on the faint aura that was lingering on the feather, allowing him to pinpoint that the owner of the feather was Xiao Bai! This was a feather that had fallen as a result of battle!


    He was feeling uneasy now. A secondary scan of the area wasn¡¯t telling Bai Yunfei anything he wanted to know.


    Leaping up a few hundred meters into the air to determine the direction of Mo City, Bai Yunfei immediately disappeared into a flash of light¡­

 Chapter 848: Auntie Xue has Fallen Ill

    A figure appeared out of the blue within a street southeast to a large mansion in Mo City.


    This figure was Bai Yunfei. He straightened his back to look around and then straight ahead at the place in front of him. When he stepped forward, the grim expression on his face deepened.


    In front of him stood a gigantic manor with its signboard having ¡®Tang¡¯ painted onto it. This was the home of Tang Xinyun and the place where one of the Five Great Families lived.


    Today, the people walking out on the streets outside the manor were in a hurry; some of them even walking in and out from the manor with stern expressions.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?! Show yourself!¡±


    Sensing Bai Yunfei¡¯s approach, one of the guards responsible for the security of the door tensed up at once.


    ¡°This one is Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School. Please send a message of my visit.¡± Bai Yunfei clasped his hands.


    ¡°Crafting School? Bai Yunfei?!¡± The guards all stiffened at once. They gave each other a curious glance before one of the guards turned to enter the manor first.


    He made it two steps into the manor before he came face-to-face with someone. ¡°Ah, brother He Yang!¡± He smiled, ¡°What a coincidence. There¡¯s an outsider saying he¡¯s Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School. We don¡¯t know if he really is who he says he is, would you come take a look?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡± He Yang cried out, ¡°Bai Yunfei is here?! Take me to him at once!¡±


    Another three steps later, the two were back outside. The moment when He Yang saw Bai Yunfei, his eyes lit up with excitement, ¡°Master Bai! It really is you!¡±


    This man looked familiar to Bai Yunfei. Thinking hard about it, he recalled seeing someone like him before, He Yang was his name, Bai Yunfei thought. ¡°Are you He Yang? Happy to see that you recognize me, may I come in?¡±


    Nodding enthusiastically, He Yang beckoned Bai Yunfei in. ¡°Of course! Please, follow me, master Bai!¡±


    Bai Yunfei could tell that the manor was in a right state with everyone rushing about. From the guards to servants to even soul cultivators, everyone was reporting to so-and-so before moving out to another part in the manor.


    ¡°Why is the manor in such a mess? Has something happened?¡± Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but ask after seeing the state of the manor.


    ¡°What? Master Bai, didn¡¯t you come here because of the fourth miss?!¡± He Yang answered back with a question of his own.


    ¡°What was that?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand gripped at He Yang¡¯s arm, ¡°Did something happen to Xinyun?!¡±


    The pain from having his arm grabbed and squeezed tightly saw to He Yang sucking in a deep breath. ¡°The fourth miss, she¡­¡±


    ¡°Terrible news!! Lady Xue¡¯s illness has worsened again! Please get the first young master here at once!¡±


    A long-haired maid came bursting into the room from the right then, cutting off He Yang¡¯s words with words of her own.


    The panic Bai Yunfei was feeling before intensified. Realizing the problem, Bai Yunfei immediately turned towards where the maid was. He focused on her for one brief moment before disappearing into a blur the next moment.


    ¡°What?! Th¡­¡±


    He Yang¡¯s eyes flew wide open as soon as Bai Yunfei disappeared from sight.


    In the northwest quadrant of the manor was a relatively small courtyard. Here, a middle-aged woman dressed in a coarse but purple robe could be seen pacing around the yard and wrangling her hands as she walked. Very clearly, she was at a loss for what to do.


    Then all of a sudden, a single person appeared out from thin air. Startled, she took two steps back. Before she could say something, the figure spoke first.


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, what¡¯s happened to auntie Xue?!¡±


    The one who had been pacing around the courtyard was Zhao Mancha. Realizing who the person in front of her was, she cried out, ¡°Bai Yunfei?! What are¡­what are you doing here?!¡±


    ¡°Aunty Zhao, we can talk later. Please tell me at once, what¡¯s happening to aunty Xue?¡±


    She snapped out from her confusion at the question. ¡°My lady, she¡¯s¡­she¡¯s fallen very ill. The worse came to her half a month ago, but no one in the family knew what to do. They say that she¡¯s been poisoned by a very rare toxin, but none of the medical experts we brought in seem to know how to treat her¡­¡±


    ¡°Is auntie Xue over there right now? Let me take a look!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s head swung to the small room behind them.


    He was already on the move with Zhao Mancha rushing after him, ¡°There¡¯s a poisonous mist ten meters within the room the lady is in. Commoners can¡¯t even get close, so be careful!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was already walking within the room though. Before he could even make sense of what was going on inside the room, the smell of something pungent assaulted his nose and a purple-red mist prevented him from seeing anything but a bed and the silhouette of a person on it.


    Body flashing red, Bai Yunfei forced the poisonous miasma aside and strode closer to the bed. He gasped when he approached. ¡°How did this happen!¡±


    The first time he met auntie Xue, Bai Yunfei remembered her skin being a fair-white color and beautiful to anyone. But as she laid on the bed now, that fair-white skin was now an ashen color without blood almost. Her face was wrinkled like a woman fair older in age and equally unhealthy in color. Bai Yunfei could hardly believe this was auntie Xue he was looking at.


    Both of her eyes were shut tight and her eyebrows knitted together. The corners of her lips were pursed tightly as if she was in an excruciating amount of pain. A faint sliver of purple light could be seen floating from her face at times.


    From her left ear, Bai Yunfei noticed the Detoxifying Earring he gave her before. It was still flashing very faintly in light as before, but it seemed that even the earring wasn¡¯t having much of an effect on her condition¡­


    Realizing just how bad this situation was for auntie Xue, Bai Yunfei need better than to tarry. His right hand blurred briefly as he withdrew a faint-red earring from his space ring. Without any further considerations, he bent down and gently clipped it onto the right ear of the bedridden woman.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, what are you doing?¡±


    Zhao Mancha asked, confused by what he was doing.


    ¡°It¡¯s a special soul armament that can cure poisons. It¡¯ll help with auntie Xue¡¯s illness.¡± Bai Yunfei replied concisely.


    ¡°Special soul armament? Pure poisons?!¡± Zhao Mancha¡¯s eyes flew wide open.


    Her mouth followed suit, ¡°Eh?! It looks like it¡¯s working!!¡±


    The bedridden woman¡¯s face softened up almost immediately after the second earring was clipped onto her ear. Clearly, that meant the earring was especially powerful beyond even what Bai Yunfei thought¡ªmuch to his happiness.


    ¡°The poison this person has is a serious one. It¡¯s a troublesome matter if we¡¯re trying to cure her¡­¡± As Bai Yunfei was rejoicing to himself, Xiao Fang¡¯s voice spoke into his mind. By using its soulsense, Xiao Fang was able to tell what was going on with the woman in front of it.


    Xiao Fang grew pensive as it tried to think.


    ¡°Luckily, there¡¯s a medicinal immortal grass in the garden. It¡¯s helpful for poison, so she should see some benefit if you give it to her.¡±


    ¡°What? Really? There¡¯s something like that in there?!¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised to hear Xiao Fang talk, and even more so at the information it was giving to him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s bring it out then!¡± He was so overjoyed that he spoke aloud at that next bit.


    Zhao Mancha was startled. She glanced over at him only to see his hand blur again before a few greenish-blue stalks of grass were brought out. There was still a few drops of dew on the blades and some dirt on the roots, seeming as if it had only just been pulled out from the ground.


    ¡°How do I use this?¡± Bai Yunfei asked Xiao Fang.


    ¡°The medicinal immortal grass is the main ingredient for the ¡®Immortal¡¯s Regenerating Pill¡¯. It¡¯d be stronger if you could make the pill or compound it with another ingredient, but since there¡¯s no time and all the Alchemists are extinct, we¡¯ll have to use it as is. Just let her eat it¡­¡±


    Without needing to be told twice, Bai Yunfei used some soulforce to wipe the grass clean of dirt and other impurities before bending over to feed it into the woman¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Halt!! What person are you? What are you doing?!¡±


    Just at that moment, a tremendous force of soulforce descended upon the room alongside a loud roar!

 Chapter 849: Purification

    Coming to a stop, Bai Yunfei turned his head to look towards the room¡¯s entrance.


    Three additional figures had already entered the room prior to when the speaker had even finished their sentence. There stood two elders and one young man. Bai Yunfei recognized two of them, but the third he did not. One of the elders¡ªone dressed in green¡ªwas Tang Xinyun¡¯s second uncle Tang Qianchi. The young person in golden robes was Tang Xinyun¡¯s elder brother Tang Jing. The second elder in dark-green robes was an unfamiliar one, but Bai Yunfei knew he was a Soul King judging from his aura.


    The looks on both Tang Qianchi and Tang Jing¡¯s faces were thunderous. They glared vehemently at Bai Yunfei, but then when they realized who it was, they both blinked.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you¡­Bai Yunfei?!¡± Tang Jing cried out, ¡°What are you doing here?!¡±


    Zhao Mancha snapped wide awake at Tang Jing¡¯s call, ¡°Young master! Bai Yunfei only just arrived to cure the lady of her poison.¡±


    ¡°Cure?¡±


    The three males looked even more confused.


    ¡°Youngster,¡± The second elder spoke with a strange look in his eyes, ¡°have you a way to cure her poison?¡±


    The confusion on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was equally noticeable to Zhao Mancha¡¯s eyes as the elder¡¯s confusion towards Bai Yunfei. ¡°This is the traveling soul cultivator the first young master hired,¡± She whispered to him, ¡°His name is Pan Zhaoqi and is an expert on poisons. He tried to cure the lady of her poison before but failed.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded in understanding, ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of poison auntie Xue was afflicted by, but I¡¯ve a stalk of medicinal immortal grass. That should be enough to be of some use to her. I was in the middle of administering it to her.¡±


    Both Tang Jing and Tang Qianchi reared back at the response, but it was Pan Zhaoqi that was the most astonished.


    ¡°What did you say?! You¡¯ve medicinal immortal grass?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei presented the stalk of grass to the elder, ¡°This is indeed some medicinal immortal grass. Are there any more questions, senior?¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    There was a blur of light as Pan Zhaoqi reappeared in front of Bai Yunfei with his eyes glued to the medicine in front of him. ¡°It¡¯s true! This is a stalk of medicinal immortal grass! It¡¯s been a millennium since their last spotting, I thought they were extinct by now!¡±


    ¡°Is there something special about this medicinal immortal grass, senior Pan?¡± Tang Jing asked, ¡°Can it cure auntie Xue?¡±


    Never even breaking eye contact with the grass, Pan Zhaoqi replied, ¡°It¡¯s a very very rare type of plant that can cure plenty of poisons. Legends say that the Alchemy School had a pill known as the Immortal¡¯s Regenerating Pill could bring even the near-death back to life, and the medicinal immortal¡¯s grass is its main component. This specific stalk of medicinal immortal grass has been growing for a thousand years, using it as it is should most definitely help with lady Tang¡¯s health.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to waste then, administer the medicinal immortal grass to her at once.¡±


    ¡°One moment!¡± Pan Zhaoqi interjected, ¡°Dear friend, I¡¯ve studied a small amount on the affliction of lady Xue. I¡¯d recommend lending the medicinal immortal grass to me and I¡¯ll use my elemental wood to refine them into a better form for the lady to take in.¡±


    The elderly man looked as though he wanted to use the medicinal immortal grass himself. Bai Yunfei glanced over to Zhao Mancha, who nodded back in return. Having nothing else to say about the matter, Bai Yunfei handed the weeds over to the man. ¡°Then, if you would please, senior.¡±


    There was a small gleam in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as the medicinal immortal grass was passed onto Pan Zhaoqi¡¯s hands. ¡°Ah, senior, as an expert on medicines, I presume you¡¯ve a generous amount of different herbs? Would senior by chance have any bluelake coral, fishtail mushroom, rainbow-lark flower, duskbell fruit, and venomous violet grass?¡±


    Pan Zhaoqi quirked an eyebrow in stark surprise, ¡°You know about those rare ingredients? What purpose have you for those?¡±


    ¡°According to what I know, those ingredients could be used to strengthen the medicinal immortal grass¡¯s effects.¡±


    ¡°Is that true?!¡± Pan Zhaoqi gasped. ¡°Bluelake coral, rainbow-lark flower, and duskbell fruit, I have those three, but as for the fishtail mushroom and venomous violet grass¡­¡±


    ¡°We have those two in our storehouse! I¡¯ll have someone bring them right away!¡± Tang Jing replied at once.


    It was a wonderful piece of news for both Bai Yunfei and Zhao Mancha. First gripping the hand of her master, Zhao Mancha then rose up to bow to Pan Zhaoqi. ¡°Please, save lady Xue and this junior will be sure to repay senior handsomely!¡±


    ¡°The Tang invited me to come, so to do just that is what is required of me,¡± Pan Zhaoqi laughed. ¡°But this young fellow here¡­Bai Yunfei was it? Could you be the very same Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School?!¡±


    ¡°I am he, senior.¡±


    ¡°Young you are,¡± Pan Zhaoqi murmured, ¡°But strong as well. I¡¯ve heard rumors that you¡¯re the best the Crafting School has seen in a thousand years, but to know so much about medicinal herbs as well¡­how admirable¡­¡±


    ¡°I was only fortunate enough to come across an old medicinal manual regarding this topic, senior Pan praises this junior too much.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The three herbs Pan Zhaoqi had were quickly taken out from his space ring shortly afterward. With the remaining two herbs brought to him, the elder was quick to combine all six of the items with a bubble of elemental wood. Gradually dissolved into a liquid condensate, he had the hazy mixture dropped into a small cauldron. With another push of soulforce, he had the mixture quickly processed into a more refined state without the impurities.


    With Zhao Panqi¡¯s elemental wood constantly refining the six herb mixture in the cauldron to become even purer. It truly did seem like he was trying to use alchemy to create a new medicine as the tincture was constantly changing in shape, size, and color before finally condensing into a pill form.


    It wasn¡¯t a pill made with the authentic style of the Alchemy School, but as far as purifying and concentrating medicines go, this pill was far more effective than simply ingesting the ingredients as is.


    The light of elemental wood slowly abated away from Pan Zhaoqi¡¯s figure as he finished the process. Left in his hand was a greenish pill the size of a quail egg. With a wave of his hand, the half-liquid, half-solid pill was placed into the mouth of the woman.


    ¡°It¡¯s working! It¡¯s really working! How wonderful!¡±


    Roughly ten seconds after the pill was ingested, the first person to react was Zhao Mancha. Even Bai Yunfei could tell that the pill was indeed doing its job. Chu Qingxue¡¯s face was looking far more vibrant than before. Her eyebrows were slowly unfurling, and her breathing was even stabilizing upon itself. Clearly, her body was slowly winning against the poison in her body.


    It was a result of not just the pill, but also the Purification Earring. Both were doing their part in alleviating the poison¡¯s effects and helping Chu Qingxue recover.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Exhaling, Bai Yunfei released the breath that had been held in his mouth for so long. He had done all that he could for Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother. All that was left to do was hope for the older woman to make a recovery.


    Leaving Zhao Mancha to look after Chu Qingxue, Bai Yunfei turned to walk to Tang Qianchi and Tang Jing. ¡°Uncle Tang, brother Tang.¡± He clasped his hands together.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei,¡± Tang Jing nodded in kind, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to come by so quickly. Did you already hear about the matter with my sister?!¡±


    For the second time that day, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡°Oh! Brother Tang, where is Xinyun? What¡¯s happened to her?!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Tang Jing blinked. ¡°My sister, she¡¯s¡­she¡¯s been missing since yesterday!¡±


    ¡°Missing?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°What¡¯s going on?! How could she have gone missing?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not sure, but we believe it to be a kidnapping. Our last sighting of her was when she went to Orchid Town. We came across signs of battle on Mt. Orchid, so it¡¯s very likely she was kidnapped there. We¡¯ve yet to find out who could be the culprit, their goals, or even where they went. We haven¡¯t found any clues yet either¡­every single able-bodied person we sent to find her has come up with nothing so far.¡±


    ¡°So something did happen at Mt. Orchid!!¡± Bai Yunfei was unsettled by this. Listening to Tang Xinyun¡¯s disappearance was as abrupt as a bolt of lightning out of the clear blue sky.


    There wasn¡¯t a point on thinking about the possible reasons on why Tang Xinyun might¡¯ve been kidnapped. The most pressing issue was the fact that Tang Xinyun was kidnapped, and that he had to find and save her¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ll bring Tang Xinyun back!!¡±


    He¡¯d have to rely on himself if the Tang hadn¡¯t any clues. Sparing just a single second to think and announce his intentions, Bai Yunfei disappeared into a blur right in front of everyone¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Teleportation?!¡±


    Tang Jing gasped. ¡°Was that teleportation?! Has¡­has Bai Yunfei become a Soul King?! Impossible!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Thanks to the powers of the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei reappeared on top of a tall mountain peak a moment later. Furious beyond belief, Bai Yunfei started to scan the surrounding area with the help of the visibility provided to him by his vantage point.


    Bai Yunfei had a key advantage over the Tang in finding Tang Xinyun. His soul compatibility with the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring¡ªwhich was on Tang Xinyun¡¯s person¡ªwas around 50%. This milestone allowed for Bai Yunfei to just barely sense its presence from within a half-kilometer of distance. This would be the compass Bai Yunfei would use to find her.


    He hadn¡¯t a reaction back in Tang Manor, meaning that the ring¡ªand her¡ªwasn¡¯t within five hundred meters of the place.


    He just had to guess a possible direction from there. By using the Core Stone¡¯s ability to teleport, he could travel from range to range to find her.


    Dedicated entirely to his task, Bai Yunfei tried his best to feel for the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring. When he found nothing, he¡¯d teleport again¡­


    If nothing was to be felt after several repetitions, Bai Yunfei would alter directions and continue looking¡­


    Finally, when Bai Yunfei¡¯s reserves were at half of what they used to be, his eyes brightened with joy when his senses caught hold of something.


    ¡°Found it!!¡±

 Chapter 850: Third Son of Tang

    Finally! The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring had been found just within four hundred meters of him! And even better¡ªthe ring was moving in a direction towards him!


    Relieved joy appeared onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. He teleported one last time to travel a hundred kilometers in their direction.


    The aura from the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring was hopping from place to place, meaning that it wasn¡¯t Tang Xinyun running away herself; someone was teleporting her! So¡­her kidnapper had her bound so she couldn¡¯t get away?!


    Bai Yunfei was furious. Teleporting yet again, he got within another two hundred meters of the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring. In one swift action, he had the Violet Soul Ring transfer two thousand soulpoints into his body and the Heaven¡¯s Thunder taken out from its space ring for him to ride on. Even the space ring with only just three hundred soulpoints had been used to replenish his reserves.


    A flash of red light saw to the Cataclysmic Seal appearing to the left of Bai Yunfei. The fireseed within the brick was quickly transferred into his chest so he could activate the Dual Flame Artes. Now powered up, Bai Yunfei shot towards the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring readied for battle.


    The speed in which the Heaven¡¯s Thunder traveled at was astounding to even Bai Yunfei. It didn¡¯t take long before Bai Yunfei was just a single mountain point away from where the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring was! At last he could make out the murky aura of Tang Xinyun!


    But that was also when he made out the auras of two other figures¡ªSoul Kings!


    As if realizing that they had been detected, the auras disappeared from Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense as quickly as they appeared.


    ¡°Be careful! They¡¯re teleporting to a new location now! A hundred meters to the right and a hundred meters above us!¡± Xiao Fang warned.


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei reacted accordingly to Xiao Fang¡¯s warnings and altered his path to face the direction to his upper-right.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Appearing in a blaze of fire, the Fire-tipped Spear revealed itself in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand for him to thrust in a certain area.


    It had just so happened that the space in which the spear was being thrusted in was twisting in on itself to reveal two figures stepping out from it.


    The first figure was a young man dressed in violet. His long hair drifted elegantly in the wind behind him so as to avoid obscuring his tall nose and sharp eyebrows. The second figure Combined with his tall and straight stature, the man looked surely as if he was from a soldierly background. He also wore sturdy battle-armor the color of violet to accentuate his person, but the aura coming from his person felt more like a feral beast.


    He was also covered with blood as if he had only just finished fighting an arduous and intense battle.


    But the most eye-catching detail to the first man was the person held next to him. Though dressed in white and obscured by her long hair, Bai Yunfei could still tell at a glance that this person was Tang Xinyun!


    The two males were immediately surprised to see Bai Yunfei standing in their way. Moving in front of the other, the one with the battle armor gave Bai Yunfei a death glare, ¡°Who goes there?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei answered in turn with a furious glare of his own. Aimed towards the man holding onto Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei spat, ¡°Hand Xinyun to me or die!!¡±


    The merciless glare given to them by Bai Yunfei startled the two men, but the male wearing the battle-armor looked slightly taken aback. A Soul Exalt daring to act in such a way to two Soul Kings was very peculiar, and so the one wearing battle-armor couldn¡¯t help but look back at his companion.


    A flash of light crossed the purpled-robed man. ¡°Are you trying to save Xinyun? Are you¡­Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei paused, ¡°How do you know me? Who are you?¡±


    The man gave Bai Yunfei a cursory glance, ¡°Crimson-red spear and a strange rectangular soul armament¡­he¡¯s like the rumors say he is.¡± The cautious glare fell away from the man¡¯s face in favor for a more warming one. Giving one step forward, he smiled, ¡°Bai Yunfei, we aren¡¯t your enemies. I am little Yun¡¯s third brother, Tang Wei.¡±


    ¡°Her third brother?!¡± There was confusion in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes for a split moment before he responded. A flicker of relief crossed his eyes, but then he stared warily at them again, ¡°And why should I believe that?¡±


    As if prepared for such a question, Tang Wei replied to the question while starting to fly again. ¡°Several years ago, I met my fifth brother, Tang Ming, and gave him a space ring for him to give to little Yun. There were several fire-type herbs in there, you should know about that if you¡¯re close to little Yun, correct?¡±


    Tang Wei was correct. Bai Yunfei remembered such a thing before; Tang Xinyun had told him about this ring to only a select few¡ªhim included. If this person could say that, it meant he was who he said he was. Plus, Bai Yunfei could tell from a distance that this person looked quite similar to Tang Xinyun¡¯s father.


    ¡°Brother Tang! It really is you! Did you save Xinyun? That¡¯s great!¡± Bai Yunfei moved forward to greet the male in relief.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    But a straight punch from Tang Wei sent Bai Yunfei flying backwards. He had punched Bai Yunfei right on the face without Bai Yunfei having expected it!!


    The force behind the blow had been quite heavy, and Bai Yunfei could even see a few stars in his vision before he could steady himself.


    ¡°Brother Tang¡­what are you doing?!¡± He could only ask in confused anger.


    The glare Tang Wei was giving him was an icy one. ¡°I¡¯m punching you on behalf of little Yun! If you¡¯re the one she loves, then how could you put her in danger?! Are you even worthy of her infatuation if you can¡¯t even protect her?! Do you know that the very first words she said when I saved her was your name?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was stunned by Tang Wei¡¯s rebukes of him, but that didn¡¯t seem to pacify the older man by even the slightest.


    ¡°When I ran into the ones who kidnapped her, they asked if I was Bai Yunfei! Do you understand?! The reason why they kidnapped little Yun was all because of you! You! It¡¯s your fault that little Yun was in this much danger!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± This time, Bai Yunfei was stunned into full silence.


    He was the reason why Xinyun was kidnapped?!


    Then as if to jolt him out of his thoughts, something was pressed into his hands. Tang Wei had given Xinyun to Bai Yunfei to hold.


    ¡°Take her and leave. There¡¯ll be some enemy reinforcements coming soon, I¡¯ll stop them for now, you go back and get help!¡± Tang Wei¡¯s voice spoke out into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ear.


    He nodded stiffly and bowed his head to give Tang Xinyun a look. Seeing her coiled up as she was with an injured Xiao Bai in her arms made him frown. Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes were fully closed, her pale face was scrunched up, and her lips were quivering minutely as if she was trying to murmur something.


    Stooping slightly over her, Bai Yunfei pressed an ear closer to her so he could hear what she was saying¡­.


    ¡°Yu¡ªYunfei¡­don¡¯t come¡­they¡¯re¡­they¡¯re going to¡­to hurt you¡­¡±


    Her words were faint. Staccato even with several words in between being nearly inaudible. But to Bai Yunfei, each word he heard was like a dagger stabbing into his heart.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! What are you lazing about for?! Hurry up and get moving, the enemies are nearly here!¡±


    The urgent tone in Tang Wei¡¯s words snapped Bai Yunfei awake yet again.


    Off in the distance, several rays of light were already zipping through the skies to where Bai Yunfei and Tang Wei were¡­


    The enemy reinforcements were here!

 Chapter 851: Fury That Scorches the Heavens and the Seal Undone!

    There was a grim expression on Tang Wei as he observed the incoming beams of light.


    ¡°Damn¡­I¡¯ve already killed two of them and now even more have shown up. I can see some Soul Kings with them, what kind of enemy are we dealing with here¡­what in the world is Bai Yunfei worth to them for someone to bring out this much firepower¡­¡±


    The amount of people was enough to make Tang Wei and Yan Lin both worry over their chances of victory. At most, they could probably draw out some time before they¡¯d have to flee.


    Tang Wei hoped that Bai Yunfei could at the very least get away from here. If the reinforcements from the Tang came, then it was possible that a counterattack could be had¡­


    He looked up, hoping to see Bai Yunfei already long gone from this place.


    But Bai Yunfei was still standing there without having moved an inch!


    Furious, Tang Wei was about to say something when he realized something amiss¡­


    Tang Xinyun used to be in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands, but now, she was nowhere to be seen!


    ¡°Wha¡ªwhat did you do?!¡± Tang Wei rounded onto him for an answer.


    Bai Yunfei slowly lifted his head to stare back at Tang Wei. The expression on his face was eerily calm. Smiling at the alarmed Tang Wei, he spoke, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, brother Tang. I¡¯ve sent Xinyun to a place safe from danger. No one will be able to hurt her there¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Tang Wei was still confused. Before he could ask any further questions, the space beneath Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet flashed a bright purple and and sent him flying away. ¡°Bai Yunfei, what are you doing?!¡±


    He didn¡¯t bother to turn around and respond to Tang Wei. ¡°Third brother, you and your friend must be tired from your last battle, right? You should rest and recover your soulforce. Allow me to¡­deal with these people.¡±


    ¡°Allow you?!¡± Tang Wei¡¯s eyes were wide open. Had his punch earlier knocked some sense loose from Bai Yunfei? The people heading for them were Soul Kings! And if they weren¡¯t a Soul King, they were a peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, how could Bai Yunfei possibly hope to contend against them?


    Both Tang Wei and his armored friend were immediately thunderstruck when all of a sudden, three additional figures appeared right next to Bai Yunfei!


    A bulky man in dark-blue robes, a snowy-white lion soulbeast, and a sparrow-sized prisma oriole¡­


    Then came the even bigger surprise¡ªthe three of them were all¡­Soul Kings!


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s even going on here?!¡±


    As experienced as a traveler Tang Wei was, this sight in front of him was beyond ordinary. He still couldn¡¯t even wrap his mind around something: Where had Tang Xinyun gone? And where did these three people come from?


    ¡°The big one there¡ªthat¡¯s a soulbeast! Someone from the dragon race!¡± Yan Lin inhaled sharply, his eyes transfixed to Long Lan in front of him.


    ¡°A soulbeast? You¡¯re telling me¡­there¡¯s three class-seven soulbeasts here?! And all of them are helping Bai Yunfei?! That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Standing a thousand meters high in the sky, Bai Yunfei was now to the right of Long Lan and to the left of Xiao Qi and the permafrost mastiff. He eyed the incoming figures with a bone-chillingly cold look.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let even a single one of them escape. They¡¯ll all die here!¡±


    ¡°Death to them all! They deserve it!¡± Xiao Qi agreed angrily. ¡°To even think about injuring Xiao Bai¡­those bastards! I¡¯ll eat them all!¡±


    Long Lan was the more calm one of the four. ¡°Three Early-stage Soul Kings and two Mid-stage Soul Kings¡­I can also sense three class seven soulbeasts with them!¡±


    Five Soul Kings and three class seven soulbeasts in addition to several other Soul Exalts. It was a terrifying armada of power that could take out even an entire middle-ranked school by themselves. Even a middling household would be easily made extinct by this force.


    ¡°Xiao Qi, you¡¯ll be responsible for the permafrost mastiff. I see a group of Soul Exalts behind the three class seven soulbeasts, that¡¯ll be yours and Long Lan to manage.¡± Bai Yunfei commanded. His mind was already calculating the enemy forces and what the battle plan was. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with those five Soul Kings.¡±


    Xiao Qi and Long Lan were both surprised by his plan, but neither soulbeast said a word. The actual ones to speak came from within Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°What?! Yunfei, are you planning to fight against five Soul Kings by yourself?! Have you gone crazy? There¡¯s no way you can do that with your stre¡ªwait! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve¡­¡±


    It was Xiao Fang who was speaking to him.


    ¡°Are you really going undo the seal?! Why now! Can¡¯t you just wait a bit longer?! We¡¯ve sealed up so much energy so far from the Extreme King Pills, there¡¯s still half of it that hasn¡¯t been processed yet¡ªwe¡¯ll lose that half if you undo the seal now! It¡¯s not a good choice! We should teleport away instead! At least we can take revenge on them later in that case!¡±


    ¡°Later? I couldn¡¯t even protect the one I love¡­what¡¯s the point of talking about the future then!¡± Bai Yunfei retorted. ¡°It¡¯ll take years and years before all that energy is done maturing, what¡¯s the point of revenge after that? I can¡¯t wait that long¡­the people who hurt Xinyun are right in front of me, how can I just run away now with my tail in between my legs? That¡¯s not something I¡¯ll do in my life!


    ¡°Wasting the remaining Extreme King Pills is a done and dealt with deal, I¡¯ll just find another way to improve my strength. But these people¡­they¡¯ll definitely die today!¡±


    Murderous intent flooded Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. His right hand loosened just enough for the Fire-tipped Spear to be released and to float in the air besides him. Having both hands free now, Bai Yunfei began to go through a series of hand seals.


    ¡°Ugh! What a reckless master this one is¡­fine! If you want to go crazy, fine by me! I don¡¯t care anymore¡­¡± Xiao Fang groused to itself before growing silent.


    Xiao Fang was right. The most ¡®logical¡¯ plan would¡¯ve been to take Tang Xinyun and leave this place. But to leave these enemies behind for another time when Bai Yunfei was stronger would mean having to wait for a very long time¡­


    Bai Yunfei was only a Soul Exalt in strength if he excluded the energy being stored up thanks to Realm Accretion. If he didn¡¯t undo the seal, how would he ever be able to fight against these people? And if he didn¡¯t deal with these people now, what if they attacked in the future? Was he supposed to take Tang Xinyun into hiding for the next several years until he was finally strong enough? Hiding from place to place, taking each step with him constantly looking over his own shoulder? If Tang Xinyun were to come across an accident during that time frame, there wouldn¡¯t be a second opportunity like this one to save her¡­


    Even if he did try to run away, this day would definitely weigh heavily on Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. This in turn would turn into some kind of distraction for Bai Yunfei¡¯s training and most definitely prevent him from becoming a Late-stage Soul King as smoothly as possible.


    But the most important thing was that Bai Yunfei was angry. Furious even to the point of uncontrollability. The guilt Bai Yunfei was feeling over Tang Xinyun being kidnapped because of him was unbearable. It clawed at his stomach and made it nearly impossible for Bai Yunfei to even think about anything else but one thing.


    The only way he¡¯d feel better now is if he made sure the people that hurt Tang Xinyun paid a heavy price for it!


    More and more soulforce started to churn violently inside his body as he continued through the hand seals. Upon the very last one, Bai Yunfei felt his aura explode violently with strength to reach even higher heights than before¡­


    The enemies in front of him were getting closer and closer now. In a matter of seconds, the kilometer gap in between their two groups was already quickly shrinking.


    But before they could fully clear the distance, a pillar of blinding red light suddenly shot up into the skies from Bai Yunfei!


    Realm Accretion: Unsealed!!


    The three middle-aged men and two elders leading the group were met with the blinding pillar of red light and came to an immediate halt.


    ¡°The people who saved Tang Xinyun are that way, don¡¯t let them escape! We have to be sure to get her back before the rest of the Tang get here!¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s blocking the way, who?!¡±


    ¡°A Soul Exalt?! What¡¯s going on here?! Eh?! His strength is increasing far too fast, was he hiding his true power?¡±


    ¡°No! This¡­this is the King¡¯s Phenomena! He¡¯s becoming a Soul King?! Here and now?¡±


    Everyone was in complete confusion for a good while before a black-robed Soul King elder pointed a finger at the pillar, ¡°That person is Bai Yunfei!¡±


    ¡°What? He¡¯s Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    Again, everyone was surprised. The middle-aged man wearing red robes on the left was happy, however. ¡°Is he really? Haha! We went through all this trouble only to have him appeared right in front of us! What¡¯s the point grabbing Tang Xinyun if we can just kill him and take his things now!¡±


    ¡°But wasn¡¯t he only a Soul Exalt?¡± Asked the suspicious middle-aged man next to him. ¡°How is he able to become a Soul King already? And here too? What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    ¡°Who cares what¡¯s going on, he¡¯s being cocky here. If he¡¯s so willing to die, then I¡¯m all too happy to help him!¡± The red-robed Soul King sneered before increasing his flying speed forwards.


    He was soon overcharged with an equally blinding-red light as he charged onwards. An ocean of fire soon materialized around his person before the tongues formed together to form a myriad of wriggling fire snakes.


    One wave of his hand later, the myriad of fire snakes flew forward to assault Bai Yunfei from every side possible!

 Chapter 852: Shocking Every Soul King

    ¡°Fiery Dance of the Thousand Snakes? If Fang Shouwen is willing to use his strongest move, then it seems he wants to get this over with as soon as possible¡­¡±


    The slightly fatter Soul King of the group murmured aloud as he watched the one known as Fang Shouwen take action.


    The one who had realized it was Bai Yunfei in front of them grunted. ¡°This Bai Yunfei is a crafty one. He¡¯s able to kill Soul Kings as a Soul Exalt, so be sure to not let down your guard. Use your strongest move and kill him at once. And if we are unable to do so in one blow, then we cannot afford to underestimate the enemy.¡±


    It seemed as though this speaker knew Bai Yunfei a tad bit more than his fellow companions. His physical appearance was also quite strange compared to the others. There was a black miasma to him that obscured his aura. If not for the fact that he was standing there in plain sight, one would¡¯ve thought he was a ghost of some kind.


    This man was one of the persons that stood next to Mo Ni, the male known as ¡®Gui Wei¡¯!!


    He was the puzzle piece that made everything so clear now. The ones kidnapping Tang Xinyun to get at Bai Yunfei was none other than Mo Ni!


    The goal, of course, was the Core Stone in Bai Yunfei¡¯s possession¡­It was quite unexpected that Mo Ni would take action so quickly though. Only a month had passed since the ¡®official¡¯ ending of the battle for the Extreme King Pills and yet Mo Ni was already enacting yet another one of his sinister plots.


    ¡°Is this Bai Yunfei really worth that much attention to, Envoy? Is he really that powerful?¡± The golden-robed elder next to Gui Wei asked. He was a Mid-stage Soul King and usually referred to Gui Wei as ¡®Envoy¡¯. As strong as he was, he didn¡¯t treat Gui Wei with the haughty attitude most Mid-stage Soul Kings might have for those weaker.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget that he¡¯s the genius of the Crafting School and also disciple of Zi Jin¡­¡± Gui Wei replied.


    ¡°According to what we know, he has roughly five heaven-tier soul armaments¡ªall of which are strong both offensively and defensively. We will have to use a great deal more power than usual if we are to bypass his defenses.¡±


    ¡°Pah, even if he¡¯s stronger than his peers and has hundreds of soul armaments, he¡¯s still going to die today!¡± A white-robed elder sneered in contempt at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A surge of heat tore through the air moments after an equally intense explosion. Looking up, everyone watched as the area where Bai Yunfei was standing was engulfed by a large ocean of fire. Even the King¡¯s Phenomena above him was starting to be disturbed.


    The slightly fat middle-aged man smirked at the sight. ¡°A wonderful attack. It appears that Bai Yunfei is without a doubt dead. He¡¯s a foolish one if he thinks he could face us at his level of strength. I must admit, it¡¯s tru¡ª¡±


    His words died away in his mouth. Rather than finishing his sentence, the man¡¯s mouth hung wide open as he stared at the ocean of fire in shock.


    There was something strange happening in the area he was looking at. The waves of fire churning in on the area were turning back into wriggling tendrils of fire to start flying everywhere but there!


    It was a sight almost identical to what the Soul Kings had only just watched moments ago. The only difference was, the ¡®Fiery Dance of the Thousand Snakes¡¯ was being ¡®returned¡¯ back to Fang SHouwen!


    ¡°How! How can this be po¡ªagh!!¡±


    From his spot up in the skies, the cold smirk that was on Fang Shouwen¡¯s face earlier was wiped clean off. He had only a second to bemoan the sudden event before he shrieked in pain when the tendrils of fire engulfed him!


    Fang Shouwen didn¡¯t stand a chance. Attacked by his own move, Fang Shouwen was being hit with every single little bit of power he himself had used on Bai Yunfei. Whatever snakes that touched his body were quickly burrowing into his body to lick and devour at the flesh underneath. Soon enough, holes and tunnels started to reveal themselves on his body as the snakes started to swim throughout it!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was another ear-ringing explosion as the snakes detonated from within his body. The explosion brought forth a rain of blood and gore down from the skies along with a blossoming explosion of elemental fire. The majority of Fang Shouwen¡¯s blood was incinerated, which in turn transformed into a bloody-red spiral of smoke¡­


    And so, an Early-stage Soul King was killed just like that!


    ¡°Ah¡­what happened just now? Fang Shouwen died? Has he really died just like that?!¡± The fatty man from earlier was like a frightened cat now with his shrill shriek. The death of Fang Shouwen was something his mind was having trouble processing.


    Fang Shouwen had been a Soul King! A Soul King that was just as strong as he was! How in the world did he manage to get himself killed in an instant? And how was it that he died to his own killing move?!


    Like the fatty Soul King, Gui Wei was at a loss for words. All he could do was stare ahead at the sight of Fang Shouwen¡¯s death. The shriek of the fatty Soul King was just what he needed to reboot his thinking processes. ¡°That¡­that was¡­that was the Replicating Flames!! The Replicating Flames of elder Wu Shang!! How in the world does Bai Yunfei know such a skill! Did¡­did even elder Wu Shang die at the hands of Bai Yunfei? This is impossible!!¡±


    The plans Gui Wei had in mind had already been derailed before it had even truly begun. While he knew that Bai Yunfei was capable of killing an Early-stage Soul King, never did he expect that Bai Yunfei had also killed elder Wu Shang and taken his ultimate move from him!


    This was mind-blowing. Elder Wu Shang had been a Mid-stage Soul King! And a Mid-stage Soul King that was a great deal stronger than other Mid-stage Soul Kings! And for all he was worth, the elder had still been killed by Bai Yunfei?!


    While he was still contemplating the ramifications of everything, the pillar of fire in front of him shivered once before transforming back into a whirlpool of fire. There was a terrible rumbling sound emanating from the whirlpool with a great deal of soulforce already leaking from its center¡­


    ¡°Has he already broken through?! What kind of joke is this!?¡± The fatty Soul King exclaimed. ¡°Hardly ten seconds even passed and now he¡¯s a Soul King?! Am I in a dream?!¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be! The King¡¯s Phenomena hasn¡¯t disappeared yet and his aura is still increasing!¡± The golden-robed Mid-stage Soul King exclaimed. ¡°What kind of secret is he using!? We can¡¯t let this continue any longer!¡±


    Things were rapidly spiraling out of control for them all. Their chances before this fight had looked as steady as a mountain itself, but now that mountain was starting to crumble and shrink faster than fast. The emotion of shock might as well be permanently etched onto each one of their faces as they stood there trying to figure out what in the world Bai Yunfei was doing.


    But in the end, there was one thing each one of them knew: They couldn¡¯t just sit there and watch wide-eyed like a deer in torchlight while Bai Yunfei continued to grow stronger!


    ¡°Attack! Kill him now!¡± Gui Wei was the first to charge into battle. The rest of the Soul Kings followed suit in a blaze of their own soulforce.


    There was hardly over a hundred meters of distance between them and Bai Yunfei, but the auras radiating from each Soul King was large enough to cover the entire area of distance without a problem. Of the two Mid-stage Soul Kings, the golden-robed one was an earth-type and was already donning on a bubble of elemental earth to make him as steady as a mountain. The white-robed elder was an ice-type Soul King and was crystallizing the air around him to form a miniature blizzard.


    Aside from the two, Gui Wei was expelling a significant amount of miasma to form a giant black cloud. The slightly-fat Soul King was a wind-type soul cultivator and was manipulating the air around him to swirl faster and faster to send every little thing within range flying.


    Any battle involving Soul Kings meant a battle that would shape the lands around them¡ªespecially if four of them were fighting at the same time. Any spectating soul cultivator would¡¯ve been thoroughly intimidated by just the light alone.


    But that wasn¡¯t the only awe-inspiring thing about them. As they set out, the two Early-stage Soul King and fat Mid-stage Soul King all had three separate beams of energy fly out from them. A moment after that, the three beams of energy revealed themselves to have the aura of a living being!


    In the sky above the white-robed elder appeared a mountainous glacial ape. Above the brown-robed elder was a tremendously large but eerie soulbeast that looked somewhat like an earthworm. And above the fat Soul King was a gigantic verdant-blue butterfly.


    Three early-stage class seven soulbeasts!


    As mentioned before, it was a little rare for Soul Kings to have a contracted soulbeast partner. So what a surprise for there to be three here! The soulbeasts were only early-stage class seven soulbeasts, but that was still equivalent to an Early-stage Soul King in fighting prowess!


    Four Early-stage Soul Kings and three class seven soulbeasts. That equated to about seven Soul Kings fighting a single Early-stage Soul King. It was a breathtaking sight one might say was overkill like using a cannon to kill an ant. But that only went to show just how much the seven Soul Kings feared Bai Yunfei right now.


    Indeed, they were ¡®fearful¡¯ of Bai Yunfei. They had good reason to. Less than half a minute ago, Bai Yunfei had only been a Soul Exalt. Then, he became a Soul King in a dozen seconds and killed an Early-stage Soul King instantaneously almost. And to make things even worse, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength was still growing! It seemed impossible almost. A dream even.


    But reality was telling them that it was all possible and happening. If they sat there and allowed Bai Yunfei to become a Mid-stage Soul King or even stronger, what chance did they have but let Bai Yunfei kill them without a problem?


    Even with a suffocating amount of elemental fire around him, it didn¡¯t even seem like the whirlpool of fire was even affecting him. The amount of energy he himself was giving off was already beyond what an Early-stage Soul King should¡¯ve been capable of having. He was on his way to becoming a Mid-stage Soul King!

 Chapter 853: Killing Another

    ¡°Chirp!! Roar!! Roar!!¡±


    The cries of three separate soulbeasts could be heard as the seven Soul Kings and soulbeasts lashed out. One was most noticeably the cry of a bird, another the loud snarling of a lion-like soulbeast, and the third a majestic roar of a dragon. Simultaneously, three tremendous auras came flying out from the fiery whirlpool to fly at the seven with blinding speed!


    ¡°Soulbeasts! Three class seven soulbeast! But how!!?¡±


    Came the loud shrill of the fat soul cultivator. His fellow soul cultivators were similarly shocked, though they weren¡¯t as vocal in their surprise as he was. Their primary focus had been Bai Yunfei and the King¡¯s Phenomena due to the enormous amount of elemental fire coming from them.


    The influx of elemental fire had served to mask the auras of Xiao Qi, Long Lan, and even the permafrost mastiff, allowing the three soulbeasts to make their grand reveal without being noticed beforehand.


    Luckily, these three soulbeasts were only early-stage class seven soulbeasts¡­


    The four Soul Kings heaved a sigh of relief and had their own three soulbeasts move forward to deal with them.


    ¡°Hm? What manner of beast is that? A prisma oriole? What a joke! Are you suicidal?!¡±


    Above the skies of the white-robed elder, the glacial ape sneered. It just had to when it saw Xiao Qi. As a class seven soulbeast, it¡¯s intelligence was equivalent to that of a human and could humanize. It was just that the ape disliked its human form and preferred to stay in its natural soulbeast form as like the other two soulbeasts with him.


    But while the glacial ape was busy laughing at the bird, Xiao Qi was already kicking up in speed so that when he was just less than a thousand steps away, he disappeared!


    He wasn¡¯t actually disappearing or anything, it was just that with the added speed of the Wind and Lightning Feathers, Xiao Qi was traveling at speeds faster than what the glacial ape could react to. So of course it looked as though the bird had disappeared in the ape¡¯s eyes!


    The glacial ape reacted accordingly to the bird¡¯s disappearance and honed his senses immediately. Realizing the presence of Xiao Qi, the ape whirled around and prepared himself for contact!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a muffled thud before the glacial ape was sent flying away as if struck by a tremendous amount of weight!


    Long Lan and the permafrost mastiff were simultaneously getting into fights of their own with the other class seven soulbeast. In bursts of elemental energy, the two soulbeasts knocked their opponents flying as well!


    Clearly, the three soulbeasts were trying to separate the other three soulbeasts from the Soul Kings.


    ¡°Ignore them! Our priority is to kill Bai Yunfei first!¡±


    Gui Wei barked as he continued onwards to Bai Yunfei. Swirling with elemental darkness, his right hand lashed out to send a blade of energy towards the younger male.


    By this point, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was at the midway point between an Early-stage Soul King and a Mid-stage Soul King. From just eyesight alone, it looked like Bai Yunfei would need only a few seconds more to actually become a Mid-stage Soul King. This was a very terrifying thought to Gui Wei and the others.


    Materializing thousands of icicles, the white-robed elder had the entire barrage fly towards Bai Yunfei at once. The golden-robed elder pointed a finger to the skies where a gigantic mountain of elemental earth had solidified. A large chunk of the mountain separated itself from the main body before flying at Bai Yunfei in conjunction with the icicles.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    The weakest one of the Soul Kings¡ªthe fat Early-stage Soul King¡ªdidn¡¯t unleash an attack of elemental energy at all, but he wasn¡¯t afraid to attack Bai Yunfei. Pointing a finger at Bai Yunfei, he unleashed an attack of his own, a soul attack!!


    He thought himself to be the more considerate one. If everyone else was using an elemental attack, then he¡¯d be the one to hamper Bai Yunfei¡¯s dodging efforts by using a soul attack. This way, he¡¯d be the one coordinating everyone¡¯s attacks to hitting Bai Yunfei!


    The maelstrom of fire continued to spin around Bai Yunfei so no one could see what he was up to. It didn¡¯t really matter much to the four Soul Kings though, as the three elemental attacks would definitely kill an ordinary Early-stage Soul King without much effort to spare. Even a Mid-stage Soul King wouldn¡¯t be able to get away from this without sustaining heavy damages. With the inclusion of the soul attack from the fat Soul King, both Tang Wei and Yan Lin went completely pale with fear for Bai Yunfei. The two were already getting ready to use a soul attack of their own to help Bai Yunfei fight.


    But then to the shock of everyone there¡­


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    The ear-ringing shriek of a person filled the air¡­it was the fat Soul King!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The three elemental attacks crashed into the fiery maelstrom before anyone even knew what was going on. Nearly half of the elemental fire was scattered away as the central area where Bai Yunfei was presumably hiding was struck!


    A hole was opened up in the whirlpool now, allowing everyone able to see what Bai Yunfei was doing at its center. But there was only a split second for people to see before an explosion of the elemental attacks once again obscured him from sight¡­


    It was only for a moment, but the Soul Kings did see Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure in the whirlpool! It was for a moment that they were happy, but then to the abrupt shock of everyone there, a bolt of violet light came flying out from the whirlpool towards the¡­fat Soul King!


    Unfortunately for the fat Soul King, the +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf had activated on him while the other three Soul Kings were watching their attacks land.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.


    Not only had the soul attack of the Early-stage Soul King fail to do anything to Bai Yunfei, it was reflected back onto him to suffer! His entire person was brought into a state of confusion and pain for just a few seconds, but those scant few seconds was more than enough time for retaliation to be launched!


    By the time he recovered, the bolt of violet light was already coming straight at him!


    Being slammed with his own soul attack had caused his elemental wind to scatter, forcing the man to have to conjure up even more. He threw his arms up to gather up a wall of elemental wind and protect himself, but¡­


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    Slamming into the barrier of wind with a sharp crack, the bolt of violet light revealed itself to the fat Early-stage Soul King to be some type of flying sword! The tip of the violet flying sword had already slipped through the barrier deep enough that the hilt was all that was left on the other side. Had the man¡¯s reflexes been even a millisecond slower, the sword would¡¯ve most likely stabbed into his throat¡­


    ¡°Look out behind you!!¡±


    The Early-stage Soul King was only just starting to sigh in relief when the frightened call of his comrade cried out to him.


    ¡°Behind?! Wha¡ª¡±


    Alarmed, the man was about to whirl around when he felt a breeze of wind fly across the back of his head. His body stiffened following the feeling of something stabbing into it. From the corners of his eyes, the man stared at something violet poked out from his throat¡­


    The fat Soul King didn¡¯t know what happened after that. Everything had gone black for him, and then nothing.


    Right after the Heaven¡¯s Thunder stabbed through his neck, the man¡¯s body had exploded!


    Flashes of lightning and drops of blood flew everywhere as bits and pieces of the man¡¯s body flew everywhere and fell back down to the ground¡­


    Because of a combination of the soul attack rebounding and the +10 additional effect of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder, another person had been killed instantaneously!

 Chapter 854: Tremble! The Ultimate Finishing Move!

    ¡°Grrr!!!!¡±


    Whilst the Heaven¡¯s Thunder was on the verge of landing an instant kill on the fat Soul King, the permafrost mastiff was embroiled in fierce combat with the butterfly.


    The death of the Soul King meant a significant blow to the butterfly, which in turn meant the immediate weakening of the surrounding elemental wind to just a sixth of its original strength!!


    The butterfly had already the upper hand over the permafrost mastiff prior to the death of the Early-stage Soul King due to the fact Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t able to control the mastiff. His own battle was intensive enough to force Xiao Qi to have the mastiff follow only one prime directive; ¡®attack¡¯. This very basic command left very little for the mastiff to do but attack, leaving it comparatively less flexible in movement than its opponent. As a consequence, the mastiff would occasionally be hit by the wind blades while the butterfly would stare derisively at it.


    But everything changed when the fat Soul King died. Wracked with pain from its partner¡¯s death, the butterfly was left defenseless while the permafrost mastiff took the opportunity to strike. Having found an opening, the permafrost mastiff unleashed a bolt of ice onto the butterfly and then pounced at it to snap up the butterfly¡¯s head into its jaw!!


    ¡°Chiii!!!¡± A horrified screech erupted from the butterfly as it realized the terrible truth of its situation. Its entire body started to glow green with light as it tried its best to escape.


    ¡°Pcht! Tzk¡­¡±


    But it was too late. There was a tearing sound as the mastiff¡¯s teeth snapped onto the butterfly. Though the butterfly managed to turn its head around in time, the butterfly still failed to avoid the mastiff from grabbing hold of its right wing!


    The teeth of the mastiff were practically inseparable from the wings now that they were touching. And with how hard it was trying to escape from the mastiff, the butterfly accidentally had a fourth of its wing torn off!


    Another disastrous blow. Unable to move as fast now because of this attack, the butterfly was left wide open to the mastiff¡¯s next attack¡ªit seemed that this would be the end of the butterfly!


    The tides of battle between the permafrost mastiff and the butterfly had been flipped all because of the death of a Soul King. On the other side about a few hundred meters away, Xiao Qi and Long Lan were currently in a fierce battle of their own.


    Long Lan was currently fighting a soulbeast not unsimilar to an earthworm that moved characteristically like a python. In their first encounter, Long Lan managed to knock the earthworm into a nearby mountain to fight there. He was already transformed back into a slightly more serpentine form of his wyrm form when he reached the mountain. Soon, the mountain started to shake intensely from their battle. And because of the dust cloud that was being kicked up, it was impossible to tell who was winning over the other.


    Both Xiao Qi and the glacial ape were fighting in midair. But unlike the other two battles, Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t just fighting the glacial ape. He was also fighting a group of Soul Exalts.


    When Xiao Qi sent the glacial ape flying away, the group of Soul Exalts behind Gui Wei had to split away from the rest of the group. This left about ten Soul Exalts and the glacial ape to fight the prisma oriole. Several of the Soul Exalts were even knocked out from the count after the glacial ape was thrown into them. But even with a good outcome like that, there was no way Xiao Qi was going to let things lie there.


    Bai Yunfei had already told them to deal with the problem, so Xiao Qi was determined to do so. The glacial ape was already far away enough to not be a problem for the time being. Spreading his wings out, Xiao Qi began to gather lightning to him so that he was cloaked entirely in it along with the surrounding hundred meters!


    All of the Soul Exalts were basically mice in front of Xiao Qi. When the bolts of lightning started to drop, they started to die out one after another!


    The glacial ape was back now. Roaring loudly, it charged straight for Xiao Qi, allowing for the remaining six or seven Soul Exalts to retreat.


    ¡­¡­


    And now back to Bai Yunfei and his fight. The death of the fat Early-stage Soul King had been a stab of surprise to the hearts of the other Soul Kings. Not even the situations of the other soulbeasts were enough to catch their attention now that they were completely focused on trying to follow Bai Yunfei.


    Their side had suffered a tragic loss of firepower within practically seconds. What in the world was up with Bai Yunfei? The three of them had definitely unleashed powerful attacks onto him, but it didn¡¯t even seem like Bai Yunfei was even scratched by them¡­


    There was something else that was frightening the three Soul Kings. Even though Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t there anymore, the fiery maelstrom was¡­starting to kick back up!


    And then another wave of powerful soulforce started to surge out from where Bai Yunfei was!


    ¡ªWho could possibly say that Bai Yunfei was in any way injured? He was acting as if he was completely unharmed, and he was still increasing in strength even!


    ¡°N¡ªno way! No way!! How is he uninjured?! This is impossible!!¡±


    Gui Wei had lost it. He couldn¡¯t even hold back the high-pitched scream now. His pupils were giving a wild dance within his eyeballs as he stared at Bai Yunfei in fear.


    This wasn¡¯t just normal fear. This was fear of the unknown¡­fear of Bai Yunfei!


    That was because Bai Yunfei was showing even more soulforce than what Gui Wei had!


    If the distance between an Early-stage Soul King and a Mid-stage Soul King could be segmented into three smaller parts, then Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was already past the middle section of an Early-stage Soul King and barely over the last section. He was¡­very quickly on the path to becoming a Mid-stage Soul King!


    Gui Wei wasn¡¯t the only one panicking. The other two Mid-stage Soul Kings were also shivering to themselves. Many years had already passed since the two of them became a Mid-stage Soul King, but neither of the two had ever experienced something like this. Even their very soul was quivering at the sight.


    ¡°We¡­we can¡¯t let him become a Mid-stage Soul King! Kill him! Kill him right now!!¡±


    The white-robed elder roared in a desperate frenzy. Raising both hands, he started to form several complicated seals one after another. The elemental ice gathered all around him immediately began to crystallize at an even faster rate before becoming a hundred-meter tall dragon of ice!


    The golden-robed elder was taking action as well. Like his companion, his hands were also forming several dozen hand seals. Even more elemental earth started to flow into the giant mountain above him. Soon, the mountain solidified and take an even larger shape than what it was before. By the time the ice dragon had formed, the mountain was as big as the actual mountains near them!


    Gui Wei was just a half-step behind the other two, but he was still also ready to fight. Nine different ten-meter long snakes made of dark miasma formed behind him at once. Their jaws dropped open to roar, but no sound came out. Nonetheless, it was a very intimidating sight.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    That was the signaling call for the three Soul Kings to attack. A white dragon, a gold mountain, and the black snakes all flew forward at once!


    These three soul skills were on a completely different level compared to the attacks earlier. These were the signature moves of each of them and used only when they weren¡¯t willing to hold back anymore!


    A flaw was present in their plan, however. No matter how fast they reacted to the situation, it still required a good moment for them to control and activate the soul skills. And in that one moment, the three Soul Kings were exposed to a change in events that¡¯d lead to a completely different development!


    As if reaching the climax, the maelstrom of fire suddenly came to a stop and then started to suck in all of its energy towards the center!


    The center spot was like a black hole. The King¡¯s Phenomena in its entirety was being sucked up into the center and out of sight¡ªstraight into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    With the Realm Accretion seal unsealed, Bai Yunfei was reaching the finale of his rise in strength!


    But even though the King¡¯s Phenomena was disappearing and leaving Bai Yunfei exposed, that didn¡¯t mean there was nothing left in the air. The ice dragon, mountain, and dark snakes were¡­converging onto him!

 Chapter 855: Another Chance?

    Finally, Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure was fully exposed for the entire world to see now that the King¡¯s Phenomena was gone. His entire body was aglow with red light along with the Cataclysmic Seal to his left and the Fire-tipped Spear to his right floating in the air. He looked asleep almost with how he was breathing. Gradually, his eyes opened back up to reveal strong light.


    He felt pleased with how much strength was coming out from his body. But at the same time, there was also a sliver of regret¡­


    ¡°I was almost able to become a Mid-stage Soul King. Just almost, what a damn shame¡­¡±


    The unsealing of Realm Accretion meant all that stored power within Bai Yunfei being unleashed. Bai Yunfei was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, so becoming an Early-stage Soul King was a non-issue. Becoming a Mid-stage Soul King though was just a step away. It was a conclusion that was already ridiculous to begin with since it had only been a month since he started using Realm Accretion. According to his and Xiao Fang¡¯s calculations, it would¡¯ve required one or two years for him to become a Mid-stage Soul King and seven to eight years to become a Late-stage Soul King. The fact that he improved this much within the course of a month was already something to rejoice over¡­


    Still. The fact that he was so close to becoming a Mid-stage Soul King couldn¡¯t be understated, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but feel pity over it.


    He didn¡¯t have any time to reflect on that though. In the time he spent thinking about this, three powerful attacks were homing in on him!


    His eyes frosted over with anger. As if already prepared for something like this, Bai Yunfei waved a hand almost lazily to seemingly manipulate something in the air around him.


    A ripple of something formulated in response to his actions, but then at the moment after, Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire body was engulfed by a blinding explosion of light!


    The first to make contact was the ice dragon. The surrounding air was practically frozen over when its jaws snapped shut. It still remained to be seen if it had snapped onto Bai Yunfei since the dragon had fully obscured the area around him.


    The nine snakes were next to strike. As if looking forward to devouring its prey, the nine of them coiled around the area where Bai Yunfei was.


    Last was the gigantic golden mountain. Descending down from the skies, the mountain looked like it was descending down from the heavens to smash all that was beneath it.


    It was truly a sight difficult to put into words. The ultimate moves of three different Soul Kings being used on the very same space? There was hardly even a half-second of silence before several explosions ransacked the earth!


    ¡°Boom! Boom!! Boom!!¡±


    The explosions of elemental energy and noise were practically unceasing. After the three attacks landed on top of Bai Yunfei, all that was left to see was a gigantic mountain. It caused the entire land and the surrounding leagues to quake immensely when it impacted before crumbling apart to turn into sand to cover anything.


    ¡°Is he dead? He has to be. Even a Late-stage Soul King wouldn¡¯t be able to take on those three moves, that Bai Yunfei probably doesn¡¯t have any bones left!!¡±


    As if trying some sort of self-hypnosis to reassure himself, Gui Wei was murmuring to himself as he watched the dust and sand in front of him slowly start to settle.


    His joyous expression died the moment when he saw the white-robed elder to his right. Rather than being happy or confused, the elder was stark-white as if he had seen a ghost!!


    ¡°No way¡­¡± Gui Wei felt his heart lurch. His mind was quickly realizing what that creeping sensation in the back of his spine was when he followed the elder¡¯s gaze.


    It took two full seconds for him to react following that. His pupils contracted to the size of a needle and the rest of the blood in his face drained away from it.


    ¡°No way! How in the damned world is he over there!? There¡¯s no way!!¡±


    All three of the Soul Kings were staring at the same spot now. Just about a few thousand steps to their right stood a single figure in red light.


    Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Teleportation?! He was able to teleport out from our attacks?! That¡¯s not possible! He only just became a Soul King, there¡¯s no way he should be able to teleport right away! It requires time to learn how to teleport, and so far too! What in the world is going on?!¡±


    With how loudly the golden-robed elder was baying to the heavens, it felt like he was trying to get the gods to answer his query.


    Teleportation as a skill was something Soul Kings were capable of doing (aside from space-type soul cultivators). Early-stage Soul Kings were generally not capable of teleportation at first either. It still required time and dedication to understand how space worked. Normally, it¡¯d take most people when they became a Mid-stage Soul King to become able of teleportation unless they were sufficiently talented. For example, both Long Lan and Xiao Qi were incapable of teleporting given their current level of strength. No one¡ªbarring the space-type soul cultivators¡ªshould be capable of teleportation when they became a Soul King. Geniuses included.


    Never would any of the three Soul Kings be able to guess that Bai Yunfei himself wasn¡¯t teleporting. It was because of the Core Stone!


    A small recap of what happened.


    Bai Yunfei had only just finished absorbing the energy from the King¡¯s Phenomena when the three attacks were about to land. By using the Core Stone, he was able to teleport a sufficient distance away to safety without having even his robes singed by the attacks.


    There was something else he did as a safety earlier in the battle. He activated the +10 additional effect of the Core Stone prior to when the very first Soul King started to attack him.


    +10 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to send any target within ten meters into a sealed dimension for two seconds. Target cannot be attacked and cannot attack. Target maintains original visibility.Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Because of that additional effect, Bai Yunfei was able to be completely removed from danger. The fact that the Soul Sentinel Scarf had its effect activated and his Heaven¡¯s Thunder actually landing a kill onto the fat Soul King had been an unexpected, but welcome bonus.


    ¡°He¡¯s not a Mid-stage Soul King¡­he isn¡¯t a Mid-stage Soul King!!¡±


    The white-robed elder cried out with joy. Perhaps it was because of his previous fear, but this revelation was something that relieved him immensely.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t! We have a chance then¡­kill him!!¡±


    The golden-robed elder was the next to come to qualms with the situation. Forcing down his shock, he shouted in anger and charged forwards to continue attacking.


    Bai Yunfei becoming a Mid-stage Soul King was something the three Soul Kings feared. So the fact that he didn¡¯t become one was an immense relief. It was the sole thing in this battle to give them hope!


    If Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t a Mid-stage Soul King, then he could still be killed!


    The surrounding dust still in the area started to glow orange when the golden-robed elder took action. There was a tremendous grinding sound as a giant mountain started to rise up from the ground again!


    The mountain hadn¡¯t fully collapsed yet! He could still use this soul skill!


    Grumbling loudly as it ascended into the skies, the mountain flew towards Bai Yunfei once more!


    ¡°I very much doubt he¡¯ll be able to dodge my attack again! As long as we can stop him from teleporting, he won¡¯t be able to handle our combined efforts!¡± The white-robed elder shouted.


    There was a flash of white light as the elder brought the surrounding area to chilling cold. Ice crystals formed everywhere in the air before a second blizzard was set upon the place!


    This was¡­an area-type soul skill!!


    It was a skill most similar to the ¡®Domain of Ice¡¯ of Zhang Lengyi from the Flying Snow School. The difference here was that it was a Mid-stage Soul King creating all this ice and that it had a greater area of coverage than the former. The elemental ice had also a special property that disallowed teleportation within its range.


    Even after creating this snowstorm, the white-robed elder made sure to follow up on this move with a finger pointing upwards. Moments later, a dragon made completely from ice ascended into the skies! Like the mountain, the icy dragon had failed to dissipate!


    As if trying not to disappoint, there was a third explosion as nine different tendrils of dark light shot into the skies. The nine snakes of Gui Wei was coming up for a resurgence!


    The three Soul King¡¯s soul attacks could be used multiple times with one casting!


    Just like the first time, the three soul skills flew through the skies to impact against Bai Yunfei! And this time, the three men were sure to hone in on Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense for better accuracy. The three of them were thoroughly convinced their plan would work this time with all their preparations!


    From his position higher up in the skies, Bai Yunfei turned a frosty glare at Gui Wei and the other two. He didn¡¯t seem like he was prepared to dodge.


    He had been listening to what the Soul Kings were saying about him, and he was all too displeased by what he heard. ¡°So you think you three can kill me because I¡¯m not a Mid-stage Soul King? Then, how about this?¡±


    He raised both hands up to chest level and began to go through several hand seals. There was a violent uptick on how the elemental fire around him was churning, but then on the last hand seal, the fires erupted into a raging inferno along with his soulforce!


    Dual Flame Artes: Coil Form!!


    He was already at the limits of what an Early-stage Soul King could do, but with the Coil Form, he¡¯d be able to ascend to higher levels.


    In other words, he could gain power equivalent to a¡­Mid-stage Soul King!


    The true battle was only just beginning!!

 Chapter 856: Unstoppable Force

    What point was there for Bai Yunfei to dodge the second salvo? All he had to do was go into his Coil Form and become as powerful as a Mid-stage Soul King!


    The fire around him exploded with vigor when he activated the Coil Form. In droves, the flames flew out from him and forced away any incoming burst of wind. It didn¡¯t even seem like any wind could get within a certain distance of Bai Yunfei.


    He looked up at the incoming three attacks. As if annoyed by these attacks, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand in annoyance to shoot three bursts of energy forward!


    The first bolt of energy was the one on the left. It was also the quickest and of violet color, meaning it was the Heaven¡¯s Thunder. Under a second, the Heaven¡¯s Thunder had traveled enough distance to be the first to strike upon its target, the nine snakes of Gui Wei!


    ¡°Crackle!¡±


    When the Heaven¡¯s Thunder made contact with the snakes, a bolt of violet lightning had dropped onto them straight out from nowhere!


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Chance to drop a bolt of lightning on target whe nattacking. Lightning bolt has 50% of the equipment''s attack.Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    Lightning was an element that was especially powerful over darkness. And as it just so happened, Gui Wei¡¯s soul skill was the manifestation of elemental darkness. So because of that, the Heaven¡¯s Thunder pierced straight through the snakes when they made contact and left behind a gaping hole from where it went through! Then at the same time, a bolt of lightning dropped from the skies to slam onto the head of another snake. The snake¡¯s head was scattered apart, but the bolt of lightning continued onwards through the snake¡¯s body to leave an equally impressive hole!


    That left about seven snakes left. They were regrouping now to attempt to recover, but the Heaven¡¯s Thunder was already reaching back around. And in the blink of an eye, all of the snakes were turned into a mist of darkness!


    Bai Yunfei was as strong as a Mid-stage Soul King now, so his Heaven¡¯s Thunder was consequently far stronger than the attack of Early-stage Soul King Gui Wei!


    ¡°Pft¡­¡±


    Gui Wei¡¯s face turned dark the moment when his attack was triumphed. A moment later, he spat out a mouthful of blood!


    ¡­¡­


    Another one of the three streaks of light was quickly approaching the icy dragon now. This particular streak of light was a bright red color and was made entirely of fire. It was hot enough to bend the air around it while also leaving behind a very noticeable trail behind it. This was the¡­Fire-tipped Spear!


    The Fire-tipped Spear was a little slower than the Heaven¡¯s thunder, but it was still faster reaching the icy dragon and black snakes. So while the Heaven¡¯s Thunder struck first, the Fire-tipped Spear wasn¡¯t all that far behind. It was like a toothpick compared the ice dragon with how it shot straight into the dragon¡¯s mouth!


    A flash of light was all there was to signify that the Fire-tipped Spear was even there before it was devoured by the ice dragon¡¯s mouth. Even the hole the spear left behind in the mouth looked dreadfully small¡ªwas this the extent of what the Fire-tipped Spear could do?!


    But then came the crackling sound of something a second later near the ¡®throat¡¯ of the ice dragon. Cracks started to around the area before a bright red light started to shine through it!


    The bigger the cracks that formed, the brighter the red light behind it. The crackling noises grew louder and louder before ultimately, the red light behind the crack was practically blinding. In two brief moments, the throat of the ice dragon was practically riddled with cracks! It was on the verge of breaking apart, but the cracks were still continuing to spread at an intense pace towards the rest of the body. Its entirely white body was being ruined with those cracks, and the red light behind the cracks marring its pristine body like some sort of glass lantern!!


    The ice dragon had been as large as a mountain almost. But before it could get within a hundred meters of Bai Yunfei, the Fire-tipped Spear had cracked it apart like an egg!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    Blood came spilling out from the white-robed elder¡¯s mouth when the ice dragon fell apart. His soul skill had been linked to himself, much like how Gui Wei¡¯s soul skill was. When the soul skill was destroyed, he took a portion of the damage onto himself. If not for the fact that he managed to cut off a portion of the connection between them, the damage would¡¯ve been far more intensive just like how a soul attack would be.


    ¡­¡­


    The third streak of light originating from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side was a gigantic streak of orange. Compared to his other attacks, this one was like a miniature sun with how it was shining orange. Even more surprising was the fact that it was still increasing in size. His enemies were startled to notice not only that, but the object¡¯s shape. It was rectangular in shape, but also tremendously large like a giant stone!


    The Cataclysmic Seal!!


    Like a giant mountain, the Cataclysmic Seal flew at the gigantic object coming at it and Bai Yunfei. In no time at all, the two mountainous objects were practically touching each other. Gold light mixed with orange as the two drew close. Compared to the Cataclysmic Seal, which was a fully corporeal object, the golden mountain was still partially made of elemental energy and thus looked far weaker than the Cataclysmic Seal.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The ensuing explosion between the two miniature-sized suns saw to it overshadowing every other source of sound. Waves of elemental earth were sloughed off the explosion like loose pebbles. One of the attacks had been the full power of an earth-type Mid-stage Soul King, but when the mountain struck against the Cataclysmic Seal, it only took a moment before the mountain crumbled!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    A shrill scream erupted from the golden-robed elder. His eyes were wide-open with disbelief and pain as he screamed. Spittles of blood fell from the corners of his mouth, though the elder was in no shape to wipe them. Raising his right hand, he withdrew a door-sized shield from his space ring and placed it in front of himself.


    Simultaneously, an orange beam of light came jettisoning out from the crumbling mountain. Like a meteor, the object soon revealed itself from within the light¡ªit was the Cataclysmic Seal¡ªnow in a dozen-meter long sized form!


    Though it had ¡®shrinked¡¯, it was still large enough that the golden-robed elder was merely just a ¡®dot¡¯ in front of it. It struck against the elder¡¯s shield with a loud gong sound. It paused briefly in the air as if it had its momentum stolen from it!


    The Cataclysmic Seal had stopped, but the golden-robed elder wasn¡¯t in a very good position either. He was like a kite with its strings cut with how he was flying away backwards away from the Cataclysmic Seal. And the shield in front of him was starting to crack¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Impossible! How does he have this much power?! Using three soul armaments to a degree like this, how does he do it?! I can¡¯t believe it!¡±


    The golden-robed elder was in a far worse state than the white-robed elder. As the weaker one, he couldn¡¯t help but feel cowed and was thus screaming hysterically at the sight.


    But even while he was screaming, the Fire-tipped Spear¡ªwhich had only just emerged from the tip of the ice dragon¡¯s tail¡ªwas shooting straight at him!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    There was another terrified scream as he tried to retreat. The snowstorm he had been maintaining was dropped in favor for the man to take out a crystalline defensive-type soul armament. One loud crack later, the Cataclysmic Seal bounced off the crystalline soul armament and flew away!


    ¡°I blocked it!¡± The white-robed elder exclaimed. He was going to say something more when he heard something near him crack. Looking down, he could see that a small web of cracks were starting to appear over the pure-white surface of his soul armament. Moments later, the soul armament exploded into pieces!


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    He belched out a mouthful of blood after the destruction of the soul armament. The soul armament had been his strongest defensive-type soul armament and also his own ¡®soulbound armament¡¯. With how high of a compatibility he had with it, the destruction of the soul armament meant damage being dealt to his soul.


    The rustling sound of air being displaced drew his attention upwards after he finished spitting blood. When he realized what it was, his eyes immediately widened with despair¡­


    A Soul King was actually showing signs of despair!!


    Less than a hundred meters away, a figure completely encircled by a ring of fire. The Fire-tipped Spear which had been bounced back earlier was now in this person¡¯s hand. And then when he raised his hand, the spear was flying back at the Soul King!

 Chapter 857: Overwhelming Force!

    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    A terrified howl erupted from the white-robed elder. Suppressing the blood that was threatening to spill out from his body from his previous wound, the elder started to fly back as fast as he could. Another soul armament was back in his right hand to try and block the Fire-tipped Spear coming at him.


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    Metal met metal for a clash of noise and sparks. The Fire-tipped Spear was a force of hot fire, and the weapon of the Soul King was a force of chilling ice. When they clashed, they clashed with so much force that the arms of the wielders trembled and the air between the two was cleaved in two amidst the two drastically different temperatures. The right arms of the two combatants were forced back, but they themselves not. They whirled around to rid themselves of the remaining blowback and lashed out with their left fists to punch!


    They weren¡¯t aimed at the opposing fist, but at the chests!


    ¡°Bang! Bang!!¡± Two separate thuds were heard as the fists made contact. Both persons were flung back this time, stopping only when they were a dozen or so meters away from each other.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    When all things came to a settled silence, the white-robed elder¡¯s face went pale. He belched out another mouthful of blood before grasping at his chest. Right there in the center, a singed fist-shaped mark was left onto the golden armor of his. Parts of the armor were discolored from the extreme temperature of the impact, but the more important aspect was that the fact that the mark was slightly indented!


    ¡°What strength! Even his physical might is stronger than I thought! That glove of his, it¡¯s¡­a heaven tier!¡±


    The man¡¯s mind was reeling from the realization of Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack, but he sent a hopeful glance over to him. He hoped that his own attack had left a mark of his own on Bai Yunfei¡­


    But the sight that greeted his eyes was nearly enough to send him in a coughing fit! Right there where his fist had landed on Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest, there was a layer of frost Bai Yunfei was only just starting to brush off. But aside from that layer of frost, Bai Yunfei looked completely normal as if nothing had even happened to him!


    ¡°Impossible!! Even the full power of a Mid-stage Soul King shouldn¡¯t be shrugged off like that!!¡±


    Again, the white-robed elder couldn¡¯t help himself from cry out with shock. He was perplexed by what kind of situation could result in this. Then it hit him.


    ¡°Armor! He¡¯s wearing some kind of armor! Is it a heaven tier as well!?¡±


    What he didn¡¯t know was that Bai Yunfei had activated the defensive effect of his gold-type soul armor.


    Double the defensive might of this equipment for 1 minute in exchange for soulforce.Cooldown of 5 minutes.


    The armor of Bai Yunfei was able to achieve the defensive might of a heaven-tier soul armament with that effect, and so Bai Yunfei was able to shrug off the brunt of the blow to his body. So Bai Yunfei was left practically untouched.


    The elder would also be overjoyed to know that Bai Yunfei¡¯s Critical Glove had failed to activate its effect to multiply the attack damage, otherwise, the elder wouldn¡¯t have gotten away with just a glancing blow to his internal organs.


    Despite the failure to activate the effect, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to give his opponent enough time to rest. Kicking against the ground, he pounced at the elder again!


    The sudden disappearance of Bai Yunfei was shocking to the elder¡ªhe couldn¡¯t catch up with this type of speed! All he could see was a blur of light before there was a red streak of light at his throat. Snapping his head back, he lashed out with his soul armament again only to watch as the streak of light move behind him and send him flying forward!


    It took a moment for him to steady himself. His entire body was slick with sweat and anticipation now. His mind was alerting him to yet another danger coming at him from behind. He threw himself a step to the side only to feel the Fire-tipped Spear graze past his ear. Sighing a breath of relief as it flew by, the man suddenly felt something press painfully against his back!


    Bai Yunfei had somehow appeared behind him and thrust his foot onto the elder¡¯s back, causing the elder to fly forward a dozen meters to where the Fire-tipped Spear was whirling back around¡­


    Several seconds passed as the two fighters exchanged blow for blow and weapon for weapon. It was a battle that left everyone on the sidelines breathless.


    Even though the white-robed elder was fighting to the most of his abilities, he was being pressed back by Bai Yunfei!


    He felt nothing but fear for Bai Yunfei. These past few exchanges were more than enough to inspire fear of Bai Yunfei into his spirit. The helplessness he was feeling was clouding at his mind with so much force that he felt like he was going insane.


    It was then he felt a gust of wind blow in from the right along with a powerful explosion of soulforce. This was the soulforce of a third party!


    Elated, the elder¡¯s eyes glanced over to the golden-robed elder. The other elder had finally recovered from his incident with the Cataclysmic Seal and was charging at Bai Yunfei with an orange-colored spear to strike down the former with the speed of a shooting star.


    The white-robed elder was overjoyed to finally have some reinforcements to help him. Renewed with hope and vigor, the elder continued to fend Bai Yunfei off blow after blow.


    Several rounds were exchanged before the elder finally took advantage of a, particularly strong blow to leap back in the direction of the golden-robed elder.


    But as he was leaping back, his ears caught notice of Bai Yunfei barking out one single word:


    ¡°Scram!!¡±


    His eyes glanced then to Bai Yunfei, whose finger was pointed at the golden-robed elder. A small orange glow of light flew in at the elder from the left a moment later. At closer observation, this glow of light was about the size of a small boulder and was traveling at fantastic speeds. In no time at all, the boulder crashed into the golden-robed elder!!


    The elder was flung off into the skies like a person being run into full force by a rampaging carriage. In one second, the elder went from charging at Bai Yunfei to being flung away into a nearby mountain. He impacted against the unforgiving ground with a heavy thud with the Cataclysmic Seal embedding itself into the mountain a moment afterward.


    Needless to say, the elder was no longer on the mountain, but ¡®in¡¯ it¡­


    ¡­¡­


    In one instant, the white-robed elder went from having his hopes up to having his hopes instantly dashed.


    It went without saying that he was filled with even more despair now. He wasn¡¯t as far gone to say that he had given up on trying to live, but the situation was looking hopeless for him. Eyes flashing with angered determination, he raised his left hand and then pressed it against a few acupoints near his chest!


    His fingers pressing against those specific points brought forth an immediate change in the elder¡¯s body. Soulforce started to explode outwards like an overflowing river. His reserves¡ªwhich had been dwindling at an unsustainable rate earlier¡ªwas now somehow back at peak condition almost!


    This was very clearly some sort of special technique that could both empower the user and replenish their soulforce!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    As if reborn, the elder was filled with enraged power. A blizzard descended down upon the area instantaneously almost. In resonance, the sword in his hand started to shine with light before he swung it down onto Bai Yunfei!


    The range of his snowstorm was much smaller now, but it wasn¡¯t as weak as the ice dragon. Met with this sight, Bai Yunfei refocused onto the white-robed elder. He hadn¡¯t planned on retreating, but this was something he¡¯d need to think a little harder about. Deciding upon a plan, Bai Yunfei charged straight for the elder without a care for the sword coming down onto him!


    The elder¡¯s eyes flickered momentarily with confusion. He didn¡¯t know what Bai Yunfei was doing, but he would surely die with this! Snarling, he pumped even more energy into the sword to have it glow with white light as it continued its descent down onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    ¡°Schkttttt!!¡±


    The sword sliced into Bai Yunfei¡¯s head with frightening force before continuing to bisect him in two!


    ¡°What?!¡± The elder was stunned. This was a situation he had hoped for but hadn¡¯t really expected. He blinked, confused by the bisected sight of his enemy. Wasn¡¯t this a little¡­too easy?


    Then he realized something amiss with the situation.


    The two halves of Bai Yunfei was disappearing into black smoke!


    From the left and right side, two more Bai Yunfeis had suddenly appeared out of thin air. They wielded an identical-looking Fire-tipped Spear in their hands as they charged, and in no time at all, they thrust forward at him!


    The +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear: Doppelganger!


    ¡°A mirror image!!¡±


    Snarled the elder. He wrenched his right arm back to block at one of the spears. And when he heard the clanging sound and saw the spear fall back, he breathed a sigh of relief. This had to be the real body, and if this one was the real one, then the other¡­


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The sensation of having something painful thrust so suddenly into his left shoulder was about as abrupt as his change of mood. He looked the other way at where the sensation came from. Right there in his left shoulder was the Fire-tipped Spear!


    ¡°What in th¡ª¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The elder had barely any time to exclaim in his shock before a loud explosion brought him from a world of confusion into a world of pain!


    The +10 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear: Explosion!


    One explosion later, the completely scorched top half of a person came falling down from the skies like a bag before being grabbed onto by Bai Yunfei¡­

 Chapter 858: Invasion of the Late-stage Soul King

    On top of another mountain five kilometers away from where Bai Yunfei was currently battling, three figures stood on top of the mountain peak to observe the occasional spark of bright light. Even from such a large distance as this one, they were able to watch the battle without too much difficulty.


    The young man in the middle wore black robes with golden edges. His face wasn¡¯t hidden, and it could be seen that this was the very same person Bai Yunfei fought to a standstill back in Crushed Stone River¡­Mo Ni!


    Yet again, this man was behind another plot onto Bai Yunfei!


    To his left was an elder in dark-purple robes and a coiling stream of black energy around him. His hair and beard were white, and his body was slightly skinny. Despite his wrinkled face, the elder¡¯s eyes were uncharacteristically sharp and his expression quite youthful.


    He and the other two had been observing the battle between the Soul Kings and Bai Yunfei impassively for a good while. But the longer the battle continued, the more varied their expressions became. Soon, the elder in purple had a thunderstruck expression on his face.


    It didn¡¯t take much for Mo Ni to notice the look. ¡°Elder Li, what¡¯s going in the battle now?¡±


    He was an Early-stage Soul King and didn¡¯t have much of an ability to see the battle. All he could do was look at the outbursts of elemental energy and feel the faint fluctuations in the air. The changes in the expression of the elder were the only indication of how the battle was going, but the fact that the battle could even bring forth a change on the Late-stage Soul King¡¯s face was astonishing enough.


    The elder¡ªalso known as Li Fenghai¡ªdidn¡¯t look away from the battle. ¡°Fang Shouwen and Li Fu are both dead. The dozen other Soul Exalts are dead as well. Gui Wei and Huang Shan are the only ones left, but¡­perhaps not for long.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    His words were spoken with a monotonous tone, but Mo Ni¡¯s next words were spoken with shock. ¡°Did the Tang already send out all their strongest?! How is that possible! How were they able to reach this place so quickly?!¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t it. The Tang haven¡¯t had anyone else come. The person fighting now is our primary target, Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei is here?!¡± Mo Ni¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement for a brief moment before they clouded over with suspicion. ¡°He came here quicker than I expected. Did he have the elders of the Crafting School help him get here?¡±


    ¡°Again, that¡¯s not it. He¡¯s here alone.¡± Li Fenghai shook his head.


    Confusion flashed across Mo Ni¡¯s face. ¡°He¡¯s by himself? Then¡­how did Fang Shouwen and the others die? Who¡¯s the one fighting Huang Shan and Gui Wei then?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei. He killed both Fang Shouwen and Li Fu instantaneously and is currently fighting the other two. Li Hanfeng is on the verge of death, and Huang Shan won¡¯t be able to hang on for much longer. Their soulbeasts are also being fought back by Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbeasts. And then Gui Wei¡­I can see him trying to run, but the two men from the Tang earlier have stopped him. Things do not look well for Gui Wei¡­¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ªwhat?!¡±


    Mo Ni¡¯s bottom lip trembled as he tried to process the information being told to him. ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re saying that Bai Yunfei was able to defeat Gui Wei and the others?! That¡¯s impossible!! Even if he used that special skill last time to power himself up, he should¡¯ve been able to fight at the level of an Early-stage Soul King only, how could he poss¡ª¡±


    ¡°The strength he¡¯s showing now shows him to be a Mid-stage Soul King.¡± Li Fenghai interrupted, ¡°The King¡¯s Phenomena earlier was from him becoming a Soul King. He managed to reach the limits of what an Early-stage Soul King could do before using that skill you mentioned before to become a Mid-stage Soul King.¡±


    ¡°What? That was his doing? He became a Soul King? And getting that far after breaking through before powering up again?! That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s¡­¡±


    Mo Ni was feeling a bit flustered. The information he was hearing seemed almost impossible to digest, and he couldn¡¯t help but think it was all ¡®impossible¡¯.


    But Li Fenghai wouldn¡¯t lie to him for no reason whatsoever. That meant this was true, and that made it even harder for Mo Ni to wrap his head around.


    Several seconds passed before Mo Ni came to an answer to how this situation came to be. ¡°Could it be the Extreme King Pills?! We¡­we noticed a bit of the Extreme King Pill fragrance earlier, didn¡¯t we? That had have been from the Core Stone! When he got the Core Stone, he must¡¯ve managed to get his hands onto some of the Extreme King Pill fragrance! And that¡¯s why he¡¯s as strong as he is now! That has to be it!


    ¡°Damn! Damn him!!¡± Mo Ni snarled vehemently. Everything was going wrong. Mo Ni felt as if those items had been stolen from him. ¡°The Core Stone, the Extreme King Pill fragrance¡­those were supposed to been mine!! All mine! That Bai Yunfei¡­damn him! Damn him to death!!¡±


    His head snapped up to glare at Li Fenghai. ¡°Elder Li, you¡¯re the only one capable of turning this situation around! Bai Yunfei must die today! We must take the Core Stone! That man can¡¯t¡­he can¡¯t be allowed to live!¡±


    ¡°I find it hard to believe it all as well. But indeed, this root that is Bai Yunfei needs to be snipped before it can grow any longer¡­¡± Li Fenghai nodded his head pensively, ¡°And to lose so many men, even if they were wandering soul cultivators, is a strong blow to our strength. They weren¡¯t easy to convince over to our side, and to lose them without seeing any returns? I would never be able to meet the headmaster eye-to-eye after this. Taking the Core Stone and all of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul armaments would be a tremendous boon¡­¡±


    The last sentence was all it took for the elder to change his mind. Looking back in the direction of Bai Yunfei, the elder had a gleam of killing intent in them now.


    ¡°Wait for my return here.¡±


    He was already gone before the final syllable was spoken. Reappearing several kilometers away, the man continued to teleport over and over again before ultimately disappearing from Mo Ni¡¯s sight¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A terrified roar erupted from the glacial ape as the permafrost mastiff tore out a chunk of its chest with a mighty paw stroke. Blood and flesh flew everywhere from the ape¡¯s body to reveal the internal organs behind it. Moments after, the open wound froze over as a makeshift bandage, but while the glacial ape was too busy dealing with its wound, five pitch-black blades of energy came descending down onto it!


    The glacial ape realized its folly almost immediately afterward. Eyes widening and pupils dilating, the ape let loose another terrifying roar and tried its best to make it out from the attack¡¯s range despite the heavy wound it had only just received.


    Alas, it was too late for the ape. Despite doing a very good job in dodging the first four strikes, the ape was powerless to do anything but watch as the fifth strike went through its shoulder¡­


    The Spatial Edge tore through the ape¡¯s body from its left shoulder to its right waist in one swift motion. An explosion of elemental ice froze both halves over their wounds so that no blood leaked out before the halves ultimately fell back down to the ground.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi gave one victorious chirp before flapping his wings to fly with the permafrost mastiff towards Long Lan.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    One after another, the earth was ransacked by a series of explosions as two dots red and orange struck against one another again and again.


    Two people were within these lights. The one in red was Bai Yunfei, and the one in orange was the golden-robed elder known as Huang Shan.


    Huang Shan had been stuck in the mountain after the Cataclysmic Seal fell on top of him. By the time he managed to unearth himself and make it back out, he was treated with the sight of Bai Yunfei throwing the white-robed elder up into the air for Xiao Qi to bisect the elder in half with a single wind blade.


    Though Huang Shan had no idea why Bai Yunfei would throw someone up into the air for his soulbeast to kill, the elder was still thoroughly shocked by the death of yet another companion. He knew what would happen if he were to stay here. Without any hesitation, Huang Shan flew up and prepared himself to flee.


    But Bai Yunfei was quick to block him off before he could make a solid attempt. In no time, the two were fighting a feverish battle against one another. Huang Shan was practically a madman with how he was attacking. He was putting his all into every single blow he made in hopes that Bai Yunfei would be forced to fall back and thus give him some time to flee.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem to be in a rush to kill the elder though. He gave only a cold glare at the man whenever the two exchanged blows. From his eyes, it seemed almost as if Bai Yunfei was waiting for something¡­


    Then a presence to Bai Yunfei¡¯s right alerted him to their presence! When he whirled around, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes finally revealed a hint of shock and fear for the first time since the battle begun!

 Chapter 859: Berserk Mode and Freezing the Soul!

    Normally, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense would¡¯ve been only capable of sensing presences within five kilometers of him, but Xiao Fang was helping him keep an eye out. And when he was fighting Huang Shan, Xiao Fang did in fact warn him that someone was rapidly teleporting in towards him from twenty kilometers away!


    Equipment Effect 2: Gain the ability to sense spatial energy within fifty kilometers.


    Xiao Fang wasn¡¯t capable of determining the specific details of whoever was coming in, but it could at the very least determine a few things based on the fluctuations in the spatial energy.


    The incoming person was at the very least a Mid-stage Soul King and most likely a Late-stage Soul King!


    ¡°A Late-stage Soul King!!¡±


    That was a foe Bai Yunfei was surprised to hear about. And his resulting shock was the moment Huang Shan had been looking for. Realizing that Bai Yunfei was distracted, the elder lashed out with his spear at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Huang Shan¡¯s surprise attack was met with a sneer of contempt from Bai Yunfei. Did the elder really think he¡¯d get lucky with this attack? Bai Yunfei lifted his left hand up and thrust it at the incoming spear¡¯s tip!


    ¡°Clang!¡± A flurry of sparks and noise flew out from the impact zone, but Huang Shan¡¯s spear had stopped just three inches away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    ¡°Ah!¡± Seeing his attack be stopped so easily saw to Huang Shan wailing in despair. This final lack of success had drained him completely of his sanity. Eyes completely red now, the elder flung his hands off the spear to slam onto his chest with his right hand!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The hand slammed against his chest with a resounding crash louder than what Bai Yunfei expected. A wave of pain flashed across Huang Shan¡¯s face before he vomited out a mouthful of blood. For a moment, his soulforce dipped in intensity before¡­it came flooding back up even stronger than before!!


    He had¡­destroyed his own origin essence!


    In the final moments of his despair, Huang Shan had decided to do the most drastic of actions! Destroying a hundred years worth of training for a temporary power boost? Even if he lived, Huang Shan was as good as a commoner. He wouldn¡¯t be able to regain any of his previous strength given his age, and it was basically throwing his life away to do so now!


    But he was as good as dead anyway if he didn¡¯t take this gambit. Forget about living as a commoner for however little years he had left, if he didn¡¯t kill Bai Yunfei now, he¡¯d die today where he stood.


    The destruction of one¡¯s origin essence resulted in a very powerful but dangerous power-up, and it was very obvious to see the effects with how Huang Shan was looking right now. His skin had cracks all over and his body was cracking in multiple places at once. But despite the injurious nature of these wounds and the groaning of his internal organs, Huang Shan¡¯s soulforce was far stronger than what it was before.


    He glared at Bai Yunfei with eyes a dark red. Angered and powered up by the destruction of his origin essence, Huang Shan prepared to attack Bai Yunfei.


    But right before he could do anything against the younger male¡­


    ¡°Skree!!¡±


    There was a piercing screech from the base of the mountain that caused the two to look away for a moment. Over there, the two could see Long Lan, Xiao Qi, and the permafrost mastiff besiege the earthworm with powerful blow after blow before Xiao Qi finally landed the final blow with a Spatial Edge!!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    The death of his soulbeast partner caused a tremendous amount of pain to Huang Shan. Tossing his head back, the elder roared in pain before his soulforce dropped by half!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed brilliantly with opportunity¡ªthis was the chance he had been waiting for!


    His left hand shook once to steal the spear away from the elder. With another shake, the Critical Glove on his left hand started to shine brightly before he sent it flying onto Huang Shan¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Bang! Crack¡­¡±


    There was a thud and then the sound of bones cracking one after another as Huang Shan was flung backward like a kite without a string. Blood flew out from his mouth in large amounts along with bits and pieces of his internal organs¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi came swooping in at that time towards Huang Shan. With a beat of his wings, he sent a single blade of wind flying straight onto the defenseless throat of Huang Shan to kill him.


    ¡­¡­


    The death of Huang Shan was felt even a few kilometers away from where Gui Wei was currently fighting Tang Long and Yan Lin. His face dropped several shades in color when he realized the last person was dead and that he was now fighting alone. Without sparing a second to do anything else, Gui Wei parried one of Yan Lin¡¯s palm strikes and then lashed out with a wave of dark blades to beat both Tang Wei and Yan Lin back.


    Now with a small area of breathing space, Gui Wei took advantage of his new freedom to run off towards the north.


    A kilometer of distance was covered in the blink of an eye. But after that kilometer, a flash of red light caught up to him¡ªit was Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    There was horror in Gui Wei¡¯s scream as he realized who it was in front of him. Black energy rolled out from his body to materialize as a long black sickle to chop down Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Careful! That¡¯s a soul attack!¡±


    Tang Wei called out in warning.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed once in recognition of his warning before he extended his left hand out to slam it onto the sickle¡¯s blade!


    A semi-transparent wave of energy was emitted from the tips of his fingers and scattered apart the black energy into smoke when it touched!


    ¡°So you¡¯re from the Soul Refining School!¡± Bai Yunfei barked.


    This soul skill was something he had seen before from the Soul Refining School!


    There was no way Bai Yunfei would give Gui Wei a chance to retaliate now that he knew that. Raising his left hand, he slammed his palm into Gui Wei¡¯s chest right over where his heart was!


    ¡°Pft!!¡± Gui Wei vomited up a mouthful of blood instantly. The light in his eyes dimmed drastically due to the force of the blow, but Bai Yunfei was already grabbing onto the collar of his robes. The Fire-tipped Spear was quickly stored away before he tapped at several points on Gui Wei¡¯s body to seal the soulforce in and prevent him from using it.


    The loss of his ability to use soulforce saw to Gui Wei immediately going inert in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands.


    Now that he was done with that, Bai Yunfei had one last thing to do. The area around his chest pulsated once with soulforce before a transparent bubble of energy encapsulated Gui Wei. Then in the next second, Gui Wei disappeared into the Core World.


    Tang Wei was astounded to see an entire person disappear into thin air. But before he could get close, Bai Yunfei was already shooting off towards the north.


    ¡°What? What¡¯s he doing?¡± Confused, Tang Wei looked towards where Bai Yunfei was heading for.


    ¡°Another enemy?!¡± He quickly realized.


    There was a black dot just about five kilometers away, and it was getting closer at dreadfully fast speeds! And the closer the dot got, the more palpable their soulforce got¡­


    ¡°This pressure¡­¡± Tang Wei¡¯s eyes narrowed as the source drew closer, ¡°No!! This is a Late-stage Soul King!!¡±


    The notion of fleeing came straight to mind at the realization. He was about to alert Bai Yunfei about the new threat, but then¡­


    While Tang Wei was still trying to figure out what was going on, Bai Yunfei was already going through a series of hand seals as he flew forward. The completion of the last seal was like unlocking a dam for an entire river of power to flow through him! Power started to swell up through his body, elevating his strength from the levels of a Mid-stage Soul King to even greater heights!


    Tang Wei¡¯s eyes flew wide open. His mouth quivered for a moment as his mind raced to catch up with his eyes.


    Then, at last, he was able to blurt out four words.


    ¡°Late-stage Soul King!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Dual Flame Arts: Berserk Mode!!


    Since a Late-stage Soul King had decided to crash the party, Bai Yunfei had no hesitation in using the Berserk Mode for another power up!


    The Dual Flame Arts were something that didn¡¯t follow common sense with how it could bring people past their limits. And here Bai Yunfei was, using the Dual Flame Artes to become as strong as a Late-stage Soul King!


    Power welled up within his body in larger amounts than before. It was like he was teeming with an endless amount of energy that could lay waste to anything within five kilometers of him if he was inclined to.


    He shook his head to clear his mind of any idling thoughts. Everything seemed so clear to him now. If he wanted to, he could probably even pinpoint an ant amongst the blades of grass on the ground. This was a whole new world Bai Yunfei was currently experiencing.


    The second source of power soon revealed itself to Bai Yunfei. Just about three kilometers away, an elderly man in dark-purple robes stepped out from the warping space to stare at Bai Yunfei.


    His expression had been calm until this very moment when he realized something different with Bai Yunfei. And when he realized what that difference was, his eyes widened in shock!


    Bai Yunfei took action during that shock. Eyes gleaming with opportunity and body boiling with power, Bai Yunfei lashed his right hand forward to point a finger at him!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±

 Chapter 860: The Battle Within the Core World

    It was a single word spoken with relative quietness, but it may as well been a loud curse in the ears of Li Fenghai!


    It was a special soul skill that affected the very depths of a person¡¯s soul. The Soul Anchoring Technique!


    This was the first time Bai Yunfei used the soul skill, and on a Late-stage Soul King to boot!


    Thanks to Berserk Mode, Bai Yunfei was now as strong as a Late-stage Soul King. This was incredible in itself, but there was a slight flaw to it. Bai Yunfei was strong considering his strength and soulforce due to Berserk Mode, but the strength of his own soul was not of the same level. Compared to Li Fenghai who was twenty years or so his senior as a Late-stage Soul King, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was just weaker.


    However!


    There was something aiding Bai Yunfei when he used the Soul Anchoring Technique. For the first time since he used it, the Soul Sentinel Scarf had a faint pulsation of energy emit from it! Before, Bai Yunfei would use the Charm Bracelet¡¯s additional effect for a pseudo-soul attack and the Soul Sentinel Scarf would usually aid in its strength, if by barely. Never had the Soul Sentinel Scarf have a reaction like this to a soul attack!


    +12 Additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf: 200% Increase in spirit-based attacks.


    A drastic elevation of strength like this was outstanding, and that led to a great deal of fortune for Bai Yunfei. Now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was strong enough to compare with Li Fenghai and thus how his Soul Anchoring Technique was able to spearhead through Li Fenghai¡¯s mental defenses!


    Furthermore, Bai Yunfei had one more factor that led to his great success: timing. He had activated the Soul Anchoring Technique at the right time when Li Fenghai was still surprised about his new strength!


    It was about a moment between when Li Fenghai teleported onto the scene and when he was hit with the Soul Anchoring Technique, but after that moment, the man was completely transfixed! He stood straight to attention and his eyes looked listless!


    A transparent bubble covered his entire person a moment later like a capsule before he too, was whisked away into thin air just like Gui Wei had been!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with light as he reached a hand up into the air. ¡°Xiao Qi!¡±


    ¡°Coming!¡± Xiao Qi chirped in response. Swooping down, his eyes made contact with Bai Yunfei before the both of them disappeared into thin air!


    Left where Bai Yunfei was standing was just a small black stone now. Before it could fall from the skies, Long Lan grabbed onto the stone before retreating with the permafrost mastiff to stand alert for anything else.


    ¡­¡­


    Within the Core World.


    Somewhere in the Core World, Li Fenghai came tumbling out from empty space to fall onto the ground. His body trembled once as the Soul Anchoring Technique wore off, allowing Li Fenghai full control of his body once again. The very first thing he did as soon as he resumed control was to erect a barrier of black energy around his person.


    It was a defensive measure that¡¯d allow him some time to scan the area. To his immediate shock, this place looked nothing like where he used to be!


    ¡°An illusion?¡±


    The idea of being stuck in an illusion was the very first thing to come to his mind. But when the black energy around him didn¡¯t seem to register anything, he thought twice about it. ¡°It isn¡¯t an illusion? Then this place is¡­¡±


    His eyes suddenly caught sight onto a single person and bird standing just under a kilometer away.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!¡±


    Li Fenghai¡¯s eyes narrowed instantly at the sight. As soon as he saw the man, his right hand flew up to fire a black bolt of energy at him!


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    The black bolt of energy didn¡¯t even travel far before Li Fenghai gave a small start. Confused, he stared at the bolt, unsure of what to make of it.


    The bolt of energy he sent was barely as thick as the arm of a newborn baby and barely as fast as normal. He could tell that this attack wasn¡¯t as strong as he¡¯d normally be capable of¡­


    Normally, he¡¯d fire off a bolt of energy and allow for it to pull in on the elemental darkness in the area to fuel itself and grow even stronger and faster. It¡¯d be over for any normal person if they were hit by it, and the bolt of energy would normally overtake anyone in speed if they tried to outrun it.


    But this bolt of energy had already traveled for several hundred meters without at all increasing in size than when it started out. It looked like it wasn¡¯t even pulling in any energy at all¡­


    Though slower than expected, the bolt soon arrived in front of Bai Yunfei shortly afterwards. Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei used the Flash Step to widen the distance just enough for the bolt to pass by his clothes.


    But that wasn¡¯t all to the bolt of energy. When it passed by Bai Yunfei, Li Fenghai bent the same finger the bolt came out from.


    Having caught sight of that action, Bai Yunfei immediately surrounded himself in a bonfire of intense elemental fire.


    When Li Fenghai bent his finger, the bolt of energy followed suit and turned to fire back at Bai Yunfei¡¯s back! It impacted against the elemental fire barrier Bai Yunfei had at full force with the majority of it evaporating after impact, but a tenth of the bolt still managed to make it through to hit Bai Yunfei on the back!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei snarled at the pain from the impact. His internal organs were groaning under the pain as a sliver of the black energy drove itself into his body. It looked as if the black energy was trying to spear straight through him!


    It didn¡¯t look like there was a scratch from where the black bolt slammed into his armor, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s face paled a bit after it hit him. He stumbled back several steps before steadying himself.


    ¡°He¡¯s fine?!¡±


    Seeing Bai Yunfei merely stumble after being hit by his move was stunning to Li Fenghai. This move¡ªwhile seemingly simple at a glance¡ªwas actually a heaven-tier soul skill! It was known as the ¡®Soul Piercing Shadow Arrow¡¯ and could pierce through a person¡¯s soul after they were hit to inflict massive damage to it! But Bai Yunfei looked as if a mosquito had bitten him at the very most and not at all worse for wear.


    ¡°Xiao Qi, you should get back.¡± Bai Yunfei warned his companion as he circulated his soulforce in preparation to battle the enemy.


    The move had actually done a small number to him, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise. Luckily, he had the Soul Sentinel Scarf protecting him for the most part, so the move didn¡¯t do too much damage to him other provide a potential worrying moment if Li Fenghai had decided to follow up on that move.


    ¡°Let¡¯s test out just how powerful the Core World is!¡±


    Eyes flashing with vigor and without fear of the Late-stage Soul King in front of him, Bai Yunfei dove straight into battle at once!


    He raised his right hand to face the palm towards Li Fenghai. The Ardent Sun Glove on it began to light up with an intense amount of light before firing off a twenty-meter large fireball at the other person!


    Whether it was the time to materialize or the firing speed, the fireball had been faster than what Bai Yunfei expected! The second fireball he shot was already catching up with the first, and in no time at all, nine fireballs had been fired in total!


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    An Early-stage Soul King or even a Mid-stage Soul King might¡¯ve been intimidated by such a sight, but Li Fenghai was neither. He raised his right hand where a small ball of dark light was forming. The ball soon started to pick up in rotational speed as more and more elemental darkness gathered within it. But even as more energy gathered, the size of the ball remained the same. Waving his hand, the ball of dark energy flew off towards the nine star-like fireballs.


    As small as the ball of darkness was in front of the tremendous fireballs, a strange sight occured when the two opposing elements clashed against one another!


    ¡°Blip¡­¡±


    There was a blipping sound as the black ball made contact with the fireball, and the moment when it did, a hole started to expand over the surface of the fireball. Soon, it over took the entire fireball into the hole as if absorbing and devouring it!


    The second fireball was coming in to impact against it right after the first. Like the first, the second fireball was absorbed into the black ball. Then the third, and the fourth¡­one by one, the small black ball was taking in every single fireball on its way towards Bai Yunfei!


    Realizing the danger of this ball, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to have the Cataclysmic Seal come forth to protect him from harm!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    When the black pearl-sized ball slammed against the Cataclysmic Seal, a mighty explosion erupted in between the two! The Cataclysmic Seal shook all over from the explosion before being sent whirling back towards Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened at the amount of force that had been in the blow. Though he had managed to nip both attacks in the bud, the fact that there could still be this much power in one of them was beyond what he expected. This attack was miniscule in size, but its power was far too strong for a Mid-stage Soul King to handle.


    On the other side, Li Fenghai hadn¡¯t any of that contemptuous look from before after he broke apart Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack. Instead, he had a calculative glare on his face.


    ¡°Something is¡­wrong with this place!¡± Li Fenghai thought to himself. ¡°Is this some sort of array to inhibit my elemental darkness? History has shown several such arrays before, but it seems improbable that Bai Yunfei would know any one of then, let alone use them. We were the ones to bring him here, there shouldn¡¯t have been any time for him to place an array either. So what is going on here¡­¡±


    A giant mountain a hundred square meters in size broke Li Fenghai from his thoughts. Looking up, he could see the mountain starting its descent down to squash him!


    ¡°And this soul armament is strange as well¡­¡± Li Fenghai thought to himself as he teleported back several hundred meters to dodge. But even though he managed to dodge the Cataclysmic Seal, a streak of violet light was already whistling towards him!


    He narrowed his eyes. Li Fenghai knew that this was a flying sword that was coming at him. Waving his right hand, a black beam of light flew out from it to come into contact with the incoming Heaven¡¯s Thunder. There was a clanging sound as the two streaks of light rebounded off one another. Within the black of streak had been a longsword of his own.


    Li Fenghai took back the sword into his hand and stared strangely at it for a moment. Then as if realizing something was amiss, he swung his right hand around so that the sword would protect his back! There was a second clanging sound and an explosion of violet light before whatever it was that attacked his back dissipated¡ªa mirror image of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder had been sued to attack Li Fenghai!


    The mirror image of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder was followed up by the Fire-tipped Spear. Sneering, Li Fenghai brandished the jet-black longsword in his hand and swung it to send the Fire-tipped Spear backwards.


    ¡°As expected of a crafter, he has too many soul armaments. And strange ones at that¡­¡±


    But even as he was observing the Fire-tipped Spear as it floated by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, Li Fenghai was already starting to gleam with anticipation. If he could kill Bai Yunfei, then these things would be his.


    ¡°The fact that you can use a soul skill to elevate yourself to the levels of a Late-stage Soul King was not in my calculations.¡± Li Fenghai stated. ¡°But you can¡¯t keep it up forever. The backlash will tear heavily into your body, do you really think it wise to be doing these probing attacks?¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave him a non-committal curl of the lips. ¡°Fine then, we can skip the probing attacks and move on to the real battle¡­¡±


    He waved his hand to store away teh Cataclysmic Seal, Fire-tipped Spear, and Heaven¡¯s Thunder into their space rings, much to the shock of Li Fenghai. Then, he raised his right hand up to point at the sky.


    ¡°Fire.¡±


    Only one word was spoken, but it felt like that one word was a command of some kind to let all things loose. The part of the skies where he pointed at suddenly started to tremble before fire started to appear near his finger. It exploded in intensity before quickly reaching the levels of an ocean of fire to seemingly try to burn away at the world!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    The might of his own move seemed to be surprising to even Bai Yunfei. Excited by what abilities he had, Bai Yunfei coughed once before swinging his finger into the direction of Li Fenghai!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­.¡±


    A palm composed entirely out of fire fell down from the ocean of fire when Bai Yunfei pressed his own palm at Li Fenghai. It was several hundred times larger than a regular palm and was traveling fast enough to threaten to smash Li Fenghai into the ground if he didn¡¯t act now!

 Chapter 861: Planar Laws of Fire

    ¡°What soul skill is this?!¡±


    Cried Li Fenghai as he watched the palm of fire descend upon him. Dressing himself in a cloak of black energy, he leaped back so quickly that a mirror image was left in his place.


    Like a bolt of lightning, Li Fenghai made his way out from the extensive range of the palm to a healthy kilometer distance away.


    ¡°Trying to run?¡±


    Bai Yunfei barked. Waving his right hand, he dispelled the palm of fire to swing his palm towards Li Fenghai again!


    In accordance with his actions, the surrounding area was washed with a bright glow of red. Reformed, the palm of fire traversed in a perpendicular direction towards Li Fenghai to grab onto him.


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    This was a development that Li Fenghai didn¡¯t expect. Forming, reforming, and changing the direction of a tremendous amount of elemental fire? Hardly anyone would be able to believe their eyes. If he hadn¡¯t a good reason to believe this to be an illusionary array before, he did now.


    But at the same time, the dreadful amount of elemental fire being used in this one attack was also telling him that this was all real!


    He couldn¡¯t dodge this attack again, so Li Fenghai had only one option left. Raising the jet-black sword in his hand up high, he sent a mighty blade of black energy out!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a loud boom as the black energy sliced into the fiery palm and cut it in two. The explosion was followed by the black sword light and fire palm falling apart into a violent storm of elemental fire and darkness.


    Li Fenghai breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the fiery palm break apart, but it was still too early for him to relax just yet! Just looking at the reaction alone was enough to tell him something¡ªthere was no elemental darkness here!! He was unable to use any elemental darkness but the amount he could generate from within his body!


    The body of a soul cultivator holds a surprising amount of elemental energy. The origin essence is akin to a type of engine that produces elemental energy, but the best effects would only be seen when a person made use of the elemental energy in the world around them when they fought. For the most part, people would normally use the elemental energy they produced as a way to pull in even more elemental energy to be used. This way, attacks could be formed efficiently and quickly for the most amount of power. In the end, the user would be able to fight for an extended period of time by allowing the world to supplement the rest of their elemental energy needs.


    But this was the problem Li Fenghai discovered¡ªthere was no elemental darkness he could pull in here!! All of his attacks so far had been powered solely by the elemental darkness his body was generating. There was no elemental darkness in this place here!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here? How could there not be any elemental darkness? This is impossible!¡± Li Fenghai¡¯s hundred-year experience was telling him this situation was highly improbable, if not impossible. He hadn¡¯t come by something like this before. Something wasn¡¯t adding up here.


    ¡°If I can¡¯t draw in any elemental darkness, then I must kill Bai Yunfei as fast as possible!¡±


    Determined Li Fenghai. But just as he steeled himself to unleash another attack, he realized Bai Yunfei was already up to something else!


    Just about a kilometer in front of him where the explosion of red and black light had happened, the red light was starting to grow even brighter. It was gradually overpowering the dissipating black light before swirling in on itself to reform as the very same gigantic palm of fire from before!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    This time, Li Fenghai found it hard for him to stay quiet. He yelled aloud to himself before being grabbed onto by the palm of fire!


    He was like a small fly compared to the palm. The tongues of the palm of fire were quick to latch onto him before the palm closed in on itself to turn into a giant fist with Li Fenghai enclosed inside.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The world went still. Two brief moments later, the fist of fire trembled before being blasted open!


    Tendrils of darkness exploded from the centermost part of the fist like the blooming of a demonic lotus of some kind.


    And at the center of it all was Li Fenghai. Bai Yunfei could see that his eyes were filled with shock when he stared back at him. There was also a surge of killing intent he could detect before Bai Yunfei saw a streak of black light head towards him. Li Fenghai was riding on a flying soul armament!


    Cloaked within a ring of fire, Bai Yunfei stared strangely at the black streak of light beneath Li Fenghai. He was focusing in on something that Li Fenghai was doing as if sensing something strange.


    When the black light drew close to him, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand as if to grab something from thin air and then swiped his hand towards Li Fenghai.


    ¡°Fire.¡±


    Again, it took only one word for Bai Yunfei to activate some sort of change in the world. But this time, that change was a hundred times larger than before!


    ¡°Boom¡­boom!!¡±


    The sound of crackling thunder could be heard soon afterward. But even though it sounded just like thunder, there was no bolt of lightning; just a streak of crimson-red fire!


    The entire sky turned scarlet red as if the sun was starting to set in on this world. Even the surrounding air was starting to have several glow of red light appear like red faeries.


    And on the earth below, a raging fire had suddenly taken form to burn across the land¡­


    It was as if an apocalypse had descended upon the world. The earth could no longer be seen, the sky was no longer visible, and as far as the eye could see, only a monotonous sea of fire was left. The entire world had become a world of fire!


    There was only one small section within this sea of flames that was distinctly different from the rest. A small area of black energy was preventing the flames from encroaching in on its territory. And standing at the center of this small area was Li Fenghai. He was in shock at what he was seeing. It was such a huge blow to him that his entire body was shaking.


    ¡°What¡­what is all this!!¡± He wanted to roar aloud. He wanted nothing more but to pin everything that had happened so far as a part of the illusion. But one of the several-meter large fiery dragons that fell from the sky was most definitely real. It had broken apart his mid-heaven tier flying soul armament and elemental attack when he tried a bit earlier.


    In other words¡­everything in front of him was definitely real!


    He formed several hand seals to generate even more elemental darkness. As it flowed out from his body, Li Fenghai slowly started to look more and more like a demonic shadow while his elemental darkness crashed through the waves of fire around him.


    And yet, the elemental darkness he was pushing out was failing to produce any results. He was a Late-stage Soul King! A being stronger than most and yet was still so powerless in this situation. Whenever he pushed out a wave of elemental darkness, the flames around him would swallow it up without shrinking in size. It was as if the flames could never be extinguished!


    ¡°Forever Flames¡­.the Forever Flames!! No¡­this can¡¯t be!!¡±


    Li Fenghai was struck with a horrifying realization at the sight. Terror flooded his face as he croaked out his revelation.


    ¡°The Planar Laws¡­the Law of Fire!! How can you control the Laws of Fire?! This is impossible Utterly impossible!!!¡±


    Li Fenghai was acting like a commoner was stumbling upon the unbelievable for the first time ever. His mind had practically gone blank as he screamed out his horror.


    ¡°Impossible? You¡¯re seeing it with your own eyes and yet you still don¡¯t believe it¡¯s real?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was standing higher up in the skies like some sort of divine being cloaked in fire. Like a paragon of the flames, his presence was practically awe-inspiring and the pressure he exuded was not unsimilar to if a godly being had descended upon the earth.


    Staring coldly at Li Fenghai, Bai Yunfei decided not to waste any more time. Raising his right hand, he swung it down onto the direction of Li Fenghai!


    Following his actions, the flames above his person started to churn violently as if beckoning to Bai Yunfei¡¯s call. Like a mighty tornado of fire, it engulfed Li Fenghai so that he¡¯d be at its center!


    ¡°N¡ªno!!¡±


    Li Fenghai¡¯s eyes were blood-shot with furious anger and terror. In a last-ditch attempt, he started to form several hand seals so that he could summon enough elemental darkness for one of his stronger moves.


    But the tornado had already engulfed Li Fenghai before he could even unleash that move!

 Chapter 862: You?!

    The area where Li Fenghai stood was completely drowned out by the flames of the tornado. A small wisp of black energy could be seen for a small moment before the tornado swallowed it up so that all was back to normal.


    Unlike the last time with the gigantic palm of fire, Li Fenghai was unable to break out from this¡­


    There was a gleam of light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he watched the scene unfold around him. Once he waved his right hand, the flames that had previously been rampaging in the area around him started to make a swift and abrupt retreat. Several seconds later, the entire world could be seen in its entirety again without a single speck of fire to be found. And even better, not a single piece of grass, vegetation, or otherwise, had been harmed by the apocalyptic nightmare a few moments ago.


    He stared down at his own right hand after everything was back to normal, his eyes shining with excitement. ¡°The Laws of Fire¡­so this is it! The strongest form of fire! It¡¯s unbelievably powerful to have killed a Late-stage Soul King so easily like that¡­¡±


    Even Bai Yunfei found it pretty hard to believe what he had just done several mere moments before. It seemed almost like a dream.


    ¡°Happy now? This is the Core World, if you couldn¡¯t even do that much here, I wouldn¡¯t be worthy of being a Regalia.¡± An image of Xiao Fang appeared right by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    ¡°I said it before, in the Core World, I¡­or actually, you, as the master of the Core World, rule this place like a god! There is no one way that can beat you while you¡¯re here barring a Soul Saint. A mere Soul King would never be able to understand the Laws of Fire, let alone be able to fend themselves from it.¡±


    The fact that Xiao Fang could demean a Soul King by such a capacity left Bai Yunfei speechless. Still, he had to admit that this was not some sort of lie Xiao Fang was trying to pass in order to make itself sound better than it was. Xiao Fang did mention before the many abilities of the Core World, and one of those said abilities was being able to use the Planar Laws. It was just that Bai Yunfei had never really thought much about it until he put it in practice. It simply felt far too ridiculous when he heard it the first time, but now he felt like he could truly appreciate that ability. Using it today to easily kill a Late-stage Soul King? He had to admit that the Core World was terrifying and that the Planar Laws were something that were dreadfully powerful¡­


    ¡°The Laws of Fire¡­¡± He thought back to the profound feeling he once felt before within his body. Though he was really just relying on Xiao Fang to help him use the Laws of Fire in the Core World, it was still an experience that allowed him to feel what the Laws of Fire felt like. Truly, to the Bai Yunfei, this was an experience that was as precious as finding a heaven-tier soul skill.


    ¡°One day¡­I¡¯ll be able to use that force with my own power!¡± Bai Yunfei pledged with a fist tightly clenched.


    He lowered his head to stare at the spot where Li Fenghai had been standing. That had been the last place where the flames last disappeared from. All that was left here was a single scorched figure: it was Li Fenghai. His robes were burnt away to reveal the badly scorched flesh of his. The intense heat had split apart at his flesh so that blood was flowing from every single crack and dying his person with its color.


    But he was still alive. The slight heaving of his chest was proof of that.


    Still, Li Fenghai didn¡¯t have much longer to live. His life would soon expire in the next couple of minutes at the very most.


    ¡°Xiao Qi.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look at all surprised by the current status of Li Fenghai. Almost pleased, he called out for Xiao Qi to finish the job.


    ¡°Got it!¡±


    Out of nowhere, Xiao Qi came flying out from a warp in space. Looking equally as excited as Bai Yunfei, the bird flapped his wings to form a ball of fire in front of him. When it fully formed, he had it fly straight through Li Fenghai¡¯s chest.


    And just like that, Li Fenghai breathed his last. A mighty Late-stage Soul King had expired within the Core World¡­


    His death felt almost cheap even. Had this battle taken place outside, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve needed to exert a tremendous amount of time and energy to fight Li Fenghai, even while under Berserk Mode. It would¡¯ve even been possible that Li Fenghai might¡¯ve been able to beat Bai Yunfei, but he had been careless. The man had been unable to show his true strength and died before the might of the Planar Laws.


    In the end, his death hadn¡¯t been quick and was just a source of quick ¡®experience¡¯ for Xiao Qi.


    Some sort of practically invisible energy came flying out from Li Fenghai¡¯s body as soon as Xiao Qi killed the man. It was barely visible only to Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi before flying into Xiao Qi¡¯s body.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Xiao Qi cried out in bliss. Spreading his wings briefly before folding it around himself, the bird slowly floated up into the air.


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s he doing?¡± Xiao Fang asked in confusion.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up in excitement. He knew what was going on thanks to his bond with Xiao Qi and could tell that the bird was brimming with strange energy of some kind. And through this bond, he could sense that Xiao Qi¡¯s soulforce was getting stronger and stronger!


    Xiao Qi had racked up quite the kill streak during this one battle alone and gained an unprecedented amount of the very same amount of energy he received from Li Fenghai.


    To what heights would Xiao Qi reach this time?


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°He¡¯s becoming stronger. Take a look, but don¡¯t disturb him.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°How¡¯s Xinyun right now, Xiao Fang?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s fine.¡±


    A bubble of energy blipped into existence while Xiao Fang was speaking to reveal the figure of Tang Xinyun.


    Laying prone in the air due to the invisible force supporting her weight, Tang Xinyun rested with her eyes shut as if stuck in a deep state of sleep. She looked at peace though, and her lips would sometimes move as if mumbling to herself in her sleep. The only indication that her body was unwell were the fluctuations of soulforce coming from her body. It was faint, but she was still in the middle of recovering. She¡¯d be fine soon, hopefully.


    The fact that she was in such a state to begin with was like a stab of pain to Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. Gingerly, he raised his right hand to stroke at Tang Xinyun¡¯s cheek, ¡°It¡¯s my fault again, how many times is this now? I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry, Xinyun¡­


    ¡°Everyone that hurt you so far will die a painful death¡­I¡­I¡¯ll definitely make sure they¡¯ll pay the price!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were as cold as ice as he made his pledge to her. Wasting no more time to speak, Bai Yunfei disappeared from the Core World to return to the real world. He had still business to finish.


    ¡­¡­


    On the outside world, Long Lan and the permafrost mastiff stood next to each other vigilantly to stare down the battlefield around them. The permafrost mastiff¡¯s eyes were a crimson-red and eerie even to look at. The two of them looked ready to pounce at anything that dared get close, and even Tang Wei was afraid of getting too close to them once he saw the mastiff¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°He¡¯s out!¡±


    While Tang Wei was trying to figure out what in the world was going on in this situation, a disturbance in the force alerted him to Long Lan¡¯s cry. Following his gaze, Tang Wei was just in time to see Bai Yunfei materialize out of thin air.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here, Bai Yunfei? How did you disappear just now? And where did that Late-stage Soul King go?¡± Tang Wei immediately pounced onto Bai Yunfei with questions.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, brother Tang. I¡¯ve solved that problem. We can talk about the rest later, I have something to check out. If you can, please take care of the dead bodies here and see if you can find any clues on their affiliation. I¡¯ll be back later.¡±


    Looking pensive about something, Bai Yunfei had the permafrost mastiff head back into its space ring before he looked towards the north. Then after a moment¡¯s thought, he and Long Lan were enveloped in a bubble of energy before disappearing into thin air right in front of Tang Wei¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Wha¡ª¡±


    Tang Wei could only think about what Bai Yunfei said before he left.


    ¡°I¡¯ve solved that problem¡­¡±


    ¡°Solved?! He¡­he managed to take care of a Late-stage Soul King?!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Several kilometers away from Tang Wei in the location where Li Fenghai started out from.


    Mo Ni was staring beyond the horizon in confusion and consternation. He had been ever since Li Fenghai told him about how strong Bai Yunfei was now.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any elemental energy, is the fight over then? Elder Li must¡¯ve arrived there a while ago, so has Bai Yunfei been dealt with now?¡±


    As he was thinking to himself, a blip in soulforce alerted him to the presence of someone teleporting into the vicinity.


    ¡°Is elder Li back?!¡±


    Mo Ni thought at once. He could see two figures appear out of thin air several hundred meters away, but when he saw who it was on the left, Mo Ni¡¯s eyes widened with shock straight away!


    It had been Long Lan and Bai Yunfei who had appeared just now. When Bai Yunfei was able to see just who was there, his eyes narrowed in confusion.


    Then he cried out in shock. ¡°It¡¯s you, Mo Ni?!¡±

 Chapter 863: Panicked Fleeing

    Had Bai Yunfei all the time in the world, he would have never thought that it was Mo Ni that¡¯d be standing here.


    Several times before today had the two of them met, but neither times left a heavy enough impression for Bai Yunfei to really think about. In fact, he had nearly forgotten about this person.


    But here Mo Ni stood. He was most likely the one behind the kidnapping attempt on Tang Xinyun and thereof the enemy most wanting to get rid of Bai Yunfei.


    This place was several dozen kilometers away from where the battlefield had been, so Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t be blamed for not knowing there was someone here. It was only because of the residual spatial energy left behind by Li Fenghai¡¯s teleportation that Bai Yunfei was able to use the Core Stone to trace back his starting location and reveal the people behind it all.


    A millennium had passed since the Core Stone was last seen in the world, so information of its capabilities was long since lost. Only the royal family and the other Regalia would know of the specifics of the Core Stone. But beyond that, Li Fenghai and Mo Ni would definitely not know about the Core Stone¡¯s abilities.


    Bai Yunfei had relied on Xiao Fang in order to find the general location of where Li Fenghai arrived from. By teleporting from spot to spot, he was able to narrow down the approximate distance until he was finally able to lock onto Mo Ni.


    So he was extremely shocked to find out that it was Mo Ni that was standing before him today. ¡°The one that¡¯s been after me this entire time was¡­you?!¡± He spat.


    Mo Ni snapped awake when he was addressed. Shocked that Bai Yunfei had somehow managed to get here, Mo Ni gasped, ¡°Bai Yunfei! How¡­how did you get here! How did you get away from elder Li!!¡±


    In his mind, Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve been a done and dealt with the problem the moment Li Fenghai left to take care of him. The fact that Bai Yunfei was here now only could only mean to him that Bai Yunfei had somehow managed to do something to evade Li Fenghai.


    ¡°Elder Li?¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow before he gave a cold smirk to Mo Ni. ¡°Are you talking about that Late-stage Soul King? I¡¯ve killed him already.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Mo Ni exclaimed first in shock before forcing himself to laugh, ¡°Hah! Big talk coming from you! Do you really think you could kill elder Li by yourself?!¡±


    ¡°You and I have never argued before, why come after me like this?¡± Ignoring Mo Ni, Bai Yunfei immediately launched into his first few questions for him.


    He was still in Berserk Mode and had thus the pressure of a Late-stage Soul King, much of which was still bearing down upon Mo Ni. The other person¡¯s forehead was entirely slick with sweat, but he said nothing in preference to look around the place in silence.


    Clearly, the male didn¡¯t believe even for a second that Bai Yunfei had killed Li Fenghai and was expecting the elder to arrive any moment now.


    ¡°Staying quiet are we? Then allow me to capture you first and do the interrogation on my own time¡­¡±


    Beaming with merciless fury, Bai Yunfei gathered a wave of fire to his hand in preparation to capture Mo Ni.


    But just at that moment¡­


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was stalking towards Mo Ni, the loud draconic cry of some kind of beast stopped him!


    The one who cried out had been the constantly silent Black Dragon King next to Mo Ni! And this roar wasn¡¯t just one for show, it was one of the trump cards of the Black Dragon King¡ªThe Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar!


    An extremely strong soul attack!!


    Long Lan was the first to react. His eyes started to radiate with terror the moment he heard the roar, and the soulforce in his body suddenly went out of control! Then without any further hesitation, he leaped back!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened at both events. He was completely unsure of what had just happened.


    Due to the difference in strength between him and the Black Dragon King, the soul attack had only served to be a small distraction to him. As small as it was, the soul attack was still considerably strong for what it was.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The sound of rustling wind could be heard as the Black Dragon King took action. After unleashing that soul attack onto Bai Yunfei and Long Lan, he chose to¡­flee in the opposite direction rather than to attack!


    He was trying to run away!


    ¡°Damn!!¡± Mo Ni spat in anger upon seeing the Black Dragon King run. With snarling lips, he took off towards the other side without hesitation!


    ¡°Trying to run?¡±


    Bai Yunfei took action as well as soon as he saw the two run in opposing directions. Rather than chase down the Black Dragon King, Bai Yunfei opted to run after Mo Ni.


    ¡°Stop the other person, Long Lan.¡±


    He called out to Long Lan before he got too far away. Long Lan might not be too good of a match for the other person, but Bai Yunfei was confident that Long Lan would at the very least be able to stall him long enough for Bai Yunfei to deal with later.


    ¡°Got it!!¡± Snapping out from his fearful stupor, Long Lan seemed almost angry at his recent humiliation at the roar of the Black Dragon King. Rekindled in anger, Long Lan sped off towards the Black Dragon King to fight.


    Nearly a kilometer of distance had been traveled in the head start the Black Dragon King had. As for Mo Ni, Bai Yunfei immediately disappeared from where he was standing to teleport right in front of him!


    Screeching to a halt, Mo Ni¡¯s eyes were completely wide open at the sight of Bai Yunfei being right in front of him. Then seemingly furious, he lashed out with his right hand to shoot out a dark beam of energy!


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes momentarily before swaying to the side to allow for the beam of energy to go through his mirror image. Then as it grazed past him, Bai Yunfei immediately moved towards the side again to allow for the black streak of light to fly once again past him. It was the black needle!


    It flew around the area twice before returning to Mo Ni who had already taken out two jadeite disks to rotate protectively around him!


    ¡°So it was you!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei spat out at once when he saw the black needle and jadeite disks.


    He had his suspicions earlier when he saw Gui Wei, but now that these two additional pieces of proof were here, Bai Yunfei was thoroughly convinced! Mo Ni was the black-hooded youth he fought back in Crushed Stone River!


    It all made sense now why Mo Ni was after him¡ªMo Ni wanted the Core Stone!


    That was, of course, the most logical of deductions Bai Yunfei could say. But the truth was, Mo Ni had been hunting him down far earlier than that.


    ¡°You inferior wyrm! First, you stole a part of my blood, and now you dare fight against me! Begone!!¡±


    The furious roar of the Black Dragon King resounded across the skies with enough vibrato to surprise even Bai Yunfei. Turning his head, he watched as the Black Dragon King transformed into a gigantic jiao to roar and swing his tail at Long Lan!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A flash of bright blue light erupted from Long Lan¡¯s body to protect himself. It was too late to dodge the tail whip and so he was flung across several hundred meters to go crashing into a mountain and embedded in it.


    The image of the jiao had only been for a moment. Gone as soon as it came, the jiao was turned back into a human to continue flying away. Several seconds later, he was gone to another mountain point five kilometers away.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­the Black Dragon King?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed in surprise when he saw the image of the Black Dragon King in his larger form.


    Snarling that Bai Yunfei would even look away, Mo Ni formed several hand seals to activate one of his soul skills to power up. His body exploded with soulforce to instantaneously elevate himself to the power of a Mid-stage Soul King.


    He wasn¡¯t powering up to kill Bai Yunfei, but to run away. Turning around, he took off with speeds far greater than before! He waved his hand in front of him to seemingly summon a transparent opening in the space in front of him before he traversed through it to reappear two kilometers away.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Bai Yunfei sneered as he took off to give chase once again.


    Mo Ni was traveling faster than Bai Yunfei thought and was even somehow teleporting, but what was that compared to the Core Stone¡¯s ability to teleport? In one fluid instant, Bai Yunfei teleported himself several hundred meters to appear in a bubble of light right in front of Mo Ni again!


    Without mercy for the male in front of him, Bai Yunfei stepped out from his spot in a blaze of fire to pressure Mo Ni with his soulforce and reach out to grab at his throat!

 Chapter 864: Teleportation Soul Armament

    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    It was impossible not to scream when Mo Ni saw Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand come reaching towards him. In what seemed to be one last final attempt of desperation, he flung his hand to send a streak of gold light in between Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes!


    At first, thinking that it was the black needle, Bai Yunfei started for a bit before he noticed that the color was off. Instead of black light as expected from the black needle, this streak of light was golden in color and wasn¡¯t seemingly dangerous. But before any course of action could be planned or taken, the streak of light suddenly exploded!


    Within the light had been three golden tiles of some kind. When one of them exploded in color and light, it transformed into a two-meter sphere of light to encapsulate Bai Yunfei within it!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    It materialized around Bai Yunfei so quickly that his hand was still reaching forward when it formed. Slamming against the walls of the sphere a millisecond after, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see his hand bounce off of it!


    The soul armament Mo Ni threw surely had to be some kind of defensive soul armament that could be used to protect its master upon being fed soulforce. And not only had it managed to stop Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack, it also somehow managed to trap him inside it!


    Mo Ni didn¡¯t even bother to stick around to admire his handiwork. Kicking his soulforce into overdrive, he took off to try and make his retreat even faster!


    He managed to teleport another several hundred meters forward before he slashed out with his right hand to try and teleport. But before he could go through the opening he created, Mo Ni¡¯s ears were slammed with a very loud explosion and then the sound of something cracking into pieces!


    Having been trapped within the golden sphere, Bai Yunfei slammed his left hand into the golden sphere with the power of his Critical Glove to shatter his prison!


    Amidst the golden light that irradiated from the Critical Glove, Bai Yunfei had the +12 additional effect of the glove activate to quadruple its attack power. Brimming with all that power, the Critical Glove shattered the spherical prison almost effortlessly.


    He shot out from the still falling pieces of the soul armament with the force of an arrow sprung recently from its bow. He took the golden tile that the sphere formed from into his hand and stored it away into his space ring for further investigation.


    Capable of speeds far faster than Mo Ni, it took only a single moment for Bai Yunfei to catch up to him after the prison broke. Again, he reached his hand out to grab onto Mo Ni!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Mo Ni cursed to himself in fear. The repeated attempts to flee from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was utterly humiliating to Mo Ni. He bit his lips, determined to find his way out of this one way or another. Raising his right hand, he lashed out to punch!


    But rather than trying to punch Bai Yunfei as the other male expected, Mo Ni¡¯s fist was aimed at the space in front of him!


    A little surprised by Mo Ni¡¯s plan of action, Bai Yunfei watched as the two jadeite disks around Mo Ni suddenly moved in front of him so his fist slammed into them!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    The jadeite disk that had been hit by Mo Ni¡¯s fist cracked into several pieces, unable to handle the force!


    It was fully disintegrated into ash and was sprinkling around Mo Ni by the time Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was nearly upon him. The next thing Bai Yunfei saw was the space in front of him start to warp before¡­his hand went straight through where Mo Ni had been!


    It was as if Mo Ni had been an illusion. Bai Yunfei skittered to a stop ten meters away to look behind him, but Mo Ni was nowhere to be found!


    He grew skeptical at the sight. Looking around, Bai Yunfei started to scan the area for any signs of where Mo Ni might¡¯ve gone. But a scan with his soulsense was telling him that Mo Ni¡¯s aura was no longer here!


    ¡°It has to be a teleportation capable Soul armament! Yunfei, that person has a soul armament that lets you teleport! I felt a strong source of spatial energy just now, that person was teleported away!¡±


    Xiao Fang spoke out to Bai Yunfei just at that moment to explain.


    ¡°Xiao Fang, can you sense where he was teleported to then?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t¡­the fluctuation was far too strong for me to sense. It¡¯s very possible that he was teleported beyond my sensory range. I can¡¯t sense a secondary source of fluctuation within fifty kilometers of us¡­¡±


    ¡°Tch!!¡± Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue in annoyance. ¡°Then in other words, he¡¯s gone beyond fifty kilometers of us?! He had some kind of amazing soul armament like that?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not too impossible to think about. There were arrays in the ancient past that could teleport people across the entire continent. Soul armaments with distance like that wouldn¡¯t be too different. What that person used was most likely a soul armament that could teleport him to a predetermined destination no matter where they are. But those type of soul armaments were rare even two millennia ago. It¡¯s hard to believe he¡¯d have something like that¡­I don¡¯t see any way you can catch up to him now.¡±


    ¡°Damn!!¡± Bai Yunfei clenched his fists tightly with anger. He hadn¡¯t thought that Mo Ni would be able to get away from him.


    Given his strength, Bai Yunfei was totally confident that he¡¯d be able to win against Mo Ni. Mo Ni had thought of the same exact conclusion and decided to run away instead.


    Bai Yunfei had also been confident that he¡¯d be more than strong enough to stop Mo Ni from running away, but the other male had somehow managed to do so with the help of a soul armament. Had Bai Yunfei known, he would¡¯ve used the Soul Anchoring Technique to stop Mo Ni. Unfortunately for him, Bai Yunfei thought the technique was unnecessary...


    Who would¡¯ve thought that Mo Ni would have a soul armament capable of traveling over fifty kilometers away?


    Thinking back on it, Bai Yunfei did remember Mo Ni using those jadeite disks before. Back then, Mo Ni used it in order to avoid being hit by one of his moves. When the disk broke, Mo Ni had been teleported over a hundred meters to avoid it!


    But that was a hundred meters around before. What kind of huge difference was that compared to just now?!


    But the truth was what it was, even if Bai Yunfei found that truth a little too big a pill to swallow¡­.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A muffled explosion off in the distance snapped Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. Looking away towards the source, he saw a nearby mountain suddenly explode before a figure in blue light came flying out.


    It was Long Lan.


    ¡°Xiao Fang!¡± Bai Yunfei spoke out, ¡°Where¡¯s the other person? Can you see where that person went?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t. He started teleporting away at first and stopped after a while. He¡¯s definitely long gone by now. I don¡¯t rate your chances of finding him to be very high.¡±


    Again, Xiao Fang¡¯s answer made Bai Yunfei feel quite unhappy.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei moved to fly towards Long Lan. ¡°Are you alright, Long Lan?¡±


    Long Lan was a soulbeast who normally wore his emotions on his face like a sleeve. Today, his expression was looking slightly dark and moody. He shook his head in response to Bai Yunfei, ¡°I¡¯m fine, Yunfei. But I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t keep him here¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Bai Yunfei sympathized, ¡°This situation was beyond the two of us. I didn¡¯t think the other person would be the Black Dragon King of all people¡­also, what was the Black Dragon King talking about when he said you ¡®stole¡¯ his blood?¡±


    The light in Long Lan¡¯s eyes flickered a bit. ¡°I¡­well, it¡¯s not that big of a secret. Do you remember when we came across those experts fighting the Black Dragon King in Soulbeast Forest?¡±


    There was a nostalgic look in his eyes, ¡°It was a dangerous time then. You left me behind, but because I wasn¡¯t fully awakened then, I stuck around and hid. When everything was over, I made my way over to where they fought and found a puddle of blood. Something about the blood was tempting, and I found myself drinking it all in afterward¡­


    ¡°I didn¡¯t understand it at first, but now¡­that was definitely the blood of the Black Dragon King that I took! It was filled with pure draconic blood, pure energy! It¡¯s useless for soul cultivators, but it was something precious to me. With that draconic blood, I¡¯d be able to grow strong and awaken my sentience. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s how I gained an affinity for elemental darkness too¡­


    ¡°Basically, it¡¯s because of the Black Dragon King that I was able to gain this much power. In my body is the energy I gained from his blood, and it¡¯s because of that energy I found myself afraid of him. Something about him was terrifying my soul and made it difficult for me to fight him¡­¡±


    The longer he talked, the more pronounced the crestfallen look on his face became. He was definitely feeling down about the situation.


    ¡°Something like that happened?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed in surprise. Every little question he had about Long Lan made sense now.


    So Long Lan had that kind of secret to him¡­

 Chapter 865: Interrogating Gui Wei

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to beat yourself over it, Long Lan. Your power up and the Black Dragon King¡¯s blood might be related, but that doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯ll always be the ¡®stronger¡¯ one. You might just not be used to this feeling yet. I believe that you¡¯ll get even stronger. You¡¯ll be even more powerful than he is. Defeat him and show him that you¡¯re the stronger one!¡±


    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll definitely get stronger and defeat him!!¡± Long Lan nodded his head furiously. After following Bai Yunfei for so long Long Lan had experienced his fair share of battles against people stronger than him. He still didn¡¯t know what it was like to be up against a power he could never hope to defeat, but today¡¯s failure against the Black Dragon King was all he needed to rekindle the spirit inside of him.


    ¡°I wonder how the Black Dragon King is connected to Mo Ni. It looked like he was Mo Ni¡¯s soulbeast partner¡­and he¡¯s an early-stage class seven soulbeast now, that¡¯s definitely weaker than what he used to be in Soulbeast Forest. He probably fought against someone else back there and lost heavily¡­¡±


    Having no answer to his questions, Bai Yunfei decided not to waste any more time to think about it. He turned back to Long Lan after taking a quick look around the place, ¡°Stand guard here for now. I¡¯m going to go back into the Core World for a moment.¡±


    He was rapidly approaching the ten-minute time limit for the Berserk Mode. His battle hadn¡¯t been a very intensive one, but it wasn¡¯t good to prolong the usage of the mode if he could help it. Still, Bai Yunfei had one more thing to take care of¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Within the Core World.


    Appearing in the same place he fought Li Fenghai, Bai Yunfei looked up at the cocooned Xiao Qi floating there in the sky. Not wanting to disturb the bird, Bai Yunfei teleported several kilometers away to the top of a mountain and cut his hand across space in front of him to pull someone out from the cut.


    It was Gui Wei.


    He looked completely cowed when he was brought out into the Core World. Having woken up earlier imprisoned in some sort of inter-dimensional prison without being able to escape, Gui Wei could only just wait there in terror. Thanks to Xiao Fang¡¯s control over the prison, Gui Wei had been fortunate enough to see the battle take place between Bai Yunfei and Li Fenghai before the latter person was thoroughly defeated by Bai Yunfei.


    So it was understandable why he was so terrified of Bai Yunfei like he was the reaper of death.


    ¡°Tell me what I want to know and I¡¯ll think about letting you go.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke, not at all caring about the emotional state of Gui Wei.


    The signs of resistance finally appeared onto Gui Wei¡¯s face at Bai Yunfei¡¯s demand. Was he a three-year-old child that could be fooled so easily?


    ¡°Fine then.¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s tone of voice gained an icy edge to it, ¡°If you tell the truth, I¡¯ll make your death a painless one. Otherwise, you¡¯ll be in for a great deal of pain before it!¡±


    He added on a layer of pressure for extra measures, but it didn¡¯t seem like Gui Wei was convinced to do as Bai Yunfei asked. His eyes show no signs of being scared of death.


    He wasn¡¯t willing to speak, but his eyes were telling a story to Bai Yunfei.


    Go ahead and kill me then!


    Bai Yunfei had to admit, he was a little surprised by the amount of determination and resistance Gui Wei had. He was also a little disappointed. The willpower of a Soul King was definitely something that couldn¡¯t be so easily snapped. Even in the presence of death. The honor and sanctimony of a Soul King had it so that most would rather die than be humiliated.


    Gui Wei was one of those types of Soul Kings. Clearly, he was far more loyal to Mo Ni than Bai Yunfei expected. Extracting whatever information he wanted to know from Gui Wei would be difficult.


    He thought for a moment on what to do next.


    ¡°What kind of person is Mo Ni? Is he really from the Mo in the Westward River Province? Are the Mo be connected to the Soul Refining School? Mo Ni is the junior headmaster then, isn¡¯t he? How did he get a soul contract with the Black Dragon King? Are you guys related to the attack on the Black Dragon King in Soulbeast Forest?¡±


    The string of queries he was hearing surprised Gui Wei to a significant degree. ¡°How¡­¡± He stuttered, ¡°How do you know these things?! How do you know all that!!¡±


    In his mind, there was no way Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve known who Mo Ni even was. But the fact that Bai Yunfei knew his name, status, and even relations to the Black Dragon King was firing off alarms in Gui Wei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°How do I know? Hmph. Do you really think you could hide everything from me?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°Let me tell you something then. I was fighting Mo Ni just now. He¡¯s lost an arm and most of his soulforce. That jade disk of his might¡¯ve saved him by teleporting him too far away, but you would¡¯ve been staring at his corpse if not for that. Do you really think that annoying me is in your best interest?¡±


    ¡°What?! You did that to the junior headmaster?! There¡¯s no way!!¡± Gui Wei shouted. He didn¡¯t want to believe Bai Yunfei¡¯s words, but something seemed off. If Bai Yunfei could say that much about the soul armaments of Mo Ni, then there had to be some kernel of truth in his words. But there was no way Gui Wei could confirm that, and so he was in a state of shock.


    And therein lied Bai Yunfei¡¯s chance!


    Eyes gleaming with opportunity, Bai Yunfei immediately launched a wave of pressure onto Gui Wei before reaching out to press against Gui Wei¡¯s temple with his left hand!


    ¡°Speak! Who are you people?!¡±


    His voice was thundered across not only the Core World, but deep into Gui Wei¡¯s soul!


    The Charm Bracelet on his left wrist started to shine a hallucinogenic light. Like a spider web, the light branched off into several paths before making its way into Gui Wei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A shrill cry erupted from Gui Wei as he felt his soul get invaded, but his voice gradually started to die away in time, leaving the man kneeling there on the ground with his blood-shot eyes bugging out from his head...


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were shining with light identical in color and intensity to the light from the Charm Bracelet. They were seemingly full of a bewitching aura that captivated Gui Wei¡¯s eyes when they made contact. ¡°Speak. Who are you people¡­.¡± He repeated.


    This time, his voice was much calmer. It was warm, but layered with an authoritative tone of voice meant to entrap Gui Wei in them. Gui Wei¡¯s body trembled. His eyes were locked with Bai Yunfei¡¯s, his pupils flickering back and forth as if he was remembering something¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were flickering with light now. It looked as if he trying to read something invisible in Gui Wei¡¯s eyes¡­


    If anyone were to see what Bai Yunfei was doing, even a Soul King, they would¡¯ve turn paled at the realization!


    There was only one thing Bai Yunfei could be doing to Gui Wei right now¡­.Soul Scanning!!

 Chapter 866: Soul Scan

    Bai Yunfei looked neither happy nor angry, and neither did his eyes look like they were even focused. They gleamed with a light that flickered in an erratic pattern as if he was thinking about something.


    In front of him was a kneeling but essentially comatose Gui Wei. If Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes could be argued as being unfocused or not, then Gui Wei¡¯s eyes would most definitely be unfocused.


    But that was only limited to his eyes. His face was contorted in pain and anger while streams of black energy rose up from his body. His soulforce was quickly going out of control like a rampaging horse or even a bomb ready to explode.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A heart-wrenching scream erupted from Gui Wei moments later with blood leaking from several pores of his body. But that wasn¡¯t the only thing to come out from his pores, his soulforce was flowing out as well now like a river that had been previously blockaded!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were only just returning to normal by now. With no time to lose, Bai Yunfei pressed some of his soulforce into Gui Wei¡¯s body to suppress the violent reaction. It did quick work in stopping the spasmodic episode that Gui Wei was going through before tranquilizing the man and returning him to a state of comatose stillness and his eyes losing all semblance of light in them.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei knelt by the side of Gui Wei, his eyebrows knitted together in pensive thought.


    He sighed. Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei summoned a burst of fire to engulf Gui Wei¡¯s body and turn it into ash. All that was left of him after the fire was through with him was a few soul armaments and his space ring, both of which Bai Yunfei took into his hands.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to use the real Soul Scanning technique next time for the best results. Relying on the Charm Bracelet is a little¡­crude.¡± Bai Yunfei murmured to himself.


    Soul Scanning, as it was called, was an eponymous technique capable of several things. Bai Yunfei was unfortunately not capable of the actual technique due to lacking the sufficient amount of power for it. Only Late-stage Soul Kings were capable of Soul Scanning, but they and even Soul Emperors had the ability to Soul Scan without the usage of techniques. That required a high proficiency and understanding of the soul and was akin to killing the other person when used since it was essentially brute-forcing the mind into compliance. High-leveled Soul Scanning techniques and methods were capable of Soul Scanning without injuring the person it was being used on.


    As far as the study of the soul went, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t at a level where he could even be considered to be a beginner. He was only capable of doing something similar to Soul Scanning because of the special ability of his Charm Bracelet and him being a Late-stage Soul King when he went into Berserk Mode. Even then, this pseudo-Soul Scan technique was a crude one that forced the afflicted person to remember and bring forth certain memories to the front and be read.


    It was a dangerous technique of Soul Scanning that greatly endangered the afflicted person to levels practically impossible to live from. The One-eyed Mara, for example, was the very first experimentee Bai Yunfei used this ability on. From his experimentation, Bai Yunfei basically destroyed the One-eyed Mara¡¯s soul and reduced it to a soulless husk that could be self-destructed upon command.


    As a Soul King, Gui Wei was a different story. While Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve been stronger than him by a decent amount, the difference wasn¡¯t so large that Bai Yunfei could scan his soul without hindrance. Gui Wei¡¯s willpower and mental fortitude were far stronger than Bai Yunfei expected and so he was immediately rebuffed on his first attempt. It was only when he bewitched Gui Wei that he managed to undo that first layer of resistance and scan the memories relevant to Mo Ni¡¯s identity. But even that ended in failure for the most part.


    The more Gui Wei¡¯s soul was stripped down, the harder it was for the body to control its soulforce. Gui Wei¡¯s essence origin nearly self-destructed due to the loss of control before Bai Yunfei forcibly suppressed all functionality of Gui Wei¡¯s body and killed him.


    There was one silver lining though. At the moment before Gui Wei died, Bai Yunfei was able to glean just one small piece of information from his soul.


    Like the time with the One-eyed Mara, Bai Yunfei managed to see a few Gui Wei¡¯s memories like paintings on a scroll, most specifically those memories most recent. From those memories, Bai Yunfei could see the Black Cloud Mountain Ranges, Crushed Stone River, and the events relating to the Extreme King Pills. Of two of those memories, Bai Yunfei saw two figures he didn¡¯t expect to see¡­


    The first figure wore robes as red as blood and had the aura of a blood-thirsty person. Then there was another person whose entire body was essentially drenched in blood and his face unrecognizable. But the aura coming off of him was entirely like a feral beast.


    He saw these two people once before in Formagua City, Xue Wei and Zhang Zhenshan!


    ¡°So they¡¯re connected to Mo Ni as well¡­¡± Bai Yunfei murmured. ¡°So those two people from Formagua City were working for Mo Ni? How diabolical¡­


    ¡°All those killings of the people that took part in the Extreme King Pills must¡¯ve been Mo Ni¡¯s doing. The one eating and taking in all those soul cultivators¡¯ vital energy is working for Mo Ni too¡­¡±


    One of the memories Bai Yunfei saw involved someone in Mo Ni¡¯s entourage that was grabbing hold of people¡¯s throats and reducing them to a shriveled husk. It was a mortifying sight.


    Bai Yunfei had a chill go up his spine when he saw the demonic being essentially cannibalize the soul cultivators he came across.


    ¡°Those two didn¡¯t show up this time, they must be somewhere else and taking in even more energy¡­that person was an Early-stage Soul King in Formagua City, but he¡¯s probably a Mid-stage Soul King by now. And who knows how strong he¡¯ll be the next time I meet Mo Ni¡­¡±


    He only knew that these two people from the memories he saw were indeed the same ones from Formagua City. He still didn¡¯t know that one of these people was Zhang Zhenshan. The change was far too drastic for Bai Yunfei to really tell even if the two were to meet face to face right now.


    There was one memory in particular that stood out to Bai Yunfei. It was slightly hazy and was hardly viewable. But from what he could tell, the memory was filled with a purple haze that spiraled upwards and a place that resembled something like a marshland.


    He wanted to know what Mo Ni was hiding, and the fact that he wasn¡¯t able to see this to a certain degree saddened him.


    It would appear that his desire to chase down and kill Mo Ni was impossible for now. Bai Yunfei could only wonder what the future had in store for him¡­.


    ¡°Mo Ni¡­can¡¯t be forgiven! I¡¯ll definitely make sure to kill him the next time we meet!¡± He vowed.


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei was thinking about Mo Ni, the person in question was currently resting within a dark cave.


    This cave was kilometers beyond kilometers away from Bai Yunfei where he could be in peace.


    ¡°Damn! Damn! Damn it all!! Bai Yunfei!! I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll definitely kill you!!¡±


    Mo Ni was currently screaming to himself within the cave. No longer was he as calm as he usually was. His eyes were blood-shot, and his demeanor was completely berserk as he raged and vented aloud.


    Never had he experienced such humiliation before in his life. Never!! And to make it even worse, Mo Ni didn¡¯t even have the chance to fight back against Bai Yunfei! And neither did he have the ability to properly run away. It was a humiliation of the highest degree and a major blow to his ego he couldn¡¯t accept.


    While he was screaming to himself, a part of the cave warped in on itself before a figure in black stepped out from it.


    ¡°Black Dragon!!¡±


    Mo Ni called out the moment he felt his presence. ¡°You actually left me alone back there! You coward! And to think you call yourself ¡®one of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers¡¯! Don¡¯t forget you¡¯re contracted with me. If I die, you won¡¯t be getting off lightly!¡±


    His rebukes were met with only a cold laugh from the Black Dragon King. ¡°So what if I ran? Did you really plan on fighting? You had a soul armament to teleport you away from danger, I did not! That was my only chance to run, and so run I did! Even if I waited for you to teleport first, what would happen if Bai Yunfei came after me? If I died, then you won¡¯t be getting off lightly either!¡±


    One of Mo Ni¡¯s eyes twitched at his response. Schooling his emotions, Mo Ni gave the Black Dragon King one final glare before sitting down onto the table nearby to rest his head and think.


    The Black Dragon King gave him only a small moment¡¯s respite to think before he opened his mouth. ¡°What is your plan going forward? Everyone we brought are most likely dead. I would suggest returning home. That Bai Yunfei has grown far too strong far too fast. You cannot compare to him as you are now or even in the future perhaps. To seek him out later would be suicidal. Improve your strength for now and become a Mid-stage Soul King. That way, I will be able to return to being a mid-stage class seven soulbeast. Your Reaping Needle is more or less ready and comparable to a lifebound soul armament as well. It¡¯ll prove helpful the next time you fight Bai Yunfei. Or at least, you won¡¯t be intimidated into cowardice like before¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth! I don¡¯t need you to tell me what to do!¡±


    Mo Ni howled at the Black Dragon King to shut him up. It was a long and bothersome rant that he had no patience for. ¡°It¡¯ll be completely different the next time! I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll be sure to tear him apart limb from limb the next time we meet!¡±

 Chapter 867: Resolution of Things

    ¡°Ssss¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei exhaled as he felt a spasm of pain travel down his body. It was groaning under the release of his Berserk Mode even despite not really doing much in the battles. He was fortunately used to the pain, otherwise, he would¡¯ve been in a much worse of a state.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting a lot more power now, it¡¯s a lot hard to believe how much stronger it is than before. Will definitely take some time before I get used to it¡­¡±


    A little absent-mindedly, Bai Yunfei waved his hand so that Tang Xinyun appeared in front of him. Gingerly holding her in his arms, he turned to Long Lan. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±


    The three figures disappeared from the Core World a moment after to head back to the real world. Picking up the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei then disappeared once again from the real world to start teleporting¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The area where Bai Yunfei¡¯s initial battle with Huang Shan and the others was back to normal in terms of elemental energy in the atmosphere. The earth was still a mighty mess with the mountains practically a pile of rubble and craters littering the place like if a natural disaster had just crossed over the place. At the base of one of the ruined mountains had several corpses with a pensive-looking Tang Wei nearby.


    His friend Yan Lin was sitting off to the side upon a stone. He didn¡¯t seem to be caring much about the corpses around him in favor of meditating.


    A disturbance in the air alerted the two to the incoming presence of somebody from the northern skies.


    The presence made itself known as two figures red and blue several kilometers away. Flying over to where Tang Wei and Yan Lin were in the span of several seconds, they revealed themselves to the former two as Bai Yunfei with Tang Xinyun in his arms and Long Lan behind him.


    ¡°What in the world did you do, Bai Yunfei?¡± Tang Wei asked at once.


    Bai Yunfei nodded to the two in greeting. ¡°I went to find the one behind everything. I was afraid he¡¯d run when he saw things were going bad so I chased after him. Please forgive me for that, brother Wei.¡±


    ¡°The one behind everything!¡± Tang Wei gasped, not even caring about how Bai Yunfei was even to find the said person, to begin with.


    ¡°Did you capture or kill the ones responsible? Who was it?¡±


    ¡°I was trying to capture him, but he used some kind of soul armament that teleported him beyond what I could chase after¡­but I know who the person is. Mo Ni. I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s his real name though. I remember hearing him to be the young master of the Mo in the Westward River Province. He¡¯s most likely someone close to the headmaster of the Soul Refining School and is probably their junior headmaster.¡±


    ¡°A soul armament that can teleport someone?¡± Tang Wei repeated. This was a first for him.


    ¡°Hold on, the junior headmaster of the Soul Refining School?!¡± He gasped a moment afterward, ¡°Are you certain?! The ones after you are from that school? And the junior headmaster no less?!¡±


    ¡°I fought against that person during the event for the Extreme King Pills in the Southward River Province. He used the ¡®Maw of the Nether¡¯, ¡®Extinguishing Seal¡¯, and several others. I was told by the elders of my school that the previous generation headmaster of the Soul Refining School invented those soul skills. That person has to be connected to them somehow¡­¡±


    ¡°You fought against him before? In other words, he was trying to kidnap Xinyun as revenge on you?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps so¡­I also have a few things he wants, he came here for those things today.¡±


    ¡°....¡± Tang Wei remained silent at that. He didn¡¯t want to press Bai Yunfei about what kind of things specifically, but if this Mo Ni person was willing to use a force as large as this, then that thing was definitely something precious.


    ¡°Did you find anything of importance here, brother Wei?¡± Bai Yunfei nodded towards the corpses around them.


    ¡°Nothing too important. I recognize a few of them as wandering soul cultivators, most of them from different provinces. This Mo Ni person you say is a major player if he can gather a force like this¡­¡±


    ¡°Wandering soul cultivators?¡± Repeated Bai Yunfei in sadness. He had been hoping that these people would shed some evidence of affiliation to Mo Ni to some degree, but it seemed that hope was in vain. Mo Ni was prudent in his precautions it seemed.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei noticed several auras coming close to them as he was speaking with Tang Wei, ¡°Here come some more people.¡±


    ¡°There are?¡± Tang Wei and Yan Lin craned their heads to look around. Though they followed Bai Yunfei¡¯s gaze, neither of the two saw anything. Then several moments later, they saw several streaks of light fly close to them.


    Tang Wei was surprised. Bai Yunfei was the only one to notice anyone coming over, and from a long distance to boot. He himself hadn¡¯t noticed anything.


    ¡°They¡¯re from the Tang.¡± Bai Yunfei further supplied after counting the figures.


    The several streaks of light were soon close enough to drop in front of Bai Yunfei and the others. The lights around their figures gradually dissipated into the air to reveal four figures. The frontmost two figures were Tang Qianchi and Tang Jing, and the other two were people Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t recognize. But their auras were of that of Soul Kings, so they must¡¯ve been one of the stronger elders of the family.


    ¡°So you¡¯re here, Bai Yunfei! What in the world happened here?¡± Tang Jing exclaimed at once. Then he saw Tang Xinyun in Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms, ¡°Sister!!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re here, brother Jing.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded towards everyone. ¡°Please rest assured, Xinyun is fine. She¡¯s just asleep.¡±


    He pointed a finger to the pile of corpses next to them, ¡°Those are the ones who tried to kidnap Xinyun. I¡¯ve killed them, but the mastermind managed to get away. It¡¯s a little hard to explain, but I can explain it once we get back.¡±


    He looked to Tang Wei next, ¡°Ah, brother Wei was the one that managed to save Xinyun from them first. I ran into them on my way here, so this place became the battlefield.¡±


    Everyone looked surprised at the number of things they were hearing from Bai Yunfei. Looking to Tang Wei when prompted, Tang Jing and the others couldn¡¯t help but feel their lips slacken at the news.


    Tang Wei gave them a small smile. ¡°Second uncle, big brother, and uncles¡­.it¡¯s been a long time¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re¡­Tang Wei (brother)!!¡±


    Both Tang Qianchi and Tang Jing reacted at once with shock at the sudden appearance of Tang Wei.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s me. I¡¯m finally back¡­¡± Tang Wei chuckled in both excitement in seeing his relatives, and regret that it had taken so long to return.


    ¡°Third brother¡­it¡¯s really you!!¡± Tang Jing cried out, ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re finally back! It¡¯s been twenty years, where did you go? And for so long? Did¡­did you become a Soul King?!¡±


    ¡°I was following master Yunhai for the last few years and training hard. Once I became a Soul King, I decided to come back¡­¡± Tang Wei smiled and pointed a finger to Yan Lin next to him, ¡°Let me introduce you to my friend, Yan Lin. He¡¯s my soulbeat partner, a fire qilin.¡±


    ¡°Fire qilin?!¡±


    Again, Tang Qianlin and the others cried out in shock. Even Bai Yunfei was surprised to hear the name of such a soulbeast. So this person had actually been a soulbeast? And a legendary one at that!


    Seemingly not one for human interaction, Yan Lin nodded his head to the group before looking away.


    Tang Qianchi was at a loss for words. Trying his best to clear his mind of everything, he had to take a moment before he could find the words to speak.


    ¡°It¡¯s not convenient here, let¡¯s talk more when we get back.¡±


    Collecting everything of importance from the battlefield, the group soon set about flying back to Mo City.

 Chapter 868: Shock After Shock

    Several rays of light streaked across the sky like shooting stars. Within these streaks of light, people such as Tang Jing, Tang Qianchi, and the others from the Tang were staring at Bai Yunfei and measuring him up.


    Finally, it was Tang Jing that decided to speak up. ¡°Bai Yunfei, you¡­used some kind of technique to power yourself up, right? I know they have tremendous backlashes when canceled, but the battle is over, shouldn¡¯t you cancel your technique? Or is it a technique that requires a certain amount of time before canceling it?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was showing the strength of an Early-stage Soul King right now, but Tang Jing thought that it was because of some sort of technique Bai Yunfei had used for the sake of battle. But the battle was over now, and Bai Yunfei was still moving as if nothing was wrong. He didn¡¯t look like he was ready to undo any technique either, so everyone was confused and worried about his well being.


    ¡°Technique?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, confused by what they were asking. ¡°There¡¯s a misunderstanding here, brother Jing. I¡¯ve already undone all the techniques I used before.¡±


    Tang Jing was taken aback, ¡°Already?¡±


    The implications of what Bai Yunfei was saying soon struck him with startling force, ¡°Then¡­this is your actual strength?! But how¡ªyou were a Soul Exalt the last time I saw you!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t the only surprised one. Tang Qianchi and the other two elders were equally stunned to hear that.


    It was Tang Wei that supplied the answer. ¡°Bai Yunfei entered the realm of Soul Kings right before he started fighting everyone. I was shocked too, I¡¯ve never seen someone breakthrough so fast. He even killed two Soul Kings before the King¡¯s Phenomena disappeared¡­.but if I had to guess, you probably used something to make the breakthrough go a lot easier than it¡¯d normally be before the fight to catch your opponents off guard, correct?¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°As expected from your sharp eyes, brother Wei. I¡¯ve actually been capable of breaking through for a while now, but I¡¯ve managed to forcibly keep myself at the level of a Soul Exalt so I can breakthrough whenever I want with better success. That¡¯s why I was able to do so so quickly.


    ¡°There existed a technique like that?!¡± Tang Qianchi cried out. The fact that Bai Yunfei was a Soul King now meant he was now a part of the higher echelons of the soul cultivator world. Before, he could have regarded Bai Yunfei as someone of the younger generation, but that was no longer possible. He¡¯d have to treat Bai Yunfei as an equal now.


    This shock was compounded even more due to the fact he knew a few things about Bai Yunfei than others. When he first met Bai Yunfei a few years ago, the boy had only just become a Soul Exalt! And how much time had passed since then? Not much.


    The speed in which Bai Yunfei became a Soul King was shockingly fast. Had he not seen this change himself, Tang Qianchi would have never believed it.


    The most important aspect in this situation was Bai Yunfei¡¯s age. To become a Soul King at his age was definitely rare beyond belief. Combined with his status as a core student of the Crafting School, Bai Yunfei as a person was now valuable beyond belief, and Tang Qianchi was definitely happy to know that. The Tang could certainly stand to gain a lot with a relationship with him.


    He glanced over to Bai Yunfei and saw how tenderly he was looking at Tang Xinyun. A rare flash of concern crossed over into his eyes. ¡°We said before that we would allow it, but there¡¯s no stopping it now. How will the matter with the Qin be made¡­brother was called out halfway through that meeting, he will have to renegotiate the matter now¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Soon, the outline of Mo City could be seen off in the horizon, spurring the group to travel even faster to return to Tang manor.


    Though Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been willing to have Tang Xinyun leave his side as they traveled back to Mo City, it¡¯d be inappropriate for him to bring her back to his own room, obviously. Handing her over to the servants of the Tang, Bai Yunfei hoped that she¡¯d wake up soon and be well taken care of.


    With her off his hands, Bai Yunfei strode into the main halls of the Tang manor with the other male figures. Plenty of people were gathered here, and Bai Yunfei only recognized a few of them such as Tang Xinyun¡¯s third uncle Tang Qianshan. The rest he couldn¡¯t recognize, but their auras revealed themselves to be extremely strong. Seven of them were Soul Kings, and three additional figures were Mid-stage Soul Kings.


    Then there was the most dignified-looking elder sitting at the centermost seat. Bai Yunfei could tell that this person was a Late-stage Soul King.


    News of Tang Xinyun¡¯s kidnapping had definitely been a huge event for the entire family, and the strongest of the family had mobilized. No outsider would have possibly known just how many experts the Tang had now.


    It was only when he saw Tang Wei and the others bowed to the Late-stage Soul King elder that Bai Yunfei knew this person was Tang Xinyun¡¯s great-grandfather and the previous generation head of the Tang. He had originally been training behind-closed-doors since he retired, but when Tang Xinyun was kidnapped, Tang Qianlei went to him for help.


    The return of Tang Wei was a secondary source of noise within the household. They were all excited to see him back, and even more shocked to see him as a Soul King with a class seven soulbeast as a partner. The addition of two more Soul Kings into their family was without a doubt a good thing.


    The shock soon came to a lull after a while. Most of the members of the Tang were focusing on Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength now. Like Tang Qianchi when he met Bai Yunfei earlier, everyone else was beyond shocked that Bai Yunfei was a Soul King. Most of the people there were incredulous, and Tang Xinyun¡¯s second brother Tang Zhi¡ªthe one most unfriendly to Bai Yunfei in the past¡ªwas one of those said people. He was utterly gobsmacked at Bai Yunfei¡¯s new strength and couldn¡¯t even find the words to say anything for a good amount of time.


    Now that everyone was quiet and ready for the discussions to begin, Tang Wei began to tell his story of how he found out Tang Xinyun was in danger and how he managed to save her from her captors. He mentioned how he came across Bai Yunfei on his way back and then about the battle he witnessed between Bai Yunfei and the captors. Everyone hung onto Tang Wei¡¯s every word as he narrated the account. The Soul Kings in attendance were most shocked to hear it, and most of them were having a hard time believing their ears.


    Bai Yunfei fighting and killing three Early-stage Soul Kings and two Mid-stage Soul Kings by himself and winning? Even Tang Xinyun¡¯s great-grandfather had a bewildered expression on his face.


    The biggest shock revealed itself to the entire audience when Tang Wei mentioned that the enemy was the Soul Refining School. The junior headmaster of the Soul Refining School to be more exact.


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s great-grandfather, Tang Zhan, had a solemn look on his face. ¡°Are you certain they are from the Soul Refining School?¡± He asked Bai Yunfei.

 Chapter 869: Checking the Spoils of War

    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake. They¡¯re from the Soul Refining School. I was in the Southward River Province one month ago for the Extreme King Pills when I fought against the person¡­¡± Bai Yunfei offered up respectfully before telling the entire audience what happened during that time.


    It was certainly a shock for everyone to hear about the intense battle Bai Yunfei had with Mo Ni for the Extreme King Pills and then how Mo Ni had so mercilessly killed all those people. A lot of them had a relieved look though. The Tang had in fact been planning on taking part in the race for the Extreme King Pills, but they ultimately decided not to due to time constraints. Had they did and came across the murderous Mo Ni, most of the participating members surely would¡¯ve died.


    Tang Wei looked even more grim at that compared to everyone else. ¡°A person with that many soul skills, powerful soul armaments, powerful soul cultivators, and even the status of being the junior headmaster of the Soul Refining School¡­now that I think about it, the Soul Refining School have been quite active recently. That¡¯s not a good sign¡­


    ¡°And¡­¡± His mind shifted towards a different topic.


    ¡°You said before the people he brought with him were all wandering soul cultivators? The fact that they¡¯re willing to employ this many wandering soul cultivators, even if only for a one-time goal like this, is not a minor thing. We cannot overlook this.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. Now that he thought about it, the people he wiped out were certainly not lacking in power in the slightest. Aside from Gui Wei, none of the others were actually really a part of the Soul Refining School¡¯s main force. But the fact that the wandering soul cultivators were even willing to align themselves with the school was certainly not a negligible thing.


    Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to throw out a cindered corpse onto the ground.


    ¡°Brother Wei and uncle Chi managed to look into the corpses of all those wandering soul cultivators such as Huang Shan, but there was also someone else of major importance. This is an elder from the Soul Refining School, please take a look for yourselves, esteemed elders.¡±


    ¡°An elder from the Soul Refining School?¡± The entire hall gasped at the sight of the corpse, but it didn¡¯t seem like any one of them knew that this cindered corpse belonged to Li Fenghai.


    ¡°Gasp!!¡±


    Judging from the sharp intake of breath, there was somehow in the hall that certainly recognized the corpse.


    It was Tang Zhan. He was looking at the corpse of Li Fenghai with a light of understanding.


    And his reaction was all the rest of the Tang needed to hear. None of them had ever seen the elder have a reaction as sudden as this one¡ªthat proved that this corpse was indeed special!


    Bai Yunfei knew this was a good time to shed some more light onto the situation. He could see Tang Zhan recognized Li Fenghai but wasn¡¯t completely confident that it was indeed his corpse.


    ¡°I recall hearing Mo Ni addressing this person as elder Li.¡±


    ¡°Li!!¡± Tang Zhan¡¯s pupils contracted in recognition of the name. ¡°So it truly is him! Li Fenghai! He is Li Fenghai!!¡±


    Still not sure who this person was, Tang Jing interjected, ¡°Great-grandfather, who is this person? Why is he so important?¡±


    ¡°He¡­¡± Realizing that he had actually leaped out from his chair in his surprise, Tang Zhan took in a deep breath to calm himself and sit down.


    ¡°Li Fenghai¡­is indeed a member of the Soul Refining School. A high-ranking elder at that. He became well known sixty years ago when he and the headmaster of the Soul Refining School killed many well-known figures. I fought him once before, but the two of us had only been Mid-stage Soul Kings at the time. It took a whole day and night before our battle concluded with me as the victor, but he managed to flee before I could kill him. He stayed in the shadows after that, and I focused on my own training afterward. So he became a Late-stage Soul King...but. But he was killed by you?! You were the one to kill him?!¡±


    Tang Zhan couldn¡¯t believe it. This final thing he spoke about had been a pseudo-secret of sorts that no one really touched upon. But now it was out onto the table to be addressed. The only thing was that Tang Zhan was completely astounded and skeptical that Bai Yunfei was the one responsible.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were glued to Bai Yunfei, their breaths tightly held within their mouths as they awaited the answer.


    ¡°Yes, I was the one to kill him.¡±


    Eight words were spoken without hesitation or dishonesty.


    Right away, the entire hall became silent. No words were spoken as everyone simply sat there and stared. Their jaws had dropped open in their shock, but no sound was coming out.


    A Late-stage Soul King had¡­been killed by Bai Yunfei!! What kind of reality was this?!


    Not a single person was staring away from Bai Yunfei now. Their gazes were a mixture of shock and terror. Terror for someone that could kill a Late-stage Soul King despite being someone from the ¡®younger generation¡¯¡­


    The talks were continued after that, but the bulk of the talks were focused on preliminary steps on how to deal with this situation and negotiation for other things.


    It was nightfall by the time Tang Zhan allowed everyone to leave, and Bai Yunfei decided to go look at auntie Xue and Tang Xinyun¡¯s situation first.


    From what he heard, auntie Xue was doing much better than before, but there wasn¡¯t much of a change in Tang Xinyun¡¯s situation. This worried him as he returned to the room he was given.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei fell upon his bed with a long drawn out sigh. He was exhausted. Everything that transpired today took a lot out from him, understandably. He would need a good night¡¯s rest to cope with the fatigue.


    But there was something that he had to do to cheer himself up first before he could waste brain cells on anything else.


    Checking the spoils of war.


    The battles today were most definitely the most dangerous he had so far. At first, it took a great deal of energy to kill the first Mid-stage Soul King. The other two Soul Kings was slightly easier with him primarily using an overwhelming amount of power to kill them, and even the Late-stage Soul King he killed in the Core World had been easy due to the overwhelming difference in battle strength. In this, Bai Yunfei had to count his lucky stars it went as well as it did.


    And their deaths meant a lot of bounties that had fallen into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands. If the people he fought were all strong figures, then the things they left behind would most definitely be of high standards.


    Sitting back upon his bed, Bai Yunfei took out one of the space rings he got.


    He¡¯d start from the smallest bounty and work his way up. The first up would be the rings of the dozen Soul Exalts killed by Xiao Qi.


    There wasn¡¯t much to these rings Bai Yunfei had much interest in. The most valuable thing had been a single heaven-tier soul armament, but even that was hardly worth calling a low-heaven tier. The rest of the items in those rings were either earth-tier soul armaments or primal stones. The latter of which wasn¡¯t of much use to Bai Yunfei and his training.


    As far as rare minerals or herbs went, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t find anything worthy of notice. Separating the items, he sealed them away and moved on.


    The next up were the rings from the Soul Kings. First would be the rings of the three Early-stage Soul Kings.


    Much to his disappointment, Bai Yunfei failed to find much in any of their rings. Every single one of them had a type of low-heaven tier armor, but it was the armor they had been wearing when they died and were damaged. There were also a few offensive low-heaven tier soul armaments, but they were of general make and had no special attributes to them. For as excited Bai Yunfei was about finding goodies, he was downtrodden to see such a sparse bounty in their space rings. How could Soul Kings be lacking anything valuable and special?


    Should the source of his disappointment be known to anyone else, they definitely would¡¯ve vomited blood. Surely, this was the attitude anyone significantly wealthy enough would have towards riches. A single heaven-tier soul armament would have caused a stir in an auction house if they appeared. Those Soul Kings Bai Yunfei killed definitely must have spent an unordinary amount of time in order to get their hands on said heaven-tier soul armaments. So to have Bai Yunfei treat the soul armaments this way was almost appalling.


    Finally, Bai Yunfei came to the space ring of Huang Shan. He took out the orange spear the elder had been using so prominently.


    Now, the look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face was much different.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Attack: 3600


    Equipment Effect: Reduce soulforce consumption of earth-type attacks by 20%. Increase strength of earth-type attacks by 20%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 210 Soulpoints


    Finally, Bai Yunfei had finally stumbled upon a mid-heaven tier soul armament. And a spear to boot! Bai Yunfei was best with using a spear to attack.


    Though admittedly, he was a little disappointed at the equipment effect.


    This was definitely a soul armament meant for an earth-type soul cultivator to use. Besides, he had the Fire-tipped Spear which simply couldn¡¯t be replaced. He didn¡¯t want to use two spears at the same time either, so there wasn¡¯t much of a point to this one¡­


    But it was a mid-heaven tier soul armament nonetheless.


    Given it some consideration, Bai Yunfei decided to try and upgrade this spear.

 Chapter 870: The Art of Soul Ignition and the Third Piece of Cloth

    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 3600


    Additional Attack: 1600


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: Reduce soulforce consumption of earth-type attacks by 20%. Increase strength of earth-type attacks by 20%.


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Chance to ignore earth-type defenses when attacking.


    Upgrade Requirement: 210 Soulpoints


    It didn¡¯t take very long for Bai Yunfei to upgrade the spear to +10, and he was very pleasantly surprised to see what kind of additional effect popped up.


    This was a new one.


    ¡°Ignore any earth-type defenses!¡± He crowed to himself. It wasn¡¯t a very high probability, but the parameters were still sufficiently good. Given the parameters, Bai Yunfei would be able to ignore ¡®any¡¯ earth-type defenses when attacking¡­that was a frightening thought.


    As unhelpful as the spear seemed at first as a general-use weapon, it could also be considered a godsend in the right circumstances!


    And since the cumulative attack power was about 5200, that meant this spear was stronger than even the Fire-tipped Spear.


    ¡°Not bad¡­not bad at all¡­¡± Pleased as punch, Bai Yunfei nodded to himself before storing away the spear into the Violet Soul Ring.


    Next up after the spear of Huang Shan was the mid-heaven tier armor of his.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Defense: 3300


    Upgrade Requirement: 200 Soulpoints


    Unupgraded, this piece of armor was actually comparable to the defenses of the +10 armor Bai Yunfei was currently wearing. All things considered, Bai Yunfei¡¯s current piece of armor had the ability to strengthen its defenses, so no final verdicts could be made just yet.


    He¡¯d have to see the results of the upgraded armor before he could consider anything.


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 3300


    Additional Defense: 1500


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Decrease damage taken by 30% when physically attacked.


    Upgrade Requirement: 200 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei fell into the second period of silence and contemplation again after he upgraded the armor. This piece of armor had a rather restrictive effect in that it would only work against physical blows. He may as well not have the additional effect if he was hit by an elemental attack, which was the bulk of most of his battles going forward now. His battles were already needing a barrier of elemental energy for each attack, and physical blows were becoming more of a rarity.


    So he wouldn¡¯t change out his current piece of armor for this one.


    He stored away the newly-upgraded piece of armor back into a space ring so he could continue looking through the rest of Huang Shan¡¯s ring. There were a few other soul armaments, but most of which weren¡¯t of any special interest besides the rare minerals and herbs and as well as a shocking amount of primal stones.


    Done with Huang Shan¡¯s space ring, Bai Yunfei took the ice-type Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s space ring into his hands.


    There weren¡¯t many soul armaments that were considered worthy of attention, so Bai Yunfei skipped over them. That didn¡¯t mean they bad, just that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to deal with them for now.


    Then he came across a small piece of white cloth.


    Several words were scrawled onto this piece of white cloth. Studying the words, Bai Yunfei gasped! This piece of cloth had a soul skill written on it!


    The Art of Soul Ignition.


    By using the power of the soul¡¯s origin energy as fuel, ignite the soul. Seal any injuries and return the body to the most optimal state for a short period of time.


    Bai Yunfei was thunderstruck by the description he had just read. This was a mysterious soul skill with an effect completely perverse in ability.


    It was in many ways compatible with the ¡®Battling¡¯ section of the Dual Flame Artes.


    But he couldn¡¯t make a concrete evaluation on how useful this soul skill was. Without seeing how it compared to the Dual Flame Artes ¡®Coil¡¯ or ¡®Berserk¡¯ modes, there was no way he could say anything.


    The soul skill was a double-edged sword where the user would be hurt almost as much as the enemy. Even if a person were to seal up their injuries and fight at the best levels they could, the injuries would only worsen afterward. And even more importantly, this soul skill talked of using the origin energy of the soul as fuel to ignite. This was basically burning away at the soul itself; an act that would surely leave behind lasting marks on the soul.


    The act of damaging the soul was something every soul cultivator almost unequivocally shied away from. This soul skill, in other words, was something to be used when in peril and fighting for one¡¯s life. And even then, not many people would be daring enough to use it.


    The ice-type Soul King must¡¯ve used this soul skill when he fought against Bai Yunfei, but unfortunately for him, he still wasn¡¯t a match for Bai Yunfei at his very best¡­


    ¡°It sounds scary to use, but it¡¯s still a soul skill that can save my life potentially. Learning it won¡¯t be a bad thing.¡± Bai Yunfei murmured. He¡¯d learn this soul skill just in case.


    After reading a little bit of the Art of Soul Ignition, Bai Yunfei was able to memorize most of what he read. But the more he read, the more suspicious Bai Yunfei felt about the thing.


    Soul skills and training methods were generally recorded on jade slips rather than being written on parchment or cloth. Very rarely was the latter form done, and the Art of Soul Ignition was one of those rare cases. But the more Bai Yunfei paid attention to the white cloth, the stranger the expression on his face became.


    He flipped the piece of cloth over only to discover that it wasn¡¯t empty on the other side. Rather than words though, there was a strange pattern scrawled onto it.


    ¡°This pattern¡­¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes in consternation as if remembering something.


    Several moments passed before he could put his finger to it. Eyes brightening when he did, Bai Yunfei started to go through the Violet Soul Ring to look for something.


    Moments later, there was a flash of light before another piece of white cloth appeared! The two new pieces of cloth looked extremely identical to the cloth the Art of Soul Ignition was written on!


    He compared the pieces of cloth side by side before adding onto the newest one to the left of one of them.


    ¡°I knew it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nearly cried aloud when he saw just how perfectly the two pieces of cloth lined up side by side.


    He had nearly forgotten about the two mysterious pieces of cloth he gained from a long time ago. But now that he did, Bai Yunfei had now the third piece of cloth to add onto the mystery!


    ¡°What kind of image is this supposed to be¡­¡±


    Pouring over the three pieces of cloth now that they were lined up, Bai Yunfei had a confused gleam in his eyes. The image wasn¡¯t clear enough for him to make heads or tails over, but it was at least better than before. Still, he had no clue on what this image was shaping up to be.


    Bai Yunfei had given up on trying to divine the secrets of the cloth a long time, claiming that finding a needle in the ocean would be a lot easier.


    But now that he had three pieces of cloth, he was mystified. Was fate really trying to bring him and the pieces of cloth together?


    ¡°Is the most important detail left under the fourth piece?¡± Tilting his head, Bai Yunfei noted that the bottom right corner was still a massive blank.


    He gave up a few minutes later and stored away the three pieces of cloth back into the Violet Soul Ring. He had a newfound hope for finding the answer now. Luck was seemingly on his side. If he could figure out what this image was, he¡¯d be several steps closer on figuring out the secret¡­


    Switching his mindset from the cloth, Bai Yunfei turned his attention back to the spoils of war.


    Last up were the possessions of Li Fenghai.


    He was someone who held the position of elder in the Soul Refining School and was also a Late-stage Soul King. What kind of treasures would he have?

 Chapter 871: Li Fenghais Equipment

    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Attack: 4700


    Equipment Effect: Reduce soulforce consumption of dark-type attacks by 20%. Increase strength of dark-type attacks by 20%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 260 Soulpoints


    This was the sword Li Fenghai favored to use in his battle against Bai Yunfei. The blade of the sword was silver as like any other sword, but feeding it soulforce turned the blade black and would exude a sinisterly dark light. Just looking at the sword when it was in such a state would give anyone the shivers. It was also stronger than Huang Shan¡¯s orange spear by a good thousand and one hundred attack points, meaning it was on the higher end of the mid-heaven tier. This equipment would also become even more powerful when a dark-type soul cultivator used it.


    It took Bai Yunfei some time for him to be able to upgrade it to +10.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 4700


    Additional Attack: 2000


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: Reduce soulforce consumption of dark-type attacks by 20%. Increase strength of dark-type attacks by 20%.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to inflict Twisting Nightmare status upon opponent when damage is inflicted. Take hallucination damage and decrease perception by 30% for 5 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Upgrade Requirement: 260 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Twisting Nightmare status? Is that some sort of illusion-based effect?¡± Bai Yunfei wondered aloud when he read off the sword¡¯s additional effect. Elemental darkness by itself had effects that could influence the cognition, so an effect like this was rather expected.


    But for an effect to influence the mind that much and drop perception by a third was a little too strong. If the sword were to hit anyone¡ªeven if by just a scratch¡ªand have its effect activated, the opponent would most likely try to run away.


    And the sword had a terrifying attack power of 6700. This was Bai Yunfei¡¯s most powerful weapon to date.


    If he was to exclude the sword¡¯s additional effect, the sword by itself would be enough to render most defenses in front of him pointless. Even a piece of mid-heaven tier armor wouldn¡¯t be able to do much. The only thing that¡¯d be able to ward off this sword would be a high-heaven tier or Regalia.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t very talented in using a longsword, but it was still a great boon to his repertoire. He resolved to use this sword for special circumstances like when he needed a trump card to kill someone.


    The sword was stored into the Violet Soul Ring before Bai Yunfei took out a long piece of embroidered armor.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Defense: 4500


    Equipment Effect: When an attack is blocked, convert and add the amount blocked to one''s defenses for 1 minute. Amount converted is dependent when attacked and can be stacked. When stacked, the next stack cannot exceed 30% of the armor''s defenses.


    Upgrade Requirement: 250 Soulpoints


    It took a while for Bai Yunfei to make sense of what this piece of armor had to offer.


    The most important part was the ¡®Amount converted is dependent when attacked and can be stacked¡¯. This meant that his defenses could be raised each time he was attacked, and multiple times too for one entire minute. By the wording, Bai Yunfei figured that this also meant if he had the effect stack, then the effect would disappear one stack at a time whenever 1 minute passed.


    In other words, this piece of armor got stronger the more it was attacked.


    This effect was broken.


    Having an offensive and defensive soul armament like this made Bai Yunfei feel almost afraid of Li Fenghai. It was fortunate that he hadn¡¯t the opportunity to sample the devastating effects of both soul armaments when they fought. Had he been ¡®fortunate¡¯ enough, then the battle might¡¯ve gone in ways Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t accounted for.


    Hypothetically speaking, his armor might¡¯ve been able to ward off the black longsword if its effect activated. But there¡¯d be no way his Fire-tipped Spear would¡¯ve been able to pierce through this piece of armor.


    If his battle with Li Fenghai hadn¡¯t taken place in the Core World, Bai Yunfei¡¯s victory would most definitely be left up to debate¡­


    Shivering a little at the thought, Bai Yunfei forced himself to think about upgrading the armor.


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 4500


    Additional Defense: 2000


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: When an attack is blocked, convert and add the amount blocked to one''s defenses for 1 minute. Amount converted is dependent when attacked and can be stacked. When stacked, the next stack cannot exceed 30% of the armor''s defenses.


    +10 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, creating a devouring whirlpool of darkness that negates any elemental attack directed towards the user.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 250 Soulpoints


    Glee appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes once again when he saw the added effect, ¡°Negate an elemental attack!? There are no other restrictions, so¡­does that mean it can negate any type of elemental attack?!


    This was an obscenely powerful effect when put into application. The effect said he could negate any type of elemental attack aimed at him, so didn¡¯t that mean he could negate even the Dual Dragon Burst if it was aimed at him?! The wording had ¡®directed towards the user¡¯ in it, so that probably meant elemental attacks with an area of effect range would probably not be able to be negated.


    The consumption of soulforce for this type of effect was probably heavy, but he could always test it out on a later date to see just how heavy the consumption was anyhow.


    Needless to say, Bai Yunfei would be retiring the gold-type armor he was wearing before in favor for this one.


    ¡­¡­


    Just these two soul armaments from Li Fenghai were enough to give Bai Yunfei a great deal of joy. Very much in a happy state now, Bai Yunfei took a small break to recover some of his soulforce.


    While he rested, he continued to look through Li Fenghai¡¯s space ring.


    Something caught his eye as he looked through the contents of the ring. Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei withdrew a long dark-red piece of chains into his hands.


    ¡°These are¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered in slight surprise before using the Upgrade Technique to look at the stats.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Attack: 3800


    Equipment Effect: Drain up to 15 soulpoints per second of any constricted target (Two at the most).


    (Amount is determinant on the difference in strength between user and target)


    Amount of soulforce drained cannot exceed total soulforce reserves.


    Upgrade Requirement: 230 Soulpoints


    ¡°The Devouring Chains!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed at once as soon as he saw the stats.


    These chains were almost identical to the ones he got from Wu Shang when the two fought west from the Capital! But this one was a lot more powerful than the other one!


    Waving his left hand, Bai Yunfei took out the Devouring Chains he got that time.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 3800


    Additional Attack: 1500


    Soul Compatibility: 35%


    Equipment Effect: Drain up to 10 soulpoints per second of any constricted target (One at the most).


    (Amount is determinant on the difference in strength between user and target)


    Amount of soulforce drained cannot exceed total soulforce reserves.


    +10 Additional Effect: Add an additional target that can be drained.


    Increase the amount of soulpoints drained per second to 15.


    Targets lose additional soulforce equivalent to 50% of their soulforce drained when breaking free.


    Upgrade Requirement: 180 Soulpoints


    This was very clearly a low-heaven tier version of the Devouring Chains and was inferior to the one Li Fenghai had. Even as a +10 equipment, it was almost weaker than Li Fenghai¡¯s unupgraded Devouring Chains.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­more than just one Devouring Chains! Does that mean every important person in the Soul Refining School has one?? That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Comparing the two chains in front of him left Bai Yunfei breathless. The effect of the Devouring Chains was already astounding, but the fact that there was a second one was even more so. Could soul armaments be ¡®mass-produced¡¯?! Wasn¡¯t that just preposterous?!


    ¡­¡­


    Gathering his thoughts once more, Bai Yunfei decided to wait and see for when the second Devouring Chains was upgraded to +10.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 3800


    Additional Attack: 1800


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: Drain up to 15 soulpoints per second of any constricted target (Two at the most).


    (Amount is determinant on the difference in strength between user and target)


    Amount of soulforce drained cannot exceed total soulforce reserves.


    +10 Additional Effect: Drain additional soulforce until contact is broken.


    Opponent cannot recover soulforce for 1 minute after breaking free.


    Upgrade Requirement: 230 Soulpoints

 Chapter 872: Even More Equipment and a Strange Crystal

    The second Devouring Chains¡¯ additional effect wasn¡¯t very similar to the first one, but it had the ability to do even more damage and seal off the person¡¯s soulforce for an entire minute. This could be a potentially great advantage if used right.


    ¡°I should be able to get some good results if I use both Devouring Chains at the same time¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered to himself before storing the two Devouring Chains away.


    The following soul armaments afterward were of valuable worth to Bai Yunfei since they were accessories¡ªa relatively more rare type of loot for him.


    And when he upgraded them, he was pleased to see the stats.


    For the ashen-brown ring:


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +800 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +400 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: Increase perception by 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Reveal anything hidden within a kilometer for 10 seconds in exchange for 5% of current soulforce reserves.


    Can increase range of perimeter by 100 meters in exchange for 1% of soulforce.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    This accessory probably would¡¯ve qualified as a heaven-tier based on the fact that it had an equipment effect. But its additional effect was something that could completely decimate anyone adept in hiding. With this, all Bai Yunfei had to do to combat any potential ambushers was to use a bit of his soulforce.


    As special as the ring¡¯s effects were, Bai Yunfei could only choose to wear one ring per hand at a time. His right hand was wearing the Violet Soul Ring, and his left hand wearing another ring that protected against soul attacks a little bit. Between the Violet Soul Ring and the other ring, Bai Yunfei decided to swap the latter for the new ring.


    As for a name, Bai Yunfei decided to give this ring the name of ¡®Revealer Ring¡¯.


    ¡­¡­


    The other soul armament was a bracelet.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Wood


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attribute: +450 Strength


    Additional Attribute: +220 Strength


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: Increase healing rate by 15%


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase healing rate by 10% for every time 10% of vitality is lost. When user is in a near-death state (Under 10% vitality), increase healing rate by 200%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Soul armaments that were in the form of accessories were relatively rare compared to other forms of soul armaments. When it came to heaven-tier soul armaments, the number of accessories were even less in amount. Even a powerful Soul King like Li Fenghai had only accessories that were of the earth-tier. This bracelet was a mid-earth tier soul armament, but the effect was very powerful; arguably why Li Fenghai was wearing it, to begin with.


    The grade of a soul armament wasn¡¯t the most important thing. Its attributes and effects had to be paid attention to as well.


    And the additional effect of the bracelet was quite decent. Bai Yunfei was already wearing the Charm Bracelet on his left hand, so he took off the bracelet that boosted the strength of fire-type attacks from his right hand in favor for this one.


    He would later call this bracelet the Vitality Bracelet.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Now that he was done looking at all of Li Fenghai¡¯s equipment, Bai Yunfei started to look through the rare herbs and minerals he had.


    Something caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s eye. Waving his right hand, he took out a small object the size of a goose egg.


    It was a crystal, but not one Bai Yunfei was familiar with. It had properties similar to that of jade and gold, but it was neither at the same time. Its entire body was pure and transparent and yet it shined a faint blood-red color. Even more strange was the fact that there was a dense glow of red light at the center of the crystal. When he looked closely, Bai Yunfei noted that it looked like a small drop of blood somehow suspended and frozen in there.


    Something about the crystal was invigorating to the touch. Bai Yunfei felt his own blood start to tremble a bit the moment he took it in his hand as if the substance in the crystal was calling out to his blood.


    ¡°What a strange crystal¡­¡±


    Surprised by it, Bai Yunfei turned the crystal over to give it a closer look.


    Focusing, he called up the stats of the crystal to observe.


    Equipment Grade: Low Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Earth, Water, Darkness


    Attack: 600


    Upgrade Requirement: 90 Soulpoints


    It had nothing strange to it in its stats. Though it was a low-earth tier, the stats were similar to that of a regular piece of ore. The piece of boltgrass Bai Yunfei found before had been classified as mid-earth tier in fact.


    ¡°Is this really just a stone that¡¯s a little more strange than the others?¡± Bai Yunfei asked himself. It didn¡¯t make much sense to him. There had to be some sort of reason why a powerful Late-stage Soul King would hold onto an object like this. What kind of use did it have?


    Was it for crafting? Or was it to be used for training somehow?


    He flipped the crystal around several more times. He even asked Xiao Fang for help, but no answer was given. Having no answers, Bai Yunfei placed the crystal away into his space ring. He¡¯d ask his master when he goes back to the Crafting School.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was done looking at Li Fenghai¡¯s stuff now. Sighing in satisfaction at the loot, Bai Yunfei looked out the window.


    The morning rays of sunlight were already sprinkling the land¡ªhe had spent an entire night looking and upgrading soul armaments.


    ¡°Oh, I nearly forgot.¡±


    A random thought struck Bai Yunfei as he was stretching his back. Waving his right hand, he took out a small golden tile from his space ring.


    He took this item from Mo Ni when the latter was running away from. It was the golden tile that trapped Bai Yunfei in a golden sphere.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Defense: 5000


    Equipment Effect: Create a metal-type barrier two-meters large in exchange for soulforce.


    Barrier''s defense cannot exceed the defensive capabilities of the equipment and cannot defend against spirit-based attacks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 280 Soulpoints


    ¡°So it has 5000 points of defense!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed in surprise. This was even stronger than the piece of armor he only just got and was comparable to the +12 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal. A soul armament like this was rare, and Bai Yunfei was sure that it wouldn¡¯t lose out to even Li Fenghai¡¯s armor in use.


    A little excited by what results he could get, Bai Yunfei set about to upgrade the item straight away.


    Not long after¡­


    Upgrade SuccesfulEquipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 5000


    Additional Defense: 2300


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: Create a metal-type barrier two-meters large in exchange for soulforce.


    Barrier''s defense cannot exceed the defensive capabilities of the equipment and cannot defend against spirit-based attacks.


    +10 Additional Effect: When the barrier is broken, reflect as much attack as the equipment can handle back onto the opponent.


    Upgrade Requirement: 280 Soulpoints


    For the first time of the day, Bai Yunfei was truly speechless by the luck he was being given. All of the additional effects he had been given today were extremely special and powerful. Most of the time, all of the defensive pieces of equipment he got would generally have ¡®normal¡¯ additional effects when upgraded.


    In just defensive might alone, this golden tile was as strong as the Cataclysmic Seal when the +12 additional effect was activated. The barrier was slightly smaller and couldn¡¯t have its defenses adjusted accordingly, but it was stronger.


    But the additional effect was definitely a killer move. Any attack that could break through the barrier would most definitely be a powerful one. Just how would the opponent react if they saw their attack be bounced back onto them as soon as they just broke through the barrier?


    ¡­¡­


    Feeling happy about the golden tile, Bai Yunfei was about to put the soul armament away when all of a sudden, he froze up.


    ¡°Xiao Qi!!¡±


    He cried out before disappearing from the world. All that was left in his place was a small black stone¡­

 Chapter 873: A Chain Reaction to Breakthrough!

    Materializing in the Core World, Bai Yunfei was surprised to see just how crazy the elemental energy was behaving within the world. Looking up, he saw a dazzling ball of light almost as bright as the sun outside in the real world.


    The Core World had no concept of the sun and moon, so that meant this was no sun, this was¡­Xiao Qi!


    In his cocooned state, Xiao Qi was emitting extremely bright rays of red light so he was very much like a dazzling sun. As bright as the light was, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were gleaming with light as bright as that.


    ¡°Is¡­is he about to breakthrough?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exhaled with anticipation.


    ¡°Yes. He¡¯s about to become a Mid-stage Class Seven.¡± Xiao Fang materialized in the air next to Bai Yunfei. ¡°He was still well within the boundaries of an early-stage class seven, but he¡¯s been improving at an incredibly fast rate this entire day and night. How unbelievable is that? Yunfei, there¡¯s a lot you haven¡¯t told me still¡­according to what I saw, this sudden power-up has a lot to do with him killing those Soul Kings yesterday? Does killing give him power? That¡¯s a method of getting stronger only demons are used to, but even those require very cruel acts towards their prey for their energy. I didn¡¯t see Xiao Qi do anything out of the ordinary, what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    ¡°Oh? You saw even that?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked once in surprise. ¡°Yes, Xiao Qi has a very special ability, but it¡¯s nothing as demonic as you think it is. As long as he kills, he can gain a portion of their energy to get stronger. He¡¯s been getting stronger like this ever since he was born a few years ago¡­killing those Soul Kings definitely would¡¯ve helped him become a mid-stage class seven. I¡¯m really happy to see it¡­¡±


    ¡°So it really is because he killed those people? I¡¯ve never heard of an ability like tha¡ª¡± Xiao Fang suddenly stopped speaking. The image of Xiao Fang convulsed a bit as if it was sputtering.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± It squeaked, ¡°What was that?! ¡®Ever since he was born a few years ago¡¯? What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean what do I mean?¡± Bai Yunfei asked back incredulously. ¡°He¡¯s had this ability for the past three years since he was born. That¡¯s how he¡¯s been getting stronger.¡±


    ¡°Thr¡ªthree years?!¡± Xiao Fang¡¯s voice was nearly high enough to shatter glass. ¡°You¡¯re saying Xiao Qi is only three years old?! Three years old and he¡¯s a mid-stage class seven?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, what about it?¡±


    ¡°What about it?! What about it?! That¡¯s what you¡¯re asking?!¡± Xiao Fang cried out in exasperation as if he had just heard something stupid. ¡°A single soulbeast becoming a mid-stage class by the age of three?! And a prisma oriole no less! Even if he¡¯s a variant, there¡¯s no way he should be able to do something like that! It¡¯s only soulbeasts that are born at the class five or six levels that should have a rate of growth like that! Do you think he¡¯s some kind of mythological soulbeast?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shrugged. ¡°Mythological soulbeasts isn¡¯t my area of expertise. That¡¯s just how Xiao Qi is. There¡¯s no need to be so surprised¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Xiao Qi looked defeated (if looks were possible). It turned to look at Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Am I just behind the times now? Did being stuck for an entire millennia mess up my common sense? Having a master and his soulbeast with growths beyond normal! Imagine that! What kind of timeline am I in¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    While Xiao Fang was doubting his own common sense, Bai Yunfei continued to observe Xiao Qi.


    A slight disturbance a few minutes later prompted him to look elsewhere.


    ¡°The Core World is running out of elemental energy, pull in some more, Xiao Fang!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Snapping out from his befuddlement, Xiao Fang was quick to obey. ¡°Ah, yes, no problem!¡±


    The skies of the Core World was quickly eclipsed by a torrent of red light as Xiao Fang started to pull even more elemental energy. There was a rush of air as it was being displaced as all the energy started to gather around Xiao Qi.


    Elemental fire started to gather in the skies around Bai Yunfei. Slowly, it condensed around the bird to increase in intensity.


    Then, the sounds of rumbling thunder could be heard¡­


    ¡°Crack! Boom!!¡±


    From the highest points of the sky, a drop of thunder came crashing down onto Xiao Qi. But when the violet bolt came down on Xiao Qi, it suddenly disappeared as if sucked up!


    The bolt of lightning had been like the signal for an entire thunderstorm to start. Amidst the burning heavens, multiple bolts of lightning were started to fall near Xiao Qi.


    Then after the bolts of lightning started to descend, the area was swept up in a green whirlwind to encapsulate the fire and lightning around Xiao Qi.


    A verdant dark-green glow of light erupted from the earth next. Shooting out into the sky from the grass and trees, the green light flew straight to where Xiao Qi was and connected to him like if trying to form a connection between the bird and the earth.


    ¡°This looks just as powerful as the King¡¯s Phenomena¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered as he watched the world start to change.


    Four different colors of elemental energy were congregated around Xiao Qi now. With how rapidly Xiao Qi was taking in the energy, the outermost parts of where he was was quickly losing out on energy.


    Then, a piece of space void of any type of energy pulsated once with a strange energy before a multitude of elemental energy suddenly started to pour out of it into the Core World.


    This was Xiao Qi trying to pull in the elemental energy from the real world into the Core World to replenish the dwindling amount. The levels of illumination in the Core World brightened a bit when the stream of energy started to pour in, and even Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but feel his mouth drop open at the amount of energy coming in.


    Xiao Qi¡¯s body was practically like a black hole with how much elemental energy was pouring into his body. It never seemed like he was content with the amount of energy he was getting, and the rate in which he was taking in elemental energy was only increasing. The dormant soulforce within his body was starting to expand outside of his body to take on the form of a whirlpool to help take in an even larger amount of elemental energy for him.


    ¡­¡­


    Having been watching the entire process from beginning to end, Bai Yunfei felt himself quite speechless. Though he was watching Xiao Qi, his pupils were unfocused and glazed over for some reason. A gleam of red light covered his eyes, making it look like he was suddenly spellbound or something¡­


    ¡°Badump¡­badump¡­¡±


    The sound of something pounding within his body snapped Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. At first, he thought it was the sound of his heart, but that notion was quickly dismissed when he concentrated on it.


    It wasn¡¯t his heart that was beating, but some sort of energy inside his body¡­


    The energy poured through his entire body and spread throughout it within rapid speed. Every vein and meridian felt like it was on fire now. His essence fireseed was pulsating rapidly as if something was feeding it¡­


    Unbeknownst to him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand twitched just slightly enough to call out the Cataclysmic Seal. From inside, the fireseed in the brick floated out from it to float into his body.


    The Dual Flame Artes activated instinctively the moment when the second fireseed entered his body. Rotating around one another, the two fireseeds quickly started to pulsate with power while the companion lightningseed started to crackle around the two to give the flames a slight violet hue.


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    A nearly inaudible buzzing sound started to sound out within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. He started to tremble slightly at the sound, and his body started to glow a faint red. The longer time went on, the stronger the gleam of red became.


    By the time several seconds passed by, his entire person was almost bright enough to make it seem like he was on fire!


    And then, an inferno of intense fire sprung to life around him!


    ¡°Whooosh¡­¡±


    The elemental fire that had been gathered around Xiao Qi was abruptly pulled into a new direction all of a sudden. As if being yanked, a new stream of elemental fire started to diverge from it¡¯s original course to flow towards Bai Yunfei!


    In no time at all, Bai Yunfei was completely surrounded by a maelstrom of elemental fire!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Damn!! Really? You too now?!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s crude cursing echoed across the Core World in a fit of disbelief and annoyance.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you at least say hello or something first!? Is breaking through some kind of normal activity now?¡± It grumbled. ¡°Good thing this is the Core World, or else you wouldn¡¯t have enough energy to do this in the real world! Damn¡­really now¡­¡±


    The space in the Core World trembled as yet another crack opened up in the skies. From the other side of the crack, a stream of elemental fire came pouring out!


    It was like the Core World was being invaded by a storm of elemental fire now. One area of the Core World was being lit up by four different colors of red, violet, greenish-blue, and dark green, while the other side was being lit up almost entirely by a burning red and a very faint violet color.


    ¡°Boom!! Boom!!¡±


    After some time, two final booms echoed across the sky before two different auras spiked in intensity!


    These two auras belonged to¡­two Mid-stage Soul Kings!

 Chapter 874: The Enhancement of the Fire-tipped Spear and the Third Lifebound Armament!

    In the real world while Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were in the middle of becoming Mid-stage Soul Kings.


    The entirety of the skies of Tang Manor was a combination of four different colors of light. They weren¡¯t the only ones, the entire southeastern section of Mo City was currently the same as energy from all overflowed across the skies towards Tang Manor.


    Everyone that was awake and outside in the city was staring up at the skies now. Both soul cultivators and commoners alike were pointing at the skies and gesticulating to one another.


    They could all see that it was Tang Manor where the energy was flowing towards. The majority of people were already making their ways over, either by running or by flying soul armament, but most of these people were Soul Exalts at the very least. And there were a few people teleporting through the skies¡ªthese were the Soul Kings!


    In Tang Manor, a few key members of the family, such as Tang Zhan, were standing in shock outside in the courtyards to stare at all the elemental energy gather.


    ¡°Uncle¡­.what¡¯s going on? Is Bai Yunfei causing all of this?¡±


    Tang Jing asked Tang Qianchi about the reason why so much elemental energy was gathered here.


    ¡°I¡¯m not clear myself, but there¡¯s a crack in space where Bai Yunfei is. My soulsense can¡¯t go into that crack, but¡­ there¡¯s a few possibilities on what could be causing this much elemental energy being drawn in.


    ¡°Either it¡¯s the King¡¯s Phenomena, a heaven-tier soul armament was crafted, or¡­someone has just advanced a stage.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­which one do you think is most likely, uncle?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei was already an Early-stage Soul King when he rescued little Yun yesterday, so it can¡¯t be the King¡¯s Phenomena. And neither should it be the crafting of a heaven-tier soul armament, since one night is far too short of a time frame to craft one, and neither do I sense the key energies one would expect from that. So I would wager that¡­someone advanced a stage in their training¡­¡±


    ¡°Advanced a stage?!¡± Tang Jing repeated, ¡°Can it be Bai Yunfei? He was an Early-stage Soul King yesterday, could he have become a Mid-stage Soul King?! That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s just¡­¡±


    Tang Qianchi had no words either. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes on what was going on, and neither did the people besides him.


    ¡°Great-grandfather, can you sense what¡¯s going on? Is Bai Yunfei really advancing in a stage?¡± Extremely curious for an answer, Tang Jing asked Tang Zhan for assistance.


    Tang Zhan¡¯s eyes shined brightly as he observed the sight in front of him. ¡°There¡¯s far too much elemental energy. I cannot see what¡¯s happening beyond that spatial tear either. It¡¯ll be trouble if anyone tries to get close. We should wait until this matter resolves itself for an answer¡­¡±


    ¡°Even great grandfather can¡¯t look into that?!¡± Tang Jing¡¯s eyes were wide open in shock at the answer.


    Tang Zhan¡¯s eyebrows rose up on his face a moment later to look towards the direction of the center of the city. Like him, several others followed his gaze.


    Then someone from the crowd cried out, ¡°That¡¯s¡­lord Xuanyuan! Even the lord-mayor is here!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    While the rest of the city was in a stir, back in the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi¡¯s aura exploded to the levels of a Mid-stage Soul King at the same time, but the amount of elemental energy coming into the Core World wasn¡¯t stopping just yet. Less and less was starting to pour in, but there was still a substantial amount coming through.


    Soon, Bai Yunfei came to a point in his advancement where he no longer needed any more elemental fire. The flames in the air quickly started to disperse now that they had nowhere to go, and the maelstrom of fire around Bai Yunfei was now transformed into a small ball to obscure Bai Yunfei from sight.


    On the other side, Xiao Qi was still taking in as much as the elemental energy the Core World had to offer. His aura was still climbing even after reaching the levels of a mid-stage class seven. Killing all those Soul Kings had clearly given him a lot more benefit than initially expected. Despite it being impossible for Xiao Qi to jump straight to the late-stage level, the bird had still built up a decent amount of progress towards it.


    Minutes passed before the ball of fire Bai Yunfei was in trembled once before starting to shrink in on itself.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure could soon be seen behind the flames, but he wasn¡¯t alone. Something else was floating up in front of him, the Fire-tipped Spear.


    It looked different than before too. It was pulsating a faint red light while a stream of fire encircled it almost like if a dragon was trying to coil around it. Even more importantly was the aura radiating from the Fire-tipped Spear. It didn¡¯t feel like an ¡®object¡¯ that was without life, something about it felt¡­alive!


    Bai Yunfei looked ecstatic at the Fire-tipped Spear. He wasn¡¯t even paying attention to the fact that he was a Mid-stage Soul King. All he was paying attention to was the Fire-tipped Spear in front of him.


    Raising his right hand up to touch the Fire-tipped Spear, he watched as it spun around Bai Yunfei as if it was alive before finally floating back to his hand.


    When the spear touched his hand, the stats of it immediately appeared in his head.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 2300


    Additional Attack: 5000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to create an explosion with an attack of 150% of this equipment''s attack when stabbing.


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: Summon two doppelgangers with strength equivalent to 70% of the user''s total strength for up to 3 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +13 Additional Effect: Expend 40% of the user''s soulforce to ignore any one elemental-based defense upon the next strike.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 130 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The curls of Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips grew even wider as he read the stats. Then, he started to laugh out loud.


    ¡°Haha!! A lifebound armament! Finally, the Fire-tipped Spear is a lifebound armament! This¡­this is great!!¡±


    Yes. The Fire-tipped Spear had finally reached 100% soul compatibility with Bai Yunfei. In other words, it was now just as compatible with him as the Cataclysmic Seal or Soul Sentinel Scarf to become his third lifebound armament!


    Lifebound armaments are soul armaments that reached the highest level of compatibility with their users. For soul cultivators who were Soul Kings at the very least, they could use the power of their soul to try and craft or refine a soul armament into a soulbound armament. It wasn¡¯t a process as special or simplistic as the ones a crafter would use, but it still served its purpose. Lifebound armaments were something only those from the Crafting School would be able to make.


    The process of crafting a lifebound armament required one to be a Soul King. It wasn¡¯t limited to that one moment when one broke through to become a Soul King, but it was generally the easiest time. The soul would undergo a great boost in strength during the breakthrough and so the chances of successfully crafting something was much much higher then.


    Bai Yunfei had actually planned on trying to make the Fire-tipped Spear into a lifebound armament when he became a Soul King beforehand. He knew that one of the criteria was to have the Fire-tipped Spear reach max compatibility with him, but it was only 90% the last time he checked, Barring the Cataclysmic Seal and Soul Sentinel Scarf, the Fire-tipped Spear was the next soul armament with the highest level of compatibility with him. The next soul armament would be the Critical Gloves with 86% compatibility. Both items were what he used most to fight, but it seemed only natural that the Fire-tipped Spear would be the first to gain the chance.


    His plans were rushed a bit due to the events with Tang Xinyun¡¯s kidnapping. When he undid the seal for Realm Accretion to breakthrough and become a Soul King, Bai Yunfei tried to refine the Fire-tipped Spear while the King¡¯s Phenomena blocked him from sight. In the end, he was far too rushed to do a good job at it, and the Fire-tipped Spear stopped just shy of the goal at 99%.


    Xiao Qi becoming a mid-stage class seven soulbeast affected Bai Yunfei¡¯s growth due to the bond they had, allowing him to become a Mid-stage Soul King. And in that moment of advancement, the elemental fire around his person was powerful enough to finish the job on the Fire-tipped Spear.


    For the most part, crafting a lifebound armament outside the time period of breaking through to become a Soul King was an improbable event. But for Bai Yunfei, the ¡®improbable¡¯ was merely just a guideline for Bai Yunfei to be exempted from.


    Today was a repeat of when Bai Yunfei became a soul Sprite. During that time, the Fire-tipped Spear was elevated a tier in grade, and now the same thing was happening when he became a Mid-stage Soul King!


    From a high-earth tier to a low-heaven! And not only was its attack stronger by several times now, but its additional effect was also a lot stronger!


    It had started out as a low-earth tier when it was first given to Bai Yunfei. Following him throughout all this time, the Fire-tipped Spear had grown stronger whenever Bai Yunfei grew stronger. The change throughout the journey was almost magical with how it became so powerful!

 Chapter 875: Patriarch Tang

    ¡°Lord Xuanyuan, you came here too, I see.¡±


    Tang Zhan tipped his head downwards to nod at one of the incoming groups of people.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯d be impossible for me not to come for something like this¡­the Tang has gained one more Mid-stage Soul King I see, you¡¯ve my congratulations¡­


    The newcomer was an elderly man in gold robes and gray beard. His face was wrinkled, but the expression on it was of solemn dignity. At a glance, the elder looked very kind but also powerful with a strong amount of pressure radiating from his person to a significant enough degree that even Early-stage Soul Kings such as Tang Qianchi dared not to look at him in the eyes.


    He was the lord-mayor of Mo City, Xuanyuan Hong. He was also known as Marquis Xuanyuan and was younger than Tang Zhan enough to be considered to be of the younger generation. His strength was of relatively equal levels to Tang Zhan though and was thus considered with him to be equals as a genius.


    By his side were a few other elders from the Tianhun School. They were there to protect and safeguard Mo City and were of equal strengths to Tang Qianchi. To his right was a handsome young man whose feet were glowing a bright light, symbolizing that he wasn¡¯t a Soul King but a Soul Exalt. Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve recognized this man if he saw him. This was the one he once met a long time ago, Xuanyuan Jie, the son of the lord-mayor.


    ¡°You¡¯re mistaken, lord Xuanyuan. The one who¡¯s advancing this time isn¡¯t from the Tang¡­¡± Tang Zhan had a friendly smile on his face as he regarded the younger male as he would with someone else from his generation.


    ¡°Oh? An outsider?¡± Xuanyuan Hong was taken aback, ¡°Who is it then?¡±


    ¡°A student of the Crafting School, his name is Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?¡± An eyebrow rose up on Xuanyuan Hong¡¯s face, ¡°The very same one from the rumors? Why¡¯s he advancing here in your home?¡±


    Then a look of shock crossed his face, ¡°One moment now¡­Bai Yunfei?! If my memory serves me correctly, that Bai Yunfei was only a Soul Exalt when he crafted that heaven-tier soul armament a small while ago. Are you saying he¡¯s the one advancing? This is the aura of a Mid-stage Soul King, how could that possibly be Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    ¡°Truth be told,¡± The smile on Tang Zhan¡¯s face widened, ¡°I couldn¡¯t believe it myself. But that is what it is. This Bai Yunfei¡­is not your ordinary youngster¡­each and everything he has done so far has been hard to believe in.¡±


    ¡°It really is him?¡± Xuanyuan Hong stared off towards where the stream of elemental energy was being sucked into the spatial tear. ¡°He¡¯s made his name a while ago, and now he¡¯s becoming a Mid-stage Soul King. This has to be the crowning achievement for the most talented youngster of the next generation. This Bai Yunfei¡­just how is he capable of all these things?¡±


    ¡°The elemental fire is decreasing!!¡±


    Someone who had been watching the spectacle closely called out. Everyone else turned to verify the scene for themselves.


    Indeed, the stream of elemental fire was distinctively lesser than before, but it was still at a level of output comparable to the other three streams of energy.


    ¡°It¡¯s only lessening? Is he not done advancing? What are the other three elements still converging for?¡±


    Several people noticed that something was amiss. The elemental fire might¡¯ve been decreasing, but the other elements were still going strong.


    Several of the more stronger figures, such as Tang Zhan, perked up as if they had suddenly realized something.


    ¡°Yan Lin, I remember¡­Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbeast bird had an affinity for fire, thunder, wind, and wood, correct?¡±


    Tang Wei had been watching the spectacle as well, though he wasn¡¯t standing with Tang Zhan or any of the other Tang members. He and Yan Lin were both standing on top of a small roof to watch the streams of energy go by.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Yan Lin nodded a little absent-mindedly. ¡°So you noticed it too? It¡¯s not just Bai Yunfei that¡¯s advancing. The earlier burst of elemental energy was far too much for just one person. That¡­soulbeast partner of Bai Yunfei has to be advancing as well!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°How¡­noisy.¡±


    As everyone was chattering with one another about the reasons why there was still so much elemental energy in the area, the faint voice of an elderly sounded spoke out over the entire courtyard.


    It was practically a whisper, but not a single person in the courtyard could say they didn¡¯t hear it. Several people froze up at once, especially the Soul Kings who looked like they had suddenly been dunked in cold ice. All of the Soul Kings looked extremely shocked in fact!


    ¡°Father!!¡± Even Tang Zhan himself spoke out in shock.


    Xuanyuan Hong¡¯s eyes were wide open in astonishment. Respectfully, he spoke, ¡°Pa¡ªpatriarch Tang¡­¡±


    Someone that even Xuanyuan was speaking so reverently to? Who was this person?


    And Tang Zhan called him ¡®father¡¯...was this Tang Xinyun¡¯s great great grandfather then?!


    ¡°Be at ease. Leave this place.¡±


    The elderly voice spoke again before quickly ordering everyone to leave.


    ¡°Yes, father.¡±


    ¡°As you wish!¡±


    Tang Zhan and Xuanyuan Hong bowed at once. Revealing looks of fearful respect, the two of them quickly moved to obey.


    Straight away, the two started to have everyone in the courtyard disassemble from the area. And in no time at all, the courtyard was nice and quiet with nobody there.


    In another section of Tang Manor stood a small quiet room with only a single candle flickering. Kneeling by the candle¡¯s side was an elderly figure who was as shriveled and dried up as wood. Despite the relative weakness of his physique, his eyes were shining brightly with an intensity very few men could dare look at.


    He looked as though he had only just woken up from a meditational slumber but was still training a bit. There was a hint of surprise in his eyes from when he was using his soulsense to scan what was going on in Bai Yunfei¡¯s room.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­Zi Jin has a new disciple? He¡¯s a young one and already a Mid-stage Soul King. Fate favors him, how remarkable¡­¡±


    He murmured slowly to himself. ¡°He¡¯s in a different dimension? The only object capable of taking in elemental energy in a new dimension like this would be¡­the Regalia ¡®Core Stone¡¯. Has it returned to this world after a millennia of disappearance? This youngster has a priceless future ahead of him¡­


    ¡°The Crafting School has new golden era coming to them if a youth like this is guiding them. I recall Qianlei saying before he and little Yun have feelings for one another? A wonderful thing¡­¡±


    Nothing else was spoken after that. The elder closed his eyes and was soon back in a meditational trance.


    ¡­¡­


    Inside the Core World.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A chirp resonated across the Core World loud enough to snap Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention away from the Fire-tipped Spear.


    ¡°Is he done?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. Collecting the Fire-tipped Spear, he flew up into the skies to take a closer look.


    The Core World was now in a state where the elemental energy was a lot more sparse compared to before. Only a scant few wisps of energy remained.


    A single bird was flying through the skies now, its feathers glowing the colors of the rainbow so that it looked like some kind of divine bird.


    ¡°Haha, this¡­this feels great!!¡± Xiao Qi chirped. Flapping his wings, he took off in a burst of wind to reach where Bai Yunfei was. ¡°Haha! Yunfei, I¡¯m a mid-stage class seven now!¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Yeah, good job.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Yunfei, you advanced too?! A Mid-stage Soul King?!¡± Xiao Qi¡¯s wings flapped excitedly.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s thanks to you that I became one.¡±


    ¡°Haha!! That¡¯s great! We¡¯re even stronger now! We don¡¯t have to worry about any bad guys anymore! Hehe, take one down and knock them around! Let them see what it means to anger us! They won¡¯t be bullying little ol¡¯ me!!¡±


    The excitement Xiao Qi was showing had absolutely none of the ¡®grace¡¯ that was expected from a mid-stage class seven soulbeast. Xiao Qi was flapping so excitedly that the idiom ¡®hands dance and feet trip¡¯ felt so perfect in describing him.


    Bai Yunfei laughed. Xiao Qi was enjoying himself to such a great degree, and Bai Yunfei felt happy just watching him. If the path from a mid-stage to late-stage class seven soulbeast could be divvied up into ten sections, then Bai Yunfei would have to wager that Xiao Qi was at the third section. This was much better than himself who was at the first section.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei realized something was amiss, ¡°Xiao Qi, why haven¡¯t you¡­humanized yet? Are you still not capable of it?¡±


    Xiao Qi stopped flapping his wings to shake his head. ¡°That¡­well, hehe. It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t, but I gave up the chance to. I used that chance to get stronger instead.¡±


    ¡°Gave up?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out, ¡°Why?¡±


    Most soulbeasts were capable of humanizing upon reaching the class seven level besides the ones with very low amounts of intelligence. The ability to humanize required a certain amount of energy, however.


    Take two soulbeasts identical in strength, for example.


    If one soulbeast wasn¡¯t interested in humanizing while the second did, the first soulbeast would be stronger than the second while only being able to train in its soulbeast form.


    But Bai Yunfei knew just how much Xiao Qi wanted to humanize. He had been so depressed after he found out he couldn¡¯t humanize the first time when he became a class seven soulbeast.


    So to hear that Xiao Qi gave up on the chance to humanize was definitely a shocker.


    A slightly embarrassed look appeared on Xiao Qi¡¯s face. His right wing scratched at the back of its head as if hide his embarrassment.


    ¡°Well¡­I actually promised Xiao Bai that I¡¯d wait for her to humanize first when she became a class seven¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was at a loss for words.

 Chapter 876: A Secret?

    All was back to normal in the outside world by the time Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi exited from the Core World into the real world. Neither of the two knew just how many people their little implosion of energy had brought to the courtyards the night before.


    The first one to greet the two was Long Lan who came out from his room almost at the same exact time the two came out from the Core World. Impatiently, he asked, ¡°Yunfei, Xiao Qi, have you two¡­advanced a stage?¡±


    Xiao Qi nodded his head excitedly on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Obviously, hehe¡­I¡¯m a mid-stage class seven now. Xiao Lan¡­you¡¯re always going to be one step behind me!¡±


    The earlier part of Xiao Qi¡¯s statement excited Long Lan when he heard it, but the later half deflated that excitement with just about the same abruptness of a needle poking a balloon apart.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a freak of nature like you. Your way of getting stronger is a cheat!¡±


    ¡°Hah! So what? I¡¯m probably the only one in this world with this ¡®cheat¡¯, that just means I¡¯m the king!¡± Xiao Qi crowed with obvious satisfaction in his ¡®superiority¡¯.


    Not in the mood to argue with the bird, Long Lan turned his attention to Bai Yunfei instead. ¡°You and Xiao Qi¡¯s advancement yesterday night brought a lot of attention. I counted at least a dozen Soul Kings, and then¡­a single person had them all back away¡­¡±


    ¡°A single person? What do you mean by that?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was intrigued by what Long Lan had said.


    ¡°He said the courtyard was too noisy and had them all go away¡­I recall hearing Tang Xinyun¡¯s grandfather calling him ¡®father¡¯¡­¡± Long Lan had a bit of a fearful light in his eyes, ¡°He was¡­strong¡­I could tell even if he only spoke a few words! Far stronger than anyone else, even my master!¡±


    ¡°Even stronger than Long Zhen?! Then¡­isn¡¯t that a Soul Emperor?! Tang Zhan¡¯s father would be¡­.Tang Xinyun¡¯s great-grandfather then, the true patriarch of the Tang. If he was looking at what happened yesterday, then there¡¯s a chance he might¡¯ve found out about the Core World¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked up at the sky as he pondered to himself. It was already noon. Now, he figured, would be as good of a time to go see how Tang Xinyun was doing as any other.


    A loud trill from Xiao Qi interrupted Bai Yunfei from his thoughts then.


    ¡°Xiao Bai!¡±


    A streak of white light flew out from one of the nearby courtyards. A few equally happy trills came out from the white streak of light as well.


    Bai Yunfei was slightly surprised at first, but he was quick to realize what was going on. A moment after, a faint-blue streak of light came out from the same courtyard.


    It was Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Xinyun! You¡¯re up?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried happily as he drew closer to her.


    ¡°Ah, yes. Earlier this morning. They said you were training, so I decided to wait for you here.¡± Tang Xinyun nodded her head. She looked a little haggard still, but was otherwise overjoyed to see Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°How do you feel? Do you feel off anywhere?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, concerned for Tang Xinyun¡¯s wellbeing. He was already leading Tang Xinyun by hand to a nearby table to sit down.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, nothing to worry about. I just need to rest for a few days more.¡± The corners to her lips curled upwards and her cheeks flushed a slight red hue, but she never pulled her hand away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s.


    ¡°Yunfei, let me into the Core World. I¡¯d like to train in there.¡±


    Long Lan¡¯s voice spoke out to Bai Yunfei. Something Xiao Qi said earlier must¡¯ve struck a nerve in Long Lan, as he looked far more determined than usually to train.


    He was also, of course, not so willing to stick around and disturb Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun during their time alone.


    ¡°Ah, alright. There¡¯s a lot of primal stones in here, use as much as you¡¯d like.¡± Bai Yunfei handed a space ring over to Long Lan. In the ring contained a multitude of primal stones and even the soulgems of the three class seven soulbeasts killed a while ago. Surely, Long Lan would experience a great deal of strength if he were to take in their energy.


    Taking the ring, Long Lan nodded once to Bai Yunfei before he disappeared away from sight.


    ¡°Ah¡ªYunfei, where¡­¡± Tang Xinyun gave a start at the sight.


    He smiled. ¡°He¡¯s gone into the Core World in here.¡± Unhooking the Core World from around his neck, Bai Yunfei let Tang Xinyun take a look at it.


    ¡°In here? Core World?¡±


    The smile Bai Yunfei had on his face deepened. The hand he had still holding onto Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand tightened. ¡°Here, don¡¯t fight this. You¡¯ll know when you go in it.¡±


    ¡°What are y¡ª¡±


    A strange bubble of energy wrapped around her person before she could finish her sentence. Then the next thing she knew, the entire world had gone into a blur¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Some time later, there was another small flash of light as Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun reappeared by the stone table in the real world.


    There was a faint smile on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face and a shocked look on Tang Xinyun¡¯s. She looked as though she had just experienced something she couldn¡¯t comprehend. ¡°The¡­Core Stone? The Core World? When¡­when did you get a powerful Regalia like this?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s something I picked up while in the Southward River Province¡­¡± Bai Yunfei replied. Starting from when they first parted at Formagua City, Bai Yunfei retold his tale to Tang Xinyun bit by bit. There was nothing he wanted to hide, and nothing he was willing to hide from her.


    Tang Xinyun was enthralled by his story. Even when Bai Yunfei told her of what happened the night before, she looked practically spellbound by everything.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­you¡¯re really too rash. How could you undo the Realm Accretion seal like that? It would have let you become a Late-stage Soul King, and now the chance is gone¡­¡±


    The very first thing she said to Bai Yunfei was to rebuke him on undoing the seal. But there was a grateful light in her eyes even as she did.


    ¡°What good was the chance given the circumstances? I¡¯d never feel at ease if I tried to run away.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed at first, but his eyes gained a steel edge to them. ¡°Anyone that hurts you will have to pay for it! It¡¯s a shame that Mo Ni managed to escape. I won¡¯t let him get away the next time we meet!¡±


    Seeing that Tang Xinyun still looked unconvinced, Bai Yunfei gave her a reassuring smile. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not really all that bad. Look here; I may have undone the seal, but look at how many Soul Kings I killed and all the soul armaments and soul skills I got. Xiao Qi was able to become a mid-stage class seven soulbeast, and I was able to become a Mid-stage Soul King. If anything, I¡¯d like to think I came out on top, all things considered!¡±


    He blinked once, as if suddenly remembering something. ¡°That reminds me, this is for you, Xinyun.¡±


    He shook his right hand once to take out a small gold tile into his hand.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Tang Xinyun took the item into her hand, confused by what she was holding.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the ¡®spoils¡¯ I got. A defensive-type soul armament that I managed to upgrade to being as strong as a high-heaven tier. It can create a very strong barrier. You should be safe whenever you use it.¡± Bai Yunfei told her.


    ¡°A high-heaven tier defensive-type soul armament?!¡± Tang Xinyun cried out with a re-evaluating eye onto the golden tile in her hand.


    As if knowing what she was thinking about, Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°If you¡¯re thinking if I¡¯m the one that needs it, then stop. I¡¯ve a lot of them already. Take the gold tile, It¡¯ll make me feel better.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± The staunch look of determination in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes convinced her. Nodding her head, she took the golden tile and stored it away.


    ¡°Yunfei, I heard aunty Zhao say that you helped cure mother again¡­I¡­really, thank you¡­¡±


    For a while, nothing was spoken before Tang Xinyun began to thank him in earnest.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be silly, what¡¯s the point thanking me for?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°She¡¯s your mother, so of course she¡¯d be close to me too. Doing things like this should be expected, not something to be thanked over.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A teary sheen of mist covered Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes. Her hands held Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands tightly¡ªthough she was unaware of it¡ªand her head bent slightly towards the side to rest on his shoulder.


    Nothing was said between them, the two preferring to listen to each other¡¯s heartbeats rather than their voices.


    In Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, the thoughts of what he was having before he came here resurfaced in his mind. Thoughts about pitching his idea of marriage with Tang Xinyun to her father.


    ¡°Xinyun, I think I heard something about your father having some business today? Where has he gone? And when will he be back?¡±


    He asked gently. Once Tang Qianlei returned and auntie Xue was fully cured, Bai Yunfei was prepared to formally ask for permission.


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s person trembled a bit the moment when he asked about her father. Sensing something was off, he turned his head towards her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    She stood up. There was a strange look on her face, as if she was hesitating about something.


    Gathering up what courage she had in her, she spoke.


    ¡°Yunfei, there¡¯s¡­something I¡¯ve been keeping from you¡­¡±


    ¡°Keeping from me?¡± Bai Yunfei looked surprised. ¡°What is it?¡±

 Chapter 877: Betrothment

    ¡°My father, actually¡­¡± Tang Xinyun began to speak, ¡°is out for a trip to the Swallow Province¡­¡±


    ¡°The Swallow Province?¡± Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow. He had heard this province not too long ago, so the name was still fresh on his mind. ¡°What is he doing there?¡±


    ¡°He¡­he¡¯s gone to¡­¡± Her voice was beginning to grow dimmer now, and Tang Xinyun bent her head down to avoid Bai Yunfei¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°He¡¯s gone to¡­cancel my betrothment.¡±


    ¡°Betrothment? What betrothment?¡±


    Tang Xinyun was starting to look anxious now. Fearful that Bai Yunfei would jump to an unwanted conclusion, she started to speak a little faster, ¡°I¡­when I was born, my father had me betrothed to the son of a friend in the Swallow Province¡­our families¡­have been friends for a very long time, especially my father and their head of house. Since their son was only a little older than I was, the two decided to connect the families together through marriage¡­it was never officialized and not talked about for years after. But then their family started to send wedding gifts all of a sudden and asked us to officialize the betrothment¡­My father knows about us, so he¡¯s going to the Swallow Province to annul the betrothment¡­¡±


    She was looking more and more timid by the second, even as she tried her best to explain the situation to Bai Yunfei. She still wasn¡¯t brave enough to look up and see what kind of expression Bai Yunfei had.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for not telling you about this earlier, Yunfei¡­I only heard about this betrothment once when I was very young, but it was never brought up again. I never thought about it, and I would never agree to it. I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m afraid¡­that you¡¯d misunderstand¡­so I never mentioned it. Please don¡¯t be any worse of things¡­please? I¡¯m¡­¡±


    The fact that Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t said a single word yet was making her extremely nervous. She was afraid that he was angry. So anxious was she over the situation that she started to tear up in the eyes like a child caught misbehaving.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei took action straight away. Giving her a reassuring smile, he lifted a finger to brush at the gathering tears under her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s all this? Don¡¯t start crying now, Xinyun. Aunty Xue would think I¡¯m mistreating you! Don¡¯t let auntie Zhao see you either, she¡¯d definitely tear me apart if she sees you like this¡­¡±


    This wasn¡¯t a reaction Tang Xinyun was ready for. A little mystified, she looked up, ¡°Aren¡¯t¡­aren¡¯t you angry, Yunfei?¡± She asked gingerly.


    ¡°Angry?¡± Came the response. ¡°Why would I be?¡±


    ¡°I¡­because I never mentioned this before¡­?¡±


    ¡°What kind of betrothment is it if you never had any say in it? It doesn¡¯t count. You said so yourself you wouldn¡¯t agree to it, so it¡¯s nothing significant in my eyes.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Who cares about that betrothment? I only know that you¡¯re mine now. Does anyone really think a strange betrothment like that is going to take you away from me? No way!¡±


    Tang Xinyun couldn¡¯t help but giggle at the way Bai Yunfei was talking now. All of her worries were vanishing seemingly into thin air like smoke. The only thing left behind on her face was a hint of blush when she realized what else Bai Yunfei had said. ¡°What¡­what do you mean, ¡®yours¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you? Well, you¡¯ll soon be, haha¡­¡± Chuckled Bai Yunfei. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say so yourself? If your father is going to cancel the betrothment, then there¡¯s nothing to worry about. And why else would he cancel it if not out of consideration for the two of us? I¡¯ll be asking your father for your hand in marriage when he comes back. You¡¯ll be ¡®mine¡¯ then!¡±


    ¡°I¡ªyou¡ª¡± She was sputtering now to stare at Bai Yunfei with wide-open eyes.


    ¡°What? Do you not want to?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, his face betraying a flash of hurt.


    Like an apple, the red hue on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face was far more intense than before.


    ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t say that¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha!!¡±


    Roaring with laughter, Bai Yunfei swept Tang Xinyun up into his arms for a tight embrace.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Tang Xinyun had only a brief moment to give a small yelp of surprise but her lips were met with Bai Yunfei¡¯s own¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Perhaps it was because no one wanted to disturb Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, but no one came to disturb them for a long while. Even Xiao Bai and Xiao Qi were off playing elsewhere, leaving the two alone to enjoy a nice conversation with one another.


    Until a series of footsteps came running up to the doors of the courtyard.


    ¡°Young miss! Young miss!! Lady Xue is awake!!¡±


    The loud Zhao Mancha came running into the courtyard shortly after her voice made it there. Throwing open the doors, she was immediately greeted with the sight of Tang Xinyun being held very close to Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Realizing the situation she was in, Tang Xinyun leapt away from Bai Yunfei like a frightened rabbit with a scarlet face.


    Bai Yunfei stood up in turn to give Zhao Mancha an embarrassed smile. ¡°Auntie Zhao.¡±


    ¡°Auntie Zhao, you said mother is awake?!¡± Tang Xinyun cried out.


    ¡°Ah¡ªyes.¡± Zhao Mancha replied a half-beat slower than usual; she was clearly a little surprised by the sight earlier. ¡°Please, come quickly, young miss.¡±


    ¡°Aunty Xue is awake? That¡¯s great! Let¡¯s go, Yun!¡±


    Brightening up in the face, Bai Yunfei took Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand into his and began to stride for the courtyard her mother was in.


    ¡°Ai¡­¡± Zhao Mancha watched as the two youths paced away from her with a silent look. After a while, she sighed and shook her head with a smile before following after them.


    Plenty of people had already gathered at the courtyard Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother was in by the time they arrived there. Tang Jing and Tang Wei, for example, were there with a few other elders. Pan Zhaoqi, the hired elder there to concoct medicine for her was there as well with a hand clamped on the woman¡¯s wrist to see how her body was doing.


    The arrival of Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were met with the eyes of Tang Jing and Tang Wei at once. The two flashed the former a small look, their eyes showing just a bit of shock when they felt his aura.


    ¡°Eldest brother, third brother.¡±


    Tang Xinyun greeted her two brothers politely before running urgently for her mother¡¯s bedside.


    Bai Yunfei nodded at the two as well before following after Tang Xinyun. He stopped a step behind her just in time to see Pan Zhaoqi bring his hand back.


    ¡°Senior Pan,¡± Bai Yunfei whispered, ¡°How is aunty Xue?¡±


    Pan Zhaoqi gave Bai Yunfei a small wince at the appellation. ¡°Bai¡­my friend, there¡¯s no need to call me ¡®senior¡¯. Please¡­call me ¡®elder¡¯ Pan.¡±


    It was only yesterday Pan Zhaoqi remembered Bai Yunfei being a Soul Exalt, or someone of the ¡®next generation¡¯. But the Bai Yunfei of today was a Mid-stage Soul King, which meant Bai Yunfei was even stronger than he was. How was wrong would it be to have Bai Yunfei call him ¡®senior¡¯ then?


    ¡°Elder Pan,¡± Bai Yunfei continued, ¡°Please relay to me aunty Xue¡¯s condition, how is she?¡±


    ¡°Please rest assured, Bai, my friend. Miss Tang is far healthier than she was yesterday. The medicinal immortal grass you gave her worked wonders far beyond what I anticipated. The poison might not be fully gone, but it won¡¯t be long before she¡¯ll make a full recovery.¡±


    There was a hint of disbelief in his voice. He was still in shock at the wonders of the medicinal immortal grass in truth. Never had he seen something so utterly effective on a poison such as this before.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t just the medicinal immortal grass that helped Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother. The Purification Earring did a great deal of work as well so that the poison within Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother wouldn¡¯t grow any stronger. With the two, the poison would be purified bit by bit.


    Tang Xinyun was already seated by the bedside while Bai Yunfei spoke with Pan Zhaoqi. Holding her mother¡¯s hand with her own, Tang Xinyun started to speak softly, ¡°Mother, can you hear me? You¡¯ll be cured soon! You¡­you won¡¯t have to be in pain anymore¡­¡±


    Her mother smiled in response to her daughter¡¯s words. Stroking the hands holding hers with her free hand, she whispered, ¡°Silly girl, what are you crying over¡­¡±


    Her voice was faint, and her actions were similarly without energy. The mother¡¯s face was a pale white due to the fatigue and pain she had previously been in, so it was little wonder why hardly anyone could hear her beyond those to her immediate side.


    Tang Xinyun sniffed once and smiled. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m just happy¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei stood off to the side with a small smile. He felt like a large weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Everything would be fine now that Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother was back on track for a full recovery.


    But there was also something that was nagging him. He recalled Tang Xinyun mentioning before that this time, the poison in her mother¡¯s body had spiked all of a sudden. Her mother should¡¯ve been wearing the anti-poison earring he gave her last time still. And since her mother was apparently living far better than before with it, it was very very strange to see that a resurgence would happen.


    Was it because a certain amount of time had elapsed for the poison to finally act out? Or was it because of something more sinister¡­?

 Chapter 878: Marriage Proposal

    Most of the people left the room soon after. With Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother still feeling quite weak from all her ordeals, most thought it best to leave her in peace.


    Tang Jing and his brother were one of the last ones to leave after speaking a bit with Bai Yunfei. Left with nothing else to do, Tang Xinyun and Bai Yunfei decided to take a small walk shoulder-to-shoulder outside in the courtyards.


    Things were looking much better for Tang Xinyun now that her mother was on the road to recovery. Smiling widely so that the dimples on her face would show, she spoke excitedly with Bai Yunfei. Every so often, Bai Yunfei would find it hard to restrain himself at the sight of her and stole away a few kisses.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, why haven¡¯t I seen that kid Tang Ming?¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been in Tang Manor for a while now, but he had yet to see the youngest son of the Tang.


    ¡°Xiao Ming? He went with my third aunt back to their home to pay a visit.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­how strong is he now? I remember he was a genius, has he become a Soul Exalt yet?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a Mid-stage Soul Exalt now. He¡¯s changed since that trip three years ago. Father has high hopes for him and his hard work. Xiao Ming¡¯s talent is something father says is the best out of our generation¡­¡± Tang Xinyun spoke. ¡°Oh, but with third brother back and reaching the Soul King realm faster than eldest brother, he¡¯s most likely the strongest if Xiao Ming doesn¡¯t become a Soul King soon.¡±


    ¡°Your third brother is amazing. It¡¯s all because of him that we managed to save you.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    It was true. If not for Tang Wei, Tang Xinyun truly would¡¯ve been kidnapped by Mo Ni and his group. And even if Bai Yunfei got there faster than he did, the enemy would¡¯ve had the advantage. The rescue operation would therefore be a great deal worse than what it was.


    Bai Yunfei had heard what Tang Wei managed to do. Not only did he manage to wrestle Tang Xinyun away from their hands, he killed two other Soul Kings equal in strength to him, and then managed to escape the encirclement around him. None of that would¡¯ve been possible if Tang Wei wasn¡¯t as amazing as he was.


    The courtyard was primarily silent barring the conversation between Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun. Enjoying each other¡¯s company, the two were only disturbed when a servant came running into the courtyard to relay a message.


    ¡°Fourth miss, master Bai, lord Xuanyuan Jie is requesting an audience with master Bai.¡±


    ¡°Xuanyuan Jie? What does he want with me?¡±


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow. He hadn¡¯t really talked with Xuanyuan Jie since the auction house the last time he was in Mo City.


    ¡°What else?¡± Tang Xinyun laughed, ¡°To make friends with you! You¡¯re a Mid-stage Soul King now. At your age, you¡¯re the person most people want to get to know! People all over Mo City will definitely come to pay a visit sooner or later.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Am I like a steamed bun on a winter day now?¡± He wrinkled his nose, ¡°Well, since we know each other, let¡¯s go meet him. He¡¯s an outstanding figure himself, it¡¯s not a half-bad idea to meet up.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s prediction came to be true. Not even half a day after Bai Yunfei¡¯s chat with Xuanyuan Jie, more and more people began to visit Tang Manor to meet him. Most of them were somebodies in Mo City, but even Soul Kings came forward to greet him.


    It was a first for Bai Yunfei to see the mighty Soul Kings treated him¡ªsomeone clearly very young in comparison¡ªwith an equal amount of respect they had for any other Soul King. People talked about being able to ¡®stand at the top¡¯, but it was only now that Bai Yunfei really knew what that was like.


    That didn¡¯t mean to say Bai Yunfei felt drunk off this feeling. He knew better than to grow arrogant over this. These people were being polite in their arrival and gift-offering to him. To those, Bai Yunfei wished to be humble and chose to refuse the gifts. Owing favors to others wouldn¡¯t do well for him, after all.


    He refused even those offering generous payments for a soul armament of his crafting, though politely and tacitly. He wasn¡¯t so free now he could craft a soul armament here and there as he pleased.


    The visits came to a trickle two days later. Had it not been how tall the gates to Tang Manor was, the river of people surely would¡¯ve continued for even longer¡­


    And then late afternoon of the following day, Tang Xinyun¡¯s father returned¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    It was with great shock that Tang Qianlei met with Bai Yunfei. He had heard the rumors of Bai Yunfei¡¯s power up, but to see it still was another thing entirely. Even now, he could hardly believe his eyes.


    How in the world had Bai Yunfei become a Mid-stage Soul King!?


    A multitude of people were gathered in the main halls now aside from those who had to get back to their daily jobs of management and overseeing of others. But those who at the very least held a position of power within the Tang were gathered there. And since Tang Qianlei was back, Tang Zhan chose not to interfere with the familial matters and returned to his secluded training once again.


    From when Tang Xinyun was kidnapped to now, the entire family expended a great deal of energy towards the investigation of Huang Shan and the others. Investigations, however, ended with a great deal of disappointment for the family. Of every detail they found so far, nothing was linking them back to anything substantial.


    Bai Yunfei was for the most part quiet while Tang Qianlei held the discussion. Aside from answering whenever the latter asked a question¡ªprimarily about the battle between him and Mo Ni during the battle for the pills¡ªand rarely interjected anytime afterward. He just sat there in silence to allow Tang Qianlei to summarize everything.


    When the discussion was reaching an end on what business the Tang had yet to finish, Bai Yunfei started to speak up then.


    ¡°Lord Tang, this humble junior wishes to discuss a matter.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Tang Qianlei smiled, ¡°Speak then.¡±


    ¡°Lord Tang, did you perchance visit the Swallow Province to cancel Xinyun¡¯s betrothment?¡±


    ¡°Oh? So you know about it already?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°There were a few delays on the way. I hadn¡¯t even reached Swallow City when I learned of little Yun¡¯s kidnapping and turned back. The betrothment, as it stands¡­has not yet been concluded.¡±


    The stiff look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face sparked a small smile onto Tang Qianlei¡¯s lips, ¡°Bai Yunfei, do you have feelings for little Yun?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei jerked his head, he had been caught off-guard by the question. He recomposed himself and nodded his head shortly afterward. ¡°I do. Sincerely and completely. I¡¯ve decided that I want no other wife but her in my entire life!¡±


    ¡°Yunfei¡­¡± Having been silent the entire time up to this point, Tang Xinyun went immediately scarlet in the face. Even the tip of her ears were burning red as she sat there next to him, and when she saw the amused smirks of her two older brothers, she bent her head down to face the wooden table in front of her out of embarrassment.


    The die had been cast, and Bai Yunfei was determined to see things through. Standing upright, he bowed as respectfully as he could towards Tang Qianlei to make his request.


    ¡°My lord, this junior presents himself today in front of the house of Tang with the idea of marriage in mind. Since my lord has asked, then please allow this junior to answer in earnest.


    ¡°Today, I seek the approval of lord Tang and every gentleman and lady here today for Xinyun¡¯s hand in marriage. For this life and the next, I will live faithfully for her and her alone!¡±


    His proclamation brought about a huge clamor in the halls as everyone began to react to this unexpected piece of news.


    Still stooped over the wooden table, Tang Xinyun was starting to tremble now. Her entire face was as red as a tomato, but not a single person could deny seeing the amount of happiness and emotion on her face.


    Like the others in the hall, Tang Qianlei held a surprised expression on his face. Though he knew of their relationship, he hadn¡¯t figured Bai Yunfei to propose marriage today at this juncture.


    His eyes drew sharp as if to size up and measure Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire person.


    ¡°Oh?¡± He stated. ¡°Do you speak the truth?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Bai Yunfei declared, he himself staring unflinchingly back at the older male.


    Tang Qianlei said nothing. Seconds went by as he gazed at Bai Yunfei. The entire hall felt as though a cold gust of wind was blowing through it with how solemn the atmosphere became.


    Then all at once, the atmosphere melted when Tang Qianlei broke into laughter.


    ¡°Haha!! Very well! How brave of you, how brave indeed!!


    ¡°You wish to marry little Yun? Then so be it!¡± He smiled.


    ¡°But first¡­.¡± The smile gained a steel edge to them, ¡°you must do one thing for us.¡±

 Chapter 879: To Rescind a Marriage

    ¡°All lord Tang has to do is say the word, and this junior will accomplish it!!¡±


    The look of solemnity on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face made Tang Qianlei feel like Bai Yunfei was afraid of an impossible task to be given to him. ¡°Worry not, this is not a hard task. I said it before that I had yet to conclude the matter of betrothment in the Swallow Province. But it still must be done. Since you wish to marry little Yun, then¡­you will go in my place to conclude the matter.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± A condition like this was strange to Bai Yunfei and so he couldn¡¯t help but stare a little.


    ¡°Are you not willing?¡±


    ¡°No, I am willing!¡± Bai Yunfei replied at once, ¡°If lord Tang wishes it, then I will go on your behalf.¡±


    ¡°Haha, then¡­I won¡¯t worry about this matter anymore. Do as you see fit.¡± Tang Qianlei smiled. ¡°But I¡¯d like to make some things clear. The Tang and the Qin have been friends for a long time now. Little Yun¡¯s betrothment to their heir may have been a verbal agreement at one point, but we must follow formal procedures to withdraw from it. To do elsewise is to insult their family and ruin our relationship. Remember to behave appropriately¡­¡±


    In other words, Tang Qianlei was implying that Bai Yunfei should be as objective and polite as possible during the matter, no matter how he might feel about it.


    Naturally, Bai Yunfei knew better than to do otherwise and agreed immediately. He would treat this matter with the utmost manners.


    ¡°Rest assured, lord Tang, I will resolve this matter to the best of my abilities.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in earnest. In his mind, he was already allocating two of his heaven-tier soul armaments as compensation for the family. With his status, the two items would surely be enough to resolve the matter without much issue. The two were close friends, after all, and there was no way a verbal agreement would be known to outsiders. No one would know that such a matter existed, lest both families have their reputations damaged by the result.


    But then he realized something. The Swallow Province, and the house of Qin?


    ¡°Ah, there is one thing I¡¯m not clear about, lord Tang. Which family was it in the Swallow Province again, and which city?¡±


    He had been too focused on the ¡®betrothment¡¯ part of the matter and disregarded everything else almost. But there was something that was bothering him. Tang Qianlei mentioned the ¡®Qin¡¯, and that was a point of contention Bai Yunfei had to rethink. Was it just a coincidence? Or...


    ¡°The house of Qin in Swallow City. The Qin is powerful there in that city, and the one betrothed to little Yun is their second son, Qin Shoufeng. His talents are quite decent, but I¡¯ve heard poor things regarding his character. I debated rescinding the betrothment even before this, but that is a moot point now that you are here.¡±


    Tang Qianlei¡¯s words slammed into Bai Yunfei with the force of a sledgehammer¡ªit really was the very same group of people he met on the airship in Redfire City! What kind of coincidence was this!


    ¡°Give up on that idea. You will never be with Tang Xinyun!¡±


    The mysterious, yet haughty, words Qin Shoufeng uttered to him on the airship was finally starting to make sense now. So he knew about the ¡®betrothment¡¯! That must have been the reason why he was acting the way he did; Qin Shoufeng didn¡¯t think Bai Yunfei would be able to ¡®fight¡¯ the betrothment.


    Qin Shoufeng must had been planning to say it outright as a way to humiliate him. The only reason why he didn¡¯t say it outright was the fear of Bai Yunfei hurting him!


    Did he really think that Bai Yunfei would give into despair and give up so readily on Tang Xinyun then?


    ¡°It¡¯s several days of travel to the Swallow Province from here,¡± Tang Qianlei carried on, not noticing the strange look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°I will have a letter ready for when you set out. Deliver it to the head of the Qin and I¡¯m sure he will readily acquiesce, given our friendship.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, still a little absent-minded from his own thoughts.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll go too¡­¡±


    A tiny voice spoke out then from besides Bai Yunfei.


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei turned his to look at Tang Xinyun next to him. Though still scarlet in the face, she was finally looking up to stare¡ªthough not at him¡ªat her father.


    ¡°Xinyun, you¡­¡±


    She was already starting to speak, ¡°Father, I¡­I want to go with Yunfei¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? You want to go as well?¡± Tang Qianlei hadn¡¯t expected her to speak up, though a faint smile crossed his face at the sight of his timid daughter. ¡°Haha, very well then. If it concerns the two of you, then the two of you should be the ones to deal with the matter. I¡¯ll leave this to you two then, leave whenever you two are ready¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The topic of marriage had been the last issue the Tang were wanting to talk about today. Now done with the discussion, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun left for the courtyards where Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother resided.


    Still having yet to recover from going pink in the face, Tang Xinyun elected to stare at the ground rather than meet Bai Yunfei¡¯s gaze.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t mind her shyness much. In actuality, he enjoyed seeing her embarrassed like this. Every so often, he¡¯d send a smile towards her way whenever he stole a look.


    It was only when no one was close by that Tang Xinyun finally broke her silence, albeit quietly. ¡°Yun¡ªYunfei¡­how could you even speak to father about¡­about¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, didn¡¯t I say before that I wanted to speak with lord Tang about your hand? How can a man be a man if he isn¡¯t willing to do as he says?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed.


    ¡°I¡¯ve managed to convince your father, and your mother is quick to recovering. I may as well ask for her permission, then everything will be settled!¡±


    Laughing again, he took Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand into his before she could respond before flying straight for the courtyards¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The recovery of Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother was faster than what anyone could expected, Bai Yunfei included. By the time he and Tang Xinyun arrived at the courtyard, the older female was already kneeling down next to the wisteria¡ªwhich was growing healthily¡ªto weed it while a concerned, but otherwise motionless, Zhao Mancha stood next to her.


    ¡°It¡¯s cold outside mother, please take care of your body better.¡± Tang Xinyun cried out immediately as she ran to help her up.


    The last of the weeds was thrown into the wicker basket before Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother allowed herself to be led by Tang Xinyun to a nearby stool. She sat down with a graceful smile towards her daughter. Now basking in the sunlight, the pale-faced woman looked far better than before now. She had fewer white hairs and her perplexion looked a great deal better than when she was bedridden hours before.


    Tenderly smiling towards Tang Xinyun and Bai Yunfei, she spoke, ¡°Xinyun, has your father finished the matter with the Qin?¡±


    It was Bai Yunfei who answered the question, though. ¡°Lord Tang said he was delayed on the way and had to turn back when he heard Xinyun was kidnapped. The betrothment hasn¡¯t yet been rescinded.¡±


    He laughed at the bewildered look on the mother¡¯s face. ¡°Aunty Xue, I¡¯ve already told lord Tang of my intentions for Xinyun, and he¡¯s consented. Will¡­you approve of us?¡±


    ¡°Yunfei¡­¡±


    Tang Xinyun pulled at his robes in a way as if to complain to him about his way of mentioning the subject so abruptly.


    Though momentarily surprised by the segue, Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother gave the two of them a wide smile. ¡°Haha, of course I will. Yunfei¡­I¡¯ve actually been waiting to hear these words.¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his head, though he was somehow able to suppress a blush from appearing on his face.


    ¡°Lord Tang has asked of us to go to Swallow City in his place to rescind the marriage, actually¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? Whatever for? That isn¡¯t a task that should¡­¡±


    ¡°Please rest assured, aunty Xue. I¡¯ll definitely resolve this matter to the best of my abilities. Xinyun and I¡¯ve already agreed to set for Swallow City when you get better.¡±

 Chapter 880: Swallow Province, Swallow City

    Situated to the north of the Forest Pass Province, the Swallow Province wasn¡¯t nearly as large as the former. The extremely rare veins of primal stones located here was something that ensured its position as one of the more important provinces on the continent, however.


    As one of the most fundamental objects needed for a soul cultivator to train, primal stones were in great demand throughout the continent. And as one of the larger suppliers of primal stones, the Swallow Province held a very luxurious business extracting and selling them.


    The vein of primal stones ran along a line that crossed along the boundaries of Swallow City. For a hundred years, the house of Qin and the Tianhun School were able to operate the mine together without trouble.


    And because of that mine, the Qin were able to go from being one of the strongest in the Swallow Province to becoming the strongest family in the Swallow Province. The resources the Qin had to take from were essentially limitless and were one of the primary reasons how they were able to produce so many powerful individuals. In terms of strength, they were a family that were inferior only to the Five Families and were rumored to be able to produce a Soul Emperor sooner or later.


    Should that happen, the Five Families would become the Six Families.


    Geographically, Swallow City was located at the central point of its province on top of a large plain. There was also a chain of large mountains, most of which were also veins for primal stones.


    While not as large as Mo City, Swallow City had an economy that wasn¡¯t any less prosperous. Economically, it was even comparable to Redfire City and their closeness to the Crafting School¡ªwhich meant an influx of soul armaments every so often.


    Considering how massive of an undertaking the mines were, there¡¯d be no way for either the Qin or the Tianhun School to be able to oversee operations of it. So they would employ soul cultivators to ¡®mine¡¯ the vein. The rewards were obviously quite lavish, so there was never a shortage of soul cultivators wanting the position.


    With soul cultivators earning a wage in primal stones, the ones living in Swallow City subsequently became far more prone to being thrifty compared to ones living elsewhere. And with an economy where primal stones were in constant circulation, this naturally meant that the economy of the city flourished at a stupendous pace.


    ¡­¡­


    One afternoon on the main roads to the southern gates of Swallow City walked a young male and female.


    The young male was dressed in plain gray robes and the female in a deep-blue skirt. The male was not someone that could be considered extraordinarily handsome, but the faint smile on his face was quite distinctive. In contrast, the woman with him was exceedingly beautiful with skin as white as snow and eyebrows as supple as the branches to a willow. She looked graceful to the eye and seemed almost fairy-like.


    Many passersby would stop and gaze upon her for a moment whenever they passed, as if entranced by the beauty that was traveling on the same road as them.


    Overhead the two, a pair of white birds flew in a circle around them. They looked to be playing with one another, but the sight of these white birds flying around the male and female seemed almost poetic. It seemed as if the two were a match made in heaven.


    This male was Bai Yunfei, and the female, was of course Tang Xinyun.


    Now that Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother was for the most part cured of her poison, the two decided to venture out from Mo City towards Swallow City. The path they took wasn¡¯t a direct route, as the two decided to sight see here and there, but it took them seven days worth of time to reach their destination.


    It seemed everywhere they went, Bai Yunfei would be accosted by a few men who¡¯d send some envious glares at him. He could only wrinkle his nose at such people before he¡¯d lean over to whisper to his companion.


    ¡°Xinyun, I¡¯ve never realized it before, but it seems the envy of even commoners can cause something like a soul attack. The glares I¡¯ve seen so far¡­if looks could kill, I¡¯d be dead several times over for having a beauty like you by my side¡­.¡±


    Tang Xinyun raised her robe sleeves to her lips so as to hide her giggle. Then, with a subdued voice and a red face, she asked, ¡°Should¡­should I alter my appearance too?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not necessary.¡± Bai Yunfei rejected the idea at once. ¡°My wife is so beautiful, how could I not let the world know it? What good would hiding you be? I¡¯d rather let everyone be jealous. It¡¯s¡­a better feeling than I thought, haha!!¡±


    ¡°Ai! What do you mean, ¡®wife¡¯? Don¡¯t speak nonsense like that¡­¡± Embarrassed, Tang Xinyun aimed a baleful look at Bai Yunfei.


    Ever since Bai Yunfei gained her father¡¯s approval, Tang Xinyun was getting more and more used to the words he was saying.


    ¡°Haha!!¡±


    The pinched eyebrows of Tang Xinyun looked absolutely adorable to Bai Yunfei, and he found it impossible not to pinch her cheeks and running off when she yelped¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile in the center of Swallow City where a two-storied luxurious restaurant stood.


    There was a spacious private room with a table filled with delicacies of all types. Half a dozen young men dressed in richly robes sat equal distance around the table as they dined and wined with one another. With the amount of laughter their group was making, it seemed that they cared not for the dining experiences of anyone else that might¡¯ve been in close proximity to their room.


    ¡°Haha, here¡¯s a toast, brother Feng, to an early advancement to the Soul King realm! Become a Soul King and lead the rest of our generation to glory!¡±


    One of the diners was a rather oily-faced youth with a pointy chin. Laughing as he stood, his right hand clasped a goblet of fine wine to toast and flatter the youth sitting in the middle.


    The one he was toasting was a quite powerful youth. He was already a Late-stage Soul Exalt at his young age, and even though he wasn¡¯t at the limits of his stage, he was still quite close to it. It was a matter of years, if not months, before this person would breakthrough and become a Soul King.


    Standing up, the second youth knocked his goblet against the first with a seemingly calm smile. ¡°You¡¯re too kind, brother Sun Jian. I apologize for my lacking etiquette today. This place is like my second home, but please, make yourself at home and come find me if you ever need anything!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t the restaurant that was this youth was talking about, but the entire city itself! This youth was none other than the second son of the Qin, Qin Shoufeng!


    The one named Sun Jian took this invitation with gleaming eyes of adoration. ¡°You¡¯ve my thanks for your support, lord Feng! Please call upon me if there is anything this little brother is needed for, no matter how hard it may be!¡±


    To the other side of Qin Shoufeng sat a youth with hair long and spread out like a shawl. ¡°Lord Qin, I¡¯ve heard you were given a heaven-tier soul armament from the Crafting School upon your visit? Are the rumors true? And may we be given the chance to see it?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Sun Jian cried out, ¡°Lord Feng, you¡¯ve a heaven-tier soul armament?!¡±


    All eyes were drawn to Qin Shoufeng. Looking pleased for just a moment at their envious looks, Qin Shoufeng quickly composed himself before he spoke again.


    ¡°You are correct, brother Zhang. I went there not too long ago and was able to request for a heaven-tier soul armament.¡±


    A long sword nearly as red as fire itself appeared into his hand, basking the room in a wave of heat when it appeared.


    ¡°This elemental fire! As expected from a heaven-tier soul armament!!¡±


    Everyone gasped aloud.


    This was truly a heaven-tier soul armament! Only the wealthy families and Soul Kings were in possession of powerful soul armaments such as these, so it was rare for those of the young generation to see such sights.


    ¡°My my¡­lord Feng is blessed in many ways. Talented in cultivation, supported by a powerful family, and in possession of a heaven-tier soul armament. Truly, what an envious sight!¡± A pudgy young man sighed in admiration.


    ¡°How truly envious indeed, but that¡¯s not all.¡± A skinny young man to the left of Qin Shoufeng cackled mysteriously. ¡°It¡¯s a secret, but I¡¯ve heard lord Feng is betrothed to the beautiful Tang Xinyun from the house of Tang. He¡¯ll be a son-in-law to the Tang soon enough. Not only is lord Feng a genius in cultivation, but also blessed with woman, how envious!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is that true?! A betrothment to the daughter of the Tang?!¡± Sun Jian¡¯s eyes were bulging out from their sockets at that.


    ¡°One of the Five Families! What an absolute dream that would be, married to her¡­this is a dream for me, but a reality for lord Feng, how wonderful!¡±


    No longer able to maintain his calm composure, Qin Shoufeng cracked a wide smile towards his companions. ¡°Haha, since the secrets out, I may as well divulge it. My father decided not too long ago on fulfilling the betrothment and has already sent the gifts to the Tang. I¡¯ll be married to that Tang Xinyun soon enough, so please, come to my wedding! I¡¯ll be insulted if you don¡¯t!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t made public that he was to be wed to Tang Xinyun, but Qin Shoufeng was far too impatient to deny knowledge of it to his companions. It¡¯d be their little secret for now.


    ¡­¡­


    Qin Shoufeng¡¯s was entirely content with how much praise he was getting. Now that their meal was over, the group decided to continue their talks in another avenue.


    Sun Jian was the first to lead the group out from the restaurant when he came to a screeching halt as if he had seen a ghost.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Sun Jian?¡± The white-robed youth asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s¡­she¡¯s beautiful!! Look! Look at that goddess!!¡± Sun Jian¡¯s eyes were glued to a sight in front of him.


    Everyone else looked quite annoyed at his actions. He was a country bumpkin in comparison to them, and so the rest of the group thought him of having a standard of beauty that wasn¡¯t quite up there. Nonetheless, they all followed his gaze to where a person was just about to walk into a nearby restaurant.


    And at the sight, the rest of the group felt their jaws drop wide open as well.


    ¡°She¡¯s stunning! Did Swallow City have a beauty like her? How didn¡¯t I know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! None of the families in Swallow City have a daughter half as beautiful as she is, why haven¡¯t we heard of her before? Is she not from around here?¡±


    The pudgy and skinny youths murmured to one another.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Leaning against a corner of the wall he was next to, Qin Shoufeng watched as the blue-clothed beauty walk into the nearby restaurant. He didn¡¯t say a word though his eyes followed after her figure attentively like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey.


    Then, a lustful smirk appeared on his face¡­

 Chapter 881: Shut This Idiot Up!

    It was neither Bai Yunfei nor Tang Xinyun¡¯s intention to go see the Qin straight away. They both wanted to relax a bit before they dealt with business, and touring the city seemed like an appropriate way to enjoy themselves. Reaching the heart of the city at noon, the two of them decided to finish things off with a nice lunch before they went for the Qin.


    This particular restaurant boasted of a decent menu with a perk quite unusual compared to the restaurants outside the city. Due to their close proximity to the primal stone mine, the vegetation and other livestock used in the restaurant had a certain trait to it that made it even more delicious.


    Though expensive, the meal was still quite nice to have, and the two thought it to be well worth the cost.


    Tang Xinyun had just been wiping her mouth with a wet cloth and Bai Yunfei pouring himself another ladle of soup to drink when he noticed something. Putting his bowl down, Bai Yunfei turned around.


    Curious, Tang Xinyun looked up from the table and in the same direction of him to where a group of richly-dressed youths was just walking in.


    The four men were leering all towards the same person: herself. Everyone else in the restaurant had caught onto that fact and were already starting to shy away from the place so as to avoid any trouble. It was with a sinking feeling in her chest that Tang Xinyun realized what was going on. Clearly, the son of a wealthy family had their eyes on her now¡ªfor the umpteenth time¡­


    She wasn¡¯t worried, to say the least. Bai Yunfei would usually intervene before things got out of hand with the methodology Bai Yunfei preferred most; playing the fool until the huge reveal.


    Despite all his theatrics when doing so, Tang Xinyun couldn¡¯t say she didn¡¯t enjoy it.


    But there was something different this time. When Bai Yunfei turned his head back to look at the newcoming people, he started a bit when he realized just who it was.


    ¡°You?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±


    Two surprised voices spoke out simultaneously¡ªBai Yunfei and the richly-dressed youth leading the group.


    ¡°They know each other?¡± Admittedly, Tang Xinyun was confused by this. How did Bai Yunfei know someone in Swallow City?


    Her answer came to her in the form of a whisper.


    ¡°Xinyun, that¡¯s Qin Shoufeng, the second son of the Qin.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± She looked back at the youth, ¡°Qin Shoufeng? Really? How did you know that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I nearly forgot to mention it, haha. I actually met him a while before!¡± He winked.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Lord Feng, do you know them?¡±


    Zhang Qian asked, perplexed by how the situation was developing.


    A myriad of emotions was flashing across Qin Shoufeng¡¯s eyes.


    Surprise, fear, anger, and even a little excitement.


    His emotions grew even more pronounced when he heard the name Bai Yunfei mentioned.


    ¡®Xinyun¡¯.


    He looked back to Tang Xinyun, not quite sure if he should believe what he had just heard.


    ¡°Xinyun? Are¡­are you really Tang Xinyun?!¡± He cried out upon reaffirming the lady companion with Bai Yunfei.


    He actually wasn¡¯t all too familiar with what Tang Xinyun looked like despite his betrothment to her. Tang Xinyun rarely ventured out from her home, and even during the times she wasn¡¯t home, she was at the Crafting School. The only time he had seen her was when they were twelve when his father took him to the Tang for a courtesy visit. A long time had passed since then, and Tang Xinyun was essentially an entirely different person. So it was little wonder he failed to recognize her straight away.


    Still, he was able to connect the dots when Bai Yunfei said her name.


    As surprised as she was to meet Qin Shoufeng here, Tang Xinyun bowed her head in greeting. ¡°I am Tang Xinyun, a pleasure to meet you, lord Qin.¡±


    She didn¡¯t look ¡®embarrassed¡¯ to see her ¡®fiance¡¯, of course, since she didn¡¯t see him as one.


    ¡°Tang Xinyun? She¡¯s actually Tang Xinyun?!¡± Zhang Qian and the others gaped.


    Sun Jian¡¯s eyes swiveled in their sockets as he looked at Tang Xinyun again before adopting a small smile on his face.


    ¡°Haha!! Brother Feng¡¯s wife! We were just talking about you! How unexpected to see you show up so quickly afterwards, and what a blessing it is!¡±


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow, ¡°Hey, watch who you call your brother. When did I have a person like you as my brother?¡±


    ¡°Ahh?¡± Sun Jian paused briefly to stare at Bai Yunfei. He wasn¡¯t quite sure what Bai Yunfei was saying.


    But Qin Shoufeng did. Anger consumed his eyes as he pointed a finger at the other. ¡°Bai Yunfei! What are you playing at?! Why did you come to my Swallow City for?! And why is Tang Xinyun with you?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced lazily over to him, ¡°Haha, what a voice you have. Since when did Swallow City become yours? You¡¯ll find out what I¡¯m here for soon enough. You also don¡¯t need to know why Xinyun is with me.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡±


    So flummoxed was Qin Shoufeng he didn¡¯t even know what to do or even say for a solid minute afterward.


    Zhang Qian and the other males with Qin Shoufeng were listening intently to this interaction with great confusion. It was Sun Jian that looked most angry as though Bai Yunfei had insulted his own father.


    ¡°Who the blazes are you?! How dare you talk to lord Feng like that! Are you tired of living?!¡±


    It was either an ignorant reaction or a slow one if he didn¡¯t catch onto the name Qin Shoufeng said. Sun Jian had somehow mistaken Bai Yunfei to be the son to a wealthy family and eager to make his name known in the world.


    But this was Swallow City, the land Qin Shoufeng and his family presided and ruled over. It¡¯d be fine if he were to make some noise on behalf of Qin Shoufeng.


    ¡°You¡¯re not from around here, are you? It¡¯s laughable that you don¡¯t even recognize Lord Feng, you should kneel down in front of him if you want to keep on living! Listen here¡ªyou¡¯re in over your head here. I don¡¯t know what kind of pipe dreams you have for miss Tang, but she¡¯s the fiance of lord Feng, so quit your daydreams and stop bothering her, she¡¯s out of your league! And even if lord Feng is generous enough to turn the other cheek, I definitely won¡¯t! Pah! It¡¯s little wonder you¡¯re not pissing yourself with your moral character. Stealing lord Feng¡¯s fiance away from him? Pah!!¡±


    Each sentence was spoken with an increasing amount of effort to intimidate Bai Yunfei. Unfortunately for him, he wasn¡¯t getting a single reaction out of him, and his ¡®companions¡¯ were completely silent. If they weren¡¯t backing him up, that meant he was going to used to gauge how Bai Yunfei would act.


    ¡°What¡¯s all this racket!! Can¡¯t you see there are people trying to relax here?! Yunfei, shut this idiot up!¡±


    An annoyed voice called out into the restaurant from outside a nearby window while Bai Yunfei had been standing there in silence. Under the wide-open eyes of Qin Shoufeng and his group, a prisma oriole had flown in to glare at them while a small white bird sat next to it with a look of ¡®admiration¡¯ in its eyes¡­


    It was the fact that this bird was speaking that really confused Qin Shoufeng¡¯s group.


    Then Bai Yunfei gave the bird an answer, ¡°Alright¡­¡±


    What happened came to most as only a blur. Hardly anyone could even register any movement coming from Bai Yunfei before there was a popping sound.


    In the moment after, Sun Jian spun around on his feet twice before collapsing to the ground. His eyes were completely unfocused and there was a large swollen bump on the right side of his face. With how froth was coming out from his mouth, anyone could see that he had collapsed.


    Or in other words, he had been shut up.


    ¡°You¡­you¡ª!¡±


    The entire restaurant was staring wide-eyed at the situation now. Qin Shoufeng had his eyes still wide open too, but his right index finger was shaking crazily at Bai Yunfei as he tried his best to form a word other than ¡®you¡¯.


    When Bai Yunfei slapped Sun Jian, it was as if the slap had also served to strike fear into Qin Shoufeng¡¯s heart. He couldn¡¯t even help himself, his heart was beating wildly as if to warn him of impending danger.


    Qin Shoufeng hadn¡¯t expected that it¡¯d be Bai Yunfei to be the first to make a move!

 Chapter 882: Unable to Take Even a Single Blow

    ¡°You brute! Don¡¯t start begging me for mercy now that you¡¯ve started this! Attack him!!¡±


    It was Zhang Qian who made the cry to action. He still wasn¡¯t clear on what was going on, but there was one thing for certain: Bai Yunfei made the first move!!


    It didn¡¯t matter what the case was now. If the enemy was striking, then their group had the justification of ¡®self-defense¡¯, so none of them had to wait around for the sake of observation anymore.


    With all that said, ¡®self-defense¡¯ wasn¡¯t the primary reason why he was willing to start fighting now. As someone who wasn¡¯t a complete idiot and also quite familiar with cases like these, Zhang Qian knew it was better to start a fight and then wait for negotiations between the families. And during those negotiations, it was usually those with the more powerful families that held the advantage.


    He also wasn¡¯t going to be the one fighting either. Considering his power and companions, how could each of them not have guards with them? Dozens of guards came forward at once at his call to flood the restaurant with battle-ready soul cultivators.


    Qin Shoufeng was hesitant at first. His past experiences with Bai Yunfei was still fresh on his body. But he thought about it again. They were in Swallow City, what was there to be afraid of?! No matter how powerful Bai Yunfei was, this was his city.


    As the saying went, ¡®a powerful dragon cannot quell the snake in the grass¡¯.


    Qin Shoufeng was that snake, and Swallow City was the grass! If anything, he wasn¡¯t a snake, but a mighty tiger! If the dragon had a fierce enemy, the tiger would most definitely be a contender. And even if he himself wasn¡¯t strong enough, he still had his family he could fall back on.


    So how could he let an outsider of all people treat him as such?!


    Convinced now that this was the best course of action, Qin Shoufeng snarled. Allowing all of his past grievances and anger for Bai Yunfei to leak out, he jabbed a finger at his direction. ¡°Teach him a lesson he won¡¯t forget!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!!¡±


    Two shadows darted out from behind him even faster than the first group of guards. They were clearly stronger than the others, and several of the other restaurant diners noticed it as well.


    ¡°Soul Exalts!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Everyone thought Bai Yunfei was in for trouble now. With so many people attacking a single Early-stage Soul Exalt, how could he stand a chance? It seemed like overkill for Qin Shoufeng and the others to have so many people do his bidding even. If it took a single cow knife to behead a chicken, then Bai Yunfei was that chicken, and Qin Shoufeng was using multiple knives to do the job.


    But then in the second after, everyone¡¯s jaws dropped practically to the ground as if they all saw a ghost or something¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look bothered at all with how many people were coming at him. If anything, he gave a mirthful smile as they approached. Those who were strong enough in the audience saw a wave of energy come pouring out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body before it flew for the closest person two meters away. When it reached, the person was¡­immediately glued to the ground!


    He wasn¡¯t the only one. Roughly at the same time he was affixed to the ground, the other incomers immediately came to a stop where they stood as well!


    It was definitely a strange sight with how everyone came to a screeching halt. Something was seemingly putting a stop to everyone there as if they were suddenly encased in an invisible block of ice.


    Even Qin Shoufeng and his friends standing in the back had been affected by it!


    This wasn¡¯t the Soul Anchoring Technique. There wasn¡¯t a need to do so. All Bai Yunfei needed to do was a small soul attack with a secondary layer of elemental energy to shackle their movement. This was a combination useful against those who were Soul Exalts.


    In truth, these people were the real rabbits and Bai Yunfei was the tiger. All it took was a single soul attack and these people wouldn¡¯t be able to lift even a finger.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This Qin Shoufeng¡¯s a really annoying guy, should I teach him a lesson, Xinyun?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked Tang Xinyun after a moment to stare at the frozen-still figures of those in front of him.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­best not to¡­¡± She replied, a little hesitant to say otherwise. ¡°You promised father to mediate this peacefully¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Resorting to violence before negotiations can take place wouldn¡¯t be too appropriate¡­¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Then I¡¯ll stop here. Let¡¯s get going.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Nodding, Tang Xinyun followed behind Bai Yunfei through the ¡®statues¡¯ on their way out of the restaurant. Neither of the two bothered to even give Qin Shoufeng a look.


    ¡°Aw, really? I wanted to teach them a lesson! Forget it! Xiao Bai, let¡¯s get going, there¡¯s no need to bother with idiots!¡±


    Flying in a circle around the ¡®statues¡¯, Xiao Qi chirped once in annoyance before taking Xiao Bai with him away. ¡°If Xiao Lan was here, he would¡¯ve ate these guys right away! Hmph, what a bunch of idiots!¡±


    The soulbeast in question was currently in the Core World training. He wouldn¡¯t come out for the time being unless Bai Yunfei called him out.


    Bai Yunfei stopped by the counter of the restaurant where the waiters and shopkeeper were currently standing. While they were still trying to figure out what had happened, Bai Yunfei dropped a few coins for their food and walked out with Tang Xinyun.


    The entire restaurant remained quiet for a short few moments after the two left. So long was their stiff silence that a few patrons came from the outside in to eat a meal. When they saw the people just standing around like statues, most of them froze up for a second too. Looking around for a moment, they all decided that it¡¯d be better not to eat here and backed out.


    A prudent decision.


    ¡°Thud¡­thud¡­thud¡­¡±


    Some time after, the sounds of several things falling down to the ground brought the residents of the restaurants back to the real world. Looking down, they all noticed that Qin Shoufeng and the others with him were all unconscious on the ground.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Young master! Young master! There¡¯s trouble! The second young master is in trouble!¡±


    In the manor of the Qin, a single servant could be heard running through the halls with reckless abandon. The only time he stopped was when he came across a young man dressed in purple robes.


    This man was Qin Shouhao. ¡°What is it?¡± He asked, ¡°What trouble did little Feng start this time?¡±


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± The servant wheezed, tired from his sprinting earlier, ¡°But the second young master was found unconscious in the restaurant Immortal¡¯s Eatery! His friends from the Zhang, Li, and Zhao were all found unconscious with their bodyguards as well!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Qin Shouhao exclaimed, ¡°They were all together, and everyone was knocked unconscious?! How many people were there, and who are they?!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re¡­not sure about it so far¡­¡± The servant was cowering now. ¡°The messenger has yet to tell us anything detailed. Several guards are currently on their way over to investigate¡­¡±


    ¡°Little Hao, what¡¯s all this racket?¡±


    A solemn voice spoke out to Qin Shouhao from the halls behind him. A middle-aged man in his forties came walking up to him a moment after.


    ¡°Uncle.¡± Qin Shouhao greeted the man. ¡°Little Hao has gotten himself in trouble with some powerful people and was found unconscious. I was just about to go investigate.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Qin Hu snorted, ¡°Stirring up trouble is all that one seems to know!¡±


    Feeling slightly helpless about the situation, Qin Shouhao shook his head. Just as he was about to start making his way out from the manor, a second servant came running up to him from the main gates.


    ¡°Young master, sire¡­there are two visitors outside requesting an audience with the lord.¡± This servant bowed respectfully.


    ¡°An audience with father? Who are they?¡± Qin Shouhao blinked. These visitors were a confident one if they were wanting an audience with his father the moment they came.


    ¡°A male and female. The female stated she is Tang Xinyun from the Tang.¡±


    ¡°Tang Xinyun?¡± Qin Shouhao was even more mystified now. ¡°Isn¡¯t that Shoufeng¡¯s fiance-to-be? Why is she here? Did she decide to see Shoufeng after receiving all those gifts we sent?¡±


    Qin Hu was equally surprised. ¡°And there¡¯s another, you say? Is it one of the sons of the Tang, Tang Jing or Tang Zhi, perhaps?¡±


    But the servant shook his head.


    ¡°The other person said¡­he¡¯s Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School!¡±

 Chapter 883: The Qin and Rescinding the Betrothment

    ¡°Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School!!¡±


    Qin Hu and Qin Shouhao cried out together, ¡°What is he here for?¡±


    Qin Hu had a solemn look on his face. ¡°Rumors say Bai Yunfei became a Mid-stage Soul King two days ago in Mo City. I wonder if those rumors have any credence to them. But¡­if he¡¯s here with Tang Xinyun, it won¡¯t be for something as simple as a customary visit.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard he¡¯s not thirty years old yet, how was he able to become a Mid-stage Soul King? I find it hard to believe it¡­¡± Qin Shouhao shook his head.


    ¡°Second uncle went with little Feng to the Crafting School a while ago, didn¡¯t they say they met him then? I distinctly remember second uncle saying his strength was stronger than his peers, but that he was still a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt. How is so much progress possible in just less than a month¡¯s time?¡±


    ¡°Seeing is believing. We cannot say whether the rumors are true or not until we see for ourselves. The rumors came from the Tianhun School, their information is usually reliable. Whichever the case, we can see for ourselves since he is here. The most important thing is to find out what purpose he is here for¡­¡±


    The matter with Tang Xinyun¡¯s kidnapping wasn¡¯t known to many people outside of the Tang. And the fact that Bai Yunfei killed so many strong Soul Kings was known to even less. Both was possible due to the Tang carefully controlling the amount of information being disseminated.


    But if there was one thing that was impossible to curtail the spread of knowledge of, it was the fact that Bai Yunfei became a Mid-stage Soul King in the middle of Mo City. The events surrounding that event was far too eye-catching for people not to notice. The other Soul Kings were quick to pass on this information to others in their circles, but there were people like Qin Shoufeng¡ªwho only knew how to eat and drink all day¡ªwho didn¡¯t manage to hear the news. Otherwise, Qin Shoufeng never would¡¯ve dared to act the way he did to Bai Yunfei in the restaurant.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun get along very well¡­do you think their visit is because of the betrothment between little Feng and Tang Xinyun?¡±


    Qin Shouhao was a perceptive person. He was quick to deduce a plausible explanation on why Bai Yunfei was here.


    Qin Hu grew silent for two seconds. ¡°No matter the case, they are already outside our doors. Invite them in and go fetch your father.¡±


    Qin Shouhao nodded before going off to do as his uncle asked.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun allowed themselves to be led by an elderly housekeeper through the halls of the Qin to a room where four figures were already sitting.


    Aside from Qin Shouhao and Qin Shu, there was also the same elder Bai Yunfei saw before on the airship, Qin Pingzhi. There was also a dignified-looking middle-aged man in golden robes seated with them. He was the current head of the Qin, Qin Long.


    Qin Shouhao immediately rose up to greet the two when Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun came in. ¡°Haha, welcome to our Qin. Please, take a seat. This one is Qin Shouhao, you must be Tang Xinyun? You were so small when I last saw you, so you probably don¡¯t remember me. I¡¯m Shoufeng¡¯s older brother.¡±


    ¡°Hello, brother Qin.¡± Tang Xinyun nodded politely.


    Then to Qin Long and the others, Tang Xinyun gave each of them a respectful bow. ¡°Xinyun pays her respects to uncle Qin, second uncle Qin, and grandfather Qin.¡±


    ¡°Haha, so you still recognize us, I take it?¡± Qin Long gave her a warm smile. ¡°It¡¯s been many years, you¡¯ve grown up to be so beautiful and elegant. A completely different woman than the girl many years ago, haha¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your compliments, uncle Qin.¡± Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°My father passes on his hopes that you are well.¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s been some time since I¡¯ve seen brother Tang,¡± Qin Long nodded, ¡°Is he still well?¡±


    ¡°Father is still healthy and well, thank you for your concern, uncle Qin.¡±


    Now that Xinyun was done with her introductions, Bai Yunfei stepped forward to give them a bow of his own. ¡°This junior is Bai Yunfei, here to pay my respects to seniors.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­¡± Qin Long murmured. His attention had been primarily on Bai Yunfei ever since he watched him step into the room. Surprised by what he was seeing, he sighed out loud, ¡°The Crafting School having a true genius in their ranks holds true, it seems. Young and yet already a Mid-stage Soul King. That is an unparalleled feat in your generation. Even we elders cannot help but feel shame in our insufficiencies¡­¡±


    Now seated back next to Qin Long, Qin Shouhao¡¯s eyes widened a fractioned at the words of his father. He wasn¡¯t able to see how strong Bai Yunfei was, so he wasn¡¯t very sure if the rumors were true. If his father was saying these words now then, then it essentially meant those rumors were confirmed and Bai Yunfei was truly a Mid-stage Soul King.


    Bai Yunfei was younger than him and yet was able to reach a height he himself was unable to reach. This was a blow to his confidence, as he always thought himself as being quite talented.


    Bai Yunfei gave a modest smile. ¡°You are too kind, senior. I am only a person of fortunate happenstance.¡±


    Idle conversation was made for a little longer before Bai Yunfei finally decided to cut to the chase.


    ¡°Senior Qin, Xinyun and I came here today in regards to her betrothment to master Shoufeng.¡±


    The abrupt topic change raised a few eyebrows from the audience there. ¡°Oh? Nephew Bai, what brings you to such a topic? Is there a problem with the marriage alliance between the Tang and Qin?¡±


    Bai Yunfei paused. Saying they wanted to cancel the betrothment outright didn¡¯t seem like too good of an idea, so he first took out a letter from his space ring. ¡°Lord Tang entrusted a letter to me for senior Qin. Please, take a look.¡±


    Qin Long took the letter and carefully opened it up to begin to read. Everyone else watched with bated breaths as the man read the letter. Bai Yunfei knew that Tang Qianlei would definitely make the matter of the betrothment clear in the letter, so it was just a matter of seeing how the other party would react.


    The longer time went on, the heavier the atmosphere in the room became. Qin Long¡¯s face was getting progressively darker, and the soulforce in his body was starting to fluctuate a bit. Qin Pingzhi and the other two members were starting to realize what the matter was.


    The letter was finally put down after Qin Long was done reading. By that time, the room was practically suffocating with how heavy the atmosphere was. Not even a cricket would dare to make a sound.


    The light in Qin Long¡¯s eyes was flashing dangerously now. He stared impassively at Bai Yunfei for a while before finally speaking, ¡°You are asking for my permission to rescind the betrothment between Shoufeng and Tang Xinyun?¡±


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow. There was a noticeable amount of pressure pressing onto him now the matter was being said aloud, but he made sure to hide any signs of discomfort away from his face.


    ¡°That is correct. I am sure lord Tang¡¯s letter was quite clear. The betrothment between Xinyun and master Shoufeng was something said in jest. It was never meant to be serious and is unfair to Xinyun. I sincerely request senior Qin to rescind the betrothment and allow the younger generation to seek their own happiness.¡±


    ¡°Rescind the betrothment!!¡±


    Qin Pingzhi and Qin Hu both had incredulous looks on their face, but it was Qin Shouhao that looked angry. ¡°The betrothment may have been unofficial, but not a word was said elsewise about it until now when we started sending over gifts. And now you come running over here to talk about rescinding the betrothment? What is the meaning of this?!¡±


    Qin Long held a hand up to stop Qin Shouhao from saying anything more, ¡°Rescinding the betrothment is something that isn¡¯t insignificant, but also not significant either. What reason do you have for this?¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t avert his eyes away from Qin Long. ¡°Lord Tang has agreed to allow Xinyun to be betrothed to me, so I came here today to ask that senior Qin will rescind the betrothment. The Tang has treated the Qin poorly in this matter, and this junior will like to apologize on their behalf and make things whole!


    ¡°Make things whole? The way I see it, you¡¯re just flaunting things here by humiliating my brother and the Qin!¡± Qin Shouhao sneered, ¡°No wonder they were in such a rush to cancel the betrothment. The Crafting School is one of the Ten Great Schools, how could our tiny Qin ever compare? How cunning of the Tang¡­¡±


    ¡°Quiet, Shouhao!!¡± Qin Long barked, furious now by his outburst.


    ¡°Where will our face be if we agree to rescind this marriage?¡± He sent a second glance over to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Is that not an issue to worry about?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°According to what I know, the betrothment was never made public. Even if it was rescinded, no one will know, and the Qin will remain unhurt.


    ¡°I do know that senior Qin and lord Tang have been friends for a long time. I don¡¯t wish to be the one to put a crack in this friendship, and so I sincerely wish to make things right. This junior came here with two gifts in hopes that they are to your liking, senior Qin. Hopefully, these gifts will be enough to make amends¡­¡±


    Qin Long¡¯s eyes widened at the last sentence Bai Yunfei spoke. Bai Yunfei waved his hand once so that an orange broadsword and an azure longsword materialized in front of him before floating to Qin Long to take a look at.


    The auras of the two soul armaments made themselves known to everyone in the room almost immediately.


    ¡°Heaven-tier soul armaments!¡± Qin Shouhao gasped.

 Chapter 884: Compromise With the House of Qin

    Qin Long inspected the two soul armaments in front of him with an attentive eye. He didn¡¯t say a word when he was done, and the other three just sat there, waiting.


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun weren¡¯t in the halls anymore, though.


    ¡°Father, are you really going to rescind the betrothment just like that?¡±


    Unable to help himself any longer, Qin Shouhao voiced his complaints to Qin Long.


    Indeed, Qin Long did agree to rescind the betrothment. That was why Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were both gone from the halls now.


    Qin Long gave his son a careful look, ¡°What would we do if I did not?¡±


    ¡°We¡­¡±


    Qin Shouhao moved to speak, but then he thought about it.


    Even if they did refuse to rescind the betrothment, what would happen if the Tang said no? How would their family fare? Would they try to force the issue?


    Impossible.


    They weren¡¯t willing to risk conflict with the Tang over a matter like this. And neither were they strong enough to attempt to! Risking the loss of a very long and strong friendship with the Tang with a relatively insignificant issue was a course of action far more damaging than it was rewarding.


    ¡°Shouhao, don¡¯t underestimate that Bai Yunfei. He says he was here to make amends, but in truth, our approval was never very important. It was a formality made for the sake of giving the Tang some face. Who could stop him being with Tang Xinyun if he wanted to be with her?¡± Qin Hu stated.


    ¡°That Bai Yunfei isn¡¯t a simpleton. He¡¯s able to speak with your father without flinching from his soulforce. Even I can¡¯t do that when we both get serious. Bai Yunfei may be far stronger than what we thought¡­¡±


    Qin Pingzhi looked quite helpless over the situation as well. ¡°It¡¯s not an easy task to even anger a Mid-stage Soul King without any connections. But Bai Yunfei is a special case. We cannot do anything to him lest we wish to wish to anger the Crafting School. And that is something we must avoid at all costs.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    All the elders seemed resigned to the outcome, but Qin Shouhou felt his dignity take another blow at this sight.


    From since his birth, he always felt that his family was a powerful one. But today, Bai Yunfei had played his family so readily as if it was nothing, and that made Qin Shouhou feel so restless that he wanted to puke blood.


    Qin Hu casted a glance over to the two soul armaments still floating in front of his brother. ¡°But that Bai Yunfei was quite ¡®sincere¡¯. He gave us two heaven-tier soul armaments to make ¡®amends¡¯. One of them is a mid-heaven tier in fact, how surprising to see¡­¡±


    What Qin Hu said piqued Qin Shouhao¡¯s attention. Skeptical, he turned to face his uncle, ¡°Uncle, what was that you said? One of the soul armaments is a mid-heaven tier?! That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Qin Long¡¯s right hand reached forward to grab the azure-colored longsword. There was a slight chiming sound as elemental wind started to flow into the room and develop into a miniature tornado.


    ¡°A mid-heaven tier soul armament indeed!!¡± Qin Shouhao gasped.


    The azure light faded away from the room, leaving Qin Long alone to bask in his thoughts. With a second wave of his hand, he sent the sword to float over to Qin Shouhao.


    ¡°Shouhao, your younger brother was fortunate enough to make use of the rare materials he found to have the Crafting School craft him a heaven-tier soul armament. I know you wanted one yourself. I originally planned on giving you one of the heaven-tiers we had in our treasury, but since we were given these two as a gift, this longsword is yours.¡±


    Qin Shouhao took the sword into his hand reflexively, but his ears were having difficulty comprehending what his father was saying to him. Dumb with shock, he stared at the sword in his hands for a moment. ¡°Father¡­you¡¯re¡­you¡¯re really giving me this soul armament?¡±


    Qin Long narrowed his eyes, was his son not happy with the soul armament? ¡°I can take it back if you don¡¯t want it.¡±


    ¡°No! How could your son dare refuse this!¡± Qin Shouhao replied enthusiastically, ¡°Thank you so much, father!!¡±


    Honestly speaking, Qin Shouhao felt it quite unsatisfying that his younger brother was somehow able to procure a heaven-tier soul armament from the Crafting School. His younger brother had somehow managed to get a hold of a priceless material, and yet he himself wasn¡¯t even able to get a heaven-tier soul armament even after becoming a Soul King.


    But now that a heaven-tier soul armament¡ªa mid-heaven tier at that¡ªhad fallen into his hands so readily, Qin Shouhao almost felt like thanking Bai Yunfei for coming to rescind the betrothment¡­


    An indescribable flicker of light entered Qin Long¡¯s eyes at the sight of how excited Qin Shouhao was.


    He was of the same generation as Bai Yunfei and was so excited to receive a mid-heaven tier soul armament while Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even bat an eye at giving away two of them. This difference was¡­truly a large one.


    Qin Long stored the orange spear into his space ring. ¡°That concludes the matter. Return to what you were doing, this matter is now over. Our plans for the betrothment are henceforth canceled. We will not talk about this issue again¡­¡±


    Qin Shouhao stored his soul armament into his space ring as he walked out from the halls. ¡°I wonder how angry little Feng will get when he finds out about this¡­¡± He muttered to himself.


    Then, as if remembering the fact that his younger brother had previously been in trouble, he immediately quickened his footsteps to head for the north courtyards¡­


    ¡­¡­


    At this current moment, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were both walking out from Qin Manor to walk around the city again.


    Bai Yunfei was glad. Rescinding the betrothment went far more smooth than he expected. Losing two heaven-tier soul armaments weren¡¯t too much of a big deal, since they were both actually earth-tiers in fact. The earth-type longsword was a high-earth tier that had been upgraded to +10, and its additional effect was good enough to elevate its attack to the range of a low-heaven tier. The azure longsword was one of the weapons he got from killing the Soul Kings earlier and was originally a low-heaven tier. Once he upgraded it, it became a mid-heaven tier but hadn¡¯t a good additional effect like the other sword.


    Neither soul armaments were very important to Bai Yunfei, so he opted to give them away to help grease the wheels on rescinding the marriage. And so he had to admit, the attempt was quite successful.


    It took them some time to get to Swallow City, so neither was in too much of a rush to leave. They¡¯d take a day¡¯s rest before returning to Mo City.


    ¡°Where did Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai fly off to, I don¡¯t see them anywhere?¡± Tang Xinyun looked around in the skies in curiosity.


    Xiao Qi said prior to them entering the city that he hadn¡¯t any intentions of following them in. It would be more fun to go around the city with Xiao Bai, he said, but neither birds were anywhere to be seen now that Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were done.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been too curious, but he had to admit, he should have heard something from Xiao Qi already. Focusing a bit, Bai Yunfei felt for the direction of Xiao Qi¡¯s soulforce.


    ¡°Ah¡­they¡¯re out of the city already? To the east I see¡­isn¡¯t that where the primal stone mines are? Is he going to sightsee the mines?¡±


    ¡°The primal stone mine? Isn¡¯t that where the Tianhun School and Qin have many strong people defending it? Won¡¯t there be trouble if the two of them go there?¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s not many people that could intimidate him with Xiao Qi¡¯s strength. Plus¡­they¡¯re both flying back to us.¡±


    He pointed a finger up to the skies, ¡°Look, here they come.¡±


    To the north, two black dots were quickly flying through the air towards where he and Tang Xinyun were. He craned his head to take a closer look, ¡°Is¡­Xiao Qi holding onto something?¡±

 Chapter 885: Picking Up a Dog

    Xiao Qi generally enjoyed being the size of a sparrow, but he was currently the size of an eagle and his claws were holding onto something¡­


    It wasn¡¯t until he got closer that Bai Yunfei was able to see what exactly it was. He frowned when he did. The object Xiao Qi was holding onto was moving¡ªit was alive!


    ¡°What is that Xiao Qi playing at¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Xinyun, let¡¯s move to a more secluded area. Xiao Qi will scare the commoners here if he touches down now¡­¡±


    Luckily for them, there was a nice small alleyway not too far away from where they were. Waiting there, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun watched as Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai touched down. Xiao Bai chirped happily on Tang Xinyun¡¯s shoulder and rubbed at her cheek. Xiao Qi, on the other hand, was quiet as he waited there, still holding onto whatever it was in his claws.


    Looking at the object, Bai Yunfei saw that it was a¡­dog?!


    A dog with a golden fur coat and a layer of dirt all over it. It looked rather skinny, and its legs slightly short. Its tail was bald and stumpy, and its face was wrinkled. This was a Shar-pei!


    It looked rather silly with how Xiao Qi was carrying it. Both its forelegs were held up by Xiao Qi¡¯s claws so that it was in a cross shape position and its two hind legs shaking non-stop as if trying to struggle. With how its discolored belly was being shown, the dog looked exceedingly pitiful.


    Xiao Qi dropped the dog as soon as he got close enough. The dog¡¯s legs trembled almost drunken like on the solid ground. Swaying as it made its way over to the wall, the dog slid down with a whine to cower in the corner. Its wrinkled body was exceedingly tiny now that it was curled up and its ears perked high up in fear. The folds of its face were so thick that even the eyes seemed like they were completely obscured by them, though everyone in the alley could see just how distinctly terrified the dog was. With it being stuck in this corner of the alley, there was no way to run. The only thing it could do was huddle there pitifully and look at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to think. ¡°What is this, Xiao Qi? Where did this dog come from?¡±


    ¡°I picked it up.¡± Xiao Qi replied with a pleased chirp.


    ¡°¡­Where?¡±


    ¡°At the base of a mountain outside the city.¡±


    ¡°Did you really go flying all the way there? And why pick up this dog? Don¡¯t tell me you want to raise this dog¡­¡±


    But Xiao Qi shot him a glare. ¡°Yunfei, this isn¡¯t an ordinary dog! It¡¯s special!!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei glanced back to the dog, ¡°What do you mean special?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, you¡¯ll definitely be surprised.¡± Xiao Qi chirped again. ¡°Take out a primal stone and give it to me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Though he didn¡¯t understand what was going on, Bai Yunfei acquiesced to the request and took out an earth-type primal stone.


    There was a flash of light as Xiao Qi wrapped the primal stone in a bubble of energy and flew over to the dog.


    Then he spoke two words that nearly made Bai Yunfei faceplant onto the ground.


    ¡°Eat it.¡±


    ¡°Eat it?!¡± Bai Yunfei grew incredulous at the command. The curled up dog was still shivering and its eyes were looking at the primal stone, but it did nothing else other than to look.


    ¡°Come on and eat it!¡± Xiao Qi chirped unhappily. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you you¡¯ll have a lot of good things to eat if you come with me? This beats the trash primal stones you¡¯ve been eating in that mound of dirt.¡±


    Bai Yunfei watched as the shar-pei looked at the primal stone, and then to Xiao Qi. Then back to the primal stone.


    It sniffed the primal stone tentatively before casting one final careful glance over to Xiao Qi.


    As if no longer able to resist the allure, the shar-pei extended a tongue out to take the primal stone into its mouth!!


    ¡°No way, he really ate it?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were wide open. This dog really was eating the primal stone!


    A dog that could eat primal stones!!


    The world had many ¡®beings¡¯ that could eat primal stones, all things considered. Many soulbeasts devoured primal stones to use it in the same way a soul cultivator might use a primal stone for training. This was nothing new in the history and knowledge of the world, but this was applicable only to soulbeasts. Bai Yunfei was absolutely sure this dog wasn¡¯t a soulbeast though!


    It hadn¡¯t even an iota of soulforce undulating from its body! It was just an ordinary ¡®dog¡¯, so how could it possibly be eating a primal stone?!


    People always talked about the impossibles happening when pigs could fly. Bai Yunfei never gave the phrase credence before, but this sight in front of him was starting to make him doubt if that phrase might¡¯ve had some truth to it.


    Like a kid who just discovered an absolutely delicious piece of candy, the eyes of the shar-pei lit up after it ate the primal stone. The fear melted away from it as it started to wag violently. In one fluid motion, it bounded straight for Bai Yunfei to leap and whine at him as if to ask for more.


    ¡°Haha!! See, Yunfei? See how special it is? It¡¯s not a soulbeast, but it can eat primal stones. That¡¯s something else!¡±


    Xiao Qi was back to his sparrow-sized self. Chirping happily, Xiao Qi flapped his wings as if he was a child laughing at an interesting sight.


    ¡°This really is strange, how is this even possible?¡±


    He was curious. Curious, but excited to know more. He squatted down to scrutinize the shar-pei. A fire-type mid-grade primal stone was taking out to be fed to the dog, much to its delight. It swallowed the primal stone whole, barking happily and leaping about Bai Yunfei with a great deal more affection than before.


    ¡°It can eat different elements of primal stones too?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. ¡°And two mid-grade primal stones too. It doesn¡¯t look like they did anything to the dog, though?


    ¡°Curious, how curious¡­¡± He was giving the dog a very deep look now. ¡°Xiao Qi, how in the world did you ¡®pick¡¯ this dog up?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Bai and I were flying around the north parts outside the city since that was the direction with the most elemental energy. We flew around several times and landed on a mountain without a lot of people. There were a few Soul Kings, but we didn¡¯t go too deep in the mountain. Then we saw the dog at the base of the mountain trying to dig a hole.


    ¡°We were curious. Then we saw it eat a primal stone in a single bite, haha. With how interesting that was, we decided to bring it back to let you see it. Yunfei, what do you say? How can this dog eat primal stones?¡±


    ¡°How should I know? This is the first time I¡¯ve seen an ¡®ordinary¡¯ dog this ¡®special¡¯.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you talk with it?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Ask if it had anything special happen to it before, or if something in it changed. Let¡¯s see if we can find out about anything.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already asked, but this guy is pretty dumb. It doesn¡¯t even know how it¡¯s able to eat primal stones.¡±


    Bai Yunfei scrunched his eyebrows together. Thinking about this shar-pei for a moment, he finally lifted his left hand to touch the top of its head.


    The Charm Bracelet on his left hand pulsated once with light as he established a mental link with it¡­

 Chapter 886: Chronicles of a Shar-peis Adventure

    In a dark alleyway, a small silhouette was digging into a smelly pile of trash. Multiple stray cats and dogs had surely gone through this pile, and this silhouette would by no means be the last one to do so. The silhouette was digging a bigger hole so it could forage even deeper into the pile for hopefully a morsel of food but to no avail. The more it dug, the bigger the hole became before ultimately the pile of trash collapsed¡­


    It took a few moments for the thing to dig itself out from the pile. Smelling thoroughly like garbage, the thing shook its entire body with a pitiful look of despair in its eyes.


    It was a small stray dog. A particular breed of dog that wasn¡¯t as competitive to other breeds; a shar-pei.


    The dog didn¡¯t know how it was ushered into this type of lifestyle, it didn¡¯t even know where it came from. It was just a regular stray dog whose first memory of the world was smelling a pile of rotten trash.


    For as long as it could remember, the dog lived its entire life in the outskirts of a very large city. Very rarely was the dog able to go into the city without being caught. Most of the time, the inhabitants of the city would chase it out and curse at it. Some would even aim kicks and sticks its way¡­The best the dog could do was carefully prowl the city at night in hopes of finding a morsel of food to eat.


    The things it ate every day might¡¯ve been impalatable, but it was the only thing keeping the dog alive. If it didn¡¯t eat, it would die. The dog had seen those unfortunate few that weren¡¯t able to muster up enough energy to even budge. How terrible their fates were, to be laid on the ground with nothing else to do but wait to die¡­


    It didn¡¯t know why it was getting weaker and weaker by the day either. A fight or two could be won in the past if it tried hard enough, but now it was far weaker than before. The dog felt close to death. If not from starvation, then from fighting with another dog¡­


    There had been a day before when it was walking on the side of the roads when a carriage went by. It had originally planned on getting as far away from the carriage as possible, but then a small spherical object fell from the carriage caught its attention. It wasn¡¯t meat, but the dog somehow knew that it could be eaten.


    The dog scampered to the object then and stuffed it into its mouth like it would if it found a piece of cake. The door to the carriage was only just opening up then when the dog looked up. It could see a young male smirking at it.


    Then the human threw out something else for it to eat. Without thinking twice, the dog ran up to eat it.


    The smile on the human¡¯s face deepened.


    And so, the dog and human continued this game where the human would throw out something from the window for the dog to eat. On and on, this game was played until the dog¡¯s leg were weak to the touch and could keep up with the carriage no longer.


    The environment around the dog was completely different to where it had been before, much to the dog¡¯s bewilderment. This was a new place for the dog. No walls were here, no people, and no other dogs. It was just a large expanse of wilderness and pitch darkness where hardly anything could be seen.


    It felt scared. How had it managed to go all the way here? How long had it even been walking with the carriage?


    Left with no other choice but forward, the dog continued to walk. It walked, and walked, and walked. At one point, the dog was even chased by a fierce beast that had nearly bit off its head, but the dog managed to escape by falling into a river.


    Falling into the river had nearly killed the dog as well, but it managed to survive that by swimming ashore later. Wet and hungry, the dog trekked shambled forward.


    The rain was starting to drop down, wetting the ground as it walked. Soon, the dog came to the foot of a mountain where it came across a hole just big enough for it to fit inside.


    Now situated in the mini-cave, the dog prodded a little deeper into it since the rainwater was trickling inside. It was dark inside, and the dog didn¡¯t know how long it had walked, but it was surely a long distance.


    At one point, one of the dog¡¯s legs touched upon nothing when it took a step forward. In the darkness, the flat ground had turned into a steep slope. The dog stumbled and tumbled down the slope for a decent amount of distance, only stopping when it was back on an equal surface. But even then, the dog¡¯s legs were entirely exhausted from all the walking it did.


    By the time the dog opened its eyes, it realized that there was something shining in the cave. It was still dark, but the cave walls were shining a luminous sheen of light.


    There was a tremendous stalactite hanging from the center of the cave¡¯s roof. Droplets of liquid were dripping down from it every so often. And underneath the stalactite was a hollowed out hole with a body of sparkling liquid.


    The dog walked around the cave but found nothing of interest. Tired, cold, hungry, and thirsty, the dog finally gave up and trodded towards the center. Collapsing next to the body of liquid, it started to lap at it.


    It had never drunk water so delicious as this! Sweet and warm to the tongue, the dog never felt so at bliss before.


    Sleep claimed the dog soon after. It didn¡¯t even know how long it fell asleep for, but the dog was feeling completely refreshed. It started to pace around the cave again to look for a way out.


    The dog search for a long time without tiring, but it soon realized that it couldn¡¯t even find the slope it fell down from¡­


    Hunger was starting to set back in now. There wasn¡¯t anything to eat here, and so the dog started to despair. It would die here if it couldn¡¯t find a way out soon.


    Then it noticed a stone that was shining on the ground in front of it.


    Something about this stone was giving the dog a strange feeling. The feeling that this thing could be eaten¡­


    Its eyes were drawn to the nearby cave wall. Scratching at it, it dug out a small egg-sized red stone. Smelling the strange object, the dog noticed something about it.


    There was a scent to this stone that made it seem ¡®edible¡¯. Feeling hungry, the dog took the stone into its mouth and swallowed it.


    The moment when the object was swallowed, the dog felt as though it had swallowed a ball of fire. Its stomach was filled with a wave of warm comfort and satisfaction.


    But even more importantly, it wasn¡¯t as hungry anymore.


    The dog realized then¡ªit could eat this stone!!


    It was ecstatic. Had the dog knew about this beforehand, it wouldn¡¯t have fought with all those dogs over worthless pieces of trash before¡­though the dog knew that it couldn¡¯t eat just any regular pieces of stone. Only those that were shining and had a ¡®smell¡¯ could be eaten.


    It didn¡¯t want to bother why this was the case, that wasn¡¯t very important for now. The most important thing was that it no longer had to worry about starving to death here! It could eat and eat and eat here to build up strength and find a way out from here.


    Days went by, but the dog heard the voice of a human at one point somewhere in front of it. Terrified, the dog hid behind a large boulder and waited.


    From a broken part of the cave wall on the other side, the dog noticed a large powerful group of men come out. They had to be strong if they could break apart that large boulder earlier.


    When the humans saw the glowing stones around, they all looked excited for some reason.


    Taking the opportunity of when they were all distracted, the dog darted out into the corridor they left from to return to the surface.


    From there, it continued its life as a wandering stray. It wasn¡¯t very fierce and didn¡¯t go hunting like the other dogs. Instead, it looked for the stones it could eat, but those were rare and few. Still, he was finding enough to be able to survive. And this way, the dog was able to live a strange, but manageable life as a ¡®stone¡¯ eating stray¡­


    ¡­¡­


    From every day to now, the dog would often search at the base of a certain mountain for food. Then one day came a small white bird from the sky. Before it could even realize what this bird was doing, the ¡®bird¡¯ turned into a large eagle and grabbed hold of it to take into the skies.


    To say it was terrified was an understatement, but the dog didn¡¯t fight the bird.


    The ¡®bird¡¯ was speaking to it as they flew, but the dog wasn¡¯t very sure what it was saying. It was just too terrified to really think about its situation.


    But the dog realized that the city was coming into sight now. It hadn¡¯t seen the city and its large walls for so long¡­All the familiar streets and the throngs of people¡­


    In the end, the dog was dropped onto a small alleyway right in front of a male and female¡­

 Chapter 887: Lao Sha

    Bai Yunfei drew his left hand back, bewildered by the memories he saw.


    As like Xiao Qi said, this dog wasn¡¯t particularly smart. It leaned more towards the slower side of the spectrum, but he was still able to create a ¡®channel¡¯ through the usage of the Charm Bracelet. It wasn¡¯t as strong as when he¡¯d normally use it with Long Lan, but an exchange of thoughts was still capable of being done. The shar-pei wasn¡¯t refusing Bai Yunfei¡¯s probing into its memories either, so Bai Yunfei was quickly able to go through the shar-pei¡¯s life and how it lived.


    Though incomplete in his scan, Bai Yunfei had more or less pinpointed the reasoning¡ªit was the cavern the dog was in.


    ¡°An ordinary dog with such an unordinary adventure, that¡¯s a strange one¡­¡± He muttered. ¡°Seems like its lot in life has changed because of that liquid it drank in the mine. I don¡¯t know what the liquid is, but for it to have such a strange effect¡­¡±


    ¡°Xiao Fang, do you happen to know if the primal stone vein underneath here has any type of liquid that¡¯d allow for an ordinary beast to be able to eat primal stones?¡± He decided to ask Xiao Fang, the premier source of knowledge.


    Xiao Fang, who hadn¡¯t been paying attention until now, was surprised at the random question.


    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t a dog that can eat primal stones a soulbeast then? Interesting¡­I think I know what you¡¯re talking about. A type of extremely rare liquid can form in places of extremely dense concentration of primal stones. ¡®Primal liquid¡¯. It takes forever to condense the surrounding elemental energy and air into a liquid form, but a single drop is as powerful as a hundred of the best type of primal stones. It¡¯s easy to absorb and without side-effects, that¡¯s far better than any miracle drug you can think of off the top of your head. It was because of a vial of this liquid that Tianhun was able to become a Soul Emperor.


    ¡°If the liquid this dog drank in the caves, then¡­its fate is too good to be true. If anyone were to know the liquid existed and was drunk by a dog, then even Soul Emperors would go crazy¡­¡±


    ¡°Primal liquid¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°So that¡¯s the case why this dog is so special? A priceless thing like that, used to allow an ordinary dog to eat primal stones?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where I¡¯m unclear on, I doubt anyone knew about its existence, who¡¯d let a dog drink something like that?


    ¡°Actually, there¡¯s another thing that feels bizarre. Normal beasts that mistakenly eat medicine and other types of spiritually-rich things happen every so often in the world. A good majority of them die, unable to withstand the power of what they eat. Those that survive become stronger and usually turn into soulbeasts. But this type of mutation is a first for me. Is there anything that happens when this dog eats a primal stone?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen anything strange yet,¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°We can keep an eye on it until then.¡± He stated afterwards.


    ¡°Really? We can keep it?¡± Xiao Qi chirped excitedly in response at Bai Yunfei¡¯s self-musings.


    ¡°We can,¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s not too much trouble anyhow. A diet of primal stone is rich, but we can manage.¡±


    Xiao Qi was ecstatic. Flying over to the shar-pei, he began to chatter away at it. The dog sat there, momentarily confused by what the bird was saying to it.


    Then realization dawned upon its eyes. It sat upright with an excited look and began to wag its tail crazily. Leaping and barking, the dog seemed to be replying to Xiao Qi.


    Since they were going to take in the dog, a name would have to be had. And since it was Xiao Qi that found the dog, he had the right to pick its name.


    Thinking for a very long time, Xiao Qi finally thought of one.


    ¡°Ah¡­you don¡¯t look young, you have to be somewhere around the middle of your lifespan, right? An older shar-pei¡­then how about ¡®Lao Sha¡¯!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was speechless.


    As they walked out from the alleyway with the dog in tow, Bai Yunfei began to have other thoughts.


    If Lao Sha really did drink primal liquid, then was there still any left? The area it was in was the northern mines. If there was a chance, Bai Yunfei thought, he¡¯d have to go looking for it¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Tang Xinyun through the streets of Swallow City before finding themselves right in front of a particularly large building.


    Swallow City Auction House.


    Undulations of light were shining from the left side of the auction house¡¯s interior. All sorts of soul armaments, medicine, soulbeasts, and other items were exhibited there with annotations written underneath.


    At the center of all the undulations was a young man holding onto an archaic-looking bronze mirror. He was putting soulforce into the mirror, and waves of iridescent light were shining out from it, causing the undulations Bai Yunfei first saw.


    ¡°Three days of the largest auction of our house in the last two years starts soon! Come one, come all! Treasures, soul armaments, soul skills, medicines, soulbeasts, and much much more! Our auction house welcomes all¡­¡±


    The young man seemed to be yelling.


    ¡°Interested, Yunfei?¡± Having noticed that Bai Yunfei had stopped, Tang Xinyun looked to where his eyes were going.


    ¡°I think I saw some mystestone in the light from that mirror, the really difficult material to get for crafting. They say it¡¯s their largest auction in two years, didn¡¯t they? They should probably have something good¡­¡± Bai Yunfei replied, interested by the things he was seeing in the light there.


    ¡°Mystestone? You can craft a heaven-tier soul armament with enough of that¡­¡± Tang Xinyun was equally interested now. Shifting towards the mirror-holding boy, she started to take a look. ¡°Ah? Isn¡¯t that some dragon ebony?! They have something like that here?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely dragon ebony, a really good wood-type material.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Why don¡¯t we stay for a while and enjoy this auction? Since we¡¯re here, we may as well take part in it.¡±


    Xinyun gave him a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s stay a few days then.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile at Qin Manor.


    ¡°Ahh!! Teach him a lesson he won¡¯t forget!!¡± A furious roar erupted from one of the rooms as Qin Shoufeng sprung up from his bed with bloodshot eyes.


    He blinked when he realized he wasn¡¯t in the restaurant, but his own room.


    ¡°Eh? How¡¯d I get here?!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re finally up, little Feng.¡± A voice spoke out to him. He turned around, it was his older brother, Shouhao.


    ¡°Big brother? What are you doing here? What happened? Is this¡­my room? How¡¯d I get here, I remember I was¡­¡±


    Qin Shouhao shook his head with a sigh at the look of confusion he was getting. ¡°You were knocked unconscious yesterday night, who in the world did you annoy yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Knocked unconscious?!¡± Qin Shoufeng cried out, ¡°Impossible! How come I don¡¯t remember it?!¡±


    He was already inspecting himself for damages but found nothing other than the pangs of dizziness.


    ¡°Damn!! How is that Bai Yunfei so powerful?! We had so many people, and he still managed to knock us out without us knowing? Damn it! Damn it all!!¡± Qin Shoufeng¡¯s face was purple as he cursed obscenity after obscenity at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°He¡¯s definitely in this city still! I won¡¯t ever forgive him for this humiliation! I¡¯ll definitely show him how powerful we are!¡±


    Qin Shouhao¡¯s face dropped several degrees of calm when he heard the name uttered by his younger brother, ¡°What did you say? Bai Yunfei was the one that knocked you out?!¡±


    ¡°It was definitely him!¡± Qin Shoufeng howled. ¡°Just because he¡¯s from the Crafting School, he thinks he doesn¡¯t have to respect us?! It¡¯s insufferable how he¡¯s acting in this city! Big brother, please send out everyone to look for him, I want him to know just how he¡¯ll die after angering our family!¡±


    Another flash of anger crossed his eyes, ¡°And Tang Xinyun was with him!! He has his filthy eyes on my fiance too! If this isn¡¯t bullying, what is?! Our family won¡¯t live this humiliation down if we don¡¯t do anything!¡±


    The roars of Qin Shoufeng were growing angrier and angrier the more he thought about Bai Yunfei and everything surrounding him. He had expected his brother to say something, but when he looked up, all he got was a strange stare¡­

 Chapter 888: The Starting of a Conspiracy

    ¡°Step aside! Is my father sleeping yet? I want to see him!!¡±


    ¡°Young master, the lord has instructed that no one is to disturb him. The lord will¡­¡±


    ¡°Scram!! I want to see father! I don¡¯t have the time to listen to your nonsense!¡±


    ¡°Young master, young master!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The northern courtyards of Qin Manor were particularly noisy today. Clamors and noise could be heard from the scrambling of the people there before the loud slamming of a door made itself known.


    On the other side of the door was a seated Qin Long with a cup of tea in hand. Troubled by the unexpected commotion, he sent a cross stare at the newcomer, ¡°Little Feng, it¡¯s already late, whatever for are you making such a racket!¡±


    So angry was Qin Shoufeng that he didn¡¯t even care about the rebuking remarks of his father. ¡°Father!! Why did you cancel the betrothment with the Tang?! Why did you agree!? Why!!¡±


    Qin Long¡¯s eye traveled over to an exasperated-looking Qin Shouhao behind Qin Shoufeng. He looked back to Qin Shoufeng with a stern look. ¡°They requested that the betrothment be rescinded, why would I not agree? It was but an oral agreement, let it be canceled if they wish. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re lovestruck with the girl?¡±


    Qin Shoufeng was dissatisfied by such an answer, ¡°But you said to be prepared to send a gift to the Tang a few days ago! How come you changed your mind now? And¡­why would that damned Bai Yunfei come to cancel it? Why would he steal my fiance, and how can he dare act towards us like that? Why?!¡±


    A flash of steel entered Qin Long¡¯s eyes. ¡°The matter is finished, so I will not have it with your yapping! It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s that Tang Xinyun or that Bai Yunfei, don¡¯t you dare think about starting anything!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t I dare start anything?¡± The muscles on Qin Shoufeng¡¯s face twitched angrily. ¡°They made me suffer so much, so how can you say I shouldn¡¯t ¡®start¡¯ anything?! Where¡¯s the logic in that?!¡±


    Qin Long had had enough at his son¡¯s stubbornness. ¡°Logic? One is from the Crafting School, the other is from the Tang!! Which is it that you¡¯ll start trouble with?! Continue with this and you¡¯ll only make it worst, cease it with your degrading of our family name!!¡±


    ¡°Degrading our family name? Me?! Haha! I¡¯m the one degrading our name?!¡± Qin Shoufeng roared with disbelief, ¡°I had my betrothment canceled and I can¡¯t even make a sound for it? The Qin has long since been degraded if that can happen!¡±


    ¡°You will stay quiet!!¡± Qin Long roared. There was a ringing sound as he slapped the face of his son and sent him flying backward.


    Qin Shouhao was in shock. Moving to grab hold of his brother, he gave his father a disbelieving look. ¡°Father, what are you doing?! Little Feng might¡¯ve been too emotional, but that¡¯s no reason to hit him!¡±


    ¡°Haha, let him hit me, just let him!! I didn¡¯t say anything wrong! I understand it now!¡± Qin Shoufeng nursed the left side of his face with a maniacal laugh. ¡°I finally understand now! The family I thought was a proud one was nothing but a lie! Soul King? A coward is more like it! A coward!!¡±


    ¡°You¡ªget out of here!!¡±


    The anger had reached a boiling point. Soulforce burst out from Qin Long with so devastating force that the table he had been next to was reduced to nothing but powder! The pressure from his person brought everyone into a terrified stupor, and Qin Shoufeng immediately went limp in his brother¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Take him away! He is forbidden from taking even a step out from Qin Manor for a month!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It was a still shell-shocked Qin Shouhao that took Qin Shoufeng away. Unwilling to stick around, everyone else scattered apart, leaving Qin Long by himself in the now quiet courtyard.


    He fell upon his own chair with a dark expression, stewing in his own thoughts about something.


    ¡°Haha, how young and vibrant young master Shoufeng is. He¡¯s an honest person, that one¡­¡±


    The voice of a second person spoke out from the room Qin Long was in. A second later, a person stepped out from the dark corners of the room.


    There had been someone else in the room with Qin Long the entire time!


    Qin Long didn¡¯t respond to those words at first. ¡°What are you doing here in Swallow City, Mo Ni? I¡¯ve said it before, it¡¯s best that we don¡¯t see each other so often. Trouble will be had if people find out about our meetings.¡±


    ¡°I heard there¡¯s plenty of treasures in Swallow City, so I came to take a look.¡± The person responded. Now that he was completely out from the shadows, his face could be seen.


    If Bai Yunfei was here, he¡¯d be shocked for sure! This person was¡­Mo Ni!


    Mo Ni was here in Swallow City! And here to see the Qin!


    ¡°You¡¯re here for the auction?¡± Qin Long had a flash of annoyance go across his eyes, as if angry by such a whimsical excuse.


    ¡°I¡¯m warning you, don¡¯t make any trouble here in Swallow City. If you try to involve my family in anything, I¡¯ll see that retribution is made!¡±


    Mo Ni smiled. ¡°A funny joke, lord Qin. What trouble would I bring here?¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Don¡¯t think I can¡¯t surmise what¡¯s going on. You¡¯re here for Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, correct?¡± Qin Long snorted.


    ¡°I received information not too long ago that Tang Xinyun was kidnapped and a battle was had. The kidnappers were a group of wandering soul cultivators, and Bai Yunfei was the one who fought them off!¡±


    He glared at Mo Ni with eyes as sharp as daggers. ¡°I also heard that the Soul Refining School are behind it! The last time you came, you wanted us to go through with the betrothment. I recall you saying you wanted to see the Tang and Qin closer together, but that was just your ploy to draw Tang Qianlei away, wasn¡¯t it? With their Late-stage Soul King gone, you¡¯d have a good opportunity to kidnap Tang Xinyun? What is your ultimate goal for Bai Yunfei? What are you planning at?¡±


    Mo Ni was unnerved by the stare. ¡°I only wish to get rid of a danger before it grows too large, that¡¯s all. I just didn¡¯t expect Bai Yunfei to be this challenging to take care of. Several attempts have been made, but none decisive yet. It¡¯s best for him to die sooner rather than later, or he¡¯ll bring trouble on us all.¡±


    ¡°I care little if you kill him but do not bring my family in your personal spat. It has nothing to do with us. We have no desire to anger the Crafting School!¡±


    ¡°You say it has nothing to do with the Qin, but he is already an enemy of your family, is he not? You have already allied with my school, so conflict with the Crafting School and even the Tang is inevitable.¡± Mo Ni smiled. ¡°I know what you¡¯re worrying about, lord Qin, but rest assured. As long as elder Qin becomes a Soul Emperor, you¡¯ll have more than enough power to resist all enemies. There¡¯s no need to hide behind someone else afterward. After the ¡®Great Purge¡¯, your Qin will become the strongest family in the world. Your family will help herald in a new golden age.¡±


    Qin Long had still an impassive look on his face. ¡°Everything you say now is something for the far future. I only know that my family hasn¡¯t the strength to fight off the Crafting School. We will have nothing to do with your dealings with Bai Yunfei. Give up on the notion.


    ¡°And,¡± He glared at Mo Ni, ¡°while it¡¯s true we have allied with the Soul Refining School, this isn¡¯t a master-slave relationship. We have no reason to follow your orders. If you don¡¯t assist us as stipulated, then this ¡®alliance¡¯ is over.¡±

 Chapter 889: Underground Exploration

    Mo Ni gave him a pleased smile. ¡°Rest assured, lord Qin. I presume you¡¯ve already tried the ancient Soul Fusing Matrix already? The effects of the matrix will be a great deal stronger when it¡¯s complete. Ancestor Qin will breakthrough. I presume he¡¯s at a very delicate phase right now, but the breakthrough will happen soon nonetheless.¡±


    ¡°I hope that will be the case.¡± Qin Long replied back. ¡°You gave us an half-destroyed portion of the matrix last time, then you say you found a more complete version after plenty of hard work? This was nothing more than your trump card for us, was it not?¡± He thought to himself.


    It didn¡¯t matter what happened. Getting a Soul Emperor to appear in their family was the same as becoming a top-notch power in the entire soul cultivator world. He wouldn¡¯t have to fear the Five Families or Ten Great Schools anymore. The Qin would be ushered into a glorious era where they reigned at the top!!


    ¡°Lord Qin, are you certain that you will not help me against Bai Yunfei? You won¡¯t need to make public anything, you only need to help us behind the scenes. When I no longer have to hide, we will make sure to announce that it was the Soul Refining School that killed Bai Yunfei. The Crafting School will go after us in that case, and your Qin will be safe. The treasures in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands are infinite, and us killing him will benefit your family tremendously.¡±


    Something nearly imperceptible sparked to life in Qin Long¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, our discussion is over. The Qin will not help you. We wish not to be involved in your affairs.¡±


    He already knew Bai Yunfei had many priceless treasures, but what was the point even if the Qin were to manage to lay claim to them all? It was a cursed jackpot that would only serve to bring even more trouble onto them.


    ¡­¡­


    Outside Qin Manor, a tear in space opened up to reveal Mo Ni walking out onto a dark alleyway.


    Another dark silhouette joined him a moment later. It was the Black Dragon King.


    ¡°How went it? Did the Qin agree to help us fight Bai Yunfei?¡± He asked with a hoarse voice.


    Mo Ni shook his head. ¡°They refused, as we expected. The Qin is waiting. They won¡¯t do anything until their ancestor becomes a Soul Emperor.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you plan to do next?¡± The Black Dragon King asked, ¡°I won¡¯t accompany you if you want to go after Bai Yunfei. I recommend you listen to me and return to the Soul Refining School. Wait until you get stronger and then bring Gui Nu with you. Your chances will be better then.¡±


    A flicker of reluctance traveled across Mo Ni¡¯s eyes for a second before he sneered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not in a rush to die. But I¡¯ve already thought of something, so why not try it out¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? You still have something up your sleeves? Your father has already forbidden you from going out from getting assistance from the school, and the Qin has refused to help you. Who could you possibly get to help you? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re planning to find a moment to kidnap the girl again? That won¡¯t get you anywhere.¡±


    But Mo Ni only laughed. ¡°If the Qin isn¡¯t going to willingly help me, then I¡¯ll just have to¡­force them to!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A sinister plot was brewing, but Bai Yunfei was none the wiser to it. He was currently flying through the pitch-black skies towards a large range of mountains with a contemplative look on his face.


    ¡°The elemental energy around here is really rich. Training would be far greater here than anywhere else¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered under his breath at the feeling of all the energy he was in.


    This place was just north of Swallow City where the primal stone mines were.


    He managed to deduce this spot from the memories of Mister Shar. What Bai Yunfei was really interested in was the primal liquid the dog drank. He was afraid that someone else might beat him to it if there was still any left. In order to avoid such a case, Bai Yunfei was putting in a great deal of effort and concentration to pinpoint the exact place.


    He wasn¡¯t alone. Tang Xinyun, Xiao Qi, Xiao Bai, and Mister Shar were all in the Core World for easy transport. They¡¯d be safe there if Bai Yunfei were to get into trouble.


    This particular part of the mine was as deep as it was large and was definitely larger than what a commoner would be able to imagine. Thanks to his soulsense and the memories of the dog, Bai Yunfei was able to navigate himself towards the depths without much trouble.


    There weren¡¯t many primal stones as Bai Yunfei thought buried in the mountain. The ground had the majority of them scattered about, and Bai Yunfei would often see a pile of them every thousand steps or so. By using soulsense, he could see a little farther than that to see a series of tunnels and such. Most of them were dug out by human hands, of course, since there were still plenty of soul cultivators actively digging at this site.


    But most of the ones digging here were Soul Warriors or Soul Sprites. There were a few Soul Ancestors, and hardly any Soul Exalts. Bai Yunfei had yet to see any Soul Kings either. But the deeper he went, the more difficult things became.


    He didn¡¯t want to loudly broadcast the fact that he was here. His soulsense wasn¡¯t something Soul Exalts could pick up on, but a Soul King would definitely know he was here if he stretched it out, so he decided to shrink the radius of his search down a notch.


    At this elevation of the mines, it was definitely a given that there¡¯d be a Soul King or two guarding the place. But the mine network was an extensive one, and there would surely be a few places that¡¯d be unsupervised or had only one. If it was an Early-stage Soul King, then Bai Yunfei would most likely be able to get past them if he was careful.


    Hovering there in the air for a moment, Bai Yunfei quickly flew over to a small opening in the cave. He could teleport himself downwards since the usage of spatial energy wouldn¡¯t set off any alerts to a Soul King. This would be the safest way down.


    Down near another entrance, several bored guards were standing around when they all saw something move out from the corners of their eyes. Turning to their right, they all looked at the source but found nothing.


    While they were distracted, a gust of wind blew past them and into the entrance, but no one had noticed it¡­


    Now that he was beyond the entrance to another section of the mine, Bai Yunfei continued like a ghost through the tunnels. He passed by several people along the way, but Bai Yunfei was able to remain undetected for two thousand steps before he decided to slow down a bit.


    He had to slow down now because he was trying to keep an eye out on his goal. He was trying to match up the details of the dog¡¯s memories with what was in front of him, but nothing seemed all too familiar so far. This wasn¡¯t probably the same area the dog had been in.


    Where Mister Shar went wasn¡¯t his absolute goal though. If that place had primal liquid, that could mean there were other places that had it too. The chances were exceedingly slim, but it didn¡¯t hurt to look. With so much elemental energy in the air and primal stones in the ground, Bai Yunfei was sure he¡¯d be able to come across a few treasures here and there. Maybe he¡¯d get a few materials for crafting, that¡¯d make his trip worth it.


    While Bai Yunfei was earnestly looking around the place, he came across a tunnel where a group of men was slowly making their way over while talking amongst themselves¡­


    ¡°Hey, did you hear about it? Two of the members from the third team disappeared yesterday! And one of them was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt!!¡±

 Chapter 890: Disaster Zone?

    ¡°Hey, did you hear about it? Two of the members from the third team disappeared yesterday! And one of them was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt!!¡±


    ¡°What?! Another one? Why didn¡¯t I hear about it?¡±


    ¡°The higher-ups are squashing information leaks. I¡¯m friends with people from the third team and managed to hear about it. They say the last place the two were found in was the newly-opened tunnel about two and a half kilometers down.¡±


    ¡°How many disappearances does this one make? The sixth or seventh? I¡¯ve only been here for two months, but that¡¯s too many disappearances for my liking. People calling this place ¡®Mt. Ominous¡¯ sounds about right now that I think about it¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s on you for not knowing. When I came here a half a year ago, I already know that over a hundred people disappeared! News of the disappearances were usually squashed by the Qin. Only those working in the mines know about it, the rest of the world doesn¡¯t hear a peep!¡±


    ¡°What do you think¡¯s happening? I heard there¡¯s some sort of terrifying monster down here with us. Some are saying it¡¯s a soul cultivator training in the demonic arts. Others are saying this place is a natural disaster zone like one of the Three Danger Zones¡­which one do you think is more likely?¡±


    ¡°How should I know? No one even knows if those people really disappeared or not. Only those that are gone, or maybe the Qin know what¡¯s going on here. But it can¡¯t be let known outside of the mines, even if those guys are alive still. It¡¯s a secret that¡¯s been maintained for over ten years¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! You¡¯re saying these disappearances have been happening for¡­over ten years?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly. I heard it from an even older miner.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s terrifying¡­I don¡¯t feel like staying down here anymore now that I¡¯ve heard about this.¡±


    ¡°Haha, relax. All the disappearances happen at the two and a half kilometer elevation level. Only Soul Ancestors and those stronger are allowed down there. You and I are just Soul Warriors, one kilometer is the deepest we can go. If you went down as you were now, you wouldn¡¯t even be able to take the geotic energy down there.¡±


    ¡°The geotic energy? What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°How do you not even know that? It¡¯s the ¡®earth¡¯s energy¡¯, simply put. In even simpler words, it¡¯s the aggregation of all the elemental energies into one. If the energy above the nine heavens is chaotic energy, then the energy beneath the earth is geotic energy. A soul cultivator won¡¯t be able to handle either of the two energies. If they¡¯re too weak, then the energy will invade the body and force them to lose control. If that happens, they¡¯ll explode and die!¡±


    ¡°Damn¡­so there was something as dangerous as that underneath here! My essence origin hasn¡¯t even formed, so there¡¯s no chance of that exploding¡­¡±


    ¡°Now now, that¡¯s enough mocking yourself. There¡¯s no use talking about something like this. Let¡¯s take the chance to train instead. Training in here is many times better than outside!¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, lets. Time to train¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei listened to the conversation of the two with interest. He waited until the two began to train before he headed down in secret.


    ¡°So people have been disappearing in these mines? That¡¯s strange, is there really some kind of monster in here?¡± Bai Yunfei wondered to himself as he continued downwards, ¡°If there¡¯s a monster, how strong is it, I wonder? The Qin is managing to control the flow of information here, but do they know the reason for it all? Or¡­does it have to do with them?¡±


    Unbeknownst to him, Bai Yunfei was already at the two-and-a-half kilometer depth point.


    The energy down at this elevation was starting to grow richer, but also more ¡®chaotic¡¯. Elemental energy was flowing forth from all sorts of different primal grades and blending together for an almost volatile mixture. Most of these primal stones were of mid-grade quality at the very least.


    There weren¡¯t as many people mining away at this elevation, but the weakest of the miners were of the Early-stage Soul Ancestor level at the very least. There were a great deal more Soul Exalts in this area, but most of them were currently very still as they trained. The goal of many miners here was to train. Mining was just a secondary goal for them.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­a little strange here¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei murmured. He had been feeling off ever since he got here, but it wasn¡¯t because of the geotic energy that was swirling around him. There was some sort of pressure coming from his own soul in the form of a warning. It was as though his ¡®intuition¡¯ was telling him that there was danger here.


    ¡°Eh? There¡¯s even a Soul King nearby, is he the one in charge of protecting this area? There¡¯s a very strange aura coming from down beneath, what¡¯s going on here¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei froze up. Pivoting on his right leg, he swung around to protect his head with his right hand!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a metallic clang as a series of sparks flew off from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. A black dagger fell from there before a black ghostlike figure took it back. In the blink of an eye, the figure was already gone behind a boulder ten meters away.


    Someone was ambushing him in here!!


    A Soul King! There was a Soul King with skill in concealment!


    Bai Yunfei knew right away what he had to do. Using his soulsense, he scanned for the area behind the boulder to find his ambusher.


    But there was nothing there!


    As shocked as he was at the outcome, he wasn¡¯t out for the count just yet. Using just enough soulforce to ensure no one else would detect it, Bai Yunfei enhanced his soulsense scan to look around himself.


    ¡°Over there!¡±


    His eyes lit up a second later as he turned to his right. There was a whooshing sound as a streak of green light flew from around another boulder thirty meters away. The light spun around in a circular arc to strike at his throat!


    Shifting his foot, Bai Yunfei evaded the attack by using the Wave Treading Steps. He slunk back to his original position once the attack passed and watched as it flew onwards to hit the wall behind him.


    After he managed to evade that attack, Bai Yunfei used his soulsense to scan the area where the attack came from. Again, he couldn¡¯t sense the presence of anyone there.


    As he was trying to regain his original stance and position, Bai Yunfei was forced to abandon his efforts and bring up his right hand to protect his ear.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The streak of green light that missed Bai Yunfei earlier rebounded back towards him. Unable to dodge it this time, Bai Yunfei swung his hand up to deflect the streak of light. It bounced off from his arm with a metallic clang and deposited itself into a nearby wall. Now able to see what was attacking him, Bai Yunfei realized the weapon was a crescent-moon shaped blade!


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was astonished to see the weapon. He immediately turned around to bring his right hand up to protect his head.


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    There was another echo as the black dagger from last time stopped an inch away from his nose before he managed to stop it.


    It was the second time he managed to stop his assailant from attacking him, but Bai Yunfei smiled this time after he blocked it. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since we last met, Mingfeng, so what¡¯s with all this hostility?¡±

 Chapter 891: Coincidental Meeting

    Bai Yunfei had finally grabbed hold of his assailant, meaning he could finally see who it was. The face was that of a bearded middle-aged man, but the expression was a shocked one. His eyes swiveled about when he listened to what Bai Yunfei said, and then after a moment, he twisted his right hand back to withdraw the dagger. Like a cheetah, he leaped several steps back to stick to the cliff wall and stare suspiciously at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re¡­¡±


    He looked like he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes at what he was seeing.


    Bai Yunfei was using the Face Change technique in order to give him a second layer of protection for this mining trip. Even his soulforce was different thanks to the Soul Concealment Arte. Aside from when his soulforce was used all at once, no one would be able to tell that it was Bai Yunfei by his soulforce.


    Bai Yunfei softened up a bit when he saw his opponent put their dagger away. He smiled at the man, ¡°What? You can¡¯t see through my disguise? Haha, Mingfeng, I remember you saying you¡¯d beat me by the next time we meet. Seems like you failed¡­¡±


    The muscles and skin over Bai Yunfei¡¯s body were starting to ripple and change as he spoke. Soon, he was back to his regular self. He even had his soulforce undulate once in his own regular presence before disguising it again. Doing it once would be enough for the other person to know.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­Ol¡¯Bai, it¡¯s you!!¡±


    The middle-aged man came sliding down the wall as if to get a closer¡ªbut still incredulous¡ªlook at Bai Yunfei.


    Ol¡¯Bai. A nickname Bai Yunfei was given by only one person, Jing Mingfeng!


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s me.¡±


    Before they could say anything more, the two of them whipped their heads to the right. Something was coming.


    Silently, the two looked at each other first before then to a dark corner of the cave¡¯s roof. Jing Mingfeng called back the crescent-moon shaped weapon back to him with meteroic speed and immediately moved with Bai Yunfei to the roof.


    Using the Soul Concealment Arte to fully conceal their auras, the two of them made use of the natural darkness to hide. No one would be able to tell anyone was standing there unless they got close.


    They were silent and were completely focused on the ground below. Several moments later, there was a small burst of wind as three figures came shooting into the area.


    An elder and two middle-aged men, all of them Soul Exalts.


    ¡°No one¡­¡± The elder muttered. He looked attentively at the surrounding area in suspicion, ¡°I distinctly felt a strange burst of soulforce here, how did they run away so quickly?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything strange, are you sure you¡¯re not mistaken, senior Li? Perhaps one of the nearby soul cultivators did it while training.¡± The man to the elder¡¯s right suggested.


    ¡°Perhaps I was oversensitive,¡± the elder replied, ¡°Safety comes first, we¡¯ll head that way to look. If we don¡¯t find anything, then that¡¯s that.¡±


    The three walked for another tunnel away from this one and were soon out of sight and range.


    None of the three had noticed Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng at all. With their level of strength and proficiency with stealth arts, it¡¯d be more surprising if the two were caught.


    Minutes after the group of three left, Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng finally decided to descend back to the ground.


    Jing Mingfeng turned his head to look Bai Yunfei up and down in disbelief. ¡°Ol¡¯Bai¡­is it really you? Your¡­am I just sensing things wrong? You can¡¯t be a Mid-stage Soul King, can you? What kind of trick are you using to change your soulforce like that?¡±


    Bai Yunfei grinned, ¡°Hey, are you trying to say that I¡¯m not a Mid-stage Soul King? Or did you think that if you became a Soul King, I couldn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°But¡­I¡¯m only just an Early-stage Soul King myself! How were you able to become a Mid-stage Soul King? That¡¯s some unbelievable news, you know that?¡± Jing Mingfeng groused.


    ¡°Hold on, did you actually get a hold of some of the Extreme King Pill last time?! You must¡¯ve got more than I did, didn¡¯t you!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled again. ¡°Haha, I won¡¯t lie, I did actually get some of the Extreme King Pill and used it to become as strong as I am now.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes were wide open now. He slapped Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder with a curse, ¡°Damn! You got such a good fortune and you didn¡¯t think to tell us? And to think I was worried about you, what a good friend you are!¡±


    ¡°Honestly,¡± Bai Yunfei shrugged, ¡°I didn¡¯t even know I had some when we parted. It was only after a small development that I really learned about me having it.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to reveal the existence of the Core Stone to Jing Mingfeng just yet, so he decided to change the topic. ¡°You became a Soul King pretty fast yourself, nice going!¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s just how talented I am after all¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng praised himself. ¡°Strangely enough, I don¡¯t feel as happy when you¡¯re the one saying it. You¡¯re too much, Ol¡¯Bai. Who¡¯s ever heard of someone skipping stages? I was already feeling super happy about my speed, and then you come and shatter my happiness¡­¡±


    ¡°Hehe, everyone¡¯s different. You¡¯re just asking for sadness if you keep comparing yourself to me.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°Anyways, what brings you here?¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask you that, what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve some business in Swallow City.¡±


    ¡°I also have some business in Swallow City.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The two grew silent.


    ¡°What, you¡¯re not going to say it?¡± Jing Mingfeng teased.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that I¡¯m not,¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°but now¡¯s not the time nor place for it. Let¡¯s go somewhere else, this place gives me the creeps¡­¡±


    As the two moved to step away, Bai Yunfei suddenly whipped his head into another direction, ¡°Someone¡¯s coming! And this speed¡­it¡¯s a Late-stage Soul King!!¡±


    A powerful aura was coming towards them. It even felt like the person had already locked onto their auras! It was a faint feeling, but Bai Yunfei was sure that this wasn''t a mistake, this person knew they were there!


    Grim, Bai Yunfei prepared to make a dash out from this place and looked to Jing Mingfeng to see if he¡¯d follow.


    But Jing Mingfeng looked relaxed for some reason. ¡°Don¡¯t be so nervous, they¡¯re with us.¡± He waved his hand arbitrarily.


    ¡°With us?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, skeptical of what Jing Mingfeng had just said.


    ¡°Yes, with us. So don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s not going to be any trouble.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was still skeptical, but he decided to wait and relax a bit. The person was already here in any case. In the time of their small conversation with one another, a tear was already opening up in the space in front of them to reveal a figure in black.


    Jing Mingfeng took two steps forward to salute. ¡°Great grandfather, how was your investigation? Did you find anything?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was alarmed to hear what Jing Mingfeng called him¡ªthis person was Jing Mingfeng¡¯s great grandfather?!

 Chapter 892: Darkwind Meteorite

    Jing Wuying nodded at Jing Mingfeng and gave Bai Yunfei a strange look. ¡°Let¡¯s leave this place first.¡±


    He was already gone by the time his sentence was spoken, leaving Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng to stare at one another before following after.


    The three soon made it out from the mines to come to a stop on another mountain not too far away.


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, this is my great grandfather.¡± Jing Mingfeng introduced Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°This junior pays his respects to senior Jing.¡± Bai Yunfei gave a prompt bow of respect to him at once.


    ¡°Be at ease,¡± Jing Wuying spoke. ¡°I¡¯ve heard from Jing Mingfeng that you are a genius. His words are true, it would appear. So young and yet already a Mid-stage Soul King, no other in your generation has reached heights as tall as yours. As expected from Zi Jin¡¯s disciple¡­¡±


    ¡°Senior Jing is too kind, this junior dares not to accept such praise¡­¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s Xiao Qi at, Ol¡¯Bai? Isn¡¯t he normally with you?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked.


    Bai Yunfei pointed towards the direction of Swallow City with a smile, ¡°Over there. Xinyun is there too. They¡¯ll be here in a moment.¡±


    Two streaks of light were flying towards their direction even as he was speaking. It was Xiao Qi and Tang Xinyun. The both of them had been in the Core World, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want them to appear out of thin air next to him, so he had the Core Stone teleport the two several kilometers away. The two would then head over to him, thus creating the illusion that they had been waiting off in a distance.


    The ability of the Core Stone to bring things into the Core World wasn¡¯t just limited to one-way interactions. It could easily have the things inside of it appear anywhere within its range if it wanted.


    ¡°Eh? Xinyun¡¯s here too?!¡± Jing Mingfeng gasped and gave Bai Yunfei a knowing smile, ¡°So you brought your wife all the way here for a scenic tour?¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled back. ¡°Xinyun and I were taking care of matters with the Qin and finished, so this can probably be considered a tour.¡±


    ¡°The Qin?!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng froze up immediately at the mention of the family name. ¡°Are you friends with the Qin?¡± He asked carefully.


    Even Jing Wuying was keeping an eye on Bai Yunfei now.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Confused, Bai Yunfei gave his friend a shake of his head. ¡°There¡¯s nothing between us. It¡¯s just that the Tang and Qin are friends.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng nodded his head with a twinkle in his eyes, though Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure what he was thinking about.


    The conversation was put to a stop until Tang Xinyun and Xiao Qi descended from the skies next to Bai Yunfei. When she saw Jing Mingfeng, Tang Xinyun gave him a startled look, ¡°Jing Mingfeng? What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, Tang Xinyun, long time no see.¡± He waved his hand hello. ¡°You look even prettier than when I last saw you¡­I¡¯d really like to know where Ol¡¯Bai got all his luck from if he¡¯s got a wife like you¡­¡±


    ¡°Watch what you¡¯re saying, who¡¯s whose wife¡­¡± Tang Xinyun¡¯s face went pink at his words.


    Laughing, Bai Yunfei turned to introduce Tang Xinyun to Jing Wuying. ¡°Senior Jing, this is my fiance Tang Xinyun¡­Xinyun, this is senior Jing, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s great grandfather.¡±


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s face turned red again at being called ¡®fiance¡¯, but she was quick to bow to Jing Wuying. ¡°This junior pays her respects to senior Jing¡­¡±


    ¡°Be at ease.¡± Jing Wuying nodded his head.


    ¡°Fiance?!¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes sparkled at once. ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, you¡¯ve finally taken it to the next step?! Hehe, not bad, when do you plan on getting married?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t really made any plans for it yet¡­¡± Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°Mingfeng, what brings you to Swallow City? Do you need our help? And how long do you plan on staying here for?¡±


    Hesitation flickered across Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes. ¡°I actually came for the auction house. I heard there was going to be some wind immortal grass, so I want to get some to help Xiao Feng become a class seven.¡±


    ¡°Wind immortal grass?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated after him, ¡°Your wind squaller is about to become a class seven? That¡¯s quick, where is it, actually?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, me becoming a Soul King helped Xiao Feng out a lot. And with all the soulgems and medicines I¡¯ve been feeding it, Xiao Feng is already a peak late-stage class six. It could try to become a class seven, but¡­I decided to leave it in our inn.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had to admit he was shocked by the wind squaller¡¯s growth. It was only a little older than Xiao Qi but its rate of growth was still exceedingly fast.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t wind immortal grass a heaven-tier ingredient that is usually harvested once a millenia? I heard it¡¯s just as good as an Extreme King Pill in effect for wind-type soulbeasts. Is the auction really going to have something like that?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°Ah, well now that I think about it, the auction is also going to be selling some heavenly-wind ore. I¡¯ll take that and use it to craft you a heaven-tier soul armament. I can finally honor that ¡®agreement¡¯ from before.¡±


    That agreement was in reference to when Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng traded the Soul Concealment Arte. Bai Yunfei promised to give him a heaven-tier soul armament at the time. It felt like a tremendous task then, but now such a task was nothing but a trivial matter. A heaven-tier soul armament for the Soul Concealment Arte was a great deal for him since the latter was far more useful.


    So now that the two were together again, Bai Yunfei resolved to craft a very powerful soul armament for Jing Mingfeng.


    While he had been looking at what the auction house was going to be selling, Bai Yunfei did notice that one of the items included a heavenly-wind ore. He knew it was an extremely magnificent item for wind-type soul armaments, so he was planning to buy it anyways. To use it for Jing Mingfeng¡¯s heaven-tier soul armament was just an added bonus.


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes lit up at the mention of him getting a heaven-tier soul armament. ¡°Haha, finally, Ol¡¯Bai. I didn¡¯t want to bring up the topic myself! I¡¯ve been waiting for this day¡­¡±


    A mysterious look crossed his face next. ¡°Actually, you don¡¯t need to go buy that heavenly-wind stone. Hehe¡­I actually prepared all the materials you might need already. I told you I¡¯ve been waiting for you to craft me a soul armament!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve prepared the materials? Which ones?¡±


    ¡°Haha, take a look!¡± Jing Mingfeng waved his right hand to bring out a oval-shaped stone into his hand.


    The moment it appeared, the stone expelled a green vortex of wind out from it and melted away into the dark skies around. It wasn¡¯t completely green in color. There was a blotch of black light mixed in with it to make the wind look a little chilling to look at. Anyone that felt the wind blow onto them would¡¯ve felt a chill travel up their spines¡­


    ¡°This is¡­¡± It took two seconds for Bai Yunfei to realize what the stone was. ¡°This is¡­darkwind meteorite?! And a large chunk of it!!¡±


    ¡°Hehe, as expected from a crafter. I never heard of it before when my great grandfather told me about it. So, Ol¡¯Bai, it beats the heavenly-wind ore, does it? Using this to craft a heaven-tier soul armament for me won¡¯t be a problem, will it?¡±


    The records back in the Crafting School mentioned a material like this before. Darkwind meteorite was an extremely rare material for crafting that wasn¡¯t the result of being born into the world like other materials. It was something from the heavens. Its eponymous name meant that it was of two different elements and was made of metal from a meteor. Wind and darkness melded together for a perfect union in a meteor.


    According to the records he read, Bai Yunfei remembered that even a fist-sized chunk of the meteorite would be enough to double the durability of a soul armament and raises the chances of it having the wind and dark elements by a decent amount. Compared to most materials, using the darkwind meteorite as the main component in crafting tended to have far better results. Darkwind meteorite could tremendously amplify the power of a soul armament and supplement the power of elemental wind and darkness energy!


    So Bai Yunfei was completely shocked that Jing Mingfeng would have such a rare material, and such a large piece of it too!

 Chapter 893: Crafting Difficulties

    In the Core World, Bai Yunfei was seated on the ground with the chunk of darkwind meteorite in his hands. He was currently deep in thought.


    Tang Xinyun was also seated in the Core World, though she was on top of a boulder. Every so often, she¡¯d stare at Bai Yunfei.


    Xiao Qi, on the other hand, was outside in the real world to guard the Core Stone.


    The group split up a while ago. Jing Mingfeng and his great grandfather returned to the city since their investigation was done, and they didn¡¯t wish to incur any more suspicion for now. Bai Yunfei had already his clue and was done for the night. With nothing else to be done, they decided to split apart just in case they were found together and complicate matters for both sides.


    He knew for a fact that Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t only here in Swallow City for the wind immortal grass. He didn¡¯t want to press the issue though; every man had their own matters, and Jing Mingfeng was his sworn brother. If he didn¡¯t want help from Bai Yunfei, then Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t push it.


    He knew it had to do with the Qin though. The reaction Jing Mingfeng had when Bai Yunfei first mentioned their name had been far too strange. They were also found in the mines¡ªwhich was under the control of the Qin¡ªand Jing Mingfeng¡¯s grandfather was looking for something. Jing Mingfeng¡¯s ¡®business¡¯ in Swallow City definitely had to do with the Qin somehow.


    The original plan was to go around Swallow City with Tang Xinyun until the auction started in three days. But with Jing Mingfeng giving him the chunk of darkwind meteorite, Bai Yunfei decided that it¡¯d be best to fulfill his end of the bargain. He¡¯d craft Jing Mingfeng his heaven-tier soul armament.


    Three days was more than enough time for him to craft something.


    Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng both agreed that unless they needed something, they wouldn¡¯t meet until the auction three days later. If not, then Bai Yunfei would come to Jing Mingfeng¡¯s inn.


    And so once Bai Yunfei was back in the city, he began the preparations to craft.


    What was more alluring to a crafter than crafting a very powerful soul armament? Especially when they were allowed to use extremely rare materials to craft an extremely powerful soul armament¡­


    Bai Yunfei thought that Tang Xinyun would want to go around the city, but she said she¡¯d rather stay with Bai Yunfei and glean some insights off of him when he started crafting.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Using this entire chunk of darkwind meteorite to craft a dagger might be a bit too difficult¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered to himself as he weighed the object.


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s request for him was to craft a dagger. A dagger similar to the ¡®Blackwind¡¯ dagger he was using now. The problem was that the size of this meteorite was big enough to craft a large halberd and still have enough room to spare. Crafting a dagger with this ore would mean having a lot of leftovers. Jing Mingfeng did say though that he only cared for the dagger, and that Bai Yunfei was welcome to have the rest of the leftovers afterward.


    This was a pretty good deal to Bai Yunfei. He was determined to try as hard as he could to craft the best soul armament he could for Jing Mingfeng.


    This would be the first soul armament he¡¯d craft as a Soul King. Crafters of that level were strong enough to craft low-heaven tier soul armaments if they wanted, but with Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength, he¡¯d be able to craft a mid-heaven tier most likely. Today he¡¯d put that to the test.


    He thought hard about the best way to go about this. Waving his right hand, he brought out a pile of materials from his space ring. Aside from the ordinary supplementary materials, most of the materials here could be the main component in most soul armament crafting. He wanted to see which one would be best to work with the darkwind meteorite to improve the soul armament¡¯s power.


    He couldn¡¯t so haphazardly throw a chunk of the meteorite into the cauldron without preparation. The best and most cautious plan would be to split the chunk up into four pieces and make an attempt with just one fragment for now.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be able to succeed straight away. There was a lot that needed to be done like determining the compatibility between materials. But one or two failures would still be acceptable.


    A bubble of fire surrounded the meteorite as he got started. Unleashing a single blade of fire made from his Flameblade Bracer, Bai Yunfei watched as it struck against the meteorite before disappearing.


    But¡­the meteorite was completely untouched!


    ¡°It¡¯s this tough even when it''s unprocessed. Just how tough will it get after I temper and refine it¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was amazed by the toughness of the ore. He took out the silver longsword he got from Li Fenghai. Because of its +10 additional effect to inflict nightmares, Bai Yunfei decided to simply just call the weapon ¡®Nightmare¡¯. It had an attack power of six thousand and was currently one of his strongest soul armaments.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei swung the sword twice to try and separate the meteorite chunk into four pieces.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The sword split apart the meteorite as he wanted, but Byf couldn¡¯t help but have a very strange feeling about something. He could feel the surrounding energy change a bit, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger on why exactly that was the case.


    ¡°Oh? This is a strange stone, what is this, Yunfei?¡± Suddenly, Xiao Fang appeared nearby to talk to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°It¡¯s a chunk of darkwind meteorite. A special type of ore from the outside the heavens. Xiao Fang, did you notice something strange about it just now?¡±


    ¡°From outside the heavens? No wonder this stone has so much pure energy inside of it. The wind and darkness is perfectly combined in one another. Making a soul armament from something like this would definitely be extremely powerful. And¡­¡±


    Xiao Fang looked deep in thought. If it could look like anything, anyways. ¡°I felt a strange energy for just a split moment. It wasn¡¯t elemental wind or darkness. It was¡­weak, but there was definitely something else¡­¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Bai Yunfei was curious, ¡°There¡¯s something about this meteorite I¡¯m confused about, but let¡¯s craft it first and see. We¡¯ll be able to see a bit more into the meteorite after we refine it¡­¡±


    The Lightningfire Cauldron was brought out next, and his fireseed was taking out from the brick into the cauldron. Allowing for the cauldron to start heating up, Bai Yunfei then placed the meteorite and other materials into the cauldron to let burn¡­


    Up next was the arduous crafting process¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An unknown amount of time later, there was a muffled explosion within the Core World as a soot-covered Bai Yunfei came out from his cave.


    ¡°Cough cough¡­¡±


    Coughing from within the smoke, Bai Yunfei had a gust of wind blow away all the smoke from his person. Because of his failure, his robes were badly singed and covered entirely with dust and ash just like his face.


    ¡°Are you alright, Yunfei?¡±


    Already having been in the air for ¡®refuge¡¯, Tang Xinyun moved closer to Bai Yunfei out of concern for him.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s nothing¡­I just never thought the darkwind meteorite would be so hard to work with. I lost my concentration and it exploded¡­¡± Bai Yunfei used the sleeves of his robes to wipe his face clean. He was still seeing stars, so he swung his head to hopefully clear his mind and shake off the rest of the dust. He looked like he had just stepped out from a kiln, and Tang Xinyun looked like she was on the verge of laughing with how ridiculous he looked.


    He was vexed admittedly. This attempt felt far different than to any other attempt before. His previous hardest attempt had been with the boltstones, but even that felt just a tenth as difficult as with the meteorite. Bai Yunfei had no doubts that this material would¡¯ve been impossible for him to even try crafting with if he wasn¡¯t a Soul King. As a Mid-stage Soul King, he was barely able to melt the meteorite to a useable level. The boltstone would¡¯ve long since liquified with how much heat he was putting the meteorite under.


    And he hadn¡¯t even touched upon the impurities he found within the meteorite yet. His attempts to try and refine the meteorite resulted in the rest of the materials being turn into ashes.


    Regulating his energy for a break, Bai Yunfei decided to think hard on what he had to do. Each step of the crafting process was slowly broken down into substeps so he could find the best possible way to improve on the process.


    When he had a good mental routine planned, Bai Yunfei took the second chunk of the darkwind meteorite to try again.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a second explosion along with a flurry of dust and ashes as Bai Yunfei came flying out from his cave again. He looked even worse than before with how his robes were hardly better than ragged strips.


    He stewed to himself on top of a boulder while Tang Xinyun gently cleaned the grime off his face.


    For a moment, he was as still as a statue as if his thoughts were anchoring him to the ground.


    Then he stood up all of a sudden with such vigor that Tang Xinyun started a bit. She watched as he strode for the Lightningfire Cauldron and then sat down in front of it.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be too impatient for success. Perfectly removing all the impurities is unlikely, so what if I stop after I get rid of eighty percent of them? That should do the trick¡­¡±


    He was muttering to himself now. Taking the third piece of meteorite from his space ring, he quickly deposited it into the cauldron along with several other supplementary materials¡­

 Chapter 894: Success

    The sun was starting to set now. The night was nigh, and Swallow City was currently basking in the last of the sunny-red glow of daylight.


    Suddenly, the skies above Swallow City was beset with a fierce squall. A gigantic tornado engulfed the skies, but never once touching low enough to the ground to cause environmental damages. The tornado felt as though it was sucking in the night itself as tendrils of darkness started to stain the previously green glow. More than half of Swallow City was covered by the circumference of this tornado, and it truly looked as though the city was soon to be engulfed by a black and green twister.


    The entirety of Swallow City was immediately in high alert at the sight. Commoners and soul cultivators alike started to cry out in fear and shock. To the commoners, this was the sign of a disaster! They were terrified beyond belief¡ªespecially those directly underneath the tornado.


    Several of the more stronger soul cultivators had only a surprised look on their faces as they flew up to take a closer look at the strange tornado.


    Most of them had caught onto the fact that the tail of the tornado seemed to be originating from a particularly tall building at the center of the city. Even more strange was the fact that the building wasn¡¯t harmed at all. The tail was simply standing on the top of the room as if there was something taking in the tornado and preventing it from damaging the roof.


    ¡°Such powerful elemental wind and darkness, what¡¯s going on here?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s all this?! Is this the King¡¯s Phenomena?!¡±


    ¡°The King¡¯s Phenomena? Someone¡¯s becoming a Soul King here?! And one with an affinity for both wind and darkness?!¡±


    ¡°Wait! That¡¯s not the King¡¯s Phenomena! I¡¯ve seen it before, and the feeling was different to this!¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the aura of a soul cultivator, this is¡­a soul armament!! A Worldly Phantasm¡­this is a sign of a heaven-tier soul armament being crafted! Someone¡¯s crafting a heaven-tier soul armament in Swallow City!¡±


    ¡°What?! A heaven-tier? Did Swallow City even have any crafters? And one that could even craft a heaven-tier, no less? Is it an elder of the Crafting School?!¡±


    ¡°This Worldly Phantasm is far too strong, a low-heaven tier soul armament isn¡¯t being crafted. Could¡­could it be a mid-heaven tier?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Most of the Soul Exalts were wildly gesticulating to themselves with several of the more experienced ones supplementing their knowledge together. With this collaboration, all the soul cultivators were soon able to realize that this was the sign of a heaven-tier soul armament being crafted.


    ¡­¡­


    The skies above Qin Manor had plenty of people watching the Worldly Phantasm. Qin Long was there along with Qin Hu and Qin Shouhao by his side. All three of them were watching the black and green tornado rampage in the sky with a look of utter awe.


    ¡°A Worldly Phantasm¡­a soul armament with an affinity for wind and darkness¡­and it¡¯s a mid-heaven tier!!¡±


    Even Qin Long had a hard time finding the right words to say. He was too heavily shocked at the fact that a mid-heaven tier soul armament was being crafted.


    But he did have a pretty good guess on who was responsible for it.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­it has to be him. Not only is he a Mid-stage Soul King, but he can craft a mid-heaven tier soul armament? How unbelievable¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    In the southern district of the city.


    Jing Mingfeng was currently watching the tornado spin wildly in the sky from his window, stunned, but excited by what he was seeing. ¡°Haha, that¡¯s Ol¡¯Bai for sure! He¡¯s actually managed to craft it! Elemental wind and dark¡­he¡¯s definitely used the darkwind meteorite! And a mid-heaven tier! Haha! That¡¯s my new soul armament! Kickass!!¡±


    A calm Jing Wuying was looking at the sky from his bed. He was silent, but his eyes twinkled with the light of surprise.


    ¡­¡­


    In the western district of the city.


    Mo Ni twiddled with the black needle in his hand as he stared at the tornado. There was an uncertain light playing about in his eyes.


    ¡°A mid-heaven tier soul armament¡­so he can already do something like that¡­¡± Mo Ni muttered rather enviously. ¡°That¡¯s fine then. People will know Bai Yunfei is in Swallow City, that suits my plans just fine¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The outside world watched as the green and black tornado rampaged on while the Core World was currently undergoing something similar. But in the Core World¡¯s case, the tornado¡¯s tail was coming from the Lightningfire Cauldron.


    It was like a bottomless hole where the tornado never seemed to stop pouring into it.


    Time went on for some time before the tornado started to shrink. Smaller and smaller, the tornado was soon completely drained into the cauldron so that the Worldly Phantasm was gone. Next to the cauldron, Bai Yunfei had both of his hands pressed against it. His forehead was slick with sweat, and his soulforce was working overtime to try and maintain the flames within the cauldron.


    A tremor went through both Bai Yunfei and the Lightningfire Cauldron before an invisible wave of energy descended onto the place and calmed the area immediately.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Withdrawing his hands from the cauldron, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. He had worked hard, and his entire body was thoroughly drenched as a result.


    He was feeling a little faint from his most recent endeavor. Taking the soul armament from out the cauldron was probably impossible for him. Left with only the energy to wave his right hand, Bai Yunfei had the fireseed within the cauldron back into his body.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    He gasped as the fireseed entered its body. Something was strange about it. But still a little tired, he hadn¡¯t the mind power to think too much about it. Forming a single hand seal, he quickly started to use the Dual Flame Artes to regain some of his lost soulforce.


    Far away, Tang Xinyun watched as Bai Yunfei tried to regain his energy without at all disturbing him.


    ¡­¡­


    Three hours passed before Bai Yunfei was back to optimal conditions.


    ¡°Are you alright, Yunfei?¡±


    The very first thing Bai Yunfei saw and heard was a beautiful face and voice.


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Haha, I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just crafting, what¡¯s the worst that could happen? I just need to rest a bit and then I¡¯ll be back to normal.¡±


    He reached out to pull Tang Xinyun to him. Sitting her down, he turned his eyes back to the crafting cauldron. He was a little impatient to see the results of his work. With one wave of his hand, Bai Yunfei had the soul armament fly out from the cauldron and into his hand.


    It was a dagger about two fingers wide and completely plain in decor. The blade also shined a faint dark light every so often.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind, Darkness


    Attack: 4400


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect 1: 30% Increase in attack speed.


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Decrease in presence. 20% Chance to evade being scanned.


    Upgrade Requirement: 230 Soulpoints


    The stats of the dagger was anything but ¡®normal¡¯ compared to its outwards appearance.


    ¡°Mid-heaven tier! 4400 Attack points!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes gleamed with excitement¡ªhe was finally able to craft a mid-heaven tier soul armament!!


    ¡°Increase in attack speed is¡­probably an effect of the wind element. It¡¯s rare to see it on a weapon though¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered.


    ¡°Decrease in presence? That¡¯s similar to the Walk-on Strawhat, but it can also allow you to evade being scanned? That effect suits someone like Mingfeng.¡±


    The attributes of the equipment were definitely beyond what Bai Yunfei was expecting, but he wasn¡¯t going to complain about it. Just crafting the soul armament wasn¡¯t enough for Bai Yunfei. He was determined to give Jing Mingfeng the best soul armament he could possibly offer, and that meant getting the dagger to +10 as well¡­


    It was always his plan to upgrade the soul armament.


    But to his surprise, he couldn¡¯t even get the dagger to be +1 even after several attempts.


    ¡°Is this a result of the grade or the materials?¡±


    The higher the grade, the harder it was to upgrade the equipment. That was something he always knew about manually upgrading soul armaments. Manually upgrading the dagger wouldn¡¯t work for now.


    And if manually upgrading didn¡¯t work, then that left only one thing.


    The Upgrade Technique.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±

 Chapter 895: Chaotic Energy: Dangerous or Fortuitous?

    Upgrade SuccesfulEquipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 4400


    Additional Attack: 2000


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    Equipment Effect 1: 30% Increase in attack speed.


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Decrease in presence. 20% Chance to evade being scanned.


    +10 Additional Effect: Apply a mark on the target''s body upon the first strike.


    Apply a second mark when the same place is struck. Deal double the damage.


    Apply a third mark when the same place is struck. Deal triple the damage.


    No more than triple the damage can be dealt.


    A fourth mark will erase the first mark.


    Any mark applied will last for either 5 minutes or until the fourth mark is applied.


    Cooldown of 3 seconds between marks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 230 Soulpoints


    There had been some failed attempts in the process, but what was a few soulforce in the name of progress? With time and effort, Bai Yunfei was finally able to upgrade the dagger to +10.


    The additional attack was within his expectations, but the +10 additional effect was the real shocker for him.


    ¡°Attacking the same spot will deal even more damage? That¡¯s huge. The amount of damage the dagger will inflict if it succeeds is mind-boggling. The enemy will be easily killed if they don¡¯t know about it and allow this to happen¡­¡± The additional effect of the dagger was exceedingly powerful to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°It also suits Jing Mingfeng with his speed and fighting style. The dagger will definitely be used right in his hands. Double the damage with the second strike and triple with the third, that¡¯s well over ten thousand points of damage. Even the fully upgraded Soul Sentinel Scarf wouldn¡¯t be able to defend against that. Jing Mingfeng will probably be able to kill most of his opponents in two or three blows¡­¡±


    Needless to say, Bai Yunfei was exceedingly pleased with the dagger. It was perhaps his best-crafted soul armament to date, not just because of its grade, but also because of how well it suited his expectations.


    It was so good that Bai Yunfei was loathed to give the soul armament away. Still, he was a man of his words. This dagger would go to Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡­¡­


    He stored the dagger away to focus on other matters. His right hand was placed on top of his chest for a moment before Bai Yunfei expelled the fireseed from his body.


    ¡°So¡­what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    There was something about his fireseed that Bai Yunfei was bewildered to see. A faint hazy light was surrounding the fireseed with such minimal light that it¡¯d be imperceptible to anyone but him, the master.


    He hadn¡¯t even noticed it himself until he had the fireseed go back into his body. The light (or perhaps it was better to say ¡®energy¡¯) was like a shell that was wrapping up the fireseed. Whenever the flames from the fireseed leaped just high enough to touch the energy, there¡¯d be a strange tremor. The tremor was weak and didn¡¯t quite seem to affect the fireseed somehow, but it was there still. The usage of any elemental fire from his fireseed seemed to have just one more useless step in the process now.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite comfortable with something like that left unknown to him.


    ¡°What in the world is this¡­¡±


    He felt unwell about the situation. Humans naturally feared the unknown, and this topic was a very much unknown deal to him.


    Cautiously, he lifted a finger to touch the energy around the fireseed. When the finger was about to make contact¡­


    ¡°Bzzz!!¡±


    A thunderous tremor ran through Bai Yunfei¡¯s mindspace. It was loud but localized in his mind so that only he could hear it. All the hairs on his body stood up at once as if his body was immediately going on alert.


    He didn¡¯t know the reason behind this, but he did know one thing.


    If his finger had gone even a millimeter closer and disrupted the barrier of energy, he would¡¯ve died!!


    The thought felt outlandish but also completely capable of happening. His drenched back was proof of that. Bai Yunfei brought his finger back at once.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei?¡±


    Tang Xinyun had been watching Bai Yunfei interact with his fireseed in amazement up until this point.


    ¡°Xinyun, did¡­did you feel anything? Like a change of some kind?¡± Sweat was pooling on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead as he asked.


    ¡°Change? What kind of change?¡± Tang Xinyun was clueless.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this your fireseed? Is there something strange about it?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to describe the situation. His mind wasn¡¯t back to full working order yet.


    That was when a voice boomed out in the Core World with the abruptness as if they had just seen a ghost!


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it!! I¡¯m definitely right, that¡¯s chaotic energy! Heavens! How is this possible, how is there chaotic energy here!!?¡±


    The owner of the voice was Xiao Fang, and the shock in its voice was noticeable to hear. It was acting like when Bai Yunfei first made contact with one of the Planar Laws.


    Hearing that, Bai Yunfei grew excited. He turned to look towards Xiao Fang¡¯s image to his right, ¡°Xiao Fang, what did you find out? Chaotic energy? Where¡¯s the chaotic energy?¡±


    Xiao Fang was quiet for second. Perhaps to best gather its thoughts on how to explain the situation, or to just try and calm itself down.


    ¡°It¡¯s chaotic energy that encircling your fireseed essence. And it¡¯s not just a regular shell of chaotic energy, this chaotic energy is as pure as a form as you can get!¡±


    ¡°As pure as I can get?¡± Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure what that meant. He knew what chaotic energy was, but only in passing.


    Chaotic energy was the amalgamation of all the world¡¯s energy. It wasn¡¯t any singular type of energy, but rather something entirely different. All the energies were fused together in a way that made separation impossible, but it was something that existed in the most extreme of places, such as the Ninth Heaven and deep underground. Even Soul Kings treated chaotic energy as taboo to make contact with.


    Bai Yunfei experienced chaotic energy before, actually. It was when he was two and a half kilometers deep underground in the mines. But that was just a very weak strand of it and wasn¡¯t as strong compared to the ones five kilometers down. And that in turn wasn¡¯t as strong as when one reached the Ninth Serenity deep down, where the chaotic force there was a thousand times stronger than before. The pure chaotic energy located at the Ninth Heaven and the Ninth Serenity held the most potent form of chaotic energy, and even Peak Late-stage Soul King wouldn¡¯t be able to survive upon contact.


    So Bai Yunfei was mystified to hear Xiao Fang mention that this was a strand of the purest chaotic energy.


    He thought he had heard wrong. He was confused at first, and then he was terrified.


    ¡°Does that mean I was really on the verge of death back there? If I had touched the chaotic energy, I would¡¯ve been killed straight away?¡± He paled.


    ¡°Exactly. Don¡¯t underestimate even a single strand of chaotic energy. Even ten of you wouldn¡¯t be enough to handle the use chaotic energy without the proper guidance.¡± Xiao Fang replied confidently.


    Tang Xinyun and Bai Yunfei were both overwhelmed by such knowledge. ¡°What are you two talking about, Yunfei?¡± She asked, nervous by the sudden severity of the topic. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your fireseed? Why is there something as dangerous as chaotic energy there?¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought hard about how this situation came to be.


    His fireseed had been normal when he first inserted it into the Lightningfire Cauldron earlier. It was only after he was done crafting Jing Mingfeng¡¯s soul armament and took the fireseed out that there was a strand of chaotic energy in it!


    ¡°Is it because of me crafting that soul armament? Because of¡­the darkwind meteorite?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open, ¡°This strand of chaotic energy appeared because of me refining the darkwind meteorite?!¡±


    ¡°Right again.¡± Xiao Fang stated. ¡°It¡¯s because of the meteorite. That special energy I was talking about earlier was in reference to chaotic energy. I just never thought that the meteorite would have such a pure strand of chaotic energy in it.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was starting to understand now. ¡°So because I used the meteorite while I was crafting, the strand of chaotic energy moved from the meteorite to me? Why did it wrap around my fireseed then?¡±


    ¡°That I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never heard of such a case before. If I had to guess though, I¡¯d say it¡¯s because your fireseed was the source of all the refining. Because of that connection between the fireseed and your crafting process, the chaotic energy was drawn to it.¡±


    Clearly less interested in the ¡®how¡¯ and more worried about the results, Tang Xinyun piped in, ¡°Then what will happen now? If the chaotic energy is so dangerous, how can we safely remove it?¡±

 Chapter 896: A Decision to Go For It!

    Tang Xinyun¡¯s concern for Bai Yunfei lulled the anxiety he was feeling himself. Now somewhat calm, he gave Xiao Fang a calm stare. ¡°Xiao Fang, you talked about proper guidance, didn¡¯t you? If I can¡¯t use the dangerous chaotic energy now¡­would I be able to learn to control it? And how would I set about doing that?¡±


    ¡°Hah, not bad, you weren¡¯t scared off¡­¡± Xiao Fang laughed. ¡°You¡¯re correct. Chaotic energy, if uncontrolled, is a very dangerous mystery. But if you can control it, then it¡¯s a whole different world of opportunities!


    ¡°True chaotic energy requires the raw power of a Soul Emperor in order to be able to stave off the harmfulness of it. As a Soul Emperor, chaotic energy helps one grow stronger. Taking in the elemental energies of the world isn¡¯t beneficial to anyone trying to become a Soul Saint. They can only rely on the power of chaotic energy to get stronger, but that¡¯s a topic far too early to discuss for you. Don¡¯t worry too much about the details of that for now¡­¡± Xiao Fang explained.


    ¡°You¡¯ve only have a single strand of chaotic energy. It¡¯s unbelievably pure, but it¡¯s only ¡®moderate¡¯ compared to the chaotic energy to be found above the Ninth Heaven, probably because of its size or something else. But that¡¯s not important. What¡¯s important is that because it¡¯s ¡®weak¡¯ and ¡®moderate¡¯ that you¡¯ll be able to make use of it now, as weak as you are. If you can refine it, then you¡¯ll be able to harness its power! If you can absorb the chaotic force and use it in your attacks, their power will be far beyond what it was before!


    ¡°But that¡¯s not where chaotic energy is most important for. It¡¯s like a ¡®seed¡¯. The stronger you get, the more realms you breakthrough to, the more this seed germinates. When you become a Soul Emperor, the seed will bore fruit and make future training far faster than others!¡±


    ¡°Breaking through to become a Soul Saint requires the refinement and absorption of chaotic energy?¡±


    That was a new piece of information for Bai Yunfei. Xiao Fang was right, becoming a Soul Saint was still too far in the future to Bai Yunfei. Still, just hearing a little bit on what becoming a Soul Saint entails was mind-blowing.


    A Soul King couldn¡¯t handle chaotic energy, but a Soul Saint could only rely on it to get stronger.


    Just how terrifying were Soul Saints?


    He had to admit he was feeling extremely excited to hear about the benefits of the chaotic energy. The benefits were hanging right in front of him like a delicious apple to just reach up and grab.


    But he couldn¡¯t get too overwhelmed with his emotions right now. ¡°Xiao Fang, you talked about the benefits of if I¡¯m able to refine it. But¡­what if I fail? What happens then?¡±


    ¡°Do I even need to say it? Fail to refine it and the chaotic energy will fall apart. Your essence fireseed will explode and then¡­well, need I say more?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s lip twitched. ¡®I should have known¡¯ was written all over his face.


    The line between death and fortune was a thin one. The explosion of power that chaotic energy brought to a person¡¯s strength was terrifying, but he¡¯d be the one to die if it was his fireseed that exploded if he failed.


    The mention of death was like a bucket of ice-cold water to douse his excitement. This wasn¡¯t something he could joke around with. Should he fail to succeed with the chaotic energy, he was finished.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Xiao Fang seemed to be continuing the topic, ¡°While it¡¯s certain death for most if a person fails, it might not be as drastic of a consequence for you¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?!¡± He was excited all over again. ¡°What do you mean by that? Stop it with the suspense and tell me!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget what place this is, alright? This is the Core World! The world I control! I can pay close attention to the chaotic energy when you try. If anything were to go wrong, then I can simply just separate the chaotic energy and fireseed into a different dimension. That way, we can avoid the resulting explosion from causing you to die. Simple.


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean we stop the explosion. We just stop it from affecting you. That fireseed is gone if we do it that way. Normally, this means the death of a person, but you¡¯re different¡ªyou have two fireseeds! You¡¯ll just lose one fireseed, and that¡¯ll at most bring you back down to the level of normality of a regular soul cultivator¡­¡±


    Xiao Fang was starting to wrap up the topic now. ¡°And that about sums it all up. Succeed, and you¡¯ll be blessed with good fortune. Fail, and you¡¯ll lose a fireseed essence¡­those are the choices, so make your decision.


    ¡°Oh, and if you decide to try refining the chaotic energy, then you might as well use the strand in the last chunk of the meteorite. You need to refine the chaotic energy and join it with the strand around your fireseed. The current amount you have right now is¡­too tiny.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was fighting a mental battle with himself. Should he do it?


    Tang Xinyun opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped to give Bai Yunfei a look. She knew that this was an important decision for Bai Yunfei to make, and her own knowledge of the subject was far too minimal for her to help in any way.


    Bai Yunfei was silent for a while before he finally made his decision.


    He¡¯d do it! He¡¯d go for broke!


    The allure of being able to use chaotic energy was just far too tempting. He¡¯d regret it if he gave up on the idea here. This was the chance for a great deal of fortune to drop onto his lap. It was all worth it!


    Things wouldn¡¯t be too bad if Bai Yunfei failed either. The exchange of his fireseed for the chance of a life-changing power-up was quite worth it.


    ¡°Xinyun, you should step back. Xiao Fang might be able to control the area here, but I¡¯m afraid something might happen by accident.¡±


    Determined to go through with this, Bai Yunfei spoke to Tang Xinyun to get her to step back.


    A flicker of concern crossed Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes. She was worried about the possible resolutions of this gambit.


    She didn¡¯t say anything about his choice though and instead held his palm lovingly. ¡°Be careful then.¡±


    He watched Tang Xinyun fly off to a faraway mountain before he waved his right hand to take out the last remaining chunk of the darkwind meteorite. ¡°Xiao Fang, should I keep an eye out on anything else when I refine this? Do I just need the chaotic energy in here, or do I have to craft another soul armament like before to get at the energy?¡±


    ¡°I recommend you don¡¯t craft a soul armament. It might get you the chaotic energy, but only in an incomplete portion. I estimate that you should just refine the chaotic energy inside the meteorite. Your fireseed should reach a very crucial point as soon as you take in the chaotic energy. You need to start refining it or¡­there¡¯ll be danger. So don¡¯t do anything as complex as crafting a soul armament. Just focus on extracting the chaotic energy by fragmenting them up. If you do it that way, it¡¯ll be easier on you to reach the best point of refinement.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was a little disappointed. There¡¯d be no second soul armament for him.


    ¡°Fine then.¡±


    He took Nightmare and made several strokes with it. Cracking apart, the darkwind meteorite was turned into several fist-sized fragments by Nightmare.


    He knelt down onto the ground and placed his fireseed back into the cauldron. Then he tossed in one of the meteorite fragments into it.

 Chapter 897: Refining the Chaotic Energy

    Flames roared to life within Bai Yunfei¡¯s cauldron as he concentrated on the meteorite within it. It was only the meteorite in the cauldron and nothing else. He only needed to refine the chaotic energy within the meteorite so other materials were unnecessary.


    Since he wasn¡¯t crafting a soul armament or had to do any other superfluous things, this fourth attempt was much easier than the last three. There was however the detriment that the refined form of the meteorite was basically incompatible for soul armament crafting. He could probably make some sort of simple metallic tool, but nothing comparable to a soul armament. Had not for the chaotic energy, Bai Yunfei probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to live with such a result¡­


    Having been keeping up with every single fluctuation in his fireseed, Bai Yunfei could start to feel a very faint amount of chaotic energy start to come out from the meteorite. Something from his fireseed was seemingly attracting the energy to it¡ªjust like Xiao Fang expected. As long as he tried to refine the chaotic energy, the energy would gather around his fireseed.


    Once that fragment of the meteorite was done, Bai Yunfei placed the second one into the cauldron to repeat the process. The flames roared even higher than before to burn away at the first meteorite with such intense flames that it was soon reduced to black ash and blew away with the wind¡­


    He felt pained by such a loss. It was in his hopes that the meteorite could be reused at a later point in time, but it seemed that his hopes wouldn¡¯t come true.


    Now wasn¡¯t the time for him to be lamenting over the loss of the meteorite though. Refocusing, Bai Yunfei had another piece of the meteorite thrown in.


    Time went on in this fashion with Bai Yunfei throwing in another meteorite when needed. Strand by strand, chaotic energy circled around his fireseed with increasing strength¡­


    There didn¡¯t seem to be any problems with Bai Yunfei extracting the chaotic energy so far¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was in the middle of throwing in another meteorite fragment when at last, he felt a shift take place within his fireseed.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    It came in the form of a buzzing sound coming from the cauldron. The flames started to flicker and dance irregularly as the cauldron started to shake. Bai Yunfei could sense that something in the fireseed was irritating it.


    That wasn¡¯t quite right.


    It wasn¡¯t his fireseed that was undergoing a change, but the chaotic energy around it. Because of the changes happening to the chaotic energy, his fireseed was reacting to it.


    The initial strand of chaotic energy he got earlier was just a partial strand since it had been the result of him crafting a soul armament. Extracting the chaotic energy from the meteorite without using it for crafting meant more chaotic energy for him to deal with. The result of having more chaotic energy meant the substance was far more visible to Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes now. What used to be a faint transparent glow was now a hazy-gray layer of light that flickered intermittently around his fireseed.


    ¡°This is the critical point! Yunfei, prepare to refine the chaotic energy and compress it into the fireseed. Use the fireseed to refine it!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s voice spoke out to Bai Yunfei at this point.


    The iris in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes dilated in concentration. Stopping the process of extracting chaotic energy, Bai Yunfei immediately started to focus on his fireseed instead. Doing as Xiao Fang said, he started to slowly compress the chaotic energy into his glowing-red fireseed.


    He made sure to be as careful as he could. The danger alerts he got last time when his finger was about to touch the chaotic energy was starting to resurface now that the chaotic energy was drawing closer to his fireseed. Preparations were made this time, though, and Bai Yunfei was very cautious with what he was doing. Slowly, he brought the chaotic energy closer and closer to the elemental fire and fireseed.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A faint popping sound alerted Bai Yunfei to something happening between his fireseed and chaotic energy. The chaotic energy was acting as if it was being stimulated into action to shatter apart the elemental fire touching it!


    This wasn¡¯t what Bai Yunfei was hoping for, but he didn¡¯t pause to think about what to do. Another wave of elemental fire surged forward from his fireseed to suppress the chaotic energy from all angles.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The result was having his elemental fire crumble at once. Thinking hard, Bai Yunfei tried again to use another layer of elemental fire.


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang¡­¡±


    Attempt after attempt, Bai Yunfei was failing to compress the chaotic energy anymore into his fireseed. If anything¡­it was getting even harder to do anything to it.


    Xiao Fang had said that it was vital to refine the chaotic energy as soon as it reached a critical level. Otherwise, the chaotic energy would start to collapse.


    What Bai Yunfei was currently trying to do was experiment with the frequency of his elemental fire to see if that could do anything to suppress the chaotic energy.


    Those of the Crafting School were perhaps the best in the world at regulating the frequency of their elemental fire. The undulations of their elemental fire served as the most basic of knowledge for them to craft a soul armament, and the many different frequencies ranged in the hundreds and even in the thousands. It was the only thing Bai Yunfei could really do to try and succeed.


    It was perhaps after the hundredth attempt that Bai Yunfei finally saw one attempt where the chaotic energy didn¡¯t immediately shatter the elemental fire. The chaotic energy didn¡¯t even react to the specific frequency and was fully encircled by the elemental fire now.


    Bai Yunfei was elated! Focusing as much as he could now, Bai Yunfei renewed his efforts to cover the chaotic energy and suppress it.


    Things were going smoothly for a while before Bai Yunfei noted that the chaotic energy was unbudging now. Before, the energy was practically free-flowing, but now it was like an impregnable fortress that refused to move even with the elemental fire trying its best to do so.


    He stared at the cauldron, wondering about what to do next. If he couldn¡¯t bring the chaotic energy closer to his fireseed, then he¡¯d have it go up to meet halfway! From the bottom of the cauldron, the fireseed floated up and into the flames!


    He was using one of the processes of crafting a soul armament to forcibly compress the chaotic energy into his fireseed now!


    This was a revelation that was bringing Bai Yunfei to a whole new table of options to choose from. Pressing his hand against the cauldron, he had the flames within it swell to even higher degrees as he began to ¡®refine¡¯ the fireseed inside.


    ¡°This¡¯ll work!!¡±


    Happy with the success so far, Bai Yunfei realized that he could make progress this way! The chaotic energy was already giving way to his efforts and turning smaller!


    Armed with a more suitable method now, Bai Yunfei redoubled his efforts. Things were going slow still, but the chaotic energy was definitely compressing in on itself so that it was now the size of his fireseed. In one last push, Bai Yunfei managed to bring the chaotic energy into his fireseed after another reduction in size!


    It was no longer surrounding the fireseed, it was now inside of it!


    And then at that moment¡­!


    The fireseed, which had been quiet up to this point, immediately started to kick into action. Flames started to leap from the fireseed all at once! The chaotic energy was starting to fight against its restraints to escape from the fireseed.


    This was the hardest part of the process, the part of ¡®refinement¡¯!


    Bai Yunfei bit his lip. His soulsense was completely locked onto the fireseed within his cauldron. While carefully maintaining the flames, he started to refine the chaotic energy.


    The sweltering heat in the area was starting to pool sweat onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead. He was looking hurried now with his soulforce spiking more and more frequently as he worked.


    Despite having been previously prepared for it, the refinement of the chaotic energy was still so ridiculously hard to refine! It was also extremely painful!


    If the chaotic energy was like a beast, then the fireseed was the cage it was trying to struggle against. Each proverbial slam against the cage sent a wave of pain through his organs in ways far more painful than when he went into Berserk Mode. His experience with pain wasn¡¯t at all helpful here in this one moment, but Bai Yunfei had to try his best to endure it. To do elsewise would be mean failing to refine the chaotic energy.


    His herculean efforts to resist the pain was still not enough to stop the chaotic energy from rampaging though! It was just far too strong and his fireseed was unable to suppress it, let alone refine it!


    ¡°It¡¯s not enough? I really can¡¯t refine the chaotic energy¡­¡±


    The increasing surges of power from the chaotic energy was shining through the fireseed, filling Bai Yunfei with disappointment and reluctance.


    Xiao Fang¡¯s hurried voice spoke into his ear then.


    ¡°Crap! It looks like you can¡¯t refine it! Yunfei, don¡¯t get careless! Be prepared to cut your connection with the fireseed, I¡¯ll send it off into a different dimension!¡±

 Chapter 898: Rumors

    ¡°Give up? Will I¡­ lose my fireseed just like that?¡±


    Unwillingness flowed through Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. He wasn¡¯t willing to accept losing his fireseed.


    ¡°No! There has to be a way!!¡±


    The corners of his lips tightened.


    Slamming his right hand onto his chest, he brought out the second fireseed within him!


    It flowed out from his chest at once and immediately flew into the Lightningfire Cauldron when Bai Yunfei waved his hand.


    ¡°Yunfei! Have you gone crazy!? What are you doing?!¡± Xiao Fang shrieked. ¡°You¡¯re throwing your second fireseed into it too?! You¡¯ll lose the both of them if the chaotic energy collapses!!¡±


    It was far too late to turn back now, Bai Yunfei was determined to do this. ¡°There¡¯s still a chance! I got this. Even if it fails, I can still pull back my fireseed! Don¡¯t do anything until I tell you to!¡±


    Relinquishing his hold on the cauldron, Bai Yunfei flipped through several quick hand seals.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The flames within the cauldron exploded with renewed heat as power started to surge from Bai Yunfei over to the cauldron.


    The two fireseeds were starting to rotate around one another now. The elemental fire from both fireseeds weaved around one another in intricate strands to form a new wave of fire.


    Dual Flame Artes: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form!!


    Bai Yunfei was activating the Coil Form in such a state when both fireseeds weren¡¯t even in his body!


    ¡°It¡¯s not enough!!¡±


    Several seconds of being in the Coil Form was already telling Bai Yunfei how unsuccessful his attempt was. Needing even more power, Bai Yunfei went through a second rotation of hand seals and slammed his palms onto the cauldron!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Flames billowed out from the cauldron into the surrounding perimeter. A pillar of fire exploded out from the cauldron as well as a new surge of power!


    Dual Flame Artes: ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!!


    Berserk Mode, or also known as ¡®fusion¡¯. This was when the two fireseeds normally fused with one another to bring forth power multiple times stronger over the Coil Form. It was normally a technique where both fireseeds would be in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, but he was actually activating this mode when the fireseeds were in the cauldron!


    The power of both fireseeds when they were fused together was on a completely different scale of power compared to anything else. It was Bai Yunfei¡¯s strongest form of battle, and with this, Bai Yunfei would be able to use the fireseeds and conquer the chaotic energy!


    ¡°Bzz!!¡±


    The amount of power that traveled through the cauldron was enough to make it tremble violently.


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Under the immense pressure of all the energy it was containing, the Lightningfire Cauldron began to crack a bit!


    On the top of her mountain, Tang Xinyun was watching Bai Yunfei and the pillar of fire next to him. Her palms were clutched to her chest in great concern at what she was seeing.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­you have to succeed! You¡¯ll definitely succeed!!¡±


    It was a near-silent prayer from her to Bai Yunfei, though the other party wouldn¡¯t be able to hear it. But as she was praying¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    An ear-splitting explosion a hundred times as loud as any other explosion was set off into the Core World. The pillar of fire was scattered apart to allow for the flames from it to fly everywhere, bathing the surrounding area in a sea of fire!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, in a popular bar in Swallow City, two Soul Warriors were chatting to one another over a meal.


    ¡°Hey, what do you think about that Worldly Phantasm last night?¡±


    ¡°No idea. The highest grade soul armament I¡¯ve seen was only a high-earth tier, and that was more than enough to scare me. People are saying it¡¯s a mid-heaven tier soul armament. I can¡¯t even imagine just how strong the crafter is to make a soul armament like that¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you think the crafter is the rumored Bai Yunfei? Why haven¡¯t we seen him come out from his inn yet, it¡¯s been a whole day already.¡±


    ¡°Who knows? I¡¯ve never seen the guy. With so many rumors though, he has to be here, doesn¡¯t he? I could¡¯ve sworn someone said they recognized him.¡±


    ¡°Man¡­I¡¯d like to meet him myself if it really is him. I want to see just what the prodigal genius of the Crafting School is like.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Who doesn¡¯t want to see such a powerful and mysterious person like him? So many powerful individuals already went to the inn, but no one¡¯s even got past the front door yet, not even the Soul Kings from the Qin. What in the world is that Bai Yunfei doing if he¡¯s not even seeing visitors¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    From the same side of the restaurant, a third patron drew close to the first two. ¡°Hey, you two seem to know a lot. But did you hear about just why Bai Yunfei is here in Swallow City?¡±


    ¡°Oh? I haven¡¯t actually, you happen to know any behind-the-scene information there, brother?¡± Curious, one of the two men turned to look at the newcomer to their conversation.


    The man gave them a pleased smile. He turned around as if to look out for peoplep before lowering his voice to speak. ¡°It¡¯s not so much behind-the-scenes since it¡¯s already spreading through the city, but it¡¯s a pretty private matter¡­I heard Bai Yunfei came to Swallow City to have the Qin rescind their betrothment!¡±


    ¡°Rescind a betrothment? The Qin?¡± The first person asked, ¡°What for? Is he betrothed to some young daughter from the Qin? Why is he rescinding it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not him and a daughter from the Qin, but the betrothment between his woman and the second master, Qin Shoufeng!¡±


    ¡°Qin Shoufeng?! The second son of the Qin?!¡± The man exclaimed, ¡°Since when was there a betrothment? I¡¯ve never heard of such a thing.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I heard the betrothment was never made official. Only a few people knew about it. And do you know just who that woman is? It¡¯ll shock you.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Share the news, brother, and quickly now. Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Have you heard of how good friends the Qin and the Tang from Mo City are? The one Qin Shoufeng was betrothed to was the young daughter of the Tang, Tang Xinyun!!¡±


    ¡°Tang Xinyun?! Are you serious? That¡­that Tang Xinyun is really Bai Yunfei¡¯s woman?! And Bai Yunfei was the one to rescind the betrothment?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly?! And I heard the two of them came to Swallow City together! The two went to the Qin and Bai Yunfei presented a mid-heaven tier and a low-heaven tier as an apology gift for rescinding the betrothment!¡±


    ¡°Two heaven-tier soul armaments! Isn¡¯t that just too much?! But the Qin aren¡¯t pushovers, why¡¯d they agree to it?¡±


    ¡°Heh, what else do you think they could do? Did you forget just who Bai Yunfei is? An unparalleled genius, Mid-stage Soul King, and crafter capable of crafting a mid-heaven tier soul armament! How could the Qin afford to say no when he has all that behind him and the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°That makes sense¡­even the Qin wouldn¡¯t dare defy a person with all that. But that¡¯s still humiliating for the Qin¡­they¡¯re inferior only to the Five Families as a familial-based power, and yet they were still¡­¡±


    ¡°Who said it wasn¡¯t? That Qin Shoufeng is a laughingstock now! Everyone is snickering about him behind his back!¡±


    ¡°I heard that Tang Xinyun is a beauty among beauties. If she was betrothed to Qin Shoufeng, it¡¯d be unbearable for all guys to see!¡±


    ¡°Heh, that next generational doesn¡¯t even have a good reputation to begin with. Him being humiliated is something everyone would like to see¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The topic of Bai Yunfei and everything surrounded him was a hot topic to the soul cultivators in Swallow City. Practically everyone had linked the Worldly Phantasm yesterday night back to Bai Yunfei, and then the matter of him rescinding the betrothment was quickly circulated as well...

 Chapter 899: Mo Nis Plan

    In a private room of one of the more prominent restaurants in Swallow City.


    A table filled with all sorts of delicious delicacies was being attended to by several young males and females. Though the food and drink as good, the atmosphere was slightly subdued. The diners were all smiling, but their smiles were forced as if trying their best to fake a smile. Only one person wasn¡¯t smiling. His expression was downright murderous.


    This furious person was Qin Shoufeng. And the people with him were Zhang Qian, Sun Jian, and several other acquaintances.


    ¡°Lord Feng,¡± Zhang Qian smiled, ¡°don¡¯t worry yourself with those lessers. They were only spouting things. It¡¯s best not to dwell on such things.¡±


    ¡°Yes, lord Feng. We¡¯ve already taught those things a lesson they won¡¯t forget. Things will blow over in time. Anyone that tries again won¡¯t be alive for another attempt. Please calm yourself, it¡¯s not worth to be angry over these matters.¡±


    Sun Jian smiled as well as he poured another drink into Qin Shoufeng¡¯s cup.


    ¡°Hmph!! I would¡¯ve had those scum killed if you hadn¡¯t intervened!! Those who dare laugh at me and the Qin deserves to die! Breaking their bones would be the least they deserve!¡±


    The angry glare on Qin Shoufeng¡¯s face had yet to fade away even as he drank.


    ¡°Yes¡­yes¡­they deserve to die, and it was because of lord Feng¡¯s generosity to spare their mongrel lives. Please calm yourself¡­¡± Sun Jian poured yet another cup with a soothing smile.


    The reason why Qin Shoufeng was angry was because of what happened not too long ago. He managed to sneak out from the manor when all the elders were too preoccupied, but while he was heading towards a restaurant with his friends, they came across a group of people who had been talking about him on the other side of the room. They were laughing about several things that had happened in Swallow City in the past day or so.


    Namely the fact of the mid-heaven tier Worldly Phantasm, the crafter Bai Yunfei, and¡­the Qin being forced to rescind the betrothment.


    Most of the people were praising Bai Yunfei and his skill before they started to talk about Tang Xinyun and her canceled betrothment. Several were even focusing on the topic of Qin Shoufeng and how they felt about it.


    Needless to say, Qin Shoufeng flew into a rage the moment he heard what they were saying and moved to cut their tongues out or break their arms at once.


    One of the people had been practically beaten to death before Qin Shoufeng had his mind cleared up and pacified by Zhang Qian and the others. They knew that the offenders weren¡¯t exactly people that could be killed at any time, so they made sure to stop Qin Shoufeng before it was too late.


    Still, Qin Shoufeng was absolutely murderous at the fact that these people would dare say things like that about him. The muscles in his eyes twitched non stop as he slammed his wine cup hard enough to shatter it. ¡°Who was it!! Who was the one who leaked that information!? There shouldn¡¯t have been anyone that knew about the betrothment matter with Tang Xinyun! And it only just happened! Who was it brave enough to leak information like that?!¡±


    His eyes swept across the people seated at the table with him.


    The patrons all blanched at his contact. ¡°Lord Feng,¡± Sun Jian waved his hand in a hurry, ¡°please don¡¯t doubt us! I was only in Swallow City for a short moment and know no one here. I couldn¡¯t have done it! If anything, I was recuperating the entire time yesterday, I couldn¡¯t have heard about the matter, let alone leak it!¡±


    Zhang Qian nodded. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Please don¡¯t doubt us, lord Feng. All of us were forbidden to even head out from our manors yesterday, there¡¯s no easy way for us to leak the news even if we wanted to. We only heard about the matter after we were let out. We didn¡¯t even say a word about your engagement to begin with, there¡¯s no way any of us would¡¯ve leaked it willingly¡­¡±


    ¡°...Damn! Damn it all!!¡± Qin Shoufeng cursed. What his fellow diners were saying was right. That didn¡¯t make him any less angry though. It was only serving to make him steam even more with anger.


    The object of his frustrations was Bai Yunfei, of course. He wanted nothing more than to tear him apart limb from limb and feed the pieces to a dog. But he knew that couldn¡¯t be done.


    Even if he didn¡¯t have his family warning him not to, Qin Shoufeng would never dare try. He knew Bai Yunfei was a Mid-stage Soul King. To fight against that required far more bravery than Qin Shoufeng had.


    He was made a laughing stock now that everyone knew about his betrothment being rescinded. The humiliation was so immense that he wanted to go crazy, but what could he do even if he did? He couldn¡¯t take revenge, so the only thing he could do was just stew in his wine and misery.


    He slammed down another goblet of wine and allowed it to permeate his body rather than diffuse it with his soulforce. Searing heat traveled from his throat to his belly as the alcohol did its work to alleviate a little bit of the stress on him¡­


    Smiling apologetically at his friends, Qin Shoufeng took another shot of his alcohol. He was starting to feel a little buzzed now. Also a little confused by the relative quietness of the table now, he looked back up after another drink of wine.


    Aside from him, everyone else was knocked out on the table and laid unmoving¡­


    What was going on? Were they all knocked out from the alcohol? Or was he just so drunk that he was seeing things?


    As he was thinking to himself, Qin Shoufeng swung his eyes to the right. His soulforce was detoxifying his body of the alcohol fast enough to allow him to realize something was amiss!


    Two strangers had joined his table at some point while he was intoxicated! A young man in black robes and an elder cloaked in black mist!


    ¡°Wh¡ªwho are you two?!¡±


    Back to full clarity now, Qin Shoufeng leaped back from his seat to gain some distance from the two strangers.


    There was a flash of disdain in Mo Ni¡¯s eyes. It was gone in a flash and replaced with a small smile. ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be afraid. You would¡¯ve been dead a long time ago if I wanted to. I¡­am just here to help you.¡±


    ¡°Help me? What¡­do you mean by that?¡± Qin Shoufeng was against the wall now. ¡°Who are you people!?¡±


    ¡°Who we are isn¡¯t important¡­.¡± Mo Ni continued to smile, ¡°What¡¯s more important is that we can help you take revenge¡­Don¡¯t you want to deal a blow to Bai Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡± Qin Shoufeng¡¯s eyes narrowed at the name. He could see that the people in front of him were both Soul Kings and didn¡¯t seem to be a danger to him. What they were saying was still quite puzzling to him, though.


    ¡°Correct.¡± Mo Ni nodded. ¡°I can tell you that there is a great grudge between Bai Yunfei and I. I wish to kill him. If you have the same thoughts as I do, then¡­it would be best that we cooperate.¡±


    ¡°Cooperate?¡± Qin Shoufeng raised an eyebrow to bark with laughter, ¡°You two are Soul Kings and I only a mere Soul Exalt. What cooperation can there be?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your strength we require, but your status.¡± Mo Ni replied.


    ¡°My status?¡± Qin Shoufeng wasn¡¯t quite sure what this meant for a moment. ¡°You want to make use of my Qin?¡±


    ¡°Cooperation I said. Not make use.¡±


    ¡°Pah! I suggest you stop counting your eggs before they hatch. I tell you this now, while I wish nothing more than to break Bai Yunfei¡¯s body apart with my hands, I am the only one in my family that thinks this way. The rest have no desire to do elsewise to Bai Yunfei. So¡­pardon me for my powerlessness. If sire wishes to fight Bai Yunfei, then you will have to do it alone. I wish you success in your endeavors and hope that Bai Yunfei will be reduced to dust!¡±


    Mo Ni continued to smile at him, ¡°Surely you jest, lord Feng. How could you be powerless? You will play an irreplaceable ¡®role¡¯ in dealing with Bai Yunfei¡­¡±


    The smile ran shivers down Qin Shoufeng¡¯s spine. His soulforce was already circulating around his body in anticipation.


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean¡­¡±


    Mo Ni moved to close the distance between the two before he could even finish his sentence. Eyes widening as he watched Mo Ni disappear into a blur, Qin Shoufeng had only enough time to register him reappearing right in front of him with a palm ready to press against his forehead!

 Chapter 900: A Forbidden Secret to Escape Blame

    ¡°Lord Feng¡­Lord Feng¡­wake up¡­¡±


    A voice was calling out to him. Feeling something shake his body, a hazy-minded Qin Shoufeng roused from his slumber two seconds later. He opened his eyes as he awoke and paused briefly as memories of what happened to him started to flood back into his head. He reflexively kicked off against the ground to adopt a defensive position.


    ¡°Uh¡­lord Feng, what are you doing?¡±


    It was Sun Jian¡¯s voice that was speaking to him though, and not Mo Ni. Blinking several times, Qin Shoufeng¡¯s eyes registered the figures of Sun Jian, Zhang Qian, and several other acquaintances who were all giving him an odd stare.


    His highly-strung nerves were beginning to loosen now. Dropping his arms, Qin Shoufeng stared at them for a second and shook his head. He was feeling a little dizzy.


    ¡°Are you alright, lord Feng? Did you perhaps drink too much? Should I call for someone to bring you some sobering tea?¡± Sun Jian asked.


    But Qin Shoufeng didn¡¯t even hear his words. He was still looking around the room as if looking for something.


    There should have been someone else in the room, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger on who. Something had happened to him a while ago, but he couldn¡¯t think about what it was either¡­


    His period of silence was ended with him looking at the people around him. ¡°Was I asleep just now? What were you all doing? Did anyone come into the room?¡±


    ¡°Anyone? Not at all. There are people guarding the room outside, so no one was able to come in¡­¡± Zhang Qian shook his head. ¡°You drank too much and fell asleep. We must¡¯ve drunk too much too, I still feel a little muddle-headed and woke up recently as well.¡±


    Zhang Qian felt a little odd himself at the words he was saying. Qin Shoufeng might¡¯ve been drinking without his soulforce to counteract against the effects of the alcohol, but it was still unlikely that he¡¯d drink so much to an extent like this.


    They must not be used to drinking without using their soulforce.


    That¡¯d explain things.


    ¡°Strange¡­was I just dreaming, then?¡±


    Qin Shoufeng muttered under his breath. He couldn¡¯t shake off that mysterious feeling he was having, but he wasn¡¯t ready to continue thinking about it. ¡°It¡¯s getting late, so let¡¯s return back to our homes then¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Everyone looked surprised at his suggestion, but if Qin Shoufeng was saying so, no one could disagree.


    Zhang Qian suddenly spoke up before they left the restaurant. ¡°Lord Feng, we¡¯ve all decided to go participate in the auction tomorrow, will you be coming too? I heard there¡¯s a lot of wonderful things. Let¡¯s see if there¡¯ll be anything you might like.¡±


    ¡°An auction?¡± Qin Shoufeng asked, ¡°Fine then. There¡¯s nothing to do at home anyhow.¡±


    His family and the Tianhun School were in cooperation for this auction house, but he never had much interest in the auction to begin with. Qin Shouhao planned on bringing him with him to learn how to manage the auction before, but Qin Shoufeng thought it was too much work and refused.


    Without anything more needed to be said, the group split up at the restaurant to return home¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Two figures stood high up in the night sky to look at the figure of Qin Shoufeng as he walked home. It was only when he was back home that the two looked away.


    It was Mo Ni and the Black Dragon King. ¡°What do you plan on doing now?¡± The Black Dragon King asked Mo Ni, ¡°That was an art forbidden by tour school to use without the proper permissions. Should your father learn about this¡­¡±


    Mo Ni sneered, ¡°Relax, no one will find out. Who¡¯d even know? It¡¯s only a day or two, there won¡¯t be any traces left. I doubt anyone will find out.¡±


    ¡°I would hope so¡­¡± The Black Dragon King frowned. ¡°When will you be putting your plan into action then?¡±


    Mo Ni turned to look at the center of Swallow City. ¡°That Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t do anything after crafting a mid-heaven tier soul armament. I wonder what he¡¯s doing¡­but if he¡¯s staying in Swallow City, he has to be participating in the auction tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the day!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The area he was looking at was the inn Bai Yunfei was staying in.


    Right now, in the room in question.


    Xiao Qi was resting on top of a large bed. He was bored out of his mind. Eyeing the Core Stone nearby, Xiao Qi sighed, ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­it¡¯s been three days already. Didn¡¯t he finish crafting that soul armament yesterday? What¡¯s he doing now?¡±


    A knock on the door roused him from his boredom, ¡°Pardon me. I am Liu Chengfang, head of the Liu in Blueshell City. I¡¯ve heard lord Bai is staying in this room, I would like to pay my respects¡­¡±


    ¡°You should be respecting our privacy! No visitors! How many times are you going to annoy us before I get angry? Stop bothering us!¡±


    Booming with annoyance at the umpteenth visitor, Xiao Qi let loose a wave of soulforce through the door.


    ¡°Par¡ªpardon my intrusion!¡± Came the response before the person went scampering away.


    All was silent once again.


    ¡°Come on now. I might as well eat the next person to come up¡­¡± Xiao Qi groaned.


    Their room had been visited from a wave of people nonstop after Bai Yunfei managed to craft the mid-heaven tier soul armament. Even Soul Kings or people from powerful schools and families were a part of that visiting list.


    There had been several people with more guts than brains that attempted to scan the room with their soulsense. This was met with a wave of soulsense from Xiao Qi, resulting in grievous injuries on their behalf. No one dared to do such a thing afterward, and visits became limited to knocking on the door for an audience. Xiao Qi didn¡¯t treat those types of visits well either and chased all of them off.


    Visitors had petered off after enough time, and the last person had been the first since morning became noon. Clearly, he was a person who didn¡¯t believe in the rumors that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t taking in visitors.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he say he was going to see the auction today? It¡¯s going to be too late if he doesn¡¯t come out¡­¡±


    As he was speaking to himself, a pulse of energy from the center of the room caught Xiao Qi¡¯s attention.


    Two figures came stepping out from a distortion in space a moment afterward.


    ¡°Yunfei! You¡¯re finally out!!¡± Xiao Qi chirped in joy. Flapping his wings, he took off to fly not towards Bai Yunfei, but to Xiao Bai on Tang Xinyun¡¯s shoulder.


    The two birds then immediately started to engage in a series of birds chattering incomprehensible to the human ears.


    Bai Yunfei stooped over to take the Core Stone into his hand before he secured it around his necklace. ¡°Xiao Qi, has anything important happened?¡±


    He and Tang Xinyun had been completely focused on crafting and training while they were in the Core World, so neither persons had paid attention to the passage of time. Even now, Bai Yunfei was afraid he might¡¯ve missed the auction.


    ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s the auction, so don¡¯t you dare miss it.¡± Xiao Qi chirped, ¡°Didn¡¯t you finish crafting yesterday? What took you so long?¡±


    ¡°So refining the chaotic energy took an entire day¡­¡±


    ¡°Something came up after I crafted that soul armament. Did anything else happen other then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I nearly died of boredom!¡± Xiao Qi groused before telling them what happened with all the visitors.


    ¡°Did such a large Worldly Phantasm appear when I finished?¡± Bai Yunfei looked surprised. A Worldly Phantasm was a mysterious phenomenon where a large amount of energy gathered, much like with a King¡¯s Phenomena. For it to happen in the real world meant that the energy in the Core World wasn¡¯t enough.


    ¡°Then¡­that means everyone knows I¡¯m here? It¡¯s normal for them to try and visit, but don¡¯t worry about them. We¡¯ll be leaving after tomorrow. Did Mingfeng come looking?¡±


    ¡°Jing Mingfeng?¡± Xiao Qi chirped, ¡°He didn¡¯t.¡±


    Bai Yunfei pressed his eyebrows together. Jing Mingfeng surely had to have seen the Worldly Phantasm when he was done, was there a reason why he didn¡¯t come for it when he was done?


    ¡°Forget it. We¡¯ll see each other tomorrow.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°Xinyun, you must be tired after watching me craft. Rest for a while, we¡¯ll be heading early to the auction tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 901: Auction

    In the auction house of Swallow City.


    The house was a lively scene with upwards of a thousand people in attendance. Most of them were patrons, ready to bring out their wallets and purchase whatever trinkets, items, or fancy items they had their eyes on, but there were also a sizeable amount of employees pacing about to and from. If they weren¡¯t showing patrons to their seats, they were doing other services.


    Separated into three different lobbies, the auction house had segmented them so that the general audience would be in the first to third ones in ascending order of importance. The third floor and lobby were further segmented between private rooms for their more important patrons. It was also the best floor for these patrons to watch the proceedings from. Only those of very important statuses or strength would be allowed here.


    Surprisingly enough to Bai Yunfei, the auction house didn¡¯t have its shortages of powerful people. He had only seen a small portion of the patrons here, but he could clearly sense the distribution of power here. Hardly anyone that wasn¡¯t a Soul Ancestor was here. Soul Exalts littered the lobbies, and Bai Yunfei could even swear he could feel the auras of several Soul Kings hiding in the second and third lobbies.


    He relayed this to Tang Xinyun right by his side. ¡°Xinyun, it seems that this auction will be of a higher level than the one in Mo City.¡±


    Agreeing with him, his companion nodded. ¡°The auction last time wasn¡¯t very large even despite it being hosted by our family. This one is being hosted by the Tianhun School, there¡¯ll definitely be a higher level of display here.¡±


    A female employee met with the two shortly after they strode past the reception hall. ¡°Honored guests, please present your seat slip and I will lead you there.¡± She bowed.


    Two beautiful snow-white slips were handed over to her.


    ¡°Please follow me.¡±


    Securing a spot in one of the best viewing booths on the third floor would¡¯ve been very easy given Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun¡¯s statuses. But neither person didn¡¯t wish to declare that they were here in attendance so readily flamboyantly and decided to sit in the general audience.


    An invitation card with slips for the highest lobby had been presented to Bai Yunfei before, in truth. It was during the time Bai Yunfei was in the Core World and Xiao Qi was safeguarding the room. During that time, the one employee with the invitation was brushed off by Xiao Qi, and so the slips were never presented to Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes scoured the room soon after the employee led him and Tang Xinyun to their seats. ¡°Are you looking for Jing Mingfeng?¡± Tang Xinyun asked after she noticed his looks.


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t have the slightest of clues where he might be. He¡¯s probably here already.¡¯


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s ability to disguise and himself was far better than Bai Yunfei¡¯s own. Bai Yunfei was confident that unless Jing Mingfeng himself decided to seek him out, he wouldn¡¯t be able to find Jing Mingfeng.


    He and Tang Xinyun were both seated, as like many other patrons in the same lobby. Most of everyone¡¯s eyes were glued to the front where the auction would start, though a few other patrons were discussing idle chatter with one another as well. Given the excitement surrounding the auction, many of the patrons were hardly paying attention to Bai Yunfei or Tang Xinyun. There were a few that noticed just how beautiful Tang Xinyun was, but no one dared to try and strike up a conversation with her.


    Any gathering of people like this one was undoubtedly a dangerous place to make enemies. One wouldn¡¯t know how strong someone was, or how strong a background they belonged to. Most people who laid eyes on Tang Xinyun were terrified of incurring the wrath of someone they couldn¡¯t possibly afford to.


    And no one recognized Bai Yunfei. His name and fame preceded him. Hardly anyone in the city even knew what he looked like, and combined with him already hiding his strength, nobody would figure that hidden within this small sea of Soul Exalts would be the infamous Bai Yunfei.


    It was because of the idle chattering of others that Bai Yunfei was able to pick up something he wasn¡¯t expecting¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s this¡­? How do people know about the Qin and them rescinding the betrothment?¡± Bai Yunfei whispered, ¡°It looks like the entire city knows about it.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Tang Xinyun inhaled sharply, ¡°But how? This¡­this shouldn¡¯t have been known to begin with.¡±


    The number of people that should¡¯ve known about the matter could be counted on either of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands. Neither Bai Yunfei nor Tang Xinyun figured the Qin would be willing to let such information escape from them, but the problem was what it was. Somehow, the city knew about the matter.


    ¡°Someone¡­must¡¯ve done this on purpose, what¡¯s their goal?¡± A sense of apprehension crawled up Bai Yunfei¡¯s spine. ¡°To ruin the Qin¡¯s reputation? Or is it because of something else?¡±


    Tang Xinyun looked worried. ¡°Maybe to drive a wedge between the Qin and Tang? The Qin would most definitely lose face for this, and it¡¯ll be the Tang that¡¯ll be seen as the responsible party. The Qin will definitely not take kindly to this, to you and to the Tang¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we shouldn¡¯t stay in Swallow City for much longer. We¡¯ll leave after the auction is done to avoid any proble¡ª


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Qin Shoufeng? I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be working to manage this auction¡­¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly cut off from his original sentence to point off towards the right. To where he was pointing, a young man in greenish robes came into view. It was Qin Shoufeng. He was seemingly instructing several employees on a task right now.


    Had it been in anything situation other than what it was now, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve gone up to say his hellos to him. Now, was quite obviously an unwise time to do so.


    The less he made contact with the Qin, the better.


    ¡°The auction is about to start¡­¡±


    Most of the patrons were already growing silent by the time Qin Shoufeng came into view. Here and there, the employees of the auction were going around to make final calls and warnings.


    From what Bai Yunfei could see, Qin Shoufeng was making his way to the front of the hall to start the proceedings.


    ¡°Good day to everyone. I am Qin Shoufeng of the house of Qin. I would like to welcome everyone to our meager auction on behalf of my family, and I hope that everyone will have a wonderful time watching the proceedings of this auction.¡±


    He paused very briefly to take in a short breath. ¡°And now,¡± He exhaled, ¡°I would like to announce the official start of the auction!¡±


    He turned to leave the podium. In his place, a beautiful woman with a slender waist and slim-fitting figure came up to take his place. She had charm graceful, but mature like aged wine. With just a single glance around the room, she had managed to commandeer the eyes of everyone in the hall and allow them to wait for her next actions.


    Standing now at the center of the podium, the woman gave everyone a professional smile. Her cinnabar-red lips parted briefly as she started to make her speech.


    ¡°I am Wu Mei¡¯er. Pleased to make everyone¡¯s acquaintances. I will be today¡¯s emcee, so please allow me to introduce the first item of the day¡­¡±


    Her words were enunciated clearly, and her voice silken like spring water. She was also quite a powerful person, as her aura registered her as a Soul Exalt.


    ¡°Our first item is six hundred-year-old essence lotus, a powerful item any water-type soul cultivator would greatly benefit from. It has the spectacular ability to aid in the breakthrough of a water-type soul cultivator. Our starting bid will open at a thousand low-grade primal stones. Each bid must be at least a tenth higher than the previous.


    ¡°Please begin bidding now.¡±


    Many gasps were had when the item was first introduced, but many people were already starting to bid the moment Wu Mei¡¯er finished speaking.


    The item was rare and undeniably valuable for anyone that was a Soul Ancestor or below. For someone like Bai Yunfei, however, the item had a much more watered down value.


    He knew that this particular auction would have most of its more valuable objects placed in the latter half. Paying attention to the beginning half wouldn¡¯t be very exciting, so Bai Yunfei lazed around and watched the others around him start to bid.


    It took only a short moment for the bid for the essence lotus to reach and finish at four thousand low-grade primal stones.


    The next item to follow afterward was an eight-hundred iceheart berry¡­


    One by one, ingredients meant for medicine and such were bid and fought for one after another. Each item had an even higher starting bid than the one before, and the number of people taking part in the bidding war grew with each item. The first had only Soul Ancestors fighting for it, but now even a few Soul Exalts were starting to take focus on the auction. Two Soul Kings from the top floor made a bid of their own too. When they did, the rest of the auction grew quiet. If a Soul King wanted to bid, then no one else would dare fight them.


    Bai Yunfei remained calm the entire time until when at last, there had been an item interesting enough to catch his eye.

 Chapter 902: Core Blossom

    ¡°This is a core blossom, an exceptionally rare medicinal ingredient harvested deep underground near a channel of lava. This particular one is nearly several millennia old and contains an unbelievably potent amount of elemental fire. It can make one¡¯s aptitude for fire blossom and can also increase the chances of a fire-type soul cultivator becoming a Soul King. For fire-type soul cultivators, it¡¯s no exaggeration to say this is as good as an Extreme King Pill almost. This heaven-tier ingredient will start at eighty thousand low-grade primal stones.¡±


    The item Wu Mei¡¯er brought onto the podium was a fist-sized plant as red as fire itself. Laid in a clear glass box, the particular details of this core blossom could clearly be seen to everyone. Its stamen and pistils were colored and shape in a way that made it seem like the plant was on fire, and the heat waves radiating from the plant was also noticeably obvious as well. Even the faraway patrons of the auction could feel the power of the plant from where they were.


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡±


    Immediately, the entire hall started to buzz with excitement.


    ¡°A core blossom! A core blossom of all things! It¡¯s the golden ticket for any fire-type Soul Exalt to use!¡±


    ¡°Make one¡¯s aptitude for fire blossom? A fire-type soul cultivator would see a lifelong benefit from using it!¡±


    ¡°And using it greatly increases the chances of becoming a Soul King! It¡¯s not an Extreme King Pill, but it¡¯s also not something any fire-type soul cultivator can ignore!¡±


    ¡°Ugh, eighty thousand low-grade primal stones though¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    There had been a look of excitement to travel up onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face when he saw the core blossom. The effects of such a plant weren¡¯t lost on him, and he of all people could tell just how much raw power was contained in the plant. It was without a doubt an ingredient any fire-type soul cultivator would want.


    ¡°Yunfei? Are you interested in the core blossom?¡±


    Tang Xinyun asked. She had noticed the look on his face. ¡°As good of an ingredient it is, isn¡¯t it very effective for you?¡±


    He turned to give her a loving smile. ¡°Why are you only thinking about its benefits for me?? Did you forget you¡¯re also a fire-type soul cultivator? It¡¯s an amazing ingredient, so of course I want to give it to you to help you become a Soul King¡­¡±


    ¡°To me?¡± Tang Xinyun looked surprised for a moment before returning a self-deprecating smile. ¡°It¡¯s a little¡­too early for me to think about becoming a Soul King.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate yourself. Your speed isn¡¯t slow by any means¡­¡± Bai Yunfei held her hand with his. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter when you breakthrough as long as we make the preparations for it.¡±


    The bidding war for the core blossom had already started while Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were talking amongst themselves. Many Soul Exalts were obviously interested in it and were driving the bid for it to heights only matched by their desires for it.


    In no time at all, the price of eighty thousand low-grade primal stones was doubled to a hundred and sixty-thousand and still increasing.


    ¡°Two hundred thousand low-grade primal stones.¡±


    An elderly voice spoke out from one of the rooms on the left side of the second floor.


    ¡°Shhh¡­¡±


    All the yelling and noise in the hall immediately grew silent.


    ¡°It¡¯s here! A Soul King finally made their bid!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s probably giving it to his grand-child or something. Two hundred thousand, damn¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn! I can¡¯t compete with those prices. And even if I could, I can¡¯t compete with a Soul King!¡±


    The bid of the Soul King was the signal for everyone else in the hall to immediately give up on purchasing the core blossom.


    Up on the podium, Wu Mei¡¯er waited for someone else to make a bid. When it seemed like no one else would, she opened her mouth to begin speaking.


    ¡°I bid a low-heaven tier soul armament.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Before she could start her sentence, a person broke the silence first.


    Stunned, everyone turned their heads towards the source of the bid. It came from the first floor where a rather ordinary-looking male was smiling. He was the one to make the bid.


    ¡°Hey, did I hear that right? What¡¯s that he just said?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s bidding a low-heaven tier soul armament? For the core blossom?¡±


    Unsure of what they had heard, most of the audience was leaning next to one another to whisper and stare strangely at Bai Yunfei.


    Like the audience, Wu Mei¡¯er had been caught off guard for a second too. ¡°Honored guest, did you say¡­you bid a low-heaven tier soul armament?¡±


    Still smiling, Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Correct. Is there an appraiser in the house? You may have them appraise the worth of my soul armament if you have your doubts.¡±


    There was a small flash of blue light as a dagger came into appearance. Wrapped then in a bubble of elemental fire, the dagger flew towards the podium.


    Everyone watched as the dagger flew from Bai Yunfei over to the podium and into Wu Mei¡¯er¡¯s hands.


    True to her professionalism, it took only a moment for Wu Mei¡¯er to remember where she is.


    ¡°That is of course possible,¡± She smiled, ¡°please wait a moment, honored guests, as our appraiser evaluates the worth of this soul armament.¡±


    A person was already taking the dagger off the podium to the area behind where the appraiser was.


    A second person came back up to the podium shortly afterward to whisper urgently into Wu Mei¡¯er¡¯s ear. At his words, Wu Mei¡¯er seemed to sparkle in the eyes before she turned to face the audience. ¡°As reported by our appraiser, the soul armament supplied by the honored guest has been confirmed to be a low-heaven tier soul armament and appraised to be worth two hundred and forty-thousand low-grade primal stones. We will accept the soul armament as a bid.¡±


    ¡°It really is a heaven-tier soul armament! And worth that much! Dear heavens! Is this even reality?!¡±


    ¡°Bidding two hundred and forty-thousand low-grade primal stones is beyond what I¡¯d even consider for a core blossom. He¡¯s equating a low-heaven tier soul armament for a trade like this! Does¡­does he have a problem in his head?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t even bat an eye at bidding away a low-heaven tier soul armament! What kind of person is this guy?!¡±


    ¡°Hey¡­? He looks a little familiar, where have I seen him before?¡±


    ¡°Eh? You feel the same way too, brother Li? Using a heaven-tier soul armament to bid¡­where have I seen something like that? It¡¯s definitely not my first time seeing it¡­¡±


    ¡°Using a heaven-tier soul armament to bid? Hold on! I¡¯ve got it1 I remember a few years ago, we went to Mo City in the Forest Pass Province for the auction there, remember? There was also another person who did the exact same thing? That person was¡­¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!! I remember now! This guy is the exact same person! Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School!¡±


    Somebody from the audience was quick to figure who Bai Yunfei was. And after he and his friend made the connection, many of the others in attendance immediately started to stir into a frenzy.


    ¡°What?! Bai Yunfei!? The same Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School?!¡±


    ¡°No lie? He¡¯s really Bai Yunfei?! The guy who crafted the mid-heaven tier soul armament two days ago?!¡±


    ¡°It really is him! I saw him in Mo City before! And¡­isn¡¯t that the daughter of the Tang with him? It is! It really is!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing on the first floor? He could¡¯ve sat at the very top along with the others, couldn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°No wonder he¡¯s willing to bid heaven-tier soul armaments then. It¡¯s Bai Yunfei after all¡­What an original way of bidding. Using soul armaments instead of primal stones¡­¡±


    Wu Mei¡¯er was watching Bai Yunfei with a strange light in her eyes while this played out. Coughing once, she spoke out to silence the crowd.


    ¡°Lord Bai has offered two hundred and forty-thousand, will anyone else bid?¡±


    Everyone¡¯s heads immediately swung to the booth on the second floor where the Soul King had first bid.


    All was silent for two seconds before the same elderly voice from before spoke out. ¡°So it¡¯s Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School¡­since you also want the core blossom, this old man won¡¯t bid any longer.¡±


    He was very clearly giving up, meaning Bai Yunfei had won the bid for the core blossoms.


    ¡­¡­


    The geo blossom was given to Bai Yunfei shortly afterward by a young man in white robes and an unordinary aura.


    ¡°This one is Yan Jiangjing of the Tianhun School. Pleased to make your acquaintance, brother Bai.¡± The young man clasped his hands in greeting, ¡°We are honored by your presence, brother Bai. I, in particular, have long since wished to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Charmed¡­¡± Bai Yunfei returned the greeting, ¡°Is there any particular reason for your visit, brother Yan?¡±


    It was weird to see a person like him here, even if it was to escort the product. He was a man of considerable strength as a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt¡ªnot exactly a peon.


    ¡°Yan? Isn¡¯t the lord-mayor of Swallow City also a Yan?¡± A half-second later, Bai Yunfei realized that this person was most likely the son of Swallow City¡¯s lord-mayor.


    Yan Jiangjing smiled. ¡°How could we have a guest of brother Bai¡¯s stature remain on the first floor? We have prepared a room on the third floor for you and your plus one. I am merely here to escort you there.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in thanks. ¡°If that is the case, then I graciously accept.¡±


    He hadn¡¯t wanted to make a statement before, but now that everyone knew who he was and was putting him under intense scrutiny, he didn¡¯t want him or Tang Xinyun to stay here. Moving to the third floor wouldn¡¯t have any detriments now.

 Chapter 903: Wind Immortal Grass

    The auction house was in no small amount of uproar now that Bai Yunfei had ¡®appeared¡¯. Everyone was discussing madly to one another on Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun as they were being led by Yan Jiangjing out from the first floor. It was only when the three of them were gone from the first floor that the audience started to settle back in and resume the auction.


    In one of the private rooms on the left side of the third floor.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! He¡¯s here in this house! And that slut Tang Xinyun! They have the guts to show themselves in front of me!!¡±


    Qin Shoufeng¡¯s eyes were practically bloodshot as he shot complaint after complaint at the appearance of the two. It looked like he had gone mad and was about ready to cannibalize someone.


    Zhang Qian and the others leaped to attention at once. ¡°Lord Feng!¡± He cried, ¡°What are you doing?! Refrain yourself! This is the auction, causing trouble here will be huge trouble!¡±


    Qin Shoufeng looked absolutely strange compared to normal. The anger in his eyes was uncontrollable and his body was shaking intensely like a beast gone feral. He wasn¡¯t listening to anyone, and the only thing stopping him from charging out of the room was Sun Jian.


    ¡°What are you doing, little Feng!!¡±


    The doors to his room burst open as someone else came striding inside to block the way and stop Qin Shoufeng.


    It was Qin Shouhao.


    ¡°Move out of the way! I¡¯m going to kill those two cheaters!!¡±


    Not even his own family member seemed recognizable to Qin Shoufeng in his current state as he lashed out to force his own brother aside. The only thing he was seeing was red!


    ¡°You¡¯re being too noisy!!¡±


    Right beside Qin Shouhao was Qin Pingzhi. Angered by the outrageous display of Qin Shoufeng, Qin Pingzhi enveloped the younger male in a bubble of green energy before forcing him into the ground.


    Zhang Qian, Sun Jian, and the others immediately fell silent when the Soul King took action. They were like cicadas that had been intimidated into silence.


    Not even when Qin Shoufeng fell down did any of them move to pick him up.


    Qin Pingzhi and Qin Shouhao closed the door behind them to prevent anyone from going out. Inwardly, Qin Shouhao was glad at their early prevention. Had they not been here sooner, he was afraid Qin Shoufeng would¡¯ve gotten himself into even more trouble.


    ¡°I had thought you¡¯d learn your lesson.¡± Qin Pingzhi rebuked, ¡°But clearly you still haven¡¯t! That Bai Yunfei could kill you with a pinch of a finger if he wanted! Just how deep of a hole do you wish to find yourself in?! Until this auction is over, you are forbidden to step even half a step beyond this room!¡±


    Like Qin Shouhao, Zhang Qian and the others were relieved, though they were also slightly confused.


    Hadn¡¯t Qin Shoufeng said yesterday he¡¯d endure the humiliation Bai Yunfei had dealt him? Hadn¡¯t he also said he¡¯d not anger Bai Yunfei? Then why was he acting in such a completely opposite way than yesterday now?


    ¡­¡­


    Yan Jiangjing led Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun to an expensive-looking room on the third floor with a smile. ¡°This is your room, please enter it. Should either of you two have any queries or needs, please do not hesitate to instruct the employees outside. I will leave you two to resume your enjoyment of our auction.¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced a quick look at the room to their left. ¡°Thank you brother Yan¡­¡± He cupped his hands in gratitude. ¡°Please don¡¯t mind us and resume your business.¡±


    Yan Jiangjing left the two afterward, leaving Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun to go into the room and closing the door behind them.


    The interior of the room was equipped with several facilities that were otherwise not seen on the first two floors. Furthermore, the side facing the front of the auction was made of transparent glass to allow the viewers inside a nice view of whatever it was being auctioned. Bai Yunfei recalled not being able to see through the glass from the other side, so the glass was definitely made of some sort of special material to allow for one-way viewing.


    Just behind the glass viewing screen was a large table and chairs. Pulling them up for him and Tang Xinyun to sit in, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Haha, this must be what it feels like to be privileged. This is far more comfortable than down below.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you announce yourself in the very beginning then?¡± Tang Xinyun smiled back. ¡°We could have enjoyed this room from the beginning!¡±


    ¡°I wanted to keep a low profile at first¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shrugged. ¡°Who knew we¡¯d be found out so fast¡­but I guess it doesn¡¯t matter. We don¡¯t have anyone to be afraid of, and it¡¯s nothing bad if they recognize us since we¡¯ll be leaving after today.¡±


    The auctioneers on the podium down below were in the middle of presenting a brown-colored spirit root, to which many people were in the middle of trying to buy.


    The spirit root was bought shortly afterward, and the next item to be brought up were nine green-colored leaves the size of candlesticks.


    ¡°These are wind immortal grass, a heaven-tier ingredient with effects on par with the core blossom. It has the great ability to increase a Soul Exalt¡¯s chances of becoming a Soul King, but is hard for a soul cultivator to take in. Only soulbeasts can take in this rare ingredient without harm. It¡¯ll be extremely beneficial for a class six soulbeast to eat this to become a class seven. Our starting bid will begin at eighty thousand low-grade primal stones.¡±


    Wu Mei¡¯er announced the item succinctly before opening the floor to start the bidding process.


    ¡°Wind immortal grass?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed in interest. People were already starting to bid on the item as he concentrated on it.


    This was the item Jing Mingfeng wanted to buy. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, the final person to bid for this item would most likely be Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡°Ninety-thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    ¡°A hundred-thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    A hundred and ten thousand¡­¡±


    Despite the wind immortal grass being only effective for soulbeasts, there was still plenty of people with wind-type soulbeasts as their bonded partners. The price of the item quickly soared up to a hundred and seventy-thousand before only two people were left to haggle.


    ¡°A hundred and eighty-thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    An elder dressed in green spoke out to usher the hall into silence. Bai Yunfei stared at the man. Was this person Jing Mingfeng? Disguising himself as an elderly person wasn¡¯t something Jing Mingfeng would normally do.


    Silence reigned for several short moments, but long enough for Wu Mei¡¯er to open her mouth to close the bid.


    ¡°A hundred and ninety-thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    A young man cloaked in green and wielding a folding fan called out. This man hadn¡¯t participated in the bid from start to finish before making this final bid to close it.


    ¡°That¡¯s him!!¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. He didn¡¯t know what Jing Mingfeng¡¯s aura felt like now that he was disguised, but this type of attitude towards bidding was something that¡¯d definitely fit Jing Mingfeng¡¯s nature.


    The elderly man that had given the previous bid faltered. He wouldn¡¯t make a second bid for the item. When it seemed like no one would compete with the youth, a deep voice boomed out from the second floor.


    ¡°Two-hundred-thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    Another Soul King was speaking out!


    Someone in the audience gasped before turning back to the green-robed youth.


    The youth¡¯s eyebrows furrowed for a brief moment before he called out an even higher bid.


    ¡°Two hundred and ten-thousand!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s done it! He¡¯s prepared to fight a Soul King for it!¡±


    Another person gasped out in disbelief at the audacity of the youth.


    ¡°Two hundred and twenty-thousand!¡±


    The elder from the second floor called out a second bid as well, though his voice was laced with an icy-edge now.


    ¡°Two hundred and thirty-thousand!¡±


    The youth was adamant and refused to budge.


    ¡­¡­


    From his room on the third floor, Bai Yunfei watched the proceedings take place with a finger to his chin. ¡°That Early-stage Soul King must be ready to help his class six soulbeast become a class seven.¡±


    ¡°Two hundred and forty-thousand!¡±


    Again, the Soul King called out with an even higher bid than the youth.


    The youth was starting to hesitate now. The fan in his hand was no longer being used to fan his face.


    Then, a voice came out from one of the rooms on the third floor¡­


    ¡°I bid a low-heaven tier soul armament!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s Bai Yunfei! He¡¯s planning to bid now?! What¡¯s he want with the wind immortal grass? Wasn¡¯t his soulbeast partner already a mid-stage class seven soulbeast?¡±


    ¡°Another low-heaven tier soul armament! Just how long is he going to stick to a bizarre way of bidding like that?! Trading a heaven-tier soul armament for something like the wind immortal grass¡ªwhat a spendthrift!¡±


    Amidst the confused chaos that was the audience, an employee was already rushing out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s room with a curved sword in hand. It was taken to the appraiser behind stage and then quickly evaluated to be worth two hundred and sixty-thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    The entire hall fell silent at such a price and looked to the two bidders as if waiting for them to challenge.


    The Soul King on the second floor was silent, meaning he had given up. It wasn¡¯t the price he was balking at, but the fact that it was Bai Yunfei making the bid. Like the person who had wanted the core blossom, he wasn¡¯t willing to fight Bai Yunfei for it.


    As for the youth, he stood there in bewildered amazement to stare at Bai Yunfei¡¯s booth. Blinking several times, he flashed the booth a smile before holding his fan to his face again. He did not offer another bid.


    With no one else to contest Bai Yunfei¡¯s bid, Wu Mei¡¯er announced Bai Yunfei to be the winner of the wind immortal grass.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°We are now concluding the herbal and natural ingredients segment of our auction. In this section of our auction, we will be displaying materials for crafting.¡±


    Wu Mei¡¯er called out and looked to each of the three floors as if waiting for any questions. Receiving none, she brought up the first item.


    ¡°Our first item is some desert goldwood. This is an extraordinary type of long-living tree that exists in the middle of the Endless Desert. It¡¯s filled with an abundant amount of elemental metal and is also of the wood-type. Harder than some metals, the wood can be used to craft many types of high-earth tier soul armaments. Our starting bid will begin at thirty-thousand low-grade primal stones. Please begin bidding.¡±


    The portion of the tree they were displaying was about the length of a leg and had plenty of markings on it. It looked almost as if it was made from gold itself, thus giving the feeling that it was as hard as metal.


    ¡°Thirty-three thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    ¡°Thirty-six thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    ¡°Forty-thousand¡­¡±


    The bids came one after another as several interested parties started to bid. If they bought this item, they could take it to the Crafting School and have the crafters there craft a powerful high-earth tier soul armament for them.


    As the bids grew higher and higher in price, the loud voice of one of the bidders immediately made a bid that brought every other bidder to a grinding halt.


    ¡°I bid a high-earth tier soul armament!¡±

 Chapter 904: Operating At a Loss

    ¡°Bai Yunfei again!? He¡¯s doing it again!¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s to be expected? Who else but a crafter would be interested in crafting materials? But the problem is¡­why¡¯s he using a soul armament to bid for the materials!?¡±


    ¡°Use a soul armament if you want, but whatever a high-earth tier for?! Is he right in the head?! This material has the chance of being crafted into being a high-earth tier soul armament, but what¡¯s the point of trading a high-earth tier soul armament for that?!¡±


    ¡°Sh¡­aren¡¯t you the one with a problem in your head if you¡¯re saying that out loud? Do you want to die?! Maybe he sees something special in the material and is confident he can craft another high-earth tier soul armament even better than the one he¡¯s trading! Why not trade soul armaments in that case? He¡¯s the guy who can craft mid-heaven tier soul armaments! What¡¯s crafting an earth-tier but child¡¯s play for him? And look at the size of that unit of wood, what kind of soul armament do you think he can craft with that?¡±


    ¡°¡®Living in the moment¡¯. Has he even heard of the phrase before? But then again, we might see it as being too much, but what if what that person said is right, what if there¡¯s some sort of secret use that makes it even better than we thought?¡±


    ¡°This part of the auction is only selling crafting materials, it¡¯s all over¡­no one better think they can buy any today. With Bai Yunfei here, do we even have a chance?¡±


    ¡°Pah, those people who decided to sell their crafting materials today must be happy. Trading crafting materials for already crafted soul armaments?! They can sell the soul armaments for primal stones if they can¡¯t use it!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A lot of confusion and chatter was had when Bai Yunfei made his bid, but no one was willing to make a bid after him.


    In the end, Bai Yunfei traded a high-earth tier soul armament worth ninety-thousand low-grade primal stones for the desert goldwood.


    ¡°The next item is a thousand-year-old thundervine. A special type of vine that has been bathed in lightning for a thousand years. It has gained an affinity for both lightning and wood. Many leathery types of armor can be crafted with this spectacular material. Our starting bid will begin at fifty-thousand primal stones. Please begin bidding now.¡±


    Plenty of people were excited to hear of such a material, but not a single person made a bid for the item. Everyone¡¯s eyes were placed solely onto one of the booths on the third floor rather than the item being auctioned.


    ¡°I bid a high-earth tier soul armament.¡±


    Two short seconds later, everyone heard what they all thought to be a predictable bid.


    ¡°It¡¯s all over. I was right guys. None of us should even think about buying a crafting material¡­¡±


    ¡°Another high-earth tier soul armament. That thundervine should be only capable of being made into a high-earth tier soul armament just like the desert goldwood. Even if that Bai Yunfei is super strong, he shouldn¡¯t be able to succeed in crafting a soul armament even stronger than that all the time, right? He¡¯s buying at a loss! What¡¯s wrong with his bra¡ªI mean what is he even thinking?!¡±


    ¡°Maybe he has more soul armaments than he knows what to do with them? He must have seen more soul armaments than we ever have on a regular basis. Maybe his mindset on soul armaments is drastically different than to ours!¡±


    ¡°Ah, the Crafting School! I curse myself! Why didn¡¯t I go join the Crafting School when I had the chance!?¡±


    ¡°Oh stow it, you wouldn¡¯t even have passed their examinations with your attitude. What chance did you have to begin with!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It went without saying that it was Bai Yunfei that had made a bid for the thundervine. An employee came scurrying out from his room with an earth-tier soul armament in hand before the thundervine was shortly brought up to him.


    ¡°Our next item is a volcanic hearthstone. A very rare stone born in the heart of a volcano. This is an item that is capable of crafting a high-earth tier soul armament. Our starting bid will begin at sixty-thousand low-grade primal stones. Please begin bidding.¡±


    Wu Mei¡¯er announced towards the audience, but her eyes were glued to one of the booths on the third floor with high expectations.


    ¡°I bid a high-earth tier soul armament.¡±


    As if to answer to those expectations, Bai Yunfei made a bid shortly afterward.


    No one made a sound this time. No one bothered to make a bid either. They were all looking at Wu Mei¡¯er as if to say ¡®Hurry up and announce the conclusion¡¯.


    ¡°Our next item is a piece of icy marinite¡­¡±


    ¡°I bid a low-earth tier soul armament!¡±


    ¡°The next item is a wind jade¡­¡±


    ¡°I bid a low-earth tier soul armament!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The following items were all materials that could be used as the main material to craft a high-earth tier soul armament. Each item was being introduced with great speed due to the fact that each time Wu Mei¡¯er announced the item, Bai Yunfei would make a bid with an earth-tier soul armament...


    Everyone thought Bai Yunfei was simply buying up things with a net loss. Others thought Bai Yunfei was simply trying to ¡®show off¡¯ his wealth with such an extravagant spending style.


    Bai Yunfei had actually planned for these materials and wasn¡¯t buying them for either of the reasons said¡­


    It was true that this type of bidding style earned him little profits. If anything, he was losing out as others said. But Bai Yunfei was really after the materials rather than the profits.


    Good crafting materials were hard to get. From when he became a soul cultivator to now, Bai Yunfei used an immeasurable amount of materials and equipment for his Equipment Upgrade Technique. Tianhun Academy had been kind to him with their material warehouse, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s stores were essentially running dry now. Crafting low-tier soul armaments were useless for him, so he had no need to buy the low-tier materials. Having come across this auction where they were selling many high-tier materials was a great boon for him.


    The ¡®loss¡¯ he was operating under wasn¡¯t even an issue for Bai Yunfei. He was poor in many things, but soul armaments were not one of those aspects.


    Most of the equipment he was pulling out was mid-earth tier soul armaments that had been upgraded to the +10 level and had no special effects to think of. There was no need for those type of soul armaments, so Bai Yunfei decided to ¡®swap¡¯ them out for materials to try and craft soul armaments that could potentially be ¡®better¡¯.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°The next item is a zephyr stone. A wonderful wind-type material that can be used to craft a heaven-tier soul armament. Our beginning bid will start at a hundred and fifty-thousand low-grade primal stones. Please begin bidding.¡±


    Wu Mei¡¯er held up a green crystal the size of her own face. This piece of stone¡ªaccording to her own introduction¡ªwas a very particular one. It was translucent with just a sliver of green light to be seen leaking out from it. There was also some type of small gust of wind that could be seen swirling inside of it, as if swimming. A rich flow of elemental wind could also be felt from it.


    ¡°It¡¯s here! A material that can craft a heaven-tier soul armament! This must be one of the treasures everyone has been waiting for, but¡­¡±


    Someone cried out in joy at the chance of being able to see such a noteworthy material, but his voice trailed off as he looked to the third floor.


    ¡°I bid a low-heaven tier soul armament.¡±


    To nobodies ¡®disappointment¡¯, Bai Yunfei offered yet another soul armament. This time it was a heaven-tier soul armament.


    Sighs could be heard throughout the halls at his bid. They were disappointed and reluctant to give up this chance. But it was pointless.


    Clearly, many of the Soul Kings had their eyes on such an item, but there was no chance of fighting Bai Yunfei for it if he was bidding for it.


    There was a very big problem most of the people here had unfortunately realized. Even if they decided to contest and succeed in bidding for the material over Bai Yunfei, their dreams of getting a soul armament crafted would probably not come true.


    It was Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School they were bidding against. Even if they got the material and went to the Crafting School, would Bai Yunfei not pull the strings in the school to make sure they didn¡¯t craft a soul armament for them?


    Wu Mei¡¯er swiftly declared Bai Yunfei as the winner of the bid.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Our next item can be used in crafting a soul armament, but is not limited to just being a material. The Crafting School has named this type of stone as the ¡®crafting stone¡¯ due to its abilities in increasing the chances of a soul armament being crafted. Taking this stone to the Crafting School would see to any potential soul armament being elevated by a tier or two. An earth-tier soul armament can become a low-heaven tier soul armament, for example. The crafting stone is worth at least two high-earth tier soul armaments as a result. Our starting bid will begin at a hundred and eighty-thousand low-grade primal stones. Please begin bidding.¡±


    Up on the third floor, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were sparkling with intense light. He hadn¡¯t seen mention of this stone back in the catalogue¡ªsomeone must¡¯ve had the stone added after the catalog was sent out.


    ¡°An upgrade stone!!¡± His eyes gleamed at the sight of the pristine stone. The special stone most people knew as the ¡®crafting stone¡¯ was the highly treasured ¡®upgrade stone¡¯! And this was definitely a low-heaven tier upgrade stone! He never had such a stone before! A high-earth tier upgrade stone had a seventy percent chance of succeeding, but what about a low-heaven tier upgrade stone?


    ¡°I bid a low-heaven tier soul armament!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was already opening his mouth to make an opening bid before Wu Mei¡¯er was even finished speaking.


    As Wu Mei¡¯er mentioned before, the crafting stone could be exchanged for two high-earth tier soul armaments in the Crafting School. But Bai Yunfei was bidding a low-heaven tier soul armament. This was an exchange that made even the audience gasp.


    Feeling satisfied by his purchase of the upgrade stone, Bai Yunfei waited for the item to be delivered to him. As he waited, the next item was already being shown up on the podium.


    The light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes froze the moment he saw the item being shown. Every fiber of concentration in his body traveled into his eyes to focus on the item, and his body froze in shock!


    ¡°This is¡­¡±

 Chapter 905: Fragments of the Throne!

    ¡°Our next item is exceedingly special. According to our appraiser, this item is fragments of an unknown object discovered by accident in the Soulbeast Forest. We are clueless about what the object might¡¯ve been, but the material is very special and is like the crafting stone.¡±


    Wu Mei¡¯er held a giant white stone the size of a bucket in her hand. ¡°As everyone can see, this crafting stone is quite large. Our lord-mayor of Swallow City, Marquis Yan, came by to evaluate this object himself. In his words, Marquis Yan proclaimed that this crafting stone can be evaluated as a mid-heaven tier. It can greatly enhance the chances of success when crafting a mid-heaven tier and perhaps even help improve the chances of crafting a high-heaven tier as well. Bringing this object to the Crafting School will definitely be of a great boon to anyone.¡±


    Her introduction of the object had been longer than many of the other items she said before.


    ¡°Our starting bid will begin at six-hundred-thousand low-grade primal stones and the minimum bid to increase will be ten-thousand. Please begin bidding.¡±


    As if she had dropped a bombshell onto the audience, the entire hall began to cry aloud at the object.


    ¡°What a tremendous crafting stone!! Look at the size of that! It¡¯s ten times as large as the previous one!¡±


    ¡°A starting bid of six-hundred-thousand! Heavens, that¡¯s worth at least two low-heaven tier soul armaments! How ridiculous is the auction house to bring out such an expensive object like that now!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the person who found this? Why didn¡¯t he just bring it to the Crafting School instead of here?¡±


    ¡°Who knows? Maybe he needs primal stones? Or maybe he realized how much it could be sold for and was too lazy to bring it to the Crafting School?¡±


    ¡°Hey, wouldn¡¯t having this item be the same as getting a mid-heaven tier soul armament?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid only Mid-stage Soul Kings and Late-stage Soul Kings would be interested in something like this. This had to be the real money-winner the house was looking for. They were probably expecting a huge bidding war, but now¡­¡±


    Again, the eyes of everyone in the hall turned to stare at the room on the third floor. Everyone knew that an item as precious as this to the Crafting School would have Bai Yunfei interested. The only question was just how large his reaction would be.


    ¡­¡­


    Up in the third floor, Bai Yunfei had currently a reaction that was definitely far more shocked than what people had expected.


    He had at some point flew to his feet to stare at the tremendous chunk of jade with eyes filled with excited desire.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei?¡±


    His reaction had alarmed Tang Xinyun. Though she too felt that the object being auctioned right now was a little special for its effects, what was there to be so excited about? She was confused by his reaction. This crafting stone was simply just something that could aid the success rate of a mid-heaven tier soul armament.


    Even without such a stone, Bai Yunfei had managed to craft a mid-heaven tier soul armament without much difficulty, so¡­


    ¡°The Nephrite¡­that¡¯s a fragment of the Nephrite Throne!¡± Bai Yunfei replied. ¡°That¡¯s definitely a fragment of it!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. ¡°The Nephrite Throne? Are you¡­saying one of the Ten Great Regalia, the Nephrite Throne?! I remember you saying that it broke into several fragments in the Soulbeast Forest, didn¡¯t it? And¡­the fragments became a strange ¡®Guaranteed upgrade Stone¡¯....this stone is also a fragment of the Nephrite Throne?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly! And this has to be the biggest fragment of it! There were portions of the Nephrite Throne that fell into the river and was flushed away. I looked for hours but couldn¡¯t find some of the pieces¡­but here it is now! And look at the size of it¡­that¡¯s definitely a +12 Guaranteed Upgr¡ªno, a +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!¡±


    He was right! The item the house was currently auctioning wasn¡¯t just an ordinary ¡®crafting stone¡¯ (upgrade stone)! It was a very rare ¡®Guaranteed Upgrade Stone¡¯! A fragment of the Nephrite Throne!


    The Nephrite Throne was one of the Ten Great Regalia. It¡¯s previous ¡®master¡¯ had been the Black Dragon King who used it back in Soulbeast Forest as bait so it could run away when it was being surrounded by its enemies. Bai Yunfei and a Soul Exalt from the Soul Refining School had found and fought over the item. The Nephrite Throne ended up shattering due to the struggle, but Bai Yunfei found out that the fragments could be used to guarantee a successful upgrade on items!


    The +13 of his Fire-tipped Spear, the +11 and +12 of his Soul Sentinel Scarf, and the +11 and +12 of his Ardent Sun Glove had been entirely because of these such Guaranteed Upgrade Stones.


    His insights on the Upgrade Technique had been primarily because of these stones as well.


    All of his guaranteed upgrade stones were used up already despite his constant search for them. Unfortunately for Bai Yunfei, he couldn¡¯t even find normal upgrade stones, let alone the Guaranteed Upgrade Stones. According to what he knew to this point, only the fragments of the Nephrite Throne had the ability to guarantee upgrades.


    Bai Yunfei asked Xiao Fang once before on the specifics behind the Nephrite Throne. He wanted to know what kind of material the throne was made from, but his answer had been a disappointing one. Xiao Fang had said that Tianhun had once found a meteorite with a jadeite material at its center. The man took that material and forged the Nephrite Throne from it, but there had been no leftover material. Even if Bai Yunfei looked for it, there would probably be nothing like it in the world.


    It wasn¡¯t like Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to go back to the Soulbeast Forest to look for the fragments, but he knew his chances were as slim as finding a needle in the ocean.


    He just never expected that a fragment of the Nephrite Throne would appear here of all places!!


    This fragment was even larger than the +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone he used before, but also marginally smaller than the +13. Without being able to touch it, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t guarantee which one it was, but he was interested in the item nonetheless.


    Even more importantly, Bai Yunfei knew that if he used this to upgrade an item, the ¡®Planar Laws¡¯ would be attracted to him. He¡¯d be able to take another step in figuring out the mystery behind that power! This fragment of the throne was necessary for him to understand another layer of the Upgrade Technique!


    ¡­¡­


    His stupor had put him into a silence nobody outside the room expected. His ¡®silence¡¯ was stunning to everyone, and people began to gesticulate to themselves¡ªperhaps Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t interested in it? Or was he perhaps running out of soul armaments and couldn¡¯t muster up enough heaven-tier soul armaments for this crafting stone?


    ¡°Six hundred and fifty-thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    At last, someone other than Bai Yunfei made the first bid for the very first time.


    ¡°Six hundred and eighty-thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    The floodgates had been opened. If Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going to bid, then the audience certainly would.


    ¡°Seven hundred-thousand low-grade primal stones!¡±


    ¡°Seven hundred and thirty-thousand!¡±


    ¡°Seven hundred and fifty thousand¡­¡±


    Five bidders had already made opening bids moments after they realized Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t bidding. All of them were people from the second and third floor, and all of them were Soul Kings.


    The price was quickly reaching nine hundred-thousand low-grade primal stones, and there were only two bidders left now. The rest had long since given up, having balked at the price the item had fetched so far. The last two bidders were men of extraordinary power. Both of them were Mid-stage Soul Kings.


    ¡°Three low-heaven tier soul armaments!!¡±


    A third voice boomed out from the third floor. Bai Yunfei had finally joined in on the bid!


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s joined in! Bai Yunfei has finally put a bid in! I¡¯ve said it before, how could he give up on an item like this!?¡±


    ¡°Of course he¡¯ll bid, but the problem¡¯s why now? Had he simply said two low-heaven tier soul armaments from the very beginning, I doubt there¡¯d be no one to bid against him. Was he intentionally f*cking with the other Soul Kings by waiting so long?¡±


    ¡°Three low-heaven tier soul armaments¡­three of them!! For the love of Heaven, how many heaven-tier soul armaments does this guy have on him!?¡±


    ¡°But¡­even three low-heaven tier soul armaments might not be enough to beat the current bid of nine hundred-thousand low-grade primal stones if they¡¯re just average ones¡­we¡¯ll have to wait for the appraiser.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone was watching anxiously now as an employee came out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s room with three sparkling soul armaments to the back of the podium where the appraiser was.


    A verdict came rushing out to Wu Mei¡¯er to announce shortly afterward.


    The three soul armaments Bai Yunfei bidded with were worth a total of a million low-grade primal stones!


    ¡°A million! Dear heavens, they¡¯re worth a f*cking million!! Those soul armaments are probably close to being mid-heaven tier soul armaments!¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s just the auction house¡¯s pricing for them now. They¡¯d definitely be worth more if Bai Yunfei offered up those soul armaments after the auction!¡±


    There was a brief round of bewilderment at the staggering costs of the three soul armaments, but no one rose up to challenge Bai Yunfei afterward.


    Thus, Wu Mei¡¯er declared Bai Yunfei the winner of that round.


    ¡­¡­


    Up in his room, Bai Yunfei was now holding onto the upgrade stone he had won in the last round with glee.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Special Effect 1: Increase the chance of success when upgrading tenfold.


    Effect cannot be stacked with other similar effects.


    Special Effect 2: Increase the chance of success when crafting sevenfold.


    Effect cannot be stacked with other similar effects.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    This was the highest-grade upgrade stone Bai Yunfei had seen to date with its ability to increase the chance of upgrading and crafting tenfold and sevenfold respectively. He was already happy about the upgrade stone, but his eyes were drilling holes anxiously onto the door to wait for the Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    And then the fragment of the Nephrite Throne was soon brought up to him¡­

 Chapter 906: All Sorts of Choices

    An employee from the auction house delivered the item up to Bai Yunfei before respectfully leaving the room. As soon as the employee left, Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of the stone to take a look at its stats¡­


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Special Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of an equipment +13 and under once.


    Special Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by two (Mid-heaven tier being the highest).


    Cannot be upgraded.


    The strings of information running through his head brought out a smile onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face!


    This was a +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!


    He now had a stone that could help him upgrade items to +13 and beyond!


    He had to wonder just how powerful an item was when it had an upgrade level of +13 and higher. To date, Bai Yunfei only had two pieces of equipment that were +13; the Fire-tipped Spear and the Cataclysmic Seal. Both weapons were already unbelievably powerful and were his ultimate trump cards. If he got yet another piece of equipment to +13, then his fighting strength would increase exponentially!


    As excited as he was, Bai Yunfei put the stone away before starting to think of all the potential uses he had for it¡­


    ¡°The best choice would be to upgrade the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡­¡± Of all his equipment, the Soul Sentinel Scarf was naturally the first choice he¡¯d consider upgrading in terms of utility.


    ¡°But the Soul Sentinel Scarf is already my lifebound armament. If I take soul compatibility into account, then the Critical Glove would be better¡­¡±


    Though a recent addition, the Critical Glove was already one of his mainstay pieces of equipment with a soul compatibility of 88%. Upgrading it to +13 should theoretically bring it to 100% and turn it into his fourth lifebound armament! In addition to that, the Critical Glove would gain a power-up that¡¯d bring it up to par with the Cataclysmic Seal and Fire-tipped Spear.


    ¡°There¡¯s also the Core Stone. If I can use an upgrade stone to get it to +11 and +12, the Core Stone will gain an additional effect. It¡¯ll reach 100% soul compatibility then and become a lifebound armament too¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had done a series of studies on what Guaranteed Upgrade Stones did on his equipment. The size of a stone was a pretty good indicator on their grade of quality, and the Nephrite  Throne was essentially a +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone. The destruction of the throne resulted in a cascade of many different types of Guaranteed Upgrade Stones of unequal distribution. This particular upgrade stone was a +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone, and if broken up, the result would probably end up as a +11 and +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stones. But this was a hypothesis Bai Yunfei had that wouldn¡¯t be so readily tested.


    He had so many decisions and so many benefits tied to each of them with equal allure. This made things quite difficult for Bai Yunfei, who didn¡¯t know which choice he should make.


    Bai Yunfei continued to watch the auction house proceed from here on out, though his mind was stuck on these such questions¡­


    ¡­¡­


    While the auction house was still dealing with the flurry of excitement brought forth by the fragment of the Nephrite Throne, things were also heating up on the other side of Swallow City in Qin Manor.


    ¡°Oh? That Bai Yunfei went to the auction? And he¡¯s bidding with soul armaments? Over a dozen heaven-tier soul armaments?!¡±


    Seated in a room with a cup of tea in hand was Qin Hu. In the room with him was a messenger who had just relayed to him the information coming from the auction house.


    Several of the Soul Kings of their family, namely Qin Pingzhi and another, were currently overseeing operations at the auction house. The others such as the current head Qin Long and the previous head Qin Tian were secretly off to the northern mines to bolster the defenses.


    Their ancestor was in the middle of an attempt to become a Soul Emperor. It was imperative that he succeeds so every available Soul King the Qin had to offer was there to ensure all went well.


    So that left only Qin Hu alone in Qin Manor.


    ¡°How many soul armaments does that Bai Yunfei have¡­¡± Qin Hu took a sip of his tea after the messenger left.


    ¡°How does the Crafting School have an aberration like him appear in the next generation? The world was already in a mess when it was heard Zi Jin¡¯s third disciple Jiang Fan became a Soul King. And now we have Bai Yunfei, the Mid-stage Soul King¡­His talent in cultivation is one thing, but him being a Crafting School student and well-stocked with all sorts of soul armaments¡­The Crafting School was in an abysmal state twenty years ago. How truly hard it is to see them recover this quickly¡­¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡±


    It was hard for Qin Hu to think about the difference between the new generation of the Crafting School and the new generation of the Qin. Sighing, he lowered his hand to place the cup of tea onto the table.


    But!


    His hand froze just about an inch above the table. Following the freezing of his hand was his entire body¡ªQin Hu couldn¡¯t move at all!


    In response to his sudden loss of mobility, Qin Hu¡¯s eyes flickered about the room in bewilderment!


    His eyes swiveled in their eye sockets as if to try and look behind him. Had he moved his head, he surely would¡¯ve been able to see what was there. But his head stayed in place. He was evidently afraid of something with how his forehead pooled with sweat.


    For a proud and mighty Soul King to be so afraid of something¡­what could it possibly be?!


    ¡°Very good, you understand what¡¯s going on. That spares me the trouble¡­make any sudden movements and I¡¯ll be sure to kill you before your body can go through with your actions¡­¡±


    An ominous voice spoke to Qin Hu from behind. Someone cloaked in darkness was standing behind him!


    The sweatdrops on Qin Hu¡¯s head dripped down his nose and onto his collar. Movement wasn¡¯t possible even if he wanted to. Some sort of aura was shackling him in place. Not even his soul was free from whatever it was that had been yoked onto him. His soulforce wasn¡¯t even obeying his commands.


    The only functions he was capable of was moving his eyes and lips.


    ¡°Sire¡­who are you?¡± He managed to ask.


    ¡°You¡¯ve not the right to ask such a question. You will serve to only answer mine¡­¡±


    The voice that replied was frostily-cold and froze the air. From the corners of his eyes, Qin Hu could see that the air behind him was rippling a bit to¡­reveal the figure of a person!


    The person¡¯s figure flickered a bit before it distinguished itself from the dark background it had been hiding in. The black smoke that had been there before dissipated to reveal an elderly person!!


    This elderly person was Jing Mingfeng¡¯s great grandfather, Jing Wuying!!


    Jing Wuying stood there behind Qin Hu. Neither of his hands were doing anything but there was a wisp of black energy that was wrapped around Qin Hu¡¯s throat. At the end of the black wisp, the smoke solidified to form a sharp dagger to press down against it. Unable to stop himself from shivering a bit, Qin Hu winced when the dagger cut into his skin to draw blood! If the dagger were to press even deeper into him, he¡¯d be on his way to the underworld in no time flat!


    ¡°What might sire wish to ask of me¡­?¡±


    Completely fearful of the entity that had control of his freedom, Qin Hu could only concede to the elder¡¯s request. Never had he felt such powerlessness before he became a Soul King. He was a Mid-stage Soul King right now, but this elder behind him was strong enough to make even that level of strength laughably insignificant.


    Jing Wuying had that presence of power to him that demanded subservience. ¡°I will only ask a single question. Seven years ago when the Jing was massacred, did your Qin take part in it!?¡±

 Chapter 907: The Ending of the Auction

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    All emotion going through Qin Hu¡¯s face then froze up as the question registered on his mind.


    ¡°Seven years ago¡­the Jing! Are¡­are you someone from the Jing?!¡±


    Though he couldn¡¯t turn his head, the fear he was feeling was noticeable to both figures behind him. Then as if realizing something else, he started to cry out, ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re Jing Wuying! You¡¯re definitely him! But how!! You were supposed to be dead after failing to become a Soul Emperor! How are you still alive!!?¡±


    He didn¡¯t answer the question, but the way the response was given told Jing Wuying all he needed to know. ¡°You must¡¯ve done your work to know who I am so easily¡­Then the ones who hired the Black Hand to kill my family was your Qin after all?¡±


    Qin Hu¡¯s face paled, but the man didn¡¯t say a word after. What was he thinking about?


    ¡°Silent, are we? Then I¡¯ll find out the answer myself¡­¡±


    Jing Wuying cared little for the silence of Qin Hu. Eye¡¯s shining with disinterested annoyance, Jing Wuying placed his right hand on top of Qin Hu¡¯s head!


    ¡°Wait, what are you doing?! I¡¯ll¡ª¡±


    Fear and despair filled Qin Hu¡¯s eyes when he realized what Jing Wuying was planning. He opened his mouth to complain, but the energy already disseminating into his mind was enough to force his words back down his throat!


    Qin Hu had been desperately thinking about what to do in this case. The plan so far was to see if he should cooperate with Jing Wuying¡ªfor the meanwhile at least. A few secrets in exchange for his life. It might¡¯ve been possible to shift enough blame onto another party for Qin Hu to slip away and recall his brother and father back to save him. Jing Wuying might¡¯ve been a Peak Late-stage Soul King, but he was just one man! What was one man in front of the entirety of the Qin and their Soul Kings?


    He just never thought that his one second of silence would damn him to having Jing Wuying settle for the non-diplomatic approach!


    ¡°N¡ªno!!¡±


    As if struggling against his restraints, Qin Hu¡¯s eyes started to burn with resistance. That resistance was met with only a sneer from Jing Wuying, who crooked his five fingers and allowed for the black energy in him to spread to his palm. Condensing at his fingertips, the black energy turned into sharp claws to dig straight into the skull of Qin Hu!


    The resistance in Qin Hu went out like a light. Despair started to set back into his face as the light in his eyes dimmed. His entire body went sluggish, though it shook every so often as if electricity was flowing through it every so often.


    Jing Wuying¡¯s eyes were closed as if he was taking in something.


    He was¡­Soul Scanning!


    Jing Wuying was Soul Scanning the soul of a Mid-stage Soul King!


    Minutes went by with neither party doing anything before¡­


    Jing Wuying¡¯s eyes flew wide open with a sinister snarl on his lips. With a shake of his right hand, Jing Wuying threw the motionless Qin Hu down to the ground. Not even an iota of soulforce was moving about in him. He was dead!!


    The man hadn¡¯t even stood a chance like a house of straw lasting against a hurricane. Qin Hu was a Mid-stage Soul King and the second-in-charge to the Qin. But as powerful as he was, Qin Hu died without even lifting a finger against Jing Wuying!


    ¡°As I expected, the Qin was one of the main culprits behind the tragedy of our family!!¡± Jing Wuying thundered. His eyes bore holes into the dead corpse beside him. ¡°Patriarch Qin is training in the depths of the mine! And¡­the archaic Soul Fusing Matrix. For an ¡®upright¡¯ family like the Qin to use such a malicious matrix¡­how laughable!


    ¡°And now there is no suspicions left to be had. A debt of blood will be paid for with blood!!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the auction house.


    Things were still quite lively in the auction house now that the crafting materials were all sold. Now was the time for soul armaments to be sold. There was something that was bugging the entire audience though, why wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei¡ªwho had been so enthusiastically buying up all the materials before¡ªso why was he quiet now? Things were already pretty far into the next segment and Bai Yunfei had yet to bid even once.


    People started to think about it after a while. While the soul armaments being offered right now would be considered a treasure for any regular soul cultivator, the level of standard Bai Yunfei had for soul armaments was most definitely different. These soul armaments might as well be just regular soul armaments. With all the ones he had, what point was there buying any other soul armament?


    The reality was that Bai Yunfei simply wasn¡¯t paying attention to the auction. He was still thinking about the best possible way to make use of the +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone. By the time he looked at what was being offered¡ªa high-earth tier soul armament¡ªBai Yunfei lost all interest in the auction and stopped watching. He didn¡¯t even bother to make a bid when three heaven-tier soul armaments were offered.


    The rest of the hall was all too happy to make bids in his absence.


    The next segment of the auction was to be the soul skills. This was something Bai Yunfei was marginally more interested in and shelved his thoughts on how to use the Guaranteed Upgrade Stones. Things were slightly disappointing, however. As rare and powerful as the soul skills were, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really see a practical use for them. Only one or two of them were particularly useful to him, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t see the point in training in a soul skill that wasn¡¯t all too powerful.


    The last soul skill to be offered was a scroll with a low-heaven tier soul skill written in it. It was an earth-type soul skill, so Bai Yunfei was none too interested. In the end, a Mid-stage Soul King bought it.


    Following the soul skill segment were the soulbeast cubs and soulgems. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t at all interested in the soulbeast cubs, but the soulgems was something he ¡®splurged¡¯ on. By the time he was done, he bought a great amount of them including two class seven soulgems.


    It wasn¡¯t for him. His training didn¡¯t depend on the need for soulgems. But Xiao Qi did, so Bai Yunfei bought some on his behalf.


    There had been a segment of the auction where strange items with obscure or unknown uses were auctioned. Most of these items were oddities that still managed to garner enough interest to the soul cultivators. And without Bai Yunfei ¡®interfering¡¯, the bidders were even more enthusiastic in trying to buy whatever it was that struck their interest.


    It wasn¡¯t until the afternoon when the house warned the audience that they would be concluding earlier than expected.


    The reason why the auction had finished so fast was because of a single person who bought out the items in two particular sections so quickly.


    Many of the audience members started to leave when Wu Mei¡¯er made this announcement. There were a few people who were particularly strong that decided to come up to Bai Yunfei¡¯s room to pay their respects, but when they got there, everyone was startled to see that the room was empty. Not even the two employees standing watch outside their room had noticed when the two had left.


    ¡­¡­


    Outside the auction house walked a certain young man in white with a folding fan in his hand. By his side was a lion-sized ¡®dog¡¯.


    ¡°Mingfeng.¡±


    The young man came to a stop when a voice called out to him from behind.


    ¡°Do you perhaps have the wrong person, brother? I am Feng Mingjing. Is there perhaps something you want to ask of me?¡±


    When he saw that it was a young man and woman that was walking up to him, the man in white cupped his hands to bow.


    ¡°.....¡± A twitch appeared onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face at the response. ¡°Go f*ck yourself, your lies are terrible.¡±


    ¡°Lies? What lies?¡± The youth replied, ¡°Sire, are you perhaps mistaken? I don¡¯t recognize the two of you¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Bai Yunfei tapped his chin in mock surprise. ¡°Ah, my mistake then. Xinyun, let¡¯s get going¡­


    ¡°Now that I think about it,¡± Bai Yunfei spoke loudly to Tang Xinyun, ¡°Isn¡¯t Xiao Bai a wind-type soulbeast? It¡¯s a little early to for her to become a class seven, but that wind immortal grass would suit her well¡­and I guess that mid-heaven tier dagger I made from the darkwind meteorite will be mine to use¡­¡±


    Tang Xinyun found it hard to repress the smile on her face as they walked away.


    ¡°Hey¡­hey wait up! Brother Bai¡­I was wrong, don¡¯t leave me!!¡±


    The young man they were leaving behind started to cry out to them in panic now.


    Laughing, Bai Yunfei whirled around just in time to see a completely different look on the man¡¯s face. ¡°I was only joking around, ol¡¯Bai, don¡¯t take it so seriously¡­.where¡¯s my heaven-tier soul armament? And also. Thanks a lot for helping me buy that wind immortal grass, hehe¡­you¡¯re well deserving to be my brother!¡±


    With an attitude like that, who else could it be but Jing Mingfeng?

 Chapter 908: Trouble is Brewing

    Bai Yunfei aimed a punch onto Jing Mingfeng¡¯s shoulder to laugh at him, ¡°You¡¯ve some first-rate acting, you know that? If not for the auction house, I really would¡¯ve thought you were somebody else.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Jing Mingfeng snorted, ¡°take a good look at who I am. Master of disguise! How could I possibly be discovered so easily?¡±


    He held his hand out. ¡°So where¡¯s my soul armament, ol¡¯Bai? Hurry up and give it to me.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re a really blunt one.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, of course! I¡¯ve been waiting for this soul armament for so many years now! Let me tell you, I was about ready to leap out my window when I saw that commotion of yours the other day! I really did want to go then, but you had so many people coming your way. Soul Kings one after another! So I stayed in my room.


    ¡°But enough about that, hurry up and let me see how powerful my soul armament is.¡±


    Deciding not to keep him in suspense any longer, Bai Yunfei took out the dagger he had made for Jing Mingfeng to look at. ¡°It¡¯s a high-heaven tier soul armament and is similar to how your ¡®Blackwind Dagger¡¯ was refined. Try it yourself. I also gave it the name ¡®Black Phantom¡¯.


    ¡°Black Fandom [1]?!¡± The first thing Jing Mingfeng did was take the dagger into his hand. The second thing was to stare at Bai Yunfei in shock, ¡°Damn!! Why did you give it such a specific name like that?!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. ¡°It¡¯s an ordinary name, what¡¯s so ¡®specific¡¯ about it?¡±


    ¡°How can this not be called specific?! You¡¯re singling out a specific¡­¡± Almost bewildered by the reaction he got, Jing Mingfeng looked away from the dagger to glare at him.


    ¡°Oh¡­Black Phantom¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. Black as in the color, and phantom as in the being of darkness. What were you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± Embarrassed by his slip up, Jing Mingfeng concentrated on the dagger in his hand. He had noticed a small design of a cloud and two words etched on the hilt of the dagger. ¡®Black Phantom¡¯.


    This was a habit Bai Yunfei picked up as of late. He¡¯d inscribe a small cloud on the soul armament whenever he crafted one. A name would also be given if it was particularly powerful.


    The words Bai Yunfei said to Jing Mingfeng caught up to him. Snapping his head up, Jing Mingfeng cried out, ¡°Hold on!! Ol¡¯Bai, can you repeat what you just said? This¡­this soul armament is¡­high-heaven tier?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s barely a high-heaven tier in strength, but it still classifies as being one.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng was speechless. He couldn¡¯t possibly be hearing things wrong, could he?


    ¡°You managed to craft a high-heaven tier?!¡±


    ¡°Of course. Take a good look at who I am. Master of crafting! How could I possibly not be able to craft a high-leveled soul armament so easily?¡±


    ¡°Yeah but¡­this is too ¡®high¡¯ even for you¡­I thought it was ¡®only¡¯ a mid-heaven tier¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng was still struggling to find the right words to properly communicate how he was feeling.


    He took in a deep breath before barking out with laughter. ¡°Haha!! Ol¡¯Bai, you¡¯re alright! A high-heaven tier!! A damn high-heaven tier soul armament! Kickass!!¡±


    ¡°Alright alright, you can do that when you¡¯re all by yourself later. This soul armament has a particularly special ability, so listen up. I¡¯ll only say it once¡­¡± Bai Yunfei interrupted.


    ¡°Oh? Special ability? What is it?¡± Ceasing in his laughter, Jing Mingfeng gave his friend an excited smile of anticipation.


    Carefully, Bai Yunfei explained the mechanics of how the dagger¡¯s +10 additional effect worked. He also talked about the equipment effects. By the time he was done listing all the effects, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes were as bright as shooting stars.


    Done with that matter, Bai Yunfei took out the wind immortal grass from his space ring and handed it over to Jing Mingfeng. ¡°And take this as well.¡±


    Jing Mingfeng took the wind immortal grass and stowed it away with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m not comping you for your low-heaven tier soul armament. Can¡¯t be as ¡®generous¡¯ as you are.¡±


    ¡°How rude you are¡­¡± Bai Yunfei laughed.


    ¡°Hehe, who let us become brothers? Who else am I going to take advantage of but you?¡± Jing Mingfeng laughed as well, but the gratitude in his eyes was clearly obvious to see.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your grandfather? Did he not join in on the auction?¡±


    ¡°Oh, he had something else to do. I came here to meet with you and get the wind immortal grass, but I¡¯ll be going to meet up with him in a bit.¡±


    The smile on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face receded and the humorous mood in his eyes wavered just enough for Bai Yunfei to notice it. ¡°Mingfeng, are you sure you don¡¯t need me to help?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s nothing major, you don¡¯t need to get involved¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng waved his hand. ¡°In any case, shouldn¡¯t you be ready to leave Swallow City soon?¡±


    ¡°Ah? How¡¯d you know?¡±


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re the talk of the city right now¡­you sly dog, you didn¡¯t tell me last time because you wanted to save the Qin some face?¡±


    ¡°But.¡± Jing Mingfeng grew serious. ¡°You¡¯d better be careful now that people know. I¡¯m sure someone will come after you. It¡¯s best that you leave as soon as you can.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°It¡¯s not a good thing to stay here. I was planning to leave tomorrow, but the auction ended earlier than I thought. Xinyun and I will be leaving this quarrelsome place after this.¡±


    ¡°Alright! Then we¡¯ll say our goodbyes here, I have to go find my grandfather.¡± Jing Mingfeng scoured the place around them cautiously. ¡°Since we¡¯re both in a bit of a spot, let¡¯s reminisce another time. See you soon!!¡±


    ¡°Sounds good, see you soon!¡± Bai Yunfei bumped fists with Jing Mingfeng before watching the latter disappear down into the street.


    ¡°We should be going too, Xinyun.¡± Bai Yunfei turned to Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded and started to walk with him.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!¡±


    A voice from the other end of the street suddenly called out to him.


    Freezing up, Bai Yunfei turned to look as a male and female couple came rushing up to him. When he and Tang Xinyun got a good look at who they were, the two of them looked surprised.


    ¡°Brother Xiao Nan? Sister-in-law? What brings you two here?¡± Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t expecting to see either of the two people here today.


    These two people were instructors of Tianhun Academy, Xiao Nan and his wife Zhao Jie.


    Bai Yunfei had noticed two people come within range of him earlier when he was talking with Jing Mingfeng, but he didn¡¯t pay much attention to him. Somehow, those two people were actually acquaintances of his.


    ¡°Haha, our traveling brought us here of all places. We even managed to take a look at the auction.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Xinyun,¡± He beckoned to her, ¡°this is brother Xiao Nan, you¡¯ve seen him before. And this is his wife.¡±


    ¡°Sister-in-law,¡± He turned to Zhao Jie, ¡°this is my fiancee, Tang Xinyun.¡±


    Zhao Jie smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve been hearing about the two of you recently. You are as beautiful as the rumors say, miss Tang.¡±


    Tang Xinyun blushed. ¡°I¡¯m not worthy of being called beautiful. You¡¯re far more beautiful than I am, sister¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Something in Xiao Nan¡¯s aura caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention. ¡°You¡¯ve become a¡­Soul King?!¡±


    Xiao Nan nodded. ¡°It wasn¡¯t too long ago actually, haha. But¡­should I be the surprised one? Yunfei, you¡¯re already a Mid-stage Soul King. That¡¯s far more shocking if you ask me¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei and Xiao Nan were talking, there was a commotion back in the auction house.


    ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    A voice so furious that it echoed off even the furthest corner of the hall boomed. The aura of a Soul King came descending down onto the place with such anger that everyone in the hall became frightened and started to sweat.


    The person who was yelling was Qin Pingzhi, Early-stage Soul King of the Qin. In front of him now was a shivering servant of the Qin. Cowed by Qin Pingzhi¡¯s devestating aura, the man could hardly relate the message he had to say before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fainted!


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, grandfather?¡±


    Startled by all the sudden clamor, Qin Shouhao came rushing over. He had rarely seen his grandfather in such a state.


    ¡°Something¡¯s happened back in the manor! Send a message to your father to come home!!¡±


    The look on Qin Pingzhi¡¯s face was truly dreadful to look at. Disappearing as soon as he gave Qin Shouhao that message, the man took off in a blast of wind.


    As bewildered as Qin Shouhao was, the man knew something was going wrong. Turning about, he headed up the stairs to call for Qin Shoufeng so they could return home at once.


    But when he arrived at the room Qin Shoufeng and his friends had been in¡­


    No one was inside!


    [1] Original joke was ºÚ÷È (Hei Mei), an abbreviation for ºÚÉ«÷ÈÓ° (Dark Phantom). Jing Mingfeng hears this as ºÚÃà (Hei Mei), or Black Sister.

 Chapter 909: Using the Throne Fragments

    A couple could be seen walking out from the gates of Swallow City to go for the roads beyond.


    It was Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun. The two of them were leaving Swallow City early as per their original plan to return home to Mo City.


    The two did spend a little bit of time to talk with Xiao Nan and his wife a bit. They learned that the husband and wife duo were planning to stay in Swallow City for a few days before returning to the Capital. Since their travel plans differed, the two decided to not travel together.


    Their trip back to Mo City wasn¡¯t a fast one despite how fast they had left Swallow City. They chose to walk rather than to fly or teleport along the way. Both Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were also planning to take small detours whenever.


    Bai Yunfei had been a little absent-minded ever since they left Swallow City. He was a little restless on using the Nephrite Throne fragment.


    Having the chance to upgrade something was just far too tempting for him to not use it...


    When the urge was finally too much for him to withhold, he turned to Tang Xinyun. ¡°Xinyun, I¡¯m going to go into the Core World for a moment. I want to use the fragment.¡±


    Having anticipated his ask for a while now, Tang Xinyun laughed. ¡°Do as you want. I can walk for a while myself, it¡¯s no trouble.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be going then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded before disappearing. The Core Stone was all that remained of him before it dropped into Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand.


    She wrapped the Core Stone and the string it was on around her wrist. Looking up at the two birds flying around her head, she smiled before continuing her journey forward¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Within the Core World.


    The moment Bai Yunfei stepped onto solid ground within the Core World, a black streak came rushing up to him. Bai Yunfei watched as the black streak wagged its tail as if excited to see him.


    It was the shar-pei that could eat primal stones. Lao Sha.


    Bai Yunfei smiled and took out two mid-grade primal stones. ¡°Eat this over by the side, I¡¯ve a few things to do so don¡¯t disturb me.¡±


    The dog took both primal stones into its mouth with a short wag of its tail. Nodding its head, the dog sauntered off¡­


    Lao Sha seemed to gain some sentience over the past few days. Aside from the fact that it could eat primal stones though, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really see anything else the dog could do.


    ¡°Long Lan has to be close to done with his training, or at least is a substantial ways away from when he began. I got him a decent amount of soulgems this time, hopefully, he¡¯ll become a Mid-stage class seven soulbeast¡­¡±


    Long Lan had been in the Core World for the past few days to train. He was in there even when Bai Yunfei was crafting the Black Phantom. To avoid any disturbances, Xiao Fang had to segregate Long Lan into a different dimension during that time.


    Thanks to the blood of the Black Dragon King in him and the teachings of his master Long Zhen, Long Lan had a special training method suited for him to train with. His first attempt at training had landed Long Lan at the midway point between the early-stage class seven soulbeast and the mid-stage class seven soulbeast level. There was only a short amount of distance left to go before he¡¯d become a mid-stage class seven soulbeast.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to intrude on Long Lan¡¯s training so he went a little farther away before sitting down to concentrate.


    It had been a long mental battle, but Bai Yunfei had his decision now. Eyes twinkling madly, he untied the Soul Sentinel Scarf around his forehead and took out the Nephrite Throne fragment.


    He had finally decided to upgrade the Soul Sentinel Scarf!!


    Splitting apart the +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone into two pieces was far too risky. There was a very real chance that he would¡¯ve ended up with two pieces of +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stones instead of +12, and that¡¯d frustrate him to no end. Even the better case scenario of having a +11 and +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone wouldn¡¯t be as profitable as a +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone. Considering all those options, Bai Yunfei decided to just use the stone as is.


    It had been a long and hard battle to choose which item to upgrade. Weighing his options, Bai Yunfei realized that at his level of strength, the chances to use the Critical Glove would be considerably less than the usage of the Soul Sentinel Scarf. Most Soul Kings used elemental attacks and soul attacks to fight rather than physical ones, so close quarter combat with the Critical Gloves seemed less likely to occur. That meant it was more practical to upgrade the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    He stared at both items in his hands and slowly exhaled. Now wasn¡¯t the time to rush things. He had to take things carefully and ensure that he could peer into the ¡®Planar Laws¡¯ the Upgrade Technique was affected by.


    When he felt like he was in the most optimal state, Bai Yunfei slowly pressed both items together¡­


    ¡°Upgrade!!¡±


    A sliver of energy flowed out from his body and into thin air the moment he decided to upgrade. A transparent ripple flowed out from his body before traveling to the fragment in his left hand.


    The strange thing was how the fragment reacted to the ripple of energy. Melting like a pile of snow under the hot sun, the fragment started to dissipate into the air to turn into a white mist!


    It circulated around like in a tornado before traveling up to his right hand where the Soul Sentinel Scarf was. As if being absorbed, the mist was sucked into the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    The transparent bubble of energy was taking on a more definitive form now as the white powder from the fragment was sucked into the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    Meanwhile, Bai Yunfei could sense that there was a change going on within the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with a keen light. He looked like he had seen something that had further enlightened him¡­


    ¡°The Planar Laws!! Its presence is even stronger than before!!¡± Xiao Fang materialized into the Core World. ¡°He¡­he¡¯s able to understand the Planar Laws? That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s not possible. A Soul King shouldn¡¯t be able to do that! I can¡¯t believe this¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Low Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Water, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Defense: 11000


    Additional Defense: 20000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.


    Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    Equipment Effect 3: 100% Increase in soul stabilization rate.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    +12 Additional Effect: 200% Increase in spirit-based attacks.


    +13 Additional Effect: Automatically adctivated when the soul is on the verge of destruction. Become immune to all soul injuring attacks for 5 seconds.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 500 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    It took a while before the notification of success appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. But he wasn¡¯t focused on that. He was still staring at the Soul Sentinel Scarf with unfocused eyes and a focused mind. It looked like he had finally understood something and was thinking hard about it.


    Staring at him from a distance, Xiao Fang let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s too short¡­the Planar Laws are gone already. How much¡­did he understand?¡±

 Chapter 910: A Historical Breakthrough, Bai Yunfeis Fourth Lifebound Armament!

    Bai Yunfei was still seated on the ground. In his hand was a now-glowing Soul Sentinel Scarf. The blue light flickered every so often as if mimicking the beating of a heart.


    ¡°The Planar Laws¡­the Planar Laws¡­¡±


    A different-colored light flickered to in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. He looked a little indecisive like if there was something he wasn¡¯t quite understanding.


    The insight he gained today was far better than the last one he got. Now that he knew what kind of energy it was (the Planar Laws), Bai Yunfei could make use of that information to further progress in his understandings. There wasn¡¯t much time to make use of that knowledge though, as the moment was already passing.


    He had a feeling that he just needed a bit more time to come into contact with that energy. If he could have that, then he¡¯d potentially be able to unlock the next secret¡­


    The last time he had that feeling was when he came across the power of the Planar Laws the first time. And after that time, he managed to upgrade the Critical Glove to +12.


    So he decided to make a risky bet before this moment of enlightenment would pass completely¡­.


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf disappeared into his space ring so he could bring out a white-colored stone from the space ring on his left hand.


    This was the low-heaven tier upgrade stone he got from the auction before!


    He was going to use this to try and¡­upgrade the Critical Glove!


    This was a risky gambit!


    Here was the chance for Bai Yunfei to delve deeper into the secrets of the Upgrade Technique. He couldn¡¯t let that moment of enlightenment go to waste before he could even properly learn from it. It was imperative that he ¡®attracted¡¯ the Planar Laws back to him again with this next ¡®attempt¡¯!


    So he had to make a huge risk in order to achieve those goals! Even if it meant risking the +12 Critical Gloves!


    He was fully committed now. Biting his lips, Bai Yunfei focused on the glove, ¡°Upgrade!!¡±


    Another sliver of soulforce escaped from his body then, acting as a catalyst to pull at the invisible energy again. The energy wrapped around the upgrade stone for a moment to turn it into white powder like before.


    A familiar sensation enveloped him once more. Bai Yunfei could feel the energy travel from the upgrade stone to the Critical Glove and then inside it¡­.


    He was wholly concentrated onto the Critical Glove. The sensation he was feeling felt far more clear than the time with the Soul Sentinel Scarf. Any changes within the glove would definitely be caught by Bai Yunfei the moment they appeared with how clear of an image he had of it now. So he should be able to ¡®deduce¡¯ the changes practically instantly¡­


    Everything happening within the glove was moving comparatively slow to Bai Yunfei¡¯s senses. What felt like an eternity in his mind was actually just a few beats on the outside world. The white energy from the Upgrade Stone was now fully absorbed into the Critical Glove, causing it to shine brightly with a golden light. Then in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mindspace¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know the definite probability of success when the low-heaven tier upgrade stone was added into the mix. Given its effect to increase the probability by ten times the normal rate though, the chances were probably quite high. But¡­what good was that if the original success rate was very low? What if the rate was just five percent? Three percent? Or maybe even one percent¡­¡±


    A tenfold increase of those chances meant at fifty, thirty, ten percent, or even perhaps even lower than that¡­


    A notification popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind...


    Upgrade FailedEquipment Destr...


    The notification hadn¡¯t finished displaying in his mind when Bai Yunfei suddenly felt a moment of clarity hit him. Clutching onto that split-second, his hand flashed out stir at the air of the Core World!


    The golden light that had appeared to destroy the Critical Glove immediately burst out with intensity ten times greater than before!


    The notification that the equipment was destroyed was seemingly wiped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind in that exact same moment as well!


    Then the next notification to pop up into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind¡­


    Upgrade Successful


    Only mere milliseconds passed from when the first notification appeared to the last one. But in those milliseconds, Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions was what it took to change the outcome!


    The light that was in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t disappear even after that action. If anything, they intensified in brightness as well to form two intense-looking bulbs of red light. Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei made another twisting motion onto the Critical Glove!


    This time, his finger wasn¡¯t doing anything like stirring the transparent energy like before. Bai Yunfei was jabbing at the air to form an ¡®opening¡¯ in the Core World. There was a momentary pause as the hole opened up before a shining red burst of light came out from it! Fire was pouring out!


    The ¡®strands¡¯ of fire shot out from the hole to twirl around his finger. Dancing so rhythmically that it looked alive almost, the fire then traveled down his finger to dive into the Critical Glove!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    An explosion of red light erupted from the Critical Glove. Where once had been a bright golden shine was now a mixture of gold and red to dazzle the eyes of everyone that was fortunate enough to bear witness to it.


    ¡°The¡­the Law of Fire! Not only did he alter the Planar Law behind his upgrade, he managed to pull in the Laws of Fire! How¡¯d he do that?!¡±


    Up high in the sky, Xiao Fang found it hard to disguise the shock in his voice.


    ¡­¡­


    Soon, the gold and red light that had been shining in the Core World dissipated to reveal the figure of Bai Yunfei.


    But something looked off with Bai Yunfei. He was hunched over at the waist and gasping for breath. He looked like he had just gotten out from a body of water with how sweaty he was.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­huh¡­huah¡­hah¡­hahaha!!¡±


    His gasps for air slowly transformed into chuckles, and that in turn slowly became laughter!


    Laughter that was filled with excitement and joy!


    He had done it! He had succeeded! Once again had he managed to alter the outcome to turn ¡®failure¡¯ into ¡®success¡¯! And it wasn¡¯t a complete accident this time! The finer details of how this was possible had been understood by him, and how he could pull it off!


    So many years had gone by since he first received the Upgrade Technique. So much time had passed since his study of it began. But today! Today he had made a monumental discovery!


    ¡­¡­


    After his laughter subsided, Bai Yunfei looked back to the Critical Glove with an expectant look.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Fire


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 2100


    Defense: 2200


    Additional Attack: 4100


    Additional Defense: 4300


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect: Increase damage dealt to wood-type enemies by 100%.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to deal 300% damage with the next strike.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to grant the ability to deal 400% damage with the next strike.


    Cooldown of 5 minutes.


    +13 Additional Effect: Ignore fire-type defenses when attacking.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt his heart skip a beat when he read the stats of the newly-upgraded Critical Glove!


    ¡°This¡­wow¡­Not only does it have a fire affinity, but the equipment effect was also increased fivefold and¡­the +13 additional effect is incredible!!¡±


    It was unbelievable how the stats of the Critical Glove was looking. It was completely beyond any expectations Bai Yunfei had!


    And even more importantly¡­it had a 100% soul compatibility with him now!!


    The feeling between him and the Critical Glove was completely different compared to before now. It felt like an extension of his body. This was a type of sensation that was normally felt with a lifebound armament.


    His Critical Glove was now Bai Yunfei¡¯s fourth lifebound armament!

 Chapter 911: Change in the Critical Glove!

    Bai Yunfei clenched his left hand as if to flex the Critical Glove and see how it felt. The power was invigorating, but he wasn¡¯t quite sure just how definitive of a change the strength was. The Critical Glove hadn¡¯t just undergone a massive improvement in terms of attack and defense¡ªit had also turned into his lifebound armament, so the true power of the glove was beyond what its numerical value could express.


    It was crucial to see that the equipment effect of the Critical Glove was far better than before. It was no longer just an additional 20% worth of damage against wood-type enemies, which was already a result of the fact that metal overcomes wood. The glove was now a weapon that had the strength to overcome both metal and wood¡ªmost likely due to the fact that fire was an element that overcomes both metal and wood.


    Given that ability, it was easy to see how the addition of fire as an affinity in the Critical Glove would improve its attack. Not even the Ardent Sun Glove had an ability where it could inflict additional damage like that.


    And it was a sharp increase from 20% to 100%. A fivefold increase to be more specific. That was tantamount to an attack on a wood or metal-type enemy being doubled in strength. Should Bai Yunfei fight against an enemy who had either one of the two affinities, the damage the Critical Glove would inflict would surely be devastating¡­


    But even that effect paled in comparison to the +13 additional effect! Ignore any fire-type defenses!! How could such a terrifying effect like that exist!?


    It was amazing because it didn¡¯t have the side-effect of losing half his soulforce as it did with the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear. It also didn¡¯t have a cooldown period. So in other words, this was a weapon that¡¯d make any fire-type soul cultivator shudder with fear!


    Any attack onto a fire-type defense with the Critical Glove was basically the same as using the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear!


    Truly, this was a nightmare for any fire-type soul cultivator¡­


    Bai Yunfei was finding it pretty hard to believe such an effect could be real. No matter how many times he looked over the stats though, Bai Yunfei had to admit it was actually reality.


    ¡°How is the +13 additional effect this time so powerful, though?¡± Bai Yunfei wondered aloud. ¡°And the Critical Glove was originally a wood-type. But it and the equipment effect gained a second affinity¡­is this change because of me influencing the energy behind the upgrade? And that energy¡­¡±


    ¡°That was the Law of Fire!! You¡¯re the one who drew it out, how come you don¡¯t know what it was?!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s voice interrupted Bai Yunfei¡¯s train of thought.


    Xiao Fang had startled Bai Yunfei. ¡°What¡¯d you say, Xiao Fang?! You¡¯re saying that the powerful energy I felt wasn¡¯t just elemental fire, but¡­the Law of Fire!?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao Fang affirmed. ¡°Didn¡¯t you call forth the Law of Fire the last time when you fought with that Late-stage Soul King? How do you not see the similarities?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t a good response for that. ¡°I just never really thought about it¡ªme being able to draw out the Laws of Fire all by myself?!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake. Your upgrading brought out the Planar Laws. I can¡¯t tell you which ¡®Law¡¯ it is that¡¯s responsible for upgrading, but I can at least tell you that upgrading different soul armaments will bring out different Laws when an additional effect is being applied to it. Usually, the upgrading of soul armaments will have the Planar Laws randomly bestowing upon the additional effect, but you lead the bestowment yourself this time. By the way¡­what kind of additional effect does your weapon have now?¡±


    Xiao Fang had a small understanding of how the Upgrade Technique worked now after all this time he spent watching Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°The additional effect that appeared allows me to ¡®ignore any fire-type defenses¡¯!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Xiao Fang cried out in disbelief. ¡°Ignore any fire-type defenses?! That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s too much, isn¡¯t it?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little baffled by it too.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­is it because of the fact that the Law of Fire was a lot stronger than I expected it? It has to be! When the Law of Fire went into the soul armament, it bestowed upon the soul armament with an effect befitting of the Law of Fire! Any other defense based on fire is inherently useless against the Law of Fire!¡±


    ¡°Every attack has with it the powers of the Law of Fire?¡± Bai Yunfei spoke. He hadn¡¯t expected there to be such an explanation for the +13 additional effect. But he was happy about it. Not only did this explanation mean that he had a very powerful additional effect on his weapon, but it also meant¡­he had the power to draw upon the Law of Fire!¡±


    This would be a memory he¡¯d never be able to forget. He was finally able to touch upon the edges of the domain of the Laws. Given some more time, Bai Yunfei was confident that he¡¯d be able to wield the Laws without fail!


    There was also the ¡®Law¡¯ Xiao Fang talked about. Bai Yunfei was going to call it the ¡®Law of Upgrading¡¯ for now. He had some semblance of what it was, but it¡¯d still require more research before he could have a definitive understanding of it. If he could get familiar with that energy, his future would definitely be a bright one¡­


    Bai Yunfei retrieved the Soul Sentinel Scarf out from his space ring to scrutinize the +13 additional effect.


    It was another amazing effect that could save his life when he was in danger.


    Of course, Bai Yunfei hoped that he would never have to rely on the effect.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    He felt something strange when he wrapped the Soul Sentinel Scarf around his forehead again. Blinking, he touched at the Soul Sentinel Scarf with a look of surprise.


    There was a spirit within the Soul Sentinel Scarf, but Bai Yunfei remembered Xiao Fang saying that the spirit had gone into a coma after being heavily injured. All that was left was a spirit that was acting sporadically with ¡®instinct¡¯.


    But right now¡­the spirit¡¯s strength was somehow stronger?


    ¡°Xiao Fang said before that upgrading the soul armament will increase the spirit¡¯s strength. He also said that the Soul Sentinel Scarf would regain its sentience after it gets strong enough¡­is it starting to wake now that it¡¯s +13?!¡±


    The results of upgrading the Soul Sentinel Scarf came to Bai Yunfei as a pleasant surprise. The Soul Sentinel Scarf would get even stronger if the spirit were to reawaken, Xiao Fang had said that such a thing would happen, in any case.


    ¡°Whew¡­the profits this time was far greater than I expected!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed aloud. Standing back up, he took a few extra breaths to calm down before taking the time to restore the large amounts of energy he had lost.


    ¡­¡­


    Time trickled by slowly. Whilst in the middle of his meditative trance, Bai Yunfei suddenly leaped to his feet with a furious look on his face!


    ¡°You dare!!¡±


    Howling those two words, Bai Yunfei suddenly disappeared from the Core World!

 Chapter 912: The Crazed Actions of Qin Shoufeng!

    ¡°Lord Feng, where¡­where are you heading to? The city¡¯s exit is further down this road¡­¡± It was a meek Sun Jian that cried out for Qin Shoufeng. ¡°Didn¡¯t we say before that we¡¯d go drinking after the auction? You¡­¡±


    He suddenly paused when Qin Shoufeng turned his head to give him a brief look before turning back.


    What kind of look was it?


    Sun Jian knew what kind of look it was. He also believed that if he said even just one word more, Qin Shoufeng would¡¯ve killed him where he stood¡­


    Qin Shoufeng had given him a look filled with complete and utter murderous wrath!!


    He looked like a man who had given up on his rational senses in favor for the more primal ones. A man who was completely doped up on his furious irrationality to guide his actions.


    ¡°Brother¡­brother Zhang¡­I feel like there¡¯s something wrong with lord Feng¡­what do you think we should do¡­¡±


    Next to Zhang Qian was a young and skinny-looking youth who was as nervous as he was intimidated by the sight of Qin Shoufeng.


    Zhang Qian was the oldest of the entire group and also the most sensible. But even he was looking hesitant. Anyone could see that Qin Shoufeng was acting quite strange.


    Qin Shoufeng hadn¡¯t said a single word ever since they left the auction house. Everyone thought at first that Qin Shoufeng was only feeling moody after seeing Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun there at the auction. It was understandable at least in that regard. They also thought that Qin Shoufeng was heading for that place to go vent his frustrations.


    The more they walked the more unsightly Qin Shoufeng¡¯s face became. The group had tried to cheer him up with jokes but stopped after seeing how ineffective they were.


    Then they realized the place Qin Shoufeng was walking for wasn¡¯t the drinking place they agreed to go to at all.


    There was a point in time where Qin Shoufeng stopped in a small alleyway as if waiting for something. No one understood what he was doing, and no one could even ask him why since he wasn¡¯t responding. It was so strange that two of his groupees took the opportunity to go back home¡­


    And that led the group to right now with them ready to leave Swallow City. But that also lead to people finally admitting that whatever Qin Shoufeng was up to, they didn¡¯t want to stick with him and get into trouble.


    Zhang Qian had furrowed eyebrows at the development of everything so far. He was more attentive than everyone else in the group. He could already tell that Qin Shoufeng was trailing after someone but he himself couldn¡¯t sense who it was even after using his soulforce to discreetly look ahead. That was strange in of itself since he and Qin Shoufeng should¡¯ve had the same level of sensory capabilities. But nonetheless, Zhang Qian had a good guess on just who Qin Shoufeng was tailing. After all that happened as of late, who else could it be?


    ¡°He can¡¯t be so lovesick in the head that he¡¯s going to look for that Bai Yunfei, could he? If that¡¯s the case, then¡­I can¡¯t just let him go to his death!¡±


    He beckoned for the pudgy fellow nearby to listen to what he was going to say. ¡°Go and find lord Hao, Qin Lei. Tell him where lord Feng is! I¡¯ll follow him for now and make sure he doesn¡¯t do anything reckless.¡±


    ¡°Yes, brother Zhang! I¡¯ll go at once!¡±


    He took off towards the auction at full speed.


    Neither Zhang Qian or Qi Lei were being quiet with their conversation so Qin Shoufeng should¡¯ve heard it, but the person didn¡¯t seem to look like he had. He was still walking one step at a time towards the southern gates.


    The gnawing feeling in Zhang Qian¡¯s heart intensified. Something about this situation was not sitting well with him at all. ¡°I have to follow him! I can¡¯t let lord Feng do anything stupid!¡± He bit his lips in hesitation.


    Qin Shoufeng¡¯s footsteps quickened shortly after they stepped out from the southern gates. He was practically running now, and his body was emitting a foreboding aura¡­


    His entourage followed for about ten kilometers and passed a hill before they came to a short stop next to a wide open plain.


    Qin Shoufeng¡¯s aura was a bonfire by this point like a man fully excited to go into battle!


    Aghast by his aura, everyone turned to look ahead several meters.


    Several meters ahead walked a graceful figure over the official roads¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­don¡¯t tell me that woman is¡­Tang Xinyun?!¡±


    Zhang Qian¡¯s shock saw to him crying out the name in surprise.


    ¡°What?! Tang Xinyun?!¡± The group cried out as a collective. ¡°Lord Feng was chasing after her?! And if she¡¯s by herself, where¡¯s¡­where¡¯s Bai Yunfei then?!¡± Sun Jian cried.


    ¡°Lord Feng!! Stop! What are you doing?!¡±


    Panic flooded Zhang Qian¡¯s heart when he glanced over to Qin Shoufeng. Like an arrow, he darted out to block Qin Shoufeng from moving ahead.


    ¡°Scram!!¡±


    But he hadn¡¯t even bypassed Qin Shoufeng when the man suddenly whirled around to glare at him with bloodshot eyes. There was a brilliant flash of red light as his arm came up before a sword appeared to cut down Zhang Qian!


    No one in his group expected Qin Shoufeng to react so suddenly and so violently towards Zhang Qian like that. But Zhang Qian wasn¡¯t too shocked to get out of the way. His body flashed with green as he shifted his weight to slink off towards the right side.


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t been fast enough to avoid injury. The sword left a gash onto Zhang Qian¡¯s left arm deep enough to see his bones. His arm would¡¯ve been severed had he been even a beat slower.


    ¡°Qin Shoufeng!! Have you gone crazy?!¡±


    Zhang Qian¡¯s face was flushed with angered disbelief. The fact that he was crying Qin Shoufeng¡¯s name rather than ¡®lord Feng¡¯ was proof of that anger.


    Everyone else could only watch in stunned disbelief from where they were.


    But Qin Shoufeng said nothing. He didn¡¯t even spare them a look to turn and make a mad dash for Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s gone crazy!! Is lord Feng really that lovesick?! He doesn¡¯t even look like he¡¯s all there in the head anymore!!¡±


    Someone in the group cried out as soon as they realized Qin Shoufeng had run off.


    ¡°Brother Zhang, are you alright? What¡­what should we do?¡±


    Frightened so badly that his body was shaking, Sun Jian held onto Zhang Qian¡¯s arm to heal the wound on it.


    Resentment flitted across Zhang Qian¡¯s eyes. He glared at the retreating back of Qin Shoufeng. ¡°His sword¡­cut not just my arm, but any ties the two of us had! Whatever he does, I won¡¯t be a part of it!¡±


    And with that, he turned around to fly back to Swallow City!


    Zhang Qian was truly angered at the fact that Qin Shoufeng had injured him so grievously without due reason, but he also wasn¡¯t stupid. With how things were unfolding¡­there was no good end for him if he stayed here!


    It didn¡¯t matter if Qin Shoufeng had gone crazy or not. But to walk the same path as he was to walk the path to a dead end! Zhang Qian didn¡¯t know why it seemed like Tang Xinyun was by herself, but Zhang Qian was still sure a terrible death would follow if Qin Shoufeng took action!


    Should he stay here, Zhang Qian would be considered ¡®guilty by association¡¯ and hunted down! Renouncing Qin Shoufeng¡¯s actions was the most rational thing to do, and his arm being sliced was a very convenient excuse for him to do so.


    ¡°Brother Zhang¡­! Brother Zhang!!¡±


    With Zhang Qian¡¯s departure, Sun Jian and the others stood there and stared nervously at one another. No one knew what to do.


    ¡°What¡­what should we do?¡± Someone cried out nervously.


    ¡°I¡­I just remembered I have some family matters to take care, I¡¯ll be going first!¡±


    Someone turned tail to flee back to the city.


    ¡°Same here!¡±


    A second followed suit.


    ¡°Wait for me!¡±


    The third and fourth followed afterward¡­


    Only Sun Jian was left standing there by himself by the end of things. He blinked as he watched his group flee towards the city before looking back to Qin Shoufeng. Fearful, he muttered, ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous here, I¡­should go back to Xi city¡­¡±


    He took off onto a path that divulged towards the left¡ªthis wasn¡¯t Swallow City he was running for, but back to his own city.


    ¡­¡­


    A little before that commotion was taking place, Tang Xinyun was humming happily to herself as she walked. She seemed quite content about something.


    But then she felt a disturbance in the air and turned around to look.


    What she saw surprised her.


    ¡°Qin Shoufeng?! What¡¯s he doing here?¡±


    She came to a sudden stop to watch as Qin Shoufeng approached. Her eyes narrowed when he got closer¡ªthat was some murderous aura Qin Shoufeng was having, and¡­that was a sword in his hand!


    She became vigilant at once. Her soulforce swirled around his person as she prepared for battle, but she still had a diplomatic look on her face to speak, ¡°Lord Qin¡­what do you mean by thi¡ª¡±


    ¡°You¡­slut! Go die!!¡±


    But Qin Shoufeng interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.


    Without a pause in stride, Qin Shoufeng leaped quickly through the air to bring the shining-red sword in his hand down onto Tang Xinyun!

 Chapter 913: Qin Shoufengs Death

    The might of Qin Shoufeng¡¯s low-heaven tier soul armament was awe-inspiring with how the flames billowed from it. The air seemed like it was warping in where the sword cut as if it was being sliced in two.


    Only a few people were traveling on the main roads today. Most of them were soul cultivators, but even they were unable to hide their shock from seeing someone being attacked out of the blue. Qin Shoufeng was a Late-stage Soul Exalt and was using a powerful heaven-tier soul armament, so anyone that wanted to stop him from attacking the female was immediately dissauded.


    Like the spectators around her, Tang Xinyun was surprised that she was being attacked, but not so surprised that she didn¡¯t move to protect herself. A small golden slip was retrieved from her space ring in one fluid motion before she activated it.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    At the same time, a golden barrier erected itself around Tang Xinyun, there was a furious chirp from the skies above. Xiao Qi was descending down from the skies like a clap of lightning. His wings were shining a dreadfully dark-purple light as he prepared to turn whoever was attacking Tang Xinyun into a pile of smoldering ashes.


    The two of them came to a stop, however, and paused whatever they were doing to wait.


    That was because a figure had suddenly materialized in the space in front of Tang Xinyun to prevent Qin Shoufeng from passing through.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    A clash of metal and a wave of fire erupted from the area. Dust was scattered everywhere along with rays of red light as a hand grabbed onto Qin Shoufeng¡¯s sword and locked him in place.


    This person was Bai Yunfei. His face was unnaturally chilling and his eyes could freeze even water. ¡°Do you want to die, Qin Shoufeng?!¡± He spat one word at a time.


    ¡°Die! Die!! I¡¯ll kill you!! Dieeee!!!¡±


    Qin Shoufeng looked even more incensed despite Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance. His feet were swinging in midair whilst he was being held up, and his sword arm was bulging as he attempted to pull the sword back. But Bai Yunfei¡¯s grip on it was solid.


    Qin Shoufeng howled. Relinquishing his hold onto the sword, he aimed a palm thrust at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    The cold sheen in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sparked ominously. Letting go of the other arm of Qin Shoufeng, Bai Yunfei slammed his palm into his stomach.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A ring of elemental fire had come forward to protect Qin Shoufeng from Bai Yunfei¡¯s strike, but it was to no avail. Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm strike tore through it as if it wasn¡¯t there and sent Qin Shoufeng flying a hundred steps away.


    Bai Yunfei stored away Qin Shoufeng¡¯s sword into his space ring. ¡°Xinyun, are you alright?¡± He asked.


    It was a rhetorical question given the circumstances, but Tang Xinyun felt touched nonetheless. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± She smiled.


    Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai descended to eye level with Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun with Xiao Bai roosting on top of Tang Xinyun¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Yunfei,¡± Xiao Qi chirped, ¡°wasn¡¯t that person Qin Shoufeng? Is he crazy? Or suicidal?¡±


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    A furious roar answered Xiao Qi¡¯s question, causing the four of them to turn their heads towards the source.


    Bai Yunfei was surprised. Although he didn¡¯t put too much force into his attack, he still expected Qin Shoufeng to be forced down for a while. But a figure cloaked in red light and a murderous aura was charging back for him again!


    ¡°You¡¯re just asking for trouble!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei snapped. He kicked off against the ground to charge forward and meet with Qin Shoufeng. Despite his suspicions on why Qin Shoufeng had suddenly gone crazy like this, he wasn¡¯t feeling too rational himself.


    Anyone that wanted to harm Tang Xinyun wouldn¡¯t be so easily forgiven.


    There was no changing how strong Qin Shoufeng was, no matter how angry he was. A Soul Exalt was nothing in the eyes of Bai Yunfei. In the blink of an eye, Bai Yunfei had already intercepted him and landed a punch onto Qin Shoufeng¡¯s stomach!


    Like last time, Qin Shoufeng wasn¡¯t able to dodge or protect himself. Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist slammed against his stomach with a loud crack. Several of his ribs had been broken despite the blow being aimed downwards of his stomach.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    Blood flew out from Qin Shoufeng¡¯s mouth as he was thrust backward yet again. But before he could fly too far away from Bai Yunfei¡­


    Both of his arms grabbed hold of the arm that had been used to punch him in the stomach!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected to see Qin Shoufeng¡¯s arms wrap around his. His actions were almost as if Qin Shoufeng wasn¡¯t even feeling any pain to begin with.


    When he looked up, he was greeted with a very odd ¡®smile¡¯!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­you¡¯re dead for sure!¡±


    A demonic light flashed across Qin Shoufeng¡¯s eyes. The words he spoke were eerily-cold, and combined with the grin on his face, Qin Shoufeng¡¯s demeanor was downright bone-chilling.


    There was definitely something extremely off with this situation, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but think of something preposterous about Qin Shoufeng right now.


    The grin on Qin Shoufeng¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t even look like it was Qin Shoufeng¡¯s doing¡­


    But then before he could think any more about it, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened as he realized something!


    The aura within Qin Shoufeng¡¯s body was reaching a volatile level of power!


    He was¡­self-destructing!!


    This was just too out of the blue! No one, Bai Yunfei included, expected to see Qin Shoufeng do something like that! There wasn¡¯t even enough time for Bai Yunfei to pull his arm free from Qin Shoufeng¡¯s grasp!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    There was an ear-deafening explosion as the area where Bai Yunfei and Qin Shoufeng was was engulfed by a bonfire of red light!


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Tang Xinyun cried out in horror as she charged towards him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Yunfei¡¯s fine.¡±


    Xiao Qi called out to her before she could get far. Green light burst out from Xiao Qi¡¯s body as a bubble of wind gathered around Tang Xinyun to protect her. There was an even larger barrier of wind that covered the surrounding hundred steps from the explosion to prevent the elemental fire from harming any of the passersby.


    With nowhere to go but up, the explosion of fire was quickly transformed into a pillar of fire.


    The second source of fire exploded from within the pillar seconds after. Emerging from the center with force, the newer source of fire scattered apart from the first and soared into the air to devour at the rest of the remaining sparks before disappearing¡­


    Left behind at ground-zero was a figure cloaked entirely in fire.


    It was Bai Yunfei. He looked completely unharmed even despite the fact that a Late-stage Soul Exalt had just self-destructed literally within arm¡¯s reach of him. If not for the fact that the robes of the arm that had been grabbed onto by Qin Shoufeng, one wouldn¡¯t even know that Bai Yunfei was even in danger. Not even a single strand of his hair had been singed.


    But even despite the relatively unharmed Bai Yunfei was in, there was an unsightly look on his face¡­


    He was at a loss for words right now. Never had he thought that Qin Shoufeng would do such an instantaneous thing. Why would Qin Shoufeng self-destruct?!


    He was the second son of the Qin, and now he was¡­dead?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here? What in the world is going on here!?¡± His mind was wracked with confusion as he tried to figure out the answer¡­


    ¡°Brother!!!¡±


    An anguished howl erupted from the direction of Swallow City, prompting Bai Yunfei to look up. A streak of green light was flying from the skies over to where he was. It was Qin Shouhao!


    Bai Yunfei felt his heart skip a beat as the severity of the situation caught up to him.


    ¡°This¡­could be trouble¡­¡±

 Chapter 914: Tragedy of the Qin

    Qin Shouhao was already settling down in the area in front of Bai Yunfei by the time his voice was heard. He flew another hundred meters around the area as if looking for someone.


    That someone was Qin Shoufeng, of course. But with Qin Shoufeng already blowing himself up, there wasn¡¯t even a piece of his shadow left to look for.


    ¡°Ah! Ahh!! Brother! Brotherrrr!!¡± Qin Shouhao howled as he continued his search. He simply couldn¡¯t believe that his brother had died.


    After a while of not finding anything, he turned to give Bai Yunfei a glare filled with hatred. ¡°It¡¯s you! It¡¯s your fault!! Bai Yunfei! How savage! You killed my brother! You¡¯ve actually killed my brother!!!¡±


    It was a little surprising that Qin Shouhao and Qin Shoufeng had a relationship deep enough for Qin Shouhao to be this deeply angered. There was a howl of anger as Qin Shouhao exploded with power and charged for Bai Yunfei!


    The mid-heaven tier soul armament Bai Yunfei ¡®gifted¡¯ to the Qin was taken out in one swift motion. Waving the sword, Qin Shouhao sent a large blade of wind down onto Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t all too worried. He was thinking about something else and cared little for the attack coming towards him. Raising his left hand, Bai Yunfei stopped the attack and dispersed the energy in it.


    ¡°He self-destructed on his own free will, I didn¡¯t kill him.¡± He stated.


    ¡°It was your fault that he was pushed to such an extent! I¡¯ll have you pay for his life with yours!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s reasoning only served to anger Qin Shouhao even more. Without another roar of anger, Qin Shouhao thrust his sword out to stab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. Waving his left hand again, he blocked the incoming sword and then punched Qin Shouhao in the stomach with his right hand.


    Like a kite with its string snapped, Qin Shouhao flew several meters backward and crashed into the ground.


    ¡°I said I didn¡¯t kill your brother!¡±


    Bai Yunfei repeated this time with a darker tone of voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t quibble!! I saw you do the act myself, are you still going to deny it?!¡± Qin Shouhao was looking a little more clear-headed after that punch, but he was still glaring vehemently at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! Don¡¯t think about running away after killing my brother!! Stay here if you¡¯ve the guts to face my father¡¯s judgment! If you run, then my Qin will seek justice with the Crafting School!!¡±


    He took off into the air and brought out a flying sword. Stepping onto it, Qin Shouhao took off towards Swallow City in a burst of light. He seemingly wasn¡¯t so long-gone in his anger for Bai Yunfei that he wasn¡¯t going to do the sensible thing and head back home to ¡®request justice¡¯.


    ¡°....¡± Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t stop him from leaving. He just stood there with a dark expression on his face as if he was deep in thought.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­what should we do now?¡±


    Tang Xinyun was looking worried at how the situation had developed. She was thoroughly shocked by how Qin Shoufeng had died.


    Bai Yunfei looked impatient. His eyebrows were knitted together in annoyance and his mouth was shaped into a frown. He didn¡¯t know why things had happened in such a way, or even why Qin Shoufeng had come all this way to ¡®kill himself¡¯.


    Did Qin Shoufeng hate Bai Yunfei so much that he¡¯d rather die than make life convenient for him?!


    He knew that Qin Shoufeng was a petty man and held a huge grudge over Bai Yunfei for his meddling in the betrothment between him and Tang Xinyun. But Bai Yunfei just never thought that this grudge would be so heavy that Qin Shoufeng would so angry that he¡¯d try and kill him!


    And¡­now the situation was at a worst-case scenario!


    Bai Yunfei could say he didn¡¯t kill Qin Shoufeng all he wanted, but there¡¯d probably be only a few that¡¯d believe him.


    The Qin certainly won¡¯t!


    So that left two options. Should he stick around and try to ¡®clear¡¯ things up with the Qin? Or should he leave the place at once and wait for the Qin to give chase?


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, in Qin Manor.


    ¡°Who¡­who did this?!¡±


    A furious howl echoed through Qin Manor as a powerful blanket of aura descended down onto the entire compound almost. Throughout all the rooms and corners of the manor, all the servants started to huddle and shiver in fear.


    Currently, Qin Long, Qin Pingzhi, and a few other powerful elders were gathered in a hall in Qin Manor. Everyone had a somber but angry look on their faces, Qin Long most of all. The Late-stage Soul King was for once no longer as calm as he¡¯d normally be.


    Six corpses were laid about in front of them. Aside from Qin Hu, the others were several vital Soul Exalt members and one was one of their strongest members of the newest generation.


    All six of them had been killed without noise or fuss. Not even the Mid-stage Soul King Qin Hu looked like he even managed to fight back before he died!!


    None of the people gathered there were able to believe their eyes. They were in just as much shock as they were the first time when they first heard about the news. How could these many people be assassinated within their own home?


    An Early-stage Soul King dressed in purple was currently bent down to inspect Qin Hu¡¯s body. ¡°No signs of resistance. The killer was a very powerful one¡­¡±


    ¡°Not even a Late-stage Soul King would be able to kill a Mid-stage Soul King without them resisting!¡± Another Early-stage Soul King declared. ¡°Could the enemy be a Soul Emperor? This is impossible!!¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who they are, they¡¯ll die for certain for this!!¡± A middle-aged man spat in anger. ¡°My lord! Let us scour the city for the one responsible at once! If the enemy chose the time when we were all gone to make their attack, they are certain to make another attack as they hide in wait! If we mobilize the entirety of our family, we¡¯ll find the culprit at once! Let us call back the ones in the mines and tear the culprit limb from limb!¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not! Our patriarch is trying to breakthrough, we cannot afford for him to fail! Father and the others will remain there in the mine!¡± Qin Long refused. ¡°Qin Bao, find the lord-mayor and ask for the Tianhun School¡¯s assistance! Qin Ying, send an announcement to all of our members outside our compound to be recalled back to Qin Manor at once!¡±


    ¡°Yes!!¡±


    The purple-robed man and bearded middle-aged man replied simultaneously before heading out to carry out their orders.


    ¡°Where are Shouhao and Shoufeng?¡± Qin Long asked after he realized the fact neither of his two sons was here.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Shouhao go to find you to return home?! Are they in the mines?!¡±


    The last time Qin Pingzhi saw the two was when he told Shouhao to look for Qin Long and tell him to go back home. Qin Pingzhi expected the two to return home by now, or at least at the mines in search of their father.


    But the fact neither of the two was home was of a great fright to Qin Pingzhi.


    Qin Long¡¯s face dropped several degrees in shade. ¡°Zhao Guang was the one to send a missive to me, not Shouhao nor Shoufeng! Where are they?!¡±


    ¡°Bad news! Bad news! My lord! Terrible news!!¡±


    Right on time to seemingly prove everyone¡¯s suspicions, a horrified voice came calling out to the people there before a guard could be heard knocking on the gates outside.


    Light flashed across Qin Long¡¯s eyes when he heard the voice. Swiping out with his right hand, his soulforce flew out to the gate to grab onto the man and bring him into the room!


    ¡°Speak! What has happened!!¡± Qin Long barked.


    The guard was only a Soul Ancestor and was thoroughly cowed by the intimidating force of Qin Long.


    ¡°The¡­the second young master was¡­was killed by Bai Yunfei just south of the city!!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡±


    Everyone gasped at the news. Qin Long had been so startled by the news it was like something had gone off in his head. Staggering a few steps backward, the mighty Late-stage Soul King dropped the man he was holding onto the ground.


    He took one last step backward before steadying himself. His powerful aura came back once more to intimidate all within the room within him before he disappeared from it. Reappearing several kilometers away, the man began to travel off towards the south of the city!


    The skies above Swallow City was filled with a dark-green light as he teleported. The residual energy from his teleporting left behind large cyclones of energy that startled every soul cultivator of the Soul Sprite level and up.


    Qin Long reached the southern gates before long. He had just stepped out from a tear in space when he noticed a green light flying over towards the city!


    Then the aura of a Soul King made itself known from the direction behind the burst of green light!


    When he sensed something familiar about the two auras, Qin Long gasped out in fear!


    ¡°Shouhao! No!!¡±

 Chapter 915: The Malicious Mo Ni: Soul Puppetry!

    ¡°Hey¡­hey! This can¡¯t be real, can it?? Qin Shoufeng being killed by Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    ¡°I was hoping that my eyes were just going bad, but¡­that person was definitely Qin Shoufeng!! He came to start some trouble with Bai Yunfei? And he¡­died for it!?¡±


    ¡°This is big news! Big news I say!! How will people react to something as crazy as this?! The entire city will definitely go in an uproar for this!¡±


    ¡°Right! This wasn¡¯t just your average person being killed¡­it¡¯s Qin Shoufeng! And the killer was Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School! How¡­how will people react to that?!¡±


    ¡°Something was weird about that fight! What kind of idiot was Qin Shoufeng to go rushing towards his own death? What was he aiming for?¡±


    ¡°What else could he be, you think he had a ghost possessing him? Qin Shoufeng had his name dragged through the mud, of course he¡¯d be angry. I just never thought he¡¯d be so angry that he¡¯d self-destruct¡­¡±


    ¡°And Qin Shouhao¡¯s here now! At least he¡¯s the smarter one. He knows he can¡¯t beat Bai Yunfei so he went home for reinforcements!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a show now! Will Bai Yunfei run away? If he doesn¡¯t, then he¡¯ll be in for a hard time if he gets caught by the Qin!¡±


    ¡°What happened just now was Qin Shoufeng¡¯s fault! It doesn¡¯t matter how Bai Yunfei tries to spin it, if he sticks around, he¡¯ll never be able to convince the Qin of his innocence! And even if he runs away knowing this, the Qin will chase him to no end!¡±


    ¡°Ai, but¡­it was Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbeast that saved us just now! We were all witnesses to Qin Shoufeng self-destructing just now, do you think we should be the proof for Bai Yunfei¡­?¡±


    ¡°Look¡­I¡¯m not here to catch any trouble! If I get involved in this and earn a grudge with the Qin, I¡¯ll die for sure!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­we should watch from the sidelines for now then¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A little ways away from where Qin Shoufeng self-destructed gathered a decently-sized group of people. They were people who weren¡¯t too close from where Qin Shoufeng and Bai Yunfei clashed, but they weren¡¯t too far away either. Several of these people had been in the auction and recognized Bai Yunfei when he came out. They were all discussing what they had seen for a moment before a few turned to head into Swallow City to spread the news with haste.


    ¡°Eh? Look! Qin Shouhao fell into that forest there!¡±


    ¡°No way?! Was Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch earlier that powerful? Qin Shouhao can¡¯t even fly back home to call for reinforcements now?!¡±


    ¡°Hey¡­you think we should go over and see what¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°You having a laugh there? Let¡¯s just wait here and see¡­¡±


    Everyone had been watching Qin Shouhao fly through the skies before he suddenly and without warning fell from the skies!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Qin Shouhao collided onto the ground with a heavy thud. The elemental wind around him tore a heavy crater into the dirt and left Qin Shouhao uninjured but with a stunned expression on his face.


    He had been flying on top of his flying sword when he felt like a hammer was smashed into his head. Disorientated in both the head and soul, he spiraled down to the ground below.


    He had been hit by a soul attack!!


    Qin Shouhao realized it as well, but it was too late to do anything about it! A powerful aura was already coming at him from behind!


    He slammed against the ground to kick and tumble across the ground. Bouncing onto his feet, Qin Shouhao withdrew his mid-heaven tier soul armament to protect himself.


    He was fast in reacting to danger, but his ¡®ambusher¡¯ was even faster in attacking!


    The ambusher was already upon him by the time he turned around. Qin Shouhao realized then that his ambusher¡¯s hand was gripping onto his head tightly!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    A garbled choke came out from Qin Shouhao¡¯s throat. Fearful for his life, he lashed out with his sword only to have it rebuffed. The next thing Qin Shouhao knew was the sensation of a small thin object go through his head before he was in for a split-second moment of intense pain.


    And then, nothing¡­


    The hand pressed against Qin Shouhao¡¯s forehead drew back to allow him to crumple to the ground like a puppet with their strings cut.


    His ambusher chose then to step out from the shadows¡­It was Mo Ni!!


    And behind him stood the Black Dragon King.


    Mo Ni stared at the crumpled body of Qin Shouhao. His eyes shined with a strange gleam before he started to go through several complicated hand seals. His soulforce started to twist and surge before it came out from his body in the form of a black serpentine twine of smoke.


    The smoke swirled around Mo Ni as he started on the second sequence of hand seals. His left hand clutched at the wrist of his right, and the right jabbed out with his forefinger and index finger to point onto Qin Shouhao¡¯s forehead!


    The black smoke swirled one last time around his body before it traveled down his arm to ¡®drill¡¯ into Qin Shouhao¡¯s forehead!


    Qin Shouhao¡¯s body jerked unnaturally as the black smoke entered it. The black smoke was like a controlled shock of electricity to urge the muscles in Qin Shouhao to move.


    Then a series of lights started to flash in both Mo Ni and Qin Shouhao¡¯s eyes!


    The synchronicity lasted for only a few moments before the last of the black energy entered Qin Shouhao¡¯s body. His body had stopped convulsing too when Mo Ni brought his hand back, and the light was gone from his eyes now.


    Mo Ni stood up to wipe the sweat from his brows. He breathed out a laborious breath as if he had just finished something physically taxing, but he was pleased.


    ¡°Go forward. Your task is to destroy your own essence originseed in front of Bai Yunfei¡­¡±


    A flash of light re-entered Qin Shouhao¡¯s eyes at the command. His head snapped unnaturally fast towards the southern gates before standing upright. Kicking against the ground, Qin Shouhao took off towards Bai Yunfei!


    Black Dragon King watched Qin Shouhao take off curiously. ¡°This is the second time you¡¯re using ¡®Soul Puppetry¡¯, and this time it¡¯s even more blatant than before. Aren¡¯t you afraid someone might find out? You¡¯ll be leaving clues back to the Soul Refining School¡­¡±


    Mo Ni wiped another bead of sweat from his forehead. ¡°It¡¯s only a problem for a moment. He¡¯ll be a million pieces in a short while, who¡¯ll know then? Going insane after seeing his brother killed is ¡®normal¡¯...As long as he dies, no one will say this was something irrational, won¡¯t they?¡±


    He turned away to look in the direction of Swallow City and sneered sadistically. ¡°Just in time too¡­I would like to see how you escape this time¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Eh? Qin Shouhao is coming back! Wasn¡¯t he heavily injured? Why¡¯d he fall to the ground then?¡±


    ¡°No! Something¡¯s off with his aura! It looks like its ready to devour his own body!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s he doing coming back?! Wasn¡¯t he going back to Swallow City for reinforcements?¡±


    ¡°No way!! Take a look at what he¡¯s doing, he¡¯s ready to fight Bai Yunfei! What¡¯s going on here?!¡±


    Qin Shouhao¡¯s sudden leap out from the forest was caught immediately by all the spectators there¡ªBai Yunfei included. No one expected him to charge in the direction of Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei had been standing in the area he had been in to wait and think of what to do, so he was surprised to see Qin Shouhao come back.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing coming back here!?¡±


    What was Qin Shouhao doing coming back? Did he find some ¡®reinforcements¡¯ so quickly already?


    ¡°He didn¡¯t! I don¡¯t see anyone else, but¡­his aura is strange!¡±


    He did catch onto the strangeness of Qin Shouhao¡¯s aura, which led to his further confusion and also sinking feeling in his stomach¡­


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! I¡¯ll have you accompany my brother into the next!! Die!!!¡±


    Qin Shouhao bellowed loudly. As he approached, a green tornado quickly materialize to engulf both him and Bai Yunfei!


    The tornado quickly expanded to over a hundred meters in circumference to cut off the outside world from the eye. Only Qin Shouhao and Bai Yunfei were left in the middle.


    One second burst of green light later and Qin Shouhao suddenly appeared right in front of Bai Yunfei!


    It was then that Bai Yunfei took in the expression on Qin Shouhao¡¯s face. A face more venomous than venom, eyes that reflected more irrational anger than light, and lips¡­with an uncharacteristic sneer¡­


    And then there was that frightening aura coming from within his body which seemed ready to burst!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    An explosion even louder than the one Qin Shouhao caused exploded a moment afterward. The entire area tremored as dust and dirt flew up into the air as a wave of powerful soulforce billowed away from where the two stood!


    Qin Shouhao had¡­self-destructed in front of Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Shouhao!! No!!!¡±


    Like Qin Shouhao had done for his brother before, there was another anguished roar coming from Swallow City the moment when Qin Shouhao self-destructed. Another moment later, the aura of an even more powerful person descended upon the area!

 Chapter 916: Left With No Choice But to Fight

    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    From amidst the roaring winds of the tornado came a powerful gleam of red light. Penetrating the shades of green, the red light manifested into a terrifying bonfire to seemingly burn away the tornado and be devoured by the giant red dragon.


    Bai Yunfei was seemingly fine from within the flames, or at least on a physical level. On the mental level, Bai Yunfei wanted nothing more but to vent his anger to the heavens.


    What in the f*cking world was going on here?!


    ¡°Do the Qin like blowing themselves up?! Does life have little meaning to them?! They can die if they really wanted, but f*ck off trying to drag me into your sh*t!!¡±


    Complaint after complaint poured out from Bai Yunfei faster than his mind could think of them. The two Qin brothers had already caused more than enough trouble than he expected and were becoming more of a problem than he¡¯d like.


    The circumstances behind the deaths of the two already made Bai Yunfei feel like he was in the middle of a dark plot of some kind, but he hadn¡¯t even the time to properly think about it since trouble was coming one after another.


    Like it was now!


    The deaths of the two brothers were followed by the arrival of yet another person. A Late-stage Soul King this time!!


    And Bai Yunfei had a feeling he wouldn¡¯t be able to ¡®reason¡¯ with this one either¡­


    ¡°Xiao Qi! Take Xinyun a little farther away! Be sure to protect her!¡±


    Bai Yunfei commanded Xiao Qi, but the bird was already doing so while he was in the middle of giving the orders.


    The space a kilometer away from Bai Yunfei opened up to reveal a figure in dark-green light to step out from it!


    The appearance of the figure was followed by an even more powerful blanket of soulforce. It felt so heavy that Bai Yunfei felt like he was being pressed down by an entire mountain even despite his soulforce working overtime to counteract the effects.


    It was the head of the Qin that had appeared in front of Bai Yunfei. The father of Qin Shouhao and Qin Shoufeng, and a wood-type Late-stage Soul King, Qin Long!!


    No words were even given when the man appeared. All he did was swipe his hand to launch an attack on Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Die!!!¡±


    All the anger Qin Long was feeling over the deaths of his sons were contained in that one attack. He was well and truly furious at Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. Some soulsense had encroached into the flames Bai Yunfei had created to lock him in place, and he could even see some parts of the flame revealing a dark-green light here and there!


    Splotches of dark green continued to grow all around Bai Yunfei. Like leaves, they numbered over the thousands before Qin Long crooked his fingers to send them swirling all around Bai Yunfei. Like a tempest, they flew with a devastatingly sharp edge to slice apart the flames and Bai Yunfei!


    In less than a second, all that was left was a dark-green tempest of leaves and Bai Yunfei at its center!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The leaves centered in onto Bai Yunfei for one devastating explosion. Streams of elemental wood billowed everywhere and left behind countless cracks on the ground so that it looked like a natural disaster had taken place there.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This¡­this is the head of the Qin! The head of the Qin is here!¡±


    ¡°His timing is a little late, both his sons are already dead!¡±


    ¡°See how he¡¯s not giving Bai Yunfei the chance to explain himself, you think he¡¯s just going to kill him straight away?¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap, his sons were killed. You think he¡¯d sit down and have a nice chat with Bai Yunfei? Unless the lord-mayor comes, there¡¯s nothing stopping lord Qin from killing Bai Yunfei¡­no one can live under the same skies like the one that killed their son! And Bai Yunfei killed two of his sons!¡±


    ¡°This is too terrifying¡­that¡¯s the attack of a Late-stage Soul King? Let¡¯s step back a bit or else we¡¯ll die if we get hit by one of their attacks!¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei killed two Late-stage Soul Exalt and is still completely unharmed. How¡¯s he going to fare against Qin Long? Won¡¯t he just die straight away?¡±


    ¡°Surely you¡¯re joking? You think he¡¯s like you? That Bai Yunfei is a Mid-stage Soul King! How could he die that easily?¡±


    ¡°Seems inevitable that the two will fight. The lord-mayor will definitely come forward to investigate this. I just wonder how things would be if not for what happened earlier¡­¡±


    ¡°That Bai Yunfei might be the best of his generation, but he¡¯s unlucky to go up against the Late-stage Soul King, Qin Long.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯s a disciple of the Crafting School, he should have more than enough soul armaments. I wonder if he can hold off until the Tianhun School arrives¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget he has that class seven soulbeast with him. I heard Qin Long¡¯s soulbeast partner was killed in battle a long time ago. Winning against a soulbeast and soul cultivator by himself won¡¯t be too easy.¡±


    ¡°But¡­it doesn¡¯t look like Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbeast is planning to help him! What¡¯s going on in this fight!?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone was moving back. They were afraid of being caught in the crossfire now that Qin Long was attacking.


    Very few people thought Bai Yunfei had even a chance of winning against Qin Long. Most of them thought that the best chance Bai Yunfei had was to just stall for time and wait for the Tianhun School to ¡®mediate¡¯.


    And at this moment, several streaks of light were flying out from Swallow City towards where Qin Long and Bai Yunfei were.


    ¡­¡­


    The dark-green light that had been surrounding Bai Yunfei was for the most part gone now. All that was left was a one-meter large barrier of orange light protecting Bai Yunfei from within. When the green light was gone, the barrier flickered momentarily before disappearing to reveal Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°He¡¯s fine! Bai Yunfei isn¡¯t hurt at all!!¡±


    ¡°That was a super strong attack and he managed to block it? That¡¯s crazy!¡±


    ¡°That floating item next to him is the rumored high-heaven tier soul armament of his! It can attack and defend, create a barrier, and transform into a super-large object to crush his enemies! What a powerful soul armament!¡±


    Tall and proud, Bai Yunfei stood there to face off against Qin Long. To the side, Tang Xinyun gave a sigh of relief at the sight of an uninjured Bai Yunfei.


    Though Bai Yunfei had managed to shut the attack down completely, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look at all well since¡­Qin Long¡¯s second attack was already incoming!


    Qin Long was swiping out with his right hand again, but this time he was stirring the energy around him. The intensity of the energy doubled, but they didn¡¯t form blades of energy to strike down Bai Yunfei. Instead, the only change that took place was in¡­the earth!!


    Everywhere underneath Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet, the ground started to light up with green light. Dark-green beams of light shot forth from the ground with the thickness of his arm to stab at Bai Yunfei!


    Numerous and concentrated onto Bai Yunfei, the dark-green needles were practically homing in on Bai Yunfei to entangle him!


    It wasn¡¯t elemental wood that was attacking him, but the plants of the earth! Qin Long had somehow managed to grow and command nature itself to make Bai Yunfei as its foe!


    A metallic sheen covered the surface of each of the vines so that one would have the feeling even a chopping utensil would not be enough to sever the vines.


    There had been so many vines that had sprouted from the ground to reach into the skies. They formed a viney canopy overhead like a network of vines to enshrine Bai Yunfei underneath!


    Everything had happened in the one second Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier dropped and left him unprotected. One second was all it took to go from being protected to ensnared!


    ¡­¡­


    The dark-green web continued to grow overhead as Bai Yunfei stood there. It was starting to close in when he finally made up his mind to fight!


    And all at once, his body started to explode with power!


    A powerful enemy was up ahead, and he hadn¡¯t the luxury to go if he wanted to or to even have a proper ¡®discussion¡¯.


    The only thing left to do was fight!

 Chapter 917: Battling Qin Long

    The vines continued to spread throughout the skies, intersecting one another for an attempt to fully block out the skies. With the amount of elemental wood infused into them, the vines shined a deep green color and basked Bai Yunfei in an equally green glow. Then when the weaves of the vines was complete, it started to shrink in on itself!


    The amount of elemental wood in the vines only grew denser as time went on. Small spikes were already forming all over the surface of the vines to become like thorns, and it was looking like Bai Yunfei would be turned into a sieve if he didn¡¯t hurry and escape from here¡­


    It wasn¡¯t just the skies that the vines were covering. A great few vines were also coming out from the ground to ensnare Bai Yunfei and prevent him from moving!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Bai Yunfei took everything going on around him in stride. There was a brilliant flash of red light as the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in his right hand. He brandished it with a small twirl of his hand and slammed the spear onto the nearby vines. By themselves, the vines were as hard as metal. In front of the Fire-tipped Spear, they may as well have been like straw rope. Every time the edge of his spear met vine, there was a burst of fire before the spear rendered the vine into ash.


    Each vine was decimated and burnt to ashes with ease like it wasn¡¯t even there. No matter how many of the vines that popped up from the ground, Bai Yunfei would hack away at them without stop.


    After a while, Bai Yunfei stopped caring for the new vines that were growing up from the ground. He set his eyes onto the skies above and took off with an explosive leap to fly up!


    The net of vines covering the skies was about fifty meters in circumference. Bai Yunfei¡¯s body lit up with a bright red bonfire so as to try and burn away the vines as he approached, but he found himself unable to do so. Qin Long was putting more elemental wood into these vines compared to the ones that had attacked Bai Yunfei from below. Even a low-heaven tier soul armament would be unable to cut away the network of vines.


    He was at the very roof of the net now. Since his own elemental fire hadn¡¯t done much to burn away at the vines, Bai Yunfei opted to use the Fire-tipped Spear and lash out!


    All of the flames that were burning inside that area was drawn to the Fire-tipped Spear when he lashed out. Coiling around the shaft and then to the tip of the blade, the flames concentrated there to aid in its thrusting strength for it to stab into the vines!


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    The tip of the Fire-tipped Spear touched upon one of the many vines holding up the net. There was a spark at first before the rest of the spear followed through to pierce deep into the vine!


    ¡°Clang¡­boom!!!¡±


    An ear-deafening explosion rocked the interior of the cage moments after the spear made contact with the vines. The flames that burst out from the Fire-tipped Spear were so much stronger than Bai Yunfei¡¯s initial attempt that they immediately blasted apart the vines!


    +10 Additional Effect of the Fire-tipped Spear: Explosion!


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side of the cage of vines, everyone watched with bated breaths. Only a scant few seconds had passed since the cage first went up, so everyone was surprised to see it broken and have Bai Yunfei come soaring out in the open so quickly!


    ¡°He broke it!! Bai Yunfei managed to escape from the vine cage!! I heard lord Qin used this to kill a mid-stage class seven soulbeast before in Soulbeast Forest. Not even a Late-stage Soul King would have an easy time getting through. But¡­Bai Yunfei did it in just a few seconds!¡±


    ¡°Here comes another! Bai Yunfei¡¯s using another one of his soul armaments! And it was able to break apart the vine cage when even most mid-heaven tier soul armaments can¡¯t! That crimson-red spear of his¡­is definitely a high-heaven tier!¡±


    Bai Yunfei flew three hundred meters up into the air while everyone was talking about him. Now that he was free of the vines, he could stand there and take a look at Qin Long.


    ¡°Your two sons were acting strangely before they died! I didn¡¯t kill them, they went mad and self-destructed as soon as they got near me! I didn¡¯t do a thing!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice was like a clap of thunder to revertebrate across the area loud and clear.


    ¡°Who else could have killed them but you?! Die!!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t any use. Everything Bai Yunfei could possibly say right now would sound nothing more than just an ¡®excuse¡¯ in the ears of Qin Long. The elder wasn¡¯t in any mood to chat with Bai Yunfei and everything he heard from Bai Yunfei so far had only served to anger him further. Howling in anger, he flipped through several hand seals to start a new attack!


    Elemental wood converged into the world around him in a matter of seconds. Accumulating over his head, the elemental wood soon began to form into a gigantic tree!


    Qin Long jabbed his finger at Bai Yunfei as soon as the tree was had fully materialized. At his command, the tree started to make a quick descent to try and crush Bai Yunfei! The size of the tree was basically the same size as a mountain itself with the amount of coverage it had. He¡¯d be nothing but dust if he was hit by something like that!


    Like with the last attack, this tree was locked onto his aura. Bai Yunfei knew that this attack wouldn¡¯t be dodgeable, so he decided in that one moment to raise his left hand up to face the incoming attack!


    ¡°Bz¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal appeared right beside him in a burst of buzzing and fire!


    Like if he had just tossed a fiery sun, the Cataclysmic Seal flew forward and grew in both size and intensity. It was already a hundred meters tall before it could even meet with Qin Long¡¯s attack!


    The Cataclysmic Seal met with the gigantic tree with a furious crash. Elemental fire and wood clashed against each other as the two attacks vied for supremacy!


    ¡°Boom boom boom!!¡±


    One after another, the world was wracked with explosions and tremors as the giant tree began to fall apart into multiple groupings of dark-green light. The Cataclysmic Seal had been knocked by from the blast and was now returning to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side in its normal brick-sized form.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body trembled violently when the tree slammed into the Cataclysmic Seal. It was as if his body was hit by the brick and his muscles were aching from the blow. The tree had done a number onto him.


    But it was Qin Long who came out the worse between the two¡­


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    Blood splattered out from his mouth the moment when the giant tree crumbled! His body trembled mightily and his soulforce reserves dropped a third in magnitude! Now there was a third emotion in his eye besides the anger and shock from before.


    Disbelief.


    But that didn¡¯t stop the man from moving. He hardly took the time to wipe the blood from his lips before he charged straight for Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei was a little surprised that Qin Long would try to close the distance rather than do the opposite and attack from afar. If Qin Long wanted a close-quarters fight, then Bai Yunfei was all too happy to oblige. Brandishing the Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei flew in to get closer, but then¡­he suddenly stopped and began to retreat instead!


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    Practically milliseconds after he retreated, a sharp green vine came up from the ground to attack!


    He hadn¡¯t expected the vine to come this far out of the ground! And with all the elemental wood from the giant tree blurring the ground below, it was extremely hard for Bai Yunfei to notice anything out of the ordinary. Had he been just a beat slower, the vine would¡¯ve skewered him from top to bottom¡­


    Happy was Bai Yunfei for dodging such a sneaky move, but he hadn¡¯t the time to properly celebrate the moment when he raised his Fire-tipped Spear up over his head!


    ¡°Clang!¡± Coming to a stop just above his head was a dark-green longsword.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    The next thing Bai Yunfei heard was a sneer before it felt like something had been dropped into his mindspace!


    This was¡­a soul attack!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face went pale and his eyes grew hazy with unfocus. The protective layer of elemental energy around his body started to flicker as if ready to collapse!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    A bone-chilling roar echoed into his ears as a green-lit palm flew down to slam onto his face!


    Pupils practically the size of needles now, Bai Yunfei tried his best to disengage and pull as far away as Qin Long as possible.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a sickening thud as the palm that had originally been intended for Bai Yunfei¡¯s head slammed instead onto his chest!

 Chapter 918: Counterattack!

    Everyone watched Qin Long¡¯s palm smash onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest with bated breaths. Qin Long¡¯s attack was like a sledgehammer, and everyone knew that the power behind the blow was definitely hard enough to deal grievous harm to Bai Yunfei such as breaking a few bones.


    ¡°Yunfei!!!¡±


    Up on top of the mountain she was on, Tang Xinyun let out a loud cry of panic at the sight of Bai Yunfei injured and made an attempt to run for him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯s fine.¡±


    An invisible force of energy wrapped around Tang Xinyun to stop her from moving. It was Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Fine?¡± Tang Xinyun was incredulous. ¡°Is he really?¡± She asked.


    Xiao Qi looked as calm as ever. ¡°Of course. You think I wouldn¡¯t know? Don¡¯t get in Yunfei¡¯s fight and just wait here.¡±


    The calm demeanor of Xiao Qi was somewhat calming to Tang Xinyun. She knew Xiao Qi would never use Yunfei¡¯s health as a joke of any kind, so if he said Bai Yunfei was fine, then he was most likely fine.


    She still couldn¡¯t help but worry though and turned her head to continue watching the battle.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was sent flying away from Qin Long when he was struck, but no one thought that he¡¯d suddenly come to a screeching halt in the air just a few dozen meters away!


    He flipped over to press his right foot perpendicular to the ground against a seemingly invisible wall. A small trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his lips to indicate that he had indeed been injured in the blow earlier, but it wasn¡¯t anything too major. Snapping his head up, Bai Yunfei gave Qin Long an intense glare!


    His left hand raised up to jab his finger at Qin Long. Then he said¡­


    ¡°Halt!!¡±


    That single word was like the activation code for the Charm Bracelet on his left wrist and the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead to suddenly start to pulsate with a faint light!


    There was no fluctuation in elemental energy or change in the world around them. The only thing was that Qin Long had for some reason suddenly tremble and started to slow down!!


    The Soul Anchor Technique!!


    Bai Yunfei had finally decided to make use of one of his ultimate moves!


    He wasn¡¯t using the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form just yet, so he was still a Mid-stage Soul King in strength. While he was stronger than anyone else in the same power level, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t a match for Late-stage Soul Kings yet. It was evident to see the disparage in strength between him and Qin Long earlier when he used the Fire-tipped Spear and Cataclysmic Seal to attack and was rebuffed with ease. Trying to rely on just those two soul armaments alone would be taxing, to say the least, but that wasn¡¯t the most desirable option.


    Only two blows were exchanged, but Bai Yunfei was a little surprised by how powerful Qin Long was. His battle with Li Fenghai had been comparatively ¡®easier¡¯ than this one, so Bai Yunfei had now a better grasp on just how powerful a Late-stage Soul King could be. If he wanted to win on his own merits, then he¡¯d have to use the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form for a better chance and ¡®Berserk Mode¡¯ for a definitive chance.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to do either of those. It¡¯d be a far too fast and ¡®easy¡¯ fight, and Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to improve as much if he did that.


    He was going to use this fight with Qin Long as a way to gain valuable combat experience!


    He wanted to see how strong he could be in his normal state. He wanted to see how his chances were!


    And the first thing he¡¯d try would be a soul attack!


    When Bai Yunfei was distracted by the vines and slammed with that soul attack of Qin Long, retaliating with a soul attack of his own was a possibility. But if he did that, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do a proper counterattack¡­


    So he chose to simply accept the soul attack!!


    The full brunt of Qin Long¡¯s soul attack was blunted thanks to the abilities of the Soul Sentinel Scarf. Bai Yunfei could ward off the worse of the damages and pretend to be deeply affected when Qin Long slammed his palm onto his chest.


    What every single one of the spectators watching the fight didn¡¯t notice was that Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t actually been hit by the full force of Qin Long¡¯s fist. A gray whirlpool had appeared over Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest when the fist was about to slam into his chest and sucked Qin Long¡¯s hand into it. Though it didn¡¯t do much against the physical fist itself, the elemental energy around Qin Long¡¯s fist was taken away into the whirlpool and disappeared!


    It was the +10 additional effect of the armor he was wearing.


    +10 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, create a devouring whirlpool of darkness that negates any elemental attack directed towards the user.Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    So what actually hit Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest was just an ordinary fist with the only muscle to back up the blow. None of the elemental energy was there.


    The blow was still surprisingly strong despite that. Qin Long¡¯s strength was enough that even his armor was unable to shrug off the entirety of the blow, and Bai Yunfei could feel his organs shudder from the shock. It was just a small miscalculation and only earned a small injury. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t truly injured just yet.


    Since his opponent had kindly attacked him, Bai Yunfei would return the favor now then!


    So he unleashed the strongest soul attack he could unleash onto Qin Long while he thought he was injured!


    The Soul Anchor Technique was strong beyond belief¡ªespecially after considering the +12 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    +12 Additional Effect: 200% Increase in spirit-based attacks.


    Because of those factors, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul attack managed to do more harm than what would normally be intended on an enemy stronger than him!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei disappeared into a blaze of fire the moment after he said ¡®halt¡¯ to charge straight for Qin Long!


    Several dozen meters were traversed before Bai Yunfei thrust the Fire-tipped Spear at Qin Long¡¯s throat!


    Qin Long was in shock, needless to say. He hadn¡¯t expected that someone weaker than him like Bai Yunfei would be able to unleash such a powerful soul attack. He didn¡¯t even expect to see Bai Yunfei be able to shrug off one of his palm strikes like that and then counterattack so heavily!!


    The Soul Anchor Technique only served to disorientate him for a brief moment. But that brief moment was enough for the Fire-tipped Spear to reach his face!


    Qin Long blanched. By forcing his body to move, he managed to shift his positioning by just enough to allow the Fire-tipped Spear to graze past his throat.


    A sheet of sweat formed on his forehead. But he would not be discouraged. A sword materialized in his hand before he moved to slice at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    ¡°Schwing!!¡±


    The sword connected with Bai Yunfei and severed his head from his shoulders!


    Then the ¡®Bai Yunfei¡¯ in front of Qin Long disappeared into a cloud of smoke!


    Stunned, Qin Long blinked as he tried to figure out what had just happened. But then the answer came to him in the form of two spears coming from his left and right!


    The Fire-tipped Spear¡¯s +12 additional effect: Doppelganger!


    Eyes widening at the sudden attack, Qin Long brandished his sword and slashed towards his right. It slammed with the spear coming from that direction as his left hand flicked upwards at the wrist to call out a thick green vine to act as a shield against the spear coming from his left.


    ¡°Shhickt!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Two separate collisions were had as the spear from the right grazed past the sword and cut across Qin Long¡¯s waist. The spear from the left slammed straight onto the vine and exploded in a red light before disappearing along with the Bai Yunfei that had been holding onto it.


    Qin Long¡¯s decisions on how to block the attacks were the ¡®fortunate¡¯ ones. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to get away with such a light wound across his waist had he decided to swap the way he blocked the two doppelgangers¡­


    That didn¡¯t mean he was completely safe from danger though¡­


    He might¡¯ve managed to stop the real Bai Yunfei coming from the right, but he didn¡¯t stop him from getting within arm¡¯s reach!


    The Fire-tipped Spear remained where it was so Bai Yunfei could clench his left hand tightly. Red and metal light shined together in his fist before he slammed it across Qin Long¡¯s waist!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    One loud explosion later, Qin Long was sent flying away like a bullet!!

 Chapter 919: An Obstruction

    No one could believe their eyes at what they were seeing. A few seconds ago, the group all saw Bai Yunfei be sent flying away by Qin Long after suffering what had to be a serious wound. Then in the next moment, Bai Yunfei made a quick reversal and was the one to send Qin Long flying away!


    The reversal was even more surprising when one considered the distance each person flew when hit. Bai Yunfei had barely gone anywhere, but¡­Qin Long was still flying hundreds of meters away without signs of stopping!


    Due to the angle of Qin Long¡¯s body, none of the spectators were able to see the armor he was wearing and the hole that existed on it. Parts of his robes had already been blasted apart around the area to reveal the dark-green soul armor underneath. With the fragments already falling away, the flesh underneath it could be seen to having a deep imprint of a fist on it!


    The Eighty-one Fold Fist Force, the equipment effect of the Critical Glove (Increase damage dealt against wood or metal-typed enemies by 100%), the +10 additional effect (three times the attack), and the +12 additional effect (four times the attack). All three were combined together for one single attack!


    In a way, this one punch could be said to be Bai Yunfei¡¯s strongest punch!


    And combined with the timing of Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch, the results of the blow had been simply divine. The outside layer of elemental wood around Qin Long was blasted apart and the armor he wore had already lost a portion of its defensive might. Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist had done direct damage to Qin Long¡¯s health!


    Bai Yunfei was only a Mid-stage Soul King, but the power behind his fist was powerful enough to have the Late-stage Soul King fly back with blood spurting out from his mouth!


    And a large amount of elemental metal and fire was still pouring into Qin Long¡¯s body!


    Qin Long¡¯s face was an ashen gray. His soulforce was trying its best to drive out the invading energy in his body, but that meant he wasn¡¯t able to move as efficiently as he¡¯d like. So that left him flying like a kite without a string farther away!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    One muffled explosion later, everyone watched as Qin Long¡¯s body crashed into a faraway mountain. Rubble and dirt flew everywhere as his landing created a huge crater onto the surface of the mountain and even causing a landslide! Qin Long¡¯s figure couldn¡¯t even be seen¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°No¡­no way?! Lord Qin was¡­he was defeated?!¡±


    ¡°And with just one punch?! Lord Qin only managed to give Bai Yunfei a punch of his own, how¡¯d¡­how¡¯d he lose?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m dreaming¡­I¡¯ve gotta be dreaming! How could a Mid-stage Soul King have so much power in just one punch!? How can it be strong enough to do that much damage to a Late-stage Soul King?!¡±


    ¡°No way¡­who said Qin Long would be defeated that easily? Shouldn¡¯t he still be able to fight?¡±


    They all watched the mountain crumble from the top with wide-open eyes. Everyone looked like they had seen a ghost with how unexpected the outcome of the fight between Bai Yunfei and Qin Long was.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Another loud explosion caught their attention again as the mountain crumbled. But a figure in green was flying out from the wreckage.


    ¡°He¡¯s fine! I¡¯ve said it before, lord Qin is a man of power. How could he lose so easily!¡±


    ¡°No way¡­his aura is definitely weaker than before. Look at Bai Yunfei, he doesn¡¯t even look like he¡¯s out of breath. Doesn¡¯t it look like Bai Yunfei will be the victor?¡±


    Everyone looked from Bai Yunfei to Qin Long to compare auras. Qin Long was indeed looking a little weaker than before, but still amazingly powerful. There were a few soul cultivators who were sharp-eyed enough to tell that Qin Long wasn¡¯t looking very hot with his right hand clutching at the left part of his waist. The wound he sustained there must¡¯ve been quite heavy.


    ¡­¡­


    Qin Long was shaking. Elemental wood flowed through his body erratically as it continued to dispel the foreign energy inside it. His organs were beginning to start to heal again at a surprisingly fast rate.


    It could hardly be said that Qin Long was feeling calm when he saw the death of his son. What father could possibly remain calm at the sight of that? It didn¡¯t matter how strong a father was, no one was mentally strong enough for that.


    There was only one thing Qin Long was thinking about right now¡­the death of Bai Yunfei!


    It didn¡¯t matter who Bai Yunfei was! Disciple of the Crafting School? Instructor of Tianhun Academy? Son-in-law to the Tang?


    Pah!


    That didn¡¯t mean a thing! The deaths of his two sons would be repaid with the blood of Bai Yunfei!


    So his attacks were made without any reservations. Any ordinary Mid-stage Soul King would¡¯ve died after just one blow for sure, let alone the second and third¡­everything he did was done for the sake of the complete annihilation of his foe.


    In the end¡­things hadn¡¯t gone as he expected. Bai Yunfei was far stronger than he initially thought. Not only had he failed to kill the younger male and had each of his moves ¡®easily¡¯ rebuffed, but Qin Long had also been struck by one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s attacks and heavily injured!


    Should he give up on trying to deal with Bai Yunfei then?


    Of course not!


    ¡°You¡¯ll die¡­! You¡¯ll accompany my sons to their deaths! Die!!¡±


    The rage of losing his two sons was too much for Qin Long to bear. What point was there in having to act solemn if his sons were dead? Qin Long cared for only one thing¡ªkilling Bai Yunfei! Nothing else mattered but his death!


    His howls of anger were accompanied by another burst of power as he unleashed even more of his strength!


    He disappeared into a blur of green light to fly straight for Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei snorted in defiance of him. Not bothering to back down, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura began to spike as well before he took off in a streak of red light to greet Qin Long!


    Green and red light shone everywhere in the sky as the two rays drew closer and closer to each other. The audience was deathly silent now, afraid that even just breathing would force them to miss the inevitable collision between the two¡­


    But¡­then a light-green ray of light came flying from Swallow City to shoot straight at Bai Yunfei with incredible speed!


    Within this ray of light was another elder from the Qin, the Early-stage Soul King Qin Pingzhi!


    Having been watching the fight for a while now, Qin Pingzhi could hardly hold himself back now that things were looking dangerous for the Qin. Without hesitation, he threw himself at Bai Yunfei for an ambush!


    ¡°Looking for trouble there!?¡±


    Xiao Qi came swooping down from the skies then to intercept the incoming Qin Pingzhi.


    ¡°Eh?¡± But then before Xiao Qi could stop the man, an orange streak of light came flying out from the right side of Qin Pingzhi to stand in the way between him and Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    With orange meeting green and Bai Yunfei and Qin Long drawing close to each other, the sky was a mixed palette of four different colors for an awe-inspiring picture.


    Qin Pingzhi was forced away from his trajectory and had to leap back several hundred meters along with whomever it was that had stopped him.


    While they came to a stop, Bai Yunfei and Qin Long were right on the verge of clashing!


    Within the green streak of light, Qin Long held an emerald-colored longsword that shined almost as brightly as he did and poised to strike at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat.


    Within the burning flames of red, Bai Yunfei clutched his Fire-tipped Spear tightly with the flames forming a draconic shape around him to surge towards Qin Long¡¯s heart!


    Neither Bai Yunfei nor Qin Long had any intentions of backing off. They were fully prepared to go through with their attacks!


    A furious light entered Qin Long¡¯s eye. His left hand retrieved a sparkling-green shield from his space ring to protect his center where the Fire-tipped Spear was coming from. On the other side, Bai Yunfei was reaching out with his left hand to swipe at the sword coming at him!


    What Bai Yunfei was doing seemed foolish to Qin Long. How could his mid-heaven tier be stopped with just a swipe like that? ¡°How foolish!¡± He thought!


    But to his surprise¡­


    Sparks flew everywhere when Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand gripped onto the tip of his sword, pinching it tightly between his palm and fingers!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    He saw it happen right in front of his eyes, but Qin Long was still having an extremely hard time believing it was true!


    While he was processing that, the Fire-tipped Spear was already about to strike onto his shield!


    ¡°Clang¡­boom!!¡±


    A loud explosion caught Qin Long¡¯s attention away from his sword. Looking over, Qin Long gasped when he saw the state of his mid-heaven tier shield¡ªthere was a hole in it!


    And then came the Fire-tipped Spear. Twinkling with a crimson-red light, the fearsome spear sailed through the hole to stab at him!


    The dread of death descended down upon Qin Long. His heart plummeted in fear as he tried to bring up his left hand in time to try and fling away the spear.


    But he wasn¡¯t wearing a glove like the Critical Glove, how could he possibly do the same to the Fire-tipped Spear as Bai Yunfei did to his sword? The spear simply speared straight through Qin Long¡¯s palm to strike at his chest!


    That was when everything in the world suddenly took a strange turn!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    A clap of thunder blasted across the skies as a bolt of purple lightning came down to come in between Bai Yunfei and Qin Long!


    Then almost as loud as the preceding bolt of thunder, a voice spoke out¡­


    ¡°Stay your hands!¡±

 Chapter 920: Lord-mayor of Swallow City

    The bolt of purple lightning was like a dividing line between the two halves of its path. Striking the earth with a mighty crash, the bolt of lightning illuminated the area for one instantaneous moment before it faded away to leave behind a crater and a storm of dust to cover all. Even Bai Yunfei and Qin Long were obscured by the dust.


    The drop of lightning had been so sudden! Everyone¡¯s breath hitched within their throats when a fifth source of soulforce exploded onto the area to cover the entire battlefield with it!


    A ripple splashed across the skies to allow for a person to walk out from behind it. This elderly figure wore an expensive-looking embroidered robe and had a regal aura to his entire person. Violet light flashed from all around him where he stood as if he was the living embodiment of divine lightning.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­the lord-mayor!! The lord-mayor is here! What powerful soulforce¡­he¡¯s even stronger than lord Qin!!¡±


    ¡°The lord-mayor is here! What timing! Someone would¡¯ve died if he was late by even just a few seconds.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on between Bai Yunfei and lord Qin? Did the lord-mayor manage to stop that last attack?¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that Qin Pingzhi that just ¡®ambushed¡¯ Bai Yunfei just now? Who was the person that stopped him?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The battlefield had taken such a strange turn in the last few seconds that hardly anyone could understand what was going on.


    They just knew that the one who was interfering in the battle now was the lord-mayor of Swallow City, the lightning-type Late-stage Soul King, Yan Tianxing!


    He was at the moment staring at the place where Bai Yunfei and Qin Long had been. His eyes twinkled with a mysterious light as if thinking about something at first, but then a surprised expression came across his face as he watched a figure in red fly out from the dust before a figure in green flew out from the other direction.


    It was Bai Yunfei and Qin Long. Neither of the two looked all too worse for wear, especially Qin Long. That meant the spear hadn¡¯t managed to pierce his chest.


    What surprised Qin Long was Bai Yunfei. When he saw Bai Yunfei retreat, Yan Tianxing could¡¯ve sworn he saw a flicker of purple lightning come to life within the red flames before disappearing back into it again.


    The shield Qin Long used earlier to defend himself was utterly useless now. He tossed away the fragments a little absent-mindedly and retreated back several hundred steps more. He didn¡¯t make another attack. Either Bai Yunfei¡¯s tactics had frightened him off, or Yan Tianxing¡¯s arrival was a large enough obstruction for him to think otherwise.


    ¡°Lord Qin, Bai Yunfei¡­I hope we can cease this needless battle and discuss this peacefully.¡±


    Yan Tianxing spoke slowly, but carefully.


    ¡°I am the lord-mayor of Swallow City, Yan Tianxing.¡± He added for Bai Yunfei.


    The only sign of recognition Bai Yunfei had for his title was just a small flicker of light. ¡°Pleased to meet you, lord Yan.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei!¡±


    A streak of orange flew forward from the other side of Bai Yunfei. It was the person that had helped get in the way of Qin Pingzhi earlier.


    ¡°Brother Xiao Nan. Thank you for your assistance earlier.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled in pleasant surprise at the person.


    The person who helped him was Xiao Nan!


    ¡°Oh? Is this your friend?¡± Yan Tianxing spoke in idle curiosity.


    Xiao Nan cupped his hands in salute. ¡°This one is an instructor of Tianhun Academy, Xiao Nan. It is an honor to meet you, lord Yan.¡±


    ¡°An instructor from Tianhun Academy¡­¡± Yan Tianxing replied as he cupped his hands back. Xiao Nan was much younger than he was, but the man was surprisingly also a Soul King at his young age. And an instructor at Tianhun Academy as well.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little complicated here, you shouldn¡¯t have come out, brother Xiao Nan. It¡¯d be best that I deal with all this¡­¡± Bai Yunfei whispered to Xiao Nan.


    ¡°We¡¯re both instructors of Tianhun Academy, how could I not get involved when you were in trouble? I might not be as strong as you, but even I can help even the odds for you. But the case is indeed complicated as you say¡­how¡¯d the two sons die in front of you? There¡¯s no chance of a calm negotiation now¡­¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t figure that out,¡± Bai Yunfei huffed, ¡°it was like they both went crazy were in a rush to die. I didn¡¯t even do anything before they blew themselves up¡­I won¡¯t be able to smile my way out of this¡­¡±


    ¡°Lord Yan! This is a private matter between the Qin and Bai Yunfei! Stay out of this! I will not live under the same skies as the killer of my sons! I¡¯ll make sure he¡¯ll accompany my two sons to the underworld!!¡±


    A few hundred meters away, Qin Long was giving Bai Yunfei a tremendous death stare as he howled to Yan Tianxing.


    ¡°Sons?!¡± Yan Tianxing was taken aback¡ªhe had only known about the death of Qin Shoufeng. The lord-mayor only started to head out from the city when he felt Qin Long¡¯s aura blazing outside of it and hurried over. It was only a short while for him to reach this place, but the second son of Qin Long had actually died during that time! It was startling news that also made Yan Tianxing feel regretful. Any chance of an ¡®amicable¡¯ talk was no longer possible between Bai Yunfei and Qin Long.


    But his duties as lord-mayor of Swallow City and Marquis of the Swallow Province prohibited him from allowing Bai Yunfei to die here in the proximity of Swallow City. Swallow City would be swallowed up by no small amount of trouble should Bai Yunfei die here.


    But what was he to do then?! He couldn¡¯t exactly say that this was a case of misunderstanding and that they should talk things out over a nice cup of tea! The hate Qin Long had for Bai Yunfei was justifiable and unrelenting. How could he possibly stand to persuaded to ¡®negotiate¡¯ with the killer of his sons?


    Yan Tianxing felt the starting of a headache begin in his mind as he tried to think of a solution.


    ¡°Lord Yan, there¡¯s a few things I would like to clarify about this situation. I was originally leaving Swallow City to avoid any trouble. It was Qin Shoufeng that chased after me and started to fight. I only wanted to injure him, but he decided to self-destruct before I could take actions to prevent it. Then Qin Shouhao came. He wanted to fight me as well after he saw Qin Shoufeng die but knew he wasn¡¯t strong enough to beat me and left to Swallow City. He came back shortly afterward and self-destructed just as quickly as his younger brother. I believe the two of them were influenced by someone to go crazy. In short¡­I didn¡¯t do anything to kill anyone. I am confident many of the passersby can bear witness to this. Most of them are still here, in fact, you can ask them. I hope lord Yan will deal out justice in this matter.¡±


    Bai Yunfei made sure to summarize the series of events that had just happened to him and to emphasize how strange the circumstances were behind Qin Shouhao and Qin Shoufeng¡¯s deaths. He also wanted to make sure he had a way out in the case that people started to think he was the actual murderer.


    ¡°Oh? Is that so?¡± Yan Tianxing remarked. ¡°Could the two brothers be bewitched? If that is the case¡­¡±


    ¡°What utter nonsense!! I can¡¯t even bring myself to laugh at it!!¡± Qin Long barked, ¡°Bewitchment?! My son was fine just the day before and when he was at the auction, how could he possibly have been bewitched? Illusionary arts wouldn¡¯t even be able to influence a person¡¯s emotions to self-destruct in the first place! You¡¯re using an excuse for your crimes, but these excuses are utterly ridiculous!!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct! Little Hao and Feng were with me just an hour ago, and the both of them were just fine! How could the two of them be under the influence of any technique during that time? Hints of bewitchment would be noticeable to see, would they not? And I¡¯ve never heard of anything that could possibly influence a person to decide to self-destruct! You are spouting nonsense of the highest order!¡±


    Qin Pingzhi piped up in agreement.


    The killing intent in Qin Long¡¯s eyes kicked up a notch to stare down the audience around them. ¡°You say there were many people here that saw the things you say? Then who is willing to testify?!¡±


    Though separated by several kilometers of distance, the people who had been watching the battle all looked off into a different direction when Qin Long looked over. Those who had been there when the two brothers died were especially quiet.


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. He knew that it¡¯d be hard for anyone to want to testify in this case. The Qin wasn¡¯t a family anyone would want to anger for no reason, especially if it meant sticking their necks out for someone they didn¡¯t even know.


    ¡°I¡¯ll testify! What Bai Yunfei said earlier is true! The two brothers were the ones to self-destruct! Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even do anything that¡¯d kill them!¡±


    But after several seconds passed, a loud and hoarse voice spoke out from among the crowd to the mountains on the right of Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 921: Proof

    Someone was actually willing to risk their life to testify for Bai Yunfei!


    It was a pleasant surprise that made Bai Yunfei feel extremely grateful. Qin Long hadn¡¯t the same emotions, however. And the others were all quite shocked¡­


    Following the source of the voice, everyone turned to look where five people were standing. Realizing the gazes, the group scattered apart to leave behind only one rather tall person standing there.


    This bulky man wore short sleeves to show off his muscular body. Not even Long Lan was as tall as this person or as muscular. Aside from his bulging muscles and overall physique, the aura of the man was exceedingly powerful as a Late-stage Soul Exalt.


    ¡°What did you say? Repeat yourself if you dare!¡± Qin Long barked. ¡°Lie to me again and I¡¯ll see to your death!¡±


    An ominous aura rolled out from Qin Long with an intimidating feel,


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Bai Yunfei unleashed a wave of his own soulforce to combat the oppressive aura of Qin Long. In between the two, the auras clashed and struggled against one another and formed a large storm.


    The brows of the man furrowed together, but he stood his ground. ¡°What Bai Yunfei said is right! I saw it myself and can testify for it!¡±


    ¡°How can one side of the story ever be enough to be proof?! You might as well be one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s friends for all we know!¡± Qin Pingzhi snapped in frustration.


    ¡°Heh, I knew you¡¯d say that!¡± The man snorted. ¡°But there¡¯s one thing you¡¯ve wrong. I don¡¯t just have my words as proof! I was lucky enough to buy an imaging stone back in the auction house, so I managed to record the moments of the two brother¡¯s death!¡±


    A small fist-sized stone appeared onto his hand.


    An imaging stone was a type of stone that could record the images of the surrounding area with varying degrees of distance depending on the grade of the stone. Imaging stones were rare, needless to say, and that one bronze mirror Bai Yunfei saw before at the auction house was actually a construct of various imaging stones.


    No one expected to see an imaging stone here, let alone one that had conveniently recorded the fight just now. Qin Long looked especially grim.


    The man wasted no time to get the imaging stone working. A pulse of orange light was transmitted into the stone before it started to glow. A series of images started to float up from the stone. Clearing up rapidly, the space above the stone started to shine with all sorts of colored light and images.


    From one of the many images shown in the sky was when Qin Shoufeng was en route to Bai Yunfei. The man had somehow the sense to record things started from then.


    The images showed the entirety of the struggle between Qin Shoufeng and Bai Yunfei starting from his initial charge to when Xiao Qi protected everyone else with a barrier of wind. The images blurred for a moment before showing Qin Shouhao appearing onto the scene where he was injured by Bai Yunfei and retreating. The images froze there for a moment here; the man must¡¯ve thought the fight was over and stopped recording.


    The next image to be shown was when Qin Shouhao came back to charge at Bai Yunfei and self-destruct.


    ¡­¡­


    While this was being shown, Mo Ni and the Black Dragon King were watching the scene unfold from their hiding spot on a mountainous forest.


    Mo Ni had been watching everything with a smile until the point when the man with imaging stone appeared.


    ¡°Damn! Someone is actually meddling in something he shouldn¡¯t be!¡±


    The reason why he didn¡¯t do anything in the city was to avoid having people find out about the strange actions of Qin Shoufeng or Qin Shouhao. Mo Ni just never expected to see that someone traveling away from the city at that time would actually have an imaging stone and use it to record the events!


    Well over a hundred people were there at the southern gates now¡ªmost of them Soul Exalts in strength and even a few Soul Kings. These people were more likely one of the many people that had joined in the auction earlier and saw everything that happened between Bai Yunfei and Qin Shoufeng. The unfortunate chance of having someone like that man appearing made Mo Ni want to vomit blood. He was even starting to worry a bit¡­


    The images recorded on the imaging stone continued to play until the very end when Bai Yunfei was fighting Qin Long. Without any other images to be shown, the light died away from the imaging stone to turn it back into an ordinary crystal.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The imaging stone hadn¡¯t the ability to record sound, but everything was still silent as the audience watched the events. Only the sound of the rustling wind could be heard to blow softly onto them.


    Bai Yunfei was happy to see the imaging stone. Who would¡¯ve thought that there¡¯d be a nice ray of sunshine in such a bleak moment? The imaging stone was valuable proof that could ¡®clear¡¯ things up. No one could say otherwise now that the imaging stone was showing the Qin brothers as being the ones to do anything.


    ¡°Lord Yan, lord Qin, I presume this will be enough proof that I didn¡¯t lie? I was not the one to kill either of the brothers, it was them who self-destructed. I am still confident there was something influencing their emotions. Please do not fall for their plan, lord Qin, and find the real reason behind your sons¡¯ death.¡±


    He stared at the silent Yan Tianxing and the uneasy looking Qin Long.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Yan Tianxing started to speak.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe this nonsense!! This¡­this recording is a fake!! You were Bai Yunfei¡¯s friend all along, give me that stone at once!!¡±


    Qin Long snarled in anger as he lashed out to grab at the man!


    A jade-colored palm of light flew out from Qin Long¡¯s hand to extend towards the large man, who blanched and tried to retreat. He didn¡¯t make it far before a fireball came flying in to crash into the palm and protect him.


    ¡°What? Lord Qin, surely you¡¯re not thinking of killing a witness?¡± Bai Yunfei stated ominously from his spot nearby. Everyone looked over to see Bai Yunfei slowly bringing his right hand with the Ardent Sun Glove down.


    ¡°You know that this isn¡¯t fake at all. This only just happened, how could the recordings be falsified? It¡¯s clear to see that I¡¯ve nothing to do with the deaths of your sons. Or¡­are you really that wanting to fight me?¡± Bai Yunfei raised his left hand up to show a crystalline object in it.


    ¡°Wha¡ª??¡± The bulky man whipped his head down at his own hand; he wasn¡¯t holding onto the imaging stone anymore!


    ¡°When¡­when did he take it?!¡± He was confounded. He hadn¡¯t noticed that Bai Yunfei had taken the stone away from him at all!


    Even the Soul Kings Yan Tianxing and Qin Long hadn¡¯t caught onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s motions!


    What they didn¡¯t know was the teleporting ability of the Core Stone. It didn¡¯t matter that it was in Tang Xinyun¡¯s hands since the Core Stone was still within range of Bai Yunfei for him to control. He wouldn¡¯t have to do anything and could still use the Core Stone to teleport the imaging stone onto his hand without disturbing anything.


    ¡°This is quite important, so I¡¯ll be maintaining its safety for now. Please excuse me, friend, I¡¯ll be sure to compensate you later.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled towards the bulky man.


    It took a moment for the man to react after that. ¡°Hah, that¡¯s fine! I feel it safer in your hands! Now I don¡¯t have to worry about it being stolen.¡±


    ¡°Lord Yan, this should show to prove the truth behind my words. How¡­do you believe we should continue then?¡±


    He looked to Yan Tianxing. The man had been quiet for all this time since the imaging stone was shown. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to wipe away every single doubt Yan Tianxing might have about this case, but this was a start at least. Yan Tianxing was essential to convince if he wanted to stop the Qin from coming after him. Yan Tianxing was representing the Tianhun School and the court after all.

 Chapter 922: Siding With the Other!

    Yan Tianxing was looking especially solemn as his mind raced to think of the best possible solution to this conundrum. On one side, he had an absolutely infuriated Qin Long. On the other was a calm-faced Bai Yunfei. He would have to make a stand now.


    ¡°This matter is a large one and cannot be determined so quickly. Regardless, the sons of Qin Long were killed in front of you, the chances of you being an uninvolved party is quite low¡­perhaps you should remain in Swallow City for now, my friend. Allow the Tianhun School to do their duties to clear this matter up.¡±


    ¡°You want me to stay?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed. He didn¡¯t want to stick around. The only reason he didn¡¯t leave earlier was to avoid being considered ¡®guilty¡¯ for running away. He had already given the proof he had and yet Yan Tianxing was still suspicious enough to want him to stay in Swallow City for the entire investigation.


    ¡°I¡¯ve some business to take care of and cannot stay long in Swallow City for the investigation. I said it before, I¡¯m an unrelated party to the deaths of the two. I didn¡¯t ki¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth!! Shut it!!¡± Not able to stay quiet any longer, Qin Long exploded with rage at him. ¡°You? Unrelated? You still have the gall to say that?! My two sons died in front of you, and you dare say you¡¯re unrelated?! Even if you didn¡¯t kill them, you were the catalyst to their deaths! Because of the betrothment, you humiliated my Feng¡¯er! You caused him to do this! And even if a third party did this, you are the reason why! Everything is your fault you murderer!¡±


    He was getting hysterical now. Comparatively more unhinged than before, Qin Long was starting to lose all semblance of dignity that¡¯d normally be related to a Late-stage Soul King. The death of two sons would do that to a person.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed with annoyance. He couldn¡¯t say that he didn¡¯t expect Qin Long to react this way. No way would any family just give up and say a person was unrelated to the deaths of someone if that someone died right in front of them.


    If Bai Yunfei had to guess, he and the Qin were involved in some sort of scheme with two possibilities. It was either something to hurt him or to hurt the Qin. So in a way, there was a chance that Bai Yunfei actually was an unrelated¡ªif unwilling¡ªparty to the deaths of the Qin brothers.


    Still, it was exceedingly annoying for him to have to suffer an ¡®unjustified¡¯ event like this. He was already having a hard time stomaching the anger he was feeling.


    It didn¡¯t matter if the goal was to hurt him or the Qin. The desired outcome was already had: Byf and the Qin would now have a grudge between the two that only death would be able to resolve. He really didn¡¯t want to make enemies with such a powerful family, but there wasn¡¯t any fighting it now. There was no way Qin Long would let him go after ¡®seeing¡¯ his two sons die in front of him.


    Qin Long was the head of the Qin, and with him was one of the other stronger members, Qin Pingzhi. Those two by themselves would¡¯ve been manageable to fight against, but they wouldn¡¯t be the only ones. Should a fight break out, the rest of the Qin would definitely make themselves known as well.


    Did that mean the still-mourning Qin Long would not fight Bai Yunfei in this case, then?


    The answer was¡­of course not!!


    ¡®Proof¡¯ and ¡®testimonies¡¯ hadn¡¯t any bearing on Qin Long. He wouldn¡¯t stand for talking with the ¡®murderer¡¯ of his sons any longer! The sound of a sword being swung into action could be heard as Qin Long charged out to Bai Yunfei to strike!


    ¡°Tch! He still wants to fight? Damn!!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed to himself and raised the Fire-tipped Spear up to prepare himself for battle.


    And since Qin Long was taking action, Qin Pingzhi decided to follow him into battle as well!


    ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯ll stop the Early-stage Soul King, you just focus on lord Qin.¡±


    Xiao Nan called out to Bai Yunfei as he brought out an orange-colored sword to his hand for battle.


    ¡°Alright! Be careful, brother Xiao Nan.¡± Bai Yunfei warned.


    The two streaks of light of dark and light green had already traveled a considerable distance to draw close to Bai Yunfei to strike.


    Bai Yunfei shot forward like a released arrow to clash with the dark-green ray of light. The two slammed into one another with Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear clashing with Qin Long¡¯s longsword.


    Xiao Nan waved his sword forward to send a beam of light. It traveled faster than he did to clash with the opposing beam of light shot from Qin Pingzhi and busted apart. Soon after, the two started to battle one another away from Qin Long and Bai Yunfei.


    No one aside from the four had been expecting a battle to take place so quickly and immediately took multiple steps back to retreat.


    ¡°You will cease this at once!!¡±


    A furious roar exploded into the area with such volume that it seemed to make even the clouds darken. The rumbling of thunder could be heard from them before sparks of lightning started to crackle and violet light started to shower the entire place.


    Yan Tianxing was truly angry now!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! Life is not something so trivially thrown aside. Both sons were killed in a fight with you regardless, and even if you¡¯re not involved, you will cease this and return to my manor for investigation at once!¡±


    Claps of thunder accompanied Yan Tianxing¡¯s voice this time. This was the anger of a Late-stage Soul King, where even his emotions could influence the nature around him. It was simple to see why; the fact that the two parties were fighting was a clear sign that neither party respected his authority.


    But¡­there was also something else to his words that made this situation a little more complex¡ªhis words were pointed at Bai Yunfei. ¡®Return to the manor for investigation¡¯? This was not an unbiased statement, this was a demand that would see to the benefit of the Qin!


    Even more importantly was what Yan Tianxing did next. He disappeared into a clap of thunder to turn into a bolt of violet light straight for¡­Bai Yunfei!


    This wasn¡¯t just him ¡®stopping¡¯ the battle, this was Yan Tianxing moving to ¡®help¡¯ Qin Long restrain Bai Yunfei!


    This had not gone unnoticed by Bai Yunfei. Having been previously preoccupied with his fight against Qin Long, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed when he caught sight of Yan Tianxing approaching.


    ¡°So you¡¯re favoring the Qin¡­you want to arrest me? In your dreams!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was angered too now. He hadn¡¯t any good opinion of Yan Tianxing from the start to begin with since the bolt of lightning to separate the two wasn¡¯t just to stop either participant to hurt each other. The bolt of lightning had actually been aimed at him more than Qin Long! Had he not the lightning companionseed and an extraordinary defense against elemental lightning to dodge the strike, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been injured for sure.


    He could see why Yan Tianxing acted the way he did. Yan Tianxing was the lord-mayor of Swallow City, and Qin Long was head of the Qin, the strongest family in Swallow City. The relationship between the two would definitely be quiet deep and would be taken into heavy consideration if an ¡®outsider¡¯ were to fight against the Qin like Bai Yunfei was doing now.


    If Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t a student of the Crafting School, Yan Tianxing would¡¯ve most likely spared Qin Long the benefit of the doubt and immediately move to strike Bai Yunfei down!


    All Bai Yunfei wanted to do was come to Swallow City to rescind the betrothment between Tang Xinyun and Qin Shoufeng. He stayed a day extra for the auction house but left the city so they could avoid any trouble. But nothing else. With something as troublesome like this happening all at once, how could Bai Yunfei not be angry? If words couldn¡¯t convince these people, then power would do the trick!


    ¡­¡­


    Qin Long didn¡¯t bother to give Bai Yunfei any time to breathe when he retreated. Heaving his sword, Qin Long lashed out to send blade after blade of energy at Bai Yunfei!


    The number of blades of wind was already quite astonishing to see, but even more bolts of violet lightning were descending down from the skies. They were all drawn towards one central point to form into a dragon made of lightning. At its head was Yan Tianxing to seemingly drop down the judgment of the heavens onto Bai Yunfei!


    With wind and lightning acting together, the environment of the battleground started to surge and twist chaotically.


    Then the attacks of both Late-stage Soul Kings dropped to attack Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 923: Surprising Developments on the Other Side

    There was a cave whose interior was as spacious as a large hall and its walls glimmering with sparkling light so that the entirety of the place shined quite brightly. This cave wasn¡¯t the product of a natural process, but a product of man. The markings were quite old and had moss growing everywhere, so this cave had to have been quite old.


    The strange thing about this relatively dark and deep cave was the temperature. It was dry and hot enough to make even an ordinary man start to sweat after a while.


    The origin of this heat was coming from the center of the cave where an elderly person sat.


    This elderly person wore black robes that looked quite spacious¡ªespecially since the elder himself was a very skinny one. He was practically a skeleton with a layer of skin almost that¡¯d make anyone think he could easily be blown over by the wind.


    But his aura was exceedingly vibrant despite his physical appearance. It had a rhythmic beat to it that filled the cave with power and heat.


    White sand covered the ground around this person in a way that seemed almost jarring. This sand wasn¡¯t something that belonged to the cave and was most likely from somewhere else. What it could be used for as a mystery though. The fact that it covered the legs of the elder was proof that it had been quite some time since the elder had moved¡­


    He wasn¡¯t the only one in the room though. There were another few white-haired elders that sat all around the cave. They were all powerfully strong and were¡­all Soul Kings!!


    They were all seated down on the ground and were focused onto the elder. From the looks of anticipation in their eyes, they were seemingly waiting for something¡­


    Sitting to the side of the only entrance to the cave was an elder dressed in rich-blue robes. His face had a decent amount of wrinkles and his hair and beard were both grizzly-white. He also looked similar to the head of the Qin¡ªthis was the previous head of the Qin and the father of Qin Long, Qin Tian!


    Qin Tian¡¯s eyes were focused entirely on the elder seated in the center of the cave. Every so often, his eyes would wander to the entrance of the cave as if worried about something.


    Then at some point, Qin Tian¡¯s eyes continued to stay at the entrance of the cave. He had noticed something that even everyone else in the cave seemed to notice.


    ¡°Clack¡­clack¡­clack¡­¡±


    A series of footsteps, quicker than the usual walking gait, disturbed the silence that had been in the cave. A figure in green soon came into view just a few dozen steps away from the cave before he entered it.


    ¡°My lord¡­my lord! Something¡­something bad has happened!!¡±


    The horrified voice of the runner made its way first to the cave before the runner himself did. Concerned, Qin Tian stared at the incoming figure; an elderly person who was wheezing from fatigue. ¡°What has happened back home?!¡± Qin Tian asked of the man.


    This elder was the one responsible for the everyday management of the Qin and someone that had been with Qin Tian since childhood. He went into seclusion the same year when Qin Tian did but was still one of the important members of the Qin. Though a Late-stage Soul Exalt, this man was quite powerful and had watched Qin Hu and Qin Long grow up. If there was something that could make him this flustered, then there had to be something awful taking place back home.


    The elder¡¯s face was deathly white as if he had just seen a ghost. ¡°Qin¡­Qin Hu,¡± He started to stammer, ¡°Qin Hu was assassinated! And¡­Qin Xu, Qin Yuan, Qin Chen, Qin Lin, and Qin Gan¡­they were also killed!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Qin Tian¡¯s pupils dilated in surprise. ¡°Repeat yourself at once!!¡± He flew to his feet.


    ¡°Qin Hu¡­Qin Hu and the five members guarding Qin Manor were¡­they were all killed!¡±


    ¡°How can that be?! How could Qin Hu be assassinated!¡±


    The other occupants within the room were starting to cry out now, each one of them was in disbelief.


    Qin Hu was a Mid-stage Soul King! How could he be assassinated within the safety of his own home! This surely had to be a farce!


    ¡°And¡­¡± But the man had more to say. ¡°And¡­¡±


    ¡°And?!¡± Qin Tian¡¯s face was absolutely demonic-looking. ¡°And what else?¡±


    ¡°The first and second young masters¡­were¡­¡± The elder was having trouble speaking now. ¡°They were¡­¡± He winced, ¡°They were killed by Bai Yunfei just south of Swallow City!!¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    A wave of shock flew through Qin Tian¡¯s head with the ferocity as if someone had launched a soul attack on him. He staggered a few steps, ¡°What¡­what did you say?¡± He managed to say.


    ¡°The two young masters, they were¡­killed by Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School!¡± The elder looked almost physically pained to repeat it.


    ¡°Qin Shoufeng and Qin Shouhao were killed?! Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School?! The one that came with Tang Xinyun not too long ago?! How and why? What happened?!¡±


    Since Qin Tian was in silence for a while, another elder spoke out to voice his thoughts for him.


    ¡°We¡­we don¡¯t know what happened¡­I went back to the manor with the head and learned that Qin Hu had been assassinated. We hadn¡¯t even finished investigating when we heard that the second young master had been killed by Bai Yunfei. The head was infuriated and flew out to reach the outskirts, only to see the first young master self-destruct in front of Bai Yunfei!! I came here at once to give a report¡­but the head was already fighting Bai Yunfei by the time I left!¡± The man relayed as quickly and succinctly as he could.


    It was shocking news for everyone around. Qin Tian couldn¡¯t even find within himself the proper emotions to react with. Despite him being a Soul King, he was finding it hard to accept the news of such a disturbing series of events to take place in his own family.


    It was especially hard for him to accept it in fact. Not only had two of his sons been killed, but his two grandsons as well.


    ¡°The head is fighting with Bai Yunfei? That is no good! The head will kill Bai Yunfei under his grief! His death will incur the wrath of the Bai Yunfei and could mean the annihilation of our family!!¡±


    A white-robed elder from within the cave shrieked.


    But another elder nearby him sneered. ¡°Pah!! So be it if he dies! Should he be spared if he killed two of our own?! The Crafting School may be powerful, but they are not all-mighty! The Qin will fight to the last if the need arrives!¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t say that! Now is a very important time, we cannot afford any mishaps to happen!¡± Another elder interjected, ¡°We don¡¯t even know the identity of whoever assassinated Qin Hu and the others. To wage war with the Crafting School would be completely unwise! We should capture Bai Yunfei, but keep him alive! Then¡­when the patriarch becomes a Soul Emperor, we¡¯ll have the strength to do battle with the Crafting School!¡±


    ¡°An excellent idea! The patriarch is close to the final ¡®Soul Aggregation¡¯. If he can succeed with this, he¡¯ll definitely become a Soul Emperor! Our Qin will be heralded into a golden era for forever and ever! We must preserve!!¡± A scholarly middle-aged man cried out. ¡°Brother-in-law, only you would be powerful enough to stop the head. We cannot let him kill Bai Yunfei right now!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Varying degrees of emotions flickered across Qin Tian¡¯s face as he listened to the discussion. The last emotion had been of shock, but not because of that conversation. While everyone had been talking, the temperature within the cave rose a degree or two, and the sands at the center of the room started to vibrate violently.


    Eyes-widening, Qin Tian turned to the shriveled elder near the center of the cave. ¡°Qin Shu, Qin Jian, you two come with me! The rest of you will stay here, do not let anything go wrong with the patriarch¡¯s breakthrough!¡± He seemed like he had regained his calm demeanor.


    ¡­¡­


    Back on the surface near the foot of a mountain of primal stones, three figures suddenly stepped out from a ripple in the air.


    The person in front was Qin Tian, and the scholarly middle-aged man and the bulky middle-aged man behind were cousins of his. The two of them were Early-stage Soul Kings.


    Qin Tian paused briefly when they arrived onto the surface. Then with a wave of his hand, he opened up another tear in space to have the three walk through and disappear into.


    The next time they reappeared in the real world was just a few kilometers away. Continuing from here on out in a streak of light, they started to fly at full speed towards the south of Swallow City. Every so often, they would teleport several kilometers at a time in order to travel as fast as they could. The city was already a blur behind them.


    Teleporting once more, the three finally came to a stop onto a mountain several hundred meters tall. They started to fly again, this time without bothering to teleport.


    But Qin Tian suddenly cried out in warning a short moment afterward, ¡°Be careful!!¡±


    The two people behind him were surprised at first, but they were quick to obey. Readying themselves with soulforce, the two prepared themselves to evade any danger that might approach.


    Unfortunately for them, the danger was moving faster than they could react!


    A black shadow came from the bottom of their mountain up like a jet of light a split-moment after Qin Tian¡¯s warning. The bulky man had only enough time to rally his soulforce to him before he felt the mournful aura of death prepare to enshroud him!


    Qin Tian¡¯s eyes flashed dangerously as he watched the black energy move to ambush the man. Waving his right hand, he moved to attack the ambusher.


    But¡­a transparent ripple opened up behind his back to reveal a fog of black mist to pour out. A hazy figure could be seen popping out before moving to attack him from behind!


    This wasn¡¯t teleportation, but rather someone who had been hiding there all along and chose then to reveal themselves!


    A black miasma flowed out from the person¡¯s figure before they reached their forefinger out to jab them into the back of Qin Tian¡¯s head!

 Chapter 924: The Actions of Jing Wuying and Jing Mingfeng

    Qin Tian went white straight away from fear the moment when he felt an immensely powerful aura suddenly spring up from behind him. The feeling of death assaulted all his senses with such intimidation that his soul was starting to quake!


    It had been all too sudden how this threat had suddenly popped up behind him. The only thing the man had noticed at first was the first ambusher when a second had abruptly appeared behind him!


    His shock couldn¡¯t even be quantified at the absurdness of the situation. There was actually someone that could get within arms reach of him without him noticing!


    And because of how abrupt it was, Qin Tian hadn¡¯t the time to react in time to the new danger. The only thing he felt then was a sharp pain in the back of his head. Though it was on his head, Qin Tian felt like it had been his soul that had been pierced and let out a loud cry as he flew away!


    ¡°My lord!!!¡±


    A horrified cry erupted from the one middle-aged man that hadn¡¯t been attacked. Deathly pale from shock, the man let out a burst of green energy from his body as he made his retreat!


    He didn¡¯t even bother to look at the man next to him as he retreated. But he didn¡¯t have to. The slicing sound of something was all he needed to hear¡­


    When the man was about a hundred steps away, he looked over to the other man just in time to see a ¡®blood rain¡¯ fall from the skies. It was coming from where the head of the bulky man was!!


    ¡°Drip¡­drip¡­drip¡­¡±


    The bulky man¡¯s eyes were wide open in disbelief. His face was as ashen as death itself and his mouth was open; though no words were coming out from them. Aside from the fear and despair, his eyes were also showing signs of dimming.


    At the moment when Qin Tian gave his warning, the bulky man had enough time to ready his soulforce for a battle, but the ambusher had somehow darted behind his back in that time. The man had wanted to turn around to attack when he felt something cold slide across his throat¡ªa greenish-black dagger had sliced across his throat!


    It was so fast that not even an Early-stage Soul King could put up a quick enough defense for it!


    It felt like his own vitality was pouring out from the gap in his throat. All the man could do was stare in dumb reluctance as he pressed his palms against his throat. He was trying to stop the flowing of the blood, but he could not. His body was rapidly losing the vital blood he needed to live.


    An eerily-cold voice whispered menacingly to him. ¡°Give up and die¡­remember the one who killed you. I am Jing Mingfeng! One of the last of the Jing!!¡±


    ¡°One of the last¡­of the Jing? Could it be¡­that Jing?¡±


    The irises of the bulky man¡¯s eyes dilated as the words of Jing Mingfeng registered to him. He had only enough time to ruminate on those words a moment longer before he felt pain in the back of his head as if something sharp had penetrated it. Then he knew nothing¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The person who had ambushed Qin Tian was finally stepping out from the shadows. It was Jing Wuying! His eyes were as cold as ice and his aura was blaring with a murderous aura after he moved to attack Qin Tian. His aura was enough to make anyone that could feel it shiver, but his person was almost like a ghost with how jarringly unnoticeable he was. He was a ghost almost with how hardly anyone could see his definite person.


    ¡°Oh? You didn¡¯t die?¡± He wondered aloud at Qin Tian. ¡°Haven¡¯t you run far away enough?¡± He sneered.


    He then disappeared so quickly through the skies that not even his shadow could be seen!


    A short ways ahead of him was a terrified Qin Tian. On the back of his head was a bloody dent, but it didn¡¯t seem like Qin Tian even noticed it with how focused he was in running away. He made it only another kilometer forward when he felt something directly behind him. Encasing himself in a bubble of blue energy, Qin Tian summoned all the elemental water he could to him to create a large pool of water to drown out the person chasing him!


    He had to turn around in order to let loose this tidal wave of power. But¡­he couldn¡¯t see anyone there to aim his attack onto! He had missed!


    ¡°Do you really think you can resist after being caught?¡± A harsh voice spoke from behind him. ¡°It¡¯s good that you didn¡¯t die so soon. Know this when you die. I am Jing Wuying. I am here to pay a debt of blood. The massacre of my family will be repaid with the massacre of your own!!¡±


    ¡°Jing Wuying!! Impossible! Yo¡ª¡±


    Qin Tian¡¯s eyes were as wide as they could be, but his pupils were inversely small. What words he was planning to say next were cut off by a jet of black light across his neck. A second later¡­his head popped off!


    A powerful Late-stage Soul King had been killed practically without offering any resistance!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahh!!!¡±


    The scholarly man was beside himself with terror. He was frightened out of his mind and was desperately trying his best to survive. By forming several hand seals, he was seemingly using some sort of power-boosting technique to try and increase his odds of fleeing!


    He was a wind-type soul cultivator, so his speed was definitely a lot faster than to be expected from someone of his strength. Flying away in a squall of wind, the man was able to travel a considerable distance to flee.


    Neither Jing Mingfeng or Jing Wuying gave chase to him. They simply collected the items of the dead and stood together to watch him run away.


    ¡°Our plan goes as according. We will wait for panic to start below ground and wait for a chance to strike! Spare no mercy to anyone of the Qin!¡±


    Jing Wuying spat hatefully as he watched the green speck of light travel further and further away.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Jing Mingfeng nodded obediently. His own eyes were filled a killing intent completely foreign to what Bai Yunfei would associate with the normally laughing Jing Mingfeng.


    His eyes were drawn towards the south as if seemingly thinking about something.


    ¡°What is it? Are you worried about that Bai Yunfei?¡± Jing Wuying asked, having noticed his staring.


    ¡°Not really, but I¡¯d like to know what¡¯s going on over there¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng shook his head, ¡°That Ol¡¯Bai really does get into trouble no matter where he goes¡­I¡¯d like to know how in the world he managed to kill Qin Shoufeng and Qin Shouhao¡­¡±


    ¡°It is fortunate for us he has distracted our foes. We would not have been able to kill those two so easily without his assistance. Killing a Late-stage Soul King here will make our future goals less dangerous. More of the Qin are heading for the south, that suits our purposes just fine.¡± Jing Wuying replied. He was looking off to the south now too, ¡°I wonder if that Bai Yunfei will be able to fight Qin Tian. That man has been a Late-stage Soul King for a long while now. Not even he can be assassinated unless with the best of timings, otherwise, I¡¯d have killed him a long time ago. It will be difficult for Bai Yunfei to fight him for long, but his status should help him. I cannot imagine the Tianhun School would not interfere. His life will not be in danger at the very least¡­¡±


    A small smirk etched itself onto Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face at that. ¡°You¡¯re underestimating Ol¡¯Bai¡¯s strength, grandfather. His real strength is far beyond what you can imagine. I¡¯m actually worried that Qin Tian might accidentally die and that we won¡¯t be able to kill him ourselves¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? Do you believe that Bai Yunfei is strong enough to kill Qin Tian?¡± Jing Wuying asked. ¡°If that is the case, then I won¡¯t worry about that side. Let us head down to the mines for now.¡±


    The smile died away from Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face to be replaced with a cold frown. ¡°Yes!¡±

 Chapter 925: One Against Two

    The skies south of Swallow City were filled with blades as green as nature itself and crackled with the lightning from the gigantic dragon made of it. Everyone watched with trembling hearts as the three Soul Kings fought. Even the Early-stage and Mid-stage Soul Kings there were in awe at the fight. There was only one thing everyone could think about¡ªthey¡¯d be finished if they were to be hit by either of those two moves¡­


    ¡°It goes without saying that Qin Tian would fight to kill Bai Yunfei. But the lord-mayor? He¡¯s not acting as a proper ¡®mediator¡¯ should!! Isn¡¯t he afraid of accidentally killing Bai Yunfei with an attack like that?! Or¡­does he think that Bai Yunfei will be able to endure that much power? He¡¯s overestimating that Bai Yunfei, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    Someone from the crowd wondered aloud.


    Tang Xinyun was watching this fight happen between Bai Yunfei and the two other Soul Kings in fear and sent a look of concern to Xiao Qi.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking about. I want to help but Yunfei said not to interfere.¡± Xiao Qi said without even waiting for her to say anything. ¡°And you should really stop worrying about every little thing. It¡¯s a little troublesome, but it¡¯s nothing Yunfei can¡¯t handle. He¡¯s probably trying to find the limits of his new strength. Just keep watching, he¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Anyone else would¡¯ve been flabbergasted at Xiao Qi had they heard what the bird had said. ¡®Worrying about every little thing¡¯? How could a fight between one Mid-stage Soul King and two Late-stage Soul King be considered ¡®little¡¯?! Xiao Qi was making things out to be something trivial like if Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even up against some kind of powerful attack of some kind¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Everyone could see that an orange bulb of light was starting to shine from where Bai Yunfei was. Some kind of ball of light as bright as the sun was shining there as if repelling the green and violet lights. A figure could be seen darting into the orange light as if seeking shelter in it.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A bolt of violet lightning flew out from within the orange barrier with a clap of thunder before cleaving through multiple blades of wind as if they weren¡¯t even there. Continuing onwards, the bolt of lightning ascended into the skies!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    An explosion took place in the skies a moment afterward to allow for a ball of fire to suddenly materialize. The surrounding area was quickly covered over by a sea of flames powerful enough to drown out even the auras of Qin Tian and Yan Tianxing!


    As quickly as it appeared, the sea of flames began to recede inwards into the orange light. Flowing rapidly into it, the flames exploded into the skies as two dragons made of fire towards the dragon made of lightning!


    This was¡­the Dual Dragon Burst!!


    ¡­¡­


    Qin Tian gripped his sword tightly. Waving it again and again, he created a barrage of wind blades to strike down the incoming dragons to try and disperse them. What he wanted to was to have Yan Tianxing¡¯s attack land down on Bai Yunfei so he could have the final blow onto Bai Yunfei!


    Another eruption of light came out from the ball of orange when the lightning dragon was just a few hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei. Qin Tian watched as the first series of attacks he did crashed into the ball of light before simply bouncing off! Then a bolt of violet light came flying out from the orange light to ascend into the skies!


    ¡°A flying sword?!¡±


    Qin Long¡¯s eyes widened in recognition of the flying sword within the streak of light. He was confused on why a flying sword would appear now of all times. While the sword was quite powerful as a mid-heaven tier, there was no reason why it would show up now. Without delay though, Qin Long transmitted a bit of his energy into his sword to strike down the incoming flying sword.


    A sense of foreboding slammed into him a few moments before he swung his sword. Feeling something starting to approach the back of his head, Qin Long kicked off against his foothold to throw himself to the left.


    ¡°Schwing!!¡±


    A streak of violet light flew off to the side of Qin Long. He had somehow managed to parry the incoming sword when he threw himself to the side. In that same moment though, the second streak of violet light whizzed past him from where his chest had been and barely left a cut onto his left arm. He watched in shock as an identical-looking sword flew past him, but the bigger shock came when the sword suddenly¡­disappeared after flying past him!


    The blinding light and powerful presence that had been coming at him from behind just a moment ago had disappeared just like that as if it was a mirage!


    A sharp pain shot through Qin Long¡¯s arm. Right there on his left arm was a wound that was deep enough to see bone! This was clearly an injury left behind by the second sword earlier, so that meant it wasn¡¯t an illusion like he initially thought. It was some type of manifestation of energy that could disappear without a trace! Admittedly, Qin Long was perplexed on how there could be an attack like that.


    There was no way he¡¯d know that this was just an effect of Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®Flying Thunder¡¯.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A sharp clap of thunder rang across the heavens shortly after Qin Long managed to evade the Flying Thunder. The descending lightning dragon had crashed into the ascending fire dragons to divide the skies into two divisions of red and violet.


    ¡°Impossible!! How could those dragons be filled with so much power!¡± Qin Long was aghast by the explosion. He distinctly recalled Bai Yunfei needing to rely on his soul armaments when they fought one another, and the majority of his power was subsequently from those soul armaments. But the power he was getting from the fire dragons when they crashed into Yan Tianxing¡¯s attack was filled with far more pure and potent soulforce than Qin Long expected.


    The fluctuation in the surrounding air caught Qin Long¡¯s attention to something moving at tremendous speeds. Whirling around, he took notice of the fact that none of his blades of wind were there any longer, and neither was the orange ball of light. A figure in red was darting closer and closer to him for an attack!


    It was Bai Yunfei!!


    The flames that burned around Bai Yunfei was considerably powerful. His eyes were burning with an equally powerful light as he swung his Fire-tipped Spear forward to strike!


    ¡°Late-stage Soul King!? How can it be?!¡± Qin Long¡¯s eyes widened in shock. The aura Bai Yunfei was showing now was on the same level as a Late-stage Soul King!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Another surprise was in store for Qin Long when he blocked the Fire-tipped Spear with his own sword. A fist shining red and gold lashed out at his head shortly after and forced Qin Long to bring both arms up. The fist slammed into his arm so painfully that Qin Long felt like a bone had been broken. Then he was sent flying by the blow!


    Flying several hundred steps away, Qin Long refocused himself only to see Bai Yunfei giving chase already!


    ¡°Clang clang clang¡­boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Again and again, Qin Long was forced to parry the soul armament of his opponent one after another. Green and red light sparked everywhere as the two exchanged attacks at an unbelievable pace. The only thing that could be determined from their auras was that neither sides were at an advantage over the other, and the power of both individuals was awe-inspiring.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°A¡­a Late-stage Soul King?! Am I seeing things wrong?! How has Bai Yunfei gotten that powerful?!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s done it! He¡¯s actually managed to survive the attacks of both lord Qin and lord Yan without getting hurt! That¡¯s¡­that has to be the power-boosting technique from the rumors! What a powerful technique it has to be if it can bring him from a Mid-stage Soul King to a Late-stage Soul King!!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder he can fight against two Late-stage Soul Kings then if he has an ace like that. But that should only last for a while, shouldn¡¯t it? I don¡¯t think he¡¯d be able to keep using it forever. He¡¯s fighting on the same level of strength of two other individuals, that¡¯s still not an easy task¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget he¡¯s from the Crafting School! He already borrowed the power of a soul armament to attack Qin Long, just how much more powerful do you think his soul armaments will be now? He might just be able to win this fight! Tsk tsk, it was worth it to come to Swallow City if I could see a fight like this¡­¡±


    The entire audience was in an uproar at how powerful Bai Yunfei was. His level of strength was surprising even the Soul Kings watching.


    ¡­¡­


    This was the power of the Dual Flame Artes: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form!!


    Byf had finally deigned to use the technique now. Facing off against those first two attacks would¡¯ve been more than taxing if he were to face it as a Mid-stage Soul King. The best solution was to go into ¡®Coil¡¯ Form and have the Flying Thunder stop Qin Long¡¯s attack before he used the Cataclysmic Seal to protect him from the others before. Then he¡¯d use the Dual Dragon Burst to fend off Yan Tianxing¡¯s lightning dragon! And then for the finishing blow, he¡¯d take advantage of Yan Tianxing¡¯s retreat to launch a fearsome barrage onto Qin Long!


    Several dozen exchanges were already had between him and Qin Long this time. And this time, Bai Yunfei was winning!


    The battle was wearing down Qin Long. He spat out a mouthful of blood with a snarl. The way Bai Yunfei was fighting was giving Qin Long a very hard time. Bai Yunfei would often rather let Qin Long land an attack on him than give him the opportunity to change the rhythm so he often found himself having almost no time to do anything but defend.


    Each blow onto Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t doing much damage either due to the armor Bai Yunfei was wearing. The two soul armaments he was wearing on both arms were also powerful enough to withstand any attacks that landed on them. So really, Qin Long¡¯s options of attacks were quite limited. It was like fighting with one hand tied behind his back while Bai Yunfei was able to attack at full efficiency.


    He landed another punch onto Bai Yunfei to push some distance between each other when Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flashed once with light. Qin Long watched as Bai Yunfei raised his right finger at him and then cried out a word!


    ¡°Halt!!¡±


    ¡°This move again!!¡± Qin Long¡¯s eyes widened in recognition of the word. Immediately giving up his original plan to attack, Qin Long started to gather up his soulforce in preparation to defend the foreign energy that¡¯d try and attack his soul in a moment.


    But his preparations were useless. The defenses he had put around his soul crumbled like paper as Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack invaded his body and assaulted his soul!! In no time at all, Qin Long¡¯s mind went blank and was rendered unable to even think! His soul was being shackled and preventing him from doing anything!


    The Soul Anchor Technique this time was several times stronger than Bai Yunfei¡¯s first attempt!


    Bai Yunfei was a Late-stage Soul King right now and had the advantage. The Soul Anchor Technique was something that was incomparably strong to begin with. Combined with the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s ability to double its effect, there was no way another Late-stage Soul King would be able to ward it off!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Pressing onwards, Bai Yunfei charged straight for the completely immobile Qin Long! His left fist clenched tightly to bring out a massive amount of elemental energy from his glove as he prepared to make the final strike.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! Stop!!¡±


    A furious roar from across the battlefield sounded into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears before a bolt of violet lightning descended from the skies!


    It was Yan Tianxing!


    He had previously been on top of the lightning dragon when he slammed against Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Dragon Burst. It was to his surprise that the Dual Dragon Burst had not only been stronger than his own attack but also strong enough to inflict a serious wound onto him. Yan Tianxing had to take a moment to himself to recover, and by the time he did, Bai Yunfei was on his way to strike Qin Long down!


    ¡°Don¡¯t meddle in this!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared back. He wouldn¡¯t retreat now. The Cataclysmic Seal flew forward and expanded in size in preparation to take the lightning bolt attack for Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    It was able to expand into the size of a small mountain before the bolt of lightning slammed against it with a thunderous explosion.


    ¡°Bang!!¡± A dark-green figure came hurtling down from the skies to slam into the ground at the exact same time!


    ¡°Lord Qin!!¡± Yan Tianxing managed to make his voice heard over the rumbling of thunder. He wanted to fly down to Qin Long to see how he was doing, but the Cataclysmic Seal was already flying at him and forcing him to evade. He only saw a flash of light as the Cataclysmic Seal suddenly disappeared and a figure in red to come falling from the skies down to him!


    ¡°What?!¡± Yan Tianxing gasped. Moving as quickly as he could, he started to gather all his soulforce into his body before bringing down a wall of lightning all over him like a curtain. The lightning curtain seemed almost so powerful that anything that¡¯d dare cross it would be vaporized!


    A bright red like came streaking into the lightning curtain a moment later almost effortlessly to come face-to-face with him!


    The bright red light came to an immediate stop less than an inch away from his throat. It was the Fire-tipped Spear!


    Practically bathed in sweat, Yan Tianxing¡¯s face drained of any color as he realized what this meant. He was so fearful for his life that he didn¡¯t even move an inch from his spot!!

 Chapter 926: Out With the First Wave, In With the Second

    The tip of the Fire-tipped Spear pressed against the skin of Yan Tianxing''s body, as if daring him to move. But Tan Tianxing knew better than to do that and gain a new hole in his person. He was still as a statue and not even his soulforce made a move.


    Without a steady source of soulforce to feed it, the curtain of lightning faded away from the skies. Once the curtain dropped, the figure of Bai Yunfei was revealed to be standing about a hundred steps away. His outstretched arm seem to be remotely controlling the Fire-tipped Spear.


    Slowly, the sky began to regain the normal shades of color of daylight. Though the fight was reaching a lull, the spectators were watching more with more intensity than before. They were perhaps trying to process the fact that this was the conclusion of a most unforgettable fight.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Qin Long crashed into a mountain nearby the spectators, causing many of them to jerk their heads away in surprise. The impact of his landing was mighty enough to cause a localized earthquake to rumble to life. The mountain trembled for a brief moment before collapsing in on itself and kicked up a dust storm.


    Bai Yunfei spared a quick glance over to where Qin Long fell before twitching a finger on his right hand. As if attached to a string, the Fire-tipped Spear zipped back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side along with the Heaven''s Thunder which came to a stop on the other side of him.


    ¡°Lord Yan, I¡¯ll be leaving now. Please do not stop me.¡±


    He stated to Yan Tianxing as he stored away his Fire-tipped Spear. Stepping onto the Heaven''s Thunder, he zipped off into the skies to where Tang Xinyun was.


    Yan Tianxing remained motionless where he stood. His mouth opened and closed several times as if wanting to say something. No words were coming out though. All he could do was just watch Bai Yunfei leave.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Can¡­can someone tell me what in the world happened? It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s over? Lord Qin and the lord-mayor were both¡­defeated by Bai Yunfei!?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s just no f*cking way?! Was this really a battle between equals?! How in the world were neither lord Qin or lord-mayor Yan unable to stop Bai Yunfei?! I can¡¯t believe this!!¡±


    ¡°A soul attack¡­it was a soul attack that defeated lord Qin at the end! I can¡¯t believe lord Qin wasn¡¯t able to defend against it! That wasn¡¯t a normal soul attack then, it had to be some kind of arcane art! Bai Yunfei has possession of an even more powerful soul attack!¡±


    ¡°And that one soul armament that defeated the lord-mayor, what was that?! Lord Yan shouldn¡¯t have been able to be so easily defeated if he was focused entirely on defending himself! What soul armament was Bai Yunfei using to penetrate it!?¡±


    ¡°How is lord Qin? Can he still fight? Will the fight really end like this?¡±


    ¡°How would it continue even if he could? Not even a few more Early-stage or Mid-stage Soul Kings wouldn¡¯t be enough if Bai Yunfei is this powerful! Unless patriarch Qin and his other elders come out, there¡¯s no way Bai Yunfei won¡¯t win! And an entire clan against one person? Would¡­would the Qin really do something like that?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡¯s leaving! And lord Yan isn¡¯t stopping him¡­is he giving up? Tsk tsk¡­lord Yan has to be doing this on purpose, right? He didn¡¯t show his entire strength, sure, but to fight together with lord Qin on this wasn¡¯t very spectacular, especially since he lost¡­¡±


    The entire battle had been only a few minutes at least and ten at most. For those long few minutes, the entire audience had been stunned over and over again by how powerful Bai Yunfei was. The ¡®abrupt¡¯ ending was even more of a bombshell onto these people and so most of them were having a hard time believing it was over.


    ¡­¡­


    On the mountains to the left of the battlefield was Tang Xinyun. Watching as Bai Yunfei shot on over on his Heaven''s Thunder, Tang Xinyun began to break into a relieved smile and pride. She waited for Bai Yunfei to alight from the sword before she ran up to him,  ¡°Are you alright, Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled back, ¡°Do I look hurt to you? I can¡¯t even say how relaxed I feel right now, haha¡­¡±


    He hadn¡¯t spent much time in the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form so dispelling it wouldn¡¯t do much harm onto him. The battle did drain a decent amount of soulforce from him, but that¡¯d be easily solved with his faster-than-normal regeneration. At most, his biggest injuries were the physical blows Qin Long gave him, but even those were just negligible wounds.


    Truly, Bai Yunfei had come out from this battle with more than enough to spare.


    This was the first fight he took part of since he became a Mid-stage Soul King and was ¡®refitted¡¯. Even he was surprised by how easily victory came to him.


    A good reason behind that victory was in part due to Yan Tianxing not taking the battle too seriously. Though he was siding with Qin Long, the man wasn¡¯t fighting with the intent to kill Bai Yunfei. He was just fighting at a level needed to injure and capture Bai Yunfei.


    Or it could perhaps be said that Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t given him the chance to fight seriously either. The +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear (ignore elemental defenses) was a decisive deal-breaker no one could possibly expect to see.


    ¡°How¡­how is lord Qin?¡± At ease now due to Bai Yunfei being safe, Tang Xinyun was still seemingly worried about the other combatant. There was without a doubt a grudge between Bai Yunfei and the Qin now, and even though she herself didn¡¯t like the Qin much, her family was still friends with the Qin. Having things develop this way wouldn¡¯t be good at all for relationships between the Tang and Qin.


    ¡°He¡¯s not dead, but he¡¯s not lightly injured either. He won¡¯t have much energy to fight unless he risks everything¡­¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A loud explosion rocked the earth behind Bai Yunfei a split-second later before washing the area over with a wave of powerful soulforce!


    Bai Yunfei frowned. ¡°No way, did I jinx it?¡±


    The dust where Qin Long had fallen had cleared away to reveal a pillar of green light to shoot up into the sky!


    Qin Long was looking worse for wear within the pillar of light. His hair was a frazzled mess and his clothes were in ruin. Not even his dark-green armor was in one piece with multiple fracture lines running from where two fists imprints had been left behind on its carapace. Blood was trickling from his heaving mouth, but his eyes were bloodthirsty¡ªvery much like an animal¡ªand still filled with killing intent.


    He wasn¡¯t just angry over the death of his two sons now. He was angry that a ¡®youngster¡¯ had dealt such humiliation to him! His heart was like a hornet¡¯s nest with how it beat and brought his soulforce into quick undulations.


    ¡°Die! Die!! I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Elemental wood poured out from his body at the same levels as if he was completely unharmed as he let loose a guttural roar towards Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Lord Qin, please calm yourself. Don¡¯t do anything hasty now¡­¡±


    Yan Tianxing appeared right beside him as he tried to pacify the man, albeit a little helplessly.


    ¡°My lord!! Please restrain yourself! Zhou Huai has already gone to report to the others. I am sure brother will be here shortly¡­let them make the decisions for now. We can chase after Bai Yunfei another time¡­¡±


    Qin Pingzhi had caught up to him now as well. His battle with Xiao Nan had been finished a lot earlier when Yan Tianxing and Qin Long began their assault with the two of them choosing to stand aside rather than fighting.


    The more they tried to convince Qin Long though, the angrier he became. The snarl on his lips grew more and more pronounced as his soulforce started to leak out larger amounts¡­


    Yan Tianxing and Qin Pingzhi had worried looks on their faces. They could both tell Qin Long was being swayed more by his emotions than logic. His hatred for the one who humiliated him was overriding all logical thought and was close to turning him insane.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll kill him! Ahhh!!!¡±


    At last, a primal roar erupted from Qin Long. His head snapped back to let loose the fury within him along with a burst of soulforce! This was the power of a man gone crazy!


    ¡°N¡ªno way?! Does he still want to fight? Don¡¯t tell me lord Qin has gone berserk?!¡±


    Someone from the audience gasped aloud as he realized what was going on. His cry was picked up by the others in the audience and another conversation was soon started.


    At that same moment¡­


    ¡°Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!!¡±


    Without any warning whatsoever, the ground beneath everyone¡¯s feet started to tremble violently! It was as if the entire earth was being shaken! Something deep underneath the earth was rumbling so loudly that even the heavens could hear it!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s happening?! An earthquake?¡±


    ¡°The epicenter is towards the north! Ah!! Look there! What¡­what is that?!¡±


    The abrupt earthquake had caught everyone off guard. Crying and yelling out in confusion, everyone started to look this way and that before someone brought their attention to the north. To the north¡­where the skies were dyed a crimson red!


    Yes. The sky to the north of Swallow City seemed like it had been either set on fire or had been dyed red with blood. It was a chilling sight that seemed to affect even one¡¯s soul!


    What¡­in the world was going on in the north!?

 Chapter 927: Strange Happenings in the Sky

    ¡°Damn!! How can he be that strong?!¡±


    Mo Ni spluttered in frustration. Contrary to what he thought would happen, Bai Yunfei had actually managed to come out as the victory against two Late-stage Soul Kings!


    And he had done it practically uncontested!


    Having not witnessed how the fight outside Mo City was conducted, Mo Ni had thought this entire time that Bai Yunfei¡¯s victory over Li Fenghai had to be done with some external assistance of some kind, somehow. A solo victory felt inconceivable to him otherwise. He only knew Bai Yunfei was capable of powering himself up twice. But even that wouldn¡¯t be enough to win the battle, Mo Ni thought Bai Yunfei would surely struggle in this battle with two other Late-stage Soul Kings. However, what really happened was Bai Yunfei easily defeating the two.


    That had been a heavy shock for Mo Ni to see.


    ¡°He only used just one power-up¡­.just one! How?!¡± Mo Ni¡¯s face was twisted inwardly in deep thought as he roared and cursed mentally to himself. ¡°And¡­what¡¯s going on with the Qin?! They shouldn¡¯t have sent only one Soul King! Qin Tian should¡¯ve appeared, where is he?!¡±


    ¡°Rumble¡­grnn¡­.!!¡±


    The ground beneath his feet started to buckle heavily at that moment, snapping Mo Ni out of his deep thoughts.


    ¡°What?!¡± His head snapped up to look first all around him before hovering over the area to the north. ¡°What is that?!¡±


    In the north of his location, a bright crimson light was rapidly dying the skies there.


    ¡°The north¡­¡± Mo Ni suddenly remembered, ¡°That¡¯s where the mines are! Did¡­did patriarch Qin¡­but that¡¯s far too fast!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Pa¡­Patriarch!!¡±


    A loud cry boomed over the battlefield where Bai Yunfei was. It was Qin Long!


    The Qin Long¡ªwho had at this point seemed past the brink of rationality¡ªwas back to his senses! He had finally taken his eyes off Bai Yunfei to gaze off to the crimson skies in the north!


    There was surprise in his eyes. Something about the crimson skies was making his body tremble with excitement!


    Right by his side, Qin Pingzhi was also staring at the sky with a pleased look.


    A strange spark of light crossed over Yan Tianxing¡¯s eyes when he heard Qin Long cry out the word ¡®patriarch¡¯.


    ¡°Rumble¡­Grn...!!¡±


    Heaving like the rough breathing of a person, the ground around everyone shook endlessly. The surrounding mountains were having rockslides, and even the middle of Mo City had an immeasurable amount of commoners running about in terror of a ¡®disaster¡¯.


    ¡°Eh? Who¡¯s that?!¡±


    Suddenly, someone watching the scene pointed out someone in the northern skies!


    There was someone standing on the edge of where the crimson light was spreading from. In his quadrant of the sky, a black light was pervading through the sky as if he was heralding the night sky to come faster. In a short time, the skies were evenly split between black and red!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just the ground that had the sound of rumbling. Even the heavens above were quaking with the loud sounds of thunder!


    With how the black and red light was spreading, it felt like two heavenly beings were about to fight one another!


    That was when two bone-chilling auras from the north made themselves known to everyone! It was hardly noticeable except to those strong enough, but it was there nonetheless! Anyone that could feel the auras immediately went slack in the face from shock!


    The skies were north to Mo City, a direction that ran completely opposite of them in the south. Measuring the distance from here to there meant well over hundreds of kilometers of distance! What kind of aura could possibly extend that aura!?


    ¡°No! Something¡¯s happened!!¡± Qin Pingzhi was the one to cry out in panic at Qin Long.


    ¡°We¡¯re going!!¡± Qin Long snapped at once.


    And in a burst of dark-green light, Qin Long went flying off towards the north! Qin Pingzhi said nothing and quickly followed suit. Yan Tianxing followed a few moments after the two to travel silently by himself towards the north.


    ¡°They¡¯re¡­they¡¯re gone!? But why? Do the QIn have to do with whatever that is in the north?¡±


    ¡°If it can make Qin Long forget about his grudge with Bai Yunfei¡­what in the world is it?¡±


    ¡°Bad news! People in Swallow City are saying that the assistant-head and several other key members of the Qin were assassinated not too long ago!¡±


    ¡°What?! No way! Something like that happened?!¡±


    ¡°That many people from the Qin died?! That¡¯s too much, isn¡¯t it? Qin Hu is a Mid-stage Soul King! Who could possibly assassinate him?¡±


    No one could find the words to describe the emotions they had. News of Qin Hu¡¯s assassination was spreading quickly from Swallow City, but everyone was having trouble wrapping their minds around the subject at the same speed.


    Multiple people were running towards the north now. The auras they felt was intimidating, but curiosity had a stronger grip on their hearts and left everyone with a great deal of interest on what in the world was going on¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Like the others, Bai Yunfei was staring at the skies to the north with a heavy look.


    He could tell at a glance that this sight was taking place above the mines in the north. He also felt that there was something foreboding about this sight.


    His heart had skipped a beat when he saw the figure standing on the black side of the sky. That aura felt very similar to Jing Mingfeng¡¯s grandfather!


    ¡°Mingfeng and his grandfather¡­can¡¯t be related to this, can they?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself.


    ¡°The way Qin Long reacted, his family has to be connected to this! Is the figure in red someone from the Qin then? What¡¯s going on for something like this to happen? Are¡­they going to fight? Is Mingfeng there too then?¡±


    Question after question fired off in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head as he tried to make sense of things. All he could feel was concern for whatever it was.


    ¡°I have to go see!!¡±


    It seemed very likely that Jing Mingfeng was somehow related to this newest development, so Bai Yunfei wanted to leave for the north at once rather than to stay around here.


    ¡°Yunfei.¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned around to see Xiao Nan flying towards him with his wife by his side.


    ¡°Brother Xiao Nan, sister-in-law.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded in greeting.


    Xiao Nan looked rather surprised still from Bai Yunfei¡¯s battle. ¡°Yunfei¡­¡± He huffed, ¡°I knew you were strong, but not that strong¡­me lending my ¡®assistance¡¯ was unnecessary it seems¡­that Early-stage Soul King from the Qin wouldn¡¯t even be a problem to you¡­¡±


    ¡°Brother Xiao Nan, I am extremely grateful that you were willing to help me, how could you say it wasn¡¯t necessary?¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head with a smile.


    ¡°Well, the problem¡¯s over for now at the least. What do you plan to do now? Are you going to leave this troubled city?¡± Xiao Nan asked. ¡°I saw you were looking towards the north, are you interested in it? And do you plan to¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Yes. I¡¯d like to go see what¡¯s going on there, are you going there too?¡±


    ¡°Are you really?¡± Xiao Nan repeated in mild surprise, ¡°Well, this is a very unordinary occurrence. I might as well go take a look myself. Let¡¯s go together then.¡±


    ¡°Yes, then please hold for a moment so I can do one last thing.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded before flying down towards the ground on the right.


    He was heading for a mountain where the burly man who had helped testify for him was still standing.


    Bai Yunfei touched down onto the ground and gave the man a grateful salute. ¡°I am truly grateful for your assistance, brother.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­bro¡ªsenior Bai¡­there¡¯s no need for this. I¡­I just didn¡¯t wish to see the Qin so haughty like that¡­¡± Caught off guard by Bai Yunfei¡¯s polite etiquette, it took a moment for the burly man to respond in kind.


    A Mid-stage Soul King was being so kind to him! They weren¡¯t too different in age, but he was just a Soul Exalt and Bai Yunfei was a Soul King. By all norms of their society, Bai Yunfei was someone that¡¯d be considered to be of the more ¡®senior¡¯ position of the hierarchy!


    Subsequently, a Soul Exalt wouldn¡¯t be someone a Soul King would consider lowering themselves to greet politely. So this man was completely overwhelmed by the actions taken by Bai Yunfei to him.


    Noticing the awkwardness of the situation, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Haha, no need to call me senior. I¡¯m of the same generation you are, why not call me brother?¡±


    The man heaved a sigh of relief out loud and boomed with laughter. ¡°Haha! Alright! If you say it like that, then I¡¯ll oblige, brother Bai! I¡¯m Hu Sha, a wandering cultivator from the countryside. What good fortune to come across brother Bai in today¡¯s auction, haha!!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure meeting you, brother Hu Sha.¡± Bai Yunfei replied in kind. His right hand shook once to bring out an object that glowed bright-orange. ¡°For your assistance, brother Hu Sha, I¡¯d like to gift you one of my soul armaments. Take it as a sign of my thanks.¡±


    ¡°What kind of talk is this, brother Bai? I¡¯ve said it before that I couldn¡¯t stand to hear the haughty talk of the Qin. I didn¡¯t do it for the re¡ª¡± The man had already been in the motions to refuse whatever gift it was Bai Yunfei was taking out when he took notice of the energy emanating from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. His jaw dropped wide-open mid-speech and his eyes widened by several degrees wider than normal as he stared.


    ¡°Is¡­Is that¡­a¡­a heaven¡­a heaven-tier soul armament?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s not a mid-heaven tier, but it¡¯s far better than the ordinary low-heaven tier soul armament. It¡¯s also an earth-type soul armament, so it should suit you just fine, brother Hu Sha. I¡¯m sure you¡¯d suit this soul armament more than I would. I hope I¡¯m not wrong in that guess.¡±


    ¡°Of¡­of course not! I¡­I love these types of soul armaments!¡± Hu Sha¡¯s eyes shone with excitement at the large bladed soul armament.


    He looked a little ashamed at himself for the apparent greed in his voice. He coughed a few times from embarrassment, but his eyes never left the large ringed broadsword Bai Yunfei was holding. The man swallowed once.


    ¡°Then¡­if it¡¯s not too much trouble, brother Bai¡­¡±


    ¡°If you like it, brother Hu Sha, then take it. This is the most I could hope for.¡±


    Bai Yunfei tossed the giant sword onto Hu Sha¡¯s hands.


    Hu Sha looked stunned for a moment at the heaven-tier soul armament in his hand. Two seconds passed before he could find the words to say his thanks. ¡°If brother Bai is being this forward, then please allow me to do the same! I truly want this soul armament, I thank you for your gift!¡±


    ¡°A¡­a heaven-tier soul armament!! Bai Yunfei¡¯s giving that guy a heaven-tier soul armament? Am I seeing things?!¡±


    Of the many people who were still standing around here, all of them were watching this interaction take place with dropped jaws. They could all tell how powerful the soul armament was just by the shine of it. Hu Sha¡¯s noteworthy reaction was really the confirmation of the fact. That soul armament was most definitely a heaven-tier!


    Several people could feel their faces turn green with envy as they cursed themselves for not being Bai Yunfei¡¯s witness faster. Even an earth-tier soul armament would¡¯ve been enough to change their minds had they known!

 Chapter 928: The Crazy Plan of Patriarch Qin!

    Some time while Bai Yunfei was fighting Qin Long and Yan Tianxing, something else was happening within the depths of the primal stone mine.


    Several members of the Qin were still seated there in the same cave where Qin Tian and the other two members left from. One of the more solemn-faced individuals had been waiting for some time after Qin Tian left before he decided to speak up. ¡°Qin Xia, notify every Soul Exalt within our family to gather on the surface. Spread out around a five-kilometer perimeter over the mine and guard every entrance. Order them to disallow entry to everyone!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± A skinny but middle-aged man bowed at once before quickly leaving the cave.


    Aside from the patriarch seated in the middle, this solemn-faced individual was the oldest one there. He was the cousin of Qin Tian and was named Qin He, one of the strongest of the Qin. He was close to being a Peak Late-stage Soul King and also close to becoming a Soul Emperor, but Qin Tian was stronger than him by a small amount.


    But it wasn¡¯t long after the one named Qin Xia left that the people in the cave found themselves astir once more to gape at the entrance.


    Two auras were rapidly approaching them. One of them was Qin Xia, and the other was a scholarly-looking person behind held up by him!


    Everyone was alarmed at their sudden reappearance. ¡°Qin Shu!¡± One person exclaimed, ¡°What reason have you for coming back? Did something happen?!¡±


    The one named Qin Shu looked like death had warmed over onto his face. He wasn¡¯t injured by any physical means, but his body seemed like it was without strength. Just standing required Qin Xia to hold him up as he gasped. Terror filled Qin Shu¡¯s face when he was asked the question.


    ¡°We were ambushed!! Outside the mines!! Uncle and Qin Jian were¡­they were both killed!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The elders gathered in the cave flew to their feet at once at the news. Horror gripped at them all as what Qin Shu said was processed into their minds. Qin He himself flew forward to grab Qin Shu by the chest to bring him close. ¡°What did you say?!¡± He barked, ¡°Repeat yourself at once!¡±


    His authoritative voice towards Qin Shu wasn¡¯t meant to intimidate the man, but to refocus his mind and drive out the terror. Qin Shu trembled as Qin He¡¯s words took affect onto his person. ¡°We¡­¡± He began to stutter, ¡°we were just twenty-five kilometers away from Swallow City when someone attacked us from a nearby mountain. Not even uncle could sense them until they attacked. There were two of them. One of them was so skilled at hiding that he blended in with the world itself. When he attacked us, the other appeared behind uncle and¡­and killed him! Qin Jian tried to attack, but he was killed as well! I¡­I knew I couldn¡¯t win, so¡­so I fled back here!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Silence filled the cave as Qin Shu finished his short story. No one knew what to say or do but just stare at him¡­


    ¡°Impossible! Someone that can assassinate the previous head in one move?! That¡¯s ludicrous! I don¡¯t believe it! How could there be such a powerful person!?¡±


    A white-haired elder cried out in exasperation. Though he cried out his misgivings, his reactions said otherwise.


    A Late-stage Soul King being ¡®assassinated¡¯ without even the chance to fight back?! How¡­how could anyone believe in something like that?!


    But the messenger bringing this piece of news was Qin Shu, someone who everyone knew was not a liar. The news was disproportionately terrifying to even think about. No one wanted to believe what Qin Shu was saying, but they had to!


    ¡°Who¡­who is the one that¡¯s doing this to us!?¡±


    Unable to hold it in within himself, an elder within the cave let out a loud cry.


    Qin He was the calmest figure within the cave. Aside from the faint layer of disbelief showing on his face, Qin He had also a pondering expression on his face as he thought about the possibilities.


    His eyes snapped back to Qin Shu as if he realized something. ¡°A person skilled in assassinations¡­and hiding within the world itself? He was able to assassinate Qin Hu and even Qin Tian without a sound¡­I can only think of one person capable of all that. Jing ¡®Death God¡¯ Wuying!¡±


    ¡°What?! Jing Wuying!?¡± Someone else cried out. ¡°The patriarch of the Jing?! Didn¡¯t he die a long time ago?! We investigated him a long time ago. He didn¡¯t even appear when the Jing were exterminated, how could he possibly be alive still?!¡±


    The speaker¡¯s voice was trembling from fear. Jing Wuying was clearly someone so powerfully terrifying that even speaking his name invoked fear.


    ¡°He¡¯s the only one¡­no one else would have that kind of strength or motive to fight our Qin!¡± Qin He spat. ¡°It¡¯s definitely Jing Wuying!¡±


    ¡°But how?! What¡­what should we do? The man was already a Peak Late-stage Soul King when he was last heard of multiple decades ago. All the rumors said he died when trying to become a Soul Emperor. Could¡­could those rumors be wrong? Could he be a Soul Emperor now?!¡±


    Another horrifying thought that only served to deepen the terror everyone in the cave felt.


    ¡°Impossible! Why would he spend so much effort assassinating our members if he was a Soul Emperor? He could¡¯ve killed the entire Qin by himself then!¡± Qin He refuted, ¡°He must¡¯ve failed to become a Soul Emperor and was injured! That¡¯s why he spent all those years in hiding! He must only be a Peak Late-stage Soul King!¡±


    ¡°But¡­even if he is, what can we do?¡± Another elder asked. ¡°Even as a Peak Late-stage Soul King he remains an opponent we cannot fight against! He¡¯s skilled in the art of assassination and subterfuge. We don¡¯t stand a chance! If the Death God has his eye on our Qin, what can we possibly do?!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were focused entirely on Qin He now. They were all expecting an answer from him, but it was no use. Not even he had a plan against an enemy as powerful and sudden as this.


    From all the days before, the Qin had been waiting since forever for their patriarch to become a Soul Emperor. His ascension to the next level would bring forth the elevation of their family!


    And now a threat large enough to exterminate those grand ambitions was presenting itself right before their dreams could come true!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    While everyone was fretting to themselves, a terrifying wave of aura slammed into the inhabitants of the cave!


    ¡°Patriarch!!¡±


    Qin He whirled around along with the other members to look at the state-still elder in the middle. Something had piqued their surprise.


    A faint red light was shining from the patriarch¡¯s person and his eyes were slowly starting to open¡­


    Two bright beams of red light shot out from his eyes. With each time the beams of light landed on a person, the person would shiver momentarily as if feeling their very soul being scrutinized, their bodies bent set on fire, and their blood being boiled.


    ¡°Patriarch, have¡­have you¡­¡± Qin He started to speak hesitantly.


    The patriarch¡¯s eyes swiveled to look at Qin He. His mouth didn¡¯t open to speak, but everyone could hear a voice speak into their minds. ¡°I heard everything¡­a strong foe appears¡­I cannot wait any longer¡­let us begin the final soul fusion ahead of schedule!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Qin He looked startled, ¡°Ahead of schedule? But patriarch¡­is that not too risky? The previous fusion has yet to stabilize, there might be the chance of failure if we try too soon¡­¡±


    ¡°If Jing Wuying is here, then he knows of my situation and will not let things go as we planned. We¡­must make haste! Do not give him the time nor opportunity! We must do this now! Our problems will be solved as long as I¡­succeed!¡± Patriarch Qin¡¯s voice rang out in their minds with a hint of steel.


    ¡°That¡­¡± Qin He was still a little hesitant. ¡°Preparations have yet to be finished, patriarch. We don¡¯t have enough souls. Trying to force the next attempt would be a little¡­¡±


    ¡°Send the order for our men to capture every single miner within fifty kilometers! I¡¯ll use their souls!¡±


    Qin He snapped to full attention at the order of his patriarch in shock!


    ¡°To every single miner?! That¡¯s¡­¡± Qin He¡¯s mind went blank at the numbers that¡¯d involve. While capturing that many miners would definitely mean having enough souls, how would the Qin possibly be able to survive the fallout after that?


    ¡°Do it now!!¡±


    But the patriarch had given the order. Qin He straightened at the back to bow one last time to the patriarch. ¡°Yes, patriarch!!¡± He replied with gritted teeth.

 Chapter 929: Troubles Underground

    Seven kilometers deep within the mines.


    This level of depth was a part of the mines were regular people wouldn¡¯t even be able to physically access. Many soul cultivators were currently walking here and there through the nests of tunnels. Two soul cultivators, in particular, were walking out from a room they had been initially training in.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Didn¡¯t we just get the order to return to the two and a half kilometer point? Why¡¯s it all quiet now? Are we going to go or not?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­The Qin haven¡¯t said anything so far. Our quota for this month was already reached, so¡­what¡¯s the rush this time?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the messenger? Is he gone? Should we return to the surface or stay here and train then?¡±


    ¡°I was on the verge of becoming a Mid-stage Soul Exalt! What a pain for me to squander this valuable time!¡±


    ¡°The messenger was pretty adamant though. He said it¡¯d be our own heads if we don¡¯t go! I say forget it. We should keep things low while we¡¯re in the Qin¡¯s territory. The Qin probably discovered a particularly rare mine or something and want first dibs on the pie before they cast us the leftovers¡­it wouldn¡¯t be the first time at least¡­¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­fine then. Let¡¯s return to the surface and get some fresh air. The pressure down here probably isn¡¯t too good for my training in any case¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The two soul cultivators talking were both Mid-stage and Late-stage Soul Exalts. Having wanted the primal stones to help with their training, both soul cultivators decided to help the Qin excavate the primal stones in the mine.


    The two talked to one another as they walked back to the surface of the mine as they had been instructed to.


    ¡°Eh? Did you hear that sound just now?¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul Exalt came to a brief stop to look around themselves.


    ¡°What?¡± The Early-stage Soul Exalt stopped as well, but more out of confusion than suspicion like his companion. He looked around the place with a blast of soulforce and found nothing. ¡°Not a thing, what were you feeling?¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul Exalt spent a moment longer to reconfirm his findings before he scratched his chin. ¡°I could¡¯ve sworn I felt something approaching, was I just imagining it? Weird¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t scare me like that. I heard rumors of a malicious beast hiding down here. A few people from the third squad went missing not too long ago actually. Most are betting that it was a beast that did them in. The two of us would be dead for sure if we come across it¡­¡± The Early-stage Soul Exalt replied in jest.


    ¡°Maybe I really was just imagining things.¡± The Mid-stage Soul Exalt forced a laugh back. ¡°We¡¯ve been stuck down here for too long. I¡¯m starting to see things where I shouldn¡¯t, let¡¯s get go¡ª¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t even finished speaking when the man froze up. A jet-black light had flitted across his eyes from the left to reach his companion before instantly dragging him away and out of sight!


    ¡°Ah! What is that!!?¡±


    Elemental water came bursting out from his person a second later as he began to retreat. He was trying to make use of that energy to protect himself as he tried to see what it was that had just taken away his companion.


    ¡°A¡­a beast?! No way¡­¡± The Mid-stage Soul Exalt muttered himself as he warily eyed the tunnel the thing had come from.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    He had only made it another ten meters before he heard a soft rustling sound¡ªbut from his right this time. Blanching, the man whirled around just in time to see a black shadow reach for him!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    A terrified shriek echoed through the tunnels before the man wasn¡¯t heard from again¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, in another section of the seven-kilometer point.


    Three Soul Exalts were currently walking through a tunnel at a brisk rate. Of the three of them, one was a Mid-stage Soul Exalt and the other two were Early-stage Soul Exalts.


    ¡°Careful! There¡¯s something coming!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul Exalt called out in warning as he brought out a red longsword into his hand to stare at the tunnel down their right.


    ¡°What? What thing? Where?!¡±


    The other two men cried out a half-beat later. Adopting defensive positioning and readying themselves for battle, a white-robed soul cultivator stared warily around themselves. Having not noticed anything, the man coincidentally looked up in time to see¡­an orange-colored claw!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    He was launched up into the air by the claws gripping onto his head. There was a crunching sound as his bones buckled under the grip of the claws and his entire corpse was thrown to a hole on the right where he collapsed with a thud¡­


    ¡°A soulbeast! Be careful!!¡± The fire-type Mid-stage Soul Exalt cried out, but his eyes widened as his senses made a more detailed examination of the soulbeast in front of him.


    ¡°No! It¡¯s a late-stage class six soulbeast! We¡­we have to run awa¡ªargh!!¡±


    ¡°Is this the rumored beast they were ta¡ªahh!!¡±


    Two more screams were heard before silence crept back into the tunnels once again¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Occurrences like these were happening all over the mines in rapid succession!


    Anyone that could reach the five-kilometer point mark were Soul Ancestors at the very least. Seven kilometers were Soul Exalts at the very least. These people that had been caught or killed thus far were Soul Exalts that had been in the middle of training before they were ambushed by the ¡®beast¡¯. One after another, waves of powerful energy showed up in different parts of this section of the mine were quickly being snuffed out. Everyone was realizing the same thing and also coming to the same endings as the people who had gone missing several weeks prior!


    Soon, a panic-filled aura was spreading throughout the mines as the Soul Exalts or Soul Ancestors were doing whatever they could to escape and avoid being ambushed¡­


    ¡­¡­


    In section eleven of the mines at the eight-kilometer point.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The sharp cries of a beast could be heard in the middle of one of the tunnels. The ground and earth all around were quaking intensely as golden light sparked to life from around the corner.


    A middle-aged man could be seen in the middle of the golden light. He was a Mid-stage Soul Exalt and was considered one of the stronger people in this section. Right now, he was hobbling away from something like how a stray dog would.


    ¡°Boom¡­boom!!¡±


    Several muffled explosions run along the tunnel as a black shadow rounded the corner to give chase after this man. It was some type of six-legged soulbeast that looked like an alligator!¡±


    This soulbeast was large in size and was nearly as tall and wide as the tunnels around it. Despite its size, the soulbeast was navigating through the tunnels without at all being hampered in speed. And from the aura¡­this soulbeast was definitely a late-stage class six soulbeast! With how fast it was traveling, the soul cultivator it was chasing was definitely a goner!


    ¡°Ah!¡± The man howled in terror when he looked behind. All he had seen was a large bloody maw as it extended around his person.


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    In the last moments to offer up any resistance towards the soulbeast, the man took a glimpse of a small crack in the roof above the pouncing soulbeast. A black light had flitted out from it¡­


    There was a sickening thud as the man watched as the tremendous soulbeast in front of him was slammed into the ground as if a thousand-kilogram weight had been forced onto it!


    It took a moment for the man to understand what was going on, but he immediately took off running when he realized he was still alive! He had seen someone come leaping down from the roof when it seemed like all hope was lost to stand in between him and the soulbeast. It was just one person, but why did the man care? He was still alive and kicking!


    ¡°...Che! I saved your life on a whim and you don¡¯t even say thanks! How rude!¡±


    The figure in black snorted from where he stood on top of the motionless soulbeast. He watched as the man ran further away down the tunnels before extending his hand out.


    He leaped down from the soulbeast to store the corpse into his space ring. ¡°Good thing it¡¯s a late-stage class six soulbeast, I can feed the soulgem to Xiao Feng and help him become a class seven soulbeast¡­¡±


    The figure dusted himself off before looking around himself. Choosing a direction at seemingly random chance, the man began to mutter to himself. ¡°Looks like things are going as grandfather planned. The Qin are already starting their plans. Gotta be careful then if they¡¯re using soulbeasts to capture people. I bet they¡¯re trying to use the rumors for their excuse. Hmph, what a clumsy ruse¡­I¡¯ll just take all the soulgems then if they¡¯re being offered!¡±


    As he finished speaking, the man slowly faded into thin air and out from sight¡­

 Chapter 930: Soul Fusing Array!

    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    In a large hall constructed from stone, a middle-aged Early-stage Soul King let out a belch of blood at the same time the mysterious soulbeast had been killed by the figure in black!


    He whipped his head up with a bloody snarl and furious eyes. ¡°My six-legged crocodile was killed! In the twelfth section of the eighth-kilometer point!!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve snuck that far in already?!¡±


    Several other people in the hall were letting out cries of surprise. ¡°That has to be the Early-stage Soul King Qin Shu was talking about,¡± Qin He stated, ¡°if he¡¯s already at the twelfth section, then¡­loosen up the surrounding four section and reconcentrate them elsewhere. Have the soulbeasts corral the miners to the other sections and capture them! Don¡¯t let a single one escape!¡±


    He turned to point at three Early-stage Soul Kings, ¡°You three will head out at once to help with the capturing process. Don¡¯t let even a single one escape from here, even if it means destroying a section or two!¡±


    The hall was basked in silence again once the three Early-stage Soul Kings left to fulfill their orders, but the silence lasted only for a short while before an elder next to Qin He spoke out. ¡°We¡¯ve confirmed the companion of Jing Wuying is deep in the mines, but Jing Wuying has yet to be found. Is¡­is it wise to let those three Soul Kings go?¡±


    ¡°Jing Wuying¡¯s goal is to stop the patriarch from breaking through no matter what. No matter how he hides, he¡¯ll end up in this cave eventually. All we have to do until then is to work hard to ensure the preparations are made¡­but he won¡¯t reveal himself so easily. If we find him, he¡¯ll be surrounded and will have to fight for some time to get here. That wouldn¡¯t be favorable for him.


    ¡°Our enemy is most skilled in the art of hiding. It¡¯s an impossibility for us to find him by normal means, so we must wait here and bolster our defenses until he reveals himself! Jing Wuying will be an opponent for us no longer when the patriarch breaks through! We just need to wait! And if he does nothing and waits for the patriarch to succeed, that¡¯ll be even more dangerous for him!


    ¡°So even though it seems like we¡¯re being forced to make do with these emergency measures, Jing Wuying is actually waiting for us to make a mistake! We hold the advantage right now! We must be patient and prepare!¡±


    Qin He took a deep breath before he circled around to answer the main question the other elder asked. ¡°We¡­have no choice but to send those three out! There¡¯ll be some people that¡¯ll make it out if only our Soul Exalts are scouring the mines. We need Soul Kings to ensure no fish escapes the net. But if they are unfortunate enough to come across Jing Wuying¡­¡±


    The elders in the cave didn¡¯t need to hear the rest of Qin He¡¯s words to know what he meant.


    ¡°It is the honor of every man to sacrifice themselves for their family!! They know the danger and didn¡¯t shirk away nor refuse their duties! We should feel proud!¡±


    Qin He sat back down after his speech to close his eyes and wait. Everyone else had a steel look on their face as they pondered the situation. Their anxiety had seemingly lessened a bit after all this. One by one, they sat down in order to try and prepare themselves for battle.


    There was a single elder in gray robes that had been hiding in the corner. He had been listening to this conversation from start to finish with a ¡®calm¡¯ look, but his eyes were flashing with cold light. Strangely enough, it seemed like no one else in the cave had noticed him as they discussed what to do between themselves, allowing the elder to remain there in the corner and think¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Qin He¡¯s eyes flashed open a while later as a figure in violet came running towards the cave. Stopping in front of the entrance, the elder saluted towards one of the inhabitants. ¡°Father, the first round of people have been captured!¡±


    The elder who received the message snapped his head to look at Qin He.


    ¡°Bring them here!¡± Qin He nodded.


    The messenger was someone from Qin Long¡¯s generation, Qing Lang. He was just a Late-stage Soul Exalt but was a core member of the family and responsible for overseeing the entire capturing process.


    ¡°Yes!!¡± Qin Lang replied at once.


    Multiple soul cultivators were soon brought into the room to be strewn all over the ground. There were around thirty of them with most being Soul Ancestors.


    When the last of the captured soul cultivators were put on the ground, the patriarch sitting at the center of the room finally opened his eyes.


    It felt like a beam of fire had been lit up when he opened his eyes. The heat exuding from his eyes also contained some kind of thirst for blood. It was unknown what the elder was doing, but each of the captured people rose into the air around him and redistributed around the room in a peculiar ¡®pattern¡¯.


    When that was done, the patriarch turned his eyes to stare at the mysterious gray-robed elder in the corner.


    ¡°Start the Soul Fusing Array!¡±


    The man responded at once the patriarch¡¯s emotionless words. His hands rose to chest-level to begin a series of confusing hand seals before grunting and slamming both hands onto the ground!


    An eerie black light rose out from this elder before forming into the face of a snarling ghost. The palms of the elder drove deeper into the ground with a rumble before black lines started to show up on it!


    The black lines had first appeared around the elder¡¯s hands before it dispersed across the ground. In the blink of an eye, ninety percent of the ground was covered up by markings and mysterious runic script. Qin He and the others were outside of the boundary, but the patriarch was seated at its center!


    The white sand that had been covering the legs of the patriarch and ground around him was still there. The sand looked almost transparent with how the black light was shining beneath it. Going around in a circle, the light shot out from the ground to form a barrier that seemed to separate the patriarch and the floating soul cultivators and the outside.


    A red light came shining out from the patriarch to envelop each of the people floating around him. All was calm for a second before his eyes narrowed and a wave of soulforce undulated out from him!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang¡­¡±


    There was a loud explosive sound as each person suddenly exploded into flames!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah¡­¡±


    And then screams rang through the cave!


    The black light was shining even brighter now. It flickered for a moment before darkening in shade. Even the walls nearby were seemingly having bits of black light being pulled from it into the black barrier¡­


    It took a while before the last of the screams was silenced. The black light dropped away to reveal the patriarch and several balls of fire. None of the soul cultivators could be seen anywhere, but left behind in the flames where they used to be was a black strand of light that struggled a bit before being pulled into the patriarch¡¯s body!


    The patriarch trembled a bit whenever the black strands went inside of him, but the more noticeable effect was his aura. Each time the black strand went in, his aura¡­increased in strength!


    And every time a strand was taken in, the flames would disperse and leave behind a shower of white stand to fall down and cover the ground beneath.


    The white ¡®sand¡¯ wasn¡¯t just sand, it was¡­the bone ashes of the sacrificial people!

 Chapter 931: A Sudden Turn of Events

    ¡°Run away, brother! I¡¯ll hold them off!¡±


    ¡°No way! I¡¯ll stall them for now, you hurry up and run!¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap! Do you want all of us to die here?! Don¡¯t let our third brother¡¯s death be in vain! We can make it out of here, even if it¡¯s just one of us!! Hurry up and run! I¡¯ll fight off this bastard!¡±


    ¡°Big brother!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The sound of loud crying and the roars of a soulbeast could be heard deep within one of the tunnels underground. Followed by these sounds were the fierce explosion of elemental energy and soulforce clashing with one another.


    A single figure turned around the corner away from the fierce fight. He had been thrown off farther away from one of the previous blows, allowing the person to run as fast as he could away from the place. As he ran, hot tears of indignation and grief rolled off his cheeks to fall onto the ground beneath him.


    ¡°Big brother, third brother¡­I¡¯ll definitely get revenge!! The Lords will definitely hear about this! I¡¯ll make sure the hand of justice will tear apart the crazy Qin!!¡±


    This was a wood-type Late-stage Soul Exalt that was running away. Slapping his chest with his palm, the man was reinvigorated with a burst of energy so that he could run even faster. If he could go down one of the paths of the fork up ahead, he¡¯d most likely be able to make it far away enough from his pursuer and increase his chance to escape¡­


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    The man was right about to charge onto the path to the right when he was forced back a step! From the darkness of the path ahead, a light-green light the shape of a palm came shooting out from it to slam into his face with the speed of lightning!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    The palm connected into the Soul Exalt, propelling him into the nearby cave wall hard enough to leave behind a man-shaped crater. His hands and legs spasmed for a moment before the life of the Soul Exalt expired and went still¡­


    It was a calm-faced Qin Shu that watched the Soul Exalt take his final breath. Standing for a moment, he watched as the man died before he turned towards the direction where the man came from.


    He did not have to wait for long. Two figures¡ªone in gold and one in violet¡ªcame speeding down the tunnels before coming to an immediate stop to bow respectfully towards Qin Shu.


    ¡°I¡¯ve stopped this one. Go and capture the others.¡± Qin Shu spoke before either of the two could greet him.


    ¡°Yes!!¡±


    Neither of the two men minced any words. With just a single word of affirmation, the two men flashed down another tunnel to do as they were told.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Left alone in the tunnel, Qin Shu took a long look at the corpse next to him before he sighed¡­


    ¡°Sigh¡­is using such an extreme method like this truly the best way to help the patriarch succeed?¡±


    He looked troubled at the things set in motion for his family. ¡°There¡¯s no going back on this road,¡± he sighed again, ¡°all that¡¯s left to do is hope that the patriarch becomes a Soul Emperor. Our crisis will be no more when he succeeds!! If there¡¯s anyone you wish to blame, blame yourself for your misfortune. You should never have come to this mine!¡±


    He was muttering some kind of mantra for himself as if he was trying to make himself believe in the family cause. Killing intent poured from his person once more as he stared one last time at the corpse before stalking down the path to the right.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there!?¡±


    His eyes suddenly swiveled towards the corner further down the road. He took off in one fluid motion down the path to lash out with his right hand at whomever it was there!


    ¡°It¡¯s me, cousin!!¡±


    A terrified voice called out in response to him. Qin Shu¡¯s eyes squinted narrowly as he took notice of the voice and shifted his hand just enough to send the blade of wind slightly off towards the side to graze past the corner and into the wall.


    ¡°Qin Lang? Why are you here?¡±


    Qin Shu looked a lot calmer at the sight of the familiar face.


    It was his Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt cousin, Qin Lang. The man was bathed head to toe with blood and his left and right hands held a person practically on the verge of death in them. He had clearly just succeeded in a battle just now.


    A little terrified at the blade of wind that had just barely missed him, Qin Lang took a moment to recompose himself. ¡°I found these two just barely out of our perimeters from the eleventh section. I was just on my way back when I felt cousin¡¯s aura and came to take a look.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Qin Shu nodded knowingly, ¡°I have just captured six people myself. Hand over those two and continue your work.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Qin Lang nodded. The two people he carried were quickly thrown over to Qin Shu for him to catch with two bubbles of elemental energy. They bobbed up and down in the air behind Qin Shu as he prepared to turn around to head back for the cave.


    But at that moment¡­!


    Qin Shu had noticed something the moment when he turned around. His eyes flew wide open as he moved to protect himself with soulforce!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    But his reaction was just a moment too late! A hand smoking black with light was already clutching at where his heart was!


    ¡­¡­


    At the deepest point of the mines where a large hall was.


    The black light shining from the array the patriarch was in was already so overreaching that it was covering the areas where Qin He and the others used to stand. The group had already retreated to the other side of the cave¡¯s entrance so that only the patriarch was left in the cave.


    The white sand covering the ground was a lot thicker than it was before. Just thinking about how this white sand was actually the powdered remains of people was a little terrifying, and the fact that there was so much of it was mind-boggling¡­


    The light was already piercing into the top of the cave now. It seemed like the entire cave was now a formation of some kind with the black light acting as a powerful barrier to prevent the whirlpool of energy within it from escaping out. But even the Soul Kings waiting outside were alarmed by the amount of power being conducted in this array. Even their souls felt terrified by what was going on.


    A faint black wisp was traveling around the array. Almost as if it was alive, the wisp traveled around the patriarch before it and another strand of black energy melted into his body. Wriggling almost as it traveled in, the black strands of energy was almost too horrific to look at.


    The patriarch was looking eerily strange right now. His face was twitching non-stop as if he was trying his best to push down some kind of force that was trying to escape his body. The red light around his person was darkening in shade, and it seemed like it¡¯d burst any second now¡­


    ¡°It has to be soon¡­just a little bit now¡­the patriarch will definitely succeed!!¡±


    Qin He was growing more excited by the second. He was muttering non-stop to himself as he watched the patriarch go. When most of the black strands of energy were sucked into the patriarch, Qin He turned around to glare angrily at the people behind him. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why haven¡¯t the next group of people been brought in yet?! Hurry it up!¡±


    An Early-stage Soul King turned to look down the tunnel as if waiting for someone to report. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± He cried out a moment later. ¡°Qin Shu has returned, and with plenty of sacrifices!¡±


    A near dozen people were coming towards the cave now, each of them with an unconscious person per hand and a single person leading the group from the front.


    It was Qin Shu!

 Chapter 932: Jing Wuyings Methods

    ¡°Qin Shu, what happened to you?!¡±


    A white-robed elder called out to the incoming Qin Shu. Surprised by the tone of voice of this elder, everyone else looked over to see what was wrong.


    Qin Shu looked a little worse for wear. There was a clear palm print on his chest and his robes around the area were in tatters to reveal the golden armor he wore underneath it. There was also a small remainder of blood trickling down his lips.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just a moment¡¯s mistake when this person ambushed me.¡±


    Qin Shu shook his head loathingly to look at the bloody male being dragged in his right hand. He tossed the man onto the ground with spite.


    ¡°Ambushed?¡± The first elder to speak was surprised to hear it. ¡°What happened? This person ambushed you?¡±


    ¡°He did. This person pretended to be unconscious when he was brought over and ambushed me when I wasn¡¯t expecting it. I just barely avoided being severely hurt.¡±


    A flash of annoyance crossed Qin Shu¡¯s eyes as he remembered the events. The fact that he had been ambushed by a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt of all people was humiliating. Were it not for the patriarch, QIn Shu would¡¯ve had this person killed right then and there. He couldn¡¯t kill the man, but that didn¡¯t stop him from inflicting multiple wounds onto the man at the very least.


    Everyone was relieved to hear his words. Most of them had been worried that Qin Shu might¡¯ve come across Jing Wuying, but when they thought more about it, the more they realized that Qin Shu would¡¯ve have come back if he really did meet him.


    Qin He hadn¡¯t the time to think about how Qin Shu was injured. He spared a single glance at the people he had brought back with him, ¡°Be silent and bring up the sacrifices! The patriarch is at a very crucial moment!¡±


    ¡°Yes!!¡±


    Hearing that the patriarch was close to a breakthrough elicited a spark of joy from Qin Shu¡¯s eyes. With a wave of his hand, the many people he was carrying were floated over through the entrance and into the cave.


    Like fuel for the fire, the thirty-something people were thrown across the barrier of black light and watched set on fire by Qin He and the others.


    The first signs of undulations started to rise after the first ten people were thrown in. The energy emanating from the barrier had suddenly spiked in intensity large enough for the Soul Exalts from the Qin to shrink back in abject fear.


    ¡°Is¡­is he going to succeed?!¡±


    Qin He¡¯s eyes flashed with joy at the spike in energy. Turning around, he began to give everyone an order. ¡°The patriarch is close to a breakthrough! Have everyone spread out around the area. Don¡¯t let anyone get close! Kill anyone that dares to come!!¡±


    The end was near, and all the Soul Kings gathered there couldn¡¯t be happier. Nodding in response to Qin He¡¯s command, they all set out to do as they were told.


    None of them had ever seen a Soul Emperor before, but they didn¡¯t have to in order to know how powerful one was. The explosive phenomena that¡¯d occur when someone broke through to become a Soul Emperor were multiple times more powerful than the King¡¯s Phenomena. The gathering of elemental energy would be too much for anyone to stand close, even for Soul Kings like them.


    But there was one person, in particular, that wasn¡¯t falling back from the cave. Noticing the person, an elder called out to him in panic, ¡°Qin Shu! What are you doing?! Hurry up and get away from there!!¡±


    Everyone turned their heads in astonishment. The last of the sacrifices were being burned up during this time and the process to becoming a Soul Emperor was at its climax now, but there was still a single person standing in close proximity to the outside boundaries of the array!


    It was¡­Qin Shu!!


    Qin Shu was just standing there as if he was a statue. He didn¡¯t even look like he was even listening to the elder!


    A suspicious glint entered Qin He¡¯s eyes. Studying Qin Shu for a moment, the light in his eyes deepened in horror as he realized something off about the man!


    ¡­¡­


    The Jing, known in the soul cultivator world as being the number one family of assassins, had two special arts they excelled in. The first was the Face Chance Technique that allowed them to disguise themselves excellently. The other was the Soul Concealment Art that gave them an unparalleled ability to conceal themselves.


    Many soul cultivators knew that about the Jing. But only a few knew about the two even more powerful soul skills. Jing Wuying, the patriarch of the Jing, had used both skills sixty years before to carve a name for himself in the legends.


    The strange thing about this was that Jing Wuying had gone missing as soon as he made a name for himself. It was rumored by many that he had managed to annoy a Soul Emperor and was subsequently killed. Others said he managed to reach the limits of what a Soul King could do and hide away to train in peace.


    Jing Wuying appeared a decade later when there was a struggle for a medicine that could help one become a Soul Emperor. Jing Wuying had killed a Peak Late-stage Soul King during that time and grabbed hold of the medicine. The struggle led to him being seriously hurt and had to hide for several more years in seclusion.


    It was rumored then that Jing Wuying had tried and failed to become a Soul Emperor. This rumor held some credence since there would¡¯ve been signs of his success if he did. But since no one could feel a thing, and there were no new Soul Emperors that could be him in disguise. After so much time had passed, everyone was convinced that he had died somewhere in his attempt to breakthrough.


    And the death of Jing Wuying meant the two uninherited skills of his would fade away into obscurity as well¡­


    Those two techniques were called Void Concealment and Soul Imitation!!


    Void Concealment was a technique that was as its name implied, a soul skill that allowed one to hide within the void itself! One could become like the air around them to become immaterial as if hiding in a different dimension. No one would be able to see or sense them! This was a soul skill that terrified countless people when it first appeared and why Qin He thought of Jing Wuying when he first heard Qin Shu talked about how Qin Tian had been killed.


    Soul Imitation was something that was even more incredulous to explain. As its name implies, this soul skill gave one the ability to ¡®imitate¡¯ the aura of another!!


    The aura of a person was a unique identifier akin to that of a fingerprint. One soul cultivator would be able to tell another just by their auras alone, no matter how their physical appearance might change. Alterations to one¡¯s aura might be possible to a certain extent, but not to a completely different level. That was what was known and accepted to all soul cultivators.


    But Soul Imitation challenged that ¡®theory¡¯. It not only allowed one to completely change their auras but to also imitate the aura of another!


    No one knew just how many times Jing Wuying had annoyed a foe before and then killed them by pretending to be someone they knew¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Not even Qin He or anyone from his generation had seen Jing Wuying before. All they heard were rumors of those two techniques and so they always doubted the truth behind the two soul skills. The Qin thought it was just a rumor after they annihilated the Jing since no one they interrogated from the Jing knew about the skills. Qin He himself had even used Soul Scanning to try and find any clues but found none.


    So he found himself afraid. The patriarch might be saying there wouldn¡¯t be anything to worry about once he succeeded, but Qin He was still deathly afraid of something going wrong. That there¡¯d be an ambush before the patriarch could succeed.


    He was so paranoid about that possibility that he even scanned the auras of every single person that drew near just in case it was Jing Wuying. He and the others just had to guard the cave and entrance until the patriarch was done. But not even he would be able to realize the one he had to be on the lookout for would be one of the people looking with him!


    Qin Shu!!


    It all made sense to Qin He when he saw Qin Shu standing motionlessly there. Horror dawned upon his person as the dots connected in his head¡­was Qin Shu really Jing Wuying in disguise?!


    Qin He could feel his soul tremble violently at the thought. He desperately wanted something to just pop out here and say he was wrong. To say that this Qin Shu was ¡®real¡¯!!


    He hadn¡¯t sensed anything off with Qin Shu! Was¡­was Jing Wuying¡¯s Soul Imitation really so terrifyingly powerful as the rumors once said?!


    And then the proof hit Qin He. An unordinary pulse of soulforce was bursting out from Qin Shu!!


    ¡°No!! Stop him!!¡±

 Chapter 933: The Plan

    ¡°No! Stop him!!¡±


    Qin He cried out at once in sheer horror.


    ¡°Qin Shu!!¡± The purple-robed elder who had called out to him before he let out another cry as well.


    That caught Qin Shu¡¯s attention! His head snapped back to look at the two, but¡­the expression in his eyes were completely vacant!!


    ¡°Father? What¡¯s¡­¡±


    Qin Shu was speaking now to his father, but his words died in his throat while he spoke. Both hands flew to his heart as pain overtook him. That was the only emotion to show in his eyes now; pain! But the more terrifying thing about him was the crack had suddenly appeared over his body. It looked like something was trying to burst its way out from him!


    ¡°Fa¡ªfather!! Ahh!!!¡±


    The pupils in his eyes were dilating rapidly in his eyes now. Something was wrong with him, but Qin Shu didn¡¯t know why! All he could do was clutch at his chest and look to his father before he let out one final cry of pain!


    ¡°Qin Shu! No!!¡±


    The purple-robed elder wailed in horror. He leaped for Qin Shu, but Qin He grabbed hold of him and prevented the father from going any further!


    ¡°Booom!!!¡±


    An explosion erupted the next second. Just moments after Qin Shu had screamed, he had¡­exploded! It was like his body was turned into a bomb!


    The explosion sent forth a wave of energy to flood the surrounding cave. Everything within the blast radius was reduced to ashes and dust, but the small area of black light where the patriarch was inside of was still untouched.


    ¡°Qin Shu!!! My son!!! Why!!!¡± The purple-robed elder howled deeply in grief.


    It was a stony-faced Qin He that stood next to him. His eyebrows were furrowed tightly together and his teeth gnashed against one another as he thought about what had just transpired in front of him.


    ¡°Someone managed to force enough energy into Qin Shu¡¯s body to kill him!! Who else could have done it but Jing Wuying?! When could he possibly¡­¡±


    A presence within the smoke from the explosion caught Qin He¡¯s attention before he finished his thought. ¡°No! There¡¯s someone there!!¡±


    Everyone else took notice of the same thing a half-beat slower than he did. The place where the explosion took place was also nearby the entrance, and someone ad leaped into the area from there!


    There had been one person who had yet to be thrown into the barrier to be sacrificed. It was the one that Qin Shu had been carrying, the one who tried to ambush the man. He was¡­still alive!


    And now the man was making himself known with a wave of awe-inspiring energy radiating from him!


    All blood drained from Qin He¡¯s face as the aura of this man hit him. In his terror, Qin He let out a horrified cry!


    ¡°Jing Wuying!!¡±


    There wasn¡¯t a splotch of blood on this person like there had been before. He wasn¡¯t even reeking with the stench of a dying man as he had been when he was first brought in. This man was clean and filled with so much energy that it was horrifying.


    Not even his face looked the same. This was by no doubt¡­Jing Wuying!!


    ¡­¡­


    Jing Wuying¡¯s plan hadn¡¯t been complicated at all. All he had to do was pretend to be a caught soul cultivator in order to ¡®save¡¯ his energy and then allow himself to be captured.


    It was simplistic beyond simplistic in theory but practically impossible to be done by anyone else but him. His flawless ability to disguise himself was enough to fool even a Late-stage Soul King like Qin He!! The best thing was that no one would even know what he was up to until the trap was sprung. No one would¡¯ve known that the one they were on the lookout for would¡¯ve been the very same person one of their own brought in!


    The plan went off without a hitch in the beginning with him allowing himself to be caught by Qin Lang. The only part Jing Wuying hadn¡¯t accounted for was meeting Qin Shu on the way. But since the man was there, Jing Wuying added a secondary bit to his plan. He¡¯d use Qin Shu to help make his plan work even better!


    That was why he sprung up to attack Qin Shu. By pretending to be a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt on the verge of death, Jing Wuying was easily able to hide the fact that he was a Peak Late-stage Soul King! And by continuing the act by ¡®failing¡¯ to kill Qin Shu, Jing Wuying was able to forcibly store enough volatile energy in Qin Shu without him knowing it until it was too late!


    From there, Jing Wuying¡¯s plan went as expected. Qin Shu brought him and the others back to where the patriarch was training. And ¡®luckily¡¯ for him, Qin Shu threw him off to the side of the entrance instead of towards the barrier to be sacrificed. That allowed him to wait for a later moment to detonate the energy in Qin Shu.


    It seemed like all of the stars were aligning for Jing Wuying, as not only was he able to get this far without being detected, but the patriarch was also in an extremely precarious situation right now!


    The time was ripe. Jing Wuying hadn¡¯t the need to wait anymore. As Qin He gave the order to back away and secure the area in fear that they¡¯d disturb the patriarch, Jing Wuying decided to finally set off the energy within Qin Shu!


    He became a human bomb with enough force to utterly destroy himself and force all of the Soul Kings there into widespread panic!


    The detonation of Qin Shu was also the moment Jing Wuying was waiting for. Everyone else would be too preoccupied with trying to stop or process what was going on for them to not notice Jing Wuying taking action. But his plan wasn¡¯t to kill Qin He or the others, but to¡­charge into the barrier with the patriarch!


    A portion of the area around where Qin Shu was detonated had a small barrier of black light erected across it. Any piece of stone that fell from the roof onto the barrier was turned instantaneously into dust when it touched. Not even a Mid-stage Soul King would be able to touch this barrier of Jing Wuying without being reduced to dust.


    And now Jing Wuying was at the edge of where the array was. His hands clutched at seemingly the air itself before tearing them apart from one another as if to rip it open. A tear in space opened up to allow Jing Wuying to leap in!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡®No!!¡±


    The furious roar of Qin He could be heard a moment after Jing Wuying leaped into the tear. He was unable to do a thing with the barrier Jing Wuying had erected though, and had to leap back. The explosion of Qin Shu¡¯s body was far too volatile to allow him to advance!


    And in the moments of time he had to think and analyze the situation, the space within the array was already undergoing a drastic change!


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    The Soul Fusing Array started to tremble as light began to shine out from behind its barrier. The earth around the place started to shake so violently that it felt like the entire cave was splitting apart!


    It wasn¡¯t limited to just the earth. Even the air itself seemed like it was being torn apart so that red and black light was refracting into every possible angle left and right!


    The red light was elemental fire and the black was elemental darkness. As if being summoned into battle, the two lights started to gather and spread throughout the cave with devastating power in a matter of seconds!


    Two separate auras burst to life a moment after from the center of the explosion of elemental energy. Then a black ball of light exploded into view!


    Qin He and the others were familiar with one of these auras, it was the aura of their patriarch. And the other had to be Jing Wuying!


    But the terrifying thing about this situation right now was that the two auras seemed¡­almost combined!


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Something about the two auras being so close to one another was disturbing to Qin He. ¡°No!¡± He cried, ¡°Jing Wuying is trying to steal the energy the patriarch¡¯s using to breakthrough!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Another explosion rocked the cave as he spoke with enough energy to cause one of the tunnels into the cave to collapse! Red and black light flooded the area in an even larger intensity to cover the entire place!


    ¡°Leave this place at once!¡± Qin He bellowed, ¡°Don¡¯t head from the surface here! Pull back and then head up from there! Now!!!¡±


    ¡°But the patriarch¡­¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t help him! We are only endangering our lives here! Leave now!!¡±


    Qin He immediately retorted. There was no helping this situation, and everyone else knew it. Without anything left to lose, the rest began to fly away from the place!


    The stability of the cave was already precarious due to the amount of elemental energy being thrown about. Qin He was reluctant to use teleportation as a result. So instead of that, he and the rest of the Soul Kings flew away as fast as they could down the tunnel.


    ¡°Hurry and run! The tunnels are collapsing!!¡±


    ¡°Not that way! Watch out on the right!!¡±


    ¡°Save me!! Ahh!!!¡±


    Panic was spreading throughout the Qin now. The energy had reached further back where the Soul Exalts had been gathered and swallowed the unfortunate ones whole. The others had either been buried alive by the tunnels or were quick enough to make it out from there. Even the Early-stage Soul Kings who moved to try and save the Soul Exalts were struck down by the energy and killed from it!


    The hearts of everyone skipped half a beat at the sight of the Early-stage Soul Kings dying. The urge to run away was beating down on them even more now, and many of the Qin started to run this way and that to flee the scene!

 Chapter 934: Rushing Here

    The skies above the mines roughly fifty kilometers north of Swallow City was a mess of black and red now. Half the skies were one color and the other half another color. It was like two different-colored wings were spreading through the skies for a magnificent showing.


    ¡°Rumble¡­boom!!¡±


    The earth was still trembling non-stop as something deep underground continued to move about. It was like an ancient beast was finally awakening from its slumber deep underground and was roaring loudly to scare the inhabitants of the earth upon the surface.


    From where the red and black portions of the sky was deepening in color and mixing with one another, something was giving off a loud thundering rumble as if the sky itself was preparing to be torn asunder¡­


    ¡°Crackle¡­crackle¡­¡±


    A rumbling sound ten times greater than any sound before came from the ground next. A tremendous crack opened up on the surface with a heaving shudder to pour out even larger amounts of red and black light!


    ¡°Boom¡­boom¡­boom!!¡±


    The rumblings now were even deeper and more clear. Whatever the source of noise was¡­it was getting closer to the surface!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The ground exploded once again, but this time, the explosion had taken place on the surface rather than underneath!


    And at that, a nearby mountain came crashing to the ground in pieces!!


    Or perhaps it was better to say it was reduced to rubble by something exploding within it!


    The mountain was like a volcano that had erupted. Dust and stone flew up into the sky with amazing velocity before it succumbed to gravity and fell back down to the earth once more. The largest of pieces were practically the size of tiny mountains themselves¡ªsome of them enveloped in fire to boot¡ªand came raining down onto the earth to sow destruction everywhere they landed on.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh¡­¡±


    While the mountain was exploding, a few streaks of light shot up from the ground by the edge.


    They flew another five kilometers away out from the range of the ¡®meteors¡¯ and came to a halt to reveal a series of men all staring shell shocked at the sight in front of them.


    A crater practically unmeasurable to them was all that was left of the mountain from where they charged out from. Rays of red and black light poured out from the holes in the ground to spray into the atmosphere and left plumes of energy to flow out everywhere like waves of water to quake the earth and send dust flying.


    ¡°How terrifying¡­that Jing Wuying was actually capable of this much power!! He¡¯s fighting on equal grounds with the patriarch!!¡±


    ¡°Countless preparations were made, and none of them were of any use! Jing Wuying was easily able to get into the Soul Fusing Array, damn him!!¡±


    ¡°What a dastardly plan of Jing Wuying! He¡¯s trying to steal away the energy meant for the patriarch! And not only that¡­he¡¯s actually succeeding! How can it be?! Only the patriarch should¡¯ve been able to take in that energy!!¡±


    ¡°How is the patriarch?! What harm would befall him if an intruder made their way into the array?! The two of them are fighting now, but it also looks like they¡¯re both on the verge of making a breakthrough! What¡¯s going to happen?!¡±


    ¡°The amount of elemental energy here¡­how terrifying. A battle like this is something none of us would ever hope to take part in! What should we even do now?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The people who had flown out from the hole in the mountain were the Soul Kings of the Qin. Each and every single one of these Soul Kings had hard expressions on their faces as they spoke to one another. Soon, their gazes all flew towards the still silent Qin He.


    The look on Qin He¡¯s face was even scarier than the rest. His teeth were pressed hard into his lips as he observed the battle in front of them.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­nothing we can do! We can¡¯t hope to do anything in this battle but wait! The two might be battling on even grounds, but the patriarch still has that! Should all else fail, the patriarch should be able to take care of Jing Wuying without issue with it.¡±


    The expression on his face hardened. ¡°But in the end¡­it looks like our efforts were ruined at the very last step! A decade of meticulous and careful planning, a decade of labor built on the sweat and tears of our family¡­all for nothing! Curse him! Curse him!!!¡±


    His last four words were roared out loud in fury. His entire person trembled violently as he vented out his anger towards the sky.


    ¡°There¡¯s still Jing Wuying¡¯s companion deep underground!¡± His head snapped towards the right of where they stood. ¡°Find him¡­and tear his body limb from limb!!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Roughly ten kilometers away from the scene of destruction was a tall mountain. Ripples of transparent energy appeared at the mountain top before several figures stepped out from behind them.


    The figure leading the front was Bai Yunfei with Tang Xinyun by his right. On the other side was Xiao Nan and his wife, Zhao Jie. There was also another person, the wandering soul cultivator named Hu Sha.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s the primal stone mines, isn¡¯t it?! We¡¯re here already?! By the heavens! Was that teleportation? And¡­and across a large distance like that!!¡±


    It was a confounded Hu Sha that remarked about the area around him. The strange sight in the skies above and the seemingly endless chains of mountain ahead only served to confuse the man even more.


    Like him, Xiao Nan was deeply startled by the sudden change in scenery. ¡°We were teleported over fifty kilometers, weren¡¯t we? How¡­were you able to do that, Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°By the means of a special space-type soul armament.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡°A space-type Soul armament?!¡± Hu Sha cried aloud, ¡°Dear heavens¡­a soul armament that powerful exists?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded but said nothing else about the matter to instead turn his head towards the sky.


    The reason why Bai Yunfei came here was because he felt uneasy about this. He thought that the sight in the sky had to relate to Jing Mingfeng somehow and was determined to investigate. Xiao Nan wanted to come with them, so Bai Yunfei acquiesced, and Hu Sha was curious enough to want to come as well. It was faster to agree, so Bai Yunfei took him with them and used the Core Stone¡¯s teleporting capabilities to immediately bring them here.


    ¡°These are some powerful energy waves¡­¡± Bai Yunfei murmured to himself as he watched the skies. ¡°I wonder what¡¯s going on¡­¡±


    ¡°This is the Emperor¡¯s Phenomena!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s voice rang through his mind as if to answer him.


    ¡°What was that? The Emperor¡¯s Phenomena!?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s like the King¡¯s Phenomena where all the elemental energy in the world gets drawn in here, but the scale of the Emperor¡¯s Phenomena is completely different. If anything, this should be considered to be a ¡®small¡¯ version of it. The amount of energy here is hardly enough to be considered enough. The amount of energy needed for one person to breakthrough is being taken in by two people, so neither of them should be able to breakthrough. An ¡®incomplete¡¯ Emperor¡¯s Phenomena. It¡¯s a first for me, how strange¡­¡±


    The ¡®strange¡¯ explanation of Xiao Fang was spoken very matter-of-factly to Bai Yunfei, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were completely wide-open at the weight of the subject matter.


    ¡°The Emperor¡¯s Phenomena is like the King¡¯s Phenomena?! Then doesn¡¯t that mean¡­someone is becoming a Soul Emperor?! Who?! Someone from the Qin?!¡± His mind raced to connect the dots as he tried to look at the two figures fighting. ¡°Isn¡¯t¡­¡± The figures of one of the people there caught his eye, ¡°Isn¡¯t that person¡­senior Jing?!¡±


    ¡°Someone¡¯s coming! A lot of them!!¡±


    The startled cry of Hu Sha snapped Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. His eye traveled away from the battle in the sky towards where several streaks of light were flying out from a nearby mountain.


    These streaks of lights were for the most part Soul Exalts and Soul Ancestors. They were flying this way and that in panic as if being chased by a carnivorous soulbeast.


    Many different auras were escaping from underneath, most of them sporting wounds on their person. Clearly, these people had undergone a battle while they had been stuck underground.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Bai Yunfei had to wonder at the sight of so many people running away.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Another explosion suddenly rocked the earth as a mountain slightly farther away exploded into three separate lights; green, gold, and blue. There were another three sources of soulforce that could be felt from the explosion as well.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up on his forehead when he saw the three auras.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­Mingfeng!!¡±

 Chapter 935: Jing Mingfengs in Trouble

    ¡°Tch! Fighting two of them at once wasn¡¯t enough, was it? There¡¯s another group waiting for me over there¡­that won¡¯t do!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng grumbled to himself as he parried two attacks from the gold and blue streaks of light with his black dagger. He wasn¡¯t in decent shape, but the light in his eyes was as sharp as ever as he observed his surroundings to optimize his battle strategy.


    ¡°Grandfather¡¯s done with half his goal already. He just needs to finish off the patriarch. Even if we don¡¯t kill off the Qin, they¡¯ll lose any chance of getting any more powerful. No one¡­no one will escape the two of us then!


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯ll be able to take on any more people after this, so¡­it¡¯s time to retreat!!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng knew his limits. It was high time for him to withdraw from battle and head west. With his agility and the power of Black Phantom, Jing Mingfeng was just barely to fend off the two Early-stage Soul Kings without too much trouble.


    He also knew that trying to fight them for an extended period of time would be foolish. The distance away from the others wasn¡¯t negligible, but it also wasn¡¯t something that¡¯d take more than a bit of effort for a Soul King to cross. His battle with the two Soul Kings in front of him was already taking a minute longer than he expected and would definitely be even more trouble if he didn¡¯t pull away now.


    He¡¯d lose the fight if a third Soul King were to come in now, and his life would practically be forfeit if that Soul King was a Mid-stage or Late-stage¡­


    ¡°Over there!!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw his opportunity out from this battle. Over twenty streaks of light were flying out and away from the area as soul cultivators were trying their best to flee the area. If he used his disguising abilities to hide, Jing Mingfeng would have an excellent chance of being able to escape.


    Having that in mind now, Jing Mingfeng flew at once over to the area. The dagger in his right hand exuded a faint greenish-black light from the blade to block a streak of golden light from his right and force the Soul King back.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Suddenly, a barrage of blades made from elemental water came flying at him from his left! Rather than leap away from the attack, Jing Mingfeng weaved through the spaces in between the blades like if he was dancing to come out from the other side unscathed!


    But another danger was already coming onto him the moment he made his way out from that attack!


    ¡°Clang!!¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s left hand flew up to block the blue-glowing blade coming down onto his head at nearly the last second.


    An opening!


    The hand holding Black Phantom snapped forward at the water-type Soul King. Taking advantage of when the man was trying to pull his weapon back, Jing Mingfeng thrust the dagger onto the chest of the Soul King!


    ¡°Pcht¡­ding!!¡±


    The dagger broke through the elemental barrier the Soul King threw up with a popping sound not unlike that of a balloon but was then stopped in a flurry of sparks when it made contact with the layer of clothes the Soul King wore!


    The elemental barrier wasn¡¯t the only layer of defense the water-type Soul King had. He still also had a strong piece of armor!


    ¡°Tch!!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng clicked his tongue in annoyance at the missed opportunity. There wasn¡¯t even enough time to make a second attack since the Soul King was attacking first!


    He leaped into a different direction this time to avoid the attack, but the sword of the Soul King followed swiftly after him like a shadow to a body. Left with no other choice, Jing Mingfeng brought both of his daggers in front of him to try and block the sword stroke.


    ¡°Clang!¡± The sword smashed forcefully into his daggers without enough power to send Jing Mingfeng flying away. And as if to follow up on his companion¡¯s attack, the metal-type Soul King sent a wave of elemental metal to strike down Jing Mingfeng!


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes widened at the attack. Grunting out loud, he encased himself in a bubble of elemental wind to protect himself.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The strike impacted against his barrier and broke apart simultaneously with it, leaving a very unprotected Jing Mingfeng open to another attack. He was like a ball being punted around with to go flying back towards the water-type Soul King!


    Jing Mingfeng was ready to strike this time though. As he flew at the Soul King, Jing Mingfeng readied Black Phantom to strike at the heart!


    The water-type Soul King hadn¡¯t been too prepared for Jing Mingfeng to suddenly come flying back to him, so his eyes widened fractionally at the sight of where the dagger was aiming for. His previous success in blocking the dagger before helped the man come to a quick decision to use this opportunity to ignore the attack and attack Jing Mingfeng with a downwards stroke!


    He knew the dagger wouldn¡¯t pierce his armor. Whatever Jing Mingfeng tried, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop the Soul King from splitting Jing Mingfeng in two!


    But this was the exact scenario Jing Mingfeng was looking for!


    His dagger gained a black and green sheen to its edge as it once again struck at the same place as before!


    ¡°Pchttt!!!¡±


    Like a hot knife through butter, the dagger sheared straight through the elemental barrier over the Soul King¡¯s robes and then through the piece of armor straight into his heart!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The sudden intrusion of the dagger into his body forced the Soul King to flinch. That was more than enough time for Jing Mingfeng to pull his dagger back and stop the incoming sword stroke from hitting him!


    ¡°Qin Kui!!¡±


    A horrified cry came from the metal-type Soul King behind him, but the water-type Soul King couldn¡¯t hear him at that moment. All he could do was look down at his pierced armor in slow disbelief. He hovered there for a moment before his body finally grew slack and began to plummet down towards the ground!


    Only a single thought played across his mind on his way down: ¡°Why¡­didn¡¯t my armor block that strike like before!?¡±


    The answer was simple, not that he¡¯d know the answer in any case.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 4400


    Additional Attack: 2000


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    Equipment Effect 1: 30% Increase in attack speed.


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Decrease in presence. 20% Chance to evade being scanned.


    +10 Additional Effect: Leave a mark upon the first strike.


    Apply a second mark when the same place is struck for double the damage.


    Apply a third mark when the same place is struck for triple the damage.


    No more than triple the damage can be dealt.


    A fourth mark will erase the first mark.


    Any mark applied will last for either 5 minutes or until the fourth mark is applied.


    Cooldown of 3 seconds between marks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 230 Soulpoints


    The success of his second attack didn¡¯t even require any additional strength from Jing Mingfeng. All he had to do was strike at the same place for before to have his dagger deal double the damage!


    A preposterous ability like that could really only be understood by experiencing it for oneself. But the price for it was a steep one¡­death!!


    His success with killing one of his foes didn¡¯t seize Jing Mingfeng¡¯s mind. He paused briefly to stow away the space ring of the now dead Soul King before shooting forward!


    He only made it a hundred meters before a new presence made itself known to Jing Mingfeng. Snapping his head right, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes widened as he realized a streak of violet light was flying straight for him!


    ¡°A Mid-stage Soul King!!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng cursed to himself and picked up the pace to fly away.


    The person coming for him was an elderly man dressed in purple¡ªthis was Qin Shu¡¯s father! His eyes radiated with murderous intent as he rushed for Jing Mingfeng, his grizzled mouth curling into a snarl. The snarl only deepened at the sight of the dead water-type Soul King falling from the skies before it cracked opened to roar!


    ¡°Die!!!¡±


    Countless bolts of lightning manifested into the world at his command. It converged on the same space to form a python and shot straight for Jing Mingfeng faster than he could fly!


    The level of power this attack was on was completely different than anything the previous two Soul Kings Jing Mingfeng fought. This attack was powerful enough to swallow Jing Mingfeng up if he was to be caught in it!


    And if that wasn¡¯t enough, the metal-type Soul King let out a furious roar as well. A giant golden sawtooth blade formed above his head before it flew out to strike down the fleeing Jing Mingfeng!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    The world itself shook for a moment as a black stream of light came flying from the west. Devastating in power, this stream of light flew at the two incoming attacks as if to stop them.


    Jing Wuying had sensed the danger Jing Mingfeng was in and was stepping in to save him!


    But there was someone else that had moved a step faster than he did, and that was when the tides of battle had suddenly changed in a completely different direction!!


    From completely out of the blue, a ¡®volcano¡¯ appeared onto the scene with a streak of violet light to follow!


    And then a voice as cold as ice echoed across the sky!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±

 Chapter 936: Taking A Decisive Part

    Despite not being yelled out, the word ¡®freeze¡¯ reverberated across the skies as loudly as if it had been. And for the metal-type Early-stage Soul King, in particular, the word might as well been a clap of thunder that had sounded off in his ears!


    Perhaps not just his ears. It reverberated into his mind and slammed his soul with enough noise to shake it!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The violet streak of light from earlier flew through the skies while the Early-stage Soul King was dealing with the aftermath of hearing that word. And by the time he shook it off, the violet streak of light was already upon him!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    Left without any time to properly defend himself, the metal-type was perforated through the chest by the bolt of lightning!


    The golden light around his person crumbled away in a spray of red mist. Eyes dimming in light, the Soul King began to fall back down towards the ground¡­


    An instant kill!!


    The attacker behind the move hadn¡¯t even shown themselves before an Early-stage Soul King was killed off!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An explosion erupted from above the metal-type Soul King¡¯s head upon his death as the giant ¡®volcano¡¯ came smashing into the golden sawtooth blade. The golden weapon was smashed apart in a matter of moments while the ¡®volcano¡¯ continued onwards to the lightning python!


    ¡°Rumble!!¡± The rumbling sounds grew even more intense as strands of lightning arced out from the python this way and that like a cascading waterfall smashing down onto a large surface.


    The purple-robed elder¡¯s eyes widened at the sight of the object hitting his python. Lepaing back, the elder decided to forget about his attack to focus on the person heading on over from the south.


    ¡­¡­


    Jing Mingfeng took a cautious moment to look around himself now that all dangers were seemingly neutralized. ¡°Ol¡¯Bai?!¡± He cried out, stunned by the familiar presence.


    Who else could it be but Bai Yunfei to drop by right in front of him?


    Having killed its mark, the Heaven¡¯s Thunder came flying back around to Bai Yunfei. Likewise, the giant volcano transformed back to its original size to float right next to him. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    It was with genuine concern that Bai Yunfei asked the question, and Jing Mingfeng couldn¡¯t help but feel a tinge of gratitude stir in him. ¡°Haha!¡± He barked with laughter, ¡°I¡¯d have been in trouble if it weren¡¯t for your good timing. A little too good timing in fact. Maybe you were hiding off to the sides and waiting for the best time to shine? If I was a lady, I¡¯d probably be in your arms already¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re definitely fine if you can joke around like that¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered under his breath, ¡°Tell me, Mingfeng. What was the real reason you came to Swallow City? What¡¯s all this?¡±


    His eyes swept from the murderous-looking elder in purple robes to the other side where multiple people were fleeing one after another.


    The snickering smile on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face faded away. ¡°Well¡­¡± He sighed, ¡°There¡¯s nothing much to hide anymore. I just didn¡¯t want to get you involved¡­Grandfather and my goals were to come to Swallow City and¡­exterminate the Qin!¡±


    ¡°Exterminate the Qin?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew straight up on his forehead. ¡°You have to be joking?!¡±


    ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m joking with a sight like this?¡± Jing Mingfeng waved at the sight to the west with a bitter laugh. ¡°My grandfather¡¯s fighting patriarch Qin right now. If he can just kill him, then the rest of the Qin will¡­not be a problem¡­¡±


    ¡°Patriarch Qin?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. His eyes traveled to the west in idle curiosity. ¡°The secret deep within the mines had to do with the patriarch? Was that why you were down there? The patriarch was most likely closed away to try and breakthrough to become a Soul Emperor. You came to stop him before that, right? It¡¯d be the easiest time to kill him.¡±


    It was Jing Mingfeng¡¯s turn to ask the questions, ¡°No way¡­¡± He gaped, ¡°You could guess even that?!¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s too dangerous for you¡­¡± Bai Yunfei continued on, ¡°It¡¯s unclear if senior Jing will be able to win over patriarch Qin. And you¡¯re here fighting against multiple Soul Kings by yourself, aren¡¯t you a little too hasty to die?¡±


    ¡°The original plan was for me to run away actually¡­¡± An embarrassed Jing Mingfeng replied. ¡°Grandfather has a way to escape detection after he kills the patriarch, but I had some bad luck and got found out. Doesn¡¯t it look like I was in the middle of running away?¡±


    ¡°Then what now?¡±


    ¡°Well!¡± Jing Mingfeng sighed. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done anything, Ol¡¯Bai¡­You should¡¯ve pretended you didn¡¯t know me. They can¡¯t find me if I run away, but you¡¯re different. You¡¯re going to be the Qin¡¯s enemy now¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you really think I¡¯d watch as you fight for your life by the sidelines? Am I even a brother to you?¡±


    ¡°Of course you are!¡± Jing Mingfeng retorted, ¡°But¡­but this is a family matter. It¡¯s not a good thing to get involved, these aren¡¯t easy enemies you can just kill and be done with¡­¡±


    ¡°Getting involved or not isn¡¯t important. I can¡¯t just ignore the matter now that I¡¯ve seen it. Besides¡­I¡¯ve already earned myself a deep ¡®grudge¡¯ from the Qin. It¡¯s not going to make much of a difference.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you really did kill the two Qin brothers?¡± Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°What in the world happened there?¡±


    ¡°You know about that? They killed themselves in front of me, but I didn¡¯t do anything. I¡¯m being framed¡­¡±


    ¡°Framed? Why? And by whom?


    ¡°Now¡¯s¡­not the time to be talking about it.¡± Bai Yunfei watched two different streaks of light towards them from behind the elder. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it later, our enemies just increased.¡±


    Bai Yunfei had a decent grasp of what was going on now that he asked those questions. The people fleeing from the ground below were well above the hundreds, and most of them were Soul Exalts and Soul Ancestors. A portion of them was still fighting against several people¡ªto which Bai Yunfei recognized as being members of the Qin.


    Jing Mingfeng came here to make trouble with the Qin, but what about the rest of these people?


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind danced with that question as he tried to find an answer, but he couldn¡¯t find one. While he had been paying attention to the people down below, several Soul Kings were already coming closer and closer to this area.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, time to go!¡± Jing Mingfeng spoke somewhat urgently.


    He was prepared to fly towards the opposite direction of the newcomers when Bai Yunfei stopped him. ¡°Not that way.¡±


    ¡°Why no¡ªoh¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng was in the middle of asking when he froze up at the sight of multiple streaks of light coming from the direction he had been planning on going for.


    ¡°Is that¡­Qin Long?!¡± He cried out.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­Bai Yunfei?! But how?!¡±


    Two streaks of light were flying from the south to get to where Jing Mingfeng was. It was Qin Long and Qin Pingzhi. Behind them were Soul Kings such as the lord-mayor of Swallow City, Yan Tianxing. It was with great shock that the two of them took notice of Bai Yunfei¡¯s presence in front of them.


    The murderous intent in Qin Long¡¯s eyes deepened, but his attention was concentrated elsewhere towards the Emperor¡¯s Phenomenon. He managed to suppress his urge to go after Bai Yunfei and flew towards the purple-robed elder after noticing him.


    ¡°My lord!!¡± The elder cried out at in first in joy. ¡°The patriarch¡¯s breakthrough was stopped by that Jing Wuying! The two of them are fighting now! The previous headmaster, Qin Shu, Qin Jian, Qin Xin, Qin Kun, and even Qin Kui are dead! That person there is Jing Wuying¡¯s companion!!¡± He spoke to him using Soul Communication.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Qin Long came to an immediate halt as the weight of the elder¡¯s words fell on him...


    He was dazed for a while as if he was in a dream. He hadn¡¯t even been as shocked at the news of Jing Wuying appearing and battling the patriarch than hearing news of this. His father was¡­dead?!


    First, it was his brother Qin Hu. Then his sons Qin Shoufeng and Qin Shouhao. And now¡­even his father, Qin Tian?!


    Not even half a day went by and yet there was already so much tragedy. How could anyone possibly take news like that?!


    His father had been a Late-stage Soul King! A powerful individual for even Soul Kings!! How¡­how could he possibly die?!


    ¡°My lord! Now¡¯s not the time to be disheartened! We might not be able to fight in the battle with the patriarch, but we can¡¯t let Jing Wuying¡¯s companion get away! That fire-type Soul King appeared just now, he must be a helper! He killed Qin Kun when he appeared! We¡¯ll regret it if we don¡¯t kill the both of them right now!¡±


    The purple-robed elder clearly didn¡¯t recognize Bai Yunfei and only thought of him as someone related to Jing Mingfeng.


    Qin Long¡¯s body trembled as if awakening from a deep trance. His eyes were filled with nothing but angry as he glared at both Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng before letting out a furious roar!


    ¡°You¡¯ll¡­all die!!¡±

 Chapter 937: The Start of a Great Chaotic Battle!

    Dark-green light exploded forth from Qin Long as he screamed. It flooded the skies around him in endless droves to fill the area with elemental wood!


    One after another, bamboo as thick as the arm of a muscular person started to appear out of thin air with such speed that the place had turned into a forest of bamboo!


    This was¡­an area-type soul skill!


    Qin Long disappeared into the forest as quickly as it appeared like a predator waiting in ambush. He was gone without a trace without any physical trace of his person.


    ¡°My lord!!¡±


    Qin Pingzhi cried out, but Qin Long wasn¡¯t listening to him. He hesitated for two seconds before finally bellowing out a command. ¡°Attack! Everyone attack! Kill our enemies!!¡±


    Despite being only an Early-stage Soul King, he was still a leading elder of the Qin and had the calm-headed thinking required of someone of his position. He didn¡¯t want to rush so quickly into a battle after just arriving here¡ªespecially if Bai Yunfei was here. Bai Yunfei was a terrifying existence to him and someone he didn¡¯t want to fight. But if Qin Long was attacking him and couldn¡¯t be stopped, then Qin Pingzhi had only one decision left to make.


    Attack the enemies so that they had no time to escape!


    It didn¡¯t matter who Bai Yunfei was anymore. Hearing the losses from the purple-robed elder was enough to cement Qin Pingzhi¡¯s decision. There was practically no member left to lose!! If Bai Yunfei was helping this person out, then he¡¯d count him as a co-conspirator and kill him!


    And just like that, Qin Pingzhi exploded into a blaze of light green energy to disappear into the bamboo forest!


    ¡°Kill!!¡±


    The purple-robed elder barked out loud. With the other two Early-stage Soul Kings with him, the three of them charged into the bamboo forest! The three of them had been hiding underground at first to protect the patriarch, so none of them knew who Bai Yunfei was or how strong he was. It was therefore impossible for them to know what Qin Pingzhi was thinking. All they knew was that they had to follow their orders to kill their enemies!


    A red and golden light was coming from the west as Qin He came to a stop at the edge of the bamboo forest. Unlike the others, he wasn¡¯t planning to enter the forest just yet so he could observe the surroundings a bit longer.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Wow! There goes that stupid idiot again! He doesn¡¯t know when to quit, does he?! That¡¯s it, I¡¯m going to kill him! I¡¯ll kill them all!!¡±


    It was an utterly uncomfortable Xiao Qi that squawked and chirped in annoyance at the sight Bai Yunfei was in. He took off in a flash of lightning in his larger avian form to zoom off towards Bai Yunfei as quickly as he could.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t good, I should go help out Bai Yunfei! Xiao Jie, stay here with miss Tang and don¡¯t do anything rash. Protect yourselves!¡±


    Xiao Qi taking off to help Bai Yunfei was what Xiao Nan needed to join the battle as well.


    Zhao Jie looked hesitant to see her husband go. She raised a hand up to stop him, but the determined look in his eyes stopped her. ¡°Be¡­be careful and don¡¯t try to be brave¡­¡± She said after a while.


    ¡°I¡­I¡­¡± Hu Sha was panicking a bit seeing Xiao Nan leave. He was extremely frightened of what was going on. ¡°Brother Xiao Nan,¡± He spoke, ¡°it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t feel loyal enough, but that I would only be sending myself to my death if I go¡­I¡­¡±


    There wasn¡¯t anything strong in particular that bound Hu Sha to Bai Yunfei and his friends, so the fact that he looked so conflicted on wanting to help them was already a strong indicator of what kind of person he was.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need, brother Hu. I¡¯ll leave my wife and miss Tang to you to look after. Please be careful of any attacks that might make their way over here.¡±


    His new purpose in being here gave Hu Sha some newfound confidence. ¡°Rest assured, brother Xiao Nan!!¡± He slammed his chest with his fist. ¡°I¡¯ll protect them to the best of my abilities! No one will be laying even a finger on their hairs without me dying first!¡±


    Xiao Nan nodded. Zhao Jie and Tang Xinyun were both Late-stage Soul Exalts and weren¡¯t much weaker than Hu Sha. If they all hid properly, the three of them shouldn¡¯t be in any danger.


    He disappeared in a burst of light away towards Bai Yunfei, leaving Tang Xinyun to stand there in concern. Her eyes hadn¡¯t left the battlefield for even a moment so as to observe the situation without missing a detail.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A loud explosion erupted within the bamboo forest while Xiao Qi and Xiao Nan flew closer to it. Almost simultaneously, a large fire nearly a hundred meters in width roared to life to cover a good portion of the forest and reduce the bamboo to cinders!


    An equally large mountain came flying out from the bonfire to strike down the purple-robed elder. Two streaks of black and green light flew past the mountain to strike down the two Early-stage Soul Kings while another green streak of light flew from the right to seemingly merge with the initial two lights. It was Jing Mingfeng.


    On the other side, a bright red light shot out from the fire like a notched arrow to strike down the wrathful Qin Long.


    ¡°Boom!! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    A chain of explosions rocked the world one after another as Jing Mingfeng clashed with the earth-type Soul King. The other wood-type Early-stage Soul King lashed out shortly afterward to make it a two-on-one fight.


    The purple-robed elder had planned on moving in to kill Jing Mingfeng after he dodged the giant Cataclysmic Seal, but the sudden sensation of danger caused him to plan otherwise. Making the immediate decision to leap back instead, the elder watched as three black crescents flew in front of him where he had been and clashed with the elemental energy he had been gathering before crashing silently into the mountain beneath.


    ¡°A spatial tear!!¡± The elder exclaimed. He hadn¡¯t the time to ruminate on that discovery as two streaks of green and violet came at him from the front!


    Near the elder where the man had been thinking of the best way to deal with Bai Yunfei, Qin Pingzhi¡¯s eyes narrowed before looking behind him where an orange streak of light was coming for him.


    ¡°It¡¯s him!¡± Qin Pingzhi came to a halt. Changing targets from Bai Yunfei, Qin Pingzhi flew off to fight Xiao Nan.


    ¡°Clang!! Boom!!¡±


    Metal hitting metal could be heard and sparks could be seen flying everywhere as Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear clashed against Qin Long¡¯s dark-green longsword. The two elemental energy surrounding their weapons fought against one another and set off a mini-explosion one after another as the two fought.


    Meanwhile, Xiao Qi was fighting the purple-robed elder and Xiao Nan fighting Qin Pingzhi!


    The battle¡­had immediately split into three separate battlefields!

 Chapter 938: An Increasingly Worrisome Problem

    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s going on here?! Why are there so many Soul Kings fighting?!¡±


    ¡°Is that¡­Bai Yunfei?! How?! Wasn¡¯t he way over in the south? We didn¡¯t see him fly past us on our way here, did we? How¡¯d he get here so fast? And¡­he¡¯s fighting lord Qin again!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that one of the elders of the Qin, Qin Yuan? It¡¯s been almost a decade since he last appeared in public. Is that¡­Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbeast that¡¯s fighting him?¡±


    ¡°And the one fighting Qin Pingzhi is the earth-type Soul King from earlier. But who¡¯s that wind-type Soul King?¡±


    ¡°Look that way! The center of all that energy! I bet people wouldn¡¯t even be able to breathe if they were close enough to it! What kind of soul cultivators could possibly be fighting in something like that?!¡±


    ¡°Has the mines in this area collapsed or something?! What¡¯s going on here, there¡¯s so many people fighting here! A lot of those people are coming from underground, so they must be the miners. But the people they¡¯re fighting¡­are those the Qin?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too crazy here! I can¡¯t even tell what¡¯s going on here!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Multi-colored light sparked across the skies one after another above Swallow City. Many soul cultivators by the edge of the lights were all watching the skies in wonder while many more were coming in from elsewhere to observe. Most of these people were all coming from the south and so they recognized Bai Yunfei right away.


    It was far too chaotic for anyone to really make sense of what was going on. Not only were the Soul Exalts fighting on the ground below, but that was alson¡¯t even the main attraction! The many Soul Kings fighting in the skies above was where everyone was truly looking at.


    A battle for the ages. An unforgettable clash for both the combatants and the observers. Only the Soul Kings that were observing the battle were able to stop the astonishment from being too apparent on their faces.


    Two elderly figures stood high up in the skies away from the battle. They were Soul Kings from two of the more stronger families of Swallow City. While the Qin held one of the top spots in the power hierarchy, they weren¡¯t the face of the entire city. There were still families of decent power.


    ¡°Is the one standing there Qin He?¡± The one in yellow robes asked. His eyes were eyeing the faraway Qin He in suspicion.


    The elder next to him nodded, albeit in surprise. ¡°It is indeed him¡­it¡¯s been more than a decade since he¡¯s shown himself. I had thought he died many years before. He¡¯s¡­far stronger than he was before!¡±


    ¡°If Qin He is here¡­then the entire force of the Qin must be here too? What is happening here¡­are they mobilizing the entirety of their family to kill a person like Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound possible¡­the battle taking place here was essentially taking place during the same time as the one in the south. Bai Yunfei should be an unrelated party, but I admit I¡¯m quite confused why Bai Yunfei has gotten himself in another battle here¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the Emperor¡¯s Phenomenon over there, but it seems far too ¡®weak¡¯. Did someone try to breakthrough and fail?¡±


    ¡°I can think of only one person that¡¯d have such a chance.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying¡­it¡¯s patriarch Qin?!¡±


    ¡°Who else could it be! The fact that so many of the Qin are here is evidence of that! Patriarch Qin was trying to breakthrough, but someone stopped him. That must be why there¡¯s this battle!¡±


    ¡°It does seem likely, but¡­who could possibly do something like that? Who is the one fighting patriarch Qin?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The two looked at one another, unsure of the answer to that. They hadn¡¯t a clue about who it could possibly be, but they were surprised that someone strong enough for it could actually be here.


    While the two discussed the possibilities with one another, the battle further ahead was already taking a different turn¡­


    ¡°That young man over there, he¡¯s just a Mid-stage Soul King. How could he possibly fight off Qin Long?!¡±


    It was in amazement that Qin He muttered to himself. He had been watching the fight take place between Qin Long and Bai Yunfei since he previously thought that his help wouldn¡¯t be needed. Only now that he had seen Bai Yunfei¡¯s abilities did he realize how wrong he was.


    Qin Long was a man that could kill off a mere Mid-stage Soul King without much issue, much less fight one off. Qin Yuan and his class seven soulbeast were also fighting with him, and yet the three were all at a disadvantage. On the other side, two other Early-stage Soul Kings were fighting off another Early-stage Soul King without seeing any leeway, and Qin Pingzhi was fighting an earth-type Early-stage Soul King at a disadvantage¡­


    In other words, things were going completely contrary to what Qin He expected. A direction he was completely infuriated to see.


    ¡°What a bunch of useless trash!!¡±


    He roared. With a wave of his arm, a crescent-shaped blade without a hilt appeared right in front of him to fly forward. It traveled in a dazzling golden arc for a short while before transforming into an even larger size to cut straight into  Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Bzz!!¡±


    A blast of fire shot out to meet the golden beam of light head on. Enlarging to become the size of a mountain, the object crashed into the golden blade with a loud explosion!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Gold and red light flashed across the skies as the two objects collided. The metal-type soul armament was repelled back towards Qin He with a significantly dimmer light than before.


    ¡°A high-heaven tier soul armament!!¡±


    Qin He was even more murderous now. The soul armament flew past and then around his person to go flying back towards Bai Yunfei again. This time, the blade had a sharper light to it and had no longer a crescent shape to it. It was now the shape of a large moon¡ªor perhaps it was better to say it had the shape of a sun!


    Gold and red clashed again, but Qin He trailed behind his soul armament to finally take part himself!


    ¡°Die!¡±


    Now that Qin He was participating in the battle, Qin Long decided to use his ultimate technique as well. Green energy poured forth from his body in even larger amounts than before to swallow up the sword in his hand. He heaved the weapon up over his head as if to stir the sky. A whirlpool as green as the energy started to take form and scattered apart all the bamboo in the area to return them back to an energy form and add to the whirlpool¡¯s destructive strength.


    It took only a moment for the bamboo to return back to its original form as energy. And after that moment, Qin Long used the whirlpool to try and strike down Bai Yunfei!


    Two Late-stage Soul Kings were using their strongest attacks!


    ¡°Cease this at once!¡±


    The loud roar of a person blasted across the skies as another person as strong as Qin He and Qin Long themselves flared into presence. The sound of rolling thunder could be heard before there was a sickening crack as a bolt of violet lightning dropped down on the battlefield!


    At last, Yan Tianxing was finally stepping in to mediate again!


    This time, the lord-mayor looked truly afraid that Bai Yunfei would die here and cause no small amount of trouble for him. So he took the opportunity step in, if¡­not just a little late.


    Whilst the bolt of lightning prevented Qin He from moving forward, it did nothing to stop the golden sun and green whirlpool from heading towards the center of the battlefield where Bai Yunfei was!


    And without any further ado, Bai Yunfei was covered up by the two attacks!


    ¡­¡­


    Qin He taking part in the battle, Bai Yunfei being in danger, and all the battles everywhere. Everything was starting to take sudden developments in their battles!


    In the north and south of Qin He and Bai Yunfei¡¯s battle, both sides were having individual streaks of light fly repeatedly against and away from one another!


    To the north were the Soul Kings from the Qin. The Mid-stage Soul King was flying towards Xiao Qi, and the Early-stage Soul King was flying towards Jing Mingfeng!


    To the south were the two Soul Kings that had first followed Qin Long back to Swallow City, they were back! When they arrived here in the battlefield, the two of them made an immediate path towards Qin Pingzhi to help fight off Xiao Nan!


    The three battlefields were undergoing drastic and sudden changes with developments being formed and made without rhyme nor reason!!

 Chapter 939: An All-out Battle

    ¡°Yan Tianxing! Why do you obstruct my path!?¡±


    Qin He looked absolutely murderous that Yan Tianxing would even dare to stand in his way.


    While Yan Tianxing was the lord-mayor of Swallow City, there wasn¡¯t much of a gap in authority between the two. Qin He wasn¡¯t afraid of the man and so he was utterly discontent with the fact Yan Tianxing would stand in his way.


    ¡°He is Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School. I cannot allow you to kill him.¡± Yan Tianxing looked a little exasperated at the entire situation as if he¡¯d rather just ignore everything that was taking place if possible. But if he were to do that and let Bai Yunfei die, then the fallout would be disastrous for him¡­


    There weren¡¯t many Late-stage Soul Kings in the world or even in the administration of the Tianhun School when considering the number of soul cultivators, but that didn¡¯t mean he could disregard the Crafting School. In the case that things went wrong and the Crafting School came looking, then the troubles that¡¯d plague Yan Tianxing wouldn¡¯t be worth his inaction.


    Of course, Yan Tianxing hadn¡¯t the slightest intentions of fighting the entire Qin to save Bai Yunfei. In the case the Qin disregarded his warning and continue their attacks on Bai Yunfei, Yan Tianxing would try his ¡®best¡¯ to further pacify the situation, but he didn¡¯t guarantee anything. He was only one man in the face of an entire family after all¡­


    ¡°The Crafting School!! Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    That sparked a reaction from Qin He. His eyes honed in on Bai Yunfei for a closer look. He had no idea that this person he was fighting was Bai Yunfei!!


    He had only heard a few sparse things about Bai Yunfei. In his mind, Bai Yunfei was just some upstart prodigy. How could someone like that, as amazing as he might be, be powerful enough to battle with Qin Long?


    And yet, there was now a strange suspicion he had for Bai Yunfei. Wasn¡¯t the crafter in the south of Swallow City? He and Qin Tian had first heard about the fight between Bai Yunfei and Qin Long when they were both underground still and thought that it¡¯d be troublesome if Qin Long killed Bai Yunfei. That was the whole reason why Qin Tian left the cave in the first place before getting assassinated by Jing Wuying.


    It seemed like Qin Long hadn¡¯t managed to kill Bai Yunfei then. It seemed logical that Bai Yunfei was dead, or at the very least gone from this place. What reason had he for staying behind? Was he here to help the Jing?


    ¡°Is¡­is he in cahoots with Jing Wuying¡¯s companion!?¡±


    The realization hit Qin He all at once. But the connection wasn¡¯t ¡®Bai Yunfei is connected to Jing Wuying¡¯. It was that¡­the ¡®Crafting School was connected to Jing Wuying¡¯!


    Had Jing Wuying done something to get the support of the Crafting School? If that was the case, how could the Qin possibly stand against both Jing Wuying and the Crafting School?!


    But on the inverse, why would the Crafting School send just Bai Yunfei? It didn¡¯t make much sense in that regard. Plus, Qin He remembered a while ago that Bai Yunfei had come with the Tang girl to rescind the betrothment. That surely wasn¡¯t just a false pretense¡­


    What in the world was going on then?!


    The more Qin He thought about this conundrum, the less he really understood what to do or think.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A loud explosion snapped Qin He out from his thoughts. At some point while he was lost in his own thoughts, a loud explosion of soulforce had erupted everywhere.


    Yan Tianxing had raised eyebrows as well. He turned to look at the center of the battlefield behind him where the attacks of Qin He and Qin Long had exploded. The space at the epicenter of the explosion was turning in on itself as if warping and the amount of fire rising up into the skies was practically evaporating everything within its proximity!


    ¡°He¡¯s not dead?! And a Late-stage Soul King?! Impossible!!¡±


    Qin He let out a gasp to let the others know what he was thinking. Despite knowing Bai Yunfei¡¯s identity now, Qin He still didn¡¯t believe Bai Yunfei would be a match for both him and Qin Long if they combined their strengths. It should¡¯ve been enough to claim Bai Yunfei¡¯s life when it landed, and yet the amount of power that was rising up from where Bai Yunfei was¡­this was the aura of a Late-stage Soul King!


    Yan Tianxing didn¡¯t look as surprised as Qin He. If anything, he had a look as if to say ¡®as I thought¡¯ on it.


    It was a cold-looking Bai Yunfei that stepped out from the pillar of fire. He was in his ¡®Coil¡¯ Form now, and the Fire-tipped Spear was shining splendidly with elemental fire as he gave a quick glance at Yan Tianxing and Qin He. He disappeared a moment later to fly towards Qin Long!


    The man hadn¡¯t expected to see his attack fail and was unprepared for Bai Yunfei to suddenly charge at him. His sword barely managed to let out a strike of green light by the time Bai Yunfei was upon him, but it landed straight onto the middle of three Bai Yunfeis! Bai Yunfei had multiplied in three and allowed the sword to strike down the middle one while the ones on the left and right continued onwards!


    Two identical-looking Fire-tipped Spears came sweeping at Qin Long, who was forced to dodge since he couldn¡¯t tell which one was the real one. It was a forced action that pushed Qin Long onto a disadvantage and gave Bai Yunfei the opportunity to capitalize with another attack.


    Qin Long responded with a horizontal strike onto the midriff of the Bai Yunfei on the right only to see him disappear. Blanching, Qin Long immediately kicked off against the air to make a sudden evasion.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The left fist of Bai Yunfei came crashing into his elemental barrier a short moment afterwards. There was a loud explosion as his barrier shattered into pieces and Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist slammed itself into his waist!


    Like a doll, Qin Long was sent flying away from Bai Yunfei. The punch hadn¡¯t left any serious wounds, but it was still a blow nonetheless! And Bai Yunfei was all too happy to strike again after it!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    A loud chirp from behind forced Bai Yunfei to look away. A strange glint in his eyes caused Qin Long to look hesitant on what his opponent would do. Rather than attacking Qin Long, Bai Yunfei shook his left hand to withdraw something from his space ring. He made a tossing action, but there wasn¡¯t any soulforce in his movement¡­


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    While Qin Long was trying to make sense of Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions, a loud draconic roar suddenly made itself known from his left!


    And then, two powerful auras appeared out of nowhere from the edge of the battlefield!


    ¡°Two class seven soulbeasts!!¡±


    The eyes of everyone watching the battles flew almost immediately towards the source of the auras. Someone gasped as a gigantic blue figure appeared alongside a white lion like beast up in the sky.


    A blue-eyes wyrm and a permafrost mastiff!


    Having sensed that the other battles weren¡¯t going smoothly, Bai Yunfei decided to call out two more helpers into the fray!


    Long Lan had been cooped up in the Core World this entire time to train and so he had been missing from the battle until now. His strength was distinctly stronger than from his last appearance and was nearing the levels of a mid-stage class seven soulbeast now.


    There weren¡¯t any changes in the permafrost mastiff, but the beast was moving much more lively compared to before. Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s command, the mastiff was feeling far more wrathful and murderous than before. It felt nothing like a regular soulbeast puppet.


    The two soulbeasts flew straight for Xiao Qi as soon as they appeared. With his gigantic frame, Long Lan looked essentially like a miniature mountain that slammed into the water-type Soul King Jing Mingfeng was fighting on his way to Xiao Qi.


    Needless to say, everyone from the Qin was stunned to see another two enemies appear out of nowhere. Now two beasts on par with an Early-stage Soul King were taking part in the battles with Jing Mingfeng and Xiao Nan to fight them.


    ¡°Haha! Good timing! You can eat everyone here, Xiao Lan. You¡¯ll definitely become a mid-stage class seven then!!¡±


    Xiao Qi was sounding quite excited to see Long Lan. It had been a little taxing for him to fight the two Mid-stage Soul Kings so he was happy to see the two soulbeasts come over to help him. He worked quite well with Long Lan, and his control over the permafrost mastiff was definitely an asset he could make use of. The soulbeast trio could definitely fight on a level stronger than their cumulative strengths would suggest otherwise¡­


    The appearance of the blue-eyes wyrm and the permafrost mastiff had proved to be a beneficial change for both Jing Mingfeng and Xiao Nan. They weren¡¯t in imminent danger anymore, but it was still a precarious situation where they had to fight one against two. Still, the burden was alleviated now, and Xiao Qi was now fighting a more equalized three against four battle.


    ¡­¡­


    Qin He looked furious. Things had been going relatively in their direction until this point. The advantage was gone and now it seemed like there was a stalemate between the two sides.


    He had originally expected there to be just one Early-stage Soul King aside from Jing Wuying. Bai Yunfei was an unexpected variable to the equation, but he didn¡¯t even come by himself. A mid-stage class seven soulbeast and earth-type Early-stage Soul King had joined the fray with him.


    And now there were two more class seven soulbeasts to consider. Just how many enemies were there?!


    To make matters even worse, their enemies were fighting with enough strength to make even a one against two battle difficult to win. The ridiculousness of the situation was nearly enough to make the people of the Qin vomit blood.


    Qin He wasn¡¯t even sure how the battle between the patriarch and Jing Wuying was doing, so that made him even more anxious. He was starting to feel more and more uneasy about how the future was looking¡­


    But that just meant he couldn¡¯t delay matters any longer! The sooner he tidied things up, the sooner he could see things to a better resolution! It didn¡¯t matter if Bai Yunfei was from the Crafting School. He was an enemy, and the only thing that mattered was that the enemy had to be eliminated!


    ¡°Stand aside or be forced aside, Yan Tianxing!¡±


    Murderous intent rolled off Qin He¡¯s person as he barked a command for Yan Tianxing to stand aside.


    ¡°Qin He! Do you want to cause major trouble for yourself?! If you kill Bai Yunfei¡­¡±


    Yan Tianxing began to try to talk some sense into Qin He, but the words died off when he saw the other man raise a finger. Feeling an overwhelming sense of danger, he kicked off to the side in a blast of violet light!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The golden crescent-shaped soul armament Qin He had was coming back to cut into Yan Tianxing from behind!

 Chapter 940: Another Helping of Trouble

    The sweat hadn¡¯t even formed on Yan Tianxing¡¯s back before he threw himself to the side for the fastest possible evasive maneuver.


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    A golden beam of light glanced off his shoulder and left a distinctive mark on it as it traveled past the lord-mayor¡­


    And while he was traveling off to the side, a gold and red beam of light suddenly appeared right in front of him!


    ¡°You!!¡± Yan Tianxing snarled in disbelief before pushing both hands forward to push whatever it was away.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    But he was a moment too slow! Qin He¡¯s palm was the first to land upon the other¡¯s chest!


    It was a powerful strike. Combined with the fact that Yan Tianxing hadn¡¯t expected to see Qin He actually come at him seriously, the palm-strike bypassed the lord-mayors defenses and sent him flying away!


    ¡°Qin¡­Qin He is actually fighting lord Yan!¡±


    ¡°Lord Yan is hurt! Has the entire Qin gone mad?!¡±


    The entire audience let out a collective gasp as they watched Yan Tianxing fly away. No one there could believe their eyes that the Qin would actually lay a hand on the mediator.


    ¡°Hak..!¡±


    Yan Tianxing came to a stop three hundred meters away. Though he was upright and on both feet, there was a large amount of blood coming out from his mouth!


    The lord-mayor looked thunderous. He wiped the leftover blood from the corner of his lips and stood there with eyes that looked capable of murder. Several flashes of light traveled across his eyes as he watched Qin He fly for Bai Yunfei, but other than that, he did nothing.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was enjoying the advantage over his battle with Qin Long thanks to being in the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form. The fluid offensive he was leading with the Fire-tipped Spear was doing nothing but forcing Qin Long back with every move he made.


    The two combatants had equal amounts of soulforce almost, but the true difference in their battle prowess laid in their ¡®equipment¡¯. Bai Yunfei¡¯s equipment was on a far higher level than the ones Qin Long had. This allowed Bai Yunfei the luxury of being able to essentially ignore Qin Long¡¯s attacks while he could press relentlessly with his Fire-tipped Spear. Bai Yunfei was gaining more and more ground with each successive attack, and Qin Long was looking more and more helpless.


    It was upon the second dozen of exchanges that Bai Yunfei had to suddenly deviate from his regular attack pattern. He suddenly spun around to swing the Fire-tipped Spear in an arc to protect what had been his back.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    A golden crescent-shaped soul armament collided with Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear with a loud metallic chime. The two weapons hadn¡¯t even bounced off one another when the golden soul light around the soul armament suddenly shot out like a pike at Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    An orange barrier materialized around Bai Yunfei. He had activated the +12 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal to protect himself from the blast. Bai Yunfei leaped back afterward to stare emotionlessly at Qin He who was just a hundred meters away now.


    His eye traveled then to Yan Tianxing who was standing a little farther away. ¡°Does this mean to say he¡¯s done ¡®mediating¡¯ now? Two Late-stage Soul Kings¡­fine then. It¡¯s time I see for myself if I can come out alive from another life-or-death battle.¡±


    While he thought to himself, a golden beam of light started to drop down on his head and a green beam of light shot at his back!


    The Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier was activated again to protect Bai Yunfei from both attacks. The two attacks hadn¡¯t even finished colliding onto the barrier when Qin He and Qin Long lashed out with another attack. Clearly, the two of them hadn¡¯t any intentions of letting Bai Yunfei any time to attack. They were moving in to kill him with all they had.


    ¡°Whew¡­whoosh¡­¡±


    Two fireballs as bright as the sun flew out from the explosion of energy Bai Yunfei was in. They struck down the incoming attacks and exploded, negating both attacks. A third fireball was then seen flying even further out to hit Qin Long and Qin He.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too afraid of using elemental attacks. The +10 additional effect of the Ardent Sun Glove gave him the ability to unleash such attacks for half the cost. He wouldn¡¯t even panic about the consumption even if he had to fight another two enemies.


    The amount of energy flying about in the air was enough to obscure the combatants from sight now. The only thing that could really be distinguished from anything else was the sharp points of light whenever an elemental attack exploded.


    ¡­¡­


    More than fifteen kilometers away from the battlefield, a figure in black stood on top of a very tall tree to peer at the battle in silence.


    ¡°Who is that young man? He¡¯s a very capable one if even Qin He and Qin Long aren¡¯t able to bring him down together¡­¡±


    A gravelly sigh escaped from his throat to break the silence. This person was the mysterious elder that had activated the Soul Fusing Array back in the cave!


    He hadn¡¯t done anything to stand out after all that troubled started in the cave. At some point, the man made his way to this far corner of the land to simply watch the battle from the sidelines. He had no intentions to help or hinder the Qin.


    ¡°What a useless pawn the Qin are¡­they¡¯ll be nothing but a second-rate family even if they survive this encounter¡­¡± The elder sighed in exasperation. ¡°That Jing Wuying was supposed to have died years ago. Why appear now? I¡¯ve wasted nearly a decade hiding away¡­what a blasted waste of time!!¡±


    The sudden presence of someone nearby caused the elder to whirl around. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± He barked. Black energy was already pouring out from his right hand to form a demonic claw over it.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Mo Ni, elder Li Yue.¡± A voice spoke from behind one of the trees.


    Two figures walked out from behind the tree afterward. It was Mo Ni and the Black Dragon King!


    ¡°Mo Ni!? Why are you here?¡± The elder felt his own eyebrows raise on his forehead.


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. Who would¡¯ve thought something this disruptive would happen after so many years of seclusion, elder Li¡­¡±


    The wariness dropped away from the elder¡¯s eyes as Mo Ni stepped next to him. ¡°Indeed. I¡¯ve been cut away from all the information from the outside world since I¡¯ve been aiding the Qin. Mo Ni¡­so you become a Soul King. You appear close to becoming a Mid-stage Soul King, you¡¯ve done well¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not worthy of your praise, elder Li.¡± Mo Ni smiled. ¡°I¡¯d be nothing but trash if I couldn¡¯t reach a level like this with all our resources¡­¡±


    The elder nodded. His eyes stared briefly at the Black Dragon King. The elder was capable of seeing that this person was actually a soulbeast and also the soulbeast partner of Mo Ni, so he said nothing about him. He turned back to watch the battle far away. ¡°If you¡¯re here in Swallow City, did you perhaps have something to do with the Qin?¡±


    Mo Ni¡¯s eyes drifted towards where Bai Yunfei was battling. ¡°To be more precise, I¡¯m here because of that person¡­I had to resort to a few measures to have the Qin make an enemy out of hm. I never expected this much trouble to brew, though I have no idea what happened in the mines.¡±


    ¡°Jing Wuying appeared from nowhere.¡± The elder remarked. ¡°He killed a few of the Qin before causing trouble in the mines and disturbed patriarch Qin¡¯s breakthrough process. The two of them are currently fighting for the energy over there¡­¡±


    ¡°Jing ¡®Death God¡¯ Wuying?!¡± Mo Ni exclaimed. ¡°He¡¯s alive?! And he¡¯s the one fighting the patriarch?! How does he plan on absorbing that energy?¡±


    ¡°His timing was excellent¡­¡± The elder sighed. ¡°The energy from the Soul Fusing Array turned into pure energy that could be absorbed by anyone when Jing Wuying came in. I¡¯d wager that Jing Wuying tried to breakthrough before and has a small portion of the powers of a Soul Emperor¡­That must be why he can absorb that energy. It won¡¯t be enough to help him breakthrough, but it¡¯ll certainly stand to see him gaining some additional strength.


    ¡°Even more importantly¡­this means patriarch Qin won¡¯t be able to breakthrough! Even if the rest of the remaining energy is taken in by the patriarch, it¡¯ll only give him half the intended strength. He won¡¯t become a Soul Emperor with that little energy left¡­¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s the case¡­¡± Mo Ni muttered.


    It was a vexing matter that Li Yue just had to sigh over. For the sake of helping patriarch Qin breakthrough, the man had given up ten years to hide away in a cave, only to have his assistance fail at the last moment. What else could a man feel but bitter rancor?


    ¡°You said you were here for that person? Who is he? He¡¯s far too powerful for his age.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School, a disciple of Zi Jin. He¡¯s a potential threat to us, I came here so I could eliminate him!¡±


    ¡°A crafter?! No wonder he has so many powerful soul armaments¡­and the disciple of Zi Jin, you say? A young Mid-stage Soul King that can fight off two Late-stage Soul Kings¡­he¡¯s definitely an unordinary foe¡­how did you plan on eliminating him?¡±


    ¡°I planned to have a conflict started between him and the Qin so the Qin could kill him for us. I never expected Jing Wuying to suddenly ruin those plans. It also looks like Bai Yunfei is friends with the other member. Him helping out the Jing wasn¡¯t expected either. But it doesn¡¯t matter how this ends¡­Bai Yunfei must be killed today!¡±


    ¡°Elder Li!¡± Mo Ni¡¯s eyes grew frosty. ¡°Hide yourself and wait for a moment to kill Bai Yunfei!!¡±

 Chapter 941: Seamless Coordination

    ¡°What? You want me to go kill this Bai Yunfei?!¡± Li Yue snapped his head to stare in disbelief at Mo Ni.


    The battlefield was a dangerous place even for him. How could he possibly assassinate anyone in this mess and escape detection? There had to be over three or four hundred people here¡ªand a dozen of them being Soul Kings from multiple factions.


    Only the blind wouldn''t notice him as someone from the Soul Refining School, and that was the last thing they needed. The Qin and the Soul Refining School working together? If people found that out, then the Qin would definitely lose any last shred of reputation they had!


    ¡°There¡¯s already no hope for the Qin.¡±


    Mo Ni replied with a point of the finger. ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, then patriarch Qin made use of an emergency measure of some kind before he made the attempt? How many soul cultivators were sacrificed? No one can hide that information anymore. It¡¯ll spread throughout the continent that the Soul Fusing Array was used here, we can¡¯t hide our connection any longer¡­¡±


    Li Yue was silent. What Mo Ni said made sense. He himself came to the same conclusion when patriarch Qin first made the order. Suppressing the news this time wouldn''t work like before. The scope of this event was magnitudes larger than the previous events. Any damage done to the Qin wouldn''t even be solved if by chance the patriarch became a Soul Emperor. It would simply just mitigate the problem. Having a single Soul Emperor within one''s faction was more than enough to make that faction skyrocket in power.


    But it seemed all that was a moot point now.


    ¡°That Bai Yunfei is fighting two Late-stage Soul Kings by himself, he surely won¡¯t be able to win? Perhaps he¡¯ll die by their hand. If not, he¡¯ll certainly be heavily injured. I¡¯ll wait until then and make the kill when appropriate.¡± Li Yue spoke after a while. He really didn¡¯t want to head out into the battlefield now with how dangerous it was.


    The hundreds of soul cultivators gathered here was daunting even for a Late-stage Soul King like him. Who knew how many people would fight him upon knowing who he was? He hadn¡¯t the confidence that he¡¯d be able to get away in that case.


    ¡°Elder Li,¡± Mo Ni shook his head, ¡°this Bai Yunfei has very powerful methods in his arsenal. I can guarantee those two people won¡¯t be able to beat Bai Yunfei. I can even say that Bai Yunfei hasn¡¯t determined if he wants to kill the two or not yet. If he had, those two people would¡¯ve been killed already. If you don¡¯t take advantage of this moment before people know of us, it¡¯ll only be harder in the future.¡±


    ¡°What?! What else can he do?!¡± Li Yue exclaimed. ¡°Are you saying if he fought seriously, neither Qin Long nor Qin He can beat him together?!¡±


    ¡°That is exactly the case¡­Bai Yunfei has multiple heaven-tier soul armaments. He is far stronger than what you can imagine.


    ¡°But even more importantly¡­we cannot allow Bai Yunfei¡¯s corpse to fall into the hands of anyone else. He has an item we must get! The reason why I¡¯m even trying to kill him is because of that item!¡±


    ¡°Oh? What kind of item?¡±


    ¡°A Regalia, the Core Stone!!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡±


    The bewilderment on Li Yue¡¯s face deepened. ¡°The Core Stone?! On him? Are you certain?!¡±


    ¡°Without a doubt!¡± Mo Ni nodded. ¡°The Core Stone appeared in the Black Cloud Mountains not too long ago. I tried to take it, but it was stolen away from me by him. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s already become the Core Stone¡¯s master¡­didn¡¯t you think it was strange how sudden those two soulbeasts appeared? They were in the Core World and were brought out by Bai Yunfei!¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s the reason!¡± Li Yue¡¯s eyes shined with realization. The blue-eyes wyrm and permafrost mastiff had appeared a little too sudden to make sense. Everyone had been wondering how that had been the case, but it¡¯d appear that the Core Stone was responsible¡­


    ¡°The Regalia¡­¡± Muttering to himself for a moment, Li Yue¡¯s eyes took on a light of determination. ¡°Very well then! I¡¯ll hide in wait nearby. When I¡¯ve the chance, I¡¯ll kill him and take the Core Stone!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The blue-eyes wyrm let out a massive ball of blue light from his mouth to fire it at the earth-type Mid-stage Soul King in front of him. Blanching at the incoming attack, the man gave up on his plan to attack in favor to dodge to the side.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi appeared in front of Qin Yuan in a blaze of fire. His wings flapped once to materialize a gigantic fireball into the world. Once fully formed, it flew at Qin Yuan to hopefully strike him down, but it was dodged without an issue.


    While Qin Yuan and the earth-type Mid-stage Soul King were about to strike back, something from behind suddenly caused them to dart to the sides!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    The ball of water from Long Lan and the fireball from Xiao Qi didn¡¯t explode when they made contact with one another like the two Soul Kings thought it would. There was a strange noise as the two spheres touched and then bounced off one another!


    Neither of the Soul Kings had expected the balls to bounce off each other, but their instincts had saved them the pain of finding out about it first-hand. While they had the luxury of dodging the balls when they first came, the rebound wasn¡¯t giving them the same luxury. Initially, the earth-type Soul King planned on using a bamboo spear to strike Xiao Qi, but the incoming fireball forced him to strike at that instead.


    "Boom!!"


    The spear split the fireball with a loud bang, but that didn''t mean the man was safe from harm. Like a bomb, the fireball exploded with devastating strength and consumed the Soul King within its flame before he could retreat.


    A sudden chill ran up his spine. Whirling around, the man prepared a barrier of elemental energy right as the claw of the permafrost mastiff came at his heart!


    There was another shriek of pain as well as blood splattering everywhere as the man was thrown backward. Had a nearby metal-type Early-stage Soul King not helped him, the earth-type Soul King would¡¯ve been killed.


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Qin Yuan¡¯s eyes radiated with murderous frenzy as he stared down the three soulbeasts. The coordination between the three of them was beyond anything he had ever seen before. He couldn¡¯t even get four humans to coordinate half as well as this! And because of how chaotic the battle was, the three soulbeasts had even managed to get the upper hand and deal a serious blow onto them!


    Aside from the permafrost mastiff¡ªwhose eyes were still listless¡ªXiao Qi and Long Lan were both looking pleased with themselves. They didn¡¯t look worried at all. It was like this battle was merely just a way for them to practice with¡­


    Qin Yuan and the other Soul Kings surely would¡¯ve vomited blood should they learn what the two soulbeasts were thinking about.


    ¡°What¡¯s Yunfei thinking? Does he want us to kill them or not? I can¡¯t even use the spatial edges¡­I could be a late-stage class seven soulbeast by now if he let us kill them!¡±


    Was what Xiao Qi was actually thinking.

 Chapter 942: A Dangerous Situation

    The more Qin He fought, the more amazed he was.


    He couldn¡¯t even believe that the person he was fighting right now was merely just a Mid-stage Soul King.


    Ten minutes had already passed since the beginning of the fight and Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura had yet to even weaken. It was getting stronger if anything.


    The more a power-boosting soul skill granted, the heavier the backlash. That was the common sense of this world. Qin He could say without a doubt that a soul skill that allowed a Mid-stage Soul King to gain the powers of a Late-stage Soul King was ''overpowered''. It was a soul skill that shouldn''t be able to be maintained for long. Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve run out of steam a long time ago and succumbed to the backlash. So why hasn''t he yet? This was definitely a bewildering experience for Qin He.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that Bai Yunfei could maintain the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form for nearly an hour without breaking a sweat thanks to the Dual Flame Arte.


    He was like an anchor in water whenever Qin He or Qin Long attacked. No matter what kind of attack it was or how much elemental energy was put into it, they could never get within fifty steps of Bai Yunfei.


    It was also how calm Bai Yunfei was that surprised Qin He and Qin Long the most. With the amount of energy he was throwing out, Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve been reduced to a soulforceless husk of a person!


    Bai Yunfei was, of course, using the multiple spirit-boosting accessories on his person to aid his soulforce regeneration. His regeneration was further enhanced with the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring given to him by Tang Xinyun. So an extended battle wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei had to worry about either, and no one could compete with him on that front.


    ¡°Boom¡­boom!!¡±


    A loud explosion west of the fighters brought them to a brief halt. A nearby mountain had crumbled to the ground following the massive impact from something that had fallen there. The red and black light looked unsettled; the amount of elemental energy was destabilizing to the point where even Bai Yunfei and the other fighters were starting to feel its side effects.


    ¡°Patriarch!!¡±


    Qin He snapped his head back to look off in the direction the patriarch was in.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one to look over. Everyone just had to see what was going on. The wave of elemental energy that pulsated from the source had caught the attention of everyone.


    Their eyes lingered on a part of the mountain that had all but collapsed. A large pillar of black and red light was soaring up into the skies from the remnants!


    The two lights split paths away from one another to stand just shy of a thousand steps. After the two of them separated from one another, they were now standing in the middle of a large glow of elemental energy that corresponded to their affinities.


    A swirl of energy was starting to gather in the skies above their heads. Amounts of elemental energy far beyond what anyone could possibly imagine was starting to gather and form tornadoes around the two people.


    The two stood there to bask in the energy. Neither of them was planning on fighting like before. Instead, they simply waited as the energy poured into their bodies where it could be forced under control. But the amount of power that was being streamlined into their bodies was significant enough that people within a certain amount of kilometers could have difficulty breathing.


    ¡°What amazing power¡­this is beyond the limits of what a Late-stage Soul King can do. Could¡­could this be the power of a Soul Emperor?¡±


    All Bai Yunfei could think about was the majestic sight that was in front of him.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the power of a Soul Emperor, how could such a level of strength have this little amount of power¡­?¡± Xiao Fang spoke into his mind. ¡°The two of them are simply ¡®Half-emperors¡¯...¡±


    ¡°Half-emperors? What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°You idiot, a Half-emperor is exactly what it sounds like. A half of a Soul Emperor!¡±


    ¡°Half of a Soul Emperor? Does a level of strength like that even exist?¡±


    ¡°Naturally. You¡¯re just too ignorant.¡± Xiao Fang tutted.


    ¡°If by chance a Peak Late-stage Soul King tries to become a Soul Emperor and fails, the amount of backlash they face may prove fatal. Those that survive the failure don¡¯t come out from it empty-handed. They earn a significant amount of power that distinguishes them from other Peak Late-stage Soul Kings. Those are what people call ¡®Half-emperors¡¯.


    ¡°However,¡± There was a brief pause in Xiao Fang voice.


    ¡°Half-emperors are forever stuck to remain in such a state. They can never breakthrough to become Soul Emperors.¡±


    ¡°I get it now¡­¡± Bai Yunfei realized. ¡°Then senior Jing must be a Half-emperor¡­.and because patriarch Qin failed to breakthrough, he¡¯s now a Half-emperor as well¡­¡±


    Another thought struck him at the same time.


    If a Half-emperor had already strength this powerful, what kind of strength did a true Soul Emperor possess then?


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to delay any longer, kill them all!!¡±


    Qin He roar snapped awake everyone that had been watching the sight of Jing Wuying and patriarch Qin. And just like that, the battle between everyone started once again!


    He was well and truly flustered now. The situation of patriarch Qin was deteriorating faster than he thought. He and the others couldn¡¯t possibly allow themselves to be delayed and further like this. It¡¯d be all over for their family if the patriarch had need of their assistance and they weren¡¯t ready to provide it.


    Two beams of light were already flying towards him in response to his command. A Mid-stage Soul King and an Early-stage Soul King. All the Soul Kings the Qin had in their family were now gathered here!


    They didn¡¯t stop when they reached Qin He¡¯s side. Continuing onwards, the two Soul Kings flew at Bai Yunfei to begin to strike at him blow after blow amidst the lights.


    Qin He didn¡¯t join the two on their assault. Instead, he started to go through a series of hand seals.


    It was a longer chain of seals than what normal techniques would use. Qin He was going to unleash his strongest killing move!


    Golden light started to shine from the space above his head. Strands of golden light were being sucked into an ephemeral ball of light with rays so intense and filled with energy that hardly anyone could bear to look at it or even be at ease with the amount of energy radiating from it.


    The soulforce within Qin He¡¯s body started to bubble violently as he prepared himself. Hoisting both hands up, he let out a loud roar!


    Like a meteor descending down onto the earth, the golden ball of light began to fall through the sky to crash down onto Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t the only person ready to cast their ultimate move. Bai Yunfei had been preparing as well. When the golden ball of light started to fall, Bai Yunfei let loose two gigantic dragons made of fire to ascend into the skies towards it!


    The Dual Dragon Burst!!


    ¡°Whoosh!!!¡±


    Before the two behemoths could clash with one another, a crescent-shaped flame flew out from behind to smash into the golden sun!


    And the one to unleash this move was Qin He!


    ¡­¡­


    Fire overcomes metal according to the Five Elements.


    The two elements were naturally disposition to repel one another, and a person with an affinity for both was generally hard-pressed to be efficient in both. Qin He was such a soul cultivator with a dual affinity for the two. His control over the two elements was rare even for Soul Kings.


    But of course, the harder something was to train in, the better the benefits were.


    Aside from the engendering nature of the two elements, fire and metal had also a secondary reason for being combined. By having the two elements pressed together¡­the destructive nature of an attack could be enhanced!


    The truth behind Qin He¡¯s attack was to first summon a giant golden ball of light and then use an elemental fire attack to enhance the ball¡¯s attack by at least two or three times its normal strength!


    Cracks started to appear over the surface of the ball as the flames cut deep within it. Rays of golden light poured out from the cracks with even more volatile energy spilling out from the core!


    And that was when the Dual Dragon Burst engulfed the golden ball!


    ¡°Boom boom boom!!!¡±


    A stunning explosion rocked the world as red and golden light splashed everywhere. Waves of energy flew this way and that, but the brunt of the attack was aimed down where Bai Yunfei was!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    It was a surprised Bai Yunfei that leaped away from the dangerous place he had been in. The power behind Qin He¡¯s move surprised even him!


    Before he could retaliate, Bai Yunfei had to make another leap off towards the right!


    Qin Long was coming at him from behind!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A dark green beam of light grazed past Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, but that wasn¡¯t the only attack. Multiple beams of light had been shot at Bai Yunfei while he was preoccupied with Qin He¡¯s attack¡­there were well over a thousand of them!!


    So when Bai Yunfei turned to face Qin Long, he was met with all sorts of dark-green light shooting at him from everywhere he looked!


    This couldn¡¯t be avoided!


    The only thing Bai Yunfei could do was erect the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier before the beams of light started to smash into it!

 Chapter 943: Ambush

    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom!!¡±


    Explosions rocked Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier one after another as the green blades of energy lashed across it. Eventually, cracks started to form over the surface despite the more energy Bai Yunfei was trying to feed into it. In the end, he was forced to retreat backward when the barrier was on the verge of collapsing.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Qin Long roared. Brandishing both arms forward, he summoned a giant tree over his head to slam it onto Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a splash of elemental energy as the tree slammed down onto the ground. The energy continued to spread out for a moment before a figure came leaping out from it.


    It was Bai Yunfei!


    The barrier around him was all but broken. Parts of his robes were in tatters and the areas where his bracers didn¡¯t provide protection had cuts on the surface of it. All in all, Bai Yunfei did not look as completely unharmed as before anymore.


    Taking on the brunt of those last two moves took a decent amount of energy out from Bai Yunfei. He was in a worse state than before and looked defenseless.


    Because of that, Qin He, Qin Long, and the other two Soul Kings had all sharp eyes that glistened at the opportunity. A hard-earned chance like this was impossible to pass up. Mustering their soulforce, the Soul Kings began to ready another barrage of attacks to finish off Bai Yunfei.


    But that was when¡­everything changed!


    Prior to this, Bai Yunfei was like a piece of driftwood being forced to go down a river. Because of his constant retreat, the four Soul Kings hadn¡¯t the chance to surround Bai Yunfei and had to constantly chase him down. By the end of things, Bai Yunfei had already retreated a far distance away to a chain of mountains.


    It was then when they were all gathered on top of a mountain top when a black figure suddenly shot out from the mountain towards Bai Yunfei!


    The speed in which this figure in black was coming from was fast enough to shock everyone there. A black demonic-looking claw exuded out from the figure with an eerie-looking light. It looked like it was going to grasp onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    And at the same time of the claw¡¯s approach, four beams of light were converging onto Bai Yunfei for another attack!


    ¡­¡­


    Li Yue had been in wait for some time now. His eyes gleamed with anticipation when he saw Bai Yunfei rapidly approach his direction, and a cold smile appeared on his face shortly afterward.


    His hiding abilities had been decent enough for him to remain undetected even in a chaotic battlefield like this. And without moving even a single inch, Li Yue was given the ability to simply just wait there for the best moment to strike.


    Only one strike was needed. A single strike to end it all and then another moment to take Bai Yunfei¡¯s body and flee!


    The moment came fast for him. When Qin He and Qin Long were coming in to attack again, Li Yue saw the perfect opportunity. Bai Yunfei would surely show a moment¡¯s weakness with this next moment, so he¡¯d take it as a sign of assistance to strike him down.


    And to make things even better, Bai Yunfei was coming closer to him!


    If this wasn¡¯t the best time to strike, then when would it?


    He moved without hesitation. He was fully dedicated to disposing of Bai Yunfei in one and with all his might. If he could do that, then it¡¯d be a cinch to grab his body and run!


    The claw he was sending out was moving so fast that it tore apart even the air in its path. Li Yue was fully confident Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to defend against this strike!


    It was getting close now!!


    The anticipation in Li Yue¡¯s eyes was getting brighter and brighter. The claw was just about to grab and crush Bai Yunfei¡¯s head into mush when¡­


    The joy was wiped away from his face when he heard the sound of nothingness and felt nothing but air in the claw. Astonished, Li Yue¡¯s eyes zoned into where Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve been!


    There wasn¡¯t the sight of a crushed Bai Yunfei anywhere to be seen. At the moment when it should¡¯ve been there, Li Yue simply saw the claw go¡­straight through Bai Yunfei!


    It was as if the Bai Yunfei was an illusion. Dumbfounded, Li Yue sent some soulsense over to peer at Bai Yunfei only to discover that he wasn¡¯t actually there!


    He had been so confident in his attack. So sure that his powerful move would finish things off.


    But it had failed!


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s all this?!¡±


    Li Yue couldn¡¯t even comprehend what was going on. Things were going wrong with his plan so fast that his mind was having trouble keeping up. Bai Yunfei was distinctly standing right there in front of him, but his soulsense was saying otherwise¡­


    He hadn¡¯t the time to think about it either. Moments after his attack failed to land, Li Yue realized four different blows of elemental energy were about to collide with one another above him!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    He roared internally before wrapping himself in a layer of black light to shelter him from the fallout.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom!!!¡±


    The attacks Qin He and the other three Soul Kings were launching was about to strike down Bai Yunfei, and Li Yue was right within that range of ground zero!


    ¡°What¡¯s that, what¡¯s that?! Another person coming out now? It¡¯s a Late-stage Soul King! Is he from the Qin too?!¡±


    ¡°A dark-type soul cultivator! I haven¡¯t heard of the Qin having anyone like that, who is he?¡±


    ¡°I thought Bai Yunfei was dead for sure! How in the world did he evade that dark-type Soul King¡¯s attack just then?¡±


    ¡°He might¡¯ve dodged it, but there¡¯s another Late-stage Soul King added to the mix now. How¡¯s Bai Yunfei going to survive this onslaught now?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Li Yue¡¯s entrance to the battle hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed by the spectators. Multiple people were already discussing what they had just witnessed and were busy remarking to one another about the peculiarity of what happened in awe¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°You!!¡±


    It was a furious Qin He that roared out at the ¡®assistant¡¯ to their attempts to kill Bai Yunfei. His face was absolutely thunderous at the sight of the newcomer.


    He never would¡¯ve imagined that Li Yue would appear here and now! Was he trying to further accelerate the death of the Qin?!


    Multi-colored light flashed everywhere across the skies as the four attacks struck one another. It had nearly given Li Yue a healthy dose of injuries, but thanks to the curtain of black light he put around himself he was able to get away with relatively minor wounds.


    Li Yue spared only a glance at Qin He at his remark before looking away to where Bai Yunfei was retreating. Bai Yunfei was already several hundred meters away and was now ¡®fully there¡¯ according to his soulsense. This was further confirmed when Bai Yunfei started to radiate elemental fire all around his body without at all seeming like he had been injured by Li Yue¡¯s attack earlier.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were focused on Li Yue extraordinarily hard as if he was thinking hard about something.


    Had he not used the +10 additional effect of the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei surely would¡¯ve died at that moment prior, if not heavily injured by the attack.


    +10 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to send any tartet within ten meters into a sealed dimension for two seconds. Target cannot be attacked and cannot attack. Target maintains original visibility.


    This effect was what Bai Yunfei used to evade total injury from Li Yue¡¯s attack and also the attacks from the four Soul Kings. As they would say in another world; a stone that struck two birds in one.


    The black light exuding from Li Yue¡¯s person was the final hint Bai Yunfei needed to see. ¡°Soul. Refining. School!!!¡±


    Li Yue had only attacked and defended twice, but Bai Yunfei was able to see who he really was. He was a soul refiner!!


    Those from the Soul Refining School employ a very unique method of attacking. Any Soul King could distinguish who a soul refiner was the moment they attacked. The undulations brought forth from regular dark-type soul cultivators hadn''t the same peculiarity soul refiners had. And Bai Yunfei was exceptionally perceptive to how soul refiners worked due to his past with them. He could tell just by the aura of Li Yue alone that he was a soul refiner!


    And the others from the Qin were starting to notice who Li Yue was as well!


    ¡°They know each other!!¡±


    It was just a single moment, but Bai Yunfei came to a quick realization of the situation here!

 Chapter 944: Stepping on the Dragons Tail

    The Qin and Soul Refining School had a connection to one another!!


    It was a heart-racing conclusion that made Bai Yunfei leap a bit. The Qin was a first-rate family that lived for hundreds of years in the face of light and justice. How could a person not feel shocked that a ¡®proper¡¯ family like them be associated with the Soul Refining School?


    But a question like that only led to another question.


    What connection was there between the two? And even more importantly¡­why did the soul refiner decide to show up now of all times?


    Even for Bai Yunfei¡ªwho was still reeling from the conclusion he had just reached¡ªknew that Li Yue coming out to ¡®help¡¯ the Qin was an unwise move. It¡¯d certainly bring trouble onto them now.


    But he couldn¡¯t worry about that. If the Soul Refining School was here, Bai Yunfei no longer had the luxury of being kind now!


    The anger Bai Yunfei had for the Soul Refining School was etched down to his very bones. He had absolutely no compassion for anyone within the school!


    The Soul King in front of him would definitely die today!!


    For the first time in a while, true murderous intent started to rise out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. He was determined to kill Li Yue!


    It could be felt by Li Yue, who shuddered when the intent reached him. It was a bit chilling to feel, but the feeling he got from Qin He and the others was even worse. They too, were giving him a look of killing intent!


    ¡°Curses!!¡±


    Things would be difficult for him now, both sides were against him!


    He knew what the Qin were thinking about. People would undoubtedly think that the Qin and Soul Refining School had something in between them now. In order to ¡®prove¡¯ their ¡®innocence¡¯ of such a claim, the Qin would try and kill him!


    Qin He and the others were without a shadow of a doubt angry to see him here. Li Yue had no suspicions that the Qin would try to kill him now as a result!


    ¡°Kill!!¡±


    Qin He shouted, as expected, to give the command to the others to kill Li Yue!


    Four different auras flared to life as they renewed their attack on Bai Yunfei. This time, Li Yue was included in their attacks!


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s going on?! Why are the Qin fighting the dark-type Soul King now?¡±


    ¡°So he wasn¡¯t from the Qin? Who is he then? He was definitely attacking Bai Yunfei just then. Even if he¡¯s not a ¡®helper¡¯ of the Qin, there¡¯s no way they¡¯d attack him like that, would they?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too crazy¡­can someone please tell me what¡¯s going on here?!¡±


    The place was an absolute mess of things as people talked over one another to try and get a better understanding of what was going on. No one could really make sense of the proceedings. Even the Soul Kings were a little clueless, but they were slowly making some leeway towards the truth¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Damn! Damn it! Damn it all!!¡±


    Li Yue cursed to himself as he blocked an attack from hitting him. If possible, the amount of fury in his eyes would¡¯ve been spitting flames with how much anger he was feeling. He was now the number-one target in this battlefield!


    In front of him were the Qin and behind him was Bai Yunfei. A two-pronged attack with him as the sole target!


    There was nowhere to run even if he had the chance to!


    He hadn¡¯t expected the situation to end up as it did now, how in the world could he?!


    ¡°Damn!! You¡¯ll all die here!!¡±


    Now at a boiling point, Li Yue let out a loud curse before going into a myriad of hand seals to ready up an attack!


    A soul attack!!


    The soul attack of a Late-stage Soul King was without a doubt something to be feared. Only Soul Kings and those above could perceive the visible waves a soul attack would bring. And right now, all the Soul Kings could see the surrounding area around Li Yue come to a freezing halt!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    It was the weakest Soul King from the Qin that cried out first. Hands clutching at his head, the Soul King began to twitch and turn while screaming out in pain! Green light shined out from his body as if he was being attacked from the inside out and having his energy forcibly kicked out!


    Li Yue waved his right hand at the Early-stage Soul King to point. A small concentrated ball of elemental darkness popped out from his palm. Taking the form of an evil spirit several meters tall, the spirit snarled and rushed at the Early-stage Soul King!


    The Early-stage Soul King was filled with fear at the sight. He tried to kick up and away from the spirit¡¯s path to get away, but it seemed that he was, unfortunately, slower than the incoming ¡®spirit¡¯ and was quickly caught up.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Someone sneered before the spirit could catch up. A golden beam of light shot forth from another direction to cleave the spirit in two! It was Qin He who stepped in to save his life.


    The Early-stage Soul King¡¯s forehead was slick with sweat because of his fear of the spirit just now. But before he could even let out an exhale from the danger that just transpired, the Early-stage Soul King felt an extreme burst of heat assault his person from behind.  Turning around, he saw a fireball ten meters wide already nearly upon his person!


    Li Yue¡¯s attack onto the Early-stage Soul King presented Bai Yunfei an opportunity, and Bai Yunfei was not a person that¡¯d say no to a gift offered so nicely to him. If the Early-stage Soul King was down, Bai Yunfei would make sure he¡¯d stay down and turn the tides of the battlefield!


    This one attack wasn¡¯t so much meant to kill the person, but to ensure that the person wouldn¡¯t be able to continue fighting!


    A crestfallen expression appeared on the face of the Early-stage Soul King as if thinking of something.


    ¡°I¡¯m only just an Early-stage Soul King, why go after me?!¡±


    The only thing he could was try and retreat¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A green beam of light shot past the Early-stage Soul King and into the fireball, once again saving his life. But the ensuing explosion had still forced the man to go flying away like a kite without an anchor.


    It was Qin Long this time that stepped in to stop Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack. He pointed at the mountain beneath Bai Yunfei with a sneer. From the area he pointed at, a dark-green vine sprouted out from it with the agility of a snake to spring up and try and ensnare Bai Yunfei!


    Qin He was taking action too. The mid-heaven tier golden-crescent blade was already out again to go whizzing at Bai Yunfei to cut him down.


    The other Mid-stage Soul King was starting to recover from Li Yue¡¯s soul attack too. His plans to attack Li Yue was temporarily scrapped in favor of attacking Bai Yunfei since everyone else was. Pausing briefly to recompose his soulforce, he concentrated it around his orange blade and sent a powerful blade of energy out to strike Bai Yunfei down.


    Li Yue''s attack played a relatively small role in this battle. He felt quite displeased that not even a single person had died from it. Similarly, he was pleasantly surprised to see that everyone was attacking Bai Yunfei instead of himself. His eyes glimmered with opportunity at this. He could use this chance to prepare an attack onto Bai Yunfei as well!


    In a blink of an eye, Bai Yunfei had turned back into being persona-non-grata!


    ¡­¡­


    While that was going on, things were already taking on a completely unexpected turn elsewhere¡­


    Having recovered from Li Yue and Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack, the Early-stage Soul King staggered backward to recompose himself. His soul was still stabilizing from the previous scare when he aimed a death glare at both Li Yue and Bai Yunfei. As he was debating to himself whether or not he should participate in the battle again, something from behind him prompted him to turn his head¡­


    His eyes glimmered for several moments before a malevolent sneer appeared on his face. Kicking against the air, he immediately flew off to a different direction of the battlefield!


    The direction he was heading for was south of Swallow City where¡­Tang Xinyun and the others were! In his quick glance behind him, the Early-stage Soul King had noticed Tang Xinyun standing there!


    This person was planning on taking her and the others with her down!


    Attack the enemy by casting their minds into disarray. This was a common ploy to most on how to win battles. This Early-stage Soul King was clearly planning to attack Tang Xinyun to have Bai Yunfei be caught off guard. And then in his haste to protect her, he¡¯d open himself up to the attacks of Qin He and Qin Long to be killed!


    It was a despicable tactic for most, but that was neither here nor there for the Qin right now. What lower depths could they sink to now?


    He knew who Tang Xinyun was, of course, and neither did he really plan on injuring Tang Xinyun. He just wanted to scare Bai Yunfei enough to disrupt his mind. That was all.


    Unfortunately for him, this tactic was without a doubt a poor choice to take¡­


    He had no idea that he was about to step on the tail of a sleeping dragon!!

 Chapter 945: Kindling the Flames of Fury

    The water-type Early-stage Soul King with plans to attack Tang Xinyun was named Qin Huan and was a cousin to Qin Long.


    Now set with a game-plan, Qin Huan flew as fast as he could over to where she was¡ªand coincidentally over the spectators who scrambled to get out of the way as fast as they could.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing, trying to run away?!¡±


    ¡°No, look! Don¡¯t you see the people on that mountain there? The lady in white there¡­that¡¯s Tang Xinyun of the Tang!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right! She¡¯s with the blue-robed woman that came with the earth-type Soul King earlier! And there¡¯s that one who helped Bai Yunfei earlier too!¡±


    ¡°Is he trying to distract Bai Yunfei by going after them? Isn¡¯t that¡­stooping too low?!¡±


    ¡°Hey, who cares about that in a battle like this? To the victor the spoils!¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s the daughter of the Tang! Are the Qin really going to anger the Tang like that?¡±


    ¡°They can worry about that in the future, what¡¯s more important is the battle right now! They probably won¡¯t do anything to her, it¡¯s just a trick to distract Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too sudden. There are no Soul Kings near her, only Soul Exalts. They¡¯re just waiting to be captured¡­¡±


    ¡°I wonder how Bai Yunfei is going to react¡­¡±


    Several critics cried out in response to Qin Huan¡¯s actions. They were incensed that a Soul King would even stoop so low to a tactic like that. No one was willing to interfere though, this wasn¡¯t a depth of water they were willing to soak their toes in.


    Yan Tianxing watched this scene from farther away with a small frown, but even he did nothing to stop it from happening.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°F*cker! A Soul King¡¯s coming over!!¡±


    Up on top of a certain mountain, Hu Sha swore out loud in fright at the sight of Qin Huan flying straight for them.


    He looked left and right as if to look for a way to flee, but he moved nowhere. It was pointless to run. The person coming after them was a Soul King, and they were only Soul Exalts. Stricken with fear, Hu Sha scratched furiously at his hair to think. The orange-blade Bai Yunfei gave him earlier popped out a second later when he made his decision.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fear, miladies!! No one will harm even a hair on your heads with Hu Sha here! I¡¯ll hold him off, you two run away now!!¡±


    He yelled out heroically to stand in between Qin Huan and the two ladies behind him. It was clear to see that he was frightened to his very bones and that his legs were threatening to give out beneath him, but his face was showing equally clear signs of determination that he was ready to fight off the Soul King or die trying.


    In truth, he probably could have abandoned the two ladies there and try to pass himself off as an ¡®unconcerned party¡¯. Qin Huan would¡¯ve let him escape in that case. But here he stood. Whether it was an act of extreme bravery or stupidity had yet to be seen.


    ¡°Hurry up and run, what are you doing standing around?!¡±


    He turned around in alarm that neither Tang Xinyun nor Zhao Jie had even bothered to start running yet. He wanted to say something more, but Qin Huan was already upon him.


    ¡°Catch my blade!!¡±


    Hu Sha snarled out loud. Bursting with orange light, he heaved his sword up to swing it at the incoming Soul King!


    It was a mighty blow that made even the ground beneath him tremble a bit as a ten-meter large blade of orange light flew out from his sword to fly at Qin Huan.


    ¡°Pah! You insignificant worm!!¡±


    A disdainful sneer appeared on Qin Huan¡¯s face at the attack. As insignificant a role he played in the battle with Bai Yunfei, the man was still a Soul King after all, and the attack of a Soul Exalt was nothing in the face of him. Blue light exuded from his body as he brought his right hand out. The orange blade of light touched upon his palm before it was reduced to pieces!


    ¡°Heaven-tier soul armament!!¡±


    Qin Huan¡¯s eyebrows flew up on his head from surprise. The power of the attack was stronger than he expected. The soul armament Hu Sha was wielding had to be a heaven-tier soul armament.


    That got the greed going in Qin Huan¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    A blue spear materialized in Qin Huan¡¯s hands as he lashed out to kill Hu Sha! And at the same time, his free hand flew out to grab at Txy behind Hu Sha!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Xiao Jie!!¡±


    A furious Xiao Nan roared from across the battlefield. He saw everything that happened and immediately disengaged from his battle to fly on over.


    But a figure cut in from his left to obstruct his path.


    ¡°Stop me and die!!¡±


    This was the first time Xiao Nan had leaked such furious killing intent since the battle started. His battle expression was multiple times more furious than what it was before, and the orange light around him was glowing even more intensely as he brandished his sword at the enemy!


    It wasn¡¯t just Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®tail¡¯ Qin Huan had stepped on. He had stepped on Xiao Nan¡¯s ¡®tail¡¯ too!!


    Orange light shot out from him before it took on the shape of a giant qilin. Roaring loudly, the qilin charged straight for the water-type Early-stage Soul King!


    ¡°What is this!!?¡±


    The water-type Soul King cried out. This was a show of strength he hadn¡¯t expected to see from Xiao Nan!


    He had been holding back this entire battle so far!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The qilin crashed into the water barrier of the Soul King with a thunderous crash, sending orange and blue light splashing everywhere including the water-type Soul King. He was seen moments later again flying out from the explosion with blood spilling from his mouth and his body covered with heavy wounds.


    A single blow was all it took for this Soul King to be rendered unconscious and out for the count!


    Xiao Nan took only a moment to take in that sight before flying off to go to where Zhao Jie was.


    And then another dozen blades of wind came flying at him from the right to stop him yet again!


    With how angry he was over the danger Zhao Jie was in and his relative lack of self-awareness after defeating the Soul King that had blocked his path, Xiao Nan was essentially caught off guard. The blades of wind nearly slashed into him before he erected a barrier around his person just in time to watch as they started to collide with him.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei was similarly looking off towards the south with narrowed eyes as Xiao Nan roared out in anger.


    ¡°An opportunity!!¡±


    His short lapse of concentration was what Li Yue was waiting for. In an explosion of soulforce, Li Yue lifted a finger to point it at Bai Yunfei!


    Another soul attack!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    This was a crucial moment for the two of them. Roaring loudly, Li Yue was prepared to kill Bai Yunfei with this soul attack!


    Qin Long and the other Mid-stage Soul King with him had the same idea as well. In seconds, four different Soul Kings had their soul attacks pointed straight at Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    A single scream erupted through the air and brought a stop to Qin He and the other two!


    ¡°What¡¯s this? He didn¡¯t even use a soul attack of his own, was Li Yue¡¯s soul attack too much for him?¡±


    But that was when Qin He realized something. It wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei that had screamed just now!


    The one to actually scream was Li Yue!!

 Chapter 946: The Death of One Person!

    Everyone turned to watch Li Yue as he clutched at his head and screamed a bone-chilling scream. He was screaming as if someone had invaded upon his own soul and was repeatedly battering upon it!!


    The +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡ªbouncing back a spirit-type attack, had activated!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t had this effect activate ever since the battle first begun, so it came as a slight surprise that it¡¯d take now of all times to activate!


    The effect was without a doubt too illogical of an effect to make any sense. It didn¡¯t even matter how fast a person could react to such a thing since reaction speed was as equally useless as how strong a person was. No one could possibly foresee themselves being afflicted with the very same soul attack they had only just unleashed. It was enough to make anyone be absolutely dumbfounded.


    Li Yue was finding himself in such a situation. His mind had taken a temporary leave of absence as the aftermath of his very own soul attack carved up his soul quite nicely. He wasn¡¯t even able to do anything else but just stand there as the black smoke around him started to disperse.


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    While everyone else was just staring at him, a powerful burst of aura suddenly exploded from someone else in the vicinity. A new wave of killing intent flooded the area immediately, filling Qin He and the others with a sense of dread at once!


    It felt like an ancient beast had suddenly woken up from its slumber of some kind. Fury like none other filled this entity in such large amounts that the anger was practically in a visible form as a fire that burned anything and everything it touched to cinders!


    ¡°You will¡­all die here and now!!¡±


    Another roar was heard, this time with enough vigor to rupture the eardrums of everyone that listened and enough killing intent to freeze the hearts of even the most battle-hardened people. This roar was definitely some type of soul attack!


    Even in their fear, people could see the area where Bai Yunfei was was now a pillar of flames that scorched everything in its path up. The pillar continued upwards for hundreds of meters before warping into some kind of demonic being that seemed to be roaring as well!


    It was a ghastly apparition that seemed to exist for only moments before it returned back to being regular flames, but two dragons flew out from the flames shortly afterward. Snapping and snarling with their jaws, the two dragons flew down to Qin He with the intent to burn them to ashes!


    A single person was standing beneath the source of where the dragons had spawned. He was cloaked in the flames in a way that seemed like the flames were actually coming from him. And at the same time the two dragons appeared, this person was doing something else with his hands¡­


    Two beams of light shot out from him. The first violet and the second crimson. Streaking across the skies fast enough to leave behind mirror images, the first bolt traveled for the south while the other traveled for Li Yue!


    ¡°What is this!!?¡±


    Qin He exclaimed in bewilderment. All the blood in his face had long since drained away while he tried to make sense of the sight in front of him.


    It was fruitless though. He simply couldn¡¯t believe that Bai Yunfei was capable of something like this!


    This Dual Dragon Burst was at the very least twice as strong as the first one! This wasn¡¯t something a Mid-stage Soul King should be able to pull off.


    Qin He couldn¡¯t even boast of having an attack that powerful, and he was a Late-stage Soul King!


    ¡°Retreat!!¡±


    The options were truly limited now, and Qin He knew it. A retreat was the only option. Sounding the command to have everyone retreat, Qin He began to gather some elemental fire of his own to him to form a barrier of fire. While he was doing that, Qin Long was using the green energy around to form a barrier over him and Qin He to further bolster their defenses.


    This, unfortunately, left the Mid-stage Soul King to fend for himself. Pasty-white in fear for his life, the Mid-stage Soul King took off in a different direction from where the Dual Dragon Burst was heading to try and make it out and away from the impact zone.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom!!¡±


    Thunderous explosions echoed all over the place again and again as the Dual Dragon Burst impacted against the first wall of fire!


    Like snapping a dried twig, the two dragons tore through the wall of fire like it was nothing to head onwards in its attack on Qin He and Qin Long!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    There was one final explosion as a wave of fire completely devoured the area where Qin He and Qin Long stood!


    To the people observing from the outside, this was a breathtaking sight to see. Everyone¡¯s hearts were practically leaping out from their throats from the anticipation of what was going to happen next. Would Qin He and Qin Long be seriously hurt by Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack?


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    The flames and smoke didn¡¯t even clear away from the area when a loud shriek of pain came forth!


    This was a voice everyone was familiar with. They had only just heard it moments before¡­it was Li Yue!


    The spectators swiveled around to look at Li Yue at once, only to have their jaws drop wide open at what they saw!


    There was a flash of crimson light flying away from Li Yue, but his chest and back were gone! There was a hole in his body!


    Everyone stopped breathing as a collective whole from shock. No one could¡¯ve expected such a thing to happen. While they had been focusing so heavily on the Dual Dragon Burst, the group forgot completely about Li Yue and missed out on the attack that had done him in.


    How could a Late-stage Soul King have¡­have a hole made straight through his person?!


    Even more hard to believe was the black light shining from in front of him. It was stacked layers over layers in front of him like a strange multi-layered tortoiseshell. But the thing was¡­the elemental barrier was fine! It was completely intact! And yet at the same time, there was a hole straight through Li Yue¡¯s body and a path of red light coming from where it should¡¯ve stopped against the barrier!


    Only a few were lucky enough to see what had happened. A strange red light shot out in the direction of Li Yue at the same time the Dual Dragon Burst had been cast. Li Yue, who was still reeling from the aftereffects of his reflected soul attack, had only a second to put up the tortoiseshell defense to hopefully protect him from the incoming beam of red light.


    The defense was made swiftly enough, and Li Yue was about to move away from the area to take advantage of the chaos to prepare his next strike when¡­


    His entire body went rigid then. Looking down, Li Yue saw the same beam of red light his barrier should¡¯ve stopped go straight into his body. And then¡­it went straight through him without even stopping for a second as if it had encountered no resistance whatsoever!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    No one in the world could have reactions as fast as to dodge something like that. Li Yue only felt a faint burn in his heart before the flames made its way deeper into his body. Then as quickly as the heat came, his body dropped drastically in temperature as his life started to drain away from it¡­


    ¡°....¡± Li Yue hadn¡¯t even the proper expression or words to describe that moment. Realizing that it was his body he was looking, Li Yue snapped back to full clarity for just a moment to let out a heart-wrenching scream!!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    It was a scream of absolute madness as he gripped at the hole in his chest. He was seemingly grasping at something as if to seal up the hole and prevent his life from slipping away, but he was like a drowning man flailing about to grab hold of something to save him. Large quantities of black energy was already dissipating from his person to act as a protective barrier, but that too was breaking apart as quickly as it formed¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    In his final struggles, Li Yue¡¯s senses alerted him to a potential danger coming from behind. He wasn¡¯t fast enough to turn around, however, and all went dark for him.


    Then, he knew nothing¡­


    It was unexpected, but those who were somehow fortunate enough to see Li Yue¡¯s final moments saw the attack that actually did him in. It was a black crescent-shaped void of space that sliced and devoured the upper half of Li Yue into it before disappearing!


    Only when the crescent-shaped void traveled another few thousand steps away and disappear into nothingness did the people watching let out a gasp!!

 Chapter 947: The Start of a Massacre!

    ¡°Dead¡­he¡¯s dead! The dark-type Late-stage Soul King is dead!¡±


    ¡°But how? I didn¡¯t see it! How did that Late-stage Soul King die?! What in the world did him in?!¡±


    ¡°That red light¡­was definitely Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear! How did it penetrate the elemental barrier so easily?!¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t even look like it treated the barrier as if it existed! Do you guys remember something like this happening with lord-mayor Yan earlier?! Do you think¡­Bai Yunfei has some kind of secret that allows him to ignore elemental barriers?!¡±


    ¡°Even if that type of defense is no good, that dark-type Late-stage Soul King surely had to have a mid-heaven tier soul armament protecting his person. A weapon having that much penetrative force¡­that¡¯s just too much of a shock, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°The heart being completely obliterated is a definite death for sure. To tack on another attack like that and leaving the body in pieces is just too tragic¡­and wasn¡¯t that a spatial tear just then? That was Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbeast partner that did it! His soulbeast partner is a space-type soulbeast?!¡±


    ¡°But I saw the soulbeast using wind, lightning, fire, and even wood! And now it can create tears in space¡­? What kind of soulbeast can you call that! Wasn¡¯t it just a prisma oriole?! You¡¯re kidding me! You could beat me to death before I¡¯d believe that!!¡±


    The instantaneous death of Li Yue was bringing about a lot of attention from the outside audience. People were discussing matters far more rapidly than the battle was even progressing. No one could believe their eyes, truth be told. Soul Kings were essentially walking legends in their eyes, and yet a Late-stage Soul King had been killed so easily like that. This was definitely a feat that created a rift between their expectations of how powerful a Soul King was supposed to be¡­


    What those people didn¡¯t know was that the real fun was only just starting to begin¡­


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    Another scream erupted, only farther away this time. The audience snapped their heads over to look straight away towards the south. That was the direction where Bai Yunfei had shot out that beam of violet light!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    A few seconds prior to Li Yue¡¯s demise.


    Hu Sha¡¯s heart was in nestled deep in his throat. The incoming spear from Qin Huan was all but there in laying claim to his life, and the only thing he could do now was wait for the inevitable to happen with despair.


    ¡°It¡¯s do or die!!¡±


    As weak as he was, Hu Sha wasn¡¯t someone that¡¯d keel over if asked. Determined to die fighting, he snarled and raised his weapon up to try and defend the spear.


    ¡°Eh?!¡± But it wasn¡¯t a spear that he saw in front of him. The surrounding area had disappeared around him in favor of a golden ball of light!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The blue spear smashed into the golden ball, but aside from the shimmering light that ran over its surface, the ball was completely unharmed!


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Hu Sha was at a loss for words. He turned his head back to look at Tang Xinyun who had reached her hand out as if to press against the air. He turned back around to look at the golden ball protecting him a little more closely. Suspended in the air was a golden slip of some kind with gold light pouring out from its surface.


    This was the defensive soul armament Tang Xinyun owned! And it was a barrier-type soul armament that could defend against the attack of even a Soul King!


    Hu Sha was overjoyed at the realization that he was alive.


    ¡°Miss Tang, are you alright?¡±


    Zhao Jie spoke out. Realizing that Zhao Jie was looking at Tang Xinyun, Hu Sha did the same. Tang Xinyun did look a little pale in the face, and her soulforce was weaker than it was before.


    Tang Xinyun nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I just used a little more soulforce than I expected. That Soul King won¡¯t be able to break the barrier.¡±


    Activating the soul armament¡¯s ability took a lot of energy to use, but the light barrier that¡¯d come out from the slip had about 7300 points of defensive strength in it. A Mid-stage Soul King using a mid-heaven tier soul armament wouldn¡¯t be able to break it so easily. There was no way this Early-stage Soul King would be able to destroy it unless he self-destructed.


    This was the soul armament Bai Yunfei gave Tang Xinyun to help her defend herself.


    ¡°He won¡¯t be able to break it?¡± Hu Sha¡¯s eyes were wide open as he repeated after her. It was a bit hard to believe such a statement. He turned back to Qin Huan just in time to see the Soul King strike at the barrier again.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Again, Hu Sha watched as Qin Huan¡¯s attack rippled over the barrier. Once again, the golden light was holding strong.


    Hu Sha let out a slow exhale, relieved that he could trust Tang Xinyun¡¯s words.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Damn!! How are the defenses so strong?!¡±


    A frowning Qin Huan stood on the other side of the barrier. He was cursing to himself as he tried to prepare more power to himself. A blade of water formed beside him to slash down onto the barrier.


    None of the three Soul Exalts had been worth a moment¡¯s thought before. Qin Huan thought it¡¯d be an easy task to simply capture them, but this golden barrier was completely impenetrable!


    It was humiliating. Qin Huan had been forced to run away from Bai Yunfei before, and now he was being held up by a few insignificant Soul Exalts. His hands disappeared into a blur as he readied a few hand seals to unleash his most devastating attack onto the barrier.


    But also at the same time, a feeling of danger was just starting to wash over him from behind.


    ¡°Block my way and die!!¡±


    A voice from behind roared out. Looking towards the source, Qin Huan saw the earth-type Soul King come flying in his direction before being stopped momentarily by a blade of wind by Qin Pingzhi.


    ¡°Hmph! You can¡¯t even protect yourself, what makes you think you can save anyone else?!¡±


    Qin Huan sneered to himself as he continued his hand seals. Each seal he made led to the elemental water around him growing in intensity and strength.


    ¡°You will¡­all die here!!¡±


    In the moments before Qin Huan could unleash his move, however, another voice even more furious than before echoed through the air from another direction!


    The amount of intimidation in this voice was even greater than in Xiao Nan. Qin Huan couldn¡¯t help himself from shuddering violently at the sensation, but he managed to hold his attack together. He wanted to turn around to look at the source, but his instincts were yelling at him to look up instead.


    Up there in the skies was a single bolt of violet light that was coming down to crash down onto him!


    ¡°What is that?!¡±


    He was shocked at the violet bolt. Qin Huan hadn¡¯t expected for an attack to come at him so quickly from his south, but now it was too late to dodge it. All he could do was repurpose his attack and push it outwards to shield him from the incoming lightning bolt!


    ¡°Boom!!¡± For dozens of meters all around, the sky was dyed with either red or violet hues from when the two attacks collided.


    ¡°I blocked it¡­but how di¡ª¡±


    Qin Huan had barely started to thank his luck that he managed to survive that blow when his instincts started to warn him about yet another danger coming from behind!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    He hadn¡¯t the time to leap to the side or even whirl around before Qin Huan heard the sound of flesh being penetrated. Another half-second later, a bolt of violet identical to the first flew away and out from his chest!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    The screams started several delayed seconds later. Blood poured out from Qin Huan¡¯s mouth and wound as he shrieked to himself, but it didn¡¯t take long before he toppled over and fell from the skies. He was dead by the time his body hit the ground!


    This was the +10 additional effect of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder: Mirror Image!


    Qin Huan had only been an Early-stage Soul King; and a tired one at that. All it took was just a moment¡¯s lapse of judgment for the Heaven¡¯s Thunder to distract him and kill him with the real one!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°That one¡¯s dead! And that violet light¡­is coming from a flying sword! The same flying sword from just now!¡±


    ¡°It flew such a long distance in a short amount of time and even killed an Early-stage Soul King! That¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°That flying sword definitely has to be a mid-heaven tier at the very least! Bai Yunfei had something like that as backup?! Is this his real strength?!¡±


    ¡°Was he just not trying to kill anyone until now? Was it because he was afraid of making enemies with the Qin? Or that killing these people might cause some trouble later? Why did he decide to start killing now then?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Isn¡¯t it because of miss Tang Xinyun over there? It doesn¡¯t matter what that Soul King had in mind. He¡¯s made Bai Yunfei angry by doing that. What young man wouldn¡¯t be furious at seeing his lady being attacked? This won¡¯t be the first head to roll¡­¡±


    Again, the audience was in furious discussion with one another over what they had just seen. Everyone was feeling a little chilly at the moment with the fear they were feeling. But when they looked over to where Bai Yunfei was standing, they all were right on time to see a giant pillar of fire leap up into the heavens!


    A very wrathful Bai Yunfei was standing within that pillar of fire!


    The flames of the Dual Dragon Burst was finally starting to abate by now. A green light could already be seen shining from within the flames before the figures of Qin He and Qin Long leaped out. They weren¡¯t all too heavily injured, but the shock was definitely noticeable in their eyes. And when they saw the bisected corpse of Li Yue down below, they couldn¡¯t even do anything else but just stare¡­


    Bai Yunfei was already moving onto his true target while they were preoccupied with that. The Mid-stage Soul King!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    The incoming aura of Bai Yunfei terrified the red-robed elder. Shrieking out loud, he let out a flash of red light to cloak himself in a full-body piece of armor made of fire.


    He was a fire-type Soul King.


    The elder hadn¡¯t even the idea of fighting back. He just wanted to prepare the defensively strongest move he had to defend himself and look to Qin He and Qin Long in hopes that they¡¯d be able to help him.


    This was the only way he¡¯d survive. Fighting someone who had the power of a Late-stage Soul King like Bai Yunfei was an impossibility for him. He had no chance.


    The elder didn¡¯t even make it close enough to Qin He and Qin Long before Bai Yunfei was upon him. Raising his left hand, Bai Yunfei lashed out with a mighty punch!


    Eyes widening as the punch drew closer, the elder brought both arms in front of him in pure panic. A shield of fire formed over them to hopefully protect him from Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack. Hopefully, this would be enough to survive and buy enough time to have the two others save him.


    It was not meant to be, however. The flash of red and gold light from Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist was the only sign the Soul King needed to see for that. He watched in despair as the punch went seamlessly through his shield and then his flame armor¡ªwhich could stop even a mid-heaven tier soul armament, and was then ultimately hit by the punch!


    ¡°Bang!! Crunch¡­¡±


    It was a mighty thud like a heavy hammer slamming onto a person¡¯s head. The Mid-stage Soul King felt everything grow cold as his bones were broken up into multiple pieces from the blow before he was launched away!


    This time, it was the +13 additional effect of the Critical Glove that activated: the ability to ignore fire-type defenses!


    The Soul King only had himself to blame for being a fire-type soul cultivator!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t pull any punches with his attack. He had stacked the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force and activated the +10 and +12 additional effects of the Critical Glove to triple and quadruple the damages to make for an utterly devastating blow. Even with the flame armor on his person, the Mid-stage Soul King was left with a huge dent in his chest. Large amounts of blood and pieces of internal organs began to be vomited out from his mouth.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    An excited chirp broke the chain of silence in the Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s thinking, causing him to look over to the source, but only to be greeted with the sight of something black.


    He thought back to how Li Yue died. This black object coming at him had been how he died! The Soul King started to panic, but the thing was already upon him¡­


    Like Li Yue, his death was by bisection. The spatial edge tore through his person from the upper half of his left shoulder to the bottom right of his waist.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    ¡°Ah!!!!¡±


    Another two screams erupted elsewhere from the battlefield. Almost mechanically now, the audience turned to watch as several spatial edges flew this way and that through the battlefield to tear apart the entire place.


    The Early-stage Soul King that had been fighting Xiao Qi and the other soulbeasts and the injured water-type Early-stage Soul King Xiao Nan hit earlier in his anger were both unable to dodge the spatial edges and were hit by it. One was struck cleanly at the waist and the other had half his chest devoured by it!


    A double kill!


    And just like that, the tides of the battle had gone the other way for the Qin with most of their fighters dead!!

 Chapter 948: Unstoppable Strength!

    Time flows in a uniform pace, but not for this battle this time. From when Quan Huan reached out to attack Tang Xinyun, to Xiao Nan and Bai Yunfei exploding with fury, to Xiao Qi littering the battlefield with spatial edges, time was flowing almost erratically. So many things were happening in such a short amount of time, and yet everyone that watched felt like their hearts were beating kilometers per minute.


    It seemed almost absurd to think about how fast the stalemate was broken. The combatants were fighting on equal grounds almost, but then five people died just like that!


    And two of those deaths were Mid-stage and Late-stage Soul Kings!


    Most still weren¡¯t sure if the darkness-type Late-stage Soul King was with the Qin or not, but he was still an enemy of Bai Yunfei nonetheless!


    The actions that came from Bai Yunfei was incredible, to say the least. Suppressing Qin He and Qin Long into place with the Dual Dragon Burst was already enough to greatly surprise the audience, but then the death of Li Yue was another shocker. Then Bai Yunfei managed to kill Qin Huan and then the Mid-stage Soul King with a single blow and punch respectively. And then Xiao Qi letting loose all those spatial edges caught the audience¡¯s gasps¡­


    This was when everyone came to the terrifying realization that Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbond partner was as terrifyingly strong as he was. All those spatial edges being thrown about was like the reaper and his scythe to harvest the souls of all it caught!


    ¡°No f*cking way!! So many spatial tears¡­! Is this a joke? Can they even be used like that?! Am I going insane?!¡±


    ¡°Spatial-type attacks are always powerful, but any person with strong enough elemental energy should be able to ward them off. Even space-type Soul Exalts wouldn¡¯t be able to launch a spatial attack that¡¯d last for several hundred meters, and even then, Soul Kings could break those attacks like nothing. That ¡®prisma oriole¡¯ is a mid-stage class seven soulbeast, but his spatial tears are going for kilometers. Would even a Late-stage Soul King be able to stop that at full strength?!¡±


    ¡°If Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbeast partner had this ability and wasn¡¯t using it from the get-go, that just means they really didn¡¯t plan on killing anyone before. But now¡­all bets are off, they¡¯re ready to start a massacre!¡±


    ¡°Never would¡¯ve thought a man and soulbeast could basically be a bad omen. This is the sign of bad things to come. Will¡­will the Qin be completely destroyed today?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Things were happening far too fast for the discussion to keep up with. Everyone was anxiously waiting to see what would happen next, though some had already a few guesses what the final outcome was¡­


    ¡°How detestable, what an outcome this is!!¡±


    Yan Tianxing stood on the outskirts of the battlefield with a face as stormy as a cloud. As undesirable this outcome was, there was no controlling the future developments. Things would only get worse even if he had a few Soul Kings from the Tianhun School come in to intervene.


    The death of Li Yue was especially chilling to him. He was starting to feel a sinking danger!


    ¡°The Qin, the Jing, and now the Crafting School¡­this is becoming unstoppable now¡­¡± Yan Tianxing sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll watch out for anything else¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    It took only a few seconds longer for the next person to scream out. Everyone¡¯s eyes swung over to the source to see a figure basked in gold light drop down from the skies!


    It was the metal-type Early-stage Soul King Jing Mingfeng was fighting with!


    Blood was spilling out from him and the energy coming out from his body was already starting to dissipate. The man was dying.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A loud chirp echoed through the air before a spatial edge could be seen flying towards the metal-type Soul King. Slicing into the man, the spatial edge was quick to lay claim to his life.


    ¡°How ruthless!!¡±


    Everyone thought to themselves. The metal-type Soul King was already dying, but Xiao Qi didn¡¯t even grant him the mercy of living for even a second longer or even in one-piece. Xiao Qi¡¯s actions were superfluous to them and were even seen as being overkill.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that Xiao Qi was doing this for the sake of gaining more experience.


    The explosive strength of Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi was what Jing Mingfeng used to finish off the metal-type Soul King. He sent a curious glance over to Xiao Qi when the bird killed his enemy but he didn¡¯t think too hard about it. There was still the other wind-type Early-stage Soul King to deal with.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The mountain-sized blue-eyes wyrm flew at the Soul King with a mighty roar. Ascending higher into the skies, Long Lan sent up a draconic claw made of black light to swipe at Qin Yuan!


    Qin Yuan was looking extremely pale right now. All the unexpected changes had been sudden and utterly discouraging to see, especially when Xiao Qi sent out all those spatial edges. He had nearly fallen prey to one of them himself while he was fighting Xiao Qi earlier. Never would he have thought that Xiao Qi had something as powerful as that!


    While he managed to dodge the spatial edges, several of his companions did not, and that was what truly terrified¡ªand infuriated¡ªQin Yuan the most. So when Long Lan came forward to attack him, Qin Yuan began to explode with violet light. With a loud shout, Qin Yuan transformed into a streak of violet light to directly clash with Long Lan¡¯s claws!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Qin Yuan slammed into the claws and dispersed it back into smoke before continuing onwards to slam directly onto Long Lan¡¯s body!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Long Lan roared angrily in pain as he was hit. The world shook with each step he made before coming to a stop a hundred meters away.


    Qin Yuan bounced away from impact with Long Lan to go the other way towards the permafrost mastiff!


    ¡°You¡¯re asking for it!!¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped in anger. His entire body turned violet as he flew for Qin Yuan at even faster speeds to meet him halfway and send him flying away.


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡± Qin Yuan flew a kilometer away following his clash with Xiao Qi. His face was deathly pale for a moment before he opened his mouth to spit out some blood!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t injured at all. His aura was even brighter than before as he let out a powerful chirp!


    A soul attack!


    ¡°Roar!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Two other roars sounded out at the exact same time as Long Lan and the permafrost mastiff layered on a soul attack of their own!!


    ¡°Not good!!¡±


    Qin Yuan immediately started to prepare his mental defenses against the three soul attacks while also leaping back to gain some distance.


    Because of his timely reaction and the fact that the three soul attacks weren¡¯t exactly aimed only Qin Yuan, he was able to avoid them in time. He could see the waves of the soul attack spread to where he had been standing just half a second ago. Had he been any later in retreating¡­


    In another area, the earth-type Mid-stage Soul King fighting the three soulbeasts with him was also just able to avoid a spatial edge from Xiao Qi.


    But the third person, an Early-stage Soul King, was not as fortunate as the other two. The relative area of the battlefield was far too small, and he was unfortunate enough to be caught by one of the attacks¡­


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    The Soul King wasn¡¯t even able to properly defend himself from Xiao Qi¡¯s soul attack. But even as he screamed from the pain of the attack, Xiao Qi¡¯s spatial edge tore straight through him, cutting his life almost instantaneously!


    The earth-type Mid-stage Soul King face grew ashen at the sight of yet another member of the family dying.


    He managed to free himself from the effects of the soul attack when several crystals of ice and a wave of blue light started to make their way over to him. Frightened, he leaped up into the air only to see a spatial edge fly straight at him as if Xiao Qi had predicted he¡¯d move in that direction!


    He snarled. Orange light burst out from his body as he prepared to try and change his flight direction. It¡¯d take a lot of energy, but it certainly beats dying.


    But before he could go into evasive maneuvers¡­


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    A calm voice boomed across the battlefield to reverb through his ears like a clap of thunder. The expression on his face stiffened and the soulforce in his body stilled as he was forced to remain still!


    And in that moment of inaction, death struck!


    The spatial edge swept straight through his body, separating the man from the waist!!

 Chapter 949: Ascertaining Victory

    ¡°Bastard!!¡±


    To say Qin Long was angry was an understatement. The Dual Dragon Burst from Bai Yunfei had left him and Qin He cut off from the others for a few precious moments and wary that Bai Yunfei would unleash an even harsher follow up on them. Instead of being attacked, the two were essentially left in the dark while Bai Yunfei killed off their members!


    It was only a moment ago that he and the fire-type Mid-stage Soul King were working together. And then he saw Bai Yunfei send him flying before Xiao Qi killed the Mid-stage Soul King with a spatial edge!


    Shock couldn¡¯t even begin to describe how he was feeling. The fury he was feeling was strong enough to burn even the heavens themselves. As his body flashed green in light, his sword pointed at the skies to act as a magnet for even more elemental wood to gather to it. Multiple blades of green light formed throughout the area before flying at Bai Yunfei from all angles!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Qin He joined in as well. Making several hand seals, he had several fist-sized balls of half-gold, half-red color form around him. Ranging well within the hundreds at their peak, the balls immediately began to rain down onto Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom!!¡±


    The two different-colored balls of light exploded all around Bai Yunfei one by one to kick up a large storm of dust. Soon, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even be seen under all the dust in the air!


    This was a miniaturized version of Qin He¡¯s move earlier where he had one element supplement the destructive force of the other. It was tinier, yes, but the power was still considerably strong and had a wide area of coverage. To the eyes of outsiders, this attack wasn¡¯t something that could easily be dodged.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the intention to dodge the attack, though. He had been waiting for this attack ever since he finished off the fire-type Mid-stage Soul King. The barrier from his Cataclysmic Seal flared to life around him to protect him from the green blades of wind and the gold and red balls of light.


    His barrier was, of course, met with a look of dissatisfaction from both Qin He and Qin Long. The defensive might of the orange barrier had been a consistent source of surprise for the two, and even now it seemed like their attacks had again failed to break through it.


    It was enough to make both of them feel quite useless. The opponent was clearly using a power-boosting technique to elevate himself to be able to stand on the same footing as the two of them, and yet they still couldn¡¯t defeat him. It was an unprecedented level of disgrace for the two of them.


    Elemental attacks couldn¡¯t reach Bai Yunfei because of the barrier; which had yet to show that it could break. Physical attacks couldn¡¯t even hope to bypass the defenses of his soul armaments; so that was an impossible task. An extended battle didn¡¯t seem like it was doing much for them either, Bai Yunfei felt like he was a bottomless pit of soulforce. And soul attacks weren¡¯t even an option with how strange Li Yue¡¯s death was. Neither Qin Long nor Qin He was willing to revisit that avenue of attack just in case¡­


    So what could they possibly do against such an opponent?!


    It was a maddening question Qin He and Qin Long hadn¡¯t a clue for¡­.


    But they couldn¡¯t simply concede defeat like this was just some kind of spar. This was a battle that would decide the fate of their family! And half of the Qin¡¯s Soul Kings had already died because of Bai Yunfei! They simply had to see this fight to its resolution, no matter how hard it was!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei leaped out from the dust storm amidst a sudden explosion of dazzling light. The orange barrier was no longer to be seen around him, but he was still being protected by a layer of elemental energy. Qin He and Qin Long¡¯s attack had failed to do any damage to him at all.


    But that didn¡¯t mean to say Bai Yunfei had a breeze dealing with that recent barrage just now. It probably would¡¯ve broken through if he hadn¡¯t put as much soulforce he could into the barrier. The consumption of soulforce on a level of that amount would take a moment or two for him to regain his breath, which was why he didn¡¯t launch a counterattack afterward. The first attack had been a Dual Dragon Burst after all. Then with the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear to kill the fire-type Mid-stage Soul King and then blocking that barrage just now, Bai Yunfei was finally starting to feel some wear in his reserves.


    He hid his fatigue well though. Nothing on his face gave it away aside from his slightly faster than usual breathing as he tried to recover.


    He was already moving into the next step of the attack plan before he fully recovered though. With eyes that shined bright in the light, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce flared to life as he shouted out a single word¡ª


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Both Qin He and Qin Long froze up at the word¡ªthey remembered this being the impetus for Bai Yunfei¡¯s powerful soul attack! Their minds quickly threw up a strong mental defense as they waited for the soul attack to hit them!


    But the moment never came. Stunned, the two looked at one another for a second in confusion. The soul attack¡­wasn¡¯t for them!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    A loud scream from the left side of the battlefield got the two to look around. An earth-type Mid-stage Soul King had just succumbed to a spatial edge!


    His death filled the two Late-stage Soul Kings with anger yet again. Their eyes snapped back to Bai Yunfei with renewed vigor, only to see him already pointing a finger at them!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Here it was again! The two realized with a start that they were the real targets this time!


    ¡°But how?!¡±


    It came as a total shocker that Bai Yunfei could pull off a soul attack like this twice in a row so quickly. Their mental defenses were put up in a hurry to send out a wave of near-transparent energy to cancel out the incoming soul attack in front of them.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul attack had been a lot stronger than the two anticipated. It wouldn¡¯t have ended well for either of the two if they didn¡¯t work together to cancel out Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul attack!


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Before they could contemplate the intensity of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul attack, the two Soul Kings immediately split apart from one another without warning!


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!¡±


    Two jets of red and violet light broke through the area where the two stood a split-second ago before flying back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side!


    It was the Fire-tipped Spear and Heaven¡¯s Thunder!


    The Fire-tipped Spear returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand while the Heaven¡¯s Thunder flew underneath his feet for him to step on. With the Cataclysmic Seal rotating around him and his entire body flickering with flames, Bai Yunfei looked especially powerful.


    He was expressionless as he stared at both Qin He and Qin Long, though the glint in his eyes was especially cold.


    Today he would kill the enemies in front of him without mercy!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t planned to kill anyone at first. Perhaps it was his soft-side speaking, or perhaps it was his desire for leniency, or perhaps it was because he didn¡¯t want to make enemies with a large family like the Qin, but killing them didn¡¯t seem like something Bai Yunfei wanted to do. He wanted to avoid having the entire Qin as his enemy as long as there was still room for negotiations on the table. There was also the fact that he knew someone was trying to make him and the Qin enemies, and Bai Yunfei definitely didn¡¯t want to give that conspirator the satisfaction of having his plans go as planned.


    Because of that, Xiao Qi was given the command not to kill anybody when they first started to fight. Bai Yunfei¡¯s primary goal was to help Jing Mingfeng escape the place and then try to negotiate.


    Li Yue attacking him made things complicated. Bai Yunfei knew now that there was something between the Soul Refining School and the Qin, so his perspective on this entire thing shifted a little bit. The Soul Refining School had to be killed for sure. And if the Qin were with them and thought Bai Yunfei as an enemy, then there wasn¡¯t much of a need to hold back anymore¡­


    The final straw had been when Qin Huan tried to act against Tang Xinyun. It was the sore spot that finally pushed Bai Yunfei over the brink to decide to kill the Qin!


    His decision to kill the Qin meant having himself fight at full power. His first course of action was to kill Li Yue and then kill whoever was going after Tang Xinyun. Then he¡¯d coordinate with Xiao Qi to have him kill everybody with the spatial edges!


    He had confidence in an extended battle in his ¡®Coil¡¯ Form if things had to boil down to that. And with the ample amount of soul armaments for him to rely on, Bai Yunfei was sure he could win even against two Late-stage Soul Kings!


    And it didn¡¯t seem like the Qin had a third Late-stage Soul King to come in to fight Bai Yunfei. Finally, Bai Yunfei had the upper hand in this battle!


    He could take things a little slower now, or at least until the cooldowns of the Fire-tipped Spear and Soul Sentinel Scarf were off. As long as he had those two trump cards, then killing any one of his opponents could be done without much trouble, and his victory would be guaranteed.

 Chapter 950: All-or-nothing!

    Bai Yunfei was completely calm right now. He was waiting for his soulforce to recover as he waited for his cooldowns to reset.


    On the other hand, Qin He and Qin Long looked very rushed for time. They looked ready to move at the slightest of twitches from Bai Yunfei and were flaring with energy. The fluctuations of energy radiating from their body were proof enough that they weren¡¯t calm at all.


    Not even their eyes were willing to move away from Bai Yunfei as if they were afraid that they might miss something Bai Yunfei would do. Neither of the two was willing to be the one to strike first just in case they might use up more soulforce than they were willing to spare. Both of them were at a disadvantage in soulforce, so it was dangerous to use up any more of it without a guarantee that they could get something from it.


    At the same time though, the two of them were aware that they couldn¡¯t simply ¡®wait¡¯!! Their family was in peril with most of their numbers being killed within the last few minutes. Qin He and Qin Long were at a stalemate with Bai Yunfei, but the others weren¡¯t in such happy circumstances anymore¡­


    Jing Mingfeng and Xiao Nan were both having a one-on-one battle, and Qin Yuan¡ªwho was originally in a four-on-three battle¡ªwas now in a one-on-three!


    How could Qin Yuan possibly fight a battle like that?! How long could he even last?!


    ¡°Chirp!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    As if to add to Qin He and Qin Long¡¯s worries, three separate animal noise could be heard from where Qin Yuan was!


    ¡°Another soul attack!¡±


    The two blanched before Qin Yuan let loose a loud howl!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Qin Long couldn¡¯t stand back and watch this go any longer. A soul attack was immediately launched towards Long Lan and the permafrost mastiff to stop their soul attack. A violet streak of light flew off to the side at the same time to dodge a spatial edge aimed at it.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Qin Long roared at Long Lan and the permafrost mastiff as he aimed two streaks of light at them!


    The fact that Bai Yunfei took the opportunity to ¡®help¡¯ Xiao Qi and the others to kill the earth-type Mid-stage Soul King infuriated Qin Long. His anger right now was immeasurable, and he was determined to kill the two ¡®weak¡¯ soulbeasts now!


    Qin Long was a Late-stage Soul King. Long Lan and the permafrost mastiff were both early-stage class seven soulbeasts. By a comparative measure of power levels, the two of them were definitely ¡®weaker¡¯ than him. The soul attack he aimed at the two soulbeasts would definitely do a considerable amount of damage to them, and that next attack would surely reach them before they could either dodge it or put up a proper defense!


    But that was just a plan of Qin Long, since when plans go as expected?


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    A clear-sounding sneer echoed across the skies as a soul attack as strong as Qin Long¡¯s crashed into his to cancel it out. Two separate fireballs a hundred meters in size flew across the skies at the same time to crash into the beams of light aimed at the two soulbeasts!


    ¡°Boom!! Boom!!¡±


    And just like that, Bai Yunfei had stopped Qin Long¡¯s plan from succeeding!


    Since Qin Long was taking action and Bai Yunfei was responding, Qin He had no choice but to take part as well! If anything, Qin He looked like he had grasped onto an opportunity where Bai Yunfei was distracted enough with Qin Long to strike!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A streak of golden light flew out from Qin He as his crescent-shaped blade arced towards Bai Yunfei. He gave chase after it while also making a few hand seals in preparation for another attack. When his arms drew apart, his right hand could be seen with a ring of elemental fire wrapped around it and his left with a flash of bright golden elemental metal. They left a trail of light as his hands traveled through the air like two different meteors to fly straight for Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei was right at this moment recovering from his attempt to help Long Lan and the permafrost mastiff. Noticing that he was being attacked, he immediately urged his Heaven¡¯s Thunder to fly straight in front of him.


    Heaven¡¯s Thunder and the golden crescent-shaped blade struck one another with a loud crash, but it was Heaven¡¯s Thunder that was sent flying away! And to Bai Yunfei¡¯s further surprise, the blade seemed like it was wailing almost!


    His concern lasted only for a moment before he had to focus on the crescent-shaped blade. This time, he sent the Cataclysmic Seal forward to stop the golden beam of light.


    And it was the crescent-shaped blade that was knocked back this time! There was also the same wailing sound as before when it flew!


    Though he was successful in stopping the soul armament from hitting him, Bai Yunfei realized that Qin He was already right in front of him and ready to attack!


    Qin He didn¡¯t say or do anything that wasn¡¯t necessary. Both glowing palms were already pressed out to slam into Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest at any moment now!


    But Bai Yunfei¡¯s reaction to this was drastically different than what anyone anticipated!


    Everyone thought Bai Yunfei would use his powerful soul armaments to defend against the palms or even dodge them.


    What they instead saw was Bai Yunfei taking a slight step back with both arms resting against his side. His left and right hands started to shine gold and red before he punched at the incoming palms of Qin He!


    Two equally powerful attacks with equally powerful energy of equal elements were coming straight for one another!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A flash of gold and red light swallowed up both Qin He and Bai Yunfei following the clash of their hands. Energy flew out from the collision to flow away from the two of them with such chaotic devastation that even the air seemed like it was warping under the pressure! It was like even space was being forced to bend under the power of their exchange!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­whoosh!!¡±


    Two figures leaped out from the left and right side of the explosion a moment later. Both were wrapped in a layer of energy so no one could tell who was who at first. The two of them did look like the exchange just now took some considerable energy from them since their soulforce were noticeably different than from before.


    It was soon distinguishable which person was standing where, and not even a second after Qin He could be seen, a dark-green beam of light shot out from behind him to fly straight for Bai Yunfei!


    It was Qin Long!!


    The amount of power he was showing now was devastatingly powerful; it was two times as strong as any other attack!


    He was¡­boosting his power! Even if it meant suffering from the backlash, Qin Long was determined to fight with all his strength!


    Qin Long was clearly ready to make use of his final move right here and now!

 Chapter 951: The Line Between Victory and Defeat?

    Qin Long wasn¡¯t by any means fine. His soulforce reserves were definitely low due to multiple reasons, such as his first fight with Bai Yunfei in the south of the city. That fight took a heavy toll on him. To make matters even worse, Qin Long had to rush on over here and then be wrapped in another battle with Bai Yunfei again. Try as hard as he might with Qin He, Qin Long was still using up a significant amount of his already dwindled reserves to hopefully defeat Bai Yunfei.


    The only thing keeping him in this fight was the hatred he had for Bai Yunfei. The hatred he had for Bai Yunfei killing his sons, brother, and even father! But even then, Qin Long was essentially a dried up stick now, an arrow at the end of its path with no energy left in him to fight.


    Both Qin He and Bai Yunfei could see that as well. And Qin Long was even more understanding of his circumstances.


    So that was why he made his final stand here! When it looked like Bai Yunfei was finally distracted after that exchange with Qin He, Qin Long decided to go all out and use his final move to finish off the fight!


    The easiest path to gaining an extra boost of power would be to simply destroy one¡¯s essence originseed. That way would easily see to someone gaining an extreme amount of power in an instant!


    But Qin Long didn¡¯t exactly destroy his essence originseed. He was using a rather special soul skill that could provide the same amount of power for an equally considerable price. The amount of power he¡¯d get would last him longer than what destroying his essence originseed would give, but he¡¯d still end up becoming an ¡®ordinary¡¯ commoner once it was over for a brief period of time. It was possible to recover from, but it was still a difficult process. Using the soul skill too many times would bring too much damage to the originseed and also on one¡¯s cultivation.


    In other words, use it too many times and one might be able to live on, but their cultivation would never be able to recover or improve from there.


    Multiple decades had Qin Long spent living in this world as a soul cultivator. Only once in those multiple decades had he used this soul skill before. Today would mark his second time.


    That was because there was no other choice but to use it! What need was there to get stronger if he could kill Bai Yunfei here and now?! He¡¯d welcome even his own death if it meant bringing Bai Yunfei down with him for the sake of his family¡­


    So it was a terrifyingly powerful Qin Long that flew at Bai Yunfei to attack. His aura was stronger than even Qin He now¡­This was the power of a Peak Late-stage Soul King!


    In fact, his aura was even hinting at him reaching a point of power beyond even that. The dark-green light at the edges of his range was shining in a way not too different from that of Jing Wuying and patriarch Qin!


    ¡°Hahahahaha!! Die! Die! Die!!!¡±


    Waves of energy flowed out from him with the power of a storm. His eyes were completely misted over with killing intent as he roared at Bai Yunfei. Even his screams had waves of energy rolling out from it as he flew towards his most-hated enemy!


    Both his hands rose into the sky as a brightly glowing longsword appeared in them. Grasping at the hilt, he swung it downwards in a brilliant arc of green light to smite Bai Yunfei with it!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was looking a little pale inside his fireball. He wiped a trail of blood away from his lips as his internal organs were struggling to calm down. It felt like he had been hit by a rampaging beast with how his body was aching.


    He never thought Qin He could be possible of such a powerful attack like that! Bai Yunfei had used the Ardent Sun Glove and the Critical Glove to power up his attacks and he was still forced to take an injury from the exchange!


    This was the worst injury he got since this battle started!


    Injured or not, the wound would take some time to heal. Though he¡¯d heal faster than Qin He would thanks to his soul armaments, Bai Yunfei would still need some time with his soulforce. And while his soulforce was working on those injuries, Bai Yunfei was stuck in a rather defenseless position.


    Because he was healing, Bai Yunfei had nearly failed to notice the incoming crisis that was Qin Long¡¯s longsword coming down on his head!


    The Core Stone¡¯s additional effect was still on cooldown, so he couldn¡¯t use it to escape the attack. He couldn¡¯t use the Doppelganger effect either since it wouldn¡¯t Qin Long right now. There wasn¡¯t enough time for him to use the Dual Dragon Burst, and the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier wouldn¡¯t be able to defend against the sword either¡­


    Several ideas ran through Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind in a split-second. Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunfei pointed a finger up and screamed out¡ª


    ¡°Cataclysmic Seal!!¡±


    The fact that he was calling out the name of one of his soul armaments was proof of how panicked he was.


    ¡°Bz¡­¡±


    A faint buzzing sound could be heard as soon as he called out for the Cataclysmic Seal. As if appearing out of thin air, a brilliant gleam of red light could be seen coming from a miniaturized sun to expand across the area!


    Right above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, a giant ¡®mountain¡¯ started to take shape and expand in size faster than the sword could come down!


    One hundred meters. Two hundred meters. Three hundred meters¡­ In less than a split-second, the Cataclysmic Seal transformed into a large size of seven hundred meters in height to cover Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Without seconds to spare, the sword slashed down onto the giant ¡®shield¡¯ above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    The green longsword struck the Cataclysmic Seal with a loud tremor, sending waves of fire to fly everywhere to rain down on the earth below. But even more importantly¡­Bai Yunfei was completely unharmed! The Cataclysmic Seal had protected him!


    Qin Long¡¯s gambit had failed!


    The Cataclysmic Seal didn¡¯t even shrink back to its original size after it was struck, and neither did it look like Bai Yunfei was in any way affected by Qin Long¡¯s attack. All Bai Yunfei did was raise his right hand up as if preparing to throw something, and then waving it forward!


    There wasn¡¯t any elemental energy attached to his motions, but the gigantic Cataclysmic Seal reacted accordingly to his actions. Like a giant ¡®stone¡¯, the Cataclysmic Seal flew forwards!


    Straight to where Qin Long was!


    ¡°Qin Long!!¡±


    Qin He called out to him in terrified warning. He could see that Qin Long was completely spent now. The act of flying was already too difficult a task for him, and dodging the incoming Cataclysmic Seal would require more energy than he had in him!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a faint thud as the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into Qin Long¡¯s body like a fly-swatter would smack a fly. But before Qin He could call out to Qin Long again, he saw the Cataclysmic Seal suddenly start to fly in a different direction and immediately began to fly away.


    The Cataclysmic Seal was coming for him now!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Having been too late to save Qin Long, all Qin He could do was scream out in anger before flying away to get out of the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s range.


    As fast as he was, the Cataclysmic Seal was even faster. Its speed was completely beyond what it size would otherwise indicate, and it was already on the verge of overcoming him!


    In his panic to run away, Qin He failed to realize that it was possible to simply fly off in a different direction rather than straight ahead. By the time it was too late to evade, he was faced with the Cataclysmic Seal behind him and a giant mountain in front!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal slammed into him, embedding the man deep into the surface of the mountain!

 Chapter 952: An Overwhelming Victory

    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Another explosion rung through the air as the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the mountain!!


    It was like a meteor crashing into the earth. There was a tremendous tremor as the Cataclysmic Seal touched down and shook the entirety of the mountain and the ground around it to send dust and dirt flying everywhere. In front of everyone¡¯s eyes, several mountains nearby started to have landslides happen on them!!


    With how deep the Cataclysmic Seal crashed into the mountain and how powerful its descent was, the dust it kicked up flew high enough above the place to cover its gigantic frame within a matter of seconds¡­


    ¡°Dear¡­dear lord!! So that soul armament of Bai Yunfei can expand in size! This¡­this is too large! How is this even possible?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just a change in size too! The power behind that¡­it¡¯s terrifying! Qin Long¡¯s strongest attack wasn¡¯t even able to put a dent into it! He didn¡¯t even harm a single hair on Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!¡±


    ¡°The most terrifying thing to me was how Bai Yunfei had his soul armament move! What a nightmare! Why didn¡¯t he use that straight away? Had he just pressed it down against the ground, half the Qin would¡¯ve been squashed to death in the beginning¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as easy as you think. They were all spread out pretty thinly. He¡¯d probably kill a few Early-stage Soul Kings, but that¡¯s overkill in that case, isn¡¯t it? Doesn¡¯t it seem like Bai Yunfei had to use up a lot of soulforce for that move? I¡¯m pretty sure Bai Yunfei can¡¯t use a move like this very easily unless the situation calls for it.¡±


    ¡°I think Qin Long was sent flying away? Does anyone know how he¡¯s doing? And what about that Qin He? I don¡¯t think I saw him dodge it. If he was smashed into the mountain and that mountain crumbled to pieces¡­is¡­is he even alive still?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The audience had come full circle now. The previous sights saw to them being stunned into silence, and now this newest development saw to them anxiously chattering to each other. The Soul Ancestors and Soul Exalts were all in a loud clamor as they tried to discuss the potential outcomes of the Cataclysmic Seal crashing into the mountain while the Soul Kings merely stood there in silence. Everyone was staring at the mountain though, wondering if Qin He or Qin Long would come stumbling out from where they landed.


    ¡°Huf¡­huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was bent over on top of his Heaven¡¯s Thunder. Sweatdrops were rolling off his nose as he gasped for air. His face, pale like paper, was clearly having trouble breathing properly. Not even the fire around his person was flickering energetically like before.


    The gigantification of the Cataclysmic Seal to block Qin Long¡¯s move and then strike down Qin He was no easy feat. It required a tremendous amount of soulforce for Bai Yunfei to pull off and would take some time to recover the lost half of his remaining reserves.


    If he had to guess how much soulforce he had left, Bai Yunfei would say only twenty percent was left in him.


    The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring started to flood his system with the stockpiled soulforce in it. Combined with the Dual Flame Artes, the ring started to set Bai Yunfei on an accelerated pace to recover his soulforce.


    A beam of red light shot out from the dust; it was the Cataclysmic Seal. Flying back to Bai Yunfei, it shivered once to surround Bai Yunfei in a layer of orange light to protect him inside.


    ¡°This should be the end of the battle¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself as he observed the ruins of the mountain.


    He hadn¡¯t paid much attention to Qin Long after he struck him with the Cataclysmic Seal. He couldn¡¯t sense Qin Long¡¯s aura so that either meant Qin Long was beyond his range of sense, or¡­he was dead.


    Bai Yunfei could still sense Qin He though. He was still stuck deep within the rubbles of the mountain, but whether he¡¯d come flying out had yet to be seen.


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    A loud cry from another part of the battlefield had Bai Yunfei turning around just in time to see Jing Mingfeng pull out a black dagger from the heart of his enemy¡­


    His one-man war tactics brought about a large amount of shock to everyone else in the battlefield. Because of him, the Early-stage Soul King Jing Mingfeng was fighting was shocked and far too distracted to realize Jing Mingfeng¡¯s action until it was too late.


    That didn¡¯t mean to say Jing Mingfeng was looking unharmed. He had a few wounds to himself and a few spots on his body where blood was trickling from, especially on his face. Still, he looked excited that he managed to kill his opponent with relative ease.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Another panicked cry could be heard shortly after the death of Jing Mingfeng¡¯s opponent. This time, it was Qin Yuan who cried out. His face was completely pale from fright, but he was still very much alive. He was trying to flee!


    Qin Yuan had lost the will to fight; he was trying his best to run away!


    But how could Xiao Qi let him run away like that?


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A near-transparent flash of elemental wind and lightning could be seen as it streaked straight for Qin Yuan!


    Stats of the Wind and Lightning Feathers:


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 2160


    Defense: 2270


    Additional Attack: 1000


    Additional Defense: 1100


    Soul Comaptibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect 1: 10% increase in wind and lightning based attacks.


    Equipment Effect 2: 50% increase in flight speed.


    +10 Additional Effect: 100% Increase in equipment effects.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    Thanks to the Wind and Lightning Feathers, Xiao Qi was able to fly at a speed that far outstripped the speed of Qin Yuan. He caught up in a matter of seconds and immediately assaulted the man with a flurry of wind blades!


    Despair filled Qin Yuan¡¯s eyes. A layer of violet light covered his body as a last attempt for defense before the blades of wind slammed into him!


    No one could even see how he was doing with how the blades of wind exploded over him.


    Then came the pitch-black spatial edge!


    It devoured all in its path as it traveled in a linear path straight for Qin Yuan!


    The furious roars of Qin Yuan lasted for only a moment before the spatial edge flew straight through the area where he stood. And then, all was silent!


    That was when people knew he was dead! And most likely not in one piece!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A tertiary sound alerted the audience to yet another part of the battlefield. When the audience turned to look, they saw a streak of green light clash with a bright orange light before the two split into two different directions from one another.


    Xiao Nan wiped a trail of blood from his lips from within his orange ball of light. He was still safe and now at a respectable distance away from his opponent.


    Up against him was Qin Pingzhi. He, on the other hand, was flying away like a kite with a broken string with fresh blood spilling from his mouth!


    Clearly, Xiao Nan had barely managed to come out with victory in his one-on-two battle!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Long Lan let loose a loud roar that vibrated the air around him and flooded the place with blue light. A bright blue claw formed from the light to lash out at the defenseless Qin Pingzhi and batted him away like a ball straight for¡­Xiao Qi!


    It went without saying that Xiao Qi responded to this kind gift with a single spatial edge straight through Qin Pingzhi¡¯s body¡­


    The audience went wild upon Qin Pingzhi¡¯s death¡ªthe soulbeast was far too violent! What kind of soulbeast enjoyed to kill every single one of their opponent without even a shred of mercy to them like Xiao Qi?!


    Not even a minute went by since Bai Yunfei managed to strike down Qin Long with the Cataclysmic Seal. Not even half a minute went by for the audience to be struck with the realization that not a single member from the Qin was left standing!


    Aside from Qin Long, who¡¯s status was yet unknown, Qin He was stuck under the rubble, so that meant every single Soul King from the Qin were now¡­dead!


    It was an overwhelming victory for Bai Yunfei¡¯s side!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. He nodded to Xiao Nan before turning around to head for where Tang Xinyun and Zhao Jie were.


    He was still keeping an eye on the place where Qin he was, but Xiao Qi was already given the signal to kill Qin He given the chance.


    The victory was theirs, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going to repeat his mistake of being lenient.


    ¡°Bz¡­¡±


    There was a rumbling sound from the west just then. As if the world was starting to tremble, a terrifying aura started to roll out through the area!


    The pupils in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes dilated as his soulsense alerted him to the fact that a massive amount of killing intent was aimed solely onto him!


    Straight away¡­sweat started to pool on his back!

 Chapter 953: Patriarch Qins Fury

    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t wrong in thinking that the battle was over and he was the victor. All the Soul Kings from the Qin were more-or-less dead, but¡­there was still patriarch Qin!


    The one who was beyond the realm of a Soul King. The terrifying Half-emperor!


    He had only a moment to sigh to himself before patriarch Qin¡¯s aura made its way towards him to lock him in place in a prison of fear!


    Patriarch Qin was locked onto him!!


    Several kilometers west of this place, the skies in that area seemed to be constantly on fire with the amount of elemental fire in place. It was like some kind of giant beast made completely from fire was trying to burn everything around it!


    The soulforce within the area was stifling enough, but the spread of the flames was so quick that it had already traveled five kilometers within moments!


    The very edge of the flames was just shy of a few thousand steps away from Bai Yunfei now. A giant arm made completely from the fire formed from it to reach out and smash Bai Yunfei to pieces!


    In the face of the giant hand¡ªor even just a single finger¡ªBai Yunfei was basically the size of a small fly. It felt like any second now, he¡¯d be crushed to death just like a fly!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was paralyzed with fear. He was nearly close to crying out in his fear as well, but then his senses caught back up to him. The Cataclysmic Seal immediately flew up above his head to protect him while he prepared a few hand seals¡­


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    While the Cataclysmic Seal was expanding in size and Bai Yunfei was preparing for the next step, a sneer echoed across the skies!


    A black light shot forth from the western skies to make contact with the sea of flames. The world tremored as the two lights smashed against each other. Like the wind, the black light swirled around the giant fiery arm to engulf it!


    ¡°Boom¡­rumble!!¡±


    The black tornado and fiery arm were blown apart shortly afterward, and Bai Yunfei was treated to the sight of the skies mixing with both colors. The space in the middle where the two elements collided were warping inwards on itself as if space itself was threatening to destabilize!


    ¡°Retreat!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared out loud. His hand called the Cataclysmic Seal to get in between him and the space in front of him as he called for Xiao Qi, Jing Mingfeng, and Xiao Nan to get as far away from the place as quickly as possible.


    On the outside, everyone could only see a tornado of black and red light ¡®coil¡¯ around each other as if fighting each other for dominance.


    Fortunately enough for Bai Yunfei, the killing intent that had locked onto him earlier was gone, so he could sigh in relief yet again as he relished in the feeling of ¡®escaping from death¡¯...


    ¡°I wonder if I¡¯d have been able to survive ¡®that¡¯ energy if it hit me¡­¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but think about the scenario if he wasn¡¯t saved. He didn¡¯t actually want to find out though and resolved to get as far away from this place as possible.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    A furious red-eyed patriarch Qin stood in the middle of the fiery tornado. He was as skinny as a corpse and deranged looking with how his arms were unceasingly shooting flames to coil around the figure in black in front of him.


    The figure in black was Jing Wuying. He had a halo of black light circling around him, cloaking him like he was a reaper traveling through the night. It almost seemed as if he was one with the darkness with how easily he blended in with the darkness. Not even his aura could be substantially felt when scanned with soulsense. It was only because of the fire and its direct contrast to his black figure that made his figure noticeable in the day.


    In his right hand was an especially black-colored dagger. Its edge was slightly crooked with one side of it having a rather spooky-looking barb. But the most peculiar part of the dagger was the hilt of the dagger where several smaller blades could be seen connected to it by strands of black-silk that seemed to almost float in the air.


    Jing Wuying had an especially serious look on his face in direct contrast to the deranged one on patriarch Qin¡¯s face. The only thing he was doing was defending against the elemental fire coming at him. Retaliation wasn¡¯t even something he was bothering to consider.


    ¡­¡­


    Patriarch Qin really did look like he was about to go crazy. Never could he possibly imagine that so many unexpected developments could happen today!


    He only needed a few weeks to be in the most optimal state to try to breakthrough. But Jing Wuying chose now of all times to attack, and the Qin had no choice but to risk outing themselves to the world in order to sacrifice everyone they could get their hands on to hasten his breakthrough process.


    The method he was using to try and become a Soul Emperor was the Soul Fusing Array. Its original purpose was to gather the soul energy of all the departed spirits underneath the earth to turn into processed energy that a soul cultivator could use to improve.


    The ¡®soul¡¯ was something that the majority of the world deemed as something ¡®intangible¡¯. Even the more specialized soul cultivators who studied the soul only knew to improve their soul as much as they could. But none of them could probably give a reason why this was effective other than saying ¡®it works¡¯.


    When a soul cultivator or soulbeast died, their souls would dissipate. That was something that was true for all.


    But the death of a person also actually meant leaving behind an aspect of the soul in the world. The energy left behind was known to most as ¡®decaying aura¡¯ and would gradually disappear with time. Decaying aura could be guided and pulled given the proper abundance of elemental energy and dissipate in said places. Generally said, these areas of high elemental energy were deep within the earth, so the energy of the departed would gather there.


    And so the Soul Fusing Array was something that even ordinary soul cultivators could use to make use of the soul left behind from the decaying aura.


    Naturally, the mines was an ideal spot to place the Soul Fusing Array in. The patriarch had already been locked away in training to take in the remnant energy of the decaying aura even before he knew about the Soul Fusing Array with how ideal it was for his training.


    In time though, the amount of energy grew less and less and the patriarch started to worry about his training.


    That was when the Qin came across something that could help the patriarch. The Soul Fusing Array which could take in the souls of the departed; a new source of energy the patriarch could partake in! This was a huge benefit for him!


    That was also when rumors of people going missing due to a mysterious beast started to make its rounds in the mines.


    If they said that the Soul Fusing Array was meant to take the souls of those who died to empower the user, then the wanton killing of soul cultivators would definitely give rise to a lot of opposition. The world would never allow such a perverse thing to exist, and the Qin would definitely be fought against by a coalition of people for the sake of safety.


    When he resolved to have all the miners brought to him and sacrificed, patriarch Qin figured that it¡¯d be fine as long as he became a Soul Emperor. Should he be successful, he could probably say that those who died had died because of their close proximity when he broke through. The dead told no tales, and no one would be any wiser to the actual truth but the Qin themselves. Even if someone did think this was suspicious, the patriarch could have the person killed and the news suppressed before it could become something major.


    It wasn¡¯t half-bad of a plan, but too bad for him things weren¡¯t going as he expected!


    Jing Wuying was already something that was too far beyond his expectations! He never thought that Jing Wuying would appear in the final moments when he was about to breakthrough!


    But even more infuriating was the fact that Jing Wuying didn¡¯t simply attack him during that moment. He was¡­stealing the energy he needed to breakthrough!


    Patriarch Qin hadn¡¯t the chance to become a Soul Emperor prior to his knowledge of the Soul Fusing Array. He was relying on the array for the one chance to absorb enough energy to breakthrough. The fact that Jing Wuying was coming in to steal that energy was the same thing as forever ruining his chances to breakthrough!


    Patriarch Qin hadn¡¯t the ability to stop Jing Wuying from doing that. The only thing he could do was try and absorb as much of the energy as he could to hopefully become strong enough to fend off against Jing Wuying!


    The energy the two were fighting for was what Xiao Fang had said to be an ¡®incomplete¡¯ form of the Emperor¡¯s Phenomena. The resulting moments after their initial struggle for the energy led to the two people entering a stalemate.


    Neither persons were moving even a finger as they tried to take in as much energy as they could. They were trying to get as strong as possible in a limited amount of time. Neither of the two had any second to spare for any other battle that was taking place.


    Patriarch Qin never expected to wake up a few minutes later to a strong amount of energy coming from where his family should¡¯ve been. And by the time he was rushing out to see what was the matter, Qin He and the others were already¡­dead or heavily wounded!


    The matter was so surprising that even patriarch Qin was at a loss for what to do! Not even someone as strong as he knew what to do in this case. He nearly thought he was dreaming, in fact!


    In the end¡­he couldn¡¯t do anything but burst out into a berserk form of anger!

 Chapter 954: The Final Move of Patriarch Qin?!

    The failure of becoming a Soul Emperor was already a heavy blow to patriarch Qin. But the total annihilation of the strongest of his family was something he couldn¡¯t tolerate. It was something that was driving him absolutely insane!


    Every single Soul King of the Qin¡ªdead!! That was as good as killing off the entirety of the Qin!


    ¡°A¡­ahh¡­ahhh!!!¡±


    His fury couldn¡¯t even be described with words now. The mouth of the patriarch was split wide open as he let loose a heart-wrenching wail of anger before locking every into place with a wave of killing intent!


    ¡°Die¡­die! You will all die!! Die!!!¡±


    Cursing all that could hear him, the patriarch immediately glared at the source of all his anger¡ªJing Wuying!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    A giant dragon formed from the flames around him to rush straight for Jing Wuying!


    He leaped onto the head of the dragon as it flew for Jing Wuying. Like the flames around him, his killing intent was blazing wildly. The flames around his right hand solidified to form a giant claw ready to strike and kill.


    He clenched his fist hard enough for Jing Wuying to hear the popping sounds of his knuckles. Over his right hand, five sharp blades formed with a twinkling-sharp light.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The dragon slammed into a curtain of black light and scattered apart. Waves of energy flowed outwards away from the wall, but patriarch Qin pounced in the opposite direction like a panther. The fiery claws over his right hand were still shining brightly as it swiped down to aim at Jing Wuying¡¯s person!


    Jing Wuying¡¯s eyes shined dangerously. The black light around him stuck to him like a black garment as he raised his dagger up to stab patriarch Qin¡¯s wrist!


    Despite the risk of losing his hand, patriarch Qin continued his downwards plunge with the claws!


    Jing Wuying narrowed his eyes. If patriarch Qin wasn¡¯t willing to back away, then he would.


    But even while Jing Wuying was backing away, patriarch Qin was making an explosive leap forward! The claws quickened in pace as it zoomed in after Jing Wuying to strike him down!


    The explosive leap forward saw to Jing Wuying being run straight through with the claws. However, patriarch Qin didn¡¯t have a pleased look on his face!


    He didn¡¯t manage to hit Jing Wuying at all; it was a mirror image!


    A black light started to shine from beside the spot where the mirror image was struck. Jing Wuying appeared out of nowhere then with his dagger now poised to strike in between the patriarch¡¯s eyebrows!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a scraping sound as Jing Wuying¡¯s dagger came to a stop in front of patriarch Qin and was forcibly yanked away from him!


    The patriarch had used his claws to parry the dagger. It wasn¡¯t any weaker than the dagger and was fully capable of withstanding a blow or two with it. When the dagger was caught, patriarch Qin tried at once to yank the dagger away from Jing Wuying and strike at his throat with his left hand!


    The throat strike was carefully observed by Jing Wuying, who had no intentions of dodging it despite his dagger being in a less-than-optimal place. Several blades of black appeared around the dagger following a pulse of soulforce and flew around patriarch Qin¡¯s arm straight for his eyes and throat!


    The patriarch responded in kind with a burst of fire to fly up and cover his face like a mask. And at the same time, he kicked away from Jing Wuying to gain some distance between them.


    ¡°Pcht¡­pcht¡­pcht¡­¡±


    The seven blades entered the fire in front of the patriarch¡¯s face but were ultimately stopped just short of reaching his eyes.


    Jing Wuying hadn¡¯t expected that the dagger would be capable of a move like that, but he was thankful that he didn¡¯t grab hold of it. As he was planning to gain even more distance between him and Jing Wuying, the patriarch realized then that something was clutching at his right arm as if holding it in place, preventing him from moving any further back!


    That was when he noticed it. The near-transparent lines that connected the blades that struck him to the dagger! When they flew around his arm, the strings that connected them had wrapped tightly around his arm! All Jing Wuying did next was pull on it and the clothes had immediately been ripped apart along with the skin so that his inner flesh and bones could be seen! If it was any tighter his arm would be shredded to pieces!


    The immediate stinging pain that traveled up his arm was enough to make the patriarch wince with pain. He couldn¡¯t ignore this soul armament any longer. With a loud roar, he twirled his right arm and yanked hard on it to try and pull the dagger away from Jing Wuying again.


    But he didn¡¯t feel any resistance when he pulled!


    Jing Wuying was already in front of him and ready to attack!


    He wasn¡¯t even bothering to do anything with the strings attached to the patriarch¡¯s arm. He was ready to strike at the patriarch through the forehead with his dagger!


    The constantly changing actions of Jing Wuying had made the patriarch rather passive in his approach to this battle. He leaned forward with his upper half to allow for the dagger to instead strike at his heart.


    It wasn¡¯t a suicidal move. His body was already forming a layer of solidified fire around it to act as a piece of armor. He was going to tank this move!


    His right hand reached out with a flame that burned pure white to lash out at his waist! He was trying to duke it out with Jing Wuying!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    The two struck one another in a furious explosion of energy. The two stuck together like glue as their attacks slammed into one another¡¯s body for a split-moment before the explosion forced the two apart!


    They flew several thousand steps away before coming to a stop. There was a large hole in the chest area of patriarch Qin¡¯s robes, and the golden armor he wore underneath it had a small crack on it¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t broken through. Jing Wuying¡¯s robes, on the other hand, were burnt away to reveal a black-colored piece of armor that had five claw marks on it.


    Neither Half-emperors were able to pierce the defenses of their enemy, but the concussive force of their attacks was still enough to deal a considerable amount of damage to them both.


    ¡­¡­


    Patriarch Qin didn¡¯t look very happy. How could he? There was something painfully clear to him after the previous exchanges with Jing Wuying. Jing Wuying was a little stronger than he was!


    ¡°He was already a Half-emperor, so he¡¯s more familiar with its power than I am. And he definitely got stronger after taking the energy meant for me. Whether I want to defeat him or stall for time, I cannot match him!¡±


    It was a bitter and humiliating pill to swallow, but the patriarch had to accept the truth for what it was.


    ¡°I have to use that then!! I can¡¯t control it, but I should still be able to do enough to have it kill Jing Wuying! Then I can kill the others! The Qin is dead already, there¡¯s no need to hide anything anymore! Even if I die, our enemies will be killed today! No one will be spared, everyone will die!!¡±


    He decided to himself in anger. Even more energy started to pour out from his person as he shot straight for Jing Wuying!


    ¡°Die!!¡± He roared as he launched a near-transparent wave of energy straight ahead!


    A soul attack!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Jing Wuying sent out a soul attack of his own. The two struck one another in mid-air and created an equally transparent shockwave of energy!


    Patriarch Qin was traveling onwards despite that. Waving his left hand, he shot out a small beam of sparkling light!


    It was hard to see what the sparkling light was, but the speed was incredible. It traveled hundreds of meters within a matter of moments and caught up to Jing Wuying as he was preparing to stop it. A jet of black light flew forward from him, but the sparkling light had already stopped just meters away from Jing Wuying¡¯s head!


    There was something within the light. It was about the size of a palm and translucent like a crystal. It was some kind of crystalline tablet!


    As he was trying to see what this object was, it began to shine with a bright enough light to cover his entire person!


    A malicious gleam entered patriarch Qin¡¯s eyes then. His soulforce began to bubble with renewed vigor before he shouted out a single word¡ª


    ¡°Seal!!¡±

 Chapter 955: Appearance of a Regalia!

    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    A curious expression crossed Jing Wuying¡¯s face as he wondered what the object was. He prepared himself for any sudden actions, but then he suddenly froze up!


    It wasn¡¯t that he was stunned by whatever it was coming at him. It was because he suddenly found himself unable to move!


    Any signs of resistance were taken away from him the moment he laid his eyes onto the crystalline tablet, no matter how he might¡¯ve tried to move. It was like if an invisible hand had grabbed hold of him to prevent him from doing anything!


    It wasn¡¯t just his soulforce that refused to circulate. Even his soul felt like it was being forced to freeze in place!


    His powerful soulforce started to drain away the moment he was forced to freeze. The black light that had been swirling around his body dissipated now that his soulforce wasn¡¯t controlling it anymore. He had lost all sense of control over both his body and soulforce!


    Not a single person was able to contain their surprise at this!


    ¡­¡­


    On the outside of the battlefield when patriarch Qin had just tossed out that crystalline tablet and cried out ¡®seal¡¯...


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. Something about this had startled him!


    When patriarch Qin called out that word, the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead and the Core Stone both started to pulsate with energy!


    The type of energy both Regalia pulsated with was rather special. It was only faint enough for Bai Yunfei to feel it due to his proximity, and it seemed like they were resonating with one another!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­Sealer!!¡±


    Xiao Fang cried out in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind to send him in shock as well at the news!


    ¡°Sealer?!¡± Bai Yunfei felt his face drop several degrees in pigmentation as he digested the information. He was already making the connection between the resonance from the two Regalia and what Xiao Fang had just said. ¡°Xiao Fang, you can¡¯t be saying that¡­¡±


    ¡°I am! That¡¯s definitely Sealer!¡± Xiao Fang interrupted, ¡°One of the Ten Great Regalia¡­the Soul Sealing Mandate!¡±


    A Regalia, the Soul Sealing Mandate!!


    Now that his own suspicions were confirmed to be true, Bai Yunfei began to rapidly process what this meant. He never thought that a Regalia would show up here!


    He knew a little about the Soul Sealing Mandate from what Xiao Fang told him. Like the Soul Sentinel Scarf, the Soul Sealing Mandate was a type of soul armament that could protect the soul!


    Soul Sealing¡­It was quite obvious that the Regalia was capable of ¡®sealing¡¯ the soul!


    By sealing the soul, the Regalia was capable of forcing the person to lose control of every aspect of their body!


    One might ask; what might happen if the soul was to be sealed?


    ¡®Seal¡¯ and ¡®Anchor¡¯ had their similarities, but the Soul Sealing Mandate was on a completely different level than Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®Soul Anchor Technique¡¯. The Soul Anchor Technique was something that could temporarily anchor a person to where they were for a moment, but the Soul Sealing Mandate acted as a seal of sorts. Unless the seal was undone, the person wouldn¡¯t be able to get rid of it!


    If used in battle, just what kind of results would the Soul Sealing Mandate bring?


    Well. Just look at Jing Wuying and the answer was obvious¡­


    ¡­¡­


    A transparent wave of energy was spreading out from the Soul Sealing Mandate to cover Jing Wuying¡¯s entire body. He was unable to do even a single thing as the energy circled around him. He couldn¡¯t even maintain the ability to remain flying in the air and immediately began to plummet down to the ground!


    The Soul Sealing Mandate fell with him as if to stick within range of him.


    ¡°Die!!!!¡±


    A furious roar called out to Jing Wuying as he was mid-fall. A streak of red light zoomed through the air to smash into Jing Wuying!


    It wasn¡¯t a particularly strong attack compared to the battle before, but it didn¡¯t have to be. Jing Wuying was completely unable to move or defend himself right now. If the attack were to hit him, his body would definitely be unable to take it¡­


    The patriarch was standing a few hundred steps away. He had a strange expression on his face. Shouting out that word earlier seemed to have taken a great deal of energy, as his face was much grayer than before. His soulforce was also flowing rapidly out from his body so that only half of what it used to be remained inside. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t in any shape to be unleashing any powerful attacks. This attack was probably the best he could do at the moment¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A moment later, the red beam of light crashed into Jing Wuying to have a bulb of fire explode and engulf him inside of it!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Grandfather!!¡±


    The sight of his grandfather being struck square on like that caused Jing Mingfeng to cry out in horror!


    Likewise, Bai Yunfei had a pale expression on his face, ¡°Crap!¡±


    The rest of the audience were watching this take place with a stunned look as well!


    ¡°Wha¡­what happened?! What did patriarch Qin do? How did his opponent suddenly just stop moving?!¡±


    No one had a clue what went on. The battle before this point had been intense with two Half-emperors duking it out so magnificently. How could the battle end on such a surprising note like that?!


    Though unable to understand what happened, the audience wouldn¡¯t have an answer to their questions. They could only just watch to see if Jing Wuying would end up surviving the blast.


    It took a moment before a person fell from the explosion. Plummeting down to the earth below, this person was still being burned by some lingering flames!


    He dropped another dozen meters or so before the transparent bubble around him disappeared and the Soul Sealing Mandate zoomed off to return to the patriarch¡¯s hand.


    The patriarch grabbed hold of the Soul Sealing Mandate and let out a sigh of relief once it was safe and secure back in his hand¡­


    This Regalia¡­was as powerful as he was led to believe from the rumors!


    ¡°If I became a Soul Emperor and was able to become the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s master, I¡¯d be able to use its power without fail. Who would¡¯ve dared fight the Qin in that case?! We would have been all-mighty. We would have been free to enjoy our golden era!! What a waste! How despicable that it¡¯s all gone into smoke!!¡±


    He remarked to himself in sorrow as he stared at the Soul Sealing Mandate. The patriarch was thinking of a future that could¡¯ve been if not for Bai Yunfei and the others.


    And on that note, he snarled and turned to glare at Bai Yunfei with all the killing intent he could muster!


    ¡°What?! He¡¯s still alive?!¡±


    But another complication arose up in the form of Jing Wuying, whose aura somehow sprung back up at that moment.


    A faint burst of soulforce was coming from where Jing Wuying had fallen. Black light was coming out from his person to extinguish the flames, but it was clearly a great deal fainter compared to before.


    Despite his beam striking down Jing Wuying while his defenses were completely done, Jing Wuying was still alive!


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you die?! Die already!!¡±


    The patriarch roared. Waving his hand again, he sent a burst of flames down to finish off Jing Wuying!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­boom!!¡±


    Before it could strike Jing Wuying, a beam of violet light shot out from a different direction to disrupt and block it!


    The patriarch¡¯s eyes narrowed at this new distraction and whirled towards the source, but only to see a red and green beam of light fly straight at him!


    The streak of green light was Jing Mingfeng, but he was flying for where Jing Wuying was.


    And in the red beam of light was Bai Yunfei!


    He was flying faster than Jing Mingfeng was. In just a few seconds, he was already in between the patriarch and Jing Wuying!

 Chapter 956: A One Second Berserk Mode

    ¡°Bai Yunfei! He¡¯s actually going to try stopping patriarch Qin! Does¡­does he actually plan on fighting him?!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s strong. He has to be if he can fight off two or three Late-stage Soul Kings. But up against a Half-emperor like patriarch Qin? That¡¯s not going to be enough, is it? He wasn¡¯t exactly unharmed in his battle either. He can¡¯t possibly have much soulforce less, isn¡¯t he just being suicidal like this?¡±


    ¡°Well, we don¡¯t know for sure! Bai Yunfei might not be at his best, but neither is the patriarch! Didn¡¯t you see how much energy using that crystal thing took out of the patriarch? Bai Yunfei has so many powerful soul armaments to him, don¡¯t you think he might be able to squeak out a victory here?¡±


    ¡°A weakened lion is still stronger than a wolf. Patriarch Qin is a Half-emperor! How could a Soul King possibly win? Don¡¯t forget about that thing he used, it took out another Half-emperor! How would Bai Yunfei even compare?!¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which¡­what exactly was it that he used!? Some kind of soul armament? What kind was it?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Needless to say, everyone was surprised that Bai Yunfei would suddenly step in to save Jing Wuying from his death at patriarch Qin¡¯s hands. Many thought Bai Yunfei was simply just ignorant of his own strength, though there were a few that did think he had a chance of winning. Other than that, the audience was still trying to figure out how exactly Jing Wuying had lost.


    A few of the Soul Kings were standing there still, but two or three of them had a contemplative light in their eyes. They seemed like they were realizing something about what the patriarch had used¡­


    Yan Tianxing, in particular, had his eyes glued to the patriarch¡¯s left hand. ¡°Is that¡­could it be¡­?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°The spirit within the Soul Sealing Mandate is a prideful one. It wouldn¡¯t accept anyone not a Soul Emperor as its master, so this patriarch Qin is definitely not its master!¡± Xiao Fang exclaimed to Bai Yunfei. ¡°He definitely forced the Soul Sealing Mandate to work for him that one time! As a Half-emperor, he could probably use it once, but not to its full might. And as you can see, it takes a lot to force it!¡±


    Xiao Fang was talking about how tired the patriarch looked and the reason behind it. ¡°Forcing the Soul Sealing Mandate to work definitely took a large toll on his soul. He shouldn¡¯t be able to use it again. Take this chance and¡­kill him! Kill him and take Sealer away!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was Xiao Fang¡¯s ¡®master¡¯ so Xiao Fang would naturally think of him first. Xiao Fang was hoping that Bai Yunfei would be able to get the Soul Sealing Mandate and become even stronger. Patriarch Qin was Bai Yunfei¡¯s enemy, and an enemy with a powerful Regalia like that was too big of a threat to let live. It was best that Bai Yunfei take this chance to take the Regalia now.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes twinkled as he processed the information given to him. He was thinking about what his possible choices were here.


    A moment later¡­he came to a decision!


    Xiao Fang was right, now was the best time to act!


    He sent a withering glare at the powerful enemy in front of him as a prelude of his will to fight. Loosening his right hand so that the Fire-tipped Spear would float next to him, Bai Yunfei immediately started to go through a series of hand seals!


    The fact that Bai Yunfei had even appeared in front of him was surprising enough to patriarch Qin that he didn¡¯t even retaliate at first. He wasn¡¯t afraid of Bai Yunfei. If anything, he was more afraid the outsiders¡ªYan Tianxing in particular.


    A Regalia was something that was far too alluring for any soul cultivator that knew about them. He had no doubts that given the chance, one of the Soul Kings here would definitely try to steal the Soul Sealing Mandate away from him!


    It wasn¡¯t a crime to be poor, but it was a crime to be poor and be in possession of a precious item. The Soul Sealing Mandate had been in the Qin¡¯s possession for decades now, and not once had they ever divulged of that fact to any outsider, and for good reason too. They didn¡¯t have the power to defend themselves in the worst-case scenario.


    But now that Bai Yunfei was glaring at him with the intent to kill and was raring to fight, the patriarch began to sneer.


    ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!!¡±


    To him, it looked like Bai Yunfei was throwing away his own life. How could a Soul King¡ªeven if he had the power of a Late-stage Soul King thanks to some kind of mystical power¡ªever hope to contend with a Half-emperor? It was a pipe dream!


    ¡°Eh?! What¡­what is this?!¡±


    He was in the middle of preparing to launch an attack to kill Bai Yunfei when his senses caught onto an explosive burst of energy powerful enough to cause him to stop!


    Bai Yunfei had all of a sudden exploded with a newfound strength to elevate him beyond the level of a Late-stage Soul King! And it was still growing!


    ¡°Peak Late-stage Soul King! A second power-boosting soul skill!!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura reached the levels of a Peak Late-stage Soul King that the patriarch let out a stunned cry of disbelief! He could hardly believe this was happening!


    But he wasn¡¯t so stunned that he wasn¡¯t capable of doing anything. A grim light entered his eyes as he retreated to gain some distance from Bai Yunfei!


    He felt a premonition of danger in that one moment!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Fire burst out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body as he entered ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode. His hands didn¡¯t stop as he began to make the appropriate seals for the opening move. Elemental fire converged around his arms in tremendous amounts before spiraling around it¡­


    This was¡­the Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Damn!¡±


    Even several hundred meters away, the patriarch didn¡¯t feel safe. He could see from the flames rising up from Bai Yunfei that the incoming attack was a dangerous one. His eyes flickered over to the Soul Sealing Mandate as if contemplating something. Snarling, he threw it into his space ring and began to go through a series of hand seals himself!


    He had planned on recovering some of his soulforce before he was committed to fighting Bai Yunfei, but things were developing in ways that didn¡¯t allow him the luxury of waiting. Bai Yunfei was using a powerful soul skill, so he had to prepare one himself.


    Elemental fire gathered around patriarch Qin as he readied for battle. Forming a giant wave of fire behind him, the flames continued to pick up in size!


    ¡°Hah!!¡±


    Like a spring, both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms lashed out to send a giant spiral of flames from them. As they flew forward, the flames took on the form of two giant dragons complete with a snarling jaw that spat fire and had several strands of violet light running through it. It was barely visible, but anyone with a keen enough eye would be able to spot it.


    As powerful as that move was, the strange thing was what happened to Bai Yunfei! As soon as he cast the attack, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura immediately fell back down to the levels of a Late-stage Soul King!


    He was only capable of going into ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode for a single moment! And he looked pained for just being in that for such a short amount of time! The pain of being in ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode was powerful enough for him to cancel it straight away somehow. It was definitely strange to see since Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve been used to the pain¡­


    Patriarch Qin greeted the sight of the two giant dragons with a calm look. Waving his hand, he sent the giant wave of fire behind forward to repel the dragons back!


    From a rudimentary standpoint, the amount of energy in the two moves were both very strong, but it was the Dual Dragon Burst that was marginally weaker! As expected from a Half-emperor, the move of one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s most powerful attack still wasn¡¯t enough!


    Everyone believed that the two attacks would cancel each other out at least or that patriach Qin¡¯s attack would continue onwards to Bai Yunfei. And if patriarch Qin were to attack again, then¡­things wouldn¡¯t look good for Bai Yunfei.


    Even patriarch Qin thought his attack would be the ultimate victor and started to sneer in preparation for it.


    But when the moves smashed together, the sneer was immediately wiped away from his face! In its place, two wide-opened eyes and a wide-open jaw stared in disbelief at where the moves collided!

 Chapter 957: The Might of Chaos

    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The giant tidal wave of fire collided with the two dragons as everyone expected, but the results on the other hand¡­


    There wasn¡¯t an explosion as people expected to see or hear. Rather than that, everyone simply watched as the two dragons ¡®penetrate¡¯ the tidal wave and simply go through it!


    The dragons had simply gone through the attack rather than be stopped by it! And it was still heading for the patriarch!


    No one saw it coming. No one thought it was even possible. They all thought the dragons would be split apart by the tidal wave, and who could blame them? It was completely logical to think that way!


    And yet, the situation was what it was. Though there was a hole in the middle of the wave, it was still going onwards to slam into Bai Yunfei!


    It was as if the hole in the center didn¡¯t have anything to do with the tidal wave as a whole!


    The majority of the audience stood there in mute silence. They couldn¡¯t figure out how this was possible. A few of the audience had a clue on how this might¡¯ve been, but there was perhaps only a single person that knew the answer.


    The power of the two flames¡­weren¡¯t at all on the same level as each other!


    For the sake of a simplistic analogy, this situation could be equivalated to when a fire-type Soul Exalt summoned his elemental fire to him. If he were to use it on a regular campfire, the flames would simply go straight through it. That was the difference in quality between the two flames. The flames of a soul cultivator held an essence to it that was purer and more powerful than a natural fire.


    So that meant in this case that the flames of the Dual Dragon Burst were on a higher ¡®level¡¯ than the tidal wave! There was such a huge difference in ¡®quality¡¯ that the waves didn¡¯t even have the ¡®right¡¯ to stop the Dual Dragon Burst!


    Coincidentally, Bai Yunfei was standing in the area where the hole was, so he could allow the tidal wave to simply go around him. The tidal wave continued onwards to where a group of spectators was watching, causing them to yelp in fear and try to run. But fortunately for them, the tidal wave dissipated into after traveling another kilometer.


    But the Dual Dragon Burst, on the other hand, was still going strong on its path for the patriarch!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!¡±


    The patriarch screamed out loud. A protective layering of fire covered his body and immediately solidified into a piece of armor to protect him from the incoming attack.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Without even a second to spare, the Dual Dragon Burst crashed into the patriarch and engulfed him!


    The dragons exploded this time to show everyone just how powerful they were!


    ¡­¡­


    Two different types of fire fought against one another for supremacy. The Dual Dragon Burst was trying its best to scatter the fire armor the patriarch wore, but aside from the ripples of light over its surface, the armor was holding.


    Such a sight was astounding to the patriarch. His defenses right now could hold off a high-heaven tier soul armament, but right now it was on the verge of collapsing!


    ¡°Crack¡­crack¡­¡±


    No¡ª! It wasn¡¯t on the ¡®verge¡¯ of collapsing, it was already starting to collapse!


    The moment a chink of his armor was revealed, countless tongues of lightning-infused fire started to sneak in to assault the patriarch!


    Something within the flames caught the patriarch¡¯s eyes. Within the flames¡ªaside from the weak tinge of lightning¡ªthere was something gray mixed in there!


    It felt extremely familiar to him, he had felt this energy before. It was just a sliver of it, but he knew of it!


    And then when he realized it, his face slackened in horror!!


    ¡°This¡­this is¡­this is chaotic energy!! Impossible! This is impossible!!¡±


    He couldn¡¯t hold in his horror any longer. He screamed out loud as soon as he realized what it was as if he was going crazy!


    Chaotic energy!!


    A hint of chaotic energy could be felt within the Dual Dragon Burst! When training deep down underground, he felt a terrifying energy emanate from the depths multiple times before. He knew it to be chaotic energy, and only an insignificant wisp of it each time it surfaced. But even diluted to just a hundredth of its original strength, chaotic energy was still something to be feared!


    And today, the patriarch could feel this strand of chaotic energy was a hundred times purer than any other source he felt before!


    In other words¡­this was definitely and truly chaotic energy!


    A mere strand it was, but only a strand was needed to be put within the Dual Dragon Burst to render any other of the patriarch¡¯s attacks useless!


    ¡°How can a mere Mid-stage Soul King be capable of possessing chaotic energy? It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s impossible! I refuse to believe this!!!¡±


    To say the patriarch was losing his calm was an understatement. The fear of death mixed with his disbelief was causing him to rant and rave in both disbelief and horror.


    But no matter how much he wanted to struggle, no matter how much he didn¡¯t ¡®believe¡¯, he couldn¡¯t change what was happening around him. Countless strands of fire were already wrapped around him and latching onto his armor to dissolve it away like ice¡­


    ¡°Ah! Ah!! Ahh!!!!¡±


    A wail of despair erupted from amidst the sea of flames, prickling at the ears of everyone that heard it and causing many of them to be elevated to new heights of disbelief!


    Fear spread through the audience immediately. Who could¡¯ve predicted such a surprising turn like this!?


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whew¡­good thing that energy didn¡¯t disappoint me¡­¡±


    Stooped over, Bai Yunfei wiped the beads of sweat off his face. He was like a towel that had just been soaked in water with how much sweat he had dripping off of him. He could tell from the weakening aura of patriarch Qin that his attack was doing its job. That made him happy.


    Him going into ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode and unleashing that Dual Dragon Burst took the rest of his soulforce to use. It also brought onto him a new level of pain he found almost impossible to endure.


    The reason behind that was because of the wisp of chaotic energy!


    The same strand of chaotic energy he got from the darkwind meteorite, though he still hadn¡¯t fully ¡®completed¡¯ the process. Even though he tried so hard to get the chaotic energy to fuse with his fireseed, Bai Yunfei realized something¡­he couldn¡¯t control it!


    Chaotic energy can be said to be the amalgamation of all the elemental energies. It possessed the natures of all the elements and was all-devouring. Though the strand Bai Yunfei refined wasn¡¯t at all a good representation of its true strength, it was still something a Soul King could be able to control.


    What Bai Yunfei did to help push his limits was to make use of the energy ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode gave him to refine the chaotic energy. While he was in that elevated level of strength, Bai Yunfei had the chaotic energy try and fuse with the fireseeds. Because of that, Bai Yunfei was able to ¡®use¡¯ the sliver of energy whenever he went into ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode.


    But that was also a good thing for Bai Yunfei. If he undid ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode, then the slive of energy would detach from the fireseeds and go dormant. So there wasn¡¯t a danger of Bai Yunfei losing total control over the chaotic energy.


    He already experimented with the chaotic energy before to see how powerful it¡¯d make his attacks. That experiment resulted in a great deal of shock and regret for Bai Yunfei as he learned just how big of a burden using the energy meant. Because of that, Bai Yunfei resolved to only use the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form to battle. The ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode couldn¡¯t be used unless as a last resort.


    But he had to use that mode to defeat the patriarch. And fortunately for him, the results were at a satisfactory level.

 Chapter 958: The Arrival of Mo Ni

    The howls from the patriarch were gradually growing fainter from within the flames. In contrast to that, the entire audience grew more nervous with each passing second as they waited. Was patriarch Qin really going to die from that?!


    Finally, the moment everyone was waiting for came. The patriarch¡¯s scream petered off and the last of his soulforce disappeared, cutting his aura off from everyone¡¯s senses¡­


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s dead?!¡±


    Someone from within the audience cried out.


    A figure appeared from beneath the flames then to head down to the ground.


    This was a clone of Jing Wuying!


    ¡°Is he really dead?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself in both surprise and regret. ¡°Shame, Xiao Qi could¡¯ve killed him if he lasted for a second longer¡­¡±


    How greedy human nature was! Only a moment ago, Bai Yunfei had been worried that he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill the patriarch. And now that he did, Bai Yunfei was sighing in regret that Xiao Qi didn¡¯t get the ¡®experience¡¯!


    But that was just a passing thought. Bai Yunfei had better things to think about. Now that the battle was over, Bai Yunfei flew straight for where the patriarch¡¯s corpse would be!


    He didn¡¯t forget that patriarch Qin had a Regalia on him!! The first thing he had to do was secure the Regalia before anything else could be done.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    To the far side of the battlefield, Yan Tianxing watched Bai Yunfei head for the patriarch with hesitation. He looked like he wanted to head over there too, but in the end, he decided to stay behind.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one with that decision. The other two Soul Kings over there remained where they stood.


    They already guessed that it was a Regalia the patriarch had used, but their suspicions couldn¡¯t be confirmed without a closer look. They probably would¡¯ve tried to steal it from the patriarch had he won, but since it was Bai Yunfei that was the victor¡ªand nearly overwhelmingly so¡ªno one was willing to fight for it now. They felt afraid of him, in fact. None of them were as strong as the patriarch, and if he couldn¡¯t outlast that attack of Bai Yunfei, then they didn¡¯t have a chance either.


    So their desire to live was heavier than their desire for the Regalia.


    Another reason why was because of who Bai Yunfei was. He was from the Crafting School and so the decision was even easier to make.


    Bai Yunfei was rather weak, but his speed was still considerably fast. Traveling through the skies, Bai Yunfei managed to make his way over to where patriarch Qin had fallen after a few seconds.


    The patriarch¡¯s body slammed down onto an already-destroyed hill. The force of his collision onto its surface caused the hill to rise up a few meters for a brief few seconds.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    His still burning body tumbled across the forest before finally coming to a stop. The last of the flames burnt out to reveal his charred body, his face was too horrific a sight to even look at.


    Bai Yunfei was just about thirty meters away from his body when he reached out to have his soulforce grab onto the patriarch¡¯s space ring.


    But then¡­


    A premonition of danger suddenly sent Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind into overdrive. Immediately screeching to a stop, Bai Yunfei kicked off against the ground to fly away from the patriarch¡¯s person!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    A barely audible sound came flying out from the right side as a black beam of light grazed past where Bai Yunfei¡¯s nose used to be!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    And at the same time, a figure in black suddenly shot out from the forest towards the patriarch!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s back immediately went wet with sweat as he realized just how close he had been to death. Had he been even a millisecond slower, that black beam of light would¡¯ve gone straight through his head!


    As tired as Bai Yunfei was, his senses weren¡¯t totally kaput in that he wouldn¡¯t be able to sense anyone. He had at the very least had a sizeable range of vision that should¡¯ve alerted him to anyone hiding within range. This meant that this enemy was especially adept at hiding to avoid his senses!


    ¡°Damn! I was careless!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. He didn¡¯t use any of his sensing soul armaments in his carelessness and nearly cost him his life in his desire for the Regalia!


    This could probably be said to be a result of him being low on soulforce and not wanting to expend any more energy than needed, hence why he didn¡¯t make any special precautions.


    His eyes narrowed as he looked at the black beam of light¡ªthis was a familiar presence to him!


    That was when he took notice of the figure darting out from the forest. Shifting vision onto him, Bai Yunfei took a moment to see who it was before his eyes flew wide open with anger and shock!


    ¡°Mo Ni!!¡±


    A furious roar erupted from Bai Yunfei!


    The person who was attacking him for the Regalia was¡­Mo Ni!


    Mo Ni¡¯s appearance was the final piece of the puzzle Bai Yunfei needed. Everything was making sense now that he was here!


    He definitely wouldn¡¯t get a confession out from Mo Ni, but Bai Yunfei was confident in his hypothesis. The person who was responsible for plotting the Qin against him was Mo Ni! And the reason why Qin Shoufeng and Qin Shouhao self-destructed definitely had to be because of Mo Ni!


    Bai Yunfei grew even angrier just thinking about it. His killing intent exploded almost exponentially as he took a quick step forward to fly at Mo Ni!


    He was a little slower to reach the patriarch due to being ambushed. By the time he reached the patriarch, Bai Yunfei was just behind Mo Ni by two steps!


    Mo Ni was ecstatic at his triumph. His right hand flew forward to grab at the space ring on the patriarch¡¯s left hand while his left hand prepared to make use of the jadelike crystal in it!


    It was obvious what he was trying to do. He was planning to grab hold of the Soul Sealing Mandate and then use his soul armament to escape!


    ¡­¡­


    But before he could even touch on the patriarch¡¯s left hand¡­


    The eyes of the patriarch suddenly flew open! He wasn¡¯t dead! A furious amount of energy exploded out from his person as Mo Ni was just inches away from him!


    ¡°Wha¡ª?!¡±


    Mo Ni flinched reflexively. Even Bai Yunfei was surprised to see him alive!


    ¡°Bastard!!¡± He roared before leaping away from the patriarch! A black curtain wrapped around him to serve as a protective barrier immediately.


    ¡°Die!!!¡±


    An unearthly howl erupted from the patriarch, blood and flesh spitting from his jaw as he gave both Mo Ni and Bai Yunfei a death glare!


    He had been pretending to have died!! Somehow, he was able to fool everyone that he was dead until now!


    Power began to build up within his body following his roar¡­.he was self-destructing!!

 Chapter 959: Do or Die, Steal the Item!

    The patriarch knew Bai Yunfei would come for his corpse. Knowing that he used a soul skill to feign death and wait for the moment when Bai Yunfei would get close enough so he could self-destruct!


    This would be his last action in life! It didn¡¯t even matter¡­if he died, then he¡¯d bring Bai Yunfei down with him!!


    ¡°Even if I die¡­you won¡¯t be getting off lightly!! Forget about the items I hold! The Soul Sealing Mandate will never be yours!¡±


    The destructive might of a Half-emperor self-destructing was absolutely terrifying to even think about. Not only would his soul armaments be destroyed, but his space rings wouldn¡¯t survive the explosion either. Everything would be destroyed! He didn¡¯t know if the Soul Sealing Mandate would be able to handle the force, but it¡¯d better if it didn¡¯t if it meant no one else would be able to grab hold of it!


    The patriarch was so far gone that the smile on his face was sinisterly eerie. His soul was already breaking up as he prepared to self-destruct and take his enemy down with him!


    But that was when a voice suddenly spoke into his ears with the intensity of a clap of thunder!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Everything froze in that one moment. The expression on the patriarch¡¯s face dulled and the energy within his body immediately came to a lull as if freezing still!


    The Soul Anchor Technique!!


    When it felt like there was no time left to do anything, Bai Yunfei had somehow locked the patriarch in place and stopped him from self-destructing!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A beam of red light shot forth from Bai Yunfei to stab deep into the patriarch¡¯s head!


    ¡°Pcht¡­boom!!¡±


    The red beam of light was the Fire-tipped Spear. Depositing itself into the patriarch¡¯s head, the spear let out an explosion from where the tip was to send blood and gore flying everywhere. In the end¡­the patriarch was nothing more but ashes and bones!


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was flushed-red in the face and stooped over at the waist to gasp heavily for air. He hadn¡¯t even the soulforce to remain in the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form anymore. His first fireseed floated out of him to drift back into the Cataclysmic Seal and dropped Bai Yunfei back to the levels of a Mid-stage Soul King.


    It really did feel like he was standing on the edge of life and death there for a moment. He was stuck in between the decision to ¡®flee¡¯ from the patriarch or ¡®stop¡¯ him for the briefest of moments before Bai Yunfei decided to ¡®stop¡¯ him!


    He wouldn¡¯t have been able to get far enough if he chose to flee. This was a Half-emperor self-destructing! How could anyone possibly get out of range fast enough from that? In the state he was in, there was no way Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve avoided a debilitating injury even if he put up his strongest defense!


    On the verge of death, Bai Yunfei had to do what was best; put in all his energy into the strongest Soul Anchor Technique he could pull off!


    It was fortunate for him that the patriarch didn¡¯t have any form of mental defenses. The Soul Anchor Technique took hold of the patriarch and froze him straight away! That left a temporary pause in the self-destruction process and gave Bai Yunfei enough time to kill him with the Fire-tipped Spear!


    Killing him before he could self-destruct was the easiest way to solve the problem! And now, the patriarch was well and truly dead!


    Four soulforce-recovering soul armaments appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand as he began to equip them. His soulforce consumption was just too much now. If he had to give an estimate on how much he had, it probably wouldn¡¯t even amount to over five hundred points.


    The feeling of weakness was spreading throughout his body now as Bai Yunfei allowed himself to relax. But then his head snapped to the right with a start¡ªthat was the direction Mo Ni had ran in!


    And as expected, a beam of black light shot out from there a moment later!


    ¡­¡­


    Mo Ni¡¯s heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was threatening to pop out from his chest. He was filled with fear at the thought of the patriarch self-destructing and truly thought that he¡¯d die here in this place. But as he was about to crush the jadeite disk to have him teleported away from here, Bai Yunfei stopped and killed the patriarch!


    And so the fear that had been gripping at his heart had immediately turned into intense joy!


    He was a man quick to think on his feet. The death of the patriarch meant one thing; he was safe, and that meant he could come running back!


    This was the chance of a lifetime for him!


    If he could kill Bai Yunfei and get the Regalia, this would be killing two birds with one stone!


    As mentioned before, the original plan was for Mo Ni to grab hold of the Soul Sealing Mandate and then be transported away with his spatial soul armament. Seeing how strong Bai Yunfei was was enough to make Mo Ni think twice about fighting him, especially with how quickly and unexpectedly Bai Yunfei was able to kill the patriarch. But Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t invulnerable! Killing the patriarch clearly took a lot out of him, and he was clearly in a very weak state right now!


    He and Bai Yunfei were separated by only just ten kilometer. A negligible distance!


    If now wasn¡¯t the best time to kill Bai Yunfei, then when?!


    Killing intent began to pour out from Mo Ni as he readied himself to kill Bai Yunfei. Large amounts of elemental darkness pooled around his right hand before forming a giant skull. With a devastating roar, the skull flew forward to engulf Bai Yunfei in it!


    The Maw to the Underworld!


    Bai Yunfei experienced this once before. It was a terrifying attack that could corrupt the soulforce of the inflicted target!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The sound of rustling wind could be heard from behind Bai Yunfei. A black beam of light was shooting at him! It was the strange black needle!


    A pincer attack from both sides! Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge this!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Mo Ni let loose a cruel laugh. He was feeling happy now that his desire was finally coming true! The idea of being able to kill Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even something he thought was possible after Li Yue died!


    But his joy was immediately wiped away from his face a moment after so that shock could come back onto it!


    The black skull and needle had clearly gone straight through Bai Yunfei, but that was the weird part! It went straight through Bai Yunfei like he wasn¡¯t even there!


    The black skull crashed into the ground behind Bai Yunfei while the black needle returned back to Mo Ni, who caught it with his fingers almost absent-mindedly.


    It was like Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even there when the two attacks went through him!


    ¡°But how!!¡±


    Mo Ni exclaimed in disbelief. How in the world did Bai Yunfei manage to disappear from his senses like that! And then as if to further mystify him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura reregistered to Mo Ni¡¯s senses as if there wasn¡¯t anything wrong!


    This was the +10 additional effect of the Core Stone!


    By moving into a different dimension for two seconds, Bai Yunfei was able to avoid death!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression was as calm as still water, but his eyes were filled with killing intent. Waving his right hand, the Cataclysmic Seal flew forward at Mo Ni while his left hand sent out the Fire-tipped Spear!


    All vestige of excitement was gone from Mo Ni now. Back was the fear that had gripped at his heart earlier!


    The Cataclysmic Seal was about the size of a house by the time it was above Mo Ni and ready to squash him into a pancake!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the ground with a deafening explosion, but Mo Ni wasn¡¯t underneath it! He managed to evade being hit by the brick by just a small breadth!


    He was fleeing for the direction to the left where a small puddle of blood was¡ªit was the patriarch¡¯s left hand!


    And on that left hand was the space ring with the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    Mo Ni was still trying to go after the Regalia!


    Bai Yunfei took note of Mo Ni¡¯s path with narrowed eyes. Exploding forward, he began to make his way for the arm as well!


    Mo Ni was a step ahead of Bai Yunfei and was able to get to the arm just in time! With a single fluid motion, he grabbed at the severed arm!


    This was the moment he was hoping for. Eyes gleaming with joy, he made sure he was holding onto the arm before bringing out the jadeite disk into his other hand so its white fog could cover his person!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    A cold command cried out to Mo Ni, stopping him in his tracks!


    And then a red beam of light could be seen as Bai Yunfei entered in the white fog!


    There was another flash of red light as the Fire-tipped Spear flew at Mo Ni¡¯s throat!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    The sudden freezing of his body terrified Mo Ni. His eyes stared at the incoming spear in terror as he tried his best to break free from his confines.


    Managing to move his left hand, he clenched onto it as hard as he could!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    There was a faint sound as something within the area cracked¡­

 Chapter 960: Gone and Transported Far Far Away?!

    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    The first reaction Bai Yunfei had about the white fog around him and Mo Ni was to have the Cataclysmic Seal erect a barrer right away. The endless amount of power he was feeling from the mist was making his head buzz with a slight throbbing pain!


    ¡°Crap! This is the sign of teleportation! I can¡¯t stop it!!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s panicked voice called out to Bai Yunfei a moment after¡­


    From the outside, Mo Ni and Bai Yunfei were completely covered by the white mist. A few ripples could be seen pulsating out from the mist, and in time, the ripples soon began to warp the entire area a hundred steps from Mo Ni!


    ¡°Yunfei!!!¡±


    A panicked voice cried out to Bai Yunfei from within a streak of green and violet light. It was Xiao Qi!!


    But it was too late. By the time he rushed into the white mist, Bai Yunfei and Mo Ni were nowhere to be found!


    ¡°Yunfei!!!¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped again in panic. His head looked this way and that in search for Bai Yunfei. The white mist was already dissipating into the air, but Bai Yunfei was nowhere to be found. Everything was returning back to normal as if nothing had happened to begin with!


    He was standing where Bai Yunfei and Mo Ni was previously standing, but¡­where had the two gone?!


    The both of them had gone up into thin air just like the mist had!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Wha¡ªwhat¡¯s happening? Where¡¯s Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s gone¡­but how?! Teleportation? That ripple of energy¡ªhow could it have an effect like that?¡±


    ¡°Who was the person that appeared just now? He¡¯s willing to fight Bai Yunfei even after seeing that fight just now? But why would he go after the patriarch¡¯s space ring then? What¡¯s the point?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see them! They¡¯re not within even half a dozen kilometers of us! Where in the world could they have gone?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Xiao Qi was flying fruitlessly everywhere in search of Bai Yunfei, but the person was just nowhere to be found. Everyone else could only watch him fly everywhere in shock. Where could Bai Yunfei have gone if everywhere had been looked?


    This battle had so many twists, but no one had ever thought that the ending would be what it was now!


    The victor and ¡®main character¡¯, Bai Yunfei, was nowhere to be found!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Xiao Qi, where is Yunfei? Where is Yunfei?!¡±


    Several streaks of light appeared nearby Xiao Qi as Tang Xinyun, Long Lan, Xiao Nan, Zhao Jie, and Hu Sha reached where he was. Tang Xinyun was the first one to ask Xiao Qi about what was going on.


    But Xiao Qi was right now far too agitated to even give Tang Xinyun an answer. He was flying everywhere in a panic in hopes that Bai Yunfei might be hiding somewhere. When he couldn¡¯t, Xiao Qi turned to give Tang Xinyun a panicked look, ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know! He¡¯s just gone! I don¡¯t know where he is!¡±


    Looking relatively more calm than Xiao Qi and Tang Xinyun, Xiao Nan coughed once. ¡°Let¡¯s calm down first and think. Don¡¯t you have a bond with Yunfei, Xiao Qi? Can you sense him from that?¡±


    ¡°I tried but¡­I still can¡¯t sense him! I don¡¯t know where Yunfei might be¡­our connection is really weak. That has to be mean he¡¯s very very far away, far enough that we can¡¯t reach each other!¡±


    ¡°Far away?¡± Xiao Nan replied, ¡°So it¡¯s because he¡¯s so far away that it¡¯s affecting your bond with him? That has to be well over thousands of kilometers then¡­how in the world could Bai Yunfei be transported that far so qui¡ª¡±


    His eyebrows flew up as if realizing the answer. ¡°Could it be? A transporting soul armament?!¡±


    He studied the area where Bai Yunfei and Mo Ni had been moments before. ¡°There¡¯s traces of spatial energy here! This has to be it¡­this has to be the work of a transporting soul armament! That person with Bai Yunfei definitely used a transporting soul armament! He probably wanted to run away and then Bai Yunfei got caught up in its range so he was taken with him!


    ¡°But¡­a soul armament capable of transporting people that far away was something only the ancient past had. How likely would it be to have one of those items in this day and age?!¡±


    His answer only made Xiao Qi and Tang Xinyun even more worried. ¡°Thousands of kilometers? That¡¯s¡­just what do we do then? How will we find Yunfei then?¡±


    ¡°If Xiao Qi can¡¯t sense Yunfei, then we¡¯re out of luck. From what I know, most of the transporting soul armaments teleport their users to a random location. Fixed-location transportation soul armament were rarities even back then in the ancient past. We have no way of knowing where they could¡¯ve gone in that case¡­


    ¡°But don¡¯t worry. Xiao Qi might not be able to sense where Yunfei might be, but we can at least say that he¡¯s alive still. Yunfei is strong, he should be able to make his way out of wherever he is and come back to us soon.¡±


    His reassurances did little to pacify the worries Xiao Qi and Tang Xinyun had, not even he felt reassured at that. Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been looking well before he was transported, and he was surely fatigued from the battle just now. To be teleported to who-knows-where in such a state was definitely bad if he were to come across any danger¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone fell silent for a moment as they thought about the ramifications of Bai Yunfei¡¯s disappearance. No one knew what to do, and no one knew what could even be done. A helpless feeling descended upon them all.


    ¡°Damn¡­damn! Damn it all!!!¡±


    Xiao Qi was the first to break the silence. Soaring into the air, he immediately began to go crazy as energy started to pour out from him!


    ¡°Give¡­give Yunfei back to me right now!!¡±


    Red, violet, green, and blue light poured out from him like a kaleidoscopic river as Xiao Qi chirped furiously to the world around him!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s all because of you!! You all¡­you all deserve to die! Give Yunfei back to me!! And die while you¡¯re at it!!¡±


    Xiao Qi was almost beyond reasoning now. His anger was reaching levels of heat that seemed to scorch the sky almost as he flew straight for¡­the mountain Qin He had crashed on!


    There weren¡¯t many people on that select mountain, but those who were still there were from the Qin. Most of them were either Soul Ancestors or Soul Exalts, but at the center of that group was Qin He!


    Not much time had gone by since Qin He first crashed there. Most of the remaining members of the Qin were here since they hurried over as soon as it felt safe. Needless to say, they were all stunned at the fact that their patriarch was dead, the one they had all previously believed to be invincible. Some of them were still just standing there and taking in that fact¡­


    They were in for a rude awakening when Xiao Qi¡¯s fury reached the parts of the land they were at. Shuddering from the blast of aura, the group all looked up at the bird in awe.


    Xiao Qi didn¡¯t even say anything to them, he wasn¡¯t in the right mood for that. Rains of fireballs, lightning bolts, blades of wind, and even spatial edges soon came pouring down from the skies onto them!

 Chapter 961: Xiao Qis Anger

    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    ¡°Run!!!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch those black moons, that¡¯s a spatial tear!¡±


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahh!!!¡±


    Screams began to ring out through the mountain one after another!


    Bursts of light expanded across the mountain as Xiao Qi¡¯s attacks started to explode onto the ground. Plenty of people had been unable to get away in time and were either struck in two by the spatial edges or died from the elemental attacks, regardless if they put a defense or not!


    This was the power of a furious mid-stage class seven soulbeast, how could any Soul Ancestor or Soul Exalt defend against it?


    More than a dozen people had already died within the blink of an eye!


    ¡°Ah! What are you doing?! Ahh!!¡±


    Several more people began to scream, but not because of Xiao Qi. After one of the people had somehow survived one of Xiao Qi¡¯s attacks, he began to go out of control and attack his clansmen as if he had gone crazy!


    This was the additional effect of one of Xiao Qi¡¯s attack: Confusion!


    Author Note: For those who might¡¯ve forgotten, the egg Xiao Qi was in had a few effects applied to it after it was upgraded. The ability to confuse someone was one of these abilities, and Xiao Qi is capable of such effects.


    ¡°Die! Die!! Everyone should die!!¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped in anger. His wings were beating non-stop as he sent wave after wave of elemental attacks out towards the flustered Qin!


    Another dozen people were killed soon after!


    ¡°Great grand-father, run away! We can¡¯t hold them off!!¡±


    In another area of the battlefield¡ªone that was comparatively more peaceful¡ªfive Peak Late-stage Soul Exalts were gathered there with their hands up to erect a barrier. They were trying to overlay their defenses together for a better chance of survival against Xiao Qi¡¯s elemental attacks. In the center of the five Soul Exalts was a figure that glowed gold and red. It was Qin He.


    The one who spoke out was a middle-aged man in purple robes. Qin He¡¯s face twitched in sorrow at his words as if he knew the man was right but was unwilling to listen.


    ¡°Has Qin Long been found yet?¡±


    He asked rather than say anything about the previous question.


    ¡°We are still looking, but the lord isn¡¯t within a few kilometers of our current search¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Despite not having confirmed where Qin Long was, Qin He looked a little happy to hear that. It was better to hear him missing than his corpse being found. ¡°Very well then, things will be fine if even one of you escape¡­¡±


    ¡°Great-grandfather, what are you planning to do?!¡±


    The strange tone of voice Qin He had sounded strange to the purple-robed man.


    ¡°You all should¡­flee this place. A person that makes it out alive is a person more than before. Only death awaits if you stay here¡­¡±


    Qin He spoke melancholically. He raised his head up to stare at the skies and then exploded with a powerful burst of killing intent!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    And just like that, Qin He flew off into the skies!


    Even as injured as he was, Qin He was still fully capable of showing just how strong he was! Beams of gold and red light exploded from his body as he began to stop each of Xiao Qi¡¯s elemental attacks!


    ¡°There are no words that could possibly be enough to apologize to my forebearers for the annihilation of the Qin under my generation¡­Death is the only atonement I have, but I will not die alone. Enemies of the Qin, you will fall with me!¡±


    The sorrow drained away from Qin He¡¯s eyes as determined anger and hatred filled them in its place!


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    He howled out loud and flew straight for Xiao Qi in a beam of red and gold light!


    This was the final action of Qin He. He would follow his patriarch in his attempt and¡­self-destruct!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    The seemingly deranged actions of Qin He didn¡¯t faze Xiao Qi at all. If anything, it only served to anger Xiao Qi even more before he sent out a black ball of light forward!


    Every other color of energy was fading away from his body as Xiao Qi prepared himself for a stronger-than-normal attack. The space around him started to twist and turn into the black light so it could expand!


    A flower of black light blossomed across the skies as twenty spatial edges formed right in front of Xiao Qi ready to strike!


    At his command, the twenty spatial edges flew out at once towards Qin He!


    They flew at Qin He with the coverage of a wide net. One by one, they moved in to hopefully split the man and kill him!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    The spatial edges moved silently but the audience could almost swear that they could hear some the air being displaced as the spatial edges traveled forward. They trembled with each passing second as if terrified of the power behind Xiao Qi¡¯s attack!


    The most terrifying thing was how Qin He¡¯s aura had immediately disappeared following when the spatial edges had converged onto him¡­


    Not only was his aura gone, so was his body!


    All twenty of the spatial edges had utterly devoured at Qin He¡¯s body so that not even a piece of him remained!


    And as if to add salt to injury, several of the spatial edges fell against the ground to eat away at several of the other members of the Qin!


    Wails of despair rang out as the Qin found themselves besieged by the terrifying attacks. In no less than a few seconds, another dozen members saw to their own lives being ended!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A loud shrill echoed through the air as Xiao Qi dove down towards the ground!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Wha¡ªno f*cking way?! A Late-stage Soul King¡¯s self-destruction was stopped that f*cking easily?!¡±


    ¡°How can a soulbeast like this even exist?! How can it use so many spatial tears?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s aura feels stronger than before! How!? It should¡¯ve been the opposite after the fight! It should¡¯ve been tired beyond belief, not stronger than ever! This soulbeast is even crazier than his master, Bai Yunfei!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s over¡­this is just a one-way slaughter now. The Qin is finished¡­why hasn¡¯t lord Yan intervened yet?!¡±


    ¡°Intervene? What¡¯s the point? The Qin¡¯s gone as you said, there¡¯s no point in saving the remnants. I¡¯m sure the Tianhun School won¡¯t want to try and pursue the matter in fear of Bai Yunfei and the Crafting School. To the victor, the spoils! The Qin¡­will most likely die out from the world of soul cultivators now¡­¡±


    The sight of Xiao Qi killing Qin He was too much for the audience to bear. His death marked the end of the battle and the end of time. The Qin was dead!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A large tremor shook the earth underneath everyone¡¯s feet. Then another tremor!


    ¡°N¡ªno way?! It¡¯s not over?! What¡¯s going on now?!¡±


    Multiple people cried out in shock as they looked down underneath their feet.


    It was strange that the earth shook only once before returning to a normal calm. But in that one tremor, several people noticed a sliver of energy come from deep underground¡­


    Long Lan had been watching Xiao Qi vent to the Qin in silence, wondering if he should interfere or not. The moment when he felt the earth shake, Long Lan¡¯s eyes widened in surprise!


    ¡°This aura¡­it¡¯s the Black Dragon King!!¡±

 Chapter 962: The Actions of the Black Dragon King

    In another part of the area while Jing Wuying was fighting patriarch Qin in that fearsome battle in the skies.


    Deep underneath the earth, a ghastly-black figure was wandering the semi-collapsed tunnels in the mines.


    No one alive was still down here in the mines, it was stupid for anyone to even consider staying down here, whether they were from the Qin or not. Multiple battle scars adorned the caves and had corpses literally everywhere, making the tunnels seem more like a passageway to the underworld than a mine.


    There was a single person traversing these tunnels despite the horrors. But his traveling seemed almost as eerie as the tunnels themselves.


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    Another section of the tunnel collapsed following the rumbling of the earth. Clods of dirt and stone detached from the roof as if about to bury anyone unlucky enough to be underneath.


    The figure was moving with the same gait regardless of the dangerous situation of the tunnels. Black light coiled around his person to act as a protective barrier against any crumbling pieces of dirt. Whenever it seemed like the coast was clear, the black light would retreat back into the figure¡¯s body to allow him safe passage through the tunnels¡­


    With how the black light rose and fell from his body, the facial appearance of the man could be seen at times. He was a slightly skinny elder with a sinisterly dark expression on his face. This person was none other but the soulbeast contracted with Mo Ni and one of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers, the Black Dragon King!


    He was looking this way and that as he walked forward. His eyes were shining with a light sharp enough to penetrate the darkness to look for something.


    He continued to walk in this fashion for a while longer before the Black Dragon King finally came to a stop. ¡°This is the place!¡± He uttered to himself.


    Whoosh¡­¡±


    He shot out from one of the tunnels to reach a ¡®cave¡¯ far larger than any other part of the mines!


    This place was¡­the original spot where patriarch Qin first trained in!


    The cave was a lot more spacious due to Qin Shu being forced to self-destruct and then the fight between Jing Wuying and the patriarch breaking out. Multiple parts of the cave were completely caved in, and other parts had only a small subsection clear of any debris.


    The first thing the Black Dragon King did when he arrived was look around the place before resting his eyes upon a giant stone pile to the right.


    ¡°Over there!¡±


    A gleeful smile appeared on his face as he reached his right hand out for the pile. The stones were cleared away with a quick pile to reveal a stone ¡®platform¡¯ several meters in size!


    The joy on the Black Dragon King¡¯s face intensified at the sight of the platform. He dropped the platform in front of him so that it made a heavy ¡®gong¡¯ within the cave when it fell.


    Placing his right hand onto the platform, the Black Dragon King concentrated onto it to allow some of his energy into it.


    ¡°Bz¡­¡±


    The platform began to hum as soon as the Black Dragon King¡¯s black aura was absorbed into it. A faint dark light started to shine out from it before forming a series of mystical patterns!


    This¡­was what the patriarch had been using to train¡­the Soul Fusing Array!


    It had been assumed that the Soul Fusing Array had been broken when Qin Shu self-destructed and the energy released by it was absorbed by Jing Wuying and the patriarch. But the truth of the matter was that only the light from its activation had dissipated. The array itself was still very much intact!


    The Black Dragon King looked ecstatic at the light. ¡°It¡¯s still useable!¡±


    To say the Black Dragon King was excited was an understatement. He immediately leaped onto the platform and sat down on it. A few hand seals and some soulforce later, the Black Dragon King pressed both palms down onto the surface of the platform!


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    The platform trembled violently before a curtain of black light shined from the outer perimeter of it to conceal the Black Dragon King behind it!


    This sight was identical to when the patriarch had activated the Soul Fusing Array!


    Bits of gray energy began to drift in into the Soul Fusing Array as if pulled by something to be dragged into the Black Dragon King¡¯s body!


    ¡­¡­


    Li Yue had told both Mo Ni and the Black Dragon King what happened deep down in the mines when they first met up. And while Mo Ni was busy concentrating on Bai Yunfei, the Black Dragon King took the opportunity to head down to check on the Soul Fusing Array!


    As limited in environment the Black Dragon King had when it came to training¡ªwith most of his time spent in the Soulbeast Forest¡ªhe was still quite knowledgeable. He knew of the results of the Soul Refining School when they experimented with the Soul Fusing Array following the annihilation of a small city.


    And as the soulbeast partner of Mo Ni, the Black Dragon King was given a decent amount of information about the Soul Fusing Array from Li Yue. Both Mo Ni and Li Yue knew why the Black Dragon King was so interested in it, the Black Dragon King had obviously wanted to make use of the array himself.


    It was a daring prospect to use the array but also one with great returns. The construction of the Soul Fusing Array would require the Soul Refining School multiple years to prepare, so not making use of the operational one in front of them now would be foolhardy.


    And so the three went their separate ways. Li Yue went to hide for an ambush, Mo Ni went farther away to observe in safety, and the Black Dragon King went deep underground¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Now that the array was activated, all sorts of energy from the souls of the departed was starting to gather¡­the energy of everyone that had died in the mines!


    The power of the Soul Fusing Array allowed a Late-stage Soul King the ability to break through and become a Soul Emperor. Its benefits could be seen in how both Jing Wuying and patriarch Qin had grown stronger from it. For the early-stage class seven Black Dragon King, the Soul Fusing Array would definitely grant him a large amount of power.


    He had to hide his aura since so many Soul Kings were in attendance of the fight above, but now that he was deep underground, he was free to do as he wanted!


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The Black Dragon King caught onto something strange from the energy around him. One strand of energy was multiple times stronger than the other strands!


    ¡°This is the energy of a Soul King!!¡±


    His eyes lit up with joy when he realized the source!


    He wasn¡¯t on the surface to know what was going on on the surface, so there was no way he¡¯d know that multiple Soul Kings were dying. The only thing he did know was that this was good for him!


    Training using the energy of a departed Soul King!! Not even patriarch Qin had that luxury!


    Like a chain reaction, more and more strands of energy started to gather in the cave for the Black Dragon King to absorb!


    ¡°How many Soul Kings died?!¡±


    He was simply stunned by just how much energy he was being fed. How intense was the battle upon the surface?!


    ¡°Haha! So be it then! Keep on dying! In fact, just let everyone die!!¡±


    The Black Dragon King roared with laughter as he started to take in all the energy at once!


    Originally, the Black Dragon King used to be a late-stage class seven soulbeast. His experiences as being such a soulbeast were making things easier for him to get stronger. His aura was rapidly expanding in size as it started to reach the levels of a mid-stage class seven soulbeast!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    Another powerful wave of energy was brought into the Soul Fusing Array, and by extension, the Black Dragon King¡¯s aura grew again!


    ¡°Just a little more!¡± The light in the Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes was shining brighter and brighter in anticipation.


    ¡°What!?¡± But then at that moment¡­


    ¡°This is¡­transportation! What is he doing, using that soul armament?!¡± The joy was gone from the Black Dragon King¡¯s face. His bond with Mo Ni was telling him that Mo Ni had just used a transportation-type soul armament!


    In other words¡­Mo Ni was in a state of extreme danger! And by extension¡­Mo Ni was fleeing the place!


    ¡°Damn! Damn¡­I just needed a little more! Let me breakthrough!!¡±


    The Black Dragon King was starting to look worried now. He tried his best to hurry the process and absorb all the energy into his body!


    ¡°Creak¡­.crack¡­¡± Because of his actions, the platform beneath his feet started to creak and buckle under the pressure before finally exploding!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Stone and dust went flying in every direction as the cave shook from the explosion.


    And then from the wreckage¡­a powerful aura exploded out from it!


    The aura of a mid-stage class seven soulbeast!

 Chapter 963: The Destination

    The Black Dragon King took only a moment to soak in his resurgence as a mid-stage class seven soulbeast. Raising his head up to look above him, he raised his right hand in front of him and swished. A ripple formed from where his hand traveled and allowed him to step into it to disappear!


    He would reappear in another tunnel completely separate from the cave he had been in earlier. He swished his right hand out to travel through another ripple!


    In general, the act of teleportation would not be done in rapid succession like this. Most would use it a few times at most before flying in between intervals, else they risk using up more soulforce than one would like. For the Black Dragon King to do this one after another meant that he was very unwilling to remain here in the tunnels for even a second longer than possible.


    ¡­¡­


    On the surface.


    ¡°What was that, Long Lan? What Black Dragon King?¡±


    Several people had turned to look at Long Lan when he spoke. It was Xiao Nan who asked him for clarification, however.


    ¡°The Black Dragon King?! One of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers?! Didn¡¯t he die a few years ago? I heard they even brought back his corpse!¡±


    Hu Sha exclaimed from the sidelines.


    Long Lan¡¯s eyes were narrowed as he thought. ¡°This is definitely the Black Dragon King. He¡¯s not truly dead. Yunfei and I were there when he was cornered, but we were too weak to do anything then but watch from a distance. We even had to flee before it was over, so we didn¡¯t see the ending, but the Black Dragon King was definitely not dead. Whatever he did to survive must¡¯ve dropped his power levels since he became an early-stage class seven soulbeast. But¡­he¡¯s Mo Ni¡¯s soulbeast partner now!¡±


    ¡°What?! Is that true?!¡±


    Xiao Nan, Zhao Jie, and Hu Sha all had wide-opened eyes at what Long Lan said. None of them had thought there could be more to the story.


    Tang Xinyun was comparatively less surprised since she had heard Bai Yunfei mention something along the same lines of that to her before. ¡°But the Black Dragon King is here? Then wouldn¡¯t that mean¡­that person just now was Mo Ni?! Yunfei said before the Qin brothers death was strange¡ªcould Mo Ni be the one responsible for that?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very likely!¡± Long Lan nodded.


    ¡°Mo Ni? Who¡¯s that?¡±


    Xiao Nan was utterly mystified by the conclusion Tang Xinyun and Long Lan were reaching.


    ¡°Mo Ni is from the Soul Refining School!¡± Tang Xinyun was looking frantic now, ¡°It¡¯s possible he¡¯s one of the disciples of their headmaster! He¡¯s already tried to kill Yunfei multiple times before¡­oh no, what if Yunfei was taken to a place with multiple soul refiners!!¡±


    Tears formed in her eyes as she began to worry about the grim possibilities.


    ¡°The headmaster¡¯s disciple?!¡±


    Again, Xiao Nan gasped out loud in shock. He never imagined meeting such an individual here of all places, but it all made sense now. If any one person were to have such an antique soul armament like that, it would definitely be someone like Mo Ni¡­


    ¡°Damn!!¡± Long Lan swore. He had been silent at first as if trying to sense for something. ¡°The Black Dragon King¡¯s aura is gone, I can¡¯t find him! We might¡¯ve been able to find where Yunfei was if we followed him!!¡±


    Tang Xinyun fell into despair at that. She had been hoping they¡¯d be able to capture the Black Dragon King and possibly interrogate him on where Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve been, but now that hope had gone up into smoke. It was enough to make her legs feel weak.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­please come back safe and sound¡­¡±


    She wished to herself as she looked to the skies, her eyes blinking rapidly as if trying to hold back the tears¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Now then, where in the world had Mo Ni transported himself and Bai Yunfei to?


    Soul armaments that could transport people were especially rare in the modern-day soul cultivator world as Xiao Nan said. Soul armaments that could transport over a very long distance was even moreso, and ones that could bring people to a ¡®pre-determined¡¯ location was something that¡¯d most likely be seen from soul armaments of the ancient past. So, Xiao Nan had to guess that Mo Ni used a soul armament that could only transport people to a random location.


    Unfortunately, Xiao Nan was wrong.


    Mo Ni had in fact three soul armaments capable of transportation. The three jadeite disks that he normally used as defensive soul armaments. They belonged to a set and had power far beyond what would be normally assumed.


    The first disk was used when he first fought against Bai Yunfei during the struggle for the pills. It was what allowed Mo Ni to escape the fatal blow and had only transported him a few hundred meters away.


    The second was used during the battle outside of Mo City when Bai Yunfei was coming after him. That one had brought him a greater distance away and allowed him to escape the Core Stone¡¯s range of detection.


    Those two disks were only capable of random transportation.


    But the last one Mo Ni used¡­was not one that¡¯d randomly transport people! It belonged to the type Xiao Nan explained last, the type that was almost like a treasure even in the ancient past¡­a soul armament that could transport people to a pre-determined location!


    And the location was a place no one would ever expect to think of¡­a place of extreme danger!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Swish¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt like the whole world was being forcibly thrown for a loop with how his head was slammed. The nausea he felt was making him so sick that he wanted to puke.


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!¡±


    It was Mo Ni¡¯s scream that snapped Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. Whirling around, he saw Mo Ni just barely avoid being stabbed straight through by the Fire-tipped Spear before falling to the ground onto his behind!


    A flash of cold light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. He was about to attack again when he suddenly realized the place he was in and gasped!


    He could see where he was now now that the white mist was gone. The floors he stepped on shined with light rather than being dull like the stony ground from before, and the area around him¡­


    He was in a large palace hall!


    While he was in shock at the sudden change of scenery, five powerful auras suddenly sprung into Bai Yunfei¡¯s senses to alert them of their rapid convergence to this area!


    ¡°Ha¡­ha¡­hahaha!! You actually came here! Here!! Hahahaha!! You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re dead for sure now! Hahaha!!!¡±


    The loud braying of laughter from Mo Ni had Bai Yunfei turning back his way. It was strange to see that Mo Ni, who had previously been so terrified of him that he fell onto his behind, was now laughing madly with glee at Bai Yunfei!


    It was foreboding to say the least, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but feel panicked a little. Without anything else to be said, he immediately began to prepare his soulforce for an attack!


    Fearing that Bai Yunfei was about to attack him, Mo Ni moved to dodge, but he wasn¡¯t the target! Bai Yunfei was still standing in the same place!


    Mo Ni was surprised, but he hadn¡¯t the foggiest idea on what Bai Yunfei was doing. He watched as several near-transparent ripples undulated from his person before¡­he suddenly disappeared from sight!


    He gaped for a moment. This wasn¡¯t something he expected.


    But then a mocking snarl appeared on his face next!


    ¡°Teleportation, is it? The Core Stone? Giving up on trying to kill me and get the Soul Sealing Mandate, I¡¯ll give him points for that, but¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s useless! Bai Yunfei¡­today, you die here!!¡±

 Chapter 964: Brought to the Gates of the Soul Refining School?!

    A tear in space opened up in the area nearby Mo Ni moments after Bai Yunfei disappeared. From the tear, three different figures came flying out!


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!!¡±


    Another two figures shot into the area from the left and right afterward to appear   Mo Ni!


    ¡°Junior headmaster? What is the matter?!¡±


    The one that appeared in front of Mo Ni was a white-haired elder in gray robes. He was surprised to see Mo Ni here and was the one to ask the question. There were four other elders with him, each with different-colored robes. Each one of them had powerful auras and were very clearly Soul Kings.


    ¡°Elder Xu¡­¡± Mo Ni was back on his feet now, though his face had still an astringent expression on it. ¡°I used the transporting jade to come back¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The five elders inhaled sharply at the news of that. ¡°You used the final transporting jade?! What kind of danger were you in? And¡­shouldn¡¯t you have been transported to the training grounds? What reason have you to be transported to the Black Bamboo Temple?¡±


    ¡°I was a bit rushed prior to being transported, so I deviated a bit from the destination¡­¡± Mo Ni explained, ¡°We can talk about the details later, elder Xu. We need to hurry ot and have some people capture that person just now. He¡¯s Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School, he can¡¯t be allowed to escape!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Elder Xu gasped again, ¡°Another person was transported here with you? And¡­Bai Yunfei of all people?! Where is he now?!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the one who teleported away just now. I don¡¯t know how far he might¡¯ve gone, but he¡¯s very weak. We need to take this opportunity to capture him now! He¡¯s beyond powerful with his soul armaments and has the Core Stone on him. He was able to kill three Late-stage Soul King at his strongest, he can¡¯t be given the time to recover!¡±


    ¡°The Core Stone!!¡±


    It was one bombshell after another. The elders were already having a hard enough time understanding one sentence before Mo Ni said another, but his description of Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength was the ultimate finisher.


    Still, these elders were all hardened veterans with over a hundred years of experience. They were strong in their own right and managed to calm down quickly enough. ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose if that¡¯s the case then. Notify the entire school to be on high alert!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± A magenta-robed elder on his right replied at once before moving to give the alert.


    At that moment¡­


    ¡°Booommmm!!!!¡±


    A tremendous explosion rocked the entire area with such magnitude that the ground beneath everyone¡¯s feet shook!


    ¡°What¡¯s all this?!¡±


    An elder cried out in surprise. He was already scanning the area for anything suspicious but was coming up with nothing. That meant this explosion was coming from an area beyond his range.


    ¡°It came from the direction of the Coiling Serpent Mountain!¡±


    ¡°It has to be Bai Yunfei!¡± Mo Ni exclaimed, ¡°He ran that way! Elder Xu, hurry!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡± Elder Xu responded at once.


    His hand created a tear in space for everyone to walk through. Leading the group, the five of them disappeared into the tear.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    A moment ago.


    Bai Yunfei had only just used the Core Stone¡¯s additional effect to teleport far away from Mo Ni.


    Everything was a blur for him. He was in a strange new place now, and it seemed like there were only buildings around him.


    ¡°Who are you?!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t even fully situated himself with this new place when a voice called out from behind him. A powerful aura burst out with vigor before Bai Yunfei felt a sinisterly cold force come flying at the back of his head!


    Bai Yunfei whirled around. His left hand lashed out to strike at the incoming palm!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was a muffled sound of collision before his mysterious assailant was flung away from him. He wasn¡¯t the only one, Bai Yunfei had to leap back several steps too.


    ¡°Soul Refining Palm!!¡±


    The exchange just now made Bai Yunfei realize just who he was dealing with.


    A trace of something toxic to his system had trailed from his assailant¡¯s palm to his left hand. Bai Yunfei could feel it worming into his body like a parasite even after the two had split apart. This was most definitely the Soul Refining Palm!


    He raised his head to look at his opponent. It was a square-faced young man wearing robes as black as the night. He was currently cradling his left hand in pain while giving Bai Yunfei a look of fear.


    ¡°Senior Qi! What¡¯s going o¡ªah!! Who are you?!¡±


    A skinny youth came flying over to the square-faced man¡¯s side a moment later. He had been startled by the roar of his elder and came to investigate, only to jump in surprise when he realized Bai Yunfei was standing there.


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    He wasn¡¯t the only person to come running here. Multiple bursts of wind could be heard as all sorts of people started to appear onto the scene. Nearly thirty youths surrounded Bai Yunfei as if to prevent him from running away. Judging from their auras, most of them were Soul Ancestors, though there were about a dozen of them that were Soul Exalts. Each one of them were equally surprised to see Bai Yunfei there, but most of them were already in the process of drawing out their soul armaments in preparation to defend or attack.


    ¡°He¡¯s an intruder! Capture him!¡± Exclaimed the man who saw Bai Yunfei first.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A calculative light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as his mind raced to figure out what to do next. He was starting to have a bad feeling about where he was¡­


    The person just now had clearly used the Soul Refining Palm. That was already a big hint on where he was. All these newcomers were all dressed the same, so they were clearly students of the same rank. And multiple sources of aura were popping up in his soul sense, meaning this was a place of relatively high population. Connecting the dots one by one, Bai Yunfei came to one conclusion. He was in¡­the Soul Refining School!?


    ¡°Capture him!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was in shock over that, the one called Qi was already urging his comrades to act!


    The people surrounding Bai Yunfei immediately exploded with black light at once. They all had the same sinister aura as the one next to them! That was the final proof for what Bai Yunfei needed!


    Knowing that he was about to be attacked, Bai Yunfei knew he had to act now. Releasing the Fire-tipped Spear, he freed up both hands to bring out two guns identical in everything but shape!


    The Desert Eagles!


    He took a half-step back with his right foot and crooked his back slightly to allow his left hand to extend further outwards and his right hand closer to his chest. To the students around him, this was a very strange posture to take.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh¡­¡±


    None of the students were willing to let Bai Yunfei do whatever it was he was planning to do, much to their credit. Exploding forward in streaks of black light, the students launched a simultaneous attack onto Bai Yunfei!


    The killing intent in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes sharpened. Glowing red in light, he began to rotate in place faster and faster before his body was practically a blur!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!¡±


    Multiple popping sounds exploded from the two soul armaments in his hand as red and violet balls of light flew off into every direction!


    Bai Yunfei was using his Gun-Fu!!

 Chapter 965: Left With No Options Means Using the Last Resort!

    Gun-Fu.


    It was an art Bai Yunfei invented. By using two Desert Eagles in conjunction with one another, Bai Yunfei was capable of using a ¡®soul skill¡¯ capable of attacking multiple enemies at once. This was something he hadn¡¯t used in a long time since he hadn¡¯t the need for it. It was useless against Soul Kings, so there wasn¡¯t much of a point for Bai Yunfei to show off his Gun-Fu, much less bring out the Desert Eagles to begin with.


    But right now was a good example of when to use it. He was in a fragile state right now with how much soulforce he had used up, but his enemies were all Early-stage Soul Exalts or Soul Ancestors. There was no point in wasting time or energy using the Fire-tipped Spear or Cataclysmic Seal on them. The Desert Eagles had ¡®ammunition¡¯ created from primal stones, so there was no usage of soulforce in their usage. Gun-Fu was the most optimal and fastest strategy against these foes.


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah¡­¡±


    As proof of that, several of Bai Yunfei¡¯s enemies had already fallen prey to the bullets!


    The bullets were exceedingly fast, no student would be able to escape it. The farthest student from Bai Yunfei had only a moment to think before he was faced with a screen of bullets with no way out!


    Every single student so far had been met with at least a dozen bullets tearing through their flesh!


    Any attack the students launched were equivocatingly met with a similar demise. Any student that rushed at Bai Yunfei was dropped with the utmost speed and fell to the ground like drops of rain. Only a few had managed to pull up a barrier of elemental energy to protect themselves, but that only allowed them to fend off a few bullets. Their defenses fell before long and were struck by thrice as many bullets as they defended from and had more holes in them than a wicker basket¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Not even five seconds had passed since the one named Qi gave the order to capture Bai Yunfei. His right hand was still pointing at Bai Yunfei while his juniors were all mowed down by Bai Yunfei¡¯s bullets. At this, the only thing he could do was just stare in horror at the scene.


    Not even five seconds and thirty of his fellow students were all dead on the ground! Many of them had at least a dozen holes in their body! He was the only student left alive!


    His breathing became staggered. He was hyperventilating now as the weight of the situation began to push onto him. ¡°What¡­¡± He gaped at Bai Yunfei as he was a ghost, ¡°What are y¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A violet bullet exploded between his eyes before he could finish his sentence and exited out from the back of his head!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Emotionless, Bai Yunfei stored the two Desert Eagles back into their space rings before making a run for the stone path to his right.


    He didn¡¯t want to try and teleport away from this place. It was a waste of whatever meager soulforce he had left and could possibly alert the others of his whereabouts¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s biggest priority right now was finding a safe place. Somewhere where he could recover his soulforce and then teleport away. The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring was already working overtime to replenish his reserves along with the other soul armaments on his person. It¡¯d take perhaps another ten minutes or so before he could be back at full health.


    But safety wasn¡¯t meant to be his. Another hundred meters later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed as he felt something pop up into his soulsense!


    ¡°Damn! How are they this fast?!¡±


    He raised his head to the skies to see a beam of orange light come flying at him as if locked onto target!


    A Soul King!


    It was only an Early-stage Soul King. Given ordinary circumstances, Bai Yunfei probably could¡¯ve killed the man with ease. But now was a different story. He was so weak that a single exchange of blows with a Mid-stage Soul Exalt was enough to make him stagger a bit without doing much damage. Fighting an Early-stage Soul King right now would mean he¡¯d only be killed without much trouble¡­


    A battle was unavoidable. Using the Core Stone to teleport would only be enough to bring him another few kilometers away, but that would still definitely be within the Soul King¡¯s range of detection. So it was useless¡­


    Was he¡­doomed?!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. He really didn¡¯t want to fight, but there was no other choice!


    ¡°I just need to hold out for a minute. Just a minute! Or else¡­!!¡±


    He snarled. Things weren¡¯t going the way he wanted it to go, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t about to lie over and let himself go without a fight. Raising both hands up, he began to go through a series of complicated hand seals!


    The remaining soulforce within his body began to bubble violently within his body. A red hue emanated from his body to stain the air around him. Then a large amount of elemental fire began to materialize in the air to be pulled into his body!


    Like a snowball rolling down a hill, the amount of soulforce was taking on more and more power with each passing moment!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    His soulforce reached a boiling point the moment when Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands finished off the last seal and he slammed a palm against his chest with enough force to expel some blood!


    Pain erupted across his face as he gritted his teeth. Though as pained as he felt, the soulforce in his body was already exploding with the renewed power of a Mid-stage Soul King!


    In several passing moments, Bai Yunfei was back to the most optimal mode for battle!


    This was¡­Soul Ignition!!


    An art he obtained not too long ago meant for last-resort fighting!


    The art of Soul Ignition allowed its user to seal up whatever injuries they had for a while and return to their strongest state by burning up the soul and originseed!


    It was a move as powerful as it was taxing. Burning up the originseed was something tantamount to the gradual self-destruction of it and would most definitely have a severe backlash to it. To use it multiple times would only mean causing irreversible damage to the soul!


    But Bai Yunfei was at the end of his rope. He had to make use of this double-edged sword!


    ¡­¡­


    The Soul King flying at Bai Yunfei was a middle-aged man in yellow robes. His face was yellowed like a candle and his eyes were beadily sharp. A sliver of black light was present in the orange light around his person to further emphasize the killing intent in him!


    The sudden disappearance of dozens of the students here had alarmed the man. He flew over to this area to see what was going on and was horrified to see the corpse of his students!


    It was almost enough to make him faint. These students had been the cream of the crop of their school, an investment of more than twenty to thirty years to ensure their growth¡ªall gone!


    It went without saying he wanted to capture Bai Yunfei. He knew straight away Bai Yunfei was the ¡®murderer¡¯ and was filled with indignation. Like a meteor, the Soul King descended onto Bai Yunfei with killing intent equal to his anger!


    ¡°Die!!!!¡±


    He didn¡¯t even bother to try and figure out who Bai Yunfei was. All he wanted to do was capture this killer!

 Chapter 966: Crushing a Mountain

    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    In the moments before the Early-stage Soul King could strike down Bai Yunfei, he saw a large fire suddenly explode outwards from Bai Yunfei to cover him!


    And at the same time as the flames ascent, there was a large ball of orange light that shot up towards him!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Early-stage Soul King watched as his own attack was blown apart by the red light before continuing onwards to strike him!


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    He exclaimed in shock. This was something he hadn¡¯t expected to see! Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura had definitely been extremely weak moments before; how had he possibly so much strength now?!


    As his mind tried to come up with a reason why, the Early-stage Soul King was already in the middle of preparing himself to fight off the enemy.


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    But before a proper defense could be had, a cold voice exploded into his ears like a bolt of lightning to stun his mind!


    The fear in the Early-stage Soul King¡¯s face froze when his body did. Not even his soulforce was spared from being frozen in place. The only thing he could do was just watch as the spear-wielding Bai Yunfei appeared right in front of him!


    The Fire-tipped Spear was already at his throat and ready to pierce it. But before it could, the spear froze in place!


    ¡°¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was silent for a moment. Pulling the spear back, he slashed outwards with his left hand!


    There was a faint ripple from where his hand traveled before the Early-stage Soul King was forced through it and disappeared from sight!


    ¡­¡­


    It took only a moment for Bai Yunfei to capture the Early-stage Soul King and throw him into the Core World. His soulsense was spread all around him so as to find any possible enemies nearby.


    The aura of a Soul King was found almost immediately. The Soul King was flying rapidly towards his direction and was already close enough to interfere with their own soulsense!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hesitation lasted only for a moment. He wasn¡¯t ready to fight this next Soul King. It might¡¯ve been possible to either capture or kill this second Soul King, but that¡¯d take some time and effort. It was also quite risky, and the disturbance in the energy here would make it hard for him to teleport away if he did.


    So, he decided, it was best to make use of the Core Stone¡¯s additional effect to teleport away. But his eyes were still looking at the mountain beneath him.


    He could see the mountain for what it was now that he was up in the sky. On the slope of the mountain was a stone ring that seemed to spiral up the mountain like a serpent. It was quite strange to see and had several buildings around it. Aside from the courtyard with all the dead students earlier, there were still three other courtyards of noticeable size to be seen. The other three courtyards had also plenty of people within them; most of them seemed like either Soul Ancestors or Soul Sprites and were watching Bai Yunfei in terror.


    Just seeing these people and the clothes they wore was enough to make Bai Yunfei furious enough to have his killing intent leak from his person!


    ¡°Every soul refiner¡­must die!!¡±


    The hatred Bai Yunfei had for the Soul Refining School was etched so deep into his heart that it was essentially permeated into his bones. He might not know who these students were as a person, but he did know that they were soul refiners. And soul refiners had to die!!


    He couldn¡¯t even think about any frivolous concepts like justice, mercy, or leniency right now. The only thing he could think about was their death!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    A furious buzzing sound filled the air as a red light appeared right besides Bai Yunfei. Under the eyes of everyone beneath him, they all watched as the red light turned into a gigantic mountain large enough to blot out the sun above them!


    The Cataclysmic Seal!


    Without any hesitation, Bai Yunfei gave the command for the Cataclysmic Seal to fall downward!


    ¡°Ah!! What is that?! Run away!¡±


    ¡°What in the world is that thing?! Ahhh!! Save me!!¡±


    ¡°Ahh!! Ahh!! Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    Like the scattering of ants, every single student began to run in every direction possible and screamed as they tried to flee.


    But how could they possibly outrun the Cataclysmic Seal?!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    With a mighty crash, the Cataclysmic Seal slammed onto the mountain and destroyed it!


    It was like if a meteorite had crashed onto the earth. With a circumference of kilometers in length, the Cataclysmic Seal had managed to completely demolish the mountain!


    From being there one moment to become nothing in the next, the mountain and all of its inhabitants were gone in a single second!


    ¡°Ah?! Ah?! Lo¡ªlook! Coiling Serpent Mountain is¡­gone?! But how?!¡±


    ¡°Who is that person?! And what is that?! What is he doing?!¡±


    ¡°Master Lu is gone! He was just fighting that person, where did he go?!¡±


    ¡°What the f*ck is going on?!¡±


    People from beyond the Coiling Serpent Mountain had immediately noticed what had happened to it. It was hard not to. But all they could do was stare in horror and disbelief at the place where the mountain had once stood!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal shot back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side as a beam of red light. He looked from the crater left behind by it to the remaining people around him with an impassive look before starting to have transparent ripples of energy undulate from his person.


    A violet bolt of lightning cracked across the skies as the Mid-stage Soul King Bai Yunfei sensed earlier came barreling onto the scene ready to take action.


    ¡°What?! How did this happen!?¡±


    The lightning-type Mid-stage Soul King cried out in disbelief when he saw the crater. But the bigger source of disbelief came from when he looked at where Bai Yunfei was¡­he was gone!


    And there was no sight of him within several kilometers either!


    His eyes honed in on the place where Bai Yunfei had been standing just moments ago. Trying as hard as he could, the Mid-stage Soul King simply couldn¡¯t find where Bai Yunfei had gone!


    ¡°Not¡­not even a Late-stage Soul King should be able to teleport that far!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul King was shocked. While he was prepared for the possibility that Bai Yunfei might teleport away, the man didn¡¯t expect that Bai Yunfei¡¯s range of teleportation would be able to take him beyond the Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s range of detection¡­


    ¡°Where¡­where is he?! Where is that person!? Come on out!!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul King frothed with anger. The only thing he could do was glare at the ruins of Coiling Serpent Mountain and shout out to the heavens for Bai Yunfei to appear!


    ¡­¡­


    In the skies a long distance away.


    From a transparent ripple of light came the figure of Bai Yunfei.


    The first thing he did was look around himself. He was standing in some kind of vast forest now that stretched for as far as the eye could see to his left. To his right was a tremendous mountain with a point that was completely covered by fog so that its slope couldn¡¯t be seen.


    The ring on his left hand pulsated with light as Bai Yunfei inspected the area around him. To his relief, there was no enemy to be seen. This meant he was in a place without anyone there.


    He didn¡¯t spare any time to look around himself again. Any second spent observing the area meant another second longer he¡¯d need to recover. The damage to his soul was already bad enough; it was imperative that he descend and find a place to recover.


    Fortunately for him, there was a small lake near where he was. Glancing at it, Bai Yunfei decided this would be a good place to rest.


    ¡°I¡¯ll rest here then.¡±


    Bai Yunfei decided before he suddenly disappeared from sight!


    ¡°Plip¡­¡±


    A pebble came dropping from the skies to fall into the water. Softly, the pebble splashed onto the surface of the lake before submerging deep into the lake body¡­

 Chapter 967: Recuperating

    Within the Core World.


    The figure of Bai Yunfei materialized on top of a mountain relatively shorter than the others around.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    He sighed as his feet touched down onto it. Making several hand seals, Bai Yunfei slammed a palm against his chest.


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    Blood spurted out from his mouth at the same time as his energy. Like a deflating balloon, Bai Yunfei crumpled down to the ground and sat there breathlessly.


    The muscles on his face twitched non-stop in pain as he tried to hold himself back from grunting. His teeth were biting hard against his lips as the rest of his face promptly lost any semblance of color from the pain.


    He had been prepared for the Soul Ignition¡¯s backlash, but the pain had still been beyond what he expected.


    It felt like something was trying to pull apart his soul bit by bit. Every single part of his body was aching as if thousands of little blades were slicing apart at it.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei lasted for only five seconds before he couldn¡¯t handle it anymore and cried out in pain!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    His fist slammed against the stone ground beside him. But rather than splitting apart the earth, his right hand had several splits from where it smashed against the ground. Blood spilled from the cracks and dripped onto the ground.


    The many soul armaments Bai Yunfei wore emitted a warm glow as if trying to comfort Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul. Among these soul armaments were the bracelet he wore on his right hand and the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead. Not only were they shining the brightest, but they were also doing the most work in healing his wounds and soul.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice was practically shot by now with all the screaming he did. His entire body was slick with sweat and even his hair looked as if it had been dunked in water. Tired, he collapsed onto the ground and gasped for breath.


    He didn¡¯t even know if ten minutes had passed or just a few seconds. The amount of pain he had been in made sure he wasn¡¯t sure how long the passage of time was. Not even the usage of soulforce was enough to soften the pain enough to an endurable level of it.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even sure if he¡¯d have been able to remain sane if not for the Soul Sentinel Scarf and bracelet he wore providing assistance and relief to him¡­


    That was when Bai Yunfei noticed there was something licking at his right hand. Startled, he whipped his head as fast as he could in his weakened state only to see Lao Sha laying right by his side. The dog was carefully staring at him with yellowed eyes that seemed to only glow with concern in them.


    Bai Yunfei forced himself to give a wheezing laugh, ¡°Lao Sha, I don¡¯t have the strength to give you any primal stones to eat. Sit by the side for now and let me heal up first.¡±


    The shar-pei gave Bai Yunfei a long stare. In that time, it did nothing but stare as if evaluating Bai Yunfei. Then it lapped at his right hand again and stood up. Walking a dozen meters away, the dog plopped back onto the ground and stared at Bai Yunfei.


    The dog was growing smarter and smarter by the day.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the time nor energy to really think about that though. Under a groaning body, he forced himself to sit upright and brought the Cataclysmic Seal out to bring the fireseed inside it into his own body.


    And now that the Dual Flame Artes had been activated, Bai Yunfei began to recuperate¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the real world while Bai Yunfei was recuperating.


    Up on top of a lofty mountain stood an unbelievably large palace constructed entirely from a mysteriously black material. From within the palace¡ªwhich seemed almost abandoned with how empty it was¡ªa single person could be seen walking through it.


    Not even a single piece of light stone was placed within the palace like with most buildings in the world. In its place, the entire palace was illuminated with the usage of candles so it was hardly lit and had an eerie glow to it.


    But as dark as it was within the halls, a person could still be seen walking through them. It was Mo Ni.


    He seemed like an entirely different person than from before. He looked almost nervous with each step he took, and every step was made with great care as to not make a sound.


    A distance as long as this hall would¡¯ve been normally traversed in a matter of moments, but Mo Ni seemed to be intentionally dragging out the moments from one end to another to where a seated man could be seen.


    It seemed like it was only the two of them in the large expansive hall. There weren¡¯t even any objects to be seen.


    This was probably a place for training, so it might not be strange for such a sight like this to exist.


    The nervous look on Mo Ni¡¯s face intensified. Exhaling slowly, he bowed. ¡°I have returned, father.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Only silence greeted Mo Ni. It was as if this figure hadn¡¯t even heard Mo Ni speak.


    Mo Ni bowed his head even deeper. His eyes glistened nervously and his two fists clenched up tightly.


    Several moments passed by, but it felt like an eternity to Mo Ni.


    Then, at last, a completely calm and neutral voice spoke¡­


    ¡°I ordered you to return a month ago. Why did you not listen?¡±


    Neither joy nor anger could be heard from the voice, but Mo Ni shivered nonetheless. ¡°Please let me explain, father!¡± He hurried to justify himself, ¡°Your son was doing something of the utmost importance and didn¡¯t hear the order to return, father. I was in Swallow City coordinating something when our ally, the Qin, came under attack. The one who was transported back with me is Bai Yunfei, he¡¯s th¡ª¡±


    ¡°Do you or do you not know that the person you brought back destroyed Coiling Serpent Mountain, killed over a hundred of our students, and kidnapped elder Lu, the one in charge of the northern three mountains?¡±


    The voice spoke again, interrupting Mo Ni before he could finish his sentence. Again, it was lacking any emotion, but Mo Ni was still utterly fearful at the voice.


    ¡°Your son never imagined Bai Yunfei would do such a thing. He was as weak as a twig when he arrived, I¡­¡±


    He wanted to justify himself, but he couldn¡¯t. An overwhelming pressure pressed against his body and immediately caused him to freeze up.


    He knew his father was very much displeased. Displeased that he had not only ignored orders but also indirectly caused the destruction upon their school.


    Mo Ni was starting to look fretful now. He was running out of options. Biting his lips, he finally decided to try and explain things once more!


    ¡°Father, your son was able to obtain the Soul Sealing Mandate this time! And¡­that Bai Yunfei has the Core Stone!!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    All the candles within the hall flickered as a powerful burst of aura flowed through the hall. Two beams of light stared at Mo Ni as the only other person in the hall finally opened his eyes. At last, there was some semblance of emotion in his voice! The emotion of shock!


    ¡°Whew¡­¡± Mo Ni let out a mental sigh of relief. ¡°Your son was able to obtain the Soul Sealing Mandate, father. And that Bai Yunfei has the Core Stoen!¡±


    He waved his right hand to bring out a crystalline object about the size of his palm. The moment it appeared, a small whirlwind of energy wrapped around it and flung the object towards the other person¡¯s hand.


    A white glow of light erupted from the Soul Sealing Mandate the moment it touched the person¡¯s hand. The Soul Sealing Mandate was starting to shine!


    And then completely out of the blue, a strange voice began to speak in the hall.


    ¡°Oh? At last there¡¯s someone worth looking at¡­And here I thought the current world of soul cultivators was so decayed that no Soul Emperor even exists!¡±

 Chapter 968: The Spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate

    ¡°A spirit of the armament!!¡±


    Mo Ni exclaimed at once.


    A spirit of the armament was something Mo Ni had only heard about before, he had never seen one himself. While the Soul Sealing Mandate had been in his possession, Mo Ni had tried his best to find out any little thing about the item but found nothing. The only thing of note was when he used his soulsense to scour the object and saw the powerful energy within it. From that, he figured that had to be the root of the soul armament¡¯s soul and had no desire to bother with him, so he wasn¡¯t able to figure anything else out when he first tried.


    So he never thought the spirit within the Soul Sealing Mandate would suddenly start to speak when his father touched it. He had to admit though, it made him curious. What kind of existence was this Regalia¡¯s spirit?


    The voice of the Soul Sealing Mandate was quite clear, but it was still hard to distinguish how old the speaker as if it had an age. And furthermore, not even the gender could really be distinguished.


    The white-light being emitted by the Soul Sealing Mandate began to swirl around it. For a moment, it continued to swirl in place before solidifying to form into the shape of a white tiger the size of a small wildcat!


    It was just an illusion, but it was similar to how Xiao Fang would normally portray itself as a stone as an avatar. The only difference was that this tiger seemed a little more lively and definitely more transparent. If not for that fact, anyone would¡¯ve thought this cat was an actual living being.


    It floated two meters above the ground to stare at the one holding onto the Soul Sealing Mandate. Cocking its head, the spirit took a moment before it spoke again.


    ¡°You are the first Soul Emperor I¡¯ve seen in three hundred years. What is your name?¡±


    Its voice held a slightly lofty tone to it as if not even a Soul Emperor was someone it could bother to care about.


    The face of Mo Ni¡¯s father couldn¡¯t really be seen with how dim the candles were. The black mist around his person made it even harder to look while also making him seem like an ¡®illusion¡¯ almost. The only glaring detail to his person was his eyes that gleamed with such intensity that hardly anyone would be able to meet him eye to eye.


    Mo Ni¡¯s father was, at this current moment, a little surprised at the words of the spirit. ¡°My name is¡­Nether.¡±


    ¡°Nether?¡± The spirit cocked its head again. ¡°A strange name¡­is your body an avatar? Where is your real body?¡±


    Nether¡¯s eyes flickered with surprise once again at that. ¡°Indeed.¡± He nodded, ¡°This is indeed an avatar, my real body is¡­closed off in cultivation. I cannot leave that place for now.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± The Soul Sealing Mandate nodded. ¡°Given your avatar being an Early-stage Soul Emperor, your real body must be a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. I would wager you have not yet reached the Late-stage Soul Emperor level¡­¡±


    The accurate analysis of the Soul Sealing Mandate stunned Nether once again. The spirit was far more intelligent than he initially thought.


    ¡°A Mid-stage Soul Emperor¡­¡± The Soul Sealing Mandate ignored Nether to think to itself, ¡°And not yet a Late-stage Soul Emperor¡­it is barely passable. A soul armament¡¯s purpose is to be used by a soul cultivator, I will not be too strict¡­¡±


    Mo Ni had to suppress a frown on his face¡ªhe heard what the Soul Sealing Mandate had said just now, and the requirements to become its master. If a Mid-stage Soul Emperor was ¡®barely passable¡¯ in its eyes and that the Soul Sealing Mandate wouldn¡¯t be ¡®too strict¡¯, just how high of a standard did it have?!


    ¡°Damn, why couldn¡¯t the spirit of the Core Stone be like this?!¡±


    Mo Ni lamented to himself. He knew that Bai Yunfei was already the master of the Core Stone, so that meant the spirit of the Core Stone hadn¡¯t as high of a standard as the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have been able to use the Core Stone if its spirit had the same attitude as the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s spirit. And if that was the case, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have been able to run away from the hall to begin with.


    ¡°Very well then. We will talk about the matter of fealty when your real body is present, not your avatar.¡±


    The spirit spoke, but its voice was a little different compared to before and withdrew into the Soul Sealing Mandate. It was lacking interest. It was as if the Soul Sealing Mandate had no longer the interest in speaking to the ¡®avatar¡¯!


    ¡°Wha¡­¡±


    Mo Ni was stunned. Was the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s spirit not even going to let anyone react a bit before leaving?


    Nether had a similar thought as well. He looked at the Soul Sealing Mandate with a little disbelief, but he recovered quickly and began to think about other matters.


    Not willing to bother his father when he was in such a state, Mo Ni just stood there and waited in silence.


    Several seconds passed before Nether waved his right hand to store the Soul Sealing Mandate. ¡°You said before that¡­this Bai Yunfei has the Core Stone?¡±


    His voice was calm like before, but Mo Ni could tell that his father was clearly interested in this. They were talking about a Regalia after all, and not even a Soul Emperor would remain untempted by one.


    The stifling pressure Mo Ni felt before was gone now, meaning his father was allowing him the chance to explain himself. That was relieving.


    ¡°Yes, father.¡± Mo Ni replied dutifully. ¡°As my report earlier, the Core Stone appeared during the fight for the Extreme King Pills. I fought with Bai Yunfei for it when he stole it. I can confirm that he is the Core Stone¡¯s master now. He must¡¯ve used the Core Stone¡¯s power to get away from the other elders when he fled from the Black Bamboo Point.¡±


    ¡°The Core Stone, another Regalia¡­¡± Nether¡¯s heart skipped a beat with interest, though he remained quiet on the surface to think.


    ¡°He must be found nonetheless! You were the one the bring him here, therefore you will be responsible for finding him. Our school¡¯s personnel are free for you to use as you see fit, including the elders. Should you bring back the Core Stone, I will look the other way on your harmful actions these days to our school.¡±


    Those ¡®harmful actions¡¯ were clearly referring to how Mo Ni had used multiple wandering soul cultivators allied with their school to kill Bai Yunfei. Many of the school¡¯s resources had been used up for Mo Ni¡¯s quest to kill Bai Yunfei, and it had all gone to waste in the end.


    Mo Ni was determined to succeed this time. ¡°Worry not, father. Your son will not fail you. I will bring the Core Stone back to you as quickly as possible!¡±


    Nether nodded. ¡°Speak to the first elder and have him activate the Agitation Edict as a safeguard against the Core Stone. Have the students scour any place Bai Yunfei might be hiding.¡±


    Mo Ni brightened at that order, he had in fact been ready to propose the same thing as well. What Mo Ni was afraid of most was Bai Yunfei using the Core Stone to teleport away. Should that happen, it¡¯d be extremely difficult to capture Bai Yunfei.


    The Agitation Edict was one of the most powerful layers of protection the school had. It was created by an ancestor of the school hundreds and hundreds of years ago and could agitate the elemental energy within the area. It wouldn¡¯t do much to affect a person, but teleportation would be impossible in this area.


    Mo Ni only knew of this when he read it from one of the more ancient records within the archives of his school. He never saw it put into use before, and the records said that it had been well over several hundred years since the edict last saw any use. It was a little surprising that his father would allow it to be used as a precaution against the Core Stone. That was apparently just how serious Nether took the Core Stone to be.


    Mo Ni bowed his head and retreated from the hall. An icy glare entered his eyes when he turned around to walk away.


    ¡°You were far too tired when you escaped, I doubt you made it that far away. You must be hiding somewhere to recuperate? Pah! Bai Yunfei¡­I said it before. You won¡¯t escape from me this time. You¡¯ll die today!¡±

 Chapter 969: The Situation on the Other Side

    While Bai Yunfei was stuck behind enemy lines and trying his best to recover, on the outskirts of Swallow City.


    ¡°The Qin¡­is over¡­¡±


    That was the only thing any one of the spectators could think about even as they watched Tang Xinyun calm down the furious Xiao Qi.


    It was simple why they were so convinced of that. Not too long ago, Xiao Qi had gone from not only killing the several dozen members protecting Qin He, but also the few Soul Exalts and Soul Ancestors fighting elsewhere. Differentiated from the miners who were still trying to escape, the members were swiftly killed.


    It was done without hesitation like how a man might kill an ant without a second thought.


    Appalled, even the soul cultivators who had been fighting an intense battle felt a cold shiver run up their spines.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, why in the world were those miners fighting against the Qin?¡±


    A random man within the audience wondered aloud. Dialogue broke out as several others began to wonder the same thing, and soon enough, a few of them ran after some of the nearby miners to ask for details.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Tang Xinyun was giving the mad-eyed Xiao Qi a helpless look. ¡°Xiao Qi, you¡¯ve already killed enough people, let¡¯s end things there¡­¡±


    She was still deeply worried about what had happened to Bai Yunfei and so she didn¡¯t want Xiao Qi to bring about any more trouble. Too many people had died here¡ªespecially those from the Qin¡ªthe repercussions of such a slaughter had still yet to be seen¡­


    ¡°Damn! It¡¯s all because of the Qin! They deserve to die for putting Yunfei in danger like this!¡±


    Xiao Qi seemed unwilling to calm down, though. Flapping his wings to vent, the bird shot a glance at Tang Xinyun. ¡°What do we do? Do we try and find him? Or do we wait here in case he comes back?¡±


    Given the options, Xiao Qi was more preferential for the option to look for Bai Yunfei. The only thing about this option was the fact that he couldn¡¯t locate Bai Yunfei. Not knowing what to do, Xiao Qi could only look to Tang Xinyun for advice.


    Burying the concerns she had, Tang Xinyun thought about how to answer this question for a solid two seconds before she shook her head. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here¡­I think we should go back to Mo City and ask for father¡¯s help to locate Yunfei. Then we return to the Crafting School and ask the headmaster for his help. That should be the best way to find where Yunfei is.¡±


    ¡°Oh oh! That makes sense! Let¡¯s get going then!¡± Xiao Qi chirped in agreement.


    ¡°Big brother Xiao Nan,¡± Tang Xinyun turned to Xiao Nan and Zhao Jie, ¡°I thank you for your assistance this time, you two should leave this place as soon as possible. Where do you two plan to go now?¡±


    ¡°It definitely wouldn¡¯t be convenient to stay here. Xiao Jie and I were planning to visit a few other places, but I suppose it¡¯s best to cancel those plans and return to the academy at once.¡±


    Tang Xinyun nodded and turned to Hu Sha next. The man smiled and waved his hand arbitrarily. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me none, miss Tang. I¡¯m a wanderer, if it gets too noisy in one place I¡¯ll just leave and head for another.¡±


    ¡°Ah, where¡¯s Jing Mingfeng?¡±


    Tang Xinyun suddenly remembered about their missing companion. With him not being here with the rest of the group and Bai Yunfei suddenly going missing, it wasn¡¯t hard for her to forget about him.


    When Bai Yunfei had first defeated patriarch Qin, Jing Mingfeng had in fact been flying towards where Jing Wuying was. He didn¡¯t show up to regroup with Tang Xinyun ever since then.


    ¡­¡­


    Far away from the battlefield in a small mountainous forest, a beam of green light shot through the skies above it. This green light was Jing Mingfeng, and on his back was a weakened Jing Wuying.


    The first thing Jing Mingfeng did after Bai Yunfei and patriarch Qin started fighting was bring Jing Wuying away from the battlefield.


    The two of them were the reason why this entire battle started, and because of how injured Jing Wuying was, there was definitely no way the two of them could stay behind with Bai Yunfei and the others. Jing Mingfeng felt guilty and ashamed enough that Bai Yunfei had been involved in his matters, but he couldn¡¯t cause them any further trouble by sticking around.


    Jing Wuying was also looking to be in a very bad spot, so Jing Mingfeng had to worry about him as well. He didn¡¯t even know how the battle looked like, but he did take notice of the fact that patriarch Qin¡¯s aura began to weaken immensely when Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura exploded before he was too far away from the battlefield.


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, you better be safe¡­I¡¯ll never be able to forgive myself if you aren¡¯t¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng muttered to himself. Bai Yunfei had actually told him to ¡®take senior Jing and leave¡¯, and that he¡¯d take care of the battle when Jing Wuying fell The two split ways there with Bai Yunfei going after patriarch Qin and Jing Mingfeng going after his great-grandfather.


    ¡°Hngh¡­¡±


    A faint grunt was uttered by the man on top of Jing Mingfeng¡¯s back, causing him to snap out of his thoughts. ¡°Great-grandfather, are you awake?!¡±


    The aura of his great-grandfather was stirring a bit, meaning the man was conscious at the very least. Knowing that, Jing Mingfeng started to panic a bit as he looked for a place to land. Eventually, he found a small cave on top of a close by a mountain.


    Given how far they had traveled already, Jing Mingfeng figured no one should be able to find them here¡­


    Entering the cave, Jing Mingfeng gave a quick glance around before taking out a large robe to lay onto the ground. Gingerly, he helped Jing Wuying on top of it.


    ¡°Great-grandfather, how are you feeling?! Is it bad?!¡±


    His hand was already transmitting his soulforce through the withered right hand of Jing Wuying as he asked.


    ¡°Pftt¡­¡±


    A mist of blood escaped from Jing Wuying¡¯s mouth, but his breathing remained fine. He smiled at Jing Mingfeng and shook his head, albeit weakly. ¡°A man shouldn¡¯t cry¡­worry not, I won¡¯t be dying yet.¡±


    ¡°Really?! Are you really fine, great-grandfather?!¡± Jing Mingfeng brightened up, though he noticed then that the beginning of tears had actually started to form underneath his eyes.


    Now that he knew his great-grandfather was fine, Jing Mingfeng could begin to have control over his emotions.


    Jing Wuying gave him an affectionate smile and forced himself upright. ¡°You can stop transmitting your soulforce to me, I can heal by myself.¡±


    ¡°O-oh¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng nodded rapidly. Afraid of disturbing Jing Wuying¡¯s recuperation, he hurried to the side to see if anyone was coming over. After confirming there was no one, he turned back to face Jing Wuying.


    ¡°Mingfeng, what happened after I was defeated? How did you bring me away?¡±


    Jing Wuying asked.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Jing Mingfeng blinked. He didn¡¯t think that his great-grandfather would speak to him at this important moment. ¡°Ol¡¯Ba¡ªBai Yunfei intervened into the battle and made sure I had enough time to bring you away.¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡± Jing Wuying exclaimed in shock, ¡°He¡­can fight patriarch Qin?¡±

 Chapter 970: The Death of Jing Wuying

    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai is strong.¡± Jing Mingfeng stated. ¡°He used a technique to reach the power of a Peak Late-stage Soul King when I left, and he was even managing to beat back patriarch Qin¡­the patriarch was already tired enough after fighting you, great-grandfather, I believe Ol¡¯Bai will definitely beat him.¡±


    ¡°A Peak Late-stage Soul King¡­he had a technique like that?¡± Jing Wuying sighed in amazement. ¡°It¡¯s a rarity to find a man who would so boldly step forward into danger in this cruel world. Mingfeng¡­it was fortunate that you made a friend like him.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng agreed. He too felt fortunate about his fate with Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t within my predictions that Bai Yunfei would help us. Our plan to slowly kill off the Qin is unnecessary it seems. The Qin is finished, and we only need to wait until their crimes are made known to the world. The Qin will truly be extinct then, and a part of our debt will finally be paid¡­¡±


    The misfortune of the Qin was pleasing for Jing Wuying, but the fires of hatred had yet to die out from Jing Wuying¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°The Qin was not our biggest enemy, however. It is¡­the Soul Refining School! They saw fit to join with the Qin to target us for our techniques! The Soul Refining School¡­will die a painful death!!¡±


    Every word he spoke boomed with more emotion than the last. He never thought that the true perpetrator behind the extinction of the Jing would be the Soul Refining School.


    ¡°Great-grandfather, please calm yourself! You¡¯re injured!¡± Jing Mingfeng cried. ¡°The Soul Refining School are enemies to everyone! We can wait until you¡¯re healed, great-grandfather, we can find them then!¡±


    ¡°The Heavens must be blind,¡± Jing Wuying sighed, ¡°to have allowed such calamity to befall my Jing. It is fortunate they saw fit to leave behind you as our final hope¡­as long as you live, Mingfeng, our Jing will never die! Hak¡­hak¡­¡±


    This time, the passionate emotions Jing Wuying felt about the subject matter caused the man to start coughing violently.


    Leaping to his feet, Jing Mingfeng rushed to his great-grandfather¡¯s side at once. ¡°Great-grandfather, please calm yourself! Heal your wounds first!¡±


    For some reason, his great-grandfather wouldn¡¯t stop talking. He kept speaking in a way that gave Jing Mingfeng a very uneasy feeling¡­


    Jing Wuying shook his hand. ¡°It¡¯s¡­fine, Mingfeng. The Qin is dead, but the Soul Refining School lives on. The Soul Refining School will not be as easy to fight. You are far too weak as you are now. Now is not the time. Grow strong and hone your strength. Wait until you are at least a Late-stage Soul King before you take action. If possible¡­become a Soul Emperor. With your talent, all you need is time. It is possible for you to become one where I did not.¡±


    Something definitely felt off now. A premonition of fear began to well up within Jing Mingfeng as he listened. ¡°I will do as you say, great-grandfather. We can find a place to hide and train when you get better. I¡¯ll follow your orders and become as strong as I can. Wait until I am strong enough, and then we can take our revenge!¡±


    Jing Wuying forced a smile. He placed a hand first onto himself. He could feel a bit of strength had returned to him. ¡°Come here, Mingfeng.¡± He beckoned for Jing Mingfeng to come closer.


    Confused, Jing Mingfeng drew closer and kneeled down in front of Jing Wuying. ¡°What is it, great-grandfather?¡±


    He watched as his great-grandfather smiled at him with a doting eye. Jing Wuying¡¯s right hand dropped onto his head to pet him fondly. ¡°I am ashamed, Mingfeng. I failed the Jing in their times of trouble. I failed to share in their fate as my duty. And now I will fail to see you grow up¡­This is my final gift to you, from great-grandfather to great-grandson. You will need to rely on yourself from now on¡­Live on, Mingfeng. Carry our name and live on¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng was so nervous now that he was shaking. ¡°Great¡­great-grandfather, what do you mean by th¡ªah!! Great-grandfather, what are you doing?!¡±


    The hand on his head clenched tightly before Jing Mingfeng could even finish his sentence, eliciting a yelp of pain when it did. There was a second source of pain when he felt an endless amount of power flow like water from his great-grandfather¡¯s arm into his head!


    ¡°Ah!! Ahhhh!!!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng screamed. It was the only thing he could do! The pain was so painful, so unbearable! It felt like every part of his body was being pulled in a different direction!


    The energy going into his body was cutting away at his person like the edge of a sharp sword. It was slicing open his soul itself to be poured into it!


    ¡°Rumble¡­rumble¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng felt like his body had been turned into a ship in stormy waters. The waves of energy had already poured into the interior of his ship and battering from the inside with such vigor that he was afraid he¡¯d be blown apart!


    The wails of pain erupting from Jing Mingfeng felt like they were stabbing into Jing Wuying¡¯s heart as well. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes for a moment, but it was quickly overshadowed by grim determination. Power was filling his enfeebled body, but Jing Wuying could see that there was something even more drastic happening to his person!


    His face, which was already thin and harrow, was rapidly withering up to become as weak as a mummy. His hair, which was already gray due to age, was starting to whiten and even falling out from his scalp by the roots!


    It wasn¡¯t just power that was leaking from his person, the scent of death was starting to emanate from him as well!


    ¡­¡­


    An eternity went by before Jing Mingfeng¡¯s scream came to a stop, ushering the cave he was in into an eerie silence. The black and green light that had previously illuminated the cave was nowhere to be seen either.


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    A groan escaped Jing Mingfeng¡¯s lips as he stirred, his eyes blinking rapidly.


    He struggled to his feet. Staggering two steps back, Jing Mingfeng held his aching head with his hands as he tried to make sense of what had just happened to him.


    His head snapped up a second later to look at his great-grandfather. But the sight of the man immediately caused Jing Mingfeng to turn deathly white in fright!


    ¡°Great-grandfather!!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng buckled at the knees to fall to the ground. His trembling hands touched at the face-down Jing Wuying and sent a pulse of soulforce through them.


    But¡­


    Jing Wuying remained still from where he lied on the ground. His body was withered and his head was as bald as the day he was born. His eyes were closed shut, and his body¡­had no signs of life!


    Jing Wuying was dead!!


    ¡°N-no¡­no! No no no no! This can¡¯t be happening, this can¡¯t be real!! Great-grandfather¡­great-grandfather!!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng howled in despair. His hands gripped at his great-grandfather as if to jostle him awake.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!¡±


    Tears were streaming down from his face now. His screams of utter anguish echoed in the caves while the black light from his body exploded forth!


    ¡°Boomm!!!¡±


    The silent world exploded into a cacophony of noise as the earth shook. The cave and mountain Jing Mingfeng had been in erupted with black light and dust before¡­it collapsed!

 Chapter 971: Soul Inheritance

    By the time the mountain had come to a stop, all that remained in the rubble was a series of black light and dust from the center of the explosion.


    Within this ten-meter lengthed center was a ball of green and black light with Jing Mingfeng inside of it. His head was perked up at the skies and his mouth wide open, though no sound was coming out. Only tears were escaping from his person now as he cried in silence¡­


    Now that he was able to think clearly, Jing Mingfeng was able to piece together what had been done¡­


    Multiple images were flashing through his mind; each one of them originating from Jing Wuying, techniques like Soul Imitation and Voice Concealment were among those images with clear details and etched deep in his mind.


    There was a reason why Jing Wuying had decided to pass down that information through this method¡­


    When Jing Wuying first awoke, his body was by no means ¡®fine¡¯ as he mentioned. There was no way he¡¯d be able to ¡®heal¡¯ from the wound given to him. It was a fatal wound.


    Truthfully speaking, Jing Wuying didn¡¯t have much longer to live even if he hadn¡¯t been hit by that attack. He was reaching the end of his natural lifespan. The failure to become a Soul Emperor meant being unable to extend his lifespan, so all that awaited Jing Wuying was a fitting death. Being a Half-emperor allowed him some modicum of longevity, but it was nothing but a stop-gap measure. Another few years and he would die a natural death.


    Jing Wuying was able to absorb some of the energy from the Soul Fusing Array when he was down in the mines. And given his experience with trying to become a Soul Emperor, the pure energy that coursed through his body at that time was fairly easy to absorb despite him being unknowledgeable about how the Soul Fusing Array functioned. Forcing the energy into his body might¡¯ve been helpful, but it was also detrimental to his health. He was only lucky that he gained more from it than he lost.


    Stealing away that energy away from patriarch Qin gave Jing Wuying a small power-up. It would never be enough to help him become a Soul Emperor, but he¡¯d at the very least be strong enough to kill patriarch Qin and then find a place to properly digest the new energy. That way, he¡¯d be given a slight extension on life for a few more years.


    He just never imagined that patriarch Qin would have the Soul Sealing Mandate on hand!


    He was powerless to fight off the power of the Soul Sealing Mandate and couldn¡¯t even offer up a layer of defense against it. While he didn¡¯t die from the following attack, he wasn¡¯t too far away from it¡­


    There was no recovering from the wounds he got. Even if he tried his hardest, Jing Wuying had only another ten days or so before his strength would give out. He¡¯d have to give up on the new energy he gained in order to do that, but he¡¯d die frail and powerless either way¡­


    Jing Wuying didn¡¯t want a death like that. He wanted a more meaningful death!


    Jing Wuying was a man whose name was known to many in the world back in his peak days. He killed many Soul Kings before and gained countless treasures from them. Soul armaments, soul skills, herbs, minerals, and other resources¡­he simply couldn¡¯t even begin to number the amount.


    Of those bounties he won, there was one thing in particular that shone above all else.


    The art of Soul Inheritance.


    It wasn¡¯t an offensive or even defensive-type of soul skill. What it did was far beyond either of that. It could impart the training of a person onto someone else!


    Author note: This is similar to the ¡®inherited arts¡¯ from many Wuxia novels.


    Power was something people had to work for. Whether they be soulbeast or soul cultivator, both entities would have to learn to walk before they could run. But this technique, which could allow one to profit without putting in the work, could truly be said to be overwhelmingly powerful.


    But a powerful technique like that would, of course, require an equally enormous price. Soul Inheritance imparted the training of a person to another at the cost of the user¡¯s life!


    How many people in this world would be willing to sacrifice their own life for the sake of another? To give away the hard-earned fruits of labor for someone else to enjoy?


    The technique wasn¡¯t something that could impart every little thing either. If there was too drastic of a difference between the essence of the two souls, the technique would fail to transfer much. It was possible not even a fraction of power would be transferred.


    The ¡®essence¡¯ of one¡¯s soul. In simpler words, this was the purity of blood between people. Kinsmen would have the best effect when Soul Inheritance was used upon another. But even then, the amount of power gained afterward would still vary.


    Jing Wuying had long since predicted the day of his death and was prepared to give all he could offer to Jing Mingfeng. For that reason, the elder spent many days to divine the secrets of Soul Inheritance. He just never expected for that day to come so quickly.


    He came to the decision very quickly. When he was ¡®healing¡¯, Jing Wuying was actually just waiting for enough strength for him to activate the technique.


    Jing Wuying knew Jing Mingfeng would refuse had he known the truth. He would have to use a white lie to wait for the proper moment and then let his soul do all explaining¡­


    ¡­¡­


    All of the energy that exploded out from Jing Mingfeng was all but settled now. He didn¡¯t look any different than before Jing Wuying imparted his training onto him, but Jing Mingfeng could feel it. An enormous amount of power was hidden within his body now. It was melding with his blood, flesh, bone, and even soul now so it could be made available for him to use. And now, he was far stronger than before¡­


    ¡°Great-grandfather¡­¡±


    Tears leaked from his eyes as he thought about what his great-grandfather had left behind for him. It pained him to think about it, but he would recover. The tears were already starting to slow¡­


    Jing Mingfeng was one of the fortunate ones to escape the annihilation of his family the day before. He had been a Soul Sprite when he fled. He was left with nothing but a deep hatred for the ones who killed off his family and forced to hide as he wandered the continent. Alone, he had to rely on foraging for anything that might¡¯ve made him stronger. And some times, he had no other choice but to make use of the Soul Concealment Art and Face Disguise Technique to commit acts of thievery. All the while with a forced smile on his face as he fought to live and grow stronger¡­


    He was alone and weak. So weak that he didn¡¯t even know who was responsible for the annihilation of the Jing. But no matter how long he wandered the continent, Jing Mingfeng never forgot about the memory.


    So he was happy beyond doubt when Jing Wuying found him. No longer was he alone to shoulder the revenge of his family! Under the helpful hand of Jing Wuying, he was able to become a Late-stage Soul Exalt within a single short year. And then with the scuffle for the Extreme King Pills, he was able to break through to become a Soul King.


    He thought that by following his great-grandfather, he¡¯d be able to take revenge on his enemies.


    But now¡­even his great-grandfather had suddenly departed from his life¡­


    He was alone once again¡­


    Jing Mingfeng had already been determined to shoulder that revenge before, but today¡­today he was even more willing to see his revenge through!


    ¡°Great-grandfather¡­Mingfeng won¡¯t let you down. Please let our kinsmen know from the underworld. There will be a day when I pay back our enemies a hundred times over!!¡±


    His eyes blazed with a chilling frost. Jing Mingfeng¡¯s hands were clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his skin as he pledged out loud for the world to hear!


    This was a vow for not just the Heavens or his family to hear. It was a vow for his very own soul as well!!

 Chapter 972: Back to Normal

    Within the Core World.


    The area around where Bai Yunfei was was dyed with a crimson hue as the elemental fire from his person pressed down onto it. It moved almost like water to swirl around like a whirlpool with Bai Yunfei at its center.


    The whirlpool of elemental fire began to pick up speed. As it did, it quickly closed in on itself to be reabsorbed back into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body to be digested.


    Once the last of the elemental fire was gone, the mountain was back to its normal pigmentation. The only difference now was that Bai Yunfei had a layer of faint red light glowing around his person.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei finally exhaled the breath he had been holding in before opening his eyes.


    Aside from the dilapidated state of his clothes, Bai Yunfei was essentially back to normal. He was feeling even better than he ever felt even, whether it was physically or mentally.


    He clenched his right hand to test for its strength. Nodding at the sensation of that and the energy around him, Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡°Seems like I managed to heal from everything. Lucky.¡±


    He was glad that he managed to recover from his usage of Soul Ignition. The backlash might¡¯ve been painful, but the path of recovery was many times easier than that brief moment. He could see that his essence originseed was perfectly fine and concluded that a minute of using Soul Ignition had done nothing permanent. What would happen if he used it for even longer than that, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to know.


    ¡°Whoosh.¡±


    There was a black blur as Lao Sha suddenly sprung up from the ground with its tail wagging excitedly behind it.


    Bai Yunfei laughed. Retrieving two mid-grade primal stones from his space ring, he tossed them to Lao Sha to eat.


    The dog¡¯s eyes gleamed brightly with joy before it sprung onto the primal stones. In two distinctive gulps, the dog swallowed the items down with relish.


    ¡°How long have I been recuperating for, Xiao Fang?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°I estimate twenty hours.¡± An illusion of Xiao Fang appeared right in front of him.


    ¡°Has it really been that long?¡± He was surprised by the length.


    ¡°How is the Early-stage Soul King I captured earlier?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s here still. I trapped him inside a different dimension.¡± Xiao Fang replied. ¡°He was going crazy for a while, but he¡¯s calmed down now that he¡¯s powerless.¡±


    ¡°Can you bring him out?¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    The space in front of Bai Yunfei warped in on itself for a moment before a person was ¡®thrown¡¯ unceremoniously out from it.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    There was a yelp as the person cried out as he fell. But upon realizing how close in proximity he was to Bai Yunfei, the person immediately exploded with orange and black light as he prepared to attack.


    ¡°Freeze!¡±


    Like before, the soulforce within his body came to a grinding halt as the word spoken by Bai Yunfei exploded into his ears. He was frozen yet again!


    Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of the man¡¯s arm and then began to press upon certain locations of his body with his finger. With each jab onto the person, a sliver of soulforce was forced in and sealed up the acupoint there. Soon the man was left unable to circulate even a sliver of soulforce.


    Flustered, the man tried his best to urge his soulforce to him, but it was useless. He wouldn¡¯t be able to break free from his binds even if he was at his strongest. The man had been rendered useless so fast that he wasn¡¯t even able to self-destruct now even if he wanted¡­


    What Bai Yunfei did was suppress the ability for the man to circulate his soulforce, but not his ability to move. When he let go, the man staggered back in fear and stumbled to the ground.


    ¡°Wh-who are you?!¡± He cried out.


    He was in a state of fear far beyond anything he had ever felt before. The past twenty hours had been absolutely harrowing to his nerves¡ªbeing stuck in an area of nothingness with no hope of escape even after going all out onto his invisible confines. It was truly enough to make many people insane.


    And then when he was brought out from that place, it was to a completely different area than the grounds of the Soul Refining School. Had¡­had his captor already escaped from the Soul Refining School?!


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know that. I¡¯ll give you two choices. Answer me honestly and I will perhaps spare your life, or I¡¯ll kill you right now. Choose.¡±


    ¡°Yo¡ª¡± The man grew incensed at the way he was being spoken to, but the threat Bai Yunfei gave him was quick to shut him up.


    A second passed as the man thought a little harder on the reality of his situation. Contrary to what Bai Yunfei expected, the man began to laugh rather than show any fear like before!


    ¡°Ha! Do you take me for a three-year-old? You appeared within the Soul Refining School and then killed dozens of the students here. You¡¯re a cruel one¡­do you really think I¡¯d believe you¡¯d spare my life?¡± He snarled, ¡°Kill me if you must, but give up on getting anything from me! Do you think I¡¯m afraid of death?!¡±


    This person was far more strong-willed than he thought.


    ¡°....¡±


    It was to be expected, after all. What Soul King hadn¡¯t been through a life-or-death battle? There were hardly any Soul King that was so afraid of death they¡¯d sell their secrets out.


    ¡°In that case¡­I¡¯ll just have to find out what I want to know myself¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered after a moment of thinking. Reaching his hand out, he grabbed hold of the other person to peer into his soul!


    ¡°What are you do¡ªagh!!!¡±


    The man froze up straight away when Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of him and began to scream in pain!


    The Charm Bracelet on Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand began to shine as he drew into the man¡¯s mindspace. He intruded onto it without any obstructions and began to forcibly go through the man¡¯s memories!


    Soul Scanning!!


    Time was of the essence now, and Bai Yunfei had no desire to slowly coax the information out from him. It was better to use this violent method and get the information he needed!


    Wails of pain erupted from the man as Bai Yunfei dug through his memories. It was so frightful that even Lao Sha hid into a nearby cave. It was too afraid to even poke its head out to look.


    But it was over soon enough. The screams soon became hoarse before ultimately dying out completely¡ªjust like the man¡¯s lifeforce itself!


    ¡°Thud¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei released the man and watched as the corpse fell to the ground. His eyes shined with multiple sources of light as he sorted through the myriad of images he got from the man¡¯s memories.


    The area was silent once again.


    ¡­¡­


    From within the depths of a certain lake, a sliver of light began to shine out from it.


    A small stone rose out from the small crack within the lake and began to distribute a ripple of waves before Bai Yunfei appeared out from it.


    The water around Bai Yunfei was pushed away with a wave of energy as he stored the Core Stone away. Looking around himself, Bai Yunfei rose up out from the water and into the air.


    He wasn¡¯t planning to use any soulsense since he had to keep a low profile still. He was even using the long-unused Walk-on Strawhat to ensure he would be hidden for as long as possible.


    Not sensing anything around, Bai Yunfei slowly started to leak a bit of soulsense to look within the surrounding kilometer. When he saw nothing, he let another pulse at double the range. Still nothing.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei began to breathe out a sigh of relief at his luck, but then all of a sudden¡­


    ¡°Someone¡¯s coming!!¡±

 Chapter 973: Discovered!

    Several sources of aura were flying rapidly towards the direction Bai Yunfei was in. He was afraid of being detected, but Bai Yunfei could tell that this group hadn¡¯t sensed him. They weren¡¯t even Soul Kings but Soul Exalts.


    But even if they weren¡¯t a threat to Bai Yunfei, he couldn¡¯t be sure that fighting them might catch the eye of someone stronger.


    ¡°Should I teleport out of here?¡±


    Bai Yunfei hesitated.


    The original plan was for Bai Yunfei to fly out of here. This way he¡¯d be able to take an isolated path while avoiding detection. He¡¯d then be able to find a landmark to make note of where he was before he continued.


    This was the nest of the Soul Refining School, a place where practically no one within the world of soul cultivators knew. It was considered to be ¡®bad luck¡¯ to have stumbled onto this place, but also an ¡®opportunity¡¯ to find just where the base of the enemy was.


    Bai Yunfei was afraid that the people coming towards him were most likely a scouting unit from the Soul Refining School. Engaging with this unit would most definitely cause more people to come after him like a swarm of locusts.


    He didn¡¯t mind killing any soul refiner, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t so confident in his own strength that he figured he could take on the entire school on his way out.


    ¡°Forget it¡­it¡¯s too risky. My safety is the most important thing¡­¡±


    After a period of hesitation, Bai Yunfei finally decided to teleport away from here.


    Gathering his thoughts to him, Bai Yunfei began to prepare to use the Core Stone to teleport. But a second later, Bai Yunfei stared at the Core Stone in surprise.


    The effect had failed to activate.


    He was at a loss.


    ¡°Xiao Fang, what¡¯s wrong? Why can¡¯t you teleport us?!¡±


    He asked Xiao Fang with a bit of panic in his voice.


    ¡°What?¡± Xiao Fang¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind in confusion. ¡°I¡­this isn¡¯t good! The elemental energy in this area has gotten strange! It¡¯s faint, but it¡¯s enough to make teleportation impossible!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped, ¡°They can do something like that?! How large is the area then?¡±


    ¡°For as far as I can teleport you from. But¡­if I¡¯m not wrong, then this most likely because of a large-scale array that¡¯s specialized to prohibit teleportation.¡±


    There was an array that could limit the Core Stone¡¯s teleportation effect?!


    The look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face hardened. He never thought there¡¯d be something like that in place.


    ¡°Then it looks like I don¡¯t have any choice¡­¡±


    He looked back towards the incoming auras and sighed.


    The only thing Bai Yunfei could do right now was try and sneak away from the school without anyone noticing. He wasn¡¯t quite sure how this would work, but he had to give it a try.


    Flying away from the surface of the lake, Bai Yunfei headed for the direction opposite of the incoming unit to touch down onto the ground and run into the nearby forest.


    Moving swiftly and nimbly like a monkey, Bai Yunfei traversed through the forest faster than his mirror image could be seen. Not only was he moving quickly, but he was also moving without leaving behind a single decibel of noise. Not even a tree leaf would be affected by his movements.


    But when Bai Yunfei was just about a kilometer away from his starting position, he heard a small voice go off in his head!


    ¡°Oh no!!¡±


    ¡°Oh no?¡± Bai Yunfei froze still before noticing what Xiao Fang was talking about. Several auras were flying rapidly towards the area he was in!


    ¡°I was caught?! But how!¡± Bai Yunfei was astounded.


    Xiao Fang¡¯s voice spoke again in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind then. ¡°You went through a spatial barrier just now! It won¡¯t stop anyone from going across it or even teleport the person, but what it does is act as an ¡®alarm¡¯! The enemy will notice it if you trip it! I didn¡¯t even notice it with how faint it was!¡±


    ¡°Damn! They had something like that?!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed. This was yet another development Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect to see. He had been discovered!


    ¡°There¡¯s no helping it now. I¡¯ll have to fight off the enemies here!¡±


    He declared to himself before shooting off into the opposite direction!


    ¡­¡­


    Five students from the Soul Refining School were currently skywalking just a few hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei at the current moment. They were all Soul Exalts. The one in front was a Late-stage Soul Exalt with the other four being split evenly between Early-stage Soul Exalts or Mid-stage Soul Exalts.


    A compass could be seen in the hands of the leader. A small needle was circling within a small black ring and would sometimes change directions whenever the group moved.


    Suddenly, the needle began to sparkle a bit before pointing off towards the right of where they were!


    ¡°Someone tripped the barrier! It might be the enemy, be careful everyone!¡±


    He cried out to the other four students with him before altering course towards the right.


    Everyone else grew nervous at once. One student was quick to call out to their leader. ¡°Senior Zhang, master told us we shouldn¡¯t get near the enemy. We¡¯re supposed to return at once if we find a trace. Our enemy is a person who crushed Coiling Serpent Mountain and kidnapped master Lu, we should¡­¡±


    But the leader sneered. ¡°Hmph! Is there a need to be afraid?! It¡¯s probably a wandering soulbeast that tripped the barrier, we need to make sure if its the enemy or not before we make our report. What would the elders do if we submit a wrong report?! I¡¯m not telling you to fight the person! If there is one, then we¡¯ll retreat at once! We¡¯ve them surrounded, and I doubt they¡¯ll want to waste any time-fighting. They¡¯ll probably try to flee from us¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Is there really a reason why you¡¯re so scared?! It¡¯s possible that a random soulbeast tripped the barrier! We need to see if its the enemy first before we make the report, or do you want to be the one to give the elders a false report!? I¡¯m not telling you guys to fight the person, I¡¯m just saying we should check! If it is him, then we run away! He¡¯s surrounded, so I doubt he¡¯d want to fight us. He¡¯ll probably run away with his tail tuck betwe¡ª¡±


    His words trailed off as he noticed the strange expression on one of his companion¡¯s face, who looked as if they had seen a ghost. A scream from another companion caused his heart to skip a beat straight after!


    ¡°Watch out, senior Zhang!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s him!¡±


    ¡°Run away!¡±


    An omen of death came blanketing over his person as he whirled around. Something in front of him was coming at him with its entire body flaring with energy like a demonic dog!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A beam of violet light came flying out from the forest before one of his companions was even done screaming to go straight through him!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    The man cried. The man named Zhang had barely avoided a mortal wound, but the violet beam of light had still struck him through his left shoulder. The Early-stage Soul Exalt behind him wasn¡¯t so lucky and was struck clean through the chest!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah!!¡±


    No one had time to even react until after they were hit. All they saw was a violet snake-like object come tearing at them before it streaked across three of their throats!


    Blood started to spill from the four dead Soul Exalts as their bodies started to hurtle towards the ground.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡± The one named Zhang was aghast at the sudden death of his four companions. Before anything else, he clenched his right hand so that the small object in it was crushed!


    ¡°Pcht!¡± The violet streak of light came flying back towards him. Breaking apart the black barrier around his person, the beam of light then sliced across his throat!


    ¡°Hrkk¡­¡± He opened his mouth to speak, but no words were forming on his lips. Struggling as hard as he might, the man tried one last attempt to say something before he too, began to fall towards the ground. Even in his death he couldn¡¯t believe that the enemy would be able to be this strong. It hadn¡¯t even been five seconds for the five of them to die, and no one even saw the person¡¯s face to begin with¡­


    Bai Yunfei flew up from the forest to grab hold of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder. With the sword back in his hand, he watched as the five corpses fell out of sight down into the forest.


    He had a hard look on his face following the death of those five soul refiners. He remembered seeing the last person seemingly crush something in his hand before he did; it definitely had to be some kind of messaging item. Or in other words, his enemies probably knew where he was now¡­


    ¡°Damn!¡±


    He cursed to himself before flying for the right!

 Chapter 974: Nowhere to Run!

    There stood a tall mountain with a point several hundred meters in height. A white pillar of light could be seen at the tip of the point piercing through the layer of clouds above it and disseminating its light throughout. But with the clouds covering the mountain, it was only possible to see the light from where it was heading straight up from. It was like if a giant cover was being placed over the mountain with how the light was seemingly melting with the air. From a distance, not even the pillar could really be seen in its clearest form.


    The area around the mountain was seemingly on fire with how the air was bending like a wave. But the strange thing was that it didn¡¯t feel hot here.


    Should a space-type soul cultivator or Soul King be here, they would¡¯ve noticed that the spatial energy in this area was particularly heavy enough to create distortions in the air.


    At the top of the mountain stood a platform with two people standing on top of it. One of those two people was an elderly person with black robes and gray hair. This person was perhaps seventy in age but his spirit was still quite robust for his age. There weren¡¯t any signs of soulforce coming from this person, however, making it seem like he was just an ordinary elder.


    The other person was a young man dressed in equally black robes. His hair reached his shoulders and his face was exceedingly handsome. The only demerit to his appearance were his eyes, which looked sinisterly dark enough to make anyone think twice about meeting his stare.


    This young man was, of course, the junior headmaster of the Soul Refining School, Mo Ni. And the elder was one of the people that had appeared in front of the Black Dragon King back in the Soulbeast Forest, ¡®Qin Bangjie¡¯. He was the first elder and overseer for external affairs, a Peak Late-stage Soul King.


    In front of him was a half-transparent floating disk made from an unknown material. The disk was pulsating with a soft glow and had several white dots glowing on its surface and moving every so often.


    The entrance to the Soul Refining School wasn¡¯t a mountain like the Crafting School. It was in fact a series of mountains spread out farther than what most people could imagine. Soul refiners were rarities in the world, but there was actually a large sum of them hidden away on the school grounds. The school had also seven elders in charge of external matters; each one of them Soul Kings. There were also multiple elders who had secluded themselves from the world and held the title of ¡®elder¡¯ as well. Those elders were in charge of protecting the interior of the school. Then there were the ¡®guest elders¡¯, who were Soul Kings from the outside that had decided to throw their lots in with the Soul Refining School.


    No one knew just how many Soul Kings the Soul Refining School had, and not even the people from a millennium ago knew the answer to that riddle¡­


    The mountains Mo Ni and Qin Bangjie stood upon was the origin of where the Agitation Edict was activated from.


    At this present moment, Mo Ni was staring off into the distance with a nervous expression on his face. It had been a day since Bai Yunfei was last spotted, and none of their scouts had yet to report any news back to them. The fact that no one had even reported back in general was enough to make Mo Ni feel like choking almost.


    If he had to put it into words, Mo Ni would say the situation felt like he was holding onto a giant sword to cut the neck of a serpent. The only thing was, the serpent was still hiding in its hole and refusing to come out¡­


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe for a second that you were able to make it out from the range of the Agitation Edict before it was activated! You¡¯re definitely hiding somewhere to heal yourself! You¡¯re like a tortoise hiding within the Core Stone! Even if no one¡¯s able to find you, we just need to flush you out! I don¡¯t believe it for even a second you¡¯ll be able to live through this!¡±


    Mo Ni¡¯s eyes reflected the sadistic glee he had for Bai Yunfei¡¯s misfortune. Though killing Bai Yunfei straight away was something he wanted to prioritize, this game of cat-and-mouse felt equally refreshing, and Mo Ni couldn¡¯t help but feel like Bai Yunfei was a lamb waiting to be pounced on. All he, the wolf, had to do was wait.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Mo Ni and Qin Bangjie¡¯s eyebrows rose up as they took notice of something from the right. A group of students was running frantically for them. ¡°Junior headmaster, first elder, a message came from the Soul Tablet Palace a moment ago¡­they said elder Lu¡¯s tablet was broken!¡±


    ¡°What?! He¡¯s finally starting to move!¡±


    Mo Ni¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement rather than shock and anger at the death of one of their own!


    A soul tablet was similar to the ¡®life jade¡¯ from the Crafting School, but their effects weren¡¯t as strong. A soul tablet couldn¡¯t sense how strong the vitality of its owner was and would break apart when their owner died. Nonetheless, the Soul Refining School had an entire palace with soul tablets to keep an eye on their students.


    Not once had the thought of saving elder Lu crossed Mo Ni¡¯s mind. His tablet was still fine in any case, and Mo Ni figured Bai Yunfei would wait until he was fully healed before dealing with the elder.


    In fact, Mo Ni was actually waiting for Bai Yunfei to kill the elder. Should that happen, it would mean Bai Yunfei was once again starting to be on the move, and killing the elder meant Bai Yunfei was going to show himself!


    There was also the offside that the death of elder Lu meant Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t as weak as before. Bai Yunfei would most likely be back in his prime state and would definitely not be an easy target to capture. Still, Mo Ni had total confidence in their task. This was the Soul Refining School after all! Bai Yunfei was by himself! Even if he had the power to kill two Late-stage Soul King, that meant little when there were over a dozen Soul Kings ready to take action! Mo Ni had no doubts at all that they would be able to kill Bai Yunfei without much difficulty!


    ¡°Notify all the students to be extra careful at once. Bai Yunfei will most defi¡ªwhat?!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t even done giving the order when Mo Ni took notice of something strange on the floating disk in front of him. Staring at it, Mo Ni began to smile in joy!


    One of the white dots on the lower-left corner had suddenly disappeared from the disk!


    ¡°South-west¡­that¡¯s close to the Amethyst Cliff!!¡± Mo Ni exclaimed, ¡°Bai Yunfei must be there!


    ¡°Notify everyone near the Amethyst Cliff to be on the look-out and to be ready for battle! Notify everyone else to surround the place! I want every inch of that place scoured. Do not let Bai Yunfei escape!¡±


    ¡°Yes, junior headmaster!¡± The student bowed at once before disappearing to do as he was told.


    Mo Ni was feeling elated now. Turning to Qin Bangjie, he spoke, ¡°First elder, this Bai Yunfei has plenty of strange techniques to him. I believe it would be prudent for you to go and capture him to avoid any casualties to our students!¡±


    Qin Bangjie had a calm expression on his face as he stared at the strange disk in front of them. ¡°This is no small matter, I will of course take care of it myself. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The two glowed brightly with light for a moment before they took off towards the south-west!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh¡­¡±


    The sound of air being displaced could be heard as Bai Yunfei flew through the skies like a demon, his mind racing miles per minute to think of what to do next.


    ¡°Again! Yunfei, you just tripped another barrier! Someone¡¯s most likely going to find you!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind again, causing him to narrow his eyes in consternation!


    ¡°Damn! How can they hide those barriers so well?!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. Any hope he was feeling was rapidly dwindling away from him with each successive barrier he tripped. It seemed like there wasn¡¯t much of a point hiding his aura and running away!


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to charge straight on through before the enemies can gather here!¡±


    Bai Yunfei declared. Soaring into the sky, he leaped onto the Heaven¡¯s Thunder and took off with renewed speed. He didn¡¯t care about hiding himself anymore, it was too late for that. It was time for him to take flight!


    It wasn¡¯t for another five kilometers or so before Bai Yunfei met his next obstruction. Several beams of light could be seen within the vicinity. They weren¡¯t flying towards him, but it was obvious they had seen them since they were flying off to the side. It was likely that they were trying to get to safety on a nearby mountain and observe his movements from there.


    ¡°Tch!¡± Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue. He hadn¡¯t the time to deal with the small fry, so Bai Yunfei turned his sword around into a different direction to hopefully shake off his observers.


    Noticing that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going to ¡®fight¡¯ them, the scouting unit changed directions as well to chase after him!


    That only made Bai Yunfei even more sullen. Several more beams of light were already converging onto his general area¡ªtwo of them were Soul Kings!


    ¡°They¡¯re fast!¡± Bai Yunfei noted in panic.


    Then his eyes flickered over to another two beams of light heading his way from his left and right. They were coming in to stop him from all three sides but back!


    The formation of his enemies caught Bai Yunfei off guard. There was no escape now!

 Chapter 975: Yao Tong Appears Again

    A group of six flew through the air, the leader of them riding on top of a flying sword. In his hand was a compass-like object to point their way while the leader spread his soulsense out to scan the area. He was seemingly looking for something.


    The other five behind him were skywalking, meaning they were definitely Soul Exalts. Two of them were Early-stage Soul Exalt, and another two were Mid-stage Soul Exalts.


    Though there was a slightly yellow-faced man leading the group, the rest of the people there were flying slightly closer towards the one nearest to him. That person wasn¡¯t using a flying sword or skywalking to travel through the skies. A faint gold light was instead lighting up his person as he flew through the skies.


    It was a Soul King.


    This person wore a black robe and had unexpectedly white hair. There wasn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary in terms of his appearance other than the fact that this was probably a young man.


    Probably in the fact that a proper judgment couldn¡¯t be made with the golden mask on his face. It was impossible to tell how old this person really was with it on.


    A single bloody crack ran down the golden surface of the mask like a scar. It seemed almost demonic with how jagged the lines ran and how ominous it looked. The only part of the face the mask didn¡¯t cover was the eyes. The right eye was rather average-looking. But the left eye had a very peculiar iris. Where most humans would have a circular pupil, this eye had a vertical one like a beast!


    Bai Yunfei would definitely be surprised if he was here to see this person. He knew this person, in fact! This person was¡­Yao Tong!


    Their first meeting was when Bai Yunfei was but a mere Soul Sprite and leaving the Azure Cloud Province to head for the Crafting School. It was just outside Stonegroove City that he met Jing Mingfeng and was pursued by Yao Tong.


    The second meeting came two years later after Bai Yunfei came out from the Soulbeast Forest and was dealing with the house of Xing in Ventia City.


    The two were meeting again here in the Soul Refining School! And¡­Yao Tong was a Soul King now!


    ¡°Elder Yao Tong, I¡¯m exceptionally sorry to have you come back to our school as a guest elder while in a situation like this. Our trip to the Scripture Archives for a soul skill and the Armament Arsenal for a soul armament will have to be postponed¡­¡±


    The Late-stage Soul Exalt spoke apologetically to Yao Tong as the group flew onward.


    Yao Tong wasn¡¯t a student of the Soul Refining School, but he had been ¡®aligned¡¯ with them for the past dozen years or so. Yao Tong had the privilege of being a guest elder now that he was a Soul King, and the rules of the Soul Refining School stipulated that any guest elder would be given the right to any single low-heaven tier soul skill and low-heaven tier soul armament. It was a type of ¡®wecloming gift¡¯ of sorts.


    Yao Tong had actually come back to the Soul Refining School to see to that matter when Bai Yunfei ¡®intruded¡¯ onto the school. Practically everyone had been sent out to find him, and Yao Tong was no exception to that.


    A flicker of light crossed Yao Tong¡¯s eyes. ¡°It¡¯s no matter. An enemy appearing on school grounds should be dealt with promptly.¡±


    He was very surprised to even hear about Bai Yunfei, but no one knew that.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­is it really him? I never imagined he of all people would show up here. What a fine mess this is, but¡­this might be a good thing for me¡­¡±


    His eyes flickered over to a nearby mountain point. ¡°Let¡¯s search that area. I can feel a strange disturbance in the elements there. The enemy might be hiding there.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t the first time Yao Tong mentioned a ¡®suspicious¡¯ area, but each time he did, he searched the area in earnest and earned the respect of every student there with him.


    This time, however, the Late-stage Soul Exalt leading the group had an unwell look on his face. ¡°Elder Yao Tong. that place¡­cannot be investigated. The enemy will definitely not be there.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Yao Tong remarked. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    The man looked hesitant to respond for a moment. ¡°That area is prohibited to enter. Important people are locked up there and is usually looked after by two Soul King elders. One of the elders is involved with the search for the intruder, but there is still one left to protect it. The intruder would have to be stupidly brave to try and hide there.¡±


    ¡°Oh? I see¡­¡± Yao Tong nodded ¡®knowingly¡¯. It was imperceptible to anyone else, but the realization of what that place was brought a brilliant gleam to his eyes!


    ¡°Eh?! A report¡¯s coming in!¡± One of the Mid-stage Soul Exalts from behind called out. In his hand was a jade slip that was glowing with a peculiar light. ¡°The enemy¡¯s hiding near the Amethyst Cliff! We are to head over there immediately!¡±


    In his hand was a messaging slip. By adjusting the frequency of its waves, simple messages could be transmitted from one slip to another.


    The Late-stage Soul Exalt had a cross look on his face, ¡°Alright! Elder Yao Tong, let us hea¡ª¡±


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    A gruesome gushing sound interrupted the Soul Exalt mid-speech. The light in his eyes dimmed as he looked down at his chest where a bloody hand was protruding out from it¡ªand within the hand was a still-beating heart!


    The hand pulled back out from the chest to leave the Soul Exalt staring at the empty cavern where his most important organ used to be. For a moment, he stayed there in the air before falling down from the skies. As he fell, his eyes looked to the heart in Yao Tong¡¯s hand¡­


    ¡°Ahh!! Elder Yao Tong! What are you doing?!¡±


    ¡°Watch out! Ahhh!!!¡±


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahh!!¡±


    Pandemonium struck out from the remaining four Soul Exalts. They started to scream out in panic as they realized Yao Tong had just killed their leader, but even they were silenced just two seconds later¡­


    Yao Tong felt nothing as he watched the five dead members of the Soul Refining School fall to the ground. In his hand were their space rings, though he didn¡¯t care quite enough about them to look through them now. Instead, he turned his hid towards the faraway mountain from earlier and flew over after a moment to think¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In another part of the mountainous area, Bai Yunfei was looking all around himself with a very dark expression.


    He was surrounded.


    His enemies weren¡¯t directly in front of him yet, but it wouldn¡¯t be long until then. The encirclement would only get smaller and smaller from here on out, meaning he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape.


    It might¡¯ve been possible for Bai Yunfei to hide in the Core World if he dove into the forest and hide his presence right now, but that was just delaying the inevitable. The enemy knew what Bai Yunfei could do and would definitely hide out here as long as it took until Bai Yunfei appeared again. Knowing that, what could Bai Yunfei do, hide in the Core World forever?


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to choose that option anyways.


    There was no choice but to fight. If all these people were coming in to attack him, then he¡¯d break out of here then!


    Eyes flashing dangerously now that he came to a decision, Bai Yunfei glanced over to his left. Not a single mountain stood there, making it just an empty space of air with just flat or low lands beneath it.


    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder took Bai Yunfei off towards the area he looked at at once. Kicking his speed up a notch, Bai Yunfei flew at a speed even faster than his pursuers!


    It didn¡¯t take long for another dozen enemies to appear in front of him. Several of them were on flying soul armaments, though the majority were either Skywalking. There were however, two people who were flying.


    A Mid-stage Soul King and an Early-stage Soul King.


    At the sight of Bai Yunfei, the group in front of them immediately began to explode with chaotic chatter!


    ¡°Watch out, he¡¯s coming over!¡±


    ¡°Dodge him! Don¡¯t make contact!¡±


    ¡°Retreat! Elder Li and I will stop him!¡±


    ¡°Retreaaatttt!!¡±


    ¡°Ah! Ahhhh!¡±


    As the crowd exploded with noise, Bai Yunfei shot into their group with the speed of a shooting star.


    He was like the wolf among the flock of sheep!

 Chapter 976: Shock!

    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder was like the reaper¡¯s scythe as it flew straight through the crowd and reaped the lives of all those it flew through. No elemental barrier was enough to stop the sword as it penetrated through them sprayed a mist of blood through the backs of each person. In a short two seconds, the Heaven¡¯s Thunder had already left the group of over a dozen people with a substantially smaller number than before!


    Bai Yunfei was like a tiger pouncing onto a flock of sheep. Fire-tipped Spear in hand, Bai Yunfei brandished it at any person that was unfortunate enough to be nearby. No matter if they were using an elemental barrier or soul armament, none of the soul refiners were able to prevent themselves from being speared straight through and killed!


    It was a short moment, but Bai Yunfei managed to kill almost thirty of the sixty people there!!


    ¡°You bastard! Die!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears perked at the sound of a furious howl from his right. A hatchet glowing bright orange and black shot out towards Bai Yunfei to cleave him in two!


    He paused in his attempts to kill the Soul Exalts to address this newest issue. It wasn¡¯t an attack he really needed to move out of the way for, so Bai Yunfei opted to use the Cataclysmic Seal. Sending it forward, he watched as the brick expanded to the size of a house to slam into the giant hatchet!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The giant hatchet exploded upon contact with the Cataclysmic Seal and disintegrated back into elemental energy. The students scattered in fear of the shockwave hitting them and also managed to widen the distance between them and Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    As the Cataclysmic Seal flew back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, he heard something else go flying past it with the speed of an arrow. A beam of green light was traveling straight for Bai Yunfei!


    This was an attack that managed to withstand the fallout from the previous attack, Bai Yunfei would have to stop this one!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The green beam slammed into his left palm, but rather than do any damage, the all-out attack of the wind-type Early-stage Soul King fizzled out and was reduced to nothing!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡± The Soul King cried out in shock. While he didn¡¯t expect his move to do much damage, he didn¡¯t think that it¡¯d be so totally ineffective like this.


    The students of the Soul Refining School were generally all able to train in two elements at once including in elemental darkness. This gave all their attacks an additional boost in strength due to the nature of elemental darkness, but this one attack from the wind-type Soul King was only just a beam of elemental wind. That meant this person wasn¡¯t actually from the Soul Refining School but was actually just a ¡®guest elder¡¯.


    The two Soul Kings were given a rundown on how strong Bai Yunfei was, but seeing was believing, and neither Soul Kings really believed it for themselves until now. Knowing that this would be a harder battle than expected, the two Soul Kings began to prepare themselves for another powerful attack onto Bai Yunfei!


    They were at least understanding of the fact that Bai Yunfei was far too powerful at close-combat. It was within their best interests for a long ranged fight in that case. They¡¯d hopefully be able to stall for time, if not injure or kill Bai Yunfei.


    It was a nice plan, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t one to willingly help his foes to make that plan a reality. He didn¡¯t even want to spend a second here longer than he could, and not even an Early-stage and Mid-stage Soul King was enough to impede his way forward!


    The Cataclysmic Seal flashed once with red light as the fireseed within it popped out and floated into Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­..¡±


    The world was washed over with a powerful outflux of power as Bai Yunfei¡¯s energy began to spike!


    Dual Flame Artes: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form!


    He was already using one of his strongest forms of attacks straight off the bat!


    ¡°What?!¡± The two Soul Kings were taken aback at the sudden explosion of strength. The pressure they were feeling from Bai Yunfei was far beyond what the two of them expected and saw to them both stopping what they were doing. For a moment, they stood still. Then¡­.


    They began to retreat!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The attacks of the two Soul Kings exploded half-way on their way towards Bai Yunfei as a light as red as the crimson sun pierced straight through them to fly towards the Soul Kings!


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    The two Soul Kings let out a cry of astonishment and immediately threw up a barrier of elemental energy. To bolster their defenses, the two Soul Kings had also pulled out a soul armament. The wind-type Soul King pulled out a golden shield while the Mid-stage Soul King pulled out a giant orange hatchet.


    Their soul armaments shined brilliantly with a resplendent light as their owners prepared to defend themselves against the incoming attack.


    ¡°Freeze!¡±


    The Soul King with the hatchet had only just been preparing to use a soul skill with his hatchet when Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice exploded into his ears!


    The Mid-stage Soul King froze at once! Not even the elemental energy around his person was spared from the effects of Bai Yunfei¡¯s command and dissipated!


    ¡°Pcht!¡±


    The echoes of Bai Yunfei¡¯s command was still ringing loudly through the air by the time Bai Yunfei reached the two Soul Kings and thrust his Fire-tipped Spear straight through the Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s throat!


    The ¡®Coil¡¯ Form granted Bai Yunfei the powers of a Late-stage Soul King. Using the Soul Anchoring Technique gave Bai Yunfei the unique advantage over the Mid-stage Soul King in that the Mid-stage Soul King wouldn¡¯t even be able to offer up a resistance against him. The man was simply now just a breathing target for Bai Yunfei to attack, and the Fire-tipped Spear was more than capable of piercing the remainder of the Soul King¡¯s defenses and into his throat!


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    The explosion effect of the Fire-tipped Spear activated, blowing up the Soul King¡¯s person into many charred bits of flesh and killing him without a doubt!


    ¡°Ah...ahh!!!¡± The Early-stage Soul King cried out in fright at the sight of his dead companion. Already he was starting to move further back to try and run.


    ¡°Swoosh!!¡±


    But there was already something moving through the air faster than the Soul King could. A bolt of violet light shot straight at him before he could make it far!


    ¡°Clang!¡± Something struck the golden shield on the Soul King¡¯s back and bounced off, much to the Soul King¡¯s relief.


    ¡°I blocked it!¡±


    But that relief was short-lived.


    The next thing he felt was a sense of numbness in his back before a beam of violet light shot straight through his chest!


    He stared at the trailing beam of light as it disappeared into the world. An illusion? But the hole that was in his chest was definitely real¡­


    The +10 additional effect of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder: Mirror Image!


    ¡°Ah?! Ah?!¡± Elder Li and Jin were both killed?! How?!¡±


    ¡°They were¡­they were killed instantly! Not even two Soul Kings working together were able to fight this guy off!¡±


    ¡°What kind of terrifying person are we even chasing?! Save me!! I don¡¯t want to die!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    There was silence for a moment after Bai Yunfei killed the two Soul Kings.


    Then, the remaining students all began to scream!


    People were having an extremely hard time believing that two Soul Kings could be killed in practically no time at all! Some of the students were so terrified by the sight that they began to flee in every direction, screaming in terror as they went.


    ¡°Stand in my way and die!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei barked out loud. He wasn¡¯t planning on chasing anyone since that¡¯d be a waste of time. Kicking off against the air, he flew straight through the crowd to continue on his way out!


    The sight of two Soul Kings dying was far too devastating to bear witness. Not a single student was willing to do anything against Bai Yunfei, and even just those six words alone from him were enough to cause them to turn gray with fear. Who could possibly stand in his way?!

 Chapter 977: A Predicament

    Bai Yunfei was pleased by the reactions he was getting.


    He had to avoid the worst-case scenario at all costs: being surrounded. Even if he suddenly sprouted two more sets of arms and could kill hundreds of people, it was still very dangerous to waste any energy if he could avoid.


    To be stalled was to be in even greater danger. The longer he was stalled, the greater the danger.


    What he had to do was find a hole in their ¡®net¡¯ and break free of this encampment. Being chased would be a great deal more manageable in that case.


    Bai Yunfei had faith in his abilities. He was fast and capable of extended battles with his soulforce regeneration. Those two factors combined made him a very capable person in running away.


    Unfortunately for him, the situation wouldn¡¯t go as he¡¯d like¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?!¡±


    Someone¡¯s voice exploded through the skies just then!


    Bai Yunfei felt his speed start to drop the moment when he heard the voice. The soulforce in his body grew agitated for a moment before he let out a small grunt!


    A soul attack!


    He was hit by the soul attack of a Late-stage Soul King!


    It was unfortunate for him that the Soul Sentinel Scarf or Yun¡¯s Soul Ring had failed to activate in defense against the soul attack. Probability wasn¡¯t something so biased that additional effects would activate whenever convenient for Bai Yunfei each time.


    Bai Yunfei felt like a hammer had been slammed into his head with how dizzy he felt. His defenses weren¡¯t able to fully mitigate the effects of the soul attack and the flames around his body flickered wildly due to the loss of control.


    But he was still a Late-stage Soul King and was also in possession of plenty of spirit-boosting soul armaments. The Soul Sentinel Scarf might not have activated, but the soul attack wouldn¡¯t be too debilitating to him. It¡¯d only be a momentary lapse of speed.


    But that momentary lapse of speed was the last thing Bai Yunfei needed. When he recovered, a dark shadow crossed his face¡­


    Two figures were standing in front of him!


    A Mid-stage and a Late-stage Soul King!


    ¡°Damn!!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed to himself.


    Accelerating, he took off into the direction of the Late-stage Soul King!


    ¡°What is this!¡± The blue-robed elder cried out in astonishment. He put his all into that soul attack just now and expected it to do a little more damage. How had Bai Yunfei recovered so fast from it?!


    A giant fireball flew at him while he pondered that question as Bai Yunfei made his rapid approach!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± He sneered. This fireball was an affront to his power, and he felt quite scornful by Bai Yunfei¡¯s attempts. Large amounts of soulforce started to rise out from his person before a giant ball of water formed in front of his hand. His soulforce continued to flow into the fireball to expand it while a dark sliver of light soon took shape inside of it.


    ¡°Booom!!!!¡±


    The two balls of energy exploded against each other with devastating force. Despite the ball of water¡¯s smaller size, the power within it was still of comparable levels to the fireball. The +10 additional effect of Bai Yunfei¡¯s Ardent Sun Glove had been stopped!


    This man Bai Yunfei was facing was a Late-stage Soul King, after all. He had been at this level of power for at least a dozen years and had plenty of experience in the manipulation of elemental energy. Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t reached the same level of manipulation as he had, as it required many more months of being a Soul King.


    So Bai Yunfei was inferior in that aspect to the Soul King.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder was let loose by Bai Yunfei to go straight after the Mid-stage Soul King.


    The Mid-stage Soul King was an elder wearing black robes and had a sword in hand. Pointing his sword, the elder shot a beam of energy out from the tip to smash into the Heaven¡¯s Thunder.


    The two collided against one another with a clang, sending the Heaven¡¯s Thunder back.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Both attacks were equally powerful but were unable to gain the higher ground of the other.


    ¡°Swoosh!¡±


    The explosion brought forth from the balls of fire and water hitting each other caused a tremendous shockwave of energy to assault the water-type Late-stage Soul King!


    And while that was happening, Bai Yunfei came forward to strike with the Fire-tipped Spear!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    At the moment it looked like the spear was about to stab into the elder¡­a metallic object stopped the spear from going any further forward!


    In the water-type Soul King¡¯s hand was a two-meter-long rod the color of the ocean. He had used this rod somehow to stop Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack.


    Having successfully stopped the Fire-tipped Spear, the man flicked his wrist so that the rod rotated around to strike at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat in return!


    But then the Soul King realized something off with the Bai Yunfei in front of him. From where there once was one Bai Yunfei, there was now¡­three!


    The +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear: Doppelganger!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The rod struck the Bai Yunfei in front of the Soul King with a light thud and penetrated straight through his throat. But rather than blood coming out from the wound, the Bai Yunfei in front of the Soul King had simply turned into smoke instead!


    And while the Soul King was busy dealing with what that meant, the Bai Yunfeis on his left and right were lashing out with two identical Fire-tipped Spears!


    The Soul King swung his weapon to the right, parrying that spear while he turned himself around to have the other spear strike his back! Sparks flew when the spear landed onto him, revealing a dark-black piece of armor underneath his robes.


    The rod circled around to hit one of the Bai Yunfei squarely on the waist and cleaved him two, turning that Bai Yunfei into smoke after it connected.


    His choice to block one and allow the other spear to hit him had been a gamble. Fortunately for him, a doppelganger of Bai Yunfei had only half the strength of the original and wasn¡¯t strong enough to fully penetrate through his armor!


    Bai Yunfei was deeply surprised by the Soul King¡¯s rapid reactions. His decisive ability was practically instantaneous and definitely beyond what Bai Yunfei expected. This man was far stronger than Qin Long and Qin He had been, and the three of them were all Late-stage Soul Kings!


    Even more unfortunate for Bai Yunfei was the affinity of the Soul King. He was a water-type Soul King. In the Five Elements theory, water subdued fire. Therefore, the water-type Soul King had an advantage over Bai Yunfei.


    He had a brooding expression on his face after he saw his doppelgangers fail to do any damage to the Soul King. The Fire-tipped Spear floated around his person as he tried to think about what to do, but before he could come up with a plan¡­.


    He sensed something coming at him from his right!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal erected a barrier around him immediately, stopping a golden beam of light from hitting Bai Yunfei and allowed it to leave behind only a ripple over the surface of the barrier.


    But that left Bai Yunfei temporarily distracted from the Late-stage Soul King who decided to pull away to gain some distance from him.


    ¡­¡­


    Things weren¡¯t looking good for Bai Yunfei.


    He was starting to look worried a bit. His two newest foes weren¡¯t as weak as he hoped, and it felt like he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill them off just as easily as the previous two.


    His best advantage over a Late-stage Soul King would most likely be the Soul Sentinel Scarf when it reflected a soul attack onto them. By using that effect, Bai Yunfei had a decent chance of securing the opportunity to kill the Late-stage Soul King. The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring also gave Bai Yunfei a decent chance to strike, but it was only a small window compared to the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    And it was only something he could make use of once each. If his enemies knew about this there¡¯d be no way they¡¯d be willing to use a soul attack again. In the end, the Soul Sentinel Scarf and the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring wouldn¡¯t help him then.


    Then there was the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear. It was also a very great move to use, but that required a great deal of soulforce that he wasn¡¯t willing to use so easily¡­


    ¡°Swish! Swish!!¡±


    As if not planning to give Bai Yunfei any more time to think, a second beam of golden light traveled through the skies to strike down Bai Yunfei while the water-type Soul King sent a wave of water out at him!


    And as if to make matters even worse, even more enemies were starting to draw close to him!

 Chapter 978: An Intensive Battle

    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    To say Bai Yunfei was feeling anxious was an understatement now. Cursing to himself, he released the Fire-tipped Spear and began to go through a series of hand seals!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The flames around him exploded with so much power that the barrier around him collapsed immediately under its pressure. They exploded straight up into the air like a pillar of flames before coming back down to coil around his arms.


    The last hand seal was finished with great haste. Clenching both hands, Bai Yunfei pressed his arms to his side and allowed the flames to grow and twist around his arm with concentration.


    ¡°Hah!¡±


    Bellowing loudly, Bai Yunfei lashed out with both arms to release the massive amount of power within them!


    The Dual Dragon Burst!!


    Flames burst forth from his fists with explosive energy. They expanded in the air as they traveled outwards and away from Bai Yunfei to form two giant dragons and coiled around each other. Roaring as they flew, the two dragons beelined straight for the water-type Soul King!


    The Soul King¡¯s eyes widened with shock. He hadn¡¯t thought Bai Yunfei could unleash a move as powerful as this so quickly. Snarling, he exploded with a blue and black light to feed even more soulforce into his weapon. The rod began to glow with an unprecedented level of blue light as if gathering up energy before he swung it!


    As if stirring at the air, the rod began to leave ripples of blue energy where it traveled. The ripples disseminated through the air without at all losing color, and in time, it was like a transparent blue ocean was left all around the Soul King!


    The Soul King was moving with his rod as well. His movements were almost rhythmic and timed with the rod so that it seemed like the ocean was expanding with each step. Waves of elemental water poured forth from both him and his weapon and quickly took the form of a gigantic water dragon with slivers of black light to act as its scales and add to its might!


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    Just like Bai Yunfei, the water-type Soul King let loose a mighty roar and then thrust his rod to send the dragon towards Bai Yunfei!


    Unshackled by the rod, the dragon exploded forward like an arrow to destroy the Dual Dragon Burst!


    The three dragons collided with one another to explode in a beautiful show of red and blue light as they fought for supremacy!


    ¡°Booom!!!!¡±


    The force of the explosion was great enough to make even the earth shake. All sorts of energy flew everywhere away from the explosion zone and even began to warp the air enough that it looked like the world was starting to crack. Not even the elemental attack the Mid-stage Soul King sent out earlier was able to maintain its form and fell apart!


    ¡°What power! A soul skill like this would be able to defeat a Peak Late-stage Soul King!¡±


    The difference between this Mid-stage Soul King and the other two combatants was only a single stage, but the battle was still something he was powerless to join in on. The only thing he could do was simply retreat to a safe distance and wait.


    Even the Late-stage Soul King looked greatly surprised at the magnitude of Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack. His breathing was somewhat labored as he regained his breath, but the man sneered afterward. ¡°Hmph! Impatient for a victory, are we? Very well then¡­continue wasting your soulforce! The more you do, the easier you¡¯ll be to defea¡ª!


    ¡°What?! But¡­¡± The Late-stage Soul King picked up the aura of a powerful object coming through from the explosion. A gigantic mountain was coming at him!


    The Cataclysmic Seal!


    ¡°It¡¯s that size-changing soul armament!¡± The Late-stage Soul King realized.


    He jumped backward and waved his rod to send another wave of elemental water to stop the Cataclysmic Seal.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The waves traveled forward for about a hundred meters or so before it slammed into the Cataclysmic Seal. Like ripples coming into contact with a tremendous wall, the elemental water was spread up and back through the air before falling back down like rain.


    But it didn¡¯t stop the Cataclysmic Seal, the brick had only trembled slightly before continuing onward!


    ¡°Impossible!¡± The Late-stage Soul King¡¯s face went white. It was hard for him to believe that his attack could be so easily stopped by a single soul armament like this. He wanted to try again, but he knew the attack would only be in vain and decided to flee the attack radius of the Cataclysmic Seal instead.


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    A cold voice struck out at the Late-stage Soul King from behind the Cataclysmic Seal, freezing the man instantly!


    And that was the moment when his fate was decided!


    By the time the Late-stage Soul King regained control of his body, the giant ¡®mountain¡¯ was already upon him!


    ¡°Aaahhh!!!¡±


    The Soul King exploded with bright blue light as he tried to form a tortoiseshell around him with it. Shaking both arms, two black clamshells appeared in front and behind him for him to stick together with a layer of black light to fully close him off from the world.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the strongest defense the Soul King had to offer with devastating force!


    The barrier of elemental energy from the Late-stage Soul King was something that could stop the attack of a mid-heaven tier soul armament. For the Late-stage Soul King, this type of power was already enough to be happy with, but even that had crumpled like a piece of wet paper in front of the Cataclysmic Seal. The Cataclysmic Seal continued onwards to slam into the tortoiseshell of the Late-stage Soul King and immediately cracked the shell after a brief second of contact!


    Then under the horrified eyes of the Late-stage Soul King, the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into his direct body!


    He was basically the size of a gnat in front of the Cataclysmic Seal. Like a gong being struck, his body was slammed into the wall with a heavy thud. Then¡­he flew away from the Cataclysmic Seal like a kite without a string!


    ¡°Pftt¡­.¡±


    A bloody mist escaped from the Late-stage Soul King¡¯s mouth as he flew. His eyes were hazy and unfocused. Both his arms were laid uselessly by his side, unable to retain enough strength in them to hold onto a weapon. A tendril of fire snaked all around his body as if threatening to burn him if he moved!


    This was the +10 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal: Flame Twister!


    10% chance to activate ¡®Flame Twister¡¯ and restrict the mobility of another by 10% for a maximum of ten seconds upon attacking.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Sent flying away by the devastating force that was the Cataclysmic Seal, the Late-stage Soul King crashed into the ground roughly a kilometer away from where he started and left behind a giant crevice from where he fell!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul King exclaimed absent-mindedly. He was horrified to see the Late-stage Soul King defeated. He was alive, yes, but his aura was weak¡­meaning he couldn¡¯t fight any longer!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡± But then he let loose a horrified scream a moment afterward!


    That was because the Cataclysmic Seal had turned directions to come flying after him! It was about half as large as before, but that didn¡¯t make it any less intimidating to the Mid-stage Soul King. He saw what it did to the Late-stage Soul King, there was no way he could defend himself from this!


    Golden light erupted from him as he prepared to turn around and flee.


    ¡°Freeze!¡±


    But there it was again! That word that made the Late-stage Soul King freeze!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul King wasn¡¯t able to do anything as he froze up and was hit by the Cataclysmic Seal! He flew away as a mangled mess with blood flowing freely from his body!


    The giant Cataclysmic Seal returned to its proper size and flew back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, who looked a little pale. He had also a slightly irregular breathing pattern; this battle with the two Soul Kings had been a little more taxing than he¡¯d hoped!


    But now that they were dealt with, Bai Yunfei could turn his attention to the left!


    Killing the two Soul Kings would¡¯ve required just a bit more energy and time, but those two were a type of currency Bai Yunfei had very little to spare. That Late-stage Soul King might¡¯ve been out for the count, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure if the man had some kind of last-resort technique. It¡¯d be unwise to provoke him any longer if he could avoid it.


    So he chose to start running in the direction where no Soul King could be felt. Speeding off in that direction, Bai Yunfei made it about a kilometer ahead before he came to a screeching halt!


    Nearly a hundred people gathered just a thousand steps ahead of where he was. They were all Soul Exalts, but not a single one of them looked panicked. They stood there evenly spaced from one another and glowed a dark gray light!


    ¡°Diee!!¡±


    Someone cried out from within the crowd. The others quickly took up the call themselves before shooting out a beam of black light at Bai Yunfei!


    Hundreds of beams of light flew from every direction like a dark python or meteorite towards Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 979: Kill!

    ¡°This is an array!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei realized when he saw how the black beams were moving.


    Their attacks weren¡¯t just sticking close together for a single large attack. Something was binding their attacks together in a way that amplified the attack!


    This was the work of an array of some kind. An array powered by over a hundred people!


    The individual attack of a Soul Exalt, even if it was a dozen of them, was nothing in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. But when powered by an array like this, this was no longer something Bai Yunfei could simply ignore!


    If hit by the cumulative masses of these attacks, Bai Yunfei was sure that it wouldn¡¯t lose out to the full-power attack of a Mid-stage Soul King!


    Bai Yunfei was weakened by using the Dual Dragon Burst and the Cataclysmic Seal at the same time. In his weakened state, these incoming attacks would definitely be trouble.


    ¡°Tch!¡± Clicking his tongue, Bai Yunfei sent the Cataclysmic Seal out!


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal trembled as it flew through the air, enlarging in size before it struck the giant black beam!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A muffled explosion wracked the surface of the Cataclysmic Seal. It forced the brick to fly back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side in its original size while the black beam of light rebounded up into the skies as if to herald the night.


    The entire sky was blotted out by a blanket of darkness, but a single streak of red light flew through it towards the hundred Soul Exalts!


    ¡°Ahh!! He¡¯s coming over! Watch out!¡±


    ¡°Hold your positions! Hold it! Surround him!!¡±


    ¡°Watch out on the right! Ahh!!¡±


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhh¡­!¡±


    Like a chain reaction, fear ran through the crowd of Soul Exalts as they watched Bai Yunfei get close. They had been so confident in their attack earlier. Confident that Bai Yunfei would be stopped by the overwhelming power of their formation. But it didn¡¯t even leave a scratch on him!


    Their comrades were yelling for them to hold their positions, but who could possibly do so when faced with this? They all desperately wanted to move as far away from the red beam of light as possible! It was certain death if they stayed too close! Some people who were unfortunately positioned at the front of the group had already died from being pierced straight through, others had a huge crater in their chests, and some had even their heads crushed¡­


    ¡°Aaahh!! Run away!! Save meee!!!¡±


    One of the students couldn¡¯t hold in their fear any longer. Screaming in absolute terror, he broke position and fled in the opposite direction of Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic! Gather at the outside perimeter, I¡¯ll hold him off!¡±


    A voice boomed out to the students from the right before a lightning-type Mid-stage Soul King flew forward!


    His aura felt a little familiar. He was the Soul King Bai Yunfei came across outside the Coiling Serpent Mountain after he destroyed it, the one he didn¡¯t bother to fight.


    The eyes of the Soul King looked especially forbidding this time. In his hand was a giant blade with a violet edge to it. Roaring loudly, he heaved the blade over his head and delivered a mighty chop down onto Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Get lost, old man!!¡±


    In his fit of anger, Bai Yunfei made use of a curse he had learned from Zheng Kai. Twisting his left hand, he slammed it sideways onto the surface of the blade!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The lightning-type Soul King hadn¡¯t expected that.


    With a clang, his weapon was struck against by Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm and had a shower of sparks fly out from where they met!


    This weapon was at best a mid-heaven tier soul armament. In no world would it have enough offensive might to break the defense of the Critical Glove. Still, there was enough of a rebound from the concussive force to have it travel up Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm and force him to grunt. Ignoring the pain, Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of the Fire-tipped Spear with his right hand and thrust it at the Soul King!


    This was another unexpected attack from Bai Yunfei. The Soul King wanted to pull his sword back to block the spear, but he couldn¡¯t! No matter how he twisted and pulled at his weapon, it felt like it was stuck to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand!


    The idea of fighting Bai Yunfei over dominance for his weapon was a lost cause. The spear was already far too close for the Soul King to even attempt again. Relinquishing his hold on the weapon, the Soul King leaped away to safety!


    The Fire-tipped Spear grazed the tip of his ear, but the Soul King was still very much alive. Tumbling across the sky, he leaped back up to his feet to stare in shock at Bai Yunfei.


    In a single exchange, he had his weapon ¡®forced¡¯ away from him and nearly lost his life!


    Bai Yunfei stored his newly-acquired weapon with a flick of his hand. Emotionlessly, he gave the lightning-type Soul King a brief glance before charging over!


    The Soul King felt a little helpless without a weapon in hand to fend off the spear. He moved to dodge the spear thrust, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand came at him in response!


    ¡°Damn!¡± He cursed and brought both arms up to defend his head. The fist slammed into his arms with a sickening crack before he was sent flying away!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    The throbbing pain in both of his arms struck a nerve in the Mid-stage Soul King. Ignoring the fact that he was flying backward, the man let out an angry roar before bursting with violet light! Like lightning, both of his hands lashed out to send two bolts of violet light towards Bai Yunfei!


    An orange barrier erected itself over Bai Yunfei almost immediately to stop both bolts at once. They splashed over the surface of the barrier, unable to penetrate its surface.


    Knowing that this man wanted to widen the distance between them, Bai Yunfei kicked off against his footing to instead fly towards the soul refiner students!


    ¡°Ahh!! He¡¯s coming! Watch out!¡±


    Like a flock of chickens, the students began to flee in every direction. The formation they were in crumbled at once as Bai Yunfei began to cleave through every single person in his way!


    Soul Exalts were dying by the sword swing as Bai Yunfei flew. He was making an attempt to kill everyone in his way as he tried to escape!


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!!¡±


    The lightning-type Soul King roared in anger. Switching gears, he flew towards Bai Yunfei once again in an attempt to fight him.


    But Bai Yunfei had already stopped moving while he himself was flying forward. As if he had run into a coil, Bai Yunfei sprung backward back to the Soul King with devastating force!


    ¡°What!!¡±


    Blanching, the Soul King waved both hands to shoot out another two beams of light before dodging to the side again!


    ¡°Boom!!¡± Again, the two beams of light struck the orange barrier around Bai Yunfei. On the inside, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes zoned in on the escaping Soul King with a serious light!


    ¡°Freeze!¡±


    The Soul Anchoring Technique!


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul King came to a screeching halt as the technique took hold of him!


    He froze for only a moment, but that moment was more than enough time for Bai Yunfei to attack. There was a squelching sound as Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear pierced into his throat!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A burst of fire swallowed up the Soul King, turning his corpse into ashes! The space ring and other soul armaments of the Soul King fell out from the flames for Bai Yunfei to grab hold of and store away.


    Now that this enemy was dead, Bai Yunfei could continue onwards to fly away!


    Not even a full minute had passed since Bai Yunfei stumbled across the hundred Soul Exalts to killing the Soul King. And the Soul King had barely even been able to put up a resistance!


    ¡°Ah! Ahh!! Ahhh!!!¡±


    The screams renewed from the students as Bai Yunfei flew back into the crowd. Very few of them had managed to make it very far while Bai Yunfei was fighting the Soul King, and now they were paying for it with their life!


    He was moving extremely fast, but not even that was enough for him to make a clean getaway. As he was just making his way out from the encirclement, several more streaks of light could be seen heading his way! These streaks of light were already close enough for Bai Yunfei to see even more enemies flying within them!


    ¡°Kill!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped wrathfully in their direction. His killing intent was at an all-time high now and was more than willing to fly towards them!

 Chapter 980: A Bone-chilling Massacre and the Chance of Escaping?!

    Another large group of Soul Exalts had gathered in front of him. They too were in a strict formation like the one before. The only difference with this one was that two Early-stage Soul King stood at the front of the group. With those two, the group was able to let loose an attack comparable to that of a Late-stage Soul King to hopefully stop Bai Yunfei.


    But Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t one that¡¯d be intimidated by such an attack. Forming hand seals in front of his chest, Bai Yunfei prepared for an attack of his own!


    A tremendous amount of power gathered forth in his body before exiting out from his arms in the form of two dragons!


    Another Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The two attacks struck one another at the midpoint between Bai Yunfei and the group of soul refiners, exploding and covering the entire area with elemental energy.


    The group of soul refiners was extremely anxious. They watched with bated breaths to see if their attack had succeeded in stopping Bai Yunfei. All of them were hoping that it worked and Bai Yunfei was dead¡­


    Their questions were responded to a second later when a streak of red light flew out from the smoke towards their group!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhhh¡­.!¡±


    Screams filled the skies as all the students realized Bai Yunfei was alive. Trying as hard as they might, many of the students failed to run away in time from Bai Yunfei and were cut down on the spot.


    Bai Yunfei was like the death reaper basked in a cloak of flames and the Fire-tipped Spear his scythe. Each swing of the spear claimed the life of another and sprayed the air with a bloody mist. The spear itself was burning with a heat strong enough to evaporate the majority of the blood so that the flames themselves were stained with a bloody color, making it a quite dreadful sight.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    A furious cry came from the right as a black beam of light shot out at Bai Yunfei. And then a beam of violet and black light followed!


    The two Early-stage Soul Kings were finally starting their attack!


    Anger was a good way to bring out the latent power in a person, but these two were still only just Early-stage Soul Kings in the end. How could they fight against the Late-stage Soul King that was Bai Yunfei? They wouldn¡¯t even last a single blow!


    ¡°Boom! Boom!!¡±


    The two beams of light impacted against the barrier of Bai Yunfei and left behind ripples over its surface. Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei sent a fireball towards the right along with the Heaven¡¯s Thunder!


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    The two Soul Kings cried out at the same time as the fireball exploded. Many of the Soul Exalts who didn¡¯t manage to get out of the way fast enough succumbed to the fireball, and one of the Soul Kings were forced to get away from the blast radius.


    The other Soul King was trying his best to dodge the Heaven¡¯s Thunder each time it came at him, but there was already a deep gash on his left shoulder and both his arms were already missing large chunks.


    Ignoring the Soul King on his right, Bai Yunfei went for the Soul King on his left.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    The Soul King reacted with fear at the sight of Bai Yunfei approaching him. He shot out a beam of elemental energy to strike while also propping up a golden shield in front of him so he could retreat in safety.


    Bai Yunfei was moving faster than he was, however, and the elemental attack he sent out hadn¡¯t done anything to hamper Bai Yunfei¡¯s advance. Like a bolt of lightning, Bai Yunfei closed the distance between them and stabbed his spear forward!


    ¡°Clang! Crack¡­pcht!!¡±


    The golden shield crumbled under the penetrative force of Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear. Cracks appeared all over its surface before allowing the spear to go through it and into the man¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand swung the spear for a loop. Even if the Fire-tipped Spear¡¯s additional effect didn¡¯t activate, all Bai Yunfei had to do was send a pulse of elemental fire through the spear to have the Soul King torn apart!


    The Soul King died a gruesome death with blood and fire spilling everywhere. His space rings and soul armaments were already confiscated by Bai Yunfei without delay.


    ¡°I said it before¡­get in my way and die!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed to the the pale-faced soul refiners in front of him. His words brokered no signs of mercy in them. He gripped the spear tightly in his hand before charging forward again!


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill me! I won¡¯t get in your way, so do¡ªagh!!¡±


    On his way out from this place, Bai Yunfei came across a frightened soul refiner who had been too slow to get out of the way. Already cowered by Bai Yunfei, the soul refiner was begging for Bai Yunfei not to kill him.


    But it was useless. The Fire-tipped Spear stabbed straight through his chest before he was tossed to the side. He stood in Bai Yunfei¡¯s way and was subsequently dealt with!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhh¡­.!¡±


    Screams rung in the air as Bai Yunfei began to massacre everyone in his flight path!


    He was like a reaper from the underworld that tore up everything in his way. Whether they be a Soul Exalt or Soul King, they would all be killed! Not even that Soul King earlier had managed to last more than two blows!


    The formation of the Soul Exalts was a desperate plan that¡¯d hoped to build up power through numbers. It was definitely as foolish as hoping to drown a man by having everyone spit on them. But in the end¡­the plan backfired, and now they were all choking on their own spit!


    Everyone was¡­deeply terrified.


    There were the fortunate few who had either managed to retreat in time or were located outside Bai Yunfei¡¯s path. They were all heaving a relieved sigh to themselves as they watched their companions get slaughtered. None of them bothered to remake the formation to try and stop Bai Yunfei again.


    ¡°There¡¯s a chance!!¡±


    Rays of hope were shining down on Bai Yunfei now. As much as he wanted to stick around and kill all the soul refiners here, Bai Yunfei knew he was already too deep in trouble to even entertain that notion.


    There was hardly anyone in his path now, and the two beams of light that were coming over to him was for some reason stopped a little farther away. They hadn¡¯t come closer to Bai Yunfei while he was busy with the Soul Kings, and they didn¡¯t seem on planning to come over. Bai Yunfei could barely even sense their auras.


    But Bai Yunfei knew they were Soul Kings.


    ¡°This is the final push¡­time to finish it!¡±


    He was determined to use even the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear if it meant getting out of here. It was his greatest chance to kill any worthwhile opponent as fast as possible.


    He could also tell that there was a faint barrier obstructing his path just a few dozen kilometers away. Beyond that was a white-sky and world that seemed completely different to the one he was in.


    That had to be the point that separated the grounds of the outside world and the Soul Refining School.


    Or in other words, that was the point where Bai Yunfei could use the Core Stone to teleport away! If he could make it over there, then he¡¯d be able to escape and be free!


    Bai Yunfei burned with the fires of determination now that hope was so close. Throwing off everyone nearby him, he flew straight for where the two Soul Kings were!


    ¡°Two Mid-stage Soul Kings!¡±


    He could feel how strong they were when he got close enough within distance. Bai Yunfei gave a sigh of relief.


    As long as there weren¡¯t any Late-stage Soul Kings, he wouldn¡¯t be in too much trouble¡­


    Refocusing on the task at hand, Bai Yunfei kicked up his speed another notch. His soulforce was blazing out from his body in the form of flames to seemingly scorch the heavens with its heat. And like a shooting star, Bai Yunfei moved in to kill the two Soul Kings!


    He was planning to use the Soul Anchoring Technique to stop one enemy and then kill the other with the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear. If his enemies weren¡¯t doing anything, then he¡¯d be the one to make the first move!


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    The two Soul Kings cried out as they sent a ripple of transparent energy towards him!


    Soul attacks!


    Though he planned on making the first strike, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t all too sad about this!


    That was because he could feel the Soul Sentinel Scarf start to pulsate strangely on the top of his forehead!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    In the next second, the Soul King on the left let out a shriek of pain!


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s additional effect to counter soul attacks had activated!


    ¡°Now¡¯s my chance!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes gleamed with a bright ray of light, ¡°Freeze!¡± He roared!


    The Soul Anchoring Technique was aimed for the Soul King on the right!


    The Soul Anchoring Technique smashed through the soul attack of the person on the right with the force of a typhoon and seized hold of the Soul King at once!


    He was weaker than Bai Yunfei, and his soul attack even less comparable to the Soul Anchoring Technique. There was no way he wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid it!


    And in that moment, both Soul Kings had been on the receiving end of a soul attack instead of it being the other way around!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A streak of violet light could be seen as the Heaven¡¯s Thunder flew towards the Soul King on the left. He was defenseless due to the soul attack and the Heaven¡¯s Thunder was perfect for dealing with him. On the right, Bai Yunfei leapt at the other Soul King with the Fire-tipped Spear!


    This was a hard chance to come by, and Bai Yunfei was now filled with the intent to kill these two Soul Kings at once!


    His eyes held no mercy in them. Bai Yunfei was already looking to the barrier in front of him. If he could kill them and get to that place, then he¡¯d be able to leave the Soul Refining School¡­


    But then¡­

 Chapter 981: The First Elder Takes Action!

    ¡°Yunfei! The teleportation restriction has been lifted!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s voice called out to Bai Yunfei at the moment before Bai Yunfei was about to activate the +13 additional effect!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupil dilated in shock at the news!


    The biggest headache of Bai Yunfei¡¯s situation was the fact that he couldn¡¯t teleport. There was some kind of limitation put in place around the school grounds that made it impossible to teleport. Why had they lifted it?


    He pondered that question for a moment before the realization hit him!


    If the restriction was gone, that meant teleportation was now possible. And if that was possible, then¡­


    ¡°Crap!!¡±


    An overwhelming sense of danger shot up Bai Yunfei¡¯s spine. Without even a millisecond to lose, Bai Yunfei activated the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier!


    At some point while he was busy thinking about this situation, the space in a relatively more quiet area had started to warp¡ªthis was the sign of someone about to teleport in!


    And¡­there wasn¡¯t just one point. Bai Yunfei could see five different places start to show the same signs as well!


    People with powerful auras were appearing one after another onto the area!


    Three people were coming in from the backmost area while the right had four people coming out!


    Soul Kings, all of them! And seven of them!


    Three were Early-stage Soul Kings, two were Mid-stage Soul Kings, one was a Late-stage Soul King, and¡­the last one was a Peak Late-stage Soul King!


    It was the first elder of the Soul Refining School, Qin Bangjie!


    And behind him stood a young man, Mo Ni!


    The two Soul Kings standing just barely within Bai Yunfei¡¯s range of detection had been a trap!


    The enemies were waiting for Bai Yunfei to be fully committed to killing the two Soul Kings before they¡¯d appear in numbers. And all together, they launched a wave of attacks at him!


    Soul attacks!


    Seven Soul Kings were attacking Bai Yunfei at once with their own soul attacks!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupils were as tiny as needles as he realized the danger he was in. He was well and truly in deep danger!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Faced with the probability of death, Bai Yunfei let out a furious cry for everyone to hear!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    The technique exploded outwards from Bai Yunfei to cover every direction in equal proportion and strike down all soul attacks heading his way!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom¡­!¡±


    The ripples of energy struck one another with a force that could only be heard within the mind. The three Early-stage Soul Kings had been within the explosion zone and paled with pain!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡± Having been caught in the explosion as well, Bai Yunfei trembled on his feet as he tried to withstand the pain. The flames around his body flickered hesitantly as if threatening to be blown out!


    Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve been a Late-stage Soul King, but the Soul Anchoring Technique was something that reigned supreme over most techniques. As weakened as it was after hitting the other soul attacks, it was still something that not even a Peak Late-stage Soul King would be able to fend off!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    He bit his lips with an angry growl. The Soul Sentinel Scarf had managed to allow him a better level of clarity than without it, but Bai Yunfei was still desperately trying to think of what he should do in the next couple of seconds, but there was nothing. His body wouldn¡¯t be able to respond in time to the danger he was in. he wouldn¡¯t even be able to use his soulforce!


    The only thing protecting him was the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier, but¡­would it endure the power of a Peak Late-stage Soul King¡¯s attack?


    ¡°Of course not!¡±


    ¡°I have to fight!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glowed crimson. It was time for him to make use of the most powerful technique he had to offer, Berserk Mode!


    He might not be able to properly control his soulforce or body movements right now, but the act of having both fireseeds come together didn¡¯t require that. This was the only thing he could do to break free from his confines!


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    But even while Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was readily starting to ramp up, he took notice of something strange. The air around him was starting to change!


    It wasn¡¯t the sign of an incoming attack. But the air around him was starting to take on a gold and dark hue!


    It was as if something had dropped onto him and trapped him inside!


    ¡­¡­


    A moment before, the six Soul Kings had only just finished their soul attacks when the seventh, Qin Bangjie waved his right hand with a menacing glare. He wasn¡¯t attacking Bai Yunfei with an elemental attack, he was throwing out a black and gold bell!


    This bell grew larger the longer it traveled towards Bai Yunfei, and by the time it reached him it was already several meters tall and slammed into the orange barrier around Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Dong¡­¡±


    It dropped down onto Bai Yunfei with a heavy crash. A loud gong resounded across the area as the gold and black bell completely obscured Bai Yunfei from sight!


    ¡°Mission accomplished!¡±


    Qin Bangjie¡¯s eyes brightened with joy at his accomplishment. The other Soul Kings, having known what this meant, all started to smile as well!


    ¡­¡­


    Everything¡­had happened too fast. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even done killing the two Soul Kings when seven more came and trapped him inside a large bell!


    The Soul Exalt students standing on the other side of the group hadn¡¯t been able to react to this stunning turn of events until after the deed was done¡­


    ¡°First elder!¡±


    Someone cried out. It was one of the Soul Kings, the one that had very nearly been killed by Bai Yunfei before he was trapped inside the bell. The fear hadn¡¯t even trickled from his face as he raced up to Qin Bangjie. His life had essentially been forfeit until Qin Bangjie showed up. Were it not for him, the Heaven¡¯s Thunder definitely would¡¯ve pierced straight through him.


    Bai Yunfei lost control over the Heaven¡¯s Thunder when the bell dropped around him, so the Soul King had only the side of his throat grazed by it before falling into the forest.


    Without even giving himself any time to gather his mind, the Soul King flew back to regroup with Qin Bangjie and the others.


    It was only when he gathered there with the others that he took notice of the giant bell with wide-open eyes.


    ¡°The¡­the King Caging Bell¡­so this enemy was so strong that the first elder had to use his high-heaven tier soul armament¡­he won¡¯t be able to run away anymore, will he?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s the first elder! The first elder is here!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just him! Elders Zhu, Zhao, and Xue¡­so many Soul Kings are here!¡±


    ¡°The invader¡¯s been caught! Is it over? Is he really captured?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s the King Caging Bell! It¡¯s the super-strong soul armament of the first elder! The high-heaven tier soul armament! That invader is done for!¡±


    ¡°That damned demon¡­thank heaven¡¯s he¡¯s caught!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Now that the trouble was over, all the students still standing there finally began to chatter with excitement!


    Everyone had been deathly afraid of Bai Yunfei with his massacre just now. They all thought that Bai Yunfei would definitely kill them all given enough time, so the first elder¡¯s arrival was like an envoy sent from the heavens to finally stop that terrifying person!

 Chapter 982: King Caging Bell

    The King Caging Bell was one of the Soul Refining School¡¯s most precious treasures and was held by the first elder for safekeeping. Most of the students only knew of the soul armament by name since the majority of them had never seen it before.


    This soul armament wasn¡¯t an offensive type, and neither was it a defensive type. It was a more rare type of soul armament. A soul armament that could capture enemies.


    It had an eponymous power. King Caging: This was a bell that could capture Soul Kings!


    Legends had it that not even Peak Late-stage Soul Kings could escape from it!


    All those students who were still alive felt nothing but the utmost glee at Bai Yunfei¡¯s capture. It didn¡¯t matter how ungodly they felt Bai Yunfei was. There was no escaping this!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°How should we deal with him, first elder?¡±


    The wood-type Mid-stage Soul King who had nearly been killed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s Heaven¡¯s Thunder was especially happy to see Bai Yunfei captured. His eyes radiated his murderous glee as he asked the first elder that question.


    In his mind, it was best that they simply just kill Bai Yunfei and be done with it. He also thought that using the King Caging Bell felt like a little too much to deal with just one person. The previous attack where everyone used a soul attack on Bai Yunfei had already been quite effective. He felt that Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve died if they all attacked together.


    Qin Bangjie had a grim look on his face. ¡°This person has many secrets and precious items on him. We¡¯ll wait for the King Caging Bell to sap him of his soulforce before we capture him. The headmaster will deal with him.¡±


    ¡°Let the headmaster deal with him?!¡± The wood-type Soul King cried out. He hadn¡¯t thought that this person was special enough to warrant attention from even the headmaster himself.


    There was nothing else that needed to be said. He stepped to the side and waited for things to take their course.


    ¡°Gong!!!¡±


    A loud gong was heard from within the King Caging Bell as a wave of black and gold light flew out from it. Something was striking at it from the inside!


    ¡°Pah! A hopeless struggle!¡±


    Mo Ni sneered. Bai Yunfei¡¯s struggle felt great to him, Bai Yunfei surely had to be panicking like a headless chicken inside the King Caging Bell right now. Struggling like that was surely just a one-way ticket to losing even more soulforce.


    The power of the King Caging Bell was something that made all attempts to escape it useless. It wasn¡¯t just a tool to capture someone, it could also sap the person¡¯s soulforce to the point of death!


    What they had to do was wait for Bai Yunfei to be essentially devoid of soulforce before they captured him. It¡¯d be simple then.


    ¡­¡­


    Mo Ni was half-right at the very least. Bai Yunfei was panicking inside the bell a bit, but¡­he wasn¡¯t completely in despair just yet!


    ¡°What a powerful defense!¡±


    He swung his left hand fruitlessly against his confines. Bai Yunfei had used the strongest punch he had to offer the moment he realized he was trapped, but that didn¡¯t even cause a dent against this ¡®wall¡¯. All his punch did was cause the entire interior of the bell to echo something fierce.


    But it was still completely intact!


    The scary thing about this was the fact that Bai Yunfei coupled the +10 and +12 additional effects of the Critical Glove alongside with the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force. Not even a mid-heaven tier soul armament would be able to stop an attack that powerful. Bai Yunfei thought he would¡¯ve caused the wall to crack, or at the very least leave behind a dent!


    He stared at the ground. A layer of black and gold light covered the ground to replace the dirt he had been standing on before. Curious, Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of the Fire-tipped Spear and slammed it down onto the ground with vigorous force!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    A metallic gong echoed within the bell alongside a shower of sparks, but the ground remained untouched!


    ¡°Not even the Fire-tipped Spear works!¡± Bai Yunfei was aghast.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? My soulforce is being drained away!?¡± Suddenly, Bai Yunfei realized something was wrong with the bell. His soulforce was being taken away from his body! It was as if the bell itself was trying to wrestle his soulforce away!


    ¡°What do I do?!¡±


    This was a worrying experience for Bai Yunfei. Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei tried his best to think of something to get himself out from this mess.


    His eyes flickered to the walls. The beginning of an idea was starting to take form. Taking two quick steps forward, Bai Yunfei pressed his right hand onto the wall.


    A second later¡­


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Defense: 7000


    Equipment Effect: Drain 30 soulpoints of any trapped target per second.


    Convert the attack power of any attack dealt inside into additional defense.


    Only up to 100% of the equipment¡¯s defense can be added.


    Upgrade Requirement: 330 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up onto his forehead in surprise at that.


    ¡°No wonder it¡¯s that powerful! If it can absorb and convert the attacks of anything, then there¡¯s no point attacking the bell unless I can destroy it in one blow!


    ¡°But even more importantly¡­30 soulpoints every second!¡± His face fell at the rate of soulforce lost per second. ¡°Damn! Then¡­I can¡¯t hesitate any longer then! I have to do this!¡±


    30 Soulpoints per second meant 1800 in a minute and 18000 in ten!


    If he counted all his equips and if he was in the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form, then Bai Yunfei had roughly 40000 soulpoints. He had already used 10000 of that after all the battling recently, so that left him with a little less than 30000 soulpoints. He¡¯d be down to less than half of that if he didn¡¯t get out of here in ten minutes. And even if he did, he¡¯d be easy pickings once he escaped!


    There wasn¡¯t enough room to do any powerful elemental attacks, and neither was there any way for him to make a hole in the ¡®ground¡¯. The defensive might of the soul armament was just far too strong. Using the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear might possibly do something to the bell, but that¡¯d require using up half his soulforce¡ªwhich seemed foolhardy in this scenario¡­


    Bai Yunfei had to be ¡®economical¡¯ with his soulforce. He had to find the best way to preserve himself.


    His right hand pressed against the wall. Eyes brimming with determination, he thought to himself. ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +1


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A sliver of soulforce traveled down his arm into the soul armament. Bai Yunfei waited for the success notification to pop up in his head and the soul armament to light up before he tried again.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    There was no hesitation in trying to upgrade again!


    Upgrade Successful


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Successful


    ¡°Upgrade!


    ¡°Upgrade!


    ¡°Upgrade!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    More and more soulforce drained away from Bai Yunfei as he upgraded the King Caging Bell. Ten seconds had passed and three thousand soulpoints had been taken away from Bai Yunfei!


    The black and gold bell was glowing brighter and brighter now. The elemental energy pulsating from it was even stronger than before!


    Then at last¡­


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 7000


    Additional Defense: 3500


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect: Drain 30 soulpoints of any trapped target per second.


    Convert the attack power of any attack dealt inside into additional defense.


    Only up to 100% of the equipment¡¯s defense can be added.


    +10 Additional Effect: Recover 30 soulpoints per second if used upon oneself.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 330 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow at the additional effect. This was a powerful effect, but there wasn¡¯t any time to spare to remark on it.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±

 Chapter 983: Lucks Too Good, Time to Change Plans!

    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 7000


    Additional Defense: 4500


    Soul Compatibility: 35%


    Equipment Effect: Drain 30 soulpoints of any trapped target per second.


    Convert the attack power of any attack dealt inside into additional defense.


    Only up to 100% of the equipment¡¯s defense can be added.


    +10 Additional Effect: Recover 30 soulpoints per second if used upon oneself.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 330 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A pang of annoyance crossed Bai Yunfei¡¯s face at the success notification.


    He wanted to comment on this, but the thought was dismissed just as quickly as it came.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Another sliver of soulforce was lost. And when he saw the notification, his lips frowned even more noticeably than before!


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 7000


    Additional Defense: 6800


    Soul Compatibility: 50%


    Equipment Effect: Drain 30 soulpoints of any trapped target per second.


    Convert the attack power of any attack dealt inside into additional defense.


    Only up to 100% of the equipment¡¯s defense can be added.


    +10 Additional Effect: Recover 30 soulpoints per second if used upon oneself.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    +12 Additional Effect: Unleash a sound wave with range proportional to the damage done when hit.


    Inflict confusion on everyone hit.


    Cooldown of 20 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 330 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    This time, Bai Yunfei was deathly quiet for two full seconds.


    ¡°Go f*ck yourself, what kind of sh*t is this?!¡±


    How could something he¡¯d normally want to happen in any other situation like this happen now of all times?! It was ludicrous! If the Heavens were playing a joke on him, Bai Yunfei had to admit it was a cruel one¡­


    ¡°I just wanted to fail an upgrade¡ªwhy?! Why can¡¯t I have this kind of luck when I¡¯m normally upgrading!?¡± Bai Yunfei cursed to himself.


    The plan was simple. Use the Upgrade Technique to upgrade the King Caging Bell until failure so it could be destroyed. This was the least wasteful method Bai Yunfei had to offer and had also the benefit of destroying the enemy¡¯s soul armament.


    But¡­the Heavens were surely laughing at Bai Yunfei. It was one thing to not see a single failure until the +10 point, but it was another thing entirely to have it succeed in becoming a +11. In normal times Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t even have a good chance of getting such a result even with an upgrade stone. And if +11 was a rarity, getting it to +12 should¡¯ve been close to being an impossibility¡­


    Why was his ¡®luck¡¯ today so good?!


    And if his luck was so good, then why was it that he was stuck in the middle of god-knows-where with so much danger around him?!


    He might¡¯ve been imagining it, but Bai Yunfei felt like the Luck Pendant on his chest was a bit warmer than usual as if to say, ¡®So? How about it? Aren¡¯t I great if I can get a high-heaven tier soul armament to +12?¡¯


    Honestly, Bai Yunfei wanted to cry.


    He would¡¯ve been glad to see this at any other time but now. If only¡­if only this +12 soul armament didn¡¯t belong to the enemy!


    ¡°Eh? Wait a second!!¡±


    A sudden thought popped into Bai Yunfei¡¯s head before he could upgrade the soul armament again. There was something about this situation he could make use of!


    ¡°A soul compatibility of 50%?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat at the reading of the soul compatibility.


    In his experience, the increase in soul compatibility would normally be higher if he manually upgraded it rather than using the Upgrade Technique. Generally speaking, the soul compatibility of a soul armament would fall around 40% with the Upgrade Technique, but this one was 50%. Even considering the circumstances, this was a deviation too large to be said to be just a coincidence.


    But a value of 50% meant this soul armament was at the boundary of being a ¡®soulbound¡¯ armament!


    Was that also a result of his luck being too good?


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lingered on the line regarding soul compatibility. A very interesting thought was starting to formulate in his mind!


    ¡°50%...that¡¯s definitely the point when a soul armament becomes soulbound. If that¡¯s the case¡­I have to try it!!¡±


    His right hand pressed against the soul armament again. He wasn¡¯t going to upgrade the soul armament this time, but to spread his own soulsense into the soul armament!


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    The entire King Caging Bell began to hum violently the moment his soulsense was disseminated into it. It lit up with a resplendent light to cover the entire interior with its black and gold light so that Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even see a thing. He had to close his eyes in order to avoid being blinded.


    But his mind was elsewhere. He was concentrating solely on the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead as if searching for something¡­


    He was¡­searching for the soul print Qin Bangjie had on the King Caging Bell! He¡­he was trying to ¡®wrestle control¡¯ over the King Caging Bell!


    A powerful soul armament like this surely had to be the soulbound armament of Qing Bangjie. It would¡¯ve been impossible to steal the soul armament away from him in that case until certain conditions were met.


    As it so happened, those certain conditions were being met right now. Now that the King Caging Bell was +12, Bai Yunfei had reached a soul compatibility of 50% with it. That meant Bai Yunfei could at the very least try stealing it!


    Of course, Bai Yunfei knew there was a good chance the enemy had over 50% soul compatibility with the King Caging Bell. He wouldn¡¯t be able to compete in terms of higher compatibility in that case, but he had something else up his sleeve¡­he was far more familiar with how soul compatibility worked with soul armaments!


    A Soul King could make use of their power to forcibly leave behind an imprint of their soul onto a soul armament to have it called a soulbound armament. Soulbound armaments made that way were of an inferior scale than the soulbound armaments owned by a student of the Crafting School. The methodology used by the Crafting School left behind a far stronger imprint on the soul armament in comparison to anyone else.


    For example, if the soulbound armament of an outsider and the soulbound armament of a crafter were to be compared, then the power exhibited from the latter would definitely outstrip the power of the former.


    It was all because of the methodology and understanding crafters had of soul armaments. Their knowledge was something the rest of the world would never be able to compare to.


    Because of the King Caging Bell reaching a 50% soul compatibility with Bai Yunfei it didn¡¯t put up a resistance to Bai Yunfei when he sent his soulsense into it. Conversely, because Qin Bangjie was controlling the King Caging Bell, Bai Yunfei was unable to continue with the process completely unimpeded.


    The first thing Bai Yunfei had to do was locate the soul imprint left on the King Caging Bell. If he could either erase or destroy the imprint, Bai Yunfei could make a new connection with the King Caging Bell!


    And then¡­the King Caging Bell would become Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbound armament!


    The process wasn¡¯t without its dangers. A failure to convert the soul armament to his side would mean losing precious time and by extension his soulforce. Then there was the chance that there¡¯d be a rebound onto his soul if he failed to make a connection and hurt him again.


    But it was a high-risk, high-return method. He had to chance it!


    He already rationalized it out. If by chance he failed, he¡¯d simply just upgrade the soul armament again. And if that succeeded and the King Caging Bell became +13, then Bai Yunfei would try upgrade it again to destroy it. Then he¡¯d use Berserk Mode and break free if all else failed.


    A quick second passed for Bai Yunfei to be convinced of his plan. Closing his eyes, Bai Yunfei concentrated even harder on his task!


    Then¡­


    ¡°Found it!!¡±

 Chapter 984: Easily Gaining Control

    The outside world.


    More and more people were gathering around the King Caging Bell. The majority of them were students, but two new Soul Kings had made their way over to the spectacle as well to stare at the golden-glowing bell.


    Things had been quiet ever since Bai Yunfei stopped attacking the bell a while ago, but the light from the bell was only just getting brighter and brighter.


    It was a strange sight to many. Wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei supposed to be struggling a little bit? Did he give up?


    ¡°A powerful energy¡­as expected from the treasure of our Soul Refining School!¡±


    Several students muttered in awe at the powerful light glowing from the King Caging Bell.


    Their remarks were shared by a few of the Soul Kings. Several of them were quite surprised by how powerful the King Caging Bell was.


    The most calm-faced one was Qin Bangjie, though his eyes could hardly fail to hide the pleased look in them. But still, there was also something that was making him a little confused¡­


    The King Caging Bell was getting more and more powerful, but¡­wasn¡¯t it getting a little too powerful? He hadn¡¯t seen the King Caging Bell with this much power even after ten years of having it in his possession.


    ¡°Strange¡­¡± He thought to himself. For some reason, something was feeling quite off with this sight.


    Time ticked by slowly. Three minutes passed by without further notice before¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    A muffled explosion came from the inside of the King Caging Bell. Then a wave of black and gold light exploded out from the bell with an even greater intensity!


    ¡°What?! What¡¯s this!!¡±


    Qin Bangjie gasped aloud.


    ¡°First elder, what¡¯s happening?!¡±


    Startled by both the light and Qin Bangjie¡¯s reaction, Mo Ni whipped his head at once towards the man for an answer.


    But Qin Bangjie held his hand up to silence Mo Ni. His face looked thunderous as he glared at the King Caging Bell.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Found it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open. His soulsense had been circulating around the King Caging Bell for some time before it finally managed to locate Qin Bangjie¡¯s soul imprint!


    ¡°Disappear!!¡± He snarled.


    His soulsense was like millions of daggers as it stabbed into the soul imprint of Qin Bangjie. Bai Yunfei was devoting all his energy into destroying Qin Bangjie¡¯s soul imprint!


    Bai Yunfei would ordinarily never be capable of doing such a thing, the soul imprint would¡¯ve rejected his soulsense without question if not for Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul compatibility with the King Caging Bell. By achieving 50% with the King Caging Bell, Bai Yunfei was able to use it as a key to swiftly allow himself entry into the imprint and ¡®evict¡¯ the previous owner. What would follow next was essentially claiming the imprint for himself.


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    Though essentially an intangible source of energy, the imprint began to let loose a hissing sound as if punctured. A powerful burst of energy exploded from the imprint to try and force Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense back!


    A powerful aura was ¡®rushing¡¯ in from the ¡®outside world¡¯ at this moment. It was trying to repel and crush Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense!


    ¡°Give up!!¡±


    Success or failure would be dependent on this critical moment, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t let this attack influence that decision now. Roaring loudly, he formed a giant mental blade with his soulsense and slashed at the intruding energy!


    The sight felt quite familiar to how he wrestled control over a soulbeast puppet with the Beast Taming Ring, and Bai Yunfei felt a little familiar with how that feeling felt.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    He could feel the faintest of cries from inside the King Caging Bell when his ¡®sword¡¯ sliced through the attack¡¯. The final ¡®barrier¡¯ that disconnected him from the King Caging Bell was cut, and then, Bai Yunfei felt like he was in complete control of the King Caging Bell!


    ¡°I did it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei noted with glee. He never thought that the enemy¡¯s imprint over the King Caging Bell would be this weak. It didn¡¯t even feel like there was any resistance!


    The connection between Qin Bangjie and the King Caging Bell was no more. Even now the last remnants of his presence were slipping away from the King Caging Bell. The only thing that¡¯d rebind the King Caging Bell to Qin Bangjie now was if he were to reforge it.


    So now that the imprint was gone from the King Caging Bell, Qin Bangjie had no other connection to it but one of physical ownership!


    Bai Yunfei could tell that the change in control was successful with him no longer losing any more soulforce. In fact, he was starting to feel stronger by the second as soulforce started to flow back into him!


    That meant the +10 additional effect had activated. And by extension¡­Bai Yunfei was now the ¡®master¡¯ of the King Caging Bell!


    ¡­¡­


    On the outside world.


    ¡°Pfft!!!¡±


    Qin Bangjie¡¯s eyes had been fixated onto the King Caging Bell the entire time while everyone else stared at him. Then under their surprised eyes, he spat out a mouthful of blood!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    He spouted before the last of the blood could fall from his lips. Droplets of blood were sprayed out from his mouth when he spoke those four syllables. But the more noticeable aspect of him was how his body was shaking as if he had just seen a demon!


    ¡°What is it? What is it?! What has happened?!¡±


    The other Soul Kings were all in a frantic mess now. Them seeing the first elder spitting blood and shaking like mad was enough to make them all start to cry out in worry.


    ¡°Att¡ªattack!! Attack him! Strike him down at once!!¡±


    Qin Bangjie cried out in fear, his eyes still fixated onto the King Caging Bell. Black light poured forth from his body before forming into a giant blade of energy to strike the King Caging Bell!


    ¡°First elder! What are you doing?!¡±


    Mo Ni was bewildered by his actions. He didn¡¯t receive an answer for his troubles, as the King Caging Bell let out a loud gong before anyone could even respond!


    ¡°Gooonnngggg!!!¡±


    A resounding gong emanated from the bell with such intensity that sound waves immediately billowed outwards from it!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    A Soul King shouted out a warning, but it was already too late for several of his companions.


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhh¡­¡±


    Several Soul Kings had already succumbed to the sound waves before the first Soul King could finish his warning.


    This was the +12 additional effect of the King Caging Bell!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Another ear-deafening explosion erupted in the world as the King Caging Bell skyrocketed into the air as if launched by the pillar of fire beneath it!


    No longer contained by the King Caging Bell, the flames spiraled around the area and brought an even larger mess to the place around!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom¡­¡±


    The flames crashed into the world with devastating force. It drowned out the cries of many students and incinerated the ones closer to the source before they could even let out a squeak!


    ¡°Swoosh!!¡±


    A small beam of red light shot out from the flames to head straight for Qin Bangjie!


    ¡°First elder, watch out!!¡±


    A Late-stage Soul King¡ªone of the lucky ones who hadn¡¯t been too confused by the effects of the King Caging Bell¡ªlet out a cry when he saw the red beam. Waving his hand, the Soul King let out a streak of black and red light to stop the incoming attack!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Qin Bangjie cried out in fear. Green and black light exploded from his body as he used it to protect himself from the powerful attack.


    The two beams of light extinguished the flames in its path as they drew closer and closer to each other. Then when the two were about to strike one another, Qin Bangjie was horrified to see¡­


    ¡°Swoosh!!¡±


    The red streak of light had¡­gone straight through his attack! There wasn¡¯t even any contact!


    Inside the red streak of light was the Fire-tipped Spear, and now it was nearly inside Qin Bangjie!

 Chapter 985: Going Berserk to Continue the Slaughter!

    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    An unprecedented amount of fear filled Qin Bangjie¡¯s eyes. Fearful of the spear coming straight for him, he kicked off against the air to jump for the side!


    ¡°Pcht¡­boom!!¡±


    Though it couldn¡¯t be said he was too slow to react, Qin Bangjie thought that his barrier would hold out for at least long enough for him to get away. It should¡¯ve been enough for him to get away, but the barrier hadn¡¯t even done a thing to stop the spear from going through it to stab into Qin Bangjie¡¯s left shoulder!


    And when the spear stabbed into his flesh, it exploded with a bright bang of light!


    The +10 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear had activated!


    Fire erupted from the spear to engulf Qin Bangjie in it instantaneously!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    The closest one to Qing Bangjie had been Mo Ni. He hadn¡¯t been expecting for Qin Bangjie to suddenly go up into flames and let out a yelp as he stared wide-eyed at the man.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    Something flew out from the flames towards Mo Ni, causing him to snap back in shock. He prepared himself to fire a beam of light to stop the figure, but that was when he realized it was¡­a charred arm!


    A smoking figure exited from the other side of the flames. This one was even larger in size than the arm but was glowing with a faint black and green light to it as it fell.


    ¡°First elder!!!¡±


    The other Soul Kings cried out in horror!


    The person who flew out from the flames just was now was Qin Bangjie. He was currently in a sight far too frightful to bear. His entire person was charred black and his left arm was severed at the shoulder. Blood was flowing freely from the stump to splatter on the faces of the people who caught him. His face was expressionless as if unsure of what to even do at this moment.


    Qin Bangjie had lost all form of motion. His soulforce wasn¡¯t even flowing regularly through his body anymore!!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    While everyone else was busy panicking over the state of Qin Bangjie, another Early-stage Soul King let out a scream of pain as a violet streak of light tore through his back!


    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder!


    ¡°Swish¡­¡±


    It flew back to the original source of the flames to hover nearby a hazy figure standing inside of it.


    ¡°Ah!! Attack! Attack! Kill him!!¡±


    A Late-stage Soul King cried out. Exploding with soulforce, he flew at Bai Yunfei to send a wave of elemental energy at him.


    Everything was happening far too fast for most people to properly take in. In one second, Bai Yunfei broke out from the King Caging Bell. In the next second, he killed multiple Soul Exalts and then an Early-stage Soul King. Then he severed one of Qin Bangjie¡¯s arms and rendered him unable to fight!


    It felt almost absurd. A surreal scene that most almost thought was just a figment of their imagination¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Though the flames dancing and flickering to life was burning hot, the light in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes was cold enough to freeze water. Clapping both hands together, he began to go through a rapid string of hand seals!


    The ideal situation would be to sit a little longer in the King Caging Bell and recover soulforce that way, but Bai Yunfei knew that was just a pipe dream. There was no way Qin Bangjie wouldn¡¯t know he had lost control over the King Caging Bell and wouldn¡¯t attack Bai Yunfei. Staying even a minute longer in the bell would just mean being in danger for another minute longer.


    Therefore, it was better for Bai Yunfei to launch a surprise attack while Qin Bangjie was still trying to understand what was going on and kill a few people.


    That being said, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect that the first attack to be launched onto everyone would be the sound waves caused by the King Caging Bell¡¯s +12 additional effect. And neither did he expect for everyone to be struck by confusion, but that didn¡¯t mean Bai Yunfei would give up the chance. If the iron was hot, then he would strike.


    ¡°If you come after me¡­be prepared to lose a few men!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The forest echoed with a tremendous explosion as flames burst out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body like a snarling beast readying itself for the kill! The flames radiating from his body was so powerful that it could be felt even within a tremendous area!


    He was going into ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!!


    And just like that, Bai Yunfei went straight from being a Late-stage Soul King to being a Peak Late-stage Soul King!


    The pain Bai Yunfei felt was utterly excruciating and Bai Yunfei felt like his body was being torn to pieces. The muscles on his face twitched incessantly as he tried to endure the pain. The killing intent in his eyes couldn¡¯t be hidden at all as he summoned the Fire-tipped Spear to him. In one swift motion, he shot forward to attack his enemies!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    Attack after attack, Bai Yunfei struck down each and every Soul King in his path with explosive force!


    ¡°A Peak Late-stage Soul King¡­how?!¡±


    Screams of panic and terror began to ring everywhere as the people started to despair at Bai Yunfei¡¯s new strength!


    Over a hundred people were gathered here, both students and Soul Kings included. By all rights, Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve been in despair at such a seemingly terrible situation, but he was actually getting stronger and stronger¡­


    It was extremely terrifying to see, and multiple people felt like several daggers were stabbing into them with how they were shivering.


    ¡°R-run!! Run away!!¡±


    ¡°Attack! Attack! Everyone attack him!!!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t come over, I don¡¯t want to die!!!!¡±


    Multiple screams rang out from the students. Many Soul Exalts were trying to run away as fast as they could, but just as many other students were charging Bai Yunfei and hoping to surround him for the Soul Kings to attack.


    ¡°All together now!¡±


    Though by no means calm, the Soul Kings couldn¡¯t allow Bai Yunfei¡¯s power up to faze them into inaction. The Late-stage Soul King let out a rallying cry before swiping at Bai Yunfei with his right hand!


    A soul attack!!


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    ¡°Die!!!¡±


    The other Soul Kings roared out loud with him before launching a soul attack of their own!


    ¡°Again?! Then¡­freeze!!!¡±


    A cold light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes at the sight of their second attempt to subdue him. A crimson-red glow floated out from his body as he took in a deep breath, and then¡­he let out a loud roar!


    The Soul Anchoring Technique exploded outwards like a red wave of light. Striking against every single one of the soul attacks aimed Bai Yunfei¡¯s way, the technique broke apart everything thrown at it before hitting several Soul Exalts, causing them to let out a blood-curling shriek!


    ¡°Hrk¡­¡±


    The Soul Kings let out a gasp of pain when struck by the technique. They staggered backward as if physically struck by a weapon!


    The power of Bai Yunfei when under the effects of the Berserk Mode was definitely something to be seen. Combined with the Soul Sentinel Scarf, the Soul Anchoring Technique was something that couldn¡¯t possibly be stopped by any Soul King!


    The demonic glow of red light around Bai Yunfei seemed to bleed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. They used to be slightly white and were now a very eerie shade of red. Stamping down on his foot, Bai Yunfei kicked off against the air with enough force that cracks were left behind on it to go flying towards the Soul King!


    ¡°He has to be at his limit, stop him!!¡±


    Most of the Soul Kings were operating under the assumption Bai Yunfei was making his final stand despite the aura radiating from him. It was something they each learned from experience; a person under circumstances like Bai Yunfei shouldn¡¯t even be remotely capable of fighting at such a high level of strength forever. He had to be nearing the last of his soulforce reserves.


    One by one, the Soul Kings sent out a burst of elemental energy to try and strike him down from behind!


    Then a dark and gold light appeared behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s back!


    The King Caging Bell!


    ¡°Clang!!!¡±


    Completely out of the blue, the King Caging Bell had appeared right behind Bai Yunfei to stop each and every attack from hitting him, and the vibrations brought forth from the attacks hitting the bell was loud enough to make the ears of everyone hurt tremendously!


    Rather than being a bell, the King Caging Bell was more like a giant gold shield to protect Bai Yunfei from harm!


    ¡°He¡¯s stolen the King Caging Bell! How?!¡±


    The Soul Kings froze up at the sight. Several of the Soul Kings had their suspicions on how Bai Yunfei escaped the King Caging Bell, though they never got an answer due to Qin Bangjie being out for the count. So to have the King Caging Bell appear behind Bai Yunfei like a shield was a sudden answer to their questions, and it was extremely shocking to see.


    Now was one of those times where it was hard to see how the situation came to be. Many of the people here were completely caught up in their fear for Bai Yunfei as if he was a demon straight from the underworld.


    Another massacre more tragic than the previous one was starting to unfold!


    Bai Yunfei appeared directly in front of the group of students with his Fire-tipped Spear blaring with fire. The flames around him felt more like sharp blades ready to cut into anyone foolish enough to draw near him. One by one, the students began to fall like withered pieces of grass!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s path was taking him towards a Mid-stage and two Early-stage Soul Kings. Those three Soul Kings were already preparing their strongest attacks to take down Bai Yunfei, but none of their attacks landed on him. The two Early-stage Soul Kings were struck down almost instantly while the Mid-stage Soul King managed to evade death for several exchanges before the Fire-tipped Spear bored straight through him¡­


    Under the power of Berserk Mode, Bai Yunfei was someone who simply couldn¡¯t be stopped. Unless he himself decided to stop, the entire crowd of people here would be killed!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have the intention of doing anything along those lines. Such an act was just¡­a little too much for him, he couldn¡¯t hold out in this mode much longer.


    Going into Berserk Mode was quite different than before. The power he gained from going into such a mode was far stronger, yes, but the pain was also far more unbearable. Though he hadn¡¯t even used the chaotic energy in his body for the past few seconds, the pain wrought from Berserk Mode was already pushing him to his limits.


    He had to escape from this encirclement at once!

 Chapter 986: A Half-Emperor Approaches!

    Though the prohibition on space was gone, the air around Bai Yunfei was still unsuitable for teleporting in. The only way to get away from this place would be to simply force his way out.


    He wanted to kill more people. All the soul refiners he already killed was making his blood boil, but Bai Yunfei knew the most important thing wasn¡¯t continuing this massacre, but to run away. To run away and make it to safety.


    Beyond the ¡®boundary¡¯ was a world he could escape to. If he could make it there, then he¡¯d be able to make it away from this place with his life intact!


    He ignored the people to his left and right. Whether they were furiously attacking him or were desperately trying to run away, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t care. He flew straight ahead with the King Caging Bell and barrier protecting his back while he killed everyone that stood in his way!


    The three Soul Kings from earlier had already succumbed to his attacks. All that remained were the Soul Exalts. Unless they tried to get in formation again, there¡¯d be no way the Soul Exalts would pose any sort of danger to Bai Yunfei. And even then, all Bai Yunfei had to do was go through the formation and scatter them!


    All those who stood in his way would die. It was as simple as that!


    He became like a sword that simply wouldn¡¯t break to forge a path through everyone so he could continue onwards!


    The path ahead was starting to clear up now. Fewer and fewer people were there, and Bai Yunfei could finally see a clear and unimpeded way ahead!


    Realizing he was trying to escape, the Soul Kings behind him immediately pounced forward to try and stop him.


    ¡°Clang¡­¡±


    A powerful burst of elemental energy slammed into the King Caging Bell behind Bai Yunfei at that time. Unlike the other times where the bell simply just rung loudly, the entire air began to tremble as a giant wave of sound started to propagate everywhere!


    The +12 additional effect of the King Caging Bell had gone off cooldown and reactivated!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah!!!¡±


    Multiple students screamed out in pain as they clutched their heads. The elemental energy within their bodies exploded outwards and began to attack at anyone nearby them!


    Every person stopped attacking Bai Yunfei at once as confusion started to set in!


    Not even the Soul Kings were spared. They stood there, transfixed by the sound waves affecting their very soul.


    No one could understand it. Since when did the King Caging Bell have such a strange power like that?!


    Aided by the King Caging Bell¡¯s additional effect, Bai Yunfei stopped attacking for a moment to increase the speed he was traveling at to widen the distance between him and the other Soul Kings.


    The fluctuations in the air were started to weaken now. Bai Yunfei would be able to teleport out from here any time soon. He could already see himself being free and away from this place!


    He didn¡¯t know where exactly in the world this white-colored part of the world was, but Bai Yunfei knew that it was definitely not a part of the ¡®Soul Refining School¡¯. It was a place beyond the Soul Refining School¡¯s control!


    It was getting closer and closer now!! Bai Yunfei was growing more excited as he approached, and he was already starting to tell Xiao Fang to prepare to teleport them away from this place!


    ¡°Watch out! Someone¡¯s teleporting over! A thousand steps ahead of us!¡±


    But rather than replying an affirmative to Bai Yunfei, Xiao Fang gave a warning to him!


    Someone was teleporting in front of him!


    It definitely wasn¡¯t one of the Soul Kings behind him. They were still within a piece of the area where teleportation wasn¡¯t possible with all the elemental energy in the air. That meant¡­a new enemy was approaching!


    While Bai Yunfei was trying to figure out who this enemy could be, a person in gray robes suddenly stepped out from a warp in space!


    It felt like the skies suddenly got dark when this person appeared. An overwhelming amount of power came flooding out from this person to cover the entire area with his soulforce!


    Bai Yunfei felt power like this before. This was the very same power Jing Wuying and patriarch Qin exhibited!


    ¡°A Half-emperor!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face paled almost immediately as he cried out those three words!


    A Half-emperor¡­someone like that was showing up right before he could make it out from here!


    It was an elderly man with white hair, frail skin, and eyes that looked almost sunken in as if he had just stepped out from a coffin. Despite looking so ill, his eyes had a resplendent shine in them and were filled with killing intent!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    The elder spoke at once. There was no other emotion but disdain in that one word as he pointed a single finger at Bai Yunfei!


    A small arrow-like beam of gray light shot out from his finger. As if skipping over space itself, the beam of light disappeared and reappeared in random intervals as it traveled towards Bai Yunfei!


    Caught off guard by the speed of the blow, Bai Yunfei leaped straight for the side to dodge!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The gray beam of light struck the orange barrier around Bai Yunfei and paused briefly before¡­breaking through it!


    The barrier wasn¡¯t able to stop the beam!


    ¡°Pop!!¡±


    Though the beam of light failed to hit Bai Yunfei in the throat as the elder originally intended, it still struck Bai Yunfei through his right shoulder!


    Fortunately for Bai Yunfei the beam of light struck against a part of the armor he wore. Rather than go through it, the beam of light was stopped short by the armor.


    Though while it didn¡¯t have enough penetrative force to go through it, the beam of light was like a thousand-pound hammer that sent Bai Yunfei flying away through the air!


    ¡°Pftt!!!¡±


    As he spiraled through the air, Bai Yunfei let a mouthful of blood escape from his lips! His right arm trembled uselessly by the side of his body; he couldn¡¯t even hold onto the Fire-tipped Spear!


    The joint of his shoulder was definitely dislocated, and the bones were most likely fractured!


    The power of a Half-emperor was terrifying!


    Were it not for the armor he wore, Bai Yunfei had no doubts that his right arm would¡¯ve been utterly crippled by such an attack!


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The elder raised a single eyebrow. He had not expected Bai Yunfei to escape with his life intact.


    ¡°You¡¯ve some skill. It¡¯s no wonder you were able to cause so much trouble and kill so many of my students¡­¡± The elder remarked under his breath. ¡°Then allow me to send you to experience a painful death before you go!¡±


    Black light exploded from the elder¡¯s body before he was even finished speaking. The sky above him was immediately blotted out as the light turned into a devil formed by miasmic smoke. As if stuck in a swamp of darkness, this devil started to swing its arm as if to free itself and tear apart the world.


    The premonition of death assaulted Bai Yunfei¡¯s senses, causing him to turn pale in fright. Trying his best to ignore the pain, Bai Yunfei clenched his right hand to pop the shoulder joint back into place!


    ¡°It¡¯s time to fight!!¡±


    He glared at the Half-emperor in front of him. He had no countermeasures on what to do in case he fought a Half-emperor, but Bai Yunfei knew something had to be done! Clapping both hands in front of his chest, he began to go through a series of hand seals!!

 Chapter 987: The Strongest Attack!

    ¡°Someone stopped him!! Who is it?!¡±


    ¡°The intruder¡¯s hurt! He can¡¯t run away now!¡±


    ¡°Look at that aura! Which elder is it? I¡¯ve never seen this person before?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It didn¡¯t need to be said that a Half-emperor showing up to stop Bai Yunfei would surprise the students there. They were happy, of course, but none of the students seemed to recognize the Half-emperor.


    ¡°Master!!¡±


    The Soul Exalts might not have recognized this man, but the Soul Kings surely did. The Late-stage Soul King back with the others let out a cry of joy once he saw the person.


    ¡°Master Song! He¡¯s come to help us! There¡¯s no hope for the intruder now!¡± Another middle-aged Soul King cried out as well.


    The Soul Kings were overjoyed. They had been worried that Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve escaped, but that all seemed like a moot point now that the Half-emperor was here.


    This Half-emperor was Song Qing, a much older elder of the Soul Refining School. He had isolated himself into training for so long that the entire younger generation of students didn¡¯t even know of his existence. He normally resided within the Soul Tablet Palace to protect it, but upon seeing the massive amount of soul tablets being destroyed¡ªthose belonging to Soul Kings included¡ªthe man decided to head out to see what was the trouble.


    An elder like him was normally a person who wouldn¡¯t mobilize unless the school itself was in danger of perishing. Song Qing feared the worst with so many of the students dying and resolved to come out.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Soul-eater Swarm! Master Song is using a super-powerful move straight away! Haha!! That person is dead! He¡¯s a fool for even hoping to fight back!¡±


    Seeing the skies fill up with multiple malevolent figures brought a smile to one of the Soul Kings. His head snapped back as he brayed with laughter. There was no escaping from this, he felt.


    The other Soul Kings felt the same way, as they all had a similar gleeful look on them.


    None of them moved to help Song Qing, however. With a Half-emperor here, what point was there in the Soul Kings trying to help?


    Besides, the Soul-eater Swarm was a soul skill that attacked indiscriminately. None of the Soul Kings wanted to even get close, let alone help the Half-emperor¡­


    ¡°Will he really finish him off¡­¡±


    While everyone else was so sure that Bai Yunfei would meet his demise here, there was one person in particular who felt worried. Mo Ni was looking at the distinctly grayish flames around Bai Yunfei with a feeling of apprehension¡­


    He remembered seeing the Half-emperor patriarch Qin dying at the hands of Bai Yunfei. One could argue that the feat was somewhat diluted due to how tired patriarch Qin was, but the man was surely not so weak that any Soul King could kill him like that so easily. Bai Yunfei managed to kill him with a single blow. That alone was something that proved how powerful his soul skill was. If he were to use the same technique here, Mo Ni had serious doubts about whether or not Song Qing would be able to withstand it¡­


    Truth be told, Mo Ni was feeling weak in the knees right now. It had been in his belief that Bai Yunfei was basically as trapped as an octopus in a jar with him being on school grounds. It should¡¯ve been a snap for him to be captured and for Mo Ni to carry out his ¡®revenge¡¯. Things hadn¡¯t been like what his imagination said it¡¯d be, and Bai Yunfei had carried out a path of devastation that was utterly mind-blowing to think about. But even after seeing all that strength for himself, Mo Ni still wasn¡¯t even sure if that was all Bai Yunfei had to offer¡­


    That apprehension he felt was for the Half-emperor. A Half-emperor was stronger than even a Peak Late-stage Soul King, but not even someone such as Song Qing had Mo Ni¡¯s complete confidence¡­


    ¡­¡­


    In the middle of the battlefield.


    Several seconds passed before Song Qing finally unleashed his soul skill. Brandishing his hand like a baton, he had the countless demons fly forth like a swarm of locusts to sail towards Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    And at the same time as they approached, Bai Yunfei let out a loud roar and punched both arms forward!


    The Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Two fiery dragons exploded out from his arms to charge straight into the ¡®army¡¯ that were the demons!


    This was the strongest type of Dual Dragon Burst Bai Yunfei had to offer when he was in Berserk Mode!


    The flames of the dragon contained a small sliver of violet electricity, but there was also another element dyed into the flames. A small speck of gray light¡­chaotic energy!


    Bai Yunfei was using the uncontrollable chaotic energy in his attack!


    If one were to compare the attacks between Bai Yunfei and Song Qing, one would see that Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack had much more of that gray light!


    The two were a thousand steps apart from one another, and yet it took only a moment for their attacks to crossed all that distance to meet in the middle!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The amount of destruction brought from their meeting was unbelievable. The heavens themselves shook as the entire battlefield was washed over with elemental energy. In front of these two dueling combatants, the Soul Kings watching there felt like they were nothing more than minor fledglings.


    As massive as the Dual Dragon Burst was, the two dragons were slightly lacking in size compared to the Soul-eater Swarm. The dragons exploded once they made contact with the opposing attack and transformed into a giant sea of flames to cover the ¡®army¡¯ of ¡®demons¡¯!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    Song Qing had been expecting for his attack to completely wipe out the opposing one. He hadn¡¯t thought that something like this would happen!


    All of the demons within his soul skill were being wiped out one after another. Like the melting of snow, his Soul-eater Swarm was being¡­reduced to nothing!


    What a huge discrepancy from his expectations! He couldn¡¯t believe it¡ªthe soul skill of a person who boosted himself to the level of a Peak Late-stage Soul King was actually capable of stopping a soul skill of his own!


    ¡°Is this power¡­chaotic energy?! That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s impossible!!¡±


    It took a second for him to realize something was amiss. Looking again to the Dual Dragon Burst, the elder studied it for a moment before letting out a horrified cry!


    He wasn¡¯t one to normally question things; he didn¡¯t even know who Bai Yunfei was or what the context this battle had. The only thing he knew was that from this one move alone, Bai Yunfei had shown him something that filled him with the utmost terror!


    This went beyond the normal levels of ¡®fear¡¯, or even ¡®fright¡¯. The Half-emperor was terrified beyond everything else!


    As common as the rule was, everyone below that of a Half-emperor should¡¯ve been like an ant to Song Qing. Not even a Soul King with more power than expected would be trouble for him!


    ¡°This person¡­must die!!¡±


    Song Qing concluded. Whomever this person was, he had to die without a doubt!


    ¡°Pah¡­you¡¯re at the end of your rope, give up and die!!¡±


    His eyes lit up a moment later. His soulsense had told him that Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura had suddenly dropped drastically compared to what it was before!


    This person must¡¯ve used up all his strength in order to fight off the Soul-eater Swarm¡­


    The terror drained away from Song Qing for a moment at that. Raising his hand, he pointed his finger again at Bai Yunfei!


    Like his first strike, Song Qing sent out another beam of gray light to zip towards the black and red explosion of light to hit Bai Yunfei!


    It looked like a rather simple move, but Song Qing had put his all into this move. In his opinion, there was no way Bai Yunfei was going to be able to avoid this move!


    ¡­¡­


    Indeed, it did look like Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to even move right now...


    Using the Dual Dragon Burst in his current state had caused him to use up most of his soulforce as well as causing a great deal of harm to his body due to the chaotic energy. It felt almost like thousands of blades were cutting into his body and left his person drenched with pain and sweat. He wouldn¡¯t be able to fight for some time.


    It was one thing when he used the Dual Dragon Burst while in Berserk Mode against patriarch Qin. During that time, he canceled out Berserk Mode almost immediately so he could minimize the damage brought onto his body. But he couldn¡¯t do the same thing right now. Canceling out the Berserk Mode right now was the same as killing himself!


    He had been relieved for a while after seeing his own attack stop the attack of his enemy. But then a gray beam of light shot forth from it towards him!


    Though he was surprised, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t step away from his spot. He just stood there with a knowing look in his eyes!


    Without any warning, a black whirlpool appeared in front of him to immediately engulf the gray beam of light into it!


    The beam of light didn¡¯t travel out from the other side of the whirlpool. Instead, it simply disappeared from the world along with the black whirlpool!


    This¡­was the +10 additional effect of the armor he wore. The ability of having an absolute defense against any aimed elemental attack! By using up some of his soulforce, Bai Yunfei could have a whirlpool appear in front of him to swallow up any kind of elemental attack, provided that it was only a single-hit type once every ten minutes.


    While that was going on, the flames from the Dual Dragon Burst finally won over the remaining energy of the Soul-eater Swarm and continued to roll forward towards Qing Song!

 Chapter 988: Left With No More Trump Cards

    ¡°What?!¡±


    To say Song Qing was surprised was an understatement. Yes, Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Dragon Burst had a sliver of chaotic energy in it¡ªand that was already a huge shock¡ªhis attack should¡¯ve beaten it still. The Dual Dragon Burst was a great deal stronger than he gave it credit for, as it had still enough power to attack him still!


    What also surprised him was the fact that his attack had just suddenly gone missing. One moment it was there in front of Bai Yunfei, and in the next moment¡­it wasn¡¯t?!


    ¡°What is all this?!¡±


    From what he could tell, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t do anything. His soulforce hadn¡¯t even fluctuated in ways that might¡¯ve indicated otherwise. Qing Song¡¯s attack had simply just disappeared into thin air without him knowing what had happened.


    It felt almost surreal to Qing Song how many times he had been surprised by Bai Yunfei in such a short amount of time. Never in his entire life had he experienced so many mysteries embodied within a single person as Bai Yunfei was showing him.


    ¡°If I want you dead, then you will die!!¡± Qing Song snarled.


    How could a mere Soul King be resisting him so? The fact that Bai Yunfei was still alive was an upfront to the Half-emperor.


    A shroud of darkness gathered around the man to protect him from the incoming flames. A giant demonic figure materialized from the cloak then to advance towards the sea of flames!


    It smashed into the flames with a loud moan. Both of its arms struggled and wriggled as it tried to scatter apart the flames and stop it from hitting its master!


    This was clearly some kind of defensive-type soul skill!


    It didn¡¯t seem nearly enough to stop the flames, however. People could see that its skin was already starting to melt from the heat, and the longer it stuck to the flames, the faster the demon seemed to lose its form.


    Again, Song Qing was surprised by how powerful the Dual Dragon Burst was. Never had he felt so much danger come from a Soul King before!


    He had no chance defending against the chaotic energy should it touch him, as it would simply tear apart whatever elemental barrier he could put into place. But it would still require time for the chaotic energy to melt away his defenses!


    All he had to do was reach Bai Yunfei first and attack!


    Song Qing was very much interested in seeing just how Bai Yunfei would react in a close-quarter fight!!


    ¡°Ha!!¡± He sneered in preparation to close the distance.


    It was time for a soul attack!


    The soul attack of a Half-emperor should definitely be enough to cause even Bai Yunfei to have a lapse in motion.


    And Bai Yunfei knew that. The expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face faltered for a moment as he realized a soul attack was quickly coming his way. The Cataclysmic Seal was already coming out in preparation to protect its owner from any physical attack Song Qing might try to pull off.


    But then a pulse of energy from one of his soul armaments caused him to smile in glee!


    The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring was starting to pulsate with a warm glow of light!


    The +12 additional effect of the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring had activated!


    10% Chance of being immune to any spirit-based attack.Cooldown of 1 hour.


    The effect had a small probability to activate so Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really expect for the ring to do much. Luckily for him, the ring did, in fact, choose to activate!


    ¡°Die!!¡± Song Qing roared.


    He swung his hand out, not to send a beam of light flying at Bai Yunfei, but a strange white blade made from what appeared to be the bones of a human!


    This was a soul armament!! Any soul armament used by a Half-emperor would definitely be of extreme power. This soul armament in particular just had to be a high-heaven tier!


    Wailing through the skies as it traveled, the bone-white blade made a direct beeline for Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Using a soul attack at this juncture would see to Bai Yunfei having to freeze for a moment. And that moment would be when the blade would hit him. Song Qing had no doubts that this would finish Bai Yunfei off!


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    Then came the moment Song Qing was waiting for. The weapon made contact with Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat, but rather than seeing it stop there, Qing Song was alarmed to see it go straight ¡®through¡¯ him!


    It was as if the weapon had gone through thin air instead of a person!


    Song Qing noticed then something was strange with Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura¡­it wasn¡¯t there! Though Bai Yunfei was standing right there in front of him, his figure had a slightly transparent shine to him, and his aura was nowhere to be felt! If not for him being right there, Qing Song would¡¯ve thought there wasn¡¯t anyone there!


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    Something within Song Qing¡¯s body trembled. Raising his hand, he crooked a finger to call his soul armament back to him. It obeyed his command and turned around to fly through Bai Yunfei again!


    ¡°Useless again!!¡± Song Qing exclaimed to himself. He couldn¡¯t understand it, what was going on here?!


    Bai Yunfei was without a doubt standing in front of him. He could distinctly see Bai Yunfei go through several hand seals! But for some reason, his aura was nowhere to be felt!


    This was the +10 additional effect of the Core Stone activating!!


    It was a trump card Bai Yunfei waited until the very last moment to make use of. That was because¡­with this, he could finally land the decisive blow!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei came back into the real world two seconds later. His aura was picked up straight away by Song Qing this time, but he was surprised to see that his aura was¡­back to his prime strength! He was nowhere as weak as he was after firing of the Dual Dragon Burst!


    This was¡­Soul Ignition!


    When Bai Yunfei was in that extra dimension, he wasn¡¯t readying up an attack of any kind. He was actually trying to recover his strength with Soul Ignition!


    Song Qing was stunned. Never had he been in a fight where a person¡¯s strength could jump so drastically from one point to another!


    ¡°Freeze!¡±


    Then at that moment, his body joined his mind in coming to a stop!


    The Soul Anchoring Technique!


    Shivering from head to toe, Bai Yunfei forced a groan from escaping his lips. He was clearly trying to concentrate as hard as he could to unleash an all-out attack!


    Before the Dual Dragon Burst, Bai Yunfei had the power of a Peak Late-stage Soul King. Soul Ignition was something that allowed him to make up the power he had lost after using the Dual Dragon Burst. In other words, not even the Half-emperor Song Qing would be able to take a hit from him so easily now!


    A drawback existed, however. Because of Soul Ignition, Bai Yunfei was unable to pull off any other move after he used the Soul Anchoring Technique!


    Song Qing was only affected by the Soul Anchoring Technique for a brief moment. The Fire-tipped Spear might¡¯ve been able to kill Song Qing had Bai Yunfei the chance to make use of its +13 additional effect, but that wasn¡¯t possible. He had already used it beforehand, so the effect was still on cooldown!


    Were¡­were all the trump cards he used for naught? Had everything he did to get this far a waste of effort if he couldn¡¯t do anything to kill Song Qing?!

 Chapter 989: Trapping a Half-Emperor! Will There Be Freedom?

    One second passed by.


    It was just a second, but it felt like an eternity to the white-faced Qing Song. His back was already completely drenched with sweat from his anxiety.


    Truly, the passage of time almost felt far too slow to him. It felt as if he would die from old age after this moment was over¡­


    A moment¡¯s inaction was dangerous. For people as strong as him, a second could determine their life or death several times over.


    Though he was straddling the fine line between life and death, Qing Song couldn¡¯t help but feel excited. Bai Yunfei would no doubt be left unprotected if he dodged this, and that meant he had an excellent chance of killing Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Hmph! So, in the end, you¡¯ve run out of parlor tricks?! It doesn¡¯t matter how many tricks you have up your sleeve, you cannot escape death!¡±


    Song Qing¡¯s eyes honed in on Bai Yunfei like a snake eyeing its prey. His soulforce was circulating in preparation to strike and kill Bai Yunfei in one blow.


    It was at that moment a sense of danger crawled up his spine. Sensing something above him, Qing Song snapped his head up. Something had been casting its shadow from above him¡­


    Something that was black and gold in color and was the shape of a bell!


    ¡°Gongggg!!!!¡±


    The only thing that could be heard was the bell dropping down onto Song Qing. His elemental barrier was rendered useless as no attack struck it¡ªthe bell had simply been too big for its interior to touch it!


    It was strange that the bell could make such a sound when it fell. Qing Song had been standing on thin air and yet the bell made the same sound it would as it would if it fell onto solid ground.


    When the bell did fall, a black and gold sheen of light materialized at the bottom of the bell to form a material surface for the bell to rest on.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    At what was the most critical juncture of the battle between Bai Yunfei and Qing Song, Bai Yunfei used the King Caging Bell to trap his still-frozen opponent!


    That was the last resort Bai Yunfei had up his sleeve!!


    He hadn¡¯t any other way to attack Qing Song. He was already operating the King Caging Bell to imprison Qing Song when the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring had warded off his opponent¡¯s attack. By using the Core Stone to evade his opponent, Bai Yunfei was able to fly the King Caging Bell over Qing Song¡¯s head while being camouflaged in the flames.


    Qing Song hadn¡¯t been wrong in one regard. When Bai Yunfei used Soul Ignition to recover his strength and then the Soul Anchoring Technique to attack, he really was defenseless. But defenseless didn¡¯t mean being unable to think. With a single command, Bai Yunfei was able to precisely drop the King Caging Bell onto Qing Song!


    Generally speaking, there was no way a Half-emperor would be caught so off guard like Qing Song had. In Qing Song¡¯s defense, this battle with Bai Yunfei had been so alarming to him that he couldn¡¯t help but focus entirely onto him. He hadn¡¯t the time to spare for the flames left behind by the Dual Dragon Burst and was thus caught off guard by the King Caging Bell. Even more importantly¡­he didn¡¯t realize Bai Yunfei would have the treasured King Caging Bell in his possession!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This is¡­the King Caging Bell?! How!!¡±


    He knew what the King Caging Bell was, of course. He just couldn¡¯t believe his eyes that the King Caging Bell of all things was imprisoning him. No matter how much he didn¡¯t want to believe it, the truth was biting down on him hard!


    ¡°Why¡­why! Why is the King Caging Bell in his hands rather than Qin Bangjie?! How can¡­how can he even use it?!!!¡±


    Trying as hard as he might to think, Qing Song simply couldn¡¯t justify the situation with an answer. How in the world was an outsider in possession of the treasured King Caging Bell; an item that had been closely guarded by the representative elder, Qin Bangjie, for the last several dozen years?!


    ¡°Damn it all!!¡±


    Qing Song roared aloud. Even if he wanted to pretend that this wasn¡¯t real, he could still very clearly feel his soulforce being drained away from his person!


    He had to escape this place at once!


    The power of the King Caging Bell wasn¡¯t lost on him. Qing Song knew better than to stick around here. Two seconds had elapsed since he was entrapped here and already he was starting to formulate a plan to escape. Black energy started to form around his right arm in preparation for an attack. He snarled.


    Black claws formed immediately from the black energy to extend out from his hand. Despite its black color, a chilling sheen could be seen reflecting off the claws as he thrust them at the King Caging Bell!


    ¡°Gongggg!!!¡±


    The vibrations unleashed by the claws hitting the bell was almost strong enough to rupture Qing Song¡¯s eardrums. But he persisted somehow.


    ¡°H¡ªhow?!¡±


    He was stunned. Something wasn¡¯t right here. While the King Caging Bell might be strong enough to stop Soul Kings, a Half-emperor was a step up from being a Soul King and shouldn¡¯t be stopped here.


    He had put his all into that one blow. How in the world had it not broken him out?


    Several scratch marks were left on the bell¡¯s interior, but that was the extent of the damages! The King Caging Bell was still exuding its powerful ability onto him!


    It was enough to make him feel faint-headed. Was this really the King Caging Bell he knew of? Looking at his arm, the man suddenly realized something was amiss!


    ¡°This can¡¯t be!!¡±


    He roared before slamming onto the wall of the bell again!


    ¡°Gong¡­¡±


    The bell hummed with a loud vibration once again when he struck against it. As everyone on the outside leaped at the sudden noise, Qing Song was on the inside still struggling against his confines.


    ¡°This¡­this can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    All of the Soul Exalt students there were stupefied. Not even the Soul Kings were able to withhold their fear!


    What had they seen?


    It was simple really. A few moments ago, Bai Yunfei was on the retreat after being assaulted by another powerful elder from the Soul Refining School. Then a few exchanges later¡­that same elder was captured by the King Caging Bell!


    It went without saying that even the Soul Kings couldn¡¯t help but just stand there in mute shock. Their jaws were hanging on the hinges and their eyes were wide open. Who could possibly expect something like this to happen!?


    There was one person in particular who was able to keep a calm expression on his face. Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°He¡¯s captured!!¡±


    That calm expression of his bled away as the realization of Qing Song being captured dawned on him. A fierce light started to shine from his eyes as he smiled in glee!


    This last resort of his had been a gamble. He definitely would¡¯ve died if it failed, but¡­he somehow managed to turn the tables!


    ¡°Resisting? Give up, it¡¯s hopeless!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei sneered to himself when he heard the noise coming from the King Caging Bell. Breathing in, he took off towards the King Caging Bell!


    Qing Song hadn¡¯t been too far away from him to begin with so it didn¡¯t take long for Bai Yunfei to reach the side of the bell. Placing his right hand onto its surface, Bai Yunfei pressed gently against it¡­


    One terrifying moment later, the other Soul Kings watched as the King Caging Bell lit up like a black and gold sun before¡­disappearing from sight!


    ¡°Ah!! Stop him! Stop him!! Stop him now!!¡±


    The disappearance of the King Caging Bell and Bai Yunfei flying away was all it took for the remaining Late-stage Soul King to snap out of his daze. Letting out a cry of despair, he took off after him!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Multiple streaks of light shot across the sky like a storm of shooting stars. They were each flying for Bai Yunfei, but¡­was that really enough to stop Bai Yunfei?!


    Evading and shrugging off the attacks as if it was no more trouble than a few droplets of rain, Bai Yunfei had the Heaven¡¯s Thunder beneath his feet fly even faster towards the boundary to the outside world!

 Chapter 990: The Destruction of the Black Prison

    Everything was a hazy white in front of Bai Yunfei. As if he was wading through a dense fog, Bai Yunfei could hardly even sense what was in front of him with his soulsense. And no matter how deep he traveled into it, it didn¡¯t seem like there was an end to it.


    He didn¡¯t really care about that, though.


    The elemental energy in this part of the world was drastically more stable than where he was before, and Bai Yunfei smiled knowing that he¡¯d be able to teleport out of here.


    He glanced behind him to take a look at his pursuers. Seeing that several streaks of light were still coming after him, Bai Yunfei opted to use the Core Stone to teleport away. One ripple of energy later and Bai Yunfei was teleported away!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom¡­¡±


    Several beams of light smashed into the ground where Bai Yunfei once stood, scattering the mist with a wild burst of energy. The ground was littered with craters and dust, but no traces of Bai Yunfei could be seen¡­


    Bai Yunfei reappeared a good distance away. He stared at the spot where he had been in with a curious glance. There was a question in mind, but no answer was coming to him. Three seconds later, Bai Yunfei disappeared from that place to teleport away again¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Mo Ni and the other soul refiners with him were all parked on the other side of the boundary. They were all staring at the hazy white world Bai Yunfei had run into. How could they possibly find Bai Yunfei in that?


    ¡°How¡­how could this even happen!!!?¡± A Soul King howled. His entire body shivered with anger as he vented at the boundary.


    ¡°Senior¡­senior Song was defeated?! I can¡¯t believe it! He was a Half-emperor! A Half-emperor!! Every single attack he used could¡¯ve killed a Peak Late-stage Soul King straight off the bat, how in the world did the intruder not die then?! How did he find a way to escape!!?¡± The Mid-stage Soul King to his side was also looking like he was about to go crazy with how Bai Yunfei had escaped.


    ¡°Not only did he steal the King Caging Bell, he used it to capture senior Song! As strong as the King Caging Bell is, it was never so strong that it could capture a Half-Emperor! Then it disappeared¡­how could he do that!? There¡¯s no way he stored it into a space ring! Not with senior Song inside!¡±


    The Soul King collective was in an uproar. Several Soul Kings were speculating wildly to one another, some were stunned into silence, others were contemplating, and a few were even fearing for the worst¡­


    ¡°The first elder¡¯s awake!! First elder¡­how do you feel right now?!¡±


    A loud cry silenced every other one. Everyone grew silent to turn to where Qin Bangjie was being held up by several students.


    Qin Bangjie was a frightful mess. His entire body was singed and his left arm was gone at his shoulder. Though the wound had been cauterized and staunched, it was still very much a gruesome sight to look at. To make matters even worse, Qin Bangjie¡¯s soulforce reserves was still dangerously low even with the students feeding him their soulforce.


    He was at the very least recovering, though.


    His eyes fluttered open. His first thought was not of the wounds he sustained, but the environment around him. ¡°Has Bai Yunfei¡­escaped?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    No one answered him, but their expression was all Qin Bangjie needed to see. A bitter laugh escaped from his lips. ¡°One person¡­¡± He wheezed, ¡°One person did all this! Not even our entire school can stop a single Soul King! An entire school¡­!¡±


    Blood spilled from his lips after he was seized by a coughing fit, and then Qin Bangjie fell unconscious once again.


    A Late-stage Soul King stepped forward to take the students place in transferring soulforce to Qin Bangjie. Administering some additional energy to the man, the Late-stage Soul King waited for Qin Bangjie¡¯s wounds to stabilize.


    He and the others were afraid to tell Qin Bangjie the rest of the story. That the Half-emperor senior Song Qing had come to fight Bai Yunfei and was kidnapped by Bai Yunfei.


    Then came another burst of light as a group of Soul Exalts came flying towards them from a different direction. At the group¡¯s head was a Late-stage Soul Exalt elder in green robes.


    They looked flustered in their flight path and were flying straight for Mo Ni. Rather than bowing in polite greeting to the Soul Kings, the Soul Exalts began to speak to Mo Ni, ¡°Junior headmaster, bad news!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Mo Ni barked in confusion. He thought these Soul Exalts were reinforcements, not bearers of even more bad news. ¡°What happened?¡±


    The entire Soul Refining School was out trying to capture Bai Yunfei and failed. What news could possibly be ¡®bad¡¯ in comparison to that?


    The elder trembled, as if fearful to say it.


    ¡°The¡­the Black Prison has been destroyed!! All of the jailed have escaped! Elder Feng is trying to capture the ones who escaped, but over half of them are missing right now!¡±


    ¡°What?! The Black Prison was destroyed?! How can that be!?¡±


    Another round of shock went through the group. Mo Ni, in particular, had a face that was as white as chalk. This was terrible news!


    Elder Feng was a Late-stage Soul King, so Mo Ni thought it was strange that he hadn¡¯t come to help them capture Bai Yunfei. He had been dealing with the Black Prison breakout then? That must¡¯ve been why several others didn¡¯t rally here.


    ¡°A report from a surviving student says that a newly instated guest elder is responsible.¡± The Soul Exalt reported swiftly. ¡°That elder was reported to wear a golden mask and has a silver iris. He spoke to the elder-in-charge saying that he had suspicions of the intruder hiding there. When refused, he and the students there were killed. The people we jailed there were let out and¡­the entire place was destroyed!¡±


    ¡°Damn damn damn!!¡± Mo Ni cursed. ¡°Return to the school grounds!!¡± He motioned to the Soul Kings behind him, ¡°Find the escapees and bring them back!!¡±


    He was close to blowing his top. If Bai Yunfei escaping wasn¡¯t bad enough, there was now a group of prisoners that escaped?! What kind of conclusion was this?!


    ¡­¡­


    From within the area of mist, a ripple of energy disturbed a piece of the area there before a person stepped out from it.


    ¡°Where is this place¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. He grunted in pain the next second. ¡°I can¡¯t hold on much longer!¡±


    He dove straight for the ground. As soon as he hit soft ground, Bai Yunfei disappeared into thin air.


    And in his place, a pebble fell some distance down from the air to fall in between two leaves.


    Within the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei fell onto the ground within the Core World with a gasp. Undoing Berserk Mode and Soul Ignition, Bai Yunfei crumpled and laid there as if powerless.


    Then¡­he began to let loose a pain-filled howl!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±

 Chapter 991: Profiting

    This reaction to the undoing of Soul Ignition was a magnitude heavier than the one before.


    The burden of the technique had been noticeably lax the first time he used it. He was only up against an Early-stage Soul King and used a few techniques like teleportation and the Cataclysmic Seal to destroy a mountain. Even then, he was only in that state for about forty seconds at most.


    This time was distinctly different. He first recovered his strength with Soul Ignition and then shot a full-powered blast of Dual Dragon Burst with a mix of chaotic energy and then an all-out burst of the Soul Anchoring Technique. Those two techniques alone would¡¯ve been enough to take out a massive chunk of his soulforce. Then there were the effects of his soul armaments. Added that with a few teleportations and Bai Yunfei was basically all out of soulforce!


    One of the major problems was the Dual Dragon Burst. That alone had caused a tremendous amount of damage to his body!


    Him being in both Berserk Mode and being fueled by Soul Ignition was basically all that was holding him together. The moment he undid both techniques was the moment when all that pain immediately assaulted Bai Yunfei¡¯s body with enough force to make him feel like his body was being ripped apart!


    ¡°Ah! Ahh!! Ahhhh!!!¡±


    A loud wail of pain echoed across the Core World. Startled by the sound, Lao Sha popped out from its hole to give the writhing Bai Yunfei a scared whimper.


    ¡°Is it that serious?!¡± Xiao Fang appeared right by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    A ripple appeared nearby Bai Yunfei¡¯s side a second later for an assortment of white grass to appear near him.


    ¡°These are Soul Healing Grass, they¡¯ll help your injuries. Hurry up and eat it!¡±


    These herbs were one of the remaining few in the garden Xiao Fang had left. Enough time had gone by for Xiao Fang to begin recultivating the garden, and that time spent was already bearing some fruit. Several of the herbs were already flourishing and were in a ripe enough state to be used in certain medicines.


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    It didn¡¯t seem like Bai Yunfei heard Xiao Fang with how much he was screaming. A flicker of light in his eyes seemed to indicate otherwise, as Bai Yunfei suddenly brought his hand forward to grab and stuff the herbs into his mouth.


    ¡°Ahh!!! Ahhh!!!¡±


    Then he began to scream again¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Time trickled by slowly for Bai Yunfei. The screams of pain he gave now was already noticeably fainter than before but the pain was still there.


    Five hours would pass before Bai Yunfei¡¯s screams finally died down.


    Like the last time, the skies above the hill was dyed a bright red as elemental fire swirled around the area like in a whirlpool.


    The Core World had no concept of day and night so it didn¡¯t matter how much time had passed, it would always be ¡®bright¡¯ outside. Laying on top of the ground, Bai Yunfei was like a statue with how he was immobile. The only signs of life within him was the steady, but faint, flow of soulforce.


    The whirlpool of elemental fire was shrinking in circumference. Slowly, it closed in and was drained into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. When the last of it was gone, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes fluttered open to symbolize his awakening¡­


    ¡°Whewww¡­.¡± Exhaled Bai Yunfei. His chest was rising up and down slowly now.


    A series of cracking sounds erupted from his body as seemingly every joint in his body started to pop. It felt almost blissful to Bai Yunfei, and a peaceful expression appeared on his face. It was indeed a blissful sensation in comparison to the intense pain he had been in before.


    Leaping to his feet, Bai Yunfei tentatively flexed his arms and legs to see if everything was healed. Pleased by the results, he looked down at the state of his clothes. Clicking his tongue, he asked Xiao Fang for a small stream of elemental water.


    Xiao Fang obliged, and Bai Yunfei used that stream to wash the blood and grime off his body before changing into a new set of clothes. A small assortment of food appeared from his space ring for Bai Yunfei to quickly consume right afterward.


    Sustenance wasn¡¯t necessarily required for Bai Yunfei, but eating a hearty meal after such a devastating battle was definitely pleasing to Bai Yunfei.


    Once he had his fill of food and drink, Bai Yunfei sat back down to think of the next step in the plan.


    ¡°I¡¯ve definitely managed to make it out from the worst, but I¡¯m not out of the woods just yet¡­¡± His right hand clenched several times to crack the knuckles as he muttered to himself.


    The good news was that there were no irreversible damages to be noted yet from using Soul Ignition. The even better news was that Bai Yunfei noted his body was a great deal stronger than what it was before.


    Fighting to the death was quite often the best and fastest way for a person to get stronger. It would¡¯ve been strange for Bai Yunfei not to improve after something like this. He was now a step closer to being a Late-stage Soul King.


    Perhaps this was some kind of restitution for the dangerous situation he was thrown into.


    Interestingly enough, the biggest change in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body wasn¡¯t the increase of soulforce, but¡­


    A familiar string of handseals was made before Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura skyrocketed¡ªhe was going into both ¡®Coil¡¯ and ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!


    It seemed almost unfathomable why Bai Yunfei would do that now, but surely he had to have some kind of reason for it.


    Bai Yunfei lifted his right hand up to eye-level for him to see. A small flame burst out from his palm with a ¡®pop¡¯. A small gray speck could be seen in the flames.


    He gripped his hand a few seconds later to scatter the flame. His aura dropped back down to his original level as he dispelled both forms and allowed for his second fireseed to float back into the Cataclysmic Seal.


    There was a joyful look on his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­the chaotic energy has gotten stronger!¡± He smiled. ¡°I can feel an even better harmony between my fireseed and it now!¡±


    This was a substantial change. Any time he used the chaotic energy was a dangerous and painful time, so Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even want to practice using that energy normally. His usage of it during the battle with patriarch Qin and Song Qing were obviously due to extenuating circumstances, and even then, he had been comparatively conservative with his usage of it.


    Before, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t much of a clue on how to control that energy, but now he felt like he was one step closer to it. He was more ¡®familiar¡¯ with how chaotic energy worked. Somehow, he felt like he¡¯d be able to unleash even more powerful attacks with it¡­


    The first time he used chaotic energy, it was to kill the weakened Half-emperor patriarch Qin. His second time allowed him to defeat the full-strength Half-emperor Song Qing. What kind of result would his third time entail then¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Another thing to note after this battle was the ¡®loot¡¯ Bai Yunfei got from the soul refiners. In that regard, Bai Yunfei had made it out like a bandit.


    By killing virtually everyone in his path, Bai Yunfei was able to gather an assortment of soul armament and other things like space rings. He even had the space rings of several Soul Kings, and Bai Yunfei was practically giddy to find out what those rings contained¡­


    He had to hold back his desire to go looking through them, however. Now wasn¡¯t the time for it. There was still one more pressing matter Bai Yunfei had to attend to first¡­


    ¡°Xiao Fang, what¡¯s happened with the man inside the King Caging Bell?¡±


    Bai Yunfei found out about the name of the King Caging Bell when one of the soul refiners shouted out its name. It was thought by the soul refiners that Bai Yunfei stored the King Caging Bell within one of his space rings, but the truth was that Bai Yunfei used the Core Stone to transport both it and the imprisoned person into the Core World.


    ¡°He¡¯s still in there. What an annoyance he was, slamming against the bell so many times. But he¡¯s quiet now, I wonder if he¡¯s dead¡­¡±


    The King Caging Bell appeared in front of Bai Yunfei as Xiao Fang brought it out.


    A gleam of light flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes as he connected with the King Caging Bell. The bell chimed once before flying up to reveal a seated figure within it¡­

 Chapter 992: The Lost Swamp and Song Qings Condition

    An elderly figure could be seen seated within the King Caging Bell. The moment when the bell flew up to reveal him, the elder¡¯s eyes flew open at once. As if waiting for this moment, the elder pounced forward like a tiger with a ghastly claw to stab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s face!


    Even after being trapped in the King Caging Bell for several hours, the elder had still enough soulforce to fight!


    His claws were filled with the last of his soulforce. It was an ambush that should¡¯ve caught any person off guard, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even look flustered! When it looked like his claws were just inches away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, the elder felt the entire world suddenly grow blurry. Blinking, the elder realized that Bai Yunfei was now a few dozen steps away from him!


    It wasn¡¯t as though Bai Yunfei stepped backward to evade the attack. The elder was the one who had been moved!


    ¡°A portal!!¡± Song Qing realized.


    A black beam of light flew out from his claws to attack Bai Yunfei from afar, but it only disappeared into thin air after traveling a few meters.


    He narrowed his eyes. Repurposing the last of his soulforce from his claws to his body, the elder began to begin the motions to teleport.


    But it wasn¡¯t working!


    ¡°Hmph! Teleportation? In here? As if!¡±


    The elder was alerted to the sneer of a third party and snapped his head up at the source. Floating up there in the air was an illusion of a small stone.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± Song Qing wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of this thing at first, but a thought hit him soon enough. ¡°You¡¯re a spirit! An armament¡¯s spirit! But how!¡±


    Him realizing what Xiao Fang was set off a chain reaction in his mind. ¡°This shape¡­this place¡­you¡¯re the Core Stone! One of the Regalia! How are you in possession of a Regalia!?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Did you figure it out? Seems like you¡¯re not too stupid!¡± Xiao Fang remarked. It hadn¡¯t thought this man would know who it was so quick.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t as shocked as Xiao Fang was. ¡°Since you know this is the Core World, you should know it¡¯s pointless fighting back. There¡¯s no use fighting, and there¡¯s no use trying to escape. If you don¡¯t want to die a painful death, then answer my questions.¡±


    He didn¡¯t want to say ¡®answer my questions and I¡¯ll let you live¡¯. That was a statement no one would believe.


    ¡°Die?¡±


    But his words seemed to spark anger in Song Qing¡¯s eyes. ¡°Do you really believe threats will work on me, boy? When it comes to the torturing of the soul, who else but the Soul Refining School can claim to be the best at it! For one who has dabbled in the many dark paths of the soul like I, what paltry tricks could you do to terrify me?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei said nothing. Indeed, the words of what this Half-emperor was saying had truth to it. Torturing and Soul Scanning wouldn¡¯t do much to a Half-emperor like Song Qing. Not even bringing the man to near-death would be enough to break the man.


    ¡°However¡­answer me one thing and I will perhaps tell you something else in return, including how to leave the Lost Swamp. You must be lost by now, are you not? It¡¯ll be impossible for you to leave by yourself, but I can tell you the secret path out of the swamp.¡±


    Almost contrary to his earlier words, Song Qing began to negotiate with Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei froze up at his words. ¡°The Lost Swamp?! Are you saying¡­one of the three danger zones, that swamp?!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Song Qing was equally confused as Bai Yunfei. ¡°You didn¡¯t know that?! Then how in the world did you manage to get into our school?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t respond, he was trying to remember what little information he knew of the Lost Swamp. So the Soul Refining School had their school located within the Lost Swamp? That was an even harder location to find than the Underworld School in the Black Cloud Valley! It was no wonder the Soul Refining School was never found, who would¡¯ve thought they¡¯d be in one of the three danger zones?


    The Lost Swamp was located at the fringe of the western borders of the empire. It was inexplicably large and covered a great deal of land. It was almost similar to the Black Cloud Valley, but rather than having black clouds cover the place, the swamp was covered by a very thick white fog.


    The black clouds of Black Cloud Valley could dampen the ability of a soul cultivator to scan their surroundings, but the white fog of the Lost Swamp could ¡®fool¡¯ the senses of a soul cultivator. In other words, a soul cultivator would have no sense of direction and would be in even worse straits.


    Having one¡¯s soulsense be dampened was already terrifying enough, but a soul cultivator would still be able to note that something within a certain range of him was real. In this white fog, however, a soul cultivator wouldn¡¯t even be able to see if the objects in front of them were real or not!


    Simply put, a Soul King would be able to teleport through the place, but they might end up teleporting to the south rather than to the north as they wanted.


    The usage of soulsense was therefore useless in such a place. One was better off relying on their own sense of sight to guide their path.


    It was said that many soul cultivators have long since tried to discern the mystery behind the Lost Swamp, but the majority of them failed to return¡­


    A sour expression appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. It was no wonder he was lost then if he was in such a place. Bai Yunfei felt like no wonder where he was going nowhere despite teleporting several times over. He just didn¡¯t think there¡¯d be a reason like this behind it!


    If everything Song Qing said was true, then Bai Yunfei¡¯s chances of truly escaping from the Soul Refining School and the Lost Swamp would be practically nil.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What is it you want then?¡± Bai Yunfei asked after a long period of silence.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not so naive that I¡¯d ask you to spare my life. My only desire is to fight you again!


    ¡°I won¡¯t ask for it to be a fair fight.¡± The elder spoke, ¡°I only ask that you don¡¯t use the Core World to nullify my attacks. Let us fight now and here!


    ¡°And if you can beat me,¡± Song Qing gave Bai Yunfei a hard stare, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you how to leave the Lost Swamp!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure what to say. This ¡®condition¡¯¡¯ was rather strange. Song Qing wanted to fight him? Did he even stand a chance with the state he was in right now?


    And Song Qing said that he¡¯d tell Bai Yunfei how to get out from the Lost Swamp if he won. He didn¡¯t say anything about if Bai Yunfei lost! Did he realize he hadn¡¯t a chance here? What was the point in negotiating like this then? Was he just trying to vent his anger and fight with the last he had so he could die in peace?


    How strange.


    But Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t find anything wrong about this deal¡­


    ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll agree with that! Let us fight then!¡±


    Bai Yunfei replied in affirmation. It didn¡¯t matter what Song Qing¡¯s aim was, Bai Yunfei had no doubts that he¡¯d win this bout. And in the chance he didn¡¯t get any valuable information Bai Yunfei was still quite willing to take his chances finding his way out by himself.


    ¡­¡­


    The world around Song Qing changed as he and Bai Yunfei were transported immediately to a new place. They were standing on top of an expansive flatland with a small stream nearby. They were up in the air and separated by a thousand steps.


    ¡°So this is the Core World¡­the supreme soul armament of space. How unfathomable¡­¡± Song Qing couldn¡¯t help but sigh his praises as he looked around himself.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡±


    His eyes narrowed at Bai Yunfei straight away. With a loud grunt, he began to gather a massive amount of elemental darkness from the skies to him!


    Spending almost forty hours in the King Caging Bell had nearly drained the Half-emperor of all his soulforce. Knowing that resistance was futile while he was in there, the Half-emperor decided to go into a state of meditation to hasten his regeneration process. That would at the very least mitigate the amount of soulforce drained from his body.


    The regeneration of a Half-emperor was definitely leaps and bounds beyond that of a Soul King. Like that, Song Qing was able to withstand hours of constant draining before Bai Yunfei took the bell off him. When the bell came off, the Half-emperor had probably forty percent of his soulforce left.


    But despite not even having half his soulforce, the man was still seemingly full of energy with how he was gathering elemental darkness to him. It made Bai Yunfei feel almost uneasy to even look at him.


    Bai Yunfei knew he couldn¡¯t just stand there and let the Half-emperor charge up an attack. Summoning the Cataclysmic Seal to him, Bai Yunfei had its fireseed enter his body so he could enter ¡®Coil¡¯ Form.


    A wave of elemental fire exploded into the world before turning from a raging inferno into a sea of flame. It burned with so much heat that it felt like the entire Core World was on fire.


    Gathering behind Bai Yunfei, the flames soon began to take on the form of a giant malevolent diety!


    Song Qing¡¯s eyes widened as he realized what this was the prelude for.


    ¡°This¡­this can¡¯t be! The Planar Law of Fire!!?¡±

 Chapter 993: Weapon of Mass Destruction

    ¡°How is he able to use the Laws of Fire?!¡±


    The amount of power held within the flames behind Bai Yunfei was beyond the level of what elemental fire could hold. Paradoxically to the flames that were in front of him, Song Qing was frozen in place with shock and fear.


    Twenty years had passed since he failed to become a Soul Emperor. Rather than languish in his despair, the man instead decided to pour himself into his studies of the Planar Laws. Though unable to understand the truth behind them, he was still able to gleam enough information due to his status as being a Half-emperor. He would at the very least be able to recognize them if he saw it.


    And right now he was a hundred percent confident that the flames Bai Yunfei was using were from the Laws of Fire! This terrifying power; this all-burning flame; this was an attack he had no hope of fighting back against!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s because this is the Core World! The Core World can control the energy in here, so he can in turn use the Planar Laws!¡±


    The shock lasted only for a moment before Song Qing forced himself to calm down.


    ¡°Ha!!!¡±


    The elemental darkness around Song Qing¡¯s body exploded in intensity. It was getting to a point where his soulforce was struggling to keep up with the darkness as he fed it more and more power. Already the skies around him were starting to dim as multiple demonic-shaped entities appeared from the mass of darkness!


    The Soul-eater Swarm!


    He was using this soul skill again!


    Song Qing looked almost deranged with how much power he was putting into the soul skill. Stepping off against the air, he transformed into a streak of black light to fly towards Bai Yunfei!


    The black swarm of entities followed closely behind him. As if charging into battle with Qing Song as their leader. The demons snarled and howled as they advanced!


    It was a terrifying sight. Countless demons were rallying behind their commander in an area so large that it was a veritable wave of darkness to swallow up Bai Yunfei!


    So the fact that Bai Yunfei was so calm at the sight was slightly astounding. He waved his hands, but it wasn¡¯t to prepare for a Dual Dragon Burst like before. The giant entity of fire stepped forward in his stead to meet on the dark army head-to-head!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The Core World shook as the red and black light clashed against one another. The skies were split into two segments of light as the flames began to vie with the darkness for supremacy!


    A swarm of demons was still no match for the Laws of Fire. They were utterly decimated and turned into black smoke.


    The indomitable power of the Laws of Fire was nearly enough to make Bai Yunfei let out a blissful groan, but he managed to abstain from it. It just felt ever-so intoxicating to see how powerful it was.


    How he wished to make use of such a power in the real world! To be able to do so would be a wish come true for him.


    But he wasn¡¯t so drunk on power that he didn¡¯t feel slightly suspicious about something. Song Qing didn¡¯t look like he was giving up his assault in the slightest. If anything, he was charging towards him even faster now. If he didn¡¯t slow down or turn around, he¡¯d be killed by the Laws of Fire.


    ¡°What¡¯s he playing at¡­?¡± It took a moment for Bai Yunfei to realize what Song Qing was trying to do, ¡°Wait a moment!¡±


    ¡°Haha!! You self-deluded youngster¡­let us die together!!¡±


    Song Qing was within a hundred steps of Bai Yunfei and was still rapidly approaching!


    The soulforce within his body was circulating in ways that weren¡¯t at all meant to happen normally. It was destabilizing around his originseed meaning¡­he was about to self-destruct!


    He was planning on killing himself to kill Bai Yunfei!


    This had to be his goal all along. Knowing that death was inevitable for him, Song Qing wanted to take Bai Yunfei down with him!


    His talks of telling Bai Yunfei how to escape the Lost Swamp was just a ploy. The deal was so Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t figure out Song Qing was planning on self-destructing!


    Song Qing knew that he would die regardless of anything. It was only fitting that he choose this path¡ªthere¡¯d be no helping the enemy!


    ¡°Damn!!!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed aloud the moment he realized Song Qing¡¯s plan. Without even enough time to use the Soul Anchoring Technique, Bai Yunfei swept his right hand forward!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The fire diety fell apart to revert back to its original ocean form and surged forward to stop Song Qing!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    An explosion rocked the Core World at that moment!


    Needless to be said, the power brought by the self-destruction of a Half-emperor would be terrifying beyond belief. The outside world definitely would¡¯ve had the surrounding five kilometers easily rendered into a disaster zone, but this was the Core World. It wouldn¡¯t be destroyed beyond repair. Neither the Core World or Bai Yunfei had been injured too heavily in fact¡­


    The entirety of Song Qing¡¯s self-destruction had been enveloped by the Laws of Fire and distorted within a millisecond. All that devastating power had simply disappeared into thin air so that the Core World was looking as calm as ever, as if nothing even happened to begin with¡­.


    Not even a ripple of energy from Song Qing¡¯s last attack was felt by Bai Yunfei. Had Song Qing known what the result was, how would he react?


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Tsk tsk¡­didn¡¯t think he¡¯d just up and kill himself, what a brave guy.¡± Xiao Fang tutted to Bai Yunfei from its spot in the air.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. While unexpected, Song Qing¡¯s course of action wasn¡¯t entirely unreasonable. Killing himself to kill the enemy was a smart thing to do, all things considered. But the fact that a Half-emperor would die in a place like this felt almost regretful to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Xiao Fang, did you isolate that Half-emperor¡¯s self-destruction in a different dimension? Will there be any problems?¡±


    It was a little worrisome that the man self-destructed here in the Core World. While Bai Yunfei knew Xiao Fang was in control of this world, he didn¡¯t really know if something of that magnitude would cause a problem. It was one thing for Xiao Fang to control the energy native to the Core World, but energy that wasn¡¯t native to it was something else.


    What it meant to be ¡®not native¡¯ to the Core World was simple. If it was a type of energy resulted by an outsider, just like the energy from Song Qing¡¯s self-destruction, then Xiao Fang wouldn¡¯t be able to control it. At most, he¡¯d be able to ¡®suppress¡¯ and ¡®shift¡¯ it. The amount of power needed to do either of the two Song Qing¡¯s self-destruction was worrisome, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but be concerned for Xiao Fang.


    ¡°You underestimate me. He¡¯s just a Half-emperor, what kind of power could he even have that¡¯d compare to the Planar Laws? The Core World is safe. Any energy I can¡¯t use will be gone, so don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll throw out all that remaining energy later, you can see how powerful the self-destruct was then.¡±


    ¡°Throw it out?!¡± Bai Yunfei inhaled sharply, ¡°What do you mean by that? You can throw energy out?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that? It¡¯s just like taking an object out of the Core World.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame though,¡± Xiao Fang¡¯s next words were spoken with a sadder tone, ¡°If only we were back in the Soul Refining School¡¯s school grounds. I¡¯d like to throw this energy at the mountains there. We¡¯d have killed the entire lot of them if I had this energy a while ago.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡±


    This was the first Bai Yunfei had heard of such a tactic, and he wasn¡¯t quite sure how to react to it.


    Was the energy from Song Qing¡¯s self-destruction now some kind of weapon of mass destruction?


    It seemed like a shame then that Xiao Fang said the energy would dissipate in time. To throw this type of energy in the middle of the Lost Swamp for Bai Yunfei to ¡®experience¡¯ seemed like a bit of a waste¡­

 Chapter 994: An Unexpected Misfortune!

    A lot had happened in the last few minutes. Bai Yunfei shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. It was time for him to think about what to do next.


    ¡°The Half-emperor was most likely lying about telling me the way to get out of the Lost Swamp. It¡¯s going to be troublesome getting out myself¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was quite annoyed, truth be told. A lot of work had been done on his part in order to escape the Soul Refining School and yet a new problem was popping up. How was he going to get out of this place now?


    ¡°The Lost Swamp is said to be extremely large¡­larger than Black Cloud Valley at least. It¡¯s probably a given that the Soul Refining School will be located at the heart of the swamp too. I don¡¯t even have the slightest of a clue on how to navigate this place, what should I do?¡±


    He scratched his head. ¡°Xiao Fang, have you ever come to the Lost Swamp before?¡±


    Given Xiao Fang¡¯s existence as a spirit as old as several millennia, Bai Yunfei figured that Xiao Fang would surely know a bit about the continent during its travels with Wu Tianhun. Perhaps the Lost Swamp would be one of those locations Xiao Fang traveled to?


    But unfortunately for him¡­


    ¡°Nope. The only one of the three danger zones I¡¯ve seen was Dragon¡¯s Descent Mountains. I don¡¯t know of the other two.¡±


    The Tianhun Continent had three danger zones: a mountain, a valley, and a swamp. Dragon¡¯s Descent Mountain, Black Cloud Valley, and the Lost Swamp. The one place Xiao Fang had traveled to was, in fact, the only other place Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been.


    ¡°Ugh¡­well, in that case, we can only try taking this one step at a time¡­¡± Bai Yunfei bitterly shook his head. ¡°I should at least be able to travel in a general direction if I follow Xiao Qi¡¯s trace. Maybe I¡¯ll find the way out¡­¡±


    It was the only plan he had. Bai Yunfei saw a rough outline of the Lost Swamp when he was Soul Scanning the Early-stage Soul King he fought some time ago, but that had only been a ¡®crude¡¯ outline of the terrain and of not much help to him.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve grabbed a few soul refiners on my way out. The Soul Exalts should at the very least had some information I could use, damn¡­¡±


    Hindsight was twenty-twenty, and Bai Yunfei was feeling the full weight of his regret now that he was here in this situation.


    Standing up, Bai Yunfei prepared himself to step out of the Core World and begin his adventure to escape the swamp.


    ¡°Oh¡ªnearly forgot about this...¡±


    His eyes wandered over to the airspace above a certain mountain where the King Caging Bell was.


    Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei watched as the King Caging Bell shrunk in size from being large enough to trap an adult to being a miniature bell that could be held with two fingers.


    He closed his eyes and allowed his soulforce to flow into the bell. He was scanning every inch of it as if looking for something¡­


    What he was looking for was the destroyed imprint of the original owner of the King Caging Bell.


    He didn¡¯t fully clear away Qin Bangjie¡¯s soul imprint on the King Caging Bell due to the mess he was in. Not cleaning up the remnants wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but if left alone it¡¯d certainly build up to a problem whenever he used the King Caging Bell. For the sake of safety, it was best to do it now.


    ¡°Eh? It¡¯s all gathered here?!¡±


    Several moments passed before Bai Yunfei let out a startled gasp. A small corner of the King Caging Bell had actually traces of Qin Bangjie¡¯s soul imprint. The fact that a trace could be found here wasn¡¯t what surprised Bai Yunfei. It was the fact that all of the remaining traces were gathered here!


    The traces hadn¡¯t the sensation of trying to wrestle control of the King Caging Bell away from Bai Yunfei. The traces shouldn¡¯t have enough strength for that. So why were all of the traces gathered here then?


    This was a conundrum Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the foggiest of. He shrugged. Delving into the fragments, Bai Yunfei prepared himself to start the cleaning up process.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    A light suddenly started to shine from the bell the moment Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense traveled into the traces. The entirety of the bell turned red as the metal began to heat up to a temperature Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t prepared for. At the same time when he dropped the bell, Bai Yunfei noticed that something within the traces was starting to pulsate!!


    For some reason, Bai Yunfei could hear howls of anger coming from the traces. Somehow¡­the traces within the King Caging Bell were¡­sending out a signal of some kind!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    The pulses of soulforce died out two seconds later. It was followed by a crack as the traces crumpled and died away completely this time.


    The King Caging Bell was now truly Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbound armament. Qin Bangjie would never be able to use it now¡ªunless Bai Yunfei was dead and his imprint was destroyed.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look happy.


    His eyes were wide-open in fact. He was looking panicked!


    ¡°Crap!!!¡±


    Letting out a curse, Bai Yunfei immediately disappeared from the Core World to get outside!


    He reappeared in a strange forest within the Lost Swamp. Sweeping up the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei began the preparations to use the Core Stone and teleport away from this place!


    ¡°Do you really think¡­you can run away?¡±


    A voice spoke to Bai Yunfei then, causing him to pale drastically. It was a voice that spoke directly to his mind rather than to his ears!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Ripples started to appear all around the air where Bai Yunfei was. As the ripples grew, the white mist that obscured the swamps around Bai Yunfei began to recede away!


    The air within five kilometers of Bai Yunfei was clearing up! And what''s more¡­Bai Yunfei saw a series of spatial barriers go up at the perimeter¡ªhe was trapped!


    Horrified at being discovered, Bai Yunfei snapped his head up at the sky. Standing high up in the sky were two figures!


    The person on the left had a haggard expression on his face and was quite weak in aura. He was clearly quite wounded. The robes to his left were flapping with the wind meaning that there was no physical object there in place to prevent the robes from being affected by the wind. The person had a malevolent expression on his face as he glared at Bai Yunfei. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to rip Bai Yunfei¡¯s body apart limb from limb.


    This person was the one Bai Yunfei had severed the arm of and stolen the King Caging Bell from¡­Qin Bangjie from the Soul Refining School!


    It was obvious why he was here. The remnants of his soul imprint within the King Caging Bell was connected to him! Somehow, he managed to set up a connection between his soul imprint and him to alert him of Bai Yunfei¡¯s location! And somehow¡­he was able to reach Bai Yunfei within seconds of being alerted!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t focused on him, however. He was staring at the person on the right.


    This person was entirely cloaked in a shroud of black light so that his appearance couldn¡¯t be seen clearly. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even see his silhouette.


    For some reason, Bai Yunfei felt like this person wasn¡¯t ¡®really¡¯ there, but the light radiating from the person¡¯s eyes was chilling enough to send shivers up his spine. He didn¡¯t dare look at the man directly.


    The amount of power coming from this person was enough to make everything within five kilometers submit to his presence. Not even Bai Yunfei was spared from the thought of prostrating himself to this person!


    This person was none other but Mo Ni¡¯s father and headmaster of the Soul Refining School¡­Nether!!

 Chapter 995: The Devastation of a Half-Emperor Self-destructing!

    ¡°I¡­I¡¯ve never seen so much power!! This isn¡¯t the aura of a Half-emperor¡­this¡­this has to be a true Soul Emperor?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had to clench his teeth to prevent them from chattering against each other in his fear. The tyrannical amount of power being unleashed from this person above him was terrifying Bai Yunfei with the possibility of him being a Soul Emperor.


    ¡°To have even the energy within this much distance under his power¡­this person is without a doubt a Soul Emperor! Be careful, Yunfei!¡±


    Xiao Fang chimed in at that moment to confirm Bai Yunfei¡¯s suspicions. This situation was unfortunately going down the path Bai Yunfei was most fearful of.


    ¡°Gulp¡­¡±


    He swallowed hesitantly, though even the simple act of swallowing his own saliva felt like a risky move in the face of this person. ¡°I¡¯m really up against a Soul Emperor¡­what do I do?¡±


    He never imagined him going up against a Soul Emperor. It was a mind-boggling thought.


    Fighting a Half-emperor was something within the realms of possibility. Bai Yunfei had the confidence of putting up a good fight if he were to fight against one of those.


    But against a true Soul Emperor? Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the courage for that. The voice in his heart was already telling him his chances of victory¡ªzil!


    As the name implies, a Half-emperor was considered to be ¡®half¡¯ a Soul Emperor. Bai Yunfei had seen three Half-emperors already; patriarch Qin, Jing Wuying, and the elder that self-destructed earlier in the Core World.


    All three of those Half-emperors were definitely people beyond Bai Yunfei¡¯s level of strength, but not even they held a candle to a genuine Soul Emperor! Half a Soul Emperor? Those Half-emperors felt like a world apart from a Soul Emperor in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind!


    The Soul Refining School was pulling out all the stops its seemed if they were using a Soul Emperor to deal with Bai Yunfei. Should he even feel proud of that fact?


    While Bai Yunfei was debating making even the slightest of actions, Nether was also motionless. He simply stood there up in the skies to stare curiously at Bai Yunfei as one would stare at a test subject.


    ¡°I find it hard to imagine a youngling would be able to cause so much destruction to my school and almost get away with it. Not even Zi Jin had the strength for that at your age¡­¡±


    The black light around Nether¡¯s figure flickered as he spoke, his words conveying to Bai Yunfei a semblance of surprise and regret.


    Bai Yunfei said nothing.


    ¡°Should you hand over the secrets behind your strengthening of the King Caging Bell, the technique you used to regain your strength, allow yourself to be marked, and swear fealty to me, I will allow you to live.¡±


    Bai Yunfei said nothing again, though the corners of his eyes were crinkling a smidgen in shock.


    This person somehow learned about his Upgrade Technique!


    But that was something to be expected. With Qin Bangjie being the previous owner of the King Caging Bell, he would, of course, sense the change that took place in the King Caging Bell. It also went without saying that everyone knew the King Caging Bell wasn¡¯t capable of creating a sound wave that could bewitch all that heard it. It¡¯d be very easily deduced that Bai Yunfei had done something to the King Caging Bell.


    While they knew Bai Yunfei had done something to the King Caging Bell, no one¡ªNether included¡ªknew what exactly it was that he did. What kind of mystical art could improve the might of a soul armament several times over within a matter of ten seconds and give the soul armament a new ability on top of that?!


    To Nether, Bai Yunfei was simply a rat that had been found within the courtyards. It would be a simple matter for him to step out and arrest Bai Yunfei. He didn¡¯t bother to to begin with since he felt it was beneath his notice. But with all that destruction Bai Yunfei did, Nether had no other choice but to!


    When he did decide to take action, the first step he did was to start ¡®negotiations¡¯ with Bai Yunfei. This was just a test to see if Bai Yunfei really did have a Regalia and some kind of secret behind his power.


    The smallest of reactions from Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t escape Nether¡¯s eye¡ªso it was true!?


    ¡°I¡¯ll have my answers one way or another!!¡±


    Nether was committed to taking away every secret from Bai Yunfei. A glimmer of light reflected from his eyes as he prepared to take action!


    The glimmer of light was the only thing that had changed about Nether, but the entire area was already submitting to his will. Darkening the skies, Nether was already shaping the energy there into an attack to force Bai Yunfei to submit!


    ¡°Damn! A fight it is!!¡±


    The sudden change in the world around him caused Bai Yunfei to snarl in anger and wave his right hand forward!


    He wasn¡¯t using an attack of any kind. That much could be seen with how the soulforce within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was still dormant. But in the skies nearby Nether a series of ripples were already starting to take shape!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    An orange light covered Bai Yunfei¡¯s body a moment later as he activated the Cataclysmic Seal. He was shielding himself!


    ¡°Oh? This is¡­¡±


    A curious flicker of light entered Nether¡¯s eyes. Then a second later he registered what it was Bai Yunfei was doing!


    From where the ripple had shown up, a chaotic amount of energy was starting to push out from it!


    This energy was¡­the energy from when Song Qing self-destructed!


    The energy Bai Yunfei was ¡®afraid¡¯ of squandering a moment ago was now being used as a weapon on a Soul Emperor!


    ¡°This aura¡­this is Song Qing!! What is the meaning of this!?¡±


    Not even a Soul Emperor like Nether would be able to remain calm under this attack. He waved his right hand to form a giant barrier of light to protect both him and Qin Bangjie behind it.


    Now both Bai Yunfei and Nether were protected. It was like a giant bomb went off as the energy exploded in the world. The entire earth trembled violently as it was bombarded with an explosive force!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Explosions ran across the earth one after another. From within his barrier, Bai Yunfei spat out a mouthful of blood as he tried to feed even more soulforce into the barrier. He was trying his best to provide enough soulforce so that the barrier wouldn¡¯t give.


    He thought about hiding in the Core World at first, but Bai Yunfei was worried that the Core Stone wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the energy assaulting it. If the Core Stone broke with him inside, his life would definitely come to an end¡­


    When he threw out the energy from the Core World, Bai Yunfei had it ¡®angled¡¯ so that the worst of the explosion wouldn¡¯t hit him. And yet Bai Yunfei felt like his entire body was about to be torn apart.


    If that was how he felt, he didn¡¯t want to imagine what it was like for someone who was standing at the center of it¡­


    The aftermath of the explosion was terrifying to see. Where once had been solid ground was now ¡®thin air¡¯. The explosion had destroyed the earth so that he was standing above a giant ¡®crater¡¯!


    And now the white mist that had been pushed back by Nether was now even further back!


    The skies were littered with remnants of elemental darkness like bolts of black lightning. They left giant craters and crevices wherever they landed on the ground, but the true terror was the marks they left in the air. Multiple parts of the air were distorting in on a single point to form ¡®holes¡¯. It looked like the sky was being poked full of holes!!


    Cracks in space!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were glued at the part of the sky directly in front of him. That part of the area was what terrified Bai Yunfei the most!


    A giant ¡®black hole¡¯ was spanned across a hundred meters in the air there!


    That had been where the explosion was set off. The force of the explosion had destabilized the space so much that it was now a volatile mass of emptiness that was swallowing up everything it was close to!


    Large quantities of energy were being ¡®pulled¡¯ into the black hole as if they were being absorbed. Paradoxically, it was the center that looked the most ¡®calm¡¯ of it all¡­


    Bai Yunfei was prepared for the amount of devastation, but this sight had truly struck him dead cold. He wasn¡¯t even able to swallow the saliva in his mouth with how dumbstruck he was.


    Fear lingered in his eyes still as he muttered to himself. ¡°Are¡­are they dead?¡±

 Chapter 996: The Determination to Fight an Avatar!

    ¡°Are you daydreaming?! Do you really think the energy from a Half-emperor would be enough to kill an actual Soul Emperor?! Hurry up and start running!!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was busy trying to take in the sight in front of him, Xiao Fang was snapping at him to start running away already. Its voice was an urgent one, and Bai Yunfei snapped out of it at once to turn and run!


    ¡°Do you¡­really believe you can get away from me?¡±


    But before he could even make it a hundred steps away, a furious voice stopped him dead in his tracks!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face dropped several shades of color as he turned his head around. ¡°Go f*ck yourself! Don¡¯t tell me that didn¡¯t do anything!¡±


    A small ball of light had appeared right beside where the black hole was. Melting away, the ball of light revealed Nether and Qin Bangjie¡ªthey were unharmed!


    Not even the near-instantaneous explosion of a Half-emperor self-destructing was enough to harm a hair on the two!


    ¡°This is impossible! Completely and utterly impossible!!¡±


    The tables had turned. The words Bai Yunfei would usually make other people say was now finally being said by him as he tried to calm himself.


    With how the black light around Nether¡¯s person was covering him, it was impossible for Bai Yunfei to see if he really was uninjured. But the chilling gleam in Nether¡¯s eyes was multiple times colder than before.


    Nether¡¯s eyes flickered over to where the black hole was. He raised his right hand up before moving it back down as if trying to close it.


    Much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s terror, the giant black hole was actually starting to shrink! Nether was actually managing to enforce his will onto it!


    And just like that, Nether had managed to close off the black hole! The cracks in space were already starting to fade away now that the source was gone. Somehow, Nether had managed to quell the chaotic influx of energy within the area!


    The pupils in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were quivering. He wanted to run, but he couldn¡¯t. A powerful aura was pressing down on him and preventing him from moving!


    ¡°What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was terrified beyond his mind. He never felt so terrified as he did now. His mind was racing miles per minute as he tried to think of any kind of plan to escape. It seemed like the only thing he could do was use Berserk Mode to fight for his life...


    ¡°Eh? Hold on¡­this person¡¯s aura is strange!¡± Xiao Fang¡¯d voice popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind then. ¡°The aura¡¯s as powerful as ever, but it¡¯s substantially weaker than before. That means the attack just now did something to him, but¡­I don¡¯t see any signs of his aura recovering!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. Now that he was thinking about it, he could start to see the differences as well. He wasn¡¯t feeling too happy though. One drop of water was still just a drop. What good was that if Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t do anything still?


    It wasn¡¯t for another while before Xiao Fang spoke again to him. ¡°I¡¯ve got it! This isn¡¯t this person¡¯s real body! This is a body double! Yunfei! This is an avatar!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± That caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention. His eyes refocused as the words of Xiao Fang took hold of his mind. ¡°An avatar?! You¡¯re saying¡­he¡¯s not actually here?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly! It has to be!¡± Xiao Fang replied. ¡°Don¡¯t you see his person? The hazy energy around his person¡­its like he¡¯s not actually here! This is definitely his avatar! If an avatar is too far away from the actual person, it can¡¯t recover its energy! This avatar is probably at the strength of an Early-stage Soul Emperor then!¡±


    ¡°An Early-stage Soul Emperor¡­and an avatar!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up; this was a piece of information that gave him some hope!


    He knew a little about avatar after asking Xiao Fang about Soul Emperor before. It was a technique capable only by a Mid-stage Soul Emperor which allowed for one to separate the soul from the body so the two could independently train. The avatar hadn¡¯t a physical body as it was simply a soul taken shape.


    An avatar was the same as having a second person and was able to do several things. But if the avatar were to perish, then the physical body would suffer grievous damage to the soul. It wasn¡¯t a fatal blow, though, and so having an avatar was akin to having a ¡®second¡¯ life.


    Avatars lacked a physical body and an actual originseed, so they couldn¡¯t stray too far away from the actual body. They couldn¡¯t replenish their reserves from the ambient energy around them and could only persist on the soulforce granted to them by the true body. The longer an avatar lived on, the less soulforce it would ultimately have.


    If this person was an avatar and at the level of an Early-stage Soul Emperor, then maybe¡­there was a chance he could live!


    A spark ignited within Bai Yunfei. Hope was starting to flourish within his mind as he realized what this meant for him. His hands clenched tightly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to fight!!¡±


    A flurry of soulforce poured out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body as he began to go through the seals for a certain move. The fireseed within the Cataclysmic Seal was already flying out to enter his body by the time Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura exploded exponentially in power!


    Bai Yunfei was overpowering the fear he had for this Soul Emperor with raw determination. He was ready to fight to the death with this man to the best he could offer!


    And so the first step was to power up to go from being a Mid-stage Soul King to a Peak Late-stage Soul King!


    From ¡®Coil¡¯ Form, Bai Yunfei had gone straight into ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!


    His hands continued to form seals after he finished powering up. In response to those seals, strands of fire began to coil around his arms and burn with power behind his back. By the time he was done, the flames were practically covering the entirety of both his arms!


    ¡°Haaa!!!¡±


    Grunting out loud, Bai Yunfei punched outwards with both hands to send two gigantic dragons forward! Both dragons contained a trace of violet light in the center along with several specks of gray light.


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    This was Bai Yunfei¡¯s ultimate attack!


    ¡­¡­


    Several seconds hadn¡¯t even gone by since Xiao Fang warned Bai Yunfei about Nether¡¯s avatar to Bai Yunfei launching his attack. Despite normally needing some time to launch an attack as powerful as this, Bai Yunfei had somehow managed to do so!


    ¡°Two fireseeds?! Could this be the Dual Flame Artes?! I saw him powering up twice, this boy lives up to his name¡­¡± Nether¡¯s eyes flickered with surprise at what Bai Yunfei was doing.


    Then his eyes landed on the Dual Dragon Burst; specifically the gray lights within the two. Right away, his breathing came to a hitch when he identified what they were!


    ¡°Chaotic energy?! How is he capable of using that?!¡±


    Nether was quite naturally shocked by what he saw. He had to admit he wasn¡¯t expecting Bai Yunfei being capable of harnessing the power of chaotic energy!


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder Song Qing died by your hand if you have that up your sleeves¡­it can¡¯t be helped then, you¡¯ll die here!!¡±


    Ultimately, this show of strength was not something Nether felt particularly threatened by. It was a shock, yes, but not so much that he was intimidated by it. A wave of black clouds gathered around him as he harnessed the ambient elemental darkness in the area to his right hand to push it towards Bai Yunfei!


    The elemental darkness formed a giant ¡®palm¡¯ and flew straight at the Dual Dragon Burst!


    This was a soul skill Nether was capable of, the Extinguishing Seal!


    Mo Ni used this soul skill on Bai Yunfei once before. It was during their battle within Crushed Stone River. The only difference was that Nether¡¯s usage of it was a thousand times stronger than Mo Ni¡¯s!

 Chapter 997: Is He Trying to Die?!

    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The Dual Dragon Burst crashed into the giant black palm with devastating force. When the two forces collided, an explosion of elemental fire and darkness exploded outwards into the surrounding area!


    The surrounding earth tremored violently as the energy washed over the land. A layer of dust and stone was already being kicked up to form a dust storm.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Dragon Burst was a soul skill capable of striking down a Half-emperor. But in the face of an actual Soul Emperor¡­it was stopped stone cold by the Extinguishing Seal!


    The two soul skills might¡¯ve clashed against one another for a moment, but the Dual Dragon Burst was definitely not the victor of the clash!


    ¡°What!? So even chaotic energy can be blocked!!?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s pupils dilated in shock¡ªnever had he imagined that there¡¯d be a situation like this!


    Chaotic energy could be said to be the origin of all elements. It was a higher form of energy and should¡¯ve been able to overwhelm any individual element should the two clash. But¡­


    Bai Yunfei noticed it when strands of energy from Nether¡¯s attack made its way closer to him. ¡°The Planar Laws!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped. His soulsense had picked up on the peculiarity within Nether¡¯s attack. ¡°I can feel the Laws of Darkness!¡±


    The power he felt from Nether¡¯s attack was giving him a vibe almost identical to the vibe when he used the Laws of Fire within the Core World!


    ¡°That has to be it¡­our opponent is a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. He¡¯s definitely a person who has come to understand a portion of the Planar Laws. That¡¯s why he can resist the chaotic energy!¡±


    In terms of energy, chaotic energy was a tier higher than elemental energy. The Planar Laws were not a type of energy, but laws that upheld the world. Unless Bai Yunfei were to somehow learn and master the Laws of Chaos¡ªwhich the Planar Laws originated from¡ªthere was no way Bai Yunfei would be able to combat the Planar Laws. Learning the Laws of Chaos in this short time frame was without a doubt a fool¡¯s dream¡­


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst versus the Laws of Darkness infused Extinguishing Seal. Two attacks filled with catastrophic might and yet both attacks failed to do nothing but cancel each other out!


    There was a glimmer of light in Nether¡¯s eyes. He wasn¡¯t prepared for this outcome, it seemed. Raising his right hand up, he gathered even more soulforce to his right index finger!


    From the black energy around him formed a giant skeleton. A loud wail exuded from its jaw when its head formed before it lunged at Bai Yunfei to swallow him whole!


    The Maw of the Nether!


    Sheer panic formed on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face in the form of sweat. Activating an effect, Bai Yunfei had a curtain of black light appear in front of him. It began to swirl in on itself to eventually transform into a giant whirlpool.


    Like a stone into a pool of water, the skeleton entered the whirlpool and disappeared without a trace!


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief once the skeleton disappeared. His knees felt somewhat weak now that the experience was over. The usage of both the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst and the additional effect of his armor to cancel out the Maw of the Nether took up over half his soulforce¡­


    ¡°Oh? So he had a soul skill like that?¡±


    Nether let out a surprised exhale at the same time Bai Yunfei did. He was surprised. A ¡®soul skill¡¯ that could so ¡®easily¡¯ cancel out his Maw to the Underworld was something he hadn¡¯t seen before.


    ¡°He has too many tricks up his sleeves. It¡¯s best to kill him first and take the secrets off his corpse later!¡±


    He sneered. Soulforce exploded out from his body again to mix with the elemental darkness and form an armored black being!


    Nether Wraith!


    This was another soul skill Bai Yunfei saw Mo Ni use before. Again, there was a stark difference from when Mo Ni used it to when Nether used it. This time, the armor this being wore looked far more sturdy and had several overlapping layers like scales. The warblade it wielded had a light to its edge that made it look all the more formidable and not any less strong than a heaven-tier soul armament.


    Now fully materialized into the world, the wraith threw its head up to unleash a heaven-shaking roar. Embers that glowed an unnatural color were shining in both sockets where its eyes should be when the wraith looked back down. It took one heavy step forward with its blade already moving through the air to slash down onto Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    In response to that, Bai Yunfei let out a roar of his own before lashing out with another two punches!


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    And then two dragons flew out from his hands. He was using the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst again!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The wraith was hit by the two dragons and destroyed within a matter of seconds. Neither of the two dragons stopped for even a second before continuing onwards to Nether!


    ¡°Again that move? Has he run out of other options?¡±


    Nether¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. He could tell that Bai Yunfei was essentially pouring the last of his soulforce into the same move. It seemed silly, why do that in the face of overwhelming power? Why do it when that meant not having enough energy to even try to run away? Was he trying to die?


    He didn¡¯t know what kind of ¡®stupid¡¯ ploy Bai Yunfei was getting at, but Nether had no desire to let him to do as pleased. Gathering his soulforce to him, Nether began to muster enough energy to drop another Extinguishing Seal onto it!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Another burst of energy from Bai Yunfei alerted Nether to another attack before he could unleash the Extinguishing Seal.


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei¡ªwho was essentially filled with as much soulforce as a withered stick moments ago¡ªwas now bursting with enough soulforce as when this fight began!


    This was the result of Soul Ignition!


    The second Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst wasn¡¯t meant to be a finishing move; Bai Yunfei went straight into using Soul Ignition after it!


    Fire danced all around Bai Yunfei from where he stood. Teeth clenched from the pain of igniting his soul, Bai Yunfei brought both hands up to undergo the same sequence of seals as before!


    The fire gathered around his arms again before he lashed out with yet another Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    It flew forward with speeds even greater than the one before it. By the time the Extinguishing Seal was on the verge of clashing with the first Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, the second was already merging with the first!


    The amount of power Nether put into the Extinguishing Seal had only been enough to perfectly neutralize one Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst. It wasn¡¯t ready to take the combined power of two!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two Dual Dragon Burst couldn¡¯t be stopped by the Extinguishing Seal. Nether¡¯s attack fell apart straight away while Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack traveled unimpeded to Nether!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡± A terrified scream erupted from Qin Bangjie. He was horrified that Nether¡¯s attack had failed to stop the Dual Dragon Burst. Nether was surprised as well, and the black light around him fell apart just enough to reveal the translucent figure of a middle-aged man within it.


    For the first time since this battle began, Nether found himself being forced to actually use both hands for once to protect himself.


    ¡°Karmic Fire of the Nether!¡±


    The man growled as he thrust both hands out. The soulforce within him exploded out into the area in front of him to transform into flames as black as the night to burn everything it touched!


    A sea of black flames exploded over the area for hundreds of meters. Upon meeting the two Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, the flames began to try to overwhelm the dragons and flood it!


    ¡°Roarrr!!¡±


    The two dragons writhed and roared angrily as it tried to struggle and wriggle its way out from the fiery black swamp it was stuck in! Runoff energy was splashing away from the dragons with every motion they made and it looked like the two dragons were in pain!


    Qin Bangjie heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the two dragons writhing. It seemed they were safe. Glancing over to Nether, the man was about to say something when he realized something¡­


    ¡°Headmaster, your¡ª!¡±


    Nether held his hand up to silence the man. ¡°Be silent, I used a little more than I imagined I would¡­our enemy is in his death throes, he cannot continue this charade any longer.¡±


    The black light that used to obscure the man was no less than half the intensity of what it was before. His person could now distinctly be seen. Using the powers of the Planar Laws took more out from Nether than he expected, and that meant his avatar was destabilizing. Without the ability to regenerate soulforce, Nether¡¯s avatar was now at less than forty percent of his total reserves.


    His reassurances to Qin Bangjie masked the surprise Nether had. What he thought was a near-suicidal attack onto him was actually just a prelude to something even more shocking. Nether thought Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been all out of soulforce after that and without any energy to resist one more Maw to the Netherworld. That should¡¯ve been the end of the fight, but somehow Bai Yunfei managed to pull off two consecutive Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    Nether snapped out from his thoughts when he heard another loud roar come from where Bai Yunfei was!


    Another two dragons were coming straight at him!


    It wasn¡¯t over yet!


    Nether assumed that Bai Yunfei was out of soulforce. But just like the last time, he found that Bai Yunfei was suddenly back to full reserves for a second time!


    And then¡­another two Dual Dragon Burst were flying at him!


    ¡°What¡­¡±


    Not even an iota of blood could be seen in Qin Bangjie¡¯s face. He was as pale as a ghost and horrorstruck as if he saw one.


    Even Nether was trembling a bit. ¡°Again!! Is¡­is he trying to die?!¡±

 Chapter 998: A Miscalculation!

    Nether was a man who experienced many things in his life. He had traveled the continent and saw many things. But the way Bai Yunfei was able to instantaneously regenerate his lost soulforce was something he never saw before. If he had to wager a guess, though, Nether would probably say that Bai Yunfei was using a technique that sacrificed his originseed. A technique that was essentially doing almost as much damage to oneself for a result not much worse for the enemy¡­


    A technique like that surely had to have a heavy price in order to be used. But¡­Bai Yunfei was actually using it twice in a row!


    Nether had no other words to describe Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions other than ¡®suicidal¡¯. This was some kind of mutually-assured destruction he was trying to play at!


    ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll be able to take me down with you? Pah¡­how foolish! You¡¯ll die alone!¡±


    The light in Nether¡¯s eyes was bright enough to outshine a star with how they burned!


    The ¡®Karmic Fire of the Nether¡¯ was already pulling the final blow on the two dragons it caught earlier. With one final roar, the flames drowned out the two dragons and utterly destroyed them!


    And now that it was free, the black flames immediately set a path towards the next Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Hmph! Be destroyed!!¡±


    A ball of black light shot out from Nether¡¯s body to envelop and transform him into a giant black meteorite to crash into the Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Now the light around Nether was hardly bright enough to cover over a dozen meters of space from him. But his attack did its job in stopping the Dual Dragon Burst, and that was what was important. Like a pearl flying into the dragon¡¯s mouth, Nether¡¯s attack then exploded with a terrifying amount of force!


    But the ball still retained its shape following the explosion. The Dual Dragon Burst came to an immediate stop in the air as if it struck a wall as the ball flew out from the dragon¡¯s tail!


    The two dragons began to leak elemental fire the moment when its form fell apart. The chaotic energy within the dragons was starting to react dangerously after it came into contact with Nether. It wasn¡¯t able to do a thing to him!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    When Nether was a noticeable distance away from the dragons, the two dragons reached the limit of what their form could handle and destabilized at once!


    The black ball Nether was in was smaller in size now. The surface of the ball bled away to reveal Nether within it. He was wearing some kind of black armor and had an equally black helmet to cover his head. The only thing that could be seen from behind his helmet was his eyes!


    He raised his right hand up before slashing it in front of him!


    It was time for him to deal with the second Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    His hand came into contact with the head of the second Dual Dragon Burst and¡­scattered it into shreds of elemental fire!


    Then he flew forward like a hot knife through butter to spear through the body of the Dual Dragon Burst!


    He couldn¡¯t be stopped!


    It was a terrifying sight to see. One Dual Dragon Burst was drowned out and destroyed by the black flames he emitted. The second was blown apart when he went through it in that black ball. Then the third was sundered apart with his right hand like one would tear apart a wet piece of paper!


    And now he was in front of Bai Yunfei in practically no time at all!


    The black armor he wore was practically gone on multiple parts of his body after destroying the second Dual Dragon Burst. Not only that, but Nether was also starting to look a little hazy in some parts of his form. The translucent facial appearance of Nether¡¯s avatar could finally be seen!


    The power he wielded now couldn¡¯t possibly be ten or even twenty percent of what he was at the beginning. But the light in his eyes was still exceedingly bright as if unaffected by the shortage of his avatar. Swinging his right hand with extremely quick speed, Nether sent a burst of dazzling-white light towards Bai Yunfei!


    ¡­¡­


    The sudden occurrences of everything so far were catching Bai Yunfei off guard. He was more-or-less unable to comprehend what was going on right now!


    He was without a doubt in a far worse state than ever before. His skin was cracking and bleeding in several places all over his body so that he looked more he was made of blood rather than filled with it. His teeth were clenched so tightly that it felt like they would shatter under the pressure. His eyes were bloodshot, and his entire body was trembling as if he was undergoing a great deal of pressure that threatened to topple him.


    He was clearly in a great amount of pain. That was because he underwent Soul Ignition twice!


    Ever since he realized that he was up against an avatar, Bai Yunfei knew the only way out from this fight was to throw out all the stops!


    At his best, Bai Yunfei could only manage to squeak out the levels of strength of a Peak Late-stage Soul King, but that wasn¡¯t enough to contend with a Soul Emperor in a regular battle of strength. No matter how much he tried, Bai Yunfei would never be able to fight and win against one of those, no matter how inattentive that Soul Emperor might be.


    So¡­if he couldn¡¯t win in a battle of ¡®experience¡¯ or ¡®skill¡¯, then Bai Yunfei would have to go with the largest factor¡ªpower!


    He¡¯d have to rely on using chaotic energy to force the enemy down!


    An avatar couldn¡¯t rejuvenate soulforce. Using the Planar Laws would require a great deal of soulforce and would undoubtedly serve as a way to whittle whatever limited soulforce the avatar had for Bai Yunfei to find a chance to finish it!


    Bai Yunfei lost half of his soulforce when he used the first Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst. The second cost the remaining half before he was forced to use Soul Ignition. Then after that he made use of a third!


    Two Dual Dragon Bursts were used and to great effect. Nether was forced to use more soulforce than he expected in order to stop it with the Planar Laws.


    But¡­that still wasn¡¯t enough!


    Bai Yunfei knew after Nether stopped his third Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst with the black flames this wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop the avatar. He had to fire a fourth one!


    And that ended up with Bai Yunfei running out of soulforce again. Left with no other options, Bai Yunfei decided right then and there to use Soul Ignition for the second time!


    And then he fired a fifth Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    Five Chaotic Dual Dragon Bursts and two usages of Soul Ignition. How else could Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions be described than being that of someone who had gone crazy!?


    The backlash of using Soul Ignition was already putting a heavy strain on his body when he used it a second time. He noticed that the enemy was already approaching him in that black ball of light, but there was nothing he could do as Nether drew close!


    The true surprise came when Nether threw his right hand out to throw that dazzling white ball of light forward; Bai Yunfei knew what that object was!


    ¡°The Soul Sealing Mandate!!¡±


    Time froze for Bai Yunfei. All ambient sounds from nature and the world around him died away as Bai Yunfei looked at the incoming object. He even forgot about the pain that was running through his body as memories of what the Soul Sealing Mandate was capable of appeared in his mind!


    There was nothing he could do. The dazzling-white ball of light was nearly on his forehead by the time his eyes focused definitively on it!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    The cold voice of Nether echoed across the air into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears. At his voice, the Soul Sealing Mandate began to shine with an even brighter amount of light!


    A split-second before the command was uttered from Nether¡¯s lips and unbeknownst to him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure flickered and grew translucent!


    This was¡­the +10 additional effect of the Core Stone, the ability to be moved into a different dimension. The ultimate defense!


    ¡­¡­


    The white light surrounded Bai Yunfei¡¯s body in obedience to Nether¡¯s command. It was with glee that Nether watched as Bai Yunfei¡¯s person disappeared from sight behind the dazzling light.


    ¡°Success!¡±


    Nether let out a relieved sigh to see that Bai Yunfei was ¡®successfully¡¯ captured. He never thought a mere Soul King would give him this much trouble. Even if he was an avatar, he didn¡¯t expect to use up that much soulforce and be forced to use the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    But the results were what they were. He had finally managed to captured Bai Yunfei and by extension the Core Stone. The next and most important thing was to scan Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul and glean the secrets behind all he wanted to know¡­


    ¡°What?! How can this be?!¡±


    The spear that had been floating beside Bai Yunfei this entire time suddenly rotated around to point at Bai Yunfei. Exploding forward, it stabbed at where Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart should¡¯ve been behind the white light that covered his person! That shouldn¡¯t have been possible!


    ¡°How is he still able to use a soul armament?!¡±


    That was Nether¡¯s first thought.


    ¡°Is he trying to kill himself?!¡±


    The next thought was a little surprising to even think about, but he couldn¡¯t think of any other reason why Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve done that.


    Then he watched as the red spear traveled straight through Bai Yunfei as if it had gone through an illusion!


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡±


    Nether was speechless. He couldn¡¯t even begin to formulate a reason why this might¡¯ve happened, or how it was even happening!


    In the next second, however, Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure suddenly flickered again before he was relocated to another place several steps to his right!


    A place that was outside of the white light exuded from the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    Then Bai Yunfei rotated his hip to grab hold of the Soul Sealing Mandate!

 Chapter 999: Samsara!

    Bai Yunfei miscalculated. He only thought that Nether was an avatar with a limited amount of soulforce. Though he knew using five Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was a long shot in stopping the avatar, he at least thought the avatar would think twice before continuing the fight. Bai Yunfei never thought that Nether would use the Soul Sealing Mandate of all things!


    Nether miscalculated as well, though his miscalculations were much bigger than Bai Yunfei¡¯s. Everything that had gone on so far in this battle was definitely beyond his calculations, but this last step in this battle was definitely his gravest one!


    To his knowledge, Nether thought that no one would be able to fight off the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s ability. But somehow¡­Bai Yunfei had done so!


    ¡­¡­


    The way how the Soul Sealing Mandate worked was that if the light were to surround a person, that person would find their soul ¡®sealed¡¯. The person wouldn¡¯t be able to think, move, or do anything.


    What Nether didn¡¯t realize was that¡­Bai Yunfei simply hadn¡¯t been caught by the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    Bai Yunfei used the Core Stone¡¯s +10 additional effect before the Soul Sealing Mandate could catch him to be transported to another dimension. Without being physically there in the real world, the Soul Sealing Mandate had no way of capturing Bai Yunfei!


    Unless he found a way out from this mess, Bai Yunfei would be subjected to the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s effect after the two-second duration wore off. The Core Stone¡¯s ability was an amazing one, but it wasn¡¯t something that allowed him invulnerability forever, and neither could he mount an attack from within it.


    That left him with a sudden thought. A thought that could allow him to escape from this!


    And¡­it was due to the way how this Core Stone¡¯s effect worked!


    When a target is whisked into another dimension, they aren¡¯t physically standing in the same place as before for two seconds. There is a problem, however, when the target is brought back.


    If there is something else standing in place of where the target used to be, what would happen to the target?


    Once upon a time, Bai Yunfei experimented with the Core Stone to study the mechanics behind this effect. He noticed then that upon a space having something else ¡®occupy¡¯ the target¡¯s original position, the target would be moved elsewhere!


    This was the property that Bai Yunfei was counting on to save his life!


    He had to act fast. In one second, Bai Yunfei had the Fire-tipped Spear ¡®stab¡¯ straight into his body! It had to be done so that in the next second, the Core Stone¡¯s effect would register that something was in Bai Yunfei¡¯s original place and¡­have Bai Yunfei placed elsewhere!


    With his place occupied and the Core Stone bringing him somewhere else, Bai Yunfei could escape the sphere of influence of the Soul Sealing Mandate and totally escape harm!


    Bai Yunfei managed to pry open the jaws of death and escape it!


    With him being so close to the Soul Sealing Mandate, Bai Yunfei already knew what else had to be done the moment he stepped back into the real world! Rotating his hips, he thrust his hand out to grab the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    ¡°No!!!!¡±


    A loud cry of shocked fury echoed from the other side of the battlefield, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t pay that any attention. His right hand clamped onto the Soul Sealing Mandate and secured it tightly in his fingers!


    Then without a second thought, he threw it into the Core World!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°No¡­no! This can¡¯t be happening!!¡±


    Nether was at a complete loss on what to do. Shock, confusion, disbelief, and anger ran through his mind one at a time like a full-on marathon. He had no idea how this could even happen!


    How did Bai Yunfei manage to escape from the Soul Sealing Mandate?!


    The black light that flowed around Nether looked like it was on the verge of either exploding or dissipating with how furious he was. In a fit of anger, he threw his right hand up to point a finger at him!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Waves of elemental darkness formed above his head to form into a column of black light. Looking like a giant finger, it rolled forward to Bai Yunfei as if trying to squish him! Nether no longer had any intentions of leaving Bai Yunfei ¡®alive¡¯ for information. He was full on committed to having Bai Yunfei die so he could reclaim the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    ¡°You¡¯re the one that¡¯s going to die!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was as equally angry as Nether. Eyes dyed practically red from the blood capillaries that popped, he roared out loud and pointed his right finger at Nether as well!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A beam of red light shot forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. It was time for the Fire-tipped Spear to take flight!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A secondary beam of red light flew from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. This time, it was the Cataclysmic Seal. It flew up to expand into the size of a mountain before coming back down onto the giant ¡®finger¡¯!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The black finger slammed into the Cataclysmic Seal and collapsed immediately. But the power behind the attack was enough to send the Cataclysmic Seal flying backward towards Bai Yunfei!


    There was a buzzing sound that sounded almost like a lament as the Cataclysmic Seal shrunk back down to its original size. It fell over Bai Yunfei¡¯s head before an orange barrier formed around him!


    Then Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure was entirely obscured by a black light!


    ¡°Headmaster!!¡±


    A cry rang out from Qin Bangjie when he saw the Fire-tipped Spear fly straight for Nether. Nether had expected to see the spear stopped by his barrier, but it didn¡¯t happen!


    He knew that the spear was strong, but he didn¡¯t expect that the spear was that strong! It simply went through his barrier without a moment¡¯s pause!


    In all his anger and confidence, Nether never thought that he¡¯d have to dodge the spear. But it was too late! The spear was already at his chest!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    Without meeting any last resistance, the Fire-tipped Spear tore straight through Nether¡¯s chest!


    Since he had no flesh, there was no blood to be shed. There was, however, a hole in Nether¡¯s body where the spear went through. Black light expelled forth from the hole in place of blood and led to the further destabilization of his body!


    His death would¡¯ve surely been a confirmed thing if he was a real body and not an avatar! But alas! An avatar had no heart nor flesh nor body. Having their figure pierced didn¡¯t mean they would die!


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    A jet-black streak of light shot out from where Bai Yunfei was. The sheen of a sword exploded out from the light to fly like a bolt of lightning to Nether!


    It tore through the translucent arm of Nether and caused yet another burst of black smoke to escape from Nether¡¯s avatar!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    A startled cry escaped from Nether¡¯s lips; this might not be his real body, but getting his arm lopped off was still a deep strike of pain into his very soul, and that was where it really hurt!


    ¡°High-heaven tier soul armament!¡±


    A weapon that was strong enough to do this much damage to his body just had to be a high-heaven tier soul armament! As shocked as he was, Nether was sure of it!


    The sword Bai Yunfei used was the one he got from Li Fenghai. After being upgraded the sword had practically six thousand points of attack and was more than enough to break through the enfeebled defenses of Nether. And it was evident how powerful it was when it managed to cut off Nether¡¯s arm without resistance! If only Bai Yunfei had more control, he could¡¯ve had the sword cut off Nether¡¯s head instead of the arm. There was also the ¡®nightmare¡¯ effect the sword, but unfortunately, it didn¡¯t activate¡­


    But the fact that Bai Yunfei was able to unleash multiple attacks like that onto Nether meant that he was safe within the black light that surrounded him!


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    A figure cloaked entirely in red light shot out from the black light then. The spherical orange light around the figure was melted in multiple places, but the person inside was safe! Bai Yunfei was safe and able to charge straight at Nether without fail!


    A flash of red light flew back to Bai Yunfei then. He grabbed hold of it¡ªit was the Fire-tipped Spear!


    Bai Yunfei was a ghastly sight with him being soaked entirely in his own blood. Spear in hand and eyes gleaming brightly with a crazed light, he streamed for Nether to strike him down!


    The Fire-tipped Spear in his hand was burning brightly with fire. A sliver of violet lightning swam through the flames along with a speck of gray¡­chaotic energy!


    This was the final move to decide it all!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Impossible! Why aren¡¯t you dead yet! Why!!¡±


    Nether was looking close to going crazy himself. He was howling out to Bai Yunfei in anger, but his voice was practically that of a beast with how deranged he was!


    ¡°You have to die¡­! You must die!¡±


    His rationality came back as quickly as it went. The light around him started to increase in intensity to form a new hand. With it, he started to go through a series of hand seals to prepare for a new attack!


    ¡°Samsara!!¡±


    Nether¡¯s roar was so loud that it shook the heavens. Then¡­his body exploded!


    The Fire-tipped Spear hit nothing but a wisp of black smoke!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open. He thought Nether self-destructed at first, but there was no sudden outflux of energy. Nether¡¯s avatar hadn¡¯t even an originseed to destroy in any point and could not self-destruct. But he could feel some kind of energy¡ªone he couldn¡¯t fight back against¡ªenter his body!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    He doubled up at the waist immediately. His eyes began to bulge out as if something within his head was trying to force them out.


    Something in his body was causing him a great amount of pain!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!¡±


    The chaotic energy within the flames around Bai Yunfei started to go out of control. Fighting against the black smoke that was seemingly trying to break down Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, the two forces began to distort the world and leave behind terrifying cracks in space!


    ¡°Headmaster!!¡±


    Only now was Qin Bangjie fully aware of what was going on. All blood was gone from his face as he stared wide-eyed at where Nether used to be.


    ¡°Samsara¡­the headmaster used his avatar as a price to use the Samsara technique!!¡±


    It was an outcome he was having a hard time believing¡­this was far too crazy!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!!!¡±


    Scream after scream erupted from Bai Yunfei on the other side of the battlefield. The Fire-tipped Spear had long since fallen from his right hand so he could instead clutch at his head and howl at the top of his lungs!


    Memories were streaming through his mind one by one; memories of his entire life!


    The hundreds of people he killed from the Soul Refining School. The members of the Qin he fought outside Swallow City. His rescue of Tang Xinyun outside Mo City. The battle with Mo Ni in Crushed Stone River. The pursuit of the Extreme King Pill in the pocket. Teaching a class in Tianhun Academy within the capital. His trip with Tang Xinyun. His training in Soulbeast Forest. Entering and being trained in the Crafting School. Traveling the Northern Plain Province alone. Chased in the Azure Cloud Province. The Jade Willow School. The Glacial School. The Zhang. Zhang Yang. Liu Meng¡­


    All sorts of memories were pouring forth¡ªeven ones of when he wasn¡¯t even a soul cultivator back in Talus City. Bai Yunfei could see how hard life had been then. How he had struggled without his mother and grandfather. Then how his life had been when all three of them lived together!


    He even saw memories of when he was an infant incapable of speech. He couldn¡¯t even move back then. Memories of when he was held by his mother!


    Not only was he experiencing memories of long before, but his soul was also drawing out the memories of events he couldn¡¯t possibly remember!


    His screams were incessant. Each memory pulled into his mind was a pain that struck deeper into his soul like a chisel being hammered. One after another, these memories were pulled from his mind so he could remember in reverse sequence¡­


    Soon, the pain bled away from his face. A strange smile replaced the look of agony from before. Frozen there as the last memory in his mind was of a beautiful woman stooping her head over to look down on him. A woman who looked all too familiar to him¡­


    ¡°Mother¡­¡±


    This blissful memory brought a smile on his face. A smile that was more suited to an infant rather than an adult.


    Then the memory disappeared and Bai Yunfei¡¯s subconscious was¡­thrown into chaos!


    Any last iota of elemental energy was sapped away from his body. By his side, the floating Fire-tipped Spear and Cataclysmic Seal lost all semblance of light and followed Bai Yunfei down to the ground!


    ¡°Yunfei! Yunfei!! What¡¯s wrong!? What¡¯s going on?! Yunfei!!!!¡±


    Xiao Fang was shouting into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, but no response could be heard.


    He was falling into a deep crevice! If he were to hit the ground from this height and in such a state, Bai Yunfei would without a doubt die!


    ¡°Damn! Who cares anymore, in you go!!¡±


    A loud cry erupted from Xiao Fang as a final remark to Bai Yunfei. A transparent bubble appeared around Bai Yunfei and his two soul armaments before the three disappeared!


    ¡°Ah! No!!¡±


    A wail of despair erupted from the air above as Qin Bangjie realized Bai Yunfei was gone!


    With Bai Yunfei gone, the only thing left of him was the Core Stone to fall further down the crevice and¡­into a tear in space!

 Chapter 1000: Shaking the World With Ones Deeds!

    Back in the Soul Refining School. On top of a large mountain with black clouds swirling around its top.


    A single stone room several meters large in area was constructed at the mountain-top. There were no decorations in this room, but a single person sat inside it.


    This person wore robes that were a grayish-black, but not something that was ultimately unordinary. The owner, a man who looked like he was in his forties, had sideburns that were shaved to have an edge as sharp as a blade and eyebrows equally sharp. His facial appearance was staunch, and his calm seated posture gave one the feeling as if he was seated in the center of the world. The only way someone could tell that he was alive was from how he breathed in like he was trying to take in all the air in the room.


    At some point during one of his breathing cycles, his eyebrows suddenly shot up on his forehead. As if he was twitching, a strange expression took place on his face. Outside the mountain, the black mist around it started to flow erratically!


    The expression on this man¡¯s face only deepened as time went on. He looked like he was in pain. Soon, the twitches that had been apparent on his face had disseminated to the rest of his body before a wave of energy exploded out from his body!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    A scream followed suit. Eyes flying wide open at last, the man¡¯s bright eyes could finally be seen. This man was¡­furious!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The wave of energy quaked the earth and cause parts of the mountain to fall apart like when a volcano erupted. A cloud of dust and stone was kicked up high into the air as the mountain began to crumble!


    A black beam shot up from the ruined mountain up into the sky like a shooting star to fly further and further away and out of sight!


    The total destruction of the mountain led to all those who were in the vicinity of it to immediately make their way over. Three figures shot up into the air to stand on the same level as where the mountain-top and stared on in shock.


    ¡°What happened?! What¡¯s going on?! Where¡­why has the headmaster stopped his training?!¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t have! The ¡®Thousand Day Refinement¡¯ requires exactly a thousand days of training! There was only just a few dozen weeks left, why¡­why would the headmaster give up after nine hundred days?!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way! The headmaster was nearly at the end of a thousand days! Three years of work! Why would the headmaster do such a thing?! What in the world has happened?!¡±


    ¡°It has to be something of the utmost importance! Didn¡¯t the headmaster¡¯s avatar go with the first elder to chase down the intruder? Does¡­does it have to do with that?!¡±


    ¡°Could¡­could it?! That person was only a Soul King! Even if he has the power to fight against a Half-emperor, that shouldn¡¯t mean he¡¯d be able to win against the headmaster¡¯s avatar? Why would the headmaster go in the flesh?!¡±


    ¡°Whatever the reason, it surely can¡¯t be for a minor reason! We¡¯ll need to ask the headmaster when he gets back¡­¡±


    In the area where Bai Yunfei fought Nether¡¯s avatar. The battlefield still had clear skies with the fog not yet settling back in.


    By the edge of where the fog was stood two figures. They were standing deep within the fog so that they couldn¡¯t be seen.


    One of the two wore a dark-purple robe and had a gold mask on his face. It was Yao Tong!


    A malnourished elder stood next to him. His white robes were in just as much of a mess as his hair. Matted and sprawled over the back of his neck, this elder looked like he had been stuck in quite a mess for some time. But even despite that, this elder had a powerful air to him that seemed to force even the fog away from him.


    The two were standing there with wide-open eyes at what they had just witnessed over the last few minutes. Shock and joy!


    ¡°Destroyed?! Nether¡¯s avatar was destroyed?! Haha!! A beautiful sight! Beautiful! How pleasing!!¡±


    The elder roared with laughter in a way that seemed like he was not all there in the head. As if laughing with him, the fog swirled around angrily under the influence of the energy he carried.


    Yao Tong glanced around the place in curiosity. ¡°Master¡­if the first elder is right there, should we take this chance to kill him?¡±


    The one he called ¡®master¡¯ stopped laughing to give the faraway Qin Bangjie a brief look. ¡°No. We should take this chance to run away, in fact. We might otherwise be too late if we don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Yao Tong wasn¡¯t quite sure what his master was getting at.


    ¡°The Asura of the Nether just had his avatar vanquished. What do you think he¡¯d do next?¡± The elder gave Yao Tong a hard look. ¡°He¡¯ll be here in a moment, and we¡¯d be best not to be when he arrives. Let us be off.¡±


    The one visible pupil in Yao Tong¡¯s eyes dilated at the realization of that. He nodded his head and followed his master deeper into the mist¡­


    ¡°Hehe¡­you said that person just now was Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School? What a marvelous youngster! What a shame he is dead¡­his tale simply cannot be laid to rest here. We should help him spread the news! Haha!!! The Soul Refining School suffered major losses by the hand of a single ¡®youth¡¯! How hilarious! How utterly refreshing, hahaha!!!¡±


    Only the laughter of the elderly man could be heard as the two walked deeper and deeper into the mist¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    Something began to buzz in the area, alerting Qin Bangjie to the presence of someone teleporting in!


    When he saw the figure in gray step out from a distortion in space, Qin Bangjie began to tremble. ¡°Hea¡ªheadmaster!!¡± He greeted.


    Nether glanced at Qin Bangjie. Seeing nothing in his hands, the man¡¯s eyes snapped up to give Qin Bangjie a heavy glare. ¡°Where is he?!¡±


    He was here for Bai Yunfei¡¯s corpse. Surely, Bai Yunfei had to have died and Qin Bangjie picked it up. But¡­


    ¡°Headmaster¡­¡± Qin Bangjie mumbled, unsure of what to say or do.


    ¡°Where is Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    Nether blew up with anger. He was done with beating around the bush.


    ¡°He¡­he fell into a spatial crack!!¡±


    ¡°What did you just say?!¡±


    If glares could start fires, then Qin Bangjie would¡¯ve been ashes by now. A wave of soulforce exploded from Nether in his fit of anger, distorting the space around him and leaving behind a path of destruction in its wake.


    Nether used his very own avatar in order to use the secret technique, Samsara, so that Bai Yunfei could be killed and his corpse taken. It should¡¯ve been a simple task to take the Soul Sealing Mandate, Core Stone, and the many other soul armaments he had in his space rings. Then another technique would¡¯ve been used to salvage the ¡®memories¡¯ gotten from Samsara and obtain all that he wanted to know. In that regard, the Soul Refining School would at least gain something from this disaster and begin to recover from their losses¡­


    And yet.


    Even after breaking out from his nine hundred days of training¡ªand essentially throwing away three years of work¡ªBai Yunfei was lost in a spatial crack!


    All that effort wasted and Nether had nothing to show for it! Not even a single thing!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The blood within Qin Bangjie¡¯s body began to boil from the amount of soulforce Nether was giving out and quickly escaped out from his mouth!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A furious roar exploded forth from Nether to resonate throughout the entire Lost Swamp!


    Far far away from the Lost Swamp. In a certain area of the Swallow Province.


    Several streaks of light were flying through the air. In one of these streaks was Tang Xinyun. She was flying on top of a flying sword while Long Lan flew besides her. Her quickshade bird was perched on top of her shoulder while Xiao Qi was perched on top of Long Lan¡¯s. Even the permafrost mastiff was out and flying about with them.


    Their departure from Swallow City had not been impeded. Not even Yan Tianxing stood up to stop them. None of them were willing to stop in any case so they could return back to Mo City.


    ¡°Ah! Noo!!¡±


    As they were flying, Xiao Qi suddenly let out a squawk of panic, drawing the attention of Tang Xinyun and his other companions.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Xiao Qi?!¡± She asked in nervous concern.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Xiao Qi was looking even more panicked than she was. ¡°I can¡¯t sense him! I¡­I don¡¯t have any way of knowing where Bai Yunfei is!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± All semblance of color drained away from Tang Xinyun¡¯s face. ¡°But how can that be?! It can¡¯t be because he¡¯s too far away, can it? How can he simply just¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know! He just suddenly disappeared! Yunfei should be fine, shouldn¡¯t he? He has to be alright!¡± Tears were already beginning to form in Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes.


    Something popped in Tang Xinyun¡¯s knuckles, her hands had been gripped so tightly that her nails were already close to drawing blood. ¡°He¡¯s fine! He¡¯s definitely fine! We have to go back! The Crafting School has Yunfei¡¯s life slip! We might be able to find where he is! We have to go!!¡±


    And just like that, the group exploded with even greater speed than before to return to the Crafting School!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Half a month later, news of what happened in Swallow City as quickly spreading throughout the entire continent and world!


    The strongest family of soul cultivators within the Swallow Province, the Qin¡­.was gone from the world of soul cultivators!


    Patriarch Qin had failed to become a Soul Emperor and fought with Jing ¡®Reaper¡¯ Wuying. In the end, patriarch Qin used the Soul Sealing Mandate to defeat Jing Wuying and was instead killed in turn! Then the twenty Soul Kings of the Qin were subsequently killed! And the current head of the Qin, Qin Long, was nowhere to be seen!


    The reason behind the downfall of the Qin was said to be the patriarch of the number one clan of assassins in the older days, Jing Wuying and another youth! And aside from them two, there was another main culprit, Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School!


    Not only had he managed to kill multiple Soul Kings, Bai Yunfei was also rumored to have killed the Half-emperor patriarch Qin himself!


    What a battle!


    No sooner did news of the battle outside Swallow City began to circulate did the events outside Mo City start to circulate as well. Outside that city, Bai Yunfei had also been a part of a battle that saw to him killing even more Soul Kings!


    It was a shocking piece of information. The name ¡®Bai Yunfei¡¯ was already something many people were paying close attention to. At first, everyone only saw him as a prestigious figure of the ¡®next generation¡¯, meaning that while strong, he wasn¡¯t quite there yet with being a part of the strongest. But now. He was a man capable of killing Soul Kings and even a Half-emperor! He was a man now capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the strongest of the previous generations!


    The only thing that confused people was that Bai Yunfei had simply disappeared after his battle in Swallow City. Along with another mysterious person, Bai Yunfei had simply vanished into thin air and was nowhere to be seen after the battle.


    It didn¡¯t take much to notice that one of the Five Families, the Tang, was beginning to move. Their entire family was apparently in search of Bai Yunfei, and they weren¡¯t the only ones. The house of Zheng in the Capital was embarking on the same quest to find Bai Yunfei.


    Even the Crafting School, the school everyone had long since thought to be content in ¡®seclusion¡¯ was starting to mobilize their entire school to find Bai Yunfei!


    That¡¯s when everyone realized what was going on. Bai Yunfei had gone missing after his battle outside Swallow City!


    Soul cultivators all over the continent began to buzz with activity. Each piece of information they were getting was getting more and more incredulous¡­


    Rumors had it that the one who ¡®ambushed¡¯ Bai Yunfei was the junior headmaster of the Soul Refining School. When the two fought one another, the junior headmaster used a transporting soul armament to bring both him and Bai Yunfei to the Soul Refining School!


    Rumors also had it that Bai Yunfei unloaded a great disaster onto the entire Soul Refining School. It was said he killed many students, over a dozen Soul Kings, and even a Half-emperor! And¡­it was said even the Soul Emperor ¡®Asura of the Nether¡¯ had his avatar vanquished in his battle with Bai Yunfei!


    Those rumors were far too much to believe. Not many people even believed those rumors to be remotely true.


    But several soul cultivators who had long since been thought to be dead began to reappear on the continent. They all claimed to have been held captive by the Soul Refining School if they didn¡¯t swear allegiance to them. The soul cultivators said they were able to escape from the Soul Refining School after Bai Yunfei created the opportunity, and according to them¡­the rumors were, in fact, true!


    This wouldn¡¯t have been much to change the minds of the crowd if it was said by any unordinary person, but each of these persons was all very powerful Soul Kings. Their words held more weight in them than most, and so many people began to have second thoughts on whether or not what they heard was true¡­


    With time, the entire world of soul cultivators began to realize something else.


    The Soul Refining School used to have many of its members making moves in the continent before. But now, not a single member could be seen or even heard!


    More and more people began to collaborate on this. If the Soul Refining School were suddenly inactive when they used to not be, then¡­


    The rumors had to be true! And by extension¡­


    Bai Yunfei had to have done it!


    While suddenly the talk of the empire, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the only topic that was talked about. There were a few other things that people were talking about that were astoundingly amazing to hear, but they were overshadowed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s achievements.


    For example, it was made known that the ¡®vanquished¡¯ house of Qin was in cahoots with the Soul Refining School. The mines in their control had signs of an ancient matrix constructed in it where the Qin wantonly sacrificed hundreds of ordinary soul cultivators to progress their own selfish goals. It was even confirmed when the Tianhun School captured any surviving member and the school declared Qin Long to be a wanted criminal by the entire empire.


    As a result, the Tianhun School employed multiple members to go out seeking any Qin member that might¡¯ve escaped. Each one of them met a ¡®mysterious death¡¯, however, as if they were being hunted and killed. At one point, the Tianhun School had an Early-stage Soul King in charge of protecting the ones they captured, only to have someone kill those members regardless!


    Another astonishing piece of information was the fact that the whereabouts of the Soul Refining School was finally made known. It was said that the Soul Refining School was located within the Lost Swamps. As such, many groups began to employ their strongest to make forays into that swamp, but because of how dangerous and strange the swamp was, none of the people they sent in were able to find anything of value. Some of them didn¡¯t even manage to come back¡­


    Another dozen days went by before the next bombshell dropped upon the continent. This time, the entire continent felt like it seemed a giant storm was coming, and the entire continent was to be the stage!


    The Crafting School was beginning to offer rewards for information!


    If a person were to have a clue about the Soul Refining School or their whereabouts and have it be verified, that person would be given a low-heaven tier soul armament! And if a person had details on Bai Yunfei¡¯s whereabouts, a mid-heaven tier soul armament! And if they actively assist in the search for Bai Yunfei, a high-heaven tier soul armament!


    The rewards of such things got the blood of every soul cultivator going. Everyone knew that the Crafting School¡ªwho had been quiet for the past two dozen years or so¡ªwas finally breaking their seclusion! They were waking up with a vengeance against the Soul Refining School!


    In the beginning, the Crafting School was the first to strike whenever news of the Soul Refining School came out. Not even the Tianhun School were able to react as fast as the Crafting School were before a stronghold of the Soul Refining School was wiped out!


    According to eye-witnesses, they said that the Crafting School had the advantage in terms of power. With all their powerful soul armaments at each of their crafter¡¯s disposal, there was no way their enemies could even hope to resist!


    The most terrifying thing was Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbeast partner. It was said that the bird stormed into an enemy formation by itself and managed to destroy the two mountains the enemies were using as a base. Then after interrogating anyone that was alive about Bai Yunfei¡¯s whereabouts, the bird would slaughter them all! Not even the Soul King hiding with them was spared!


    There was one particular school that was found out to have connections with the Soul Refining School. That school had almost ten Soul Kings within their ranks; not a small amount of firepower by any means.


    And yet, the first elder led the charge into that school and managed to kill them all! The ¡®supporting¡¯ members of the Tianhun School hadn¡¯t even had enough time to join the fray before they were left with ¡®clean-up¡¯ duty¡­


    Aside from Xiao Qi and Long Lan, the Crafting School had six Soul Kings take part in that battle! Not only were Xiao Binzi and Huangfu Nan there, four other Soul Kings from that had gone into seclusion took part.


    This was the proof many people needed. The Crafting School didn¡¯t ¡®decline¡¯ at all in the past twenty years, they were still as powerful as ever!


    The drums of war were starting to grow louder, and the soul cultivators in the continent were excited to see the next battle take place. Many of them were already suggesting that not a single part of the continent wouldn¡¯t see this war take place and that the evil Soul Refining School would soon be exterminated at last.


    Things weren¡¯t as easy as many expected. News of the Soul Refining School started to peter out, and no one else was coming forward with any relevant information about them.


    In a way, it had to be expected. The Soul Refining School stood for thousands of years. A few battles here and there wouldn¡¯t be enough to root them out from the continent. They were still holed up in their base in the Lost Swamp, to which no one had found yet¡­


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t shown up to anyone¡¯s knowledge either. Many people were already thinking that it was true he had died in his battle with the headmaster of the Soul Refining School. Bai Yunfei was dead¡­


    In Swallow City, the manor of the lord-mayor.


    The door to a particularly dark room was pushed open. A small candle was lit inside the room to reveal a stern-faced Yan Tianxing striding inside.


    ¡°How is it? Has the first prince left yet?¡±


    A gravelly voice spoke to Yan Tianxing the moment he strode in. The candle flickered as it was jostled to the side to shed light onto a seated person in the corner of the room.


    This person wore black robes and had hair that was a grizzly gray color. The man looked especially haggard. This person was¡­the missing ¡®criminal¡¯ and head of the Qin, Qin Long!


    He was actually hiding within the lord-mayor¡¯s manor!


    Yan Tianxing nodded. ¡°He has left Swallow City. I believe that¡­he is already starting to suspect me¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! You¡¯ve been found out?!¡±


    Yan Tianxing shook his head. ¡°He is suspicious, but nothing more. He will most likely send more people to keep an eye on me in the future, I cannot afford to do anything that might deepen his suspicions.


    ¡°Therefore,¡± He paused to take a deep breath.


    ¡°You will need to leave now. Someone will bring you to the Soul Refining School. You¡­you should reside in there as a visiting elder¡­¡±


    Qin Long said nothing. The muscles on his face twitched as he considered the reality of his situation.


    ¡°Tell me¡­has that Bai Yunfei really died? Are the rumors true?!¡±


    Yan Tianxing nodded. ¡°He fell into a spatial crack¡­do you think anyone could survive in there?¡±


    A pleased smile ran across Qin Long¡¯s face, but that moment passed quickly. ¡°But¡­the Jing still live on, do they not?!¡±


    ¡°It matters little if they do. You shouldn¡¯t focus on revenge in the state you¡¯re in.¡± Yan Tianxing rebuked, ¡°The Soul Refining School has what you want. Seclude yourself and train. Perhaps you¡¯ll become a Soul Emperor¡­then you can take revenge on the Jing.¡±


    That got Qin Long¡¯s attention. ¡°Very well! I will go to the Soul Refining School!!¡±


    Within the Soul Refining School.


    On top of a small mountain stood a melancholic young man. He surveyed the landscape around him. Though prideful, the face of this person had also a streak of desolation on it.


    It was Mo Ni.


    A flash of light crossed the corners of his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re finally back, Black Dragon¡­¡±


    At some point while he was surveying the lands, a figure in black teleported behind him. It was the Black Dragon King.


    The Black Dragon King gave Mo Ni a scrutinizing look. ¡°I heard a few rumors while outside¡­are they true?¡±


    ¡°Rumors? Rumors that Bai Yunfei killed many of our numbers? Or rumors that my father¡¯s avatar took Bai Yunfei down with him?¡± Mo Ni jeered, ¡°If those are the rumors you mean, then yes, they are true.¡±


    An eyebrow rose up on the Black Dragon King¡¯s face. He had to admit, he was surprised. ¡°Then¡­Bai Yunfei is truly dead?¡± He pressed on.


    ¡°He is.¡± Mo Ni laughed. ¡°He¡¯s dead, but¡­not before leaving us with a humiliating slap in the face¡­¡±


    He shook his head as if to rid himself of those thoughts. Sucking in a deep breath, he turned to head back down the mountain.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go find a place¡­¡±


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°To train.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°The Road to the Nether!!¡±


    Within the Crafting School. Also on top of a mountain.


    A graceful figure in white floated through the skies. A thousand strands of black hair floated gently in the wind as this person drifted down to the mountain. This person was refined and graceful in motion but looked quite melancholic.


    Tang Xinyun looked off into the distance in sadness. In her hand was a small life slip that occasionally pulsated with a soft light. Her fingers closed over it in concern.


    ¡°You can¡¯t be dead, Yunfei¡­I know you won¡¯t die¡­you said you¡¯d be back. I know you will¡­¡±


    She muttered to herself. Forcing the tears away from her eyes, she looked back up to the skies with a determined light in them.


    ¡°We won¡¯t give up. No matter where you are, we¡¯ll find you¡­even if you¡¯re at the opposite end of the world!¡±


    She took off into the sky once again. Flying into the horizon, Tang Xinyun quickly disappeared into the horizon¡­


    ==================================================


    End of Book Seven


    ==============

 Chapter 1001: I am...Tang Long?

    All was dark. An endless stream of pictures ran across the black canvas, but those pictures were as blurry as anything else. Not even a sound could be heard. Nothing made sense. There was nothing to be done. No arm or leg to be moved. No mouth to let breathe. No heart to feel beat. No mind to even think¡­


    A state of being that was hard to describe. Everything was nothing, and it felt like one¡¯s sense of ¡®self¡¯ was something that had long since disappeared¡­


    If there was an emotion to be felt, then would posit that it had to be ¡®panic¡¯.


    Yes. Panic. An emotion of fear never before felt. Panic as if one was trying to reclaim everything, but was that ¡®everything¡¯?


    And¡­why? One wasn¡¯t quite clear about it¡­


    A beam of light dawned across the darkness, scattering away the tendrils so that the blurry pictures once more began to take shape¡­


    Things were hazy, but something was starting to take shape out of the visual snow. If one were to focus, one would be able to see large buildings everywhere and a road as flat and smooth as a mirror. Countless vehicles moved this way and that at blinding speeds like non-stop objects. Even in the skies, one could see many things flying about¡­


    One might believe this was a place called ¡®Earth¡¯, but one wouldn¡¯t know why it was.


    People could be seen in these pictures. They were doing all sorts of things, but none of which seemed to bear any sort of relation to the other. How unfathomable.


    Some things in these pictures were clear, other things were not. Some connected to another, some did not¡­.


    Right there. The sensation of coolness around the ¡®body¡¯. Then the realization of the existence of a ¡®mouth¡¯ lapping greedily at something. It was sweet.


    Then the throat. The stomach. The arms and legs. The subconscious¡­.everything was ¡®coming back¡¯.


    ¡°Ah! He¡¯s awake! He¡¯s awake! Grandfather, come quick!¡±


    The next existence to make itself known was the ear. A noise was apparent to this ear, though it was muffled at first before the ear could properly register what this noise meant.


    The sensation of having ¡®eyes¡¯ was next. An experimental push was made, and light soon began to sprinkle in¡­


    ¡°Hngh¡­¡±


    A groan was had as Bai Yunfei opened up his eyes. The light was blinding to him and took him a second before he could see what was around him.


    Taking up the majority of his range of vision was the face of a young man. His eyes had a particular light to them that seemed unblemished by anything in the world as he stared happily at Bai Yunfei. Just barely within the corners of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes stood a small wooden hut.


    ¡°Quiet down, Stone. Let the elder Zhong take a look.¡±


    An enfeebled voice spoke, prompting Bai Yunfei to turn towards the source. He wanted to turn his head, but he found himself lacking in strength.


    ¡°Oh, grandfather Zhong, please take a look then¡­¡± The one known as ¡®Stone¡¯ replied meekly. Stepping away, he allowed for a second old man with him to draw close to Bai Yunfei.


    This old man had a kindly expression on his face. He was studying Bai Yunfei closely as if trying to discern if there was anything wrong. Clearly, there was something about Bai Yunfei that puzzled the man, as the man kept tugging at his eyelids and then at his jaw. Two hands poked at Bai Yunfei¡¯s body as if to test the response, but Bai Yunfei was as still as a statue.


    ¡°Curious¡­very curious¡­all of your wounds healed in just two days?! This is simply phenomenal! Could my medicines be far more effective than I thought?!¡±


    The white-haired elder seemed satisfied with his observation of Bai Yunfei. Groaning to himself as he stood up, he dusted himself off. ¡°He looks fine, if not just a little confused if his eyes are anything to go by. His wounds are healed, but let him rest and he should be fine by tomorrow. Find me if anything in particular changes.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your troubles, elder Zhong. See elder Zhong out, Stone.¡± The voice of the first elder spoke again. Bai Yunfei heard the one known as ¡®Stone¡¯ chirp in affirmative before he heard the door close and two pairs of footsteps walk farther and father away¡­


    Bai Yunfei saw then an elder dressed in gray approach the bed he was laid on. ¡°Young man,¡± The voice spoke warmly, ¡°how do you feel? Can you speak?¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked. Opening his mouth, he noticed that somehow, his body had enough strength all of a sudden. Both palms pressed gently onto the frame of his bed so he could boost his body up.


    ¡°Oh? You can move?¡± The elder uttered in surprise, but not before quickly reaching out to stabilize Bai Yunfei before he could fall and rest his head against the wall.


    Bai Yunfei heaved a sigh at the feeling of his strength slowly return to him. His eyes swiveled over to take a better look of where he was.


    It was a simple bamboo hut. Nothing too remarkable about it.


    The next thing he took note of after the room was the elder seated next to him. ¡°Senior, I¡­where is this? What happened?¡±


    ¡°This is our village. Stone and his father found you laying unconscious on a mountain before they brought you back here¡­¡± The elder replied, ¡°As for what happened¡­that is a question you must ask yourself. Where are you from, young one? Why were you found with blood all over you? What happened to you?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Bai Yunfei trailed off, his face was scrunched up in confusion. ¡°I was covered in blood? And unconscious? What happened? I¡­I don¡¯t remember¡­¡±


    The elder blinked, this wasn¡¯t an answer he expected.


    ¡°Haha, so you¡¯re not fully recovered as I expected.¡± He laughed, ¡°Worry not, the answers will come to you in time. What is your name?¡±


    ¡°My name¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei paused. There was a strange sensation in his head. What was it? He paused again.


    ¡°I think¡­my name is¡­Tang Long?¡±


    ¡°You think?¡± The elder gave him a puzzled look, ¡°Where are you from?¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei looked almost lost. ¡°I think I¡¯m¡­from Earth¡­¡±


    ¡°Earth? Where is that?¡± The confusion in the elder¡¯s eyes deepened. He was more and more at a loss on how to treat Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Alas, let us speak of this another time. Rest up for now and wait to be fully healed. Maybe all will be clear then.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± A dazed nod. ¡°Ah, senior¡­¡± A sudden realization. ¡°What should I call you?¡± A polite query.


    The elder cracked a warm smile this time. ¡°My surname is Wu. You may call me uncle Wu¡­¡±


    ¡°Uncle Wu?¡± Something in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind registered a stab of pain, but the pain was only for a moment. This name had to be important, but he could think of no such reason why. He blinked the feeling of daze away from his mind. ¡°Thank you, uncle Wu¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, no need. Heal up first and then we can talk.¡± Uncle Wu smiled. Rising up from his seat, he stepped for the door. Just as his hand was about to push it open, the wooden door slammed open from the other end first for a golden-brown shadow to fly through it and towards Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    The first instinct Bai Yunfei had was to give a yelp, but the warm sensation of something licking at his right hand prompted him to look down. Right there on the bed with him was a large wrinkly dog that laid on top of his person so it could lick his hand incessantly. Its tail was shaking non-stop and the amount of joy in its eyes was unmistakable to see¡­


    ¡°Lao Sha?!¡±


    These two words flowed forth from his mouth before his mind could even catch up. But where did that name come from? He had never seen this dog, how did he know its name straight away?


    ¡°Lao Sha? Is that its name?¡± Uncle Wu seemed to have recovered from his small fright. ¡°This dog was found with you. Stone said that it was standing guard over you when they found you. They mentioned that they saw a heavily-injured wolf stagger from the opposite direction before they came across you. That dog of yours must be quite the fighter then. I was told your dog wouldn¡¯t let anyone get close and even bit a few of the villagers. Stone¡¯s father seemed to have convinced its mind when he put down his weapon and waited. It wouldn¡¯t even leave your side on the way to the village, surely it must have been worried someone would try to hurt you and was prepared to snap.¡±


    The curiosity on uncle Wu¡¯s face only deepened at the dog¡¯s appearance. ¡°Your dog stood outside the door for the entire two days and night you were out. It wouldn¡¯t eat anything. In fact, I don¡¯t even know if it¡¯s even hungry¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was even more surprised. He looked down at the large dog on the bed with him in confusion.


    Aside from this dog being ¡®Lao Sha¡¯, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure what else there was about this dog.


    ¡°What¡­happened to me?¡±


    As hard as he might to try and jostle his head for memories, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t find any. A new type of fear gripped at his heart in a way that made him feel pained.


    He had¡­forgotten many things it seemed.


    Or maybe it was better to say¡­he didn¡¯t remember anything at all¡­

 Chapter 1002: A Nameless Village

    Lao Sha gave Bai Yunfei a strange look as if realizing there was something amiss with him. It had been hoping to get at least two primal stones to eat! Why was it that Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t done anything yet¡­


    It cocked its head. What reason was there for Bai Yunfei to be in such a stupor? The creases on its face multiplied as it studied the male.


    Then as if pouting, the dog leaped off the bed without a single glance. It would try his luck at getting the primal stones from the one named ¡®Stone¡¯.


    ¡°Eh?! Hold on, you can move! That¡¯s great!!¡±


    A loud voice shattered the silence Bai Yunfei was in whilst he was trying to figure out this newest conundrum he was in. Snapping his head up, Bai Yunfei watched as the same youth from before came running back into the room.


    Uncle Wu said a few quiet words to Stone before he made his exit.


    Stone grabbed a small wooden chair from the corner and propped it near the bed to smile excitedly at the bedridden person.


    ¡°Big brother, what did you say your name was?¡± Stone asked Bai Yunfei in excitement.


    ¡°My name is¡­Tang Long.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then I¡¯ll call you big brother Tang then. You can call me ¡®Stone¡¯.¡± He laughed. It was an innocent laugh.


    ¡°Where you from, big brother Tang? Which village? I never knew this mountain had another village! Maybe you¡¯re from far away? How¡¯d you get here? How¡¯d you get so hurt? Were you attacked? A tiger? Or a bear? How¡¯d you get away then?¡±


    The salvo of questions from the small boy left Bai Yunfei speechless almost. Blinking once in confusion on how to answer this, Bai Yunfei could only give him a single answer to answer them all.


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t remember¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t remember?!¡± Cried the young boy. ¡°How do you not? What do we do then?¡± He seemed even more excited at this.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t respond. He too, was trying to think about what there was to do about this!


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask him too many questions, Stone. Tang Long isn¡¯t fully recovered yet. Wait for him to get better before you bother him.¡± Uncle Wu¡¯s voice called out from outside.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± The young boy grew dejected, but only for a moment. ¡°You better rest up, big brother Tang. Don¡¯t need ta worry about anything! You can live with us here in the village, we¡¯re all nice people! We¡¯ve never had guests before, actually! If you want ta get up, then you¡¯re going ta have ta tell me what your home was like! I never heard of the ¡®outside¡¯ before¡­eh? What are you doing, big brother Tang?¡±


    Something about how Stone was talking seemed to spark something in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. He was staring down at his left hand, and then to his right hand. He looked to his chest and then touched at his head as if looking for something.


    ¡°I think there¡¯s something¡­missing¡­¡±


    He was muttering to himself. He felt like there should¡¯ve been something there. He didn¡¯t know what, but that feeling was there. And something that should¡¯ve been on his left hand seemed especially important¡­


    ¡°Oh! Are you talking about those things you were wearing? They¡¯re over there! We collected it for you! Lemme get it for you!¡± Stone suddenly leaped up from his chair to run towards a small corner where a bundle of cloth was. Grabbing it, he raced back to drop it onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    ¡°You were wearing a lot! And heavy too. Why were you wearing all those things? It must¡¯ve been tiring!¡± Stone asked. ¡°But¡­there were a lot of pretty stuff too! I saw things even prettier than what the aunties and sisters wear in the village.¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t say anything. He simply opened the bag in anticipation.


    As he thought, there were a lot of things there. The most noticeable thing was a black and gold piece of armor, two small arm bracers, a pair of violet shoes, a bracelet, rings¡­


    His eyes glanced over the individual items until he reached a particular item with a soft white glow. His eyes lit up¡ªthis was the item!


    His fingers took a small cloud-shaped ring into his hand. For some reason, Bai Yunfei felt his hand start to tremble. Whatever the reason, Bai Yunfei knew he had to put it back onto his left hand.


    When he placed the ring onto his finger, it felt like a giant boulder had been lifted off of him. The trembling in his hand stopped.


    He became suddenly aware of a warm flow of something enter his body the moment the ring was adorned. If a mind could grow brighter, then his certainly did. But Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure why this was the case.


    A flash of suspicion crossed his eyes. He stared at the ring for several seconds longer to study it.


    He found nothing and decided to look at the other things in the pile.


    There were plenty of rings and two bracelets, but Bai Yunfei had no idea why he¡¯d wear all those things.


    Stone was right, wouldn¡¯t it be tiring?


    ¡°Eh? This is¡­¡±


    He took notice of a small square stamp of some kind.


    Another feeling popped up in his mind. For some reason, Bai Yunfei knew this object was important to him.


    There was a piece of string attached to this object, and Bai Yunfei found himself wrapping it around his neck to wear. He felt ¡®safe¡¯ once it was secured around his neck, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure why. He had no words to describe that reasoning, he just ¡®knew¡¯ it.


    There was another pendant that had a white jade object on it, so Bai Yunfei took the opportunity to wear that around his neck as well. As for the other rings and bracelets, Bai Yunfei decided not to do much about those¡ªit felt weird to wear all those things at once.


    The armor he first laid eyes on was quite strange to Bai Yunfei. It looked like it was made from metal, but the object felt like silk to the touch. Turning it over several times, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with it and ultimately decided to put it on. He was only wearing a simple robe right now, wearing this piece of armor didn¡¯t feel too out of place.


    The next to be inspected was a long ¡®strip¡¯ of cloth. For some reason, he was about to wrap it around his forehead.


    ¡°You¡¯re going ta wear this? Is it ta hide that scar on your forehead?¡±


    Stone suddenly piped up to interrupt Bai Yunfei during his observational mood.


    ¡°Scar?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Stone pointed at his forehead, ¡°It¡¯s weird, how¡¯d you get like that? I don¡¯t think you ta hide it though, it looks cool!¡±


    Blinking, Bai Yunfei felt at the space where Stone pointed at. He couldn¡¯t feel a thing. ¡°Do you have a mirror?¡¯


    Stone took out a copper plate for Bai Yunfei to look at.


    To Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise, there was indeed a small ¡®scar¡¯ there. It wasn¡¯t very large, but it was at the very least quite noticeable and shaped like a water chestnut. It almost felt like he had fallen on top of something for it to leave behind such a mark.


    ¡°What¡­is this?¡± He rubbed at the spot in annoyance. No matter how hard he tried, no memory was coming out in regard to this.


    In the end, he gave up. The Soul Sentinel Scarf was wrapped around his forehead to hide the ¡®mark¡¯.


    Another strange but warming sensation flowed into his body the moment the strip of cloth was secured around his forehead, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t think this was all too ¡®weird¡¯ now.


    He gave the pile of objects in front of him another look and decided to wear the two gloves. The bracers were simply too heavy so Bai Yunfei placed them back into the cloth bundle.


    Allowing Stone to clean up the place, Bai Yunfei waited for him to be done before laying back down onto the bed to rest for the night.


    ¡­¡­


    The skies were blue and the clouds were white. A large mountain with trees littering its surface was off to the side of the landscape when Bai Yunfei stepped out from the small hut he had been in. Looking up to admire the place, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but find himself a little blown away by the scenic view.


    A night went by since he ¡®woke¡¯ up. Strangely enough, Bai Yunfei felt completely fine and ready to move about after that night¡¯s rest and so decided to walk around this morning.


    This was a small village he was in. Over a dozen huts were built in close proximity to the one behind him and leaned towards the mountain, but there wasn¡¯t anything else to be noted about them. If Bai Yunfei had to guess, then he¡¯d wager that there were over a hundred people living in this village.


    He knew that this was a village located within a mountainous forest. He also knew there was a large expanse of forest all around this place. From what Stone told him, the eldest person in the village was born here, and even the ¡®people of before¡¯ were here for a ¡®very very very very long time¡¯. How many generations that was, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know.


    Never had these villagers gone beyond the mountains before. They enjoyed to live in seclusion and live a nice and simple life.


    With an isolated of a lifestyle as the ones these villagers lived, none of them knew what it was like to live in the outside world. They had no idea what was even happening outside.


    That left Bai Yunfei rather speechless. That meant he wouldn¡¯t have any information to be used as ¡®reference¡¯ or maybe to be used to help jostle his memories.


    His body was perfectly fine but his memories were still not.


    The only ¡®memory¡¯ that came to mind was that his name was probably ¡®Tang Long¡¯ and that he was probably from ¡®Earth¡¯. Everything else was a jumbled mess that seemed incongruent with the knowledge he knew of the people here. He had no way of knowing what was what no matter how hard he tried, so he was beginning to feel hopeless.


    Maybe he¡¯d get his memories back if he were to wait long enough¡­


    Time was the only solace Bai Yunfei had. From here on out, he¡¯d have to live on as he was and wait¡­

 Chapter 1003: Going Hunting

    It was rather noisy in the forest. The constant shuffling of footsteps ruined the quiet ambiance and alerted two hares to a foreign presence. Their ears perked up as well as their heads as they scanned the area and waited to see if they would need to scamper away.


    From the opposite direction the hares ran away from, a bow-wielding man emerged from the bushes he had been hiding behind. Another pitchfork-holding man came out from behind him along with a highly-excited young male with a small hunting bow. Two other youths were behind; one was a sickly-looking young man with a long staff and a sturdy-looking male with a wood-chopping axe.


    ¡°Ah! There¡¯s a hare over there!¡±


    The young man with the bow whispered. He was already notching his bow to aim at the hare when the man in front of him held his hand up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t loose your arrow so quickly, Stone!¡± The male warned, ¡°We¡¯re chasing after a deer¡¯s tracks, you¡¯ll scare it away. Stay behind us and don¡¯t make a sound.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Dejected, Stone unnotched the arrow from his bow and sighed.


    Bai Yunfei had an amused smile on his face. Today marked the first time Stone would be hunting with the rest of the males, so there was no way he wouldn¡¯t be excited. It didn¡¯t even have to be a hare for Stone to be excited by. He was already ready to fire at any sparrow that he saw. But for all his excitement, he never hit a single arrow yet.


    It was already the fifth day since Bai Yunfei arrived in this village. It took Bai Yunfei two days since his arrival for him to feel recovered, though Bai Yunfei still hadn¡¯t any new memories to remember. Fortunately, he was already getting used to a lifestyle here in the village. He saw how the primary source of food for the village relied on the young males to hunt for in the mountains, so in order for him to live here for now, Bai Yunfei figured it was best that he contribute to food procurement and join in on the hunt.


    He and two other youths were tailing behind four more well-experienced hunters for the experience. The middle-aged man that warned Stone earlier was his father, or uncle Wu. Aside from him, the one with thick eyebrows and at the very front was a man with the surname of Zuo, and the one behind him was his son, Zuo Shou.


    Another thing worth mentioning were the two shadows following the hunters. Two dogs. One was jet-black and scarily large; this was a special type of dog breed for hunting purposes. The other was the wrinkly yellow Lao Sha. It looked rather weak.


    The first dog was attentively sniffing at the ground as it followed behind the humans, but Lao Sha was lazily walking about from bush to bush as if looking for something.


    Uncle Zuo and Wu were both quite attentive to their surroundings as they led the group, but it wouldn¡¯t be for another half hour before uncle Zuo would suddenly bend close to the ground to hide behind a bush.


    ¡°Be careful, we have ourselves a situation!¡±


    Everyone grew alert at once. Hiding their presence as best as they could, the group behind whatever bush was closest to them.


    ¡°Ah! That dee¡ª¡±


    Stone physically clamped at his lips almost as quickly as he cried out. Fortunately, he hadn¡¯t spoiled their location. Heaving out a sigh of relief, he drew still and stared anxiously and in fear at the sight ahead.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t blame Stone for being pale in this current moment, he was feeling slightly uneasy himself. A deer was indeed in front of them, but it was lying in a pool of blood and was currently being torn apart and devoured by two carnivorous wolves.


    The game they were hunting had already been taken by these two wolves!


    But uncle Zuo and Wu looked rather pleased at this. A deer and two wolves; this was quite the profitable hunt today!


    Uncle Zuo glanced over at Zuo Shou. Nodding, the two raised their hunting bows and aimed it at the two wolves.


    ¡°Twang! Twang!¡±


    The strings twang in the air as two arrows were let loose through the bushes. At the sound, the heads of the two wolves snapped up in fright before leaping away from the deer to try and run away!


    ¡°Aoo!!!¡±


    But one of the wolves came crashing down! Uncle Zuo¡¯s aim had been true! The wolf on the left had its hindleg struck by his arrow and tumbled down to the ground.


    The other wolf Zuo Shuo aimed at had been fortunate enough to evade the arrow. It snarled and looked ready to pounce at the hunters, but it thought otherwise after it realized its companion had been struck down. Backing away, the wolf began to turn around to flee!


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    Uncle Wu was already charging out from the bushes. Pitchfork poised to strike, the man leaped at the grounded wolf and pushed his weapon down onto its throat to kill it!


    ¡°Twang! Twang¡±


    Another two arrows were let loose from the two bowyers in an attempt to stop the second wolf from escaping. But it was too late. The wolf was already too far away for their arrows to bring down.


    And when it seemed like the wolf really was about to get away¡­


    ¡°Wooosh!!¡±


    A shadow image traveling faster than the two arrows caught up right away with the wolf!


    ¡°Aooo!!!¡±


    A howl of pain even more tragic-sounding than the first one erupted from the wolf as a longstaff went straight through the wolf¡¯s body and anchored it to the ground!


    The skewered wolf spasmed as it tried to escape, but it was powerless. Desperate, but powerless, the wolf soon lost all signs of life and grew still¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    No one spoke for a while. They were all staring at where the second was struck down with a wide-open mouth.


    They all turned their heads to look at the empty-handed Bai Yunfei. The staff that had impaled the wolf was thrown by him!


    Like them, Bai Yunfei was also staring down at his own hands. Not even he knew that a result like this would happen.


    The only thing he was aware of was that the wolf was about to escape. He wasn¡¯t even thinking about anything else when his hands were already snapping back to let the staff fly¡­


    ¡°Ah!!¡± Stone was the first to break the silence. ¡°How¡¯d you do that, big brother Tang? That¡­was¡­amazing!¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt embarrassed with how everyone was giving him such a strange look. He scratched his nose bashfully and smiled. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know. I guess I¡¯m stronger than I thought¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha! We got ourselves two wolves and a deer! It¡¯s an early feast tonight!


    Stone was already scampering towards the corpses of the wolf Bai Yunfei killed to pull the staff out from.


    ¡°Rrrrr¡­..rrrrrr¡­.¡±


    The giant black dog next to Zuo Shou began to snarl right away. It was staring in a different direction of the forest with a menacing growl, but its eyes looked almost fearful by whatever it saw!


    ¡°Stone! Come back, quickly!!¡±


    Recognizing the signs of danger, Zuo Shou immediately called out to have Stone come back.


    ¡°What?!¡± Stone¡¯s hands fell from the long staff to stare incredulously at Zuo Shou. Before he could ask any questions, however, a giant shadow suddenly leaped out from the bushes near him!


    ¡°Roarrr!!!¡±


    It was an imposing figure. Larger than any of the other males in the group, the shadow revealed itself to be¡­a giant grizzly bear!


    ¡°Ahhh!!¡±


    Terrified, Stone fell to the ground. He scrambled to his feet to try and run away in the opposite direction of the bear, but he tripped and fell over a vine!


    ¡°Aoo!!!¡±


    A black shadow flew over Stone¡¯s head as the giant dog pounced at the bear to distract it!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Unphased by the dog, the bear tossed one of its paws forward to send the dog flying away!


    The dog¡ªwhile gigantic in comparison to other dogs¡ªwas minuscule to the bear. Flung high into the air, the dog fell back down to the ground and tumbled to a halt with wounds almost unbearable to look at.


    The bear looked away from the dog to stare at Stone. An ominous glint flashed in its eye, as if symbolizing its readiness to kill the ¡®prey¡¯ in front of it.


    ¡°Stone!¡±


    Uncle Wu was already running forward in an attempt to protect Stone. He and his pitchfork were a little too far away, however, and the bear was simply far too close to Stone. Zuo Shuo and his father were also preparing for action. Notching their bows, the two aimed at the bear and were prepared to let loose when all of a sudden, a person came running at the bear!


    Bai Yunfei!


    His speed, to put it simply, was unbelievably fast. Hardly anyone could even see the blurry outline of his person as he zoomed in front of Stone and slammed his fist into the bear¡¯s throat!


    Like the dog, Bai Yunfei was practically a child in front of an adult, and his fist was especially tiny. The bear wouldn¡¯t even feel an itch from the punch, but rather than see Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch do nothing, everyone¡¯s jaws dropped open when¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist met enough resistance in the bear¡¯s throat that the ground beneath his feet cratered under the force. Something akin to a gust of wind blew out from where the man and bear were before the latter suddenly¡­went flying into the air!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    It crashed back down to the ground several meters away. Staggering as it tried to get back onto its feet, the bear had a glazed light in its eyes and had blood dripping freely from its jaw. It managed to give a low snarl, however, and stood up in preparation to utterly ¡®devestate¡¯ the ¡®prey¡¯ that had dared harm it.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    But a streak of dark-yellow light came at it before it could move and snapped at the bear¡¯s throat to rip it open!


    There was an odd tearing sound as blood and gore flew everywhere. A sizeable chunk of the bear¡¯s throat had been torn out!


    A large piece of the bear¡¯s throat was missing now. Having noticed its sudden decline in health, the bear looked terrified. It opened its jaw to roar, but no sound came out. With its throat gone, there was no way it could.


    A shaking paw rose up as it struggled to move, but the action proved to be far too laborious. The paw dropped back down to its side before the bear¡­collapsed dead on the ground!


    It was dead!


    Something was on top of the bear¡¯s body with a chunk of the bear¡¯s throat still in its jaws¡­it was Lao Sha!


    At some point after Bai Yunfei knocked the bear away, the sickly-looking shar-pei dog took action and had an uncharacteristically dangerous light in its eyes!


    It lasted only for a moment.


    Now that the bear was dead, Lao Sha spat out the flesh and fur it had in its mouth and leaped down. Striding two meters away from the bear, it began to shake as if terrified and ran behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s side for cover¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    This time, not even Bai Yunfei could stop himself from staring at Lao Sha with a stunned expression¡­

 Chapter 1004: Elixirs? Immortals?

    Once Bai Yunfei and the others were back in the village with a haul of two wolves, one deer, and one grizzly bear, the entire village started to buzz with excited fervor.


    Two wolves and a deer in just half a day¡¯s hunt was already quite the haul. An adult grizzly bear¡­now that was something else!


    A grizzly bear was an animal that was meant to be avoided at all costs. A good half of the village¡¯s entire able-bodied hunters would have to gather for a hunting party on a bear, and even that would require an extensive amount of coordination to pull off.


    But even that would mean having most of the hunting party heavily injured and more probable than not a failure.


    So the fact that this hunting group¡ªone that consisted of two older hunters and three young ones¡ªmanaged to kill a grizzly bear. That¡­how else could this achievement be described other than being impossible?!


    It wasn¡¯t until they went back up the mountain to bring back the corpse of the grizzly bear that the villagers finally believed it. With proof like that, how could anyone not be surprised!


    They were surrounded by villagers the moment when the carcass of the bear was dropped in the center of the village. Over a hundred of them had their eyes glued to Bai Yunfei as if he was an exhibit. It made him feel uncomfortable, to say the least, and Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but notice Stone speaking to a smaller subsection of the village.


    He could see the villagers talking to Stone gasp every once in a while and give Bai Yunfei a look. That sparked curiosity in Bai Yunfei and made him wonder what they could be talking about, so he walked on over to them.


    ¡°Are you telling the truth, Stone? How can a single person just send a grizzly bear flying? It¡¯s crazy just hearing it¡­¡±


    The voice of one of the villagers could be heard now.


    ¡°I saw it myself, you think I¡¯m lying? Sis Lucid, you can ask my dad if you don¡¯t believe me! They¡¯ll tell you it¡¯s true¡­my big brother Tang is amazing! Not even the strongest bull in the village is stronger than he is!¡±


    It seemed like Stone was a little angry with how doubtful this girl was.


    ¡°What are you talking about, Stone?¡±


    Bai Yunfei suddenly asked him from behind.


    ¡°Ahh!!¡± Having been too engrossed in his conversation with the other girl, Stone was not prepared for Bai Yunfei to suddenly appear behind him. He leapt into the air in fright before turning around to smile at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Big brother Tang, you¡¯re back?! Haha, I was just talking about how cool you are! Can you believe they don¡¯t believe you? Hmph! Just they wait, they¡¯ll believe it once they see!¡±


    Like Stone, the others talking to him started in surprise. Some even took a few steps back in fear or curiosity of Bai Yunfei. Some were even giving him looks of adoration and respect¡­


    He noticed that these villagers were all of the same age of Stone. There were even a few kids here.


    He felt like shaking his head. ¡°Stone, uncle Wu was calling for you, he says he wants to teach you how to treat the corpse. Since today¡¯s your first hunt, you¡¯ll need to know how to do this.¡±


    ¡°Really!?¡± Stone¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement. Learning how to take apart a corpse was something he was really excited for and had him speeding towards uncle Wu at once.


    ¡°Help! Help! Someone come help! Uncle Wang is hurt!!¡±


    Suddenly, a panicked voice from the other side of the village. A few of the quicker-reacting men were already turning and running towards the source of the voice.


    ¡°Ah! Father!!¡±


    Another cry rang out in the village. This time, it was someone from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side that did. It was Lucid, the seventeen-year-old girl. Her face went white when she heard the voice and began to run towards the back of the village where everyone else was running to.


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow, but he followed after the others.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the entire village saw a group of people bring in a bloodied figure to the center of the village. By his side was Lucid with enough tears falling from her eyes to wash away a portion of the blood on the person¡¯s body.


    Bai Yunfei watched from the center of the crowd as the injured man clutched at his left arm. It was bent at an awkward angle and had blood spilling out from the injury on it. The wrist, in particular, was especially bad. Fragments of the bones in his wrist could even be seen¡­


    Several of the villagers were whispering to several others that another party had been on the hunt for a boar. During the hunt, uncle Wang was unable to get out of the way of the boar¡¯s charge and was struck in the arm by the boar¡¯s hoof¡­


    ¡°Step aside! Elder Zhong is here, don¡¯t block his path!¡±


    Another voice called out from the back of everyone to clear the way. At this voice, everyone began to clear a path to allow for the same elder who had treated Bai Yunfei to hurry towards the injured man. When he saw the injury, the expression on the elder¡¯s face darkened.


    ¡°Elder Zhong¡­ please save my father! His¡­his arm, can it be healed?¡± The girl named Lucid cried pitifully.


    ¡°Be at ease, child.¡± Elder Zhong replied, ¡°It seems doable.¡±


    Lucid heaved a sigh of relief, but Bai Yunfei was surprised. Had he heard things correctly? This type of injury was ¡®doable¡¯?! The arm was practically gone! How could treatment be doable?


    Bai Yunfei watched as the elder took out two bottles from a medicinal box. They were about the circumference of a small chicken egg. One of the bottles had some sort of pill the size of a peanut and the color of pink. Pinching the pill, he gently pried open the injured man¡¯s mouth open and had him swallow the pill.


    The swallowing of the pill was a reflexive response from uncle Wang. Everyone watched attentively as the pill was swallowed, and then when several seconds passed, Bai Yunfei was shocked to see¡­


    The wounds on uncle Wang¡¯s hand was starting to knit together and heal at an extremely accelerated speed!!


    Elder Zhong was already taking out another pill¡ªthis one white in color¡ªto place in uncle Wang¡¯s mouth.


    The coloration on uncle Wang¡¯s face was already gaining its original pigment back when the second pill was swallowed. The sweat on his forehead was already drying up and his breathing was starting to stabilize. Bai Yunfei could even see that the bone fragments setting back into place as if nothing was wrong with them to begin with!


    ¡°What¡­what is this?!¡±


    Naturally, Bai Yunfei was shocked by such a sight. Though he might¡¯ve lost his memories, he was still fully aware of the ¡®common sense¡¯ that ruled in this world. A grievous wound like the one uncle Wang had earlier shouldn¡¯t have been able to recover so quickly. But¡­somehow it was done after he ate two pills?!


    Stone sniggered at the look of astonishment on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°Hehe, are you surprised, big brother Tang! We call them ¡®elixirs¡¯! They were brought to us by the Immortals, they¡¯re magical! It can heal any wounds!¡±


    ¡°Elixirs? Immortals? What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°They say¡­the Immortals live deep in the forests! They can fly anywhere they want and are super powerful! I heard our elders say before that the Immortals once descended to our village to save a bunch of the villagers who were dying here. They even left behind several elixirs and stuff before flying away¡­¡±


    He looked up to the sky in worship as if expecting one of those ¡®Immortals¡¯ to suddenly come flying down.


    ¡°I heard that the elixirs they first brought down were so powerful they could regrow an arm! But I think there was only one of those and was used a long time ago. Elder Zhong must¡¯ve used one that can heal the bones and skin. Those can heal any wound as long as the body part isn¡¯t totally gone!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was speechless. Elixirs? Immortals? Did this world really have people like that? People that could fly?!


    ¡°Elder Zhong¡­will¡­will my father be fine?¡±


    Lucid¡¯s meek voice snapped Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. Looking back to her and her father, Bai Yunfei watched as the older male fell into a deep sleep. It seemed like he was fine now. His arm didn¡¯t even look like there was anything wrong with it in the first place.


    But elder Zhong had a contemplative look on his face. He reached his hand out to touch at the man¡¯s arm. He was tracing a finger along the veins and skin where the injury had been as if trying to look for something.


    ¡°No¡­the pellets I made aren¡¯t as potent as the elixirs from the Immortals. A single Bone Healing Pellet wasn¡¯t enough to heal the entirety of his wrist bones¡­¡± Elder Zhong responded at last.


    ¡°Ah! Then what is there to do?¡± Lucid was panicking now, her hands clutched at the sleeves of elder Zhong¡¯s robes. ¡°Elder Zhong¡­please¡­please give my father another elixir! Please!¡±


    Elder Zhong gave her a pitiful sigh and tipped both bottles he had in his hands over. Nothing came out.


    ¡°The ingredients to make these pellets have been sparse over the recent years. We have used up all the elixirs in our stocks. Unless newer ingredients can be found, I am powerless to help your father¡­¡±

 Chapter 1005: Scavenging For Ingredients

    Dusk was falling upon the village, though the figures of several humans could be seen trekking deeper into the forest rather than out of it.


    Their numbers ranged close to the fifties and were all able-bodied young males. In their hands were all sorts of weapons to safeguard themselves and their fellow villagers from any dangerous beasts as they scanned the forest for something.


    What they were looking for were ¡®ingredients¡¯ to make an ¡®elixir¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei was in one of these groups to the left.


    The solidarity between these villagers astounded Bai Yunfei. Practically everyone in the village sprung into action to search the forest once it was known that another ¡®elixir¡¯ was needed to heal uncle Wang¡¯s arm!


    The general hunting grounds of the village had already any herb and grass picked clean after generations of hunting and scavenging. In order to find even more ingredients, the villagers had to expand their search to the lands beyond what they were normally familiar with. The lands where the more dangerous beasts could be found.


    But in order to find the ingredients to make another elixir, this had to be done, and the villagers were willing to undertake this task.


    It was said that the last time the village went on a search for more ingredients the surrounding hundred kilometers was searched. And even then, it took the rigorous searching of dozens of people in order to find enough of it.


    A plan was made right there and then to set out at noon. The advance search group was already halfway out from their normal hunting grounds now, but the path was only getting more and more perilous due to the footing and the dangerous beasts. Fortunately, the combined strength of the villagers gave them a great advantage over the beasts and so they were able to avoid taking any damage to continue forward.


    The villagers only grew even more determined when night began to fall. Traveling at night was slow, but they would at least be able to reach the lands that had yet to be scavenged by morning if they walked through the night. The earlier they could find the ingredients, the sooner they could return to the village.


    ¡°Are you feeling fine, Stone? Do you want a drink?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked the profusely sweating Stone right next to him. He was worried. A trek as long as this was definitely a hard one for even a grown-up, let alone a seventeen-year-old like Stone.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m good! I can keep going¡­!¡± He panted. He could hardly talk right now with how hard he was breathing.


    That didn¡¯t stop him from looking at Bai Yunfei with great respect. ¡°Big¡­big brother¡­Tang¡­why¡­why doesn¡¯t it seem¡­like you¡¯re tired? You¡¯re¡­too strong¡­.¡±


    No way?


    The amount of distance traveled since the village could make even the most able-bodied hiker fatigued beyond belief. How was Bai Yunfei not even feeling out of breath?


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Haha, I didn¡¯t think my body would be in this great of a shape.¡±


    He remembered when he first woke up in the village. At that time he didn¡¯t even feel strong enough to wear two bracers on his arm. But now, he was definitely feeling fine even after all this walking. And he hadn¡¯t forgotten about how he sent that grizzly bear flying earlier¡­


    ¡°If only I was as strong as big brother Tang!¡± Stone sighed with a shake of his head.


    His eyes caught sight of the shar-pei dog following the group. For some reason, Stone felt as if this dog was giving him a look filled with ¡®despise¡¯. Despise for seemingly how Stone was managing himself as he walked¡­


    A dog of all things¡ªone that didn¡¯t even look the picture of health to begin with¡ªwas still keeping up with Bai Yunfei without even looking ¡®tired¡¯.


    Stone could feel his breathing hitch; a dog of all things was looking down on him?! It was unbelievable!


    Gritting his teeth, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and paced forward to keep up with the others¡­


    ¡°Hrowrr!!!¡±


    Their pacing lasted another ten minutes before the group was accosted by a menacing growl from the forest up ahead!


    ¡°Ah! A tiger! Be careful everyone!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic! Stay calm and keep your weapons out! Don¡¯t let it pounce at us!¡±


    ¡°Loose the arrows! Loose the arrows! Force it back!¡±


    ¡°Watch out, it¡¯s coming! Ahh!!¡±


    The group descended into panic at once. Several villagers were stumbling backward in retreat while others strode forward to provide assistance for the others with them.


    Bai Yunfei felt a muscle in his heart clench. He strode forward with the others.


    ¡°Hrowr!!¡±


    Another roar. Not even the tree leaves were able to stop themselves from trembling as the roar echoed through the air. Everyone was now gathered in a half-circle formation with the people on the outer perimeter nervously clutching at their weapons. At the center of their formation was a gigantic orange beast.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped another beat when he saw what the beast was¡ªa giant tiger!!


    A gigantic tiger with more colors than he had limbs!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Bows twanged one after another as a barrage of arrows was shot at the tiger. But rather than see the tiger have even a single arrow touch its pelt, the villagers gasped as the tiger leaped high into the sky onto a giant tree before kicking off toward a different direction.


    It was unharmed!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    A shriek penetrated the air when a villager realized the tiger was pouncing in his general direction!


    Everyone in that particular part of the formation scattered to avoid the tiger while the others began to loose arrows one after another to prevent their fellow villagers from being eaten. This time, they were successful in preventing the tiger from just barely killing one of the villagers with its claw.


    It was shocking how agile this tiger was. For as large its frame was, this tiger was nimble and quick as a small house cat! Though there were a fair near-hits, none of the villagers¡¯ arrows ever landed on the tiger! Every single time when it looked like an arrow might hit the tiger, the tiger¡¯s tail would simply swat the arrow aside and break it in half!


    And then it¡¯d jump into the closest group of villagers to attack!


    Everyone was frightened beyond belief, especially the younger males. They were all scattered in a desperate attempt to live and were completely useless to mount up a proper defensive formation. The situation seemed hopeless!


    Everyone was here to look for ingredients for the elixirs. If they were to all die here without even finding any, the trip would be a terrifying loss for the village!


    ¡°Big brother Tang!!¡±


    A frightened, yet hopeful, voice called out above the cries of the others as a figure weaved through the frightened villagers to dash for the villager-hunting tiger!


    It was Bai Yunfei!


    The villagers were still frightened, but they too had a glimmer of hope now. They had all heard of how the ¡®outsider¡¯ had managed to send a grizzly bear flying with just one punch. If that was true, could he possibly turn this situation around on its head then?


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei arrived in front of the tiger almost instantly and landed a devastating punch onto the hip of the tiger!


    But!


    But¡­


    The tiger didn¡¯t fly away into the air like the villagers hoped. It did give a small hop and stagger a little away from Bai Yunfei, but it was still very much alive and healthy!


    ¡°Urk...¡±


    The cheering cry from Stone came to an immediate stop. Everyone else seemed crestfallen. Bai Yunfei stared down at his right fist, he seemed a little depressed as well.


    ¡°Hrowrrrl!!¡±


    The tiger was anything but crestfallen. It was furious. Snarling loudly, the tiger pounced at Bai Yunfei with its right claw ready to tear him to pieces!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was no time to dodge with how close the tiger was to Bai Yunfei. The sharp claws were already touching at his waist! There was a thud as the rest of the tiger¡¯s paws smashed into Bai Yunfei and sent him flying!


    ¡°Big brother Tang!!¡± Stone shrieked.


    Bai Yunfei sailed like a kite without a string through the air before finally crashing into a tree with a mighty crash and falling to the ground.


    ¡°Bark!!¡± The furious barking of a dog could be heard before a golden figure pounced at the tiger. It was Lao Sha!


    ¡°Pow!! Aoo¡­¡±


    Lao Sha¡¯s attack was not successful. The tiger merely batted the dog away with its tail. Like the cracking of a whip, the tiger¡¯s tail smashed into the dog and sent it flying towards the same direction as Bai Yunfei for it to tumble beside Bai Yunfei¡­


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei screamed to himself as he braced for the pain of his flesh being ripped apart to hit him, but¡­it didn¡¯t come!


    He stood up.


    ¡°I¡¯m not hurt?!¡± Bai Yunfei stared almost blankly at himself. Looking down, he patted at the part of his body where he had been hit. The robes he wore had been obliterated, but the golden armor he wore underneath it was completely unblemished. Aside from the small tinge of pain he felt from being hit there, Bai Yunfei felt perfectly fine!


    ¡°Rrrr¡­.¡±


    Lao Sha rolled back up to its feet at that time. It shook its head and fur. It looked like it had been wronged and also just a little bit fearful, but the dog didn¡¯t seem hurt at all either.


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­going on here?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was at a loss for words. Why hadn¡¯t his punch been successful? Was¡­the ¡®power¡¯ he showed before something he could only use at specific times?!


    ¡°Hrowrl!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei broke free from his thoughts again as the tiger let out another snarl. His eyes locked onto the tiger¡¯s eyes for a moment before he saw it pounce at him again!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face went pale from fright. Throwing every other thought out from his mind, Bai Yunfei began to make a hasty retreat!!

 Chapter 1006: Separating From the Others and Getting Lost

    ¡°Aoo!!¡±


    Lao Sha let out a yelp before running after Bai Yunfei in retreat.


    The tiger roared again in fury and chased after the two. How dare its prey try to run away after daring to fight it?


    ¡°Big brother Tang! Big brother Tang!¡±


    It took two seconds of the three running before Stone let out a loud cry for Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    The other villagers didn¡¯t know where to look but at each other. They¡­they couldn¡¯t even see where Bai Yunfei or the tiger was anymore!


    They were moving far too quickly! Their speeds were simply unbelievable, and the landscape didn¡¯t make things easier with the foliage and trees covering the three even when they were visible for even a single moment¡­


    The forest rustled with wind as Bai Yunfei retreated to a far distance away from the tiger. He didn¡¯t know he could run this fast!


    ¡°Why¡­why is that ¡®power¡¯ this tiny now!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was grumbling to himself. He couldn¡¯t understand why this was happening. ¡°Lao Sha,¡± He stared at the dog running alongside him, ¡°Why can¡¯t you be as ¡®powerful¡¯ as you were that one time?¡±


    As if knowing what Bai Yunfei was thinking of, the dog gave Bai Yunfei a withering glare as if to say ¡®That one time was special. I nearly pissed myself to death after that, let alone have a second time!¡¯


    ¡°We must¡¯ve run really far away by now, haven¡¯t we? I don¡¯t hear anything, did we shake off the tiger?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. He couldn¡¯t hear anything but the rustling of the wind.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    As if responding to him, the roaring of a tiger could be heard as if to say: ¡®Did you really think you can lose me? How foolish!¡±


    ¡°Go f*ck yourself! How long are you going to chase us!?¡±


    And so Bai Yunfei sped up even more¡­


    He didn¡¯t know how far he had been running for, but Bai Yunfei was tired. Coming to a wheezing stop near a brook, Bai Yunfei looked up to the skies¡­it was dark.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­maybe I lost it now?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was bent over at the waist in an attempt to regain his breath. He was listening for any movement as he rested, but it didn¡¯t seem like there was anything. That tiger was probably long gone now¡­.


    He looked back down. Lao Sha was currently resting by the edge of the brook¡¯s sandy beach to lap at the water. Clearly the dog was trying to relax and catch a breather.


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Now that he was finally done running, Bai Yunfei finally felt a bit fatigued. He knelt down beside the water and cupped his hands. A pool of water gathered in it for him to splash onto his face. Repeating a few more times, he leaned back onto his butt and palms to regain his energy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know how far we ran or where that tiger is. Did Stone and the others get away? I hope they won¡¯t run into the tiger.¡± Bai Yunfei murmured. ¡°But¡­I guess I should try to get back with the others¡­¡±


    He nudged at the sleepy Lao Sha with his foot to wake it up. Together, the two stood up and looked at the way they came from.


    Because they were both unwilling to come across the tiger, the human and dog took detours at random times but otherwise tried to follow the general direction back. The villagers would probably try to find them, so the two groups would probably be able to reconvene midway.


    The only problem was¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know if he was going the right way or not¡­


    ¡°How are we back at the river? Didn¡¯t we just come from there? No way! We¡¯ve gone in a full circle!?¡±


    The moon was hanging high in the sky now. The entire forest was basked in its lunar glow now that Bai Yunfei had taken an entire hour, and yet he was no closer to the villagers than he was an hour before.


    He stared at the river in front of him and then to the surrounding scenery around him. He felt like crying.


    One of the things he forgot about himself was the fact that he was a person with no sense of direction.


    At least he found out about that fact now¡­


    ¡°How far did I even run then?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was laid back over a large stone to grouse to himself. Who he was asking for an answer was unknown to everyone.


    ¡°Maybe¡­I should wait for them to find me here?¡±


    This seemed like a proper course of action. Rather than relying on himself and getting even more lost, it seemed like it was best to simply sit here and wait. Jumping onto a tree, Bai Yunfei leaned back against the trunk and sat there to catch his breath.


    Lao Sha stared up lazily at Bai Yunfei. It wanted to follow him up the tree, but the dog hadn¡¯t the energy for that. Instead, it laid angrily down next to the tree and closed its eyes to rest.


    Bai Yunfei fell asleep. He didn¡¯t know for how long, but he fell asleep. It felt like so many things happened as he fell asleep, but Bai Yunfei could hear many things while not making sense of anything. By the time he woke, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even clear what it was exactly that he ¡®dreamed¡¯ about¡­


    ¡°Are¡­are Stone and the others not here yet?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was standing on top of the tree he was on. He couldn¡¯t see anyone or traces of any person.


    ¡°Lao Sha?¡±


    He looked down.


    ¡°Lao Sha?! Where are you?!¡±


    Lao Sha was nowhere to be seen!


    The dog wasn¡¯t next to the tree trunk like it had been before he fell asleep. It also wasn¡¯t by the creek for a drink.


    Though he could see something climbing up the slope of a mountain far in the distance¡­


    ¡°Lao Sha!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out. The dog seemed to have heard him, as it paused for a moment and turned its head back to Bai Yunfei and barked twice.


    He blinked; did this mean the dog hadn¡¯t any intentions of coming back to him? Where was it going then?


    Lao Sha continued to climb up the mountain. It¡¯d stop every once in a while to bark at him again.


    Was¡­it trying to tell Bai Yunfei to come?


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to think. Thinking hard about the situation, he decided to carefully but quickly make his way over to the dog.


    Lao Sha wasn¡¯t too far away, but it wasn¡¯t too close either. It¡¯d take Bai Yunfei a while before he finally arrived at the same mountain Lao Sha was scaling.


    Looking up, he already saw that Lao Sha was many hundred meters away from him.


    ¡°What in the world is this dog doing¡­¡±


    Curiosity didn¡¯t even begin to describe Bai Yunfei¡¯s emotions, but he knew the climb was inevitable. Climbing the mountain would mean having a good vantage spot to look around the forest, and that¡¯d potentially mean being able to find the other villagers.


    It was the final two hundred meters to the top of the mountain when Bai Yunfei finally caught up to Lao Sha. It was also then when he realized Lao Sha was in front of a¡­cave.


    Its front legs were digging at the ground in front of it and pushing the dirt into a pile behind it. By the time Bai Yunfei was there, Lao Sha had already dug out a considerable amount of dirt.


    ¡°What¡­what are you doing, Lao Sha?¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Lao Sha paused for a moment to wag its tail excitedly and bark at Bai Yunfei. It seemed to have found something.


    Since Bai Yunfei was still confused, Lao Sha decided to best explain its actions by continuing what it was doing. Its forelegs continued to dig at the ground to try and show Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°...¡± Bai Yunfei said nothing, he still didn¡¯t understand what was going on. Was Lao Sha trying to dig through the mountain?


    Soon, not even Lao Sha¡¯s butt could be seen from the hole it dug. Deciding to look away from the hole it dug, Bai Yunfei looked down at the base of the mountain.


    The entire surrounding area was filled with trees. Even now Bai Yunfei still couldn¡¯t find any traces of any other human in the area. A nearby mountain looked like the one he came across yesterday afternoon, but then again, that mountain on the left also seemed¡­


    Bai Yunfei felt like crying, but what else could he really do? This situation felt almost ¡®familiar¡¯ to him, as if this was something that he was ¡®used¡¯ to experiencing¡­

 Chapter 1007: Lao Shas Discovery

    The winds blew across the mountains Bai Yunfei stood upon. Enjoying the breeze as it blew across the face, Bai Yunfei thought hard about what he should do next about this situation.


    He was lost, there was no doubt about it. If he could make a few landmarks along the way through, Bai Yunfei should probably be able to make his way back to the others¡­


    And if by chance he did get lost, the others would probably be able to tell from the landmarks where Bai Yunfei was going and find him¡­


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s try that then!¡± Bai Yunfei clapped his hands together and looked around the place once again.


    A sudden thought struck him. The goal of the villagers coming out this far wasn¡¯t to try and find the lost Bai Yunfei, but to find the materials needed to make another elixir. This was a place none of the villagers had ever gone before. Wouldn¡¯t they be able to find these materials here then?


    That got Bai Yunfei looking for these materials as well. His eyes scanned every blade of grass they saw. Inch by inch, the scenery around him was closely investigated until¡­


    ¡°No way?!¡±


    His eyes came to an abrupt stop onto a patch of grass thirty paces away from him. Striding over to it and squatting down, Bai Yunfei parted the blades of grass to take a look at a strange white herb behind it.


    This particular herb had three stems and was shaped like chopsticks. They were white in color with equally-spaced ¡®segments¡¯. It kind of looked like¡­the bones of a skeleton.


    Bai Yunfei thought back to the briefing elder Zhong gave them all before they made their trek to the mountains. According to the elder, the most important ingredient to make the elixir was something shaped like the herb in front of him.


    Was his ¡®luck¡¯ really that good!?


    Any emotions Bai Yunfei had about being lost was blown away as elation filled him!


    ¡°Getting lost was¡­this was worth it!! If getting lost is what it takes to get some joint grass, then I¡¯m definitely not unlucky! This is good luck!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head looked left and right in hopes of even more of this small grass. He could see four separate stalks there, but nothing else. Picking the four, he carefully placed them into a small sack tied around his chest.


    He heard from the villagers once before that their last scavenging trip only netted them two stalks of joint grass after scavenging for days. In a single day, however, Bai Yunfei was able to find four of them. There was no way this wouldn¡¯t be considered a ¡®good¡¯ contribution to the village¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s good, I just need to wait and meet up with Stone and the others, then we can hurry up ba¡ª¡±


    A strange sound from the mountain behind him caught his attention.


    ¡°Crackle¡­crackle¡­¡±


    Then he heard something else¡ªthe sound of the mountain cracking!¡±


    ¡°Hold on¡­oh no! Lao Sha!!¡±


    He was skeptical about what that sound could¡¯ve been at first. But as he listened, Bai Yunfei began to realize something terrible¡­


    This sound was coming deep within the hole Lao Sha was digging in!


    ¡°Rumble¡­boom!!¡±


    No sooner did he cry out for Lao Sha did the cave the dog was in start to rumble and the ground beneath his feet start to quiver. All Bai Yunfei could do was watch as the cave Lao Sha was in start to¡­collapse!


    ¡°Lao Sha!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face went white. He was already running for the crumbling cave as he screamed out for the dog¡­


    A small gray shadow flew out from the interior of the crumbling cave. Moving as if unable to see, the shadow stumbled over the rocks and dirt as it made its way over to Bai Yunfei. Upon getting close enough to him, the shadow paused and started to shake its entire body as if to shake off the dirt on it.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡± All of the anxiety in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body drained away like water down a drain. He didn¡¯t know if he should laugh out of relief or cry from the heavy shock he was experiencing just a second ago. Rather than do either, he simply took out a canteen filled with water to wash off the dusty Lao Sha¡¯s face and eyes so it could see.


    ¡°You¡­you really were trying to dig through the mountain, weren¡¯t you! The mountain nearly collapsed on you¡­¡± Bai Yunfei laughed as he patted the dog¡¯s head.


    ¡°Woof?¡± Staring innocently at Bai Yunfei, Lao Sha turned around to trot back to the collapsed cave. Its tail was wagging with excitement as if the dog was pleased with its handiwork.


    Bai Yunfei noticed then that the cave Lao Sha dug out from was seemingly hiding something to it. Aside from the plumage of smoke coming up from it, Bai Yunfei noticed that a corridor leading deeper into the mountain was now in full sight.


    The way Lao Sha was impatiently trotting for this corridor made Bai Yunfei feel confused, but he decided to follow after the dog.


    The corridor was a naturally-forming one and still had plenty of stalactites hanging from its ceiling. Moss was growing everywhere as Bai Yunfei expected from such a place, but there was something about this corridor that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect. There was a faint glow of light coming from the heart of the mountain¡¯s belly and deeper in the corridor. Bai Yunfei reckoned that he¡¯d probably be able to reach the center of the mountain¡¯s belly if he were to head another hundred meters.


    Then when he turned the corner¡­


    He entered a cavern far more spacious than he thought. It was completely illuminated by an orange-yellow light that seemed to originate from everywhere. Even the ground! This entire cavern was being illuminated by glowing rocks!


    A strange energy seemed to fill this entire cavern. It wasn¡¯t just the light. To Bai Yunfei, this energy seemed to feel almost comfortable to him.


    ¡°What¡­is this?¡±


    He muttered to himself. A memory of some kind seemed to be aching to be released in his mind.


    If a soul cultivator was here, they would¡¯ve known what this place was. A vein of primal stones!


    Perhaps ¡®vein¡¯ was the wrong noun to use. This was the belly of a mountain and not a vein. This place was¡­a mountain of primal stones!


    A mountain made from earth-type primal stones!


    And judging from the amount of rich energy radiating from each of the stones, the majority of these stones were probably of the high-quality tier!


    A veritable mountain of treasure!


    An entire middling school would¡¯ve been able to have all their students train without any problems with the number of primal stones here! It might not be worth much to a Soul King, but a group of Soul Exalts definitely would¡¯ve been ecstatic!


    The Bai Yunfei of before would¡¯ve been ecstatic too, had he been here. But the amnesiac that was Bai Yunfei right now didn¡¯t know what else to do but just stare blankly at this place¡­


    Unsure of what it was he was looking at, Bai Yunfei glanced over to Lao Sha. Then his jaw dropped open when he saw¡­.


    Lao Sha was looking at these primal stones like a cat who had perhaps seen a fish. Its eyes were practically shining brighter than the stones themselves! It pounced onto a nearby stone the size of a goose egg and then¡­swallowed the stone whole!


    ¡°Lao Sha, what are you doing?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out, but the dog wasn¡¯t listening to him. Lao Sha looked almost at peace here and was trying to eat its fill.


    One stone became two, and two became three, but no matter how many stones the dog ate, Bai Yunfei was still speechless.


    Lao Sha wasn¡¯t hesitating in the slightest to eat the primal stones here. It hadn¡¯t ¡®eaten¡¯ at all for many days now and was practically dying of ¡®starvation¡¯. If its owner wasn¡¯t giving it any food, then it¡¯d find its own meals. Who knew it would¡¯ve come across such a happy place like this where it¡¯d be able to eat until it was full like this?


    The hunger Lao Sha had was far too great for the dog to restrain itself. The light in its eyes only grew brighter the longer it looked around itself. There were too many things to eat here! Who knew how long this place would be able to sustain it¡­


    Then Lao Sha¡¯s eyes fell upon the center of the cavern, and its eyes grew wide. Like a starved ghoul who¡¯s eyes had first fallen onto a tiny morsel of food to a plump piece of meat, Lao Sha¡¯s entire body began to quiver with excitement!


    There was a hole at the center of this cave. It wasn¡¯t very large of a hole, and it was more shallow than it was wide. But a pool of liquid occupied that hole. A pool of liquid that was transparent and shined softly with an orange light¡­

 Chapter 1008: A Pool of Primal Liquid and Memories

    Primal liquid!


    The liquid that once ¡®saved¡¯ its life! The liquid that ¡®changed¡¯ its life!


    Lao Sha knew what this was. There was no way it wouldn¡¯t. This was the liquid it drunk when it was once an ¡®ordinary¡¯ dog!


    The mysterious primal liquid!!


    Somehow, this mysterious mountain had a body of primal liquid collected in it!


    Lao Sha pounced at once towards this small crater and the primal liquid it held. Its tongue was already dripping with saliva¡ªthe memories of Lao Sha was reminding the dog of just how wonderful this liquid was. This liquid was without a doubt a powerful and most wonderful thing.


    But then it paused before it could lap at the liquid. A thought occurred to the shar-pei. It turned around to look at Bai Yunfei¡­


    Lao Sha was faithful dog. It stood to good reason that this liquid be shared with its ¡®master¡¯, Bai Yunfei. It wasn¡¯t as though the human could eat the tasty stones here in this cave, so the dog could at least have Bai Yunfei drink the liquid¡­


    ¡°Hm? What is it?¡±


    Bai Yunfei snapped out from his stupor from seeing how ravenous Lao Sha had been moments before. He saw how the dog was looking at him and then to the crater. It nodded its head several times at the crater as if to say: ¡°Drink some¡­¡±


    As confused as he was, Bai Yunfei stepped closer to the small hole where Lao Sha was. Kneeling down, he stared curiously at the liquid resting in it.


    ¡°Gulp¡­¡±


    He swallowed. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know why, but just staring at the liquid made him feel uncharacteristically curious¡ªand thirsty. Something about this liquid was screaming for him to drink it. His mind was yelling at him as if to convince him this liquid was something good. Something that had to be taken in as soon as possible!!


    It wasn¡¯t just his mind that was screaming for the liquid. His eyes were practically glued to it and his hands were already starting to reach out for the beautifully transparent primal liquid¡­


    He couldn¡¯t resist the commands his mind was giving his body. His head dipped down closer to his hands as he cupped a small portion of the liquid into them for him to sip¡­


    From the palm of his hands to the interior of his lips, the liquid rushed down his throat and into his body where it immediately circulated throughout the rest of his body. It felt like his entire body had been touched by the liquid he had just swallowed.


    His hands dropped to the side of his body. Bai Yunfei was no longer aware of his surroundings as the sensation of taking in the primal liquid seized control of his mind¡­


    His body began to tremble and shake. Tottering, Bai Yunfei swayed unsteadily where he was before he¡­fell to the ground.


    Lao Sha yelped at once and moved to see what was the matter with Bai Yunfei; then it stopped. Lao Sha remembered falling asleep once before when it drank the primal liquid. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in any danger.


    Now that it knew Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in any danger, the dog looked back to the pool of liquid they were next to. It dipped its head to lap at the remaining liquid in the crater and quickly drank it all up. There wasn¡¯t anything stopping it from doing so now.


    ¡°Aoooo¡­.¡±


    It let out one final howl before falling body first onto the ground next to Bai Yunfei¡­


    Within this cavern of orange light, the human and dog laid there on the ground and slept.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Fog covered the entire place. Nothing else but a series of blurry images could be seen within this fog, though a faint murmur of non-distinctive noise could be heard.


    The body felt comfortable as it was. It felt like it was in a dream-like state with only the occasional gust of wind to blow across the place¡­


    The first perspective was starting to take shape now. It was a rather narrow sight like the crack between the curtains in a window, but it was still enough to see. Behind this ¡®crack¡¯ was an elegant and gentle figure hugging ¡®oneself¡¯ into her arms and whispering softly into the ears. Whatever this person looked like, however, had yet to be seen.


    The perspective changed. Disappearing into the mist, it blended away with the whiteness before taking on the shape of a kindly-looking old man¡­


    Again, the scene changed. One by one, the scenes were starting to take the form of several places that seemed familiar, but none that could have a name placed onto it. Some of these scenes were changing so quickly that it seemed almost impossible to keep up with, like trying to count the individual droplets of water when it rained.


    None of the scenes had either the woman nor old man from earlier now. They were long gone, and the scenes were now filled with a series of unfamiliar and ¡®cold¡¯ figures. Sometimes, there was no one but the very picture of loneliness¡­


    The scenes with no one there were now more common than the ones with someone. Day and night could be counted one after another with how the lighting in these scenes changed before finally one more scene of a dark alleyway appeared. A person was walking down the alleyway by themselves.


    ¡°Compared to before, my body¡¯s a lot stronger now. If I can just carry a few more sacks of rice every day, I should be able to earn a few more coins and repair mom¡¯s and grandpa¡¯s graves¡­.¡±


    Words could finally be heard for the first time these scenes started to play. It seemed like someone was talking to themselves.


    Then came a stab of pain from the ¡®back¡¯ of one¡¯s ¡®head¡¯. Something was attempting to drill into oneself. The scene then disappeared into the darkness.


    Then the oneself stopped thinking¡­


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei bolted upright as he woke up from his dream.


    ¡°I¡­I¡­¡±


    He sat up. Feeling a little hazy, Bai Yunfei noted that his entire body was slick with sweat. Feeling something wet around his eyes, Bai Yunfei raised a hand to wipe it.


    He was surprised to see that it wasn¡¯t just sweat that he wiped, there were tears as well.


    ¡°Why was I crying?¡±


    It was a rhetorical question. If he didn¡¯t know why he was crying, who else would be able to answer that?


    ¡°Oh! I was ¡®dreaming¡¯!!¡± Bai Yunfei jolted as he ¡®remembered¡¯ the dream he just had!


    The things he saw in his dream seemed familiar; he saw those scenes before! He just couldn¡¯t remember then when he woke up the first time, but they were definitely familiar to him now!


    Fearful that he would forget about the scenes a second time, Bai Yunfei concentrated as hard as he could to think about them. He was nervous. At last another clue to who he was had appeared!


    ¡°I¡­I think those were ¡®memories¡¯ of someone growing up? Were¡­were those my own memories then?!


    ¡°But¡­it still doesn¡¯t tell me the most important thing!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clutched at his head in frustration. Those memories definitely felt familiar to him, but it was lacking in a detail most crucial to him. Without being able to ¡®identify¡¯ who the person was, there was no way to know if these were even his memories. He had no idea who those two people were or what his name even was¡­


    ¡°Am¡­am I really Tang Long?¡±


    Another question popped up in his mind. The disparity in the scenes he saw was making him doubt things now. He had memories of two different worlds, so to speak, and the memories he related to ¡®Tang Long¡¯ seemed almost foreign to him now. These newer memories felt more ¡®true¡¯ to him.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not ¡®Tang Long¡¯, then¡­what even is my name?¡±


    His hand ran through his hair. The pain in his head was making things hard for him to think. He was feeling dejected now that he had even more things to ponder about.


    ¡°Aooo¡­¡±


    A deep growl arose from the ground next to Bai Yunfei and snapped him out from his train of thoughts.


    His body trembled once as he realized where he was. Looking down, Bai Yunfei saw that Lao Sha was steadily rising back up to its feet.


    ¡°Lao Sha?¡±


    Blinking, Bai Yunfei looked around himself and then to the now-empty crater in front of him.


    ¡°Was¡­was this all because I drank that strange liquid!?¡±


    He didn¡¯t remember the reason why he had so easily succumbed to the desire of drinking the liquid, but the loss of control when he did scared him. He took a moment to look over his own body to see if anything was wrong.


    Upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he sighed in relief.


    ¡°What¡­what is this thing?¡±


    He looked to Lao Sha as if expecting an answer, but he knew there was no way the dog would be able to.


    Bai Yunfei sat there in the cave for a while. He didn¡¯t know what to even do but wait for an answer to come to him. When none did, Bai Yunfei gave up and stood up. If he couldn¡¯t find an answer, then there wasn¡¯t a point sticking around here. It was best that he return to the village as soon as possible.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Lao Sha.¡±


    When he called out to the shar-pei, Bai Yunfei noticed that the dog had been right next to the walls and staring at the glowing stones. The dog looked reluctant to leave the place and the look it was giving him told Bai Yunfei all he needed to know. The dog wanted him to take these stones with them.


    ¡°Hm¡­¡± Bai Yunfei fell into another confused stupor as he tried to figure out the way why Lao Sha was like this.


    ¡°You want me to bring this with us? Well¡­I guess I can bring a few, but I probably won¡¯t be able to bring back a lot of them¡­¡±


    He knew these stones were strange, it was probably worth a try bringing back a few of them to ask if anyone knew anything about them. Stripping the outer layer of his robes, Bai Yunfei walked up to the walls to try and excavate a few of the stones.


    But when his hand touched upon a fist-sized stone¡­


    A never-before-seen notification suddenly popped into his head the moment as he touched it!


    Equipment Grade: High Human


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Attack: 410


    Upgrade Requirement: 80 Soulpoints

 Chapter 1009: Return of the Upgrade Technique, Control of Soulforce!

    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand threw the stone away from him in instinctual fear.


    ¡°What¡­what was that?!¡±


    He stared frightfully at the thrown primal stones. He was deeply confused. He didn¡¯t know what that notification that had popped into his head or why it even appeared.


    ¡°Woof?¡± Lao Sha gave Bai Yunfei a curious look. It didn¡¯t know what was going on either.


    All Bai Yunfei did was stare blankly at the stone. For a good while, he just stood there. Then he walked over to it. He hesitated for a brief moment before carefully picking it up.


    The notification he got earlier appeared back in his mind, but Bai Yunfei was prepared for it this time. He stared at the stone carefully before taking in the information he just received.


    The notification was describing the properties of the item in his hand.


    ¡°What is this equipment grade, elemental affinity, and¡­attack? Upgrade? What do those even mean?¡±


    When the word ¡®upgrade¡¯ was muttered, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open! Something within his body was starting to flow out of it and brought forth a pain he never felt before!


    ¡°Aghh!!!¡±


    The capillaries in his eyes became well-pronounced as Bai Yunfei doubled up in pain. His entire face was flushed with red as he clenched his teeth. The primal stone in his hand was dropped so he could clutch at his head with both hands and fall to the ground convulsing!


    There was so much pain! It felt like his head was about to blow up and tear his soul to bits!


    The development this time frightened Lao Sha and the dog began to bark repeatedly at Bai Yunfei, but he couldn¡¯t hear the dog.


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead began to light up. Its light flowed inwards to cover his entire body before dissipating from sight again. And somehow, Bai Yunfei was beginning to calm down.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­hufff¡­.¡±


    He was on his hands and knees on the ground, panting hard to himself as he tried to understand what in the world had just gone on with him.


    ¡°What¡­what is going on here!!¡±


    Confusion was rampant in his mind, but Bai Yunfei forced those feelings down so he could try to think this out rationally. It seemed like so many things were happening to his body ever since he ¡®woke¡¯ up. He couldn¡¯t even keep up with these changes and he felt like it was a race between his body and his mind to see how many new things he would be able to handle before he¡¯d descend into madness¡­


    Bai Yunfei sat upright so as to better regulate his own breathing. It took him a while before his heart rate finally died back down to regular levels, but when it did, Bai Yunfei decided to pick up the primal stone yet again.


    Equipment Grade: High Human


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +1


    Attack: 410


    Additional Attack: 40


    Soul Compatibility: 1%


    Upgrade Requirement: 80 Soulpoints


    Another notification popped up in his head, but it was slightly different than before.


    ¡°Upgrade level of +1?¡±  What in the world did this mean? Was this stone somehow ¡®stronger¡¯ than it was before?


    He ruminated on the new things he learned for a while and how things even got to this point. He remembered thinking about the word ¡®upgrade¡¯ before everything went downhill. Something about that word had to be the catalyst for things. He was determined not to even say this word though. He wasn¡¯t ready for a second helping of pain.


    The notification had to have come from these stones. That¡¯s what Bai Yunfei thought until he put down the stone and accidentally touched the bracer on his right hand.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 2236


    Defense: 2580


    Additional Attack: 2400


    Additional Defense: 2600


    Soul Compatibility: 45%


    +10 Additional Effect: Summon a fireball with strength no greater than 50% of this equipment''s attack.


    +12 Additional Effect: Steal 10 points of the enemy''s attributes (Strength, Spirit, Endurance, and Agility) up to 10 seconds. Cannot steal over 50% of the enemy''s original attributes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    A notification of the stats of the Ardent Sun Glove appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    That was when Bai Yunfei realized: This notification wasn¡¯t due to the stone¡¯s properties, but the ¡®power¡¯ that came out from him!


    ¡°But why? Is it because I drank that strange liquid?¡± Bai Yunfei tapped his chin with a single finger. ¡°And¡­why is there so much information to this glove?! I don¡¯t know how much this is, but a number like that is super high, isn¡¯t it? And¡­what¡¯s an ¡®additional effect¡¯?¡±


    The questions were piling onto him faster than the answers. Another question was already forming on his mind.


    ¡°A fireball¡­what does that even mean¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was muttering to himself about this +10 additional effect when all of a sudden, the Ardent Sun Glove began to shine with a bright red light. A fireball appeared out of nowhere and exploded against the wall ahead of him, leaving behind a small crater!


    ¡°Wha¡ª!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes bulged out from his eye sockets as he let out a strangled cry of shock!


    Like the last time when he upgraded the primal stone, the caves echoed with the sounds of his cry before dying away into silence¡­


    ¡°Huf¡­huff¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei fell back against the wall behind him. The muscles in his throats were bulging as he forced himself to bite down the curse on his lips. What in the devil was going on here?!


    The time it took to recover from this shock was longer than before. Bai Yunfei was determined not to touch upon this topic again, whether it was ¡®upgrading¡¯ or even ¡®effects¡¯!


    There was no way he¡¯d know about what was going on with him without his memories or with the presence of another soul cultivator. His soulforce was being limited!


    Both upgrading the stone and using the additional effect of the Ardent Sun Glove had him losing soulforce. And because of that, he came under a great deal of pain he wasn¡¯t expecting to feel.


    If the soul was injured and the usage of soulforce was being restricted, then something like this would occur!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s current situation was a very serious one. For him, using even a little bit of soulforce felt like someone was tearing a piece of flesh away from his body. That alone was enough to tell anyone just how painful it was.


    Bai Yunfei was well and truly done with thinking about this. Excavating a few primal stones, he wrapped them up for Lao Sha and carried it over his back. Together, he and Lao Sha stepped out from the cave to exit out into the world.


    It wasn¡¯t until he was back out in fresh air that Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. Breathing in this air was relaxing, and Bai Yunfei could finally feel at ease. The fact that he managed to find what the villagers were looking for was enough to make him happy.


    He looked around the mountain one last time to see if there was anything else he might¡¯ve missed before preparing to find his way back.


    Bai Yunfei looked up. The brightness of the sky was indicating that it was nearing high noon. If he found the villagers soon it¡¯d be possible to make it back to the village before tomorrow.


    ¡°But¡­how should I even go about looking for everyone¡­?¡±


    The same old question resurfaced in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Him not being able to find the villagers was the entire reason why he was stuck here on this mountain. He was afraid that he might get himself even more lost if he tried to find his way back himself. And if he couldn¡¯t find the villagers, what would happen to him; would he have to live his life here on this mountain like some kind of barbarian?


    ¡°Lao Sha¡­do you know how we¡¯re going to make it back?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked the lazily-walking dog, though he didn¡¯t expect an actual answer.


    It was just a question asked in jest, a line Bai Yunfei wanted to say so he could vent. But Lao Sha looked up to give him a look as if understanding his plight. With a wag of his tail, the dog strode for the path on the left.


    It walked a few steps before noticing that Bai Yunfei was still standing at his original spot. It looked back at him then as if to say, ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up, don¡¯t you want to go back to the village?¡±


    For the umpteenth time that afternoon, Bai Yunfei was left speechless at the situation.

 Chapter 1010: Acceptance

    Bai Yunfei never wanted to cry as much as he did when he finally came back into eye-range of the small and quiet village¡­


    It took half a day to get back here, but Lao Sha had somehow managed to get the both of them back¡­.


    The dog had been like a compass. It walked straight and true in a single linear direction and somehow got Bai Yunfei back to the village without any issues.


    Bai Yunfei sent a withering glare at the dog and aimed a small playful kick at the dog.


    ¡°Damn dog, why didn¡¯t you say you knew the way back home earlier?!¡±


    But on the other hand, it was good that Lao Sha didn¡¯t understand him any earlier. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to find that one mountain and gather so many of the materials if the dog took him back home sooner.


    Something felt off when he entered the village. A lot of people were there, yes, but the atmosphere in the village seemed quite heavy¡­


    ¡°Stone and the others should be back by now¡­¡±


    He muttered to himself as he walked into the village. He didn¡¯t see any of the villagers on his way back, so Bai Yunfei figured that they were all already back here in the village.


    For some reason, Bai Yunfei felt a little disappointed. He thought the villagers would at least send out a party to look for him¡­


    ¡°Ah! Look! He¡¯s back!!¡±


    But then someone¡¯s voice called out over the noise of the village as a villager took notice of Bai Yunfei¡¯s return.


    Multiple villagers began to appear out from their homes. Running quickly to where Bai Yunfei was, more and more villagers started to talk to one another in shock. Of the many villagers, the one who was at the front of the group was Stone.


    ¡°Big brother Tang! It¡¯s really you! You¡¯re back! That¡¯s great!!¡± Saying Stone was excited was an understatement. He was practically gliding over the ground in his attempt to reach Bai Yunfei. ¡°Where have you been for the last five days?! Everyone¡¯s been worried sick! We were planning for another search for you!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out. ¡°What did you say? I was gone for five days?¡±


    It should¡¯ve only been a day since he left the village and came back! How could it possibly be five days?!


    ¡°It¡¯s been five days since you were chased by that tiger! We spent four days looking for you before we came back. We were taking a break today and planning to head back out tomorrow! But¡­I guess we don¡¯t need to since you¡¯re back! Where the heck did you even run off ta, big brother Tang?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how to respond. If what Stone was saying was true, then he didn¡¯t just take a small ¡®nap¡¯ after drinking that strange liquid. It made him fall asleep for¡­five days almost!


    He remembered going into the cave when it was morning and heading out when it was near noon. It didn¡¯t feel off to say only a few hours passed, so Bai Yunfei only assumed that was the case!


    Five days¡­Somehow Bai Yunfei managed to sleep away five whole days! Why didn¡¯t he sense that something was off then? Surely he would¡¯ve felt hungry or thirsty after sleeping for so long!


    So that was the reason why no one came to look for him, four days had already been spent looking for him!


    Several other villagers were gathered around Bai Yunfei now. Several were asking him questions on why he wasn¡¯t found, others were asking how he managed to come back now.


    Since he didn¡¯t know the concrete details himself, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to answer much. He only said that he got lost on the way back and only managed to find his way back after a long time of wandering around.


    Bai Yunfei noticed a group of villagers a little ways away from the others. One villager, in particular, had a saddened expression on their face. Bai Yunfei noted that Lucid looked even a little ¡®angry¡¯ at him. Confused, he turned to Stone, ¡°Stone¡­did you not find any of herbs we needed?¡±


    The conversation around them grew still the moment Bai Yunfei asked the question. Several of the people around him looked gloomy.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t get ta look at many places. We did find a few herbs, but not any of the joint grass, so¡­¡±


    Stone didn¡¯t have to say the reason why they didn¡¯t get to scavenge around for much, the reason why was implied.


    Everyone was spending more time in trying to find Bai Yunfei, which meant the precious time they had to look for any herbs was cut short.


    That¡¯d explain the reason why Lucid was giving him such a hostile expression. It made sense; if uncle Wang¡¯s arm wasn¡¯t able to be healed because of him, Bai Yunfei would blame himself as well¡­


    But luckily, that outcome could be avoided.


    Quickly, Bai Yunfei took out the sack containing the jointgrass from his robes. ¡°Take this to elder Zhong, hurry now. There¡¯s four stalks of jointgrass in there, we should be able to make some of that elixir!¡±


    ¡°Ah!! Really?!¡±


    Everyone let out a collective gasp at Bai Yunfei¡¯s words. Stone took the sack from Bai Yunfei and took out the contents for another villager to confirm.


    ¡°It really is jointgrass! Four of them! And some other rare herbs! Hurry, Stone! Take it to elder Zhong!¡±


    A villager cried out in confirmation. Stone snapped to attention at once and put the herbs back into the sack so he could speed off into a small house to the right.


    ¡°Brother¡­brother Tang! Thank you so much!¡±


    Lucid was in front of Bai Yunfei now. Though tired from the events of the past few days, the gratitude in her voice overshadowed the fatigue.


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Thanks won¡¯t be necessary. I hope elder Zhong will be able to make the elixirs and treat uncle Wang¡¯s arm soon.¡±


    No other person in the village was as worried for the elixir than Lucid was. Bowing her head one last time, the girl quickly ran off to the house where elder Zhong was.


    Now the villagers were looking at Bai Yunfei in a new light. He was an ¡®outsider¡¯ and the villagers¡ªdespite their kind-hearted nature¡ªnaturally excluded him for being as such. But he truly did distinguish himself today with preventing any of the villagers from dying from that tiger and gathering four stalks of jointgrass. Multiple lives were saved then and uncle Wang¡¯s arm would be saved now. How could the villagers not feel grateful for such a contribution?


    It went without saying that the villagers were more willing to accept him now. Bai Yunfei would be considered as one of them rather than a mysterious ¡®outsider¡¯.


    While the other villagers were busy waiting for elder Zhong to finish his preparations, Bai Yunfei took the sack of primal stones over to uncle Wu and his father. Neither of the two males knew what the stones were, however, and were just as amazed as Bai Yunfei was at how the stones glowed.


    Lao Sha also took the opportunity to take another one of the primal stones into its mouth when they were taken out before running off to the back of the house to take a nap.


    Again, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure how he should feel about this. This dog was an even bigger mystery than he was. Should Lao Sha even be called a dog? Was there even such a thing as a dog being able to eat stones?


    A meal was being made by uncle Wu¡¯s wife, and the entire house was soon basked in the nice-smelling smoke of food from the kitchen. Only then was Bai Yunfei aware of the fact that he was hungry. He placed a hand onto his own stomach. How in the world had he survived for five whole days without eating?


    Aunty Xu was just emerging out from the kitchen with several plates of food when Stone came back to the house. He had good news too.


    Elder Zhong was already done making and administering the needed elixirs to uncle Wang, and it seemed like uncle Wang would be making a full recovery. Thanks to the miraculous elixir, uncle Wang would be back to full health before tomorrow.


    To this, Bai Yunfei had to admit he was very curious about something. If the world had elixirs as miraculous as this, what kind of people were these ¡®Immortals¡¯ then? Could they really fly like Stone said they could?


    ¡°Hey, big brother Tang? What are these rocks? They¡¯re so pretty, I¡¯ve never seen rocks that light up before!¡±


    Stone called out to Bai Yunfei as he was thinking to himself. He was looking at the pile of primal stones Bai Yunfei dropped earlier in amazement.


    ¡°I found the herbs on the same mountain as those rocks. I never saw them before so I decided to take some back¡­¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. He didn¡¯t mention the fact that Lao Sha was able to eat them since he felt like it was an extremely incredible thing to think about; he was also actually afraid that the village would think Lao Sha was some kind of ¡®monster¡¯ for being able to eat them. Who knew what would happen in that case¡­


    Lao Sha probably understood that last bit as well, as the dog only made sure to eat the primal stones when it was sure no one else was looking.


    ¡°It feels pretty nice to hold. Can I have one, big brother Tang?¡± Stone couldn¡¯t help himself from picking up one of the egg-sized stones in his curiosity.


    ¡°Haha, of course. Take whichever you like.¡±


    ¡°What are you two doing squatting there on the floor? Let¡¯s hurry and eat.¡±


    Aunty Xu called out to the two boys at that moment, causing both of them to look away from the stones and head for the table to eat.


    It was a pleasant meal. Everyone was chatting and laughing merrily as they ate, and Bai Yunfei felt at ease.


    Bai Yunfei felt at ease, living an ordinary life in this village¡­

 Chapter 1011: Lao Sha, the King of Dogs

    Bai Yunfei was slowly acclimatizing to life in the village. It was laidback and casual. He¡¯d only need to go hunting with the other villagers once every three to five days and could generally enjoy resting on a nearby hill to watch the clouds above.


    While he did try his best to remember who he was, Bai Yunfei found himself getting nowhere and losing the motivation to even care about it. It was a tiresome task and only served to agitate his mind.


    So he decided to let nature take its course and allow himself to be content and watch the white clouds drift freely in the sky. It was a comforting experience and helped him relax. Sometimes, he¡¯d spend half the day just watching the clouds.


    He wasn¡¯t so much an ¡®outsider¡¯ to the villagers anymore. He was now a part of the village as anyone else was, and no one bothered to inquire ¡®who¡¯ he was before he came here. In their eyes, he was just another villager that spent his life in the mountains as they had.


    One day three months later¡­


    ¡°Big brother Tang, do you know where Lao Sha ran off to?¡±


    A young male voice called out to Bai Yunfei as he was dozing off on the hillside. Blinking himself awake, Bai Yunfei sat up to see Zuo Shou come walking up to him.


    Zuo Shou was a young man around nineteen-years-old in age and robust as any other male his age. With how well-endowed he was, Zuo Shou was already widely regarded as one of the strongest in his generation and someone that could give the hunters of the previous generation a good run for their money.


    ¡°Lao Sha?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°Why do you need him for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Hei Zi. He wasn¡¯t here earlier this morning, so I think he¡¯s with Lao Sha.¡±


    Now that Zuo Shou mentioned it, Bai Yunfei realized that Lao Sha had disappeared earlier that morning as well. The day was already drawing to a close and neither of the dogs was back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know¡­maybe they¡¯re following some of the hunters?¡± Bai Yunfei conjectured.


    Zuo Shou shook his head. ¡°Today¡¯s hunting group¡¯s back already. I asked them if either of the dogs were with them, but¡­they said no. None of the other hunting dogs are here. I think they¡¯re all with Lao Sha.¡±


    ¡°Oh? All of them?¡± Now this was an interesting situation. Thinking hard, Bai Yunfei started to wonder where Lao Sha could¡¯ve gone¡­


    Could Lao Sha possibly be bringing the dogs to ¡®that¡¯ place?


    The sudden thought struck Bai Yunfei quiet. If that was the case, then¡­Lao Sha was planning to make life difficult for Bai Yunfei.


    The reason why Zuo Shou thought Lao Sha had to do with the hunting dogs disappearance was because of the fact Lao Sha had essentially become something like the ¡®boss¡¯ of the other dogs.


    It was a ¡®legend¡¯ that the dog that had bitten the throat of the grizzly bear was the very same dog that traveled and hunted with Bai Yunfei. Now the entire village knew how ¡®strong¡¯ the dog was. At first, Lao Sha was afraid of the many beasts it came across whenever it went with Bai Yunfei to hunt. But with time, Lao Sha grew less and less afraid of these beasts. By fighting with Bai Yunfei, the dog knew to not fear them any longer. No longer did Lao Sha ¡®fear¡¯ the hunting trips, it was beginning to grow even more ¡®bloodthirsty¡¯


    The later actions of Lao Sha were something not even Bai Yunfei was prepared to see. It would snarl and fight any wolves it, butt heads with any boar, and even wrestle with any bears!


    Some people were starting to have doubts about whether or not Lao Sha was even a dog. Some were wondering if Lao Sha was some kind of beast far more powerful than the other game on the mountain.


    The absolute ¡®power¡¯ exhibited by Lao Sha was astonishing. It was starting to love the hunting ¡®exercises¡¯ and even traveled with the other hunters on days Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t go. Every time it traveled with another group of hunters, Lao Sha would find them plenty of game and was soon considered by many in the village to be a ¡®loving¡¯ addition, far more so than its master almost¡­


    But as the saying goes, the ¡®tallest tree in the forest is struck first by the lightning¡¯.


    With Lao Sha ¡®stealing¡¯ the livelihood of the other hunting dogs, discontent grew rapidly amongst the village dogs.


    One stormy afternoon, all of the hunting dogs in the village fought Lao Sha in the mountain behind the village.


    That battle had been a fierce one with fang and claw flying everywhere and howls mixing with the sound of lightning¡­


    In the end, Lao Sha won against the thirteen dogs that ambushed it. Somehow, Lao Sha managed to emerge from the battle without even a ¡®scratch¡¯ on its body!


    And so, Lao Sha soon came to be known in the village as the ¡®king of dogs¡¯.


    From that day onwards, all of the dogs in the village became subservient to Lao Sha. Lao Sha was their boss and listened to him whenever they were together in a pack.


    And that was the reason why Zuo Shuo decided to look for Lao Sha after noticing his dog was missing.


    There was one secret Bai Yunfei knew about Lao Sha that the other villagers didn¡¯t. Every so often, Lao Sha would leave the village for an entire day and come back pleased as punch as if it had just eaten a tremendous meal.


    Only Bai Yunfei knew the reason behind that.


    Lao Sha went to the mountain with the primal stones and ¡®ate¡¯.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the initial pile of primal stones Bai Yunfei brought back to be eaten by Lao Sha. With that supply gone, the only thing Lao Sha could do was go back to the source. The distance Lao Sha could cover in an afternoon was something that¡¯d normally take any regular villager an entire day to do, and it did so with ease.


    So Bai Yunfei had a good guess on where Lao Sha might be. And if the other dogs were gone, Bai Yunfei had a feeling they were most likely with Lao Sha at that place.


    Or in other words, Lao Sha was bringing the other dogs with him.


    Night fell before a pack of dogs came back from the mountains as Bai Yunfei expected. At the front of the pack was the leisurely-walking Lao Sha. Behind it was a pack of dejected-looking dogs¡­


    Bai Yunfei gave Lao Sha a scolding upon its return, but the dog only gave Bai Yunfei a blank look of innocence. It thought that today would be a nice day to bring its ¡®brethren¡¯ out on a trip to partake on the same feast it would normally be privy to. But who knew the dogs would be so ungrateful and not eat the tasty primal stones¡­


    Lao Sha was progressively becoming less like a dog and more like a ¡®human¡¯ in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. No one else in the village shared that same feeling, but Bai Yunfei had the strangest feeling that Lao Sha was getting stronger by the day, and smarter too. The dog could barely fight off that one tiger before, but now Lao Sha was strong enough to send even a grizzly bear flying with a paw. The dog was practically able to fight for hours on end with muscles stronger than probably anyone else in the village, humans included.


    Bai Yunfei was sure this change in Lao Sha had to be due to the strange liquid and glowing rocks they found in that mountain. Just how many of those rocks Lao Sha ate, Bai Yunfei was afraid of finding out¡­


    There were also a few changes to Lao Sha that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t catch. The changes to Bai Yunfei himself were minute in comparison and didn¡¯t really change much even when he remembered another small tidbit of his past self.


    And so Bai Yunfei lived his days in peace. Nothing out of the ordinary happened and life in the village was going well. Sometimes, Bai Yunfei even thought to himself whether or not he¡¯d spend his entire life living in this village¡­


    Then one day, an unexpected group of visitors came down from the mountains¡­

 Chapter 1012: Unwelcome Guests

    Time flew by like an arrow, and three years had quickly gone by like the snapping of the fingers¡­


    ¡°Rustle¡­¡±


    Four figures trekked through the silent mountains. The only sound to be heard from them was from their feet when they stepped on top of a particularly crunchy leaf. They came from the south and were heading for the north.


    They were all robust young men with the oldest being around the age of thirty. The other three behind him were in their twenties and all wore black robes. They held nothing in their hands and they carried nothing else on their person. With how they were leisurely sauntering through the place, it didn¡¯t seem like they were afraid of the beasts on this mountain.


    They were very clearly not here to hunt, and neither were they from the village.


    ¡°Senior Feng, we¡¯ve been looking through this place for five whole days already, shouldn¡¯t we go report to master Yang?¡±


    A short-haired person on the left spoke up to their leader. He wasn¡¯t tired of the mission, but he was sure as hell was bored.


    Feng Mingxu glanced to him and then back to the forest up ahead. ¡°Fine,¡± He nodded, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be convenient for us if we split too far away from the others. We¡¯ll regroup with the others and then see what else master Yang has planned for us.¡±


    The three males were pleased to hear that their search was over. One of them couldn¡¯t stop himself from cheering at the fact, in fact. ¡°Finally! It¡¯s been an entire month since we got here and we haven¡¯t even seen a single shadow! Where in the world did that information about the Alchemy School being here come from? They¡¯ve been gone for two thousand years, what¡¯s the chances that they¡¯d be here in this heaven-forsakened land?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­It¡¯s not one of the three danger zones, but the Qimang Mountains are still a dangerous place to be. How could anyone live here? There¡¯s plenty of dangerous soulbeasts here, anyone would¡¯ve been eaten up by them a long time ago! And¡­wouldn¡¯t one of the elders just have to fly around and look at the place if we really wanted to search the place? I don¡¯t see the point searching these mountains on foot. With how large it is, we¡¯d need more than a month to look through it all, and that¡¯s considering if we don¡¯t come across any soulbeasts! When will we be done with this!?¡±


    The leader of the group narrowed his eyes. ¡°Cut it with your whining!¡± He growled, ¡°Why have us if the elders have to do everything themselves?! Do you guys really think it¡¯s that simple? If the Alchemy School really is here, don¡¯t you think they¡¯d have hidden themselves with all sorts of arrays and illusions? How could we find them by flying then? We can¡¯t let the Alchemy School exist if the rumors are true. That¡¯s why we have the entire school out here combing the mountains. And if we do find them, our school will be able to grow even stronger! Ruling the world won¡¯t be impossible then!¡±


    ¡°Senior Feng is right, we shouldn¡¯t complain so much. Let¡¯s focus on our task, I think it¡¯s pretty good that we even got this far without any battles. We at least don¡¯t need to worry about anyone dying¡­¡± A short-haired male spoke.


    The two who had been whining earlier went white at the mention of the possibility of ¡®death¡¯. They nodded and spoke no more.


    Feng Mingxu took out a small gray pearl. Transmitting his soulforce into it, he studied the change within the pearl before speaking again.


    ¡°Master Yang is that way, let¡¯s continue our search in that direction then.¡±


    And so the four changed route into a new direction.


    ¡°Eh?! Senior Feng, look! There are actually people there!!¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long before the short-haired youth let out a whisper-shout and pointed off towards the left.


    The other three followed his gaze to where several buildings could be seen poking out among the trees. There was indeed a village and the shadow of several people moving about. Some of the buildings even had smoke rising up from their chimneys.


    ¡°Is it the Alchemy School?!¡± The spotter asked with anxious excitement.


    Feng Mingxu squinted his eyes for a better look. ¡°It looks like a regular village. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re the Alchemy School, but it¡¯s worth taking a look. They¡¯ll be the first humans we¡¯ve seen on these mountains in a month, maybe they¡¯ll know something about the Alchemy School. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Their paths changed once again for the village. The male who pointed out the village was clearly excited over his discovery. ¡°Hehe, who knew there¡¯d actually be people living in a place like this? It doesn¡¯t even matter if they don¡¯t have anything, I¡¯d settle for just some food, it¡¯s been an entire month since I had a decent meal¡­¡±


    The four reached the village soon enough and caught the attention of everyone there. Soon, a large amount of the villagers were gathered at the village gates to study and stare the four outsiders with amazement.


    One of the hunting dogs began to snarl at the four and attempted to bar their way in; whether it thought of them as threats or just didn¡¯t know what to do with outsiders had yet to be seen. But Feng Mingxu simply aimed a kick at the dog and sent it flying. The villagers were immediately frightened. The women and children moved swiftly to the back while the males drew forward in anger.


    The villagers had never experienced ¡®outside contact¡¯ with anyone other than Bai Yunfei, so they didn¡¯t know how they should respond to these four new people.


    ¡°Dear guests¡­if I may ask, where might the four of you come from? How may our small village assist you?¡±


    At last, an elderly person stepped forward from the others to speak and treat the four with polite kindness.


    ¡°....¡±


    Feng Mingxu said nothing in favor of looking around the village. His soulsense was scanning the place to see if there was anything of note, but he was disappointed with his find. These people were just commoners. No soul cultivators existed here, not even someone that was close to awakening to soulforce. There didn¡¯t seem like a point in even asking if these people knew of the Alchemy School.


    But Feng Mingxu had to try. ¡°I¡¯ll be asking the questions,¡± He snarled, ¡°Do you villagers know where the Alchemy School is?!¡±


    As direct as their route here, Feng Mingxu asked the only question they cared to hear a response to. There wasn¡¯t any need for pleasantries, the villagers wouldn¡¯t be able to lie to them if they did know the school.


    ¡°Alchemy School?¡± The elder repeated. The words tasted foreign to him, ¡°What is that?¡±


    The confusion on everyone else¡¯s face was noticeable too. They wondered what these outsiders possibly meant with their questions.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point asking them, senior Feng. They¡¯re clearly just a group of mountain savages.¡± The short-haired male with him replied before any of the other villagers could. ¡°You lot!¡± He barked, ¡°Bring out all the food you have, we¡¯ll be taking it with us!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Now the entire village was astounded. A few of them were already steaming with anger at the audacity of these outsiders. They had had enough of how arrogant and tyrannical these people were.


    ¡°Haaah? Thinking of disobeying, are we?!¡± An ominous glint appeared in the short-haired man¡¯s eye. A bolt of violet light shot forth as he swung his right hand forward to immediately vaporize a large boulder nearby the villagers.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    All the villagers immediately began to scream out in horror at the sight.


    Pleased with the terror he managed to inflict onto the villagers, the short-haired man sneered. ¡°I¡¯ll give you half an hour to bring out all the food you have or¡­you¡¯ll all die here!¡±

 Chapter 1013: The Elixers Have Been Revealed!

    The act of murder was something none of the villagers could possibly fathom doing, let alone murder. To the young man, however, killing everyone here was no big deal.


    A ¡®massive¡¯ wave of energy radiated from his body. It wasn¡¯t really much for him, but to the villagers it was a wave of undiluted terror that forced them to shiver fell to their knees.


    ¡°Y-yes! We will do as you say! We¡¯ll bring out our food at once, please wait one moment!¡±


    Giving these four people all the food in their village would be devastating to them, but the elder knew there wasn¡¯t any other choice. The safety of the village was paramount and so the elder took the path of least resistance. He hoped that these people would only leave as soon as they got what they wanted¡­


    ¡°Hah, I knew you¡¯d see reason!¡± The short-haired man jeered. He was reveling in the satisfaction of seeing all these ¡®ants¡¯ cower in fear in front of him. It made him feel somewhat like a god. A god who could determine if a human would live or die as they danced on top of his palm.


    Streams of food were taken out from the village in no time at all. Most of the villagers were placing the food with reluctance, and some looked like they were ready to spring onto the four outsiders if not for several other villagers holding them back. For some reason, the power exuded by the youngster earlier terrified them. And if they needed anything else to convince their minds, all they had to do was just look at the boulder that had been vaporized. Would a human even be able to live through such an attack?


    The villagers were surprised again when all the food they brought out disappeared after the short-haired man waved his hand. Someone within the crowd could even be heard muttering the word ¡®Immortal¡¯.


    Hearing himself being called as such by these ¡®mountain savages¡¯ only made the short-haired man even happier. He was even starting to feel like he was an Immortal actually.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, we need to reconvene with master Yang.¡± Feng Mingxu spoke at last once the last of the food was taken. He wasn¡¯t as interested in showing off their superiority in front of these commoners and wanted to leave at once.


    ¡°Hehe¡­so even a backwaters village like this has some pretty girls, what a catch!¡±


    Another one of the males took notice of a few of the young village girls there. A lecherous smile grew on his face as he made his remark to his fellow companions.


    The mood of the village immediately grew tense. A few of the female villagers hid behind the others and the males gripped at their weapons tightly in anger.


    ¡°I said we¡¯re leaving! Don¡¯t forget where we are, we don¡¯t have the time for your perversion!¡±


    Feng Mingxu barked at the young man in annoyance. He wasn¡¯t a man that enjoyed having his time wasted.


    ¡°Hehe, I was just saying, that¡¯s all¡­¡± The other male laughed.


    And so the four turned around in preparation to leave the village.


    Multiple villagers heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of their turning backs.


    ¡°Someone, come quick! Kindling¡¯s hurt! Call out elder Zhong!¡±


    It was at that moment when three villagers came running into the village from the other side with an injured youth.


    Another injured hunter was being brought in. It wasn¡¯t uncommon to see one be carried in like this.


    ¡°Bring him here, elder Zhong is here!¡±


    A response was made quickly. No one even cared to bat an eye at the four strangers now as they hurried the injured villager to the center of the village.


    Hundreds of steps away, Feng Mingxu turned around to look at the villagers. Something felt strange to him, but he decided not to think much about it. The likes of an injured villager didn¡¯t mean much to him.


    But whilst he turned back around, Feng Mingxu took notice of something that caused him to stop straight away!


    Though the villagers were pretty much covering the injured person from sight, Feng Mingxu was still able to see through the cracks between each person. From between those cracks, Feng Mingxu saw an old man take out a red pill and feed it into the mouth of the injured person!


    ¡°A pill!!¡±


    He cried out at once. His eyes were honed in on the bottle that the pill came out from now.


    ¡°What was that, senior Feng?¡±


    The other three males turned around in confusion, but Feng Mingxu was already in motion. Disappearing into a blur, the man took off towards the villagers!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Cries of panic rang out as multiple villagers felt a terrifying aura assault them from behind. They were all then sent flying in every way so another person could make his way past them.


    There was now a hole in the encirclement around the injured person. And to the amazement of the others still standing, one of the outsiders was standing right there where there was a gap!


    And before elder Zhong could react, the bottle of ¡®elixirs¡¯ in his hand was snatched away by the outsider!


    The very first thing Feng Mingxu did was look at the injured person. He didn¡¯t want to look at the pills, he wanted to see the effects! And judging from the smile on his face, he saw exactly what he was looking for!


    The terrifying wound on the ¡®commoner¡¯s¡¯ chest was rapidly knitting together with impossible speed!


    There was absolutely no way any ordinary medicine from a commoner would have a regenerative effect like this. This had to be a ¡®pill¡¯! A pill that only the legendary Alchemy School would have!


    ¡°What¡­what are you doing?!¡±


    Needless to say, elder Zhong was startled to see the outsider take the ¡®elixir¡¯ away from him. His first thought was to try and take it back, and several other villagers were already moving towards him in preparation to do so.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Green light exploded from Feng Mingxu¡¯s body. It swirled around his person like a contained whirlwind to blow away everyone unfortunate enough to be close by and forcing the others to back away or be flung to the ground.


    ¡°So you¡¯ve been lying to us¡­speak! Where is the Alchemy School!!?¡±


    A metaphorical blizzard had descended down onto the place with Feng Mingxu as its center. The power exuded by this individual was even more terrifying than his previous companion. Some of the villagers couldn¡¯t even breathe with how oppressive it felt.


    This Feng Mingxu was a Late-stage Soul Ancestor.


    ¡°What¡­what Alchemy School? We don¡¯t know anything! Who are you people, and why take our elixirs!¡± A villager let out a terrified cry.


    ¡°Elixirs?¡± Feng Mingxu narrowed his eyes, ¡°So¡­you were hiding something after all, what gall you villagers have¡­.¡±


    ¡°Swoosh swoosh swoosh¡­¡±


    Several blades of wind appeared around Feng Mingxu before they sped off to strike at the few villagers that were planning to attack him!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhh¡­¡±


    Blood spurted out from several villagers as they cried out and fell to the ground!


    Pandemonium rang out as several villagers ran to the injured to tend to their wounds.


    Feng Mingxu was looking extremely ominous now. ¡°I will give you all one last chance.¡± He stated, each word being spoken slowly and with great emphasis. ¡°If you don¡¯t give up all your pills and tell us where the Alchemy School¡­don¡¯t blame me for killing you all!¡±


    A Soul Sprite would¡¯ve been enough to kill all these villagers without resistance. A Soul Ancestor would without a doubt be able to do the same faster and with more ease. None of the villagers doubted his ability either, not with the amount of aura radiating from him.


    ¡°We truly don¡¯t know what this Alchemy School is! These elixirs¡­are something the Immortals granted to us...who are you people! What do you want!¡±


    As old as elder Zhong was, the sight of the villagers being hurt and the elixirs being taken had finally stretched his patience. He was now as outwardly angry as the others.


    ¡°Granted by the immortals?¡± Feng Mingxu repeated, ¡°Where are these so-called ¡®Immortals¡¯ then?!¡±


    ¡°We¡­we don¡¯t know!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know? You¡¯re still unwilling to talk?! It appears we¡¯ll need to have another lesson then. Do you really doubt I¡¯ll kill anyone here?¡±


    The killing intent from Feng Mingxu increased.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you ten seconds. For every ten seconds without a satisfactory person, I¡¯ll kill a person. One by one!¡±


    There was no way Feng Mingxu would believe the villagers. They had finally a clue on the Alchemy School, how could they just give it up like that at face value?


    It wouldn¡¯t be a loss if all the villagers died before they got an answer in any case.

 Chapter 1014: A Soul Warrior?

    ¡°We don¡¯t know! We truly don¡¯t know!¡±


    One villager replied, but it wasn¡¯t a reply Feng Mingxu was looking for. He just stood there with a discontent look on his face and waited¡­


    One second¡­


    Two seconds¡­


    Three seconds¡­


    The villagers began to despair. How could they live through this if they didn¡¯t know the answer? Some of the villagers were already pushing those around them behind so they wouldn¡¯t be targeted first¡­


    ¡°Ah? Who are you! Stop right there!!¡±


    Right as Feng Mingxu was about to kill the very first villager, an utterly shocked and furious voice roared out at him from the left of the mountain.


    Several people came running into the village soon afterward.


    At the front of the group was Stone. To his immediate behind was Zuo Shou, uncle Wu, and uncle Zuo. They were coming back from the mountains from a hunt and were shocked to see this sight and hurried over the village.


    Stone had no weapon in his hand, but that didn¡¯t stop him from charging at the four strangers in his anger. He approached quickly and moved to punch the closest one to him only to have the person aim a kick onto his chest faster than he could respond!


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    Stone flew through the air and fell back down to the ground. He coughed out a mouthful of blood; the kick had been more powerful than he expected.


    The short-haired youth that kicked him sneered. As he turned his head to ask Feng Mingxu what to do with Stone, something from the corner of his eyes caught his attention. A stone that glowed orange rolled out from the folds of Stone¡¯s robes.


    ¡°A¡­a primal stone! A high-tier primal stone!! How do you have one of those!?¡±


    The short-haired youth let out a cry of disbelief.


    ¡°A high-tier primal stone?!¡±


    Feng Mingxu¡¯s eyes flashed with a brilliant light. He was even more convinced of his own theory now; these people just had to be connected to the Alchemy School!


    ¡°You people brought this onto yourselves¡­tell me what I want to know or have your village die out!¡±


    A blade of wind was summoned with the snap of his fingers. Which one of these villagers would he be killing to set an example? He had plenty to choose from.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A sudden gust of wind came at the four without any warning. Altogether, Feng Mingxu and the other three leaped back several steps to avoid the intrusion.


    ¡°Kcht!¡±


    A long staff stabbed deep into the ground where Feng Mingxu had been standing. Had he not moved the staff would¡¯ve struck him clean. The end tail of the staff was still vibrating, meaning that the propulsive force in which the staff had been thrown with was considerably strong.


    ¡°Who goes there?!¡±


    An attack of that scale was something beyond the means of a commoner. The short-haired man knew that and was adequately wary of their new adversary.


    ¡°Big brother Tang!!¡±


    Stone¡ªwho was currently being helped up to his feet by Zuo Shou and uncle Wu¡ªlet out a cry of joy.


    A strange gray shadow came jettisoning down from the mountains with blinding speed. In no time at all the shadow was already at the village, but the figure was very strange to look at because¡­there were so many beasts larger than he was being carried on top of the person¡¯s shoulder!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei dropped all of the beasts he had been carrying onto the ground to inspect the situation. The cowering villagers, the injured Stone, and the four outsiders¡­


    ¡°Who are you people?!¡±


    Nothing much had changed about Bai Yunfei in the past three years. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties now and had long hair that was tied behind the back of his head. His skin was much darker than before and his body looked quite robust.


    In short, he looked more like an inhabitant of the mountains more than ever before.


    ¡°A Soul Warrior?¡±


    Feng Mingxu was surprised by the appearance of Bai Yunfei, but the surprise didn¡¯t last very long. ¡°So a soul cultivator is here after all! Is he from the Alchemy School then?¡±


    ¡°Hah! It was only just a Soul Warrior¡­that scared me for a second.¡± The short-haired man snorted. ¡°Could you be¡­an alchemist?¡± He was reaching the same conclusion as Feng Mingxu.


    ¡°Why are you hurting our people?!¡± Bai Yunfei replied with a question of his own.


    ¡°Tang Long¡­they appeared out from nowhere. They¡¯re looking for some kind of alchemy school, and they¡¯re willing to kill for it! Be careful¡­they know magic!¡±


    One villager hurried to warn Bai Yunfei. It didn¡¯t seem illogical to this village that these people were capable of ¡®magic¡¯. It also seemed logical to warn Bai Yunfei¡ªthe strongest one in their village¡ªof this fact since not even he seemed like he stood a chance against this supposed magic¡­


    ¡°Kill?!¡± Bai Yunfei looked furious at the sound of that word. His eyes were already taking in the sights of the several injured villagers around him. The muscles on his arms bulged as he clenched his fists. He glared at the short-haired male.


    ¡°What¡­what reason have you for all this!?¡±


    It seemed absolutely ludicrous that a mere Soul Warrior would give them four this much attitude. But for the briefest of moments, the short-haired man felt a slight shiver travel up his spine as if he was a small mouse being eyed down by a towering snake. For that one small instant, the man didn¡¯t have it in himself to even move!


    But that moment passed quickly, and the man felt himself be overcome by humiliation. ¡°You¡¯re just an ignorant savage, die for me, why don¡¯t you!?¡±


    His body flashed with violet light as he prepared to show the ignoramus in front of him the error of his ways.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± But it was Feng Mingxu that stopped him. ¡°Are you or are you not from the Alchemy School?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes moved over from the short-haired man to Feng Mingxu. He studied him for several moments before replying, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you outside this village.¡±


    He was trying to push for ¡®negotiations¡¯ to take place outside the village.


    ¡°Oh?¡± A mirthful smile appeared on Feng Mingxu¡¯s face. ¡°Fine then,¡± He motioned for the others to follow him, ¡°Let¡¯s go then, there¡¯s no point dealing with these commoners.¡±


    They all knew Bai Yunfei was just trying to protect the villagers. It didn¡¯t matter much to them since this Soul Warrior was here. He was presumably from the Alchemy School, so the four of them could first get whatever information they wanted from him first before dealing with the villagers.


    The five of them walked for a short distance until they reached the hill Bai Yunfei commonly used to stare at the skies.


    ¡°This should be far enough, now spill it. If you don¡¯t give us a satisfactory answer, we¡¯ll head back to the village and kill everyone there.¡± Feng Mingxu threatened.


    ¡°Kill¡­¡± Bai Yunfei repeated the word slowly, as if the word was burning his tongue to even say it. ¡°Is murder something you four can do so easily?¡±


    ¡°Haha! What a naive idiot you are!¡± Barked the short-haired man. ¡°Killing a few commoners is like killing ants for us soul cultivators. We kill as we like and when we want, do you really think we wouldn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Soul cultivators¡­¡± This was the ¡®first¡¯ time Bai Yunfei heard of such a thing.


    ¡°Let¡¯s cut the bullsh*t, I¡¯m giving you one last chance.¡± Feng Mingxu interrupted, ¡°Are you from the Alchemy School or not?! Tell us where the alchemy School is and we¡¯ll let the villagers live. We¡¯ll even reward you for your troubles.¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew silent for a moment as if considering the deal.


    He nodded.


    ¡°Fine, follow me then.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a reaction any of the four of them thought to see. Two of the males were happy nonetheless though, but Feng Mingxu looked furious. ¡°You trying to lie to us?!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    Several blades of wind appeared with the wave of his hand before flying at Bai Yunfei to surround him!

 Chapter 1015: Trouble

    Bai Yunfei dove to the side with all the speed he could muster. He thought that he¡¯d be able to trick the four of them and lead them far away enough, but it seemed like that plan fell short.


    The ground where he once stood was lacerated with all sorts of marks as the blades of wind dug into it, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise. So these people really were capable of ¡®magic¡¯! What a crazy situation!


    It was enough to tell him that these people were very dangerous, though. He¡¯d probably not be able to fight them all.


    But for some reason, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel ¡®afraid¡¯. He was shocked at what these people were capable of, yes, but he didn¡¯t feel like it was something he should truly be worried about¡­


    ¡°Oh? So you dodged that, did you?¡±


    The swift evasion of his attack by Bai Yunfei caused Feng Mingxu to blink. Though he wasn¡¯t planning to seriously injure the Soul Warrior, there wasn¡¯t any way the Soul Warrior would be able to dodge it.


    Then he took notice of the violet shoes Bai Yunfei wore. ¡°Are those¡­soul armaments!?¡±


    He summoned multiple blades of wind right away. His opponent was even more capable than he initially thought. With a wave of his hand, the blades of wind flew at Bai Yunfei to attack!


    Eyes widening, Bai Yunfei moved at once to dodge the sudden storm. As fast as he was, he wasn¡¯t able to completely dodge them all. One blade of wind managed to make contact with his body!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The cloth Bai Yunfei wore on his chest was immediately ripped apart and he was thrown back several meters through the air upon being hit.


    ¡°Hmph! You think too highly of yourself!¡± Feng Mingxu snapped. ¡°Bring him over!¡±


    The short-haired male nodded and moved swiftly over to where Bai Yunfei was. Reaching a hand outwards, he moved to grab Bai Yunfei.


    As he was stooping over¡­


    Bai Yunfei flew straight up with a heavy right punch onto his chest!


    ¡°Bang! Crack¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    The chest of the short-haired man cracked under the pressure of Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch. Lifted up by the upwards force, the man was soon shot up into the air!


    ¡°What!!¡±


    Feng Mingxu and the other two men gasped. Waving his hand, Feng Mingxu had a bubble of wind cushion their fourth member¡¯s fall and bring him safely to the ground. The man was practically unconscious and had blood flowing from his lips!


    He looked back up at Bai Yunfei. The man didn¡¯t even look hurt! The strips of fabric fell away from his robes to reveal a dark-gold armor underneath them.


    ¡°A soul armament!!¡±


    Feng Mingxu let out another gasp. He hadn¡¯t thought that their adversary would have a piece of armor, let alone one that could stop his attacks from piercing it!


    ¡°Bastard!!¡±


    Being dealt a heavy blow by a Soul Warrior didn¡¯t sit well with Feng Mingxu. It seemed almost unforgivable that they would incur such a loss! Furious, Feng Mingxu exploded with green light tainted with strands of black light. Kicking off the ground, he flew like an arrow towards Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s vision felt blurry as the black and green palm of light flew straight for his eyes!


    He felt his heart skip a beat¡ªthis wasn¡¯t an attack he could dodge easily. Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet kicked off against the ground and his arms flew up to protect himself, but there was no stopping this attack from hitting him.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The palm struck against the bracer on his left arm and sent Bai Yunfei flying. A sharp throb of pain shot straight up his arm; the bones in that arm was most likely broken.


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    Something strange was happening. Feng Mingxu, for some reason, let out a pained snarl and stepped back away from Bai Yunfei with a pained expression on his face!


    ¡°What is this?!¡± Feng Mingxu cried out loud. He couldn¡¯t believe what had just happened. In that moment of impact between his palm and Bai Yunfei, Feng Mingxu felt like he was hitting a wall of steel or something. Not only had he failed to achieve the destruction he was expecting, but the force he applied onto Bai Yunfei had also rebounded onto himself!


    This was¡­the +10 additional effect of the Returner Bracer!


    5% chance to deflect back 30% of the damage inflicted when defending. Damage cannot exceed the total defensive power of this equipment and cannot deflect projectiles.


    Bai Yunfei was also feeling stunned from where he lied on the ground twenty steps away. It wasn¡¯t so much due to Feng Mingxu¡¯s attack, but the fact that he felt a sliver of soulforce be lost once the additional effect was applied.


    His body had grown ¡®stronger¡¯ since three years ago. He didn¡¯t know the reason why but it was on the level of a Soul Warrior. His soulforce reserves were also much stronger than its pre-awakened state three years ago and were more than capable of using several additional effects. It still hurt whenever he lost some soulforce, but it wasn¡¯t so bad anymore.


    ¡°Another soul armament!!¡±


    That was the conclusion Feng Mingxu came to after he saw the bracer on Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm. Hidden away from sight, the bracer only made itself known once the sleeves of Bai Yunfei¡¯s robes fell apart.


    Feng Mingxu narrowed his eyes. This was situation was beginning to spiral out of control. Leaning forward, Feng Mingxu immediately took off towards Bai Yunfei!


    He was up against a mere Soul Warrior, but the soul armaments this person had was by no means of inferior quality. Feng Mingxu was more than willing to believe this person wasn¡¯t anywhere as simple as he was led to believe and so he was ready to capture Bai Yunfei with the most of his abilities!


    Capturing a mere Soul Warrior should be simple for a Late-stage Soul Ancestor like him, especially if he was going all-out.


    The speed he was displaying now was completely different now that he wasn¡¯t holding back. The distance between him and Bai Yunfei was covered in a split-second before his right hand stretched out to grab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Several gusts of wind shot at Bai Yunfei from his left, right, and back to prevent him from retreating!


    ¡°Hah!!¡±


    Knowing that evasion was impossible now, Bai Yunfei let out a loud cry and punched at Feng Mingxu with all his might!


    That was the only thing he could do. Feng Mingxu was right in front of him and there was no way out.


    Feng Mingxu¡¯s right hand turned from a claw into a palm as he decided to change targets from the throat to the fist. A green and black light gathered around his palm to bolster his defenses right as Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand collided with it!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The two were about to collide, but Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t any intention of being flung away like before!


    As strong as a Soul Warrior he might be, the distance between a Soul Warrior and a Soul Ancestor was still too far apart. The Ardent Sun Glove might¡¯ve activated then to help him, but that wouldn¡¯t be enough to help Bai Yunfei completely fend off against Feng Mingxu¡¯s attack.


    Bai Yunfei felt the bones in his right arm crack under the pressure of his attack before watching it go limp¡ªhis right arm was dislocated!


    ¡°Give up and sit still!¡±


    Feng Mingxu wasn¡¯t willing to give Bai Yunfei enough time to even breathe. Both his arms lashed forward to send twenty blades of wind at Bai Yunfei!


    It wasn¡¯t a killing move, but these blades of wind would most definitely serve to stop Bai Yunfei from retreating. He also had several of the blades head for the limbs so that Bai Yunfei would be rendered unable of motion.


    Bai Yunfei was airborne now with his right arm dislocated at the shoulder. He wasn¡¯t too close to Feng Mingxu, but also not too far away to dodge the incoming attacks. Biting his lips, Bai Yunfei raised his left arm in front of his face and brought his legs up to minimize his chances of being hit.


    ¡°Pcht pcht pcht¡­¡±


    Several blades of wind sliced into the defenseless Bai Yunfei. Without the ability to move through the air, Bai Yunfei was helpless!


    Blood spurted out from all over his body as the blades of wind cut into him. He had no soul armaments to protect the thighs and legs, so Bai Yunfei was unable to stop the blades from leaving behind massives wounds on those particular areas! One blade had even cut deep into his right knee!


    And on another spot, a devastating wound appeared on his right shoulder!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei fell down to the ground in a mix of dust and blood. His carried momentum saw to Bai Yunfei tumbling several times over on the ground before he came to a stop.


    The pain Bai Yunfei was feeling was already enough to leave him in cold sweat. His teeth were clenched so hard that they looked like they might shatter from the pressure even. But there was nothing he could do, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t move at all.


    His opponent was a Soul Ancestor. Had he the same strength as before, it wouldn¡¯t even take Bai Yunfei a finger to kill the man! But today¡­Bai Yunfei was having a great deal of trouble!

 Chapter 1016: Extermination

    ¡°Hmph, looks like I overestimated you. You¡¯re just someone with more soul armaments and luckier than they should be¡­¡±


    Feng Mingxu felt his heart slow back down to its regular pace now that Bai Yunfei was resting in his own pool of blood. For a while, Feng Mingxu had his doubts whether or not Bai Yunfei was just hiding his strength, but it seemed like he was wrong about that.


    He walked over to Bai Yunfei with the intent to slowly interrogate him for answers.


    As he was just about to grab Bai Yunfei, something from the corner of his eyes caused Feng Mingxu to suddenly whirl around!


    ¡°Ahh! What is that?!¡±


    One of his companions cried out in fear while he was turning. A large brown shadow had at some point shot down from the shadows of the mountain to run at the small-eyed youth and then send him flying!


    This one was an Early-stage Soul Sprite. He should¡¯ve been anchored to his spot rather than be sent flying!


    As a Late-stage Soul Ancestor, Feng Mingxu felt like he had a decent level of skill with his soulsense. Anything within two hundred meters of him could be sensed without a problem in the general case, but right now he couldn¡¯t even sense a single undulation of soulforce!


    It took him a second to catch sight of the mysterious new object. He and the other bushy-eyebrowed man both stared at the object, incredulous by what it was that knocked down their companion!


    It¡­it was a huge dog!


    The most terrifying thing was how this dog had the small-eyed youth¡¯s throat in between its fangs. The head was bent at an awkward angle and the eyes were completely dull of color. He was dead!


    The dog managed to somehow snap the neck of a Soul Sprite!


    ¡°A soulbeast?!¡± Feng Mingxu¡¯s eyes flew wide open. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t see any soulforce¡­is it not yet a soulbeast?! But how?!¡±


    Feng Mingxu couldn¡¯t sense any soulforce coming out from the dog, meaning this dog wasn¡¯t even at the level of a class one soulbeast! An entity stronger than a regular beast and yet weaker than a soulbeast¡­a halfing.


    That had to be the reason why he didn¡¯t realize its presence earlier. His soulsense was paying close attention to soulforce, to which this halfling had none. But¡­how was a halfing able to pull off the speed and strength to bite and kill a Soul Sprite!?


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    While Feng Mingxu was trying to process the arrival of this dog into his calculations, a furious ball of heat exploded from behind him!


    Eyes widening, Feng Mingxu whirled around to watch as¡­a miniature sun suddenly materialized into being!


    ¡°Lao Sha!¡±


    When Lao Sha appeared and Feng Mingxu was distracted, Bai Yunfei took the opportunity to grab at his dislocated right arm with his left and pop it back into place!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    Droplets of sweat appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead as the pain of setting his shoulder joint shot through his body. Grunting, he planted his right palm onto the ground and sprung himself back up!


    His right arm was back to full functionality!


    Back on his own two feet, Bai Yunfei looked down at his right hand and began to concentrate!


    The Ardent Sun Glove on that hand began to shine a brilliant red light before a fiery whirlpool formed above it. Elemental fire was pulled into this maelstrom and quickly aided the whirlpool¡¯s growth!


    In no time at all, the whirlpool grew to a diameter of a dozen meters around Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    His body trembled with pain and fatigue. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were practically bloodshot as he glared at Feng Mingxu and threw the whirlpool forward!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    The whirlpool transformed into a small fireball and shot towards Feng Mingxu like a speeding bullet! It was so hot that it managed to leave behind scorch marks on the ground beneath it!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    That was what Feng Mingxu saw when he turned around. The blood drained away from his face as he yelled out loud and he moved quickly to try and protect himself with a layer of green light.


    The fireball crashed into the barrier he threw up and exploded at once!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    ¡°Aaagghhhh!!!¡±


    The explosion caused by the fireball was so massive that the area beneath Bai Yunfei and Feng Mingxu shook. The latter was completely enveloped by the explosion and the flames, and only the terrified screams of pain could be heard from him over the explosion!


    ¡°Senior Feng!!¡±


    The thick-eyebrowed man was frightened out of his mind. He let out a loud scream for his senior and tried to probe into the area with his soulsense but¡­the aura of Feng Mingxu was nowhere to be seen!


    ¡°Is he dead?!¡±


    The very first thought he had was that Feng Mingxu had died. His mind went blank at the thought. How could this have happened?


    While he was distracted by the possibility of his senior¡¯s death, an orange figure suddenly shot forth at him!


    ¡°Ah!!¡± He screamed out loud. Black light erupted from his body and into his hand as he threw a punch!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    He felt his elemental darkness infused fist make contact with something else, though the object he hit didn¡¯t exactly fly away after being struck. He only felt a throb of pain before everything went black for him¡­


    ¡°Thud¡­¡±


    Like his small-eyed companion, the head of this one snapped at a strange angle before his body crumpled to the ground. Lao Sha landed off near the side with several wisps of black light surrounding its body, though the black light was immediately dispersed once it shook its body.


    Now there was only one person left alive: the short-haired one Bai Yunfei knocked away earlier. He was still lying on the ground looking as still as a corpse. He might be left without the power to fight, but the man was still very much alive¡­


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Suddenly, a heart-pounding scream erupted from a distance, causing the sole survivor to shiver and look off towards the source. From where the flames were flickering out of existence from, a person could be seen howling at the top of his lungs as he held his head!


    It was Bai Yunfei!


    The flames that swallowed Feng Mingxu were gone now. The only thing to be seen were was the scorched crater, but Feng Mingxu was nowhere to be seen¡­


    Lao Sha froze up once it heard Bai Yunfei scream. It turned around to look at the short-haired male with a snarl as if thinking he was responsible for Bai Yunfei¡¯s screaming. Two short steps later, the dog was upon the male and brought one of its paws down with a furious howl¡­


    ¡°Wa¡ªwai¡ªaaargghh!!¡±


    Powerless to even defend himself, the male was only able to say a single syllable before Lao Sha¡¯s claw smashed into his right leg and crushed it!


    ¡°Crack crack crack¡­¡±


    Three successive blows to the other three limbs were made shortly after, leaving the male with all of his limbs utterly broken!


    The pain proved too much for the male and he soon found himself fainting shortly afterward.


    Somehow, Lao Sha knew that it had to restrain itself and leave one alive, but it also knew how to be quite cruel too!


    Now that the person was dealt with, Lao Sha lost all interest in him and trotted quickly over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. It whined as it circled around Bai Yunfei, the pain his master was in left the dog completely confused on what it could even do.


    Bai Yunfei was suffering from a backlash in using too much soulforce! The fireball effect of the Ardent Sun Glove took out all of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce and now he was suffering from the very same pain he suffered from when upgrading a stone in the mountain with the primal stones. But unfortunately for him, the pain for this was far more intense!


    It felt like multiple blades were stabbing into his very soul and tearing it out piece by piece!


    While his soul was being riddled with ¡®holes¡¯, countless memories began to pour out as well. Memories both strange and familiar poured out into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind for him to look at, but with how much pain this backlash was grinding away at his nerves, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even seem to notice those memories¡­

 Chapter 1017: Descent of the Immortals

    ¡°Tang Long!!¡±


    The sounds of the battle between Bai Yunfei and the other four outsiders could be heard all the way in the village. Many of the villagers were hiding within their homes due to their great fear, but a few were also watching the battle from afar. The moment when the four men were defeated and when Bai Yunfei started screaming, everyone began to run out to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side at once.


    ¡°Elder Zhong, please save Tang Long! Whats his injuries?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was laid down on his back with several people holding onto him so he didn¡¯t hurt his head from squirming around, but their attempts were proving to be useless with how violently he struggled against the others.


    With how violently he was struggling, the wounds on his body only started to bleed more and frighten those around him.


    ¡°But¡­all the elixirs were taken away by the strangers already¡­¡± Elder Zhong stammered. He was looking at the black crater where Feng Mingxu once stood. If he was burnt to a crisp, surely the elixirs he had were gone too.


    ¡°It also doesn¡¯t appear that we should be concerned with his physical wounds either, but¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem like he was paying much attention to the wounds on his body with how he was clutching at his head. Elder Zhong had taken notice of that and so he wasn¡¯t quite sure the best way to treat Bai Yunfei.


    A depressing atmosphere descended down onto the people of the village. Everyone was feeling deeply concerned. So many people were gathered here and yet there wasn¡¯t anything anyone could do for Bai Yunfei?


    ¡°Eh? Look, what¡¯s that!?¡±


    Suddenly, someone pointed their finger up into the skies in awe.


    Everyone looked up to the north. A streak of red light was flying towards the village like a shooting star. In the blink of an eye, the streak of light came close enough to the village for the people to see what was inside of it. There was somebody inside of it!


    ¡°That¡¯s a person! Those¡­those people are¡­they¡¯re Immortals! The Immortals are here!¡±


    No one knew which villager it was that pointed it out, but the entire village began to descend into panic¡­


    ¡°Immortals?! The legendary Immortals are coming? Here?!¡±


    ¡°They are! They¡¯re flying! Look! Just like the legends!¡±


    ¡°The Immortals are here! Tang Long can be saved!¡±


    ¡°Oh! Right! The Immortals have to have elixirs! They can save Tang Long! And the other injured ones too!¡±


    The despair that had been inflicted onto the villagers was blown away in an instant. Like the light that was coming their way, the villagers¡¯ faces were all shining brightly with hope.


    Several seconds passed by. Everyone didn¡¯t even dare to breathe as they waited for the streaks of light to get closer to them. Then when it seemed like they were close enough to touch down¡­they disappeared!


    ¡°Ah!?¡±


    Cries of shock rang out through the air as everyone tried to look where the people might¡¯ve gone.


    Then several meters away, a person appeared!


    ¡°Ah! An Immortal? Ahhh? What¡¯s that?¡±


    People began to cry out again when the figure reappeared. But from one of the people they saw¡­several of the villagers began to cry out in shock!


    When the word ¡®Immortal¡¯ came to mind, the most common image would be that of an elderly man whose white hair and robes flowed with the wind like one. They had to have the unnatural air of those who lived a life beyond the comprehension of the mortals. But right now, this person¡­this person was¡­a ten-year-old boy?!


    The young child wore white robes with gold lining and had his hair tied into a tight bun on the back of his head. His eyes shined bright in the light and his face was exceedingly young, if not a little mischevious-looking. Some of the villagers felt the urge to pinch his cheeks even.


    Three dogs stood at his side, each of them a different color of red, yellow, and green. They didn¡¯t seem like they were dyed that color, but rather that they were born with these unnatural colors.


    The fact that these Immortals were descending down towards them was already a huge shock, but the fact that one of them was a young little boy made the news even more astonishing¡­


    ¡°Eh? Whatever happened to that fluctuation of elemental energy? Where did it go?¡±


    The boy crossed his arms as he surveyed the place. He looked first to the black crater where Feng Mingxu stood and then to the two corpses nearby. ¡°So this place was it¡­the battle¡¯s over then, is it?¡±


    The boy looked almost fearful of how the corpses looked for a moment before he could recollect himself. ¡°They must be the intruders judging from their clothes,¡± he whispered to himself, ¡°Who managed to kill them?¡±


    His eyes continued to look around the place before finally landing upon Bai Yunfei¡­


    ¡°Honored Immo¡ªno¡­honored Elf¡­please help us! We have many wounded here. Please bestow upon us an elixir, honored Elf!¡±


    The village elder begged. Seeing a child as young as this one in front of them was extremely weird, but this child descended down from the heavens with the others, meaning he was without a doubt an ¡®Immortal¡¯. He didn¡¯t dare underestimate the child in that case. He bowed as politely as he could to request a favor of help.


    ¡°Elf? Are you talking about me?¡± The child blinked. The faintest of smiles appeared on his face as he thought about the title he was given. ¡°Hehe¡­Elf. I like that¡­


    ¡°What happened here, who defeated these people just now?¡± The child assumed a ¡®serious¡¯ expression as he beckoned at the corpses strewn about the place.


    ¡°The¡­these outsiders came here looking for an ¡®alchemy school¡¯. They took the elixirs and forced us to give away our food. It was thanks to Tang Long that they were beaten but Tang Long was grievously hurt. Please, honored Elf, please save him!¡±


    ¡°Oh? So they were looking for us¡­¡± The child muttered. Turning to take a look at Bai Yunfei, the child raised an eyebrow in surprise at what he saw. ¡°Hm? This person¡­¡±


    Something about Bai Yunfei felt strange to the child. Stepping closer to Bai Yunfei, the child suddenly stopped in his tracks¡ªLao Sha was standing in between him and Bai Yunfei with a snarl on its face.


    ¡°Ah? A halfling?¡± The child looked incredulous at how the dog was standing in front of him. ¡°A halfing daring to stand in my way? That¡¯s interesting. Very interesting¡­¡±


    He turned to look at the village elder. ¡°I can save him,¡± He spoke ¡®magnamiously¡¯, ¡°but you¡¯ll need to call off that dog.¡±


    The village elder brightened up with joy at that.


    ¡°Lao Sha, you heard him,¡± The elder called out to Lao Sha, ¡°This Elf will help Tang Long, don¡¯t get in his way!¡±


    All the villagers knew by now that Lao Sha was a dog with more intelligence than most dogs. What the elder said would most definitely be understood by Lao Sha.


    The dog hesitated for a brief moment to look back at the still moaning and squirming Bai Yunfei. Resigning itself to its helplessness, the dog gave one threatening glare at the child as if warning him to not do any sudden movements.


    Again, the child looked surprised at how the dog was looking at him, but he thought nothing more of it to walk towards Bai Yunfei. Squatting down, he reached his hand out to grab at the hands of Bai Yunfei.


    It was strange seeing how this child could do what the villagers could not. Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands were easily moved apart before the rest of his body was forced into a non-moving state to rest on the ground.


    Another hand rose up to feel at Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead. Sending some soulforce inside, the child waited for it to tell him what he needed to know. ¡°It seems like¡­his soul is damaged?! It¡¯s his soul of all things? Weird¡­¡±


    A red pill appeared out of thin air once he shook his hand. Pinching Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth open, he placed the pill into it and had Bai Yunfei swallow.


    ¡°An elixir!¡±


    The villagers all gasped when the pill was taken out. There was no longer any doubts of who this ¡®Elf¡¯ was. Someone that could fly and have an elixir was indubitably an Immortal and so the villagers were all overjoyed.


    This was probably a ¡®flesh regenerating pill¡¯, but one that was most definitely better than any pill elder Zong could make. In just mere seconds after the pill was ingested, the flesh over Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to heal with such an accelerated rate that it didn¡¯t even take a moment before his body was back to perfect condition!


    The child waved his hand again to bring out a bottle. He threw it to the village elder and said, ¡°Use this to treat the wounded.¡±


    The bottle was taken in by the village elder with the greatest of care and the greatest of joy. Bowing to the boy, the elder then turned around to run towards the wounded to treat their wounds at once.


    The boy continued to stare at the teeth-clenched Bai Yunfei. He looked hesitant for a moment before taking out a transparent pill. ¡°It¡¯s the only soul mending pill we¡¯ve made recently. It doesn¡¯t really feel right to use here, but¡­forget about it. I¡¯m feeling good today, so I¡¯ll give this one to you!¡±


    And with that, he tossed the pill into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth¡­

 Chapter 1018: Enemies Incoming

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    A somewhat pained but relieved sigh came out from Bai Yunfei after the soul mending pill was thrown into his mouth. His body had seemingly lost tension as the pill started to work its magic onto him and start to heal his soul.


    The villagers all heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of him calming down.


    About ten seconds passed by before Bai Yunfei was fully at rest. His eyebrows were no longer knitted together and his body had long since stopped shaking. His breathing was stabilized and it looked like he was in deep slumber now.


    Everything seemed fine now. The boy placed a hand on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead to check the status of his soul. ¡°No way?!¡± He sucked in a deep breath from shock, ¡°His soul wasn¡¯t fully healed?!


    ¡°This¡­this¡­¡± He looked almost disbelieving at how the soul mending pill had done nothing to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Just how big was the damage to your soul?! You¡¯re just a Soul Warrior¡­shouldn¡¯t you have died already if the damage was this big?!¡±


    The boy didn¡¯t look like he believed at all at how Bai Yunfei was still alive.


    ¡°Honored¡­honored Elf¡­¡± The village elder stammered, ¡°Will¡­will Tang Long be fine?¡±


    The boy tore his eyes away from Bai Yunfei with a smile. He didn¡¯t want the villagers to start doubting his abilities. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. How could a pill from an Elf be useless? He¡¯ll be back to his original state soon enough.¡±


    ¡°His original state was already in a terrible state though. But that doesn¡¯t concern me¡­¡±


    The boy stood up. He did all that he could do and so he saw no reason to attend to Bai Yunfei any longer. ¡°Hehe, so there¡¯s still a survivor, excellent!¡± He laughed at the sight of the unconscious person Lao Sha knocked out earlier.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have a lot more respect from dad if I bring this one home. Everyone will know just how amazing I am then!¡±


    He thought to himself. It was a good thing, knowing that he¡¯d have something to bring back and be awarded for. A flicker of soulforce caught his attention from a place not too far away from him.


    ¡°Hehe, so brother Wang Tong and Kai Wen are almost here? They¡¯re slow¡­¡±


    He was looking off in a distance where two streaks of light were soaring through the skies to where he was.


    ¡°Ah! Even more Immortals are coming over!¡± A few villagers noticed the same lights and immediately cried out in awe.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the two streaks of green light arrived where the boy was. Everyone could see who the people were within the lights now; they were both tall males whose robes flowed gracefully with the wind as they rode on top of a flying sword. Their figures were so refined and graceful that every villager felt like there was no other way the word ¡®Immortal¡¯ could describe these people than now.


    Soon, the two people within the lights touched down onto the ground for the boy to walk closer to. ¡°Brother Wang Tong, brother Kai Wen, you two are late! I¡¯m already done taking care of the mess here¡­¡±


    The one known as Wang Tong was a young man whose hair was like a shawl behind his head. His eyebrows were sharp like swords and his mouth was shaped into a slight smile. Handsome looking and refined, the man wore robes that fitted him and held a fan in his hands to assume the air of a scholar.


    The one on the right known as Kai Wen was a simple-looking short-haired man. He was rugged in build and had a stalwart face. His eyebrows were thick and his expression far more serious than his companion. Even now, he was cautiously eyeing the people around them.


    Wang Tong shook his head at the boy¡¯s words, ¡°Didn¡¯t we tell you to stay within fifty kilometers of here, Feiyun? Why run off to a place this far, don¡¯t you know the dangers of that? Now is a very bad time to be exploring the mountains, what if you come across any strangers? How would we be able to face the elders then?¡±


    ¡°Hmph! I knew you would treat me like a kid!¡± The one called ¡®Feiyun¡¯ pouted. ¡°I could beat up any enemies even if I meet them! Don¡¯t forget, you two can¡¯t even beat me anymore!¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Wang Tong sighed, ¡°The intruders this time aren¡¯t as easy as you¡¯d think they are. The elders have issued a decree that no contact should be made with them. We¡¯d best return now, this place is already too far away from the Qimang Mountains, it¡¯ll be easy to come across anyone else¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ve already come into contact with those intruders¡­¡± Kai Wen suddenly spoke up.


    ¡°Feiyun, what happened here?¡± He asked.


    But Feiyun shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I sensed a battle here so I came to take a look. It was over by the time I arrived. You¡¯ll have to ask these people what happened.¡±


    He pointed to the villagers anxiously standing away from them.


    The village elder didn¡¯t dare make a sound when the two ¡®Immortals¡¯ looked over to him. Bowing politely, he began to retell the story of what happened here to the best of his abilities. Kai Wen and Wang Tong listened to him, and the longer they did, the grimmer their faces became¡­


    ¡°So these people were specifically looking for us¡­this isn¡¯t good. We have to go back and report this!¡± Kai Wen announced to the others once the village elder was done speaking.


    ¡°I agree, we should head back at once.¡± Wang Tong nodded. ¡°We can take the survivor with us and feed him a truth pill. He¡¯ll be able to tell us who the intruders are¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going back? Now?¡± Feiyun looked incredulous at the prospect of heading back home. ¡°Well okay then, but can we bring this strange guy ba¡ªhold on, someone¡¯s coming!!¡±


    The boy looked strangely mature for his age as he stared off to the skies. Something was coming towards them from the east.


    Wang Tong and Kai Wen both turned their heads to look. Several streaks of light were already in sight and coming rapidly towards them!


    The three of them looked grim at once. Concentrating at the incoming group of people, the three began to scan their auras to see how powerful they were before sighing in relief. It seemed like there was no Soul King with them¡­


    ¡°Two Late-stage Soul Exalt, two Mid-stage Soul Exalt, four Mid-stage Soul Exalt, and¡­? Twenty Soul Ancestors and Soul Sprites?¡±


    Feiyun muttered to himself and the other two.


    ¡°Should we fight? Or should we run?¡± Wang Tong asked Kai Wen.


    ¡°There¡¯s no Soul Kings so¡­we can fight! We might lead them back to the school if we run and the lives of the villagers would be in danger then.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s fight,¡± Wang Tong smiled, ¡°if these people know about us, they¡¯re definitely not here for anything nice. We don¡¯t need to be kind back to them. To save our school, we¡¯ll need to kill them all!¡±


    The easy-going expression was gone from Wang Tong¡¯s face. All there was left was a cold piercing light.


    Kai Wen nodded his agreement. ¡°Head back to your village, go hide and don¡¯t step outside your homes.¡± He spoke to the villagers.


    None of the villagers knew what exactly was happening, only that danger was rapidly approaching. Fearing for their lives, the villagers quickly took the unconscious Bai Yunfei and ran back to the village for safety.


    Wang Tong laughed at the approaching enemies. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of them¡­it¡¯ll be trouble if even one of them gets away. We¡¯ll let your gold-devouring ants take care of the Soul Ancestors and Soul Sprites, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem, will it?¡±


    ¡°Another four Early-stage Soul Exalt won¡¯t be.¡± Kai Wen replied.


    Wang Tong shrugged. ¡°Fine then, I¡¯ll pick up the slack and fight two of the Mid-stage Soul Exalts.


    ¡°The Late-stage Soul Exalts will be up to you then, Feiyun.¡±


    Contrary to what all the villagers thought, the two older males were weaker than the boy. It seemed almost hilarious to think of it that way, but the three of them weren¡¯t joking in the slightest.


    Feiyun looked almost excited to hear the older male delegate the strongest enemies to him. ¡°Eh?! Really?! I can really fight against them?!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say to charge in straight away. Just do what you normally do and stay behind¡­¡±


    Wang Tong pointed at the three dogs with him, ¡°Let them do the work. It¡¯ll all be over soon enough.¡±

 Chapter 1019: A Wipeout

    ¡°I¡­fine, I get it¡­¡± Feiyun sighed. Being told to stay behind wasn¡¯t what he had in mind, but it would have to do.


    And just like that, the three of them had their orders on who to fight. They all had the looks of men who were expectant of winning. None of them were afraid of dying in the slightest.


    Kai Wen was the first to take action. Waving his right hand, a ¡®ball¡¯ as black as night and the size of a bowl appeared out of thin air. He waved his hand again to take out a half-transparent white pill for him to liquify with a spot of elemental fire and throw into the black ball.


    Rather than splash and dye the black ball with its remains, the liquid was seemingly sucked into the ball and disappeared from sight. Soon after, the black ball began to wriggle and squirm over its surface before breaking apart like grains of ¡®sand¡¯.


    Then the grains of ¡®sand¡¯ began to clump together like water. It wasn¡¯t sand or water at all, they were ants! Ants that were suddenly the size of chicken eggs!


    And thousands of them!


    The pill Kai Wen liquified earlier had been enough to cover all the ants before they grew in size. It must¡¯ve been some kind of powerful sustenance that excited the ants enough to have them devour it all straight away!


    A strange metallic light started to shine from the ants next. One by one, they fell to the ground and drilled underneath to disappear from sight!


    ¡°Only you¡¯d be able to raise these metal-devouring ants like this, Kai Wen¡­¡± Wang Tong sighed.


    ¡°Your two flame-winged vipers aren¡¯t all that different either.¡±


    Two dark-red vipers the size of a finger were slinking out from Wang Tong¡¯s sleeves at the time Kai Wen spoke. They slithered up his arm and around his shoulders to rub their heads against his check and lick at it affectionately.


    Wang Tong smiled. Two white pills appeared out of thin air so they could be fed into the maws of the two vipers.


    Feiyun was squatting down near the ground off to the side with the three differently colored dogs in front of him. ¡°Da Mao, Er Mao, San Mao. You have to show off your strengths, don¡¯t let me down¡­¡±


    Then he fed each dog two pills each.


    Wang Tong and Kai Wen chose to stay quiet rather than speak up to him.


    And now, the group of enemies were nearly upon them!


    Around eight Soul Exalts were either standing on top of their swords or skywalking to the top of a small hill thirty meters away from the three. The shadows of twenty other figures shot out from the forest underneath to stand at attention between the eight a while later.


    The person leading their group was a middle-aged man who wore robes as black as the night. His ruthless eyes scanned the area and quickly found the two corpses and unconscious figure near the three Immortals.


    ¡°Capture them!!¡± He snarled at once!


    No words had to be said there. This was the type of moment where it was better to act now and ask questions later!


    The four Early-stage Soul Exalts flew forward at once. To them, the two males in front of them were only Soul Ancestors and the child with them was only just a ¡®commoner¡¯. They wouldn¡¯t even need all four of them to make sure these three people were apprehended and taken care of.


    On the other side, Kai Wen looked almost incensed that they were being treated this way and sent a single pulse of soulforce outward!


    ¡°Ah!! What is this?! Ahhh!!¡±


    Screams began to ring out from the group behind the four Soul Exalts a moment later. Something was happening to the Soul Ancestors and Soul Sprites!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Everyone turned around to see what was going on only to see that the grounded group of people were all running around in terror!


    At some point, while the Soul Exalts were making their charge, black dots came crawling out from the ground to climb up the legs of whomever they were closest to. Upon further inspection, the Soul Ancestors and Soul Sprites realized they were being besieged by what appeared to be a storm of armored ants!


    The speed at which the ants were traveling at seemed almost unreal. Some of the soul cultivators had seven or eight ants at their thighs already before¡­digging straight into their flesh before they could react!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhh!!!¡±


    The anguished cries of pain rang out as the soul cultivators felt the ants dig in. Several people were trying to use their soulforce to force the ants out while others use elemental energy, but after just two seconds¡­those who had ants dig into their bodies fell dead to the ground!


    ¡°Ahhh!! Ahhh!! What are these things?! Ahhh!!¡±


    Panic was setting in on every single Soul Ancestor and Soul Sprite as they tried to survive. Waves of soulforce and elemental energy flew about everywhere in an attempt to shake off the ants before it could get to them, but it was no use. The ants were like glue with how it stuck to the skin. Persistent and quick, these ants took hold of whomever they could and dug in without mercy!


    It was like a black tidal wave had crashed into these twenty soul cultivators. More and more ants were climbing on top of the soul cultivators now and devouring away at their bodies. Soon, there was no one left to let out a cry of pain or even alive!


    The Soul Exalts were discouraged by the sight. Some of them had planned on helping the others but¡­a powerful aura on the other side forced them to abandon that thought!


    ¡°Swish swish swish swish¡­.¡±


    A sudden heat wave and four blades of wind shot at the incoming four Early-stage Soul Exalts. Like arrows of red light, the four streaks of red light flew with blinding speed to pierce whatever unfortunate soul that stood in their way!


    The one responsible for this attack was Kai Wen! He had been hiding his strength this entire time; rather than being a Soul Ancestor like the others thought, he was actually¡­a Late-stage Soul Exalt!


    ¡°A Late-stage Soul Exalt! How in the wo¡ªagghhhh?!¡±


    An Early-stage Soul Exalt cried out in terror. With how intimidated they were by the ants devouring their comrades and this Late-stage Soul Exalt suddenly attacking them, how could they possibly dodge the four gusts of wind?


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!¡±


    The four were struck down almost immediately. Two of them had even their chests speared straight through and killed instantaneously!


    The other two were able to get away with a severe blow to the abdomen and fell to the ground in pain.


    But¡­


    The ground beneath the two surviving Soul Exalts opened up to reveal another hundred metal-devouring ants. Like moths to a flame, the ants climbed on top of their bodies and ate straight away at them!


    Meanwhile, Wang Tong was sending out the two vipers around his shoulders to attack. Complying with his orders, the two vipers sprouted wings and took flight!


    As the two vipers flew, their sharp fangs could be seen bared and ready for prey. The auras of a late-stage class six soulbeast could be felt as the vipers closed in on the two Mid-stage Soul Exalts!


    ¡°Dao Ma, Er Mao, San Mao, go!!¡±


    It was Feiyun¡¯s turn to attack. Excited, the child had all three of his dogs pounce after the two vipers to take action on the fight!


    ¡°Aoo! Aoo! Aoo!!!¡±


    Flying at speeds no slower than the vipers in front of them, the three dogs flew overhead and after the two Late-stage Soul Exalts!


    ¡°Ahh!! Soulbeasts?! Are you beast tamers?! This can¡¯t be!!¡±


    The elder howled in fear. This wasn¡¯t what he thought would happen. This wasn¡¯t supposed to be it at all!


    The roars of the soulbeasts were powerful and intimidating to hear. The silence of the mountain was long gone with these beasts ready to play, and all sorts of multi-colored lights flooded the forest as they flew about. From far away, this would¡¯ve been a beautiful sight.


    But up close, the sight was nowhere as beautiful as one would expect¡­


    There weren¡¯t many people left alive to scream now. The fluctuations in energy were decreasing in intensity and things were coming to a lull now. Soon, the mountains were back to being silent as usual¡­


    Wang Tong, Kai Wen, and Feiyun were still standing in their original spots. On the other hand, there wasn¡¯t anyone left standing on the other side¡­


    Eight Soul Exalts and over twenty Soul Ancestors and Soul Sprites. A force that would¡¯ve been more than enough to take on a middling school was¡­taken apart and dealt with without resistance!

 Chapter 1020: A Request

    It was with jittery excitement that the boy known as Feiyun held himself back when the fight began. But when the red and yellow wolves tore a single Late-stage Soul Exalt in half, the boy let out a yelp and fell to the ground. From there, he promptly ran behind Wang Tong and watched the rest of the battle behind the older male¡¯s back.


    Not even Wang Tong and Kai Wen were able to watch the wolves with a straight face. This was the first time they saw a battle as bloody as this.


    It was only when the battle was over and silence was all that was left when Wang Tong let out a sigh. ¡°How about it?¡± He asked Kai Wen.


    A single eye of Kai Wen twitched at the question. ¡°These people¡­are far weaker than the soulbeasts we fight near the depths of the Qimang Mountains.¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap, you know that¡¯s not what I meant.¡± Wang Tong retorted.


    ¡°How does it feel to ¡®kill a person¡¯ for the first time?¡±


    This was the first time they had ever killed a person!


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do a thing.¡± Kai Wen replied monotonously.


    Wang Tong looked like he wanted to retort but then thought twice about it. ¡°I guess none of us really did anything, haha¡­raising soulbeasts to kill for us is only an excuse. I don¡¯t think I could be able to kill someone if I had to personally do it myself¡­¡±


    ¡°They were enemies. We don¡¯t know what they would¡¯ve done if they were to find us. The only possible result would¡¯ve been to¡­kill them all.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­I guess there¡¯s just some things we can¡¯t avoid. Two thousand years of hiding and we were still found out. I¡¯m almost afraid to see how powerful our enemies are if the scouting party was this strong¡­maybe three or four Soul Kings?¡±


    Kai Wen looked cautiously around themselves. ¡°It¡¯s not safe here. Let¡¯s head back.¡±


    ¡°Fine by me, let¡¯s get going then.¡±


    A ¡®wave¡¯ of black flowed towards Kai Wen as they spoke. It was the swarm of ants. Now that they were done eating the soul cultivators, they were ready to head to reform to their original size and shape as a small black sphere to enter his sleeves.


    The two vipers were en route back to Wang Tong¡¯s side as well. Coiled around their tails were the two Late-stage Soul Exalts they fought. One of them was still alive.


    The Late-stage Soul Exalt was thrown to the ground in front of Wang Tong. Acting immediately, he pressed several points on the Soul Exalt¡¯s body and knocked him unconscious.


    The red, green, and yellow dogs were back by Feiyun¡¯s side and wagging their tails excitedly. With how they were acting, no one would¡¯ve thought that these three loveable dogs had only just a while ago defeated two Late-stage Soul Exalts.


    Wang Tong took a look at the bloody area here and then to the nearby village. ¡°I¡­think we should clean up this place first.¡± He muttered.


    ¡°Obviously. Otherwise, the villager would be considered our accomplices.¡±


    The two sprung from body to body to take and store into their space rings while Feiyun gave a sharp whistle to the yellow dog. Barking in response, the dog sent a wave of soulforce into the ground beneath and had it rumble violently before the scarred ground was restored back to its original state! The green dog was also doing something similar and accelerating the growth of the plants around to cover the places the yellow dog might¡¯ve missed. Soon, not even the ¡®destroyed¡¯ trees and plants were there to be seen as they were replaced by whole and healthy ones¡­


    In less than a few minutes, the entire scarred hillside was back to its original prime state!


    Some of the villagers who were hiding behind the trees let out an audible gasp. One of them could even be heard whispering ¡®magic¡¯ again.


    ¡°Alright that should be enough. No one should be able to think anything of this place now. As long as those villagers stay quiet they shouldn¡¯t be in any danger.¡±


    Wang Tong spoke once the last of the corpses was taken care of. ¡°Let¡¯s get going then.¡±


    Just as the three prepared to take off into the skies, Feiyun suddenly turned his head to look towards the village. ¡°You¡¯re already awake?¡±


    A newly awakened Bai Yunfei was standing there where Feiyun was looking at. His eyes were wide open as he took in the handiwork of the three soul cultivators. ¡°Thank you very much for your assistance.¡± He bowed, ¡°If not for you, our village would¡¯ve been destroyed¡­¡±


    Wang Tong stared curiously at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Don¡¯t be so polite with us, brother.¡± He grinned, ¡°this has to do with us, so don¡¯t think too much about it.¡±


    The reason why Wang Tong was curious at Bai Yunfei was because of him being a Soul Warrior. A soul cultivator living amongst villagers? It was a curious sight and not something he expected to see, especially out here.


    Bai Yunfei was looking hesitant to speak, but he managed to say what he wanted after a second or two to recollect himself. ¡°May¡­may you three be from the ¡®alchemy school¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Wang Tong raised an eyebrow in guarded caution. ¡°Why might you ask that, brother?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand,¡± Bai Yunfei bowed, ¡°I mean no harm. I¡­I only just¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t know how to say what was on his mind. It was a very difficult thing for him to do, since he wasn¡¯t even awake when he was healed by them.


    ¡°I know the ¡®elixirs¡¯ the village talked about comes from the ¡®Immortals¡¯. I know you are from the alchemy school, and that these ¡®elixirs¡¯ are powerful beyond belief. I even heard that a single ¡®elixir¡¯ the honored Elf gave me when I was injured was able to heal my wounds. I am extremely grateful for you saving me, but¡­but I¡­¡±


    He paused. It was getting harder for him to speak his mind now.


    ¡°But I would like to ask¡­would you happen to have an ¡®elixir¡¯ that brings back memories? If there is¡­please¡­if I may have one. I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll do whatever it takes for such an elixir! If it¡¯s within my powers, I¡¯ll work my hardest!¡±


    He had said it at last. There was hopeful desperation that these Immortals might have what he wanted, but he was so nervous in hearing their answer that his hands clenched tightly in on themselves so hard that they turned white.


    ¡°Restoring one¡¯s memories?¡± Wang Tong¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°You lost your memories?¡±


    Bai Yunfei noded.


    ¡°How did you cultivate into becoming a Soul Warrior?¡± Wang Tong asked.


    ¡°A Soul Warrior?¡± Bai Yunfei looked confused. ¡°Are you asking about my strength? I don¡¯t know what you mean by ¡®cultivate¡¯, but my body has been growing stronger and stronger for the last three years.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve self-awakened?!¡± Wang Tong gasped, ¡°And you got this far without relying on anything else but yourself? How!?¡±


    At first Wang Tong thought that Bai Yunfei was lying. There was no way this should¡¯ve been possible, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look like he was lying, and there was nothing wrong with his soulforce. He didn¡¯t need a truth pill to know that Bai Yunfei was telling the truth, and that mystified Wang Tong.


    ¡°Brother Wang Tong.¡± Feiyun whispered into his ear. ¡°I saw his soul and originseed was damaged earlier. It¡¯s been a very long time since then.¡±


    ¡°Damage to his soul and originseed?!¡± Wang Tong sucked in a deep breath. ¡°Are you saying¡­he¡¯s lying? But¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Feiyun interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that. I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s telling the truth. What I meant was¡­his soul was damaged for some reason and probably caused his soulforce to awaken. It feels like a contradiction, but it¡¯s probably the reason why he was able to get stronger so fast and become a Soul Warrior. I heard dad say before that there¡¯s a symptom of something like this. A person¡¯s soulforce will grow stronger and stronger before¡­it becomes too strong for the person to control. His life will be in danger soon!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Wang Tong took a moment to think about what Feiyun was saying. ¡°So you want to save him?¡±


    ¡°I saw him fighting against the original four intruders when I was on my way here. He risked his soul and life to fight those guys. I think this person is a good guy and is worth saving, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Wang Tong¡¯s eyes flickered over to Bai Yunfei for a moment as if debating if he should believe in Bai Yunfei¡¯s word or not.


    ¡°Feiyun¡¯s grown up I see¡­¡± Wang Tong smiled at last. ¡°You¡¯d best think about this. Bringing an ¡®outsider¡¯ back, even for treatment, will most likely get you in heavy trouble.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared!¡± Feiyun brightened up. ¡°Dad is always saying that we should be good to others. I¡¯m just following his teaching by treating people! Why should I be punished for it?¡±

 Chapter 1021: Leaving the Village

    Though his ears weren¡¯t able to hear any of the words Wang Tong was saying and his eyes straining to read the possible words Wang Tong¡¯s lips were saying, Bai Yunfei knew Wang Tong was talking about him. To say Bai Yunfei was nervous was an understatement. He was nervous.


    Nervous beyond belief.


    A chance for him to regain his memories was here at last! It was only just a chance, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to let this chance slip past his fingers just yet.


    He thought that living in this village would slowly make him give up on the notion of remembering who he was. He thought that perhaps he¡¯d decide to start anew in the village and perhaps abandon the old him.


    But in the end, he still wanted to know. He wanted to know who he was.


    He couldn¡¯t give up! The chance that had always been beyond reach on the horizon was now in front of him for the taking. Desire like never beyond kindled the flames in Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. Not even a parched man in the desert dreaming of water could compete for the thirst Bai Yunfei had now!


    Just who was he and where did he come from? He just had to know!


    If these ¡®Immortals¡¯ had a way for him to regain his memories, Bai Yunfei would pay whatever price it took! And gladly!


    After what seemed like an eternity to him, Bai Yunfei watched as Wang Tong turned to look at him. ¡°A pill to restore memories does indeed exist¡­¡±


    ¡°It exists!!¡± Joyous wonder exploded into Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, this was his chance!


    ¡°But that recall pill is for treating memory loss from a blow to the head. I don¡¯t believe your memory loss was from such a cause?¡±


    Bai Yunfei deflated almost immediately. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not sure¡­but I recall being severely hurt before losing my memories.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, we¡¯ll administer the recall pill to you and see if it works first.¡± Wang Tong smiled. ¡°But it¡¯s the damage to your soul that I find more troublesome. It may require an extensive period of time to treat that particular problem.¡±


    ¡°The damage to my soul?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. He wasn¡¯t quite sure what Wang Tong was getting at. ¡°I am already very grateful for the chance of regaining my memories. Anything else isn¡¯t as impor¡ª¡±


    ¡°No no,¡± Wang Tong chided gently, ¡°the damage to your soul is actually the greater concern. We must treat that first before anything else. Come with us and we¡¯ll explain it to you on the way.¡±


    ¡°Come with you?!¡± Bai Yunfei yelped. He thought that the Immortals would simply give him the ¡®elixir¡¯ and be on their way. He never thought that he¡¯d have to leave the village with them.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Nodded Wang Tong, ¡°we currently don¡¯t have the recall pill on us. We¡¯ll need to head back before we give it, so if you¡¯d like, you may come with us.¡±


    ¡°Ye-yes! I¡¯ll come with!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Big brother Tang¡­are¡­are you really going to go with the Immortals?¡±


    A tiny voice spoke out to Bai Yunfei, it was Stone. Once the plan was made, Bai Yunfei had told the rest of the village of his plans and prepared to set out with the Immortals before Stone stopped him.


    ¡°I am. They¡¯ve the ability to give back my memories so I have to go.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll come back to the village even if I don¡¯t regain them.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t stop him, Stone. Tang Long going with the Immortals is a good thing.¡± Elder Zhong interrupted Stone at once. ¡°They are Immortals!¡± He exclaimed with excitement, ¡°To go where the Immortals reside is a chance rarely given by fate!


    ¡°Tang Long, I don¡¯t see a reason for you to rush in coming back should the chance to stay arise. Learn their ¡®magic¡¯ or perhaps even how to make the ¡®elixirs¡¯, this is an unbelievable chance of fortune!¡±


    ¡°Elder Zhong is right! Tang Long, we¡¯ll all be happy for you if you become an Immortal!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Our village will be blessed if you come back as an Immortal!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll definitely become an Immortal, I believe in you!¡±


    ¡°This village is your home no matter what, Tang Long. You can always come back.¡±


    The words of the villagers made Bai Yunfei feel happy yet sad that he¡¯d be leaving. He wasn¡¯t one to ask for two bites after getting one. He just wanted to regain his memories and come back to the village, even if he didn¡¯t get his memories back. And if he did get his memories back and knew where his actual home was, this village was still his other ¡®home¡¯.


    The villagers were all upbeat and happy for Bai Yunfei. It wasn¡¯t as though he was leaving the village forever. Many of them were hoping that he¡¯d get his memories back and come home victorious.


    Then under their expecting eyes, Bai Yunfei was wrapped in a glow of light and slowly ascended to the skies¡­


    Before they left Bai Yunfei made sure to repeat again and again to the villagers not to say anything about the Immortals or the elixirs to anyone.


    Bai Yunfei stood behind the tiny Feiyun whose feet shined a bright red color almost like a red cloud. He watched as the village and forest beneath him shrunk smaller in size with each passing second, making him feel like he was flying above the clouds. It was an amazing feeling.


    Right by his side was Lao Sha. The dog was curiously looking around the sky as they flew, but it wasn¡¯t very scared. As a previous inhabitant of the Core World, Lao Sha was often prone to paying the equally often-bored Xiao Fang company. Xiao Fang would usually allow Lao Sha to do many things in there such as take flight, so what was something like this to the dog? It was merely a trick it had long since seen before¡­


    A flicker of human-like emotion crossed Lao Sha¡¯s eyes at the thought of Xiao Fang. The dog looked up at the chest of Bai Yunfei where the Core Stone hung around his chest. It was thinking of Xiao Fang.


    It could remember what Xiao Fang said to it the moment before Bai Yunfei was critically injured¡­


    ¡°Lao Sha, I¡¯ll have to go into hibernation after I split open the void. I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll wake. It¡¯s up to you to protect Bai Yunfei when he awakes and regains his memory!¡±


    When Lao Sha was in the Core Stone, it and Xiao Fang had both been watching Bai Yunfei fight. It knew just how powerful Bai Yunfei was, but now¡­Bai Yunfei looked like he was in awe at the act of flying. How could someone as amazingly powerful as its master be so humbled and in awe of his inferiors as these people? Lao Sha felt a strange sense of wronging, wronging on behalf of his master.


    Xiao Fang had said Lao Sha would have to be the one to protect Bai Yunfei. So that meant Lao Sha had to get stronger so no one would dare attempt to harm its master!!


    To protect its master. That was the very basis behind Lao Sha¡¯s growth and how it was able to bite to death that grizzly bear three years ago and then two Soul Sprites today¡­


    Every so often, the sword-riding Wang Tong would cast a curiously amazed glance at Lao Sha. To his eyes, the ¡®halfing¡¯ dog was a very curious beast. The dog had attempted to get close to Feiyun¡¯s soulbeast and was adamantly refused, but that didn¡¯t seem to deter the dog or even intimidate it in the slightest. It merely just gave a ¡®resentful¡¯ look at the soulbeast before returning to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    That was the curious bit Wang Tong had.


    ¡°I wonder just what kind of happenstance or magical herb this dog ate in order to become a halfling¡­¡±


    Had Wang Tong known that Lao Sha had actually taken in a considerable quantity of primal liquid not once, but twice, and spent the last three years eating the primal stones within a mountain of it, he surely would¡¯ve been speechless¡­

 Chapter 1022: The City Within the Forest

    Mountains and hills passed by Bai Yunfei and the three soul cultivators as they flew. There¡¯d also be a few forests and such, but with so many landmarks passing by Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even sure just how far they had gone. He only knew that a considerable amount of time had passed and that the day was already close to being gone with the sun setting down the mountain. Would they be stopping anytime soon? Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know.


    On the way, Wang Tong made sure to explain to him a bit about his ¡®soul¡¯ and ¡®originseed¡¯ being damaged. He also made sure to touch down on a few topics on the basics of a soul cultivator.


    Soul cultivator.


    Bai Yunfei knew now that these people weren¡¯t ¡®Immortals¡¯ as the villagers thought they were. They were merely just ¡®soul cultivators¡¯, and Bai Yunfei was one too. He was just one that was comparatively weaker than these ones, one that could be classified as a ¡®Soul Warrior¡¯.


    He could tell that Wang Tong and the others were very cautious about how they flew. They were constantly looking around themselves as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. To minimize their presence, the group also made sure to fly close to the ground. Bai Yunfei was sure that they were simply trying their best to avoid any of the ¡®intruders¡¯ they mentioned earlier.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t a sense of what ¡®conflict¡¯ was after living so peacefully in the village for three years. Sure, the village had its fair share of squabbles and sometimes even a rowdy scuffle or two, but never something like ¡®murder¡¯ appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s everyday life.


    But today, a group of evil-doers had popped into his village and harmed the people living there. The first battle he had with another person in the last three years and¡­his first time having to kill.


    There was something that baffled him, however. He thought that he¡¯d feel ¡®sick¡¯ after killing someone. But somehow, it didn¡¯t seem like any worse than killing an unwanted pest¡­


    It made him feel panicked if anything. Surely there was something wrong with him if he felt that way?


    But then he thought about how Wang Tong and his companions had killed over a dozen ¡®intruders¡¯. Their reaction didn¡¯t seem to be saying much to Bai Yunfei. It didn¡¯t even feel like they thought killing was anything strange, not even the kid.


    So Bai Yunfei decided to leave this matter up to debate for another time.


    He was a soul cultivator like them.


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself, and then to the ¡®magical power¡¯ shown by the glove on his right hand. Now he knew that power was known as something as ¡®soulforce¡¯ and was the reason why his soul hurt so much and why the memories were coming out. He recalled the act of those memories coming out into his head, but he couldn¡¯t seem to remember what those specific memories were.


    ¡°If those are my memories, then doesn¡¯t it mean I just have to endure that pain if I want to be able to see the memories?¡±


    It was a question Bai Yunfei wanted to know the answer to, but then he thought about just how painful it had been. How would he be able to recall any memories if the first thing he did was buckle under the pain and fall unconscious?


    All the new things he was learning was making it hard for Bai Yunfei to think properly. Before he knew it, the sky had already lost the light of the daylight.


    ¡°We¡¯re here!¡±


    A voice broke Bai Yunfei out from his spellbound wonder. He looked ahead of where he stood and stared in confusion.


    Up ahead was an extremely tall mountain point with two equally tall mountains to its left and right. An ocean of trees filled the flat lands between each point so that nothing else could be seen. And that was the problem. Where were the people? The buildings? How were they here then?


    He noticed then that they were still in the air without seemingly any plans to head down. In front of him, Wang Tong had his arm stretched to allow a pulse of red light to flow out from it.


    The undulations of red light melded with space and shimmered hypnotically like ripples across the surface of a body of water before taking the form of a door.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head in.¡±


    Wang Tong gestured to Bai Yunfei before disappearing through the ripples.


    Seemingly pleased by the stunned look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, Feiyun snickered, ¡°Wait until you see where we live, big brother Tang, you¡¯ll be even more surprised!¡±


    Then he tugged Bai Yunfei with him through the door.


    Bai Yunfei felt the world grow hazy around him for a moment before clearing back up.


    And when he did¡­he was met with an entire city!


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t see the mountains that used to stand on the left and right of this area anymore. Where once was a sea of trees was now filled with just as many buildings! A grand city had somehow appeared out of nowhere!


    Of all the things that could possibly exist in this isolated forest, Bai Yunfei never imagined it¡¯d be a city!


    The shadows of the city¡¯s inhabitants walked about to and fro, and Bai Yunfei could even hear the voices of several of them talk as they walked about. Clearly, this was a city that flourished with activity.


    While Bai Yunfei was busy taking in the sights of everything taking place in the city, a light-green light was flying out from the walls towards them. The light took only a moment for it to make it to where Bai Yunfei and the other stood, revealing a long-haired male.


    ¡°The three of you are finally back,¡± He breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°The head was sure to send people out to find you if you hadn¡¯t taken any longer¡­¡±


    ¡°Brother Jiadi,¡± Feiyun laughed, ¡°didn¡¯t we say we¡¯d be back by today? Don¡¯t you believe me? Is¡­is dad angry?¡±


    Jiadi forced a smile. ¡°You said you¡¯d be in the surrounding area, but why do I have the feeling you went further than that? The head lady was worried to tears after your disappearance, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be in for a harsh punishment in a while.¡±


    His eyes swiveled to look at Bai Yunfei next. His surprise was hardly noticeable then, but it grew more pronounced when he saw the two unconscious persons being held by Kai Wen behind Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°What kind of situation is this?¡± His voice dropped several tones, ¡°Did¡­did you make contact with the intruders?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Wang Tong exhaled. ¡°We¡¯ve important matters to report to the head, let¡¯s head into the city first.¡±


    Jiadi nodded and the group flew once more through the skies to head into the city rather than going in from the ground. Flying over the walls, their flight continued for some time before ultimately coming to a stop near a magnificent-looking building.


    They landed onto solid ground without incident and strode through the gates where Wang Tong then turned to look at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Brother Tang Long, we¡¯ve some important matters to deal with, so please make yourself at home here. If nothing goes wrong, we¡¯ll be able to get you a recall pill soon.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your hard work, big brother Wang Tong.¡± Bai Yunfei replied gratefully.


    The three left, leaving Bu Jiadi with Bai Yunfei. ¡°Follow me, little brother,¡± He smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll bring you to one of our living quarters.¡±


    ¡°Please!¡± Bai Yunfei bowed.


    ¡°Haha, a guest you may be, but there¡¯s no need to be this polite.¡±


    Bu Jiadi didn¡¯t take Bai Yunfei far before the living quarters were in sight. Allocating a guest room for Bai Yunfei, Bu Jiadi told him to not wander around the place for now before leaving him to rest in peace.


    Bai Yunfei knew better than to ¡®wander¡¯ about in the place of another. He was an outsider and had no desire to do any of that, so he entered his room and sat on the bed to rest.


    Several others were living in this place, though most of them were of ages younger than Bai Yunfei. He recalled walking past a few of them on his way here with Bu Jiadi, and how curious they looked when they arrived. Even now on his bed, Bai Yunfei could distinctly hear the whispers of a few of them on the outside, muttering words such as ¡®stranger¡¯, ¡®new apprentice¡¯, ¡®civilian quarters¡¯, and ¡®connected¡¯, though Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure what this meant.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Wang Tong, Kai Wen, and Feiyun stood at the center of a large hall with the still unconscious youth and old man they captured earlier in front of them. They weren¡¯t alone in the hall, Wang Tong was currently retelling the story of what happened to them today.


    Several chairs were lined up on both sides of the hall with men both young and old sitting on them. A single larger chair sat at the front of the hall with a golden-robed man seated on top of it. Judging from his appearance, the man was in his thirties. He held a stern expression on his dignified face as he listened to Wang Tong. The longer Wang Tong went on, the more serious his expression became.


    ¡°As we expected¡­¡± He exhaled slowly once Wang Tong finished. ¡°Those men are after us¡­¡±


    An elder in white seated at the first seat on the right was next to speak. ¡°We can surmise they harbor ill-intent from their actions. And a large-scale searching effort like this one would only be capable by only the strongest of schools.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, they must be very powerful if they were able to find our hiding place.¡± The yellow-faced man to his side spoke up after him, ¡°Not even a single outsider was able to find us in our two thousand years of hiding. I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t stop with just finding us either this time. Judging their current location, it¡¯s only a matter of time before they find this place¡­these people are not bearers of good will, I say we should prepare our defenses.¡±


    ¡°A timely defensive measure is always proper to have, no matter what the intent may be. However¡­¡± Another elder spoke next.


    ¡°We should still ascertain who these people might be before anything else. The actions of Wang Tong may have been rash, but fortunately, no damages were brought. They even brought back two enemies. We¡­may be able to learn plenty from them.¡±


    ¡°Second uncle is right, we should interrogate these people at once, clan head!¡±


    Silence was had in the hall for a short two seconds as the man sitting at the top debated what to do. Then two faint-gray pills flew out from him towards Wang Tong. ¡°Administer these to them.¡±


    ¡°Yes, clan head!¡±


    Wang Tong replied at once. Handing one pill to Kai Wen, the two of them woke the two captives at once. Forcing their jaws open, Wang Tong and Kai Wen had the two swallow the pills against their will¡­

 Chapter 1023: The Yao Clan

    A subdued atmosphere surrounded the hall as its inhabitants sat there, stonefaced by what they had just heard.


    Feiyun was long gone from the hall, his mother had taken him out from it while the two captives were being interrogated. The Soul Exalt elder was shivering from head to tail with his eyes filled with despair. He had no hope of leaving this place alive and he knew it. To his side, the Soul Sprite youth was completely still with his head and eyes pointed at the ceiling. He looked almost comatose with how still and dull he was.


    The man sitting at the front of the hall was especially stonefaced. ¡°Take these two away and place them under strict surveillance!!¡±


    Several guards appeared at once to take the two away. Neither of them struggled as they were taken away. It seemed as though they had lost all will to fight.


    ¡°The Soul Refining School, Wind and Lightning School, and the Beast Taming School!!¡±


    Three names were barked out with astonished disbelief. ¡°What an utter uproar this is for something as massive as this to take place on this continent¡­¡±


    The other people in the hall shared in his shock. The white-robed elder on the right looked utterly frigid. ¡°Never would it be any of our guesses that three great schools would unite against us. It¡¯s little surprise that a small scout group would have that many experts in it then¡­this situation is far more trouble than we thought!¡±


    ¡°Pah!!¡± The yellow-faced man snarled, ¡°Many of our predecessors died in the great battle two thousand years ago and forced us to hide. And now two thousand years later, they¡¯re trying to do the very same thing, how intolerable can they get!?¡±


    ¡°Alas¡­I doubt there¡¯d be anyone that¡¯d allow us to stay safe on the sidelines in this chaotic mess nowadays. If three major schools already know of the secret in the Qimang Mountains, it won¡¯t be long before the rest come knocking at our doors. Our long-held isolation is no more!!¡±


    ¡°Bah! There won¡¯t be any way we¡¯ll stand to let ourselves be used so disgracefully by the Soul Refining School even if we are to reappear onto the continent! The troubles they have stirred onto the continent won¡¯t go unpunished! Even if unwilling, our aid would be helping our enemies far too much, we cannot allow that to happen!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I say we shouldn¡¯t even wait here, we should make our entrance onto the continent and join with the royal family! Our contributions in that battle two thousand years ago can¡¯t be understated. Even though we have hidden for two thousand years, it¡¯s our time to remind the continent of our existence! We will join the battlefield, pacify the chaos, and regain our glory!¡±


    ¡°Yes! We¡¯ve been essentially cut off from the entire world, and our art is almost forgotten. Alchemy may be passed on from generation to generation, but many of the pills we make are of any practical use. If we continue on like this¡­will Alchemy¡ªor even us¡ªexist in the future? I believe it¡¯s time to break our isolation and show ourselves! It¡¯s time for us prosper once again!¡±


    ¡°While that may be true, our clan has become accustomed to a life without conflict. The chaos happening in the outside world is essentially a different world for us. Should we even join the battle, we¡¯ll without a doubt suffer pain. It took two thousand years for our clan to heal, for us to go back in¡­¡±


    ¡°Re-entering the world stage isn¡¯t a simple task either. We may be able to leave easily, but what of the others? The apprentices without any considerable strength? Or the ¡®civilians¡¯? What will they do? If we were to leave, what will happen to them if the Soul Refining School comes here for revenge?¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­we¡¯ll need to plan extensively on our future, a decision cannot be made lightly¡­¡±


    Of the dozen or two people within the hall, most of them were debating with one another to speak their mind.


    Everyone was in a great deal of confusion with such a situation being thrust upon them. Everyone had ideas on what to do, but no one could reach a consensus on the right one to take.


    In the past two thousand years ago, the Alchemy School was a major force in aiding the unification of the Empire. Despite that, the damages dealt to their school was devastating enough for them to retreat from the world and disappear without a trace for everyone to forget.


    Alchemical Arts. Elixirs, pills, and medicine. Either of the two things was things any single party coveted even before the Alchemy School disappeared from the world. Their school was thusly targeted by many, though the school never once asked the Royal Family for protection. Instead, they chose to disappear from the world.


    That being said, the Alchemy School¡¯s ¡®survivors¡¯ that arrived in the Qimang Mountains could hardly even be considered a force large enough to classify as a school. It was a terminal problem. Generation after generation, the surviving members dwindled down to become something like a ¡®clan¡¯.


    From there, the head of the traditional line of the Alchemy School changed his surname to ¡®Yao¡¯. The other branch members subsequently changed their surnames to something else. Together, they started a small village and slowly expanded it to the city that stood there today.


    While the clan was split in between the ¡®main¡¯ and ¡®branch¡¯ lines, but both lines treated each other like family. Wang Tong and Kai Wen, for example, were members of the branch line. Because of their outstanding talent, the two were treated well by the main line and taught with the core knowledge of the clan.


    The Alchemy School was considered an ¡®upright¡¯ school in its past. They were a ¡®clan¡¯ now, but they continued to teach the moral standards they had two thousand years ago, and all of their current members were considered to be just as morally ¡®upright¡¯ as before. For that reason, they were disgusted to hear of intruder¡¯s status. Just the thought of being acquainted with the Soul Refining School was repulsive.


    The predecessors of the Alchemy School hadn¡¯t wanted their descendants to take revenge on the ones who inflicted such wounds on them. The hatred of the past should thus remain in the past. No records were left behind on who hurt them, and thus the descendants had little idea of who their past enemies were.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡±


    The buzz within the hall was immediately vanquished the moment the dignified man seated at the front spoke. Everyone waited with bated breaths for their leader to speak and make a decision.


    ¡°....¡±


    The man was named Yao Wuchen. His eyes sparked with something that could perhaps be said to be hesitation. ¡°This is a matter far too serious to be decided easily. I will make an audience with the elders and see if we can make a decision.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t willing to make a decision so easily when the consequences were so devastatingly huge. A decision here would dictate the future of their clan. Therefore, he¡¯d need to ask the more experienced elders for their opinion first.


    ¡°Send an order out to the city. All outbound activities are hereby canceled. Recall our hunters and double the patrols. Tighten the watch and have them be on the lookout. Should the enemies approach, have the patrolmen report back to us at once.¡±


    Yao Wuchen ordered to the rest of the people there. ¡°What was heard today in this hall will remain here. We do not need chaos within our ranks during this time¡­return back to your duties!¡±


    With no one to disagree with him, the rest of the people nodded and left the hall.


    ¡°Clan head¡­¡± Wang Tong spoke out after the leaving Yao Wuchen, ¡°Regarding the one we brought back, the one named Tang Long¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to take care of him. Give him a recall pill from the repertory and have him stay within the city for now. We can allow him the chance to learn Alchemy if he wishes.¡±


    The matters he had to attend to now were very important. Now wasn¡¯t the time to deal with a ¡®Soul Warrior¡¯.


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    Wang Tong replied. Saying nothing, he waited for Yao Wuchen to leave the hall before leaving himself.

 Chapter 1024: The Recall Pill

    Though his world had essentially been turned on its head, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel tired. Not even the journey to the city tired him. Left without even a single iota of drowsiness, Bai Yunfei sat right next to the windowsill.


    As he sat there, entranced by the rising full moon, Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears suddenly perked up. Someone was walking down the hall towards his room. He leaped to his feet to run towards the door and open it.


    A surprised Wang Tong stood on the other side of the door. One of his hand was outstretched as if prepared to knock on the door before it was opened. ¡°Haha, so I see you were still up, brother Tang Long¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei led Wang Tong into his room first before he responded. ¡°Big brother Wang Tong¡­would you perhaps have that recall pill¡­?¡±


    His impatience for the pill had Wang Tong smiling. Shaking his right hand, he produced a small pill that seemingly glowed blue in the moonlight. ¡°This is that very pill. If your memory-loss is due to a concussion, then this pill will help you return your memories after a night¡¯s dream.¡±


    He held the pill out for Bai Yunfei to take.


    Hands shaking as he reached forward, Bai Yunfei urged for his rapidly-beating heart to still. Not even his breathing rate seemed to want to cooperate with him.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re impatient to take it, so do so and we¡¯ll find out tomorrow if they returned. Then¡­we can talk about some other matters.¡±


    ¡°Truly,¡± Bai Yunfei choked out, ¡°I truly thank you for your help, big brother Wang Tong!¡±


    ¡°Haha, there¡¯s no need for that. I¡¯ll be going now then, see you tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Ka-cht¡­¡±


    The door closed behind Wang Tong on his way out, leaving Bai Yunfei to stand there alone in his room. Sitting down, Bai Yunfei held the pill up to eye-level as if to examine it. Several deep breaths later, he tossed it into his mouth.


    A refreshing sensation flowed through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body the moment the pill was taken into his stomach. A blissful sensation like none other propagated throughout his entire person and head as the pill started to be digested. Bai Yunfei¡¯s vision felt blurry for just a moment before falling back onto his bed. One moment later, Bai Yunfei was asleep.


    ¡°Snn¡­.Snnn¡­.¡±


    The soft winds from Bai Yunfei¡¯s breathing were all that could be heard within the room as he slept. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were closed, and his eyebrows knitted together. His body shivered non-stop and beads of sweat formed one after another all over. Parts of his body was starting to grow red, alarming Lao Sha with how sudden the change was.


    But this was something that surely had to do with the pill Wang Tong gave Bai Yunfei. Lao Sha knew that Wang Tong was going to give Bai Yunfei and was therefore not suspicious of any harm befalling its master. However, it still couldn¡¯t say it was completely without concern¡­


    The night went on like this before the first rays of sunlight started to shine through the window¡­.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    As if waking from a nightmare of some sort, Bai Yunfei let out a wail of fear. His body shot up like a spring from his bed and brought him upright!


    ¡°I¡­.I¡­I¡­¡±


    His face went blank for a moment as he stared at his hands. Something within his mind was occupying the entirety of his concentration.


    ¡°The¡­the Azure Cloud!!¡± He exclaimed! ¡°I¡¯m from the Azure Cloud Province, not Earth!!¡±


    ¡°Talus City. The Zhang. Uncle Wu. The Glacial School!!¡±


    A discontinuous stream of thoughts flowed through his mind and mouth. He clutched at his hair as he muttered madly to himself. Each word was spoken with emotion as if unloading some sort of weight off of him, and Bai Yunfei looked almost pained at the memory associated with the words.


    ¡°The Blackwood School. Li Chengfeng. Jadewillow City. The Jadewillow School. Hong Yin¡­a trap¡­Liu Meng!! Ahhh!!!¡±


    Another burst of words. Nonsensical out of context, but eye-opening within. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes looked ready to burst with blood as they bulged outwards from their sockets from pain. Face twisting in on itself, Bai Yunfei suddenly let out a furious roar!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A heavy wave of energy exploded outwards from his body with his scream. The bed beneath him was immediately reduced to splinters before being set aflame from the red light shining from Bai Yunfei. The very air around him was starting to warp as if being baked by the heat he exuded.


    ¡°Bang!!¡¯


    The door to Bai Yunfei¡¯s room crashed open as a wide-eyed Wang Tong charged in.


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Warrior!¡± He exclaimed the moment he saw Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°And so much elemental fire¡­what¡¯s going on!! Tang Long, what¡¯s wrong?!¡±


    The state Bai Yunfei was in was currently a terrifying one. His skin was cracked all over, looking as though he was a living bomb ready to burst. Worried as he was, Wang Tong knew now wasn¡¯t the time to just wait for an answer. He flew to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side at once and took out a white pill to administer into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Hngh¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a relieved sigh the moment the pill was taken into his mouth. From his mouth, a white light flowed across the rest of his body and dimmed the red light around him.


    ¡°Is this¡­him becoming a Soul Sprite? What kind of breakthrough is this?!¡±


    None of the answers made sense to Wang Tong. The amount of elemental fire in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body made no sense to him. No matter how hard Wang Tong thought, nothing about this situation made sense to him.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    It was with a start that Bai Yunfei woke. A quick look around him was all he needed to know that this wasn¡¯t his room anymore. He was in a new room, and Wang Tong, Kai Wen, and Feiyun were in there with him.


    ¡°Ah! You¡¯re up!¡± Feiyun was the first to speak, happy to see that Bai Yunfei was up. ¡°What did you do? It was just a recall pill you ate, how¡¯d you manage to react that violently? I don¡¯t remember the recall pill being able to make you stronger!¡±


    Fatigued, Bai Yunfei tried to sit upright. His arms were failing to listen to him though. ¡°I¡­what happened?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Your soulforce went out of control and nearly burned down your own body with elemental fire. It¡¯s a good thing we were able to stop it. Did the recall pill help you? Do you remember who you are?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s body trembled in response to Wang Tong¡¯s question. His hands shot up to his head to cradle himself as if in pain.


    ¡°Hm? It didn¡¯t work?¡±


    ¡°It¡­did.¡± It took a brief moment for Bai Yunfei to find the energy to shake his head. ¡°I remembered many things, but¡­not everything¡­¡±


    It was true, he did remember quite a lot. From living in Talus City to being punished by the Zhang. To being forced to escape into Jadewillow City. From there to some more, he could remember practically everything¡­


    But there was still something very important he was missing. The puzzle piece amongst the blanks. The key to remembering who he was.


    His name.


    He was still unable to recall his own name!


    If Bai Yunfei were to explain it, then he¡¯d say that he found the locked door that held his memories. From looking through the keyhole, he was able to glimpse at a few memories that told him who he was. But the truth was still locked up, and Bai Yunfei was without the key to unlocking the rest of his memories¡­


    ¡°Not everything?¡±


    The three alchemists were taken aback. ¡°Then¡­your memory loss wasn¡¯t just due to physical trauma then. It most likely has to do with the damage to your soul. It won¡¯t be easy to recover from that, I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± Wang Tong trailed off.


    Bai Yunfei looked up at him, ¡°Big brother Wang Tong¡­If I¡­If I were to have a second recall pill, would¡­¡±


    If he were to try a second pill, would he be able to recall even more about himself? One was already enough to give Bai Yunfei a tremendous amount of information. Perhaps a second one would¡­.


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡±


    But just like that, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hopes were driven away in a flash.


    ¡°A pill like that can¡¯t be taken multiple times. A second pill will fail to do anything. In fact, you¡¯ll most likely be stuck in a nightmare and go mad!¡±


    The light of hope faded away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes at once as he despaired the loss of a possible avenue¡­


    He had so much hope with this pill, but in the end, he was only able to remember just a small amount. How was it so difficult to remember who he was?!


    ¡°Sigh¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked back up at the three. ¡°Feiyun, big brother Wang Tong, big brother Kai Wen. I truly cannot thank you enough for your help. If¡­if I may ask for your help to return me to the village¡­¡±


    Wang Tong looked uncomfortable at his request. ¡°That¡­cannot be done for now.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Right now¡­our clan has given the order for the city to be sealed. No one is allowed to go out. You will have to stay here for the meanwhile¡­


    ¡°But don¡¯t worry,¡± He smiled to reassure Bai Yunfei. ¡°You may rest here for now, I¡¯ve the clan head¡¯s permission. If you so wish, we can teach you how to cultivate and how to control your soulforce. There¡¯s a possibility that you¡¯ll be able to slowly repair the damage done to your soul. The total recall of your memories won¡¯t be out of the question then.


    ¡°And if you¡¯d like¡­once you become a Soul Sprite, you have permission to learn the art of Alchemy.¡±


    He smiled. ¡°So how about it? Are you willing?¡±

 Chapter 1025: Making Arrangements

    ¡°Learn Alchemy? You mean I can learn how to make ¡®elixirs¡¯?!¡±


    Needless to say, Bai Yunfei was stunned. How could he not with a proposition like that? ¡°Of¡­of course I¡¯m willing!¡± He nodded furiously.


    The fact that he was already given the chance to regain his memories was more than enough for Bai Yunfei. He didn¡¯t even dare to hope for anything more. But if they were the ones offering him the chance, of course he¡¯d be happy.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then,¡± Wang Tong smiled, ¡°let¡¯s have you rest for now. When you¡¯re fully recovered, we¡¯ll teach you how to cultivate. I can see that you¡¯ve formed an essence originseed already and that you¡¯ve an aptitude for elemental fire. I¡¯ll report it to the elders and see if anything else will be needed. If all goes well, then we¡¯ll be able to give you a fireseed pill, that should help you tremendously to completely form an essence fireseed. And by then¡­you¡¯ll be given the right to join our clan and learn Alchemy.¡±


    The three left the room while Bai Yunfei sat there, still spellbound by the newest development. Never had he possibly imagined that he¡¯d be so ¡®easily¡¯ given the chance to learn the art of Alchemy


    He was alone now. It was the perfect time for him to think about everything that had just happened as the new memories he just regained.


    Holding his face in his hands, Bai Yunfei sifted through each of the new memories one by one. He was thoroughly shocked by the events he was recalling and couldn¡¯t believe that they were even real.


    ¡°I¡­I lived such a life¡­?¡±


    His body shook with emotion. It seemed almost inconceivable that it was he who had gone through such a tumultuous life.


    ¡°So ¡®uncle Wu¡¯ had more meaning to my life than I thought¡­¡± He wiped a single tear away from his cheek. Just thinking about the kindly man who saved him once before was enough to bring a stab of pain to his heart.


    ¡°Liu Meng¡­¡± Came the second name. He was a little absent-minded with this one. This name seemed to be a little hazier in its background than uncle Wu, but in the end, he was left with a rather empty sensation.


    Another sensation was pressing down onto his heart. Someone else far more important than this name was forcing itself to make Bai Yunfei think. But¡­he just couldn¡¯t recall who or what this person was¡­.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand touched at the white-cloud-shaped ring on his left hand. He didn¡¯t know why, but just touching it brought an unbelievably warm sensation to his chest. There had to be a connection between this ring and the third person he was thinking about. He just couldn¡¯t put his finger on it¡­


    ¡°Just what kind of memories am I still missing¡­¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his head. There was nothing more Bai Yunfei wanted than to crack open the mystery that was himself.


    ¡°Ah! The space rings!¡±


    A sudden thought occurred to Bai Yunfei at that moment. Grabbing the pouch he wore around him, he opened it up to fish out several objects.


    There was no way he wasn¡¯t leaving the village without the stuff he came into it with. He didn¡¯t know what they were before, but now that he had some memories back, Bai Yunfei recognized several of these items to be soul armaments. He also realized he had a few space rings¡­.


    He had two space rings with him right now. One was one he normally had in his pouch and the other was the Violet Soul Ring. Transmitting his soulforce into the rings, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth dropped wide open when he saw the objects stored inside¡­


    ¡°So many soul armaments!!¡± He exclaimed¡ªthere were well over a hundred soul armaments in there!¡±


    ¡°This¡­this¡­¡±


    Words were failing to come out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth. From his memories of Jadewillow City, Bai Yunfei was aware of just how rare soul armaments were. The only soul armament he recalled having was an earth-tier one called the Fire-tipped Spear. But rather than seeing only that spear, Bai Yunfei had an entire ¡®arsenal¡¯ laying in front of him.


    ¡°But where¡¯s the Fire-tipped Spear?¡± Bai Yunfei felt it was strange that he hadn¡¯t seen the only one soul armament he was familiar with.


    His hand reached for an orange-colored spear nearby.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 3600


    Additional Attack: 1600


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect: 20% Increase in earth-based attacks when attacking in exchange for 20% soulforce.


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Chance of ignoring earth-based defenses when attacking.


    Upgrade Requirement: 210 Soulpoints


    The stats of this spear immediately appeared into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind when he touched it. The pupils in his eyes dilated in awe as he read the contents.


    ¡°A mid-heaven tier!¡±


    This new spear was many times stronger than the Fire-tipped Spear he was only just thinking about!


    ¡°Good heavens¡­what in the world did I go through after leaving Jadewillow City?!¡± Bai Yunfei could feel his heart skip a beat. The spear he was holding was simply so majestically strong than he felt faint just touching it.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right, I was also wearing¡­¡± His eyes flickered back over to the things he wore over his body. The two gloves, the two bracers, the armor¡­.each item was being carefully reconsidered now that he had a new perspective on what they were. Then when the notifications appeared in his head¡­


    He was floored!


    ¡°Di¡ªdivine tier?!¡¯


    The small stone he wore on a necklace around his neck caught his attention first and foremost. He couldn¡¯t even stop himself from letting out a stunned cry.


    ¡°Space that¡¯s over five-hundred kilometers wide? How crazy is that?¡± The length of distance was mind-boggling to Bai Yunfei. ¡°But these stats shouldn¡¯t be lying to me. What kind of soul armament is this¡­and how do I go into it?¡±


    He held the Core Stone in between his fingers. Curious, he tried to see if there was any way to activate it.


    In the end, he decided to try seeing if he could send some soulforce into it.


    ¡°Ugh!!¡± A sharp stab of pain shot straight through his body the moment he began to circulate his soulforce!


    Some of his soulforce was sent into the Core Stone, but rather than being sent into the ¡®world¡¯, a fierce pain ran through his body!


    ¡°Tch!! I can¡¯t use any soulforce!¡± Using soulforce was useless for him right now. He had nearly forgotten he wasn¡¯t supposed to use any¡­


    And so Bai Yunfei tore his eyes away from the Core Stone. Next up was the Charm Bracelet and the Vitality Bracelet. Both space rings were placed back onto his hand for safety. Now that he knew these ¡®accessories¡¯ had a use, he didn¡¯t feel so awkward about wearing them like before.


    It felt like he was living a dream almost. So many powerful soul armaments, and all of them within his possession. The experiences he gained from the Azure Cloud Province seemed almost silly in comparison to this¡­


    ¡°Clack clack clack¡­¡±


    The sound of footsteps outside his door perked Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention. Storing away all the soul armaments into the space ring, Bai Yunfei threw the ring into his pouch and hid his bracelets. While his memories were partially back, that didn¡¯t mean he wanted anyone else to know of what he owned. Wang Tong and his friends were decent folks, but this was a secret that was best restricted to only himself.


    Not waiting for the people on the other side to knock, Bai Yunfei moved towards his door and opened it up. Flinging it open, Bai Yunfei was prompted with the sight of Wang Tong and a kind-looking elder in white.


    Wang Tong nodded at the sight of Bai Yunfei. ¡°Tang Long, this is elder Cheng. You¡¯ll be learning under his tutelage. Whatever questions you might have will be answered by him. All your living arrangements will also be dealt with by him.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, elder Cheng.¡±


    ¡°Not bad¡­¡± Elder Cheng stroked his beard with satisfaction. ¡°A peak Late-stage Soul Warrior already. Perhaps you¡¯ll become a Soul Sprite once your essence fireseed is formed. Your Alchemy training can start then.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll stay here until you¡¯re feeling calmer. I¡¯ve a fireseed pill when you¡¯re ready to try and breakthrough. Once your fireseed is formed and you become a Soul Sprite, we¡¯ll start your Alchemy training right away. Whether or not it happens will depend on your own talent, so please take this seriously.¡±


    Reverently, Bai Yunfei took the small pill and jade slip from Wang Tong into his hands. ¡°Thank you very much, big brother Wang Tong.¡±


    He and Wang Tong were strangers. The fact that the older male was so willing to help him made Bai Yunfei feel extremely grateful.


    The two left after that, leaving Bai Yunfei to be left alone in his room once again. He flopped onto the bed with the jade slip in hand to look at. He narrowed his eyes.


    Giving this jade slip even the tiniest of soulforce from his body elicited a strong sense of pain in his body and made him feel powerless.


    Wang Tong said to him before they left that this jade slip had a very basic primer on how to cultivate. Compared to the one Ge Yiyun gave him before, this jade slip was unbelievably basic.


    In his other hand was a small bottle. He could sense a sliver of heat radiate from inside. It felt like this bottle held within it a very tiny spark of fire.


    ¡°My memories were caught off right before I became a Soul Sprite, but I¡¯m sure I became one. How else would I have so many soul armaments? If I lost all that strength, will this count as a breakthrough then?


    ¡°And would I even succeed in¡­forming a second originseed then?¡±

 Chapter 1026: Using the Fireseed Pill to Reform a Fireseed?

    Time went by quickly. Before Bai Yunfei knew it, five days had passed since he arrived here in the city.


    Hardly had Bai Yunfei ever stepped out from the courtyard he was given. The bulk of his time was spent inside of it trying to recollect his thoughts and learn how to cultivate.


    The courtyard had a kitchen of sorts next to it where several other trainees would gather. Everyone had their own assigned tasks and were generally receptive towards Bai Yunfei when he first arrived. Like him, they were all Soul Warriors, but they weren¡¯t ready to breakthrough to become a Soul Sprite and so they all treated him with envious respect.


    He learned from them that this type of lifestyle was common in the clan for trainees. In the clan, only Soul Sprites would be considered for an apprenticeship. Those with an aptitude for elemental fire would go into the branch for Alchemy while others would be relegated into other departments such as hunting, harvesting, etc.


    Having an aptitude for elemental fire was quite common within the clan. The majority of the people here being a fire-type was proof of that. Given the importance of elemental fire in Alchemy, it was little wonder why all Soul Warriors would hope for talent in elemental fire.


    And for Bai Yunfei, who was ¡®rewarded¡¯ a fireseed pill to solidify his aptitude for elemental fire, was treated with great envy by many people.


    It came to the surprise of many to learn that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t from the city. He was from the ¡®outside¡¯. Apprentices from the outside were fairly rare to see, but not totally unheard of. The elders often patrolled the outside mountains for the sake of safety and visiting the commoners that lived there. Sometimes, they¡¯d come across someone whose talent for cultivation was abnormally high and take them back to the city to be trained. Still, it was rare to see. One year would never go above double digits, Bai Yunfei was the first one this year.


    Wang Tong hadn¡¯t come to see Bai Yunfei during these last five days. Neither did the other two. They all had their own things to do, especially during a time as hectic as this. The three of them were probably busy up to their heads on securing the safety of the city and had no time to spare on Bai Yunfei.


    The courtyards had more people than usual on the sixth day. Even the trainees from the kitchens were eagerly looking at a room on the left.


    Seated at the stone table at the center of the courtyard was the kindly-looking elder Cheng. He had a cup of tea in hand to sip. He too was waiting for something.


    Today was the day Bai Yunfei would ingest the fireseed pill and attempt to breakthrough.


    Generally speaking, the breakthrough of a Soul Sprite wasn¡¯t something elder Cheng would care to see. But elder Cheng was more than happy to watch if it was a beloved student under his tutelage.


    Popping the cork from the bottle, Bai Yunfei tipped it over his outstretched palm. A small red pill tumbled out from the mouth of the bottle, exuding heat as it laid on top of the palm. Bai Yunfei stared at it for a moment before raising it up to his mouth.


    ¡°Gulp¡­¡±


    A wave of heat disseminated through his body as the fireseed pill dissolved in his stomach. Transforming into a fiery light, it shined forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s open mouth as if he was spitting out a small pillar of fire.


    As its name implied, the fireseed pill helped one create and condense their fireseed. Having the rare fireseed spirit mushroom as its primary ingredient helped the pill dramatically increase the chance of success. In the history of the clan, there was not a single trainee that wasn¡¯t able to form a fireseed after ingesting a fireseed pill.


    Not only was it powerful, but the pill was also quick to manifest. Bai Yunfei felt like every single inch of his body was being lit up with fire and all the liquid in him being boiled. His skin was turning red and his pores were letting out steam while also taking in the energy from the world.


    The air was warping in on itself around Bai Yunfei. Red light and heat were manifesting around him in great amounts before being drawn into his body to be absorbed.


    ¡°So it begins!¡± Elder Cheng murmured. The cup in his hand was placed back onto the table so he could smile and stare at the room Bai Yunfei was in. His eyes were sharp like an eagle. Was he able to see what was going on inside the room?


    Everyone else could tell that something was happening inside Bai Yunfei¡¯s room. The heat coming out from it and the light going into it was easily noticeable to them. Wide-eyed, they all stood there in silence to watch and wait.


    Time trickled on with the smile on elder Cheng¡¯s face slipping away bit by bit. Something about the length of this all was strange to him.


    ¡°This is¡­taking a little long, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    It was already half an hour after Bai Yunfei ingested the fireseed pill. Forming the fireseed should¡¯ve happened a while ago in normal situations, but elemental fire was still coming in massive amounts into Bai Yunfei¡¯s room. Elder Cheng could feel the energy go in, but not any traces of the fireseed starting to condense, which was strange.


    ¡°Could¡­could he be even more suited for elemental fire than we expected!?¡± Elder Cheng guessed.


    Another half hour went by without any other development.


    Unable to wait any longer, elder Cheng stood up from his stool and strode briskly to Bai Yunfei¡¯s room.


    By now, the amount of elemental fire Bai Yunfei gathered was no longer contained by his room. It was already spilling out into the courtyard to fill up the surrounding dozen meters with its light and heat.


    ¡°There¡¯s so much elemental fire¡­how is he able to gather this much!¡±


    This time, the elder couldn¡¯t help himself from saying what he was thinking out loud.


    The amount of elemental fire gathered around Bai Yunfei was simply far too much for the elder to believe.


    Bai Yunfei knew he had to absorb all the elemental fire around him and compress it into the originseed for a fireseed to form, but he didn¡¯t think it¡¯d take this long. Over an hour was gone and he was still taking in even more elemental fire. It felt like the origin acupoint was still¡­unsatisfied with the amount of elemental fire going into it!


    From what the jade slip told him, the elemental fire would undergo a qualitative change once there was enough of it gathered. Once that change was done he¡¯d have a fireseed. But the slip described the entire process as only taking just ten minutes to accomplish.


    Ten minutes¡­.he should¡¯ve been done over fifty minutes ago!


    There was plenty he didn¡¯t understand, but if there was one thing he did, it was that his acupoint wasn¡¯t satisfied¡¯. He couldn¡¯t feel any other sensation than that. No bloating sensation, no sensation that was inherently wrong, or anything. It just felt like his body was a bottomless pit that was eagerly trying to have its fill of elemental fire.


    In the end, Bai Yunfei just assumed that there wasn¡¯t enough elemental energy and decided to try his best to continue absorbing all the elemental fire as he could.


    ¡°Eh?! Am I close?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt a heat source spark to life within his chest. A heat source that radiated and filled his body with a great deal of limitless power.


    Pleased, Bai Yunfei immediately stopped the attempt to absorb any more elemental fire to begin compressing the amount he already had inside his body. More and more energy was being used to compress the elemental fire so that it¡¯d become a fireseed.


    Then as he was just about done with the preparations and begin the final step¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    To the utmost shock of Bai Yunfei, the fireseed he was trying to form suddenly exploded! The spark that had only just formed had for some reason exploded!


    It was as if there was some kind of limit that was reached. It was a single step before the finish line, but all of Bai Yunfei¡¯s efforts were dashed at the last spurt!


    ¡°What¡­?¡±


    The pupils in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes dilated in shock. He hadn¡¯t realized there¡¯d be a result like this! Not only had he failed to form the essence fireseed, but all of the elemental fire within his body also had immediately ¡®disappeared¡¯!


    The surrounding elemental fire not yet inside his body started to grow agitated. Within a matter of seconds, Bai Yunfei was surrounded by a chaotic storm of energy!


    Still turbulent, the elemental fire renewed their attempts to enter Bai Yunfei¡¯s body and began to act more like a stormy ocean trying to drown out a single boat¡­.


    It took a few drastic seconds before the last of the red light disappeared. The room was back to normal, though a dazed Bai Yunfei sat there on his bed, thoroughly confused by what had just happened¡­

 Chapter 1027: An Unexpected Result

    The courtyards Bai Yunfei resided in had even more people gathered there now. There weren¡¯t just the trainees now, even Soul Sprites and soul cultivators above that were here.


    Among those gathered here in the courtyard were Wang Tong, Kai Wen, and Bu Jiadi. Like the trainees, the three of them were absolutely shocked at the amount of elemental fire gathered in the area.


    Before, the elemental fire was simply resting in the area, stagnant as more and more of it was added to its mass. Now, the elemental fire was swirling around like a violent maelstrom and being drained into the room Bai Yunfei was in. It was a mesmerizing sight that caught the attention of everyone that was looking at it.


    ¡°Is¡­is it finally over! Did he succeed?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s finally over? Is this what¡¯s supposed to happen when the fireseed is formed? Isn¡¯t this a little too much?¡±


    ¡°No¡­there¡¯s no way this is normal. Not even a Soul Exalt should have a sight like this¡­is this really a person trying to become a Soul Sprite?¡±


    ¡°Is this the sign of a new genius?¡±


    Chatter was being started once again. Louder than the chatter before Bai Yunfei started his attempt, everyone was talking loudly and curiously as they watched this amazing ¡®spectacle¡¯.


    The trainees had only a limited perspective on what was going on. Elder Cheng, Wang Tong, and the others, however, were different. Experienced by their time and training, each and every single one of them had a hard time believing what was going on.


    ¡°Kai Wen, Jiadi¡­is it just me? I¡­I can¡¯t sense any sign of him being a Soul Sprite!¡±


    Confused by the lack of energy waves a Soul Sprite should¡¯ve had, Wang Tong turned his head to his companions to have them confirm his confusion.


    But Kai Wen shook his head. He didn¡¯t know either. ¡°I don¡¯t either.¡± Bu Jiadi replied, ¡°He¡¯s not a Soul Sprite. I think¡­Tang Long failed to breakthrough?!¡±


    Failed to breakthrough.


    The eyes of everyone there widened. How could this be?!


    ¡°Failed?! But¡­but how!!¡±


    Elder Cheng was the most noticeably surprised one. ¡°That can¡¯t be, how could he fail?! There was so much elemental fire, and for so long, how could that possibly be a failure? The fireseed pill shouldn¡¯t have been¡­Tang Long shouldn¡¯t have failed!¡±


    ¡°Creak¡­¡±


    The doors opened then to reveal a rather stunned-looking Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Warrior¡­he really didn¡¯t succeed!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s fears were confirmed the moment they laid eyes on Bai Yunfei.


    This person¡­really didn¡¯t become a Soul Sprite!


    ¡°.....¡±


    The first thing Bai Yunfei saw were the trainees staring wide-eyed in curious shock at him. He looked away. Elder Cheng and the others were all staring grimly at him, causing him to feel at odds with himself. ¡°Elder Cheng,¡± He hesitated to speak, ¡°I¡­¡±


    Elder Cheng placed his hand onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder before he finished speaking. Sending his soulforce into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, the elder began to sense for Bai Yunfei¡¯s power.


    ¡°There¡­there really isn¡¯t¡­¡± Elder Cheng looked almost crestfallen. He could tell by the fluctuations within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body that the elemental energy gathered here earlier were no longer in him. In essence, that meant Bai Yunfei had failed to become a Soul Sprite. He was still just a Soul Warrior like before.


    ¡°Everyone¡­return to your own tasks at once!!¡± The elder whirled around. It was high time for the others to return to their own business.


    A few of the people there were puzzled by the unexpectedly serious look on the elder¡¯s face, but none of them dared question anything. One by one, they all left the courtyard so that only a few remained there.


    Now that most of the people were gone, elder Cheng found the timing appropriate to let out a disappointed sigh. ¡°How could it have failed¡­just how could it be?¡±


    He had been expected earlier. The massive amount of elemental energy gathered here should¡¯ve heralded an incoming genius. He had high hopes for Bai Yunfei, but now it seemed like his hopes were dashed, and now his sorrows were as deep as those initial hopes.


    ¡°Tell me, Tang Long. What happened? How did you fail?¡± He leveled a pitiful look at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know. I thought I succeeded at first, but then the elemental fire suddenly disappeared. I really don¡¯t know what happened¡­¡±


    He was extremely disappointed too. He wasn¡¯t as knowledgeable as everyone else when it came to matters of cultivation like this, but that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t know this was something to be disappointed over.


    Bai Yunfei did feel the waves of energy enter his body during his attempt, but he didn¡¯t know where it ended up afterward.


    Wang Tong and the others looked rather sorrowful as well. ¡°Brother Tang Long,¡± He gave Bai Yunfei a comforting slap on the shoulders, ¡°the path of cultivation is a long and difficult one. Disappointment is a very common emotion to encounter. As long as you work hard, there¡¯ll be another chance in the future¡­¡±


    ¡°Big brother Wang Tong¡­what¡­what should I do in the future then?¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. He was looking forward to becoming a Soul Sprite and learning the esoteric arts of Alchemy. If he succeeded, he would¡¯ve been one step closer to healing the damages to his soul and recovering even more memories of himself.


    But now¡­what do I do?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. He thought that today would be the day he¡¯d become a Soul Sprite and begin his instructions in Alchemy. But now¡­


    If he wasn¡¯t a Soul Sprite, then he wasn¡¯t eligible to begin learning Alchemy. And if he couldn¡¯t do either, that meant he wouldn¡¯t get stronger. All in all, this was a result he felt completely depressed over.


    Depressed didn¡¯t even begin to describe him right now. He even felt like going back to the village so he could forget about this and resume his ordinary livelihood there.


    Wang Tong and the others seemed to notice what he was thinking. ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, brother Tang Long. The elder has forbidden anyone from going out from the city. Returning to the village will be¡­impossible for now.


    ¡°But it¡¯s not the end of the world that you failed,¡± He smiled. ¡°you can remain here and prepare for the next time. Should your special circumstances resolve itslef and you still want to return to the village, I¡¯ll be more than happy to bring you back there myself.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth dropped one for a moment as if wanting to say something, but it closed in the end. He nodded. What Wang Tong said made sense to him¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Alone in a certain room, Bai Yunfei sat right next to the table there. He stared at the Yun¡¯s Soul Ring without at all flinching.


    The sudden sound of footsteps caughth is attention. He jerked his hand away in time for him to look at the door where a young man in green robes came walking through.


    ¡°Hello, Tang Long. I¡¯m here for a woodseed pill, sorry for the trouble.¡± He took a jade slip out towards Bai Yunfei as if to show proof of his request.


    Snapping out from his previous thoughts, Bai Yunfei gave the man an apologetic smile. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be out with it in one second.¡±


    He took the jade slip from the male¡¯s hand and retreated into the connected room. Inside of the room sat an elderly man with his eyes closed. Stopping in front of the man, Bai Yunfei bowed. ¡°Elder Yu, a person is here for a woodseed pill.¡±


    The elder¡¯s eyelids opened slowly to stare at Bai Yunfei. A glint of light briefly crossed his eyes before something behind the elder creaked. A drawer on the wall had suddenly opened up for a large white bottle to come flying out.


    Grabbing the bottle, the elder exchanged it for the jade slip in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand before closing his eyes and returning to rest.


    Bai Yunfei bowed respectfully and backed out from the room. Closing the door behind him, he turned to face the male and handed him the bottle. The two spoke a little longer before the other male left the place.


    Now alone again, Bai Yunfei sat back down at the same table he was at. He looked at a few of the old-fashioned jade slips nearby with a curious look.


    ¡°Congregating pill¡­a low-earth tier medicine Soul Sprites can take to improve their rate of training¡­¡±

 Chapter 1028: Guarding the Pill Repository

    Being able to look through the records of every jade slip within these rooms was considered an ¡®ordinary¡¯ task within the clan. In Bai Yunfei¡¯s perspective, the place was a treasure trove filled with all sorts of magical pills and medicine.


    But¡­


    Bai Yunfei placed the jade slip from his hand onto the table with a sigh.


    If only he was given the ability to learn how to create these pills!


    His hand touched at the spot on his chest where the acupoint was. ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­am I not even able to rebecome a Soul Sprite now¡­?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t remember what kind of power he had before his memory loss, but the number of high-powered soul armaments he had surely had to mean something. Based on the records he read so far, Bai Yunfei was sure he was suffering from something akin to being ¡®deleveled¡¯. That was why breaking through was so difficult.


    One month had passed since he failed to breakthrough. Right now, Bai Yunfei was adjusting to a life of being a ¡®guard¡¯ in one of the pill repositories.


    This was the job given to him by the clan.


    Whether he was a trainee or apprentice, there was no way Bai Yunfei would be given free room and board. The clan wasn¡¯t so rich that they could afford for Bai Yunfei to do nothing. He would have to earn his stay here, and the more he worked, the more resources he would be allocated.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one to be disappointed with how things turned out. Elder Cheng had also been severely disappointed. In the end, the elder decided to not pay so much attention to Bai Yunfei and had him relegated as a guard elsewhere.


    From then on, neither of the two saw much of one another.


    One month of time was hardly a short number. Thirty days and nights. Each day was spent doing simplistic tasks by himself. This by itself allowed Bai Yunfei to spend some time trying to go over his newer memories.


    Many things had happened since he awakened to his soulforce and fled the Azure Cloud Province to Jadewillow City. He had many suspicions about the events of those memories and what he did after, but he at least knew that he was trying to reach the Crafting School to become a student there.


    If he had so many powerful soul armaments, didn¡¯t that mean he managed to make it there in the end?


    The more he went through those memories, the more he found himself thirsting for more. He was able to supplement his knowledge of things by reading the records within the repository. From there, he was able to learn quite a lot about the many kinds of memory-regaining pills. Most of them were more effective than the recalling pill he took, but they were all the same in one aspect.


    You could only eat one. Eating two or more were simply useless. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know if eating the best kind of memory-regaining pill would even help him¡­


    Living here in the city wasn¡¯t inherently bad for him. He was still living in the same courtyard as before. The only difference was just how the others treated him. Many of the trainees often gave him strange looks and said things behind his back, but Bai Yunfei cared little for them.


    In time, Bai Yunfei was identified to be a bit of a ¡®loner¡¯, and so there weren¡¯t many people that often talked with him.


    As a guard, Bai Yunfei was primarily responsible for being the middleman for taking in jade slips and giving back the appropriate pills. His job was inherently redundant but existed solely due to the fact that elder Yu¡ªthe elder actually in charge of the pill repository¡ªhated seeing a different person after person. For that reason, Bai Yunfei was there to be the ¡®consistent¡¯ variable for the elder.


    Day after day, Bai Yunfei saw to multiple people coming to the repository. Soon, Bai Yunfei began to notice something strange. The number of pills they were asking for was increasing by the day.


    Most of the pills were related to ¡®familiars¡¯ in a way. It was as if the clan was trying to gather more and more of them¡­


    The ¡®familiars¡¯ of the clan were actually soulbeasts, but these ¡®familiars¡¯ were said to be far more sentient and self-aware than their soulbeast counterparts.


    Life didn¡¯t get easier for the Alchemy School when they first arrived here on the Qimang Mountains. The place they set up camp in was a place where many dangerous soulbeasts and wild animals roamed. They weren¡¯t used to being in constant danger in the first place, so life was hard for the school until the Soul Kings and others managed to finally stabilize the area for them to put up a proper stomping ground in.


    That being said, the Alchemy School didn¡¯t enjoy fighting to begin with. They were a school that studied alchemy, not any form of combat. But in order to live in the Qimang mountains where the dangerous beasts roamed, the Alchemy School had no choice but to adapt.


    And so the Alchemy School came up with a new type of pill to help them.


    The ¡®familiar pill¡¯.


    It was a type of pill that boosted the power of any soulbeast and draw out even the timidest of soulbeast¡¯s primal instincts. It also made any soulbeast that ingested it fully sentient.


    It was the ultimate pill for taming.


    Thanks to these pills, the people of the Alchemy School were able to stabilize the area around them at last. They were able to drive away any soulbeast that might¡¯ve attacked them while also taking soulbeasts in and turning them into ¡®familiars¡¯ to protect them from other soulbeasts.


    Their power could not be understated. If anything, it was because of these familiars that the Alchemy School was able to last so long and become the Yao clan.


    The soulbeasts Wang Tong, Kai Wen, and Fei Yun used were great examples of these familiars. The familiars Fei Yun used, for example, were three peak late-stage class six soulbeasts, the duo-eyed magiwolves. The way the alchemists used these familiars were reminiscent of the Beast Taming School, but they used ¡®emotion¡¯ to tame these soulbeasts. It was a kind-hearted relationship, which was in direct contrast to the cold-hearted tactics of the Beast Taming School.


    Normally, the familiars would be with the alchemists to scavenge or hunt, but they were also used to fight off other beasts or intruders when needed. In those times, the need for familiar pills would increase.


    Now was one of those times. This could be seen with how many familiar pills they were using.


    Even Bai Yunfei could tell that the ¡®troublesome times¡¯ of right now had to do with the ¡®intruders¡¯ from before.


    ¡°I know there were a lot of intruders before, but Wang Tong and the others were quick to defeat them. How powerful are the enemies then if the entire clan is this grim?¡±


    The beginnings of a headache were starting to form within Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. He should¡¯ve felt terrified with how the future was starting to unfold, but the only emotion he felt was a sense of ¡®helplessness.¡¯


    It was as if this sort of thing was¡­normal to him¡­


    ¡°Emergency! Emergency! Elder Cheng is injured, someone bring out a soulmending pill!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei snapped out from his stupor at once, a new panic was starting to unfold!


    ¡°Elder Cheng?!¡± His heart flew to his throat at the realization that someone he knew was injured. Simultaneously leaping to his feet, Bai Yunfei watched as a group of people stormed into the room he was in!


    It was a group of four. The majority of them were Soul Exalts, and Bai Yunfei recognized one of them to be Bu Jiadi. ¡°Tang Long??¡± He looked surprised to see him for a second, ¡°are you today¡¯s guard? Quick, bring out a soulmending pill!¡±


    A quick glance at the other three members of the group told Bai Yunfei all he needed to know. Elder Cheng was among the bloody figures! His head hung listlessly over his shoulders and many terrible wounds were dripping with blood. The elder was close to death!


    As spooked as he was, Bai Yunfei moved to comply as quickly as he could. But when he was just about to turn around, there was a slight blur in space there before elder Yu appeared in front of him!


    Sparing no words, the elder enveloped the other elder in a bubble of red light with a wave of his right hand. Placing him on the ground, elder Yu then took out a semi-transparent pill and had the other elder ingest it.


    The red light seemed to have some kind of diagnostic effect on elder Cheng, as elder Yu had a very grim look on his face the longer elder Cheng was enveloped by it. An ominous glint of light could even be seen in his eyes.


    ¡°What severe wounds!! What in the world happened?!¡±

 Chapter 1029: Trouble is Brewing

    ¡°The apprentices patrolling the outermost parts of the school were attacked. Elder Cheng came as a part of the reinforcements, but¡­he was ambushed on the way and was hurt!¡± Bu Jiadi explained, ¡°The others¡­we don¡¯t know if the apprentices are alive or dead!¡±


    ¡°What?! For an ambush to do this much damage to elder Cheng¡­was a Soul King there?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible, but we don¡¯t know the specifics,¡± Bu Jiadi replied. ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait for elder Cheng to wake up first. How is he?¡±


    Elder Yu held his fingers to elder Yu¡¯s wrist for a moment. ¡°The soulmending pill is working on him, but his wounds have yet to stabilize. It¡¯ll probably be a few days before¡­¡±


    His voice trailed off as he sensed an anomaly in the other person¡¯s body. ¡°This corrosive energy¡­if the records are correct, then¡­the Soul Refining Palm?! The Soul Refining School?!¡±


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    Several objects clattered onto a hard surface, catching the attention of everyone in the room. The heads of everyone turned to look at the tumble of files and slips on the ground and table.


    It was Bai Yunfei who had dropped those items.


    ¡°Tang Long? What is it?¡± Bu Jiadi asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s nothing.¡± Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei bent down to pick up the things he dropped.


    Luckily, his antics were perceived by the people within the room to simply be a result of nerves from hearing about their enemy and so they ignored him.


    And so no one seemed to notice the shockingly red gleam of light that was in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes¡­


    It was only for a moment. Even Bai Yunfei himself was surprised by his own reaction.


    For some reason, just hearing those three words; Soul Refining School, made him feel like his heart was tightening. Like a strand of rope was wrapping around it and causing him to stagger a little bit. The files that had been in his hands fell, and that was the reason why everyone turned to look at him.


    In that moment, Bai Yunfei felt an unprecedented amount of rage flow through his body.


    ¡°Soul Refining School¡­¡± He muttered underneath his breath. His hand clenched tightly enough that several knuckles popped ominously. A few of the files he grabbed at were even starting to distort under the pressure.


    Hearing the name of that school for some reason made him want to kill.


    ¡°Elder Yu, the clan elder has ordered for elder Cheng to be brought back to the hall. Please come with us!¡± A figure in purple suddenly dropped into the room with a missive for the elder to hear.


    The elder nodded his head. Waving his right hand, he had a layer of energy envelop and bring the elder up, ¡°We¡¯re going!¡±


    ¡°Stay here in the meanwhile, no pills are to be dispensed until my return!¡± Spoke elder Yu¡¯s voice into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ear.


    Bai Yunfei said nothing and waited for everyone to leave before he let out a sigh. Shelving the files, Bai Yunfei sat back down at his table. ¡°Seems like there¡¯s trouble afoot. Something big¡¯s happening¡­elder Cheng¡¯s a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, what kind of foe could¡¯ve harmed him this much¡­?¡±


    Two of his fingers massaged the temples on his head. ¡°Soul Refining School¡­¡± He grunted, ¡°One of the Ten Great Schools and filled with all sorts of villainous people. But¡­why is their name alone enough to cause so much hatred in me?¡±


    He only had a few memories of the Soul Refining School to think of. As hated as the Soul Refining School was, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t think of a reason why he himself hated the school so much. The hatred he had was unnaturally deep. It had to be if just the name alone was able to elicit such a response despite not knowing the reason why!


    ¡°They were only near the village a month ago. Have they really managed to get this far?¡± Bai Yunfei wondered aloud.


    ¡°The magical pills of the Yao clan¡­really does seem to be the treasure everyone wants. But with how long the Yao clan has been gone¡­shouldn¡¯t everyone have given up already? There has to be a reason why they¡¯re looking now¡­¡±


    No answer came to him.


    He shook his head with a sigh. A ¡®mere Soul Warrior¡¯ like him shouldn¡¯t be thinking so hard about this. ¡°Sigh¡­I hope the Yao clan will return to the peace they¡¯re used to after all this is over¡­.¡±


    Within a large building at the center of the city.


    Plenty of people were gathered here today. Over a hundred people from an initial scan.


    The elder of the clan, Yao Wuchen, sat at the head of the hall. To his immediate right sat a middle-aged man in his fifties. He looked similar in appearance to Yao Wuchen.


    That was because this man was Yao Wuchen¡¯s predecessor and father, Yao Tianji.


    Two rows sat on the left and right of these two seats. Rather than Wang Tong and the others, multiple elders sat on their chairs and waited to be called upon. They looked to be in their seventies or eighties and looked so withered that a single gust of wind might¡¯ve been enough to blow them over.


    These people were the entirety of the previous generations of the Yao clan.


    Wang Tong, Kai Wen, and Bu Jiadi were also in attendance, but they were relegated to a corner. With them stood several other equal-aged men. They were fellow geniuses of their generation.


    Only the strongest were gathered here. The weakest member here today was an Early-stage Soul Exalt. The people within these halls represented the core strength of the Yao clan.


    It was just a moment ago the reawakened elder Cheng told the story of what happened.


    Everyone had a grim expression on their faces. The story elder Cheng told had left a stifling atmosphere on the hall.


    No one spoke for the longest of time. The news of what they heard was simply too hard to stomach.


    ¡°F*ck!¡± Roared a middle-aged man.


    ¡°I can¡¯t bear this any longer, clan elder, please give the order! The enemy is already at our gates and has already killed several of our clansmen, there¡¯s no chance of negotiations anymore! We should simply gather all our people and kill our enemies! Kill them all before they kill us! Let them know they have stepped on the tiger¡¯s tail they shouldn¡¯t have!¡±


    His words were the spark to set the entire room into furious fervor. Multiple people began to speak out at once, furious for revenge over the deaths of their clansmen.


    The most outspoken of the people here were those of the younger generation. Many of the older generations had yet to say anything.


    ¡°Silence!¡±


    Yao Wuchen roared, he had had enough of the noise, and the entire hall went silent as he wanted.


    Yao Wuchen turned to his father. ¡°What are your thoughts, father?¡±


    Yao Tianji didn¡¯t look quite happy with how things were turning out. ¡°You are the elder, you should be the one making the decisions. It is up to you to decide!¡±


    Yao Wuchen sighed. ¡°The enemies are quickly approaching,¡± He spoke to the people gathered in the hall. ¡°This is the greatest danger to our clan since two thousand years ago. We are up against no beasts this time, but powerful soul cultivators from the outside world. Their goals are obvious; they wish to take our strength for themselves!¡±


    He paused once here to take in a deep breath. ¡°What Yao Kui said is correct. The enemies won¡¯t hesitate to kill our clansmen, and there is no chance of any negotiations. If they are to treat us with malice, then we won¡¯t sit and wait for our death!


    ¡°However! We are still unclear about the situation. We know little if they are all gathered here yet or if they are simply waiting for us to walk into their trap. Therefore¡­none of you shall take action without my command!


    ¡°Our patrolmen shall pull back to half their radius. None of our members shall walk even a step beyond the illusionary barriers. We will double our defenses at the edge of these barriers and have our familiars at the ready for battle!


    ¡°Elder Bu, awaken all the slumbering familiars we have!


    ¡°Second uncle, speed up the taming of the soulbeasts from last month¡¯s trip. Tame the class six ones first. The class seven snake-tailed serpent will¡­be up to you and third uncle to tame!


    ¡°Elder Yu, distribute all the power-boosting pills to the familiars. Do the same for the treatment pills. Have all apprentices Soul Ancestors and up prepared for battle!


    ¡°Elder Wang, strengthen the sentinels at all points around the barriers near the city. I don¡¯t want the enemy being able to sneak even a rat in¡­¡±


    Orders streamed out from Yao Wuchen¡¯s mouth one after another, but no one complained. A grim future was awaiting them, and everyone could tell that a great danger was coming down onto their clan¡­


    Trouble was surely brewing!!

 Chapter 1030: Besiegement!

    A ways away from the city (Henceforth known as ¡®Yao City¡¯).


    There laid a vast clearing amongst the sea of trees. Just as many stars were noticeable in the skies above, but the most significant sight within this clearing was the tents adorned all across the clearing. Several tents had small fires in front of them with people either eating or chatting nearby. From the looks of it, this clearing looked almost like the stomping grounds for some kind of tribe.


    All seemed normal at first. These people were simply cooking their recently-hunted game over an open fire. But upon a closer like¡­it wasn¡¯t any ordinary game they were cooking, but¡­soulbeasts!


    The Soulbeast Forest might have soulbeasts more powerful than most soul cultivators could possibly imagine, but the Qimang Mountains had a plethora of dangerous soulbeasts themselves. It was simply mind-blowing that this group of travelers could sit there and cook any caught soulbeast for food!


    A soulbeast could often be heard roaring or charging onto the clearing once in a while, but they were quickly disposed of almost as quickly as they came. Most of these soulbeasts were of the class five or six nature. If even those could be killed off quickly, then that meant the soul cultivators here were even stronger than them. The weakest of the group were probably Soul Sprites, a few other Soul Ancestors, and perhaps multiple Soul Exalts.


    If one were to count the number of tents, then one would be surprised to see that there was over five hundred of them¡­


    This wasn¡¯t a tribe¡­this was an army of soul cultivators!


    At the center of this gathering of tents stood one tent far greater than the others. Hardly anyone spoke whenever they walked past this particular tent. They all seemed to be careful walking past as if afraid of bringing attention to themselves.


    The interior of the tent was illuminated to be as bright as day by a variety of lightstones. Dozens of people sat in attendance inside to listen and await their orders.


    Seated at the front of them all was an elderly figure dressed in full black. The sleeves to his left arm were seemingly flat as if there was nothing inside. This man was missing an arm.


    Should Bai Yunfei have his memories back, he surely would¡¯ve been surprised to see this man, for he was¡­an elder of the Soul Refining School, Qin Bangjie!


    The man Bai Yunfei stole the King Caging Bell from and cut his arm off!


    Compared to before, Qin Bangjie had a more subdued air to him, like the calm before a particularly wild storm. Even under the bright light within the tent, Qin Bangjie¡¯s facial expression could hardly be seen due to the hood he wore. His right hand hung by his side and his eyes were shut tight, ignorant to the silent whispering of those before him¡­


    ¡°An explanation, if you please, elder Xu¡­Why did your men attack the alchemists?! Hadn¡¯t we agreed on ¡®negotiating¡¯ with the Alchemy School first!¡±


    One elder on the far left spoke. He was speaking with another elder in gray robes nearby with a displeased expression. This topic did not seem to be of a happy one to him.


    Bai Yunfei knew this person too. They met once before outside Crushed Stone River during the struggle for the Extreme King Pills. Bai Yunfei even saw this person fight.


    This person was an important elder to the Beast Taming School, Ma Xucheng!


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for any anger, elder Ma. This was merely an accident¡­¡± The elder in gray responded with a smile. ¡°A scuffle was quick to break out due to how vigilant the alchemists were. They attacked my men before we could discuss anything, there was nothing we could do about it.¡±


    ¡°Nothing you can do about it?! Do you take me for a three-year-old?!¡± Ma Xucheng thundered with incredulous rage. ¡°They were merely Soul Ancestors or Soul Sprites, how could your Soul Exalts not diffuse the situation? Your elder Jin was with them as well¡­and yet he took part in the killings as well?!¡±


    ¡°It may come as a surprise for you, elder Ma, but it was a group of Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt that forced me to partake in the situation.¡± A gray-haired elder to the side of the first spoke out. ¡°Let us not dwell on such insignificant matters, elder Ma. I am sure the Alchemy School won¡¯t decide to fight us to the end after a small matter like this. They know it would be futile to do so. I presume they¡¯ll come to us soon enough ready to talk things out¡­¡±


    ¡°If only!¡± Ma Xucheng harrumphed, ¡°The way I see it, your school is intentionally souring our attempts to contact the Alchemy School. Your school has chased down the Alchemy School for the last two thousand years, I hardly doubt the Soul Refining School would want to ¡®talk it out¡¯! You¡¯re most likely waiting for the right time to kill them off for good!¡±


    ¡°Please watch what you say, elder Ma.¡± Elder Xu spoke, ¡°Our three schools allied together for this matter for a mutual purpose. It is true that the Alchemy School won¡¯t help our school, but do you really think they¡¯d be inclined to help yours? In the end, we¡¯ll have to kill the alchemists for their secrets. Everyone here should be aware of that, so what is the problem of killing a few before the inevitable? I don¡¯t see any talks being necessary at all. We should wait for the preparations to be done before storming their city¡­¡±


    ¡°You!!¡±


    As infuriated he was by the audacity of this weaker person, Ma Xucheng could do nothing about it. While he was stronger than this one, he wasn¡¯t the strongest person in the room¡­


    He changed targets. ¡°Elder Qin, if I may be so bold to inquire on the next step in the plan?¡±


    As if waking from a dream, Qin Bangjie¡¯s eyes fluttered open to look at everyone gathered there. ¡°We attack their city in three days!¡±


    As usual, Bai Yunfei was seated in the pill repository and waited for someone to come in for whichever pill they wanted. No one would come though, and Bai Yunfei knew it. For three days ago, elder Yu made the decision to have Bai Yunfei distribute as many pills as he could to everyone, and that¡¯d probably be enough to stop anyone else from coming in for a while.


    Life within the clan seemed especially tense ever since elder Cheng was injured. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t one to walk around the city, but even he could tell from how nervous the Soul Exalts that skywalked through the skies that something was wrong.


    He even heard from the other trainees that ¡®strong enemies were approaching¡¯, and that the city was under ¡®martial law¡¯.


    As such, Bai Yunfei was clueless about what else he could do. There was no way he could ask Wang Tong, Kai Wen, or the others, and neither did he even see or know where they were.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until noon when Bai Yunfei heard a strange sound. This was a sound that was extremely out of place!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped. The sky looked like it was shaking somehow, and everyone was turning their heads up to see what in the world was going on!


    And when they looked up¡­they saw the sky¡­collapsing!


    There was no way the real sky could actually collapse. This was actually just a sky maintained by the illusionary barrier around the city. But now¡­it was no more!


    Bai Yunfei saw a shimmer of light as elder Yu appeared next to him. Looking up, the elder¡¯s face paled drastically before he sped up into the air towards the southern gates!


    So rushed was he that he didn¡¯t even tell Bai Yunfei to do anything!


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei could only just stand there by himself as he watched elder Yu fly away. Far away in the distance, he could see a variety of light flying through the skies like shooting stars around the outskirts of the city!


    The enemy army was here!

 Chapter 1031: The Beginnings of the Beseigement

    In the skies above Yao City.


    Yao Wuchen stood there in the skies to face off against eleven figures. Down on the ground beneath those eleven figures was an army of over a thousand soul cultivators.


    He knew that the enemy would come. He just didn¡¯t expect them to come so quickly and so easily. The barrier they had protecting the city had shattered so easily¡­And their numbers¡­it was terrifying to look at.


    Eleven Soul Kings, nearly three hundred Soul Exalts, and seven hundred Soul Ancestors and Soul Sprites!


    Behind him stood his father, Yao Tianji. Elder Yu and the other Soul Kings within the clan were there as well, making for a total of nine.


    They weren¡¯t hiding anyone anymore. These nine were the strongest the clan had to offer.


    Training wasn¡¯t hard for alchemists. If placed in the outside world, these alchemists would most likely be classified as ¡®geniuses¡¯. The aid of their pills and other materials just made training a more trivial matter for them.


    But that was only applicable for soul cultivators up to the level of a Soul Exalt. Pills that helped one train beyond that level were rare, and the ingredients for them were rare even within the Qimang Mountains. As such, training for Soul Exalts tend to slow back down to normal levels. Unless they had some kind of contribution to the clan, these people would not be given any rare pills and would have to breakthrough on their own after reaching the Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt level.


    There was no way a Soul King could rely on pills to train. The Alchemy School failed to protect their furnace of Extreme King Pills from being taken away into the Core Stone and had very little of them. Even after two thousand years of isolation, the school had yet to find enough ingredients to make more. Thus, they had hardly enough Extreme King Pills to be counted on one hand.


    Needless to say, there were hardly any pills that could help Soul Kings. Those pills that could help one become a Soul Emperor was naught more than a legend now. Not even the Alchemy School had the capabilities of creating pills like that. Any pills of that level in their storages were rare and heirlooms from a time long before¡­


    On the inverse, the Qimang Mountains was relatively peaceful in comparison to the outside world. Yes, there were many ferocious soulbeasts, but the city was, for the most part, separated from a life of violence and fights to the death. Very few alchemists within the city had the same thirst for power as the average soul cultivator. The clan had yet to gain a Soul Emperor in the last thousand years.


    As they stood today, the clan had Yao Tianji and another elder as Peak Late-stage Soul Kings. There were another two Late-stage Soul Kings¡ªYao Wuchen included¡ªthree Mid-stage Soul Kings and three Early-stage Soul Kings.


    The walls to Yao City were filled with countless figures from the clan. Over five hundred Soul Ancestors and Soul Sprites lined the outer walls while over a hundred Soul Exalts stood above them. It wasn¡¯t a small number, but they were still lacking in quantity compared to their enemy.


    The two sides stood there in silence. Both were trying to gauge the strength of the other before they did anything.


    Ma Xucheng and the men with him heaved a mental sigh in relief. The strength of the alchemists was lower than their initial projections. That was good. Perhaps they¡¯d have an easier time with success then.


    ¡°Hmph¡­how the mighty Alchemy School has fallen. Two thousand years to themselves and they only have these many people? It¡¯s not even a third of what they were before. How pitiful¡­¡±


    He smiled coldly to Yao Wuchen.


    ¡°Listen well to me, alchemists. We will give you one chance to back down. Offer up your pills and swear loyalty to us and we won¡¯t hurt you. We¡¯ll even help escort you from the Qimang Mountains and help restore the glory that was the Alchemy School¡­.¡±


    A sinister glare entered his eyes. ¡°But should you chose to refuse¡­we will raze your city and take the pills ourselves! We¡¯ll bath your city in bloodshed and truly extinguish the last sparks of the Alchemy School!¡±


    The people standing on the wall to Yao City began to jeer and roar with anger. Those of the younger generations were especially infuriated by what Ma Xucheng was saying. Some of them were even starting to curse at him.


    None of the strong ones from the clan said anything. Yao Wuchen merely stared back at Ma Xucheng and his army. ¡°There¡¯s a strong stench of a soulbeast to you, are you a beast tamer?¡±


    His eyes shifted to the person on the right.


    ¡°You have a rich aura of elemental wind and lightning, you must be from the Wind Lightning School then.


    ¡°And you¡­¡±


    The last to be addressed was Qin Bangjie and the four with him.


    ¡°You must be the Soul Refining School!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The five quirked an eyebrow. They were confused about how this person could so easily find out just which school they belonged to.


    Xu Qianqing, an elder beside Qin Bangjie, suddenly thought of something. ¡°Feng Mingxu¡¯s scouting group¡­were they captured by you?!¡±


    They remembered losing contact with one of their scouting groups a little over a month ago. Not a single clue of where they might¡¯ve gone was found no matter how hard they tried. Knowing that the Soul Refining School knew that the scouting group had most likely been captured and killed by the alchemists, but not before having important information being taken from them.


    Yao Wuchen ignored Xu Qianqing. His eyes were filled with hatred for the entirety of the Soul Refining School. ¡°Was it the Soul Refining School that killed elder Fengyu when he took several of our students and fled two thousand years ago? Was it your school!?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Qin Bangjie and Xu Qianqing blinked. ¡°So you found out about it? Our records stated that no one alive should¡¯ve known¡­how curious. I digress. You should be glad we killed them, else it would¡¯ve been you that¡¯d have died in their stead. But¡­your days of running is over, we are here now! There¡¯ll be no escaping this time!¡±


    His words shocked even the Beast Taming School and the Wind Lightning School. Neither of the two schools thought there was some kind of grudge between the Alchemy School and the Soul Refining School. Or at least a grudge as big as this.


    In other words, there was no way the Alchemy School would ¡®back down¡¯ now.


    And that was that. Multiple people began to charge up their soulforce within their bodies in anticipation to battle, and a cold chill began to blow¡­


    Everyone looked to Qin Bangjie, who had been silent the entire time.


    The man raised his right hand up to withdraw a blood-red sawtooth longblade.


    ¡°Kill!¡± He cried!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    At his command, the world was knocked into a series of explosions as multiple energy sources flared up!


    Air was the only thing that used to divide the Soul Kings on both sides. But now¡­soulforce and elemental energy was being flung in both directions and lighting up the world.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­whoosh¡­¡±


    ¡°Boom¡­booom¡­¡±


    Gusts of wind and claps of thunder ran rampant in the area as if a sudden thunderstorm had descended.


    ¡°Kill!!!!¡±


    The soul cultivators from the three allied school ran into battle with a loud warcry. The earth beneath their feet trembled as they charged and the skies above them shined with all sorts of light.


    The alchemists on the top side of the wall didn¡¯t charge down to meet them.


    Instead, several streaks of light shot out from behind them to charge towards the enemies in their stead!


    ¡°Roar! Roar! Roar¡­¡±


    Growls and roars far louder than the sounds of nature could be heard over everything else. And their auras¡­were even stronger than the enemies!


    These were¡­the soulbeasts!!

 Chapter 1032: The Army of Familiars!

    The battle had only just begun and the Yao clan had already brought a giant upset onto the battlefield.


    ¡°Soulbeasts?! How are there so many of them?!¡±


    The Beast Taming School was on the rightmost parts of the battlefield. Excluding their soulbeast puppets, the beast tamers had probably four hundred of them. Including these soulbeast puppets, there was around a thousand of them. A number like this was considerably large and was probably the largest force among the three, but this was nothing against the veritable tidal wave of soulbeasts coming at them now. Not even the Soul Exalts from the Beast Taming School was able to stop themselves from gaping at the sight of all these soulbeasts coming at them.


    There was well over a thousand of these soulbeasts incoming¡ªa number far beyond their own soulbeasts!


    The Beast Taming School had planned on using the number of their soulbeasts as an intimidation tactic.


    None of them thought that their plan would backfire and the enemy would have even more soulbeasts than they did!


    Like them, the members from the Soul Refining School and Wind Lightning School were equally shocked.


    Now wasn¡¯t the right time to be shocked, though, their enemy was nearly upon them! In just seconds, the Alchemy School¡¯s soulbeasts were fighting the beast tamers!


    And then the screams began to cry out one after another!


    ¡°They¡¯re controlling them!!¡±


    Ma Xucheng exclaimed in shock. This wasn¡¯t within their calculations!


    Their records had never mentioned the Alchemy School being able to control soulbeasts before!


    Not even their soulsense picked up the soulbeasts auras. The alchemists had the soulbeasts ingest a presence-hiding pill so their auras wouldn¡¯t be detected by even Ma Xucheng. If anything, Ma Xucheng would¡¯ve assumed they were merely just weak students and dismissed as a non-combatant in the grand scheme of things.


    This was a huge problem now for the three allied schools. The people from the Wind Lightning School and Soul Refining School turned to give an incredulous look at the beast tamers as if to say, ¡°How did you lose to the Alchemy School in your own area of expertise?!¡±


    ¡°Roar! Roar! Roar¡­¡±


    The next shock came to the allied schools when the roars of several soulbeasts could be heard. These roars were especially loud and contained far more energy in them than the others.


    Several streaks of light shot out from the crowd then to come to a stop beside the Soul Kings of the Yao clan!


    ¡°Class seven soulbeasts!!¡±


    The Soul Kings of the allied schools realized straight away just how powerful these new arrivals were, Qin Bangjie most especially!


    There once were soulbeasts to speak of on this battlefield. And now there were so many of them, class seven ones included!


    At least one class seven soulbeast stood by each of the Soul King¡¯s side.


    And by Yao Wuchen, Yao Tianji, and another Late-stage Soul King, there stood two soulbeasts each!


    The beast tamers were already coordinating with their soulbeast puppets to fight. Ma Xucheng had two class seven soulbeast in front of him and his two companions had also two soulbeasts of their own.  There was one Early-stage Soul King that had an additional peak late-stage class six soulbeast with him.


    The allied schools had eleven Soul Kings and five class seven soulbeasts, making for a total of sixteen extremely capable combatants.


    On the Yao clan side stood eight Soul Kings and another eleven class seven soulbeast, making for¡­nineteen!


    The Yao clan had gone from having the numerical disadvantage to having a complete turnaround!


    ¡°Impossible¡­impossible!! How are you able to control so many soulbeasts?!¡±


    Ma Xucheng was an experienced Peak Late-stage Soul King with a considerable amount of knowledge, but not even he was able to prevent his shock from showing¡­he couldn¡¯t believe what was going on!


    Not many Soul Kings had a contracted soulbeast partner of their own. And if one did, then it was common for one of either two things to happen. Either their soulbeast died in battle, or their soulbeast was unable to keep up with the pace of their soul cultivator.


    For example, many soul cultivators had a soulbeast partner before they became a Soul King. And by that point, their soulbeast partner would cease growing and hover around the levels of a peak late-stage class six soulbeast. In that case, these soulbeast partners were essentially unable to help fight and generally didn¡¯t travel with their soul cultivators.


    Many people generally had the idea of finding a soulbeast partner once they became a Soul King, but it was easier said than done. Not only were soulbeasts of the class seven level rare, but they were also very intelligent and unwilling to join with any soul cultivator. This secondary reason was due to the ¡®relations¡¯ between soul cultivators and soulbeasts. The class seven soulbeasts of the Soulbeast Forest were in a world of their own and generally had no desire to make a contract with anyone.


    These were clearly the ¡®feral¡¯ beasts Ma Xucheng once read about in regards to the Alchemy School. In the records, the ferals were said to be soulbeasts that weren¡¯t able to be contracted with anyone.


    So why was it that each one of the Soul Kings from the Alchemy School had a class seven soulbeast with them?!


    And¡­how was it possible one of them had two class seven soulbeast?!


    It was preposterous. This had to be some kind of illusionary magic. How could anyone from the allied schools believe this was real?


    ¡°Kill!!!¡±


    While the allied schools were still trying to process this, Yao Wuchen was giving the command for their counterstrike to begin!


    ¡°Hmph!!!¡±


    As unexpected as this was, Qin Bangjie was not a man to be stunned into inaction. A flash of cold light crossed his eyes as he readied his soulforce. A wave of energy shot into the skies to form a series of dark clouds overhead. As if day was turning into night, the skies grew dark and rich with elemental darkness.


    Then behind Qin Bangjie, a one-hundred meter tall demonic figure appeared out from the darkness!


    ¡°A Half-emperor!!¡±


    Yao Wuchen growled underneath his breath. There was no mistaking that tremendous aura.


    He and his father exchanged glances only briefly before directing their soulbeasts to attack Qin Bangjie!


    Of the four soulbeasts, three of them were late-stage class seven soulbeasts and a single mid-stage class seven soulbeast. For hundreds of years, these four soulbeasts have worked with the Yao clan and each of their successive descendants. In a way, these soulbeasts were essentially members of the clan. The familiar pill saw to these four soulbeasts gaining intelligence on par with humans. They were also very affectionate to the Yao clan, so they were infuriated that there¡¯d be people that dared do ill against them. The four soulbeasts would tear all these intruders into pieces!


    Qin Bangjie had essentially been a dead man in spirit following the wounds he received from Bai Yunfei. Him losing the King Caging Bell and then one of his arms dealt a serious blow to his mental state of being, and that wound only deepened following the loss of multiple stronghold for his school.


    Only the realization that Bai Yunfei was a part of the Crafting School brought the man back from the depths of despair and rekindled his attempts to become a Soul Emperor.


    Sparing no efforts whatsoever, the man shed sweat, blood, and tears to hopefully breakthrough, but in the end, he failed and became a Half-emperor instead.


    Becoming a Half-emperor was still an accomplishment. Half-emperors were beings stronger than Soul Kings, and these four soulbeasts were without a doubt not a challenge for him.


    The other Soul Kings and soulbeasts of their level were already fighting in a different part of the battlefield. The entire battlefield was already a storm of multi-colored light as combatants from both parties fought with magnificent strength¡­


    In the skies.


    On the ground.


    Light of all color shined from both places with an intensity like none other, making visibility practically impossible beyond a certain distance. The area split the earth and moved the skies with a magnificent amount of energy that left even space warping in on itself. It seemed like not even the world itself was capable of stabilizing all of the energy here¡­


    Multiple people from the Yao clan were descending down from the walls to fight alongside the soulbeasts. As unfamiliar to battle as they were, these people were by no means unable to fight, especially the Soul Ancestors and Soul Exalts. If they weren¡¯t capable of close quarters fighting, then they found themselves useful still by sending blast after blast of elemental energy from afar.


    The battle was no longer as ¡®easy¡¯ as the allied schools thought this battle would be now that the familiars were here. No distinct advantages could be observed for either parties, but there was at least one thing for certain.


    Both sides were taking massive casualties and injuries!

 Chapter 1033: A Hidden Intruder

    ¡°I wonder how many enemies there are, or even how the battle¡¯s going¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei sat by himself in his room to stare out from the window where the rest of the clan was battling. He was one of the few that weren¡¯t strong enough to be deemed battle-ready and thus had little idea of what was going on. All he knew was that the earth and even the skies themselves seemed to be shaking something fierce with a tremendous amount of power. He was pretty far away and still he could feel the ground beneath him shake. Each time it did, Bai Yunfei felt like his heart would skip a beat as well.


    At first, Bai Yunfei thought he was simply ¡®terrified¡¯.


    The longer he thought about it, though, the more Bai Yunfei felt differently.


    This wasn¡¯t ¡®fear¡¯ he was feeling¡­but excitement?!


    The blood within his body seemed to be boiling with jubilation. A mysterious feeling was pounding from within his chest as if begging to be released. Could it be¡­was this the feeling of thirst? A thirst for blood and a desire to do battle?! Was this some kind of bloodthirst for those from the Soul Refining School?!


    Furthermore, Bai Yunfei was thirsting to join the fray with the other Soul Kings! He wanted to be a part of the fight amongst the most powerful! How could he not be surprised by such a desire?


    ¡°Is this what they call ¡®instinct¡¯? Does¡­does this mean that I was capable of fighting people like them before I lost my memories and strength?!¡± Bai Yunfei clenched his fist in suspicion.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    A clamor outside the room he was in snapped him from his thoughts.


    Five different people had suddenly entered the repository he was standing guard over.


    ¡°Elder Cheng?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. He recognized the man standing in the back; this was the elder that had been severely injured just a few days ago, elder Cheng!


    The five were already in front of Bai Yunfei now. Strangely enough, elder Cheng had no longer that same kindly face Bai Yunfei had always associated him with. ¡°The battle is not progressing well, we¡¯ll be retrieving the pills!¡± He growled harshly before Bai Yunfei could even speak.


    ¡°Ah¡­oh! Ye¡ªyes¡­¡±


    It took a second for Bai Yunfei to respond, but he turned around without delay to head deeper into the pill repository.


    Not a single word was spoken as they walked. Elder Cheng followed behind Bai Yunfei, and he could feel the eyes of the pointy-chinned elder stare down his back. It felt almost cold enough to freeze water¡­


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop by the doors to where the pills were stored. Seeing that it was ajar, Bai Yunfei turned around, ¡°Elder Yu isn¡¯t here right now, elder Cheng. I, unfortunately, don¡¯t know which pills you might want, so when elder Yu returns¡­¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, I¡¯ll take it out myself.!¡±


    The pill repository hadn¡¯t any security measures. It simply wasn¡¯t necessary when everyone in the clan was like family to one another. Why would they need something like that? Furthermore, there wasn¡¯t anywhere to go but the city. Anyone with the idea of stealing any pills would be caught swiftly and without much trouble.


    If anything, the only preventative measure to be had would be personnel like Bai Yunfei or elder Yu. In a time like this, however, elder Yu was gone to take part in the battlefield. There weren¡¯t even any Soul Exalts left in this place to greet people.


    In other words, Bai Yunfei was the only person here¡­


    The four people with elder Cheng sprung into the room immediately after they entered. They hadn¡¯t even waited for elder Cheng to give them the go-ahead before looking around the place with unrestrained glee.


    And that was what made Bai Yunfei suspicious. As unprotected as the pill repository was, there were still protocols everyone in the clan needed to follow. Not even clansmen were allowed unsanctioned entry into this place. The way these four were acting¡­Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t say he had a good feeling about it.


    ¡°Elder Cheng¡­¡± He began to speak. It was best to ask to clear the air in times like these¡­


    ¡°Quiet!!¡±


    The last person to enter the room¡ªa short and stoutly middle-aged man¡ªbrandished his right hand to send a purplish-black beam of light into Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The beam of light sent Bai Yunfei soaring. He crashed through several cabinets before coming to a stop in a corner of the room. Behind him, the wall that stopped his backward momentum cracked and broke into several pieces of wood!


    The middle-aged man brought his hand back as easily as if he had just swatted away a mere gnat. ¡°Haha!¡± he roared in laughter. ¡°That was ridiculously easy! Who knew the Alchemy School¡¯s pills would be this easy to access!¡±


    ¡°Cease your talking and retrieve the pills at once.¡± A gray-haired elder rebuked, ¡°carry on to the other repositories once this one is cleared out!¡±


    ¡°Yes, elder Ceng!¡±


    Responded the three men. Immediately, they leaped to a nearby wall and struck it down to reveal the cabinets behind them. The cabinets all opened up to further reveal all sorts of differently shaped and sized bottles.


    Eyes glittering, the three began to collect all of those bottles at once!


    Elder Cheng didn¡¯t even seem to bat an eye at the violent methods the three men were using to collect the pills. All there was to be seen was a flash of red light in his eyes as he stood with a bow behind the fourth person!


    ¡°The pills of the Alchemy School¡­I highly doubt their best pills will be stored in this place, but these pills will still be very valuable. As long as we have these pills, our school will become the strongest!¡±


    The pointy-chinned elder stood there with a slight smile on his face. He was an Early-stage Soul King, but not even that could stop the faintest of smiles from showing. Just like the short man had said, this elder didn¡¯t expect to be able to get all these pills so easily!


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Something shifting underneath the rubble of wood and clay over in the corner of the room caught his attention. Something was moving there¡­.


    The elder sent his soulsense outwards. The Soul Warrior that had been struck earlier was¡­alive still!


    ¡°Rustle¡­rustle¡­¡±


    Planks of wood tumbled to the ground as Bai Yunfei stirred from underneath. He popped out from the pile with his right hand placed over the spot where he had been struck. Face flushed red, he stared incredulously at the five people in front of him.


    The man who hit him was Late-stage Soul Exalt. His attack might¡¯ve been with hardly any effort, but the power behind it was still definitely enough to kill a Soul Warrior. Fortunately, the armor Bai Yunfei wore was just strong enough to absorb the brunt of the damage and leave Bai Yunfei alive, albeit injured. Even now, Bai Yunfei was having a hard time standing.


    ¡°You¡¯re alive?!¡± The man blinked twice in surprise. ¡°Impossible!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s going on here?!¡±


    Just as surprised as the one who assaulted him, Bai Yunfei had to take a second to register the sight in front of him. It was utterly inconceivable!


    Not only did the ones elder Cheng bring in try to kill him, but they were also ¡®destroying¡¯ the repository!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t understand how or even why they were doing this, but one thing was for certain.


    These people were enemies!


    ¡°A¡­alert! Somebo¡ª¡±


    Breathing in, Bai Yunfei opened his mouth to let out a cry of warning.


    But¡­he was up against Soul Exalts and Soul Kings, did he even stand a chance in calling out for help?!


    ¡°Silence!¡± The pointy-chinned elder barked. A wave of energy pulsated out from his body and shot forth to slam into Bai Yunfei!


    A soul attack!

 Chapter 1034: The Start of Lao Shas Might

    As insignificant Bai Yunfei was, there was no way Ceng Quanshi would let his plans be ruined by having Bai Yunfei call out for reinforcements. The best and fastest way to stop him was to use a soul attack; even if it was overkill!


    A Soul King using a soul attack to kill a Soul Warrior. There wasn¡¯t any other way to describe such an act other than overkill.


    The middle-aged man who struck Bai Yunfei first earlier ceased his attack the moment he saw Ceng Quanshi attack. The other two with him breathed a sigh of relief upon knowing that their plan was still safe.


    But then¡­


    ¡°Aghhhh!!!!¡±


    A shrill scream erupted in the room. But rather than hearing it come from Bai Yunfei, the three men heard it come from¡­Ceng Quanshi!


    All was calm for Ceng Quanshi when he sent out that soul attack. But mere moments later, Ceng Quanshi¡¯s eyes very nearly popped out from his forehead and his face went deathly white before he let out that scream of pain!


    Hi entire body trembled violently. Staggering backward, he fell onto the ground with his hands clutching his head. Not once had he stopped screaming!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    From the other side, Bai Yunfei only felt a strange pulse of energy come from the strip of cloth he wore on his forehead. He only saw the powerful enemy in front of him say something before collapsing to the ground.


    He was confused, but Bai Yunfei still had other things to do. Now wasn¡¯t the time to simply just stand there! Gathering strength to his feet, Bai Yunfei burst out from the room to charge for the outside halls!


    ¡°Alert! Alert! Intruders in the pill repository!!¡± He began to scream at the top of his lungs.


    ¡°Wh¡ªwhat?! Elder Ceng!!¡± The three intruders were stunned. None of them had even the sense to stop Bai Yunfei Ceng Quanshi was screaming on the ground.


    ¡°Not good! Hurry up and kill him!¡± A second elder immediately turned about to chase after Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve gotten the head start, but how could the speed of a Soul Warrior compare to that of a Late-stage Soul Exalt? Bai Yunfei could already feel a gust of wind come rushing at him before the elder was even done speaking. Without even time to turn around, Bai Yunfei was struck at the bottom-right part of his waist and sent flying for the second time today!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    He crashed into the wall perpendicular to him with a mighty thud. Without a supporting wall to rest on, the room Bai Yunfei was in came crashing down to bury Bai Yunfei in it!


    ¡°He¡¯s still alive!?¡± The elder cried out. His soulsense was telling him that Bai Yunfei was somehow still alive!


    How was it possible that a mere Soul Warrior was able to withstand a fully-powered move by him?


    As shocked as he was, the man still had a job to do. A single blade of black wind materialized in the room before jettisoning forward Bai Yunfei. Tearing up the ground as it traveled, the gust of wind wailed with fury to tear up the pile Bai Yunfei was buried in!


    As the gust of wind neared the pile, a small yellow figure suddenly shot out in front of the pile to stop it!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The gust of wind crashed into the yellow figure and disappeared in a mess of black and green light. As for the yellow figure, it flew backward into the pile behind it and laid still for a moment.


    One second later and the figure was back on its feet. It shook its body to dislodge any dust and wood stuck on its body. But not a single black or green light remained around it from that attack!


    ¡°Grrrr¡­.¡±


    As if standing protectively in front of its owner, Lao Sha was crouched lowly on its forelegs and had its fangs bared menacingly. There was no mistaking it, Lao Sha was furious!


    ¡°Is this¡­a halfling?!¡±


    The elder murmured with great confusion. He didn¡¯t understand it, how did a halfling of all things manage to stop another one of his full-powered attacks?! What kind of joke was this?!


    ¡°Stop joking around and kill him!¡±


    The third person with them, an elder with a beard¡ªone not too different to a beard one might see on a mountain goat¡ªcalled out to the elder. In unison, the three Soul Exalts powered up an attack of their own.


    Altogether, a beam of black and green light, a beam of black and violet light, and a beam of pure black light shot at Bai Yunfei and Lao Sha!


    It was certainly a strange sight to see. A Soul Warrior who ¡®just wouldn¡¯t die¡¯, a ¡®halfling¡¯ who could fend off the attack of a Late-stage Soul Exalt, and a Soul King crying out in pain on the floor. The three Soul Exalts were terrified. They didn¡¯t know what was going on. The only thing they knew was to work together to kill off this dog and human pair before making their escape!


    ¡°Bark!!¡±


    Lao Sha let out a strange-sounding bark before crouching even lower to the ground. With one mighty push, the dog leaped from the ground to¡­meet with the three attacks straight on!


    The three attacks converged in on the same place to strike Lao Sha all at once!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Purple, green, and black light exploded outwards and completely engulfed Lao Sha in it!


    ¡°Lao Sha!!!¡±


    Having only just stumbled out from the buried pile, Bai Yunfei let out a cry of fear upon seeing his faithful companion be swallowed up.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    One second later, a single figure came falling out from the explosion of light. Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat upon hearing the pain yelped from Lao Sha, but he was relieved to see the dog get back up on its feet. Aside from the slight shivering, it didn¡¯t seem like Lao Sha was in any danger¡­


    When it was in that explosion of energy, Lao Sha had certainly been in pain, but the anger it felt superseded everything else. It opened up its mouth before clamping down on the nearby air as if taking a bite from it¡­


    Perhaps using the word ¡®air¡¯ wasn¡¯t quite right. What Lao Sha bit on was actually a swirl of violent energy. And when the dog tore its mouth away from it¡­


    A bite-shaped hole appeared in the energy swirls as if the energy there really had been eaten up!


    The hole was there only for a moment before being ¡®filled¡¯ back up by the surrounding energy. But that ¡®hole¡¯ and lack of energy had well and truly existed!


    A seemingly delighted expression flashed across Lao Sha¡¯s eyes once it gulped down. Letting out a second bark, the dog bit down on the energy around it again.


    ¡°Snarf snarf snarf snarf¡­¡±


    Only the sound of a dog biting down on something could be heard from within the light. Lao Sha was devouring the violent energy around it as if it was cotton candy!


    Two to three seconds and roughly a dozen bites were all Lao Sha needed to finish eating the energy around it. With an askew head, the dog opened its mouth at the remaining energy and began to suck in its breath!


    Straight away, the remaining energy flowed into Lao Sha¡¯s mouth like water in a river!


    From the outside, it simply looked like the energy around Lao Sha was dissipating. It wasn¡¯t just the energy around Lao Sha¡¯s mouth, but also the energy around its entire body! Everything was being taken in!


    Another three seconds passed before the energy from the three Soul Exalts was completely taken into Lao Sha¡¯s stomach!


    The only thing that remained where the three attacks landed was a completely satisfied Lao Sha. It didn¡¯t look like it was in pain at all. The meal of energy it had just eaten was just as satisfying as eating a pile of primal stones¡­

 Chapter 1035: Monster

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    No one said a single word as they gaped at Lao Sha. Not even Bai Yunfei could form a single coherent thought¡­


    ¡°Wh¡­what¡­what¡­¡±


    The bearded elder¡¯s face was as white as snow and his eyes as wide as dinner plates. ¡°What kind of monster is this?!¡±


    He thought this dog was nothing more than a halfling! It should have been a halfling! But he couldn¡¯t think this way any longer. This thing was no halfling, it was a never-before-seen monster!


    A monster that could devour energy!


    A soulbeast being able to take in elemental energy wasn¡¯t anything new. It¡¯d be stranger if a soulbeast wasn¡¯t capable of it.


    But¡­


    The elemental energy cast by a soul cultivator wasn¡¯t pure in form. One had to use their own soulforce to shape the energy. This in turn made the resultant mix far more volatile and not capable of being absorbed!


    Not even a class seven soulbeast would be able to disperse of an attack like this in the same manner as Lao Sha had done. The explosive power behind the three attacks was far too powerful for anyone or anything to simply ¡®absorb¡¯!


    No one had ever heard of an ability that allowed for a soulbeast to do that!


    ¡°Grr¡­.¡±


    Being called a ¡®monster¡¯ annoyed Lao Sha. It growled in spite at the misnomer and charged straight at him!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A swirl of black light surrounded the elder as he prepared to send another gust of black wind at Lao Sha. He wasn¡¯t willing to risk getting close to this monster now that he knew what was coming!


    Two black whirlwinds blew towards Lao Sha with the elder¡¯s complete intent to kill the dog. In response, a strange aura started to flow out from Lao Sha¡¯s body. Resonating with the energy around it, the aura quickly came into contact with the black whirlwind and shake it!


    Then Lao Sha opened its mouth wide.


    The two whirlwinds began to move as if they were being pulled in by something. Shrinking in size as they drew closer to Lao Sha, the whirlwinds then¡­flew into Lao Sha¡¯s mouth!


    This felt almost like a magic trick of some kind. A magic trick no one in the room was expecting to see, and most certainly a trick that was spelling despair for the elder who attacked!


    ¡°Im¡­impossible!!¡±


    It was as though his entire world had been rocked to its very foundation. The elder was in such heavy shock that he couldn¡¯t even be sure if left was left and right was right anymore.


    Panicked, he summoned over a dozen blades of wind in an attempt to hopefully kill Lao Sha with one of them!


    Tearing up the ground they traveled over, each blade of wind closed in on Lao Sha with devastating force. The closer it got to Lao Sha, however, the smaller they became. Even more distinct was how the blades of wind were curving towards Lao Sha''s mouth as if being attracted there.


    In the end, the blades of wind had entirely disappeared into its mouth!


    Lao Sha seemed to have gotten some experience with how this ¡®ability¡¯ worked now. A few usages of it and now it was ready to eat away any attack aimed at it. Unobstructed, the dog leaped forward to strike at the bearded elder¡¯s head!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡± The elder screamed out in terror.


    A bubble of elemental energy wrapped around his person as he decided to give up the offense in favor of defense. As the energy hardened around him, the elder kicked off against the ground to gain some distance away from the dog.


    To his utter shock and dismay, however, he was too slow! Lao Sha¡¯s speed was unexpectedly faster than his own, and it didn¡¯t even take more than a few seconds for the dog to be upon him with its fangs bared. Stretching its mouth wide, Lao Sha snapped down onto the elder¡¯s throat!


    In a panicked frenzy to live, the elder took out a shining dagger from his space ring. Hand clasped at the hilt, he reversed the blade and stabbed it as hard as he could into Lao Sha!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    The dagger he was using was a high-earth tier soul armament, but not even that seemed to be strong enough to strike open the skin of Lao Sha. Horror and despair flooded the elder¡¯s eyes once he saw his last-ditch effort fail. His arm fell helplessly by his side while his dagger collided with the ground with a ¡®thud¡¯.


    His neck (and head) was bent at an awkward angle with blood leaking from the upper half¡ªLao Sha¡¯s fangs had perforated the throat!


    The elemental armor the elder wore over his skin hadn¡¯t been enough to protect him!


    The frenzied light in Lao Sha¡¯s eyes had yet to dissipate. Like a bloodthirsty beast, it snarled and pressed both of its hind paws onto the corpse¡¯s chest. Stepping off of it, Lao Sha catapulted itself upwards to reach the pudgily-short middle-aged man!


    ¡°Ahh!! Die!!!¡±


    Seeing their comrade die to the jaws of a ¡®monster¡¯ like this was almost traumatizing to the survivors. Practically beside himself, the short middle-aged man pointed a finger at Lao Sha to send a bolt of violet lightning at the dog!


    It was a direct hit. The bolt of violet lightning made direct contact with the dog. The short middle-aged man wanted to let out a sigh of relief at that. However¡­a figure popped out from the explosion when the lightning bolt struck and was flying towards him as if nothing had even hit it in the first place!


    Another beam of black light shot out at Lao Sha, but the dog was prepared. Opening its mouth wide open, it swallowed the beam of light without any difficulties!


    ¡°Elemental attacks are useless, use your soul armaments!¡±


    A warning was called out from the pointy-chinned elder to the short middle-aged man. Like a wake-up call, this warning was what the man needed to clear his mind and leap up into the air for some distance.


    He cleared another dozen meters of height before coming to a small stop. Lao Sha wasn¡¯t chasing after him, so that meant he was safe in the meanwhile. A purple shortsword appeared in his right hand. Grabbing it, the man dove back down to kill this ¡®monster¡¯ with his companions.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A sudden influx of wind then told the man that something else was coming up to attack him. Snapping his head around, he saw an orange beam of light come flying up at him!


    He was so focused on trying to attack Lao Sha that he almost didn¡¯t leave any time or space to protect himself. The man snarled, this attack was ruining his plans. Surrounding himself with violet light, the man snapped his weapon up to protect himself from the beam of light.


    The man noticed Bai Yunfei recovering from throwing something on the ground below. That attack had to have been from Bai Yunfei then.


    He let out a sigh in relief. Not even the full power of a Soul Warrior would be enough to leave a dent in his defenses¡­


    ¡°Clang¡­crack¡­pcht!!¡±


    His mind came to a sudden stop a moment afterward. The beam of orange light had struck him clean through and paused just long enough for him to see what it was.


    An orange spear. This weapon had somehow managed to pierce through his weapon and still have enough force to penetrate his body afterward¡­


    Fear gripped at his heart. The shortsword he was using was a mid-earth tier soul armament. It wasn¡¯t too powerful of a weapon, but surely it wouldn¡¯t be so weak that it¡¯d snap in half so easily! It didn¡¯t even seem like this orange spear faltered in speed after destroying his weapon or going through his armor to stab deep into his flesh!


    Already the light was starting to fade away from his eyes. He could only stare with half-lidded eyes at the spear embedded in his chest.


    ¡°How¡­¡± He coughed, ¡°could¡­could this be¡­a¡­a heav¡ªa heaven-tier¡­?¡±


    His words were spoken quietly, almost like a soliloquy. Without any vitality to speak of, his body was shutting down and was rapidly falling back down to the ground.


    ¡°Brother!!¡± His companion cried out. The other man had just equipped a clawed glove when he saw the orange spear go through the airborne man¡¯s chest. All semblance of color drained away from his face as he howled in despair at the death of yet another one of his comrades.


    ¡°Aooo!!!¡±


    And in that moment, Lao Sha took the opportunity to unleash another devastating strike!


    ¡°Die!!¡± The pointy-chinned elder snarled vehemently. He disappeared so quickly that only a blur was left behind where he stood. Lao Sha ended up biting nothing but air when the man disappeared.


    He appeared to Lao Sha¡¯s left a split-second later with his clawed right hand poised to dig out Lao Sha¡¯s stomach!


    With how sharp the claws looked, it felt like this man was aiming to yank out Lao Sha¡¯s heart!


    ¡°Pcht!! Ao¡­.¡±


    Blood flew everyone a moment later before Lao Sha¡¯s pained cries echoed through the room!

 Chapter 1036: Its You!

    ¡°What?! How can this be?!¡±


    The surprised cries of the pointy-chinned elder were audible even over Lao Sha¡¯s pained yelp. There was a reason why he was surprised.


    The death blow he was so sure would¡¯ve killed Lao Sha had¡­actually missed!


    When it seemed like his claws were just moments away from tearing apart the soft skin of the dog, Lao Sha¡¯s right hindleg pushed off against the claws! By using the claws as a springboard, Lao Sha was able to throw itself away from the jaws of death!


    As a result, the claws deviated from its path towards Lao Sha¡¯s heart and cut a little lower at its belly, nicking it just deep enough to draw blood.


    ¡°Aooo!!!¡±


    And that was the reason behind Lao Sha¡¯s pained yelps. Infuriated that it was hurt, the dog forced itself to turn around and snap its jaws at the enemy!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Just seeing the dog¡¯s jaws come close to the man felt like if a bucket of ice-cold water had just been dumped over his head. Without anything to lose, the man swiped his right hand at the dog¡¯s neck!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    Unfortunately for him, his attack was just one step slower than the dog. Lao Sha managed to break through his armor and clamp its jaws tightly onto his throat!


    ¡°Rrrrr¡­.¡±


    Lao Sha loosened its jaws. The corpse of the pointy-chinned elder collapsed to the ground with its eyes still wide-open. Even in death, this elder had eyes that seemed almost in disbelief at what he witnessed.


    A Late-stage Soul Exalt was already someone of considerable strength in this world. Dozens of years were needed to attain such a level of strength. The elder had fought many people. Killed many more. And yet, in the end, he died by the jaws of a dog¡­


    Lao Sha took two teetering steps back. The adrenaline running through its body was finally losing its edge on Lao Sha, and the wounds it received was finally starting to take a toll on the dog. The pain in its eyes was even more apparent now.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    In that moment of defenseless, two beams of black and orange light shot at Lao Sha!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The two beams struck against Lao Sha¡¯s body and sent him flying like a bullet!


    The person who screamed just now was Ceng Quanshi. He had finally recovered from the soul attack and was shaking head to toe with anger and killing intent!


    Having the Soul Sentinel Scarf reflect Ceng Quanshi¡¯s soul attack, Lao Sha devouring those attacks, Lao Sha killing the three Late-stage Soul Exalts, and then Ceng Quanshi attacking Lao Sha. A long sequence of events in terms of action, but only a short sequence of events in terms of time! Everything took place within just a few sparse seconds!


    Ceng Quanshi¡¯s mind had been in a state of confusion for the first few seconds. His very own soul attack made things hard for him to even think. And by the time he was fully cognizant of his surroundings¡­three of his underlings were already dead!


    Only a few months passed since Ceng Quanshi became a Soul King. Not even their allies, the Beast Taming School and the Wind Lightning School, knew that the Soul Refining School had one additional Soul King to their fighting force. Ceng Quanshi was meant to be a backup to be shown if needed.


    That also meant Ceng Quanshi hadn¡¯t much experience with soul attacks and why it took him a substantial amount of time to recover from it.


    It was indescribable how the man felt about the death of his three underlings. Horror and anger were two good candidates, but they didn¡¯t truly cover the extent of his emotions. The death of the pointy-chinned elder was the final straw that made him decide to kill Lao Sha right then and there.


    ¡°Lao Sha!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face went pale white at the sight of Lao Sha flying. He wanted to run on over to where the dog was to see if he was alright, but the bigger priority was Ceng Quanshi. Eyes snapping over to the man, Bai Yunfei snarled and raced forward to strike!


    His first thought had been to run away. Fighting these people was logically a bad idea, but seeing Lao Sha with that peculiar ability made him rethink his strategy. By aiding the dog, the two of them were able to kill the three Soul Exalts! That meant the only one left to kill was this rather crazy-looking elder. And to further bolster his decision to fight was seeing Lao Sha injured. Rather than wanting to run away, Bai Yunfei was furious! He wanted to take revenge on this elder!


    He snapped forward like an arrow released from its bow. Passing by the short middle-aged man, Bai Yunfei pulled out the orange spear embedded in the corpse and thrust it at Ceng Quanshi!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    To Ceng Quanshi, it was insulting to see a ¡®mere¡¯ Soul Warrior attack him. A beam of orange and black light manifested in front of his right hand before he sent it forward to behead Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°It¡¯s here!¡±


    Bai Yunfei predicted that an attack like this would come. He already knew of a way to counter it!


    The armor he wore over his chest shimmered slightly as a sliver of soulforce was sent inside!


    Swirls of black light appeared in the space in front of Bai Yunfei to form a large whirlpool of energy!


    Like a droplet of water into the ocean, Ceng Quanshi¡¯s attack disappeared into the whirlpool and out of sight!


    The +10 additional effect of Bai Yunfei¡¯s armor activated!


    +10 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, creating a devouring whirlpool of darkness that negates any elemental attack directed towards the user.Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Pain shot across Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Using soulforce was still something that caused his body to twist with pain whenever he used it, but that couldn¡¯t be helped. The violet ring on his right hand glimmered once with light before flooding his body with a wave of energy!


    That wave of energy was the two-thousand points worth of soulforce stored within the Violet Soul Ring. A feeling of bliss crossed over Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as he experienced the sensation of having soulforce enter his body. The pain he felt a moment ago almost felt like a lie now that he was reinvigorated!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The limestone beneath Bai Yunfei¡¯s feet cracked with each consecutive step he took across them. Clenching his hands tightly, Bai Yunfei brought the spear towards Ceng Quanshi¡¯s eyes!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Needless to say, Ceng Quanshi didn¡¯t expect to see his own attack disappear into the black void. As he stood there, stunned by what happened to his attack, the spear of Bai Yunfei drew closer to his chest!


    Something from the back of his mind stirred then. Something about Bai Yunfei coming at him with a spear seemed familiar¡­


    But why?


    His mind raced miles per second as it tried to place the memory to reality. It was something from three years ago when he was still just a Late-stage Soul Exalt attendant for the Soul Refining School. The entire school was in the middle of mobilizing to deal with an intruder of some kind then¡­


    Back then, one of the elders was struck a near-mortal blow by that intruder. Ceng Quanshi remembered hearing someone talk about the intruder having some kind of ridiculous ¡®arte¡¯ that allowed him to deflect soul attacks¡­


    He also remembered hearing about when a Half-emperor was sent out to deal with the intruder. In that fight, the Half-emperor was said to have an attack of his ¡®absorbed¡¯ by a black whirlpool¡­


    The intruder was also said to have a crimson-red spear and wielded it to a horrifyingly adept degree. Many of the Soul Exalts in the school were killed without mercy like lambs to a slaughter¡­


    A reaper, the survivors called him.


    Ceng Quanshi¡¯s eyes snapped to the spear the person in front of him had. Superimposing the memories of that day three years ago over the person, he began to see a huge overlap¡­


    He quivered. His heart started to beat erratically and the blood drained away from his face. Not even his soulforce was able to keep calm!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s you!! You¡¯re Bai¡ª¡±

 Chapter 1037: The Eventual End of the Enemy

    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The thrust of Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear forced Ceng Quanshi to cut back on whatever he wanted to say.


    Whatever horror Ceng Quanshi felt in his heart was immediately replaced by the desire to live. His mind went blank as he forced his body to act. Bright-orange light flooded out from his body as he threw himself to the side!


    A faint muffled sound brought Ceng Quanshi¡¯s heart to a stop for a second. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± he thought to himself. That sound surely had to be the result of Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear hitting him¡­


    But the pain didn¡¯t come.


    ¡°What?¡±


    He was¡­unhurt?!


    To his complete shock and utter relief¡­Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear had failed to penetrate his barrier!


    ¡°But¡­it¡¯s not him!?¡±


    Joy shot through Ceng Quanshi¡¯s face. He had been too cautious; how could this person in front of him possibly be the reaper from three years ago!


    ¡°Die then!!¡±


    Having no further fears of Bai Yunfei, Ceng Quanshi took the opportunity to strike at Bai Yunfei. As the stronger and faster one, he withdrew a longsword from his space ring and slashed at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat with it!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed. His initial attack might¡¯ve failed to do the trick, but he still had other tricks up his sleeves. Left hand snapping up, Bai Yunfei delivered a slap onto the incoming blade!


    ¡°What!?¡±


    Surprised, Ceng Quanshi watched as his sword made contact with Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand. Rather than see his low-heaven tier sword simply cleave through it, Ceng Quanshi watched as it simply be¡­caught within Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm!


    Sparks went flying when it stopped by Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm, but the sword didn¡¯t do anything else after that!


    Knowing there wasn¡¯t much time to think after he stopped the sword, Bai Yunfei took a half-step back and thrust his spear at Ceng Quanshi again!


    ¡°Shkkkkttt!¡±


    Ceng Quanshi wrestled his longsword away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s grip with ease. Throwing up another barrier to protect himself, he angled his sword so it¡¯d stab into Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    He was confident that he¡¯d be safe. Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear stroke failed to do any damage to him the first time, after all. He¡¯d let Bai Yunfei attack him again before finishing him off with a fatal blow.


    At this, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes gleamed with an uncharacteristically bright light. His right arm bulged slightly as soulforce flowed from it to the tip of the spear, causing the weapon to tremble a little!


    ¡°Whoosh! Pcht¡­¡±


    ¡°Clang¡­¡±


    The weapons of both fighters struck each other at the same time, but at different places. By shifting his body at the last second, Bai Yunfei was able to have the longsword hit his shoulder rather than his throat. Fortunately for him, the armor he wore covered the part of his shoulder that was hit so Ceng Quanshi¡¯s sword did nothing more than cut away his robes and create a few sparks when it hit the armor.


    ¡°But¡­how¡­?¡±


    On the other side, Ceng Quanshi¡¯s face was completely still and his mouth wide open from shock¡­


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear managed to bypass his defenses and his armor to spear him straight through the chest!


    This¡­was the +10 additional effect of Bai Yunfei¡¯s spear! An effect that allowed Bai Yunfei to ignore any earth-type defenses!


    As mentioned before, the majority of soul refiners generally had a secondary element they practiced in addition to elemental darkness. By having a secondary element, a soul refiner could safeguard their true identities as being from the Soul Refining School and also supplement their own training.


    One way soul cultivators trained was by taking in the energy of the world or from the energy of primal stones. In the latter case, elemental darkness was relatively rare, so soul refiners would see to a smaller benefit using primal stones if they didn¡¯t have a secondary element.


    For that reason, the Soul Refining School was a little unique in being able to have many of their students having an affinity for two elements.


    And as things turned out for Ceng Quanshi, his secondary element was of earth...


    And that was the reason why Bai Yunfei was willing to risk his life in this battle: he knew his spear had that +10 additional effect!


    ¡°It worked!¡±


    Bai Yunfei knew his spear just by the fact that his soulforce entered the spear. He was already overjoyed before his spear even made it through Ceng Quanshi¡¯s defense!


    What he was afraid of was having his spear be stopped by the enemy¡¯s armor even after breaking past the barrier. But his fears were for naught, and it seemed that the armor his opponent wore was weaker than the spear he used.


    There might¡¯ve been some resistance from the armor, but Bai Yunfei was ultimately able to pierce through it and stab deep into Ceng Quanshi.


    And that was more than enough.


    For Bai Yunfei had meant for this spear to stab into Ceng Quanshi¡¯s heart! There was no recovering from such a wound after that!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was overjoyed with his victory over Ceng Quanshi, he failed to realize that the elder was still alive!


    ¡°Die!!¡± A wail of despair flowed forth from Ceng Quanshi¡¯s mouth. Like a feral beast struggling to survive, his body exploded with soulforce as he slammed a black misty palm to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face!


    Ceng Quanshi¡¯s last-effort attack was far too sudden for Bai Yunfei to properly dodge. He had only enough time to shift his head back a bit but¡­the palm still managed to hit him in the forehead!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    And just like that, Bai Yunfei was sent flying across the room!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head should¡¯ve exploded like a watermelon being hit with a bat, but luckily for him the palm strike of Ceng Quanshi¡¯s managed to hit him on the forehead where a strip of cloth was. The Soul Sentinel Scarf managed to mitigate most of the damage, but that still left a significant portion of it behind to send Bai Yunfei flying.


    But the strange thing was¡­a sliver of black energy flowed from the Soul Sentinel Scarf down and into his nose!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei came flying back down to the ground ten meters away. Only crashing through a wooden room had stopped him from flying any farther away. The room collapsed in after he fell, leaving Bai Yunfei once again buried underneath a pile of broken planks.


    ¡°Thud!¡±


    Ceng Quanshi fell to the ground as well. Satisfaction in seeing his ¡®hated¡¯ foe struck grievously was prominent in his eyes, but there was also a large amount of reluctance. He knew he was dying, and he was dying quickly, but Ceng Quanshi really didn¡¯t want to¡­


    Things were silent for half a minute. Now that no one was left standing to fight, the entire area was completely calm and still.


    One person was still standing, actually.


    Elder Cheng stood where he originally was with a face dull and sluggard as though he was sleeping. He looked as if he was a man without a spirit or an automaton simply waiting for a command to obey.


    A red streak of light flew overhead a while later to reveal a rather adorable-looking young boy.


    Yao Feiyun.


    His eyes gleamed with a light that seemed uncharacteristically old for his age as he glanced around the room. Eyebrows knitting together, Yao Feiyun tapped a finger to his chin in confusion.


    ¡°What¡­in the world happened here?!¡±

 Chapter 1038: Dire Situations on the Battlefield

    Yao Feiyun was one of the few clansmen that hadn¡¯t taken part in the battle. Instead of him, his soulbeasts, Dao Mao, Er Mao, and San Mao were there on the battlefield and did his share of the fighting. Without the approval of the others, Yao Feiyun was forbidden from entering the battlefield.


    It was the strange bursts of elemental energy coming from the clan compound that caught Yao Feiyun¡¯s attention. He thought it was a mistake at first, but then the full might of Ceng Quanshi was revealed once he started to go all out. That was when Yao Feiyun knew something was wrong. Somehow, a stranger made their way into the city. A Soul King stranger!


    The battle on the outskirts of the city was far too intense to have any reinforcements come back to the city. Calling someone now would only mean precious time would be taken, and time was not a commodity Yao Feiyun could afford to trade in right now.


    As young as he was in age, Yao Feiyun always thought himself to be quite the ¡®manly man¡¯. With the situation as precarious as it was and his father busy with the battle outside, he¡¯d deal with the enemy inside the city himself!


    But by the time he reached the source of it all, the only thing he could see were the corpses of several strangers. The battle was already over.


    ¡°Elder Cheng?!¡±


    The first thing he saw when he reached the ruins of the pill repository was elder Cheng. Surprised, he called out to the elder and drew close to greet him.


    The elder didn¡¯t respond to him. How odd.


    ¡°Elder Cheng?¡± He repeated.


    No response again.


    He pulled at elder Cheng¡¯s sleeves, but the elder simply stood there as still as a statue.


    ¡°Are you alright, elder Cheng?!¡± Yao Feiyun¡¯s heart pounded against his chest. He grabbed at the elder¡¯s wrist and transmitted his soulforce into him, only to go pale in shock!


    ¡°He¡¯s unconscious?!¡± He cried out in disbelief. Something was wrong here. ¡°I don¡¯t get it, how can he be unconscious like that?! What¡¯s going on here?!¡±


    ¡°Awoo¡­¡±


    Yao Feiyun¡¯s ears perked at the sound of something crying out within the vicinity. Scanning the area with his soulsense, Yao Feiyun let out another gasp underneath his breath. ¡°Lao Sha?!¡±


    He dashed nearly a hundred meters away where the bloody and battered figure of Lao Sha laid. Paling at the sight of the open wound on the dog¡¯s stomach, Yao Feiyun touched at Lao Sha with his left hand and fed some soulforce into the dog. His right hand retrieved a red pill from his space ring and quickly turned it into a powdery mist to let fall onto the wound.


    Several seconds passed before the blood started to coagulate and the wound itself start to knit together. Eventually, the wound began to heal at an extremely fast rate!


    ¡°Awoo¡­.¡± The pain reflected in Lao Sha¡¯s eyes was noticeably less than before, but the dog was still barking softly and staring in a far away direction.


    Yao Feiyun¡¯s eyes followed the dog¡¯s gaze shortly before realizing what the dog was getting at.


    ¡°Big brother Tang!¡±


    Disappearing into a blur to reach the pile of rubble where Bai Yunfei was, Yao Feiyun began to use both hands to dig out the rubble to reveal Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei was currently unconscious and had both eyes shut tight. His mouth was quivering and his eyebrows were knitted together as if he was in deep pain.


    Strangely enough, his face was¡­covered by a faint black wisp of energy!


    Meanwhile, on the other side.


    Yao Wuchen was just about to start battling with a Late-stage Soul King from the Wind Lightning School when his head snapped back to look towards Yao City.


    ¡°Something¡¯s happened within the city!¡±


    He was far away from it, but the power released from Ceng Quanshi was still substantial enough for Yao Wuchen to sense it!


    By the time he noticed it, another pulse of energy could be felt within the area where Ceng Quanshi¡¯s aura came from. There was a small blip as the energy source died out before Yao Wuchen sensed nothing else. Both events happened so quickly that Yao Wuchen almost thought he was just imagining things for a moment¡­


    ¡°Crackle¡­¡±


    A bolt of lightning as violet as a plum dropped down from the heavens to strike Yao Wuchen; the battlefield was the last place a person wanted to be distracted from!


    Three golden shields manifested over Yao Wuchen and stopped the bolt of lightning stone-cold. The surface of the shields crackled with energy as the lightning bolt exploded, but they did an excellent job in protecting the person underneath from being hit.


    These were the soul armaments of Yao Wuchen and were one of the strongest the clan had to offer. Each one of them was high-heaven tier soul armaments.


    Concern flitted across Yao Wuchen¡¯s face. He worried for the city, but his opponent wasn¡¯t giving him any time to do anything else other than worry. He¡¯d have to deal with the enemy first before anything else.


    On the other side of the battlefield, a few other people had contemplative looks on their faces.


    One of them was¡­Qin Bangjie!


    The conclusion came to Qin Bangjie faster than it did to Yao Wuchen. Like Yao Wuchen, Qin Bangjie was currently busy fighting the four class seven soulbeasts, but he was still holding up fairly well and even had enough time to look off towards the city with a pleased expression...


    ¡°Did it succeed?!¡±


    To Qin Bangjie¡¯s side was Xu Qianqing. He too knew the circumstances behind the intruder in the city and was looking pleasantly surprised.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Ma Xucheng was noticeably confused. He looked first to the city before turning to stare suspiciously at the soul refiners.


    From there, he managed to catch hold of the satisfaction in Xu Qianqing¡¯s eyes.


    The suspicious gleam in Ma Xucheng¡¯s eyes deepened¡­


    Like him, the Late-stage Soul King from the Wind Lightning School realized that the Soul Refining School had to be behind whatever was happening within the city.


    The world around Ma Xucheng trembled as he used his two class seven soulbeast puppets to force the two class seven soulbeasts and elder from the Yao clan away.


    ¡°Elder Qin, why have you yet begun to fight seriously? What do you mean by this?!¡±


    He was glaring at Qin Bangjie with a look of fury.


    Several minutes passed since the battle started, but Qin Bangjie had yet to actually fight back against any of the four soulbeasts he was fighting.


    Three late-stage class seven soulbeasts and a mid-stage class seven soulbeast. As strong as this was, a Half-emperor should still be able to fight an overwhelming advantage. A complete shut out wasn¡¯t possible, but Qin Bangjie should¡¯ve still been able to make do with a victory sooner rather than later.


    ¡°This one has his reasons!¡±


    Qin Bangjie replied coldly at this ¡®interrogation¡¯. Then, a wave of great power exploded forth from him!


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    Brandishing the blood-red sawtooth weapon in his hand, Qin Bangjie unleashed a black beam of light into the sky which later fractured into several smaller lines towards a giant three-eyed lizard!


    ¡°Boom!! Hssss!!¡±


    There was an explosion where Qin Bangjie¡¯s attack struck the lizard. The lizard flew out from the dust cloud with a shrill cry. The scales where it had been struck were heavily cracked and had green blood flowing out from underneath in copious amounts. This was a heavy blow!


    With just one attack, Qin Bangjie managed to severely hurt a mid-stage class seven soulbeast!


    The entire battlefield seemed to still as they watched the lizard fall. Then¡­everyone began to fight even harder!


    Qin Bangjie was finally showing his true power!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    The same demonic figure from before reappeared behind Qin Bangjie. It¡¯s right arm became a black dragon and flew next at the gigantic python nearby!


    ¡°Hsss!!!¡±


    The late-stage class seven soulbeast hissed loudly and spat a beam of green light out from its mouth to strike back against this dragon!


    ¡°Boom boom boom!!¡±


    The black dragon overwhelmed the python¡¯s attack and exploded against its scales. Like the earlier soulbeast, the python let loose a shrill hiss in anger and pain. Unlike its companion, it wasn¡¯t blown away! It simply reared back for a moment before striking!


    With the lizard needing to be left on the sidelines for the meanwhile, that left three more class seven soulbeasts for Qin Bangjie to deal with. Vast amounts of elemental energy gathered around his body to act as a buffer between him and the soulbeasts.


    These soulbeasts weren¡¯t capable of soul attacks but they were also immune to soul attacks, so Qin Bangjie wouldn¡¯t be able to use any. Were it possible, Qin Bangjie would¡¯ve been finished with this battle a long time ago.


    It didn¡¯t even matter much. These soulbeasts wouldn¡¯t be able to keep on fighting!


    Qin Bangjie had the upper hand. And he wasn¡¯t the only one. He could tell from the battlefield that the Yao clan were losing!


    Everyone was using their strongest attacks to fight and kill now. Countless casualties were being had by both sides, and even the Soul Kings were starting to have a few of their numbers thin out¡­


    As he prepared to kill one of the soulbeasts, Qin Bangjie¡¯s eyes suddenly flicked to an area behind him!


    Yao Wuchen, Yao Tianji, Ma Xucheng, and a few other of the Soul Kings followed suit. They had all noticed the same thing Qin Bangjie did and looked off towards the south!


    Two beams of light were flying swiftly towards the area. Both of the people within these lights were extremely powerful!


    The only question was: Which side did they belong to?!

 Chapter 1039: New Reinforcements/Foes

    One beam of light was dark green and the other an emerald green.


    How strong the people were was still unclear due to the distance, but they were without a doubt extremely powerful!


    Moment after moment, the distance between these two beams of light and the battlefield drew smaller and smaller. Soon, there was no denying the nearly suffocating presence emanating from the two beams of light. These two people were without a doubt Soul Kings!


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Kings!¡±


    Qin Bangjie was the first to voice his suspicions. His eyes narrowed dangerously at the possibilities behind the arrival.


    The conclusion of this battle would inevitably be changed no matter which side these two people joined¡­


    He looked to the men from the Beast Taming School and the Wind Lightning School. If either of the two schools were to look at ease, then these two would most likely belong to their side.


    But¡­


    Not a single member from either schools seemed to be at ease. This¡­this meant these newcomers weren¡¯t reinforcements!


    Truly, this was a mind-numbing conclusion.


    The grim expression on Qin Bangjie¡¯s face grew even more pronounced¡­


    Meanwhile, the elders from the Yao clan were also looking quite grim. If those two incoming Late-stage Soul Kings were enemy reinforcements, then things would look very bleak for them¡­


    It wouldn¡¯t be until the two figures drew even closer that Yao Tianji¡¯s eyes grew wide on his face.


    ¡°This aura¡­¡±


    Disbelief spread across his face. Staring even harder than before, Yao Tianji concentrated on the person within the emerald beam of light. Gradually, the shock on his face took on a happier tone!


    All around him, the elders of the Yao clan were starting to take notice of the same thing Yao Tianji did. They all looked to the person within the emerald light with uncertainty.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Watch out, enemy reinforcements!!¡±


    As if cutting off the relieved voices of the Yao clan, Ma Xucheng roared loudly for everyone else on the battlefield to hear. Forcing back the enemy he was fighting with both of his soulbeasts, he retreated with the others to form a defensive formation.


    That was because the figures within the two beams of light were already within range to attack the three allied schools!


    Once they were within just a kilometer away from the battlefield, the two figures suddenly disappeared!


    Teleportation!


    The Soul Kings grew on high alert at once. They watched as ripples appeared at the edge of the battlefield before¡­seeing two beams of light charge straight into it!


    ¡°Ahh!!! Watch out!¡±


    ¡°Late-stage Soul Kings! Get out of the way!!¡±


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Panic descended upon the Soul Kings from the three allied schools at once. Two Late-stage Soul Kings entering the mix so suddenly was just too much for anyone to handle!


    There was little confusion about why the allied schools were in a panic. They were the first ones the two Late-stage Soul Kings dove at, and with their strength, there was no way the Late-stage Soul Kings wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with them. Not even Ma Xucheng would be able to fend off the two!


    And by the time he realized the enemy was within attacking range, an attack was already coming at him!


    Like arrows cutting through the battlefield, the two beams of light shot towards the area where the Mid-stage and Late-stage Soul Kings were gathering.


    And on their way, the two beams of light crossed paths with two Early-stage Soul Kings. One was from the Soul Refining School, the other was from the Wind Lightning School.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The person within the dark-green beam of light flew past the side of the Early-stage Soul King from the Soul Refining School without slowing down in speed. There was only a sharp gleam of light once the dark-green beam of light passed, and in the next second, the head of the Early-stage Soul King flew into the sky!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    On the other side, the person within the emerald-green light rammed into the Early-stage Soul King from the Wind Lightning School. Like a runaway train, the Early-stage Soul King was powerless to stop himself from being carried onward by the enemy and out of sight!


    Both incidents took only a second to transpire and were extremely powerful. Not even the Half-emperor Qin Bangjie would¡¯ve been able to stop either attack had they attacked him. By the time Qin Bangjie¡¯s eyes readjusted and caught the focus of both enemies, they were already parked on the other side with the Yao clan!


    With the light gone from their figures, it was now possible for everyone to see who these newcomers were.


    One the left stood a tall figure in blue robes and had hair that sprawled across the back of his neck and shoulders. In his hand was an unconscious person¡ªthe Early-stage Soul King from the Wind Lightning School!


    On the right was a rather short person. His robes were gray, tattered, and evidently seemed to have missed a few washing cycles. Not even his hair seemed kept. His face was haggard and his eyes relatively small on his face. All in all, this person seemed almost like a beggar in appearance. The only thing of notice was the fact that a very long longsword was strapped to his back. For a short man, this extra-long longsword made him look all the more strange.


    ¡°Dan Teng!¡±


    ¡°Wu Dijian!!¡±


    Two names were shouted out at once!


    The first came from the Yao clan. They were relieved to see this first person.


    The second came from the allied schools. They, on the other hand, were shocked!


    Both these people were people Bai Yunfei was ¡®familiar¡¯ with!


    One was the owner of the teahouse near Tianhun Academy, the Soothing Heart. Dan Teng!


    And the other was the assistant headmaster of Tianhun Academy, the ¡®Invincible Swordsman¡¯, Wu Dijian!


    What¡­were they doing here of all places!?


    Needless to say, their arrival stunned the entirety of the battlefield. All seemed quiet almost as people stopped their fighting to look up. A temporary ceasefire was had as everyone retreated to their respective sides to stand behind their Soul Kings in nervous attention.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?! Why have those two appeared here?!¡±


    ¡°Ah! Elder Jin is dead! How?!¡±


    ¡°Oh no! Elder Qian has been captured! How could this be?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s Wu Dijian! Wu Dijian the Invincible Swordsman! He¡¯s from Tianhun Academy!¡±


    ¡°Him?! The one who killed two of our Soul Kings half a year ago?!¡±


    ¡°Is it really?! What¡¯s he doing here?!¡±


    The people from the allied schools on the ground were quickly starting to realize who Wu Dijian was.


    ¡°Two Late-stage Soul Kings! They¡¯re here to help us, that¡¯s great!¡±


    ¡°Hey¡­isn¡¯t that seventh uncle? He¡¯s back!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s really uncle Dan Teng! He¡¯s actually back!!¡±


    ¡°I just knew he¡¯d be back! Haha!! Wonderful!¡±


    On the other side, the people from the Yao clan were whooping with joy. They were clearly overjoyed to see two Late-stage Soul Kings join them.


    In the skies above.


    ¡°Seventh uncle, you¡¯re back at last!¡± Yao Wuchen cried out in joy.


    Dan Teng¡¯s eyes flickered from the enemies to Yao Wuchen. ¡°I thought something was off and decided to come back. My apologies for being late¡­¡±


    He looked to Wu Tianji next. ¡°Big brother.¡± he nodded slightly.


    Like Yao Wuchen, Yao Tianji was delighted to see him. Nodding back at him, Yao Tianji smiled. ¡°Let us deal with the enemy first before we talk.¡±


    Now wasn¡¯t the time for the two to catch up on old memories.


    Everyone looked back to their enemies. Wu Dijian¡¯s eyes scanned across the many different Soul Kings in front of them. ¡°The Soul Refining School, the Beast Taming School, and the Wind Lightning School¡­I can see Qin Bangjie, Xu Qianqing, Ma Xucheng, and He Changkai¡­tsk. No wonder I didn¡¯t see them for a while, they were all here¡­¡±

 Chapter 1040: Retreat

    An eerie silence lingered around the battlefield now that no one was fighting. The people on the ground were anxiously waiting for the command to come from the top while the Soul Kings were also anxiously waiting for the other side to make a move. All they needed was a single hostile maneuver and they¡¯d immediately resume the fighting.


    The stalemate between the two sides was broken in terms of numbers. The allied schools lost two members while the Yao clan gained two more. If a battle were to break out again then things wouldn¡¯t look good for the allied schools. Not even Qin Bangjie would be able to make up for the difference. Four class seven soulbeasts were one thing, but these two Late-stage Soul Kings wouldn¡¯t be as easy¡­


    The Yao clan being able to control a large army of soulbeasts was just a temporary setback that could be resolved with time. Qin Bangjie just had to kill the soulbeasts around him and then he¡¯d be able to clean up the rest of the battlefield and lead the troops to victory. All they needed was time.


    What advantage the allied schools had was now gone. The arrival of Dan Teng and Wu Dijian made sure of that. Should the allied schools resume their attack, their best case scenario would most certainly be a pyrrhic victory¡­


    Everyone¡¯s eyes naturally gravitated towards Qin Bangjie. He was the strongest one there and the acting leader of the allied schools, though the Wind Lightning School and Beast Taming School might not see him as such. No one would dare do anything if Qin Bangjie wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°....¡±


    The robes around Qin Bangjie¡¯s face blustered in a way that masked his emotions from the others. His eyes scanned the Yao clan for a brief moment before switching over to the city behind them¡­


    ¡°First elder, I believe Ceng Quanshi should be back from his mission soon¡­¡±


    Xu Qianqing¡¯s voice spoke to Qin Bangjie, but neither of the two seemed to look at all like they were talking. Like Qin Bangjie though, Xu Qianqing was looking towards the direction of Yao City.


    Qin Bangjie came to his decision. The soulforce within his body started to quicken a bit, causing the others around him to tense up. ¡°We¡¯re withdrawing!¡± He barked.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Gasps were heard as they realized what Qin Bangjie just said. Though many were already hoping for the retreat command to be given, they thought that it¡¯d be more likely they¡¯d have to continue fighting. To have Qin Bangjie retreat was quite a surprise.


    The soul refiners began to retreat the moment he gave the command as if they already anticipated this!


    ¡°Hold on! Elder Qian is still in their hands!¡±


    The Late-stage Soul King from the Wind Lightning School barked. What he expected was to have one final excursion to see if they¡¯d be able to fight Dan Teng and Wu Dijian to reclaim one of their own. But a rescue would be impossible if Qin Bangjie gave the order to retreat now.


    Qin Bangjie sent a cold glare at him. ¡°Be my guest if you wish to save him. I won¡¯t stop you.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± Elder He roared¡ªhow could he possibly save him if Qin Bangjie and his troops weren¡¯t willing to help?


    Ma Xucheng came to a decision of his own as well. Waving his hand, he gave all the beast tamers the order to retreat while also using Soul Communication to speak with He Changkai, ¡°The enemy is stronger than we thought. We stand to lose more if we fight now. Let us go back and plan some more¡­¡±


    He Changkai¡¯s eye twitched at the ¡®reconciliatory¡¯ message of Ma Xucheng. He wanted nothing more than to curse out loud at this moment. It was the Soul Refining School and Wind Lightning School that ¡®lost¡¯ one of their own. The Beast Taming School had essentially lost nothing.


    Just listening to Ma Xucheng right now felt like the Beast Taming School was taking happiness over their losses.


    He Changkai gave one final look to the unconscious elder Qian in Dan Teng¡¯s arms. ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡± he snarled.


    Like the receding tide, the forces of the three allied schools began to withdraw from the battlefield. Disappearing into the mountain forests, they left the people from the Yao clan standing there in silence.


    Was¡­was the enemy really going to leave just like that?!


    The silence didn¡¯t last for long. Multiple people began to whoop with joy shortly afterward!


    The enemy had really retreated!


    Having never fought in a war like this before, the Yao clan had been extremely stressed and anxious about the whole affair. To be able to successfully defend their home against the invaders replaced the fear in their hearts with joy. Several of the clansmen couldn¡¯t even fight properly during the war, and many of them fell victim to the enemy once they realized they were out of their depths¡­


    Ten minutes.


    The war didn¡¯t even last for ten minutes and the Yao clan suffered tremendous losses. This war was a baptism for the clan and rudely awakened them to the cruelty of war. Their army of familiars might¡¯ve killed plenty of their enemies, but just as many familiars were also killed.


    It felt like a nightmare to the clansmen. For once in their life, the flames of hatred fanned at their hearts with fervor and desire to see their enemies thoroughly destroyed.


    The battle was over and the enemies weren¡¯t all dead. But they were at the very least beaten off. That was still a victory!


    None of their fellow clansmen and familiars would have to be sacrificed for the time being.


    All there was left to do was clean up the battlefield. The enemy didn¡¯t take away their dead before they left, so the Yao clan did it for them. Cleaning up the corpses of humans and soulbeasts alike, the Yao clan quickly stored everything and returned to the city.


    The only thing to remain on the outside of the city were the gulches, craters, and blood. Some places were fully saturated with blood and were especially chilling to see from afar¡­


    Meanwhile, Yao Wuchen, Dan Teng, Wu Dijian, and the others returned to the heart of the city to discuss what to do next.


    Wu Dijian looked this way and that as they walked towards the halls. He was deeply interested in the culture of the city and occasionally clicked his tongue in excitement when he saw something of interest. Sometimes, he¡¯d even mutter to himself under his breath.


    It wasn¡¯t until they reached the halls when Wu Dijian spoke out at last to Dan Teng. ¡°Hey now, Dan Teng, my friend. What a shock it is to hear that your Alchemy School established a city here in the Qimang Mountains of all the places! What a shock, I say! Never would I even think about this place if you didn¡¯t bring me here to begin with. I wouldn¡¯t have even believed the legendary Alchemy School still existed and was here¡­¡±


    A bitter smile appeared on Dan Teng¡¯s face at Wu Dijian¡¯s words.


    ¡°The Alchemy School¡­no longer exists, only the Yao clan. We haven¡¯t participated in the power struggles of the outside world for two thousand years¡­I thought we¡¯d be able to hide, but in the end, we were still found out¡­¡±


    A look of consternation appeared on Wu Dijian¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s been one thing after another after the rebellion started! The enemy has been doing one mysterious thing after another, there¡¯d inevitably be something they know that we don¡¯t. Who knows how many years they spent planning this rebellion. I was certainly caught off-guard!¡±


    Dan Teng sighed. The great chaos that was spreading across the continent made him feel almost helpless. The world of soul cultivators was ruined now that conflict and strife were appearing one after another. He had planned on staying neutral as the sole clansmen to be on the outside, but fate was not allowing it. Not even the Yao clan was safe from fate anymore.


    His time in the Capital was not entirely hidden. The strong that resided within the Capital knew of him, but not of his background. They only knew him as a ¡®mysterious¡¯ person that seemed content to simply live in pseudo-isolation. Those types of people weren¡¯t exactly rare in this world, and no one was really willing to investigate who he or his eighteenth ancestor was.


    But the soul cultivator world was in ruins now. Wars both big and small broke out across the continent on a daily occurrence. With Soul Kings joining the fray, the number of casualties were skyrocketing, especially when it came to those with injuries to the soul.


    His tea didn¡¯t have the same level of ability pills had, but they worked wonders with stabilizing the soul and were similarly very difficult to get a hold of.


    The Soothing Heart was seeing plenty of customers nowadays because of that. Many of his patrons would often sit in there in the teahouse and tell news of what was going on over the continent.


    Then one day, he heard that the rebel army had suddenly given in and many of the Soul Kings on the continent had suddenly disappeared without a trace somewhere.


    He also heard news that a lot of adventurers were disappearing near the Qimang Mountains in the Western River Province.


    It was a rather small piece of news since adventurers disappearing wasn¡¯t anything new. The place they traveled to were often dangerous and every year plenty of adventurers would disappear to their deaths.


    But Dan Teng saw a connection between those two pieces of news. By connecting one piece to another, he came to a very fearful conclusion¡­


    Though he wasn¡¯t sure if his fears were unfounded or not, Dan Teng decided he couldn¡¯t afford to just sit there. Leaving the Capital, he made his way over to the Qimang Mountains as fast as possible!


    As for why Wu Dijian was here, that was actually a complete accident¡­

 Chapter 1041: Soul Puppetry

    With how close Tianhun Academy and the Soothing Heart were to each other, it was inevitable that Wu Dijian and Dan Teng meet one another eventually.


    And so a friendship was formed.


    It all started with Wu Dijian and his innate curiosity for Dan Teng. As a carefree man who enjoyed poking his nose in things he was interested in, Wu Dijian was always asking Dan Teng about the mysterious tea he offered. There was one time where Wu Dijian tailed Dan Teng when the latter was out ¡®scavenging¡¯. That attempt turned out to be useless once Dan Teng realized he was being tailed and shook him off.


    But today, Wu Dijian succeeded.


    It was because of his worry for the Yao clan that Dan Teng let down his guard. He also didn¡¯t hear about Wu Dijian returning a little earlier than expected from a battle a few provinces away. The two actually met up while Dan Teng was on the way to the Qimang Mountains and Wu Dijian managed to keep up with him until the very end¡­


    By that point, Dan Teng didn¡¯t even care about Wu Dijian anymore. He was far more concerned about the allied schools after he found traces of their being in the area. If anything, having Wu Dijian here with him meant having one additional ¡®helper¡¯.


    Wu Dijian¡¯s assistance proved to be extremely crucial, as things turned out. Dan Teng never could¡¯ve imagined that such a battle was breaking out in his absence.


    As for Wu Dijian, the man was having a very hard time believing that he had stumbled across the remnants of the legendary Alchemy School¡­


    Soon, all of the Soul Kings were gathered and situated at the great halls.


    Yao Wuchen didn¡¯t bother to enter the halls when they touched down. He simply stood there with a gaze off towards the west as if waiting for something.


    A few minutes later, several figures came running into the wide open space where Yao Wuchen waited. It was a group of Soul Sprites.


    Three young men in their twenties ran as fast as they possibly could before saluting and greeting Yao Wuchen and everyone there. ¡°Clan¡­clan elder!¡± One gasped, breathless from how fast they had been running. ¡°Bad news! The enemies invaded the western repositories and¡­.destroyed it!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Gasped several of the elders.


    ¡°What happened? Were any of our clansmen killed?!¡±


    Now that the battle was over, Yao Wuchen could dedicate his time in investigating the source of that blip in aura earlier. Nothing seemed to have happened since its first occurrence, so Yao Wuchen didn¡¯t think it was something of critical importance.


    Hearing that a repository was destroyed, however, was something of great concern.


    ¡°No! No one from our clan was killed! Only a trainee was situated there. He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s in a heavily injured state right now. The young master is treating his wounds as we speak¡­¡±


    ¡°A trainee? Feiyun is there?! Where are the intruders? Did they escape?¡±


    ¡°N-no¡­¡± Gulped the male. ¡°The intruders were¡­all killed by the trainee¡­¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Yao Wuchen blinked. Were the intruders flies? How did a trainee of all people kill them? He could¡¯ve sworn he felt the aura of a Soul King!


    ¡°How many intruders were there? How strong were they?¡±


    ¡°There was fiv¡ªfour in total¡­three were Late-stage Soul Exalts, and one¡­one was an Early-stage Soul King¡­¡±


    This time, Yao Wuchen wasn''t the only one to look visibly shocked. Everyone else with him stared at the man in disbelief.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go take a look.¡± Yao Tianji spoke.


    ¡°Please. I¡¯ll go inside and coordinate our future efforts then.¡±


    Now was the time to heal. Plenty of their clansmen and familiars were heavily wounded by the war, and time would be needed for them to heal. Most of them were already back in their places of residence to wait. With the clan distributing the pills, it wouldn¡¯t take long for anyone to recover from their wounds.


    Everyone but Wu Tianji headed inside the halls and sat down on their chairs with a sigh. As short as the battle was, the amount of effort they expended was disproportionately large. Some of the Soul Kings were feeling very fatigued in fact.


    ¡°Seventh uncle, this person is¡­¡± Yao Wuchen motioned towards Wu Dijian.


    ¡°He is the assistant headmaster of Tianhun Academy, Wu Dijian.¡±


    Wu Dijian bowed to everyone there. ¡°Hello everyone. This one is named Wu Dijian. I am very pleased to be acquainted with the legendary Alchemy School.¡±


    ¡°We thank you for your assistance in our affairs today, sire.¡± Yao Wuchen confessed.


    ¡°It was nothing much. Dan Teng is a friend of mine. A friend in need is a friend indeed.¡±


    Dan Teng took a moment to introduce Wu Dijian to everyone there before asking Yao Wuchen about the crux of the matter. ¡°What is going on within the clan? When did the Soul Refining School arrive?¡±


    ¡°They arrived at the Qimang Mountains over a month ago, but it took only now for them to find this city. This was their first attempt to besiege us¡­¡±


    Dan Teng grew silent to ponder about what he was told. ¡°They¡¯re prepared, those three schools. I shudder to think of what would happen had we not all those familiars tamed. But even if they¡¯re gone now, they¡¯ll be back soon. Things do not look very optimistic¡­¡±


    Yao Wuchen nodded. ¡°Our enemies know we are here now. Even if they have no way to invade our city, they won¡¯t let up the assault. Should they receive any reinforcements¡­¡±


    ¡°The way I see things, there¡¯s no point in ¡®hiding¡¯ away from the world anymore. There¡¯s nowhere left to hide. We might as well ask for reinforcements of our own, such as the Tianhun School, Crafting School, the Fire and Water Schools¡­They¡¯re all powerful in their own rights. Perhaps they¡¯ll be enough to drive off the enemy schools.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Certainly, this was a very enticing idea to think about. Many of the elders were already very keen about this option; it might be their only saving grace, after all.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid time is of the essence. We have no time to spare to wait for reinforcements to come¡­¡±


    ¡°Then¡­we might as well fight our way out! Rather than wait for them to come, we should strike and kill them all first!¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± An elder shot to his feet. ¡°That is not something we can easily do! Let us say we follow this plan and fight our way out. What happens to those without power in our clans? And the civilians within the city. What would happen to them?¡±


    ¡°.......¡±


    Wu Dijian had no answer for that. To have the clan abandon the lives of everyone within the city just so they could make it out was very distasteful.


    Things grew silent in the hall as people sat there. No one knew what the proper thing was in this case.


    Someone entering the hall caught everyone¡¯s attention. Standing there at the entrance were two figures who had just teleported into the area.


    One was Yao Tianji. And at his side was a dazed elder Cheng.


    Yao Wuchen looked almost surprised at the stern look on his father¡¯s face. The dazed look on elder Cheng¡¯s face didn¡¯t help either.


    ¡°Father, what¡¯s¡­¡±


    It worried him that elder Cheng was still completely catatonic. ¡°Elder Cheng? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Soul Puppetry!!¡±


    Yao Tianji didn¡¯t answer his son. It was Wu Dijian that gave the answer.


    ¡°You know what this is?¡± Yao Tianji rounded on Wu Dijian, ¡°What is this Soul Puppetry?¡±


    The two words seemed to worry Dan Teng. ¡°Brother Wu¡­are you saying elder Cheng was afflicted with Soul Puppetry?!¡±


    ¡°That is exactly what I¡¯m saying. A very elementary form of it.¡±


    ¡°Soul Puppetry is a nefarious technique from the Soul Refining School.¡± Dan Teng began to explain to the rest of the clan upon seeing their confusion. ¡°To put it simply, a person¡¯s soul becomes controlled, effectively turning them into an existence like a puppet!¡±


    ¡°What?! How could there be such a technique like that!?¡±


    An aghast expression appeared on Yao Wuchen¡¯s face. ¡°Are you saying elder Cheng is being controlled? Then wouldn¡¯t that mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Yao Tianji nodded, ¡°the reports mention elder Cheng being the one to bring those intruders in¡­.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Yao Wuchen was shocked. He never imagined that the intruders would¡¯ve used one of their own to enter the city.


    ¡°How is elder Cheng then, right now?¡± He looked to Wu Dijian. He was perhaps the only person that knew the answer to that here.


    ¡°The usage of Soul Puppetry means destroying the consciousness of a person. Any person afflicted by it is effectively dead. There is no saving him¡­¡±


    Everyone grew silent again. This was a terrible piece of information to hear.


    ¡°There was one other important matter I found in addition to elder Cheng!¡± Yao Tianji spoke after a moment¡¯s silence.


    ¡°What matter is it?¡± His son was confused, what other matter could there be as important as this?


    ¡°The one who killed the intruders, the guard of that repository, is the outsider Feiyun brought back with him. There¡­is something wrong with him!!¡±

 Chapter 1042: He is...Bai Yunfei!

    ¡°What?!¡±


    The noise level within the hall spiked as everyone chattered to one another. They all felt unsure how to react. Whatever else could there be as important as the matter with elder Cheng? Especially if it had to do with a single trainee.


    ¡°One moment, father¡­are you saying it was the trainee that killed the intruders? All of them!?¡±


    A single trainee guard killing the Soul Exalts and Soul King? It was a preposterous idea! No one would even entertain such a thought if not for Yao Tianji saying it himself¡­


    Yao Tianji nodded. ¡°A few other trainees were watching. There¡¯s no doubt about it.¡±


    ¡°But¡­how?¡± Yao Wuchen asked. ¡°That trainee¡­is the one Wang Tong and Feiyun brought back the other time, isn¡¯t he? The ¡®amnesiac¡¯...didn¡¯t he ingest a dreamcalling pill?¡±


    ¡°That is the very same one.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? What outsider was brought back?¡± No longer able to contain his curiosity, Dan Teng prodded Yao Tianji for an answer.


    ¡°About a month ago, when we didn¡¯t know who these intruders were or what reason they came here for, Feiyun, Wang Tong, and Kai Wen went to the outer ranges of the Qimang Mountains and came across a scouting group. We found out they were from the Soul Refining School and learned about their intentions after interrogating them. The three also brought back with them a single ¡®villager¡¯ who was only just awakening to his soulforce. Due to an injury of some kind, he was said to have lost his memories. A dreamcalling pill was given, but it had little effect. He failed to become a Soul Sprite even after Wang Tong gave him a fireseed pill. It was decided for him to be stationed as a guard at the western repository after that¡­the same place those intruders went to. They fought there, and according to eye-witnesses, two of those intruders were bitten to death by a dog and the other two were killed by a spear¡­¡±


    The story grew harder and harder to believe the longer he explained. Everyone looked at one another in disbelief. Did any part of this story make sense? They didn¡¯t think so¡­


    Knowing what the others were possibly thinking, Yao Tianji stared at everyone there. ¡°I, too, thought it was ridiculous. But after I saw this ¡®Tang Long¡¯, I was startled to see that¡­he is by no means a ¡®villager who just awakened to his soulforce¡¯ as Feiyun says he is!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that, father?¡±


    ¡°On his body¡­were seven heaven-tier soul armaments!¡±


    ¡°Crack crack crack¡­¡±


    Several teacups fell and shattered onto the ground. Their owners had seemingly lost grip of the cups once they heard this news. It was hard to blame them. How could anyone remain calm after hearing that?


    ¡°Se¡ªseven heaven-tier soul armaments?! Are you saying Tang Long has seven of them?! How!?¡±


    A voice quivered from the right side of the group. It was the overseer of the western repository, elder Yu. Hearing Bai Yunfei being said to kill those intruders was hard to believe. Hearing him have seven heaven-tier soul armaments was even harder.


    ¡°Have you been paying close attention to him, elder Yu?¡±


    ¡°I¡­I have not¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve been a lowly trainee, what attention was needed?


    ¡°Then have you ever wondered about the two bracers on his arms? Or the gloves he wore? Or the many space rings on his fingers? Or the armor he wore? Or even¡­the cloth he wore on his forehead?¡±


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Elder Yu stammered. What could he say? He never once thought about it. He didn¡¯t even know Bai Yunfei had any space rings. As an elder, the man had more important things than take a look at the accessories any trainee wore. If anything, elder Yu figured Bai Yunfei had no space ring to begin with.


    ¡°Then allow me to tell you this. All those items I explained, barring the space rings, are all heaven-tier soul armaments! As is that spear he used to kill the two enemies! And half of them are mid-heaven tiers!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Elder Yu could hardly believe his ears. Maybe he was still on the battlefield and this was the work of an enemy illusion?


    ¡°Hey hey¡­why does this sound somewhat odd?¡±


    Wu Dijian muttered to himself. He leaned closer to Dan Teng to whisper, ¡°Two bracers, two gloves, a cloth wrapped around his head, and a mid-heaven tier spear¡­that¡¯s what he said, yes?¡±


    ¡°What are you getting at, brother Wu?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing¡­I¡¯m probably overthinking it¡­¡±


    He continued to mutter to himself. For a while, he just sat there and thought to himself before he noticed several people were giving him a strange look. ¡°That person¡­¡± He finally said at last, ¡°the one you¡¯re talking about, does he have the Core¡­a small stone on him?! A stone shaped like a square seal?!¡±


    Several members blinked. What did he mean by that?


    ¡°You¡­you know about it?! There was indeed a small bracelet he wore with a small stone on it. I didn¡¯t sense anything strange about it, however¡­¡±


    ¡°Crash!!¡±


    The chair beneath Wu Dijian went flying along with his teacup when he immediately stood up. ¡°Was the glove on his right hand of the fire-type? And the one on his left metal-type? Was his spear a fire-type? Did he have with him a soul armament that¡¯s shaped like a brick?!¡± Wu Dijian looked almost beside himself with excitement.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Yao Tianji was so surprised with these questions that he started to answer them before he thought about it. ¡°How did you know about his gloves?! But the spear was an earth-type, and I didn¡¯t see any brick-shaped soul armament with him¡­¡±


    ¡°Earth-type?¡± Wu Dijian repeated. That didn¡¯t make sense. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, please take me to him! I have to see him!¡±


    Dan Teng had been confused about what Wu Dijian was getting at until the part about the ¡®fire-type spear¡¯ was mentioned. His eyebrows flew to the top of his forehead as he snapped his head towards Wu Dijian. ¡°Brother Wu,¡± he gasped, ¡°you can¡¯t possibly be talking about¡­there¡¯s no way!¡±


    This caught everyone¡¯s immediate attention. ¡°You two¡­know this person?¡± Yao Wuchen asked at once.


    Wu Dijian was already hopping on both feet repeatedly, ¡°Bring me to him at once, please!¡± He pleaded a little impatiently.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    There stood a spacious courtyard within the clan compound. Two figures sat at the stone table in the courtyard¡¯s garden. One figure was Yao Feiyun and the other was a middle-aged woman dressed in white robes.


    ¡°Mom, why did grandfather and everyone else come rushing over? They even told us to look after big brother Tang, why? And when will he finally wake up? Should I¡­give him another soulmending pill?¡±


    Yao Feiyun spoke rather lazily. He was fiddling with his fingers as he stared off at one of the rooms near the courtyard. The confusion and concern he was feeling could easily be detected by the way he spoke to the person with him.


    The woman smiled. Fondly petting the head of Feiyun, she replied, ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. Your grandfather and father are taking care of everything¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­I kn¡ªeh?¡± His head snapped up to stare towards the entrance of the courtyard. Ripples of energy were starting to form from space before opening up to show a group of people hurrying out from behind.


    ¡°Dad! Grandfather!! What are yo¡ªis that uncle Dan Teng?! You¡¯re back!¡±


    He was smiling at first upon seeing the faces of his grandfather and father. He moved to greet the two when he took notice of Dan Teng next to him and cried out with surprised joy.


    Hardly anyone in the crowd seemed to notice him, however. Led by Yao Tianji, everyone walked straight towards a particular room.


    The doors slammed open as Wu Dijian rushed through them to be the first to enter the room.


    Like the wind, he rushed to the first bed he saw with a person resting inside. The moment when he saw the person sleeping on there was the moment he froze up¡­


    Yao Tianji¡¯s eyes narrowed suspiciously upon seeing Wu Dijian freeze up. With his son, the two walked briskly into the room after him.


    ¡°Brother Wu, is it rea¡ª¡± Dan Teng was the second to enter the room. His eyes were looking for the bed as he entered and froze just like Wu Dijian did when he found what he was looking for.


    ¡°Haha¡­it¡¯s him! It¡¯s really him! Somehow, it¡¯s really him! He¡¯s alive! Hahaha! Hahahaha!!¡±


    A roar of laughter erupted from Wu Dijian.


    Yao Tianji and Yao Wuchen paused where they stood. ¡°Seventh brother,¡± Yao Tianji asked Dan Teng, ¡°do you really know him?! Who¡­who is he?!¡±


    The look of absolute wonderment on Dan Teng¡¯s face was hard to miss when he turned to look at Yao Tianji. Regulating himself by breathing in and out, he spoke:


    ¡°He is¡­Bai Yunfei!¡±

 Chapter 1043: He Must be Saved!

    ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    Yao Tianji and the other¡¯s repeated. This was not a name they knew or were familiar with. Who could this person be?


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t he named Tang Long?¡± Yao Wuchen asked, ¡°why do you say he¡¯s named Bai Yunfei then? Who is this person and how do you know him?¡±


    ¡°He is¡­not a man that can be so easily described with words¡­¡± Dan Teng replied hesitantly. He was still having a hard time believing what he saw. ¡°But nonetheless,¡± he sighed, ¡°he is a very amazing person¡­


    ¡°I just never thought that he was still alive¡­and here of all places! Thank the heavens and earth for this! Our clan has a chance now!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Yao Wuchen spoke, ¡°Seventh uncle, what do you mean by that? Our clan has a chance? What makes you say that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true! We¡¯re saved! Everyone can be saved! Even the civilians in the city! Everything here can be saved¡­everything!¡± Crowed Dan Teng. ¡°As long as he is here¡­¡± he pointed at Bai Yunfei, ¡°our clan¡¯s chances of survival explode exponentially!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    No one knew what Dan Teng was getting at. The words he was saying made sense grammatically, but they weren¡¯t sure about the meaning behind them. How could a single person be that crucial? ¡°Seventh brother¡­could you explain? How would Tang¡­this Bai Yunfei person be able to solve our problems? He¡¯s just a Soul Warrior. He wasn¡¯t even able to break through with a fireseed pill. Having this many soul armaments might be proof that he was someone of extraordinary means before, but now¡­what use has he to us?¡±


    ¡°What was that? A Soul Warrior?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?!¡±


    Both Dan Teng and Wu Dijian exclaimed at the same time, though for different reasons. It was because of his conversation with Yao Tianji that Dan Teng cried out loud, but Wu Dijian was inspecting Bai Yunfei¡¯s pulse at the time when he howled in terror.


    ¡°A Soul Warrior?! He has the strength of a Soul Warrior?! How in the world?!¡±


    His hand moved to press against Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead next. ¡°The Soul Refining Palm! Damn! How did his originseed get this weak?! What in the world happened to him?!¡±


    Dan Teng rushed to the bedside at once. ¡°Let me take a look!¡±


    Wu Dijian obliged. He knew there was no other person better to help Bai Yunfei now that he knew who Dan Teng was.


    Concentrating hard with his hand on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead, Dan Teng breathed in and out for two seconds before looking as worried as Wu Dijian¡­or even more worried, in fact!


    ¡°How¡­did this happen? How did his soul become this weak? Can one even have enough willpower to live through something like this? It¡¯s¡­¡± Dan Teng sputtered.


    ¡°Dan Teng, my friend, what are you saying? Can you heal him or not?¡±


    ¡°Worry not,¡± Dan Teng stood up to face his friend. The bewildered tone in his eyes was gone and replaced with grim determination. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely find a way to save him!¡±


    Within the halls of the Yao clan compound.


    Yao Wuchen, Yao Tianji, and various other men sat on their chairs in silence as they watched Dan Teng sip his tea in heavy thought. Everyone didn¡¯t know what to say right now. After hearing about Bai Yunfei¡¯s story, none of them even felt like they were capable of standing up. If a story was meant to be like water when spoken about, then Bai Yunfei¡¯s story was like a tidal wave during a storm. His story churned and smashed at the hearts of everyone who listened.


    ¡°A single man¡­sowing such destruction into the Soul Refining School and even defeating the avatar of the Soul Emperor headmaster¡­was this really be done by that Bai Yunfei?¡±


    Dazed, Yao Wuchen found himself asking this almost-rhetorical question.


    ¡°It was. Everything has already been verified without any falsehoods.¡± Dan Teng nodded. ¡°The battle at Swallow City three years ago surprised everyone. And once news of what he did to the Soul Refining School came out the entire world was shocked. In fact¡­the conspiracy of the Soul Refining School was supposed to start those three years ago. It was only because of Bai Yunfei and the damages he did to the Soul Refining School that they didn¡¯t go through with their plan until later. The chaos today was only started half a year after.¡±


    ¡°But from what you said about him, this Bai Yunfei was only a Mid-stage Soul King. How was he capable of those amazing things at such a level like that? The avatar of a Soul Emperor can¡¯t be so easily destroyed¡­¡± An elder sighed in disbelief.


    ¡°That is just proof of his strength. From the very start of his legacy, everything Bai Yunfei has done has been thought to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, among those at his level of strength. It is because of the extremely rare arts he practices and the awe-inspiring soul armaments he wields that gives him a unique advantage over everyone else. His true strength can¡¯t even be properly evaluated through the use of common sense in our world. Our rigid structure of power hierarchy is simply just a suggestion when it comes to him. You¡¯ve seen proof of that. Take a look at his current state. In this state, he was able to kill a Soul King! What else could this be but proof!¡±


    ¡°And you said¡­he has the Regalia, the ¡®Core Stone¡¯?!¡± Yao Tianji spoke. ¡°That small stone he wears over his chest? How will that be of assistance to us?¡±


    Now came the important point of the discussion. There wasn¡¯t a point discussing any other topic but this one. The eyes of everyone there was glued to Dan Teng as they waited with bated breaths for his response.


    ¡°Because! The Core Stone is a soul armament like none others when it comes to spacial manipulation. Inside the Core Stone is a miniature world. As long as we are inside, our clansmen, civilians, familiars, and even possessions, then no one will be harmed! All we need to do is have a few of us break free from this besiegement and get away, a feat far easier to manage!¡±


    ¡°The Core Stone¡­a world within the Core Stone¡­¡± Yao Tianji muttered to himself. ¡°Indeed, there won¡¯t need to be any concerns to anyone within this city dying if this is the case. We wouldn¡¯t have to worry about our people being killed then. Our clan will have the chance to live on¡­¡±


    ¡°Precisely! If the legends are true, then our clan will be saved!¡± Another elder nodded with vigor. ¡°But Dan Teng, your desire to save this Bai Yunfei¡­will be a hard one. The elders have already checked on him, and you as well, this Bai Yunfei is The chances of him making a recovery are slim¡­¡±


    ¡°That is true, but in the end, we only require the Core Stone¡­¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not!!¡± Dan Teng interrupted with indignation, ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­must be saved!


    ¡°The Core Stone has already accepted Bai Yunfei as its master, meaning it won¡¯t allow itself to be used by anyone else. If by chance Bai Yunfei dies and the Core Stone becomes without a master, that doesn¡¯t mean anyone else can use it. It¡¯s a Regalia, a soul armament with a spirit. We have no idea about this spirit. If we can¡¯t become its master following Bai Yunfei¡¯s death, what will we do then?


    ¡°Futhermore, we must remember one thing about this¡ªBai Yunfei is a very special person with a very special background. Saving him is something we as a clan should heavily consider. Our clan cannot hide from the world anymore. We¡¯ll be known throughout the continent soon enough. Therefore, we must plan ahead accordingly. Bai Yunfei is a valuable member of the Crafting School. If we save him, then the Crafting School will look favorably to us. We, in turn, will have a valuable ally in the world and have one problem less to think about.


    ¡°And if by chance the Crafting School learns that we not only let Bai Yunfei die without helping and ¡®stole¡¯ his Core Stone¡­then we will simply be jumping out from the wok and into the fire. We might be able to escape one calamity with the three allied schools, but we will have to consider the added anger of the Crafting School.¡± Dan Teng summarized.


    ¡°Furthermore, Bai Yunfei has a deep relationship with Tianhun Academy, and by extension with Wu Dijian here. If we don¡¯t save Bai Yunfei, then¡­I believe Wu Dijian will take Bai Yunfei with him and leave this place. The Core Stone will be beyond our grasp then as well¡­¡±


    A heavy and uncomfortable silence descended upon the crowd as they digested the words spoken by Dan Teng.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that we ¡®aren¡¯t willing¡¯ to save him, but that it can¡¯t be done! You said it before, the damages done to his soul is extraordinary. It¡¯s amazing that he even managed to survive that, let alone being able to live right now! And now that the Soul Refining Palm has been added to the mix, it¡¯s like oil has been added to the fire rather than water. All the pills we offer him now won¡¯t be very effective. Saving him simply cannot be done.¡±


    ¡°No! There has to be a way to save him!¡± Dan Teng boomed with anger. ¡°If it¡¯s ¡®that¡¯ pill, then it¡¯s possible!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t mean¡­¡±


    Inhales rang through the crowd as the realization hit them.


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Bellowed the elder who spoke before, ¡°that is the treasure our clan has safeguarded for two thousand years. How could we even possibly think about giving it away to an outsider of all people? I forbid it!¡±

 Chapter 1044: A Single Pill

    It wasn¡¯t just this one elder that was against Dan Teng¡¯s idea. Multiple others frowned at the thought. Just looking at the faces of half of them was enough to show that they didn¡¯t agree with Dan Teng.


    ¡°Everybody,¡± Dan Teng preluded, ¡°our clan is up against an unprecedented level of danger. A misstep will see to fate destroying our clan. In a time like this, material possessions are inherently useless. What is the point of these pills if we don¡¯t use them? That pill¡­and the other heirlooms of our clan have been protected for so long. Haven¡¯t they been stored away for a time like this when our clan is in a crisis?¡±


    ¡°Your words have merit, but the pills passed down within our clan were meant to be used by our clansmen. How could we give them to an outsider?


    ¡°Our enemies today include a Half-emperor. If we are to consider using this pill, would our clan head or the previous head not be the best choice? The both of them are Late-stage Soul Kings. They could perhaps become Soul Emperor if they borrow the pill¡¯s power! And if they don¡¯t, then we can at least be safe knowing we have a Half-emperor! Our side will have a Half-emperor to fight off theirs!¡±


    ¡°That is true,¡± Dan Teng nodded, ¡°But what about Bai Yunfei? If we cannot save him then we won¡¯t be able to use the Core Stone. What will we do about our clansmen and the civilians? Will a Half-emperor or even a Soul Emperor be able to protect the entire city? We were able to see how strong our enemies were today, but what about the future? How many more enemies will show up? If a Soul Emperor shows up¡­or even a Half-emperor¡­what will we do then?¡±


    ¡°We¡­¡± Protested the same elder, ¡°if the enemies have even stronger methods than what they showed today, wouldn¡¯t they have used it?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps they are afraid of something and decided to save it for later? The three allied schools are extremely powerful. It is without a doubt that each of the three has some kind of secret up their sleeves. It¡¯ll be too late for regrets if we wait for them to pull out those said secrets¡­¡±


    Dan Teng just had to sigh at the hesitance on everyone¡¯s faces. He knew the misgivings they had about giving their treasured heirlooms to an ¡®outsider¡¯. It was a choice he wished he didn¡¯t have to make, but it had to be done.


    ¡°Wuchen, you are the clan head. What do you think we should do?¡± He asked Yao Wuchen. Asking the elders for their thoughts was pointless. It would only serve to give them more time to think of reasons against Dan Teng¡¯s idea.


    Everyone turned at once to Yao Wuchen. Dan Teng was right. Yao Wuchen was the current head of the clan and thus the ultimate deciding factor in any choice to make. The elders would comply with his choice even if they didn¡¯t personally agree.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Yao Wuchen looked uncomfortable. He had misgivings of his own, to be frank. Though he had been clan head for the last few years, he never had to deal with a conundrum as important as this one. Choosing the wrong choice here could possibly spell doom for the clan.


    It was almost inevitable that Yao Wuchen turned to look to his father by his side.


    Compared to everyone else in the hall, Yao Tianji looked rather calm. He never spoke a single word until now, as the problem was something even he had to think for a while before answering. Once he saw Yao Wuchen look his way, the father smiled. ¡°Dan Teng is right, you are the head of the clan. The usage of our heirlooms is up to you to decide. Follow what¡¯s in your heart to make the decision. I have faith in your choice¡­¡±


    A little numb, Yao Wuchen nodded at his father¡¯s statement. He looked back to Dan Teng with renewed determination. ¡°Seventh uncle, do¡­do you really believe Bai Yunfei is worth investing so heavily in?¡±


    ¡°I do!¡± Dan Teng replied at once and with utter conviction.


    ¡°Very well then! I¡¯ll choose to believe you, seventh uncle! If you have so much confidence in this Bai Yunfei, then I¡¯ll believe in him too!¡± Yao Wuchen boomed.


    ¡°The hopes of our clan will rest upon Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Yao Feiyun and his mother were still sitting in the same courtyard as Bai Yunfei was in. Feiyun had his chin resting on his palms as he sat there in curiosity to listen to the person rambling next to the bed.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless, we can¡¯t even send any soulforce into his body to treat him. This is the Soul Refining Palm of a Soul King we¡¯re talking about, of course it¡¯ll be difficult to remove¡­


    ¡°His soul¡¯s too weak, I can¡¯t even imagine how it got to be this bad to begin with¡­just what is that strange energy protecting his soul?


    ¡°You¡¯ve been gone for three years, was it because you lost your memories?  So how in heaven¡¯s sake did you manage to make it here to these heaven-forsaken lands and live for three years?


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t matter right now. You¡¯re alive. Everyone thought you were dead these past three years. There¡¯s only a few that believe you to be alive; hell, they¡¯re still looking for you¡­and they were right. I¡¯ll have to let them know¡­


    ¡°Maybe I should call them now? I just need to tell the Crafting School, I¡¯m sure the crafters will come sprinting over. They¡¯ll be of great help in this case too then¡­¡±


    ¡°No no¡­it¡¯s too dangerous. I can¡¯t leave right now. I have to make sure he gets healed. Who knows when the Soul Refining School will decide to attack the Yao clan again? If anything, I have to make sure I protect him!


    ¡°But what exactly has to be done to treat that damage to his soul? Is it even possible to treat it?


    ¡°I can¡¯t think that way. This is the legendary Alchemy School! They have to have some kind of miraculous pill. A panacea of some sort. Dan Teng said he¡¯d treat him, so there has to be a chance!


    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡±


    Wu Dijian¡¯s footsteps were practically wearing out the floor he was walking circles on top of. His hair somehow became even more frazzled after his incessant mussing of it. This entire time the Yao clan elders were discussing what to do, Wu Dijian was here in Bai Yunfei¡¯s room pacing and pondering to himself. He seemed almost crazy with how he¡¯d hesitant about something, ask a question, answer his own question, and then argue against the answer in one endless cycle. One would certainly agree that this man didn¡¯t seem entirely there, all things considered.


    Yao Feiyun¡¯s mother had her son secure in her arms, as if afraid that Feiyun would somehow be infected by whatever it was this man had.


    ¡°Oh? They¡¯re here?!¡±


    Wu Dijian suddenly stopped his pacing to look up. Staring at the entrance, he watched as Yao Wuchen and Dan Teng come striding into the room.


    It was only them two here. The rest of the elders were all either recuperating from their wounds or managing the rest of the operations within their clan. The battle was over for now, but there was still plenty to do until the next one.


    Wu Dijian drew close to Dan Teng, ¡°How is it, my friend?¡± He pleaded anxiously, ¡°Have you thought of a way to save Bai Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Be at ease. If nothing grows wrong, then Bai Yunfei will be able to make a full recovery.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Stars lit up in Wu Dijian¡¯s eyes, ¡°He can really be saved?! You have a way?!¡±


    Dan Teng nodded and looked to Yao Wuchen next to him.


    Yao Wuchen said nothing. Now was a time for action, not words. Stepping closer to Bai Yunfei, he sucked in a deep breath before taking out a small white bottle from his space ring. With a glow of red light from his hand, he smashed the bottom into dust.


    The moment the bottle was turned to dust was the very same moment when it seemed like a star shot forth from Yao Wuchen¡¯s hand. A warm white light enveloped the room immediately and flooded out everything else. There was also a sweet fragrance to this object that left everyone spellbound as if they had just sipped on a wine left to mature for many years¡­


    Wu Dijian found himself frozen still where he stood. An indescribable sensation flowed across his body and took with him any semblance of thought. Memories of the things he experienced in his life started to resurface in his mind, leaving him intoxicated by the nostalgia¡­


    ¡°Wha?!¡±


    One second later, Wu Dijian shivered heavily and shook his head to clear away the sluggedness that was in his mind.


    For a moment there, Wu Dijian had been completely out of it!


    He stared at the transparent capsule that was left in Yao Wuchen¡¯s hand. ¡°What¡­what is that pill?!¡±


    Dan Teng didn¡¯t reply. He simply just watched Yao Wuchen as the man floated the pill next to Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth. Opening the male¡¯s mouth, Yao Wuchen floated the pill and had him eat it.


    The intoxicating aura and smell disappeared from the room the moment Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth closed. Wu Dijian could even swear that he could see a white light travel down Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat and into his stomach¡­


    ¡°Whew¡­¡±


    Yao Wuchen exhaled slowly. The muscles in his face slowly unwinded as he spoke, ¡°All there¡¯s left to do is wait¡­¡±


    ¡°Was¡­was that all?!¡± Wu Dijian exclaimed. ¡°Just like that?!¡±


    Dan Teng slapped the man on the shoulder with a smile, ¡°Yes, just like that. How else did you think? We of the Yao clan use pills, and that¡¯s just how pills work. We just need to wait for the pill to take effect now.¡±


    ¡°But just a single pill?¡± Wu Dijian continued to ask, incredulous by the simplicity of the affair. ¡°Your talks of saving Bai Yunfei was just this single pill? How¡¯s that going to help him?¡±


    ¡°What, you don¡¯t believe me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t¡­¡± Wu Dijian began, ¡°but what kind of pill did you have him take?¡±


    Dan Teng smiled.


    ¡°The Truth of Reincarnation!¡±

 Chapter 1045: Truth of Reincarnation

    Outside Yao City, the camps of the three allied schools were set up with many of the strongest gathered within the largest tent.


    Qin Bangjie sat upon his soft seat with his right hand clutching the armrest. The veins in that said arm were bulging outwards from the exertion of him grabbing onto that armrest. The chair was made of top-notch steelwood and capable of enduring plenty of stress, but not enough that it¡¯d survive Qin Bangjie¡¯s wrath. Crackling and groaning as though it was on the verge of splintering, the chair seemed almost ready to burst as Qin Bangjie quivered on it.


    Xu Qianqing strode in at that moment. Entering through the flaps, the man looked up and saw how angry Qin Bangjie was. Fearful by the sight and feeling unwell at the stifling atmosphere, he gingerly approached the man. ¡°First elder¡­¡±


    The atmosphere grew even worse.


    ¡°How many did we lose?¡±


    ¡°Fifty Soul Exalts, ninety Soul Ancestors, and a hundred and thirty Soul Sprites¡­¡±


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    Unable to endure it any longer, the armrest exploded into thousands of splinters. Clutching at nothing now, Qin Bangjie let loose a flood of chilling killing intent everywhere and effectively froze Xu Qianqing still!


    If it was possible, Qin Bangjie¡¯s heart would¡¯ve been bleeding blood with how he felt right now.


    The depression! The resentment! The humiliation! The anger!


    It wasn¡¯t just because of the news Xu Qianqing gave him, it was primarily because of the failure of the other plan!


    What should¡¯ve happened was for Ceng Quanshi to successfully invade one of the pill repositories. From there, he and his helpers should¡¯ve taken all that they could and return to the school with them. That way, the Soul Refining School should¡¯ve been given a part of the soup before the Beast Taming School and Wind Lightning School could be served their share. From there, the three schools just had to destroy the Alchemy School and share the rest of the ¡®spoils¡¯.


    That¡¯s what should¡¯ve happened.


    But it wasn¡¯t!


    The strength of the Alchemy School was beyond their calculations! The army of familiars made their supposedly ¡®easy¡¯ invasion all the more harder, and then there was the sudden arrival of Dan Teng and Wu Dijian to talk about! Qin Bangjie felt even more dejected just thinking about it. The only thing they could really do by that point was to just retreat.


    If they didn¡¯t succeed with the invasion, Qin Bangjie was at least betting on Ceng Quanshi to accomplish his task. Having their school enjoy a taste of their future loot before the others would¡¯ve made the loss far more bearable.


    But Ceng Quanshi never returned! No matter how long they waited, the man¡ªor his subordinates¡ªnever returned! That was when Qin Bangjie went to check on the soul tablet of Ceng Quanshi and his subordinates.


    Only to find them in pieces!


    They were dead!


    He nearly went mad at that. Within all the realms of possibilities Qin Bangjie conjured up, none of them included the possibility of Ceng Quanshi failing!


    He was so confident that the Alchemy School wouldn¡¯t have anything powerful hidden up their sleeves. The Alchemy School should¡¯ve had all their most powerful out to fight outside the city. Ceng Quanshi should¡¯ve been free to accomplish his task without any enemies! He should¡¯ve been successful!


    But like the invasion, this plan of his ended up being a failure!


    If this entire plan was a fishing trip, and the invasion was the bait, then Qin Bangjie lost both the bait and the fishing rod! There was nothing in Qin Bangjie¡¯s hands to show for his troubles!


    That was what made Qin Bangjie truly furious. This was the biggest loss the Soul Refining School had to speak of in this invasion effort!


    ¡°First elder, men from the Beast Taming School and Wind Lightning School have arrived¡­¡±


    The flames of anger were forcibly squashed within Qin Bangjie¡¯s heart. He had to reign himself in and impose some calmness back into his mind. His eyes followed the speaker¡¯s voice to the entrance of his tent.


    There was a faint ripple as He Changkai and Ma Xucheng teleported into the tent.


    The two of them looked strange.


    Qin Bangjie raised an eyebrow, ¡°Did something happen?¡±


    ¡°The students in charge of monitoring the city has given their report. Something¡­inside the city has changed!¡± He Changkai announced.


    In the evening, within Yao City.


    Dark clouds hung in the skies above the city. Normally, such a night would¡¯ve been a nice and peaceful one. But the civilians were all staring anxiously at the moon. Rather than being calmed by the normal sight of these clouds, it felt like these clouds were spreading a mournful miasma that made the civilians want to weep.


    The battle was not a kind one to the citizens of the city. Many of their loved ones took part in this battle and were injured. Many more were killed. For the family of those killed, tonight was a night of mourning.


    Any student of considerable power within the clan was rushing back and forth. Many were trying to quell the calm. Others were tending to the wounded. Even more were attempting to strengthen the guard as if afraid that the enemy would strike at any moment¡­


    Off in the courtyard where Bai Yunfei was currently recuperating. This courtyard was built and decorated the same way as the other, but there was a difference in that a red hue of light surrounded it. It seemed like the local space of the courtyard was slowly being cooked by some sort of invisible heat source. Not even the plantlife within the courtyard was spared. Most of them were brown and withered into husks already.


    Two figures sat at a stone table located at the center of the garden there. Completely unaffected by the heat around them, they spoke and chatted with one another as though nothing was wrong.


    ¡°I say, brother Dan Teng. It¡¯s been half a day now, why hasn¡¯t anything happened yet? When will Bai Yunfei return back to normal?¡±


    The speaker, Wu Dijian, was looking to the room where Bai Yunfei was sleeping in. He was concerned over the fact that Bai Yunfei was still completely unconscious.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just ask me that a minute ago? The Truth of Reincarnation is already doing all it can do, we just need to wait. From what our clan knows of it from the records, it takes one to six days for the effects to show. In short, it¡¯s dependent on Bai Yunfei being able to complete his ¡®Reincarnation¡¯ in his dream. Not only should he regain his memories and strength, but he should also be able to gain a huge boost in strength. He was a Mid-stage Soul King before, becoming a Late-stage Soul King wouldn¡¯t be impossible now.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t recall you saying something like that before.¡± Wu Dijian looked relieved upon hearing that. ¡°But¡­does this ¡®Truth of Reincarnation¡¯ really have such a magical effect like that? Allowing someone to relive their current incarnation and reconstruct their soul and cultivation in a ¡®dream¡¯. That¡¯s essentially being able to retrain the mind for double the insights and results, is it not!?¡±


    ¡°That is indeed what the records say.¡± Dan Teng replied patiently. ¡°But that¡¯s based on what the ¡®records¡¯ say. Whether it¡¯s true or not remains to be seen.¡±


    ¡°My my¡­a single pill having such an extraordinary effect like that?¡± Wu Dijian leaned backward in heavy thought. It felt unreal that such a pill could exist, but he didn¡¯t doubt Dan Teng. Regulars pills from the era of the Alchemy School two thousand years ago were considered ¡®legendary¡¯ in this current era, but this specific pill was ¡®legendary¡¯ even then. In truth, he heard mention of a pill like this by name a long time ago. He just never thought that he¡¯d actually be able to lay eyes on it¡­


    The Truth of Reincarnation. A high-heaven tier pill with effects that denied the common sense in this world!


    For in this one pill, the entirety of a person¡¯s cultivation was contained within!


    Once ingested, the person undergoes a dreamlike state where they ¡®relive¡¯ their life. By doing so, one may ¡®reincarnate¡¯ their experiences and ¡®relive¡¯ their insights to further hone themselves!


    And thus, the pill was called the Truth of Reincarnation.


    The most important aspect of this pill lied in the first noun of the name, rather than the later. For¡­the ¡®Truth¡¯ expounded upon by this pill was an important one to soul cultivators. It was named as such due to the Law of Truth!


    The Truth of Reincarnation was initially meant for a person to ingest if they wanted to gain insight into the Law of Truth! A pill meant for a Soul Emperor to use!


    Soul Emperors could begin to gain insight on the secrets hidden behind the Law of Truth while Soul Kings and anyone else weaker than that could not. It was a sign that differentiated Soul Emperor from the ranks beneath.


    In fact, one could not even be considered to be a proper Soul Emperor without a proper understanding of the Law of Truth.


    That didn¡¯t mean understanding the Law of Truth was easy. Many Early-stage Soul Emperors would die in their journey to understand this law and be unable to become a Mid-stage Soul Emperor.


    One might simplify the Law of Truth by saying a Soul Emperor needed absolute mastery over the nature of their own element, meaning they had to understand anything and everything to that element.


    When a person is born, they must experience and learn everything about this world without any prior knowledge. A blank slate. This blank slate would eventually be filled with knowledge, but that required time to do. The Truth of Reincarnation allowed one to relive their current¡¯s incarnation in this life. To be able to re-experience everything with the repository of knowledge they already had. A soul cultivator could use that slate of knowledge retrospectively to gain additional insights. Any ¡®epiphany¡¯ experienced before now had the option for even more knowledge to be gained. The possibilities were endless¡­


    Recovering lost memories and healing the soul were only ¡®minor¡¯ side-effects of this pill.


    It can be said, in that case, that using the pill on Bai Yunfei for him to regain his memories was a tremendous waste. It was akin to undergoing surgery in order to heal a small cut¡­


    With the help of this pill, would Bai Yunfei be able to recover and gain a tremendous amount of power?


    ¡°Clang¡­clang¡­clang¡­¡±


    The sounds of a metallic bell began to ring, interrupting the conversation Dan Teng and Wu Dijian were having. The sounds were coming from the entire city!


    Dan Teng leaped to his feet to stare at the skies. ¡°They¡¯re attacking?! Why so soon?!¡±

 Chapter 1046: Kickstarting Another Battle

    Chaos shot through the city as its citizens began reacting to the bells. The streets emptied out as the civilians ran for safety within their own homes while the soul cultivators prepared for battle.


    Streaks of light shot this way and that as the soul cultivators gathered. Some leaped from rooftop to rooftop while others skywalked to converge on the walls protecting the city.


    Distortions in space appeared as Soul Kings stepped out from them one after another. The roars of several soulbeasts alerted everyone to the presence of the class seven familiars with them.


    ¡°Damn! It hasn¡¯t even been a day, why are they attacking so fast!¡±


    Dan Teng cursed to himself with a quick glance over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s room. ¡°Did¡­did they realize something¡¯s happening with Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    Wu Dijian glanced at the elemental fire spreading in the sky. ¡°It¡¯s possible. Perhaps they decided it was better to attack now than wait later and be greeted with a different problem.¡±


    He looked over to the faraway walls. ¡°This will be their second assault. Have¡­reinforcements arrived then? Or have they decided to use whatever trump cards they were initially hiding?¡±


    ¡°I have to join this fight! I leave Bai Yunfei to you, brother Wu!¡±


    ¡°You can leave it to me!¡± Wu Dijian nodded. ¡°Stall for time if possible. Our best case scenario is to force them to retreat. That¡¯ll give Bai Yunfei time to recover and me to join in the fight!¡±


    Dan Teng waved his hand to open up a distortion in the space in front of him. Nodding one last time to Wu Dijian, he stepped through it and appeared several kilometers away towards the area where everyone else was gathered at.


    Hundreds of the disciples of the Yao clan were gathered upon those walls by now. And nearly a thousand familiars were also standing by their side with their auras showing. At a glance, the walls were completely filled with man and beast and the skies above peppered with Soul Exalts.


    And above those Soul Exalts stood the Soul Kings. Yao Wuchen, Yao Tianji, and the other Soul Kings were all floating there with their familiars.


    A few of the Soul Kings looked unwell. They were still recovering from the previous battle and had yet to resume their full fighting strength. But still, they managed to recover just enough strength to add a considerable amount of firepower to their side¡ªthe recovery of a Soul King was still astoundingly fast.


    Dan Teng appeared in the sky next to Yao Tianji. ¡°Brother.¡± He greeted the man.


    ¡°Hn.¡±


    Yao Tianji¡¯s eyes gazed over to the back of Yao City. ¡°How is that Bai Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°His condition has stabilized, he should be fine now. I estimate a full recovery after a day.¡±


    ¡°A day¡­¡± The strong aura emanating from the enemy side made Yao Tianji a little unsettled. ¡°I¡¯m afraid the enemies won¡¯t be giving us that much time¡­¡±


    ¡°Are there only Soul Kings? Where are the others?¡± Dan Teng commented upon observing the state of the enemies.


    On the other side of the battlefield stood not even ten glows of light. Qin Bangjie stood among those numbers along with the other Soul Kings of their allied forces.


    But not a single Soul Exalt, Soul Ancestor, or even Soul Sprite could be seen standing with them.


    ¡°Perhaps they don¡¯t wish for any more casualties to their forces¡­¡± Yao Tianji muttered. ¡°It matters little for the weaker forces to take part as long as we Soul Kings are here. That¡¯s fine¡­that means none of our clansmen will have to sacrifice themselves¡­¡±


    ¡°That is one way of looking at it, yes,¡± Dan Teng muttered, ¡°we just need to bide enough time for Bai Yunfei to recover. We can use the Core Stone to protect the civilians from harm. From there, we can fight without reserve and break free from this besiegement!¡±


    ¡°Bide time until he recovers¡­¡± A determined light started to shine in Yao Tianji¡¯s eyes. ¡°Then¡­we defend this place to our deaths!!¡±


    Any misgivings or concerns he had about the enemy forces was useless to think about. The survival of the Yao clan and the civilians of Yao City was resting entirely on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders. They just had to have confidence in him!


    ¡°Are there no new Soul Kings among them? What could they be thinking about?!¡±


    Dan Teng exclaimed. Judging by what his soulsense was telling him, the number of Soul Kings on the other side was exactly the same as when they retreated the first time!


    It didn¡¯t even matter if the Soul Kings from the Beast Taming School were to release their class seven soulbeast puppets¡ªthe number of Soul King-leveled fighters from the enemy side was lower than the ones from Yao City! If they excluded Qin Bangjie from the equation, then the fighting force of both sides was essentially equivalent¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s possible they¡¯ve more hiding somewhere. Be careful when you fight!¡± Yao Tianji growled with concern. ¡°Prioritize your defenses. Don¡¯t pursue them and just stall for time. A battle of attrition or forcing them to withdraw suits us best!¡±


    Today, the clan was devoting all their efforts to prolonging the battle. They had fast-acting pills to quickly recover their soulforce, so they had the advantage in terms of endurance. Things would be fine as long as they endured.


    ¡°Just as we expected!¡±


    On the other side, the Soul Kings from the allied schools were all staring past Yao Tianji and the others. Behind him in the city was an area with a large amount of red light pulsating outwards.


    ¡°Is someone cultivating there? Are they trying to make a breakthrough? Is this a technique of the Yao clan? Why is it so peculiar?¡±


    As the strongest and most familiar with the attempt to become a Soul Emperor, Qin Bangjie was the one most familiar with what this strange red light meant. The light felt mysterious to him, but also extremely powerful as though some type of great power was hidden inside of it. It felt suffocating almost.


    And if it was ¡®suffocating¡¯ to a Half-emperor like him, then that meant this type of phenomenon was something to be alarmed about.


    ¡°All of the Yao clan¡¯s Soul Kings are here, so¡­is that someone they were hiding? Did he not participate so he could focus on breaking through? Is this¡­him about to break through?!¡±


    The idea of a Soul Emperor being born here flustered Qin Bangjie. ¡°Will there be a Soul Emperor here?! It¡¯s not impossible¡­hmph! What wishful thinking, to put up the last resistance here!¡±


    A burst of killing intent flew out from his body. He was determined to do battle now. Kicking off against his foothold, Qin Bangjie flew towards Yao Wuchen and the others with a cry!


    ¡°Kill them!!¡±


    Powerful auras exploded one after another as the allied Soul Kings flew at the Yao clan Soul Kings!


    The skies became a mixture of color as Soul Kings from both sides exploded with light. The light from the Yao clan overlayed one another as the Soul Kings stood there in a single line, like an impenetrable fortress to fend off the invaders!


    No words were spoken after Qin Bangjie. It was time for the second battle for the city!

 Chapter 1047: Berserk

    Qin Bangjie was the first to take action. Black clouds invaded the skies to cover the entire lands below in darkness. Black light shined down from the clouds like snakes to converge together in the space above Qin Bangjie¡¯s head. Soon, a giant demonic figure was fully formed and roared loudly as though it was alive. Mimicking Qin Bangjie¡¯s motions, the demonic figure extended its right hand forward and swiped it at the enemy Soul Kings!


    The palm area of the demon¡¯s hand shined brightly with black light. A giant ¡®spear¡¯ of black light protruded from the palm to attack Yao City like one would use a stick to smash a watermelon!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    The Soul Kings from the Yao clan acted immediately. Flying towards the giant spear from every direction, each of the Soul Kings glowed with a brilliant light to divert it from its destination.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The world trembled with an explosion loud enough to shake even the heavens when the two forces collided. All sorts of multi-colored light flew away from the black spear¡ªthe blowback from forcing the spear away was still strong enough to send all of the Soul Kings backward.


    But they did it! The united strength of all the Soul Kings managed to stop the black spear from hitting Yao City. How terrifying that the strength of a Half-emperor could be this powerful!


    ¡°Woosh whoosh whoosh!!¡±


    The Soul Kings from the allied forces attacked the Soul Kings from the Yao clan with ferocity, as if trying to not give the enemy any time to catch their breaths. The Yao clan Soul Kings fought back just as fiercely, determined to not give an inch to the invaders. Streaks of light every color of the rainbow exploded like fireworks in the sky as the combatants collided with one another!


    Each of the Soul Kings from the Yao clan fought relentlessly. They were determined to stand their ground here and not let the enemies gain even an inch on them!


    The land and sky beyond Yao City was no longer a peaceful landscape, but now a terrifying battlefield where Soul Kings fought with vigor. Some parts of the battlefield had the Soul Kings fighting one on one, other parts had multiple Soul Kings fighting together. As for Qin Bangjie, he had four familiars, Yao Wuchen, and Yao Tianji, fighting him all at once.


    The allied schools were down two Early-stage Soul Kings and the Yao clan up with Dan Teng, meaning the Yao clan had the advantage in numbers. Even with Qin Bangjie fighting six Soul Kings by himself, the other parts of the battlefield leaned more towards the Yao clan in terms of numbers. At a glance, it really did seem like the Yao clan had the upper hand¡­


    ¡°Roar! Roar!! Roar!!¡±


    But not long after the battle began, the battlefield was temporarily greeted with the roars of several beasts!


    The soulbeast puppets of the Beast Taming School!


    Ma Xucheng was calling out his soulbeast puppets at last. The first to appear was a giant horse-shaped soulbeast bathed entirely in flames. Ignoring the attacks of the kangaroo-like soulbeast, the horse soulbeast weaved past the sickle arms of the praying mantis and bit down furiously onto the praying mantis!


    ¡°Skreee!!¡±


    Unable to dodge it in time, the praying mantis let loose a screech of pain and fury!


    Green light exploded from the soulbeast onto the horse soulbeast, creating several wound marks onto its body and further exacerbating its condition. Blood and flesh fell from the horse¡¯s body with each passing second, but still the horse¡¯s jaw remained clamped on the praying mantis¡ªit was as if the horse didn¡¯t even notice the pain!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A giant blue winged-frog slammed into the horse soulbeast with a mighty crash. It was attempting to force the horse to detach from the praying mantis.


    And while the frog succeeded in doing so, the soulbeast puppet managed to tear away a large piece of flesh away from the praying mantis!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    As if avenging its comrade, a humanoid soulbeast with an ox-head slammed into the aquatic frog. The two flew off in a perpendicular direction from the horse soulbeast, spraying blood as they went from where the ox-head¡¯s horns gored the frog¡¯s scales.


    That left the praying mantis free from being killed, albeit still heavily injured. Blood flowed freely from where the horse bit down on it. A green light shined over the surface of its body before concentrating around the wound. In very little time, the green light faded away to reveal new skin over where the wound was. Though it looked healed, the aura of the praying mantis was substantially lower than before. The healing of its own wound was only superficial.


    ¡°Neigh!!¡±


    No longer hindered by the frog, the horse soulbeast puppet was charging back at the praying mantis! The blood spilling from its wounds was seemingly fueling the flames around the horse, causing them to explode in intensity and size. Though it charged furiously at the praying mantis, blood was still dripping in copious amounts from places such as its nose and mouth¡ªbut it didn¡¯t seem aware of the bleeding.


    And so the two soulbeasts clashed again with the praying mantis being the one lesser off this time! It was losing!


    It was a horrifying battle that left many of the Soul Kings from the Yao clan startled. The pupils in Dan Tang¡¯s eyes dilated at the sight.


    ¡°Be careful! It¡¯s gone Berserk! Don¡¯t fight that soulbeast puppet!¡±


    Berserk. A special method of the beast tamers that allowed for their puppets to disregard any damage done and also bring out all of their puppet¡¯s strength. Though simple in principle, the costs for this technique was harrowing for the soulbeast. The vitality and lifeforce of the soulbeast would be exchanged for more and more power until they exploded!


    A soulbeast puppet is incapable of feeling ¡®pain¡¯ nor ¡®fear¡¯. While the ¡®instincts¡¯ may remain, a capable beast tamer can quash those instincts to very minimal levels. When Berserk, a class 5 soulbeast could fight a class seven soulbeast without regards for its life and have a bigger chance of winning.


    And it wasn¡¯t just one soulbeast puppet that went Berserk! All five of the soulbeast puppets were becoming Berserk!


    Going Berserk made a soulbeast puppet more machine than beast. Not even holes in its body or missing flesh could make a Berserk soulbeast puppet stop fighting. It wouldn¡¯t even be afraid of a counterattack! Going Berserk was a suicidal method that allowed the beast tamers to fight against the familiars without fear!


    All these familiars here were once wild beasts before. As wild beasts, they were no strangers to fighting other suicidal beasts tooth and nail. But never had they encountered such an enemy like this!!


    The soulbeast puppets going Berserk was like a breath of fresh air for the allied schools. It signaled a change in the battlefield where the Soul Kings of the Yao clan were forced to have two of their own fight against the soulbeast puppets. But even with that, one of the Soul Kings nearly managed to get himself killed when a Berserk soulbeast puppet came after him. It was only because of another familiar that the Soul King escaped with his life, though the familiar was not so fortunate and was struck quite badly.


    In just a short few minutes, the Beast Taming School managed to even out the power imbalance between the two sides. In other words, not even the beast tamers were holding back anymore. They were pulling out all the stops in order to fully destroy the Yao clan!


    It was rather simple why they were doing this at the cost of their own soulbeast puppets¡ªit was because of the familiars!


    The goal of the Beast Taming School was for the pills, of course. What else but the pills could the Alchemy School be known for?


    But things were different now. The existence of the familiars changed all of that. It wasn¡¯t the pills the Beast Taming School desired now, but¡­the destruction of the Alchemy School!


    The very existence of these familiars was a threat to the Beast Taming School!!


    The Alchemy School¡¯s ability to raise soulbeasts in such a manner was completely unheard of in the world. It was an unprecedented threat to the beast tamers and their way of life!


    And so! It was imperative that the Alchemy School and this methodology of creating familiars be destroyed completely!

 Chapter 1048: The Pill Formation and a Drastic Change!

    ¡°Roarr!!¡±


    Qin Bangjie slammed into the lizard familiar he was fighting away with a blast of energy, sending blood and flesh flying everywhere as it flew away.


    This was the heavily-injured familiar from the last battle. It had yet to fully heal from then and was now further injured by Qin Bangjie in this battle. There was no way it¡¯d be able to continue fighting now.


    ¡°Boom boom boom!!¡±


    Now that the lizard was dealt with, Qin Bangjie could deal with the fierce tiger that was currently pestering the demonic figure over his head. Waving both arms, the demonic figure unleashed a wave of elemental darkness to slam into the surrounding familiars and Soul Kings. Each one of the combatants were forced to leap back or risk being injured by the blast¡ªno one was even able to get close to Qin Bangjie!


    The power Qin Bangjie was showing today far exceeded the power he showed last time!


    A black glow of light shined forth from the sawtooth blade in his hand. His weapon was so sharp that not even an earth-type familiar was able to prevent its tortoiseshell from being shaved away by it!


    Qin Bangjie¡¯s attention was elsewhere. The source of red light within Yao City was growing stronger and stronger with each passing second.


    A flash of red flew out from the forest from the corner of Qin Bangjie¡¯s eye. Whirling his weapon around, he sent a burst of dark-red light towards Yao Tianji!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    A wave of near-invisible energy propagated out from Qin Bangjie and towards Yao Tianji!


    A soul attack!


    Fire surrounded Yao Tianji at once to protect himself from Qin Bangjie. A few strands of that fire converged together to form a dragon to strike at the man in return!


    ¡°Hrk!!¡± A groan escaped from his lips as Qin Bangjie¡¯s soul attack struck him. His face lost all semblance of color as his body began to groan under the pain!


    Though he was severely hampered by the soul attack, his defenses were not. The flames swirling around him carried him away and out of the path of the dark-red beam of light.


    But that was when Qin Bangjie suddenly appeared right beside Yao Tianji with his blood-red weapon ready to behead the man!


    Almost as unexpected was how the dark-red beam of light suddenly swerved back on track towards Yao Tianji as if it was being controlled!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    There was a furious roar and a flash of orange light as a giant figure leaped in front of him. It was the tortoise-shelled soulbeast; it was taking the blow in Yao Tianji¡¯s place!


    ¡°Xuan Jia!!¡± Yao Tianji cried out! This was the name of the familiar. For over a hundred years now, this familiar accompanied Yao Tianji since he was young. Though uncontracted, the two shared a bond deeper than many others in the world and were comrades for life.


    If not for Xuan Jia, Yao Tianji surely would¡¯ve died or been incapacitated.


    A mournful groan escaped from Xuan Jia as blood started to spill out from the area where it was struck. The tortoiseshell was something that should¡¯ve protected the familiar, but Qin Bangjie¡¯s attack had nearly bisected the familiar in two!


    And now another late-stage class seven familiar was out of the battle!


    To say Yao Tianji was furious was an understatement. Everything was going wrong starting when the soulbeast puppets went Berserk.


    Snarling, he roared out loud, ¡°Start the pill formation!!¡±


    The four words reverbed through the battlefield, eliciting reactions from every clansman that heard it. Snapping to attention at once, every Yao clansmen distanced themselves from their enemies to bring something out from their space rings!


    The objects were all the same; pills that shined with all sorts of color!


    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡­¡±


    Then¡­under the amazed eyes of Qin Bangjie and the others, the pills began to¡­blow apart!


    The capsules broke apart to unleash a burst of vapor from them¡­pill vapor!


    Each of the vapor from the pills propagated through the air exceedingly quick. Mixing with one another, the vapor covered an area of five kilometers to cover every single fighter within it!


    The allied Soul Kings grew cautious straight away. A whirlwind of green light protected the Soul Kings from being touched by the vapor, but something was off about the vapor¡­


    No matter how much they tried to blow it away, the vapor would always come back!


    Needless to say, being surrounded by a mist of pill vapor they couldn¡¯t blow away was very surprising. Some thought the vapor was poisonous, but those who inhaled the vapor didn¡¯t feel anything was off! In fact, they noted that inhaling the vapor felt almost ¡®comfortable¡¯!


    If that was the case, then wasn¡¯t the usage of this pill vapor a double-edged sword¡­?


    Unsure of what to think, the allied Soul Kings raised their heads up to stare at the Yao clansmen. To their surprise, the areas where the Yao stood were heavily concentrated with the pill vapor. The vapor seemed to flow almost rhythmically and into the bodies of the Yao clansmen and familiars. But more importantly¡­their soulforce was rapidly regenerating!


    It wasn¡¯t just their soulforce. Even their wounds were starting to heal at an accelerated pace! Even the incapacitated Xuan Jia was quickly healing from where it was struck!


    It was time for yet another change in the battlefield!


    The two sides resumed the battle almost immediately. It didn¡¯t take the allied forces long before they realized their enemies were performing far better than before. Whether it was in speed, defense, or regeneration¡­everything their enemies were doing was much better than before!


    The change in their recovery speed was the most substantial to see. It was like the Yao clansmen had an endless amount of soulforce to throw about. No matter how much they used¡­they never grew tired!


    This was one of the most unique methods of warfare the Yao clan had to offer. To them, it was called the ¡®pill formation¡¯. Though simplistic in name, the effects brought about by the pill formation gave the Yao clansmen an unbelievable amount of power!


    No one from the allied schools needed a second to know that it was because of this vapor that their enemies were performing better. They tried breathing in the vapor themselves, but the effects were practically negligible. This vapor¡­was something only the Yao clansmen were capable of absorbing.


    ¡°Damn! Damn them!!¡±


    Qin Bangjie exploded with rage. It didn¡¯t beg the imagination to see that the pills the Yao clansmen were using were of a high grade. It was absolutely infuriating for Qin Bangjie to see these alchemists ¡®destroy¡¯ several of those pills¡ªthose pills were supposed to be their spoils of war! How dare the alchemists use them when it was destined to belong to Qin Bangjie and the allied schools?


    An enormous amount of terrifying energy exploded out from Qin Bangjie in his outrage. If the enemies were boosting their strength, then so would he. The demonic figure above him swelled in size as it reached out at a familiar. Swinging its arm, the demonic figure sent the familiar flying!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The battle was reaching a climax as everyone fought like never before. Then one giant explosion rocked the world and caused every single Yao clansmen to stop abruptly!


    That was because the explosion came from¡­within Yao City!


    Everyone¡¯s head snapped towards the source only to see a giant pillar of fire shoot straight into the heavens!


    It was as though the heavens were being pierced by the pillar of flames. Red light spread everywhere as if burning the heavens!


    An abnormally large amount of energy exploded out into the world a moment afterward. Elemental fire shot this way and that to circle around the pillar and add to the sea of flames!


    Soon, the entire city was covered by this abnormally red light. The range of the red light was already starting to stain the skies where the Soul Kings were fighting!


    There wasn¡¯t a single Soul King that wasn¡¯t alarmed by this sight. The eyes of everyone was glued to the pillar of fire and the sea of flames with a look of utter shock!


    Realization of what this was hit the Yao clansmen first. Qin Bangjie was the first of the allied schools to realize and immediately blanched with terror!


    ¡°This¡­this is the Emperor¡¯s Phenomena?!¡±


    The distortion of light. The terrifying amount of elemental energy. The ominous aura that shook the souls of even him. Qin Bangjie shuddered with fright as he cried out loud.


    This Emperor¡¯s Phenomena was what would mark the tides of change in this battle!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Suddenly, another wave of terrifying energy shot forth from space five kilometers behind the allied schools. Rather than red, this wave of energy was violet and green!


    Thunderclouds rumbled violently and the winds began to wail as elemental wind and lightning stormed onto the earth. Like a comet, green and violet shot up into the sky with just as much energy as the pillar of fire on the other side!


    It happened just five kilometers away, but all the Soul Kings realized that the source of that explosion was already close by!


    The joy was wiped away from the Yao clan almost instantaneously. Terror gripped at Yao Tianji¡¯s heart as he realized what this meant.


    ¡°Another Soul Emperor!!!!¡±

 Chapter 1049: Reliving the Current Incarnation

    In the courtyard where Bai Yunfei rested.


    The amount of elemental fire in the area was practically suffocating. Visibility was reduced to levels where one wouldn¡¯t even be able to see ten steps in front of them with how the energy manifested like ethereal flames. Even the temperature in the courtyard was substantially hotter than normal. There¡¯d be no way any normal person would be able to survive in such heat.


    But there was someone that sat inside the courtyard. Wu Dijian. Arms folded across one another and hands clenched, he sat there in the same room to stare anxiously at the younger male.


    ¡°Hurry, Bai Yunfei¡­hurry! We can only count on you now!¡±


    He muttered after looking at the wave of energy from the other side of the city.


    ¡°Is that really big brother Tang in that room, uncle Dijian? What power¡­it¡¯s even stronger than grandfather¡ªhow does big brother Tang have all that power?¡±


    Standing beside Wu Dijian was the young boy, Yao Feiyun. He looked utterly gobsmacked and curious at how Bai Yunfei had all this power.


    ¡°Yes, this is his true strength.¡±


    Wu Dijian didn¡¯t feel like giving a proper explanation to the young boy. Glancing from Bai Yunfei, to Yao Feiyun, and then the battlefield, Wu Dijian grimaced.


    ¡°You stay here, I¡¯m heading out to help the others!!¡±


    Even from where he was, Wu Dijian could tell how intense the battle was getting. He felt the aura of the soulbeast puppets when they went Berserk and how both sides reacted to such. He had only stayed here out of concern for Bai Yunfei, but now he couldn¡¯t hold it in him any longer.


    He had to help participate.


    ¡°Ah? O-oh¡­¡±


    Yao Feiyun grew startled at the abrupt declaration, but he nodded and sat there while Wu Dijian disappeared into the skies.


    The shadows of doubt and concern crossed over Yao Feiyun¡¯s face. He, too, was keeping tabs on the battle and was concerned over the outcome. ¡°Big brother Tang¡­¡± He whispered, ¡°dad and the others are putting all their hopes on you, so you have to hurry up and recover¡­please defeat those invaders¡­I don¡¯t want to see anyone from our clan dying¡­¡±


    At the center of the room.


    Nothing else but elemental fire could be seen here at the source of it all. Bai Yunfei was floating in the air above his bed with both eyes tightly shut, but his face looking otherwise very calm and peaceful as if he was just sleeping.


    He was currently undergoing what Dan Teng said before, the ¡®reincarnation¡¯ within a dream.


    In this dreamlike state, Bai Yunfei would re-experience his life from birth to today.


    He wouldn¡¯t have to worry about any ¡®spots¡¯ in his memories. The memories stored in his soul would be dredged back up by the Truth of Reincarnation so he¡¯d be able to remember everything. And from there, Bai Yunfei would be able to learn everything about himself again.


    Such an experience was unfathomable. He felt like he was a bystander watching his own life. Everything he experienced. Everyone he met. Every detailed he saw. All the sensations he felt. Everything was being replicated for him.


    It was in this dreamlike state Bai Yunfei was finally able to see the full image of the beautiful woman he saw once before. He could see how joyous the woman became when he referred to her as ¡®mom¡¯. He could feel how warm she felt when he was taken into her embrace. He could hear how soothing she was when he listened to her whisper softly to his ear¡­


    ¡°One day, when my little Yunfei grows up, he will be like a white cloud in the sky. Floating freely under the skies without worry¡­.¡±


    Something within Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul quivered upon hearing those words. A jolt of lightning shot straight down his entire person as if those words were activating something hidden deep within him.


    His eyes began to tear up¡ªhe had forgotten those words until now¡­


    He saw the ever-so-lovely smile on his mother¡¯s face first. Then the kindly grandfather appeared next. And then¡­


    ¡°Live life with a clear conscience¡­¡±


    He saw the two depart from the world shortly after. Then began the desperate survival for his life outside Talus City¡­


    First was the Equipment Upgrade Technique and how he was given it. Then the act of offending Zhang Yang. Being tossed into the Coliseum. Uncle Wu. The very first stage of his transformation¡­


    Being given the present of cultivation from the elder of the Fate School, Ge Yiyun. Meticulously studying the art of cultivation. His fight with the Blackwood Stronghold. The conclusion of his first struggle for his life¡­


    ¡°Chengfeng, I believe one day we¡¯ll eventually meet each other again. Both of us will make names for ourselves in the big world outside!¡±


    Two youngsters ignorant of the world outside making promises to one another when they parted.


    A perilous journey to Jadewillow City and meeting Liu Meng¡­


    The quest towards and through the Northern Cliff Province.


    Learning the art of crafting within the Crafting School.


    Traveling and training within the Soulbeast Forest.


    Teaching others inside of the Capital.


    The Black Cloud Mountain Range.


    Each event passed by quickly, but every little detail was experienced to Bai Yunfei as if they had only just happened!


    The more he progressed in this route of reincarnation, the more Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to change.


    His fireseed first formed when Bai Yunfei was in Jadewillow City. To Bai Yunfei, it felt like an actual fire had bloomed within his body and was burning away at every single cell in it. Strands of energy traveled to his origin acupoint and formed the beginning of a fireseed yet again.


    Then his dreams showed of the time when the second fireseed was formed. Again, another form of energy was brought to life within his body and the second fireseed formed a second time.


    When the experience of a companion lightningseed came to mind, a companion lightning seed actualized in real life.


    The fourth experience was of the time he refined a strand of Chaotic Energy into his body. Like that experience, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body suddenly grew a small gray strand of energy to circle around his two fireseeds¡­


    A hidden seal within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was made undone. All the powers Bai Yunfei came into was brought back to him as he walked the path of reincarnation and was reawakened.


    Aura manifested around Bai Yunfei¡¯s body and grew exponentially. Soul Sprite. Soul Ancestor. Soul Exalt. Early-stage Soul King. Mid-stage Soul King¡­


    One by one, he rose through the ranks of power until he reached the Late-stage Soul King level!


    But it didn¡¯t stop there. The rise in his aura might¡¯ve been a little slower now, but it was still growing!


    The fire within Bai Yunfei had yet to cease burning.


    Bai Yunfei felt like he was living within a world of fire. A fire that seemed to be burning his entire body into ashes!


    Ever since he first made contact with ¡®elemental energy¡¯ in his life, Bai Yunfei was re-experiencing what it meant to be in contact with such an energy. Each time an insight on elemental fire was gained, Bai Yunfei came to realize yet another insight about it.


    The flame around Bai Yunfei was a manifestation of the insights he could gain, will gained, and already gained. But there was another energy acting upon him. It was another type of energy related to elemental fire and was further increasing Bai Yunfei¡¯s knowledge.


    This¡­this was the true power of the Truth of Reincarnation.


    The Truth of Reincarnation is a wonder pill meant to aid a soul cultivator in learning the Law of Truth. But to make such a pill, one would have to have already understood the Law of Truth. The alchemist would have to impart the insights of fire learned from the Law of Truth into the pill for the next one to take. By leaving behind a bit of what they learned from the Truth, the alchemist could open the way for the next person into the Law of Truth.


    Like crafters, alchemists relied upon elemental fire to do many things. And so the biggest energy held within the Truth of Reincarnation was¡­the Law of Fire!

 Chapter 1050: I Am...Bai Yunfei!! (End of Book 8)

    In the southern skies outside Yao City.


    The manifestation of the Emperor¡¯s Phenomena brought the battle between Soul Kings to a halt. Everyone from both sides stood there, slackjawed at the sight before another powerful source of energy exploded onto the battlefield!


    So powerful was the aura and quick they were in coming that none of the Soul Kings had even time to react!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    Yao Tianji was the first to say anything. Blanching at the newcomer¡¯s aura, he let out a cry of terror!


    A dark-red pill appeared in his hand at once. Bringing his hand up, Yao Tianji swallowed the pill without delay!


    The veins on his face bulged outwards and his eyes started to show blood. Something in his body was being forced to produce more energy than normal!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Yao Tianji¡¯s head snapped upwards. A brilliant flame burst out from his body along with a wave of elemental fire. A sea of fire swallowed up the area around him, preventing anything from crossing over it to the Yao clansmen behind him!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Green and violet light shot past the allied schools in response to the wave of fire!


    A world-shattering explosion was had as both forces collided. Unable to handle the pressure, the fabric of space started to tear apart with increasing area!


    The explosion forced back everyone from the area, lest they be hit with a wave of energy they couldn¡¯t possibly withstand.


    When the explosion dissipated, the Yao clansmen were revealed to be forced back to the walls of Yao City!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    Yao Tianji¡¯s hand clutched at his chest. Growing pale in the face, the man spat out a mouthful of blood!


    ¡°Father!!¡±


    Yao Wuchen raced to his father¡¯s side and aid at once. Holding his father in place, he popped a dark-green pill into the man¡¯s mouth.


    The others drew closer to him as well. Each one grew pale at how unresponsive Yao Tianji was and fearful of the new enemy in front of them.


    Standing in front of the allied schools was a figure wreathed in the colors of both green and violet. The power exuding from this person far outstripped the one felt by Qin Bangjie. The Yao clansmen could hardly even breathe under this pressure!


    The figure within the light gave a small murmur of surprise. The twin lights coming from his eyes moved to rest onto Yao Tianji.


    ¡°A pill capable of allowing one to gain the power of a Half-emperor? How interesting¡­¡±


    The man was definitely surprised how the Yao clansmen were still alive. His attack wasn¡¯t at full power, but the man still expected at least half the alchemists to die. Somehow, Yao Tianji managed to stop the attack and protect everyone.


    ¡°Headmaster!!¡±


    An ecstatic voice called out to the figure; it was the elder of the Wind Lightning School, He Changkai!


    ¡°Headmaster!? The headmaster of the Wind Lightning School?!¡±


    Men from both the Soul Refining School and Beast Taming School cried out at once.


    ¡°Duan Leiting, headmaster of the Wind Lightning School! He was here?! No way!¡±


    Dan Teng cried out in shock.


    ¡°No!¡± His eyes narrowed. ¡°This¡­is an avatar!¡±


    His senses were telling him that this person ¡®only¡¯ had the strength of an Early-stage Soul Emperor, which was incongruent with the rumors of Duan Leiting¡¯s actual strength. Furthermore, the light that surrounded this figure was strange. Not even a Soul Emperor would have a light around their person like that, meaning this had to be Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar. He didn¡¯t feel ¡®happy¡¯, knowing that this was ¡®only¡¯ just an avatar. An avatar with the strength of an Early-stage Soul Emperor was still a person they wouldn¡¯t be able to fight against!


    ¡°As expected from the Alchemy School. Two thousand years and you¡¯ve still this much strength¡­¡±


    Duan Leiting spoke. His eyes ignored Yao Wuchen and the others in favor to stare at the still-increasing power within the city.


    ¡°Boom¡­¡±


    The pillar of fire erupting from the city was starting to fade away by this point. The whirlpool of fire that surrounded the pillar was also starting to shrink in size.


    ¡°That is not the Emperor¡¯s Phenomena, but the signs of a breakthrough. The owner may be a Peak Late-stage Soul King, but the energy is still incredible¡­What kind of person are they¡­?¡± Duan Leiting wondered aloud.


    ¡°A person like that cannot be allowed to live!¡±


    ¡°Bzt¡­¡±


    Power surged out from the avatar upon his last few words. The air around him quivered with the sound of thunder before the avatar shot forward!


    ¡°No! Stop him!!¡± Cried Yao Wuchen. Fire burst out from his person before transforming into a concentrated ray to strike Duan Leiting!


    The other alchemists followed suit to use their strongest attack in hopes of stopping the avatar!


    ¡°How meaningless!!¡±


    Bolts of lightning and gusts of wind flew out in every direction to accurately stop each attack from hitting him.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    One by one, the attacks sent by the Yao clansmen were stopped and shattered apart!


    And to make matters even worse, the lightning bolts and gusts of wind continued onward towards the clansmen!


    One could see how powerful Duan Leiting¡¯s attacks were by such a sight. And to think this was done with as much effort as one would expend from flicking the wrist!


    Flustered by the total inefficacy of their attacks, the alchemists barely managed to throw up a barrier when the attacks landed. Multiple cries rang out as several of them were struck down and heavily injured!


    ¡°Kill them all!!¡±


    No longer caring for those Soul Kings, Duan Leiting flew ahead into Yao City to get rid of the ¡®threat¡¯.


    His command was obeyed immediately. He Changkai and the others from the Wind Lightning School leaped to action at once with the others being only a half-step behind. Renewed with confidence, the allied Soul Kings flew at the Yao clansmen with vigor!


    ¡°Damn! How did a Soul Emperor manage to appear!! I can¡¯t deal with that!!¡±


    Wu Dijian was the next to come across Duan Leiting. Barely managing to fend off one of the Soul Emperor¡¯s attacks, Wu Dijian watched helplessly as the avatar shot deeper into the city where Bai Yunfei was!


    ¡°Eh? The elemental fire is changing?!¡±


    Yao Feiyun¡¯s head snapped up the moment he felt the change in the elemental fire. Awed by the sheer amount of energy he was feeling, Yao Feiyun let out another cry. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s even stronger than before! What¡¯s happening!?¡±


    He grew more and more awed by how the power was increasing, but soon, the awe turned into fear. As powerful as it was, Yao Feiyun began to worry for his ability to withstand it. He backed out from the room quickly to reach safety in the courtyard.


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­happening?¡±


    His eyes grew wide in both fear and awe at the skies above.


    Like the Soul Kings far away, Yao Feiyun was watching the pillar of fire disperse and the whirlpool of flames shrink in on itself!


    He was captivated by the sight. The surrounding elemental fire was rapidly draining away from the courtyard and into the whirlpool, meaning visibility was now far greater than before. And when he could finally see the area around him¡­Yao Feiyun realized with a start that the courtyard was no longer there! They were now standing in an area of nothingness where the only other object to be seen was a figure wreathed in fire floating off the ground¡­


    ¡°Big¡­big brother Tang?!¡± Yao Feiyun cried with joy. Racing to the figure, he gave the recently-awoken man a big smile. ¡°Are you finally back to normal, big brother Tang?!¡±


    ¡°Feiyun?¡± Confused, Bai Yunfei stepped back onto the ground to stare at the younger male. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to your efforts back then¡­¡± He laughed, ¡°but my name isn¡¯t Tang Long, so you shouldn¡¯t call me that.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Then what should I call you?¡± Yao Feiyun cocked his head in confusion.


    A bolt of green and violet light stole Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention away from Yao Feiyun. His head snapped up to stare at the light.


    ¡°I am¡­Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    =========


    The end of Book Eight has finally arrived, but I don¡¯t feel as satisfied as I¡¯d like. Book Seven was composed almost entirely of battle scenes, so I strove to make this book a little more peaceful. Many readers were unhappy by this, however. Truth be told, I didn¡¯t feel as enthusiastic about this arc so I decided to end it early.


    Bai Yunfei has regained his strength and then some now. What kind of changes has happened in the outside world? Will old friends and new enemies appear now? Will Yunfei finally be able to return to the heights he reached before? Please look forward to the next book¡­

 Chapter 1051: Battling the Avatar of a Soul Emperor!

    ¡°Bai Yunfei?¡±


    This name tasted strange to Yao Feiyun. Confused, he opened his mouth to say something to Bai Yunfei, but¡­


    Bai Yunfei was gone! He was already flying off somewhere and out of sight!


    Yao Feiyun turned his head instinctively to the skies. Standing up there was the avatar of Duan Leiting! Yao Feiyun went pale straight away¡ªthe power of the avatar came crashing down over him like a sudden tidal wave!


    Then a streak of red light flew at Duan Leiting to meet him head on!


    ¡°An Early-stage Soul Emperor¡­this is an avatar!!¡±


    A voice within the red light spoke. It was Bai Yunfei. He was flying at Duan Leiting with his hands making several distinct hand seals!


    Fear was not an emotion Bai Yunfei was feeling now that he knew he was up against a Soul Emperor. If anything, Bai Yunfei was feeling extremely excited to be fighting!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The world hummed loudly as Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura exploded exponentially!


    This was the aura of a Peak Late-stage Soul King!


    And then¡­his aura exploded a second time! Skyrocketing beyond the parameters of a Peak Late-stage Soul King¡­Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura soon reached the levels of a Half-emperor!


    Dual Flame Arts: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form!


    The levels of power Bai Yunfei felt today was completely new to him. Heart racing with excitement, Bai Yunfei started to go through another set of hand seals. Fire roared to life around his palms with increasing intensity as they circled up around his arms!


    This¡­was the Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°What¡¯s so special about a Soul Emperor? I killed one three years ago, and today¡­I¡¯ll kill another!!¡±


    The coming storm meant nothing to Bai Yunfei. This was a battle he was completely willing to fight! Clenching both hands tightly, he punched out with them to unleash the dragons!


    ¡°Roar!!!!¡±


    Two dragons erupted from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms. Their jaws gaped wide open to roar magnificently and streaked towards Duan Leiting!


    The sky used to crackle with the power of Duan Leiting¡¯s aura. But now that Bai Yunfei was here, the sky was now split between the two of them. The power of the two dragons brought forth a wave of red clouds to mix violently with the thunderclouds from the enemy!


    ¡°A Half-emperor?!¡±


    Duan Leiting murmured in surprise, though he didn¡¯t stop. Adding to his aura, Duan Leiting had the thunderclouds and gales of wind increase in size to form a giant tornado that crackled with lightning inside!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The lightning-infused tornado clashed with the two dragons with a mighty explosion. The ensuing light blinded all that looked at it and a wave of energy threatened to level the entire city beneath!


    When the light faded¡­neither the dragons nor the tornado was anywhere to be seen!


    ¡°Oh? What is this?!¡± Duan Leiting cried out in shock; this turnout wasn¡¯t what he expected at all!


    A second later, the realization of why this happened hit him.


    ¡°This is¡­the power of the Law of Fire! How can you use such power! You shouldn¡¯t be able to!!¡±


    It was little wonder why he was surprised. Not only was someone who was supposed to be a Peak Late-stage Soul King at best suddenly revealed to have the power of a Half-emperor, but the very same person was also capable of wielding the powers of the Law of Fire!


    The energy put into his wind and lightning attacks contained the Law of Truth in them, thus why they were so strong despite him not putting much energy himself into them. Despite that input-output ratio, Duan Leiting was still a man capable of unleashing very powerful attacks. That attack just now should¡¯ve killed his opponent. Instead¡­it didn¡¯t even manage to make it past the two dragons!


    ¡°Not enough? Then how about this for size?!¡¯


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands clapped together with excitement. Rapidly, he flashed through several hand seals for another powerful technique!


    ¡°He¡­he can still get stronger?!¡±


    Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar let out a cry of disbelief. Though he didn¡¯t know what exactly Bai Yunfei was up to, he could at the very least tell that Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was rapidly increasing still!


    Dual Flame Arts: ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!!


    Now was the time for Bai Yunfei to experiment. Would the strongest technique in his arsenal be enough to deal with a Soul Emperor?


    Being in ¡®Coil¡¯ Form gave Bai Yunfei the power of a Half-emperor. An equal fight with Qin Bangjie would be well within the realm of possibilities then.


    But being in ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode? Bai Yunfei¡¯s power would be utterly terrifying to behold!


    The difference from Peak Late-stage Soul King to Half-emperor to Soul Emperor was large enough to be differentiated. And Bai Yunfei¡¯s current aura¡­was definitely within the classification for a Soul Emperor!


    The fire behind Bai Yunfei danced fervently. A figure soon sprung to life within the flames as if a demonic being of fire was being born!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­that¡¯s impossible!!¡± Duan Leiting cried. The power from the fires was so strong that even he felt pressured by it. The difference in strength between him and Bai Yunfei was shrinking so rapidly that he didn¡¯t even have time to do much before the two were practically on equal footing.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­.¡±


    Wind and lightning materialized into the world at once. Converging at a central point above Duan Leiting¡¯s head, the two elements swelled to a large size and a shape reminiscent of that of a deity. The two colors were split right down the middle vertically with the right side being violet and an equally-colored bolt of lightning in its right hand. The left side was green and had a green-colored shield equipped over its left arm. The figure looked so massive, so awe-inspiring, that it felt like this was truly a deity who had made their descent from the heavens!


    The elemental being seemed almost alive with how fluid its motions were. Like its creator, the being roared loudly to the heavens with a sound not unlike that of thunder. Raising its right arm up high, the being clenched the bolt of lightning tightly before throwing it as hard as it could towards Bai Yunfei!


    This seemingly divine bolt of lightning whistled with a near other-worldly power as it streaked through the air!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The being of fire behind Bai Yunfei dissipated into multiple streams of energy to drain into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Clenching his fists again, Bai Yunfei allowed for the streams of energy to form two giant dragons like the last time!


    Small violet sparks could be seen here and there over both dragons like miniature scales. But the more peculiar thing was how gray dots nearly imperceptible to the eye were showing up in the dragons as well.


    This was¡­the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!!


    In an instant, both the dragons and the bolt of lightning collided!


    ¡°Rumble rumble¡­¡±


    The bolt of lightning traveled into the jaws of one of the dragons with the intent to spear through the dragon and continue onwards to Bai Yunfei.


    On the other side, the dragon¡¯s jaw snapped down onto the bolt!


    One attack was the full power of an Early-stage Soul Emperor¡¯s avatar. It continued the understandings of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor¡¯s into the Law of Lightning into it.


    The other attack was a full-power attack from a doubly-boosted Bai Yunfei. It contained the Law of Fire and also the extremely dangerous Chaotic Energy in it.


    Which¡­one of these two attacks would come at as the victor?!

 Chapter 1052: An Overwhelming Advantage!

    The answer is sometimes something very clear and obvious to see.


    It was only an equal outcome the last time with Duan Leiting underestimating Bai Yunfei and Bai Yunfei using just the Law of Fire in his attack.


    This second round was different. Duan Leiting could no longer underestimate Bai Yunfei and had to use the strongest attack the avatar had to offer. This attack was the amalgamation of all the insights he learned from the Law of Thunder in it.


    But on the other hand¡­Bai Yunfei was in both ¡®Coil¡¯ and ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode. Then under these conditions, he unleashed another burst of the Dual Dragon Burst with the Law of Fire contained inside of it.


    And to top things off, there was Chaotic Energy infused in it!


    Chaotic Energy is a type of energy fundamental to the basis of the universe. It wasn¡¯t as strong as the energy borne from the Law of Truth, but it could at the very least stand on its own against it!


    So there was little doubt to which attack was stronger. This violet bolt of lightning or the Dual Dragon Burst. When the two collided, the answer was made known immediately!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Violet light exploded everywhere as the lightning bolt shattered apart. Like droplets of rainwater, lightning fell from the skies and eventually dissipated from sight¡­


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst utterly ¡®destroyed¡¯ Duan Leiting¡¯s attack! It was half the size of before, but¡­it was still there! And still heading straight for Duan Leiting too!


    ¡°Im¡­impossible!!¡±


    A cry of disbelief erupted from Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar!


    Having no sense of ¡®flesh¡¯ or ¡®blood¡¯, there was no way an avatar would be able to go pale in the face. But even without that telltale sign of shock, there was no mistaking that surprise on his face!


    He didn¡¯t predict a situation like this would ever possibly occur. It didn¡¯t seem possible at all!


    But he wouldn¡¯t let that disbelief stop him from protecting himself. Raising his left arm, Duan Leiting manipulated the deity above it to drop its green shield in front of him!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A blast of wind shot everywhere when the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst slammed into the shield. The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst had been stopped, but not without causing damage to the deity.


    Stopping the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst required a tremendous amount of energy to do so, and now the deity had no longer enough energy contained in its body to maintain a physical form. It collapsed into a bundle of elemental wind and lightning to be absorbed back into Duan Leiting¡¯s body.


    ¡°Damn¡­what¡­what is this!!?¡±


    A shimmer of light rippled across Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar. It was only for a moment, but it was enough to show how furious Duan Leiting was.


    ¡°Die!!!¡±


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    He struck his arm up to send a wave of soulforce upwards into the sky. It traveled up for a brief moment before disappearing into the clouds. Darkening, the clouds began to give off a series of rumbling noises!


    Thunderclouds had formed, but a single drop of lightning had yet to be seen. But the rumblings of thunder was still growing louder and louder!


    Anyone standing within a dozen kilometers soon began to feel the beginnings of something rumble within their minds. Louder and louder the rumbling became until¡­something exploded!


    ¡°Ahhhh¡­..¡±


    People began to scream out one by one shortly afterward and clutched at their heads. By the time they fell to the ground, they were already fully unconscious!


    Not even the Soul Kings fighting a little farther away were unaffected. Several of them trembled as their soulforce started to go out of control!


    Wu Dijian narrowed his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s¡­the Bellow of the Thunder God! It¡¯s the strongest soul attack the Wind Lightning School has!¡±


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­.¡±


    Another ripple of energy appeared into the world all of a sudden, causing Wu Dijian and the others to snap their heads up towards the south!


    Someone else was coming. Someone from roughly the same direction as Duan Leiting¡¯s origin. The skies in that direction were already dark, but this newcomer was bringing forth darkness that seemed to threaten to plunge the entire world into it!


    There was no rumbling noises with this newcomer. But the terrifying aura that seemed to pressure all was there. This person was just as strong as Duan Leiting!


    ¡°A¡­another Soul Emperor!!¡±


    The faces of everyone within the Yao clan went white at once.


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Then out of nowhere, as if to challenge this newcomer, someone from the city cried out loud!


    Bellow of the Thunder God. This was the strongest soul attack the Wind Lightning School had to offer. Though it affected Yao Wuchen and the others, Bai Yunfei was the primary target and so the effect on him was multiplied.


    A Half-emperor surely would¡¯ve been heavily impacted by an attack like that, but fortunately for Bai Yunfei¡­


    He had the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    A sliver of his soulforce entered the Soul Sentinel Scarf when Duan Leiting¡¯s soul attack collided with Bai Yunfei. It didn¡¯t reflect the Bellow of the Thunder God, but it still managed to mitigate at least half of its strength!


    The remaining amount wasn¡¯t nearly enough to do anything major to Bai Yunfei. It didn¡¯t even take him a second for him to fully recover!


    Equipment Effect 1: Decrease damage taken by all spirit-related attacks by 50%.Equipment Effect 2: 200% Increase in healing from damage done to the soul.


    Bai Yunfei was not a true Early-stage Soul Emperor even in ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode, though he was very close to one. But combined with his equipment, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was on comparable levels to Duan Leiting! A soul attack from the other man wouldn¡¯t do much to him!


    And with Duan Leiting¡¯s soul attack not doing much, Bai Yunfei knew this was the perfect time to launch a counterattack!


    ¡°Hrkkk!!¡±


    Lightning rippled across Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar. The very edges of his avatar was starting to dissipate!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s retaliatory soul attack managed to damage Duan Leiting!


    ¡°Impossible! Inconceivable! I¡­I don¡¯t believe this!!¡± Duan Leiting roared with abject horror and fear. How was it possible that¡­his strongest soul attack did absolutely nothing? And how did he manage to be the one hurt by a soul attack?!


    ¡°This is impossible! I refuse to believe this!! Ahhhhh!¡±


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    He screamed again with a loud crash of thunder to accompany his anger!


    This¡­was a second Bellow of the Thunder God!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    And then¡­a shriek of pain! It was coming from¡­Duan Leiting!


    A wide smile spread across Bai Yunfei¡¯s face the moment he heard Duan Leiting¡¯s screams. This was the moment he was waiting for!


    This was the sign of the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s +10 additional effect¡ªthe ability to reflect soul attacks¡ªactivating!


    Duan Leiting¡¯s second Bellow of the Thunder God had almost all of his energy inside of it. Having been prepared to kill Bai Yunfei with it due to his fear, Duan Leiting hadn¡¯t thought that it¡¯d completely backfire on him during his weakened state so quickly! The effects ransacked Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar, causing several distortions to appear in his avatar as if on the verge of collapsing!


    ¡°Swoosh!!¡±


    A meteoric streak of red light blew through the sky. Contained inside, Bai Yunfei sped up in preparation to dive straight through Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar like a shining red sword!


    ¡°Ahhh!!¡±


    Duan Leiting recovered full faculty of his senses two seconds after being struck by his own soul attack. Still in pain by it, the avatar realized Bai Yunfei was rapidly approaching and let out a cry! Mustering what little elemental lightning he had in him, Duan Leiting tried to escape from Bai Yunfei¡¯s path!


    Yes¡­he wasn¡¯t trying to block the attack. He was trying to escape!!


    But Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t that far away from Duan Leiting! Waving his right hand, he sent out a lustrous-white glow of light at the avatar!


    And then in the next second¡­


    ¡°Seal!!¡±

 Chapter 1053: Complete and Utter Terror!

    A single word. One that was spoken almost like a whisper and yet held the power to freeze Duan Leiting right where he stood!


    It was because of the white ball of light Bai Yunfei threw. It wasn¡¯t even touching Duan Leiting when Bai Yunfei gave the order. Unfolding, the white ball began to splash white light everywhere around the area!


    Including the area where Duan Leiting stood!


    Fast!


    No one could even tell when the ball of light finished expanding. One moment ago it had yet to expand in size and in the next moment, Duan Leiting was nowhere to be seen within it!


    It wasn¡¯t just his disappearance that was strange. People expected him to fly out from the white ball, but¡­he didn¡¯t! He wasn¡¯t moving inside the light! His aura wasn¡¯t even fluctuating!!


    Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar used to shine with two lights. One green and one violet. But now those two colors were gone, leaving behind a hazy-looking silhouette of Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar!


    Duan Leiting¡¯s skinny frame could now be seen now that the mysterious light obscuring his avatar was gone. He was frozen still in a leaning backward position as if he was trying to retreat, but something was forcing him to stay put.


    Floating in the middle of Bai Yunfei and Duan Leiting was a single white light. In that white light was a white talisman of some kind. It was the size of a palm and had a soft glow emanating from it¡­


    This was¡­the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    Bai Yunfei had the Soul Sealing Mandate on him!


    And it¡¯s power¡­was somehow reaching a greater distance than expected! It was even covering a larger area than the time when patriarch Qin or Nether used it!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn''t stopped moving at all. Him throwing the Soul Sealing Mandate forward was the opening move for him to close in on the other Soul Emperor. The distance between the two Soul Emperor was shortening now. He was close to being right in front of Duan Leiting!


    The Soul Sealing Mandate had stopped moving by now. The area touched by its light was starting to shrink as Bai Yunfei closed in. By the time it was hardly even a few meters in radius, Bai Yunfei was within arm''s reach of the Soul Sealing Mandate...


    A series of ripples flowed outward from Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm into the Soul Sealing Mandate. The white light from the Soul Sealing Mandate began to shrink even faster. Soon¡­the white light was gone, and so was Duan Leiting!


    The elemental energy that once covered the skies of Yao City was gone at once. Only the energy of Bai Yunfei was left there where he stood.


    It was as though everything that happened in the last few seconds was a trick. An illusion of some kind with Bai Yunfei being the magician to bring in the curtain call...


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The anguished roar of someone could be heard a moment later¡ªit was coming from the skies further south of Yao City!


    Bai Yunfei whirled towards the source to see what was the matter. His battle with Duan Leiting had been so exciting he nearly forgot about the other battle!


    Not even ten seconds ago, when Duan Leiting had only just fired the first Bellow of the Thunder God.


    The Yao clansmen and allied Soul Kings were all floating there in the sky. Stunned by Bai Yunfei''s fight with Duan Leiting, all they could do was float there and watch! And that was when another powerful aura made itself known to them!


    A Soul Emperor!


    And then another Soul Emperor!


    The faces of Yao Wuchen and his clansmen dropped at once. In direct opposition, the faces of those from the Soul Refining School brightened with glee!


    It took a moment for the beast tamers to understand who this newcomer was. Ma Xucheng looked almost expectant of this person¡¯s arrival and sneered. He watched as the second newcomer raised his right hand and wave it as he would wave a baton!


    One giant ripple started to show in the space in front of him before¡­something large popped out!


    It was a giant two-meter tall humanoid. Its body was like that of a man and even wore heavy armor as a soldier might, but¡­¡®it¡¯ had the head of a tiger!


    And the character for ¡®king¡¯ was clearly showing on the top of its forehead!


    This ¡®person¡¯ (A/N: let¡¯s call him a person for now) looked as if he was asleep at first. Before the second Soul Emperor transmitted his soulforce into him, his aura was as still as a statue.


    In the next second¡­his eyes flew wide open!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Both of his eyes shined brilliantly like two exceptionally-bright stars in the night sky when it awoke. Unleashed, the person¡¯s aura blew across the battlefield with awe-inspiring vigor!


    Golden light shot up from the person¡¯s head into the sky. Expanding in size, the light eventually took on the form of a giant tiger¡¯s head and unleashed a heaven-shaking roar!


    His aura was exceptionally powerful. Every single person had the same realization the moment they felt his aura¡­this humanoid was a Soul Emperor!!


    ¡°The¡­the Demon-eyed Tiger King! It¡¯s the Demon-eyed Tiger King!! They have him as a soulbeast puppet!¡± Wu Dijian exclaimed in horror!


    ¡°Don¡¯t look into his eyes!!¡±


    ¡°Ahhh!! Ahhh!!!!¡±


    A warning was made at once, but it was too late for two of the Yao clansmen. The moment their eyes met with the bright eyes of the Demon-eyed Tiger King, they began to scream out loud!


    The two Soul Kings looked as though they saw something extremely traumatizing. Any semblance of color drained away from their faces like water down a spigot. Their bodies started to tremble violently. One of them, an Early-stage Soul King, puked out a large volume of blood before fainting!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    The Yao clansmen hadn¡¯t even managed to do anything about the Demon-eyed Tiger King when they all heard a single command!


    Their eyes snapped to Bai Yunfei instinctively. They saw Bai Yunfei first and then gradually looked back to where he was looking at. Somehow, even the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s eyes were honed in on Bai Yunfei now. And even more curious was how it looked shocked by what it saw!


    Bai Yunfei was at this exact moment waving his right hand in front of a defenseless Duan Leiting. And then¡­Duan Leiting disappeared from sight!


    Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar disappeared from sight!


    Not a single person knew what in the world happened to Duan Leiting. Their minds couldn¡¯t process it.


    Too many things were happening in this battle at too fast of a pace.


    First was the appearance of Duan Leiting''s avatar. This marked the first appearance of a Soul Emperor. A brief intermission was had when he attacked the Yao clansmen, but Bai Yunfei was his real target. Duan Leiting flew at once into the city to deal with him, only to have Bai Yunfei fly out to greet him first.


    Then the two began to fight, with Duan Leiting immediately being the disadvantaged one. He unleashed two Bellows of the Thunder God to deal with Bai Yunfei, but that ended up being fruitless.


    The tertiary main event was when yet another Soul Emperor appeared on the allied school¡¯s side. The second Soul Emperor followed up on this event with a soulbeast puppet of his own, a Soul Emperor leveled Demon-eyed Tiger King.


    Last was Duan Leiting being sealed by the Soul Sealing Mandate and then stored away into Bai Yunfei¡¯s Core Stone¡­


    Between Bai Yunfei and Duan Leiting, there were three exchanges at most, excluding the soul attacks. And in the end¡­that didn¡¯t even amount to thirty seconds!


    In the first twenty seconds, the allied schools were relishing in the satisfaction that they had Duan Leiting on their sides. And in the last ten seconds¡­Duan Leiting was already dealt with!


    Hardly anyone could be blamed for not being able to react to this¡­


    All was silent for a while as everyone on both respective sides tried to gather their thoughts.


    ¡°I¡ªIt¡¯s¡­it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s hi¡ªhim! It¡¯s him!!!¡±


    Qin Bangjie was the one to break the silence. Going as white as a ghost and wide-eyed like a dead fish, the Half-emperor was pointing at the floating figure above Yao City like if they were a ghost! The man couldn¡¯t even stop himself from shaking wildly, whether from fear or shock.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s impossible!! How¡­how can he be here!? This cannot be!! Ahhhhh!!!!¡±


    The way he was gesturing and jabbering was already highly uncharacteristic of him. Him screaming at the end made it all the more terrifying to hear!


    The man looked as though he was descending into madness! A drop in rational so fast that one might think Qin Bangjie was being chased by the reaper itself!


    Everyone¡ªespecially those from the allied forces¡ªwas trying to figure out what could possibly elicit such a strong emotion from Qin Bangjie when¡­


    Someone noticed the second Soul Emperor coming to help the allied schools come to an immediate halt. The shroud of darkness this second Soul Emperor was bringing with it stopped as well. Shuddering as though it was sharing the emotions as the Soul Emperor, the darkness began to¡­go back in the opposite direction!


    The darkness was retreating into the direction it came from with speeds as fast as before!


    This was a completely unprecedented sight! A Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School was¡­running away!

 Chapter 1054: How Awkward

    The ones surprised most by what just happened were the Soul Kings from the Soul Refining School. They stood there in the sky, wide-eyed by the fact that their Soul Emperor had just¡­fled. None of them knew what to think.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Again, it was Qin Bangjie that was the first to respond. Giving one last shrill cry, he turned tail and fled without hesitation!


    It looked like he was just a second away from being killed the way he was fleeing!


    The next two to follow were Xu Qianqing and a yellow-skinned elder. Looking not unlike Qin Bangjie, these two elders were fleeing as fast as they could! It didn¡¯t matter if they were Soul Kings, they were running as though the dogs of the underworld were snapping at their heels! A panicked escape in the one direction away from the floating figure up above!


    To say this was an unpredicted outcome was an understatement. Allies and enemies alike stared at one another and then to the fleeing soul refiners in confusion.


    ¡°Head¡­headmaster¡­¡±


    He Changkai spoke two seconds later. He had snapped out from his confusion, albeit with a small tremble still, and was looking especially lost. His attention was on the fiery-red figure up there in the skies and the area around him. Where was Duan Leiting? The headmaster had to be there somewhere.


    But that somewhere wouldn¡¯t be anyone where on this plane of existence, would it?


    The bombshell dropped in He Changkai¡¯s mind then. The avatar of Duan Leiting¡ªan Early-stage Soul Emperor¡ªwas dead. Vanquished. Gone.


    His body trembled violently.


    How could he stay calm now?


    Further cowed by the reactions of the soul refiners, He Changkai made up his mind in no time.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving!!¡±


    The three Soul Kings from the Wind Lightning School took off after the Soul Refining School and disappeared into the horizon¡­


    Still stunned, the Yao clansmen and Dan Teng just stood there. Slowly, they looked to the beast tamers.


    Only the Beast Taming School was left here¡­


    Ma Xucheng was wide-eyed and tongue-tied. He and the Demon-eyed Tiger King stood there along with the Beast Taming School¡¯s headmaster, Lin Dongxiao. Each of them had a ¡®stormy¡¯ expression on their faces.


    Lin Dongxiao was a new addition to the group. He came with the Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School, but didn¡¯t run away when the other did. Right now, he stood there at the front lines to glare at the skies. Standing nearby him was a golden tiger-type soulbeast¡­


    As heroic as the two might look, the situation of the Beast Taming School was truly an ¡®awkward¡¯ one¡­


    The three schools united to fight in this battle and even had a Soul Emperor apiece. When the Soul Emperor from the Wind Lightning School took action, the one from the Soul Refining School was the second to go. If not for those two, Lin Dongxiao would¡¯ve stayed hidden.


    The plan was to wait for the right time to make their appearance and start massacring everyone. Lin Dongxiao¡¯s personal plan was to destroy any written or verbal records of how the Alchemy School raised their familiars and take them for the school. This way, winning the familiars would be worth being ¡®skimped¡¯ out on from the pills.


    If they were to attain these familiars, then the Beast Taming School would be given a plethora of power!


    But¡­before he could even enact that plan, the other two Soul Emperors either got their avatars killed or fled!


    And to make matters even worse, the Soul Kings of the other two schools fled like puppies with their tails in between their legs¡­


    The absolute worst part of this situation was the looks the Yao clansmen were giving them. They were all staring at the beast tamers with an expression as if to say: ¡°Are you going to run or not as well?¡±


    ¡°Head¡­headmaster¡­¡±


    The nervous voice of Ma Xucheng spoke to Lin Dongxiao via soul communication. Lin Dongxiao turned his head. The elder looked extremely hesitant for some reason. He was staring in absolute fear at the figure still standing there above Yao City. He, too, looked like he was asking the same questions as the others:


    ¡°Should we start running?¡±


    Lin Dongxiao was disgruntled. His school using the Demon-eyed Tiger King was supposed to be a grand show of strength! It was meant to display the might of their school, but now, all Lin Dongxiao could do was frown as though he just ate something unpleasant.


    Would he really have to retreat? A powerful Soul Emperor like him?!


    A furious aura radiated from Lin Dongxiao¡¯s person in tremendous amounts. Ma Xucheng shivered right next to him; the rage of the headmaster was not something he felt ready for. Even the Yao clansmen trembled slightly, prepared for whatever Lin Dongxiao might do.


    ¡°Swish¡­¡±


    The rapid displacement of wind alerted everyone to a sudden movement from above. Bai Yunfei was flying towards them.


    Since he had yet to undo his ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode, Bai Yunfei had the same amount of strength to make the Soul Kings from the Beast Taming School tremble with fear. Even Lin Dongxiao felt fear stir inside his body along with his soulforce bubbling with preparation¡­


    ¡°He¡¯s only a Half-emperor boosting his own strength. He isn¡¯t a true Soul Emperor..¡±


    He thought to himself. They put in too much into this battle effort to give up now! All they had to do was get rid of the enemies and they¡¯d be able to take the spoils. The Soul Refining School and Wind Lightning School fled already, that meant the majority¡ªif not all¡ªof the spoils would be for the Beast Taming School to claim!


    But even then¡­he felt hesitant!!


    Lin Dongxiao only had the opinion that he could kill the enemies. It wasn¡¯t an undeniable fact that he would. Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar had that same opinion before and was killed rather easily. The ones from the Soul Refining School fled straight away rather than fight, meaning they held the opinion that they couldn¡¯t.


    Considering those options, how could Lin Dongxiao possibly make such a decision?


    ¡°Who is this person?! Just who is he?!¡± Lin Dongxiao roared. ¡°The soul refiners must know him if they ran off like that! But how would they know someone from the Alchemy School?! And why did he of all people run away from him?!¡±


    The more he thought about it, the less this matter made sense to Lin Dongxiao. He could only bite his lips in annoyance. Bai Yunfei was approaching now, a choice had to be made.


    ¡°We¡¯re going!!¡± Lin Dongxiao decided at last.


    Only when the beast tamers left did the Yao clansmen all sigh in relief. Somehow, they managed to escape from this ordeal with their life intact.


    In one short moment, three Soul Emperor and a class eight soulbeast appeared! The clan was ready to have their lives end, but they were still alive!


    Everyone turned towards the direction of Yao City where Bai Yunfei was flying over from. Aside from Dan Teng and Wu Dijian, everyone else had a hard time believing the reality of their situation. Some of them were even starting to fear whoever this person was¡­


    ¡°They left? Already?¡±


    Slightly surprised with how easily the enemies left, Bai Yunfei came to a stop there near the alchemists. He had been ready to fight again, but the enemies left before a fight could even break out.


    ¡°That works for me, who knows what else would appear if they stayed? At least this way I¡¯ll have some time to understand the situation a bit¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. He had plenty of questions on his mind and wanted to be rid of them quickly.


    He slapped a palm to his chest to undo ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode. His power level dropped immediately to return him to the levels of a Peak Late-stage Soul King.


    The second fireseed didn¡¯t exit his body and go into his Cataclysmic Seal, however. And neither did he feel the pain of undoing the mode as he expected.


    More importantly, Bai Yunfei was observing the looks everyone was giving him. He scanned the audience for a while before settling on Dan Teng and Wu Dijian. ¡°Assistant headmaster Wu, uncle Dan Teng¡­¡± he smiled, ¡°it¡¯s been a very long time¡­¡±


    Wu Dijian roared with laughter at his words and flew up to meet Bai Yunfei. Slapping the younger male on the shoulder, he cried, ¡°It really is you, Bai Yunfei! Haha! It really has been a very long time! Haha!!¡±


    Dan Teng smiled. He didn¡¯t go up to meet Bai Yunfei, but nodded in response. ¡°Let¡¯s return to the city, we can discuss our next plan.¡± He spoke to the elders.


    Now that the danger was over, Bai Yunfei really wanted to get some answers about this situation. And the best way to do that was for a discussion. That way, they¡¯d also be able to figure out when the enemies would strike again.


    Plenty of the clansmen were injured as well, so additional time was needed for them to recover. Yao Tianji, for example, would definitely need more time to heal the damage done to his soul.


    Flying back to the city center, the Soul Kings all finally looked more at ease. Their second crisis was finally over, despite it starting and ending in a way none of them ever expected¡­

 Chapter 1055: The Conflict Happening On the Outside

    ¡°I see, so the person I captured was the avatar of the Wind Lightning School¡¯s headmaster¡­¡±


    A sigh escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. He was currently seated within the grand halls of the Yao clan. Now that the battle was over, everyone was seated here to talk about what the clan would do next.


    Despite living in Yao City for a month, he was living in the compounds as a guard and wasn¡¯t privy to much. Only now was he caught up to speed when Yao Wuchen told him about the situation with the allied schools.


    ¡°Yunfei, did you really¡­¡®capture¡¯ Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar?¡±


    Dan Teng just had to ask. Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve said it, but everyone here was having a major time trying to believe it.


    ¡°I did.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°I sealed him using the Soul Sealing Mandate and had him stored inside the Core World.¡±


    Neither the Core Stone or the Soul Sealing Mandate was kept a secret to the people here. Bai Yunfei knew the Yao clan already knew of him being in possession of both Regalias.


    ¡°Gasp!¡±


    Several of the elders gasped. Hearing confirmation of Bai Yunfei having those two Regalias gave them a bigger shock than they expected despite already knowing it. Looks of shock and awe were given to him shortly afterward.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, my young friend. Will you be able to do what we discussed?¡± Yao Wuchen asked. The matter with Duan Leiting wasn¡¯t as important as this next question. ¡°The inhabitants of our city can be estimated to be around ten thousand, soul cultivators included. This excludes the familiars, which number around five thousand. Will they be able to enter the Core World?¡±


    ¡°Rest assured, clan head. There¡¯s no problem.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡± Several of the elders sighed. A heavy weight was now lifted off their shoulders and many of them could visibly relax now.


    ¡°That is good to hear. I¡¯ll have the preparations made for the citizens to evacuate. Bai Yunfei, my young friend, you must want to rest and acquaint yourself with your new strength. Please rest for the night. If nothing else arises, then we¡¯ll have the citizens enter the Core World tomorrow morning. We don¡¯t know when the two Soul Emperor will attack, so a prompt entry into the Core World should be made.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. The enemies had only temporarily retreated, after all. They weren¡¯t gone for good yet. A smart idea would be to rest and prepare for tomorrow, but there was something else Bai Yunfei wanted¡­something he needed to take care of before he could rest.


    ¡°I¡¯ll head escort Yunfei back to his room with brother Wu then.¡± Dan Teng rose up.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. Together, the three of them left the halls and towards the courtyard Bai Yunfei used to stay in. Naturally, he didn¡¯t need any ¡®escorting¡¯, he needed answers. And Dan Teng knew that, hence the offer to escort him in the first place.


    Yao Wuchen only talked about what was happening to the Yao clan in general. The matters of the outside world the past three years would need to be explained by Dan Teng and Wu Dijian.


    ¡°What?! Prince Hao has rebelled?! What in the world?!¡±


    Rang the surprised voice of Bai Yunfei within an elegant room.


    He, Wu Dijian, and Dan Teng were seated by a large table to discuss the matters of the outside world. The first topic was about ¡®Prince Hao¡¯s rebellion¡¯ and already Bai Yunfei was about to leap from his seat in shock.


    Prince Hao is the brother of His Majesty Wu Hong, also known as Wu Hao. He was the assistant headmaster of the Tianhun School and one of the most influential persons on the continent. Bai Yunfei met the man before, and he distinctly remembered Wu Hao as being a rather amicable person.


    So¡­how could a person like that rebel?!


    ¡°No one outside the Royal Family knows the reason for it. But that¡¯s what it is¡­¡± Dan Teng explained, ¡°The rebellion started half a year ago with the Tianhun School being split in half. In just a single night, the entire continent was plagued by this rebellion¡­¡±


    Dan Teng continued to explain even more about what was going on, but the more Bai Yunfei listened to him, the more Bai Yunfei felt extremely shocked.


    Half of the Tianhun School was involved in this schism between the two brothers, and now there was a huge war throughout the continent for the throne!


    And the main ¡®backer¡¯ of Wu Hao was¡­the Soul Refining School!!


    Their alliance was made known when Wu Hao rebelled. Within a single month, the previously silent Soul Refining School ¡®helped¡¯ Wu Hao seize control of dozens of the western provinces!


    The rebel army grew in number shortly afterward when many of the powerful factions within the continent took Wu Hao¡¯s side. Among them were the Beast Taming School and the Wind Lightning School!


    This was a rebellion many years in the making and yet occurred without anyone ever being the wiser. The rebel army moved swiftly like thunder and was practically impossible to quell!


    Never in the last two thousand years since the empire¡¯s founding had something like this pop up. War was being waged everywhere with practically a new battle taking place every day.


    No ¡®order¡¯ was left on the continent with all the factions fighting one another. The Tianhun School used to be the mediator, but they were divided in two now. This led to many people with grudges for someone else taking the initiative to settle them, meaning several other unrelated wars were being had.


    In less than half a year, the rebel army had control of dozens of the western provinces and was as powerful as the ¡®rightful¡¯ emperor¡¯s army!


    Of the Five Great Families, the house of Zheng in the Capital stood with the Royal Family obviously. The house of Tang stood with the Royal Family as well. The Li from the Western River Province and the Sun in the Quiet Frontier Province joined the rebel army, however, and the fifth house, the Wang from the Eastern Shu Province announced their neutrality in the matter.


    It was unknown what the Five Elemental Schools were thinking. The Crafting School, on the other hand, took the side of the Royal Family.


    There was also reports of the highly reclusive Fate School starting to appear¡­


    All in all, there was only one word that could describe the state of the continent¡ªchaos!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Night had fallen upon Yao City. Dan Teng and Wu Dijian left Bai Yunfei¡¯s room to return to their own respective rooms to rest, leaving Bai Yunfei to sit there by the table in silence. He was finding it difficult to take in everything he heard.


    ¡°Huu¡­.¡±


    A long exhale escaped from Bai Yunfei. Now that the news had fully sunken in, Bai Yunfei found himself gradually shaking free from the shock.


    The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring twinkled with a faint light on his left hand. Raising it to eye level, Bai Yunfei stared fondly at the ring.


    ¡°Soon¡­we¡¯ll be able to see each other soon¡­¡±


    Wu Dijian told Bai Yunfei when he disappeared three years ago, the Crafting School, Tang, and Zheng spent no small amount of capital to look for Bai Yunfei. But after a year of looking, the majority of each factions started to believe the worst had happened. With the Soul Refining School lying low, any traces or rumors of Bai Yunfei had essentially dried up. In the end, most of them gave up the search. Only one person and two soulbeasts kept going.


    Tang Xinyun, Xiao Qi, and Long Lan¡­


    The three of them were relentless. For three years, the three searched for Bai Yunfei high and low. It didn¡¯t matter how tiny the rumors were, the three of them went wherever they thought Bai Yunfei might be! Their search only grew even more intense when the Soul Refining School resurfaced to aid the rebellion half a year ago. They even joined in on a few battles since¡­if they could find a soul refiner, then it¡¯d be possible to find out about Bai Yunfei¡¯s whereabouts!


    Bai Yunfei was touched. He desperately wanted nothing more than to go find the three of them, but he couldn¡¯t. Their reunion would have to be prolonged by just a bit longer¡­


    ¡°There¡¯s something else that should be taken care of right now¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked to the Core Stone. He looked at it for a brief moment before turning to look to another part of the room.


    Laying there on a velvet rug was a yellow figure¡ªLao Sha.


    The dog hadn¡¯t woken ever since he was brought here by the trainees. Its battle with the invaders took a lot out of Lao Sha.


    There wasn¡¯t anything majorly wrong with the dog aside from it being fatigued. Bai Yunfei knew that after scanning its body with his soulsense.


    Bai Yunfei thought long and hard on how Lao Sha was somehow able to absorb elemental energy, but he could never come to a logical explanation for it. He didn¡¯t know how Lao Sha had such an ability, where that ability might¡¯ve come from, or even how the dog was doing.


    If he had to guess, Bai Yunfei would say the dog was probably sleeping off the energy it digested. Maybe it was digesting it?


    He just knew that the dog wasn¡¯t in any danger to be concerned over, so he could leave the dog to sleep before getting any answers. Bai Yunfei sat back into his chair and closed his eyes.


    By the time he reopened them, he and Lao Sha had disappeared from the room¡­

 Chapter 1056: The Fifth Lifebound Armament

    Inside the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei and Lao Sha appeared on top of a grassy hill.


    The world inside the Core Stone was the same as ever. Bai Yunfei found himself sighing in sorrow. It had been three years since his last time in here. It almost felt like a whole life time ago that he was inside this world.


    Bai Yunfei placed Lao Sha gently inside one of the nearby caves before turning around. ¡°Xiao Fang.¡±


    No response.


    ¡°Xiao Fang.¡±


    Still no response.


    ¡°Ehhh¡­?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows knitted together in confusion.


    He distinctly remembered not seeing Xiao Fang appear in the outside world, but not seeing Xiao Fang inside the Core World felt very wrong.


    Why wasn¡¯t Xiao Fang here?!


    Xiao Fang was the spirit of the Core Stone. As long as the Core Stone was intact, Xiao Fang would be there. The two were one and neither could be separated. Bai Yunfei could even sense Xiao Fang¡¯s presence inside the Core Stone, but for some reason, there was a peculiarity.


    Bai Yunfei had a feeling that Xiao Fang was¡­stuck in the same situation as the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here¡­¡± Though not clear on the situation, Bai Yunfei had a guess on what might¡¯ve happened.


    Xiao Fang said before that a spirit of the soul armament was the same as a type of ¡®energy¡¯. If too much energy was used, then the spirit would be inversely affected and would most likely go into a ¡®hibernation¡¯ state. It was even possible for their very personality to be returned to the void and for a new one to be born anew. What Bai Yunfei went through three years ago must¡¯ve affected Xiao Fang as well.


    He remembered his battle with Nether ending with an attack that should¡¯ve killed both of them. Bai Yunfei just never imagined surviving it, let alone somehow ending up going from the Lost Swamps to the Qimang Mountains.


    Giving up on calling out for Xiao Fang, Bai Yunfei decided to think. Curious, he waved his right hand to summon something.


    A figure in violet and green popped out less than a hundred steps away from him. The figure was hazy in nature and glowed white on the outside. Around the figure was a palm-sized object that floated there.


    Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar.


    In the battle before, the light coming from Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar made his person hard to see. But now that everything was calm, Bai Yunfei could see the avatar fully now. It was semi-translucent and gave him the feeling of being an illusion almost.


    ¡°A Soul Emperor, though just an avatar. I wonder if the Core World will be able to hold him¡­¡±


    Another memory of what Xiao Fang said before popped in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Xiao Fang said that while the Core World was powerful, it wasn¡¯t invincible. A powerful enough attack could cause some severe consequences. For example, a Soul Saint could force the Core World into releasing them if inside.


    As for a Soul Emperor, it depended on the strength and the methods¡­


    ¡°It should be fine if it¡¯s just an Early-stage Soul Emperor¡­¡±


    Making up his mind, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand. All of a sudden, the entire world turned red as elemental fire converged into the area. It surrounded Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar like a cage before Bai Yunfei gave the command for the Soul Sealing Mandate to be undone.


    Once spoken, the Soul Sealing Mandate trembled slightly and took back the white light around Duan Leiting.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    And pouring out from Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar was a tremendous amount of energy!


    ¡°The¡­the Soul Sealing Mandate! The Core World!! You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re Bai¡ªaghh!¡±


    Duan Leiting began to shout at once as he realized who he was just fighting. Before he could finish, however, the elemental fire transformed into a fiery shackle that wrapped tightly around his person!


    He tried straight away to use elemental wind and lightning to free himself, but he found himself unable to escape!


    Despair filled Duan Leiting¡¯s face. This was¡­the Law of Fire!


    Within the Core World, Bai Yunfei was free to make use of the Law of Fire to do his bidding. He was also free to constrict the effectiveness or even usage of other elements in here if he so wanted. That meant Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar could only make use of the elemental energy within his body if he wanted to use any. It was easy to see which side would win if they fought.


    A shimmer of light flashed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei had the space around Duan Leiting grow transparent, locking the trapped man in a different dimension!


    With Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar dealt with for the time being, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to call the Soul Sealing Mandate to him.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Soul Compatibility: 60%


    Equipment Effect 1: 100% Regeneration rate to the soul.


    Equipment Effect 2: Summon a white halo. Soulforce recovery is increased by 100%.


    Other effects cannot be activated within the duration of this effect.


    Equipment Effect 3: Seal the soul of a single entity. Entity will be unable to take any actions.


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    A notification of the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s stats popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind the moment he touched it.


    ¡°So the Soul Sealing Mandate had other effects other than just ¡®sealing¡¯. I see some overlap with the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡­¡± Bai Yunfei noted with a sigh.


    ¡°But why does it have 60% soul compatibility already?¡± Bai Yunfei was rightfully confused. He never had the time to even inspect this item before he made use of it in his battle with Duan Leiting. From when he awoke from taking the Truth of Reincarnation to now, he wasn¡¯t even able to upgrade the Regalia.


    ¡°Soul Sealer.¡±


    He sighed again and tried to speak into the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    It had a spirit, so Bai Yunfei was trying to see if he could get a response from the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    But¡­there was no response! He didn¡¯t see any spirit pop up!


    ¡°If it used too much ¡®energy¡¯, then this will probably help it¡­¡±


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    It was time for him to start using the Upgrade Technique.


    A while later¡­


    Upgrade SuccesfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect 1: 100% Regeneration rate to the soul.


    Equipment Effect 2: Summon a white halo. Soulforce recovery is increased by 100%.


    Other effects cannot be activated within the duration of this effect.


    Equipment Effect 3: Seal the soul of a single entity. Entity will be unable to take any actions.


    Additional Attribute: 20% Increase in Equipment Effect 1 and 2''s effects.


    +10 Additional Attribute: Create a spiritual barrier by using soulforce. Gain immunity to a single spirit-based attack for up to 5 seconds.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei could hear a slight buzzing sound from within the Soul Sealing Mandate the moment he upgraded it to +10. White light began to pour from it and shine!


    Something within his mind seemed to connect with the Soul Sealing Mandate, prompting Bai Yunfei to stare wide-eyed at the brightly-shining Regalia!


    ¡°100% Soul compatibility!!!¡±


    He breathed out loud¡ªhe couldn¡¯t believe his eyes¡ªthe Soul Sealing Mandate reached 100% soul compatibility by the time he was able to get it to +10!


    In other words¡­Bai Yunfei managed to earn himself another lifebound armament. This would make it his fifth!


    ¡°Ah¡­that feels goooddd¡­¡±


    A rather lazy-sounding voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind at that moment!


    Something began to materialize out from the white light at the same moment Bai Yunfei heard the voice. Taking a material form, the white light soon transformed into a tiny white tiger.


    It looked very realistic in shape and lifelike in action. Stretching its back like a housecat, the tiger blinked its eyes twice and stared up at Bai Yunfei¡­

 Chapter 1057: Antecedents

    ¡°Is it you?! Are you the one that woke me? You really do have the power to strengthen me, just like Core said!¡±


    The eyes of the tiger looked a little foggy, as if it wasn¡¯t completely awake yet. It blinked several more times as it waited for Bai Yunfei to respond.


    ¡°Er¡­¡±


    Unsure of what to think, Bai Yunfei asked¡­ ¡°Are you¡­the spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate?!¡±


    ¡°I am, can¡¯t you tell?¡± The tiger batted a paw. ¡°I am the spirit of the Regalia Soul Sealing Mandate.¡±


    This spirit seemed vastly different to the spirit of the Core Stone by far, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise. He blinked a few times as well. ¡°Did you say ¡®just like Core said¡¯? Do you know anything about Xiao Fang?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡± The small tiger scratched at its jaw ¡®contemplatively¡¯. ¡°He¡¯s hibernating. Breaking open the void isn¡¯t easy, you know. He used up a lot of energy doing that.¡±


    ¡°Breaking open the void? What¡¯s that mean? What happened?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with all the questions? Hold on, let me take a look at you¡­¡± The tiger didn¡¯t even bother to answer any of Bai Yunfei¡¯s questions. It took an additional second to comb what non-existent hair it had on its body before looking Bai Yunfei all over. Bai Yunfei felt a warm glow emanate from the Soul Sealing Mandate when the tiger made eye-contact.


    ¡°Oh?!!! Our synchronization is perfect?! Did you make me into your lifebound armament?! How¡¯d you do that!? I feel a little stronger too! Maybe twenty percent stronger? Wow¡­Is this the ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯ Core talked about? So it really was as amazing as he said?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Xiao Fang told you about the Upgrade Technique?¡± An eyebrow was raised on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°Could you tell me what happened now? I¡¯d like to know.¡±


    ¡°Fine then, since you¡¯re my ¡®master¡¯ and everything. I¡¯ll allow it. You can take a look for yourself to see what happened.¡±


    Speaking as though ¡®resigned¡¯ to its fate, the tiger suddenly leapt up from the ground to dive into Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead!


    ¡°Wha?!¡± Bai Yunfei nearly leaped back from surprise but the tiger was already right about to crash into him! But¡­then it melted into his head!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt his vision grew hazy before it went dark¡­


    ¡°Crap! Yunfei¡¯s soul is super weak, he¡¯s dying!¡±


    Inside the Core World, a deathly-pale Bai Yunfei was laid there on the ground with the Fire-tipped Spear, Cataclysmic Seal, and even the Soul Sealing Mandate resting there with him. Lao Sha was hopping left and right around Bai Yunfei as it stared in great concern at him.


    The figure of Xiao Fang was floating above Bai Yunfei and seemingly inspecting Bai Yunfei¡¯s health.


    ¡°What kind of soul skill was that? Yunfei¡¯s soul is¡­regressing?!¡± The last word was practically yelped. ¡°No no no. His soul¡¯s going to die at this rate! What do I do? What do I do?!¡±


    Like an ant on a hot wok, Xiao Fang¡¯s hologram was hopping about as it tried to think of a solution.


    ¡°Oh!! Soul Sealer!!¡±


    It whirled around to stare at the Soul Sealing Mandate on the ground. ¡°Soul Sealer!¡± Xiao Fang hollered, ¡°Come on out now! Hurry up!!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    There was a flash of white as a small white tiger appeared in front of Xiao Fang.


    ¡°Hey there Core, long time no see¡ªa thousand years maybe?¡± Stretching its back, the tiger spoke to Xiao Fang like a friend.


    ¡°Yunfei¡¯s not doing well, use your energy and save him!¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Looking down, Soul Sealer glanced at the resting Bai Yunfei. ¡°Is this your current master?¡± It looked interested. ¡°Tsk tsk¡­he doesn¡¯t look very strong¡­¡±


    ¡°Quit your yapping and save him!¡± Xiao Fang exploded anxiously.


    But Soul Sealer still didn¡¯t see the rush. ¡°Why should I? He¡¯s not my master¡­Besides, it¡¯s not looking good for him. I doubt I¡¯ll be able to save him unless I accept him as my master. Sealing his soul so he won¡¯t die will use up a lot of my energy too. Going into hibernation doesn¡¯t sound fun, so I¡¯ll pass.¡±


    ¡°You!!¡±


    Xiao Fang was speechless. It was infuriated by the cavalier attitude of the other Regalia. ¡°Are you really not going to save him?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Fine if you don¡¯t then, but be prepared to accompany me into the void for the next several thousand years!¡±


    ¡°Hold on, what?! The void?!¡±


    ¡°You heard me, we¡¯re in the void right now.¡± A vision of the outside world¡ªcurrently a void¡ªappeared in a spatial window. It was entirely black outside with all sorts of color mixing with one another and flowing in random directions. It was a very strange sight to see.


    A surprised look appeared on the tiger¡¯s face. ¡°We¡¯re really in the void!¡±


    It rounded on Xiao Fang in exasperation. ¡°You¡­of all places, why did you run into the void?!¡±


    Xiao Fang ignored the tiger. ¡°If you¡¯re not going to save him, then it¡¯ll be a trip into the void for the both of us.¡±


    ¡°No!!¡± The tiger roared with anger ¡°Are you really threatening me, Core? What does it matter if I save him? We¡¯d still be stuck here in the void wouldn¡¯t we?!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that. I¡¯m much stronger than I was before. I¡¯ll be able to break free from the void on my own.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Though still a little suspicious, the tiger grew excited. ¡°You can break out from the void by yourself? You¡¯re lying!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying.¡± Xiao Fang seemed to be calming down a bit now. ¡°And do you know why I¡¯m stronger now? It¡¯s because of him. He has a strange power called the ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯. It can strengthen the power of a soul armament! If you can save him and accept him as your master, he¡¯ll be able to make you stronger too.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± The tiger¡¯s eyes grew wide with disbelief.


    ¡°Really!¡± Replied Xiao Fang, ¡°But there¡¯s no time! Hurry up and save him! You¡¯ll only hibernate for a few dozen years at most if you seal his soul, but if he recovers and upgrades the Soul Sealing Mandate, you¡¯ll awake right away!¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­I¡¯ll save him¡­¡± Resigned to its fate, the tiger accepted. Living in the void for several thousand years was a scary thought for the tiger. If he listened to Xiao Fang though, then it was possible such a horrid fate could be avoided¡­


    ¡°His soul¡¯s extremely damaged. I can only seal it and stop the regression. He¡¯ll¡­probably lose his memories and probably become an imbecile¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up already! It beats him dying! If there¡¯s a chance to save him, then save him!¡±


    ¡°Fine fine...eh?! A soul fragment¡¯s lodged in his soul?! It¡¯s not his¡­what¡¯s it doing here? Well whatever¡­at least he won¡¯t become an imbecile this way¡­¡±


    ¡°Lao Sha, I¡¯ll have to go into hibernation after I break us out from the void. I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be able to wake up. Yunfei will most likely lose his memories, you¡¯re the only one that can protect him until he recovers!¡±

 Chapter 1058: Its Gone!!

    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    On top of the grassy hill in the Core World, Bai Yunfei sat there with his hands massaging his temples.


    He never imagined that he¡¯d be able to live from that battle. Xiao Fang, Soul Sealer, and the soul fragment from that transmigrator had been vital to his survival.


    If not for Soul Sealer sealing his soul, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul would¡¯ve regressed to the point of disappearance.


    If not for Xiao Fang breaking out from the void, then Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been forced to stay in the Core World and likely starve to death or something.


    And if not for the memory fragments of the transmigrator ¡®Tang Long¡¯ supporting his soul, he would¡¯ve become an imbecile or left in a comatose state. That would¡¯ve been a fate worse than death¡­


    And, of course, if not for Lao Sha protecting Bai Yunfei multiple times before he recovered, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve most likely succumbed to another threat to his life¡­


    ¡°So you¡¯ve been holding my body in stasis this entire time? I never thought there¡¯d be such a way of saving a life¡­¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his head in wonder. The mark on his body was most definitely the work of the Soul Sealing Mandate then. No wonder he was met with the Soul Sealing Mandate the moment he recovered¡­


    ¡°And that¡¯s that. Honestly, I never thought you¡¯d be able to recover or even live. I thought I was basically trying to fill a bucket with holes in it here¡­¡± Still in its tiger form, Soul Sealer began to lick its claws.


    ¡°It¡¯s because of me you¡¯re alive, so you should thank me properly. Why not use that Upgrade Technique of yours and make me stronger?¡±


    The difference in attitude between Soul Sealer and Xiao Fang was quite big. Bai Yunfei recalled Xiao Fang once saying there was two ways a soul armament could gain a spirit. One was to have a soul armament naturally gain sentience, the other was to have someone implant a soul into it. Xiao Fang was of the former and Soul Sealer was of the latter.


    ¡°While it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t use the Upgrade Technique, are you sure you want me to?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled at how cute the little tiger was looking at him.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to warn you, upgrading a soul armament isn¡¯t always successful. Being a +10 item, you are no longer in the ¡®safety zone¡¯. Failing to upgrade you could have some dire consequences¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± The tiger blinked. ¡°What consequences?¡±


    ¡°If a +10 equipment fails to upgrade, then¡­take a look¡ª¡±


    An ordinary +10 soul armament popped out onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    The equipment failed to be upgraded and was reduced to ashes, as expected.


    ¡°You¡ªthat¡¯s¡ªwhat?¡± Sputtering in horror, the tiger gave Bai Yunfei a wide-eyed look. ¡°This Upgrade Technique can destroy a soul armament?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°If there¡¯s a chance to grow stronger, then there¡¯s also a chance of being destroyed. The path to more power has always had a risk like that. So, how about it? Want me to keep going?¡±


    ¡°As¡­as if! If¡­if you¡­if you try to ¡®upgrade¡¯ me, I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll bite you to death!!¡± The little tiger leaped back with wide eyes and snarled threateningly at him.


    ¡°Haha¡­don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not that stupid. If I have something called the ¡®Guaranteed Upgrade Stone¡¯, then I¡¯ll be able to upgrade you without failure. In the future, I¡¯ll be sure to use it to help you grow stronger if I find one.¡±


    ¡°Really? Where can we find one then? Hurry and find one!¡±


    ¡°Easier said than done¡­don¡¯t you think I¡¯d have a few of them if that were the case?¡±


    The best way to wake up Xiao Fang was perhaps try and find one of those Guaranteed Upgrade Stones¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei sighed.


    Re-experiencing his life with the Truth of Reincarnation didn¡¯t give Bai Yunfei additional insights on just cultivation. He gained plenty of insights about the Upgrade Technique, but there wasn¡¯t much he learned how to increase the chances of success. Without something like that Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel very confident about upgrading the Core Stone again.


    Not even a heaven-tier upgrade stone would soothe Bai Yunfei¡¯s fears. This was the type of situation where Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even want to risk even a single percent of failure.


    The only source of Guaranteed Upgrade Stones Bai Yunfei knew of was the Nephrite Throne fragments. Finding them anywhere else seemed very unlikely¡­


    Daytime was rapidly approaching the outside world. Collecting his thoughts, Bai Yunfei sat down onto the ground to try and meditate for a bit.


    The Truth of Reincarnation had been an excellent experience for Bai Yunfei. Not only did he gain plenty of power, but he also managed to be free of any negative side-effects. All he really had to do was familiarize himself with his new strength.


    In another part of the world. The barracks of the three allied schools.


    It wasn¡¯t Qin Bangjie that sat upon the very front throne in one of the tents, but a shadowy figure whose face could not be seen clearly.


    Another two of the Soul Kings from the Soul Refining School were seated with Qin Bangjie. Each one of them had a face filled with fear. No one said a word and simply waited for something else to happen.


    Suddenly, everyone looked up through the ceiling hole at the skies above.


    Four figures came stepping out from a ripple in the area they were looking at.


    A wave of energy flowed forth from the humanoid with a tiger¡¯s head the moment it appeared, turning Qin Bangjie and the others with him deathly-pale. This was the soulbeast puppet avatar of Lin Dongxiao, the Demon-eyed Tiger King.


    Right beside the Demon-eyed Tiger King was Ma Xucheng and a few other Soul Kings from the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Hehe¡­the mighty headmaster of the Soul Refining School fleeing from a battle in fear. I wonder how the world might take such a piece of news like that?¡±


    Lin Dongxiao sneered, his eyes staring straight at the black shadow with Qin Bangjie.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that, why did you not try your luck with that one then, Lin Dongxiao?¡± The figure in black retorted. A wave of energy flowed out from the figure to cancel out the aura coming from Lin Dongxiao. The effort caused the smoke around the figure''s face to recede, revealing the face of the figure.


    It was a middle-aged man in his forties, but a man whose figure was transparent. This was very clearly someone¡¯s avatar.


    This person was¡­the headmaster of the Soul Refining School, Nether!!


    ¡°....¡± Lin Dongxiao didn¡¯t retort. He looked almost embarrassed. ¡°Who¡­who was that person?!¡± He demanded.


    Nether¡¯s eyes traveled to where Xu Qianqing was. ¡°Call the ones from the Wind Lightning School over.¡±


    ¡°Yes, headmaster.¡± Xu Qianqing bowed respectfully.


    He Changkai and the others didn¡¯t take long to gather in the tent. Sitting there together, the men from the Wind Lightning School had a stormy look on their faces. Conversation, it would seem, was not something they were willing to take part in right now. But with two Soul Emperor from the other schools demanding it, there was no way the Wind Lightning School could refuse. They didn¡¯t even have the right to speak.


    ¡°That person¡­is Bai Yunfei!¡±


    Nether spoke after a moment of silence.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    The ones from the other two schools repeated in surprise. The beast tamers shivered with something that looked very similar to fear¡­


    Ma Xucheng¡¯s eyes flew wide open. ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­from the Crafting School?! Are you saying¡­that same Bai Yunfei from three years ago?!¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡±


    ¡°But how!!¡± Ma Xucheng exclaimed, ¡°Didn¡¯t he and you take each oth¡ª¡±


    A wave of furious killing intent stopped Ma Xucheng from saying anything more. Paling in the face, Ma Xucheng looked down to avoid back at Nether¡­


    The gears were turning in Lin Dongxiao¡¯s head as he thought about this new piece of information. ¡°Then¡­the technique he used against Duan Leiting at the very end was¡­the Soul Sealing Mandate?!¡± Lin Dongxiao declared, ¡°And then when he disappeared¡­that was because of the Core Stone?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly. It is because of the Soul Sealing Mandate and Core Stone.¡± Nether confirmed. ¡°And the reason why Duan Leiting¡¯s second Bellow of the Thunder God was reflected is due to a secret Bai Yunfei has. There was no other reason why Duan Leiting would lose so quickly if not for that¡­¡±


    The light in Lin Dongxiao¡¯s eyes grew even brighter. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± He asked.


    ¡°We kill him.¡± Nether spat hatefully. ¡°The Soul Sealing Mandate and Core Stone¡­you and I will take one apiece!!¡±


    Nether¡¯s hatred for Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t simply be contained. He wanted nothing more than to utterly destroy Bai Yunfei and tear his soul asunder!


    Him fleeing the battle was humiliating, he knew that much and regretted it plenty, but¡­there just wasn¡¯t any helping it! He hadn¡¯t been thinking too clearly at the time! When he saw how Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar¡ªwhich was a little stronger than his own avatar at the time¡ªwas destroyed, Nether¡¯s mind was filled with a ¡®familiar¡¯ type of dread that made him want to flee at once. Mind flooded with despair and desperation, the only thing Nether could do was flee from the battlefield at once¡­


    Qin Bangjie and the others had the same idea. Their trauma of Bai Yunfei was simply too deep¡­


    Bai Yunfei was the man everyone from the Soul Refining School feared greatly. It wasn¡¯t hard for anyone to see why.


    But now that he could calm down, Nether was filled with indignation! His previous show of behavior was simply intolerable¡­that was the perfect chance to kill Bai Yunfei!


    He didn¡¯t know how Bai Yunfei lived or even managed to make it into the ranks of the Yao clan, but that wasn¡¯t important. With both Lin Dongxiao¡¯s soulbeast puppet and Nether here, the two of them should¡¯ve been able to kill Bai Yunfei!


    One night of discussion later, the next day.


    Nether, Lin Dongxiao, and the other Soul Kings led the allied army towards Yao City to make their third assault. It took Lin Dongxiao a moment for him to clear the illusion placed around the city, but when it dropped¡­


    Everyone¡¯s jaw dropped wide open¡­there was nothing there!


    Yao City was¡­gone!!

 Chapter 1059: Who is the Hunter and Who is the Hunted?

    From the city walls to the very center of it¡­Yao City was gone to its very last tile!


    Only a crater was left there in its place! A smooth crater that contained absolutely nothing but an empty sight for the allied schools to gape at!


    ¡°What¡­what is this¡­¡±


    Students and Soul Kings alike, everyone were struck dumb the sight when they realized the giant city was no longer there.


    ¡°The. Core. Stone!!¡±


    Three words were spoken Nether one by one as if they were poisonous. The black light twisted and coiled his figure as if simulating the anger he felt.


    A stunned Lin Dongxiao stood right beside Nether. ¡°You¡¯re¡­saying he used the Core Stone to carry away the entire city?! It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s capable of something like that?!¡±


    ¡°After him!¡± Nether exploded with anger, ¡°Mobilize the army! We¡¯ll scour every inch of the Qimang Mountains if we need to, Bai Yunfei must be found!¡±


    Meanwhile, in another place far away from where Yao City once stood.


    Four figures stood on top of a tall mountain point. Bai Yunfei, Wu Dijian, Dan Teng, and Yao Wuchen.


    Bai Yunfei was looking in the direction where Yao City once was. His eyes were closed shut, though, as if he was trying to sense something.


    Yao Wuchen and the other two stood anxiously behind him. If they wanted to ask Bai Yunfei something, then they all must have thought it prudent to wait.


    The three of them were awed by Bai Yunfei. Migrating the inhabitants of Yao City into the Core Stone was what they expected. They just never expected Bai Yunfei being able to ¡®store¡¯ the entire city as well.


    A while ago, Bai Yunfei came out from the Core World to greet Yao Wuchen and the others. It was time for them to start having the citizens enter the Core World.


    But then Bai Yunfei said that would be too ¡®troublesome¡¯. He also said there was something else he wanted to ¡®try¡¯.


    ¡®You will all feel a strange energy around you in a moment. Don¡¯t resist it.¡¯ Was what he said to the people of Yao City.


    Bai Yunfei flew up into the sky. Confused, the Soul Kings followed after him to see what he had in mind.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to borrow your ¡®mental energy¡¯.¡± Bai Yunfei requested from the Soul Kings. They were further confused until they all felt something touch upon their mindspace¡ªthis was the power of the Charm Bracelet, mental link!


    By borrowing their power, Bai Yunfei was able to spread his soulsense across the entire city. A barrier of light surrounded Yao City in its entirety and even dug deep into the ground¡­


    Half an hour and a great deal of shock later, the entire Yao City was being shaken at its foundation as if it was being ¡®dug¡¯ up¡­


    Then in the next second¡­everything disappeared!


    Both city and inhabitants disappeared into the Core World, leaving only Bai Yunfei, Wu Dijian, Dan Teng, and Yao Wuchen standing there in the sky.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s they?¡± Wu Dijian asked.


    ¡°The allied members. They¡¯ve realized what we¡¯ve done and are starting to search the place¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡­you can tell all that?!¡±


    The distance between here and where Yao City was was far too large! Not even an Early-stage Soul Emperor should be able to cover that much distance with their soulsense! How was it that Bai Yunfei was able to?!


    ¡°My soulsense might not be able to, but the Core Stone allows me to sense fluctuations in spatial energy. I can feel plenty of people teleporting in every direction. They¡¯re clearly trying to find us.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, a fool¡¯s errand¡­¡± Wu Dijian laughed. ¡°We¡¯d be laughingstocks if they caught up to us.¡±


    He could say that now after learning about the Core Stone¡¯s ability of teleporting large distances at a time. The distance traveled with the Core Stone was far superior than that of the two Early-stage Soul Emperors. As Wu Dijian said, being caught now was very unlikely.


    ¡°Yunfei, we should try to leave the Qimang Mountains as quickly as we can. Do you have any other plans?¡±


    Dan Teng asked at last.


    Dan Teng really wanted to leave this place at once, if he was honest. But Bai Yunfei staying here told him that there was something else the younger male had planned.


    ¡°Haha, not to worry. We can leave any time we want¡­¡± Bai Yunfei chuckled. ¡°Uncle Dan Teng, don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t want to pay our enemies back for what they¡¯ve done so far?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Dan Teng blinked. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re¡­¡±


    A flash of light sparked to life in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. ¡°The only thing we were able to do was protect Yao City with our life. But now¡­¡±


    He turned back to look towards Yao City. ¡°But now the positions of the ¡®hunters¡¯ and the ¡®hunted¡¯ have been swapped¡­¡±


    The three males gave Bai Yunfei a stunned look; was he really trying to launch a counterattack on their enemies?!


    ¡°But¡­we are up against two Soul Emperor at the very least, my young friend. Though the Soul Sealing Mandate and Core Stone are powerful, a fight with two of them will prove to be very difficult. We hold the advantage in Soul Kings, but that advantage means nothing in a battle with Soul Emperor¡­¡± Yao Wuchen advised.


    ¡°Haha, you overestimate my abilities, clan head. Me fighting two Soul Emperor wouldn¡¯t be a bit ¡®difficult¡¯, it¡¯d be a slaughter.¡±


    During his battle with Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar, Bai Yunfei only managed to win easily due to his enemies not knowing his capabilities. Without the Soul Sentinel Scarf being able to mitigate and deflect soul attacks, there was no way Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been able to defeat Duan Leiting. The other two Soul Emperor definitely knew what Bai Yunfei was capable of now and wouldn¡¯t use a soul attack if they were to fight now. That meant Bai Yunfei was down one killing move and had less a chance of victory.


    ¡°Then why would you¡­¡±


    ¡°Indeed, fighting two Soul Emperor would be impossible for me ¡®right now¡¯, but¡­they¡¯re currently spreading out in an attempt to find us.¡±


    He looked to a different direction with a cold smile. ¡°There¡¯s a type of tactic called ¡®guerilla warfare¡¯...¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    In the middle of the Qimang Mountains, a sudden explosion broke the silence that had been present.


    ¡°Where are they?!¡±


    From their perch up in the skies, Nether and Lin Dongxiao suddenly disappeared the moment they heard the explosion!


    The distance a Soul Emperor could teleport at once was a considerable one, and so it didn¡¯t take long for them to arrive where the explosion was.


    But nothing but the scars of a battle was there. The battle was ¡®already¡¯ over.


    ¡°It was the people from the Wind Lightning School.¡±


    Nether spoke out. The ones searching in this area had been an Early-stage Soul King from the Wind Lightning School and his students.


    ¡°After them!!¡±


    Furious, Lin Dongxiao transformed into a ray of energy to fly off in a certain direction in hopes that Bai Yunfei¡¯s traces would be picked up on.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    When the two were far away enough in a certain direction, another explosion was heard off towards the south!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    They teleported at once towards the source in hopes of being there on time this time!


    But like the last time, they arrived at the battlefield too late. A Mid-stage Soul King from the Beast Taming School was gone.


    And that was when the two Soul Emperor realized splitting up to chase after Bai Yunfei was a terrible mistake¡­

 Chapter 1060: A Reunion

    Anyone that found Bai Yunfei would definitely end up dead. But they would at the very least stall long enough for either Soul Emperors to get there and deal with Bai Yunfei. The loss of their own members was something they were loathed to do, but both Nether and Lin Dongxiao agreed that it was an acceptable sacrifice to make. If the two of them could make it there, then it¡¯d be possible to kill Bai Yunfei very quickly.


    Unfortunately, their ¡®expectations¡¯ didn¡¯t fit in with reality¡­


    The strength of Bai Yunfei was so strong that one or two Soul Kings wasn¡¯t even enough to ¡®stall¡¯!


    This was no longer a hunt for Bai Yunfei but a waiting game for Bai Yunfei to ¡®visit¡¯ them!


    And to make matters even worse, Bai Yunfei could employ the use of the other Soul Kings like Wu Dijian and Dan Teng by simply popping them out from the Core World, making any fight even faster to finish.


    This way, it took only a moment for the Soul Kings from the Beast Taming School and Wind Lightning School to be caught and thrown into the Core World to be dealt with later.


    ¡°Recall everyone at once!!¡±


    Nether ordered Qin Bangjie at once.


    The members of each allied schools came back at once, but their forces were down another two groups!


    One group from the Wind Lightning School and one group from the Soul Refining School!


    Four groups had been lost already, meaning four Soul Kings were missing in action! In so little time! And none of the other groups even saw a shadow of their enemy!


    A little ways away from the allied schools. On a grassy hill.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head was tilted upwards to the sky as he sensed for the enemies auras. ¡°They¡¯re quick to pick up on our plan. Our enemies are gathering together. I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t give us any opportunities to strike at them again.


    ¡°Yes, they won¡¯t be willing to venture out by themselves now¡­¡± Wu Dijian mentioned with regret. ¡°They¡¯re a wavery bunch. We put out the bait and they fall for it and have their two Soul Emperor out on a wild goose chase. Really now¡­¡±


    Truth be told, the group initially thought Bai Yunfei¡¯s plan was a little dangerous. But after seeing the overwhelming success of it, they now had to agree that the Core Stone was far too powerful. All they had to do was use the Core Stone to teleport away and even a Soul Emperor would be thrown off their tail¡­


    ¡°What should we do now, Yunfei? Wait for a better chance? Or should we¡­leave?¡±


    Wu Dijian and Yao Wuchen looked to Bai Yunfei intently once Dan Teng asked this question. Somehow, the group was taking their youngest companion to be an extremely accomplished tactician.


    ¡°We¡¯ve only caught four Soul Kings, why stop there?¡±


    ¡°Oh? You still want to continue? But if they¡¯re gathering together around the Soul Emperor, what chance do we have?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t for now. We¡¯ll just need to follow them.¡±


    ¡°Follow them?¡± No one knew what Bai Yunfei meant.


    ¡°Yeah, follow them. It doesn¡¯t matter how long they try to find us, we¡¯ll wait even when they¡¯re dirty and tired.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Dan Teng grew suspicious of the strange pause, ¡°and then what?¡±


    ¡°We wait.¡± A cryptic smile appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°Wait?¡± Wu Dijian still couldn¡¯t make sense of what Bai Yunfei was getting at. ¡°Hey now, Bai Yunfei. Can¡¯t you quit it with this mysteriousness? What do you have planned? Tell us straight and simple. What do we wait for?¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°I¡¯ll keep you all in suspense for a little longer. You¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡±


    He turned his head back to the southern skies with an eager look. ¡°It¡¯ll be soon now¡­¡±


    And so eight days passed by with the allied schools being completely flustered beyond belief.


    They were packed together like ants. Ever since they were ambushed and picked off by Bai Yunfei one by one, no one in the army dared branch off on their own paths.


    The army never left the Qimang Mountains. Instead, they went around in circles in hopes of finding Bai Yunfei¡­


    To put it shortly, Nether and Lin Dongxiao had yet to give up finding Bai Yunfei.


    They knew from Bai Yunfei¡¯s previous actions that there was no way Bai Yunfei would ¡®forgive¡¯ them so easily. It was very possible he was lying in wait for the right opportunity of some kind.


    And so the two of them had the Soul Kings gather the army and form tightly-knit searching formation. That way, there¡¯d be no way Bai Yunfei would be able to target any straggling groups without being immediately found and have enemy reinforcements after him.


    They were desperately holding out on the hope that they could hopefully find a point where Bai Yunfei could be stalled and then subsequently killed.


    But to Nether and Lin Dongxiao¡¯s disappointment¡ªand secret relief of the army¡ªBai Yunfei never appeared.


    People were starting to think Bai Yunfei had already left the Qimang Mountains. It seemed especially dejecting that the possibility of Bai Yunfei laughing at their stupidity was a high one¡­


    On the morning of the ninth day.


    Bai Yunfei and three Soul Kings stood on top of a particularly ordinary-looking cliff. No longer able of holding back his curiosity, Wu Dijian asked, ¡°I say, Bai Yunfei, what exactly are we waiting for? What are you planning in that head of yours? What moment is it?¡±


    He didn¡¯t know how many times he asked this question in the past few days, but Bai Yunfei never gave him a straight answer.


    Not until now.


    ¡°It¡¯s here!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s here? What¡¯s here?¡±


    Not actually expecting an answer, Wu Dijian looked at Bai Yunfei with confusion. But a moment later, the three Soul Kings realized something was coming.


    Off in a distance, a bolt of violet and green light was flying through the sky!


    It was very far from them so the light was practically a tiny dot, but¡­someone was most definitely flying through the skies!


    ¡°Rumble rumble¡­¡±


    The shock grew more and more apparent to Wu Dijian and the others when the streak of light drew closer and closer!


    From the rumbling of thunder and the blustering of the wind, the three Soul Kings realized just how powerful this newcomer was!


    ¡°Late-stage Soul King!!¡±


    Yao Wuchen was the one to cry out first. As a Late-stage Soul King himself, he could tell from this aura that this ¡®person¡¯ was no weakling!


    ¡°No! Hold on¡­this¡­this isn¡¯t a soul cultivator. It¡¯s a soulbeast!¡± Wu Dijian replied after him.


    ¡°Ah!¡± He realized a second later, ¡°It¡¯s him!!¡±


    Realization dawned across Wu Dijian¡¯s face. At last he understood who Bai Yunfei had been waiting for all this time.


    The streak of light drew closer and closer to the four. Finally, Dan Teng and Yao Wuchen were able to see just who was inside the streak of light: A giant bird whose wings shined both green and violet!


    ¡°Woosh!!¡±


    The space in front of Yao Wuchen and the other two Soul Kings grew hazy as the streak of light flew at Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Yunfei! Yunfei!!!! Yunfeiii!!!!!¡±


    An ecstatic voice cried out. The joyful tone in the bird¡¯s voice was apparent, but so was the hints of a sob.


    Since Bai Yunfei was standing still, it didn¡¯t take more than a few sparse moments for the giant bird to reach Bai Yunfei. Striking into him, the bird came to a stop at last for the three Soul Kings behind Bai Yunfei to look at. The wings of this bird were splayed out over Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest as if it was ¡®hugging¡¯ him¡­


    With the wings embracing his chest and the soft feathers tickling his face, Bai Yunfei laughed with joy, ¡°Hah, your current body has gotten quite big, Xiao Qi¡­.¡±


    This giant bird was Xiao Qi!!


    ¡°Yunfei! Yunfei~! We¡¯ve finally found you! I just knew you were alive! There¡¯s no way you wouldn¡¯t be fine!¡±


    Xiao Qi sobbed in relief. The joy of finding his long-last family drained the bird of his words almost. It took Xiao Qi all he could to form a coherent sentence as he sobbed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest.


    He realized what Bai Yunfei meant by him growing big a second later. There was a brief glow of light as Xiao Qi shrunk in size to return to his original size. Small again, Xiao Qi chirped and danced with joy on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms.


    They didn¡¯t need words to show how much they missed each other. Not with the bond they shared.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shifted from Xiao Qi to the direction where the bird came from.


    Two figures were floating there up in the sky.


    The moment his eyes shifted onto the figure in white was the moment Bai Yunfei felt like the world came to a stop¡­


    ¡°Xinyun¡­¡±

 Chapter 1061: To Battle

    The figure in white floated gracefully in the air like a butterfly. Flitting through the skies, the figure threw themselves into Bai Yunfei¡¯s embrace¡­


    ¡°Xinyun¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei repeated. His arms wrapped tightly around the trembling figure of the person in his arms. Strange as it felt, Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat felt a little raspy. He opened and closed his mouth several times, though no words were spoken after that first time.


    ¡°Please¡­don¡¯t say anything. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll wake up again if you say something¡­¡±


    A trembling voice whispered into Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears. He grew quiet at once.


    ¡°A moment longer¡­is all I ask if this is a dream¡­¡±


    The voice spoke again. It was a lithe voice filled with raw emotion, but each word felt like a stab of pain to Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart¡­


    Bai Yunfei forced himself to become calm. Putting on a small smile, he lifted his right arm to gently stroke the silky hair of the person he was hugging. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid.¡± He whispered back, ¡°This isn¡¯t a dream. I¡¯m back, Xinyun.¡±


    Xinyun trembled again. Her hands pressed lightly against Bai Yunfei so she could look up. Her teary eyes met with Bai Yunfei¡¯s own. A hand touched softly at Bai Yunfei¡¯s cheek.


    Chuckling, Bai Yunfei caressed her hand as it touched his cheek. ¡°I¡¯m not lying, you know.¡±


    This was no dream. Xinyun didn¡¯t have to fear of waking up and having Bai Yunfei disappearing anymore like before¡­


    The fear of this all being a dreamed slowly drained away from Tang Xinyun¡¯s eyes. The longer she looked at Bai Yunfei, the more her hope grew. Soon, the corners of her lips began to twitch with the beginnings of a cry. Nodding, she buried her head into Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder and began to cry¡­


    And so the two stood there up in the skies, saying and doing nothing but embrace one another.


    Having no idea what was going on, Yao Wuchen motioned to Dan Teng, ¡°And these people are¡­?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s Bai Yunfei¡¯s lover and these two soulbeasts are his contracted soulbeast and friend. I had no idea he was waiting for them¡­the bond between Xiao Qi and Bai Yunfei must¡¯ve alerted them of Bai Yunfei¡¯s position.¡±


    ¡°Two Late-stage Soul Kings and two Early-stage Soul Kings¡­¡± Yao Wuchen nodded. ¡°So he was waiting for them? It¡¯s a considerable show of strength, but again, I¡¯m afraid up against two Soul Emperors¡­¡±


    This entire time, Yao Wuchen thought Bai Yunfei was ¡®waiting¡¯ for reinforcements on the level of a Soul Emperor. Would these newcomers really be enough to fight off two Soul Emperors?


    ¡°This isn¡¯t good!!¡± Suddenly, Yao Wuchen¡¯s head snapped up in horror. ¡°There¡¯s no way our enemies won¡¯t notice the energy trails just now! We¡¯ll have to leave at once!¡±


    ¡°Rumble rumble¡­¡±


    As if responding to his fears, two beams of light¡ªone gold and one dark¡ªshot through the skies toward Bai Yunfei and his group!


    ¡°There¡¯s still a lot I want to talk to you about, Xinyun, but that¡¯ll have to wait. Wait for me in the Core World, okay?¡± Bai Yunfei whispered soothingly to Tang Xinyun.


    No longer crying, Tang Xinyun tilted her head to look back up at Bai Yunfei. Her face shifted softly when she realized the auras of the incoming two people, ¡°Are they¡­enemies, Yunfei?


    ¡°What terrifying auras they have¡­¡± She shuddered.


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Bai Yunfei gave her a reassuring smile, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you all about it in a moment. But for now¡­I have to deal with them. Wait for me in the Core World, okay?¡±


    ¡°No¡­I¡¯ll fight with you!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t expected her to respond that way. The soft and soothing look on his lover¡¯s face was gone. In its place was a determined expression and¡­an edge of killing intent.


    Thinking about it now, Xiao Qi, Long Lan, Tang Xinyun, and her soulbeast partner the quickshade bird must¡¯ve been looking for him all this time, especially in the last half year. Her anger for the enemies was to be expected.


    ¡°Fine. Then you, Xiao Qi, Long Lan, and Xiao Bai will deal with the Soul Kings. Be careful.¡±


    Not willing to argue, Bai Yunfei decided to compromise with her.


    He looked back to the large figure standing slightly away from them. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Long Lan. You¡¯ve gotten a lot stronger.¡±


    Long Lan hadn¡¯t physically changed at all since three years ago, but he was stronger now. He nodded at Bai Yunfei¡¯s words, ¡°We all knew we¡¯d find you, Yunfei. We knew you¡¯d be fine.¡±


    ¡°Life was hard for us these past few years, Yunfei¡­now that we¡¯ve found you, I won¡¯t forgive you if you mistreat Xinyun.¡±


    The voice of an unknown female spoke out then, startling Bai Yunfei. Looking at the source, he saw the quickshade bird perched on top of Long Lan¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Xiao¡­Xiao Bai?! You can talk?!¡± His eyes grew wide open.


    Xiao Bai flew close to Bai Yunfei. ¡°What is there to be surprised about? I¡¯m a class seven soulbeast now too, am I not? Is it strange that I can talk?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Bai Yunfei grew embarrassed, ¡°Haha, it¡¯s a little hard adapting to that out of the blue¡­¡±


    A blast of energy from the two incoming Soul Emperors caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention. ¡°We can talk more later. Xiao Qi, Long Lan, prepare for battle!!¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, the enemy is nearly upon us, we should leave now!!¡±


    Yao Wuchen was growing frantic now. The enemy was coming far too close for his liking.


    Tang Xinyun passed a black ring into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. Taking it, he turned to the three men there. ¡°No need. We¡¯ll bring everything to a conclusion right now.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Yao Wuchen exclaimed, ¡°You want to fight them?! But why!¡±


    ¡°Is this a joke, Bai Yunfei?¡± Wu Dijian nervously asked. ¡°You¡¯re the only one capable of fighting on par with a Soul Emperor. What can we do against two?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Qi and I will deal with the two Soul Emperor. You can deal with the others.¡±


    A shocking statement. Hardly any of the three Soul Kings could believe the words Bai Yunfei was saying.


    Bai Yunfei waved his hand and brought all the Soul Kings of the Yao clan out from the Core World. All of the class seven familiars were brought out as well.


    ¡°Clan head, my complete recovery was solely due to your Yao clan. As such, I vow to your clan¡ªthe enemies of your Yao clan will be destroyed! I won¡¯t allow even a single one of them to leave this place alive today!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A surge of power exploded from Bai Yunfei the moment he spoke the last word. Skyrocketing in both power level and height, Bai Yunfei flew at the two incoming Soul Emperors!


    The sky was awash with elemental fire at once. The more Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura grew, the more elemental fire that spawned! Soon, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was on par with the auras of the two Soul Emperor!


    Dual Flame Arts: ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Above the golden beam of light, a golden tiger appeared out of thin air. A wave of energy exploded from the tiger when it tilted its head up to bellow at the heavens!


    The streak of black on the right side had a demonic figure made from the shadows from above it. Sprouting two identically black wings, the figure looked especially evil.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    A thunderous voice cried out from the black beam of light. It was just a statement and not a soul attack, but the demonic figure above the black figure brought its right arm up high into the sky. It swung its palm downward with as much force as it could muster to squash Bai Yunfei!


    The Extinguishing Seal!


    The giant tiger lashed out with one of its claws. The power behind its claws felt like it was ready to tear the heavens apart as beams of golden light shot out from the claws towards Bai Yunfei!


    Straight off the bat, the two Soul Emperors were sending their strongest attacks at Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 1062: Trapping Nether

    Up against two dreadfully powerful attacks, Bai Yunfei froze momentarily to do several hand seals. The elemental fire around him gathered to his hands before exploding outwards!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Two fiery dragons exploded out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms and into the heavens! Ten meters long in diameter, the two dragons had sparks of lightning run through them and tiny spots of gray in several places. It was an awe-inspiring sight to see.


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    Like the two Soul Emperors he was up against, Bai Yunfei was starting with the strongest move of his own!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The first to collide with the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was the Extinguishing Seal. Nether¡¯s move was filled with the Law of Darkness, but Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack was powered by the Law of Fire and Chaotic Energy. Compared to one another, it was simple to see¡­the giant dark palm be crushed and the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst continue onwards to Nether!!


    This current avatar of Nether only formed a year ago. Formed with the experience of before, this avatar was still quite weak. It was still only an Early-stage Soul Emperor but was weaker than both its previous avatar and Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar.


    If Duan Leiting¡¯s attack¡ªpowered by his own understandings into the Law of Lightning¡ªlost to Bai Yunfei¡¯s Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, then there was no way Nether¡¯s attack would be a match for it.


    But Nether took the defeat of his attack in stride. A black curtain appeared in front of him and blocked the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst from slamming into him.


    ¡°He¡¯s grown stronger since three years ago!¡± It was to be expected that Bai Yunfei would be stronger than before, but Nether was still finding it hard to believe. He knew just how powerful Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack could be and how they could utterly transcend common sense, but still! The rate in which Bai Yunfei was improving was mind-boggling and Nether couldn¡¯t help but feel terrified by him!


    All the same, Nether was utterly determined to kill Bai Yunfei once in for all!


    Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve had the upper hand in his exchange with Nether, but there was still another person to worry about. The Extinguishing Seal was gone, but not Lin Dongxiao¡¯s attack!


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    While the fallout from the Extinguishing Seal and the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was settling, the golden streaks of light flew straight for Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    They traveled for quite some time before suddenly colliding together with one another to form a giant golden ball of light. Doubling in both speed and power, the newly formed ball of light shot at Bai Yunfei like a bullet!


    Bai Yunfei was still recovering from his usage of the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst when the bullet was moments away from impact. There was no way he¡¯d be able to dodge or defend against it!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    A whorl of black light materialized in front of Bai Yunfei. Transforming into a whirlpool, the light swallowed up the ball of light and prevented it from hitting Bai Yunfei! The ball of light had simply fallen into the whirlpool and disappeared like a pebble falling into a pool of water!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    +10 Additional effect of Bai Yunfei¡¯s armor, activated!


    In Exchange for soulforce, create a devouring whirlpool of darkness that negates any elemental attack directed towards the user.Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glimmered with the light of satisfaction upon seeing Lin Dongxiao¡¯s attack negated. Focusing on Nether, he summoned his soulforce to his hand and pointed his finger at him!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    A single word came forth from his mouth to assault Nether with both sound and ability!


    Nether grew tense straight away. Gathering his wits to him, the avatar focused his soulforce in making an impenetrable barrier around him.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡± There was a faint hum in the air when Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul skill met resistance from Nether¡¯s defenses. The black light around Nether shimmered slightly, and just the smallests of grunts could be heard from the avatar.


    The Soul Anchor Technique was a supreme technique that could inflict damage on even those stronger than its caster. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even a genuine Soul Emperor and yet, when combined with the Soul Sentinel Scarf, he could use the Soul Anchor Technique to do harm onto Nether. But even with that said, the difference in strength was still large enough that Nether wasn¡¯t considerably affected by the technique.


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Then came another shock to Nether¡¯s system¡ªthe same word was being said!


    The Soul Anchor Technique, again!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    ¡°Freeze!!!¡±


    Then came another two! What in the world was Bai Yunfei doing?


    It was like there was no one else here in the world but Bai Yunfei and Nether. Bai Yunfei was unrelenting and kept using one Soul Anchor Technique after another!


    In the end, five of them were used on Nether!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Nether was speechless, what kind of tactic was this? To attack him with the same technique over and over again like this¡­how much hatred did Bai Yunfei have for him!?


    Well, then again. It was easy to tell that both parties held an enormous amount of hatred for one another.


    Still¡­what kind of ¡®suicidal¡¯ tactic was this!! If by chance Bai Yunfei was able to even hurt Nether¡­what about Lin Dongxiao? Bai Yunfei was completely ignoring Lin Dongxiao! This was definitely an ignorant tactic that would only lead to Bai Yunfei¡¯s death, would it not?!


    But Nether didn¡¯t have the time to think about it. He had to deal with the multiple Soul Anchor Techniques that was about to hit him!


    ¡°Hrkk!!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t able to block these Soul Anchor Techniques this time. A stab of pain shot straight through his body. The black light around his figure decreased by a substantial amount, revealing his avatar distorting in several places and even being slightly more transparent!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Right as Nether¡¯s mind was put into disarray, a golden streak of light flew out from Bai Yunfei towards Nether!


    ¡°Gong¡­¡±


    There was a loud, but melodic, gong as a giant golden bell fell on top of Nether!


    The King Caging Bell!!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were a little bloodshot and veins all over his body were bulging outwards. Using the Anchor Technique five times in a row was extremely taxing on his mind. He still had the power to fight, though. Before the last Soul Anchor Technique was used, Bai Yunfei managed to throw the King Caging Bell at Nether.


    And so in just several moments since the fight began, Bai Yunfei was able to trap a Soul Emperor!


    It wouldn¡¯t be long before Nether would break free from his confines. The King Caging Bell would hold him for several seconds at the very most. If Bai Yunfei had used the Soul Sealing Mandate then Nether surely would¡¯ve been defeated.


    But¡­there was no way Bai Yunfei would be able to use it!


    He wasn¡¯t up against just one enemy¡­but two!


    Had Bai Yunfei thrown the Soul Sealing Mandate, Lin Dongxiao would¡¯ve stepped back to cover for Nether, but since he didn¡¯t, Lin Dongxiao dove straight at Bai Yunfei to attack!


    And since Lin Dongxiao was practically ignored by Bai Yunfei when he was attacking Nether, it took only seconds for Lin Dongxiao to be within striking distance of him!


    As Nether initially thought; the act of wholly focusing on one opponent and disregarding the other was a simply foolish and suicidal tactic!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao¡¯s eyes gleamed with the thrill of possibly being able to kill Bai Yunfei. All five of his fingers shined with a brilliant edge as they swished down to strike upon Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!

 Chapter 1063: The Demon-eyed Tiger King as a Medium

    Generally speaking, beast tamers held bodies far weaker than other soul cultivators since they chose to dedicate their time in using soulbeast puppets. If a soul cultivator and beast tamer were to fight hand to hand, then the loser would surely be the beast tamer. It almost went without saying that was true.


    But if the beast tamer was allowed one or maybe two soulbeast puppets, then the situation would be vastly different.


    A soulbeast puppet to a beast tamer was like a soul armament for a soul cultivator. To a beast tamer, a soulbeast puppet was far more important as a tool of war than a soul armament was.


    The majority of Soul Emperors¡ªespecially those of the Mid-stage Soul Emperor level¡ªtend to form an avatar for themselves. Forming an avatar required a tremendous amount of energy and experience that couldn¡¯t easily be gained back. But the tradeoff was normally worth it since having an avatar meant having an additional life.


    This was the point where beast tamers differed from other soul cultivators.


    A beast tamer employs the method of using the soulbeast as an avatar rather than their own. In other words; they turned the soulbeast puppet into a body of their own!


    They didn¡¯t bother to form an incorporeal avatar with a fragment of their own soul. A beast tamer would simply inhabit the real body of their soulbeast puppet!


    To put it simply, a beast tamer could detach a fragment of their soul and place it in a ¡®medium¡¯. This medium was the soulbeast puppet and could be used as another body!


    Compared to soulbeast puppetry, this tactic of fighting was on a whole nother level. It was to a beast tamer as big of a difference as a lifebound armament was to a soulbound armament.


    Using the soul to control the soulbeast¡¯s body wasn¡¯t perfect. A soulbeast wouldn¡¯t be able to make use of its entire strength this way, but it was still a great deal stronger than if a soul cultivator were to form an avatar by themselves. If an avatar were to stray too far away from a person, there¡¯d be no way for the soul cultivator to regain the lost soul fragment if the avatar was destroyed.


    And Lin Dongxiao¡¯s medium was the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    The Demon-eyed Tiger King. An early-stage class eight soulbeast with a dual affinity for metal and illusions. It was also one of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers!


    It was said that two hundred years ago, the Beast Taming School had two Soul Emperor and two class eight soulbeast puppets fight the Demon-eyed Tiger King. After a massive battle with many losses and a hundred years of taming, the Beast Taming School was finally able to turn the Demon-eyed Tiger King into a soulbeast puppet. And today, the Demon-eyed Tiger King was Lin Dongxiao¡¯s medium.


    As one with ¡®Demon-eyed¡¯ as a part of its name, the Demon-eyed Tiger King had an especially rare affinity for illusions! Its eyes held extreme capabilities for illusions and could easily unleash illusion-based attacks just by making eye contact!


    As like the Black Dragon King with his ¡®Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar¡¯, the Demon-eyed Tiger King had a supreme soul skill of its own. The ¡®Wilderness Quaking Tiger¡¯s Roar¡¯! In fact, this one was a great deal stronger than the former!


    As powerful as it was, Lin Dongxiao wasn¡¯t able to use it in this battle with Bai Yunfei. Or perhaps it was better to say he wasn¡¯t willing.


    He saw how Duan Leiting had been struck by his own soul attack and defeated. He also knew from Nether that Bai Yunfei was capable of some kind of ¡®soul skill¡¯ that made soul attacks ineffective against him. Knowing that, Lin Dongxiao knew it¡¯d be for the best if he didn¡¯t use the most powerful move of the Demon-eyed Tiger King.


    Had he been up against a regular Early-stage Soul Emperor, Lin Dongxiao would¡¯ve just used the Tiger¡¯s Roar and have Nether follow up with the kill.


    Since this wasn¡¯t the case, Lin Dongxiao would have to make use of another powerful move instead!


    Aside from illusions, the Demon-eyed Tiger King had the metal attribute as well! In all of the elements, metal was the most tyrannical of them all!


    It was only natural for a soulbeast to use their own body to fight. After a hundreds or even thousands of years of tempering their bodies, a soulbeast¡¯s body was no weaker than a refined soul armament!


    And the body of the Demon-eyed Tiger King was practically on par with a heaven-tier soul armament!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Lin Dongxiao¡¯s medium was left unimpeded in his trajectory towards Bai Yunfei. His body was glowing as bright as a miniature sun with several rays of light shooting out from him. The ray that shined the brightest was coming from the right arm of the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    Right there on his right arm was a golden tiger¡¯s claw. The claws were further sharpened with the power of the Law of Metal and moved to strike Bai Yunfei through the forehead!


    There¡¯d be no saving Bai Yunfei if this claw were to hit him!


    And still there didn¡¯t seem to be much of a reaction from Bai Yunfei after he unleashed five Soul Anchor Techniques in a row. It looked like there¡¯d be no dodging from him!


    A gleeful smile appeared on Lin Dongxiao¡¯s face. Victory was nearly upon them now!


    But then Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed and started to shine brilliantly with a strange light!


    ¡°Swish¡­¡±


    The next thing Lin Dongxiao felt was a strange energy wrap around him. He couldn¡¯t hear or sense anything!


    Somehow, his body¡ªwhich had been flying at breakneck speeds¡ªcame to an immediate and abrupt stop!


    It was like if he had been captured in a photo of some kind with his right hand paused only two centimeters away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    Lin Dongxiao felt like everything around him was some kind of illusion. He could see them, but¡­he couldn¡¯t sense anything! Not even Bai Yunfei¡ªwho was right in front of him¡ªcould be felt. And neither could Nether¡¯s aura¡­absolutely nothing could be felt!


    Consume soulforce to send any target within ten meters into a sealed dimension for two seconds. Target cannot be attacked and cannot attack. Target maintains original visibility.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Bai Yunfei used the ability of the Core Stone on Lin Dongxiao and whisked him away into a different dimension! The moment the Core Stone¡¯s effect activated, Lin Dongxiao was ¡®locked¡¯ in a different dimension in front of Bai Yunfei!


    For a Soul Emperor, two seconds was a very long amount of time. Plenty could be done during that time, like retreating after an attack failed. But that couldn¡¯t be done now. Not with him being locked here. He couldn¡¯t even move! The only thing he could do was just stand there in ¡®front¡¯ of Bai Yunfei!


    The first thing he tried doing was break free, of course, but he just simply couldn¡¯t! It was like he was put into a completely different world where there was nobody else but him!


    For anyone else, two seconds was a very short amount of time. Not much could be done in that time range¡­


    In the first second, Bai Yunfei retreated five meters away from Lin Dongxiao and summoned a halo of multi-colored light to his hand.


    In the next second, the halo expanded in size and flew into the space where Lin Dongxiao¡¯s throat would be and stopped there as if waiting to have something contained in it.


    On the third second, the Core Stone¡¯s effect was removed.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A storm of energy exploded out from the Demon-eyed Tiger King as it came back into the real world!


    The moment it ¡®returned¡¯, the halo clicked into place around the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s throat!


    The halo shrunk in size until it was fitted tightly around the neck!


    And just like that, the energy that was exploding from the Demon-eyed Tiger King came to an immediate stop!


    This halo was¡­the Beast Taming Ring!

 Chapter 1064: The Bane of Soulbeasts, the Beast Taming Ring

    Lin Xiangtian was already panicking before the Beast Taming Ring clamped onto his throat. His hands flew up to his neck the moment he ¡®returned¡¯ to grab at the Beast Taming Ring, but he was a moment too late. It was already fitted tightly around his neck!


    And for the second time in the last five seconds, he froze!!


    ¡°I did it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled wide with glee¡ªhe didn¡¯t think his ¡®plan¡¯ would work that well!


    Yes¡­his plan was to take hold of the Demon-eyed Tiger King!! He had this planned ever since Wu Dijian told him about beast tamers and their mediums. Bai Yunfei knew if he stayed here in the Qimang Mountains and his plan worked, then they¡¯d be able to get a new ¡®helper¡¯.


    The reason why Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t able to find Bai Yunfei through their bond was because of the Soul Sealing Mandate sealing his soul. The same reason went for the life slip the Crafting School had of Bai Yunfei since the life slip worked on the principle on sensing the owner¡¯s soul and aura. The slip registered nothing since it could only sense that Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was no longer ¡®in¡¯ the world and so the Crafting School had no choice but to think Bai Yunfei was ¡®dead¡¯.


    When Bai Yunfei fully recovered from the effects of the Soul Sealing Mandate, the bond between him and Xiao Qi was reestablished. And he could tell from the bond that Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t that far away!


    How far that distance was was unknown to Bai Yunfei, but he could already tell Xiao Qi was flying on over. Thus, Bai Yunfei knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before Xiao Qi found him. He also knew from Wu Dijian that Long Lan, Tang Xinyun, and Xiao Bai were all traveling with Xiao Qi. And if they were there, then that meant another important item was with them¡­


    The ¡®bane of the Beast Taming School¡¯, the Beast Taming Ring!


    There was no way Bai Yunfei would risk using it in a battle against two Soul Emperor. But if one of them was a soulbeast, then things were different¡­


    Bai Yunfei made sure Wu Dijian told him everything he knew about the enemies, and the Demon-eyed Tiger King was just one of the topics he touched on. In his mind, Bai Yunfei was sure he was ready for anything that might happen in this battle and was fully prepared to use any equipment that might be useful¡­


    The plan was rather simple: Trap Nether first and then capture the Demon-eyed Tiger King with the Beast Taming Ring!


    So that was the reason why he had been so focused on Nether at the very beginning. The sole reason why he was so stuck on using the Soul Anchor Technique so many times was so he could wrestle some spare time to deal with the Demon-eyed Tiger King alone.


    The King Caging Bell was a soul armament meant to capture Soul Kings and below, not Soul Emperor. Using it here meant there was a good chance the King Caging Bell might be destroyed, but Bai Yunfei decided it was worth the risk. He even considered using the Soul Sealing Mandate, but he figured Lin Xiangtian might¡¯ve moved differently even if he succeeded in sealing Nether with it. Having Lin Xiangtian in a different dimension for two seconds was also a risk Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t very sure if it¡¯d pay out well or not.


    Thankfully, the Demon-eyed Tiger King didn¡¯t use a soul or elemental attack. It opted to use close quarters combat instead!


    And so Bai Yunfei was overjoyed. This way he¡¯d be able to enact his plan!


    Using the Core Stone on the Demon-eyed Tiger King gave Bai Yunfei the two seconds he desperately needed to accomplish his plan! And it worked! Everything he was hoping for in his plans had gone off without a hitch!


    ¡°Xiao Qi!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out the moment the Beast Taming Ring activated. Gathering his soulforce and mental energy to him, Bai Yunfei dove deep into the mindspace of the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    Behind Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi began to do the very same. Gathering the energy of a late-stage class seven soulbeast, the bird attacked at the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s mindspace!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    Terrified, the Demon-eyed Tiger King clutched his head with both hands and began to scream!


    It was a good attempt, but ultimately useless against Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were both experienced with the Beast Taming Ring. Further strengthened by the bond they shared, the two attacked the mindspace of the Demon-eyed Tiger King full force!


    The Beast Taming Ring operated by pitting the soulbeast¡¯s mind against Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi ordinarily. But since it was Lin Xiangtian who was controlling the Demon-eyed Tiger King, this became a competition between the willpowers of the three. And neither Bai Yunfei nor Xiao Qi had any reservations in going all out against Lin Xiangtian! This would be an all-out battle to cut Lin Xiangtian down at once!


    Another detail about the Beast Taming Ring was that a soulbeast had to ¡®resist¡¯. Since the Demon-eyed Tiger King was being manipulated by another and had their instincts suppressed, there was no inherent resistance to the Beast Taming Ring on the soulbeast¡¯s behalf. In a sense, it could be said Bai Yunfei had already successful control over the ¡®Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯.


    The only issue was the fact that the Demon-eyed Tiger King was being controlled by an outsider. They had to worry about Lin Xiangtian¡¯s willpower inside the Demon-eyed Tiger King.


    So the plan was to force back Lin Xiangtian¡¯s soul, drive out his willpower, and then¡­eliminate it!


    The mindspace of the Demon-eyed Tiger King was a battlefield between Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and Lin Xiangtian. But Lin Xiangtian didn¡¯t stand a chance with Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi working together!


    And it was time to drive that point home!


    Lin Xiangtian launched his counterattack as quickly as he could, but Bai Yunfei beat him to the punch. Swinging his right hand, he threw a white ball of light towards the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    The Soul Sealing Mandate shined with a brilliant light and covered the Demon-eyed Tiger King from head to toe within it! Straight away, the Demon-eyed Tiger King came to an abrupt stop as the Soul Sealing Mandate started to sap away the ability to resist and move!


    And Lin Xiangtian was horrified to see that the Soul Sealing Mandate even succeeded in forcing him from resisting Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi¡¯s attack in the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s mindspace!


    It was possible for Bai Yunfei to store the Demon-eyed Tiger King in the Core World if he wanted, but that was of course not what Bai Yunfei planned on doing. Together with Xiao Qi, they struck again at the last strand of willpower coming from Lin Xiangtian!!


    Powerless to resist like a fish on the chopping block, Lin Xiangtian could only watch in horror as his control over the Demon-eyed Tiger King slowly drained away. Bit by bit, he soon only had a small amount of his soul left in the ¡®corner¡¯ of the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s mindspace!


    On the outside, the light shining from the Beast Taming Ring grew even brighter alongside the Demon-eyed Tiger King. The humanistic gleam of light in the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s eyes was gradually disappearing. Lin Xiangtian was losing control of the Demon-eyed Tiger King.


    ¡°Gong¡­¡±


    A muffled blast erupted from the interior of the King Caging Bell. Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes grew wide¡ªhe was running out of time!


    ¡°Gonggg!!!¡±


    Another explosion! This time, the King Caging Bell was starting to groan under the pressure!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a third knock onto the King Caging Bell before the soul armament could hold back Nether no longer and shot back up into the sky!


    A surge of black light flowed out into the world the moment the bell flew away. Nether was back and fully ready to take part in this battle again!

 Chapter 1065: Traitor

    ¡°The King Caging Bell!¡±


    Exclaimed Nether. The Soul Anchor Techniques had only just worn off when Nether realized what was trapping him. It didn¡¯t take him long to realize the King Caging Bell was stealing his soulforce either!


    Breathing in and out, Nether allowed the King Caging Bell a few more of his soulforce before he thought to himself: ¡°Do you really think the King Caging Bell will stop me?!¡±


    Like Bai Yunfei, he and Lin Dongxiao had plans of their own. They just needed Bai Yunfei to use the Soul Sealing Mandate on one of them and the other would immediately steal it away. Unfortunately for them, Bai Yunfei managed to circumvent their plans and trap one of them in the King Caging Bell.


    Focusing soulforce to his palm, Nether slammed his arm onto the interior of the King Caging Bell! As the previous heirloom of the Soul Refining School, Nether was naturally aware of the mechanics of the bell and knew where its weak points were. Most would think the King Caging Bell¡¯s weak point was underneath the bell, but Nether knew it was the exact opposite¡ªthe weak point was at the very top!


    As impressive the King Caging Bell was as a tool for imprisonment, it meant little to a Soul Emperor. In Nether¡¯s eyes, this King Caging Bell was already as good as his again.


    ¡°Gong¡­¡±


    A painful vibration rang out within the King Caging Bell, sending shockwaves through Nether¡¯s avatar.


    ¡°This¡­is a soundwave! When did it have such an ability like this!?¡±


    Nether cried out. He never heard the King Caging Bell having an ability like that! Qin Bangjie never mentioned it before, and neither did he see Bai Yunfei using the King Caging Bell like that before. Nether was well and truly shocked by this difference in expectations.


    He was also surprised by how effective the King Caging Bell was actually. A full-out attack hadn¡¯t managed to blow the King Caging Bell away!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Clenching his fist tightly, Nether lashed out with another powerful punch!


    ¡°Gong!!!¡±


    Another thud. Nether quirked his eyebrows when the soundwave he was expecting didn¡¯t come, but he didn¡¯t think twice about it. Rearing his arm back, he lashed out for the third time!


    ¡°Gongggg!!!!¡±


    This time, the King Caging Bell was no longer able to withstand Nether¡¯s attacks. The prison was broken immediately upon the third attack and the bell was thrown way up high into the sky!


    Nether was free!


    It took only five seconds for Nether to break free from the +12 King Caging Bell!


    A wave of energy exploded out from Nether the moment he escaped; it was time for him to see what was going on.


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t captured yet? But how!¡±


    Nether was extremely shocked to see Bai Yunfei free still, what had Lin Dongxiao been doing? Surely Lin Dongxiao had more than enough time to strike or kill Bai Yunfei while Nether was keeping Bai Yunfei busy¡­


    ¡°What? What¡¯s this?!¡±


    A shiver of shock ran up Nether¡¯s spine when he realized Lin Dongxiao had been caught by the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    Rather than killing Bai Yunfei, Lin Dongxiao had instead been captured by the Soul Sealing Mandate! How could that be?!


    Needless to say, Nether was in utter disbelief. How could a development like that happen in less than five seconds!


    The flames of anger rose up in Nether¡¯s body¡ªIf Bai Yunfei captured Lin Dongxiao with the Soul Sealing Mandate, then that meant there was still a chance for a comeback!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Reams of elemental darkness flowed from Nether to form a mountainous black skeleton behind him. It gave a dreadful wail and flew at Bai Yunfei to swallow him whole!


    The Maw of the Nether!


    Nether concentrated even more elemental darkness to him as the Maw of the Nether flew at Bai Yunfei. The elemental darkness formed an armored wraith almost as large as the skeleton before. In its hand was a single blade that seemed to paradoxically shine with a sharp edge. Two beads of fire came to life within the visor the wraith wore. Roaring as did the previous skeleton, the warith raised its head and charged at Bai Yunfei with vengeance!


    A Nether Wraith!!


    There was no hesitation in Nether¡¯s determination to kill Bai Yunfei. Now was the time for him to unleash two of his ultimate techniques to catch his foe off guard and then finish him off with a third!


    ¡°Hoouuu!!!¡±


    The roaring of a tiger could be heard at that moment, causing Nether to snap his head over to look towards the source!


    This roar was coming from the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    ¡°Impossible! Did he break free from the Soul Sealing Mandate?! Did Bai Yunfei undo the seal? Could he be that stupid?!¡±


    Several possibilities ran across Nether¡¯s mind as he wondered just how the Demon-eyed Tiger King was free. But before he could decide on something¡­


    A golden beam of light gathered around the tiger. Converging around it to form a miniature sun, the sphere of elemental metal transformed into a giant tiger!


    Armed with magnificent power, the tiger charged straight forward¡­at the giant skeleton!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Gold and black light clashed against one another when the golden tiger smashed into the black skeleton. With the Laws of Metal and Darkness clashing, the fallout from the two attacks was large enough to leave rifts open in the space around the two.


    ¡°Swoosh¡­¡±


    The Nether Wraith charged through the explosion with a roar, though its form was siphoned of some strength when it got too close to where the rifts opened up. The black warblade in its hand glistened ominously as it arced through the skies, leaving a rift of its own in its trail!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Another streak of golden light shot out from the explosion¡ªthis time faster than before¡ªstraight at the Nether Wraith!


    ¡°Clang¡­bang!!¡±


    Once again, gold and black smashed against each other for a loud clang of metal and then an explosion!


    Rather than explode like the Maw of the Nether did, the Nether Wraith blocked the golden streak of light with its warblade. Raising its right arm to deal a blow, the Wraith roared out loud and then¡­exploded!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Nether felt his avatar shimmer dangerously as if it was quickly destabilizing to the point of destruction. But there was something else Nether was far more concerned about, hence why he yelled out loud!


    But what was it that he saw?


    It was¡­the headmaster of the Beast Taming School!


    Or perhaps it was more appropriate to say it was the medium of his, the Demon-eyed Tiger King. The golden streak of light that intercepted both the Maw of the Nether and the Nether Wraith had been him! The Demon-eyed Tiger King was¡­helping Bai Yunfei stop his attacks!

 Chapter 1066: A Furious Nether

    ¡°Lin Dongxiao! What is the meaning of this!!?¡±


    Furious, Nether roared at the Demon-eyed Tiger King, demanding for an explanation for his previous actions.


    For some unfathomable reason, Lin Dongxiao had deigned to become a ¡®traitor¡¯ and help Bai Yunfei!


    What in the world was this!


    It seemed practically impossible to believe, but the truth was the truth! It was definitely the Demon-eyed Tiger King that stopped both of Nether¡¯s attacks!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The Demon-eyed Tiger King only roared loudly in response. It didn¡¯t seem like the Demon-eyed Tiger King even knew what ¡®Lin Dongxiao¡¯ even meant. Exploding with power, it charged straight at Nether with its claws outstretched to grab at Nether¡¯s heart!


    ¡°Not good!!¡±


    Being attacked so suddenly by his ¡®companion¡¯ disturbed Nether something fierce. Before he could begin to get out of the way, he felt something slam into his body!


    ¡°Hrk!!¡± Nether let out a muffled groan from whatever it was that hit him. He felt the elemental energy around his person shimmer and his avatar destabilize a bit as ¡®energy¡¯ poured out from it.


    Nether¡¯s eyes dilated in realization what that meant¡ªhe was hit with a soul attack!


    Based on how much power that leaked out, Nether could assume that he lost at least a fifth of his total energy!


    In the blink of an eye¡­he was hit with a soul attack and lost a tremendous amount of strength!


    The source of it all was the roar that the Demon-eyed Tiger King made before it made its charge. That roar wasn¡¯t an ordinary one; it was the strongest soul skill it had!


    The Wilderness Quaking Tiger¡¯s Roar!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ahhh¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just Nether that was affected either. Several screams rang out from the direction behind Nether. He whirled around to see the Soul Kings from the allied schools cry out in pain. The Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s soul attack had hit them as well!


    The soul attack was meant for Nether. Any damage taken by it from the Soul Kings was only just a side-effect of being hit with the ¡®overflow¡¯. But even that overflow was powerful enough to make the heads of all the Soul Kings feel like they were being split open by the mighty claws of a tiger!


    Several of the Soul Kings swayed dangerously on their feet. Being hit with the soul attack made them lose vitality for a moment, but they were still alive at the very least. But the Soul Exalts, on the other hand¡­many of them were stopping to drop from the skies like flies!


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this!?¡±


    Many of the allied members watched in terror as the Demon-eyed Tiger King flew straight for Nether!


    ¡°Lin Dongxiao! Have you gone mad?!¡±


    As Nether exploded with rage, the Demon-eyed Tiger King transformed into a beam of golden light to power up for another move! And at the same time, several golden blades materialized around it to strike at Nether!


    ¡°Damn!!¡± Nether cursed to himself. Stopping several of the blades with a barrier, he retreated away from the Demon-eyed Tiger King for some space.


    He was in complete disarray now. Being stuck in the King Caging Bell was already unexpected, but having this happen? In no world nor dream could Nether imagine Lin Dongxiao of all people attacking him¡­


    ¡°What is that? A soul armament?!¡±


    Finally, he noticed the strange ¡®addition¡¯ the Demon-eyed Tiger King had around its neck. A multicolored ¡®ring¡¯ that definitely gave him a sneaking suspicion that this was to blame for every incomprehensible thing that happened so far!


    ¡°What is this?!¡± It was now that he also realized there was something different about the Demon-eyed Tiger King aura!


    Lin Dongxiao¡¯s soul¡­wasn¡¯t present in the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    A medium had to have two types of souls in it. The first would be the soulbeast and the second would be the beast tamer¡¯s. In this case, Lin Dongxiao¡¯s should¡¯ve been here in the medium, but for some reason, it wasn¡¯t there! The terrifying aura that was coming from the Demon-eyed Tiger King was composed entirely of the soulbeast¡¯s own soul!


    ¡°What¡­is the meaning of all this!?¡±


    Practically crazy now, Nether wanted nothing more than to study the situation for an answer, but¡­the Demon-eyed Tiger King wasn¡¯t giving him the opportunity to do so!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Because of his complete confusion, Nether was on the defense this entire time. With the Demon-eyed Tiger King also being extremely aggressive, there wasn¡¯t ever a point where Nether had the proper time to launch a counterattack. The space between the two of them was pure chaos with only gold and black light being viewable. With how often the space around them echoed with explosions, it felt like the world was quickly heading towards a messy end.


    ¡°This¡­this¡­this¡­¡±


    The Soul Kings from the allied schools watched the headmaster of the Soul Refining School fight the Demon-eyed Tiger King in utter confusion. Not even Qin Bangjie knew what to think!


    They weren¡¯t the only ones either. The Yao clansmen were also in a state of flummox at the battle!


    Half a minute transpired since Bai Yunfei started the battle. In the first ten seconds, both sides watched as Bai Yunfei managed to trap Nether in the King Caging Bell. Then while Nether was indisposed, they watched the Demon-eyed Tiger King come at Bai Yunfei and come extremely close to killing him before stopping!


    And to add to their confusion, they saw how Nether managed to escape from the King Caging Bell right as the Demon-eyed Tiger King became Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®helper¡¯ by stopping Nether¡¯s attack and even attacking him afterward!


    So many unpredictable things happened in such a short amount of time! Many of these individuals had already lived for over a hundred years and yet none of them could recall a scene as unpredictable as this! Words weren¡¯t even of any use to describe the emotions they felt as they watched the scene unfold in front of them¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The loud chirping of a bird and the roar of a dragon snapped the Soul Kings out from their ¡®mute¡¯ shock. A streak of green and violet light shot at them from one direction while a streak of black and blue light shot at them from another to strike at the Soul Kings!


    It was Xiao Qi and Long Lan!!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Nether leaped away from the Demon-eyed Tiger King after having successfully dodged one of its attacks. Furious, he had the black light around him transform into a sturdy black armor for him to wear. Raising his right hand up, he slammed it against the incoming claw of the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The hand and arm of both combatants smashed into one another with a mighty crash. Black light met gold as the two fought for supremacy. It seemed like the two were at an impasse until Nether sneered! His right arm suddenly exploded into a black mist and wrapped around the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s arm!


    As if being inhaled, the black smoke entered the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s body. Black cracks spread rapidly over the surface of the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s body like spiderwebs, and before long, the black lines covered every inch of its body!


    This was a technique Nether had for capturing people!


    And now Nether could leave the Demon-eyed Tiger King be for now. Kicking away from the tied up soulbeast, Nether flew in the direction Bai Yunfei was in!


    He didn¡¯t even go far before his right arm was fully back to normal!


    Losing an arm wasn¡¯t much of an issue for an avatar since they weren¡¯t ¡®physical¡¯. It just required some soulforce and energy and an avatar could regrow any lost limb. But using soulforce and energy in such a manner also meant the further destabilization of the avatar¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The distance between Nether and Bai Yunfei was considerably large, however. Not much distance was traveled before the Demon-eyed Tiger King was already hot on Nether¡¯s heels!


    Forced to deviate from his path, Nether sent a blade of dark light at the Demon-eyed Tiger King and moved swiftly around the soulbeast!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Before he could strike again, Nether¡¯s ears perked up when they picked up on the shrill cries of pain from someone. When he realized who it was, the anger Nether felt intensified!

 Chapter 1067: Bird and Beast Fiends

    The one who screamed was Xu Qianqing!


    He screamed when Xiao Qi and Long Lan attacked the group of Soul Kings. Several crescent-shaped blades of darkness shot through the crowd and managed to hit several of the Soul Kings!


    And the majority of these Spatial Edges were aimed at Qin Bangjie and Xu Qianqing from the Soul Refining School!


    Like a net, the Spatial Edges covered an extensive area with very little room to weave in between. Many of the Soul Kings were exceedingly fast, however, and were able to quickly move out of harm¡¯s way in time.


    Those standing at the densest parts of the Spatial Edges like Qin Bangjie and Xu Qianqing had an extremely difficult time dodging them all. Xu Qianqing himself was only able to dodge four of them before he was caught off guard by a sudden streak of black and blue light!


    ¡°Ahhh!!¡±


    Qin Bangjie wasn¡¯t even able to offer Xu Qianqing any assistance before a dark-blue claw came out from the streak of light. Grabbing hold of Xu Qianqing with a merciless grip, the claw swung the man forward!


    A bolt of green and violet light shot at Xu Qianqing when he was swung. Like a bolt of lightning, Xiao Qi flew straight for the soul refiner!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A jolt shot through Xu Qianqing¡¯s mind as he was trying to free himself from Long Lan¡¯s grasp. He shivered and began to move at a substantially slower pace!


    A soul attack!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    One second later, the head of Xu Qianqing flew up into the sky accompanied by a fountain of blood!


    Xu Qianqing was killed!


    When Xiao Qi and Long Lan combined their powers, not even a mighty Late-stage Soul King would be able to survive!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s them! It¡¯s them!! The Bird and Beast Fiends!! What are they doing here?!¡±


    A Soul Exalt cried out in terror from behind the Soul Kings. It was a Peak Late-stage Soul King from the Soul Refining School that cried out when he saw Xiao Qi and Long Lan. The Beastly Duo was a pair of soulbeasts that struck fear in everyone from the Soul Refining School!


    It all started three years ago when Bai Yunfei first disappeared. This was the time when the Soul Refining School were having their strongholds ransacked one by one by the Crafting School. Xiao Qi and Long Lan made themselves known during these battles to the Soul Refining School. Two and a half years later, the entire continent learned of Xiao Qi and Long Lan¡¯s might.


    A bird and a beast that fought intensely, hence the nickname of Bird and Beast Fiends.


    With all the chaos that happened in the last half year, it wasn¡¯t hard for both soulbeasts to make themselves known!


    Whenever either of the two took part in a battle, the prisma oriole variant would kill everyone and the blue-eyed wyrm variant would devour the corpses!


    And so the rumors of the two only grew in scope with each rumor being more outlandish than the one before. To the Soul Refining School, the school most affected by the two, the students were all in fear of these two soulbeasts and often called them the ¡®killer and cleaner duo¡¯. In their minds, these two soulbeasts were to be avoided at all costs and feared almost on the same levels as Bai Yunfei¡­


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Naturally, Qin Bangjie knew who both the soulbeasts were and was furious. His infamous blood-red weapon appeared in his hand to slash at Xiao Qi. A blood-red beam of light flew out from the weapon towards Xiao Qi, but Xiao Qi responded in kind with five Spatial Edges. The five of them went through the blood-red beam of light and divided it into six before it disappeared!


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    Ripples of black and blue light shot across the sky as a gigantic tyrannosaurus-like soulbeast appeared in front of the Soul Kings!


    This was Long Lan¡¯s true form as the blue-eyes wyrm!


    He swung his giant tail into a nearby Mid-stage Soul King. It crashed through the man¡¯s elemental armor and sent him flying into the crowd of Soul Exalts behind him!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    Terrified, Ma Xucheng sent out two of his soulbeast puppets to attack Long Lan!


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    Thunderclouds began to form in the sky. Sparking with violet lightning, these clouds surrounded Long Lan¡¯s body ominously. Xiao Qi appeared by Long Lan¡¯s side at once to rush at the two soulbeast puppets with him!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Qin Bangjie was about to move forward to strike down Xiao Qi and Long Lan, but the sounds of something rumbling behind him caused him to turn away. Coming at them from another direction were the Yao clansmen! They were finally attacking!


    Over a dozen Soul Kings and class seven familiars. Yao Wuchen, Dan Teng, Wu Dijian, and the four late-stage class seven familiars¡­it was a coordinated attack onto Qin Bangjie!


    There were a few Soul Kings from the Yao clan¡ªlike Yao Tianji, a Soul King, and two familiars¡ªthat weren¡¯t able to fight, but this many people was still enough to fight off the Soul Kings from the allied schools!


    The allied schools had about eleven Soul Kings at first but they lost two of them due to Dan Teng killing one and Wu Dijian capturing another. In their last assault, another four Soul Kings were lost. And now Xu Qianqing was dead¡­


    That left the allied schools with the following: Qin Bangjie from the Soul Refining School, He Changkai from the Wind Lightning School, and Ma Xucheng and another person from the Beast Taming School. So in total¡­four Soul Kings! Seven if the class seven soulbeast puppets were included. And out of the seven of them, Qin Bangjie was the only Half-emperor.


    But if the Yao clan had seven Late-stage Soul Kings fighting Qin Bangjie then he wouldn¡¯t be able to do much! His was up to his ears in work! And that didn¡¯t bode well for the remaining three Soul Kings!


    Xiao Qi and Long Lan originally planned on fighting Ma Xucheng, but the familiars from the Yao clan took that enemy away from them. Left with no other ¡®powerful Soul Kings¡¯ to fight, the two soulbeasts shifted their prey to the army behind the Soul Kings!


    The army of Soul Exalts, Soul Ancestors, and Soul Sprites!


    ¡°Swish¡­¡±


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Xiao Qi shot through the skies unimpeded towards the allied army while Long Lan ran on the ground beneath him. Each step Long Lan made caused the earth to tremor heavily.


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The single Mid-stage Soul King from the Beast Taming School felt his heart nearly leap out from his chest when he saw Xiao Qi and Long Lan run in his direction. He fled off in a different direction and left his two mid-stage class seven soulbeast puppets to stop Xiao Qi in his place.


    But the difference between two mid-stage class seven soulbeast and a single late-stage class seven soulbeast was far too large. How could those two soulbeast puppets be a match for Xiao Qi?!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Chirping loudly, Xiao Qi summoned an inferno to his body. Streaks of elemental light gathered all around his wings in preparation to strike. Flapping them once, Xiao Qi summoned hundreds of fireballs from the skies to attack the two soulbeast puppets!


    ¡°Roar!! Roarr!!¡±


    The boar and elephant soulbeast puppets roared angrily. Coating themselves in an orange and gold light, the two tried to make use of their elemental energies to protect themselves as they charged. The fireballs struck the two soulbeast puppets one after another. Soon, the barriers were destroyed and both soulbeast puppets were unable to continue their charge!


    ¡°Swish swish swish¡­¡±


    Several Spatial Edges mixed in with the fireballs as they flew towards the now unprotected soulbeast puppets!


    Blanching, the Mid-stage Soul King beast tamer forced even more of his soulforce into the two soulbeast puppets to try and dodge!


    The command was received by both soulbeast puppets. Abandoning their efforts to fix their barriers, the two soulbeasts puppets moved to dodge the Spatial Edges at once.


    Moving just barely fast enough to twist out of the way, the soulbeast puppets managed to evade being killed, but not injured. Multiple fireballs managed to hit the bodies of both soulbeasts and left multiple scorch marks on them!


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    The beast tamer let out a sigh of relief, his soulbeast puppets would live to see to his safety for a little longer now. But¡­


    A black and blue light was coming at him from below!


    ¡°Die you bastard!!¡±


    The beast tamer reacted at once. Twitching both hands, he commanded his soulbeast puppets to rush at the blue-eyes wyrm and stop him!


    He might not be able to defeat the late-stage class seven Xiao Qi, but the mid-stage class seven blue-eyes wyrm was a much easier target to deal with!

 Chapter 1068: A Battle Where One Side is Vastly Superior

    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The elephant soulbeast puppet fell from the skies like a meteorite. Slamming into the ground with a heavy crash, the soulbeast rushed for the blue-eyes wyrm and slammed its head against him! It meant to stop and force Long Lan back, but he didn¡¯t give an inch even after colliding with the soulbeast!


    The Mid-stage Soul King didn¡¯t have time to send the other soulbeast puppet after him; a streak of green and violet light was coming straight for him!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A sharp chirp came from within the streak of light, piercing the ears of the beast tamer with its melody. The melody reverberated throughout his body and stunned him on the spot!


    A soul attack!


    He was just a Mid-stage Soul King, how could he possibly withstand the combined powers of Xiao Qi and Long Lan?


    And Xiao Qi was a late-stage class seven soulbeast, a soul attack from him was not a soul attack the Mid-stage Soul King could block!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    His elemental barrier was heavily impacted by his state of vulnerability, meaning it wasn¡¯t able to stop the blades of wind and bolts of lightning from going through it!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhh¡­.¡±


    Unfortunately for the soul cultivators behind the Mid-stage Soul King, Xiao Qi¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t just meant for the beast tamer. Many of the Soul Exalts were struck by the wind blades and lightning bolts. Mass chaos was started as everyone started to flee in any direction they could, lest they be killed on the spot!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    From amidst the storm of both attacks, a bloodied Mid-stage Soul King came stumbling out from it. Filled with fear, the man tried his best to escape for the crowd!


    He was trying to use the Soul Exalts as a meat shield!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    The reactions of the Soul Exalts was instantaneous. People began to disperse in every direction to avoid being grouped together with the Mid-stage Soul King.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s eyes widened upon hearing Xiao Qi¡¯s chirp. If Xiao Qi was the reaper, then his chirp was the warning cry that the beast tamer¡¯s life was about to be reaped. He turned around, despairing as he saw several Spatial Edges come his way!


    ¡°Ahhh!!! Save me, headmaster!!¡±


    He shrieked with fear in hopes that his headmaster would save him. But unfortunately, that ¡®headmaster¡¯ was busy dealing with Nether. His cries fell on deaf ears and so his final words were without meaning. With no one to help him, the Mid-stage Soul King was bisected by one of the Spatial Edges!


    ¡°Ah¡­ah! Ah¡­¡±


    Terror struck out again among the Soul Exalts upon seeing the Mid-stage Soul King die. Furthermore, the remaining Spatial Edges also killed many more of their comrades and left destruction in their paths. The army by now was irrevocably splintered beyond belief.


    A Soul Exalt was a soul cultivator in a fairly strong position in life. They served as the core members of society by being staunchly in the middle of the power structure. But in front of Soul Kings, they might as well be just ants.


    Their aim was to deal with the Soul Exalts and others from the Yao clan. It was supposed to be a fairly easy task until the Soul Kings and class seven soulbeasts showed up. Left with no proper enemy to fight and only multiple undefeatable enemies, the only option left for them to take was to simply run away!


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!!¡±


    A green and red streak of light shot towards the splintered Soul Exalt groups with sickening speed. In the green streak of light was a single bird, in the red streak of light was a beautiful young woman!


    The quickshade bird and Tang Xinyun!


    They originally planned to help fight the Soul Kings, but He Changkai and Ma Xucheng were both Late-stage Soul Kings, meaning they were opponents they were best not fighting. And that went double for Qin Bangjie. When the Mid-stage Soul King was killed, the two relented and decided to set their eyes on the army instead.


    It was time for them to take part in the battle and spread carnage!


    Tang Xinyun held two longswords in her hands, though they were wielded with nimble dexterity like they were batons rather than swords. She flitted from person to person with the swords, looking more like she was dancing with them rather than slashing them, and the screams of agony and death from the enemies felt more like a musical accompaniment!


    Her eyes gleamed with a killing intent Bai Yunfei had never seen before. Every swing of her sword meant the death of one more person, but she never seemed to tire. It was a dance of death that made Bai Yunfei feel rather stunned.


    It was to be expected, though. Tang Xinyun and the quickshade bird were not enemies these Soul Exalts could ever hope to fight. Likewise, there was no danger whatsoever for these two. It was about as easy as splitting a watermelon or vegetable.


    On the other side, Long Lan was flying away from the two soulbeast puppets he was fighting. Now that the Mid-stage Soul King was dead, the two soulbeast puppets grew inert and fought no more. That left Long Lan free to attack Ma Xucheng!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Several streaks of light flew past Long Lan¡ªthe Early-stage Soul Kings and early-stage class seven familiars from the Yao clan were charging for the army of Soul Sprites!


    They hadn¡¯t the ability to fight Qin Bangjie so all there was left to do was follow Tang Xinyun¡¯s example and deal with the small fry.


    What? Wasn¡¯t it embarrassing for a mighty Soul King to fight the Soul Exalts, Soul Ancestors, and Soul Sprites?


    Of course not!


    It didn¡¯t matter how strong the enemy was. All enemies are to be destroyed!


    None of the Soul Kings forgot about the sacrifices their trainees and disciples had to suffer to fend off the invaders. Not a single one of them would be lenient in their murdering of these enemies!


    ¡°Damn! Damn! Damnit!!¡±


    Ma Xucheng roared as he dodged another streak of light. Right now, he was fighting two Mid-stage Soul Kings and two mid-stage class seven familiars all by himself.


    A Late-stage Soul King might not have much trouble fighting four Mid-stage Soul King by themselves in ordinary times, but unfortunately for Ma Xucheng, he was a beast tamer.


    The extent of his fighting capabilities ended when his soulbeast puppets weren¡¯t involved. It just so happened his two soulbeast puppets were currently involved in a battle with the familiars of the Yao clan, leaving him isolated against four enemies! There was not much he could do!


    And to make matters even worse, the four opponents he faced were merely using delaying tactics on him. They never bothered to attack him straight on or use any powerful attacks to kill him. All in all, this was not a fight that Ma Xucheng enjoyed.


    The worst blow was seeing the way his headmaster was acting. He was stunned. There was no longer any support he could ever hope to receive in this battle. For once in a very long time, Ma Xucheng felt terrified about his chances. He felt terrified about being able to live, making his fighting ability even more erratic and desperate.


    The death of the Mid-stage Soul King marked the end of Ma Xucheng¡¯s sanity. Eyes glowing red, he began to scream out loud!


    ¡°Ahhh!! You¡¯ll all die!!!¡±


    Like a cornered rat, he began to scream and make several strange hand seals!


    ¡°Roarrr!!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t him that starting to act strange, but the soulbeast puppet he was controlling. One of them even roared out loud as soon as the hand seals activated!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    All of a sudden, the soulforce within the soulbeast puppet began to explode in intensity!


    ¡°Not good! It¡¯s going to self-destruct, get away!!¡± Someone cried out.


    Ma Xucheng¡­was planning to make his soulbeast puppet self-destruct.


    What a crazy plan!


    People began to evacuate at once. It wasn¡¯t just the Yao clansmen; the rest of the battlefield was affected as well! People such as He Changkai started to run in directions away from the soulbeast puppet!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A giant bird appeared in the skies above the soulbeast then. Flapping its wings, the bird rained down a storm of Spatial Edges!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Realizing at once what this meant, Ma Xucheng let out a scream of disbelief! Xiao Qi was planning to kill the soulbeast puppet before they could self-destruct!


    But it was too late for him to act. The Spatial Edges were flying towards the soulbeast puppets far faster than they could explode. In the end, both soulbeast puppets were split into multiple pieces!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a large explosion of energy, but nowhere as large as would be expected from a class seven soulbeast¡¯s self-destruction. Still, everyone¡¯s face went pale when they thought of what could¡¯ve been the result.


    The explosions had most of their energy mitigated by Xiao Qi¡¯s attacks.


    Now that the soulbeast puppet¡¯s self-destruction was dealt with, Xiao Qi decided to take care of Ma Xucheng!


    This left Ma Xucheng left to battle against two Soul Kings, a familiar, and Xiao Qi! All by himself!


    Ma Xucheng only had one soulbeast puppet left now. The self-destruction of the other soulbeast puppet allowed him enough time to call back the other one, but that also meant the familiar that was fighting the soulbeast puppet was dragged here as well.


    So that meant there was now an additional familiar and Long Lan on top of the aforementioned four!


    Given the number of people fighting him, Ma Xucheng hadn¡¯t even the time to think, let alone try and make his second soulbeast puppet self-destruct. In the end, he was powerless against all his foes and succumbed to a Spatial Edge¡­


    With Ma Xucheng dead, it was He Changkai¡¯s turn now!


    It was a vastly disproportionate war with one side completely dominating over the other. He Changkai had only the briefest of moments to let out a wail of despair before he too, was no more¡­


    Up in the skies, Xiao Qi pivoted around to fly towards his next target¡­Qin Bangjie!

 Chapter 1069: Qin Bangjies Death By Irony

    Qin Bangjie was frothing at the mouth.


    How in the world had the situation gone this badly?!


    No matter how much he ransacked his brain for an answer, Qin Bangjie simply couldn¡¯t find an appropriate answer!


    Two Soul Emperors had been leading the hunt for Bai Yunfei and the Yao clan. Qin Bangjie saw the two Soul Emperors head out to fight first and thought they¡¯d win by now.


    But reality saw fit to say no! For some reason, the two Soul Emperor were fighting one another!


    How else was he to respond to something like this?!


    And yet again, reality saw fit to make it even worse. Of all the people attacking them, the Bird and Beast Fiends was a part of that group!


    The contracted partner of Bai Yunfei!


    They only rushed here because they felt a large amount of power come this way; they hadn¡¯t thought it¡¯d belong to Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulbeast partner of all people!


    Two Soul Emperors should¡¯ve been enough for this battle, but now the two were fighting it out against one another. Only half of their Soul Kings were left since this entire debacle started to fight against the entirety of the Yao clan and the Bird and Beast Fiends. If Qin Bangjie had to describe the situation, then he would say he was in absolute despair!


    As a Half-emperor, a one against four battle would¡¯ve been fine, but one against seven was not!! He had been at a disadvantage ever since the battle began!


    And the more he fought, the more panicked he became. By now, that panic was full blown terror and threatened to tear apart his heart!


    It was hard to blame him. Ma Xucheng was dead and so was He Changkai. Anyone could tell he was next!


    He himself knew that his time was up!


    ¡°Headmaster!!¡±


    Blocking a fierce strike from one of his opponents, Qin Bangjie threw his head back and let out a cry of angered reluctance.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The only response he got was an explosion from their battle. Neither the Demon-eyed Tiger King nor Nether saw fit to reply to him!


    He had to run!!


    It was the only logical choice to make. If he wanted to live, then he¡¯d have to run for his life!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    A wave of black light exploded from Qin Bangjie and formed a demonic figure behind Qin Bangjie. Roaring out loud when it was fully materialized, it swept both arms forward to strike at the surrounding enemies!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    The blood-red sawtooth blade in his hands began to glow an eerie light as he held it over his head!


    ¡°Watch out!¡±


    Several of the fighters began to retreat at once. Even Xiao Qi and Long Lan paused at the feeling of the sword. The terrifying energy radiating from the blade was telling them¡­this next strike shouldn¡¯t be blocked!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡± A streak of blood-red light shot up into the air, cleaving the clouds above in two!


    Qin Bangjie¡¯s opponents split apart at once. Everyone figured Qin Bangjie was doing this to break the encirclement and flee the place, so they thought it¡¯d be best to spread out. But¡­half of the people blanched when they realized their mistake!!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Wu Dijian cried out in horror¡ªthe others began to cry out a second after him.


    Qin Bangjie¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t aimed towards any one of the Soul Kings but¡­at a group of people¡ªthe Soul Exalts from the allied army!


    More specifically, someone within the crowd! A person flying within a red streak of light!


    Tang Xinyun!!


    Qin Bangjie somehow managed to bring the battle close to where the Soul Exalts were and aimed a ray of energy at Tang Xinyun!


    Everyone there knew who Tang Xinyun was. Wu Dijian knew her. Yao Wuchen knew her. And even Qin Bangjie knew who she was!


    ¡°Bastard!!¡±


    Wu Dijian and Yao Wuchen gave up their attack on Qin Bangjie at once. Taking off like lightning, the two of them shot straight for that blood-red beam of light to save Tang Xinyun!


    ¡°Haha!! Die!!¡±


    It was with immense glee that Qin Bangjie watched the two chase after his attack before turning away. The plan was for him to divert everyone¡¯s attention elsewhere so he could run. And if Tang Xinyun was killed, then all the better!


    Things were happening far too fast for most to even react accordingly. The beam of light Qin Bangjie shot out was already too close to Tang Xinyun for anyone to get there in time. All they could do was watch as¡­a golden barrier pop up in around her!


    Though startled that Tang Xinyun could react in time to his attack, Qin Bangjie wasn¡¯t worried. Ultimately, any defense Tang Xinyun threw up would never be a match for an attack from him. He was fully convinced any defense an Early-stage Soul King would crumple under his might.


    And just like that, the red beam of light struck the golden barrier! But unlike what everyone thought¡­


    The golden barrier didn¡¯t break! It remained steadfast even after the beam of light smashed into it and even reflected it back!


    When Tang Xinyun was met with this attack, she activated a small soul armament she had over her person. It was the only alternative since she couldn¡¯t dodge, but¡­that was enough!


    This soul armament was¡­a small golden slip!!


    As strong as this soul armament was, there was no way it was meant to block a Half-emperor¡¯s attack. But¡­this soul armament was different; this was the power of being upgraded!


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 5000


    Additional Defense: 2300


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect 1: Create a gold-type barrier two-meters large in exchange for soulforce.


    Defense of the barrier cannot exceed the defensive might of the equipment and cannot defend against soul attacks.


    +10 Additional Effect: When the barrier is broken, reflect as much attack as the equipment can handle back onto the opponent.


    Upgrade Requirement: 280 Soulpoints


    The power of the +10 additional effect made the soul armament strong enough to bounce back Qin Bangjie¡¯s attack!


    ¡°Swoosh¡­¡±


    Dumbfounded, everyone watched as the blood-red beam of light flew back¡­


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    Everyone heard the sound of fabric and flesh being torn. Seizing up, Qin Bangjie looked down at his right arm. Right there where his shoulder should¡¯ve been was a bloody stump¡­


    His very own attack blew through his right arm!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Two seconds later, Qin Bangjie began to cry out in agony!!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A furious chirp rang through the skies before two Spatial Edges came soaring down towards Qin Bangjie!


    ¡°Pcht! Pcht!!¡±


    The Spatial Edges aim were true on their marks. Both of Qin Bangjie¡¯s legs were cut up and devoured by them!


    ¡°Bastard!! Die!!¡±


    Xiao Qi cried out again. He sent a third Spatial Edge at Qin Bangjie; this time aimed at his abdomen! It went through without an issue and took away even more from Qin Bangjie¡¯s person.


    ¡°Agh¡­.ahhhh!!¡±


    Left with only the upper half of his person, Qin Bangjie gave a bloody scream of despair!


    A fourth Spatial Edge was coming for his head!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Qin Bangjie¡¯s screams came to a stop immediately when the elemental energy within his body lost control and imploded, sending his flesh and bones flying everywhere!


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Wu Dijian stood there in shock. He and the others couldn¡¯t believe what they just saw. Slowly, they looked to Tang Xinyun and then back to where Qin Bangjie died, their eyes and mouth wide open in stunned disbelief¡­

 Chapter 1070: A Conclusion

    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei wiped the sweat from his brows in relief. Seeing Tang Xinyun attacked like that made his heart skip a beat with fear. He felt like his entire body had suddenly been dipped into a pool of ice when he saw her be attacked. Qin Bangjie¡¯s attack was so fast that not even Bai Yunfei had the time to react to it.


    Like his first thought was to activate the defensive soul armament he gave Tang Xinyun if she didn¡¯t do it, but luckily it seemed he didn¡¯t have to.


    He knew all would be fine once the soul armament was used. And it seemed like its effects were better than he expected¡ªseeing Qin Bangjie¡¯s remaining arm be cut off by his own rebounded attack and then killed by Xiao Qi made Bai Yunfei feel completely at ease again.


    Everything was going as he thought it would until Qin Bangjie went and attacked Tang Xinyun. It infuriated him to no end that Qin Bangjie would do such a thing, but the man was dead so there was no point in spending any more time hating him.


    Feeling slightly at ease now, Bai Yunfei ordered Xiao Qi to carefully protect Tang Xinyun and turned his eyes back to the battle around him.


    Likewise, Yao Wuchen and Wu Dijian refocused their thoughts. Qin Bangjie¡¯s death meant they could all look to a new opponent to fight.


    The allied schools had no Soul King left. All there was left to their army was the scattered ¡®survivors¡¯. It wouldn¡¯t need much time to make short work of them. And from there, it would just be the Soul Emperors¡­


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    A roar mixed with an explosion of black and golden light. A black meteoric light had smashed with a golden tiger to create an overwhelming explosion of power and made even the air tremble with the resulting energy.


    Black light scattered everywhere from Nether¡¯s person. His avatar had already lost half its shape¡ªneither of his legs could be seen anymore and his upper torso was flickering non-stop¡ªthe avatar was wheezing so hard it looked like he was nearing his last breath.


    ¡°Why¡­why did everything go wrong?! How did it come to this?!¡±


    Roared Nether, furious by the events of today.


    His anger boiled to even greater temperatures with each aura he felt disappear from the allied schools. The tipping point was reached when he felt Qin Bangjie¡¯s aura disappear into smoke.


    They¡­were all dead!!


    Horror-stricken by that thought, Nether sent his soulsense outwards to scan the area. Not a single Soul King was left! Not even the Soul Exalts, Soul Ancestors, and Soul Sprites were being spared! Everyone was being slaughtered left and right!


    The faint ¡®buzzing¡¯ sounds he swore he could hear in his head was starting to sound like someone was beating his head in with a bat. It was a very uncomforting sound and only served to confuse the man even more.


    Ten minutes hadn¡¯t even passed and his army had essentially gone up into smoke!


    And the reason behind all that was because of the Beast Taming School¡¯s headmaster¡¯s medium, the ¡®traitorous¡¯ Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    Never could Nether believe such a thing could happen!


    But it was clear that such a thing was indeed happening. Or happened. Either way, the allied army was utterly defeated!


    This operation was extensively planned to cover all angles. From making sure no leaks would happen to having enough personnel, each of the three schools sent out several Soul Kings and even had a Soul Emperor a piece lying in wait. If anything, the importance of a Soul Emperor wasn¡¯t to deal with the Alchemy School, but with internal strife. Dealing with the Alchemy School would be a simple task, but splitting the profits three-ways would be hard to do without having a Soul Emperor from each school acting as a mediator¡­


    But a single problem was present in this meticulous plan of theirs! Like a seemingly unimportant variable in a formula, Bai Yunfei appeared to mess everything up!


    The one man who shouldn¡¯t have! The man who should¡¯ve disappeared from the world three years ago!


    He ruined everything. From capturing the avatar of the Wind Lightning School¡¯s headmaster to carrying the entire Yao City with him, Bai Yunfei made sure the allied army didn¡¯t get a single pill or alchemist!


    And his troublemaking didn¡¯t even stop there! By the brutal effectiveness of his guerilla-warfare tactics, Bai Yunfei made sure to take down four Soul Kings when they were on the hunt for him before appearing before them again ten days later to seize control of the allied army¡¯s strongest asset¡ªthe Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    Yes, the Demon-eyed Tiger King could be said to be the strongest Soul Emperor of the three. It might¡¯ve been an early-stage class 8, but unlike the other two Soul Emperors, the Demon-eyed Tiger King was here in a physical capacity!


    The difference in strength between Nether and the Demon-eyed Tiger King was easy to see the longer the fight¡ªthe longer they fought, the more Nether¡¯s avatar lost coherency!


    If there is one type of battle an avatar must never partake in, it would be a war of attrition. An avatar had no originseed, meaning they¡¯d never be able to absorb or regain any energy!


    But the Demon-eyed Tiger King had no ¡®shortcomings¡¯ like that. The Demon-eyed Tiger King might¡¯ve been the one who used up more energy in their fight, but it was still regaining soulforce bit by bit so the overall loss of soulforce was mitigated. And that way, the Demon-eyed Tiger King was losing energy slower than Nether!


    If this went on, Nether would lose all the energy left in his avatar!


    So¡­was running the only option he had left?!


    ¡°I¡­I refuse! I refuse to accept this!!!¡±


    Streaks of red light shot forth from Nether¡¯s eyes as he screamed. Like a crazed beast, he began to roar loudly to the heavens!


    ¡°You¡¯ll all die here!!¡±


    The heavens echoed with his roar as a horrifying amount of volatile energy startle to bubble in his avatar!!


    The black light around him immediately extended for another five kilometers. A giant tornado of black light was forming over his head to seemingly suck in the world!


    His original plan was to use the Return to the Nether on Bai Yunfei again, but the Demon-eyed Tiger King never gave him the opportunity to even get close to Bai Yunfei. Forced into despair, Nether had only one option left!


    There was no such thing as taking a defeat lightly for a Soul Emperor. And neither would they run away!


    If he could run away, then¡­he¡¯d take them all down with him!


    In other words¡­self-destruction!


    A Soul Emperor¡¯s self-destruction!!


    ¡°No!! He¡¯s planning to self-destruct!! Stop him!!¡±


    As the most experienced of the clansmen here, Yao Wuchen realized at once what this turbulent storm of energy meant and screamed at the others in the area at once!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The Mountain Shaking Tiger¡¯s Roar crashed into Nether at once in response. It¡¯s power was so powerful that Nether couldn¡¯t help but scream in agony!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Nether¡¯s avatar flickered in transparency again and his energy levels dipped once more, but that didn¡¯t stop him!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Another thunderous exclamation was made and froze Nether again!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    ¡°Roarr!!¡±


    Multiple soul attacks launched at Nether one after another. Xiao Qi, Long Lan, Yao Wuchen, Wu Dijian, and even the other Soul Kings and familiars¡­were attacking Nether together!


    Waves of near-invisible energy converged together. Distortions in the air could be seen when these waves traveled towards Nether!


    Even for a Soul Emperor, the combined soul attacks of over a dozen Soul King couldn¡¯t simply be shrugged off! They slammed into his avatar and locked up his soulforce at once!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A streak of red light appeared in the space in front of Nether. The Demon-eyed Tiger King stepped out of the way so this red streak of light could reach Nether!


    A white glow of light appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. Throwing it outwards, he watched as the ball of white light travel about a hundred meters before web-like strands of light flew everywhere to capture Nether!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out. The in the next second¡­the volatile energy gathering Nether¡¯s body disappeared!


    Without anything to stir the air, the energy that was rapidly growing more and more volatile retreated away into the world. Several moments passed before the world was peace and quiet once again.


    Nether¡¯s avatar was standing up there in the sky. The Soul Sealing Mandate had frozen him right where he stood!


    He wasn¡¯t even able to self-destruct!


    Pleased with his timely intervention, Bai Yunfei waved his hand to bring both the Soul Sealing Mandate and Nether away into the Core World.


    All around him, the Yao clansmen watched as the Demon-eyed Tiger King stood subserviently behind Bai Yunfei as he stood there with his hands clasped behind his back.


    The cries of agony from the army was already dying down now. Hardly anyone was left alive. With their enemies being Soul Kings, it was impossible for them to even think about running away¡­


    Bai Yunfei said it before. There¡¯d be no enemy of the Yao clan that¡¯d be able to leave this place alive. It took less than half an hour for Bai Yunfei to make good on his promise¡­

 Chapter 1071: Is Killing an Avatar Useless?

    The burden of responsibility had finally been shrugged of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders now that Nether was sealed away into the Core World. The magnitude of what he had just accomplished finally began to hit him.


    How many times was it? How many times had Bai Yunfei been forced to flee and fight for his life?


    The enemy was always one step ahead of him. Stronger than him. They always had some kind of plan that Bai Yunfei would fall for and be humiliated.


    But this time, it was he that had the overwhelming advantage!


    It didn¡¯t matter if they had an army. It didn¡¯t even matter if they had a Half-emperor or even an actual Soul Emperor! He managed to wipe them all out!


    Not much time was needed for the last remaining few survivors to be killed. Soon, the entire world was basked in silence again¡­


    Not a single enemy had escaped! Every single member of the allied army had died!


    All there was left to do was clean up the battlefield and store away the Soul Kings back into the Core World. Once everyone was in, Bai Yunfei found an inconspicuous place to hide the Core Stone and entered the Core World himself.


    Within the Core World.


    In the middle of a great big prairie stood a creek and a giant city next to it. Yao City.


    Everyone was resting within the large city, but that didn¡¯t mean Bai Yunfei could take it easy. There was several matters he had to take care of.


    Some distance away from Yao City stood a giant mountain. A glowing ball of light floated over the mountain top and absorbed several streams of energy into it. Though the exact figure couldn¡¯t be seen, the aura from this ball of light determined the being inside to be a late-stage class seven soulbeast. One that was still growing stronger with each passing minute.


    Several people stood there on the mountain top. Tang Xinyun, Long Lan, Wu Dijian, Yao Wuchen, and Dan Teng. They were all staring at the ball of light. The former two were looking on with expectancy while the latter three were all simply stunned.


    It was Xiao Qi that was inside this ball of light. He was currently digesting the ¡®experience¡¯ he got from killing the many enemies earlier.


    The amount of Soul Kings Xiao Qi killed today was close to the double digits. He also killed a Half-emperor, so, all in all, he gained a decent amount of experience. It was time for him to digest that experience and become a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast.


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­.¡±


    It would not be until three hours later when the entire world began to undergo a change. The energy within the air started to be drained into the ball of light and absorbed into Xiao Qi¡¯s body at an even faster rate than before.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    There was a carefree chirp as a mythical-looking bird erupted from the ball of light. It flew high up into the air before swooping back down to reach eye-level with Bai Yunfei and the others.


    ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m still not a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast yet! I don¡¯t have enough experience, Yunfei!¡± Xiao Qi wailed mournfully.


    His words brought a twitch to the faces of those unfamiliar with Xiao Qi. In order to achieve the level of growth Xiao Qi had, the regular soul cultivator or soulbeast would have to meditate for a dozen years. The bird, on the other hand, did it in three hours. How else should they react to something as crazy as that¡­


    ¡°Oh? So you¡¯re just a bit away from the peak stage?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was aware of Xiao Qi¡¯s situation and knew that he only needed a single step more. Knowing that, Bai Yunfei realized there was a very easy solution. ¡°Xinyun, wait here with the others. Xiao Qi and I will be back in a moment.¡±


    ¡°Do you plan on¡­¡± She began to speak but decided against it in the end. ¡°Yes, well, be careful then.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. We won¡¯t be in any danger here.¡±


    He gave a nod to the skeptical Yao Wuchen and the others before disappearing with Xiao Qi to another part of the Core World.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡± Yao Wuchen began to speak, ¡°Miss Tang, what might be our little friend be doing now?¡±


    ¡°It is not so much a mystery anymore,¡± Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°but Xiao Qi has the ability to gain a portion of the power from anyone he kills¡­Yunfei is going to help him become a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast by helping him kill the Soul Emperor avatar. He wants us all to stay here just in case.¡±


    ¡°What?! Xiao Qi has an ability like that?!¡± Yao Wuchen gasped out loud.


    The thought was inconceivable. They saw it themselves and yet they still couldn¡¯t believe it.


    They thought it strange that Bai Yunfei would leave Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar here. Finally, it seemed, they had their answer at last¡­


    Far away in another region of the Core World. Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi appeared high up in the sky.


    Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei opened up a rift in the space where flames flowed out from it for several kilometers.


    ¡°Ah! Ahh!! Ahhh!!!!¡±


    A furious roar exploded from within the flames the moment they appeared. Within the flames, a green and violet light was struggling desperately against the heat.


    The Law of Fire had chained Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar up so he couldn¡¯t move anywhere. No matter how hard or how desperate he struggled, Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar was affixed to the spot. He couldn¡¯t even self-destruct.


    ¡°Xiao Qi.¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave Xiao Qi a knowing look as if to say, ¡°Go ahead¡±.


    ¡°Okay~!¡±


    The look in Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes was slightly strange. He looked like he was staring at a particularly delectable piece of cake. Chirping delightfully, he flew up into the air and sent several Spatial Edges at Duan Leiting!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    A series of explosions rocked the Core World before Duan Leiting could no longer be heard or his aura detected!


    His aura was completely gone, and that was the only reason why Xiao Qi stopped attacking.


    ¡°Eh? I didn¡¯t feel anything, Yunfei!¡±


    But rather than hear Xiao Qi talk about becoming a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast, he heard a confused statement!


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel the same sensation I get when I normally kill a person. Strange¡­I wonder why?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Bai Yunfei racked his brains for an answer.


    ¡°Could¡­could it be killing an avatar doesn¡¯t gain any experience?¡±


    ¡°Ehhhh? Could that be it?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked up in disbelief to where Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar had been.


    A glow of violet and green light was still floating where Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar had been. There was a strange energy that was still floating in place. It was strangely incongruent with the energy produced by the Core World and simply floated there.


    ¡°It¡¯s not disappearing?¡±


    Skeptical by the energy, Bai Yunfei waved his hand to remove the elemental fire in the area and scanned at the lights with his soulsense.


    The longer he scanned the energy, the faster Bai Yunfei¡¯s confusion transformed into bewildered excitement.


    ¡°Try absorbing that energy over there, Xiao Qi!!¡±

 Chapter 1072: Peak Late-stage Class Seven

    ¡°Okay!!¡±


    Xiao Qi obeyed at once. Taking off, the bird flew for the green and violet light headfirst.


    Bai Yunfei watched nervously. He was prepared to seal away the energy into a different dimension at the earliest notice.


    But nothing happened. Nothing strange could be detected even when Xiao Qi neared the light. And even when Xiao Qi was in the light and absorbing it, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t sense anything dangerous or warranted attention.


    It was simply just a form of pure energy.


    ¡°What powerful wind and lightning energy! Yunfei! It¡¯s just a concentrated form of elemental wind and lightning! A really pure form of it!¡±


    Xiao Qi cried out in joy to Bai Yunfei from within the ball of light.


    Needless to say, Xiao Qi was having the time of his life absorbing the two energies. His body shined with two different light as he took in all of the energy. He was trying his best to absorb it all, but it seemed like it would require more time to take in all of it if the rate at which the light was shrinking was any indication.


    It just went without saying that this concentrated form of elemental wind and lightning was far more powerful and pure than the regular forms.


    ¡°Eh? Is this¡­soul energy?! Yunfei! There¡¯s soul energy in here as well!!¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s voice called out to Bai Yunfei a short moment later.


    ¡°Soul energy?! That¡¯s¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement. The beginnings of a hypothesis started to form in his mind. ¡°Absorb it all!¡± He called out to Xiao Qi. ¡°Start meditating and absorbing it all!¡±


    Xiao Qi didn¡¯t need to be told twice. The effectiveness of using this energy was a huge boon to his growth. Closing his eyes, Xiao Qi began to meditate and focus absorbing the energy properly into his body.


    ¡°I wonder how¡­is this what happens when an avatar is destroyed? Why didn¡¯t assistant headmaster Wu or the elders tell me this then? There¡¯s no way they wouldn¡¯t know about this¡­or is this an exception? But why then?¡±


    Bai Yunfei tapped a finger to his chin in contemplation. There wasn¡¯t a need for him to do anything but wait and think while Xiao Qi absorbed the energy.


    He gave up on that question shortly afterward in favor to look at Xiao Qi. His eyes grew wide open¡ªdue to his bond with Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei was able to feel what was going on within Xiao Qi¡ªthe energy Xiao Qi was absorbing¡­It was¡­


    ¡°This¡­this is the Law of Lightning?! But how?!¡± He cried out in awe.


    Bai Yunfei remembered Xiao Qi saying the elemental wind and lightning being different somehow, but he only said that it was ¡®stronger¡¯. Now that Bai Yunfei could feel what Xiao Qi meant through their bond, he was stunned by the actuality of ¡®how¡¯ it was different. There was a distinctive power hidden within the elemental lightning¡­the energy from Law of Lightning!


    Though he didn¡¯t understand the Law of Lightning, Bai Yunfei was sensitive to elemental lightning due to him having a companion lightningseed. And the only reason he was able to perceive the Law of Wind was because of the shared emotions he had with Xiao Qi! He only knew it was the Law of Wind after fighting Duan Leiting before, it was just that the bond allowed him to feel what it was like to absorb it!


    It was weak, but it definitely stronger in power than just regular elemental energy. There was a unique power to these two energies!


    While Xiao Qi was focused on absorbing the two energies, Bai Yunfei decided to sit down and start training in the Dual Flame Arts. A red-violet light glow emanated from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body as he listened to the bond he had with Xiao Qi, listening for any changes that might occur within the Law of Lightning.


    Everything was quiet and still while the two meditated. The light around Xiao Qi was already starting to shrink.


    One hour passed by before the light was no bigger than a speck of light small enough to fit in Xiao Qi¡¯s body. Wrapping both of his wings around himself like a cocoon, Xiao Qi floated in the air and descended into a deeper meditative state.


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    With a chirp loud enough to pierce the heavens, Xiao Qi extended his wings wide and let a burst of green and violet light fly everywhere along with his soulforce!


    He was, at last, a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast!


    ¡°You did it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open at the exact same time. Leaping to his feet, he looked to Xiao Qi with a look of joy.


    ¡°Haha!! I¡¯m finally a peak late-stage!¡± Xiao Qi crowed as he lapped around Bai Yunfei¡¯s head.


    ¡°Hn.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°how do you feel? You think you understand a little more about the Laws of Wind and Lightning?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit hard to understand¡­there¡¯s not much to grasp either. I don¡¯t think I can control it¡ªmaybe just gain some insights¡­¡± He replied sadly.


    ¡°That¡¯s not bad. The power of Law is something that requires one to be a Soul Emperor to understand in any case. You having insight into them is already something to be glad about.¡± Bai Yunfei consoled, ¡°Wait until you become a class eight, you¡¯ll definitely be able to use the power of Law then.¡±


    As Xiao Qi said before, there were only hints of the Laws of Wind and Lightning in the ball of light left behind by Duan Leiting. It was only enough to establish a preliminary background on how to make use of those Laws and not enough to begin controlling them. Though Xiao Qi failed to grasp the Laws now, he¡¯d have an easier time in the future on how to use them.


    Bai Yunfei, on the other hand, managed to gain a sufficient level of insights on elemental lightning. This combined with his companion lightningseed meant Bai Yunfei would be able to wield elemental lightning to a more powerful degree in the future.


    Several figures appeared in the sky above where Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi was. At a glance, Bai Yunfei noticed them to be Tang Xinyun and the other Soul Kings. They all looked spellbound¡ªbut overjoyed¡ªat what happened just now.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done it¡­you¡¯ve actually become a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast!¡± Yao Wuchen declared in delight.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Clan head, there¡¯s a question I¡¯d like to ask.¡±


    ¡°A question?¡± Yao Wuchen repeated, ¡°what is it?¡±


    ¡°When we destroyed Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar¡­there was¡­¡± Slowly, Bai Yunfei repeated the events of what happened when he and Xiao Qi destroyed Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar. ¡°Does something like this normally happen when an avatar is destroyed?¡±


    ¡°Something like that can happen?!¡± But Yao Wuchen looked completely confused. ¡°I have never heard of such a case.¡±


    ¡°I concur,¡± Wu Dijian nodded in agreement, ¡°I saw two avatars fight one another three months ago. When one of them was destroyed, their avatar disappeared into the world. I don¡¯t recall seeing any pure form of elemental energy or soul energy remaining.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­then why did¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed and widened when he reached a reasonable hypothesis, ¡°was it because of the Core World?¡±

 Chapter 1073: Unexpected Information

    ¡°That has to be it!¡± Bai Yunfei concluded, ¡°The energy should¡¯ve dissipated and mixed with the real world¡¯s energy, but the Core World operates on a different principle. It rejects ¡®external¡¯ energies and so it caused the avatar¡¯s energy to form together!


    ¡°The Core World can be used in such capacity?¡± Wu Dijian replied in wonder, ¡°Then capturing and destroying the avatars of a Soul Emperor in here for their energy would essentially bear the same results as ingesting a wonder pill? I wonder if the Yao clan has anything as wonderful as that¡­the power of the soul and having the pure Laws of an element¡­¡±


    ¡°Your thoughts are leaking out, brother Wu,¡± Dan Teng laughed, ¡°do you take the soul of an avatar to be a dish to be eaten?¡±


    ¡°But if that¡¯s the case, then Nether¡¯s avatar should be filled with elemental darkness. Xiao Qi wouldn¡¯t be able to take any of that power for himself if he were to kill him¡­¡±


    He turned to Long Lan, ¡°You should absorb Nether¡¯s avatar in that case then.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°You.¡± He nodded, ¡°You¡¯re the only one among us that practices elemental darkness. It seems only natural that you¡¯d be the one to absorb it then.¡±


    Now that he knew destroying an avatar and absorbing the energy wasn¡¯t dangerous, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t afraid of a second attempt. Waving his hand, he summoned the still sealed Nether into the area.


    He hadn¡¯t any interest in speaking or even tormenting the avatar. He merely nodded to Xiao Qi to have the bird send several Spatial Edges at the man.


    The power of the Soul Sealing Mandate made it useless for Nether to resist. Rendered useless, the avatar was forced to remain still as the Spatial Edges tore him apart.


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡±


    The Soul Sealing Mandate returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. Looking at where Nether¡¯s avatar once stood, Bai Yunfei saw a smog of black energy float there¡ªhe couldn¡¯t sense Nether¡¯s aura anymore¡­


    Xiao Qi confirmed through their soul bond that he didn¡¯t gain any ¡®experience¡¯ from killing Nether¡¯s avatar, so Bai Yunfei nodded for Long Lan to fly up into the black smog of light.


    There was a substantial boost in power within Long Lan¡¯s body the moment he came into contact with the black smog. Yao Wuchen and the others noticed it straight away and felt rather speechless on how they felt. In the hands of Bai Yunfei, the avatar of a Soul Emperor was as good as a toy to be used, and at best it was a wonder drug for Bai Yunfei and his friends to power up on. It felt¡­almost mournful how an avatar could be disgraced to such a state¡­


    Bai Yunfei turned to face the others after confirming nothing was wrong. ¡°There¡¯s a matter I need to take care of, for now, clan head. Please keep the peace while I¡¯m away.¡±


    A small glint of light entered Yao Wuchen¡¯s eyes, ¡°Will you be dealing with the Demon-eyed Tiger King?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I locked the headmaster¡¯s soul in a corner of the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s mindspace, but it won¡¯t last forever. I¡¯d like to erase the last of his soul from the mindspace as soon as possible.¡±


    Wu Dijian practically leaped with joy at that, ¡°Fine by me! Don¡¯t you have a way to connect our minds together? That¡¯ll make things easier for you to do so, I bet. Hehe¡­wiping out the soul and willpower of a Soul Emperor¡­a chance like that doesn¡¯t come often enough, I¡¯ll tell you that¡­¡±


    ¡°Then why not bring the rest of the clan out?¡± Yao Wuchen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not necessary. The remaining portion of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s soul in the Demon-eyed Tiger King shouldn¡¯t be as strong as Nether¡¯s or Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar. I don¡¯t foresee any issues.¡±


    And so the people sat down and waited for Bai Yunfei to bring out the Demon-eyed Tiger King.


    The Charm Bracelet on his arm pulsated softly with as Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, Dan Teng, Wu Dijian, Yao Wuchen, and a few others were mentally connected. Once done, everyone focused and waited for Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi to bring them into the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s mindspace.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s body trembled slightly when the combined attack was made onto its mind. Resistance popped up at once in the form of its aura and soulforce, though both felt like a mixture of two different beings rather than just one¡­


    This was a new battle to fight with Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s mindspace being the battlefield. Like a hot knife through butter, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi¡¯s willpower plowed through any resistance with the assistance of the others and began to attack Lin Dongxiao¡¯s soul fragment.


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!! Bai Yunfei! I¡¯ll never forgive you for this! Neverrrr!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao¡¯s voice echoed loudly through the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s soulspace before the last of his mark was removed by Bai Yunfei once in for all.


    ¡°Haha!! Who knew it¡¯d be that easy? Can a Soul Emperor¡¯s soul fragment really be removed that easily?¡±


    Wu Dijian barked with laughter once they all awoke. The task of cleansing the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s mind of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s influence left him with a great big smile on his face.


    It was easier than carving up a slab of meat or fish on a chopping board. Hardly any resistance was made and the fragment was removed with ease.


    It felt refreshingly easy, really.


    ¡°What a curious item this ¡®Beast Taming Ring¡¯ is, my young friend. I¡¯ve never heard a soul armament being able to control soulbeasts before. It¡¯s extraordinarily powerful if it can wrestle control from even a beast tamer¡­¡± Yao Wuchen muttered in admiration at the softly-glowing ring around the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s throat.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei? Is there something wrong?¡± Dan Teng had been quiet up until now until he saw the strange expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    Everyone turned to glance at Bai Yunfei and took note of the narrowed eyes and stern face. He looked like he was thinking hard about something.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t respond at once to Dan Teng. He simply sat there in deep thought over something.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Then, at long last, he breathed out a drawn-out breath. Rubbing both sides of his temples with his fingers, Bai Yunfei opened his eyes.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei?¡± Tang Xinyun asked, concerned.


    Gently reassuring her with a smile, Bai Yunfei looked back to everyone else. ¡°Sorry, but I was a little preoccupied for a moment. I¡­never thought I¡¯d receive something like that after destroying Lin Dongxiao¡¯s soul fragment¡­¡±


    ¡°Hm? Was there something with his soul fragment? What was it?¡± Wu Dijian asked.


    ¡°I received information¡ªor perhaps a memory fragment of Lin Dongxiao is more accurate.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Everyone gasped, ¡°Lin Dongxiao¡¯s memories?! That¡¯s¡­¡± Dan Teng looked incredulous.


    ¡°Only a portion of it of the most recent ones, but they¡¯re broken up. However¡­¡±


    He drew silent for a second to compose himself. ¡°There was something very important in there¡­¡±

 Chapter 1074: The Plot of the Beast Taming School and a Change of Plans

    ¡°Roarr!!¡±


    A majestic roar suddenly reverberated through the Core World, causing everyone to turn their heads towards the source. It was Long Lan. A smile grew on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face¡ªit seemed Long Lan was finally done absorbing Nether¡¯s energy into his body.


    ¡°He¡¯s already close to becoming a late-stage class seven soulbeast?!¡± Wu Dijian gasped in shock, ¡°My my¡­so the remnant energy of an avatar is that powerful?¡±


    Absorbing Nether¡¯s avatar energy did wonders for Long Lan. There was substantial growth in his strength; he was only a step away from being a late-stage class seven soulbeast now. It was likely he was also far more knowledgeable about the Law of Darkness now too.


    Originally a soulbeast of the water element, Long Lan only gained an affinity for darkness after taking in the Black Dragon King¡¯s blood. Having it mature in his body allowed him to become adept with this second element, though it was nowhere near the levels of his primary element. Today changed that, however. Today, Long Lan could say his proficiency with both elements was most likely equal now.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk more in the city, I¡¯ve a few important matters to discuss with everyone, especially in regards to what our next plan of action is¡­¡± Bai Yunfei spoke after Long Lan returned.


    Waving his hand, he distorted the area around them all and teleported everyone away.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    In a large room within Yao City.


    ¡°What?! The Beast Taming School will begin to capture all the class seven soulbeasts in the Soulbeast Forest?!¡±


    Wu Dijian was aghast by what Bai Yunfei just said. He gave the younger male a serious look. ¡°We all saw how many people they brought here, how do they still have the manpower for a large plan like that?!¡±


    ¡°The Beast Taming School recently gained a new Soul Emperor, he¡¯ll be leading that operation. Many of their isolated Soul Kings came out from their seclusion for this along with their class seven soulbeast puppets¡­their goal is the subjugation of all class seven soulbeasts in the Soulbeast Forest. If they succeed, it¡¯ll be a huge boost of power to them.¡±


    The news Bai Yunfei received from Lin Dongxiao¡¯s memory fragments told him about this plan¡ªthe Beast Taming School¡¯s secret plan to capture all class seven soulbeasts in the Soulbeast Forest!


    ¡°Many class seven soulbeasts live within the depths of the Soulbeast Forest,¡± Dan Teng stated with narrowed eyes, ¡°a number that would make even a Soul Emperor balk. Would it be possible for them to gain much from such an operation? Furthermore, the Bloodhowl Wolf King and the other allied class eight soulbeasts are there. If the Beast Taming School were to step into their territory, wouldn¡¯t they simply be heading to their own deaths?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°The world of the high-leveled soulbeasts is just like the human world. All sorts of factions fighting there right now¡­¡±


    Confused, the group looked at Bai Yunfei for why he would say something like that. It was Dan Teng who realized what Bai Yunfei was getting at. ¡°You¡¯re saying that¡­¡± horrified realization dawned onto him, ¡° war is brewing within the Soulbeast Forest? There¡­there are actually soulbeasts working with the Beast Taming School?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Part of the information I received talked about the clans led by the bloodthirsty wind ape and the four-winged golden roc are colluding with the Beast Taming School. I believe they are using this opportunity to have the Beast Taming School take out their enemies.¡±


    ¡°The bloodthirsty wind ape and the four-winged golden roc!!¡± Exclaimed Wu Dijian. ¡°They¡¯re both infamous soulbeasts for their savagery! And they¡¯re working with the Beast Taming School?! As soulbeasts, they¡¯re actually working with the Beast Taming School?!¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t humans the same in the end?¡± Bai Yunfei sighed, ¡°we¡¯ve been fighting and killing one another since history began, when will it ever stop? I would assume the world of soulbeasts is the same¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Wu Dijian faltered in speech. He was still having a hard time understanding the situation and what this meant.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, my young friend. You mentioned before about our next course of action. Could¡­you be thinking about taking part in this?¡± Yao Wuchen asked.


    ¡°That is what I had in mind, yes.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to go back to the Crafting School?¡± Wu Dijian asked, ¡°We can inform the Tianhun School of the Beast Taming School¡¯s plot and have them dispatch people there. Why go yourself?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t get there in time. We¡¯re not too far away from the Soulbeast Forest, with the Core Stone¡¯s teleportation abilities, we should be able to get there even faster. It¡¯s the fastest way of stopping the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Furthermore¡­I can¡¯t just let the Beast Taming School have their way in this matter.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head.


    ¡°One of their goals is the wolf clan. I am friends with the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s adopted son, Hong Yin. His kindness to me in the past¡­I can¡¯t forget it. It¡¯s time I return that kindness.¡±


    ¡°You know Hong Yin?!¡± Gaped Wu Dijian.


    ¡°It was before I joined the Crafting School. I was a mere Soul Warrior then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°there was a problem I came across when training, but it was Hong Yin that helped me become a Soul Sprite by giving me a fireseed spirit mushroom. I wouldn¡¯t be the person I am today without him¡ªthus I wish to lend a hand to the wolf clan If I can.¡±


    ¡°So there was a back story like that?¡± Yao Wuchen sighed in admiration, ¡°A touching story, my young friend. If that is how you feel, then we of the Yao clan will follow you in every step along the way!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is your clan willing to aid me then?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. Having the Yao clan was a tremendous relief to hear. That meant resolving this matter would be easier than expected.


    ¡°It is only because of your power that our clan was able to escape calamity, my young friend. Finding safety in such chaotic times will be hard, it would be safer for us to remain in the Core World in the meanwhile where no one will harm us.¡±


    In other words: The Yao clan would temporarily reside in the Core World. Wherever Bai Yunfei went, the Yao clan would follow.


    ¡°We have to stop the Beast Taming School at all costs. Them grabbing hold of multiple class seven soulbeasts would be a threat to even us.¡± Wu Dijian sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t see any problem if you want to go, let¡¯s deal another blow to them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s settled then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Let us rest for tonight and head for the Soulbeast Forest tomorrow morning!¡±


    The laws of the Core World mimicked that of the real world, though there were still a few laws Xiao Fang was normally in charge of manipulating. The Core World was autonomous without him, so the cycle of day and night could progress naturally. As of right now, it was close to being night time in the Core World.


    ¡°That works. I¡¯ll be returning to rest first then. Today¡¯s battle has been¡­mindblowing, to say the least. Rest would do me some good¡­¡± Wu Dijian chuckled. Standing up, he made way towards the outside while also giving Dan Teng and the Yao clansmen very obvious winks.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Dan Teng stood up as well with a smile. ¡°We should get going too then.¡±


    ¡°So we are, rest well, Bai Yunfei.¡± Yao Wuchen stood up as well.


    Once they left, Long Lan stood up himself to leave.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t thought of anything at first, but the vulgar winks he saw from Wu Dijian made him suspicious. Seeing the smiles on everyone¡¯s faces was what clued him in on what they meant. Embarrassed, he looked to Tang Xinyun, but she had already her head buried within her arms on the table.


    Dear heavens¡ªwhen he said ¡®rest¡¯, he truly did mean a proper ¡®rest¡¯!


    Wu Dijian only took two steps before turning back. ¡°Hey now, Xiao Qi, what are you doing there?¡± He asked the preening bird.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Xiao Qi cocked his head, ¡°what about me?¡±


    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing sticking your head in a reunion between a young man and woman? We can¡¯t have that now, can we?!¡±


    And so Wu Dijian took the small bird in hand and marched out from the courtyard with him. ¡°You say you¡¯re close to being a class eight soulbeast,¡± he muttered to the bird as they left, ¡°and yet you still don¡¯t seem to be very ¡®knowledgeable¡¯...¡±


    ¡°Heehee¡­¡± A white streak of light flew beside Xiao Qi as he was being carried away. It was the quickshade bird, Xiao Bai.


    And just like that, Bai Yunfei was startled to see that it was only him and Tang Xinyun left in this courtyard.


    Somehow, a gust of wind blew across the courtyard and blew the doors to it shut¡­

 Chapter 1075: A Tender Moment

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei scratched his nose. Several seconds had passed since everyone left the courtyard. ¡°They¡¯re gone now¡­¡±


    A sweet-smelling wind suddenly assaulted Bai Yunfei¡¯s nose before something soft threw themselves into his chest.


    Bai Yunfei stiffened at first but began to smile after he saw what it was. Gingerly, he embraced the back of Tang Xinyun with one arm and caressed her hair with the other.


    ¡°I¡¯ve missed you so much, Yunfei¡­¡±


    Her cheek¡ªwhich looked red enough to pass of as being burnt almost¡ªwas pressed against Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest as if to listen to his heart. If she were to listen a little longer, she would perhaps hear Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart start to beat erratically upon him hearing the words she spoke.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s fingers paused briefly to sift through Tang Xinyun¡¯s fine hair, he seemed to be having a hard time gathering his thoughts. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Xinyun¡­I¡¯ve let you worry¡­¡±


    But Tang Xinyun only shook her head. ¡°I knew you¡¯d be fine. I knew you¡¯d return, even if everyone in the world said you were dead. I just knew¡ªand now you¡¯re back¡­¡±


    His heart lurched. Thinking back to what Wu Dijian said about Tang Xinyun and her three-year-long search, Bai Yunfei began to blame himself. It was his fault that she had to worry. His arms clenched a tad tighter than before to hug Tang Xinyun closer to him. ¡°It¡¯s my fault for letting you worry so much¡­I¡¯m sorry. I won¡¯t ever leave your side¡ªnever again.¡±


    ¡°Enn¡­wherever you go, I will go with you¡­¡± She replied back. She was smiling now, though the side of her face was still pressed against his chest. All in all, she looked almost like a cute little cat.


    ¡°Gulp¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei began to grow hyperaware of her delicate frame pressed against his. He gulped to swallow the saliva that had built up in his mouth. When did his throat get so dry? Did a fire come to life in there when he wasn¡¯t looking? The heat felt far more powerful than even the ones felt by the Law of Fire.


    As the one closest to his heart¡ªboth physically and mentally¡ªTang Xinyun noticed the slight changes happening in Bai Yunfei. Her head lifted up to stare at Bai Yunfei. Her eyes, clear and filled with emotion, paired well with the scarlet flush that had built up around her cheeks.


    Their gaze met unflinchingly. Neither one broke away from one another¡¯s gaze, though Tang Xinyun felt like she was on the verge of fainting. A faint smile appeared on her face, revealing the little dimple she had.


    Bai Yunfei felt like pinching her cheeks, all of a sudden.


    Faced with the touching scene of the woman he was in loved with, Bai Yunfei had had enough. The fires he felt within his body could no longer be put out. Bending his head down, he gently captured the soft lips of the other with his own...


    ¡°Nnn¡­.¡±


    A soft moan escaped from Tang Xinyun. Her eyes fluttered closed, the eyelashes shivering slightly from where they clung to the skin. Her lips drew tight against his; she was replying back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s kiss with interest.


    For a good while, Bai Yunfei thought about nothing but the woman in front of him. He and Tang Xinyun stood there, locked in a tight embrace for what felt like an eternity to the both of them before finally breaking apart. A single line of saliva linked to both their lips was the only hint that they had kissed, though Tang Xinyun immediately closed her eyes shut once she saw it.


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    She gasped aloud when Bai Yunfei suddenly picked her up and rushed the two of them towards the nearest bed¡­


    Author Note: And herein lies an omitted 5000 characters.


    In another room in another courtyard.


    A little bird was flitting back and forth on top of a windowsill when it suddenly froze still to look elsewhere.


    ¡°Eh? Why did Yunfei block our bond?¡±


    It was Xiao Qi. Sending his soulforce outwards, Xiao Qi was met with another surprising sight¡ª¡±Eh? He¡¯s covered the area with his own soulsense. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    His question was directed to the little quickshade bird next to him, but her reply mirrored his own question. ¡°I have no idea. Xinyun¡¯s soul bond can¡¯t be reached either right now¡­¡±


    ¡°Did something happen? Should we go check?¡± Xiao Qi fluttered his wings anxiously.


    ¡°Hey hey hey¡­what are you thinking about?¡± Wu Dijian called out to the bird, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be wise for you to go, Bai Yunfei might kill you if you do¡­¡±


    ¡°What!!¡± Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°Why would he kill me?¡±


    ¡°I¡­I was speaking metaphorically. Metaphorically, you know?¡± Wu Dijian sighed. ¡°Just don¡¯t go over and stay here!¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± The grim expression on Wu Dijian¡¯s face confused the bird, but he decided to listen and turned back to stare blankly at the sky¡­


    ¡°What a silly bird¡­¡± Wu Dijian sighed to himself again.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how much time went by. He just knew that he slept comfortably and without issue. It was a dreamless night¡ªa feat quite different from before. Bai Yunfei normally spent each night of the last three years trying hard to fall asleep.


    Opening his eyes, Bai Yunfei¡¯s stare was met with a pair of brightly-lit pupils. They had been studying him carefully when he slept.


    When their gazes met, the latter immediately closed their eyes shut.


    The trembling eyelashes and red flush that appeared on the person¡¯s face made Bai Yunfei chuckle. His right hand pinched at the person and brought their warmth closer to him. ¡°Oh? Pretending to be asleep, are you?¡±


    Tang Xinyun¡¯s ears went pink and her person shivered. Where was it exactly that Bai Yunfei was pinching¡­?


    With how close together the two were, it was inevitable that Tang Xinyun bumped into something hard of Bai Yunfei. She gave a slight ¡®eep¡¯ and edged away as if shocked. The blanket covering the two was pulled down a bit when she did, revealing the beginnings of her shoulder before she yanked it back up and snuggled against Bai Yunfei once more¡­


    Bai Yunfei had to laugh at her actions. It was cute how flustered she was. Pulling the blanket over the two of them, he held her tightly to him. ¡°Quit moving around, Xinyun, or else I won¡¯t be able to hold myself back again¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah! Don¡¯t¡­¡± Tang Xinyun¡¯s face was scalding red now in her whispers to Bai Yunfei, ¡°I¡­I hurt still¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei chuckled softly under his breath. Caressing the soft skin of Tang Xinyun, ¡°Fine, you don¡¯t move and I won¡¯t. Let¡¯s just talk for now¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until daylight when the two of them finally stepped out from their rooms. The ¡®sun¡¯ was already hanging up high in the sky, indicating that it was the afternoon.


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re finally out. And here I was thinking you¡¯d need one more day of ¡®rest¡¯...¡±


    Wu Dijian was sitting on one of the stone chairs in the courtyard when Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun left the room. There was an awfully vulgar look on his face.


    ¡°My apologies, we weren¡¯t aware of the time.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded towards Yao Wuchen and the others seated with him.


    ¡°All is fine. Youth was something I experienced long before¡­¡± Wu Dijian nodded ¡®knowingly¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei frowned but said nothing more about it. His talks with Tang Xinyun about what happened in the last three years really had gone on longer than he expected, but he expected Wu Dijian wouldn¡¯t just think ¡®that¡¯ was all that happened. Still, explaining the situation would only make matters worse. ¡°Clan head, how fares the previous head?¡±


    Yao Tianji was still recovering from the wounds he gained from Duan Leiting. Using that pill he ingested caused a tremendous amount of stress onto his body and so he had yet to do much else but recuperate.


    ¡°All is well, I believe he¡¯ll need just a few more days before he¡¯s back to full strength.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Then we¡¯ll continue with our original plan and head to Soulbeast Forest. We¡¯ll teleport our way there and then head into the real world. You can also stay in the Core World should you like.¡±


    A brief discussion was had as Yao Wuchen and Dan Teng both decided to oversee Yao City rather than take part in the battle. On the other hand, Wu Dijian found it boring to stay within the Core World and Tang Xinyun wanted to be with Bai Yunfei. Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai by extension wanted to go with the two of them. Lastly, Long Lan was, for the most part, satisfied to stay within the Core World to continue his training.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Several figures appeared on top of a few trees. It was Bai Yunfei and his group. ¡°Which direction is the Soulbeast Forest, assistant headmaster Wu?¡±


    Looking around for a moment, Wu Dijian pointed off into a certain direction, ¡°I know the north of the Qimang Mountains should point towards the western parts of the Soulbeast Forest. If we want to head to the center of it, then we should try heading north-east from here.¡±


    His finger pointed slightly off to their right.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then.¡±


    A series of ripple was all that left of the group as the Core Stone teleported away. It wasn¡¯t even three seconds before nothing was left of even the ripples.


    Their target¡­the Soulbeast Forest!

 Chapter 1076: A Breakthrough with the Upgrade Technique

    Due to the Core Stone¡¯s teleportation abilities, Bai Yunfei and the group with him were able to travel at an incredibly fast pace. The only thing preventing him from teleporting again and again in quick succession was due to the soulforce consumption. He¡¯d teleport in short bursts and then recover half the soulforce lost and flew with Wu Dijian and the others. Once healed, Bai Yunfei would repeat the process.


    And so the group was able to reach the very outskirts of the Qimang Mountains by the time the day was over. Not even a single feral class seven soulbeast was met during their travel.


    The group wasn¡¯t in an urgent rush to get to the Soulbeast Forest despite their goal. When night fell, they would retreat into the Core World and rest until the next day.


    As per usual, the group used the Core Stone to travel once the morning of the second day came. The only difference was that the Core Stone was now entrusted to Tang Xinyun while Bai Yunfei meditated within the Core World.


    He sat upon his bed with both eyes closed. Under the effects of his meditation and Dual Flame Arts, Bai Yunfei was recovering his soulforce at an accelerated rate.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    The red light abated from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body and drained away any energy from the room after a while. Breathing aloud, Bai Yunfei tilted his head up and opened both eyes.


    ¡°Both my fireseeds have changed¡ªI¡¯ve never thought both would be able to reside in my origin acupoint now. Was it because of the Truth of Reincarnation or the seal on me three years ago? Either way, something like this should be impossible¡­¡±


    His hands touched at the part of his chest where the origin acupoint lay. Both of his fireseeds laid motionlessly within that place. In the past, both fireseeds would fight one another for a place in the acupoint, forcing Bai Yunfei to leave one of them into the Cataclysmic Seal. But now, both were rendered into a docile state.


    It wasn¡¯t a bad thing. In fact, Bai Yunfei would say this was a very good thing. Having two permanent fireseeds in his body would help his meditation and training by multiple degrees.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s conjecture was that when his soul was sealed, his ability to cultivate was sealed up as well. Forced in such a state, both fireseeds¡ªwhich were both inside his body at the time¡ªwas turned into a type of energy that was soaked into his body. Through a gradual process, the energies harmonized with one another before being restored to their true form once the Truth of Reincarnation unlocked the seal. Once reformed, both fireseeds were now fully compatible with one another and were able to co-exist in the same spot without rejection.


    Needless to say, this meant Bai Yunfei was now capable of drawing out even more power from both the ¡®Coil¡¯ and ¡®Berserk¡¯ forms.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move onto the Upgrade Technique then¡­¡±


    A soul armament appeared at once in his hand.


    Thanks to the Truth of Reincarnation, Bai Yunfei was able to gleam additional insights for the Upgrade Technique in addition to cultivation. He hadn¡¯t the time until now to really ponder upon those new insights since up to this point, he was using the spare time (when hunting the allied army) to familiarize himself with his new strength and the Law of Fire. Right now, however, Bai Yunfei was free to think about those insights and divine what new paths he could tread with them.


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Attack: 1500


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    This soul armament he held was a simple shortsword. It was ordinary and unupgraded, making it the perfect testing material.


    He studied the soul armament for a bit but didn¡¯t upgrade it. Instead, he allowed for some energy to envelop the soul armament and held it afloat between both hands.


    This was the Manual Upgrade Technique.


    Held afloat by the energy from both palms, the soul armament began to hum and draw in slivers of semi-transparent energy. Each sliver that was taken into the soul armament saw to the item glimmering brighter and brighter with light.


    Eventually¡­


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 1500


    Additional Attack: 700


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Chance to double the attack power when attacking.


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open. He clenched the soul armament into his hand in pleasant surprise¡ªit was already +10!


    ¡°That was smooth!!¡± Bai Yunfei could hardly believe his eyes at how smooth the upgrading went. He hadn¡¯t experienced a single hitch from +1 to +10. Even more important was the efficiency of this task. Not only was he able to upgrade the soul armament in half the time than average, but the soulforce consumption was also cut in half!


    ¡°And now the important part¡­¡±


    Slowly breathing out, Bai Yunfei let the soul armament float back between both palms so he could attempt to upgrade it to +11.


    Half an hour passed. Bai Yunfei¡¯s head was entirely drenched with sweat and his face troubled. It seemed upgrading it to +11 was proving to be difficult.


    ¡°Keuk¡­this isn¡¯t enough still?¡±


    Forty minutes passed and still no success. Bai Yunfei was close to giving up now. ¡°There¡¯s still a huge ¡®gap¡¯ in being able to upgrade an item to +11.¡± He grunted, ¡°Am I going to fail again?


    ¡°I can¡¯t¡­it¡¯s too early to give up, there has to be another way!¡±


    Renewing the flow of energy from palm to soul armament, Bai Yunfei exhaled.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    A sliver of his soulforce entered the soul armament. A notification started to appear in his mind, but before it could fully form, Bai Yunfei swiped his right hand over the soul armament!


    It looked like he was grabbing and pulling at something over the soul armament. A strange light began to shine from the soul armament, but before anything else could happen, it disappeared. Immediately, the soul armament crumbled into dust and fell through Bai Yunfei¡¯s fingers¡­


    Upgrade Failed


    Equipment Destroyed


    The notification of failing to upgrade immediately appeared into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    He was pensive rather than disappointed. This failure taught him something new. Humming to himself for several seconds, he took out a dark-purple dagger into his hand.


    This was a soul armament that was already +10.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    There was no hesitation. It was time for Bai Yunfei to use the Upgrade Technique. He was trying something new with it to change the outcome, but¡­


    Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    Like the last time, this soul armament was destroyed and burst into dust.


    ¡°Again!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t discouraged. This failure only meant something new for Bai Yunfei learn from. Excited, he took out yet another +10 high-earth tier soul armament.


    ¡°Upgrade!!¡±


    Upgrade FaiUpgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 1600


    ¡°It worked!!¡± Bai Yunfei heaved a breath of relieved excitement.


    ¡°This was the feeling! It was like that!¡± He murmured. He took out another soul armament without pause. It was another +10 soul armament.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was in the zone now. Almost mechanically, he upgraded soul armament after soul armament without regard to failure or success. The only difference was the light that glimmered in his eyes whenever he succeeded. It almost looked like he was a mad scientist that was on the verge of a new scientific breakthrough¡­


    But the number of soul armaments he was going through was mind-boggling. Not even a Soul King would be able to keep calm at the rate Bai Yunfei was going through soul armaments. From mid-earth to high-earth tier¡­Bai Yunfei was burning through them all! Then when those ran out¡­Bai Yunfei pulled out a heaven-tier!


    Upgrade FaiUpgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 3600


    Additional Attack: 2000


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Equipment Effect: In exchange for 20% soulforce, inflict 20% more damage when attacking with earth-type attacks.


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Chance of ignoring earth-type defenses when attacking.


    Upgrade Requirement: 210 Soulpoints


    At last, Bai Yunfei managed to alter the outcome of upgrading another soul armament to +11. Furious joy lit up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes¡­he had finally managed to grasp onto that important feeling he had!


    ¡°I got it now! This is that energy!! That¡¯s how you use it! Haha! Finally!¡± Bai Yunfei roared with laughter.


    After so many years of research¡­Bai Yunfei had a breakthrough in the Upgrade Technique! A breakthrough that could allow him to alter the results of upgrading and gain a +11 soul armament!


    In other words, the ¡®limit¡¯ was no longer +10, but +11!

 Chapter 1077: Demonic Armament

    Bai Yunfei was running low on soul armaments to experiment with now. All there was left were the high-grade soul armaments from the Soul Kings of the allied army. He quickly upgraded them to +10, and then to +11 one after another in rapid succession.


    Fully assured of his success, Bai Yunfei took off the armor he wore and upgraded that too.


    Upgrade SuccesfulEquipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 4500


    Additional Defense: 2600


    Soul Compatibility: 18%


    Equipment Effect: When an attack is blocked, convert and add the moment blocked to one''s defenses for 1 minute.


    Amount converted is dependent when attacked and can be stacked. When stacked, the next stack cannot exceed 30% of the armor''s defenses.


    +10 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, create a devouring whirlpool of darkness that negates any elemental attack directed towards the user.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 250 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow. ¡°It takes a lot of energy to force a success onto a mid-heaven tier soul armament¡­doing the same thing to a high-heaven tier will most likely be dangerous¡­I guess I need more time familiarizing myself with this first¡­¡±


    The higher the grade, the harder it was for Bai Yunfei to force a success onto a soul armament. Most of his ¡®experimentations¡¯ were done on earth-tier soul armaments, and even when he upgraded the heaven-tiers, most of them were low-heaven tier. This armor he wore was the only mid-heaven tier one. His chances of success altering the outcome with a high-heaven tier, it seemed, would not be guaranteed.


    In other words¡­upgrading the Soul Sealing Mandate or Core Stone to +11 would have to be put aside for now. Those two were far too valuable to Bai Yunfei for him to risk.


    But that didn¡¯t mean he could upgrade the other soul armaments he wore on him. This was already a huge boon for him.


    And so he began to upgrade them all. The Violet Soul Ring, Revealing Ring, Charm Bracelet, Heaven¡¯s Thunder, Flash Boots, Desert Eagles, Fate Pendant, Returner Bracer, and many other ones that were +10 to +11.


    Author Note: Because no effects appear upon upgrade to +11, I won¡¯t list the stats. Just know that each soul armament gained an increase in attack, defense, or attribute.


    Though no new effects were gained, the benefits of having additional stats were plentiful. Already Bai Yunfei saw that equipping the newly upgraded accessories and such adding a great deal of strength to him.


    He was extremely excited by this new revelation in the Upgrade Technique. Humming to himself as he sorted through the batch of recently-upgraded soul armaments, Bai Yunfei started to pick out which one of them he¡¯d potentially use in the future.


    Most of the soul armaments he took from the allied army were already upgraded, but there were some that Bai Yunfei decided to take a look at after rather than upgrade straight away. They belonged to the dozen-or-so Soul Kings he killed, and were for the most part high-quality.  At least ten mid-heaven tier soul armaments were found between Ma Xucheng, Xu Qianqing, and He Changkai. Sadly, none of the Soul Emperor had any soul armaments on them since they were avatars. And being a medium, the Demon-eyed Tiger King hadn¡¯t any soul armaments either.


    A single blade a meter long and three fingers wide took Bai Yunfei¡¯s interest. Its entire body was blood-red and had a sawtooth design running down its edge¡ªthis was the blood-red longsword Qin Bangjie favored using.


    ¡°Kill¡­kill!! Kill them all!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei went still the moment his hand touched the sword. A haze of red descended upon his eyes and a voice cried out into his mind at once. For some reason¡­Bai Yunfei began to feel bloodthirsty!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Grunting, Bai Yunfei banished the murderous thoughts from his mind. His eyes returned to their normal color and looked down at the sword. There was an ominous light emanating from the blade now.


    ¡°What is this?!¡± He murmured. When he touched this sword, Bai Yunfei could clearly feel the ¡®will¡¯ of the soul armament be conveyed into his mind! The will had been so strong that it flooded his mind and forced onto him a murderous mindset.


    ¡°If it has a will, then could it be¡­there¡¯s a spirit within this soul armament?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened at the thought.


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Attack: 8000


    Equipment Effect 1: Absorb the blood of those slain and temporarily gain a 30% increase in attack


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    ¡°High-heaven!!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out in surprise, ¡°It¡¯s not a divine-tier, so how does it have a ¡®will¡¯ then?!¡±


    He took a closer look at the stats. ¡°The stats are a little peculiar too. Being able to absorb blood for power? It¡¯s basically created to be a tool of slaughter, what kind of soul armament is this¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a demonic armament.¡±


    Another voice spoke out in the room, startling Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Sealer?¡± He asked.


    There was a flash of light as a small tiger appeared in front of Bai Yunfei. It was Soul Sealer.


    Since the Soul Sealing Mandate had a strong auxiliary effect, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t store it away into his space rings like he did the others. In its current form, Bai Yunfei had it strung around his waist like a charm.


    The tiger licked at its paw with a small glance over to Bai Yunfei. Its eyes wandered to the blood-red sword in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. ¡°Weren¡¯t you curious about that strange soul armament? I can tell you¡ªit¡¯s a demonic armament.¡±


    ¡°Demonic armament?¡± Bai Yunfei had never heard of the term before. ¡°What is that?¡±


    The look the Soul Sealing Mandate gave him felt like it was judging Bai Yunfei for his ignorance. ¡°It is a term you humans give to those soul armaments with ¡®evil¡¯. In other words, they have en evil power you humans see as ¡®immoral¡¯, or ¡®demonic¡¯, hence their name¡­But a more unique thing about them is how they can influence the user¡¯s mind. They can make their users more bloodthirsty and even erase the user¡¯s original personality. In the end, the user becomes a ¡®demon¡¯. That is the true danger of a ¡®demonic armament¡¯.


    ¡°Through their will, a demonic armament can grow stronger when they kill. And if they kill enough, then it¡¯s possible to gain sentience like a spirit of the armament. In that case, they¡¯ll become as powerful as a Regalia.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s possible?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed in shock, ¡°Are you saying¡­this is a soul armament that can ¡®grow¡¯?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about that? That¡¯s the uniqueness of a ¡®demonic armament¡¯. Over two thousand years ago, Tianhun came across a demonic armament that was comparable to ¡®Slayer¡¯. Not even ¡®Pyro¡¯ would be able to block their attack¡ªPyro would at least avoid being destroyed.


    ¡°One has to conquer the evil within themselves before they can use a demonic armament. Otherwise, they¡¯ll end up as a puppet for the demonic armament and become a demon themselves. I strongly advise you to avoid using this soul armament if possible.¡±


    The tiger gave one last warning to Bai Yunfei before returning to within the Soul Sealing Mandate.

 Chapter 1078: The Vampiric Demon Edge and a Return to the Past

    ¡°The soul armaments used by a soul refiner are quite wicked, aren¡¯t they¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had to suppress a sigh. Just thinking about these demonic armaments felt like a wonder to him. Was the black needle Mo Ni used also a demonic armament then?


    ¡°Whether they¡¯re a demonic armament or Regalia, they¡¯re still soul armaments in the end. It¡¯s all dependent on the user¡­¡±


    In the end, Bai Yunfei decided to put away this demonic armament for future use. It was powerful, after all, there wasn¡¯t a need to give up on such a weapon, and neither did Bai Yunfei wanted to destroy it for being a demonic armament.


    Powerful equipment needed to be upgraded. It was just the natural order of things. And since manually upgrading these soul armaments would provide more soul compatibility, Bai Yunfei decided to slowly upgrade them one by one, even if it meant spending more time and energy.


    As Bai Yunfei expected, manually upgrading a high-earth tier soul armament was quite difficult. It had been a challenge to get the soul armament to +10, but getting it to +11¡­


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Fai


    Suddenly, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand jerked and swiped at the space above the soul armament!


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High Earth


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 8000


    Additional Attack: 5200


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect 1: Absorb the blood of those slain and temporarily gain a 30% increase in attack.


    +10 Additional Effect: Pay a blood price to increase the power of the user and item.


    Gain 1% of attack and 2% increase to overall stats for every percentage of blood taken. Duration ends when no more blood is given.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    ¡°Phew¡­just barely did it.¡± Bai Yunfei heaved a sigh of relief upon successfully upgrading the soul armament. It had almost been a failure until he managed to just barely alter the outcome. For that, Bai Yunfei was relieved.


    ¡°I still need more practice¡­I need to be able to guarantee a high-heaven tier soul armament being able to be upgraded to +11. As for the Regalias¡­I¡¯ll have to find a guaranteed upgrade stone¡­¡±


    Giving one last sigh, Bai Yunfei turned his attention to the newly-upgraded +11 demonic armament.


    ¡°As expected of a ¡®demonic armament¡¯,¡± Bai Yunfei muttered in distaste upon seeing the additional effect, ¡°this additional effect is quite¡­ruthless.¡±


    The equipment effect allowed the demonic armament to drain the blood of an enemy. The additional effect allowed the demonic armament to drain the blood of its user. This was without a doubt a demonic armament every person should fear.


    ¡°Its stats are already over ten thousand, but activating the additional effect could mean the attack can go up to¡­even twenty thousand, doesn¡¯t it?! With a value like that¡­¡± Bai Yunfei himself began to feel a little frightful of the sword. These stats were something that was comparable to a Regalia¡ªnot even the Soul Sentinel Scarf would be able to defend against such an attack.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re a demonic armament that feeds on blood, I¡¯ll call you the ¡®Vampiric Demon Edge¡¯!¡±


    And now that he was done upgrading and naming the item, Bai Yunfei stored it away into his ring.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei perked his head up. He heard someone calling him from the outside while he was cleaning up the soul armaments. Quickly finishing up the task, he disappeared from the Core World.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, assistant headmaster Wu?¡±


    Bai Yunfei appeared right beside Wu Dijian and Tang Xinyun.


    ¡°What took you so long?¡± Wu Dijian asked rhetorically. ¡°I just wanted to point out that we¡¯re already by the edge of the Qimang Mountains. Once we fly over the Demon¡¯s Rift Valley we¡¯ll be within the range of the Soulbeast Forest.¡±


    Following Wu Dijian¡¯s pointing, Bai Yunfei looked over to the land in front where a large ¡®crack¡¯ could be seen. It was extremely wide and looked bottomless¡ªalmost as though it was leading to the underworld. This was a place that seemed to draw people in just by looking down at it¡­


    The Demon¡¯s Rift Valley was the continent¡¯s largest valley. No one knew how deep it went, but rumors had it that this hole went as deep as the center of the planet. People talked about how the chaotic energy that flowed down there was so concentrated that it took on a watery-form. Not even a Soul Emperor would be able to survive a trip down there¡­


    Bai Yunfei was a well-traveled person, but not even he could stop himself from being awed by this site. ¡°Let¡¯s fly over then. We can rest once we reach the Soulbeast Forest and continue the next day into the deeper parts.¡±


    The group teleported several times to reach a part of the forest on the other side. Not a single class six or seven soulbeast was there, though there were a few class one soulbeasts.


    They were west of the Soulbeast Forest now, a place where hardly any person would be. Gazing off into the distance, Bai Yunfei could see a large mountain range that blocked off the view of everything on the other side¡ªa very large mountain range he saw once before.


    This was the Skyward Mountains, the geographical piece of land that divided the Soulbeast Forest from the class five area and the innermost parts of it. If the group wanted to travel to the innermost parts of the Soulbeast Forest, then they would have to travel through the Crack in the Sky.


    The next evening.


    ¡°We¡¯re here! It¡¯s the Crack in the Sky!


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed upon exiting from another distortion in space. After teleporting along the Skyward Mountains for half a day, the group had finally arrived at the Crack in the Sky.


    Again, Bai Yunfei could hardly hold back a sigh of awe when he looked at the terrain. He was as powerful as a Soul Emperor now, but even then he still couldn¡¯t comprehend how strong one would have to be to cleave a path through the Skywards Mountain as Wu Tianhun had done here¡­


    There was also the memories Bai Yunfei had of this place. He shuddered just thinking about the bewitching fox that had nearly harmed him here. It was only because of that soulbeast that Bai Yunfei was able to craft the powerful Charm Bracelet.


    It was also here that he met the thunderfire wolf¡ªhow was the wolf? He was of the wolf clan, perhaps Bai Yunfei would have the opportunity to see him here?


    Some time was taken to travel through the Crack in the Sky, but the group was now back in the Soulbeast Forest. A nostalgic look crept up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, he remembered just how life was like when he was a mere Soul Exalt here.


    Likewise, Xiao Qi was excitedly flitting through the skies as he regaled Xiao Bai and Tang Xinyun with the stories of his experiences here.


    Though the group knew the wolf clan was here, they didn¡¯t know the specific location. The Soulbeast Forest was partitioned in so many ways that made the heads of the humans spin. All they could do was take one step at a time to get deeper into the class seven area and ¡®ask¡¯ for directions from one of them.


    But he remembered meeting the Thunder Wolf King¡ªhead of the thunderfire wolves¡ªbefore. The Thunder Wolf King had power within these parts, so that had to be a clue on the whereabouts of the wolf clan. Bai Yunfei was sure that they¡¯d find the clan if they followed their current pathing to where the Thunder Wolf King was.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Something felt different to Bai Yunfei. It stuck like a sore thumb compared to his last experience here¡­he didn¡¯t see a single adventurer team.


    Perhaps it was because of the conflict on the continent? Many people surely had to be tangled up in their respective disputes. Praestia Pass had to be closed off for the meanwhile, so hardly any new adventurers were allowed into the Soulbeast Forest.


    That said, there were still plenty of soulbeasts. Xiao Qi¡¯s aura did a good enough job deterring most from drawing close, so the group was able to walk deeper into the forest without trouble.


    It didn¡¯t even take more than a day for them to get through the class six area without interruption.


    ¡°Aoo!!!¡±


    ¡°Boom boom!!¡±


    It was when the group was trying to figure out which direction to take when they heard it. The first sound that was distinctly different from the average ambiance.


    ¡°That¡¯s the cry of a wolf! There¡¯s a battle nearby!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped towards the source, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    He ran towards the source with everyone else following him closely from behind.

 Chapter 1079: An Old Acquaintance

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s path through the forest was a fast one. Hardly any time had elapsed before they reached the area where a battle between men and soulbeasts were taking place.


    On one side were several class six soulbeasts¡ªall of them canine-type soulbeasts. From the green light that shined around the wolves, Bai Yunfei was sure they were wind wolves.


    The Soul Exalts were disadvantaged in terms of numbers. There were only nine of them, but each of them had one or two soulbeasts in which they could use to attack the wolves.


    ¡°So the beast tamers are here after all!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei flew even faster towards the battlefield when he realized who the wolves were fighting.


    It didn¡¯t take the beast tamers long to realize that someone was coming at them. The power radiating from Bai Yunfei was simply too much to be ignored. Everyone shivered with dread when they felt him approach and split apart from one another.


    Both sides were now staring at one another and at Bai Yunfei, who was now floating in the air between the two.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was projected entirely onto the beast tamers, stifling the air and driving their breaths out from them. They trembled where they stood; most of them wanted to run, but their legs weren¡¯t obeying them. Running was not an option they could take.


    He stared down at the trembling beast tamers. His eyes traveled from person to person before ultimately stopping on an elderly Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt.


    ¡°You?!¡± He cried out in stark surprise.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    The other person seemed almost startled at Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise. His companions gave a small start¡ªdid this powerful person know attendant Yang?! Was this person¡­not an enemy then? Was he an ally?!


    The elder continued to stare at Bai Yunfei with a wide-open look of surprise.


    ¡°Do you know him, Yunfei?¡± Tang Xinyun whispered.


    A small frown formed on Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. ¡°I do,¡± he nodded, ¡°but ¡®knowing¡¯ him would be a stretch. It¡¯d be better to call him an old ¡®acquaintance¡¯...¡±


    A wistful expression appeared on his face as he spoke. He had to be thinking about the memories of this person.


    ¡°Sire¡­is there¡­something senior wishes to say?¡±


    The elder had to ask. He bowed his head low to show his deepest respects for Bai Yunfei, but his mind was racing furiously in order to think about who this person was. From his appearance, this young man had to be younger than thirty. It was a laughably young age in comparison to him, but the elder didn¡¯t dare show his disrespect. In the face of power, age was not even something to be considered. Calling him ¡®senior¡¯ seemed like the natural course of action. This person had to be someone deeply connected with the Beast Taming School. After all, it seemed quite unlikely to have this person come across them by accident.


    ¡°Senior?¡± A smile appeared onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as if the elder had just told a joke. ¡°Of course, it was a very long time ago, after all. It¡¯d be stranger if you remembered who I was¡­¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, do you really know this person?¡± Wu Dijian asked, ¡°He¡¯s a mere Soul Exalt and a beast tamer. Let¡¯s kill him and be done with it, what¡¯s with your cryptic words?¡±


    ¡°Haha, I was only just thinking about the past. Nostalgia and all that¡­¡± He laughed.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­Wu Dijian!!¡±


    The elder¡¯s eyes flew to Wu Dijian at once. All color bled away from his face when he cried out¡ªthat person was no friend of the Beast Taming School! Wu Dijian of Tianhun Academy¡­an ally of the Royal Family and¡­enemy of the Beast Taming School!


    As if drenched with a bucket of ice-cold water, the beast tamers stiffened and began to despair.


    ¡°One moment¡­Bai Yunfei?!¡± The pupils of the elder¡¯s eyes dilated. What Wu Dijian said jumpstarted the memories in his head. He whipped his eyes back to Bai Yunfei. If before his face was devoid of color, then now it looked like he had just seen a ghost.


    ¡°Y¡ªyou! It¡¯s you?! Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School?! You¡¯re that person from Jadewillow City! But how?! You should¡¯ve been dead! How are you still alive?!¡±


    ¡°Oh? So you do recognize me?¡± Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow. ¡°You''re the help the Jadewillow School asked for to help the Glacial School in trying to capture me. If not for big brother Hong Yin and You Qingfeng from the Wood School, I would¡¯ve died at your hands, wouldn¡¯t I? It¡¯s been over ten years¡­what ¡®luck¡¯ that we meet again¡­¡±


    Yang Lin¡¯s face was the color of ash now. Years of being a calm-headed Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt had gone out the window now that he was faced with Bai Yunfei. Trembling head to toe, the elder stayed quiet¡ªhe couldn¡¯t say a single word.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t wrong. This person had helped the Glacial School outside Jadewillow City. He was the beast tamer elder that tried to capture Bai Yunfei.


    From what Bai Yunfei remembered of the battle between Hong Yin and this man, the beast tamer had a golden-eyed ape soulbeast puppet. The elder had only been a Late-stage Soul Ancestor at the time, so it was a bit of a surprise for Bai Yunfei to see him as a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt. He must¡¯ve stumbled upon some luck.


    His memories of the past was a bit clearer now¡ªhe remembered someone else. A figure in black. That person was most likely someone from the Soul Refining School. The Soul Refining School surely had to have a few of the minor schools in their pockets by that point if the Glacial School was one of them.


    Slowly, the nostalgia in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes was replaced with a frosty chill. Sweeping across the despairing beast tamers, Bai Yunfei opened his mouth to speak.


    ¡°Answer me and I¡¯ll consider sparing your lives.¡±


    A glimmer of hope! Some of the beast tamers heaved with emotion upon hearing that¡ªthey had a chance! There was a chance Bai Yunfei was lying, but it was better than the worst-case scenario! If there was a rope to safety, then they¡¯d grab hold of it and not let go!


    ¡°Where are the rest of the beast tamers? When will you be fighting the class seven soulbeasts of the wolf clan? And where are the clans of the bloodthirsty wind ape and the four-winged golden roc? What plans do you have with them?¡±


    Yang Lin froze up. ¡°How¡­how do you know about that?!¡±


    He didn¡¯t get a response.


    ¡°Answer me and you can leave this place alive.¡±


    A short second passed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill me; I¡¯ll speak! Our base is located just about four hundred kilometers to the east! Next to a lake! We¡¯re waiting for the strongest of both the bloodthirsty wind ape and the four-winged golden roc to gather before we start attacking the wolf clan! But only the Soul Kings know the details! We have an Early-stage Soul King, an early-stage class eight soulbeast puppet, five Soul Kings, and about eight class seven soulbeast puppets! Then we also have almost a hundred Soul Exalts and two hundred class six soulbeasts puppets! Our group came here because we noticed this group of class six wind wolves and chased after them!¡±


    A youngster to the right of the elder threw himself to the ground at once. Pleading and trembling, he began to tell Bai Yunfei everything he knew.


    A wave of fury and regret washed over his companions. He beat them to punch! There weren¡¯t even any other details they could add onto his explanation, he spilled everything there was to know¡­


    ¡°Good response.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°You can live then¡ªbut the rest¡­Xiao Qi, kill them.¡±


    ¡°Swish swish swish swish¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had hardly finished speaking when several blades of wind rained down on the beast tamers. Without putting up a final front of resistance, the beast tamers¡ªexcluding the one who first spoke and Yang Lin¡ªwere utterly decimated!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes landed back upon Yang LIn. ¡°Do you¡­still have anything to say?¡±


    Yang Lin¡¯s breath hitched in his throat. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me!¡± He pleaded, ¡°I can tell you something very important! It has to do with someone you know!!¡±

 Chapter 1080: Difficulties for the Enemy

    ¡°About someone I know? What is it?!¡±


    ¡°We came across members of the Wood School three days ago. In the class six area,¡± Yang Lin spoke at once. He knew an opportunity to live when he saw one. ¡°There was a Soul King leading the group. He was leading several Soul Exalt students to find a soulbeast partner when we captured them. You should know the Soul King, that You Qingfeng. And there¡¯s three others. You should know them, the headmaster of the Jadewillow School and her two disciples!¡±


    ¡°Brother You! Headmaster Mu! Her two disciples¡­? Are you¡­do you mean Luliu and Yuhe?!¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Yang Lin nodded his head furiously, he could see his opportunity growing bigger and bigger. ¡°I distinctly recall two of them being called as ¡®Luliu¡¯ and ¡®Yuhe¡¯!¡±


    You Qingfeng, Mu Wanqing, Qiu Luliu, and Chu Yuhe¡­they were here in the Soulbeast Forest? And what¡¯s worse¡­captured by the Beast Taming School?!


    Bai Yunfei had to take a couple of seconds to recover his calm. ¡°Do you speak the truth?¡± He growled menacingly.


    ¡°What point is there in lying?¡± Yang Lin laughed bitterly, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be able to tell if I¡¯m lying with your strength?¡±


    ¡°...¡± He had no retort for that. ¡°And how are they?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve done nothing to them yet¡ªthe female disciples are unharmed. Our plan was to wait until our business here is done before using them as ransom against the Wood School.¡±


    Bai Yunfei heaved a sigh. He never thought he¡¯d come across an enemy from the far past, and neither did he expect to hear about Chu Yuhe, the sister he ¡®picked up¡¯. He remembered promising to see her, but that was over ten years ago. What good was a ¡®foster¡¯ brother like him if he couldn¡¯t even see her?


    But still, Bai Yunfei felt tense just thinking about her current whereabouts.


    ¡°Are they all located at your main camp?!¡±


    ¡°They are. If you promise to let me live, then I¡¯ll coordinate with your attempts to rescue them once our subjugation of the wolf clan is done¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei said nothing. He remained deeply quiet to think while everyone else did nothing but wait for him.


    Then he whirled around to face at the dozen wind wolves. ¡°Is there anyone that wants to say something?¡±


    All of these wind wolves were class six. Half of them were early-stage with the rest of the numbers being either mid-stage or late-stage. His question, though, was directed at the sole peak late-stage class six wind wolf.


    A flash of hesitation flickered across the wind wolf¡¯s eyes. It took one step forward and began to speak in a deep male voice. ¡°I am the head of the wind wolves, Wind Cutter. If I may be so bold to say, fighting the Beast Taming School does not mean sire is without ill intent entirely. What business might sire have with us?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s interrogation of the Beast Taming School on their plans to subjugate the wolf clan was shocking to the wind wolves. They hadn¡¯t expected to hear that. His arrival came as a shock as well, but they could at least ascertain he wasn¡¯t an enemy, if not a friend.


    ¡°I am Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School and friend of Hong Yin. I heard of the Beast Taming School¡¯s plot and came to his assistance. Would big brother Hong Yin be in the Soulbeast Forest right now? Have your wolf clan made sufficient preparations against the enemies?¡±


    ¡°What? You know the young master?¡±!


    Sensing the apprehension in Wind Slicer, Bai Yunfei quickly took out a small bone fragment from his space ring. Allowing a sliver of soulforce to enter it, he watched as a red pattern start to glow over its surface. The red light crept up into the air directly above the bone to take shape as a blood-colored wolf head that seemed to be howling.


    ¡°The mark of the Bloodhowl!!¡±


    Wind Cutter gasped. The wolf was convinced of Bai Yunfei¡¯s truth now.


    ¡°Master Hong Yin is currently in our clan encampment to the north of here. Roughly half a hundred kilometers. We learned of what the Beast Taming School planned to do and were on our way back to make our report. However, we did not know the bloodthirsty wind ape and the four-winged golden roc were also in on this. This is a serious matter, we must report back to the Bloodhowl Wolf King at once¡­sire, since you are a friend of the young master and ally to us, please come with us.¡±


    ¡°Heh, seems like we came at the right time,¡± Wu Dijian chortled, ¡°We should get going to the wolf clan¡¯s encampment and start going over the plans in that case then, shan¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°....¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s head tilted north first, then east. His eyebrows narrowed together as if heavily concentrating on something.


    Then his right hand snapped up to call out someone from the Core World. It was Dan Teng.


    Dan Teng blinked several times at his surroundings before addressing Bai Yunfei, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Yunfei?¡±


    Succinctly, Bai Yunfei explained to Dan Teng the gist of what was going on before making his request, ¡°Uncle Dan Teng, might the Yao clan have a pill to make one unable to ¡®betray¡¯?¡±


    Dan Teng¡¯s eyes traveled to the beast tamers. He understood what Bai Yunfei was getting at now.


    ¡°There is one, of course. I just so happened to be responsible for managing the pills as of late and have some ¡®Soul Severing Pills¡¯. A constant dose must be taken on a regular basis once the pill is ingested. Death is assured upon the third day without the cure. Not even a Soul King can resist its effects, these Soul Exalts won¡¯t have a chance.¡±


    Two black pills popped out onto his hand.


    The faces of Yang Lin and other beast tamer went white. But while Yang Lin said nothing, the other person began to scream hysterically, ¡°Didn¡¯t you promise you¡¯d let us leave here alive?! You can¡¯t break that promise!¡±


    Bai Yunfei blinked. ¡°Oh¡­in that case, fine then.¡±


    He smiled.


    ¡°I can let you leave this place alive.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± To be honest, the young beast tamer hadn¡¯t expected him to respond in such a way. He wasn¡¯t sure if he could trust him for a moment, but ultimately bit his lip and turned tail to run.


    And as Bai Yunfei said, no one lifted a finger to do anything.


    A pitiful look appeared on Yang Lin¡¯s face when his companion ran. His lips seemed to move¡ªalbeit minutely¡ªas if to say two words.


    Idiot.


    That was because when he turned around, four of the wind wolves immediately started to follow after him¡­


    ¡°Ahhh!!!! You bastards! You said you¡¯d let me leave this place alive! You¡¯ll¡­heaven will punish you for this! I¡­ahhh!!!¡±


    A shrill scream echoed through the skies before finally coming to an abrupt stop.


    ¡°I did say that, I admit. I wouldn¡¯t do anything to go back on my word. But those wind wolves¡­ don¡¯t seem to be willing to want you to go far. I can¡¯t help with that¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head as if to mutter softly to himself. He threw one of the Soul Severing Pills over to Yang Lin.


    Fearing his death, Yang Lin did what he knew had to be done and ingested the pill with quivering hands.


    Tang Xinyun had a worried look on her face upon seeing Bai Yunfei look east. ¡°Yunfei, are you possibly thinking of¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to save them first!!¡±

 Chapter 1081: A Lightning-fast Rescue

    While You Qingfeng and his companions might not be in danger, how could Bai Yunfei not feel anxious about them being captured? The Beast Taming School might be putting everything else off until they could strike the wolf clan, but that didn¡¯t mean they¡¯d wait for long. Who knew when the Beast Taming School would attack? From tomorrow to next month, there was no certainty. What if something happened?


    This was true for Qiu Luliu, Chu Yuhe, and the other female disciples, moreover. The human heart is not at all always pure, and beast tamers commonly held more immoral traits than moral ones. If someone were to have any ideas¡­


    So Bai Yunfei decided that it was imperative for their group to launch a rescue at once!


    ¡°Wind Slicer, could you bring your clan members back with you? Please tell big brother Hong Yin that I will be on my way shortly enough.¡± Bai Yunfei requested, ¡°You can confirm my identity with him yourself then.¡±


    ¡°Are¡­are you planning to rescue the captured?! They¡¯re held in the Beast Taming School¡¯s camp! A Soul Emperor is presiding over there, have you forgotten that?!¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m only going to rescue people, not pick a fight. I have confidence in my strength.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Wind Slicer felt conflicted; he didn¡¯t know what Bai Yunfei was getting at. Wasn¡¯t attempting to rescue anyone within the main camp tantamount to meeting resistance? A Soul Emperor wouldn¡¯t allow for Bai Yunfei to slip out from under their nose with the hostages, would they?


    But Bai Yunfei looked determined. His companions didn¡¯t seem to be particularly worried either. As confused as he was, Wind Slicer had to concede. ¡°If that is what you wish, then I will wish you good fortune. We will return as quickly as possible and see if we can garner any reinforcements.¡±


    And so the pack of wind wolves left. Upon the last of them leaving the area, Bai Yunfei turned around to look at the stunned Yang Lin. ¡°Take us back to your camp.¡±


    ¡°You¡­you¡¯re planning to rescue them now?!¡±


    He should¡¯ve been glad at Bai Yunfei¡¯s enthusiasm and initiative to try and save the hostages. It was a ¡®suicidal¡¯ task that would¡¯ve granted Yang Lin the ability to flee with his life. But now that he ingested the Soul Severing Pill, his life was now tied to theirs. Only Bai Yunfei¡¯s group knew of the method to cure him. In other words, their continued existence was in his best interests. He couldn¡¯t have them throwing their lives away.


    ¡°All you need to do is do as I say. Don¡¯t think about anything else if you want to keep living. I¡¯ll let you live for a very long time for as long as you are cooperative, you¡¯d do well to remember that.¡±


    ¡°.....¡± Yang Lin grew quiet and nodded. His plans to rescue himself would have to be put on hold for now.


    ¡°What are you planning, Bai Yunfei?¡± Wu Dijian asked. ¡°There¡¯s a genuine Soul Emperor and class eight soulbeast puppet on their side. Who knows, maybe the bloodthirsty wind ape and the four-winged golden roc will show up with their armies. I¡¯m sure they have a few class eight soulbeasts of their own. We won¡¯t be getting off lightly if their entire force mobilizes¡­¡±


    An actual Soul Emperor and avatar couldn¡¯t even be compared to one another in terms of strength. Even a Soul Emperor from the Beast Taming School can be stronger than Nether¡¯s Early-stage Soul Emperor Avatar, and that was excluding the usage of a class eight soulbeast puppet.


    Bai Yunfei looked east. ¡°Saving them will require a moment¡¯s opportunity. I have an idea in that case¡­


    ¡°My plan is to lure them out! We throw out the bait and strike when they¡¯re away!¡±


    The next evening.


    At the center of the class six area of the Soulbeast Forest. Right beside a decently-sized lake.


    Multiple tents were strewn across the lakegrounds. Several men could be seen patrolling the outer perimeter while the majority of the people were located within their own tents for resting.


    They were the men from the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    An explosion rocked a part of the lakegrounds far away from the campgrounds, but close enough to be heard, waking every single member from their tents. Rushing out from their quarters, the men looked west where two powerful auras could be felt!


    ¡°Soulbeasts!! Class¡­sevens! There¡¯s a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast there! It¡¯s an ambush! All men prepare for battle!¡±


    A figure popped up in the skies above the beast tamers. It was a Late-stage Soul King.


    Three more Soul Kings appeared beside him with equally grim faces. ¡°Did the wolf clan decide for a pre-emptive strike? They shouldn¡¯t have been able to gather their forces fast enough¡­¡± An elder on the left spoke.


    Suddenly, a fifth figure appeared in front of the four. A scrawny elder with white hair.


    ¡°Teacher Duan!!¡±


    The four Soul Kings bowed at once in respect for the elder the moment they saw him.


    This elder was the most recent Soul Emperor and the oldest figure in the Beast Taming School, Duan Tianqing.


    ¡°Two class seven soulbeasts. One is a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast¡­follow me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, teacher Duan!¡±


    The four replied at once. Soon, the five took off towards the west with blinding speed.


    At the same time, within one of the many tents down below.


    A white-robed elder had only just been jostled out from his meditation when the explosion happened. He rose to his feet as if to respond to an order but then paused briefly to look at several figures held in a corner of the tent before looking vigilantly around the tent. He seemed to be on the lookout for something.


    In that corner were six figures. They were tied at the legs and arms so they couldn¡¯t escape and looked exceedingly powerless. The explosion just now caught them by surprise and had each one of them looking at one another in confusion.


    Two males and four females. Among one of the six was You Qingfeng. Right beside him was a beautiful young woman and headmaster of the Jadewillow School, Mu Wanqing. There were another two beautiful young women next to her¡ªthough ten years had changed how they looked, anyone that was familiar with them would know they were Qiu Luliu and Chu Yuhe!


    ¡°Why would a soulbeast attack this place? How curious¡­eh?! Who goes there?!¡±


    The Soul King in charge of guarding the captives had been thinking aloud to himself when his head suddenly turned to the center of the tent.


    Someone¡­was coming out from a distortion in space there!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Just as the Soul King was about to explode into action, a voice froze him in place and echoed in his mind like a sound bomb!


    This man was only an Early-stage Soul King. The Soul Anchor Technique would be able to deal with him without trouble.


    Bai Yunfei waved his hand and had the Soul King transported into the Core World. Without pause, he then appeared in front of You Qingfeng and the others.


    ¡°Big brother You, it¡¯s me! I¡¯m here to rescue you! Don¡¯t fight whatever sensation you feel next.¡±


    ¡°Yo¡­you¡¯re¡­Bai¡­¡±


    You Qingfeng hadn¡¯t even finished speaking when Bai Yunfei waved his hand to send everyone into the Core World. It was a bit of a wasted breath that Bai Yunfei said his last sentence, as the group was captured in a way that didn¡¯t allow them to resist at all.


    Three seconds later, Bai Yunfei disappeared from the tent as well.


    From start to finish, only seven seconds took place.


    By that point, the four Soul Kings and Duan Tianqing were over ten kilometers away from the campgrounds. ¡°Something¡¯s off! The auras disappeared!¡±


    Duan Tianqing¡¯s eyes narrowed. Turning around, he honed his senses back to the campgrounds, ¡°I sense a disturbance in spatial energy! Something is definitely off, we¡¯re heading back!¡±


    With a flick of his hand, the five of them disappeared from their spot and teleported away.


    They reappeared within the tent Bai Yunfei had been in practically a second after he left.


    ¡°What¡­this is impossible!!¡±


    Duan Tianqing¡¯s eyes were wide-open in both shock and anger. He was so angry that his body shook from head to toe with emotion.


    In less than ten seconds, the precious hostages they had from the Wood School were gone, and so was the elder they had supervising them!

 Chapter 1082: A Reunion of Enemies

    Duan Tianqing¡¯s fury could scorch the heavens with how heated it was. Composed of equal parts confusion and shock, the elder simply couldn¡¯t figure out how this rescue was done. How in the world did the enemy pull it off!?


    He hadn¡¯t even sensed them when they teleported! Twice! How powerful was their stealth capabilities?!


    But the most vexing thing about their abilities was how he couldn¡¯t even sense which direction the enemy was teleporting to!


    In other words? In other words¡­Duan Tianqing had no idea where the enemy was; they were far beyond his range of perception!


    So again, he had to ask the question: How?!


    Could we be up against a Mid-stage Soul Emperor? A Late-stage Soul Emperor?¡± Duan Tianqing wondered in worry, would they be able to withstand such a worrisome foe? Impossible. If they were up against a force like that, then everyone here would¡¯ve been slaughtered from the get-go. What point was there in rescuing the captives in stealth like that?


    ¡°A teleportation-capable soul armament then?!¡± He realized.


    ¡°Damn¡­who could it possibly be?!¡±


    Duan Tianqing trembled with fury. His wrath was so large that not even the Soul Kings near him dared to speak. If it were possible, the heavens would¡¯ve been set on fire from the flames of his anger.


    ¡°What has gotten you so angry, elder Duan? Perhaps I have missed something entertaining?¡±


    Someone spoke from the left of the group, causing everyone to turn their heads in surprise, Duan Tianqing included. He hadn¡¯t been as aware of his surroundings as he¡¯d normally be due to his anger. ¡°Golden Roc King!¡± He replied.


    Roughly a dozen meters away was a figure draped in both golden robes and light. The ¡®person¡¯ had a regal presence but had the head of a bird. His eyes had an exceedingly sharp gaze and several golden-glowing feathers could be seen from his head and neck. Just from his aura alone, everyone could tell this was a being that was on par with Duan Tianqing.


    There was also another distinguishing feature about this person¡ªnamely the golden wings on his back.


    This was the head of the four-winged golden roc, the Golden Roc King!


    ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± Duan Tianqing stated to the Golden Roc King.


    ¡°It takes time for even me to travel here from my camp¡­did the wind ape clan not arrive just now either?¡±


    It was true. A group of powerful auras was rapidly coming towards Duan Tianqing and the Golden Roc King. ¡°Once the bloodthirsty wind ape and his clan arrive, we¡¯ll begin the subjugation!¡± Duan Tianqing snarled.


    At the same time a very far distance away. On top of a large mountain.


    Bai Yunfei appeared out of thin air. Glancing around himself for enemies, he allowed himself to let out a sigh once the coast was clear.


    ¡°That was dangerous¡­I thought we weren¡¯t going to make it for a second¡­¡± He breathed out.


    His plan was a success. He had somehow managed to rescue several people from under the nose of a Soul Emperor!


    It was a rather simple plan. First, Xiao Qi and Long Lan would reveal themselves to catch the Beast Taming School¡¯s attention. Then while they went to investigate, Bai Yunfei would appear in the camp! The window of opportunity was super short¡ªhe wouldn¡¯t even have more than ten seconds to get in, grab the people, and get out!


    In order to prevent Xiao Qi and Long Lan from being attacked, Bai Yunfei made sure to reveal his aura as well right before he transported the people into the Core World and teleported them all away. With this, not even a Soul Emperor would be fast enough to find them.


    This was only possible since he was already close by to the Beast Taming School¡¯s camp to begin with. Hiding his aura before the plan started, Bai Yunfei made sure to lock onto the tent with the captives before he went in for maximum efficiency.


    A rescue that was as fast as lightning and efficient like clockwork¡­and it worked!


    The only shortcoming was how fast Duan Tianqing had reacted to Bai Yunfei¡¯s presence. Had he been even a second or two slow, then Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been unable to teleport away once the Soul Emperor began to distort the energy there.


    And now that everyone was safe, Bai Yunfei had to find a place to hide the Core Stone and head into the Core World.


    Wu Dijian and the others were already undoing the confines and limiters on You Qingfeng and the others by the time Bai Yunfei entered. The students of the Yao clan were also brewing some tea so they could calm down.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s arrival caught everyone¡¯s attention at once. You Qingfeng looked stunned for a brief second, the cup of tea in his hand faltering a bit as he stared. ¡°Bai Yunfei!¡± He exclaimed, ¡°It really is you!!¡±


    ¡°Haha, you guessed it, big brother You.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded.


    ¡°Headmaster Mu, miss Luliu, and sister Yuhe, it¡¯s been a very long time¡­¡± He smiled at the other three.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± Mu Wanqing¡¯s face was blank as she stared at Bai Yunfei. Perhaps she was trying to recall who her savior was.


    ¡°Oh? You don¡¯t remember me?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°I¡¯m Bai Yunfei.¡±


    He looked next to Chu Yuhe¡ªshe looked grown up, but her face still had a babyish look to it¡ª¡°Sister Yuhe, have you perhaps forgotten about your ¡®adopted brother¡¯?¡±


    ¡°You¡­you didn¡¯t die, Bai Yunfei?!¡± You Qingfeng cut in, ¡°The rumors said¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°but as you can see, I¡¯m alive and well.¡±


    ¡°Brother¡­big brother Yunfei?! Are you really big brother?!¡± Tears sprung to Chu Yuhe¡¯s eyes at once. She could hardly believe her eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯re alive! It¡¯s really you, big brother!!¡± She exclaimed again in joy. Springing to her feet, she tackled Bai Yunfei and hugged him tightly.


    Her body shivered slightly as she cried softly in his arms.


    Many years passed by since he last saw Chu Yuhe, and he could see that in terms of looks, she had changed greatly. But that soft attitude of hers, an attitude that¡¯d make anyone feel like they want to protect her, was still there.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Looking rather embarrassed, Bai Yunfei looked to Tang Xinyun just in case. Upon seeing that she didn¡¯t look jealous, Bai Yunfei relaxed a bit.


    It took a while for the group to grow calm again, but Bai Yunfei managed to explain to them what happened to him over the past few years.


    ¡°A lot has happened to you in the past three years¡­¡± You Qingfeng sighed once Bai Yunfei was done speaking. ¡°You found the legendary Alchemy School and became even more powerful than before¡­.It¡¯s hard to believe, frankly speaking¡­¡±


    You Qingfeng and Mu Wanqing surely had to have some heavy thoughts on Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®growth¡¯. The last time they saw him, Bai Yunfei was just a Soul Sprite and was still something like a country bumpkin. Ten years had seen him do plenty of maturing, it seemed.


    ¡°Big brother You, what do you plan to do now?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°I can bring you out from the Soulbeast Forest and to safety if you want to leave, but¡­¡±


    ¡°You plan to say you¡¯re going to come back here and fight, aren¡¯t you, Yunfei? How could we leave in that case? Or do you think we¡¯re not strong enough and won¡¯t be of any assistance?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Bai Yunfei shook his hands in denial of You Qingfeng¡¯s words, ¡°but¡­I¡¯m here because of my past with big brother Hong Yin. I owe him and so I want to help him, I don¡¯t want for you to head into danger with me¡­¡±


    ¡°Hong Yin, is it¡­?¡± You Qingfeng smiled, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him since that one time in Jadewillow City. It¡¯s been a while, I¡¯d like to see him again. Let us stay here and help you, Yunfei. The Beast Taming School has done nothing but dishonor to us, let us pay them back for their kidnapping of us!¡±


    None of You Qingfeng¡¯s companions looked like they were against his words, so Bai Yunfei said nothing more about it. ¡°It¡¯s settled then. We¡¯ll leave this place together once everything¡¯s over.


    ¡°Let¡¯s rest up here first then. Afterward, we head for the wolf clan¡¯s camp!¡±

 Chapter 1083: A Reunion with Hong Yin and Thunderfire

    Back in the real world, Bai Yunfei was traveling by himself towards the northern parts of the forest.


    He was crossing over into the class seven area when Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes at the sudden presence of something. Turning around, he looked off to the west.


    He could sense a very powerful aura rapidly approaching!


    ¡°Is it the clan of the bloodthirsty wind ape or the four-winged golden roc?¡± Bai Yunfei asked himself. The auras were powerful and numerous, so they had to be the Beast Taming School¡¯s ¡®help¡¯. In the end, Bai Yunfei decided to teleport away from the place.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time to prepare, the Beast Taming School has already sent a wave out to attack the wolf clan.¡±


    Bai Yunfei flew quickly through the skies. He used up a decent amount of soulforce teleporting everywhere, so it was better to use the Heaven¡¯s Thunder right now. Furthermore, this mode of transportation would allow him the potential opportunity of meeting someone from the wolf clan so he could ask for directions.


    But it didn¡¯t seem like there was any soulbeast in the forest. It was probably as Wind Slicer said and that all the class six soulbeast and stronger were gathered together.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    From the corner of his eyes, Bai Yunfei spotted several streaks of light flying rapidly from the direction to his left.


    ¡°Wolf clansmen, maybe?¡± He thought as he flew close to meet them.


    The closer the two got, the more Bai Yunfei was able to tell from their aura. There were four of them, one being Wind Slicer, and the other three were far stronger. Bai Yunfei could tell they were Soul Kings.


    ¡°This aura is¡­¡± Something about one of the Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s aura felt familiar to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin!!¡±


    The four of them weren¡¯t close enough for Bai Yunfei to see their faces, but Bai Yunfei knew the owner of this aura was definitely Hong Yin!


    But that wasn¡¯t everything. There was another familiar aura. ¡°Haha!¡± He laughed, ¡°The thunderfire wolf! He¡¯s become a class seven!¡±


    He couldn¡¯t hold back his excitement now. Stowing away the Heaven¡¯s Thunder, Bai Yunfei teleported the last remaining distance over to the incoming four straight away.


    His sudden teleportation came to the four as a shock and nearly saw to them colliding with him, but they managed to avoid collision and stop in front of each other in time.


    To the left was Wind Slicer. Beside him was a tall and strong middle-aged man. To his side was a handsome young man dressed in silver. And on the right was ashen-faced male with short hair.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei joyfully called out to the man in silver robes. This person was Hong Yin! Ten years went by since their last meeting, but Bai Yunfei could see that Hong Yin looked the same still.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­it really is you!¡± Hong Yin could hardly believe his eyes right now.


    ¡°It is!? Bai Yunfei¡­did you¡­.did you already become a Peak Late-stage Soul King?!¡± The gray-robed male next to Hong Yin cried out right after. Like Hong Yin, this person seemed quite excited.


    ¡°Thunderfire!¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again¡­you¡¯ve become a class seven I see.¡±


    This person was the humanized form of the thunderfire wolf!


    He once was the soulbeast puppet of a beast tamer. Fate would have him stay that way until Bai Yunfei wrested control of him with the Beast Taming Ring and removed the slave seal. Eventually, the thunderfire wolf regained its sentience and had actually enabled Bai Yunfei to form his lightning companionseed.


    After their paths parted at the Crack in the Sky, the thunderfire wolf was able to return home to his clan. Then after the years that went by, the thunderfire wolf was finally able to become a class seven.


    ¡°Haha, do you remember me then, little brother?¡±


    The next to speak was the sturdy-looking man to the left of Hong Yin.


    ¡°Hm? You¡¯re¡­¡± Taking a second to look at the man, Bai Yunfei noted the powerful elemental lightning coming from within his body.


    ¡°Ah! You¡¯re the Lightning Wolf King!!¡±


    This was the Lightning Wolf King he met once before!


    ¡°Oh? So you remember me, then?¡± Laughed the Lightning Wolf King, ¡°What memory you have, brother, haha!¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, I heard the rumors say that you died three years ago¡­¡± Hong Yin asked.


    ¡°Haha, I know, the world really did think I was dead.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s a long story, so I¡¯ll tell you about it another time¡­but right now we should head back to the camp. I sensed the Beast Taming School¡¯s help coming already. They should be ready to strike soon so I¡¯d like to confer with the rest of the people gathered and see what we should do.¡±


    ¡°Oh?! The bloodthirsty wind apes and the four-winged golden rocs are already here?!¡± A grim expression appeared onto Hong Yin¡¯s face. ¡°Very well then, let¡¯s make our return! I¡¯ll bring you to see my father!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    On their way back to the camp, Hong Yin couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Yunfei, I heard from Wind Slicer that you had multiple companions with you, where are they now?¡±


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re in the Core World.¡±


    ¡°The Core World?!¡± Hong Yin¡¯s eyebrows flew to the top of their head. ¡°The rumors also said that you had the Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate, I just¡­I didn¡¯t think they were true!¡±


    ¡°They are, both of those Regalia are within my possession.¡±


    ¡°My my¡­¡± Hong Yin clicked his tongue, ¡°Oh, Wind Slicer also said that you went to the Beast Taming School¡¯s camp to save someone. Did you¡­?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re saved already, haha.¡±


    ¡°Already?!¡± Hong Yin and his companions had their eyes wide open at that. How could he have possibly saved anyone within the half day they were apart?


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, how many class seven soulbeasts does the wolf clan have?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, hoping to find a rough estimate of the power difference.


    ¡°There¡¯s a total of eleven class seven soulbeasts within the wolf clan. My father, the Bloodhowl Wolf King, is a mid-stage class eight soulbeast. He originally tried to become a late-stage class eight soulbeast, but the Wind Ape King ambushed and dealt a severe injury to him¡­I can¡¯t believe he, the four-winged golden rocs, and the Beast Taming School are colluding against my clan, how despicable!¡±


    A furious ire entered Hong Yin¡¯s eyes at the mention of his father¡¯s injury.


    ¡°So something like that happened? Then is¡­the Wind Ape King a mid-stage class eight?¡±


    ¡°He is. His clan and ours have always been in conflict. If they¡¯re pulling out measures like these, then it¡¯s clear that they want to eliminate the wolf clan this time! The four-winged golden roc clan¡¯s head is the Golden Roc King, he recently became an early-stage class eight soulbeast. Not only is he in such a rush to fight our clan, he¡¯s even trying to ally themselves with the Beast Taming School. What a disgrace to the world of soulbeasts!¡±


    The head of the bloodthirsty wind ape clan was the Wind Ape King and was one of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers. Ranked as one of the stronger few, the Wind Ape King had quite the name for himself as a fearsome individual. Meanwhile, the head of the four-winged golden roc clan, the Golden Roc King, was also one of the eight. He was already a part of the eight as a class seven soulbeast, but now he was a class eight.


    The Eight Soulbeast Rulers was by no means a means of classifying which soulbeast was the strongest, but rather which soulbeasts were the most unique or familiar to the world of soul cultivators. But of course, strength was also a huge factor in that list.


    A clan having eleven class seven soulbeasts. While very strong, this wasn¡¯t much to say in front of the enemies. If not for the mid-stage class eight Bloodhowl Wolf King, the wolf clan would probably not be considered to be super powerful.


    It didn¡¯t take the group long before Bai Yunfei could begin to feel the presence of multiple powerful individuals with most of them being class six soulbeasts. Bai Yunfei could tell with his soulsense that this place belonged to the wolf clan.


    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived.¡± Hong Yin pointed, ¡°That¡¯s where my clan is located at.¡±


    Following his finger, Bai Yunfei saw a tremendous mountain in the distance. The mountain point was hidden by the clouds, but Bai Yunfei could sense the presence of several very powerful individuals there¡­

 Chapter 1084: The Bloodhowl Wolf King

    It was only when Bai Yunfei drew even closer to the mountain Hong Yin described that he felt the distinct auras that were seemingly within the mountain. There had to be a cave somewhere, then. A cave the wolf clan was using to rest and gather the others.


    Now at the midway point of the mountain, Bai Yunfei could see several ¡®caves¡¯. It was perhaps better to call these places to be ¡®dwellings¡¯ with an atmosphere fit more for someone of a regal nature rather than someone with nothing at all. The aura that flowed from within the cave was already more than enough to tell that a Soul King resided here.


    This was where the class seven soulbeasts of the wolf clan resided.


    There were multiple caves and multiple class seven soulbeasts, but all of the soulbeasts were concentrated within the largest cave in the middle as if waiting for Bai Yunfei to arrive. Or so Bai Yunfei imagined.


    ¡°Yunfei, we¡¯ll head into my father¡¯s cave to discuss the enemy¡¯s movements. Everyone is already inside.¡± Hong Yin told Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose then, the faster we talked the sooner we can get a plan started.¡±


    Bidding goodbye to everyone else, Bai Yunfei and Hong Yin traveled up towards the cave. On the way, groups of class six soulbeasts stared reverently at the two of them until they disappeared into the cave.


    Though it was a cave, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but note how different the inside was from the outside. Spacious and well-lit, this cave was very impressive with even several class six soulbeasts standing guard nearby.


    Under Hong Yin¡¯s guidance, the two of them arrived in front of a tremendously large hall with multiple stone chairs, half of them already being occupied. At the very back of the hall was a fiery-red chair made from fine stone with a tall figure reclined on it. The elbow of his right hand rested on top of the chair so that his hand could rest against his chin as if in a thinking position. Despite not being able to see what he looked like, Bai Yunfei could sense a tremendously bloodthirsty aura radiate from him.


    ¡°I¡¯m back, father¡­this is the Bai Yunfei I told you about before.¡±


    Striding into the hall, Hong Yin bowed once to the tall figure while Bai Yunfei followed suit.


    The person lifted his head. At once, Bai Yunfei felt a shiver run up his spine when the person¡¯s eyes met with him and scanned him from head to toe. The amount of pressure Bai Yunfei felt nearly made him choke on his own breath, though he managed to remain relatively calm.


    ¡°Is this the pressure a Mid-stage Soul Emperor can bring? How terrifying¡­¡± He remarked to himself once the Soul Sentinel Scarf managed to clear his mind.


    ¡°This junior is Bai Yunfei, it is an honor to meet you, Bloodhowl Wolf King.¡±


    He bowed.


    Something flickered in the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s eyes. ¡°You are young, but I feel the strength of a Peak Late-stage Soul King in you. How nice to have talent like that¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei could finally look at the man¡¯s face. He had a squarish face with thick eyebrows and had hair that reached his shoulders. Even when he was praising Bai Yunfei, the man looked almost stern still.


    ¡°Take a seat.¡±


    Obeying the man¡¯s gesture, Bai Yunfei sat down in one of the chairs along the first rows on the right while Thunderfire and the Lightning Wolf King sat behind.


    The auras of many of the individuals here were especially strong. Well-suited to being called powerful individuals, these soulbeasts were among the strongest the wolf clan had to offer, but Bai Yunfei could also sense that they held very little warmth for Bai Yunfei.


    In the eyes of a soulbeast, there wasn¡¯t much of a friendship with a soul cultivator.


    ¡°Wind Slicer reported that the Beast Taming School allied themselves with the bloodthirsty blood ape and the four-winged golden roc clans against us. Have you any particular information about this?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I already saw one of the clans join with the Beast Taming School earlier today.¡±


    Several of the individuals within the clan peered suspiciously at him as he shook his hand. Then out tumbled the captive elder Yang Lin.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s eyes grew wide at the sight of the man.


    ¡°This is an attendant of the Beast Taming School and one of the people Wind Slicer had chasing him¡­¡±


    A wave of killing intent flooded the hall before Bai Yunfei even finished his sentence. Feeling the brunt of it all, Yang Lin began to sweat furiously and shake head to toe as if on the verge of fainting.


    ¡°He¡¯s already surrendered to me. I¡¯m sure everyone here will be able to tell if he tells a lie about the plans of the Beast Taming School.¡±


    And so Yang Lin began to talk. Quaking where he knelt, the man spilled everything he had to know about the Beast Taming School¡¯s plan. The pressure he felt was slowly alleviated as everyone felt their malice for him be turned into shock at what they were hearing. Soon, everyone within the cave was looking at one another in disbelief.


    They knew the Beast Taming School would send a wave of intruders to their lands. They knew there was a chance they would be helped in their attempts. But¡­for both the bloodthirsty wind apes and the four-winged golden rocs to join forces¡­the wolf clan had no chance!


    There wouldn¡¯t even bee a chance for the wolf clan to call upon their own allies. Defeat was inevitable!


    The Wind Ape King was already strong enough to keep the Bloodhowl Wolf King busy. Who else from the wolf clan could keep the early-stage class eight Golden Roc King busy then? And if the Beast Taming School had a Soul Emperor with them¡­that meant they had a class eight soulbeast puppet!


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King remained calm, however. His eyes remained on Bai Yunfei as he thought. ¡°Rumors about you have made their way even here. They say¡­.the Soul Sealing Mandate and Core Stone is in your possession. And this man¡¯s appearance¡­he was held captive in the Core Stone, was he not? Wind Slicer told me you had several Soul Kings and class seven soulbeasts with you and yet I have yet to see them. Are they within the Core Stone as well?¡±


    All eyes were on Bai Yunfei now.


    Undaunted by the attention, Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°They are. Both the Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate are mine to wield. Several powerful individuals are currently within the Core Stone as well.¡±


    A light shined within the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s eyes. ¡°And what are your numbers?¡±


    ¡°Soul cultivators and soulbeasts combined¡­¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°would equal to about twenty or so.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Many sucked in their breaths. Even the Bloodhowl Wolf King found himself staring wide-eyed at Bai Yunfei. He could have brought out Wu Dijian, the Yao clan, and the soulbeasts for the wolf clan to see, but he didn¡¯t.


    ¡°This junior sees no point in lying or exaggerating anything. I hope senior Bloodhowl will believe my words¡ªI came here to aid the wolf clan. What we should be doing right now is discuss how we shall deal with the enemies.¡±


    ¡°The Beast Taming School, the four-winged golden roc, and the bloodthirsty wind ape clans have joined hands. What has you so confident that you can aid us in our fight?¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s sense of self-preservation was telling him to command the clan to retreat. Winning against a unified force of three major powers wasn¡¯t within the realm of possibility for his clan. Their clan could at the very least make a hasty retreat and bide for enough time to have the other soulbeasts join them.


    ¡°I¡¯m eighty percent confident that our enemies will be stopped here once in for all if my plan works out!¡±


    ¡°Pah! What talk is this!¡± The white-robed elder by the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s right side sneered. ¡°The enemies have four Soul Emperors if the Beast Taming School¡¯s class eight soulbeast puppet is to be included. Our leader can stop the Wind Ape King, but that still leaves three more Soul Emperors to fight. What makes you think twelve-or-so Soul Kings would be enough to deal with the rest?! Have you lost your ability to measure and compare?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s patience was starting to wear thin now. ¡°I never said I only had ¡®twelve¡¯ Soul Kings for help¡­¡±


    ¡°Then what else might you have to better the odds?¡±


    A flash of golden light erupted from one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s space rings as soon as the elder finished speaking. Stunned, everyone watched as a single figure materialized into the world along with an aura that subdued almost everyone else in the room.


    The eyes of everyone, the Bloodhowl Wolf King included, widened the moment they saw the figure.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­the Demon-eyed Tiger King!!¡±

 Chapter 1085: Lao Shas Awakening and the Incoming Invasion!

    Within Yao City in the Core World.


    Three figures stood within a single room in a courtyard.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, Thunderfire, welcome to the Core World. This is Yao City we¡¯re in right now.¡±


    Bai Yunfei explained to the thundershocked pair.


    ¡°The¡­the Core World?¡± Hong Yin gaped in awe, his head turning everywhere to look.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, how went the talk with the wolf clan?¡±


    Several auras revealed themselves to the three¡ªit was Wu Dijian who entered the room first. Tang Xinyun, Dan Teng, Yao Wuchen, You Qingfeng and everyone else entered shortly afterward.


    ¡°It went well.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    The conversation had taken a complete turn when Bai Yunfei took out the Demon-eyed Tiger King. Compounded with the awe they had after hearing Bai Yunfei¡¯s story of how the Demon-eyed Tiger King came to be under his control, the wolf clan began to speak with him in earnest on how to proceed.


    ¡°This is Hong Yin, and this is Thunderfire.¡± Bai Yunfei introduced the two jovially.


    ¡°Hey¡­this aura is Thunderfire!!¡±


    A prismatic gleam of light shot through the air and came to an abrupt stop next to Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s you!!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Qi?¡± Tilting his head, Thunderfire studied the bird, ¡°Haha, why wouldn¡¯t it be me?


    ¡°Hold on!¡± His eyes fluctuated in narrowing and widening. ¡°Xiao Qi¡­you¡¯re a late-stage class seven now!¡±


    ¡°Haha!! I am!! Cool huh?¡± Xiao Qi chirped excitedly. What a happy day it was to meet with an old friend, ¡°but you¡¯re only an early-stage class seven? You need to pick it up¡­¡±


    ¡°Hn¡­?¡± The wolf was at a loss for words; reaching his level of strength in the amount of time it took was already an incredible feat. But Xiao Qi¡¯s rate of growth¡­what in the world could compare to that?!


    ¡°I¡¯ve discussed things with the wolf clan, clan head.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke to Yao Wuchen after a while. ¡°I¡¯d like to ask for all the seniors of the clan to gather so we can talk about the plan.¡±


    ¡°Very well!¡±


    The disciples of the Yao clan were sent out to message the elders at once. Once the last of them were gone, Yao Wuchen turned back to Bai Yunfei as if remembering something. ¡°Ah, I nearly forgot. That dog of yours woke up recently.¡±


    ¡°Lao Sha?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°He¡¯s awake? How is he!¡±


    The amount of time Lao Sha spent sleeping was insane. Calling it a hibernation would nearly be an understatement, so Bai Yunfei was definitely glad to hear the dog finally waking up.


    ¡°He¡¯s still shaking off the drowsiness.¡± Yao Wuchen quipped, ¡°everything seems fine, you can see for yourself in a moment.¡±


    The moment came a while later after Bai Yunfei explained the plan to everyone. Then it was off to where Lao Sha was currently located.


    He had only taken a single step into a courtyard when a loud bark and streak of brown light flew at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Lao Sha!!¡±


    Swooping down, Xiao Qi collided with the dog with such force that the two were bowled over and fell to the ground, chittering and barking in excitement together as they did.


    ¡°Haha!! You¡¯re finally up, Lao Sha! I heard from Yunfei that you ate a Soul King¡¯s elemental attack, is that true? How¡¯d you manage to do that?¡±


    Xiao Qi asked as he took off into the air to fly around Lao Sha¡¯s head.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be bedridden still? How¡¯s he jumping about now then?¡±


    Crouching down, Bai Yunfei pressed a hand to the dog¡¯s forehead. He was curious about something. A sliver of soulsense crept into the dog from his hand and began to scan the dog¡¯s body.


    His hand pulled back a second later.


    Just like before, he couldn¡¯t sense anything different with the dog.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­what happened to Lao Sha? Can he really eat elemental energy like you say he can?¡± Tang Xinyun asked in curiosity.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what happened, actually. But Lao Sha can without a doubt absorb elemental energy¡­¡±


    He stood up after a moment to look at the dog. ¡°Lao Sha, eat this for everyone to see.¡±


    Then he sent a fireball flying to the dog.


    ¡°Woof!!¡± Lao Sha snapped open its jaws, and as if there was an attractive force acting upon the fireball, the fireball began to shrink and fly into Lao Sha¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°It¡¯s really true!!¡± Tang Xinyun exclaimed.


    ¡°Woof¡­¡± Lao Sha look dissatisfied still. The fireball wasn¡¯t enough to quell his hunger. Whimpering, the dog stared at Bai Yunfei as if to beg for a few primal stones to eat.


    ¡°I wonder if he grew stronger after eating the attack of an Early-stage Soul King?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try this on for size!! Lao Sha, I¡¯ll be testing your limits, be careful now!¡±


    An even larger ball of fire materialized over Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm. This held the power of an Early-stage Soul King in it.


    Jaw opened, Lao Sha waited for the fireball to approach before swallowing it as swiftly as he did the first one.


    ¡°Again!¡±


    A second fireball¡ªthis time stronger than the one before¡ªcame to life in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands before he threw it at the dog.


    And just as easily as its predecessor, this fireball was hungrily devoured by Lao Sha within moments. Behind Bai Yunfei, a stunned Tang Xinyun and Long Lan stood there with wide-open eyes as they tried to make sense of what they had just witnessed. Lao Sha eating the first fireball had already taken most of their spirits with them. Lao Sha eating the second was just the icing on the cake.


    Before, Lao Sha had to have suffered from a form of ¡®indigestion¡¯ when it ate the attack of the Soul Exalt and Early-stage Soul King. But this time¡­Lao Sha was powered up and better prepared to outperform!


    What¡­what kind of existence was Lao Sha now?!


    ¡°Drinking that primal liquid twice¡­just twice is enough to turn an ordinary dog into something like this?!¡± A stunned Bai Yunfei thought as an eager Lao Sha barked and jumped excitedly all around him.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei snapped his head up towards the sky. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading outside for a second, Xinyun!¡±


    A half-second later, Bai Yunfei was gone from the Core World.


    Outside in the real world.


    Bai Yunfei reappeared within a room made of stone right in front of Hong Yin.


    ¡°Big brother Hong Yin, what¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Needless to say, Bai Yunfei was able to sense the presence of anyone that was close enough to the Core Stone, even when he was inside of it. Hong Yin being within proximity of the stone was strange since he should¡¯ve been speaking with the Yao clan. Because of that, Bai Yunfei thought that something was amiss and came outside. Either something was happening, or something was going to happen.


    ¡°Our predictions were off, our enemies are already heading toward us!!¡±


    ¡°So soon?!¡±


    Stone-faced, Hong Yin nodded his head. ¡°Our scouts reported that all three of the factions have been sighted together!¡±


    Picking up the Core Stone, Bai Yunfei rushed out from the room with Hong Yin. A message was already sent to Xiao Qi to have him ready everyone.


    A war was about to begin!!

 Chapter 1086: A Stunning Initiative by Lao Sha!

    The strongest of the wolf clan stood high up in the skies with the Bloodhowl Wolf King at the very front. Grim, they held their position and waited. Throngs of class six wolves stood directly beneath these individuals with equally serious expressions.


    Everyone was staring off in the same direction, and for good reason. Beams of bright light were flying from the same direction towards the wolf clan. Bai Yunfei noted that of these beams of light, three of them stood out amongst the rest. Those three beams of light were so bright and intense that they warped the colors of the sky around them. Bai Yunfei could also see that the auras within these lights were extremely powerful. It was as if he was waiting for a huge asteroid come drop down on him.


    ¡°Senior Bloodhowl.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded in greeting to the Bloodhowl Wolf King in his approach.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King nodded back. ¡°I can see the Wind Ape King and the Golden Roc King¡­and also the Early-stage Soul Emperor, but not his soulbeast puppet. I wonder which one he has.


    ¡°How confident are you in your plan? Do you believe in its success?¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King asked. The continued existence of his clan hinged on Bai Yunfei¡¯s plan, the king had to be sure of everything in order to ensure the safety of his pack.


    ¡°Rest assured, I believe there is an eighty percent chance of success!¡±


    A sliver of doubt and concern flashed across the king¡¯s eyes. Twenty percent was a rather high number still. Perhaps on paper, this was a number that could be gambled against, but the lives of his people were at stake. He couldn¡¯t simply let the die be cast with odds like those.


    ¡°Very well then!¡± He relented, ¡°Then I will be relying on your aid, Bai Yunfei! Defeat our enemies and my clan will owe you a debt of a lifetime!¡±


    Had words their weight, then the ones spoken by a class eight soulbeast could sink even the biggest of ships.


    ¡°Rumble¡­rumble¡­¡±


    The earth trembled and the skies started to hum as the enemy forces drew even closer to the wolf clan. At the vanguard of the enemy forces were the three Soul Emperors. And behind them¡­over twenty Soul Kings!!


    Like a dammed river overflowing, the auras of multiple class six soulbeast and Soul Exalts followed swiftly after them¡­


    The faces of several of the wolf clan grew pale at the sight. It was a terrifying sight to behold.


    Uncertainty flickered in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. The power of the incoming enemies had him recalculating his plan.


    In that time, the enemies were coming to a stop just two kilometers away from the wolf clan.


    The three Soul Emperor stood at the very front. On the right side was the Golden Roc King, and in the middle was a two-meter tall man wearing a fur pelt.


    But the head of this ¡®person¡¯ was off. It wasn¡¯t the head of a human, but the head of a green-haired ape.


    The mid-stage class eight soulbeast, the Wind Ape King!


    ¡°Haha!! So you didn¡¯t run, Bloodhowl? And here I was ready to put in a chase and put down the last mongrel! What a disappointment, haha!!¡±


    On the Wind Ape King¡¯s face was a pleased smile. Seeing the Bloodhowl Wolf King here instead of trying to escape was something of a pleasant surprise for him.


    His voice was like thunder with how loud it was. Every single class six soulbeast within the wolf camp was briefly intimidated by the magnitude of the Wind Ape King¡¯s words.


    A nasty sheen glistened in the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s eyes, ¡°The Wind Ape King and the Golden Roc King¡­allying with the Beast Taming School of all things¡­are you not afraid of everyone¡¯s wrath?!¡±


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s wrath?!¡± Laughed the Wind Ape King, ¡°Don¡¯t talk as if every soulbeast would group together. Do you really think the other soulbeasts will risk their clans to fight us now? How laughable!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough talking, we don¡¯t want to give any more time for enemy reinforcements. Let¡¯s deal with this and go!¡± Spoke the Golden Roc King.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it! As per our agreements, the strongest enemies shall be captured alive! There¡¯ll never be a wolf clan for you to deal with after today!¡± Duan Tianqing spoke. His eyes seemed to glisten with greed; seeing all these soulbeasts crowded together would definitely have such an effect on a beast tamer. To them, these soulbeasts were the same as a trove of soul armaments. In fact, these soulbeasts weren¡¯t even ¡®alive¡¯ to him anymore. They were simply another ¡®weapon¡¯ to be added to the Beast Taming School¡¯s arsenal.


    ¡°Very well then,¡± barked the Wind Ape King. ¡°Attack!!¡±


    ¡°¡°¡°Roar!¡±¡±¡±


    Roaring aloud in response to their leader, the soulbeasts behind the Wind Ape King roused their spirits for battle!


    Several streaks of golden light flew up to a spot in the sky behind the Golden Roc King. Like miniature suns, these rays of light shined furiously before eventually dimming just enough to reveal the figures within¡ªsix class seven golden rocs!


    Four Soul Kings stood behind Duan Tianqing. And behind each of them were either class six or class seven soulbeasts.


    Nine gigantic soulbeasts stood behind the Wind Ape King. Basked in green light and wind, they stepped out to reveal themselves as class seven bloodthirsty wind apes!


    Elemental energy of all types and magnitude surged across the skies, warping space in several places as they propagated. Now that the soulbeasts were moving, the world looked like it was raining elemental energy as they raced towards the wolf clan to attack!


    Nearly twenty class seven soulbeasts were attacking in tandem to kick off the first battle in this great war!


    Many of the wolf clansmen paled at the sight. Being attacked by such a force was by no means an easy experience to behold. Even the Bloodhowl Wolf King looked troubled, but only for an instant. Raising his hand, he prepared his clansmen to strike back.


    ¡°Please wait, senior Bloodhowl.¡±


    But before the attack order could be given, Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice stopped the Bloodhowl Wolf King. The king turned his head back, puzzled by what Bai Yunfei could possibly mean or want. His eyes met with the twinkling eyes of Bai Yunfei for a brief moment. Neither said anything, but the Bloodhowl Wolf King knew that he was being asked to step back.


    So the Bloodhowl Wolf King took a step back.


    Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei called someone out from the Core World. ¡°It¡¯s time to take the initiative, Lao Sha. How many attacks do you think you can absorb?¡±


    Several members twitched an eye at Bai Yunfei¡¯s words, including the Bloodhowl Wolf King. They were leaving the defenses to a dog of all people? And to take the initiative too?!


    ¡°Woof!!!¡±


    The brown-skinned dog barked jovially in response to Bai Yunfei. With all four paws on the ground, the dog shivered in anticipation and opened its jaws wide open¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    Something began to exude from the dog. It wasn¡¯t soulforce, and neither was it elemental energy. It was an energy of another type entirely. It shimmered against the world as if being repelled as it slowly expanded in size¡­


    Breathless, the wolf clansmen watched as the energy came into contact with the first of the enemy attacks¡ªa bolt of elemental wind. The moment when the two touched, the elemental wind began to distort. It was being bent and its trajectory being changed towards¡­Lao Sha¡¯s mouth!!


    The next to follow was the beams of elemental metal. Bending in trajectory in the same way the elemental wind did, the golden beams of energy shrunk in size and disappeared into Lao Sha¡¯s mouth!


    The battle began with an opening salvo of elemental energy, but they disappeared almost just as quickly as they came!!


    Everyone¡ªeven Bai Yunfei¡ªwas left speechless. For a while, not a single person or soulbeast could even find themselves capable of making a sound any more audible than breathing¡­


    ¡°Woof¡­¡±


    And since everyone was so quiet, the barking of a single dog was the only thing that could be heard. And loudly too!

 Chapter 1087: The War Begins

    It was only supposed to be a test run. Bai Yunfei just wanted to see how much energy Lao Sha could absorb at once. Absorbing half of the beginning salvo would¡¯ve been good enough for Bai Yunfei to be satisfied, but for the dog to take in everything? That was not something he anticipated.


    If anything, just absorbing the first few elemental wind attacks would¡¯ve been good enough. The Bloodhowl Wolf King could¡¯ve stopped the rest of the attacks after that and lead the rest of his clansmen to attack.


    But Lao Sha¡­took in everything! Every single attack!!


    Over twenty attacks! All attacks belonging to a class seven soulbeast or a Soul King! Not even an Early-stage Soul King could ever hope to pull off a defense like that, but Lao Sha did it without difficulty!


    Sure, the dog seemed to be a little tired, but that didn¡¯t make the dog¡¯s achievement any less amazing!


    But this was most likely Lao Sha¡¯s limit.


    ¡°Woof¡­¡±


    A sound not unsimilar to that of a burp escaped from the dog¡¯s mouth. As if the dog had just eaten a large meal, Lao Sha¡¯s stomach looked much larger than before. Multiple colors of light shined around Lao Sha¡ªgreen and gold being the most prominent of colors¡ªthey were symbolizing the colors of energy the dog had just eaten. One by one, they disappeared deep into the dog¡¯s body.


    Several clansmen looked worried. Would the dog explode from overeating or something?


    Bai Yunfei was the first to snap out from his daze. He looked excited. Waving his right hand to take Lao Sha back into the Core World, Bai Yunfei nodded to the Bloodhowl Wolf King and to the rest of the people behind him.


    ¡°What was that?!?!¡± The Wind Ape King roared in thunderous confusion. Even for one as experienced as him, he had never seen anything like this before.


    Over a thousand years. That was how long the Wind Ape King had been alive and cultivating. But not once in those thousand years had he ever experienced a sight like this. He couldn¡¯t even begin to conjecture what this could possibly be.


    He only knew of a few facts.


    Firstly, a single person came forward when the attacks began.


    Secondly, a soulbeast was summoned?


    And then¡­the twenty attacks of multiple class seven soulbeast and Soul Kings were eaten by that soulbeast?!


    The soulbeast wasn¡¯t even there anymore by the time he was aware of the situation. Where had the soulbeast gone?


    He turned to look at the Golden Roc King and Duan Tianqing, but both his allies looked as clueless as he.


    ¡°What¡­what kind of soulbeast has an ability like that?!¡± Cried Duan Tianqing.


    The pupils in his eyes were dilated and trembled in their eyeballs. His heart was thumping heavily against his chest. He couldn¡¯t even begin to guess what manner of soulbeast that was. What type of power that soulbeast had. But¡­if he could take that soulbeast and make it a puppet under his control¡­


    He shivered again, but this time from excitement.


    ¡°Senior Bloodhowl, let¡¯s begin our plans then¡­¡±


    A semi-frayed hat made from straw appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand. He was speaking to the Bloodhowl Wolf King, but through Soul Communication.


    The area around Bai Yunfei glimmered softly for a second before he disappeared from sight¡­


    What fear the Bloodhowl Wolf King had in his eyes disappeared in the same moment Bai Yunfei did. Snarling at the Wind Ape King, he let out a single word to his clansmen, ¡°Attack!!¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The skies above the Bloodhowl Wolf King grew dark-red in color. The Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s energy was swarming together to form the head of a blood-red wolf. The manifestation tilted its head up and let out an earth-trembling roar.


    Like a wave of fire, a burst of energy exploded out from the wolf¡¯s mouth. Many felt their body stiffen with the heat, but there was also something about the energy that chilled their bones.


    A burning sensation that chilled the bones. A paradoxically strange sensation.


    They knew the red light was a sign of elemental fire, but with how it gleamed so similarly to blood, everyone couldn¡¯t help but feel something sinister to it.


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    ¡°Roarrrr!!!¡±


    Several soulbeasts roared aloud from behind the Bloodhowl Wolf King. Though they couldn¡¯t compare to the head of their clan, the power of these soulbeasts were still beyond the norms of most.


    Under the guidance of the Bloodhowl Wolf King, the class seven soulbeasts began their retaliatory attack!


    ¡°Hmph!! How foolish!!¡± The Wind Ape King sneered. Truth be told, he was still wary of whatever soulbeast it was that soaked up their first attack, but he had better things to do than try to think about what that was.


    He was somewhat confused by their tactics. Why start off with something like that soulbeast before attempting a ¡®last stand¡¯ like this? The three allied forces had about three¡ªfour, actually¡ªSoul Kings among them. The Bloodhowl Wolf King had no hopes of winning against those four. There¡¯d still be plenty of energy to spare on wiping the rest of the wolf clan after they eliminated the Bloodhowl Wolf King even!


    ¡°If that¡¯s how you wish to die, then, by all means, do so! Attack!!!¡±


    He didn¡¯t care anymore. If the enemies wanted to do something as stupid and reckless as what they were doing now, surely that meant they were fighting out of desperation or something?


    To counter the energy wave brought forth from the Bloodhowl Wolf King, the Wind Ape King manifested the figure of a gigantic ape above him. The manifestation pounded its chest with its mighty fists as if drumming them for a ritual of some kind. Both arms snapped backward for a moment before the ape brought its head forward and lashed out with a punch at the giant blood-red wolf!


    Both sides took action immediately. Though there was a considerable distance between the two forces, the attacks of a Soul Emperor could travel the distance in no time at all. The class six soulbeasts and under didn¡¯t even realize the war was in full force when the attacks of the Bloodhowl Wolf King and the Wind Ape King struck one another!


    Excluding certain soul skills, elemental energy was not something that can generally be sculpted into a form as solid as flesh and bone might be. It was generally something that had form, but not substance. However, Soul Emperors could shape elemental energy and turn it into a form with substance without trouble at all.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King and Wind Ape King attacked so quickly that not even the Golden Roc King and Duan Tianqing had the time to catch up with the two. Both had only enough time to prepare for impact as the two attacks collided!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Everything within several dozen kilometers of the two forces heaved violently. The skies were cleaved into two halves; one of bright green and the other a dark red. Cracks appeared in the sky when the giant wolf and ape clashed!


    And when the two giant animals struck one another, the Wind Ape King and Bloodhowl Wolf King were right underneath striking at one another!


    They had no soul armament in hand. It was a fight between their fists!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    The fists collided with a mighty slam. From where their hands made contact, multiple cracks formed in space in greater numbers than before like a spiderweb!


    The cracks that formed from when their elemental energies struck one another was already bad enough, but space around the two class seven soulbeasts looked like a broken mirror with how several parts of the world were breaking off!


    Giant holes were beginning to appear now. The cracks were flaking away to reveal pitch-black holes that seemed to devour everything that threatened to come close to them¡­


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    The Wind Ape King pulled his fist back. Eyes narrowed, he summoned a ball of elemental wind to push him away from the Bloodhowl Wolf King!


    Something was strange about the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s attack just now. True, fractures in space could be caused when two Soul Emperors attacked, but it was generally something both sides avoided doing when engaging in close-combat. That meant the Bloodhowl Wolf King did this on purpose.


    It was a stalling tactic, meant to stop the advance of everyone behind the Wind Ape King. By creating multiple holes in space, the areas of opportunity for the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s enemies to advance would be decreased. Not even a Soul King would charge forward recklessly when multiple holes obstructed their path. They would have to wait a moment for the holes to dissipate.


    But that didn¡¯t mean the Soul Kings would stop their advance. Already the Golden Roc King and Duan Tianqing stood right behind the Wind Ape King. Their eyes shined with a surprised, but determined light.


    The wolf clan was making the first advance with their troops and yet they were already ¡®stalling¡¯? What was the meaning of this?!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The world trembled again, but this time it came from the far south! A golden pillar of light exploded up into the skies with power far beyond anyone that should¡¯ve been there!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The golden silhouette of a tiger appeared shortly afterward. Filling the skies with its light, the tiger opened its maw wide open and unleashed a roar that broke apart the clouds above it!


    The three leaders froze right where they stood straight away. Duan Tianqing watched as the energy from the golden tiger started to spread out to where they stood. He looked stunned about something.


    ¡°This¡­this is the Demon-eyed Tiger King!! What¡¯s the headmaster doing here?!¡±

 Chapter 1088: Surprise Attack From the Demon-eyed Tiger King!

    ¡°The Demon-eyed Tiger King! It¡¯s the headmaster, the headmaster is here!!¡±


    Several of the Beast Taming School¡¯s four Soul Kings cried out in recognition of the golden light pervading the skies. They were familiar to the light and were surprised to see it here.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Demon-eyed Tiger King! It has to be the headmaster, did¡­did he send his medium here!?¡±


    Shock filled the Wind Ape King, though it wasn¡¯t for long. He knew the Demon-eyed Tiger King from long before, but two-hundred years had already passed since the Demon-eyed Tiger King was caught by the Beast Taming School and turned into a soulbeast puppet. What he didn¡¯t know was that the Demon-eyed Tiger King was now a medium for the Beast Taming School to use.  That was, until now.


    ¡°So the Beast Taming School sent a medium here? Are¡­they afraid that the Golden Roc King and I will betray them after this? Are they afraid of us killing their men?¡±


    A thought that lasted for just a moment but the seeds of doubt had already started to bloom in him. He glanced over to the Golden Roc King who in turn gave him a slight nod of the head.


    ¡°What¡¯s the headmaster here for? Wasn¡¯t he searching for the Alchemy School in the Qimang Mountains?¡±


    Duan Tianqing was confused. ¡°Did they already find it?! It does make some sort of sense, the Qimang Mountains are relatively close by to the Soulbeast Forest. If it¡¯s the headmaster, crossing the Qimang Mountains to get here shouldn¡¯t take too long. He must¡¯ve been worried about something and came here to assist us¡­¡±


    ¡°Very well then!! There¡¯s no way we¡¯ll lose if the headmaster is here!!¡±


    His eyes shined brightly with joy. Taking care to covertly widen the distance between him and the two soulbeasts, Duan Tianqing waved his right hand to summon a miniature-mountain-sized figure in front of him.


    ¡°Mooo!!!¡±


    Crying out loud, the yellow ¡®mountain¡¯ began to tremble and unleash a wave of extremely powerful energy!


    Several features of this soulbeast could be seen straight away at a glance. It had four extremely thick pillars that extruded from its main body and a giant ¡®sphere¡¯ that was connected to said body high up in the sky. It¡­looked like a giant tortoise that had a mountain being carried on top of its shell!


    This was a giant soulbeast! An early-stage class eight soulbeast and the medium of Duan Tianqing!


    ¡°This is the hillbeast¡¯s ancestor!! I know it!! It was turned into a soulbeast puppet of the Beast Taming School?!¡±


    The Wind Ape King cried out to himself at once; he knew this soulbeast.


    A hillbeast is a particularly rare earth-type soulbeast. Bai Yunfei came across such a soulbeast before in the Soulbeast Forest when there was a wave, but that was only an early-stage class six hillbeast.


    The one in front of them today was an ¡®elder¡¯, an elder hillbeast.


    Several hundred years had passed since the Wind Ape King saw this specific hillbeast. He wasn¡¯t even a class eight soulbeast then, but it was said the elder hillbeast hibernating in the depths of the Soulbeast Forest had disappeared without a trace. Rumors attributed its disappearance to the Beast Taming School, but no one ever had proof.


    But it seemed today was proof of reality.


    An early-stage class eight hillbeast is especially powerful. After thousands of years of existence, its defensive might was utterly terrifying to behold. Not even the mid-stage class eight Wind Ape King or Bloodhowl Wolf King would be able to do any harm to the elder hillbeast.


    What a hillbeast excelled at was defense, not offense, so Duan Tianqing didn¡¯t bother to use it to attack the Bloodhowl Wolf King earlier. The whole point of Duan Tianqing bringing it out now was to act as support for the Demon-eyed Tiger King, Golden Roc King, and Wind Ape King to bring down the Bloodhowl Wolf King.


    And that meant the Bloodhowl Wolf King was basically a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. He was as good as the Beast Taming School¡¯s property now, a soulbeast that would very soon become a soulbeast puppet!


    Duan Tianqing¡¯s heart quivered with joy at the thought.


    With the elder hillbeast in front of him, Duan Tianqing turned south to greet the incoming Demon-eyed Tiger King. ¡°Headma¡ª¡±


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    His greeting was cut off as the roar of the Demon-eyed Tiger King exploded with ferocity into the sky!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    A pained shiver ran up Duan Tianqing¡¯s body at once. His pupils dilated and his foam started to spill out from his mouth before he let loose a heart-wrenching roar!


    He had been attacked by the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s strongest soul attack, the Wilderness Quaking Tiger¡¯s Roar!!


    Duan Tianqing hadn¡¯t put up a defense against it. Why would he? He didn¡¯t know such an attack would happen, but so it was!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    A golden streak of light flew through the air and struck Duan Tianqing squarely on his back!


    His face went stark-white. The pain of having his soul be torn apart as it was right now was simply far too much for him to bear. Watching as the Demon-eyed Tiger King drew closer and closer to him, Duan Tianqing cried out in disbelief.


    ¡°Ahh!!! Headmaster, what is¡­¡±


    He was cut off before he could finish speaking. The Demon-eyed Tiger King was already upon him and struck him on the chest with a glowing right fist!


    ¡°Bang!! Crack¡­pffttt!!¡±


    Duan Tianqing¡¯s chest cracked underneath the pressure of the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s punch. His ribcage buckled under the pressure and was caved in before he was sent flying away in the opposite direction, leaving only a trail of blood through the sky!


    Everything went silent. Anyone that saw what happened could only stand there in mute shock at what had just transpired. Even the Wind Ape King and Golden Roc King were unable to do a thing. In one swift motion, Duan Tianqing was rendered unable to fight after being struck in the soul and chest!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The Demon-eyed Tiger King roared again. Rather than step down, it whipped around to dive straight for the Golden Roc King! The gigantic golden apparition of the tiger above the Demon-eyed Tiger King opened its mouth wide in an attempt to swallow the Golden Roc King whole!


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?!?!¡±


    Shrieked the Golden Roc King. Golden light escaped from his body to form a giant four-winged roc. The moment it materialized, the golden roc flapped its wings and shot at the tiger apparition!


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    The Wind Ape King snapped back to reality upon hearing the sound of the wind being rapidly displaced. Looking up, he saw a blood-colored wave of energy rain down from where the Bloodhowl Wolf King was!


    ¡°Master Duan!!¡±


    One of the Beast Taming School¡¯s Soul Kings cried out in concern for Duan Tianqing. Disappearing into a bolt of purple light, the Late-stage Soul King shot towards the area where Duan Tianqing fell.


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    A beam of crimson light broke out from the forest below towards the same area the Late-stage Soul King was flying. But this beam of light was flying even faster than the Late-stage Soul King was!


    ¡°No!!¡± The elder roared. Waving his hand, he shot a beam of violet lightning at the red light in hopes of stopping it.


    It was a futile attempt, however. The figure within the red light responded with a beam of their own. It struck the lightning bolt with frightening accuracy, allowing for the person within the red light to fly off towards Duan Tianqing unobstructed!


    Then, under the fearful eyes of the Beast Taming School¡¯s four Soul Kings, the red beam of light caught up with Duan Tianqing and¡­spirited him away!


    This was the sign of Duan Tianqing being sucked into a space ring, but only corpses could be taken into a space ring, not people that were still alive! Duan Tianqing wasn¡¯t dead yet, so there was no way he should¡¯ve been stored into such a ring!


    ¡°What is¡­what is going on here!!!??¡±

 Chapter 1089: Trapped!

    Needless to say, the beast tamers were all going crazy. They were confused by what was going on and unsure of what to even do next.


    They had four Soul Kings there, but not even they fully comprehended what happened in the last few seconds.


    First, the medium of their headmaster unexpectedly shown up. The beast tamers were happily excited to see him then.


    But then their ¡®headmaster¡¯ attacked Duan Tianqing!


    Duan Tianqing didn¡¯t stand a chance. He had no way of expecting such an attack and was incapacitated within a matter of moments!


    Then¡­someone else from the forest whisked him away!!


    What kind of enemy was this?! And how did they do it?! How in the world did this person manage to hide within the forest without being detected?! Were the Soul Kings being tricked somehow?!


    The biggest shocker was when the Demon-eyed Tiger King attacked the Golden Roc King in unison with the Bloodhowl Wolf King attacking the Wind Ape King!


    What¡­was the meaning of all this?! Why was it even happening?!


    Was¡­this the secret plan of the headmaster? To unite with the wolf clan against the four-winged roc and the bloodthirsty wind ape clans? If that was so, then the Beast Taming School would benefit from having two class eight soulbeast puppets and plenty more class seven soulbeasts rather than the soulbeasts from the wolf clan.


    But if that was the case¡­why attack Duan Tianqing then?!


    The minds of the four Soul Kings raced with multiple possibilities, but none of them seemed very ¡®plausible¡¯. In the end, not a single one of them knew of the possible reason!


    They couldn¡¯t be blamed for their confusion. Who could¡¯ve possibly known that the Demon-eyed Tiger King was not their ¡®headmaster¡¯? A Soul Emperor having his medium stolen from him had no such precedence before¡­


    And while they were still thinking about this shocking matter¡­


    The figure in red snapped his right hand up. There wasn¡¯t anything he was holding, but it seemed like he was stirring the sky with it.


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­.¡±


    Ripples began to form around his hand. Swirling like waves in the ocean, these ripples swelled in size before opening up to reveal several figures!


    And each one of these figures had the aura of an extremely powerful individual!!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The world trembled as the three individuals let loose an animalistic cry. Light splashed across the sky like paint across a canvas as the three revealed themselves to the world. If this was a war, then these three class seven soulbeasts were leading the charge for the others!


    ¡°Wha?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    It was all so sudden, so unexpected.


    The Soul Kings of the Beast Taming School and the two soulbeast clans didn¡¯t even have enough time to say much before they were assaulted by a flurry of attacks!


    ¡°Those are spatial tears! Get out of the way!!¡±


    ¡°Agghhhh!!¡±


    Multiple crescent-shaped blades of space weaved through the sky like a net to cover most of the available area around the class seven soulbeasts. A late-stage class seven soulbeast was fortunate enough to be quick enough to respond and cried out in warning for his comrades. Beating their wings, he and a few others shot off in every direction to dodge. But there was one that wasn¡¯t so lucky. An early-stage class seven soulbeast. Having his left wing torn in half by the spatial tear, the soulbeast fell from the skies with a cry of pain.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A flash of green and violet light arced through the sky towards the falling soulbeast. Swiping his wing, Xiao Qi decapitated the head of the soulbeast without mercy!


    ¡°Hahaha!! What a thrilling battle!!¡±


    Wu Dijian cried out from the other side of Xiao Qi. His entire person was like the blade of a sword with how fast he was traveling, and in no time at all, he managed to reach one of the mid-stage class seven soulbeasts that managed to dodge Xiao Qi¡¯s attack. With how tumultuous the soulbeast was after narrowly dodging the spatial tear, he had no time but to shriek and attempt to break Wu Dijian¡¯s advance. But it was a futile effort. All Wu Dijian did was dance across the blades of wind being shot at him before delivering a sharp cut to the soulbeast¡¯s abdomen and nearly disemboweling him!


    But that was enough for Wu Dijian. Moving with the swing of his sword, he took off towards a nearby late-stage class seven soulbeast.


    That left the mid-stage class seven soulbeast heaving a sigh in relief; he had managed to escape death! But as he was about to congratulate himself, the roaring of a dragon shot a shiver up his spine and a wave of blue-and-black energy slammed into his person!


    The soulbeast¡¯s body cracked underneath the pressure. Thrown across the sky due to the blow, the soulbeast could barely see Long Lan catching up to him before being struck again!


    ¡°Blam!¡±


    Like a toy ball in animal form, the soulbeast was once again sent careening off in another direction where a giant spatial edge was waiting for him!!


    The next to come under fire was one of the bloodthirsty wind apes. He roared loudly upon seeing the death of one of the four-winged golden rocs and prepared himself for battle. But that was when a giant class seven familiar and several of the Soul Kings from the Yao clan rushed at the soulbeast!


    The death of multiple soulbeasts and soul cultivators took several seconds at most from when the large group of Soul Kings and soulbeasts appeared out of nowhere. The beast tamers down below were all in a panic, running this way and that as a result of the ambush. Two of the four-winged golden rocs were dead and the bloodthirsty wind apes were relatively far away. Though they were uninjured, they were scattered apart from one another, meaning they were made into easy targets to be surrounded by the familiars and Soul Kings of the Yao clan.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    And without a single person from the Beast Taming School knowing what to do, Hong Yin lead the rest of the wolf clan and their class seven soulbeasts in to surround the four Soul Kings!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A white-haired Late-stage Soul King was the first to cry out. Pale as a sheet of paper, he commanded his two soulbeast puppets to attack while he tried to make sense of the situation!


    What in the world was going on?!


    Over¡­over twenty Soul King-leveled beings appeared out of nowhere¡ªwhere did they come from?


    It was supposed to be an easy battle! They had double the numbers of the wolf clan! If anything, it should¡¯ve been the wolf clan that was supposed to be surrounded without hope, but now¡­it was the other way around!


    It didn¡¯t matter anymore, anyway. Not even the Wind Ape King and Golden Roc King had a clue what happened. But however, as that may be, it was still pointless to think about it. It was time to battle to the death!


    Unfortunately for them, the one the Demon-eyed Tiger King defeated was their other Soul Emperor, a beast tamer in charge of controlling the elder hillbeast. And with him gone, the soulbeast was no longer a powerful threat but just a giant mountain.


    So in other words¡­two Soul Emperor leveled beings were no longer capable of fighting!


    Consequentially, this meant the strength of both sides were different now. The other side had one more class eight individual and at least twenty more Soul Kings!


    The disparity in strength was huge and came shockingly fast. Both sides were now at equal strengths in less than a single minute since the battle began!


    No.


    It¡¯d be wrong to say that both sides were ¡®equal¡¯...


    The wolf clan was clearly the ones with an advantage!


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡±


    Crashing into the world like an earthquake, a pillar of fire shot up into the sky for everyone to see. The Golden Roc King spun around at once to stare wide-eyed at the beam of fire being shot at him!


    The faint silhouette of a person could be seen within the flames. The aura of this person was strangely still growing stronger even as he approached the Golden Roc King!


    An uneasy expression appeared on the Golden Roc King¡¯s face, ¡°A Half-emperor!!¡±

 Chapter 1090: Suppressing the Golden Roc King

    A Half-emperor didn¡¯t mean much to the Golden Roc King normally, but this wasn¡¯t a normal situation. He was still feeling quite confused about what to do about the Demon-eyed Tiger King when this Half-emperor appeared. Even if this person was weaker than him, it was still an irritating waste of time.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t the Demon-eyed Tiger King the medium of their headmaster?! Why is this happening then!?¡±


    The Golden Roc King¡¯s heart trembled with confusion. At first, he thought that this was some sort of sinister conspiracy of the Beast Taming School. To bring out the Demon-eyed Tiger King when everyone didn¡¯t expect and try to defeat him and the Wind Ape King. It seemed plausible until the Demon-eyed Tiger King began to attack his own people and killed off a Soul Emperor. Combine that with the looks of confusion on every other beast tamers¡¯ faces, the Golden Roc King no longer thought this was a betrayal of some kind.


    The answer hit him shortly afterward.


    ¡°I don¡¯t sense his aura! If the headmaster is truly using the Demon-eyed Tiger King as a medium, then his aura should be in there! But I don¡¯t sense it, so that means¡­this isn¡¯t the headmaster!!


    ¡°Does that mean then¡­that someone else ¡®stole¡¯ the Demon-eyed Tiger King?! Is that even possible?!¡±


    It was an inference that felt nigh impossible to be true, but also the only thing that made sense. But then that meant another problem had cropped up.


    ¡°Damn! Where did these people come from then?!¡±


    His eyes shined with a murderous glare. The death of two of his subordinates infuriated him so much that it felt like his blood would begin to boil any second. He only had six class seven soulbeasts within his clan! The death of two was a tremendous blow to their fighting power and a total waste of two to three hundred years of conservation!


    The beam of fire coming at him forced the Golden Roc King to stop thinking about that matter. He watched as a wave of fire exploded from the beam before transforming into two vertical pillars of fire!!


    No¡­those weren¡¯t pillars. They¡­they were dragons!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    Loudly, one of the two dragons opened its mouth wide to roar!


    It was all a part of Bai Yunfei¡¯s plan. He¡¯d use the Demon-eyed Tiger King as a surprise to take care of the Beast Taming School¡¯s Soul Emperor and then chase after him himself. The plan went exceedingly smooth. In fact, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t realize that the beast tamers would be this caught off-guard. The Country Shaking Tiger¡¯s Roar was truly a terrifying attack if it could do that much damage to Duan Tianqing.


    Either way, that was one less Soul Emperor to worry about now that he was taken into the Core World.


    Truth be told, Duan Tianqing could¡¯ve been easily killed if the Demon-eyed Tiger King punched him on the head rather than the chest. Killing Duan Tianqing was fine, but Bai Yunfei decided that it¡¯d be better to capture him alive for other reasons¡­


    The next step was to teleport into the part of the forest that had yet to be touched by the chaotic influx of elemental energy. He could launch a swift attack without the enemy¡¯s knowing he was there and then take Duan Tianqing into the Core World. And with Wu Dijian and the other alchemists launching their own attack, Bai Yunfei could immediately secure the wolf clan a huge advantage over the other side.


    Perfect was the planning and execution. It¡¯d be strange if any other result were to happen.


    Only one surprise attack was needed for the battle¡¯s outcome to be substantially changed for the wolf clan.


    It wasn¡¯t what Bai Yunfei expected, but the enemies didn¡¯t have a single Half-emperor. That was a good thing. That meant his ¡®first-strike¡¯ plan was more of a success than he thought and wouldn¡¯t require him to act on it anymore.


    And that meant he was free to work on the other fields of war.


    Without hesitation, Bai Yunfei turned towards his next target¡­the Golden Roc King!!


    He needed to move swiftly so as to not give the Golden Roc King much time to react. He had the power of momentum on his side. Bai Yunfei just needed to continue that momentum!


    Needless to say, Bai Yunfei was up against a class eight soulbeast, meaning he had to be in the most optimal state of battle.


    Going into ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode, Bai Yunfei prepared for his strongest move, the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Pah! You overestimate yourself!!¡± Exclaimed the Golden Roc King. It was foolhardy for this Half-emperor to attack him. All he had to do was expend some effort and this upstart of a Half-emperor would be finished. Not even this attack seemed to have much effect on him other than startling him.


    The golden wings on his back began to shine brightly. With one mighty flap of those wings, the Golden Roc King took off higher into the air. Simultaneously dodging the attack of the Demon-eyed Tiger King, the Golden Roc King pushed both arms out to shoot hundreds of elemental bolts at the two dragons.


    It wasn¡¯t much, but it¡¯d surely be enough to rip apart the attack of a Half-emperor.


    That was what he thought, but the moment when the two attacks crossed, the Golden Roc King¡­realized he was the one overestimating himself!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The beams of light were swallowed up by both dragons in one mighty crunch and torn up in one loud explosion!!


    Specks of elemental metal scattered across the sky along with a bit of elemental fire. The Golden Roc King¡¯s attack was defeated, but the two dragons were still moving at least seventy percent of their original strength!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The explosion drew a sharp inhale from the Golden Roc King. Not expecting such a result, he drew his golden wings in front of him for cover!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two dragons slammed into his wings and fell apart at once into a chaotic mess of fire and energy!


    ¡°This¡­is the Law of Fire! How?!¡±


    One second later, a scream erupted from within the flames.


    Though he was an early-stage class eight soulbeast, not even his command of elemental energy was enough to stop the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst from hitting him! The attack of a Half-emperor!


    And that was because he realized that the flames around him were in fact imbued with the Law of Fire in it!


    A Half-emperor was somehow capable of wielding the Laws of Fire!


    ¡°Aghhh!!¡±


    Wailing loudly, the Golden Roc King covered his entire body with a golden light so intense that he started to shine nearly as brightly as the sun!


    ¡°Cawww!!¡±


    The world reverberated with a mighty screech as a three hundred meter large golden bird appeared where the Golden Roc King once was!


    This was the true form of the Golden Roc King!!


    ¡°Rumble¡­rumble!!¡±


    The entire world shook again as the golden light around the Golden Roc King began to interact with the chaotic energy. Though the amount of elemental metal was absolutely terrifying compared to before, it was still being chipped away alongside the chaotic energy.


    ¡°Ch¡ªchaotic energy?! How is this in here too?!¡±


    Needless to say, the Golden Roc King was dumbfounded. It had taken him his utmost efforts to counter a single attack from a lowly Half-emperor!


    He was a soulbeast who was protected by the Law of Metal, one of the laws with the greater defenses compared to the others. And yet a Half-emperor¡ªwho was somehow capable of using the Law of Fire¡ªwas able to also use chaotic energy! It was a thought that stupefied the Golden Roc King.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A wave of energy slammed into the Golden Roc King and rooted him to the spot! For all his shock and surprise for Bai Yunfei¡¯s Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, he had forgotten about the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Infuriated by the soul attack, the Golden Roc King took off higher up into the skies towards where the ocean of flames was coming from!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    A blazing ball of fire descended down from the heavens above the Golden Roc King almost out of nowhere. The Golden Roc King only realized that the area around him had suddenly grown darker before he snapped his head up!


    A giant ¡®mountain¡¯ was falling down from the skies onto him!


    The Cataclysmic Seal!!

 Chapter 1091: A Temporary Deadlock

    ¡°What is this?!¡± Gawked the Golden Roc King. Since when did a ¡®mountain¡¯ appear over his head?!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Then it hit him.


    The Cataclysmic Seal shuddered as it came to a stop¡ªthe Golden Roc King was somehow able to prevent the Cataclysmic Seal from bringing him to the ground!


    ¡°A heaven-tier soul armament!!¡±


    The shock the Golden Roc King felt jumped to another level. Crumbling a normal mountain to pieces would¡¯ve been easy for him, but for some reason, he couldn¡¯t destroy this one!


    That meant it wasn¡¯t an actual mountain that fell on him, but a¡­soul armament!


    And a mid-heaven tier soul armament at that!!


    Having been impeded by this attack, the Golden Roc King began to plan for his second opportunity to attack the enemy. But at that moment¡­


    A golden tiger came flying up to him¡ªthe Demon-eyed Tiger King was here!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    All four of the Golden Roc King¡¯s wings extended out wide as if he was stretching. Then, with a sudden flap of his wings, he fell from the skies to assault the golden tiger straight on!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Gold light met gold as the two forces struck. The heavens echoed with a metallic cry and light splashed everywhere like a golden geyser. Incidentally, those rays of light splattered across the ground, leaving behind huge craters where they landed.


    Between the physical assault of the Golden Roc King and the apparition of the Demon-eyed Tiger King, the victor was clear to see. Nothing but specks of golden light remained from the giant apparition while the Golden Roc King was still heading straight down onto the actual Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    The Demon-eyed Tiger King looked almost like a housefly compared to the giant apparition. The claws of the Golden Roc King drew closer and closer to the tiger¡¯s head and looked just about ready to crush his head to pieces!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s head snapped up to roar at the Golden Roc King. Golden light exploded forth from his body as he took off in a perpendicular direction to avoid the roc¡¯s claws.


    ¡°Hm?!¡± The Golden Roc King froze, his eyes twinkling with just a hint of confusion at this reaction.


    ¡°Rumble¡­¡±


    He heard it a moment later. Something was giving off a rumbling sound from above.


    He looked up; the giant mountain from before was falling back down on him!


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    This time, the Golden Roc King had no intentions of clashing with the Cataclysmic Seal. Extending his wings again, he took off in an evasive maneuver.


    While the Cataclysmic Seal covered an extensive area, that area was but a simple matter for a class eight soulbeast to traverse and make his way out from in no time at all.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal shook in place for a moment, catching the Golden Roc King¡¯s attention. Curious, he watched as it suddenly disappeared into a vastly smaller beam of red light. It flew off to where Bai Yunfei was at once as if a dog returning to its owner.


    A brilliant flame erupted from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body the moment the Cataclysmic Seal returned. Clenching both fists close to his body, Bai Yunfei stepped closer to the Golden Roc King in preparation to attack!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The flames around Bai Yunfei swelled to life and took the form of two dragons. Snapping their maws, they launched forth from Bai Yunfei at once towards the Golden Roc King!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°It¡¯s that move again!!¡±


    The Golden Roc King¡¯s heart skipped a beat; he had yet to forget about the outcome of the last time he was attacked by this move. A layer of soulforce covered his body as he prepared to evade.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    However, instead of flying away, his entire body locked up as the roar of a tiger made itself known!


    This was the strongest soul attack the Demon-eyed Tiger King had to offer, Country Shaking Tiger¡¯s Roar!


    Duan Tianqing fell victim to this very attack once before. The Golden Roc King knew this well and immediately erected a barrier of defense to fight off the move¡¯s effects.


    ¡°Hngh..¡±


    A groan escaped from his lips. The layer of golden light around his body flickered. Though strong, the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s attack would not be enough to deal any real amount of damage to his soul.


    But the real point of the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t to injure him, it was to distract him! There wasn¡¯t any time for the Golden Roc King to evade the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst anymore!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Fury sprouted in the Golden Roc King¡¯s heart when he realized his mistake. Summoning all his soulforce to him, the roc drew forth a fierce tornado to act as a shield against the two dragons.


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    And that was when the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst struck.


    There was no denying how strong the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was, given the factors. Not only was it empowered by the Law of Fire and chaotic energy, but it was fired off while Bai Yunfei had the strength of a Half-emperor. Under all these factors, there was no way even a true class eight soulbeast like the Golden Roc King would be able to shrug off the attack like it was nothing.


    If there was anything Bai Yunfei learned from his battles with an avatar, it was that a battle of attrition was one that gave him the greatest advantage. An avatar wasn¡¯t capable of replenishing whatever soulforce they lost within a battle. Thus, using the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was a great tactic to siphon as much soulforce as he could from the enemy.


    Sooner or later, both he and the enemy avatar would be at the same level of strength, if not weaker than before. Either way, the longer he dragged things out, the better things would get for Bai Yunfei!


    The Golden Roc King wasn¡¯t an avatar, but the same logic was still valid. The longer they fought, the more advantageous it was for Bai Yunfei!


    This Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst had less juice in it compared to the first one, but it was still a considerable drain on his reserves! Sure, Bai Yunfei could use Soul Ignition to gain back any soulforce, but that was something he¡¯d rather not use against the Golden Roc King¡­


    ¡°These tricks of yours are only temporary! How much longer do you think you¡¯ll be able to withstand forcing yourself to be a Half-emperor!? You¡¯ll die before you run out of energy!¡±


    Smashing apart the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, the Golden Roc King roared out loud in anger. His wings snapped forward to propel him towards Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Hand snapping up, Bai Yunfei barked out a single word as if commanding the Golden Roc King to obey!


    ¡°Hrk¡­¡± An uneasy expression crossed the Golden Roc King¡¯s face, ¡°What a powerful soul attack!!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The Demon-eyed Tiger King roared once again, alerting the roc to its presence!


    ¡°Damn!¡± Had anger a limit, then the Golden Roc King had yet to find out about it. He was absolutely furious that he was being forced back again and again like this.


    Surrounding himself yet again in a bubble of golden light, he lashed out with an attack to move the Demon-eyed Tiger King out of the way.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one controlling the Demon-eyed Tiger King!!¡±


    The final piece of the puzzle clicked into place when he realized why the Demon-eyed Tiger King came up in his path to Bai Yunfei. Bai Yunfei was the one controlling the Demon-eyed Tiger King!!


    It was no wonder the Demon-eyed Tiger King was fighting so ¡®strangely¡¯. With Bai Yunfei giving simple commands to the Demon-eyed Tiger King, it was no wonder it was hardly fighting at its fullest.


    And that made the Demon-eyed Tiger King even more furious at Bai Yunfei. He tried his best to slam the Demon-eyed Tiger King aside but found himself unable to. That left the battlefield in a stalemate once again¡­


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the desire to waste any more soulforce on using the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst again. He was fully focused on controlling the Demon-eyed Tiger King in its fight against the Golden Roc King. Sweat pooled over his eyebrows as he concentrated hard. It seemed almost as if he was waiting for something¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    A loud chirp, one filled with despair and horror, cried out a moment later. Then Bai Yunfei and the Golden Roc King realized that the aura of a class seven soulbeast was no longer there!

 Chapter 1092: The Bounty

    ¡°Damn it all!!¡±


    The Golden Roc King seethed with rage at the sound. The soulbeast that died had been one of his own!


    A class seven four-winged roc had died!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Light far brighter than before formed on the tips of the Golden Roc King¡¯s wings before flying at the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    ¡°Xiao Lan, kill that one!!¡±


    On the other side of the battlefield, Xiao Qi was just turning around to call out to Xiao Lan. He and Xiao Lan had just managed to kill one of the mid-stage class seven rocs a moment ago, freeing up more time and energy for the two of them to strike down the others. There was one late-stage class seven roc Xiao Qi noticed that was a prime target for Xiao Lan to kill right now.


    Excluding the Golden Roc King, his clan had only six class seven golden rocs. Two of them were dead now, meaning only two late-stage class sevens, one mid-stage class seven, and one early-stage class seven were left.


    The sole mid-stage class seven roc was desperately fighting for his life against Xiao Lan when Xiao Qi killed him a moment later. Xiao Qi was a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast. How could the roc possibly survive when Xiao Qi fought with Xiao Lan? It was already very surprising that the roc lasted that long, to begin with.


    Wu Dijian was fighting one of the late-stage class seven rocs while Dan Teng fought the other and also the early-stage class seven roc. And while those four were handling the roc clan, the Yao clan, their familiars, Tang Xinyun, and Xiao Bai were dealing with the nine bloodthirsty wind apes.


    That basically left Xiao Qi free to choose his next target; the early-stage class seven roc. Transforming into a beam of green and violet light, he took off in pursuit of his prey!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    A sense of foreboding descended upon the unfortunate roc¡ªhe saw how his comrade had been so easily killed by Xiao Qi earlier. Compared to his comrade, what chance did he stand against the bird? Turning around, the roc flapped his wings in an attempt to flee!


    ¡°Hah! It¡¯s too late to run!!¡± Xiao Qi chirped mockingly. Opening his beak, he let out a soulforce infused chirp!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    The sound seemed to resonate with the skies almost. Vibrating even the air as it traveled, the sound wave traveled at breakneck speeds before making contact with the retreating roc!


    It was a soul attack!


    ¡°Cheee!!¡±


    The roc froze up at once, a mournful wail being the only sound it was capable of making. Unable to even flap its wings, the roc began to plummet back down to the ground!


    An inevitable outcome. Against someone like Xiao Qi, how could an early-stage class seven soulbeast ever hope to survive?


    The roc hadn¡¯t even begun to shake off the pain when three crescent-shaped attacks made themselves known to it!


    ¡°Aaaahhhh!!¡±


    Screaming until the spatial edges tore apart its vocal box, the roc watched in horrified despair as the rest of its body fell from the sky like a rain of blood to provide nutrition to the forest below¡­


    ¡°Next!!¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes swiveled to its next target at once. Over there, where Dan Teng was fighting, was the late-stage class seven roc.


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    Gathering his energy to him, Long Lan let loose a mighty roar before sending a wave of energy at the roc!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Nearly caught off guard by Long Lan, the roc managed to parry the blow in time before letting loose a high-pitched whistle!


    ¡°Chiiirrr!!¡±


    The eyes of Dan Teng grew unfocused at once upon the roc¡¯s screech. It was a soul attack!


    Wings bundling together, the roc unleashed a storm of sharp blades of light to pepper Dan Teng!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    But at the same time as the roc was attacking, Xiao Qi was on the way from behind it to attack it with his own soul attack!


    And with how focused it was in trying to kill Dan Teng, the roc was left completely unguarded against Xiao Qi¡¯s soul attack!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The rays of light bounced off from Dan Teng¡¯s barrier like droplets of rain onto a reflective surface. Fortunately, Dan Teng wasn¡¯t harmed in the slightest and was able to widen the distance between him and the roc after Xiao Qi attacked.


    With Dan Teng retreating and Xiao Qi¡¯s soul attack causing havoc on its soul, the roc took a moment before it could clear its head. But when it did¡­it saw multiple bolts of lightning and blades of wind come at it from every direction!


    It put a hasty guard at once, but Long Lan and Dan Teng¡¯s attacks were already too close to be evaded!


    The following assault persisted for a long while. Like a symphony, the elemental attacks echoed and chimed in the world after impact with the roc¡¯s defenses. Under the combined assault of the two soulbeasts and Dan Teng, the four-winged golden roc had no choice but to stand its ground. A counterattack was impossible, it didn¡¯t even have the time to let out a cry of annoyance in fear of being caught off-guard.


    It was Xiao Qi who cracked its defenses. With one last soul attack, Xiao Qi managed to force the roc to drop its barrier just long enough before tearing its body apart with a few well-aimed spatial edges.


    Thus heralded the end of a mighty late-stage class seven soulbeast. It died not after a prideful battle where it was able to show off its might, but after a one-sided affair without being able to retaliate.


    The death of this particular roc meant that Xiao Qi, Dan Teng, and Long Lan could shift their attention elsewhere. Over there fighting Wu Dijian was a roc that looked especially enticing, in fact.


    The addition of three more soulbeasts meant for an even more ¡®unfair¡¯ battle for the last roc. Its death came quickly and rather horribly¡­


    ¡°Again! More!!¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s eyes glistened with excitement. His lust for battle was as clear as day as he streaked through the skies. Battling without opposition like this was an experience he enjoyed, especially when he was fighting by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side! How many days has it been since their last? He didn¡¯t know, but it was definitely far better than any other time he killed someone strong in the past three years.


    In any case, Wu Dijian was now a part of Xiao Qi¡¯s merry band of ¡®victors¡¯. Without any rocs left to fight, the group¡¯s target was shifted towards¡­the class seven apes!


    The bloodthirsty wind apes had nine class seven soulbeasts amongst their ranks. But not even a number like this was enough to better their odds in victory. They were encircled the moment Xiao Qi¡¯s group entered the fray and fought sullenly like cornered animals.


    The Yao clan had many powerful people, there was no denying that. But a heavy price would have to be paid if they were to try and kill the apes. Therefore, the best solution to avoid any injuries or loss was to simply follow Xiao Qi¡¯s plan to encircle and trap!


    None of them fought with the intent to kill. It wouldn¡¯t do to force the apes into a cornered state where they¡¯d fight desperately for their lives. The Yao clan pressed into the apes when needed and retreated when necessary. This was the best way to prolong a battle without issue!


    All according to plan. Bai Yunfei¡¯s plan that is. This plan had the best chance of maximizing enemy losses while minimizing friendly casualties!


    Any Soul Emperor would be stalled by the Bloodhowl Wolf King and Bai Yunfei. And while the Yao clan stalled their foes, Xiao Qi would take the stage as the star and kill off every single foe one by one!


    Aside from Xiao Qi, everyone already had their own designated foes. Xiao Qi was just responsible for going around to kill each and every enemy when possible. Any ally that was originally fighting would then be added into the group so they could continue the momentum elsewhere. Discover. Eliminate. Consolidate.


    Three easy and repeatable steps to utterly destroy the enemy army!


    It was clear to see how effective such a plan was, with every single class seven roc dead already!


    Ultimately, the wind apes would meet a similar fate as the rocs now that Xiao Qi was here¡­


    On the other side of the battlefield.


    ¡°Aaahhh!! You¡¯ll all die here today!!¡±


    The Golden Roc King exploded with anger upon witnessing the death of the last class seven roc.


    To say he had gone crazy was an understatement. Screeching as he delivered a powerful blow onto the Demon-eyed Tiger King, the roc shot straight for Bai Yunfei!


    The air in front of the roc¡¯s beak vibrated and rippled¡ªthis was a soul attack!


    ¡°It¡¯s coming!!¡±


    Imperceptible to everyone, a flicker of glee appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes!


    He had been waiting for a moment like this!!

 Chapter 1093: Capturing the Golden Roc King

    The heart of the Golden Roc King was awash with hatred. Not even an iota of intelligence could be seen in his eyes¡ªonly the murderous aura of a predator befallen to madness!


    Such a reaction could be no criticized. It didn¡¯t matter if the wolf clan survived today or not; the four-winged golden roc clan was finished!


    Not even a single class eight soulbeast could pull a clan out from a dance with death after the death of all their class seven soulbeasts!


    This entire operation was supposed to be easy. It should¡¯ve ended with the four-winged roc clan eating up the territories of the wolf clan and make use of their resources! Those odds were so high that even a fool would¡¯ve gambled on it! So¡­how in the world did it end up like this?!


    It was because of them! Because of the people right in front of him!!


    ¡°Ahhh!! Die die die!!¡±


    He screeched again. No longer focused on the Demon-eyed Tiger King, the Golden Roc King launched a soul attack onto Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a loud explosion as the Golden Roc King suddenly froze still. The golden light around him shattered apart like glass when the Demon-eyed Tiger King landed a powerful blow onto him. Sent flying by the blow, the Golden Roc King spiraled away like a kite with its string snapped.


    But he didn¡¯t travel far in such a state. Reorienting himself with a flap of his wings, the Golden Roc King continued on his path towards Bai Yunfei again!


    ¡°Hngh¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a faint groan as the soul attack seized his body and made him lose control of the light around his body for a second.


    But it was all part of the plan.


    ¡°Tch!!¡± Clicking his tongue the moment he regained motor control of his body, Bai Yunfei pointed a finger at the Golden Roc King!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡± Barked Bai Yunfei.


    A soul attack taken in exchange for a soul attack given!


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too pleased with yourself, die!!¡±


    The soul attack seized hold of the Golden Roc King, but only for a mere moment. The Golden Roc King merely snapped with anger before shrugging off the attack!


    He thought it was foolish that Bai Yunfei would even attempt to fight him with a soul attack, but if that was the way Bai Yunfei wanted to play, then he¡¯d play!


    Fully committed to killing Bai Yunfei, the Golden Roc King ignored the Demon-eyed Tiger King behind him completely. The death of Bai Yunfei would mean the Demon-eyed Tiger King would no longer be controlled¡ªthere¡¯d be nothing more to fear then!


    And thus, the Golden Roc King launched a second soul attack!


    A battle of soul attacks between a Soul King and a class eight soulbeast was fruitless for the former. Even with the supreme Soul Anchor Technique.


    But Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t thinking about such a confrontation. His goal was to trick the enemy into using a soul attack.


    Of course, the Golden Roc King had no way of knowing that this was what Bai Yunfei wanted, let alone what that meant...


    It was ¡®luck¡¯ that the first soul attack managed to hit Bai Yunfei. But ¡®luck¡¯ was not something that would always be on the Golden Roc King¡¯s side¡­


    A faint pulsation of energy came forth from the Soul Sentinel Scarf on Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead the moment when the second soul attack was launched. Excited, Bai Yunfei waited with bated breath as a sliver of his soulforce entered the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    ¡°Aahh!!!¡±


    Just as expected, an abrupt scream of pain!


    It wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei that screamed, but the¡­Golden Roc King!


    The +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf had activated!!


    Bai Yunfei had been waiting for this crucial winning condition to activate this entire time!


    As like any other battle before, this effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf was a trump card that helped Bai Yunfei win many times before. Even against opponents far stronger than he was!


    And the Golden Roc King would be no exception!


    No one could possibly predict their own attack backfiring onto them, especially not when they were already addled with absolute fury. Struck by his very own soul attack, the Golden Roc King let out a loud cry of pain!


    A giant ball of golden light had been forming in front of him before he was struck. It should¡¯ve led into a killer move where Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been peppered with multiple rays of light, but it all fell apart as soon as he was hit!


    His body spasmed uncontrollably. The light from his own body faded away as quickly as his attack did. Soon, the giant roc form of his was nowhere to be seen, only a humanized Golden Roc King with his head in his hands as he screamed bloody murder.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The world around the Golden Roc King trembled again as another wave of pain slammed into him. Under Bai Yunfei¡¯s control, the Demon-eyed Tiger King unleashed an even stronger Country Shaking Tiger¡¯s Roar!


    It was a move meant to buy Bai Yunfei more time for his attack. Transforming into a brilliant beam of light, Bai Yunfei shot towards the struggling Golden Roc King!


    ¡°Ah¡­ahh¡­ahhhh!!!!¡±


    A vessel must¡¯ve popped in the Golden Roc King¡¯s eyes, for they were thoroughly red as if dyed with blood. Two soul attacks back-to-back would normally incapacitate any person for some time, but not for Soul Emperors. As if sensing his own death, the Golden Roc King exploded with even more energy than before to evade Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack and retaliate¡­


    But!


    Bai Yunfei came flying in faster than the Golden Roc King could hope to deal with¡ªa chance like this didn¡¯t come twice in a battle, who was Bai Yunfei to refuse such a valuable opportunity? A failure to kill the roc now would mean an even harder task later.


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Mercilessly, Bai Yunfei attacked with the Soul Anchor Technique again!


    Simultaneously with his right hand, Bai Yunfei whipped out his left hand to throw a sparkling ball of light at the roc!


    Traveling through the air while the Golden Roc King was resisting, the ball of light blew up in intensity the moment Bai Yunfei said a single word:


    ¡°Seal!!!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    It was instantaneous almost. Unleashing beams of resplendent white light everywhere, the ball of light expanded in size and enveloped the Golden Roc King within it!


    The Soul Sealing Mandate!!


    Within the ball of light, the aura of the Golden Roc King froze up at once!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei appeared in front of the Soul Sealing Mandate at once. Pressing against the Soul Sealing Mandate with his right hand, Bai Yunfei began to push it closer to the Golden Roc King!


    The white light shining around the Soul Sealing Mandate began to shrink under Bai Yunfei¡¯s push. Shrinking closer and closer to the Golden Roc King, it soon came close enough to his body as if outlining it while the Soul Sealing Mandate rested in front of the Golden Roc King¡¯s face.


    Bai Yunfei did it! Glee sparked across Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. Pausing for a moment to wait for the area to calm down, he waved his left hand and took the Golden Roc King into the Core World!


    The class eight Golden Roc King was captured!

 Chapter 1094: Its Your Turn!

    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    The wind rustled with activity as the Demon-eyed Tiger King touched down in the skies next to Bai Yunfei.


    The Golden Roc King was gone. Captured and rendered immobile within the Core World.


    Then, Bai Yunfei disappeared as well.


    The Core Stone fell from where Bai Yunfei¡¯s neck used to be and landed within the outstretched palm of the Demon-eyed Tiger King.


    He went still after that. The Core Stone was safe in his hands while Bai Yunfei went within.


    Inside the Core World.


    The sealed form of the Golden Roc King was suspended over the top of a rather large mountain. Right beside the roc was Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    A wave of energy traveled from beyond Bai Yunfei the moment he appeared. Elemental fire came to life around him before he struck the defenseless Golden Roc King!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Pain shot up Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm. Grimacing, he brought his hand back; it felt as if he had just punched steel. Though it hurt for him, the Golden Roc King was even more affected by the blow¡ªthere was a large dent in the area where he was punched!


    ¡°Pfffttt!!¡±


    A large volume of blood was expelled forth from the Golden Roc King¡¯s mouth. The might of Bai Yunfei¡¯s Critical Glove¡¯s +10 and +12 additional effects was truly powerful. Through their effects, Bai Yunfei was able to multiply the power of his punch to the point where it was able to do damage to the Golden Roc King¡¯s body. His body was as strong as a heaven-tier soul armament, but his defenses were severely limited without soulforce supplementing it.


    Bai Yunfei snapped his fingers. A serpent of fire sparked to life at once between them. Swelling in size, the serpent shot forward to ensnare the Golden Roc King within.


    It was only when Bai Yunfei was fully sure that the Golden Roc King was confined by the Law of Fire that he called the Soul Sealing Mandate back to him.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    The effect was instantaneous. The Golden Roc King exploded with power at once and let out a furious scream!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Sneering, Bai Yunfei fired off a powerful soul attack onto the Golden Roc King!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Another scream, but this time one filled with pain and surprise. The Golden Roc King shuddered and vomited yet another mouthful of blood. His soulforce was starting to waver.


    He was alarmed. What had happened to him? To his soul? It felt detached to him, a stranger to his body that he could not control. And where was he now? Where was this place where no elemental energy could be felt?


    Many questions were had, that was to be sure. But Bai Yunfei would never answer them. Manipulating the Law of Fire around the Golden Roc King, Bai Yunfei had it lock the soulbeast in place so he could struggle no more. Concentrating, Bai Yunfei had the Golden Roc King sent into a different dimension.


    Once that matter was done, Bai Yunfei disappeared from the Core World!


    Outside the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei reappeared beside the Demon-eyed Tiger King abruptly. Plucking the Core Stone from the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s paws, Bai Yunfei placed it back onto his person.


    Everyone was stunned.


    ¡°The Golden Roc King was defeated!?¡±


    No one from the bloodthirsty wind apes or the Beast Taming School could believe their eyes!


    It all happened too fast. Everyone had been too busy fighting their own battles until they heard the Golden Roc King¡¯s screech. They saw the Golden Roc King struggle against something as Bai Yunfei charged at him when they turned their heads. Then there was a beam of white light that seemed to capture the Golden Roc King, and then just like Duan Tianqing, he disappeared! He was magicked away somewhere!


    They saw Bai Yunfei disappear next, only to reappear moments later. An unbelievable sight for an unthinkable situation. The noise of the battlefield dimmed as people simply just stood there and gaped¡­


    ¡°The¡­the Soul Sealing Mandate!! That¡¯s the Soul Sealing Mandate!!¡± One of the Late-stage Soul Kings from the Beast Taming School shrieked in terror. He looked like he saw a ghost. ¡°The bird and dragon soulbeasts¡­the Soul Sealing Mandate¡­an unbelievably large Soul armament¡­a soul skill with two dragons¡­and a soul armament that can store even humans¡­it¡¯s¡­there¡¯s no mistake¡­


    ¡°There¡¯s no doubt about it!! He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s Bai Yunfei!! That Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    The realization hit this Soul King like a sack of bricks. His knees quivered and threatened to buckle under his weight as he screamed out in panic!


    ¡°What?! Bai Yunfei? But there¡¯s no way! He¡¯s¡­agghhh!!¡±


    Another Soul King began to voice his disbelief, but before he could say much, he suddenly began to cry out in pain instead!


    It was unnatural, this reaction was. What caused him to cry out in pain?


    Confused, everyone turned to him. The first few saw drops of blood sprinkle down his person. On his back was a lightningfire wolf! While this man was looking to Bai Yunfei, this wolf took advantage of it and took a bite of him!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    There was another screech of pain as someone else fell prey to the same distraction. It was an early-stage class seven ape. But unlike the Soul King who was merely injured, this ape was cut in two by Xiao Qi¡¯s attack!


    ¡°The Golden Roc King was defeated?! Impossible!!¡±


    The Soul Kings weren¡¯t the only distracted ones. The Wind Ape King was completely bewildered as well, even as he fought in his own section of the battlefield!


    His enemy, the Bloodhowl Wolf King, shared none of the same emotions; he was extremely pleased by such an outcome!


    Bai Yunfei had actually done it! And faster than predicted!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The large and transparent head of a blood-red wolf appeared in the skies above the Bloodhowl Wolf King. The roar it gave off vibrated the skies and stained the clouds red with the red light coming off from its head. From the center of its mouth, a crescent-shaped beam of red light shot forth!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    The Wind Ape King looked thunderously panicked. Ten minutes hadn¡¯t even gone by since the battle began and yet everything had gone disastrously wrong¡­


    He couldn¡¯t think about it too much, though. There was an attack coming at him right now. Snarling, he materialized a larger form of himself that lashed out with a punch onto the bloody crescent moon.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The beam broke apart amidst a loud explosion of light and sound, but not without taking out the right arm of the giant ape. It took a moment, but the arm reformed itself with a blast of light-green light. Pounding its chest, the ape threw itself across the sky at the giant wolf!


    The Wind Ape King was taking action too. Disappearing into a gale of wind, he was heading for the Bloodhowl Wolf King!


    Meanwhile.


    Bai Yunfei was still looking around the battlefield, the light in his eyes dancing with glee. At last he managed to catch a glimpse of the faraway Wind Ape King and the murderous aura around him.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­your turn now!!¡±

 Chapter 1095: Bloodrage

    Like lightning, the Wind Ape King and Bloodhowl Wolf King traveled closer and closer together. And when they drew close enough to make contact, the both of them lashed out with a right punch!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two fists slammed into one another, creating a loud explosion and shockwave. Moments passed before red and green light blew everywhere¡ªthis was the might of two mid-stage class eight soulbeasts!


    ¡°Rumble rumble rumble¡­¡±


    The ape and wolf stood at the center of chaos as the world itself trembled violently. Cracks appeared throughout the sky and devoured at the surrounding elemental energy around it before letting the Planar Laws within the cracks extinguish the energy.


    A low growl escaped the Bloodhowl Wolf King as he retreated, each step he made created another crack in space. He was grimacing, and his right arm was still trembling from the blow. His collision with the Wind Ape King did not spare him any pain.


    ¡°He¡¯s a little stronger than me¡­¡±


    Inferred the Bloodhowl Wolf King. One year ago, the Bloodhowl Wolf King had tried to become a late-stage class eight soulbeast. Unfortunately, the Wind Ape King appeared at a very critical juncture and forced him to abort the attempt. The two fought then to a stalemate before the Wind Ape King retreated. The battle then took a lot from the Bloodhowl Wolf King before he could fully recover, but the wolf was sure that the two of them were of equal strengths then.


    The Wind Ape King must¡¯ve come across something extremely potent if he managed to get the advantage over him in after just one year.


    By the point a soulbeast reached the level of the Wind Ape King or Bloodhowl Wolf King, it¡¯d take dozens of years¡ªif not a hundred¡ªto get noticeably stronger.


    But that was only taking into account for natural progression. The Soulbeast Forest was a treasure trove of natural resources. There was no shortage of potential resources a soulbeast could avail themselves to to get stronger.


    The sinister light in the Wind Ape King¡¯s eyes grew even more pronounced. He chased after the Bloodhowl Wolf King with his arm already prepared to strike again.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Then, the world shook once again with the roar of a tiger!


    ¡°The Country Shaking Tiger¡¯s Roar?!¡± The Wind Ape King narrowed his eyes in annoyance, ¡°You pest!¡±


    A soul attack like the Country Shaking Tiger¡¯s Roar was ineffective on a mid-stage class eight soulbeast like him. Turning around, he changed his target to another!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The green light around the Wind Ape King concentrated to his fist, allowing it to swell in size to slam into the Demon-eyed Tiger King that had just appeared right behind him!


    Reacting accordingly, the light around the Demon-eyed Tiger King intensified to form some kind of armor around his body. Solidfying in time, the light reduced the strength of the blow, but not enough to stop the tiger from being sent flying!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Again, the roaring of an animal could be heard. The Wind Ape King turned around after punching the Demon-eyed Tiger King away; coming at him were two giant flaming dragons!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°The Planar Law of Fire!!¡±


    His eyes narrowed again. The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was something new to him, but he could still sense the Law of Fire contained within them. This was not an attack he could afford to take lightheartedly.


    Both hands snapped out in front of him to summon a gale of wind. It swirled frantically in a circle to form a near-solid curtain of concentrated wind to protect him.


    ¡°Rumble¡­¡±


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst slammed into the curtain of wind. Blasting apart into a sea of flames, the dragons tried their best to reach the Wind Ape King but found themselves unable to break past the curtain.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­chaotic energy in here too!¡±


    This came as a shock to the ape. He knew the caster of this attack was the one that defeated the Golden Roc King, but he still hadn¡¯t been to worried about the person, attributing their success to random luck and happenstance. But¡­to have a soul skill contain both the Law of Fire and chaotic energy? That was no longer something an attack the Wind Ape King could say belonged to someone weak. This was someone that was a threat to a Soul Emperor!


    That didn¡¯t mean to say he was afraid of this person, though. The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst could pose a threat to an Early-stage Soul Emperor, but he wasn¡¯t such a person. He was a mid-stage class eight soulbeast. The Law of Wind he wielded was far stronger than the Law of Fire Bai Yunfei could use. The two simply couldn¡¯t be equated to one another.


    ¡°A second one now¡­do you really think you¡¯ll be able to defeat me?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei and the Demon-eyed Tiger King were grouped up with the Bloodhowl Wolf King now. Upon seeing that, the Wind Ape King snarled aloud with anger. The giant ape above him shrunk in size, but the light it gave off was far brighter than before!


    In the blink of an eye, the Wind Ape King swelled in size. His original humanoid limbs were now the limbs of an ape. Slivers of green hair flashed with a metallic sheen before mixing with the gren light around his body. The harsh glare faded away shortly afterward to reveal a body-wide piece of armor!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    His eyes were blood-red now. He pounded his fists against his chest like a drum, each hit resonating so strongly with the world that everyone felt like their breath would stop!


    The Wind Ape King was now in his strongest fighting form! Even his aura was drastically different, it was a great deal stronger than before!


    So drastic was his change that even Bai Yunfei looked distracted!


    ¡°Not good!!¡±


    It was only for a split-second. Grimacing to himself, Bai Yunfei leaped back and called the Cataclysmic Seal out to form an orange barrier around him.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    A blade of wind sliced through the area he had just been standing in a moment ago. It disappeared the next second, leaving behind a long crack in space!


    ¡°Crackle¡­¡±


    The barrier around Bai Yunfei shattered into pieces a moment later. When the blade of wind flew past Bai Yunfei, it touched upon a part of his barrier and destroyed it!


    ¡°Wow¡­¡± Sweat pooled on Bai Yunfei¡¯s back. His heart pounded against his cage as he thought about the terrifying brush of thought he just had.


    Half a second earlier and he would¡¯ve fallen prey to the blade of wind, unless the Core Stone used its effect to teleport him into another dimension to evade it. If his instincts were any slower in fact, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t have even the opportunity to activate the Core Stone¡¯s effect. He would¡¯ve been cut in two¡­


    As he was about to congratulate himself for dodging¡­


    ¡°Crap!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    There was a loud banging sound as a metallic beam of light was sent flying!


    The Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been the only one the Wind Ape King attacked. A blade of wind was sent to attack Bai Yunfei, but the Wind Ape King decided to personally punch the Demon-eyed Tiger King!


    And since Bai Yunfei was so distracted by the blade of wind, the Demon-eyed Tiger King was defenseless against the attack. As helpless as a horsefly against a flyswatter, the Demon-eyed Tiger King was sent flying!


    Capitulating on his successful attack, the Wind Ape King charged at Bai Yunfei to attack him again, but a bolt of red light forced him to leap back. The giant bloody wolf was after him!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Giving up on his attack on Bai Yunfei, the Wind Ape King scattered the giant blood wolf back into light with a mighty punch!


    ¡°This is the strongest skill the Wind Ape King has, Bloodrage!! By burning his soul and blood, he can increase his strength, be careful!!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King warned Bai Yunfei via soul communication a moment later¡­

 Chapter 1096: Bloodhowl Celestial Wolf

    ¡°Bloodrage? Is that some kind of powerboosting soul skill?¡±


    Realization dawned upon Bai Yunfei at this warning. The Wind Ape King was already a mid-stage class eight soulbeast. The Wind Ape King was already a mid-stage class eight soulbeast, using a skill like that¡­what a pain!


    ¡°Take the Demon-eyed Tiger King safer out, I¡¯ll deal with him!!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King ordered Bai Yunfei through soul communication.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows narrowed with reluctance. He didn¡¯t want to retreat, but he couldn¡¯t exactly stay here either. Waiting for an opportunity further out was the best choice he had right now. Fighting the Wind Ape King right now would only lead to a very painful future¡­


    He had been too foolish. Defeating the early-stage class eight Golden Roc King filled him with too much confidence. The ¡®opening act¡¯ of the Wind Ape King after going into his rage was like a bucket of ice-cold water for Bai Yunfei. Thoroughly humbled, Bai Yunfei knew now the difference in strength. It was far too early for him to fight a mid-stage class eight soulbeast.


    ¡°I just need to wait for the best time¡­¡±


    Retreating with a calculative glance, Bai Yunfei had the Demon-eyed Tiger King come back to his side.


    The right arm of the Demon-eyed Tiger King was bent at a very odd angle¡ªthe result of being hit by the Wind Ape King. Healing such a wound meant taking a considerable amount of energy, and now the Demon-eyed Tiger King was no longer in fighting condition.


    ¡°I¡¯d probably be able to defend against the Wind Ape King¡¯s attacks if I can control that one, but there¡¯s no time to change soulbeasts¡­¡±


    His eyes flickered to the giant elder hillbeast still floating there in the sky. Without Duan Tianqing to control it, the elder hillbeast was as still as a statue. It would¡¯ve been mistaken for a mountain if it fell to the grounds, but because Duan Tianqing was still alive, the seal on the hillbeast was still active. That meant Bai Yunfei could use the Beast Taming Ring to control it, but it¡¯d require the additional step of dispelling Duan Tianqing¡¯s control over it. Duan Tianqing might not even be awake to contest against Bai Yunfei for control, but time was not something Bai Yunfei had a lot of right now. Anything could happen at this precarious moment in time, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to risk his health in such a gambit.


    His eyes wandered to another part of the battlefield, ¡°Maybe if ¡®that¡¯ happens, I¡¯ll have a chance then¡­¡±


    ¡°Bzz!!!¡±


    A blast of energy jolted Bai Yunfei from his thoughts. Looking closely at the source, he saw the area around it dyed with a bloody-red light!


    The light brought with it a chilling aura that even Bai Yunfei found himself shivering after being basked in it. It felt as if a wolf was staring him down with its jaws already open to snap down onto his throat any second.


    ¡°Aoo!!¡±


    From within the red light appeared a giant shadow that only expanded in size¡­a giant wolf the color of blood stood right in front of the Wind Ape King!


    This was¡­the physical body of the Bloodhowl Wolf King!


    He transformed into such a state so he could fight the angered Wind Ape King!


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King was merely a title and not a proper classification of what kind of soulbeast he was.


    In truth, he was a soulbeast known as¡­a bloodhowl celestial wolf!


    Like the Black Dragon King, this was a high-leveled soulbeast from the ancient past!


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King was similar in size to the Wind Ape King. Flames the color of blood flared to life around the wolf¡¯s body with such heat that it seemed to warp the space around it.


    He leaped higher up into the air before coming back down with rapid speeds toward the Wind Ape King!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The Wind Ape King let loose a thunderous roar. Leaping up as well, he brought both arms forward to attack the wolf!


    The two struck one another again, causing the skies to tremble beneath their might. One of the sharp claws of the Bloodhowl Wolf King had somehow managed to stab into the Wind Ape King¡¯s arms while one of the Wind Ape King¡¯s fist slammed into the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s stomach!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Both attacks were heavily mitigated by the elemental energy the two wrapped their bodies in. There was a muffled secondary explosion as green and red light burst out from the gaps in their defenses and leaked into the world.


    It grew exceedingly difficult to see the shapes of the two with all the energy around them. Each passing second felt like the world was getting closer to destabilizing like the first time the two soulbeasts clashed. Cracks were already forming everywhere else, shocking all those who were close enough to see them form.


    ¡°Aoo¡­.¡±


    ¡°Roar¡­¡±


    ¡°Rumble, rumble¡­¡±


    Everything else in the world but the other soulbeast was left forgotten by these two fighters. Their eyes shone with nothing but determination to wipe out their enemy as they snarled and clashed against one another.


    Every so often, one of them would fall from the skies and crash into a nearby mountain or forest. Sometimes, the landscape would be heavily lacerated with gusts of wind. Other times, the world burned to ashes. A natural disaster or two was touching down onto this part of the world for everyone to see.


    And at such a sight, Bai Yunfei was but a wide-eyed spectator.


    He never imagined that a battle between two mid-stage class eight soulbeasts would be¡­so shocking. So devastating. So¡­primitive.


    Technique was something that existed in most battles. It was what differentiates man from beast. But it didn¡¯t seem like this battle had even a single ¡®technique¡¯ to it. Both soulbeasts were fighting tooth, nail, and fist, but it also felt like every blow was just as powerful as even a heaven-tier soul skill. A Dual Dragon Burst would probably be blasted apart by a single blow of the Wind Ape King¡¯s fist!


    It was a perspective of a soul cultivator rather than a soulbeast. Soulbeasts generally disliked using soul skills or soul armaments. To them, their strongest weapon was their own bodies. When fighting in such a state as they were now, it only made sense to make use of their own bodies to fight.


    Furthermore, their fangs and fists were infused with the Laws in them, thus magnifying their strength!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    As the Bloodhowl Wolf King and Wind Ape King fought, another soulbeast let out a wail of agony elsewhere!


    The wail resonated with the Wind Ape King. Snapping out from his stupor for just a second, he turned his head to look!


    ¡°No!!!¡±


    He cried out in despair and fury. Looking ready to charge over there, the Wind Ape King was immediately blocked by a wall of fire and pounced on by the Bloodhowl Wolf King!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Enraged by this obstruction, the Wind Ape King began to fight the Bloodhowl Wolf King again. Only this time, he seemed to be getting more and more impatient and furious!


    The reason behind this was because of the soulbeast that cried. It belonged to a class seven ape that died shortly after screaming its last!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A loud chirp of excitement resonated through the skies before yet another aura of the same level as the first disappeared as well!


    Then the aura of a third soulbeast disappeared¡­

 Chapter 1097: The Distinction Between Victory and Defeat

    The class seven bloodthirsty wind apes didn¡¯t stand a chance of winning anymore. Not with Xiao Qi and the others around. They couldn¡¯t even run away least they die even quicker. Their only chance of survival now was to wait for the Wind Ape King to defeat the Bloodhowl Wolf King and come to their rescue.


    Yet the Wind Ape King would need more time in order to come to their rescue. Defeating the Bloodhowl Wolf King was taking more time than he thought. Bloodrage wasn¡¯t even enough for the Wind Ape King to do anything to the wolf. If anything, it seemed like things were getting more and more perilous for the Wind Ape King.


    Thus, the class seven apes had to stand their ground. Entering into a Bloodrage of their own to fight, the apes still found themselves powerless! Xiao Qi, Long Lan, Wu Dijian and the Yao clan were far too powerful for them. The class seven apes had no chance to turn the tides in this one-sided battle!


    The fact that they were able to stay alive up to this point was only a testament to how strong they are. But it was only a matter of time.


    At last, one of the apes¡ªan early-stage class seven¡ªdropped their guard and was killed by Xiao Qi!


    All the apes were relying on one another to cover up a hole in their defenses. With one of the apes dead the defense was now crumbling apart. Capitulating on this, Xiao Qi and the others leaped onto the apes and killed another one in quick succession!!


    One thing led to another and now the apes were dying off like flies! Give or take another few seconds and the apes would be following on the path of extinction like the four-winged golden rocs did!


    A late-stage class seven ape tried to self-destruct in an attempt to take down their enemies with him, but a timely soul attack stopped the ape before it was killed!


    The disparity of strength grew larger and larger. Soon, only a few apes were left. It wouldn¡¯t be long until¡­


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The roar of the Wind Ape King drowned out every other source of noise at once, followed by a fierce blast of energy!


    ¡°Ahh!! Dieeee!!¡±


    Like the glows of a candle, the eyes of the Wind Ape King were extremely bright and red. Something that looked almost like blood in color and viscosity leaked from his eyes as he quivered. His aura rippled away from his body in green waves and made his green hair flow rhythmically like a wave in a storm. Some of his hair was slowly turning red even! It seemed like they were being dyed red with blood!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Then out of nowhere, the Wind Ape King slammed his right fist onto the side of the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s neck!


    ¡°That¡¯s not good!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei blanched with immediate concern. Feet kicking into action, Bai Yunfei ran straight forward at once!


    This new state of the Wind Ape King definitely meant he was fighting at an even stronger level than before. He was presumably burning up his own lifeforce in exchange for a level of power on par with a late-stage class eight soulbeast!!


    Had Bai Yunfei a guess, he¡¯d say this technique of the Wind Ape King was probably just as dangerous as his ¡®Berserk¡¯ mode, if not even worse.


    Ten years would be needed for the Wind Ape King to heal from the aftermath of this technique, if not more. It was even possible that he might not even remain as powerful as a mid-stage class eight soulbeast even after he healed, but the Wind Ape King probably didn¡¯t care about that right now¡­


    All in all, this meant the Wind Ape King was now stronger than the Bloodhowl Wolf King. Due to a second¡¯s miscalculation, the Bloodhowl Wolf King was struck by the Wind Ape King and was on the verge of being hit by an even stronger follow-up attack!


    The snarl on the Wind Ape King¡¯s face was horrendous. His sharp fangs were bared threateningly over his lips as he heaved both his hands above his head. His sharp nails gleamed dangerously in the light before they swung down to slam into the Bloodhowl Wolf King!


    There¡¯d be no stopping the puncture wounds on the Bloodhowl Wolf King if they connected. If his eyes were stabbed into, then victory would be guaranteed for the Wind Ape King!


    Understandably shocked, the Bloodhowl Wolf King tried his best to steady himself. The blow to his head earlier saw to the Law of Wind slowing down his body and reaction. Dodging the Wind Ape King¡¯s attack would be impossible right now!


    The best thing he could do in this case was try and have the Wind Ape King hit him somewhere else on the body. Somewhere less vital than the head. A heavy wound was better than a fatal one. He¡¯d at the very least be able to continue fighting¡­


    ¡°Senior Bloodhowl, please transform back to your human form!!¡±


    A second later, Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice echoed in the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s mind!!


    ¡°Hm?!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s eyes widened just a fraction¡ªreturn to his human form?! Doing such a thing would kill him! His human form was weaker in strength than his true form, and much smaller too. Rather than have one part of his body hit by the Wind Ape King¡¯s blow, returning to his human form would mean seeing to his entire body being hit! He¡¯d basically be reduced to a paste in the Wind Ape King¡¯s hand! The Law of Wind would utterly decimate his body then!


    ¡°Quickly!! I¡¯ll help you!! Prepare to attack in two seconds!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice spoke again, this time with a sense of urgency. The Bloodhowl Wolf King looked hesitant still.


    ¡°Tch!!¡±


    Deciding to entrust himself to Bai Yunfei, the Bloodhowl Wolf King began to shrink in size!


    He was choosing to believe in Bai Yunfei!


    Faster than with the snapping of the fingers, the gigantic Bloodhowl Wolf King was nowhere to be seen! Only his human-form was left!


    That was when the Bloodhowl Wolf King realized that everything around him had gone silent!


    It wasn¡¯t just the sound, though¡­the auras of all those around him were gone as well!!


    He blinked. Everything was the same sight-wise, but he couldn¡¯t sense a thing with his soulsense!


    Startled, he realized the Wind Ape King¡¯s hands were still coming down onto him! Relying on instincts alone, he erected a barrier of elemental energy to protect himself. But then¡­


    The Wind Ape King¡¯s claws went ¡®through¡¯ him!


    It was as if he had turned into a ghost! The Wind Ape King¡¯s attack hit nothing but air!


    This was¡­the +10 additional effect of the Core Stone, the ability to transport someone into a different dimension!


    The effect had a limited range of ability, hence why Bai Yunfei implored the Bloodhowl Wolf King to return to his human form. It was for the sole sake of transporting him out of harm¡¯s way!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The Wind Ape King was confused. He was having a hard time understanding what was going on in his rage-induced state.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    Two bursts of energy spiked to life to the Wind Ape King¡¯s right. His eyes snapped to the source just in time to see two pillars of fire come at him!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Furious, the Wind Ape King gathered the Law of Wind to his left hand and swung it outwards in a backhanded slap!


    ¡°Rumble¡­¡±


    The skies crackled with energy as his hand ¡®slapped¡¯ the two dragons! In the next second, both dragons¡­fell apart!


    Strands of violet, gray, and red light scattered everywhere along with green like a sudden burst of rain. In one blow, the Wind Ape King managed to break apart the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Out from the chaotic mess of light, a single beam of red light speared through it towards the Wind Ape King!


    The Wind Ape King was still in the process of bringing his right arm back after his attempt to strike the Bloodhowl Wolf King, and his left arm was still dealing with the aftermath of the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst. That meant he was practically defenseless as the spear of red light drew ever-so-close to his face!


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    Exhaling loudly, the Wind Ape King expelled a burst of green light from his mouth to form a giant wall of wind in front of him.


    It was supposed to protect him from the red beam of light, but¡­


    The red beam of light made contact with the wall of wind, just like he expected. Then, instead of stopping there, it¡­went straight through it!


    As if it wasn¡¯t even there to begin with!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Shock filled the Wind Ape King at once. Now that it was closer to him, the Wind Ape King realized what the red beam of light was. It was¡­a crimson-red spear!


    ¡°Pcht!!!¡±


    The sudden loss of composure was the worst thing the Wind Ape King could do. With nothing left to stop it, the Fire-tipped Spear closed the distance between it and the Wind Ape King and went through his right eye!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Blood splattered everywhere once the spear deposited itself into the Wind Ape King¡¯s eye. Then one second later¡­his right eye exploded!!

 Chapter 1098: Starfall of the Celestial Wolf

    Thanks to the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei was able to easily bypass the elemental barrier erected by the Wind Ape King. And thanks to this same effect, Bai Yunfei was able to take the Wind Ape King¡¯s eye!


    The explosion that took place afterward was naturally the +10 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear!


    Taking into account the size of the Wind Ape King, the Fire-tipped Spear was basically the same as a toothpick. A tiny toothpick that wouldn¡¯t really do much harm in any other place of the body. But if a toothpick were to insert itself into someone¡¯s eyes¡­


    And an exploding toothpick was understandably even more dangerous. Not even an eyeball as gigantic as the Wind Ape King would be able to prevent itself from being exploded!


    ¡°Aghhh!!!¡±


    A shriek of agony escaped forth from the Wind Ape King¡¯s mouth. Fresh blood poured out like a waterfall from the fresh new hole on the Wind Ape King¡¯s face!


    Still howling furiously, the Wind Ape King wrapped the Fire-tipped Spear in a bubble of elemental wind and plucked it from his eyehole!


    The spear was about the size of a person, but in the hands of the Wind Ape King it was no bigger than an embroidery needle! Bringing his arm back, the Wind Ape King threw the spear as hard as he could toward Bai Yunfei!


    If the spear was fast on its way to the Wind Ape King, then its way back was lightning quick!


    In fact, the entire ordeal was abnormally quick. Only three seconds had passed!!


    Three things were done at the time the Bloodhowl Wolf King was being attacked. First, Bai Yunfei used the Core Stone to transport the wolf away. Second, he casted the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst. Third and finally, he threw the Fire-tipped Spear at the Wind Ape King! Three actions all done independently of one another and yet blended together magnificently!


    That happened within one second. In the next second, the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was blown apart by the Wind Ape King and the Fire-tipped Spear stabbed into his eye!


    In the third second, the Bloodhowl Wolf King was transported back to the real world!!


    It was a quick three seconds, relatively speaking. Astounded by it all, the Bloodhowl Wolf King was still at the very least able to understand that this was the perfect time to attack. It was when the Fire-tipped Spear stabbed into the Wind Ape King¡¯s eye that the Bloodhowl Wolf King remembered what Bai Yunfei wanted him to do¡ªattack in two seconds!


    That included the one second it¡¯d take for him to return to the real world. He sprung into action the moment he did, filling the surrounding world with his murderous intent!


    Both hands clapped together as the Wind Ape King cried out in pain. Raising them in front of him, the Bloodhowl Wolf King summoned a torrent of blood-red light to them and combined it with his soulforce!


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡±


    The world itself felt like it was being shaken with how it vibrated. Red light poured out into the landscape above the Wind Ape King¡¯s head and formed multiple points of red light like stars!


    Then the stars started to shine brightly so that they formed closer together to one another.


    And when the stars merged into one singular star-like object, it fell from the sky!


    Calling it a star-like object seemed rather¡­wrong.


    An actual ¡®star¡¯ was crashing down from the heavens!


    This was the ultimate elemental move of the Bloodhowl Wolf King, Starfall of the Celestial Wolf!


    Through the concentrated power of the Law of Fire, a ¡®star¡¯ could be formed and summoned from the Ninth Heaven!


    Crashing down from the utmost heights, this star fell down from the heavens so fast that it was already directly on top of the Wind Ape King¡¯s head!


    And it was huge!!


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King was already traveling away from the Wind Ape King so as to avoid being hit by his own attack.


    On the other side, the Wind Ape King had only just finished throwing the Fire-tipped Spear back at Bai Yunfei. But rather than harm Bai Yunfei, the spear merely came to a gentle stop over Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. It was his own lifebound armament, how could it possibly harm him?


    Though his arm was outstretched to grab the spear, Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention was piqued elsewhere. His eyes rested upon the tremendous ¡®star¡¯ above the Wind Ape King for just a brief moment to observe it before he made a hasty retreat with the Demon-eyed Tiger King away from the area.


    In front of him, the Wind Ape King managed to finally shake himself out from the pain of his eye exploding to look up at the raging inferno above him!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Terror struck the ape at the sight. His soulforce went into overdrive as he tried his best to cover himself in a layer of energy while also throwing up both arms to protect himself¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    In one swift motion, the Law of Fire forged ¡®star¡¯ crashed squarely down on the Wind Ape King!


    He was tiny compared to the giant ¡®star¡¯, even in his giant form. Once it crashed down on him, the star and its fire managed to drown out the entirety of his figure!


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    Another crash was heard as the Starfall of the Celestial Wolf impacted onto the earth!


    The world looked like it was no longer a continent of dry earth, but a flaming ocean of fire and devastation. Mini-tornadoes of fire ravaged the area for kilometers on end!


    Everything was being reduced to cinders in this area!! Not even the rocks and dirt were able to avoid such a fate.


    ¡°How terrifying¡­is this the strongest a Mid-stage Soul Emperor can do?¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat in trepidation. The amount of power behind the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s attack was already beyond the combined might of ten of his Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst. In fact, he wasn¡¯t even sure if he could even compare the two anymore¡­


    ¡°Is he dead?¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought next, curious about whether or not the Wind Ape King was still alive.


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    The furious roar of an ape arose to answer his question; the Wind Ape King was also a mid-stage class eight soulbeast, how could he die that easily?!


    ¡°Rumble¡­¡±


    The ocean of fire parted at once as a beam of green light cleaved through it!


    The beam of green light swirled around the area, voiding it of any wisp of fire. Completely untouched by the flames, the area within the green light now revealed a giant red figure!


    The Wind Ape King!!


    Bai Yunfei was stunned to see that rather than getting weaker from the blow, the Wind Ape King was actually¡­exuding a great deal more energy than before!!


    He was now exuding the energy of a¡­late-stage class eight soulbeast!!


    ¡°How?!¡± Bai Yunfei wondered to himself before realizing the answer. ¡°He¡¯s¡­burning up his own soul!! He¡¯s really planning to sacrifice his own life!!¡±


    The Wind Ape King¡¯s aura was a great deal stronger than before, but also far more prone to rapid fluctuations as if losing control at times. This was a telltale sign of the Wind Ape King doing more than just burning up his lifeblood. He was burning up his very soul! This was the same as a soul cultivator destroying their own essence originseed for a temporary boost in strength!


    This meant the Wind Ape King was doomed to be a cripple, if not death!! He¡¯d be dead if he did or didn¡¯t do something!


    The Wind Ape King no longer had that same feeling of regality as before. All over his body, the hair rose and shined red like it was being burnt. His body was covered with wounds with large volumes of blood flowing from them, staining his body red. His eyes didn¡¯t even look like they contained any sense of rationality in them anymore. All there was was bloodlust!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A green pillar of light shot up from the Wind Ape King to fly towards the Bloodhowl Wolf King and Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°We¡¯ll die together!!¡±


    Came the following cry!

 Chapter 1099: Unable to Beg For Even Death!

    The Wind Ape King was in a pretty bad state. Being blind in one eye and struck by a star would do that to a being. The only reason he was functioning as well as he was now was due to him igniting his own soul to suppress his wounds. Much like a person on adrenaline, the Wind Ape King was operating under a frenzied state. Undoing the bloodrage status he was under would simply mean being unable to fight¡­


    But on the other hand, not undoing bloodrage would mean equally disastrous things. His entire body would be blown apart if he didn¡¯t undo it!


    Damned if he did or didn¡¯t. The Wind Ape King hadn¡¯t the luxury to think about the false illusion of choice!


    He was in a frenzied state, but also not in an actual frenzy. His mind sparked with intelligence still. Even when he was hit by the Starfall of the Celestial Wofl, he was still able to sense that the very last ape of his clan was¡­dead!


    And now he was feeling the same feelings the Golden Roc King felt!


    The Wind Ape King and his clan were stronger than the Golden Roc King¡¯s clan, but also on par with the wolf clan. Nine apes came here today, and yet¡­not a single one remained!


    Without the protection of any of the class sevens, the rest of the bloodthirsty wind apes were like lambs to a slaughter. Today would be the day their entire clan would be wiped out from the world of soulbeasts!


    The extinction of one¡¯s own clan was a pain unbearable to anyone!


    As powerful as a mid-stage class eight soulbeast is, there isn¡¯t much one could do in a fight stacked against them. There was the Bloodhowl Wolf King, who was of the same level strength as him, the almost-as-strong Demon-eyed Tiger King, and also Bai Yunfei¡ªwho was as strong as an Early-stage Soul Emperor. Killing them would be extremely difficult. But running away? That was something far more plausible.


    Fighting to win and fighting to kill have often times been confused for one another, but they are not at all the same.


    In any case, the Wind Ape King had no intentions of running away at all. What was the point of doing that, even if he survived?!


    He had the pride of being a class eight soulbeast at stake! The pride of his clan, the pride of him being a leader!!


    So be it if he died. Death was a natural result in the cycle of life, but his death wouldn¡¯t come cheap!


    He was consumed with hatred. Any other emotion paled in comparison to that hatred held within his heart. He and his clan came here with the Golden Roc King¡¯s clan to exterminate the wolf clan. But rather everything going to plan, their clans were the ones being exterminated instead!


    ¡°Aaahhhhhh!!!¡±


    A pillar of green light shot straight up into the heavens as the Wind Ape King roared. Disappearing into a halo of light, two beams of light shot off in the direction of the Bloodhowl Wolf King and Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Hngh¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei stifled a grunt upon hearing the Wind Ape King¡¯s roar. He was attacked by a soul attack!


    One minute had yet to go by for the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s cooldown to be finished, meaning Bai Yunfei would be under the mercy of any soul attack that hit him. The Yun¡¯s Soul Ring was back with Tang Xinyun so Bai Yunfei had only the passive effect of his equipment to bolster his defenses against soul attacks. Being hit by one now would require Bai Yunfei¡¯s entire strength to ward off.


    So while he wouldn¡¯t be at risk of his soul being injured, Bai Yunfei would still be heavily affected for the time being whenever he was hit. And at that moment, a halo filled with the Law of Wind came up to cut into Bai Yunfei!


    There was no dodging this!


    Fear flickered in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes upon realizing he wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge this. Sending some soulforce into his armor, Bai Yunfei hastily activated the effect of his armor and summoned a black whirlpool in front of him!


    +10 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, create a devouring whirlpool of darkness that negates any elemental attack directed towards the user.Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    The whirlpool expanded in size to cover the diameter of the halo and allowed itself to stay still for the halo to enter itself, swallowing it whole!


    The halo disappeared into the darkness without making a sound. The whirlpool trembled slightly as if having difficulty digesting the Law of Wind contained within it, but eventually it grew still and dissipated into the air.


    Color bled back into Bai Yunfei¡¯s face after the whirlpool faded away. He swayed softly where he stood, feeling slightly weak in the knees after having to deal with such an attack.


    ¡°Phew¡­Dealing with that took more soulforce than I thought. Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d make it for a moment¡­¡±


    Allowing himself to relax, Bai Yunfei withdrew the two-thousand soulpoints contained within the Violet Soul Ring into his body.


    He had somehow managed to fend off the attack of a late-stage class eight soulbeast! Not evade, but defend! It was a stunning action that¡¯d earn the shock and awe of anyone around, even the Bloodhowl Wolf King, who stood there in stunned silence after seeing it.


    He managed to dodge the attack heading his way with ease. Since the Bloodhowl Wolf King was back in his human form and was thus far more nimble, the wolf found it rather easy to evade the Wind Ape King¡¯s attack.


    ¡°The Wind Ape King is hoping to kill one of us. In this case, it¡¯d serve me better to commit to defending myself and wait until he burns out¡­¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King thought to himself. He was planning for the fight with the Wind Ape King, thinking that an intense fight would be taking place, but then he realized something in horror¡­


    The Wind Ape King wasn¡¯t planning to attack him at all! He had stopped there in midair rather than continue toward either him or Bai Yunfei!


    Wave after wave of soulforce flowed out from his center, trembling and fluctuating wildly!


    The green light around his body flickered and glistened abnormally as if being warped under an intense amount of pressure. This abnormality was affecting even the space around the Wind Ape King¡­


    He was planning to self-destruct!!


    The Wind Ape King wasn¡¯t planning to fight at all! He was planning to die!


    A mutually assured death!


    ¡°No!! Get away from here now!!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King barked at once for everyone to hear before retreating himself!


    The self-destruction of a mid-stage¡ªno, a late-stage class eight soulbeast! Not even he would be able to protect himself against the brunt of such an event! Putting up a defense here was not the right move!


    ¡°Senior Bloodhowl, use a soul attack on him!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice cut into the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s mind not even a second after his warning.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s eyes shot straight to Bai Yunfei in confusion.


    ¡°A soul attack! I have a way to stop him!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice repeated. The Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s eyes widened in shock once again.


    ¡°Stop him?! What could you¡­¡± Confused at first, the Bloodhowl Wolf King quickly realized why Bai Yunfei was so confident in himself. ¡°Ah! With ¡®that¡¯, stopping the Wind Ape King would be doable!¡±


    No longer skeptical about Bai Yunfei¡¯s plan, the Bloodhowl Wolf King took action at once. Mustering his soulforce, he glared at the Wind Ape King and let loose a devastatingly loud howl!


    Meanwhile, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands were a blur as he made handseal after handseal in quick succession. His body, which should¡¯ve been very low on soulforce, was suddenly being flooded with a new reserve of soulforce!


    Now at full strength, Bai Yunfei pointed his finger at the Wind Ape King with vigor:


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    The Demon-eyed Tiger King beside simultaneously let loose a heaven-shaking roar at the Wind Ape King!


    Three soul attacks of supreme strength were being launched at the Wind Ape King all at once!


    Having fully committed to self-destructing, the Wind Ape King wasn¡¯t capable of defending or evading against the soul attacks. His body froze up once the three attacks hit, leaving the soulforce in him to cease flowing as well!


    But it would only take a moment for his soulforce to continue flowing again, and his self-destruction would follow shortly afterward. In any other case, the soul attack of the Bloodhowl Wolf King wouldn¡¯t even be strong enough to affect him much to begin with.


    With Bai Yunfei added to the equation, though, this wasn¡¯t a regular situation for the Wind Ape King. Bai Yunfei was waiting for the right window of opportunity!


    ¡°Whoosh!!!¡±


    A ball of crystal light was alright flying out towards the Wind Ape King as the three soul attacks struck him. At that moment when the Wind Ape King was fighting off the soul attacks, the ball of light came to a stop in front of the Wind Ape King¡¯s head and exploded with light to cover him!


    Then¡­the voice of a single person drowned out every other source of noise with a single word!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±

 Chapter 1100: Total Victory

    The Soul Sealing Mandate!!


    Bai Yunfei was using his final trump card when the Wind Ape King was at his most vulnerable state!


    Capable of sealing the soul, the Soul Sealing Mandate covered the entirety of the Wind Ape King within its glow before he could finish self-destructing!


    The effect was instantaneous. As soon as the white light covered the Wind Ape King, the volatile energy radiating from him disappeared without a trace!


    Were his energy water and his body a hose, then the Wind Ape King was being pinched so that no energy could come out from his body anymore. Everything within the white light of the Soul Sealing Mandate was frozen still as if entombed in ice. The remaining energy outside of the Soul Sealing Mandate bled away into the air like the last drops of water and soon left the world back in its original state of tranquility¡­


    That left the Wind Ape King stuck in his current position of howling at the heavens. Like a statue, he was completely still and without even an iota of energy leaking from him. The only thing that proved he was a living being was the fact that his wound was still bleeding.


    ¡°Swoosh¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei appeared in front of him like lightning and waved his right hand¡­


    The space around the Wind Ape King rippled before he and the Soul Sealing Mandate disappeared into thin air!


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    He breathed a breath of relief now that the Wind Ape King was gone into the Core World. The battle was over now¡­


    ¡°Hssss¡­¡±


    The first thing he did was undo his Soul Ignition and then his Berserk Mode. It came with a sharp stab of pain and an equally sharp inhale of breath.


    No longer under the influence of either his powerboosting soul skills, Bai Yunfei was no longer looking as powerful as before. He was looking as spent as an arrow nearing the ground and looked close to being at his physical limits.


    But despite all the pain he was feeling, Bai Yunfei was happy first and foremost. A smile crept onto his face as he began to laugh. He choked a bit from the pain, but he continued to laugh and smile¡­


    ¡°Are you feeling well, Bai Yunfei?¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King studied him with a strange look. The wolf king was looking tired himself. Battling the Wind Ape King had seen to the vast majority of his strength being taken from him.


    ¡°Rest assured, senior Bloodhowl, I¡¯m feeling fine. Just feeling the aftermath of my soul skills, but I¡¯m used to it.¡± Bai Yunfei waved his hand in reassurance, the effort in doing so making him wince again.


    ¡°Very well then¡­¡± The expression on the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s face softened. He still looked like he was in disbelief, though.


    ¡°Your assistance to my wolf clan cannot be stated enough, Bai Yunfei¡­¡± He began to speak, ¡°My wolf clan owes you a great favor. Should you ever require our assistance in the future, we will lend you our full support!¡±


    It was a rare honor to see an individual as powerful as the Bloodhowl Wolf King treat a Soul King like Bai Yunfei with so much respect.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for this, senior Bloodhowl. I said so before, but big brother Hong Yin is my benefactor. I am only here to repay the favor.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    He looked off to the battle taking place to their right before looking off to the south. ¡°The war is almost over, I¡¯ll leave the wolf clan to deal with the stragglers.¡±


    Now that the Soul Emperor and Soul Kings were gone and dealt with, the invading army only had the ¡®supporting characters¡¯, the Soul Exalts and class six soulbeasts. The battle between their betters had been so awe-inspiring that they could only stand there and watch their own side be defeated. Some of them had started to flee before the outcome was clear, but now the majority of them were starting to flee.


    ¡°Ahh!!!!¡±


    A shriek of agony and horror accentuated the air, prompting Bai Yunfei to turn toward the source. Over to the right of where he was was a smoldering pile of ashes of what used to be a Soul King from the Beast Taming School. Xiao Qi had turned the man into ashes via a lightning bolt.


    The Beast Taming School had four Soul Kings here. A number like that was already insignificant to the wolf clan, but having Xiao Qi there essentially sealed their fate in stone. They were surrounded at the time, but death was already readying his scythe to harvest their souls¡­


    The massacre was a quick one. With a few quick actions, Xiao Qi killed off the last individual and cleared the skies of any class seven soulbeast or Soul King¡­


    At last, the curtains were starting to draw together on this massive battle.


    In the end, the four Soul Kings from the Beast Taming School, the nine class seven bloodthirsty wind apes, the six class seven four-winged golden rocs, and three Soul Emperor were all dead!


    And not a single casualty from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side!


    What a victory!!


    This was without a doubt the best case scenario for the wolf clan. An overwhelming victory!


    Some of the class seven soulbeasts within the wolf clan could hardly believe their minds when they thought about it¡­


    The last thing to do was clean up the battlefield of the survivors. The Bloodhowl Wolf King commanded the Lightningwolf King and Thunderfire to take several of the class seven soulbeast to kill off the survivors without mercy. Xiao Qi and Long Lan took off after them, the first being unwilling to stay behind while the second wanting to collect a few more soulgems for future use. A few of the familiars went along with them for reasons of their own as well.


    It was easy to imagine the fate of the survivors with a force like that coming after them.


    Tidying the field of the spoils-of-war, the Yao clan, Wu Dijian, You Qingfeng went back into the Core World. The class seven soulbeast puppets and even the class eight hillbeast were also taken into the Core World.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei waited for everyone to return to their caves while he remained there in the skies above the battlefield. His eyes looked at every scar left on the earth and felt the slightest of fluctuations in the winds. Every so often, he¡¯d hear the cries of several individuals before their lives were cut short¡­


    His strength returned to him half a day later. By that time, Xiao Qi and the others were back from their hunting trip.


    WIthin the Core World.


    ¡°How do you plan to deal with him, Bai Yunfei?¡±


    On top of a mountain stood several people. The Bloodhowl Wolf King was one of those individuals.


    They were all staring at the sealed Wind Ape King.


    ¡°Senior Bloodhowl, would you be capable of soulscanning the Wind Ape King?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked after a period of thinking.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s impossible. It¡¯s harder to soulscan a soulbeast than a soul cultivator. Soulscanning the Wind Ape King would be impossible unless I was a stage or two stronger than him. Furthermore¡­his current state makes it even harder. But undoing the seal would mean his immediate self-destruction without being able to stop it.¡±


    The Wind Ape King was basically a frozen bomb. All they had to do to detonate him was to undo the seal.


    Stronger than the Demon-eyed Tiger King, the Wind Ape King was an individual that Bai Yunfei very much wanted to control using the Beast Taming Ring. It¡¯d mean another strong individual for Bai Yunfei to use, but unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t possible.


    ¡°What a shame..¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed in sorrow before nodding to Xiao Qi. ¡°You can kill him, then¡­¡±

 Chapter 1101: The Execution Grounds for an Emperor

    ¡°You can kill him, then¡­¡±


    It felt rather surreal to hear these words come from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth. Wu Dijian, Dan Teng, and the others found themselves having a hard time stopping their eyebrows from rising up on their faces.


    Bai Yunfei was basically handing out a death sentence to a mid-stage class eight soulbeast as if it was nothing!


    ¡°Okay!!¡±


    And as if to further their shock, Xiao Qi replied with the vigor of a child being promised a bag of candy! There was a surge of soulforce as the bird sent out a spatial edge at the Wind Ape King.


    Traveling silently, the spatial edge went through the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s white light and into the Wind Ape King¡¯s neck¡­


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    Blood erupted from the gap in the Wind Ape King¡¯s throat, spraying the air with a red mist and shocking all that stood there¡­


    The white light slowly faded away back into the Soul Sealing Mandate before it returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Now lifeless, the body of the Wind Ape King wobbled for a moment before crashing to the ground. The mighty mid-stage class eight soulbeast had died in silence¡­


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King barely managed to restrain a sigh. Though the Wind Ape King was an enemy, it was a dreadful shame to see such a powerful being die in such a way.


    The world of soulbeasts was even harder than the world of soul cultivators. It had to take the Wind Ape King a herculean effort to reach the level of strength he reached after over a thousand years of training. He could¡¯ve lived another thousand years or so had he not decided to try and exterminate the wolf clan. But in the end, the Wind Ape King met the end of his life so pitifully.


    What was the point of all that, then?


    The Wind Ape King¡¯s corpse was lit on fire with a wave of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. Evaporating the blood with the flames, Bai Yunfei then summoned whatever remained of the corpse to his hand.


    The most prominent object was a large green soulgem. The Wind Ape King¡¯s soulgem.


    Also held in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand were the limbs of the Wind Ape King, having contained the most of the Law of Wind, these bones proved to be unburnable by the Law of Fire.


    These four bones were the strongest bones in the Wind Ape King¡¯s body. Stronger than many other natural resources in this world, these bones would without a doubt be a worthy material to be used in crafting.


    Bai Yunfei put the bones away into his space ring, there¡¯d be a time in the future to study these bones. He tossed the soulgem over to Long Lan.


    ¡°Find a time to absorb that. It might be a wind-type, but it¡¯ll without a doubt be helpful for you.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Long Lan replied with excitement. Then without even waiting to be dismissed, he took the soulgem and began to absorb the energy within.


    ¡°How do you feel, Xiao Qi? Feel any stronger?¡±


    ¡°A lot!¡± Chirped the bird, ¡°I feel a lot stronger than before. I need to meditate a bit before I know how much stronger I am, but¡­I feel like it won¡¯t be long before I become a class eight¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that right¡­?¡± Bai Yunfei wondered, ¡°Then let¡¯s not waste any more time and kill the rest then¡­¡±


    Practically every Soul King was killed by Xiao Qi in that last battle. Added with the ones from when they rescued You Qingfeng, Xiao Qi had probably killed twenty individuals. And combined with the experience of killing a mid-stage class eight soulbeast, Xiao Qi was probably very close to making a breakthrough. But still, it felt like becoming a class eight soulbeast was a fantasy still¡­


    As familiar as Bai Yunfei was with Xiao Qi¡¯s abilities, he wasn¡¯t confident of the exact details of how much experience the bird needed. Bai Yunfei was still, however, somewhat confident that Xiao Qi just needed to kill a few more people and then train a bit before that fantasy would become a reality¡­


    If quantified, the amount of experience a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast needed to become a class eight soulbeast would be tremendous. But making the breakthrough also required a certain level of understanding, not just the experience of killing those that were strong.


    Bai Yunfei waved his hand to summon someone else to this area of the Core World. A tornado of elemental fire appeared as a shackled Golden Roc King appeared in front of everyone¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    A burst of energy rippled across the world as the Golden Roc King screeched in anger.


    But a crystal ball of light was already in front of the Golden Roc King. It took only a single word from Bai Yunfei to stop the Golden Roc King from saying anything more and his soulforce to cease flowing¡­


    A second spatial edge embedded itself into the defenseless Golden Roc King¡¯s throat. And just like that, the Golden Roc King followed the Wind Ape King into death...


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The lips of everyone there twitched this time, rather than their eyes. No one could even put it into words on how dreamlike it was to see a second class eight soulbeast be killed off like a chicken¡­


    Burning the body as he did with the Wind Ape King, Bai Yunfei retrieved a soulgem and a pair of metallic claws from the fire. Included in the bounty this time were quite a few feathers.


    He took the claws and feathers but gave the soulgem to Long Lan.


    With the wave of his hand, Bai Yunfei summoned one last individual to their front¡ªa muddle-headed man¡ªthe heavily injured Soul Emperor, Duan Tianqing.


    ¡°This is an elder of the Beast Taming School, senior Bloodhowl. He surely has to know a few secrets, if I could ask of you to soulscan him.¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked, watching the blood pour from the mouth and wounds of Duan Tianqing without remorse.


    Grabbing the head of Duan Tianqing, the Bloodhowl Wolf King immediately went to work on divining his secrets.


    Waiting for the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s nod, Bai Yunfei then activated the Charm Bracelet and linked minds with him. This way, he¡¯d be able to share in the information the Bloodhowl Wolf King saw.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King narrowed his eyes and went to work. A wave of pressure crashed into Duan Tianqing, forcing the man to tremble violently as if shocked by lightning!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Duan Tianqing began to convulse wildly, his bloodshot eyes bulging out from his head so much that they looked like they might pop out.


    Opening his mouth wide, he began to shout!


    ¡°Sssss¡­¡±


    Then his soulforce began to fluctuate wildly and without rhythm!


    He was¡­self-destructing!!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Several of the people around Bai Yunfei and the Bloodhowl Wolf King cried out in surprise.


    Bai Yunfei opened his eyes at this moment. Waving his right hand, the Soul Sealing Mandate appeared in it and shot toward Duan Tianqing.


    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    Duan Tianqing froze up immediately. All motor abilities came to an end along with his soulforce as he was placed into a catatonic state.


    ¡°What happened, senior Bloodhowl?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked the soulbeast. This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen.


    The wolf took his hand away from Duan Tianqing¡¯s head in surprise. ¡°A ¡®mechanism¡¯ of sorts was placed onto his soul. If someone tried to soulscan him, then this mechanism would activate and force him to self-destruct.¡±


    ¡°Something¡­something like that exists?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed¡ªwasn¡¯t this similar to the slave seal the soulbeast puppets had? In their case, the slave seal would force the soulbeast puppet to self-destruct if touched!


    ¡°Hm. I guess we won¡¯t be able to find out any of the Beast Taming School¡¯s secrets¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. Had he known he would¡¯ve tried to force the secrets out from Duan Tianqing while he was still alive¡­


    He shook his head. ¡°Fine then, kill him too, Xiao Qi¡­¡±


    No one batted an eye this time at Duan Tianqing¡¯s death.

 Chapter 1102: A Pleasant Surprise When Cleaning the House!

    In the Core World. Within his own room in Yao City.


    Bai Yunfei sat on top of his own bed with his eyes closed. His body was enveloped by a thin layer of red light.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    A slow drawn out breath escaped from Bai Yunfei as he opened his eyes.


    ¡°Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t the only one to get stronger, I can feel myself getting stronger as well. Maybe the two of us will become Soul Emperor together, or at least help each in that regard¡­¡±


    As per usual, Bai Yunfei was thinking to himself as he gripped his right hand in front of him. He was testing out his own strength and feeling the power course through his body.


    Half a day ago marked the time when Xiao Qi killed the Wind Ape King, Golden Roc King, and Duan Tianqing before going into isolation to meditate. The amount of experience he got for killing those three transferred over to Bai Yunfei due to their bond, so he could feel the increase in strength from both of them.


    Like Xiao Qi, Long Lan was hiding away to absorb the energy in both soulgems. Bai Yunfei reckoned that the two would be enough for him to become a late-stage class seven soulbeast. For a class seven soulbeast to have the chance to use the soulgems of a class eight soulbeast¡­Long Lan was probably the first ¡®beast¡¯ to do so in the last millennia.


    The other participants in the battle were all sleeping off their fatigue. With no one else there to disturb him, Bai Yunfei was free to rest up for half the day and recover his entire strength.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the ¡®allies¡¯ of the wolf clan will be here soon, I wonder how many powerful individuals they¡¯ll have? Will they accept my plan, I wonder¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. ¡°I should probably be able to get their support. It¡¯s practically what every soulbeast for the last thousands of years desired after all¡­


    ¡°We¡¯ll probably be staying here for a few more days. That¡¯s fine. There¡¯s a lot of things I want to check out, and there¡¯s still the Yao clan¡¯s ¡®research¡¯. If we can make a break through on that we should be able to gain even more support from the soulbeasts¡­¡±


    The spoils of war were humongous this time around. The class seven soulbeast didn¡¯t have any soul armaments on their bodies¡ªas expected¡ªbut the beast tamers had quite the amount on them, Duan Tianqing especially. From him, Bai Yunfei managed to loot a high-heaven tiered piece of armor. Upgrading it would come later.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t bother to look at the contents of his space rings, he¡¯d have time for that in the future. The first thing he wanted to focus on were the possessions of the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King. From them, Bai Yunfei saw that they had plenty of natural resources that could be used for crafting. While he desperately wanted to take a closer look at them, Bai Yunfei decided to categorize them away for later when he had the time to craft.


    There was a type of ¡®research¡¯ Bai Yunfei had with the Yao clan that had to do with the ¡®soulbeast puppets¡¯.


    The two of them were trying to figure out a way to undo the seals on a soulbeast puppet!!


    What a groundbreaking piece of research!


    The methodology of the Beast Taming School involved placing a slave seal on their soulbeast puppets. No one in recorded history had ever successfully undone the seal in the last several thousand years.


    But the Yao clan were trailblazers in their art and had plenty of experience in dealing with the soul of a soulbeast. By using the familiar pills as a basis, the Yao clan could attempt to craft a new pill that would potentially reawaken the sentience of a soulbeast puppet and undo the slave seal!


    It was a grand goal, but not an unreachable one. It was only a matter of time before the clan would grab hold of a plausible lead and finish their work.


    Bai Yunfei was in the middle of thinking about this research when something from the outside world alerted him. Opening his eyes, Bai Yunfei activated the Core Stone and disappeared from the Core World.


    In the outside world. In a stone cave.


    Bai Yunfei appeared within the cave and placed the Core Stone within his robes at once. Standing in front of him was the Bloodhowl Wolf King.


    ¡°We are all ready to leave now, Bai Yunfei.¡± The wolf king nodded.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded back and walked closer to the Bloodhowl Wolf King who waved his hand. A ripple of energy gathered around them before the two were whisked away to another area.


    They reappeared somewhere else in the world. Standing in the sky, the Bloodhowl Wolf King raised his hand to point in a specific direction.


    ¡°In about fifteen hundred kilometers in that direction is the Golden Roc King¡¯s abode.¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced in the direction the Bloodhowl Wolf King pointed at with a quirked eyebrow. Nodding, he waited for the Bloodhowl Wolf King to teleport the two of them to their destination.


    Now that the battle was over and their enemies dead, Bai Yunfei and the Bloodhowl Wolf King were coming over to collect the second half of their spoils. The spoils that could be collected at the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King¡¯s homes.


    As class eight soulbeasts, it went without saying that their homes would be filled with precious treasures. Bai Yunfei doubted that the two of them would have any high-grade soul skills or soul armaments, but the resources the two soulbeasts had would definitely make up for it.


    Since the territories of both the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King were far away, Bai Yunfei opted to have the Bloodhowl Wolf King teleport the two of them to their destinations. It was the most efficient and fastest way.


    As expected, the home of the Golden Roc King was filled with many precious treasures and high-grade primal stones. As pleased as he could be, Bai Yunfei happily took stock of the ingredients and materials. He even allocated a few of them for the Yao clan to use for their own pills.


    After cleaning out the Golden Roc King¡¯s cave, Bai Yunfei and the Bloodhowl Wolf King teleported to the Wind Ape King¡¯s cave straight after.


    The Wind Ape King lived in the belly of a mountain whose contents were filled with the treasures taken from others. This was the place the Wind Ape King secured all the goods he got over the years he lived. And now, Bai Yunfei and the Bloodhowl Wolf King were here to clean it out.


    It was with suspicion that Bai Yunfei entered the main room, his eyes focusing on an object to their right.


    It was¡­a bed.


    A stone bed roughly five meters long, thee meters wide, and one meter tall and had a fur blanket draped over it. This had to be the bed the Wind Ape King used to sleep or meditate on.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the only suspicious one. The Bloodhowl Wolf King was looking at the bed strangely too. He could sense a strange aura coming from it.


    Together, the two walked up to the bed and placed their hands on it. The moment his hand touched the bed, the Bloodhowl Wolf King looked at it in shock!


    ¡°This¡­¡± He began to say after a moment of silence, ¡°this bed¡­is a tool to help one cultivate!!¡±


    There was a simple reason why he was able to make that statement. The moment the Bloodhowl Wolf King touched the bed, he felt his soulforce start to circulate even faster around his body!! In other words, this bed was able to make one cultivate at an even faster rate than usual!


    ¡°Then this¡­bed has the same effect as the legendary Nephrite Throne!! Since when the Wind Ape King obtain something like this?¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King wondered to himself. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder he became so strong so quickly, he had something like this helping him!¡±


    ¡°Eh? What are you doing, Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s head shot up in alarm when he noticed Bai Yunfei was up to something strange!


    Bai Yunfei was sending his soulforce into the bed for some reason! It started with Bai Yunfei drawing his hand back before slamming a soulforce-infused palm onto its surface!


    It happened so fast that the Bloodhowl Wolf King hadn¡¯t even the time to stop him.


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    The bed trembled violently before shattering into multiple pieces!


    Still bewildered by what Bai Yunfei was doing, the Bloodhowl Wolf King watched as Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of two large stone objects from the rubble!


    The stones were of unequal sizes, one was the size of a wintermelon and the other the size of a watermelon.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face deepened with excitement the moment his fingers touched the white stone objects. Glee filled his eyes as he lifted both items to eye level to inspect them.


    Unique Equipment


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Successfully upgrade any item +13 and lower.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the grade of an equipment by two when upgrading (highest grade being Mid Heaven).


    Cannot be upgraded.

 Chapter 1103: Splitting a Stone And Upgrading Another

    ¡°Haha!! A Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!!¡±


    The notifications he received upon touching the item set off a series of laughter from Bai Yunfei!


    A Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!!


    A +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!!!


    Bai Yunfei made sure to check the other stone before he succumbed to his happiness.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Successfully upgrade any equipment +12 and under.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the grade of an equipment by two when crafting (highest grade being Low Heaven)


    Cannot be upgraded.


    This one was a +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!


    ¡°What? What are you saying, Bai Yunfei?¡±


    The bewildered voice of the Bloodhowl Wolf King cut through Bai Yunfei¡¯s glee. Blinking rapidly, Bai Yunfei realized that he had been too excited¡­


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Exhaling slowly, Bai Yunfei turned to look at the Bloodhowl Wolf King. ¡°Senior Bloodhowl, these two stones are highly important to me, would it be possible for me to have them?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King blinked, ¡°Of course you may. My clan would¡¯ve been in trouble if not for you, these spoils are yours to manage.¡±


    He still didn¡¯t understand why Bai Yunfei destroyed that bed, but the Bloodhowl Wolf King could tell that the two stones held more importance to Bai Yunfei than the bed itself did. If he had to guess, then the two stones probably had some kind of special property to them while the rest of the rubble were of no importance. He wasn¡¯t so interested in the bed that he¡¯d fight Bai Yunfei over it, though.


    ¡°Thank you very much, senior Bloodhowl!¡±


    Bai Yunfei thanked the wolf king graciously as he put the stones away. Sweeping through the rubble, Bai Yunfei managed to grab hold of a few smaller Guaranteed Upgrade Stones, but none of them exceeded the +10 grade.


    ¡°This ¡®bed¡¯ had to be from the outside. I wonder where the Wind Ape King got it from¡­¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. ¡°So Guaranteed Upgrade Stones exist in a form besides from the Nephrite Throne. A +14 stone came from that, I wonder if I¡¯ll ever be able to find a +15 or better¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei could feel his heart skip a beat just thinking about the chance of coming across such a high-grade Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Together with the Bloodhowl Wolf King, Bai Yunfei scoured the Wind Ape King¡¯s place for several more items. Surprisingly, the Wind Ape King had a high-heaven tier soul armament hanging on his wall, an item probably taken from a soul cultivator he killed in the past, perhaps. Like the other items, Bai Yunfei stored this soul armament into his space ring for later.


    Nothing of special notice was left in the Wind Ape King¡¯s cave after the two were done. Left without anything else to do, Bai Yunfei and the Bloodhowl Wolf King teleported back to the wolf clan¡¯s territory.


    It was when they returned that the Bloodhowl Wolf King was notified of the Golden Lion King and several others arriving at their cave. Saying goodbye to Bai Yunfei, he left for where the Golden Lion King was to begin their talks.


    Bai Yunfei opted to stay in the real world rather than retreat to the Core World. Sitting on the bed he was given, Bai Yunfei took out the two Guaranteed Upgrade Stones he recently got and began to think.


    It went without saying that Bai Yunfei would be upgrading the Core Stone with these Guaranteed Upgrade Stones. By doing so he¡¯d be able to awake Xiao Fang from his slumber at long last!


    But there was a slight issue¡­


    He had a +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone and even a +13. He even had multiple +10 ones. But¡­he didn¡¯t have any +11 stones!


    He could leave the +12 and +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stones and wait for a +11 one to appear, but who knew how long that¡¯d take?


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ¡®split¡¯ them apart this time¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei decided. He had to choose such an option once before when he was trying to upgrade the Soul Sentinel Scarf to +13. At that time he was able to further his understanding of the Equipment Upgrade Technique and ride the momentum to upgrade the Critical Glove to +13 as well. And more importantly¡­he was able to change the outcome from failure to success!


    That point in time was the highlight of Bai Yunfei¡¯s understanding of the Equipment Upgrade Technique. It was a moment of enlightenment that Bai Yunfei was never able to repeat again after that. But even then, he was only able to influence and change the result of upgrading an item to +11.


    So this time Bai Yunfei decided to use the +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone so that it¡¯d become a +11 and +12 stone.


    There was a reason behind this. If he split the stone into two +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stones, then he¡¯d wouldn¡¯t have a second +12 stone to use. And in that case the +13 stone would¡¯ve been useless anyway. And splitting the stone so that it¡¯d become a +11 and +10 stone would be even more useless¡­


    While he was reluctant to use the +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone like that, Bai Yunfei knew that it had to be done. If he could upgrade the Core Stone to +11 and then +12, it was possible that Xiao Fang would awaken with an additional effect.


    Putting the +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone aside, Bai Yunfei took the +13 stone and studied it closely. Gritting his teeth, he split a third of the stone away!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    He checked the stats of the stone almost impatiently the moment it broke apart. To his relief, his plan worked as expected. ¡°Phew¡­good thing nothing bad happened¡­¡±


    What he was worried about was accidentally turning the stone into two +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stones. Luckily, it went as planned and now Bai Yunfei had a +11 and +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    Steeling his heart, Bai Yunfei took the Core Stone into his hand and held it with a +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    Breathing in, Bai Yunfei touched the two together.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    The Guaranteed Upgrade Stone disintegrated into dust immediately. Surrounding the Core Stone, the dust slowly entered its surface as if being absorbed while Bai Yunfei waited with bated breath.


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +11


    The notification of a successful upgrade appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Probing the stone, Bai Yunfei was disappointed to see nothing had changed yet.


    ¡°Not enough? One more time then!¡± He thought before grabbing the +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    ¡°Upgrade!!¡±


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +12

 Chapter 1104: The Sixth Lifebound Armament And an Area-type Effect!

    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect 1: Create a pocket world a thousand kilometers in diameter identical to the real world. Can freely manipulate the Laws of the pocket world.


    Equipment Effect 2: Gain ability to sense spatial energy within fifty kilometers.


    Equipment Effect 3: Gain ability to teleport anywhere within a perimeter of fifty kilometers.


    Can teleport instantly if within a single kilometer.


    Charge up period of .5 seconds if distance is less than 5 kilometers.


    Charge up period of 1 second if distance is less than 25 kilometers.


    Charge up period of 2 seconds if distance is greater than 25 kilometers.


    Cannot teleport if the surrounding spatial energy is disturbed.


    Cooldown of 2 seconds.


    Additional Attribute: Amplify Equipment Effect 1 by 25%, Equipment Effect 2 by 20%, and Equipment Effect 3 by 15%.


    +10 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to send any target within ten meters into a sealed dimension for two seconds. Target cannot be attacked and cannot attack. Target maintains original visibility.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: Temporarily increase the activity rate of any type of energy by 100% within an area of the owner''s choosing.


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement as the notifications rolled through his mind, but it wasn¡¯t because of this success that he was excited! It was because a familiar voice was speaking into his mind at that same moment!!


    ¡°Ah¡­that feels good¡­¡±


    The voice sounded muggy as if it belonged to an owner who had only just woken up from a long dream. The Core Stone began to shine with a faint orange light that took on the shape of a familiar object...


    ¡°Haha!! Xiao Fang, you¡¯re finally awake!!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed with glee.


    ¡°I was finally sleeping so well¡­what was that for, Yunfei¡­I was¡ª¡± Xiao Fang trailed off as it realized what its awakeness meant, ¡°Yunfei!? You¡¯re okay?! And I¡¯m here too¡­I woke up?! Did you manage to ¡®upgrade¡¯ the Core Stone?!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s thoughts were as perceptible as ever, evidently.


    Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded. ¡°I did. The Core Stone is now +12¡­Xiao Fang, it¡¯s thanks to you that I¡¯m still alive right now¡­¡±


    Though a spirit of the armament, Bai Yunfei truly thought as Xiao Fang as an important companion to him.


    ¡°You¡¯re my ¡®master¡¯, of course I¡¯d do my best to keep you alive, stop being so polite. I¡¯d only be asleep for a while anyways, it¡¯s not that big of an iss¡ªactually, how long have I been sleeping for?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been three years since the fight with Nether¡­¡±


    ¡°Three years? That¡¯s not long at all¡­


    ¡°Hold on, what¡¯s with all these people?! A city?! What¡¯s going on here?! And¡­Yunfei, when did you become a Peak Late-stage Soul King?! And where are we anyways?!¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll explain it slowly¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?! Core?! You¡¯re awake?!¡±


    A crisp voice spoke up over Bai Yunfei, causing the latter to look to where a small tiger had appeared out of thin air. It was the spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    ¡°Sealer?!¡± Xiao Fang yelped, ¡°You woke up before me?!¡±


    ¡°He woke up when I managed to upgrade the Soul Sealing Mandate to +10.¡±


    ¡°How did you wake, Core? Yunfei told me an upgrade would be necessary before you could wake up.¡± The tiger asked, but the answer was already coming to him. ¡°You upgraded the Core Stone?! Do you mean to say that you managed to get a hold of one of those ¡®Guaranteed Upgrade Stones¡¯ you mentioned before?!¡±


    ¡°I did.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°it was when I entered the cave of the Wind Ape King. Thanks to that venture I was able to upgrade the Core Stone to +12.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?!¡± The tiger¡¯s eyes shined brightly with eagerness. ¡°Are there any more? One, maybe? I wished to be upgraded too!!¡±


    ¡°Not now I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shrugged his shoulders, ¡°I have a +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone, but not a +11 one. I¡¯ll have to find one of those first¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah? I see¡­how selfish of you, Yunfei! What a prejudiced act, to upgrade the Core Stone before telling me!¡± Somehow, the little tiger looked crestfallen and angry at the same time.


    ¡°Xiao Fang was sleeping all this time, I had to upgrade him to wake him up¡­¡± Bai Yunfei began to justify his actions, ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll definitely upgrade the Soul Sealing Mandate once I get another +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.¡±


    The might of a Regalia was connected to the spirit of the armament. If the spirit wasn¡¯t in a good mood, then the Regalia would be negatively impacted. Therefore, it was essential to keep the spirit appeased if one wanted to make the most of the Regalia...


    With Sealer appeased, Bai Yunfei decided to study the new and improved Core Stone.


    The three equipment effects were all boosted, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s satisfaction. But more importantly¡­


    ¡°A soul compatibility of 100%! It¡¯s another lifebound armament!!¡± Bai Yunfei whooped. A full soul compatibility with the Core Stone meant Bai Yunfei would be able to use the Core Stone far more easily and with a reduced cooldown time on its abilities.


    And now, the Core Stone was Bai Yunfei¡¯s sixth lifebound armament!!


    ¡°Increase the activity rate of any type of energy by 100%...what does that mean?¡± It was time for Bai Yunfei to study the +12 additional effect now. Not really sure of what it meant, he activated the effect to see.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The air in the cave trembled upon the effect¡¯s activation. A tendril of fire appeared in the cave and skyrocketed the temperature.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even controlling the heat himself. It was as if the elemental fire in the cave had suddenly doubled in quality!


    Pulling at the tendril, Bai Yunfei watched as the fire danced over his palm with excitement.


    ¡°I get it now¡­the ¡®increase in activity rate¡¯ refers to the strength of elemental energy. And I can do this to whichever energy I want to double its power!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°It¡¯s an area-type effect!!¡±


    The Core Stone¡¯s +12 additional effect was equivalent to an area-effect soul skill!


    In other words, Bai Yunfei would be able to elevate the power of his fire attacks to a whole new level with this effect!

 Chapter 1105: The Gathering of the Wolf Clans Allies

    A conference was being held within the largest cave on top of one of the largest mountains.


    The strongest of the wolf clan and their allies were gathered there. At least thirty of them were standing in the skies near the entrance.


    Upon a closer investigation it could be seen that the thirty people were standing together so that they were ¡®grouped¡¯ up between different factions:


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King stood with the rest of his clan to the right.


    A figure wearing gold robes sat on the other side of the wolf clan. This person was tall and sturdy, and his aura was especially powerful. This had to be a Soul King leveled person. Even seated, this person looked dignified like a king.


    On the left of the Bloodhowl Wolf King was a shriveled elder in green. The expression on his face looked quite sinister. Behind this elder stood six powerful figures with distinctly different appearances but similar auras. They were most likely from the same clan.


    Further to the side was a white-haired elder with eyebrows as equally white. He looked quite kind, though the eight men and women behind him were all staring straight forward with a frosty expression. One could perhaps surmise they were from a clan that was adept in the usage of ice.


    ¡°Quit it with the theatrics, big brother Bloodhowl. We all came rushing here the moment we realized the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King¡¯s clans were coming. Imagine our scare when we only saw the battlefield and no one there! We thought your clan were on the retreat or even worse¡­What in the world did you do to pull this off!?¡±


    The golden-haired man boomed with curiosity. Like the ones with him, this man was extremely curious about how the wolf clan managed to survive.


    This ¡®man¡¯ was an ally of the wolf clan and head of the golden lion clans. A Peak late-stage class seven soulbeast, the Golden Lion King.


    ¡°I¡¯m quite curious myself. I know you want to wait for the Violet Dragon King to come before you explain, but¡­couldn¡¯t a quick summary be given? To alleviate our wonder? You¡¯d like to know too, wouldn¡¯t you, brother Hawk King?¡±


    The green-haired elder smiled and spoke after the Golden Lion King.


    He was the head of the azure-winged bat clan and a late-stage class seven soulbeast, the Azure-winged Bat King.


    The Eagle King he spoke of was referring to the white-haired and white-browed elder. This elder was the head of the frost magihawks and peak late-stage class seven soulbeast, the White-browed Hawk King


    ¡°Haha, fine then, I¡¯ll give a summary.¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King laughed. ¡°As you know, the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King joined with the Beast Taming School against my clan. I originally planned to have my clan retreat and reconvene with you all, but then¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait one second! The Beast Taming School?! We knew about the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King joining together, but the Beast Taming School too?!¡±


    The Golden Lion King interrupted the Bloodhowl Wolf King in furious disbelief.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t interrupt, Lion King. Let him finish.¡± The Azure-winged Bat King glared.


    ¡°But these honored people intervened just in time,¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King continued, ¡°they came with many Soul Kings and turned the tides onto our enemies soon after.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡±


    Silence rang across the people there as they processed those words. ¡°It¡¯s over? Just like that?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re dead, all of them. The Wind Ape King and Golden Roc King included.¡±


    ¡°Big brother Bloodhowl, I know you aren¡¯t lying, but¡ªcan¡¯t you explain that part more? How are they all dead?! It¡¯s just...it¡¯s just too much to believe! You say these ¡®honored¡¯ people, but who are they? How in the world did they bring this many Soul Kings? How didn¡¯t they get seen on their way here? Were they hiding in the forest all this time?¡±


    ¡°The one responsible isn¡¯t here. He¡¯s a soul cultivator currently recuperating his strength. I¡¯ll have him come out when the Violet Dragon King arrives.¡±


    Everything about Bai Yunfei was unique. From him having the Core Stone or the Soul Sealing Mandate to him being able to control the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡­none of them were small matters. Not that the Bloodhowl Wolf King would tell the other soulbeasts about these matters until Bai Yunfei agreed.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°You mean to tell us that the ones to help you was¡­a soul cultivator?! And he¡¯s on this mountain? Why haven¡¯t I sensed his presence then?¡± The Golden Lion King asked.


    Already his soulsense was spreading throughout the entire mountain in an attempt to find Bai Yunfei. But even after covering the entire mountain, the Golden Lion King was still unable to find him.


    Bai Yunfei was probably in the Core World, or so the Bloodhowl Wolf King thought. ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough¡­oh?¡±


    The presence of someone new made themselves known to the Bloodhowl Wolf King. ¡°The Violet Dragon King is here!¡±


    Expressions of respect appeared on everyone¡¯s faces as they looked up to greet the newcomer.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King glanced over to Hong Yin. Now would be a good time for Bai Yunfei to come out. Nodding his head, Hong Yin slinked off to retrieve Bai Yunfei¡­


    A group of people appeared out from a rift in space a moment later. There was around ten of them, all of which wore a purple robe. Nine of them had the auras of Soul Kings, but the leader¡¯s aura was identical to the Golden Lion King and the Bloodhowl Wolf King!


    The leader was a tall and beautiful woman dressed in a rich-purple robe. The violet eyes she had on her oval-shaped face held a strange allure to them that could seemingly charm anyone if they weren¡¯t careful enough. But at the same time, there was a dangerous presence to her that made it difficult for anyone to get close to.


    This was the head of the violet-eyed dragons, the early-stage class eight Violet Dragon King!!


    The violet-eyed dragons were the last to arrive simply because they were the farthest away from the wolf clan¡¯s territory. To make it here as fast as they did was already quite surprising.


    She looked wary about something with how she stared at the people assembled down below. Her violet eyes hovered over the wolf clan for a brief moment before resting upon the Bloodhowl Wolf King,


    If there was something she wanted to say, the Violet Dragon King thought twice about it and kept her silence.


    ¡°I understand your confusion, Violet Dragon King.¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King smiled, ¡°Let¡¯s gather around now then, I¡¯ll explain to everyone the story at once.¡±


    The Violet Dragon King¡¯s eyebrows rose slightly on her face, but she took her seat next to the White-browed Hawk King while the class seven soulbeast took up seats behind her.


    ¡°And now to answer everyone¡¯s confusions, I¡¯ll introduce everyone to this person. My clan wouldn¡¯t have been able to resolve this matter so perfectly without his assistance.¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s eyes flickered to the entrance of one of the caves as if waiting to announce the arrival of someone else. The eyes of everyone else followed quickly.


    They could hear the soft pitter-patter of footsteps as Hong Yin led Bai Yunfei into the area...


    Bai Yunfei could feel his heart skipping a beat upon seeing all the soulbeasts gathered in front of him.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of powerful people here!!¡±

 Chapter 1106: A Shocking Proposal!

    ¡°A Peak Late-stage Soul King!!¡±


    The Golden Lion King was the first one to exclaim his thoughts. Everyone expected an abnormally powerful soul cultivator, one that was a Soul Emperor at the very least.


    ¡°Everyone, this is the Crafting School¡¯s rumored disciple of Zi Jin, Bai Yunfei. It¡¯s all thanks to him our problems were resolved.¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King called attention back to himself. ¡°Bai Yunfei, these are the allies of my clan. Gathered here today are the violet-eyed dragons, the frost magihawks, the azure-winged bats, and the golden lions¡­.these are their respective leaders, the Violet Dragon King, the White-browed Hawk King, the Azure-winged Bat King, and the Golden Lion King¡­¡±


    ¡°This one is Bai Yunfei. It¡¯s an honor to meet everyone here today¡­¡± Bai Yunfei clasped his hands together in greeting.


    The only soulbeast Bai Yunfei heard of was the Violet Dragon King since she was one of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers. There were far too many powerful soulbeasts for the soul cultivator world to pay attention to and learn about. Many of the soulbeasts didn¡¯t even bother coming into contact with soul cultivators, so it was possible that they were totally unheard of.


    And that was the problem with why there was such a thing called the ¡®Eight Soulbeast Rulers¡¯. A designation like this was only applicable for the soulbeasts known to the soul cultivator world and completely disregarded any other soulbeasts of note, like the peak late-stage class seven White-browed Hawk King and Golden Lion King. They were stronger than even the Black Dragon King and the Twin Winged Kings and yet weren¡¯t a part of the Eight Soulbeast Rulers


    ¡°The disciple of Zi Jin?!¡±


    Several of the soulbeasts raised an eyebrow. The Golden Lion King raised both. Zi Jin¡¯s name was a known one to the Soulbeast Forest.


    ¡°Big brother Bloodhowl¡­¡± He spoke, ¡°he¡¯s the reason why the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King¡¯s clans were destroyed?! By himself?! You¡¯re kidding. The Golden Roc King was an early-stage class eight soulbeast. Even if you defeated the Wind Ape King, there¡¯d be no way for this one to defeat the Golden Roc King by himself. Didn¡¯t you say there were others? Where are they?¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled in response to the Golden Lion King. ¡°As senior Lion King says, it¡¯d be impossible for me to defeat the Golden Roc King by myself. My victory over him was because of an invaluable ¡®helper¡¯ of equal strength.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Of equal strength you say? A Soul Emperor? Who is it?¡±


    Bai Yunfei waved his hand, ¡°Him!!¡±


    A flash of golden light appeared in front of everyone as a giant figure materialized into the real world with a stunning aura!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­the Demon-eyed Tiger King!! But how!?¡±


    Everyone realized who this person was at once. In just a second or two after the Demon-eyed Tiger King appeared, the Golden Lion King was already voicing his shock.


    ¡°The Demon-eyed Tiger King was captured by the Beast Taming School two hundred years ago! He should¡¯ve been turned into a soulbeast puppet, how¡­¡±


    He was already coming to the conclusion that Bai Yunfei was someone from the Beast Taming School, but the thought felt extremely wrong to him. Growing silent, he narrowed his eyes and stared at Bai Yunfei to wait for an explanation.


    ¡°The Demon-eyed Tiger King is indeed still a soulbeast puppet. In fact, he was turned into a medium for the Beast Taming School¡¯s headmaster, Lin Dongxiao, to use. I destroyed the part of his soul in the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s body and took the Demon-eyed Tiger King away from him. A soul armament of mine allows me to control the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡ªthat¡¯s the reason why I was able to win against the Golden Roc King.¡±


    ¡°What?! A medium for the Beast Taming School¡¯s headmaster?! And you fought with him, destroyed that soul aspect, and then took control of the Demon-eyed Tiger King?!¡±


    It was an explanation, but the soulbeasts only felt more confused after listening to him.


    ¡°How did you manage to do all that?!¡± Demanded the Golden Lion King.


    ¡°More importantly¡­how are you even able of controlling the Demon-eyed Tiger King?!¡± The beginning of something hostile started to stir in the Golden Lion King¡¯s eyes. If this person in front of him was capable of controlling the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡­didn¡¯t that mean he wasn¡¯t any different than the beast tamers?!


    The Violet Dragon King and the other soulbeasts all had the same look in their eyes as well.


    Bai Yunfei knew this question was inevitable. ¡°As I said before, I have soul armament that allows me to control the Demon-eyed Tiger King, but please don¡¯t misunderstand me. I have no intentions of being anything like the beast tamers. Me controlling the Demon-eyed Tiger King was something that couldn¡¯t be avoided at the time¡­.¡±


    Still sensing the hostility in the air, the Bloodhowl Wolf King opened his mouth to speak, ¡°I will vow on my life to guarantee Bai Yunfei¡¯s words. He is nothing like the beast tamers, please be at ease.¡±


    A vow like that? What an exaggeration!


    Again, everyone gave a disbelieving look at the Bloodhowl Wolf King. It was especially rare to see that he would endorse a soul cultivator of all people so heavily.


    ¡°Please sit, Bai Yunfei.¡± The wolf king gestured to him.


    Bai Yunfei was still standing in the middle of the hall since the Golden Lion King had been interrogating him from the start. Nodding in thanks to the Bloodhowl Wolf King, Bai Yunfei strode to the seat next to the Golden Lion King. Hong Yin hesitated for a brief moment, wondering if he should return to the wolf clan¡¯s side, but in the end he decided to sit beside Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°May you please begin to tell us how you killed the Golden Roc King, Wind Ape King, and beast tamers, Wolf King?¡± The Azure-winged Bat King asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve nothing to hide, senior Bloodhowl, not even the Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate. If these people are friends of your clan then I¡¯ll trust them as well.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice spoke into the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s mind.


    The only sign that the Bloodhowl Wolf King gave in recognition of Bai Yunfei¡¯s words was a quick glance over to him before he nodded. ¡°Very well then, allow me to explain the story.¡±


    And so the story began with the Bloodhowl Wolf King explaining everything from the very start. Spellbound, every single soulbeast drank in the words of the wolf in silence¡­


    ¡°So you used the Demon-eyed Tiger King to surprise and incapacitate the Beast Taming School¡¯s Soul Emperor? Haha! You¡¯ve got a nice brain on you, youngster! I approve!¡±


    The first to speak was the Golden Lion King. He was filled with laughter and praise for Bai Yunfei over what he did to Duan Tianqing¡­


    ¡°The Soul Sealing Mandate and Core Stone¡­two Regalias are on his person¡­?¡±


    The Azure-winged Bat King was thinking to himself, shocked about hearing of Bai Yunfei¡¯s possession over two Regalias¡­


    Waiting a bit for everyone to get over their shock, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°There is a matter of business I¡¯d like to discuss with everyone¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? What is it?¡± The Golden Lion King asked.


    ¡°What is everyone¡¯s opinion of the Beast Taming School?¡±


    ¡°The Beast Taming School?¡± The Golden Lion King''s eyes narrowed with hatred. ¡°Why mention them? Our clans will one day exterminate that damnable school, just you wait!!¡±


    ¡°Indeed. I abhor the Beast Taming School as well.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded in agreement. ¡°Then¡­how about we exterminate the Beast Taming School once in for all?¡±


    What a bombshell of a proposal!!

 Chapter 1107: A Problem of Trust

    A strange silence filled the halls. Not even a single person was willing to break that silence in favor of staring strangely at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°What¡­did you say?¡±


    The Golden Lion King was the first to break the silence.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t flinch. ¡°I said, let us exterminate the Beast Taming School together, agreed?¡±


    ¡°Exterminate the Beast Taming School!!¡±


    Now that they had confirmation on what they heard, every single soulbeast began to think of the same thing: Impossible!


    ¡°What joke are you playing at!?¡± Roared the Golden Lion King, ¡°Do you think the Beast Taming School is some midling school, or that the entirety of their school was in front of us?! The few of us gathered here today would be enough to take them on, is that what you think? That we can take a nice stroll over to their school? Do you¡­¡±


    In utter disbelief at what Bai Yunfei said, the Golden Lion King began to feel infuriated. Was this soul cultivator stupid? Or did he just think himself of being that powerful? A string of expletives was beginning to form his lips to be said when Bai Yunfei held his hand up.


    ¡°I have the Core Stone.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­?¡±


    What Bai Yunfei said didn¡¯t make sense at first. But then it came to the Golden Lion King when he thought about it.


    The Core World!


    The White-browed Hawk King had a faint glimmer in his eyes now. ¡°Do you mean to¡­do the same as before and have everyone hide in the Core World until we reach where the Beast Taming School is?!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a perfect plan?¡±


    Dumbfounded, the Bloodhowl Wolf King and Violet Dragon King looked at one another. Not even the Bloodhowl Wolf King knew this was coming. Just thinking about the plan made his heart skipped a beat.


    It was true what Bai Yunfei said. If they could harness the power of the Core Stone, then an assault and the eradication of the Beast Taming School was possible!!


    Pacifying the Beast Taming School was actually quite possible if every strong soulbeast were to gather together. But there was a problem, even if they gathered together. The Beast Taming School was¡­located within the borders of the Tianhun Empire!


    The world of humans and soulbeasts were two different nations. Any powerful soulbeast entering the Tianhun Empire would definitely be regarded as an invader! Not a single soul cultivator would allow for such an invader and would strike at them. This inevitably made it impossible for any soulbeast to go to the Beast Taming School or risk being resisted by other powerful soul cultivators.


    In the case that a few soulbeasts managed to hide their presence and make their way to the Beast Taming School, there was still no chance for them to do much damage. After all, it was impossible for a large enough attack force to hide their presence entirely.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King attempted such a solo effort before a hundred years ago, in fact. A great blow was dealt to the Beast Taming School, but the Bloodhowl Wolf King was forced to return from the Tianhun Empire with many severe wounds.


    But the Core Stone changed everything. Everyone could simply hide in the Core Stone without being discovered by the Beast Taming School or other soul cultivators!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­are you¡­will you truly be willing to assist us soulbeasts? To help us destroy the Beast Taming School?¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King asked hesitantly.


    ¡°You speak so seriously, senior Bloodhowl. It¡¯s so much that I wish to ¡®help¡¯, but that the Beast Taming School is a mutual enemy. I¡¯m not sure how much everyone here knows about the current events within the empire, but¡­the ¡®rebels¡¯ are enemies of mine. The rebels have the Beast Taming School and Soul Refining School within their ranks, and it just so happens that those two schools are the ones I hate the most. It¡¯d actually be of help to me if the soulbeasts aid me in the Beast Taming School¡¯s destruction. The destruction of a mutual enemy is something to both our benefits. Wouldn¡¯t joining together be the best option?¡±


    The Beast Taming School was an enemy to anyone soulbeast. Not many soulbeasts were willing to cooperate with them like the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King. The majority of soulbeasts had only one goal regarding the Beast Taming School: its total and complete destruction.


    And now that their hope was finally coming together, many of the soulbeasts were beginning to feel excited¡­


    ¡°While it¡¯s possible to transport all of us into the Core World and attack the Beast Taming School¡­¡± The Azure-winged Bat King began, ¡°do you really think our current numbers will be enough to destroy them? Aren¡¯t you underestimating a school that has survived for thousands of years?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t known if the Beast Taming School had any Soul Saints, but they definitely had more than two Soul Emperors. Three to five of them could be defending the Beast Taming School at any point in time, and that wasn¡¯t including their soulbeast puppets.


    The lifespans of soulbeasts far outstripped those of soul cultivators. The Beast Taming School could pass down a large amount of soulbeast puppets to the next generation, meaning they could have over a dozen class eight soulbeast puppets to make use of. It didn¡¯t matter if there weren¡¯t even enough beast tamers to use all their soulbeast puppets, simply having a surplus of these puppets made any battle easy.


    This also meant it was possible for any of the beast tamers to command their class eight soulbeast puppet to self-destruct. To them, a soulbeast puppet may as well be a one-time consumable item.


    So it was possible that even if all these soulbeasts were to head over to the Beast Taming School, the Beast Taming School could use perhaps half of their storage to win the battle¡­


    Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯d think we¡¯d be able to destroy the Beast Taming School with only this many people. I just wanted to see how many people would agree to this plan first before we gather the other prominent figures in the forest. I doubt there¡¯d only be a few soulbeast wanting to destroy the Beast Taming School, correct?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Began the Golden Lion King, ¡°it¡¯s as you say. We won¡¯t be able to defeat the Beast Taming School by ourselves. We¡¯d need far more people for that. However¡­¡±


    He trailed off, but the other soulbeasts didn¡¯t need him to finish that statement to know what he was going to say. If the other soulbeasts in the forest knew that the ¡®planner¡¯ and ¡®possessor¡¯ of the Core Stone was a soul cultivator, the chances of a successful gathering wouldn¡¯t be very likely.


    Having every single powerful soulbeast hide in the Core World would require the utmost faith in Bai Yunfei. This type of faith wasn¡¯t something every soulbeast would be willing to have.


    Bai Yunfei was well aware of that. He was looking at the Bloodhowl Wolf King as if waiting for him to speak. The wolf king opened his mouth to speak, but someone with a frosty tone of voice beat him to it¡­


    ¡°All of us gathered here have the utmost faith in you, Wolf King. If you choose to bet your life on this person, then we too will believe in him too. However¡­the plan is too much to consider. Our acceptance means to gamble with the fate of our clans¡­as leaders, this is not a decision we can make easily, much less a decision the other soulbeasts will being willing to consider at all. An ¡®oral agreement¡¯ won¡¯t even being to sway any of the other soulbeasts to help us.¡±


    The one to speak was the Violet Dragon King. She was saying what the Golden Lion King had failed to do: it¡¯d be impossible for Bai Yunfei to gain the trust of every powerful soulbeast in the forest.


    Bai Yunfei was silent. He already knew this was going to be a problem, to begin with. He could imagine the faces of any soulbeast after he pitched his plan.


    ¡°Hey, I can help you destroy the Beast Taming School. All you need to do is come into the Core World.¡± This was not a plan any soulbeast would be willing to take part in so easily¡­


    ¡°Hah¡­I simply can¡¯t understand why you wouldn¡¯t have faith in Yunfei? How difficult could it be? Make a Vow of Souls and no one will be able to backstab the other¡­.¡±


    A new voice spoke out amongst the crowd and immediately caused everyone to leap to their feet!

 Chapter 1108: Vow of Souls

    A faint white glow of light came forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist before materializing into a transparent tiger. This was the one who spoke just now.


    ¡°Everyone, this is the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s spirit.¡± Bai Yunfei introduced.


    ¡°The Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s spirit!!¡±


    Everyone knew about spirits of the armaments. Seeing one in the ¡®flesh¡¯ was a different story than hearing about it, however. They were all stunned and unable to believe their eyes.


    Several of the soulbeasts¡¯ eyes hovered onto the small white slip hanging near Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist¡ªso this was the legendary Soul Sealing Mandate¡­


    ¡°Sealer, what is this ¡®Vow of Souls¡¯ you mentioned?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    He never heard of such a term before, but the way the tiger talked about it made it seem like the answer to his problems.


    ¡°The ancient art, the Vow of Souls?!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King exclaimed. It appeared he knew what it was.


    ¡°A Vow of Souls create a vow between both parties. To break the vow or go against the content of the vows is to surrender their life!! It¡¯s an ancient art from the past that envokes the soul! The Vow of Souls has been lost to us since long before¡­do you know how to make one?!¡±


    His eyes were focused entirely onto the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    ¡°Oh? You know about the Vow of Souls? It is indeed that same art you mentioned. But a Vow of Souls cannot be made if either parties hold ill will toward the other. It is unbreakable precisely because it cannot be formed if there is the intent to backstab. If a Vow of Souls is made, wouldn¡¯t this alleviate all your worries about the attack on the Beast Taming School?¡±


    ¡°Does this mean you know the method of forming a ¡®Vow of Souls¡¯ then?!¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°What a silly question, why mention it if I couldn¡¯t? It¡¯s something Tianhun came across by accident and allowed me to memorize. As long as both sides are willing, I¡¯ll help you form a Vow of Souls.¡±


    Bai Yunfei could feel his heart pound within his chest. He never thought this problem would be solved so fast! ¡°Will there be any problems regarding this issue now?¡± He asked the others, ¡°The Vow of Souls should guarantee my willingness. We shouldn¡¯t have anything to worry about in this case.¡±


    ¡°If it the ancient Vow of Souls then there¡¯ll of course be nothing to worry about¡­¡±


    The elderly White-browed Hawk King replied. Personally, he was already willing to agree, but there was a light in his eyes that suggested he had something to say to the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    He said nothing, however.


    The Soul Sealing Mandate talked about helping them form a Vow of Souls, but nothing about helping them learn how to make one. This had to be intentional. Everyone knew it was most likely for the sake of preserving the ancient secrets and didn¡¯t comment otherwise. As long as the Vow of Souls was made, they didn¡¯t really care much if the methodology was kept a secret.


    The only problem that remained was if they could believe in the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s words about the Vow of Souls¡­


    ¡°Very well then. Shall we proceed with a Vow of Souls between Bai Yunfei and I first?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded in relief. If he and the Bloodhowl Wolf King made the vow first then no one else should be skeptical anymore.


    ¡°How does it work?¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King asked the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple, take a strand from your essence originseed out and leave the rest to me.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Activating the soulforce in his body, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand to his chest and pulled something out!


    A faint shimmer of light appeared over his chest as a small gray strand of energy was ¡®plucked¡¯ out. Its emergence from his body seemed to pain Bai Yunfei.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King took notice of Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression and gave a small smile. Waving his own hand, a sliver of gray energy emerged from his chest as well.


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    The white tiger pounced through the air, gray wisp trailing behind the tiger before it broke apart into a white mist to surround the two strands of energy.


    Everyone could sense a faint white light cover and bind the two strands together. Watching with amazed eyes, they saw the two strands slowly turn into the color of blood...


    Meanwhile, Bai Yunfei and the Bloodhowl Wolf King were both looking quite surprised themselves.


    This spectacle continued for ten additional seconds before the white light broke away from the two strands and reformed into the shape of the white tiger. Runic writing lined the interior parts of the two strands of energy before they too, faded away, and the strands returned to Bai Yunfei and the Bloodhowl Wolf King.


    ¡°It¡¯s as I expected from the records.¡± Breathed the Bloodhowl Wolf King. ¡°Bai Yunfei has Vowed to do nothing that would harm us from when we leave the Soulbeast Forest to when we return after the destruction of the Beast Taming School. Should he break the Vow then he agrees to forfeit his life!¡±


    ¡°So a Vow of Souls was really made!!¡±


    The Violet Dragon King was skeptical no longer and exclaimed in shock over the sight.


    ¡°Very well then! The destruction of the Beast Taming School can¡¯t be done while I¡¯m sitting here! Allow me to form that Vow of Souls too!¡±


    The Golden Lion King exploded in joy.


    Sealer had told Bai Yunfei that making multiple Vows wouldn¡¯t be harmful unless they went against the agreements stated in another Vow. And each Vow would disappear after completion, so Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t too worried about having multiple of those.


    Thus he made a Vow of Souls with the Golden Lion King at once.


    At first, he wanted to add a clause that¡¯d say he wouldn¡¯t do harm to ¡®any soulbeast¡¯ in the Vow, but he realized it¡¯d be dangerous. So for now he limited it to the soulbeasts here making the Vow with him. That way they¡¯d be alleviated and the other soulbeasts would be more likely to make the Vow with him too.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the other soulbeasts there to follow suit and form a Vow of Souls with him.


    ¡°That settles it! I¡¯ll be on my way to contact the other soulbeasts right now! Haha¡­the destruction of Beast Taming School is at hand¡­I wonder how many others will jump at the chance?¡±


    The Golden Lion King was a soulbeast that didn¡¯t like beating around the bush. If something had to be done then he¡¯d set about accomplishing that task without delay. In fact, he looked quite impatient to head out from here so he could deliver the news.


    Bai Yunfei watched in silence as the soulbeasts conferred to one another who they should call. His eyes were gleaming with glee as he thought about the future¡­


    He knew¡­he knew that the actions he took today would shake the entire world!

 Chapter 1109: A Period of Waiting and Relaxing

    Inside the Core World.


    Fog the color of snow surrounded the mountain top like a near-transparent sheet of fabric. On top of the mountain sat Bai Yunfei. He was watching the figures in Yao City move about a little absent-mindedly.


    The Violet Dragon King and other soulbeasts left the wolf clan¡¯s territory about half a day ago to speak with the other soulbeasts in the forest. Bai Yunfei had no idea when they¡¯d be done, so he decided to just sit here in the Core World and wait.


    Wait until there were enough people to form a good enough assault force onto the Beast Taming School.


    He didn¡¯t want it to be a ¡®harsh battle¡¯. He wanted an overwhelming victory against the Beast Taming School, hence why he was willing to wait for enough people to gather.


    So until the Bloodhowl Wolf King and others were done, Bai Yunfei could do nothing but wait.


    He guessed it¡¯d take at least half a month for enough people to gather. That meant he and the other people within the Core World could take a nice vacation until then.


    A good vacation was what he needed. It seemed like forever ago since his last downtime. He didn¡¯t even manage to relax ever since he regained his memories and strength.


    It¡¯d be anyone¡¯s guess on what Bai Yunfei was thinking about at this minute. He simply loved to gaze at the clouds.


    ¡°What are you doing here, Yunfei?¡±


    A gentle voice spoke from his right. It was Tang Xinyun.


    Bai Yunfei smiled. He stretched his hand out to gently clasp onto hers and help her to the ground. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just clearing my mind and relaxing here.¡±


    She nodded, she wasn¡¯t unaccustomed to something like this. After two seconds of looking at the clouds herself, she spoke: ¡°Don¡¯t put too much pressure on yourself. Some things are meant to be taken slowly, and certainly not meant to be done by one person. Everyone is willing to help you, so don¡¯t feel like you need to do everything yourself¡­¡±


    ¡°I know that¡­¡± Bai Yunfei laughed and embraced Tang Xinyun, allowing himself to relax with her in his arms. ¡°Isn¡¯t that why I¡¯m gathering so many soulbeasts here? The destruction of the Beast Taming School is dependent on their numbers, I¡¯m just the ¡®organizer¡¯...¡±


    ¡°The preparations must be made extensively,¡± Tang Xinyun spoke from within his embrace, ¡°I don¡¯t want anything to happen to you again¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll protect myself this time. I¡¯m just like a cockroach that just won¡¯t die, no danger will harm me.¡±


    ¡°A cockroach? Why a cockroach?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­they¡¯re just known for being hard to kill.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard anyone say it like that.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Everything felt tranquil to Bai Yunfei. He and Tang Xinyun were still watching the clouds float through the skies without a word now, but neither minded the silence.


    Peaceful moments like this didn¡¯t come by often. It was only a shame that this moment wouldn¡¯t last forever. Soon he¡¯d have to get back on his feet and get to work again¡­


    But until everyone gathers, Bai Yunfei was content to continue resting like this for a while longer.


    ¡°Woof¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t long when the silence was broken once again, but this time by an animal rather than a person. Surprised, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun looked up to see a small yellow blur come running toward them.


    ¡°Lao Sha?¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°you¡¯re already awake?!¡±


    Who else could it be running toward them but Lao Sha?


    Lao Sha had been asleep in the Core World ever since it ¡®digested¡¯ the energy attacks of those twenty-something class seven soulbeasts. Bai Yunfei expected it to be asleep for a lot longer than this, like maybe another ten days or so.


    He wasn¡¯t particularly worried about Lao Sha waking up any time soon. The apprentices of the Yao clan was taking care of Lao Sha in his place.


    The dog didn¡¯t look any different and neither was its aura. Lao Sha didn¡¯t even look like the type of dog that¡¯d be capable of absorbing the energy of multiple Skins to begin with.


    But Bai Yunfei just had to grin. Taking out two high-grade primal stones, he threw them to Lao Sha for it to enjoy.


    ¡°Gulp¡­¡± In one fluid motion, both primal stones were swallowed up by Lao Sha. Wagging its tail, the dog stared at Bai Yunfei as if waiting for more¡­


    ¡°Oh? Becoming a glutton, are we?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. Before, two primal stones would¡¯ve been enough to fill up the dog. Times were changing, it seemed, and so was Lao Sha¡¯s stomach. Shrugging, Bai Yunfei took five more high-grade primal stones and threw them to Lao Sha. That should satisfy it.


    The average soul cultivator would¡¯ve been alarmed¡ªthose were high-grade primal stones Bai Yunfei was throwing out!! Primal stones that even a Soul King could use for their training! Something fit kings being used as fodder for a dog¡­


    ¡°I wonder if Lao Sha got any stronger?¡± Bai Yunfei thought aloud to himself. ¡°Absorbing elemental energy is unnaturally strong. That ability will definitely be helpful in the future, but he¡¯ll be lacking in other areas unless trained or given a set of equipment¡­¡±


    Elemental attacks were useless on Lao Sha, but physical attacks were a different story. If let loose on the battlefield, Lao Sha would definitely be done for if an enemy hit him with a physical blow. It was imperative that Bai Yunfei craft a set of armor for him later.


    He had plenty of materials to make armor with. Maybe it was time to take some time to do some crafting.


    And so Bai Yunfei decided to do just that. Seated in an empty part of the Core World, Bai Yunfei took out the Lightningfire Cauldron along with a golden object.


    It was the claw of the Golden Roc King.


    He was deep in thought. ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll use this. Xiao Qi will probably gain a more powerful piece of equipment after this¡­¡±


    A stream of materials flew out from his space ring as he started the preparations for crafting.


    The many resources he had stemmed from either the Yao clan or from the enemies he killed. There were also several materials he gained from the wolf clan and both the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King¡¯s inventory. His victory over the latter two were not without their benefits, and Bai Yunfei was extremely satisfied with the loot he gained.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    He exhaled slowly. It was time to begin.


    Slamming a palm into his chest, Bai Yunfei transferred the fireseed in his chest to the cauldron and waited for it to light up with a great fire.


    Once kindled, Bai Yunfei threw in the Golden Roc King¡¯s claw and began the crafting process¡­

 Chapter 1110: Golden Crow Talons

    All was calm in the Core World except for one mountain. The light around this mountain was a brilliant red as if the land beneath it was on fire. It had been like this for several hours now.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    Then as if reaching some kind of equilibrium, the red light froze up. A flash of violet light cleaved through the red light and brought onto the world a clap of thunder!!


    A lightning bolt larger than any before struck the mountain top. It should¡¯ve destroyed the peak, but strangely enough it did not. It only went through the terrain as it simply didn¡¯t even exist¡­


    Soon, the lightning bolt and red light faded away and brought the Core World back into a state of natural peace.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡± Breathing in, Bai Yunfei sat back on his arms. Sweat was dripping from his forehead and nose in large amounts. He was tired, but his eyes reflected a gleam of excitement normally seen whenever he crafted or upgraded something. Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei summoned a gold and violet object from within the cauldron to his other hand.


    They were two palm-sized ¡®talons¡¯ that shined both violet and gold. Based on appearances alone it didn¡¯t seem like these talons were any different than to the talons of any other bird. If anything, they were slightly smaller and ¡®hollow¡¯ like gloves, but for a bird rather than a human¡­


    Bai Yunfei inspected the stats at once.


    ¡°Haha¡­a set piece, just like I thought!! And the cauldron added a lightning attribute to them! What a pleasant surprise.¡±


    An ¡®unprecedented¡¯ situation happened when he crafted this time¡ªBai Yunfei managed to craft two soul armaments in one go!


    He could¡¯ve spent the time crafting them separately, but Bai Yunfei managed to focus just enough to craft both at the same time!


    The two talons had the same attributes and stats due to the exact same materials being used. And because of that¡­they became a set piece!


    A type of soul armament that was quite rare!


    It was with a smile that Bai Yunfei set about upgrading the soul armaments again. He simply hadn¡¯t the patience to wait and see their additional effects.


    In the end:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Lightning


    Set Piece: Left


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 5000


    Additional Attack: 3200


    Soul Compatibility: 35%


    Set Effect: 50% Increase in attack when the [Right] piece is equipped.


    Set Effect 2: Exchange 30% attack power from the [Left] piece for the [Right] piece for up to 5 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +10 Additional Effect: 50% Chance of inflicting 100% piercing damage.


    Upgrade Requirement: 270 Soulpoints


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Lightning


    Set Piece: Right


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 5100


    Additional Attack: 3200


    Soul Compatibility: 35%


    Set Effect: 50% Increase in attack when the [Left] piece is equipped.


    Set Effect 2: Exchange 30% attack power from the [Right] piece for the [Left] piece for up to 5 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +10 Additional Effect: 50% Chance of inflicting 100% piercing damage.


    Upgrade Requirement: 270 Soulpoints


    ¡°Not bad¡­¡± He remarked. ¡°Xiao Qi has a much better alternative to attacking now.¡±


    The way Xiao Qi fought emphasized the spatial edges and sometimes blasts of elemental wind and lightning due to his Wind and Lightning Feathers. Those feathers allowed him to attack his enemies with abnormally strong strength and as such generally made Xiao Qi forget about attacking with any other part of his body.


    But with these talons, Xiao Qi would be able to attack with his claws as well now.


    One additional thing Bai Yunfei opted to do with these talons was make them capable of size-adjustment, just like the Wind and Lightning Feathers. It was one thing to make claws powerful, it was another thing to make them constantly powerful. If Xiao Qi was fighting in a larger form, then the claws would be utterly useless unless capable of adjusting to his size. Therefore, Bai Yunfei decided to throw in a lot of transformation stones when he was crafting these talons. This way these talons would be able to keep up with Xiao Qi¡¯s changes in size during battle.


    The constant changing of shapes was the reason why most soulbeasts didn¡¯t use soul armaments. What was the point in using a soul armament that could be the size of a toothpick at one moment and a pillar the next? It was manageable in Xiao Qi¡¯s case¡ªwho generally preferred fighting in two specific forms¡ªbut not for Long Lan, who generally enjoy fighting in a gigantic form.


    Long Lan also enjoyed being in a human form and kept most of his battle equipment in a space ring when not in use. But taking off soul armor whenever he wanted to transform was inherently troublesome and inefficient. Any soul armor would simply break apart like paper if it was weak enough, and any soul armor strong enough to withstand his transformation into a larger form would simply spell trouble for his body¡­


    And that was the second reason why soulbeasts didn¡¯t enjoy using soul armaments.


    This time, Bai Yunfei had a greater understanding on the finer aspects of crafting. Crafting the ¡®Black Phantom¡¯ dagger took a herculean effort form him to accomplish, but crafting these talons hardly took the wind from his sails. And look where that got him¡ªtwo mid-heaven tier soul armaments! And based off the stats, the two talons were also slightly stronger than the Black Phantom despite the difference in quality materials. The only reason behind this could be Bai Yunfei¡¯s masterful hand at crafting.


    A Peak Late-stage Soul King crafting a mid-heaven tier soul armament without trouble was basically par for the course. But crafting a high-heaven tier soul armament with this same ease would require him being a Soul Emperor.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call this¡­the Golden Crow Talons!¡±


    Satisfied with the name he gave, Bai Yunfei deposited the talons into his space ring. He¡¯d give these talons to Xiao Qi later.


    ¡°I¡¯ll end things here for today. Tomorrow, I¡¯ll craft a soul armament with the Wind Ape King¡¯s bones¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to attempt a second crafting today; the first crafting took out more from him than he¡¯d like. Crafting required the most optimal state of mind and body, and he was at neither states right now.


    Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei withdrew a two-meter-long trident from his space ring.


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Earth


    Attack: 7000


    Upgrade Requirement: 330 Soulpoints


    This was the soul armament Bai Yunfei salvaged from the Wind Ape King¡¯s cave. While it¡¯s attack was praiseworthy, the soul armament hadn¡¯t even a single effect to speak of.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t anything else to be said about this soul armament, so Bai Yunfei decided to simply upgrade it.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡± He repeated. His eyes were narrowed now, and his right hand moving above the soul armament to swipe at something!


    He was trying to alter the outcome of the upgrading!


    Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    But alas, it was not meant to be. A notification of the upgrade failing appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind before the trident crumbled into dust¡­


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡±


    A sigh escaped from him¡ªthere was still a considerable risk when upgrading a high-heaven tier soul armament to +11. One Bai Yunfei had yet to overcome.


    Not one to mope around over his failure, Bai Yunfei took out a metallic-purple piece of armor and began to upgrade it.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Upgrade Fai


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand snapped forward like lightning once again when the notification of the upgrade failing started to pop up!


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 8000

 Chapter 1111: Treating the Permafrost Mastiff

    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 8000


    Additional Defense: 5200


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Equipment Effect: 20% Reduction in damage taken.


    +10 Additional Effect: In the case struck by an attack that exceeds more than half this equipment''s defensive might, there is a 30% chance of a lightning bolt striking the enemy with an equal amount of attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    This was the high-heaven tier soul armament Bai Yunfei got from the Soul Emperor, Duan Tianqing!


    It was also the strongest piece of equipment Bai Yunfei had defensive-wise.


    Defensive-type soul armaments were comparatively rarer than their offensive-type counterparts. Following that line of speaking, a high-heaven tier soul armor was even rarer than rare. Even Late-stage Soul Kings would have some difficulty finding one.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be difficult getting some high-heaven tier soul armaments for upgrading practice...when will I ever be good enough to upgrade even high-heaven tier soul armaments to +11 without a problem¡­?¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. Destroying one high-heaven tier soul armament was painful enough, but upgrading this soul armament made up for that previous loss.


    A soul armament with a defense value of thirteen-thousand was abnormally high¡ªnot even a heaven-tier soul armament would have an easy time getting past that. The added bonus of having a lightning bolt deal damage to any attacker made this piece of armor exceedingly powerful.


    That being said, the armor Bai Yunfei wore was +11 and had decent stats on top of also being able to negate any one elemental attack. He wouldn¡¯t be swapping out his armor pieces just yet.


    This armor would be for Tang Xinyun. Bai Yunfei would at the very least be reassured if she had something as strong as this protecting her when in battle.


    ¡°What is it, Yunfei? Did you craft another soul armament?¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned around; a voice had just spoken to him via soul communication. It was Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Good timing, Xiao Qi.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Come try out these soul armaments¡­¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei spent the next following days of peace with leisure and relaxation. He¡¯d craft a soul armament or two every day, upgrade them, and then relax with Tang Xinyun. A peaceful period of life that did nothing but calm him down¡­


    A message was delivered to him on the seventh day by Yao Wuchen. The Yao clan had finally reached an important stage in their research on alchemizing a pill to rejuvenate the soul!!


    The soul rejuvenating pill, they called it. It was a pill specifically made to aid a soulbeast puppet regain their sentience and soul. This was a pill that was supposed to take a much longer time than a single week to even begin having any notable sign of progress. Bai Yunfei had to admit that the Alchemy School was definitely worthy of their title and reputation from long before.


    Multiple tests had been run, and it was time for the biggest test to be conduct. Tang Xinyun, Wu Dijian, Dan Teng, Yao Wuchen, and a few other alchemists were gathered here in a room with Bai Yunfei. All of them were looking closely at a soulbeast with a pure-white body¡ªthe permafrost mastiff.


    The permafrost mastiff was basically a ¡®retired¡¯ soulbeast in Bai Yunfei¡¯s arsenal due to it being an early-stage class seven soulbeast. But Bai Yunfei had also the greatest amount of information on how class seven soulbeast puppets worked thanks to this one and had fought with it for a very long time. Furthermore, there was a difference between this soulbeast puppet and the others that Bai Yunfei noticed. The mastiff would be a good test subject to try the treatment on.


    Taking the Beast Taming Ring from the Demon-eyed Tiger King, Bai Yunfei placed it onto the permafrost mastiff before using it to have the permafrost mastiff ingest the soul rejuvenating pill.


    Everyone watched as changes could be felt within the mastiff¡¯s aura. With bated breath and nervous glances, they waited for the permafrost mastiff to physically respond in any way.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t work?¡±


    Wu Dijian commented after a period of silence.


    ¡°It did!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei responded with glee.


    Though it didn¡¯t seem like anything was happening on the surface, Bai Yunfei could definitely tell. Something inside the permafrost mastiff was changing, and the resistance he could feel acting against the Beast Taming Ring was proof of that!


    This was something completely unprecedented!


    The sentience of a soulbeast was always the first thing to be suppressed when they get turned into soulbeast puppets. That was the way beast tamers worked and why the Beast Taming Ring worked so well on soulbeast puppets since no resistance could be mounted. Only when the Beast Taming Ring was used on sentient soulbeasts could something like ¡®resistance¡¯ be had!


    And it was because of that resistance that Bai Yunfei could say the pill was working. Immediately releasing control of the soulbeast from the Beast Taming Ring, Bai Yunfei cautiously watched for any other changes to take place within the mastiff.


    Without the Beast Taming Ring exerting its control over the soulbeast¡¯s body, the mastiff¡¯s ¡®resistance¡¯ shifted targets straight away to¡­the ¡®slave seal¡¯ over its soulgem!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Everyone watched as a minute tremble came forth onto the mastiff¡¯s body. Something akin to a creak could be heard as a chilling aura exploded out from it!


    Bai Yunfei could feel his heart leaping to his throat upon sensing the slave seal start to energize. If it activated, then the soulgem of the mastiff would be forcibly prompted to self-destruct!


    But then he was amazed to see the slave seal simply shake under the resistance of the mastiff¡¯s soul. A strange energy started to exude out from the seal and covered the mastiff¡¯s body. Surrounded by this strange new energy, the resistance from the mastiff began to fade¡­


    Minutes passed with everyone still watching these developments take place. It was only Bai Yunfei who¡¯s eyes were glowing brightly!


    He could sense the slave seal start to¡­weaken!


    It was only by a bit, but the seal was definitely weakening!


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely working! The pill isn¡¯t triggering the slave seal from activating either, but it¡¯s definitely ¡®erasing¡¯ it! In other words¡­the slave seal can be erased completely if we strengthen the pills effects or make it last longer! Would the soulbeast regain its sentience then?¡±


    Ideas sprung to Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind faster than rain sprinkling from the clouds. ¡°I wonder what would happen if I used the Beast Taming Ring to quicken the process¡­¡±


    He activated the Beast Taming Ring at once. An idea like that was definitely an idea that merited further experimentation if it could help the mastiff¡¯s ¡®resistance¡¯.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    But the mastiff¡¯s body reacted as if being stung! The activation of the Beast Taming Ring caused the mastiff to violently shake as the slave seal¡­began to activate!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Face falling faster than an object in free fall, Bai Yunfei snapped his hand to grab onto the mastiff¡¯s head and broadcasted himself into the mastiff¡¯s mindspace!


    The slave seal had recognized Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®interference¡¯ and activated! And based on his experiences, there was no rewinding the clock once the slave seal activated! It was only a matter of time before the permafrost mastiff would self-destruct!


    And because of the energy that was starting to leak out from the mastiff, everyone began to panic!


    Bai Yunfei was able to keep himself calm in this situation. Experienced in working under this kind of pressure, he was trying his best to think to his past knowledge of this situation.


    If there was no rewinding the seal¡¯s activation and disintegration, then Bai Yunfei would have to forcibly stop it!


    The disintegration of the slave seal meant that the permafrost mastiff would have the order to ¡®self-destruct¡¯ be sent to its soulgem. But if that was the case, then Bai Yunfei would use the Beast Taming Ring to send the order to ¡®stop¡¯ self-destructing! He¡¯d like to see what¡¯d happen if his order was stronger than the other!


    Power was needed in order to enforce Bai Yunfei¡¯s order over the other order. Something like that wasn¡¯t possible before due to him lacking the strength. But exerting that type of power over an early-stage class seven soulbeast as a Peak Late-stage Soul King was definitely possible now!


    The energy within the permafrost mastiff was gradually picking up in speed even despite the order to self-destruct being resisted. The mastiff¡¯s body was already reaching its physical limits and the acrid smell of something burning could already be smelled¡­

 Chapter 1112: Three-eyed Tiger King

    It now marked three hours since the treatment began. Rather than a peaceful outcome like everyone wanted, the permafrost mastiff was currently on the verge of self-destructing.


    Bai Yunfei grimaced. Things weren¡¯t going well for the permafrost mastiff. The slave seal was extremely close to falling apart now, it was only because of Bai Yunfei that the permafrost mastiff was capable of unleashing a sliver of resistance. It¡¯d require Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce and the Beast Taming Ring for the permafrost mastiff to fully resist.


    ¡°Bang¡­¡±


    The air around the permafrost mastiff grew permeated with elemental ice. A thin layer of frost was already starting to spread across the floor. The frost would¡¯ve covered everyone within the room if not for the barriers they placed up.


    The mastiff¡¯s energy retreated back into it just as fast as it came out, leaving the room void of it¡­


    Everyone¡¯s eyes honed in onto the permafrost mastiff¡ªwas it dead?!


    They heaved a collective sigh of relief upon sensing the mastiff¡¯s aura still. The mastiff was most definitely alive, if not extremely fatigued.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was looking a little pale. Taking two steps back, he collapsed onto a chair behind him.


    ¡°Are you alright, Yunfei?¡±


    Tang Xinyun hurried over to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, worried for him.


    ¡°I¡¯m just nervous, that¡¯s all¡­¡± Bai Yunfei answered with a small smile.


    The others came rushing to him afterward, ¡°What¡¯s happening now? Did the pill fail?¡± Wu Dijian asked.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s working.¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°I can sense the mastiff¡¯s soul starting to show signs of sentience. It¡¯s fighting the slave seal right now. If we can strengthen the pill¡¯s effects then it¡¯ll be more effective. Efficacy and duration are the two most important factors for the slave seal to be removed. The soulbeast¡¯s sentience should be fully recovered after that.¡±


    Everyone looked relieved at his words beside Wu Dijian. ¡°Then what was that just now¡­?¡±


    ¡°I was too impatient and accidentally activated the slave seal. It collapsed just now but I managed to stop it from forcing the mastiff to self-destruct. The mastiff no longer has the slave seal, though. I just wonder¡­what kind of damage will this do to the mastiff? The last time I did something like this the soulbeast forgot who it was for a while. I don¡¯t even know if every soulbeast puppet will react the same way¡­¡±


    ¡°A method of erasing the slave seal like that existed?¡±


    ¡°Naturally. But helping an early-stage class seven soulbeast refuse to self-destruct is basically my limit. I¡¯d need to be a Early-stage Soul Emperor before I attempt helping a mid-stage class seven soulbeast resist the order, let alone any soulbeast stronger than that. I¡¯m sure there¡¯ll be thousands upon thousands of soulbeast puppets when we attack the Beast Taming School, I won¡¯t be able to do much with only the Beast Taming Ring¡­¡±


    ¡°Be at ease¡­¡± Yao Wuchen nodded, ¡°it¡¯s a good sign that the pill works to some degree. We know now that our efforts are being rewarded. Give us some more time and we¡¯ll have an even stronger pill made.


    ¡°The permafrost mastiff has been vital to the progression of our treatment. The development of the pill will grow once we investigate the mastiff some more.¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you for your hard work, seniors¡­¡±


    Though unexpected, the ¡®experiment¡¯ would surely mean well for future soul rejuvenating pills. Hopefully this meant more soulbeasts would be convinced to help them.


    Three additional days passed without incident. Bai Yunfei was just relaxing when he was alerted to the presence of multiple people outside the Core World.


    Reappearing into the real world, Bai Yunfei greeted the first person in the room, Hong Yin. ¡°Is something the matter, brother Hong Yin? Has senior Bloodhowl and the others returned?¡±


    ¡°He has,¡± Hong Yin nodded, ¡°and he¡¯s brought someone that wants to see you.¡±


    ¡°Me? Is it the leader of some clan?¡±


    Another nod. ¡°A powerful mid-stage class eight soulbeast like him, the Three-eyed Tiger King!!¡±


    ¡°A mid-stage class eight soulbeast!!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°From the tiger clan? Then the reason he wants to see me at once is for¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s here for the Demon-eyed Tiger King! He¡¯s¡­the sworn brother of the Demon-eyed Tiger King!!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    It didn¡¯t take long for Hong Yin to guide Bai Yunfei into the room where the Three-eyed Tiger King was waiting.


    The Three-eyed Tiger King and the Demon-eyed Tiger King. Heads of the tiger clan, the two soulbeasts were also sworn brothers to one another. The Three-eyed Tiger King even tried to massacre the entire Beast Taming School by himself when he learned the Demon-eyed Tiger King was captured by them. The attempt was a failure and only lead to him retreating to the Soulbeast Forest with major wounds. Without him appearing in public for many years, it was rumored that the Three-eyed Tiger King had permanently damaged himself.


    So it was surprising that he¡¯d show up today¡­


    A powerful aura locked onto Bai Yunfei the moment he stepped into the room. Looking up, Bai Yunfei made eye contact with a large bulky man with a square face.


    He looked like any other human in every way but his face¡­he had a third eye on his forehead!


    ¡°Are you Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    The Three-eyed Tiger King was already standing right in front of Bai Yunfei. His intimidating voice boomed loudly within the room.


    It felt as though Bai Yunfei was standing right in front of a tremendous mountain. The amount of pressure was absolutely stifling to him. He could even feel his soulforce tremble a bit under the Three-eyed Tiger King¡¯s aura. ¡°I am he. It¡¯s an honor to meet you, senior Three-eyed Tiger King.¡±


    The Three-eyed Tiger King must not have expected Bai Yunfei to act in such a way, as his eyes glittered with a confused light. ¡°Is my brother, the Demon-eyed Tiger King, within your hands?!¡±


    ¡°He is.¡± Bai Yunfei replied before releasing the Demon-eyed Tiger King from the Core World.


    ¡°Brother!!¡±


    The reaction was instantaneous. A wave of emotions crashed against the Three-eyed Tiger King as he cried out at the sight of his long-lost brother. It was definitely a rare sight to see a mighty mid-stage class eight soulbeast act so emotionally¡­


    ¡°Brother¡­it¡¯s me, your older brother!!¡± His hands grabbed hold of the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s shoulders and shook them as if to beg for a response.


    But none came¡­


    The joy faded away from the Three-eyed Tiger King¡¯s eyes rapidly. Hatred filled the eyes just as quickly as he turned to face Bai Yunfei. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking him with me!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been silent the entire time up to this point. He wasn¡¯t surprised at this demand and simply nodded his head.


    ¡°Of course!!¡±


    It was a crisp response that surprised Hong Yin, the Bloodhowl Wolf King, and even the Three-eyed Tiger King. They thought Bai Yunfei would at least argue a bit.


    But the reason for Bai Yunfei accepting was simple after he heard about the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s backstory with the Three-eyed Tiger King. The Demon-eyed Tiger King might¡¯ve been a powerful ally to have, but he wasn¡¯t a tool that Bai Yunfei wanted to ¡®monopolize¡¯. And neither did he want to have bad blood with a mid-stage class eight soulbeast in the case he refused. A favor was definitely better than a grudge here.


    ¡°That pleases me, youngster!!¡±


    The sincerity of Bai Yunfei must¡¯ve struck a chord in the Three-eyed Tiger King, for the soulbeast began to laugh and tossed something at him.


    ¡°For saving my brother from the Beast Taming School, you have my gratitude! I¡¯m sure this¡¯ll do you some good as a crafter¡ªconsider it my thanks.


    ¡°But aside from that¡­allow me to join you against the Beast Taming School!!¡±

 Chapter 1113: So Many Upgrade Stones!

    Catching the object thrown at him, Bai Yunfei took a quick glance down at it. It was a space ring.


    ¡°Are these crafting materials?¡±


    A quick scan of the contents told him the answer: ¡°They are!¡±


    Judging by how rare every single material was, Bai Yunfei assumed the Three-eyed Tiger King had prepared them beforehand. All sorts of valuable resources and metal could be found in that space ring. Some of them were even rare enough that Bai Yunfei found himself itching to take a good look at them.


    The Soulbeast Forest was a hidden trove of treasure. All sorts of rare treasure worth countless stones could be found, but only if a treasure-seeker was in turn willing to risk their lives. Not even the Soul Kings of the Crafting School were willing to risk their lives for the bounty in this forest. But for a soulbeast like the Three-eyed Tiger King, collecting these materials was but a simple task.


    ¡°I thank you for these gifts, senior Tiger King. Your participation is nothing but good news for us all. If it worries you about this plan, I can offer up a Vow of Souls with you, senior¡­¡±


    ¡°No need, I believe in you!¡± The Three-eyed Tiger King refused, ¡°I have little to do with the tiger clan these days, the leader of the clan should be here shortly. He can take the Vow with you if he pleases.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°If I may beg your pardon, senior, what plans have you for the Demon-eyed Tiger King?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t wish for any more harm to befall my little brother¡­¡± he cast a worried glance over, ¡°I planned on bringing him to our territory for now. Treatment can be figured out at a later notice once the Beast Taming School is dealt with. I hope that the fall of the Beast Taming School will net us the knowledge to release soulbeasts from their confines¡­¡±


    ¡°Actually, there was something I was planning to talk about when everyone arrives, but since senior Tiger King is here¡­if senior doesn¡¯t know, the Alchemy School is currently living within the Core World. Many of the Soul Kings were researching a way to save soulbeasts and managed to create a pill we call the ¡®soul rejuvenating pill¡¯. As the name implies, the pill helps a soulbeast regain their soul and fight off the slave seal. We hope to complete its research in a matter of days by now¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King and Three-eyed Tiger King both cried out in surprise. ¡°Repeat yourself! Did you say you¡¯ve found a way to help soulbeast puppets?!¡±


    ¡°Is that true?¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King questioned after the Three-eyed Tiger King.


    ¡°Without a doubt. We were having a difficult time finding any progress until a while ago. I only mention this now instead of before because of that progress.¡±


    ¡°Do you have that ¡®soul rejuvenating pill¡¯ or not? I¡¯ll pay whatever the price for it now!¡±


    ¡°Please stay calm, senior Tiger King. I¡¯ve said that research on the pill has only just begun. The effects are quite weak, we have yet to improve it to have any substantial effect. The alchemists in the Yao clan are currently doing their best, but I believe it won¡¯t take long to improve the pill. Soon, we should have a pill that¡¯ll bring back the soulbeasts. If I may also say, senior, this is not something worth paying ¡®whatever the price¡¯ for. Think of this has a ¡®thank you¡¯ for agreeing with this plan¡­¡±


    The Three-eyed Tiger King peered suspiciously at Bai Yunfei. ¡°You are saying you want no noble reward for finding a solution to soulbeast puppets? None at all?¡±


    Anyone that could find said solution would be considered a ¡®savior¡¯ to the entirety of soulbeasts. Finding a human willing to help any soulbeast was rare enough, but to find something revolutionary for free? That was too high of a sky-bearing fruit than they were willing to reach for¡­.


    Bai Yunfei remained indifferent, ¡°This by no means a ¡®noble¡¯ thing, senior. I am only thinking about the powerful soulbeasts to gather here. If this pill works then we¡¯ll definitely be able to crush the Beast Taming School and save those soulbeast puppets. If any soulbeast is willing to help me destroy them, then it should be expected that I return the favor.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t thinking of himself as the ¡®savior¡¯ of soulbeasts by doing this. He only wished to give back to the soulbeasts helping him. If anything, these soulbeasts were doing most of the work.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Bai Yunfei began, ¡°Producing these soul rejuvenating pills will require many resources. Considering the abundance of the Soulbeast Forest, it would be very helpful for the soulbeast world to provide assistance.¡±


    ¡°I see no problem with that!!¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King replied hastily, ¡°Ask and you shall receive. The ingredients of our forest will be yours to use! I will let the others know when they arrive of the Yao clan¡¯s plight. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be willing to help!¡±


    It took a few more inquiries about the soul rejuvenating pill before the Three-eyed Tiger King backed off. Until the Beast Taming School was gone, the Demon-eyed Tiger King would be left behind in the tiger clan¡¯s territory to await treatment.


    During this brief intermission, the Bloodhowl Wolf King took it upon himself to catch Bai Yunfei up on the news regarding the other soulbeasts. A meeting was already being prepared for in three days with the Violet Dragon King being the one in charge of it. But how many soulbeasts were coming or joining their plan had yet to be detailed¡­


    Bai Yunfei took his leave shortly afterward. Without anything else to be notified about, he saw it prudent to head back to his room in the Core World.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Now back in the Core World, Bai Yunfei sat down at the stone table he had in his room. It was time for him to look at the things he received from the Three-eyed Tiger King.


    ¡°Oh? I can see a few upgrade stones in there!¡±


    His interest was piqued by a few particular stones amongst the items. One by one, Bai Yunfei took them out from the space ring and placed them upon the table to be closely examined.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Upgrading has an increased 15x chance of success.


    Effect cannot be stacked.


    Equipment Effect 2: Crafting has an increased 10x chance of success.


    Effect cannot be stacked.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    This upgrade stone was about the size of two large fists and had several points of interest for Bai Yunfei. He looked absolutely gleeful at the size and effect of the upgrade stone.


    Author Note: I¡¯ve decided to change the wording of the effects of regular upgrade stones for the sake of simplicity.


    ¡°Could this next one be a High-heaven tier?!¡±


    He hurriedly picked up the second one¡­


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Upgrading has an increased 30x chance of success.


    Effect cannot be stacked.


    Equipment Effect 2: Crafting has an increased 20x chance of success.


    Effect cannot be stacked.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    ¡°It is!!¡± He exhaled with wide-open eyes. ¡°Look at that multiplier!! This¡­basically means something that had a one percent chance of success immediately becomes thirty percent with this stone!¡±


    Regular upgrade stones were rare and few, and the ones Bai Yunfei had right now were either from before, the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King, or from the Yao clan. Even then, those were very sparse in numbers. To think that the Three-eyed Tiger King had some of his own!


    These stones might not be as powerful as Guaranteed Upgrade Stones, but they were very helpful when it came to upgrading with the Upgrade Technique. Naturally, the more of these stones Bai Yunfei had, the better it was.


    ¡°Oh? This is¡­¡±


    Another upgrade stone from the pile caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention. There was something about this upgrade stone that felt different. Drawing it out from the bottom of the pile, Bai Yunfei held it up to his eye¡­


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Successfully upgrade any equipment +11 and under.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the grade of an equipment by two when crafting (highest grade being Low Heaven)


    Cannot be upgraded.


    This¡ªthis was a +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands reached out to the pile of upgrade stones at once.


    ¡°Swoosh!!¡±


    In one fluid motion, he searched the entirety of the pile in hopes of a second one, but to no avail. The stones hadn¡¯t even finished coming to a rest on the table before Bai Yunfei left the Core World¡­


    In the real world, the Bloodhowl Wolf King and the Three-eyed Tiger King were conversing with one another when the two of them took notice of Bai Yunfei appearing into the room.


    The impatient look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face caught the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s attention, ¡°Bai Yunfei? Is there something¡­?¡±


    Saluting politely to the two, Bai Yunfei spoke at once to the Three-eyed Tiger King.


    ¡°Senior Tiger King, I wish to ask something¡­where did this stone come from? And is there more of it?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± The Three-eyed Tiger King peered closely at the stone Bai Yunfei had in his hand. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a crafting stone?¡± He asked, curious about why this particular item had such an effect on Bai Yunfei. ¡°Is there something wrong with it?¡±


    ¡°It is indeed a ¡®crafting stone¡¯, but it is distinctly different to the common crafting stone. The difference is very important to me. Senior, is there perhaps a location where this was found? Would more of these be found there?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm¡­all those stones were gathered from the same place. I have little idea on the differences between the stones since I wasn¡¯t paying attention, but¡­I¡¯m sure more of those can still be found¡­¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Bai Yunfei was practically beside himself, ¡°Could the location of this place be given to me? May I have perm¡ª¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    The Three-eyed Tiger King interjected at once, causing Bai Yunfei to come to a stop in surprise.


    ¡°There¡¯s no use asking me. That is not a place you are allowed to go to.¡±

 Chapter 1114: The +12 Soul Sealing Mandate!

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was confused, to say the very least.¡± Senior Tiger King¡­what might that mean?¡± He asked.


    ¡°That land is sacred to us soulbeasts. A soul cultivator would never be allowed there. And frankly speaking, not even I would be able to go there right now. So those crafting stones you were looking for¡­I¡¯m sorry to say your search ends here.¡±


    ¡°Sacred?¡±


    The reply was unexpected but disappointing. There wasn¡¯t any point in hoping for permission or asking the Bloodhowl Wolf King for help if there was a reason like that¡­


    ¡°This junior would like to apologize, in that case¡­¡± He bowed with a silent sigh to himself. Turning around, Bai Yunfei left the room to go back to the Core World.


    ¡°Did you find those crafting stones in ¡®that¡¯ place?¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King asked the Three-eyed Tiger King as soon as Bai Yunfei was out of earshot.


    The Three-eyed Tiger King nodded. ¡°It was when I became a class eight. I don¡¯t quite understand the differences and his excitement, but I cannot help him as much as I want to. You of all people should know he would never be allowed into such a place.¡±


    ¡°I recall¡­seeing a crafting stone like that in the Wind Ape King¡¯s abode. Bai Yunfei had the same reaction then¡­is there really some kind of difference? Does it have an attribute beneficial to cultivating? Or is it a valuable supplement to crafting? I¡¯ve never paid much attention to the crafting stones in ¡®that¡¯ place before, but now that I think about it¡­¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King grew silent after this as if he was thinking hard about something.


    Within the Core World.


    Still dejected, Bai Yunfei sat by himself with a stormy expression on his face.


    Fate was not always kind enough to lead people away from the dead ends in life. The Three-eyed Tiger King already told him the answer so Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going to press the issue or try to find where it was from. Nothing good would come from forcing the issue. He should be happy that he was even lucky enough to get this one +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone to begin with.


    Now it was time for him to make use of this new Guaranteed Upgrade Stone to upgrade the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    Who knew that the problem he had a while ago would be resolved so quickly?


    Perhaps he should¡¯ve kept that +13 Upgrade Stone. If only he had known!


    It was too late for regrets. The actions of his past had still a positive net effect and so Bai Yunfei was satisfied. The chance of a successful +14 was gone, but Bai Yunfei would still be happy with having the Soul Sealing Mandate be upgraded to +12.


    The form of the white tiger was already out and about in the Core World. Its lively eyes were eyeing the upgrade stone in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Yunfei. Is this the +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone? Will I be upgraded now?¡±


    Xiao Fang appeared beside the white tiger, ¡°What, are you afraid of the upgrade failing? Relax, the Guaranteed Upgrade Stone is exactly as it sounds like. Prepare yourself to become stronger and for something new. I wonder what kind of effect you¡¯ll get? Hurry up and upgrade him, Yunfei.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. Grabbing hold of the +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone in his left hand and the Soul Sealing Mandate in his right, Bai Yunfei closed his eyes.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade SuccesfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +11


    He didn¡¯t bother reading the rest of the notifications after that. He grabbed hold of the +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone he had.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade SuccesfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect 1: 100% Regeneration rate to the soul.


    Equipment Effect 2: Summon a white halo. Soulforce recovery is increased by 100%.


    Other effects cannot be activated within the duration of this effect.


    Equipment Effect 3: Seal the soul of a single entity. Entity will be unable to take any actions.


    Additional Attribute: 40% Increase in Equipment Effect 1 and 2''s effects.


    +10 Additional Attribute: Create a spiritual barrier by using soulforce. Gain immunity to a single spirit-based attack for up to 5 seconds.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    +12 Additional Effect: All allies within range gain a 20% increase in all attributes.


    All enemies within range have a 10% decrease in all attributes.


    Determination of ally or enemy is dependent on user. If unknown, then neither effects will apply.


    Duration of 1 hour and cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    ¡°Another range-of-effect effect!!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed with glee upon seeing the changes.


    He never thought that he¡¯d get two of the same type of effects after upgrading both the Soul Sealing Mandate and Core Stone to +12! Neither effects were single-target effects, they targeted multiple people within a certain range!


    And this was an effect that strengthened allies and weakened enemies!!


    An effect that granted a twenty-percent buff and a ten-percent debuff¡­how terrifying!


    Unlike before where Bai Yunfei tended to try out all new effects, he began to think about something¡­


    He was trying to focus on the feelings he had after upgrading the Soul Sealing Mandate twice. He was coming close to having another realization.


    The light in his eyes were gleaming wildly. His hand rose slowly into the air as if hesitating. Twisting it, Bai Yunfei grabbed hold of a white stone.


    It was the High-heaven tier upgrade stone!


    ¡°What should I do, upgrade again?¡±


    The hesitation played across his eyes for a split-second. ¡°Nothing ventured, nothing gained!¡±


    He was going to use an upgrade stone to upgrade again!


    Of course, the target of such an attempt would not be one of his precious Regalia or other lifebound armaments. And neither did this mean he could upgrade an ordinary item. He had to upgrade something more valuable like that. Like the¡­armor he was wearing!


    The armor came off quickly onto his hands. Reluctance lingered in his eyes as he looked at it, and then to the upgrade stone. Putting them together, he whispered, ¡°Upgrade!!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Maybe he was imagining things due to his nervousness, but Bai Yunfei could¡¯ve sworn he heard a certain type of ¡®noise¡¯ come out from the upgrade stone. When the stone turned to mist and entered the armor, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart was in his throat as he tried to pay as close attention as he could the sensations he was experiencing¡­


    Upgrade SuccesfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12

 Chapter 1115: An Insight On +12

    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 4500


    Additional Defense: 4600


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    Equipment Effect: Convert a certain amount of attack into additional defense for up to 1 minute for each hit. Defense converted by attacks cannot exceed 30% of the armor''s defenses.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +10 Additional Effect: Create a whirlpool of darkness capable of negating any elemental attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    +12 Additional Effect: Bounce back any attack whose power does not exceed double the defense of this equipment.


    Cooldown of 30 minutes.


    Upgrade Level: 250 Soulpoints


    ¡°It worked!!¡±


    The light of inspiration hit Bai Yunfei the moment when the upgraded succeeded. The puzzle pieces within his mind were finally starting to come together now¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s coming!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was extremely confident about his chances now. Grabbing hold of a mid-heaven tier upgrade stone, he decided to go for another attempt!


    But not on his armor. His eyes scanned the other equipment he was wearing. What could he use? Not the Charm Bracelet, for sure. But perhaps one of the rings he wore on his left hand¡­


    ¡°Upgrade!!¡±


    The upgrade stone disintegrated into mist upon his command. Flowing into the ring, the mist was soon gone from sight¡­


    Upgrade Fai


    A failure!


    Bai Yunfei sprung into action at once. His right hand snapped up to the space above his left hand and clenched tightly!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    A pulse wave of sound was emitted from Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand. Apparently, something had changed and ripples of transparent energy were flowing away from his hand!


    Upgrade SuccesfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attribute: +800 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +700 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    Equipment Effect: Increase perception by 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Reveal anything hidden within a kilometer for 10 seconds in exchange for 5% of current soulforce reserves.


    Can increase range of perimeter by 100 meters in exchange for 1% of soulforce.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: Enter a ''Hidden'' status. Any movement will cancel out this status.


    Cooldown of one hour.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Just when it seemed like a failure was inevitable, the notification of success appeared!!


    The successful upgrade of a +12 upgrade!


    He managed to¡­alter the outcome of a +12 upgrade!


    ¡°Haha! This is it! One more time!!¡±


    Another upgrade stone was taken out in Bai Yunfei¡¯s excitement. Like before, it was another mid-heaven tier upgrade stone!


    Again the Charm Bracelet was passed over as a potential item to upgrade. And so was the Vitality Bracelet. It was time to upgrade a +11 low-heaven tier soul armament he had.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    The order was given and now it was time to concentrate. When the time felt right, Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand snapped out again above the item!


    Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    But it seemed it didn¡¯t work this time. Eyes wide open, Bai Yunfei watched as the item turned to dust¡­


    It took him three seconds to recover. Expression solidifying into a more aware one, Bai Yunfei scratched his head. ¡°That¡¯s enough for now¡­I nearly lost my self in all that excitement¡­¡±


    His actions just a moment ago scared him. The overconfidence he had about upgrading definitely took over the logical side to him. Thank the heavens that he managed to snap out from it after just a single failure¡­


    Bai Yunfei looked back to the three items he managed to upgrade. Three out of four was a very nice outcome, all things considered. The last item wasn¡¯t even very important. But the +12 items he had now? Those were definitely important!


    And even more important was how he managed to gain additional insight on how to upgrade items to +12!


    If he had to compare himself, then Bai Yunfei would say he felt like a sailor who finally caught sight of a seagull. There was land in sight and a path to follow!


    Like how he managed to gleam insight on altering the outcome of a +11 upgrade, Bai Yunfei was sure he¡¯d be able to safely upgrade an item to +12 with the remaining leisure time he had now!


    Only ten minutes transpired in the world. But for Bai Yunfei, those ten minutes contained a treasure trove worth of valuable knowledge!


    All in all, Bai Yunfei gained three new +12 equipment with new effects and new insight on the Upgrade Technique!


    How great the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s new effect was didn¡¯t even need to be said. But the ability for the armor to bounce back any attack? Incredible! And the ring¡¯s ability to hide its user? He might as well call this the ¡®Invisibility Ring¡¯. Mobility might be an issue with the effect but that didn¡¯t take away from how great the ring was!


    ¡°Haha¡­this was a great learning experience¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed to himself.


    And so, another three days went by in peace.


    It was one early morning when Bai Yunfei decided to emerge out from the Core World. Today was the day of the conference and Bai Yunfei thought it was nearly time to meet all the soulbeasts here. He hadn¡¯t even walked out from his room when he was hit with a wave of powerful aura.


    ¡°What power! Are¡­are they here already? That¡¯s sooner than expected!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just a single aura he could feel. Multiple aura signatures were originating from the conference room! It was like an ocean of energy with waves of aura overlapping one another! He had to assume there were at least a dozen unique signatures, but he wasn¡¯t quite sure of the exact numbers. Some of the auras were even stronger than the ones around them, so it made determining the numbers quite difficult just like how stars might outshine another.


    That meant there were multiple class eight soulbeasts! Far more than before!


    Hong Yin came in at that moment while Bai Yunfei was distracted. ¡°Ah, Yunfei,¡± He smiled, ¡°what timing, I was just about to call you.¡±


    ¡°Brother Hong Yin,¡± Bai Yunfei returned the greeting, ¡°has everyone already arrived? So soon?¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­the first comers were rather impatient. The first arrival was last night and the rest came throughout the rest of the night. Father decided it was about time to call you and so I came.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I understand.¡± Nodding, Bai Yunfei followed Hong Yin out from his room.


    ¡°How goes progress on that soul rejuvenating pill, Yunfei?¡± Queried Hong Yin as they walked.


    ¡°Some of the leaders were asking about it when they came. I believe they want to know if the rumors are true or not¡­¡±


    ¡°I realized. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be sure to verify it for them.¡±


    The two arrived at the entrance to the conference hall and began to walk in. They hadn¡¯t walked far in when Bai Yunfei stopped to look up in the sky.


    Two rays of light were homing in rapidly on the hall. One was green and the other violet.


    ¡°Them?¡± Bai Yunfei wondered aloud as soon as he realized who they were.

 Chapter 1116: The Gathering of the Clan Heads

    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Hong Yin asked, confused why Bai Yunfei had stopped.


    ¡°Please wait a moment. These people are acquaintances of mine, I¡¯d like to greet them first.¡±


    ¡°Acquaintances?¡± Hong Yin repeated to himself. ¡°Those two? How does Bai Yunfei know them?¡±


    Already up high in the sky, Bai Yunfei drew closer and closer to the two rays of light before finally coming to a stop with them.


    ¡°This junior pays his respects to the Two Winged Kings.¡±


    Bai Yunfei bowed to the two.


    It was a male and female pair. Both looked to be thirty years of age. The male wore a rich-purple robe while the female had a green one. The male¡¯s eyes were bright and his expression sharp. The female was beautiful and graceful. They were the ones Bai Yunfei met years before when he was just a Soul Exalt. They were the Two Winged Kings!


    Time made them stronger, it seemed. Bai Yunfei remembered them being mid-stage class seven soulbeasts before but now their aura suggested that they were now late-stage class seven soulbeasts. A rate of progression like this was alarming even for soulbeast standards.


    ¡°You¡­¡± The two were taken aback upon Bai Yunfei¡¯s polite greeting. It was a little alarming, in fact, to see how strong Bai Yunfei had gotten while still remaining as humble as ever.


    ¡°Are you¡­¡± The male began, ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    ¡°I am he, senior. It has been a long time.¡±


    Then as if remembering something, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to summon a small bird from the Core World.


    ¡°Hey, what are you doing taking me outside, Yunfei?¡±


    It took a moment for Xiao Qi to realize they weren¡¯t alone. Turning away from Bai Yunfei, the bird quirked his head upon seeing the Two Winged Kings, ¡°Masters!!¡±


    The Two Winged Kings looked surprised yet again upon being called ¡®master¡¯.


    ¡°Are you¡­that prisma oriole from before?!¡± The female asked.


    ¡°I am! It¡¯s me!¡±  Xiao Qi flapped his wings excitedly, ¡°I¡¯m Xiao Qi, masters! Look, I still have the Wind and Lightning Feathers you gave me!¡±


    His wings flashed briefly with two different shades of color. One shined green while the other shined violet.


    As Xiao Qi said, the Two Winged Kings were his ¡®masters¡¯. Not only because of the Wind and Lightning Feathers, but also because of the techniques they gave to the bird for his training. At first, Xiao Qi thought of the two as family due to how young he was back then. Now that he was older, however, he realized they were more like ¡®masters¡¯ and was still very excited to see them again.


    ¡°Xiao Qi? Are you really that same class six prisma oriole? You¡¯re¡­¡± Yi Gang couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. It seemed so unrealistic that the bird in front of him would be the very same one from before, but it was the truth! The both of them were so much stronger now!


    A decade hadn¡¯t even passed since their first encounter. In that time frame, Xiao Qi managed to mature from being a fledgling to an equal! Could anyone possibly remain calm after realizing that?


    ¡°Have you two seniors come to join against the Beast Taming School?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. As understanding as he was about their surprise, now wasn¡¯t the time to be talking about that.


    ¡°We are,¡± Yi Gang nodded after a moment to recollect himself. ¡°We came by the moment we heard the news, would you be the organizer of the plan then? We also heard that the Wind Ape King and Golden Roc King joined with the Beast Taming School to attack the wolf clan, only to be stopped by you. And¡­may it be true that you have the Core Stone?¡±


    ¡°All of those are true.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Seniors, let¡¯s head into the conference hall first. The Bloodhowl Wolf King and the others have been waiting for some time now. Any questions you might have can be answered later.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­very well then.¡±


    The two glanced briefly at one another before following Bai Yunfei to the conference hall. Beside Yi Rou, Xiao Qi was happily chattering away very much like a young child to their grand-parent, saying things such as wanting to visit the two had he known their residence earlier.


    Meanwhile, many of the soulbeasts were starting to fill up the conference hall.


    Though he had already steeled himself, Bai Yunfei still felt quite amazed by the number of people gathered in the hall.


    There were the soulbeasts he was familiar with, such as the Violet Dragon King, the White-browed Hawk King and the others from the first gathering. Then there were many other class seven soulbeasts that were presumably the leaders of their respective clans in the forest.


    A total of seventeen soulbeasts were gathered here today!


    The aura of a few class eight soulbeasts could be felt amongst the seventeen. There were at least three additional class eight soulbeasts excluding the Bloodhowl Wolf King, Three-eyed Tiger King, and the Violet Dragon King!


    And not a single one of these soulbeasts were below being a mid-stage class seven! Only two of those soulbeasts were here, the rest were of the late-stage class seven or peak late-stage class seven level!


    All conversation within the hall died straight away upon their arrival. Not a single soulbeast was unaware of their presence.


    Though surprised by the turnout of soulbeasts, the Two Winged Kings saluted to the Bloodhowl Wolf King.


    ¡°Wolf King.¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King nodded. ¡°So you¡¯ve arrived¡­please take a seat.¡±


    Not really being familiar with the people here, the Two Winged Kings forewent the greetings to the others and took a seat on the nearby chairs.


    Walking up to Bai Yunfei, the Bloodhowl Wolf King looked back to the soulbeasts gathered there to begin his speech. ¡°Everyone, this is Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School and the ¡®organizer¡¯ of this plan! By using the Core Stone, he will take us to the Beast Taming School!¡±


    The eyes of the soulbeasts not familiar with Bai Yunfei narrowed. Rumors had already told them the basics of what the plan was, but hearing the Bloodhowl Wolf King verify those rumors was still quite surprising.


    He paused here to introduce a few of the soulbeasts to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°This is the Ancient Crocodile King of the crocodile clan.¡±


    A blue-robed elder nodded his head. The aura around his person seemed very indistinct, but Bai Yunfei could tell this man was comparable in strength to the Bloodhowl Wolf King!


    ¡°This is the Violet Spider King of the spider clan.¡±


    An enchanting woman dressed in purple gave Bai Yunfei a playful smile once she saw him bow. She was an early-stage class eight soulbeast just like the Violet Dragon King!


    ¡°And this is the head of the stegosaur clan, the Stegosaur King.¡±


    A handsome man with an aura as sharp as a sword was the next one to be introduced. As like the Violet Spider King beside him, the Stegosaurus King was an early-stage class eight soulbeast.


    But regardless of early-stage or not, the two of them were still among the class eights!


    The others weren¡¯t introduced to Bai Yunfei one by one, he¡¯d have to go talk to them separately after this conference was over.


    Bai Yunfei greeted the class eight soulbeasts first before walking over to the Two Winged Kings to discuss something.


    ¡°Wolf King, I¡¯ve been very interested in the ¡®soul rejuvenating pill¡¯. Would you perhaps ease this one¡¯s mind by shedding some light on its situation?¡±


    The stern-faced Ancient Crocodile King asked.


    Having been within earshot, Bai Yunfei turned around. Upon receiving a nod from the Bloodhowl Wolf King, he spoke, ¡°This one will be happy to talk about it. Please rest assured, I¡¯m sure my demonstration will be satisfactory to everyone.¡±


    A leopard-type soulbeast puppet appeared from Bai Yunfei¡¯s space ring. It was time for his demonstration.


    ¡°This is a late-stage class six soulbeast puppet. Watch as I administer a single soul rejuvenating pill. Please take note of the changes to the slave seal, it should prove enlightening on the pill¡¯s efficacy¡­but please don¡¯t touch the seal with your sense, lest it is prompted to self-destruct.¡±


    A single pill appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. Holding it tightly, he was just about to open the soulbeast puppet¡¯s mouth to throw it in when...


    A ripple of energy started to form at the entrance. He, along with the other soulbeasts, turned to look.


    This ripple of energy meant someone was teleporting into the area. From the ripple of energy came a flash of light and a powerful wave of energy that crashed into everyone there!


    ¡°Haha!! I suppose I¡¯m late to the party with this many people here already! How could you have a plan to destroy the Beast Taming School without including me on it!¡±


    A brash voice boomed across the hall with laughter.


    ¡°The Golden-eyed Ape King?! What¡¯s he doing here?!¡±


    Someone whispered just loudly enough for Bai Yunfei to hear.


    ¡°Someone from the ape clan?!¡±

 Chapter 1117: Golden-eyed Ape King

    ¡°Senior Yi, who might this Golden-eyed Ape King be¡­?¡±


    Bai Yunfei whispered to Yi Gang.


    ¡°The Golden-eyed Ape King is one of the ape clan¡¯s heads and an early-stage class eight soulbeast for about a hundred years. He rules over one half of the ape clan while the Wind Ape King ruled over the other. The Golden-eyed Ape King has been the weaker one of the two, but a takeover of his territory would¡¯ve been a terrible choice for the Wind Ape King. For years, the two have been in a stalemate.¡±


    Generally speaking, many clans existed throughout the world of soulbeasts, and just as many clans were segmented even further. The wolf clan was a good example of that. They had the ¡®lightning wolves¡¯, the ¡®wind wolves¡¯, etc etc. Clans were generally not entirely unified, and in cases just like the ape clan, had multiple leaders for their respective ¡®tribes¡¯.


    But with the Wind Ape King and the rest of their class six and seven soulbeasts dead, the wind apes were basically a dead tribe. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the last of the dissenters were gone and the ape clan could finally be unified at long last.


    ¡°Golden-eyed giant ape?¡± Repeated Bai Yunfei. He remembered Hong Yin doing battle with such a soulbeast before outside of Jadewillow City with Song Lin before taking it away.


    ¡°The Golden-eyed Ape King is known to be violent. The Wind Ape King might¡¯ve been his enemy, but they were still of the same clan. Your hand in the wind apes death might earn you his ire, so be polite with him¡­it doesn¡¯t appear anything bad will happen. With this many soulbeasts gathered here, I¡¯m sure he wouldn¡¯t dare do anything.¡±


    Yi Gang¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. It was little wonder why the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s aura had locked onto Bai Yunfei since his arrival then. So it was because of the Wind Ape King?


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King narrowed his eyes. Strife was a common thing in the world, every soulbeast had their friend and foe, but neither he or anyone else here called upon their foes for this plan. If anything, what hatred could be had when this plan involved the destruction of every soulbeast¡¯s enemy? What point was there in making enemies now? Or was it just something easier said than done?


    He hadn¡¯t any grievances with the Golden-eyed Ape King, personally speaking. The only reason why he didn¡¯t ¡®invite¡¯ the Golden-eyed Ape King was due to his battle with the ape clan recently. It was best to let that matter cool off first.


    But apparently, the Golden-eyed Ape King came to this place uninvited.


    ¡°What purpose have you come here today, Golden-eyed Ape King?¡±


    As brash as the Golden-eyed Ape King was, he was still a class eight soulbeast like him.


    ¡°Is that even a question worth asking, Bloodhowl Wolf King? I came here for the same reason you all are here for. Is that a problem? Am I not welcomed here?¡±


    ¡°The Beast Taming School is a target of the entire soulbeast world. If the Golden-eyed Ape King wishes to join, then we would be happy to discuss our plans with you. However¡­I would hope you put aside any grudges you might have until this is all over.¡±


    Spoke the Ancient Crocodile King.


    ¡°Haha, what a joke! I am here as a representative of my clan. What reason would I have to do anything that might prove beneficial to us all?¡± Roared the Golden-eyed Ape King as he walked to take a seat on the side.


    He sat down and stared at Bai Yunfei expectantly. With no one saying a thing, the Ancient Crocodile King saw it prudent to nod at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Continue by all means, little brother.¡±


    Bai Yunfei spared one last glance at the Golden-eyed Ape King beside him, ¡°Very well then.¡±


    Using the Beast Taming Ring to open the soulbeast puppet¡¯s mouth, Bai Yunfei placed the pill into it and had the soulbeast puppet swallow.


    Roughly twenty soulbeasts focused on the soulbeast puppet and began to watch with their senses the changes that would take place in the leopard.


    A while later.


    The eyes of the Ancient Crocodile King, the Three-eyed Tiger King, and the other class eight soulbeasts widened as they caught sight of something.


    ¡°It¡¯s working! The slave seal is weakening!¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s true! The soulbeast¡¯s soul wasn¡¯t erased, but sealed!¡±


    ¡°Then if we get rid of the slave seal there¡¯s a chance for the soulbeast to regain its sentience!¡±


    ¡°But the effects still aren¡¯t that noticeable¡­how long will it take for a full recovery at this rate?¡±


    The hall broke out into conversation shortly after the pill started taking effect. Many soulbeasts were absolutely beside themselves with the excitement of this demonstration.


    Even the Golden-eyed Ape King was giving Bai Yunfei an incredulous look of surprise after that.


    ¡°And that is the power of the soul rejuvenating pill. As seen, the pill isn¡¯t quite as effective as expected, but¡­that¡¯s because this pill is a work in progress. A full month hasn¡¯t even passed yet. Given our current rate, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to produce a pill that¡¯s even stronger. One strong enough to cure even a class seven or even class eight soulbeast puppet to their original states.¡±


    No one said a thing. They were all digesting what Bai Yunfei said with trepidation. Only a month? This pill had shown far more than they expected from such a tiny amount of time!


    ¡°My friend, I heard you didn¡¯t kill any of the soulbeast puppets during your fight with the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King. I also heard that you took with you a few class seven soulbeast puppets from your fight with the beast tamers. Would those rumors be true?¡±


    A middle-aged man dressed in a robe as bright as the sun suddenly asked.


    ¡°They are. I¡¯ve over a dozen class seven soulbeast puppets and many more class five and six soulbeasts in the Core World right now.¡±


    ¡°Truly?¡± The man looked almost hopeful, ¡°would there be a mid-stage class seven blaze horse with you? Ma Xucheng from the Beast Taming School had one as their soulbeast puppet.¡±


    ¡°A blaze horse? When I fought the man, he did have a mid-stage class seven blaze horse with him. Could that be someone you know¡­?¡±


    ¡°Would it be possible for me to see?!¡± The man queried.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Concentrating for just a second, Bai Yunfei summoned a brilliant fire-red horse from the Core World into the hall.


    ¡°Third brother!!¡±


    The reaction was instantaneous. The middle-aged man exploded with excitement the moment the soulbeast appeared in the hall and rushed to his side.


    So they were brothers? That meant this person had to be the head of the blaze horse clan.


    ¡°My friend, would there be a mid-stage class seven purple-tailed biheaded python among your soulbeast puppets?¡±


    ¡°Would you perhaps have an early-stage class seven earthbreaker magiscorpion?¡±


    ¡°Do you know of a late-stage class seven swamp lizard?¡±


    ¡°Or perhaps¡­¡±


    More than half the soulbeasts there began to call out for their friends at once. The excitement of the soul rejuvenating pill was getting to them¡ªnot only did Bai Yunfei hold the key to their age-old struggle, he also had many of their loved ones!


    It was all a little sudden to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Everyone, please calm down. I¡¯ll have everyone come into the Core World in a moment and see if there¡¯s any soulbeast puppet you might know¡­¡±


    It took a while, but everyone did eventually start to calm down. The soulbeast that spoke up first had to get a specialized ring for carrying soulbeast puppets from Bai Yunfei first before taking his third brother into it.


    Now Bai Yunfei could talk about the plan to destroy the Beast Taming School. The finer details were explained before Bai Yunfei talked about the Vow of Souls. Many of the clan heads fell deep into their own thoughts towards the end. Some of them were already fully ready to cooperate with Bai Yunfei and make the Vow of Souls to destroy the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Wait just a second now!!¡±


    One voice drowned out the voices of the others¡ª


    ¡ªit was the Golden-eyed Ape King!

 Chapter 1118: A Challenge From the Class Eight Soulbeast!

    The abruptness of the Golden-eyed Ape King caught everyone¡¯s attention at once.


    ¡°What issue might there be, Ape King?¡±


    ¡°My issue relates¡­to the Core Stone. Wouldn¡¯t it be in your control throughout the entire plan?¡±


    ¡°What does the Ape King mean by that?¡±


    Contempt flashed across the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s eyes. ¡°The plan you propose is a sound one. Hiding all us soulbeasts and springing us where the Beast Taming School is. That¡¯s a fine plan. Not even the Beast Taming School would be able to win against this many of us. However¡­it¡¯ll be hard to say what happens when we begin fighting. It¡¯s to be expected that there will be casualties. Now if the one in possession of the Core Stone, namely you, dies, or something else happens to the Core Stone, how will we soulbeasts return to the forest? We would have to make our way through the Empire. How many attacks from soul cultivators would we experience during that trip? That is my issue!¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. The Golden-eyed Ape King was basically saying he didn¡¯t have the power to ¡®protect¡¯ the Core Stone! In other words, he wanted for the Core Stone to be given to someone else!


    Several of the other soulbeasts like the Bloodhowl Wolf King and Violet Dragon King narrowed their eyes as well, but there was also a small group of soulbeasts that nodded. They couldn¡¯t fault the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s words!


    It was true that the entirety of this plan was dependent on the Core Stone. Many of the soulbeasts harbored thoughts of ¡®safeguarding¡¯ the Core Stone themselves. There was a possibility that one of these soulbeasts would¡¯ve contested Bai Yunfei for it. He was the only soul cultivator here, after all. The only reason it wasn¡¯t done already was due to Bai Yunfei being under the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s ¡®protection¡¯.


    As shocking as Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength was when he helped the Bloodhowl Wolf King, those were merely rumors to the rest of the soulbeasts here. None of them had personally witnessed Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength and were doubtful of how strong he really was.


    Power was something soulbeasts valued more than soul cultivators did. Power demanded respect over all else. A person could be nice and hailed as the ¡®savior¡¯ to many, but it was inherently useless if they didn¡¯t have the power. Without that power, that person would never be able to command true respect and inspire loyalty.


    And so what the Golden-eyed Ape King said struck a chord in many of the soulbeast¡¯s minds, such as the Stegosaurus King. He was saying what several of them felt¡­


    Bai Yunfei could tell that several of the soulbeasts were beginning to agree with the Golden-eyed Ape King. ¡°Then, does the Golden-eyed Ape King mean to say that I should hand over the Core Stone?¡±


    His words carried a hint of steel to them¡ªwho would possibly let ¡®someone else¡¯ hold onto something like a Regalia?


    ¡°I am only pointing out a potential problem for the benefit of us all. The safety of the Core Stone is paramount in this plan. If¡­you don¡¯t wish to hand it over, that¡¯s fine. As long as you can prove that you are capable of protecting the Core Stone in the future battle.¡± The Golden-eyed Ape King replied.


    ¡°And how does the Ape King suggest I ¡®prove¡¯ that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± A dangerous gleam of light flashed across the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s eyes. ¡°Fight me! Prove to me your strength!¡±


    The entire hall went silent. Many soulbeasts looked incredulous at the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s words¡ªa fight? A class eight soulbeast was challenging a Soul King to a battle? Wasn¡¯t that just unfair? How the Golden-eyed Ape King was able to issue a challenge like that without a problem proved puzzling to everyone here¡­


    But Bai Yunfei¡¯s answer only served to amaze everyone even further.


    ¡°Oh? And how shall we fight?¡±


    Not even the Golden-eyed Ape King was expecting that.


    ¡°A spar will suffice! You only need to show your strength! How about this¡ªI will use three moves! If you can endure those three moves, then that¡¯ll be the proof of your strength!!¡±


    The soulbeasts were thunderstruck. Had the Golden-eyed Ape King no shame?


    How could a Peak Late-stage Soul King survive a challenge like that? Not even a Half-emperor would be capable of withstanding three moves from a Soul Emperor! The Golden-eyed Ape King was clearly taking things personally with Bai Yunfei!


    The death of the Wind Ape King by Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was definitely weighing on the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s mind. If this wasn¡¯t some type of grudge, then this challenge was definitely meant to be a way for the Golden-eyed Ape King to ¡®discipline¡¯ Bai Yunfei and vent his anger.


    That line of reasoning would make sense if the Golden-eyed Ape King and Wind Ape King were friends, but they weren¡¯t. Bai Yunfei taking care of the Wind Ape King should¡¯ve been of great help to the Golden-eyed Ape King. But the truth of the matter was: Bai Yunfei killed a member of the ape clan. As a fellow member of the same clan then, the Golden-eyed Ape King had a problem with Bai Yunfei.


    It also couldn¡¯t be denied that his ¡®excuse¡¯ was an arbitrary one either. He meant to say that on behalf of the other soulbeasts.


    The irritation on the Bloodhowl Wolf King was noticeable to be seen by all. Just as he was about to speak on Bai Yunfei¡¯s behalf, however¡­


    ¡°If that¡¯s what the Ape King wants, then I accept your challenge!¡±


    Many of the soulbeasts began to doubt their own hearing. Had they heard wrong? Was Bai Yunfei actually going to accept the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s ¡®challenge¡¯?!


    ¡®Reckless¡¯, ¡®arrogant¡¯, ¡®a frog in the well¡¯.


    Words such as those were thrown about in several of the soulbeasts minds.


    Even the Ancient Crocodile King was looking surprised. Where had Bai Yunfei¡¯s confidence come from?


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King had to refrain from a sigh upon hearing Bai Yunfei¡¯s words. ¡°Nitpicking the Golden-eyed Ape King might be, but it¡¯s true that several soulbeasts doubt Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength. This should convince them otherwise¡­¡±


    He wasn¡¯t worried about Bai Yunfei at all. Of the two fighters, it was the Golden-eyed Ape King he was more worried about, in truth. But who was he to argue if the Golden-eyed Ape King was willing to stick his neck out for a bigger share of the pot?


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King was the one with the greatest understanding of Bai Yunfei. Three moves wouldn¡¯t nearly be enough to stop Bai Yunfei, even if they fought with the intent to kill. The Golden-eyed Ape King would certainly not have an easy time with Bai Yunfei as an opponent.


    It was with surprise that the Golden-eyed Ape King began to laugh. ¡°Haha! You¡¯ve guts! Then let¡¯s take this outside! Show me what you¡¯ve got!¡±


    Then as if afraid that Bai Yunfei would back out on his words, the Golden-eyed Ape King teleported out from the hall¡­


    Bai Yunfei rose from his seat to follow. Bowing to the soulbeasts gathered there, he spoke, ¡°It¡¯s only natural that one would want to see the strength of who they fight along with. Witness me, and see if my strength is up to your standards.¡±


    Then he too disappeared from the hall.


    On the outside, a single person waited high up in the skies for Bai Yunfei to appear in front of him.


    ¡°Please instruct me well, Ape King.¡± Bai Yunfei spoke.


    ¡°Be careful then, there¡¯s no shame in admitting defeat if you¡¯re scared!¡± Cackled the Golden-eyed Ape King.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    A wave of soulforce emerged from the Golden-eyed Ape King as he prepared for battle. It ran across the world like a tidal wave of power and caused multiple rays of golden light to appear everywhere. Gathering above the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s head, the golden rays of light soon consolidated to form the image of a giant golden ape!


    ¡°Roarrrr!!!¡±


    An ear-splitting roar emerged from the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s mouth, followed by a golden flash of light. His right arm rose into the air before crashing straight down onto Bai Yunfei!


    Above him, the giant golden ape mimicked the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s motions. A miniature sun came to life in the ape¡¯s hand to fall upon Bai Yunfei!


    With how bright and massive this ball of light was, it felt like a golden meteor was descending from the outer heavens!


    Fear crept into the eyes of all the witnesses; this was a move filled with a power beyond most of them! A move that wasn¡¯t just fueled by elemental power, but by¡­the Law of Metal!


    Using the Law of Metal to attack¡­the Golden-eyed Ape King wasn¡¯t pulling any punches with Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 1119: In Three Moves!

    It was inevitable that a shiver ran up the spines of many soulbeasts upon witnessing this fight. The Ancient Crocodile King was watching with narrowed eyes and the Three-eyed Tiger King was scowling to himself. The Golden-eyed Ape King was taking things too far! He was already preparing himself to interfere in the fight the moment Bai Yunfei was in any danger.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one. The Ancient Crocodile King was also thinking of the same thing. While he wanted to see how strong Bai Yunfei was, letting this fight go too far would only throw a wrench in everyone¡¯s plans.


    What mystified him and the others was the expression of Bloodhowl Wolf King. The wolf king didn¡¯t even look perturbed or ready to lift a single finger!


    And that was when the battle up above was starting to deviate from their expectations!!


    The Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s move was deadly swift and accurate. The golden ball of light was already within a hundred meters of Bai Yunfei¡¯s head!


    Everyone expected Bai Yunfei to do something. But he was just standing still!


    It was unexpected, to say the very least. No one could even sense Bai Yunfei¡¯s body prepare any soulforce to begin fighting. He was just standing there and waiting for the attack to land!


    Many of the soulbeasts began to grow nervous. What if Bai Yunfei was reduced to a pile of dust after this?


    That was when they saw it:


    Bai Yunfei was raising his right arm up!


    But that was it!


    Whilst everyone was rapidly trying to figure out what Bai Yunfei was doing, Bai Yunfei stood still and waited for an inky-black light flow out from his robes!


    The black light transformed into a whirlpool of black energy to remain over his head!


    In a flash, the ball of golden light struck the black whirlpool!


    And then¡­like a stone being dropped into a pool, the golden ball of light was swallowed by the whirlpool!


    The moment it swallowed the ball of light, the whirlpool began to shrink in size before ultimately disappearing!


    Without even a single wisp of energy to signify that anything had happened, the world was back to a state of normalcy. Bai Yunfei was still standing there without a care in the world. It was as if the attack just now was simply a figment of everyone¡¯s imagination¡­


    Everyone was stunned. No one could believe their eyes at the interaction just now!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡± Roared the Golden-eyed Ape King; how in the world had Bai Yunfei done that!?


    ¡°How¡­how did that happen!?¡±


    The Golden-eyed Ape King thought to himself furiously. He was already preparing the next move; this move would do the job!


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it!!¡±


    He roared these words out loud as if to bolster his own morale. Like an arrow shot from its bow, he was flying toward Bai Yunfei with his right fist ready to strike!


    ¡°Roarr!!¡±


    And like a shadow, the giant golden ape above his head did the same!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A brilliant beam of golden light splayed across the sky as the giant golden ape shrunk half in size and grew transparent. Whatever attack the Golden-eyed Ape King was using, it was definitely a far more powerful attack than his first!


    The rays emerging from the Golden-eyed Ape King was practically covering Bai Yunfei from sight. Even with their sharp eyesight, the witnesses were having a very hard time watching Bai Yunfei raise his right hand up again¡­


    ¡°Is he going to do the same thing as before!?¡±


    Several people thought to themselves. But¡­this wasn¡¯t the case. What Bai Yunfei was doing was far more shocking than they thought!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    This time, rather than a whirlpool of darkness, a ¡®transparent¡¯ barrier appeared in front of him!


    And with no time to spare! The brilliant beam of light crashed into the wall the very same moment it appeared!


    Everyone expected an explosion. A violent interaction that signified that one powerful attack had met a powerful defense. But what everyone saw instead was the giant sphere of light travel slightly forward as if being caught by a net before¡­bouncing back!


    That wasn¡¯t the right interaction everyone was expecting to see!


    The Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s attack was being bounced right back at himself!


    The power was the same, but the direction it traveled in was the exact opposite!


    ¡°What the?!¡±


    The Golden-eyed Ape King was spooked¡ªwhat in the world was this!?


    Left with hardly any time to dodge, the Golden-eyed Ape King flung up his arms and hastily allowed a burst of light up at the apparition above him!


    ¡°Roarrr!!¡±


    The giant golden ape above him stooped over him with its arms crossed together as if to ¡®protect¡¯ the Golden-eyed Ape King!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Golden light filled the sky after and showered the world with its color!


    Cracks in space were starting to form around where the Golden-eyed Ape King stood. The power of his attack was stronger than what the world could handle and was starting to be torn apart like stretched fabric.


    This time even the Bloodhowl Wolf King was tongue-tied! Not even he knew that Bai Yunfei had something like this up his sleeves!


    Everyone¡¯s attention was at the epicenter of where the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s attack landed. They were sweating on the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s behalf¡ªwas he really taken out by his very own move?


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A class eight soulbeast wasn¡¯t that weak.


    A furious roar erupted into the heavens along with a pillar of golden light. The Law of Metal was showing itself once more onto the world and melding together the cracks in space.


    The Golden-eyed Ape King could be seen after the light dissipated.


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t believe it! You¡¯ll die for this!!¡±


    It seemed being hit with his own attack had made him snap. The Golden-eyed Ape King was well and truly angry now!!


    Oh the humiliation! Two all-out attacks and his enemy was none-the-worse while he was forced to eat his own attack!


    ¡°A soul attack!!¡±


    The Ancient Crocodile King roared indignantly¡ªthe Golden-eyed Ape King was using a soul attack! For a class eight soulbeast to use that on a Soul King¡­that was definitely meant to kill him! There wouldn¡¯t be anything left of the Soul King if they were hit by such a soul attack!


    ¡°Sto¡ª¡±


    The Ancient Crocodile King and Three-eyed Tiger King rose high into the air to stop the Golden-eyed Ape King, but before they could get far¡­


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    A painful shriek filled the skies!


    Everyone froze still upon hearing that sound.


    The one who screamed was¡­the Golden-eyed Ape King!

 Chapter 1120: Confidence

    The Golden-eyed Ape King was holding his head in his hands as he howled. His face was twisted in pain and his eyes looked like a vessel in them had burst with how red they looked. He looked almost terrified about something¡ªbut everyone knew that he was in an extraordinary amount of pain! It had to be if it could make a class eight soulbeast scream like this!


    The only thing that could possibly do that much pain like this was a soul attack!


    But¡­how could that be? He was the one sending a soul attack out. How was it that he was the one hit by one instead?!


    They were all mystified. No one knew the answer. If not for how the Golden-eyed Ape King was screaming, they would¡¯ve just assumed he was acting instead¡­


    There was no way for the witnesses to know that this was the result of the Soul Sentinel Scarf and its +10 additional effect: the ability to bounce soul attacks back!


    If Bai Yunfei had to be honest, he wasn¡¯t expecting this either. Since the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s additional effect was chance-based, he planned on using the +10 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate to stop the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s attack.


    Uniq+10 Additional Effect: Create a spiritual barrier by using soulforce. Gain immunity to a single spirit-based attack for up to 5 seconds.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    But it seemed luck saw fit to having the Soul Sentinel Scarf activating its effect. Lady luck was definitely not granting the Golden-eyed Ape King any mercy today.


    Three attacks were launched from the Golden-eyed Ape King and three effects were activated by Bai Yunfei!


    The Golden-eyed Ape King had lost!


    The first effect was the soul armor¡¯s +10 additional effect to negate any attack. The second was it¡¯s +12 additional effect to bounce any attack back. And the last effect was the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s +10 additional effect to bounce back a soul attack!


    From the beginning to end, Bai Yunfei could be said to have done nothing more than to lift his hand! As for the Golden-eyed Ape King¡­he went all out and was still hurt by his own attack!


    This was a result no one expected. Not even Bai Yunfei thought things would be taken ¡®this¡¯ far...


    But the results were spectacular. Bai Yunfei had to resist licking his lips after witnessing the +12 additional effect of his armor. It was an effect on par with the +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    Almost, at least. The ability to bounce back a soul attack was a tactically more important one. But it was almost a more costly one¡ªbouncing the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s attack required almost half his soulforce to use!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s reserves were running dangerously low. The +10 additional effect of his armor took out another sizeable chunk in addition to the Soul Sentinel Scarf. It was fortunate that the Golden-eyed Ape King used a soul attack rather than elemental one for his third move. Otherwise, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve had to use the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form for additional strength!


    Relying on the Dual Flame Artes to recover his soulforce, Bai Yunfei forced himself to look calm. He bowed to the Golden-eyed Ape King with a polite smile.


    ¡°Thank you for letting me win, Ape King.¡±


    His words snapped everyone back to reality. Several soulbeasts were unable to refrain from a frown entering their lips¡­


    This wasn¡¯t a fight! This was Bai Yunfei slapping the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s face silly!


    The Golden-eyed Ape King letting Bai Yunfei win?? Normally this was a phrase said out of politeness, but his words were by no means appropriate for a fight like this. They sounded more sarcastic than polite right now!


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­hufff¡­¡±


    By now, the Golden-eyed Ape King was finally starting to calm down. His chest was heaving wildly as he tried to catch his breath, but he had at the very least stopped screaming. Sweat dripped from his forehead and eyes as he stared Bai Yunfei down. His soulforce reserves were running low as well.


    The expression on his face looked outright downcast. Being hit with his very own soul attack had definitely done a number on him.


    A vein above his eye pulsed violently when he heard Bai Yunfei speak. He knew that he had lost¡­and so definitively! It was a complete and utter loss for him!


    The absolute humiliation was downright maddening, but it was a lesson he had to accept. Though he was calming down, the bitter taste of defeat stayed fresh on his mind¡­


    ¡°Ssss¡­.¡± He exhaled after a lengthy period of silence. ¡°I admit defeat,¡± He spoke between gritted teeth, ¡°I was the inferior one!!¡±


    A wave of fresh shock ran across the witnesses¡ªthe Golden-eyed Ape King was actually admitting defeat!?


    ¡°How in the world did you do that?¡± The Golden-eyed Ape King had to ask.


    It was a question on everyone¡¯s mind. They all looked to Bai Yunfei, eager for him to answer.


    The straightforwardness of the question caught Bai Yunfei off guard. Realizing that his words just now had definitely carried a sarcastic tone to them, Bai Yunfei gave a faint smile in apology.


    ¡°To tell the truth, I was merely relying on the power of my soul armaments.¡±


    Such a statement didn¡¯t tell the finer details of how he managed to do it though.


    ¡°Your soul armaments?!¡±


    The Golden-eyed Ape King repeated. ¡°Soul armaments have never been known to have such power before¡­it¡¯s little wonder that you¡¯re a crafter then if you could push me so far with just soul armaments¡­¡±


    There was no way the Golden-eyed Ape King would say an excuse as blame-shifting as ¡®the only reason you won was because of your soul armaments and not your own strength¡¯. Instead, he simply said, ¡°Your power far exceeded what I imagined. I have no complaints if you deliver us to the Beast Taming School¡­¡±


    No one had a complaint with his words. Not even those who doubted Bai Yunfei doubted anymore. They were now believers of Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength.


    No one voiced any objections to his plan even after they all returned to the conference hall. Everyone was merely content to make the Vow of Souls with Bai Yunfei and wait for the plan to start.


    It surprised Bai Yunfei how the Golden-eyed Ape King made the Vow of Souls with him. He thought the Golden-eyed Ape King was only there to cause trouble if anything. But it seemed that the ape was truly there to help defeat the Beast Taming School. Perhaps the Golden-eyed Ape King was truly a soulbeast with different ideals than the Wind Ape King¡­


    The only thing for Bai Yunfei to do after that was to talk with all the clan heads to see where everyone''s strength lied and where they would be the most useful.


    More soulbeasts came to the wolf clan¡¯s territory the following hours after that. They were mostly class seven soulbeast that were late to the party and cursed themselves for missing out on the battle that took place a few hours prior.


    Many of the soulbeasts were leaders of their own clans. Powerful in their own right, these clan leaders brought with them many other powerful individuals. More time was still needed for everyone to gather, but Bai Yunfei was already finding it hard to imagine just how amazing the future battle would be with all these people¡­


    Other than that, Bai Yunfei was having many soulbeasts come into the Core World to where the soulbeasts puppets he had were. It became something like a ¡®family reunion¡¯ with many soulbeast puppets being taken by their respective clans. Until the Yao clan came up with a potent soul rejuvenating pill, these soulbeast puppets would remain in their own respective territories for safety.


    And so day turned to night.


    The clan leaders were all back in their own respective residences by the time Bai Yunfei returned to the Core World for a rest.


    Meanwhile, several people were gathered together in a stone room:


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King, the Three-eyed Tiger King, the Ancient Crocodile King, the Violet Dragon King, the Stegosaurus King, and the Violet Spider King¡­they were all class eight soulbeasts!


    The last one to enter the room was the Golden-eyed Ape King¡ªthe last class eight soulbeast!


    ¡°What did you want from us, Wolf King?¡±


    The Golden-eyed Ape King looked quite confused¡ªwhat was the reason for calling all the class eight soulbeasts here?


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King only spoke after the Golden-eyed Ape King sat down.


    ¡°Everyone, I have a matter that I wish to discuss with you¡­¡±

 Chapter 1121: Well Help You Become A Soul Emperor!

    It was quiet in the stone room the class eight soulbeasts were gathered in. Everyone was staring at the Bloodhowl Wolf King in shock after what they had just heard.


    ¡°Am I hearing you correctly, Wolf King? You want to bring him there?!¡±


    The Golden-eyed Ape King exclaimed after a half-beat of silence.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King nodded in earnest. ¡°I believe Bai Yunfei has earned the right. Everything he¡¯s done for us soulbeasts has been of the utmost help. Our descendants will be blessed if he can destroy the Beast Taming School for us. Therefore, I believe it¡¯d be appropriate that he be given the opportunity to go to that place.¡±


    He turned to face the Three-eyed Tiger King and Violet Dragon King. ¡°The Three-eyed Tiger King and Violet Dragon King have already agreed to this proposal. We gathered you all here today for your agreement. As an alliance, the ¡®opening¡¯ of that location is a right for all of us to know.¡±


    ¡°Wolf King, do you realize how serious it is for a soul cultivator to set foot in that place? Especially that Bai Yunfei¡ªthat place is a treasure trove for him. If he¡¯s greedy and destroys the sanctity of that place and our ancestors, then we¡¯ll be condemned by the rest of our kind!¡± The Ancient Crocodile King protested.


    ¡°I know that, of course. I thought about this for a very long time already. Everyone should have some kind of idea of what kind of character Bai Yunfei is. I know from my understanding of him that he would never be so base as to destroy that land or do anything of that kind. He is a man of repute. I believe there have been several soul cultivators to gain access to that land, am I correct?¡±


    ¡°While you are, our records have shown that those soul cultivators were heads and shoulders above the rest of their kind. The soul cultivators back then shared the world with us back then, but those days are long over. The relationship between soul cultivator and soulbeasts are nowhere as well as they were in the past. I never would¡¯ve trusted a soul cultivator before Bai Yunfei.¡± The Stegosaurus King spoke.


    ¡°Does Bai Yunfei not stand heads and shoulders among the others? Is he not a dragon amongst men? According to what I know, the last humans to enter that place were the ¡®Three Sages¡¯ a thousand a two hundred years ago. Does Bai Yunfei not share the same level respect as they did?¡±


    The next to speak was the Three-eyed Tiger King.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei helping us destroy the hated Beast Taming School is something not even those three could do or were willing to do. Are we soulbeasts really not capable of differentiating Bai Yunfei from the rest?¡±


    The Ancient Crocodile King fell silent to the Three-eyed Tiger King¡¯s words.


    ¡°If it concerns everyone that much, then we can make another Vow of Souls with him. Surely that would solve the problem?¡±


    This time the Ancient Crocodile King blinked. He had forgotten about the Vow of Souls.


    ¡°I never had any qualms about Bai Yunfei entering that place¡­¡± The Violet Spider King spoke, ¡°I agree.¡±


    ¡°Letting him in won¡¯t hurt us. If he breaks through, he breaks through. Having him owe us a favor sounds fine to me.¡±


    The next to speak was the most surprising one; the Golden-eyed Ape King. Had losing to Bai Yunfei in three moves really changed the Golden-eyed Ape King¡¯s opinion of Bai Yunfei?


    ¡°Then that¡¯s that. He¡¯ll be allowed to go, and if he manages to become a Soul Emperor, then our chances of destroying the Beast Taming School will only become greater. We aren¡¯t in a hurry by any means. Some of the soulbeasts haven¡¯t even gathered here yet. Waiting a little longer won¡¯t hurt anyone.¡±


    In the end, the Ancient Crocodile King acquiesced to the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s proposal along with the Stegosaurus King.


    ¡°It¡¯s settled then. I¡¯ll let Bai Yunfei know tomorrow and bring him there.¡± The Bloodhowl Wolf King said.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei stepped into the conference hall. Not many soulbeasts were here so the noise of his own footsteps could be clearly heard to himself as he walked.


    He came to a stop when he saw the class eight soulbeasts gathered there in the hall. Bowing, he spoke, ¡°Seniors¡­what might I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Take a seat, youngling, we¡¯ve a big gift for you!¡± The Golden-eyed Ape King jerked a finger for Bai Yunfei to sit down.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Still confused, Bai Yunfei looked first to the Bloodhowl Wolf King for approval before sitting down.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei,¡± smiled the Bloodhowl Wolf King, ¡°We¡¯ve decided to bring you to a location that should help you grow stronger.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised by the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s words, ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°We mean that we plan to help you become a Soul Emperor!!¡± The Three-eyed Tiger King replied.


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed. What a gift that was! Was it a joke? It didn¡¯t look like it, with how serious everyone looked.


    ¡°Could you clarify what you mean, seniors?¡± He prodded cautiously.


    ¡°The place we plan to bring you to is known as the ¡®Tomb of the Emperor Beasts¡¯! Many of our class eight soulbeasts are buried in that place, making it a holy land for all us soulbeasts. That land is rich with the insights of our ancestors and a place where many of the peak late-stage class seven soulbeasts go to train in hopes of gaining one of the inheritances. Today we plan to take you and your soulbeast partner there. If your luck is good, then there¡¯s a chance you¡¯ll breakthrough and become a Soul Emperor!¡±


    ¡°The Tomb of the Emperor Beasts?! A burial place for your ancestors?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°You can make a breakthrough in such a place?!¡±


    ¡°You think we¡¯re lying?¡± Laughed the Golden-eyed Ape King, ¡°All of us became class eight soulbeasts there. The insights left behind by our ancestors are far beyond the levels of any medicine or resource. Those with the right knowledge to understand those insights will without a doubt become Soul Emperors or class eight soulbeasts! You are the last soul cultivator to enter that land in the last thousand years, so don¡¯t disappoint us and make the breakthrough!¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head was reeling with all this information¡ªa land specifically meant for people to become Soul Emperor?! The soulbeast world had such a place like that?!

 Chapter 1122: Tomb of the Emperor Beasts

    The longevity of a soulbeast couldn¡¯t be understated. Even a class six soulbeast could live for over two hundred years if left to their own devices. A class seven soulbeast could live for five hundred and a class eight soulbeast could live for over a thousand years. A mid-stage or late-stage class seven could live for even longer.


    But longevity was not equal to immortality. As a lifespan of a hundred years had an end, so did a lifespan of a thousand years. Even a class eight soulbeast would seek for a natural end in a place of their own choosing.


    For those close to the end of their natural life span, they wished to meet their end in a place where their descendants could still be given the last ¡®gift¡¯ they could spare.


    That place was known as the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts!


    A land sacred to any soulbeast and unique beyond all else!


    It didn¡¯t even exist in the real world but in a ¡®pocket dimension¡¯. No one even understood its properties, much less knew when it¡¯d appear.


    It wasn¡¯t impossible to enter the tomb. The Soulbeast Forest was so massive in area that it was home to a multitude of entrances to this pocket dimension. One only needed to find one of those entrances for a chance to enter.


    Of course, there was still one last obstacle. These entrances had to be opened by a class eight soulbeast. Only they had the power to do so, and only a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast were allowed to go in¡ªor any powerful enough soulbeast dying of old age.


    These were the iron-clad rules of the tomb that survived the passage of time. It was said that an extremely powerful individual had set up that dimension that way and established those unviolatable ¡®laws¡¯.


    One had to be a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast and have a class eight soulbeast ¡®open¡¯ the path to the tomb. Then one would need to seek for one of the inheritances of their ancestors for the chance of enlightenment and becoming a class eight soulbeast.


    For soul cultivators, the chance to become a Soul Emperor happened only once. In the best-case scenario, one can succeed and become a Soul Emperor. In the worst-case scenario, they failed and died. In a compromise, one could also fail and become a ¡®Half-emperor¡¯, though they would never gain the chance to try again.


    That wasn¡¯t the case for soulbeasts. There was no such equivalent of a ¡®Half-emperor¡¯ for them. A peak late-stage class seven soulbeast could fail in becoming a class eight soulbeast multiple times!


    And that was one of the biggest differences between a soul cultivator and soulbeasts.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Today, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi would be entering the holy land of soulbeasts, the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts.


    Under the guidance of the Three-eyed Tiger King, Bai Yunfei was able to use the Core Stone to teleport them toward the closest entrance. It took three days, but soon the group arrived in front of a large gray and misty valley.


    It was only him, the Three-eyed Tiger King, and the Ancient Crocodile King there. The Bloodhowl Wolf King and the others had decided to remain where they were to take care of other matters.


    Well, Xiao Qi was with him too. As a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast, entering the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts was well within his rights.


    ¡°Go on in. We¡¯ll wait outside for you.¡± The Three-eyed Tiger King nodded.


    ¡°You should have some understanding of what might happen in there. Head for where the avian ancestors burial grounds are and Xiao Qi should be able to find an inheritance to use. It¡¯s very likely he becomes a class eight soulbeast if nothing happens. As for you¡­stay cautious and find the best time to try and breakthrough. Don¡¯t try to force it.¡±


    ¡°Rest assured, Tiger King, I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    The tiger nodded. Sharing a glance at the Ancient Crocodile King, he and the other soulbeast stepped forward into the valley. Waves of soulforce began to radiate from them as they raised their right hand up!


    The world began to tremble and shake as a fissure in space ripped open in front of Bai Yunfei!


    Unlike other cracks in space, this fissure had a very distinctive landscape within it! It was the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts!


    ¡°Head on in. We wish you good fortune.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your assistance, seniors!¡± Bai Yunfei gave a sincere bow to the two soulbeasts. Glancing at Xiao Qi, he and his partner stepped into and beyond the spatial fissure.


    The first thing Bai Yunfei noticed upon stepping into this place was the atmosphere. The air felt thick here like he was walking into an invisible wall almost. His vision blurred for a second before refocusing just as quickly onto a completely different landscape than the valley he came in from¡­


    He wasn¡¯t in that valley anymore, but a field that was as quiet as it was empty!


    The ground beneath his feet was yellow and sandy, and the skies above him were dark. He could see several mountains off in a distance, but those were still far away.


    Specks of light littered the ground in just the right amount of numbers to serve as a light source.


    The closest speck of light shined green in color. Bai Yunfei could see a completely motionless soulbeast resting beside it.


    The air felt oppressive to him. Something about this place was rejecting his very presence. He noticed that Xiao Qi looked absolutely normal, meaning this ¡®rejection¡¯ had to due with him being a soul cultivator rather than a soulbeast. The Tomb of the Emperor Beasts was rejecting him.


    The only reason he was able to enter this place was due to the work of the Three-eyed Tiger King and Ancient Crocodile King. Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been straight up thrown out from the Tomb if not for the two of them imparting a bit of their soulforce in him.


    Bai Yunfei was unable to bring out anyone from the Core World due to that rejection.


    This pocket dimension had its own ¡®Laws¡¯ established here by the powerful individuals of long ago. For example, Bai Yunfei noted that flight was impossible in this place along with instantaneous traveling methods such as teleportation. Bai Yunfei also learned from the Three-eyed Tiger King and Ancient Crocodile King that it was only possible for a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast to stay in this place for a hundred days at most. The laws that supported this dimension would kick out anyone that had either been here for a hundred days or managed to become a class eight soulbeast¡­


    In other words, these restrictions were put in place in this dimension to deter soulbeasts from doing anything else but focus on their own training.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Exhaling slowly, Bai Yunfei headed east while glancing around the place.


    The Tomb of the Emperor Beasts was huge and had no distinctive land markers other than the bodies of those soulbeasts who died. It was only due to these bodies Bai Yunfei had an idea where the avian soulbeasts were buried.


    The Three-eyed Tiger King already told him that the entrance Bai Yunfei entered the Tomb from would land him at the edge of it. Directly north of that entrance was for the wolf clan, to the north-east was the tiger clan, and to the direct east was the avian clan.


    It wasn¡¯t in Bai Yunfei¡¯s immediate plans to find enlightenment and make the breakthrough. He had something else that he deemed was more important¡­


    He was after something the Three-eyed Tiger King told him about before¡ªthose upgrade stones! They were here! He was heading to the mountain where the avian clan¡¯s burial grounds were just to find those upgrade stones!!

 Chapter 1123: In Search of an Upgrade Stone

    ¡°Wow!! Look at how big this skeleton is, Yunfei!! What kind of soulbeast was this?¡±


    The only sound to break the desolate silence in this land was the excited chirps of Xiao Qi. Every single skeleton they passed meant another chirp from the bird as he wondered aloud at every sight.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be rude to those who came before, Xiao Qi.¡±


    Bai Yunfei reprimanded the bird before bowing to the skeleton. He was already apologizing to the skeleton for the disturbance in his mind.


    This was the fifth skeleton in the last ten minutes. Needless to say, this was yet another class eight soulbeast who died of natural causes.


    There wasn¡¯t much to study about these skeletons. They presumably must¡¯ve found the right spot to sit and await their deaths when they came into this place when they were alive¡­


    Bai Yunfei had nothing but the utmost respect for these soulbeasts. The reason why they chose here of all places to die was for the benefit of their descendants. They chose to leave behind their own insights and inheritances for their descendants to pick up on and learn faster than normal. It was a very generous act of kindness.


    Not many class eight soulbeasts managed to die of natural causes with how violent the world of soulbeasts and soul cultivators were. The Wind Ape King and Golden Roc King were good examples of that. It required a lot of power in order for anyone to survive in this world, and it was evident that the soulbeasts of these skeletons used to be very powerful. Bai Yunfei had to presume that those who died of old age surely had to be above the early-stage class eight soulbeast level.


    He was right. The soulbeasts who died here were generally of the late-stage class eight soulbeast level or even of the peak late-stage class eight soulbeast level. Unable to advance their strengths, the soulbeasts resigned themselves to stagnation and lived out the rest of their lives in peace.


    The closest skeletons to Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi looked rather tigerlike in anatomy. He didn¡¯t know which subspecies they were, but he surmised there had to be an ice-type here with how the air here was laden with frost. Not only was it thick, but it was also deeply infused with elemental ice.


    It seemed almost alive with how it circulated around the place without scattering. As if there was something preventing it from dissipating.


    This was what was known as the ¡®inheritance¡¯ of one of the tiger clansmen.


    A descendant of this soulbeast would be able to understand more about the Law of Ice if they got close to it. Whatever insights and knowledge the skeleton had would be infused into the class seven soulbeast through the frost. Any ice-type peak late-stage class seven soulbeast would definitely find themselves having a far easier time becoming a class eight.


    There was also something else worth noting about this skeleton. There was a white soulgem stuck to the skeleton¡¯s head!


    The soulgem of a class eight soulbeast! The culmination of everything that soulbeast experienced and learned was shining brightly as if asking to be taken! The vertebrae of the soulbeast was also exuding a soft white shine¡ªthis could definitely be used as a high-quality crafting material!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t any intentions of taking anything from this skeleton, though. To do so was blasphemous. Doing nothing but offer up his prayers, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi left the place to head toward their destination. This was the type of mannerism he wanted to have and continued to show for any skeleton he came across.


    No matter how tempted he was with these items, Bai Yunfei was by no means willing to do anything that might disrespect the skeletons of these soulbeasts.


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King warned him about the potential consequences of such an act, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t need a warning in order to restrain his greedy urges.


    The only reason why he was here was due to the kindness of these soulbeasts. Those same soulbeasts were extending this kindness in hopes that he could become a Soul Emperor. So how could he return their kindness with a base act such as graverobbing? Could he even craft a soul armament with the bones of these soulbeasts in good conscience?


    To be human was to understand gratitude and deter avarice.


    ¡°Oh? Something seems different¡­have we reached our destination?¡±


    Several hours after his arrival here, Bai Yunfei started to pick up the pace. The air in this area was feeling different compared to the one before.


    The change in atmosphere was definitely something he felt before. It was the sign that he was about to go from one burial ground to the next.


    ¡°Xiao Qi, what do you feel?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, hoping for his partner to have a better idea than he did.


    ¡°Well¡­I feel like¡­the aura up ahead is really familiar¡­¡± Xiao Qi muttered. ¡°It¡¯s strange, but in a good way.¡±


    ¡°Hm, that must mean up ahead is where the avian clan¡¯s burial ground is¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Then the location the Three-eyed Tiger King talked about has to be close by¡­¡±


    Deviating slightly toward the right of their current route, Bai Yunfei traversed through another plain before arriving in front of a long chain of mountains. Making a right, he started the long hike up the nearest one.


    It took a while for him to go from one mountain to the next. None of them had any signs of life such as grass, but each mountain had a few sources of ¡®light¡¯ that Bai Yunfei knew were the skeletons of a soulbeast. It seemed these mountains were home to a decent number of soulbeasts.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sometimes Bai Yunfei was lucky enough to come across several resources of notable quality whenever he crossed over one mountain to the next, but they were never so noteworthy that he collected them. If anything, he felt rather lazy to harvest it.


    At last, Bai Yunfei reached the crossing point from the previous burial ground to the avian¡¯s burial ground. They were getting close to where the Three-eyed Tiger King found those upgrade stones!


    By this point Bai Yunfei was traveling at a rate of speed far slower than before. His soulsense was covering as much of the mountain as he could so that he could try to find any upgrade stones.


    ¡°A mountain peak shaped like the ear of a tiger¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. The Three-eyed Tiger King told him about this specific landmark as being the place where he found all those upgrade stones before.


    ¡°Found it!! It¡¯s that place!!¡±


    His eyes lit up with excitement¡ªhe had found it! Taking off like a bolt of lightning, Bai Yunfei headed straight for the ear-shaped mountain peak!


    ¡°A giant hole¡­this has to be the place!¡±


    Bai Yunfei took notice of a giant crater near the landmark. The sight was exactly as the Three-eyed Tiger King said. This crater was the result of when the Three-eyed Tiger King became a class eight soulbeast and tested his own strength¡­


    And that was when those upgrade stones appeared.


    Several hundred years had already gone by since the Three-eyed Tiger King became a class eight soulbeast, but the sight was exactly the same as described. Scrambling down the crater, Bai Yunfei began to scan the ground for the stones.


    ¡°Found one!!¡±


    Crooking his right hand, Bai Yunfei had a pile of earth and sand dislodge itself before a white stone came flying out into his hand!


    It was an upgrade stone!


    A regular one it might be, but it at least proved that this place had them!


    The Three-eyed Tiger King said he only collected a few of those stones out of curiosity. He didn¡¯t bother to search the place more carefully, meaning it was possible there was still more of them here!


    Excited, Bai Yunfei scattered his soulsense across the crater. Multiple stones were lifted up into the air and sorted through quickly before several more upgrade stones were found. One of them was even a mid-heaven tier one!


    ¡°No more?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. He had a decent sum of upgrade stones after that search, but he really did expect to find a Guaranteed Upgrade Stone or two.


    ¡°Let¡¯s dig a little more then! I might find some more!¡±


    He was reluctant to give up. Gathering his soulforce to him, Bai Yunfei leaped high into the air. Readying the Ardent Sun Glove, he fired off one fireball after another at the ground!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The Tomb was soon filled with noise as the fireballs slammed into the earth. They scattered dust and stone in every way possible with the blast and left deep cracks in the earth!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°No way¡­there¡¯s only this much? There can¡¯t only just be this little of it, can it?¡±


    Half the day was already gone. Bai Yunfei had essentially ransacked the entire mountain with only a few more upgrade stones to make up for his troubles! Though he gained two additional mid-heaven tier upgrade stones, the rest were still rather ordinary finds.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Cursing to himself, he sent one last ball of fire in a different direction to vent.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The nearby mountain with the ear-shaped peak had its lower half blown apart once the fireball impacted.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Disappointed, Bai Yunfei stood up and prepared to walk away from this place. It seemed he wouldn¡¯t be getting what he wanted.


    Then he abruptly twirled around. Something about the mountain peak he just blew up caught his eye!


    The dust had yet to calm down, but Bai Yunfei could see several white specks of light shining from underneath the dust clouds¡­

 Chapter 1124: Treasure Mountain

    ¡°Those are¡­¡±


    It took a while for Bai Yunfei¡¯s brain to think. The sight of all those shining stones was making him rather light-headed.


    ¡°Are those¡­?¡±


    His eyes lit up like a lamp at sunset. Kicking off against the ground, he ran straight for the mountain peak like the wind!


    He couldn¡¯t fly in this place, so Bai Yunfei had to make do with running and leaping. Every step took him another ten meters closer to his destination. Soon, he was standing right in front of where his fireball had landed.


    Looking down at the closest stone, Bai Yunfei hurried and landed a single punch to excavate the stone from its earthly confines.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect: Upgrading has an increased 15x chance of success.


    Effect cannot be stacked.


    Equipment Effect 2: Crafting has an increased 10x chance of success.


    Effect cannot be stacked.


    Cannot be upgraded.


    A mid-heaven tier upgrade stone!


    Bai Yunfei was hardly able to keep himself from shaking. There wasn¡¯t just one upgrade stone here. The mountain peak was practically embedded with the same white stones as the one he just pulled up. In other words¡­


    They were all upgrade stones! This mountain peak was filled with them!


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯ve struck rich!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a whoop of excitement uncharacteristically of him. But that couldn¡¯t be helped. How else could he react in such a situation? Even a miser would have the same reaction after stumbling upon a mountain of gold¡­


    It made sense now why he couldn¡¯t find a large number of upgrade stones¡­he was looking in the wrong place!


    This mountain peak had so many upgrade stones it was making his head spin!!


    ¡°Help me mine out all these upgrade stones, Xiao Qi!¡±


    Hands already moving to mine out the nearest stones, Bai Yunfei started to request Xiao Qi for his assistance.


    ¡°High-earth tier¡­high-earth tier¡­low-heaven tier¡­mid-heaven tier¡­a high-heaven tier!!¡±


    One by one, Bai Yunfei was naming off the ranks of the upgrade stones he was getting. Every stone he picked up felt like they were priceless antiques.


    ¡°A Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!!¡±


    A fist-sized stone was lifted high up into the air! It was a +10 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!


    ¡°Xiao Qi! Focus on that area of upgrade stones! Look for something like this!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all Guaranteed Upgrade Stones! A +8, +10, +9¡­.a +11! There¡¯s a +11!¡±


    Bai Yunfei began to cackle with excitement.


    A while passed before Bai Yunfei mined up every single upgrade stone he could see. This place was now picked out clean.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Breathing in to calm his rapidly beating heart, Bai Yunfei looked at the +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone in his hand. ¡°There¡¯s so many of these stones but in small pieces. I wonder¡­what they would look like as a whole?¡±


    Higher-quality upgrade stones were bigger compared to lower-quality ones, but these stones were rather small. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know why that was the case if they were all in the same vein with one another.


    But having so many of them was very good news. They might be regular upgrade stones, but there were still almost twenty heaven-tier ones. It would serve his studies on the Upgrade Technique quite well.


    ¡°Are there really no more? Should I¡­experiment a bit then?¡±


    Half the mountain had already been mined and yet Bai Yunfei was still reluctant to give up. He was ready to destroy the entire mountain if it meant finding more.


    ¡°Rumble¡­¡±


    A loud groan could be heard as the upper half of the mountain collapsed under its own weight and was turned to rubble.


    Countless stones fell from the sky as the mountain collapsed. Concentrating as hard as he could, Bai Yunfei was unable to find even a single upgrade stone amongst the new stones.


    He grumbled to himself. Leaping into the air, he sent several more fireballs at the unbroken parts of the ground to try and find more.


    His fireballs weren¡¯t strong enough to destroy any upgrade stones, just the regular stones. With how hard they were, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t worried about accidentally destroying any upgrade stones.


    Landing back down on the ground, Bai Yunfei began to clear the rubble around him. Each wave of his hand meant another pile of rubble was cleared. Soon, there was hardly any rubble left to be cleared.


    And from the remaining piles, a disk-like stone could be seen poking out from the other stones¡­


    This stone wasn¡¯t white in color, but gray. It looked like was absorbing the natural light being reflected on it. This was no ordinary stone.


    Bai Yunfei summoned the stone to his hand at once.


    ¡°It¡¯s heavy!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nearly dropped the stone in surprise the moment his hands touched it. Curious, he sent his soulforce into the stone and¡ª


    ¡ªFelt a strange fluctuation of energy emit from it!


    ¡°Spatial energy!!¡±


    His eyebrows flew up on his head, ¡°Is this¡­a Meru Stone?!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    He sent a pulse of soulforce into the stone as if to test it. Upon receiving a faint vibrating sound from it, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glistened with excitement, ¡°It is! It¡¯s a Meru Stone!!


    ¡°I managed to find a Meru Stone! Does this mean I can craft ¡®that¡¯ soul armament now?!¡±


    This discovery filled Bai Yunfei with great joy. He could hardly contain his excitement over this accidental discovery!


    But in the end he stored the stone away in his space ring. He was here for the upgrade stones and came out with a Meru Stone in addition to that. To say he was pleased was an understatement. Who knew he¡¯d get more than he¡¯d ask for after blowing up a mountain?


    But his luck wasn¡¯t over just yet. The greatest discovery had yet to come¡­


    Right as Bai Yunfei was finishing off the last pile of rubble, he noticed that the core of where the mountain used to stand had a shiny white glow emanating beneath the rubble!


    Digging into the rubble¡­Bai Yunfei noticed a white stone about the size of a ball!


    Then when he excavated it from the ground and touched it¡­


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect: Allow the successful upgrade of any item +13 and under.


    Equipment Effect 2: Raise the tier of any item by two when crafting (Highest being Mid Heaven)


    Cannot be upgraded.


    An uncontrolleable smile entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips¡ª


    A +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!

 Chapter 1125: The Inheritance of the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix!

    ¡°This looks like the skeleton of an eagle-type soulbeast. Probably a magical storm eagle judging from the wind and lightning energies around it¡­what do you think about his inheritance, Xiao Qi?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was currently staring at a small tornado that was standing still in the same spot. It was about a hundred meters in circumference and had the skeleton of a large eagle inside it.


    Xiao Qi shook his head. ¡°I feel his inheritance rejecting me since we¡¯re not really related. I might be able to take it if I force the connection, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Forget it then, let¡¯s keep on looking.¡± Bai Yunfei was already turning away to look elsewhere.


    ¡°Wait, Yunfei. I feel something calling for me over there, can we go look?¡± Xiao Qi pointed to the left with his wing.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Turning around, Bai Yunfei started to head in the direction pointed, ¡°Something¡¯s calling for you? Sounds interesting, let¡¯s go take a look!¡±


    Off they went to a large mountain to the left. They were on a direct path to wherever it was with Xiao Qi guiding them.


    It was already three days since they entered this part of the Tomb. Three days ago was when Bai Yunfei got the +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone after completely annihilating that small mountain they were on. Luckily no skeletons were there on that mountain.


    Every mountain they passed by on the way was given a quick look-over to see if any upgrade stones could be found. Bai Yunfei would carefully excavate a part of the mountain in hopes of encountering another ¡®treasure mountain¡¯, but to no avail. His luck wouldn¡¯t be so good that a second treasure trove could be found.


    For that reason, Bai Yunfei made sure to be more careful with his excavation efforts and dedicated more time in looking at the inheritances of the soulbeasts around.


    Xiao Qi and Bai Yunfei took things slowly during those three days. Preferring to scan the area slowly and ¡®revering¡¯ every avian soulbeast skeleton they came across, the two tried to find the ¡®inheritance¡¯ that was calling out to Xiao Qi.


    The Tomb of the Emperor Beasts was by no means a dangerous place. Every inheritance that could be found here was basically as good as a manual filled with the knowledge of their owners to be read. But inversely, these inheritances couldn¡¯t be read by just anyone. The reader had to be compatible with the inheritance, lest they do more harm than good to their body and mind. That was the reason why Bai Yunfei was so careful looking at all the inheritances. He wanted to find the most compatible one for Xiao Qi to study from.


    So it was surprising for Xiao Qi to suddenly say he was being ¡®called¡¯ by something after three days of searching. He already came to appreciate how magical and mysterious these inheritances were after looking at them for so long. They worked in mysterious ways for many soulbeasts, just like how Long Lan was able to ingest the blood of the Black Dragon King and mutate in ways no one would¡¯ve been able to predict. The Black Dragon King¡¯s blood called out to Long Lan at the time due to their compatibility.


    Following that same level of logic, the inheritance that was calling out to Xiao Qi surely had to mean the two of them were extremely compatible! Perhaps it was even the most compatible inheritance for Xiao Qi!


    Now that they had a destination in mind the skeletons on the path weren¡¯t being as closely observed as before. It took more than half a day for Bai Yunfei to realize something was off¡­


    He didn¡¯t see a single avian skeleton in the last few hours¡­


    They were still heading towards the same source they felt before, but the landscape had been barren for hours now. Not even a single avian soulbeast had a skeleton here!


    It was strange. While Bai Yunfei knew the skeletons of a soulbeast wouldn¡¯t be very close to one another since it would be quite rude for a soulbeast to encroach too closely to the skeleton of another. It was the polite thing for a dying soulbeast to choose an area untouched by the presence of one who came before.


    But for an area like this to have not even a single skeleton for so long¡­


    ¡°What is that?!¡±


    Another puzzle came to present itself to Xiao Qi and Bai Yunfei a while later. Just barely noticeable over the horizon was a floating ¡®sun¡¯ the color of the rainbow!


    Every skeleton had with them parts of their energy that¡¯d linger around after their death. The stronger they were, the more energy that¡¯d be left behind. But¡­this sun had too much energy!


    The higher up they climbed the mountain and closer they got toward this sun, the more suffocated Bai Yunfei felt. The air in the atmosphere was practically enough to make him fall to his knees in reverence!


    He had no way of telling how long ago this particular soulbeast had died, but the energy was still as strong as ever. Even stronger than any soulbeasts they met before!


    ¡°This has to be¡­a late-stage class eight soulbeast? No! A peak late-stage class eight soulbeast!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out, ¡°And those colors¡­does that mean this soulbeast can control seven different elements!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei could tell the air was having an effect on Xiao Qi as well. The bird was already taking off from Bai Yunfei to fly faster and faster towards the sun.


    And when the multi-colored sun was finally in sight¡­


    Bai Yunfei was floored. He thought he¡¯d find the skeleton below the sun or something, but it was a giant tree!


    This was the first sign of life he saw since he came into this Tomb! Resources like rocks, stones, and minerals could be found, but none of them were very alive like vegetation!


    And this tree was huge!! The canopy of the tree encompassed the entire sky almost with each and every leaf being the size of a roof!


    ¡°It¡¯s a parasol tree!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed. He was familiar with what kind of tree this was, but he had never seen a parasol tree as large and tall as this one!


    His eyes could just barely make out a large nest somewhere near the top of the tree. It was perched on top of a large branch and had an object shining every color of the rainbow in it. This object had a pair of wings extending forth from its main body. Was this one of the beasts of legend¡­a phoenix?!


    Its appearance, it¡¯s aura¡­it had to be a ¡®phoenix¡¯!


    ¡°Could¡­this be¡­?¡± Bai Yunfei was slackjawed. There was only one type of phoenix Bai Yunfei could think about that matched this description.


    The ¡®Immortal Iridescent Phoenix!!¡±


    A soulbeast from the times of antiquity, the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix!


    That soulbeast was definitely a beast of legends, so¡­why was it here right in front of them?!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t an answer for that. He could only stare in awe at the ball of light¡­


    ¡°Yunfei!! I¡¯m going to inherit his inheritance!!¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s voice called out to him, startling him out from his stupor.


    ¡°Are¡­are you joking?! You¡¯re choosing this inheritance?! Don¡¯t be rash¡ªsenior Bloodhowl said to not focus on the strength of the soulbeast¡¯s owner. It¡¯s the compatibility that matters! If you¡¯re not compatible with the inheritance, then¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not being rash¡­this inheritance is calling out to me. He wants me to inherit his will.¡±


    Bai Yunfei froze. ¡°He¡¯s calling for you? This is the inheritance that¡¯s most compatible with you?!¡±


    Was this¡­what they called a bloodline resonance?!


    A prisma oriole, a soulbeast that would normally live their lives as a class five soulbeast, was experiencing a bloodline resonance with the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix? A soulbeast with the power of a class seven soulbeast since birth?!


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Exhaling was the only thing Bai Yunfei was capable of right now. He couldn¡¯t believe his ears.


    He slapped himself on the cheeks to clear his head. ¡°Fine then! We choose this inheritance then!¡±

 Chapter 1126: The Laws of Fire and Lightning!

    It was a majestic sight. A giant parasol tree that housed an equally majestic phoenix. Even the plumage of the phoenix was a beautiful sight with how the feathers of its tail floated.


    This was a sight completely different than the skeletons Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi had been used to seeing.


    There was something off about this phoenix, however. Its actual body was not one of flesh and bone, but an illusion created by the physical manifestation of elemental energy!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s senses were telling him that the bones within this illusion were infused with an astronomical amount of energy. It was little wonder that this illusion could be maintained so perfectly.


    An Immortal Iridescent Phoenix. An ancient soulbeast born with the powers of an early-stage class seven soulbeast! What¡¯s more, this soulbeast was capable of using seven of the major elements!


    Xiao Qi having talent in wind, lightning, fire, and wood was already something hardly seen in this world. Soulbeasts with multiple affinities were generally very rare to find. In fact, the entire world of soul cultivators would equate Xiao Qi to Bai Yunfei¡¯s level of reputation if they knew about his affinities.


    There was a problem with having too many affinities though. Becoming stronger meant Xiao Qi had to raise the level of proficiency and understanding with each element he knew. This meant the bird had to train in all four elements without slacking on any of them or risk an imbalance in knowledge that¡¯d only serve to hamper his strength in the future.


    The only reason Xiao Qi used wind and lightning attacks the most was due to the Wind and Lightning Feathers he wore. With Bai Yunfei being a fire-type soul cultivator and the bond they shared, Xiao Qi was able to understand the element of fire without much effort. That left wood being his weakest element.


    For Xiao Qi to become a class eight soulbeast meant he had to focus more on elemental wood. It was his weakest link and so Bai Yunfei was hoping that they¡¯d be able to find an ancestor whose primary element was wood.


    The best case scenario was finding another soulbeast with talent in the same exact elements as Xiao Qi. But that was too far high of a goal to reach for.


    And yet, here they stood today. That goal had not only been met¡­it was exceeded!


    The Immortal Iridescent Phoenix was a soulbeast capable of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, and wind!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Four different rays of light exploded forth from Xiao Qi as he ascended to the skies. Shining with each of the four elements he could control, Xiao Qi transformed into a larger form of himself.


    His feathers shined with three additional colors, but they were drowned out by the primary four and were only limited to the very tips of those feathers. From a distance, Xiao Qi was starting to resemble the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix in shape and color.


    He was focused entirely on the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix above him. Soulforce pulsating in rhythmic pulses, Xiao Qi flapped his wings and shot higher up into the air.


    Now that Xiao Qi was the same size as Immortal Iridescent Phoenix, it was really startling to see how different the two were. If Xiao Qi¡¯s original size was a small three-year-old child, then his current size was about the same size as an adult man.


    Stopping right below the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix¡¯s feet, Xiao Qi hovered there in the air with his head bowed low as if praying to the soulbeast.


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought he could feel the world shake. Was it his eyes? Or was the illusion over the phoenix¡¯s body starting to flicker a bit?


    It wasn¡¯t just his imagination¡ªthe illusion was definitely starting to flicker!


    The head of the phoenix was now pointing downward as if to look at Xiao Qi! The wings were slowly folding in on the smaller bird as if to embrace Xiao Qi like a child!


    Bai Yunfei could feel the world¡¯s energy around him begin to quicken in its circulation. Faster and faster, the energies were blending together to gather around the parasol tree.


    ¡°It¡¯s starting!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King told him that the acceptance of an inheritance wouldn¡¯t be dangerous at all, but that didn¡¯t stop Bai Yunfei from feeling nervous.


    His bond with Xiao Qi was telling him that the bird was currently deep in a state of meditation. One that seemed to expound on the impermanence of life. Xiao Qi was no longer a bird with a soul, but a sponge in the ocean of knowledge and absorbing all there was needed to know from the phoenix¡¯s inheritance.


    All sorts of color were springing to life. New colors, like orange, yellow, and blue were being ¡®deflected¡¯ from the phoenix¡¯s embrace while the other four colors were absorbed into the phoenix to be transferred into Xiao Qi.


    Bai Yunfei had no idea what was going on. The information he was receiving from his bond wasn¡¯t enough for him to understand the situation. The techniques of the avian clan were beyond his comprehension. But gradually¡­he could feel himself learning more about the world¡¯s energies!


    Techniques may differ between soulbeasts and soul cultivators, but insights on the energies of the world all lead to the same destination for both.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Feeling more and more knowledgeable about the world, Bai Yunfei began to feel more in tune with himself. The fireseed in his body was starting to thrum rhythmically with his surroundings as if resonating with it!


    He was no longer focusing on what was happening with Xiao Qi. Realizing the time was nigh for his own understanding, Bai Yunfei sat down on the ground and began to meditate!


    The bond between him and Xiao Qi was perfect. Their hearts and mind could share what they felt through that bond, allowing the two of them to learn almost equally from the same experience!


    And what Bai Yunfei was learning about right now was about the Law of Fire!


    Bai Yunfei could say he had a decent grasp on the Laws of Fire. His understanding on the topic was rudimentary but passable. That was changing now due to what Xiao Qi was going through. His eyes were being opened to a new realm of possibilities. Many new paths were opening themselves up for Bai Yunfei to walk on! If the path he walked on before was a dangerous cliffside path, then this time he was basically walking on an open plain!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t aware of it due to how immersed he was in his trance, but the illusionary phoenix flickered once again before a stream of red light flowed from it toward him!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    The sky was clear of clouds, but somehow, a bolt of violet lightning crashed down from them to join the stream of red light around Bai Yunfei!


    It wasn¡¯t just the Laws of Fire that Bai Yunfei was learning more about. Thanks to his companion lightningseed, he was also beginning to learn more about elemental lightning!


    Compared to the Law of Fire, this bolt of lightning was a little weaker. But like the Law of Fire, this bolt of lightning contained a law within it too!


    The Laws of Lightning were now being summoned!!

 Chapter 1127: Attempting to Become Soul Emperors!

    It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine how long the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix lived. How much of that lifespan it spent learning about the world and its elements. Thousands and thousands of years worth of knowledge was gathered in the bones of this phoenix.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t finding it very hard to understand the insights on the Law of Fire being passed on to him from the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix. His own understanding of the Law was helping him advance by leaps and bounds and also indirectly helping Xiao Qi further his understanding on the matter.


    The rate of progression with the Law of Lightning wasn¡¯t as fast, but Xiao Qi was helping him a decent amount. Thanks to that Bai Yunfei was enjoying a never-before-experienced level of understanding.


    One had to fully understand a Law in order for them to become a Soul Emperor. Once that was met, the soul cultivator is able to draw upon the energy of the world in both quantity and quality far beyond when they were a Soul Emperor. It was actually with a Law that one would be able to unleash more power than before. With the power of Law, one could strengthen the body and reinforce the soul. The origin essence could be expanded and the transformation could be complete. With Law, one can become a Soul Emperor!


    That was the reason why patriarch Qin failed to become a Soul Emperor. He was obstructed by Jing Wuying and failed to draw in enough of the world¡¯s energy to further his understanding of a Law.


    It was crucial for a person to appreciate a Law for what it is to become a Soul Emperor. Understanding and realization of a Law was not something that could be supplemented or substituted for by any number of soul stones or medicine. It required the power of reflection for someone to accomplish. Without that, one would never become a Soul Emperor.


    The considerations of the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix made it possible for both Xiao Qi and Bai Yunfei to learn more about their respective elements and the Laws behind them. They were being guided on the right path. Now all they needed to do was continue walking and hopefully become a Soul Emperor!


    Of the two, Xiao Qi was far more experienced with the Law of Lightning than Bai Yunfei. The primary reason was due to him gaining plenty of experience when he killed the avatar of the Wind Lightning School¡¯s headmaster. And now with the help of the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix, Xiao Qi was improving far more efficiently.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s original plan was to have Xiao Qi breakthrough first since his own understanding of elemental fire and lightning would indirectly increase. Afterward, he¡¯d find another soulbeast of the same elements to inherit and hopefully learn enough to attempt to become a Soul Emperor.


    But it didn¡¯t seem like he had to do that anymore. He didn¡¯t have to find a second soulbeast inheritance¡ªthe Immortal Iridescent Phoenix was more than enough for the both of them!!


    The both of them were deep in their meditational trance now. Everything in the world was lost to them as they reflected upon their impermanence. It was going extremely well for them¡ªperhaps the time was ripe for them to attempt to breakthrough!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The world trembled once more as the red and violet light around Bai Yunfei thickened. The Laws were being transferred from the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix to Bai Yunfei in great volumes.


    His body began to tremble. It felt like he was being dragged by an invisible energy into the air and being levitated toward the top of the tree!


    As if unsatisfied with the rate of absorption, Bai Yunfei decided to head straight for the source itself!


    Xiao Qi looked like he ordinarily did when training. His head was tucked in between his folded wings like he was in a cocoon. Of the four colors shining forth from his body, the red and violet rays shined the brightest. The light began to shine even brighter when Bai Yunfei drew close before a green light started to grow brighter as well¡­


    The bird must have decided to move on from the Laws of Fire and Lightning. It was apparently time for him to delve into the Law of Wind. As such, Bai Yunfei decided to ignore the connection between him and the bird so he could focus on the Laws of Fire and Lightning.


    Under the near-perfect guidance of the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix, the Laws poured forth into Xiao Qi¡¯s mind for him to absorb and expound on. His understanding of the Law of Wind was growing deeper and deeper by the second until it was on par with his understanding of the Laws of Fire and Lightning. That meant it was about time for the last Law, the Law of Wood¡­


    The concept of daytime didn¡¯t exist in the Tomb. It was a domain of perpetual night and darkness. As such, neither Bai Yunfei nor Xiao Qi would know how long they spent meditating even if they were currently aware of the passage of time. It wasn¡¯t even until the sea of flames and the pool of lightning had reached a certain point when Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew open!


    ¡°Gong¡­.¡±


    One eye sparked to life with fire while the other with lightning. Two little sparks in origin and yet they resonated with the surrounding world with enough force to send a tremor!


    The sea of flames and pool of lightning froze at the same time Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes snapped open. Flowing as if being sucked into a vacuum, the two energies were taken into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    It was as if his body was now a black hole specifically meant to drain the world of those two energies!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    A loud chirp could be heard from the area next to him. Four different colors exploded exuberantly as a huge sphere of multicolored light shot up into the sky. The four elements Xiao Qi could use were being drawn into the sphere and then into his own body!


    Both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were attempting to break through!


    The world grew silent once again now that both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi started to absorb as much energy as they could. So great were their attempts that the dimension started to warp under the pressure. More and more energy was being torn away from their regular circulation to feed the two of them.


    But it wasn¡¯t enough!


    The illusionary phoenix spread its wings far apart at that moment. Red, violet, light green, and dark green light poured out from its bones to fill the air. It¡¯s ¡®body¡¯ was becoming more and more transparent!


    The majority of this newly-introduced energy was being streamed toward Xiao Qi, but a portion of the fire and lightning energies were being allocated toward Bai Yunfei too.


    It seemed the assistance the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix provided for Xiao Qi was more than enough for the weaker bird to meet his needs. But since the majority of that energy was meant for Xiao Qi, that meant there wasn¡¯t enough for Bai Yunfei!


    It normally would¡¯ve been enough for any regular soul cultivator to breakthrough. But Bai Yunfei¡¯s case was different since he had two fireseeds!


    So the amount elemental fire he needed was double that of the regular amount!


    Surrounded by the violet-tinted flames, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to bring out as many fiery-red stones as he could from his space ring.


    They were fire-type primal stones!


    It was absolutely mind-boggling how many of those primal stones he had. For hundreds of meters around, those stones filled every inch of the air in massive amounts!


    ¡°Bang bang bang bang¡­¡±


    A series of miniature explosions could be heard one after another as the primal stones began to explode. Transforming into dust, they fell into the flames and enriched it with their energy!


    ¡°It¡¯s not enough!!¡±


    That wasn¡¯t enough for Bai Yunfei! Another salvo of fire-type primal stones was brought out with a wave of his hand again!

 Chapter 1128: All Conditions Met to Become a Soul Emperor!

    Inside the Core World.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡¯s running out of fire-type primal stones! Does anyone have anymore? Do Bai Yunfei a favor and bring them all out!!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s voice boomed across the Core World for every single person of importance to hear. Multiple people began to fly into the sky above Yao City. Tang Xinyun, Long Lan, Wu Dijian, Dan Teng, You Qingfeng, and the alchemists of the Yao clan¡­they littered the skies with their numbers to stare at a projection of Bai Yunfei!


    Xiao Fang made it possible for the inhabitants of the Core World to see what Bai Yunfei was doing. And right now, they could see that he was currently trying to absorb as much energy ash e could from the primal stones! The seriousness of Xiao Fang¡¯s voice was more than enough for everyone to understand the gravity of the situation. All at once, everyone began to take out the fire-type primal stones they had!


    This was a situation no one expected to happen. Everyone knew that a lot of energy was needed to become a Soul Emperor, but no one expected Bai Yunfei to struggle on that aspect. He wasn¡¯t really lacking on primal stones and the such after all those victories. Everyone expected him to have more than enough sources of elemental fire, but they were wrong. He needed more!


    Luckily he still had hem as his back-up! Each one of these people standing there in the sky had a large number of primal stones on their own, especially the alchemists due to fire being their primary element!


    Each fire-type primal stone they had were taken out form their space rings and floated up into the air like small meteorites.


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    Right after the last of Bai Yunfei¡¯s own reserves ran out, Xiao Fang dumped the primal stones everyone had out of the Core World and into the pocket dimension. There was enough of those primal stones to fill far more room than Bai Yunfei initially filled!


    Bai Yunfei allowed himself to relax for just a bit. He knew where this latest salvo of primal stones came from due to Xiao Fang.


    He went at them without hesitation. Crushing every single primal stone, he began to feast on the energy held within them!


    Thankfully, those primal stones were more than enough to allow Bai Yunfei to reach a new level of energy!


    The elemental fire within his body was being absorbed at a tremendous rate. It wasn¡¯t until every last bit of energy around his person was taken in when the world grew silent.


    Then, two seconds later¡­


    ¡°Booom!!!¡±


    A wave of fire exploded out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s body like a bomb strong enough to affect even the Ninth Heaven!


    It felt like all the energy Bai Yunfei absorbed from the primal stones were fueling that explosion to fill the world with a pillar of fire! It spilled out in droves and transformed into a titan of fire above Bai Yunfei!


    The manifestation of an entity from any type of energy was generally a symbol meaning one had successfully become a Soul Emperor, but the titan of fire above Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t exactly yet at that level. It was just an imitation. And yet this imitation was becoming more and more lifelike with how it looked! If there truly existed a god of fire, then this entity was looking more like one!


    A ball of red light and a ball of violet light shined fiercely from the titan¡¯s chest. With how the two balls thumped and pulsated, it looked like they were the hearts of the titan!


    ¡°Cerrrackkk!!!¡±


    A bolt of lightning dropped down onto the titan. It traveled across the surface of the titan¡¯s body before transforming into some sort of lightning armor!


    Then a beam of energy exploded forth from down below the titan. It was coming from Bai Yunfei!


    The amount of power radiating from him wasn¡¯t any weaker than the people he fought once before, like the avatars of Nether or Duan Leiting. Or like the Golden Roc King or Demon-eyed Tiger King¡­.


    This was the power of an Early-stage Soul Emperor!!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    At the same exact time Bai Yunfei exploded with power, a wave of light exploded forth from where Xiao Qi was. Whereas Bai Yunfei had red and violet light shining from his person, Xiao Qi had four different colors surrounding him. And like how Bai Yunfei had a titan of fire above him, Xiao Qi had a multicolored bird with outstretched wings right above him!


    It was truly a sight to behold. Aside from there only being four colors glowing from this giant bird, it looked very similar to the phoenix!


    And that was when a power rivalling Bai Yunfei started to pour out from underneath the giant bird!


    Xiao Qi was now an early-stage class eight soulbeast!


    With both soul cultivator and soulbeast successfully meeting their requirements for breaking through, it was only natural that they succeeded!!


    The both of them smashed through the barrier and made the break through in one fluid moment!


    Freezing up, the two titans of energy fell apart into their respective energies and were turned into maelstroms of energy around their masters.


    The maelstrom around Bai Yunfei was made primarily up of fire, but there was also plenty of elemental lightning added to the mix. At the center of it all, Bai Yunfei tilted his head back as if enjoying his newfound power.


    His eyes snapped open with a bright gleam. Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei summoned an object to him!


    This new object shined bright-red and had a distinct rectangular shape to it¡ªthe Cataclysmic Seal!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Tremors traveled through the body of the Cataclysmic Seal the moment it appeared in the pocket dimension. Followed by several mysterious hand gestures, Bai Yunfei summoned the Law of Fire to him to enter the Cataclysmic Seal!


    As a Soul Emperor, the energy within Bai Yunfei was completely different than before. Even his soulforce was substantially richer now.


    But if one were to have the chance to observe him closely, they¡¯d be able to see that some of that soulforce was leaving his body and being taken into the¡­armor he was wearing!


    This was a sight any crafter was familiar with and treated with the utmost care. This was the sign that a crafter was trying to reforge a soul armament to become their soulbound armament!


    It was a sight similar to when he became a Soul Sprite and reforged the Fire-tipped Spear. Then again when he became a Soul King. Both times, the Fire-tipped Spear managed to go up in quality and attack before eventually becoming a lifebound armament.


    A Soul King had the chance of crafting a lifebound armament and also when they became a Soul Emperor!


    This time, Bai Yunfei was deciding to form a new lifebound armament and¡­reforge the Cataclysmic Seal!


    Of the lifebound armaments he had already, three of them were Regalias that couldn¡¯t be reforged. The Fire-tipped Spear went through the reforging process too many times for him to consider trying again. That left either the Critical Glove or Cataclysmic Seal, but between the two of them, the Cataclysmic Seal had more ¡®room for improvement¡¯.


    The Cataclysmic Seal was trailing behind, honestly speaking. It had 5000 attack power, a value that was slowly losing its relevancy amongst the people Bai Yunfei was fighting nowadays. The Cataclysmic Seal wasn¡¯t much of a tide-changer even when it was in its giant form. But after accompanying him for so many years, Bai Yunfei was loathed to retire it from the frontlines and wanted to borrow this opportunity to make it even stronger!


    And since having a second fireseed meant having a second chance for something else, Bai Yunfei decided to craft a new lifebound armament!


    The most likely candidate was the single piece of equipment he deemed necessary¡ªthe armor he wore!

 Chapter 1129: The Seventh Lifebound Soul Armament And a Change in the Cataclysmic Seal

    The pocket dimension containing the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts differed than to the real world. Not only was the energy held within this dimension purer, but Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi also absorbed the energy from the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix, meaning that the Emperor¡¯s Phenomena was slightly different. It was smaller in scale and didn¡¯t leave much an effect on the dimension.


    If on the outside world, the amount of Planar energy involved in their break through would¡¯ve resonated more with the energy there and the effects would be amplified.


    The auras of two beings floated in the air of the pocket dimension. The glow of light around their body shrunk with every passing moment, and before long, they dissipated entirely to reveal the figures of Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi.


    Nothing was different about them physically, but the energy exuded by both beings were definitely a notch above what it was before. Their auras felt more imposing. It felt as if they were both capable of moving the world just by pushing their arms out.


    The energy that danced across Xiao Qi¡¯s feathers gradually died down to a lull, leaving behind a very motionless Xiao Qi. He was seemingly reflecting upon the new realizations that came with advancing in stage.


    Still floating in the air, Bai Yunfei had his right arm reaching out to the Cataclysmic Seal, but not quite grasping it either. His soulforce was flowing from his own body into the Cataclysmic Seal.


    A flash of dark-gold light gleamed underneath his robes. It wasn¡¯t coming from his body but the armor he wore!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal began to hum and tremble as if excited. Then at once, it exploded with a red light!


    The armor Bai Yunfei wore exploded with light at the same time with enough light to cover his entire body!


    Then power began to explode from Bai Yunfei!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    A long period of time passed by the time all the light was over and Bai Yunfei was no longer glowing. His body was already beginning to gain back the soulforce it lost.


    As tired as he was, Bai Yunfei was excited to take a look at his new achievements. Managing somewhat ease his nerves, he looked down at the armor he wore.


    His right hand touched the surface of it and brought open the notification screen¡­


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 5500


    Additional Defense: 5000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect: Convert a certain amount of attack taken into additional defense for up to 1 minute for each hit. Defense converted by attacks cannot exceed 30% of the armor''s defenses.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +10 Additional Effect: Create a whirlpool of darkness capable of negating any elemental attack.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    +12 Additional Effect: Bounce back any one attack whose power does not exceed double the defense of this equipment.


    Cooldown of 30 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 250 Soulpoints


    The armor didn¡¯t increase in tier, it was just a small increase in defense. But the biggest change was¡­the soul compatibility!


    It went from being 30% to 100%!


    It was now a lifebound armament!


    His seventh one!!


    Regular soul cultivators would be lucky if they had even one lifebound armament. Bai Yunfei had seven!


    Bai Yunfei had to wonder what kind of expressions of the crafting elders would have if they knew about this.


    It didn¡¯t seem like the armor changed much even after becoming a lifebound armament. But Bai Yunfei knew it¡¯d require less soulforce to activate its effects. That in itself was a good thing.


    Having a seventh lifebound armament gave Bai Yunfei an idea.


    ¡°If the +12 additional effect can counter attacks, I¡¯ll call it something simple like the ¡®counter armor¡¯!¡±


    The armor never had a name since he first received it from Li Fenghai. It was time for it to get one now that it was a lifebound armament.


    He lifted his head to look at the other soul armament, the Cataclysmic Seal. The excitement was flowing back to his face¡ªhis had higher hopes for the Cataclysmic Seal since it was reforged.


    Grabbing onto the brick, Bai Yunfei excitedly started to read through the stats.


    Equipment Grade: Normal (Regular Mode)


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 9


    Additional Attack: 132


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 5% chance to inflict confusion for a maximum of 3 seconds. (If attacking the head, increase this chance to 10%.)


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to stun the target for a maximum of 5 seconds. (If attacking the head, increase this chance to 20%.)


    Cooldown of 15 seconds.


    +13 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 50% chance to hurl the target.


    Cooldown of 3 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 200 SoulpointsreEquipment Grade: Mid Earth (Special Mode)


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Wind


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 2800


    Additional Attack: 6000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to activate ¡®Constricting Flames¡¯ and inflict a 10% decrease in mobility for a maximum of ten seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, summon a shield made of elemental earth. The more soulforce used, the stronger the shield. The total defense of the shield cannot exceed the attack of the weapon.


    (Ineffective against mind-based attacks).


    +13 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, expand the weapon up to ten thousand times its size. The attack will remain the same but can be controlled up to eight thousand meters away from the user.


    Upgrade Requirement: 200 Soulpoints


    Finishing off the stats, Bai Yunfei began to smile with glee!


    The Cataclysmic Seal in its normal form didn¡¯t change at all, but the special mode did¡­


    It went being a low-earth tier to a mid-heaven tier! And the stats it had meant it was strong enough to contend even with a high-heaven tier! Bai Yunfei¡¯s goal was met!


    And the additional effects changed!


    The +10 additional effect had its chance and effect enhanced by thirty percent, but the biggest change was the +13 additional effect!


    It no longer had an upper limit on its expansion or a distance limit for its controllability!


    That was a big enough change to fill Bai Yunfei with glee, what was there not to like?!


    ¡°I wonder if an Early-stage Soul Emperor would be able to block an attack from the Cataclysmic Seal at my current strength?¡±


    A stray thought entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. He was excited to test his limits of both himself and the Cataclysmic Seal now¡­


    ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯m a class eight soulbeast now! Haha!! You¡¯re a Soul Emperor now too! That¡¯s great!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by the loud chirping of Xiao Qi. Distracted, Bai Yunfei glanced over to his avian companion.


    Putting away the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei looked at Xiao Qi in surprise, ¡°Why¡­didn¡¯t you humanize?¡±


    Xiao Qi was an early-stage class eight soulbeast now, but he still decided not to humanize!


    ¡°After thinking about it I decided not to. I might not get used to it if I did¡­besides, it¡¯s a waste of potential to try and humanize! I¡¯d never become the strongest if I did.¡±


    Bai Yunfei went quiet for a second. He felt a little moved by Xiao Qi¡¯s reasoning¡­


    Because of the bond he shared, the emotions and logic Xiao Qi had were understood deeply by Bai Yunfei. Xiao Qi didn¡¯t want to waste the energy attempting to humanize so it could be conserved for getting stronger. It felt like he was trying to prepare himself as much as he could for any future battles¡­


    Xiao Qi had been so excited about humanizing when he was a class six soulbeast. The opportunity came when he became a class seven soulbeast, but he didn¡¯t take it. The opportunity was missed again as a mid-stage class seven soulbeast and then when as a late-stage class seven soulbeast. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t blame him for the last opportunity. In that dangerous time when he and Long Lan roamed the continent with Tang Xinyun, it was important for Xiao Qi to have every last edge he could have. Every battle he had during that time required more power than Xiao Qi could spare for humanizing. Not that Xiao Qi cared for humanizing at that point. He just wanted to kill every enemy that was involved in Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®disappearance¡¯...


    Humanization was a process that did require a significant portion of strength whenever a soulbeast broke through. That was one of the reasons why a subsection of soulbeasts opted not to humanize. Some even opted to go for a half-transformation like the Golden Roc King and Wind Ape King. They had humanoid figures but ultimately had more bestial appearances like the head. A half-transformation like this was a compromise that didn¡¯t require as much energy as humanization.


    But for some reason, Xiao Qi was still willing to give up humanization at this level. He was throwing away the dreams of before for the sake of getting more power¡­

 Chapter 1130: The +13 Soul Sealing Mandate

    Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi weren¡¯t able to stay in the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts for long. Half a day after their breakthrough, the two of them began to feel a strong repulsion from the dimension.


    The only class eight soulbeasts allowed in the Tomb were those that were on the verge of death. Not even peak late-stage class seven soulbeasts could stay for more than a hundred days, and newly-made class eight soulbeasts were forced out from the dimension after a day at most.


    They were calm because they both knew of that fact. Allowing himself to wait, Bai Yunfei allowed a bubble of energy to cover him and change the environment around him.


    By the time his eyes were open, the scenery was now a silent valley with two familiar auras standing behind him.


    ¡°He¡¯s out!¡±


    He could hear the Three-eyed Tiger King exclaim in surprise. Turning around, he could see the surprise on both class eight soulbeasts'' faces.


    ¡°I apologize for the wait, seniors.¡±


    ¡°You both succeeded? That¡¯s great! Haha! I knew you both could do it!¡± The Three-eyed Tiger King roared with laughter after taking a look at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°It was all thanks to you, seniors, that I managed to succeed. I cannot thank you enough.¡±


    ¡°No need for that, it was for our mutual benefit! An increase in power for you means better for our plan! Let¡¯s return to the wolf clan, I¡¯m sure all preparations are already done!¡±


    ¡°Sounds fine. May I ask how many days passed?¡±


    ¡°Not long, ten days at most.¡±


    Ten days. The wolf clan was most likely done gathering everyone in that case.


    As prepared Bai Yunfei felt about how many soulbeasts were going to be there, he still had a hard time calming himself¡­.


    As the mountains of the wolf clan drew close, Bai Yunfei could start to feel the auras of multiple powerful individuals everywhere!


    Over a hundred class seven soulbeast were there!


    Many soulbeasts were alerted to Bai Yunfei and the two soulbeasts returning. By the time they reached the wolf clan¡¯s airspace, many soulbeast leaders were coming out from their residences to greet them.


    Bai Yunfei had to prevent himself from smirking at the sight. How would the soul cultivator world react if they saw this many class seven soulbeasts here¡­?


    ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re back!¡±


    Multiple noticeable figures appeared from the crowd. Bai Yunfei recognized the Golden Lion King, the Azure-winged Bat King and a few others such others such as Hong Yin.


    Everyone was excited to see Bai Yunfei at last, but the energy he radiated frightened them. They were all told that Bai Yunfei was simply someone from the younger generation and was of the same level of strength as them.


    But the Bai Yunfei standing right in front of them was someone that belonged to a higher level of power than they did.


    ¡°Brother Hong Yin, everyone¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Has everyone gathered yet? Where¡¯s senior Bloodhowl?¡±


    He suddenly realized most of the soulbeasts gathered here were the class seven ones. The Bloodhowl Wolf King, Violet Dragon King, and other class eight soulbeasts were all gone.


    ¡°Father took them somewhere, I believe it¡¯ll be a few days before they return. If nothing goes and the senior they invited comes, everything will be ready then.¡±


    ¡°A senior?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated.


    If the Bloodhowl Wolf King went to invite a ¡®senior¡¯ with that many individuals, then the senior had to be¡­a late-stage class eight soulbeast?!


    The Three-eyed Tiger King and Ancient Crocodile King narrowed their eyes, ¡°Did they¡­head towards the dragon clan?¡± The Three-eyed Tiger King asked.


    ¡°That is correct, senior. Father and the group went to meet with the dragon clan¡¯s elder.¡±


    A flash of respect crossed the Ancient Crocodile King¡¯s eyes. ¡°It¡¯ll be a definite win for us if ¡®he¡¯ joins us!¡±


    ¡°A senior of the dragon clan? Who is it?¡± Bai Yunfei asked curiously.


    Looking around themselves, Hong Yin flashed Bai Yunfei a smile, ¡°Let¡¯s take this talk inside.¡±


    Within the Core World.


    After bidding goodbye to the Golden Lion King and other class seven soulbeast, Bai Yunfei managed to learn some more details from Hong Yin.


    All the class seven soulbeasts were basically here now¡ªmore of them came than expected. They thought the majority would be the elders of several clans and a few class seven soulbeast, but over a hundred of the latter were here.


    If pitted against the Beast Taming School, the soulbeasts had the overwhelming advantage.


    Now it was time to wait for the Bloodhowl Wolf King and the others to return before they could set out for the Beast Taming School. At first, they thought that having a mid-stage class eight soulbeast would be the only thing necessary, but it was possible that the Beast Taming School might have a late-stage class eight soulbeast puppet. That¡¯d be troublesome if true, so they wanted to bring an elder from the dragon clan for insurance.


    In short, Bai Yunfei was looking at all angles to eliminate the Beast Taming School for sure!


    Since Hong Yin said it¡¯d take a few days for the Bloodhowl Wolf King to return, Bai Yunfei decided to take it easy and relax in the Core World. Of course, he¡¯d take a look at the bounty he got in the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts too.


    Like that +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone, for example.


    Today, Bai Yunfei had seven lifebound armaments. The Cataclysmic Seal, the Fire-tipped Spear, the Soul Sentinel Scarf, the Critical Glove were the only ones that were +13. The Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate, and now the Counter Armor were the only +12 items. That meant either the Soul Sealing Mandate or Core Stone would be getting this +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    It was hard to make that decision himself, so Bai Yunfei decided to talk with the two spirits. A polite declination from Xiao Fang meant that the Soul Sealing Mandate would be upgraded.


    On top of a tall mountain, Bai Yunfei sat there on the ground alone.


    The +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone was taken out onto his right hand and the Soul Sealing Mandate on his left.


    Pressing the two together, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect 1: 100% Regeneration rate to the soul.


    Equipment Effect 2: Summon a white halo. Soulforce recovery is increased by 100%.


    Other Effects cannot be activated within the duration of this effect.


    Equipment Effect 3: Seal the soul of a single entity. Entity will be unable to take any actions.


    Additional Attribute: 80% Increase in Equipment Effect 1 and 2''s effects.


    +10 Additional Effect: Create a spiritual barrier by using soulforce. Gain immunity to a single spirit-based attack for up to 5 seconds.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    +12 Additional Effect: All allies within range gain a 20% gain a 20% increase in all attributes.


    All enemies within range have a 10% decrease in all attributes.


    Determination of ally or enemy is dependent on user. If unknown, then neither effects will apply.


    Duration of one hour and cooldown of 24 hours.


    +13 Additional Effect: Revert the state of the soul 10 seconds prior. Activated automatically when off cooldown and soul is in danger of destruction.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints

 Chapter 1131: Destruction of the Lightningfire Cauldron

    ¡°Revert the state of the soul 10 seconds prior?¡±


    Bai Yunfei wondered aloud at the +13 additional effect.


    Ten seconds wasn¡¯t a lot of time, but Bai Yunfei realized the implications of the effect!


    This effect was basically rewinding time!! It only targetted the soul, but that was something deadly useful in a battle!


    Consider this possibility: If Bai Yunfei was to accidentally suffer a soul attack and have his soul destroyed, then the Soul Sealing Mandate would rewind the clock by ten seconds and completely undo the damage!


    A second possibility: The backlash of Soul Ignition was something terrible for the soul, but that backlash could be undone if Bai Yunfei used this effect!


    It was even better in that it activated automatically! In other words, this was airtight insurance for his soul!


    Of all the techniques in this world, the majority of them specifically meant to kill their opponent were all ones that attacked the soul. It wasn¡¯t an attack that could be protected against if done right! But with this effect, wasn¡¯t this basically a way for Bai Yunfei to escape death?!


    And that wasn¡¯t considering the +13 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    The effect stated that it was could be activated automatically upon danger of the soul being destroyed. Ten seconds worth of damage could be healed in a second every twenty-four hours. This effect¡¯s abilities couldn¡¯t be understated if it was used in his battle against Nether when he was struck by his Samsara attack.


    With so many different soul armaments protecting his soul, Bai Yunfei felt like it¡¯d be incredibly difficult for anyone to destroy his soul¡­


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Being handed a powerful insurance like this felt exhilarating to Bai Yunfei. Remaining calm wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei felt like he could do even after several deep breaths¡­


    Too much excitement meant being more pliable in making rash decisions like over-upgrading.


    Another good thing about this upgrade was the insight he got. Since he was stronger now, the +13 insights he was receiving were a lot clearer than they were when he was just a Soul King.


    The light of understanding shined brilliantly in his eyes. A fist-sized white stone appeared in his right hand¡ªa mid-heaven tier upgrade stone.


    In his left appeared the Vampiric Demon Edge!


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    Bai Yunfei commanded as he brought both items together!


    ¡°Bang¡­¡±


    The upgrade stone transformed into a white mist and flowed into the Vampiric Demon Edge to be absorbed.


    Upgrade Fai


    Suddenly, Bai Yunfei snapped his right hand up over the soul armament and clenched his fist!


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 8000


    Additional Attack: 7500


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    Equipment Effect 1: Absorb the blood of those slain and temporarily gain a 30% increase in attack.


    +10 Additional Effect: Pay a blood price to increase the power of the user and item. Gain 1% of attack and 2% increase to overall stats for every percentage of blood taken. Duration ends when no more blood is given.


    +12 Additional Effect: Heal from all wounds instantaneously. Increase all stats by 300% and dull the sense of pain by 50% for an hour.


    All damage sustained within that hour will have its severity amplified by 200% afterward.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    He did it!!


    He managed to successfully change the outcome of a +12 upgrade!


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going to upgrade another soul armament like before. It was time for him to recollect his thoughts rationally and calmly.


    Things were different now that he was a Soul Emperor. Now that he was looking at the Upgrade Technique, Bai Yunfei could see several new ideas he never noticed before! The +12 barrier had a pretty good chance of being broken!


    ¡°Right now my limit is being able to upgrade high-heaven tier soul armaments to +11¡­¡±


    He muttered to himself as he stared at the Vampiric Blood Edge. ¡°Tch¡­as expected from a soul armament meant for a do-or-die situation¡­¡±


    The +10 additional effect was already something meant to be used in dire straits, but the +12 additional effect was even more of a double-edge than the first.


    A short-term boost in power for double the backlash. It was an effect that had the potential of hurting the user more than the enemy if used incorrectly.


    He sighed. Putting the Vampiric Blood Edge away, Bai Yunfei decided to take out the Lightningfire Cauldron next.


    He wasn¡¯t just planning on upgrading soul armaments. It was a nice time to start crafting one too.


    A black stone appeared over his right hand¡ªit was the Meru Stone he found in the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts.


    He studied the stone for some time. Each inch of its surface was meticulously observed before Bai Yunfei took out another object: a torn and age-worn manual.


    This was the manual he got as a Soul Sprite long time ago in the Northern Cliff Province, the Flying Dagger Compendium!


    Many of the flying daggers Bai Yunfei made from this compendium had served Bai Yunfei faithfully over the years. But those flying daggers weren¡¯t always able to keep up with his strength. The stronger Bai Yunfei got, the less useful these daggers became.


    So there was a good reason why he was taking the compendium out right now: the soul armament he was trying to craft was the strongest flying dagger the compendium had to offer!


    A powerful flying dagger he could actually use at his current level of strength!


    The description of the flying dagger felt unreal almost. He couldn¡¯t believe a flying dagger like that could even exist. As much as he wanted to craft it before, Bai Yunfei never had the right materials until now.


    As the master crafter he was now, Bai Yunfei had a discerning eye that could analyze the flying dagger instructions and marvel at the ingenuity of its design.


    Even now, Bai Yunfei was having doubts whether or not the creator of this compendium wasn¡¯t a crafter after all¡­


    Now that he was committed to making this flying dagger, Bai Yunfei began to take out a series of materials he¡¯d need¡­


    Once all preparations were done, Bai Yunfei let out a small sigh to steady himself. His fireseed entered the cauldron and lit it with a bright fire. One by one, he tossed in the materials and prepared to craft¡­


    Time went by slowly. Day turned to night by without rest while the mountain Bai Yunfei was on was washed with a sea of flames.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A loud explosion rocked the entire Core World. Energy ran across the world in such large amounts that even the inhabitants of Yao City started and snapped their head towards the source.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The mountain peak Bai Yunfei was on was destroyed. As if a bomb had exploded there, the peak was now a crater with Bai Yunfei standing at the middle. He had a mixed expression of joy, shock, and regret.


    A swirl of fire traveled upward into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body to be reabsorbed¡ªit was the fireseed Bai Yunfei placed in the Lightningfire Cauldron.


    The only issue was that the cauldron¡­wasn¡¯t there anymore! It had blown up!!


    That was why Bai Yunfei was looking regretful. The destruction of the Lightningfire Cauldron caused immense sorrow and surprise. But despite the cauldron¡¯s destruction, the item he was crafting didn¡¯t fail. That was why he was excited. The soul armament was even stronger than he expected!


    From the flames that were still alive above him, Bai Yunfei could see the light of something jet-black in color. Raising his hand up, he caught the item when it flew over to him!


    It was a jet-black flying dagger with a blade three inches long and two fingers wide!

 Chapter 1132: The Flying Dagger Voidsplitter!

    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Metal


    Attack: 6200


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Equipment Effect: Capable of warp travel when thrown. The distance warped is dependent on soulforce given.


    Upgrade Requirement: 300 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei began to smile happily upon seeing the stats of the flying dagger.


    ¡°It worked! It really has the effects the compendium said it would!¡±


    It was exactly the same the compendium said, in fact!


    Warp travel¡­basically meant traveling through the void!


    Like how soul cultivators could teleport from one location to another in an instant, this flying dagger was capable of doing the same!


    So what did that mean for the flying dagger? It meant that no obstacle was capable of stopping it!


    Logically speaking, any soul cultivator or soulbeast would use their elemental energy to block any projectile thrown. But what use was a barrier like that if the flying dagger could simply ¡®warp¡¯ through the barrier?


    Or if the enemy decided to retreat away from the flying dagger. How would they respond then if they realized the dagger had suddenly teleported to where they were heading?


    Or¡­if the ¡®end point¡¯ of the flying dagger¡¯s ¡®warp¡¯ was occupied by the enemy¡¯s body¡­what would happen?!


    The potential of this flying dagger was enormous!


    ¡°High-heaven tier¡­¡± Bai Yunfei murmured, his eyes glued to the soul armament. ¡°The Lightningfire Cauldron¡¯s +10 additional effect activated and granted two additional tiers to it¡­¡±


    The original attack of this soul armament was meant to be on par with the new talons Bai Yunfei made for Xiao Qi. The mid-heaven tier ones. High-heaven tier required a base attack stat of five thousand around. But like the time with the Critical Glove, the Lightningfire Cauldron¡¯s effect activated and boosted the soul armament¡¯s stats high enough to be considered a high-heaven tier.


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% chance to boost the overall stats of an equipment by 20% when crafting.


    The Lightningfire Cauldron was a low-heaven tier item. Upgrading it to +11 allowed the cauldron to be capable of crafting mid-heaven tier soul armaments, but that was its limit. Anything beyond that would mean the cauldron would be unable to handle the pressure and explode.


    It was sad to see it destroyed. The cauldron had served Bai Yunfei faithfully for almost ten years now. All sorts of powerful soul armaments had been crafted inside of it before it made one last sacrifice to make such a powerful soul armament¡­


    One couldn¡¯t talk about crafting a soul armament without also mentioning upgrading it too. Bai Yunfei decided to use the Manual Upgrade Technique so he could raise the soul compatibility even higher.


    That was because he was hoping to turn the item into a soulbound armament.


    Soon¡­


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Metal


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 6200


    Additional Attack: 3000


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    Equipment Effect: Capable of warp travel when thrown. The distance warped is dependent on soulforce given.


    +10 Additional Effect: 50% Chance of doubling penetrative power when obstructed by a physical defense.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Upgrade Requirement: 300 Soulpoints


    Disappointment flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s face at the additional effect. He had been hoping for something better. An effect with a 50% probability was decent, but it the Luck Pendant basically meant the effect would activate 100% of the time it was thrown and off its cooldown. Penetrative force was something that¡¯d of course be applied to any flying dagger when thrown. They weren¡¯t swords meant to cut or shave¡ªprojectiles like these were dependent on the force of their penetration to be effective.


    +10 Additional Effect of the Luck Pendant: Double the chance of an equipment or additional effect activating.


    Allowing himself a slow deep breath, Bai Yunfei tightened his grip on the flying dagger.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    A flash of light overtook the dagger as he tightened his other fist over it!


    Upgrade Succesful


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Metal


    Upgrade Level: +11


    He managed to alter the outcome yet again. It went exceedingly smooth, actually. Not even a high-heaven tier soul armament felt difficult to upgrade to +11 anymore.


    A shadow of hesitation crossed over his face¡ªhe was hesitating if he should upgrade it any furtehr.


    The soul compatibility of the dagger was at 45% now that it was +11. Upgrading it to +12 would surely turn it into a soulbound armament, but that was a risky venture. He hadn¡¯t any +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone and altering the outcome of the Vampiric Blood Edge wasn¡¯t made in confidence. There was a relatively high risk of him failing if he tried now¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ll risk it!!¡±


    It was time for his decision; +11 wasn¡¯t enough, he needed to upgrade it again!


    A large stone roughly double the size of his fist appeared in his right hand¡ªa high-heaven tier upgrade stone!


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    He was nervous beyond belief. Prepared to alter the outcome if necessary, Bai Yunfei focused intensely on the dagger until¡­


    Upgrade Succesful


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Space, Metal


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 6200


    Additional Attack: 6000


    Soul Compatibility: 60%


    Equipment Effect: Capable of warp travel when thrown. The distance warped is dependent on soulforce given.


    +10 Additional Effect: 50% Chance of doubling penetrative power when obstructed by a physical defense.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: Activate Voidsplitter upon contact. Disintegrate everything within 3 inches of the dagger.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Upgrade Requirement: 300 Soulpoints


    The upgrade managed to work!


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    He heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of a successfully upgraded soul armament.


    ¡°Voidsplitter¡­it can destroy everything within three inches!¡± He breathed, ¡°All of this is the effect of a single flying dagger¡­¡±


    If the flying dagger hit someone, it¡¯d most likely be on the shoulder, arm, or chest. It wouldn¡¯t really do too much damage normally, but if the +12 additional effect were to be applied...


    If everything within a three-inch space was destroyed, what kind of effect would that have on a person?


    Pleased with himself over this item, Bai Yunfei began to think for a moment. Smiling, he engraved a cloud onto the handle of the knife and then the name of the soul armament in the cloud¡¯s center.


    Since it had the ability to tear through space¡­this flying dagger would be known as Voidsplitter!

 Chapter 1133: The Blue-eyes White Dragon King and the Start of the Plan!

    Three days later.


    It was late in the afternoon in the Core World. Bai Yunfei was meditating by himself when he noticed a fluctuation in the air.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s teleporting¡­senior Bloodhowl and the others are back!!¡±


    Xiao Fang warned him. It was picking up a disturbance in the air that was normally seen when someone was teleporting in or out of the area.


    Somebody was teleporting into the heart of the wolf clan¡¯s territory!


    In other words, someone from the outside was here!


    ¡°Is it that senior?! Teleporting from beyond even the Core Stone¡¯s range¡­it has to be that late-stage class eight soulbeast!¡±


    Curious about who it was, Bai Yunfei disappeared from the Core World to head out.


    He reappeared within the residential hall of his moments later. Storing the Core Stone away, Bai Yunfei walked out from the hall to the outside only to meet Hong Yin near the entrance.


    ¡°Yunfei? Did you feel the disturbance too?¡±


    ¡°Is your father and the other seniors back?¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    ¡°They are. Father said to call you out, so I came¡­¡±


    In the conference hall.


    More soulbeasts were gathered within these halls compared to before Bai Yunfei left for the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts. He didn¡¯t recognize some of them so they had to have come when he was gone.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but look to the person seated at the head of the hall before they widened in surprise.


    Seated there was not the Bloodhowl Wolf King, but someone else. An elderly figure dressed in white. The Bloodhowl Wolf King sat on the chair to his direct right.


    This elder looked almost like an ordinary old man. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even sense any power coming from him.


    At first.


    The aura hit him shortly afterward. Heart coming to an immediate stop, Bai Yunfei began to feel a sense of foreboding the moment it happened!


    While the elder didn¡¯t generate any ¡®pressure¡¯ onto him, Bai Yunfei felt it impossible to ward off the intimidation he was feeling!


    This was what it meant to be met with someone beyond your station. He¡¯d never be able to bridge the gap with this elder even if he were to use every bit of strength he had!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s first thought was to ¡®resist¡¯ the feeling, but the feeling was gone in an instant. Whether this senior was trying to test or intimidate him, Bai Yunfei felt like it wasn¡¯t ¡®necessary¡¯. Considering who this senior was, respect was a given¡­


    Feet pausing for just a brief second, Bai Yunfei stepped closer into the hall to bow to the white-robed elder.


    ¡°This junior Bai Yunfei pays his respects to senior White Dragon King.¡±


    A faint smile graced the lips of the white-robed elder. ¡°No need for that¡­A youngster who became a Soul Emperor¡­and one as modest as this¡­A rare sight indeed¡­¡±


    The elder seemed to have a good impression of Bai Yunfei. He motioned for him to take a seat on the chair to his left, ¡°Have a seat, my friend¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised. That seat was on the other side of the Bloodhowl Wolf King. Not even the other class eight soulbeasts were sitting there¡ªwas that chair left vacant for him then!?


    He couldn¡¯t refuse the chair no matter how surprised he was. Striding forward, Bai Yunfei moved to sit down in the chair offered.


    This elder was a leader without a doubt. He had the attention of everyone when he spoke and most of the class seven soulbeasts looked like they could hardly even believe they were in the presence of a legendary figure like him. Bai Yunfei could even see some of them with reverent expressions¡­


    This elder was the strongest within the dragon clan¡ªthe Blue-eyes White Dragon King!!


    As the world¡¯s only Blue-eyes White Dragon, this particular person was even more ¡®noble¡¯ than the Black Dragon King. He was a soulbeast of legends on par with the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix!


    He was a legend in the dragon clan that first made an appearance in the soulbeast world over a thousand years ago. Appearing when the True Dragon Saint King disappeared, the Blue-eyes White Dragon King took the reins and lead the clan for another thousand years. Soon, he became the next hopeful True Dragon Saint King.


    Known to most as the strongest clan in the soulbeast world, the dragon clan had very few enemies. Even then, the Blue-eyes White Dragon King was known for defeating two late-stage class eight soulbeasts in a dazzling battle. If he joined in this battle against the Beast Taming School, then no one would have to fear if the beast tamers had any late-stage class eight soulbeast puppets!


    There was another class eight soulbeast here in addition to the Blue-eyes White Dragon King. It was an early-stage class eight Golden Python King.


    The Blue-eyes White Dragon King, the Bloodhowl Wolf King, the Three-eyed Tiger King, the Ancient Crocodile King, the Golden-eyed Ape King, the Stegosaurus King, the Golden Python King, the Violet Spider King, the Violet Dragon King, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi¡­


    Eleven Soul Emperors were gathered here!


    And there was still plenty of late-stage class seven soulbeasts like the White-browed Hawk King and Golden Lion King¡ªboth of which were peak late-stage class seven soulbeasts. In total¡­there were over a hundred of them! And that wasn¡¯t even including the people on Bai Yunfei¡¯s side!


    Whether it was Soul Emperors or Soul Kings¡­their numbers far exceeded the Beast Taming School!


    The amount of class five or six soulbeasts didn¡¯t even need to be counted¡­All they had to do was rush at the Soul Exalts of the Beast Taming School and destroy them under their feet!


    The cumulative strength of the soulbeast world was probably comparable to the cumulative strength of the soul cultivator world. Gathering enough soulbeasts to deal with a single school wasn¡¯t an issue if there was a push for it. The number of people the Bloodhowl Wolf King could bring in by himself could suppress even the Beast Taming School given enough time.


    And from all the people gathered right now¡­it was now very likely that the battle with the Beast Taming School would be a very predictable one¡­


    Since most of the newcomers¡ªthe Blue-eyes White Dragon King included¡ªwere quite curious about the soul rejuvenating pill, Bai Yunfei gave another demonstration of its effects and received plenty of joyous expressions from the viewers. Even the Blue-eyes White Dragon King looked surprised.


    Bai Yunfei began to explain his plan for the Beast Taming School. It wasn¡¯t a very complicated one.


    Everyone would hide in the Core World until he could reach the Beast Taming School. When it came to waiting in the Core World, Bai Yunfei had to ensure he mentioned the Vow of Souls lest people start complaining. He also had to talk a bit about where in the Core World they¡¯d be.


    Bai Yunfei chose to bring the Beast Taming School¡¯s attendant, Yang Lin into the hall so that they could learn more about the school. After a successful interrogation and discussion, the soulbeasts began to coordinate which clan would be responsible for attacking where and whom. It wasn¡¯t possible to make too detailed of a plan since Yang Lin was only just a Soul Exalt; he didn¡¯t know anything about the finer details of the school such as how many Soul Emperor they had. They could only wait and see for themselves when the time came¡­


    Now that every detail was talked about, Bai Yunfei began the preparations to bring the entire soulbeast army into the Core World.


    It was time¡­for the strike on the Beast Taming School!!

 Chapter 1134: Beast Taming City

    In the western parts of the Tianhun Empire. The Archaic Mountain Province.


    A single city was situated near a serpentine stretch of mountains.


    A city whose name used to be named after the province.


    It happened after Prince Hao¡¯s rebel army occupied the western provinces. The Archaic Mountain Province was among one of those provinces that fell to rebel rule.


    It was also one of the first provinces to break away from the royal family¡¯s rule.


    That was because of the Beast Taming School. Located inside the province, the school¡¯s main base was situated in the ¡®Desolate Mountains¡¯, a range of particularly rough mountains.


    The city near this mountain range was immediately seized by the Beast Taming School half a year after the rebellion started. Not even its name was spared from this change in rule. The city was now known as the Beast Taming City.


    The transition of power between the old lord-mayor and the new one wasn¡¯t received badly due to the long-term plans of the Beast Taming School. Though the lord-mayor was forcibly transitioned, life in the city was the same as always. Soul cultivators went about with their lives as normal as did the commoners.


    All the commoners cared for were their own peaceful lives. The rebellion taking place with the royal family was a matter for the soul cultivators and had little bearings on their own lives. The army of the commoners saw no reason to intervene and so all was well for them.


    If there was something that changed, then it¡¯d be the fact that they had a new ¡®ruler¡¯. The Beast Taming School was now the governing force and local tyrant of their city. No commoner dared to say anything about their oppressive rule. If they did, the commoners knew they wouldn¡¯t be living for much longer¡­


    And today, an important ¡®visitor¡¯ was here in Beast Taming City.


    Hair scattered in the wind and robes as bleak as the cloudy skies, this visitor did not look impressive at all. He paid little mind to those traveling beside him as he looked up and down the city roads. He appeared to be thinking about something.


    This person was Bai Yunfei. Disguised with the Face Chance Technique and the Soul Concealment Art, he was able to pretend to be an ordinary traveler.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t taking any chances. He knew he was considered to be dead and missing for over three years now, but it was vital that no unnecessary risks were taken.


    That was why he was traveling by himself. Xiao Qi and Tang Xinyun were both waiting for in the Core World so that they wouldn¡¯t raise any suspicions.


    A month had passed since Bai Yunfei left the Soulbeast Forest. It took him a month to finally arrive at the heart of the Beast Taming School¡¯s rule.


    Killing the Beast Taming School right away wasn¡¯t really an issue, but it also wasn¡¯t an issue that needed to be rushed. It had been three years since Bai Yunfei last involved himself with the world. It was necessary for him to ascertain the situation first before any other preparations could be made.


    Bai Yunfei came to a stop at the heart of the city. Standing in front of him was a two-story pavilion. It was a teahouse. The ¡®Cleansing Heart¡¯.


    This teahouse reminded him of Dan Teng¡¯s ¡®Soothing Heart¡¯. Feeling a little thirsty, Bai Yunfei walked in.


    Ordering a teapot, Bai Yunfei took a seat next to a window on the second floor. As he poured himself a cup, Bai Yunfei watched the throngs of people walk down the street with interest.


    He remembered Wu Dijian and Xiao Qi telling him about the horrendous battles that took place throughout the continent. How so many lives were brought to an end at a whim.


    But this city hadn¡¯t a single sight like that. Not by a long shot.


    The ¡®ordinary¡¯ world hadn¡¯t experienced any big change. That could be said to be a good thing.


    ¡°The Beast Taming School isn¡¯t too far away. I hope the battle won¡¯t reach this city¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought. He was worried about the city just in case.


    Half the teapot was gone by the time Bai Yunfei snapped out from his ¡®people-gazing¡¯ stupor. Something was happening in a small alley to the right.


    ¡°A soulbeast puppet, someone from the Beast Taming School?¡±


    Nothing strange could be said about this city have beast tamers roam about. Something could be said about said beast tamers bringing out a soulbeast puppet, though. Bai Yunfei could sense the aura of a beast tamer, a soulbeast puppet, and¡­the faint aura of an ordinary person!


    Standing up from his seat, Bai Yunfei strode out at once from the teahouse¡­


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    It happened when he stepped out from the teahouse. A soulbeast was letting out a loud roar from the alleyway!


    Multiple people froze up the moment they heard the roar. Terrified, they began to hurry away in the opposite direction of the source to escape trouble. No one wanted to stick around here.


    Eyes narrowed, Bai Yunfei silently disappeared from sight. His sudden disappearance caused several commoners to rub their eyes, confused if they were just imagining things or not.


    ¡°Hmph!! Where¡¯d a snot-nosed brat like you come from? Learn to mind your own business, or are you tired of living?!¡±


    Standing in the alleyway was a teenaged male. He was standing in front of two trembling figures with a look of absolute disdain.


    In front of him was a gray jackal-type soulbeast about half the height of an adult man. Its eyes, red like blood, were dull and without life. A low growl could be heard from the soulbeast as it prepared to pounce onto its target and rip it apart in a single second.


    Standing in front of the soulbeast and beast tamer pair was a pair of children. A boy and girl, both probably eight years old at most.


    The boy was dressed in the dull green robes of a commoner. He was standing protectively in front of his female companion, fearlessly barring the way of the soulbeast in front of him.


    And the female companion behind him was a little girl dressed in a pink robe. She had bright eyes and an adorable face, though slightly marred by her anger. It absolutely infuriated her to hear what the beast tamer was saying. Glancing backward, she looked at the injured old beggar nursing his injured arm behind them.


    Placing both palms over his wounds, the girl began to concentrate. Palms glowing blue, the girl began to heal the man¡¯s injuries. The bite wounds looked terrifying, but under her treatment, the blood began to clout and the broken skin started to heal.


    It was easy to see what was going on here. The richly-dressed teenager had injured the beggar and was stopped by the boy and girl.


    Behind the teenager stood two middle-aged men. They were definitely bodyguards, meaning this teenager was a person of status.


    ¡°Attacking a commoner in broad daylight like this¡­did your soulbeast puppet eat your good conscience?¡±


    The boy shouted at the man. His voice, while young-sounding, was quite loud and sounded like he was mocking the beast tamer.

 Chapter 1135: Ruofeng and Ruoling

    ¡°You!!¡± The teenager looked almost taken aback at the boy¡¯s words for a moment. ¡°Hah! Okay then! I didn¡¯t think someone would dare to talk back to us in this city! Are you outsiders, then? Let me tell you, the Beast Taming School is the strongest here in Beast Taming City! This guy was just a beggar, someone that is lucky enough to get away with just a small lesson! Aren¡¯t I lenient? And even if I fed him to my soulbeast puppet, who¡¯s going to bother with him?¡±


    He gave the boy a cruel smile, ¡°As for you, you ignoramus, you should know what happens when a nail sticks out too much. Prepare to feel my wrath!¡±


    Jabbing a finger at the boy, the beast tamer ordered for his mid-stage class four soulbeast to attack!


    He was going to beat up a small boy!


    ¡°An evil bully like you¡­deserves to be beaten up!¡±


    Unexpectedly, this little boy didn¡¯t look scared at all at the fact that he was being attacked. After letting out a scream, he kicked off against the ground to attack!


    ¡°Wha¡ªyoung master, watch out!!¡±


    One of the bodyguards behind the beast tamers cried out a warning as soon as the boy stepped forward. Letting out a roar himself, the bodyguard charged forward to protect the beast tamer!


    There was something dangerous about this young boy. The speed at which he traveled in was faster than the soulbeast attacking him!


    Then the aura of the boy was made known to everyone there!


    ¡°A Soul Exalt!! How?!¡±


    The bodyguard cried out in fear¡ªthe enemy was a Soul Exalt! A boy no older than eight years old was a Soul Exalt¡­what in the world!?


    The young beast tamer, He Fanbing, was the son of Beast Taming City¡¯s new lord-mayor. He was the type of child that was so spoiled and inexperienced in the world that he knew nothing about life outside the city. As such, he treated the city as his own personal playground and did as he pleased. And since he was a part of the Beast Taming School, no one dared to resist his rule.


    But today was the day He Fanbing messed with the wrong people¡­


    His two bodyguards were only Soul Ancestors. He Fangbing himself was a Soul Sprite. Fighting a Soul Exalt was not something any of them could do.


    It was too late for regrets, though. The little boy was already taking advantage of their surprise to get in close to the beast tamer!


    As surprised as he was, the bodyguards moved faster than their young charge. Now standing in front of He Fanbing, the two bodyguards glowed orange and yellow and summoned their own soulbeast puppets to do battle.


    But then¡­


    ¡°Move!!¡±


    The young boy barked the moment the two bodyguards stepped in front of He Fanbing. The two bodyguards grew pale in the face as if struck by something before falling back in pain!


    Were they hit by a¡­soul attack?!


    The boy was a Soul Exalt, and not one with an affinity for illusions¡­but he was capable of using a soul attack! That meant¡­he was using some kind of special technique!


    An extremely rare soul skill similar to that of a soul attack!


    A young Soul Exalt with an extremely rare soul skill¡­who in the world was this boy?!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    He Fanbing started to scream the moment he saw his two bodyguards fall away. He was frightened by the sudden danger he was thrown in¡ªhe was no match for this young boy attacking him!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    That didn¡¯t mean he was without options. His bodyguards might be useless and his soulbeast puppet too far away to be of use, but He Fanbing still had some time to launch an attack!


    A small shortsword appeared in his right hand. Eyes flashing dangerously, He Fanbing stabbed the weapon at the boy!


    The shortsword flashed a faint-violet light¡ªit was a soul armament!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    But the boy didn¡¯t seem to care about the sword! He simply whipped his hand back and lashed out with a punch onto the sword!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The two met with a loud clang. There was a small dagger in the boy¡¯s hand, one that looked hardly different than to any regular dagger. But it somehow managed to stop He Fanbing¡¯s shortsword¡­


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    Under the amazed eyes of He Fanbing, the shortsword¡ªa mid-earth tier soul armament¡ªcracked in several places and snapped in half!


    This sight was met with three different reactions by three different people!


    The first was He Fanbing. He had a look of terrified shock.


    The second was the little boy. He looked surprised for a second before then looking excited at this result.


    The third was¡­the currently hidden Bai Yunfei!!


    Having been hidden for a while now, Bai Yunfei knew that this little boy was stronger than the other three. He even knew that the boy was a Soul Exalt. It just surprised him that this was the case. His eyes narrowed suspiciously when he saw the shortsword snap in half upon striking the dagger.


    ¡°That dagger¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Snapping from his thoughts, Bai Yunfei looked on just in time to see the boy kick He Fanbing straight on the stomach.


    A Soul Exalt could¡¯ve easily killed the beast tamer, but the boy didn¡¯t seem like he wanted to do that. From the very beginning, the boy said that the beast tamer deserved to be ¡®beaten up¡¯ instead of ¡®killed¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei guessed that this boy just wanted to teach the beast tamer a lesson on virtues and nothing more.


    ¡°Young master!!¡±


    The two bodyguards appeared by the beast tamer¡¯s side at once. One looked warily at the boy. He wanted to do something in retaliation, but a single glare from the boy caused the two bodyguards to freeze up on the spot¡­


    It seemed surreal observing the situation. A fifteen-year-old being beaten up by an eight-year-old? And the two bodyguards didn¡¯t even lift a finger!


    Looking pleased with himself, the boy turned away to his companion, ¡°Sis, how should we deal with these people?¡±


    The girl was still focusing on healing the wound of the old beggar. She spared a brief moment to glance at He Fanbing before giving a response.


    ¡°Dad told us not to reveal ourselves. He¡¯s going to be angry when he finds out you were fighting.¡±


    Her voice was calm and surprisingly mature for her age. The way she spoke was almost like an adult, but the way the two talked to one another was quite cute.


    The boy frowned. ¡°I was just playing around, dad won¡¯t find out if you don¡¯t tell¡­¡±


    ¡°You think dad won¡¯t know? When have we ever gotten away with a lie?¡±


    The frown grew more pronounced on the boy¡¯s face. ¡°So what if he finds out then? We¡¯re doing ¡®good acts and accumulating good fate¡¯. You see anyone else here that¡¯d step in?¡±


    He looked resistant to his sister¡¯s words, but the fear of his father¡¯s wrath seemed to change his mind in the end. He gave a withering glare at He Fanbing and his bodyguards, ¡°Okay okay, scram! Keep bullying people and ¡®ill fate¡¯ will haunt you!¡±


    He stomped ¡®gently¡¯ on He Fanbing¡¯s stomach, causing the beast tamer to groan before being sent flying into the two bodyguards. Surely, he had to have broken a bone or two¡­


    Hurriedly helping He Fanbing to his feet, the two bodyguards gave each other a knowing glance before quickly leaving the place¡­


    ¡°Uncle, you should leave this place too¡­¡± The girl warned the elderly beggar.


    ¡°Th¡ªthank you¡­¡±


    The beggar looked stunned. His face was still deathly-pale from the terror that threatened to harm him just moments ago. He didn¡¯t even know what in the world happened, he just knew that these two kids in front of him were ¡®people¡¯ he¡¯d never be able to understand.


    His voice even stuttered when he was replying to the little girl and shot to his feet. Knees still weak, the beggar staggered away from the place to leave the alleyway and blend in with the other civilians on the main streets.


    The boy looked a little angry still as he walked back to his sister¡¯s side. ¡°Let¡¯s get going sis¡­hey! Who¡¯s there?!¡±


    He whirled around to glare at the mysterious youth that appeared a few steps away. Distrust and suspicion filled his eyes.


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°I mean no harm, little friends. There¡¯s no need to be wary of me.¡±


    ¡°Who¡­are you?¡± The boy asked again. He looked even more suspicious now.


    ¡°Just a random passerby, that¡¯s all.¡± Bai Yunfei tried his best to look as unassuming as possible, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    Perhaps it was his smile, but the little girl didn¡¯t seem as suspicious as her brother. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m Li Ruoling. My brother¡¯s name is Li Ruofeng. Uncle, who are¡ª¡±


    ¡°Sis!¡± Absolutely gobsmacked, the boy interrupted her midspeech, ¡°Why are you telling a stranger our names?! What if he¡¯s a bad guy?¡±


    ¡°......¡±

 Chapter 1136: A Reunion of Brothers After A Decade

    ¡°Li Ruofeng¡­and Li Ruoling?!¡±


    The suspicion in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes thickened. The beginnings of a realization were starting to show. He gave Li Ruofeng a closer look, ¡°Li Ruofeng, was it? Can you tell me¡­what is your dad¡¯s name?!¡±


    Not expecting such a question, the boy took a step back to stand protectively in front of his sister. ¡°What are you trying at?! Why do you want to know my dad¡¯s name?¡±


    A little impatient for an answer to his suspicions, Bai Yunfei held his hand out, ¡°Let me take a look at that dagger of yours.¡±


    ¡°What are you ta¡ªhey!!¡± The boy was starting to look angry. About to demand that he make sense, the boy was suddenly shocked to feel the ¡®dagger¡¯ in his hand disappear!


    He snapped his head up from his hand¡ªthe dagger was now in the hand of this stranger!


    ¡°Give that back!!¡± The boy panicked. He never imagined his very own dagger would be ¡®stolen¡¯ so easily!


    He barely had enough time to say those three words before he saw the stranger break out into laughter like a madman after taking the dagger!


    There was a wondrous expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as he laughed. ¡°Haha!! It really is the same dagger!!¡±


    Equipment Grade: High


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 45


    Additional Attack: 176


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    +10 Additional Effect: Attacks have a 3% chance of blinding the target for a maximum of 3 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: When clashing with the weapon of another, this weapon has an 8% chance of severing it.


    (The chance of triggering this effect is in inverse proportion to the grade of the enemy weapon. It is ineffective against weapons of the Inheritance grade and higher).


    Upgrade Requirement: 61 Soulpoints


    A series of stats appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind the moment he touched the dagger.


    This wasn¡¯t an ordinary weapon at all! It was upgraded to +12 and had an attack stat stronger than even a mid-human tier. By Bai Yunfei¡¯s standards, this was really weak, but this dagger had huge importance to Bai Yunfei!


    The laughter gradually died from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. Looking back up to the still surprised Li Ruofeng, he asked, ¡°Would your father perhaps be called Li Cheng¡ª¡±


    ¡°Dad!!¡±


    He didn¡¯t even finish speaking when Li Ruoling suddenly called out to someone behind Bai Yunfei!


    Eyes widening, Bai Yunfei whirled around. Someone was standing there at the entrance of the alleyway! He didn¡¯t even notice someone getting close to him!


    Then Bai Yunfei felt his heart skip a beat in joy at seeing who it was. Opening his mouth, he said a single name¡ª


    ¡°Chengfeng!!¡±


    In front of him stood a man in white. His hair was long enough to reach his shoulders, his eyebrows sharp like swords, and his eyes as bright as stars. Even his aura felt impressive. Though there was a difference in how this person carried himself than the way Bai Yunfei remembered, Bai Yunfei still recognized this man to be one of the first friends he made as a soul cultivator, and a brother of sorts¡ªLi Chengfeng!!


    It was when Bai Yunfei was just a Soul Personage. He met this person when he came across the murderous Blackwood Stronghold and fought with him side-by-side!


    The two of them were ignorant youths back then. Two youths that had just barely began their journey as soul cultivators before setting out into the world to make a name for themselves. A promise was made to meet one another when they made it, and it seemed like this promise would finally be fulfilled ten years later!


    Bai Yunfei met all sorts of people after he stepped into the chaotic world of soul cultivators. He experienced so many things and met many friends such as Jing Mingfeng and Zheng Kai. He never once forgot about Li Chengfeng, however. Every once in a while he¡¯d think about his old friend and think about looking for him. But the problems these days seemed endless and so he never got the chance to actually go look for him.


    He was a little skeptical why he hadn¡¯t heard anything about Li Chengfeng over the years. He remembered the man to be far more talented than anyone else he knew. Li Chengfeng should¡¯ve skyrocketed in the world after some experience if anything. It seemed crazy that there wasn¡¯t even a single rumor about the man¡­


    So Bai Yunfei never expected to meet Li Chengfeng here after all these years¡­


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    A vigilant glare appeared in Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes at once. ¡°Who are you?¡± He began to demand.


    ¡°Chengfeng, it¡¯s me!!¡± In one fluid motion, Bai Yunfei wiped away the disguise he wore on his face and dispelled the technique to show his true self to Li Chengfeng.


    The words died away in Li Chengfeng¡¯s mouth. Standing there in shock, Li Chengfeng took a few seconds before he started to tremble. ¡°You¡­¡± He muttered, ¡°you can¡¯t be...Yunfei?!¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s me! Chengfeng, I finally found you!!¡± Bai Yunfei roared with laughter before striding toward Li Chengfeng.


    ¡°Yunfei! It¡¯s really you!!¡± Laughing in turn, Li Chengfeng ran after Bai Yunfei in joy.


    The two embraced with wide open arms, happy to finally meet one another at last.


    Ten years had separated the two brothers, and now the two were finally reuniting.


    ¡°Dad¡­who¡¯s this¡­?¡±


    The excitement of their reunion was hindered briefly by the confused question of Li Ruoling. Both she and her brother were staring incredulously at Bai Yunfei now. They looked almost ready to explode into a series of questions¡ªthey had never seen their father so excited before!


    Li Chengfeng pulled away from Bai Yunfei with a smile. ¡°Ruofeng, Ruoling, come and say hello to uncle Bai!¡±


    ¡°Uncle Bai?¡± Li Ruofeng and Li Ruoling blinked. Cocking their heads they stared at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Is this the uncle Bai you always talk about? But didn¡¯t you say he was already dead?¡± Asked Li Ruofeng.


    Li Ruoling immediately greeted Bai Yunfei rather than ask questions, ¡°Hello, uncle Bai¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Bai Yunfei gave an uneasy look to Li Chengfeng, ¡°Chengfeng, these two¡­are your kids right? Yours and Ling¡¯er, right?¡±


    ¡°Haha, of course they are! Did you think I had a concubine or two? I¡¯d never dare¡­¡±


    ¡°......¡± It took Bai Yunfei a moment to formulate a response, ¡°What brings you here to Beast Taming City, Chengfeng? And¡­where in the world did you go all those years ago? How are you now? And your strength¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Li Chengfeng smiled, ¡°I have a lot of questions to ask you, actually. But this isn¡¯t the right time and place, let¡¯s move elsewhere¡­¡±

 Chapter 1137: Junior Headmaster of the Fate School

    A tear in space formed in the air above a mountain hundreds of kilometers away from Beast Taming City. Four figures walked out from the tear before stepping onto solid ground.


    It was Bai Yunfei, Li Chengfeng, and his two kids Li Ruofeng and Li Ruoling.


    ¡°Wow!! How did we end up here all of a sudden! I can¡¯t even see Beast Taming City! Wow!!¡±


    Li Ruofeng exclaimed the moment he took a look around. For as far as the eyes could see, there was nothing but mountains in sight rather than the city they had just been in.


    Even Li Chengfeng looked astonished. ¡°Is this the power of the Core Stone, Yunfei? How powerful, that Regalia. It can teleport us farther than even a Late-stage Soul Emperor can¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no one will disturb us here. Chenfeng, let¡¯s talk inside the Core World, there¡¯s a few people I¡¯d for you to meet¡­¡±


    One pulse of soulforce later and everyone was wrapped in a bubble of soulforce and taken into the Core World, leaving the Core Stone to fall inconspicuously onto the ground¡­


    Inside the Core World.


    Appearing within his very own courtyard, Bai Yunfei noticed Tang Xinyun wasn¡¯t in any of the rooms. He originally thought about calling everyone over to come meet Li Chengfeng, but the man stopped him saying that they had to talk about a few things first before introductions could be had.


    And so Li Ruofeng and Li Ruoling were left inside the courtyard to play while the two adults went into one of the rooms to talk.


    They sat down at the table first before Bai Yunfei looked at the first friend he had fought alongside within this life. A long period of silence passed before Bai Yunfei sighed.


    ¡°Chengfeng, how are you after so many years? How¡¯s Ling¡¯er?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s pregnant again, so she can¡¯t move around as much and is staying home to cultivate¡­¡± Li Chengfeng smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve been living well these years. Any free time is spent training, unlike you¡ªhaha, I heard plenty of rumors about you over the years. You¡¯ve done a lot of shocking things, my friend¡­¡±


    ¡°Pregnant? Again?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed incredulously, ¡°Well done! Congratulations to you, my friend.¡±


    Smiling and scratching his head shyly, Li Chengfeng coughed once before leaning forward with a grim expression.


    ¡°Putting that aside, I heard three years ago you¡­¡±


    ¡°That I died three years ago?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Is that what the news is in the world? Haha¡­but as you can see, I¡¯m alive and well.¡±


    ¡°What happened then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a story for another time, why don¡¯t you answer my question first?¡± Bai Yunfei was more curious about Li Chengfeng¡¯s story than his own, ¡°Chengfeng¡­you¡¯re an Early-stage Soul Emperor now?! You¡¯re absolutely amazing, you know that? Someone that improves as fast as you did can only be seen once in several thousand years, you know!¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you praising yourself, Yunfei?¡± Li Chengfeng barked with laughter, ¡°Aren¡¯t you an Early-stage Soul Emperor too? You¡¯re the one to talk, though¡­I¡¯m still nothing compared to you¡­


    ¡°I learned a lot over the years,¡± He sighed, ¡°I heard about everything you did. You did all that yourself, didn¡¯t you? I don¡¯t think you had much help from your own school in any of those matters. I¡¯m worse than you in that aspect. The entire knowledge of my school was given to me. I was even given a Truth of Reincarnation Pill, something that was stored for two thousand years, to become a Soul Emperor. I¡¯d never be able to meet my predecessors if I wasn¡¯t able to get that strong after all that help¡­¡±


    ¡°What!! The Truth of Reincarnation?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open, ¡°You took one of those too?!¡±


    ¡°Too?¡± It was Li Chengfeng¡¯s turn to look amazed, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­you took a Truth of Reincarnation pill to become a Soul Emperor too, Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Not in my case, I became a Soul Emperor thanks to the seniors of the soulbeast world. My soulbeast partner and I traveled to the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts and broke through then. But¡­it was when I got hurt three years ago. I lost all my strength and memories for three years. Thanks to the Yao clan, I was able to take the Truth of Reincarnation and recover myself.¡±


    He waved his hand around the room, ¡°The city you saw near my courtyard is Yao City, the current resident of the Alchemy School, or the Yao clan as they¡¯re known now.¡±


    ¡°What a story,¡± Remarked Li Chengfeng, ¡°You met the legendary Alchemy School? And you brought them with you?!¡±


    ¡°I did.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°That part of the story I¡¯ll tell later, but you first! What¡¯s that ¡®school¡¯ of yours! Which school did you join?!¡±


    Li Chengfeng smiled, ¡°You and my school are pretty tightly-connected, actually. My master is¡­Ge Yiyun and my school is¡­the Fate School!!¡±


    ¡°Senior Ge Yiyun!? The Fate School?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open, ¡°You actually joined the Fate School?!¡±


    ¡°It happened not long after you left, actually. Master found me and took me in as his disciple. He took Ling¡¯er and I back to the Fate School and helped me grow. It¡¯s because of him that I¡¯m who I am today¡­¡±


    ¡°Not long after I left?¡± Bai Yunfei thought hard back to the days he and Li Chengfeng were together. Those days were when he was still being ¡®chased¡¯. Li Chengfeng appeared to him somewhere during that process and even mentioned something about Li Chengfeng before. He never imagined that Li Chengfeng would actually come into contact with Ge Yiyun and join the Fate School¡­


    ¡°Then you¡¯re the disciple of senior Ge Yiyun? That must mean you¡¯re the Fate School¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°The ¡®junior headmaster¡¯, yes.¡± Li Chengfeng nodded.


    ¡°Junior headmaster of the Fate School!¡± Bai Yunfei leaned back, ¡°Haha! You did great! You¡¯re amazing, Chengfeng! The Fate School is definitely a school that wouldn¡¯t lose to any of the top ten schools!¡±


    He was afraid that not hearing about Li Chengfeng at all meant that Li Chengfeng hadn¡¯t done anything noteworthy. But he was wrong. The only reason he didn¡¯t hear anything about his old friend was because Li Chengfeng secretly became a Soul Emperor and the junior headmaster of the Fate School¡­


    After a moment to ponder about this, Bai Yunfei asked Li Chengfeng another question, ¡°So then, what brings you here to Beast Taming City?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have any ¡®goal¡¯ here at first¡­¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡¯


    Li Chengfeng gave Bai Yunfei a meaningful smile, ¡°It was ¡®fate¡¯ that brought me here. And so I came. I had no idea what I¡¯d do here when I came.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with that cryptic storytelling? Had I not known you were from the Fate School I¡¯d thought you¡¯re some kind of fortuneteller.¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in exasperation.


    ¡°I really didn¡¯t have any idea why I¡¯d come here,¡± Li Chengfeng laughed, ¡°but I know now. I came here because of you¡­I¡¯m here to help you with what you plan to do!¡±


    The smile on his face grew grim, ¡°Yunfei¡­you came here for the Beast Taming School, right? You¡¯re here to destroy them, correct?!¡±


    His words stopped Bai Yunfei dead in his tracks. ¡°How¡­how did you know that!?¡±

 Chapter 1138: The Predestined End of the Beast Taming School

    Bai Yunfei was stunned. He hadn¡¯t even reunited with Li Chengfeng for long before his friend realized what his goal was. To be honest, it actually frightened Bai Yunfei at how Li Chengfeng had managed to deduce his plans.


    Li Chengfeng smiled and pointed off to the right, ¡°Is there anyone that¡¯d be able to ignore the ocean of soulforce radiating from those soulbeasts? I can feel the auras of over a dozen class eight soulbeasts, they must be an army of some sort. You mentioned the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts before, so your connection with so many soulbeasts isn¡¯t as surprising to see. And if there¡¯s an army of soulbeasts here, your goal is pretty obvious to see¡­


    ¡°More importantly, I was previously wondering why ¡®fate¡¯ was drawing me to this place. I was curious, so I divined the ¡®fate¡¯ of the Beast Taming School and the results were shocking. I saw the ¡®death omen¡¯!! I thought I was mistaken, really. But now that I¡¯m here with you, I know now that the Beast Taming School¡¯s ¡®death omen¡¯ is true.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was amazed. What kind of power was that? ¡°Your Fate School is far too hard to understand,¡± he sighed, ¡°you¡¯re telling me that you know the Beast Taming School is going to die out? You can actually predict the fate of an entire school?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible, generally speaking,¡± Replied Li Chengfeng, ¡°the ¡®fate¡¯ of a single person is already hard enough to predict, let alone the ¡®fate¡¯ of an entire school. It¡¯s also difficult to predict the ¡®direction¡¯ of a school since the ¡®fate¡¯ of every individual in that school can change the school¡¯s ¡®fate¡¯. Only in the face of absolute power should the ¡®death omen¡¯ appear so clearly. In this case, there¡¯s nothing strange about the destruction of the Beast Taming School.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t quite get it¡­¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. It was hard for him to understand the terminology being used by Li Chengfeng, like the word ¡®fate¡¯. He could at least understand a few key points, though.


    One, the Beast Taming School¡¯s ending was confirmed. That eased him to some degree and gave him confidence in the upcoming fight.


    Two, Li Chengfeng was willing to help him destroy the Beast Taming School!


    ¡°Chengfeng¡­you want to join us against the Beast Taming School?¡± He asked, deciding that it was better to ask about ¡®fate¡¯ another time.


    ¡°That was why I¡¯m here. Beside¡­why should I stand by the sidelines when you¡¯re involved?¡±


    ¡°Haha! Fine then! With you by my side, I feel like nothing can stop us!¡± Bai Yunfei laughed joyously. Li Chengfeng joining them didn¡¯t mean just one more Early-stage Soul Emperor. It meant that the Fate School was now on their side, which gave him no small amount of joy.


    He felt like he went back in time ten years with how happy he was seeing Li Chengfeng. It felt almost like yesterday that the two went off to the Blackwood Stronghold. Those memories tasted sweet in his mind to think about.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s enough about me, what about you? Did you really defeat Nether¡¯s avatar three years ago, Yunfei? How¡¯d you escape? And where did you go for three whole years? How¡¯d you meet the Yao clan? And when did you manage to get a whole army of soulbeasts?¡±


    Firing question after question, Li Chengfeng was just as curious about Bai Yunfei as Bai Yunfei was for him.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a long story¡­¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°but you know about my battle three years ago outside Swallow City, right? I was fighting the junior headmaster of the Soul Refining School, ¡®Mo Ni¡¯. He and I fought several times already, but that time he used a transportation soul armament to escape and I was brought with him to the Soul Refining School. After that¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei had to admit, he was a masterful storyteller. He could feel his own blood start to boil with excitement as he narrated the events that happened to him. From when Nether and him took one another out to the three Regalia saving him. From when he appeared in the village in the Qimang Mountains and lived there for three years before the three schools came to the same mountains. Then to his induction into the Yao clan and his eventual rebirth. The last part of his story he talked about was how he managed to destroy the armies of the three schools and gathered enough soulbeasts to take part in the venture against the Beast Taming School¡­


    Each event was more stunning than the last. As he listened, Li Chengfeng could hardly stop his jaw from dropping wide open.


    It wasn¡¯t until Bai Yunfei stopped his story at his arrival in Beast Taming City that Li Chengfeng began to have some semblance of active-thinking back in him.


    ¡°Phew¡­your adventure has a lot to take in, Yunfei! I¡¯ve goosebumps on my arms just listening to you! If only I was there fighting by your side¡ªI feel like I did nothing at all in comparison with me training in isolation. Your story beats mine hands down.¡± Li Chengfeng sighed in admiration.


    ¡°I¡¯d much rather have peace and quiet, given the choice¡­I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever had an extended period of peace beside the first two years of my journey¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah? Where¡¯d these two kids come from? Woahhh, they¡¯re Soul Exalts! Xinyun, Xiao Bai! Look! Am I imagining things? That kid is a Soul Exalt!¡±


    Someone from the outside suddenly cried out.


    ¡°Wow! Look at that, brother! What a cute birdie! It can even talk!¡±


    ¡°Get behind me sis! That bird¡¯s strong! Don¡¯t touch it!¡±


    Another two voices spoke out, one was the amazed voice of Li Ruoling and the other was the ever-vigilant Li Ruofeng.


    Bai Yunfei sent Li Chengfeng a knowing smile. Standing up from the table, Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°Let¡¯s head out, Chengfeng, I¡¯d like you to meet my wife and soulbeast partner.¡±


    They walked out into the courtyard roughly at the same time Tang Xinyun and the two birds were walking in. Li Ruofeng and Li Ruoling were both standing cautiously behind the gates.


    Both sides were staring curiously at one another.


    Tang Xinyun smiled the moment she saw Bai Yunfei, ¡°Yunfei, who might these guests be¡­?¡±


    ¡°Come here, Xinyun, let me introduce you to them¡­this is brother of mine I told you about before, the one from the Azure Cloud Province, Li Chengfeng! And these are his kids, Li Ruofeng and Li Ruoling¡­¡± Bai Yunfei introduced, ¡°Chengfeng, this is my wife, Tang Xinyun, and this is her soulbeast partner, Xiao Bai the quickshade bird. And this is my soulbeast partner, Xiao Qi.¡±


    ¡°Li Chengfeng?¡± The name seemed to spark a memory in Tang Xinyun, ¡°I¡¯ve heard Bai Yunfei mention you several times before. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± She smiled.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, miss Tang,¡± Li Chengfeng smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about you plenty of times. What luck Bai Yunfei has to have a wife like you.¡±


    ¡°This is your friend from a long time ago, that Li Chengfeng? He¡¯s a Soul Emperor?!¡± Xiao Qi chirped in shock on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder. ¡°And your kids are Soul Exalts! How amazing is that?¡±


    Li Ruofeng looked pleased with that statement. ¡°Hah! Now you know how amazing I am? Master told me that my talent is even better than dad¡¯s. I¡¯ll have you know I was a Soul Sprite when I was born! How amazing is that?!¡±


    ¡°A Soul Sprite since birth?! No way! You think you¡¯re some kind of soulbeast? I don¡¯t believe it!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there not to believe?¡± Li Ruofeng looked a little incensed at Xiao Qi¡¯s disbelief, ¡°If soulbeasts can be stronger than that at birth, why can¡¯t I be born a Soul Sprite? Ask my dad if you don¡¯t believe me!¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun both looked to Li Chengfeng at that. It had been on Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind about how his kids were so strong.


    Li Chengfeng affectionately rubbed the head of his son, ¡°My son has talent that won¡¯t ever be seen again. When Ling¡¯er was pregnant with him my master had her eat several medicines and train with a strange technique. It doesn¡¯t do much for the user, but it¡¯ll impart knowledge into the babies. As such, these two were truly born as Soul Sprites. That¡¯s how these two children are Early-stage Soul Exalts at the age of eight¡­¡±


    ¡°Something like that exists?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed. He had never heard of such a thing before!


    But it seemed like Li Ruofeng was a bit similar to Yao Feiyun¡ªYao Feiyun was trained since birth with plenty of medicines, that¡¯s why he was a Soul King at the age of eleven. It was truly a talent that¡¯d be almost impossible to match. Li Ruofeng wasn¡¯t too far behind Yao Feiyun in this regard.


    Some conversation was had between both groups for a while after that. ¡°Chengfeng,¡± Bai Yunfei spoke up, ¡°let¡¯s head to the conference hall. It¡¯d be a good idea for you to know our plans and meet with everyone else¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to meet with the seniors of the Yao clan and those of the soulbeast world anyways,¡± Li Chengfeng nodded. ¡°But¡­I think we should wait seven days longer before we attack.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei paused, why would Li Chengfeng say something like that? ¡°Seven days, you say? Why¡¯s that?¡±


    Li Chengfeng smiled. ¡°That¡¯s because¡­the Beast Taming School will meet its ¡®end¡¯ in seven days.¡±

 Chapter 1139: Seven Days

    ¡°The ¡®end¡¯ of the Beast Taming School?¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t quite sure if Li Chengfeng was joking with him or not, speaking so cryptically. ¡°What¡¯s so special about seven days from now?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the date that¡¯s special, it¡¯s just that that day will be the most optimal time to strike.¡±


    ¡°And why is that?¡±


    ¡°No idea.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Bai Yunfei felt a sweatdrop start to form on his head, ¡°What do you mean you have ¡®no idea¡¯?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m getting from my ¡®prediction¡¯....You should already know that¡¯s how the Fate School works. Our techniques can divine fate to a certain degree. We might not be able to ¡®see the future¡¯, but we can at the very least learn something about the future. It¡¯s because of our techniques that I decided to come here to Beast Taming City without knowing the reason why. I can¡¯t tell you the reason why seven days from now is the best time to attack, but¡­I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei scratched his chin in wonder. It was still a little cryptic to him, but he believed Li Chengfeng. If Li Chengfeng said to wait seven days, then there wasn¡¯t any harm in waiting seven days.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll listen to you. We¡¯ll attack the Beast Taming School in seven days! I¡¯ll discuss it with the others first, come with me¡­¡±


    Taking Li Chengfeng with him, Bai Yunfei teleported through the Core World to where the other soulbeasts were to talk about the change in their plans.


    In another area of the real world¡­


    To the north of Beast Taming City. In a place in the mountains.


    On top of one of these mountains stood countless buildings. It was the Beast Taming School.


    Like Beast Taming City, the largest building stood at the center on top of the largest mountain. This was the ¡®main hall¡¯ of the Beast Taming School.


    The mountain that had the main hall was separated twice into the front peak and the back peak. The front peak had a giant black shrine that housed the headmaster of the Beast Taming School and several other core members. The back peak was the ¡®forbidden area¡¯ of the school. Just like the Crafting School¡¯s northern peak, this back peak was the area where many elders secluded themselves to train in peace.


    There was a giant cave to the north of the back peak. This cave was clearly man-made and had two gray-robed elders at the entrance. They both sat on the opposite of one another and were as still as statues. Though still, the aura that radiated off from them flowed gently¡ªthese two people were Soul Kings!


    In front of these two Soul Kings stood a giant elephant and wolf. They were both soulbeast puppets of the class seven level!


    Two Soul Kings and two class seven soulbeast puppets¡­they were clearly on gate duty!


    If a single cave had four Soul King leveled beings guarding it¡­what in the world was inside?!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The cave echoed with a muffled explosion of something deep within and shook the entire mountain!


    The eyes of both Soul Kings flew open the moment they felt the vibration.


    ¡°Failed again? That makes the fifth time now¡­¡± The left Soul King sighed in disappointment to his companion. ¡°It¡¯s proving quite difficult to turn ¡®that¡¯ into a soulbeast puppet, isn¡¯t it? Aren¡¯t we being a bit too impatient with the headmaster and ancestor making such a decision?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no helping it¡­¡± The Soul King on the right replied, ¡°It¡¯s very likely that our school will suffer a disaster like none other. It¡¯s absolutely imperative that we make use of ¡®that¡¯ strength to avoid such a fate¡­¡±


    Meanwhile, in the depths of the same mountain¡­


    A giant hall had somehow been constructed in the belly of this mountain. Multiple stones illuminated the cave so that it was almost as bright as the outside world. Over ten figures were gathered in this place, some of them were soulbeasts and some of them were soul cultivators.


    They were all in a strange formation. A soul cultivator and soulbeast pair could be seen at the four cardinal directions with the soulbeasts standing straight behind the soul cultivator. Large waves of energy were being transmitted from them into their soul cultivators while the latter performed multiple strange hand seals. Waves of transparent energy were in turn flowing from them to the center of the formation.


    And at the center stood two people!


    One of these persons was a figure that was dressed entirely in white. He was cross-legged and entirely still. If not for the soulforce radiating from him, it wouldn¡¯t have been wrong for someone to think this person was an actual statue.


    In front of him was a rather withered-looking elder. His eyes were sunken into his head and his body constantly trembled as if he was in some sort of pain. A gray type of energy was leaking from him into the other person in front of him, but some sort of invisible barrier was preventing the energy from making contact with the white-robed man.


    Three of the four soul cultivators standing at each of the cardinal points were elderly men in their seventies or eighties. Only the fourth¡ªthe soul cultivator standing at the southern point¡ªlooked to be a middle-aged man in his forties. This man was dressed in gold and looked extremely stern. His soulforce was dormant inside his body and seemed almost as deep as an ocean.


    Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve recognized the aura of this person right away since¡­this person was the headmaster of the Beast Taming School, Lin Xiangtian!


    Lin Xiangtian was staring at the two figures seated in the middle of the formation with fatigued eyes. There was a flash of light before he immediately began to send in some more of his soulforce.


    Despite the failure of their attempts, Lin Xiangtian still had hope for their success.


    ¡°It¡¯ll¡­it¡¯ll definitely work!! We just need a little more¡­our next attempt will definitely work!¡±


    ¡°Seven days! Seven days is all we need for master to turn it into a soulbeast puppet!!¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­I don¡¯t know if teacher Duan¡¯s death was related to you or not, but¡­there¡¯s no mercy for you for as long as you go against us!!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei was finishing up the introductions between Li Chengfeng and his ¡®comrades¡¯ by now. Everyone agreed on waiting seven days after Li Chengfeng¡¯s identity was made known to everyone. Hardly anyone could find an objection about his plan¡ªtheir revenge was already thousands of years old, seven days wouldn¡¯t kill them.


    And so seven days passed by quickly.


    The day of reckoning for the Beast Taming School was finally here!!

 Chapter 1140: Declaring War on the Beast Taming School

    One day when the sun was at its highest.


    The skies above the main point of the Beast Taming School rippled uncertainly with energy before a single figure walked out from the ripples.


    It was Bai Yunfei.


    Seven days had passed. It was now the day Li Chengfeng said was the most optimal time to strike. He said this time was the closest time and so Bai Yunfei waited until now to appear.


    And here he was today. He was there, standing in front of the gates to the Beast Taming School.


    He had no plans of subterfuge or any other ¡®hidden tactics¡¯. In the face of overwhelming strength like the one he possessed, there was no point in having plans like that!


    It was best to simply charge and attack!


    Bai Yunfei could feel the auras of many soul cultivators all throughout the mountains beneath him. Every single one of these auras belonged to a beast tamer.


    This place would become a bloodbath, though Bai Yunfei was prepared for such a slaughter. He knew that these people would almost all definitely die here. No matter how strong they were or how rich of a status they had¡­every beast tamer here would most likely not escape their fate.


    The time for mercy was gone. There was none left to give to his enemies. What need was there for hesitation if they had all decided to destroy the Beast Taming School!?


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei drew out a long breath to wipe out any stray thoughts from his mind. Drawing his soulforce to him, he allowed his aura to announce itself to everyone in the area!


    No words were spoken, but his aura was more than enough to make the declaration of war!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    It felt like the entire world froze still. The moment when Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura spread itself out, the world was washed with a wave of fire that devoured the clouds and threatened to drown out the world below.


    ¡°What?! What¡¯s this?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?! What¡¯s happening?!¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s aura is that, what¡¯s going on?!¡±


    Pandemonium was instantaneous. Beast tamers stormed out from their homes within seconds to stare up at the ocean of fire above their heads.


    ¡°A Soul Emperor!?¡±


    Several of the Soul Kings realized the significance of this aura straight away. Upon sensing Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura, these Soul Kings began to gather together in front of the gates.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The air rippled with energy waves as a powerful burst of soulforce exploded from within the main halls of the Beast Taming School. Not even the clouds above the main hall were spared from this explosion and were blown apart. It seemed to stall the ocean of fire for just a moment before a green ray of light appeared in front of the other Soul Kings gathered.


    ¡°Master Chu!¡±


    ¡°Teacher Chu!¡±


    Several of the Soul Kings bowed at once to the newcomer.


    This newcomer was one of the older members of the school and the most senior of the ones here. His name was Chu Hongrong, an Early-stage Soul Emperor!


    It only took ten seconds at most for all the Soul Kings to gather in the same area. Combined with Chu Hongrong, the part of the skies with the beast tamers looked especially powerful.


    Heaving a sigh of relief that he could only sense a single Early-stage Soul Emperor, Chu Hongrong leveled a warning glare at Bai Yunfei, ¡°Who are you and why are you here?!¡±


    His voice was like thunder with how loud it was and how much it echoed.


    Meanwhile, Bai Yunfei was observing Chu Hongrong with a suspicious gaze, ¡°Only one Soul Emperor came out? Fine then¡­I¡¯ll take him out first and leave us with one less problem.¡±


    ¡°I am Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School¡­I came here to topple your school! From today onward, there will be no more Beast Taming School!!¡± He declared in response to Chu Hongrong.


    Every single person went white in fear the moment they heard his name.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!! It¡¯s Bai Yunfei!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s here! The headmaster was right all along!¡±


    ¡°A Soul Emperor¡­how is he a Soul Emperor?! Didn¡¯t the headmaster say he was only a Peak Late-stage Soul King?!¡±


    ¡°He came here to our school all by himself! Does he really think we¡¯re an easy target to bully?! It¡¯s hopeless for him, even if he has any helpers. Our numbers are unequal!¡±


    His name sent murmurs across the crowd of Soul Kings. Many of them were shocked to hear his name.


    The most silent beast tamer was Chu Hongrong. ¡°Bai Yunfei?! He¡¯s really here?! Is he related to Duan Tianqing¡¯s death somehow? Then did he come from the Soulbeast Forest? If he has the Core Stone¡­how many people did he bring here?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s as the headmaster said¡­¡± He cursed to himself, ¡°Damn! Why now of all times!? We have to stall him!¡±


    His mind working miles per minute, Chu Hongrong decided to raise his hand to the sky!


    ¡°Topple our school?! You talk big for a worm! Die!!¡±


    ¡°Roarrr!!!¡±


    The roar of a beast suddenly exploded across the sky!


    It happened when his right hand came down. There was a flash of green light as a green-winged lion came forth in front of him!


    It was an early-stage class eight soulbeast, a galewing lion!


    Its arrival was graced with its loud roar. The world trembled with the echoes and shook with its soulforce.


    Then out of nowhere, a tornado came down where Bai Yunfei stood!


    Chu Hongrong was taking the initiative to strike!


    ¡°Trying to test my strength? That¡¯s going to cost you your life!¡± Bai Yunfei laughed to himself upon seeing the tornado.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    A black whirlpool materialized above Bai Yunfei, much to everyone¡¯s surprise. They didn¡¯t even feel a blip of soulforce come from Bai Yunfei!


    The tornado dropped down into the whirlpool. Rather than come out from the other side, the tornado was simply absorbed into it without coming back out!


    Soon the tornado was nowhere to be seen. It was entirely devoured by the whirlpool. Then the whirlpool dissipated without a trace!


    The world grew quiet as the soul cultivators tried to digest the sight in front of them. They couldn¡¯t believe Bai Yunfei was completely unharmed¡­


    Not even Chu Hongrong could believe his eyes.


    Bai Yunfei was the only one to remain calm upon seeing the +13 additional effect of his armor activate. He simply took a single step out and whipped his right arm out!


    A flash of black light left his right hand and traveled for Chu Hongrong at blinding speed!

 Chapter 1141: The Power of the Voidsplitter!

    Hardly anyone could see the black jet of light that came out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. It was just traveling far too fast for most people to see.


    But Chu Hongrong was not most people. He was already keeping a vigilant eye on the light the moment it escaped Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand!


    ¡°A soul armament!!¡±


    One of the most important aspects in a fight between soul cultivators was not the vision brought to them by the eyes, but by their soulsense. Chu Hongrong¡¯s eyes could only see a streak of light, but his soulsense was telling him something was traveling extremely fast toward him!


    As a Soul Emperor, he was confident on his guess. He was up against another Soul Emperor, one that was from the Crafting School!


    So he couldn¡¯t disregard this projectile as being harmless. Commanding the galewing lion, Chu Hongrong had his soulbeast puppet move in front of him to stop it!


    There was no way the projectile would get through his soulbeast puppet. Not with how large it was. The soulbeast was practically the size of a small mountain!


    That was what Chu Hongrong was thinking. It didn¡¯t even matter if the projectile was strong enough to pierce through the galewing lion. By that point, the projectile wouldn¡¯t be traveling anywhere as fast as before and could easily be stopped. It wasn¡¯t like the galewing lion would be harmed much by it anyhow.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    But then something unexpected happened and caused Chu Hongrong to freeze completely still!


    The soul armament Bai Yunfei threw out¡­was gone!!


    It baffled his mind but prompted him to act upon this as quickly as he could. Summoning a barrier of elemental wind, Chu Hongrong protected himself as well as he could on demand and leaped to the right.


    As impeccable as his reaction was, the flying dagger¡¯s effects would not allow him to escape so easily. All of his movements were futile!


    ¡°Whoosh!!!¡±


    The sound of wind being displaced so close to him startled Chu Hongrong. His eyes widened with fear as he realized the soul armament Bai Yunfei threw was now right in front of him!


    Neither his soulbeast puppet nor his barrier proved effective in protecting him. The projectile had simply bypassed the both of them! It was as if the projectile appeared out of thin air!


    The Voidsplitter gleamed menacingly in the sunlight. Whistling through the air, the flying dagger nicked the left ear of Chu Hongrong!


    ¡°Aggghhhh!!!!¡±


    A deathly howl erupted from Chu Hongrong. It was a high-pitch scream that reeked of death. Soulforce exploded forth from his body for a second and rendered everyone unable to see what happened.


    When the light dissipated¡­half of the left part of his head was gone!


    It was all because of the Voidsplitter. When it bypassed Chu Hongrong¡¯s barrier and nicked his ear, the Voidsplitter activated its effect!


    There was a split-second when Chu Hongrong let out a breath of relief upon escaping death. A single nick wasn¡¯t even anything to speak about. But then everything changed when the Voidsplitter activated its effect¡­


    And in that second¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The only thing Chu Hongrong heard was the blade of the Voidsplitter vibrate. He felt his own ear lose feeling for a second before sensing the surrounding spatial energy start to grow agitated!


    The hair on his arms stood on their ends as Chu Hongrong realized something was wrong. His vision went black and then¡­


    He felt nothing at all¡­


    A single nick was all it took for the Voidsplitter to activate its effect. It flashed once with a demonic black light before disintegrating everything within a three-inch radius of Chu Hongrong¡¯s ear!


    +12 Additional Effect: Activate Voidsplitter upon contact. Disintegrate everything within 3 inches of the dagger.Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Unfortunately for Chu Hongrong¡­that three inches meant a good portion of his head was gone now!


    And so when the Voidsplitter¡¯s effect activated, there was a brief second where a portion of Chu Hongrong¡¯s head was occupied by a black sphere of light before it faded away. All that was left after that was Chu Hongrong¡¯s head now having a freakish-looking hole.


    Not even a Soul Emperor would be able to survive having a portion of his head gone!


    The barrier of elemental wind around him shattered like a mirror the moment he died. Without any soulforce feeding it, the barrier couldn¡¯t sustain itself! His corpse dropped from the sky after two seconds and plummeted to the ground below!


    An instant kill!


    An Early-stage Soul Emperor was killed straight off the bat!


    The Voidsplitter was terrifyingly strong!


    Silence reigned in the world once again as everyone watched Chu Hongrong fall. The Soul Kings from the Beast Taming School were absolutely stunned by Chu Hongrong¡¯s death!


    There was a flash of black light as the Voidsplitter returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand. Then without pause, he flew straight for the completely still galewing lion!


    Bai Yunfei was surprised how easily he managed to kill Chu Hongrong, but he wasn¡¯t one to allow the element of surprise slip past his fingers so easily. Chu Hongrong was dead, now it was time for the others!


    The soulbeast puppet was no longer mobile since its master was dead. That meant the soulbeast puppet was as still as a statue and free for Bai Yunfei to throw something rainbow-colored at it!


    The rainbow-light faded away just enough for some people to catch glimpse of a circular ring inside it. In the blink of an eye, the ring looped around the lion''s neck and stuck fast to it!


    Since Chu Hongrong was dead, there was nothing stopping Bai Yunfei to use the Beast Taming Ring on the galewing lion!


    Completely unobstructed, Bai Yunfei came to a stop above the galewing lion¡¯s head!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The galewing lion trembled from head to toe as the Beast Taming Ring seized control of it. Its head snapped up to roar before it dove for the Beast Taming School!


    ¡°Ma¡ªmaster Chu is dead?! Dead!!¡±


    ¡°Ah? Ah?! What?! How¡­how could master Chu have died!? How?!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way! It has to be a trick! What did he do?!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s stolen master Chu¡¯s soulbeast puppet! Watch out!!¡±


    ¡°Warn the headmaster! Right now!!¡±


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    Pandemonium erupted within the crowd of beast tamers.


    Chu Hongrong was one of the strongest the Beast Taming School had to offer. Soul Emperors were not common in the world, let alone their school. So how in the world did he do so easily?!


    It was a sight that scared practically everyone!


    From on top of the galewing lion, Bai Yunfei watched as everyone beneath him started to panic and scatter. Looking at the faraway back peak of the school, he opened his mouth to speak.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for war!¡±


    Ripples began to form all around Bai Yunfei the moment he made his declaration. Within seconds, these ripples exploded in number¡ªsome of them were already revealing the figures of more people coming through them!


    To his left were Xiao Qi, Long Lan, Tang Xinyun, Wu Dijian, Dan Teng, and the alchemists of the Yao clan.


    To his right were the Blue-eyes White Dragon King, the Bloodhowl Wolf King, and the other soulbeast kings!


    And behind them were the many soulbeasts that served the soulbeast kings!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    A storm of soulforce exploded forth from the back peak of the Beast Taming School as several figures revealed themselves inside!

 Chapter 1142: Why Now of All Times?!

    Meanwhile, a little before Bai Yunfei arrived at the Beast Taming School.


    In the ¡®back peak¡¯ of the Beast Taming School.


    Lin Xiangtian¡ªone of the pillars of the Beast Taming School, was currently seated in one of the four corners of the formation. His hands never stayed at rest for long, they were a constant blur of handseals to send more of his soulforce into the formation. The amount of soulforce that thickened the cave in here was enough to make even a Soul King feel faint.


    At the center of the formation were the same two figures as before. The figure in white was still looking as peaceful as ever while the elder was trembling from fatigue and exertion. The soulforce radiating from the elder was even more intense than the ones from Lin Xiangtian and the others. The faint images of what appeared to be shackles could barely be seen. They looked like they were trying to grab hold of something!


    In simpler words, the elder was trying to shackle the soul of the other!


    The faint shadows originated from the elder and were barely being resisted by the white-robed figure. They were slightly transparent, but also looked blurry like smoke with how it moved.


    It was only because of a transparent energy around the middle-aged man in white that seemed to fend the shackles from touching his person.


    ¡°Just a little more¡­we need to succeed!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian¡¯s eyes were focused entirely on the sight in front of him, his face the very picture of nervous anxiety.


    It was at that moment when¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The outside world rumbled with a powerful soulforce no expected to feel. It appeared out of nowhere!


    An enemy was here!


    ¡°A Soul Emperor!¡± Lin Xiangtian cried aloud. ¡°This aura¡­¡± He murmured.


    ¡°It¡¯s Bai Yunfei!! It¡¯s him! How! How did he become a Soul Emperor already?!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian cried out again, shocking the rest of the beast tamers in the cave.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡± A violet-robed elder repeated, ¡°That person is Bai Yunfei?! He really came?!¡±


    ¡°He has,¡± Snarled Lin Xiangtian, ¡°this aura definitely belongs to him! Damn! Why¡­why now of all times! Why did he have to come now?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei being here was something he thought would happen. He just didn¡¯t think Bai Yunfei would come so soon!


    The events a beast tamer¡¯s medium experienced is shared to the beast tamer itself. Thus, the experience of having his own soul be forced out from the Demon-eyed Tiger King and destroyed was known to Lin Xiangtian. He was also very aware of the possibility that Bai Yunfei might be able to glean some information from the fragments of his soul!


    Consequently, Lin Xiangtian thought about Bai Yunfei being the reason why Duan Tianqing was killed the very moment he saw Duan Tianqing¡¯s ¡®lifebeast¡¯ expire!


    Like how the Crafting School uses life slips and the Soul Refining School using soul tablets to see if one was dead or alive, the Beast Taming School used soulbeast puppets in a similar way. When making a soulbeast puppet, there exists a method to link a soulbeast puppet to a beast tamer so that the soulbeast puppet would die when its owner perished.


    Having so many people die in the Qimang Mountain expedition was a tremendous blow to the Beast Taming School¡¯s strength. But the biggest worry to Lin Xiangtian¡¯s heart was Bai Yunfei. If Bai Yunfei really was in the Soulbeast Forest, then the Beast Taming School was in extreme danger!


    He knew Bai Yunfei had the Core Stone. He also knew that there¡¯d be a solid chance of Bai Yunfei cooperating with the powerful soulbeasts in the forest. If that was the case, then the Beast Taming School would be disadvantaged!


    It felt like there was a giant sword hanging over his head. It was a sword that spelled doom for his school, he just didn¡¯t know when it¡¯d fall!


    In the end, Lin Xiangtian decided to warn the elders of this danger. Together, the school decided to do what they could to avoid the worst-case scenario. It was time for them to make use of their trump card!


    The way the Beast Taming School fell in numbers meant that they¡¯d be in trouble even without Bai Yunfei coming and reducing their numbers even more. Therefore, they had to do what they could to bolster their strength.


    And that method was to turn ¡®him¡¯ into an avatar. To turn ¡®him¡¯ into a power to shield the Beast Taming School!


    ¡®He¡¯ was a soulbeast puppet, one that had been passed down for several thousand years in the Beast Taming School. It was the soulbeast puppet of the founder of the entire school!


    ¡®He¡¯ was the Beast Taming School¡¯s trump card and final ace-in-the-hole!


    Though they had such a strong soulbeast puppet, the Beast Taming School hadn¡¯t anyone that was able to make use of him since the first use due to them not being strong enough for it!


    No one in the school was still strong enough to make use of the soulbeast puppet, but time was running out. If they couldn¡¯t use it as a proper soulbeast puppet, then they¡¯d have to turn it into the avatar of their strongest beast tamer!


    But not any regular avatar. Creating an avatar meant tearing away a portion of one¡¯s soul. In this particular case, ¡®he¡¯ was far too strong to be controlled by a soul fragment. If they wanted to make use of ¡®him¡¯, then they¡¯d have to use the entirety of their soul!


    In other words¡­they¡¯d move the soul from a human body to a soulbeast!


    The Beast Taming School had a secret art that allowed a soul cultivator to give up their original body and gain possession of a soulbeast¡¯s body. That didn¡¯t mean they¡¯d gain the lifespan of a soulbeast, however. The technique had a lot of drawbacks. Even if the takeover succeded, the soul cultivator¡¯s soul would never be able to grow stronger. The soul cultivator would die the moment their original lifespan was finished.


    Such were the dangers, but there was no helping it in such a case. Four Soul Emperors were trying their hardest with four of their class eight soulbeast puppets and yet they failed five times already. It seemed like their sixth attempt was looking like a success when¡­


    When Bai Yunfei appeared out of nowhere!!


    Why did he have to appear today of all days?!


    Lin Xiangtian wasn¡¯t the only one thinking this, the other elders were too!


    ¡°Chu Hongrong went to deal with him!!¡±


    An elder reported shortly after they felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura.


    ¡°Headmaster¡­what should we do?!¡±


    A black-robed elder cried out to Lin Xiangtian in concern.


    ¡°Just a bit more¡­just a little bit more!!¡±


    The anxiety was crushing Lin Xiangtian. It took all he had to give the man a shaky response before snarling, ¡°Bai Yunfei came by himself, perhaps teacher Chu will be able to stall him long enough. Per¡ª¡±


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The loud roar of a soulbeast interrupted Lin Xiangtian. Everyone within the cave knew that sound, Chu Hongrong was taking action!


    Nerves frayed with anxiety, everyone waited with baited breaths for Chu Hongrong to do what they hoped: to delay Bai Yunfei just long enough for¡­


    Then the next second brought all their hopes crashing back down again. Crestfallen, everyone looked at one another with horror when they felt someone¡¯s aura disappear!


    ¡°Teacher Chu has¡­died?!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian could hardly believe himself. His heart lurched in his chest at the thought of one of their own dying so quickly. It was only for a second!


    Then came the next moment. The moment when multiple auras began to appear in the elder¡¯s senses!


    ¡°The Bloodhowl Wolf King!! He¡¯s here! He¡¯s here!!¡±


    One of the elders shrieked the very moment he felt the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s aura.


    ¡°This aura belongs to¡­the Three-eyed Tiger King! Impossible! I thought he was dead!¡±


    Another elder cried out shortly afterward. He was so shocked by this unforgettable aura¡ªhe was only a disciple two hundred years ago when the Three-eyed Tiger King attacked the Beast Taming School in vengeance for the Demon-eyed Tiger King¡¯s capture!


    ¡°Head out there right now!¡±


    A gravelly voice spoke in the minds of Lin Xiangtian and the others.


    ¡°Teacher!¡± Lin Xiangtian¡¯s head whipped to the shriveled elder in the middle, ¡°but you¡¯re¡­¡±


    ¡°Hurry! I can manage by myself!¡±


    A powerful aura exploded forth from the elder as if to back up his words.


    ¡°Damn! Damn it all!!¡±


    Howling in rage to himself, Lin Xiangtian snarled and stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± He roared to the other three.


    ¡°Swish swish swish swish¡­¡±


    One moment later and the four soul cultivators and four soulbeast puppets were now gone from the cave!

 Chapter 1143: The War Begins!

    ¡°They¡¯re coming!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei could feel the auras of several more figures storming out from the back peak caves. They were coming!


    ¡°Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh¡­¡±


    Ripples of spatial energy shot across the sky as four figures appeared in front of the Beast Taming School¡¯s Soul Kings!


    ¡°Headmaster!!¡±


    Many of the beast tamers cried out in joy¡ªthe pillar of their school was finally here!


    It took a second for Lin Xiangtian to see his surroundings, but the very moment he did the snarl on his face grew even more pronounced¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s side had twelve Soul Emperors!


    And he couldn¡¯t even tell how strong the Blue-eyes White Dragon King was, so that meant one thing¡ªhe was either a Late-stage Soul Emperor or a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor!!


    ¡°Damn! How did he manage to gather this many class eight soulbeasts in such a short amount of time!!¡± The vexations in Lin Xiangtian¡¯s heart doubled. ¡°We can¡¯t possibly bide for enough time with our class eight soulbeast puppets. And there¡¯s no point about comparing our fighting forces of the Soul King level!¡±


    He saw the hundreds of class seven soulbeasts gathered by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side and cursed Bai Yunfei even more¡ªThe defeat of their forces at both the Qimang Mountains and Soulbeast Forest substantially drained them of their manpower. They only had thirty Soul Kings left in their numbers! Everyone had one class seven soulbeast puppet at the very least¡ªmany of them had two even¡ªbut that didn¡¯t mean much against the number of class seven soulbeasts on the other side!


    Lin Xiangtian felt even fainter just thinking about their Soul Exalt and under. Against the large army of soulbeasts, what point was there having a few thousand?!


    ¡°Our only hope is to bide enough time for teacher then!¡±


    Resolved to sacrifice his life, Lin Xiangtian gave the army in front of him a terrifying glare, ¡°Bai¡ª¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of talking!! I¡¯m not going to stand around anymore, it¡¯s time to kill!!"


    Lin Xiangtian hadn¡¯t even enough time to fully pronounce Bai Yunfei¡¯s name when the Golden-eyed Ape King interrupted him with a head-on charge!


    And ¡®charging¡¯ with him was the one who hated the Beast Taming School just as much as he did, the Three-eyed Tiger King!


    ¡°Roar! Roar! Roarr!!¡±


    Following their lead were hundreds of other soulbeasts!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Furious, Lin Xiangtian let the killing intent flow from himself as well. ¡°Kill them!!¡± He roared.


    ¡°Roar roar roar¡­¡±


    Several of the soulbeast puppets roared together as their tamers let loose onto the battlefield!


    With how only the soulbeast puppets charged instead of their tamers, the battlefield looked like it was a war between soulbeast and soulbeast!


    ¡°Xinyun, go with the alchemists and support the back, don¡¯t endanger yourself.¡± Bai Yunfei said to Tang Xinyun the moment the battle began.


    The Soul Kings of the Beast Taming School were to be handled by the Golden Lion King and other class seven soulbeasts. Tang Xinyun and the alchemists were only needed to protect the back rather than lead the charge. Since they required the alchemists for the soul rejuvenating pills, none of the soulbeasts minded them being in such a position since it¡¯d be safer.


    Tang Xinyun gave Bai Yunfei a warm smile, ¡°Mm, I will. Be careful, Yunfei¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. Looking back to the front with renewed determination, he stepped forward and shot off along with the Golden-eyed Ape King and Three-eyed Tiger King!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    The harmonious chirping of a bird could be heard over the battlefield as Xiao Qi transformed into his larger form and dove in to fight!


    ¡°Chiii!!¡±


    As if in response to Xiao Qi, the skies above him exploded with the jeers of an eagle. There was a flash of green light as the shadow of a giant green eagle appeared overhead. A pulse of soulforce erupted from the eagle and brought the Three-eyed Tiger King and other soulbeasts to a halt!


    The presence of this eagle was due to one of the Soul Emperors from the Beast Taming School, the violet-robed elder on the left!


    ¡°The Azure Eagle King!!¡±


    The Blue-eyes White Dragon King looked surprised. This was a powerful soulbeast that took the world by storm eight hundred years ago!


    A late-stage class eight soulbeast!


    Somehow, a beast tamer that was only a Mid-stage Soul Emperor was capable of controlling a late-stage class eight soulbeast!


    The Azure Eagle King drew its wings close to its body. Soulforce began to build up in its wings before lashing out in the form of two blades of wind at the Three-eyed Tiger King and the others!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    A white burst of light shot past the Three-eyed Tiger King following the draconic cry of a soulbeast. It crashed into the two blades of wind and destroyed them!


    Within the white burst of light was the Blue-eyes White Dragon King!


    As the strongest soulbeast there, the Blue-eyes White Dragon King was taking it upon himself to fight this class eight soulbeast puppet!


    That left the Three-eyed Tiger King free to continue toward the violet-robed elder. But before he could get far, a bolt of violet lightning dropped from the heavens and crashed down in between the two!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Furious by this obstruction, the Three-eyed Tiger King roared and lashed out with a mighty punch!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Smashing into the violet lightning, the Three-eyed Tiger King shattered it apart like it was nothing!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A second streak of lightning shot through the sky at the same time the Three-eyed Tiger King destroyed the first and struck him from the side!


    The following explosion threw the Three-eyed Tiger King a few hundred meters away from his original position. He took a moment to steady himself before glaring at the giant violet lizard in front of him, ¡°A mid-stage class eight bi-headed lightning lizard!¡±


    Rather than be angry at the soulbeast blocking his advance, the Three-eyed Tiger King¡¯s wrath was entirely focused on the beast tamer behind it.


    ¡°Roar! Roar!!¡±


    Another battle between soulbeasts was happening simultaneously along with the Three-eyed Tiger King. An early-stage class eight hippopotamus-type soulbeast was currently engaged in battle with the Golden-eyed Ape King!


    It wasn¡¯t just those two¡ªthe Violet Dragon King, the Violet Spider King, and the Stegosaurus King were all fighting a class eight soulbeast of their own!


    To make matters worse, the bearded elder controlling both the bi-headed lightning lizard and the hippopotamus soulbeast was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    The beast tamer fighting the Violet Dragon King and Violet Spider King was controlling two early-stage class eight soulbeast puppets and was an Early-stage Soul Emperor. And the one fighting the Stegosaurus King with an early-stage class eight soulbeast was a Half-emperor!


    Having yet to be met with obstruction, the Bloodhowl Wolf King charged toward the bearded elder!


    There was also the Golden Python King who was currently charging towards the Early-stage Soul Emperor.


    That left the Ancient Crocodile King to attack the violet-robed elder controlling the Azure Eagle King.


    Many of the beast tamers fighting right now were capable of controlling two soulbeasts at the same time as long as neither soulbeast puppet were stronger than them. As such, this allowed the beast tamers to fight the soulbeast kings with equal numbers!


    The only Soul Emperor from the Beast Taming School that hadn¡¯t taken action yet was Lin Xiangtian. He was just standing there to stare at Bai Yunfei, Li Chengfeng, and Xiao Qi!

 Chapter 1144: The Interdimensional...Phantasm!

    Battles were popping up everywhere around the Beast Taming School. Hardly any distance could be traveled without bumping into a beast tamer fighting a soulbeast, especially if one took to the skies.


    But Lin Xiangtian wasn¡¯t looking any of the battles. His eyes were focused only on Bai Yunfei. He felt nothing but hatred and despise for the person in front of him.


    If no soulbeast was attacking him, then that was fine with him! He¡¯d kill Bai Yunfei himself then!


    The only thing that made him hesitant was the people next to Bai Yunfei, Li Chengfeng especially. The fact that this person was a Soul Emperor at such a young age shocked Lin Xiangtian. But only for a moment.


    Waving his right hand, Lin Xiangtian summoned a giant black scorpion!


    ¡°Hssss!!!¡±


    The scorpion let out a shrill cry when it appeared. Both its pincers clashed together menacingly, drawing sparks whenever they struck together. The tail behind it grew blurry for a moment before it flew forward to stab Bai Yunfei!


    It was an early-stage class eight soulbeast, the blacksand scorpion!


    ¡°Let me handle this soulbeast, Yunfei.¡±


    Li Chengfeng requested upon seeing their enemy send out a ¡®single¡¯ early-stage class eight soulbeast to deal with them.


    ¡°Alright, be careful then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, his eyes still focused on Lin Xiangtian.


    Under the command of Lin Xiangtian, the scorpion charged for Li Chengfeng, but at an angle so that Li Chengfeng could be drawn a little farther away. That way Bai Yunfei and Lin Xiangtian could fight without being disturbed.


    Controlling class seven soulbeasts and above were different than controlling class six soulbeasts and under. Class seven soulbeasts only required a single command for autonomous control while class six soulbeasts required multiple. As such, this meant the beast tamers could simply let these class eight soulbeasts fight by themselves with just a single command.


    The early-stage class eight blacksand scorpion wasn¡¯t even close to being Lin Xiangtian¡¯s strongest soulbeast puppet. It was only meant to be a diversion to distract Li Chengfeng.


    Logically speaking, a Mid-stage Soul Emperor like Lin Xiangtian shouldn¡¯t be so afraid of an Early-stage Soul Emperor like Bai Yunfei. But Lin Xiangtian knew what Bai Yunfei was capable of. The normal classification of levels didn¡¯t mean much when Bai Yunfei was involved.


    After all, Bai Yunfei was able to defeat Nether and Duan Leiting¡¯s avatar as a Peak Late-stage Soul King and steal away his medium. And to make matters worse, Bai Yunfei was now a Soul Emperor, meaning he was even more dangerous than before. There was no way Lin Xiangtian was going to take him lightly again.


    The topper on this situation was seeing a prisma oriole, a soulbeast that shouldn¡¯t be a class eight soulbeast, controlling the class eight galewing lion¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The battle between Li Chengfeng and the blacksand scorpion was finally starting to take place a kilometer away to the right. Meanwhile, Bai Yunfei and Lin Xiangtian were still staring at one another. Neither person had yet to move a finger.


    Anyone would¡¯ve been surprised by this strange fight. Intense battles were happening everywhere on this battlefield, but this part of the field was strangely quiet and without a battle.


    The ten seconds that went by felt far too long to Bai Yunfei. And the longer the two stared at one another, the more Bai Yunfei felt like something was off.


    Bai Yunfei was hesitant to do anything reckless since he was up against a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. All Lin Xiangtian had to do was unleash a soulbeast puppet if he attacked, but¡­why hadn¡¯t Lin Xiangtian summoned another soulbeast puppet yet then?


    It was at this moment that Bai Yunfei noticed the strange twinkle in Lin Xiangtian¡¯s eyes!


    ¡°Not good!!¡±


    Xiao Fang¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind at the exact same time!


    ¡°Yunfei, there¡¯s a disturbance in the spatial energy, be careful!!¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Snapping his head up, Bai Yunfei saw that the spatial energy around him was starting to warp strangely in on themselves!


    There had been no warning to this new abnormality! None at all!


    It wasn¡¯t just the spatial energy he could feel being disturbed. A powerful source of soulforce was also causing havoc in the world around!


    ¡°A soulbeast! A mid-stage class eight soulbeast one too! Where is it?!¡±


    Hurriedly scanning the battlefield for where the soulbeast might appear, Bai Yunfei was stunned to see that it was nowhere to be found!


    It was peculiar beyond peculiar. The aura of a mid-stage class eight soulbeast could be felt, but the soulbeast itself was nowhere to be seen! He couldn¡¯t even pinpoint the area with the strongest amount of soulforce! It was as if the soulforce was being evenly distributed without a source!


    It was enough to make Bai Yunfei feel like he was imagining things. But then as if to make matters even worse¡­


    A mirage-like light began to spread across the land. Seemingly devouring the world, the light turned everything it touched into darkness, soulforce included!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on!? Yunfei, where¡¯d everyone else go?!¡±


    Xiao Qi cried out to Bai Yunfei in confusion.


    But Bai Yunfei had no answer. He was still glaring at Lin Xiangtian, he could see that Lin Xiangtian was looking happy for some reason!


    The only thing he could sense right now was the galewing lion beneath him and Xiao Qi on his shoulder. Everything else was either gone or was Lin Xiangtian. In other words¡­Lin Xiangtian was responsible for this!


    A derisive sneer appeared on Lin Xiangtian¡¯s face at Bai Yunfei¡¯s confusion. ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­the Phantasm will become your burial ground!¡±


    A flash of golden light erupted from Lin Xiangtian¡¯s right hand when he waved it. Bai Yunfei only saw something shaped like a whiplash out through the air!


    Having not expected for something like that, Bai Yunfei barely managed to have the galewing lion take him and Xiao Qi up higher into the sky!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The golden beam of light slammed onto the area where Bai Yunfei once stood with a loud smash. Then as if it struck solid ground, the whip shattered apart the area as if it was a mirror!


    ¡°Swish swish swish swish¡­¡±


    The galewing lion flew a hundred meters or so before stopping. From on top of it, a stunned Bai Yunfei was looking at the damage that was created. But before he could observe it for long, another seven beams of golden light were already coming at him!


    Meanwhile, in the skies above the Beast Taming School.


    Anyone would be able to see the intense battles happening down below on the earth. The army of soulbeasts clashed intensely with the soulbeast puppets one after another like tidal waves. Leading the army from the skies were the Golden Lion King and the Twin Winged Kings. Along with the other class seven soulbeasts, they were fighting the class seven soulbeast puppets of the beast tamers.


    Everyone was avoiding the part of the battlefield where Bai Yunfei and Lin Xiangtian were, for there was a curtain of strange light that covered the sky there!


    No one other than Lin Xiangtian expected to see something like that. It happened so quick that no one even knew what the light was, or what it even did. All they knew was that the moment Bai Yunfei and Lin Xiangtian were touched by the light they disappeared!


    But what was even more confusing was how this ¡®strange light¡¯ was radiating the aura of a powerful soulbeast!


    It was as if the light was alive!


    Green and blue light mixed together in a tremendous wave of energy. The Azure Eagle King and the Blue-eyes White Dragon King had struck one another and then retreated several kilometers away for a respite when the latter took notice of the strange energy building up near Bai Yunfei.


    His eyes narrowed to think of why this aura felt familiar before he gasped!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­the Interdimensional Phantasm!!¡±

 Chapter 1145: A Disadvantageous Situation

    ¡°The Interdimensional Phantasm still exists in this era?!¡±


    The Blue-eyes White Dragon King exclaimed¡ªthis type of beast was a legendary one. One that even he had only heard mention of before. This was a beast that preceded his time by thousands of years!


    ¡°The Interdimensional Phantasm contains a whole world within itself, the Phantasm. A world where one feels limited in every regard¡­will Bai Yunfei be able to handle it?¡±


    Worry began to grace the Blue-eyes White Dragon King¡¯s eyes. Just remembering the stories of this beast was enough for him to take concern for Bai Yunfei even despite knowing how strong the soul cultivator was.


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    He ducked his head to dodge a strike from the Azure Eagle King. Swinging his right hand out, he sent out a beam of white light into the prismatic light down below him!


    His attack barreled through the sky, but¡­it sailed through the light as if it didn¡¯t even exist!


    No.


    To say it ¡®sailed¡¯ through the light would be wrong. When the attack touched the light, the edges of the attack rippled a bit before it reappeared beneath the light!


    That meant his attack skipped over where the light was; it completely skipped the point of contact!


    That light was bending space!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The attack of the Blue-eyes White Dragon King traveled for a moment longer before careening into the ground below and creating a tremendous crater!


    ¡°Just like I heard, it¡¯s invulnerable in its specter mode¡­.¡± The Blue-eyes White Dragon King mumbled. ¡°The legends say it takes a minute for the Interdimensional Phantasm to ¡®spit¡¯ out whatever ¡®living being¡¯ it took into the Phantasm. I hope Bai Yunfei will be able to endure it.¡±


    The Interdimensional Phantasm was said to be a being born from the endless void. Its true origins were known to no one, but it was said that it could transform into any living being. Its most common form was an ephemeral ball of light that would ¡®float¡¯ through the world from the highest point of the heavens to the lowest pit of the underworld. But it never stayed in one place for too long.


    A whole world existed in the body of the Interdimensional Phantasm. Known as the Phantasm, this world was as paradoxically large.


    It was also said that the Interdimensional Phantasm wasn¡¯t very intelligent and was quite ¡®lazy¡¯; almost sluggish in movement, even. It hardly posed a threat to others and was content to simply feasting on the energy of the world. The way it ¡®ate¡¯ was quite strange, though. By taking a large ¡®breath¡¯ of air, the Interdimensional Phantasm could swallow anything into its body. After a minute of processing, the being would harmlessly ¡®spit¡¯ out any living being and keep the natural energy of the world.


    Any soul cultivator or soulbeast unlucky enough to be caught in its body during that moment would see to having their soulforce being taken, but not a fatal amount. A minute only needed to pass for them to be spat back out, alive and well.


    The Interdimensional Phantasm was also peculiar in that it did not attack others and it could neither be attacked. When in its mirage form, the Interdimensional Phantasm separated itself from the world¡¯s dimension so it could become intangible!


    In short, a soulbeast like this was considered to be of an ¡®otherworldly¡¯ type and mentioned only in rumors. The Blue-eyes White Dragon King never expected that the Beast Taming School would have a rare soulbeast hardly seen every several thousand years!


    But the fact that they did meant the Beast Taming School had an extremely powerful soulbeast puppet!


    ¡°Chiiii!!!¡±


    The Blue-eyes White Dragon King tore his eyes away from Bai Yunfei¡¯s situation. It was time for him to turn his attention back to the Azure Eagle King and began his duel once more.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    In the Phantasm.


    Bai Yunfei had only just dodged the first golden whip before realizing seven more streaks of light were coming straight for him!


    They traveled so fast that Bai Yunfei grew alert for once. Activating his Lightning Boots, Bai Yunfei retreated into the direction forward.


    Xiao Qi was with him as well. Powering up his Wind and Lightning Feathers, the bird evaded a golden tendril and branched off from Bai Yunfei to attack from the side.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi heard a sickening crack beneath them. The galewing lion had been hit! Too slow to dodge the tendrils, the lion was struck and flew away from the two like a bullet!


    Judging by the sound, Bai Yunfei had to say the lion had to have two broken ribs or so.


    Now beyond the range of the tendril¡¯s reach, Bai Yunfei looked at the golden ball of light to see what kind of soulbeast he was fighting¡­


    A giant golden bull!! Its entire body was lit up with a golden glow; were it not for the bull moving around, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve assumed it was a golden sculpture in the shape of a bull! But that wasn¡¯t even the strangest part about this bull. This bull had¡­eight tails!


    That was what attacked him earlier! They weren¡¯t the tendrils of some kind of octopus, but the golden tails of a bull!


    ¡°What kind of soulbeast is this?!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t an expert on soulbeasts, but this kind of peculiar soulbeast wasn¡¯t one he was familiar with at all. The only thing he could tell about this one was that it had to have an affinity for metal and was a mid-stage class eight soulbeast!


    ¡°The early-stage class eight blacksand scorpion, that strange mid-stage class eight soulbeast that threw us into this world, and now this mid-stage class eight eight-tailed bull¡­Lin Xiangtian can control three class eight soulbeasts at once!¡±


    Despite the hatred he felt for Lin Xiangtian, Bai Yunfei had to admit this person was without a doubt the headmaster of the Beast Taming School and a man of extraordinary strength.


    But the battle had only just begun. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t completely frightened of him just yet.


    He had a bit of an idea where he was. He didn¡¯t know the properties of the Interdimensional Phantasm, but Bai Yunfei could surmise at the very least it was capable of throwing people into another world.


    If not another world, then it was another dimension. And if that was the case, then it was a spatial-type soulbeast and was similar to the Core Stone!


    He also noticed his own soulforce being slowly taken from him. Also, Bai Yunfei realized he was having extreme difficulty controlling the energy of the world around him!


    Meanwhile, Lin Xiangtian looked like he was completely unaffected. If anything, he looked even stronger than before!


    Bai Yunfei had to admit this felt a little bit like when he took his enemies into the Core World. Only this time it was him that was being restricted¡­


    ¡°Moo!!¡±


    The time for thinking was over. Commanding the eight-tailed bull to renew its attacks, Lin Xiangtian had it form a giant ball of golden light to send flying at Bai Yunfei!


    Even a regular elemental attack like this would be deadly if it was a mid-stage class eight soulbeast doing it!


    Though he questioned why the battle would start with such a simple attack like this, Bai Yunfei decided not to risk anything and pushed his hands out!


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    The air in front of Bai Yunfei trembled for a second before something akin to a transparent barrier appeared. Manifesting just in time to make contact with the golden ball of light, the barrier stretched backward like a fishnet before bouncing the ball back towards its source!


    This was the +12 additional effect of the armor Bai Yunfei wore, the ability to reflect elemental attacks!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian was startled, he didn¡¯t expect his own attack to come flying back toward him!!

 Chapter 1146: The Battle Within the Phantasm

    A countermove like that wasn¡¯t within Lin Xiangtian¡¯s expectations. As the stronger one, he didn¡¯t expect his opponent to be able to actually counter his own attack. He recovered quickly and had the bull beneath him expel another ball of light to neutralize the first!


    And it was a much faster reaction time than when the Golden-eyed Ape King was faced with the same exact thing!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The explosion brought forth by the two balls of elemental metal colliding with one another created an ear-deafening explosion. Energy rippled across the world with such devastating force that rifts began to tear open in space before quickly closing back together as if forcibly being stitched together by something.


    That something was the Interdimensional Phantasm. It was controlling the world so that the rifts would close up without destabilizing the place.


    ¡°Mooo!!!!¡±


    Rearing its legs up, the bull let out another angry moo before charging straight for Bai Yunfei!


    Behind it, the tails of the bull spun close together before reaching out to catch Bai Yunfei as if it was a net!


    ¡°Tch!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue. While he knew his counter wouldn¡¯t be effective, he didn¡¯t expect for it to be shrugged off so easily either. It disappointed him in a way. There was no way he¡¯d be able to go head to head with a charging mid-stage class eight soulbeast, so it was time for him to retreat a bit.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    An angry roar from the right had Lin Xiangtian turn his head. The galewing lion was coming back at him with renewed vigor!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi was simultaneously sending multiple spatial edges in a net formation toward Lin Xiangtian!


    ¡°A spatial tear!¡±


    While he wasn¡¯t surprised to see the gust of wind from the lion, the spatial edges from Xiao Qi was definitely a surprising thing. Commanding the bull, Lin Xiangtian had it use its tails to attack!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The gusts of wind from the galewing lion were blown apart after the tails slammed into them. The power of an early-stage class eight soulbeast was no match for a mid-stage class eight soulbeast.


    While that was within Bai Yunfei¡¯s expectations, the next thing Lin Xiangtian did was not¡­


    The tails of the bull didn¡¯t stop after destroying the galewing lion¡¯s attack. It continued to move and surrounded the spatial edges!


    ¡°Swish swish swish¡­¡±


    Multiple streaks of golden light began to form. From one to two and two to four, the streaks of light quickly multiplied before pelting the spatial edges with their renewed numbers!


    ¡°Bang bang bang bang bang¡­¡±


    Rather than be absorbed by the spatial edges, the golden streaks of light actually scattered them apart!


    Lin Xiangtian was using the Law of Metal in his attacks!!


    By having a mid-stage class eight soulbeast use the Law of Metal, Lin Xiangtian was able to perfectly destroy Xiao Qi¡¯s attack!


    It was an amazing feat. As a mid-stage class eight soulbeast, Xiao Qi was fully capable of using the Laws of Wind, Lightning, Fire, and Wood. The spatial edges was the result of a skill of his rather than from the Law of Space, so the spatial edges weren¡¯t super powerful. Still, the level of expertise Xiao Qi had with the spatial edges was definitely at a level that couldn¡¯t be ignored even by users of the laws. And yet, here they were right now.


    The galewing lion and Xiao Qi¡¯s attack had failed and the bull was still charging at them. But while they failed to stop the soulbeast, they did manage to succeed in buying Bai Yunfei enough time to finish his handseals and power up!


    It was time for the Dual Flame Artes, specifically the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form and ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!


    Bai Yunfei had little to hesitate about now that he was almost as strong as a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    Before, ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode used to be capable of elevating Bai Yunfei up a stage in strength. The boost in strength was no longer as substantial now that he was a Soul Emperor and thus required him to use both ¡®Coil¡¯ and ¡®Berserk¡¯ to achieve a substantial boost. But despite that, the Dual Flame Artes weren¡¯t so miraculous that they could help Bai Yunfei go up a stage in strength. This was especially true since he had only just become a Soul Emperor.


    In his current form, Bai Yunfei was far stronger than any regular Early-stage Soul Emperor, but also not quite there at the level of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    Still, this was a shockingly substantial growth!


    Lin Xiangtian wasn¡¯t a stranger to Bai Yunfei¡¯s tactics. But not even his foreknowledge was enough to stop him from turning blue at Bai Yunfei¡¯s sudden increase in strength.


    ¡°Hah!!¡±


    Now that he was in his ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode, it was time for Bai Yunfei to do another technique!


    It happened nearly the moment after Xiao Qi¡¯s spatial edges were destroyed. The flames surrounding Bai Yunfei swelled up in size before coiling around his arms!


    ¡°Roarr!!!¡±


    The flames took on the form of a mighty dragon. Expelling a loud roar, the two dragons flew forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms to snap at Lin Xiangtian!


    A flash of violet light could be seen in the dragons along with several gray specks of light.


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!!


    ¡°This move again!¡±


    The memories of his medium suffering from this technique began to resurface in Lin Xiangtian¡¯s mind. Those memory fragments were screaming at him of the power of this technique. It couldn¡¯t be underestimated!


    Knowing this, Lin Xiangtian began to go through several handseals to protect himself. The golden light around him quickly started to gather over his head before manifesting in the form of a giant golden asura. In one of its hands was a single weapon in which it used to swing at the two dragons!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two manifestations of energy collided with one another for a world-shaking explosion!


    Contained within the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst were the Laws of Fire and Lightning. A bit of the Law of Truth and chaotic energy were also present in the dragons and boosted its strength by a decent amount. No Early-stage Soul Emperor would be able to defend against this, but his opponent wasn¡¯t an Early-stage Soul Emperor. He was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. And though Lin Xiangtian was only using the Law of Metal, the way he wielded it made him even more menacing!


    Neither side seemed to be inferior to the other!


    Both the dragons and the asura disappeared¡ªit was a draw!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Once again, the world within the Interdimensional Phantasm began to show signs of unstability. The two glared at one another and watched carefully as the elemental energy crashed into one another like ripples of water.


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    From the sea of flames on Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, a golden beam of light shot out to strike at Bai Yunfei like a thrown spear!


    Somehow, Lin Xiangtian managed to have the eight-tailed golden bull attack Bai Yunfei while he dealt with the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst himself!


    ¡°Damn!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. Weakened by his usage of the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, Bai Yunfei was in no shape to dodge the bull¡¯s attack. He only gave himself a split-second to curse before pushing his right hand out!


    ¡°Bz¡­.¡±


    A crimson streak of light flew out from near his person before transforming into a giant mountain to protect him!


    It was the Cataclysmic Seal! Tremendous in size and ready to crush any enemy underneath!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    There was a mighty crash as the bull slammed into the Cataclysmic Seal and was abruptly stopped. By while the Cataclysmic Seal managed to stop the bull from moving forward, the brick itself was unable to continue advancing either!


    And there was something else about the collision that had the scowl on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face deepen even more!


    The defense of his soul armament depended on the amount of soulforce he gave it. Bai Yunfei lost about twenty percent of his soulforce after blocking this attack!


    Having the Cataclysmic Seal remain this size for even a second longer meant losing even more soulforce. Forced to call the brick back, Bai Yunfei shrunk the Cataclysmic Seal and willed it to come back to him.


    It was flying back toward him when Bai Yunfei realized there was a second streak of light accompanying it!


    A golden streak of light was accompanying the Cataclysmic Seal back toward Bai Yunfei!


    And the speed it traveled at was faster than Bai Yunfei could even react to. It was too late to dodge it now¡ªit was right in front of his eyes now!

 Chapter 1147: A Fierce Battle

    The golden beam of light in front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes wasn¡¯t too large in size, but it was its speed that was the most shocking factor. The Cataclysmic Seal wasn¡¯t even anywhere near Bai Yunfei when the golden beam of light was about to hit him!


    Panicking, Bai Yunfei knew there wasn¡¯t any time to move his head out of the way. It was time for another tactic!


    ¡°Swoosh!!¡±


    The golden beam of light shot into Bai Yunfei¡¯s right eye and then¡­went straight through his head!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian was bewildered. His attack should¡¯ve killed Bai Yunfei! But not only did he fail to see the attack make contact, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura suddenly disappeared!


    The most puzzling part about the latter was the fact that he could still see Bai Yunfei standing there. It was almost as if Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t exist on this plane of existence but on another!


    Even after seeing this once in the Qimang Mountain with his medium, Lin Xiangtian still didn¡¯t know what was going on!


    If there was something he knew, it was that this ¡®trump card¡¯ of Bai Yunfei should last only for two seconds at most!


    The time was nigh now, Lin Xiangtian jabbed at the sky with a finger before swiping it back with fury!


    Bai Yunfei had been planning on using those two seconds to cast another Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, but seeing what Lin Xiangtian was doing made him pause. Something was about to happen!


    Two seconds went by with Bai Yunfei cautiously preparing himself for Lin Xiangtian. His senses were on high alert for anything that might attack him.


    And then¡­the attack came from behind!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    It happened when Bai Yunfei was brought back to the real world. The Cataclysmic Seal activated its +12 additional effect at the same time as his re-entrance and wrapped him in a bubble of elemental earth.


    ¡°Pap...crack!¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt his heart leap to his throat the moment he heard something shatter!


    He knew from the sound that his Cataclysmic Seal managed to block whatever attack Lin Xiangtian sent his way but¡­not completely! The strength of the attack was somehow amplified at the moment of impact!


    Meaning¡­the attack was just strong enough to break through the strongest defense the Cataclysmic Seal could offer and shattered it!


    And now that it was free of any last obstacles, the attack was now on its way to attack Bai Yunfei in the back of his head. Death was approaching!


    In one last attempt to evade death, Bai Yunfei threw himself to the left as hard as he could!


    As fast as he was, Lin Xiangtian¡¯s attack was even faster. Though he managed to throw himself some distance to the left, the golden beam of light still managed to slam into his right temple!


    And that was the moment Lin Xiangtian began to smile with victorious triumph!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian expected to see his attack perforate Bai Yunfei¡¯s head and kill him. Instead, he saw several sparks come out from where his attack landed before bouncing away. His attack failed! He failed to kill Bai Yunfei yet again!


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    He could hardly believe his eyes. How had his own high-heaven soul armament¡ªone with the ability to increase its own attack¡ªbe blocked?!


    ¡°That cloth¡­it¡¯s because of that cloth on his head! What kind of cloth has that kind of defensive power?!¡±


    ¡ªHis soul armament had collided with the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    When a collision was inevitable, Bai Yunfei did the only thing he could and angled his head so the attack would hit the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    Based on the fact that it went through the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier, Bai Yunfei could surmise that the soul armament was a high-heaven tier soul armament and capable of doubling its attack power in an instant. At its peak, the attack power should¡¯ve been around ten thousand or so. It was an amazingly strong value to have, but it was useless against the Soul Sentinel Scarf with its thirty thousand points of defense!


    It was still a venture that made Bai Yunfei anxious beyond belief. Feeling as though he had just been drenched in a pool of water, Bai Yunfei knew that he had nearly died just now. Even now, he could still feel the stars of when the soul armament hit him.


    Only now did he see the soul armament within the golden light. A shuttle-shaped rod about the half the size of a palm¡­.


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    It all happened far too fast. Xiao Qi himself could only scream in horror when the soul armament was about to hit Bai Yunfei. Furious that his partner was in fatal danger, he extended his wings outward and materialized a phoenix-like bird above his head. The giant apparition mimicked Xiao Qi¡¯s actions as well and gathered all sorts of energy to its wings. Fireballs, lightning bolts, blades of wind, and green meteors filled the sky before hailing down on Lin Xiangtian!


    Xiao Qi¡¯s attacks snapped Lin Xiangtian out from his stupor. Glaring at Xiao Qi, he had the bull beneath him snap all eight of its tails out to defend them against the elemental hailstorm.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    But that wasn¡¯t all Xiao Qi had to give. Still furious, Xiao Qi divebombed Lin Xiangtian with breakneck speeds. Weaving in and out of the net-like coverage of the bull¡¯s tails, Xiao Qi drew closer and closer to the two. Then when there was one giant golden tail left to get past, Xiao Qi struck at it with a sharp golden talon!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    His talons sunk deep in the tail without trouble. Chirping loudly, Xiao Qi began to flap his wings and took off to the sky with the tail still clutched tightly in his talons!


    With its tail stuck in Xiao Qi¡¯s talons, the bull was helpless as it was brought up into the sky and begun to be spun around!


    There was a terrific tearing sound as Xiao Qi applied even more pressure to where he was grabbing, and then¡­the tail was torn straight off!


    Xiao Qi had managed to tear off one of the bull¡¯s tails!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian exclaimed in disbelief. An early-stage class eight soulbeast had managed to break through the defense of his mid-stage class eight soulbeast puppet?!


    He severely underestimated Xiao Qi. That attack just now was actually due to the result of Xiao Qi¡¯s golden claws. With the ability to deal piercing damage the bird was able to latch onto the tail. With the additional effect granting Xiao Qi bonus damage in one claw at the expense of the other, Xiao Qi was able to gather just enough power to that one claw to tear it straight off!


    ¡°Mooo!!!!¡±


    A furious moo erupted from the bull, ordered by Lin Xiangtian to attack, the bull sent the remaining seven tails at Xiao Qi!


    Stuck within range of the tails, Xiao Qi tried his best to weave through them all. As agile and nimble as he was, Xiao Qi was unable to dodge all of them and was eventually sent flying by one of the tails¡­


    Lin Xiangtian was right about to give chase when he took notice of Bai Yunfei making a throwing motion with his right arm. One second later¡­he saw a black jet of light follow his shuttle-shaped soul armament back to him!


    Bai Yunfei was returning the favor with interest!


    It was time for the Voidsplitter to shine again!


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian let out a startled gasp. It wasn¡¯t that he was shocked about Bai Yunfei throwing the soul armament. It was because the soul armament had suddenly disappeared from sight!


    Faced with this puzzling mystery, Lin Xiangtian followed his gut and instinctively threw himself to the right!


    One split-second later and there was a flash of black as the Voidsplitter reappeared again where his throat used to be! It was with trepidation that he watched the black soul armament whiz past him. As it did, Lin Xiangtian felt a sliver of spatial energy follow.


    Saved by a sliver of a centimeter!


    His back grew slick with sweat. Had the soul armament¡¯s aim been true¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Not even moments after the danger passed did Lin Xiangtian realize something else was coming at him from the front!


    He looked up. Right there in front of him was Bai Yunfei with a crimson-red spear in hand to stab him!


    The situation felt paradoxical to Lin Xiangtian. Based on what he could sense, Bai Yunfei was at half of his regular soulforce reserves and should¡¯ve been weaker than before. But for some strange reason, Bai Yunfei with the Fire-tipped Spear in hand felt even more powerful than ever!


    With the intent to retreat in mind, Lin Xiangtian began to spur his soulforce to his feet so he could follow through with his mind. But¡­

 Chapter 1148: An Escalating Battle

    With the intent to retreat in mind, Lin Xiangtian began to spur his soulforce to his feet so he could follow through with his mind. But¡­


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    One moment later and Lin Xiangtian was stuck frozen to his spot!


    His immediate freezing motion was met with great resistance. Snarling to himself, Lin Xiangtian forced his body to continue moving. He was furious! Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even a Mid-stage Soul Emperor and yet he was capable of a soul attack strong enough to affect him!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Another soul attack!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    A third one!!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    The blood vessel on Lin Xiangtian¡¯s face was close to popping with how angry he felt. He desperately wanted to retaliate with a soul attack of his own, but¡­he didn¡¯t dare do it!!


    He still remembered the last time he tried a soul attack and had it reflected back onto him for his troubles!


    Soul attacks are what soul cultivators of the Soul King or higher level use for their strongest moves, usually. But in this case, he couldn¡¯t even use one or risk being retaliated against!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Throwing off the very last of the soul attack, Lin Xiangtian managed to muster up just enough willpower to command his eight-tailed bull to attack!


    Since a soul attack wasn¡¯t an option, that left leaving his soulbeast puppet to attacking for him!


    From what he knew, Bai Yunfei¡¯s ability to counter soul attacks was something he could use only once every few minutes. There was nothing to fear if his soulbeast puppet could take the rebound for him!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    An unprecedentedly loud roar erupted from the bull. The Phantasm trembled for a moment as the roar echoed through it. The first to show signs of being affected by the soul attack was the galewing lion. Coming to an immediate halt where it was in the sky, it didn¡¯t even make a sound. The next was Xiao Qi who let out a mourning cry before plummeting from the sky!


    The soul attack of a mid-stage class eight soulbeast is without a doubt very powerful. It wasn¡¯t something two early-stage class eight soulbeasts could handle!


    But the primary target, Bai Yunfei¡­


    Lin Xiangtian¡¯s eyes were honed in on Bai Yunfei. He was anxiously waiting for the right moment, but¡­


    There was no reaction!!


    He looked absolutely normal! The eight-tailed bull¡¯s soul attack didn¡¯t do a thing!


    Lin Xiangtian thought Bai Yunfei would use his trump card to deflect the soul attack. That way, the soulbeast puppet would be the one to suffer the brunt of the soul attack and leave the path open for Lin Xiangtian to use a soul attack of his own!


    From within the flames of where Bai Yunfei was, a transparent barrier shimmered over his person! It shimmered and rippled as if something slammed into it, but it was still completely intact. And inside of the barrier stood a completely unaffected Bai Yunfei.


    By his waist was the Soul Sealing Mandate, the surface of it flickering with a white glow¡­


    The +10 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    +10 Additional Effect: Create a spiritual barrier by using soulforce. Gain immunity to a single spirit-based attack for up to 5 seconds.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    What Lin Xiangtian wanted to happen wasn¡¯t going to happen. Not when Bai Yunfei knew what Lin Xiangtian was planning. He didn¡¯t want to ¡®squander¡¯ the precious ability to rebound soul attacks onto the soulbeast puppet, so he used the +10 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate to completely nullify the bull¡¯s attack!


    Five seconds passed since he managed to first escape danger. In that fifth second, Bai Yunfei was speeding through the air to rush at Lin Xiangtian once again!


    ¡°Freeze!!!¡±


    It was time for the fourth Soul Anchor Technique!


    Lin Xiangtian faltered for a moment once struck, allowing Bai Yunfei to close the distance and lash out with the Fire-tipped Spear!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The blood drained away Lin Xiangtian¡¯s face upon being hit by the Soul Anchor Technique again. Even with the mightiest of willpowers, Lin Xiangtian was only capable of shifting his feet backward.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    There was a blur of light as Bai Yunfei multiplied by three in front of him. Simultaneously, three more Fire-tipped Spear appeared in their hands to stab at his face, throat, and heart!


    This was the +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, Doppelganger!


    It was the first time Lin Xiangtian had ever experienced such a sight, but his senses were telling him just one thing¡ªall three of these spears were real!


    Without any time for a second thought, Lin Xiangtian covered himself with a golden barrier over his arms. It was his only defense against the two spears coming at his face and throat!


    ¡°Clang! Clang!!¡±


    Two of the three spears were blocked by Lin Xiangtian¡¯s defense. It was an easier task than expected, Lin Xiangtian thought. He expected that the spears would have more bite to them!


    That was because those two spears only had seventy percent of their original strength!


    Bai Yunfei knew. He knew that the throat and face would be the most places any person would try to protect first and foremost. The heart wasn¡¯t particularly a place to worry about. Most people had confidence in their armor to protect them. For someone like Lin Xiangtian, a soul armament of the high-heaven tier could be expected.


    And that was exactly the reason why he chose to attack at the heart with his real body. He was going to break through that defense of Lin Xiangtian!


    It was pointless for Lin Xiangtian to protect his chest by the time he blocked the two other spears. At best, the only thing he could do was shift his body as much as he could and erect an elemental barrier to ward off the most of the damage.


    His elemental barrier and high-heaven tier soul armament should be more than enough to protect him. That spear of Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to pierce through both, even if it was a high-heaven tier soul armament¡­


    But much to his shock¡­the elemental barrier he erected did nothing at all! The spear went straight through his barrier as if the barrier didn¡¯t even exist!


    It was the +13 additional effect of the spear, the ability to ignore elemental defenses!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The unexpected clang of metal striking metal could be heard for a brief second before Lin Xiangtian felt an unbelievable piercing pain in his torso!


    His own armor had been pierced!


    Then the next sound he heard brought forth an unbelievable notion in his head!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    An explosion erupted from the tip of the spear! From where his abdomen was!


    It was the +10 additional effect!


    Fire blossomed to life over Lin Xiangtian¡¯s waist. Eating away at his robes like a swarm of ravenous insects, the flames then sent Lin Xiangtian soaring away like a rocket!


    And to give chase, Bai Yunfei leaped after him like an arrow released from a bow!


    While the spear dealt an incredible amount of damage, it wasn¡¯t a fatal blow!


    The +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear was enough to have it bypass Lin Xiangtian¡¯s barrier and strike at him with seven thousand points worth of attack. Combined with the Eighty-one Fold Stab (Damage is not multiplicative by eighty-one, it just increases the attack substantially) and the Law of Fire made it possible for the spear to pierce through the high-heaven tier soul armament! It seemed almost incredulous that Lin Xiangtian wasn¡¯t dead even after the explosion!


    That was because of how Lin Xiangtian leaned his body so the spear deviated away from his heart just enough for it to hit his waist instead! As powerful as the explosion was, the flesh of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor was even stronger! That explosion was only strong enough to leave a small burning hole on his waist!


    Some blood managed to escape from the wound before the flames cauterized it, but there was also a bit of his internal organs that escaped from it. Still¡ªa wound like that was not fatal!


    He only needed a bit of time to recover from this! So Bai Yunfei knew he had to strike while the iron was hot and deal the finishing blow before his enemy could recover!


    Grabbing at his left waist, Bai Yunfei threw out a white ball of light toward Lin Xiangtian!


    What better time than now to use the Soul Sealing Mandate?


    The Regalia shot forward like a streak of light. Right as Bai Yunfei was about to activate it¡­a golden ray of light appeared!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The golden light smashed into the white light¡ªit was that shuttle again! It managed to deflect the Soul Sealing Mandate away!


    Bai Yunfei was shocked.


    He thought Lin Xiangtian was helpless in this situation! It should¡¯ve been the prime time for him to attack! The Soul Sealing Mandate should¡¯ve had more than enough time to activate and capture Lin Xiangtian but somehow the beast tamer managed to strike back under such a precarious situation!


    Grabbing the rebounded Soul Sealing Mandate, Bai Yunfei drew his hand back and took the shuttle-shaped soul armament into his other.


    He was in the midst of observing the soul armament when Lin Xiangtian suddenly gained a brilliant gleam of light in his eyes!


    ¡°Ah!! Die!!!¡±


    Seemingly overwhelmed by his emotions, Lin Xiangtian jabbed a furious finger at Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    An equally furious roar erupted from¡­down below Bai Yunfei!


    Because of his close pursuit, Bai Yunfei incidentally brought himself closer to the eight-tailed bull. Pushed back after his failure to use the Soul Sealing Mandate, Bai Yunfei was clear of the tails of the bull and the hindlegs. But this meant he was near the forelegs of the bull now!


    Under the command of Lin Xiangtian, the eight-tailed bull lashed out with its mouth to snap down onto him!

 Chapter 1149: Sealing the Eight-tailed Bull!

    Faced with what felt like a bottomless black hole with teeth, Bai Yunfei had no doubts that being caught in those sharp fangs would mean certain death!


    So he changed his target from Lin Xiangtian to the bull! Kicking with his feet, Bai Yunfei exploded upward with great speed!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    It was by inches that Bai Yunfei managed to escape being devoured by the bull. Before he could relax, however, Bai Yunfei realized the bull was springing up to bite him again!


    ¡°Again!?¡±


    Glancing at the Cataclysmic Seal gave Bai Yunfei an idea. What if¡­he expanded the Cataclysmic Seal when the bull tried to eat them? Wouldn¡¯t the bull die of suffocation or something then?


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    He didn¡¯t have any time to put his theory to the test, however. Instead of biting them as he thought, the bull instead fired off a large ball of elemental energy!


    It was trying to blow them apart rather than devour them!


    That made things difficult for Bai Yunfei. Dodging the blast was possible, if a little difficult, but it would mean giving up a prime opportunity to kill Lin Xiangtian and put himself back in danger¡­


    So that meant he¡¯d have to use the +10 additional effect of his armor!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    A black whirlpool came to life in front of Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    And that was when the giant ball of golden light was fired out from the bull!


    They weren¡¯t even fifty meters away from one another when the Law of Metal exploded out from the bull¡¯s mouth and disappeared into the black vortex!


    That wasn¡¯t supposed to happen! Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t supposed to escape from this attack unscratched! This situation was so vexing that Lin Xiangtian felt like puking blood!


    Why did Bai Yunfei have so many techniques for escaping from danger?!


    A curse nearly escaped from Lin Xiangtian¡¯s mouth. Every single action Bai Yunfei did from start to finish was completely without ¡®common sense¡¯! All of the experience Lin Xiangtian had from his battles weren¡¯t even worth anything! He couldn¡¯t even possibly fathom what Bai Yunfei might do in reaction to his attacks, and neither could he properly plan what to do next!


    The bull¡¯s attack was gone in the blink of an eye. Whilst its body was beginning to regenerate its lost soulforce, the golden ball of light it fired out moments before was already fully gone from sight within the whirlpool.


    Standing aloof up in the air, Bai Yunfei was giving the impression of being rather carefree about the situation. But that wasn¡¯t the case, really. Another half of his soulforce was gone!


    His soulforce was actually so low that he had to use Soul Ignition in order to replenish his reserves. Then he used multiple Soul Anchor Techniques and then the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear. Those meant him losing half of his newly-replenished soulforce. Then the bull forced him to use the black whirlpool and lose yet another half of that half!


    ¡°Damn!¡±


    He felt haggard. His only solution now was to hopefully try and finish up this battle as soon as possible!


    Meaning¡­it was time!


    Hands clapping together, Bai Yunfei began to go through a rapid flurry of handseals!


    And then a brilliant amount of energy exploded out from his person!


    He was using Soul Ignition again!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian wasn¡¯t faring much better than Bai Yunfei. His reserves were already larger than Bai Yunfei, but even he was still below half of his reserves. The eight-tailed bull wasn¡¯t doing any better either. He assumed Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve fallen due to soulforce depletion a long time ago, but the crafter was still moving about as energetically as ever!


    Was this just a bluff? His final bluff?!


    The biggest puzzle Lin Xiangtian had yet to figure out was how Bai Yunfei was still moving about so carefreely in the Phantasm! Being in this world should¡¯ve suppressed his strength! It should¡¯ve provided Lin Xiangtian a great advantage!


    The Phantasm was a place where Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to freely manipulate energy. At best, Bai Yunfei would have to rely on the energy provided by his essence fireseed. Thanks to the +12 area effects of the Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate, Bai Yunfei was able to fight normally as if he was in the outside world. The Soul Sealing Mandate had the ability to inhibit the enemies in any case, so the ¡®advantage¡¯ Lin Xiangtian had was more or less extinguished.


    Now back with more soulforce than ever, Bai Yunfei decided to try for a second attempt of throwing out the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    Lin Xiangtian blanched. He knew more than anyone else here how terrifying Regalias could be. Subconsciously moving back, he ordered the bull to charge forward with its tails swirling together.


    ¡°Not good!!¡¯


    Then suddenly¡­Lin Xiangtian realized his mistake! Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t throwing the Soul Sealing Mandate at himself, but at the eight-tailed bull!


    He miscalculated! Because of his fear of the Soul Sealing Mandate and the potentiality of him being sealed, Lin Xiangtian didn¡¯t realize what Bai Yunfei was doing until it was too late!


    A single misstep and everything was starting to fall apart!


    ¡°Seal!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei barked the moment when the Soul Sealing Mandate was right above the bull¡¯s head!


    A white ball of light exploded out from Soul Sealing Mandate as its effect activated and covered the entirety of the bull¡¯s upper half in it!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian was about to bark out something of his own, he was about to command the bull to move out of the way, but at that second¡­


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    As if to add to his already fearsome attack, Bai Yunfei activated the Soul Anchor Technique to stop Lin Xiangtian!


    On the other side, a loud cry could be heard as Xiao Qi and the galewing lion attacked with a soul attack!


    Panic flickered across Lin Xiangtian before the light in them went dull!


    His body was still moving backward and was just barely beyond the range of the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s light. But one second later¡­he realized his connection with the eight-tailed bull was severed!


    The bull was sealed!


    Bai Yunfei was ecstatic at his success! The bull was no longer a problem he¡¯d have to deal with! But now wasn¡¯t the time to be celebrating, there was still one more problem he had to solve!


    It was time for him to charge for Lin Xiangtian again!


    Now that the biggest ¡®crutch¡¯ the enemy had was gone, Bai Yunfei just needed to make his approach and finish things once in for all!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    Completely overwhelmed now, Lin Xiangtian let out a scream of terror and flew backward while summoning another soulbeast puppet to him!


    ¡°Mrooo!!¡±


    A flash of orange light appeared in the world as a large boar charged out from it toward Bai Yunfei!


    The orange light covering its body hardened so that its flesh became as durable as steel. Every strand of hair stood out and straight with the hardness to pierce anything!


    This amount of power¡­it was an early-stage class eight soulbeast!


    Lin Xiangtian had yet another class early-stage eight soulbeast puppet!


    But a soulbeast puppet of that kind of level¡­wasn¡¯t strong enough for Bai Yunfei to fear!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    There was a loud explosive sound as Bai Yunfei punched at the boar with his left hand!


    With both of the Critical Glove¡¯s effects activating, Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch was strong enough to absolutely shred through any defense the boar and slam through onto its head!


    Both boar and person came still for a split-second. Then¡­the boar went soaring in the opposite direction like a cannonball!


    Lin Xiangtian¡¯s face dropped another shade of color when he saw his soulbeast puppet fly away. He watched it sail behind his head before realizing Bai Yunfei was already closing the distance onto him!


    Bai Yunfei was now within range to use his Fire-tipped Spear to stab at his eyes!

 Chapter 1150: A Unique Killing Method

    The stench of death was so thick in the air that Lin Xiangtian felt like puking. His eyes, bloodshot and dilating, watched the spear draw closer and closer to him. Still trembling, Lin Xiangtian did his very best to try and leap back!


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    The next thing he smelt was the acrid burning of something being lit on fire. His entire person felt like it was dipped in cold water despite the heat. He was terrified!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Life hanging by a thread, Lin Xiangtian tried his best to dodge the spear, and¡­


    He managed to succeed! The spear blew past him so that only the heat of the flames was the only thing to touch him. Before he could celebrate his new lease on life, Lin Xiangtian felt something slam into his chest before he was sent flying away like a kite without a string!


    Bai Yunfei had punched him! Since his spear didn¡¯t land, Bai Yunfei used his left hand to land a punch onto the beast tamer! And then when Lin Xiangtian went flying he chased after him!


    Dazed by the blow, Lin Xiangtian sailed through the air without showing any signs of stabilizing himself. The pain in his chest was enough for him to feel completely at a loss. It took him a moment before he was able to get back on his feet and send two beams of golden light to stop Bai Yunfei from getting close.


    He was fighting with one hand tied behind his back without any soulbeast puppets. Further hindered by his injuries and depleted soulforce reserves, Lin Xiangtian was basically on his deathbed!


    The mighty headmaster of the Beast Taming School¡­forced in such a state!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Countless rays of golden light splashed across the skies and illuminated the world so brightly that not even Bai Yunfei¡¯s shadow could be seen. He had to retreat in fear of being attacked while Lin Xiangtian remained still to watch the golden light. Lin Xiangtian looked hopeful for something, as if he was hoping that the golden rays of light would kill Bai Yunfei. But¡­


    The golden rays of light were cleaved apart by a flaming rod, revealing the radiant figure of Bai Yunfei amidst it all!


    Completely unharmed, Bai Yunfei was already coming at Lin Xiangtian to stab him through the throat!


    The golden light spun around Lin Xiangtian¡¯s person to protect him. Like metal, the light hardened in an attempt to stop the spear from stabbing into him. He succeeded in doing so, the spear only managed to graze past his neck by a few inches¡­


    But before he could properly celebrate that, Lin Xiangtian felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand plant itself onto his chest!


    It wasn¡¯t a serious wound since the Critical Glove¡¯s additional effect didn¡¯t activate. Lin Xiangtian had his armor and luck to thank for that. Nonetheless, Lin Xiangtian was thrust backward and was forced to face yet another spear strike!


    One obstacle dodged only meant having to face another danger!


    A close-combat battle was something of a rarity for Soul Kings and Soul Emperors. By their level of strength, most soul cultivators preferred to fight via elemental and soul attacks. And as a beast tamer, Lin Xiangtian was even more at a loss on how to deal with Bai Yunfei¡¯s tactics! He couldn¡¯t get away!


    ¡°What¡­what do I do? What do I do?!¡±


    He could feel it. Death was approaching again! The veil of anxiety was closing on him once more.


    He just needed time! Time to find a way to turn the tables around on Bai Yunfei! Time that Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t give!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Lin Xiangtian snapped his head up at the sound. Coming at him was a rainbow-colored phoenix! It shot waves of spatial energy at him one after another in an attempt to surround him from every side!


    ¡°What?!¡¯


    His face paled even more¡ªwhat kind of situation was this?!


    That type of attack wasn¡¯t something the average soul cultivator could block. They were filled with a type of energy that required the usage of any Law in order to be protected!


    And while Lin Xiangtian was desperately thinking of a way out of this entrapment¡­Bai Yunfei was coming up in front of him!


    Was this soulbeast trying to kill Bai Yunfei and him together?!


    Or was¡­Bai Yunfei trying to take him down with him?!


    He couldn¡¯t understand! He didn¡¯t want to understand! Howling furiously, Lin Xiangtian summoned as much of the Laws he could to him, but at that moment¡­


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    It was that damnable word again! That word that could extinguish hope with how cold it was!


    He froze up right then and there. And to make matters even worse, those spatial tears were nearly touching him now!


    This meant Lin Xiangtian was defenseless. And so was Bai Yunfei after using the Soul Anchor Technique!


    The feeling of helplessness filled Lin Xiangtian with despair. Glaring venomously at Bai Yunfei, Lin Xiangtian could only feel some consolation that Bai Yunfei would be dying with him.


    But!


    He hadn¡¯t even finished thinking that thought when he realized he was wrong! There wasn¡¯t something right about Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was gone! In fact¡ªBai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even there! Lin Xiangtian could distinctly see the spatial tears coming at him from through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body! Bai Yunfei was transparent!


    This was some kind of illusion!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    In one last show of his fury and reluctance, Lin Xiangtian let loose one loud roar into the world before the spatial tear went ¡®straight through¡¯ Bai Yunfei and into him!


    The darkness devoured everything in its way, including the golden light around Lin Xiangtian body and¡­his body itself!


    It was a silent ordeal. Lin Xiangtian¡¯s voice soon petered off as the last of his breath escaped him. Without a lung to contain any air, there wasn¡¯t any way for Lin Xiangtian to continue screaming. Not even a droplet of blood was spilt from his wounds since the spatial edge ate it all up¡­.


    And just like that, the bisected halves of Lin Xiangtian fell from the sky¡­


    The rest of the spatial edges made sure there wasn¡¯t much left of his body, save his head!


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Back in the real world, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. His battle with Lin Xiangtian was finally over.


    He might¡¯ve held the upper hand for the majority of the battle, but it had been a hard-fought battle nonetheless. Using Soul Ignition twice in short succession would definitely be hurting him.


    So he had to rely on Xiao Qi and the spatial edges in order to finish this battle as quickly as it did. The plan was to use the invulnerability granted by the +10 additional effect of the Core Stone and use the spatial edges to ¡®mutually¡¯ assure destruction with Lin Xiangtian.


    It could thus be said that Bai Yunfei was now left without equal in this battlefield.


    Canceling Soul Ignition, Berserk Mode, and ¡®Coil¡¯ Form, Bai Yunfei felt his power levels drop drastically back to his regular levels.


    The familiar wave of pain crashed into his body, drawing a sharp inhale from Bai Yunfei. It was somewhat mitigated by the new strength he had as a Soul Emperor, but Bai Yunfei had no doubts that he¡¯d be feeling the pain for a while.


    Speaking of a while, only ten minutes had passed since he was thrown into the Phantasm.


    Taking out a high-leveled pill he got from the Yao clan, Bai Yunfei tossed it into his mouth and swallowed. The pill was meant to accelerate soulforce regeneration and he could already feel it working to a startling degree.


    ¡°Are you okay, Yunfei?¡±


    Xiao Qi asked in concern.


    ¡°Relax, I¡¯m fine.¡±


    As he waited for his soulforce to recover, Bai Yunfei took a quick look around the battlefield.


    Now that the battle between him and Lin Xiangtian was over, the energy in the world was starting to stabilize a bit and grow calm.


    The only other thing in sight was the sealed eight-tailed bull. Bai Yunfei took a second to bring the soulbeast into the Core World before collecting the galewing lion as well.


    As such, only he and Xiao Qi were left in this strange world.


    ¡°What is this place even¡­?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered. ¡°It¡¯s still here even after Lin Xiangtian died, the soulbeast puppet should be completely immobile now. But¡­how do I get out?¡±


    Not even Xiao Fang or Soul Sealer had an answer to his question. This was a soulbeast neither one of them had seen before.


    After a moment of probing the area with his soulsense, Bai Yunfei concluded that there weren¡¯t any hints of finding an exit.


    But as that may be, Bai Yunfei looked up at the sky above after sensing something peculiar. Adding a bit of soulforce to his feet, Bai Yunfei shot high up into the sky.


    It wasn¡¯t until Bai Yunfei reached a height of five kilometers above ground that he came to a stop near the rainbow ¡®fog¡¯ there.


    Chaotic energy would definitely be saturating the air by this point of elevation in the real world, but Bai Yunfei had yet to see a strand of it in this world. Curious, Bai Yunfei drew closer to the rainbow fog near him.


    The rainbow fog was spread across this segment of the sky quite well, but Bai Yunfei could sense a condensed ¡®ball¡¯ of light at its center. He could also sense the aura of a soulbeast coming from it. This had to be the ¡®source¡¯.


    ¡°Is this the real body of the soulbeast?¡±


    Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. His initial attempts to probe the light were rebuffed by the powerful willpower of the soulbeast.


    ¡°No matter how ¡®rare¡¯ this soulbeast is, it¡¯s still a soulbeast in the end¡­so what if I use the Beast Taming Ring on it¡­?¡±


    Retrieving the Beast Taming Ring from his space ring, Bai Yunfei tentatively threw the soul armament onto the ball of light.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t really expect much, but contrary to those expectations, the Beast Taming Ring latched onto the light!


    Then Bai Yunfei felt a familiar tug of soulforce leave his body¡ªthe Beast Taming Ring was being activated!

 Chapter 1151: The Situation on the Outside

    While Bai Yunfei and Lin Xiangtian were fighting within the Phantasm. The outside world.


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Amidst the fighting across the battlefields, there was one sound that could be distinguished above the others. Someone was screaming!


    The reason why this particular person could be heard was simple. The one dying was a¡­Half-emperor!


    A Half-emperor was already dead straight off the bat!


    Aside from Lin Xiangtian, the Beast Taming School had another three Soul Emperors in their reserves and two Half-emperors. Of those two Half-emperors, one of them had two peak late-stage class seven soulbeast puppets that were currently fighting the Golden Lion King and the Stegosaurus King.


    The Half-emperor that died was the one controlling the class eight soulbeast puppet!


    Controlling a class eight soulbeast puppet was a feat that ultimately proved too difficult for that Half-emperor. With the Two Winged Kings bombarding him from every angle and the White-browed Hawk King providing support, the Half-emperor managed to last only a few exchanges before being killed by the Two Winged Kings!


    And because of his death, the battlefield took on a drastic change!


    Without a beast tamer, the early-stage class eight soulbeast puppet fighting the Stegosaurus King went still!


    And because of that, the Stegosaurus King ignored the soulbeast puppet and went straight toward the Early-stage Soul Emperor to kill him!


    That put the Early-stage Soul Emperor in a terrible state. His fight with the Golden Python King was already risky enough. Having another soulbeast fight him would definitely drive him to death.


    In the beginning, the Beast Taming School had enough beast tamers and soulbeast puppets to fight off the invaders. The death of one of their Half-emperors destabilized the situation, however. The Early-stage Soul Emperor was already busy controlling his soulbeast puppets against the Violet Dragon King and the Violet Spider King while evading the attacks of the Golden Python King. Where was he supposed to find the time and energy to fight off the Stegosaurus King!?


    The beast tamer didn¡¯t stand a chance of winning!


    He wasn¡¯t the only one. The other beast tamers, like the ones fighting against the Bloodhowl Wolf King or the Ancient Crocodile King, were also on the verge of defeat!


    This was a battle that could hardly be measured in minutes. Soulbeast and soul cultivator fought intensely against one another, but any observer could see that the Beast Taming School were on the losing end!


    Had they the numbers to fight off their invaders one by one, this war could¡¯ve been prolonged, but¡­


    The numbers were no longer even! The Stegosaurus King and Golden Python King were fighting the Early-stage Soul Emperor together now!


    And of course, there was no way the Golden Python King would refuse the Stegosaurus King¡¯s assistance. Now wasn¡¯t the time for pride to take precedent over victory. The two had a unified goal of destroying the Beast Taming School!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    Another scream rang out across the battlefield scant moments later. Yet another powerful soul cultivator was dead!


    Several combatants looked up towards the source. The first thing they saw was the Golden Python King and the Stegosaurus King cross paths. The next thing was the bisected corpse of a Soul Emperor and a rain of blood!


    Yet another beast tamer had fallen, an Early-stage Soul Emperor this time!


    A Soul Emperor!


    The news swept the battlefield by storm. Aghast with horror, every beast tamer watched the Soul Emperor¡¯s corpse fall with despair!


    A Soul Emperor was an untouchable existence in their eyes. They were the very definition of invincible guardians meant to protect them from harm. But now¡­


    ¡°Ah!! Ahhhh!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!¡±


    Amidst the confusion, several Soul Kings were quickly picked off in quick succession by the soulbeasts!


    It was a completely one-sided battle for the Soul Kings!


    The Beast Taming School had around thirty Soul Kings in their reserves. A number like that was considerably large and would make them a power to behold in the eyes of the soul cultivator world. But in the eyes of the soulbeast world¡­would a double-digit number really mean much compared to a triple-digit number?


    It didn¡¯t even matter anymore if the Soul Kings had multiple class seven soulbeast puppets. They didn¡¯t have enough to make up for the difference anymore!


    Impressively, the soulbeasts made sure to not kill any soulbeast puppet they fought against. Those soulbeast puppets were their brethren, after all. Brethren forced to do the bidding of another. It made little sense to kill them if they could subdue and capture them instead.


    One by one, the Soul Kings of the Beast Taming School were being killed off at a startling rate!


    The death of each Soul King meant the sudden inaction of multiple soulbeast puppets. For every one Soul King killed meant another two or three class seven soulbeasts puppets being taken out from the battlefield!


    Like how even the tiniest of snowballs could become an avalanche, the situation on the battlefield was quickly being transformed into something even more chaotic. The beast tamers were finding themselves facing off against even more enemies and being killed off even faster than before!


    The ones most shocked by the situation were the two remaining Soul Emperors. This entire situation was chilling them right down to the bone!


    These were their very own beast tamers they were losing! Years and years of time and effort were put into training the next generation, and now they were all being killed off!


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it time yet? If¡­if this goes on for any longer then there won¡¯t be anything left of our school!!¡±


    One of the Soul Emperor¡¯s eyes flicked to the back peak of the Beast Taming School. He was in a panic now after watching one of his comrades die by the hands of the Golden Python King and the Stegosaurus King. What could he possibly do to stall for time now?!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    In a fit of anger, the Soul Emperor decided to jab his finger at the Bloodhowl Wolf King. It was time for something drastic!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    There was a loud roar from behind the Bloodhowl Wolf King, causing the soulbeast to turn around. The class eight soulbeast puppet that had been fighting the Golden-eyed Ape King had abandoned its fight with the former to charge straight at him!


    And he could sense a volatile amount of soulforce start to leak out from the soulbeast puppet!


    It was self-destructing!!


    The beast tamer was trying to self-destruct the soulbeast puppets to bide for time!


    A class eight soulbeast self-destructing!


    This wasn¡¯t something anyone could ignore!


    ¡°Stop it!!¡±


    The Violet Dragon King roared furiously. Having just finished off the Soul Emperor she and the Violet Spider King had been fighting, the two of them originally planned on fighting with the Ancient Crocodile King when they realized one of the soulbeast puppets was beginning to self-destruct.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The Golden-eyed Ape King let out a loud roar himself before charging with the Ancient Crocodile King and the Stegosaurus King.


    Five of the class eight soulbeasts were using their own soul attack!


    It wasn¡¯t meant to kill the soulbeast puppet but to force its soul into a dormant state to prevent self-destruction!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The flow of soulforce from the soulbeast puppet trickled for a moment upon being hit by the five soul attacks. It was working!


    And not a moment too soon!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King let out a loud roar himself. The skies exploded with a crimson light as a giant bloody wolf manifested into the world!


    This was his real form!


    An enormous amount of pressure crashed down onto the world and lit the clouds on fire as a giant meteor flew down from the heavens!


    The Starfall of the Celestial Wolf!


    The Bloodhowl Wolf King was using his strongest attack!


    Despair filled the beast tamer when he realized he failed in his task. Not only did the soulbeast puppet not self-destruct, but he was also about to be hit with a fatal blow!


    Looking up, the beast tamer let out a cry of despair upon seeing the meteor!


    ¡°No!!!!¡±


    Orange light exploded out from the beast tamer in a last-ditch effort to save himself. He¡¯d be safe if he could overwhelm the meteor with an attack of his own!


    But¡­that was easier said than done! The light from his attack was akin to the light of a firefly in front of the moon! The Bloodhowl Wolf King¡¯s meteor was already about to devour the Soul Emperor by the time he was ready to fire his attack!


    Colliding into the Soul Emperor, the meteor continued downward and smashed into the earth!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The meteor exploded apart with devastating power. On the peak it landed upon, a crater well over a kilometer in diameter was created!


    And the Soul Emperor was nowhere to be seen. In a single moment and a Mid-stage Soul Emperor was dead!


    ¡°Teacher Zhao¡­is dead! He¡¯s dead too!!¡¯


    ¡°We¡¯re¡­we¡¯re done for¡­are we really going to all die here?!¡±


    ¡°No! I refuse! I refuse to believe this! I can¡¯t die here!!¡±


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    One beast tamer after another began to scream in panic!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A faint buzzing sound caught the ears of everyone within range. Looking up, they watched as a part of the world began to hum and vibrate as a rainbow light appeared and began to disseminate through the air!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s the headmaster!! Did he kill that Bai Yunfei already?!¡±


    Every beast tamer began to hope deep within their hearts at the sight of the light. If it was true, then there might still be a chance for them¡­


    But their hopes were dashed and turned into despair literally moments after!


    The rainbow light began to condense in on itself before ultimately disappearing. Then a single figure appeared in front of everyone¡­


    Bai Yunfei!!


    And in his right hand was something every single beast tamer recognized. Something that nearly made their spirits fly out from their bodies!


    ¡°He¡ªheadmaster!!¡±

 Chapter 1152: Is It the End of the Road? Or is There Another Way?

    Not a single beast tamer could believe their eyes¡­


    Was it true? Was that object really¡­?


    It was! Bai Yunfei was¡­holding the head of their headmaster in his hand!!


    The world grew silent at this bombshell of a revelation.


    ¡°He killed Lin Xiangtian! And so quickly!!¡±


    The beast tamers weren¡¯t the only surprised ones. Even the soulbeasts were shocked at how fast Bai Yunfei had killed the headmaster, even the Blue-eyes White Dragon King.


    He had confidence that Bai Yunfei would at the very least be able to endure being inside the Dimensional Phantasm until it spat him back out, but to kill Lin Xiangtian during that short time frame? Bai Yunfei had more to him than he thought!


    Killing a Soul Emperor within the Phantasm, what a feat! And it was the headmaster of the Beast Taming School! A Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    It wouldn¡¯t be too far of a guess to say the Phantasm would have another early-stage class eight soulbeast puppet in it. Xiao Qi and Bai Yunfei shouldn¡¯t have been able to win against a combination like that, but they did!


    ¡°How fortunate that they are allies. I shudder to think of if they were our enemies instead¡­¡±


    It was a dreadful thought even for someone as powerful as the Blue-eyes White Dragon King¡­


    Standing above all else, Bai Yunfei took a moment to look at the object on top of his left shoulder.


    Right there stood a small palm-sized animal that glowed with every color of the rainbow.


    Upon a closer look, this was a¡­squirrel?


    It looked almost exactly like one. The only difference was the light that it gave off, but that was because it was coming from a ring on its neck¡ªthe Beast Taming Ring.


    This was the Dimensional Phantasm!!


    The Dimensional Phantasm hadn¡¯t a form that it could call ¡®real¡¯. It could have whatever form it wanted, though the reason why it chose a squirrel form was because that was what it ¡®enjoyed¡¯ being before it was turned into a soulbeast puppet.


    Having no experience with such a soulbeast, Bai Yunfei was stunned that such a unique and powerful soulbeast could look so adorable. However, he knew now wasn¡¯t the time to be thinking such thoughts and stored the Dimensional Phantasm away into the Core World.


    Then he was back in his battle-ready mode.


    His soulsense spread for several kilometers all around as he tried to understand the situation. There was only one Soul Emperor left from the Beast Taming School!


    In other words, the two other Soul Emperors were killed off in the time he was battling Lin Xiangtian!


    After a second to ruminate on that thought, Bai Yunfei tossed Lin Xiangtian¡¯s head from his right hand to the Beast Taming School¡¯s army!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    The head flew at extreme speeds before finally slamming down into the ground without anyone to catch it. Who¡¯d possibly think about catching it?!


    ¡°Lin Xiangtian is dead!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei barked once everyone had a proper moment to look at the head. His words were spoken with absolute authority, and to the beast tamers, his words stabbed into their hearts with the sharpness of an ice-cold sword.


    ¡°As I said before, today the Beast Taming School will be no more!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    He took off once he finished his declaration. Like a comet, Bai Yunfei flew towards the army of the Beast Taming School and threw the beast tamers into a panic once again!


    The rest of Bai Yunfei¡¯s army followed after him shortly afterward. Soon, the battlefield was filled with the explosion and screams of the Beast Taming School!


    This was a one-sided battle! No one could stop Bai Yunfei and his allies!


    One by one, the students of the Beast Taming School were killed off in a variety of ways. Some were even swallowed whole by a soulbeast!


    And so the mountains where the Beast Taming School resided flooded with blood. The valleys echoed with the screams of the beast tamers and parts of the terrain were being destroyed chunk by chunk¡­


    In the air where the experts fought, the battle between the Blue-eyes White Dragon King and the Azure Eagle King was coming to a conclusion with the Blue-eyes White Dragon King being at advantage. The Blue-eyes White Dragon King would be able to kill his opponent had he the mind to.


    He didn¡¯t want though, since he was fighting against a fellow soulbeast. A soulbeast puppet perhaps, but still a soulbeast nonetheless. By this point the Blue-eyes White Dragon King didn¡¯t even have to fight at full strength. Since the beast tamer controlling the Azure Eagle King was distracted, the soulbeast puppet was simply following the most basic command of to ¡®survive¡¯. This meant the Blue-eyes White Dragon King was simply able to fight without having to put his all.


    The reason why the beast tamer was distracted? Because he was fighting against the Ancient Crocodile King and Bloodhowl Wolf King!


    He was already balking at fighting the Ancient Crocodile King. But now that he was also fighting the Bloodhowl Wolf King¡ªfor three minutes no less¡ªhe knew his death was for certain!


    It was a simple matter to see the despair in his eyes now. That last attack he parried was done only on the skin of his teeth!


    He was terrified. Was his school really at the end of its road?


    In his despair he looked off to the back peak of the school. There was only one last strand of hope for him.


    Then as if to answer his silent pleas, the back peak suddenly exploded with a pillar of icy-blue light!


    The despair in his eyes blew away at once¡ªwas it finally time?


    ¡°Could it be¡­?¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The world began to shake beneath everyone¡¯s feet.


    It wasn¡¯t some sort of localized earthquake. The magnitude of this tremor was so massive that it felt like even the heavens were beginning to be affected!


    This felt like some kind of ancient beast beneath the earth was finally awaking at long last!


    ¡°This aura¡­did senior Xue succeed?!¡±


    It was with great jubilation that the Soul Emperor cried out to the entire battlefield!


    ¡°He did! He has!! Haha!! The world has yet to forget about us! Our school will live on! Hahaha!!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul Emperor cackled. His emotions were bursting out from his body as he cackled.


    Meanwhile, on the other side of him, the Ancient Crocodile King and Bloodhowl Wolf King stood still to look at the pillar of light. The two of them originally planned on killing the beast tamer while he was distracted, but the amount of power coming from the pillar made them take pause and see what was going on.


    It felt like the entire battlefield was frozen. Each and every combatant ceased their fighting in favor of staring at the source of power with awe and horror.


    The next thing to spread onto the battlefield was fear. It gripped at the hearts of everyone like a physical ailment, but not a single person knew why exactly they felt so much fear!


    Frost began to appear on the field, alerting several to them to its presence. Looking back up, they saw several white specks start to float down from the sky.


    Soon, the entire sky was filled with snow!


    ¡°What¡­what is that?!¡±


    Several people cried out. A white figure appeared out of nowhere high up in the skies above the back peak!


    As if made from ice itself, a pair of wings began to spread out from the figure. It was¡­a bird made of frost!

 Chapter 1153: The Strongest Trump Card of the Beast Taming School!

    While Bai Yunfei was fighting Lin Xiangtian in the Phantasm and the Bloodhowl Wolf King had just used the Starfall of the Celestial Wolf.


    In the mountains deep beneath the back peak.


    The only inhabitants of the cave were the same withered elder and the white-robed male. Rich energy filled the air of the cave and illuminated it with a cold bluish light. Condensation and frost formed everywhere in the cave and robbed it of any warmth, but neither persons seemed to have any indication that they noticed. It appeared that the both of them were in a dreamlike state.


    The withered elder was named Xue Ziye, a paragon of the Beast Taming School from one of the earlier generations. He was a senior teacher of Lin Xiangtian and was a Late-stage Soul Emperor!


    ¡°Just¡­just a little more! Let me succeed!!¡±


    The expression on his face was tired, but determined. He was pushing his limits to try and use a secret technique of the school to pour his soul into the body of the ¡®soulbeast¡¯ in front of him.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    That was the moment when he felt the earth beneath him heave violently. Something had happened to the south.


    A quick glance with his soulsense told him the horrible news¡ªanother elder of his school had died!


    He was furious! Furious that a Soul Emperor had died! But then tragedy struck him again and left the elder even more ashen than before!


    ¡°Xiangtian!!¡±


    His soulsense had told him that someone had thrown something¡ªthe head of Lin Xiangtian!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    White-hot anger surged through Xue Ziye. His tired eyes¡ªnow bloodshot and red with anger¡ªhoned in on the white-robed male in front of him with renewed determination. He¡¯d make sure he succeeded in his task even if it was the last thing he did!


    More and more of Xue Ziye¡¯s soulforce began to pour into the pores of the soulbeast. Once inside, the soulforce began to transform into some kind of esoteric runic script!


    Then the soulbeast¡¯s body began to tremble.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Roaring loudly, Xue Ziye slammed a palm onto his own head!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    Blood poured out from his mouth. None of it was spilt onto the other male due to a barrier of some kind, but it sprinkled the ground with a dark-red hue. From the wound he inflicted onto himself, Xue Ziye pinched at some kind of gray wisp of light and pulled it from his head!


    Then with the very last vestige of his energy, he forced it onto the soulbeast!


    ¡°Pa!!¡±


    The barrier shattered apart from his palm, allowing Xue Ziye to slam his hand onto the soulbeast¡¯s forehead!


    Sandwiched in between palm and forehead, the gray wisp of light in Xue Ziye¡¯s hand dug into the soulbeast¡¯s body!


    ¡°Thud¡­¡±


    Xue Ziye¡¯s arm sagged to his side. A small smirk was forced onto his lips before he seized up and collapsed onto the ground. He was dead!


    There wasn¡¯t even a sign of life in his body now! Without even a fragment of his soul left, Xue Ziye was without a doubt dead!


    The passage of time felt like it froze in the cave without anything moving. Seconds passed before at last the soulbeast¡¯s body began to tremble again!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    It started with a tremor. A large one that threatened to collapse the cave the soulbeast was in. Then a terrifying wave of energy exploded out from the soulbeast¡¯s body!


    Like the reawakening of a slumbering giant, this soulbeast was starting to rise!


    Several moments passed before the soulbeast finally opened its eyes¡­


    The pupils were light-blue in color, a color not unlike that of ice. With a gaze as sharp as the cold edge of steel, the soulbeast let out another wave of soulforce fly out from him!


    Like a man waking from a dream, the soulbeast took a moment to regain his bearings and give a bloodthirsty expression!


    ¡°Everyone shall die!!¡±


    He decreed with icy-cold authority. Though his expression was red-hot with rage, his words felt like they could freeze any ordinary man in seconds!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    In a burst of bluish-white light, the soulbeast disappeared from the caves to fly up into the sky!


    Hardly any time later. In front of the Beast Taming School.


    ¡°Retreat!¡±


    A single word of dread and terror was spoken out to everyone on the battlefield and alarmed them all.


    It was the Blue-eyes White Dragon King that spoke! And the way he said the word¡­made it seem like he was afraid?!


    A Peak late-stage class eight soulbeast afraid of something?!


    As confused as they were, Bai Yunfei and everyone else began to retreat at once!


    Waves of class six soulbeasts ran away from the battlefield while the remnants of the Beast Taming School retreated to the gates of their school to stare at one another.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A loud explosion erupted from far behind the gates, prompting everyone to watch as the back peak blew up for a white streak of light to fly out from!


    That was when the figure of a giant ice-blue bird appeared!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The pressure Bai Yunfei and the others felt was enormous! He felt fear like never before¡ªit almost made him feel like buckling at the knees and prostrate himself on the ground!


    This had to be the result of a being far powerful than anything he met. It was a being even stronger than the Blue-eyes White Dragon King!


    Knowing that, Bai Yunfei could hardly stop himself from whispering two words from his chattering teeth¡­


    ¡°A Saint!!¡±


    A type of soulbeast on the same level as Soul Saints. A class nine saintbeast!!


    The Blue-eyes White Dragon King was white with fear. His eyes were frozen stuck on the giant figure above him. Trembling as he took in the visage of the giant bird above them all, he began to speak:


    ¡°An ice-type¡­and a class nine¡­this figure¡­it¡­it can¡¯t be!!¡±


    Several of the other soulbeasts, specifically the ones from the avian clans like the White-browed Hawk King and the Two Winged Kings, were struck dumb with realization of who this soulbeast was. Like the Blue-eyes White Dragon King, they too began to tremble in fear at the figure.


    Several seconds passed before someone spoke. ¡°The¡­Frostfeather Saint!! It¡¯s impossible!¡±


    The White-browed Hawk King¡¯s words set off a disturbance across the battlefield. ¡°The Frostfeather Saint?¡± Wu Dijian repeated, ¡°That¡¯s the Frostfeather Saint?! No way!!¡±


    Afraid as he was of this saintbeast in front of him, Bai Yunfei had no idea who the Frostfeather Saint was. ¡°Headmaster Wu, who¡­is the Frostfeather Saint?¡±


    Still white in the face and staring at the bird, Wu Dijian whispered to Bai Yunfei, ¡°It¡¯s the soulbeast puppet the founder of the Beast Taming School used. A class nine saintbeast of the avian clan three thousand years ago¡­the Frostfeather Saint! But¡­the rumors said that it perished with the Beast Taming School¡¯s founder. Even if it was inherited by someone else, the saintbeast should¡¯ve died of old age by now! Actually, the Beast Taming School doesn¡¯t even have a Soul Saint, how are they even using the Frostfeather Saint?!¡±


    ¡°The soulbeast of the Beast Taming School¡¯s founder?! A class nine saintbeast?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei repeated in awe. A class nine saintbeast¡­a soulbeast capable of inflicting calamity and disaster upon all¡­this was the strongest trump card the Beast Taming School had to offer!


    ¡°It¡¯s the Frostfeather Saint! It¡¯s really the Frostfeather Saint!¡±


    ¡°Master Xue succeeded! He managed to tame the Frostfeather Saint! Our school is saved!¡±


    ¡°Our school will live on!! Our enemies will die! They¡¯ll all die!!¡±


    Many of the beast tamers began to cry out in jubilation. The appearance of the Frostfeather Saint meant they were saved at last!


    Not even the last remaining Soul Emperor could prevent himself from trembling in excitement and hope.


    ¡°He did it¡­senior Xue actually did it!¡±


    In the blink of an eye the white figure was now standing in front of the Beast Taming School¡¯s gates.


    ¡°Senior Xue!¡± He cried out.


    The Frostfeather Saint¡­or perhaps it was better to say Xue Ziye, had eyes only for Bai Yunfei and those around him. Those eyes were bone-chilling as his gaze pierced deep into them.


    ¡°You intruders that endanger the Beast Taming School so¡­today all of you will die!!¡±

 Chapter 1154: A Mere Soul Emperor...

    A death sentence as cold as ice was given out for all those opposing the Beast Taming School. Those words were spoken with absolute authority. Not a single person doubted that Xue Ziye¡¯s ability to carry out his words!


    Not even the Blue-eyes White Dragon King doubted it.


    The Beast Taming School having the Frostfeather Saint as a trump card wasn¡¯t within the Blue-eyes White Dragon King¡¯s predictions. It felt inconceivable that the current Beast Taming School would be able to control such a soulbeast.


    Did that mean there was a Soul Saint in the Beast Taming School now? If¡­that was the case, then there was no way they would¡¯ve been allowed to kill so many beast tamers until now.


    ¡°Two auras¡­it¡¯s not a soulbeast puppet, that¡¯s a medium!¡±


    The Blue-eyes White Dragon King exclaimed at once. The aura radiating from the Frostfeather Saint was a little strange, according to his senses. The aura felt mixed, as if there was another source mixed into it.


    The truth hit the Blue-eyes White Dragon King then¡ªsomehow, the beast tamer found a way to turn the Frostfeather Saint into the medium of a Soul Emperor!


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder these people look so different now. They were stalling for time! They were biding for this moment!?¡± The Blue-eyes White Dragon King exclaimed internally. ¡°Damn! We may have been able to prevent that had we attacked earlier!¡±


    Li Chengfeng¡¯s suggestion to hold off the assault for three days infuriated him. Was it a trick? Did Li Chengfeng intentionally mention it? Was he a spy? The thought of collusion couldn¡¯t be ruled out just yet!


    But that thought could wait, the real trouble was right in front of him. A class nine soulbeast was up against them!


    This was a case of quality reigning supreme over quantity. Not even an entire army could stand a chance against the Frostfeather Saint!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei, I¡¯ll do my best to stall him, you take as many soulbeasts and soul cultivators into the Core World as you can. We¡¯ll teleport as far away as we can after!¡±


    The voice of the Blue-eyes White Dragon King spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. He spoke about stalling, but Bai Yunfei knew better¡­


    The Blue-eyes White Dragon King was planning to sacrifice himself to allow the others to escape!


    He wanted to say no. He wanted to tell the Blue-eyes White Dragon King that they¡¯d all fight and retreat together. But that wasn¡¯t possible and he knew it. To not retreat now meant everyone would die here.


    What good were his many trump cards against a Soul Saint? No good at all.


    Their opponent was a soulbeast. Was it possible to use the Beast Taming Ring then?


    Absolutely not. It was a ridiculous notion¡ªhow could a Soul Saint level soulbeast be expected to be taken by the Beast Taming Ring? Would the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s soul be tamed by the Beast Taming Ring even if it managed to make contact?


    Of course not!


    This was a change Bai Yunfei never expected to see¡­


    Victory was so close at hand! Their plans were netting results; it was only a matter of time! It was supposed to be a great victory, but a single Soul Saint appearing changed everything and shifted the tides of momentum¡­


    The Frostfeather Saint¡¯s appearance now seemed strange to Bai Yunfei. Unable to hold his suspicions to himself, he turned to look at the one who suggested that they ¡®delay¡¯ the attack, Li Chengfeng.


    But a single glance toward his close friend only caused him to be even more confused. The expression on Li Chengfeng was quite strange¡­


    His eyes shined with a meticulous light. Something about this situation seemed to have captured Li Chengfeng¡¯s attention wholeheartedly, as if there was something he had to calculate and plan. Though he stood still, his soulforce was pulsating wildly as if it was out of control. Both his arms were trembling slightly too along with some sort of light twinkling from near his chest¡­


    ¡°Hrk¡­¡±


    A second later and Bai Yunfei watched as Li Chengfeng wobble slightly from where he stood. Blood was spilling out from his now ashen face!


    Bai Yunfei noticed Li Chengfeng¡¯s soulforce had dipped significantly as well. Li Chengfeng now looked and felt like he had just finished a life-or-death battle.


    ¡°Chengfeng!¡± Bai Yunfei rushed to his side at once, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡± Li Chengfeng wiped the blood from his mouth, ¡°Do you¡­trust me, Yunfei?¡± He wheezed.


    ¡°What? Of course I do!!¡±


    Needless to say, Bai Yunfei had full faith that Li Chengfeng wouldn¡¯t fake injury to himself.


    Relief filled Li Chengfeng. ¡°Don¡¯t worry then, we¡¯ll be fine. The ¡®death omen¡¯ isn¡¯t upon us¡­¡±


    He looked upwards after that, ¡°But¡­the Beast Taming School will be destroyed for sure!¡±


    His words were spoken with confidence. So much confidence in fact those that heard him were a little surprised. Where had this confidence come from?


    On the other side, the remaining beast tamers were looking on with glee at how panicked their enemies were. Some swore they could even see some soulbeast start to cry out in terror.


    Ten seconds passed by in silence. The one Soul Emperor left on the Beast Taming School side knew that Xue Ziye was simply waiting for the ¡®terror¡¯ of their enemies to build up. He wanted to ¡®savor¡¯ the emotions of the others and await the best moment to taste their victory.


    ¡°Senior Xue, that person there is Bai Yunfei. He¡¯s the one responsible for bringing all those soulbeasts here! Let him die a painful death!¡±


    The last remaining Soul Emperor cried out in bitter hatred.


    ¡°Senior Xue?¡±


    Something was wrong. There was no reaction from Xue Ziye! The silence of the man shouldn¡¯t have lasted this long.


    The Soul Emperor turned around. For some reason, he was starting to feel a sense of foreboding creep up on him¡­


    ¡°Your face¡­resembles one of those who ambushed me before¡­¡±


    A voice spoke to the Soul Emperor.


    ¡°What?!¡± His eyes widened in surprise, ¡°Senior Xue, what are you¡ª¡±


    ¡°I see now. Your aura¡­you are his descendant.¡±


    ¡®Xue Ziye¡¯ spoke again, much to the surprise and horror of the Soul Emperor. The next three words spoken by ¡®Xue Ziye¡¯ then caused the Soul Emperor to tremble with fear!


    ¡°Death take you.¡±


    The hand of the Frostfeather Saint snapped up at once. Latching onto the neck of the Soul Emperor, the Frostfeather Saint hoisted him into the air!


    ¡°Ah!! Senior Xue, wha¡ªwhat are you doing?!¡±


    The Soul Emperor choked, as hard as he struggled, the power contained in the Frostfeather Saint was not something he could break free from. The hand that grasped onto his throat was iron, and the power acting upon his soulforce was like ice! Neither flesh nor soulforce could be fought against!


    A high and mighty Mid-stage Soul Emperor was being hoisted into the air like a goose by the neck!


    ¡°Le¡ªlet go!!¡±


    The Soul Emperor shrieked, much to the annoyance of the Frostfeather Saint. The only thing he could do by this point was simply scream and hope for compliance.


    He felt the hand around his throat loosen a bit. Did it work? Was he free? The Soul Emperor was only just getting excited when he felt the hand suddenly tighten once again!


    The Frostfeather Saint grew calm once more, though his eyes gained an even icier edge to them.


    ¡°A mere Soul Emperor¡­thinks he can control me?!¡±

 Chapter 1155: The Frostfeather Saint

    The battlefield and those who stood on it were quiet. What was going on here?


    The ultimate weapon of the Beast Taming School¡ªa class nine soulbeast puppet¡ªwas grabbing onto the neck of a beast tamer? How in the world?


    Meanwhile, the Soul Kings nearby the Frostfeather Saint were beginning to pale¡ªthe words spoken by the Frostfeather Saint was starting to clue them in on something.


    ¡®A mere Soul Emperor thinks¡­he can control me?!¡¯


    Those words! Those weren¡¯t the words of ¡®senior Xue¡¯, but¡­


    ¡°The Frostfeather Saint!¡±


    A Late-stage Soul King shrieked as if he saw a ghost.


    It was a failure! A failure!! Xue Ziye had failed to turn the Frostfeather Saint into his own medium! The Frostfeather Saint had managed to reawaken!!


    That was the conclusion everyone else began to arrive at!


    And the Soul Emperor being held by the Frostfeather Saint was one of those realized people. Eyes practically bulging out from his head, the Soul Emperor began to fall into despair.


    ¡°N¡ªno! It can¡¯t be! How¡­how did you manage to reawake!?¡±


    The ¡®Frostfeather Saint¡¯ spoke. The cold and detached expression on its face began to contort and twist in on itself. The hand that was latched onto the Soul Emperor¡¯s throat started to tremble as if trying to let go of him.


    Something was fighting for control over the Frostfeather Saint.


    ¡°Did you truly believe that I could be sealed away forever? Such arrogance¡­¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint muttered silently, almost as if speaking to himself¡­


    It was a peculiar sight, to see a person seemingly change personalities and converse with himself like so.


    The reality of the situation was thus so: there were two souls within the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s body. One was the Frostfeather Saint himself, and the other was the ¡®invader¡¯ Xue Ziye!


    ¡°Impossible! Your soul didn¡¯t exist when I checked for it! How did you¡­¡±


    Xue Ziye spoke again, his words quivering in the tone of Frostfeather Saint¡¯s voice. Xue Ziye seemingly couldn¡¯t believe what was going on.


    ¡°Checked?¡± The Frostfeather Saint laughed. ¡°A few Soul Emperors believe they could see everything? Ridiculous¡­


    ¡°But¡­it is your arrogance that I must thank. I doubt my resurgence would have gone as smoothly if not for your seal unraveling at the end¡­¡±


    Despair and regret flickered across the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s eyes. That had to be Xue Ziye. When he was trying to triumph over the Frostfeather Saint, Xue Ziye had to unravel the seal so his own soul could be let in. It was a risk he had to take, considering that time was not on his side. It was a gamble he took and subsequently lost!


    While his soul managed to ¡®enter¡¯ the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s body, it failed to seize complete and total control over it!


    Reluctance and resistance continued to shine in the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s eyes. Xue Ziye was still desperately fighting to gain control of the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s body, but to no avail. The Frostfeather Saint wasn¡¯t allowing the tamer any leeway in his body. Still grasping on the neck of the Soul Emperor, the Frostfeather Saint began to address him.


    ¡°Your bloodline is a repulsive one¡­it is true then that your ancestor was one of those that ambushed me¡­death take you then.¡±


    Without Xue Ziye¡¯s resistance, the Frostfeather Saint allowed for the blue light in his right hand glow brighter and brighter until¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Stunned, everyone watched as the blue light traveled from the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s arm to the head of Soul Emperor before exploding!


    A Mid-stage Soul Emperor had died without resistance!


    Still in silence, everyone watched as the remnants of the beast tamer showered the ground below. Ultimately, the pieces littered the ground and left multiple places bloody¡­


    The changes were happening so fast that not even a single Soul King or Soul Emperor knew what to do or think.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    One last scream interrupted the silence as the Soul Kings behind the Frostfeather Saint began to retreat at full speed!


    No one was standing within a half-kilometer radius of the Frostfeather Saint now.


    While the beast tamers were despairing, Bai Yunfei and his allies were beginning to smile with glee!


    Even the Blue-eyes White Dragon King, who had resigned himself to a sacrificial death, was starting to sigh in relief.


    The White-browed Hawk King and the Two Winged Kings both looked relieved as well. The Frostfeather Saint was back!


    The Frostfeather Saint didn¡¯t look at all exhausted or different. Killing a Mid-stage Soul Emperor might¡¯ve been a big deal for anyone else here, but not for him. Ignoring the Beast Taming School, the divinebeast slapped his hand to his forehead, ¡°Begone!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A wave of supreme energy was expelled from the Frostfeather Saint as his hand grabbed hold of something invisible and yanked it outward!


    Then¡­a ¡®shadow¡¯ was pulled out from his body!


    It was Xue Ziye¡¯s soul!


    ¡°Ahh!! Ahh!!! Ahhh!!!¡±


    The shadow struggled incessantly in the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s hand, crying non-stop as it tried to release itself. As powerful as the shadow was, it was still nothing in front of the Frostfeather Saint.


    The Frostfeather Saint glared at Xue Ziye¡¯s shadow as if he was staring at an ant. For several seconds, he seemed disinterested in doing anything more, but then he finally decided to end Xue Ziye¡¯s existence and sent some soulforce into his hand.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    One loud explosion later, Xue Ziye¡¯s soul was destroyed beyond repair!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    Black wisps escaped from the fragments of Xue Ziye¡¯s soul upon its death. Following the wave of his hand, the Frostfeather Saint began to absorb those black wisps into his body!


    Not only had he destroyed Xue Ziye¡¯s soul, but he was also now taking the energy back into his own body¡­


    He paused for a single moment to digest the information held within the soul. ¡°I see now¡­¡± He exhaled slowly. The ice-cold light in his eyes was now being transformed into fiery-hot anger¡­


    He looked up to where Bai Yunfei was for just a moment. Turning around, he faced the Beast Taming School¡¯s gates where the frightened beast tamers were still standing in front of.


    The entire terrain was a mess. Craters littered the ground in ways that made the earth look more like swiss cheese than not. Several beast tamers could even be seen clambering over the craters to flee.


    ¡°The Beast Taming School¡­will end today henceforth¡­¡±


    He declared. The world trembled under the weight of his words and began to hum with the absolute power of his soulforce!


    ¡°Hoo¡­.¡±


    In a matter of seconds, the world was quickly transformed into a world of ice¡­.

 Chapter 1156: The End of the Beast Taming School

    A storm of snow and ice came to life onto the world, robbing the warmth of anything that was within its range. Soon, it felt like the storm was cold enough to freeze even the breath of a person.


    Everyone was well aware this wasn¡¯t the result of the ¡®weather¡¯. There was far too much energy for a storm of this magnitude to happen¡­this was the result of someone¡¯s control of elemental ice!!


    A dreadful amount of elemental ice was filling the world!


    Many soul cultivators instinctively pushed their soulforce to repel the cold that came with the storm. But to their shock¡­the harsh cold persisted!


    This wasn¡¯t just elemental ice! The Law of Ice was now in effect!


    Bai Yunfei therefore had to use the Law of Fire to warm himself up. Driving away the cold from himself and the surrounding area, he watched as the Law of Fire continued to expand to cover an area all around his fellow soul cultivators and soulbeasts.


    This was the Core Stone¡¯s +12 additional effect!


    With the Law of Fire resisting the Law of Ice, those class six soulbeasts within the area were no longer hampered by the cold and could be at ease.


    This didn¡¯t mean to say that the Frostfeather Saint was actively trying to harm Bai Yunfei and his allies. They were merely within the ¡®splash zone¡¯ of his attempts on the relatively nearby Beast Taming School!


    ¡°Hooo¡­hooo¡­¡±


    Specks of snow and ice hailed down from the skies all around the Beast Taming School. Swirling and picking up in speed on their way down, these specks soon became as sharp as icicles!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah¡­¡±


    Screams rang out across the mountain range as the icicles stabbed into the beast tamers, impaling them where they stood. Blood splattered across the ground before being frozen by the Law of Ice¡­


    It was a merciless slaughter. Not a single beast tamer was able to escape this storm!


    Not even the Soul Kings. Try as hard as they might, but not even they were able to resist for long before being torn apart by the larger icicles¡­


    People were dying by the masses. One by one, Bai Yunfei felt their auras disappear from the mountains and world¡­


    To the south, he watched as the blizzard travel to a faraway distance away from the Beast Taming School.


    Beast Taming City!


    Not even the beast tamers in that city would be spared!


    For a Soul Saint, differentiating between a beast tamer and not was a simple matter. No innocent lives would be taken today!


    Bai Yunfei could feel the ¡®anger¡¯ contained within the ice. He knew that the controller of this storm, the Frostfeather Saint, was truly angry at the situation.


    It wouldn¡¯t be hard to understand his anger. Killing everyone of the same school that locked you up for three thousand years would be a natural conclusion to reach.


    That being said, the Beast Taming School was basically on its death spiral. With the loss of all its Soul Emperors, there was nothing left to prevent the Beast Taming School from its fate. But ¡®cleaning¡¯ up the rest of the beast tamers would take a considerable amount of work. Thankfully a class nine divinebeast like the Frostfeather Saint was there to make short work of it all.


    The last scream rang out a while later. That left the entire world silent barring the sounds of the storm. With how dreadfully the winds screamed, those on Bai Yunfei¡¯s side felt a shiver of fear crawl up their spines.


    Ten thousand students were wiped out in a matter of seconds. The efficient slaughter of all those students was so brutal that even Bai Yunfei felt himself shiver.


    The winds gradually died down now that there was nothing left for the blizzard to freeze. The snow slowly receded and melted away into thin air and returned the land back to its destroyed landscape. All that was left now were the frozen remains of the beast tamers that once stood there.


    Ten thousand souls reaped without even an iota of mercy. Slowly, the Frostfeather Saint turned about to gaze at the domain of fire around Bai Yunfei with curiosity.


    ¡°For three thousand years,¡± He began to address the crowd. ¡°I have been sealed away. Though I learned of some news from Xue Ziye, there is still plenty I am unaware of. Will any one volunteer to a soul scan?¡±


    His eyes were focused on the soulbeasts instead of the soul cultivators.


    ¡°I am willing, ancestor!¡±


    A figure in white appeared in front of the Frostfeather Saint, it was the White-browed Hawk King.


    Having a mighty peak late-stage class seven soulbeast prostrate himself like a servant seemed almost surreal. Rather than being unwilling, the White-browed Hawk King looked almost excited to be able to offer the Frostfeather Saint his services.


    ¡°A frost magihawk?¡± The Frostfeather Saint smiled in pleasant surprise, ¡°Very well then.¡±


    He placed a hand on the White-browed Hawk King¡¯s forehead and began to send his soulforce into him.


    A tremor traveled through the White-browed Hawk King¡¯s body. Reacting to the foreign soulforce, he allowed himself to wait until the Frostfeather Saint pulled his hand back.


    The Frostfeather Saint had a contemplative look on his face. He was thinking about something. Inversely, the White-browed Hawk King was thinking happily about something.


    ¡°Many thanks for your guidance, ancestor!!¡±


    It was when the Frostfeather Saint tilted his head back up when the White-browed Hawk King cried out a grateful sounding thanks.


    ¡ªThe Frostfeather Saint didn¡¯t simply soul scan the White-browed Hawk King. For his part in helping the Frostfeather Saint understand the modern times, the White-browed Hawk King was granted some insight to ruminate on.


    ¡°This junior pays his respects to the Frostfeather Saint!¡±


    ¡°It is an honor to be in your presence, Frostfeather Saint!¡±


    Several figures approached, the Blue-eyes White Dragon King and Bai Yunfei being one of those. Soul cultivators and soulbeasts alike were paying their respects to the Soul Saint.


    ¡°Hn¡­¡± The Frostfeather Saint nodded, ¡°You must be Bai Yunfei?¡± He nodded at Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei bowed. ¡°Senior Frostfeather Saint is correct, it is an honor to meet you¡­¡±


    ¡°Your part in the destruction of the Beast Taming School is a boon to soulbeast kind and resulted in my awakening. Not even a gift would pay those debts. A day will come when I can finally pay this debt fully. Until then, speak what you wish and you shall receive.¡±


    A Soul Saint speaking so formally and politely to someone like him made Bai Yunfei feel giddy. Knowing not to refuse, Bai Yunfei bowed. ¡°A thousand thanks, senior! My soulbeast partner, Xiao Qi, is a fellow member of the avian clan. If possible, I hope senior will impart a piece of your wisdom onto him¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The Frostfeather Saint looked curious. He half-expected to hear of a request that would benefit himself rather than someone else.


    His eyes swiveled to look at Xiao Qi on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What¡¯s this? The inheritance of¡­the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix?!¡±


    ¡°Senior Frostfeather Saint is correct. Xiao Qi and I were fortunate enough to visit the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts. Xiao Qi managed to receive the inheritance of the Immortal Iridescent Phoenix there and become a class eight soulbeast.¡±


    ¡°I see now,¡± The Frostfeather Saint nodded once more, ¡°then allow me to impart onto him something else once my strength returns¡­¡±


    What he planned to impart wouldn¡¯t be as miniscule as what he imparted to the White-browed Hawk King. It¡¯d take more energy than he had right now to do so, as expected after being sealed for three thousand years. Resisting Xue Ziye¡¯s attempt for multiple days also meant his body was a in desperate need of rest and recuperation.


    ¡°Very well. Clean up the rest of the rabble. We shall return to the Soulbeast Forest after you do so.¡±

 Chapter 1157: The Return to the Village

    ¡°We part ways here, Yunfei.¡±


    Several figures stood high up in the sky. It was a sunny day without a cloud in the sky. The one who spoke was Li Chengfeng.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Fine with me, but remember what we said. Find me at the Crafting School three months from now.¡±


    ¡°How can I forget?¡± Li Chengfeng laughed, ¡°I¡¯m the one waiting to have you craft me a powerful soul armament. There¡¯s no way I won¡¯t come.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Bai, you have to craft me a super-amazing soul armament too! Don¡¯t forget about me!¡±


    Li Ruofeng piped up from beside Li Chengfeng.


    ¡°Haha, I will. I¡¯ll craft you a suitable soul armament when the time comes.¡±


    ¡°And me! Uncle Bai, I¡¯m here too!¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, Ruofeng will have one too¡­¡±


    From beside Bai Yunfei, Tang Xinyun barely managed to hide the smile on her face as she watched the two children talk. The two children were lovable and even Bai Yunfei found it hard not to spoil them. The both of them had two heaven-tier bracelets on their arms and several other soul armaments that even a Soul King would find hard to obtain.


    And so Li Chengfeng and his two children left. Clasping Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand in his own, Bai Yunfei looked to her. ¡°Let¡¯s get going then, Xinyun.¡±


    With that, the two disappeared in a single burst of light to fly toward the north.


    Ten days passed since the Beast Taming School was destroyed. Bai Yunfei and the other soulbeasts were now back at Soulbeast Forest.


    Wu Dijian had already left before the others, choosing to return to Tianhun Academy while You Qingfeng and Chu Yuhe returned to their own schools three days after.


    Now that the most pressing matter was dealt with, Bai Yunfei thought it was time that he returned to the Crafting School. There wasn¡¯t a need for any of the soulbeasts or non-related personnel to follow him.


    There was one thing worth mentioning. The students from the Water School, such as Chu Yuhe and Qiu Luliu, didn¡¯t leave the forest without contracting a soulbeast partner. With so many peak late-stage class six soulbeasts here and the students hoping to breakthrough, it was a valuable opportunity for both sides to find a partner. And with the class eight soulbeasts offering their insights for them, Chu Yuhe and the others were able to breakthrough and become Soul Kings, and their soulbeast partners managed to become class seven soulbeasts. With nearly a dozen new Soul Kings and class seven soulbeasts to their school, You Qingfeng was practically beside himself with excitement.


    You Qingfeng found it prudent that they leave for their schools after that. The peace between the Five Schools wouldn¡¯t last forever, and he wanted to make sure they could be there for when the peace ended.


    Likewise, Li Chengfeng wanted to leave as well, though he promised to meet with Bai Yunfei three months later. Neither party said much when they left, three months wasn¡¯t too long of a time compared to ten years.


    His part in the Beast Taming School¡¯s destruction had been a vital one. Not only as a Soul Emperor, but also because he was the one who made sure they all attacked at the most crucial point. From what the Frostfeather Saint told them of his situation, everyone knew it was by no coincidence that Li Chengfeng had them attack on the same day.


    If they didn¡¯t listen to Li Chengfeng and attacked seven days earlier, then Xue Ziye would¡¯ve abandoned his attempts on the Frostfeather Saint. In that case, there would¡¯ve been one more Late-stage Soul Emperor and his soulbeast puppets on the battlefield. While Xue Ziye wouldn¡¯t be impossible to defeat, the victory would¡¯ve certainly been more pyrrhic.


    The Beast Taming School was doomed to die. Everyone knew that. The only thing they had to pay attention to was the possibility of a counterattack by any of the stronger beast tamers. In the event of the total destruction of their school, the beast tamers would certainly be capable of doing anything even if it cost them everything.


    One such act would be having their class eight soulbeast puppets self-destruct. The damages to the soulbeast army would tremendous in that case¡­


    Not even the Frostfeather Saint was safe. His own body had a seal of sorts that¡¯d result in his self-destruction in the case that Xue Ziye willed it. But that seal was gone after Xue Ziye tried to take over his body.


    A class nine soulbeast was basically the same as a nuclear bomb if they self-destructed. The lives lost would be utterly disastrous.


    The ¡®timing¡¯ in which Bai Yunfei and the others attacked the Beast Taming School was late enough for Xue Ziye to be unwilling to give up on his attempts to take over the Frostfeather Saint. Had they attacked earlier than Xue Ziye would¡¯ve thought otherwise, but the multiple attempts wore away at his mind. Undoing the seal on the Frostfeather Saint, Xue Ziye tried his best to succeed. It was his greatest chance of hope to be able to integrate himself into the Frostfeather Saint and fend off the attackers. Every beast tamer was waiting for that moment. Because of that hope, the other beast tamers were not as radicalized in their methods.


    But their expectations did not match up with the reality of when the Frostfeather Saint did arrive¡­


    In other words, there was another person that the Frostfeather Saint should¡¯ve thanked more than Bai Yunfei.


    Li Chengfeng.


    Because of his suggestion, the losses to the soulbeast army were minimal. Those alive in the army today could thank Li Chengfeng for improving their chances.


    By directing what day to attack, Li Chengfeng was able to achieve the impossible and contribute majorly to the war effort. As such, Bai Yunfei found himself in awe at both Li Chengfeng and the Fate School¡¯s prowess.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun¡¯s journey was an uneventful one with the two of them traveling through the air either with the Heaven¡¯s Thunder or with teleportation. Every so often someone from the Core World would ¡®pop out from thin air¡¯ to talk, but they stayed within it for the most part.


    Ten days went by by the time Bai Yunfei finally arrived at the Qimang Mountains.


    The sun was at the highest point in the sky by this time of day. Pausing over a small valley, Bai Yunfei looked down to view the several huts constructed there.


    ¡°This is the place, Xinyun. The village where I lived for three years¡­¡±


    The atmosphere of the village felt familiar to him. A wistful expression crossed over Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as he related to Tang Xinyun what he experienced.


    And so the two dropped down from the skies to enter the village.


    Such a sight would cause any one of the villagers to cry out with shock. Their eyes flew wide open the moment they saw Bai Yunfei as one of the two people, and soon the entire village began to cry out with alarmed voices¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s Tang Long! Tang Long¡¯s back!¡±


    ¡°It is! Everyone come quick! Tang Long is back!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s become an Immortal! He¡¯s flying! And look! He has another Immortal with him!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was soon beset with all sorts of villagers as he touched down onto the ground.


    ¡°Tang Long?¡± Tang Xinyun asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t remember my name,¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°I only knew of the name of the person in those soul fragments¡­¡±


    ¡°Tang Long!¡±


    ¡°Bro Tang!¡±


    ¡°Brother Tang! You¡¯re back!¡±


    Soon, every single villager was crowding around Bai Yunfei¡ªnot a single hunter was out of the village today.


    ¡°Stone, Zuo Shou, sister Lucid¡­uncle Wu, and the village elder¡­¡±


    One by one, Bai Yunfei greeted each of the familiar faces with a sense of happiness¡­.

 Chapter 1158: I Shall Gift You Good Fortune!

    ¡°What?! Tang¡ªI mean Yunfei, you want us to go with you?!¡±


    One person exclaimed loudly amongst the villagers. It was the village elder. He couldn¡¯t believe his ears on what he had just heard.


    ¡°Yes. I can bring everyone into Yao City as long as they are willing. You¡¯d be able to live your lives there, and of course¡­you have the freedom to join the Yao clan and learn the art of Alchemy.¡±


    ¡°What!? Is that true?! We can live with those same ¡®Immortals¡¯?!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not ¡®Immortals¡¯, weren¡¯t you listening to Ta¡ªBai Yunfei? They¡¯re called ¡®soul cultivators¡¯!¡±


    ¡°But they can fly and recover from near-death just like nothing, what difference is there between Immortal and soul cultivator then?! Can my child become one of these soul cultivators too then?¡±


    ¡°I want to go! Bro Bai! I want to learn! I want to learn Alchemy and become a soul cultivator!¡±


    Soon, multiple villagers began to voice out their excitement at the choice being offered to them.


    This was the reactions Bai Yunfei was getting after telling the village about the Yao clan and what soul cultivators were. Many of the villagers were excited to hear about what Yao city was like and interested to take him up on his offer.


    It was a thought that Bai Yunfei had since earlier on. The Yao clan had no qualms about his proposal and were more than willing to allow the villagers to learn the art if they so wanted.


    However, this didn¡¯t mean to say that Bai Yunfei wanted to disrupt the lives of the villagers. If they didn¡¯t want to live an entirely different life than the one they were used to, then Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t press the issue.


    Luckily, most of the younger villagers¡ªsuch as Stone and Zuo Shuo¡ªlooked ecstatic at the offer. The sight of Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun flying through the air was breathtaking to them.


    Most of the older villagers had their doubts. Naturally, these villagers felt hesitation after having lived in this area for thousands of years.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­would you allow us some time to consider this? Surely you must be feeling tired after traveling all this way? Why not rest for a while¡­?¡±


    The village elder spoke.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    With the conversation down, everyone left to go back to do their own things while Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun returned to Stone¡¯s house.


    The next day, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun continued returned to the Soulbeast Forest. And inside Yao City were several new residents.


    The village had decided to start their lives anew in Yao City.


    A few days later and Bai Yunfei was across the Qimang Mountains and back in the Soulbeast Forest.


    Once he arrived at the wolf clan¡¯s territory, the rest of the soulbeast army within the Core World was let out.


    The next thing to do was find a place for the Yao clan.


    It was a decision made after careful consideration with Yao Wuchen. They¡¯d live in the middle of the Soulbeast Forest.


    They at first considered being reintroduced to the Tianhun Empire and find a place to settle. But after a lengthy debate, the clan decided to seek the strongest soulbeasts for ¡®permission¡¯.


    With the internal strife tearing apart the Tianhun Empire, the Yao clan figured it wouldn¡¯t be in their best interest to take any chances settling there. Resurfacing as a clan would certainly cause waves in the world, and causing waves meant opening themselves up to danger. At least here in the Soulbeast Forest they¡¯d be safe from most harm.


    Besides, the Yao clan¡¯s research with the soul rejuvenating pill was nearly complete. Many soulbeasts were extremely hopeful for the end product. After all, they managed to rescue many of their sealed comrades from the Beast Taming School after that war. The Yao clan would be the key to bringing back their loved ones.


    In this case, the Yao clan would be extremely safe inside the Soulbeast Forest. With the soulbeast rulers there as their guarantors, no other soulbeast would dare make the Yao clan as their enemy.


    It was a good thing. Bai Yunfei never wanted to think of the Yao clan as his own ¡®personal army¡¯. And neither did he want to force them back into the real world. As safe as it was in the Core World, it was no place to live for extended periods of time. Relocating the Yao clan inside the Soulbeast Forest would be for the best for everyone.


    And the place they decided to live in was within the territory of the wolf clan since the wolves were the soulbeasts they trusted most in the forest.


    With several powerful soulbeasts lending their hand, the area in which the Yao clan wanted to settle on was evened out before Bai Yunfei ¡®moved¡¯ Yao City back into the world.


    And with that settled, all the soulbeast leaders left to return to their own territories. Life in the Soulbeast Forest would finally return to normal.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t leave the forest. He remained in Yao City for a while longer.


    That was because Xiao Qi had yet to receive the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s guidance.


    About ten days ago, the Frostfeather Saint managed to fully recover and was ready to give what guidance he had to Xiao Qi. And ten days after, Xiao Qi was still in the Core World ¡®meditating¡¯. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even bother him as Yao City was moved.


    Nowadays, Long Lan could be seen by the side of the Blue-eyes White Dragon King. Having caught his interest, the Blue-eyes White Dragon King decided to give Long Lan some guidance of his own. Later, Long Lan was taken back to the Blue-eyes White Dragon King¡¯s territory so he could try and become a class eight soulbeast.


    Another three days passed in the Soulbeast Forest. One late afternoon, Bai Yunfei was helping Stone awaken to soulforce inside of Yao City. Zuo Shuo was currently in the middle of meditation after having learned something from when he was in the Core World.


    After instructing Stone and several other students on what to do, Bai Yunfei then disappeared from the city.


    He reappeared within the small courtyard of his before waving his hand to bring out Xiao Qi and the Frostfeather Saint.


    ¡°Senior¡­¡± He bowed at once.


    ¡°Hn.¡± The Frostfeather Saint nodded. ¡°This child is quite perceptive. I have given all I have to give. However much he learns is now up to him.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, senior!¡±


    Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t even done yet and Bai Yunfei could distinctly see the difference than to when he first began nearly half a month ago. The air around Xiao Qi was already richer than usual and made it almost difficult to see his person¡­


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for your thanks. What I gave is hardly a pittance¡­Xiao Qi is the new hope of our clan. I expect much from his growth. Perhaps¡­he will become the next Saint of our clan¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised. This was certainly a high evaluation to be given by someone powerful¡­


    ¡°And now is your turn, Bai Yunfei. I will be gifting you something as well¡­¡±


    Surprised by the Frostfeather Saint, Bai Yunfei gave the soulbeast a quirked look, ¡°I beg your pardon? You¡­want to gift me something?¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint smiled.


    ¡°I shall gift you good fortune!¡±

 Chapter 1159: Understanding Chaotic Energy in the Ninth Heaven!

    Confused, Bai Yunfei gave the Frostfeather Saint a quizzical expression to which the Frostfeather Saint responded with a faint smile.


    ¡°You will come to understand after I take you there.¡±


    ¡°To where?¡±


    The soulbeast glanced upward to the azure sky. ¡°Up!¡±


    ¡°Up?¡±


    He still didn¡¯t understand. But before he could ask, a bubble of energy surrounded his entire person before he could even think of resisting and¡­soon the two of them were somewhere else!!


    He couldn¡¯t even see the strong rays of sunlight here. Everything was practically pitch dark as if light had no way of reaching this place!


    Puzzled, Bai Yunfei glanced around the place for a while before noticing something. ¡°This is¡­chaotic energy!¡±


    Now that he knew that, Bai Yunfei began to pick up the pieces. ¡°This place has¡­to be the Ninth Heaven!¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint gave him a lauding smile. ¡°Yes, the Ninth Heavens¡­almost. We are nearly two-hundred kilometers above ground level. This energy you feel is as you say. Chaotic energy.¡±


    ¡°Two-hundred kilometers!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gasped, what a height!


    In a second the Frostfeather Saint was able to transport them to such a height!


    The waves of chaotic energy exerted its pressure onto Bai Yunfei. He could feel the angry surge of energy flow everywhere. Every so often he could sense a strand of elemental energy before it was sucked into the maelstrom. The flux of power felt terrifying to the senses. So much that Bai Yunfei realized with horror that he would¡¯ve been torn to shreds already if not for the protection of the Frostfeather Saint.


    Any strand of chaotic energy around him would easily outstrip the wisp of chaotic energy he had inside his body.


    ¡°Xiao Qi has told me that you gained the ability to harness chaotic energy as a Soul King. Fate was kind to you in that regard. Kinder than to most. To my knowledge, none has ever been able to do such in recorded history. Today, I will allow you to borrow my strength to understand more about chaotic energy. Consider this a favor returned.¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Verbal communication was not possible here.


    ¡°More insights about chaotic energy?!¡±


    ¡°That is correct. But we are pressed for time. Learn as much as you can¡­¡±


    An with that, the Frostfeather Saint waved his right hand!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    He felt the chaotic energy around him fluctuate a bit before slowing down to a crawl. As if being controlled by the Frostfeather Saint, the chaotic energy was now flowing into the body of the soulbeast!


    He was absorbing chaotic energy!


    Xiao Fang told Bai Yunfei once before that all elemental energy stemmed from chaotic energy. Since elemental energy no longer served a purpose for Saints, they had to rely on chaotic energy absorption to further their own progression.


    What the Frostfeather Saint was doing was demonstrating for Bai Yunfei how to absorb chaotic energy and refine it.


    It was around this time that Bai Yunfei felt something soft, but familiar, pop up in his mind. Startled, Bai Yunfei realized what that feeling was right away¡ªthis was the result of a change in the Law of Chaos!


    Like how the Charm Bracelet allowed him to link minds with people, the Frostfeather Saint was doing something similar to allow Bai Yunfei to sense things he¡¯d normally not be able to.


    Needless to say, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going to question how the Frostfeather Saint could do all this. It was best for him to simply simmer down and begin to train.


    A chance like this was once in a lifetime. By sharing his own senses through the soul, it was possible for Bai Yunfei to learn better than by himself. The Frostfeather Saint was leaving himself completely vulnerable to aid Bai Yunfei in understanding chaotic energy. If by chance Bai Yunfei wanted to do something unkind to the Frostfeather Saint, there was a high chance that he¡¯d succeed.


    What the Frostfeather Saint was doing was something that required the utmost confidence in the other person.


    Another advantage soulbeasts had over soul cultivators was their ability to understand the world and all that existed in it. Chaotic energy was something only Soul Saints or class nine soulbeasts had access to. Many hours would be needed for an Early-stage Soul Saint to even begin understanding the same amount a class nine soulbeast could learn in a short amount of time. The Frostfeather Saint, for example, was someone as adept in chaotic energy as a Mid-stage Soul Saint. His mastery over it could already be considered to be quite elevated.


    So the fact that Bai Yunfei could receive the guidance of the Frostfeather Saint was a very rare blessing.


    Chaotic energy gathered in the heavens high above the world in large amounts. Fallen into a meditational trance within this small area of chaotic energy, the Frostfeather Saint and Bai Yunfei were both now completely silent. On top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder was Xiao Qi, who glanced left and right at the area they were in. Since it was dangerous to venture beyond the safe zone the Frostfeather Saint set up, Xiao Qi was too afraid to do anything but comb his own feathers in boredom and wait for Bai Yunfei to finish.


    Lost to the world, Bai Yunfei was deep in heavy thought as he tried to understand more about the chaotic energy around him.


    Bai Yunfei could use chaotic energy in some of his attacks, but that was only after ¡®bending¡¯ what little of it he had to his will. From his previous attempts, Bai Yunfei knew that it was impossible to try and gather any more chaotic energy without any additional understanding about it.


    The guidance of the Frostfeather Saint was granting Bai Yunfei a single strand of rope to hold on to. As long as he held onto this rope, Bai Yunfei could advance upward and deepen his own understanding of chaotic energy!


    Practically every attempt he made to understand chaotic energy was rebuffed in the past. But today, Bai Yunfei was advancing step by step into a new world of comprehension!


    Gradually, the waves of soulforce from within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body started to pulsate. Two bright flames within his body began to spin around as if trying to enter a ¡®fused¡¯ state¡ªthis was ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!


    The lightning companionseed flickered occasionally around the two fireseeds along with a gray wisp of energy!


    Chaotic energy!


    Due to being refined by him, the chaotic energy in his body was already something similar to a companionseed in some ways. Like the lightning companionseed, the chaotic energy in his body allowed Bai Yunfei to draw upon external chaotic energy to be used against his foes.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t use too much chaotic energy in his attacks. Even the small amount of chaotic energy he had was split into two strands in two different fireseeds. That way, the only time the two chaotic energy strands came together was when he went into Berserk Mode, which was to say only when Bai Yunfei was ready for battle.


    But right now, the two strands were already connected together and was flowing around Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    It was flowing exactly the same as elemental fire would flow in his body when Bai Yunfei used the Dual Flame Artes to train!


    The space around Bai Yunfei was starting to flow differently as well. Chaotic energy revolved around Bai Yunfei before slowly entering his body!


    He was starting to refine it!


    He wasn¡¯t just learning about chaotic energy now¡ªhe was beginning to do what the Frostfeather Saint was doing¡ªhe was absorbing it into his body!


    This disturbance in the flow of chaotic energy forced the Frostfeather Saint to awake from his trance. Stunned, he watched as chaotic energy flowed into Bai Yunfei with bated breath. ¡°He¡¯s already figured it out? So soon?¡±


    But to his greater shock¡­the chaotic energy flowing into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to increase in volume over the next several seconds!


    That was when he realized Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was pulsating more frequently than expected. It was propogating out from his body and affecting the flow of chaotic energy somehow¡­.


    ¡°He¡­has mastered another concept of chaotic energy already?!¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint was stunned. The ¡®way¡¯ Bai Yunfei was absorbing the chaotic energy was completely different than to the way he showed him!


    He expected Bai Yunfei to learn from his own example. Instead, Bai Yunfei went off in a different direction and learned a concept not even he thought of!


    The absorption of elemental energy differs in many ways. The world has plenty of ways of how a soulbeast or soul cultivator could take in and refine energy despite it all sharing the same purpose of strengthening the soul. All roads lead to the same destination, some roads were simply meant to be more efficient for some to take. Any person could find better success in one method than another.


    If Bai Yunfei could gain even a glimpse of what chaotic energy was, the Frostfeather Saint would¡¯ve been content with that. Having a solid foundation of knowledge would be vital for Bai Yunfei in the future. Actually learning how to absorb chaotic energy could come later.


    But Bai Yunfei managed to do all that in no time at all!


    That was when the Frostfeather Saint realized what Bai Yunfei was going through.


    ¡°Enlightenment! He¡¯s being Enlightened!¡±


    The realm of Enlightenment. A state of mind and soul which allowed one to learn more about a subject in a compact amount of time. A certain level of understanding needed to be reached before one could attain such a state of mind instead of luck. And right now¡­Bai Yunfei had reached that state of mind!

 Chapter 1160: Stunning the World (End of Book Nine)

    The Frostfeather Saint wasn¡¯t even training anymore. He was too busy looking at Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®demonstration¡¯¡ªBai Yunfei was already capable of absorbing chaotic energy!


    The Frostfeather Saint never expected Bai Yunfei to be able to do that, needless to say.


    ¡°His talent for training isn¡¯t at the level of a genius, but to be fortunate enough to fall into Enlightenment¡­it must make one jealous to see how beloved he is by ¡®fate¡¯. I wonder¡­what height will he be able to reach? What knowledge will he learn?¡±


    A small smile graced the lips of the Frostfeather Saint. He was excited to see what Bai Yunfei would be able to learn.


    There wasn¡¯t even a need for him to ¡®protect¡¯ Bai Yunfei anymore. The surrounding chaotic energy was no longer something that could do any harm to Bai Yunfei.


    Time trickled slowly as the Frostfeather Saint watched over Bai Yunfei. He wasn¡¯t impatient at all about how slowly it was taking Bai Yunfei. If anything, his excitement grew by the second by how much potential Bai Yunfei was showing¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s ability was truly exceeding his expectations.


    Sensing an abnormality in the area, the Frostfeather Saint leaped to his feet. The anomaly wasn¡¯t Bai Yunfei this time, but¡­Xiao Qi!


    ¡°Has¡­has he grasped onto the concept as well?!¡±


    This time the Frostfeather Saint couldn¡¯t help but exclaim his thoughts out loud. At some point in time when he wasn¡¯t paying attention, Xiao Qi went from being bored out of his mind to falling into a trance as well! A sliver of the chaotic energy was absorbing was also beginning to gather around the bird!


    ¡°The bond of their souls¡­has already attained such a perfect level?!¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint was truly stunned. The bond between Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi went beyond most¡ªit was the level of a ¡®perfect harmony¡¯! Perfect harmony sounded exactly as it did, a bond between souls had to be so high that absolutely nothing could top it!


    ¡°Haha¡­these two are truly wonders to behold¡­¡± The Frostfeather Saint chuckled to himself. ¡°I find myself excited to see how far you two will go. The path of ¡®Ascension¡¯...may be quite easy for you two¡­¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint felt quite surprised to see two very-promising younglings right in front of him. And the longer he continued to wait, the more surprised he became¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    Suddenly, the space around the Frostfeather Saint trembled violently as if some kind of energy was affecting its flow. Rapidly, the small trickles of chaotic energy began multiple tidal waves that reaped havoc for a kilometer around the three of them!


    Again, the Frostfeather Saint was stunned by this. Gaping as he observed the area, the Frostfeather Saint began to gasp, ¡°The¡­The Law of Chaos?! A Law has appeared!!¡±


    Focusing his soulforce, the Frostfeather Saint made sure he observed the area with it to ascertain his guesses. Hardly managing to control his emotions now, the Frostfeather Saint was now sure of what he was feeling.


    ¡°It really is¡­this is the Law of Chaos!


    ¡°But how? How was he able to come to understand that law?! How did he manage to do it?!¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint grew alarmed. This wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve been able to do! What Bai Yunfei did was accomplish what even a class nine soulbeast couldn¡¯t¡ªcalling upon the Law of Chaos!


    He had been looking for it for so long, and now here it was! A large amount of energy was gathered right in front of Bai Yunfei!


    Large in comparison to the chaotic energy here but tinier compared to what should normally be felt from a Law. But the Frostfeather Saint knew this was without a doubt the Law of Chaos!


    Beings such as Soul Saints and class nine soulbeasts tend to have already reached a level of complete mastery over their respective elements. As such, these beings would have to use chaotic energy for their training due to the raw amount of power held in them. The Frostfeather Saint, for example, was a master of elemental ice. There wasn¡¯t anything else for him to do but pursue onto the Law of Chaos. If he could do that, then his ability to absorb chaotic energy would definitely be greater and he would also be a much stronger opponent to fight.


    The Frostfeather Saint only had a small glimpse of what the Law of Chaos was like. He only meant to ¡®guide¡¯ Bai Yunfei on what it was like to absorb chaotic energy! He didn¡¯t think the Law of Chaos would appear instead!


    But this was an opportunity the Frostfeather Saint wasn¡¯t going to give up. Now that he knew what it was, he quickly calmed his heart and began to meditate.


    His plan was to help the younger generation learn something new about the mysterious chaotic energy. Instead, it was the younger generation helping him learn¡­


    And so, Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and the Frostfeather Saint were all silent in meditation¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A loud explosion destroyed the silence in the Ninth Heavens a while later. All chaotic energy within a kilometer of Bai Yunfei and the two soulbeasts was voided at once, flowing upwards like a geyser of water.


    Within the geyser, Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and the Frostfeather Saint could all be seen with their eyes wide open.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was the first to sigh a breath of relief. As he tentatively clenched his fist, Bai Yunfei looked quite dumbfounded about his own strength.


    Snapping out from his stupefaction, Bai Yunfei turned to face the Frostfeather Saint. ¡°This junior cannot thank senior enough for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint looked quite happy as well. ¡°All I did was show you the way. Anything else beyond that was done by your own strength¡­I should be the one thanking you, in fact. I have learned plenty from this experience today myself¡­¡±


    Indeed, the Frostfeather Saint learned plenty today, far more than he expected to learn. He never thought he¡¯d be able to come into contact with the Law of Chaos like this.


    For Bai Yunfei, what happened today was definitely a great source of ¡®good fortune¡¯. Not only did he managed to grasp the concept of chaotic energy, but he was also able to understand a bit about the Law of Chaos!


    This meant plenty for Bai Yunfei. He was a great deal stronger in battle now that he could use chaotic energy and he was able to train with chaotic energy now!


    Training with chaotic energy was meant to be something only Saints could do. But now he could do it!


    That meant Bai Yunfei would be able to train far faster than any of his contemporaries!


    And the one to benefit most was Xiao Qi! Because of his bond with Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi was able to learn how to absorb and refine chaotic energy as well. Whether it was by killing people for experience or by absorbing chaotic energy, Xiao Qi was now capable of a level of growth far beyond anyone else!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Now that he was capable of understanding the Law of Chaos, Bai Yunfei felt fully satisfied with his return to the Soulbeast Forest. After staying behind for two days to see how Yao City was settling, Bai Yunfei decided to bring Tang Xinyun with him out of the forest.


    Everyone from the Yao clan, Dan Teng included, was to travel with Bai Yunfei this time. Long Lan was still with the Blue-eyes White Dragon King to train. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how long it would be until the two met again, but he was sure that the day would come soon.


    And so Bai Yunfei, Tang Xinyun, Xiao Qi, and Xiao Bai traveled by themselves. The journey was far more silent now that their regular travel partners were all gone.


    All of the Beast Taming School¡¯s treasure was practically given to Bai Yunfei to use. All the soul armaments, soul skills, primal stones, soul gems, and other noteworthy resources were for him to manage how he wished, though Bai Yunfei felt disinclined to do so. It¡¯d be better for him to return to the Crafting School so they could manage it instead. Any of the soulbeast puppets were, of course, given back to their respective soulbeast clans to be unsealed. All of the soulbeast puppets excluding the Interdimensional Phantasm. That one was the only one no clan ¡®claim¡¯ed, and thus, Bai Yunfei kept it for his own personal usage.


    With everything done, Bai Yunfei was determined to return to his school at last. Excited about it, Bai Yunfei made sure to plan a direct trip back to the Great Plains Province at once¡­


    As per usual, word of mouth always surpassed the rate of physical travel. News of the Beast Taming School¡¯s destruction traveled far faster than Bai Yunfei did and sent waves all throughout the continent!


    The Beast Taming School¡ªgone!


    This wasn¡¯t any regular school; this was one of the Ten Schools!


    People all over the continent were amazed by what they heard. Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School, alive! And he was the one leading an army of soulbeasts¡ªan army that contained well over a dozen Soul Emperors, over a hundred Soul Kings, and an immeasurable amount of class six soulbeasts¡ªto storm the Beast Taming School!


    Most thought the news to be fake at first. Hardly any part of those initial reports felt even plausible enough to be real. But once those reports were verified by multiple other sources, the entire soul cultivator world began to explode with chatter¡­


    Many soul cultivators cheered at the Beast Taming School¡¯s destruction. A few lamented. Either way, the name of Bai Yunfei traveled like wildfire throughout the soul cultivator world.


    Three years ago, Bai Yunfei destroyed a high-powered clan as a Soul King and then caused havoc within the Soul Refining School.


    Hardly anyone could believe their eyes when they first heard that bit of information three years ago. It was like a storm of shooting stars with how awed they were hearing about it.


    And now. Three years later. The very same man appeared out of nowhere as a Soul Emperor and¡­destroyed the Beast Taming School at once!


    This was a completely unheard of way of reintroducing oneself to the world!!


    Some found it so hard to believe that even the crafters in the Crafting School thought the world was talking about an entirely different ¡®Bai Yunfei¡¯...


    The Lost Swamp. Inside the Soul Refining School¡­


    ¡°Brother Mo¡­my school is gone and I have no place to go anymore. You¡¯re the only one who can help me! That¡­method you talked about before, the one where you can get stronger fast, tell me it! I don¡¯t care about the price, I¡¯ll definitely get stronger! I¡¯ll definitely kill Bai Yunfei and avenge the Beast Taming School!¡±


    A long-haired male snarled from on top of a large mountain peak. He was one of the two figures standing on top of the mountain. The junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School; Lin Dongxiao!


    He wasn¡¯t dead!


    Standing in front of him was a figure in black. This figure was looking off in a distance as his long-white hair flowed in the wind behind his head¡ªit was Mo Ni!


    Three years had changed Mo Ni. The most telling sign was his hair since it used to be black before¡­


    The Mo Ni of three years ago had a calm and refined look to him before. The Mo Ni hadn¡¯t any of that. He looked as dark as the night almost.


    He turned around to face the furious Lin Dongxiao. A faint smile could be seen on his lips.


    ¡°Brother Lin, please think carefully about this. What you said is true, this method can indeed help you become strong quickly. You could even become a Soul Emperor if all goes well. But you¡¯ll lose almost as much as you gain¡ªare you prepared for the risks?¡±


    ¡°Lose as much as I gain?¡± Lin Dongxiao gave a harsh laugh, ¡°Haven¡¯t I lost enough? What else do I have to lose now?¡±


    The ire in his eyes intensified, ¡°I don¡¯t give a damn about the price! Have it all! Whatever the costs, I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll make sure Bai Yunfei dies a painful death! A painful death!!!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    In another part of the world. Standing above the clouds, a gray-robed elder observed the world beneath him like a deity of some kind observing his own creations.


    Bai Yunfei definitely would¡¯ve been excited to see who this person was. This was the person responsible for changing his life¡ªGe Yiyun!


    Both of his eyes had a faint light to them. His hands twitched at the fingers as if he was counting something.


    ¡°The Beast Taming School is gone, and the soul cultivator world will have yet another shock. The greatest ¡®upheavel¡¯ begins now¡­


    ¡°Chengfeng went to Beast Taming City and met with Bai Yunfei. He has become a participant in this matter, then¡­


    ¡°The time for our Fate School¡¯s troubles is fast approaching. Have I done enough for our school, I wonder¡­¡±


    In an unknown city. Inside a small inn.


    Seated in a small corner of the inn, a middle-aged man hidden partially by the shadows held a cracked gourd of wine in his hand. He looked deep in thought for a while as he drink, a small smile soon appearing on his face.


    ¡°Gathering that many soulbeasts to destroy the Beast Taming School¡­It appears I¡¯ve underestimated you, my junior disciple¡­I won¡¯t make the same mistake as I did in Formagua City then¡­


    ¡°Master¡­you must think this person will bring glory back to the School, don¡¯t you? You¡¯ve found a good disciple¡­


    ¡°But I¡¯m sorry to say¡­you¡¯ll be disappointed. The Crafting School will soon share the same fate as the Beast Taming School¡­¡±


    In an unknown forest, deep within the belly of a mountain.


    A shriveled man in white sat on top of a prayer mat. Silent, he listened to a male in black robes give a report. This second male wore an unsettling golden mask.


    Bai Yunfei met both of these people before. One of them was someone he saw the day he fought Nether¡¯s avatar¡ªYao Tang. The other was Yao Tong¡¯s master.


    Upon hearing Yao Tong¡¯s report, the shriveled man in white began to cry out loud with laughter!


    ¡°Haha!! What a world this is! I personally witnessed that Bai Yunfei fall into a spatial fissure¡­and he still isn¡¯t dead!? And defeating the Beast Taming School after three years? Hah! What news!!


    ¡°Now, my disciple¡­should a chance arise for him to come destroy the Soul Refining School¡­should we give him a ¡®helping hand¡¯?¡±


    The annihilation of the Beast Taming School was only the prelude for Bai Yunfei¡¯s return. What other waves would the world of soul cultivators experience now that Bai Yunfei is back?


    --------------------------------------------


    End of Book Nine


    ---------------------


    It took all my strength to make this chapter long enough for two. So much strength in fact, that I feel like I¡¯ve written for so long my head is starting to feel dizzy¡­


    The last part of this book felt extremely taxing to write. But I can finally take a nice two day break now that Book Nine is over¡­


    I¡¯ll talk more about the conclusion of this book later. For now, I¡¯d like to just say one thing:


    Thank you to everyone that has been supporting me so far!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Book Nine¡¯s Ending Remarks


    This book many days of painful suffering, but I finally managed to finish off Book Nine. After having released my most recent chapter last night, this author can finally let out a sigh of relief.


    All in all, I feel quite satisfied with this book. I was very excited to write the majority of the first part of Book Nine. Some days I¡¯d find myself writing three chapters, and other days maybe four. I¡¯m sure you readers must¡¯ve been equally happy, having all those chapters to satisfy your cravings. There were some circumstances behind my sloppy writing towards the later chapters of this book, but I hope everyone will understand.


    Earlier last month I said I¡¯d try my best to release three chapters a day. My guarantee was two chapters a day, with a third being a reward of sort for my grateful readers. In the end I only managed to last for about half the month. I¡¯d like to apologize for that. I won¡¯t make any excuses about that in the future, but please allow me to make up for those missed chapters once I recover.


    I would also like to talk about my future release rate. While I was very enthusiastic about posting three chapters today, I have come to realize I cannot fulfill such a goal. Releasing even one chapter felt extremely challenging some days. Releasing three chapters a day was a reward for some of my readers, so I have never promised to release more than three since I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to honor it.


    After calculating all the bonus red packets, monthly packets, and recommendations I¡¯ve accrued, I¡¯ve estimated that I owe a little over twenty¡ªlet¡¯s make that twenty-five chapters. And if I include the additional bonuses from some readers, then the total comes to fifty. I¡¯ll definitely be making up for those chapters, so please keep an eye out for chapters with a title of [Owed chapter x/50] in the future. And if I don¡¯t finish it in this book, there will be another book after this to finish the debt.


    I have reached the three million character landmark by this point. I never thought I¡¯d be capable of writing that many characters when I first started. Writing even half that amount was already a large accomplishment. The me of that time felt like two million was a good stopping point. Then when I wrote two million characters, I felt like 2.5 million was the next best stopping point.


    And now here I am¡­three million characters. Perhaps it¡¯ll take 3.5 million characters to finish (I hope it won¡¯t take four million characters)...


    Truth be told, I feel like my strength is leaving me now. A newcomer author should avoid writing a very long first book, but I¡¯ve somehow found myself at the three million character landmark. This led to a result that could¡¯ve been avoided had I the experience I do now. The more one writes, the harder it is to keep one¡¯s story in control¡­


    The plot of this story has long since deviated from my original storyboard. I had plenty of ideas of what should take place when a certain point in the plot was reached. But now that I am here, I¡¯ve realized that the planned developments I had before are no longer suitable, leaving me with no other choice but to think of other developments. This is yet another example of what inexperience can cause¡­


    For example, I introduced several people in the story for the sake of developing the plot later in the story. The more I wrote, however, the more I realized there wasn¡¯t a point for any of those characters to even appear anymore. They became irrelevant without the proper context for them to appear. Some even became plot holes, so their appearances no longer have any meaning. To try any further would only mean forcing the issue and worsening the quality¡­


    As such, I am at a crossroads. Should I edit out those points now? Or should I find an acceptable compromise to patch those holes without rushing the ending?


    I feel conflicted, truly. The more I write now the more taxing it feels. And the longer I procrastinate on the matter the more it weighs on my mind. As hard as it might be to understand, but it¡¯s a chaotic affair to try and find an acceptable compromise. In the chaos of heavy brainstorming, it¡¯s maddening to find a proper solution. If not for the sturdy quality of my mechanical keyboard, I¡¯m sure I would¡¯ve broken a few keyboards by now¡­


    But rushing the ending is not an acceptable answer either. Everyone has become accustomed to reading USAW, as I have become accustomed to releasing these chapters on the back-end of the site. To me, USAW has become something like a child to me. Every day I write to weave the story of my child¡¯s growth. I don¡¯t wish to see my child grow up too fast.


    It¡¯s always hard to write the ending remarks of a Book. And I don¡¯t ever wish to see people comment on this novel saying that each book has a ¡®weak ending¡¯. I simply hope to see that I¡¯ll be able to give USAW a proper ending¡­


    Yunfei has become a Soul Emperor now. There is only the Soul Saint level left, so I don¡¯t wish to hurry the pacing anymore, since it wouldn¡¯t make sense for him to ¡®level-up¡¯ another two or three times after that. But on the other hand, it wouldn¡¯t do to drag out this story either, since that¡¯ll only dilute the quality of this story.


    My plans are to write about Bai Yunfei¡¯s journey as a Mid-stage Soul Emperor and Late-stage Soul Emperor in Book Ten and have him attain Sainthood by Book Eleven. Perhaps a Book Twelve will happen afterward, but I can¡¯t guarantee that. Only time will tell¡­


    I know many readers have mentioned about how there¡¯s so many powerful people now. ¡°The Soul Emperors are as numerous as dogs and Soul Kings roam the world in numbers even greater than that¡±. Is a common sentiment I¡¯ve seen, but frankly, I don¡¯t think this is a fair criticism to make.


    Let¡¯s say for example you are someone without much money. To you, a person with a few hundred dollars would be a person beyond your reach. Then when you have that much money, you¡¯ll come to realize there are people with even more money than that. A few thousand maybe. Then when you reach a few thousand dollars yourself, you¡¯ll again realize there are people with tens of thousands of dollars. Once tens of thousands of dollars are reached, someone with hundreds of thousands of dollars will appear, etc etc¡­


    Or let¡¯s have another example. A town will have the town elder. A district might have many town elders and then a mayor of the district. Then a county might have multiple mayors and a single county executive. A province will then have multiple county executives and a provincial mayor. And then there¡¯ll be a single nation to lead the provinces and their provincial mayors. Does it make sense have multiple provincial mayors now then? And if that¡¯s not enough, there¡¯s the United Nations which is made up of multiple nations. If the leaders of multiple nations gathered, would that devalue their worth?


    The circumstances will always be different depending on which circles a person travels in. Now that Bai Yunfei is a Soul Emperor, he is making contact with even more Soul Emperors in the world. What¡¯s so strange about having multiple Soul Emperors appear now then?


    This of course means more Soul Saints will appear when Bai Yunfei becomes a Soul Saint. By then, Soul Emperors will be a done deal as well and the Soul Kings will become irrelevant. Inversely, would there be a point in having Soul Kings as opponents when Bai Yunfei becomes a Soul Saint?


    Lastly, I¡¯d like to give thanks to all my readers. Those readers who have tirelessly given my novel red packets, monthly packets, and subscriptions, I thank you. Similarly, I¡¯d like to thank those who comment frequently on this novel. [Luo Yuxian]. [Wait Before You Hurt Me], [V Master Ouyang V], [ypy1998], [843536607], [Bubbly Clouds], [danter123], [Chilvarous and Tender], [bluem], and the most active reader [mushroommy], thank you all so much. There are far too many readers for me to even write down here, so please don¡¯t take offense if I didn¡¯t mention your name.


    Truly, I feel thankful for everyone¡¯s support. Because of you, I was able to write for three million characters. Thank you so much.


    If possible, I hope everyone will leave behind a comment or two later. It¡¯s because of your continued support that I can find the strength to continue writing. There are many times when I feel like I can¡¯t write anything. But when I read your comments, I feel myself renewed with energy. So please, please leave your comments down below so I can see your continued support.


    Other than that, there is one more piece of good news I¡¯d like to say: I, Yunhai, have finally left the ranks of a single bachelor. I now have a wonderful girlfriend, haha! Thank you very much¡­


    And so without further ado, please look forward to Book Ten. Until next time~~

 Chapter 1161: Return to the Crafting School

    The Great Plains Province, Mt. Crimson.


    The Crafting School.


    ¡°Teacher Bai has returned! Teacher Bai is back!!¡±


    ¡°Teacher Bai has returned!!¡±


    Excited cries rang throughout the Crafting School. Hurried footsteps could be heard as multiple crafters began to run this way and that.


    ¡°Big brother Bai! He¡¯s back!!¡±


    ¡°Hurry! Let the others know!!¡±


    The Crafting School was in an uproar. Students from the west, south, and east peaks were running towards the main peak and gates to give news to those who hadn¡¯t heard yet.


    Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun were at this current moment meeting with several old friends of theirs. They were happy to see a few friends and saddened to not see several others.


    They were currently stopped by a few students at the foot of the mountain of the main peak.


    ¡°Brother Song Lin, brother Li, Yuhang, Fei Nian¡­it¡¯s been a long time.¡±


    Bai Yunfei greeted a few of the familiar faces with a smile. Nostalgia of a time long before began to resurface in his mind. Seeing their faces had reminded Bai Yunfei of what life was like in the Crafting School six or seven years ago.


    Those memories were a long time ago. Tian Yuhang had only been a new disciple back then, but today, he was a nineteen-year-old man who was already a Soul Exalt.


    The others, like Song Lin, Li Tiechui, Xiao Nanren, and Lian Lingmin were all Early-stage Soul Kings now.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally back! We¡¯ve been suffering for so long waiting for you, haha! Everyone¡¯s been waiting with bated breath ever since we heard about what you did to the Beast Taming School!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! You don¡¯t know how excited everyone was to hear that you were alive! I think there was a party that lasted three whole days! Not even the elders could stop it, haha!!¡±


    ¡°Where in the world were you these last three years? We really¡­we really did think you were¡­you know¡­but it¡¯s all fine now!¡±


    ¡°Haha! I told you! How could bro Bai die that easily? He had to have been training somewhere in secret! Look at him now¡ªa Soul Emperor! He even destroyed the Beast Taming School! What a story!!¡±


    ¡°I felt pumped just hearing about that! You have to tell us the story later, bro Bai!¡±


    Everyone was talking up a storm around Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun. They were crowded up so tightly around the two that it made it impossible for either person to walk anywhere or answer any questions.


    ¡°Bro Strawhat, Bro Strawhat!!¡±


    One voice cried out over the others just loudly enough for Bai Yunfei to hear it. He watched as a small blur flew over the heads of the other students before crashing into his chest with laughter.


    ¡°Haha, lil¡¯Rui, you¡¯re still like a child I see.¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed as he hugged the crying girl in his arms. ¡°You¡¯ve grown prettier over the years, lil¡¯Rui, don¡¯t mar it with your crying now¡­¡±


    ¡°Bro Strawhat¡­everyone said you were dead¡­sniff¡­I didn¡¯t believe it! Sis Yun said you were alive! I¡­I thought so too! But dad said I couldn¡¯t go with her to find you¡­sniff¡­I just knew you¡¯d come back¡­but why did it take you so long¡­¡±


    She sniffed in between tears. It pained Bai Yunfei to hear her cry, and he tried his best to make her smile again.


    It didn¡¯t make much sense to treat Huangfu Rui as a little child, but it still felt like to Bai Yunfei that she was still the very same little Doraemon from back then. The Huangfu Rui of today was seventeen years old by now, but the way she acted made it seem like she had only mentally grown for three or four of those years¡­


    This surely had to do with the mystery behind Huangfu Rui, the one Bai Yunfei had always wanted to ask about, but never asked due to his lack of experience and strength. His own master never told him the story either, but perhaps today would be different. He had enough ¡®strength¡¯ now, he was sure he could help with whatever ¡®ailment¡¯ Huangfu Rui had.


    ¡°Big bro Bai! Sis Tang! You¡¯re back!¡±


    While Tang Xinyun comforted Huangfu Rui, Bai Yunfei turned his attention toward the next group of crafters to come his way, ¡°Xiaoyuan, Sanxian, Xuhao¡­it¡¯s been a while.¡±


    It was Mo Xiaoxuan, Zhang Sanxian, and Zhong Xuhao. Three of the people Bai Yunfei was more familiar with.


    ¡°Eh? Where¡¯s Zhiqiu?¡± That was about the moment Bai Yunfei realized he had yet to see Ye Zhiqiu.


    ¡°He has some familial matters to take care of.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Excuse me then, I¡¯d like to meet with the headmaster and elders. I¡¯ll be back later to talk.¡±


    He could already sense the familiar auras of his master and fellow elders in the main hall up above. Master Zi Jin, headmaster Kou Changkong, and Xiao Binzi were all gathered there along with a few other powerful, but unfamiliar, auras.


    Bidding farewell to the students, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun flew up to the main hall at once.


    Soon, the two of them arrived right in front of the main hall.


    Multiple people sat on the chairs arranged within the hall. Bai Yunfei knew some of these people, but not all. ¡°Your student Bai Yunfei has returned, headmaster, master, and elders¡­¡±


    Seated at the top-most chair was the headmaster, Kou Changkong. To his left was Zi Jin and to his right was a white-haired elder he had never seen before. To that elder¡¯s side and Zi Jin¡¯s side were two more unfamiliar elders. Behind them were elders such as Xiao Binzi and Huangfu Nan.


    ¡°Your student Tang Xinyun has returned as well, headmaster and elders¡­¡±


    Many of the elders, Zi Jin and Kou Changkong included, looked excited to see Bai Yunfei alive and well.


    ¡°All is well, now that you¡¯re back¡­come take a seat.¡± Zi Jin nodded.


    ¡°Yes, master¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei bowed once before taking a seat with Tang Xinyun by the third elder Cang Yu¡¯s side.


    The kindly woman near Zi Jin¡¯s side smiled toward Bai Yunfei, ¡°An Early-stage Soul Emperor at your age and an early-stage class eight soulbeast as your partner¡­you¡¯ve a good disciple, brother Zi Jin.¡±


    Zi Jin smiled. ¡°Yunfei, this is teacher Yang Ying. She has been meditating on the northern peaks for eighteen years now. Only recently has she become a Soul Emperor and exited from the peaks.¡±


    A junior of his master! Bai Yunfei bowed at once to her, ¡°It is an honor to meet you, teacher. Congratulations on your achievement.¡±


    ¡°And these are teachers Yang Yao and Hu Yang. The both of them finished their meditation a few years ago. A few others have finished their training, but they have yet to arrive. I hope you¡¯ll greet them when the time comes.¡±


    Bai Yunfei bowed again to the two. He was shocked to hear just how many of their elders had been meditating on the northern peak. Three Soul Emperors appearing now of all time? Bai Yunfei even noticed that the one known as Yang Yao was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    His soulsense was telling him there were plenty of Soul Kings within the school now. Most of them were still gathered on the northern peak, meaning those had to be the elders his master talked about. Upon closer observation, Bai Yunfei noted there were at least twenty of them!


    He left the Crafting School when he was only a Soul Ancestor. By then, he hadn¡¯t the strength to see who was meditating on the northern peak. But he knew now that he was a Soul Emperor.


    It was fascinating to see how much those he knew had changed. The second and third elder were merely Early-stage Soul Kings five years ago but now they were Mid-stage Soul Kings. Kou Changkong was Peak Late-stage Soul King, and Xiao Binzi was now an Early-stage Soul Emperor!


    ¡°How have you lived these past few years? Three years without communication and then appearing out of nowhere to destroy the Beast Taming School¡­tell us your tale, Yunfei.¡± Zi Jin requested.


    ¡°Yes, master.¡±


    And so Bai Yunfei began to tell everyone in the main halls his story, starting with when he was stuck fighting the Soul Refining School¡­

 Chapter 1162: The Secret of the Examination Caves

    ¡°...And the last thing we did was resettle the Yao clan in the Soulbeast Forest before Xinyun and I left to come back here.¡±


    That was the last statement Bai Yunfei gave in regard to his lengthy story.


    Most of his story was summarized quite shortly, but the weight of his story was enough to stun all his listeners into disbelief.


    A lot of his story had many details to it that many of his listeners never even knew about, such as the Yao clan being in the Qimang Mountains, or what was going on in the wolf clan¡¯s territory in the Soulbeast Forest, or even Bai Yunfei¡¯s friendship with the junior headmaster of the Fate School. Everything was almost too much to believe.


    The entire hall was silent now that Bai Yunfei finished his story. Every Soul King and Soul Emperor was digesting his story in silence. It would take some time before they were done.


    There was one person whose reaction was a little surprising to see. It was Huangfu Nan who was trembling slightly with excitement¡­


    ¡°The Yao clan¡­descendants of the Alchemy School!!¡± He cried out loud, his face flushed with excitement. ¡°So they¡¯re still alive!


    ¡°You say they¡¯re in the Soulbeast Forest?¡± He quickly asked, ¡°Could¡­you must take me there to see them!!¡±


    It looked like Huangfu Nan wanted nothing more but to have Bai Yunfei take him to the Soulbeast Forest straight away.


    ¡°Please calm down, elder Huangfu Nan¡­¡± Cang Yu warned him before turning to Bai Yunfei herself. ¡°If possible, Yunfei, please take little Rui to the Yao clan. We¡­can tell you about her situation in a moment¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course!¡± Bai Yunfei replied.


    She clearly didn¡¯t want to talk about Huangfu Rui in front of everyone.


    Yang Yao took the opportunity to speak to Bai Yunfei next. ¡°I heard Zi Jin mention before you created a lifebound armament when you became a Soul King. Now that you¡¯re a Soul Emperor,  I presume you have a second lifebound armament?¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Yes, teacher Yang. Aside from the Cataclysmic Seal, I have a few more lifebound armaments such as the Regalias Core Stone, Soul Sealing Mandate, and Soul Sentinel Scarf, there¡¯s also my Fire-tipped Spear, the glove on my left hand and the armor I wear now¡­seven total lifebound armaments.¡±


    Everyone drew quiet at once. A few of the elders grew as still as statues even¡­


    ¡°Se¡ªseven?!¡±


    Huangfu Nan gasped, momentarily forgetting about his excitement for the Yao clan. Eyes gaping as if he had just seen a ghost, the elder cried out, ¡°You mean to say you have seven lifebound armaments?!¡±


    ¡°It is as you say, second elder. I have seven lifebound armaments right now¡­¡±


    ¡°Seven!!¡±


    A few others found what Bai Yunfei said to be hard to believe. Not even Zi Jin and Yang Yao found it very easy to stomach.


    ¡°Do¡­do you have the Core Stone, Soul Sealing Mandate, and the Soul Sentinel Scarf in your possession now?!¡±


    Huangfu Nan asked. While he knew about Bai Yunfei having the Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate, he hadn¡¯t known about the Soul Sentinel Scarf. Everyone glanced at the strip of cloth tied around Bai Yunfei¡¯s forehead¡ªwho knew that the legendary Regalia would look like this¡­


    Bai Yunfei instinctively touched the cloth on his head as he nodded. ¡°I do. The Soul Sentinel Scarf was something I came across by chance back in the Soulbeast Forest a few years ago. Actually, I remember fighting a Soul King from the Beast Taming School for it back then. Luckily I managed to kill him, but the Soul Sentinel Scarf is still in some kind of injured state. I have yet to establish contact with its soul, though I¡¯ve talked with the spirits of the Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate.¡±


    ¡°Damage to the Soul Sentinel Scarf?¡±


    Zi Jin and Yang Yao spoke together. The two of them looked to one another. They must¡¯ve thought of the same thing.


    After that, everyone began to catch Bai Yunfei up with the current news of the soul cultivator world. Most information wasn¡¯t time-sensitive, so for the sake of brevity they talked only about the important ones. The smaller details could be talked about later.


    Soon, everyone in the hall prepared to leave for their own rooms.


    After the meeting, the kindly-looking Yang Ying called out for Tang Xinyun to see her along with Cang Yu. ¡°I have taken a liking to this student. If you don¡¯t mind, Cang Yu, she can become a disciple of mine.¡±


    Cang Yu smiled. ¡°I would never mind if it is to Xinyun¡¯s benefit¡­Xinyun, come greet your new master.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Tang Xinyun managed to reply after being lost in the conversation.


    Bai Yunfei realized what the two elders were getting at at once. Having this ¡®small¡¯ adjustment would see to having Tang Xinyun and himself be equals, hierarchically speaking. Their ¡®relationship¡¯ wouldn¡¯t be as awkward in that case.


    He nudged her arm, ¡°Hurry and give your thanks.¡± He whispered.


    She bowed immediately. ¡°Yes¡­thank you very much, master¡­¡±


    And so everyone departed from the halls with Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun going off to meet with their friends for a meal. That night everyone laughed and talked until it was late enough for everyone to return to their quarters.


    Back in his old quarters of the western peak, Bai Yunfei found himself enjoying the familiar atmosphere of where he used to train all those years ago. He found it quite amazing how little had changed and how at ease he felt.


    The next morning, Bai Yunfei received a missive from his master.


    ¡°Yunfei, meet us at the northern peak¡¯s examination caves.¡±


    This message was transmitted via soul communication, giving Bai Yunfei a sense of urgency to come at once.


    The examination caves his master spoke of referred to the caves used to test for a person¡¯s aptitude for crafting.


    ¡°Master.¡±


    Zi Jin was already waiting for him by the time Bai Yunfei arrived at the caves. He was curious on what his master could want from him inside these caves.


    Catching his peering into the dark cave, Zi Jin gave his student a smile. ¡°Your strength has long since surpassed your teacher¡¯s expectations, Yunfei. You are now a person of power in this world. Today¡­you have earned the right to learn a few of our school¡¯s secrets.¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart leaped to his throat at once¡ªthe secrets of his school?! What kind of secrets were they?


    ¡°The first secret shall be the one behind the cave.¡± Zi Jin nodded, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Silently, Bai Yunfei followed behind Zi Jin down the caves. This would be the second time in the caves, but they were still as deep as he remembered. He also remembered that ¡®room¡¯ deep within the caves he was able to reach a long time ago with all those powerful soul armaments contained inside.


    The more he walked, the more Bai Yunfei began to realize how strange the energy flowed in this cave. He hadn¡¯t noticed it before due to his lack of strength, but today he could finally begin to have some idea of what this energy was.


    It was definitely something familiar to him.


    His suspicions were confirmed the more they traversed the caves. This type of fluctuation in energy was extremely similar to the three Regalia he had!


    A¡­resonance?!


    Could this be yet another Regalia?!


    Again, Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart began to pound wildly against his chest.


    ¡°Eh? This¡­this is a spirit of the armament!! Why does this place have one?!¡±


    It was when they arrived at the end of the tunnels near a pair of gates when a surprised Xiao Fang spoke up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°A spirit?!¡± Bai Yunfei questioned, ¡°There¡¯s one here, Xiao Fang?! Is there a Regalia here then?!¡±


    ¡°I¡­it¡¯s strange. This is definitely the wavelength of a spirit, but it doesn¡¯t belong to any Regalia I know of.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± He was surprised, but Zi Jin was already speaking to him before he could ask Xiao Fang anything more.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve realized by now, haven¡¯t you. The existence of ¡®that¡¯....¡± He nodded upon seeing the confusion on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°Go in. You¡¯ll understand when you see ¡®it¡¯...¡±


    He pressed a palm to the door and pushed it open. Waiting for the gate to fully open, he motioned for Bai Yunfei to follow him in.


    Light as bright and red as fire poured out from beyond the gates. Bai Yunfei could hardly see Zi Jin¡¯s figure as he walked in and only made him even more confused as he followed behind¡­


    What in the world was behind these gates?

 Chapter 1163: Guardian Spirit

    Bai Yunfei noted with some surprise that the elemental fire that filled this space seemed to be quite different somehow. Aside from how it flowed, there was some kind of strange energy mixed in with it that Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t seem to put his finger on.


    The interior of this room looked substantially different than what he remembered, actually¡­


    It wasn¡¯t a very large room, standing at around fifteen meters in circumference. Red light filled the entirety of the room in large amounts except for the walls of the cave, for some reason.


    At a glance this cave seemed to be nothing but a cave filled with condensed elemental fire¡­


    Just as Bai Yunfei was about to question his master about the environment, he noticed a bright burst of red light in the center of the room. Something was beginning to take form¡­.


    The red light was beginning to form the shape of a ¡®person¡¯!


    The person looked ¡®holographic¡¯ almost, but some features could definitely be defined such as their long hair and billowing robes. Bai Yunfei could also see that the facial features of this figure seemed to be that of a handsome middle-aged man!


    ¡°An avatar?!¡±


    Was Bai Yunfei¡¯s first guess, but that wasn¡¯t it. Narrowing his eyes, he took a moment to look again. ¡°No¡­it¡¯s a spirit!!¡±


    ¡°Why have you awakened me, Zi Jin?¡± The male figure spoke to Zi Jin. ¡°Who is he?¡± He asked upon seeing Bai Yunfei.


    It was with trepidation that Bai Yunfei watched as his master bowed to this ¡®person¡¯.


    ¡°Heavenfire, this is my student, Bai Yunfei. He is an outstanding student in our school. I brought him here today in hopes of borrowing your assistance¡­¡±


    ¡°Yunfei,¡± He glanced over to Bai Yunfei, ¡°This is the guardian spirit of our school, Heavenfire!¡±


    ¡°Guardian spirit?! Heavenfire?¡±


    Bai Yunfei repeated the words to himself. Those were heavy words to say.


    ¡°He is the spirit of a lifebound armament belonging to a predecessor of our school. That predecessor took the fire of the heavens to form this soul armament and give life to it before he assimilated it into the northern peak. This guardian spirit has watched over our school for five thousand years already.¡±


    ¡°Five thousand years!! The spirit of a soul armament!!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped in shock, what a story! But¡­


    ¡°Master, what do you mean by ¡®assimilated into the northern peak¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Our records say that the soul armament that housed Heavenfire was on the verge of destruction. There isn¡¯t much time a spirit can linger after its host soul armament is destroyed. Our predecessor managed to assimilate Heavenfire into the northern peak through an ancient technique, allowing Heavenfire to ¡®live¡¯ in the mountain itself.


    ¡°That being said, the soul armament that used to house Heavenfire is no more. All that¡¯s left is the spirit. But that soul armament was a special one¡ªit was a crafting cauldron! A special crafting cauldron that surpassed the heaven tier! It could even be considered to be a divine item! Because of that, Heavenfire has a very special ¡®ability¡¯. Being able to sense one¡¯s aptitude for crafting is merely one of his abilities. Advancing the soul compatibility between a crafter and a soul armament when they breakthrough is another example. But that ability takes away a bit of Heavenfire¡¯s energy, so only the brightest of our students are allowed this privilege.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was stunned listening in to all of this. He never imagined the examination caves to have such a secret behind it! A spirit that lived for over five thousand years! And to think it had such an amazing power like that¡­


    ¡°His current appearance then¡­¡± Bai Yunfei glanced over to the bright-red figure. His question wasn¡¯t explicitly said, but his master knew what he meant.


    ¡°Is the appearance of our predecessor.¡± He answered.


    Bai Yunfei grew silent. All of this was just far too hard to take in at once.


    ¡°Have you finished, Zi Jin? Hurry and say what you have to say.¡±


    Heavenfire spoke up. He had been patient waiting for Zi Jin to explain his background, but not anymore, apparently.


    ¡°Wow! Another spirit!! And you¡¯re even stronger than me! I never heard of another Regalia with a spirit outside of us nine!¡±


    Someone other than Zi Jin spoke up then. A white light exploded out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest before forming the shape of a white tiger¡ªthe spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate had decided to make his entrance¡­


    ¡°Obviously, didn¡¯t you hear Yunfei¡¯s master? A five-thousand-year-old spirit would definitely be stronger than even us¡­¡±


    Another voice answered the Soul Sealer. This time, the yellow figure of a stone appeared beside the tiger, it was Xiao Fang.


    ¡°Spirits!!¡±


    Heavenfire cried out loud the moment the two appeared. ¡°I felt your presences earlier, but to think you were both spirits! Your student had two Regalias, Zi Jin? No¡­not two, but three! But what¡¯s this? How curious¡­¡±


    The spirit caught onto the third Regalia Bai Yunfei had at once. Glancing at the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his head, Heavenfire spoke, ¡°It¡¯s faint¡­is it damaged? Is this what you wanted, Zi Jin? You wished for my assistance to heal this spirit?¡±


    Not surprised at having his goal mentioned, Zi Jin nodded. ¡°Indeed, that was my hope.¡±


    ¡°What?! Healing Sentinel?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out loud, ¡°Master¡­you¡¯re saying he can heal the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s spirit?!¡±


    ¡°What? Do you doubt my abilities, youngling?¡± Heavenfire spoke, ¡°The heaven-tier soul armaments I have crafted are numerous beyond belief. Not even Regalias are beyond my ability to make. You may think that only Regalia are capable of having a spirit, but every soul armament has a ¡®spirit¡¯ to them. Only Regalias are capable of showing that ¡®spirit¡¯. My host, the Heavenfire Cauldron, once possessed the ability to strengthen the ¡®spirit¡¯ of a soul armament. The bestowal of sentience was a feat I could do. Healing the spirit is well within my powers. Long ago, the spirit of the Regalia, the Heaven Asunderer, was something I healed. Your low-divine Regalia will be a simple matter. Awakening it will be equally simple.¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt his heart pound rapidly and his head spin with each word Heavenfire spoke. The ramifications of the spirit were astounding! As a crafting cauldron, Heavenfire was once capable of crafting Regalias! And the ability to bestow ¡®sentience¡¯! And a Regalia known as the Heaven Asunderer¡­what a fearsome name! If Heavenfire could truly awaken the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s sentience¡­then he would be very excited to see it happen.


    ¡°Senior¡­Heavenfire,¡± Bai Yunfei hesitated, it seemed slightly strange to be calling a spirit senior, but that was the only way he could think of to address it. ¡°This student would be eternally grateful if senior Heavenfire heals Sentinel!¡±


    Heavenfire gave Bai Yunfei an appraising stare. ¡°Awakening it will be a simple matter, but it will require a large amount of my energy. I¡¯ve only just awakened after several years of recuperation, to go back into hibernation will be quite¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was speechless, did Heavenfire have some kind of ¡®condition¡¯? Since this was a spirit they were talking about, Bai Yunfei could perhaps offer to upgrade it, but didn¡¯t his master say that the Heavenfire Cauldron was destroyed? Heavenfire was now living inside the entire northern peak, how could he possibly upgrade an entire mountain?!


    Zi Jin couldn¡¯t take seeing his student like this any longer. ¡°Must you make things difficult for Yunfei, Heavenfire?¡±


    ¡°Haha!! It has been a while since I¡¯ve seen a student this amusing. Are you hurt seeing me jest with your precious disciple, Zi Jin?¡± Heavenfire barked with laughter, ¡°Fear not, youngling. I won¡¯t have you do anything in return. A promising crafter like you should have no problems. A few years of sleeping means little to me, hahaha!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had to force himself to suppress the groan from escaping his lips¡ªwho knew a five-thousand-year-old spirit knew how to joke¡­

 Chapter 1164: The Dualflame Cauldron and Awaking the Soul Sentinel Scarf

    ¡°If I may ask, senior Heavenfire, how will you awaken the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s spirit?¡±


    Bai Yunfei could heave a sigh of relief knowing that Heavenfire would help him free of cost.


    ¡°Simply put, the Regalia will have to go through the refinement process. That¡¯s when I¡¯ll awaken its spirit.¡±


    ¡°Refine it?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed¡ªhis heart felt like it had been dipped in icy water upon hearing that.


    Refining a Regalia was ¡®simple¡¯?! There was no way he could do that!


    ¡°Hah!¡± Heavenfire barked with laughter again, ¡°I never said you had to actually refine it. Your current strength means refining a Regalia is impossible. Refining a Regalia would be hard for anyone but the one who crafted it, in fact. I only need for you to start the process, and even if the spirit doesn¡¯t reawaken then I can incubate it over a period of time to reawaken it.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed once again. This was a much better piece of information to hear.


    Refining a soul armament was a difficult process, one more difficult than crafting. A mid-heaven tier soul armament was probably the highest tier soul armament he could refine. He had no idea what he¡¯d do if he had to refine the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    ¡°Understand now? We can begin if so. Bring out your crafting cauldron and refine any soul armament. I would like to see how ¡®outstanding¡¯ Zi Jin says you are. Prove your worth.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt embarrassed for several reasons, one being hearing the praise of his own master. And the other¡­


    ¡°Master, the Lightningfire Cauldron you gave me¡­was destroyed¡­when I was crafting¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± But Zi Jin looked confused, ¡°The Lightningfire Cauldron? Ah¡­I¡¯ve forgotten about that. You¡¯re still using the low-heaven tier crafting cauldron from before¡­


    ¡°The Lightningfire Cauldron wouldn¡¯t be able to meet your uses now. Destroying it was to be expected, don¡¯t feel embarrassed.¡±


    Activating his soulforce, Zi Jin sliced open the air near him and allowed for a crimson streak of light to fly out from it. It looked to be quite heavy and crashed onto the ground with a thud¡­


    ¡°This crafting cauldron was something I planned to give you when you became a Soul King. It¡¯ll serve you quite well since the predecessor that created the Dual Flame Artes was also the one to craft this special cauldron. It¡¯s name is¡­ the Dualflame Cauldron!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even react to what Zi Jin said. His attention was entirely focused on the cauldron in front of him¡­


    It was about as tall as he was almost. The surface of the cauldron shined red like fire, but other than that, there wasn¡¯t much else to this cauldron, physically speaking. The aura it gave off, however, made Bai Yunfei tremble with excitement. There was a ¡®familiar¡¯ sensation to this cauldron.


    This was the cauldron used by the predecessor who created the Dual Flame Artes. Obviously, this cauldron was best used in accordance with those techniques!


    ¡°The Dualflame Cauldron!?¡± Heavenfire looked surprised, ¡°Does this youngling know the Dual Flame Artes then?!¡±


    Zi Jin nodded, much to Heavenfire¡¯s surprise. ¡°A student that has learned the Dual Flame Artes¡­haha! Your student is as interesting as you say he was!¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei was still entirely focused on the cauldron. Reaching his hand out to touch the cauldron, he waited for a notification to pop up in his mind¡­


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Equipment Effect 1: Chances of success when crafting multiplied by 8.


    Equipment Effect 2: Substantially increase the soul compatibility of any crafted soul armament.


    Equipment Effect 3: 30% Chance to add a fire affinity to an equipment when crafting.


    Equipment Effect 4: 5% Chance to apply the Law of Fire to a heaven-tier equipment


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    He couldn¡¯t even stop himself from gasping the moment he saw the stats¡ªfour equipment effects!


    The Dualflame Cauldron had double the chance of success over the Lightningfire Cauldron! Not only that, but it also had the ability to increase soul compatibility.


    And even more importantly¡­the ability to apply the Law of Fire!!


    What a powerful set of effects!


    ¡°Shall we begin, youngling? As powerful as the cauldron may be, I don¡¯t believe you should be that astonished by it.¡±


    Bai Yunfei snapped out from his stupor to nod at Heavenfire, ¡°Yes, this student will begin now.¡±


    Examining the Dualflame Cauldron could be done another time. Refining the Soul Sentinel Scarf was a more time-sensitive affair and didn¡¯t need to have the cauldron be upgraded first. Either way, it was better for Bai Yunfei to reawaken the Soul Sentinel Scarf first than care about the cauldron.


    Sitting in front of the Dualflame Cauldron, Bai Yunfei pressed his palms to its surface and sent his soulforce into it.


    ¡°Bzzzz¡­¡±


    The cauldron began to hum. Shortly afterward, a wave of heat flooded the cave as a flame roared to life inside the cauldron.


    Bai Yunfei slammed a palm to his chest, knocking one of his fireseeds out from his chest to fly into the cauldron.


    There was a distinctive difference to how this cauldron worked compared to the Lightningfire Cauldron! From the ease of his fireseed entering the cauldron, the heat of the flames, and the ease of control he had over the entirety of the operation, Bai Yunfei was amazed!


    There was one thing about this cauldron that was distinctively different than his previous one. This cauldron had a certain depression in it that seemed to be specifically for a fireseed. It was as if everything was ¡®incomplete¡¯ without that depression filled with one. The cauldron even felt ¡®excited¡¯ to have a fireseed in it!


    Bai Yunfei never used the Dualflame Cauldron before but it was far easier to use than he thought. It felt like the cauldron was actively trying its best to work with him!


    Tentatively, Bai Yunfei unstrapped the Soul Sentinel Scarf from his head and gently floated it into the flames of the cauldron.


    Refining a soul armament required supplementary resources, generally speaking. But since he wasn¡¯t actually refining it, Bai Yunfei could forego those resources and let Heavenfire handle the rest of the details.


    There was a beam of red light as Heavenfire suddenly shot forth from where he stood to enter the cauldron!


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    Stunned, Bai Yunfei watched as the cauldron trembled once before a voice spoke into his mind!


    ¡°Continue controlling the flames. I¡¯ll handle the rest.¡±


    It was Heavenfire!


    He had ¡®attached¡¯ himself to the cauldron to temporarily act as its spirit!


    Not forgetting the purpose at hand, Bai Yunfei hurried to clear his mind of all distractions and focus on controlling the flames in the cauldron.


    As harsh as the flames were inside the cauldron, the Soul Sentinel Scarf seemed completely untouched by them. Physically, that was the case. A strange energy was being transmitted from the flames into the Regalia and causing it to change bit by bit¡­


    The more time went on, the more Bai Yunfei felt pleased. He could sense the ¡®sentience¡¯ inside the Soul Sentinel Scarf start to come to life!


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    Four hours passed before a drastic event took place. The silence in the caves was ruined as a loud explosion of heat and fire erupted from the cauldron. A figure in red was the first to appear from the cauldron before another small object flew out to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands.


    ¡°It worked!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei whooped with joy the moment he felt the Soul Sentinel Scarf land on his hands. There was definitely a new energy that radiated from the scarf now!


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf was finally awake!!

 Chapter 1165: A Tale From Thirty Years Ago

    A gray light was shining from the surface of the Soul Sentinel Scarf. Flickering in a rhythmic pattern, the light slowly grew in brightness until it was about the size of a fist.


    With how rhythmic the light flashed and how it moved about, one could perhaps be mistaken that the light was a fairy of some kind.


    ¡°He¡¯s awake! Sentinel¡¯s awake!!¡±


    A white tiger exclaimed from beside Bai Yunfei. It was an excited Sealer.


    ¡°That¡¯s without a doubt Sentinel¡¯s ¡®aura¡¯. It¡¯s not a newborn spirit, it¡¯s the original Sentinel.¡±


    Xiao Fang spoke from the left side of Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Sealer¡­Core¡­¡±


    A voice, soft-spoken like a whisper almost, spoke from within the gray light of the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    ¡°Eh?! He still remembers us?! Haha! That¡¯s definitely Sentinel then!¡± Sealer began to cackle with laughter, excited to meet his old friend once again.


    Bai Yunfei was excited to hear Sentinel too. With Sentinel¡¯s spirit awake, that meant the Soul Sentinel Scarf would be a lot stronger than before.


    It seemed Sentinel was still muddled, however. More time would most likely be needed before Sentinel was back at full capacity.


    ¡°Awaking that spirit required less work than I expected. I will not need to go into hibernation, it seems. It is strange¡­this Regalia was stronger than I initially thought. I assumed this Regalia was only a low-divine tier, but I distinctly felt the power of a high-divine tier when it was being refined¡­¡±


    Heavenfire muttered as he observed the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    Bai Yunfei fastened the Regalia back onto his forehead first before bowing to Heavenfire. ¡°Thank you for your help, senior Heavenfire.¡±


    Heavenfire waved his hand, ¡°No need for that. I look forward to your future if you could do that much with the Dualflame Cauldron on your first attempt.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei and Zi Jin walked out from the examination caves in silence. The latter looked contemplative about something. ¡°Yunfei,¡± He began to speak, ¡°follow me. There¡¯s something I¡¯d like talk to you about.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked, ¡°Yes, master.¡±


    The two walked through a small forest before they arrived at the little residence of Zi Jin.


    Directing Bai Yunfei into the home, Zi Jin sat down on a small cot and had his student sit in front of him.


    ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re quite curious about little Rui?¡± He asked, ¡°Allow me to tell you about her situation then¡­¡±


    ¡°Little Rui?!¡± Bai Yunfei was shocked. This wasn¡¯t the conversation he was expecting.


    Zi Jin nodded. ¡°Yes. Huangfu Nan or Cang Yu was supposed to be the ones to tell you, but I imagine it would be a sore topic for them now. I thought it would be best that I tell you the story then¡­¡±


    He gave a pained sigh. ¡°As you might¡¯ve expected, this is a story involving your ¡®senior¡¯, Dongfang Ming. It happened thirty years ago. I was the headmaster then too, having only just accepted Jiang Nan as my third disciple. Kou Changkong and Dongfang Ming were both disciples at the time¡­.¡±


    A wistful light appeared in his eyes. This was a story that must¡¯ve held plenty of emotions for him, as he looked almost lost as he retold it. And the more Bai Yunfei listened, the more amazed he grew¡­


    Thirty years ago¡­


    It was a time when Zi Jin was the headmaster, and Kou Changkong was the ¡®rising star¡¯ of his generation. Not only was he talented, but his name was beginning to spread all over the continent. By comparison, the second disciple, Dongfang Ming, was more ¡®obscure¡¯. He was a fanatic for crafting and dedicated all of his time and energy in delving into the art of craftsmanship.


    In Zi Jin¡¯s eyes, the both of them were outstanding individuals in their own rights. Their priorities were different in ways, but they were still the hopes of the entire Crafting School.


    Cang Yu was a senior student at the time. As a powerful and pretty individual, she was the target of affection for many of the male students there. Among those interested were Dongfang Ming and Huangfu Nan¡­


    Incidentally, Cang Yu and Dongfang Ming were both quite close to one another. Many thought the two would become an official couple when¡­


    Everything changed one day when Dongfang Ming returned from one of his supply trips. When he did, it seemed like he was an entirely different person¡­


    As obsessed as he was with crafting, Dongfang Ming would still interact with the other students on a regular basis. But after he returned, he¡¯d spend days locked up in his own cave to craft soul armament after soul armament. No one paid much attention at first, but the situation continued for several months like this.


    That was when Zi Jin realized something was wrong. Approaching his disciple, Zi Jin was horrified to realize that¡­Dongfang Ming was crafting a demonic armament!


    A type of armament forbidden by the Crafting School to craft!


    His first thought was to expel Dongfang Ming. But the very thought pained him! Rather than to do that, he decided to be lenient on him due to their relationship as master and student and forbade him from crafting for three years.


    But Dongfang Ming¡¯s fascination with demonic armaments was even stronger than Zi Jin imagined! Even after confiscating his materials and cauldron, Zi Jin was amazed to find out Dongfang Ming had a second cauldron and some hidden materials to continue crafting a demonic armament!


    To make matters even worse¡ªDongfang Ming was using an extremely vile method of crafting a demonic armament¡ªthe usage of his own blood and soul!


    Using the blood and soul of the crafter might not be too abhorrent of a method, but it was a different story if the blood and soul was taken from someone else¡­


    Dongfang Ming had attacked another crafter within the school and used their blood and soul to craft a demonic armament!


    That was when the entire school realized what had happened to him, Dongfang Ming had fallen into madness!


    And the student he attacked was a good friend of Jiang Nan!


    He fled the school after the deed was done, leaving a heartbroken Zi Jin to be forced to erase his names from the school¡¯s ranks and give chase to kill him.


    For kilometers the two played a game of cat and mouse before Zi Jin managed to wound his old student with a serious injury. Before he could land the finishing blow, however, a mysterious figure saved Dongfang Ming and took him away.


    And from that moment onward, Dongfang Ming was never heard from again until a year later¡­


    One year later, Zi Jin was trying to become a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. Then at the most critical moment¡­Dongfang Ming appeared with several Soul Emperors from the Soul Refining School!


    That was when Zi Jin realized it was the Soul Refining School that saved him!


    They appeared so suddenly that the Crafting School was caught unprepared. Not only had Zi Jin failed to breakthrough, but he was dealt a critical injury and could only watch as multiple of his students were killed¡­


    Dongfang Ming planned to bring Cang Yu away at the time, but as it turned out Cang Yu was actually pregnant with Huangfu Nan¡¯s child!


    A battle erupted between Dongfang Ming and Huangfu Nan by that time. Before Zi Jin could break up the fight, both Huangfu Nan and Cang Yu were in grave danger¡ªCang Yu most especially!


    In the end, Zi Jin saved the both of them at the cost of his own strength. The wounds he already sustained combined with the ones he got protecting the couple saw to his strength dropping down to the level of a Soul King¡­


    The Crafting School managed to drive off their enemies, but not without paying a heavy price. Many of their students were killed and many of their armories had been looted.


    Zi Jin stepped down as headmaster after that. Along with several other of the elders, he disappeared into the northern peak to recuperate his strength.


    Huangfu Nan was born not too long after that. Nothing seemed wrong at first, but as she grew up, both Huangfu Nan and Cang Yu realized something heartbreaking¡­

 Chapter 1166: Revealing a Secret

    Huangfu Rui¡¯s mental and physical growth were both exceedingly slow!!


    Not only was she just barely learning to speak when she was five, but she also looked like a two or three-year-old!


    A child experiencing problems in growth wasn¡¯t meant to happen! The genes of a soul cultivator were superior to those of a commoner. A child born from two soul cultivators, like Huangfu Rui, wasn¡¯t supposed to experience any developmental problems!


    But there was a reason why such a problem had occurred. It was because of a certain person whom Cang Yu fought and was injured by!


    Dongfang Ming!


    His goal at the time wasn¡¯t to injure Cang Yu, but to use a technique to target the unborn baby in her! It was a technique that not even Zi Jin had noticed at the time!


    The couple was heartbroken upon realizing that. All sorts of doctors were called upon in hopes that they could heal Huangfu Rui.


    But no doctor could.


    The pain grew even worse when they found out that Huangfu Rui¡¯s mental growth had capped at the age of a pre-teen.


    It pained Huangfu Nan and Cang Yu greatly for nearly twenty years. That was why the two of them were so excited to hear about the Yao clan still existing.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was quiet. Zi Jin¡¯s story had been a more heavy one than he expected. Never had he ever expected the Crafting School to have a story like that.


    The Soul Refining School had actually attacked the Crafting School thirty years ago!


    And to think Dongfang Ming was that type of person¡­


    It was no wonder Jiang Nan had been so angry when he asked about the second disciple¡­


    ¡°Please be assured, master. I¡¯ll definitely bring little Rui to the Yao clan to see if they can help her.¡±


    The Yao clan had actually given Bai Yunfei plenty of high-grade pills and such, but those were primarily geared towards recovering soulforce or wounds in battle and not meant for something like what Huangfu Rui had. It was best that the Yao clan take a look at her first. They had many different types of pills, after all, maybe they had a pill that could help her.


    The Yao clan had recipes for many pills, most of which they had little of in their repositories. Due to the limited resources on the Qimang Mountains, the Yao clan found it impossible to make many of the pills written in their records. Some pills also required a Soul Emperor to be the one to make it.


    With the Yao clan being in the Soulbeast Forest now, they would undoubtedly have the means and resources to make even more pills than before. A few of the elders were already preparing themselves to become Soul Emperors with the cooperation of the soulbeasts. Given all that, the Yao clan would without a doubt be able to reclaim their past glory with pills that would be even more astonishing than before.


    It was nearly a month since Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng parted ways, meaning there was a little over two months until they promised to meet again at the Crafting School. It wouldn¡¯t do for Bai Yunfei to leave with Huangfu Rui back to the Soulbeast Forest without putting any preparations on Li Chengfeng¡¯s soul armament. It might be best for Huangfu Rui that his master take her to see the Yao clan. Maybe they¡¯ll have a pill to help Zi Jin recover his strength too¡­


    ¡°Yes, well, there¡¯s no need to rush this issue. Plan it out as you will¡­¡± Zi Jin spoke, he noticed how deep in thought Bai Yunfei was.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting late now, hurry back to your courtyard. We can talk about this another time, rest up for now¡­¡±


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t move from his spot. Confused, Zi Jin turned around.


    ¡°Yunfei? Is there something on your mind?¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked up to his master, a hesitant expression still on his face. ¡°Master¡­¡± He decided at last, ¡°There is an important secret I would like to confess about¡­¡±


    ¡°A secret?¡± Zi Jin¡¯s eyebrows rose upward, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­have this unexplainable ¡®power¡¯. I can ¡®upgrade¡¯ any soul armament like another crafter might refine one. All I need to do is concentrate on it and I can greatly improve a soul armament¡¯s power.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zi Jin didn¡¯t know how to respond to such a declaration, ¡°What are you talking about, Yunfei?¡±


    He could understand what Bai Yunfei said, but the meaning behind them was a little too much for him to comprehend.


    ¡°I can¡¯t explain it fully, this ¡®power¡¯ of mine, but it was something I was able to use even when I was just a commoner. I called it the Equipment Upgrade Technique. As long as I think about ¡®upgrading¡¯ any equipment¡ªlike a soul armament¡ªthen I can strengthen them without danger.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡±


    Zi Jin didn¡¯t seem to quite understand yet, but he had a grim look on his face, ¡°Are¡­are you telling the truth, Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°I could never joke to you, master. If you can let me borrow a soul armament you¡¯re familiar with, I can show you.¡±


    Zi Jin obliged. Taking out a small red blade, he tossed the weapon over to Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei took the soul armament, it was an ordinary low-heaven tier soul armament without any distinguishing features. Concentrating on the soul armament, Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    A moment later, he said it again. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    And again. ¡°Upgrade.


    ¡°Upgrade¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Confused by Bai Yunfei¡¯s mutterings and what he was trying to do, Zi Jin watched him in silence. He didn¡¯t understand at first, but the more he watched Bai Yunfei do whatever it was he was doing (and fail twice), the more the understanding dawned on his face¡­


    His eyes could see the flow of soulforce. Every time Bai Yunfei said that word, some of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce would trickle into the soul armament in his hands and cause a reaction!


    The last time Bai Yunfei said the word ¡®upgrade¡¯ was when the soul armament was +10. The soul armament flashed once with red light, causing Zi Jin to gasp out loud. ¡°That¡¯s¡­the Law of Fire!¡±


    Having a soul armament become +10 meant it¡¯d gain an additional effect. This one in particular gained one pertaining to elemental fire, which was evident by the Law of Fire appearing. Bai Yunfei knew that and understood that it was the Law of Fire that was responsible for ¡®granting¡¯ an additional effect.


    Zi Jin was a Peak Late-stage Soul King, but he was once a Soul Emperor before he lost his strength. As such, his power of perception was better than any Soul King. Furthermore, he was even more sensitive to the flow of elemental fire as a crafter and could easily tell what the Law of Fire meant if it was doing here.


    Its appearance wasn¡¯t the result of Bai Yunfei summoning it here. It flowed into the soul armament for a brief moment before causing the soul armament to change drastically!


    He didn¡¯t even need to hold the soul armament himself to tell that it had changed. That low-heaven tier soul armament was¡­now a mid-heaven tier!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Master, this is the ¡®upgrading¡¯ I told you about. This soul armament has now been upgraded to +10, but upgrading it any more would risk it being destroyed. It¡¯s nearly twice as strong as it was before and has a special ¡®power¡¯ now. There¡¯s a 30% chance to send a wave of elemental fire whenever its used to attack.¡±


    Smiling at the stunned expression on his master¡¯s face, Bai Yunfei bowed deeply to him. ¡°Please forgive me if this offends you, master!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Then he threw the blade at Zi Jin!


    He knew it was easier to show than it was to explain. The best method of proving it to his master was to show the changes of the upgraded soul armament himself.


    ¡°Eh?!¡± Moving immediately to protect himself, Zi Jin grabbed hold of the thrown dagger with his right hand, clamping the blade in between his index and middle finger.


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    A metallic hum ran up the blade as it thrummed in between Zi Jin¡¯s fingers. The soul armament¡­was definitely as strong as a mid-heaven tier soul armament now!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Enveloping the dagger in a bubble of elemental fire, Bai Yunfei had it pull itself from Zi Jin¡¯s grasp and move in to slash at him!


    ¡°Clang clang¡­¡±


    Zi Jin slapped the dagger away immediately, causing sparks to fly between where his palm and the dagger made contact. But rather than be safe as he expected, Zi Jin was alarmed to see a wave of elemental fire erupt from the dagger toward him!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A wave of fire washed over Zi Jin but failed to do any damage to him. Dispersing the flames, he watched as the dagger slowly floated back down to his hand.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    He was at a loss for words. There was no way he didn¡¯t believe in Bai Yunfei¡¯s words now, but still¡­


    This situation seemed¡­impossible still!

 Chapter 1167: A Qualitative Life

    It was already night by the time Bai Yunfei emerged from the northern peak. He walked on the path back to his room with a smile on the face. Just thinking about how surprised his master had been was a sight far too hilarious to forget.


    He felt pleased about it, in fact. What student wouldn¡¯t after surprising their master?


    The Upgrade Technique wasn¡¯t something he meant to keep a secret forever. He had his misgivings about revealing it earlier in his life, but that was when he was far too weak to confidently protect himself. Things were different now. There shouldn¡¯t be any problems if his secret got out now.


    The world was in chaos, and the Crafting School was stuck right in the middle of it. It was Bai Yunfei¡¯s responsibility as a student of the school to help them weather the storm. Hiding his Upgrade Technique rather than use it for the benefit of his school would simply be far too selfish of him.


    So that was why he told his secret to his own master, who could then divulge it to the other elders for him.


    He was already prepared to upgrade most of the soul armaments of the higher echelons of the school. He was looking forward to seeing what kind of rare equipment he could upgrade.


    ¡­¡­


    Returning to his room on the western peak, Bai Yunfei pulled out the Dualflame Cauldron and prepared to upgrade it.


    Manually upgrading would be vital to raise the soul compatibility of it to the highest level possible. That meant more time would be needed.


    Dozens of minutes later¡­


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Soul Compatibility: 60%


    Equipment Effect 1: Chances of success when crafting multiplied by 10.


    Equipment Effect 2: Substantially increase the soul compatibility of any crafted soul armament.


    Equipment Effect 3: 30% Chance to add a fire affinity to an equipment when crafting.


    Equipment Effect 4: 5% Chance to apply the Law of Fire to a heaven-tier equipment


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to be refunded all materials used if crafting failed.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    It was with great joy that Bai Yunfei took a second look at the newly-upgraded Dualflame Cauldron!


    The cauldron was a work of wonder. It felt like each upgrade was truly bringing him closer with it¡ªit was already at 60% compatibility after his upgrades; that meant this was a soulbound armament now!


    The first thing to take note of was the first equipment effect. Before, the cauldron had a multiplier of eight for success, but now it was ten. The biggest shock factor was the +10 additional effect¡ªthe ability to basically redo a failed attempt!


    Materials didn¡¯t come cheap. Any crafter could tell you that. Rare materials were gathered painstakingly and often times reserved for special occasions. A failure could make any crafter sullen for days. If by chance this effect activated, then Bai Yunfei would be able to try again as if nothing happened the first time!


    He sorely wanted to try out the Dualflame Cauldron. It was a tempting idea, but perhaps best suited for another day. It was possible that his master might call him tomorrow even.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t sleep well that night due to his excitement. Choosing to call Xiao Qi out, he and the bird traveled back up high in the sky to where chaotic energy would gather. It was time for them to train.


    The feeling of training with chaotic energy was invigorating to Bai Yunfei. The Law of Chaos had made the entire experience pleasant to him now compared to before. Training with chaotic energy felt substantially different now that he understood the methodology behind it.


    He could even feel each training session significantly boosting his strength. It was to be expected, after all. A Soul Emperor using chaotic energy to train? That was meant to be a luxury reserved for Soul Saints¡­


    Daybreak was fast approaching by the time Bai Yunfei returned. Eating breakfast with a few of the other students, Bai Yunfei bided his time until his master called to him via soul communication to meet at the main hall.


    A few elders were already there waiting for him by the time he arrived. Zi Jin, Kou Changkong, and some elders, some of which he had never seen before were all seated there.


    All eyes were on Bai Yunfei as he walked in. Each one of them had excited looks on their faces¡­


    That meant Zi Jin must¡¯ve told the elders about his Upgrade Technique.


    Calming down, Bai Yunfei slowly stepped into the hall¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    News of his Upgrade Technique brought waves of excitement throughout the highest-ranking members of the Crafting School. All eyes were on him as he began to upgrade an immeasurable amount of high-grade soul armaments. Many tried to learn his secret, but none could, in the end. They gave up after a while, conceding with some bitterness that only Bai Yunfei would be able to use this ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯.


    It was hopeless. Even though Bai Yunfei had the Manual Upgrade Technique, that was the result of his experimentation with the original Upgrade Technique. Without that, no one else would be able to learn it.


    Multiple days were spent upgrading soul armament after soul armament. Every Soul King in the school stopped by to see Bai Yunfei to have him upgrade their soul armaments. As a result, the strength of the school skyrocketed by a decent amount¡ªany enemy would be in for a rude awakening if they fought these crafters now.


    Upgrading, training, spending time with Tang Xinyun, chatting with friends, or ¡®teaching¡¯ others, that was Bai Yunfei¡¯s life now that he was back in the Crafting School, but it was a life filled with niceties and happiness.


    ¡­¡­


    Early one morning, Bai Yunfei walked out from his room. Seven days had passed since the last of the elder¡¯s soul armaments were upgraded, but a group of people were gathered in front of his room as if waiting for him.


    It was Huangfu Rui and her little red magiboar that greeted him first, ¡°Bro Strawhat!¡± She groused, ¡°You¡¯re so slow! You said we were going to play today! You¡¯re so lazy sleeping in this late!!¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± The smile on his face faltered, ¡°Aren¡¯t you all a little¡­too early? It¡¯s not even eight, we don¡¯t leave until later!¡±


    He greeted the others with Huangfu Rui. Tang Xinyun was there, of course, but there was also Mo Xiaoxuan, Tian Yuhang, Fei Nian, and Zhang Sanxian. Everyone was here so they could first take a small trip to Redfire City.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going then.¡±


    Flying was prohibited upon schoolgrounds, and Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t about to abuse his status just so they could play. Teleportation was also out of the picture since that¡¯d make the entire trip pointless and boring.


    ¡°Okay~! We¡¯re off! Come on, Xiao Rourou! Come on!¡±


    Huangfu Rui laughed, leading the group at the front along with her boar. It felt soothing to the soul to watch her laugh like this. As much as he wanted her to retain that liveliness, to have her remain this way forever was not an option. Bai Yunfei was determined to find a way to help cure Huangfu Rui¡­


    The group took a while to walk down the mountains. Joking and laughing along the way, everyone chatted to one another about the interesting news they heard about within the school. Tian Yuhang was especially stunned to hear Bai Yunfei¡¯s stories while Huangfu Rui would occasionally prance about the front of the group like a deer. All in all, it was a nice and pleasant walk so far.


    ¡°Yunfei!! Hahaha! It really is you! Yunfei!!¡±


    A loud voice greeted the group when they stepped off the mountain. The laughter amongst the group died off as everyone looked up to look toward the source.


    A person was coming toward them, that person was¡­

 Chapter 1168: Reuniting With Zheng Kai

    Bai Yunfei snapped his head up; this was someone he knew!


    ¡°Zheng Kai!!¡±


    A figure in white was flying through the air toward them. Originally, this person was being led toward the Crafting School by a crafter, but the moment he saw Bai Yunfei and the others, he flew like lightning to meet the group. In no time at all, he was already right in front of them.


    It was none other than another close friend of Bai Yunfei¡ªZheng Kai!!


    Just as excited as Zheng Kai was, Bai Yunfei ran toward to meet his friend with a hug and a smile.


    ¡°Haha!! I knew you were alive! Where in the world did you run off to for three years! I was so excited to hear you destroyed the Beast Taming School that I couldn¡¯t fall asleep, I¡¯ll tell you what! Had I known you were already back in the Crafting School I¡¯d have rushed here sooner! It¡¯s good to see you again, brother!¡±


    Zheng Kai gave Bai Yunfei a hearty slap on the back, laughing as he did. Just a little bit, Bai Yunfei could detect a faint choking sound in Zheng Kai¡¯s voice. He was most likely trying to stop himself from tearing up¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­a long story, but I¡¯m happy to see you again too, brother!¡± Bai Yunfei laughed in return. He took a step back to take a good look at Zheng Kai. ¡°Haha, you¡¯ve done well for yourself! Three years and you¡¯ve already become a Mid-stage Soul King!¡±


    ¡°Heh, I¡¯d feel better about myself if it was someone else but you saying it. It just sounds wrong to hear this type of praise from you!¡± Zheng Kai retorted, ¡°You¡¯re the real monster here, pal. How¡¯d you become a Soul Emperor?! Does the term ¡®common sense¡¯ mean anything to you?¡±


    The Extreme King Pill had done a lot for Zheng Kai. Three years ago he was just an Early-stage Soul King, but now he was a Mid-stage Soul King. This was a rate of improvement that¡¯d put him on track with his brother. Compared to Bai Yunfei, however¡­


    ¡°And aha! Xinyun! Long time no see! I see little Rui, Xiaoxuan, Fei Nian, and Sanxian¡­how¡¯s it going?¡±


    The people behind Bai Yunfei were quickly greeted one by one by Zheng Kai. His last trip to the Crafting School saw to him coming to know most of the people here.


    ¡°Bro Shameless! You¡¯re here again!¡± Little Rui laughed, happy to see Zheng Kai once more.


    The smile on Zheng Kai¡¯s face faltered a bit. Squatting down to see Huangfu Rui eye-to-eye, ¡°I¡¯ve told you so many times to call me brother Zheng, my dear sister. I even brought you a gift¡ªsome specialty snacks from the Capital!¡±


    ¡°Wow!! Snacks?!¡± Huangfu Rui took the items from Zheng Kai at once with stars in her eyes, ¡°Thank you so much Bro Shameless!¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    Zheng Kai stood back up, there was no point convincing this one anymore.


    ¡°Bro Shameless?¡± Bai Yunfei gave Zheng Kai a curious glance.


    Hiding his snigger, Mo Xiaoxuan whispered, ¡°Everyone knows about brother Zheng Kai¡¯s crush on sister Tingting. When he was first here, he spent the entire time offering sister Tingting his time and affection, even when it didn¡¯t seem like she cared. We all thought he had some amazing willpower, and of course, that¡¯s where we came up with his nickname ¡®Super Shameless¡¯. Huangfu Rui was there at the time and got annoyed with him, so she started calling him ¡®Bro Shameless¡¯...¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Not even Bai Yunfei could hide his smirk. ¡°So what happened? Anything happen between them two yet?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­I don¡¯t know. He was called back home after that, but I heard he went to the Water School a year ago to see her. He also escorted her back here, but I don¡¯t ever remember hearing them say anything about one another¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t help but sympathize with Zheng Kai. For his entire life, Zheng Kai was a person capable of getting in the good graces of any girl he like. But after three whole years of vying for Kou Tingting¡¯s affections¡­


    ¡°Hey¡­what¡¯s with that look, Yunfei?¡± Zheng Kai seemed a bit peeved at Bai Yunfei¡¯s stare, ¡°Where were you guys going anyways?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to play in Redfire City! You want to come with us, Bro Shameless?¡± Huangfu Rui spoke up in between mouthfuls of snacks.


    ¡°Oh? A play date? Seems like I got here at the right time then, it¡¯d be a shame if I missed it.¡± Zheng Kai laughed.


    ¡°Eh?¡± He craned his neck to look around the group, ¡°Tingting¡¯s not with you?¡±


    ¡°...And here I¡¯m thinking you lied about coming to see me. You¡¯re here for Tingting, aren¡¯t you? Sorry to disappoint then, but Tingting is still at the Water School.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    With Huangfu Rui urging the group to hurry and Zheng Kai joining their group, Bai Yunfei continued their way down to the city. On the way, Bai Yunfei told a few more stories about what he experienced over the years.


    It was about half an hour later when Huangfu Rui began to feel tired of walking. From here on out, the group took to the skies. They continued on that way for a while before Huangfu Rui got tired of even that. The only other method of transportation after that was teleportation.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the group to enter Redfire City via that method. Huangfu Rui was reinvigorated now that they were in the city. Pulling Tang Xinyun by the arm, the younger girl began to laugh and cheer at the sights.


    Leisurely, they walked through the streets of the city. Bai Yunfei felt happy. He could remember the last time he was here. He had been an insignificant Soul Sprite back then, but he remembered giving Tang Xinyun that glass lantern¡­


    ¡°I heard someone say there¡¯s a play up in the northern district, want to go take a look?¡± Fei Nian offered.


    ¡°A play? Okay! I want to see! Let¡¯s go sing and dance!¡±


    No one had any objections to that. Huangfu Rui was happy, and that was enough for them all. Together, the group began to head for the north.


    ¡°Hey Yunfei, if you¡¯ve nothing better to do after this, why not come back with me to the Capital for a trip? My father ordered me to invite you back to our place as a guest. I¡¯ll be in for a beating if I don¡¯t.¡±


    Zheng Kai gave a half-serious smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t for now¡­I have a friend coming by soon to see me. I have to wait for him. Then after that I have some things to take care of in the Soulbeast Forest¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Zheng Kai sighed, ¡°That¡¯s fine. No need to rush. I¡¯ll ask again when you¡¯re done. Let me go with you to the Soulbeast Forest though! I¡¯ve been meaning to find a soulbeast to contract with¡ªyou¡¯re a familiar figure in the soulbeast world anyhow, why not help me find a nice soulbeast while we¡¯re at it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re an optimist,¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°but I¡¯ll give it a try. I know a few spatial-type class seven soulbeasts, you can see for yourself later.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes lit up with joy, ¡°Haha! That¡¯s my brother! You¡¯ve said it then!¡±


    The conversation shifted onto other topics, ¡°How¡¯re my students? You happen to know anything about them?¡±


    ¡°Your students? Well¡­they¡¯re doing pretty well for themselves. They might not be at the level of a Crafting School¡¯s student, but they¡¯re still doing well enough to be getting offers from other people! Mo Wanxia became a Soul King half a year ago and managed to make a heaven-tier soul armament. There¡¯s also that senior of yours, Jiang Nan. I hear he¡¯s preparing to teach a new bunch of students for the academy.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Mo Wanxia¡¯s a Soul King already? And a second class?¡±


    That was unexpected. As it turned out, Jiang Nan was introduced to the academy to substitute Bai Yunfei since he was gone for three years. But if a second class was being made, didn¡¯t that mean the first bunch was skilled enough to be considered as ¡®graduated¡¯?


    Curious, Bai Yunfei began to ask Zheng Kai a little more about what happened within the academy over the years¡­


    The group continued to chatter with one another until they reached a small crossroad. Just as they were prepared to walk in one direction, a tiny voice called out to them¡­


    ¡°I say, you there miss. I can see your palm lines are getting dark, an omen of bad things to come. Would you care for this humble person to divine your future?¡±

 Chapter 1169: Meeting Nalan Yin Once Again

    ¡°I say, you there miss. I can see your palm lines are getting dark, an omen of bad things to come. Would you care for this humble person to divine your future?


    ¡°And but don¡¯t be afraid¡­I am from a noble background as an accurate fate diviner. They call me the ¡®Right Hand of the God of Fate¡¯, some might call me ¡®Miser¡¯, but¡­rest assured, allow me to take a look at your palm first¡­¡±


    It was the first sentence that caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention, but it was the latter part that caused him to pay closer attention to the speaker.


    He was a young man dressed in a coarse robe of gray. His hair was tied behind his head, but only at the top so the rest of his hair splayed wildly whenever the wind blew. Handsome, but somewhat arrogant, the man looked quite laidback at a glance. At the current moment he was staring curiously at the palm of a young woman, a finger to his chin as he thought ¡®profusely¡¯ about it.


    ¡°Nalan Yin?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed in surprise¡ªthis was a person he met several times before. The mysterious Nalan Yin!


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei?¡±


    Noticing Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression, Zheng Kai turned his head to look at the same direction as him.


    ¡°Saw someone I know, I¡¯m going to say hello.¡±


    Turning around, Bai Yunfei weaved through the throngs of people between him and Nalan Yin. ¡°Long time no see, brother Nalan.¡±


    Having been so engrossed in the palm he was reading, it took Nalan Yin a second to understand he was being spoken to. ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± He gasped, ¡°You¡¯re Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    ¡°You still remember me I see,¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d meet each other here¡­¡±


    The signpost behind Nalan Yin had only one word on it; ¡®Fortunetelling¡¯. Strangely enough, Bai Yunfei began to realize something¡ªthe way Nalan Yin was dressed and spoke was exactly the same as the first time the two first met. Was this really the same person he met in Redfire City all those years ago?


    That¡¯d be a big joke if he was since ¡®swindlers¡¯ of the world would never be a Late-stage Soul King.


    ¡°How could I not? You¡¯re the hot topic of the whole world!¡± Nalan Yin laughed as he finished up his reading of the woman¡¯s palm. He flashed a smile to her before bidding farewell.


    ¡°Brother Nalan¡­¡± Bai Yunfei spoke the moment she was gone, ¡°What is this¡­?¡±


    ¡°This?¡± Laughed Nalan Yin, ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s a hobby of mine, a hobby I like very much.¡±


    ¡°...........¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, who is this¡­?¡±


    Tang Xinyun and the others had caught up with Bai Yunfei now. Zheng Kai was still giving Nalan Yin a curious glance as he whispered to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°This is Nalan Yin.¡± Bai Yunfei introduced, ¡°Brother Nalan, this is my wife, Tang Xinyun. And these are my friends, Zheng Kai, Mo Xiaoxuan¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, the young miss of the Tang and the second son of the Zheng¡­¡± Nalan Yin quirked an eyebrow, ¡°This one is Nalan Yin, a pleasure to meet you all.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, brother Nalan.¡± Still curious, Zheng Kai gave Nalan Yin a polite bow.


    Once he was done greeting everyone, Nalan Yin turned back to face Bai Yunfei. ¡°It feels like it was just yesterday since we saw each other in the Soulbeast Forest. Allow myself to give my heartfelt admiration and congratulations for your breakthrough into the Emperors, brother Bai¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not doing too badly for yourself, brother Nalan. Becoming a Soul Emperor won¡¯t be too far in your future.¡±


    Nalan Yin appeared at the sight of the Extreme King Pill struggle when Li Chengfeng did. The two managed to secure just as much of the Extreme King Pills to allow them an easy breakthrough to become Soul Kings, but their rate of progression after that was alarming to see.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a mere opportunist¡­it¡¯s you who we should be talking about! Haha, destroying the entire Beast Taming School? Respect isn¡¯t even half of what I feel! I presume you went to the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts to become a Soul Emperor?¡±


    ¡°Oh? How did you know that?¡±


    ¡°Just a guess.¡± Nalan Yin smiled myseriously. ¡°How was it like? Was it easy breaking through in there?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­it¡¯s a place containing all the dead class eight soulbeasts and their inheritances, but that¡¯s about it¡­¡± Bai Yunfei answered, confused why Nalan Yin would ask. ¡°Oh, if I recall correctly, your contracted soulbeast partner is the renowned divinebeast Zhi Tian, correct? You must be heading into the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts soon yourself?¡±


    ¡°What? You knew?!¡± Nalan Yin gasped.


    ¡°My friend, Li Chengfeng, is a student of the Fate School. He told me that he saw you and your soulbeast partner during the Extreme King Pill struggle.¡±


    ¡°Him?! You know him?!¡±


    ¡°From a very long time ago, I saw him very recently, in fact. He told me¡­you¡¯re the disciple of Ling Yin the Wanderer, right?¡±


    Mysterious didn¡¯t even begin to describe Nalan Yin. Bai Yunfei always thought he was a student of the Fate School due to the strange soul armament he had, but it turned out that wasn¡¯t the case. Li Chengfeng told Bai Yunfei when they met that Nalan Yin was just the disciple of Ling Yin, one of the most powerful wandering soul cultivators on the continent. Ling Yin the Wanderer. A powerful soul cultivator that once had ties with the Fate School, hence him being able to wield the energy of fate.


    To make matters even more strange, Nalan Yin¡¯s soulbeast partner was the extremely rare ¡®omniscient divinebeast¡¯ that could wield the power of fate. Li Chengfeng and Ge Geyun once traveled to the Soulbeast Forest to contract with the divinebeast, but they failed since they didn¡¯t know Nalan Yin was already partnered with him.


    ¡®Divinebeast¡¯ was simply a title given to the soulbeasts of the ancient past. Nalan Yin¡¯s companion, ¡®Zhi Tian¡¯, was a class seven soulbeast, but not even class eight soulbeasts would give him disrepect due to his title.


    ¡°It is as you say.¡± Nalan Yin nodded. ¡°So you knew him after all¡­he must be a Late-stage Soul King by now, Zhi Tian told me that Li Chengfeng is a brilliant genius¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed. ¡°To tell you the truth, Li Chengfeng is already an Early-stage Soul Emperor.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Nalan Yin cried, ¡°He¡¯s already a Soul Emperor?! But how!!¡±


    ¡°Honestly, my friend¡¯s talent for training is practically unmatched¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Nalan Yin looked unsteady. ¡°You¡¯re all monsters¡­¡± He whispered under his breath.


    ¡°Hm?¡± He snapped back up suddenly as if sensing a disturbance in the air. Bowing to everyone, he smiled. ¡°So sorry for the impromptu departure, but there is something I must do right now. Until next time!¡±


    Bewildered by this, Bai Yunfei took a second before he nodded. ¡°Until¡­until next time.¡±


    Sealing the table into his ring and hoisting his signboard onto his shoulder, Nalan Yin took off into the distance.


    He stopped a few seconds later, ¡°Brother Zheng Kai, since it was fate that brought us to meet, allow me to say something¡ªI saw some dark lines on your forehead. A disaster is around the corner for you, I¡¯m afraid. The signs of bloodshed are there, and also the sign of a mighty struggle between life and death. You¡¯d best be very careful¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Zheng Kai replied, confused. But before he could ask about anything else, Nalan Yin was already gone into the crowd¡­

 Chapter 1170: The Troubles of the Water School

    ¡°What did he mean by that, Yunfei?¡±


    Zheng Kai whirled around at once.


    ¡°How¡­should I know?¡± Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°But it¡¯s better to be careful either way. Ah¡¯Kai, be careful in whatever you do from now on.¡±


    ¡°......¡± Zheng Kai continued to stare off in the direction Nalan Yin disappeared in, ¡°Signs of bloodshed? That¡¯s exactly the way a fortune teller would speak¡­damn, what kind of danger am I going to be in?¡±


    Under the constant urging of Huangfu Rui, the group continued on while Zheng Kai traveled slightly behind them and deep in thought.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side where Nalan Yin was. He walked down a dark alleyway before disappearing in a rift in space.


    He reappeared in a small inn somewhere within the city. In the room with him was a white-robed elder.


    ¡°Zhi Tian, what are you calling me for?¡±


    It was the divinebeast known as Zhi Tian!


    ¡°I feared you might be divulging too much about the heavens. Setting foot in matters that ¡®alter fate¡¯ only makes things worse¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you not trust me? I have faith in myself, you know¡­¡±


    ¡°It is better to be safe than it is to be sorry. The strands of fate are too numerous on that person. Altering the course of any of those strands will only lead to unknown repercussions.¡±


    ¡°...Very well then. I¡¯ll try not to make too much contact with that Bai Yunfei then.¡± Nalan Yin shrugged his shoulders. ¡°But can you tell me now what is it we¡¯re ¡®waiting¡¯ for? You never told me why we had to be here for, despite waiting here for so long. It¡¯s been over two months already¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you impatient for,¡± Zhi Tian glanced at him, ¡°you¡¯ll know when the time is right¡­¡±


    ¡°.........¡±


    ¡­¡­


    At the same time, back in the Crafting School.


    In front of the ¡®gates¡¯ of the Crafting School stood the ¡®gatekeepers¡¯. In normal times only two or three of the students would be there at the front to guide newcomers and report to anyone else within the schools, but today there were only two students. Standing idly side-by-side one another, one of them was talking animatedly to the one standing listlessly.


    ¡°Brother Zhong¡­isn¡¯t your senior Bai Yunfei super amazing?! He was a Soul Sprite when he joined ten years ago and now he¡¯s a Soul Emperor! Is¡­is he even human anymore?!¡±


    The one speaking was a young male around the age of fifteen or sixteen. And the one he was speaking so excitedly to was someone familiar to Bai Yunfei, Zhong Xuhao.


    Pleased by the praise he was hearing for his senior, Zhong Xuhao smiled. ¡°Heh, of course! Normal standards can¡¯t even be used to measure big brother Bai! You might not know this, but when big brother Bai joined the Crafting School, his aptitude for crafting wasn¡¯t considered super high, but after that¡­¡±


    The epic saga of Bai Yunfei was soon retold by Zhong Xuhao to the other gatekeeper. But before he could say much else, something caught his attention.


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s that?!¡±


    The other gatekeeper turned to look, ¡°Soul cultivators! Over there!¡±


    A streak of blue was flying toward them. There was also a greenish streak of light underneath the blue¡ªthat had to be a flying soul armament. The soul cultivator riding the soul armament had to be a water-type soul cultivator.


    ¡°Flying is forbidden on the Crafting School¡¯s grounds! Please¡ªhey!!¡±


    Zhong Xuhao wasn¡¯t even finished speaking when he saw the blue streak of light¡­crash to the ground!


    ¡°Brother Zhong, they¡¯re injured!¡±


    ¡°Quick! We¡¯re going to check it out!!¡±


    The two ran toward the person at once. Injured all over, the person was desperately struggling to rise up to their feet. This person was super injured!


    ¡°I am Zhao Xiluo from the Water School!¡± The person cried out the moment Zhong Xuhao was within earshot, ¡°I seek an audience with your esteemed headmaster!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    In Redfire City, Bai Yunfei and his friends were all having the time of their lives. Exuberant and lively, they played until it was night before returning to the school.


    Bai Yunfei was still thinking about what Nalan Yin said. Everything that man said should be taken seriously instead of being dismissed. And considering his relationship with Zheng Kai, Bai Yunfei was quite considered about what Nalan Yin¡¯s warning meant.


    He remembered Nalan Yin saying something similar to him once before. That was roughly around the time Tang Xinyun suffered great damage to her fireseed. This ¡®warning¡¯ to Zheng Kai was definitely worrisome.


    Without Nalan Yin divulging the details, however, it was pointless for Bai Yunfei to do much else but wait. The best he could do was travel with Zheng Kai in the future just in case. Thankfully, Li Chengfeng would be here soon. Considering he and Nalan Yin were in the same ¡®field¡¯ of expertise, it was likely that Li Chengfeng would be able to shed some light onto the situation.


    The trip back to the Crafting School went basically the same as the one to the city. Everyone felt happy, but reluctant to leave the fun. Nonetheless, Bai Yunfei decided to teleport everyone back to Mt. Crimson to return quickly.


    ¡°Brother Bai!! You¡¯re finally back!!¡±


    The group appeared in front of the gates of the school just in time to see Zhong Xuhao run up to them.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Xuhao?¡± Bai Yunfei was on high alert at once¡ªsomething bad was about to happen, he just knew it.


    ¡°An injured student from the Water School came by to see the headmaster a few hours ago. The Water School¡¯s in trouble!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    It was Zheng Kai who cried out, ¡°The Water School?! What happened? Is Tingting alright? Is she back here?!¡±


    ¡°The student that arrived is someone named Zhao Xiluo. I don¡¯t know the details, I just know he¡¯s unconscious right now. The headmaster and the elders are currently talking about it in the main hall¡­¡±


    ¡°Zhao Xiluo!!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, he knew that person!


    ¡°What, you know him?¡± Zheng Kai asked.


    ¡°I do. He¡¯s definitely someone from the Water School. I have to go see what¡¯s wrong right now!¡±


    And with that, Bai Yunfei disappeared from where he stood.


    ¡°Hey, Yunfei!¡± Worried, Zheng Kai turned around to face the others, ¡°We should go up too!¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Tang Xinyun nodded. And so the group quickly went past the gates to rush up to the main hall¡­


    ¡­¡­


    In the main halls of the Crafting School.


    Bai Yunfei appeared in front of the halls a moment later before striding right in.


    There were several people gathered here already, such as the headmaster Kou Changkong, the first three elders, and a few other Soul Kings.


    Sitting on a chair to the right side was an ashen-faced young man. Zhao Xiluo.


    ¡°Headmaster, elders.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed to everyone upon his entrance.


    ¡°Yunfei, you¡¯re back.¡± Kou Changkong greeted in return.


    Zhao Xiluo whipped his head toward Bai Yunfei at once, ¡°Bai Yunfei!!¡± He cried.


    ¡°Brother Zhao, it¡¯s been a long time.¡±


    Surprised, Kou Changkong asked, ¡°You know each other?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was when I was traveling here to become a student. I came to know Zhao Xiluo then.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Is there something wrong with the Water School, headmaster?¡±


    ¡°Zhao Xiluo only just woke up, we¡¯re about to ask him about it. Take a seat first and listen.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei took a seat right by Zhao Xiluo¡¯s side.


    Knowing the important audience he was seated with, Zhao Xiluo gave a weak cough to clear his throat.


    Then he said something utterly shocking to the ears!


    ¡°The Water School was¡­attacked by the Wind Lightning School!¡±

 Chapter 1171: The Chaos Amongst the Five Schools!

    One year ago was the start of the rebellion across the continent. Similarly, the winds of change had started to blow upon the Five Element Schools. A wind that brought with it strife and conflict.


    It started with a rumor saying that students from the Metal School struggled with students from the Fire School over some treasure. From one rumor came forth a large battle that claimed the lives of many participants on both sides.


    The next was a rumor stating several of the inner students of the Earth School mocked an elder of the Water School. If not for the timely intervention of the Earth School¡¯s elders, those students surely would¡¯ve been killed.


    Another rumor surfaced after that, a rumor that caused the Wood and Fire Schools to nearly start to clash with one another.


    No one thought any of the rumors had any relevancy to one another at first. But when another rumor of some students from the Metal School killing students from the Fire School surfaced, many people began to realize there was something serious at play here¡­


    Even the most loving of couples tended to have a quarrel between them once in a while. A small fight every once in a while wasn¡¯t much to worry about, but if the death of a couple of students were had, then¡­


    And that was just the beginning. More and more rumors began to circulate, goading students from different schools to fight. In the end, more and more students were fighting one another, some students even losing their lives in the middle of those conflicts!


    The avalanche had begun. Each of the five schools was pointing the blame elsewhere. Their grudges intensified with each rumor. Soon, some of the students were beginning to take drastic actions¡­


    In no less than two months, the Five Schools were suffering injuries and losses on a growing scale. Not even the Soul Kings were spared¡ªsome had already lost their lives!


    The sentiments between the Water and Wood School had been completely volatile. A war nearly broke out between the two when several mediators from the Wood School managed to calm the waves on both sides.


    But another war was already on the way. The Metal and Fire Schools claimed each other to be responsible for the unjustified murders of their students. In no time at all, a friendly relationship that lasted for several thousands of years was at the risk of being destroyed.


    Not long after the rebellion started when the Soul Refining School began to resurface with their Soul Puppetry, members of the Five School began to realize something¡ªthe cause of all the rumors and deaths of their students was the Soul Refining School!!


    The revelation spread across the Five Schools at once. The Soul Refining School and their Soul Puppetry was behind it all!


    It was like a splash of icy-cold waters on everyone¡¯s heads. But the damage had been done¡ªeveryone had their injured students and casualties. Even if the Soul Refining School was behind it, there were still plenty of deaths that were the result of a direct confrontation between two schools.


    The internal unrest within each of the schools continued after that. Secluding themselves from the rebellion, the schools held a temporary armistice among one another. No one believed it would last for long, but the fact that any two schools would agree to meet one another was already a nice goal to have reached.


    The Water School, for example, decided to spend their time recuperating from their losses. All external affairs were put on hold and their students holed up inside the school to train.


    But that was when disaster struck. A disaster that fell on top of the Water School without warning!


    A group of powerful soul cultivators appeared outside the gates of the Water School seven days ago. Without even a warning, those soul cultivators began to launch an all-out assault on the school!


    Completely caught off-guard by the ambush, the Water School began to put up a hasty counteroffensive. That was when they realized they were fighting against the Wind Lightning School!


    The Water and the Wind Lightning Schools never had any friendly relationships between the two. They were definitely enemies more than they were allies. In fact, the Wind Lightning School was responsible for undermining the Water School¡¯s power during the internal strife of the five schools! And now that an armistice was happening, the Wind Lightning School decided to pull out the heavy weapons and attack the Water School!


    Normally, something like this wouldn¡¯t happen with the Tianhun School being the ones to interject and mediate. A conflict between schools would never get out of hand like this unless the grudges between both parties were so great that it was unreconcilable.


    But with the entire continent in disarray and the Tianhun School severely crippled, there was no mediating power to stand in between the two schools. To make matters even worse, the Tianhun School located in the city nearest to them¡ªWaterdrop City in the Clear Blue Province¡ªhad joined the rebel army! The lord-mayor of the city and other key figures united with several powerful rebel figures and took control of Waterdrop City!


    Zhao Xiluo described the horror he felt when he managed to escape the conflict in the Water School and arrived at Waterdrop City, only to realize he hadn¡¯t escaped at all. Attacked again in the city, Zhao Xiluo only managed to escape when several of his fellow students sacrificed themselves to stall for time.


    The key instrument in his escape was actually a transportation-capable soul armament given to him by an elder of the Water School. Using that, he managed to escape into the direction of the Crafting School in hopes of seeking assistance from them.


    The attacking force of the Wind Lightning School consisted of twenty Soul Kings along with many other of their students. The Water School still had the numbers and power to fight that army, but only enough to create a stalemate. The Water School also had the advantage of the terrain, so they could survive for some time if they committed to defending themselves.


    No one was sure if any reinforcements would arrive for the Wind Lightning School. The Water School would be in heavy danger if any more powerful figures came.


    Before, it could¡¯ve been possible for the Water School to ask for help from the other four schools. That wasn¡¯t possible anymore, however, due to the conflicts over the past months. For the sake of their survival, however, the Water School sent multiple students to the Wood, Fire, Metal, and even the Crafting School from their assistance.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    An eerie silence descended upon the main halls as the crafters digested Zhao Xiluo¡¯s story. It was an especially grave story to hear.


    Kou Changkong was the first to break that silence. ¡°How is Tingting?¡±


    ¡°Please rest assured, headmaster. Sister Kou was safe when I left, our main defensive force is currently some of the inner male disciples. Sister Kou should be fine for the time being.¡±


    Kou Changkong heaved a sigh of relief at that. ¡°This is quite the urgent matter. First elder, please head over there right now!¡±


    ¡°Headmaster, please allow me to go with the first elder!¡±


    Xiao Binzi hadn¡¯t even responded to Kou Changkong when Bai Yunfei piped up.


    ¡°You want to go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m concerned for Tingting¡¯s safety. With the first elder, myself, and Xiao Qi providing assistance, I¡¯m sure we can help the Water School.¡±


    Three Soul Emperors was an incredible fighting force. They¡¯d be enough to help the Water School even if the Wind Lightning School brought in another one or two Soul Emperors as reinforcements.


    No one had doubts of Bai Yunfei¡¯s strengths, not after his secret was revealed and his previous achievements were made known. Kou Changkong nodded after a second to think about it. ¡°Very well then! You¡¯ll bring ten of our Soul Kings with you to aid the Water School!¡±


    No one objected to that. Xiao Binzi hurried off at once to prepare the personnel, but not before telling Bai Yunfei to be prepared to leave in a minute.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What?! The Wind Lightning School is attacking the Water School?! Why? No, no, Tingting¡¯s in danger, I have to go over there too!!¡±


    Zheng Kai exploded with agitation at once the moment Bai Yunfei broke the news to him and the others. He was the one that was the most stunned by the news.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, calm yourself,¡± Bai Yunfei yanked his shoulder to face him. ¡°Getting agitated won¡¯t help you here. I¡¯m heading over there in a moment. It won¡¯t take us a day to get there with the Core Stone. Tingting will be fine.¡±


    He knew there was no stopping Zheng Kai from going so he didn¡¯t even bother to stop him.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­please be careful.¡± Tang Xinyun warned him with concern.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine and back before you know it.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡­¡­


    A minute afterward, Xiao Binzi was back with multiple Soul Kings from the previous generation. Ten in total. Bai Yunfei had Zhao Xiluo and Zheng Kai stay in the Core World for now along with the Soul Kings. He planned to use the Core Stone to teleport him, Xiao Binzi, and Xiao Qi over to the Water School as fast as he could!

 Chapter 1172: The Battlefield Situation of the Water School

    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Explosions rocked the world as greenish-violet lightning rained down from the clouds. Craters formed all over the earth like holes on a swiss cheese while the dust from the explosions clung to the air to obscure all vision.


    Nightfall was already here but the battle showed no signs of slowing down. It was for a lack of a better word, a war zone. Elemental energy ran rampant across the battlefield along with earth tremors as if the end of the world was rapidly approaching.


    All sorts of colored light filled the skies as several figures raced throughout the battlefield. Most of the figures were cloaked within a green or violet light as they left behind dazzling beams of light to shower onto the ground. Each ray of light exploded with the cracking sound of thunder when they impacted onto the ground.


    A wave of multicolored light would always be left behind with each explosion, even after the explosion was gone. The light would linger there, changing color erratically as if the world couldn¡¯t make up its mind of what color should be there.


    There was a reason behind this strange phenomenom¡ªthe barrier protecting the Water School! It surrounded the entire school, preventing any damage to be done to the infrastructure behind it. This, of course, was what the Wind Lightning School was attacking right now.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    A giant three-pronged mountain stood behind the multicolored barrier. At the very top of one of the mountain peaks stood a giant hall. Dozens of people were gathered here to observe the situation outside. No one would be able to see inward, but these people were most definitely able to see the people attacking them.


    These people were the key figures of the Water School.


    Two figures stood shoulder-to-shoulder with one another. A gray-haired elder on the left and a blue-robed middle-aged man on the right.


    They were the strongest fighters the Water School had to offer. The elder on the left was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, Xu Yuanyang. The middle-aged man on the right was the current headmaster, Murong Xiao, an Early-stage Soul Emperor.


    Behind the two stood two dozen Soul Kings. Some of those two dozen were newly-advanced students while the majority were elders of the previous generations. The Water School had more Soul Kings, but the majority of them were outside of the barrier seeking aid as Zhao Xiluo had done.


    This was a fighting force that was no doubt weaker than the Beast Taming School. While the Water School hadn¡¯t that strong of a force, they were definitely able to match the Beast Taming School if the Five Schools united.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Headmaster, the energy from the Five Elements Formation is close to being depleted! If this goes on then our barrier will soon collapse!!¡±


    A white-haired elder behind Murong Xiao reported anxiously.


    The Five Elements Formation was the strongest formation the Water School had to protect them. It was a formation created by the combined efforts of the Five Schools. Each of the five had one of these formations that¡¯d gather the five main elements in a complementary fashion to create a powerful barrier. The formation was also capable of replenishing its energy by drawing on the ambient energy of the world, but not if the rate of consumption was far too high for the ¡®core¡¯ of the formation to sustain.


    Over the course of their besiegement, the Water School hid behind the formation to recuperate. Whenever the formation was close to being depleted, the Water School would emerge from the barrier to force their enemies to retreat. That way, the formation would have some time to replenish itself.


    But the formation was already close to losing the battle of attrition. This was the fifth attack by now, and the intervals between each attack were growing shorter and shorter. If they didn¡¯t do anything, then the Water School would find themselves utterly defenseless after the next thirty minutes or so¡­


    The entire Water School was exhausted. Their enemies had the luxury of resting whenever they were tired, but the Water School had to remain on high alert at all times. If not for their innate ability to treat wounds at an accelerated pace, the Water School would¡¯ve succumbed to their wounds a lot earlier.


    ¡°......¡± Murong Xiao was silent for a moment. ¡°There¡¯s no helping it¡­prepare to force the enemies back again! Avoid battling by yourself or any injuries! Protect the main gates!¡±


    The Soul Kings behind him stiffened at once. Prepared for battle, each one of the soul cultivators began to draw their soulforce to their bodies to fight.


    ¡°Headmaster¡­let us fight this time!¡±


    A determined voice called out to Murong Xiao. Turning around, the Soul Kings and headmaster watched as a blue-robed and beautiful young woman approached them¡ªit was Kou Tingting!


    Kou Tingting at this point in time was an Early-stage Soul King.


    ¡°I agree! Headmaster, let us fight too! As students of the Water School, it is our duty to put our lives on the line for our school!¡±


    Another female student cried out after Kou Tingting.


    ¡°Absolutely not, you are Early-stage Soul Kings. Coordinate with the relief efforts inside the barrier and heal our wounded.¡±


    Kou Tingting bit her lip in reluctance, she did not like that plan at all. ¡°But¡­¡± Another woman beside her began.


    ¡°I am aware of your feelings for our school, but now is not the time. We must hold out for a little longer, help will arrive soon.¡± Murong Xiao explained. He was grateful for their enthusiasm, but it was unnecessary at the current moment.


    ¡°Headmaster!!¡±


    A student came running out from the main hall toward them. ¡°Headmaster! We received a response on the communication array, the Wood School is sending reinforcements!¡±


    ¡°Oh?!¡± Murong Xiao grew joyous at once, ¡°Where are they?!¡±


    ¡°According to our array, they¡¯re a hundred kilometers away to the west!¡±


    ¡°The west¡­¡± Murong Xiao muttered, deep in thought. ¡°Elder Qu,¡± He commanded an elder behind him, ¡°Receive them from the back while we engage the enemy!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with elder Qu!¡± Kou Tingting took the moment to request.


    Murong Xiao hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to reply.


    ¡°Very well then, but be careful.¡±


    The past battles had shown that the enemies were focusing their attacks on the front gates of the school. If he and the others engaged the enemies, then elder Qu and Kou Tingting should most likely be safe from any danger. If they could get the reinforcements through the barrier from behind then the school should be able to plan an easy plan to repel the invaders.


    With time as the essence, elder Qu brought Kou Tingting and a few others through the back. Disguising their auras until they were close enough to the edge of the barrier, the group took off into the sky to fly as quickly as they could toward the reinforcements!


    The barrier did little to stop them, and at this moment, Murong Xiao was leading the others to fight the Wind Lightning School!


    Both sides of the battlefield already clashed multiple times by now. Communication wasn¡¯t necessary for either parties to engage in. It was time for another fearsome battle!

 Chapter 1173: Promptly Rushing Over

    Blue light began to dye the skies instead of green and violet. Many of the soul cultivators from the Wind Lightning School were beginning to back away to a respectable distance from the barrier. Murong Xiao, Xu Yuanying and the other twenty-something Soul Kings were now standing in front of the barrier.


    Then without saying anything, both sides charged at one another to fight!


    They were against twenty-eight men; two Soul Emperors and twenty-six Soul Kings. The Water School was slightly behind in terms of numbers, but both sides had equally powerful Soul Emperors, so the stalemate was slightly manageable, but not for long.


    Murong Xiao had initially been worried about the Wind Lightning School having another powerful soul cultivator in their reserves. But after multiple days of fighting without seeing another Soul Emperor, Murong Xiao felt somewhat relieved. They¡¯d be in deep danger if even one more Soul Emperor was added to the mix.


    Something still bugged Murong Xiao. What if there was someone hidden? Perhaps the enemy was waiting for an opportune moment to land a critical blow?


    Four Soul Emperors were now fighting one another while the Soul Kings fought in a different area away from them. It was a mess of blue, green, and violet light as water, wind, and lightning ran amuck across the battlefield. The world felt as though there was a storm taking place over the Water School.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    While Murong Xiao was fighting one of the Soul Emperors, a bolt of lightning suddenly emerged from the clouds above to strike him down.


    ¡°Hah!!¡±


    Clapping his palms together, Murong Xiao transformed the elemental water around him into a gigantic water dragon. Coiling around him before making its way upward, the dragon expelled a geyser of water to create a protective dome around Murong Xiao.


    ¡°Pa!!¡±


    The lightning bolt struck the water dome, piercing through it before arcing onto the head of the water dragon!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Another explosion took place as the upper half of the dragon was destroyed, but the dragon had done its job. The lightning bolt, infused with the Law of Lightning, had run out of energy after being absorbed by the Law of Water.


    Murong Xiao clenched his right hand upon seeing his defense fall. Another dragon formed out of the leftover energy before rushing toward his opponent.


    In retaliation, the enemy Soul Emperor began to go through a series of handseals. Pushing both palms out, he unleashed a whole network of violet lightning around him.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The water dragon slammed into the lightning barrier at once. The two Laws began to fight against one another but began to fade away after a while.


    On the other side, the battle between the two Mid-stage Soul Emperors was getting intense. Enormous waves of energy flowed across the skies like a storm at sea. Dragons made of water would crash against multiple bolts of lightning one after another and caused multiple rifts in space to open up. Every time one did, Xu Yuanying was there to close them.


    Both were fighting on an equal level, but neither seemed to be fighting to the death. They seemed to be holding back for some reason.


    Killing another Soul Emperor wasn¡¯t an easy task. Not even the Soul Kings were having an easy time doing so. Many of them were fighting to the best of their abilities, but no one had yet to kill their enemy. Some were injured or even dying, but they would always be saved by a comrade before the killing blow could be landed.


    The battle went on for some time before several of the combatants noticed something to the northern skies.


    An ¡®ocean of fire¡¯ was rapidly approaching them!


    The ocean seemed to be hot enough to melt the skies almost with the fire was rapidly approaching!


    And within the flames, three distinct auras could be felt!


    ¡°Soul Emperors!!¡±


    Someone from the Water School announced in joy.


    ¡°Are¡­are they from the Fire School?!¡±


    ¡°That aura¡­that¡¯s Xiao Binzi from the Crafting School! Reinforcements from the Crafting School are here!¡±


    Murong Xiao was one of the first people to recognize the auras of the newcomers. Given the friendly relationship between the Water School and the Crafting School, Murong Xiao was quite confident that Xiao Binzi was indeed one of the newcomers.


    The battle came to a pause when the three newcomers arrived. The Soul Emperor from the Wind Lightning School had an odd look on his face when he saw the joyous look on Xiao Binzi¡¯s face. Glancing at his fellow Soul Emperor, he and the other gave up on fighting and retreated along with the Soul Kings to safety.


    There was no point in fighting if three Soul Emperors were here.


    No one from the Water School gave chase. It¡¯d be pointless to do so if they could rest up instead.


    The ¡®ocean of fire¡¯ was finally here on the battlefield now. Everyone could distinctly feel the auras of not only the three Soul Emperors, but ten additional Soul Kings.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A crimson bolt of light emerged from the ocean in front of the Water School¡¯s elders, revealing over a dozen individuals.


    ¡°Xiao Binzi!¡± Murong Xiao cried out the moment they appeared.


    ¡°Headmaster Murong.¡± Xiao Binzi nodded.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei pays his respects to headmaster Murong.¡± Bai Yunfei greeted the man as well.


    ¡°You¡¯re Bai Yunfei!¡±


    Murong Xiao gasped. He wasn¡¯t the only one surprised, the other elders with him were stunned to see the ¡®famous¡¯ Bai Yunfei in the flesh. No one thought he¡¯d be as young as he was too.


    Zheng Kai took the opportunity to step forward, ¡°Headmaster Murong!¡± he bowed.


    ¡°Zheng Kai? What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I was at the Crafting School when I heard about the news. I cam rushing over.¡± Zheng Kai explained as he glanced over to the people behind him.


    ¡°Headmaster, where is Tingting?¡±


    ¡°Reinforcements from the Wood School just arrived, Tingting and the others are heading to receive them from behind.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Zheng Kai gasped, he was still worried for Kou Tingting¡¯s safety.


    ¡°Yunfei!¡± He turned to Bai Yunfei, ¡°I¡¯m going to find Tingting, you take care of this!¡±


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei moved to stop him, but it was too late. Zheng Kai was already taking off to the south.

 Chapter 1174: A Hidden Enemy, Revealed!

    ¡°Tch!¡± Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue. This wasn¡¯t the way things were supposed to go.


    ¡°Teacher Jin, please hurry and see to Tingting¡¯s safety.¡± He requested a Late-stage Soul King.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    The Soul King took off after Zheng Kai at once.


    ¡°Please rest assured, Tingting and the others went to receive the Wood School, there shouldn¡¯t be any danger since all our enemies are gathered here instead¡­¡± Murong Xiao¡¯s voice spoke into the minds of Bai Yunfei and the others.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t seem relieved at that. ¡°There should definitely be more enemies around here¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Murong Xiao and Xu Yuanying were both stunned. Could it be true? They watched as Bai Yunfei turned to a spot in space to the right of the Wind Lightning School¡¯s members. ¡°Quit hiding and come out¡­Soul Emperors. Did you think you could wait to ambush us?¡±


    Everyone went pale in the face, especially those from the Water School. It was too hard to believe that a Soul Emperor had actually been lying in wait¡ªand Bai Yunfei said ¡®Emperors¡¯¡ª there was more than one!?


    All eyes were focused in on the same place Bai Yunfei was looking at, but they couldn¡¯t see anything. Not even their soulsense was telling them anything.


    That didn¡¯t mean Bai Yunfei was lying. It simply meant the Water School couldn¡¯t detect them. The expressions on the fighters from the Wind Lightning School was all the proof they needed to know that Bai Yunfei was indeed speaking the truth!


    ¡°So¡­you¡¯ve managed to see through our Windcloaked Pagoda¡­you are as the rumors say, Bai Yunfei.¡±


    A calm voice spoke, shocking everyone from the Water School. A gust of wind within the area began to pick up before transforming into a mighty tornado of light, revealing nearly a dozen men standing right there!


    The green light from the tornado slowly shrunk down to fit in a small tower-shaped object a green-robed elder held in his hand. Then¡­the auras of everyone was revealed!


    Two Soul Emperors and nearly ten Soul Kings!


    ¡°Yue Kuangfeng!! That¡¯s the Windcloaked Pagoda! No wonder we weren¡¯t able to sense them, they were¡­they were hiding in that the entire time?!¡±


    Murong Xiao exclaimed at once the moment he realized the object in the elder¡¯s hand. That elder was one of the strongest members within the Wind Lightning School, a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!! And the small object in his hand was a treasured heirloom of the Wind Lightning School, the Windcloaked Pagoda. By harnessing the power of the wind, the user would be able to hide from even someone a tier stronger than them!


    This time, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Binzi were also quite surprised to hear about this. Why would the Wind Lightning School hide a fighting force like that the entire time? The Water School would¡¯ve been destroyed if they came out to fight a lot earlier.


    Everyone was also confused how Bai Yunfei was able to detect them. If that object was powerful enough to hide its user from those stronger than him, then how was Bai Yunfei able to detect them?!


    Internally, Bai Yunfei was heaving a sigh of relief at his cautiousness. When they first arrived, Bai Yunfei used the +10 Invisibility Ring he had to scan the area to see if anyone was hiding. And as it just so happened, there was indeed a group of people hiding.


    +10 Additional Effect: Reveal anything hidden within a kilometer for 10 seconds in exchange for 5% of current soulforce reserves.


    Can increase range of perimeter by 100 meters in exchange for 1% of soulforce.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­from the Soul Refining School!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei ignored Murong Xiao¡¯s announcement of Yue Kuangfeng. His eyes were focused on the black-robed people behind him.


    The elder standing in front of the Soul Kings might have done a good job hiding his presence, but the Soul Kings did not. Bai Yunfei could tell from their familiar auras at once that they were from the Soul Refining School.


    ¡°Kekeke¡­so you spotted us. You are as resourceful as we thought, Bai Yunfei¡­we¡¯ve been expecting you!¡±


    The black-robed elder began to cackle in response to Bai Yunfei¡¯s hostility.


    ¡°You¡­were targeting me?!¡± Bai Yunfei demanded.


    No one expected to hear the elder say those words, no one from the Water or Crafting Schools, at least. The true goal of their enemy was¡­Bai Yunfei?!


    Realization dawned upon Murong Xiao at his words. Everything made sense now! It was no wonder they were evenly matched with their enemies and why their enemies didn¡¯t bother to try and defeat them as quickly as possible. The Wind Lightning School was simply waiting for Bai Yunfei to respond to the Water School¡¯s plight and come!


    It puzzled the mind of everyone else.


    ¡°How did you know I¡¯d come here?!¡±


    ¡°We weren¡¯t.¡± Yue Kuangfeng gave a cold smile. ¡°But the ¡®possibility¡¯ was there. And even if you didn¡¯t, then the Water School would be destroyed anyways. Regardless, you¡¯re here now, aren¡¯t you? This is the best-case-scenario, you and the Water School will die today!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was speechless. This was going nowhere as he expected, and neither was the situation looking good¡­


    Having ten or so Soul Kings didn¡¯t pose much of a threat for Bai Yunfei, but having Yue Kuangfeng and the elder from the Soul Refining School? They were both Mid-stage Soul Emperors!!


    He, Xiao Qi, and Xiao Binzi were only Early-stage Soul Emperors. He might be able to fight off one of the Mid-stage Soul Emperor himself, but Xiao Qi and Xiao Binzi would definitely have a hard time fighting the second one¡­


    It was possible he could have Xiao Qi control the Interdimensional Phantasm to make things easier for them, but that wasn¡¯t a solution, but merely an option¡­


    The only reason he was able to kill the Mid-stage Soul Emperor Lin Xiangtian was specifically due to him being from the Beast Taming School. The Beast Taming Ring was a fatal weapon to any beast tamers and gave Bai Yunfei an unbelievable advantage.


    Mind running kilometers per second, Bai Yunfei tried his best to think of a way to deal with his enemies.


    But sadly he couldn¡¯t think of one, and the enemies he was up against wasn¡¯t going to give him any more time to think¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s time!!¡±


    The Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School exclaimed, a burst of soulforce erupting from his person. It was time to wage war!


    ¡°Damn!!¡± Bai Yunfei cursed. He waved his right hand to summon a multicolored squirrel from the Core World. ¡°Xiao Qi, control the Interdimensional Phantasm and fight the Wind Lightning School¡¯s Soul Emperor with elder Xiao! I¡¯ll handle the one from the Soul Refining School!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    No one from the Crafting School had the time to even discuss their course of action with the Water School. Both schools were simply too focused on trying to fight off their enemies to the best of their abilities.


    Hardly any time had passed from when the battlefield had first settled down!


    The men from the Water School charged to meet their old enemies from the Wind Lightning School while the ones from the Crafting School flew forward to fight the Soul Refining School. Yue Kuangfeng and his fellow Soul Emperor flew ahead of their troops to provide cover, prompting Bai Yunfei to break away from Xiao Binzi and Xiao Qi with the Interdimensional Phantasm. The squirrel was already leaving behind a trail of disturbed space in its flight.


    If he could pull his enemy into the Phantasm, then Bai Yunfei would definitely have the advantage in the upcoming fight.


    It was almost time¡­time to do it!!


    When there was only a hundred meters of distance between the two forces, the two Mid-stage Soul Emperor continued to fly forward rather than break away. Were¡­were they planning to fight in close-combat?!


    That pleased Bai Yunfei. If they planned to do that then sending them into the Phantasm would far easier than planned! A miragelike light exploded from the Interdimensional Phantasm, marking everything within its range as a whole new world inside a different dimension.


    Yue Kuangfeng finally began to show some signs of actions when he was just a few dozen meters away. He sent an ¡®ordinary¡¯ bolt of elemental wind toward Xiao Binzi, forcing the latter to summon a golden parasol to protect himself and Bai Yunfei. The golden soul armament exploded with light before growing larger in size.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The bolt of elemental wind struck the light from the golden parasol before fading away.


    Then in the next second, a black streak of light shot toward Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°You want to fight me in close combat?!¡±


    Pleasantly surprised by how well his plan was going, Bai Yunfei took out the Voidsplitter to distract the Soul Emperor.


    All preparations were done with that, the Interdimensional Phantasm was ready to bring them into itself!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Suddenly, the Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School threw out a black streak of light!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened. This wasn¡¯t what he expected the Soul Emperor to do! The Cataclysmic Seal came out at once to protect him, but rather than strike it, the black streak of light froze just twenty steps away from Bai Yunfei and exploded!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    A strange energy was erupting from the explosion to wash over him¡ªthis wasn¡¯t what he was expecting at all!


    Gleeful expression appeared over the two Soul Emperors upon seeing their success. The soul refiner waved his right hand at once to reveal what had exploded¡ªa black egg-sized pearl. That strange energy came from within the pearl to surround Bai Yunfei in its black light.


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Xiao Qi had only enough time to shout out Bai Yunfei¡¯s name before¡­Bai Yunfei and Yue Kuangfeng disappeared from the battlefield!

 Chapter 1175: You Scared Me...

    The Interdimensional Phantasm had done its job. None of the Soul Kings from either the Water, Crafting, Wind and Lightning, and Soul Refining Schools were within the Phantasm. Only Xiao Qi, Xiao Binzi, and the soul refiner could be found here.


    But¡­Bai Yunfei and Yue Kuangfeng were nowhere to be seen!


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Xiao Qi cried out again, craning his neck everywhere to look for where Bai Yunfei might be. He couldn¡¯t find head nor tail of either soul cultivators, however, and not even their auras could be detected.


    Since Xiao Qi had the Beast Taming Ring, that meant he had control over the Interdimensional Phantasm and could sense the same things it could. He knew¡­Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in the Phantasm!


    The moment of panic faded away when Xiao Qi suddenly whipped his head up, ¡°He¡¯s up there!!¡±


    ¡®Up there¡¯ didn¡¯t refer to the skies within the Phantasm, but ¡®up¡¯ in the skies of the real world!


    ¡°But how¡­?¡± Xiao Qi asked himself,  ¡°How did he suddenly appear high up there!! That¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Kekeke¡­that¡¯s right! Bai Yunfei is currently¡­in the Ninth Heavens, the domain of chaotic energy!!¡±


    The soul refiner cackled, interrupting Xiao Qi¡¯s train of thoughts at once.


    Surprisingly, their plan to transport Bai Yunfei away to another place just as Bai Yunfei had planned for them had gone off without a hitch!


    ¡°That item must¡¯ve been¡­a teleportation-type soul armament!!¡± Xiao Binzi snapped his fingers, ¡°One that allows teleportation between two soul armament markers¡­and that destination was within the chaotic energy?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly! The domain where only Soul Saints may tread! However¡­the Windcloaked Pagoda of Yue Kuangfeng will protect him from even the most volatile chaotic energy! He shall be fine, but Bai Yunfei will not! A mere Early-stage Soul Emperor¡­would never be able to survive there, haha!! Despair, despair!! You will all¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­so he¡¯s way up there¡­geez, that really scared me¡­¡±


    The Soul Emperor was prepared to cackle and enjoy the despair of his opponents. He expected them to mourn over the death of Bai Yunfei. But instead, Xiao Qi was just muttering to himself¡­


    ¡®Really scared me¡¯...that¡¯s it?!


    The soul refiner thought he was hearing things¡ªdid his enemies not know Soul Emperors would never be able to survive for long in the Ninth Heaven? The Ninth Heaven was a place perilous for anyone not a Soul Saint! The chaotic energy within that place would tear any lesser being to bits! And Bai Yunfei was right there! Why was Xiao Qi so calm then?!


    ¡°I see¡­so Bai Yunfei was sent there? You expected that to stop him, I suppose?¡± Xiao Binzi stated. Like Xiao Qi, he was looking rather calm. The only sign of any other emotion was the small smirk on his lips as if he was mocking the Mid-stage Soul Emperor.


    ¡°I admit I was rather frightened myself, for a moment¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The soul refiner was speechless. Speechless beyond relief¡ªwas this the way they were supposed to react? Were they struck dumb in their despair?! Weren¡¯t they worried Bai Yunfei would be killed by Yue Kuangfeng?!


    ¡°First elder, let¡¯s take care of this guy before Bai Yunfei comes back! We have the advantage here in the Phantasm!!¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped, a chilling aura began to radiate from him as he spoke.


    A similar transformation was taking place within Xiao Binzi. A brilliant ring of fire appeared by his side; within the ring shined an orangish-brown speck of light. ¡°Very well then! Allow me to try out my newly upgraded Warding Pearl! A Mid-stage Soul Emperor¡­prepare yourself!!¡±


    ¡°Boom! Boom!!¡±


    Xiao Qi and Xiao Binzi exploded with soulforce at once. Taking off in two distinct rays of light, the two flew straight for the enemy!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, up high in the Ninth Heaven¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Two figures appeared within the chaotic air.


    ¡°This place¡­¡± Bai Yunfei glanced warily around himself. He knew he had fallen for his enemy¡¯s trap and was on high alert. But when he realized where he was, Bai Yunfei began to look surprised.


    ¡°Haha!! I didn¡¯t believe you¡¯d fall for our plans so easily, Bai Yunfei! I¡¯d like to see you survive within this domain!¡±


    Yue Kuangfeng boomed with mad laughter. Standing a fair distance away from Bai Yunfei was Yue Kuangfeng. Surrounding him was a faint-green bubble of light; the light came from the floating Windcloaked Pagoda next to him. Apparently, the power of the Windcloaked Pagoda was strong enough to deflect and redirect any strand of chaotic energy away from him and protect Yue Kuangfeng from harm.


    ¡°Was that¡­a teleportation-type soul armament?!¡± Bai Yunfei thought, thinking about how he was brought here.


    Then a strange expression began to appear on his face as he realized the implications¡­


    Yue Kuangfeng let out a pleased smile on his face upon seeing Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression. Like a cat toying with a mouse, he gave Bai Yunfei a cold smile. ¡°How is it? Do you know this place? Then allow me to enlighten you¡ªthis is the Ninth Heaven, a place where chaotic energy gathers! I¡¯ve heard of your ability to use a strand of that same energy, but how could that strand possibly compare to an ocean of it!? Can you possibly control any of the chaotic energy in this domain? Haha! Do you feel any despa¡ª!?¡±


    Yue Kuangfeng hadn¡¯t even finished speaking yet when he realized something was wrong. The smile froze on his face and his eyeballs began to bulge on his face as he noticed a shift in the chaotic energy around him. He looked as if he had seen a ghost, the look on his face was absolutely terrifying to see!


    He expected to see Bai Yunfei struggle valiantly to ward off the volatile chaotic energy. Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve been desperately using up his soulforce to protect himself! There should¡¯ve been despair! But¡­but¡­


    Bai Yunfei was just standing there! There was a smile on his face as he allowed the chaotic energy to flow around him! Strands of the chaotic energy were even entering his body! But he was unharmed! Completely unharmed!!


    ¡°N¡ªno! This¡­this can¡¯t be!!¡±


    A shrill shriek came out from Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s throat. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes at what he was witnessing!


    Bai Yunfei smiled sadistically at the frightened expression of Yue Kuangfeng. ¡°And here I was wondering how I should deal with you. Who knew I¡¯d be brought to the ¡®best¡¯ battlefield by you of all people. I don¡¯t even know what to say¡­¡±


    He tapped a finger to his chin to think.


    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± He laughed.


    ¡°Well then¡­¡± The laughter died in favor of Bai Yunfei to glare at him, ¡°it¡¯s time for you to die!!¡±

 Chapter 1176: To Make Ones Own Bed

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s energy exploded across the Ninth Heaven. Chaotic energy swirled to his right hand when he raised it up and quickly transformed into a large ball of chaos! Throwing his hand forward, Bai Yunfei threw the ball toward Yue Kuangfeng!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The absolute confusion he had been in meant Yue Kuangfeng wasn¡¯t able to respond as quickly as he¡¯d like, ideally. But as a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, there was still an ample amount of time for him to escape. His soulforce roared to life and fed itself into the Windcloaked Pagoda. The bubble of energy protecting him swelled in size as he tried to flee toward the right.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The ball of chaotic energy grazed past Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s barrier, resulting in the barrier trembling a bit as if on the verge of collapsing. To Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s relief, however, his barrier held.


    ¡°Impossible¡­how can it be! How can it be?!¡±


    Dodging that attack didn¡¯t do much to alleviate his concerns. Yue Kuangfeng was still desperately trying to figure out how Bai Yunfei had done it. He still couldn¡¯t believe that Bai Yunfei had done it. But the proof was there! He was living in the same reality as Bai Yunfei! Bai Yunfei was able to move about without concern within this area!


    ¡°Could¡­could he be a Soul Saint?!¡±


    A terrifying thought crossed through Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s mind before being struck down at once. It brought up a good point though. How else could Bai Yunfei be unaffected by chaotic energy if he wasn¡¯t a Soul Saint?!


    ¡°Could he have some kind of soul armament that negates chaotic energy?!¡±


    It was the only plausible explanation. And yet that explanation had a flaw in it¡ªhow was Bai Yunfei able to use that soul armament to absorb chaotic energy then?!


    ¡°No! This definitely has to be the work of a special soul armament! He has to be suffering some kind of price to use it! He¡¯s just bluffing!¡±


    He was consoling himself by this point. Nothing seemed to make much sense to him anymore, but he had to console himself. He¡¯d be able to fight with ¡®confidence¡¯ as long as he could believe in his own flimsy logic!


    ¡°Die!! Sundering Cyclone!!¡±


    Yue Kuangfeng snarled. Several handseals later and a giant tornado of wind was summoned onto the world. Perhaps it was to boost his own confidence, but Yue Kuangfeng was actually shouting out loud the name of the technique he was using. It was one of the strongest techniques of his school, the Sundering Cyclone!


    The more elemental wind Yue Kuangfeng added to this attack the stronger it became. The Law of Wind was being infused in great amounts to add to the technique¡¯s destructive might. Soon, not even the surrounding chaotic energy could penetrate the cyclone.


    The trail left behind by the cyclone was completely sparse and devoid of anything. True to its name, this cyclone was seemingly destroying any type of energy it came into contact with.


    For as powerful as this cyclone was, its only target was a single person¡ªBai Yunfei!


    ¡­¡­


    Clapping both hands together, Bai Yunfei began to go through a series of familiar handseals!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A brilliant flame burst to life around Bai Yunfei. It swirled around his arms and traveled to his hands before exploding outwards!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Two gigantic dragons made of fire erupted from the flames around Bai Yunfei¡¯s fists. Roaring loudly, the two dragons snarled and flew toward Yue Kuangfeng!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    But it was quite different compared to before: The fire wasn¡¯t much stronger than before, but the chaotic energy the dragons absorbed was far higher than before. The more they circled around the dragons, the more they were absorbed into it and made them swell in size. Soon, the two dragons were fully armored by gray scales¡ªthese dragons were now filled with a terrifying amount of chaotic energy!


    In the past, the Law of Fire was responsible for powering the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst with the Law of Lightning and chaotic energy acting as supplementary sources.


    But today, the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was primarily powered by chaotic energy!


    And the amount of it was terrifying. It wasn¡¯t even powered by ¡®ordinary¡¯ chaotic energy anymore, but by Law!


    The Law of Chaos!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    In the blink of an eye, the two dragons were already closing in on Yue Kuangfeng. One loud explosion later and the two were forced away from one another!


    ¡°Boom¡­boom!!¡±


    The world looked like it was on the verge of collapse. Cracks in space began to appear everywhere and devour the surrounding energy, but not all of it. There was simply far too much chaotic energy to be devoured and the cracks were forced to smooth over. Then in a cycle, the cracks reopened due to the influx of energy and then dissipated once again¡­


    The cycle continued for a while until the energy began to weaken. Soon, something could be seen¡­


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    It was Yue Kuangfeng that cried out. He was staring at a completely unharmed Bai Yunfei without any of the decorum as expected from a Soul Emperor. He was panicking beyond belief!


    His soulforce was in a bad state as well as his mind. Elemental attacks took more energy to be used in this area since there was no ¡®energy¡¯ beside chaotic energy to draw upon. The technique he used just now had practically taken out the majority of his reserves!


    It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine how bad it was to consume so much soulforce in such a short amount of time in a battle like this. To add onto how much soulforce Yue Kuangfeng used, he had to use the Windcloaked Pagoda after his attack to avoid being hit by the chaotic energy.


    With that protecting him, Yue Kuangfeng thought himself to be safe. He also thought Bai Yunfei would be the one in an even worse state than he was.


    But when all was done and back to normal¡­


    Bai Yunfei was looking as calm as ever!


    Gray energy swirled around Bai Yunfei¡¯s person, protecting him from the harm of any external energy. He looked extraordinarily calm in the ¡®storm¡¯ of energy around him, and not even his hair looked like there was even a single strand of it displaced.


    He was, in truth, absolutely unharmed and unaffected by Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s attack.


    To account for the environment he was in, Bai Yunfei used half the normal amount of elemental fire in the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst. He also had the two dragons rely on the surrounding chaotic energy and the Law of Chaos to bind them to it to form an entirely unique version of the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst.


    In other words, Bai Yunfei was able to use a never-before seen version of the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst only in this place.


    And the raw power in that new version of it failed to disappoint him.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was staring at his handiwork with a pleased smile. His smile only grew more pronounced when he heard Yue Kuangfeng scream. One second later¡­he was gone in a burst of light!


    He had no interest in prolonging this fight by mocking his opponent or wait around. Seeing that he had the advantage, Bai Yunfei saw no need to seize victory right here and now!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    The chaotic energy around Bai Yunfei began to swirl around Bai Yunfei. Like a conductor waving his baton, Bai Yunfei directed the energy as he would normally do with elemental fire to send ray after ray of chaos toward Yue Kuangfeng!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    A panicked cry emerged from Yue Kuangfeng. Bathing himself in a green light, he wrapped himself in a bubble of energy to hopefully protect himself once again.


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The rays of chaotic energy splashed across the green cocoon. A crack would appear every so often over the surface of the cocoon before quickly being patched up. Soon, the cocoon could hold on no longer and collapsed, revealing a figure to shoot straight off toward the side to avoid being hit.


    ¡°Rumble¡­rumble!!¡±


    From there, Yue Kuangfeng was forced on the defensive. He¡¯d have to move this way or that with the Windcloaked Pagoda to avoid being hit. Sometimes, he¡¯d have the time to attack Bai Yunfei, but those attacks never got anywhere close to Bai Yunfei.


    Yue Kuangfeng was powerless almost. Chaotic energy reigned supreme here. Any other elemental energy was next-to-useless in being manipulated, so he had to rely on his own originseeds to ¡®create¡¯ the proper energy he needed. That required a lot more soulforce than normally worth and would hinder his rate of regeneration.


    Bai Yunfei, on the other hand, hadn¡¯t such a limitation. The amount of chaotic energy here was boundless. He could use as much of it as he needed instead of elemental fire. Bai Yunfei had the option of either absorbing the chaotic energy to replenish himself or use it to attack his enemy. Either way, Bai Yunfei was in his element and could afford to be ¡®relaxed¡¯.


    He didn¡¯t even need either ¡®Coil¡¯ Form or Berserk Mode to force a Mid-stage Soul Emperor to such a state!


    This place was meant to be the Wind Lightning School¡¯s trump card. But they were wrong. This was Bai Yunfei¡¯s battlefield. Certainly, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been in danger if it was the same Bai Yunfei of a few months ago, but that was no longer the case. No one from the Wind Lightning School would ever suspect that the Frostfeather Saint had paved the path for Bai Yunfei to learn about the Law of Chaos. And now Bai Yunfei was the very first person in recorded history to be able to cultivate with chaotic energy as a Soul Emperor!


    And so there could only be one thing to be said about Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s plan to bring Bai Yunfei to this place and kill him¡­


    He had made his bed, and now he must lie on it!

 Chapter 1177: The Crisis of Kou Tingting!

    Meanwhile, in a completely different area. A good distance south of the Water School.


    Several figures in blue could be seen weaving through a forest. Despite the foliage, they were traveling at quite the speed.


    ¡°Found them! Elder Qu, students from the Wood School!¡±


    One of the female students from the Water School exclaimed.


    Elder Qu nodded in acknowledgment of the report. ¡°Yes, I see. This aura¡­belongs to elder Wei of their school, let¡¯s go!!¡±


    They didn¡¯t need to be told twice. Immediately, everyone began to travel even faster through the forest.


    It didn¡¯t take them long to reach the incoming reinforcements. Like them, the Wood School had its students weaving through the trees instead of the sky.


    ¡°Elder Wei!¡± Elder Qu called out at once to a gray-robed elder on the opposing side.


    This elder he was talking to was the second elder of the Wood School, Wei Duhe. The Peak Late-stage Soul King looked relieved to see elder Qu, ¡°Elder Qu! Our apologies for being late, how is the situation!¡±


    ¡°Not at all! You¡¯re the first reinforcements to arrive. Our school is still battling it out with the enemy. Please follow us back to the school, you can see the situation yourself!¡±


    Elder Qu tried his best to explain to Wei Duhe on the situation as he knew it. He nodded his head at the students following his fellow elder, ¡°I hadn¡¯t any idea that the Wood School would be so generous as to lend us thirteen Soul Kings. Your kindness will not be forgotten.¡±


    Elder Wei smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that, our schools are close friends, and friends should help one another in times of crisis. Master Chen wanted to come, but¡­as you know, the situation on the continent is rather unstable. He was fearful of something happening to the school in his absence and decided to remain behind¡­¡±


    ¡°I understand. The fact that your school is already doing this much is very hard to believe¡­¡± Elder Qu nodded. Master Chen was another Soul Emperor of the Wood School. He¡¯d normally stay behind on the schoolgrounds to provide order and safety. Without a good reason to, the second Soul Emperor would never leave his school unguarded, especially in times of chaos as today.


    The Water and Wood Schools were the weakest of the five since the both of them only had two Soul Emperors while the others had three or more. When the five schools were on the verge of war, it was the Wood School that was responsible for mediating. That school had the least grievances and saw to the mediation of many of the conflicts, such as the one between the Metal and Fire Schools.


    So it was especially touching to see how much of their fighting force the Wood School gave out. Thirteen Soul Kings and the Peak Late-stage Soul King, Wei Duhe.


    This was actually the reason why You Qingfeng and a few others were sent to the Soulbeast Forest. The Wood School was trying to up their strength by having them contract with soulbeasts and become Soul Kings.


    Chu Yuhe wasn¡¯t a part of this fighting force since she only just became a Soul King. It¡¯d be more dangerous to send a newly-advanced Soul King onto a dangerous battle like this.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The closer the group got to the Water School, the louder the explosions became. It wasn¡¯t hard to tell that a war was taking place.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose,¡± Elder Qu spoke, ¡°let¡¯s pick up the pace!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Together, everyone took off toward the Water School with renewed speed.


    The group didn¡¯t even make it a thousand steps away when they suddenly froze still in the midair!


    A portion of the sky above them rippled several times before a group of people stepped out from a rift!


    At the front of the group was an elder wearing robes dark purple in color. Eleven people stood behind him¡ªthey were all Soul Kings!


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­The Monster of Black Lightning! Why are you here?!¡± Elder Qu cried out when he saw the leading elder.


    This elder was a powerful wanderer of the Clear Blue Province. It was said he failed to become a Soul Emperor over two hundred years ago and disappeared ever since then. How did he end up here?


    The eleven figures behind the Monster of the Dark Lightning were also wandering soul cultivators. Some of them, elder Qu knew; those people were all soul cultivators who had a problem with the Water School¡­


    ¡°Why I am here?¡± The elder sneered, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that is a silly question to ask?¡±


    True. The answer was simple: Because they were comrades of the Wind Lightning School! It was easy to see why they¡¯d be here.


    ¡°To think we¡¯d ¡®fish¡¯ a big one after waiting for so long. Not a bad thing, to see some from the Wood School...oh?¡±


    The Monster of the Black Lightning narrowed his eyes to look at everyone in the crowd.


    ¡°Is that Kou Tingting, the daughter of the Crafting School¡¯s headmaster?! Haha! What a catch!¡± He cackled, ¡°Be sure to capture her alive, she¡¯ll be useful to us!!¡±


    They were planning to kidnap someone!!


    ¡°Damn!! Be on the look out! We¡¯ll run to the school after an opening!¡±


    Elder Qu snarled, he never thought this would happen¡ªthe Wind Lightning School had allies? Why hadn¡¯t they attacked before then!?


    He had to throw that thought aside for now. If the enemy approached then they¡¯d all be glad to resist! It was fortunate they had more allies and a Peak Late-stage Soul King like Wei Duhe with them.


    But that was when the Monster of Black Lightning revealed his aura and caused elder Qu to gasp!


    ¡°A Half-emperor!!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Rumble...rumble!!¡±


    High up in the Ninth Heaven.


    Bai Yunfei and Yue Kuangfeng were still fighting, but they were now in the endgame of it. The end would be noticeable to anyone. Yue Kuangfeng was already at the end of his rope¡­


    Yue Kuangfeng had never felt this much humiliation in his two hundred years of living. Never had he, a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, suffered such death caused entirely by humiliation!


    The battle within the chaos didn¡¯t even start off on the right foot. Without elemental energy to use, or faster regeneration, or even a way to properly fight in this situation, Yue Kuangfeng would definitely lose¡­


    Without the Windcloaked Pagoda, Yue Kuangfeng would¡¯ve been unable to ward off chaotic energy.


    Bai Yunfei was the complete opposite of Yue Kuangfeng right now. He was calm, his energy abundant, and his moves graceful, yet fierce. Rays of chaotic energy were being thrown about Yue Kuangfeng and forcing him to constantly evade.


    Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s fate was already a done deal by the time their battle in the chaos began!


    ¡°Crackle¡­¡±


    It was faint, but Yue Kuangfeng heard a sound that sent a chill up his spine. Panicked, he looked down at the object near his hand and nearly let out a scream!


    The Windcloaked Pagoda floating beside him¡­had a crack on it!

 Chapter 1178: The Demise of Yue Kuangfeng

    ¡°No!!¡±


    Yue Kuangfeng cried out in sheer panic. Draining even more of his soulforce into the Windcloaked Pagoda, he began to prepare himself.


    ¡°Almost¡­we¡¯re going be gone from this place!¡±


    He was definitely panicked. Ever since the battle began, he had been retreating down from the Ninth Heavens to reach the safety of the world below. Only there would he be able to fight to his fullest ability, but Bai Yunfei was making it very difficult to reach the place. The difference in strength between both persons was easily discernible by now, but already Yue Kuangfeng could feel himself closer to a source of elemental energy.


    ¡°Ah!! Die!!¡±


    Forming one hand seal, Yue Kuangfeng let out a loud cry before having a giant twister form from his energy to fly up toward Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    Several sharp blades of chaotic energy struck against Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s barrier at the same time as the cracking sounds¡­.


    In his haste to defend himself, Yue Kuangfeng neglected the Windcloaked Pagoda and split it into pieces!


    He didn¡¯t care about it anymore! He could only think about his one hope to kill Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°What a shame¡­¡±


    The giant Cataclysmic Seal came forth from the heavens to strike down the twister. Bai Yunfei let out a sigh when he saw the Windcloaked Pagoda be destroyed, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. It was time to land the killing blow!


    ¡°It¡¯s now!!¡±


    As Yue Kuangfeng continued to fall, Bai Yunfei threw out a black streak of light!


    The flying dagger¡­Voidsplitter!!


    ¡­¡­


    Yue Kuangfeng could feel the chaotic energy weaken, now was the time! He could finally be safe from the chaos and fight with his strength!


    Elemental wind swirled around Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s person and into his body. It happened in a flash, but Yue Kuangfeng was getting a second lease on life.


    He remained wary even as he felt his power come back to him. He saw Bai Yunfei throw something earlier like a dagger at him!


    It had to be a soul armament, obviously. Yue Kuangfeng couldn¡¯t ignore this. Replenishing a lot more of his soulforce and energy, Yue Kuangfeng then leaped to the side to avoid the soul armament.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    But then in the next second, he watched in shock as the soul armament¡­disappeared!


    The next thing he realized was the stench of death coming at him from the leflt!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    In a last ditch effort to save himself, Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s body told itself to step back!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Not even a half-second later, Yue Kuangfeng watched as a black streak of light graze past him!


    He realized the soul armament had to do with spatial energy from when it approached him. It was a perfection reaction that saw to the dagger just barely slicing into his left shoulder!


    A cold shiver ran up his spine at once. He thought he was saved for a second, but then the sensation he was feeling as a dark light began to emanate from his shoulder¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    He felt the spatial energy within the area feel like it suddenly exploded. The next thing he knew, he saw a good portion of his shoulder gone!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    A terrified howl escaped Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s lips. The pain in his left shoulder was immense! Leaping to the right at once, the man inspected his shoulder just to find¡­a hole spanning a good area of his shoulder!


    Not even parts of his bones were spared. Only a layer of flesh was keeping Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s arm from separating from its shoulder!


    Bai Yunfei had waited until now to use the Voidsplitter. The +12 effect wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill the Mid-stage Soul Emperor, but it¡¯d definitely be able to cripple an arm or leg!


    The howls of Yue Kuangfeng caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention. Finishing off the last handseals, Bai Yunfei began to explode with power!


    Dual Flame Artes: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form and¡­Berserk Mode!


    The advantage Bai Yunfei had was now gone. It was time for him to re-engage with his normal methods. As it was now, Bai Yunfei was definitely able to continue fighting against a weakened Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    And then without pause, Bai Yunfei began to form another set of handseals!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A brilliant fireball appeared in the skies before it split into two and transformed into dragons!


    The dragons spun around one another in a helix almost to rain down from the heavens and directly onto Yue Kuangfeng!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Back down below, above the Water School.


    Minutes had passed in this intense battle by now. Both sides could agree to it being a hard fight. The newly arrived Soul Kings from the Crafting School were doing a good job fighting the other Soul Kings. Both sides weren¡¯t exactly equal, but that didn¡¯t mean the crafters were down and out just yet. Thanks to Bai Yunfei¡¯s help, all their weapons and armors had been upgraded to +11 or so. This led to the crafters being able to perform even better. In this regard, the Crafting School had a great advantage over their enemies.


    A brilliant multicolored light surrounded the landscape for a moment and caught the attention of both sides.


    They couldn¡¯t sense what was going on in the Phantasm, and neither could they sense the battle taking place above them. They all simply assumed Bai Yunfei, Xiao Binzi, and Xiao Qi were all fighting within the Phantasm, though members of the Wind Lightning School would occasionally sneak a glance upward as if waiting for something.


    Everyone knew their only chance for victory was dependent on Bai Yunfei. Both sides could only hope that the winner would come back down and help them achieve total victory.


    The Wind Lightning School were all confident that they would win. They were all aware of Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s plan and its success. They knew Bai Yunfei was currently battling up high in the Ninth Heaven. Victory was close for their side!


    ¡°Rumble¡­rumble!!¡±


    At that moment, everyone felt a crash of lightning resonate with their bodies as the clouds up high began to darken like ink!


    ¡°Is that¡­chaotic energy?!¡±


    Murong Xiao exclaimed. High above the clouds, he could sense an ¡®abnormal¡¯ amount of chaotic energy!


    The fighters of the Water School were suspicious, but those from the Wind Lightning School smiled!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The first thing to emerge from the inky clouds was a bolt of green lightning!


    ¡°Yue Kuangfeng! But how?!¡±


    Murong Xiao then exclaimed in shock!


    ¡°Master Yue!!¡±


    People from the Wind Lightning School began to cry out. But then the smiles began to freeze up on their faces¡­


    They had been initially excited to see Yue Kuangfeng emerge from the Ninth Heaven. They were heavily anticipated Bai Yunfei¡¯s corpse to drop next. But when they looked closely at Yue Kuangfeng¡­


    They could see a frightening sight¡ªYue Kuangfeng was desperately running away!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The next thing to emerge were two gigantic dragons made out of fire! They were chasing after Yue Kuangfeng!


    Like lightning, Yue Kuangfeng tried his best to run away, but the two dragons were even faster than he was!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    The dragons were upon him now. The jaws of the dragons snapped down and¡­swallowed him whole!

 Chapter 1179: Stunning Everyone

    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The loud explosion that erupted high above the land gripped the hearts of all the people there. Several began to tremble and collapse all over the battlefield, stunned and weakened by the spectacle above.


    Everyone could feel the awe-inspiring amount of energy in it. They truly felt afraid of its power. Had they been closer to the explosion, they would¡¯ve been turned into a corpse in seconds.


    Not even Murong Xiao could believe his eyes. In fact, he looked like he was in a daze about something.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    A figure appeared from beyond the sea of flames. They were cloaked in a green light and was flying far away to the ground. He wasn¡¯t dead, but he was very close to it.


    Yue Kuangfeng!


    Yue Kuangfeng was critically injured at the moment!


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    The trill of a bird suddenly echoed throughout the world. Turning his head, Yue Kuangfeng watched as another portion of the world have its colors mix up before revealing two more figures. The moment they appeared, a prismatic ray of light flew off toward Yue Kuangfeng!


    Xiao Qi!!


    He was cloaked in four different colors and energy. Imposing in his form as a large bird, Xiao Qi appeared onto the battlefield and sent a large spatial tear at Yue Kuangfeng with a swing of his wing!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Still smoking from being engulfed by the dragons, Yue Kuangfeng let out a wail of despair as the spatial tears approached. Pushing the last of his soulforce throughout his body, Yue Kuangfeng made a last-ditch effort to dodge the attack.


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Then as if a god was giving an edict, the heavens echoed with the authoritative voice of a person!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    It was faint, but several people noticed the sound of flesh being torn apart!


    They saw the pitch-dark spatial rifts go through Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s body and¡­cut apart his body from his shoulder to the other side of his waist!


    The spatial tear traveled upward, allowing Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s body to rain blood down from its corpse. His body continued to fall from the skies, allowing everyone to catch a good glimpse at both parts of his corpse¡­


    The Mid-stage Soul Emperor was¡­dead!! Struck dead in an instant!


    Horrified shock ran across the bodies of everyone there¡ªincluding fighters within the Interdimensional Phantasm!


    ¡°But how?!¡±


    The soul refiner shrieked. His face, colorless now, could hardly stop itself from acting on its fear. Was this a nightmare?!


    It was bad enough that Xiao Qi and Xiao Binzi were a lot stronger than he gave them credit for. Fighting in the Phantasm was already difficult enough. The entire time, the soul refiner was waiting for when Yue Kuangfeng killed Bai Yunfei and cause Xiao Qi to be severely weakened. He could¡¯ve launched a counteroffensive then and theoretically win without much fuss nor trouble!


    But nothing was going his way. He saw Xiao Qi react strangely to something before the world around him returned to normal again. Then just as he was readjusting to the situation, he noticed something falling from the skies¡­


    He saw Yue Kuangfeng, haggard and battered like a street dog, tumble from the skies before Xiao Qi killed him!


    That was the moment when he felt like his soul would fly out from his mouth!


    He and Yue Kuangfeng were of the same level of strength. He thought Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been easily killed by Yue Kuangfeng, but it turned out that it was the other way around! Yue Kuangfeng wasn¡¯t even killed by Bai Yunfei, but by his soulbeast partner! This¡­this was hard to stomach!


    The biggest shocker was when he saw Bai Yunfei emerge from up above¡ªhe was completely untouched! The terrifying amount of energy radiating from his person indicated that he was still at a hundred percent battle capacity! How?!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A bolt of orange light suddenly dropped down on him while he was confused!


    It was Xiao Binzi! Capitulating on his enemy¡¯s distraction, the crafter decided to go in for the kill with his lifebound armament!


    Even as fast as he was, there was no way the soul refiner would be able to move out of the way in time. The only thing he could do was hope for his own armor, a high-heaven tier soul armament, to protect him.


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    He hoped that his armor would hold, but the sound of it cracking under pressure immediately caused him to blanch in terror!


    Pain shot through his body the next second. Xiao Binzi¡¯s soul armament had managed to tear through his armor and spear through his body!


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    Grimacing from the pain, the soul refiner prepared himself to move back to dodge any follow-up attack Xiao Binzi might have in store, but¡­


    A strange energy began to disseminate from the recent injury he received. Suddenly, he felt like something within his body was no longer functioning. He felt paralyzed from the waist down and unable to move as well as he¡¯d like.


    An orange light flashed from where he was injured. It started to spread throughout his body and gradually turn it to stone!


    A perforation through the stomach was negligible to a Soul Emperor, but this was not a regular injury. This was the result of Xiao Binzi¡¯s lifebound armament activating it¡¯s +10 additional effect, the ability to petrify!


    Upon contact, the enemy would have their mobility significantly reduced and turned to stone for two seconds!


    Total petrification wouldn¡¯t be possible if a Mid-stage Soul Emperor was hit with it, but the mobility would still be significantly dropped!


    The soul refiner was initially stunned by the strange sensation crawling across his body, but he was pleased to find out that he could ward off the effects if he concentrated his soulforce to the area. As he did, the soul refiner took out a metallic shield to protect his front.


    Xiao Binzi planned to attack again once he saw his attack work, but he thought against it after seeing his enemy take out a shield. There wasn¡¯t a good enough probability of him landing a killing blow in this case, so it was better to reconvene with Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi.


    But the important thing was that their side had the advantage now. There was no need to rush things.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Everyone felt the world around them hum ominously. Elemental fire was spreading across the battlefield along with some kind of strange energy.


    For some reason, those from the Water and Crafting Schools felt their power increase while the Wind Lightning School and Soul Refining School were stunned to sense their own powers be suppressed!


    This was the +12 additional effect of the Core Stone and the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    ¡°Kill them!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei finally appeared within eyesight of everyone on the battlefield. His voice boomed across the battlefield with a commanding aura. In accordance to his command, Xiao Qi began to rain down a meteor storm onto the enemies below!


    The battle rose to a new fervor with Bai Yunfei¡¯s command. All across the battlefield, those from the Water and Crafting Schools began to fight with vigor!


    Yue Kuangfeng¡¯s death was all they needed to see for everyone else to be either inspired or cowed. In just a matter of seconds, the entire battlefield was flowing in a completely different way than before!


    This wasn¡¯t just the effect of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul armaments. This was also a result of inspiration!


    One half of the battlefield was either filled with inspiration or completely cowed with fear!


    And that was the reason behind Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi killing Yue Kuangfeng in public!

 Chapter 1180: Victory Has Already Been Determined

    If the mind is in disarray, then fight again another day.


    Given the change in power, victory was no longer an option for one side of the battlefield.


    ¡°Retreat!!!¡±


    An order was given to everyone from the Wind Lightning and the Soul Refining Schools. It was the soul refiner. He was stronger than any of the individuals here, but he no longer had the confidence of winning!


    The loss of Yue Kuangfeng was far too great of a blow. If he continued to fight then the soul refiner would soon join Yue Kuangfeng in death!


    Black light exploded out from his body to fill the air with elemental darkness. A giant demon appeared above his head to give a heart-pounding roar. It charged toward Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and Xiao Binzi in an attempt to attack and stall for time.


    As the demon rushed forward, the soul refiner retreated. Now that two seconds had passed his body was back to its normal mobility.


    ¡°You won¡¯t get away that easily!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei barked out loud, instilling yet another wave of fear into everyone. Multiple beams of white light shot forth toward the soul refiner along with blades of wind, fireballs, bolts of lightning, and spatial tears from Xiao Qi!


    ¡°Ahh!!! Run away!!¡±


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    The attacks from Xiao Qi crashed against the ground and sowed confusion and destruction among the enemies.


    If their sole surviving Soul Emperor was cowed, what point was there to have the Soul Kings fight?! Their motivation to fight was gone the moment they saw their Soul Emperor start to flee.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Craters littered the battlefield as Xiao Qi went to work. His attacks were making it hard for the Soul Kings to escape, and several of them were unable to dodge forever. Some Soul Kings had already fallen prey to the spatial tears and died.


    ¡°Damn! Retreat! Retreattt!!!¡±


    A Mid-stage Soul Emperor from the Wind Lightning School cried out as he dodged an attack from Xu Yuanying while parrying another attack with a soul armament.


    He knew that it was too late. To stay here would mean certain death.


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    The soul refiner was moving fast, but Bai Yunfei was even faster. Dodging the Heaven¡¯s Thunder, Voidsplitter, and many of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul armaments, the soul refiner was wholeheartedly trying to make his escape. He didn¡¯t even care if the Soul Kings from his school were being attacked, all that mattered to him was his own escape!


    Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and Xiao Binzi were all using attacks infused with a Law to bombard the battlefield. Snarling, the soul refiner tried his best to use the Law of Darkness to protect himself. He looked down at the two Soul Emperors from the Wind Lightning School. He looked hesitant about something.


    ¡°Rumble¡­¡±


    The world trembled with energy as three transparent attacks flew at him!


    Soul attacks!


    ¡°Hngh!¡±


    The soul attacks slammed into him, causing the soul refiner to let out a grunt of pain as his body began to shiver. The attack was a lot more powerful than he expected! What he didn¡¯t know was that Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul attack was nearly doubled due to the Soul Sealing Mandate, and combined with the might of Xiao Qi and Xiao Binzi, their soul attacks could definitely harm a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    Being hit by the soul attacks was the last straw for the soul refiner. Working together his determination, the soul refiner threw a black pearl out in front of him!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Realizing what the Soul Emperor was trying to do, Bai Yunfei immediately threw out the Soul Sealing Mandate toward him! In a burst of speed, Xiao Qi flew even faster toward him while Xiao Binzi threw an orange pearl at him.


    ¡°Bang¡­¡±


    But it was a little too late. The black pearl shattered into millions of piece and transformed into a fog of black light!


    One moment later and the Soul Emperor was gone into the light!


    All the attacks sent by Bai Yunfei and the other two missed him¡ªthe Soul Emperor was gone!


    That pearl had been a teleportation-type soul armament!


    The same kind of soul armament that teleported Bai Yunfei to the Ninth Heaven! He had a second one!


    Teleportation via normal means required the spatial energy to be calm. The erratic influx of elemental energy normally present in a battle of some kind meant teleportation would be impossible in those cases. Even the Core Stone was hindered to some degree under those conditions. But soul armaments specifically meant for teleportation like the black pearl hadn¡¯t that same limiter. With a teleportation-type soul armament like that, the soul refiner could escape without difficulty!


    And these type of soul armaments could help a person teleport extreme distances, such as the one that brought Bai Yunfei to the Ninth Heaven. The one the soul refiner used already teleported him far beyond what Bai Yunfei was able to detect with the Core Stone.


    In one moment of opportunity, the soul refiner was able to make his getaway!


    Bai Yunfei snarled. It left a sour taste in his mouth to see one of his hated enemies get away¡­


    ¡°Bastard!!¡±


    The Early-stage Soul Emperor from the Wind Lightning School let out a furious howl¡ªhis ally had abandoned them!


    He knew as well as the others that they were defeated. He just hoped that both their groups could work together to run away! But now that their Mid-stage Soul Emperor left, there were only two Soul Emperors left to deal with five enemy Soul Emperors!


    This was basically the same as a betrayal!


    Could he be blamed for being shocked or angry?


    Not even the Soul Kings from the Soul Refining School could hold back their anger. Some of them began to despair and give up even.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei paused for a moment. If one enemy was gone, then¡­it was time to deal with the last two Soul Emperors from the Wind Lightning School!


    He glanced over to Xiao Binzi who gave him a nod in response. Bai Yunfei shot toward the Mid-stage Soul Emperor Xu Yuanying was fighting with while Xiao Qi trailed closely behind. Xiao Binzi traveled in a different direction to fly toward the Early-stage Soul Emperor that was fighting Murong Xiao.


    ¡°Kill them!!¡±


    Someone from the Water School shouted. Inspired by their recent brush with luck, everyone began to assault the Wind Lightning School. It was their chance now to win! It was their chance to defeat their enemies and ensure they would never dare to pull a second attempt of attacking their school!


    The battle began to progress in an uneventful manner. There were no sudden changes that threatened to change the situation on the battlefield. Everyone from the Wind Lightning School had already given up trying to fight and were trying to run away.


    Things weren¡¯t looking good at all for the pillar of their fighting force. With Xiao Binzi and Murong Xiao fighting together, the Early-stage Soul Emperor they fought against was in dire straits. There was no way he was able to keep an eye out on the Soul Kings beneath them.


    As for the other Soul Emperor, Xu Yuanying, Bai Yunfei, and Xiao Qi were making life extremely difficult for him. The Soul Emperor had been screaming in anger after the realization that escape was no longer possible for him.


    The rumbles from the battlefield continued without pause. Gradually, the battle began to move farther and farther away from the Water School. Forced to group closer to one another, the ones from the Wind Lightning School and Soul Refining School tried their best to break free from the encirclement. Unfortunately for them, the outcome was looking more and more grim for them¡­


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The defensive network of the Wind Lightning School members finally broke down after a while when one of them was struck down by a Soul King from the Crafting School. It was the first death!


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ahhh!!¡±


    Pandemonium was instantaneous. The death of one Soul King led to the others beginning to panic and be struck down in return!


    ¡°Damn! Damnn!! You¡¯ll all die!!¡±


    The Early-stage Soul Emperor from the Wind Lightning School roared. He looked especially haggard with his robes tattered and bloody. His eyes were bloodshot with fatigue and anger. Distraught by the death of his Soul Kings, the man began to howl louder and louder until the soulforce around him began to spike intensely!


    He was planning to self-destruct!!

 Chapter 1181: The End of This Battle

    Xiao Binzi and Murong Xiao grew alarmed at once¡ªtheir enemy was about to self-destruct!


    Then they heard the voices of two different people, voices that were infused with soulforce!


    Soul attacks!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    It was Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi! They were planning to use a soul attack!


    Two more soul attacks combined with Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi to attack the Early-stage Soul Emperor. Slamming into him, the soul attacks forced his soulforce to come to an immediate freeze!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Multiple beams of elemental energy struck the Soul Emperor shortly afterward. Mixed in with those attacks were several spatial tears to hopefully land the finishing blow on him.


    No one could see the Soul Emperor within the dust explosion, but they could at least sense that he was dead since¡­his aura was gone!


    Not even an Early-stage Soul Emperor was able to self-destruct when he wanted!


    His death meant there was only one Soul Emperor left on the enemy side. On the Water School¡¯s side were Xu Yuanying, Murong Xiao, Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and Xiao Binzi¡­five Soul Emperors!


    ¡°Watch out if he tries to self-destruct, let¡¯s make sure he doesn¡¯t!¡±


    Bai Yunfei called out to the others as they focused in on the last Mid-stage Soul Emperor.


    Killing the Soul Emperor wasn¡¯t even a problem anymore. All they had to look out for was if the Soul Emperor would try to self-destruct¡­


    But for some reason, instead of being angry at what Bai Yunfei said, the Soul Emperor began to sneer!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Before anyone could move a muscle, they all began to feel a strange energy in their presence!


    It was the Core Stone that alerted Bai Yunfei to the source¡ªthe spatial energy was starting to behave strangely a little far away from this place!


    Bai Yunfei turned his head to the sky just in time to see an eerily red-colored light explode into the sky. It looked a bit like fire¡­no¡ªthat was the color of blood!


    Not only could he sense the spatial energy being disturbed in that place, but Bai Yunfei could also sense the aura of a familiar person over there.


    It was a little far away, but the Core Stone was telling him the source was to the¡­south!!


    Realizing what direction that was, Bai Yunfei let out a loud gasp, ¡°Ah¡¯Kai!!¡±


    Wasn¡¯t that the direction Murong Xiao said Kou Tingting went to receive the reinforcements?! Zheng Kai was supposed to be heading that way!


    Bai Yunfei felt like a heavy stone had been dropped in his stomach¡ªsomething bad was about to happen!


    ¡°I have to go there immediately!¡±


    Bai Yunfei made the preparation to change gears and fly toward that direction, but then a loud voice interrupted his thoughts!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The last remaining Soul Emperor from the Wind Lightning School began to howl furiously. The energy within his body materialized in the world as a maelstrom of elemental wind strong enough to uproot parts of the world and send them flying through the air.


    ¡°Quit your struggling!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei yelled before ordering the others, ¡°Attack him with a soul attack!!¡±


    The others obeyed at once. Murong Xiao and Xu Yuanying circulated their soulforces to their cores at once before sending yet another two soul attacks!


    At the same time, Murong Xiao and Xiao Qi launched soul attacks of their own!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    To make the Soul Emperor¡¯s death certain, Bai Yunfei added a soul attack of his own!


    Five soul attacks from five Soul Emperors were being launched all at once!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    A pain-filled scream echoed into the heavens!


    The winds summoned by the Soul Emperor came to an immediate stop along with his soulforce!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A crimson-red light tore through the winds and broke apart the elemental wind toward the Soul Emperor!


    Paradoxically, an obscene amount of power began to swell within the Soul Emperor even though he was frozen still. A maniacal grin appeared on his face as he tried to self-destruct.


    The crimson streak of light came to a stop right in front of him at that exact moment, revealing Bai Yunfei to be inside. The Soul Sealing Mandate appeared in his hand before he slammed it forward!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The world came to a stop as a brilliant ball of white light exploded from the Soul Sealing Mandate and covered the Soul Emperor in it!


    The Soul Emperor¡¯s eyes widened¡ªhe knew what that white ball of light meant. He knew what the Soul Sealing Mandate was! Trying as hard as he might to dodge, the man found out that¡­he simply could not!


    Under the awed eyes of everyone else, the Soul Sealing Mandate fully activated and sealed the Soul Emperor¡¯s soulforce at once!


    The Soul Emperor froze up at once. Not even a muscle on his face twitched. It was as if he was a statue frozen still in the sky.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei moved closer to the Soul Emperor. The white light from the Soul Sealing Mandate was now gone, revealing the Soul Sealing Mandate to be stuck to the forehead of the Soul Emperor.


    Without hesitation, he waved his hand to send both the Soul Sealing Mandate and the sealed Soul Emperor into the Core World.


    And now that that was done, Bai Yunfei could begin to relax a bit. But instead of waiting around for the others, he shot up toward the south!


    ¡°Headmaster Murong, I¡¯ll leave things here for you to finish!!¡±


    He called out to Murong Xiao.


    Everything else was already close to being finished up. Within seconds, Bai Yunfei was gone and the world was beginning to quiet down to an eerily silent degree.


    It all happened so fast that some people didn¡¯t even realize the Wind Lightning School¡¯s last Soul Emperor had been kidnapped!


    Murong Xiao looked around the battlefield to inspect its condition. After a while, he raised his hand to shout: ¡°Kill them!!¡±


    The finale of the war was finally here!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Some time ago, while the battle over the Water School was taking place.


    To the west.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    There was an earsplitting sound as thirty distinct streaks of light flew across the sky. About a dozen of those streaks of light were green and another few were blue.


    Soon, one of the streaks came crashing down to the ground¡­


    ¡°Elder Wei!!¡±


    Several people landed on the ground to help Wei Duhe to his feet. He was a mess right now with his face practically as pale as a ghost and his feet shaking beneath him. Letting out a cough, the man spat out a mouthful of blood!


    He wasn¡¯t the only one to be suffering. Everyone else was quite fatigued and injured. Some were even more injured than they were, and their energy was finally starting to run low.


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Several more streaks of light came to a stop nearby the group. They didn¡¯t immediately move in to kill, but instead circled around them to prevent escape.


    ¡°Give up this pointless struggle and let yourself be captured. Do as we say or be killed!!¡±


    A shriveled elder brayed from his position in the sky. His eyes moved from the injured elder Qu to Kou Tingting behind him. A glimmer of excitement appeared in his eyes.


    He hadn¡¯t expected Kou Tingting to be here, but she would make for a nice hostage. It was possible that she¡¯d be of great ¡®use¡¯ in a particular area¡­


    Kou Tingting and her group made countless of attempts to escape from their pursuers, but they never succeeded. They were trapped for good now. Though their numbers were higher, they were up against three Late-stage Soul Kings and a Half-emperor, the Monster of Black Lightning. Elder Qu and Wei Duhe wouldn¡¯t be enough to overcome this group.


    The ones from the Wood School were horrified. They came here to provide assistance but instead fell prey to ambush before they even arrived¡­and to think they had underestimate their enemies.


    ¡°We¡¯ll go with you, but promise us you¡¯ll let these people go!¡±


    Biting her lips in frustration, Kou Tingting called out to the elder to begin negotiations.

 Chapter 1182: Zheng Kais Battle

    ¡°Tingting!!¡±


    Elder Qu gasped, but the enemy elder ignored him. ¡°Haha!! What a joke! Do you really think¡­you have any leeway to be making negotiations?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Both elder Qu and Wei Duhe gave each other a glance. Now was the time for them to make their last stand.


    ¡°We¡¯ll hold off the Monster of Black Lightning, break free when you can. Forget about us!!¡±


    Then both elders shot into the sky!


    ¡°Elder Wei!¡±


    ¡°Elder Qu!¡±


    Kou Tingting cried out in horror, but it was too late. Both of the elders were going to sacrifice themselves so they could escape!


    ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate or you¡¯ll die in this place!¡±


    Elder Qu called back. Awash with a blue light, he flew toward the Monster of Black Lightning to attack with Wei Duhe!


    ¡°Kill them!!¡±


    The Monster of Black Lightning sneered at their plot before commanding those with him to take action!


    And so a new battle broke out all around Kou Tingting and her allies!


    She was trying to find a way out from this encapturement. But it would be extremely difficult even if elder Qu and Wei Duhe managed to accomplish their task. Two Late-stage Soul Kings would find it to be a near-impossible task to carry out all the injured away from this place.


    ¡°Tingting!!¡±


    Suddenly, a loud voice called out to them from afar.


    Kou Tingting had been in the middle of healing the injury of an ally when she heard someone call out to her. Head snapping up, she looked to the northern skies in suspicion.


    ¡°Zheng¡­Zheng Kai?!¡±


    Flying toward them from the north was a green streak of light. It was a flying sword. And riding on top of it was Zheng Kai with a furious expression on his face.


    ¡°Reinforcements? Just one person?!¡±


    The shriveled elder from before sneered upon seeing Zheng Kai. ¡°Kill him too!!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh!!¡±


    Two streaks of light, one orange and the other purple, broke away from the fight to fly toward Zheng Kai. It was a Mid-stage Soul King and an Early-stage Soul King. They¡¯d be more than enough to ¡®kill¡¯ whomever this unfortunate newcomer was.


    When the two sides were just a few hundred steps apart, the two Soul Kings sent two streaks of light toward Zheng Kai to kill him.


    They expected Zheng Kai to either block or evade the attacks, but instead they watched as several rifts open up to swallow their attacks and provide coverage for the newcomer!


    ¡°A spatial-type soul cultivator!!¡±


    One of the two Soul Kings cried out loud. Realizing that those rifts were flying toward them, the Soul King prepared to move out of the way when¡­he was hit by a wave of transparent energy!


    A soul attack!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    There was a horrified scream as the rifts tore into the bodies of the two Soul Kings, tearing them limb from limb and killing them painfully!


    A spatial-type soul cultivator was the nightmare for any other soul cultivator of the same stage of strength. A moment¡¯s carelessness could result in death for anyone fighting against those types of enemies, and in this case, it costed the two Soul Kings their lives!


    The speed in which Zheng Kai traveled at decreased just a bit after the death of those two Soul Kings, but he was still flying incredibly quick!


    ¡°Get in my way and die!!¡±


    He shouted for everyone to hear.


    ¡­¡­


    The way Zheng Kai made his appearance onto the battlefield stunned everyone, including the Monster of Black Lightning, Wei Duhe, and elder Qu. They weren¡¯t even fighting anymore.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    One second later and Zheng Kai came to an immediate stop right in front of Kou Tingting.


    ¡°Tingting! Are you alright?!¡±


    He strode toward Kou Tingting. His eyes were focused only on her to see if she was injured or not.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m fine. Why¡­how did you get here, Zheng Kai?¡±


    She was still a little shocked to see Zheng Kai here, but not too shocked to inquire about his arrival.


    ¡°I came with Yunfei. Don¡¯t you worry, you¡¯ll be fine now. I won¡¯t let anyone hurt you!¡±


    Zheng Kai was relieved to see that she was fine. Fatigued maybe, but not critically injured. Then he saw the tears and blood on her shoulder. Furious, he whirled around to glare at the enemies around them. ¡°You¡¯ll¡­all die for this!¡± He roared.


    ¡°How arrogant, you¡¯ll be the one dying!!¡±


    The shriveled elder replied in response. Zheng Kai¡¯s arrival was a bit unexpected, but not unmanageable. A space-type soul cultivator he might be, but Zheng Kai was only a Mid-stage Soul King. A person of that strength wouldn¡¯t be much of a threat for them.


    Regardless, they were now down two Soul Kings and had one additional space-type Mid-stage Soul King to deal with. That meant the situation was slightly different compared to before¡­


    The power a space-type soul cultivator wielded couldn¡¯t be understated. Without understanding of some degree of the Law of Truth, no soul cultivator would dare try to block a spatial attack sent by a space-type soul cultivator. Dodging was the only option.


    The shriveled elder, a Late-stage Soul King, was the one that decided to fight Zheng Kai. As the weaker one, Zheng Kai couldn¡¯t overestimate his advantage. While it was true he could negate the elemental attacks sent his way, Zheng Kai wasn¡¯t able to land a blow of his own on the elder. This meant while he was able to give the enemies a sense of pressure, it was a short-term solution and not a long term one.


    The real problem was still high up in the skies. The Half-emperor¡­


    Just stalling for time was hard enough for elder Qu and Wei Duhe. Fighting the Monster of Black Lightning was extremely difficult, but they had to do it. If they didn¡¯t, then everyone was finished.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A loud explosion erupted on the battlefield as a bolt of violet light struck against a figure cloaked in blue. Following the explosion, the figure in blue was blasted away from the scene like a kite without a string.


    ¡°Elder Qu!!¡±


    Screaming, Kou Tingting and her fellow students watched in horror as elder Qu flew across the sky!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­boom!!¡±


    The defeat of elder Qu sent a shiver up Wei Duhe¡¯s spine. If his comrade was defeated, then it wouldn¡¯t be long before he would be too!


    The Monster of Black Lightning was just about to land the killing blow on the downed elder Qu when all of a sudden, a streak of red light appeared in front of elder Qu and stopped the Monster of Black Lightning!


    ¡°Elder Jin!!¡±


    Zheng Kai cried out in joy¡ªElder Jin was finally here! He was only a Late-stage Soul King, meaning he wasn¡¯t going to be able to defeat the Half-emperor by himself, but this gap in power could be made up for with the powerful soul armaments he carried. And together with Wei Duhe, the two should probably be able to defeat the Monster of Black Lightning.


    That is, if nothing else were to happen¡­


    ¡°Damn! What¡­what should we do?!¡±


    Zheng Kai thought to himself as he sent another wave of spatial attacks outward. He was trying to force the enemies back, but he was disappointed to see that it wasn¡¯t working. He had to find a way to break free from this enclosure and force the enemies back!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Zheng Kai whirled around at once just in time to see someone be struck by an attack!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    Kou Tingting cried out before springing into action. Two of her fellow students advanced to block any follow-up attacks while she knelt down by the injured member¡¯s side and began to heal their wounds.


    The three of them were only Early-stage Soul Kings so they weren¡¯t much help in battle. But their ability to treat and heal were more than enough to provide assistance to the fighting efforts.


    The fury Zheng Kai felt inside his heart intensified upon seeing the fatigued expression on Kou Tingting¡¯s face. Unable to hold back his emotions any longer, Zheng Kai let out a loud scream!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    It was a roar to inspire himself, seemingly. Departing from Kou Tingting¡¯s side, Zheng Kai threw himself at the enemy nearest to him!


    The shriveled elder narrowed his eyes. He had been prepared to dodge another one of Zheng Kai¡¯s attacks, but instead of that, Zheng Kai had simply disappeared from sight!


    ¡°Be on the lookout!!¡±


    He called out at once the moment Zheng Kai disappeared.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    His words fell on deaf ears. Zheng Kai was already right beside a fire-type Mid-stage Soul King with his hands outstretched above his head!


    Teleportation!!


    This was the greatest advantage space-type soul cultivators had over others: the ability to teleport even during a battle!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡¯


    The fire-type Mid-stage Soul King let out a scream of panic. A giant sword appeared in his hands before he lifted it up to protect himself.


    ¡°Clang! Swoosh!!¡±


    Something metallic struck against the sword and then cracked it!


    The heaven-tier red sword broke in two and the Mid-stage Soul King wielding the sword was¡­cut in two as well!!

 Chapter 1183: The Might of the Demon Edge

    Zheng Kai didn¡¯t pause even as blood sprayed forth from the body of his enemy. His right foot sent the corpse flying to the left before he disappeared once again!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    Everyone was on high alert now. A Late-stage Soul King was the next one to sense Zheng Kai teleporting near him. Wielding a giant cleaver, the Soul King swung it at once toward where he felt the disturbance was coming from!


    Zheng Kai reappeared in that moment right in the path of the cleaver stroke!


    ¡°Zheng Kai!!¡±


    Kou Tingting shrieked in terror.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Zheng Kai raised his right hand, stopping the cleaver in a shower of sparks before breaking the head of the cleaver from the handle!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The Late-stage Soul King stared at his broken weapon in shock¡ªhow did that happen? His soul armament was a mid-heaven tier! It wasn¡¯t supposed to break at all!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Before he could think of a proper answer, the Late-stage Soul King felt the stench of death begin to assault his nose. Looking up, he saw a demonic red light come flying down on him!


    His sharp eyes could see what kind of soul armament it was¡ªZheng Kai was holding onto some kind of fan-shaped weapon. It was a bit large for a fan and had strange blood-red sawtooth blades around the edges of the fan!


    He raised the cleaver handle up to protect himself while also leaping back.


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    As expected, the cleaver was broken once again by the fan. Zheng Kai¡¯s soul armament continued downward to slash across the Late-stage Soul King and send him flying.


    This time however, the Soul King was still very much alive. He flipped to his feet and glared at Zheng Kai in a murderous rage. A deep scar ran across the body armor he wore underneath his robes.


    ¡°What¡­what kind of soul armament is that?!¡±


    He shouted. That soul armament Zheng Kai wielded gave him a deep sense of fear for some reason. He couldn¡¯t understand why his opponent had suddenly gotten so much stronger, so much faster, and so much more brutal! And what was with his soul armament? How could it possibly be that strong!?


    ¡°Aahhh! Just die!!¡±


    Zheng Kai didn¡¯t look too upset about failing to kill the Late-stage Soul King. Instead, he gave a primal howl and leaped at him once again with bloodshot eyes to kill!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The red light coming from his soul armament shined once more as he leaped at the Soul King. Multiple beams of blood-red light swept across the field to attack at its foes!


    ¡°Dodge them!!¡±


    The elder shouted. Abandoning his plans to attack, he shot higher up into the sky to avoid being hit in the waist by the streak of light.


    Five or six people were currently dodging the beams of light Zheng Kai was shooting out from his soul armament. None of them dared to block them and instead opted to dodge instead.


    Six beams of red light swept the area beneath the Soul Kings feet before Zheng Kai twisted his hand and swiped upwards!


    Everyone watched as the light beneath their feet froze still. It swirled agitatedly as if being forced to alter its course of direction and shot upward along the same direction Zheng Kai commanded!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    One unfortunate metal-type Early-stage Soul King didn¡¯t realize he¡¯d be attacked again. A wave of golden light covered his entire person and transformed into a set of golden armor. In his hand was a golden shield he placed below him to protect himself from the second attack.


    ¡°Pcht!¡±


    Despite it being made of elemental metal, the defenses of the Soul King crumpled like it was paper. The bloody beams of light tore through those defenses as if it didn¡¯t even exist and split him from the right side of the waist all the way to the left shoulder! A fatal blow!


    The blood light paused, but didn¡¯t dissipate from sight. It merely retracted back toward Zheng Kai. Strangely enough, any blood drops that touched the red light was sucked into the blade hidden within it¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Some of the Soul Kings thought they were just hearing things at first, but the weapon Zheng Kai was using was actually letting out some kind of strange noise. It sounded as though it was excited to be taking in the blood of those it killed.


    The blade trembled in Zheng Kai¡¯s hand, but Zheng Kai¡¯s entire right arm seemed to be quivering as well. His eyes were still bloodshot and the veins under his skin bulged outward in an unnatural way. But the strangest thing about Zheng Kai was the fact that his aura was still spiking in intensity!


    ¡°The Demon Edge!! That¡¯s elder Qin¡¯s Demon Edge!!¡±


    The shriveled elder shrieked the moment he saw the weapon in Zheng Kai¡¯s hand. He knew that soul armament!


    The Demon Edge was the soul armament Bai Yunfei received from Qin Bangjie and named into something else. The soul armament Zheng Kai had in his hand was the Vampiric Demon Edge!!


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 8000


    Additional Attack: 7500


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    Equipment Effect 1: Absorb the blood of those slain and temporarily gain a 30% increase in attack.


    +10 Additional Effect: Pay a blood price to increase the power of the user and item.


    Gain 1% attack and 2% increase to overall stats for every percentage of blood taken.


    Duration ends when no more blood is given.


    +12 Additional Effect: Heal from all wounds instantaneously. Increase all stats by 300% and dull the sense of pain by 50% for an hour.


    All damage sustained within that hour will have its severity amplified by 200% afterward.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    It was the same soul armament Bai Yunfei said to be a weapon he didn¡¯t dare use often. For some reason, this powerful demon armament was in Zheng Kai¡¯s hands!


    It was because of Nalan Yin¡¯s prophecy. Bai Yunfei had been thinking heavily about what he meant by an omen of bloodshed and what possible danger Zheng Kai could be in. When he learned about the plight of the Water School, Bai Yunfei thought that this the most likely situation Zheng Kai could be in trouble over.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t think Zheng Kai would be in any danger if they stuck together. But in the case they split up? Figuring that it was best to cover all the outcomes, Bai Yunfei gave Zheng Kai a few upgraded soul armaments, the Vampiric Demon Edge was just one of those soul armaments he gave.


    He felt that if by chance Zheng Kai were to get into a life-or-death struggle, then this demon armament would most definitely be of help.


    Bai Yunfei even made sure to warn Zheng Kai thrice over about the potential danger of using the soul armament and the ¡®side effects¡¯ from using it. Unless he or Kou Tingting were in danger, it was best that the Vampiric Demon Edge stayed in his space ring!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°The Demon Edge?! That Demon Edge?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the demon armament! It¡¯s even stronger than the rumors said! How does he even have that weapon?!¡±


    ¡°Kill¡­kill him!!¡±


    The shriveled elder shouted, but no one responded. They all knew the absolute power Qin Bangjie had when he used that demon armament. It terrified them. And for some reason, the demon armament looked even more terrifying in Zheng Kai¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Since they weren¡¯t moving, Zheng Kai decided to be the one to take action first. Shouting out loud, he then disappeared!


    He was teleporting again!


    A chill went up everyone¡¯s spines at once. Fearful that he might show up behind them, everyone began to look this way and that, prepared to move at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    Zheng Kai¡¯s first target was an unfortunate earth-type Early-stage Soul King. He only had enough time to scream before his soul armament was snapped in two and the Vampiric Demon Edge speared through his heart!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    The Vampiric Demon Edge greedily absorbed all the blood in the Soul King¡¯s body, and in no time at all the Soul King was left as a dry husk.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom!!¡±


    The other Soul Kings launched their attacks onto Zheng Kai, but they only succeeded in destroying the corpse of their comrade while Zheng Kai teleported out of sight.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    There was another scream as a new victim was found. This time, it was a wood-type Mid-stage Soul King. The Vampiric Demon Edge had cleaved open his abdomen!


    Another barrage of attacks were aimed at him once again. Parrying most of the attacks with the Vampiric Demon Edge, Zheng Kai deflected the other attacks with a bubble of energy. This time, a few attacks made it through his defenses and left gruesome marks on his shoulder and leg.


    If it hurt, then Zheng Kai didn¡¯t show any signs of being in pain. He simply flicked his hand to behead the wood-type Soul King he stabbed just a moment ago.


    The Vampiric Demon Edge shined ominously in the sunlight, the blood it absorbed giving the demon armament a nasty sheen. Zheng Kai¡¯s aura grew once again in one explosive leap the moment the second Soul King was killed. Even though he had wounds all over his body, Zheng Kai¡¯s person was oddly clean of blood. If anything, the blood from his wounds were being drawn into the demon armament in his hand!


    Zheng Kai looked more like an animal than a person by this point. His mouth exhaled steam whenever he breathed and his eyes were more red than white.


    ¡°Kill! Kill!!! Killll!!!!¡±

 Chapter 1184: For Your Sake Id Become a Demon!

    ¡°Zheng Kai!!¡±


    It terrified Kou Tingting to see Zheng Kai in such a bestial state. She was stunned, terrified, and filled with horror at the sight.


    What was wrong with Zheng Kai, she didn¡¯t know. She just knew this wasn¡¯t right. The way his soulforce was fluctuating made it feel like he was on the verge of self-destructing.


    Additionally, Kou Tingting wasn¡¯t quite familiar with the Vampiric Demon Edge, but as the daughter of the Crafting School¡¯s headmaster, how could she not know about demon armaments? Anyone would be able to guess that Zheng Kai was using his own blood to strengthen himself. It didn¡¯t matter if soul cultivators could replenish their blood faster than commoners, anyone fighting this way would most definitely run out of steam fast. And if they ran out of blood, not even being a Soul King would be able to help them live through that!


    And that wasn¡¯t even taking into account the results of using a demon armament. Nothing good would come from using one!


    Zheng Kai was the son of one of the five most prestigious houses on the continent. Living life on easy mode wouldn¡¯t be hard for him to do at all, should he choose to. But right now, Zheng Kai was putting his life on the line by using a dangerous demon armament to slaughter everyone here¡­


    And he did so without hesitation. It was as if this was the one and only course of action to take!!


    ¡°I won¡¯t let anyone harm you!!¡±


    That was the only thing he could say! He was using up his own life to protect someone else!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s okay!! Zheng Kai¡­stop! You can stop now! You¡¯ll die if you¡­stop, Zheng Kai!!¡±


    Tears flowed down Kou Tingting¡¯s face as she pleaded for him to stop. The tears made it hard to see anything in front of her clearly, but the bloody figure of Zheng Kai would forever be burned in her mind¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Die! Die! Die!! Everyone will die!!¡±


    Zheng Kai howled. By now, his entire person was stained with blood. Some of it was the blood of his enemies, but most of it belonged to himself. His robes were shredded for the most part, barring the high-leveled armor he wore on his chest. That armor had done a good job protecting him from the worst of attacks, but both his arms were utterly marked up with injuries. There was even one particular injury on his left arm that was so deep that his bone could be seen. Despite that, Zheng Kai seemed to be ignoring such a wound.


    Three Soul Kings had already succumbed to the Vampiric Demon Edge while the rest were desperately trying their best to stop Zheng Kai. But with his ability to teleport, Zheng Kai was making it very difficult for him to be put down. They were being picked off one by one without ever having a good opportunity to kill him!


    And whenever Zheng Kai teleported in front of somebody, no one dared to use their own soul armament to defend. Not against the Vampiric Demon Edge! It was in their best interest to put their efforts in dodging.


    Not even the shriveled elder, a Late-stage Soul King, was willing to face Zheng Kai head on. He was terrified of the man. Moving out of the way was a far more common thought in his mind than ¡®attacking¡¯ was.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    Another scream. A Mid-stage Soul King had died. But this time, it wasn¡¯t because of Zheng Kai and his demon armament, but because of the combined efforts of the Wood School.


    It happened due to the Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s fear of the Vampiric Demon Edge. When Zheng Kai appeared in front of him, the Soul King leaped out of the way out of his range and coincidentally landed right in front of where the Wood School members were¡­


    The fighters from the Wood School initially thought about helping Zheng Kai fight, but the way Zheng Kai was fighting terrified them of being caught in the crossfire, so they decided to retreat to safety instead.


    Zheng Kai was fighting indiscriminately at this point. Everyone was his enemy other than Kou Tingting and so he killed anyone that dared get close to him. If the Wood School got any closer than they were now, then it¡¯d be likely that they¡¯d be attacked too.


    So they stood on the sidelines and watched him fight in concern. Every so often, when someone, like the unfortunate Mid-stage Soul King just now, got close enough, then they¡¯d take the opportunity to kill them.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s impossible!! The Demon Edge shouldn¡¯t give that much power! There¡¯s no way!!¡±


    The shriveled elder cried out in horror. This would be the sixth Soul King to die since Zheng Kai first took out the Vampiric Demon Edge¡­


    He wasn¡¯t a stranger to the demon armament. He knew it was a high-heaven tier soul armament and had the ability to turn blood into power, but he knew it shouldn¡¯t be possible of the feats Zheng Kai was currently accomplishing it with!


    Not only was the edge of the blade sharper than his memory served, but it was also powering Zheng Kai beyond what he knew should¡¯ve been possible!


    Using the demon armament meant losing all rationality and logic. One could become more courageous using the demon armament, yes, but that didn¡¯t mean it¡¯d give the user the ability to fight on a stage higher than normal!!


    That last point was only made known after the elder inspected Zheng Kai¡¯s aura. Zheng Kai was now¡­at the level of a Late-stage Soul King!


    So now, the elder was in a conundrum. How was he supposed to win against a foe who¡¯s power level, soul armament, and affinity were all better than his own!?


    ¡°Kill! Kill!! Killll!!!¡±


    Zheng Kai barked out again and again. While his foes were cowed, he himself was not yet done with his rampage. Whirling around to glare at the Mid-stage Soul King to his left, he disappeared once again!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul King he stared down shrieked in terror. He turned around to try and run away, but that was the wrong move to make! The moment he turned around was the moment Zheng Kai appeared right behind him with his bloody demon armament ready to swing!


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul King¡¯s screams died there as his head went flying up into the sky!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The sound of someone crashing onto the earth shocked Kou Tingting from her stupor. Turning around, she saw the crumpled form of a soul cultivator lay on the ground!


    ¡°Elder Wei!!¡±


    The students from the Wood School were the first to identify him. They all shot toward him at once to help the elder to his feet.


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    Now free of any opposition, the Monster of Black Lightning jabbed a finger at Zheng Kai!


    The end of his battle meant he could now focus on the next problem¡ªit was time for him to deal with Zheng Kai!


    The shriveled elder let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that reinforcements were now here. Perhaps now, they¡¯d be able to live¡­


    ¡°Hmph! I¡¯d like to see if a demon armament will help you against a Half-emperor! You¡¯ll die¡­¡±


    He began to sneer at Zheng Kai, but before he could finish his sentence¡­


    A strange light started to shine from the Vampiric Demon Edge. It spread from the blade down to his arm and then to the rest of his body. Lingering for just a moment, the light then dissipated to reveal a completely healed and fully powered Zheng Kai!


    It was the +12 additional effect of the Vampiric Demon Edge!


    +12 Additional Effect: Heal from all wounds instantaneously. Increase all stats by 300% and dull the sense of pain by 50% for an hour.All damage sustained within that hour will have its severity amplified by 200% afterward.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Another bestial roar erupted from Zheng Kai before he slashed his weapon upward!


    A bolt of bloody-red light escaped from his weapon to clash with the violet lightning bolt coming down on him!

 Chapter 1185: Defeating the Enemies!

    Under the stunned eyes of the shriveled elder and the other remaining Soul Kings, the bloody streak of light smashed into the Monster of Black Lightning¡¯s lightning bolt and cleaved it in two!


    It had actually split a lightning bolt in two!


    ¡°Boom boom boom!!¡±


    The world echoed loudly as if a cannonball had just been fired. The two lightning bolts faded away and the bloody streak of light continued upward toward the Monster of Black Lightning!


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    Just barely dodging the bloody light, the Monster of Black Lightning stared at Zheng Kai with wide-open eyes. He hadn¡¯t expected to see his own attack being overwhelmed. And now¡­the enemy he was fighting against had the power of a Peak Late-stage Soul King!


    It¡­it was still growing! The energy of his enemy was still growing!


    Everyone was stunned this time. They all began to shirk away from Zheng Kai the moment after he split apart that lightning bolt!


    They all knew now that by this point, Zheng Kai would be able to fight on equal grounds with a Half-emperor. Not even the Monster of Black Lightning would be able to handle him easily.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    There was no way Zheng Kai would let them run away either. He was back to full strength thanks to the +12 additional effect of the Vampiric Demon Edge. No way would Zheng Kai not run after them to kill!


    And speaking of Zheng Kai, he was already on the offense again. His weapon swished through the air with such speed that the Mid-stage Soul King he was attacking could hardly even see its movements.


    It was too late for him. The demon armament cut through his body, soul armament and all and left his person in two. Even with his dying breath as he fell from the sky, the Mid-stage Soul King was filled with terror and confusion at what had happened to him¡­


    The only emotion the shriveled elder felt now was fear. Fear since Zheng Kai had disappeared once again!


    His mind was screaming at him about the severity of the situation when he saw a figure appear near him!


    ¡°Ah!! Die!!¡±


    Terror gripped at his heart. With his life hanging on its edge, he whirled around and attacked with the dark-gold claws on his right hand to stab at Zheng Kai right on the face!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    His last attempt to defeat Zheng Kai was a fruitless endeavor. The Vampiric Demon Edge met with the giant claws of his and broke through it like a knife through butter. The blade continued to cut into his hand before ultimately carving its way across the elder¡¯s throat!


    ¡°Pff¡­¡±


    The expression on the elder¡¯s face went slack. His mouth opened and closed several times as if he was trying to say something, but nothing could be heard. Freezing up, his body then toppled over to plummet toward the ground¡­


    ¡°You bastard!!¡±


    In the blink of an eye, two more Soul Kings were killed right in front of the Monster of Black Lightning¡¯s eyes! To say he was furious was an understatement. Kicking forward, the Half-emperor flew like lightning down to charge at Zheng Kai!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The pupil¡¯s in Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes dilated in recognition of his foe coming closer to him. He let out a roar that sounded more beastlike than human before snapping upward to meet his foe head on!


    The few Soul Kings that had yet to be killed were relieved to see him move elsewhere. But before they could rejoice just yet, several streaks of green light flew at them!


    Seeing an opportunity, the members of the Wood School flew up to attack the surviving enemies!


    Hardly any of the Soul Kings were left. The surviving few were all terrified out of their minds and not capable of fighting for much longer anymore. In comparison, those from the Wood School had plenty of time to heal. A fight between the two sides meant those from the Wood School would definitely win!


    High up in the sky, the Monster of Black Lightning gestured with both hands. A ball of violet lightning appeared in his left hand while his right hand was surrounded in darkness. When Zheng Kai was just under a hundred steps from him, the Monster of Black Lightning pressed both hands together and pushed both palms outward!


    ¡°Kra-kow!!¡±


    Multiple lightning bolts the color of darkness erupted from his palms to surround Zheng Kai in them!


    The Monster of Black Lightning was a rare soul cultivator with a dual affinity for darkness and lightning. His strongest attack was this type of black lightning that earned him his nickname. It combined the destructive power of lightning with the pervading nature of darkness for a technique of unbelievable power.


    It locked onto Zheng Kai¡¯s position since he was extremely close to the Monster of Black Lightning. Teleporting wouldn¡¯t be able to help him if the Monster of Black Lightning could see where he teleported to, there was no dodging those lightning bolts!


    But Zheng Kai didn¡¯t even plan on dodging them!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Zheng Kai let out another furious cry as the lightning bolts slammed into his body. More and more wounds began to appear on his body, and before long, his entire person was once again covered in blood. Even more terrifyingly, the Vampiric Demon Edge in his hand was shining even brighter than before!


    ¡°Swish swish swish swish¡­¡±


    The hand holding the Vampiric Demon Edge became a blur as he sent attack after attack toward the Monster of Black Lightning!


    Each streak of light that came out from the demon armament was distinctly different compared to before. They contained dark spots of light in them¡­


    Spatial energy!


    Zheng Kai wasn¡¯t just using the power of the Vampiric Demon Edge anymore, he was infusing his own spatial energy in his attacks!


    He was fighting on the same level of power as the Monster of Black Lightning was!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The attacks of both fighters slammed into one another, causing explosion after explosion to ring out across the world!


    Each one of the Monster of Black Lightning¡¯s attacks were smashed apart by Zheng Kai¡¯s attacks!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    He roared in disbelief. He had put all his strength in that move! Even now as his attacks were beginning to fade away, the Monster of Black Lightning gave a disbelieving stare at them.


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    The Monster of Black Lightning felt his body seize up the moment when someone let out a loud shout!


    A soul attack!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A crimson-red streak of light shot up into the air. There was a person inside that light, and he was wielding a giant blade with fire spiraling around it!


    Elder Jin!


    The Monster of Black Lightning snarled. He couldn¡¯t dodge this attack anymore due to being hit with the soul attack. Summoning a violet longsword, the man raised it above his head to block elder Jin¡¯s weapon.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The two soul armaments struck one another in one loud clash. Unexpectedly, the Monster of Black Lightning was forced down from the skies. He could feel his hand tremble from the force of the blow¡ªhis longsword had nearly been disarmed!


    The force of the blow saw to elder Jin being forced backward too.


    The Monster of Black Lightning looked down at his soul armament in shock¡ªthere was a crack running through its blade! The soul armament of a Late-stage Soul King was somehow stronger than his very own soul armament!


    As shocked as he was to see his soul armament cracked, the Monster of Black Lightning was immediately on high alert once he saw elder Jin throw out what appeared to be a golden disk!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The Monster of Black Lightning slashed down at the gold disk with his long sword and successfully parried it, but that only made the cracks on his soul armament deepen!


    ¡°Hrk¡­¡±


    Pain shot up the Monster of Black Lightning¡¯s body. The longsword he was using was his soulbound armament. Having it injured like this meant his body would be proportionally damaged as well. If he were to continue using the longsword, then it would most definitely break after some time¡­


    A never before level of fear struck the Monster of Black Lightning¡¯s heart¡ªit was high time for him to retreat.


    But that was when a gigantic beam of dark-red light shot forth from the explosion where Zheng Kai was. Multiple cracks in space formed in its path as it flew at the Monster of Black Lightning to swallow him whole!


    Completely terrified of what this attack would do to him, the Monster of Black Lightning immediately dove down from the skies to evade it!


    He didn¡¯t even care about fighting elder Jin anymore. Not with someone like Zheng Kai after him.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The Monster of Black Lightning watched as the giant red streak of light fly through where he once stood. Any strand of elemental energy had been swallowed up in that light~


    That had been a slash formed entirely of spatial energy!


    There wouldn¡¯t have been any part of his body left if he was just a second slower¡­


    He watched as the dark-red beam of light ate away the clouds above him before ultimately fading away. Sweat began to pool on his forehead at the realization of what kind of force he was up against.


    It was definitely time for him to flee.


    He turned around to begin running, but that was when a blood-soaked figure appeared right in front of his face!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Zheng Kai roared as he slammed the Vampiric Demon Edge down on the Monster of Black Lightning!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    In one last attempt to save himself, the Monster of Black Lightning let out a tremendous wave of black and violet light!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    When the Vampiric Demon Edge was on its downward stroke, everything within fifty meters of Zheng Kai seemed to tremble. Multiple dark-red crescent beams appeared around Zheng Kai to cleave apart the light the Monster of Black Lightning was spreading out!


    Time felt like it no longer had a part to play in this part of the world. Everything around Zheng Kai and the Monster of Black Lightning felt extremely slow. The beams of dark-red light ate away at the black light instantaneously and silently. It felt like the sole purpose of that light was to erase the black and violet light!


    It¡¯d eat at the black light every single time it touched a strand of it. Soon, there wasn¡¯t even a single strand left of the black light. And of course, that also included the Monster of Black Lightning!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whoo¡­¡­¡±


    A gentle caressed the face of elder Jin as he stood there. Completely still from his shock, he stared at the sole figure standing in a ¡®void¡¯ of space.


    ¡°Is¡­is this the power of the upgraded Vampiric Demon Edge?! It¡¯s..it¡¯s terrifying¡­¡± He breathed to himself in awe.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai!!!¡±


    He heard the voice of someone new speak out from the north. Turning around, elder Jin looked over to who it was that had spoke, ¡°Yunfei?!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A crimson-red streak of light shot past him in one second to reach the place where Zheng Kai stood.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Zheng Kai reacted instantaneously. Howling in fury, he brandished the Vampiric Demon Edge and sent a beam of dark-red light toward the incoming Bai Yunfei!

 Chapter 1186: When a Hero Saves the Princess

    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shouted in surprise. He shifted slightly toward the left before bringing his left hand up to grab hold of the Vampiric Demon Edge.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a shower of sparks as his glove clashed against the Vampiric Demon Edge, but Bai Yunfei managed to successfully grab hold of it.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, it¡¯s me!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shouted again, what a fright Zheng Kai was right now! He could hardly even recognize him right now¡­


    ¡°Die! Die! Die!!!¡±


    Zheng Kai raged and frothed at the mouth, his arm trembling as it tried to budge the demon armament.


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, that¡¯s enough! All the enemies are dead!!¡±


    This time, Bai Yunfei layered his voice with some soulforce to force Zheng Kai to calm down.


    A shiver ran up Zheng Kai¡¯s body. His soulforce began to calm and slow down to regular levels. ¡°Ah¡¯Kai, wake up!! You don¡¯t need to fight anymore, Kou Tingting¡¯s safe!¡±


    As if a spell was broken, the raged look in Zheng Kai¡¯s eyes was dispelled the moment he heard ¡®Kou Tingting¡¯. His body tensed slightly before the light in his eyes returned to normal.


    ¡°Tingting¡­¡± He muttered, a small smile on his face as he realized that he managed to achieve his objective. Then he began to fall backward¡­


    ¡°Ah¡¯Kai!!¡±


    With Zheng Kai fainted, Bai Yunfei took the opportunity to disarm the Vampiric Demon Edge from his grasp. Without the effect of the demon armament healing him, Zheng Kai¡¯s body immediately opened up with a multitude of wounds. But hardly any blood flowed from the wounds since he was already extremely low on it¡­


    Though he was unconscious and the Vampiric Demon Edge not within his grasp, the demon armament was still actively draining his blood until Bai Yunfei stored it back into his space ring. If not for that then Zheng Kai would¡¯ve most likely become a bloodless husk. His swift disarming and storaging of the demon armament were only possible due to his familiarity and compatibility with it.


    But there was still one last problem. Without the +12 additional effect of the Vampiric Demon Edge keeping Zheng Kai¡¯s body ¡®clean¡¯, the wounds on his body would have to be immediately addressed or else he¡¯d¡­


    ¡°Plip plip plip¡­¡±


    All over Zheng Kai¡¯s body, the bones and muscles started to show cracks and strain and the last precious amounts of blood were finally starting to come out. There wasn¡¯t even a single spot on Zheng Kai¡¯s body that was unharmed!


    ¡°Tch!¡± Bai Yunfei anticipated this might happen, but seeing it happen for real was still a hair-raising event. He slapped the Vitality Bracelet on Zheng Kai to wear and began to equip several other vitality-raising equipment to boost his regeneration.


    Vitality Bracelet:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Wood


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attribute: +450 Strength


    Additional Attribute: +300 Strength


    Soul Compatibility: 18%


    Equipment Effect: Increase healing rate by 15%.


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase healing rate by 10% for every time 10% of vitality is lost. When user is in a near-death state (Under 10% vitality), increase healing rate by 200%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    ¡°Sealer, make sure his soul doesn¡¯t fall apart!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was pulling out all the stops. He even took the Soul Sealing Mandate off his forehead to wrap around Zheng Kai¡¯s. The biggest amount of damage Zheng Kai took was to the physical body, but using the demon armament had also done some mental damage to him so the Soul Sealing Mandate had to be used to stabilize his soul and prevent any additional damage.


    Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei took a large blood-replenishing pill and threw it into Zheng Kai¡¯s mouth.


    This pill was a high-heaven tier pill. As the name implied, the pill was capable of staunching blood loss and accelerating the body¡¯s ability to replenish blood.


    It was one of the countless pills the alchemy school gave him, but Bai Yunfei only had two of these specific grades. It was fortunate that he had one on hand to give to Zheng Kai.


    Then he took out two soulmending pills just to be absoluetly safe.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    It was only after Bai Yunfei was done with his ¡®emergency first-aid¡¯ efforts that he let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Boom boom boom!!¡±


    It was when he let down his guard when suddenly, some part of the world nearby him exploded!


    Those from the Wood School were still fighting the remaining Soul Kings at this time. Those Soul Kings had been trying this entire time to run away, but they had yet to break free from their enemies.


    This situation was exactly the same as it was a minute ago, only this time, the main character starring in the fight was a different one¡­


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    A murderous glint of light entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. The world around him trembled in response to his energy as he waved his right hand up to gather his soulforce to him!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!¡±


    Four different streaks of red came crashing down from the heavens to strike down the four Soul Kings left alive!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    ¡°Noo!!!¡±


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The screams were loud, but shortlived. They didn¡¯t even have a chance to do anything other than scream before Bai Yunfei¡¯s attacks struck them. Bursting into flames, the Soul Kings all died at once¡ªBai Yunfei had easily killed the Soul Kings without the four Wood School students needing to do anything!


    ¡­¡­


    And now the world was quiet once more. Everyone could only stare at Bai Yunfei in awe¡ªsome of the fighters had been so caught up in the battle they didn¡¯t even realize Bai Yunfei was there!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Bai Yunfei came dropping back down from the skies to land right in front of Zheng Kai once again.


    ¡°Zheng Kai!¡±


    A blue streak of light shot forth from the group from the Water School. It flew the short distance between them and Bai Yunfei to grab hold of the unconscious Zheng Kai floating right beside Bai Yunfei.


    It was Kou Tingting.


    Without needing to be told anything by Bai Yunfei, she wrapped Zheng Kai in a bubble of elemental water and began to treat him of his wounds.


    ¡°Yunfei.¡± Elder Jin was the next to drop down from the skies. ¡°Will he be fine?¡± He nodded at Zheng Kai.


    ¡°He should be out of danger¡­¡± Bai Yunfei replied with concern, ¡°How about you, elder Jin, are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Nothing major. I¡¯ll help the others with their treatment.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bai Yunfei threw a few basic pills to the elder so he could help the healing efforts on his behalf.


    There were plenty of people injured right now, like those from the Wood School. If not for the healers like Kou Tingting, they would¡¯ve fallen unconscious a long time ago. The usage of the pills should help them stabilize their wounds and keep them from getting any worse while the area-of-effect ability of the Soul Sealing Mandate should help them even more.


    Bai Yunfei heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that no one else was in critical danger. The danger was well and truly over, the only thing to do now was to bring the injured back to the Water School.


    But just as he was about to bring everyone into the Core World to head back to the Water School¡­


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    Someone beside him started to groan in pain. It was Zheng Kai. He was finally awake.


    ¡°Zheng Kai!!¡±


    Tears began to flow at once from Kou Tingting¡¯s eyes. Caressing his head with her left hand, she slowly helped Zheng Kai to his feet.


    ¡°How are you feeling, Ah¡¯Kai?¡±


    ¡°...¡± His eyes still looked a little bloodshot, but they were looking a lot better than before. It took him a second or two to look at Bai Yunfei due to the grogginess he was feeling.


    Then his eyes frantically shot back to Kou Tingting. The corners of his lips curled upward at the sight of a very worried and concerned Kou Tingting, as if he was pleased to be someone she could worry over.


    ¡°Relax¡­I¡¯m still alive¡­¡± Zheng Kai managed to say. ¡°You know how the story goes. When the hero saves the princess, the story ends with the hero hugging the princess¡­A story where the hero dies would be a crappy one¡­.But a story where the princess is hugging the hero? That¡¯s not bad at all, haha¡­¡±


    Zheng Kai grinned before his eyeballs rolled to the back of his head and he fell unconscious once again.


    ¡°Zheng Kai!¡±


    Kou Tingting shrieked once again. She prepared herself to send even more soulforce into Zheng Kai¡¯s body to heal him, but she was relieved to see that nothing was wrong with him.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Not sure whether he should laugh or cry, Bai Yunfei just stared at the still-smiling Zheng Kai. He had to admit, he had to respect Zheng Kai. Waking up even as injured as he was just to say a corny line like that? Who else but Zheng Kai?

 Chapter 1187: Soul Spring

    ¡°Yunfei¡¯s back!!¡±


    Back in the Water School, the prone figure of Xiao Qi was ¡®meditating¡¯ up high in the air. He hadn¡¯t moved even a single muscle until he felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s immediate presence.


    The ones beside him, Murong Xiao and Xiao Binzi, turned to look at the direction was facing just to see two streaks of red light come flying toward them.


    It was Bai Yunfei and elder Jin.


    ¡°How did it go, Bai Yunfei? How are the others?¡±


    Murong Xiao asked. He was concerned for those of his school.


    Hardly any time had passed since Bai Yunfei left to go find Zheng Kai. They all thought that Bai Yunfei was just worried about his friend¡¯s safety and went to make sure he was alright. No one thought that Kou Tingting and the others would be in major trouble.


    ¡°My friend is seriously hurt, headmaster Murong. Elder Qu and some of the students from the Wood School are similarly hurt. Please see to their treatment as quickly as you can.¡±


    Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei summoned all the injured parties out from the Core World for everyone to see.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The school went into a panic at once. Several of the Late-stage Soul Kings from the Water School flew by the injured parties sides at once to begin investigating their wounds.


    ¡°What in the world happened?!¡± Murong Xiao asked.


    ¡°It all began after we met with the Wood School. A group was there waiting to ambush us. The Monster of Black Lightning was one of them¡­¡±


    Elder Qu responded. Most of his wounds were already recovered, so he took it upon himself to be the one to report everything that happened.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What?! There was another group of Soul Kings waiting to ambush us from behind?!¡±


    Everyone was alarmed to hear the story. Just listening to it had some of the audiences break out in cold sweat.


    After the story, Murong Xiao took the opportunity to approach Kou Tingting. She was still holding Zheng Kai in her hands, so Murong Xiao took his right hand and checked his pulse. ¡°He¡¯s seriously hurt!¡± His eyebrows flew to the top of his forehead in surprise. ¡°How in the world did he manage to live through such wounds¡­¡±


    ¡°Please save my friend, headmaster Murong. I hope he won¡¯t have any lasting conditions after this¡­¡±


    ¡°Worry not. I will do my best to heal him.¡± Murong Xiao nodded in earnest.


    He took a second to think of the best plan to treat Zheng Kai. ¡°Elder Zhou,¡± He turned to a yellow-faced elder, ¡°Take him to the Soul Spring. I¡¯ll treat him personally in a moment.¡±


    A flicker of shock traveled across the elder¡¯s face, but he nodded. ¡°Yes, headmaster!¡±


    Several others were shocked to hear Murong Xiao, but Kou Tingting seemed overjoyed.


    The Soul Spring was a treasured secret of the Water School and only a rumor to those outside of the Water School. Underneath the Water School was a vein of water-type primal stones. After countless years of condensation, the energy of the primal stones turned into a liquid form that gathered in a spring, causing the water there to be equivalent to a heaven-tier pill and could perform miracles almost capable of reviving someone from the dead.


    Reviving the dead was an exaggeration, but the actual effects of the Soul Spring couldn¡¯t be underestimated. Zheng Kai would most definitely be able to fully recover if he were to be treated there.


    With Kou Tingting being so concerned for Zheng Kai¡¯s health, she was the one to take him into the school where the Soul Spring was. Those from the Wood School were taken elsewhere to recuperate, leaving Bai Yunfei time to investigate other matters.


    ¡°Have the enemies been neutralized, headmaster Murong?¡±


    He asked Murong Xiao as they watched the students of the Water School begin to clean up the battlefield.


    ¡°We killed those Soul Kings left alive after you left. It is their fate to become earthbound ghosts to roam these lands for eternity!¡± Murong Xiao spat.


    Murong Xiao was furious at those who had dared attack his school, and rightfully so. But even as he spoke, he gave a strange look to Xiao Qi¡ªwho was currently perched on Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder.


    This was because a little while ago, Xiao Qi was the one that had been more excited than the Water School to kill the last few Soul Kings. He was practically ravenous and shouted the entire time to ¡®let him kill them all¡¯. Even those Soul Kings who were about to be killed by people from the Water School were killed first by Xiao Qi as if he was doing them a favor. In the end, the majority of the deaths were by the result of Xiao Qi¡¯s doing.


    Some of the Water School members were surprised, but they couldn¡¯t say they didn¡¯t expect it. In the end, soulbeasts were soulbeasts. Their desire to kill were innately stronger than the desire in soul cultivators¡­


    ¡°What will happen to Li Luocang, the one you captured?¡± Murong Xiao asked.


    ¡°There¡¯ll be no problems from him since he¡¯s sealed in the Core World.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, at last there was a name to this Soul Emperor. ¡°Was there anything you wanted to learn from him, headmaster?¡±


    ¡°Not at all. He is at your full discretion.¡±


    Interrogating a Mid-stage Soul Emperor was close to pointless. A Soul Saint would be needed in order to find whatever information they were hiding, but not even that would come easy.


    ¡°Then he will die.¡± Bai Yunfei replied.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone felt a chilling wind blow across their hearts¡ª since when did it become so simple to give the death sentence to a Mid-stage Soul Emperor?


    No one stayed here on the battlefield for long. Nothing abnormal could be detected anymore and everyone could finally return to the interior of the school.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The afternoon of the second day after the battle.


    A room within the main peak of the Water School.


    ¡°Headmaster Murong, how is Zheng Kai?¡±


    Bai Yunfei stood up to ask the moment he saw Murong Xiao enter the room.


    The other man was fatigued. ¡°There are no complications, so you may rest assured. All he needs is rest. It¡¯s a long period of rest, but he will make a full recovery.¡±


    It felt as though a giant boulder had been lifted off Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Thank you very much, headmaster Murong.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that,¡± Murong Xiao smiled, ¡°I should be the one thanking you. Had you not come rushing over my school would¡¯ve been in grave danger. Zheng Kai was grievously hurt on our behalf, treating him should be expected.¡±


    A period of silence descended in the room for a moment before Bai Yunfei decided to leave. He walked to the top of a nearby mountain peak where those from the Crafting School were temporarily residing in.


    Nothing of great value was lost to the Water School, but they had plenty of casualties and injuries. It¡¯d take a great amount of time before they could recuperate from that. Thankfully, the losses of their enemies were far greater. It¡¯d be very unlikely that a repeat of this event would happen soon.


    The Wind Lightning School had three Soul Emperors and over twenty Soul Kings. The Soul Refining School had a single Soul Emperor and a dozen Soul Kings. There was also the Half-emperor the Monster of Black Lightning along with his group of wandering soul cultivators. All of them were dead.


    Since there wasn¡¯t much use for the Mid-stage Soul Emperor from the Wind Lightning School, Bai Yunfei simply had Xiao Qi kill him and be done with it.


    All Bai Yunfei had left to do was wait in the Water School until Zheng Kai woke up.


    But it appeared the Heavens had no intention of letting Bai Yunfei rest. For when he returned to his room that day, Bai Yunfei found himself meeting with someone that wasn¡¯t supposed to be there¡­

 Chapter 1188: The Calamity of the Crafting School!

    ¡°Chengfeng?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out in alarm when he saw Xiao Binzi chatting with Li Chengfeng in the courtyard.


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re finally back, Yunfei. How¡¯s your friend?¡± Li Chengfeng smiled.


    ¡°Ah¡­he¡¯s fine. He¡¯ll probably awake in a few days.¡± Bai Yunfei strode forward to greet his friend, ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°I was on my way to the Crafting School when I heard news of what happened here. I remembered you mentioning the daughter of your headmaster was a student here, so I figured the Crafting School would send people here. Since I was in the province, I definitely thought I should come over. I just never thought it¡¯d be over by the time I got here. I also didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be here too.¡±


    ¡°A Soul Emperor coming here isn¡¯t a small matter. You and headmaster Murong were both indisposed, so I and another elder from the Water School came to meet him. We invited him in once we realized who he was.¡± Xiao Binzi supplemented.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Then are Ruofeng and Ruoling with you too?¡±


    ¡°Ling¡¯er didn¡¯t like me taking them everywhere with me, so both children were left behind with her. She¡¯s pregnant so the extra company would be nice.¡±


    ¡°When is she expecting?¡±


    ¡°In three months, the sixteenth of the eighth month.¡±


    ¡°Why that date?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what master predicted.¡±


    Bai Yunfei was silent for a second as he thought about how even the birth date of a child could be predicted by someone of the Fate School.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not remembering things wrong, don¡¯t we still have ten or so days until our promise?¡± Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°You being here in the Clear Blue Province must mean¡­you still need to go somewhere for your other plans?¡±


    The smile faded away from his lips, ¡°That¡¯s not it. I actually decided to come find you a little earlier since I was feeling a little worried¡­¡±


    ¡°Worried?¡± Bai Yunfei cocked an eyebrow, ¡°About what?¡±


    A stern grimace appeared on Li Chengfeng¡¯s face. ¡°Yunfei. The Crafting School¡­will suffer from calamity!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t the only shocked on. Xiao Binzi was staring suspiciously at Li Chengfeng now too.


    ¡°Calamity?! Young friend¡­what do you mean by that?!¡± Xiao Binzi immediately asked.


    ¡°Half a month ago, I returned to the Fate School and talked to my master about what happened. Because of the three month promise, my master decided to consult with fate. We were horrified to see a result of ¡®great disaster¡¯! My master consulted with fate again and again after that, but the results remained unchanged. The arts of our school cannot tell the details of the event, for fear of tampering with fate too much, so we were forced to stop¡­


    ¡°A few days later my master attempted one last try after some extraordinary circumstances. We were able to learn something from that. We learned¡­the date of when your Crafting School will suffer that calamity!¡±


    Both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Binzi looked extremely grim as they listened to Li Chengfeng speak.


    ¡°I can offer some solace. While there will be calamity, I fail to see signs of a calamity of death. There are still over ten days until that day, but¡­that is just a prediction. Whether or not it¡¯ll be before or after those ten days, I¡¯m not sure. But that¡¯s why I came early to find you. I am confident that the Crafting School will be able to avert major disaster if you are well prepared.¡±


    Li Chengfeng said that the school would survive, but Bai Yunfei was still feeling extremely panicked about it. Who could possibly remain calm after hearing that? The Crafting School was his home. His friends, masters, and lover all lived there!!


    ¡°We¡¯re going back at once!!¡¯ Bai Yunfei flew to his feet.


    Xiao Binzi nodded in agreement, ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose. We¡¯ll explain to headmaster Murong and return at once!¡±


    At that moment a young man dressed in blue came walking into the courtyard. It was Zhao Xiluo.


    ¡°Elder Xiao, Yunfei, the headmaster heard a friend from the Fate School was here and asked me to invite you all.¡±


    ¡°What timing, we were just on our way to see headmaster Murong.¡± Li Chengfeng rose to his feet as well.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What?! The Crafting School will experience trouble?!¡±


    Murong Xiao shouted out loud from within the main halls.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°It is a prediction, but one made by the current headmaster of the Fate School, senior Ge Yiyun. Given the matter, we request to return to our school at once.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send some Soul Kings with you. If someone dares accost the Crafting School then the Water School will lend our strength!¡±


    But Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, headmaster Murong. Your esteemed school has just survived a harsh battle. Many of your school members are injured and aren¡¯t yet ready to fight again. But we appreciate your willingness to help us.¡±


    It was true. Over half of the members from the Water School were injured something fierce. Not even Murong Xiao or Xu Yuanying were considered to be back to full health. Fighting another intense battle would be detrimental to their health. The Water School would be dangerously unprotected even if a few Soul Kings were to follow Bai Yunfei and Xiao Binzi back to the Crafting School. Knowing that, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t in good conscious accept their help.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Murong Xiao looked ashamed. ¡°To be unable to help our benefactors after being helped. Truly, I feel ashamed¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Please don¡¯t think that way, headmaster Murong. My friend Zheng Kai is still in the care of your esteemed school.¡±


    ¡°You may rest assured, we will do all that we can to help him recover as quickly as possible.¡±


    ¡°Then we shall continue this conversation another time. We will be taking our leave now!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei and his group left the Water School shortly after that to head straight for the Crafting School. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even say goodbye to Kou Tingting since she was too busy taking care of Zheng Kai. It was better this way. Even if she wasn¡¯t taking care of him, she¡¯d be in danger if she wanted to come back with them to the Crafting School. The Water School was the best place for her.


    The Core Stone was used to teleport everyone toward the Crafting School the moment they left the grounds of the Water School. Teleporting again and again, they made considerable progress until Bai Yunfei had to stop and take a break. They¡¯d continue the rest of the way by flying with Bai Yunfei recuperating in the Core World while Xiao Binzi held the Core Stone.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Inside the Core World, Bai Yunfei sat on top of a mountain peak to recover his soulforce.


    ¡°Yunfei, there¡¯s a matter I¡¯d like to request your help with.¡±


    Li Chengfeng¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    Opening his eyes, Bai Yunfei watched as Li Chengfeng approached him. ¡°Request is a strong word to use between us, what is it?¡±


    ¡°That method you have to make soul armaments stronger¡­¡±


    ¡°The Equipment Upgrade Technique.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that. There¡¯s a soul armament I¡¯d like for you to upgrade for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Of course then. What kind of soul armament?¡±


    A small golden compass appeared in Li Chengfeng¡¯s hand. It was a strange soul armament at a glance.


    ¡°This one,¡± He handed it to Bai Yunfei, ¡°could you see if this can be upgraded, Yunfei?¡±

 Chapter 1189: The Heart Compass of Fate

    ¡°This your soulbound armament?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked, curious about the shape and form of the item.


    ¡°Yes. But it¡¯s not something as simple as that. If I had to give it a term¡­then I¡¯d say it¡¯s similar to the lifebound armament of your Crafting School. It¡¯s name is the ¡®Heart Compass of Fate¡¯. It¡¯s a treasured heirloom of our school with the power to observe fate.¡±


    ¡°The Heart Compass of Fate?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, he didn¡¯t sense anything from it when he touched it. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask me to upgrade it the last time we met?¡±


    ¡°This is very special.¡± Li Chengfeng held his right hand to where his heart was. ¡°It was ¡®inside¡¯ my body at the time. I¡¯d have to return to my school to take it out since this is my master¡¯s item. It is mine to hold, but only my master can take it out and use it. It was only when we took out this compass the last time that we realized your school would have trouble.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei gave a knowing nod as he stared at the compass.


    ¡°Wait¡ªit was ¡®inside¡¯ your body?!¡± His head snapped up, ¡°What do you mean by that?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure of the details, but I¡¯ll show you after the upgrades are done.¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was curious. Really curious. Holding the compass in his hand, he began to concentrate on it.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Defense: 8000


    Equipment Effect 1: 15% Chance to predict a future event when synchronized.


    Details of the event will be randomly given.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increases chances of success when predicting when utilizing the energy of the soul.


    Cannot exceed 10%


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    There wasn¡¯t much content to the Heart Compass of Fate but what Bai Yunfei saw was more than enough to astound him.


    This soul armament really did have the ability to observe fate!


    A fifteen percent chance to!


    Bai Yunfei remembered the strange tortoiseshell Nalan Yin had had only a five percent chance to predict something. This Heart Compass of Fate had a much higher percentage than that.


    And the compass already had an effect to increase that chance of success by ten percent if the user utilized the soul to do so. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sure, but he assumed this effect could mean there¡¯d be damage to the soul if abused.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, can it be upgraded?¡±


    Li Chengfeng asked when he noticed the shocked look on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face.


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong. I¡¯ll upgrade this for you.¡±


    He composed himself while Li Chengfeng began to grow excited.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A while later.


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 8000


    Additional Defense: 5200


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Equipment Effect 1: 15% Chance to predict a future event when synchronized.


    Details of the event will be randomly given.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increases chances of success when predicting when utilizing the energy of the soul.


    Cannot exceed 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Chance to gain a glimpse of the future when failing to predict an event.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei exhaled his nervousness out from his body. Upgrading the compass had been a lot more difficult than he expected. He failed multiple times to get the item to +10 and experienced a strange obstruction whenever he tried to alter the outcome for a success. The obstruction always left him with a sliver of sweat, but Bai Yunfei managed to get it to +11 after a while¡­


    ¡°Are you okay, Yunfei?¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave him a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m fine, just used up more soulforce than expected. Here, see for yourself the changes I made.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gotten a lot sturdier!!¡± Li Chengfeng answered the moment the compass was back in his hands. ¡°So?¡± He gave Bai Yunfei an expecting stare, ¡°What new power does it have now? What is it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have a ten percent chance of catching a glimpse of the future whenever you fail to predict something.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    After that, Li Chengfeng placed the Heart Compass of Fate to his chest. A strange energy began to hum around the compass before a golden light started to shine forth from the compass. Bai Yunfei¡¯s jaw dropped open as he finally understood what Li Chengfeng meant about the soul armament being inside his body¡ªthe compass had melted into his body!


    Bai Yunfei recalled from the archives that some powerful individuals from the ancient past could offer up their bodies to host a soul armament. The method of crafting a soul armament capable of this was lost to the world, but¡­the Fate School still had this method apparently!


    He understood what Li Chengfeng meant now. The Heart Compass of Fate was something from the ancient past, thus why it was able to remain in Li Chengfeng¡¯s body. The soul armaments crafted in today¡¯s era hadn¡¯t that same method, so they couldn¡¯t be hosted in the body of another anymore.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei was on the path back to the Crafting School.


    In the Great Plain Province. The second floor of a teahouse somewhere near the heart of Redfire City.


    Two individuals sat beside a window. In their hands were a cup of tea.


    One individual was a young man dressed in a brocaded-silver robe with black linings. His hair was sprawled across the back of his neck and cut shortly near the front to reveal a rather handsome, but bewitching, face.


    The other individual was a middle-aged man in gray. He looked to be around forty-years-old. He was currently watching the people on the streets walk by one another with a rather distracted expression.


    ¡°What is it, elder Dongfang, are you feeling nostalgic?¡±


    The middle-aged man smiled.


    ¡°It¡¯s been twenty years since I was last here. It is indeed quite nostalgic.¡± The middle-aged man responded. ¡°I can no longer see the things that used to be here twenty years ago¡­¡±


    ¡°The passage of time always means some things will be lost to it.¡± The young man continued to smile, ¡°And our appearance will mean even more will be ¡®lost¡¯ as well. I hope your ¡®nostalgia¡¯ won¡¯t inhibit your abilities, elder Dongfang¡­¡±


    The older male tore his eyes away from the streets to stare at the young man. ¡°I need not you to remind of that.¡±


    The young man faltered, his throat gulping faintly in fear of the stare he was given. Realizing his folly, the young man dipped his head to take a sip of his tea and went silent.


    ¡°The ones from the Wind Lightning School are here, let¡¯s go.¡±


    The young man looked back up almost right away to watch as his companion turn to walk toward the stairwell.


    ¡°They¡¯re here?!¡± He noticed the powerful aura coming from the east and immediately brightened up. Standing up, the young man chased after the middle-aged man.


    ¡°Let¡¯s meet outside the city to avoid the eyes of those inside¡­When do we strike, elder Dongfang?¡±


    A voice spoke to the minds of the two males.


    The middle-aged man didn¡¯t even pause for a single step. ¡°The sooner the better!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Roughly around the same time as that meeting. Outside the Crafting School¡¯s gates.


    An elderly man walked in front of a young man toward the gates of the school. Soon, they were within eyesight of the students guarding the gates.


    ¡°Seniors, what business might you two have with the Crafting School?¡±


    One of the gatekeepers was Zhang Sanxian. He bowed at once when he sensed the raw amount of power radiating from the two before asking for their purpose.


    ¡°I am Zhi Tian,¡± The elder smiled, ¡°we are here to visit your esteemed headmaster. If you could send a message for him¡­¡±

 Chapter 1190: Zhi Tians Assistance

    ¡°I never expected to see the day when the illustrious senior Zhi Tian would grace my school. Please forgive me for not receiving you personally.¡±


    Kou Changkong greeted Zhi Tian when he arrived at the foot of the mountain. He had been surprised to see the two there but did not fail to show his respect for them.


    The elder man merely smiled at his words. ¡°Headmaster Kou, well met.¡±


    On the sideline stood an extremely shocked Zhang Sanxian.


    Then as if to add to his shock, the previous headmaster, Zi Jin, appeared right beside Kou Changkong!


    ¡°Zhi Tian, it¡¯s really you!¡±


    Zi Jin cried out in shock at the sight of the visiting elder.


    ¡°So we meet again, Zi Jin¡­¡±


    Nalan Yin stepped forward from Zhi Tian¡¯s side to bow toward the two. ¡°Junior Nalan Yin pays his respects to senior Zi Jin and headmaster Kou.¡±


    ¡°He is¡­?¡± Zi Jin asked.


    ¡°He is my contractor and disciple of Ling Yin.¡±


    ¡°Your contractor?! And Ling Yin¡¯s disciple?!¡± Zi Jin cried out again in awe.


    Zhi Tian glanced upward at Mt. Crimson, ¡°Perhaps we should change our location?¡±


    Kou Changkong gestured to the main halls, ¡°If you would please, senior Zhi Tian¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Within the main halls of the Crafting School.


    A wistful Zhi Tian stared at Zi Jin. ¡°How many decades has it been, Zi Jin? I heard little of what happened to you, are your words that severe? Have you not yet healed from them?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, it has been a very long time since our meeting in the Soulbeast Forest¡­If not for your guidance, I¡¯d have never found that ten-thousand-year-old infernoshroom and never become a Soul Emperor¡­¡± Zi Jin smiled nostalgically as well. ¡°But it has already been three decades since my wounds. I have yet to fully heal from it, sadly¡­¡±


    ¡°It is a shame¡­¡± Zhi Tian shook his head, ¡°Perhaps you¡¯d have been a Late-stage Soul Emperor by now, had not for that. It¡¯s not impossible to say you may have been able to become a Soul Saint either¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°I never imagined you¡¯d venture out from beyond the Soulbeast Forest. What business might you have at my Crafting School today, Zhi Tian?¡± Zi Jin asked after they finished their pleasantries.


    He looked to Nalan Yin sitting beside him, ¡°Do you perchance wish for us to craft a soul armament for your contractor?¡±


    ¡°I would never refuse such an offer if given,¡± Zhi Tian smiled, ¡°but my main goal was not that. I am here to¡­warn you of a matter.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Both of Zi Jin¡¯s eyebrows rose on his forehead, ¡°What matter is it?¡±


    The next words Zhi Tian spoke were nearly exact to the same words Li Chengfeng spoke to Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Your Crafting School¡­will suffer from calamity!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Everyone gasped, not even Nalan Yin could contain his shock.


    Zi Jin narrowed his eyes. ¡°Zhi Tian¡­what do you mean by that? What calamity?¡±


    ¡°It is close, that calamity. It cannot be avoided. If you are not careful¡­your school may perish!¡±


    ¡°Perish?!¡±


    Nalan Yin was the most astonished of them all to hear it. Nalan Yin would¡¯ve called these foreboding words to be the words of a mad man if not for the fact that it had been Zhi Tian of all people to say it. A calamity capable of wiping out the Crafting School?! What a joke! What person had the power to do that?!


    Even Zi Jin couldn¡¯t calm his emotions enough to hide his shock, ¡°The calamity is close? Are you saying¡­there are people that will attack us?!¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°When?!¡±


    ¡°That I do not know. But while I resided in Redfire City, I could sense the auras of multiple powerful ones. The majority of them, I feel, will attack your school. It won¡¯t be long until then. Days, perhaps. I cannot say for certain.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Not a single person said a word following Zhi Tian. Both Zi Jin and Kou Changkong simply sat there as their minds raced with questions on what to do.


    The magnitude of Zhi Tian¡¯s words were enormous. It left them with a great deal of confusion and agitation. If it came from Zhi Tian, then his words were definitely true.


    It was Zi Jin that took action first. ¡°Changkong, gather everyone and prepare for battle! I will go activate the barrier!¡±


    Kou Changkong¡¯s eyes flew wide open, ¡°What?! The barrier?!¡±


    The barrier that protected the Crafting School hadn¡¯t been activated even once for the last thousand years. It wasn¡¯t even activated even when they were attacked thirty years ago! The enemies had yet to show their faces and yet Zi Jin was ready to activate it?!


    ¡°The actual activation will be when they arrive. But our enemies will have most likely hidden themselves nearby by now. We won¡¯t give them time to ambush us!¡±


    Unlike Kou Changkong, who only knew of Zhi Tian¡¯s ¡®name¡¯, Zi Jin personally knew him. Those years spent together in the Soulbeast Forest had led to the two becoming good friends. Zi Jin had no reason to doubt what Zhi Tian said.


    If Zhi Tian said there would be calamity, then there would be calamity! And if Zhi Tian said the enemies could attack at any time, then it was best to start preparing now!


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, a fair distance away from the east side of the Crafting School.


    The atmosphere in this part of the area felt rather dark. Dark clouds formed in the skies above as if warning the inhabitants below of incoming rain. It felt rather melancholic to be in this area with how dim the light was.


    Standing above what appeared to just be ¡®rainclouds¡¯ were dozens of floating figures!


    They stood above the clouds like celestial warriors. Silent in their posture, each one of these men had an unbelievable amount of energy radiate from them. Their killing intent was hidden to some degree, but it was unmistakably aimed toward a magnificent mountain west of where they stood.


    Four people stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of this group. Of those four, two of them were the ones that had been drinking tea inside of Redfire City.


    They were also people of extraordinary status to Bai Yunfei. One could be said to be an ¡®old enemy¡¯ while the other was a ¡®senior student¡¯!


    Mo Ni!


    Dongfang Ming!


    To their right stood a shriveled elder and a sturdy-looking and bald-headed man.


    ¡°How did you say we should attack the Crafting School, Dongfang Ming?¡±


    The bald-headed man asked impatiently. His eyes contained a fearsome glint in them.


    Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes were focused on Mt. Crimson. No emotion seemed to flow in his face as he just stood there.


    ¡°Attack the northern peak.¡± He spoke at last.


    ¡°The northern peak?¡± The bald-headed man repeated, ¡°According to our information, the northern peak is where the old freaks of the Crafting School are gathered. Why attack the point of heaviest resistance?¡±


    ¡°That is because¡­¡± Dongfang Ming¡¯s face grew dark, ¡°That is where the heart of the barrier is located.¡±

 Chapter 1191: The Attack of the Enemies!

    ¡°Oh?!¡± The bald-headed man looked content at the explanation. ¡°So you¡¯re saying we should attack and destroy the heart of the barrier?! Hmm¡­yes, that¡¯ll do quite nicely! How should we go about it?¡±


    ¡°We wait until nightfall. The barrier requires the essence of the sun in order to work. We can at least weaken its effects if we can¡¯t destroy it.¡±


    ¡°Ah? That barrier of the Crafting School can do something like that?!¡± Several men commented, ¡°Hah! Then we can wait for the sun to set before we¡­¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    A wave of energy exploded outward at that moment, causing everyone to grow still. They watched as a crimson ball of light explode with an intensity equivalent to the sun appear in the world!


    Stunned, they all watched as the faraway Mt. Crimson suddenly become enveloped by a giant dome of firey light!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± The bald-headed man began to speak.


    ¡°The barrier!¡± Dongfang Ming gasped.


    ¡°What?!¡± The bald-headed man cried, ¡°They¡¯ve already activated it?! Did they know we were going to attack them?! Impossible!¡±


    It was this time that Mo Ni finally spoke. ¡°We say impossible, but¡­that is clearly not the case here.¡±


    ¡°Damn!!¡± The man cursed, ¡°Then what do we do now? Wait until night time?¡±


    Dongfang Ming shook his head. ¡°As I said, the barrier will continue to absorb the essence of the sun. If we wait until night then the barrier will be impregnable.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­we are forced to attack now, are we not?¡± The shriveled elder asked.


    ¡°That appears to be the case, there¡¯s no need to attack the northern peak anymore. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s happening?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­our barrier! Why¡­why would we suddenly activate it?!¡±


    ¡°Barrier? What barrier is that, senior? Don¡¯t tell me¡­don¡¯t tell me we¡¯re being attacked?!¡±


    ¡°All students are to return to their dormitories at once! Any student of the Soul Exalt level or higher is to report to the main halls with me!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Pandemonium erupted across the Crafting School as everyone began to scurry about. The activation of the barrier caused many to panic as they tried to do as they were told. Soul Kings flew across the skies toward the northern peaks while everyone else began to hide.


    At the main peak of the Crafting School, Kou Changkong stood with Zhi Tian to watch as the sky above them began to shine with red light. Now that the barrier was activated, many Soul Kings from their school were beginning to fly over.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Changkong? Why has the barrier activated?¡±


    A Soul Emperor from the previous generation, Yang Yao appeared beside Kou Changkong at once.


    ¡°Teacher Yang.¡± Kou Changkong bowed, ¡°There is a great danger about to befall us. Intruders have to invade our school and are lying in wait right now. Master went to activate the barrier while I am here to gather the men.¡±


    ¡°People are here to invade us?!¡± Yang Yao thundered, ¡°Who said that?¡±


    Zhi Tian spoke up then, ¡°I am Zhi Tian from the Soulbeast Forest¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Another two Soul Emperors appeared shortly afterward, Hu Yang and Yang Ying. Soon, over a dozen crafters were here and told the story.


    ¡°They¡¯re here!¡±


    It happened when several of the crafters were still in shock of what they had just heard. Yang Yao suddenly bellowed out to the others in warning!


    Everyone turned to look up at once¡ªa wave of dark clouds was rapidly approaching the school!


    They weren¡¯t wary of the dark clouds, but of the people that stood above the clouds!


    They weren¡¯t hidden at all in the clouds anymore. In a short second, they flew down from the clouds to stop right in front of the barrier.


    ¡°The Wind Lightning School!!¡±


    Yang Yao declared the moment he felt the aura of the shriveled elder and bald-headed man.


    ¡°And the Soul Refining School!¡±


    Kou Changkong was the next to speak once he saw the two men and multiple Soul Kings standing behind them.


    The amount of killing intent raised by Kou Changkong was tremendous. ¡°The Wind Lightning School and Soul Refining School¡­how audacious! To dare attack our school from the front!¡±


    ¡°Huo Zhenting! Our school has no quarrel with yours. What is the meaning of this?!¡± Yang Yao demanded from the shriveled elder standing on the other side of the barrier.


    Huo Zhenting gave Yang Yao a cold smile. ¡°Yang Yao¡­so you are already a Mid-stage Soul Emperor¡­pah. You dare say no quarrel? Your student, Bai Yunfei, has killed the avatar of our headmaster, then killed our Soul Kings and hundreds of our students. You dare say there is no quarrel?!¡±


    ¡°Our goal is very simple¡­¡± Huo Zhenting sneered, ¡°Does it even need to be said? We only wish to trample your school to the ground!¡±


    ¡°You dare!¡± Hu Yang snarled, ¡°You think you two Soul Emperors would be enough to trample our school? What a joke!¡±


    He glared at the group behind the Wind Lightning School, ¡°Where are your Soul Emperors? There is no way the Soul Refining School would only send their Soul Kings. Why don¡¯t you show yourselves?¡±


    The bald-headed man beside Huo Zhenting interrupted him. ¡°The mighty Crafting School has only three Soul Emperors?! Haha! What a pitiful sight! You want to know why there aren¡¯t any others? Then come out and fight! What good will happen from you hiding in your tortoiseshell?¡±


    ¡°Qi Ning,¡± Yang Yao gave the bald-headed man a close glare, ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d have the ability to become a Soul Emperor. Had I known about this, I¡¯d have killed you those years ago on Dragon¡¯s Descent Mountain¡­If you came to trample our school, then come attack us yourself.¡±


    ¡°Hmph!! There¡¯s plenty you don¡¯t know!¡¯ Qi Ning shouted. The events from the time Yang Yao mentioned must¡¯ve been a sore spot for him.


    ¡°You think I can¡¯t destroy that pitiful barrier of yours?! Attack!!¡±


    Sensing as though there was no point ¡®quarreling¡¯, Qi Ning decided to end the conversation there to signal the start of their attack!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Multiple Soul Kings flew out from behind Huo Zhenting and Qi Ning to position themselves like chess pieces near the barrier. There had to be at least forty of them!


    No one hesitated to attack the moment they moved into position. Altogether, the Soul Kings activated their auras ad began to pelt the barrier with all sorts of different elemental attacks!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Like fireballs, these attacks struck the barrier one after another, sending waves of energy across the earth like an earthquake!

 Chapter 1192: The Battle Begins!

    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    On the other side of the barrier, multiple students began to cry out in alarm when they saw the dozens of Soul Kings begin to hammer the barrier. Their attacks left ripples to travel across the surface of the barrier like red waves of fire before their attacks were rebounded back at themselves!


    A few of the Soul Kings were quick to dodge their own attacks while a few others weren¡¯t so lucky. Struck by their own attacks, they stumbled backward in a worse state than before.


    At the sight of this, those students on the interior of the barrier began to sneer mockingly at them.


    Those Soul Kings on the outside of the barrier were amazed. Dongfang Ming¡¯s warnings about not attacking the same place all at once. If they had done that then the reflected attacks would definitely cause a death or two!


    The barrier of the Crafting School had an extremely powerful reflective ability!


    ¡°Continue the attacks!¡±


    Qi Ning barked in cold annoyance.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom!!¡±


    Now that their wits were back with them, the enemy Soul Kings began to focus again. This time, they were ready for their attacks to be reflected!


    Again, multiple streaks of energy struck the barrier, causing it to ripple unsteadily as if it would be destroyed. But none of the elders from the Crafting School seemed concerned. They knew that their barrier would be more than enough to deal with these attacks. Attacking the Soul Kings now would simply be disadvantageous for them.


    The Soul Emperors might be able to destroy the barrier, but it¡¯d certainly mean investing a large amount of soulforce to accomplish their goal. The disadvantage would be on them then, if they broke the barrier, since the Soul Emperors of the Crafting School could swoop in to take them out.


    That was the reason why none of the Soul Emperors were attacking now. The Soul Kings were being used to exhaust the barrier since they had more Soul Kings than the Crafting School did.


    Of course, that was the plan on the surface. Whether there was another purpose to their attacking remained to be seen.


    ¡°.....¡±


    Yang Yao looked deep in thought as he watched the enemies attack the barrier. He seemed to be suspicious of the reason behind their doing so. Exhausting the barrier didn¡¯t seem like their true intent.


    As Yang Yao said before, there was no way the Soul Refining School would only send a group of Soul Kings to help the Wind Lightning School.


    If the Wind Lightning School had two Soul Emperors, then the Soul Refining School definitely had a Soul Emperor or two ¡®hidden¡¯ away. But for what purpose?


    The easiest guess was to simply allow the Crafting School a false sense of security. Given that guess, the Soul Refining School would wait until the battle was at a crucial moment before they revealed themselves.


    ¡°The Wind Lightning School has an Early-stage Soul Emperor and a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, the Soul Refining School will definitely have one of both too, if not more. If that¡¯s the case, then the three of us won¡¯t be enough¡­¡± Yang Yao thought aloud to himself while glancing over to the northern peak.


    ¡­¡­


    While Yang Yao was considering the situation, Huo Zhenting and Qi Ning were doing the same on the other side of the barrier.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see Xiao Binzi or the soulbeast that Bai Yunfei contracted with. Does this mean those three went to assist the Water School?¡± Qi Ning conjectured with joy. ¡°If that¡¯s the case then Yue Kuangfeng has a decent chance of success. That Bai Yunfei¡­maybe he¡¯s already dead?!¡±


    Huo Zhenting took a more calm approach. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the Crafting School has their life slips. I would wager Bai Yunfei is still alive based on their expressions. Perhaps they haven¡¯t reached the Water School yet? It¡¯s also possible Yue Kuangfeng hasn¡¯t had the opportunity to kill him yet¡­either way, if Bai Yunfei has gone there¡­he won¡¯t be returning!¡±


    Like Yue Kuangfeng, these two men had extreme confidence in their plan to deal with Bai Yunfei. It was a foregone conclusion that Bai Yunfei would die by the hands of Yue Kuangfeng!


    Unfortunately for them, Yue Kuangfeng was already dead. Not even a single strand of hair had been harmed on Bai Yunfei¡¯s person¡­


    Qi Ning had a pleased smile on his face. ¡°I doubt they¡¯ll just wait for us to keep attacking the barrier? They¡¯ll definitely come attacking us sooner or later, but¡­three Soul Emperors won¡¯t be too much for us. Our plan seems to operating within our expectations still¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the Crafting School. While they don¡¯t have many Soul Emperors, we don¡¯t stand a chance one-on-one.¡± Huo Zhenting rebuked, ¡°Furthermore¡­do you really think they only have three Soul Emperors? The northern peaks still have plenty of Soul Emperors that not even Dongfang Ming is aware of. They won¡¯t show up until the time of peak danger¡­¡±


    ¡°Pah! No amount of Soul Emperors will save their school from their destruction!¡± Qi Ning spat angrily. ¡°We stand in front of their gates without any worries while they do. Once Dongfang Ming is done we¡¯ll see how they¡¯ll be able to defend Mt. Crimson!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Must we wait here, headmaster? Even if there are more enemies lying in wait, we can simply fight them! The result won¡¯t be known until we fight! We¡¯ll show them how painful a death they¡¯ll die now that they¡¯re invading our schoolgrounds!¡¯


    On top of Mt. Crimson, Huangfu Nan was furious at the ¡®attitude¡¯ of their enemies and was imploring Kou Changkong to change his mind.


    But Kou Changkong remained silent. He simply stared to Yang Yao for his advice.


    While he was the headmaster, he wasn¡¯t a Soul Emperor. The best thing for him to do was defer judgment to a Soul Emperor like Yang Yao.


    Yang Yao and the others never had the intention of waiting for the barrier to break before they attacked. The true purpose of the barrier was to protect the school, Mt. Crimson, and the students from harm. Sooner or later they would have to engage with the enemies, but they would do so far away from the barrier and much later. For now, they¡¯d wait a little longer for their enemies to exhaust more of their energy and see what other observations could be made before they committed to a battle.


    It was about time now for them to act. ¡°Prepare everyone for battle! Scan the surroundings to the best of your abilities! Return inside the barrier the moment you sense something wrong!¡±


    ¡°Yes!!¡±


    Huangfu Nan and the other Soul Kings replied in affirmation to Yang Yao at once. Their killing intent began to surge like a raging fire.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Oh? They¡¯re already coming out to fight us?¡±


    Huo Zhenting commented before commanding: ¡°Cease your attacks. Prepare to engage them!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    All of the Soul Kings attacking the barrier immediately stopped. At the same time, multiple beams of red light shot out from the barrier towards the Soul Kings!


    ¡°Kill!!¡±


    A Soul King from the Crafting School cried out. All at once, the Soul Kings began to charge out from the barrier to attack their enemies!


    Each Soul King exploded with another burst of red light as they waved their hands. One by one, each Soul King began to reveal multiple soul armaments in their hands!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The world began to echo with the sounds of war as each of the red streaks of light smashed through the attacks thrown at them before pressing onward!

 Chapter 1193: Zombie Dragon!

    Since elder Jin and another ten Soul Kings left with Bai Yunfei to aid the Water School, that left roughly thirty Soul Kings back in the Crafting School to deal with this invasion. Despite having only half the numbers of their enemies, the Crafting School was clearly the dominating side of the war!


    Every crafter was met with an attack or two and yet not a single one of them was even hit! They simply smashed straight through the attacks to continue onward toward their enemies!


    Among those Soul Kings was the Peak Late-stage Soul King, Kou Changkong. With his pale-white flamesword in hand, he cleaved through any obstruction in his path to fly toward a Half-emperor of the Wind Lightning School!


    Not even the students like Song Lin or Li Tiechui were content fighting just one enemy. They were fighting two, some even fighting three, with fearless ferocity!


    Soon, there was a giant battle taking place kilometers away from the barrier protecting the Crafting School!


    Huo Zhenting and Qi Ning were taking part in the battle now too. Fighting with impressive vigor, those two were currently embroiled in a battle with Yang Yao, Hu Yang, and Yang Ying.


    Seconds passed before the space beside Qi Ning began to warp in on itself. Soon, a black cloud fog began to disseminate before revealing a black-robed elder inside of it.


    ¡°An Early-stage Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School!¡±


    Yang Yao and the other two Soul Emperors grew alert at once. The appearance of this Soul Emperor meant both sides were now equal in numbers and strength. Was it a coincidence? Or was the enemy doing this on purpose?


    ¡°It¡¯s possible there¡¯s still more Soul Emperors hidden, be careful as you fight!¡±


    Yang Yao warned the other two via soul communication. Exploding with energy, he shot toward Huo Zhenting to attack!


    A half-step later, Hu Yang and Yang Ying flew with him!


    The three flew in formation as if planned. In response, Huo Zhenting and the other two flew in the opposite direction to gain some distance between one another.


    It was rare to see attacks done in formation like this. Generally speaking, only soul cultivators with a soulbeast partner would do such a thing. Most battles were fought one-on-one.


    But it was common knowledge that fighting a crafter one-on-one wouldn¡¯t normally end well for the opponent. Why did they have the confidence to split themselves up then?


    The answer would be revealed very soon¡­


    It wasn¡¯t until Yang Yao and Huo Zhenting were a few kilometers in the air and ready to truly start the battle when¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a world-deafening crack of thunder as the dark clouds above began to rumble, as if it was being disturbed by an extremely powerful figure. Then from the clouds, a giant figure shot out from it to swipe at Yang Yao!!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Yang Yao was justifiably alarmed at this sudden event. He hadn¡¯t sensed anyone hiding within the clouds at all!


    ¡°Hah!!¡±


    Having a giant black figure reach out for him was surprising, but not so surprising that he¡¯d let it take him. Shouting out loud, Yang Yao exploded with red light. The light coiled like fire in tremendous amounts before taking on the form of a giant fire deity. Raising both arms up, the deity grabbed hold of the incoming black figure.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a giant explosion as the two met. But the one to come out on top was the black figure! It had simply destroyed the fire deity and turned it into wisps of light!


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Yang Yao paled upon seeing his attack disappear. He could see what had attacked the fire deity¡ªa giant gray claw about several dozen meters in length! And judging from its shape¡­this was the claw of a dragon!


    The claw didn¡¯t stop after hitting the fire deity either. Whistling through the air, the claw continued downward onto Yang Yao!


    Waving his hand, Yang Yao summoned a brilliant golden longsword to his hand. Grabbing hold of it, he crouched low and sent a swift sword stroke upward!


    ¡°Clang!!¡± A brilliant stroke of elemental fire and metal traveled upward from the sword¡¯s blade. Melding together, this sword stroke flew on to strike the claw!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The two forces struck at once. Everyone could hear the sound of flesh being cut¡­Yang Yao¡¯s attack had cut into flesh!


    It was at this moment Yang Yao¡¯s eyes widened once again in disbelief!


    He could sense something was off. The ¡®enemy¡¯ didn¡¯t even bother to evade or block his attack, they simply allowed it to cut through the dragon¡¯s claw!


    A portion of the claw was successfully separated from the main body and fell away, but the claw was¡­still traveling down to smash Yang Yao!


    This action defied the common sense Yang Yao was aware with. Caught so off-guard by this strange behavior, he could only lift his sword into a defensive position before enwrapping himself in a bubble of elemental energy.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Like a cannon ball, Yang Yao was sent flying several hundred meters before he could steady himself. The bubble of energy around him had collapsed upon collision, revealing Yang Yao with his left hand dangling uselessly and his right hand trembling greatly! Blood was even spilling from his mouth in a healthy amount!


    He was wounded¡­and greatly too!


    ¡°Crack¡­Crack¡­¡±


    The dragon claw he struck fell to the ground at that time, but at that same time, a pungent liquid began to sprinkle down from the clouds!


    ¡°A soulbeast puppet!¡±


    Yang Yao declared. He finally realized what it was that had ¡®ambushed¡¯ him, and why it didn¡¯t have any energy!


    It was a giant pitch-dark and rotten soulbeast!


    Its shape resembled that of a giant lizard or dragon from the west, a shape that was drastically different from the form of the Black Dragon King. But its size was¡­terrifyingly huge!


    The most terrifying aspect of this dragonic soulbeast was the fact that it didn¡¯t have any ¡®vitality¡¯ to it. Shriveled in flesh, this soulbeast had plenty of holes and scars running throughout its rotten body¡­it was as if this was a corpse rather than a still-living soulbeast!


    Yang Yao declared this to be a soulbeast puppet, but even those had to be alive still in order to function. This soulbeast standing right in front of him was clearly¡­not alive!


    To his shock, Yang Yao noticed that there was a small sign of ¡®life¡¯ within the head of this giant dragon!


    The clouds above the rotten dragon began to split apart at the same time Yang Yao was staring. Standing right there on top of the dragon¡¯s head was a single person¡­


    An eerily terrifying voice began to speak out across the lands:


    ¡°Kekeke...the Crafting School and its members will¡­die!!¡±

 Chapter 1194: Monster!

    ¡°What is that?!¡±


    Yang Yao was inspecting this new person even as the eerie voice spoke. But terror gripped at his heart the moment his eyes set upon this person! He was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, a man with a heart of stone, and yet, the very sight of this individual filled his heart with dread!


    That was because he had never seen such an inconceivable sight like this before in his life!


    He originally thought the person on top of the giant dragon¡¯s head was the ¡®beast tamer¡¯ of this ¡®soulbeast puppet¡¯. He thought that there had been some Soul Emperor from the Beast Taming School that managed to escape. But he managed to take a good glimpse at this person. A young man whose facial appearance, if not a little malevolent, was quite handsome.


    But that wasn¡¯t what filled Yang Yao¡¯s heart with horror. The real horror was right below.


    This young man wasn¡¯t standing on top of the dragon¡¯s head, but¡­grew out of it!


    He only had an upper-body!!


    It was like he was submerged halfway into a pool of water, but instead of water, it was the dragon¡¯s head! His body was fused with the dragon¡¯s head at the waist! Yang Yao could even see the veins and muscles that connected the two together.


    The half-man was still alive, but the dragon soulbeast puppet was clearly dead!


    The man had turned into the soulbeast¡¯s brain while the soulbeast had turned into the man¡¯s ¡®body¡¯. Through some monstruous method of fusion, the two managed to transform into a horrifying monster.


    Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve let out a gasp if he saw the person fused with the soulbeast. That was because he knew this person¡ªit was the junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School, Lin Dongxiao!


    Lin Dongxiao managed to escape the fate that befell the Beast Taming School and sought assistance from Mo Ni. But how in the world did he turn into this?! And in such little time?!


    He was no longer the arrogant man Bai Yunfei remembered him to be. He was almost as shriveled as a mummy and his eyeballs shined furiously with hatred and killing intent.


    Though faint, the aura of a Soul King could be felt. But there was strangely also the power of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor mixed in there. That had to be the aura of the dragon. It was semingly mixed into him and turned his own aura into something freakishly weird.


    Yang Yao didn¡¯t know what in the world happened to Lin Dongxiao, but the beast tamer managed to fuse with a mid-stage class eight soulbeast puppet and transformed into an amalgamation to be used like so.


    It was similar in goal to the Beast Taming School and their ability to make a medium, but this certain method had a shock factor a few levels greater than that¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Multiple people were astonished to see Lin Dongxiao¡¯s state. They were even further shocked to see Yang Yao hurt to such a state at once!


    The entire battlefield had grinded to a halt the moment both events took place.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Right as Yang Yao was trying to process the monster that was Lin Dongxiao, a bolt of violet light shot across the air to attempt to pierce his throat!


    It was Huo Zhenting! Having been prepared for such a sight, he took this opportunity whilst everyone was distracted to attack Yang Yao!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Huo Zhenting hoped to have killed Yang Yao with this attack, but his hopes were dashed when a golden beam of light shot forth from Yang Yao¡¯s side to meet with his own attack. Clashing together in a shower of sparks, the violet beam of light spun away to reveal a violet longsword within it!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Huo Zhenting cursed to himself as he glanced at what had blocked his soul armament. A small palm-sized mirror. He cursed again at the fact that crafters had too many soul armaments on their person.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how many soul armaments you have, you¡¯ll die today! All your soul armaments will belong to us!¡±


    Recalling his sword to him, Huo Zhenting delivered a downward sword stroke to send a bolt of violet lightning onto Yang Yao!


    Yang Yao was in a predicament. He narrowly evaded death for a second time a moment ago, and it was all because of the +10 additional effect of his mirror soul armament. It had a fifty percent chance of deflecting any physical attack. Because of this, he was able to avoid a fate most grim.


    Before he could even celebrate his second brush with death, Yang Yao was met with Huo Zhenting¡¯s second attack and was forced to brandish his sword to defend.


    ¡°Boom boom boom!!¡±


    Yang Yao had lost the momentum and was now on the defensive. The wounds he sustained from Lin Dongxiao had yet to heal as Huo Zhenting attacked him. Left with only just enough energy to ward off the lightning¡¯s effects, Yang Yao allowed the lightning bolt to swallow him whole!


    All in all, things were not looking up for him.


    And there was still Lin Dongxiao to consider!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­I¡¯ll have the Crafting School suffer the fate of my Beast Taming School and be wiped from the world! Your schoolmembers will exist no longer!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao glared at the giant barrier protecting the Crafting School with eyes filled with rancor and hatred. The only thing he could think about was revenge on Bai Yunfei!


    He didn¡¯t hesitate to ¡®destroy¡¯ the mid-stage class eight ancient wilderdragon he had with him for the sake of revenge. And neither did he care about transforming himself into a half-human half-soulbeast form. He didn¡¯t even care about his one last year of life! All he cared about was inflicting the same pain onto Bai Yunfei as Bai Yunfei had inflicted onto him!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    His eyes swiveled to stare at Yang Yao as he was attacked by Huo Zhenting. Pressing both his hands to the dragon, he had it let out a dreadful roar before swinging its tail like a sword toward Yang Yao!


    ¡°Senior!!¡±


    Hu Yang cried out in warning. He and Yang Ying both wanted to help their senior but their enemies were making it impossible for them to make their way over to help him out.


    Kou Changkong was similarly restricted. Though he had the ability to break free from his opponent, he was only a Soul King. He hadn¡¯t the power to interfere in a battle between Soul Emperors.


    ¡°Ching!!!¡±


    Suddenly, a metallic chime rang out from the northern peak. A meteoric golden streak of light shot forth from the peak to slam full force onto the incoming tail!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The tail bounced away from the streak of light as if it struck a metallic wall. Forced to follow the momentum, the dragon ¡®stumbled¡¯ backward in the air two steps.


    A bright-red light shot out from the northern peak toward the group to stand right next to where the golden light had repelled Lin Dongxiao¡¯s tail.


    It was obviously a person within the red streak of light. Standing right there was an elderly man wearing red robes. In his hand was a brilliantly-crafted double-headed axe.


    ¡°Junior Ouyang!!¡±


    Having just parried another attack from Huo Zhenting, Yang Yao was extremely pleased to have been aided in repelling the giant dragon¡¯s tail strike.


    As Huo Zhenting suspected, the northern peak had quite a few members still in closed seclusion. This Ouyang Hua was one of those members. Having been closed off for twenty years to become a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, this man forcibly broke off his meditation to help ward off the invaders at the cost of several years worth of meditation¡­


    ¡°An Early-stage Soul Emperor? How dare you!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao howled in fury at the sight of his attack being repelled. Beneath him, the dragon stepped forth one more time to lash out with a black-coated claw at Ouyang Hua!


    ¡°What manner of monster is this!?¡± Ouyang Hua cried out the moment he saw Lin Dongxiao and the dragon. ¡°Whatever you are¡­you will die for invading our school!!¡±


    Golden-red light exploded from within Ouyang Hua¡¯s body and filled the entire area around him. Pulling his double-headed axe back, he dashed forward to strike back at the dragon!


    And so Yang Yao was saved from his dance with death. This battle between Soul Emperors was back at a deadlock, but no one had any idea that both sides had yet to come out with the rest of their powerful members¡­

 Chapter 1195: The Traitorous Disciple!

    While an intense battle was brewing outside the Crafting School. Within a secluded cave on the northern peaks of Mt. Crimson.


    Students were generally forbidden to enter this part of the schoolgrounds. At the current moment, one of the caves was filled with a warm-red light. Inside that cave was a room about twenty meters in circumference and had a stone altar half the height of a person installed in it. A miniature red sun floated above the altar and hummed with strange waves of energy.


    Right beside this ball of light stood a single person. Zi Jin.


    It hadn¡¯t been long since the barrier had been activated, but Zi Jin could sense the explosive battle taking place outside along with the auras clashing with one another.


    ¡°Ouyang Hua broke his seclusion to fight?!¡± Zi Jin narrowed his eyes. Walking away from the ball of light, Zi Jin prepared himself to leave this place to enter the fight himself.


    The barrier was activated now and could keep itself going. It should be fine without personal supervision.


    ¡°Hm?!¡±


    But right as he was turning around¡­he saw someone!


    Someone was walking into the cave. They turned around the corner to walk within eyesight of him. It was a person in black, and a person whose aura was faint, but distinctly there!


    An enemy!!


    An enemy had somehow entered the Crafting School and managed to stealth their way over to where the barrier¡¯s formation was!


    But how!


    That was when Zi Jin began to sense a familiar energy from the person. Then when the person gradually got closer to him, Zi Jin could see the person¡¯s face¡­


    The other person came to a stop right in front of him. Curling at the lips, he smiled.


    ¡°Master¡­I trust you¡¯ve been since our last meeting.¡±


    Zi Jin was stunned. He couldn¡¯t help but begin to shake at the body as his rage took hold of him.


    ¡°You!!¡±


    He roared with unbridled rage. A sliver of sorrow and disappointment was heard in his voice as well.


    Dongfang Ming didn¡¯t even flinch. He simply stood there as if he was enjoying this meeting. ¡°I¡¯ve said it to you before, master. A day would come when I¡¯d return to personally destroy the Crafting School.¡±


    His words felt like daggers to Zi Jin¡¯s heart. The hurt and disappointment he had felt even more pronounced.


    ¡°Why¡­why have you become like this!?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The smile on his face grew wider.


    ¡°Do you think I have a secret? Or that I may be controlled by Soul Puppetry? Allow me to inform you then¡­I am not.¡±


    Looking at Zi Jin¡¯s stunned face, Dongfang Ming continued to speak. ¡°It isn¡¯t very complicated. My goal is simply because of revenge. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Dongfang Ming began to sneer mockingly at his old master. ¡°Revenge for your denial of me. For the Crafting School¡¯s denial of me. You denied me everything and removed me. As such, I have come today to remove you all in return.¡±


    ¡°........¡±


    Zi Jin still couldn¡¯t believe it. The betrayal of his traitorous disciple had hurt him grievously for the last thirty years. But to hear him say these words today¡­it filled his heart with uncontrollable grief¡­


    ¡°What has¡­the demon armaments turn you into¡­¡± Zi Jin sighed in sorrow as he regained his wits.


    Refocused, he glared at Dongfang Ming. In response, the other man took a step forward.


    It was a single step, but his person moved ten steps forward somehow as if he was teleporting¡­


    ¡°Pcht pcht pcht pcht¡­¡±


    The sound of stone being carved out could be heard moments after he took that single step. Scars and scratches could be seen in the place where Dongfang Ming once stood!


    It was as if multiple blades had carved the ground! Those scars were so numerous that not even an inch of the original location was left untouched!


    This was¡­the work of a spatial slash! And¡­invisible ones!


    Dongfang Ming took that one step forward to evade this move. Any Soul King would¡¯ve died to it, but he was a Soul Emperor.


    ¡°You¡¯re not recovered yet and yet you can still pull off a move as strong as that¡­master, your Lacus Edge is as powerful as ever. Did you perhaps manage to refine it?¡±


    ¡°Do not call me your master!!¡±


    Incensed by Dongfang Ming¡¯s words, Zi Jin let out a loud roar before he swiped outward with his hands. Something akin to a sword in his right hand glinted in the light before disappearing while a small red shortsword shot out from his left hand!


    Zi Jin was a rare soul cultivator capable of both elemental fire and spatial energy. Because of that, his two soul armaments, the space-type Lacus Edge and fire-type Ignis Edge were his main weapons. The Lacus Edge was his lifebound armament and had the ability to unleash invisible spatial tears. Its power was so great and rare that no one familiar with his soul armament would definitely fell prey to them. Even an Early-stage Soul Emperor.


    But the person he was fighting wasn¡¯t a stranger. It was his once loved student and a person familiar with him¡­


    ¡°You would have been a Mid-stage Soul Emperor by now had you ignored Cang Yu and her baby. I¡¯d never be able to fight you in that case.¡± Dongfang Ming shook his head with a small smile. ¡°But that isn¡¯t the case anymore. You¡­are no match for me!¡±


    He took another step forward and brandished his right hand forward!


    The power of an Early-stage Soul Emperor exploded out at once. Red and black light traveled forward to slam int


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The entire cave trembled as the red light then slammed into Zi Jin¡¯s sword. The Ignis Edge let out a mourning cry before it was rebuffed and sent flying back,


    ¡°Pcht! Pcht! Pcht!¡±


    On the right side, the black light Dongfang Ming sent out turned into a wall of black. It extended out toward Zi Jin before several invisible attacks perforated its surface. The wall looked as though it was sliced through by multiple blades, but it continued flying forward!


    Dongfang Ming had a dual affinity for fire and darkness!


    Zi Jin was forced to use elemental energy to attack, but Dongfang Ming played on a different level. He could harness the power of Law!


    In one step, Dongfang Ming was already just less than ten steps away from Zi Jin!


    One more step.


    He was close!


    A streak of red entered Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes. The neutral expression on his face was gone now. In its place was the cold glare of a man filled with hatred!


    And in his right hand was a small blood-red sword!


    ¡°Swoosh!!¡±


    The strange soul armament shined ominously in the cave light before it moved to strike Zi Jin¡¯s throat!

 Chapter 1196: Destroying the Formation!

    The stench of bloodlust was nauseating inside this cave. The wind blew ominously like the wailing of a ghost and dropped the temperature inside the cave several degrees. Not even the candles were unaffected and gained a bloody tint to their flames.


    Everything changed the moment when this strange soul armament appeared. Zi Jin¡¯s eyes dilated the moment he saw the armament and grew furious at once!


    It was a demon armament!


    There was no doubt in his mind that this was a demon armament! And it was already soaked with the blood of countless people!


    ¡°Bz!!¡±


    In the blink of an eye, the demon armament was within three inches of his throat!


    Given the circumstances, Zi Jin knew he was far too late to try and dodge it. He didn¡¯t even bother to move! Instead, he allowed the shortsword to stab into his throat and¡­go through it!


    Although he didn¡¯t ¡®move¡¯, Zi Jin¡¯s person disappeared from that place!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Dongfang Ming didn¡¯t even flinch when he saw Zi Jin disappear from his spot. ¡°Even someone as powerful as you has moments of dogged desperation¡­you¡¯ve even left the barrier unprotected¡­¡±


    Now that Zi Jin was gone, Dongfang Ming was free to turn his attention back to the miniature sun nearby. Smiling ominously, he slashed out at it with his shortsword!


    ¡°Chii!!¡±


    The shortsword sunk deep into the sun without resistance. Sparks flew out from the ball as it was penetrated and began to tremble violently in response to the sword!


    ¡°Bzz¡­bzzz¡­¡±


    ¡°Rumble¡­rumble¡­¡±


    The air within the cave began to hum violently in response to the ball of light. Soon, the entire cave followed suit as if there was an earthquake localized on the mountain!!


    ¡­¡­


    At the gates of the Crafting School, right in front of the barrier.


    Multiple figures clashed against one another in the sky. Sparks of intense light exploded like fireworks whenever the two sides clashed. If not for the situation, any spectator would be amazed by the light show and cry out in excitement. But instead, the loud explosions of lightning, fireballs, and earthquakes made one feel extremely fearful for their lives.


    Lin Dongxiao¡¯s ambush onto Yang Yao was mostly made up for by the inclusion of Ouyang Hua. With him, the battle was now at a stalemate and could progress without one side being able to overcome the other. Below them, the Soul Kings were in a state of equilibrium as well.


    Ouyang Hua wasn¡¯t a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, but he was also quite stronger than an Early-stage Soul Emperor. His soul armaments hadn¡¯t been upgraded by Bai Yunfei, but that didn¡¯t take away from his strength. He still had the power to fight on equal grounds with the mid-stage class eight ancient wilderdragon (and Lin Dongxiao).


    Despite the wound he had, Yang Yao was doing a decent job of fighting off Huo Zhenting by himself. No matter how fiercely Huo Zhenting fought, Yang Yao managed to keep him at bay and even deal some harm to him. In either case, Yang Yao was fine for now.


    On another side of the battlefield, Hu Yang held the upper hand over Qi Ning. His upgraded soul armaments allowed him to weather through any attacks he couldn¡¯t dodge while also returning the favor without trouble. To his credit, Qi Ning fought viciously at the beginning but began to run out of steam as the fight continued. By a certain point, Qi Ning was fully committed to his defenses.


    Similarly, Yang Ying was experiencing the same result as Hu Yang in her fight against the Early-stage Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School.


    Aside from the Soul Emperors, the battle between Kou Changkong and the Half-emperor from the Wind Lightning School was especially tumultuous.


    In comparison to them, the battle between the Soul Kings was slightly less awe-inspiring. They fought fiercely, no doubt, and the crafters watching from behind the safety of the barrier were filled with awe at the sight.


    The battle between the Soul Kings and Soul Emperors saw to the elemental energy being gathered in the world becoming extremely volatile. Whirlpools formed everywhere in the sky and surged with so much energy that anyone of the Soul Exalt level or below would be killed if they were to get too close to them.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The hearts of the students would skip a beat whenever an attack smashed against the barrier. It was only because of this barrier that these students were able to be protected from harm even from afar.


    But at that moment¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    It came without warning. Everyone felt the world tremble as Mt. Crimson began to quake violently at its base. Terrified, the students looked up to see the giant curtain of light around their school surge and ripple outwards before¡­shattering!


    The barrier had been¡­shattered!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Kou Changkong and the other crafters gasped.


    ¡°He did it!¡±


    On the other side, Huo Zhenting and Qi Ning both grinned with glee!


    Fragments of the barrier rained down onto the Crafting School like fireworks. Disappearing after some distance, they soon left every single person within the Crafting School unprotected against the storm of elemental energy on the other side!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡¯


    ¡°Boom boom boom!!¡±


    Within seconds, everyone on the ground began to scramble for safety as the entire world around them exploded!!


    Yang Yao was the first of the Soul Emperors to react. He shot off toward the mountain in an attempt to deflect any attack that might threaten to fall onto the mountain.


    There was now a giant dent on the mountain due to the attacks. The entire southern peak had already collapsed!


    A network of Soul Exalts joined hands to bolster their defenses for those not strong enough. With the entire mountain going up in explosions, it was imperative that those capable help those who weren¡¯t. Anyone beneath the level of a Soul Exalt grouped together in anxiety to hide behind the protection of the Soul Exalts.


    Because of this teamwork, the Crafting School had yet to suffer any deaths.


    ¡°Haha!! I¡¯d like to see how the Crafting School will fare now that the barrier is gone! How will you protect these gnats you call students!¡±


    The loud braying of Lin Dongxiao could be heard from up above. Waving his hand, he had the rotten dragon beneath him open its mouth to gather a burst of elemental energy to attack the Crafting School!


    ¡°Cease your actions!!¡±


    Ouyang Hua roared furiously. A giant red-golden axe appeared in his hand for him to send swinging onto the dragon!


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    The two sides struck one another with such force, but it was Ouyang Hua who had to suppress a groan¡­


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    A bloodthirsty expression appeared on Huo Zhenting¡¯s face. Shouting out loud, he charged at Yang Yao to attack!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The enemies of the Crafting School were a step faster in reacting to the destruction of the barrier. They attacked with enough ferocity to push back the crafters and force them to focus on fighting rather than protecting the students below. But because of this outcome¡­


    The Soul Kings and Soul Emperors of the Crafting School were now at the disadvantage!


    That was because they had their hands tied. They were trying their best to protect Mt. Crimson and their students while also having to fight off the other enemies! Many of the enemies were deliberately aiming at those students in an attempt to force the crafters to be caught off guard even!


    ¡°Retreat! Retreat to the back of the mountains! Don¡¯t panic!¡±


    An order was given out to the students to follow. The Soul Exalts continued to provide defense while those beneath them quickly began to retreat.


    But it was all so sudden. The crafters didn¡¯t have the time or ability to control the situation anymore. Battles were springing about all over the mountain, how could they possibly prevent any losses to their students!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Multiple streaks of green and violet energy shot toward the mountain to begin aiming at the retreating students!


    Many of the students began to cry out in alarm at that. They weren¡¯t ready to be so abruptly cut off from their retreat like this, and neither were they prepared for a near all-out assault when the Soul Kings and Soul Emperors were distracted¡­


    ¡°Woof!!¡±


    But right before anyone could do anything, an especially distinct noise erupted from the topside of Mt. Crimson before a small brown figure shot up into the air!

 Chapter 1197: Protector of the Mountain, Lao Sha

    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Another tremor traveled across Mt. Crimson. Looking up, everyone watched as the energy all around them froze mid-flow. Then, as if being pulled away by something, the energy began to flow rapidly like a whirlpool around a spot before being compressed into a certain location at an extreme rate!


    And it was disappearing from view faster than expected!


    At first, no one could tell what was happening. They had to wait a bit until some of the energy was gone before they could see what was standing in the center of the whirlpool¡­


    A¡­a dog?!


    When they saw the dog, no one could believe it at first.


    But there the dog stood! It wore gray ¡®armor¡¯ of some kind and gusts of wind flowing from underneath its feet¡­Lao Sha!


    It was Lao Sha!!


    The one responsible for taking away a tremendous amount of elemental energy was a ¡®fully-armored¡¯ Lao Sha!!


    No one could sense any notable power to speak of coming from Lao Sha. The armor it wore made the dog seem impressive, but that was about the extent of it. Thus, it felt a little disjarring at first¡­


    But the fact that it was absorbing all this elemental energy was definitely the biggest shocker to everyone.


    ¡°What is that?!¡±


    Qi Ning roared in disbelief. He thought Lao Sha was some kind of soulbeast at first, but the energy he felt from this animal was definitely telling him that wasn¡¯t the case. It could hardly even be considered a halfling actually! How could something akin to a mosquito in power be able to ¡®swallow¡¯ all that elemental energy?!


    He didn¡¯t even know if his eyes were working anymore¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom!!¡±


    As stunned as everyone was, the single arrival of Lao Sha wasn¡¯t so important that they could forget about fighting. In an instant, the world was back to having explosions ring out every second.


    But things were slightly different now. Yang Yao could relax slightly knowing that Lao Sha was here. He recalled Bai Yunfei talking about the strange ability of Lao Sha once before, though he didn¡¯t understand what he meant at first. If Lao Sha could keep the students safe, then Yang Yao could fight his enemies whole-heartedly again.


    Everything that happened so far deviated their plans tremendously. Yang Yao and the other elders initially planned on seeing what the enemy forces had while they hid behind the barrier. They could think of a plan and act later, but now that the barrier was gone, the only thing they could do now was fight it out and win!


    The existence of the barrier meant they had the advantage. But the inverse was true now that the barrier was broken. Without the barrier to protect their weaker students, the Crafting School was at a disadvantage, and that burdened Yang Yao¡¯s mind greatly when he fought!


    It wasn¡¯t like he could retreat either. He couldn¡¯t retreat. Retreating meant leaving his students unprotected and free to be attacked by the Soul Emperors. He had to protect everyone within the Crafting School!


    ¡­¡­


    On the northern peak where the barrier¡¯s destroyed formation was.


    Inside another cave.


    Several lightstones flickered softly in the dark cave, but not enough to fully illuminate it. A single person appeared without warning at the very end of this cave.


    It was Zi Jin.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Then he felt the northern peak rumble as the barrier was destroyed.


    Fury filled Zi Jin¡¯s person at once as well as anxiety. Narrowing his eyes, he pushed open the stone doors in front of him and strode inside.


    A wave of red light flooded the room as Zi Jin walked in. ¡°Heavenfire.¡± He spoke.


    The air inside the cave froze before the red light swirled together to assume the form Heavenfire usually took.


    ¡°What is the matter, Zi Jin?¡± Heavenfire asked, ¡°The barrier destroyed¡­who did such a thing?!¡±


    ¡°Dongfang Ming. he infiltrated the school and destroyed the barrier. I am no match for him.¡±


    Admitting such a statement felt like a dagger was being thrusted into his heart. It wasn¡¯t possible for any outsider to bypass the barrier, so Zi Jin had been so confident on maintaining it. He just never expected Dongfang Ming to be among their enemies. As a student of the Crafting School, the barrier wouldn¡¯t make stop him from entering! Because of his wayward student, the powerful barrier had been destroyed!


    ¡°Dongfang Ming?! Your old student?! He dares do such a thing! Does he wish to destroy the Crafting School?!¡±


    ¡°With the barrier destroyed, it¡¯s imperative we stop this battle at once. I require your assistance, Heavenfire¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The battle outside the Crafting School was an intense one. The crafters were fiercely fighting to protect their home and students and used every soul armament in their arsenal to do so.


    With the barrier gone, Mt. Crimson and the students on it were left completely unprotected by the runaway energy from that battle. But every time an attack made its way toward the mountain and cause harm to the students, it would be redirected elsewhere.


    That was because of the floating Lao Sha.


    Lao Sha wasn¡¯t awe-inspiring by any means. But what it was doing now was definitely causing people to be awed. He was like a giant vacuum cleaner that was sucking up any and all elemental energy in the area into its stomach.


    No one knew how exactly the dog was capable of doing all that, and neither did they know just how much of the energy it could absorb. In any case, Lao Sha was simply taking it all in without even flinching.


    ¡°Grrrrr¡­.¡±


    No one could hear the angry growls that slipped from the dog due to the distance. Likewise, no one could see the determination in its eyes as it glared at the several enemies fighting up ahead. Everytime a runaway strand of elemental energy traveled toward Mt. Crimson, Lao Sha would snap into action and redirect it into its mouth.


    The act of redirecting that energy into its mouth was about as easy as breathing for the dog.


    The armor it wore was something Bai Yunfei crafted for it. Those claw-like soul armaments on all four of its legs were adorned with wind-type primal stones, which Bai Yunfei fashioned to have them function like a flying sword so the dog could fly.


    Lao Sha didn¡¯t go with Bai Yunfei when he went to the Water School. It was in the Crafting School instead of the Core World to live a nice and peaceful life. But now that that was being threatened, the dog was naturally furious and did what had to be done!


    In Lao Sha¡¯s mind, this place was Bai Yunfei¡¯s home. And Bai Yunfei¡¯s home was its home. There was no way it¡¯d allow anyone to ruin its home. If Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t home, then Lao Sha would do everything in its ability to protect Mt. Crimson until Bai Yunfei returned!

 Chapter 1198: Heavenfires Domain

    Despite the barrier gone, Mt. Crimson was still safe thanks to Lao Sha stopping any elemental attack from inadvertently hurting the crafters. Thanks to Lao Sha, no harm befell the mountain and the students could at the very least protect themselves much more efficiently.


    The battle was still going strong on the outside of the mountain. Initially caught off guard, the students were now calm-headed enough to follow their fellow students to the back of the mountain for safety.


    There weren¡¯t as many students in the Crafting School as most schools so it didn¡¯t take long for them to group up and retreat to safety. Only a few Soul Ancestors and Soul Exalts were left backing the crowd. They had the confidence to watch out for themselves as they watched the battles outside.


    ¡°Kill it!!¡±


    Qi Ning was furious at Lao Sha. Swatting away an attack from Hu Yang, he whirled around to face it.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    An Early-stage Soul King was already enroute to the dog by the time he gave the order and aimed a bolt of violet lightning at Lao Sha!


    This lightning-type Soul King was getting on in the years. Despite having reached a level of power most soul cultivators couldn¡¯t ever hope to gain, this Soul King wasn¡¯t particularly talented in the art. His battle experience, on the other hand, was far more plentiful than his opponent, Song Lin. Thus, it was a relatively easy task for him to break free from his fight with Song Lin to attack Lao Sha. Since he couldn¡¯t sense any power from the dog, the Soul King figured it would be an easy matter to kill Lao Sha.


    Yes, the dog could swallow elemental energy, but that didn¡¯t mean the Soul King couldn¡¯t physically strike and kill it.


    The Soul King managed to make it close to the dog in a matter of moments due to his innate speed as a lightning-type Soul King. Swinging his right arm, the Soul King threw out a bolt-shaped soul armament toward Lao Sha!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    Multiple people on Mt. Crimson began to scream in terror for Lao Sha!


    ¡°Woof?!¡±


    Fear entered the dog¡¯s eyes when it recognized the soul armament coming straight at it. Since it wasn¡¯t even a soulbeast, Lao Sha hadn¡¯t the proper speed it needed in order to move out of harm¡¯s way. So even though the soul armament wasn¡¯t even a hundred steps away from it, the dog wasn¡¯t going to be able to dodge¡­


    It instinctively curled up into a ball with its paws around its head. Just as he did, a metallic light began to shine out from its body¡­


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Sparks flew everywhere when the soul armament collided with the dog. But rather than going through it, the soul armament bounced away while Lao Sha flew backward as if kicked!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The Soul King was naturally perplexed. The soul armament he threw was a low-heaven tier, it should¡¯ve penetrated the dog¡¯s armor!


    And since it didn¡¯t, that meant the dog was wearing soul armament even stronger than the one he wore¡­


    It made his blood boil with rage. An animal that wasn¡¯t even a soulbeast wearing mid or high-heaven tier soul armaments when even he didn¡¯t have armor like that? Grabbing hold of the reflected soul armament, he chased after Lao Sha to put it down for good!


    While his soul armament didn¡¯t manage to break Lao Sha¡¯s armor, it did manage to hurt the dog. If he could get close to the dog then he didn¡¯t even need a soul armament to kill it. A physical strike would be more than enough to provide enough concussive force to kill it!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    He managed to get within ten steps of Lao Sha when he was ready to attack. But right before he did¡­


    A shiver ran up his spine, as if he was on the verge of dying. Abandoning Lao Sha, he whirled around just in time to see a golden streak of light right in front of him!


    ¡°Ha!!¡±


    A burst of violet light exploded from the Soul King. Wielding a longsword, he delivered a massive slash onto the light!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    There was a loud cracking sound as the low-heaven tier longsword in his hand snapped in two the moment it struck the golden light. Horrified, he watched helplessly as the golden streak of light exploded with renewed vigor into his heart!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    His body felt as if it had been drenched with a bucket of ice-cold water before it started to shut down¡­


    The golden streak of light flew out from the other side of his chest before flying away and returning to the outstretched palm of Tang Xinyun.


    Now that the light was gone, everyone could see what kind of soul armament it was.


    A small golden soul armament the shape of a shuttle.


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 8000


    Additional Attack: 5200


    Equipment Effect: Gain double the penetrative force when thrown in exchange for half the distance and double the soulforce used.


    +10 Additional Effect: 50% Chance to apply Rupture upon a successful attack.


    Wounds caused by this are 4x harder to heal.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    This extraordinary soul armament was something Bai Yunfei got from the corpse of Lin Xiangtian after his battle. With the ability to gain double the penetrative force, Bai Yunfei decided to upgrade the high-heaven tier soul armament and gave it to Tang Xinyun. Since she was an Early-stage Soul King, having this type of soul armament would be beneficial for her. In this case, the soul armament wasn¡¯t something the lightning-type Soul King could handle.


    ¡°Whimper¡­¡±


    ¡®Snarling¡¯ as it rose unsteadily to its feet, Lao Sha started to whimper a bit. But when it saw the concerned looks Tang Xinyun gave it, the dog stopped its whimpering and gave her a determined expression as if to say, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Damn it!!¡±


    Qi Ning howled furiously when the Soul King died. He was so furious that he wanted to kill Tang Xinyun and Lao Sha himself, but Hu Yang wasn¡¯t giving him the option to. Every time he tried to break away, Hu Yang would follow. The crafters knew how vital Lao Sha was and moved appropriately to provide the best defense they could muster.


    And so the battle continued with Lao Sha absorbing any elemental energy heading toward the mountain while Tang Xinyun stood by its side protectively. This way, neither the mountain nor its students were harmed.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Something in the air began to buzz, causing multiple people to look around themselves warily.


    Those from the Wind Lightning School and Soul Refining School were worried the hum meant the barrier was going to reactivate itself, but they realized a moment later that wasn¡¯t the case. The source of this humming didn¡¯t sound anything like a barrier or the work of a soul cultivator, but they still couldn¡¯t put their finger on what exactly it was.


    Those from the Crafting School, however, began to light up with glee at the sensation!


    Every single person on the battlefield could sense the importance of this sensation. Whether they were from the Crafting School or against it, this was a moment of high tension!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Huo Zhenting was the first to realize what was going on when the soul armament in his hand began to act abnormally.


    Given the decades he had this soul armament, Huo Zhenting had an unbelievably deep connection with it. Right now¡­he could feel the soul armament tremble!


    It was trembling! In his hand! And it was seemingly trembling from¡­fear?!


    Could a soul armament feel fear?!


    The next moment Huo Zhenting saw a flash of red light travel at him. Alarmed, he swung his sword up to defend himself!


    ¡°Clang!¡±


    The attack was parried, but Huo Zhenting felt his sword-arm grow numb for some reason. Confused, he looked down at his soul armament to see the reason.


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    He shouted in confusion. The soul armament in his hand no longer ¡®felt¡¯ as lively as it was before! The strength from his sword was definitely a lot weaker than before! And¡­the soulforce he transmitted into the soul armament wasn¡¯t taking as well as it did before.


    It was as if the soul armament was having difficulty taking in his soulforce. It was treating his soulforce¡ªand by extension himself¡ªas a stranger!


    Furthermore¡­he could sense from the attack just now that the soul armament of his enemy was a lot stronger now too!


    What in the world was going on!


    While Huo Zhenting was trying to figure out what was going on, Yang Yao had an abnormally excited expression on his face!


    ¡°Heavenfire!!¡±


    The wave of energy now being ushered through the battlefield belonged to the guardian of their school, Heavenfire!


    This was the power of a ¡®domain¡¯ formed by not a soul cultivator, but a¡­soul armament!


    People all over the battlefield were beginning to realize the changes happening within their soul armaments. The crafters were happily fighting with renewed energy while those from the Soul Refining School or Wind Lightning School were horrified to find their soul armaments performing ¡®weaker¡¯ than usual. Using them required more soulforce than before and for results far below the usual!


    They didn¡¯t have as much soul armaments as the crafters did, but every Soul King had at least one or two soul armaments, whether it was a weapon or armor to wear. They grew to rely on those soul armaments in their battles after using them for so long. So to have their soul armaments change like this so suddenly caught them all off guard.


    If a soul cultivator were to use a soul armament with far weaker results than before, it would without a doubt shake them up. This in turn would alter how they fight for the worse and cause panic. Two of the enemy Soul Kings had already lost connection with their long-ranged soul armaments and were killed straight off the bat by the crafters!


    ¡°Damn!! What is going on here! Why didn¡¯t Dongfang Ming tell us about this?!¡±


    Qi Ning howled once more out of fury.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    In another part of the battlefield, the fight between Kou Changkong and the Half-emperor had made a new development. With his white longsword bolstered and the enemy soul armament weakened, Kou Changkong was able to deal a stunning blow on the Half-emperor and send him packing.


    The Half-emperor was furious. As someone that should be dominant over every other Soul King, the Half-emperor was somehow finding himself on the losing edge against this Peak Late-stage Soul King.


    Green light began to pour out from his body even before he could steady himself. He was preparing for another attack!


    But before he could release it, the air around him began to hum abnormally. Eyes-widening, the Half-emperor began to look terrified!

 Chapter 1199: New Developments

    Huo Zhenting, Qi Ning, and the Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School all felt it. The three of them turned their heads at once to where Kou Changkong was fighting the Half-emperor from the Wind Lightning School.


    There wasn¡¯t even any time for them to cry out a warning to the Half-emperor. They could only watch as the space he stood in and around him was sliced to pieces by something!!


    It was as though they were looking at a mirror that had just cracked into thousands of pieces. Everything within the space was cut down into multiple pieces by something! His body, elemental energy, and even the light around him was cut down!


    Yes, it was simply as if a mirror had cracked. Not even a single part of the Half-emperor was left intact!


    Tears in space began to form and ate up every part of the Half-emperor before turning back to normal moments later. In a second or two, the tears were gone, leaving the world back to its normal pristine state.


    There was only one telling detail. At the edge of where the space had suddenly been cut apart, a droplet of blood seemed to splash onto something. The blood revealed a small and near-invisible blade that flew away from the area.


    It flew in the direction of Kou Changkong where a new figure had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.


    ¡°Master!!¡±


    Kou Changkong cried out in joy.


    ¡°It¡¯s Zi Jin!!¡±


    Cries of shock and horror could be heard from the others,


    Huo Zhenting and the other two Soul Emperors narrowed their eyes in preparation. They were the stronger ones here, but they still couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious.


    There wasn¡¯t anyone that wasn¡¯t currently a somebody that didn¡¯t know who Zi Jin was. The fear Huo Zhenting and Qi Ning had toward him was understandable. It didn¡¯t matter if Zi Jin wasn¡¯t currently as powerful as he was before, there was no stopping the two from feeling that fear.


    The energy in the air wasn¡¯t as volatile as it was before thanks to Lao Sha, though it still wasn¡¯t too stable for anyone to teleport here and there. It was because of his affinity for space that Zi JIn was able to teleport from the caves to where Kou Changkong was.


    The power radiating from Zi Jin marked him to be a Peak Late-stage Soul King, but he was able to instantly kill a Half-emperor!


    Such an arrival onto the battlefield sent waves of shock to everyone.


    The Lacus Sword flew back to Zi Jin¡¯s side to rotate around him with the ignis Blade. He gave Kou Changkong a nod before glaring at the enemies in front of him.


    ¡°Hahaha! Die!!¡±


    As everyone was starting to cower from Zi Jin¡¯s withering stare, a loud maniacal voice erupted from the northern parts of the battlefield. Bewildered, Zi Jin looked up toward the source along with the others.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was a loud explosion as the ancient wilderdragon swung its large tail into a red and golden light. There was a loud groan of pain before someone within the light was sent flying away!


    Ouyang Hua!!


    He had been defeated by Lin Dongxiao!


    There was only one person that had been completely unaffected by the new developments. Whether it was having their soul armaments weakened or being awed by Zi Jin¡¯s appearance¡­Lin Dongxiao was completely unaffected!


    He had no soul armaments to speak of, so Heavenfire¡¯s domain did nothing to hinder his strength. Despite Ouyang Hua¡¯s soul armaments being bolstered, Lin Dongxiao found little trouble keeping up with his enemy.


    It didn¡¯t even matter for him. His battle tactics from the start had been to deliver powerful attacks even at the cost of his own body. Lin Dongxiao felt no pain from the damage dealt to the dragon he was connected to. Without the ability to feel pain, Lin Dongxiao was able to land a critical blow on his opponent!


    ¡°Junior Ouyang!!¡±


    Zi Jin exclaimed out loud. Kou Changkong flew up at once to grab hold of Ouyang Hua and pull him to safety.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao laughed again as he had the dragon open its mouth to fire a ray of green and gray light!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    It failed to hit Ouyang Hua. On its way to attack him, the ray of light was struck down by a beam of fire from Yang Yao. But this in turn was met with him being attacked by Huo Zhenting and dealt another blow.


    But that left Zi Jin with enough time to get Ouyang Hua to safety. Taking him from Kou Changkong, he took out a faint-blue pill and fed it into his mouth. This was one of the several high-grade pills Bai Yunfei left with the Crafting School.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The effects of the pill were so miraculous that Ouyang Hua found himself stunned by how fast it worked. There was a flash of light that exploded from his body before his wounds began to knit together and his soulforce already start to replenish itself!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    He cried out in warning. While Zi Jin was healing him¡­Lin Dongxiao was approaching them!


    ¡°Damn!! Why haven¡¯t they started attacking yet!!¡±


    Suspicion and anger flooded Huo Zhenting¡¯s eyes. He couldn¡¯t help but look all around the battlefield as if searching for someone when he was away from Yang Yao.


    ¡°Dongfang Ming¡­Mo Ni!! Why haven¡¯t they appeared yet! Do they want to have us killed?! What are they doing?!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    In a small courtyard on the eastern peak of the Crafting School. A small room with all sorts of cute toys and decorations.


    A frightened blue-robed girl sat on top of her bed. In her arms was a small white boar.


    ¡°Xiao Rourou, what¡¯s happening outside? Why is everyone screaming? Why isn¡¯t mom and sis Yun back yet¡­¡±


    Huangfu Rui sobbed as she hugged the little boar.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s dangerous outside, let¡¯s stay inside for now.¡± The small white boar consoled her.


    ¡°Mm¡­¡± Huangfu Rui nodded her head. She was about to say something when she suddenly froze up. Her eyes dilated as if reacting to something before they glossed over.


    She stood up from the bed and began to move toward the door as if being called. As she dropped from the bed she let go of the small boar she had been holding.


    Alarmed, the boar chased after her, ¡°Xiao Rui! What¡¯s wrong! Don¡¯t go out there!!¡±


    ¡°Creak¡­¡±


    The door to their room suddenly opened up. The red magiboar froze up in fear as someone from the outside walked into the room¡­

 Chapter 1200: Hes Back!

    High up above the clouds several kilometers away from the Crafting School.


    Several figures stood above the clouds. Leading the pack was a cold-faced youth. Mo Ni.


    Mo Ni had someone else standing right next to him. Someone that was a little skinny, but equally sinister-looking. It was Mo Ni¡¯s soulbeast partner, the Black Dragon King.


    And behind them stood another two people, one of which was cloaked entirely in a blood-red theme. His robes were blood-red and so was his hair. He even reeked of blood as if he had just stepped out from a pool of blood.


    The other person was dressed in black robes that made it difficult for people to see what he looked like. He did appear to be somewhat sensitive to the cold, as something underneath his robes give off a soft noise like the soft growlings of a soulbeast that could come out any second now and tear apart anything closeby.


    Both of these individuals were extremely powerful and had the same level of strength as the Black Dragon King and Mo Ni. But for some reason, they took up bodyguard positions behind the two instead of beside them.


    ¡°What is it, why haven¡¯t we attacked yet?¡±


    Watching the battle, the Black Dragon King gave a glance over to Mo Ni to ask.


    Mo Ni shook his head. ¡°No need. The Crafting School won¡¯t be having any more Soul Emperors come out. If we appear now it¡¯ll ruin the surprise. We should be more patient and wait until they¡¯re the ones that grow impatient¡­Dongfang Ming is nearly done. We¡¯ll be able to force out the rest of the secluded individuals.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying the Crafting School might have a Soul Saint?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not likely. If they did have one then they wouldn¡¯t be fighting so hard right now¡­my father and the elders believe that if that person is alive right now, then he is most definitely trying to ascend to Sainthood. It¡¯s very possible that that person is dead¡­Our primary goal is to confirm if he¡¯s alive or not. If he¡¯s not dead then we¡¯ll have to ask our ancestor to do something¡­¡±


    Mo Ni began to smile sadistically. ¡°But no matter the case, the Crafting School will die today!¡±


    ¡°I wonder what expression you¡¯ll have when you see the ruined state of the Crafting School¡ªor maybe you won¡¯t even be able to come back to see this?¡±


    Mo Ni looked pleased once more as he thought about something, his eyes staring off toward the west.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Sensing something rumble in his space ring, Mo Ni summoned a small gray gem to his hand. Curiously, he watched as the gem floated up from his palm and started to shine. It rotated several times before pointing at the direction he had just been looking at.


    ¡°Teacher Lu?¡± Mo Ni stared quizzically at the gem, ¡°Is he done with the Water School already?!¡±


    He looked down to the Crafting School ahead of him for several seconds to think.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to teacher Lu first!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Lu Suxing traveled through the skies at breakneck speeds. In his hand was a small gray stone similar to the one Mo Ni had.


    Lu Suxing was none other than the Mid-stage Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School that fled from the Water School battle. The reason why he fled the scene was so he could report to Mo Ni about what happened.


    ¡°I¡¯m almost there¡­they have to have started already!¡±


    Lu Suxing thought to himself as he flew. He could tell from the skies far away where the Crafting School was that the battle started already.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    It was at that moment he came to an immediate stop in the air.


    Standing in front of him was Mo Ni and the others.


    ¡°Mo Ni!¡± Lu Suxing exclaimed.


    ¡°Teacher Lu.¡± Mo Ni nodded his head. ¡°Did you come here to be our reinforcements? Why just you? Has the problems been resolved yet? And did you find and kill Bai Yunfei?¡±


    Lu Suxing smiled bitterly at his words. ¡°We¡­no. Our attack on the Water School failed. I¡¯m afraid everyone else but me is dead¡­It¡¯s all because of that Bai Yunfei. Our plan against him failed. His strength was far beyond what we thought! Yue Kuangfeng was easily killed by him, even¡­¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± The smile was wiped away from Mo Ni¡¯s face at once. ¡°Impossible!¡± He shouted.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei shouldn¡¯t be anything higher than an Early-stage Soul Emperor! Didn¡¯t you bring him to the Ninth Heavens?!¡±


    ¡°We did. Our teleportation stone managed to bring him and Yue Kuangfeng to the Ninth Heavens. But¡­¡±


    Lu Suxing gave a brief recap of what had happened to the Water School. As he talked, Mo Ni¡¯s face continued to drop more and more until his mouth was noticeably wide open.


    ¡°Im¡­impossible! Why is he so strong?!¡±


    He cried out in fury and irritation. There was also another emotion in his voice he¡¯d never admit to having¡­


    Fear.


    ¡°Our business at the Water School is done. It won¡¯t be long until Bai Yunfei is back. What is the situation looking like at the Crafting School?¡±


    Mo Ni wanted to vent more about the previous topic but relented after a moment.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t start as well as we hoped. The Crafting School seemed to know we were coming and activated the barrier before we could attack. Dongfang Ming managed to break the barrier and bring out a few of the secluded crafters. Gui Nu and Feng Mo have yet to act, but if you¡¯re here¡­we should be able to destroy the Crafting School even if they bring out another two or three Soul Emperors!¡±


    ¡°Then Shen Pojun¡­¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t be reaching Sainthood even if he¡¯s alive. We¡¯ll have the ancestor come out if he¡¯s alive.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± He beckoned. ¡°Even if Bai Yunfei isn¡¯t dead we¡¯ll be sure to turn him into a mourning do¡ªwhat¡¯s that?¡±


    He whirled around suddenly to stare at the black and red ¡®guards¡¯ behind him.


    ¡°Gr¡­grrrr¡­¡±


    The two guards were growling, but neither moved from their spots. They simply stood there to glare in one direction.


    Realizing what this meant, Lu Suxing whirled around to stare in the same direction they were!


    There was nothing Lu Suxing could see as far as the eyes could see. But there was something in the air that made him freeze up with disbelief.


    ¡°This aura¡­it¡¯s Bai Yunfei! He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s back!! How?!¡±

 Chapter 1201: An Obstacle

    A wave of red light began to spread across the sky from the direction Lu Suxing was looking at. The red light was followed by a powerful but familiar aura Lu Suxing and Mo Ni were both acquainted with!


    How could they possibly forget that aura! Lu Suxing had nearly died to this aura just two days ago!


    The reason why he was shocked was because¡­he couldn¡¯t understand how this person was here already!


    Was Bai Yunfei chasing after him this entire time to kill him!?


    The thought sent shivers up Lu Suxing¡¯s spine.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! He¡¯s here already?!¡±


    Mo Ni cried out in disbelief at the aura.


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    He cursed as he turned back to look at Mt. Crimson. The more he looked at the light above the mountain, the more he hesitated.


    ¡°Pah!¡± He sneered at last, ¡°Who cares if he¡¯s back! If he wants to be here so badly¡­we¡¯ll kill him right in front of his home! Or maybe we¡¯ll be kind enough to let him watch his school die in front of him!¡±


    He turned back to Gui Nu and Feng Mo. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter the reason why he¡¯s back! He¡¯s here now, and that¡¯s all that matters! He must¡¯ve brought someone from the Water School with him, but he¡¯s still only an Early-stage Soul Emperor! Bai Yunfei, his soulbeast partner, and Xiao Binzi¡­they¡¯re all Early-stage Soul Emperors¡­I doubt we won¡¯t be able to kill them!¡±


    ¡°You want to fight them here?!¡± Lu Suxing exclaimed.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be harder to fight them if they get back to the Crafting School!¡± Mo Ni retorted.


    Lu Suxing looked hesitant. He looked like he wanted to argue with Mo Ni, but he relented in the end. ¡°Fine! What is your plan then?¡±


    ¡°Feng Mo is already close to being out of control. We¡¯ll let him go first to see how Bai Yunfei will react.¡± Mo Ni waved his hand at the violently-spasming figure behind him.


    ¡°Just him alone?¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t distinguish between friend or foe when he goes berserk. It¡¯s safer to send him out by himself. He¡¯ll probably be able to kill those with Bai Yunfei, if not Bai Yunfei himself. We can pop out when the opportunity is right to kill Bai Yunfei then!¡±


    Lu Suxing narrowed his eyes. Mo Ni was planning to sacrifice Feng Mo to see how Bai Yunfei would react. Feng Mo wasn¡¯t someone so useless that the school could cut their losses so easily. They spent plenty of time and energy ¡®raising¡¯ this person. To lose him here would be a great loss to the school.


    But then again, Feng Mo was raised for the sole purpose of dealing with Bai Yunfei. Lu Suxing could relent to that.


    ¡°That Bai Yunfei has the Interdimensional Phantasm, don¡¯t get yourself caught in it!¡±


    Lu Suxing snarled. Just thinking about the Interdimensional Phantasm being used on him brought back painful memories.


    ¡°The Interdimensional Phantasm sends people back out after a minute. We can use Feng Mo as bait to have them use the Interdimensional Phantasm on it!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, a streak of light was currently about ten kilometers away from Mo Ni and the others.


    Inside this streak of light was Bai Yunfei, Xiao Binzi, and Li Chengfeng. They set out for the Crafting School a day later than Lu Suxing, but they were ultimately faster than him due to the Core Stone. It was a ¡®coincidence¡¯ that the two managed to arrive here at the same time.


    They soon came to a stop just about five hundred meters away from Mo Ni.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!! Mo Ni!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared when he saw who it was standing in the way between him and the Crafting School.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me!¡± Mo Ni sneered. ¡°So you¡¯re alive after all those years. How unfortunate today will be your death day! Yours and the Crafting School!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    Mo Ni had barely finished speaking when the loud roar of a beast erupted from the black-robed individual. As if the shackles had been undone from it, the soulbeast pounced toward Bai Yunfei with a malevolent aura!


    ¡°Watch out!¡±


    Bai Yunfei warned the others at once, though his attention focused on the Crafting School and the skies above it.


    ¡°A Mid-stage Soul Emperor!¡± He spoke, ¡°Xiao Qi and I will deal with it, you two watch the others!¡±


    Xiao Qi appeared from the Core World to charge with Bai Yunfei toward the incoming person. There was a secondary flash of light as the Interdimensional Phantasm began to spread its energy outward through the area.


    ¡°Bai¡­Yun¡­Fei!!¡±


    A guttural voice could be heard from this person. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t recognize who it belonged to, but this voice definitely sounded like the owner held nothing but hatred for him!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Then a dark-green jet of light shot across the sky toward him!


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes and summoned the Cataclysmic Seal to him. It was better to block the attack than evade it.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The dark-green streak of light slammed into the orange barrier with alarming strength. Bai Yunfei could feel more soulforce than he expected to slip away from his body as the barrier trembled, but it managed to hold.


    A smog of green light surrounded the area where the light struck his barrier. Before it faded away, a dark-green fist smashed through Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier and flew at his face!


    Alarmed, Bai Yunfei brought both arms up to protect his face from the fist.


    ¡°Ban!!¡±


    The fist slammed against the Flameblade Bracer with devastating force. Bai Yunfei could feel his bracer let out a mourning cry as a repugnant energy traveled from the enemy¡¯s fist through his bracer and up his arm!


    Snarling, Bai Yunfei shook both of his arms to neutralize the numbing sensation he felt. The blow caused him to fly backward, but leaped forward to deliver a gold-light infused attack with his left hand!


    Strangely enough, the enemy didn¡¯t seem to make any movements to dodge or block his attack. His punch slammed into the person¡¯s chest and activated the +10 and +12 effects of the Critical Glove at once. Surely even a Mid-stage Soul Emperor wouldn¡¯t be able to handle an attack whose force was multiplied several times over!


    ¡°Gong!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt his attack connect with the man¡¯s chest and could feel it strike something metallic. The man was sent flying back, but his aura didn¡¯t change at all! It was as if Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack didn¡¯t do anything to him!


    As the man was flung backward, Bai Yunfei gave the man an even bigger look of surprise¡ªit wasn¡¯t because of his failure to inflict any damage, it was because he managed to catch a glimpse of the snarling face of the man¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s you!!¡±

 Chapter 1202: An Immortal Body?!

    Qin Long!!


    It was the patriarch of the Qin back in Sparrow City, Qin Long!!


    Bai Yunfei only knew of the fallout of his battle with the Qin after he returned to the soul cultivator world and thought everyone of any importance in the Qin was dead. He just never expected to see Qin Long here today, and in¡­such a way.


    It was only for a moment, but Bai Yunfei saw his face. He couldn¡¯t see anything close to resembling ¡®rationality¡¯ in those eyes. He was more like a rabid beast than a sensible human.


    Bai Yunfei also remembered Qin Long being a wood-type soul cultivator. How was he a wood and darkness type soul cultivator now?


    More importantly¡­Qin Long had only been a Late-stage Soul King when they last met. How was he a Mid-stage Soul Emperor?!


    ¡°He¡¯s sworn allegiance to the Soul Refining School? I see¡­did they use some kind of technique on him then? Power in exchange for sanity? What a frightful amount of power!¡±


    It was a good guess, but the price Qin Long paid was actually a lot more than just his sanity. Now known as Feng Mo, the man gave away his sanity, rationality, and even lifespan to attain even more power¡­


    It was all for the sake of a grudge. A grudge so deep that it was imbedded in the bones just like Zhang Zhenshan or even Lin Dongxiao¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Another bestial roar erupted from Qin Long¡¯s mouth as he glared at the most hated person in his life. Even though he lost his mind, Qin Long was still fully capable of recognizing Bai Yunfei. He could sense him by his aura and wanted nothing more than to tear him to pieces!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Like a leopard, Qin Long pounced at Bai Yunfei to simply try and rend him limb from limb with nothing but his own physical strength.


    It happened a little too fast for Bai Yunfei. He only saw a blur as Qin Long reached for his heart with claw-like hands!


    He wasn¡¯t too afraid, though. The armor he wore would be enough to protect him. So while his enemy was attacking his chest, Bai Yunfei lashed out with a left punch onto Qin Long¡¯s face!


    ¡°Bang! Bang!!¡±


    Once again, Bai Yunfei was shocked to see Qin Long ignore his attack again. So when Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist struck Qin Long in the face, Qin Long¡¯s attack struck Bai Yunfei in the chest!


    But Bai Yunfei was the one who came out on top in that exchange.


    Qin Long¡¯s attack didn¡¯t manage to break through Bai Yunfei¡¯s armor, but it did manage to create enough concussive force to send Bai Yunfei back a bit. However, it did little to harm Bai Yunfei.


    Qin Long, on the other hand, had his head knocked back so far it was nearly ripped off his shoulders and was lit up in flames. Though the dark-green light managed to extinguish the flames, it didn¡¯t do much to stop the flames from spreading to his robes and burning it to a crisp. Not even his hair was spared from the flames. Only his flesh was saved from the flames thanks to his soulforce.


    But his face was caved in in some places. There was definitely more than a few bones broken. A heavy wound like this would¡¯ve been hard for anyone to heal, a Soul Emperor was no exception.


    But then Bai Yunfei watched in awe as¡­


    The wounds on Qin Long¡¯s face began to knit together. The bone fragments in his skull were fusing back together!


    It¡¯d take Bai Yunfei some time to recover from any wound like that, and that was after taking into account his soul armaments! But Qin Long was doing it in no time at all!


    He stood back up on his feet as if nothing was wrong. Like a mad beast, he leaped at Bai Yunfei again!


    ¡°Tch!!¡¯ Clicking his tongue, Bai Yunfei gathered his soulforce to him. ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Soul Anchor Technique activated at the same time the Interdimensional Phantasm began to spread itself to swallow up Qin Long and take him into itself.


    ¡°Retreat!!¡±


    It was at that moment when Bai Yunfei heard Lu Suxing call out a warning for everyone to retreat. To his surprise, Bai Yunfei watched as Mo Ni and the others abandon their attack¡ªwhile Qin Long continued to advance¡ªand retreated!


    Everything happened so fast¡ªQin Long attacking, Bai Yunfei using the Soul Anchor Technique, the Interdimensional Phantasm acting up, Mo Ni retreating¡­


    The Interdimensional Phantasm had already spread itself as far as it could, but Bai Yunfei was disappointed to see Mo Ni and Lu Suxing manage to evade it!


    ¡°Don¡¯t they care if Qin Long dies or not?!¡±


    Qin Long was taken into the Interdimensional Phantasm along with Li Chengfeng and Xiao Binzi, but no one else. That meant the enemy was clearly aware and prepared against the Interdimensional Phantasm. But more importantly, this also meant they were ready to send Qin Long to his death in his fight against Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Now in the Phantasm, Bai Yunfei watched as Qin Long rapidly approached him!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s Soul Anchor Technique didn¡¯t do a thing to him!


    A mass of dark-green light pooled around Qin Long¡¯s right arm. Jettisoning out from his arm to form a blade, Qin Long then used it to stab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Having been so astonished at his own attack failing, Bai Yunfei watched with wide-open eyes as the sword drew ever closer to his person!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The sharp blade shot toward Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat and closed in to slice into it!


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Li Chengfeng and Xiao Binzi both shouted, but they were both alarmed to see Bai Yunfei in danger. But as the sword ¡®sliced¡¯ across Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat, they watched as it went ¡®through¡¯ him as if he was an illusion.


    ¡ªBai Yunfei was forced to use the Core Stone¡¯s ability straight off the bat!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Simultaneously, Xiao Qi let out a loud chirp of anger before littering the entire field around Qin Long with spatial tears!


    Not even Qin Long could look at his current situation without being unphased. A wave of dark-green light exploded out from his person once again to strike out at the spatial tears.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom!!¡±


    Countless explosions filled the air as the Laws fought against the spatial tears. Not even the spatial tears were strong enough to plow through the Laws.


    But they were just a diversionary tactic. Xiao Qi¡¯s true goal was to use the spatial tears as a visual smoke screen to get close and then come down for the kill onto Qin Long¡¯s head with his claws!


    That was the reason why Xiao Qi had yet to transform to a larger size. It was more convenient for him to remain at a decent size to crush his head.


    The teamwork between Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi was flawless. Since Bai Yunfei was in another dimension, Xiao Qi could attack relentlessly without fear of harming Bai Yunfei. In fact, Xiao Qi was currently on a trajectory that¡¯d go through Bai Yunfei¡¯s silhouette to strike at Qin Long!


    But Qin Long wasn¡¯t brain dead. His sanity was gone, but not his sense for battle. He managed to shift his head out of the way just enough so the talons would land on his chest instead!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The left talon lit up as the +10 additional effect activated. An extra boost in attack power was granted to the talon and sent Qin Long flying with several hole in his chest!


    This was a wound that crippled parts of his organs! Not even a Soul Emperor could recover from a fatal blow like this!


    Two seconds later and Bai Yunfei was back in ¡®reality¡¯. He looked a little stunned¡ªwas it over? Just like that?


    But Qin Long came to an abrupt halt two-hundred meters away. When Qin Long stood up, Bai Yunfei gaped in confusion at him!


    He could see¡­the fatal wounds on Qin Long¡¯s body begin to knit together so¡­he was back to normal!


    The clothes Qin Long wore were ripped to shreds by Xiao Qi¡¯s attack. Now free from the fabric, his flesh could be shown in its pristine state of health¡ªnot a single mark was on it!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed in shock¡ªdid Qin Long have an immortal body or something?!

 Chapter 1203: Force Meets Force

    ¡°What a freak! Why isn¡¯t he dead yet?!¡¯


    Xiao Qi yelped in shock at the sight of an alive and well Qin Long.


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes as his mind rapidly calculated a plan. ¡°What kind of art is this? Is he invincible as long as his head is intact? I can¡¯t use a soul attack since it¡¯s useless. Doesn¡¯t this mean he¡¯s basically a wild beast¡­?¡±


    The more he thought about it the trickier Bai Yunfei felt this fight was. Soul attacks were pointless in the fight, meaning his Soul Sentinel Scarf was useless. Elemental attacks were similarly useless, so his attack-rebounding armor hadn¡¯t much use. His opponent was someone that fought without thought and enjoyed close-ranged combat. To make matters even worse, Qin Long was a stage higher than he was. Bai Yunfei would lose whether it was in speed or strength unless he used Berserk Mode to even the odds. Either way, this would be a difficult battle.


    There was still Mo Ni and Lu Suxing to consider. And the battle taking place above Mt. Crimson. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t expend too much of his soulforce dealing with Qin Long.


    ¡°Watch out, Yunfei!!¡±


    Xiao Qi cried out in warning as Qin Long rushed at them again. Flapping his wings, he sent two giant whirlwinds to impede his path.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The way Qin Long reacted was a bit strange. Rather than dodging, he used a Law to protect his body before scattering apart Xiao Qi¡¯s attack with his right fist. Two gusts of wind sliced across his body, but they simply gleaned off his body as if they were striking metal! No longer obstructed, Qin Long spun around to strike Bai Yunfei!


    His fist was already coming close to Bai Yunfei¡¯s face, it¡¯d be hard for him to dodge it now!


    Bai Yunfei took a half-step back. Summoning his soulforce to him, Bai Yunfei cocked his hand back and aimed a punch at Qin Long¡¯s fist!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The two fists collided with devastating force to send both fighters flying backward.


    Bai Yunfei grimaced as he held his trembling right arm. His clash with Qin Long had been a painful experiment on Qin Long¡¯s abilities and had him rethinking his plans.


    ¡°Fine then! If you want a close-combat battle, then I¡¯ll give it to you!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Qi, tell Li Chengfeng and Xiao Binzi to not do anything. I¡¯ll deal with him!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Surprised to be told to retreat, Xiao Qi took a second to nod his head. ¡°Alright!¡±


    If Bai Yunfei said he would fight him, then Xiao Qi had nothing else to do but agree.


    ¡°Hehe¡­come on then!!¡±


    Despite the pain in his right arm, Bai Yunfei looked happy. His blood boiled in him as he waited impatiently for Qin Long to attack. Stepping forward, Bai Yunfei leaped forward to meet Qin Long head on!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The fists collided once again and the two were forced to split once again. This time, it was Bai Yunfei who looked worse for wear and was the one to fly farther than the other.


    ¡°.....¡±


    Li Chengfeng and Xiao Binzi were both speechless at the sight of Bai Yunfei and Qin Long fighting it out like this.


    ¡°Yunfei said we shouldn¡¯t help him and that he has it figured out.¡± Xiao Qi spoke at that moment.


    ¡°He wants to fight by himself?¡± Li Chengfeng asked, ¡°What¡¯s his plan?¡±


    ¡°Relax, Yunfei will win.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Li Chengfeng and Xiao Binzi watched in confusion again as Bai Yunfei and Qin Long clashed head on. This didn¡¯t even look like a battle between soul cultivators anymore, but a battle between two brawlers.


    The two used elemental energy only to protect themselves. Never once did they use it to attack the other, and neither did the two use any soul attacks. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even using the Fire-tipped Spear or any of his soul armaments to deal with Qin Long.


    The way Qin Long fought didn¡¯t even resemble how a Soul Emperor would fight. He was more like a wild beast than a person and had astonishing physical strength. Not even his flesh was like that of a human anymore. Any average Soul Emperor would definitely not have the physical strength to defend against his attacks.


    Yet, Bai Yunfei was no ordinary Soul Emperor. His body was strengthened by his soul armament and could easily fight on the same level of strength as Qin Long.


    Still, Bai Yunfei was weaker than Qin Long by a stage. Not even his soul armament could bridge that gap, and it showed since Bai Yunfei was on the losing end.


    And yet Bai Yunfei fought without retreating. He was fighting as though it was like his final stand, but Xiao Binzi and Li Chengfeng simply didn¡¯t understand what Bai Yunfei was doing at all.


    ¡°Why¡­does it look like Yunfei is getting stronger and stronger?!¡± Li Chengfeng asked Xiao Binzi in confusion.


    ¡°I see it too, his movement and soulforce recovery is better than before. He¡¯s not using the Dual Flame Artes¡­so what is he doing?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not just getting stronger¡­the enemy is getting weaker!¡± Li Chengfeng gasped, ¡°How¡¯s he doing that?!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The two clashed again, this time with Bai Yunfei and Qin Long¡¯s fist slamming into each other¡¯s stomach to send each other flying.


    This time¡­the both of them flew an equal distance away!


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in a bad shape. His robes were tattered and his arm had blood dripping from it, but he looked extremely excited for some reason as if he couldn¡¯t even feel his wounds¡­


    ¡°Haha! Again!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei shouted before charging at Qin Long again!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Qin Long charged at Bai Yunfei again with a bloodthirsty roar and unfocused eyes!


    ¡°Boom!!¡± The two struck once more and were once more sent flying back.


    Bai Yunfei staggered across the skies, stumbling across the air for about a hundred meters before coming to a stop.


    But Qin Long, on the other hand, was still flying like a kite with broken strings. Blood was spilling out from his mouth!

 Chapter 1204: Stolen Stats Due to the Ardent Sun Gloves Power

    This time, Qin Long didn¡¯t chase after Bai Yunfei to attack. He stopped there to assess his right arm with his unfocused eyes. Uncertainty flashed across his face for a second.


    Blood was still spilling out from his mouth, his right arm was bent at a strange angle, and his wrist had a piece of bone jutting out from it. All in all, he looked like he was in a horrifying state.


    ¡ªThat attack had shown him he wasn¡¯t a match for Bai Yunfei anymore!


    ¡°Crack¡­crack¡­¡±


    He stared for several seconds at his arm before it started to wriggle and crack. The broken bones retreated back underneath the skin and the flesh began to knit together just like all the other times before!


    ¡°So¡­this still isn¡¯t enough, eh?¡±


    Bai Yunfei mentally clicked his tongue in vexation at the sight of Qin Long¡¯s injuries healing. ¡°Then let¡¯s see if he can recover from being blown apart!¡±


    He pumped his fist victoriously. The enemy was no longer strong enough to threaten him in any way. It was only a matter of time before his enemy would lose to him.


    His strength was practically endless. He didn¡¯t even feel fatigued after fighting for so long. In fact, he was feeling more and more refreshed by the second!


    And his strength was currently comparable to when he used the ¡®Coil¡¯ Form to fight!


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 2236


    Defense: 2580


    Additional Attack: 2400


    Additional Defense: 2600


    Soul Compatibility: 50%


    +10 Additional Effect: Summon a fireball with strength no greater than 50% of this equipment¡¯s attack.


    +12 Additional Effect: Steal 10 points of the enemy¡¯s attributes (Strength, Spirit, Endurance, and Agility) up to 10 seconds. Cannot steal over 50% of the enemy¡¯s original attributes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints


    Because of the +12 additional effect of the Ardent Sun Glove, Bai Yunfei was able to grow stronger while Qin Long was getting weaker!


    Normally, this effect didn¡¯t mean much in a battle where Bai Yunfei would only make contact with the enemy twice or thrice at most. Close-combat battles were rare, so the Ardent Sun Glove rarely had any effect. Not even the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force would help the effect do much against a Soul Emperor other than shave away a small portion of their energy.


    Right now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s speed, strength, dexterity, stamina, and spirit were all 25000 points above normal. That was nearly thirty thousand with his armor included.


    Given the properties of the Eighty-one Fold Fist Force, Bai Yunfei could steal 810 points worth of attributes from his enemies every time he struck them with it. For a Soul Emperor, 810 points wasn¡¯t much.


    But this was Qin Long he was fighting!


    One Eighty-one Fold Fist Force wasn¡¯t much to do anything, but five of them¡­could definitely have some effect.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s about time to¡­end this once in all!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had been on the receiving end at the beginning of the battle. His right hand had been constantly thrown through the wringer each time he was hit by Qin Long. But thanks to the Ardent Sun Glove, Bai Yunfei could recover from his wounds faster and without delay.


    He could feel his body regenerate faster than before after stealing Qin Long¡¯s attributes!


    This kind of tactic wouldn¡¯t work on the average person. Anyone capable of thinking would know immediately that something was wrong and change to a long-ranged approach. But since Qin Long had lost his sanity, he wasn¡¯t sure of what was going on and so Bai Yunfei could steal his attributes in peace.


    Right now, Bai Yunfei could probably fight off a Mid-stage Soul Emperor without much trouble.


    And inversely, Qin Long was fighting with about half his usual strength.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was considering how to end the battle, Qin Long was already charging at him again!


    ¡°For all that power, he doesn¡¯t have the brains to match it. He¡¯s basically just a mindless beast, what a shame¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head with a sigh. Clenching his right fist, he leaped at Qin Long and threw a heavy right punch at Qin Long¡¯s face!


    ¡°Bang!! Crack!!¡±


    The two collided and separated once more, but there was a difference this time. One person flew across only fifty meters before steadying himself¡ªit was Bai Yunfei!


    Qin Long, on the other hand, had his entire right arm shattered. Blood flowed in heavy amounts down from his arm and bone fragments flew everywhere. Not even his shoulder was in tact.


    But it didn¡¯t take long before his wounds began to heal. As fast as the eye could process, the wounds knitted together to restore his arm back to its pristine state.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going to give Qin Long the opportunity to enjoy his regeneration without worry of being attacked, this time. There was a flash of red light in front of Qin Long as Bai Yunfei appeared right in front of him!


    ¡°Hah!!¡±


    Shouting loudly, Bai Yunfei lashed out with his¡­left fist!


    The Critical Glove shined spectacularly as it shot toward Qin Long¡¯s face.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    As if realizing the plight he was in, Qin Long let out a malevolent roar before twisting his waist to the side to lash out with his left hand!


    ¡°Bang!! Crack!!¡±


    This time, the force of their collision was even harsher than the last!


    Blood splattered everywhere including¡­bone and flesh!


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t sent flying back this time. It was Qin Long that was like a broken kite and spilled blood and flesh everywhere as he flew¡­


    Blood erupted like a fountain from his left shoulder¡ªor what remained of it!


    The +10 and +12 additional effect of the Critical Glove activated when Bai Yunfei attacked. The combined power of his attack and his new stats allowed him to unleash an attack powerful enough to completely destroy Qin Long¡¯s left shoulder!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    Another roar erupted from Qin Long¡¯s mouth, but this time he sounded like he was deep in pain. An eerie-red light began to shine from his left shoulder before the blood stopped dripping from it. But the way the flesh around his shoulder stump wriggled made it look like¡­it was trying to grow an arm?!


    ¡°Still trying to fight back?! Give up!!¡±


    Still a little shocked at the sight, Bai Yunfei let out a loud shout before flying straight for him!


    A flash of red light appeared around Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand as the Fire-tipped Spear appeared. Latching onto it, he thrusted the tip of the spear toward Qin Long¡¯s throat!

 Chapter 1205: A Demonic Heart?!

    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The threat of an imminent death seemed to cause Qin Long to think for once¡ªinstead of meeting Bai Yunfei¡¯s head on, he let out a loud roar before using a hardened bubble of elemental energy to defend himself.


    It was just unfortunate for him that this type of action wasn¡¯t the correct choice. A barrier of elemental energy was useless...


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The tip of the Fire-tipped Spear trembled as a flame burst to life. A sliver of lightning crackled within the flames along with several gray specks of light!


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t planning to use the +13 additional effect. That¡¯d use up half his soulforce! In this case, it was simply better to just overwhelm Qin Long¡¯s defense with raw power!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The tip of the Fire-tipped Spear struck against the dark-green light around Qin Long. The Laws began to fight against one another upon collision, but it was the Fire-tipped Spear that reigned superior. The Laws of Lightning and Fire were boosted by the Law of Chaos, and in the end, the barrier around Qin Long was smashed apart!


    Without a barrier to protect himself, Qin Long was virtually defenseless. And given the fact that the spear was just about ready to pierce his throat, the only thing he could do was bring up his right hand and lean backward.


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    While his flesh was of the same level of hardness as a Heaven-tier soul armament, the Fire-tipped Spear was far stronger than him and pierced through his body without difficulty!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    And that was when the +10 additional effect of the spear activated. In a bloody spray of fire, blood, and gore, Qin Long¡¯s entire person was engulfed by fire.


    Yanking the spear back, Bai Yunfei forced the area around him to calm down with a burst of soulforce. He watched with narrowed eyes as a figure came stumbling backward out from the flames his spear had created.


    While the spear managed to strike Qin Long, it only managed to tear off his right arm!


    Qin Long was without any arms now. His right shoulder was a charred stump and his left shoulder still had its flesh wriggling wildly as if it was still trying to create a new arm.


    ¡°Would he really grow both arms back if I gave him the time to?!¡±


    That thought flashed across Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. It was a curious thought, but not one he wanted to confirm for himself. If the enemy was on death¡¯s door, why bother to give him time to knock on it?


    ¡°I highly doubt your body¡¯s invincible, let¡¯s see if you can survive being blown apart!¡±


    Bai Yunfei snarled. The Fire-tipped Spear disappeared into his space ring as he began to go through a series of hand seals!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A cascade of fire emerged from nowhere to flow around him. Swirling around both his arms, they traveled down to his palm before taking on the form of two giant dragons.


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    It was his ultimate move and would definitely kill the weakened Qin Long. Exploding forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms, the two dragons snapped their jaws furiously to engulf Qin Long in them.


    In the face of two giant dragons, Qin Long and his small barrier of green light looked abnormally small.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The two dragons converged onto Qin Long with a resounding explosion. The sound was muffled due to the properties of the Phantasm, and Bai Yunfei was able to watch as the flames traveled outward in large waves to try and tear apart the space of the world.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Li Chengfeng and Xiao Binzi were stupefied. They knew Bai Yunfei was strong. That much was obvious after they saw him kill the Mid-stage Soul Emperor Lin Xiangtian. But to see him defeat Qin Long just like that? It was truly a shocker.


    ¡°Is he dead?¡± Li Chengfeng asked. He was still struggling to see what remained of Qin Long after being engulfed by the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst.


    Then he let out a gasp, ¡°No way?! He¡¯s alive still!¡±


    He could see from within the flames the flickering of a dark-green light. Qin Long was inside!


    ¡°He¡¯s alive?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was similarly shocked. He figured that the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst would be far too destructive for Qin Long to withstand. Any regular mid-stage class eight soulbeast would¡¯ve been reduced to ashes after being hit by it, but Qin Long¡­was still alive!


    He observed the area where Qin Long was in a moment longer before finally letting out a small sigh of relief¡ªwhile Qin Long was alive, he wasn¡¯t far from death.


    Qin Long was truly a tragic sight to behold right now. His¡­current state couldn¡¯t be said to be ¡®human¡¯ at all. Blood and flesh mixed together for a gruesome sight, his shoulders were without arms still, his leg leg was blown off beneath the knee, and his right leg had half its flesh missing so only the bone could be seen. But the most terrifying part was the left side of his waist where most of his internal organs could be seen, or at least what was left of it!


    ¡°What¡¯s that?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed in on something strange he noticed amidst the organs in Qin Long¡¯s body.


    Was that¡­a heart?!


    It was!


    That place was definitely where the heart should be, and that thing in there was definitely beating rhythmically just like a heart would. But there was something about this that made it feel strange. It felt as if this was a¡­


    ¡°A soul armament?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a gasp when he realized what his strange premonition was! That had to be the answer!


    Li Chengfeng¡¯s Heart Compass of Fate could meld into his body through an ancient technique due to how it was created. When inside his body, it had a special state of matter that allowed it to coexist inside the person¡¯s body without harm.


    And that soul armament ¡®embedded¡¯ in Qin Long¡¯s heart was definitely the same thing!


    ¡°What kind of soul armament¡­is there even something like this that can act like a ¡®heart¡¯?! It¡¯s¡­this is definitely a demon armament!!¡±


    The expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face changed slowly as he began to understand why the light shining from this soul armament felt different. And right before his eyes, the flesh of Qin Long was starting to regenerate!


    Within the blink of an eye, the flesh above the heart of Qin Long began to wriggle and knit together. Even the bones were cracking as they rejoined, and soon, the area above the heart was ¡®sealed¡¯...


    ¡°He¡­he really can survive that!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out in astonishment, ¡°Xiao Qi!!¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A loud chirp erupted from behind as a giant bird flew up into the sky behind him. One second later and a thick swath of spatial tears came sprinkling down at Qin Long!

 Chapter 1206: Dongfang Mings Revenge

    Mt. Crimson. On the eastern peak.


    Two figures, one tall and one short, walked slowly down a small grassy road toward where the battle was taking place.


    The tall person walking up front was Dongfang Ming. The person walking strangely behind him was Huangfu Rui.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Dongfang Ming went still for a moment. A hand clasped at his chest as if a stab of pain had just run across it. It was minute, but there was also a faint twitch in his facial muscles.


    ¡°Impossible¡­¡± He looked stunned as he looked up to the western skies. ¡°Feng Mo is dead?!¡±


    His eyes narrowed slightly, ¡°That direction¡­is Bai Yunfei back?! That fast?! Did they turn back halfway from the Water School?!¡±


    He hardened his expression to look off toward the part of the skies still lit with explosions and such. ¡°Mo Ni brought Feng Mo and Gui Nu that direction. If Bai Yunfei is truly back¡­will he be able to fight them off? Feng Mo is dead, but I¡¯m sure Bai Yunfei must¡¯ve paid a heavy price for his victory¡­


    ¡°No matter, I still have this matter to take care of.¡±


    He turned around to continue walking. Huangfu Rui followed after him like a little marionette without a single emotion on her face.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The battle was coming to an end now. Many fighters were spent and could no longer do anything but fall back to the ground, exhausted.


    Neither side were desperate enough to fight until one side was completely gone. Aside from the ones that died from the Wind Lightning School earlier, no one had yet to fall.


    Because of that unwillingness to fight until the very end, the situation on the battlefield was at a stalemate. The Crafting School was only at a slight advantage due to Heavenfire¡¯s domain, without that, they would¡¯ve been losing.


    Ouyang Hua was only able to continue fighting due to the pills he was given, but not even those were enough to bring him back to full health. He was fighting on a vastly inferior level compared to before. But with him, Zi Jin, and Kou Changkong, the three of them could fight off the mad Lin Dongxiao. Kou Changkong and Zi Jin hadn¡¯t the strength of a Soul Emperor, but they were still on par with a Half-emperor, and Zi Jin¡¯s spatial manipulation was not something even Lin Dongxiao could afford to be lax around.


    Zi Jin had been looking wary ever since the start of the battle, no matter how many times his eyes scanned the enemies in front of him.


    That was because¡­he hadn¡¯t seen Dongfang Ming appear even once!


    The time he took to get to find Heavenfire after running from the barrier room hadn¡¯t been long. He had expected Dongfang Ming to enter the battle by that time, but to his surprise he had yet to see Dongfang Ming anywhere!


    Given Dongfang Ming¡¯s lack of appearance on the battlefield, Zi Jin desperately wanted to retreat from the battlefield to find him, but he couldn¡¯t. He also didn¡¯t have the time to warn the others of the situation, so the longer Dongfang Ming didn¡¯t appear on the battlefield, the more concerned he became...


    Now that Dongfang Ming had destroyed the barrier, it would¡¯ve made sense for him to appear on the battlefield to fight the others. If he wasn¡¯t here, then where else would he be? Finding hostages to use? Or was he trying to do something else deeper in the school?


    The thought of either cases being true gnawed at Zi Jin¡¯s heart throughout the entirety of his battle.


    Then suddenly¡­he felt something. Something from his¡­soul armament!


    Heavenfire¡¯s ability to strengthen all allied soul armaments had suddenly been hampered!


    He swung his head toward the eastern peak in a panic¡ªover there, he watched as a figure float up into the sky toward the battlefield!


    Dongfang Ming!!


    Several other people noticed the change in their soul armaments as well. Those from the Crafting School were especially aware of the changes!


    Huo Zhenting and the others from the Wind Lightning School and Soul Refining School were pleasantly surprised; Heavenfire was...being suppressed!


    The entire battlefield came to an abrupt stop at that. Then¡­the crafters began to retreat at once!


    Being more sensitive to the changes of their soul armaments, the crafters were immediately made aware of the danger they were in and chose to retreat.


    The tides were now extremely unpredictable on which way they would flow. Though the crafters retreated, the Wind Lightning School and Soul Refining School were hesitant to give chase. The appearance of Dongfang Ming only made them less willing to press on and chose to instead stay away.


    Not even Lin Dongxiao looked like he was planning to attack the crafters. Huo Zhenting and Qi Ning both glanced at one another in recognition that they wouldn¡¯t attack and had the others pull back. Dongfang Ming was the ¡®initiator¡¯ of the plans, so not even Huo Zhengting dared to belittle him.


    It was an especially strange sight to see the battle come to an abrupt stop like this. Everyone had parted ways so that Dongfang Ming could stand in the middle of both sides.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that?!¡±


    Some people from the Crafting School asked one another.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s Dongfang Ming!!¡±


    Someone from the school noted at last!


    ¡°Little Rui!!¡±


    Everyone else recognized Dongfang Ming at once, but there was one person in particular that was shocked to see someone else there, Huangfu Nan. He could see Huangfu Rui with Dongfang Ming!


    Everyone else began to take notice of Huangfu Rui now too. Some went deathly pale in the face as if the gravity of the situation had finally kicked in.


    Huangfu Nan flew at Dongfang Ming at once to take Huangfu Rui away from him. But when Dongfang Ming placed a hand on her head¡­


    He dared not move even an inch forward.


    No one moved a muscle as they watched Dongfang Ming fly higher up to them. Soon, Dongfang Ming was at eye-level with everyone of the crafters.


    It was with great fury that everyone glared at Dongfang Ming. How could a Soul Emperor use a small one as a hostage?!


    ¡°Dongfang Ming! What is this?! Unhand my daughter!!¡± Roared Huangfu Nan with angered panic.


    ¡°What is this? Haha¡­Huangfu Nan, your question is quite silly¡­¡± A pleased twinkle entered Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes. ¡°What this is, is revenge, naturally.¡±


    ¡°That has nothing to do with her, release her!!¡±


    ¡°Nothing to do with her? I fail to see it. She is yours and Cang Yu¡¯s daughter. Don¡¯t you think she plays a very huge part in this?¡± Dongfang Ming replied.


    ¡°You!¡± Huangfu Nan howled, ¡°Dongfang Ming! You failed to respond to Cang Yu¡¯s feelings when you fell to insanity! If¡­if you hate me for stealing her away, then fight me! Don¡¯t harm my daughter!¡±


    ¡°Fight you?¡± Dongfang Ming smiled, ¡°Very well then, come here then.¡±


    ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll do as you say, just don¡¯t you hurt my daughter!!¡±


    Then Huangfu Nan flew without hesitation toward Dongfang Ming.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    When he was just a hundred meters away from Dongfang Ming, Huangfu Nan was struck down by a bolt of dark-red light!

 Chapter 1207: Panic

    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    A fountain of blood erupted from Huangfu Nan as he flew back. It took dozens of meters before he was finally able to secure his footing, but by that point his face was already white as paper.


    ¡°Don¡¯t interfere!!¡±


    Huangfu Nan barked in between gasps of pain, but he succeeded in stopping any one of the crafters from drawing close.


    ¡°Dongfang Ming!! I know you hate me, do as you will as long as you don¡¯t harm my daughter!!¡¯


    The look of panic on Huangfu Nan¡¯s face pleased Dongfang Ming. ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± he laughed, ¡°I abhor your very being, Huangfu Nan. And it pleases me to see you like this, however¡­¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A ray of dark-red light blasted Huangfu Nan across the chest and sent him flying once again.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t enough to wipe away my hatred for you!¡±


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Ray after ray of dark-red light shot out from Dongfang Ming¡¯s hand. Like arrows, they streaked through the skies to hone in on Huangfu Nan. Each blow sent him reeling backward even more, and soon, Huangfu Nan wasn¡¯t even visible underneath all the rays that hit him¡­


    Huangfu Nan was only a Late-stage Soul King. Any full-powered attack from Dongfang Ming would definitely kill him. But to kill him like that wouldn¡¯t be satisfying. Death could come later, but for now, it was time to torture him¡­


    ¡°Enough¡­enough!! Stop this!!¡±


    Right as Dongfang Ming raised his right hand to attack Huangfu Nan again, a terrified scream erupted across the battlefield.


    It was Cang Yu.


    If not for Huangfu Nan telling her not to do anything, Cang Yu would¡¯ve stepped in a lot sooner. Seeing her love be hurt in such a way was a pain too much for her to bear any longer.


    Dongfang Ming stopped in his assault when ¡®asked¡¯, but he did so with rancor. His eyes grew frosty as he sneered. Then a burst of killing aura exploded from his body!


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Right as his killing aura revealed itself, Dongfang Ming looked up as if he had noticed something. Raising his right hand, he brought it over his head as if to grab hold of something!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    A black flash of light exited from his hands and was scattered apart by something, as if it was cut. To space beside Dongfang Ming¡¯s hands vibrated softly as if something invisible was traveling past him.


    There was a shimmer of light as a semi-transparent blade was revealed.


    The Lacus Edge!


    There was an instant while Dongfang Ming was defending himself when someone suddenly appeared beside him. Another instant later and the person was gone along with Huangfu Rui!


    Anyone else watching would¡¯ve only seen Huangfu Rui just suddenly disappear into thin air before Zi Jin reappeared with her a good distance away.


    The Wind Lightning School and Soul Refining School were both aghast with horror while the Crafting School were filled with glee.


    While Dongfang Ming was too busy enjoying himself, Zi Jin managed to rescue Huangfu Rui!


    Not even Huo Zhenting had realized when Zi Jin was up to until it was too late. Only Zi Jin was capable of such a feat.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Normally, a person should¡¯ve been horrified to see their hostage taken from them. But Dongfang Ming¡­was smiling!


    ¡°My daughter!!¡±


    Cang Yu flew to Huangfu Rui at once. She hadn¡¯t thought Zi Jin would be able to save her daughter, but she was glad!


    But as she drew closer to the two¡­she let out a horrified shout!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Zi Jin, who had been busy glaring at Dongfang Ming after saving Huangfu Rui, took notice of the shifting motions of Huangfu Rui. Something was wrong. Instinctively, he took a step back but¡­


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    Zi Jin felt a searing pain sink deep into the right side of his neck!


    He teleported several dozen meters away at once and raised his right hand to his neck. Blood was already spilling in volumes large enough to stain his palm and robes¡­


    His face grew pale at once. In disbelief, he looked to Huangfu Rui¡ªin her right hand was a three pronged dagger!


    It was the demon armament Dongfang Ming used!


    Huangfu Rui had used that demon armament to stab Zi Jin¡¯s neck!


    ¡°Master!!¡±


    ¡°Headmaster Zi!!¡±


    The reactions were instantaneous, everyone cried out in horror at the sight of Zi Jin¡¯s injury.


    The crafters weren¡¯t the only ones to be astounded by this sudden turn of events. Huo Zhenting and his group were similarly stunned.


    ¡°This must be¡­Soul Puppetry?¡±


    Huo Zhenting muttered to himself. The light in his eyes deepened as he smiled with sadistic pleasure. This was a sight he was all too happy to see.


    Panic erupted amongst the crafters at once. Multiple people sprung up to Zi Jin¡¯s side at once. Some to hold him while Kou Changkong hurried to give a pill for Zi Jin to take and Yang Yao stared warily at their enemies.


    ¡°My daughter! Little Rui!!¡±


    Cang Yu was right beside Huangfu Rui now, her hands clutched at her daughter¡¯s shoulders as if to shake her out from her stupor, but it was useless. Like an emotionless puppet, Huangfu Rui stood there and allowed herself to be shaken. The demon armament had already fallen from her hands to fly back to Dongfang Ming¡¯s side.


    ¡°My¡­my daughter¡­¡±


    A second person hobbled to Huangfu Rui and Cang Yu¡¯s side, it was the blood-soaked figure of Huangfu Nan. His body trembled, not from the pain of his wounds, but from the fury of Huangfu Rui¡¯s state. ¡°Dongfang Ming!¡± He howled, ¡°What have you done to my daughter!! You bastard!! I¡¯ll kill you for this!!¡±


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    The stress of his wounds had Huangfu Nan spilling out another mouthful of blood again. Swaying unsteadily, he collapsed into the frightened arms of Li Tiechui.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Kou Changkong and the others were in a panic now. The panic in both Huangfu Nan and Cang Yu¡¯s eyes were more than enough to fill Dongfang Ming with enough glee to make him cackle out loud almost.


    ¡°Master, do you think saving a hostage is the same as ¡®saving¡¯ them? Having nearly died at her hands¡­do you regret saving her now? Do you regret crippling yourself to save her then? Huangfu Nan, do you feel despair yet? How do you think your daughter will feel when she learns of what she has done? Of course, that¡¯s if she wakes up, hahaha¡­hahahaa!!!!¡±


    The longer Dongfang Ming laughed, the more he sounded like he was turning into an insane man of some kind.


    ¡°You traitor! You ought to die for this!!¡±


    Hu Yang howled in fury at the laughter. A giant fire spear appeared in his hand before he launched it at the still-laughing Dongfang Ming!

 Chapter 1208: Dongfang Mings Strength

    The giant flame lance was like a python with how it streaked through the skies. Powered by the might of a Soul Emperor, the lance shot straight for Dongfang Ming to strike him dead.


    But Dongfang Ming only seemed to laugh even harder at Hu Yang¡¯s fury. He seemed as though he was the only one in the world at the moment with how unrestrained his laughter was. His laughter never stopped even as the lance approached him. Instead, he simply stooped over with his arms against his chest before forcing a wave of dark-red light out from himself!


    There was a gleam of light from his right arm. It was hardly noticeable, but anyone with sharp enough eyes would be able to tell it was a soul armament.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The lance flew at Dongfang Ming¡¯s outstretched right arm. Like a ¡®serpent¡¯, the lance began to coil and wriggle as it prepared to make contact with his palm!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It was shocking to say the least with how Dongfang Ming was simply allowing this attack to hit himself!


    Hu Yang¡¯s soul armament was the strongest one he had. It wasn¡¯t quite at the level of a lifebound armament, but it was definitely a soulbound armament with at least ninety percent soul compatibility with him. And after Bai Yunfei upgraded the weapon, the soul armament was even stronger than ever.


    But¡­even with all its strength, it was unable to penetrate the glove Dongfang Ming wore!


    ¡°What!!¡±


    Hu Yang let out a surprised gasp as he processed what had just happened, ¡°No!!¡±


    He waved his hand back to recall the soul armament, but he was a moment too late. Before the soul armament could even begin to start its way back, Dongfang Ming¡¯s fingers grabbed hold of the soul armament!


    ¡°Shing¡­.¡±


    The body of the lance trembled violently as if attempting to escape Dongfang Ming¡¯s grasp, but his grip was far too strong. Like iron bars, Dongfang Ming¡¯s fingers held onto the lance and prevented the soulbound armament from returning to its owner.


    Dongfang Ming sneered cruelly at the successful capture of an enemy soul armament. Lifting it up, he began to inspect the lance before grabbing hold of its shaft.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A faint hum rose out from the spear as if it was afraid of Dongfang Ming¡¯s touch. Eyes wide open, Hu Yang watched with extreme anxiety as Dongfang Ming lifted the weapon.


    Dongfang Ming hadn¡¯t any glove-like soul armament on his left hand, but he did have a strange dark-red light shining forth from his palm. It spread around the lance the moment he touched the two together at an alarming rate. As if its energy was being sapped away from it, the vibrations of the lance slowly calmed while its ¡®cries¡¯ grew louder.


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    One brief moment later, a loud crack could be heard from the lance. Dongfang Ming had taken the soul armament in both hands and then¡­.snapped it in half as if it was a long tree branch! This wasn¡¯t just any soul armament, it was a high-heaven tier soul armament Bai Yunfei upgraded!!


    ¡°Pfttt!!¡±


    A large volume of blood began to be expelled from Hu Yang¡¯s mouth¡ªthe destruction of his soul armament meant damage to his soul!


    Anyone with over fifty percent soul compatibility with their soulbound armament would feel the same effects in the same situation. And the higher the compatibility, the worse the impact on the soul cultivator when the soulbound armament was destroyed.


    This particular soul armament was something Hu Yang left an imprint on as a Soul Emperor, meaning the destruction of the soul armament would do even more damage to him. In one single moment, Hu Yang had lost his soul armament and also a great chunk of his already exhausted soulforce reserves. It was too large of a shock to Hu Yang and nearly caused him to plummet to the ground.


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    This time, it wasn¡¯t just the Crafting School that was shocked. Huo Zhenting, Qi Ning, the Wind Lightning School, and even the Soul Refining School, they were all equally surprised and looked to Dongfang Ming with fear.


    It wasn¡¯t just the fact that Dongfang Ming destroyed Hu Yang¡¯s powerful soul armament. It was the fact that he did it so easily!


    They were both Early-stage Soul Emperors, but it was Hu Yang who was so readily defeated!


    ¡°How did he do that?!¡±


    It was the question of the century. Huo Zhenting and the others were completely shocked. Dongfang Ming¡¯s strength was definitely beyond what he expected. An unprecedented level of uncertainty and fear spread across the crafters. Their shock was far greater than what Huo Zhenting had. Not even Zi Jin or Yang Yao knew how Dongfang Ming was able to pull that off.


    Tossing aside the broken pieces of the lance, Dongfang Ming looked at the light glowing from his left hand with extreme pleasure.


    Then his head snapped back to the crafters. The killing intent was back in his eyes again. A dark-red bolt of light shot out from his hand and transformed into a segmented whip to strike at the injured Hu Yang!


    Tensions were high now that Dongfang Ming was on the attack. Yang Yao was the first to take action and roared out loud to leap to ward off the incoming streak of light from hitting Hu Yang.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    His soul armament slammed into the red whip. It managed to deflect the light into four different directions similar to how a droplet of water would scatter everywhere once it hit the floor. And yet, Yang Yao¡¯s golden soul armament was still in one piece.


    It was Dongfang Ming who was on the losing side of that clash, but nothing changed in the grand scheme of things. Once he saw that his attack failed to strike his intended target, Dongfang Ming held his hand up to recall the whip back to him.


    Almost as if it was alive, the whip wrapped around the longsword of Yang Yao and drew back to Dongfang Ming. Most of the whip retreated into his robes while the part with the longsword was taken into Dongfang Ming¡¯s palm!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    There was a loud echo as the longsword slammed against Dongfang Ming¡¯s hand. Instead of cutting through his palm as most expected, the sword was simply rendered harmless like the lance before it!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    Yang Yao exclaimed. When the soul armament drew close to Dongfang Ming,Yang Yao felt a strange energy of some kind weaken his weapon¡¯s attack power to almost two-thirds of its normal strength!


    He also felt his connection with his soul armament weaken. Somehow, his compatibility with his own soul armament had dropped by ten percent!


    Frightened by what was going on, Yang Yao summoned his soulforce to him. The soul armament began to wrestle against Dongfang Ming¡¯s grip while all sorts of elemental fire gathered in the air. Like miniature suns, they shined brightly before transforming into hundreds of sharp swords to stab at Dongfang Ming!


    Yang Yao was fighting with a level of vigor he didn¡¯t even use before against Huo Zhenting. The Law of Fire was coming out in full force in order to strike down Dongfang Ming with as much power as he could muster.


    This was an attack Huo Zhenting would rather dodge than defend against. But Dongfang Ming¡­.only held his head up to look at the attacks around him. Everyone watched with bated breaths as he covered himself in red light and shot higher up into the sky!


    Was¡­was he planning to endure such an attack?!

 Chapter 1209: Is He Really Invincible?!

    The red light around Dongfang Ming condensed together to form a sharp longsword. Grasping the hilt, Dongfang Ming flew higher up into the sky with a level of power far stronger than before!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Everyone watched as a loud explosion rocked the world with a devastating amount of power. Energy rippled across the landscape in such large amounts that many of the spectators had to use their soulforce to properly defend themselves.


    Hardly anyone could believe their eyes. Above their heads, the giant sword of Dongfang Ming was cutting through every single blade Yang Yao sent at him!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A second explosion rocked the world several seconds later. Multiple red and golden rings of light scattered everywhere with such intensity that some of the Crafting School¡¯s students shielded their eyes and looked away in horror.


    Yang Yao¡¯s attack had been¡­overcome!!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    A red-gold ball of light shot out from the explosion¡ªit was Yang Yao¡¯s soul armament, but the light wasn¡¯t as bright as before.


    Someone shot up after the flying sword. In one fluid motion, the person grabbed hold of the soul armament and then kicked off hard enough against the sky to leave a small crack in the world. Like a bullet, this person went flying away from the explosion.


    It was Yang Yao!!


    Yang Yao¡¯s expression was exceptionally fierce. His soulforce was spiking rapidly as he clutched his soul armament. Despite the elemental energy in the area in front of him starting to tear holes in space, Yang Yao¡¯s eyes were focused entirely on the other person in front of him.


    Dongfang Ming could finally be seen now that the explosion had receded. Yang Yao had managed to escape from it harmlessly, but Dongfang Ming was definitely in a tragic state. Half of his right arm was gone!


    That was the result of Dongfang Ming using his right hand and sword to fight Yang Yao. Not only was the glove on his right hand gone, but also half of his entire right arm! This was a devastating price!


    Yang Yao was a little surprised to see the damages he managed to inflict on Dongfang Ming, but he wasn¡¯t one to say no to it. Heaving his soul armament up, Yang Yao swung his arms down to strike Dongfang Ming¡¯s head!


    But despite his ¡®wounds¡¯, Dongfang Ming didn¡¯t look worried at all. He merely leaned his head to the left and brought his left hand up to protect himself.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    As confused as Yang Yao was, he continued his downward swing so that his soul armament slashed deep into Dongfang Ming¡¯s right shoulder!!


    The blade sunk halfway into Dongfang Ming¡¯s body before Yang Yao realized something was dreadfully wrong!


    While his blade managed to cut deep into Dongfang Ming¡¯s body, Yang Yao didn¡¯t feel like his sword had cut into ¡®flesh¡¯!


    His eyes were telling him it was Dongfang Ming¡¯s body he was cutting into, but there was no sensation of ¡®flesh or bone¡¯!


    The biggest thing to attract his attention was the ¡®smile¡¯ Dongfang Ming gave him. Despite the severe wound he had, Dongfang Ming was still giving Yang Yao a mocking sneer!


    Dongfang Ming raised his left hand, not toward the soul armament, but to slam it into Yang Yao¡¯s chest!


    The feeling of death surrounded Yang Yao at that moment. He couldn¡¯t understand what in the world was going on. Letting go of his soul armament to defend himself, Yang Yao leaped back to gain some distance between him and Dongfang Ming.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    As fast as he was, Yang Yao wasn¡¯t able to escape without harm. He felt something slam into his stomach before his internal organs began to tremble. One second later¡­Yang Yao was sent flying away!


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    A fresh mouthful of blood escaped from Yang Yao¡¯s lips. The robes near his belly were ripped away to reveal the palm print of Dongfang Ming¡¯s hand on his armor.


    This palm print had clearly struck him deep enough to deal some damage.


    ¡°Senior!!¡±


    Zi Jin exclaimed in panic as he watched the man fly. Blinking out of existence, Zi Jin reappeared behind Yang Yao to catch him mid-flight.


    Sending some of his soulforce into Yang Yao¡¯s body, Zi Jin stabilized the wound while giving Dongfang Ming a death glare.


    At this moment, everyone¡¯s eyes were upon Dongfang Ming.


    His right arm was gone from the elbow down, his right shoulder had a longsword sticking out from his right shoulder and deep enough in his body to affect the heart. This was a fatal wound that would¡¯ve killed any soul cultivator, a Soul Emperor was no exception.


    Everyone thought that they¡¯d be able to see Dongfang Ming drop down from the skies. But he didn¡¯t. His soulforce wasn¡¯t even fluctuating at all! He simply stood there with the same mocking sneer on his face as if he didn¡¯t even feel the pain of his wounds¡­


    Under the confused eyes of everyone, Dongfang Ming brought his left hand back to grab hold of the longsword sticking out from him.


    ¡°Clang!!!¡±


    There was a loud vibration as the longsword was forcibly dislodged from Dongfang Ming¡¯s body!


    Not even a single droplet of blood fell from the longsword when it was pulled out. The right side of Dongfang Ming¡¯s shoulder trembled a bit when the sword was taken out, but there was a flash of dark-red light that pushed out the Law of Fire and Metal from Yang Yao¡¯s sword out from his body. Simultaneously, the part where the sword had cut into began to meld together. Eventually, the wound was nowhere left to be seen. There was only a single patch of unharmed skin¡­


    Something similar was happening to the right arm of Dongfang Ming. A flash of dark-red light appeared where the stump was as the flesh, blood, veins, and skin began to slowly regenerate into a completely new arm!!


    In a matter of seconds, Dongfang Ming managed to recover completely from his wounds!!


    Every single person there, both the Wind Lightning School, and the Crafting School, had the same thought then¡­


    Was his body invincible?!

 Chapter 1210: Elder Chu Yintian

    Dongfang Ming wasn¡¯t finished with astonishing the crowd just yet. The moment his wounds were fully healed, he grabbed hold of the still-trembling longsword with his newly formed right hand.


    Just like he did with Hu Yang¡¯s lance.


    Everyone¡¯s heart lurched at the sight of that. Was he going to¡­?


    ¡°Bzzz¡­.¡±


    As if realizing its imminent death, the longsword began to tremble fiercely. But because of Dongfang Ming¡¯s tight grip on it, how could it possibly avoid such a fate?


    The dark-red light from Dongfang Ming¡¯s hands spread into the longsword like ripples of water to resonate with the blade.


    Each time the dark red light resonated with the blade, the blade would tremble even more. Streams of dark-red light could even be seen mixed with the light from the soul armament now¡­


    ¡°Crack¡­crack¡­¡±


    Seconds later, the soul armament in Dongfang Ming¡¯s hand began to show signs of cracking while Dongfang Ming began to sneer.


    ¡°Crack¡­clang!!¡±


    Then everyone gasped as they watched the longsword snap in two just like the lance had been!


    ¡°Pftt!!¡±


    A large mouthful of blood burst out from Yang Yao¡¯s lips the moment his soul armament was broken!


    ¡°This¡­it¡¯s impossible!!¡±


    Yang Yao muttered in between pained breaths. The death glare he gave Dongfang Ming wasn¡¯t enough for him to understand how Dongfang Ming had managed to break his soul armament.


    He wasn¡¯t the only confused one. Everyone was filled with fear now¡ªa high-heaven tier soul armament had been snapped apart like a rotten twig in the hands of Dongfang Ming! How could anyone not be afraid of him?


    ¡°Hm hm¡­senior Yang Yao¡¯s goldflame dragonblade is quite powerful. I almost didn¡¯t manage to break it, just as I expected¡­¡±


    Dongfang Ming chuckled as he tossed aside the fragments of the sword. The smile on his face seemed to be abnormally big as if he had just eaten a large and satisfying meal of some kind.


    No one understood how Dongfang Ming had managed to do it, but they did manage to realize something. When Dongfang Ming broke Yang Yao¡¯s soul armament, there was some kind of ¡®energy¡¯ from within the fragments he managed to absorb. And evidently, this energy was what caused Dongfang Ming to power up even more!


    The energy he had now¡­was no longer that of an Early-stage Soul Emperor. He was¡­now a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!!


    It was shocking. A technique that could elevate a person¡¯s strength one whole stage was extremely rare. Not even the Dual Flame Artes could accomplish such a feat at his current level.


    But Dongfang Ming had managed to accomplish that feat. The technique he used to go from an Early-stage Soul Emperor to a Mid-stage Soul Emperor had to do with the energy he took from the broken soul armaments.


    A technique that could steal the energy of a soul armament to strengthen oneself?!


    Everyone had the same thought at the same time. But to the crafters, this thought was an exceedingly horrifying thought.


    In one moment, Dongfang Ming managed to destroy the strongest soul armaments of two Soul Emperors of the Crafting School and manipulate someone into delivering a critical blow onto Zi Jin. Just by himself, Dongfang Ming managed to alter the situation of the battlefield in a completely one-sided way¡­


    ¡°What¡­what do we do?!¡±


    Kou Changkong looked grim. It alarmed him to see his ¡®fellow student¡¯ become this terrifyingly powerful. As the headmaster of the Crafting School, it pained Kou Changkong to feel so helpless in this situation. Having Zi Jin be injured by Huangfu Rui was a devastating blow to his confidence.


    It was obvious to him that the Crafting School was in a great danger of losing if they were to fight again.


    ¡°There¡¯s no other choice, we¡¯ll have to ask him for assistance¡­¡±


    Kou Changkong made up his made that moment. Ashamed of his powerlessness, Kou Changkong retrieved a bright-red crystal from his space ring and crushed it.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Everyone felt the world tremble the moment when the crystal shattered in Kou Changkong¡¯s hand. Without warning, a powerful aura exploded to life and brought everyone¡¯s breath to an immediate halt.


    Everyone who had been shocked about Dongfang Ming soon found themselves turning to the northern peak at once.


    That was where this new aura was originating from. Everyone could feel an extraordinary amount of power come to life from somewhere.


    ¡°Late-stage¡­Late-stage Soul Emperor!!¡±


    Huo Zhenting exclaimed in horror. An unbridled amount of fear erupted within his heart the moment he felt the energy spike¡ªjust how many freaks of power did the Crafting School have hiding away on that mountain. How was it that the rumored old monster was still alive after so much time!?


    ¡°Teacher Chu!!¡±


    Many of the crafters were stunned, but it was Yang Yao that was the first to comprehend the situation. A quick glance at Kou Changkong told him all he needed to know.


    If Yang Yao was young enough to call someone ¡®teacher¡¯...then wasn¡¯t this someone from long before the current generation?!


    A person appeared within the sea of flames. Like a woken dragon manifesting from its abode within the flames, this person had a magnificent aura with him that made everyone else in the area realize the implications of his appearance at once.


    Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes were narrowed closely to stare at the source of the new powerful individual.


    ¡°Chu Yintian? So it¡¯s teacher Chu¡­I thought you were dead, but¡­if you¡¯re still a Late-stage Soul Emperor after these sixty-seventy years, you must be close to death, aren¡¯t you? Breaking your meditation¡­you must be planning to sacrifice yourself to protect the school.¡±


    Dongfang Ming muttered to himself underneath his breath, the sneer was still there on his face as if to mock the Late-stage Soul Emperor.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    From the skies above the northern peak, a shriveled crimson-robed stared down at the battlefield beneath him. He looked a little contemplative, and his face was tinted with a shade of nostalgia and melancholic sadness.


    He was Chu Yintian, an older figure of the Crafting School and a teacher when Zi Jin was still a student. That meant he was already two-hundred years old.


    About a hundred years ago, Chu Yintian secluded himself into the northern peak to protect the Crafting School from the shadows. Thirty years after that, he decided to use the rest of his time to seek the path into the realm of the most powerful. For that goal, Chu Yintian ignored the outside world even when the Crafting School fell into trouble thirty years ago.


    Only when Kou Changkong broke that strange soul armament did Chu Yintian to break his meditation.


    The path of cultivation is an arduous one. Many people could have their own insights on cultivation, but just as many could be stuck for ages at a certain bottleneck. For dozens of years, Chu Yintian was stuck in such a state without ever seeing a path to the realm of Saints. The passage of time was slow to him when he meditated, but he was still close to the end of his natural lifespan. As he was now, it was possible he¡¯d die within the decade if nothing was solved.


    As strong as he was as a Late-stage Soul Emperor, breaking the meditation at his current point in life meant half of his time spent meditating was for naught.


    ¡°Intruders of my Crafting School¡­will die!!¡±


    Chu Yintian¡¯s eyes were focused entirely on Dongfang Ming, Huo Zhenting, and the others from the Wind Lightning School. One shout later and he was gone from sight.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The flames he once stood within let out a draconic cry before a dragon formed from the flames!

 Chapter 1211: The Trump Card of the Wind Lightning School!

    Aside from the raw amount of elemental fire gathered in the area, everyone could feel an almost feral-like amount of energy from the dragon. Its jaws spread wide apart in an effort to swallow Dongfang Ming whole!!


    The lightning-fast strike of a Late-stage Soul Emperor was terrifying to behold. Many weren¡¯t even able to withstand the stifling pressure of the attack. Huo Zhenting, for example, broke out in cold sweat upon feeling the pressure. He felt afraid for Dongfang Ming, but there was nothing he could do to help him. He didn¡¯t dare do anything.


    His eyes flickered up to the person standing above them all. He looked worried, but also a little expectant of something.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Dongfang Ming quirked an eyebrow at the incoming dragon. His face wasn¡¯t as calm as before, but it certainly wasn¡¯t panicked either. Hesitant if he wanted to dodge or not, Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes looked to where Huo Zhenting was. Raising both hands, Dongfang Ming began to go through a series of hand seals.


    It was time for him to take a stand and defend against this move!!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Then without further ado, everyone watched as the giant flaming dragon ¡®swallowed¡¯ Dongfang Ming whole!!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The entire world exploded into a chaotic symphony of sound as the dragon exploded. Energy flowed across the battlefield in waves while everyone else watched the epicenter with their breaths held for the aftermath.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­still alive!!¡±


    Qi Ning cried out, relieved. He could sense Dongfang Ming¡¯s aura still alive and well within the center of the explosion.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A pillar of blood-red light shot out from the flames left behind by the dragon. Cleaving apart the flames, the red light cleared away the area before revealing a person within itself.


    Dongfang Ming!!


    He was still standing in the same spot¡­a little short for breath and a little disheveled, but¡­he was still alive!


    But there was something that stuck out from him. Something that made everyone¡¯s heart skip a beat when they saw it. A red spear was sticking out from his chest!


    The shaft of the spear had a dragon engraved on it like flames. At a little over two meters long, this spear was currently stuck deep in Dongfang Ming¡¯s chest!


    And it was embedded at the same place of where his heart was!


    This was a wound far more critical than the one Hu Yang gave him on the shoulder. Anyone, Bai Yunfei included, would¡¯ve died instantly if they were to face such a strike. But¡­Dongfang Ming was still alive!


    ¡°Huff huff¡­¡±


    A pained growl escaped from Dongfang Ming as he wiped the blood from his lips. He was snarling, but he didn¡¯t look panicked or frightened at all. If anything¡­he looked happy?


    ¡°The legendary dragonic spear, crafted from the bones of a Primordial Dragon¡­and that¡¯s it?!¡±


    Dongfang Ming sneered in between mouthfuls of blood. He seemed to be laughing at the fact the spear had yet to kill him as he grabbed hold of the spear with both hands!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hm?! He¡¯s alive?!¡±


    It went without saying that Chu Yintian was surprised. From his spot within the flames, the Soul Emperor was thoroughly shocked to see Dongfang Ming alive. His spear should¡¯ve easily killed anyone, especially when it stabbed through one¡¯s heart like it did with Dongfang Ming. And yet¡­Dongfang Ming was still moving!


    ¡°What is this?!¡±


    A sudden power spike from within Dongfang Ming alerted Chu Yintian to a new sensation from his draconic spear!


    His spear¡­was getting weaker somehow. The connection between him and the spear was weakening without him knowing why. It was as if his spear was trying to fight off against another soul armament¡­


    His spear wasn¡¯t struggling against a person, but with some kind of soul armament!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A loud clap of thunder alerted Chu Yintian to a new development above his head. Raising a hand, the Late-stage Soul Emperor summoned a tortoiseshell to protect his head.


    The clouds above him cleaved apart at that moment to allow for a giant bolt of lightning to crash down onto him!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Straight away, the world was awash with a violet light as the lightning bolt broke apart. The resulting flash of light was so intense that everyone watching it had to force their eyes shut, thus preventing them from seeing what happened to Chu Yintian.


    ¡°Master!!¡±


    Huo Zhenting shouted aloud. His eyes were staring intently at a new figure standing in front of him.


    This new person appeared out of thin air almost to attack Chu Yintian. It was an elderly figure dressed in violet robes and looked even more rickety than Chu Yintian. A sudden gust of wind was probably enough to send this person toppling over if they weren¡¯t prepared. But¡­the amount of power radiating from this person wasn¡¯t any less than that of Chu Yintian!


    Dong Wanlei was one of oldest remaining elders of the Wind Lightning School. A man of the same generation as Chu Yintian and also the greatest trump card the Wind Lightning School had to offer.


    He was a living fossil and also someone no one would normally see in their lives. If not for the chaotic state of the world, Dong Wanlei would¡¯ve preferred to stick to his isolation instead of appearing now.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Dong Wanlei ignored Huo Zhenting. His eyes were for Chu Yintian only. The aura around him crackled with lightning as he raised both hands in front of him and were pressed outward.


    ¡°Rumble rumble¡­¡±


    The skies above Chu Yintian and Dong Wanlei darkened rapidly. The clouds grew dark and bristled with violet lightning bolts. More and more elemental lightning was starting to appear all over the place to gather around Mt. Crimson.


    ¡°Behold! The Nine Tribulations!!¡±


    Dong Wanlei thundered. The soulforce within his body exploded with frightening force upon the very last word. At the very mention of this name, the elders from the Wind Lightning School began to look on with ecstatic expressions.


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom¡­¡±


    As if the heavens were administering divine justice, nine gigantic bolts of violet lightning crashed down from the clouds to strike Chu Yintian!


    ¡­¡­


    Surrounded by the nine bolts of lightning, Chu Yintian continued to hold his soul armament over his head. His soulforce was circulating rapidly as he attempted to push away any tendril of elemental lightning trying to force itself into his body.


    Chu Yintian merely narrowed his eyes at the nine lightning bolts. He waved his left hand as if to summon another soul armament to him, but then¡­his eyes shifted back to where Dongfang Ming was in shock!

 Chapter 1212: Hes Not Human!

    There was a maniacal sneer on Dongfang Ming¡¯s face as he clutched the draconic spear still embedded in his chest. Spiking irregularly, his soulforce pulsated out from his hands with a red sheen to it.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    Half-laughing, half-grunting, Dongfang Ming exerted force onto his hands and¡­pushed the spear deeper into himself!


    Instead of pulling it out, he was pushing it deeper into his person!


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    Large mouthfuls of blood escaped from his lips as the spear dug deeper into him. His soulforce flickered unsteadily like a wisp of fire being blown on by a gust of wind. Dongfang Ming looked even crazier than before, however, and he still continued to push the spear deeper into him!


    This wasn¡¯t the work of any sane and rational person. This was an act of suicide!


    What¡­was he trying to do?!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The draconic spear began to tremble. The dragon decorations around the spear looked as if they were alive and were desperately trying to escape from Dongfang Ming. The spear seemed terrified of the man, for some reason.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Suddenly, a large amount of energy exploded outward from within Dongfang Ming¡¯s chest!


    Only a spray of blood escaped from him. The left part of Dongfang Ming¡¯s chest split apart from the explosion to reveal a devastating wound!


    ¡°What meager willpower¡­resistance is futile¡­be destroyed!!¡±


    But the new wound didn¡¯t even seem to bother Dongfang Ming. Rather than cry out in pain, he cackled one last time before pushing down on the spear once again!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The spear was thrusted deeper into his body and seemingly struck against something metallic!


    Logically, the spear was deep enough in Dongfang Ming¡¯s body that it should¡¯ve gone through him. But the spear had yet to appear from his back. If someone were to look at Dongfang Ming¡¯s chest closely, they would notice a small dark-red flash of light from where the spear was slowly being pushed into the black hole in Dongfang Ming¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Crackle¡­crackle¡­¡±


    The grinding sounds from within Dongfang Ming¡¯s chest wasn¡¯t very loud in actuality, but they felt abnormally loud for all the crafters.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Seemingly speaking with the spear, Dongfang Ming let out one loud roar and made a pulling motion with his right hand.


    His right palm shined with a dark-red light as he pulled at the spear. A very faint ray of light exuded out from the spear, as if trying to resist, but¡­


    ¡°Haha¡­hahaha¡­.¡±


    That didn¡¯t stop Dongfang Ming from pulling the spear deeper into his body!


    As if it was being dipped into a pool of water, the spear ¡®sunk¡¯ into his chest and disappeared without a trace!


    It was evident to all that Dongfang Ming was in pain at this action. His face was twisted together, but the smile never left his lips as he began to go through several hand seals.


    The dark-red light flowed from his palms back up his arms and eventually covered his entire person like a cocoon. No one could see his person from within the light, but they could sense his soulforce beginning to draw inward and calm down as if he was going into a recuperative hibernation without a care for the outside world.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Pffttt!!¡±


    Chu Yintian let out a mouthful of blood the moment his spear ¡®disappeared¡¯ into Dongfang Ming!


    His soul had been struck a heavy blow!


    Chu Yintian¡¯s draconic spear had been destroyed!


    Unlike Hu Yang and Yang Yao, who had their soul armaments broken, Chu Yintian had his soul armament ¡®devoured¡¯ by Dongfang Ming!


    It was a critical blow that Chu Yintian barely managed to suppress. But¡­the Nine Tribulations from Dong Wanlei were coming down at him at that moment!


    Left without any other choice, Chu Yintian was forced to steady himself and gather his soulforce. A split-second later, a ¡®shadow¡¯ shot out from him with the defensive soul armament to protect him from above.


    It was¡­an avatar!!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Lightning splashed across the entirety of the area all around Chu Yintian. For a kilometer around, the skies were obstructed by bolts of lightning. Hardly anyone dared to draw even an inch closer in fear of being struck by the lightning.


    ¡°Teacher!!¡±


    It was Yang Yao who cried out. Fearful of the safety of Chu Yintian, everyone from the Crafting School could only watch with horrified expressions.


    ¡°Is he dead?¡±


    Qi Ning muttered under his breath. Unlike the Crafting School, he and the others were anxiously waiting for the outcome.


    ¡°He¡¯d be a failure of a Late-stage Soul Emperor if he were to die this easily. But¡­he is no longer a threat.¡± Dong Wanlei replied as he watched the pool of lightning in front of him. ¡°To immediately create and use an avatar to protect himself from death¡­an admirable decision.¡±


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A fireball shot out from the lightning pool. Like a meteor, it traveled out from the range of the lightning and landed near the formation of crafters.


    Dong Wanlei didn¡¯t look surprised at this outcome. He simply stared at the dark-red ball of light within the lightning pool¡ªthat was where Dongfang Ming was.


    ¡°He¡¯s still alive? What trickery is this Dongfang Ming up to¡­¡±


    The assault onto the Crafting School had been meticulously planned for by both the Soul Refining School and the Wind Lightning School. It was something Dong Wanlei thought very hard about when considering all the factors, but one of the factors he could never seem to figure out was Dongfang Ming. He thought it strange that his attack didn¡¯t even seem to affect Dongfang Ming in any way, or how Dongfang Ming had managed to take Chu Yintian¡¯s spear head on and then ¡®absorb¡¯ the spear into his body. It was even more puzzling Chu Yintian was rendered into a vulnerable state after Dongfang Ming absorbed the spear.


    All in all, the absolute power Dongfang Ming wielded frightened even Dong Wanlei.


    ¡­¡­


    Only ten seconds had passed since Chu Yintian appeared to fight Dongfang Ming to when Dong Wanlei managed to land a blow on him.


    I was in those ten seconds that everyone was able to see two powerful Late-stage Soul Emperors battle it out and see one of them get injured.


    ¡°Teacher! Are you alright?!¡±


    Yang Yao cried out as Chu Yintian appeared right beside him.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I can still fight!¡± Chu Yintian barked. He was pale in the face, saying he was ¡®alright¡¯ was by no means anywhere close to the truth. The destruction of his soulbound armament and avatar was not something that could be shrugged off so easily.


    ¡°Who¡­is that person?¡±


    Chu Yintian wasn¡¯t looking at Dong Wanlei, but rather at the area where Dongfang Ming was still standing in.


    ¡°He¡¯s a traitor of our school, Dongfang Ming. He was expelled from our school for attempting to craft a demon armament!¡±


    ¡°A traitor¡ªcrafting a demon armament?!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    A column of fire exploded to life right beside Chu Yintian, causing both people to stare at it.


    ¡°Heavenfire!!¡± Chu Yintian exclaimed.


    Heavenfire ¡®appeared¡¯ from the flames to give a deep glare at the dark-red cocoon that surrounded Dongfang Ming. ¡°This Dongfang Ming¡­is abnormal!!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Several people grew alert at Heavenfire¡¯s warning. ¡°What do you see, Heavenfire?¡± Asked Yang Yao.


    ¡°He¡¯s not human!!¡±

 Chapter 1213: The Body for the Armament, a Demonic Body!

    ¡°He isn¡¯t human!!¡±


    Heavenfire¡¯s words rippled across the crafters, but none of them seemed to understand him. ¡°Heavenfire,¡± Chu Yintian narrowed his eyes, ¡°What do you mean by that? What problem is there with this Dongfang Ming?¡±


    ¡°You should¡¯ve been able to sense the abnormality, but¡­you haven¡¯t thought about looking for it¡ªDongfang Ming doesn¡¯t have the aura of a soul cultivator to me, he¡¯s more like a¡­soul armament!!¡±


    ¡°A soul armament?!¡± The confusion grew even deeper amongst the crafters. How could a living being possibly be a soul armament?


    But Chu Yintian, Yang Yao, and Hu Yang all looked as though they realized something. Thinking back to the feelings when they had their soul armaments destroyed by Dongfang Ming, they each remembered something they initially thought preposterous.


    ¡°Heavenfire,¡± Chu Yintian was beginning to connect the dots, ¡°do you mean to say¡­by using his own body, Dongfang Ming forged a ¡®demonic body¡¯?!¡±


    ¡°Yes! One of the rumored demonic armaments from ancient times¡ªa demonic body! By using the body as the material and the soul as the catalyst, a demonic body can be forged!


    ¡°There¡¯s no doubt about it! The way his soul fluctuates¡­is exactly like a soul armament! That¡¯s why he isn¡¯t affected by my abilities. He can overcome the domain¡¯s effects, and since he¡¯s also a spirit of the armament now¡­he can suppress soul armaments just as I can! He is no longer human, but a soul armament! A demon armament!¡±


    Dongfang Ming was a...demon armament?!


    Everyone felt lost listening to Heavenfire, even Yang Yao. Probing at the aura within the cocoon as he looked at it, Yang Yao began to believe what Heavenfire was saying. That aura was definitely more like a soul armament than a human!


    ¡°He is, for the most part, immortal until his demonic core is destroyed. Without that being destroyed, he¡¯ll be able to regenerate from even the worst wounds!¡± Heavenfire explained, ¡°I¡¯ve met a soul cultivator who attempted to forge a demonic body before, but they failed and perished. I never imagined another person would ever attempt to forge one, let alone succeed! This¡­is a feat on the level of a Regalia! No regular soul armament is enough to defeat a demonic body, this will be troublesome¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The more the crafters listened to Heavenfire speak, the more anxious they became. It filled their hearts with dread to hear about what having a ¡®demonic body¡¯ entailed¡ªif Dongfang Ming had such a body like this, how could they possibly defeat him then?


    ¡­¡­


    The pool of lightning around Dongfang Ming¡¯s cocoon was finally starting to dissipate. Everyone watched as it did, Dong Wanlei seemed content in doing nothing else but stare at the cocoon intensely. To him, he could see the cocoon Dongfang Ming was in start to look a little singed, but what he was really focusing on was the person within it.


    Pulsating rhythmically like a heartbeat, the dark-red light from the cocoon began to shine even brighter and brighter. Soon, the intensity of the light was strong enough to drown out the violet light from the lightning.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was an ear-deafening explosion as the cocoon split apart to reveal someone within.


    ¡°He¡¯s fully healed!!¡±


    Several people let out loud gasps when they saw Dongfang Ming. Though the robes were gone, the rest of Dongfang Ming¡¯s person was completely unblemished. He¡­was well and fully healed back to full health!


    The wound he sustained over his shoulder from the sword strike and the deep hole in his chest from the spear. Both of those wounds were gone!


    Even his aura was completely different. Before, it fluctuated weakly due to his injuries, but now it flowed abundantly like waves in a boundless ocean. He was clearly back to full power, and the smug sneer on his face was the last proof anyone needed to see to show for it.


    ¡°Absorbing soul armaments nurtured over a century is as satisfying as I thought it¡¯d be. I can feel myself close to becoming a Mid-stage Soul Emperor¡­¡± Dongfang Ming remarked to himself with glee. Flexing the fingers in his hand, he stared back at the rest of the Crafting School with a greedy expression.


    ¡°Chu Yintian¡¯s still alive?¡± His eyebrows raised by a fraction on his forehead. He thought that Dong Wanlei would¡¯ve been able to kill Chu Yintian during his period of recuperation. ¡°I remember¡­¡± He muttered, ¡°I remember seeing Chu Yintian¡¯s avatar for a moment¡­did he sacrifice his avatar then? If that¡¯s the case, he is no longer a match for Dong Wanlei¡­


    ¡°Almost all of the freaks have been driven out from their hiding holes. Only one person is left, the one who is rumored to be just a single step away from Sainthood. I wonder¡­


    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t he shown up yet if he¡¯s still alive? Could he possibly be waiting for the Soul Emperors to die before he comes out? But¡­that doesn¡¯t matter. Whether he shows up or not, the Soul Refining School still has that¡­¡±


    Stepping away, Dongfang Ming flew off in the direction of Dong Wanlei.


    ¡°I believe we are ready for the final step in the plan¡ªthere is nothing left to fear from our enemies.¡±


    He spoke to Dong Wanlei and the others that stood vigilantly behind him.


    The injuries of Chu Yintian, Yang Yao, Hu Yang, and Zi Jin could be attributed primarily to Dongfang Ming¡¯s appearance. The momentum of the Crafting School was halted immediately the moment when Dongfang Ming appeared. If anything, Dongfang Ming was responsible for almost singlehandedly crushing the Crafting School¡¯s resistance.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Before Dong Wanlei could reply to him, Dongfang Ming turned around to stare off toward the left at something.


    He had sensed something coming from that direction. Something that shouldn¡¯t be there. It was a wave of fire.


    ¡°Who is that!?¡±


    Chu Yintian noticed the abnormality as well at that moment.


    ¡°This presence¡­¡± Heavenfire muttered in glee, ¡°That¡¯s Core and Sentinel! That Bai Yunfei has returned!!¡±

 Chapter 1214: An Existence Without Flesh and Bone

    A little while before, when Dongfang Ming had only just managed to have Huangfu Rui land a strike onto Zi Jin.


    On the other side of the mountain.


    The battle between Bai Yunfei and Qin Long was reaching its critical point. The Ardent Sun Glove had already stolen away half of Qin Long¡¯s attributes and inhibited his strength while supplementing Bai Yunfei¡¯s own. Both of Qin Long¡¯s arms weren¡¯t even in any shape to be used anymore after enduring a single blast from the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst.


    The way Qin Long strengthened himself was different than the method Zhang Zhenshan and Lin Dongxiao used. Zhang Zhenshan used an especially potent arcane Bloodsoul Dark Arts to devour other people¡¯s soulforce and lifeforce to increase his own. Lin Dongxiao fused himself with a soulbeast puppet so he make use of the power of the mid-stage class eight soulbeast puppet. But Qin Long had done what Dongfang Ming had done and was using a ¡®demonic core¡¯!!


    It took Dongfang Ming thirty years to forge a demonic body for himself with a perfected demonic core. The core Qin Long was using today was nothing more than a replica. A mockery of the real thing and could hardly compare to the power Dongfang Ming could draw out from his.


    Dongfang Ming took thirty years to craft a perfect demonic core. It was inevitable that Qin Long would craft an inferior version of it in a much shorter amount of time. Furthermore, the price Qin Long paid was far more drastic¡ªhe no longer had his human intellect.


    Prior to Qin Long, Dongfang Ming once attempted to ¡®mass-produce¡¯ these inferior cores so they could be used to create empowered servants. Of each and every attempt, however, only Qin Long managed to prove to be a ¡®success¡¯.


    Similarly, Zhang Zhenshan was the only person within the last thousand years to prove capable of using the Bloodsoul Dark Arts.


    Zhang Zhenshan, Lin Dongxiao, and Qin Long were three examples of men who managed to grow stronger through different ¡®perverse¡¯ methods. But they were also good examples of the great costs for power, and why even the Soul Refining School would think twice before attempting to try it again, even if they could.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Xiao Qi!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was surprised, how was Qin Long able to recover from having his chest split apart? Regardless, Bai Yunfei decided it was better to call upon Xiao Qi to help him. Using the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was one thing, but he had to remember he wasn¡¯t fighting by himself.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    In a flash of violet light, Xiao Qi streaked across the skies toward Qin Long.


    Xiao Qi opted not to use the spatial edges. It¡¯d be pointless since Qin Long was protected by the power of Law. Like a bolt of lightning, Xiao Qi let out a net of lightning all around Qin Long.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The violet bolts of lightning impacted everywhere against the curtain of dark-green light. The two Laws battled it out between one another for supremacy, but it was Xiao Qi¡¯s attacks that were the ultimate victor. With the ability to increase the powers of his own attacks, Xiao Qi was able to have most of his lightning bolts break through the barrier and strike Qin Long¡¯s person!


    Qin Long was beset by a wave of violet and dark-green light as he stood there. He didn¡¯t bother to move at all from his spot, choosing to instead allow the lightning bolts to hit him when they did. Despite the fierce explosions of energy whenever they landed, Qin Long had yet to be knocked unconscious or die. All of his wounds were gone now. Any time a new wound was sustained, the broken parts of his flesh would wriggle and sizzle as if burning for a moment before it regenerated what was missing.


    The bombardment from Xiao Qi lasted multiple seconds and gave Qin Long no time to gather his breath. It was noticeable that Qin Long was starting to tire with how his aura was weakening bit by bit. If this went on any longer, then his soulforce would run out and he would inevitably meet his doom.


    But that would take time, and time was of the essence right now. Xiao Qi was simply distracting Qin Long so he wouldn¡¯t be able to regenerate from his wounds while Bai Yunfei bidded his time to gather his strength!


    Power was already coursing through Bai Yunfei¡¯s body due to him stealing Qin Long¡¯s attributes, but that power was making another extreme leap in strength to help him reach the level of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    Dual Flame Artes: ¡®Coil¡¯ Form!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei kicked off against his footing at once. Now a bright-red streak of light, Bai Yunfei shot toward the area Xiao Qi was bombarding!


    He brought with him an indomitable amount of power to strike fear into the hearts of anyone there to witness him. Left hand shining with a golden light, Bai Yunfei lashed out to punch at Qin Long with it!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was an ear-deafening crack as the force of Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch created a shockwave and billowed away from the area with devastating force.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist landed squarely onto Qin Long¡¯s chest. Without arms to protect himself, Qin Long was left without any choice but to watch as Bai Yunfei punched a hole through him!


    Something could be seen pulsating near the edge of the hole. It glowed a dark-red color and pulsated rhythmically like a heart. The dark-red light slowly encompassed Qin Long¡¯s body and looked like it was trying to regenerate his wounds once again.


    Despite not knowing what in the world this was, Bai Yunfei knew if he didn¡¯t strike now, there wouldn¡¯t be a second time¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    An excited chirp filled the air as Xiao Qi descended once again. Knowing the proper time and place to strike, Xiao Qi let loose multiple spatial edges down onto Qin Long!


    Things were looking dire for Qin Long. Without the power of Law to protect him, he could only watch powerlessly as the sky around him was filled with spatial edges.


    Nothing was left in the space where Qin Long once stood. It was an empty expanse without even a single trace of his person left in sight¡­


    Not even a piece of flesh or bone.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s been ten minutes already, what¡¯s going on¡­has Qin Long managed to hurt Bai Yunfei or not¡­?¡±


    In the outside world, Mo Ni was staring daggers at the sphere of prismatic light created by the Interdimensional Phantasm in confusion.


    He didn¡¯t believe Qin Long had the power to kill Bai Yunfei, but his carefully ¡®nurtured¡¯ creation should still deal enough damage to shave away a good portion of Bai Yunfei¡¯s energy. In the best case scenario, Bai Yunfei would be so haggard and close to death that Mo Ni would be able to step in and easily kill him.


    ¡°Huff¡­hrgghhh¡­¡±


    A deep growl arose from the person beside him. ¡°What is it?¡± Mo Ni gave the man on his left a small glare, ¡°You can¡¯t wait any longer, Gui Nu? Be at ease, your time to take vengeance will come soon enough. Whether you want to drink his blood or eat his flesh¡­he¡¯s yours to deal with.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­Gui Nu will deal with Bai Yunfei and the Black Dragon King will deal with his soulbeast partner. I¡¯ll deal with Xiao Binzi and that other Early-stage Soul Emperor. You¡¯ll wait on the sidelines and wait for a chance to destroy them¡­¡± Lu Suxing muttuered to Mo Ni as he watched the area around them. His hands twitched every so often as he prepared himself to mobilize at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°Look! The Phantasm is fading away, be careful!¡±


    Lu Suxing shouted moments later as the prismatic light from the Interdimensional Phantasm began to recede from the area.


    Mo Ni was on the high alert at once, ¡°That fast? Is Qin Long dead already?! What¡­what did Bai Yunfei do?!¡±


    The two men were startled at the rapidness of the battle. They had guessed that the battle would end soon, but not that soon! Then as they were trying to process that, two gigantic dragons came flying out from the light!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The two dragons let out a roar that reverberated throughout the world, the two of them reaching impeccable speeds as it traveled toward Mo Ni and Lu Suxing!


    Caught completely off guard, Mo Ni, Lu Suxing, and even the Black Dragon King began to retreat to safety.


    ¡°Gui Nu, block it!!¡± Mo Ni barked.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A primal roar exploded from Gui Nu. Like a beast unshackled, he leaped at the gigantic dragons with explosive vigor. A bloodthirsty aura began to radiate from his person along with the foul stench of blood. Blood-red light pooled over him and transformed into a giant demonic being to charge at the two dragons with him!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The demonic being struck the two dragons with the intent of destroying it. Energy ran rampant across the skies in large amounts, and not even Mo Ni and the others were untouched.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?! Why is¡­eh?! What!!!¡±


    Confused by the rapid developments taking place, Lu Suxing began to let out a cry of terror upon sensing something dreadful!


    A powerful presence had just suddenly popped up within his vicinity and was rapidly getting closer!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Lu Suxing heard it first. A streak of displaced wind followed by a burst of light. Then a bright-red spear appeared right in front of his very eyes to strike him through!

 Chapter 1215: Instant Kill! And Another For Blocking the Way!

    The spear was traveling fast! Lu Suxing didn¡¯t even have time to properly recognize the danger he was in by the time the spear was nearly too close to be dodged! Cold sweat appeared at once over his forehead¡ªthe power from the spear was absolutely massive!


    But that was to be expected. Bai Yunfei holding onto the spear with¡­more power than Lu Suxing thought to see!


    Dual Flame Artes: ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!!


    After stealing half of Qin Long¡¯s attributes and then making use of ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode, Bai Yunfei was well and deep within the level of strength of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    Lu Suxing was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, as well, but he wasn¡¯t in his prime state of power. The injuries he sustained from the battle of the Water School compounded with his rush over to warn Mo Ni had him extremely weakened. In terms of strength he was no longer capable of defeating Bai Yunfei!


    What Lu Suxing expected was to see Bai Yunfei heavily injured. Instead, he was deeply frightened to see a fully-powered Soul Emperor come barreling toward him!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    Reacting as though it was the grim reaper itself coming for his head, Lu Suxing let out a scream before wrapping himself in elemental darkness to aid his escape.


    His reaction was praiseworthy for being a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. A wall of elemental darkness materialized in front of the spear¡¯s path, solidifying just enough with the power of Law to hopefully protect his head from a fatal blow.


    Any barrier created via the power of Law would be a powerful one, and this one was no exception. The Fire-tipped Spear stabbed into the energy and began to slow down in its motion just enough to give Lu Suxing more time to evade.


    This would be the end of a normal attack, but¡­this wasn¡¯t the end of Bai Yunfei¡¯s!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear began to have a light shine from its body. Starting from Bai Yunfei, the light disseminated from his spear-arm and traveled into the spear with a brilliant aura!


    The +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, activated!


    Expend 40% of the user¡¯s soulforce to ignore any one elemental-based defense upon the next strike.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The abnormality was spotted instantaneously by Lu Suxing. But before he could react to the changes, the Fire-tipped Spear slammed through his barrier to strike at his left collarbone!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    Metal stabbed through flesh as the spear elicited a loud shriek of pain from Lu Suxing!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Before he could even finish screaming, however, the area around the spot the spear stabbed into exploded into a mist of fire and flesh!


    It was the +10 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear: Explosion!!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Still howling in pain, Lu Suxing pressed both hands to his neck in an attempt to staunch the blood flow, but the damage had been done. A great fountain of blood was flowing out from his throat, and with it, a vital amount of his life force.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m going to die!!¡±


    For the first time in his life, the fear of death flashed across Lu Suxing¡¯s mind. He felt powerless in front of this new face of power despite the amount of power he held. Seemingly operating on the very last vestige of hope, Lu Suxing began to go through the handseals for a soul skill to stabilize his wound and preserve his health.


    But just at that moment¡­


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    A single word reverberated throughout his mind! As if the world was shaking, Lu Suxing felt his vision tremble and his soulforce come to an immediate stop!


    Then¡­


    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    A second word came later, but that was the last word Lu Suxing would hear¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Unraveling ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode when he was in the Phantasm, Bai Yunfei managed to fire off a Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst once he was done with his battle. This was done to separate Lu Suxing and get him alone so he could use the Fire-tipped Spear and its additional effect to inflict major damage. Then with the Soul Anchor Technique and the Soul Sealing Mandate, Bai Yunfei could easily capture Lu Suxing and bring him back with him without much trouble.


    The plan had many actions to consider, but it was done in hardly no time at all.


    ¡°Teacher Lu!!¡±


    With Gui Nu being the one to stop the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, Lu Suxing, Mo Ni, and the Black Dragon King were given the opportunity to retreat to safety. Since Mo Ni and the Black Dragon King were closer to Gui Nu, Bai Yunfei opted to attack the straggler, Lu Suxing.


    And Lu Suxing¡¯s unfortunate scream was heard shortly afterward by Mo Ni, who turned his head just in time to see Lu Suxing be sealed by Bai Yunfei.


    The sight of that filled Mo Ni with horror.


    What in the world was going on?!


    He didn¡¯t even manage to see how Lu Suxing came to be sealed in the first place¡­


    ¡°Xiao Qi, kill him!¡±


    His horror intensified when he heard Bai Yunfei¡¯s cold-hearted command. He saw a streak of pure-darkness fly through the sky from behind Bai Yunfei before bisecting Lu Suxing¡¯s still form into two.


    And so Lu Suxing died.


    ¡°Teacher Lu¡­is dead?!¡±


    Completely still, Mo Ni watched as the two halves of Lu Suxing were taken into Bai Yunfei¡¯s space ring. His face was pale, shocked at the death of one of his own.


    ¡°N¡ªno way! No way!!¡±


    Mo Ni stammered uncharacteristically. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.


    The Black Dragon King wasn¡¯t any better. Though far more experienced in battle than Mo Ni, the Black Dragon King was similarly struck dumb. He looked to Bai Yunfei, terrified by his actions and hesitant on what to do.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei allowed himself to let a breath of air escape from his lips. Finished with his second opponent, Bai Yunfei could begin conserving his soulforce. It was only because of an emergency that he used ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode to begin with. Rather than kill Lu Suxing himself, it was better for Xiao Qi to do so. That way a bigger emotional blow could be dealt onto Mo Ni.


    Hearing Mo Ni¡¯s stammers, Bai Yunfei turned his eyes to him. ¡°Stand in my way and I¡¯ll see that you die here as well!¡±


    His eyes flickered momentarily to Mt. Crimson behind Mo Ni. He was anxious. As much as he wanted to kill Mo Ni where he stood, he didn¡¯t have much time to waste. It was important that he rush to where the school was as soon as possible, but if Mo Ni was that adamant on impeding his path, then Bai Yunfei would kill him without hesitation.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Mo Ni felt his blood surge within himself. His entire face was twitching non-stop as he gnashed his teeth together at the humiliation he was feeling. He wanted to act out on the frustration he felt, but his fear of Bai Yunfei overrode those feelings immediately. There was no way the rational part of his mind would allow him to fight Bai Yunfei to the death.


    ¡°Hfff¡­.hrghh¡­.¡±


    Gui Nu growled vehemently behind Mo Ni. His blood-red eyes glared daggers at Bai Yunfei, hungry to tear him from limb to limb. But it seemed like without an order, Gui Nu couldn¡¯t move a single foot.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A single second of silence. The last vestiges of energy from the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was still dissipating from the world as Bai Yunfei stared down the completely still Mo Ni and Black Dragon King.


    Sensing the energy start to calm down, Bai Yunfei nodded to Xiao Binzi and Li Chengfeng behind him. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    A bubble of energy enveloped the three soul cultivators and soulbeast before the Core Stone teleported them away from the area.


    One last twitch ran across Mo Ni¡¯s face at the sight of the Core Stone¡¯s might. One last moment of hesitation flickered across his eyes before he started to glare angrily at the spot where Bai Yunfei had been.


    ¡°Damn...damn it all!!¡±


    He howled, his fingernails digging deep enough into his skin to draw blood. His hatred for Bai Yunfei was at its peak now that his fear was gone.


    Right hand trembling, Mo Ni raised it to look at the nearly-crushed black jade in his hand. Then he looked back to Mt. Crimson behind him.


    ¡°We¡¯re going!¡±


    He barked before shooting off toward the mountain.

 Chapter 1216: Anger

    ¡°Woof woof!!¡±


    Lao Sha let out several joyful barks at the sight of the sea of flames nearing them. A familiar aura was within that sea of flame, and Lao Sha knew from that aura alone that his ¡®master¡¯ had returned.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­¡±


    Tang Xinyun stood beside Lao Sha. She gave a sigh of relief at the same sight. Knowing that Bai Yunfei was here alleviated most of her concerns. Not only did the sea of flames mean that Bai Yunfei was safe, but it also meant it was possible for the tables to turn now.


    Just like how Lao Sha felt like Bai Yunfei was a peerless existence, Bai Yunfei was a man of indomitable strength to Tang Xinyun. As long as he was here, she wouldn¡¯t worry even if the sky was falling.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The raw amount of power coming from the flames caught everyone¡¯s attention. It was impossible for them not to notice the auras of four Soul Emperors.


    ¡°Is¡­is Bai Yunfei and the first elder back?!¡±


    It was with great concern that the crafters regarded the sea of flames first. They were worried that more enemy reinforcements were here, but now that they could sense the auras, the crafters were beside themselves with joy.


    ¡°Xiao Binzi is back? I see he has finally become a Soul Emperor¡­but who is this Bai Yunfei?¡±


    Chu Yintian asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s a disciple of Zi Jin, a genius of a Soul Emperor and also possessor of three Regalias, the Core Stone, the Soul Sealing Mandate, and the Soul Sentinel Scarf. I didn¡¯t think they would come back so soon from aiding the Water School, but with them here, our problems may be resolved!¡±


    Yang Yao explained to Chu Yintian with excitement.


    ¡°What! He has three Regalias?!¡±


    Chu Yintian found it hard to believe such news. He himself had lived for many decades, but not once had he ever the pleasure of coming across a single Regalia. So hearing someone from the younger generation having three of them was an especially stunning piece of information.


    ¡°Yes, three of them!¡± It was Heavenfire who replied. ¡°None of them are meant for attacking, but the Crafting School and the Soul Sealing Mandate have wide-scale effects Bai Yunfei could use to win against Dongfang Ming!¡±


    ¡°Are you saying he can win against Dongfang Ming?!¡±


    Again, Chu Yintian found it hard to believe such a statement. Now that he had experienced Dongfang Ming¡¯s strength for himself, Chu Yintian felt his self-confidence waning. The fact that the opposition had a demonic body triumphed over his own superior strength. Chu Yintian could only feel the aura of an Early-stage Soul Emperor from within the flames, so he saw little reason why Heavenfire had so much faith in this Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Be at ease, Bai Yunfei trains in the Dual Flame Artes. Aside from the three Regalia, he has multiple lifebound armaments even stronger than yours. Each and every single one of his many soul armaments have powerful ¡®effects¡¯ of all kinds. He¡¯s far stronger than he appears. Dongfang Ming might have a demonic body, but I¡¯m confident Bai Yunfei has a greater chance of victory.¡±


    ¡°The Dual Flame Artes?! And¡­multiple lifebound armaments?! That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Chu Yintian felt himself overwhelmed. Everything he was told seemed outlandish. Impossible to be true. It almost seemed like a bad joke even.


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    Several figures streaked through the battlefield like lightning bolts to stop in front of the crafter¡¯s side of the field. The light around their persons disappeared to reveal Bai Yunfei, the three soul cultivators, and Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Unable to help herself, Tang Xinyun cried out Bai Yunfei¡¯s name the moment when she saw him.


    A boulder of anxiety was lifted off Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulders when he saw Tang Xinyun unharmed. He smiled first to her before bowing to the others.


    ¡°Master, teachers¡­your student has returned.¡±


    Yang Yao nodded gratefully, ¡°Yunfei, this is your senior, teacher Chu.¡±


    ¡°Your student Bai Yunfei pays his respects to teacher.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed. He was surprised to see how strong Chu Yintian was, but he managed to hide it well.


    ¡°Be at ease.¡± Chu Yintian smiled back.


    Having people go through etiquette while there were enemies nearby seemed pointless, so Bai Yunfei quickly scanned the area to determine the situation for himself.


    Then his eyes widened in shock at several specific individuals.


    ¡°Master!!¡±


    That was because he saw who Kou Changkong was holding. The injured Zi Jin who was currently being treated by Yang Ying.


    He was beside Zi Jin¡¯s side at once. ¡°What happened?!¡±


    He could already see the gruesome wound in Zi Jin¡¯s throat despite his asking. Grabbing his master¡¯s wrist, Bai Yunfei scanned his vitals only to pale when he felt the presence of a foreign energy trying its best to kill Zi Jin. The foreign energy in his body was even more invasive than the energy from a Soul Refining Palm!


    ¡°This feeling¡­this is a demonic armament!! Master was hurt one of them?! What in the world happened?!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped. This foreign energy felt similar to the blowback when Zheng Kai used the Devouring Edge; Zi Jin¡¯s wound had to be the work of an enemy demonic armament.


    ¡°It was Dongfang Ming! He was controlling little Rui when she was rescued and had her strike him with one¡­¡±


    Kou Changkong growled under his breath. It was clear to hear his anger at the situation.


    ¡°Dongfang Ming!! Controlling ah¡¯Rui?!¡± Bai Yunfei whipped his head to Huangfu Rui, who was still as still as a statue in Cang Yu¡¯s arms. Immediately, Bai Yunfei felt his heart plummet.


    He had been hoping that nothing bad had happened to the school on his way here. Bai Yunfei just never expected to come back to a situation like this¡­


    His master at death¡¯s door by the hand of Huangfu Rui! And the way Huangfu Rui was right now¡­she was definitely being controlled by Soul Puppetry!


    Both these people were people Bai Yunfei treasured deeply. To see them in their current state was a pain to the heart that felt as sharp as if a literal dagger had plunged into it.


    An uncontrollable fire erupted inside Bai Yunfei. The heat of anger filled his body at once toward the one who caused it all.


    Dongfang Ming!!


    Following the glance given to him by Kou Changkong, Bai Yunfei glared off in the distance toward Dongfang Ming. He never saw what Dongfang Ming looked like, but he could tell by the aura alone that this person was without a doubt his target!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A fiery aura exploded forth from Bai Yunfei. It spread from his body into the skies above along with a wave of killing intent.


    ¡°Enemies of my school, you will all die today!! Dongfang Ming¡­I¡¯m coming for you!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Because of the arrival of Bai Yunfei and the others, a large clamor was beginning to rise up amongst his enemies.


    ¡°It¡¯s Bai Yunfei! And Xiao Binzi! But how? They weren¡¯t supposed to be back this quickly!¡± Qi Ning barked, ¡°Did they not go to the Water School then?! And if they didn¡¯t, does that meant senior Yue and the others failed?!¡±


    Huo Zhenting¡¯s eyes were narrowed together. ¡°Perhaps they turned back mid-route¡­Four Soul Emperors¡­that Bai Yunfei has the power to kill even a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. This, I¡¯m afraid, will not be an easy battle¡­¡±


    He glanced over to Dongfang Ming as he spoke.


    And it just so happened that the killing intent of Bai Yunfei had finally hit their side of the battlefield.


    Dongfang Ming snapped back to reality upon being hit with it. ¡°So you came back so soon?¡± He laughed to himself, ¡°Did Mo Ni and the others fail then? No¡­they probably ran off scared after a death or two. Gui Nu, perhaps? Mo Ni should be fine. He¡¯d have use that thing if he had fought Bai Yunfei and was close to death¡­¡±


    He allotted himself just a few seconds to think about what happened to Mo Ni and the others. His smile grew even more pronounced upon locking onto Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°A battle with me? How coincidental, I¡¯ve been waiting to see how strong you really are¡­my demonic core will finally be complete if I can devour a Regalia¡­¡±

 Chapter 1217: A Resurgence In Battle

    All was tense on the battlefield. It seemed that a new battle would break out any second now with how furious Bai Yunfei was. The moment when the Core Stone and the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s area-of-effect skills activated would be the moment when war would break out once again.


    And then it began.


    Everyone capable of fighting on both sides of the field charged at one another at once. Bai Yunfei lead the group at the very front while elder Jin and a dozen other Soul Kings appeared from the Core Stone to join the formation. Because of their addition, the battlefield had now an equal amount of Soul Kings on both sides.


    So far, the opposing side had the Late-stage Soul Emperor, Dong Wanlei, the Mid-stage Soul Emperors, Huo Zhenting and Lin Dongxiao, and the Early-stage Soul Emperors, Qi Ning and the black-robed elder from the Soul Refining School. There was also the biggest enemy: the Mid-stage Soul Emperor Dongfang Ming whose true strength had yet to be measured.


    On the Crafting School¡¯s side was the Late-stage Soul Emperor, Chu Yintian, the Mid-stage Soul Emperor, Yang Yao, and the Early-stage Soul Emperors, Hu Yang, Yang Ying, Ouyang Hua, Xiao Binzi, Li Chengfeng, Xiao Qi. And last but not least was the one comparable to a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, Bai Yunfei.


    The Crafting School had the advantage in terms of numbers, but not in terms of fighting strength. Chu Yintian, Yang Yao, Hu Yang, and Ouyang Hua were all heavily weakened, especially Chu Yintian after being on the receiving end of one of Dong Wanlei¡¯s attacks. He, Yang Yao, and Hu Yang were all also weakened after having their strongest soul armaments destroyed while Ouyang Hua was hurt in his battle against Lin Dongxiao.


    A definite conclusion had yet to be made over this battlefield, considering all the factors. There were still variables such as Mo Ni and his group to consider. They could pop out any second and complicate the situation even more¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei charged at Dongfang Ming with Xiao Qi hot on his trail. Yang Yao and Hu Yang were both fighting Huo Zhenting together while Xiao Binzi fought Qi Ning. Yang Ying opted to continue fighting the Early-stage Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School while Li Chengfeng decided to take on Lin Dongxiao. Ouyang Hua, on the other hand, relegated himself to the backlines so he could recuperate his strength and provide backup in case hew as needed.


    As the strongest one there, Chu Yintian, of course, chased after Dong Wanlei to fight. The two were streaks of red and violet in the sky as they fought with storms of fire and lightning against one another with a ferocity intense enough to discourage anyone from drawing close.


    But it was the battle underneath them that was the most intense. Every Soul King fighting on this battlefield fought with an intensity far greater than the Soul Emperors.


    Everything within a five kilometer radius of the Crafting School¡¯ gates was a mess. Distortions in space opened up with each attack and the world rang out with the deafening explosions of their attacks.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Be careful, Bai Yunfei! That Dongfang Ming has managed to create himself a demonic body! Normal methods won¡¯t kill him! You have to destroy his ¡®core¡¯!¡±


    Heavenfire¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind along with several other key information he had about demonic bodies. As he spoke, Heavenfire quickly explained to Bai Yunfei about the abnormality that was Dongfang Ming.


    ¡°The pinnacle of demonic armaments, a demonic body! A body that¡¯s basically undying!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gasped inwardly to himself. The fury he felt didn¡¯t lessen in the slightest, but he did gain an iron edge of determination to it.


    ¡°No wonder his aura is so strange, if his entire body is an armament, then his own soul is acting as its spirit!!¡± He thought to himself, ¡°Then that means his body is similar to Qin Long. ¡®Regeneration¡¯, is it? He can heal from having his arm cut off multiple times, then. And probably faster and more often than Qin Long could¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt exasperated at how troublesome his battle with Qin Long had been. He could see the parallels between Qin Long and Dongfang Ming, but the scale was so different that he might as well be comparing a newborn chick to an adult eagle. Just thinking about how to defeat Dongfang Ming had Bai Yunfei creasing his eyebrows in annoyance.


    ¡°Destroying the ¡®core¡¯ is the important part, but¡­that¡¯s also the strongest point of the body. If even teacher Chu¡¯s soul armament was destroyed by it, how should I go about it¡­?¡±


    The questions were endless and the solutions non-existent. He couldn¡¯t find a solution no matter how much he wracked his brain. He didn¡¯t even have much time to do so, he was already just moments away from slamming into Dongfang Ming!


    Neither combatants infused their attack with any energy. As if coming to an agreement somehow, the two of them simply lashed out with a single straight punch.


    It was a probing attempt to see how strong the other person was. But by attacking without hesitation like this, Bai Yunfei could activate the +12 additional effect of the Critical Glove while he was at it.


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    There was a muffled, but loud, explosion as the two fists collided and sent both persons flying backward.


    Neither side seemed to have dealt more damage than the other, but Bai Yunfei had a strange expression while Dongfang Ming looked even happier.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s right arm was quivering from the blow while Dongfang Ming¡¯s right hand was a tragic mess to behold. All five of his fingers were bent out of shape and his hand was a bloody mixture of flesh and bone. But it took no more than a single flash of light for Dongfang Ming¡¯s right hand to be completely healed. He didn¡¯t even travel backward for over a dozen meters before his hand was back to normal.


    In other words, Bai Yunfei failed to do any damage onto Dongfang Ming and squandered the +12 additional effect of his Critical Glove.


    ¡°That glove is¡­peculiar.¡±


    Dongfang Ming commented with a mysterious light in his eyes.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Then Dongfang Ming realized Bai Yunfei had just thrown something jet-black at him!


    ¡°Hm?!¡±


    Almost as fast as he detected it, the jet-black ray of light disappeared from Dongfang Ming¡¯s sight. He leaned left at once while bringing his right hand up to guard his chest.


    One half-second later, the same jet-black light reappeared and was caught by his hand!


    It was the Voidsplitter! It failed to pierce his heart!!


    Dongfang Ming let out a strange gasp as he felt the soul armament tremble with soulforce. Releasing his hold just a moment too slow, Dongfang Ming watched in fascination as a burst of spatial energy erupted from the dagger and tore apart his right hand!


    ¡°A spatial-type soul armament! What extraordinary power!¡±


    Completely ignoring the fact that his right hand had just been shredded apart, Dongfang Ming marveled at the properties of the Voidsplitter. Another second and a flash of light later and his hand was back to normal again.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    While he had been so busy observing the Voidsplitter¡¯s abilities, Dongfang Ming had failed to realize Bai Yunfei was already making the next move. All around him, Dongfang Ming could see the world had now a rainbow tint to it!


    Everyone disappeared from his sight the next second. Not even their auras could be felt as the rainbow light around him became even more pronounced.


    ¡°The Phantasm!!¡±


    Dongfang Ming realized. He glanced up to look at the only other person here in this place, Bai Yunfei.


    Right now, Bai Yunfei was going through a set of handseals that seemed to increase his power with each hand seal he made. Upon the last seal being made, Dongfang Ming watched as Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura suddenly spike to the level of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    This was his ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!


    In less than ten seconds, Bai Yunfei opened off the battle with a straight punch and the Voidsplitter. Then after the +12 additional effect of the dagger activated, Bai Yunfei made use of the Interdimensional Phantasm to lock Dongfang Ming in a different world while he got ready to enter his strongest state.


    Feeling the same power he once wielded to immediately kill Lu Suxing, Bai Yunfei glared at Dongfang Ming with renewed determination.


    The attributes he stole from Qin Long had yet to fade away, but he didn¡¯t have much time with them either. Without those attributes, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to break into the Mid-stage Soul Emperor level even with ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode. Thus, Bai Yunfei had to make use of those attributes and the precious minutes he had left to obtain victory!


    ¡°Xiao Qi, wait for the most optimal time to strike!!¡±


    He sent a mental command to Xiao Qi as he summoned his Fire-tipped Spear to him. Readying the spear, Bai Yunfei transformed into a streak of fire toward Dongfang Ming!

 Chapter 1218: Li Chengfeng Versus Lin Dongxiao

    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The loud roar of a dragon tore through the battlefield with a volume far greater than any other source of sound in the area. It was coming from the battle between Li Chengfeng and Lin Dongxiao.


    The long tail of a dragon streaked through the sky following that roar along with multiple blades of energy made from a Law. Like knives, they shot through the sky to tear apart the dragon tail.


    Li Chengfeng looked like a tiny speck in front of the giant dragon tail. Though protected by a green glow of light, Li Chengfeng looked like he was vulnerable to being crushed into nothing if he were to be hit by the tail.


    Before the tail could crush him, Li Chengfeng seemed to suddenly fly several dozen meters higher into the sky to just barely get himself out of dodge and into safety.


    ¡°He¡¯s basically just a mindless freak. That sort of opponent is easier to fight against¡­¡±


    Li Chengfeng looked extremely calm for just ¡®barely¡¯ dodging the dragon tail. If anything, he looked extremely calm right now as he thought about something before smiling at the situation.


    He spoke very casually as if he wasn¡¯t concerned for his life. It was as though this ¡®freak¡¯ wasn¡¯t worth his attentiont at all!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The rotting dragon let out another loud cry as it swiped at Li Chengfeng with its mighty claws.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The claws tore through the area where Li Chengfeng stood, but Li Chengfeng was no longer there to be seen. He had dodged the attacks once again with a burst of energy and hardly any trouble.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    From up top on the dragon¡¯s head, Lin Dongxiao was a frothing mess. He too, was screaming loudly along with the dragon. Greenish-gray energy flowed from his torso to the dragon underneath him, as if to feed the dragon more energy.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Renewed, the dragon began to tremble from head to tail. It dropped its mouth wide open and let out a loud roar as specks of greenish-gray light started to gather in it!


    Simultaneously, the tail and claws of the dragon started to move even faster as if trying to catch Li Chengfeng.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Li Chengfeng didn¡¯t look like he had the intent of dodging this time. An orange shield materialized in front of him immediately, flooding the air around him with an equally-orange light. Soon, a giant barrier encompassing a dozen meters was erected all around him.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The first to strike the shield was the burst of energy fired from the dragon¡¯s mouth. Like paper, the shield around Li Chengfeng crumpled and relented for the energy burst to flood and bury Li Chengfeng underneath¡­


    Pleased, Lin Dongxiao smiled at his handiwork. But just as he was about to congratulate himself, he saw a figure standing far beyond the area of his own attack¡ªLi Chengfeng! He hadn¡¯t been trapped by his attack earlier!


    ¡°My my, seems like defending isn¡¯t in the cards for me. That¡¯d be quite nasty for me if I wasn¡¯t fast enough to dodge¡­¡±


    Li Chengfeng sighed wistfully as he stared at the broken remains of the shield where he once stood. Waving his hand, he recalled the fragments and stored them away.


    ¡°Aaahhh!!! Damn you!! Diee!!¡±


    Infuriated by Li Chengfeng¡¯s carefree nature, Lin Dongxiao had the dragon charge at Li Chengfeng at once.


    Lin Dongxiao wasn¡¯t even just angry anymore. He was humiliated. The nature by which Li Chengfeng was treating him made him feel like a child. A toy being made to dance on top of the palm of another. Every single attempt he made to kill Li Chengfeng had been rebuffed with ease! With each attack of his failing to hit his mark, Lin Dongxiao began to think to himself:


    ¡°I can¡¯t hurt this person no matter what attack I use¡­¡±


    This thought was intensified with how Li Chengfeng dodged his attacks. Every single time Lin Dongxiao was so sure his attack worked, Li Chengfeng would reveal himself to be somewhere else, completely unharmed and unbothered¡­


    It was Lin Dongxiao who was on the attack, but it felt like he was on the ¡®losing¡¯ side. It¡­it almost felt like his opponent could see what moves he¡¯d use and was acting accordingly on it!


    This was a concept Lin Dongxiao felt hard to stomach. He didn¡¯t even have this bad of a time when he was fighting against Ouyang Hua.


    There were other factors Lin Dongxiao had to take into account. He wasn¡¯t as strong as he was anymore. The dragon he combined himself with wasn¡¯t exactly in a pristine state of health. Wounds littered the entirety of the dragon¡¯s body, such as having a portion of its tail being cut off, one of its claws being practically torn in half, or there being multiple dents in its body. All those factors combined meant the dragon wouldn¡¯t be able to move and attack as efficiently as before, thus meaning its attack power was inevitably far weaker than before.


    But those were factors negligible in the grand scheme of things. Against an Early-stage Soul Emperor like Li Chengfeng, Lin Dongxiao had been extremely confident in his odds. These factors shouldn¡¯t even have been a point of contention.


    ¡­¡­


    Like an extended game of cat-and-mouse, Li Chengfeng and Lin Dongxiao¡¯s battle continued. Each of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s attacks were dodged by ¡®just¡¯ a hair-breadth with only the occassional change in expression by Li Chengfeng. His expression would harden every once in a while, as if he was focusing on the battle, but other than that, Li Chengfeng was never harmed during the process.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The first change happened once Li Chengfeng dodged yet another tail strike. Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes narrowed together as he began to focus his energy. That energy took on a violet shade of light around his body as if preparing for an attack of some kind. Halfway through it, Li Chengfeng suddenly cut off the energy flow and retreated to avoid another claw swipe.


    ¡°Tch! Still not right!!¡±


    Li Chengfeng let out an annoyed remark upon his retreat.


    His actions seemed unfathomable to Lin Dongxiao. This wasn¡¯t the first time this has happened so far. He¡¯d make the preparations to defend whenever Li Chengfeng prepared to attack, but as if toying with him, his enemy would abandon his attack just as quickly as he started on it. To Lin Dongxiao, this was a situation as frustrating as not being able to hit him¡­


    And the worst part was that this wasn¡¯t the first time¡­


    Their game of cat and mouse continued with Li Chengfeng dodging every single attack Lin Dongxiao had to offer. Whenever it seemed like Li Chengfeng would attack, Lin Dongxiao would prepare himself to guard only to see Li Chengfeng give up the attack and move elsewhere.


    This was the strangest tactic Lin Dongxiao had ever seen from an enemy. By this point, Li Chengfeng felt more like a bothersome gnat, one he couldn¡¯t kill no matter how many times he tried to kill it.


    But¡­what Li Chengfeng getting at?


    Was he trying to exhaust him?


    The thought seemed laughable to Lin Dongxiao. There¡¯d be no way Li Chengfeng would be able to do that even if he were to fight with Ouyang Hua at his strongest. The dragon he combined himself with was far stronger than any other soulbeast of the same level. He had faith that Li Chengfeng would be the one to lose steam first. From there, Lin Dongxiao was certain he¡¯d be able to win.


    Like a fairy, Li Chengfeng weaved to and fro between every single one of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s attacks. As easy as he made it look, the energy required to do so was actually quite high. Not even Li Chengfeng would be able to last another minute or two without suffering from extreme soulforce strain.


    But would Li Chengfeng do something as silly as that?


    Of course not.


    ¡°Tch!!¡±


    Clicking his tongue, Li Chengfeng flew off in a burst of green light to dodge Lin Dongxiao. Something about the last attack seemed to spark regret in his eyes and a sheet of sweat from his forehead.


    It wasn¡¯t luck nor coincidence that Li Chengfeng was managing to dodge every single attack.


    The path of cultivation Li Chengfeng walked on was a very powerful and secretive one taught by the Fate School. Much like Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Flame Artes, Li Chengfeng¡¯s Spirited Judgement  contained two segments to it. One segment focused on the art of cultivation while the other focused on warfare. And in the warfare segment, the Spirited Judgement not only increased one¡¯s capacity of soulforce, but also improved the body¡¯s ¡®instincts¡¯ to their limits.


    In other words, this ¡®instinct¡¯ could also be equated to ¡®intuition¡¯, or a ¡®sixth sense¡¯.


    To put it simply, Li Chengfeng could rely on this ¡®intuition¡¯ or ¡®foresight¡¯ to see how to best dodge any attack!


    That meant Li Chengfeng was capable of seeing and dodging attacks, even if they¡¯d normally be faster or stronger than usual. By relying on this ¡®foresight¡¯, Li Chengfeng could evade any potential danger.


    As hard as it was for Lin Dongxiao to hurt Li Chengfeng, however, the inverse was also true for Li Chengfeng. Him defeating Lin Dongxiao would be an extremely difficult task since Lin Dongxiao wasn¡¯t giving him any opportunities to inflict serious harm. That was most likely the reason why Li Chengfeng never committed to any attack.


    But if that was the case¡­what should he be waiting for then?


    As things turned out, the answer was already rapidly approaching¡­


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes sparkled brightly once the fifth or sixth minute of this stalemate was reached.


    He looked excited about something. Dodging another two of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s strikes, he began to release an abnormal amount of soulforce!


    ¡°Over there!!¡±


    Killing intent flooded Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes as he adopted a battle-ready stance. Seeing nothing to stop his advance, Li Chengfeng took off toward Lin Dongxiao with extreme speed!


    The power radiating from Li Chengfeng was far beyond what he normally had. Violet light crackled all around him as he sped like a lightning bolt toward Lin Dongxiao. The mysterious soul skill he was using to increase his power levels were making it possible for him to fly rapidly toward Lin Dongxiao¡¯s main body!


    ¡°You¡¯re getting cocky!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao seemed pleased to see Li Chengfeng ¡®finally¡¯ attacking. Snarling in preparation, he urged the dragon beneath him to let out a loud roar before firing off a ball of energy toward Li Chengfeng.


    It sped towards Li Chengfeng nearly as fast as he was traveling toward Lin Dongxiao. Twisting his body, Li Chengfeng managed to graze just past the ball to continue onward!


    Lin Dongxiao remained unphased even as the ¡®crisis¡¯ approached him. If anything, the corners of his lips seemed to start to twitch upward as if to sneer mockingly¡­


    Then his aura took on a sudden change¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Given the current amalgamation of human and beast, anyone would¡¯ve assumed that the human body would be the weak spot. Any damage dealt to the human body would be the same as damaging the core of it all.


    But in this case¡­that was not true!


    The amalgamation that was Lin Dongxiao had two types of soulforce sources. One was the Soul Emperor energy belonging to Lin Dongxiao, and the other belonged to the mid-stage class eight dragon. If neither of the two were fused together, Lin Dongxiao wouldn¡¯t even be considered a Soul Emperor.


    But right now¡­Lin Dongxiao¡¯s aura was rapidly spiking to the level of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    He was transferring the aura of the dragon to his own body!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Lin Dongxiao howled sinisterly. The grayish-green light around him intensified into a demonic figure that whipped both arms out to slash at Li Chengfeng with its claws!

 Chapter 1219: Calculated

    There was a stark difference between the power between Li Chengfeng and Lin Dongxiao. Both of them were clearly much stronger than before, but it was Lin Dongxiao that had the advantage. Ultimately, the entire area around the two would be destroyed completely if the two were to clash.


    A victorious gleam entered Lin Dongxiao. He could already envision seeing the flesh and blood of his enemy scattering through the skies....


    His own attack drew ever more closely to Li Chengfeng. But right as it was about to make contact¡­Lin Dongxiao¡¯s eyes flew open with horror!


    ¡°Kra-kow!!¡±


    Like a clap of thunder, the violet bolt of light suddenly shot perpendicular from his attack to curve right around it!


    The abruptness of this evasive maneuver was so rapid that not even Lin Dongxiao, who was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor now, was able to predict it!


    Fear wouldn¡¯t be an emotion that Lin Dongxiao would have if he saw his opponent only ¡®dodge¡¯ his killing move. The reason behind his fear was because of where Li Chengfeng was flying toward!


    His expectations were that Li Chengfeng would continue flying upward to where his human body was. But instead of that, Li Chengfeng was flying down toward the rotting dragon!


    ¡°No!!!¡±


    Seeing him do so filled Lin Dongxiao with an unprecedented amount of fear. A shrill cry erupted from him as he waved his hands. The demonic figure behind him descended quickly as if to protect the dragon beneath it.


    But it was¡­.far too late!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The last vowel of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s cry was still being said when a loud explosion erupted in front of the dragon and drowned his voice out.


    It happened near the ¡®throat¡¯ of the dragon. Just about a good ten meters below its head, a violet light exploded and transformed into a maelstrom of the Law of Lightning. At the center of this maelstrom was Li Chengfeng with a crackling longsword embedded halfway through into the dragon.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    His body crackled with energy as he raised his left hand up high. Grunting aloud, he slammed his left palm onto the hilt of the sword!


    ¡°Tzzzkk!!¡±


    Powered by the added force, the longsword submerged itself even deeper into the dragon¡¯s body!


    ¡°Crackle crackle¡­¡±


    Violet bolts of lightning began to travel through the dragon¡¯s body with the sword as its origin. In a matter of moments, the entirety of the dragon¡¯s body was completely overwhelmed with its energy and began to tear open in multiple places with devastating lacerations!


    Li Chengfeng smiled in satisfaction at his handiwork. Abandoning the soul armament within the dragon, he took off into the sky.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The arms of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s demonic figure swept through the spot where Li Chengfeng was standing on not even a second later.


    It paused there upon reaching its destination. Seemingly looking as though it was about to give chase, the figure froze up and began to fade away!


    ¡°Ahhh!!! Ahhhhh!!!! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!¡±


    Moments later, a tragic wail began to erupt from Lin Dongxiao.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Now far away in a safe part of the skies, Li Chengfeng let out a sigh of relief. Wiping his brow, he stared calmly at Lin Dongxiao. He wouldn¡¯t be attacking anymore, it seemed.


    ¡°Crackle¡­¡±


    The elemental lightning within the dragon was reaching a point of coverage so massive that there was hardly any part of the dragon left untouched. The ripping of its flesh was louder than ever and was practically ready to be torn apart!


    And it¡¯d be any second now, too!


    ¡°No! No no no!! This¡­this can¡¯t be happening!! How¡­how did you know?! How did you know my ¡®life gate¡¯ was there?! It¡¯s impossible!!¡±


    The larger the cracks became, the louder Lin Dongxiao screamed. His voice was as crazy as before, but this time it was due to his horror and panic instead of bloodlust and anger.


    The point Li Chengfeng struck wasn¡¯t an ordinary part of the dragon¡¯s body, but the very weak point of it. There was a part of the dragon¡¯s body that became especially sensitive due to it fusing with Lin Dongxiao. It contained the ¡®life gate¡¯ of both of them and was essential to their continued existence!


    As long as the ¡®life gate¡¯ was there, Lin Dongxiao could continue fighting even if it meant having the four limbs and tail of the dragon being torn apart. But without the life gate, Lin Dongxiao was doomed to having death spelled out for him¡­


    The body of the dragon began to fall apart as Lin Dongxiao screamed. Chunks of flesh dropped from the main body before quickly disintegrating into ash to be scattered throughout the world.


    Even Lin Dongxiao¡¯s aura was starting to disappear. Draining from him like water down a drain, his aura had already dropped down from the level of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. And as if scrambling to stop it, Lin Dongxiao¡¯s arms flailed like a lunatic around him.


    It wasn¡¯t until the entirety of the dragon was gone that Lin Dongxiao¡¯s human body began to disintegrate as well.


    Lin Dongxiao stopped screaming, strangely enough. Some form of sanity came rushing back to him in his final moments before death, it seemed. His eyes swiveled upward to the person floating up there in the sky with focused clarity.


    ¡°How¡­did you know about my weakpoint¡­?¡±


    He muttered softly, but Li Chengfeng heard it, for he replied, ¡°Guess it won¡¯t hurt to tell you¡ªI calculated it.¡±


    ¡°Cal¡­culated it?¡±


    The confusion deepened in Lin Dongxiao¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t understand what Li Chengfeng¡¯s message meant at all and thought that Li Chengfeng was instead mocking him.


    ¡°Haha¡­I turned myself into this for revenge, and yet¡­I didn¡¯t even manage to kill a single crafter¡­¡±


    And just like that, Lin Dongxiao turned into dust and disappeared from the world.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Li Chengfeng breathed out a heavy sigh once Lin Dongxiao was gone before patting the left part of his chest.


    What he said might be confusing to Lin Dongxiao, but it was the truth. Li Chengfeng had indeed ¡®calculated¡¯ it.


    And not just once either. He made many attempts to do so.


    His many ¡®attempts¡¯ to attack Lin Dongxiao wasn¡¯t to infuriate Lin Dongxiao. They had another purpose. Most of his attacks were misses, if anything.


    But it was all ¡®predicted¡¯ beforehand.


    Every time he attacked Lin Dongxiao, he did it with the intent to actually deal some harm rather than to make a bluff. But he¡¯d always stop after a moment for a simple reason¡ªto see if his lifebound armament, the Heart Compass, would activate.


    He¡¯d ¡®listen¡¯ to the ¡®fate¡¯ of each attack he made with the Heart Compass. Each time he felt a ¡®bad¡¯ omen, he¡¯d stop, since that meant it¡¯d be a poor decision to continue attacking.


    There were times when his Heart Compass didn¡¯t activate its effect, but that didn¡¯t deter Li Chengfeng much. Thanks to the +10 additional effect of the Heart Compass, Li Chengfeng could at least gleam some information of the potential futures.


    By targeting a different body part on Lin Dongxiao repeatedly, Li Chengfeng could create a mapping of the best and worst places to attack. He¡¯d abandon his attack each time the Heart Compass gave him a bad reading and would move onto the next spot. This process of elimination eventually allowed Li Chengfeng to learn of Lin Dongxiao¡¯s weakpoint.


    Simulating an attack onto the life gate on the dragon had been the turning point. With the Heaven Compass giving him a good reading, Li Chengfeng was able to ascertain the best place to attack.


    And so Li Chengfeng was able to land a stunning blow on that exact spot to kill the enemy!!


    ¡­¡­


    Lin Dongxiao¡¯s death brought ripples across the battlefield. Many combatants found themselves pausing mid-flight just so they could stare at Li Chengfeng in awe.


    The battle between Li Chengfeng and Lin Dongxiao hadn¡¯t even taken ten minutes! Ouyang Hua spent far longer than that fighting Lin Dongxiao and was unable to get anywhere. So how was it that this young and unknown Early-stage Soul Emperor able to kill him!?


    As they tried to find an answer, Li Chengfeng kicked off against his footing to fly off to another side of the battlefield.


    The side of the battlefield where Yang Yao, Hu Yang, and Huo Zhenting were fighting!

 Chapter 1220: An Unclear Premonition

    ¡°Damn!! Lin Dongxiao¡¯s dead?! But how! And by who?!¡±


    Dozens of kilometers away from Mt. Crimson, Mo Ni gnashed his teeth in anger and confusion.


    ¡°I recall hearing about a young Soul Emperor when the Beast Taming School was attacked¡­a genius like that¡­where in the world he come from? And why haven¡¯t I heard about him before!!¡±


    His face was thunderous. Both of his hands were gripped tightly into fists as he ranted to himself in anger¡ªor perhaps it was better to say ¡®jealousy¡¯.


    There was a reason to his jealousy. Half a year ago, Mo Ni emerged from the ¡®Path to the Nether¡¯ alongside the Black Dragon King with more power than ever. Then, as Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor and peak late-stage class seven soulbeast, the two traveled to the Soulbeast Forest so they could enter the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts. From there, the two were both able to become Soul Emperors in strength. Because of his age and strength, Mo Ni felt as though he was the strongest of his generation. There wasn¡¯t anyone else that could even hold a candle to him, not even Zhong Liyan from the Fire School, Lin Dongxiao from the Beast Taming School, Zheng Kai from the house of Zheng, or even the Wang¡¯s Wang Kunpeng, the one known as the ¡®spearhead¡¯ of his generation.


    Everyone paled in comparison to him. Not even Bai Yunfei, if he was still alive, would be able to do anything to him.


    That was what he thought.


    Then the news of Bai Yunfei¡¯s status reached his ears alongside the destruction of the Beast Taming School. Not only was he alive, but he was also a Soul Emperor! Mo Ni had to admit, despite his intense annoyance that his arch-nemesis was still alive, there was also a sense of ¡®happiness¡¯. That meant he¡¯d be able to have the satisfaction of killing him himself.


    Mo Ni felt like he had been trodden over by Bai Yunfei every single time after their first introduction. Bai Yunfei had been weaker than him at first, but the gap shrunk with each meeting before reversing. It was especially humiliating to have his life be thrown into jeopardy with each fight with Bai Yunfei as well. To him, Bai Yunfei was a demon that brought him no small amount of anger. In fact, he had nearly failed to become a Soul Emperor due to his intense hatred for Bai Yunfei.


    But his self-confidence returned once he became a Soul Emperor. Not even Bai Yunfei¡¯s return from death could faze him now. Mo Ni had only one thought when he first heard about Bai Yunfei being alive, and that was he could kill Bai Yunfei himself now.


    Unfortunately, that thought crumbled away when he met Bai Yunfei earlier. His reunion with Bai Yunfei went nothing like he imagined. The ¡®mad demon¡¯ that was Bai Yunfei had completely overwhelmed everything he threw at him and even killed Lu Suxing with incredible swiftness. Not even his own courage had managed to survive¡­.


    Once again. His self-confidence and self-worth was completely kicked aside and stepped on by Bai Yunfei.


    A second blow came to his pride when he saw the youth, someone who was the same age as he was, kill Lin Dongxiao in less than ten minutes. Was he a frog in the well? Mo Ni had felt so confident before thinking that the ¡®geniuses¡¯ of his generation were limited to just him and Bai Yunfei, but now it seemed they weren¡¯t the only ones¡­


    Resentment filled the entirety of his being at that thought. Him? A frog in the well? It was definitely a maddening thought.


    ¡°Do you plan to continue watching by the sidelines, Mo Ni? Our chances of success grow slimmer the longer we wait. If either Chu Yintian or Bai Yunfei wins, then it will be hard for our forces to retreat.¡±


    The Black Dragon King warned Mo Ni.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    That snapped Mo Ni back to reality. Growling to himself, he snapped his fingers at the faraway Li Chengfeng, ¡°Gui Nu!! Kill that person!!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The jittery Gui Nu let out a deafening roar before disappearing from his spot to do Mo Ni¡¯s bidding.


    The Black Dragon King raised an eyebrow, ¡°You¡¯re only sending him?¡±


    Mo Ni nodded, his calm demeanor was back on his face. ¡°Gui Nu should be enough to deal with him, we should be able to maintain the stalemate in any case. We¡¯ll wait for Bai Yunfei and Dongfang Ming¡¯s battle to finish before we attack. I¡¯ll kill Bai Yunfei myself. At the very least, we can¡¯t allow any of his Regalia to fall in Dongfang Ming¡¯s hands¡­¡±


    Despite having the status of an ¡®elder¡¯ in the Soul Refining School, Dongfang Ming was not a genuine member of the school. He had crafted many soul armaments for the Soul Refining School, but not once had he ever taught the art of crafting to anyone within the school. Not even Mo Ni was able to learn the art from him.


    They were collaborators with mutually-aligned goals, but nothing more.


    Mo Ni and the Black Dragon King joining the battle wouldn¡¯t change much. It wasn¡¯t the right timing for it. Ideally, they should wait until the battles with the Late-stage Soul Emperors finished to see what they could do.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side of the battlefield, Li Chengfeng was flying toward another area to help.


    Yang Yao had seen better days. He had the same power as an Early-stage Soul Emperor after being injured by both Lin Dongxiao and Dongfang Ming. Likewise, Hu Yang was also fighting in a sub-optimal state. The two of them combined could only just barely hold the fort in their battle against Huo Zhenting.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Li Chengfeng felt a sense of foreboding the moment before he could join the fray. Immediately, he shifted direction and flew off to the side.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A blood-red beam of light shot across the sky with impeccable speed straight toward Li Chengfeng!


    As vigilant as ever, Li Chengfeng watched as the streak drew closer and closer to him with gnarled teeth. Waving his hand, he summoned the same orange shield to protect himself once again.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The blood-red streak of light slammed into the orange shield with a deafening explosion. Small amounts of blood trickled from Li Chengfeng¡¯s lips from the damage dealt to his soul armament, but he was ultimately fine, if not a little shocked.


    The surface of his shield began to crack in places. A faint-red light exuded from within the cracks as if the shield was dangerously close to breaking apart.


    ¡°So they came after all¡­¡± Li Chengfeng muttered to himself, ¡°But where¡¯s the other two? Are they going to wait? But for what?¡±


    He looked worried about something. His left hand rose up to tap at his chest where the Heart Compass was stored.


    ¡°This premonition I have¡­do they have some kind of trump card we haven¡¯t seen yet?¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A loud roar interrupted his thoughts. Looking back, Li Chengfeng watched as a sea of blood-red light flood the area around him!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, within the Interdimensional Phantasm.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    The bent-over personage of Bai Yunfei could be seen within a sea of flames. Right now, he was gasping for breath. Plumes of white smoke radiated from his person as if he or his sweat was being steamed.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I am, don¡¯t worry¡­¡±


    He gave a grimace to his avian companion.


    Dongfang Ming stood above the two of them, two dark-red balls of light floating right beside him. He was smirking at them.


    ¡°You¡¯re weaker than before, could it be you¡¯ve used up all your strength? My poor junior¡­you disappoint me if that¡¯s all you have to offer¡­¡±

 Chapter 1221: A Difficult Battle

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The beginnings of a sneer appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. It was a bitter reaction, one that made him curl his fingers into a fist.


    It wasn¡¯t that his strength had actually fallen, it was that the extra attributes he got from the Ardent Sun Glove had unfortunately disappeared.


    He had hoped for a better outcome before the attributes wore off. Something like a more advantageous outcome for himself so he could have more breathing room for the fight later.


    Unfortunately, things didn¡¯t go as planned. Not only had he failed to gain the advantage, but he was also the one being put at a disadvantage.


    Bai Yunfei had seen many battles since he stepped into the world of soul cultivators, but this was a type of battle he had never experienced before.


    It was stunning how the battle progressed. Bai Yunfei had practically thrown everything he had at Dongfang Ming while he still had the extra attributes, the Fire-tipped Spear, the Cataclysmic Seal, the Voidsplitter, the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, and so forth. And yet everything failed to do damage to Dongfang Ming¡ªthanks to the two powerful soul armaments floating beside him.


    It was because of his soul armaments that Bai Yunfei was able to be victorious in all his past battles. This was the only battle where his soul armaments had failed due to the soul armaments of another.


    Neither of Dongfang Ming¡¯s soul armaments were weaker than the Fire-tipped Spear or Cataclysmic Seal, offensively or defensively speaking. Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t find a single aspect where his owns arms had the advantage!


    The grades of Dongfang Ming¡¯s soul armaments had to be a high-heaven tier, but not just any regular one¡­they had to be demon armaments!!


    A terrifying thought popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head then:


    What if the enemy had more than two demon armaments¡­?


    ¡­¡­


    As Bai Yunfei suspected, the two balls of light that floated beside Dongfang Ming were demon armaments. An offensive-type and a defensive-type.


    The offensive-type demon armament was a strange-looking longsword. It had two blades that curved outward twice like the number ¡®8¡¯ with the hilt attached at the bottom. Towards the top, the tip of the blades twisted around one another like a drill and had a dark-red light glowing around the entirety of its body.


    The defensive-type demon armament was even stranger in shape. Half the height of an adult male, this demon armament was a shield in the shape of a ribcage with eight ribs. Like the other demon armament, the shield had a dark-red sheen to it, but its main body was primarily white and glossy that fluctuated rhythmically as if it was alive. Every so often, a black splotch could be seen within the light and seemed to take on the form of a small face. Each time it appeared, the air around the shield would seem to freeze.


    Dongfang Ming¡¯s sword was strong enough to force away both the Cataclysmic Seal and the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst. Likewise, his shield was also able to stop the advance of the Fire-tipped Spear and even a soul armament-enhanced left punch from Bai Yunfei.


    Each and every tactic or soul armament Bai Yunfei used to attack Dongfang Ming was rebuffed without even being able to cause a single strand of Dongfang Ming¡¯s robes to be frayed¡­


    Never had Bai Yunfei felt this experience of powerlessness. It was the very first time since his soul armaments had failed to help secure the advantage for him¡­


    He should¡¯ve had the advantage due to the terrain they were in. In the Phantasm, Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve been able to have some kind of satisfaction. But that didn¡¯t come true. Not even Lin Xiangtian from the Beast Taming School had been this difficult to fight and when the situation was reversed.


    The Phantasm should¡¯ve given Bai Yunfei the absolute advantage. No enemy should¡¯ve been able to do much to turn the tides when their ability to manipulate energy was crippled. The regular soul cultivator would be absolutely crippled in such a situation, but Dongfang Ming? Bai Yunfei never even saw the man use any elemental energy to attack him. He didn¡¯t even recall his own soul armament¡¯s ability to bounce back elemental attacks ever activating.


    Dongfang Ming wasn¡¯t using any soul attacks either. He clearly knew about Bai Yunfei¡¯s ability to reflect such attacks and wasn¡¯t going to take any chances for Bai Yunfei to have a win condition.


    ¡°Tch!! How do I even fight this?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue. The demonic body Dongfang Ming had annoyed him to no ends. Him fighting an opponent with an immortal body felt like he was fighting an uphill battle. Not only was it uphill, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t even making any progress up that hill. Any attempt was rebuffed and sent him back to square one.


    ¡°If physical and elemental attacks don¡¯t work¡­then I¡¯ll just have to use soul attacks then!!¡±


    Waving his left hand, Bai Yunfei threw out the Cataclysmic Seal once again. Magnifying to over a hundred times its original size, the brick flew off with devastating speed toward Dongfang Ming.


    ¡°What a strange soul armament. It¡¯s powerful, but power is useless if it can¡¯t be used properly.¡±


    Dongfang Ming laughed to himself as he ascended to the sky. Beneath him, the Cataclysmic Seal sailed through where he had just been standing.


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    His eyes flicked over to another spot to the left as soon as the Cataclysmic Seal flew past him. A jet-black beam of light was coming for his right eye!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Dongfang Ming prepared to tilt his head to the side, but before he could, a voice suddenly exploded in his mind!


    Eyes widening, Dongfang Ming began to make preparations to counteract whatever was being done to him, but his body was already slowing down.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The Voidsplitter grazed past his face and left a deep gash on it. One split-second later and it traveled through his right ear and tore it apart!


    ¡°Tzzk!!¡± Blood began to flow from the gash.


    The sky flashed once with a violet light as Bai Yunfei appeared right on top of a violet streak of light!


    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder!


    Rather than being taken back from the sudden blow, Dongfang Ming refocused on the task at hand at once. His eyes zoned in on the incoming sword with extreme concentration. One moment later and his strange bone-white shield was right there to protect him and his throat.


    Though he was out of the direct path of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder, Dongfang Ming still felt uneasy for some reason. Glancing back, he realized a violet streak of light come flying at him!


    ¡°Clang!! Boom!!¡±


    Two things happened at the same exact time. First, the bone-white shield managed to stop the Heaven¡¯s Thunder. Then, Dongfang Ming¡¯s right hand gripped the demonic helix sword to break apart the second attack.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The sound of a tertiary explosion caused Dongfang Ming to snap his eyes wide-open. Whipping his head around, Dongfang Ming watched as a jar-sized Cataclysmic Seal careen away after slamming his shield away from him.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The roar of a dragon could be heard the moment the shield left Dongfang Ming¡¯s vicinity. Two gigantic dragons had appeared in the blink of an eye!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    Narrowing his eyes, Dongfang Ming readied the helix sword in his hand. Raising it up, he was about to send an elemental slash at the dragon when¡­


    ¡°Freeze!!!¡±


    The same voice as before exploded into Dongfang Ming¡¯s mind. Once again, Dongfang Ming felt his body start to become slugged!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Time is of the essence in any battle. A battle between Soul Emperors was no exception. If anything, time was even more crucial in such a case. Because of the soul attack, Dongfang Ming wasn¡¯t able to raise his sword high enough in time before he was engulfed by the dragons!!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack had been extremely swift! From the Cataclysmic Seal to the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst¡­it was all done without a millisecond to waste!


    ¡°Hufff¡­huff¡­¡±


    Both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms hung by his side as he heaved large breaths of air. The red light around him was starting to fade in intensity much like a candle ready to be blown out.


    Using two Soul Anchor Techniques in a row required a tremendous amount of soulforce. As things were now, Bai Yunfei was practically out of soulforce.


    But he was happy to see that his attack landed and exploded into a sea of flames around Dongfang Ming. The raw amount of power from the Laws of Fire, Lightning, and Chaos filled him with a decent amount of satisfaction.


    ¡°Will this¡­do enough damage to him?¡±


    He thought to himself. He was uncertain of the answer, but certainly not of what he should do next. Clapping both hands together, he began to form a series of complicated hand seals.


    Once the last hand seal was finished, a flood of new soulforce poured forth from nowhere to fill his entire body. In one second, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was back to full force!


    Soul Ignition!!

 Chapter 1222: Fighting Wholeheartedly

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s plan was to go all out from the get-go and then unleash his strongest attack for Dongfang Ming to experience. He didn¡¯t think it¡¯d kill Dongfang Ming, but this would at least be a good start.


    There was no way Dongfang Ming would be completely unharmed. He didn¡¯t know the extent of how damaged Dongfang Ming would be, but¡­it¡¯d definitely not be a light wound!!


    Like any other soul cultivator, Dongfang Ming would still require time to heal, regardless of him having a demonic body or not. Wounds required ¡®recuperation time¡¯, and Bai Yunfei knew that the bigger the wound, the more time it¡¯d take to heal. So there was no reason for him to lighten up on his assault!


    A broken arm, leg, chest, or stomach wouldn¡¯t kill Dongfang Ming, but it¡¯d take some energy for Dongfang Ming to heal from those at the very least. He¡¯d probably stand a good chance at victory if he continued to break body part after body part, but¡­Bai Yunfei really wanted to see if Dongfang Ming would still be able to live if his head or demonic core was destroyed!


    And so Bai Yunfei attacked relentlessly with that in mind. By activating Soul Ignition, he was ready to start the second round!


    The usage of Soul Ignition was a double-edged sword. While it fully replenishes one¡¯s reserves of soulforce, it also caused a great amount of damage to the user in the end. Bai Yunfei might have been conservative with its usage in the past, but the damage was still done to his body. It was only thanks to the Yao clan and their miraculous pill that Bai Yunfei was able to completely reverse all the damage done to his body. He was also fortunate enough to receive a special pill from them that¡¯d help mitigate the damage done from Soul Ignition.


    That combined with Bai Yunfei¡¯s current strength meant he could use Soul Ignition twice without any issues. But using it a third time would definitely lead to long-lasting injuries.


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei was back to full power as a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, the area within the sea of flames was deathly quiet.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A dark-red lotus exploded out from the flames abruptly, driving away the flames from the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst all at once.


    Along with this explosion came the aura of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, one that was even stronger than what Bai Yunfei felt earlier. One that was also seemingly blazing with fury.


    It seemed Bai Yunfei had finally angered Dongfang Ming¡­


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. He could see the figure of Dongfang Ming within the flames, and he liked what he saw!


    His Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst had done more damage to Dongfang Ming than he thought!


    The entirety of Dongfang Ming¡¯s left arm was gone. His left shoulder was a burnt stump with blood flowing freely from it. A good portion of the left part of his waist was gone, and only a wall of elemental energy was preventing his organs from spilling out from the gap. Even his left leg was damaged. Parts of it had all of its flesh gone so that only the white-bone beneath it remained.


    The right side of Dongfang Ming was seemingly unharmed. Thanks to the sword in his right hand, the worst of the damages was limited primarily to his left side.


    Regardless, Dongfang Ming was a tragic sight to behold. Any regular Mid-stage Soul Emperor would¡¯ve been rendered unable to fight.


    But not for Dongfang Ming. As grievous as his wounds were, he¡¯d still be able to recover thanks to his ¡®demonic core¡¯. Losing both arms wouldn¡¯t even be an issue for him.


    And Bai Yunfei could tell. He could see Dongfang Ming¡¯s wounds already starting to regenerate at a very startling rate. It made Qin Long¡¯s regeneration seem like a snail in comparison. Heavenfire warned him about it before, but Bai Yunfei still found it unbelievable.


    He couldn¡¯t allow Dongfang Ming to fully regenerate!!


    A shiver ran up his spine at the thought. Summoning his soulforce, Bai Yunfei began to go through another complicated string of hand seals¡ªit was time to attack!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A bright ball of fire took over Bai Yunfei¡¯s person as he gathered more and more elemental fire to him. Specks of violet and gray light dotted the flames as two other sources of energy started to grow around his arms.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    In one furious burst, the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was sent flying out once again!


    The two dragons melted into the sea of flames at once. Like magnets, they siphoned the surrounding flames to add to their strength for an attack so powerful that the Phantasm began to fluctuate unsteadily from the buildup.


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst had only just left Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms when he started to gather soulforce to the Regalia on his forehead. Raising his right hand, he cried out a single word:


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf sparkled once as its effect activated and multiplied the strength of the Soul Anchor Technique!


    All Bai Yunfei did was use two moves and yet he was already out of the soulforce he just got from Soul Ignition! For the sake of killing his opponent, Bai Yunfei used up the ¡®second round¡¯ of energy in one go!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi chose that moment to strike as well. Alerted by Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi dove in to strike at Dongfang Ming like a hunter bird swooping in on its prey.


    In his predictions, Bai Yunfei figured Dongfang Ming would be too busy guarding against the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst to ward off the Soul Anchor Technique. And if that didn¡¯t kill him, then Xiao Qi would be there to make the follow-up. And if that was enough, then Bai Yunfei was prepared to use Soul Ignition for a second time and kill him.


    ¡­¡­


    But that was when everything went pear-shaped for Bai Yunfei!


    It started when Bai Yunfei was preparing to use the Soul Anchor Technique. He had been so caught up in his own technique that he didn¡¯t notice the sneer on Dongfang Ming¡¯s lips!


    The next thing that happened was that Dongfang Ming dropped the helix sword. Once dropped, his right hand slammed against his torso where his heart was!


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    A fountain of blood spurted out from Dongfang Ming¡¯s mouth. Cracks began to appear all over his body, but rather than being pained, Dongfang Ming looked almost gleeful. The soulforce in his body was starting to mutate!


    The dark-red light around him swirled violently. Faster and faster, it soon took on the form of a giant face!


    As if a shield to protect Dongfang Ming, the giant demonic face opened its mouth and let out a silent roar to disseminate a ripple of energy outward.


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!!¡±


    Then¡­to everyone¡¯s surprise, someone screamed. It was¡­Bai Yunfei!!

 Chapter 1223: Counter From Close Death

    From Bai Yunfei¡¯s usage of Soul Ignition to now, it took only two moves for him to completely run out of soulforce once again.


    One move was the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, and the other move was the Soul Anchor Technique.


    It was a type of energy-usage that seemed almost extravagant. He¡¯d never be so spendthrift with his soulforce if not for who his opponent was.


    Therefore, he didn¡¯t expect for an unexpected development to occur right as the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was about to strike his enemy¡­


    The only thing Bai Yunfei felt was an extremely powerful energy enter his body first before his soul felt like it was being split in half!


    If a soul had a material form, then Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul felt like it was a pretzel with how it was being twisted. It came totally out of the blue and caused an immense amount of pain!


    This was¡­a reversed soul attack!!


    His very own Soul Anchor Technique had somehow been rebounded onto him!!


    Dongfang Ming had a technique that could reflect soul attacks!! A technique so powerful that it was basically the same as the +12 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    Bai Yunfei had never heard of such a powerful soul skill before. He never thought that the enemy would have such an ace like this hidden up their sleeve. And to think it would come out now when he was wholly convinced he¡¯d be able to kill his opponent. There was no way he would¡¯ve been able to defend against it!


    Dongfang Ming had hidden this trump card masterfully. Even after enduring the Soul Anchor Technique and taking massive damage, he managed to keep the soul skill hidden away until he could catch Bai Yunfei off guard!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Dongfang Ming sneered at the sound of Bai Yunfei¡¯s wail. It was his turn to attack!


    Despite him deflecting the Soul Anchor Technique, Dongfang Ming wasn¡¯t about to relax just yet. He still had the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst to worry about, and his soulforce was much weaker than before due to it prioritizing the regeneration of his wounds!


    Retreating wasn¡¯t a path Dongfang Ming wanted to take. Not with two powerful dragons chasing after him. Waving his right hand, he created a bloody-red piece of armor in front of him.


    His demonic body was something akin to a high-heaven tier soul armament, but it still seemed weird that he didn¡¯t wear a piece of armor over him. It was even more strange to see a piece of armor be placed in front of him like a shield instead of it being worn.


    ¡°Hah!!¡±


    He exhaled aloud. The soulforce within him immediately began to flow irregularly from his palm onto the blood-red armor in front of him.


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    The piece of armor trembled from the palm strike before the blood-red light from the armor transformed into a humanoid shape as if mimicking a person wearing the armor. Then as if to simulate a person flying, the piece of armor flew off toward the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    Dongfang Ming watched emotionlessly as the piece of armor drew closer and closer to the two dragons, and when they were about to hit each other¡­he clenched his hand tightly into a fist!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The two dragons careened into the armor with a loud explosion, but the armor had done its job, the two dragons had been blown apart!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The jaws were the first to go. Like a chain reaction, the rest of the dragons soon followed!


    ¡°Hmph¡­¡±


    A low growl escaped from Dongfang Ming, something about the effort seemed to be taxing on his strength. Also, a sliver of blood began to flow from his lips.


    His soul armament had been destroyed!


    Like a bomb, his armor had been blown apart because of the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    The power of that soul armament was probably just as strong as Bai Yunfei¡¯s armor with high compatibility to boot. Sacrificing a powerful soul armament like that just to block a soul attack required a snap judgment not even Bai Yunfei was sure he¡¯d be able to make¡­


    ¡­¡­


    One twitch of his hand later and Dongfang Ming could be seen with the helix sword back in his right hand once again! Mustering his soulforce, he summoned it to his sword and slashed out!


    A beam of dark-red light shot out from the blade, cleaving everything within its path as it traveled forward. In one fluid motion, it traveled through the flames from the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst and cleared a path!


    And without further ado, Dongfang Ming flew through the path his sword made toward¡­Bai Yunfei!!


    Using a powerful technique when injured, and even halting his rejuvenation to do it, required a strong amount of will. To then sacrifice a powerful lifebound armament to defend against the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst required the utmost determination to kill Bai Yunfei once in for all!


    It didn¡¯t even take seconds from when Bai Yunfei first screamed out to when Dongfang Ming was within three hundred meters of him in the sea of flames!


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Xiao Qi cried out in terror.


    Xiao Qi didn¡¯t know what happened, all he felt was a huge attack onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul before the enemy was upon him!


    There was no time for the bird to reach Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. Reaching speeds far beyond than normal, Xiao Qi dove down like a meteorite toward Dongfang Ming!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    He didn¡¯t even reach Dongfang Ming when a brilliant beam of dark-red light shot at him!


    Within the beam of light was the powerful helix sword!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The sword was like a dragon. Initially hidden, the helix sword appeared out of nowhere to slash at the sharp claws of Xiao Qi. Not even the powerful Golden Crow Claws were able to break through the helix sword! Forced back by the sword, Xiao Qi had no choice but to back off.


    And that meant he wasn¡¯t able to stop Dongfang Ming!


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Xiao Qi cried out in terror once again. The realization that he failed to come to Bai Yunfei¡¯s rescue was starting to plummet him into despair.


    He could sense that Bai Yunfei was far too preoccupied dealing with the damage to his soul. Combined with his extreme consumption of soulforce, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t much left to fight off Dongfang Ming¡¯s attack!


    Dongfang Ming knew that as well, hence why he was attacking. The closer he got to Bai Yunfei, the bigger his sneer became. Raising his right hand up, he moved in to grab at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat.


    But¡­that was the moment when¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Something within Bai Yunfei¡¯s body pulsated once with energy before a tremendous wave of it exploded outward!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes widened in astonishment. Amazed, he watched as Bai Yunfei suddenly snap up from his pained squirming to punch him!


    This reaction came to Dongfang Ming as a complete shock. With how close he was, Dongfang Ming had no choice but to snap his hand back to defend himself.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The sound of fist meeting flesh could be heard as blood and bits of flesh went flying. Bai Yunfei¡¯s punch was enhanced by the +12 and +13 additional effect of his Critical Glove and was further bolstered by his current level of power. Combined, his punch was able to completely destroy Dongfang Ming¡¯s right arm!


    Simultaneously, a white beam of light flew out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s waist toward Dongfang Ming!!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±

 Chapter 1224: The Power of A Core!

    A counter-attack from the brink of death!!


    Somehow, Bai Yunfei managed to spring up from a terrible position to turn the tides!!


    It was an indisputable fact that he had been hit by his own soul attack. Faking it wasn¡¯t possible, not with how irregular the flow of his soulforce became when he was struck. Moreover, it seemed like his entire soul was back to normal, not even Soul Ignition was capable of restoring the soul like that.


    So¡­how did he manage to do that?


    Through the usage of the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    +13 Additional Effect: Revert the state of the soul 10 seconds prior. Activated automatically when off cooldown and soul is in danger of destruction.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Bai Yunfei was able to launch his counterattack because of this.


    He nearly lost the ability to think when he was struck, but the Soul Sealing Mandate protected him just enough to grant him just enough sanity for him to activate the only thing he knew that could help him¡ªthe Soul Sealing Mandate with its +13 additional effect.


    The activation of a soul armament required nothing more than a thought and a bit of soulforce, even less if it was a lifebound armament and Regalia like the Soul Sealing Mandate. The Regalia responded instantaneously to Bai Yunfei and took action at once. Like a warm gentle breeze in the middle of winter, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was touched by the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s ability and took away the pain at once. All at once, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had returned to him!


    Ten seconds prior¡­that was when Bai Yunfei had only just used Soul Ignition. During that time, he hadn¡¯t used the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst yet, so he was at his strongest!


    So why had Bai Yunfei responded so quickly then? That was because he devised a plan immediately after his soul was restored. The moment he was back to normal, his soulforce exploded outward so he could seize the opportunity for a new attack!


    His one punch contained all his anger for Dongfang Ming. One punch was all it required for him to absolutely destroy Dongfang Ming¡¯s right shoulder, but he wanted more to happen. And so¡­the Soul Sealing Mandate was casted out!


    What better time to use it when Dongfang Ming¡¯s aura had dropped and he wasn¡¯t expecting it?


    It was the perfect time and place for it. If he was any farther away, Dongfang Ming would¡¯ve realized what was coming and could potentially dodge it.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Soul Sealing Mandate began to buzz and emit a white light to capture Dongfang Ming within it!


    ¡°I did it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up the moment he saw the Soul Sealing Mandate activate. Already, his heart was starting to beat wildly in anticipation.


    The Soul Sealing Mandate had always been something like his ultimate move whenever he fought an extremely difficult opponent. It was his win condition as long as he could seal them with it.


    As excited as he was, Bai Yunfei made sure to calm himself just enough. He was ready to activate the Core Stone at a moment¡¯s notice to transport Dongfang Ming into the Core World upon being sealed. One thought later and the Core Stone began to take effect.


    But then¡­


    He thought Dongfang Ming would be sucked into the Core World, but¡­he was still there!


    ¡°Yunfei! His soul is like a spirit, it¡¯s too strong for me to fully seal!!¡¯


    Soul Sealer spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind at once.


    ¡°What?!¡¯


    He was shocked. This wasn¡¯t something he expected to happen.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Soul Sealing Mandate began to vibrate again, but this time not because of it activating its effect. The vibrations sounded like¡­it was being contested against!


    Dongfang Ming was¡­fighting against the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    The Soul Sealing Mandate was capable of sealing any soul, whether it belonged to soul cultivator or soulbeast. It could seal as long as it was indomitably stronger than the target, and that generally meant the Soul Sealing Mandate was able to seal most things. But the soul of a spirit¡­that was something that could reject the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    Never had Bai Yunfei heard of such a case, but then again he never fought in a situation like this before. Dongfang Ming hadn¡¯t any one of the Ten Great Regalia, but¡­he was a demon armament on par of a Regalia. His own soul was the equivalent to a spirit of the armament!


    That was the reason why Dongfang Ming was able to ward off the effects of Heavenfire¡¯s domain. And that was the reason why he was able to ward off the effects of the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    And since he wasn¡¯t sealed by the Soul Sealing Mandate, that meant he was still able to move!


    With him expecting Dongfang Ming to be sealed, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t ready for Dongfang Ming¡¯s next course of action. All he saw was a flash of blood-red light pour out from his right shoulder before an entire ¡®arm¡¯ exploded from his stump to grab onto the Soul Sealing Mandate!!


    Needless to say, Bai Yunfei was shocked, but he wasn¡¯t going to let that happen. Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunfei lashed out with another punch!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    This punch was aimed toward the torso where the heart should be. Landing with a satisfying thwack, the punch sent Dongfang Ming flying away like a cannonball.


    Because of his quick reaction, Bai Yunfei was able to prevent Dongfang Ming from stealing the Soul Sealing Mandate. But by extension, Bai Yunfei failed to seal him away.


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    He cursed, but inwardly, Bai Yunfei was also relieved. Though it was regretful that he failed to seal Dongfang Ming, it was a good thing his Soul Sealing Mandate hadn¡¯t been stolen away. In the end, however, Bai Yunfei failed to finish up the battle and deal with the most troublesome enemy.


    Luckily, Bai Yunfei was still in a better position regardless of the hiccups. He was in the best state of mind and body while his enemy was still in a terrible shape.


    The punch he landed on Dongfang Ming earlier wasn¡¯t with the right hand, but the left. Compared to the right, his left hand was much weaker, but Dongfang Ming hadn¡¯t any defenses due to him being wholly concentrated on the Soul Sealing Mandate. Therefore, Bai Yunfei was able to create a large dent on Dongfang Ming¡¯s torso!


    It was practically a hole in his chest that revealed a good portion of his innards. And among those innards was a beating red heart!


    ¡°That¡¯s his core!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes zoned in on the object with great interest. He had seen such an object before in Qin Long, but that one was of an inferior quality. There was a great difference between that one and the ¡®real¡¯ one in front of him. The most noticeable difference was the quality of the aura around the core¡ªit had the aura of a Regalia!


    This core was of the same level of quality as a Regalia demon armament!


    ¡°If I destroy that then...we¡¯ll be able to kill the enemy!!¡±


    Confidence filled Bai Yunfei once more as he reaffirmed the win condition. Stepping against his foothold, Bai Yunfei transformed into a blinding beam of light toward Dongfang Ming!


    He already took notice of how quickly Dongfang Ming¡¯s wounds were rejuvenating. With time being a precious commodity, Bai Yunfei took action right away to throw a gray object at him!


    The gray object flew toward Dongfang Ming¡¯s torso with even greater speeds than Bai Yunfei¡ªit was aiming for three inches within the core!


    The Voidsplitter!


    It¡¯s ability was still on cooldown, but the Voidsplitter¡¯s +10 additional effect had yet to activate. That meant Bai Yunfei could have it try to pierce Dongfang Ming¡¯s core with additional force and see if that¡¯d do any serious damage.


    Then another startling development took place¡­


    A new expression appeared on Dongfang Ming¡¯s face the moment the Voidsplitter was thrown from Bai Yunfei. An expression of maniacal fury!


    The next change to take place happened in his aura. The light around him and his core dimmed in intensity, cutting the flow of soulforce to his wound and by extension, slowing down the rate of regeneration. Almost hypnotically, the light around the core swirled around it like a miniature whirlpool!


    That was when the Voidsplitter made contact with Dongfang Ming. Bai Yunfei¡¯s aim was true, meaning the Voidsplitter had flown into the middle of the whirlpool!


    There was no loud sound to explain the dagger hitting Dongfang Ming¡¯s core. Instead, it traveled deeper into the whirlpool and¡­disappeared into it!


    It had sunk into the core!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Dark-red light exploded out from the whirlpool and cleared it away, revealing the core behind it at once. This time, the light around his core was shining brighter than before!


    ¡°Pfft!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clasped a hand to his mouth. Paling in the face, he expelled a large volume of blood out!


    His soul armament had been destroyed!


    ¡°Im¡ªimpossible!!¡± He croaked in between mouthfuls of blood.


    The Voidsplitter was his soulbound armament. It had an extremely powerful connection with him, so he could sense anything that might happen to it!


    And right now, he could sense that the Voidsplitter had been¡­destroyed!!


    It had been ¡®devoured¡¯ by Dongfang Ming¡¯s core!


    Never would Bai Yunfei be able to expect that¡ªDongfang Ming was still able to pull off something like that!


    Had it not been his Voidsplitter, but a lifebound armament like the Fire-tipped Spear that had been devoured¡­Bai Yunfei shivered. The very thought brought a chill to his spine.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible¡­even if his core is a demonic armament, it shouldn¡¯t be able to do something as illogical as that!! No¡­I won¡¯t let you heal back up!!¡±


    Having one of his personally-crafted soul armaments destroyed in front of him made Bai Yunfei feel like his heart was bleeding. It pained his very person and made him want to shout in frustration, but Bai Yunfei had to quell those thoughts. Instead of frustration, he¡¯d turn his emotion into anger to kill Dongfang Ming!


    He had a guess that Dongfang Ming¡¯s core probably had some kind of limit to what it could devour, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t about to experiment and see. Raising his right hand high, he launched a fireball made from the Ardent Sun Glove toward Dongfang Ming!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Containing a large amount of the Law of Fire, the fireball whizzed through the air and impacted against Dongfang Ming to send him flying.


    Not yet finished, Bai Yunfei sent out another salvo. Soon, the entire sky was blotted out by the multitude of fireballs.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A beam of dark-red light flew through the sky toward Dongfang Ming. Coming to a stop in front of it, it cut apart any fireball that got close to him and prevented them from hitting.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    But even that was unable to stop all of the fireballs. Countless explosions echoed one after another as multiple fireballs exploded all around Dongfang Ming.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi flew over Bai Yunfei¡¯s head at the same time the helix sword returned to Dongfang Ming¡¯s side. Multiple bolts of lightning, blades of wind, and fireballs rained down like rain onto Dongfang Ming as Xiao Qi covered for Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Now¡¯s the time!! Yunfei! Don¡¯t let up your attacks! Core and I found a way to combat his core! Find the right timing when he tries to heal and kill him!!¡±


    Sealer¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind as the squall of elemental energy bombarded Dongfang Ming¡­

 Chapter 1225: A Duel Between Spirits

    Bai Yunfei grew elated at the voice. ¡°You found a way to neutralize his core?!¡±


    ¡°We did! It¡¯s not the power of a soul armament, but actually a battle between spirits! Just like how he managed to not get sealed, Core and I should be able to hinder his ability to rejuvenate!¡±


    It filled Bai Yunfei with no small amount of glee to hear such a response. ¡°Alright!¡± He responded as he fired off even more fireballs, ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you then!¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    One moment later and Bai Yunfei could feel the Soul Sealing Mandate and Core Stone start to resonate. Their activations differed compared to a soul armament since they contained a spirit within themselves. Therefore, their activation carried with it a ¡®presence¡¯.


    But not even this type of activation felt the same as usual. There was¡­a type of energy carried with their activation, a type of energy that was clearly meant to be offensive rather than defensive!


    Their combined energy disseminated through the air toward the center of the elemental storm where Dongfang Ming was. But no sooner did they reach the edge of the storm did they immediately get struck by a similar type of energy!


    Aside from what his senses were telling him, Bai Yunfei had no way of describing what was going on. If he had to put it into words, then this ¡®shapeless¡¯ battle happening in front of him symbolized a duel between spirits!


    All sorts of elemental energy was being mixed in this area, making it very hard for anyone to see anything. There was also a healthy mixture of chaotic energy added to the mix, thus making it hard for soulsense to do a thing. Fortunately, Bai Yunfei was able to just barely make out where Dongfang Ming was and what he was up to.


    He didn¡¯t know what Dongfang Ming was up to, but he severely doubted that his and Xiao Qi¡¯s attacks would be completely ineffective on the man. This was a situation where Bai Yunfei had the definite upper hand!


    ¡°As powerful as his rejuvenation is, it¡¯s not infallible! All Sealer has to do is drain enough energy from it so it¡¯ll fall into hibernation just like Sentinel did. I¡¯ll be the victorious one then!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had extreme confidence in this new plan, but not so much that he would take Dongfang Ming lightly. He would fight just as seriously as before.


    Both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were rapidly using up their soulforce, but their own soul armaments and the Phantasm was boosting their rate of recovery. On the inverse, Dongfang Ming was using up an exorbitant sum of soulforce himself since he had to rely on the elemental fire his own body produced as well as use his soulforce and soul armaments to protect him. Without time to rest, Dongfang Ming was pressed hard for time and lost more ground the more he fought.


    ¡°I¡­I want to help too!!¡±


    An ¡®unfamiliar¡¯ voice abruptly spoke out into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind as he was firing fireballs at Dongfang Ming, startling him so much that he nearly stopped attacking.


    It took him a moment to put a name to the voice, ¡°Is this..Sentinel?!¡±


    ¡°I want to help! Yunfei¡­¡±


    As if in response to Bai Yunfei, the voice grew louder and more determined.


    It was the spirit of the Soul Sentinel Scarf!!


    This was the first time the spirit had spoken to Bai Yunfei since Heavenfire helped awaken the Regalia. The two had ¡®communicated¡¯ in a sense before, but never had the two spoken to one another like they were doing now.


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re not hiding in your armament anymore, Sentinel? Hehe¡­what¡¯s wrong? Are you feeling nostalgic? What are you waiting for then? If you want to help then hurry up!¡±


    Sensing the other spirit, Sealer immediately began to laugh and jest with its friend.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his head suddenly go warm to the touch. It was as if the happiness it felt was being transformed into an explosion of physical warmth and energy!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Damn! Damnitall!! Why does he have so many annoying tricks?!¡±


    Dongfang Ming had an unsightly expression on his face. Both of his eyes were narrowed into slits as he vented to himself with humiliated fury. By his side, the helix sword and the bone shield were fiercely protecting him from all harm as his core worked hard to rejuvenate his wounds.


    Things weren¡¯t going the way he planned it at all. He had been so close to killing Bai Yunfei but was forced to turn away at the last moment least he suffer the same fate he was trying so hard to inflict onto Bai Yunfei.


    His ¡®destroyed¡¯ body was already looking much better compared to before. The hole in his torso was for the most part healed, but the other parts of his body was still looking as messy as ever. Both of his arms had yet to heal since he hadn¡¯t any available energy to heal his body¡­


    Controlling his helix sword to fend off the swarm of attacks already required nearly half of his concentration, but it was the combined ¡®attacks¡¯ of Sealer and Core that was the most troublesome.


    ¡°Hm?!¡± He paused, something had piqued his attention. ¡°This¡­this is a third Regalia?! But how!?


    ¡°Ugh!!¡±


    A lightning bolt slammed into his chest. Because of his gap in concentration, the helix sword failed to protect him fully and allowed an attack to slip past it. The acrid smell of charred flesh filled the air as his right shoulder opened up once more.


    ¡°He has a third Regalia aside from the Soul Sealing Mandate and the Core Stone!!¡±


    Since the spirit of the Soul Sentinel Scarf was usually ¡®hidden¡¯ away in itself, its aura was so faint that not even Dongfang Ming was able to sense it. As a result, Dongfang Ming was greatly surprised to sense its presence now.


    This changed everything, Dongfang Ming only accounted for two Regalia. A third one would most definitely shift the scales for the worse for him!


    As powerful as a demonic core was, Dongfang Ming¡¯s spirit could only barely defend against two Regalia. The combined powers of three Regalia would definitely overpower him!


    That wasn¡¯t a fact Bai Yunfei really knew, but his three Regalia were telling him that the odds were in his favor. Elated, he started to muster more soulforce to his arms. Hands clapping in front of his chest, Bai Yunfei began to form a set of familiar handseals!


    Flames burst to life around his arms. Spiralling, they traveled down from his shoulders to his hands before extending outwards as two dragons!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Raw energy flooded the world as the two dragons snapped their maws at everything in its way. Like floods of water, the elemental fire surged forward until they came close enough to engulf Dongfang Ming in them!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The world itself felt like it was being bombarded with explosions as elemental fire blew everywhere, blasting everyone with a hot wave of heat. Even the robes of Bai Yunfei were affected by the heatwave despite his distance.


    ¡°Almost there! Give him one more blow, Yunfei!!¡±


    ¡°Alright!!¡±


    His body was screaming at him from the exertion, but Bai Yunfei persisted. Now was the time to finish it all!


    Energy started to flow around Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms once more as he readied a second Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    But then, the Phantasm itself began to shudder and shake!


    ¡°What?! Why now of all times?!¡±


    Alarmed, Bai Yunfei looked around himself at the Phantasm.


    The world within the Interdimensional Phantasm could only persist for fifteen minutes at most. After that, it¡¯d need to expel everything inside of it and wait a while before the Interdimensional Phantasm could take in anything else. In other words¡­the time limit was up!!


    The iridescent light of the Phantasm was already fading away. Faster and faster, the real world was quickly starting to reveal itself around them. Bai Yunfei could already start to sense the auras of the other combatants.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An explosion rocked the world the moment the Phantasm faded away. Amidst the sea of flames from the first Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, a dark-red light began to overtake everything!


    Soon, the red light became a ravenous whirlpool, taking in everything within its area at a maniacal rate!!

 Chapter 1226: Ambush!

    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    From the whirlpool, the sounds of a primal beast could be heard. The sound waves from its roar were so loud that even the whirlpool itself shook. Then the faint figure of something shot out from it toward a young male in green.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    As quick as the wind, Li Chengfeng withdrew several meters away. The blood-red figure managed to cut a few strands of hair from him and splash some blood on his robes, but Li Chengfeng was for the most part untouched.


    ¡°What kind of monster is this¡­? He¡¯s basically like a beast that uses their own blood as a weapon? How does he not lose any soulforce attacking like this?!¡±


    It was an unsettled Li Chengfeng who flew into the skies, he was quite shocked by the enemy he was fighting against.


    His battle with Gui Nu had been going on for quite some time now. Much like his battle before with Lin Dongxiao, Li Chengfeng was seeing himself play defensively the entire time. Hardly did he ever engage in an offensive battle. He was content to use his own soul armament to ¡®predict¡¯ each attack and prepare the appropriate evasive maneuver.


    Though only minutes had passed, the effort of continuously dodging and relying on his predictions was finally starting to show on him¡­


    Gui Nu was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor but his strength was currently as strong as Lin Dongxiao. The exchange between sanity and power had made him so that not even Li Chengfeng could fight as well as he did against Lin Dongxiao.


    Only Li Chengfeng was able to dodge and fight as long as he did, thanks to his own mystical artes. Not even Bai Yunfei would be able to hold out as long.


    It was even harder for Li Chengfeng to study Gui Nu. Most people had some kind of rhythm to how they move, dodge, or strike, but Li Chengfeng couldn¡¯t figure him out. Not even his ability to predict was proving to do much. Dodging was the best he could currently do.


    ¡°It¡¯s bad¡­he¡¯s stronger than I am, I¡¯m going to be in danger if this keeps up, what do I do?¡±


    He thought to himself as he dodged yet another strike.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    It was faint, but a wave of energy ran across the world with just enough power for Li Chengfeng to hear it.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one to notice it. Several others, Yang Yao and Huo Zhenting included, turned around, their interest piqued at the source of the disturbance.


    ¡°The Phantasm¡¯s gone!! Yunfei and Dongfang Ming are coming out! How did he do?!¡±


    Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes widened as he realized what this meant.


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was the next thing he spotted. ¡°His aura¡¯s stronger than before, is he unhurt? Then¡­did he manage to defeat Dongfang Ming then!?¡±


    Both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi¡¯s aura were the first two auras Li Chengfeng could feel upon the collapse of the Phantasm. Along their auras was the sea of flames from Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A whirlpool of dark-red light exploded into view from within the flames. Stunned, Li Chengfeng watched as the whirlpool expanded in the sky with a maleful energy.


    ¡°That¡¯s Dongfang Ming¡ªhe¡¯s alive still!¡±


    From the looks of things, Li Chengfeng gathered that the battle between Bai Yunfei and Dongfang Ming was still ongoing, but things were at a critical point. The energy spikes from both persons told him that the two of them were readying their most powerful attacks.


    ¡°Looks like Yunfei¡¯s going to win¡­¡± Li Chengfeng smiled, it had worried him a bit when Dongfang Ming was alive, but he felt like he could relax a bit now.


    Then the Heart Compass within his body began to tremble. Something was wrong!


    ¡°This feeling¡­¡± Li Chengfeng gasped, ¡°Yunfei!! Watch out from behind!!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    As he cried out to Bai Yunfei to warn him, Gui Nu let out a loud roar and charged at Li Chengfeng. In his haste to warn Bai Yunfei, Li Chengfeng had failed to noticed Gui Nu drawing close enough to strike at his throat!


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Oh no! He can use more elemental energy now! Hurry up and attack him, Yunfei!!¡±


    The spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate cried out to Bai Yunfei the moment they returned to the real world.


    He wasn¡¯t looking very happy with the situation, truth be told. The dark-red whirlpool in front of him gave him a bit of a shock, but not enough for him to cancel his attack.


    Then just at that moment¡­


    ¡°Yunfei!! Watch out from behind!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt the hairs on his arms stiffen up, that was Li Chengfeng¡¯s voice!!


    It¡¯d be a waste of time for him to turn around, so Bai Yunfei did the next best thing he knew and activated the ability of the Core Stone!


    All the sound in the world seemed to disappear for Bai Yunfei in that moment. He hadn¡¯t even time to move his head when he sa a jet-black item shoot through where his throat would¡¯ve been!


    As if a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped on his head, Bai Yunfei felt everything go cold. Had he been even a split-second late in activating the Core Stone, that needle surely would¡¯ve perforated his throat¡­


    That jet-black light was easily distinguishable to Bai Yunfei, for he had seen it many times before. A three or four inch black needle capable of taking a life if it pierced even the hand or leg of a person. A fearsome soul armament he first saw during the conflict for the Extreme King Pills!


    Mo Ni¡¯s soul armament!!


    He whirled around to glare at the source of where the soul armament come from. A single person was standing there¡ªMo Ni!


    It was with some satisfaction that he watched the sadistic smirk on Mo Ni¡¯s face turn into one of abject shock.


    One second later and the Core Stone¡¯s effect faded away, leading to Bai Yunfei returning back to normal space.


    ¡°Mo Ni!!¡±


    He bellowed. The thought of being ambushed by Mo Ni the moment he appeared from the Phantasm never even crossed his mind. Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been killed if not for Li Chengfeng¡¯s warning! He¡¯d be dead before he even knew it!


    A fury like never before filled the entirety of Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest. As if a volcano had erupted, Bai Yunfei let out a furious roar and swung both hands forward at him!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    Two dragons exploded out from his hands toward Mo Ni!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°No way!!¡±


    Indescribable shock. That was the only thing running through Mo Ni¡¯s mind. He had failed!!


    The whole reason why he had been hidden from the battlefield this entire time was so he could find the best chance to kill Bai Yunfei! He had been waiting for the most optimal moment when Bai Yunfei left the Phantasm to kill him!


    He thought that Bai Yunfei and Dongfang Ming would have struck a serious blow onto one another. It should¡¯ve been an easy kill!


    The battlefield was a mess with Soul Emperors fighting everywhere and throwing around large swaths of energy. Given the confusion, Mo Ni found it easy to quietly navigate the area and then place himself in a prime location to wait. The demon armament he had carefully ¡®grown¡¯ over the years, the Soulkiller Needle.


    If everything went as he planned, then Mo Ni and his needle could kill in an instant. And that¡¯s how it should¡¯ve been.


    He just never imagined that his own demon armament would not only fail to kill, but it went through a void of space where Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat should¡¯ve been!


    When Bai Yunfei ¡®disappeared¡¯, Mo Ni felt his aura disappear, but not due to death. That was the first reason why he knew he had failed! That, and Bai Yunfei¡¯s later movements were just proof that he was completely fine!


    The next thing he saw was Bai Yunfei turn toward him before two gigantic dragons came roaring at him!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    Face pale, he let out a scream and immediately retreated in earnest!

 Chapter 1227: Chaos

    It filled Mo Ni with horror to see two magnificent dragons come barreling toward him. As powerful as he felt as a Soul Emperor, he was only an early-stage. There was¡­no chance of survival against an attack like that and he knew it!!


    This Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was meant to be the finishing move on Dongfang Ming. An attack meant to kill an especially difficult-to-kill Mid-stage Soul Emperor. How could an Early-stage Soul Emperor like Mo Ni stand a chance?


    Once the realization of death sunk in, Mo Ni let out a shrill cry, ¡°Gui Nu!!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Li Chengfeng was in a dire strait. Unable to dodge Gui Nu¡¯s attack, he was forced to bring out an earth-type shield to protect him. Despite his best efforts, his shield was broken through by Gui Nu and was forced to watch as the claws struck him square-on.


    Like a kite whose string was cut, Li Chengfeng was blown away from Gui Nu. A trail of orange light followed his path as fragments of his shield rained down. There was a gash on the right side of Li Chengfeng¡¯s face from where several of the fragments had cut into his face.


    A figure appeared in front of him as he flew, revealing itself to be Gui Nu with his palm on Li Chengfeng¡¯s chest!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    ¡°Pftt!!¡±


    The palm strike landed solidly onto Li Chengfeng¡¯s torso and accelerated his momentum even more. Following a large mouthful of blood, Li Chengfeng¡¯s aura suddenly dropped down to half its original intensity.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Not drunk of his own success, Gui Nu let out a roar and moved to chase after Li Chengfeng. His right hand extended outward in an effort to drive his claws into Li Chengfeng¡¯s throat!


    He was in trouble. Gritting his teeth, Li Chengfeng mustered as much soulforce as he could to him and raised his right arm up. It was an arduous task, but the pain in his right arm was nothing compared to the possibility of dying.


    ¡°Ah!! Gui Nu!!¡±


    Then that was when he heard the cry of another person from far away. Stunned, Li Chengfeng watched as the sharp claw of Gui Nu stop just short of his arm!!


    ¡°Grr¡­.¡±


    A blood-red mist floated out from Gui Nu¡¯s mouth as he snarled in frustration. One moment later and he turned away from Li Chengfeng to fly off into another direction!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    The panic in Mo Ni was reaching a breaking point even as he watched Gui Nu approach. A black light flashed in his right hand as he clutched at something. Any second now and he looked ready to crush the item.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    It was to his utmost relief when he saw Gui Nu successfully leap in front of him. Like a great guardian, Gui Nu dropped himself in front of Mo Ni with an ocean of blood with him.


    Both his soulforce and killing intent was fully roused. Elemental energy was gathered all around him, but somehow, the energy felt more like it was a murky substance like blood as it floated around him. It swirled and transformed into a giant octopus that charged at the two dragons soon after it formed fully.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two forces collided with devastating force. Energy as volatile as chaotic eneryg itself started to tear at the seams of the world, leaving behind cracks in space wherever and everywhere.


    Mo Ni could hardly hear the pained cries of Gui Nu amidst the explosion. Then he felt himself be enveloped by a bubble of energy before being taken into a retreat.


    Knowing that, somehow, death had been avoided, Mo Ni heaved a huge sigh of relief. He had done nothing to save himself and yet he felt paradoxically drained of energy. The only emotion he had in abundance was anger. Humiliated by the disgrace he had just experienced, he snarled at Gui Nu, ¡°Your most hated enemy is right there, Bai Yunfei! Kill him!!¡±


    ¡°Bai¡­Yun¡­fei!!¡±


    His words were like magic to Gui Nu, who stopped at once. Immediately, a terrifying amount of power exploded from him!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!! Aghhhh!!!¡±


    Gui Nu¡¯s head snapped back to roar out loud to the heavens. His killing intent somehow doubled as all his anger for Bai Yunfei was announced to the world. One after another the blood around him turned into swords that swirled around him. Streams of elemental energy flowed into him, slowly transforming into a blood-red armor that covered the entirety of his person. Soon, he looked more like a demonic being from the underworld than a human that could induce fear just by being looked at.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Spiderweb-like cracks formed around the space beneath Gui Nu¡¯s feet when he kicked off against it. Like a catapult, he flew at Bai Yunfei with breakneck speeds!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cursed to himself. He was already having trouble focusing on Dongfang Ming within the whirlpool and now there was another troublesome opponent to deal with. Pointing his finger at Gui Nu, Bai Yunfei let out a snarling growl, ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    It was meant to stop Gui Nu in his tracks, but¡­


    ¡°What?! It didn¡¯t work?!¡±


    His Soul Anchor Technique had failed to even affect Gui Nu!


    Like Qin Long, Gui Nu was in a ¡®berserk¡¯ state that made him essentially like a wild beast. Soul attacks would be ineffective on such a person!


    Forging his way forward, Gui Nu brandished the claws of his hand and slashed at Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    There was no time for Bai Yunfei to dodge. His only option, therefore, was to bring both arms up to protect himself. As soon as he did, the claws scratched against the bracer on his arm. Sparks flew everywhere as the claws pushed against the bracers, and then¡­


    The Flameblade Bracer was cut apart!


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    The effect was instantaneous. Blood shot out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s wound, but with an uncharacteristic force as if it was being squeezed out from him. Even more strange was the fact that the blood was pooling around the claws as if trying to be absorbed!


    As shocked as he was, Bai Yunfei hurriedly lashed out with his left hand. He had to disengage from Gui Nu as soon as possible!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The +10 additional effect of the Critical Glove activated when it slammed against Gui Nu¡¯s torso. Like a cannonball, Gui Nu was sent flying away from Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave chase right away. As quick as lightning, his right hand took out an object and threw it at Gui Nu!


    The Fire-tipped Spear!


    As if sensing the danger that was coming toward him, Gui Nu brought his right arm to his head and tried to inch off toward the side away from the object¡¯s trajectory.


    He was unfortunately a moment too slow. The Fire-tipped Spear slammed into the blood-red barrier around him and exploded at its tip!


    The +10 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear had activated!


    The explosive force of the effect sent Gui Nu flying even faster. His right arm was a mangled mess that could hardly be recognized as a human arm almost. Before he could even properly gain his bearings, Gui Nu was assaulted with a flaming ¡®mountain¡¯!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal slammed against Gui Nu with devastating force. Multiplied, his backward acceleration saw to him flying even faster away from Bai Yunfei.


    A fist, a spear, and a brick. Three attacks dealt in and with quick succession that saw to Gui Nu being severely weakened.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Whilst Bai Yunfei fought with Gui Nu, Xiao Qi was fighting his own battle elsewhere. His opponent was also a soulbeast whose roar was reminiscent of a dragon.


    Bai Yunfei turned his head to Xiao Qi. The bird was fighting against a gigantic beast the color of darkness itself.


    The Black Dragon King!!


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been the only one infuriated by Mo Ni¡¯s ambush. Xiao Qi had been equally infuriated and dove at Mo Ni after the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst had failed to kill him. It was only because of the Black Dragon King that Xiao Qi had failed to achieve his goal.


    Given the equal standing between him and Xiao Qi, the Black Dragon King fought as seriously as he could. There was no way he¡¯d underestimate the smaller creature.


    Farther away, a wearied Li Chengfeng stood by the sidelines to watch the battle. Upon seeing the still-shocked Mo Ni, he snarled and flew at him.


    He knew Mo Ni¡¯s unique identity and saw how he had been the one to command Gui Nu. As the saying went, kill the head of the snake and the rest will follow. If Mo Ni died, then the situation of the battlefield would undeniably be shifted into their favor.


    It was with shock that Mo Ni first realized he was being attacked again. Fury quickly overtook him, and soon he and Li Chengfeng were embroiled in a fierce battle.


    ¡­¡­


    Things were becoming more and more chaotic¡­


    Bai Yunfei shot a glance over to Xiao Qi and Li Chengfeng, he wanted to see how they were doing. But when he looked back to Gui Nu¡­


    A large swath of elemental energy suddenly surged toward Gui Nu and the red whirlpool he was surrounded in. Like an implosion of energy, the whirlpool took in every bit of elemental energy and exploded in size!


    He didn¡¯t know what Dongfang Ming was up to, but Bai Yunfei knew that Gui Nu was doing something similar. If the two were to ¡®group together¡¯, then it¡¯d be trouble for him!!


    Alarmed by that possibility, Bai Yunfei immediately flew after Gui Nu in hopes he could drive him away from Dongfang Ming while also hoping to neutralize the latter.


    Unfortunately, the events in motion were already progressing far beyond Bai Yunfei¡¯s control¡­

 Chapter 1228: Dongfang Mings Despair

    Gui Nu was in pain.


    His tolerance for pain was a hundred times stronger than the average person, but the pain he was feeling was so high that he felt like he was close to fainting.


    The energy within his body was going crazy and seemed as though it was ready to tear apart his organ, bones, and flesh if left unchecked. Not even the usage of his soulforce was enough to drive this feeling away.


    The sequential attack dealt by Bai Yunfei was not a weak one. So much damage was dealt that the average Soul Emperor would definitely be rendered unable to battle. It was only thanks to Gui Nu¡¯s extraordinary body that he was able to endure it.


    Gui Nu, or also known as Zhang Zhenshan, was the servant Mo Ni had spent the last decade ¡®training¡¯. Practically every motion that made a human a human had been stripped away from him. The only concepts that remained were his ¡®loyalty¡¯ to Mo Ni and¡­his ¡®hatred¡¯ for Bai Yunfei.


    Hatred inevitably became the very reason for his existence and the sole reason why he was like this. Not even the loss of his sanity would be enough to wipe away the grudge. The hatred he felt for Bai Yunfei was so deep it was etched into his very bones. Knowing that he was in front of Bai Yunfei, Gui Nu was fully committed to have Bai Yunfei dismembered limb from limb and his death made a painful one!!


    But Gui Nu came to a painful realization after his last exchange with Bai Yunfei¡ªhe was weaker than Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°More! More!! I need more! More power!¡±


    His mind was still able to reflect upon the state of his battle despite the pain. And yet his eyes looked like they were losing more of their clarity every moment. Then his eyes swiveled over in another direction. Like a vulture who had just seen some prey, Gui Nu had spotted something.


    The smell of ¡®prey¡¯! The smell of ¡®energy¡¯!!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Driven by his own instincts and thirst for power, Gui Nu unleashed a howl of excitement and flew towards the gigantic black-red whirlpool!


    ¡­¡­


    Inside the whirlpool.


    ¡°Three Regalias¡­Three! Damn it!!¡±


    Dongfang Ming was in a state right now. He had never thought Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been able to push him this far. His body was weak and his soulforce even weaker like a flickering candle flame ready to be blown out. He had stumps for arms and his left leg was gone at the knee. His skin was the same color of ash and multiple wounds littered the surface of his body so that dark-red blood would flow out in a constant stream. Like rain, the streams of blood disseminated into the whirlpool around him and scattered away.


    A third ball of light was rotating around himself now. The first two lights belonged to his helix sword and the bone shield while this new third one was the same blood-red dagger used to injure Zi Jin.


    Things were looking slightly better for him now that he wasn¡¯t in the Phantasm anymore. Now that there was a source of elemental energy to draw from, he could transform it into soulforce for his demonic core to make use of and help heal his body.


    Already, his body was starting to patch up starting from the wound on his torso. The ashen color of his skin was also gradually returning to its original pigmentation.


    It brought him no small pleasure to see and feel his body recover. Anytime now, Dongfang Ming was sure, Bai Yunfei¡¯s ultimate attack would come. And he¡¯d need all the strength he could for when it did.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    A powerful aura registered itself to his senses then. Something nearly the same color as the whirlpool around him had entered the vicinity toward him!


    ¡°Gui Nu!!¡±


    Dongfang Ming let out a surprised cry, he hadn¡¯t thought to see Gui Nu here, but he was glad. Him being here meant Mo Ni was finally taking action, and that meant Gui Nu could delay Bai Yunfei long enough for him to heal.


    But the joy on his face quickly turned into shock a moment later¡­


    ¡°Gui Nu!! What¡ªwhat are you do¡ªargh!!¡±


    Alarmed, Dongfang Ming watched as the blood around him began to float toward Gui Nu and into his body. Not only that, but Gui Nu¡¯s energy was also spiking rapidly¡ªhe was trying to activate a technique of some kind!


    Dongfang Ming hadn¡¯t even finished speaking when he saw Gui Nu suddenly plunge his claws into his abdomen!


    Everything went cold for Dongfang Ming then. Blood pooled around the new hole in his abdomen and began to be absorbed into the invading hand!


    It¡­it wasn¡¯t just the blood that was being absorbed. His soulforce, his own knowledge, and even¡­his own life!! It was all being taken!


    The Bloodsoul Dark Artes!!


    Dongfang Ming was horrified upon realizing what was being done to him. The Bloodsoul Dark Artes was one of the most powerful arts taught by the Soul Refining School. And not only was it powerful, but Gui Nu was one of the most adept users of it. Practically peerless in talent in the last thousand years or so, Gui Nu was capable of taking the essence of others into his own and grow even more powerful from it!!


    He had been startled when he first saw Gui Nu¡¯s talent in it, and how one trained in such an art. Not even he, a man who also followed a dark way of life, had been steel-hearted enough for this. And now¡­Gui Nu was using that very technique on him!


    Dongfang Ming¡¯s body felt like it was ready to be torn in half. A massive amount of his strength was already gone in the short amount of time he had been hit. Already, his strength was down to the levels of an Early-stage Soul Emperor!


    On the inverse, Gui Nu was now surging with power!


    ¡°Bastard!! Agh!!¡±


    Face twisting with pain, Dongfang Ming let out a loud howl and swung his bone shield around to strike Gui Nu!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Fracturing, the bone shield transformed into a devastating bomb to send Gui Nu flying away in one direction and Dongfang Ming in the other.


    He had sacrificed one of his own soul armaments to escape from harm!


    The whirlpool around the two collapsed at once without Dongfang Ming there to maintain focus. He wasn¡¯t even able to stabilize himself and tumbled through the air like a small boat in stormy weather.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A shocked Bai Yunfei stood outside the whirlpool. He had seen what transpired within the whirlpool and was shocked.


    Was there an internal conflict?!


    He couldn¡¯t think of a reason why Gui Nu would suddenly attack Dongfang Ming of all people, but he didn¡¯t even care for the reason anyways. If there was an opportunity, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t going to let that opportunity go to waste!


    One of his two enemies was heavily injured in their own internal strife, what a wonderful opportunity!


    ¡°It¡¯ll be hard to destroy his core in one, Yunfei. But I can seal him since he¡¯s a lot weaker now!¡±


    Sealer¡¯s voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Convinced, Bai Yunfei withdrew the Soul Sealing Mandate from his space ring and threw it forward!


    The Fire-tipped Spear and Cataclysmic Seal flew ahead of the Soul Sealing Mandate and knocked the helix sword and dagger so the Soul Sealing Mandate could fly unimpeded.


    With the last of his safeguards blocked, Dongfang Ming could only watch in horror as his doom approached him¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Activated, the Soul Sealing Mandate began to pulsate with a white light!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±

 Chapter 1229: Crushing A Black Jade Slip!

    The activation of the Soul Sealing Mandate was instantaneous. Its light scattered across the world with a radius large enough to encapsulate Dongfang Ming within it. And the moment Dongfang Ming couldn¡¯t be seen anymore, his soulforce disappeared!


    Once the light dissipated, the still figure of Dongfang Ming could be seen with his mouth opened as if to scream angrily. His eyes still reflected the horror he felt before he was sealed. There was still remnants of light from his own body, flickering as if it was trying to force some activity in his body despite the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s ability. He hadn¡¯t been fully sealed, as could be seen, as his soul was still capable of action. However, the resistance he put up was nothing more than a hopeless one.


    There was no way of him winning against the Soul Sealing Mandate. With the Soul Sealing Mandate having the advantage in power, Dongfang Ming¡¯s core was rendered absolutely helpless.


    Pleased at having successfully sealed Dongfang Ming, Bai Yunfei waved his hand to send out a wave of soulforce. Clearing the immediate area of all elemental energy, he activated the Core Stone and had both the Soul Sealing Mandate and Dongfang Ming taken into the Core World.


    And now that that was done, Bai Yunfei felt like he could finally relax a bit.


    According to Sealer, Dongfang Ming was a candle ready to be blown out, but his core would still be very difficult todestroy. It was a divine-tier demon armament, thus it would take Bai Yunfei more time than he had right now to destroy it.


    Besides, Dongfang Ming wasn¡¯t allowed to die just yet¡­


    Therefore, Bai Yunfei decided it was best to have Dongfang Ming placed in the Core World and have him be revisited on a later date.


    ¡­¡­


    After finally accomplishing the heruclean task of defeating Dongfang Ming, Bai Yunfei felt like he could finally allow himself a breath of relief. But then¡­his instincts began to scream at him of a danger from behind!


    While true that Dongfang Ming was defeated¡­there was still Gui Nu to worry about!!


    Despite Dongfang Ming¡¯s best efforts when he sacrificed his soul armament, the damage had still been done. Gui Nu had managed to suck up a tremendous amount of ¡®energy¡¯ from Dongfang Ming via his Bloodsoul Dark Artes and had already fully recovered from Bai Yunfei¡¯s earlier attacks. In fact, he was feeling far stronger than before as well.


    The blast of the soul armament¡¯s destruction had been great and sent Gui Nu flying away a considerable distance. That had been the only reason why Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been attacked when he sealed away Dongfang Ming.


    Regardless, Gui Nu was en route to Bai Yunfei the moment he shrugged off the backward momentum he had with the complete and utter intent to shred Bai Yunfei to pieces!


    What he ¡®enjoyed¡¯ most in combat was attacking up close and personal. Far-ranged attacks were simply not ideal for him, but considering the distance between him and Bai Yunfei, Gui Nu decided to use several elemental attacks as an opener.


    But just because he didn¡¯t use elemental attacks often didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t strong. When bolstered by the blood-red energy around him, Gui Nu¡¯s attacks could definitely spell trouble for anyone that was hit by them!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The sea of blood over Gui Nu¡¯s head transformed into a gigantic python. Following his roar, the python then bounded for Bai Yunfei!


    This was one of the stronger elemental attacks that could be learned from the Bloodsoul Dark Artes, the Moon Devouring Blood Python!!


    It required half of the user¡¯s blood to be used, but the power in exchange of such a cost was tremendous! In comparison, Bai Yunfei¡¯s Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst would only be marginally stronger than it!


    ¡­¡­


    Sensing the danger coming at him, Bai Yunfei turned around at once to see a python flying straight for him!


    Alarmed by the raw amount of power he felt from the python momentarily stunned him. It terrifying for a second, but then Bai Yunfei began to smile with excitement!


    It was too late to use the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst to counter it, not with the python being this close already. It was also pointless to try and dodge it, so Bai Yunfei raised both arms and pushed forward!


    The soulforce within his body immediately dwindled away into one of his soul armaments. In the same moment, a transparent barrier appeared out of thin air in front of him!


    It wasn¡¯t made with any element but the surface of the barrier flickered in a strange pattern almost invisible to the eye unless one paid attention to it.


    But the strangest part was when the python was unable to break through it!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The python exploded back into a sea of blood when it slammed into the barrier. It flowed all around Bai Yunfei for a moment before reforming into the same python shape as before!


    But the only difference was that it was flying in the opposite direction it came from!


    The Returner Armor¡¯s +12 additional effect, activated!


    Reflect any attack no greater than double the defensive power of this armor.


    Cooldown of 30 minutes.


    Gui Nu had been in the middle of charging Bai Yunfei when his very own attack had been reflected onto him!


    As far gone as Gui Nu was, his battle senses were still in tip-top shape. Though a regular soul cultivator wouldn¡¯t have been able to do a thing, Gui Nu was able to bring both arms up and materialize a blood-red armor all around him before he was struck¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    One moment later and a tremendous explosion of blood exploded around Gui Nu!


    Though it was his own attack, Gui Nu wasn¡¯t immune to it. The Moon Devouring Blood Python exploded with an incredible amount of power that suppressed everything within the area with it¡¯s power and blood. Already, Gui Nu¡¯s energy was being sapped away as he tried his best to protect himself against his own attack. It was an extremely arduous task, and his body was already showing signs of wearing down! Skinny like a mummy, his body was shriveled up both physically and in terms of soulforce.


    He was very clearly injured!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Im¡ªimpossible!!¡±


    Mo Ni cried out loud at the sight of Gui Nu.


    It was a crazy series of events from start to finish. From when Gui Nu lost control and attacked Dongfang Ming, when Dongfang Ming destroyed his own soul armament, when Bai Yunfei sealed Dongfang Ming, and then when Gui Nu was hit by his own attack¡­that had all transpired within seconds. Mo Ni just couldn¡¯t believe that all that had happened!


    ¡°Dongfang Ming¡¯s defeated¡­and so is Gui Nu!!¡±


    The world seemed to have lost color to Mo Ni for a moment as he took in the ¡®impossible¡¯ outcome.


    Dongfang Ming, Gui Nu, and even Qin Long were all men of the strongest caliber. They were the strongest his side had to offer, and yet¡­Bai Yunfei had managed to defeat them all!!


    Of everyone there, only Dong Wanlei from the Wind Lightning School would be able to stop Bai Yunfei! Huo Zhenting was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, but Mo Ni was afraid that even he would fall prey to Bai Yunfei¡¯s tactics, especially after Mo Ni saw Gui Nu die!


    It didn¡¯t even matter if Dong Wanlei managed to kill Chu Yintian or not anymore. Everyone else was in danger regardless of that outcome!


    Thinking hard about it, Mo Ni realized that this battle would end up as a defeat if they didn¡¯t pull out their last trump card¡­


    ¡°Damn!!!¡±


    His father had warned him again and again of the consequences of using this ¡®trump card¡¯, but Mo Ni hadn¡¯t any other choice. It was do or die. Crazed, he took out a black jade slip from his space ring and crushed it in his hand!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Li Chengfeng had been in an optimal position to go after Mo Ni and strike him down, but when he saw his opponent crush the black jade, the Heart Compass inside of him began to let out a massive danger signal!


    The signal brought trembles from head to toe. His hair stood on its ends for a split-second before Li Chengfeng began to retreat!


    ¡°Xiao Qi!! Watch out! Get back!!¡±


    He cried out to the bird right behind him.


    It was that moment when he cried out that Mo Ni had crushed the black jade slip!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Without warning, a tremor ran through the world. Nearly a kilometer above Mo Ni¡¯s head, a massive black whirlpool opened up as if something had just jabbed a hole into the heavens.


    And in a second, the whole world changed color!!

 Chapter 1230: Gu Lianhun and Shen Pojun

    The change was noticed by everyone in the battlefield. Many were already splitting up from their opponents and gathering with their allies moments after the whirlpool had manifested.


    Bai Yunfei was one of the first few to realize the gravity of the situation. Abandoning his pursuit of Gui Nu, he followed after Li Chengfeng to safety.


    ¡°A Saint¡­how?!¡±


    Just saying the word ¡®saint¡¯ felt abnormally heavy to his lips. Horrified, he watched as the colors of the world took on a completely different shade than normal.


    An overwhelming pressure was enforcing itself onto every single person on the battlefield. To Bai Yunfei, this pressure felt almost the same as when the Frostfeather Saint appeared.


    A Saint-levelled being!!


    An enemy as strong as a Saint had suddenly appeared!


    Given the circumstances, Bai Yunfei was unquestionably shocked!


    ¡°Retreat!! Everyone retreat at once!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice boomed across the battlefield like an amplified clap of thunder. At once, everyone from the Crafting School began to retreat farther away while ensuring that they stick close to one another. They all knew the severity a danger a Saint was, no one was foolhardy enough to think otherwise.


    Countless people were already moving before Bai Yunfei gave the command, though. Everyone of the Soul King level and higher were all rapidly flying as far away from the Saint as possible. Who¡¯d possibly want to continue fighting now that a Saint was here? All that Saint had to do was point a finger and they¡¯d die a dog¡¯s death.


    The battlefield was a panicked mess with both sides retreating. Li Chengfeng, Yang Yao, and the others led the retreat of the Crafting School toward the skies above Mt. Crimson while Huo Zhenting guided his side to the skies before the mountain.


    In the middle of the two forces was the giant whirlpool.


    Whenever a person looked up at the sky, regardless of their affiliation, they couldn¡¯t help but shudder at the sight of the whirlpool. Each person had a look of fear on their faces as they looked then to¡­the shadow beneath it!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A loud explosion broke the silence as a violet light and a red light split off from one another.


    Even Dong Wanlei and Chu Yintian decided to pause their battle because of this new development.


    The brief moment they fought for wasn¡¯t nearly long enough to have a definitive victor, but anyone could tell that Dong Wanlei¡¯s aura was abundantly strong while Chu Yintian was extremely pale in the face.


    ¡°A Saint!¡± Chu Yintian cried at the sight of the whirlpool. ¡°The Law of Space¡­could¡­could it be? But¡­it can¡¯t be!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    All was calm in the world as everyone carefully watched a black figure ¡®walk¡¯ out from the whirlpool.


    The shadows fell away from the figure¡¯s face, revealing them to be an elderly man of average appearance. He was neither angry looking or awe-inspiring, but the way his aura melted into the world made him seem like an existence that could hardly be ¡®defined¡¯ in their world. An existence no one could possibly put a classification on.


    A wistful expression crossed his face as his eyes swept the world. First, he looked to the people behind him. Then his mouth opened up, as if to let out a sigh only he could hear, before he looked to the northern peak of Mt. Crimson.


    ¡°Shen Pojun¡­I see Sainthood is nearly at hand for you¡­Show yourself, or prepare to bear witness your school members dying before you¡­¡±


    His words were spoken like a whisper, but the weight of them carried far throughout the area. At his words, Chu Yintian, Dong Wanlei, and the others all had a pained expression, as if his words hurt to hear.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    As if in response to his words, something within the world started to shake and disturb the otherwise silent battlefield. It was¡­the earth!


    The epicenter of this tremor was Mt. Crimson. The entirety of the mountain trembled as waves of energy exploded out from it. Condensing as elemental fire, energy flowed to the skies above to form a maelstrom of fire not much weaker than the black whirlpool.


    One second later and a person in red appeared out of thin air in front of Chu Yintian and the others.


    This newcomer was also an elderly figure, though his hair seemed to be as red as fire. His face, shriveled from age, was stern with an imposing glare in his eyes. His fiery-red robes looked like they had been fashioned from the scales of some kind of snake soulbeast and seemed to amplify the aura he gave off. Hardly anyone there even dared to look at him.


    ¡°Brother!!¡±


    ¡°Teacher!¡±


    ¡°Grandmaster!!¡±


    Several voices called out to him at once. The first was Chu Yintian, the second was Yang Yao and Hu Yang, and the third was Kou Changkong. Everyone seemed relieved to see this man here.


    This elder was a genuine ¡®ancestor¡¯ of the Crafting School and also the strongest they had to offer, Shen Pojun!


    Isolated in meditation for nearly a hundred years, Shen Pojun had resolved himself to not emerge from the depths of Mt. Crimson until he achieved Sainthood. So to see him appear now of all times felt¡­


    Shen Pojun ignored the ones behind him in favor to stare wide-eyed at the figure in black. ¡°Gu Lianhun?! You¡¯re alive! Impossible!¡±


    Gu Lianhun was a man even older than Shen Pojun. Known as the elite amongst the elites, he had been the strongest refiner in the Soul Refining School over two hundred years ago and made trouble whenever he pleased. He went silent two hundred years ago, and by the time Shen Pojun isolated himself a hundred years later, hardly anyone thought Gu Lianhun was still alive.


    So it was a shock to see the man standing right there!


    ¡°That¡¯s really Gu Lianhun?!¡±


    Chu Yintian gasped. While he had some kind of inkling the Soul Refining School still had something up their sleeves, he never imagined that one of the previous headmasters, Gu Lianhun, would be it.


    ¡°No! That¡¯s not your real body¡­you¡¯re an avatar!! And¡­you¡¯re fading away!!¡±


    Shen Pojun announced in equal parts shocked and relieved.


    It was rumored that Gu Lianhun and several other Soul Emperors had met their demise in some hidden location two hundred years ago, but it seemed that rumor was only partially true. Gu Lianhun wasn¡¯t able to return to the Soul Refining School and was instead only able to use his avatar to continue on. But even that had its limits, and without the avatar having a real body to replenish its energy, even if it was a Saint, the avatar was close to fading away.


    Knowing that, Shen Pojun mentally calculated the odds and deduced that the two of them had to be of near-equal strength. To him, that was a very relieving thought to have.


    He wasn¡¯t a Saint like Gu Lianhun, but he was so insanely close that his foot was practically halfway in the realm of Sainthood. His chances of success against a Saint was slim-to-none, but against a weakened Early-stage Soul Saint avatar, those same chances were looking much better than before¡­


    ¡°Dying my avatar may be, but you will still stand no match against me¡­¡± Gu Lianhun didn¡¯t seem to be in anyway annoyed to have his circumstances aired out. Instead, he gave a small chuckle, ¡°Come with me if you don¡¯t want your precious school and students to be struck by our battle¡­¡±


    Gu Lianhun gave a final look to the refiners from his side of the battlefield before disappearing from sight.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Wary, Shen Pojun glanced in the direction where Gu Lianhun disappeared to. He hadn¡¯t a good feeling about this¡­

 Chapter 1231: Ill Go Help!

    Shen Pojun looked up. Gu Lianhun¡¯s aura signature was telling him that the other man was dozens of kilometers higher up in the sky. He, too, disappeared a moment later to the same place where Gu Lianhun was.


    A place everyone knew¡ªthe realm above the Ninth Heaven!


    Gu Lianhun wanted to do battle with Shen Pojun within chaotic space!


    Chaotic energy wasn¡¯t new to Shen Pojun. Having trained for years deep within the earth, Shen Pojun was able to gather and harness chaotic energy to potent levels despite not reaching Sainthood. He wouldn¡¯t be hurt by the raw chaotic energy above the Ninth Heavens, but his fighting capabilities would definitely be hindered in a battle there.


    There were, however, limits to his understanding of chaotic energy. Drawing elemental fire from chaotic energy would be very difficult for him, and that was definitely not ideal considering who his opponent was!


    But he hadn¡¯t any other choice. Fighting anywhere else but here would mean catastrophic damages to everyone else, and that was something neither of the two could allow.


    ¡°Brother¡­¡±


    Chu Yintian muttered as he looked up to where Gu Lianhun had disappeared off to. Hesitantly, he looked to Shen Pojun.


    ¡°It cannot be helped, this is a battle that must be fought. Don¡¯t worry, there is still a chance for victory.¡±


    Shen Pojun replied. He gave one last look to the students of the Crafting School gathered around him before disappearing from sight.


    ¡°I will destroy Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar even if I must sacrifice myself. Take this moment to rest up. Should the enemy not fight, then wait for my return and I will handle the rest. I am confident in your victory and the continued existence of our school¡­the Crafting School will be under your protection in the future. Take care¡­¡±


    Though Shen Pojun was gone, Chu Yintian could still hear the voice of his senior brother in his mind.


    ¡°Brother¡­¡±


    Again, Chu Yintian whispered the same words as before. But this time, these words were spoken not with hesitation, but with despair. He didn¡¯t show it on his face, but his words were far more than enough to convey the intense sorrow he felt. Shen Pojun was clearly speaking as if his death was already determined. In other words, Shen Pojun was planning for the worst-case-scenario in which he¡¯d sacrifice himself to take out the enemy!


    It wasn¡¯t an even fight. Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar might¡¯ve been on the verge of fading away, but that didn¡¯t mean Shen Pojun was on equal footing with him. His own foot wasn¡¯t even beyond the line to Sainthood, meaning the difference between the two was as vast as an ocean. To say Shen Pojun had a chance at victory was to say a very generous statement.


    It was, in fact, a way for Shen Pojun to inspire confidence in himself and others. To say otherwise would be to give the students more pressure than he¡¯d like. He didn¡¯t even consider his own wellbeing important anymore.


    Chu Yintian knew. Shen Pojun¡¯s lifespan was drastically larger than his, and given a dozen or two more years, Shen Pojun would definitely ascend to Sainthood and become one of the greatest elites. But him coming out to protect the Crafting School in its time of need would mean that Sainthood was no longer possible¡­


    Reluctance. Humiliation. Sorrow. Hatred¡­


    The emotions swimming inside Chu Yintian¡¯s heart was crushed with a surge of soulforce. Spurring his injuries in rejuvenating even faster, he sent a glowering glare to the enemies in front of him.


    Like Shen Pojun, Chu Yintian was ready to lay down his life for the Crafting School. Its enemies would have to pay a terrible price if they wanted to destroy his precious school. Not even that Dong Wanlei would be able to return to his school untouched!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The rest of the battlefield was deathly silent. Everyone had been quiet when Shen Pojun and Gu Lianhun entered, and they were still quiet now that the two were gone.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    A series of explosions could be heard from far above, shocking many at how loud the explosions were.


    Neither of the two fighters could be seen, but the explosions and occasional flashes of light could be witnessed and heard even from far beneath the Ninth Heaven.


    ¡°Chaotic space¡­they¡¯re fighting in that place!!¡±


    Several of the slower combatants cried out the moment they realized what was going on.


    That didn¡¯t change much for any of them. Even if they knew where the two were fighting, it didn¡¯t mean they could do anything about it but watch from where they were. A battle involving Saints was not a battle they could ever hope to step foot in,


    Chu Yintian and Dong Wanlei were no exceptions. They had no confidence in even stepping foot in the chaotic space, let alone fight.


    Regardless, everyone¡¯s eyes were glued to the heavens above them. But only one of them had eyes for something else¡­.


    Bai Yunfei had only just returned to Tang Xinyun¡¯s side a moment ago. He didn¡¯t even see Shen Pojun¡¯s face clearly in time before they left. Only when the fight begun was he able to think about the situation at hand.


    ¡°Xinyun, take the Core Stone, I¡¯m going to meditate for a moment!¡±


    Quickly handing the Core Stone to Tang Xinyun, Bai Yunfei disappeared into the Core World before she could even respond.


    ¡°Yunfei¡­¡±


    A response died out on Tang Xinyun¡¯s lips as she stood there. She stared suspiciously at the Core Stone as it floated down to her hand. Something about Bai Yunfei was strange.


    For some reason, Tang Xinyun felt as though Bai Yunfei was¡­excited?


    ¡­¡­


    Inside the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei appeared on top of a mountain peak. Without further ado, he waved his hand and summoned a white ball of light in front of him. Inside the ball of light was Dongfang Ming.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation like, Sealer?¡±


    He asked. Though without being said, Bai Yunfei could tell that half of Dongfang Ming¡¯s scorched body was already close to being back to normal.


    ¡°Nothing critical aside from the wounds healing. Should his arm and legs grow back, Dongfang Ming won¡¯t be able to use them. They¡¯ll be nothing more than empty shells without enough energy to help him break free.¡±


    Sealer appeared just beyond the white ball of light in the form of a small white tiger. Floating in midair, the tiger waved a dismissive claw as if uninterested about Dongfang Ming.


    ¡°That¡¯s good¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed in relief, ¡°keep him sealed for now. Let me know right away if anything chances.¡±


    He waved his hand, and just like that, Dongfang Ming was gone.


    In his place, a small golden bell appeared for Bai Yunfei to take into his hand. Tossing it up, Bai Yunfei watched as the bell expanded in size before falling back down around him with a loud ¡®gong¡¯.


    The King Caging Bell!


    In its interior, Bai Yunfei sat down on the ground and withdrew a light-green pill. He tossed it into his mouth and began to meditate with the Dual Flame Arte.


    While injured as a result of his battle with Dongfang Ming, the +13 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf had helped him reverse a great amount of damage. But there was still some damage to be healed from, especially since he had used Soul Ignition in his battle with both Dongfang Ming and Gui Nu. His current physical state wasn¡¯t the best it could be.


    Using Soul Ignition now would¡¯ve saw to Bai Yunfei regaining his strength and being battle-ready once again, but he didn¡¯t dare do that. The battle between Gu Lianhun and Shen Pojun wouldn¡¯t end that quickly, so it was better for him to take this downtime to heal up as much as he could ¡®naturally¡¯.


    By this point, his physical body and soul were in fine condition, it was just his soulforce that required time to recover. But with a high-level pill, the Dual Flame Arte, the Core World, his equipment, and the King Caging Bell, Bai Yunfei was confident it¡¯d take no time for him to recover.


    +10 Additional Effect: Recover 30 soulpoints per second if used upon oneself. Cooldown of 24 hours.


    ¡­¡­


    Ten minutes, comparatively speaking, was not a very long amount of time. But to the people of the Crafting and Soul Refining Schools, ten minutes felt like an eternity. Their heads were raised ever so high in the air as they listened to the sounds of battle with ever-increasing anxiety.


    Not all were anxious, however. Dong Wanlei looked at ease with the situation, as if he was confident that their supreme trump card, Gu Lianhun, would be able to defeat Shen Pojun and then finish off the rest of the opposition.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A figure appeared out of thin air beside Tang Xinyun, scaring everyone else around them.


    ¡°Yunfei! What are you¡ª¡± Li Chengfeng cried out.


    Everyone had been so captivated by Shen Pojun and Gu Lianhun¡¯s battle that they didn¡¯t even notice the ripples of energy that erupted from the Core Stone when Bai Yunfei reappeared.


    They were all surprised to see how refreshed and energetic Bai Yunfei seemed. His aura was bright and as sharp as ever, as if he never fought to begin with.


    But everyone could tell from his expression that he was ready to fight once again.


    Bai Yunfei nodded to everyone before turning his gaze upward. Before anyone could say anything, he skyrocketed up into the air with one last remark to them all:


    ¡°I¡¯m going to help!!¡±

 Chapter 1232: Intervening In A Battle Between Saints!

    ¡°He¡ªhelp?!¡±


    Multiple people¡¯s eyes were glued to the spot Bai Yunfei had been in. They were all having a hard time believing what they had just heard.


    He wanted to enter a fight between Saint-leveled people?! And in chaotic space?! Bai Yunfei was only capable of becoming a Mid-stage Soul Emperor through his own techniques, what good was he in a fight of that caliber?!


    ¡°How reckless! What could he poss¡ª¡±


    Chu Yintian moved to stop him, but it was too late, Bai Yunfei was already too far gone in the sky. There wasn¡¯t any point moving now.


    He was also hesitant to leave. Who knew if Dong Wanlei would do anything if he was gone? Who¡¯d stop him in that case?


    Besides, Chu Yintian wouldn¡¯t be any help in chaotic space either. He hardly had enough power to keep himself safe from the harm of chaotic energy, let alone help.


    And that was the reason why he called Bai Yunfei reckless. What else was this but a suicide attempt?!


    ¡°Please rest assured, teacher, Yunfei is an extraordinarily capable person. He might be a Soul Emperor, but he can use chaotic energy. He may be able to actually help in chaotic space!¡±


    Xiao Binzi¡¯s voice spoke to Chu Yintian¡¯s mind just then.


    Chu Yintian froze up. Turning to look at Xiao Binzi, he replied, ¡°What?! He can use chaotic energy? That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    ¡°Is there ever anything that¡¯s impossible?¡± Xiao Qi snorted, ¡°Even I can train with chaotic energy! And Yunfei¡¯s even better, he already knows the Law of Chaos! There was somehow who brought Yunfei to chaotic space to kill him and ended up dying himself.¡±


    Though pleased on Bai Yunfei¡¯s behalf, Xiao Qi was also slightly vexed that he hadn¡¯t been brought with him to chaotic space. He had wanted to show some results of some kind but had yet to do so. Xiao Qi was able to train in chaotic energy like Bai Yunfei, but he still wouldn¡¯t be very useful in chaotic space. And not only would he struggle, but Xiao Qi was also not strong enough to offer much help¡­


    So lost was Xiao Qi in his thoughts that he didn¡¯t even pay attention to the shock he had delivered to Chu Yintian and the others¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°A bothersome gnat flying to his own death!!¡±


    Dong Wanlei barked with laughter. Bai Yunfei¡¯s disappearance had not gone unnoticed by the opposition, and Dong Wanlei had laughed merrily to himself as he watched Bai Yunfei fly off to chaotic space.


    Only Mo Ni seemed unsure of Dong Wanlei¡¯s criticism. He felt uneasy about the situation. Lu Suxing¡¯s words were still bothering him. He remembered how it was said Yue Kuangfeng had died at Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands in chaotic space. He didn¡¯t know what Bai Yunfei did, but the fact-of-the-matter was, Bai Yunfei was unaffected by chaotic space.


    And he of all people knew Bai Yunfei. There was no way he was a ¡®reckless¡¯ man who never calculated the risks. If he went, then there was a reason why he went.


    ¡°Is he really going to fight the ancestor?! He¡­he can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Ignorant of the conjectures and concerns of the people below, Bai Yunfei flew higher and higher into the sky. Already, he had entered ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode so he could better weather the transition into chaotic space.


    It was when Bai Yunfei had just entered the battlefield that he suddenly activated one of his soul armaments. Pulsing once with light, the Returner Armor on his body immediately created a black whirlpool in front of him to devour a huge tear in space coming toward him.


    ¡°Woah¡­¡±


    Sweat appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face at once. He could hardly help himself from letting out a gasp of surprise from his lips from fright.


    That attack wasn¡¯t even aimed for him, but it would¡¯ve killed him if he hadn¡¯t been so cautious¡­


    The Cataclysmic Seal, Fire-tipped Spear, Heaven¡¯s Thunder, and even the King Caging Bell were being brought out one after another to circle around Bai Yunfei protectively as he flew upward.


    The next to attack Bai Yunfei were the auras of the two beings. It felt as if their auras were forcing the breath from him.


    First to come into sight was a sea of flames flooding a portion of chaotic space. Just that alone would¡¯ve made any gasp from the brilliance, but there was also a jet-black ¡®crack¡¯ that ran through it and sent elemental darkness and spatial cracks flying everywhere.


    The Laws of Fire, Space, Darkness, and even chaotic energy¡­Bai Yunfei felt his heart go faint at the feel of it all.


    Shen Pojun and Gu Lianhun were separated by a kilometer of distance, but their hands shot Law after Law toward one another as if they were hardly even meters apart. The chaotic energy between them continued to explode with intense spikes of energy and caused even Bai Yunfei¡¯s skin to crawl from the sensation.


    The only difference between Shen Pojun and Gu Lianhun were their interaction with their surroundings. For Shen Pojun, the chaotic energy around him was being constantly repelled by the sea of flames, but Gu Lianhun was actively using chaotic energy in his attacks alongside the Law of Space and Darkness.


    Other than there, Shen Pojun had three soul armaments that¡¯d fly around him while Gu Lianhun had to fend them off without a single soul armament.


    The majority of Shen Pojun¡¯s attacks were based around his three soul armaments, especially the crescent-moon-shaped sword soul armament he had. It cleaved through most of the elemental attacks Gu Lianhun sent out while his shield and parasol shaped soul armaments blocked the rest.


    Fear traveled up Bai Yunfei¡¯s spine at the sight of the massive battle between the two. Biting his lips, he gathered his wits to him and flew toward Shen Pojun.


    ¡°Ancestor!! Allow me to lend my aid!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Neither of the two fighters expected to see Bai Yunfei appear in their fight.


    The both of them felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura before the person in question came close enough to them, but they were surprised that it was only just an Early-stage Soul Emperor. Mystified, Gu Lianhun decided to send a single spacial tear at him only to be surprised once again when it failed to kill Bai Yunfei.


    Then they were surprised yet again when Bai Yunfei called out to them again.


    Bai Yunfei was actually able to move around in chaotic space!


    He wasn¡¯t like Shen Pojun, who was using a bubble of elemental energy to push away chaotic energy. He was more like Gu Lianhun, who was moving freely through the energy without disturbance!


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    Gu Lianhun cried out. Was he wrong? Was Bai Yunfei actually a Saint in disguise? It couldn¡¯t be! This person was definitely an Early-stage Soul Emperor! So how was this person able to even exist in chaotic space?!


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Like Gu Lianhun, Shen Pojun was utterly dumbfounded. He could tell by Bai Yunfei¡¯s surroundings that the chaotic energy around him was completely undisturbed. There was no sign of elemental energy being used to repel the chaotic energy, meaning Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in any danger here at all!


    He knew Bai Yunfei was one of those people who appeared among the crafters earlier, and hearing him call out to him as ¡®ancestor¡¯ confirmed that. But¡ª


    Since when did he have a descendant like this?! What manner of Saint was he?!


    ¡°Ancestor, please don¡¯t worry about the surrounding chaotic energy, your student will help you ward it off!!¡±


    Arriving by Shen Pojun¡¯s side, Bai Yunfei brandished his right hand at Gu Lianhun and fired of a single black beam of chaotic energy at him!


    Striking against the coarse black beam Gu Lianhun fired off, the two attacks exploded and dissipated away!


    ¡°The¡­the Law of Chaos!! Impossible!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun¡¯s face froze. For a moment, he could do nothing else but scream out his confusion!


    It seemed like a massive joke to him when Bai Yunfei said he was there to help Shen Pojun. An Early-stage Soul Emperor was nothing but an ant to him, given his powers. Being able to enter chaotic space might¡¯ve been a very surprising thing to see, but Gu Lianhun was still extremely confident in dealing with the ignorant Soul Emperor.


    Things were different now. This new enemy had the means of fighting him!!

 Chapter 1233: Upgrading Before the Battle

    Once again, Shen Pojun and Gu Lianhun found themselves stunned by Bai Yunfei¡¯s capabilities. In fact, once he saw how Bai Yunfei was able to use the Law of Chaos, Gu Lianhun found himself with a sliver of ¡®fear¡¯!


    It wasn¡¯t just chaotic energy, but the Law of Chaos itself! This was a type of power not even he, a Saint, was able to comprehend just yet! How was a simple Early-stage Soul Emperor able to do what he couldn¡¯t?!


    As fast as it appeared, the fear in his eyes was replaced with another entity: killing intent!


    ¡°This child cannot be allowed to live!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was now someone Gu Lianhun was willing to call a threat. A threat to not just himself, but to the Soul Refining School as a whole! Given time to develop, this child would most definitely be able to achieve Sainthood! It was a terrifying thought; if that happened¡­what would the Soul Refining School be able to do?!


    And so Gu Lianhun was fully resolved to kill Bai Yunfei. In fact, Bai Yunfei¡¯s name was on top of his list, knocking Shen Pojun from the top! He was a threat that couldn¡¯t be allowed to continue existing!


    ¡°It¡¯s been two hundred years since I lost contact with my main body. I don¡¯t know what might¡¯ve happened in ¡®that¡¯ place, but I should still be alive¡­my avatar dying here¡­wouldn¡¯t be the end of everything¡­¡±


    A melancholic light passed through Gu Lianhun¡¯s eyes. The thought of him sacrificing his own avatar was a sad one, but he was resolved to do so if it meant the destruction of Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun.


    Without having a main body to communicate with for over two hundred years ago, Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar was essentially an ¡®individual¡¯ of its one. The connection between the two had been lost for so long that the avatar has resigned itself to protect the Soul Refining School. Like the main body, the avatar placed the school as its highest priority. Sacrificing himself for the school was not a price too heavy for him to pay.


    It was in this regard that he was similar to Shen Pojun¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Without any lingering hesitations, Gu Lianhun threw himself back into the fight with even more vigor than before!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ancestor, please focus on defending against his attacks, I¡¯ll manage the chaotic energy around us. We should be able to drain his avatar of energy if we keep stalling!!¡±


    Shen Pojun blinked as he processed Bai Yunfei¡¯s words, ¡°Very well then!!¡± He replied. The plan, while surprising, was not a bad one.


    His own plan had the same goal as Bai Yunfei, though he hadn¡¯t much hope in accomplishing it by himself. With Bai Yunfei here, however, Shen Pojun now had hope that it¡¯d work.


    He hadn¡¯t the foggiest of Bai Yunfei¡¯s capabilities, but he didn¡¯t have the time to think about it. With his aid, Shen Pojun was sure that he wouldn¡¯t have to waste any energy safeguarding himself from the chaotic energy. That in itself was a blessing and would definitely alleviate the drain on his soulforce.


    That didn¡¯t mean he could leave Bai Yunfei to protect him from Gu Lianhun¡¯s attacks, however. Gu Lianhun¡¯s strike earlier was stopped by Bai Yunfei, but it was stopped with great difficulty. An Early-stage Soul Emperor simply didn¡¯t have the power to stop the attack of a Saint with ease.


    It was simply a test of strength for Bai Yunfei. He wanted to see his limits against a Saint, and the results left a bitter smile on his face.


    ¡°As I thought, a Saint¡¯s power is too much for me, even with the help of the Law of Chaos¡­Just one attack takes away a third of my soulforce¡­that¡¯s not an amount I can ignore in this kind of battle!¡±


    It was a bitter truth, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t down for the count just yet. He never had the idea that he might be able to fight a Saint by himself, and neither did he think he¡¯d be able to charge head-on against Gu Lianhun. His true plan was to aid Shen Pojun as much as he could for the most optimal chance of victory.


    ¡°Ancestor, is that crescent-moon-shaped blade your lifebound armament?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked. He had been eyeing the three soul armaments flying around for a while now.


    ¡°Hm?¡± In the middle of controlling his soul armaments, Shen Pojun gave Bai Yunfei a quick glance before nodding, ¡°Yes, I have named it the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade!¡±


    ¡°Ancestor, if you can bring that soul armament back for just a few moments, I can increase its attack power by over half its original power!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    The confused eyes of Shen Pojun lingered even longer on Bai Yunfei as if waiting for confirmation on what he had just heard.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to explain,¡± Bai Yunfei returned with an earnest stare, ¡°Please believe in me, ancestor. I would never joke around when the lives of our school and us are at stake!¡±


    For a moment, Shen Pojun did nothing but stare at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Very well then!¡± He replied at last.


    As puzzled as he was, Shen Pojun decided it was worth placing his trust in this Bai Yunfei. He couldn¡¯t think of a way Bai Yunfei might ¡®cheat¡¯ him, and what Bai Yunfei said was true. There was no time for debate, but, there was enough time for him to pull his soul armament back for a while without Gu Lianhun taking advantage of it.


    Waving his right hand, Shen Pojun summoned the sword back to him at once.


    The sword latched onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s sword. At once, Bai Yunfei felt a wave of heat surge through into his palm, making him think the sword to be more like a dragon than a soul armament. Given the name Shen Pojun gave it, this soul armament was most likely crafted with the materials from an ancient flame dragon.


    Without sparing any time to further think about its construction, Bai Yunfei closed his eyes and awaited for the notification that¡¯d appear.


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Attack: 9000


    Equipment Effect 1: 70% Increase in attack against metal and wood types.


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Chance to invoke the spirit of a dragon when attacking. Increase attack power by 50% and reduce energy consumption by 50%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 490 Soulpoints


    He had been prepared for a powerful soul armament, but Bai Yunfei still found himself stunned by this one. This was the strongest soul armament he had ever seen prior to being upgraded!


    Soul armaments with an attack or defense of over ten thousand were already classified as being divine-tier, so that meant this soul armament of Shen Pojun was nearly on that same level!


    And invoking the spirit of a dragon¡­did the soul armament really contain the spirit of one? Or did the soul armament have the characteristics of that of a Regalia?!


    As shocked as he was, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to waste time gawking at it. His left hand withdrew a fist-sized stone as white as snow and immediately touched it against the soul armament.


    It was one of the items he got in the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts, a Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    He growled to himself. Upon his call, the stone crumbled into dust and was absorbed into the soul armament!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    There was a brilliant flash of red light as the blade vibrated, chiming eerily similar to the pleased growls of a dragon.


    Upgrade Successful


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Attack: 9000


    Additional Attack: 5000


    Soul Compatibility: 10%


    Equipment Effect 1: 70% Increase in attack against metal and wood types.


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Chance to invoke the spirit of a dragon when attacking. Increase attack power by 50% and reduce energy consumption by half.


    +10 Additional Effect: Reduce soulforce consumption by half when attacking.


    Upgrade Requirement: 490 Soulpoints


    Ecstatic, Bai Yunfei regaled the soul armament in his hand with great joy! Not only had the soul armament been upgraded, but its effects to reduce soulforce consumption by half was exactly what they needed!


    What a stroke of good fortune!


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    It went without saying that Shen Pojun could sense the changes taking place in his soul armament. Despite his longevity and experience, not even he was able to stop himself from staring with wide-open eyes.


    Before he could even ask what Bai Yunfei had done, Shen Pojun watched as another white stone was taken out and knocked against his soul armament.


    ¡°Upgrade!!¡±


    Completely ignorant of the stunned Shen Pojun, Bai Yunfei was focused entirely on the soul armament in his hands. He had used another one of his heaven-tier upgrade stones and was ready to alter the outcome if he had to. And for that, he had to have complete and utter focus.


    Upgrade Successful


    But it seemed he didn¡¯t have to. Pleased, Bai Yunfei watched as the notification of a successful upgrade popped up in his head. He had managed to upgrade it again!


    The sword had an additional attack of 6500 now that it was +11, meaning the soul armament now had a total of 15500 attack!


    Done with the soul armament, Bai Yunfei floated it back to its proper place next to Shen Pojun. ¡°Ancestor, your student has a special power known as the ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯. It¡¯s power is as you can see, but I can¡¯t explain it right now. If you can call your other two soul armaments back, I can upgrade them as well!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    As expected from a seasoned and powerful soul cultivator, Shen Pojun took the surprising changes in stride. Utterly overwhelmed with joy, he sent the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade flying while simultaneously bringing back the parasol-shaped soul armament to Bai Yunfei.


    Grabbing hold of the golden soul armament, Bai Yunfei grabbed another +10 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone and immediately placed the two objects together¡­


    ¡°Upgrade!!¡±

 Chapter 1234: Nine Cycles of Annihilation

    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 8000


    Additional Defense: 5300


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect: For 10 seconds, any elemental attack weaker than this item can be absorbed and re-released anytime within.


    Destroy this item if the attack was absorbed for over 10 seconds.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Increase in attack when releasing an absorbed attack.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    Through the usage of an +10 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone and then an ordinary heaven-tier upgrade stone, Bai Yunfei was able to upgrade the parasol to +11. It was without its difficulties, however, as Bai Yunfei had to alter the outcome once during the process.


    This parasol wasn¡¯t different than that of an umbrella based on appearances. Before, the parasol was only capable of providing adequate coverage of Shen Pojun, but after Bai Yunfei upgraded it, the parasol¡¯s coverage expanded so that it could cover the entirety of its owner.


    Its equipment effect was quite strong and was nearly on par with the +12 additional effect of the Returner Armor, but not quite. It had to first absorb an attack before it could re-release it, and even then, the parasol had limits on what attacks it could absorb.


    ¡°Ancestor, please bring back the next one!¡±


    Bai Yunfei tossed the parasol back over to Shen Pojun, who grabbed it just in time to open it up and protect himself from a blast of elemental energy.


    Once more, Shen Pojun regaled his soul armament with newfound excitement. Without hesitation this time, he had the shield-type soul armament whiz toward Bai Yunfei. By the time it reached his hand, the shield was already the size of his palm and had the shape of a caltrop token.


    As he did with the previous two, Bai Yunfei swiftly took out a +10 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone¡­


    Upon upgrading it to +10, Bai Yunfei tried to upgrade it to +11. And after altering the outcome once again, Bai Yunfei was pleased to see that he had managed to do it.


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Fire


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 8500


    Additional Defense: 5400


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect: In exchange for soulforce, counter any physical attack with an equivalently-powered fire-type attack when struck.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to increase defense by 50% for 60 seconds.


    Cooldown of 5 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    Finished with the final soul armament, Bai Yunfei threw it toward Shen Pojun. As it traveled through the air, the soul armament transformed into the size of a door with a bright red and golden light encompassing its flight path.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. His painful task of upgrading Shen Pojun¡¯s soul armaments was finally over! His usage of the Upgrade Technique wasn¡¯t as numerous as usual, but doing so during a very tense battle was definitely a first for him. Thankfully, his first attempt was a success and the enemy never managed to capitalize on his distraction.


    Bai Yunfei was filled with satisfaction. Three new soul armaments with increased attack, defense, and utility. And these effects were definitely what Shen Pojun could use right now in his battle.


    ¡­¡­


    It took no longer than twenty seconds for Bai Yunfei to upgrade the three soul armaments. Shen Pojun could hardly believe his eyes, but he had to admit the difference between their upgrade and now was as different as night and day. If not for his own senses being connected to the soul armaments, Shen Pojun would¡¯ve thought himself to be stuck in an illusion of some kind.


    He was, after all, an experienced ancestor of the Crafting School. Hardly any other person alive could boast of being more knowledgeable of soul armaments than him, so it came to him as an immense shock when Bai Yunfei mentioned the ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯.


    Not even Gu Lianhun could believe his eyes when the three soul armaments renewed their attacks on him.


    ¡°What did he do?!¡±


    It had been with wary eyes that Gu Lianhun watched Bai Yunfei. Though nowhere knowledgeable about the inner workings of soul armaments, he could at the very least understand Bai Yunfei had done something strange in the short amount of time to bolster those three soul armaments. The effects were so staggering that he would¡¯ve refused to believe it if not for him being able to experience the changes firsthand.


    It wasn¡¯t as though avatars couldn¡¯t use soul armaments, far from it. It was just that all his soul armaments were taken away by the main body over two hundred years ago. Due to his state of hibernation, Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar hadn¡¯t the opportunity to avail itself to any new soul armament and was thus unable to create a soulbound armament. Using a regular soul armament was effectively useless since they wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand his power. So in short, it was better for him to fight ¡®empty-handed¡¯.


    Previously, Gu Lianhun felt annoyed dealing with Shen Pojun¡¯s three soul armaments, but now that they were upgraded, they went from being ¡®irksome¡¯ to being a down-right pain.


    Were it his real body, or if his avatar had been at its peak, Gu Lianhun was sure these two enemies would¡¯ve been snuffed out without a problem. Instead, they were turning out to be a real pain in the neck!


    ¡­¡­


    The following battle went on for ten whole minutes without either side having the advantage. The more energy he lost, the more Gu Lianhun began to grow sullen. Already Gu Lianhun was starting to think of conservative measures to keep as much energy as he could. Prolonging the battle would do nothing but harm to him!


    He still had a soul attack he could use. Originally, this was something he planned to use against Shen Pojun at the right moment, but he didn¡¯t dare to now that Bai Yunfei was here. Prior to his arrival, the reports from his school told him about Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®impossible¡¯ feats, and one of those feats included being able to reflect soul attacks somehow. Many of those in the Soul Refining School had fallen prey to this specific feat, leaving him with no one to tell him how this was done.


    In short, Gu Lianhun was very hesitant to use that soul attack now.


    ¡°The underworld take you, die!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun howled, blowing away his hesitation with a surge of soulforce to flow across the area with devastating force!


    He was clearly powering up to unleash a powerful killing move!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Not even the air was left around Gu Lianhun. His soulforce had blown everything away, leaving a gigantic hole in space with several cracks splintering off from it. From afar, this phenomenon looked like a pitch-black sun.


    Almost as if afraid, the chaotic energy near Gu Lianhun flowed away from the black sun so as to prevent itself from being sucked in.


    Gu Lianhun looked as though he was melting in the darkness. Enveloped by the darkest of shadows, Gu Lianhun raised his right hand to point a single finger forward!


    Pulsating, the black sun above Gu Lianhun¡¯s head drew in even more power before crashing down onto Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun!


    ¡°This¡­is the Nine Cycles of Annihilation, watch out!!¡±


    Shen Pojun took a step back as if to protect Bai Yunfei from the move. He recognized the move straight away and cried out in warning. Bai Yunfei hardly heard it at first, but he could hear a very faint tone of fear in Shen Pojun¡¯s voice!


    That was because Shen Pojun knew this specific technique to be Gu Lianhun¡¯s strongest technique, the Nine Cycles of Annihilation!!


    It was a technique comprised mainly of spatial energy alongside several other elements. As a rare dual-type soul cultivator of elemental darkness and spatial energy, Gu Lianhun was able to create a high-heaven tier soul skill with devastating power. It was said that over two hundred years ago, Gu Lianhun used this skill to kill an Early-stage Soul Saint!


    Shen Pojun¡¯s confidence was cut in half the moment he saw this move, but he wasn¡¯t without options just yet. Flaring up with soulforce, he ignored every over thing in the world and pushed both palms out!


    ¡°Bzz!!¡±


    The Flame Dragon Crescent Blade froze in the air several hundred meters in front of him. The air chimed with a metallic ring as the blade suddenly turned around and shot backward!


    Flames erupted from the soul armament and twisted around it to form a giant dragon. Spiralling into the air, the soul armament flew toward the black hole as if attempting to bisect it!


    Bai Yunfei watched with excitement as the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade flew toward the enemy soul skill, but upon seeing the extremely wary look on Shen Pojun¡¯s face, he realized it was too soon to relax. Twitching only a finger, Shen Pojun had his golden parasol fly with the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade toward the black hole.


    Bai Yunfei watched with bated breath as the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade struck into the black hole and cleaved it in two. Then, with horror, Bai Yunfei gasped as he saw a second black hole follow up behind the first!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The golden parasol blew open to take on the second black hole. Expanding largely to blot out a good portion of the sky, it awaited the black hole to careen into it so it could absorb it. Then, like rain on an umbrella, the black ball of light diffused over the surface of the parasol and was absorbed. Task completed, the parasol snapped back shut with a loud cry!


    Fist outstretched, Shen Pojun looked pleased when the black hole was successfully absorbed. His excitement was short-lived, however, as he found himself snarling and opening up his fist!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A wailful cry chimed from the parasol as it opened up along with Shen Pojun¡¯s fist. A black ball of light was ejected from the parasol to fly backward toward a tertiary black hole. The two collided together and dissipated without a trace after that.


    Shen Pojun had used the parasol¡¯s new effect to neutralize the third strike with the second!


    But¡­that wasn¡¯t the end of it!


    The fourth black ball to appear was stopped by the third soul armament Shen Pojun had, the dark-gold shield. It managed to stop the fourth one before it had to fly back toward Shen Pojun, the light radiating from its surface notably darker than before.


    As if to take over the shield¡¯s job, the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade flew forward once more!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    In rapid succession, the fifth and sixth balls of light were cleaved apart by the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade!


    ¡°Pfttt!!¡±


    Shen Pojun could endure it no more. A mouthful of blood erupted from his mouth when the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade was on its way back after it stopped the sixth ball!!


    ¡°Ancestor!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out in alarm. He finally understood what the ¡®Nine Cycles of Annihilation¡¯ meant¡ªthis was a move that could strike the opponent nine times in quick succession!!


    And just at that moment, the seventh ball of light was coming down at them with the devastating power of spatial energy!

 Chapter 1235: A Crushing Blow With the Vampiric Demon Edge

    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Defense: 8000


    Additional Defense: 5300


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect: For 10 seconds, any elemental attack weaker than this item can be absorbed and re-released anytime within.


    Destroy this item if the attack was absorbed for over 10 seconds.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Increase in attack when releasing an absorbed attack.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    Shen Pojun¡¯s face was deathly pale. Pain wracked the entirety of his body as he tried to resist the aftermath of being struck. Teeth gritted, he snapped his head up to glare at the next ball coming down onto him.


    The next soul armament he¡¯d use to protect himself would be the shield, he decided. It was very possible his soulbound armament would be destroyed, but that was fine. Not even the destruction of his parasol would be too heavy a price to pay to withstand this attack!


    It wasn¡¯t just him that was suffering from the battle. Gu Lianhun¡¯s soulforce was clearly weaker than before, meaning the usage of the Nine Cycles of Annihilation had a greater toll than he imagined. If he could withstand the last few attacks, then he¡¯d definitely come out on top over Gu Lianhun. It was possible that he might even be able to win!


    Actually, Shen Pojun still had something up his sleeves, something he planned to use the moment he survived the barrage. He originally had the notion of using it to win a pyrrhic victory against Gu Lianhun, since using it would mean suffering from the side-effects. But even then, the side-effects meant nothing if it meant he could win¡­


    Then as Shen Pojun prepared to send his shield forward, his eyes widened as they took notice of a figure jumping in front of him.


    ¡°One moment, ancestor! Please leave this to me!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s voice spoke into his mind a moment later, leaving the man deeply confused.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Having hardly yet formed a full sentence, Shen Pojun watched in confusion as a blood-red light suddenly poured out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s person. The aura surrounding him was different than before, it now contained a furious amount of killing intent behind it!


    There was a new soul armament in Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand, a strange blood-colored longsword!


    The Vampiric Demon Edge!


    Had Shen Pojun been able to see the look Bai Yunfei had, he surely would¡¯ve been frightened by just a bit. For Bai Yunfei was no longer the same, physically speaking. His person was shriveled like a mummy with blood seeping from multiple pores. Practically defying gravity, the blood crawled over the surface of his skin to reach the Vampiric Demon Edge!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura would spike dramatically whenever a certain amount of blood was absorbed into the weapon, and in mere moments, Bai Yunfei was already stronger than when he fought against Qin Long. He was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor now!


    ¡°Kill!!!¡±


    Though still seemingly rational, Bai Yunfei¡¯s words carried a hint of insanity to them. Howling, he brandished the Vampiric Demon Edge and sent out a single sword stroke!


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 8000


    Additional Attack: 7500


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    Equipment Effect 1: Absorb the blood of those slain and temporarily gain a 30% increase in attack.


    +10 Additional Effect: Pay a blood price to increase the power of the user and item. Gain 1% attack and 2% increase to overall stats for every percentage of blood taken.


    Duration ends when no more blood is given.


    +12 Additional Effect: Heal from all wounds instantaneously. Increase all stats by 300% and dull the sense of pain by 50% for an hour.


    All damage sustained within that hour will have its severity amplified by 200% afterward.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    More than sixty percent of Bai Yunfei¡¯s blood had gone into the soul armament to activate the +10 additional effect. As a result, his power had practically skyrocketed to unbelievable levels!


    Even without the aid of elemental fire or lightning, the strike from the Vampiric Edge had been devastating enough to cut a swathe through chaotic energy!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    And just like that, the seventh ball of darkness was cut and destroyed!


    That one sword strike, however, had unfortunately took up all the soulforce Bai Yunfei had to offer. Having initially been surprised, Gu Lianhun had a sneer on his face. It seemed that had been the final piece of resistance Bai Yunfei had to offer.


    Still, that didn¡¯t mean everything had gone to plan, and neither did it mean it¡¯d continue that way. Before he could do anything, Gu Lianhun watched as Bai Yunfei suddenly had a resurgence of soulforce!


    ¡°Hah!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei howled. Blood-red light exploded from his dried skin with such heat that it seemed like the air was being dried. Then, Bai Yunfei¡¯s body began to swell up again as if it was being refilled¡ªhis body had replenished itself with blood in a half-second!


    And his aura was still stronger than before!


    Bai Yunfei had used the +12 additional effect of the Vampiric Demon Edge!


    Raising the soul armament above his head, Bai Yunfei unleashed a second slash onto the eighth black ball!


    ¡°Im¡ªimpossible!¡± Gu Lianhun shrieked, the transparent visage of his face was already twisted up in confused frustration. ¡°To the underworld with you!!¡± He cried out again.


    ¡°Bzz¡­crackle¡­crackle¡­¡±


    With him as its center, space around him started to splinter as the spatial energy grew more and more convoluted. Cracks tore open with devastating speed toward Bai Yunfei!


    This was his next strongest attack after the Nine Cycles of Annihilation!


    ¡°You¡¯re the one that should die!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was reaching a frantic fervor by this point. Both his eyes were bloodshot as multiple parts of his body started to tear open again. Once more, the blood from his body was crawling toward the Vampiric Demon Edge!


    He was activating the +10 additional effect once again!


    This was a reckless and insane thing to do!


    From a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura skyrocketed almost to the point of becoming a Late-stage Soul Emperor!


    Both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands clasped onto the sword. He raised it over his head, and for that one moment, his entire body seemed to have become an extension of that sword. Letting out a roar, he delivered a stunning downward stroke!


    Time came to a stop for a moment as even Shen Pojun seemed unable to move a single part of his body but his eyes. They tracked the beam of light sent from Bai Yunfei¡¯s sword toward the cracks of space coming at them before watching the two explode into a beautiful mixture of light¡­.


    ¡­¡­


    Moments passed before Shen Pojun was able to see more of his surroundings. The cracks in space had halted their advance, leaving everything around him and Bai Yunfei fine and undisturbed.


    Then he took notice of the ¡®bloody¡¯ figure standing in front of him. It came to him as a shock, to see Bai Yunfei¡¯s status, but he came to a stop before he could even take a step forward.


    That was because Bai Yunfei had suddenly swiveled his head back to stare at Shen Pojun. Just one look had been enough to stop Shen Pojun in his tracks. His mouth dropped slightly open as he began to tremble¡­


    Both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes were completely red, as if dyed with blood and killing intent!


    That killing intent was so potent that it left Shen Pojun with horror!


    The horror faded away when he saw something akin to conflict in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. He was fighting the bloodlust! Snarling, Bai Yunfei loosened his right hand and dropped the Vampiric Demon Edge so it could disappear back into his space ring.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    Blood was expelled from his mouth the moment the sword was detached from his hand. Multiple parts of his skin cracked and split open so that blood could flow out in volumes that made Bai Yunfei¡¯s body almost unrecognizable.


    Tragic beyond tragic, Bai Yunfei looked so terrifying that Shen Pojun felt his skin crawl just looking at him.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    It hurt Bai Yunfei to move even a muscle on his face. Grunting from the pain, he forced his hands together and began to form a string of handseals.


    Soul Ignition!


    The remaining soulforce within his body exploded throughout his body at once. Like a flood, heat burst out from his originseed to fill his body with new soulforce!


    The effect was instantaneous. Reinvigorated, Bai Yunfei¡¯s movements were swift as he popped a blood-red pill into his mouth. A soft green light began to glow from his Vitality Bracelet as it fed even more of its warmth into his body to aid Bai Yunfei¡¯s rejuvenation.


    Vitality Bracelet¡¯s additional effect:


    Equipment Effect: Increase healing rate by 15%.


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase healing rate by 10% for every time 10% of vitality is lost. When user is in a near-death state (Under 10% vitality), increase healing rate by 200%.


    His strength was now back to the levels of an Early-stage Soul Emperor. Thanks to Soul Ignition and the pill he had just taken, Bai Yunfei could feel himself as fresh and powerful as when he first started. A quick pulse of soulforce was all it took for him to evaporate the remaining blood on his body and return his skin back to its original color.


    ¡°Ancestor, please ingest this pill, it¡¯ll recover half your soulforce.¡±


    He fished another pill to hand to the awed Shen Pojun behind him.


    ¡°You¡­you¡­¡±


    Shen Pojun stared. He could hardly make a coherent sentence right now.


    The series of events that had just transpired since Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance had been far too much for Shen Pojun to take in. Like the swings of a hammer, each event he saw delivered a new blow of shock to his heart. Never in his three centuries of life had he ever been so stunned.


    Then when he was in this stunned state, Bai Yunfei¡¯s word jolted him out from it!


    ¡°Ancestor, I¡¯ve been using a soul skill to increase my strength, but I can¡¯t hold out much longer. Please recover your strength quickly, we should be able to win now that he¡¯s weakened!!¡±

 Chapter 1236: Reversal

    ¡°Im¡­impossible!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun was horrified. Already, he could feel and see his own avatar flicker erratically as he trembled under Shen Pojun and Bai Yunfei¡¯s stare. It felt like it¡¯d be any moment and his avatar would disappear.


    His power was nothing like it was before. He couldn¡¯t even be considered to be a Saint anymore. At best, he¡¯d be a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor¡­


    Putting most of his energy into the Nine Cycles of Annihilation had been a costly one. It was a larger consumption than when he fought for the previous twenty minutes without interference.


    He just couldn¡¯t believe that his enemies would still be alive after paying such a heavy price!


    In the best case scenario, Shen Pojun should¡¯ve barely survived the technique. But by that point he¡¯d be so severely injured and weakened that he would¡¯ve been an easy target to kill.


    Gu Lianhun had been so sure he was going to win the moment he saw how drained Shen Pojun was after blocking the sixth attack. He just never thought that Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve stepped in to stop the other three!


    It boggled his mind so much he didn¡¯t even have any other word but ¡®impossible¡¯ to describe this sight.


    The after tremor was even worse. Seeing Bai Yunfei completely rejuvenate from his prior injuries was a horrifying shock to Gu Lianhun, and to see Shen Pojun surge with renewed power was the last straw. Never, in the two hundred years or so he had spent his life as a near-peerless Saint (despite being an avatar), had he ever felt this much unbridled terror before¡­


    ¡°A pill!¡±


    Gu Lianhun realized with a start. That was what Bai Yunfei and Gu Lianhun had swallowed! A legendary pill that surely had to be very high-quality in order to elicit such an effect!


    Had he a real body, Gu Lianhun was certain he would¡¯ve puked blood out of frustration, this was unfair beyond belief!!


    A Saint he was, but he was also an avatar. One that had been separated from its main body for far too long. Without a body to regain energy or even the ability to ingest pills¡­his fighting capabilities were greatly hindered. Not even using his ultimate technique was able to grant him the victory.


    That in itself left Gu Lianhun in a very sour mood.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun weren¡¯t in a generous mood. If Gu Lianhun was busy venting to himself, then the two of them would be more than happy to attack! A crescent-shaped energy blade flew toward Gu Lianhun with an incredible amount of power to destroy him.


    Restored with energy from the pill Bai Yunfei had given him, Shen Pojun was ready to launch another volley of attacks!


    And this would be the first time since the battle started that the two would have the advantage!


    Red and black shot across the skies, tearing it apart as they flew. Coming from left and right, the two streaks of light offered no chance of escape for Gu Lianhun!


    To Shen Pojun, the Laws of Fire was something he had near mastery over. Although complicated to use in this environment, the Law was readily boosted by the effect of the Core Stone¡¯s +12 additional effect. Then combined with the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade¡¯s power, Shen Pojun could pull off an attack that¡¯d make even Gu Lianhun¡¯s hair stand on its end.


    +12 Additional Effect: Temporarily increase the activity rate of any type of energy by 100% within an area of the owner¡¯s choosing.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t exactly extremely proficient with chaotic energy, but his capabilities with the Law of Chaos wasn¡¯t something even a Saint could ignore.


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun howled in anger. His soulforce spiking intensely, Gu Lianhun lashed out with both hands to break apart the two attacks coming at him.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Four bursts of light exploded from where Gu Lianhun¡¯s hands met with the attacks. Like fireworks, the light showered everywhere with a deafening explosion.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Not even a Saint is able to fight tirelessly, he¡¯s approaching his limits!!¡±


    Shen Pojun announced in glee when he saw Gu Lianhun¡¯s weakened state. His and Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack might¡¯ve been stopped, but Gu Lianhun was definitely hurting for energy!


    Bai Yunfei looked elated too. ¡°It¡¯s perfect! He¡¯ll get weaker and weaker from here on out until we win¡­Ancestor, please keep on attacking! Don¡¯t give him any time to breathe, but please be careful for any desperation attacks!¡±


    ¡°Haha! Very well then!!¡±


    Booming with laughter, Shen Pojun was a man born anew. No longer had he an expression of concern and worry. Instead, he was laughing loudly and proud. As a man who had yet to reach Sainthood, how could he not be proud of being able to strike down a Saint?!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Again and again, Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun sent attack after attack toward Gu Lianhun. Never was there even a moment of respite for the Saint, and eventually, Gu Lianhun¡¯s energy grew closer and closer to nothing!


    And so was his defense!


    In a situation completely opposite of what it was before, Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun were attacking unobstructed while Gu Lianhun was desperately defending himself.


    Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun¡¯s reserve weren¡¯t endless, but they would definitely be able to last until Gu Lianhun was defeated. Not only was his avatar nearly out of energy, but it was also close to destabilizing completely. If nothing else was done, then Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar would disappear!


    And Gu Lianhun was aware of that outcome. The more he was attacked, the more fearful he became. And the more fearful he became, the angrier and more insane he got!


    He was a Saint, how could he possibly endure such humiliation?!


    There was no way he would!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Suddenly, Gu Lianhun let out a furious scream and exploded into a burst of black light. Covering the entirety of the sky near him, the black light shrouded everything into darkness. In the blink of an eye, Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun could only watch as a black figure stood in front of them.


    Like a demonic deity, this black figure reeked with power. As if made of the Law of Darkness, the figure raised both hands and broke apart the next two attacks coming at him!


    It¡¯s head snapped up to glare at Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun. No longer being attacked, the figure charged at the two to attack!


    Waves of intense energy rolled off the figure as it charged, leaving Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun with concerned expressions at last.


    ¡°He¡¯s going to self-destruct! Get back!!¡±


    Shen Pojun roared, his person already moving in front of Bai Yunfei to protect him. He was fully prepared to do anything to stop this last-resort move from Gu Lianhun.


    Grim-faced at the incoming climax of the battle, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind raced furiously on what he should do. Something like this wasn¡¯t completely unexpected, but he had hoped it wouldn¡¯t happen. As weakened as Gu Lianhun was, self-destructing would definitely be extremely difficult for Shen Pojun to handle.


    As he was preparing to muster the last of his soulforce, Bai Yunfei suddenly caught glimpse of something unexpected.


    ¡°Hold on! He isn¡¯t self-destructing, he¡¯s¡­¡±

 Chapter 1237: Return to the Earth

    Gu Lianhun wasn¡¯t using any kind of secret technique. It was simply just a technique that used the power of darkness to form a very powerful giant around him.


    But nonetheless, this technique had a peculiarity to it. This powerful technique of Gu Lianhun reeked of death¡ªit was a technique that allowed Gu Lianhun to sacrifice his soul for power.


    It was similar to Bai Yunfei¡¯s Soul Ignition, but this technique required burning up the soul without the possibility of recovery!


    One step at a time, the giant figure rushed for Bai Yunfei in a frenzied attempt to destroy both him and Shen Pojun.


    Shen Pojun hadn¡¯t been prepared for such an attack. Instead of facing a person thought to be self-destructing, he was instead being rushed by a shadow behemoth! Stunned, he watched as it drew closer and closer to them before it¡­suddenly dove into a completely direction downward!!


    ¡°No!¡± Cried Bai Yunfei, ¡°He¡¯s not self-destructing, he¡¯s¡­he¡¯s trying to run!!¡±


    Run?!


    A Saint of all people, running?!


    Even Bai Yunfei found it hard to believe, but it was the truth!


    Shen Pojun was well and ready to battle Gu Lianhun. His soulforce was nearly back to full thanks to the pill Bai Yunfei gave him. He himself was ready to use his strongest technique and already had elemental fire spilling from his person when Gu Lianhun was charging at him. When he heard what Bai Yunfei said, however, his eyes widened as he realized what that meant!


    ¡°No!! He¡¯s planning to attack the school! After him!!¡±


    The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Gu Lianhun had given up on the idea of living and had decided to take out the Crafting School beneath them as his final act!


    The power from a Saint¡¯s final attack was terrifying to even imagine. If he actually did self-destruct in front of the Crafting School, there¡¯d be no way for the school to survive!


    ¡°Bastard!!¡±


    Cursing Gu Lianhun, Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun dove down after the Saint at once!


    Half a step faster than the two, Gu Lianhun descended down toward the ground like a meteor. Even as a giant behemoth, he was more than a kilometer away from Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun and was well on his way back down to the earth.


    Already, the chaotic energy around Gu Lianhun was starting to thin. Piercing the clouds that marked the boundary between, he dived for the mountain that was now in sight¡ªMt. Crimson!


    The elemental energy around the three was in a chaotic flux due to the speeds in which they traveled. As a result, Bai Yunfei was unable to make use of the Core Stone and catch up to Gu Lianhun. Soon, Mt. Crimson and its terrain could be clearly seen along with the auras of the people gathered there.


    ¡­¡­


    Down below, in the skies above Mt. Crimson.


    Twenty minutes had passed since Bai Yunfei first left to help Shen Pojun. Left there to ¡®watch¡¯ the battle, the Soul Kings were in a state of heightened tension despite not fighting. The explosions far above caused their hearts to skip a beat as they waited. Neither side could tell what was going on, but they could at least both agree that the battle was a heart-stopping one.


    Hardly anyone could be blamed for looking to the opposing side every so often. There were people on both sides that wished to continue their battle, but until the one between Shen Pojun and Gu Lianhun was done, no one dared to move.


    ¡°It¡¯s still not over¡­? That shouldn¡¯t be right, that Shen Pojun should¡¯ve been killed by the ancestor, did Bai Yunfei actually manage to interfere?!¡±


    It was an extremely pale Mo Ni that stared at the skies above. His fists were clenched so tightly they went pale from a lack of blood.


    Originally, he thought it¡¯d take a little over two minutes for Gu Lianhun to kill Shen Pojun. Then, the Soul Refining School would be able to land the killing blow and destroy the Crafting School once in for all. In his mind, the appearance of Gu Lianhun was essentially the determining factor of their victory.


    But he couldn¡¯t help but feel concerned the moment since he saw Bai Yunfei fly upward. The longer he listened to the explosions, the more uneasy he felt. He knew a long battle was detrimental to Gu Lianhun!


    Whether he believed it or not, Mo Ni knew that Bai Yunfei definitely had something to do with this prolonged battle¡ªSomehow, Bai Yunfei was able to interfere in a battle involving Saints!!


    It filled him with envious reluctance. Reluctance, since he wanted nothing more than to refute that ability. And envy, for Mo Ni found himself standing even farther behind from Bai Yunfei than he liked¡­


    ¡°Eh?! Ancestor?!¡±


    The sight of something jettisoning out from the clouds above caught Mo Ni¡¯s eyes. Letting out a cry of excitement when he recognized the figure, he watched as a gigantic black demonic figure seemingly break apart the clouds to descend down to them!


    ¡°The Dark Guardian!! The ancestor has actually used that technique! Was that battle really so terrible?!¡±


    He was horrified to see the figure. If Gu Lianhun used that technique, then that meant his avatar would no longer be capable of existing. The moment that technique ended meant the avatar would cease to exist and ¡®die¡¯!


    ¡°Haha! Our ancestor has returned! He was victorious!!¡±


    People from the Soul Refining School began to cry out at his appearance. Even Dong Wanlei and those from the Wind Lightning School couldn¡¯t resist the smile appearing on their faces. Their ultimate warrior was back, and with such power! With him here, the destruction of the Crafting School wouldn¡¯t be too far away.


    Inversely, those from the Crafting School began to grow pale with dread.


    ¡°Did¡­did our ancestor and Bai Yunfei lose? It¡­it can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    Someone stuttered, frightened by the sight of Gu Lianhun.


    ¡°...¡±


    Tang Xinyun found herself gritting her teeth. She too, was trembling, her eyes reflected the terror of her fellow crafters.


    ¡°Quit your lies! Bai Yunfei¡¯s still okay! He¡¯s giving chase right now!¡±


    But then Xiao Qi¡¯s words cut through everyone¡¯s terror and caused them to look back up toward the sky.


    As Xiao Qi said, everyone watched as the ¡®cracks¡¯ left behind by Gu Lianhun ripped open once again to reveal two bright-red figures!


    And that was when everyone realized the truth¡ªGu Lianhun was running away, and Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun were giving chase!


    One was running, the other was chasing! Given a situation like that, one could easily see what the result of their battle was!


    The joy evaporated from the faces of Mo Ni and those from the Wind Lightning and Soul Refining Schools at once. It was their turn to be horrified!


    ¡­¡­


    In the time the fighters from both sides were able to properly process what was going on, the giant behemoth was already in clear view of many while the two streaks of red were close behind.


    The frightful aura of Gu Lianhun was apparent to everyone. Watching on in horrified fascination, everyone stared as the behemoth reached out with its right hand!


    Chu Yintian and the Soul Kings from the Crafting School blanched in fright. Immediately, they circulated their soulforce to them for a defensive maneuver in response to this hand. Even Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun were forced into action, choosing to propel themselves to come in between Gu Lianhun¡¯s hand and the Crafting School.


    But that was when an unexpected situation arose. The giant right hand wasn¡¯t coming for the Crafting School, but toward Mo Ni!

 Chapter 1238: Fleeing in Defeat

    No one expected to see such a sight, not even Mo Ni himself. Before he could even react, Mo Ni was lost under the gigantic hand. And it wasn¡¯t just him! Gui Nu and the Early-stage Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School was also obscured by the same hand that covered Mo Ni!


    The behemoth brought its hand back, leaving everyone to see that the three men were no longer standing there!


    ¡°Rumble!!¡±


    The entire world seemed to tremored as the behemoth exploded off against the ground, leaving a tremendous hole in space. As if vaulting up over a wall, the behemoth flew over Dong Wanlei¡¯s head off into the distance!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone stood there, awed by what they had just witnessed. No one there could believe their eyes.


    If they weren¡¯t mistaken¡­Gu Lianhun had just¡­fled off with Mo Ni?!


    The final battle wasn¡¯t even finished yet. Everyone had yet to even move, and yet a Saint had¡­been the first to flee?!


    It boggled the mind of everyone there. Incredulous, the people from both sides of the battle found themselves speechless. Some thought their nerves had been brought to such a high point that they were hallucinating things even.


    The first to react was Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun, but not even they had expected Gu Lianhun to do that. Both crafters presumed Gu Lianhun was ready to advance the final battle and inflict harm onto the Crafting School. If they fought there, Gu Lianhun would¡¯ve been able to fight without worry while Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun would have to multitask between battling and protecting the Crafting School. Instead of that, Gu Lianhun had fled as quickly as he appeared in the first place¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s first thought was to give chase, but he abandoned that thought straight away. Gu Lianhun fleeing wasn¡¯t the best-case scenario, but it was a great one nonetheless. If he and Shen Pojun were to chase down Gu Lianhun, then there remained the possibility that the Saint might actually try to self-destruct, of which the following explosion would surely cause no small amount of harm to the Crafting School.


    It seemed Shen Pojun shared his sentiment, as the older crafter gave Bai Yunfei a nod when their eyes met.


    ¡°Ancestor!!¡±


    Half a beat slower on the uptake, a Soul King from the Soul Refining School let out a wail that set off a chain reaction across the rest of the Soul Refining School.


    ¡°Bastard!!!¡±


    Dong Wanlei was the next to cry out. Furious, he let out a spiteful cry toward the direction Gu Lianhun disappeared in with a look that seemed ready to kill. The way his entire body trembled and shook made it look like he was fully prepared to tear and devour someone limb from limb.


    They all thought Gu Lianhun was making a ¡®triumphant¡¯ return to destroy the Crafting School. Instead, the Saint had disappeared in less than a second after his return! This complete subversion in expectation had left Dong Wanlei with nothing fury and horror!


    Fury because Gu Lianhun had abandoned the rest of his school to escape, and horror when he realized what that meant for the rest of them¡­


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving!!¡±


    Dong Wanlei¡¯s voice carried out to the ears of everyone there. Before his voice could even finish echoing, Dong Wanlei was gone! Gone in a burst of light to fly in the same direction Gu Lianhun had gone.


    He was fleeing!!


    Those who received his message were equally quick to respond. Their flight response kicked in at once and saw to them running after Dong Wanlei!


    Everyone knew that the moment Gu Lianhun fled was the moment their defeat was set in stone. They had no chance of victory anymore. Their strongest was gone while Shen Pojun was still here¡­how could they possibly win?!


    And so everyone from the two schools began to flee the moment they realized that!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ancestor¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei quickly glanced to Shen Pojun the moment he caught sight of the enemies fleeing.


    A hard glare greeted him. ¡°Fleeing after daring to strike my school? Let death take them!!¡±


    And in a burst of red light, Shen Pojun was gone to chase after Dong Wanlei.


    ¡°Kill them!!!¡±


    A triumphant war-cry exploded out from the Crafting School. Reinvigorated, everyone from the school began to chase after their foes.


    And so the final battle continued with one party fleeing and the other party giving chase.


    Bai Yunfei initially planned to follow after Shen Pojun but thought against it, a bitter smile on his face. He wasn¡¯t able to continue fighting in his current state.


    He didn¡¯t have to. The battle was all but over. With Shen Pojun and Chu Yintian here, cleaning up the stragglers would be a non-issue.


    From the beginning of the battle to now, Bai Yunfei had used Soul Ignition twice, activated the Vampiric Demon Edge¡¯s effects, used Berserk Mode, and flung around an exorbitant amount of soulforce in a minute. Fighting for even a minute longer would bring about more dangers to his body than he should risk.


    And so he decided to leave this to the others so he could rest.


    He turned his head to Tang Xinyun. ¡°Xinyun, I¡¯ll be resting in the Core World. Please take the Core Stone and stay here and look after little Rui¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡ªah! Are you alright, Yunfei?¡±


    She asked, concerned for his wellbeing.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, don¡¯t worry.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. Turning his attention first to Huangfu Rui, then to the Zi Jin in Song Lin¡¯s arms, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of concern before disappearing from the world.


    ¡­¡­


    Within the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei reappeared on top of a mountain. With a flick of his hand, the King Caging Bell came out in its enlarged state and fell down to cover his person.


    The moment he was enclosed, Bai Yunfei slapped his right palm to his chest to deactivate all his soul skills¡­


    Pain flooded his body the moment his aura levels began to drop. It was a pain like none before that started to grab hold of his body!


    ¡°Aahhhh!!!¡±


    Unable to endure the pain, Bai Yunfei let out a miserable howl of pain!


    ¡°Gongggg!!!¡±


    He slammed his hand against the King Caging Bell, causing the bell to echo out a loud sound that carried on for miles within the Core World¡­


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei was recuperating from his wounds in the Core World, a terrible massacre was taking place out in the real world.


    Broken in spirit, those from the Wind Lightning and Soul Refining School were like lambs among wolves and quickly met their fate to the crafters.


    Even those fighting similarly-leveled crafters lost in the end. No one from the two enemy schools was able to win against their pursuers.


    Not even the strongest, Dong Wanlei, was able to avoid having Shen Pojun catch up to him, and Huo Zhenting was already in the middle of battle with Chu Yintian.


    Every single person trying to flee was inevitably being killed, and the heart-pounding final battle was finally coming to a close¡­

 Chapter 1239: The Critical Condition of Zi Jin!

    In the halls of the Crafting School.


    Plenty of crafters were gathered in the halls, the rest having been relegated to the cleanup of the battlefield. Everyone here was a Soul King or higher in strength.


    Though the battle was over, and the spoils of war were great, many of the crafters had a grave expression on their faces. The cause of their concern were two figures in particular.


    One of those two figures was as still as a statue and was being hugged by a devastated Cang Yu; Huangfu Rui.


    The second was Zi Jin. Presently, he was enveloped in a bubble of red with both his eyes closed as if unconscious. Twisted together, the muscles on his face pushed against one another as if he was in pain. Above him stood Chu Yintian, whose right hand was pressed onto his shoulder so he could transfer soulforce to the man.


    Shen Pojun sat on a chair at the very end of the hall. Both eyes were closed as he meditated. The battle took a lot from him, and the injuries he received would take some time to recover from.


    Several others sat nearby, such as Yang Yao, Hu Yang, Kou Changkong, and Xiao Binzi. Even Li Chengfeng, Nalan Yin, and Zhi Tian sat in their own group with expressions of solemnity.


    No one spoke in the hall, the mood was simply not the right one for conversation.


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Xinyun suddenly looked up, her eyes brightening with light. The Core Stone in her hand pulsated with soulforce before a figure appeared right beside her. Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Yunfei!¡± She cried out, unable to hide her joy.


    The eyes of everyone in the hall was on him at once. Even Shen Pojun had his eyes cracked open to stare at Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei looked completely recovered. Giving a nod to Tang Xinyun, he asked, ¡°Is the battle over, Xinyun?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Beside those Gu Lianhun carried off with him, everyone else was killed. Our ancestor was able to kill Dong Wanlei as well¡­¡±


    Her news came as no surprise to Bai Yunfei. Without Gu Lianhun, the enemy forces were at a huge disadvantage. Shen Pojun and Chu Yintian could easily defeat Dong Wanlei and Huo Zhenting while Yang Yao could defeat Qi Ning. Having Xiao Qi there would also make cleaning up the rest of the stragglers a cinch. There was no way no Soul King would be able to escape, let alone anyone weaker.


    Without any further questions for her, Bai Yunfei turned to greet Shen Pojun, ¡°Ancestor.¡± He bowed.


    His greeting was returned with a grateful smile, ¡°It is a blessing for my school to have an outstanding student such as you.¡±


    Having fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Bai Yunfei, Shen Pojun couldn¡¯t even find it in himself to think of Bai Yunfei as someone from the ¡®newer generation¡¯. After inquiring about him following the battle, Shen Pojun was able to learn a few things about him, and everything he heard astounded him. Never in a thousand years would a student as gifted as Bai Yunfei appear again, and to think that he¡¯d be here in the Crafting School left Shen Pojun hopeful of the Crafting School¡¯s continued prestige.


    Bai Yunfei turned his attention next to Zi Jin. Concerned, he asked, ¡°Ancestor, will my master be alright?¡±


    He was without a doubt, concerned for both Zi Jin and Huangfu Rui. It hurt for him to see the both of them in such a state. Truth be told, just looking at Zi Jin had Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart racing with nerves.


    The smile faded away from Shen Pojun¡¯s face. ¡°It isn¡¯t looking the best¡­It was a severe wound, one inflicted by a demon armament, no less. There is a demonic aura invading his body and preventing us from helping him. If we cannot erase that demonic aura, then I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±


    His words trailed off, but Bai Yunfei understood what that meant. Clenching both fists, tightly, he began to think.


    ¡°An injury caused by a demon armament¡­¡±


    A blood-red sword appeared in his hand. It was the very same demon armament that had been used to harm Zi Jin.


    He also had the helix sword gained from Dongfang Ming when the man was sealed into the Core World. At Shen Pojun¡¯s mention of the word¡¯ demon armament¡¯, Bai Yunfei figured it was best to take out these demon armaments to see if something could be done about Zi Jin¡¯s situation.


    ¡°Ungh!¡±


    A darker shade of red flashed across Zi Jin¡¯s body the moment the demon armaments appeared. Seemingly reacting to the presence of the demon armaments, Zi Jin groaned in pain. Realizing the sudden spike in activity, Bai Yunfei quickly stored the demon armaments back into a space ring.


    He was no stranger to the demonic energy of a demon armament. The Vampiric Demon Edge and its abilities was experienced firsthand by him, after all, but his compatibility with it had been rather high, meaning the demonic energy¡¯s effects had been diluted. In comparison, Zheng Kai had been worse off using it than him.


    His plan was to see if he could upgrade and turn these demon armaments into his soulbound armaments. By doing that, it may be possible to draw the demonic energy out from Zi Jin and back into the demon armaments. But that would be a difficult task, and raising the compatibility wasn¡¯t always an easy thing when upgrading. And if by chance Dongfang Ming¡¯s compatibility with it was even higher than his, then the plan would definitely end up failing¡­


    There was, of course, an easier way. If Dongfang Ming were to die, then the demon armaments would be without an owner and would easily ¡®submit¡¯ to a new one. But that couldn¡¯t be done, since¡­


    Bai Yunfei looked to where Huangfu Rui was.


    There was still Huangfu Rui left to be saved, and the key to that was held by Dongfang Ming!


    Soul Puppetry in itself was already a very obscure technique. What Dongfang Ming used on Huangfu Rui was no doubt something even stronger than normal Soul Puppetry, and Bai Yunfei was unsure what trick there was to it. And from what he heard, this trick had been applied to Huangfu Rui even when she was still in the womb, meaning she had lived her entire life like this.


    So not only did Bai Yunfei want to find a way to undo this state of puppetry onto her, but he also wanted to make her whole again.


    And sadly, Dongfang Ming was the only person that would know how to do that. Thus, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t kill him. If not for that, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve gladly killed the man and cut his corpse into thousands of pieces for what he had done to Zi Jin.


    Several of the others could see how deep in thought Bai Yunfei was. Both Huangfu Nan and Cang Yu were especially concerned, ¡°Yunfei, ¡°Huangfu Nan spoke up, ¡°How¡­is Dongfang Ming?¡±


    His wounds weren¡¯t light, but his worry for his daughter compelled the man to ask.


    ¡°Please rest assured, Dongfang Ming is alive for now. He¡ª!?¡±


    Suddenly, a voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s head as he was speaking to Huangfu Nan.


    ¡°Yunfei! Something strange is going on with Dongfang Ming!!¡±

 Chapter 1240: Backlash of a Demon Armament

    Bai Yunfei initially thought Dongfang Ming was trying to escape from the seal, but a precursory scan of the Core World told him that this wasn¡¯t the case. Eyebrows furrowed, he waved his right hand and gave it a wave.


    Everyone watched in curiosity at Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions, curious what he was doing. There was a bright flash light before a figure appeared out of nowhere.


    ¡°Dongfang Ming!!¡±


    Huangfu Nan snarled in anger at the sight of the man. He stepped forward as if to inflict harm onto the man, but then he paused when he saw the state of Dongfang Ming.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one to give pause. Several others looked on in shock as well.


    Everyone could tell that Dongfang Ming was in a very terrible state!


    Rather than stand straight, Dongfang Ming was stooped over like a hunchback. His skin was unblemished and without injury, though the newly-healed parts looked as pale as bone that made him seem more like a shell than an actual person. There was a dark-red light that circled around his person like a chain, though it flickered weakly as if ready to disappear at any second.


    The biggest eye-catcher was his chest, specifically the part where his heart was. The way his chest heaved in and out made it seem like his heart was trying its very best to burst out from his chest. In fact, with the light that was glowing from that area, and how forceful it was in its thumping, the outline of his heart could be seen and heard by everyone in the hall.


    No one could tell how he was since the Soul Sealing Mandate had sealed his soulforce, meaning it was impossible to tell. But no one needed to use their soulforce to tell that Dongfang Ming was in a very dangerous state right now.


    ¡°Sealer, what¡¯s going on?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    The white ball of light several inches over Dongfang Ming¡¯s head emitted a bright flash of light before a small tiger flew out from it.


    For many of the people in the halls, this was their very first time seeing the spirit of a Regalia. Even Shen Pojun found himself staring at the apparition with wide-opened eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ve nothing to do with it,¡± The tiger shrugged its paws, ¡°he¡¯s doing this himself. I think¡­this is the backlash of a demon armament.¡±


    ¡°A backlash!?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°Clarify that, if you can. Did he do anything before he was sealed?¡±


    ¡°Well, his body hasn¡¯t really stopped ¡®moving¡¯ since he was sealed. Isn¡¯t that why his body is healed now? But that¡¯s just on the physical level. His soulforce is pretty much empty. He¡¯s been struggling for a long time now, and he¡¯s even tried summoning his two demon armaments, without success of course. I could tell he used some kind of technique since his core started to act differently when I called for you. His spirit got a lot stronger because of that and he definitely tried to break the seal¡­


    ¡°But he¡¯s underestimating me if he thought that last-ditch effort could break my seal¡­¡± The tiger mewled with pride, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be a Regalia if I could be overpowered by something like that¡­his soulforce weakened after some time and that¡¯s why he¡¯s like this now¡ªif I¡¯m not wrong, then the demon armament is now causing a backlash after being used like that.¡±


    ¡°The backlash of a demon armament¡­what kind of effect will that have?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be pretty, and it won¡¯t be weak. But it¡¯s hard to imagine what the price will be in this case¡ªhis demonic body is pretty close to collapsing right now. I can¡¯t even say his physical body compares to even the regular soul cultivator. His core is eating away at his own soul. He¡¯s fighting against it, but if you ask me¡­it¡¯s a losing battle.¡±


    The tiger looked up to Bai Yunfei. ¡°And his death means the death of the spirit of his core.¡± It added.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Huangfu Nan realized the implications immediately, ¡°That can¡¯t be! He can¡¯t be allowed to die! If he does, then¡­¡±


    ¡°Is there a way to save him, Sealer?¡±


    ¡°What for? If he dies, he dies¡­¡± Sealer shook its head, ¡°I can¡¯t do a thing to save him. The self-destruction of a demon armament isn¡¯t something anyone can stop But¡­prolonging his life isn¡¯t impossible.¡±


    ¡°Oh? How do we do that then?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. A sliver of his soul will be safe as long as he¡¯s under my seal. He¡¯ll die the moment I undo the seal.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Bai Yunfei asked. He was admittedly surprised by the solution, but then he took note of another change taking place in Dongfang Ming.


    Turning his head, he watched as the core in Dongfang Ming¡¯s chest slowly came to a stop. The red light around his body receded back into his chest and faded out from sight. His head drooped down, as if exhausted, but he no longer looked like he was in pain like before.


    Believing that Dongfang Ming had been saved somehow, he turned back to Sealer to say something, but the Regalia beat him to it.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, then his soul is already close to death, and by extension, his core. His death is certain the moment I undo my power¡ªpah, that¡¯s all these demon armaments amount to anyways.¡±


    A sliver of light shined as Dongfang Ming raised his head. Sweeping his eyes around the hall, Dongfang Ming looked shocked at where he was. A sneer appeared on his lips when his eyes fell upon Bai Yunfei. ¡°You¡¯re still unharmed? Was that Mo Ni too afraid to use his last resort and fled?¡±


    ¡°Last resort? Are you talking about Gu Lianhun? He appeared, but he ended up running off. He was only the avatar of a Saint long past his prime. Do you really think that¡¯d be enough to stop our school?¡± Bai Yunfei retorted.


    ¡°What?!¡± Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. He looked around the hall, scanning the faces of everyone in hopes that Bai Yunfei was lying, but he couldn¡¯t find any evidence of it.


    ¡°Heal my master and little Rui, and I¡¯ll let you live!¡± Bai Yunfei demanded.


    Multiple people were surprised by his statement. Some even found themselves opening their mouths to say something, but when they thought about the situation both Zi Jin and Huangfu Rui were in, no one could find it in themselves to speak up.


    ¡°Let me live?¡± Dongfang Ming looked confused for a moment, but he must¡¯ve realized Bai Yunfei knew about his situation, as his eyes frosted over a moment later. ¡°Do you think you can threaten me? How naive¡­¡±


    He looked over to Zi Jin and Huangfu Rui next. It was evident how joyful he was, as the sneer he had on his lips grew even more mirthful at the sight of the two.


    ¡°Dongfang Ming!!¡±


    The furious voice of Huangfu Nan boomed across the halls. Stalking toward the man, Huangfu Nan gave Dongfang Ming a death glare. ¡°I know you hate me! Take my life if you must, but release my daughter!¡±


    But Dongfang Ming was unmoved. If anything, he looked even happier to see the state of his most hated enemy. With how pleased he was at the misfortune of others, Dongfang Ming didn¡¯t even feel like a prisoner on the verge of death.


    ¡°Dongfang Ming¡­¡± Bai Yunfei spoke his name slowly, ¡°What do you want?!¡±


    ¡°What do I want?¡± Dongfang Ming barked with laughter, ¡°What can I do? Do you really take me to be cowed by your demands? I know my situation, I know I will die the moment the Soul Sealing Mandate releases me, however¡­¡±


    He paused for a brief moment. Eyes staring deep into Bai Yunfei¡¯s own, Dongfang Ming looked as though there was a joke only he knew about, ¡°I advise you to avoid that, least you regret it¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt his heart sink at Dongfang Ming¡¯s words, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

 Chapter 1241: Symbiosis Imprint and the Heavens Bloodtears

    ¡°I know you managed to locate the legendary Yao clan. If my guess is correct, they¡¯re in the Soulbeast Forest, are they not?¡±


    Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes peered chillingly into Bai Yunfei¡¯s own, as if he could see through him. ¡°Are you perhaps thinking that if I am unwilling to save them, then you can kill me and take them to the Yao clan to be cured instead?¡±


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t answer him. He stood there, glaring back at Dongfang Ming in defiance. But that had indeed been his thought. Dongfang Ming had seen through him. It was chilling how quick Dongfang Ming had done that, and it only served to make that sinking feeling in his chest even worse.


    As if to confirm his thoughts, Dongfang Ming then said, ¡°I advise you to forget about that. I know your Core Stone can teleport people quickly, but it won¡¯t be fast enough! Before you can reach them, the life of our ¡®master¡¯ will be no more, and I can tell you that when I die¡­so will the young brat!!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s face hardened at his words. They had expected something like that, but hearing his words had still been a shock.


    ¡°Bastard!!¡± Huangfu Nan roared, ¡°What do you plan to do with my daughter?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you know,¡± Sneered Dongfang Ming. ¡°That girl has had troubles since birth, that was my doing, of course. I left something in her soul when she was in the womb. It¡¯s been twenty years¡­the ¡®Symbiosis Imprint¡¯. Our souls are linked! If my soul vanishes, then the imprint will collapse and her soul will follow suit!¡±


    ¡°You!!¡±


    A resurgence of anger flooded Bai Yunfei. He never thought Dongfang Ming would be this wicked, or that he would have something like this planned!


    A Symbiosis Imprint? Huangfu Rui would die if he died?!


    That blew all the plans Bai Yunfei had in his mind to pieces!


    He didn¡¯t want to believe his words, but did he have a choice? There was no way Bai Yunfei was willing to risk Huangfu Rui¡¯s life by having Dongfang Ming¡¯s death prove it.


    ¡°I have looked into her soul before. While able to sense the aberration, I was unable to pinpoint the cause¡­¡± Shen Pojun spoke.


    He believed what Dongfang Ming was saying. There were thousands of techniques in this world, many of them were powerful and couldn¡¯t be unraveled through power alone. If this Symbiosis Imprint had been maturing for twenty years as Dongfang Ming said, then not even he would be able to undo it!


    Grave-faced, Bai Yunfei strode over to Huangfu Rui in no time at all. Kneeling down, he placed a hand on top of her hand and began to scan her soul.


    A moment passed before despair began to fill his eyes as he ruminated over what he found.


    ¡°Let me try, Yunfei.¡± Suddenly, a voice spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Sealer!?¡± He replied with hope, ¡°I forgot, you¡¯re a Regalia specialized in soul attacks¡­please take a look!¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    A warm sensation flowed from the top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s head where the Soul Sentinel Scarf was. Traveling from the head to his palm, the energy then flowed into Huangfu Rui¡¯s body.


    ¡°It¡¯s as Dongfang Ming says. Her soul has a mark on it with Dongfang Ming¡¯s scent on it!¡±


    ¡°You found the seal?!¡± The hope in Bai Yunfei grew by leaps and bounds. ¡°Can you remove it?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t. This mark has already melded into her soul. There¡¯s no external power that could remove it without it destabilizing her soul¡­¡±


    A chill ran up Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. This sounded extremely similar to the slave seal seen on soulbeast puppets. While he could use the Beast Taming Ring to aid him in its removal, there was no way it¡¯d work here. The Symbiosis Imprint wouldn¡¯t necessarily have the same inner workings of the slave seal, and Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t confident in himself to try.


    Even though the Soul Sentinel Scarf had done what Shen Pojun had done and found the Symbiosis Imprint, it was still unable to resolve the issue. Downtrodden, Bai Yunfei turned to walk back to Dongfang Ming.


    ¡°Dongfang Ming, what will it take for you to agree?¡±


    He thundered, but the iron edge of his voice was softened by the tone of compromise.


    With how tumultuous his heart was, Bai Yunfei had no idea what to even do anymore. If he killed Dongfang Ming, then Huangfu Rui would die as well. He couldn¡¯t even take the Soul Sealing Mandate back since that was the only thing keeping Dongfang Ming alive! What could he possibly do then?!


    He couldn¡¯t save his master nor Huangfu Rui. In fact, the only one being saved right now was the very last person Bai Yunfei wanted to save. Was he going to have to carry the Soul Sealing Mandate as it was now and keep Dongfang Ming imprisoned? In that case, what should he do about his master? And about Huangfu Rui? Would she be stuck in that comatose state then?!


    Like a beehive, Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind was filled with these chaotic thoughts.


    In contrast, Dongfang Ming looked as though he was absolutely giddy. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, confused? You have, of course, the option to take back the Soul Sealing Mandate and kill me, or, if you can¡¯t, then perhaps I¡¯ll be willing to forgive the little brat if you heal me¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew alert at once at that, ¡°Heal you?! Do you even have a way to heal yourself?¡±


    ¡°I do, however, I lack the materials needed¡­¡±


    ¡°What are they?¡±


    ¡°Several years ago, when you killed Li Fenghai and fought Mo Ni in the Forest Pass Province, do you remember it? Li Fenghai had in his space ring a certain gem. The Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears. Give me and I will heal. Let me leave, and I will return the brat back to normal. I¡¯ll even be willing to disperse the energy in Zi Jin.¡±


    Many of the listeners narrowed their eyes at his demands. Based on his words alone, all of them believed in his willingness to do as he said. They inwardly mocked him for his fear of death, but no one said it aloud. And as much as they were unwilling to let him go, there was too much at stake here. No one here wanted to see either Zi Jin or Huangfu Rui die.


    ¡°Several years ago? Mo City then?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. He thought hard to what Dongfang Ming said. Certainly, Bai Yunfei remembered the trouble Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother had been in, and how Tang Xinyun herself had been kidnapped outside Mo City. From there, he also remembered killing multiple people and becoming a Soul King before fighting Mo Ni and a Late-stage Soul King.


    He gained many things from that battle, such as Soul Ignition and another piece of the map. Among those gained was a strange and mysterious gem.


    A/N: Please refer to chapter 872 around.


    ¡°The Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears?¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. Taking out a blood-red gem from his space ring, he showed it to Dongfang Ming, ¡°Are you talking about this?¡±


    The body of the gem was see-through, but a strange red light shined from the interior of it. Within the gem had multiple small tears of red that looked almost like blood. As its name stated, this gem did look like it contained the bloody tears of heaven.


    Dongfang Ming¡¯s face lit up at once, ¡°That¡¯s it! That is the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears! Hand it over!!¡±


    He looked excited and looked almost like he was ready to snatch it out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands if not for his inability to move.


    Never had Bai Yunfei learned what use the stone was for, and he practically forgot it existed until now. He only knew that it seemed important to Dongfang Ming. ¡°This is capable of saving you?¡±


    Still staring at the gem in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand, Dongfang Ming replied in affirmation, ¡°Correct. The Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears is a precious material for crafting demon armaments. I needed nine of them when I crafted my demonic core, and Li Fenghai was kind enough to find the last one for me. Unfortunately, he lost it when he lost his life in his fight with you¡­¡±


    Dongfang Ming held back a bitter sigh. He had been down a piece when he crafted his demonic core, meaning it was imperfect. While it could be made up for afterward, having missed out on one meant he wasn¡¯t as strong as he could have been.


    ¡°I had no idea that this was the case. What a strange material to craft demon armaments with¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself, contemplative of the item in his hand.


    Seeing the hesitation on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face made Dongfang Ming feel worried, though he tried his best to remain indifferent. He didn¡¯t want to die, after all. That was the reason why he spoke the way he had to Bai Yunfei, knowing full well that Bai Yunfei cared too much for Zi Jin and Huangfu Rui to have him killed.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Silence descended upon the hall as everyone waited for Bai Yunfei¡¯s response. It was a choice no one wanted to make, and thus they waited for Bai Yunfei to make the decision for them. They didn¡¯t even dare to think of what they¡¯d personally do. Not even Shen Pojun said a thing, he merely stood there with a quiet stare.


    Moments passed as Bai Yunfei looked from Dongfang Ming to Zi Jin. He walked back to Huangfu Rui as if to look at what state she was in again. He spent an especially long amount of time standing in front of her, his eyes shining with doubt the entire time.


    The longer he watched Bai Yunfei, the calmer Dongfang Ming became. He was getting confident now that Bai Yunfei would choose to spare him.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡±


    Then the moment came at last! Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement when he heard a sigh escape from his lips!


    But then he watched as Bai Yunfei shook his right hand, and then one moment later, everything around him disappeared¡­


    Back in the Core World, Dongfang Ming was now gone from the hall.


    Bai Yunfei raised his head to look at everyone. ¡°Yunfei,¡± Shen Pojun sighed, ¡°what happens next is up to you¡­¡±


    ¡°No matter the case¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, determined. ¡°I won¡¯t let anything happen to master and Huangfu Rui!¡±


    Everyone was equally relieved and sad to hear him say that. It would appear that Bai Yunfei was planning to make a compromise. There was no way for them to not want Huangfu Rui and Zi Jin to be saved, but to let the school¡¯s biggest traitor get away was definitely a blow to their hearts¡­


    Only Li Chengfeng looked at Bai Yunfei with a suspicious look: if Bai Yunfei was planning to compromise with Dongfang Ming, then why didn¡¯t he make the ¡®exchange¡¯ right away? The more they waited, the worse Zi Jin became. What point was there bringing Dongfang Ming back to the Core World?


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡±

 Chapter 1242: The Death of Dongfang Ming

    Everything was a blur for Dongfang Ming. Blinking, he looked around himself in an attempt to see where he was now.


    It would appear he was back in the Core World.


    He could see the faraway mountains characteristic of the Core World as well as a large expanse where countless people lived and moved about. He also saw a small house built right next to a tall tree; this house was quite small, actually. It was certainly not meant for a human to live in, but a dog.


    This was Lao Sha¡¯s doghouse.


    Dongfang Ming knitted his eyebrows in confusion. Why had Bai Yunfei brought him here? Hadn¡¯t Bai Yunfei agreed to compromise?


    Was he imagining things?


    ¡°Does he think he can find another way to save them? He couldn¡¯t have, not with his personality. He¡¯s ought to know that Zi Jin won¡¯t be able to last for much longer¡­¡±


    A sense of unease welled up inside of Dongfang Ming. He had been so sure he had an idea of Bai Yunfei¡¯s decision, but now he wasn¡¯t so sure about it¡­


    ¡­¡­


    While Dongfang Ming was thinking to himself. In the halls of the real world.


    ¡°What?! Do you seriously intend to do that, Yunfei?!¡±


    It was a surprised Kou Changkong that asked. Like the others in the hall, he was completely bewildered by Bai Yunfei.


    A weakened Cang Yu began to tremble from concern and hesitation. Casting a pleading glance at Huangfu Nan, she clutched at Huangfu Rui even tighter as if hoping for some kind of interjection.


    ¡°Are you absolutely confident in this choice, youngling?¡± Huangfu Nan managed to speak as he stared at Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei was stead-faced. Now wasn¡¯t a time for hesitation. He touched the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead as if for reassurance, ¡°I can¡¯t say a hundred percent sure, eighty percent is more likely¡­¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    Everyone could see the internal battle going on in Huangfu Nan¡¯s heart. Watching, they waited as Huangfu Nan bit his lips, heavy in thought.


    ¡°Fine!! We¡¯ll do as you say! I cannot allow my daughter¡¯s life to be controlled by Dongfang Ming! I don¡¯t trust him!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Dongfang Ming was, of course, completely clueless of the developments happening outside the Core World. Time seemed to flow sluggishly within the Core World, and that only served to make him feel more and more agitated.


    Suddenly, a group of people appeared out of thin air right in front of him.


    It was when the air cleared up that he was able to distinguish who was among the crowd. Bai Yunfei, Shen Pojun, Kou Changkong, Li Chengfeng, Tang Xinyun, Huangfu Nan, Caang Yu, and even Huangfu Rui. The others remained back in the real world.


    ¡°So?¡± Dongfang Ming stated, hoping that he had managed to hide his unease well enough, ¡°Have you come to a decision?¡±


    Just hearing Dongfang Ming speak had Bai Yunfei feeling furious. ¡°I¡¯m willing to consider it, but first return Huangfu Rui¡¯s consciousness. According to past experiences, none of those afflicted with Soul Puppetry have ever been able to recover!¡±


    Dongfang Ming¡¯s eyes lit up with renewed hope. Smiling now that the cards seemed to be in his favor, he spoke, ¡°Rest assured. Strictly speaking, she isn¡¯t under the control of Soul Puppetry. Soul Puppetry erases the consciousness of the person, but what I¡¯ve done is control her via the Symbiosis Imprint.¡±


    And so in a sign of ¡®good faith¡¯, Dongfang Ming was allowed a pulse of soulforce to escape from him. One moment later¡­


    ¡°Ah¡­my head hurts¡­Mom? Why are you crying?¡±


    Bai Yunfei lit up at the sound of a familiar voice. Turning his head, he watched as the previously stone-faced Huangfu Rui hold her head as she spoke to her mother.


    ¡°My daughter!!¡±


    Cang Yu cried out, overjoyed by the revival of her daughter. Not even Huangfu Nan was able to find the words to describe his joy.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡± Bai Yunfei exhaled a sigh of relief. He turned around to walk back over to her, hoping he could see if everything was back to normal.


    ¡°I¡¯ve returned her consciousness, now give me the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears an¡ªeh?! What are you doing!?¡±


    Having expected Bai Yunfei to hold his end of the deal, but then, he was furious to realize something was wrong!


    It was when Bai Yunfei was kneeling in front of Huangfu Rui. The Soul Sentinel Scarf was now wrapped securely on her head and he was staring right at him! It was a stare filled with hatred and killing intent!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Horror filled Dongfang Ming before he could even react. The white light around him gave a faint hum before it¡­disappeared! The Soul Sealing Mandate was canceling its effect!


    ¡°N¡ªno! No way!!¡±


    Horrified, Dongfang Ming realized what Bai Yunfei was doing! Bai Yunfei had actually gone and undid the Soul Sealing Mandate! He was going to kill him! Did he not care about Huangfu Rui or Zi Jin then?!


    ¡°No!!!¡±


    Dongfang Ming was terrified beyond belief. Horror and despair filled his entire body as he howled. Watching as the Soul Sealing Mandate flew back toward Bai Yunfei, he tried in vain to grab at the Regalia, but it was useless. His arms wouldn¡¯t even obey him. In fact, his arms weren¡¯t even ¡®arms¡¯ anymore. They were pieces of flesh that were rapidly decaying into ashes¡­


    It was as the Soul Sealing Mandate said. Without its abilities, Dongfang Ming wouldn¡¯t be able to continue living. Its power was the only thing capable of stabilizing his condition and preventing death from taking Dongfang Ming.


    And so both of Dongfang Ming¡¯s arms and legs were gone. They were gone with the wind, and Dongfang Ming¡¯s head was quickly starting to follow suit.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!!¡± He howled. ¡°You dare! Hah! Then Zi Jin  and that brat will follow me to my death! They¡¯ll die with me, hahaha!!¡±


    Knowing his own death was imminent, Dongfang Ming began to howl and jeer in one last attempt to get a rise out from Bai Yunfei.


    It was short-lived. His mouth was the next to vanish from his head before the rest of his body followed suit. All that was left was the demonic ¡®core¡¯ that floated in the air where he used to be. The red light within the core flashed once before slowly fading away¡­


    Dongfang Ming¡¯s aura could no longer be felt. He was gone from this world completely!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even bother to spare Dongfang Ming a glance when he died. His complete attention was on Huangfu Rui.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    A high-pitched scream erupted from Huangfu Rui at once. Trembling from pain, her body began to spasm as her soulforce went berserk!


    Then the Soul Sealing Mandate activated. A pulse of energy flowed out from the Regalia to envelop Huangfu Rui within it. Bai Yunfei could ¡®see¡¯, thanks to the Soul Sealing Mandate, that the Symbios Imprint within her soul was starting to fall apart!


    Because of the link between it and her soul, the disintegration of the imprint meant Huangfu Rui¡¯s soul was starting to break apart. But because of the Soul Sealing Mandate, Huangfu Rui¡¯s soul was ¡®trapped¡¯ inside so it couldn¡¯t decay any further.


    It was¡­the +13 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf!


    Equipment Grade:  Revert the state of the soul 10 seconds prior. Activated automatically when off cooldown and soul is in danger of destruction.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    But this wasn¡¯t a permanent solution. In another five to ten seconds, the same result would apply and Huangfu Rui¡¯s soul would start to fall apart again.


    Heart racing furiously, Bai Yunfei called for a single object:


    ¡°Sealer!!¡±

 Chapter 1243: Huangfu Rui, Safe at Last

    Following Bai Yunfei¡¯s command, there was a flash of white light from nearby before the light surrounded Huangfu Rui!


    A strange energy began to shield her body at once. Amazed, everyone watched as Huangfu Rui slowly ceased her trembling and her soulforce was slowly starting to ¡®recover¡¯!!


    The stench of death quickly faded away from her. It was as if life was slowly starting to re-enter her body!


    The +13 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    +13 Additional Effect: Revert the state of the soul 10 seconds prior. Activated automatically when off cooldown and soul is in danger of destruction.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    A blue light flashed from the Soul Sentinel Scarf a second later. Five seconds had finally passed.


    And in five seconds, Huangfu Rui was able to make a return from her journey to death.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Heaving the breath he didn¡¯t even know he was holding, Bai Yunfei raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead.


    He¡­had done it!!


    Hands clenched together, he threw his head back to let out a whoop to the skies.


    Huangfu Rui was saved! The Soul Sentinel Scarf had told him that Huangfu Rui¡¯s soul was pristine and clean! It was¡­without the Symbiosis Imprint!


    That told Bai Yunfei all he needed to know¡ªwith Dongfang Ming dead, Huangfu Rui and Zi Jin could both be saved!


    Dongfang Ming had thought he had Bai Yunfei, but he never could¡¯ve been able to imagine the absolute powers of the Soul Sentinel Scarf and the Soul Sealing Mandate! With used together, it could perfectly negate the Symbiosis Imprint!


    The plan had been as such:


    First use the Soul Sentinel Scarf to safeguard Huangfu Rui when the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s effect wore off. Dongfang Ming¡¯s soul would collapse and spark the collapse of the Symbiosis Imprint. That would mean Dongfang Ming would die first and Huangfu Rui¡¯s soul would start to decay, but she¡¯d at least be protected from death for at least five seconds. Then once those five seconds passed, the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s +13 additional effect would activate!


    And that meant Huangfu Rui¡¯s soul would be returned to a state ten seconds before when it wasn¡¯t on the verge of collapse. However¡­the Symbiosis Imprint wouldn¡¯t be restored with her since Dongfang Ming was already dead. And that meant¡­Huangfu Rui could make a perfect recovery!


    The only problem had been the cooldown of this +13 additional effect. Bai Yunfei had previously used the effect in his battle before, so Bai Yunfei did have to delay the decision for several hours. That was the reason for the several hours Dongfang Ming was stuck in the Core World.


    It was all thanks to the wisdom of the spirit within the Soul Sentinel Scarf. Because of its research into Huangfu Rui¡¯s soul and wisdom, Bai Yunfei was able to learn of the possibility and make a proper decision.


    And that decision lived up to everyone¡¯s expectations.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Mom¡­I¡¯m tired¡­¡±


    That was all Huangfu Rui could mumble right now. She seemed tired, but not due to the nervous gazes everyone was giving her. Physically speaking, she was fine and unharmed, but perhaps due to the danger her soul was in a moment ago, she was spiritually drained and needed to rest.


    A faint smile began to creep onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips, but he forced it away so he could turn back to where Dongfang Ming had been.


    ¡°The core!¡±


    The demonic core was still floating there in the air, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s surprise and anxiety.


    Sealer had said that the core would be destroyed when Dongfang Ming died, had it been wrong?


    Truth be told, Bai Yunfei was curious about the core. He¡¯d be lying if he said he wasn¡¯t. Given that it was a legendary demonic armament, Bai Yunfei wanted to at least see what kind of stats the core would have¡­


    And so Bai Yunfei took a step forward, his palm outstretched.


    But right as his fingers were about to touch the core, the core began to disintegrate into powder! His fingers didn¡¯t even touch it yet!


    ¡°So it¡¯s actually destroyed¡­¡±


    He sighed to himself. What a shame. But the stats of the core was nothing in the long run, as he had no interest in actually using it or even having possession of it. It being destroyed only saved Bai Yunfei the trouble of destroying it himself¡ªsomething like that shouldn¡¯t exist in this world.


    Just thinking about how this demon armament had turned his ¡®senior brother¡¯ Dongfang Ming into a demon that had brought such a crisis onto the Crafting School and drenched them in a sorrowful battle had Bai Yunfei shivering.


    There was a part of Bai Yunfei that thought to upgrade Dongfang Ming during the battle. Since he was a ¡®demon armament¡¯, the Upgrade Technique would work, but that was just a thought and nothing more. Not only was it foolhardy to try upgrading Dongfang Ming, there wouldn¡¯t be any time to do so.


    By extension, that meant he gave up on upgrading the demonic core inside Dongfang Ming. That was something even more impossible than the last task. And even if it was possible, there was no doubt he¡¯d fail to beat Dongfang Ming in terms of compatibility. The core was most definitely a lifebound armament of Dongfang Ming, and unless Dongfang Ming was dead, Bai Yunfei would never allow Bai Yunfei the time or opportunity to upgrade the core to it being a soulbound armament.


    But now that the core was gone, everything was fine and dandy again.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hm? This is¡­¡±


    Whilst Bai Yunfei was in the middle of his own thoughts, there was something else that was happening.


    Where the core had turned into dust from, space was warping in on itself. Focusing in on a central point, there was suddenly an explosion of energy!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on!?¡±


    Alarmed, Bai Yunfei took a cautionary step back as he tried to analyze the unfolding mystery in front of him. The energy had already transformed into a twister-like form of power with enough energy to force even him to want to retreat farther back.


    And by the time he reached the others, Bai Yunfei noticed someone from the group had flown in the opposite direction.


    ¡°Rui!!¡±


    A terrified shriek erupted from Cang Yu. Eyes widening, Bai Yunfei realized with a start that the person that had gone was Huangfu Rui!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei was in shock. Wondering if something had gone wrong, he could only watch along with the others as an unbelievable event unfolded in front of them¡­


    Huangfu Rui had been hoisted into the air by the strange energy before she came to a stop. The energy around her immediately rushed into her body as if attracted to it. Flames roared to life around her as elemental fire materialized all around to surround her in a pillar of fire.


    Meanwhile, the soulforce within Huangfu Rui was spiking dramatically¡­


    ¡°Is this¡­the King¡¯s Phenomenon?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei questioned two seconds later.


    He was right¡ªthis was the King¡¯s Phenomenon! Huangfu Rui was becoming a Soul King? Right now?!


    ¡°Eh? Is this the core¡¯s energy? It could be used this way? Hm¡­this probably has to do with the Symbiosis Imprint¡­¡±


    The spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate appeared. Perched on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, the tiger stared at the King¡¯s Phenomenon with a surprised look.


    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on, Sealer?¡± Bai Yunfei nervously asked.


    ¡°This is the remnant energy of the core, you can say it¡¯s the realization of Dongfang Ming¡¯s energy. Because of the Symbiosis Imprint, the energy is attracted to that girls soul. It¡¯s basically a free meal.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei was intrigued, ¡°But will there be any problems?¡±


    ¡°Relax, it¡¯s pure energy.¡±


    ¡°Alright then¡­¡± Bai Yunfei sighed. Beside him, Cang Yu and the others were relieved to hear Sealer¡¯s words as well.


    Now that he thought about it, Huangfu Rui had always been a genius. Her talent had allowed her to become a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, but she had never been able to make the breakthrough to become a Soul King. Perhaps it was because of the Symbiosis Imprint that she had been limited. But now that it was gone, this energy was seemingly here to make up for it¡­


    ¡°Snrt snrt¡­¡±


    A strange noise could be heard from somewhere down on the ground before a white streak of light shot up toward Huangfu Rui.


    It was¡­Xiao rourou, the red magiboar! Stunned, Bai Yunfei realized that the red magiboar was in the middle of a breakthrough too now.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Knowing now that there was no harm at play here, and that this was a pleasant surprise, Bai Yunfei drew his attention away. Without even waiting for Huangfu Rui or Xiao Rourou¡¯s breakthrough to finish, Bai Yunfei turned away. There was something else he had to do.


    Even though Huangfu Rui was fine, it didn¡¯t mean Zi Jin was. It was time for him to save his master¡¯s life¡­

 Chapter 1244: The Heavens Bloodtear Sword and Zi Jins Recuperation

    Deep within the northern peak of the Crafting School. The stone doors to the belly of the mountain swung open wide to reveal Bai Yunfei striding in.


    A figure materialized from the flames when Bai Yunfei appeared and quickly took on the form of Heavenfire.


    ¡°What is it, Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Everything¡¯s going well so far. Ah¡¯Rui is fine, Dongfang Ming is dead, and his core is destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Very well then.¡± Heavenfire sniffed, ¡°Not even death is good enough for the likes of him! And so goes for the demonic core. Such a thing is not meant to exist.¡±


    ¡°Senior Heavenfire,¡± Bai Yunfei spoke up, not willing to spend any more time on the superfluous details, ¡°Let¡¯s get started crafting. Master is slowly getting weaker, it¡¯d unwise to stall any longer.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Let us begin at once!¡±


    Nodding, Bai Yunfei sat down on the ground and waved his hand. With a ¡®bang¡¯, the Dualflame Cauldron slammed down onto the ground in front of him. A stream of materials appeared out of thin air to float around the cauldron, among those materials were the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears and the dagger demon armament.


    He was planning to ¡®reforge¡¯ the soul armament!


    The cause of Zi Jin¡¯s current plight was because of this dagger. To eliminate the dagger would be to eliminate the problem, but there wasn¡¯t really an easy way to go about it. Upgrading it to +11 wouldn¡¯t necessarily mean it¡¯d become his soulbound armament, and upgrading it to +12 was a risky venture. Considering the odds, Bai Yunfei decided it was better to reforge the soul armament and then upgrade it after.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears was capable of, but Heavenfire was fortunately knowledgeable about its properties. The two conferred quickly about what materials would be best for the task, and the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears was chosen to be used as the primary material to reforge the dagger demon armament to increase its power.


    That being said, increasing the power of this dagger wasn¡¯t the primary goal of Bai Yunfei. His goal first and foremost was to elevate his compatibility with it. With Heavenfire¡¯s help, Bai Yunfei was confident his compatibility with the dagger would be quite high. He was ninety percent confident that his compatibility would be high enough to reach the soulbound armament level after upgrading it as well.


    So he came to Heavenfire the moment the matter with Huangfu Rui was dealt with. The Core Stone was temporarily given to Tang Xinyun for safekeeping on the main peak so Huangfu Rui and the red magiboar could focus on their breakthrough. But since the elemental energy within the Core World wasn¡¯t enough, the Core Stone had to supplement it by drawing in the energy from the real world. As a result, the skies above Mt. Crimson was a chaotic influx of fire.


    Done with the prep work, Bai Yunfei gave a nod to Heavenfire and slammed a palm to his chest. In response, his fireseed popped out from him and flew into the Dualflame Cauldron.


    ¡°Bang!!¡± The cauldron roared to life at once with a heat hot enough to immediately raise the temperature of the room.


    At the same time, Heavenfire burst apart into a wisp of fire to flow into the cauldron. It trembled once when Heavenfire entered it and began to expel flames twice as strong.


    Exhaling softly, Bai Yunfei waved his hand. The dagger and the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears floated into the cauldron and was soon followed by the other materials¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The passage of time flowed as it always did. Slowly, but surely, twenty hours had passed before¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An ear-deafening explosion cracked apart the silence in the room as a pillar of flames jettisoned out from the cauldron. Slamming into the roof of the cave, the flames billowed out throughout the room, dying the air with a blood-red color. It seemed as though the flames themselves were dyed the color of blood as it danced, but it soon dissipated as the cauldron extinguished itself and sent its fireseed back into Bai Yunfei.


    Fatigued, but otherwise excited, Bai Yunfei took the newly reforged dagger into his hand.


    It was the same demon armament, but its outer shape had changed just a bit. Standing at two finger-widths wide and two-thirds of a meter tall, the demon armament was scarlet in color. Elemental fire rose from the blade, but there was also a paradoxically cold feeling stemming from it. But the most particular detail about the demon armament were the small blood-red markings on the surface of the blade. They looked like blood drops in a way not too different from the drops in the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtears.


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Attack: 8000


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    Equipment Effect 1: Inflict Bleeding upon a successful strike. Wounds take longer to heal.


    Equipment Effect 2: Transmit negative energy into the body upon a successful strike. Enemy will continue to be afflicted for an extended period of time. When exhausted, the negative energy must be reabsorbed.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei grew happier when he saw the stats of the item.


    Not only had the dagger grown in strength when he upgraded it, but it had also a huge leap in soul compatibility. A compatibility of 30% was nothing to scoff at.


    Of the two equipment effects this demon armament had, it was the second that was causing the problems within Zi Jin. Bai Yunfei had been surprised when he first saw the effect, but then again, this was a demon armament, after all. Leaving behind a type of energy like that was typical. But the energy left behind by this demon armament was especially stronger than any other demon armament it seemed.


    For clarification, even a regular fire-type soul armament would leave behind a scorch or burn mark when they struck someone. If the equipment effect explicitly stated that ¡®burn¡¯ damage would be taken, then that would indicate the severity of this ¡®burn¡¯ would be far stronger than the usual fire-type soul armament.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    A seemingly tired Heavenfire appeared beside Bai Yunfei. ¡°How was it, was it successful?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we managed to get it to 30% compatibility. I should have no trouble making it a soulbound armament if I upgrade it to +11.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll get started on it right away.¡±


    ¡°Should you not rest? It is unwise to overexert yourself.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I can continue.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade as you will, then.¡± Heavenfire didn¡¯t push the issue and withdrew. He was worried for Zi Jin as well.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei focused on the shortsword on his left hand. The palm of his right hand was laid over its blade as he allowed for a particular energy to gather in it and enter into the sword.


    Heavenfire watched as Bai Yunfei set about to upgrading the new demon armament. ¡°The Planar Laws¡­but which one is it? This is truly a sight to see¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was using the Manual Upgrade Technique so he could get the most compatibility. Not long after¡­


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Darkness


    Attack: 8000


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    Equipment Effect 1: Inflict Bleeding upon a successful strike. Wounds take longer to heal.


    Equipment Effect 2: Transmit negative energy into the body upon a successful strike. Enemy will continue to be afflicted for an extended period of time. When exhausted, the negative energy must be reabsorbed.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to inflict Curse. 30% Decrease in all stats for up to 15 seconds.


    Cooldown of 30 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    Grabbing hold of the shortsword, Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°From today onward, you¡¯ll be known as the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtear Sword!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei exitted from the cave to return to where Zi Jin was. Striding into the room, he saw Shen Pojun beside the unconscious elder, transferring soulforce into the man to aid him. But Zi Jin¡¯s aura was already substantially weaker than before, and the negative energy was now leaking from his body in a more noticeable state.


    Only Shen Pojun and Zi Jin were in the room, so Shen Pojun was quick to see Bai Yunfei¡¯s arrival. ¡°Yunfei!¡± He announced, ¡°How did it go?¡±


    The Heaven¡¯s Bloodtear Sword appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s left hand in response. ¡°I¡¯ve managed to turn it into my soulbound armament. There shouldn¡¯t be any problems if I test it out now.¡±


    ¡°Very well!¡±


    Shen Pojun stood up to let Bai Yunfei come close. His left hand detached from Zi Jin¡¯s shoulder, causing the soulforce of the latter to start to tremble violently. Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei latched onto Zi Jin¡¯s right wrist with his hand at once.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Heaven¡¯s Bloodtear Sword in his left hand began to hum. Focused, Bai Yunfei waited as the negative energy within Zi Jin¡¯s body suddenly flowed into Zi Jin¡¯s right wrist and slowly began to be drained out into the sword.


    Excited, Bai Yunfei kept watch as the negative energy continued to flow to the sword. The flow was very calm and obedient, and it seemed like it wouldn¡¯t take much longer for the entirety of the energy to be drained away.


    Finally, when the last of the negative energy was drained, Bai Yunfei could sense Zi Jin¡¯s lifeforce reach a stasis. It was no longer in a state of constant decrease¡­


    Relieved, Bai Yunfei suddenly felt everything go dark before he slumped to the ground. Though exhausted of energy, Bai Yunfei could feel a smile creep onto his face.


    His master would finally be saved¡­

 Chapter 1245: The Death of Gu Lianhuns Avatar

    In one of the Three Danger Zones of the Tianhun Continent. The Lost Swamps.


    Located deep within the swamps stood the Soul Refining School. Within the main peak of the school.


    Space split up within the great halls before a torrent of energy flooded out from it. Reassembling itself in the hall, the energy soon took on the form of a giant figure.


    This giant figure was Gu Lianhun!


    No longer needed, the crack behind Gu Lianhun disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Gu Lianhun shot several bursts of energy out from him as if to summon people from throughout the schoolgrounds.


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Multiple figures shot through the skies moments later to appear in front of Gu Lianhun.


    They were all dressed the same, more or less. Draped head to toe in black robes, they were all white-haired elders with unbelievable strength¡ªSoul Emperors!


    Five of them stood in front of Gu Lianhun, each with a surprised expression.


    ¡°An¡ªancestor?!¡± One of them cried out, ¡°What happened?!¡±


    Their ancestor had¡­used the Dark Guardian! And based off his appearance right now, he had used it to escape of all things¡ªwhat in the world had happened?!


    Each of these five elders were wise and hard to surprise, but this sight had done it. They were speechless.


    Hadn¡¯t their ancestor gone to destroy the Crafting School? If he had come back here in such a state¡­didn¡¯t that mean he failed?!


    The thought of their ancestor failing compounded everyone¡¯s disbelief. This was the one plan they couldn¡¯t afford to fail in!


    ¡°Mo Ni!!¡±


    Then the elders realized there was a ¡®youngster¡¯ beside Gu Lianhun¡¯s side. The one to realize who he was had cried his name out in shock and raced to pick up the unconscious youth!


    It was better to describe this man as a ¡®middle-aged person¡¯ instead of an elder. He looked similar to Mo Ni, as he was the father of Mo Ni and the head of the Soul Refining School¡ªMo Nether!!


    ¡°He is fine, but tired. He couldn¡¯t handle the teleportation we underwent and fell unconscious.¡±


    Gu Lianhun spoke to those around him.


    Nether¡¯s face was like ice. Gazing from Gui Nu, to the Black Dragon King, and then to the black-robed elder, he spoke at last, ¡°Ancestor, has the plan¡­¡±


    ¡°The plan has failed, the Crafting School was far more powerful than we calculated. I was only capable of bringing these few away from harm. I fear the rest may already be dead.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The Soul Emperors gathered there blanched. It was news that was hard to take in.


    ¡°But¡­but how?¡± Nether asked, ¡°Did Shen Pojun manage to become a Saint? But¡­¡±


    ¡°He did not.¡± Sighed Gu Lianhun, ¡°But¡­alas¡­ask Mo Ni if you wish to know. I am not long to live¡­Jimie, to me!!¡±


    ¡°Ancestor! You¡ª¡±


    Alarmed again, the elders felt the earth beneath their feet tremble as a tremendous energy spiked from deep underneath.


    Not even several moments later did a black beam of light appear in the air. ¡°Master, you¡¯ve¡­¡± The voice began to speak.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time, follow me!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun growled anxiously. Waving his hand, he took the other person with him high up into the heavens!


    Nether and the others hadn¡¯t even see Gu Jimie clearly before the man had been taken away by Gu Lianhun.


    ¡°....¡± No one said a word, they were still having a hard time digesting the situation.


    Gu Jimie was Gu Lianhun¡¯s disciple and Nether¡¯s master. As the previous headmaster, he had done the same thing Shen Pojun had done and retreated into solitude so he could try and become a Saint. He didn¡¯t even bother to come out when the Soul Refining School went to attack the Crafting School, but he came at once when summoned by Gu Lianhun. What reason had Gu Lianhun to waste dozens of years of meditation by calling Gu Jimie out?!


    ¡°Could it be¡­?¡±


    Nether muttered to himself as he watched the two disappear from sight. He seemed to have came to a realization of some kind.


    ¡­¡­


    High up in the skies, in chaotic space above the Ninth Heaven.


    Gu Jimie had been slightly groggy, having been awoken so suddenly from his meditation. He had snapped wide awake when he realized the state his master was in and stared around him, unsettled. ¡°Master¡­¡±


    There was a ¡®bang¡¯ before Gu Jimie could even finish his sentence. A gigantic ball of black light exploded out from Gu Lianhun, revealing his avatar to be nearly seventy percent transparent.


    His face could hardly be seen now. Only his eyes retained their brightness as he stared at Gu Jimie, frustrated at himself.


    ¡°My avatar is close to dissipating, Jimie. I bequeath the rest of my energy to you. For my final contribution to the Soul Refining School¡ªI will help you ascend!!¡±


    ¡°Master!!¡±


    He had guessed it, but hearing Gu Lianhun confirm gave Gu Jimie a fright. Anxious and concerned, he wanted to say or do something, but Gu Lianhun held his hand up to stop him.


    ¡°This is the only matter I am capable of, now. Whether you succeed or fail is up to your own fortune. You who are close to Sainthood, take the last of my soul and ruminate on my understandings. Breakthrough, and ascend.¡± The edges of Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar bordered on being invisible now. Even his voice was getting fainter and fainter.


    ¡°Destroy the Crafting School when you become a Saint at once. Trouble will befall us if Shen Pojun is allowed to ascend. But most importantly is the one known as Bai Yunfei. He must not be allowed to live! Kill him sooner than later!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar faded away completely upon his last word. By that point, Gu Jimie could only watch as the energy from Gu Lianhun began to flow into his own body.


    He trembled as the energy enter his body. Sinking to his feet, he clasped his hands together and began to meditate once again.


    The last of Gu Lianhun¡¯s energy formed a black cocoon around Gu Jimie. Wisps of energy circulated around him a whirlpool, gradually dragging chaotic energy alongside it for Gu Jimie to assimilate into his own body.


    Gu Jimie was already blind and deaf to the outside world. Wholly concentrating on meditating, he took in Gu Lianhun¡¯s energy in earnest and ruminated on what his master had experienced. Among those experiences was the battle between his master, Bai Yunfei, and Shen Pojun¡­


    ¡­¡­


    In an unknown land, far far away from the Lost Swamps. This place was filled with chaotic energy much like chaotic space.


    It was impossible to see past a hundred meters within this place, as the chaotic energy made visibility seemingly impossible. A single person sat inside this place, surrounded by light so dark that it absorbed light itself so their face could not be seen. Like a statue, this person was so still that they could be mistaken for as being dead.


    ¡°Bzz¡­.¡±


    Then something changed. Something caused a reaction within the flow of energy in this room. A fissure suddenly opened up in the space in front of this person!


    The dead-like person suddenly whipped both eyes open, a bright flash of light shooting out from them at once to stare at the fissure.


    ¡°Avatar!!¡±


    A deep whisper. The voice was equally shocked, happy, and confused.


    He raised his right hand to grasp at the fissure. A white ball of light shot out from his hand into the fissure and disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.


    As shocked as the person was, they hardly had any time to react before the fissure began to close in on itself and fade away.


    ¡°No!!¡±


    The person roared. Like lightning, he reached up to his head and withdrew a wisp of gray light seemingly from within before he swung it.


    It flew into the fissure before it could collapse and disappeared alongside the fissure.


    Then all was calm in the room again. It was almost as if nothing had even happened to begin with¡­


    ¡­¡­


    In chaotic space above the Soul Refining School.


    The black cocoon was for the most part gone. Gu Lianhun¡¯s energy had been drained at last, and Gu Jimie was now absorbing the chaotic energy into his body. With each passing moment, his soulforce spiked to new and more powerful heights¡­


    Deep within Gu Jimie¡¯s soul, the portion of Gu Lianhun¡¯s soul from his avatar had perfectly fused with his own. When the last of Gu Lianhun¡¯s soul had fused together with him, Gu Jimie shuddered once before he opened his eyes.


    Then, a few words escaped from his lips!


    ¡°The Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡­the Fate School!!¡±

 Chapter 1246: Reorganizing

    Inside the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei sat on top of a giant mountain peak. His eyes were closed as he meditated among a cloud of red light.


    Soon, the red light around him receded away and the soulforce within his body grew calm. When the flow was all but still, Bai Yunfei finally opened his eyes.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Exhaling a breath of warm air, Bai Yunfei allowed himself to feel the air and cool down. He looked down at his hands, clenching his fists tightly to test his new strength, he nodded in satisfaction at what he felt.


    ¡°A complete recovery. It¡¯s a good thing there were no irreversible damages¡­¡±


    The last battle had taken a lot out of him. Berserk Mode, Soul Ignition, and the Vampiric Demon Edge. These three had a destructive power that couldn¡¯t be ignored when used all at once. He didn¡¯t even do much to prepare for the aftereffects when the battle was over due to his rush to save Huangfu Rui and Zi Jin. It was only when Zi Jin was saved and he himself woke up the next day that he went into recuperation.


    And today, after a whole day and night of resting, he was fully healed.


    Things were looking good. Zi Jin was no longer in danger and was actually steadily improving. Huangfu Rui was actually in a very good shape after she absorbed Dongfang Ming¡¯s energy. Just a step shy of being a Late-stage Soul Emperor, Huangfu Rui was now a full-fledged Mid-stage Soul Emperor and overtook Song Lin as the next most promising student of the generation. Even the red magiboar had seen some results and was now a Mid-stage class seven soulbeast.


    The losses had been as great as the rewards, however. Many of the crafters had been injured, if not killed. Chu Yintian and Yang Yao, for example, lost their strongest soul armaments to Dongfang Ming. Chu Yintian himself had his avatar sacrificed so that he could live and had dropped drastically in strength. Many other crafters would require an extraordinary amount of time to recover.


    As of right now, the entire Crafting School was in a state of recovery.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in any rush to leave the Core World right now. Though his wounds were healed, he was still thinking about the recent battles and the experiences he gained from it.


    In his last battle with Gu Lianhun, for example, Bai Yunfei felt his understanding of chaotic energy increase by a substantial amount. It was a valuable experience that he deemed worthy of spending time thinking about.


    After a while, Bai Yunfei decided to switch topics to something else. Waving his hand, the helix sword popped out from thin air into his hand.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A while later.


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 8000


    Additional Attack: 5300


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    Equipment Effect 1: 40$ Chance to inflict Curse. All stats decrease by 35% for up to 20 seconds.


    Cooldown of 30 seconds.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to strike twice.


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head, appreciative of the stats and his own handiwork, ¡°From now on, you¡¯ll be called the Double Dragon Specter.¡±


    Standing up, Bai Yunfei stored the sword away and glanced over to the small ¡®hut¡¯ by the nearby tree.


    ¡°That Lao Sha,¡± He muttered, ¡°I wonder what his next evolution is after eating all that energy. How long will he sleep for?¡±


    Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei disappeared from the Core World.


    ¡­¡­


    The first one to see Bai Yunfei when he appeared back in the real world was Zhang Sanxian. ¡°Brother Bai!¡± He cried out, ¡°You¡¯re back! Are you fully healed?¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, I¡¯ll just need some more rest to be back at full health.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°So, are you planning to head into the crafting caves?¡±


    ¡°I am! I have to do my best to train. I want to be able to fight the next time someone else dares fight our school!¡±


    Bai Yunfei noted Zhang Sanxian¡¯s fists clenching tightly as he spoke. When the battle broke out, Zhang Sanxian had been one of the many that were forced to stay on the sidelines and watch as the others fought.


    ¡°Ah, brother Bai, since you¡¯re here, why don¡¯t we head down the mountain? Senior Zhi Tian is planning to leave soon, he¡¯s with the headmaster right now A student came by earlier to notify you, but you were preoccupied¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? Senior Zhi Tian and Nalan Yin are leaving? Alright, I¡¯ll head on over then.¡±


    He turned around to head down from the mountain. The only reason their school could prepare for the battle was due to Zhi Tian¡¯s warning. He and Nalan Yin were acquaintances anyhow, so it was only proper that he sent the two off.


    Down by the base of the mountain, Bai Yunfei saw Zhi Tian and Nalan Yin turning to leave while Kou Changkong and Xiao Binzi stood by the gates.


    The two of them paused when they felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s presence. Quickly catching up to them, Bai Yunfei bowed deeply to Zhi Tian, ¡°Our school was able to prepare for the worst due to your aid. This junior will pray for your safe trip.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯ve done us soulbeasts a great favor by ridding us of the Beast Taming School, young Bai. A favor like that warrants a favor returned. There is no need for you to thank me.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A few words of conversation later, and Bai Yunfei watched as Zhi Tian and Nalan Yin disappear into the distance.


    It was only after a considerable distance had been gained between them and the Crafting School that Nalan Yin deigned to speak. ¡°Hey, Zhi Tian, did you really mean what you said about returning a favor? Our lives would¡¯ve been forfeit if the Crafting School didn¡¯t manage to hold out!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhi Tian raised an eyebrow, ¡°Did you perchance think we would die there?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Nalan Yin shrugged, ¡°Master said before that I¡¯d live for several hundred years. There¡¯s no way I¡¯d go and get killed before then.¡±


    ¡°Then why speak as you did?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t always be so sure. Fate can change at the drop of a hat, there¡¯s no way of knowing if my ¡®fortune¡¯ will be as what my master said. It¡¯s not like I can predict my own fate¡ªand you won¡¯t predict it for me either.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. There¡¯s no value in such topics. Even had I not gave a warning, the Crafting School would still stand. We only served to expedite the results. Just think of this as something we were ¡®predestined¡¯ to do. For us and the world of soul cultivators and soulbeasts, this is something that will bring good ¡®fate¡¯ to us all¡­¡±


    ¡°What!? Aren¡¯t you exaggerating? This battle determines the ¡®fate¡¯ of our world? How did you think that?¡±


    ¡°Those are my thoughts. It is a possibility, after all¡­but that¡¯s enough talk. Let us hurry.¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­where are we going next then?¡±


    ¡°The Soulbeast Forest.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On his return to the top of the mountain, Bai Yunfei found Li Chengfeng talking with Tang Xinyun and several others. From their conversation, he learned that Huangfu Rui was by herself familiarizing herself with her new powers. Now was an especially precarious time for Huangfu Rui. Having spent so long under the Symbiosis Imprint meant Huangfu Rui had a lot to catch up on.


    He also heard that the lord-mayor of Redfire City came by. Because of chaotic incidents caused by several refiners, the lord-mayor was far too busy stabilizing the city and wasn¡¯t able to send any reinforcements over to the Crafting School.


    ¡°Hey, Yunfei, I have a few materials on hand. Mind taking a look to see if you can craft me a soul armament from them?¡±


    Li Chengfeng changed the topic after a while.


    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t mind.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°I¡¯ll naturally help you craft a soul armament. What materials did you bring? Let me take a look¡­¡±


    ¡°I found a pyrium meteorite, a chunk of it that took forever for me to find. Can you craft a longsword from it for me?¡±


    A flash of red light appeared over Li Chengfeng¡¯s hand as he brought the said item out from his space ring.


    A wave of intense heat shot out from the item the moment it appeared.


    ¡°Pyrium meteorite?! You have some? That thing¡¯s massive!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes grew wide open at the sight of the chunk. It was nearly as tall as he was and half his width. Pyrium meteorites were a rarity in this world and hardly ever mentioned aside from ancient records from the past. With how rare they were, Bai Yunfei was naturally surprised Li Chengfeng had a chunk of that size with him.


    Bai Yunfei took the chunk from Li Chengfeng after his excitement faded away. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, Chengfeng. I¡¯ll definitely craft you a powerful soul armament like none other!¡±

 Chapter 1247: The Crisis of Shen Pojun

    The next morning, Bai Yunfei left early to the materials depot to see if he could find any material to supplement the pyrium meteorite. Something as rare as this meant he absolutely had to succeed. He even asked Xiao Binzi for advice, but the man had none. The meteorite was so rare that not even he or any of the other crafters knew what to do. Not even Shen Pojun knew. All they had to go on were from the records of the crafters of before.


    The pyrium meteorite was said to be an object from beyond the world and contained the flames of the sun as well as the Law of Fire. Thus, the pyrium meteorite was a truly precious and invaluable material to craft a soul armament. It might even be possible to advance one¡¯s comprehension into the Laws of Fire. In that case, Bai Yunfei was more than willing to prepare for such a case.


    For extra preparation, Bai Yunfei headed into the Core World to prepare his heart. He wanted to be in the best state of mind before he could begin crafting.


    However, an unexpected situation occurred before Bai Yunfei could actually begin his crafting plans¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    It happened right as Bai Yunfei closed his eyes to meditate. A tremor ran through the Core World, jolting him awake.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on!?¡±


    Eyes wide open, Bai Yunfei looked around the Core World, but nothing different could be seen. He sent a pulse of soulsense outward and immediately felt a powerful wave of elemental fire.


    ¡°Ancestor!!¡±


    The source came from outside. Disappearing from the Core World, Bai Yunfei immediately appeared back into the real world and teleported straight to the main peaks.


    Several people were already gathered at the plaza such as Chu Yintian, Xiao Binzi, and Kou Changkong were among those gathered. More were on the way to this place, but for the most part, everyone was looking at the skies above.


    Up high in the sky stood a pillar of flames. Raising so far up into the sky, it seemed as if the pillar was attempting to reach the highest point of the heavens so it could scorch it. Even from the ground, the heat was practically unbearable to most.


    ¡°Is¡­¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened as the realization hit him, ¡°Is he going to breakthrough?!¡±


    This was definitely a sign of a breakthrough¡ªShen Pojun was trying to become a Saint!


    ¡°My senior lost quite a bit of power in his battle against Gu Lianhun, but the experiences he gained were also quite substantial. After two days of reflections, I¡¯m sure he thought he¡¯d be able to break the bottleneck and ascend. If he can¡¯t, then I¡¯m afraid he¡¯ll never get another opportunity to try. We can only hope he succeeds¡­¡±


    Chu Yintian confirmed Bai Yunfei¡¯s suspicions, much to his joy. But amidst his expectations was also a sliver of concern.


    Shen Pojun appearing when he did definitely had to hinder his path to Sainthood, and that battle certainly didn¡¯t do anything to expedite his path. Even if he rested and his body was back to normal, that didn¡¯t mean his training would be back to normal.


    On the other side, the battle certainly had been beneficial to Shen Pojun¡¯s understanding. Because of how Bai Yunfei wielded the Law of Chaos, Shen Pojun was able to determine a few important points on how to handle chaotic energy. Compounded with his own understandings, Shen Pojun was able to grab hold of this important moment to breakthrough.


    An attempt to become a Saint was many times more dangerous than attempting to become a Soul Emperor. Only two outcomes could be had:


    Success or death.


    There was no such thing as a ¡®Half-Saint¡¯


    This was the main reason why Shen Pojun and Gu Jimie spent multiple years in isolation. Every Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor Would spend countless years training so as to avoid failure. The only time they would even attempt to breakthrough was when the end of their natural life span was here.


    The number of soul cultivators in this world numbered in the millions, but hardly a handful of them could become a Soul Saint. And in any given generation, only a single digit amount could be counted.


    If not for this crisis, it was possible Shen Pojun would¡¯ve been able to continue training in peace without obstruction. Perhaps several decades later, he could¡¯ve been able to succeed and be a Saint without an issue. But because of this incident, that opportunity was no longer available. He¡¯d have to make sure to grasp any opportunity when he could now.


    ¡­¡­


    As of right now, Shen Pojun was high up in the sky, where the Ninth Heaven was. All sorts of elemental energy was gathering where he was, allowing everyone, Bai Yunfei included, to watch anxiously if he would succeed or not.


    Time trickled by slowly. Despite not being able to see what exactly Shen Pojun was up to, no one left the place. They were far too anxious to see if Shen Pojun would ascend or not.


    But as time went on, the expressions on Chu Yintian and the other elders hardened¡ªtoo much time had passed¡­


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Suddenly, Chu Yintian whipped out an item from his space ring. It was a jade tablet the color of fire. Something from within the tablet was flashing a bright red light that seemed ready to explode at any second.


    Immediately, Chu Yintian was filled with horror and regret. Likewise, the other elders reflected his emotions.


    The tablet Chu Yintian held in his hand was Shen Pojun¡¯s life slip!! And judging from the current state of it, Shen Pojun¡¯s health wasn¡¯t in a very good condition!


    ¡°Is he going to fail to ascend?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he debated the worst-case scenario. To fail here meant Shen Pojun would die¡ªwas that really going to be the end result?!


    What should he do? What could he do?


    Practically grinding his brain to dust as he raked his mind, Bai Yunfei paced around nervously for an idea.


    ¡°Sealer, Core, do you think I¡¯d be able to help him if you bring me up there?!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Saeler¡¯s voice called back to him. ¡°Are you joking!? The chaotic energy will tear you to pieces right now, do you really think you can help out?!¡±


    ¡°Maybe! You forget, I have an understanding of the Law of Chaos, remember? Since becoming a Saint requires an understanding of chaotic energy, maybe I¡¯ll be able to share some of my knowledge with the ancestor, it might be able to help him out!¡±


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Sealer remained quiet for a moment, ¡°There is some logic there, but we can¡¯t be too sure¡­.I¡¯ve never heard of something like this before. If something goes wrong¡­it¡¯ll be you that¡¯ll be in danger¡­¡±


    ¡°If we do attempt this, Yunfei can return to the Core World if a problem arises. There¡¯ll be no risk in that case¡­¡± Core supplemented.


    ¡°Okay! We¡¯ll have to try it then, let¡¯s go!!¡±


    And that was that. Settled on his decision, Bai Yunfei spurred his soulforce into action and made use of the Core Stone to teleport him far away from the Crafting School.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    His disappearance caught the attention of Chu Yintian and the others, but not fast enough for them to stop him. They only noticed it when Bai Yunfei appeared briefly higher up in the sky before teleporting again farther away from them.


    ¡°Yunfei!! What is he doing?!¡±


    Chu Yintian cried out. He had wanted to stop Bai Yunfei, but he was nowhere near enough to do so. Thus, he was forced to stay behind and look after Bai Yunfei¡¯s shadow.


    ¡­¡­


    Countless kilometers above the ground, Bai Yunfei shot through the last layer of clouds before flying into the first layer of chaotic energy. He could sense a tremendous source of soulforce pushing and pulling everything in a chaotic matter near him.


    Protecting himself with a layer of energy, Bai Yunfei hastened his journey towards this source of energy. It was already hard for him to withstand the energy being radiated by Shen Pojun, and Bai Yunfei was forced to enter Berserk Mode in order for him to even properly endure the force. Soon, he was at the center of the chaotic energy.


    Droves of chaotic energy were being agitated by soulforce in this place. At the center of it all was the same pillar of fire as could be seen from below. And it was this pillar of fire that was on the verge of collapse under the machinations of the chaotic energy here.


    Shen Pojun sat inside the pillar of fire, his face twisted up in pain. The soulforce in his body flowed erratically as if he was having a hard time controlling the powerful energy around him.


    The flames were trying to form a whirlpool around his body in a contradictory manner. Parts of it were trying to drive away chaotic energy while other parts of the whirlpool seemed as if it was trying to absorb chaotic energy. In the case of the latter, the flames would burst apart whenever it tried. The attempt of absorbing chaotic energy seemed to be far too much for Shen Pojun¡¯s flames to handle.


    And every single time his flames absorbed a sliver of chaotic energy, the soulforce within Shen Pojun¡¯s body would stabilize for just a brief moment before running amok again.


    The pain on Shen Pojun¡¯s face grew worse and worse. The trembling of his body became more and more pronounced, and the flames around him weakened in intensity. It wouldn¡¯t be much longer before Shen Pojun would be unable to endure any longer. And when that happened, his soulforce would lose control and the chaotic energy around him would tear his body to pieces¡­

 Chapter 1248: Sharing Understandings to Breakthrough!

    ¡°Ancestor!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was frantic. Seeing the state of Shen Pojun was appalling to him, but he couldn¡¯t get any closer to the man due to the overwhelming waves of chaotic energy.


    ¡°Let me through!!¡±


    Gripping at the air in front of him, Bai Yunfei unleashed a wave of soulforce and wrenched his hands apart!


    As like the ocean suddenly splitting apart, the chaotic energy in front of him was split into two sides, granting him a path straight ahead to Shen Pojun!


    Quickly, Bai Yunfei flew through the empty channel unobstructed, the chaotic energy seemingly afraid to close in on him. The Law of Chaos surrounded Bai Yunfei, protecting him from anything that might decide to attack him.


    He came to a stop about seven hundred meters away from Shen Pojun, the raw elemental fire Shen Pojun was giving off was far too strong for him to dare come any closer.


    He could probably advance further if he really wanted to, but Bai Yunfei was afraid of potentially disturbing Shen Pojun if he did. Glancing down, he looked at the bracelet on his left wrist.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Illusion, Fire


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attribute: 800 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: 35 Charm


    Soul Compatibility: 36%


    Equipment Effect 1: 40% Decrease in damage taken from illusions


    +10 Additional Effect: Link minds with anyone within a kilometer.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    The glow from the Charm Bracelet signified that it was activating its +10 additional effect.


    He felt Shen Pojun reject the attempt for linking at first, ¡°Ancestor, it¡¯s me, Bai Yunfei! Please, let me help you breakthrough!!¡±


    The resistance disappeared at once. Successfully linking with Shen Pojun, Bai Yunfei immediately felt the surprise and worry being shown by Shen Pojun, but he noted the elder man said nothing. He was too surprised for words, apparently.


    Bai Yunfei had no time for words. He was too nervous for that. Sucking in a deep breath of air, he began to manipulate the chaotic energy around him.


    The art of manipulating chaotic energy, or even the evolved Law of Chaos, was something that couldn¡¯t be explained with words. One had to show through actions in order for it to be taught, and that was what Bai Yunfei was doing through their soul link.


    Carefully, he relayed the thoughts and sensation of everything his actions, whether it was a small thought or major detail to Shen Pojun, who was attentively watching him now.


    With Bai Yunfei as the center, the chaotic energy began to swirl around him. Swirling fqaster and faster, they began to condense into the Law of Chaos.


    ¡°Eh? It¡¯s working!?¡±


    He was ecstatic¡ªthe chaotic energy around Shen Pojun was slowly, but surely, flowing into him at a steady rate!


    Choking down the happiness inside of him, Bai Yunfei continued to manipulate the chaotic energy. He was seated down on his legs to allow for the flow of chaotic energy to better enter his body.


    The charm bracelet was glowing brighter and brighter now, though the flames around Shen Pojun was growing calmer and calmer. Infused with chaotic energy, the flames took on a grayish tint. Soon, the flames had multiple streaks of gray that ran through it.


    Falling into a rhythm now, Shen Pojun found himself at a calm. The flames nearest to him flowed like a whirlpool in a mixture of equal parts red and gray, mixing together into a new tint instead of refusing to mix like before.


    And the calmer his soulforce became, the calmer he himself got. Soon, Shen Pojun was back to a serene expression as if nothing was wrong in the first place.


    It would appear at last that Shen Pojun was no longer in danger and could train in peace.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei was also entering a contemplative meditation.


    He originally planned to come here and help Shen Pojun learn how to manipulate chaotic energy, nothing more. But now, here he was, deep in a trance and training himself.


    The soul link told him Shen Pojun wasn¡¯t in danger anymore. It also told him a few other things such as the joy Shen Pojun felt. After a moment of consideration, Bai Yunfei summoned a prismatic ball to him.


    It was Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Xiao Qi, get ready to train!!¡± He linked to Xiao Qi¡¯s mind the moment the ball appeared.


    And then just like that, Bai Yunfei withdrew into himself. Forgetting the rest of the world, Bai Yunfei entered a state of deep meditation.


    Xiao Qi had killed a decent amount of people in the last few days. Many of them were Soul Emperors, and the experience he got from them was overwhelming. Knowing what Bai Yunfei was getting at, Xiao Qi began to focus on a certain area in his training rather than train in all aspects equally.


    With the soul link, Bai Yunfei was able to pass even more information about chaotic energy to Shen Pojun. In return, he was also able to glean some information back from Shen Pojun¡ªinformation on how to train in the Law of Fire!


    Shen Pojun¡¯s understanding of the Law of Fire was undoubtedly leaps and bounds ahead of Bai Yunfei, and there was no way he wouldn¡¯t be able to benefit from it.


    As miraculous as the Charm Bracelet was and its ability to mentally link with another, it wasn¡¯t normally able to ¡®share¡¯ understandings. But the ¡®agreement¡¯ between Shen Pojun and Bai Yunfei was such that there was somehow a way for the two to share their understandings without really knowing the reason why.


    ¡­¡­


    It was completely silent in this part of chaotic space. The whirlpool of fire that used to swirl around Shen Pojun was now completely overtaken by chaotic energy, and Shen Pojun himself was draining the excess chaotic energy almost greedily into his body.


    On the other side, a small crimson whirlpool flowed with the first. This crimson whirlpool was somewhat mixed with gray and was where Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi was.


    In this area of overwhelming power, three auras, one powerful, and two slightly weaker ones, were all getting stronger and stronger¡­

 Chapter 1249: Meteoric Striker

    For two days and two nights, Chu Yintian and the other crafters stood on top of the plazas to stare up toward the heavens. Everyone was deathly silent as they paid attention to even the minutest of changes. They were all anxiously awaiting for something to change.


    The only difference this time was that they were no longer concerned or worried. They were eager.


    It had been quite the scare when Shen Pojun¡¯s life slip started to flash dangerously two days ago. It also scared the group when Bai Yunfei suddenly splintered off from the group, but his own life slip showed nothing abnormal, even two days after, reassuring everyone that he was fine.


    Everyone found it hard to believe, but they couldn¡¯t doubt the possibility that Bai Yunfei had somehow found a way to help Shen Pojun breakthrough.


    They did think that it wouldn¡¯t take long for the two to return, though. If not for the life slips saying they were alright, the group would¡¯ve panicked about the situation of the two. All they could do now was simply grit their teeth and wait patiently for their return.


    ¡°Eh?! Yunfei¡¯s back!!¡±


    It was Chu Yintian who noticed him first.


    ¡°What!? Yunfei¡¯s back?!¡±


    The heads of the others snapped to a certain quadrant of the sky at once. Two streaks of light were rapidly descending to the earth.


    Soon, the figures of two people could be discerned within the lights. Of one of those lights, Bai Yunfei could be seen. In the other light, Xiao Qi.


    ¡°What¡¯s Yunfei¡¯s soulbeast partner doing there?¡± Chu Yintian wondered aloud, ¡°Hold on! Their auras¡­their Mid-stage Soul Emperors!!¡±


    The others gasped as well. Everyone was realizing that Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi¡¯s auras were now on the level of a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. They had only been Early-stage Soul Emperors two days ago, how was it possible that they were able to advance a stage so fast?!


    The light containing Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi blinked out of existence one moment only to reappear on the ground the next.


    ¡°Yunfei!¡±


    Tang Xinyun cried out in joy. Had it not been for the presence of so many elders, she would¡¯ve jumped into his arms for an embrace. To say she was worried about Bai Yunfei the past two days would be an understatement.


    Everyone crowded around him at once. ¡°Yunfei¡­¡± Chu Yintian was the first to speak.


    Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°Elders, by the grace of the ancestor, I was able to gain some knowledge and advance a stage in my training.¡±


    ¡°How is my senior? Why has he not returned? Has he, or has he not succeeded?¡±


    ¡°Please rest assured, the ancestor has successfully ascended to Sainthood. He needs some time to familiarize himself with his new powers. It may be a few days before he¡¯s finished.¡±


    ¡°He¡­he did it! He¡¯s actually become a Saint!!¡±


    Chu Yintian was ecstatic to hear the confirmation. The ending differed slightly from what he recalled from the records, but in the end, his senior had actually succeeded!


    News traveled quickly about Bai Yunfei¡¯s triumph. Soon, the entire school knew about the success and began to celebrate in earnest.


    The group could finally leave the plaza now that they knew everything was alright with Shen Pojun. The school could return to some semblance of normalcy as they awaited for Shen Pojun to return.


    ¡­¡­


    One night of rest and morning greeting to Tang Xinyun later, Bai Yunfei traveled into the Core World.


    ¡°Hah¡­what a result. Not only did we help the ancestor breakthrough, but we also managed to get stronger ourselves. I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to craft a high-heaven tier soul armament¡­¡±


    The increase in strength he got in the last two days had been a pleasant surprise, given the circumstances. But among those surprises was a new understanding of the Law of Fire and how to use it.


    With that thought, Bai Yunfei took out a series of materials. It was time for him to craft Li Chengfeng¡¯s soul armament with the items he was given.


    Clearing his mind a bit, Bai Yunfei thought a little bit longer on what other materials he should use before deciding on it. The Dualflame Cauldron appeared onto the ground and roared to life as Bai Yunfei prepared to start crafting.


    The mountain Bai Yunfei was on was awash with elemental fire. Gradually, a golden and orange light began to appear within the red, gaining enough intensity that not even the silhouette of the mountain could be seen.


    Then finally¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A brilliant explosion of red, orange, and golden light flooded the skies with terrific intensity. The mountain trembled once from the blow, but the silhouette could now be seen again.


    The Dualflame Cauldron had its fire extinguished, and the second fireseed was back in Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. Yet, he sat there with his eyes closed as if meditating.


    It wouldn¡¯t be for another few minutes before he would open his eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s as the records said¡­that the pyrium meteorite contains the raw essence of the Law of Fire. It¡¯s a shame there¡¯s only a little, maybe I could¡¯ve become a Late-stage Soul Emperor if there was¡­¡±


    He sighed in regret to himself. Crafting with the pyrium meteorite had granted him no small amount of experience, but it was too much to ask for considering what he had just gone through.


    He turned his attention back to the cauldron. Eager, he waved his hand and summoned a ball of red light out from the cauldron to his hand.


    Grasping onto the object within the light, Bai Yunfei inspected the soul armament with a pleased expression.


    The blade of the soul armament was completely scarlet. Shaped like a sword from the Tang Dynasty or a katana, it was quite long and exuded a brilliant heat from it.


    Li Chengfeng had asked for a sword, but halfway through crafting, Bai Yunfei realized the meteorite wasn¡¯t suitable for a double-edged sword as was conventional in this world and thus turned it into a thinner and sleeker design.


    Pleased with his handiwork, Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Afterwards:


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Metal, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 6600


    Additional Attack: 4300


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    Equipment Effect 1: 30% Increase in attacks done to wood, metal, and water types.


    Equipment Effect 2: Inflict Scorch when struck. Enemies will take continuous damage and all wounds take longer to heal from.


    Equipment Effect 3: 30% Decrease in soulforce consumption when using fire-type attacks. 20% Increase in fire-type attacks. 10% Chance to invoke the power of the Law of Fire.


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Chance to summon a meteorite when attacking.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei was piqued with curiosity at the stats of the sword, ¡°A meteor? I¡¯ve never seen such an effect, does it actually summon a meteor from above?¡±


    The equipment effects were already pretty strong, given that it could boost attacks done to multiple types of enemies. The third equipment effect where the Law of Fire could be invoked was a particularly fascinating one. It was the +10 additional effect that was the most peculiar. He had never seen such an effect like that before.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try it then.¡±


    Putting away the cauldron, Bai Yunfei stood up and walked over to the edge of the mountain. Peering over the cliff, he had the Core Stone send a blade of wind coming at him.


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh.¡±


    Multiple strokes of red flew out from the sword when he swung it. He watched in glee as the blades of wind broke apart and a sliver of his soulforce suddenly trickled into the soul armament, indicating that the effect had activated.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Suddenly, a brilliant flash of orange appeared overhead. It slammed down onto the ground in front of him with devastating force before Bai Yunfei was able to confirm for himself that a meteor had indeed impacted against the ground.


    ¡°Hot damn!! It really was a meteor!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cursed aloud. But then the Core Stone told him that the meteor had been a physical manifestation of elemental earth instead of a meteor from beyond the scope of the world.


    Needless to say, Bai Yunfei was pleased with such a flashy effect like this. He almost loathed to give it to Li Chengfeng, but a deal was a deal. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll call you the Meteoric Striker!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei left the Core World shortly afterward. A full day and night had passed since he first went in, but that didn¡¯t stop Bai Yunfei from seeking out Li Chengfeng and (reluctantly) giving him the promised soul armament.


    Needless to say, Li Chengfeng was pleased as punch with the delivered product.


    Another day went by, marking the day every crafter was anxiously awaiting for: the return of Shen Pojun.


    It happened when Bai Yunfei arrived at the great hall to discuss some matters. Everyone that was a Soul King or stronger was already gathered there.


    It was not only a celebration for the ascension of their ancestor, but also a gathering of the Crafting School¡¯s strongest to discuss some important business¡­

 Chapter 1250: Rousing the School to Destroy the Wind Lightning School!

    There was one thing about Shen Pojun that Bai Yunfei noted in particular when he first saw the man.


    It wasn¡¯t just the fact that Shen Pojun¡¯s aura was immensely more vibrant than before, or that he was far more collected. If anything, Bai Yunfei could hardly even see if the man was stronger than before.


    But if there was one thing he had to note, it was that Shen Pojun now gave off the same sensation the Frostfeather Saint did.


    The same sensation the Frostfeather Saint gave when the two split ways, rather than when the two first met¡­


    The Frostfeather Saint was powerful beyond belief when he regained his freedom, and that wasn¡¯t even him in his strongest state. In the end, the Frostfeather Saint decided to repay Bai Yunfei by allowing him to experience what it was like to manipulate chaotic energy and opened up an avenue for him to understand the Law of Chaos, which ultimately helped him improve. In turn, it was these experiences that Bai Yunfei was able to pass down to Shen Pojun.


    It was this same feeling Bai Yunfei felt from Shen Pojun at this moment!


    What did that mean? It didn¡¯t mean something like Shen Pojun being ¡®just¡¯ a newly-ascended Soul Saint. It meant that the man had gained a great deal of enlightenment on how to manipulate chaotic energy and the Law of Chaos to immensely power himself up yet again!


    Knowing that the ancestor had benefited more from his help than expected, Bai Yunfei bowed respectfully. ¡°Ancestor.¡±


    ¡°Be at ease.¡± Shen Pojun smiled, ¡°Please take a seat, Yunfei...¡±


    To say Shen Pojun was pleased with the ¡®new¡¯ and ¡®upcoming¡¯ crafter, Bai Yunfei, was an understatement. He knew that without Bai Yunfei¡¯s assistance, it would¡¯ve been very possible he wouldn¡¯t have been able to stand here today. In just four days of consolidating his new powers, Shen Pojun was able to gain an even better understanding of chaotic energy than the regular Early-stage Soul Saint. Even his fundamentals on the Law of Chaos would serve to help him greatly in the future.


    That was one of the reasons why he was able to stay in chaotic space for as long as he did. Ordinarily, a newly-ascended Saint would only be able to endure half a day at best before getting filled up on the chaotic energy and having to familiarize themselves with it.


    ¡­¡­


    Dozens of people were gathered in the halls now. Even Song Lin and a few other promising students were there for Shen Pojun to glance over. With each student, Shen Pojun gave an appraising nod.


    All discussion died down when Shen Pojun cast his eyes around. No one dared to make a sound as they were looked over by him.


    Shen Pojun smiled. ¡°It truly makes me gratified to see my school so prosperous.


    ¡°But,¡± He cut to the chase, ¡°today we are gathered for discourse. I am familiar with the conflict that has overtaken our continent. I would have the Crafting School stand neutral in this conflict, but the times have changed. With the world of soul cultivators in such trouble, there will be parties that will mistake our stance as soft and attack us. We can defend ourselves, but regardless, this is not a course of action I would hope to continue¡­¡±


    A cold gleam of light entered his eyes, ¡°Our Crafting School has been dormant for many years now, perhaps it is time we finally rouse from that slumber. It is time to show those who would mean us harm how they will be the ones to suffer instead! We will not stop with only those men who attacked us!¡±


    Shen Pojun¡¯s speech began to rouse the excitement in everyone¡¯s hearts. His words were filling them all with great inspiration.


    ¡°Our enemies this time are the Wind Lightning School and the Soul Refining School. We know of the Soul Refining School being in the Lost Swamps, but finding their location will not be easy. The Wind Lightning School, on the other hand, is a different story. Whatever they did unto us, we will do unto them! By my will, the Wind Lightning School will be attacked and burned down to their roots!!¡±


    The entire hall was flooded with a flood of killing intent, rooting everyone to where they stood.


    Destroying one of the ten schools, the Wind Lightning School? And completely?!


    Though it was a ridiculous claim, the very notion of it also filled all of the crafters with insurmountable courage!


    Yes! If the Wind Lightning School was so foolish to attack their school, then they saw no reason why they shouldn¡¯t serve them their own medicine!


    Multiple people began to burst into discussion. It was far too great a bombshell to not discuss. But there was no objection¡ªclearly many of them had come to the same opinion themselves.


    The Crafting School had indeed taken a low profile in the past few decades. Hardly any crafters roamed the world, and even less of them took a stance in any particular conflict in the world of soul cultivators. They never had any grudges, but now that an enemy had dared to attack their own school like this, the crafters all realized they had to make a stand now or be known as being pushovers.


    They killed all the attackers in the last battle, but that wasn¡¯t enough. A debt had been made and the initial deposit paid, but not the remainder. The rest of the debt was up to the rest of the Wind Lightning School to pay.


    If not for Shen Pojun¡¯s declaration, the Crafting School would¡¯ve most likely decided to nurture their wounds and plan their revenge for another time. But since Shen Pojun was here and also a Soul Saint, there was no need to wait! There was no need to plan their revenge! They could simply charge straight in and attack right now!


    ¡­¡­


    Shen Pojun¡¯s words silenced the crowd at once. ¡°And so I am here today to discuss who will accompany me and who will stay behind. While there shouldn¡¯t be anyone left that dares attack us now, we cannot relax too much.¡±


    A calm silence ran across the crowd. Everyone stared anxiously at Shen Pojun, hopeful that they would be among those he would want to battle with him.


    Then, Bai Yunfei spoke up. ¡°Ancestor, your student has something to say.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is there an objection of some kind?¡±


    ¡°Your student simply believes that if everyone is willing to go, then we may as all go together.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    It was a question that was whispered, but silenced everyone like it was a statement. Everyone grew still as they stared at Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°I mean ¡®everyone¡¯,¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Not just the ones in the halls, but the entirety of the school¡ªif we are worried about the safety of our school when we are out, then we may as well take the school with us!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to say¡­¡± Realization dawned in Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes, ¡°The Core Stone?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly. I could bring all of Mt. Crimson into the Core World. That way, we wouldn¡¯t have to worry about defending the school in our absence and bring it back out afterward.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    His words left the hall speechless.


    ¡°That is possible?!¡± Shen Pojun was similarly thunderstruck.


    ¡°I once moved the entire Yao City into the Core World, and now that my strength is far better than before, I am confident that I¡¯ll be able to move Mt. Crimson into the Core World as long as ancestor is there to help me.¡±


    ¡°Haha!!¡± Chu Yintian couldn¡¯t help but bark out loud in laughter. ¡°I never imagined there¡¯d be such a method! Then let us get started, the Wind Lightning School has a debt to pay!!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    News traveled across the continent like shockwaves and stunned all that heard it. Each piece of information had been far harder to believe than the last.


    The Wind Lightning School and Soul Refining School had an army of powerful beings, dozens of Soul Kings and dozens of Soul Emperors come together to attack the Crafting School. The Soul Refining School had even the long-missing Gu Lianhun, who despite being an avatar, was also a Saint.


    It was a strong force, but the Crafting School had an equally powerful vanguard to protect them. Experts came out from decades of meditation to protect the school, even Shen Pojun, a man who was close to becoming a Saint.


    Despite the brilliant defensive power, the Crafting School looked to be at a disadvantage. The Soul Refining School had a Soul Saint, even if it was an avatar. But even an avatar like that would be far too much for Shen Pojun to fight.


    Given the odds, it was safe to say the Crafting School would lose. But¡­that wasn¡¯t how it ended up!


    Not only did the Crafting School win, they won by a tremendous margin! Gu Lianhun had lost! Fleeing with just a literal handful of people in tow, Gu Lianhun managed to escape, but the rest of the combined forces had all died at the hands of the crafters afterward. Not even Dong Wanlei had managed to survive!!


    The details of the battle wasn¡¯t known to the rest of the world due to conflicting or speculative information, but everyone was clear of the end result.


    One of the only things they knew was that the turning point of the battle had to do with Bai Yunfei, but that was something only the lord-mayor of Redfire City learned after visiting the school.


    That was also when news of what happened to the Water School was made known. Everyone then heard that Bai Yunfei had not only went to help the Water School, but also fought and killed Yue Kuangfeng from the Wind Lightning School before returning to the Crafting School to fight there several days later¡­


    In one piece of information, Bai Yunfei appeared. In another, Bai Yunfei appeared again¡­


    Countless rumors and speculations began to fly as everyone tried to figure out what the Crafting School would do next.


    It wasn''t long before news from Redfire City began to spread throughout the continent¡ªThe Crafting School and Mt. Crimson had¡­disappeared!


    The entire Mt. Crimson had disappeared! Only a gigantic crater was left in its place as if it had been swallowed up by something! And not a single crafter was there to be even explain the disappearance¡­

 Chapter 1251: Ye Zhiqius in Danger

    In the southern provinces of the continent. Freesia City, Yellow River Province.


    Four figures walked through the bustling streets of the city; two males, two females. They were not an inconspicuous group. One of the males had a handsome face that caught the admiring eyes of many women. And the two females were equally eye-catching to the countless male travelers on that street.


    Bai Yunfei glanced over to Li Chengfeng, ¡°Chengfeng,¡± he quipped with a sour look, ¡°you have no business being as handsome as you are now. I feel like a butler to a scholar right now. Had I known earlier I would¡¯ve changed your face¡­¡±


    Huangfu Rui chose then to turn around to comfort Bai Yunfei, ¡°Don¡¯t feel so bad, brother Yunfei.¡± She laughed, ¡°You¡¯re the most handsome in my eyes, brother Chengfeng can¡¯t even compare!¡±


    ¡°Haha, thanks for your words, I just knew¡ª¡±


    ¡°Wow! Look at that monkey over there! Sis Yun, let¡¯s take a look! That monkey is so cute! It¡¯s even cuter than Xiao Rourou!¡±


    And Huangfu Rui was off. Having not even heard Bai Yunfei¡¯s words, she was already tugging Tang Xinyun away with her to look at the nearby monkey show taking place while the small magiboar followed behind her.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was left standing there, his head shaking in his hand.


    It had been two days since Shen Pojun declared that the school would attack the Wind Lightning School. In those two days, Bai Yunfei had managed to ¡®uproot¡¯ the entire Crafting School into the Core World with the assistance of Shen Pojun. That took a single day. On the morning of the next, Bai Yunfei used the Core Stone to transport them through the continent at an accelerated pace.


    And now the group was in the Yellow River Province, a province that had yet to hear about the ¡®disappearance¡¯ of the Crafting School.


    The Wind Lightning School was located in the Black River Province, a neighboring province of the province they were currently in. Another reason Bai Yunfei was here in this city was so he could see the Ye. Ye Zhiqiu in particular.


    The two had plenty in common. They joined the same school at the same time, had a good friendship, and were both equally talented. Though he didn¡¯t have the Extreme King Pill to help him, Ye Zhiqiu was able to become an Early-stage Soul King on his own merits just last year. He had to leave for his home two months prior, so Bai Yunfei had yet to see him when he went back to the school. As such, it would be a nice coincidence to meet him here and see how he was doing.


    As of right now, the entirety of the Crafting School was being ¡®carried¡¯ by Bai Yunfei. They were all in the Core World and were busy preparing for war while Bai Yunfei traveled on the outside with Tang Xinyun, Li Chengfeng, and Huangfu Rui.


    On the topic of Huangfu Rui, the young woman had changed drastically since she awoke. Physically, she had aged from being young and childish to being more beautiful as appropriate for her age. Mentally, she spoke with far more eloquence than before, much to everyone¡¯s delight. She didn¡¯t even call Bai Yunfei as ¡®bro strawhat¡¯ anymore, choosing to call him ¡®brother Yunfei¡¯ instead.


    ¡­¡­


    Freesia City was not a very large one, but the Ye were still quite a big family, so it took very little time or energy for the group to find their main residence.


    They stopped in front of the main entrance, but they saw neither guard nor worker anywhere to be seen. The entire entrance looked bleak.


    Bai Yunfei was confused. Knocking on the door, he waited until a young servant girl opened the door just a crack, ¡°Is there something the matter, sire?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We are friends of Ye Zhiqiu.¡± Bai Yunfei introduced, ¡°we came to pay him a visit if you could please tell him that.¡±


    ¡°Friends of master Zhiqiu?¡± The servant girl¡¯s eyes widened just a fraction, ¡°I am sorry, sires. Master Zhiqiu isn¡¯t home right now, and the house isn¡¯t receiving any guests at the moment. Please come back another time.¡±


    And before he could speak, the servant girl had retreated back into the residence and closed the door.


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    ¡°It seems like he¡¯s not home.¡± Bai Yunfei turned back to face Tang Xinyun, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with his family though? Not receiving guests? Did something happen?¡±


    ¡°Do you think Zhiqiu is already on his way back to the school?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°News of the battle should have already reached this province. I¡¯m sure Zhiqiu would¡¯ve learned about it and rushed back¡­we must¡¯ve missed each other then. I wonder how he¡¯ll react when he finds the school¡¯s completely gone? Haha¡­.


    ¡°But since that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s get going towards the Wind Lightning School.¡±


    And so the group turned around. If Ye Zhiqiu wasn¡¯t here, then their business in Freesia City was all but concluded. Slowly, but surely, they navigated through the streets to reach a slightly remote part of the city before stopping¡ªtheir senses had picked up on the fact that someone was trailing them.


    Trailing wasn¡¯t the best word, but rather ¡®chasing¡¯. Practically in a panic, this person seemed to be running straight for them. Judging from the aura, this person was a Soul Sprite only.


    Quickly, the person turned around the corner and came into view. It was just a young girl, whose face was filled with frantic anxiety. She lit up when she saw Bai Yunfei¡¯s group and hurriedly sprinted to get closer.


    Not even waiting for Bai Yunfei to ask who she was, the girl immediately began to speak, ¡°You¡­you are friends of my brother, right?! You came to see him?¡±


    ¡°Your brother?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°Are you Zhiqiu¡¯s sister?¡±


    ¡°I am!¡± She replied, ¡°I¡¯m Ye Zhiyun. You guys really must be my brother¡¯s friends¡­¡±


    ¡°Take a deep breath now, what happened? I¡¯m Bai Yunfei, a fellow student with your brother. How¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei? You¡¯re Bai Yunfei!?¡± The excitement could hardly be contained in her voice now. She fell to the ground in a deep groveling position, ¡°Big brother Bai, please¡­please save my brother! He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s¡­¡±


    Startled, Bai Yunfei waved his hand to bring the girl back to her feet. ¡°What? What¡¯s going on, what happened to your brother?¡± He queried.


    ¡°He¡¯s been¡­he¡¯s been jailed! He was thrown into our deep chambers by our dad¡­our dad¡­he¡¯s changed! I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s suddenly turned into such a terrible man and torturing him¡­please save him! I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m begging you¡­¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Thunderstruck, Bai Yunfei turned his attention back to where the Ye residence was and sent a strong burst of soulsense there.


    ¡°That bastard!!¡± Moments later, Bai Yunfei exploded with unbridled fury. In one instant he was gone, the Core Stone having taken him away from the area at once.


    Blinking once, Li Chengfeng looked back to the others. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the Ye at once!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Ye Manor. In one of the hidden rooms deep underground.


    A musty scent pervaded the room. It was particularly dark in this room and hardly had any decorations or furniture. Blood splatters dyed the ground a nasty reddish-black, a sign that most of the blood had already been there for a while. A single person was tied up on one of the walls so that both arms were suspended by chains. Terrible wounds covered the body of this person, and it could be seen that a copious amount of blood was still dripping from their body.


    Despite being so bloody, anyone would still be able to recognize this person as being Ye Zhiqiu!


    There was actually another person in this room. A yellow-faced man in black robes stood in front of him. Snapping his fingers, the man summoned a black whip-like light to strike Ye Zhiqiu, opening up a new wound on his body.


    ¡°Heh, what a persistent brat you are. I admit, you¡¯re something else. Death will take you first before you¡¯ll tell us the art of crafting or any other secret¡­Forget it then, we¡¯ll just have to use Soul Puppetry and use whatever we get¡­¡±


    He had grown tired of torturing Ye Zhiqiu without any results. Turning around, he started to leave the room to prepare for the next act.


    But then¡­


    A rift opened up within the room, allowing for a person to step through it at once!


    The person appeared so quickly in the room the man had barely any time to act! Flaring up, the Mid-stage Soul King prepared to fight¡ª


    But Bai Yunfei was faster.


    All Bai Yunfei had to do was wave his right hand and the man found himself completely unable to move. Not able to resist the forces acting upon his body, the Soul King felt his soulforce be forced into complacency before he was thrown across the room.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    He slammed into the wall furthest from him and left a crater in it before sliding down the ground, unconscious.


    Ignoring the corpse on the ground, Bai Yunfei whirled around to Ye Zhiqiu. Snapping the confines on his arms, Bai Yunfei quickly helped the man up to his feet. Sending his own soulforce into the injured man, Bai Yunfei quickly undid all the blockages on his acupoints and fed Ye Zhiqiu a pill.


    ¡°How are you feeling, Zhiqiu?¡± He asked after seeing some improvement.


    ¡°Yun¡­Yunfei?¡±


    Muttered Ye Zhiqiu. His head was still dazed from the torture, but his eyes could still recognize Bai Yunfei. He tried to speak more, but the only thing that accomplished was having more blood be expelled from his mouth.


    ¡°Stay quiet for now, wait until your wounds get better.¡±


    Shushing the man, Bai Yunfei gently sat the man back down to the ground. Once he made sure Ye Zhiqiu was safe and in a good state, he stood back up.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The door to the room exploded violently, showering the room with its splinters as two figures charged into the place¡­

 Chapter 1252: The Change in the Ye

    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Two black jets of light shot through the doorway at once. One of them threw something darkish-green at Bai Yunfei and scattered in a way like crushed stone or sand at him!


    It was some kind of soul armament shaped like a needle, and quite strong too, based off the aura radiating from it. Without a pause in his step, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand and stopped the soul armament dead-on. With a ¡®clink¡¯, the soul armament sparked against his glove and was caught effortlessly!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    His fingers grabbed hold of the soul armament at once. Clutching it into his palm, Bai Yunfei exerted just enough force and crushed it into pieces!


    ¡°Hrghh!!¡±


    A pained cry erupted from one of the jets of light. That soul armament had actually been one the person had spent years using. It was his soulbound armament, and the destruction of it caused a great amount of damage to his soul.


    One second later and the two people were now fully visible in the room. They were dressed similarly to the first one, the first person being a sharp-chinned elder of the Early-stage Soul King level, while the second was a short middle-aged man of the Late-stage Soul Exalt level. The broken soul armament had belonged to the first man.


    As violent as their initial assault was, their momentum died out the moment it failed. In response, both of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands flared to life with fire so he could provide a swift counterattack.


    Two ¡®thuds¡¯ later, and the two men slammed into the wall just like their comrade had done. And just like their comrade, these two men were unconscious by the time they hit the floor.


    ¡­¡­


    One hand supporting Ye Zhiqiu, Bai Yunfei hogtied the three men together and prepared to leave the place. His soulsenses told him that there was a commotion up above, but his ears were already telling him that a series of footsteps were on the way towards his location.


    ¡°Master Zhiqiu!!¡±


    The two parties came across one another when Bai Yunfei had just exited the underground and stepped foot into the sunlight. Guards surrounded him from all sides, each one of them surprised to see Bai Yunfei and the unconscious three behind him. They looked hesitant, as if not sure of what to do in this case.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Based off their expressions, Bai Yunfei decided these men must¡¯ve known what had happened to Ye Zhiqiu the entire time. His anger spiked once again in his unwillingness to speak with them. Stepping forward, he decided to move forward as if they weren¡¯t even there.


    A single footstep from him froze every guard to where they stood. Like statues, they could only watch in futile horror as Bai Yunfei strode toward the main hall of Ye Manor.


    Bai Yunfei came across many people in his path, guards, servants, maids, and other employees. But none dared block his path, so he was able to walk into the halls quickly before he glanced upward to the end of the hall.


    ¡°Who dares force their way into my manor! Your head will roll for this!!¡±


    A furious roar echoed throughout the hall as a crimson beam of light shot at Bai Yunfei. It was a Soul King with a crimson-red warblade ready to lop off Bai Yunfei¡¯s head.


    Narrowing his eyes, Bai Yunfei prepared to let go of the three corpses to deal with this person when Ye Zhiqiu suddenly cried out, ¡°Yunfei, wait! He¡¯s my dad!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    His right fist paused in the air for a fraction of a second before he decided to deflect the warblade and land a punch onto the incoming person¡¯s chest. Punching the man back, he watched as the figure staggered several steps back before collapsing to the ground. Without wasting any time, Bai Yunfei quickly strode forward to seal off his acupoints to prevent him from being able to do anything else.


    ¡°My lord!!¡±


    Many of the servants cried out in horror at the sight of the man being incapacitated so easily. The terror they had for Bai Yunfei had suddenly skyrocketed.


    His soulsense was telling him that Li Chengfeng and the others were already here, so Bai Yunfei decided to wait. He kept his eyes on the man, who Ye Zhiqiu had said was his father.


    ¡°Brother!!¡±


    Someone cried out from the entrance of the hall. Ye Zhiyun came running through the halls to reach her brother¡¯s side while Li Chengfeng and the others followed shortly behind.


    Helping Ye Zhiqiu to a nearby chair, Bai Yunfei asked, ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    The man was looking much better than before, but it still took some effort for him to shake his head, ¡°It¡¯s nothing a good rest won¡¯t heal. Thank you for saving me, Yunfei¡­.¡±


    ¡°Friends shouldn¡¯t be so polite with each other.¡± Bai Yunfei slapped the man¡¯s shoulder empathetically. ¡°Now, can you tell me what¡¯s going on? I can see these three are soul refiners, why are they¡­?¡±


    He didn¡¯t finish his words, but his eyes trailed over to Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s father, Ye Cheng. The way he saw it, it felt like there was some kind of relationship between the two.


    A downcast expression entered Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s face. ¡°Yes, they¡¯re soul refiners. I had never known that my father would¡­ugh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew silent. Choosing not to question Ye Zhiqiu anymore, he grabbed hold of the middle-aged man and seized hold of his head at once with his left hand!


    ¡°What conspiracy do you have here!!¡±


    He roared. At once, the Charm Bracelet lit up as Bai Yunfei entered the man¡¯s soulspace. He was soulscanning him!!


    There was no resistance, as expected from the differences in strength. The man convulsed as the memories were being forcibly drawn from his soul, and soon, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his aura had ceased.


    Bai Yunfei took his hand away so the man tumbled to the ground, dead.


    ¡°....¡±


    He said nothing as he processed the information he just received. Soon, he turned to the Early-stage Soul King, who had only just woken up, so he could repeat the process.


    A second corpse dropped to the ground, but Bai Yunfei had yet to be satisfied. He turned to the last one, the Soul Exalt. As he reached his hand out¡­


    ¡°Wa¡ªwait, don¡¯t kill me! I¡¯ll talk, I¡¯ll talk!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, slamming his hand onto the man¡¯s head and striking him dead.


    He already got what he wanted, and there was no way the information from a Soul Exalt would be richer than what he got from the Soul King. Keeping him alive was pointless, and killing another soul refiner had only benefits instead of detriments.


    It filled every single worker in Ye Manor with horror to see Bai Yunfei kill the three soul refiners without mercy. No one dared say a word, not even Ye Zhiyun, who had decided to hide behind her brother and cower.


    Having combed the memories of two Soul Kings, Bai Yunfei had more or less a good idea of the entire thing, such as why things had gone the way in the Ye.


    As it turns out, the Ye had actually been in the Soul Refining School¡¯s sights for a while. They converted Ye Cheng well over a decade ago and planned to have him act as a ¡®traitor¡¯ for their plans. But then when Ye Zhiqiu joined the Crafting School, the Soul Refining School decided to alter those plans and wait until he was proficient enough at the craft before stealing the secrets from him. The yellow-faced man had been in charge of this and decided to start the plan and extract the secrets when Ye Zhiqiu returned home two months ago.


    It was fortunate that Bai Yunfei was here now of all times. The plan should¡¯ve been canceled when the attack on the Crafting School failed, but the Soul Refining School had forgotten about their operation with the Ye and failed to give the yellow-faced refiner any additional instructions. In his panic about what was going on with the school, the man had been planning to simply just use Soul Puppetry to get what he wanted before returning to the school.


    Soul Puppetry wasn¡¯t always the best technique to use. It was a technique that destroyed one¡¯s sense of self and shattered memories. Based on one¡¯s skill with it, they could control a person¡¯s actions, but not necessarily get all the knowledge they wanted. For this refiner, Soul Puppetry was something of a last resort.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Gathering his thoughts, Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°Zhiqiu, your father, he¡­is being controlled, by Soul Puppetry. He¡¯s no longer the same as he was¡­¡±


    Ye Zhiqiu slumped, sorrow filling his body at the news. He thought he had been prepared for it, but hearing it still hurt. ¡°Is there possibly a way to save my father, Yunfei?¡±


    Bai Yunfei shook his head, ¡°Soul Puppetry¡¯s a dark dark technique, I¡¯ve never found a way to undo it¡­¡±


    Then all of a sudden, the curious voice of Huangfu Rui spoke up, ¡°Brother Yunfei, this uncle seems to be controlled, should¡­should I save him?¡±

 Chapter 1253: Huangfu Ruis Special Power

    ¡°What?¡±


    The wording of her question gave Bai Yunfei some pause. He turned around to stare at Huangfu Rui.


    It was the way she asked the question that made him so confused.


    Curious, Bai Yunfei was unable to stop himself from asking the girl, ¡°Lil¡¯Rui, why do you ask that? Do you see something?¡±


    She nodded, ¡°I can see something controlling him. There¡¯s something that doesn¡¯t belong stuck to his soul¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! You can see the Soul Puppetry itself?!¡±


    This time, the others gave her a bewildered stare. The only reason Bai Yunfei knew Ye Cheng was a puppet was because of the memories he gleamed from the two Soul Kings he soulscanned. Without that, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell a thing. If Huangfu Rui was able to see that, then that meant she was able to see the very nature of his soul, and that¡­


    Tang Xinyun took Huangfu Rui¡¯s hands into her own, ¡°Are you being honest, Rui? Don¡¯t be telling lies now¡­¡±


    Huangfu Rui began to pout at the suspicion being heaped at her, ¡°I¡¯m not lying, sister Yun! I¡¯m telling you I can see it! And¡­I think I can cure that¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was deeply confused, but he found himself believing her words. ¡°Are you honest? You can undo Soul Puppetry?! But how¡­how do you do it?¡±


    Even Ye Zhiqiu was starting to find himself with hope again as he waited for the answer.


    Now that she was the center of attention, Huangfu Rui found herself suddenly shy. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I can undo it completely,¡± She twiddled her robes, ¡°But¡­I feel like I might be able to remove that thing from his soul. That¡­should return him to normal¡­¡±


    She said she ¡®might¡¯ be able to do it.


    ¡°Lil¡¯Rui, how do you know? And why do you think you might be able to do it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Huangfu Rui shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t really know why myself, but¡­it¡¯s just a feeling I have¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He found himself at a loss for words. If she didn¡¯t have an explanation, who would?


    Then it hit him, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­this is because of the Symbiosis Imprint?!¡±


    He knew it was impossible for Huangfu Rui to have this ¡®power¡¯ out of the blue. And if he thought about the difference between the Huangfu Rui of today and before, Dongfang Ming was the only explanation. And by extension, that meant the Symbiosis Imprint. All he knew about the imprint was what he heard firsthand from Dongfang Ming. While what he was told was most likely the truth, he still didn¡¯t understand all of it, meaning there was still more to the imprint than Dongfang Ming had let on.


    It was probable that the Symbiosis Imprint, a hated technique of Dongfang Ming¡¯s revenge, had a shared background to ¡®Soul Puppetry¡¯...


    Regardless of the case, Dongfang Ming was dead, and there was no chance he¡¯d be able to find out more about it. If Huangfu Rui was indeed capable of undoing Soul Puppetry, then that¡¯d be a great thing. Now was the best time to verify the truth and see if she was capable of such an act.


    Bai Yunfei made up his mind. ¡°Zhiqiu, I¡¯d like to have her see if she can undo the Soul Puppetry on your father. We¡¯ll need a quiet room, so have these people scatter first. We¡¯ll wait until you¡¯re better to continue on.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It was only Ye Cheng that had been affected by Soul Puppetry. The Soul Refining School had spent many years keeping it a secret from the rest of the Ye, but now that the truth was out, the entire clan was furious. An uncle of Ye Zhiqiu, a Soul Exalt, had set about at once scouring the rest of their family for any other secrets while Bai Yunfei and the others were escorted to a guestroom.


    With Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s father being held captive and his acupoints blocked off, there was no way he could do anything. At the moment, his eyes were shut closed as he laid there on the bed, unconscious to the world like a statue.


    Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t detect anything out of the ordinary in his soul, but the Soul Sentinel Scarf had told him after a complete scan of his soul that there was an external power occupying a majority of his soul that was causing him to act this way. But there was no method of fixing that.


    So, under the anxious eyes of everyone else, Huangfu Rui sat in front of the unconscious Ye Cheng and set to work. Her arms extended outward so that one palm was placed on top of his forehead and the other on his chest. Closing her eyes and focusing her spirit, Huangfu Rui began to transmit her soulforce from her body into his chest to cover his person¡­


    Time trickled by slowly as everyone watched Huangfu Rui work on Ye Cheng. Ye Zhiqiu hadn¡¯t even bothered to dedicate any of his soulforce to bettering his body as he watched nervously the procedure be done on his father.


    ¡°Ah¡­.¡±


    Huangfu Rui let out a sigh after a minute passed. Her shoulders loosened and her hands withdrew back to her sides. Wiping the droplets of sweat from her rosy face, Huangfu Rui leaned back against Tang Xinyun as if to rest.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± A worried Tang Xinyun asked.


    Huangfu Rui shook her head, fatigued, but otherwise happy with herself. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Sis Yun, Brother Yunfei, I didn¡¯t lie¡­I managed to heal this uncle.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei immediately turned to look back to Ye Cheng, curious about what new changes would surface now.


    Likewise, Ye Zhiqiu was unable to hold back his curiosity and sprung to his father¡¯s side at once.


    Placing a hand on top of Ye Cheng, Bai Yunfei fed his soulforce into the man¡¯s body. He couldn¡¯t sense anything different than before. Letting the Soul Sentinel Scarf take over, Bai Yunfei waited until the Regalia had told him the abnormal presence in Ye Cheng¡¯s soul was gone!


    For the sake of being able to verify that, Bai Yunfei began to heal the man. Taking out a pill from his space ring, he fed it into the unconscious man¡¯s mouth and had him swallow.


    Moments later, Ye Cheng let out a groan before his eyes flickered awake to look around the room.


    ¡°Father!!¡±


    ¡°Dad!¡±


    Ye Zhiqiu and Ye Zhiyun both cried out at once.


    It¡­it had really worked!!


    Even as he watched Ye Cheng struggle to gain his bearings, Bai Yunfei was confident that the man was back to normal again. He was ecstatic in this current moment, one, happy that his friend had his father back, and two, that there was finally a way to undo Soul Puppetry!


    Well, calling it a ¡®way¡¯ was still a bit early since Huangfu Rui still didn¡¯t know how to explain it. But that was important. The important thing was that Huangfu Rui had a very special and unique ¡®power¡¯ of undoing Soul Puppetry!


    Holding in his excitement, Bai Yunfei remembered there was still something important at hand. It was vital that no outsider knew what happened here for now.


    ¡°Zhiqiu, news of your father being cured can¡¯t be allowed to spread. Why don¡¯t we bring your father into the Core World and let him recuperate there? You and Zhiyun can come with us while your uncle can take care of the internal matters¡­¡±

 Chapter 1254: The Indecision of the Wind Lightning School

    The Black River Province was one of the most prosperous provinces in the southern parts of the Tianhun Continent. That was because of the Wind Lightning School, one of the Ten Great Schools.


    The base of their school resided deep within a certain terrain known as Thunder Valley. The weather in the valley was usually a very turbulent one with thunderclouds a constant sight near the residing mountains. Countless bolts of lightning would always drop from the clouds and rain down onto the ground.


    Because of these thunderclouds, the actual Wind Lightning School was situated at the ¡®normal¡¯ halfway point of a mountain. That way, it was safe from the barometric pressure of the thunderclouds while still being considerably high up.


    One of these mountains had plenty of buildings fashioned out from the mountain and built in far bigger numbers than any buildings from the Crafting School. It was like a miniature city almost if one were to count all the buildings.


    And at the central point of these buildings stood a building that resembled a shrine. Currently, a group of people were causing a chatter of discussion inside of it. Though the conversation was hard to distinguish over the noise, the pressure and discomfort of the people was palpable.


    ¡°The ancestor is here!¡±


    ¡°The ancestor has arrived!!¡±


    The mood changed quickly upon the noted presence of a single person. All chatter in the hall died away at once as the occupants turned their respectful attention toward the right.


    Several figures strode out into the hall from this direction. Leading from the very front, an elder in green robes walked through the hall with a dignified air. His very presence shot tingles down the spines of everyone there and commandeered the utmost respect.


    By the side of this elder was another one, but in dark-purple robes. Bai Yunfei knew this person, he had once killed an avatar belonging to this man¡ªthis was Duan Leiting, the headmaster of the Wind Lightning School!


    Three additional figures walked behind Duan Leiting; two males and a female. Their auras combined were stronger than any of the gathered people already there in the hall, meaning they were clearly Soul Emperors.


    Wordlessly, these new soul cultivators walked deeper into the hall. The green-robed elder took his seat at the top-most part of the hall while Duan Leiting sat by his side and the three Soul Emperors sat in the chairs near them.


    Clearly, the green-robed elder held the highest status and greatest amount of power than anyone else here.


    He was Dong Wanfeng, along with Dong Wanlei, the previous headmaster of the school, had held the names of ¡®Emperors of Wind and Lightning¡¯. Their combined power could spark great terror in the hearts of their enemies, and despite not being brothers, the two of them were geniuses and fought well with one another to an amazing degree.


    Eighty years ago, Dong Wanfeng handed the title of headmaster to Duan Leiting and sought for a higher realm of power together with Dong Wanlei. When trouble began to call to their school, it was Dong Wanlei that decided to head the troops to take care of the Crafting School, but the man never returned.


    The fall of Dong Wanlei also meant the several Soul Emperors and twenty-something Soul Kings were also lost. It was a terrible loss of strength that ultimately threatened to plunge the Wind Lightning School in deep danger, thus why Dong Wanfeng had to come out from isolation.


    Dong Wanfeng was someone from the same generation as Shen Pojun and Chu Yintian, though he had been close to isolation for nearly a decade without ever being able to become a Saint. As a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor, Dong Wanfeng was stronger than both Dong Wanlei and Chu Yintian, but weaker than Shen Pojun.


    As of now, the Wind Lightning School had only five Soul Emperors, and Dong Wanfeng was the strongest of the five. After him was an old freak that had only recently managed to become a Late-stage Soul Emperor. Then there was the Mid-stage Soul Emperor, Duan Leiting, another Mid-stage Soul Emperor, and two Early-stage Soul Emperors.


    They also had another twenty or so Soul Kings, though six of them were very new upstarts¡­


    Every single student of the school had been summoned back so the school could conserve their strength. The school was not allowed to lose anymore of their precious lifeblood.


    ¡­¡­


    It filled Dong Wanfeng with great sorrow to see the state of his school. ¡°I have called everyone here today for an announcement,¡± He managed to hide the sigh in his voice, ¡°From today onward¡­our school will retire from the conflict on the continent and close ourselves off. For half a decade, our school ignore the secular world.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Waves of disbelief filled the hall at once. Like droplets of water being added to oil, the hall exploded with uncertainty as multiple Soul Kings gave their leader an incredulous look.


    ¡°Ancestor! What do you mean by that?! Our school has already invested such a heavy price! If we give all that up now, doesn¡¯t meant we¡¯ll be giving up all our advantages?! We only managed to set up a primal stone mine in the Flowing River Province, there¡¯s countless resources waiting to be mined there!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! And Prince Hao has already promised our schools even more riches if we help him ascend the throne! A Regalia will be conferred to us too¡­¡±


    ¡°Is it because of the losses we took from the Water and the Crafting School? They were disastrous losses, yes, but we shouldn¡¯t fear them! We just need to avoid the Crafting School for now, we can still put a front against them even if they come by now for revenge!¡±


    ¡°Please reconsider, ancestor! Closing our school off to the world for that long would be disastrous for us, the development of our school would be greatly hindered!¡±


    ¡°Ancestor¡­¡±


    As much as they respected the ancestor, many of the individuals all cried out for Dong Wanfeng to reconsider his plans. Chaos descended upon the shrine as many of them dissented to his decision. If there was anyone that agreed, then they stayed quiet instead of speaking up.


    ¡°Cough¡­¡±


    Someone let out a coughing sound, effectively silencing the entire hall at once. It came from the Late-stage Soul Emperor on the right.


    ¡°Brother,¡± He spoke up after he obtained the floor to speak, ¡°I too believe your decision for us to retreat from the world is a severe one. While we are heavily crippled, we are not yet out of the fight. There is still a good chance for us to grow¡­¡±


    He was clearly not too fond of Dong Wanfeng¡¯s decision.


    The long-haired Mid-stage Soul Emperor next to him nodded. ¡°I agree with teacher Sun. This is far too grave a decision, please reconsider, master Dong¡­¡±


    The other two Early-stage Soul Emperors nodded in agreement. Aside from Duan Leiting, who remained oddly silent, all of the other Soul Emperors seemed to disagree with Dong Wanfeng.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Dong Wanfeng bit back a sigh at all the disagreements he was receiving. He turned to Duan Leiting, ¡°Leiting, you are the current headmaster. What do you believe is the right action?¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Duan Leiting didn¡¯t look any convinced. ¡°Master, I know your decision was made to protect us, however¡­elder Sun is correct. It is a grave matter to seal off our school. It may be possible to turn it around still¡­¡±


    ¡°Turn it around? Do you think prince Hao will direct the Tianhun School to lend aid or for the Soul Refining School to offer reinforcements?¡± Dong Wanfeng harrumphed, ¡°Our operation to deal with the Water School and the Crafting School have failed. The royal faction of the Tianhun School have taken this moment to counterattack, and prince Hao hasn¡¯t the time to aid us. How do you expect any substantial aid to come for our school? The Soul Refining School has taken far greater damages than ours, it is only through their own hidden location that they are able to hide and wait out the storm with impunity. We can¡¯t even communicate with them, do you believe they¡¯ll be able to help us?¡±


    At his words, the other Soul Emperors said nothing. They only gritted their teeth in bitter reluctance.


    It was indeed as he said. The situation was very bleak, and all of their so-called allies were teetering on the edge of destruction. In times of good strength and prosperity they were able to ¡®cooperate¡¯, but in times of trouble and the alliance was effectively scattered so that it was every man for themselves.


    Was this how the Wind Lightning School would meet its end? Because of this one mistake, they¡¯d be wiped off from the stages of history?


    It was unbearable!!


    Duan Leiting and Sun Lianqi included, everyone within the Wind Lightning School wanted to refuse Dong Wanfeng¡¯s words. They had given up so much in this conflict, how could they give up the fight?


    ¡°Hmph!! It¡¯s true our school is in dire straits, but perhaps the Crafting School isn¡¯t much better off! I doubt they didn¡¯t lose as many key members we did! It¡¯s possible they only put out this message in fear of looking weak to their enemies! In my opinion, we should attack the Crafting School again and take advantage of their weakened state to finish the job!! Regardless of the case, we shouldn¡¯t be afraid of their revenge! What can they even do? We aren¡¯t frightened lambs waiting patiently for our deaths. If we are to die, then they¡¯ll die with us!¡±


    One of the Mid-stage Soul Emperors cried out in vehemence. He was Huo Zhenxiao, the elder brother of Huo Zhenting. With his brother died by the hands of the Crafting School, Huo Zhenxiao was especially ready to take revenge for him onto the Crafting School.


    Dong Wanfeng fell into another round of silence at Huo Zhenxiao¡¯s words, reluctance lighting up his eyes.


    ¡°I have yet to near the realm of Sainthood, and my lifespan is near its end. Perhaps¡­I will do my duty and die for the school¡­¡±


    In the middle of his thoughts, Dong Wanfeng suddenly snapped his head up along with the others to stare at the entrance of the hall.


    A figure in green came running frantically into the hall. A student of the Soul Exalt level. Judging from how he ran, he was very panicked about something.


    ¡°He¡ªheadmaster!! Bad news! The¡­the Crafting School¡­Bai¡­Bai Yunfei is here!!¡±

 Chapter 1255: A Critical Juncture

    ¡°What?!¡¯


    The discussion was gone, but the hall still remained noisy with everyone rushing to their feet.


    While they were in the middle of discussing what to do about the Crafting School, the said school was at their gates!? So soon?! It hadn¡¯t even been a few days since the battle! Had they rushed over here immediately afterward? Without rest?


    ¡°Where are they, how many are there?¡± The female Soul Emperor asked.


    ¡°They¡¯re¡­they¡¯re at the front of the gates¡­it¡¯s just Bai Yunfei by himself!¡±


    ¡°A single person? Pah¡ªthe audacity! How dare a single person like him demand from our school?! Let me go out and kill him, for revenge for my brother!¡± Huo Zhenxiao roared in anger, ready to move the moment the order was given.


    ¡°Elder Huo, please stay your hand for now,¡± Duan Leiting tried his best to pacify Huo Zhenxiao¡¯s anger, ¡°Have you forgotten about the Core Stone in his possession? It is unlikely he¡¯s by himself. I never imagined they would be so fast to arrive here, could those rumors of the Crafting School being practically unharmed be true then? It¡¯s unfathomable¡­¡±


    ¡°Pah!! So what if he brought one or two crafters with him? How many of them can they afford to send against us? I doubt they¡¯d bring the whole school with him! Who¡¯d be left to protect their school then! It¡¯s impossible they¡¯d be at full fighting power after all they went through! Do they take our school to be completely without experts now? I say we kill them all! Not only will we gain our revenge, we¡¯ll be able to take the Regalia from Bai Yunfei and increase our own strength!¡±


    Huo Zhenxiao was completely ablaze with fury now as he announced his own plans.


    Dong Wanfeng stood up, his eyes icily calm, ¡°Regardless of the case, we have an enemy at our gates. Weakened or not, they are here, and as guests, they should be ¡®received¡¯. Zhenxiao, make the preparations to activate the protective array.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    At the gates to the Wind Lightning School, Bai Yunfei stood there in the air to overlook the surrounding mountains around him.


    He hadn¡¯t bothered to hide his presence when he arrived here, so the students of the Wind Lightning School had been very quick to detect him. The fact that he didn¡¯t bother to hide himself for an ambush or another kind of underhanded tactic was proof that he was here to openly proclaim that he was here to ¡®demand¡¯ payment.


    It was only for a moment, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have to wait for long before space opened up in front of him and a person walked out from it.


    One person became multiple, and soon there was a crowd in front of Bai Yunfei. He narrowed his eyes. It would appear that the Wind Lightning School still had plenty of people left in their reserves. As expected from one of the Ten Schools, they were a powerful group indeed.


    ¡°He¡¯s Bai Yunfei? He¡¯s a Mid-stage Soul Emperor¡­what kind of genius is he¡­?¡±


    Dong Wanfeng wondered to himself in surprise. It was hard to believe that the youth in front of him could be this powerful. Based off of age, this youth was hardly any different than the ones from the newer generation of his own school. But based on power, this youth was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. Calling him a ¡®genius¡¯ wasn¡¯t even close to being appropriate to what he really was¡­


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! We know you have the Core Stone, bring out all the elders from the Crafting School! Why hide them all if you¡¯re here?! If you came to sling your insults to our school, you¡¯ll regret it soon enough!!¡±


    Huo Zhenxiao roared. It was hard for him to stay behind with the others instead of tearing forward to tear Bai Yunfei limb from limb, but his instincts were telling him to first see how many people were with Bai Yunfei first.


    ¡°Regrets? The reason why we are here today is so your school will be the one to know regret!¡± Bai Yunfei responded in kind. Waving his right hand, he called out a massive crowd of people from the Core World to walk out behind him.


    Shen Pojun, Chu Yintian, Xiao Binzi, Kou Changkong, Huangfu Nan¡­aside from the recuperating Zi Jin, all sorts of members, even the Soul Kings such as Tang Xinyun were there in attendance. Where the Wind Lightning School once outnumbered Bai Yunfei, now the people standing with him completely outstripped the school in numbers.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The Wind Lightning School was aghast. Even the Soul Emperors, such as Dong Wanfeng, were completely bewildered.


    ¡°It¡ªit¡¯s impossible!! Did everyone from the Crafting School come here? Do they not care about their own school?!¡±


    Everyone became frantic at once¡ªfor the sake of revenge, it seemed as if the entire Crafting School had decided to vacate their schoolgrounds! Given the numbers here, any single Soul Emperor could probably conquer the empty schoolgrounds if they had the chance!


    They just never imagined that the entire Crafting School was actually being carried around on Bai Yunfei¡¯s person.


    ¡°I trust you¡¯ve been well since our last encounter, Dong Wanfeng¡­¡±


    A voice spoke into Dong Wanfeng¡¯s mind at that moment. Peering at the person next to Bai Yunfei, Dong Wanfeng gasped.


    ¡°Shen Pojun!!¡±


    The elder gave Dong Wanfeng an icy glare. ¡°Neither our schools had anything against one another, and yet you¡¯ve the audacity to try and destroy mine¡­Today, we have come to spread the teachings.¡±


    ¡°Were you the one to kill my brother?!¡± Dong Wanfeng demanded, furious.


    ¡°Dong Wanlei?¡± Shen Pojun replied, ¡°That was my doing.¡±


    A muscle twitched in Dong Wanfeng¡¯s face. He was clearly furious by the reply. As much as he wanted to hurl himself at Shen Pojun and fight, he knew better than that. Besides, he was too shocked to properly gauge the situation right now. If Shen Pojun did kill Dong Wanlei, and he believed that, then Shen Pojun surely had to have been injured from the effort. And wasn¡¯t Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar there to help Dong Wanlei? The combined efforts of the two should¡¯ve done a great amount of harm to Shen Pojun, so why was he standing there without even an iota of his health seemingly injured?


    The way Shen Pojun held his aura in check made it impossible for Dong Wanfeng to see how strong the man was. As such, Dong Wanfeng could only assume Shen Pojun was the same as he always was, on the edge of Sainthood, but not quite there.


    Thinking about it a little more, Dong Wanfeng was certain that Shen Pojun was only stronger than him by a ¡®sliver¡¯ at best¡­


    The more he thought about it, the more troubled he became. All his previous calculations had assumed the Wind Lightning School would have some semblance of a chance. But given the current situation, he knew that they no longer had even a hope. They didn¡¯t even have hope of survival even if they withdrew and relied on their barrier to protect them.


    Perhaps they could bow their heads and ask for mercy? Or perhaps they should fight to the death? Could he perhaps ask for a compromise? Would they even agree to such a thing?


    If they really fought, how many enemies would they kill? How many would survive? Would the Wind Lightning School ever be able to hold power in the continent again?


    All sorts of thoughts entered and left Dong Wanfeng¡¯s head at once. It caused him a great headache just thinking about the right decision to make.


    But while he was thinking, the others in his group were not as patient as he was. ¡°Crafting School!¡± Huo Zhenxiao roared.


    ¡°Your actions are intolerable! Do you want to destroy our Wind Lightning School down to its roots?! Come at us then!! You¡¯ll have to step over my dead body first! From this moment onward, there can be no compromise between us! Killer of my brother, Huo Zhenting, step forward if you have the courage to fight me!¡±


    Dong Wanfeng faltered a moment at the loss of control of Huo Zhenxiao, but it was too late to stop the momentum. Would the enemy even accept such a challenge?


    But then the completely unexpected happened¡ªsomeone was actually willing to accept it¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glistened as he listened to Huo Zhenxiao¡¯s words. Then he stepped forward from the crowd.


    ¡°I was the one to kill Huo Zhenting. If you want revenge, then I¡¯ll fight you!¡±

 Chapter 1256: A Single Move!

    Actually, Huo Zhenting was killed by someone other than Bai Yunfei. He had been injured by Chu Yintian before being killed off by Xiao Qi. Plenty had actually been killed by Xiao Qi in that battle.


    But a kill of Xiao Qi was essentially a kill of Bai Yunfei. So regardless, Bai Yunfei decided to step forward in response to Huo Zhenxiao.


    As Huo Zhenxiao said, the hatchet could no longer be buried. There could be no reconciliation nor compromise. If by chance the Wind Lightning School were to remain standing after today, Huo Zhenxiao could not be. To let him live would mean to risk the chance of a future retaliation against the Crafting School.


    Thus, Bai Yunfei decided to accept the challenge. It would rid themselves of a huge source of worry and allow him to see how strong he had gotten.


    A battle with a Late-stage Soul Emperor would be impeccably dangerous for Bai Yunfei, but against a Mid-stage Soul Emperor like Huo Zhenxiao? Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t worried at all. This wouldn¡¯t even be as hard as a sparring match.


    He had to admit, he wondered a bit about how Huo Zhenxiao would take it if he knew he was being equated to being a ¡®sparring partner¡¯.


    Many people from the Wind Lightning School were confused why Bai Yunfei had replied. Right away, they all began to think about what he was plotting, but no one stepped up to offer help. Shen Pojun didn¡¯t even bat an eye, he simply stood there with a smile as Bai Yunfei stepped forward.


    Dong Wanfeng felt as something was wrong and wanted to put a stop to this, but he was still hesitant. He had no idea how things would go after this, and it wasn¡¯t a particularly bad idea to have Huo Zhenxiao be the test. He was extremely afraid of Shen Pojun being the one to answer the challenge, so Bai Yunfei being the one to step up gave him a decent amount of time to rethink everything.


    Considering the circumstances, Dong Wanfeng believed Huo Zhenxiao would be able to pull out as the victor. And if by chance it looked like things were looking dangerous for Bai Yunfei, he could step in to call for a stop.


    ¡°Fine!! To be young is a power in by itself!! Allow me to see what the rumors have you pegged as!!¡±


    Huo Zhenxiao flew at Bai Yunfei at once. His aura as a Mid-stage Soul Emperor flowed out everywhere at once with only a flash of violet indicating that the battle had begun. Many of the Soul Kings from the Crafting School were already starting to look uncomfortable.


    He didn¡¯t think someone would actually step up, let alone that someone being Bai Yunfei. He knew Bai Yunfei from the rumors, and how he had plenty of powerful soul armaments on his person. He also knew from the rumors that Bai Yunfei had a lot to due with why the attack on the Crafting School had failed, so the death of Huo Zhenting fell squarely on his shoulders by default.


    His thoughts weren¡¯t nearly as complicated as Dong Wanfeng. He just wanted Bai Yunfei dead¡ªif he were to die by Shen Pojun¡¯s hands after that, then so be it.


    Bai Yunfei flew forward as well, his body radiating a faint red glow that equaled Huo Zhenxiao¡¯s fighting spirit.


    By the time Bai Yunfei and Huo Zhenxiao were about two hundred meters away from their respective camps, the distance between the two individuals was about six hundred meters. Fully roused and ready for action, Huo Zhenxiao let out a loud cry before slamming both hands together. At once, the soulforce within his body spike to a tremendous degree!


    He was clearly aiming for some kind of long-ranged elemental attack. It wasn¡¯t an attack meant to test the strength of the other, but an attack meant to kill surely and quickly!


    ¡°Rumble rumble¡­¡±


    The actions of a Soul Emperor would always be bedazzling to those weaker than them. Two gigantic pillars of energy formed behind Huo Zhenxiao at once. Gaining mass the more elemental wind and lightning it took in, the two pillars soon took on the form of two giant arms to mimic Huo Zhenxiao¡¯s motions. When he raised his arms, the two pillars followed suit!


    When he brandished his arms, both of the gigantic arms came crashing down at once! Waves of energy rolled off the two as they transformed into two giant beams of energy to collide into Bai Yunfei!


    As if all of the world¡¯s elemental wind and energy was gathered in those columns, the raw amount of power in it amazed even Chu Yintian.


    This was a move comparable in power to Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Dragon Burst!


    The energy traveled over three hundred meters at once. A sinister sneer appeared on Huo Zhenxiao¡¯s lips as he watched as his own move tear its way forward. Not even a Late-stage Soul Emperor would be able to withstand a move with such destructive power as this one. He was confident that Bai Yunfei would never be able to endure it.


    The smile froze on his face when all of a sudden, an energy signature stronger than his own attack suddenly flared to life. All he heard was the sound of a dragon before two fiery dragons with ¡®scales¡¯ of violet came crashing into his own attack!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    An indescribable explosion rocked the world. Even from afar, everyone could see what had happened. Both Bai Yunfei and Huo Zhenxiao¡¯s attacks slammed into one another and caused a giant explosion of elemental energy to fly everywhere. But the flames from the explosion were flying toward Huo Zhenxiao!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡± Huo Zhenxiao shrieked, his figure already lost in the fires and runaway energy of elemental wind and lightning. Luckily, the energy stopped there and didn¡¯t get close to the rest of the Wind Lightning School. It simply swirled around Huo Zhenxiao like a whirlpool of some kind.


    And since it swirled around him with such volatile amounts, it was simply impossible for anyone to see where Huo Zhenxiao even was.


    ¡°Chaotic¡­chaotic energy and the Law of Chaos!! How is this possible!!¡±


    While Huo Zhenxiao was dealing with the aftermath of the explosion, Dong Wanfeng was astounded by the energy in front of him.


    No one in the Wind Lightning School believed Huo Zhenxiao would lose, and so quickly! What Dong Wanfeng was surprised about was how Bai Yunfei had used the Law of Chaos! This was something that definitely spelled doom for Huo Zhenxiao.


    There was a burst of soulforce before Dong Wanfeng realized something else was happening. Within the maelstrom of energy, Bai Yunfei was flying toward its center with a crimson spear flying straight for where Huo Zhenxiao was!


    ¡°Halt!!¡±


    A furious cry echoed through the skies as Sun Lianqi suddenly shot forward from his spot in the crowd. Transforming into a violet lightning bolt, he flew through the air to strike at Bai Yunfei with a violet longsword!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    In response, a loud voice suddenly exploded into Sun Lianqi¡¯s mind like a clap of thunder. Somehow, something had caused the Late-stage Soul Emperor to come to an immediate stop!


    Less than a second later, Sun Lianqi¡¯s face went when he saw a crimson crescent blade come flying down onto his head!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    His scream was instantaneous. The vision of death forced him to break out with a tremendous amount of soulforce as he protected his head with both his arms.


    The Flame Dragon Crescent Blade was just moments away from striking against Sun Lianqi¡¯s defenses when Bai Yunfei suddenly brought his right hand back. The spear in his hand altered paths at once to strike against the violet longsword instead.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    One moment later and everyone watched as the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade broke one streak of violet into two. Something could be seen sparking to life in the weapon that cleaved Sun Lianqi in two before he was swallowed up by the flames. Despite being cut in two, Sun Lianqi wasn¡¯t even given the dignity of having his body untouched by fire!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It felt as though the hearts of everyone within the Wind Lightning School had stopped at the same time. They could watch silently as the aura of Sun Lianqi disappeared¡­


    Dong Wanfeng¡¯s face was without blood as he swiveled to look at the faraway Shen Pojun. His eyes radiated with fear.


    ¡°Soul¡­Saint!!¡±

 Chapter 1257: The Death of Dong Wanfeng and A Debt Paid

    It all happened far too quick. From when Bai Yunfei and Huo Zhenxiao began fighting to now, people only had time to breathe several breaths. But the battle taking place in front of him was so captivating that hardly anyone had the time for it¡­


    One move was all it took for Huo Zhenxiao to suffer a complete and utter defeat.


    In all the rumors he was involved in, Bai Yunfei was said to be practically ¡®magical¡¯. He had all sorts of soul armaments that were said to be the basis of who he was, and that was fitting given the fact that he was someone from the Crafting School.


    But today in this battle against Huo Zhenxiao, the Wind Lightning School could finally recognize that Bai Yunfei was more than the rumors say he was. He wasn¡¯t just a person gifted with soul armaments, but his own personal power was terrifyingly powerful¡­


    There had been another shock that came shortly after Huo Zhenxiao¡¯s defeat. And it was this development that caused them an even greater amount of horror.


    Despite the ¡®shamelessness¡¯ of interfering in the fight, the Late-stage Soul Emperor Sun Lianqi stuck himself into the fight to kill Bai Yunfei and was instead split in two and burnt to nothing¡­.


    In just one move and a Late-stage Soul Emperor lost his life.


    And the one to kill Sun Lianqi was Shen Pojun!!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone had forgotten about Bai Yunfei at this moment. They were all watching the place Sun Lianqi had once stood with jaw-dropped expressions.


    ¡°Soul¡­Soul Saint!!¡±


    Dong Wanfeng was the one to confirm everyone¡¯s thoughts. Just hearing the word ¡®Saint¡¯ was enough to fill their bodies with dread as they turned to look at Shen Pojun.


    The Flame Dragon Crescent Blade was returning to Shen Pojun¡¯s side at that moment, having done its job in killing Sun Lianqi. Shen Pojun heaved a level glare at the Wind Lightning School, though his expression hadn¡¯t even changed after killing the Late-stage Soul Emperor. However, the aura that sloughed off his person was now far more formidable.


    ¡°Ah¡­.¡±


    ¡°Urgh¡­¡±


    Several of the Early-stage Soul Kings began to cry out with terror. The pressure of his aura was starting to force their bodies to seize up.


    ¡°A Saint¡­the Crafting School has a Saint¡­? But how!?!¡±


    Several of their faces went dark with horror. Some of the Wind Lightning School members couldn¡¯t help themselves but succumb to despair.


    The battle wasn¡¯t so bad if they had to fight against a superior number of enemies. At least a fighting effort could be had. But against a Saint? The careful odds they had been stacking up had crumbled at once. With a Saint there, the Wind Lightning School wouldn¡¯t even be able to offer up a resistance¡­


    ¡°I never¡­imagined you¡¯d have reached Sainthood¡­I see now¡­¡±


    Of all the members of the Wind Lightning School, only Dong Wanfeng had some measure of calmness to him. But even he looked close to despair. The realization of their situation seemed to age the man significantly.


    He had presumed Shen Pojun had long since reached Sainthood and was able to force the Saint-leveled avatar of Gu Lianhun to retreat.


    The two of them were of the same generation. Their age was relatively similar even, and their strengths seemingly equal until now. Never did Dong Wanfeng imagine that the other man would attain the realm he could only dream of¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Huff huff¡­¡±


    Excluding the weakened panting of Huo Zhenxiao, it was extremely silent on the battlefield. Bai Yunfei held the Fire-tipped Spear in his hand as he stared at the spot where Sun Lianqi had died. He looked back to the maelstrom of fire in front of him where Huo Zhenxiao was, but he decided not to kill him. Instead, he flew back to Shen Pojun¡¯s side.


    The power of the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst had astounded even himself. It was a huge increase compared to before and managed to suppress the Laws of Wind and Lightning without trouble.


    In the past, he had to use Berserk Mode as an Early-stage Soul Emperor in order to defeat a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, but now it seems like he could easily win given the same conditions.


    That being said, the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was supposed to kill Huo Zhenxiao. He was going to kill Huo Zhenxiao after the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst failed to, but the interference of Sun Lianqi changed that. He barely managed to defend himself when Sun Lianqi attacked, but Shen Pojun had gone and killed the man before any damage could be done.


    ¡°I¡­I refuse to believe this!!¡±


    A scream flew out from the whirlpool as soon as Bai Yunfei had retreated. There was a coughing sound as a huge burst of soulforce suddenly shot out from the whirlpool and scattered it away.


    Seeing Huo Zhenxiao ¡®escape¡¯ gave the rest of the Wind Lightning School hope, but then when the last of the flames died away and they saw the shape he was in¡­


    He was a mess. There wasn¡¯t a single spot on his body untouched by Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack. Large splotches of his body had been charred black while the other parts of his body were dyed red with his own blood. They could even see bone from some parts of his body. Though Huo Zhenxiao managed to escape from the whirlpool, his energy was still leaving his body in droves so that it seemed like death was rapidly approaching him.


    Just leaving that whirlpool was tantamount to his ¡®last struggle¡¯. The words he screamed to the world were the last he would ever say. Already his body was losing life, and if nothing was done, Huo Zhenxiao would be dead in seconds.


    It happened quickly. His body tipped over in the air and began to fall through the skies. It plummeted through a wave of fire that had yet to disappear and was promptly turned into ashes¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Hands clenched, Dong Wanfeng was hard-pressed to stop them from trembling. Waves of anguish ran through his body as he faced the rest of his school. ¡°The rest of you¡­do not do anything¡­.¡±


    His voice was fatigued, the death of two of his own had destroyed the man. There was no resistance left in him.


    He turned back to Shen Pojun. Careful to resume an air of calmness, he began to speak. ¡°Shen Pojun¡­it was our mistake to anger your school¡­You have killed those who went, and now the strongest two of our school are dead¡­There are ten thousand of us left, all of them innocent students of the next generation. I urge you to look at the past friendship between our schools and have mercy¡­Give us a chance to live and we will repay the debt. Our Wind Lightning School will excuse ourselves from the conflict. We will seal ourselves off from the world and never oppose your school ever again¡­Our school is ready to offer our treasures to yours, including precious materials comparable to the Nephrite Throne and the other fist-sized jade stones. Given your school¡¯s abilities, it may be possible to craft something on par with the Nephrite Throne¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!!¡±


    ¡°Master, you can¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°Ancestor!!¡±


    Several members of the school voiced their opinions at once. They were clearly flustered by the concessions Dong Wanfeng was making.


    Not even the Crafting School could prevent themselves from being excited by Dong Wanfeng¡¯s words. They each looked to Shen Pojun and waited for him to make a decision.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡±


    Shen Pojun looked sad, somehow. Watching a mighty Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor like Dong Wanfeng plead for his own school had made Shen Pojun sigh. His killing intent was already gone.


    If the Wind Lightning School was still willing to fight to the death, then Shen Pojun was ready to give no quarter. He wouldn¡¯t even cry if he had to destroy the rest of the Wind Lightning School. But seeing Dong Wanfeng try his best to concede had changed the situation. As Dong Wanfeng had said, the students of the school were without crime in this matter. And he himself didn¡¯t wish to slaughter the innocent.


    Though Shen Pojun didn¡¯t say a word, Dong Wanfeng seemed to look happy. He seemed to have reached Shen Pojun¡¯s compassionate side with his words. Worried about Shen Pojun possibly changing his mind, Dong Wanfeng took the space ring off his right finger and threw it at Shen Pojun. Having already considered the possibility of negotiating the surrender of his school, Dong Wanfeng had previously filled the space ring up with all sorts of treasures from the Wind Lightning School.


    Shen Pojun took the ring when it flew over to him and scanned it for its contents at once. He was surprised to see the items stored in there¡ªit was hard to imagine the number of items the Wind Lightning School had gathered over its existence.


    A faint smile appeared on Dong Wanfeng¡¯s face when he saw Shen Pojun take it. The negotiations were nearing completion, it seemed.


    A pulse of soulforce exited from his body so he could address the entirety of his school next.


    ¡°Students of the Wind Lightning School! From today onward, our school will seclude itself for a hundred years! We will partake in no conflict, and bear no hostility toward the Crafting School! Refusal to adhere will mean banishment from our school!!¡±


    His words reached all and revertebrated throughout the world with its volume. Dong Wanfeng seemed relieved when he finished speaking. His head drifted up to look at the clear skies to look at them with eyes that were progressively growing dim. His body was dying now¡ªhe had destroyed his own veins and shattered every acupoint of his body to prevent it from being able to sustain life.


    ¡°Master!! You can¡¯t!!¡±


    ¡°Ancestor!!¡±


    Several of the Soul Kings cried out in realization at what he had just done to himself.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The ones from the Crafting School were stunned as well. A Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor was dying in front of them without a word. Regardless of how well the negotiations were going, Dong Wanfeng had taken the noble responsibility of sacrificing himself for his school. This was an act not even the Crafting School would snub.


    Shen Pojun watched as the last of Dong Wanfeng¡¯s life drained from his body before it fell. He watched Duan Leiting catch Dong Wanfeng¡¯s corpse before he sighed at last.


    ¡°The debt the Wind Lightning School owes the Crafting School has been paid. From today henceforth, our school will no longer chase after the Wind Lightning School for revenge. Let us take our leave¡­¡±

 Chapter 1258: The Appearance of A +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!

    ¡°Yunfei, let us return to the Core World. Now that this is over, we may leave this place.¡±


    Shen Pojun didn¡¯t have the drive to cause any more trouble for the Wind Lightning School. He turned his attention to Bai Yunfei and waited for a response. He was slightly surprised to see Bai Yunfei staring excitedly at himself¡ªno, at the space ring in his hand.


    ¡°Eh? Ah¡­yes, ancestor.¡±


    Bai Yunfei bowed his head at once, embarrassed. All at once, everyone around Bai Yunfei disappeared to return back into the Core World.


    He turned his attention one last time to the remaining few members of the Wind Lightning School. Sighing to himself, Bai Yunfei turned and left the area.


    Things didn¡¯t devolve into a huge battle has he thought. Though there had been a slight hiccup and commotion, the goal of the Crafting School had more-or-less been attained. What grievances the two school had against one another was dealt with, and neither school would seek out the other in the future. There was no need to kill anyone.


    It felt rather regretful that Dong Wanfeng died in the end, but there were a few other things that caused no small amount of excitement for Bai Yunfei. He actually felt more excitement than he did joy from the victory.


    He was actually thinking about the last few things Dong Wanfeng had said to Shen Pojun before he died¡­


    ¡°Our school is ready to offer our treasures to yours, including precious materials comparable to the Nephrite Throne and the other fist-sized jade stones. Given your school¡¯s abilities, it may be possible to craft something on par with the Nephrite Throne¡­¡±


    Materials equivalent to the Nephrite Throne!!


    To Bai Yunfei, materials equivalent to the Nephrite Throne meant Guaranteed Upgrade Stones!! Fist-sized stone jades¡­it was possible they could be +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stones!


    If Dong Wanfeng wasn¡¯t lying, then it was possible that space ring contained +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stones. How could Bai Yunfei not feel excited at that? It took all Bai Yunfei had to prevent himself from looking at the space ring at once. He just had to wait for the group to leave the place so Bai Yunfei could take a good look at the spoils for himself.


    And so it was with great excitement that Bai Yunfei left the place. In half a day¡¯s worth of time, Bai Yunfei had already traveled all the way back to Freesia City in the Yellow River Province where Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s house was.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Inside the Core World. Deep within the stomach of Mt. Crimson, in the area where Heavenfire ¡®resided¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei sat cross-legged on the ground of the cave, surrounded by a variety of his soul armaments such as the Fire-tipped Spear, the Cataclysmic Seal, the Soul Sealing Mandate, the Critical Glove, and even the Soul Sentinel Scarf.


    His attention wasn¡¯t on any of these soul armaments, but on the white crystal he held in his right hand.


    The crystal sparkled from the light in his hand. It was a sizeable chunk that was shaped almost like a cube.


    It was with excitement that Bai Yunfei waited for a certain notification to appear in his mind.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Equipment Effect 1: Allow the successful upgrade of any item +14 and below.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increase the tier of an equipment when crafting by one (High Heaven tier being the highest)


    Cannot be upgraded.


    ¡ªThis was the stone Dong Wanfeng promised. It was indeed a +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone!!


    Bai Yunfei found it hard to wipe the smile on his face no matter how many times he looked over the stone. Like a miser looking fondly on his money collection, Bai Yunfei was ecstatic to see the stone in his hand.


    All was calm now that the matter with the Wind Lightning School was over. Back in Freesia City, many of the Crafting School members, such as Tang Xinyun, Huangfu Rui, Fei Nian, Mo Xiaoxuan, and Ye Zhiqiu decided to head into the city to take a break. It was a nice time to do so, and none of the elders saw it necessary to stop them.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t go with them. He returned to the interior of the school to find Shen Pojun instead.


    That was roughly the time when Shen Pojun took out the stones to research. When he saw how Bai Yunfei had expressed interest in it, he handed the stone over without even a question.


    He had nearly let out a cry of happiness when he grabbed hold of the stone and confirmed its properties. He managed to hide his excitement just long enough to say goodbye to Shen Pojun and leaving the place.


    Though he wasn¡¯t asked what he was doing, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t simply tell the man nothing either. Giving a small report, Bai Yunfei then requested for a room to craft a soul armament.


    The properties of the stone was indeed identical to what the Nephrite Throne was made of, but Shen Pojun had told Bai Yunfei that it¡¯d be impossible to recreate the throne. The methodology of such a soul armament was lost to the world, and no one knew how to craft anything similar. The stone was therein only good as a crafting stone.


    If enough Guaranteed Upgrade Stones were gathered, it¡¯d be possible to use them as a way to hasten one¡¯s training, but it would never be enough to be turned into an equipment effect. Aside from being created from Guaranteed Upgrade Stones, the Nephrite Throne possessed the miraculous ability of doubling the training and healing rate of a person. This wasn¡¯t the innate property of an upgrade stone, meaning there was a particular technique to be done in the crafting process to add that on.


    Not even the Core Stone or the Soul Sealing Mandate knew how Wu Tianhun had managed to craft the Nephrite Throne. No one alive knew the secret, thus it¡¯d be impossible to craft a soul armament like that from the +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    Had he any idea of how to recreate the Nephrite Throne, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve found it impossibly hard to decide what to do with the Guaranteed Upgrade Stone. But now that he knew it was impossible, he could heave a sigh of relief and commit to the decision of using it to upgrade an item instead.


    Still, he found himself at a rather difficult crossroad: which soul armament should he upgrade? He only had one chance, and he dared not be sloppy with his decision.


    For the sake of making a decision, Bai Yunfei came to Heavenfire for guidance.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hey, Bai Yunfei. You¡¯ve been idling about for half the day already, say what it is you want to do already!¡±


    The annoyed voice of Heavenfire snapped Bai Yunfei out from his thoughts. Looking up, Bai Yunfei saw Heavenfire standing in front of him, a strange expression on his face.


    ¡®Ah¡­sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, embarrassed. He patted the stone he held in his hand, ¡°Heavenfire, this is a +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Heavenfire¡¯s eyes narrowed upon hearing the term, ¡°Say that again? This¡­is a +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone?!¡±


    He was already aware of Bai Yunfei¡¯s Upgrade Technique and the intricacies behind it. He also knew what it meant to have a +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.


    ¡°So you¡¯ve finally managed to find one! Where from? Will you finally be able to have a +14 soul armament? Have you decided which soul armament?¡± Heavenfire began to question.


    ¡°We obtained it from the Wind Lightning School.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°As for which soul armament I wanted to upgrade, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here. I wanted to ask for your opinion.¡±


    ¡°Why now, what do you need to think about then? Of course you should upgrade your strongest soul armament! Yunfei, upgrade the Soul Sealing Mandate!!¡±


    Another voice beat Heavenfire to a response. There was a flash of light from the Soul Sealing Mandate as a white tiger materialized. Staring wide-eyed at Bai Yunfei, the tiger seemed to bat its eyes coyishly at him.


    ¡°If it¡¯s upgrading to +14, then the Soul Sentinel Scarf would do as well¡­¡±


    In rapid succession to the Soul Sealing Mandate, there was a flash of white light from the Soul Sentinel Scarf. A small ball of light floated out from the bandana¡ªthis was the materialization of the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s finally awakened spirit. He had yet to ¡®settle¡¯ on a shape to define his spirit and took on the form of a ball of light instead.


    The spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate seemed displeased. ¡°Hey, Sealer, you can¡¯t even remember everything from the past. Let¡¯s not fight with me, yeah?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m not back to normal that I wish to be upgraded. Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to recall everything once I become +14¡­my strength will surely increase.¡±


    ¡°But I want to become stronger too! No way, Yunfei, you have to upgrade the Soul Sealing Mandate!¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, please upgrade the Soul Sentinel Scarf.¡±


    Suddenly, a tertiary flash of light appeared from another one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul armaments.


    ¡°Why now, would it kill for the two of you to have the dignity of a Regalia?¡± It was the Core Stone.


    ¡°Why must you two fight like children over candy? Isn¡¯t it shameful? To have the spirit of a kid instead of a Regalia?¡±


    ¡°Oh +12 Core Stone, don¡¯t you start. You¡¯ve not the right to be +14.¡± Replied Sealer.


    ¡°You¡ªis that how it¡¯s going to be, Sealer? Had I known earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have let you become +13!¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that the story? You allowed me? I clearly remember being the one to lay claim to it, however?¡±


    ¡°You¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, please upgrade the Soul Sentinel Scarf.¡±


    ¡°No! Upgrade the Soul Sealing Mandate!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to them, Yunfei! Upgrade your other soul armaments, I believe the Cataclysmic Seal isn¡¯t a bad choice¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt like his mind was about to explode listening to three of the Regalias quibble like they were.


    He turned his attention back to Heavenfire.


    ¡°What do you think?¡±

 Chapter 1259: The Safe or Risky Decision: Reforging the Cataclysmic Seal

    Heavenfire thought to himself in earnest. Disregarding the argument between the three Regalia, he finally replied:


    ¡°It is a hard decision. The easiest decision is to upgrade either the Soul Sealing Mandate or the Soul Sentinel Scarf. To be sure, the power of either Regalia will be substantially better than before. And upgrading either Regalia will absolutely lead to less regret and disappointment than any other decision¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded to himself, he could agree with such a perspective so far. His initial choices were, in fact, these two Regalia, but he continued to listen to what Heavenfire had to say.


    Heavenfire paused to take a breath, ¡°However¡­the spirit of the Core Stone has a valid argument as well. Perhaps upgrading the Cataclysmic Seal would be a decent decision¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The argument between the three Regalia ceased at once when Sealer let out a cry.


    ¡°But why! How did the Cataclysmic Seal end up in this?! He¡¯s but a low-heaven tier! Upgrading that would only see to it reaching its limits, why squander such a valuable opportunity!?¡±


    ¡°Little Sealer,¡± Heavenfire glanced over to the Soul Sealing Mandate, ¡°You have taken Bai Yunfei to be your master, you should consider everything he can achieve. Do you perhaps want for him to miss out on an opportunity to craft a Regalia himself?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with startled hope, ¡°What did you say, Heavenfire? Me, craft a Regalia? Do you mean that¡­¡±


    Heavenfire nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, Yunfei. Every soul armament has a ¡®spirit¡¯. But even the ¡®spirit¡¯ of a regular heaven-tier soul armament can be ignored on a regular basis. The ¡®spirit¡¯ of a Regalia is the only spirit with a substantial enough ¡®life¡¯ to it that we can truly call a ¡®spirit of the armament¡¯. It is because a Regalia has a spirit that it can be considered as such, otherwise even a soul armament with enough power or defense would be considered a Regalia.


    ¡°Whether sealed into a soul armament or born from nothing, having a spirit within the soul armament is what it means to be a Regalia. For example, the Soul Sealing Mandate is an example of the former and the Core Stone is an example of the latter. It is said that in the ancient past, the spirits of soulbeasts and even soul cultivators could be used to be implanted into soul armaments. But that method has been lost to history. However¡­¡±


    Heavenfire¡¯s eyes stared hotly into Bai Yunfei. ¡°I have discovered an unprecedented method for a soul armament to give rise to having a spirit¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart skipped a beat, ¡°Do you mean¡­by upgrading?¡±


    ¡°Exactly! It is by upgrading!¡± Heavenfire boomed in affirmative, ¡°Your Upgrade Technique has the ability to waken a sleeping or injured spirit of the armament. Furthermore, it can also strengthen the ¡®spirit¡¯ of a regular soul armament. We can see this in the Cataclysmic Seal and Fire-tipped Spear. I suspect that if you upgrade it to a certain degree, both soul armaments will have their spirits ¡®awaken¡¯ to a new level of sentience and truly become spirits of the armament. In essence, this will turn the soul armament into a Regalia!!¡±


    The more he listened, the more Bai Yunfei became excited, ¡°Are you saying¡­that if I continue to upgrade the Cataclysmic Seal, the Fire-tipped Spear, and the Critical Glove¡­they can turn into Regalia?¡±


    ¡°It is but a guess, but I believe it possible!¡±


    ¡°Then¡­if I upgrade the Cataclysmic Seal to +14, it¡¯s possible it might gain sentience?¡±


    ¡°I have no method of ascertaining that¡­¡± Heavenfire shook his head, ¡°But I will say that upgrading it to +14 will most definitely strengthen its spirit. We have little information on what will happen when it becomes +14, thus, this decision is the hardest one to take. It is a risky choice in comparison to the safe choice of upgrading a Regalia. It is up to you to decide¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew silent. It was a plethora of new information he had just received. The nearby Regalias had tactfully remained silent so he could decide in peace. Their squabble on who should be upgraded between them didn¡¯t seem as important now that they thought about what Heavenfire had said. As much as they wanted to be upgraded themselves, Heavenfire had a point. The creation of a new Regalia was also something to be excited over.


    Bai Yunfei raised his head after a while. ¡°Heavenfire, which soul armament do you think would have the greatest chance of gaining a spirit? If I upgrade them, what do you think the possibility would be?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re so inclined to ¡®gamble¡¯ on the probabilities, then I would suggest the Cataclysmic Seal. But if you are to do that, then you will need to reforge the soul armament. I will assist you in that matter, but rather than attempt to make it stronger, your primary goal is to, of course, strengthen its spirit. If things go as planned, then it¡¯ll become +14. If you don¡¯t wish to do that, then¡­you may upgrade a Regalia instead.¡±


    ¡°What? Reforge the Cataclysmic Seal? Can it even go up in tier? Do you mean to do the same thing as when we tried repairing the Soul Sealing Mandate?¡±


    ¡°That is correct. My reason for choosing the Cataclysmic Seal over the Fire-tipped Spear and the Critical Glove is due to the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s ¡®plasticity¡¯. It holds the greatest success for being reforge and having its soul strengthened. In truth, your ¡®upgrade¡¯ is linked with ¡®reforging¡¯. Any soul armament upgraded by you has its ability to be reforge decreased. But with my assistance, the Cataclysmic Seal holds the greatest ability to be reforged.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, he believed what Heavenfire was telling him. Putting the +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone and the other soul armaments away, Bai Yunfei stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll do as you say and reforge the Cataclysmic Seal then.¡±


    ¡°Yes, then. Do you have any supplemental materials on you? If not, then we can ask for some from the school.¡±


    ¡°Oh, this is the space ring the Wind Lightning School gave us as ¡®compensation¡¯. Can you take a look to see if there¡¯s anything suitable inside?¡±


    He tossed a space ring over to Heavenfire. Shen Pojun had given the ring to him before as well, deciding that Bai Yunfei would be the better person to look through it.


    Taking the offered ring into his hands, Heavenfire began to inspect its contents, ¡°What an amount!! It¡¯s comparable to our own stores, almost! I can feel the sincerity in these gifts, my my¡­.oh? This¡­this is a whitefire tempering stone! And¡­this is essence of red alum! And stgyian amber! Haha¡­this will do!¡±


    Clearly, the items Heavenfire found inside the ring were of considerable worth if he was acting like this. ¡°There¡¯ll be no need to look for any other materials, all we need can be found in here. No better material can be found, in fact! Let us begin the reforging process!¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s start right away!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Huff huff¡­¡±


    The flames grew higher and higher as Heavenfire meticulously told Bai Yunfei what to do. Having experienced the process before with the Soul Sealing Mandate, Bai Yunfei found himself having an easier time than before as he threw precious material after material into the cauldron.


    Then, the next object to be thrown into the cauldron was the Cataclysmic Seal. After that came a large pile of supplementary materials¡­


    Time trickled by slowly after that. Bai Yunfei could sense every minute change going on within the Cataclysmic Seal, and it was with a bated breath that he worked the flames.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The first anomaly happened when Bai Yunfei felt something strange in his mind. Something within the Cataclysmic Seal had suddenly started to pulsate. Sometimes, the pulse would be strong, and sometimes, it¡¯d be weak. It was far from encouraging to sense the flow.


    He thought back to the first time he forged the Cataclysmic Seal. He had been hotheaded back then, and his recklessness nearly caused himself to blow up, but somehow the Cataclysmic Seal had managed to take form after a myriad of freak factors. He still didn¡¯t understand how he was able to do it, but he remembered that the ¡®fusion¡¯ of high-leveled materials and other soul armaments had formed together to take on the shape of the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Right now, Bai Yunfei was getting a similar feeling of that moment right now.


    But he wasn¡¯t the same greenhorn crafter as he was before. Despite his misgivings, Bai Yunfei was more than ready to adapt to the changes accordingly and manipulate the flames of the cauldron to better temper the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Soon, Bai Yunfei was able to quickly understand the changes in the Cataclysmic Seal. Whenever the pulse weakened, he¡¯d work the flames to set the temperature soaring!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The flames in the Dualflame Cauldron swelled to life. Scorching the area around the cauldron, the flames would swell with such heat that even Bai Yunfei¡¯s robes started to singe.


    Gradually, the flames would die back down along with Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce. It soon reached the point where the flames in the cauldron had ultimately died out, and the fireseed inside it returned to Bai Yunfei. Heavenfire shot out from the cauldron as well to reappear by Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. Clearly, the Cataclysmic Seal was done being reforged.


    The time was now. Gingerly, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to bring a red beam of light out onto his palm.


    He stared at it, eyes glued to the newly reforged Cataclysmic Seal to study the new changes of the soul armament¡­

 Chapter 1260: An Insight on Upgrading to +14

    Rotating in the air above Bai Yunfei¡¯s palm, the Cataclysmic Seal was no longer the shape of a rectangular brick. It was now a small crimson stamp that radiated a fearsome heat.


    This time, Bai Yunfei decided to alter the shape of the Cataclysmic Seal so that it could live up to its name.


    Of course, the shape of the soul armament was just a small detail in comparison to the real changes. The biggest change, was of course, its stats.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Metal, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Attack: 5000


    Additional Attack: 11000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect: 5% Chance to inflict Confusion for 3 seconds (10% Chance if the head is struck).


    10% Chance to stun the target for 5 seconds (20% Chance if the head is struck).


    50% Chance to hurl the target.


    Effects cannot be stacked.


    Cooldown of 5 seconds.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to activate ''Constricting Flames''. Decrease mobility by 30%  for up to 10 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: Create a barrier made of earth. The power of the barrier is linked to the soulforce given. Total defense of the barrier cannot exceed the attack of the weapon.


    (Ineffective against mind-based attacks).


    +13 Additional Effect: Magnify the size of this weapon. Attack remains the same. Can be controlled remotely.


    Upgrade Requirement: 300 Soulpoints


    Reforging the Cataclysmic Seal had seen to the soul armament becoming a Mid-heaven tier soul armament. Its attack had increased, but the biggest thing Bai Yunfei noted was that it no longer had a ¡®special¡¯ and ¡®regular¡¯ form. And the three additional effects of its regular form was now a single equipment effect.


    This was a first for Bai Yunfei. ¡°Does this change have to do with it being reforged? The Cataclysmic Seal is no longer a soul armament with two forms, but a proper heaven-tier soul armament¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t really care for why the changes had occurred. Since nothing bad had happened, he found it pointless to look for the reason for the change.


    There was one more change Bai Yunfei noted in the soul armament, one that didn¡¯t relate to the change in the stats. Something within the Cataclysmic Seal itself was different. This sensation was¡­a spirit!!


    Yes!! He could sense the spirit of an armament! It was weak, but it was definitely there!


    He glanced over to Heavenfire, ¡°I think I can sense¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, you can sense it?¡± Heavenfire laughed, ¡°We succeeded. The Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s ¡®spirit¡¯ has been strengthened to the point where you can sense it. The result is much better than I expected, in fact¡­¡±


    ¡°Then¡­if I can upgrade it to +14, will the Cataclysmic Seal have a true spirit?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible without upgrading, if you¡¯re inclined to wait for a hundred years to have the Cataclysmic Seal naturally gain sentience. I believe if you upgrade it there¡¯ll be a sixty percent chance.¡±


    ¡°Sixty percent?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered, ¡°That¡¯s above fifty, which means it¡¯s a good chance to take. Let¡¯s do it!!¡±


    It was simply a prospect far too enticing. Personally creating a Regalia? How could he refuse? The Cataclysmic Seal started off as a simple brick all the way up to this point. But he wouldn¡¯t regret anything even if it failed to gain a spirit if it was upgraded to +14. There was a chance he could upgrade it to +15 in the future, and it¡¯d definitely become a Regalia by that point!


    He felt almost impatient to upgrade the Cataclysmic Seal. Waving his left hand, the +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone appeared for him to take.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    As he exhaled, Bai Yunfei felt all superfluous exit his mind. Wholly concentrated on his task, Bai Yunfei raised the Cataclysmic Seal in his right hand to the Guaranteed Upgrade Stone in his left.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The air in front of him buzzed as an invisible energy erupted from the Guaranteed Upgrade Stone. Immediately, the stone shattered apart into dust to flow into the Cataclysmic Seal¡­


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +14


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The stats of the Cataclysmic Seal flew into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind at once, but that wasn¡¯t what he was paying attention to. His eyes flashed several times as he laid there, entranced by the feeling of upgrading.


    Aside from upgrading the Cataclysmic Seal to +14, there was something else Bai Yunfei was looking forward to. The feeling of upgrading. It was possible to gain an additional insight on the Upgrade Technique.


    And so Bai Yunfei was entirely immersed in the sensation. He had been in that state ever since the upgrade stone had turned to dust and was lost to the world.


    Filled with the sensation brought by the energy when upgrading, Bai Yunfei began to experience new sensations he never felt before. It filled him with energy that made him desire for more. He wanted to seek out the pattern to this energy and the source of where it came from.


    Moments passed as Bai Yunfei went through the motions of upgrading. The white light from the upgrade stone was slowly being infused in the Cataclysmic Seal and imbibing it with its energy. To Bai Yunfei, the insights were getting harder to focus on. The clues were progressively decreasing in amount and so it made it hard for Bai Yunfei to gain even more insights to focus on¡­


    ¡­¡­


    As Bai Yunfei laid immersed in his thoughts, Heavenfire stood beside him with a slugged expression. He watched as the air crackled with energy while Bai Yunfei was suspended in it, his eyes constantly flashing with multicolored light.


    ¡°What¡­a complicated amount of laws¡­this is the law of it all, the Planar Laws! Heavens¡­he¡¯s managed to grab hold of one of the most fundamental laws!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    In his ultra-focused state, Bai Yunfei could feel an indescribable energy fill the entirety of his right hand. It was indescribable, but paradoxically, he knew what it meant. It meant that the Cataclysmic Seal was finished being upgraded.


    The prismatic light faded away from his eyes as the strange energy faded away. He raised his left hand and swiped at the escaping energy at once.


    His right hand gave up the Cataclysmic Seal. Like lightning, he grabbed hold of a white slip and brought it to his now-withdrawn left hand as if to rub the two together¡­


    His actions were fluid as if he had practiced that sequence thousands of times.


    Knowing that the strange energy was close to being gone, Bai Yunfei focused as hard as he could on it before grunting underneath his breath: ¡°Upgrade!¡¯


    The strange energy from before remerged in his left hand to flow straight into the right. But he could also see the strange energy shifting erratically as if it was quickly being destabilized and destroyed.


    In a moment where his instincts triumphed over everything else, Bai Yunfei raised his left hand up and plucked at the air above his right hand¡­


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Upgrade Level: +13


    Aditional Attribute: +120 Luck


    Soul Compatibility: 60%


    Equipment Effect: 60% Increase in the rate of cultivation.


    +10 Additional Effect: Double the chance of an equipment or additional effect activating.


    +12 Additional Effect: Reset the cooldown of any equipment''s effect back to zero.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    +13 Additional Effect: 300% Increase in the rate of cultivation.


    Upgrade Requirement: 150 Soulpoints

 Chapter 1261: A New Regalia and an Overpowered +14 Effect

    The awakening came when the stats of his newly-upgraded equipment appeared in his mind. Snapping awake from his stupor, Bai Yunfei was plucked from the realm he had been in.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    He let out a long breath as he wiped the sweat off his head. It had only been a simple motion, but somehow Bai Yunfei was able to renew the sensations he was feeling during upgrading. However, the attempt left him completely powerless. It felt like his entire body was without energy.


    The second upgrading attempt was far shorter than the first, but it wore him out even more than when he reforged the Cataclysmic Seal. He was shocked to see that most of his soulforce was already gone.


    And so he decided to just sit there. Putting the Dualflame Cauldron away, Bai Yunfei activated one of his techniques to better recover his soulforce and waited.


    The drain on his reserves wasn¡¯t so much that it¡¯d be a problem to his regular motor skills, so Bai Yunfei took the moment to stare at the pendant in his hand as he waited.


    Despite his fatigue, Bai Yunfei was happy. The bounty from this moment had been a big one¡­


    ¡°Ah, the Cataclysmic Seal!!¡±


    Bringing the Cataclysmic Seal back out, Bai Yunfei watched as it flashed to life right above his right hand.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +14


    Attack: 5000


    Additional Attack: 25000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect: 5% Chance to inflict Confusion for 3 seconds (10% Chance if the head is struck).


    10% Chance to stun the target for 5 seconds (20% Chance if the head is struck).


    50% Chance to hurl the target.


    Effects cannot be stacked.


    Cooldown of 5 seconds.


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 30% chance to activate ¡®Constricting Flames¡¯ and inflict a 30% decrease in mobility for a maximum of ten seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, summon a shield made of elemental earth. The more soulforce used, the stronger the shield. The total defense of the shield cannot exceed the attack of the weapon.


    (Ineffective against mind-based attacks).


    +13 Additional Effect: Magnify the size of this equipment. Attack remains the same. Can be controlled remotely.


    +14 Additional Effect: Upon collision with another weapon, there is a chance for this weapon to absorb it and gain one of the effects as a Hidden Effect. Time is required for the other weapon to be fully absorbed, but once absorbed, gain a permanent stat boost in attack proportionate to the other weapon''s attack.


    Up to 3 Hidden Effects can be stored, with the earliest one being overwritten by default. Any Hidden Effect can be removed, but only one Hidden Effect can be in effect at any given time.


    Cooldown of 1 hour before Hidden Effect can be swapped again.


    If the weapon is higher in tier than the weapon it is trying to absorb, the chance of success is 50%


    For each tier greater than this weapon, the rate of success drops by 15%.


    Weapons tree tiers greater than this one cannot be absorbed.


    The amount of attack absorbed is dependent on the weapon''s grade.


    No other weapon can be absorbed until the previous one has been fully absorbed.


    Hidden Effect: None


    Upgrade Requirement: 300 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    His entire person froze up the moment he saw the stats of the Cataclysmic Seal. For once in his life, he was entirely shocked¡­


    ¡°Thirty¡­thirty thousand attack!!¡±


    It took several seconds before Bai Yunfei could become coherent. His voice quavered as he voiced the attack of the Cataclysmic Seal, but he found it hard to do so. Not only did the Cataclysmic Seal have an astounding amount of attack, but the +14 additional effect...


    ¡°Absorption¡­maybe the better way of saying this would be¡­Devourment?!¡±


    Never could Bai Yunfei imagine that the Cataclysmic Seal would have such an obscenely powerful effect as this one. His mind raced back to Dongfang Ming¡¯s demonic core and how it was capable of devouring the soul armaments of others. He had to wonder if there was any difference between the two, but he was sure that the demonic core didn¡¯t have an effect as powerful as the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s +14 additional effect.


    Not only could it destroy a soul armament, but it also took the soul armament into itself and took both its power and three additional effects. Each one of these points was mindboggling.


    Furthermore, its wording showed that the Cataclysmic Seal had no limits for its growth. He didn¡¯t know what the growth rate was in proportion to the soul armaments it could devour, but given time, the Cataclysmic Seal could have an attack that would be almost impossible to measure¡­


    ¡°.....¡±


    Bai Yunfei pored over the +14 additional effect with increased interest. Suddenly, a strange pulse from within the Cataclysmic Seal caused him to snap out from his delusions.


    ¡°This is¡­¡±


    He was confused for a moment on what that pulse was and began to investigate what it was on a more closer level.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­the spirit! A spirit of the armament!¡±


    This was without a doubt a spirit of the armament!


    His entire focus was now on the Cataclysmic Seal and the spirit inside of it. The pulses coming from the center of the soul armament was getting stronger and stronger, but more importantly, he could sense an intimate sensation from the Cataclysmic Seal! It was a feeling that seemed almost happy to see him!


    Yes! This was without a doubt the feeling of a sentient being!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    As Bai Yunfei connected with the feeling, Bai Yunfei watched as a joyous vibration emerged from the Cataclysmic Seal. It rose out from the Cataclysmic Seal in the form of a red light before detaching from the soul armament as a small ball of red light the size of his finger¡­


    Bai Yunfei grew even more excited at that. He whipped his head back to Heavenfire, ¡°Heavenfire¡­¡± He began.


    ¡°Haha! You¡¯ve done it, Yunfei! That is without a doubt the spirit of the Cataclysmic Seal. It¡¯s a newborn soul, but this is without a doubt a new Regalia!!¡±


    Heavenfire boomed with laughter at Bai Yunfei¡¯s excitement. He nodded in satisfaction at what Bai Yunfei had managed to accomplish, but he himself was extremely moved. Right before his eyes was a newborn Regalia, who could possibly not remain unaffected?


    ¡°Regalia¡­the Cataclysmic Seal has truly become a Regalia? This is the Regalia I personally crafted¡­¡±


    It went without saying that Bai Yunfei was beside himself with joy right now. The feelings he was experiencing were far too much for him to even describe to anyone else.


    Heavenfire waited a moment for Bai Yunfei to recollect himself before he spoke, ¡°The Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s spirit is quite weak right now, it¡¯s like a newborn baby. Its sentience will continue to grow from here on out, but you won¡¯t need to worry about that. Core, Sealer, and Sentinel will be able to take care of it.¡±


    A curious but expectant light entered his eyes then, ¡°Now then, tell me. What new effect did the Cataclysmic Seal gain when it was upgraded?¡±


    ¡°An absorption effect, it can¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Heavenfire was just as astounded as Bai Yunfei was when he first found out about the effect. ¡°That is¡­that is far too powerful of an effect!!¡± He cried out when he finally found the words to speak.


    ¡°The Cataclysmic Seal is a Mid-heaven tier soul armament and cannot absorb soul armaments three tiers higher than it. Would that not mean to say¡­it has a 5% chance to absorb a Mid-Divine tier soul armament?! That is¡­¡±


    Suddenly, Heavenfire looked fearful.


    ¡°Not 5%, but 10%. I have an additional effect that can double the success rate of any effect. So, the Cataclysmic Seal has a 100% chance to absorb any soul armament of the same grade or lower, a 70% chance for a high-heaven tier, a 40% chance for a low-divine tier, and a 10% chance to absorb a mid-divine tier.¡±


    His focus was on the Fate Pendant when he talked about being able to double the success rate. It wasn¡¯t just the Cataclysmic Seal that made him happy. His success with the Fate Pendant had been quite the lucky bounty as well.


    Upgrading under the influence, so to speak, was not something Bai Yunfei was new at. Once before, Bai Yunfei was able to upgrade the Fate Pendant from 11 to 12 by soaking in the insights of upgrading. When he learned how to alter the outcome of upgrading with the Manual Upgrade Technique, was able to upgrade the Fate Pendant from 12 to 13.


    The Nephrite Throne had only the ability to increase the rate of training by 200%, but the +13 additional effect of the Fate Pendant had the ability to increase it by 300%. This too, was an overly powerful effect. Combined with its innate 60%, Bai Yunfei was sure he¡¯d be able to train at an absurd rate¡­


    Putting the Fate Pendant back around his neck, Bai Yunfei waved his left hand to bring out a small shortsword.


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Metal


    Upgrade Level: +11


    Attack: 2200


    Additional Attack: 1500


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect: 10% Increase in attack when attacking with a fire-type attack.


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Increase in attack.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    It was an ordinary low-heaven tier soul armament, one that didn¡¯t have a very powerful additional effect. In Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, this was just another unordinary soul armament.


    Floating the sword in front of him, Bai Yunfei struck it against the Cataclysmic Seal while simultaneously activating the +14 additional effect¡­

 Chapter 1262: A Huge Boost in Equipment Power

    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The shortsword struck against the surface of the Cataclysmic Seal with a loud metallic cry. A brilliant ball of red light flashed out from the Cataclysmic Seal and immediately swallowed the shortsword.


    The light died away moments later, but the shortsword was nowhere to be seen. Bai Yunfei, however, felt the +14 additional effect had indeed activated, so the shortsword surely had to already be absorbed by the Cataclysmic Seal.


    The process seemed simple, if there was a process. It felt like the Cataclysmic Seal was basically akin to a bottomless hole and simply absorbed the shortsword ¡®into¡¯ itself.


    Curious, Bai Yunfei waved his hand to call the Cataclysmic Seal back to him.


    Upon observing its stats, Bai Yunfei noticed that the other stats didn¡¯t change, but there was a small line saying it was in the ¡®middle of absorption¡¯ and had a Hidden Effect now.


    Hidden Effect: 10% Increase in attack.


    Pleased with the results of that experiment, Bai Yunfei stored away the Cataclysmic Seal. He might as well see how long it¡¯d take for the Cataclysmic Seal to absorb a low-heaven tier soul armament and how much attack it¡¯d gain from it.


    Now, it was time for him to research something equally important¡­


    After a moment¡¯s consideration, Bai Yunfei brought out a +11 low-heaven tier longsword. Humming to himself, Bai Yunfei thought, ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    His eyes narrowed as he focused on the Upgrade Technique. In one fluid motion, his right hand flew over the longsword¡¯s blade and plucked at something!


    Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    Two messages appeared in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head before the longsword immediately burst into ashes and sprinkled the ground beneath him.


    Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes, but he was otherwise fine with the results. Thinking a little bit longer, he decided to take out another +11 low-heaven tier soul armament.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Like before, his right hand plucked at something over the soul armament.


    Upgrade FailedEquipment Destroyed


    His eyes lit up with the beginnings of an idea even as the soul armament transformed into ashes. Without waiting this time, he took out another +11 low-heaven tier soul armament.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    Upgrade Fa


    Faster than lightning, Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand plucked at the air before the notification could finish!


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 2300


    Additional Attack: 2000


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Chance to inflict Knockback.


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: 50% Increase in attack.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It worked!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei whooped with joy!


    He didn¡¯t even bother to look at the stats of the +12 soul armament. He simply stored it away so he could take out another +11 low-heaven tier soul armament.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    He was entranced. The fingers of his right hand danced in the air as if he was playing an invisible harp and manipulating something¡­


    Upgrade SuccessfulEquipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Wood


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense:


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei ignored the stats of the soul armament and threw it back into his space ring for another soul armament.


    ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Like a demon spellbound, Bai Yunfei continued to upgrade soul armament after soul armament until he ran out of low-heaven tiers. Then, when he ran out of the mid-heaven tiers, he moved onto a high-heaven tier soul armament!


    And every single soul armament he upgraded had been successful!!


    That was the greatest benefit Bai Yunfei had when he gained an insight on the +14 upgrade! His understanding of the Upgrade Technique had deepened, allowing him a stronger ability to upgrade to +12!


    When he was in that entranced state from before, Bai Yunfei was able to alter the outcome of the Fate Pendant so it could become a +13. But that was when he was in a very special state of mind he had yet to replicate. However, he could still at the very least guarantee a successful upgrade to +12, and that was a big enough leap in ability that left Bai Yunfei overjoyed.


    Once the experiments were over, Bai Yunfei could say with certainty that he could now upgrade soul armaments to +12 without issue. And thus, Bai Yunfei began the operation to upgrade the rest of his soul armaments to +12.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Space


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attribute: +660 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +600 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 35%


    Equipment Effect: Volume of ring increases to the cumulative sum of all space-related items held within.


    +10 Additional Effect: Up to 2000 soulpoints can be stockpiled for later use.


    +12 Additional Effect: An additional 20000 soulpoints can be stockpiled.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    The Violet Soul Ring wasn¡¯t very strong in terms of tiers, but it was something precious to him. Given to him by Zi Jin all those years ago, Bai Yunfei had a significant amount of memories associated with this ring, thus why he upgraded it to +12. Somehow, the additional effect to stockpile soulforce was at least ten times greater than the +10 additional effect, which gave Bai Yunfei no small amount of joy. As a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, the total amount of soulforce he had was probably around seventy thousand. Twenty thousand soulpoints would be just enough for a Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, so that was definitely a welcome effect to gain.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Soul Compatibility: 75%


    Equipment Effect 1: Chances of success when crafting multiplied by 10.


    Equipment Effect 2: Substantially increase the soul compatibility of any crafted soul armament.


    Equipment Effect 3: 30% Chance to add a fire affinity to an equipment when crafting.


    Equipment Effect 4: 5% Chance to apply the Law of Fire to a heaven-tier equipment.


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to be refunded all materials used if crafting failed.


    +12 Additional Effect: 20% Chance to increase the tier of a soul armament by one when crafting.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    The +12 additional effect of the Dualflame Cauldron was also a welcome addition.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Wood


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attribute: +450 Strength


    Additional Attribute: +450 Strength


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    Equipment Effect: Increase healing rate by 15%.


    +10 Additional Effect: Increase healing rate by 10% for every time 10% of vitality is lost. When user is in a near-death state (Under 10% vitality), increase healing rate by 200%.


    +12 Additional Effect: Increase healing rate by 100%.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    The Vitality Bracelet was only a mid-earth tier soul armament, but its +10 additional effect was hard for Bai Yunfei to replace. And now that it had this +12 additional effect, Bai Yunfei was going to have an even harder time replacing it.


    ¡­¡­


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Illusion, Fire


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attribute: +800 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +50 Charm


    Soul Compatibility: 50%


    Equipment Effect: Reduce damage taken by illusions by 40%.


    +10 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to establish a mental link with anyone within a kilometer.


    +12 Additional Effect: Become immune to any illusion upon activation. If already afflicted by one, immediately break free from it.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    The +10 additional effect was already an extremely helpful tool for Bai Yunfei, but the +12 additional effect could now spell the bane of any illusion user. Given that it was already a soulbound armament, Bai Yunfei had no plans of swapping out the soul armament for another and was happy to see the new effect.


    ¡­¡­


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: None


    Level: +12


    Pet Loyalty +50


    Additional Effect: Pet Loyalty +40


    Soul Compatibility: 78%


    +10 Additional Effect: Gain the ability to control the soulbeast wearing this item.


    Success rate is dependent on the difference in metal strength between user and target


    +12 Additional Effect: 100% Increase in strength of the controlled soulbeast for 1 hour.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    The true worth of the Beast Taming Ring couldn¡¯t even be compared to its grade. In Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind, the Beast Taming Ring was essential a Regalia in terms of utility and was fully deserving of being called the ¡®bane of soulbeasts¡¯. The Beast Taming School was gone, but if there was ever a chance Bai Yunfei had an enemy of a soulbeast, their fate wouldn¡¯t be as happy as they¡¯d think¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Low Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Lightning, Wind


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 2400


    Additional Attack: 2200


    Soul Compatibility: 75%


    Equipment Effect 1: Enable the ability of flight by consuming soulforce.


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Chance to drop a bolt of lightning on target when attacking. Lightning bolt has 50% of the equipment''s attack.


    Cooldown of 10 seconds.


    +10 Additional Effect: Grant mirror image of identical attack power with the next attack in exchange for soulforce.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: 100% Increase in flight speed. 50% Reduction in soulforce consumption.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder, truthfully speaking, had been a little lacking as a means for Bai Yunfei to attack. But the +12 additional effect wasn¡¯t so bad. As an alternative mode of transport, it could at least be used on a frequent basis without fear of using up too much soulforce.


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Mid Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Wind


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 5000


    Additional Defense: 4500


    Soul Compatibility: 30%


    Equipment Effect: 30% Increase in agility.


    +10 Additional Effect: 50% Increase in agility.


    +12 Additional Effect: 100% Increase in agility


    Upgrade Requirement: 200 Soulpoints


    This was a pair of battle boots given to him by Shen Pojun not too long ago. Battle boots were a relatively rare breed of soul armaments, and his Lightning Boots had finally been retired. As wind-type soul armaments, these boots were especially suited for speed, and with them, Bai Yunfei was confident he could race with a wind-type soul cultivator in speed. As such, he called these the Galeburst Battle Boots. It was a rather common name, but he was sure its power would be top-notch.


    ¡­¡­


    There were also a few other soul armaments Bai Yunfei upgraded, such as the Double Dragon Spectre, the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtear Sword, the long-since retired Desert Eagles, the Devouring Chains, and a few others. All of which were now +12 and had effects that could be stated later when they were used.


    In short, Bai Yunfei gained a vast increase in strength after upgrading the Cataclysmic Seal to +14. Truly, Bai Yunfei¡¯s strength had skyrocketed in no time at all.


    He had also gained the ability to upgrade soul armaments to +12, which would also be a good thing for those near Bai Yunfei. It could be said that the entire Crafting School would benefit from this.


    It wasn¡¯t until another hour before Bai Yunfei stopped upgrading. Organizing all his soul armaments and putting them away, he began to rest his mind.


    Bai Yunfei just never imagined that he¡¯d be in store for another pleasant surprise after he was done resting¡­

 Chapter 1263: To Mo City

    Before, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t been very happy with how much soulforce he had. But now that he was fully recovered, Bai Yunfei was pleased to see that his soulforce had increased in addition to his training!


    Because of the guidance given to him by Shen Pojun, Bai Yunfei¡¯s understanding of the Law of Fire had been greatly expanded. He was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, but if he had to split his current stage into three additional subtiers, then he¡¯d say he was a mid Mid-stage Soul Emperor.


    But he wasn¡¯t far from reaching that later subtier! He was so close to becoming a Late-stage Soul Emperor!!


    A rate of progression where one had only just become a Mid-stage Soul Emperor and was now close to becoming a Late-stage Soul Emperor was one that was especially frightening.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here¡­is this the result of my upgrades or from my training?¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. ¡°Now hold on¡­it should most likely be because¡­of the energy I felt when upgrading?¡±


    He thought back to when he managed to upgrade the Cataclysmic Seal to +14 and the following insights he gained. That euphoric moment where he was able to expound upon the Upgrade Technique had allowed Bai Yunfei to gain plenty of experience. Many clues were gained, and Bai Yunfei was able to gain a new level of understanding of the technique. And of one of those clues he followed, Bai Yunfei noted one of them was a particularly ¡®red¡¯ one. That clue related to...the Law of Fire!


    He already knew that the additional effects were bestowed upon by a certain Law. For example, the Law of Lightning bestowed upon the +10 additional effect of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder, and the Law of Fire bestowed upon the +13 additional effect of the Critical Glove. However¡­the +14 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal had no ¡®attribute¡¯, what kind of law bestowed it then?


    Given his current level of strength, there was no way for him to peer into the arcane mystery that was the Planar Laws. However, he did have his own understandings of the Law of Fire and could use that to grow stronger.


    ¡°It was an unexpected surprise to gain this much from my studies. It¡¯d be nice if I could get another +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone. Maybe that way I¡¯ll be able to become a Late-stage Soul Emperor.¡± Bai Yunfei thought greedily to himself. But the thought was nothing but a pipe dream. How could he possibly get a second +14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone?


    The dream of becoming a Late-stage Soul Emperor wasn¡¯t as far-fetched. Given that he had the +13 Fate Pendant and the ability to absorb chaotic energy, it wasn¡¯t as lofty as a goal as the other.


    ¡­¡­


    With his goals outlined, Bai Yunfei was ready to head out from the caves. After bidding farewell to Heavenfire, he strode out from the caves with a confident air toward Shen Pojun¡¯s residence.


    At the current moment, Shen Pojun was residing in a small hovel on the northern peak near where Zi Jin¡¯s hut was. When he arrived, he saw Shen Pojun speaking with another male in the courtyard.


    Bai Yunfei smiled when he saw the two. Quickening his pace, he soon reached the spot where the two were chatting, ¡°Master, have you recovered enough?¡±


    It was Zi Jin he was speaking to. Smiling at the arrival of his student, the man nodded. ¡°Haha, I¡¯m much better now. In fact, I should probably thank my earlier condition. I can feel my previously sluggish training starting to flow back into action. Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to reach the Soul Emperor level soon enough¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s great!¡± Bai Yunfei smiled. ¡°Then let¡¯s take a trip to the Yao clan. They¡¯ll definitely know of a way to return you to your true strength.¡±


    ¡°Yes, there¡¯ll be a time for that in the future.¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, was that ¡®+14 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone¡¯ of use for you? Did you manage to upgr¡ªoh? Your power¡­how did it grow so much so quickly?!¡±


    That was the moment when Shen Pojun realized Bai Yunfei was much stronger than when he had last seen the student.


    Bai Yunfei had to admit, it felt great to surprise even a Saint. ¡°Ancestor, this was a result of my upgrades. I¡¯ve managed to turn the Cataclysmic Seal¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    And so Bai Yunfei told the story of what had happened to both Shen Pojun and Zi Jin. Both of the older males had been thoroughly shocked to hear everything that transpired, and despite their age and experiences, the two were completely without words to describe their emotions.


    ¡°You¡­were able to craft a Regalia?! Haha¡­good! Very good!! You are worthy of being the most outstanding student of our school¡¯s history!!¡±


    Shen Pojun had no words to describe his joy. He could only describe Bai Yunfei as being the most talented student the Crafting School had to offer in its history, and Zi Jin wasn¡¯t inclined to disagree. Pleased, he gave Bai Yunfei an approving nod. It filled him with great joy to have a student like this.


    The two managed to calm down after a while. Though they were mystified by Bai Yunfei¡¯s Upgrade Technique, neither of the two had any means of researching it nor the interest.


    ¡°Ancestor, master, this student has a request to ask¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? What is it? There¡¯s no harm asking.¡± Shen Pojun smiled.


    ¡°It¡¯s regarding my future¡­¡± Bai Yunfei seemed rather embarrassed now. ¡°It¡¯s actually a rather personal matter. But¡­this student wishes to head to the Forest Pass Province, Mo City in particular. I wish to ask the Tang for Xinyun¡¯s hand in marriage¡­well, I already have their permission to wed Tang Xinyun, but I wish to do it properly. Since the school is here, I would like to ask that the school take on the part of my family. The elders of this school has been like family to me, and I wish for both the Tang and the Crafting School to see the wedding through¡­It would make your student happy beyond belief to fulfill this wish of mine, ancestor and master.¡±


    ¡°Ah, something like that? Haha! Of course! How could this be a ¡®private¡¯ matter? The entire school would be overjoyed! I wholeheartedly approve.¡± Zi Jin roared with laughter, ¡°That girl, Xinyun, spent the last three years searching for you at no expense. She never even returned home! She¡¯s the treasured daughter of the Tang, yes, but she¡¯s also an outstanding student of the Crafting School. We would never dare to hold the wedding in a sloppy manner.¡±


    Shen Pojun smiled as well. ¡°It would fill this old heart of mine with great pleasure to see two outstanding students get married. It shall be settled then. Head to the Tang and we¡¯ll hold a wedding upon our return to the Great Plain Province.¡±


    ¡°Thank you ancestor, thank you master!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It was with a skip to his step that Bai Yunfei left the northern peak. He, of course, didn¡¯t forget to upgrade the soul armaments of the two to +12.


    It was noon by the time he exited from the Core World. Looking for a servant of the Ye, Bai Yunfei learned that Ye Zhiqiu was currently in the great halls and went off to search for him.


    Striding into the hall, Bai Yunfei took notice of Tang Xinyun and the others already there. They were laughing and speaking with several others, and Huangfu Rui could be seen chattering about something.


    ¡°Eh? Brother Yunfei! You¡¯re finally out!¡±


    Huangfu Rui was the first to take notice of Bai Yunfei. She called out to him so the others could quickly take notice that he was here.


    Bai Yunfei nodded to the group before turning to Ye Zhiqiu, ¡°How are matters, Zhiqiu?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about, all is well.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good, then why don¡¯t you head with us to Mo City in two days time?¡±


    ¡°Mo City?¡± Ye Zhiqiu asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t we heading back to the Great Plains Province?¡±


    ¡°Mo City first, I¡¯ve asked the ancestor and master already. Everyone is to accompany me to the Tang so I may ask for Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand in marriage. We¡¯ll return to the Great Plain Province after the wedding.¡±


    He flashed a smile over to Tang Xinyun, and sure enough, his fiance was stunned. But soon she began to blush red and smile happily to herself, though she hid her face behind her hands.


    ¡°Marriage!?¡± Everyone blew up at once at that. All of a sudden, they whipped their heads to look at Tang Xinyun with a great smile.


    ¡°Are you going to have the entire school there for the wedding? Don¡¯t tell me you plan to steal her away by force if they say no.¡± Li Chengfeng asked, ¡°I knew you had a real reason behind the mobilization of the entire school.¡±


    ¡°....¡±

 Chapter 1264: Visiting the Tang

    The Forest Pass Province, Mo City.


    Inside Tang Manor.


    Multiple people were present right now in the halls. At the very end of the hall sat three chairs. Seated on the left chair was Tang Xinyun¡¯s father, Tang Qianlei. On the right chair was Tang Zhan. And seated at the frontmost chair was a white-haired elder.


    This elder was the true ancestor of the house of Tang and was Tang Zhan¡¯s father, Tang Xuan. He was the previous head of the Tang and was far older than Zi Jin.


    In other words, three generations of the ruling heads of the Tang were currently gathered here.


    Normally speaking, the current head of the Tang would normally be the one taking care of internal and external matters. The students and previous generation would also be in charge of conducting external matters while those of Tang Zhan¡¯s generation generally secluded themselves in training. This also went for those of Tang Xuan¡¯s generation, who were Soul Emperors.


    But things were different now that there was the conflict. The Tang couldn¡¯t help but get entangled in the succession conflict and now all of the members were brought out from their isolation. Several of the Tang had already dirtied their hands with blood since the conflict started.


    They were one of the Five Great Houses. Significant in power and status, the Tang had four Soul Emperors and over twenty Soul Kings. Tang Xinyun¡¯s brother, Tang Jing, was one of the new Soul Kings the house had to employ.


    Because this was an emergency meeting, practically everyone without a mission critical job was here. Everyone of any significant power within the Tang was here, and even though their numbers weren¡¯t as strong as the Wind Lightning School, they were still quite strong in comparison to any of the Five Schools.


    Tang Xuan wouldn¡¯t even normally stick his head in if the discussion wasn¡¯t of importance. As a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor, he was far more busy with seeking Sainthood. Not even the ¡®major¡¯ matters of the continent usually concerned him.


    But here he was today.


    It was especially calm in the hall aside from a few middle-aged men that spoke on the left. As they listened, the elders of the Tang found themselves thinking rapidly with thunderstruck expressions.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Once the middle-aged men finished speaking, all was quiet again in the hall. Many of the audience were struck dumb by what they had just heard.


    Tang Xuan let out a sigh. ¡°How terrifyingly powerful the Crafting School is. It is ridiculous that rumors once said the Crafting School was in decline. It was by their own hands that the Wind Lightning School came undone. Injured and forced to go into seclusion for a hundred years¡­it is a lenient mercy that the Crafting School didn¡¯t uproot them from history as the Beast Taming School was. It is only a shame that a hero such as Dong Wanfeng lost his life¡­¡±


    A sorrowful expression entered Tang Xuan¡¯s face as he thought about Dong Wanfeng¡¯s demise. He was at the same time surprise to hear about how Shen Pojun had attained Sainthood.


    Five days had passed since news of the Wind Lightning School arrived in Mo City. It had already spread throughout the entire continent and caused massive waves of shock. With the quick and utter defeat of the Wind Lightning School, rumors of the Crafting School began to spread even more.


    It was because of this matter that the Tang held an emergency meeting. The announcement that the Wind Lightning School would go into seclusion was not a small matter. Practically every single faction of considerable strength on the continent had to discuss amongst themselves the ramifications of such an event. And with how the Soul Refining School had withdrawn themselves, the previously tumultuous world of soul cultivators had entered a strange silence.


    That didn¡¯t mean the rumors were also dying out. It was already being reported that the loyalist faction of the Tianhun School was already preparing a fierce assault to capitalize on the current news. However, the continent had yet to hear of any news of the ¡®rebel army¡¯.


    Tang Xuan head turned to stare at Tang Qianlei, ¡°Where is that girl Xinyun? Has she not returned? She¡¯d have returned home by now with that Bai Yunfei, I assumed?¡±


    Tang Qianlei gave a pained smile, ¡°It has been three years since she last returned¡­¡±


    Three years ago was when Bai Yunfei had first disappeared following the battle with the Soul Refining School. The Tang had exhausted a considerable amount of energy searching for Bai Yunfei before they gave up, but Tang Xinyun didn¡¯t. She searched the countless provinces in hopes of news, and eventually, communications with her own family had died out. That caused many from her clan to worry about her, especially her mother, Chu Qingxue. Every day, the woman would spend her time praying for the safe return of her daughter, and it was only when news of the Beast Taming School¡¯s destruction that she heard about Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun. Only then did she relax.


    A more pleasant smile replaced the previous one on Tang Qianlei¡¯s face as he remembered something. ¡°However, I do believe they should be home soon¡­She and Bai Yunfei are engaged, after all. I had planned on holding the wedding when he returned from his trip to the Qin, but that never happened¡ªit¡¯s never too late to hold one, though.¡±


    Tang Qianlei would be pleased to have a son-in-law like Bai Yunfei. And that would also mean having a Saint as a friend if the two were to get married. Relations between the Tang and the Crafting School would be a good thing. Whether it was as a father or the head of a clan,Tang Qianlei was pleased either way.


    Tang Xuan inquired about a few things after that, and it wasn¡¯t until they were about done wrapping things up when housekeeper Zhong came rushing into the hall.


    He didn¡¯t even seem to care that he was interrupting their meeting. He simply bowed in front of all the people in the hall and gave his report, ¡°My lord, the young miss has returned! And Bai Yunfei and the elders of the Crafting School are here as well.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Tang Qianlei was taken back, ¡°Xinyun is back?¡± He smiled, ¡°And Bai Yunfei is too?! And the elders of the Crafting School? Could they be here¡­¡±


    ¡°What a surprise they would appear when we were just talking about them!¡± Tang Xuan rose to his feet, ¡°They must have just arrived from the Black River Province, that means the entirety of their school is here¡­welcome them in!!¡±


    If Bai Yunfei was here, that mean Shen Pojun was here as well. And as a Saint, there was no way they could possibly snub him at the gate. However, Tang Xuan realized that Tang Xinyun and the rest of her group was already outside the hall, so he stood up to walk out while the rest of his family followed behind with their eyes.


    They all watched as a group of people walked into the hall. At the very center of the group was Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun, though the two of them walked behind two elders¡ªShen Pojun and Zi Jin. There was also Kou Changkong and Li Chengfeng, but they stood behind while Huangfu Rui tailed behind Tang Xinyun.


    A considerable amount of elders were also in the group, but not all of them. Having three generations of headmasters was already a considerable enough welcoming group.


    ¡°Senior Shen!!¡±


    Tang Xuan greeted at once. As a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor, he took notice of Shen Pojun¡¯s power at once and was awed. There was no way Tang Xuan wouldn¡¯t recognize Shen Pojun¡¯s aura, even if he had never seen the man before. A Saint was someone that stood on top of the world of soul cultivators, and there was no missing that.


    Tang Xuan was a man of two hundred years of age, but even that was considered negligible in front of Shen Pojun. To call him senior was only right and contained his respect for the Saint.


    ¡°Haha, there¡¯s no need for such politeness. Please accept our apologies for coming without warning.¡± Shen Pojun smiled warmly at the people greeting him.


    ¡°Brother Tang, I trust you¡¯ve been well.¡± Zi Jin smiled as well toward Tang Xuan, he seemed to be thinking back on old memories upon seeing Tang Xuan¡¯s face.


    ¡°Brother Zi Jin, it¡¯s been several decades! I hope you¡¯ve been well as well!¡±


    The two met several times before. Despite being younger, Zi Jin was once a man that was able to stand eye-to-eye with Tang Xuan. It was only because of his injury from Dongfang Ming that Zi Jin fell from the ranks of a Soul Emperor while Tang Xuan grew to become a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor.


    ¡°Father, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather¡­¡±


    Tang Xinyun bowed politely to the gathered elders of her family. She was shocked to see that her great-great-grandfather of all people would be here. She was also shocked to see so many elders she didn¡¯t recognize.


    Bai Yunfei bowed at once as well. ¡°Junior Bai Yunfei pays his respects to the Tang.¡±


    ¡°Junior Li Chengfeng of the Fate School pays his respects to the Tang.¡± Li Chengfeng bowed politely.


    ¡°Haha¡­what an outstanding group of youngsters. Very well¡­¡± Tang Xuan smiled and nodded at Bai Yunfei. He had at first thought he misheard Li Chengfeng¡¯s introduction, but he could sense both their strengths and was shocked.


    To have that much strength at their age meant they were without a doubt the strongest geniuses of their generation. The only one that could match them in their house would most likely only be Tang Wei.


    Seating everyone, Tang Xuan had Shen Pojun sit with him on two equally positioned chairs. Daring not to sit with a Saint, Tang Zhan and Tang Qianlei relocated to two chairs further down on the left while Zi Jin and Kou Changkong sat on chairs to the right.


    Bai Yunfei sat by Kou Changkong¡¯s side and stared at the gathered people in the hall.


    All of a sudden, the pressure he felt felt strong enough to crush a mountain.

 Chapter 1265: Seeing Soul Puppetry Again

    ¡°Phew¡­I¡¯ve it planned out, but it¡¯s still killing me¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave a long exhale as he eyed the people here in the hall. To reassure himself, he slapped his chest with a palm.


    The pressure was overwhelming. It didn¡¯t even begin here, but back in the Core World when he was surrounded by his fellow crafters. The pressure was only made worse now that he was in the hall of the Tang and listened to the elders speak. He didn¡¯t even have the heart to speak up now, and the way he was being stared at only made it worse.


    Luckily, Shen Pojun seemed to understand Bai Yunfei¡¯s unease and asked permission for Tang Xinyun and Bai Yunfei to leave so Tang Xinyun could visit her mother.


    Bai Yunfei felt as though he had just received a huge pardon. Gratefully, he and the others of his generation left the hall.


    It wasn¡¯t until they left the hall that Li Chengfeng spoke up, ¡°Haha, that was some considerable amount of pressure back there.¡±


    Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°Let¡¯s visit my mother, it¡¯s been far too long since I last saw her¡­¡±


    In truth, she felt guilty whenever she thought about her mother.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going, then.¡±


    ¡°Sister! Brother Bai!!¡±


    Suddenly, an ecstatic voice came calling out to them from the right. The owner of the voice must¡¯ve been waiting for them outside the hall for quite some time.


    ¡°Tang Ming?¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, look how tall you¡¯ve got! Ah, you look like you¡¯re close to becoming a Soul King already? Good good¡­¡±


    The one coming toward them was Tang Xinyun¡¯s little brother, Tang Ming. He had grown up to be quite the elegant man and slightly taller than Bai Yunfei. Though a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt, he was not far from the realm of Soul Kings.


    But the way he acted around them made Bai Yunfei feel like Tang Ming was still the same young kid from all those years ago. If anything, the look of respect he was getting from Tang Ming was far greater than before¡­


    It was practically overflowing, the admiration. The ¡®legends¡¯ that spoke of Bai Yunfei were something Tang Ming listened religiously almost, and the man was essentially an idol for him. Having Bai Yunfei as a ¡®brother-in-law¡¯ filled him with the utmost pride and was quite often the topic of conversation among his friends, much to the envy of others.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m not very slow, but it¡¯s nothing compared to you, big brother Bai¡­¡± Tang Ming replied modestly.


    He, of course, wanted to accompany them as they traveled to meet Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother. As it just so happened, his own mother was currently with Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother.


    Tang Ming¡¯s mother was the third wife of Tang Qianlei, Hua Yueying. Initially, the cold shoulder received by Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother was due to Hua Yueying, hence why Tang Xinyun had a very bitter relationship with her. But over the years, the relationship between the two mothers improved to a considerable degree.


    ¡°Ah, little Ming, where is third brother? Why haven¡¯t I seen him yet?¡± Tang Xinyun asked as they walked through the courtyards.


    ¡°Oh him? He¡¯s outside training right now. He came back three months ago, so I think he¡¯ll be back soon. He and Yan Lin are both Peak Late-stage Soul Kings! I think he told me he¡¯s going to the Soulbeast Forest to try and breakthrough¡­¡± Tang Ming¡¯s eyes lit up when he talked about his third brother, evidently, he admired him as well.


    ¡°He¡¯s close to becoming a Soul Emperor?¡± Bai Yunfei murmured, ¡°The Soulbeast Forest? He¡­must be going to the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts then? With his talent, I¡¯m sure breaking through won¡¯t be a problem¡­¡±


    Tang Wei was a man of considerable talent. And with a soulbeast partner as powerful as Yan Lin, Bai Yunfei was sure that the two wouldn¡¯t have any problems in the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts. As long as a Soul Emperor-leveled soulbeast was there to guide the way, there was no way Yan Lin wouldn¡¯t breakthrough. And that by extension meant Tang Wei.


    But if Tang Wei was somehow unable to enter the tomb, he should still gain enough benefits from their soul contract and breakthrough anyway.


    ¡­¡­


    By now, the group was getting close to where Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother was. Bai Yunfei could already sense her aura getting closer to them as well. As they walked over the cobblestone road, the group saw another set of people walk toward them across a small bridge. Of the group, one of them on the left was most definitely Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother.


    Plenty had changed about the woman since their last meeting. Contrary to the passage of time, the woman looked quite young. Without a poison taxing her body anymore, she was looking far healthier and more youthful. For soul cultivators, maintaining their youthful appearance was nothing but a minor problem.


    By her side was another woman much younger than her. Her ovalish face had phoenix-shaped eyes, and even her walk had a graceful feel to it. It was Tang Ming¡¯s mother, Hua Yueying.


    ¡°Mother!!¡±


    Excited to see her mother, Tang Xinyun ran quickly across the pathway to run into the arms of her mother at long last.


    Having been chatting with Hua Yueying about something, Chu Qingxue took a moment before she realized there were guests here. And when she noticed that Tang Xinyun was among those guests, her body began to quiver in excitement as well.


    By the time Bai Yunfei reached the two, Tang Xinyun was already hugging her mother while Tang Ming walked up to his own mother to greet her. He bowed politely to the two but otherwise remained quiet so he wouldn¡¯t disturb the reunion between mother and daughter.


    It was then that Bai Yunfei noted someone was pulling at his sleeves. Turning his head, he realized it was Huangfu Rui. ¡°Ah¡¯Rui?¡± He whispered, confused by the strange expression on her face, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    She was staring at Hua Yueying, ¡°Brother Yunfei,¡± She whispered back, ¡°that person¡­is being controlled by Soul Puppetry!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡±


    He could hardly prevent himself from exhaling sharply. Facing Huangfu Rui in earnest, he began to speak with her via the soul, ¡°Say that again, Ah¡¯Rui? Who¡¯s being controlled by Soul Puppetry? Are you sure?¡±


    He was deeply confused because Huangfu Rui was¡­still looking at Hua Yueying!


    Though Bai Yunfei wanted to avoid a disturbance, Huangfu Rui didn¡¯t think that far. She initially spoke quietly because she hadn¡¯t been very sure of herself, but she was pointing now that she was more confident. ¡°I¡¯m not wrong, brother Yunfei, it¡¯s her. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s being controlled, I¡¯m getting the same feeling as with brother Zhiqiu¡¯s father.¡±


    With how she was pointing and how loudly she was speaking, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even stop the others from noticing even if he tried. Already, Tang Xinyun and her mother were listening in now and following where she was pointing in strange curiosity.


    ¡°What?¡±


    The woman in question, Hua Yueying, had been smiling as she spoke with Tang Xinyun¡¯s mother. She had been startled to see Bai Yunfei staring at her. But then she turned around, confused on whether or not it was her or the servant girl next to her that was being pointed at.


    A silent breath of relief escaped from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. It was at that moment that she realized Hua Yueying wasn¡¯t the person Huangfu Rui was pointing at, it was the servant girl!


    Things would seriously be trouble if it was Hua Yueying that was being controlled by Soul Puppetry!


    At the sight of the middle-aged maid, Bai Yunfei casted a withering glare at her, causing her to immediately freeze in place with fear.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong¡­Yunfei?¡±


    Haven¡¯t not heard the exact details of what Huangfu Rui said, Tang Xinyun was confused by why Bai Yunfei was acting this way. Already, she, her mother, and Hua Yueying were starting to question what was going on.


    ¡°This person is being controlled by Soul Puppetry, she¡¯s a puppet of the Soul Refining School.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Tang Xinyun¡¯s hand flew to her mouth, shocked. ¡°That¡¯s¡­how could that be? Are you sure, Yunfei?¡±


    ¡°Huangfu Rui said it, so it must be true.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Cui Ying can¡¯t be a puppet of the Soul Refining School. It¡¯s simply impossible¡­¡± Hua Yueying was becoming flustered now, ¡°She¡¯s been my maid ever since I was young. How could she possibly be with the Soul Refining School?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t panic, aunty Hua. I said she¡¯s being controlled, not that she¡¯s an insider. We can undo the Soul Puppetry. The method to do so won¡¯t harm her even if she¡¯s not a puppet.¡±


    ¡°Stil¡­¡± Hua Yueying still didn¡¯t seem to believe Bai Yunfei¡¯s words. Everything was happening far too fast for her to properly digest.


    Feeling that he was getting nowhere with this conversation, Bai Yunfei took out a single pill. ¡°This is a truth pill. Everything will be clear if we administer this to her and ask a few questions. No harm will be done to her.¡±


    Soulscanning an ¡®innocent¡¯ person, even if they were a Soul Puppet, was not something Bai Yunfei wanted to do. Therefore, a truth pill was an easier solution, especially on a Soul Sprite. There was no way such a person would be able to resist its effects.


    As doubtful as Hua Yueying was, her fear of the Soul Refining School finally convinced her in the end. The recent horrors of Soul Puppetry wasn¡¯t unknown to her, but she still found it incredibly hard to believe that her maid of over a dozen years would be one of those unfortunate victims. In the end, she relented to Bai Yunfei¡¯s actions for the sake of knowing the truth.


    And so the pill was administered to the maid. And once a few questions were asked, Bai Yunfei¡¯s groups were alarmed to hear that¡­

 Chapter 1266: The Truth

    As like Huangfu Rui said, Cui Ying was indeed a Soul Puppet. In comparison to Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s father, Cui Ying had been under the influence of Soul Puppetry for far longer.


    It happened when Hua Yueying wasn¡¯t even a part of the Tang. The ¡®brainwashing¡¯ consisted of her continuing her duties as Hua Yueying¡¯s maid, but she was ready to carry out any missive of the Soul Refining School whenever called upon.


    Hua Yueying wasn¡¯t a part of a small household of soul cultivators. Members of her house were often under heavy watch so any strange behaviors could be easily seen and caught. But who would ever pay attention to an insignificant maid?


    Not even Hua Yueying realized something was wrong with Cui Ying.


    But the maid was only just a pawn for the Soul Refining School, one that was basically insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Given the right circumstances, however, and even a pawn could carry out the most nefarious of plots.


    For example¡­the reason behind Chu Qingxue¡¯s poisoning! It was because of Cui Ying that the ambush occurred!


    All it took was for her to send a single message for the Soul Refining School to act. The target had actually been Hua Yueying, since she was the wife most loved by the head of the Tang at the time. However, a mistake occurred and it was Chu Qingxue that was the one poisoned.


    The mission was considered a failure and all other plans fell through after that. In fact, the Soul Refining School had practically forgotten about Cui Ying after that.


    The upheaval planned by the Soul Refining School and prince Hao took many many many years to plan. A small subplot like this one was negligible in comparison.


    In the end, the Soul Refining School did revisit their plans for the Tang, a plan that caused no small amount of trouble for Bai Yunfei.


    It was when Tang Xinyun was kidnapped and Bai Yunfei went after her. By the stroke of a pen, Mo Ni had Cui Ying activate the poison in Chu Qingxue to draw Tang Xinyun¡¯s attention, which in turn drew Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention.


    Cui Ying wasn¡¯t given any other instructions after that mission failed. And without those instructions, Cui Ying was left attending to Hua Yueying as was normal without ever once thinking about the Soul Refining School.


    ¡­¡­


    All of the above-mentioned was said by Cui Ying due to the pill she was given, but not a single person there was able to properly say a word about what they had just heard.


    Bai Yunfei had never imagined that the trail would go so far back. And neither did he realize that there was such a cause behind the poisoning of Chu Qingxue.


    ¡°This¡­how could this have happened¡­?¡±


    Hua Yueying was the most shocked. She stood there, quivering in disbelief as she stared at her maid. A myriad of emotions ran through her face, though none of which could be properly voiced by her.


    Staring at the statue-like Cui Ying, whose condition was like that due to the truth pill, Bai Yunfei sighed.


    ¡°Aunty Hua, her Soul Puppetry can be undone, but however she will be treated after that¡­is up to you.¡±


    Cui Ying was but a pitiful pawn that was being used. She was innocent. Bai Yunfei had neither the heart nor the hatred to kill the woman.


    He turned back to Huangfu Rui then. ¡°We¡¯ll be counting on you, Ah¡¯Rui.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes,¡± Huangfu Rui smiled, ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure to help!¡±


    Given the gravity of the situation, no one wanted to reminisce about the old times as Huangfu Rui sought about to undoing the Soul Puppetry. Allocating her a room, they all waited for her to finish her job.


    Since this wasn¡¯t her first time doing this, Huangfu Rui found herself having a much easier time undoing the Soul Puppetry than before.


    Free from the shackles of Soul Puppetry at last, Cui Ying fell into a deep sleep after that. Standing above her sleeping form, Hua Yueying was once again lost in deep thought. She was conflicted about the situation, as was Zhao Mancha and Chu Qingxue. All three of them had fond memories of the maid, so knowing that she had been a Soul Puppet for the Soul Refining School had left all of them dejected. Although Cui Ying was in the end, innocent, it was still a mercy on Bai Yunfei¡¯s part to not kill her. If Tang Qianlei were to know about this and weigh in on the matter, her death would be for certain.


    ¡°Sigh¡­let¡¯s wait for her to wake first. I¡¯ll give her some traveling expenses and have her leave this household¡­¡±


    Hua Yueying decided at long last. Calling for another maid to do as she tasked, Hua Yueying left the room with Chu Qingxue afterward.


    ¡°Sister,¡± She faced Chu Qingxue, ¡°Please allow me to apologize for what Cui Ying has done. I would also like to thank you for sparing her life¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for such words, sister. Am I not fine now? Her body wasn¡¯t hers to control, I see no reason to end matters at that¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sister.¡± Seemingly aged by several years by the matter, Hua Yueying changed the topic, ¡°There must be so much you wish to talk with your daughter about. I am finding myself rather tired, so by your will, I will be taking my leave¡­¡±


    With a nod to Bai Yunfei, the woman soon left with another maid in tow. Worried for his mother, Tang Ming followed after her.


    Feeling rather down spirited by the matter, Bai Yunfei turned his attention to Tang Xinyun, ¡°Xinyun, have a nice conversation with your mother. Li Chengfeng and I will take a stroll¡­Aunty Xue, I¡¯ll pay my respects upon a later time.¡±


    Chu Qingxue smiled lovingly at him, ¡°Thank you for everything, Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t worry about anything, aunty Xue. Please have a nice talk with Xinyun¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei watched the mother and daughter retreat into their courtyards before he finally left with Li Chengfeng. Huangfu Rui had opted to stay with Tang Xinyun and went into the same courtyard.


    He had plenty to think about as he walked across the cobblestone path. Finding out the reason behind Chu Qingxue¡¯s poisoning had been a stroke of luck. Certainly, without the ¡®anti-Soul Puppet¡¯ weapon, Huangfu Rui, they¡¯d have never found out about it. And that only served to make Bai Yunfei more fearful of the Soul Refining School and their tactics. Without her, they¡¯d never have known about any of this. Who knew just how many Soul Puppets there were? They could save anyone Huangfu Rui found, but what about those who weren¡¯t? How many more deaths would be had because of these Soul Puppets? Perhaps there were still plenty of people stuck as tools for the Soul Refining School.


    The Soul Refining School¡­the sooner they are destroyed, the better!


    Bai Yunfei found himself unknowingly clenching his fist at the thought. Then he realized something else was off.


    ¡°Chengfeng, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Li Chengfeng had been oddly quiet throughout all this. Even now, when Bai Yunfei was looking at him, Li Chengfeng was also lost in his own thoughts.


    Li Chengfeng blinked, ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I have an odd feeling that something terrible is about to happen¡­¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow, ¡°Is this another prediction of yours?¡±


    ¡°No, nothing like that. It¡¯s just a feeling, but¡­¡±


    Were it anyone else, like an ordinary person, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve dismissed such a sentence. But Li Chengfeng wasn¡¯t an ordinary person. The premonitions of someone from the Fate School were something everyone should be cautious for.


    ¡°Something terrible is about to happen? Don¡¯t tell me the Soul Refining School is up to their nasty tricks again?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself.


    ¡°Pah! It leaves a terrible taste in my mouth that our enemies are like this! There¡¯s basically nothing we can do but wait until they do something¡­Sooner or later we¡¯ll stamp out their nest and end this disaster once in for all!¡±


    He slapped Li Chengfeng¡¯s shoulder comfortingly, ¡°Forget it, we can¡¯t do anything if we don¡¯t know anything. We¡¯ll adapt with the situation and work hard to crush their plans. We were able to do it once before, we can definitely do it again a second and third time!¡±


    The two stopped by the edge of a lake. Noting the small pavilion constructed at the center of the lake, the two strode over and sat down by the tables offered underneath it. Quickly, a bottle of wine and two cups were placed onto the table so they could drink.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t an avid drinker of alcohol, but a bonding moment between brothers like this certainly called for it.


    ¡°Yunfei,¡± Li Chengfeng sipped from his cup, ¡°I won¡¯t hide the truth. Sooner or later, the Fate School will be in a crisis, one large enough to destroy our school. I suspect this feeling of mine has to do with that, and if I¡¯m not wrong, this crisis isn¡¯t too far in the future. If possible, I hope that you¡¯ll be able to help us when the time comes¡­¡±


    ¡°What? Even the Fate School will be in danger?!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out, shocked. ¡°And ¡®if possible¡¯? Let¡¯s not even talk about us being brothers, senior Ge Yiyun has helped me out a lot in the past. I¡¯ll be sure to do all I can for as long as I¡¯m able!¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but think about the past at the mention of Ge Yiyun¡¯s name. He had only been a vagrant back then, a nobody without anything to his name. The Bai Yunfei of back then, as ignorant of the world as he was, promised to repay the favor Ge Yiyun gave him, and now it seemed like it was finally time for that favor to be repaid.


    The eyes of Li Chengfeng glistened at his words. Moved, he raised his cup up, ¡°I¡¯ll spare you the grateful words, Yunfei. Having a sworn brother like you is the greatest gift I, Li Chengfeng, has had. Cheers!!¡±


    ¡°Brothers for life!¡± Bai Yunfei roared with laughter, ¡°Cheers!!¡±

 Chapter 1267: A Grand Marriage

    The day Bai Yunfei arrived at the Tang was the same day Shen Pojun and the other elders of the school discussed some important matters with the Tang. Shortly after that, it was the Tang¡¯s turn to play the part as guests. After calling Bai Yunfei back, Shen Pojun and the others had the elders of the Tang head into the Core World so they could enjoy being the visitors of the school.


    And so, Bai Yunfei and the group stayed with the Tang after that.


    There were no objections to his marriage to Tang Xinyun. The marriage date was quickly sorted out after Li Chengfeng was more than happy to divine an auspicious day for a wedding.


    It would happen in ten days.


    Life for both the Tang and the Crafting School ramped up after the marriage was settled. With Mt. Crimson and the Crafting School technically being ¡®within¡¯ Tang Manor, everyone decided to have the wedding take place in Tang Manor. The Tang had plenty of hands and were quick to start the preparations. In no time at all, the entire manor was lively and busy, and news of the wedding was similarly quick to spread out.


    It was tradition on the continent for the bride and groom to be separated prior to the wedding. In accordance to those traditions, Tang Xinyun was temporarily ¡®taken¡¯ away from Bai Yunfei and stayed with her mother.


    As such, Bai Yunfei found himself with an extraordinary amount of idle time. If he wasn¡¯t strolling the city with his friends, then he was back in the Crafting School with soul armaments as his companions.


    This was also due to him being able to upgrade soul armaments to +12 now. Everyone in the Crafting School naturally wanted their soul armaments to be upgraded, and everyone from the Soul King level and up gave their soul armaments to him so they could be powered up. The changes were shocking to those who were lucky enough to have their soul armaments upgraded first, like night and day.


    One or two days wasn¡¯t even nearly enough time for Bai Yunfei to upgrade them all, but again, he had plenty of time on his hands. He had no problem taking it slow to upgrade them.


    He had, of course, already upgraded the soul armaments of those closest to him, such as Xiao Qi, Tang Xinyun, and Li Chengfeng. In the case of Li Chengfeng, the Heart Compass had yet to be upgraded, due to it being only able to be ¡®withdrawn¡¯ when it was at the Fate School. Bai Yunfei decided then that after the wedding was over and the Crafting School was back in its proper location in the Great Plain Province, he¡¯d head over with Li Chengfeng to the Fate School. It was nearly time for Li Chengfeng¡¯s child in any case, and Bai Yunfei was more than ready to have a celebratory toast with Li Chengfeng for the child¡¯s health.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t neglect his training. Every day, he¡¯d spend a few hours above the Ninth Heaven to train with chaotic energy. This wasn¡¯t something the Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor Tang Xuan was able to replicate, meaning he had to train alone. But with the Luck Pendant he had, Bai Yunfei was able to train even faster than before and narrow the already tiny gap to becoming a Late-stage Soul Emperor.


    And so the days trickled by with life in Tang Manor being the liveliest it had ever been.


    ¡­¡­


    The day of the wedding came at last. The entire manor was bustling with activity as platters of food and drink were carried by the servants everywhere where there was a table.


    Number-wise, there weren¡¯t as many students in the Crafting School as compared to a school like the Wind Lightning School. A thousand students was still a high number, but Tang Manor was well equipped for such a number and so all the students were able to come out and partake.


    The ceremony went off without a hitch, with everyone toasting the new bride and groom before they swore their oaths to the heavens, their families, and then to each other.


    Afterward, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun returned to the halls of Tang Manor to greet and drink with a few of their honored guests.


    Dressed in bright-red robes, Bai Yunfei looked unprecedently handsome while Tang Xinyun was said by many to be as beautiful as a fairy.


    As they made their rounds, Bai Yunfei suddenly noted that there were far more people here than they anticipated. Those close to the Tang were also in attendance, such as the lord-mayor of Mo City, a representative of the Loyalist faction of the Tianhun School, and even a few members of several prominent houses and schools.


    ¡°Announcing the arrival of the honorable guests from the Water School and the house of Zheng from the Capital!!¡±


    A loud cry erupted from the entrance of Tang Manor, catching the attention of Bai Yunfei at once.


    He watched with a smile on his face as the headmaster of the Water School, Murong Xiao, came walking in with several elders and students. Kou Tingting was among those students along with a richly-dressed noble, Zheng Kai.


    ¡°Now Yunfei, how unkind can you get!¡± Zheng Kai greeted Bai Yunfei with a smile, ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have told us about the marriage earlier? We came rushing the moment we heard the news and still nearly managed to miss it!!¡±


    While Murong Xiao greeted Shen Pojun and Tang Xuan, Zheng Kai strode straight up to Bai Yunfei and slapped him in the shoulder ¡®resentfully¡¯, though the smile on his face gave his true feelings away.


    He had sent a message to Kou Tingting and the others from the Water School back when he decided to head to Mo City. The distance between the provinces was rather distant, and Bai Yunfei was afraid that they wouldn¡¯t be able to get here on time. Luckily, it seemed that wasn¡¯t the case.


    Zheng Kai being here was another happy coincidence. Back when he first left the Water School, Bai Yunfei knew that it¡¯d take some time for Zheng Kai to recover completely, but it seemed that he was back to normal now. And seeing how close he was with Kou Tingting, it seemed that his hard work and long journey to gain Kou Tingting¡¯s affections had finally paid off.


    With how many people were here, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the time to talk about the past with Zheng Kai. After a few more words with him, Bai Yunfei excused himself to talk with the other guests.


    ¡°Announcing the arrival of the honorable guests from the Wood School!!¡±


    Shortly after Zheng Kai was seated, another announcement was made for a new group of guests.


    ¡°Brother You? Yuhe!!¡± Bai Yunfei realized with glee.


    He didn¡¯t recognize the stern-faced elder leading the group, but the people behind him were definitely recognizable. You Qingfeng and Chu Yuhe! Even Qiu Luliu and Mu Wanqing were there.


    After the introduction, Bai Yunfei learned that the stern-faced elder was the headmaster of the Wood School. And after another greeting, Bai Yunfei led him to take a seat somewhere.


    ¡°Yunfei,¡± You Qingfeng smiled, ¡°congratulations! May you two live long til old age and have healthy offspring!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, brother You.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed.


    ¡°Brother, sister Tang¡­¡± Chu Yuhe bowed gracefully to the two. She was no longer the same shy girl she was before. ¡°May your lives be long and your affection even longer.¡±


    Having acquainted herself with Chu Yuhe during their time in the Soulbeast Forest, Tang Xinyun smiled warmly at her. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°The third young master has returned!!¡±


    Soon, another announcement had heads turning toward the entrance.


    ¡°Oh? Third brother!!¡± Tang Xinyun was one of the first to react. Turning to watch two new figures come through the gates, she let out a cry of joy before rushing to greet them.


    They were two handsome figures, though their robes were dirty and ragged from their travels. Their faces were recognizable to everyone at once¡ªTang Wei and his soulbeast partner, Yan Lin.


    As he paced to greet them, Bai Yunfei had his eyebrows raised in surprise. He could tell from their auras that the two of them were Early-stage Soul Emperors. It would appear that what Tang Ming said earlier was true. That the two of them had managed to enter the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts and managed to breakthrough.


    ¡°Haha, Xinyun, your wedding came far too abruptly!¡± Tang Wei roared with laughter, ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have made it back in time if we weren¡¯t already on our way home!¡±


    ¡°Brother Tang.¡± Bai Yunfei greeted.


    ¡°Ah, Yunfei, I¡¯ve heard a lot about you recently. What a legend you are¡­however, I do have to warn you, I won¡¯t care about those rumors if you ever mistreat my little sister!


    Tang Wei slapped him on the shoulder affectionately.


    ¡°Ah, that reminds me, I managed to find a few things in the Soulbeast Forest and thought I¡¯d use them as your wedding gift.¡±


    He took off a space ring from his finger and handed it over to Bai Yunfei. Then he walked over to the elders of his family to greet them. His return was surely a happy event for the rest of the family.


    Bai Yunfei inspected the ring with his soulsense and was immediately shocked by its contents.


    ¡°An upgrade stone!?¡±


    He didn¡¯t take the object out, but his soulsense had told him that all sorts of treasures were hidden within the space ring. The majority of them were materials for crafting, but there was also a pile of upgrade stones!


    ¡°Did he find these in the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts? I wonder if there¡¯s any Guaranteed Upgrade Stone in there¡­¡±


    To say he was pleased was an understatement, but Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t simply ignore everything else to look at the items. Reluctantly, he put the space ring away and headed back to the waiting guests.


    ¡­¡­


    The reception was soon over. An entire day of festivities had finally come to an end so that the moon could hang overhead and bring forth the night.


    But so drunk was Bai Yunfei in his happiness that he didn¡¯t realize the great change that was drawing close to him¡­

 Chapter 1268: Within the Fate School

    On the southern edge of the Tianhun Continent, there stood a rather small province known as the Star Ocean Province.


    The majority of its terrain is comprised of trees and mountains. One mountain range, in particular, had a specific mountain known as the Disorienting Mountain.


    The mountain itself wasn¡¯t very wide or large, but the mist that covered the entirety of it was especially notorious for causing travelers to lose their way. It disorientated their senses, and thus, the mountain came to be known as that.


    But other than that, there wasn¡¯t any spectacular about this mountain. It captured the interest of neither commoners or soul cultivators, so not many people came here.


    What people didn¡¯t know was that the mountain had a secret. A single manor was hidden deep within the Disorienting Mountain. This was the stomping grounds of the Fate School.


    To those of the Fate School, the Disorienting Mountain was a land filled with energy and beauty. A hidden paradise, almost. Only here were they able to focus on their own art without disturbance. Any commoner would surely call this place a wonderland if they knew.


    Yes, a wonderland. With how the cranes would often soar through the skies and how the deers would prance and run on the ground, this place could be what legends often described as being a paradise.


    In one of the courtyards of this manor, the innocent cries of laughter could be heard from within. Two children, both of seven years of age and of opposing genders, could be seen playing tag with pure childhood innocence.


    They were none other than the children of Li Chengfeng, Li Ruofeng and Li Ruoling.


    The two continued with their game of tag for some time until one of them tired. Racing to the table where a young woman sat, Li Ruoling fell affectionately into her lap, ¡°Mom, why isn¡¯t dad back yet! I want dad¡­¡±


    Li Ruofeng caught up to her shortly afterward, ¡°I told you not to bother mom so many times already, sis! What if you accidentally hurt mom and our little brother!¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Ashamed, the girl stepped back from her mother two steps, but not before giving the belly of her mother an affectionate rub. ¡°Mom, was I like this? When will he be born?¡±


    ¡°How many times are you going to ask that question,¡± Her brother started before the mother could even respond, ¡°didn¡¯t grandfather Ge say he¡¯ll be born on the sixteenth of the eighth month? That¡¯s in two months!¡±


    Disgruntled, Li Ruoling sent a withering glare at her brother, ¡°Know-it-all! I just want to see how he¡¯s doing, that¡¯s all!¡±


    The mother couldn¡¯t help but smile fondly at the sight of this interaction. Affectionately caressing the head of her daughter, the woman answered, ¡°Worry not, your father will be back soon.¡±


    ¡°But how much longer is that?¡± Li Ruoling seemed unsatisfied by such an answer. ¡°I might as well ask grandfather Ge and see if he can divine an answer!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even bother, grandfather Ge already has a lot on his mind! He¡¯s always in the back mountains, I never even see him anymore.¡±


    ¡°Yes, be a nice child, Ruoling, and don¡¯t bother grandfather Ge. Don¡¯t travel far from here in the coming days and wait for your father to return, okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Li Ruoling nodded her head sadly.


    Motherly affection filled the eyes of Ling¡¯er. However, she couldn¡¯t help but feel a sliver of concern cross her mind. There were things she couldn¡¯t tell her children, after all, and the atmosphere of the Fate School was substantially different nowadays. Even she could tell from where she was.


    ¡­¡­


    At the current moment, where Li Ruofeng said the ¡®back mountains¡¯. A room carved out from the belly of a mountain.


    A man stood there within the halls of the cave. Ge Yiyun. Completely unchanged from when he first met Bai Yunfei from ten years ago, the elder male was currently lost deep in thought about something.


    If there was something that could have the headmaster of the Fate School, a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor, so troubled, then it surely must be something especially troubling.


    In front of him was a giant roulette. Carved entirely out of stone, it looked almost similar to that of a clock or a geomancy board. All sorts of complicated runes and markings adorned the surface of the roulette and gave off a mystical feeling to everyone.


    Ge Yiyun was currently staring at this giant roulette in wonder.


    After what seemed like an eternity, he signed. ¡°So¡­the ancestor¡¯s Rune of Fate has finally returned after five hundred years¡­.what information is recorded on here? Could it truly be, the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance? The ancestor has been searching for so long without returning, did he die where the Inheritance is? Is the crisis of our school related to that¡­?¡±


    His eyes landed upon several markings on the central-left portion of the board. The markings in that portion seemed to flicker with light somehow. This was the Rune of Fate Ge Yiyun talked about and worked similarly to the Life Slips of the Crafting School. Every person of the Fate School would have a Rune of Fate with them and would return to the Fate School upon their demise. And on the roulette, information would be recorded about what the individual came across.


    But there was something required for one to decipher the information recorded by the Runes of Fate. It required a ¡®central piece¡¯, the Heart Compass.


    A palm-sized indent could be seen at the center of the roulette. This was the area where the Heart Compass was supposed to fit. And only when the Heart Compass was fitted in there could the entire roulette be complete and be used.


    The giant stone wheel was named the ¡®Wheel of Fate¡¯. Serving as an amplification device for the Heart Compass, the Wheel of Fate could heighten the chances of divining the future. Last time, Li Chengfeng took out the Heart Compass so Bai Yunfei could upgrade it. Because of that, Ge Yiyun was able to make use of the Wheel of Fate and confirm a few things relating to the Crafting School. Consequentially, Li Chengfeng made use of this information to run off and warn Bai Yunfei.


    That was roughly around the same time when an ancestor of the Fate School had their Rune of Fate return to the wheel. It caused no small amount of shock when it did, but because Li Chengfeng wasn¡¯t here, Ge Yiyun had no way of deciphering the information.


    And that was also the same day Ge Yiyun began to feel an abnormal amount of pressure. It was a sense of foreboding that caused a great amount of unrest within him.


    ¡­¡­


    After standing in front of the Wheel of Fate for so long, Ge Yiyun let out a sigh and turned around. It was finally time to leave.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    It was faint, but a distinct rumble erupted from the Wheel of Fate at that moment. Whirling around, Ge Yiyun stared in shock at the Wheel of Fate.


    Concentrating on the Wheel of Fate, Ge Yiyun began to manipulate the energy around him with his ten fingers. He was seemingly trying to make sense of the strange energy around him.


    ¡°Oh no!!¡±


    Moments later, Ge Yiyun began to let out a shocked cry!


    The crisis of his school was something he learned about over ten years ago. He was never able to divine any legible information about this crisis after that. Not until right now. Somehow, his divinations today were different than his previous attempts. Finally, he was able to discern something new¡ªthe crisis was finally here!!


    It was right now!!


    But he wasn¡¯t even given enough time to register that shock. It was at that moment he felt a presence at the entrance of the hall.


    It was a handsome youth, but his face was ruined by the flustered panic on his face. Without even waiting for Ge Yiyun to say anything, the man began to make his report, ¡°Bad news, teacher! The Seven-layered Illusion was broken just a few moments ago. They¡¯re right outside our school, but even the final layer of the illusion is about to break!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Another tremor of shock ran through Ge Yiyun, but he managed to suppress it long enough to bark out commands. ¡°The school is now on its highest alert, no one is to do anything without further instructions! Alert the first elder and prepare to activate the Hidden Horizon!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, in a city far far away.


    Li Chengfeng was walking through a bustling city at this moment when he suddenly froze up. His hand flew to where his heart was and clutched at it as if he was in pain. Terror filled his face at once as he realized what the pain meant.


    ¡°Oh no!!¡±

 Chapter 1269: The Hidden Horizon Array

    A few days had already passed since the wedding between Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun. Already, they finished their stay in Mo City and were on their way back.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in any rush to return back to the Great Plain Province. Though he used the Core Stone to teleport the group, he¡¯d always stop and tour a city whenever they came across one in their travel. It was a peaceful trip back to their province.


    It happened on the third day of their travels, practically at the midway point back to the Great Plains Province. Bai Yunfei was currently touring a small city with Tang Xinyun, Huangfu Rui, and Li Chengfeng while the rest was in the Core World.


    The one most excited to be in the city was Huangfu Rui. She was pulling Tang Xinyun with her through the busy streets while Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng followed behind.


    Bai Yunfei noticed it right away when Li Chengfeng froze up. Seeing the pale-white face of terror on his friend, Bai Yunfei was immediately concerned.


    That concern was amplified even further when he heard Li Chengfeng cry out. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Chengfeng?!¡±


    It worried him greatly to see Li Chengfeng panic this much. He was grasping at his heart and panting heavily as if in pain. ¡°The¡­the Heart Compass! Something¡¯s happening! In the Fate School! It¡¯s the crisis! I¡­why is it happening now!?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped, ¡°Quick! We must tell the ancestor! Xinyun, take the Core Stone!¡±


    He and Li Chengfeng disappeared from the streets without warning, leaving Tang Xinyun with hardly any time to pluck the Core Stone out of the air before it fell.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What? The Fate School is in trouble?! I didn¡¯t realize that could even happen, could it be related to the Soul Refining School?¡±


    Inside the Crafting School, Shen Pojun was shocked when he heard the news. Of course, the very first thought he had was that the Soul Refining School was responsible for it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but if it¡¯s anything like our school when we were invaded, the Soul Refining School is most likely involved.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°Ancestor, I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t return to the Great Plain Province first. I can¡¯t do anything myself if the threat is great enough to threaten even the Fate School. I hope that the entirety of our school will be able to provide assistance¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Shen Pojun nodded, ¡°It was because of Li Chengfeng that you were able to return to our school¡¯s aid in time. We owe the Fate School a great favor. How could our school stand by now then? Yunfei, prepare to depart for the Fate School at once!¡±


    Though panicked for his school, Li Chengfeng was overjoyed to hear Shen Pojun¡¯s answer. ¡°Thank you, senior Shen!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The Star Ocean Province. Outside the Disorienting Mountain.


    A strange event was currently taking place. The mist that once covered the mountain was now no longer able to be seen, leaving the entire mountain and its landscape to be seen in full clarity.


    In the skies above, a group of people stood together to stare at the tallest mountain.


    They were a total of eleven with a majority of them being elders in their seventies or eighties. The men on the left all wore the same black robes, but those on the other side wore all sorts of strange robes. Regardless, all of them exuded a very powerful, the weakest of them being an Early-stage Soul Emperor.


    One person stood out amongst the rest in the group. A white-haired elder in black and the strongest one there¡ªGu Jimie! Standing behind him was the current headmaster of the Soul Refining School, Nether, his son, Mo Ni, the Black Dragon King, and Gui Nu.


    With the assistance of Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar, Gu Jimie was able to finally break through the last barrier and become an Early-stage Soul Saint.


    He hadn¡¯t done as Gu Lianhun had said to do after he became a Saint. Instead of attacking the Crafting School, he was instead here in this place.


    He had a reason why he changed the plan. When he was absorbing Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar, he came across a piece of unexpected information.


    The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance!!


    This was something far too important to be important. Far more important than the Crafting School and far too important to be put aside. For that, Gu Jimie decided to immediately take action after he brokethrough.


    The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was something that could ¡®determine¡¯ the outcome of the Tianhun Continent. It was something that had to be taken before anyone else could do it!


    The information received by Gu Jimie wasn¡¯t complete, he had no idea where the inheritance could be. But what he did know was that there was one place that could possibly know about it¡ªthe Fate School.


    But the location of the Fate School was always a mystery for the entire continent. No one had a clue or even a hint on where they might be, and no one even knew where they¡¯d begin searching. As such, the Soul Refining School could only ask for ¡®help¡¯ from their ¡®allies¡¯, the Tianhun School. More specifically, the ¡®rebel¡¯ faction of the Tianhun School.


    The results didn¡¯t disappoint the Soul Refining School, and just half a month later, they were right in front of the gates of the Fate School.


    Prior to the rebellion, the Tianhun School was powerful beyond belief. Greatly outstripping any singular school or clan, the Tianhun School still managed to be powerful even after Prince Hao split the school apart.


    For example, even as the loyalist faction of the Tianhun School was preparing a counterattack, Prince Hao was able to lend enough of their members to aid the Soul Refining School in their fight against the Fate School.


    A group of five stood on the right side, four of them being Soul Emperors. But the most prominent figure was an elder in rich robes that stood shoulder to shoulder with Gu Jimie.


    His name is Guan Xiongyan, a man that was once one of the two most respected members of the royal family. A Saint!!


    The amount of Saints in the world could be counted on one hand almost. They were existences basically on par with deities to the rest of the soul cultivator world. Why Guan Xiongyan decided to support Prince Hao¡¯s rebellion was unknown to everyone, but that wasn¡¯t the reason why he was here today. He wasn¡¯t here to support Prince Hao¡¯s ¡®army¡¯, but rather to confirm the existence of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    Its allure was far too tempting for any person to resist.


    ¡­¡­


    Guan Xiongyan was currently manipulating the air with his hands. Aura radiated from his person in great amounts as if to submerge and drown everything else out. Space ripped itself apart everywhere within several hundred meters of his hands. Parts of space fell apart like pieces to a puzzle to reveal scenery completely different than what was displayed.


    When Gu Jimie raised his right hand, a wave of pressure flew out from his hand to cover the space in front of him. Under the work of two Saints, the final illusionary array protecting the Fate School was torn apart.


    That was when Guan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie both realized something strange with the Fate School with some shock.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A loud explosion rang across the world without warning and shattered the rest of the layered space Gu Jimie and Guan Xiongyan was working to bring down. But instead of seeing the gates of the Fate School¡­


    ¡°What¡­what happened?!¡±


    As the youngest of the group, Mo Ni was the first to let out a cry explaining his thoughts.


    That was because the entire mountain had suddenly disappeared from their eyes!


    The entire mountain! As if it didn¡¯t even exist!


    This wasn¡¯t an illusion¡ªMo Ni was completely convinced that the entire Disorienting Mountain had simply vanished out of thin air!


    ¡°This¡­must be the Hidden Horizon Array!¡± Guan Xiongyan announced. He, too, had been surprised about the disappearance. But he was seemingly the only one with a clue behind it.


    ¡°What?! The legendary Hidden Horizon Array?!¡± Gu Lianhun cried out as well. ¡°It¡¯s true, only such an array like that would be able to produce something like this. I¡¯ve heard that once activated, everything within the array is taken into another dimension separate from reality, how does one break such an array?¡±


    ¡°No need to worry, something like that can be broken with some time and effort. If we break parts of the space inch by inch and find the node, we can break the array!¡±


    To find an inch-sized node within such a massive area was a daunting task for everyone that heard it. But for someone like a Saint, this was not an impossible task, it was only a time-consuming one.

 Chapter 1270: A Prompt Arrival!

    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Multiple explosions ripped apart the sky, deafening the ears of all around as they warped space in on itself.


    Multiple men stood above the skies of the Fate School, each one of them focusing hard on the wavering space in front of them.


    The one at the forefront of the group was Ge Yiyun. Several other men were with him, each one of them being over the age of a hundred and also boasting a very powerful aura.


    Seven men in total, each of them Soul Emperors. Aside from Ge Yiyun, who was a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor, there was another Late-stage Soul Emperor, two Mid-stage Soul Emperors, and three Early-stage Soul Emperors.


    They are the strongest the Fate School had to offer. Students of the school weren¡¯t divided by inner or outer students, they didn¡¯t have the numbers for such a division. Each student held unbelievable talent, and that was the result of the meticulous planning of the Fate School. No other school held talent on such a high pedestal as the Fate School. They had more Soul Kings in store, but given the current circumstances, there wasn¡¯t much of a point for them to be here¡­


    ¡°Headmaster, the Hidden Horizon won¡¯t last for much longer, please give the orders for the students to evacuate! We can only offer up a meager resistance if we fight, it¡¯d be better for us to scatter to the winds instead! As long as a few of us survive, the legacy of our school will continue on¡­¡±


    One of the elders urged Ge Yiyun.


    The other elders all looked expectantly to Ge Yiyun, anxious to hear his decision. They all were resigned to their deaths. Their invaders were not a force they could afford to fight against. In short, they each believed the Fate School was at its end, and that there was no more hope to be had.


    They weren¡¯t even a match for a single Saint, let alone two¡­


    Their only goal was to sacrifice their own lives to bide for enough time for their students to escape. Even if they themselves died, the school would live on in the next generation!


    But even that goal was unlikely to succeed, no matter how much they wanted to deny it. At best, only a few of their students would survive, but only at best. Should a Soul Emperor chase after them, the chances of survival would be little to none¡­


    ¡°Has our Fate School really been resigned to such a path? Our enemies have two Saints amongst them, what chance is there to survive?¡±


    As he was looked to, Ge Yiyun thought to himself amidst his despair and pondered about the situation. Never had he imagined that the Tianhun School would bring out such a force. It seemed to him that all the work he put in over the years to resolve this problem had gone up in smoke. That one chance of survival he once divined those many years ago seemed to be hollow and fake now.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be too late even if Chengfeng brings Bai Yunfei and some more reinforcements¡­perhaps it¡¯d be better for them to not hurry at all¡­¡±


    His heart quivered at the very thought of Li Chengfeng. He didn¡¯t want to give up, but the situation was far too bleak for him to think otherwise.


    He noticed then, that his hands had been clenched so tightly into fists that they had gone white. ¡°There¡¯s no other choice, the array will fall in less than half a day. Let the others know, once the array has fallen we¡¯ll ha¡ª¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    A new presence cut into Ge Yiyun¡¯s sentence before he could even finish it. Eyes wide open, he glanced up to the north in shock!


    ¡°No!! Li Chengfeng is back!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Beyond the Hidden Horizon.


    Despite the efforts of two Saints working together for two days and nights, the array had yet to be broken. However, no one was particularly worried. There was no way they¡¯d be bothered by anyone worth being worried about. And even if a Saint came, what was one Saint to fear when they had two? Saints were already rare enough on the continent, having multiple of them allied in the same force was even more rare than that.


    There wasn¡¯t a single part of space in front of Gu Jimie that was intact. Cracks ran along the surface of space like cracked glass, and several areas had even large craters that seemed to eat at the surrounding energy like a bottomless black hole.


    Given the strengths of Gu Jimie and Guan Xiongyan, the two of them knew that whatever was ¡®hiding¡¯ inside this broken space was nearly on the verge of being revealed. The two glanced briefly at one another, and as if telepathically agreeing, they began to redouble their efforts to try and tear apart the array.


    The rest of the Soul Emperors could only watch as the two Saints did their work. They didn¡¯t know what the two were doing, but they could at least sense the change in the two. Excited, they continued to spectate the broken space in hopes of finally seeing the legendary Fate School.


    It was at that moment the Soul Emperors took notice of a new presence coming toward them.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s coming! A Soul Emperor!!¡±


    In no time at all, two bright beams of light came streaking through the skies to fly toward the skies above the Fate School!


    It came as an unexpected surprise to see two Soul Emperors appear out of nowhere, but that shock died down soon enough. The two Saints continued with what they were doing without paying any further attention to the newcomers. It was beneath their station to care for such people.


    Without needing to be told, a Mid-stage Soul Emperor from the Soul Refining School and an Early-stage Soul Emperor from the Tianhun School flew forward to ¡®greet¡¯ them.


    Given the distance, neither of the two Soul Emperors knew who the new Soul Emperors were. But judging from their trajectory, the two seemed to be trying to stop their group. And if they weren¡¯t enough to defeat these newcomers, Nether and the others would definitely do it for them.


    From his position in the crowd, Mo Ni began to feel uneasy for some reason. There was something about these newcomers that filled him with a sense of dread and fear.


    ¡°Th¡ªthat¡¯s¡­¡±


    Soon, the sense of dread he felt became clear to him. The moment when the aura of the two became clear, Mo Ni¡¯s heart seized up in fear!


    Before he could say what was on his mind, however, the two newcomers were already attacking.


    The Soul Emperor from the Tianhun School basked the air around him in a green glow. When he waved his hand, a gigantic tornado of green light materialized out of thin air to attack the two!


    The soul refiner followed in quick succession. An orange disk popped out from his space ring and covered him and itself in an orange and black light. Draining the surrounding energy into it, the disk swelled in size to crush its enemies!


    ¡­¡­


    These two newcomers, needless to say, are Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng. After traveling day and night to get here, the two were finally on the scene.


    The very first thing the two saw was the giant black hole. That sight had Li Chengfeng extremely worried and flew even faster to get there.


    As his concerned friend, Bai Yunfei followed suit. He already had the Core Stone prepared to bring out Shen Pojun and the others at a moment¡¯s notice to provide assistance if they needed it.


    They didn¡¯t know the circumstances of the Fate School or who their enemies were, but they knew they had to reach the middle and cut off their advances right away.


    The two incomings attacks were meant to attack both of them, but neither Bai Yunfei or Li Chengfeng were particularly worried. Instead, they unleashed an attack of their own.


    ¡°Damn you!!¡±


    Li Chengfeng was beside himself. So concerned about the fate of his school, wife, and children, Li Chengfeng had nothing but hatred for those enemies in front of him. Roaring loudly, he produced a giant longsword from his space ring and lashed forward with it!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A beam of light shot out from his sword. It flew quickly toward the incoming tornado and somehow cleaved it in two!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The wind-type Soul Emperor blanched. Before he could retaliate, another dozen beams of red light were already showering down on him!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!¡±


    Swiftly and nimbly, Li Chengfeng sent sword slash after slash onto his enemy so he could leave no safe route out and kill the man where he stood.


    Stopping dead in his tracks, the wind-type Soul Emperor pulled out a green longsword. It pulsed once with light before he unleashed a myriad of attacks to break apart the attacks coming at him.


    He allowed himself a sigh of relief upon the very last attack being destroyed. It was a single exchange of attacks, but the wind-type Soul Emperor now knew the power of his enemy was far stronger than his own. Defeating him by himself would be an impossible task. It¡¯d be in his best interest to find a helper.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    But it was at that moment when he realized a giant mountain was currently on its way down to smash him flat!

 Chapter 1271: Immediately Killing Two

    The wind-type Soul Emperor had absolutely no idea where the giant mountain had come from, and neither did he detect anything from Li Chengfeng. That meant this attack had to come from the other person with him.


    But that didn¡¯t explain how this meteorite suddenly appeared?!


    The thought was only for a moment, however. The sense of foreboding death that suddenly gripped at his heart caused the man to forget about everything else.


    No matter how terrified he was, the man was still a Soul Emperor in the end, and a Soul Emperor wouldn¡¯t stay intimidated for long. Shouting aloud to dispel his fears, he immediately covered himself in a bubble of green light to protect himself.


    ¡ªAs fast as he was, he wasn¡¯t fast enough to dodge the attack, which would¡¯ve helped him. The man was prepared to withstand the attack.


    For a Soul Emperor, enduring an entire mountain falling on them wasn¡¯t too hard of a task. If they had earlier warning, the Soul Emperor could at least shatter it before it caused too much damage.


    The Soul Emperor was planning to endure the initial hit and borrow the concussive force to avoid being squished. It would be a hard task, the Soul Emperor thought, but he shouldn¡¯t experience too much trouble with it.


    It wasn¡¯t a half-bad plan, but not right now. He knew he had miscalculated the moment when the meteor slammed against his barrier.


    It was a grave miscalculation!


    The power of the meteor vastly exceeded what he thought. Instead of being able to withstand it, the Soul Emperor would probably last for just a second at most before losing energy!


    This meteor¡­did it come from outer space or something?


    The thought of the meteor being from outer space crossed the Soul Emperor¡¯s mind for just a moment before he let out one last cry of despair¡­


    ¡°Noo!!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A devastating explosion rocked the world as the meteor struck against the ground. The wind-type Soul Emperor was nowhere to be seen, meaning he had failed to escape the meteor. All that was left was a giant crater where the meteor had landed on the earth.


    ¡­¡­


    Whilst Li Chengfeng was dealing with his enemy, Bai Yunfei flew toward the giant orange disk.


    The soul armament was a rare size-changing soul armament that could show unbelievable power by altering its mass. In its current size, the soul armament would definitely cause a tremendous amount of damage to any enemy unfortunate enough to be hit by it. Just like how a fly would be destroyed if hit by a car, any person hit by this disk would definitely be killed.


    But was that enough to scare Bai Yunfei?


    Not at all.


    He only had a curious look in his eyes when he saw the soul armament. It was an interesting curiosity, but nothing more. Sneering at the attempt, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand outward.


    Instead of exploding with power much as Li Chengfeng had done, Bai Yunfei took a more gentle approach. His soulforce trembled slightly and decreased just a bit, but that was all.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A small red object flew out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. It was about the size of a hand and the shape of a small seal, but despite its size, the object flew at terrifying speeds! And as it approached, the seal began to expand in size to the size of a mountain!!


    The Cataclysmic Seal!


    In its gigantic form, the Cataclysmic Seal was truly akin to a raging and flaming mountain. The air around it smoked with devastating heat and it seemed as though anything that might make contact with it would be vaporized at once. Against the Cataclysmic Seal, the orange disk was like a pebble in front of a boulder; tiny and insignificant.


    Needless to say, the Mid-stage Soul Emperor went white in the face at such a sight. And then the two soul armaments clashed.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The explosion died out after a series of echoes, but the Mid-stage Soul Emperor could only watch with stunned eyes at the aftermath¡ªhis own high-heaven tier soul armament had been destroyed and reduced to dust!


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    A large volume of blood was expelled out from his mouth shortly afterward. The soul armament had been something he had been raising and using for dozens of years now. For it to be destroyed now meant a near-disastrous amount of damage to the Soul Emperor and cause him to nearly faint.


    He had, unfortunately, no time to think about the damage done to his soul. Fearing a swift follow-up, the Soul Emperor immediately erected a barrier of elemental earth to protect him as he retreated.


    There was a reason why he did that, the soul armament that destroyed his soul armament was still coming at him!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Multiple walls of elemental earth shattered apart as the Cataclysmic Seal plowed through them. The Mid-stage Soul Emperor was only able to retreat a hundred meters or so before the Cataclysmic Seal caught up to him.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Like when his soul armament was struck by the Cataclysmic Seal, the Soul Emperor spiraled away like a broken kite with blood streaming from his burning person.


    A bright light flashed in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. Flicking his forefinger and middle finger up, Bai Yunfei sent the Cataclysmic Seal upward before then bringing his palm back down toward the ground!


    Fear flooded the Mid-stage Soul Emperor as he flew away. He thought he was dead for sure, but then when he saw that the mountainous object was no longer anywhere to be seen, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    Then he noticed the sky had suddenly gotten darker. Looking up, the Soul Emperor then went completely ashen¡­.


    ¡°Aahhh!!!¡±


    With death rapidly approaching, the man did the only thing he could do. Scream.


    The Cataclysmic Seal came crashing down soon after, burying the man beneath it as it plummeted to the earth.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The earth heaved tremendously as the Cataclysmic Seal embedded itself halfway into it. And the place it landed on was right next to where the +10 additional effect of the Meteoric Striker had landed.


    The battle of both Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng ended quickly with both opposing Soul Emperors dying.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Silence.


    The entire world seemed to have gone silent as everyone tried to process what had just happened.


    Because Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng had to stop for a moment to kill the two Soul Emperors, Nether and the other men with him were able to see them. Even Gu Jimie and Guan Xiongyan ceased their actions to stare at the two in shock.


    The battle between the four had been so quick that some people were still having trouble realizing that it was already over.


    The silence lingered for a while longer as the gigantic Cataclysmic Seal ¡®disappeared¡¯ and flew back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side in a streak of red light. That was when everyone snapped back to attention.


    Even though the craters left behind by the Cataclysmic Seal and the meteorite were large, everyone expected to see the two Soul Emperors come flying out from it a moment later. They wanted to see their two Soul Emperors fine and normal so that they could remain sane.


    Unfortunately, the craters remained silent. Not a single person nor presence could be felt from the crater. No one in those craters was alive¡­


    They¡­they were dead!!


    The fact seemed chilling at the thought.


    An Early-stage Soul Emperor and a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. They fought against two people of the same caliber and yet¡­they were killed in an instant!?


    Since when did Soul Emperors become such weak people?! When was it ever possible for a Soul Emperor to be killed so easily?!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Bai¡ªBai Yunfei!! That¡¯s Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    A terrified cried erupted from Mo Ni at long last, shocking everyone awake at once.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    The name struck fear in the hearts of several, Nether included. Not even Gu Jimie remained unaffected by the name.


    He wasn¡¯t fearful because of how fast Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng killed two of their own. He knew that if Bai Yunfei was here, then¡­Shen Pojun was here as well!


    What transpired at the Wind Lightning School wasn¡¯t unknown to him. He had been shocked when he first heard about it, especially when he learned that Shen Pojun was now a Saint. It made him glad that he didn¡¯t go after the Crafting School, otherwise, the results might¡¯ve ended up the opposite as he¡¯d hope.


    How Shen Pojun was able to become a Saint wasn¡¯t a question he was willing to pursue at the moment. But now that he knew that fact, Gu Jimie was even more determined to get the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance first. And if it wasn¡¯t possible to obtain it, then he¡¯d more than likely attempt to travel to the location since that¡¯d be where the main body of Gu Lianhun would be. It was possible Gu Lianhun was even imprisoned, and if he came over and found him, then the power of the Soul Refining School would be doubled. In such a case, the Crafting School wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against them.


    If Gu Lianhun could be stuck in such a land for over two hundred years, then that place would most definitely be a dangerous place. That was one of the reasons why he was so willing to share information with Guan Xiongyan. One more helper would definitely allow them a greater chance of success. And whomever obtained the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance in the end¡­well, that was a question for another time.


    So it came to him as a complete shock that Bai Yunfei would appear here. But it also filled him with excitement as if he was watching a nice juicy steak being dangled in front of him.


    Bai Yunfei was a disease to the Soul Refining School that had to be eradicated. And if the entirety of the Crafting School was there in the Core Stone, then that was even better! A single Saint like Shen Pojun would never be enough for a good chance of victory.


    He wasn¡¯t confident in his chances against Shen Pojun alone, but he had Guan Xiongyan with him!


    Thus, this current situation was like a godsend for him. Eradicating Bai Yunfei, killing Shen Pojun, and destroying the Crafting School, all in one fell swoop!

 Chapter 1272: Deadlocked!

    ¡°Mid-stage Soul Emperor¡­How is he already a Mid-stage Soul Emperor?! It¡¯s impossible!!¡±


    Mo Ni shrieked. His face was as pale as chalk as memories of before seized control of his emotions.


    He could still remember the past when Bai Yunfei once managed to kill a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. It wasn¡¯t that long ago, but Bai Yunfei had to make use of whatever powerboosting technique to fight Lu Suxing. Even though Lu Suxing, a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, wasn¡¯t in the best of shape, Bai Yunfei had still struggled to kill the man.


    However, Bai Yunfei only had to use a single soul armament to instantaneously kill a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    The staggering difference felt as icy-cold as a bucket of iced water to Mo Ni.


    No longer did it seem like he was even a ¡®rival¡¯ for Bai Yunfei. The person he hated most in his life was somehow far beyond his reach. And most annoyingly enough, Mo Ni didn¡¯t even feel like he could even be considered to be an ¡®old rival¡¯ anymore¡­


    He glared at Bai Yunfei, humiliated for himself and furious at Bai Yunfei, but the latter didn¡¯t even pay attention to him. In fact, it didn¡¯t even seem like Bai Yunfei had even noticed him yet¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention was focused entirely on Gu Jimie and Guan Xiongyan.


    His eyes widened by a fraction when he sensed their auras, ¡°Saints!!¡± He muttered.


    Their auras were terrifying and equal in intensity to Shen Pojun!


    The enemies had two Saints with them!!


    It was completely unexpected by Bai Yunfei.


    Two Saints and nine Soul Emperors (Including the two that had just been killed). What a dangerous fighting force to go up against the Fate School¡­


    He sent a message to the Core Stone the moment he finished analyzing the enemy¡¯s power. In response, the air around him trembled before opening up to reveal several figures.


    Shen Pojun, Chu Yintian, Yang Yao, Hu Yang, Ouyang Hua, Yang Ying, and Xiao Binzi. The finest of the Crafting School was now assembled and ready to fight.


    ¡­¡­


    Many blanched at the sight of these people appearing out of nowhere, but Gu Jimie looked overjoyed for some reason!


    It seemed like everything was going as he wanted!!


    On the other side, Shen Pojun was also staring at the two Saints with a calculative expression.


    Everyone thought that having Shen Pojun here would allow the Fate School to resolve whatever issue they were having. Unfortunately, the enemies having two Saints was a heavy blow to their morale.


    ¡°They have two Saints with them¡­how do we deal with that?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself in consternation. He was worried about the situation. When Shen Pojun wasn¡¯t even a Saint yet, it took him and when Bai Yunfei was an Early-stage Soul Emperor to defeat the avatar of Gu Lianhun. Shen Pojun was a Saint and had his equipment upgraded to +12, so he could at the very least defeat another Early-stage Soul Saint, but what about the other Saint? Bai Yunfei had no confidence in himself that he¡¯d be able to pose as a challenge to the second Saint, even if he used Berserk Mode and the Vampiric Demon Edge.


    It¡¯d be possible for Shen Pojun to possibly defeat one of the Saints, but if the second one were to fight him immediately afterward? That¡¯d spell disaster for Shen Pojun.


    But most importantly, there was no way the second Saint would stand idly on the sidelines as the first Saint struggled. As strong as Shen Pojun was, there was no way he¡¯d be able to win against two at once!


    Yes, the situation did indeed seem bleak for the crafters¡­


    ¡°Two Saints?! But how¡­¡± Li Chengfeng trailed off from beside Bai Yunfei. He didn¡¯t seem happy even though he had just killed his foe in no time at all. Just looking at the two Saints sent his heart in a great tizzy. ¡°That¡¯s the Hidden Horizon!¡± He gasped upon noticing the space behind Gu Jimie, ¡°They¡¯re trying to break the array!¡±


    He felt somewhat relieved at that. The fact that the Hidden Horizon was still intact meant that the Fate School was still safe.


    ¡°Ancestor¡­¡±


    Unsure of what to do, Bai Yunfei could only look to Shen Pojun for advice.


    ¡°We cannot afford to be careless! Yunfei, use the Core Stone and take everyone away!!¡±


    His words alarmed the rest of the group. Shen Pojun was assuming the worst-case scenario and was planning to bide for time for the rest of them to flee if need be.


    There wasn¡¯t any other choice, it seemed. The disparity of strength was just far too much; two Saints! None of their plans ever accounted for the enemies having two of them!


    ¡°You said that is the Hidden Horizon?¡± Shen Pojun asked Li Chengfeng, ¡°Based on their appearances, I¡¯d wager they¡¯ve spent a considerable amount of time and energy trying to break it. I¡¯m quite confident in being able to defeat one Saint, but I¡¯m afraid that isn¡¯t true if I have to fight two¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Someone let out a cry of surprise as a new aura suddenly appeared far behind the enemies. And at the same time, Guan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie turned around to face this new presence.


    Both sides watched intently as the Disorienting Mountain fractured at its very edge. Practically three kilometers in size, the fracture transformed into a hole and had several figures stepping out from it.


    Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyes lit up at the sight of the newcomers, ¡°Teacher!!¡±


    ¡°Senir Ge Yiyun!!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out as well.


    The atmosphere of the battlefield seemed to changed when Ge Yiyun appeared.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­Shen Pojun!! He became a Saint?!¡± Ge Yiyun looked astounded at the sight of Shen Pojun, though it was a source of great relief to him.


    Ge Yiyun had been in a panic a moment prior. He had sensed Li Chengfeng¡¯s aura when he was hidden behind the Hidden Horizon and feared that Li Chengfeng would be killed. Giving the order for the students to prepare to evacuate, he and the other Soul Emperors emerged from their hiding spot to prepare to fight to the death.


    It just came to them as a huge shock that Li Chengfeng would actually have so many Soul Emperors with him, and a Saint even!


    Shock turned to relief turned to hope. They¡­they still had a chance to live if Shen Pojun was able to defeat a Saint by himself!


    ¡°Ancestor¡­¡±


    On the other side, Nether gave both Shen Pojun and Ge Yiyun a quick glare before turning to Gu Jimie.


    ¡°Stay your hands for now!¡± Barked Gu Jimie.


    He glanced over to Guan Xiongyan, whose face was as dark as his right now. The two of them were hesitant.


    The equation had far too many variables in it for a clear answer now. The appearance of Ge Yiyun and the other Fate School members introduced far too big an element of chaos for them to understand how the future would unravel. If one of them were to fight Shen Pojun, then it was unlikely if that one Saint would win. If both of them were to fight Shen Pojun, then it¡¯d be hard for them to control the other factors. They¡¯d have to leave their Soul Emperors to deal with the mess, and given the current numbers, that didn¡¯t bode well for them. It was also possible that the students of the Fate School would take the opportunity to flee as well, and if that were to happen, then both the Soul Refining School and the Tianhun School would fail their main objective.


    The abovementioned situation wouldn¡¯t be a problem if Gu Jimie or Guan Xiongyan were to capture the Fate School themselves. But too many Soul Emperors would make it quite a problem for that Saint. Furthermore, that¡¯d mean the other Saint would have to fight Shen Pojun alone, a situation even more dangerous than the first. Which one of them would want to take such a risk?


    ¡­¡­


    No one from any of the three parties spoke. They were deadlocked in a strange silence.


    ¡°Headmaster Shen, if you may allow this old man one question¡­¡±


    Suddenly, a voice began to speak into Shen Pojun¡¯s head. It was Ge Yiyun!

 Chapter 1273: The Battle Begins With Ge Yiyuns Power!

    Soul Communication!


    Calming his emotions at once, Shen Pojun was quick to send a reply back. ¡°Headmaster Ge, do you have a plan?!¡±


    ¡°There is but one concern I have¡ªhow confident do you feel about fighting one Saint? How long do you expect to take? And will you be capable of fighting afterward?¡±


    Confused, Shen Pojun did his best to answer, ¡°Gu Jimie surely must be newly ascended. I have confidence in my victory, if I can concentrate fully on our battle, I¡¯m quite confident in killing him! It¡­shouldn¡¯t take longer than a minute to finish him off and continue fighting!¡±


    Shen Pojun had confidence in himself!!


    Though a newly-ascended Saint himself, Shen Pojun was at least further in his training than Gu Jimie. His understanding of chaotic energy was far greater than any other Early-stage Soul Saint, and with his upgraded equipment, Shen Pojun was sure no problem would arise if he tried to kill Gu Jimie.


    ¡°A minute¡­¡± Ge Yiyun echoed, ¡°Very well!! Entrust the other to me, I¡¯ll risk my life so he won¡¯t interfere with your battle!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Despite his earlier suspicions, Shen Pojun was alarmed that Ge Yiyun would have such a plan. Ge Yiyun was planning to fight with an actual Saint! Surely he had to have some kind of method to boost his own power so he could fight with a Soul Saint despite being a Soul Emperor. But if he had a technique that could boost him that much, the recoil would surely be just as great.


    Shen Pojun hadn¡¯t been planning to die here before. He just wanted to bide for time so everyone else could escape. It was a dangerous situation for him, but he was Shen Pojun, he was not a man that¡¯d die easily here.


    But if Ge Yiyun did have a way to stall one of the Saints, then that was a different story. It wasn¡¯t as if he was confident in being able to kill two Saints by himself, but that if Gu Jimie died, then Guan Xiongyan would surely decide not to fight him. It¡¯d be a good way to force back the enemies, at the very least.


    Ge Yiyun wasn¡¯t who Shen Pojun was most confident in, however. It was Bai Yunfei that he was truly more confident in!


    Bai Yunfei had enough power today to qualify as one who could fight with Saints. He and Ge Yiyun had a greater chance to successfully stall Guan Xiongyan if they worked together.


    And after Shen Pojun killed Gu Jimie, then Bai Yunfei would still be able to assist him in defeating Guan Xiongyan.


    His mind raced countless kilometers per second as he thought furiously about the plan. His eyes shot carefully toward Bai Yunfei.


    They were all currently linked to one another thanks to the Charm Bracelet. So while Ge Yiyun was speaking to his soul, Shen Pojun could immediately relay the information through the link so the others could listen in.


    Catching Shen Pojun¡¯s glance, Bai Yunfei replied his glance with a bright gleam in his eyes and a fierce nod of his head!


    ¡°Very well!! Then let us make battle!!¡±


    Swelling with courage, Shen Pojun gave one last reply to Ge Yiyun before flaring his soulforce brilliantly at once!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Half a beat after Shen Pojun roused his soulforce, Ge Yiyun completed a series of complicated hand seals and was engulfed by a bright light. Then, his aura began to spike in intensity!


    Together, Shen Pojun and Ge Yiyun than launched each other like shooting stars towards the Saints!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Both Gu Jimie and Guan Xiongyan were startled, they didn¡¯t expect their enemies to take the initiative!


    ¡°Hmph!! To hell with you then!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan roared with cold fury. He couldn¡¯t show his hesitance here, his side had the advantage. In the end, it¡¯d be he and Gu Jimie that¡¯d emerge as the victors. If they were the ones being attacked, then they might as well respond in kind. Roaring once again, Shangguan Xiongyan charged at Ge Yiyun to kill him.


    A Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor was indeed the strongest being underneath a Saint, but what else could he be but an inconvenience to an actual Saint?!


    Like Shangguan Xiongyan, Gu Jimie was startled to see the others taking the initiative. He could tell Shen Pojun¡¯s aura was locked onto him, meaning there was no way he¡¯d be able to avoid a battle.


    But that didn¡¯t mean Gu Jimie was too cowardly to do so. He had his pride as a Saint, how could he refuse a battle?! Even though he knew his chances of victory were slim, he¡¯d fight!! He still had Shangguan Xiongyan by his side, he just needed to quickly get rid of Ge Yiyun and they¡¯d be able to kill Shen Pojun!


    Conflicted as the Saints were, they still had no doubt in their mind that they¡¯d be the penultimate victor. Together, they flew forward to start their battle!


    But they didn¡¯t fly toward their respective opponents. Instead, they flew in an upward curve that forced Shen Pojun and Ge Yiyun to follow suit.


    They all had the same plan¡ªto fly high enough so that their battle wouldn¡¯t reach any of the Soul Emperors.


    ¡°Kill!!!!¡±


    Several of the Soul Emperors from the Fate School leapt into action the moment when Ge Yiyun left. Eyes blazing with fury, they rush toward the Soul Refining School to begin the battle.


    At the same time, Chu Yintian and the other crafters flew at the Soul Refining School from the opposite side!


    The nine Soul Emperors from the Soul Refining School and Tianhun School looked uneasy at the situation. With both their Saints being busy and them being outnumbered in Soul Emperors, they were concerned about the possible casualties¡­


    In a single moment, the world exploded into a cacophony of elemental energy and explosions.


    ¡­¡­


    A single person broke out from the ranks of the Soul Emperors from the Crafting School. Shooting higher up into the sky, this person flew with great speed toward where Shangguan Xiongyan was fighting Ge Yiyun.


    This person was Bai Yunfei.


    He wasn¡¯t required to take part in the battle of Soul Emperors. What he was better suited to do was help Ge Yiyun stall against Shangguan Xiongyan.


    Because of the relative distance and time difference, Bai Yunfei was able to reach Ge Yiyun not long after he took flight.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A sea of fire traversed across the skies at once, flooding everything within it with the Law of Fire. The intensity of the flames nearly made Bai Yunfei fly off-course.


    He was surprised by the force of the blow. Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s power was far greater than that of Gu Lianhun! This was the power of a proper Soul Saint, and not one that was made into an avatar.


    The other thing that surprised Bai Yunfei was Ge Yiyun¡¯s strength. He could tell that Ge Yiyun was radiating the same amount of power as Shangguan Xiongyan!


    In fact¡­the energy that flickered off Ge Yiyun¡¯s body like flames¡­his aura wasn¡¯t weaker than Shangguan Xiongyan¡ªit was far stronger! He had the aura of an Early-stage Soul Saint!


    Before, Bai Yunfei had always assumed that Ge Yiyun was a Soul King when they first met. But that was just due to his ignorance when he was younger. Only now did Bai Yunfei realize how strong Ge Yiyun truly was¡­


    He didn¡¯t know what method Ge Yiyun used to become stronger, but it was undoubtedly stronger than what Shen Pojun used to fight against Gu Lianhun. Perhaps it was even stronger than Bai Yunfei¡¯s Dual Flame Arte¡¯s Berserk Mode.


    But the most peculiar thing was how Ge Yiyun didn¡¯t have any elemental energy. A form of energy far more transparent than usual surrounded his body. Though Bai Yunfei was unsure of what kind of energy it was, he was confident it was far more powerful than the sea of flames that had emerged from Shangguan Xiongyan.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    A sneer echoed out from the sea of flames; Shangguan Xiongyan was seemingly getting over his surprise of Ge Yiyun being able to properly fight him. Following his sneer, the flames began to circle together to transform into a solid being of fire. The construct raised its giant right arm and swung it forward in an attempt to strike Ge Yiyun.


    In his transparent bubble of energy, Ge Yiyun remained calm. Neither pain nor panic could be seen in his expression as he raised his right hand high. Floating at the palm of his head was a transparent pearl, that once his soulforce made contact with it, transformed into a brilliant beam of light once he slammed his palm into it. Striking the giant arm with record speed, the pearl let out a loud bang as it stopped the arm dead in its tracks as if it hit a wall!


    But then that was when the other arm began to swing forward!


    Unable to bring back his pearl in time, Ge Yiyun swung his left hand out instead to send a wave of energy out. Flying forward, it managed to catch the second arm and cut it into two!


    With both arms destroyed, the giant flaming construct collapsed back into flames and revealed a shocked Shangguan Xiongyan in the middle of it.


    Ge Yiyun¡­was actually able to fight a Soul Saint to a stand still!!

 Chapter 1274: A Failure of the Cataclysmic Seal!

    Explosions erupted everywhere in the sky as both Ge Yiyun and Shangguan Xiongyan fought¡ªthe two of them were equally matched!


    The power Ge Yiyun had was on par with Shen Pojun when he initially fought Gu Lianhun. Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve thought Ge Yiyun was a Soul Saint if he hadn¡¯t seen what technique Ge Yiyun used before the battle began.


    Thunderstruck, Bai Yunfei hovered at the edge of the battlefield. There was something else he had to do before he could enter the fray. A burst of energy and several handseals later¡­and Bai Yunfei was suddenly as strong as a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor!


    Berserk Mode!


    He was already close to being a Late-stage Soul Emperor, but using Berserk Mode helped him cross that threshold by a considerable amount. It wasn¡¯t much of a boost in comparison to the technique Ge Yiyun was using, but it was still something else.


    Reaching his current state was about the limit of what Berserk Mode could do, but it was enough for Bai Yunfei. If he wanted to get any more powerful then Bai Yunfei still had the option of using the Vampiric Demon Edge, but that was an option he wanted to hold off until the very last moment.


    Like in his past fight with Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar, Bai Yunfei was only looking to play an auxiliary role to Ge Yiyun. Fighting Shangguan Xiongyan now would only lead to his death, especially if he considered the situation. They weren¡¯t fighting in chaotic space, so using the Law of Chaos wouldn¡¯t be nearly as effective on Shangguan Xiongyan.


    Thus, Bai Yunfei had to wait for the right opportunity for an ¡®ambush¡¯.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan resisted a sneer as he fought Ge Yiyun. There was no way he¡¯d miss Bai Yunfei hiding there at the edge of the battlefield, and neither did he bother placing any major attention on him. As methodical and surprising as Bai Yunfei was, Shangguan Xiongyan just didn¡¯t seem to see the need for him to care. How could Bai Yunfei, a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor, serve as a threat to him, a Saint? If Bai Yunfei wanted to ambush him, then he¡¯d give him the minimal attention he deserved while he fought Ge Yiyun.


    ¡°I expected no less from you, the headmaster of the Fate School. I admit, I¡¯m surprised to see you able to fend off my attacks, but¡­let¡¯s see how long you can last! How long can that paltry trick of yours last?!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan roared with laughter as he sent yet another attack at Ge Yiyun. This time, the whirlwind of fire around him was sent toward Ge Yiyun like a giant tidal wave of fire!


    He knew this battle had a time limit to it. Ge Yiyun was on a timer, and the win condition was for him to force Ge Yiyun to ¡®cancel¡¯ the technique. The best way to do that was to simply force the man to undo it himself through a constant barrage of attacks. Yes, this was the best method as compared to a battle of attrition. While simply extending the length of their battle was a sure method of winning, Shangguan Xiongyan wanted to quickly kill Ge Yiyun so he could help Gu Jimie.


    On the opposing side, Ge Yiyun was trying his best to stall for time so Shen Pojun could kill Gu Jimie and provide assistance. And to do that, he was going to need Bai Yunfei¡¯s help. It was basically a race of time to see who of which battle would win first¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Multiple fireballs impacted the space around Ge Yiyun, tearing open rips in space and causing Bai Yunfei to shiver at the raw power of each attack. No matter how much he waited, he simply couldn¡¯t see the right opportunity to strike at Shangguan Xiongyan.


    His eyes wandered over to the other side of the field where a black cloud and another sea of flames was intertwined with one another. That was where Shen Pojun and Gu Jimie were fighting. He hadn¡¯t any idea how Shen Pojun was doing, but the explosions and ripples of energy were more than enough to tell him that the battle was just as fierce as the one here.


    ¡°Ugh!!¡±


    A grunt of pain from Ge Yiyun caused Bai Yunfei to whip his head back around. Startled, he watched as a beam of fire strike down onto Ge Yiyun and shatter the barrier around him. Defenseless, Ge Yiyun was blown away by the following explosion of the attack.


    Shangguan Xiongyan flew straight after him, determined to seize the opportunity to kill Ge Yiyun.


    Panicked, Byg immediately took action as well. This was it! This was the opportunity he was waiting for!!


    If Shangguan Xiongyan was going to try and kill Ge Yiyun, then this was the opportunity for am ambush!


    Blood boiling from the excitement and anxiety, Bai Yunfei called out the Cataclysmic Seal to begin his attack at once!


    The Cataclysmic Seal was Bai Yunfei¡¯s strongest weapon and the soul armament he had the most confidence in. Not even an Early-stage Soul Saint would be able to neglect the Cataclysmic Seal without consequences.


    There was also another hope Bai Yunfei had¡ªthings would definitely go his way if his opponent were to use a soul armament against it¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Flying at unbelievable speeds, the Cataclysmic Seal transformed into a gigantic mountain and spearheaded its way through the storm of elemental energy to strike at Shangguan Xiongyan!


    Bai Yunfei had only needed the regular mode of the Cataclysmic Seal to kill a Mid-stage Soul Emperor before. In Berserk Mode, the power of the Cataclysmic Seal was many times stronger, and Bai Yunfei knew that Shangguan Xiongyan would need to at least exhaust a considerable amount of health to deflect it.


    But Bai Yunfei never would¡¯ve expected to see what Shangguan Xiongyan would do¡­


    Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s eyes lit up the moment Bai Yunfei took out the Cataclysmic Seal. Ceasing his attack on Ge Yiyun, he whirled around with wide-open eyes.


    ¡°A Regalia!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan exclaimed, he had somehow managed to ¡®see¡¯ what the Cataclysmic Seal was!


    His soulforce began to hasten in its circulation around his body when he cried out. His robes billowed with hot air as a gold and red light began to shine through from underneath. Illuminating his entire person, the light expanded in size and took the form of a giant piece of armor to protect Shangguan Xiongyan inside of it!


    And then the Cataclysmic Seal struck.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Expectant, Bai Yunfei watched as the energy faded away, only to see the Cataclysmic Seal¡­frozen in place!


    It was blocked!!


    The Cataclysmic Seal was a soul armament that could easily shatter high-heaven tier soul armaments! How was it stopped by that light?!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    Something within the gold and red light began to crack. As if unable to handle the weight of the Cataclysmic Seal, the light somehow shattered into thousands of pieces while the Cataclysmic Seal flew somewhat slowly toward Shangguan Xiongyan.


    ¡°Bang¡­¡±


    It struck Shangguan Xiongyan and sent him flying, but it didn¡¯t seem to do any substantial amount of damage to the man.


    Bai Yunfei was excited to see the Cataclysmic Seal break past the light and strike Shangguan Xiongyan. It was a little surprising to see such strong resistance, but he didn¡¯t pay it too much mind after the defense broke down. When the Cataclysmic Seal let out a bright flash of light, Bai Yunfei expected it to do something, but instead¡­it fizzled out and disappeared!


    Like Bai Yunfei, Shangguan Xiongyan was equally dumbfounded by what had happened.


    Bai Yunfei knew it was the effect of a soul armament that stopped the Cataclysmic Seal. Knowing that, he activated the +14 additional effect so he could attempt to steal and absorb whatever armor Shangguan Xiongyan wore. However¡­it failed!!


    Then he sensed a peculiar wave of energy that immediately caused his mind to come to a standstill¡­


    At the same time as he was processing his emotions, the voice of Sealer began to speak:


    ¡°Triumphant Flame!! Yunfei! That¡¯s the Regalia, the ¡®Triumphant Flame¡¯!!¡±

 Chapter 1275: The Regalia Triumphant Fire!

    A Regalia!


    Bai Yunfei could sense that there was a Regalia from the waves of energy it was giving off! And if Sealer was saying it, then it had to be true.


    The Triumphant Flame!!


    One of the ¡®Ten Great Regalia¡¯, the Triumphant Flame held an attribute for both fire and metal and was the only armor-type Regalia!


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s primary function was to protect the soul, defending anything else was simply a secondary objective unlike the Triumphant Flame. Instead of protecting the soul, the Triumphant Flame was meant to protect against physical or elemental attacks.


    Bai Yunfei was no idiot. He had the Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate tell him about each and every Regalia Wu Tianhun had and what their capabilities were.


    It was these ten Regalia that helped Wu Tianhun unify the continent and cement him as the most legendary figure in the continent¡¯s history. He abdicated the throne after governing the empire for a hundred years and became a traveler for the sake of searching for greater heights.


    At that time, Wu Tianhun was a Peak Late-stage Soul Saint.


    It took place a century after Wu Tianhun began his travels. The ¡®abandonment¡¯. He left several of the Regalia with the Royal Family and the rest to those ¡®fated¡¯ all over the continent. From there, Wu Tianhun vanished into thin air and wasn ever seen again.


    His legend was retold for countless centuries. Many whispered that he spent the last of his remaining years protecting the empire from the shadows before finally departing the mortal coil. Others said he managed to seek the ¡®higher realm¡¯ he had always been searching for and ¡®transcended¡¯.


    But legends and rumors were in the end just legends and rumors. No one knew where Wu Tianhun had truly gone.


    Bai Yunfei did, however, know which Regalia the Royal Family had.


    The strongest offensive Regalia of the Ten: Soul Slayer.


    The strongest defensive Regalia: Triumphant Flame.


    The most explosive Regalia: Ironheart.


    The strongest flying-type soul armament: Hundred Leagues.


    And lastly, the only Regalia without a spirit; the Nephrite Throne.


    The remaining five Regalias were scattered throughout the continent after that. The Nephrite Throne was eventually lost to the Royal Family and picked up by the Black Dragon King ages afterward.


    With the schism of the Tianhun School and Prince Hao¡¯s ¡®rebellion¡¯, the power of the Royal Family and the Tianhun School was essentially halved. The Regalia of the Royal Family was also subsequently taken.


    But Bai Yunfei never imagined that he¡¯d come across those other Regalias here of all places. Then again, Shangguan Xiongyan was one of the venerable members of the Royal Family and a protector of the empire. Who else but a Saint could possibly be more qualified to carry a Regalia?


    The defenses of the Triumphant Flame were beyond powerful and could not be understated. After pressing both the Core Stone and Sealer for some time, Bai Yunfei was able to have them give a numerical estimation of roughly thirty thousand. A value like that meant Bai Yunfei¡¯s Fire-tipped Spear and Shen Pojun¡¯s Flame Dragon Crescent Blade would be utterly useless. And the light that came out from the Triumphant Flame earlier was similar in effect and ability to the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier, meaning elemental attacks were equally useless. So powerful was the Triumphant Flame that even the attacks of a Saint would most likely mean nothing to it.


    The Cataclysmic Seal, in it¡¯s upgraded form of +14, possessed an attack of over thirty thousand, but its true attack power was proportional to how much soulforce Bai Yunfei put into any one attack. In Berserk Mode, the Cataclysmic Seal could probably possess another twenty-thousand points of attack, but given that boost, the Triumphant Flame was still able to protect its owner from the Cataclysmic Seal.


    The situation wasn¡¯t looking good for Bai Yunfei. He used up a third of his soulforce to power up the Cataclysmic Seal and yet it still didn¡¯t do a sliver of damage to Shangguan Xiongyan!


    Given his failure and the supremacy of the Triumphant Flame, how could Bai Yunfei possibly not feel shocked?


    ¡­¡­


    Like Bai Yunfei, Shangguan Xiongyan was in a state of shock as well. He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the barrier of the Triumphant Flame shatter, thus how he was so easily hit by the Cataclysmic Seal when it went through. His eyes were glued tightly onto the Cataclysmic Seal in a way that seemed like they were stuck.


    ¡°A¡­A Regalia!!¡±


    Given the fact that he had Triumphant Flame, Shangguan Xiongyan was also in close contact with its spirit. It was also from the spirit of Triumphant Flame that he was able to learn that the Cataclysmic Seal was also a Regalia when it struck him.


    It wasn¡¯t as though he didn¡¯t know Bai Yunfei had any Regalia. The Core Stone, the Soul Sealing Mandate, and even the Soul Sentinel Scarf, he knew of these. It was no open secret to those in the know that Bai Yunfei had three Regalias with him.


    But right now¡­this soul armament that attacked him was definitely not one of the three Regalias known!


    This was a new and unknown Regalia!


    That was the greatest reason behind Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s shock.


    ¡°How¡­how is it possible for his shape-changing soul armament to be a Regalia?!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan had once heard about this shape-changing soul armament of Bai Yunfei before, and how powerful it was. But he never heard about it being a Regalia before!!


    The spirit of the Cataclysmic Seal had been so weak that the Triumphant Flame didn¡¯t even recognize it as a Regalia until it struck. But also because the Triumphant Flame tended to keep its aura to itself, it didn¡¯t even realize the Core Stone was there until it activated itself.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This¡¯ll be a problem if he has the Triumphant Flame¡­¡±


    Stern-faced, Bai Yunfei began to think about the available options he had. His plan to use the Cataclysmic Seal to ¡®absorb¡¯ whatever soul armament Shangguan Xiongyan was a bust now. This battle against Shangguan Xiongyan would definitely be many times harder now that he knew about the existence of the Triumphant Flame.


    If his most powerful offensive soul armament, the Cataclysmic Seal, was useless against the Triumphant Flame, then what would work? There was no guarantee he could use the Fire-tipped Spear for a successful attempt. It¡¯d first require him using the +13 additional effect to bypass the Triumphant Flame¡¯s barrier before then attempting to land a blow on a vital spot like Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s throat or head. But other than that, there was no way the Fire-tipped Spear would be strong enough to break the Triumphant Flame¡¯s defenses.


    The torso was the easiest place to hit on the human body. It was an insanely difficult task to aim for anywhere else but there in a battle!


    Introspective, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to call back the Cataclysmic Seal. But at the same time the Cataclysmic Seal disappeared, Bai Yunfei felt a spike of energy approach him!


    A bolt of lightning-like fire came snapping at his head the moment he snapped his head up!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This person must be eliminated at once!!¡±


    Something in Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s mind told him at once that Bai Yunfei was a man far too dangerous to let live. So great was his caution that he immediately disregarded Ge Yiyun to kill Bai Yunfei!


    It was essential that Bai Yunfei died here. The man was in possession of a ¡®new¡¯ Regalia!


    He would¡¯ve ignored Bai Yunfei if all he had to offer were those three ¡®Regalias¡¯. He could kill Ge Yiyun and Shen Pojun first before dealing with Bai Yunfei to take those Regalia, but seeing the Cataclysmic Seal filled him with too much fear for him to ignore him anymore.


    This was an offensive-type Regalia! One powerful enough to shatter the elemental barrier of the Triumphant Flame!


    The very thought of his ultimate defense being vulnerable frightened Shangguan Xiongyan and also left him with some lingering fear. If not for Shangguan Xiongyan warning him about the power of the Cataclysmic Seal, Shangguan Xiongyan would¡¯ve put up a half-hearted defense instead of a fully-powered one. If that were to happen, the results wouldn¡¯t be half as good as they were now for him.


    If the Regalia impacted against him without either the elemental or physical defenses of the Triumphant Flame¡­


    He felt a shiver travel up his spine.


    And that was the reason why he was so adamant on killing Bai Yunfei! Ge Yiyun could wait, but Bai Yunfei definitely had to die here and now!


    It went without saying that a Saint could travel quickly. A bolt of fire as strong as the ones he sent toward Ge Yiyun earlier was now flying toward Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    Ge Yiyun could only call out a warning for Bai Yunfei. He was simply far too away from him to do anything in time.


    ¡°Tch!!¡±


    Face-paling at the realization of him being targeted, Bai Yunfei activated the effects of his Counter Armor at once!


    +10 Additional Effect: In exchange for Soulforce, creating a devouring whirlpool of darkness that negates any elemental attack directed towards the user.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A tear in space formed above Bai Yunfei¡¯s head, transforming in a pitch-black whirlpool roughly dozens of meters large in circumference to protect him.


    The bolt of fire was sucked into the whirlpool without appearing on the other side. As if it was engulfed, the bolt of fire disappeared without a trace into the darkness.


    The whirlpool expanded abruptly in size before then collapsing in on itself and disappearing from the world as if it never existed.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei heaved a sigh of relief upon realizing he had just managed to save himself from what could¡¯ve been a fatal blow.


    But blocking that attack meant Bai Yunfei was already down a fortieth of his reserves. He was lucky he didn¡¯t use the +12 additional effect, or else he risked a chance of being dreadfully low on soulforce¡­


    A shiver ran up his spine then, causing Bai Yunfei to snap out from his celebration. The stench of death was here once again!


    Looking up, he realized with a start that Shangguan Xiongyan was somehow just less than a dozen meters away from him. And in Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s hand was a strange red-colored sword poised to cut into Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    He was on the verge of being killed!

 Chapter 1276: A Critical Moment

    Hardly any time transpired from the moment when Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s bolt of fire was stopped by the +10 additional effect of the Counter Armor. But during that time, Shangguan Xiongyan had somehow managed to close enough distance to strike at Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know how Shangguan Xiongyan was able to do that¡ªthe two had been over two kilometers apart. Not even a Saint was able to move that much distance in seemingly a single step!


    To those watching, it seemed like Bai Yunfei was doomed to an early death¡­


    ¡°Swish!!¡±


    The blade in Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s hand radiated a beam of scorching red light as if to extend its edge. ¡®Effortlessly¡¯, the blade then traveled in and out of Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Glee flickered in Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s eyes at the sight of his blade cutting into the throat, but when he felt no resistance, his eyes then widened in surprise; something was off!


    Though his blade had well and truly gone through Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat, it had done so ¡®without resistance¡¯! There was no tactile sensation of flesh being cut!


    In front of him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure flickered erratically in a way that made him seem transparent. Then Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s senses caught up with his mind.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was gone!


    The man was standing in front of him, but his aura wasn¡¯t. His attack had somehow managed to fail!


    +10 Additional Effect of the Core Stone: Activated!


    Consume soulforce to send any target within ten meters into a sealed dimension for two seconds. Target cannot attack and cannot be attacked. Target maintains original visibility. Cooldown of 1 minute.


    On the brink of death, Bai Yunfei had managed to active yet another effect to successfully save his life.


    But¡­Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t look as happy as when he survived the first attempt. That was because¡­Shangguan Xiongyan was still right in front of him!


    He was in that sealed dimension for two seconds, but once those two seconds were over he¡¯d be back in front of Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s intimidating figure. How would he possibly be able to dodge the attack of a Saint from up close?!


    ¡°Whish!!¡±


    The rapid sound of wind being displaced caused Shangguan Xiongyan to freeze up suddenly. Kicking away from where Bai Yunfei was, he retreated in an instant to avoid being attacked. Simultaneously, a tear opened up in space right next to Bai Yunfei.


    A moment later and a single person walked out from the tear¡ªit was Ge Yiyun.


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei sighed once more, though his heart was still pounding heavily inside his body. He truly did think for a moment that he was going to die there.


    So this is what the attack of a Saint was like¡­He had been forced to use two of his life-saving effects in practically a second and yet he had still been dancing on the fine edge of death¡¯s scythe¡­


    If not for those effects, Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve definitely failed to dodge Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s attacks.


    It was in this moment that Bai Yunfei thought about how great the gap was between a Soul Saint and himself.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Senior Ge¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei looked to Ge Yiyun with a bitter expression of humiliation. It had been him who came here to help, and yet it was him who was instead helped.


    ¡°You take care of yourself. Don¡¯t worry about me if matters come to worst!¡±


    A mixture of gratitude and sorrow met Bai Yunfei¡¯s face as Ge Yiyun spoke. He didn¡¯t say anything more as he turned his attention back to Shangguan Xiongyan. The transparent pearl was back in his hand and was ready to be sent flying again.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    Sneering, Shangguan Xiongyan lashed out with his sword once again. This time, a beam of energy shot out from the sword and slammed into the transparent pearl while the tornadoes of fire around them all dove at Ge Yiyun as if it were alive.


    Silent, Ge Yiyun clapped both hands together. In response, the transparent pearl shot out several beams of energy to strike at the flames.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It was with reluctance that Bai Yunfei retreated from the scene. He had no choice in the matter despite his wishes, but there was nothing he could do here¡­


    Using the Cataclysmic Seal to attack and then the +10 additional effect of the Counter Armor had used up another thirty percent of his reserves, meaning Bai Yunfei was getting drastically low on soulforce.


    He had half a mind to use Soul Ignition to regain his soulforce and then attack with the Vampiric Demon Edge, but it didn¡¯t seem like the right time to use them. It was possible this method wouldn¡¯t even do much harm to Shangguan Xiongyan, meaning it would be foolish to commit to it without further knowledge.


    The Cataclysmic Seal returned to his side as he tried to recover his soulforce. As he did so, he thought heavily about what he should do and what opportunities were still available.


    It was just that he was thinking several times more panicked than before. The existence of Triumphant Flame left a great amount of uncertainty in his mind.


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan and Ge Yiyun were once again embroiled in combat. Whenever he wanted to break away from Ge Yiyun and attack Bai Yunfei, Shangguan Xiongyan was frustrated to see that Ge Yiyun would stop him.


    The situation was different than before now that Bai Yunfei was the more dangerous opponent. There was also a difference with Ge Yiyun being able to stall Shangguan Xiongyan more effectively now that the latter was distracted.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    An abrupt and dragonic roar exploded across the battlefield, distracting Shangguan Xiongyan at once.


    That roar came from where Shen Pojun and Gu Jimie were fighting!


    It had been an area obscured by red and black light the entire time, but not anymore! An obscene amount of energy exploded out from the area and caused seemingly the entire world to tremble.


    ¡°A dragon?! Is¡­is that another Regalia!?¡±


    His eyes widened at the possibility of it being another Regalia.


    The raw amount of power coming from that roar seemed like it came from an actual dragon and also seemed like it had the presence of a spirit!


    ¡°The +12 additional effect of the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade! The ancestor is going to win!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s face lit up with excitement at what this meant.


    Shangguan Xiongyan didn¡¯t know what was going on, but Bai Yunfei did. This explosion was because of Shen Pojun using the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade!


    Flame Dragon Crescent Blade¡¯s stats:


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 9000


    Additional Attack: 9500


    Soul Compatibility: 20%


    Equipment Effect 1: 70% Increase in attack against metal and wood types.


    Equipment Effect 2: 30% Chance to invoke the spirit of a dragon when attacking. Increase attack power by 50% and reduce energy consumption by 50%.


    +10 Additional Effect: Reduce soulforce consumption by half when using this weapon¡¯s effects.


    +12 Additional Effect: Convert and store enemy energy into this weapon. When enough energy is amassed, unleash a blow at 200% attack.


    Upgrade Requirement: 490 Soulpoints


    The +12 additional effect was what was responsible for that tremendous amount of energy. Because of that effect, the energy dragon that formed from the attack felt like it almost had sentience contained inside of it.


    After becoming +12, the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade seemed to give birth to a spirit of some kind. If a higher upgrade level was reached, then perhaps the spirit would eventually mature into a dragonic spirit of the armament.


    But given that this effect was used, Bai Yunfei was confident that Gu Jimie would be in serious damage. Victory was almost guaranteed.


    It was just a guess from Bai Yunfei, but Shangguan Xiongyan had a much better read on the situation. His soulsense was telling him that Gu Jimie was in danger!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Flying in a panic, Shangguan Xiongyan immediately launched a fearsome attack onto the unexpecting Ge Yiyun!


    The pressure doubled onto Ge Yiyun. What was once an advantageous situation for him was now turning into a disadvantageous one!


    ¡°Oh no! Senior Ge doesn¡¯t look like he can hold on for much longer!¡±


    Lit alight with panic, Bai Yunfei watched as the near-spent Ge Yiyun tried his best to fight off Shangguan Xiongyan. But the enemy was fierce in every approach, and it seemed like Ge Yiyun¡¯s powerboosting technique was nearing its limit¡­


    ¡°Ah damnit! I guess it¡¯s time!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei howled to himself in anxiety. He gritted his teeth and immediately activated Soul Ignition and pulled out the Vampiric Demon Edge.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Before he could activate it, Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears perked up. He looked up, suddenly aware of something different. Something new.


    A chilling aura suddenly assaulted his senses, causing him to shiver in cold. It seemed as if the entire world itself had suddenly been blanketed in a storm as snow sprinkled down everywhere like petals.


    It took Bai Yunfei several moments to realize what was going on. When he did, he let out a wide smile!


    ¡°This is¡­¡±

 Chapter 1277: Unexpected Reinforcements

    Given how intense the battlefield and how hot the air was, anyone would be able to tell that this snow was by no means ordinary. Not even a blizzard would be able to produce enough snow to withstand the heat of this area. This blizzard, it seemed, was most likely fueled by elemental energy.


    What overshadowed the petals of frost and snow was the absolutely massive wave of soulforce. Like a net, it traversed the sky and suppressed everything else underneath it.


    This chilling frost. This intimidating aura¡­


    Bai Yunfei knew that aura quite well¡­


    ¡°Is¡­that the Frostfeather Saint!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself¡ªwhat was the Frostfeather Saint doing here?!


    As confused as he was, this was also a very welcome piece of news to Bai Yunfei! Ecstatic, he looked up toward the source of the blizzard.


    An eerie bluish-white light spilled out across the distant horizons. Elemental ice gathered from everywhere into a central position and eventually took on the form of a giant icy figure. Wings extended out from the figure gracefully, revealing a humanoid silhouette to walk out from in front of it.


    The figure was very far away from everyone else when they appeared. Then, in the blink of an eye, the figure took a single step and somehow appeared countless kilometers closer!


    It was indeed the Frost featherSaint£¡£¡


    After getting so close, the figure¡¯s aura was definitely confirmed by Bai Yunfei to belong to the Frostfeather Saint!


    Once within the range of where the battle Bai Yunfei was taking part in, Frostfeather Saint stopped to level a calm stare at him. Then, when their eyes met, the Frostfeather Saint smiled and nodded his head...


    Countless streams of white light gathered to the right palm of the Frostfeather Saint when he raised it. Solidifying into a giant icicle, the white light then shot forth with incredible speed!


    No one expected the Frostfeather Saint to arrive here. Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve been happy about it, but Shangguan Xiongyan was not. He had noticed the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s arrival a second faster and yet he nearly failed to react in time to the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s attack. His head had barely snapped up in time so his eyes could register the icicle coming his way!


    ¡°Frostfeather Saint!!¡±


    The name of Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s opponent came to mind right away: the aura of a soulbeast, an ice-type, an avian, a class nine soulbeast! That could only mean one thing then, this was the ¡®reawakened soulbeast¡¯ from when the Beast Taming School was destroyed, the Frostfeather Saint!


    Why the Frostfeather Saint decided to emerge from the Soulbeast Forest and came here was a question he couldn¡¯t think too hard on. Without hesitation, he activated the Triumphant Flame¡¯s barrier again!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A brilliant light emerged from his body in a way similar to the Cataclysmic Seal. A half-second later and Shangguan Xiongyan was completely protected inside of its sphere.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The icicle slammed into the barrier of the Triumphant Flame and exploded. Bright-white light scatter around the barrier as the Law of Ice wrought havoc onto the world around him.


    ¡°En?!¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint looked surprised. He didn¡¯t hold back in his icicle, and yet it still failed to break through the enemy¡¯s defenses!


    Having been imprisoned for over three thousand years, the Frostfeather Saint had no way of knowing about the owners of the ¡®Ten Great Regalias¡¯. Thus, he had no way of knowing that it was the Triumphant Flame that had protected Shangguan Xiongyan.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    His initial confusion gave way to a more level expression. Expanding both his wings out wide, the Frostfeather Saint and the giant figure behind him leaned back slowly before¡­exploding toward Shangguan Xiongyan like a rocket!


    Shangguan Xiongyan had only just recovered from the initial attack. His face blanched once he saw that he was being attacked and had the Triumphant Flame produce another barrier to protect himself.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint advanced onward despite knowing that the Triumphant Flame was going to be reactivated. A beam of powerful elemental energy extended out from the Frostfeather Saint and impacted onto the barrier at once.


    ¡­¡­


    Each time the Frostfeather Saint struck, Shangguan Xiongyan would fly back in such a haggard and rougher state compared to than before. At such a sight, Bai Yunfei could feel his heart begin to calm down again...


    The appearance of the Frostfeather Saint was the point of reversal. With him, they¡¯d be able to win!


    He shot off toward Ge Yiyun, whose figure had already gone pale and plummeted to the ground moments before.


    They finally had a moment to themselves now that the Frostfeather Saint was keeping Shangguan Xiongyan occupied. Launching himself toward the edge of the battlefield, Ge Yiyun quickly deactivated his skills and gritted his teeth. At once, the pain of the recoil shot through his body and immediately caused Ge Yiyun to fall due to the pain.


    Supporting the man, Bai Yunfei noted with alarm at how pale the man was and how lines were cracking open all over his face. The man looked as though he had been aged a dozen years at once! Shocked, Bai Yunfei quickly attempted to transmit his own soulforce into Ge Yiyun to stabilize his body before feeding him a heaven-tier pill.


    Prior to leaving the Alchemy School, Bai Yunfei had received a decent quality of heaven-tier pills from Yao Wuchen. Though there weren¡¯t many of them due to the recent battles and wars, but they would still be of great benefit to Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Senior Ge, how do you feel?¡±


    He questioned the man as soon as the effects of the pill began to show up. He allowed himself a quick sigh of relief seeing that the man was recovering, and continued to transmit his soulforce as he could.


    ¡°I¡­I am fine, my life is still mine to live¡­¡± Ge Yiyun rasped.


    He forced himself to stare at the battle in front. Having greater clarity than before, Ge Yiyun was pleasantly surprised to see the Frostfeather Saint suppressing Shangguan Xiongyan.


    ¡°Senior Ge, the Frostfeather Saint has come to aid us. Our victory is definitely at hand now that he is here. Please rest assured, you can come into the Core World and recover there.¡±


    Bai Yunfei suggested upon his determination of Ge Yiyun¡¯s health.


    Ge Yiyun¡¯s face softened. He nodded. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll entrust this fight to you then¡­¡±


    He disappeared into the Core World a second later, leaving Bai Yunfei behind to continue observing the battlefield.


    The Frostfeather Saint had been the advantageous one ever since his arrival. No matter how strong the Triumphant Flame was, Shangguan Xiongyan was still suffering heavy losses to his soulforce and stamina. Though that being said, he had yet to sustain any serious damage yet.


    Nonetheless, the Frostfeather Saint had him under lock and key. It didn¡¯t matter how hard Shangguan Xiongyan struggled, it was only a matter of time before his energy would give out. And that was only if the Frostfeather Saint decided to kill him before that...


    A decent amount of time had already transpired, meaning the winner of Shen Pojun and Gu Jimie¡¯s battle was close to being determined!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei knew he didn¡¯t have to do anything anymore for this battle. He wasn¡¯t needed anymore, but yet that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t going to fight. Descending downward, Bai Yunfei flew off to deal with the Soul Emperors.


    He could tell that the battle between the Soul Emperors had been far intense since he left it. All sorts of battles broke out everywhere, many of them covering a vast amount of area. But he was pleased to see that the majority of his side were winning their battles.


    Of the nine Soul Emperors Gu Jimie and Shangguan Xiongyan had, two of them were Peak Late-stage Soul Emperors, three were Mid-stage Soul Emperors, and four were Early-stage Soul Emperors. The first two were being routed off by Chu Yintian and another Late-stage Soul Emperor from the Fate School while the rest fought everyone else.


    Bai Yunfei had been attentive to Li Chengfeng¡¯s fight with Mo Ni the most. The Black Dragon King had already been forced away from Mo Ni due to Xiao Binzi and Hu Yang fighting together. Gui Nu was currently fighting Yang Yao and Ouyang Hua while Xiao Qi flitted in and out of the chaotic battlefield. Instead of fighting enemies one on one, Xiao Qi employed guerilla tactics to strike at any enemy caught unaware in the middle of the chaos. It wasn¡¯t always an easy thing to land a killing blow on someone, but Xiao Qi still managed to create enough trouble for his foes.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    A scream rang out the moment when Bai Yunfei¡¯s figure found floating high near the battlefield. An Early-stage Soul Emperor had been fighting Yang Yao and was far too busy protecting himself from her soul armament when Xiao Qi flitted out from the shadows. Talons glistening coldly, Xiao Qi latched onto the head of the Soul Emperor and immediately tore it apart¡­


    This marked the first death of the battle, but the impact it had on both sides was huge. Just hearing his screams had everyone from both the Fate and Soul Refining Schools feeling anxious.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Gu Jimie cursed to himself, horrified by what was happening. It completely disheartened the man when he felt the Frostfeather Saint arrive¡ªhow could things have gone this way!


    Coming to a conclusion, Gu Jimie raised his hands and began to make a series of handseals.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Suddenly, his entire body began to radiate with more power great enough to cause Shen Pojun to become wary!

 Chapter 1278: Retreating After A Defeat

    Was this self-destruction?!


    The thought of Gu Jimie doing that brought a shiver to Shen Pojun.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t!¡±


    He determined that this massive increase in energy wasn¡¯t as volatile as one would expect from someone self-destructing. The energy waves radiating from Gu Jimie was for something else.


    It had to be some kind of powerful attack given how much explosive energy was being charged. Clearly the man had something up his sleeves.


    And so Shen Pojun thought it prudent to up his guard. As fortunate it was that the Frostfeather Saint was here, it wasn¡¯t time to get too relaxed. To finish this battle, he¡¯d need to be even more serious than before.


    His observation of Gu Jimie paid off a moment later when all of a sudden, a powerful figure shot out across the sky!


    ¡°An avatar?!¡±


    He cried out, alarmed by the sight of the figure. It wasn¡¯t Gu Jimie himself flying into the sky, but an avatar!


    Given that Gu Jimie was a newly-ascended Saint, his avatar would only be a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor at best. What was the point of making one now?!


    It took Shen Pojun a moment to think before he gasped!


    Sneering as though to respond to Shen Pojun, the avatar began to shine with a brilliant light!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Right in front of Shen Pojun, a tremendous source of soulforce suddenly exploded!


    He really did self-destruct!!


    Gu Jimie used his own avatar to self-destruct!


    The destruction of an avatar doesn¡¯t physically harm one¡¯s life, but their soul instead. Damage done to the soul was an injury exponentially harder to recover from!


    It was for the sake of the Crafting School that Chu Yintian sacrificed his avatar. He had yet to fully recover from that even after Bai Yunfei gave him a high-grade pill to use. Even for Gu Jimie, destroying their avatar would definitely cause him to lose a great deal amount of power.


    Using an avatar like that wouldn¡¯t be effective at all against a Saint like Shen Pojun. But if used for a self-destruct, there would definitely be an effect! Such an explosion could cause a fatal wound if he wasn¡¯t careful.


    Perturbed by the ¡®suicidal¡¯ tactic of Gu Jimie, Shen Pojun retreated at once. His soulforce wrapped around him protectively as his parasol-shaped and shield-shaped soul armaments came down to protect him.


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The volatile energy of Gu Jimie¡¯s self-destruction slammed into Shen Pojun¡¯s defenses shortly afterward. Waves of energy surged onto the surface of both Shen Pojun¡¯s soul armaments with such force that the soul armaments seemed to quiver and quake.


    But they held. Calm-faced as the last of the torrent subsided, Shen Pojun took a single step forward to re-evaluate his foe.


    Using an avatar to self-destruct was a tactic hardly seen by anyone. It was a brutish tactic. But if someone was capable of doing that, then what kind of follow-up would they have to top it off?


    Shen Pojun expected a harsh follow-up, but when he saw Gu Jimie¡­


    At the same time when his avatar self-destructed, Gu Jimie did the opposite of what Shen Pojun expected and¡­ran in the opposite direction!


    ¡°Retreat!!!¡±


    A humiliated, yet furious, scream echoed across the sky a moment after that!


    Was he running away?!


    A high and mighty Saint was¡­running?!


    There was no epic fight to the death nor a tragic scene where one opponent had availed himself over the other. After sacrificing his avatar, Gu Jimie was running away!


    The scene boggled the mind and stunned Shen Pojun.


    Aside from the common ideology of ¡®Sanctimony of the Powerful¡¯ where it was expected that any strong person act in a way exemplary of their station, what Gu Jimie did was reasonably valid. He knew he had no chance to win now that the Frostfeather Saint, so the most logical thing to do was to cut his losses and guide his army in a safe retreat.


    His voice carried itself across the sky and made its way into the ears of all those who were fighting down below.


    ¡°Te¡ªteacher?!¡±


    Alarmed, Nether whipped his head up to stare at Gu Jimie in confusion.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Another explosion took place practically moments after Gu Jimie¡¯s own actions. Shangguan Xiongyan had finally managed to break free from the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s assault to fly toward Gu Jimie.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving!!¡±


    A similar command boomed forth from his mouth.


    Like Gu Jimie, Shangguan Xiongyan was utterly humiliated. Not only was he being bested in battle, but he was also having all his plans go wrong. With him losing against the Frostfeather Saint and Gu Jimie not being able to endure for much longer, he had to come to the same decision as Gu Jimie and call off the assault least he find himself losing his life here¡­


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Not satisfied with this game of cat and mouse, the Frostfeather Saint gave chase after Shangguan Xiongyan.


    On the other side, Shen Pojun was making his way over as well. He wasn¡¯t willing to let that self-destruct be the last noteworthy thing about this battle.


    ¡­¡­


    Confusion splashed across the battlefield as everyone from the Soul Refining School and Fate School began to fly this way and that!


    Despite having the superior numbers, the two schools were relying on the two Saints to come back down and aid them afterward. But now that the entire war was going bottom-sides up for them, the Soul Emperors could no longer depend on the Saints to help them.


    It was a failure. A massive failure of very abrupt timing.


    They had hard times believing it, but they had to. If the Saints were giving the call to retreat, wouldn¡¯t staying here mean they¡¯d lose their lives for sure then?!


    All at once, everyone began to fight like cornered animals. They were desperately trying their best to avoid whomever they were fighting and running away to safety.


    ¡°Im¡ªimpossible!!¡±


    Mo Ni¡¯s face was completely white as he watched the scene in front of him. It was simply too heavy of a shock to see their Saint running away. In fact, he could hardly even think right now because of the shock.


    But like the others, he too, began to flee.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    A crimson sword shot past him, nearly grazing Mo Ni in the cheek when he threw himself to the side to dodge.


    ¡°Damn! Can¡¯t you die already!¡±


    Furious that he was being stopped by Li Chengfeng, Mo Ni threw out a gray beam of light toward him!


    Li Chengfeng stepped back, fully aware of the danger contained within that beam of light. In one fluid motion, he stepped back forward with his Meteoric Striker ready to intercept!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Accurately, the Meteoric Striker struck the beam of light squarely on the surface of its blade and deflected it harmlessly upward so Li Chengfeng could grab hold of it.


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Mo Ni howled in frustrated anger. He wanted to charge at Li Chengfeng and reclaim his soul armament, but it was far too dangerous for that. He snarled one last time in reluctance before flying off in another direction to flee.


    Li Chengfeng wasn¡¯t able to give immediate chase due to the black needle in his hand. Gripping it tightly so it wouldn¡¯t escape, he flew off after Mo Ni.


    ¡°Gui Nu!!¡±


    Mo Ni roared. At once, a bloody streak of light appeared right next to Mo Ni. A beam of blood-red energy


    Altering course, Li Chengfeng moved to strike down the beam of energy. He did so without trouble, but by the time he was done, Gui Nu had already taken Mo Ni a considerable distance away¡­

 Chapter 1279: Long Lans Battle With Destiny!

    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Letting loose a magnificent roar, the Black Dragon King whipped its serpentine body around like a whirlpool, dragging his tail around with enough force to tear open space. With how fast space was destabilizing around them, Xiao Binzi and Hu Yang could only retreat and wait for another time to strike.


    The Black Dragon King was fighting with great hatred for his two opponents. Even after his attack managed to push the two back, he was ready to do more. Like an arrow, he speared through the swathes of energy to fly away.


    Having been at the edgemost part of the battlefield, the Black Dragon King only had to break away from Xiao Binzi and Hu Yang in order to flee the battlefield. And now that he was unobstructed, the Black Dragon King quickly flew away like a meteor.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Black Dragon King touched back down onto a faraway area, the force of his sudden descent splintering the forest ground he stood upon.


    His plan was to reach the mountain peak several hundred meters away and leave a decoy. If he used his humanoid figure to hide his aura, the Black Dragon King would surely be able to flee.


    But he began to feel that something was off when he neared the mountain. He was unsure of the reason, but his instincts were telling him to be careful.


    Then it happened. A giant figure shot forth from a hidden spot near the mountain toward him!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two figures collided with devastating force. The mountain they stood on trembled violently as the Black Dragon King reeled backward away from the blow!


    He staggered several steps back before managing to find his balance. He was greatly shocked and angered that someone would be able to stop him. Snarling, he looked up to glare at his pursuer, only to let out another roar in anger when he saw who it was.


    ¡°You!!¡±


    Right in front of him stood another large being. Two pillar-like legs, two short forelimbs, and a large head. Overall, this being looked a lot like a Tyrannosaurus Rex in ancient Earth history.


    Long Lan!!


    Right in front of the Black Dragon King was the blue-eyes white wyrm: Long Lan!


    The aquatic-blue scales of his person were sleek and glossy, but they rippled with a great deal of power. And just like his scales, Long Lan¡¯s eyes were brimming with a domineering light. He was¡­a class-eight soulbeast now!


    In just several months, Long Lan managed to breakthrough and become an early-stage class eight soulbeast!


    He had to have come here with the Frostfeather Saint. Though they came together, Long Lan was clearly a step slower than the other and was barely able to stop the Black Dragon King from fleeing.


    Was it chance? Fate? Or perhaps a ¡®destined battle¡¯?


    Long Lan had been nothing more than a relatively rare wyrm-type soulbeast. If not for his meeting with Bai Yunfei, it¡¯d never have been possible for him to even reach the class seven level.


    His story could be retold as an ¡®epic¡¯ for anyone within the world of soulbeasts. In what was an unexpected turn of destiny, Long Lan was able to grab a hold of some of the Black Dragon King¡¯s blood and absorb it.


    Absorbing the blood of a ¡®high-class¡¯ dragonic soulbeast gave Long Lan a great deal of power. One of those powers was the very rare ability to wield elemental darkness and also a substantial boost to his sentience.


    He never had to worry about a shortage in resources whenever he traveled with Bai Yunfei. In the world of soulbeasts, having just a single soulgem would mean fighting for your life over it. Every day was a challenge for him to find three meals in a day, and even then, it most likely meant he had to fight against an even stronger soulbeast to even live. A high-leveled soulgem was basically akin to a high-grade pill for soul cultivators.


    A few months ago, the Blue-eyes White Dragon King took Long Lan back to the dragon clan to train. Sparing no expense, the Blue-eyes White Dragon King gave a few of the more precious treasures they had so Long Lan to become a peak late-stage class seven soulbeast before taking him to the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts.


    From there, Long Lan was able to receive the inheritance of an ancestor of the dragon clan and became a class eight soulbeast.


    The growth of Long Lan was one that spanned only a decade from when he was a small class six soulbeast. It was a story that would marvel anyone.


    ¡­¡­


    Thus, the Black Dragon King was shocked to see Long Lan standing before him today. Never did he imagine the ¡®ant¡¯ that was the blue-eyes white wyrm somehow managed to become a class eight soulbeast like him and even stand in the way of his retreat!!


    Back against the Two-winged Kings, the Black Dragon King had to sacrifice his class seven body in order to escape. He intentionally had the blood splatter where it did so he could go back in the future and reabsorb it all back into his body so he could regain some of his power faster. But Long Lan had ¡®beat¡¯ him to it and took it all with him.


    The Black Dragon King had to resort to becoming Mo Ni¡¯s soulbeast partner to regain his strength after that. Though he was given plenty of resources from the Soul Refining School, his own blood being stolen weighed heavily on his mind. Always did he want to take revenge on the one who stole it.


    But he never managed to do so. Whenever they fought against Bai Yunfei, the Black Dragon King never had the chance to fight Long Lan.


    That was, not until today. Today, the Black Dragon King was finally able to meet Long Lan. But¡­not at the right moment!


    The Black Dragon King felt his eyes redden at the very sight of his most hated enemy. Howling furiously, he lashed out with an attack before any words could even be spoken!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The roar that exploded forth from the Black Dragon King¡¯s mouth jarred the nerves and hindered the senses¡ªthis was the ultimate skill the Black Dragon King had, the Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar!


    Long Lan stiffened when the roar slammed into him. But instead of being rendered frozen, he fired back a powerful roar of his own!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    It was as if the heads of two dragons appeared overhead when the two roared. Energy rippled away from their mouths like waves as both techniques tried to incapacitate their foes. They both staggered backward, tired, but successful in being able to ward off the most.


    Like a drunkard, the Black Dragon King staggered two steps more than Long Lan. He was shocked by Long Lan¡¯s resistance. Furious that his very own soul skill had been¡­blocked!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    He roared, unwilling to accept the reality in front of him. The Ninth Heaven Shaking Dragon¡¯s Roar was his ultimate move, how could it possibly be stopped by this ¡®inferior¡¯ wyrm?!


    Forever since Long Lan joined Bai Yunfei¡¯s adventures, he had been forced to accept a ¡®supporting¡¯ role in the story. Every battle he was forced to play second fiddle to Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi. It was only when Bai Yunfei disappeared and he traveled with Xiao Qi in search for him that he gained a nickname that even Soul Kings feared to hear.


    His second turning point came when he visited Tianhun Academy. It was there that he managed to study under a senior of the dragon clan, Long Zhen. Long Lan had learned plenty from the man, but then he was then noticed by the Blue-eyes White Dragon King in the Soulbeast Forest and taught even more. It¡¯d be a disgrace to both his teachers if he had only one or two skills to show for it.


    That roar Long Lan unleashed was similar to the Black Dragon King¡¯s skill. It was an extremely powerful soul skill taught in the dragon clan!


    It was with this roar that Long Lan hoped to send a powerful message. The ¡®fear¡¯ he had of the Black Dragon King would be no more starting today!


    He owed the changes made to his body to the lifeblood of the Black Dragon King. But because he had the Black Dragon King¡¯s lifeblood in him, Long Lan had always a ¡®fear¡¯ of the Black Dragon King. Just meeting him would¡¯ve been enough to reduce Long Lan to a shivering coward before, but not anymore today. After traveling with Bai Yunfei for so long, Long Lan was used to seeing stronger people all the time. His fear of the Black Dragon King seemed almost inconsequential in comparison.


    ¡°Who said I¡¯m inferior to you?! Who says I should fear you?! I might¡¯ve been weaker than you before, but not anymore!¡±


    The weight of determination never felt so light on Long Lan¡¯s shoulders. Today¡­he would prove his own worth against his old foe, the Black Dragon King!


    With his own fear being suppressed, Long Lan began to power himself up. He roared once more at the sight of a shocked Black Dragon King and pounced onto him to begin their fight!


    ¡°Roar!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Once again, the Black Dragon King was forced back by Long Lan when the two collided. Wincing from pain, the Black Dragon King looked down only to see several of his scales were gone! Long Lan¡¯s claws had torn them off!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The fury rekindled in the Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes at this. Lashing out, he extended his neck forward to bite at Long Lan¡¯s throat!


    He couldn¡¯t use a soul skill or attack with an elemental attack due to their ineffectiveness, so the Black Dragon King had to rely on his own physical strength to finish the job!


    So powerful and quick was the Black Dragon King¡¯s attack that Long Lan was unable to move out of the way. The Black Dragon King¡¯s jaw clamped onto a part of Long Lan¡¯s shoulder and tore some of its flesh away!


    Blood poured out from the wound at once. Gleeful, the Black Dragon King swallowed the flesh in his mouth and gave him a fanatical sneer!


    ¡°Today¡­the lifeblood you stole from me will be returned!¡±

 Chapter 1280: bEaten! The Death of the Black Dragon King!

    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Long Lan had to repress a roar of pain from when the Black Dragon King bit onto his throat. He prepared himself to throw off the Black Dragon King, but then he realized, for some reason, his body was unable to move!!


    That wasn¡¯t the only peculiarity. Somehow, his energy was being forced out from his body along with his blood toward the wound on him and into the Black Dragon King!


    He felt a sliver of fear shoot up his spine. Trying as hard as he might, Long Lan began to use his soulforce to stop the flow from escaping from his wound!


    ¡°He¡¯s trying to steal my lifeblood!!¡±


    The realization hit him like a sack of cold ice.


    This bitemark wasn¡¯t supposed to do any physical damage¡ªthe Black Dragon King was using some kind of technique to draw away Long Lan¡¯s lifeblood!


    He hadn¡¯t anticipated such a tactic. He had neither a defense or strategy prepared for something like this, meaning he was caught in a trap without any proper defenses!


    Lifeblood differed from regular blood since it was blood that was also infused with the essence of both life and soulforce. Originating from the essence originseed, lifeblood was something vital to the body of a soul cultivator like a soulgem in a soulbeast. Not only did it contain the very life of a person, but it also contained their power!


    In battles, many experts would often burn up their own soul or lifeblood in exchange for power. In other words, they were sacrificing a portion of their life or training for a temporary boost. It didn¡¯t mean they¡¯d die, but the reprecussions would be serious. A decreased lifepsan or limited power would often dissaud many from using these power-boosting soul skills liberally.


    The lifeblood of any person or soulbeast would differ much like blood types. In the case that one was related to another, such as through a familial bloodline, then the lifeblood of two individuals could be similar to one another. Cases like these were known as an inherited bloodline, but those were especially rare in the soulbeast world.


    There was one method in particular where one could absorb the lifeblood of another if the compatibility was high enough. If enough of one¡¯s lifeblood was absorbed, then they¡¯d be able to inherit the most of that person¡¯s bloodline and become even more powerful. In the ancient past, many powerful soulbeast clans would often place their bloodlines on a very high pedestal for this very reason.


    Long Lan didn¡¯t use any special technique to absorb the lifeblood of the Black Dragon King. It was through chance that he was able to absorb it and have his body adapt and evolve. But that was an exception to the rule.


    Gui Nu¡¯s Bloodsoul Dark Artes actually allowed him to devour the lifeblood of others. But as the name implied, the technique was an especially dark and sinister one and required a heavy price in addition to being available only to a very select few.


    It¡¯d be impossible for the Black Dragon King to ¡®steal¡¯ the lifeblood of another in most cases. However, Long Lan had his lifeblood in him, and there was, of course, no problem taking his own lifeblood back.


    The Black Dragon King was more than happy to take in as much as he could. The lifeblood he was taking back was rich and filled with power! He could already feel his body start to swell with energy. If he kept this up, he¡¯d be able to become a mid-stage class eight soulbeast!


    The only problem was that he was pressed for time. He had to hurry up and escape from this place!


    He was formulating a plan to escape even as he absorbed Long Lan¡¯s lifeblood. In his mind, Long Lan was nothing but an ant to him. If the other insisted on pursuing him, then he¡¯d be more than happy to take back all his lifeblood. How would Long Lan fight after that!?


    What the Black Dragon King didn¡¯t know was that this so-called ¡®ant¡¯ was¡­capable of defying the norms!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    It took Long Lan just a half-second for him to figure out a countermeasure. Eyes gleaming with fury, he twisted his neck and snapped onto the backside of the Black Dragon King¡¯s neck!


    The Black Dragon King was essentially defenseless right now. It was the prime time for him to return the favor!


    Whether he was driven by his instincts or he was simply replicating what he saw, Long Lan managed to draw blood and begin the process to absorb the Black Dragon King¡¯s lifeblood. And at the same time, a strange energy began to grow from within him¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The space around them began to flicker and twist as the two stood there. Some sort of energy was rippling and changing in wavelength every second as if two separate sources of energy were meshing with one another¡­


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, Bai Yunfei had been ready to fight Mo Ni when Gu Jimie and Shangguan Xiongyan abandoned the fight.


    The battlefield was already a chaotic mess by the time Bai Yunfei managed to clear his head.


    That also when he noted Mo Ni had escaped from Li Chengfeng, but only with the help of Gui Nu.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes gleamed dangerously. Given the hatred he had for Mo Ni, it was inevitable that Bai Yunfei wanted to chase after him. Thrice he had failed to kill Mo Ni. He didn¡¯t want a fourth failure.


    He took a step forward in preparation to give chase, but then his instincts began to scream at him to watch out. Snapping his head left, Bai Yunfei took off into the air for safety!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    A furious roar met Bai Yunfei as a figure seemingly made from pure darkness appeared. The energy radiating from his person flowed with an especially strange pattern.


    Nether!!


    Bai Yunfei knew what that strange flow of energy was right away¡ªit was the ultimate soul skill of Nether that once nearly killed him those years ago! Samsara!


    His soul had once nearly been rendered apart by the hands of Nether¡¯s avatar. If his avatar had that much power, Bai Yunfei shuddered to think how much more powerful it¡¯d be in the hands of Nether¡¯s actual body. The two members of the Fate School and Yang Yao would definitely be in danger if they were hit by it!


    Like a bright-red bolt of lightning, Bai Yunfei shot toward Nether with sickening speed. As he flew, a near-transparent barrier covered his entire person.


    +10 Additional Effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate, activated!


    Create a spiritual barrier and gain immunity to all mind-based attacks for up to 5 seconds.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    It was an extremely powerful ability whose only drawback was in its activation time. The soul attack of an enemy could happen any second and would only be for a second, meaning being immune for 5 seconds was slightly overkill. But for a soul skill like Nether¡¯s Samsara, whose effects could last for an extended period of time, this additional effect was especially valuable.


    Bai Yunfei felt the pressure around him lighten when he activated the Soul Sealing Mandate. In a second he was right in front of Nether, and as his opponent stared at him in confusion, he took out the Fire-tipped Spear and stabbed at his throat!


    ¡°Wha¡ª!¡±


    Confused that Bai Yunfei was immune to his attack, Nether was almost too late to dodge the spear thrust.


    With a reaction speed befitting that of a headmaster, Nether was able to prevent the spear from thrusting into his neck, though it still managed to spear him through the right shoulder!


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Fire-tipped Spear pierced through the elemental barrier around Nether¡¯s person and embedded itself tightly into his right shoulder. The moment it slid into his flesh, the spear then activated its +10 additional effect and created an explosion!


    ¡°Aghhhhh!!!¡±


    Nether shrieked with pain as the explosion blasted his right arm in one direction and the rest of him in another!


    ¡°Headmaster!!¡±


    Someone from the Soul Refining School cried out. At once, a black-robed figure shot up to grab hold of Nether before protecting himself from an attack from Chu Yintian. It was the Late-stage Soul Emperor that managed to save him.


    It filled Bai Yunfei with glee to see that he had managed to deal a severe blow onto Nether. But as if to dampen his mood, Bai Yunfei was disgruntled to feel that his soulforce was nearly gone.


    He glanced at Nether first, then at the escaping Mo Ni. He hesitated.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Then the loud roar of a dragon could be heard from another direction, causing Bai Yunfei to delay his decision!


    ¡°Is that¡­Long Lan!?¡±


    He murmured. That voice was by no means an ordinary one. Turning around at once, he took off in the direction of the roar!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    At the same time as he took action, Xiao Qi came swooping in. He had abandoned his previous prey so he could respond to Long Lan¡¯s cry. Beating both wings to accelerate himself, Xiao Qi traveled with Bai Yunfei to reach the source.


    Having been prepared to use Soul Ignition to regain his soulforce, Bai Yunfei decided against it when he saw Xiao Qi arrive. When Xiao Qi flew past him, Bai Yunfei jumped onto his back and allowed himself to be carried away.


    It took only a moment for Xiao Qi to bring him and Bai Yunfei to the mountain peak near where Long Lan was heard. The two of them could also see Xiao Binzi and Hu Yang nearby¡ªthe two of them had chased the Black Dragon King up to here but stopped when they saw the two dragons ¡®fighting¡¯.


    ¡°Long Lan!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out and took a step forward to help when he saw the gigantic, but familiar, blue-scaled soulbeast.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    But then a growl erupted from Long Lan¡¯s throat, stopping both Xiao Qi and Bai Yunfei in their tracks.


    Not a single word was spoken, but his growl told the two of them what Long Lan was thinking. He didn¡¯t want them interfering in this fight!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°N¡ªno! This can¡¯t be!!¡±


    The Black Dragon King was beside himself. He could feel his own lifeblood being drained rapidly away from his body¡ªby Long Lan!


    The one who ate was now being eaten!!


    Yes, what the Black Dragon King managed to do was not something unique to him. If Long Lan¡¯s lifeblood was compatible with him, then his own lifeblood was then compatible with Long Lan. The Black Dragon King just never thought of it that way due to him believing Long Lan was of an ¡®inferior¡¯ existence. How was an inferior being supposed to absorb his lifeblood as easily as he was? There was no chance of that, or so he believed.


    The Black Dragon King had made a dreadful mistake¡­


    What was supposed to take several moments to drain Long Lan dry before he could make an escape was now turning into the worst-case scenario for him!


    But it was too late for him to change tactics!


    It was with horror that the Black Dragon King realized he wasn¡¯t a match for his opponent now. He¡¯d run out of lifeblood if he were to stop trying to drain Long Lan of his!


    And then when he heard Long Lan growl, the Black Dragon King¡¯s heart came to a stop. The growl made him realize that Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were here¡­


    He was in dire trouble!!


    There was no way he¡¯d be able to escape, even if he managed to kill Long Lan here and now!


    Despair gripped at his heart tightly for just a brief second, but that second was all Long Lan needed! A brilliant flash of light entered Long Lan¡¯s eyes before his soulforce roared to life!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Fear flooded both of the Black Dragon King¡¯s eyes. His teeth loosened around Long Lan¡¯s skin under the pain and pressure he felt before he let out a mournful wail of despair!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The world trembled as the giant blue dragon above Long Lan¡¯s head swelled in size. Practically covering both him and the Black Dragon King, the blue dragon was brimming with energy now while the Black Dragon King wailed from within.


    His wails gradually began to die down as his internal organs started to shut down. Soon, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even detect the Black Dragon King¡¯s aura anymore.


    ¡°Long Lan won!!¡±

 Chapter 1281: The Overpowered Needle

    Long Lan wasn¡¯t the type of person that liked to lose. He didn¡¯t want Bai Yunfei to interfere in his own battle, and Bai Yunfei respected that. He and Xiao Qi would stay on the sidelines and wait then, but if there was ever a moment they felt Long Lan was in danger, then the two wouldn¡¯t hesitate to interfere at once.


    But luckily, it seemed their worries were for nothing. Long Lan had actually managed to defeat the Black Dragon King with his own strength.


    Bai Yunfei smiled when he felt the aura of the Black Dragon King start to wane and grow weaker. He knew then that Long Lan had won!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A faint cry escaped from the gigantic blue ball of light. It was faint, but Bai Yunfei could hear the terror and despair contained within it.


    Then, when the last of the Black Dragon King¡¯s aura had faded, everyone knew that the Black Dragon King, a mighty being that once shook the continent, was now dead.


    ¡°Haha! Xiao Lan won!!¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped with excitement, his wings beating several times in joy.


    ¡°Yes. The Black Dragon King¡¯s finally dead, this¡¯ll be great for Long Lan.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded.


    Neither Xiao Binzi nor Hu Yang said a word. Stunned, they stared at the blue ball of light with all sorts of emotions running through their minds. Long Lan wasn¡¯t a stranger to them, the both of them met Long Lan once before when he was just a class seven soulbeast. That wasn¡¯t too long ago, but now he was a class eight soulbeast? And then he came and managed to kill the Black Dragon King when the two of them combined weren¡¯t able to?


    ¡°I wonder how Long Lan will be after he absorbs the rest of the Black Dragon King¡¯s lifeblood?¡± Bai Yunfei thought aloud. While he didn¡¯t know the answer, he was sure Long Lan would be able to power up by a decent amount at the very least.


    ¡°It¡¯s not safe here, let¡¯s bring him back into the Core World.¡±


    He waved his right hand to activate the Core Stone. At once, all sorts of elemental energy began to be siphoned into the Core World while the stone tried to bring Long Lan in.


    There was no reaction nor resistance from Long Lan, allowing Bai Yunfei to bring in him and the blue ball of light around him into the Core World without trouble..


    ¡­¡­


    Now that Long Lan was taken care of, Bai Yunfei decided to take a good look around the battlefield to inspect its current state. There weren¡¯t many people left fighting in their original positions now that the retreat order was given. People from both sides were flying like shooting stars in every direction away from the battlefield; the enemies being the ones retreating and his own side being the ones to give chase. No one even knew where the four Saints had gone, let alone see where they were.


    Given that Shangguan Xiongyan had the Triumphant Flame, the Frostfeather Saint would have a hard time capturing him. They¡¯d have to wait and see if Shen Pojun would be able to kill Gu Jimie.


    ¡°Yunfei!¡±


    A figure landed right next to Bai Yunfei at that moment, it was Li Chengfeng.


    ¡°Yunfei,¡± He repeated, anxiety splayed across his face. ¡°How is my master?¡±


    ¡°Senior Ge is resting in the Core World. You can relax, he¡¯s alive and well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good¡­¡± Li Chengfeng exhaled, relieved. ¡°Hey, Yunfei? Are you going to chase after Mo Ni?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The battle with Long Lan costed Bai Yunfei the opportunity to chase after Mo Ni, and now he didn¡¯t know where Gui Nu had taken him. It was a shame, but Bai Yunfei figured he¡¯d have another time in the future to kill him.


    But when he heard Li Chengfeng ask that question, hope began to rekindle in Bai Yunfei. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you have a way to track him? Or do you know where he is?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell where he ran off to, but¡­I do have a way to track him. Take a look¡­¡±


    He flourished a small object for Bai Yunfei to look at.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t¡­isn¡¯t that Mo Ni¡¯s soul armament?!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped, the black needle already being transferred from Li Chengfeng to himself.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The black needle seemed to vibrate and tremble as if trying to escape from Bai Yunfei¡¯s fingers. ¡°Is¡­is there a spirit in here?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei could feel something within the needle ¡®resisting¡¯ him!


    ¡°Could this also be a Regalia?!¡±


    It was a frightening thought, but Bai Yunfei was determined to find out. Concentrating a little longer, he began to inspect the soul armament to a greater degree. After a while, Bai Yunfei concluded that there wasn¡¯t a genuine ¡®spirit¡¯ inside of it, but it was indeed, beginning to become sentient. This was roughly the same feeling Bai Yunfei had when he reforged and upgraded the Cataclysmic Seal to +14.


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei decided to inspect its stats next.


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Attack: 8280


    Equipment Effect 1: Inflict damage to the target''s soul when a blow is landed.


    Equipment Effect 2: A portion of the soul of each killed target is converted into attack. Portion converted is dependent on the strength of the killed target.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei was stunned, he knew what this soul armament was¡­


    ¡°A demon armament!!¡±


    That was his first thought. His second thought was how¡­overpowered it was!


    The killing intent rising from the black needle was without a doubt a tellmark sign of it being a demon armament. And its equipment effect was even stronger than the Double Dragon Spectre and the Heaven¡¯s Bloodtear Sword!


    ¡ªA demon armament that could damage the soul! Even more¡­it could ¡®grow¡¯ by devouring the souls of those it killed!


    It was basically the same as the +14 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal, but the difference was that the Cataclysmic Seal devoured other soul armaments. This black needle devoured souls!


    Bai Yunfei would never be able to imagine that the black needle Mo Ni always wielded would be such a powerful demon armament!


    ¡°The black needle hadn¡¯t been that powerful back during the battle for the Extreme King Pills, but it¡¯s a high-heaven tier now. It¡¯s also starting to grow a spirit¡­how many people did Mo Ni kill for it to grow this much!?¡±


    The air around Bai Yunfei seemed to drop several degrees as he pondered that last thought. Only now did Bai Yunfei start to feel as though the black needle was trembling not due to resistance, but because of the wails of those who died. Truly, a bone-chilling thought.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei?¡± Li Chengfeng asked after seeing the great change in expression on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°With how strange it is, this has to be a soul armament, right? I can tell it has a will of its own with how it keeps trying to return to its ¡®owner¡¯. Is this Mo Ni¡¯s lifebound armament then? Could we find where he is if we use this as a compass?¡±


    That snapped Bai Yunfei back to reality. He looked at Li Chengfeng, his eyes bright with optimism, ¡°We can. Thanks to its bond with Mo Ni, we can follow this demon armament back to where Mo Ni is!¡±


    Any other person probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to use the needle to track it back to Mo Ni, but Bai Yunfei could!


    He raised the needle and thought of a single word:


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A while later.


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 8280


    Additional Attack: 8000


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    Equipment Effect 1: Inflict damage to the target''s soul when a blow is landed.


    Equipment Effect 2: A portion of the soul of each killed target is converted into attack. Portion converted is dependent on the strength of the killed target.


    +10 Additional Effect: Inflict Soul-frayed once damage has been applied. For 10 seconds, spirit-based attacks do 100% more damage.


    +12 Additional Effect: Ignore dark-type defenses.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei could hardly stop himself from smirking once he saw the newly-upgraded needle, but he schooled his emotions to focus on the task at hand. The ¡®spirit¡¯ was much stronger than before, so strong, in fact, that Bai Yunfei was confident it¡¯d truly gain true sentience if he upgraded it to +13. But that wasn¡¯t important. Quickly, he dove into the depth of the demon armament to find its imprint.


    Right now, the needle had about forty percent compatibility with Bai Yunfei. It wasn¡¯t at the level of a soulbound armament, but it was still significant enough. Given time and effort, he was sure he could erode Mo Ni¡¯s imprint and turn it into his own.


    But that wasn¡¯t the goal either. If he did that, then Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to track Mo Ni anymore.


    For a while, Bai Yunfei did nothing. He laid his palm out, allowing the needle to rest over it. Slowly, the needle began to spin until it came to a stop in a certain direction.


    ¡°That way!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed.

 Chapter 1282: The Death of Mo Ni

    A single bloody streak of light shot through the azure skies. Flying at unbelievable speeds, this streak of light was seemingly running off in a single direction somewhere.


    Within this light was Gui Nu and Mo Ni.


    ¡°Damn! Damnit! Damn it all!!¡±


    Mo Ni howled with rage. With how he was cursing over and over, one would think someone had killed his dog or something.


    It wasn¡¯t supposed to go this way! He came here on this trip with his father and ancestor so he could regain the confidence he had lost! He wanted to see what the Fate School had to offer and become stronger! It was a journey of conquest where they were supposed to be the victors!


    And yet¡­


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­Bai Yunfei!!! Ahhhh!!!¡±


    Mo Ni roared, cursing Bai Yunfei¡¯s name with as much hatred he could muster.


    If there had been any lingering thoughts of him being Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®rival¡¯, the scene he witnessed just a moment ago had shattered that into thousands of pieces. He thought about how he had once been proud to call Bai Yunfei a ¡®genius¡¯ of his caliber. Now, Mo Ni had nothing but envious hatred for him.


    It wasn¡¯t just Bai Yunfei anymore! There was someone else his age that was even stronger than he was! That Li Chengfeng! When they fought, Mo Ni could distinctly see that Li Chengfeng wasn¡¯t anywhere as stressed as he was. And to make matters even worse, Mo Ni knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to win against him!


    But the final nail in the coffin was when he was trying to escape. Though he managed to do so, Mo Ni was forced to concede the needle to Li Chengfeng!


    That was his strongest demon armament! A demon armament he spent far too much time and energy killing soul cultivators to ¡®grow¡¯! If he had just a little more time with it, Mo Ni was confident his needle would¡¯ve been as strong as the demon core Dongfang Ming had! But now¡­that needle was gone!


    ¡°Ah!! Ahhhh!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!¡±


    This time, Mo Ni¡¯s voice was starting to grow hoarse. His eyes were bloodshot even due to the intense emotions running through his mind.


    Then, his cries of anger were cut off abruptly as if someone had suddenly seized hold of his throat. Eyes widening, Mo Ni immediately doubled up in pain.


    ¡°Pfft!!¡±


    Completely out of the blue, Mo Ni spat out a mouthful of blood!


    Face flushed, Mo Ni wiped at his robes to rid the blood from his mouth. He coughed several times as his body spasmed with pain, his eyes revealing the horror he was feeling.


    ¡°The¡­the Black Dragon King is dead?!¡±


    The loss of the Black Dragon King stunned Mo Ni. He simply never imagined that such a day would come.


    He turned to look behind him where the Black Dragon King had been, dazed.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s dead! I can¡¯t believe it!¡±


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    A stab of pain shot through Mo Ni again at that moment, causing him to spit out another mouthful of blood.


    ¡°Gui Nu! Stop!!¡±


    Gui Nu came to an immediate stop at Mo Ni¡¯s command. Hovering near a cliff, Gui Nu quickly excavated a small cave for Mo Ni to take shelter in.


    Mo Ni could hardly even stand as it was right now. He staggered two steps forward before belching out another mouthful of blood. His hand slammed unsteadily against the wall before he collapsed onto the ground.


    It felt like his very soul was in pain right now. If souls had a physical shape, then his would definitely have several cracks. His soulforce was flowing so erratically that even his essence originseed seemed like it was on the verge of collapse.


    Closing his eyes, Mo Ni tried to forget about the pain so he could meditate and recuperate.


    The death of the Black Dragon King had serious implications on his own health due to their contract. If he didn¡¯t take care of this problem now, then Mo Ni feared that the damage to his soul would become irreversible.


    ¡­¡­


    With Mo Ni meditating in the cave and Gui Nu standing guard, the cave was silent for at least three full minutes before¡­


    ¡°Ugh¡­pft!!¡±


    The silence shattered when Mo Ni let out a groan of pain and spat out yet another mouthful of blood!


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s really dead!


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it! How could the Black Dragon King be dead!?


    ¡°Why are things like this?! Why?!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!!! It¡¯s all because of Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Aahhh!! Ahhh!!


    ¡°I¡­I hate him!!¡±


    The final limiter on Mo Ni¡¯s emotional wellbeing had finally cracked. All at once, Mo Ni began to let loose a myriad of curses and screams until his eyes went fully red!


    He was going insane!


    As hard as he tried to concentrate on healing, Mo Ni simply couldn¡¯t! The death of the Black Dragon King and the loss of his demon armament had caused his emotions to go out of control to the point of insanity!


    Ten years¡­it was almost close to ten years since he met Bai Yunfei. Ten years of defeat, pressure, envy, and hatred¡­all of it was finally starting to pour out from him!


    ¡°Why¡­why!! It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s all because of you! Bai Yunfei! I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll definitely kill you! Die! Die die die die!!¡±


    Like a broken record, Mo Ni was without his usual calm-headed rationality. He was already hallucinating Bai Yunfei standing right in front of him and swiped at him as if trying to kill him.


    Going insane at such a moment like this was extremely dangerous. He could probably return back to normal if someone was there to help him, but unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t possible¡­


    ¡ªGui Nu was basically a statue right now. He was standing vigilantly outside the cave due to the ¡®order¡¯ Mo Ni gave him earlier. He wouldn¡¯t leave his position without another order.


    But what Mo Ni failed to see in his insanity was that there was something off about Gui Nu¡­His eyes, which were normally supposed to be vacant and emotionless, were starting to flicker with something.


    A closer observation would allow one to see that this flicker of light would only appear when Mo Ni said a specific thing.


    Two words, in fact.


    Bai Yunfei¡­


    The light in Gui Nu¡¯s eyes gradually grew brighter and brighter¡ªthe light of ¡®hatred¡¯!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡­


    Bai Yunfei.


    Bai Yunfei!


    That was the name of his most hated enemy! The bane of his life and the very reason behind his existence!


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    Labored breaths began to escape from Gui Nu as his face scrunched together.


    Once before, he had been promised enough power to kill Bai Yunfei. But today, Gui Nu knew he had yet that power to kill Bai Yunfei!


    It wasn¡¯t enough! He had¡­he had to become stronger! He needed more power in order to kill that person!


    ¡°Blood¡­blood!!¡±


    A murky snarl escaped from Gui Nu. His mind was beginning to think of ways for him to become stronger.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    He was suddenly made aware of a strange noise. His nose smelled something enticing, and his eyes began to scour the area for what it was.


    He turned around.


    Behind him was the hallucinating Mo Ni with blood pouring freely from his mouth.


    Blood!


    Power!!


    Thirst appeared in Gui Nu¡¯s eyes at once. As if driven by instinct, he stood up and walked slowly over to Mo Ni.


    Then his mind began to work against his body. Upon his second step toward Mo Ni, something deep within his soul was telling him something¡ªhe was not to harm this person in front of him!


    Master¡­master?!


    His eyes dimmed in light and the snarl on his face dropped.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei! I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll definitely kill you!¡±


    But then Mo Ni renewed his rantings. Like music, the very name of Bai Yunfei caused Gui Nu to jolt awake again!


    The pupils of his eyes dilated very much like that of a beast. The shackles put in place in his soul were destroyed at once at the mention of Bai Yunfei¡¯s name.


    The snarl was back on Gui Nu¡¯s lips.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Roaring like a feral beast, Gui Nu snapped forward at Mo Ni!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    The caves echoed with the sound of flesh being torn apart. Mo Ni¡¯s ears were the first part of him to recognize this fact before his entire body froze still.


    The insanity bled away from his face as his brain tried to interpret the situation he was in. It took a moment for his eyes to regain the light and another two seconds for him to look down at his own chest.


    An arm was sticking into it.


    He followed the arm down to where it connected with his chest. The wrist and even palm were embedded in his chest¡­


    Going back the other way, Mo Ni looked up to stare at the snarling Gui Nu.


    ¡°Gui¡­Gui Nu?¡±


    With quaking lips, Mo Ni spoke Gui Nu¡¯s name. He could hardly believe what was going on right now.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A wave of soulforce pulsed outward from Gui Nu into Mo Ni¡¯s body. Freezing up, Mo Ni realized at once what this meant when his lifeforce began to drop.


    The Bloodsoul Dark Artes!


    He was a hundred percent sane again. Right now, hundreds of emotions were dancing across his face and mind.


    Shock. Fury. Terror. Rejection. Humiliation. Self-derision. Despair. Loss¡­


    ¡°I¡­Mo Ni¡­am going to die like this¡­?¡±


    Eyes dimming, Mo Ni uttered the very last words he would ever speak in his life¡­


    He never thought that he¡¯d die. If he had a choice, he supposed he¡¯d rather die at the hands of his bitter ¡®rival¡¯ Bai Yunfei after a long-fought battle. Of all the ways to die, though, dying at the hands of Gui Nu was not one he expected.


    There was no ¡®final confrontation¡¯. There was no intense battle or dramatic getaway scene. To go insane due to the death of the Black Dragon King and then dying at the hand of his own ¡®slave¡¯ and turning into something akin to ¡®nutrients¡¯.


    How laughable.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Thud!¡±


    Gui Nu pulled his arm back some time later, allowing Mo Ni¡¯s corpse to fall to the ground.


    The corpse was as dry as a mummy without any blood or liquid in it.


    Mo Ni was dead. Dead with regrets.

 Chapter 1283: A Change Within Gui Nu

    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    The Heaven¡¯s Thunder shot through the skies with Bai Yunfei standing on top of it. Right now, he was staring in confusion at the needle in his hand.


    A black light escaped from it moments before it started to tremble. Like a headless ant, the needle rolled and twitched in several directions before letting out a mournful vibration.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei?¡±


    Perched on top of Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder, Xiao Qi stared curiously at the needle.


    ¡°Mo Ni¡¯s soul imprint¡­I can¡¯t sense it anymore!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed.


    ¡°Did he find out I was tracking him? Would he cut off his connection with his demon armament?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself. ¡°Or¡­did he die?!¡±


    It was a baffling thought, but also not one outside the realms of possibility. ¡°No way¡­Mo Ni wasn¡¯t that badly hurt when he escaped. As much as the Black Dragon King¡¯s death might hurt, he shouldn¡¯t be in critical condition.


    ¡°I bet he¡¯s trying his best to heal right now and cut off his connection so we wouldn¡¯t be able to track him¡­¡±


    He stared in the direction the needle had last pointed him toward. Never would Bai Yunfei be able to guess that it was Gui Nu that had killed Mo Ni.


    ¡°What do we do, keep chasing?¡±


    He hesitated. Turning from the direction of the Fate School then in the direction where Mo Ni fled to, Bai Yunfei sighed. ¡°We¡¯ve chased him this far, let¡¯s keep going. If we can¡¯t find anything in the next few minutes, we¡¯ll call it quits¡­¡±


    Many of his allies were already returning to the Fate School, meaning Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have to worry about the Fate School for now. Without any enemy there, the cracks in the Hidden Horizon regenerated and meant the Fate School was safe from any further harm. Li Chengfeng¡¯s wife and kids, by extension, were safe, and didn¡¯t need Bai Yunfei to worry about them either.


    Thus, Bai Yunfei was free to chase after Mo Ni and return later to the Fate School.


    He couldn¡¯t use the needle to track Mo Ni anymore, but he would still at the very least be able to travel in the direction last pointed to him.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel too confident in his chances on finding Mo Ni. He didn¡¯t really have an idea how far Mo Ni was away from him due to the needle no longer working, and there was no way he¡¯d be able to find out now.


    But when he searched nearly half a kilometer of the area around him, Bai Yunfei took notice of a nearby mountain peak.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t Mo Ni¡¯s aura he could sense, but rather a far more powerful and sinister-feeling aura. He didn¡¯t even have to be this close to sense it! The owner of this aura wasn¡¯t even bothering to hide himself!


    This was confusing to Bai Yunfei. He thought Mo Ni was trying to hide himself when the connection between him and the needle was lost. But now there was someone that was blatantly broadcasting their auras as if to say: ¡°I¡¯m right here!¡±


    ¡°Is it a trap?!¡±


    His first assumption was that this was a trap of Mo Ni, but it didn¡¯t seem likely. Why would Mo Ni try to make a trap like this in his current situation?!


    ¡°This aura¡­that¡¯s Zhang Zhenshan!¡±


    Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow the moment he realized who that aura belonged to. He distinctly remembered Gui Nu running away with Mo Ni, what was he doing here then? Was Mo Ni there with him too then?


    Or¡­did Mo Ni order Gui Nu to deliberately reveal himself and act as a roadblock so he could escape?


    ¡°Wait! His aura¡­he¡¯s a Late-stage Soul Emperor! But how?¡±


    Then he realized the intensity of Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s aura. A while ago, the man had only been a Mid-stage Soul Emperor, but now he was a stage stronger!


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­going on here?!¡±


    Confused, Bai Yunfei decided that the only thing that could be done was go up that mountain and check.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid if this was a ¡®trap¡¯. There wasn¡¯t much that could threaten him right not, barring that of a Saint.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Both Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi touched down on the mountain shortly afterward. Their soulforce scanned the area the moment their feet tapped onto the ground without even bothering to hide their presence.


    A second later and Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulsense alerted him to something completely beyond his expectations.


    Finding a cave was within expectations. Finding someone inside of it was also within his expectation. Finding Gui Nu ¡®meditating¡¯ right beside a corpse was¡­not within those expectations.


    ¡°Mo¡­Mo Ni?!¡±


    The corpse wasn¡¯t in one piece anymore, but the clothes and accessories it adorned were familiar enough for Bai Yunfei to make a guess on who it was¡ªMo Ni!


    ¡°Mo Ni is¡­dead?!¡±


    The thought was hard for Bai Yunfei to compute. He almost thought he was imagining things for a moment, but¡­


    He recalled that Gui Nu studied the Bloodsoul Dark Artes. If Gui Nu was meditating right now and Mo Ni was dead beside him, there had to be some kind of relation. Piecing together the puzzle pieces, Bai Yunfei began to feel unsettled by the result.


    But he didn¡¯t have much time to ponder the situation. When his soulsense scanned the area, Gui Nu included, it caused the man to suddenly awaken!!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Eyes red and fingers crooked, Gui Nu let out a loud roar as if battle-ready. A burst of soulforce exploded from him before he¡­disappeared from where he stood!


    ¡°Wha?!¡±


    Alarmed, Bai Yunfei immediately brought out the Cataclysmic Seal. At once, he activated its barrier to protect him and Xiao Qi within it.


    A blood-red figure appeared next to the barrier the next second. Rending space open where he appeared, the figure slashed at Bai Yunfei¡¯s face!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    The barrier trembled violently when the claws made contact with it, but it held. The rebound of the attack had been strong enough to send the blood-red figure flying backward.


    The defensive barrier of the Cataclysmic Seal was obscenely powerful now. Not even Shen Pojun¡¯s soul armament, the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade, would be able to cut it apart, let alone Gui Nu¡¯s claws.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    But that didn¡¯t stop Gui Nu from advancing again. Turning around in midair, he kicked off against the ground back toward Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    Gui Nu was thrown backward once again, but Bai Yunfei noticed with alarm that the barrier was trembling even more compared to the first strike this time.


    He didn¡¯t move from his spot. Instead, Bai Yunfei decided to take the opportunity to study Gui Nu.


    ¡°Zhang Zhenshan¡­¡±


    He sighed.


    Strangely enough, mentioning that name seemed to illicit a response from Gui Nu. The man had been ready to strike for a third time when he heard the name and immediately came to a stand-still as if frozen there.


    The berserk light in his eyes began to dissipate, but only slightly. He was resisting something. Something that was seemingly trying to control the way he thought.


    ¡°Huf¡­huff¡­Bai¡­Bai Yunfei¡­! Bai! Yun! Fei!! Ahhh!!!¡±


    The light of rationality re-entered Gui Nu¡¯s eyes. He glowered at Bai Yunfei as if the person was bringing back memories of something hateful and began to shiver with fury.


    Ever since he learned the Bloodsoul Dark Artes and was given the name of ¡®Gui Nu¡¯, Zhang Zhenshan had forgotten everything about himself. The seal put in place on his soul had made sure of that. Mo Ni had him turned into a puppet meant to obey orders, meaning there was no need for Zhang Zhenshan to be capable of rational thought.


    The seal wasn¡¯t never supposed to break, but Mo Ni going insane inadvertently saw to the seal breaking up. Combined with the state Mo Ni was in, the seal loosened just enough for Gui Nu to become overexcited and kill his own ¡®master¡¯ and absorbed his lifeblood to become stronger.


    These factors combined caused a strange mutation to take place and allowed a sliver of rationality to return to Gui Nu.


    That was why Gui Nu wasn¡¯t only just thinking about killing Bai Yunfei right now. Seeing Bai Yunfei helped him remember just how much he hated the man and that he used to be called Zhang Zhenshan¡­


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!! I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll kill you! Ahh!!! Die!!¡±


    It was slight, but the rationality Zhang Zhenshan had was enough for him to let out a growl of hatred for the foe in front of him before he began his charge!


    But he did seem to be aware that his attacks wouldn¡¯t do any harm to Bai Yunfei. So he raised his hands and began to go through several handseals!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A blood-red light exploded from Zhang Zhenshan before transforming into a sea of blood behind him. A bloody aura filled the cave as his own soulforce began to skyrocket!


    ¡°A power-boosting skill?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gasped. Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s aura had suddenly exploded into the range of a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor, but¡­it was still growing!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    A bright flash of light seized hold of Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention. He watched as the barrier around him trembled for a second before¡­a crack appeared over its surface!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Shocked once again, Bai Yunfei immediately began to retreat with a grim look on his face...

 Chapter 1284: Battling Zhang Zhenshan

    A sea of blood was all Bai Yunfei could see around him. Its pungent smell assaulted his eyes and left him feeling uncomfortable within it.


    This had to be an area-type soul skill!


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    He snorted, if the enemy was using such a skill, then he¡¯d do the same. The Core Stone and Soul Sealing Mandate had their own area-type soul skills and could easily overwhelm this one.


    +12 Additional Effect of the Core Stone:


    Temporarily increase the activity rate of any type of energy by 100% within an area of the owner¡¯s choosing.


    +12 Additional Effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate:


    All allies within range gain a 20% increase in all attributes.


    All enemies within range have a 10% decrease in all attributes.


    Determination of ally or enemy is dependent on user. If unknown, then neither effects will apply.


    Duration of one hour and cooldown of 24 hours.


    ¡°Step back for now, Xiao Qi, I¡¯ll handle this!¡±


    Given the time from when he left the Fate School to now, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was back to normal, meaning he could fight as much as he¡¯d ¡®like¡¯, though fighting Zhang Zhenshan didn¡¯t really make him feel happy.


    ¡°Fine then, Zhang Zhenshan¡­we¡¯ll settle our decade long hatred once in for all today!!¡±


    Hands clapping together, Bai Yunfei began to go through a series of handseals. It was time to begin the battle!


    Fighting Zhang Zhenshan as he was now would be foolhardy. If Zhang Zhenshan was in a powered-up state, then Bai Yunfei would have to do the same.


    Dual Flame Artes: Berserk Mode!


    And that wasn¡¯t all¡ªto prevent his opponent from fleeing, Bai Yunfei even called out the Interdimensional Phantasm. Upon its materialization, the sea of blood around them flickered with an iridescent light¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Several strikes crashed against the surface of Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier moments later. Though the Cataclysmic Seal managed to persevere without breaking, Bai Yunfei did lose a substantial chunk of soulforce from the effort of maintaining it.


    Being bomb-rushed like this without attacking wasn¡¯t something Bai Yunfei enjoyed. He sprung into action the moment he entered Berserk Mode and lashed out with a left straight!


    His left fist whizzed through the air past his recently-deactivated barrier, only stopping when a blood-colored claw came forward in defense of its owner.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Something gave way when the two clashed. Bai Yunfei could note the sound of something similar to a bone snapping when the two were forced apart.


    ¡°Tch! He¡¯s strong! Does he have a demonic body too?!¡±


    He massaged his left hand as he widened the distance between him and Zhang Zhenshan. That clash took a lot from him and did hardly anything to Zhang Zhenshan. That punch was the strongest he could muster and should¡¯ve destroyed Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s arm, but failed. He didn¡¯t sense the presence of a soul armament, but the raw amount of energy and power in Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s arm went well beyond what should¡¯ve been possible!


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, take this!¡±


    It was time for another approach. If Zhang Zhenshan was going to approach him, then Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t oblige. Flying backward, he made several handseals before gathering elemental fire to both his arms.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The energy roared to life before shooting out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms toward Zhang Zhenshan as two giant dragons!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    Searing through the sea of blood like a hot knife through butter, the dragons tore through everything in its path to snap at Zhang Zhenshan!


    Recognizing the danger, Zhang Zhenshan gave up his plan to attack at once and sent out a pulse of soulforce. The blood around him swirled protectively in front of him like a vertical maelstrom to protect him.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The dragons crashed into the maelstrom and was scattered apart alongside with it like water droplets on a solid surface.


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was far stronger than before now that it contained the Law of Chaos with it and was composed of the Law of Fire instead of regular elemental fire. And then with Berserk Mode further boosting its power, the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was a move that was fully capable of killing any Late-stage Soul Emperor if it made contact.


    And so Bai Yunfei was surprised to see that his Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst had failed. ¡°He¡¯s alive?!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A blood-red figure shot up from the mixture of black, red, and crimson. Not only was Zhang Zhenshan alive, he was also completely unharmed!


    His Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst had failed to do anything?!


    He could hardly believe it, but the proof was standing right there in front of him.


    ¡°Wait!¡± His eyes narrowed in on something, ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s burning up his own lifeblood!¡±


    Escaping from the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst completely unharmed wasn¡¯t possible for even a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor like Zhang Zhenshan. Though he didn¡¯t look like he was harmed, his aura was telling a different story. By burning up his lifeblood, Zhang Zhenshan managed to erase any damage he felt!


    ¡°He¡¯s a madman!!¡±


    Again, Bai Yunfei was astonished. Burning up lifeblood in such a manner was completely crazy. It was basically on par with trying to commit suicide with how damaging this method was to the originseed.


    It didn¡¯t even matter if he killed Zhang Zhenshan or not in this battle anymore, the latter certainly wouldn¡¯t be living for long after this!


    A move of high price, high reward. Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s energy was already well into the Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor level and getting close to Sainthood levels!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Cursing to himself, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to send the Cataclysmic Seal forward!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Expanding in size as it flew, the Cataclysmic Seal was soon the size of a mountain when it was about to slam into Zhang Zhenshan.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A bloody mist obscured Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s figure, leaving only his two eyes to be visible. When the Cataclysmic Seal approached, Zhang Zhenshan snarled once before flying upward to avoid being hit.


    The Cataclysmic Seal sailed underneath Zhang Zhenshan harmlessly after that. But instead of being discouraged, Bai Yunfei activated something with a substantial amount of his soulforce!


    ¡°Bz¡­¡±


    Suddenly, the entire Cataclysmic Seal began to grow in size!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Expanding in a size fast enough, the Cataclysmic Seal managed to strike at Zhang Zhenshan before it was too late and send him flying!


    ¡°Tch!¡± Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue. The giant ¡®mountain¡¯ disappeared at once to have the Cataclysmic Seal return to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. Though the power was stronger, the amount of soulforce needed to activate its effect was also much more noticeable. Bai Yunfei reckoned he didn¡¯t even have half his soulforce right now.


    It was an attack worthy of a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor. If death wasn¡¯t delivered, then the body would definitely be maimed.


    ¡°No way¡­he¡¯s not dead?!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal managed to send Zhang Zhenshan flying, but Bai Yunfei was alarmed to see that it didn¡¯t send him far. After traveling several hundred meters, Zhang Zhenshan suddenly came to a stop!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    There was another roar, but this time, Bai Yunfei felt it was coming near his ear!


    Hair standing on its end, Bai Yunfei suddenly felt the most fearful need to activate the Core Stone¡¯s +10 additional effect!


    ¡°Swoosh!¡±


    One moment later and Bai Yunfei ¡®disappeared¡¯ from the real world. And not a moment too soon later, Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s claws went through where his heart had been!


    Zhang Zhenshan continued to fly onward after doing the ¡®deed¡¯. Coming to an eventual stop a hundred meter away, Zhang Zhenshan looked confused for a moment at the situation.


    He thought he had managed to spear through Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. But somehow, for some reason, his hand was empty.


    Thanks to Bai Yunfei¡¯s quick-thinking, he escaped into a sealed dimension right when Zhang Zhenshan attacked. It frightened him deeply to think that Zhang Zhenshan was able to shrug off the Cataclysmic Seal so quickly and then retaliate just as rapidly.


    It also frightened Bai Yunfei to see the state Zhang Zhenshan was in. His face was shriveled up almost to the bone. None of his injuries bled anymore, for some strange reason or another, but his aura was still as incredibly powerful as ever and contained the stench of death to it.


    The Bloodsoul Dark Artes was an arcane arte that exchanged blood for power. With him burning his lifeblood and using the Bloodsoul Dark Artes, Zhang Zhenshan was basically a shriveled husk after stopping the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst and the Cataclysmic Seal.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    But Zhang Zhenshan wasn¡¯t paying attention to that. Roaring again, he leaped to his feet and rushed for Bai Yunfei again!

 Chapter 1285: The Conclusion of a Decade-long Grudge

    ¡°Boom boom boom boom..¡±


    Multicolored light splashed across the Interdimensional Phantasm as red balls of light exploded everywhere.


    Xiao Qi stood high above the battlefield to watch with concern at the two individuals fight. Though he was a spectator, watching the battle made his blood pound heavily and made him want to join the fray.


    However, he knew Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want him to take part. So he waited.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two crossed paths once again, creating an explosion that forced them apart a hundred meters.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡± In a brilliant arc of fire, the Fire-tipped Spear cut a path through the thick energy around Bai Yunfei and ignited the air on fire.


    Bai Yunfei was overflowing with fighting spirit. Soulforce flowed from his body in endless waves as he stared down his opponent. Truthfully, he was a little excited to be battling Zhang Zhenshan. This was something he had hoped for, in fact.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    A crimson figure flew toward Bai Yunfei with extreme speed following a loudo roar. In response, Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes and immediately broke apart into three identical figures to strike at the incoming figure with their spears.


    The +12 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear: Doppelganger!


    The red light around Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s body rippled like a body of armor. Parts of the red light solidified into a giant bloody demon with a scythe equipped in its hand. Rearing the weapon back, the demon then let it loose with a horizontal chop!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The doppelganger on the left was immediately cut in two and turned to dust. The one in the middle frowned and brought his spear back to protect his midriff.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The blood scythe slammed against the shaft of the Fire-tipped Spear with an ear-splitting shriek. A large amount of power was pressing against the spear, forcing Bai Yunfei to fly backward.


    ¡°Pft!¡±


    But while his real body was flying backward, the doppelganger on the right made an attempt to stab Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s waist!


    The power behind the doppelganger¡¯s attack wouldn¡¯t be too strong, but it was still better than nothing. Doubled with the fact that Zhang Zhenshan had essentially abandoned his defenses to attack, the attack managed to open up a large hole in his waist!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    As if he didn¡¯t even feel the pain of the thrust, Zhang Zhenshan advanced closer to Bai Yunfei. The scythe-wielding demon above him was already close to disintegrating, but it was still able to reach out with its beastlike claw to scratch out Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat!


    Unable to move out of the way in time, Bai Yunfei did the only thing he do: punch at it with his left hand!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was another explosion before both fighters were knocked apart again.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    But Bai Yunfei noticed something off about this exchange, ¡°It¡¯s weaker! Is¡­he already at his limits?¡±


    The battle was already reaching the ten minute mark since Zhang Zhenshan began his relentless assault. After so many exchanges, Bai Yunfei could finally sense that Zhang Zhenshan¡¯s blows were getting progressively weaker.


    Zhang Zhenshan rarely used elemental energy to attack, and he basically never used a soul attack. Thanks to that, Bai Yunfei was able to make the most of his soulforce to retaliate. Using the Cataclysmic Seal was simply far too heavy of a drain on his reserves so he kept that on the sidelines and stuck to close-combat.


    The battle with this demon was extremely intense, almost on par with Bai Yunfei¡¯s battle with Dongfang Ming, even.


    Bai Yunfei first thought that he was fighting against a Saint when Zhang Zhenshan powered himself up at first. Surely, he would¡¯ve been in a world of pain if he didn¡¯t activate the Core Stone¡¯s effect to transport him into another dimension earlier.


    Fortunately, Bai Yunfei was wrong in his thoughts. Zhang Zhenshan wasn¡¯t a Saint, even after burning his lifeblood. The man was still a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor but was already starting to lose most of his power now that a substantial amount of time had passed.


    ¡°Good¡­then, let¡¯s see if I can win with this one last attack!!¡±


    He felt gleeful. Maybe he didn¡¯t have to use the Vampiric Demon Edge after all if his opponent was already on the verge of collapse. Kicking off against the sky so hard that a fracture in space appeared, Bai Yunfei transformed into a brilliant beam of fire toward Zhang Zhenshan!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Zhang Zhenshan was looking more and more like a dried up corpse if not for the blood around him. And with how sinister the blood felt around him, Zhang Zhenshan resembled a supernatural demon more than he did a real life human. Screeching loudly, he brandished a bloody sword and charged!


    Everything else in the world was lost in this moment as Bai Yunfei and Zhang Zhenshan met in the middle for one last exchange!


    The two met in a shower of sparks, creating a loud enough explosion to disturb even the Interdimensional Phantasm. Bursts of energy sloughed off Bai Yunfei and Zhang Zhenshan into the surrounding world, wrecking havoc wherever the two energies mixed!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    One tremendous explosion roared to life in the Interdimensional Phantasm, echoing for a long time before finally fading away¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Not even Xiao Qi was able to remain unaffected by this exchange. He flew several dozen meters backward before he managed to steady himself. Eyes wide open, he observed the epicenter with shock, though he was confident in Bai Yunfei¡¯s survival.


    That didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t nervous though.


    ¡°Phew¡­he¡¯s fine! That¡¯s good!¡±


    Xiao Qi heaved a sigh of relief when he felt that Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was still fine. His bond with Bai Yunfei was telling him that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in any danger at all.


    He waited for the energy waves to die down before cautiously making his way over to where Bai Yunfei was.


    Weaving through warped space, Xiao Qi soon came to a stop near the epicenter where a single person stood, dazed.


    ¡°Yunfei, are you okay?!¡±


    Xiao Qi was concerned for Bai Yunfei¡¯s relatively low soulforce and just had to ask.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m fine.¡± Bai Yunfei replied, startled awake by Xiao Qi¡¯s presence. ¡°I just used up more soulforce than I¡¯d like, I should be fine soon.¡±


    ¡°Is he dead?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s dead¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei responded, a wistful expression on his face.


    This battle hadn¡¯t been a very dangerous one, truth be told. But it definitely had its moments.


    And in the end, he won.


    It ended when Zhang Zhenshan used up the rest of his lifeblood for his final attack. When he failed to kill Bai Yunfei, he ended up turning into dust to shower the world with it.


    Strangely enough, Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t feeling all too happy even though he won. There was a strange and complex emotion he was feeling instead.


    Today marked the conclusion of a decade long grudge. Thinking back to how it started, Bai Yunfei began to think of a few other things as well.


    ¡°The Black Dragon King is dead, Mo Ni is dead, and Zhang Zhenshan is finally dead too¡­most of my biggest headaches are all gone in a single day today¡­¡±


    He muttered to himself before shaking his head with a sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s get going, Xiao Qi.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Stepping out from the Interdimensional Phantasm, Bai Yunfei looked around the cliff near him before dropping down into the cave.


    He stepped into the cave and soon came across Mo Ni¡¯s corpse. It filled him with some regret that the person who had once caused him so much trouble would meet his end in such a place.


    Feeling no desire to desecrate the corpse, Bai Yunfei waved his hand to summon a ball of fire. If the life of a human could be snuffed out like a candle, it seemed fitting that the corpse would be treated as such as well.


    But before the flames could leave his hand, Bai Yunfei noted something strange with the corpse and stopped. His eyes glinted calculatively as he began to think about something¡­

 Chapter 1286: Ambush

    On the mountain where Mo Ni had died.


    The area was extraordinarily peaceful. Since the battle between Bai Yunfei and Zhang Zhenshan happened within the Interdimensional Phantasm, the landscape was calm and untouched as if nothing had happened to begin with.


    Then, somewhere in the sky, a part of space opened up to allow two figures to walk through.


    One of the two was a white-haired elder as long-haired as he was frail. The other man next to him was probably in his fifties at most, though he looked far more mournful than the first. Not only was his body bloodied, but his right arm was cut off at the shoulder so that only a stump remained. Even now, the stump had a small flow of blood dripping from it.


    This one-armed man was none other than the headmaster of the Soul Refining School, Nether! And the elder beside him was the Late-stage Soul Emperor who carried him away.


    It was with vigilance that the two scanned the area when they arrived. Upon noticing no danger, Nether started for a certain cave, ¡°He¡¯s over there...Mo Ni is in that cave¡­¡±


    The eyes of the elder narrowed in on the cave. Looking at it for a moment, the elder let out a gasp, ¡°Why can I not sense Mo Ni¡¯s aura!?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± It was Nether¡¯s turn to be surprised. Scanning the cave as well, Nether¡¯s face soon turned deathly-white upon processing the results.


    The interior of the cave was soon made immediately clear to them when they sent their soulsenses into the cave.


    And that was when they both took notice of the lone corpse on the ground.


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Nether howled in extreme despair. He dashed toward the cave without waiting for the elder.


    Both of the soul refiners came careening into the cave, only to cry out again with shock at the true sight of Mo Ni¡¯s corpse.


    ¡°My son!!¡±


    Nether wailed in grief. As if the life had been sucked out from him, Nether¡¯s person slackened and seemingly aged by several years. Not even a Soul Emperor could weather such an emotional blow like this one.


    He couldn¡¯t believe it. His son, dead? Did this corpse in front of him truly belong to his child? But that dark-green bracelet, the one on its right wrist. He knew that bracelet. He recognized it. This was truly his son.


    The bracelet was a soulbound armament of Nether. It wasn¡¯t particularly strong, but it was one he used for many years before handing it over to Mo Ni. If anything were to happen to Mo Ni, Nether could use the bracelet as a way to home in on his son.


    He had Mo Ni¡¯s soul armament in a space ring, but that ring had been on his right hand. And that hand had been¡­lost when it was severed back at the Fate School. Consequentially, he had no idea that Mo Ni was dead yet. It was only when he managed to escape with the elder that the two thought about finding him, only to find Mo Ni¡¯s corpse¡­


    It was a devastating blow to his heart. Initially, Nether had been happy to sense his soul armament here in this cave since that meant Mo Ni had managed to escape the massacre. But then to see his son dead on the ground? The world itself was crashing down all around him now.


    The scene was enough to make any father go mad with grief.


    ¡°Who¡­who was it!! Who killed my child! I¡¯ll kill them! I¡¯ll kill them!!¡±


    With how Nether raged and frothed at the mouth, he looked more like a madman than a Soul Emperor. Both his eyes were turning red with his grief and his voice was already cracking up due to his wailing.


    ¡°Headmaster¡­¡± The elder opened his mouth to try and calm Nether down, but he found himself unable to do so. Who could possibly remain calm at the sight of their dead child!?


    Giving up on the effort, the elder turned his attention back to the corpse. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He murmured, ¡°Headmaster! I¡­I can see the signs of the Bloodsoul Dark Artes! Mo Ni¡­he died because of it!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Nether froze up at once, his brain restarting itself to process this new information. Inspecting his son¡¯s corpse, Nether quickly verified the truth with renewed anger.


    There was no one else more familiar with the Bloodsoul Dark Artes than him. It took only a second for him to detect the signs and determine how Mo Ni had died.


    ¡°Could it be Gui Nu?! But how!?¡±


    ¡°Gui Nu! Gui Nu!! Ahhh!!! Why has it¡­how did it come to this?!¡±


    Nether trembled from head to toe with furious grief. He couldn¡¯t understand how Mo Ni¡¯s own ¡®puppet¡¯ had killed him!


    The answer was unfathomable to the elder as well. ¡°Headmaster,¡± He spoke, ¡°it wouldn¡¯t be wise to remain here, we sh¡ªwatch out!!¡±


    Crying out loud in shock, the elder exploded with soulforce to push Nether to one side while he launched himself to the other.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    It all happened too fast for the elder. Though he managed to act quickly, it wasn¡¯t quick enough!


    The cave was briefly illuminated by a brief flash of red light as a crimson-red spear appeared out of nowhere to stab him in the chest!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The first thing he heard was the sound of his own armor resisting the foreign object before it shattered apart. Then came the pain. Somehow¡­his own high-heaven tier armor had been pierced!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Before he even had time to inspect his wound, the elder heard the an ear-splitting explosion go off right below his head before he was transformed into a fireball and thrown backward.


    His ambusher had been merciless on him. As soon as their spear thrust managed to incapacitate the elder, the ambusher moved to block off the cave entrance and stare at the two bewildered Soul Emperors.


    It took a moment for Nether to realize what was going on, but the ambusher was already at the cave¡¯s entrance by the time he recovered. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s you!!¡± He barked in disbelief.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Yes! The ambusher was none other than Bai Yunfei!


    Two hours after Bai Yunfei killed Zhang Zhenshan, he had been in the cave standing over Mo Ni. He was about to cremate Mo Ni¡¯s corpse when he suddenly took notice of the bracelet on his right arm.


    It was a simple matter to see that this wasn¡¯t Mo Ni¡¯s soulbound armament, but one that belonged to someone else. It also didn¡¯t take much for Bai Yunfei to realize that sooner or later, the owner of this soul armament would probably come looking for Mo Ni.


    He wasn¡¯t too sure if that was correct, but Bai Yunfei was willing to bet on the outcome and wait for the right opportunity.


    Hiding in a corner of the cave, Bai Yunfei hid his presence perfectly enough so that neither Mo Ni nor the elder noticed him when they entered. He even used the +12 additional effect of one of his rings to better hide himself.


    Scout Ring¡¯s (TL Note: Also known as Invisibility Ring) stats:


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attribute: +800 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +700 Spirit


    Soul Compatibility: 35%


    Equipment Effect: Increase perception by 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: Reveal anything hidden within a kilometer for 10 seconds in exchange for 5% of current soulforce reserves.Can increase range of perimeter by 100 meters in exchange for 1% of soulforce.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: Enter a ¡®Hidden¡¯ status. Any movement will cancel out this status.Cooldown of one hour.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    Thanks to this ring, Bai Yunfei was able to remain hidden with great results. Not even a Late-stage Soul Emperor like the elder would be able to find him even if he tried.


    For two hours, Bai Yunfei remained motionless. It was a feat that even the most determined person would find extremely difficult to accomplish.


    And when they came, Bai Yunfei made sure to not hold back. He waited for the two to get a little closer and be shocked by Mo Ni¡¯s death before he made his assault!


    If Xiao Qi, who was currently in the Core World for now, were to come out and help him fight a direct battle, then Bai Yunfei was confident in being able to defeat these two without a problem. However, ambushing his opponents and delivering a great opening move would definitely make that battle much easier.


    Whether an ambush was dirty-handed or not¡­was a ridiculous topic he didn¡¯t even want to bother with right now.


    He had hoped that his ambush would at least kill one of the two and make his life a whole lot easier. But in the end, a Soul Emperor was a Soul Emperor. The elder was made aware of Bai Yunfei¡¯s ambush the moment he emerged from his Hidden status and only managed to get a spear through the chest for his troubles. While not fatal, the wound would definitely weaken the elder by a substantial degree.


    ¡­¡­


    Standing by the entrance, Bai Yunfei stared the shocked Nether. Three years ago, Bai Yunfei had been there to strike and vanquish Nether¡¯s avatar. Three years later, and the hatred he had for this man had yet to fade.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me! You actually came, Nether¡­it¡¯s time for you to die with your son!!¡±

 Chapter 1287: Nethers Death

    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Space warped around Nether and the elder even while Bai Yunfei was speaking. Iridescent light appeared from the cracks in space to cover the ground, cave walls, roof, and everything else as if to transport them all into a different dimension!


    ¡°The Interdimensional Phantasm!!¡±


    The elder was the first of the two to realize what was going on. He was still having trouble understanding how a person had not only hid well enough to avoid detection, but also to strike a good blow and have also the Interdimensional Phantasm entrap them.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­you¡¯re my son¡¯s killer!¡±


    Nether sprung to his feet and roared with fury. If Bai Yunfei was here, then he had to be connected to the death of his son somehow! Guilt by association!


    Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow. ¡°I didn¡¯t kill your son,¡± He refuted, ¡°but whatever, talk is cheap. Accept your death!¡±


    He charged forward, the Fire-tipped Spear already being thrusted forward at Nether!


    ¡°Headmaster!!¡±


    Despite the wound in his chest, the elder rose to his feet to fight. Snarling, he lashed his hand out to send a beam of dark-green light toward Bai Yunfei¡¯s throat.


    An axe was visible within the beam of light. Spinning with an especially sharp edge, the axe had definitely the power of a high-heaven tier soul armament.


    He had to save the headmaster by killing Bai Yunfei as quickly as possible. He needed to have Bai Yunfei dodge the axe so he could reconvene with Nether. Perhaps the two would be able to kill Bai Yunfei if they fought together.


    He was later delighted to see that Bai Yunfei falter slightly upon the ¡®threat¡¯ of his soul armament and withdrew his spear.


    It was true that Bai Yunfei gave up attacking Nether, but not for the same reasons as the elder thought. Rather than blocking the axe with his spear, Bai Yunfei waved his left hand to bring out something else from his ring!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The axe came to an immediate stop just under three steps away from Bai Yunfei. Upon it stopping, the elder blanched¡ªhe couldn¡¯t recall his axe!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A small red seal-like soul armament had stopped his axe somehow without being blown backward. The two soul armaments were frozen in midair and were emitting an eerie red light. The red light condensed into a series of red strings that in turn became a net to grab hold of the axe and hold it still!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    He cried out loud. He was confused what was happening, but the oddities were still going on. The red seal began to release a magnetic aura that his axe was unable to resist!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The impossible happened in a split-second. Under his own eyes, the elder watched as his soul armament¡­melt into the seal!


    The +14 Additional Effect of the Cataclysmic Seal had activated!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal began to hum when it absorbed the axe, as if pleased. The light around it receded before the Cataclysmic Seal returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    A mouthful of blood escaped from the elder the moment after. It felt as though an invisible sledgehammer had slammed into his chest to injure him again!


    ¡°What¡­what was that!?¡±


    Face ashen with horror, the elder tried his best to figure out what had happened to him, but he couldn¡¯t come up with an answer.


    ¡°Success!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was overjoyed at his success. He tried it once before in his battle with Shangguan Xiongyan, but unfortunately his target had been the Regalia, the Triumphant Flame. It came without a surprise that his attempt failed then, but it wouldn¡¯t be the same in this case. Absorbing this elder¡¯s soul armament would definitely give him a sharper edge in this fight.


    Since the axe was elder¡¯s soulbound armament, the absorption of it into the Cataclysmic Seal meant damage would be done to his soul, which by extension meant he¡¯d be weaker. The elder probably didn¡¯t even have half his fighting strength left anymore.


    An injured Late-stage Soul Emperor and an injured Mid-stage Soul Emperor. Neither stood a chance again Bai Yunfei now.


    Right as Bai Yunfei was about to renew his attack, the space beside him warped inward to reveal Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Let me deal with one, Yunfei!!¡±


    Choosing to come out from the Core World, Xiao Qi was ready to fight. His eyes peered brightly at the white-haired elder with excitement.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°Fine then. I¡¯ll let you deal with him, let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    ¡°Your arrogance is far too much!!¡± Roared the elder, furious at the blatant disrespect he was receiving from the two. Was he some kind of livestock to be butchered?!


    ¡°You¡¯re noisy! Time for you to be sent to the afterlife!!¡±


    Xiao Qi chirped before bursting forward in an explosion of soulforce and energy!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Snarling as he made a few handseals, the elder summoned multiple blades of dark-gray wind and scattered them throughout the cave to slice up Xiao Qi.


    ¡°A wind-type attack? Hah!!¡±


    Undeterred by the attack, Xiao Qi simply folded his wings to serve as a protective shield and continued on his path.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    One by one, the blades of wind struck Xiao Qi¡¯s wings and burst into a series of golden sparks. An invisible layer of energy was seemingly coated on Xiao Qi¡¯s wings that made him seem almost impervious almost.


    Wind and Lightning Feather stats:


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Wind, Lightning


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 4100


    Defense: 4300


    Additional Attack: 4200


    Additional Defense: 4500


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    Equipment Effect 1: 15% increase in wind and lightning based attacks.


    Equipment Effect 2: 60% increase in flight speed.


    +10 Additional Effect: 100% Increase in equipment effect.


    +12 Additional Effect: 100% Increase in defense when blocking wind or lightning-type attacks. 50% Increase in attack when using wind or lightning-type attacks.


    Upgrade Requirement: 120 Soulpoints


    The Wind and Lightning Feathers had been reforged by Bai Yunfei a while ago and were made even stronger than before. Its +12 additional effect was something that Xiao Qi had been hoping to make use of, and now this battle was giving him the perfect opportunity for it.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Protected by the Wind and Lightning Feathers, Xiao Qi speared through the danger zone without a worry. He spread his wings out the moment he was safe and unleashed a furious storm of lightning bolts!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Trying as hard as he might, the elder blocked off each lightning bolt with his hands, but he found himself still being forced backward.


    With Xiao Qi pressing him forward, the elder was forced farther and farther away from Nether. He was already a hundred steps away from Nether and closer to Bai Yunfei when a crimson spear came at his face.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Like a bolt of lightning, Nether flew at Bai Yunfei to send a beam of black light from his left hand.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Shifting the trajectory of the spear slightly, Bai Yunfei had it strike the beam of light and scatter it apart.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    It infuriated Nether to see Bai Yunfei effortlessly deflect his own attack. Jet-black light exploded from Nether in renewed amounts before he sent them flying toward Bai Yunfei in the form of a single giant beam.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the Cataclysmic Seal to make a barrier, so he had to make do with creating another two doppelgangers to weather the brunt of the beam.


    He was starting to grow dull with this dance he had with Nether. Charging at him again, Bai Yunfei uttered a single word when he drew close enough:


    ¡°Freeze!¡±


    The roar from within Nether¡¯s mouth died out at once. His body froze up, and his eyes registered shock as the crimson Fire-tipped Spear came closer to his throat.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    It speared through Nether¡¯s elemental defense as if it wasn¡¯t even there. Like an unstoppable object, the Fire-tipped Spear pierced into Nether¡¯s throat and then¡­through it!

 Chapter 1288: The Return

    Once before, Bai Yunfei managed to vanquish Nether¡¯s avatar. Today, Bai Yunfei was about to do the same thing to Nether¡¯s main body without even breaking a sweat¡­


    It was a prediction no one would¡¯ve been able to predict.


    At least, Nether didn¡¯t expect that his life would end in such a way.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­¡±


    Something in between a cough and a groan escaped from Nether¡¯s lips. He was glaring at Bai Yunfei, his blood leaking from the hole in his chest. His left hand reached out for Bai Yunfei, but his body was already giving up the fight. The stench of death was already overwhelming every other scent coming from his body.


    In the end, Nether was powerless to resist the beckoning call of death. The light in his eyes dimmed and his body collapsed like a puppet without strings.


    The scourge of the soul cultivator world, an individual of ¡®legendary¡¯ power, was now dead by Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    Against the dying of the light, Nether didn¡¯t even manage to offer up a ¡®final battle¡¯ of great intensity.


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Red light exploded from the Fire-tipped Spear as fire lit up around Nether¡¯s body. The flames roared to life as it fed on his corpse and quickly turned it into ash.


    The Fire-tipped Spear was stored back into the space ring so Bai Yunfei could watch the rest of the ashes fall to the ground with a wistful expression.


    He wasn¡¯t particularly surprised to have killed Nether so easily. Using the Soul Anchor Technique to stop Nether had been particularly effective, and using the +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear was especially instrumental in securing the kill.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    The shrill cry of Xiao Qi alerted Bai Yunfei to the other battle. Watching Xiao Qi flash with four different types of energy. Almost like a divine bird, Xiao Qi was filled with a brilliant aura and energy as he dove toward a squall of dark-green light.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A shrill cry erupted from within the squall a moment after Xiao Qi disappeared in it.


    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled. Xiao Qi killing the elder was also within expectations, though it was done slightly faster than he thought.


    The elder might¡¯ve been a Late-stage Soul Emperor, but he was injured. Xiao Qi was a mid-stage class eight soulbeast and further aided by the Interdimensional Phantasm inhibiting the elder. There was no way for the elder to win.


    The battle was over. In no time almost, a Late-stage Soul Emperor and a Mid-stage Soul Emperor had been killed by Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi¡¯s hands.


    ¡­¡­


    Now that it was over, Bai Yunfei stored away the Interdimensional Phantasm and incinerated Mo Ni¡¯s body so they could return to the Fate School.


    All was calm on the way back. Without an enemy there, the real Fate School was in visible sight now.


    ¡°Yunfei! You¡¯re finally back! What took you so long, did you find something?¡±


    A beam of light shot out from the direction of a mountain to come to a stop in front of Bai Yunfei. It was Li Chengfeng.


    ¡°Ah yeah, something unexpected indeed. I¡¯ll tell you later, but it¡¯s dealt with.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Chengfeng, have any of our own come back yet? What¡¯re the results?¡±


    ¡°Yes, everyone¡¯s back already¡­¡±


    Under Li Chengfeng¡¯s guidance, Bai Yunfei was lead into the Fate School to where everyone else was to tell his story.


    The majority of their enemies had escaped after the battle was over. The Frostfeather Saint came back an hour after without having killed Shangguan Xiongyan. Shen Pojun returned shortly after him, though he, unfortunately, didn¡¯t manage to kill Gu Jimie. The man had used some kind of technique to briefly power himself up just enough to escape from Shen Pojun¡¯s range.


    But it wasn¡¯t all bad news. With Zhang Zhenshan, Nether, the white-haired elder, and Mo Ni (who was killed by Zhang Zhenshan), only three of the enemy forces had managed to escape. Excluding Shangguan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie, a Late-stage Soul Emperor from the Tianhun School also managed to escape.


    No one from the Fate School died, fortunately. Ge Yiyun was the only one heavily injured. No one from the Crafting School was even noticeably harmed.


    All in all, this battle had been a great success for them.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei followed Li Chengfeng into the great hall of the Fate School. Upon walking into its halls, Bai Yunfei noted that he had the eyes of everyone on him.


    The Soul Emperors of both the Fate and the Crafting Schools were assembled there already. Three seats were left at the very front of the hall, two of which were occupied by the Frostfeather Saint and Shen Pojun.


    Bai Yunfei bowed upon him getting close to the two. ¡°Ancestor, senior Frostfeather.¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint nodded, pleased. ¡°It has been a while. You¡¯ve become a Late-stage Soul Emperor already? How admirable¡­¡±


    ¡°What happened, Yunfei? How is Ge Yiyun?¡±


    ¡°Senior Ge Yiyun is fine, your student will bring him out at once.¡±


    Nearly three hours had passed since Ge Yiyun was first left in the Core World. He was, for the most part, stabilized already. Upon Bai Yunfei¡¯s will, Ge Yiyun was taken out from the Core World and placed right beside him.


    ¡°Headmaster!¡±


    Happy cries came out from those of the Fate School. ¡°Are you alright, master?¡±


    Ge Yiyun was looking a little frail, but he managed to show a smile. ¡°Nothing major. I still require some time to heal, that is all¡­¡±


    Truthfully speaking, the technique Ge Yiyun used to boost his power took a significant toll on his body. He wasn¡¯t in danger of dying, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to function at full strength for an extended period of time. But that wasn¡¯t important. As long as the school was fine, he was fine.


    He schooled his emotions to bow toward Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint. ¡°Our Fate School was able to survive due to your sovereignty. Please accept my most humble of thanks¡­¡±


    The others from the Fate School stood up to bow at once as well.


    ¡°Your words are far too kind, Headmaster Ge.¡± Shen Pojun smiled. ¡°It was because of your noble school that my Crafting School was able to survive as well. It was only appropriate that we return the favor¡­¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint nodded, ¡°It was not a troublesome matter. You are too kind, Headmaster Ge.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    As the headmaster of the Fate School, Ge Yiyun found himself sitting in the sole remaining chair above that of Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint while Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng returned to the side with the others.


    ¡°Yunfei,¡± Shen Pojun spoke, ¡°you have yet to tell us where you went. Who did you chase and what did you bring back?¡¯


    ¡°It was a plentiful harvest,¡± Bai Yunfei replied, ¡°I was originally chasing the junior headmaster, Mo Ni, but¡­¡±


    And so he began to retell the story of his chase. As he spoke, everyone listened to his words with bated breaths. And when he spoke of how he and Xiao Qi managed to kill Nether and the other Late-stage Soul Emperor, several of the audience gasped.


    ¡°In other words, the only one from the Soul Refining School to escape is Gu Jimie. The Soul Refining School has lost virtually all their Soul Emperors, meaning they are left with nothing. They will find themselves unable to survive for much longer.¡± Shen Pojun stated.


    ¡°Unfortunately, the Soul Refining School are hidden away in the Lost Swamps. We¡¯ve yet to find them, else I would¡¯ve sought them out earlier and get rid of them.¡±


    ¡°Senior Frostfeather,¡± Bai Yunfei turned to the Frostfeather Saint, ¡°Our victory was due to your timely arrival, and I am grateful for it. But¡­why is someone as important as you here in such a place?¡¯


    ¡°A person told me of this location, and that he had a matter with you he required assistance with. I came for that purpose¡­¡±


    ¡°A person told you? Who?¡±


    ¡°A special existence within the soulbeast world, his name is Zhi Tian.¡±


    ¡°Senior Zhi Tian!¡± Bai Yunfei cried out loud, ¡°He was able to predict the Fate School¡¯s future? And he came to ask you to help us?¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint nodded. ¡°Zhi Tian is from a particularly rare bloodline, one very similar to what the Fate School is to your world. He possesses the ability to divine the most supreme of mysteries and learned that there would be an important battle today. I admit, I found myself hurrying to this location, however¡­there is also another reason why I am here today.¡±


    He turned to Ge Yiyun, ¡°Zhi Tian told me of the location of the ¡®Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡¯ could be found here. Perhaps¡­those enemies attacked you for that express reason?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Shen Pojun flew to his feet at once as if flustered. ¡°The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance?! Headmaster Ge, do you know where the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is?!¡±


    His reaction surprised not just Bai Yunfei, but also the others. Yang Yao and a few other select members all had confused expressions on their faces.


    ¡°Ancestor¡­what is this ¡®Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡¯ you speak of?¡±

 Chapter 1289: The Supreme Saints Inheritance

    The words spoken by Bai Yunfei had an effect on Shen Pojun. Flummoxed, the man fell back down on his chair. Rather than answer Bai Yunfei¡¯s question, he looked to Ge Yiyun. ¡°Headmaster Ge, is what the Frostfeather Saint said true?¡±


    There was a faraway look in Ge Yiyun¡¯s eyes when the Frostfeather Saint spoke, but Shen Pojun¡¯s words brought him back to the present. He nodded his head, relieved. ¡°Senior Frostfeather is correct. The reason behind the attack is most likely due to the ¡®Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡¯...¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s true!?¡±


    Both the Shen Pojun and Frostfeather Saint looked pleasantly surprised.


    ¡°Then¡­does your school know of its whereabouts?!¡± Shen Pojun pressed.


    ¡°We¡­can¡¯t be sure currently.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t be sure? What do you mean by this, Headmaster Ge?¡±


    ¡°If I may be honest, the Runes of Fate of one of our senior members was returned to us prior to the attack.¡± Ge Yiyun sighed, ¡°He has been searching for the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance for several hundred years now, meaning it would be prudent to assume his Rune may contain information regarding the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. But to decipher his Rune would require the Heart Compass which was left with my student, Chengfeng. With him and the Heart Compass gone, I was unable to see what the Rune of Fate contained.¡±


    ¡°A senior member¡­could he be¡­the one known as the ¡®Saint of Fate¡¯ from six hundred years ago?!¡± Asked Shen Pojun.


    ¡°You are correct. The one known as the strongest member the Fate School has ever known.¡±


    The Saint of Fate. A man of extraordinary fame from over six hundred ago and one of the strongest Saints of his time. His one public appearance was when he made a prediction to the ruler of the empire. In his words, the Saint of Fate said that a calamitous event would happen in one of the eastern provinces and that many lives would be lost.


    A prediction from a Saint was certainly not something to be ignored. Upon hearing his prediction, the ruler mobilized his forces at once to the province and managed to save the lives of countless commoners.


    News of his prediction became known to everyone on the continent and the Saint of Fate became a man praised by everyone.


    The Saint of Fate never appeared again after that. Many supposed that because of his intervention in Fate, he was punished by the Heavens and removed from the mortal realm. Only a few soul cultivators knew the truth, that he was instead in search of the legendary Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    Not many knew of it, but those who did made sure to make note of it within their own records for their schools or families to heed. Shen Pojun was one of those few in the know.


    And so he was confident (and excited) that the Runes of Fate belonging to the Saint of Fate had to contain information on the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    His excitement to learn of its whereabouts was unsuccessfully hidden from Ge Yiyun. ¡°Senior Shen, senior Frostfeather,¡± he smiled, ¡°without your assistance, my school would have been wiped from the face of this continent. I would be more than willing to share the information if it is contained in the Runes.¡±


    ¡°Truly?!¡± Shen Pojun smiled, ¡°I give you my utmost thanks, Headmaster Ge!¡± He cupped his hands in gratitude.


    It puzzled Bai Yunfei greatly to see someone as mighty as a Saint be so overwhelmed by his emotions like Shen Pojun was right now.


    ¡°Ancestor, senior Ge, what is this ¡®Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡¯ exactly?¡±


    Both Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng were equally curious about the topic matter, both their faces even causing Ge Yiyun to smile. ¡°Let me explain it to you then. This ¡®Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡¯ is something of a legend from the anciest past of our world¡­¡±


    And so he began to speak. His words captured the attentions of both Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng as he explained the story behind the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. Dutifully, the two listened with spellbound attentiveness¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. An existence of extreme uniqueness in the world of soul cultivators.


    It was an eponym for the ¡®inheritance¡¯ of a certain soul cultivator. An ¡®inheritance¡¯ that was beyond uniqueness, one that simply couldn¡¯t be defined as an ¡®inheritance of a particularly strong soul cultivator¡¯. This was an inheritance that guaranteed the highest of heights for anyone who possessed it!


    An inheritance of a ¡®Supreme Saint¡¯, a Saint who managed to reach the pinnacle of power!


    In every legend, a ¡®Supreme Saint¡¯ was one that managed to reach the Peak Late-stage Soul Saint level!


    What kind of height was that, one might wonder.


    Let us then talk about the current state of affairs in this current generation of soul cultivators. Including the newly-ascended Saints such as Shen Pojun and Gu Jimie, there shouldn¡¯t be more than ten known Saints on the continent. The majority of these ten would be Early-stage Soul Saints while a minority would be Mid-stage Soul Saints. As for Late-stage Soul Saints¡­there were none known! None in this generation!


    In other words, to be in possession of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance would be the same as being the strongest in the continent!


    The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was something created by such an individual from the ancient past. Though that person was the strongest in the world, they were not a god. There was still one final opponent they couldn¡¯t defeat, and that opponent was time. From what was born into the world must eventually depart it and return to the wheel of reincarnation. And so, before their time ran out, the Supreme Saint made use of a long-lost technique to confine all their power and knowledge for someone else to inherit!


    Anyone that could grab hold of this inheritance would not only learn their skills, but also their power!


    That didn¡¯t mean someone like a Soul Apprentice could use it to become a Saint, of course. One still had to ruminate on the knowledge, reflect upon its teachings, refine their understanding, and temper their knowledge in order to comprehend the entirety of it all to become a Supreme Saint!


    Thus, the eponym Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was born.


    The comprehensive records of the continent mentioned only a few figures in the single digits being fortunate enough to be in possession of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    Only three managed to Inherit it.


    The first occurred five thousand years ago. A Mid-stage Soul Saint managed to Inherit after a hundred years and became a Peak Late-stage Soul Saint. He ruled for several hundred years before eventually dying and leaving behind another Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    The next happened two thousand years after that. An Early-stage Soul Saint. Like the one before, he too, seized control of the world after becoming a Supreme Saint two hundred years after.


    The third and last person was a Soul King just a thousand and a half years ago. It took the man dozens of years to become a Saint and then a hundred-and-then-some years to Inherit and become a Supreme Saint. But unlike the others, this third one vanished after becoming Inherited and was lost to the world. No one even knew if the person was alive or not.


    But that wasn¡¯t the last time the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was brought up. Six hundred years ago, news of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance appearing caused a storm across the continent, a storm that caught the attention of even the Saint of Fate.


    Ultimately, none managed to take possession of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, despite many individuals combing the continent for its whereabouts. None knew where it was.


    Their only clue was that the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was located in one of the Three Danger Zones on the continent, the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountain. But its exact location was never found.


    Many traveled to the mountain ranges. Few returned empty-handed while many others didn¡¯t even return¡­


    `

 Chapter 1290: +12 Heart Compass (End of Book Ten)

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It took a while for Bai Yunfei to pick his mouth up from the ground. The information he had just heard was far too overwhelming to digest properly.


    He wasn¡¯t surprised about inheritances, as rare as they are. But an inheritance that could leave behind the entirety of the owner? That was something else.


    Having the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance meant it was guaranteed to become a Peak Late-stage Soul Saint! What was the point of training if one could simply inherit such power?!


    In the case of Chu Yintian, for example, he spent dozens of years desperately trying to become a Saint. Others who reached Sainthood were often doomed to stay at the Early-stage level. Even less of those Saints would become a Mid-stage Soul Saint. Becoming a Late-stage Soul Saint was something short of a pipe dream.


    But becoming a Peak Late-stage Soul Saint? That was nothing short of a legend.


    No wonder Shen Pojun was so excited then. No wonder Shangguan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie were so decisive on attacking the Fate School. It was no wonder the Frostfeather Saint would come help them then¡­


    But wait¡­something wasn¡¯t right!


    A sudden thought occurred to Bai Yunfei then. ¡°Senior Frostfeather,¡± He asked, ¡°would¡­the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance be of any help to you?¡±


    The training methods of a soul cultivator and a soulbeast were different. If the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was the inheritance of a soul cultivator, what good was it for a soulbeast?


    ¡°I am afraid not. But all paths lead to the same destination, and the closer the path is to the destination, the more similar they become. Though I am unable to Inherit, there may be a few things I am still able to gleam¡­However, I have a secondary goal. According to Zhi Tian¡¯s predictions, the Dragon Saint King¡¯s disappearance may be related to the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. Zhi Tian mentioned before that the Dragon Saint King, or his remains, may be trapped where the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is. I must find out the truth, regardless of his situation. It is of great importance that I either free him or bring back his remains¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Saint King!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei was shocked to hear the name. He remembered hearing of the soulbeast once before from the Blue-eyes White Dragon King about how the Dragon Saint King was once the strongest class nine soulbeast in the dragon clan before he disappeared over a thousand years ago. Could his disappearance actually be tied to the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance? But the last time the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance appeared was over a thousand years ago, would he have died in five hundred years then? Was there some kind of mystery behind this?


    ¡°Could the disappearance of the Dragon Saint King be related to the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance?¡± Shen Pojun guessed. ¡°It has to be if he disappeared without warning¡­I wonder what kind of place the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is located in¡­¡±


    The Dragon Saint King was a soulbeast that took the continent by storm two-thousand years ago. He was a man of importance and even a friend to Wu Tianhun during the Unification Wars. During that time, the Dragon Saint King was only an early-stage class nine soulbeast, but he was a mid-stage class nine soulbeast at the time when he disappeared. A being of such power and status as him simply wouldn¡¯t disappear without a trace¡ªunless the location of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was super dangerous!


    As dangerous as the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountain was, it wasn¡¯t so bad that even a Saint could be intimidated. Perhaps there was a mysterious part of this mountain that contained a secret. No one knew since no one ever came back after traversing too deep into the mountain¡­


    It filled Shen Pojun¡¯s heart with a layer of frost to hear that the Dragon Saint King and the Saint of Fate¡¯s disappearances were most likely tied to the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. Truthfully speaking, he was slightly deterred from searching after it now.


    ¡°Regardless, we must first see what Runes the Saint of Fate left behind has to offer. It remains to be seen if we will be able to succeed where our forebearers did not. Perhaps our individual fate may guide us on the right path.¡±


    ¡°That is true.¡± Shen Pojun nodded. ¡°It¡¯s possible we may be able to think of a better plan if we see what the Saint of Fate has left behind.¡±


    ¡°Then please follow me to the back mountains. Please wait for my student Chengfeng to decipher the runes before we do anything else.¡± Ge Yiyun rose to his feet.


    The back mountains were forbidden for most people to enter, meaning many of the soul cultivators there stayed behind in the halls. Only Ge Yiyun, the Frostfeather Saint, Shen Pojun, Li Chengfeng, and Bai Yunfei were allowed to go.


    The Heart Compass within Li Chengfeng was needed in order to decipher the Runes of Fate, so Li Chengfeng was given permission to go. Bai Yunfei was allowed to go since he needed to upgrade the Heart Compass to +12. It was possible that upgrading it would help them decipher the Runes.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei had to suppress a gasp of surprise when he saw the giant wheel in front of him. He had half a mind to walk up and touch its surface and see whether or not it was a powerful soul armament.


    He and the others had to step back when Li Chengfeng walked forward to retrieve the Heart Compass. He stood in front of the giant wheel and touched his right hand to its edge while his left was placed on top of his chest. Closing both eyes, Li Chengfeng¡¯s body began to pulse with a strange flow of soulforce¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Then, as if a jolt of electricity suddenly shot through it, the wheel began to hum and shine with a faint light. It was resonating with the waves of soulforce coming off from Li Chengfeng and giving off a strong shine of light as well.


    Eventually, the intensity of the light was far too bright for the wheel to be stared at directly. Bai Yunfei noted when the light was gone that there was now something golden held in Li Chengfeng¡¯s hand. It was the Heart Compass.


    All eyes were on Bai Yunfei when the Heart Compass was passed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands. ¡°Are you sure you can upgrade it to +12, Yunfei? You can¡¯t make a mistake!¡± Li Chengfeng asked.


    It wasn¡¯t that he wasn¡¯t confident in Bai Yunfei, but that his concern for the Heart Compass was just far too great.


    ¡°Relax, I won¡¯t mess up.¡±


    Smiling, Bai Yunfei nodded to everyone first before sucking in a deep breath and emptying his mind. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Upgrade SuccessfulUnique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 8000


    Additional Defense: 8200


    Soul Compatibility: 25%


    Equipment Effect 1: 15% Chance to predict a future event when synchronized.


    Details of the event will be randomly given.


    Equipment Effect 2: Increases chances of success when predicting when utilizing the energy of the soul.


    Cannot exceed 10%


    +10 Additional Effect: 10% Chance to gain a glimpse of the future when failing to predict an event.


    +12 Additional Effect: Exchange all remaining soulforce to guarantee the prediction of a certain event. Details will be given randomly and the same event cannot be predicted multiple times.


    Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei was stunned slightly at the result of his upgrading.


    ¡°It¡­worked?¡± He raised the Heart Compass to eye level so he could inspect it. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a rare sight¡­my luck is pretty good today, it seems.¡±


    ¡°Did¡­did you succeed?¡±


    The hesitation in Li Chengfeng¡¯s words snapped Bai Yunfei awake. ¡°Ah, yes. I did. This +12 additional effect isn¡¯t half-bad either, it¡¯s¡­¡±


    Both Shen Pojun and Li Chengfeng took the news of the +12 additional effect pretty well, but Ge Yiyun didn¡¯t. He had a gobsmacked expression on his face. Even the Frostfeather Saint was giving Bai Yunfei an odd look.


    ¡°This¡­is what an ¡®upgrade¡¯ is?! The ability to confer the ability to successfully predict something?! It¡¯s¡­¡±


    Though Li Chengfeng had once explained before what Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®Upgrade Technique¡¯ was, Ge Yiyun still found it hard to believe his eyes. How Bai Yunfei was able to ¡®fiddle around¡¯ with the Heart Compass and grant their treasured relic a new ability was simply mindblowing.


    ¡­¡­


    It took a while for Ge Yiyun to calm his beating heart, ¡°Chengfeng, take the Heart Compass and decipher the Runes of Fate, if you please.¡±


    ¡°Yes, teacher!¡± Li Chengfeng bowed.


    He strode back toward the wheel under the attentive eyes of everyone else. Waving his right hand, Li Chengfeng had the Heart Compass floated up to the center of the wheel and lodged neatly in the indent on its surface. It clicked into place with a golden light before beginning to hum.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The wheel began to tremble once again, but this time out of apparent joy as if something lost to it was now finally returned.


    Li Chengfeng sat down on the ground, his legs crossed over one another and his hands a blur as they made several handseals a minute. His soulforce was starting to pick up in speed as they circulated within himself.


    Bai Yunfei could see that all sorts of runes on the surface of the wheel were starting to light up. Several runes detached themselves from the surface of the wheel to fly out around Li Chengfeng like butterflies to dance around him.


    Slowly, the runes turned into balls of light that in turn bathed Li Chengfeng brightly under a fantastical light.


    ¡­¡­


    A half hour passed before the humming of the wheel could be heard no more. The light from its surface was gone, leaving the wheel in a dormant state like before.


    Li Chengfeng ¡®woke¡¯ from his meditation a while after that. His eyes blinked several times in rapid succession as if he was processing a tremendous load of information at once.


    ¡°Chengfeng, how was it? Please describe it.¡± Ge Yiyun asked when Li Chengfeng stood up.


    ¡°Yes, teacher.¡± Li Chengfeng replied. ¡°The Saint of Fate¡¯s Rune did indeed leave behind information regarding the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s true?!¡±


    Shen Pojun began to grow even more excited upon hearing Li Chengfeng¡¯s confirmation. ¡°Then the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is indeed located somewhere on the Dragon Ascent¡¯s Mountain, correct?¡±


    Li Chengfeng nodded. ¡°Yes, it is indeed there. As for its exact location¡­it¡¯s deep within the ¡®Hidden Dragon Valley¡¯!¡±


    ==========


    End of Book Ten


    ===========


    The next Book shall be my last one. It pains me to say it, but I find myself at a crossroad. My body is ready to write, but my mind is not. The last book is always the hardest book for any author to write, as we must try to write the perfect ending. I will definitely try my best to make a satisfying conclusion that¡¯ll make every reader happy. I also hope that everyone will support me as I embark on this journey for the next month or so. Please, watch and accompany Yunfei in the last dangerous journey of his story!


    And once again, though I¡¯ve said this many times now¡ªthank you so much for supporting this novel!

 Chapter 1291: The Location of the Inheritance

    ¡°Hidden Dragon Valley?!¡±


    Shen Pojun, the Frostfeather Saint, and Ge Yiyun all cried out at the same time.


    Only Bai Yunfei was confused. ¡°Ancestor, what area is this Hidden Dragon Valley? Is it dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Dangerous doesn¡¯t begin to describe such a place. The Hidden Dragon Valley is the deepest part of the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountain and is essentially its end point. No person has yet to reach the lands beyond that. I believe two Saints once attempted to investigate the Hidden Dragon Valley and instead met their demise there¡­what a surprise that the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance would be there of all places¡­¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint nodded, grim-faced. ¡°It is truly surprising to see the previous Supreme Saint leave his inheritance there¡­According to our records, the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountain has a class nine wildbeast living there, one of legends from over three thousand years ago¡­I would estimate its strength to be a mid-stage class nine soulbeast if it is still alive? Venturing there will be quite the problem¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! A mid-stage class nine wildbeast exists in the Hidden Dragon Valley?!¡±


    Shen Pojun forced back a bitter smile as the others gasped in surprise. ¡°In other words, it should be expected that the two Saints were killed by this class nine wildbeast? I¡¯m afraid as long as that wildbeast exists, it¡¯ll be very difficult for us to reached the Inheritance¡­¡±


    Li Chengfeng chose that moment to speak up.


    ¡°Seniors¡­there isn¡¯t a need to worry about the class nine wildbeast. According to the information left behind by the Saint of Fate¡­he came across and slew the mid-stage class nine wildbeast when he entered the Hidden Dragon Valley¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    This time, all three Saints voiced their surprise. ¡°The Saint of Fate managed to kill the mid-stage class nine wildbeast?! This is¡­this is quite the pleasant surprise. It seems we won¡¯t need to worry about it then.¡± Nodded Shen Pojun.


    ¡°Chengfeng, please describe the rest of the information.¡± Ge Yiyun asked.


    ¡°Yes, teacher.¡± Li Chengfeng bowed.


    ¡°Six hundred years ago, the Saint of Fate came across information of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡¯s whereabouts. After his investigations, he entered the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountain and then the Hidden Dragon Valley¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It was when Li Chengfeng was finished speaking that the others learned of the bitter fate that befell the Saint of Fate.


    The Saint of Fate came across a pocket dimension within the Hidden Dragon Valley, one that coincidentally belonged to the previous Supreme Saint. However, the pocket dimension was protected by a mid-stage class nine wildbeast. Being a Mid-stage Soul Saint at the time, the Saint of Fate managed to kill the wildbeast after an especially rough amount of time and entered the pocket dimension.


    What the Saint of Fate failed to expect was that the pocket dimension was fraught with danger. All sorts of powerful barriers, arrays, and other traps were left behind by the Supreme Saint to prevent anyone else from entering the pocket dimension. Perhaps it was a ¡®trial¡¯ for those wishing to obtain his inheritance, but in short the Saint of Fate took nearly a hundred years before coming to the very last challenge.


    He could clearly see behind the final obstruction the heart of the pocket dimension. There laid the remains of the Supreme Saint and his inheritance!


    But¡­the Saint of Fate never managed to make it beyond the final barrier!


    Trying as hard as he might for over a hundred years, the Saint of Fate realized he was unable to open that final ¡®door¡¯!


    It was with a heavy heart that the Saint of Fate decided to leave the pocket dimension. But before he could, he had unknowingly activated a trap that prevented him from leaving!


    Disheartened by his failure to obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance and the inability to leave this pocket dimension, the Saint of Fate decided to close himself off. By going into meditation, the Saint of Fate hoped that he¡¯d be able to eventually become a Late-stage Soul Saint and attempt to open the final ¡®door¡¯ or leave this pocket dimension.


    Unfortunately for him, the Saint of Fate was nearing the end of his natural lifespan. Two hundred years had been ¡®wasted¡¯ getting this far, meaning the Saint of Fate eventually died of old age as he tried to become a Late-stage Soul Saint.


    The Runes of Fate he had on his person was unable to return to the Fate School even though he was dead. The pocket dimension was somehow preventing it from returning.


    Eventually, something happened within the pocket dimension and allowed for the Rune to finally return.


    What Li Chengfeng and the others didn¡¯t know was that the reason behind the Rune¡¯s return was due to Gu Lianhun. When his avatar died, the trapped man somehow managed to tear open a fissure in space and open a path the Rune of Fate took advantage of to slip out from the pocket dimension.


    But there was also something else recorded on the Rune! The Saint of Fate had actually come across the Dragon Saint King during his travels!!


    It was when the Saint of Fate entered the pocket dimension. He noticed that one of the arrays had managed to capture the Dragon Saint King. For several hundred years, it appeared. Unfortunately, not even the Dragon Saint King was able to overcome the passage of time and passed away shortly after the Saint of Fate entered.


    The Dragon Saint King hadn¡¯t actually been in the pocket dimension for the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. A thousand years ago, he had actually been there at Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountain to search for the soulgems of the stronger wildbeasts or possibly more natural resources. In his search for more power and the possibility of reaching a higher realm, the Dragon Saint King came across a class nine wildbeast. The two fought a dreadful battle, and in the middle of it, the Dragon Saint King managed to stumble across the pocket dimension and fall inside.


    A battle between Saints was an extremely terrifying one and caused plenty of damage to the Dragon Saint King. Recuperating as he explored the pocket dimension, he eventually became stuck in it and spent the rest of his time meditating. A few hundred years later and the Saint of Fate came. The two talked briefly before the Dragon Saint King expired due to natural causes.


    It was actually because of the Dragon Saint King that the Saint of Fate was able to kill the class nine wildbeast outside the pocket dimension. Its battle with the Dragon Saint King had yet to heal even after several hundred years and was thus an easier opponent for the Saint of Fate to deal with.


    ¡­¡­


    No one was able to say a word after Li Chengfeng finished. The most shocked one was Shen Pojun, though his eyes reflected a pondering light.


    ¡°The location of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is in a place several times more dangerous than its last reported spot.¡± He muttered, ¡°Not only is the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountain a dangerous place already, but navigating that pocket dimension will most definitely be an arduous journey¡­¡±


    In the past, the locations of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance had all been in relatively ¡®secular¡¯ places, rather than being in one of the Three Danger Zones. It was because of this that the world of soul cultivators would always be in an uproar whenever it reappeared. Countless soul cultivators would fight to the death in their search for the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance,  even the ones with hardly any power or strength.


    Of the three people to Inherit, it was the second that was the most loved by Fate. He was able to obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance amongst the Soul Emperors and Saints despite being a Soul King.


    But this time was different. Perhaps the next Inheritor decided to prevent such a case from happening again. Even if people knew that the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was in the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountain, no Soul King would ever be able to enter this place, lest they want their bones to be buried there.


    Not even a Soul Emperor, without any powerful methods, would be able to enter the Hidden Dragon Valley, let alone the pocket dimension containing the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    But that wasn¡¯t the important part. Entering the pocket dimension was one hurdle, bypassing all the barriers was the other! Not even the Saint of Fate had managed to accomplish that! What could an ordinary Soul Emperor or even a Saint manage to do what the Saint of Fate could not?!


    Fortunately, Shen Pojun and the others had an extremely powerful advantage on their side¡­the information left behind by the Saint of Fate!


    It was like they were playing an especially difficult game. If they went in blind and without a plan, then they would without a doubt fail. But if they were to consult with the information left behind by the Saint of Fate, it may be possible to bypass all the previous barriers without expending their own time and energy!


    A spark lit up in Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes at the thought¡­

 Chapter 1292: Everyones Going

    ¡°Would it be possible, young child, to share the details of the pocket dimension¡¯s interior?¡± The Frostfeather Saint suddenly spoke up.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Blinking, Li Chengfeng looked first to Ge Yiyun for confirmation. When he received one, he turned back to face the Frostfeather Saint with a polite bow. ¡°Yes, of course. This junior will prepare a jade slip for senior Frostfeather to peruse at once.¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint nodded and glanced to Shen Pojun. ¡°You must be as unwilling to give up this chance as I am. Why not travel together if you are interested?¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint was already adamant on heading to the pocket dimension to retrieve the remains of the Dragon Saint King. His goal wasn¡¯t the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, but the Dragon Saint King himself.


    Even dead, the Dragon Saint King held a great amount of importance to those of the soulbeasts. It was also possible that the Dragon Saint King might¡¯ve left behind an inheritance for his clan. Though the Frostfeather Saint wasn¡¯t of the dragon clan, he was still a soulbeast. It was his duty and mission to retrieve and return the remains of the Dragon Saint King to a proper burial ground.


    But that didn¡¯t mean to say the Frostfeather Saint was without a ¡®selfish¡¯ goal. If he was the one to return the Dragon Saint King, then he¡¯d be the one to reap the ¡®rewards¡¯ as well, such as the soulgem of the Dragon Saint King. Needless to say, the soulgem of a mid-stage class nine soulbeast was an extremely valuable item and would most definitely benefit him. It was also possible that the soulgem of the mid-stage class nine wildbeast killed by the Saint of Fate would also be there.


    Soulgems belonging to a class nine soulbeast were something soul cultivators couldn¡¯t use to cultivate. In other words, it was extremely possible that there are at least two class nine soulgems there in the pocket dimension!!


    The enticement of such a prospect was about as attractive as the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was to Shen Pojun. The two of them had to go to the pocket dimension.


    ¡­¡­


    Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes lit up at the suggestion. ¡°Traveling with such a person as yourself is exactly what I desired!¡± He laughed.


    He knew the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s goal, it wasn¡¯t for the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, but the class nine soulgems. If their goals didn¡¯t conflict with one another, what reason did they have to help each other?


    As excited as he was, though, Shen Pojun was still able to keep his greed from completely overtaking him. ¡°Headmaster Ge, do you wish to come with us as well?¡±


    He had no plan to monopolize the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. All those who Inherited once before came across it by Fate. Or in other words, they were chosen. Obtaining the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance by Fate was not the same as obtaining it through strength. Otherwise, the second Inheritor would have never been able to receive the Inheritance.


    There was a story regarding such a situation, however. A Mid-stage Soul Saint had once managed to wrestle possession of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance away from another, but was unable to Inherit. When he tried to force the Inheritance, a strange energy rejected and blew the Saint apart. After that, the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance placed itself into the hands of the Soul King.


    All the information they had about the pocket dimension and the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance came from Ge Yiyun and his Fate School. Shen Pojun had absolutely no objection with Ge Yiyun coming along.


    But Ge Yiyun shook his head. He gave Shen Pojun a calm smile after a moment to think. ¡°I cannot. My body is far too frail to stand the fate ahead of me if I go. But if it is possible¡­I do hope that my student Chengfeng will be considered for your journey. If he cannot Inherit, then I hope he will at least gain some benefit from within the pocket dimension¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Li Chengfeng started when his name was mentioned. The look on his face developed into one of deep shock when he finished listening to Ge Yiyun. ¡°Teacher, are¡­are you saying I can go?! I¡­¡±


    The flustered state of Li Chengfeng amused Ge Yiyun, ¡°Chengfeng, do not undervalue yourself. You too are a man chosen by Fate. I am confident in your abilities¡­You will be safe with two Saints to protect you, moreover¡­¡±


    His gaze shifted to look at Bai Yunfei, ¡°if Bai Yunfei goes with you, your safety will be guaranteed.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± It was Bai Yunfei¡¯s turn to blink. ¡°Senior Ge, what do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei. In my entire life, you are one I feel has been blessed by Fate most. The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is an extremely rare opportunity for you, I presume your headmaster already had plans to bring you there. And if you remember¡­you have the Core Stone, correct? As long as you have that Regalia, you¡¯ll have a way to leave the pocket dimension. It is imperative you go then.¡±


    ¡°The Core Stone? A way to leave the pocket dimension?¡±


    It took Bai Yunfei two seconds to realize what Ge Yiyun had meant. ¡°Oh!¡± He snapped his fingers.


    ¡°Senior Ge is right! I do have a way! We can use the Core Stone to travel through space if something does go wrong!!¡±


    The pocket dimension was protected by a barrier that prevented even the Saint of Fate from escaping. Any other person would definitely fall short and be trapped and die there if they didn¡¯t receive the Inheritance. And that would be an awful death.


    But the Core Stone was a different story. There wasn¡¯t a need to worry about being trapped anymore! It had the ability to displace and replace its owner in a different dimension if needed be, meaning it could help them escape the pocket dimension! That was how Bai Yunfei was able to escape the Lost Swamp!


    Dimension hopping wasn¡¯t something a Saint could do. They¡¯d most likely die if attempted. But the Core Stone was definitely capable of it.


    The last time the Core Stone attempted such a feat, it ended up expending most of its energy and falling into a dormant state. Not only did upgrading the Core Stone wake it up, but it also strengthened its power so that it wouldn¡¯t be left in the same state if it were to try it again.


    Bai Yunfei never thought about it before, that was why he was concerned about Shen Pojun going into the pocket dimension. But now that Ge Yiyun was so kind to remind him, Bai Yunfei was happily looking forward to going to the pocket dimension.


    And he wouldn¡¯t be alone. The entire Crafting School was still in the Core World. Everyone in the school could go with them!!


    ¡ªDidn¡¯t the legends talk about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance ¡®choosing¡¯ its inheritor? If that was the case, then the entire Crafting School might as well come along and see if they were that ¡®inheritor¡¯!


    And so, one of the biggest problems was solved just like that by the Core Stone.


    The Frostfeather Saint didn¡¯t understand at first, but he was absolutely overjoyed when it was explained to him.


    They didn¡¯t have to worry about bringing too many people and their traveling speed if the Core Stone could handle all of that. An entire school being mobilized to find the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡ªit was an unprecedented ¡®saga¡¯ that would¡¯ve been impossible if not for Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, will the Fate School come with us, senior Ge?¡±


    Bai Yunfei suggested.


    He wasn¡¯t asking for Ge Yiyun, but the ¡®entire¡¯ Fate School.


    ¡°Are you saying¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°The world knows where the Fate School is now, it¡¯ll be impossible to predict if Shangguan Xiongyan or Gu Jimie will come back for vengeance or not. Seeing that this place is no longer safe, your school might as well travel in the Core World like the Crafting School is for now until a new place can be found.¡±


    ¡°Hah!¡± Ge Yiyun barked with laughter, ¡°Very well then! I will leave it to you then!¡±


    Having one¡¯s school being exposed like this was indeed a great danger to their safety. Their enemies might¡¯ve retreated for now, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for the next time. Ge Yiyun already had ¡®plans¡¯ to move the school¡¯s location before this, but that would take an exorbitant amount of time. But the relocation of the school could easily be solved with the Core Stone.


    ¡­¡­


    Discussions were made shortly after and a plan was made. In three days¡­they would all head for Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountain!

 Chapter 1293: Abyssal Snake Saint

    Deep within the Soulbeast Forest north of the Tianhun Continent.


    A place far deeper into the forest than the class seven zone.


    This was a place far more particular than any other. Every tree within several hundred kilometers of the area was ash-black in color as if they were ink strokes on a blank canvas instead of being actual trees.


    Known as the ¡®Abyssal Mountains¡¯ to every soulbeast, this location was not a place where class seven soulbeasts dared to go. Even class eight soulbeasts rarely ventured here.


    That was because a class nine soulbeast resided within the Abyssal Mountains.


    A soulbeast that could definitely be said to be one of the strongest soulbeasts in the forest.


    Today, the normally desolate Abyssal Mountains had two guests. Two soul cultivators.


    Hardly any soul cultivator would ever come to this place; a Soul Emperor wouldn¡¯t even have an easy time reaching this place. But neither soul cultivators walking right now seemed to be having any difficulty. They were strong enough to intimidate any class seven soulbeast or even any class eight soulbeast that might dare to block their path.


    They didn¡¯t appear to be here to cause trouble either. As strong as they were, they weren¡¯t doing anything that would attract trouble. From when they entered the forest to now, the two had been very low-profile and hardly made a disturbance.


    The only time they stopped was when they reached the centermost part of the Abyssal Mountains. Right in front of a giant jet-black mountain.


    Despite the sun being high up in the sky and it being day, both soul cultivators felt as though it was night with how black the mountain was. A dark fog pervaded the area that made the atmosphere feel quite eerie and mysterious.


    The fog seemed alive almost with how it encircled and clung to their persons. Walking was especially difficult due to the low-visibility. Even more eerie was how the fog was, for some reason, making a chafing sound across their skin as they walked.


    Sunlight wasn¡¯t very prominent within the fog, but the faces of the two elders could still be made out¡ªit was Gu Jimie and Shangguan Xiongyan!


    Several days hardly went by since their foiled attempt on the Fate School. What where they doing here?


    ¡­¡­


    Shangguan Xiongyan glanced at the jet-black mountain in front of him. ¡°What a grotesque energy¡­is this where the Abyssal Snake Saint resides?¡±


    ¡°It should be. Our records show that the Abyssal Snake Saint has been living here for two hundred years at least. The state of this mountain should be proof of its residency¡­.our records state that my teacher once met the Abyssal Snake Saint here.¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan stared vigilantly around themselves, ¡°Are you positive you want to invite the Abyssal Snake Saint? This is the Soulbeast Forest, the two of us may lose our lives if we are caught off guard.¡±


    Gu Jimie hesitated for a brief second. ¡°We must have him come with us!¡± He clenched his teeth, ¡°He¡¯s the soulbeast partner of my teacher. It¡¯d be disadvantageous for him if Shen Pojun obtains the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. And I¡¯m sure he¡¯d want to take possession of the class nine soulgems too¡­¡±


    ¡°...¡± Shangguan Xiongyan grew silent. ¡°We may as well try if that¡¯s the case. If the Abyssal Snake Saint turns hostile, we¡¯ll have to work together to retreat.¡±


    That being said, Shangguan Xiongyan was already harboring the idea of using Shangguan Xiongyan as a diversion if push came to shove.


    Gu Jimie nodded. His eyes reflected the murderous intent in his mind at Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s words. Despite knowing the meaning, Gu Jimie opted to say nothing about it and turned back to the mountain. Together, the two came out from hiding and announced their presence¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The atmosphere spiked in intensity in quick response to their presence. As if a mighty beast was starting to wake from its slumber, the mountain began to radiate with a growing energy!


    ¡°You fools who have snuck into my domain and disturbed my meditation¡­explain yourself or prepare to die where you stand!!¡±


    A raspy voice exploded into the eardrums of both soul cultivators, causing the two to tremble and shiver.


    Shangguan Xiongyan felt the strong urge to flee the place at once at the sound of the voice, but an exorbitant amount of pressure came out from nowhere to hold him deep in place. Everything within his body was screaming at him to move, that staying here would mean his death, but he couldn¡¯t move.


    Gu Jimie wasn¡¯t faring well either. Having originally been injured, the man was swaying slightly on his feet as blood dripped from the corners of his lips!


    ¡°Senior¡­senior Abyssal Snake! This junior is Gu Jimie, a student of Gu Lianhun! We have come bearing a gift for you, senior!¡±


    It humiliated Gu Jimie to speak in such a way. With such polite words. But he had to. The Abyssal Snake Saint ¡®was¡¯ higher than him in hierarchy, even if they were both Saints. Uninjured, Gu Jimie was still quite confident that he¡¯d be no match for the Abyssal Snake Saint.


    Not only was the Abyssal Snake Saint a class nine soulbeast from well over two hundred years ago, he was also¡­the soulbeast partner of his master, Gu Lianhun!


    ¡°A gift? Hm¡­¡± A pondering tone bled into the guarded voice of the soulbeast. ¡°I will allow it, speak. What ¡®gift¡¯ have you brought?¡±


    The black fog around the mountain began to swirl and flow in a certain direction. It cleared up just enough to reveal a small cliff on the mountain. And on the face of this cliff was a corridor that lead deep into the belly of the mountain.


    The two gave each other a look and a nod before venturing into the corridor.


    ¡­¡­


    Shangguan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie traveled for some time into the corridor before they reached the central point of the mountain. The light levels were far brighter here in this part than the corridor before and allowed the two to find themselves in a giant hall.


    Several ¡®furniture¡¯ adorned the interior of this hall, but what creeped both Shangguan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie out was that the ¡®furniture¡¯ was made using the bones of living beings!


    A giant skeletal throne sat at the very center of the hall. It was nearly the size of a large bed and had a black figure sitting lazily on it to watch the two newcomers enter its domain.


    The figure had the appearance of a tall and narrow man in his thirties. His robes were as black as ash and his hair reached the top of his shoulders. Both of his eyes had pupils like a serpent and a glare that could freeze anyone in place at a glance.


    Not even Gu Jimie was able to find it in himself to move any further when the man¡¯s eyes were on him. He bowed respectfully. ¡°Junior Gu Jimie pays his respects to senior Abyssal Snake.¡±


    Uncertainty played across Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s eyes. He cupped his hands in a polite greeting, but one that wasn¡¯t as servile as Gu Jimie¡¯s.


    ¡°This one is Shangguan Xiongyan. I pay my respects to the Abyssal Snake Saint.¡±


    The Abyssal Snake Saint rose from his throne to size the two up. ¡°Spare me your drivel and explain your purpose.¡±


    Gu Jimie frowned internally to himself. He had hoped that he¡¯d be allowed to warm up the conversation before he got to the main topic, but it appeared that wasn¡¯t possible right now.


    ¡°If senior wishes. Senior Abyssal Snake, we have learned of the location of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. We hope that senior would come with us to claim it!¡±


    ¡°Oh? The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance?!¡± The Abyssal Snake Saint rose to his feet with a wry smile. ¡°What relation is that to me? I have no need for what you soul cultivators covet. Do you think I¡¯d work for something of no use to me?¡±


    ¡°If you were unaware of this, senior, my teacher once went to where the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was said to be two hundred years ago, but he never returned. Even today, he remains trapped there. Two enemy Saints are heading to the location as we speak, we fear that if they arrive first¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? You mean Gu Lianhun?¡± The soulbeast¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly at the thought. ¡°Trapped for two hundred years, you say? It¡¯s little wonder then why our connection has frayed to such an existent. I had long since thought he was dead somewhere, hmph¡­¡±


    A cruel smile appeared on his face, ¡°Did you mean that you fear for Gu Lianhun¡¯s life if those two Saints reach him? That I would lend a hand for his sake for fear of my own health?¡±


    Gu Jimie gulped. The tone of Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s voice was getting a little too hostile for his liking.


    The contract between Gu Lianhun and the Abyssal Snake Saint had only been one of ¡®mutual benefit¡¯. A deal, for lack of a better word. Gu Lianhun had only been a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor at the time in search of a way to breakthrough when he found the Abyssal Snake Saint, who had also been a peak late-stage class nine soulbeast (He was not called a Saint at the time, of course). For the sake of ascending, the two of them decided to make a contract and breakthrough together.


    After their ascension, the two split paths, as the Abyssal Snake Saint had absolutely no interest in the dealings of the soul cultivator world.


    Gu Jimie once heard Gu Lianhun say before that the Abyssal Snake Saint had a secret method to inhibit the contract. If by chance Gu Lianhun died, the Abyssal Snake Saint would be relatively fine.


    And judging from the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s reaction right now, it would appear that it was true.


    He wondered if it was true before, but he always chalked it up to being the business of Gu Lianhun and the Abyssal Snake Saint and never inquired about it again.


    ¡°Senior Abyssal Snake¡­according to our information for our teacher, he came across the corpse of a soulbeast in the Supreme Saint¡¯s pocket dimension. It¡¯s very possible it belongs to the Dragon Saint King! And of the two Saints heading there now, one of them is the Frostfeather Saint! If we work together, senior, we may be able to not only kill the Frostfeather Saint, but also obtain a second class nine soulgem!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    That caught the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s attention. ¡°Are you saying the Dragon Saint King died in that pocket dimension?! And the Frostfeather Saint is heading there now?!¡±


    Gu Jimie heaved a sigh of relief at the soulbeast¡¯s reaction. ¡°Yes! My teacher managed to send us that information himself. We managed to force some information about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance and learned of the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s involvement not too long ago as well! It¡¯s very possible they know about the Dragon Saint King and are heading there for it!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Not too long ago? You forced the information, you say?¡± The Abyssal Snake Saint narrowed his eyes, ¡°It would appear¡­you were on the losing end, where you not?¡±


    Gu Jimie¡¯s face darkened. ¡°That Shen Pojun only just ascended, but he and the other crafters all had powerful soul armaments. I was caught unaware and¡­¡±


    ¡°A defeat is a defeat. I care not for your details.¡± The snake interjected, ¡°But if you lost, how did you learn of where the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is? And what benefit is there to come to me?¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan chose that moment to speak, ¡°Please rest assured, Abyssal Snake Saint. We might now know where exactly the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is, but we¡¯ll have a person to guide us there shortly¡­¡±

 Chapter 1294: The Dragons Ascent Mountains

    Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains, the third of the Three Danger Zones and also the most dangerous out of the three.


    It was once said that a dragon was seen ascending into the heavens from these mountains, thus the name.


    Located at the north-eastern edge of the Tianhun Empire, the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains was also bordering the western edge of the Soulbeast Forest. A vast expanse of desert and wasteland ranged from the entire eastern side of it.


    One had to travel another wasteland in order to get to the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains, one that was extremely vast in size.


    And today, Bai Yunfei was currently standing in front of a chain of mountains that marked the beginning of the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains. He was also currently lost in thought.


    ¡°This is the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains? Black Cloud Valley feels like a tiny garden in comparison to this¡­¡±


    He couldn¡¯t even begin to see the edge of the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains from his perch high up in the sky. It was just an endless expanse of mountains.


    The most striking feature of this place was definitely the ¡®atmosphere¡¯. Starting from a certain point, the clouds were jet-black and broiled with lightning. Bai Yunfei could even see lightning bolts shoot out from it every once in a while.


    In another area, east of the center, the terrain was deathly calm.


    Left of the center, the mountains were completely frozen over as if it was in the middle of a huge snowstorm¡­


    Differing environments with differing environmental conditions. This was one of the ¡®characteristics¡¯ of the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains.


    ¡°Chengfeng,¡± Bai Yunfei turned his head. ¡°Did the Saint of Fate enter from this place? Which direction did he go?¡±


    Li Chengfeng was currently surveying the area in front of him with an observant stare. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure of it. The Saint of Fate came from the western side of Hidden Dragon Valley, meaning the path he took started from here.¡±


    Bai Yunfei turned to the other side where Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint stood. Shen Pojun nodded, ¡°Then we¡¯ll head for Hidden Dragon Valley from here.¡±


    Agreeing with the course of action, the four all transformed into a beam of light to fly off in the same direction¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The battle for the Fate School had been half a month ago. Though the group set out for the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains on the fourth day after that, they took a while to get here in the Star Ocean Province. Traveling the entire empire was no quick feat and required a decent amount of time to arrive at the right entrance. By all rights, the group arrived here relatively fast already.


    That being said, Tang Xinyun, Huangfu Rui, and a few others came out to ¡®travel¡¯ and ¡®tour¡¯ certain parts of the continent on their way here. But now that they were at the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains, everyone besides the four were back in the Core World so they could get to Hidden Dragon Valley.


    There was one important thing to mention. When they agreed on finding the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, Li Chengfeng opted to divine the future by using the +12 additional effect of the Heart Compass.


    He didn¡¯t gleam much information other than that the journey would be ¡®perilous¡¯ and their outcome was ¡®unclear¡¯. No matter how powerful the +12 additional effect was, it was limited in its inability to be concise and clear with the details. If there were too many factors in play then the future would be considerably harder to make clear.


    An outcome like this was relatively normal when it came to divining the future. Li Chengfeng tried several times after that, but the outcome didn¡¯t change. Not even when Ge Yiyun tried his hand at it.


    Any situation relating to the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was a situation that could influence the entirety of an era. It should be expected that one would find it difficult to predict the future.


    There was a piece of good information though. Whenever a prediction failed, the +10 additional effect would still allow for some information to be learned. The probability was low, but it was still enough for the group to see ¡®images¡¯. But most of those images were of the landscape of either the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains or within the pocket dimension. The latter of which was quite useless.


    To be extra safe, Li Chengfeng even used the +12 additional effect to see what Gu Jimie and Shangguan Xiongyan were up to. All he learned was that they were in the extreme north heading for the Soulbeast Forest. No one knew why, but they all agreed it was definitely for a nefarious purpose.


    ¡ªAside from a few in the Soul Refining School, hardly anyone knew of Gu Lianhun¡¯s contract with the Abyssal Snake Saint to become a Saint. Not even Shen Pojun or the Frostfeather Saint knew that their enemies would be running off to ask for the assistance of someone stronger than them¡­


    ¡­¡­


    What Bai Yunfei and his group didn¡¯t know was that another group came onto the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains just half a day after they first left!


    Even more baffling was how these people appeared in the exact same area Bai Yunfei¡¯s group had entered the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains from!


    Three men stood at the front of the group; the Abyssal Snake Saint, Shangguan Xiongyan, and Gu Jimie. Behind them stood four others: a Late-stage and Mid-stage Soul Emperor from the Tianhun School and two Mid-stage Soul Emperors from the Soul Refining School.


    Almost every single of the Soul Refining School¡¯s Soul Emperors were dead. Aside from these two, there was still one Early-stage Soul Emperor guarding the Soul Refining School within the Lost Swamps. The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was the Soul Refining School¡¯s last chance to survive, thus why Gu Jimie was so adamant on it. Having the two Soul Emperors here wouldn¡¯t do much good, but they still might prove to be helpful in a fight. The group were confident that they¡¯d come across Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s group at some point, so the Soul Emperors could at least keep Ge Yiyun or any other Soul Emperor busy.


    Shangguan Xiongyan stood there with a small palm-sized mirror in his hand. Strangely enough, the mirror wasn¡¯t reflecting Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s face on its surface, but had a small foggy whirlpool beneath its surface. If one were to stare at its surface, they would¡¯ve been disturbed to feel their own soul being attracted into it.


    Shangguan Xiongyan was currently staring at the mirror with an intense glare as if trying to spot something.


    He lifted his head after a while to stare north-west from their current spot. ¡°They went that way. Let¡¯s go, but we should slow down to avoid detection. And do not disturb any of the wildbeasts.¡±


    The others beside him nodded in confirmation before setting out into the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains. Gu Jimie¡¯s eyes lingered on the small bronze mirror in Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s hand with hidden desire. Fortunately for him, no one else noticed.


    ¡°Surprising that this thing¡­was able to find them¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It wasn¡¯t until the group was deep into the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains that Bai Yunfei finally understood how large the area was. Even under Li Chengfeng¡¯s guidance for half a day, Bai Yunfei was astounded to hear that they were barely twenty percent of the way to Hidden Dragon Valley.


    Everyone was flying up high in the sky, but their auras were kept to a minimum so as to avoid disturbing the local life. They didn¡¯t fear any class seven or eight wildbeast, but fighting them was detrimental to their plans and would eat up a fair amount of their time.


    The group¡¯s pace began to slow down after the second day of traveling. They were carefully making their way forward now as they doubled their efforts to avoid detection. The wildbeasts were already beginning to become a bigger threat than they¡¯d like.


    Dumb, these wildbeasts would make trouble whenever they spotted prey, even if that prey was stronger than them. If anything, the wildbeasts would probably attack the two Saints anyways. Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint already had to take care of three reckless class eight soulbeasts already.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The tremendous roar of another wildbeast could be heard deeper within the valley they were flying over.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Then came the rumbling of thunder. From the same area where the roar was heard, Bai Yunfei saw a large flash of green and black light.


    Surprised, the entire group stopped to stare at the aberration. This wasn¡¯t something caused by the natural environment. ¡°A battle? I sense a class eight wildbeast and¡­a soul cultivator?¡±


    The distance was too far for Bai Yunfei to sense properly, so he was surprised to hear what it was from Shen Pojun. ¡°What? There¡¯s¡­there¡¯s actually a soul cultivator here?!¡±

 Chapter 1295: An Unexpected Reunion

    Two days were already spent traveling in the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains. During that time, Bai Yunfei and the others hadn¡¯t even seen a single trace of a human being, let alone a human themselves. This particular part of the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains was pretty deep in, there shouldn¡¯t have been any other soul cultivator here.


    And it appeared this person was fighting with a class eight wildbeast.


    That meant this person was a Soul Emperor at the very least. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t able to gauge the fight well due to the distance, so he had no choice but to ask Shen Pojun. ¡°Ancestor, is it a fight between a wildbeast and a soul cultivator? How many?¡±


    ¡°Yes, a single soul cultivator.¡±


    He paused, ¡°Since we¡¯re here, we may as well see what is the matter.¡±


    The fight was taking place on the route to Hidden Dragon Valley, meaning they wouldn¡¯t be changing their plans if they went.


    And so the group set off. Closer and closer, they go to the proximity of the battlefield, and more and more Bai Yunfei was able to sense what was going on. ¡°Eh?¡± He blinked. ¡°There¡¯s just the wildbeast? Where did the soul cultivator go, did he run away?¡±


    He asked Shen Pojun.


    The older male looked slightly puzzled as well. ¡°Interesting. Their aura is gone, did they use a soul armament to teleport away? Or are they using a technique to hide their presence?¡±


    On their way, the aura of the soul cultivator fighting the wildbeast had somehow disappeared. It was extremely peculiar since he was a Saint. The soul cultivator shouldn¡¯t have been able to escape from his range of detection without the usage of either of the two methods he stated earlier.


    The group eventually flew past a mountain to where the battle took place. It was a small valley situated in between two large mountains. All sorts of strange fauna adorned the landscape, though the most striking feature was how the mountain on the left was partially destroyed. Even now, a dust storm was rising up from it.


    ¡°What¡¯s with this situation?¡±


    Bai Yunfei wondered to himself. Spreading his soulsense outward, he began to search for traces of where the soul cultivator might¡¯ve gone.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    Their arrival caught the attention of the raging wildbeast. Emitting a loud cry of anger, the wildbeast began its charge straight for them!


    A wildbeast was as wild as its name implied. Not even two Saints were enough to convince it of the threat they possessed. Or perhaps its anger was already completely overriding its more rational senses, disallowing it to see how strong the people were in front of him. Regardless, the wildbeast was ready to tear these people from limb to limb.


    ¡°Ancestor, senior Frostfeather, please allow me.¡±


    Calm, Bai Yunfei spoke to the two Saints for permission before he stepped forward to deal with the incoming beast.


    A bright flash of red appeared from his hand.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    It expanded in size and quickly became a giant ¡®volcano¡¯ to careen into the wildbeast!


    The Cataclysmic Seal!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    ¡°Aooo!!!¡±


    The two collided and sent the wildbeast flying away with a loud whimper.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    There was another crash as the wildbeast smashed into the already-broken mountain nearby. Crumbling under the sudden impact, the mountain broke into pieces and buried the wildbeast underneath it.


    In the face of the Cataclysmic Seal, not even a mid-stage class eight wildbeast could withstand a single blow from it.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Rays of black light shined out from the cracks of the rubble. The upper layer of rubble disintegrated at once and gave way so the wildbeast could emerge out from it.


    It looked extremely battered. Its left wing was nearly unhinged from where it was connected to the main body and quivered with pain. Only now did the wildbeast realize the power of the people it was facing and turned around to flee.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. He didn¡¯t think this wildbeast was smart enough to run away from them.


    If the wildbeast was going to run, then so be it. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really care about killing the wildbeast, so he watched as it ran further and further away before it disappeared.


    The wildbeast was gone, but so was the soul cultivator fighting it. ¡°Should we keep going ance¡ªeh? Are you alright, ancestor?¡±


    Shen Pojun was looking off in a distance toward a certain spot with a curious look on his face.


    ¡°Strange¡­¡± He muttered, ¡°I felt a strange source of soulforce just now, was I imagining things?¡±


    ¡°Oh? You felt it too?¡± The Frostfeather Saint spoke up. ¡°I thought I was mistaken¡­but I felt it as well. It was only for a moment¡ªis someone hiding?¡±


    ¡°You too?¡± Shen Pojun asked, giving the Frostfeather Saint a quizzical glance.


    ¡°Is someone hiding here?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out in surprise¡ªwhat kind of person was able to hide from two Saints? Was it another Saint?


    He calmed down at once when he realized he had a solution for this. A pulse of soulforce entered a ring on his left hand as he activated its effects!


    Hiding from a Saint either meant the person was extremely strong or they had a powerful technique capable of it. But that wouldn¡¯t stop Bai Yunfei from finding them!


    The soul armament whose effects he had silently activated was a powerful one, the Invisibility Ring!


    U+10 Additional Effect: Reveal anything hidden within a kilometer for 10 seconds in exchange for 5% of current soulforce reserves.


    Can increase range of perimeter by 100 meters in exchange for 1% of soulforce.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    It was a high-earth soul armament, but it had two additional effects that made it even more valuable than a heaven-tier soul armament. The +10 additional effect nullified any hiding technique and didn¡¯t even need to be constantly activated. This was the very first thing Bai Yunfei thought of when he heard Shen Pojun and Frostfeather Saint say it was possible someone might be hiding here.


    ¡°Eh?! There is someone!!¡±


    A response came from his ring a moment later. Eyes dilating, Bai Yunfei snapped his head about eight hundred meters to the right.


    He stared at a part of the sky where nothing seemed to be there. Not even his soulsense was saying something was out of the ordinary. But the Invisibility Ring wouldn¡¯t lie.


    Under his intense gaze, Bai Yunfei watched as the space he was staring at warp. Growing transparent, the patch of sky eventually revealed the figure of the person hiding there!


    ¡°Eh!? You¡¯re¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was stunned the moment he saw the figure hiding there. His eyes flew wide open with shock for a brief moment before his lips began to curl upward in a smile.


    ¡°Hahaha!!!¡±


    Under Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s amazed eyes, they watched as Bai Yunfei suddenly bolted from his position toward the figure at full speed with his fist outstretched!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The force behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist was so strong that it ripped apart space as it traveled forward. The very fabric of space was tearing up to reveal cracks so Bai Yunfei could without warning attack the previously hidden person!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The reaction of the other person was just as quick as Bai Yunfei¡¯s. Green and black light exploded from the person as he blocked the punch.


    But for some reason, there was no hostility in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. He was still smiling as he spoke to the person:


    ¡°Haha! It¡¯s been over a year, my friend! Were you planning to attack us when I forced you out? Watch yourself before I beat your face into a pulp again!!¡±


    ¡°Err¡­¡±


    The man paused, a little stunned for words as he stood there. His other hand, which had been priming up soulforce for an attack against Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint, returned to his side. He looked as if he was struck dumb by something at the sight of Bai Yunfei.


    The light around the person faded away at last, revealing a face most familiar to Bai Yunfei¡­


    ¡°Ol¡¯...Ol¡¯Bai?!¡±


    The person cried out, his voice a mixture of shock and joy.


    There was only one person that called Bai Yunfei by such a nickname¡­


    Jing Mingfeng!!

 Chapter 1296: Inheritance of the Wind Saint

    Yes! The very person in front of Bai Yunfei right now was none other than one of his trusted friends, Jing Mingfeng!


    ¡°Haha!!¡± Bai Yunfei boomed with laughter, ¡°Who else but me? It¡¯s been what, three years? Can¡¯t you recognize me?¡±


    ¡°It really is you!!¡± Jing Mingfeng was beside himself with joy, ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t believe it! Haha!! You¡¯re not dead! You¡¯re alive!! But¡­what are you doing here?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but I want to ask you that too. Why are you here in the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Jing Mingfeng grinned, ¡°I¡¯ve been training here all this time! Hehe¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flew wide open, ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯ve been training here for three years?!¡±


    ¡°Yep¡­I¡¯ve been living here since three years ago. Training all day every day.¡± Jing Mingfeng nodded. ¡°I heard¡­that you were killed by the Soul Refining School three years ago. I really¡­Yunfei, I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re still alive!¡±


    It moved Bai Yunfei to see Jing Mingfeng this emotional. He must¡¯ve spent all his time here, never once leaving the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains. That had to be why he didn¡¯t know Bai Yunfei was actually alive still.


    Bai Yunfei once asked about Jing Mingfeng¡¯s whereabouts when he spoke with Tang Xinyun. Her reply was that Jing Mingfeng never appeared again after the battle with the Qin. Bai Yunfei also remembered Jing Wuying taking him away, meaning Jing Mingfeng shouldn¡¯t have been in any danger.


    No news ever came up regarding Jing Mingfeng¡¯s existence, but Bai Yunfei always thought him to be safe and never looked for him. Who knew they¡¯d come across each other here today?


    ¡°I¡­I never thought you¡¯d be training here in the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains¡­¡± Bai Yunfei admitted, ¡°But good on you, you became a Soul Emperor! It must¡¯ve been some time since you became an Early-stage Soul Emperor, right?¡±


    The excitement died away from Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes at once. ¡°My achievements were all given to me by my grandfather¡­He¡­he¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s smile softened, ¡°What happened to senior Jing?¡±


    ¡°Grandfather passed away three years ago¡­he transferred his power to me before he died. I managed to get lucky here in the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains, that¡¯s how I managed to train so quickly¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, so senior Jing has¡­I see¡­Mingfeng, I¡¯m sorry to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Haha, let¡¯s not talk about it. I¡¯ll definitely live up to my grandfather¡¯s expectations!¡± Jing Mingfeng bounced back with a great smile. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you now, I wasn¡¯t slacking off for three years! Every day I spent here in these mountains has heightened my skills. The me of today will definitely win agai¡ª¡±


    He froze up to stare incredulously at Bai Yunfei. For two seconds, the man didn¡¯t speak. ¡°I¡­holy crap!! You¡¯re kidding me! Ol¡¯Bai¡­you¡¯re a Mid-stage Soul Emperor?! Th¡ªthere¡¯s¡­there¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha! What was that just now? You¡¯ll definitely win what?¡±


    ¡°I f*cking knew it!!¡± Jing Mingfeng roared with frustration, ¡°It¡¯s always like this! Are you even human anymore?! Grandfather transferred me his power and I obtained the Wind Saint¡¯s inheritance to get this far, but even now I¡¯m still weaker than you! I¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s ears perked up, ¡°what was that? The Wind Saint¡¯s inheritance? What is that?¡±


    ¡°Yunfei.¡±


    A voice interrupted Bai Yunfei. Turning around, Bai Yunfei saw Shen Pojun, the Frostfeather Saint, and Li Chengfeng all fly toward him.


    The three of them were all surprised when a person appeared out of nowhere and clashed with Bai Yunfei. They were further shocked to see Bai Yunfei begin to talk to him as if he was a friend. Confused, but reassured that the man wasn¡¯t an enemy, the three decided to come closer and see what was going on.


    So excited was Bai Yunfei in reuniting with Jing Mingfeng that he forgot about the others. ¡°Ancestor, senior Frostfeather, Chengfeng, this is a good friend of mine, Jing Mingfeng¡­Mingfeng, this is an ancestor of my school, Shen Pojun. This is the Frostfeather Saint, and this is Li Chengfeng of the Fate School¡­ah, Xinyun and Xiao Qi are both in the Core World. I¡¯ll take you in there to see them later.¡±


    ¡°Jing Mingfeng?¡± Shen Pojun repeated. They were each surprised to see such a talented individual like him here. He wasn¡¯t too far behind Bai Yunfei, in fact, if he was already an Early-stage Soul Emperor. And his ability to remain hidden as he did earlier was especially noteworthy.¡±


    On the other side, Jing Mingfeng was just as startled at the introduction as the others. ¡°This junior pays his respects to senior Shen, senior Frostfeather, and¡­brother Li.¡±


    ¡°Mingfeng, were you the one fighting that wildbeast earlier? You¡¯re not afraid of fighting a mid-stage class eight wildbeast? And¡­what did you use to hide? The ancestor and senior Frostfeather didn¡¯t even detect you, and they¡¯re Saints! Don¡¯t tell me the Soul Concealment Art is stronger than I thought?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng shook his head, embarrassed. ¡°Well¡­I was caught stealing a ¡®darkwind fruit¡¯ by it. Good thing I was faster than it expected, otherwise I would¡¯ve been in danger.¡±


    ¡°Darkwind fruit? A high-heaven tier herb like that exists here?!¡± Bai Yunfei raised an eyebrow in surprise, ¡°No wonder then, you¡¯re a brave one. Even if it¡¯s super compatible for someone like you, that¡¯s still far too reckless¡­¡±


    ¡°Everything was going fine until the end. I didn¡¯t think the fruit would give off a burst of energy like it did. I managed to hide after dodging two of its attacks and planned on slipping away when it left. I just didn¡¯t think you guys would show up¡­were you the reason why it left?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we scared it off¡ªyou didn¡¯t realize it even when we were beside you?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng shrugged his shoulders, ¡°You think it¡¯s super easy to hide from you guys? I was trying to block off every sign I was giving off. It¡¯s a technique of my family, the Hidden Void. The technique allows us to hide into thin air as if we¡¯re in a different dimension. No one should be able to sense us. If I try to peer into this dimension though, then senior Frostfeather and Shen should be able to spot me. I have to seal off every sense I have in order to hide. I just knew that a group of powerful people were coming and panicked. There was no way I¡¯d know who you were, so I decided to hide in my panic¡­¡±


    A lingering sliver of fear revealed itself in Jing Mingfeng¡¯s eyes. He had indeed been very frightened when he was spotted.


    Bai Yunfei was baffled. Such a technique like that existed? It seemed quite similar to the Hidden Horizon of the Fate School. Even the name was somewhat similar.


    ¡°It appears I managed to hide from the two seniors, but¡­how did you find me, Yunfei?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked, curious.


    Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s an unique ability of mine, an equipment effect to be specific.¡±


    ¡°Ughh¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng shook his head with a groan, ¡°You always have these completely abnormal stuff on you! It¡¯s ridiculous, you know¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t feel as smug anymore. Hiding from two Saints with his technique was extremely satisfying, but to be discovered by one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul armaments severely dampened his mood.


    ¡°Hey, what did you mean by the Wind Saint¡¯s inheritance? Did you gain the inheritance of a Saint?¡±


    ¡°What?! The Wind Saint¡¯s inheritance!?¡±


    Shen Pojun gave a dumbfounded stare at Jing Mingfeng, ¡°The Wind Saint of two hundred years ago? Ye Feixuan? You¡¯ve gained his inheritance?!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng nodded. ¡°That¡¯s correct, senior Shen. Two years ago, I was lucky enough to find where the Wind Saint resided in these mountains. His inheritance and the precious herbs he left behind helped become an Early-stage Soul Emperor.¡±


    ¡®Wind Saint¡¯ Ye Feixuan. A man of extraordinary power two hundred years ago. At the time, he had been the only wind-type Saint, thus how he became known as the ¡®Wind Saint¡¯. The Mid-stage Soul Saint went silent over two hundred years ago without anyone knowing where he went.


    It would appear that he died and left behind an inheritance.


    ¡°Tsk¡­so you gained a Saint¡¯s inheritance after all?¡± Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue, ¡°Hurry up and tell us the story then.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It took a while, but Bai Yunfei was now fully aware of the story and journey of Jing Mingfeng starting from three years ago.


    Apparently, Jing Wuying used something known as Soul Transfer to transfer a good portion of his power to Jing Mingfeng. It took three months of isolated meditation, but Jing Mingfeng was able to successfully integrate the new power for himself and become a Mid-stage Soul King.


    He heard the rumors of Bai Yunfei¡¯s death by the Soul Refining School shortly after that. Struck by sorrow, Jing Mingfeng said he vowed to get stronger and take vengeance for both Jing Wuying and Bai Yunfei, even if it meant reducing himself to dust. That was the reason why he chose to come to the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains to train.


    It was important to note that he had only been a Mid-stage Soul King at the time. Entering the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains when he did nearly led to him dying at the jaws of a wildbeast.


    His constant dance with death taught him a lot, however, and in a single year, Jing Mingfeng was able to fully integrate everything Jing Wuying left him and become a Late-stage Soul King.


    During one of his meditative moments, Jing Mingfeng came to realize the existence of a small cave. After he investigated it, Jing Mingfeng realized that it belonged to a powerful Saint, the ¡®Wind Saint¡¯ Ye Feixuan.


    It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Obtaining the inheritance of a Mid-stage Soul Saint and receiving their power, technique, soul skills, soul armaments, and other treasures¡­it was priceless. Thanks to the help of everything, Jing Mingfeng was able to become a Soul Emperor.


    He wasn¡¯t like Bai Yunfei who became a Soul Emperor after going to the Tomb of the Emperor Beast. The way he did it was more difficult than Bai Yunfei.


    After that, Jing Mingfeng decided to simply scavenge the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains in search for anything that might help him grow stronger. He was trying to get into even more danger so he could get stronger faster!


    Needless to say, Jing Mingfeng¡¯s determination to grow stronger was powerful enough to put Bai Yunfei to shame. Even Li Chengfeng felt awed by it.


    ¡­¡­


    Jing Mingfeng was smiling the entire time he told his story to Bai Yunfei. Perhaps it was because he didn¡¯t speak to anyone for such a long time, or perhaps it was because he was meeting a friend long thought to be dead. But either way, he didn¡¯t stop even once during his story.


    Now that he was done speaking, Jing Mingfeng drew in a deep breath and found himself thirsty. A gourd of water appeared in his hand for him to drink. ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, let¡¯s talk about you now! How¡¯d you escape from the Soul Refining School? What have you been up to these few years? And¡­why come here? Where are you heading to?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s actually a bit of a long story, so I¡¯ll tell you it later¡­We came here to¡­get to Hidden Dragon Valley.¡±


    Bai Yunfei glanced to Shen Pojun, he wanted to tell Jing Mingfeng about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, but he also wanted to wait for Shen Pojun to agree first.


    But Jing Mingfeng gasped before Shen Pojun could even nod or shake his head to answer Bai Yunfei. ¡°What?! Hidden Dragon Valley?! Are¡­are you guys after the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance too?!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s heart skipped a beat at that.


    ¡°You know about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance in Hidden Dragon Valley?! And¡­what do you mean, ¡®too¡¯?!¡±

 Chapter 1297: Important Information!

    A strange expression appeared on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face when he saw Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression. ¡°So you guys know about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance too¡­yeah, I know about Hidden Dragon Valley and the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance inside of it. I learned about it from the Wind Saint¡¯s inheritance. Ol¡¯Bai¡­how did you guys find out?¡±


    ¡°The Wind Saint¡¯s inheritance talked about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance? We learned it from the recorded information of a senior from the Fate School¡­¡±


    It was everyone¡¯s presumption that they were the only ones to know about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. Who knew that Jing Mingfeng would actually know about it too?


    ¡°Ye Feixuan knew about Hidden Dragon Valley? Did he go there too?!¡±


    ¡°Ah, yeah. He came to the Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains two hundred years ago so he could breakthrough. He found out about the pocket dimension in Hidden Dragon Valley a hundred years ago and learned about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance after that. It was a lot more dangerous than he expected and so he was forced to retreat after getting injured. But while he was recovering, a class nine wildbeast attacked him and made his injury even worse. The last of his lifespan was spent trying to recuperate before he passed away¡­¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Everyone nodded at his explanation.


    So it wasn¡¯t just the Dragon Saint King and the Faint of Sate. Even the Wind Saint traveled to the Supreme Saint¡¯s pocket dimension.


    But he was luckier than the others, at least. He at least was able to make it out from the pocket dimension.


    Perhaps it was because he didn¡¯t go as deep into it as the other two Saints¡­


    The Saint of Fate had it recorded in his Rune that an extremely powerful array was the reason why he was unable to escape. The Wind Saint must not have come across that array.


    ¡°If you¡¯re here, that must mean¡­you¡¯re trying to head to Hidden Dragon Valley too, right? Are you planning to enter that pocket dimension?¡±


    ¡°Not even I can ignore the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡¯s allure,¡± Jing Mingfeng smiled bitterly, ¡°But I¡¯m well aware of my lot in life. I doubt I¡¯ll be able to go there for now¡­I did actually try to go there when I first learned about it. My thoughts at the time was to become a Late-stage Soul Emperor before I attempted it for real. The Wind Saint was nice enough to leave behind a plethora of information about it. I guess if I¡¯m lucky, I might be able to get the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°There¡¯s no need to wait until you¡¯re a Late-stage Soul Emperor, why not come with us?¡±


    He turned to Shen Pojun for confirmation, ¡°Can he, ancestor?¡±


    Shen Pojun smiled and nodded. ¡°Of course. If little Jing shares his information and we ours, it will make our lives easier when we enter the pocket dimension.¡±


    ¡°Really? I can come with you guys?¡± Jing Mingfeng looked excited, ¡°That¡¯s great!! I won¡¯t have to be afraid of the trapped Saint in there then!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Did you say...a Saint¡¯s trapped inside the pocket dimension?!¡± Shen Pojun repeated for clarification.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Jing Mingfeng nodded, ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°We¡­¡± Bai Yunfei suddenly felt like this was an extremely important bit of information to learn, ¡°Of course we don¡¯t! You better explain that right now, Mingfeng!¡±


    ¡°According to the information I have, there¡¯s a pretty powerful array at the center of the dimension. The Wind Saint didn¡¯t pass it, but he felt the presence of another Saint in it. The Saint looked like they were trying their best to escape, but the array was more powerful than they expected. It was actually because he saw the trapped Saint that the Wind Saint decided to leave¡­It¡¯s been a hundred years, so I wonder if that Saint¡¯s alive or not¡ªthat¡¯s actually one of the reasons why I didn¡¯t want to go. I feel like I won¡¯t be becoming a Late-stage Soul Emperor for at least a dozen years. What if I become like that Saint and die in there¡­¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint narrowed their eyes with suspicion.


    The Saint of Fate didn¡¯t have any information regarding that trapped Saint, meaning this second Saint most likely came after the Saint of Fate transpired. How else would it be possible for a Saint to not be aware of someone else alive in that pocket dimension?


    It wasn¡¯t very good news since that meant they¡¯d probably have to battle with this Saint if they wanted the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. And what if that trapped Saint was a Mid-stage Soul Saint? It¡¯d be extremely hard for them to predict what might happen next then¡­


    The arrays in the pocket dimension were annoying enough. To have another Saint ¡®competitor¡¯ be alive there though? It was something considerably daunting for Bai Yunfei¡¯s group.


    ¡°I think¡­¡± Li Chengfeng was the first to speak, ¡°we should first divine and see if that person is alive or not¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh! Right! Please do that first, Chengfeng!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng didn¡¯t expect such a sentence to be said. Befuddled as Li Chengfeng went through several handseals, Jing Mingfeng watched with great curiosity as the atmosphere around them suddenly changed.


    Several seconds later and everyone watched as Li Chengfeng¡¯s eyebrows lock together¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s no use¡­I can¡¯t divine a thing¡­¡± Li Chengfeng sighed, ¡°Yunfei, I¡¯m going to use the +12 additional effect of the Heart Compass!¡±


    He redid the handseals, but this time, all of the soulforce within him suddenly vanished!


    ¡°Hey¡­¡± Eyes still wide-open, Jing Mingfeng leaned in to whisper to Bai Yunfei, ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, what¡¯s brother Li doing?¡±


    ¡°Shhh¡­¡± Bai Yunfei whispered back, ¡°Did you forget me saying that Li Chengfeng is from the Fate School? He¡¯s trying to divine if that Saint is alive or not, so we just need to wait¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Some time later when a considerable amount of Li Chengfeng¡¯s soulforce was recovered, the man suddenly paled in the face, though his eyes regained its previous glimmer.


    Making another handseal with his hands, Li Chengfeng immediately surrendered himself to the visions being offered to him by the Heart Compass!!


    It was blurry for a moment, but then the vision cleared up to reveal a tremendous battle. There were a few recognizable figures, such as Shen Pojun, the Frostfeather Saint, Bai Yunfei, and then also¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s him!!!¡±


    Li Chengfeng suddenly let out a cry of shock. ¡°It worked!¡±


    Shen Pojun and the others grew excited at his shout, but Bai Yunfei was worried. The vision didn¡¯t show the person. ¡°Did you see it? Who¡¯s him? What do you mean?¡±


    Li Chengfeng let out a loud gasp, ¡°The Saint trapped in the pocket dimension, it¡¯s¡­Gu Lianhun! It¡¯s definitely Gu Lianhun!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°You¡­Gu Lianhun?!¡± Bai Yunfei asked again.


    ¡°It¡¯s him!¡± Li Chengfeng nodded, ¡°I can foresee a huge battle¡­our opponent is definitely Gu Lianhun!¡±


    ¡°Gu Lianhun¡¯s real body?¡± Shen Pojun muttered, ¡°Yes¡­it makes sense. It¡¯s no wonder he disappeared for two hundred years then¡ªhe was trapped like the Saint of Fate! And it¡¯s wonder the Soul Refining School knows about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance then, he managed to tell them about it! That¡¯s why he had the avatar run away! I thought it was to save his own life, but perhaps not! Perhaps it used the last of its energy to lend a hand to Gu Jimie! Gu Lianhun would definitely be able to tell if his avatar died or not! It¡¯s possible he¡¯s related to why the Saint of Fate¡¯s Rune came back!¡±


    Shen Pojun¡¯s explanation cleared up the questions many people had and made several things clear at once.


    ¡°Gu Lianhun¡­we can¡¯t avoid fighting him if we go into the pocket dimension. Then in that case¡­¡±


    Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes narrowed with a gleam of killing intent!


    They all didn¡¯t know how to deal with the trapped Saint since they didn¡¯t know who it was. It was possible the Saint might¡¯ve been a friend or foe, but they had an answer now. If it¡¯s Gu Lianhun that¡¯s trapped, then¡­they definitely had to kill him!!


    This was extremely important information to know. It definitely would¡¯ve costed them a lot if they went into the pocket dimension blind, but now¡­they had the upper hand!!

 Chapter 1298: Hidden Dragon Valley

    ¡°It appears we can¡¯t avoid a confrontation with this Gu Lianhun. It¡¯s fortunate we learned of this sooner rather than later. We should think of a plan to best deal with him before it begins¡­¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint suggested. He hadn¡¯t any grudges against Gu Lianhun, but he was allied with Shen Pojun and Bai Yunfei. If the two sides fought, the Frostfeather Saint definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to stay on the sidelines, he had to choose a side.


    If Gu Lianhun was trapped in the same array the Saint of Fate died in, it was possible he had the remnants of whatever the Saint of Fate left behind. And that meant the Frostfeather Saint would have to fight him if he wanted the class nine soulgem.


    ¡°Gu Lianhun became a Saint two hundred years ago, he¡¯s most likely a Mid-stage Soul Saint. I don¡¯t believe there to be enough energy to train in within the array, so it¡¯s unlikely he¡¯s a Late-stage Soul Saint. Given the time he¡¯s been trapped, I don¡¯t believe he¡¯ll be in his prime fighting status. As long as we plan accordingly¡­we may be able to win!!¡±


    He didn¡¯t really believe in their chances if he or the Frostfeather Saint fought a Mid-stage Soul Saint individually. But if they fought together with a plan, it may indeed be possible to win.


    Neither of them were willing to give up on the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, Gu Lianhun wasn¡¯t that big of a deterrence.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! We¡¯re all at our peak strength, we¡¯ll definitely win if we fight accordingly! His avatar didn¡¯t do well against me before, we¡¯ll be able to reenact that same scene!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. He already had the beginnings of a plan ready for Gu Lianhun. Instead of being frightened at the prospect of fighting against a Mid-stage Soul Saint, Bai Yunfei was actually excited about it¡­


    A Mid-stage Soul Saint!! How could anyone not be excited to plan against such a person?!


    Jing Mingfeng had to suppress a shiver at the excitement sadism in Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes. ¡°Ol¡¯--Ol¡¯Bai¡­are you actually thinking about fighting with them? It¡¯s crazy¡­are you suicidal?!¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t done it before¡­relax. I¡¯ll put you in the Core World, you¡¯ll be safe there.¡±


    ¡°Ancestor,¡± He turned back to Shen Pojun, ¡°let¡¯s continue back toward Hidden Dragon Valley. We can talk about our plan on the way.¡±


    ¡°I agree, let¡¯s go.¡±


    They continued onward with Jing Mingfeng traveling next to Bai Yunfei. ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, can I ask you to wait for me a second. I have to go back to where I¡¯m living in for a second and bring Xiao Feng with me.¡± He pointed to a mountain to their right.


    ¡°Xiao Feng?¡± Bai Yunfei repeated, ¡°The wind howler you have as a soulbeast partner? I was wondering why I didn¡¯t see it earlier, so it was training?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we managed to kill an early-stage class eight wildbeast yesterday, a wind-type. Xiao Feng took the class eight soulgem and went into meditation. He¡¯s close to becoming a late-stage class seven now.¡±


    ¡°Oh? He¡¯s already at such a level?¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised. It might¡¯ve seem less impressive knowing the wind howler¡¯s power compared to Jing Mingfeng, but the rate of training for a soulbeast was vastly different than that to a soul cultivator. A pace like this was shockingly fast for most soulbeasts.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you then, it can keep training in the Core World¡­Ancestor, we¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    He waved to the group before following Jing Mingfeng back to where he resided.


    Bai Yunfei met the wind howler a while later. Due to it living in such a dangerous environment, the wind howler had evidently given up on humanization so it could dedicate all its energy to training. Much like Xiao Qi, Xiao Feng was not willing to lose out on more power by humanizing.


    Bai Yunfei and Jing Mingfeng sent the wind howler into the Core World before returning to Shen Pojun. Then together, the group flew off in the direction of Hidden Dragon Valley¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Half a day later. At the destroyed mountain where Jing Mingfeng fought the wildbeast. Gu Jimie and Shangguan Xiongyan suddenly appeared in the skies above it.


    ¡°They stopped here for a while, it appears they fought a wildbeast here.¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan surveyed the area around them for a while. He didn¡¯t appear to see anything interesting, so he cocked his head down to inspect the mirror in his hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s continue this way then.¡± He spoke after a while.


    He didn¡¯t really care much about the reason why the group must¡¯ve stopped here. It was most likely just to fight with a rampaging wildbeast and nothing more.


    Unfortunately for them, the two overlooked an advantage that would¡¯ve served them greatly¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Five days later.


    ¡°This is Hidden Dragon Valley? It lives up to its name¡­this place is magnificent!¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out in surprise and marvel at the sight around him.


    The range of mountains was curving slightly now, like a serpent. It was shaped so that the tail looked almost exactly like a giant dragon that was crouching low in a way that was breath-taking to see.


    The giant dragon-shaped mountain range surrounded a deep valley, or in other words, Hidden Dragon Valley.


    It was said at that behind Hidden Dragon Valley was an unknown piece of land. No information was ever made known at this place, but many said that all sorts of class nine wildbeasts lived here.


    Bai Yunfei was excited to see what this ¡®uncharted land¡¯ contained. He was here at the destination, so it was time to slow down for now.


    According to what the Saint of Fate recorded, this place was the battlefield of the giant battle he had with the class nine wildbeast. It might¡¯ve been a fierce battle, but the passage of time already healed and covered up the scars of that mighty battle. Six hundred years of time was just far too long for them to know where the battle was.


    Terrain-wise, the Hidden Dragon Valley was quite similar to Black Cloud Valley. A layer of fog covered a majority of the valley and protected it from the eyes of outsiders. Not even soulsense would allow a person to navigate through this area well.


    The group soon touched down in an area near the valley so they could begin walking in it.


    This place was rumored to be the nesting ground of a class nine wildbeast. Its ¡®master¡¯ might¡¯ve died a long time ago, but most other wildbeasts would probably avoid this area for some time longer. The group didn¡¯t even come across any soulbeasts while they walked in the valley.


    Soon, the group arrived at the end of Hidden Dragon Valley to where a small lake was.


    ¡°It should be here! The pocket dimension is in this lake, but¡­why haven¡¯t we found it yet?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng stared excitedly around and above the lake with his soulsense, but found nothing. He glanced at Li Chengfeng, but the other male didn¡¯t seem to know either.


    ¡°It¡¯s here all right, I can sense something peculiar in the air here. That has to be the entrance.¡±


    Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes were focused on the air above the lake. Jing Mingfeng and Li Chengfeng weren¡¯t strong enough to sense the aberration, but not Shen Pojun. He and the Frostfeather Saint were sensitive enough to the environment to see the strange flow of spatial energy.


    Bai Yunfei was actually able to sense it as well. His senses, in this regard, was much sharper than the two Saints. He could feel the presence of the pocket dimension just twenty meters above the lake¡¯s surface.


    It wasn¡¯t because he was stronger than the two Saints, Bai Yunfei had something aiding him¡­the Core Stone.


    The Core Stone, essentially, was the ¡®penultimate¡¯ pocket dimension. With the spirit awake, there was no other pocket dimension that could compare to it.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have to worry about opening up an entrance to the pocket dimension since there were two Saints there. Besides, the information left behind by the Saint of Fate and the Wind Saint were both meticulous. It wouldn¡¯t take long to breach into the pocket dimension.


    Shen Pojun and Frostfeather Saint both gave each other a nod before focusing their soulforce to their hands and disseminating it.


    Revealing the pocket dimension wasn¡¯t hard. They just needed a large amount of power to attack the entrance to forcibly reveal it.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A red beam escaped from Shen Pojun and a white beam from the Frostfeather Saint. Together, they traveled toward the same part above the lake and exploded against each other with devastating force. The water beneath the lake trembled as space fractured above it, revealing a gray whirlpool several meters in diameter.


    This was the entrance to the pocket dimension. The place where the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was. It was as the Saint of Fate described it. Excitement filled the eyes of everyone there.


    Without waiting, the group leaped into the sky and quickly disappeared like pebbles in a body of water into this whirlpool¡­

 Chapter 1299: The Supreme Saints Abode

    The whirlpool closed up behind Bai Yunfei¡¯s group when they walked through it. Without the abnormality there to exert its pressure, the area quickly returned to its normal docile state as if nothing ever happened to begin with.


    The only difference was the fog. By an unnatural power, the fog that pervaded the valley was now being pushed to two different sides so a group could walk over to the lake.


    It was Shangguan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie.


    ¡°It¡¯s here! The entrance to the pocket dimension is right here!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan shouted, he was staring at the reflection in the mirror and comparing it to the lake in front of him.


    It didn¡¯t matter if the area seemed ordinary. To him, a Saint, he could tell from the flow that it had recently been disturbed. He didn¡¯t need the mirror telling him that someone had ¡®opened¡¯ something here.


    Gu Jimie noticed it as well, but he was a little more impatient than his companion. ¡°Then what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s simply break open the space here and force the entrance open! We still have time to catch up!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan remained unmoved. ¡°No, they¡¯ll slow down now that they¡¯re in the pocket dimension. We should wait if we want to remain undetected. Otherwise we¡¯ll be caught sooner than we want.¡±


    ¡°What need is there to wait when we¡¯re here at the pocket dimension?¡± Gu Jimie glared, ¡°What consequence is there if they catch us? We¡¯ll simply kill them sooner than later!¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re so intent on leading the way, why not let them and wait? The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance isn¡¯t so easy to obtain. There¡¯ll most definitely be all sorts of danger to reach the inheritance, otherwise your esteemed Gu Lianhun wouldn¡¯t have been caught two hundred years ago. If we stick behind them, we¡¯ll be able to save ourselves the trouble of avoiding any traps. And if they reach Gu Lianhun first, then we¡¯ll be able to attack them for a pincer attack. Wouldn¡¯t that be better to finish off our enemies?¡±


    It made a lot of sense when Shangguan Xiongyan said it, but Gu Jimie seemed to still be just a little bit hesitant. ¡°Your words makes sense, however¡­who knows how long we¡¯ll have the element of surprise? If we fail to appear when they come across my teacher¡­would he not be in danger?!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan was up to no good, Gu Jimie was sure of it. Gu Lianhun was to be the ¡®bait¡¯ in the plan. If Bai Yunfei and Gu Lianhun were to fight and injure each other, who else but Shangguan Xiongyan would benefit most?


    ¡°You worry too much. Gu Lianhun is most likely a Mid-stage Soul Saint by now, what danger could he possibly be in?¡± Shangguan Xiongyan retorted.


    ¡°The battle won¡¯t be over in less than half an hour. We have the Abyssal Snake Saint with us, we can at the very least keep track of his health with the bond when we get in. If four Saints fight together, what can two Saints and a group of weaklings do? Would we not be able to win so easily?¡±


    ¡°For two hundred years my teacher has been trapped, who knows what state he¡¯s in? The three of us is already ample enough strength to defeat them, what point is there to put my teacher in danger?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Hissed the Abyssal Sea Snake. ¡°There¡¯s no point to squabbling when we¡¯re here at the entrance¡­Shangguan Xiongyan is correct, there¡¯s no harm in waiting. Waiting for a good moment to strike is the most optimal plan.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Gu Jimie fell silent at the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s words. Of the three of them, he was the weakest and most injured. Should he continue to complain about the situation, then it was possible the Abyssal Snake Saint would cease to care about Gu Lianhun¡¯s safety. All he could do was wait until Bai Yunfei¡¯s group made it to where Gu Lianhun was and hope for the best.


    Another three hours went by before Shangguan Xiongyan looked up from the mirror. ¡°It¡¯s time! They should be too far away from the entrance to spot us entering now.¡±


    With the three Saints working together, the entrance was opened very quickly for them to fly into¡­


    ¡­¡­


    At this current moment, at the center of the pocket dimension.


    Bai Yunfei and his group were just arriving in front of a seemingly endless corridor.


    Stone pillars sat on both sides of the corridor and the ground was smooth as if they were the tiles of a palace.


    Indeed, this part of the pocket dimension was like a palace. Bai Yunfei even found himself comparing it to the royal palace in the Capital.


    It also felt like a maze. Bai Yunfei could see farther down the corridor where it suddenly split into multiple large pathways deeper into the palace.


    Every pathway had another barrier that Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint had to force down one after another, though the effort was absolutely taxing on their energy.


    They had the strategies of both the Saint of Fate and the Wind Saint, so that made breaking down the barriers relatively easy.


    The way they were set out and placed in such large numbers to stop them made them feel like the owner of this palace didn¡¯t want any visitors at all. Or perhaps it was simply the previous Supreme Saint¡¯s way of ¡®testing¡¯ those wanting his inheritance.


    So even though the group managed to bypass several barriers already, they were all extremely wary of what would come their way in the future.


    What unnerved them most was how the palace¡¯s setup was significantly different than expected. What was described in the Saint of Fate and Wind Saint¡¯s memories were definitely not the same as what the group was seeing right now¡­


    The pathways they walked through all had their own differences. As a whole, the pathways were quite similar, but some details could be seen to distinguish them apart. And after walking for half a day through these pathways, Bai Yunfei was convinced they were walking in different paths than the ones the Saint of Fate and the Wind Saint walked¡­


    It was peculiar. The barriers and how to dismantle them were the same, but the ¡®sequences¡¯ and ¡®positions¡¯ were different¡­


    It wasn¡¯t until they reached the fifth hall and barrier that the group discovered that¡­this was a completely ¡®new¡¯ barrier!


    The trap was sprung the moment they stepped deeper into the hall. There was a flash of light as all sorts of elemental energy converged and formed blades of energy. Suspended in the air, the blades looked ready to fly everywhere and cut them to pieces.


    This wasn¡¯t something the Saint of Fate or the Wind Saint ever came across!


    ¡°It appears¡­these barriers are interchangeable. Replicating the journeys of the Saint of Fate or the Wind Saint will be impossible then. They managed to see a variety of barriers and what they could do, but it took only four barriers for us to come across a new one¡­traveling to the end will be much more difficult than we thought¡­¡±


    Shen Pojun hummed to himself as the Frostfeather Saint deflected the many blades of energy already coming their way. ¡°This trap seems like it¡¯ll only be dispelled with force¡­It¡¯s not too strong, so dispelling it should be simple, but who knows how the barrier behind this will react¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The unexpected came sooner rather than later, but the two Saints remained calm. The trap was capable of slicing and dicing any Soul Emperor, but it was useless against the defenses of a Saint. With both Saints offering protection, the group was able to slowly make their way forward through the hall.


    But this obstruction caused the two Saints to use far more energy than any other barrier so far.


    The swords all disappeared when they stepped into the hall beyond, only for the group to see yet another long pathway.


    ¡°So this is how difficult it is to break through unknown barriers¡­ancestor and senior Frostfeather worked hard together to do so, but the Saint of Fate and the Wind Saint both did it by themselves without help. Just how powerful were they¡­¡±


    Though Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t personally see how hard it was to break a barrier himself since he was beside two Saints, Bai Yunfei was still highly befuddled and even stunned by the prowess of the Saints of before.


    ¡°Very well, let¡¯s move on. Who knows what new barriers await us, be careful now.¡±


    Bai Yunfei jolted awake at Shen Pojun¡¯s words before quickly following after him.


    But it was just at that moment when¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt the air around him suddenly tremble before gray light shot across the sky!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­boom!!¡±


    Faster than anyone could react, a powerful beam of energy barrelled through the air toward Bai Yunfei! The space in front of the beam crumbled when touched and had cracks shooting everywhere in space!


    Blanching, Bai Yunfei quickly took a step back and threw the Cataclysmic Seal forward. It activated its barrier at once to protect Bai Yunfei from the powerful surge of energy.


    That was when Bai Yunfei then looked up to see who was attacking him. A figure was flying out from the shadows at just the right time for Bai Yunfei to see his face!


    ¡°Gu Lianhun!! I¡­how are you here!?¡±

 Chapter 1300: The Shocking Arrival of an Enemy!

    The mysterious attacker was¡­Gu Lianhun!!


    His arrival was a tidal wave of shock to crash against Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart¡ªhow in the world was Gu Lianhun here in this place?!


    According to the Wind Saint, Gu Lianhun was supposed to be stuck in one of the last few barriers¡­did he manage to break free from it?!


    A barrier the Saint of Fate had been unable to break free from¡­how did Gu Lianhun managed to free himself from that?!


    And even if he did break free¡­how coincidental was it that he was lying in wait here of all places to attack them when they least expected?!


    All sorts of questions entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind then as he raced to figure out why Gu Lianhun was here.


    But none of that was important. The most important thing was that Gu Lianhun was nearly upon them!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunfei prepared to defend himself. His hands pushed outward to send the Cataclysmic Seal¡ªand its protective barrier¡ªforward!


    ¡°Whoosh!! Crack¡­¡±


    Gu Lianhun¡¯s right fist struck against the barrier with a clattering smash. For a brief moment, the barrier held out against his fist before¡ª


    ¡°Crack!¡±


    Splintering under his fist, the barrier began to show cracks all over its surface and then¡­it shattered!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened in shock¡ªhe didn¡¯t think his barrier would shatter that face. But before he could properly register his shock¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun¡¯s right fist opened up into a palm the moment when he shattered the barrier and slapped the Cataclysmic Seal straight on!


    It was before the Cataclysmic Seal could expand in size. In one swift motion, the Cataclysmic Seal was slammed against and¡­forced backward!!


    The Cataclysmic Seal failed!


    ¡°You brat¡ªdie!!¡± Gu Lianhun sneered confidently.


    He was looking absolutely sinister in his confidence. Mustering strength to his palm, Gu Lianhun slammed his palm straight onto Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest and sent him flying away like a cannonball!


    ¡°Pft!!!¡±


    A mist of blood spurted out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s mouth¡ªthe attack from Gu Lianhun was far too much for him to bear!


    It wasn¡¯t just blood he spat out, bits of his flesh and organ had also been forced out!


    ¡­¡­


    It had all happened far too fast. Bai Yunfei¡¯s brain couldn¡¯t even comprehend what was going on as he traveled through the air. He couldn¡¯t understand how this enemy had appeared so fast or how he had been so easily tossed aside.


    Only when his chest started to hurt did Bai Yunfei realize the severity of his situation. Shaking his head to clear the pain from his head, Bai Yunfei looked up and was immediately confused by what he saw¡ªor rather, what he didn¡¯t see!


    Shen Pojun and the others were nowhere to be seen!


    ¡°How?!¡±


    He was starting to panic now. How was this possible?


    What in the world was going on?!


    Before the answer could come to him, a fierce gust of wind assaulted his face, alerting Bai Yunfei to a sudden advent of gray light. Blades of wind the color of ash were flying at his head!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Activating the +10 additional effect of the Returner Armor in his panic, Bai Yunfei hurriedly had the whirlpool materialize to protect him.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The gray light was immediately sucked into the whirlpool, much to Bai Yunfei¡¯s relief. He was about to sigh in relief, but then he realized Gu Lianhun¡¯s aura was no longer in front of him!


    Now, the stench of death was strongly apparent from right behind him!


    Acting on pure instinct, Bai Yunfei immediately activated the +10 additional effect of the Core Stone!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    His figure shimmered in the light just in time for a palm to go straight through where his neck was. Gu Lianhun¡¯s hand had just barely missed him!


    Two seconds wasn¡¯t much time, but it was all the time Bai Yunfei needed to readjust himself to the situation. As surprised he was with how no one else was here, Bai Yunfei began to go through several handseals to prepare for battle!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    A furious wave of soulforce exploded out from Bai Yunfei upon the very last handseal.


    Dual Flame Artes: Berserk Mode!


    He didn¡¯t care what happened anymore, he had to fight for his life!


    His soulforce was elevated to the levels of a Late-stage Soul Emperor in a heartbeat. Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei magnified the Cataclysmic Seal several hundred times in size before directing it to crash into Gu Lianhun¡¯s body from the right!


    ¡°Tsk!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue as the Cataclysmic Seal moved in to strike. His feet were already taking him into a perpendicular direction before his eyes could even see if the Cataclysmic Seal would land.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    As fast and intimidating the Cataclysmic Seal was, it managed to hit nothing but air. Gu Lianhun was simply far too fast for the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Already, Bai Yunfei could feel a blast of wind fly toward his head!


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    Dodging as quickly as he could, Bai Yunfei was unable to stop the fabric on his left shoulder rip apart and a fresh fountain of blood splurt out from it!


    Pained, Bai Yunfei attempted to widen the distance between him and Gu Lianhun by several hundred meters. His left shoulder was drenched entirely with blood now, and the flesh where he was cut was so deep that he could see the bones in his body. There was also a faint black aura radiating from the wound that seemed to be corroding his body!


    His entire left arm would¡¯ve been gone if he had been just a half-beat slower!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Almost instantly, Bai Yunfei felt his body and soul be ransacked by an excruciating amount of pain as the dark aura entered his body via the wound on his left shoulder. As if millions of tiny blades were cutting into him, the dark aura began to spread around his body and drive him to scream out in uncontrollable pain!


    It was terrible, the pain! Worse than what he could bear, Bai Yunfei could hardly help but scream at the top of his lungs. Not even the Vampiric Demon Edge was bad as this!


    ¡ªThe damage Gu Lianhun did onto him was twofold. Not only was it a serious wound to his body, it was also capable of damaging his soul!!


    ¡°N¡ªno way! He didn¡¯t use a soul attack¡­so how did this happen?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself. Eyes bloodshot, he quickly had the Soul Sentinel Scarf grant him some semblance of relief and the ability to think rationality without losing his soul.


    Certainly, Bai Yunfei looked quite mad right now. Both his hands clutched at his head as his fingers seemed to bend at the joints as if attempting to pry his head from his neck.


    ¡°No¡ªno¡ªno!!¡±


    He howled to himself multiple times. The struggle in his eyes grew more and more pronounced along with a bright light in his eyes.


    ¡°Bothersome gnat¡­die!!¡±


    A voice boomed into his mind a second later. Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped up at the voice as he realized Gu Lianhun was now standing just a few steps away from him. Snarling, the man reached at him with a sharp claw-like right hand to rend his head apart!


    It¡­it was far too close to his head for him to dodge!


    What awaited Bai Yunfei was a fate most similar to a watermelon being crushed if he didn¡¯t do something about it!


    In this moment of peril, Bai Yunfei was somehow actually rooted to the spot! Instead of attempting to dodge or defend himself, Bai Yunfei was actually doing nothing!


    But his eyes shined with the light of determination instead of despair!

 Chapter 1301: Shattering the Illusion

    ¡°Shatter!!¡±


    Instead of looking pained or anything, Bai Yunfei was instead bursting with radiance as he let out a loud roar!


    A wave of soulforce exploded from his body, but it didn¡¯t interact much with the energy around him. The only difference was that a mirage-like light was now beginning to rise from his left wrist!


    The Charm Bracelet!


    Bai Yunfei had activated its effects at once and without hesitation. Like the shining light of a new day, the intensity of the light coming from the bracelet seemed to contain an endless amount of energy. Its light covered everything around Bai Yunfei and began to make the air tremble!


    Another flash of light erupted from the Charm Bracelet before its effects were made clear. Like snow under the intense sun, the scenery around Bai Yunfei began to disappear!


    The first to change was the ¡®Gu Lianhun¡¯ in front of Bai Yunfei. Once touched by the light from the Charm Bracelet, Gu Lianhun disappeared from the world as if erased!


    The light continued beyond Gu Lianhun into the surrounding world, shattering it into thousands of pieces like glass. Watching as everything fell apart around him, Bai Yunfei noticed several people appear in his vision.


    Shen Pojun, the Frostfeather Saint, Li Chengfeng, and Jing Mingfeng!


    They were standing all around Bai Yunfei: Li Chengfeng stood twenty steps to his left with the Meteoric Edge in his hand. His soulforce was blazing around him as he took up a defensive stance.


    Shen Pojun was a little farther away on the right side, each of his three soul armaments floating protectively around him. He looked contemplative, as if he was deep in thought about something.


    The Frostfeather Saint stood even farther right then Shen Pojun and had both his arms spread outward to spread an icy aura everywhere. Like Shen Pojun, the Frostfeather Saint was also deep in thought.


    Jing Mingfeng stood the farthest away from Bai Yunfei, but he was the one that looked the most ¡®serious¡¯. His soulforce was out in full blaze and his right hand held a gray dagger that danced and flitted through the air swiftly. Even more strange was how his face and eyes looked extraordinarily hateful as he attacked at the air in front of him.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Everything changed when Bai Yunfei looked at them. Both Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint turned their heads around at the same time while Li Chengfeng looked confused and Jing Mingfeng paused his attack to stare at the void in front of him.


    ¡°I knew it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed with happy clarity as he realized what was going on.


    They were standing in a long corridor, but Gu Lianhun was nowhere in sight. Bai Yunfei looked down at his chest but found nothing strange, not even a wound. His left shoulder was just as spotless, though Bai Yunfei noted that there was still some remaining blood from his lips. The pain he felt from his soul was nowhere to be felt either, though he still felt the exertion of being in Berserk Mode. And both the +10 additional effects of the Returner Armor and the Core Stone were still on cooldown.


    Bai Yunfei raised his left hand to inspect the Charm bracelet on it. The light was gone from it now, leaving the soul armament inert. He also noted that the +12 additional effect was on cooldown now too.


    Unique Equipment


    Equipment Grade: High Earth


    Elemental Affinity: Illusion, Fire


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attribute: +800 Spirit


    Additional Attribute: +50 Charm


    Soul Compatibility: 50%


    Equipment Effect: Reduce damage taken by illusions by 40%.


    +10 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to establish a mental link with anyone within a kilometer.


    +12 Additional Effect: Become immune to any illusion upon activation. If already afflicted by one, immediately break free from it.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints


    ¡ªWhat Bai Yunfei used just now was the +12 additional effect!


    The ability to shatter illusions!


    ¡­¡­


    Exactly! Everything that happened just now, including Gu Lianhun¡¯s appearance and the battle to the death¡­was all an illusion!


    An illusion matrix!


    This was what caused the Wind Saint to be injured and forced him to turn back!


    It was activated when Bai Yunfei and the group made it past the rain of swords earlier. When they stepped into the hall, the illusion matrix activated and plunged them all into it!


    The matrix wasn¡¯t separate from the rain of swords, the two were connected to one another by their exit and entrance!


    No one would¡¯ve expected the palace to have such a thing in place.


    This was the first time Bai Yunfei had ever come across such a thing. The Charm Bracelet did its job by reducing the matrix¡¯s effects by nearly in half, so Bai Yunfei was astounded that he was barely able to hold out even after all that!


    Spotting an illusion is an easy task, normally speaking. The Charm Bracelet would¡¯ve weakened any illusion Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t manage to spot and make him realize he was in one.


    But this illusion was far too strong for Bai Yunfei to realize he was stuck in an illusion even after it was weakened. Just seeing ¡®Gu Lianhun¡¯ made him panic far too much to notice the Charm Bracelet¡¯s activation, and experiencing those attacks further tossed him into the effects of the illusion¡­


    Everything in the illusion matrix was fake, of that, but Bai Yunfei was absolutely confident that death was definitely possible if he didn¡¯t catch on fast enough¡­


    The pain in chest and shoulder were fake, but the pain in his soul was definitely real!


    So it was truly fortunate that Bai Yunfei managed to catch onto the fact that he was in an illusion and used the +12 additional effect of the Charm Bracelet to shatter it!


    Without that ability to do so, Bai Yunfei was sure breaking free would be impossible. He wasn¡¯t confident that just knowing he was in an illusion would ensure his safety. It was possible the illusion would still be capable of rendering harm for as long as it was active, since the Wind Saint was clearly injured by it even after he left the place.


    Not even Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint were able to escape the illusion¡¯s effects. They didn¡¯t do anything as drastic as Bai Yunfei such as when he activated Berserk Mode or made use of his soul armaments, but they were definitely concentrating hard to ward off the most of the illusions¡¯s effects. As hard as they might, the illusion was still far too strong for them to break free from. Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng were both in the same boat as Bai Yunfei, but Jing Mingfeng was definitely feeling its effects even harder than the others.


    Were the illusion to continue, Bai Yunfei, Li Chengfeng, and Jing Mingfeng would most likely fall prey to the illusions.


    Fortunately for them, the +12 additional effect of the Charm Bracelet was an extremely powerful weapon against illusions! Thanks to Bai Yunfei¡¯s insight on upgrading things to +12, he now had a powerful anti-illusion item!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Yunfei¡­were you the one to dispel that illusion?¡±


    It was a surprised Shen Pojun that asked once he and the Frostfeather Saint returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°It was really close. It¡¯d been over for me if I didn¡¯t realize in time.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Shen Pojun let out a long sigh of relief after Bai Yunfei confirmed his question. ¡°Is this the ¡®illusion-breaker¡¯ you¡¯ve mentioned before?¡± He nodded at the Charm Bracelet on his left arm, ¡°How magical that it¡¯s capable of shattering an illusion so quickly¡­¡±


    ¡°Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai¡­what was all that just now?!¡±


    Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng both called out to Bai Yunfei at the same time.


    ¡°Are you alright, Mingfeng?¡±


    Gone was the hatred on Jing Mingfeng¡¯s face. His soulforce was considerably weaker than before, leaving him to look more fatigued than before. ¡°Were we stuck in an illusion just now?!¡± He asked, a hand to his chest in concern. ¡°Dear heavens¡­that was strong¡­I was just about to self-destruct against my enemy!! The Wind Saint left behind information on this illusion matrix, but I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d happen the way it did!¡±


    It frightened Bai Yunfei to hear that Jing Mingfeng had nearly self-destructed, but he was happy that that was prevented.


    ¡­¡­


    The illusion was gone, but that didn¡¯t mean it wouldn¡¯t return. No one wanted to be there for such a case, so the group immediately traveled onward.


    They traveled for a little longer before finally coming across their very first ¡®corner¡¯.


    At the very end of the pathway was the entrance to another hall. But right before that entrance was yet another pathway that extended to the right.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Everyone was confused. Neither the Wind Saint nor the Saint of Fate recorded such a thing in their records.


    In other words, this was a place neither Saints managed to come across.


    No one in the group was willing to abandon such a ¡®special¡¯ area just because it was an unknown thing. After a moment of silence, Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint nodded to one another.


    ¡°You three follow behind us. Be careful.¡±


    Shen Pojun warned them before cautiously advancing to the new area¡­


    They all expected to see a new barrier of some kind once they entered the hall. But instead of that, they were all stunned at the sight in front of them¡­


    ¡°This is¡­¡±

 Chapter 1302: Medicinal Hall

    Everyone was prepared for a new and dangerous trap to assault them when they stepped across and into the hall. But what greeted them instead was¡­


    A vast expanse of blue skies and white clouds! Verdant grass and lush fauna! The swaying of the flowers and the calls of the birds of spring! A scenery of tranquility and serenity!


    That was what greeted them!


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s all this?!¡± Cried Bai Yunfei.


    Was this an illusion? He subconsciously touched the Charm Bracelet and then the Soul Sentinel Scarf on his forehead, but neither gave off any indication that this scenery in front of him was fake.


    It was without a doubt real!


    ¡°It¡¯s a small pocket dimension, this must be where the Supreme Saint grew his ingredients!!¡±


    While it took Bai Yunfei a while to figure things out, Shen Pojun managed to realize what this was first!


    Bai Yunfei spread his soulsense outward to investigate the arrangement of horticulture in front of him. Soon, Bai Yunfei came to understand why Shen Pojun was so happy and fell into a second bout of bewilderment¡­


    ¡°Red sandalwood herbs, melodial twisted vines, nine-leafed flowers, golden mirage apples without stems, rainbow bracken¡­I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m¡­¡±


    One by one, Bai Yunfei listed off the names of the ingredients he knew. Each herb was more stunning than the last. He couldn¡¯t even believe his eyes at the rarity of these herbs anymore.


    Every single one of these herbs in this place was¡­of high-heaven tier status at the very least!!


    The only reason he knew of these herbs was because of the Yao clan¡¯s herb compendium he read a while ago. Bai Yunfei was probably the most knowledgeable person about the worth of these herbs¡ªthese herbs were all capable of being used to produce high-heaven tier pills!


    Herbs of this caliber became scarce on the Qimang Mountains after the Yao clan relocated there. The Soulbeast Forest had precious herbs, yes, but many of them were eaten by the numerous soulbeasts living there as well.


    But this place¡­.high-heaven tier herbs were growing all over the place as if they were common grass!


    What the heck?!


    The Yao clan and soulbeasts combined wouldn¡¯t be able to find this many high-heaven tiers in the Soulbeast Forest even if they combed it for several months!!


    The amount of herbs in this one garden would make anyone from the Yao clan go crazy! Even the ordinary soul cultivator, such as Shen Pojun¡ªas strong as he was¡ª, would feel stunned by the amount of herbs here.


    The Frostfeather Saint was the oldest of the group and by default the most experienced. Both his eyes lit up at the sight of these herbs, as they were more precious to soulbeasts than they were to soul cultivators. The innate qualities of a soulbeast allowed them to ingest and absorb herbs better than soul cultivators did. Some herbs weren¡¯t even edible for soul cultivators, but not for soulbeasts.


    Two thousand years of living (excluding three thousand years of captivity by the Beast Taming School) meant the Frostfeather Saint had a venerable knowledge of the world¡¯s herbs. He was especially moved by this sight since he saw several herbs that¡¯d definitely help him in his training!!


    Herbs that could help even a class nine soulbeast train! Those weren¡¯t even findable in the Soulbeast Forest almost!


    And that only meant to show how valuable these herbs were!


    ¡­¡­


    It took a while for the group to get over their shock at the garden and regain their bearings.


    Bai Yunfei confirmed after a quick observation that this pocket dimension was about two and a half kilometers in radius. The skies above the garden wasn¡¯t exactly real, but was an imitation made by elemental energy. Aside from the herbs, there was also a miscellaneous amount of other plants, birds, and even insects.


    Several parts of the garden were distinctly different to one another. In one area, elemental fire danced and leaped in the air vigorously. In another, elemental wind swirled and gathered in dense amounts. Clearly, these areas were meant to grow herbs of special natures.


    ¡°A soul-gathering array!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei exclaimed in shock. It all made sense to Bai Yunfei how the elemental energy could be manipulated by itself now¡ªthis was the long-lost soul-gathering array! It was told before that the experts of the past once used these arrays to train faster at half the effort, but apparently they could also be used to grow herbs.


    It was also in the compendium that Bai Yunfei heard about the soul-gathering array and its benefits. The Yao clan once had such an array, but it was lost due to the passage of time.


    Needless to say, the Supreme Saint was without a doubt an expert on arrays. All the previous barriers, traps, and other formations was proof of that.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This is a ¡®medicinal hall¡¯...our previous Supreme Saint was quite the collector of medicinal herbs it seems. It boggles the mind to see such a tremendous amount¡­¡±


    Shen Pojun sighed after his shock wore off, ¡°It¡¯s also clear to see that the Dragon Saint King, the Saint of Fate, Gu Lianhun, and Ye Feixuan didn¡¯t find this place. We are quite fortunate¡­¡±


    The amount of herbs here was enough to help dozens of Soul Emperors with their training without a problem. An Early-stage Soul Saint could become a Mid-stage Soul Saint with plenty of herbs to spare even. If the Yao clan were here, they¡¯d easily be able to make multiple high-quality pills to help one train.


    There was no talk about how to best split the ¡®loot¡¯. After careful considerations, the entire group decided the ¡®best¡¯ thing to do was move the entire garden!!


    It was a tiny pocket dimension. The two Saints could easily ¡®excavate¡¯ the entire earth beneath the garden and move it into the Core World.


    Which is what they did.


    After all of it was moved into the Core World, Bai Yunfei managed to have the Yao clan set to processing the materials and turn into pills. With Bai Yunfei as the pivotal member in all this, everyone else was confident that they¡¯d each get their fair share without worrying another might take more.


    ¡°What¡­what a haul!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei laughed to himself after the entire garden was gone into the Core World.


    With this, they¡¯d be walking away with quite the prize even if they didn¡¯t manage to get the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    And now that everything was secured, the group headed back the way they came to continue onward.


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s group was traveling in the footsteps of Bai Yunfei¡¯s group. They were just about half a day¡¯s travel behind.


    ¡°Our decision to wait and let them open the path was the correct one¡­we¡¯ll be able to enjoy a safe path forward until they reach Gu Lianhun.¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan laughed as they walked. His eyes were still rooted to the mirror in his head. They were all enjoying a nice and safe walk through the halls after Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint cleared out the traps for them. And because they were able to walk unimpeded while the group ahead had to disarm the traps and barriers, the distance between them was rapidly shrinking.


    ¡°Oh? A corner?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t long before they came across the fork in the road where one pathway led to the herb garden. Having a fork in the road when there never was one earlier made the three Saints suspicious. Instead of continuing forward, they decided to bear right and head down that path.


    Unfortunately, there was nothing left when they reached the garden. Nothing but dirt. Not even a blade of grass could be seen.


    Without a prize to be found, the group decided to return back to the proper path and follow after Bai Yunfei again.


    ¡°Hm? Something¡¯s not right! They¡¯ve stopped for a whole minute now! It¡¯s even longer than before!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan suddenly cried out to the others.


    ¡°What?!¡± Gu Jimie stopped, ¡°Did they come across a powerful barrier? Or¡­did they perhaps meet my teacher?!¡±


    They immediately turned to the Abyssal Snake Saint.


    The soulbeast¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Gu Lianhun is close, I can sense him, but not speak. I do not think he is able to sense me, however¡­otherwise, I do not sense any battle nearby. He and the Frostfeather Saint shouldn¡¯t be fighting at the very least, but I belie¡ªhm?! Something¡¯s wrong!


    ¡°Gu Lianhun¡¯s aura is fluctuating! He¡¯s injured? He¡¯s come across an enemy! A battle is starting!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Gu Jimie roared, ¡°Then what are we waiting for? We have to help him!!¡±


    Then before Shangguan Xiongyan could direct him, Gu Jimie shot off down the path ahead of them.


    Shangguan Xiongyan and the Abyssal Snake Saint shared looks with one another before chasing after Gu Jimie¡­

 Chapter 1303: Arrival

    ¡°Is this¡­the final barrier?!¡±


    In front of Bai Yunfei¡¯s group was a magnificent hall that filled everyone with a sense of wonder and mystique.


    The hall was quite different than the ones before. It was larger than the others and had mist covering the majority of the walls and pillars. Only the entrance was without mist, though its entrance was giant and dark as if ready to swallow up anyone that dared to enter it.


    Their soulsense wasn¡¯t able to penetrate its entrance, meaning only the naked eye would be able to see anything here.


    This sight in front of them was exactly as the Wind Saint and the Saint of Fate recorded. This was the hall with the strongest barrier!


    This was the final obstruction. The final threshold. The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was beyond this ¡®entrance¡¯ inside the hall!


    Entering the hall wasn¡¯t hard. The hard part was leaving it. To this, the Saint of Fate and Gu Jimie could both attest to.


    When the Saint of Fate tried, he made it to the final ¡®door¡¯ before coming across the last obstruction. Bai Yunfei knew their attempt would be slightly different. They still had another giant challenge before that¡ªGu Lianhun!


    According to the Wind Saint, Gu Lianhun was trapped in this hall!!


    No one expected to come across this final barrier so quickly. The distance from the medicinal garden to now had only been three barriers. One of them was an unknown one, so it took the combined and prolonged efforts of Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint to overcome.


    In the end, the group was here. They thought it¡¯d take more time and effort to get here, but it was ultimately not as hard as they expected.


    As unexpected as it was, there was still more to do. And no one was going to shirk away from the prize due to Gu Lianhun.


    ¡°We are here earlier than expected, but things are still going to plan. Let us begin!¡±


    Shen Pojun announced, determined.


    ¡°Oh? Right away?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. ¡°Ancestor, don¡¯t you and senior Frostfeather need some time to recover your strength? We should take some time to recover¡­¡±


    The Frostfeather Saint shook his head, ¡°Our reserves are still quite considerable. A rest isn¡¯t necessary. We¡¯ve forged the road bravely so far, what reason have to cower now? You, on the other hand¡­are the one most vulnerable in our plans. Are you prepared yet?¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Please rest assured! This plan is definitely going to work, I won¡¯t let you down!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A while later, while Bai Yunfei and the group stood right outside the hall.


    In front of them was an empty space of chaos.


    Under the giant gates sat a cross-legged individual. From the distance, the individual looked just as still as a stone statue.


    But then the ¡®stone statue¡¯ trembled. Two beams of bright light shot forth from the eyes before the figure sprung up to its feet. Another burst of light erupted to cover the figure, revealing a very familiar face of¡­


    Gu Lianhun!


    The true ¡®ancestor¡¯ of the Soul Refining School, and captive for two hundred years!


    Gu Lianhun¡¯s eyes radiated with a brilliant light. ¡°At last! Is it Jimie? Did they find the way to getting here? But¡­why has the Abyssal Snake Saint come as well?¡±


    When Gu Lianhun¡¯s avatar died, he managed to force open a connection to the real world and send out a message. There wasn¡¯t much time to fully explain the situation, but he managed to get the gist out. As long as Gu Jimie succeeded with the Fate School, they¡¯d be able to know more about his fate here.


    He knew about the Fate School and their divining object. He also knew about the return of the Saint of Fate¡¯s Rune and took advantage of it to send a message of his own.


    Gu Lianhun waited for this day ever since then. Today was the day since he felt an irregularity in his soul. He could sense a ¡®signal¡¯ from his bond with the Abyssal Snake Saint!


    It had been two hundred years since he last made ¡®contact¡¯ with the Abyssal Snake Saint. Not since he ¡®made a deal¡¯ with him to become Soul Emperors. Gu Lianhun had actually almost forgotten about the Abyssal Snake Saint.


    If the Abyssal Snake Saint could be felt, then Gu Lianhun knew that Gu Jimie was here. He could hardly contain his excitement.


    Being trapped for two hundred years made it impossible for him to feel happy. He had almost given up until when he sent that message out. If assistance were to arrive, would he not be able to break free from this ¡®door¡¯ and obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance? How could he not be excited in that case?


    ¡°They¡¯re getting close, it¡¯s almost time now!¡±


    His bond with the Abyssal Snake Saint was getting stronger and stronger now. Already he was starting to head forward to meet with his ¡®comrade¡¯.


    A hole opened up in the gate in front of him to reveal several figures flying through it. He froze up the moment he saw them fly in.


    ¡°Enemies! That¡¯s not Gu Jimie and the Abyssal Snake Saint!¡± He thought to himself.


    A moment later and his expression change when he noticed something strange¡­


    ¡°A Soul Emperor?!¡±


    He almost didn¡¯t trust his senses. One of the people coming in was clearly¡­just a Soul Emperor!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°We¡¯re caught!!¡± Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes the moment he felt Gu Lianhun¡¯s attention on him. ¡°That¡¯s definitely Gu Lianhun!¡±


    They were all found the moment they entered into this place. Their exact presences weren¡¯t known, due to the chaotic atmosphere and the extra time needed to, but Gu Lianhun definitely knew of their strength!


    Bai Yunfei managed to calm himself after his panic. ¡°If you found us, then¡­come and get us!¡±


    And just like that, he accelerated forward!


    ¡°He¡¯s coming!!¡±


    Another second later and Bai Yunfei felt a difference in the air. He didn¡¯t know where Gu Lianhun was, but the fluctuations in the atmosphere were telling him Gu Lianhun was rapidly approaching!


    Though he ran the simulations of this fight multiple times before, Bai Yunfei was hard-pressed to contain his excitement. Already his soulforce was circulating through his body with great speeds as if ready for battle.


    ¡°I care not for who you are¡­but submit and prostrate yourself at once!!¡±


    An icy voice boomed throughout the place. A powerful wave of energy accompanied the voice with enough force to shatter the air and force everything aside for a gray figure to appear in front of Bai Yunfei!


    No sooner did the man appear did his right hand shoot forward to grip at Bai Yunfei!


    Waves of black energy surged for Bai Yunfei. Condensing into ten razor sharp claws, the energy then flew through the sky as if to swipe at a fly!

 Chapter 1304: Scheming Against Gu Lianhun

    It puzzled Gu Lianhun that people were here already. He only just received contact with the Abyssal Snake Saint, how was it that people were already coming in? Who were they then?!


    ¡°What is going on¡­why is it not the Abyssal Snake Saint? Are¡­are they the Fate School!?¡±


    His eyes narrowed at the thought of that. Traveling toward the entrance, Gu Lianhun¡¯s mind raced to think of the right possibility.


    ¡°A Soul Emperor arriving here means they must¡¯ve followed the Saint of Fate¡¯s guidance! But¡­why is there only one?


    ¡°The Abyssal Snake Saint is still quite far behind this person. Then¡­is he following this person? Did Jimie not steal the information away from the Saint of Fate then? Is that why the Abyssal Snake Saint is here then?


    ¡°Pah, it matters not. If one wishes to enter this place, then they¡¯ll die regardless!¡±


    And so, Gu Lianhun flew even faster toward Bai Yunfei with renewed cruelty!


    The message he sent when his avatar died had only been one-way. He had no absolutely no idea what was going on on the outside and had no idea who Bai Yunfei was. In his eyes, this man was but a Soul Emperor that could be killed with hardly any effort.


    He had no idea why such a person would be here, but no matter. He¡¯d just need to soulscan them before he killed them.


    Therefore, it was important that he captured Bai Yunfei as soon as he got close enough!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°I knew it! He doesn¡¯t recognize me!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with glee when he saw Gu Lianhun attack. His ¡®plan¡¯ hinged on the hope that Gu Lianhun wouldn¡¯t know who he was. Everything would fail if that condition wasn¡¯t met, but Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint both agreed that it was very likely the plan would work. And based off of Gu Lianhun¡¯s reaction, the plan was indeed looking like it was going to work!


    ¡°He¡¯s not using his entire strength¡­good!¡±


    Judging from the power radiating from the black claws in front of him, this attack wasn¡¯t meant to kill, but rather to capture. Bai Yunfei smiled at this and immediately activated the +10 additional effect of the Counter Armor!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The air in front of Bai Yunfei trembled before it warped in on itself, forming a pitch-black whirlpool!


    The claws sunk deep into the whirlpool soon after and disappeared under its surface like a stone in water!


    ¡°What?! What soul skill is this!¡±


    Gu Lianhun was alarmed. He thought his attack would¡¯ve blown away any insignificant defense the Mid-stage Soul Emperor would offer instead of it being the other way around. He never thought his own attack would be neutralized so easily!


    ¡°Is he a dark-type soul cultivator?¡± He thought to himself after seeing the whirlpool, but he knew that wasn¡¯t it. ¡°No! He¡¯s a fire and lightning type! And¡­a power-boosting skill! He¡¯s a Late-stage Soul Emperor now!¡±


    It felt like he was fighting a crimson sun with how suddenly the person in front of him lit up with red light. Violet lightning crackled everywhere as the person somehow leapt from a Mid-stage Soul Emperor to a Late-stage Soul Emperor to a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor!


    ¡°Hmph! A rare power-boosting soul skill, what of it? It matters not, not even if you can become a Saint! A weakling that presumes himself to be stronger is still a weakling!!¡±


    Disdain filled Gu Lianhun¡¯s eyes as he prepared an even stronger amount of soulforce for his next attack. Waving his right hand, even more rays of black light began to gather in front of him. Filled with the full power of an Early-stage Soul Saint, the light soon transformed into a giant net!


    This was an attack meant to end it all. It was meant to crush all and any resistance from Bai Yunfei, no matter what method Bai Yunfei might use to evade of stop it. Normally, this would be enough to end things, but then he made one terrible miscalculation¡­


    ¡ªAnother wave of his right hand later and a transparent wave of energy was sent soaring toward Bai Yunfei!


    It was¡­a soul attack!


    ¡°It¡¯s here!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes focused on this second attack instead of the larger black net coming at him. Eyes still on Gu Lianhun, Bai Yunfei felt his hair rise on his arms in excitement.


    A soul attack was supposed to be shapeless, but Bai Yunfei was able to still ¡®see¡¯ it even as it barreled toward him!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The Soul Sentinel Scarf on his head trembled violently as a burning heat radiated from it. Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was already beginning to pour into it!


    Then Bai Yunfei watched as the near-transparent wave of energy suddenly surge in the opposite direction!


    ¡°Aahhhh!!!¡±


    One second later and an ear-piercing screech erupted in the air!


    ¡­¡­


    Gu Lianhun had been so confident in his success. He thought there was no way Bai Yunfei would be able to defend against his soul attack. Never would he ever imagine that his very own soul attack would actually end up slamming back into him instead!


    It happened far too fast for him to defend against, nor to even react against. All he felt was a sudden and sharp pain in his head before his soul began to feel like it was being torn apart!


    The +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf had been activated!!


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% chance to completely deflect a spirit-based attack.Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    It only had a thirty percent chance to activate, but that was under its own effects. With the Fate Pendant, that probability was doubled. It was still pretty dangerous to have something activate at a sixty percent chance, but Bai Yunfei was prepared to use the +13 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate just in case.


    +13 Additional Effect: Revert the state of the soul 10 seconds prior. Activated automatically when off cooldown and soul is in danger of destruction.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    It meant suffering the soul attack, but Bai Yunfei was ready to endure it and bait out another soul attack to try again.


    And if that didn¡¯t work, then Bai Yunfei would use the +12 additional effect of the Fate Pendant to reset the cooldown of the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s +13 additional effect.


    +12 Additional Effect: Reset the cooldown of any equipment¡¯s effect back to zero.Cooldown of 1 hour.


    That way, he¡¯d be able to bait out another soul attack for the Soul Sentinel Scarf to hopefully activate. In total, he¡¯d have three chances.


    And Bai Yunfei doubted that it¡¯d take more than three attempts for the +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf to activate. If that was the case then there was no point fighting Gu Lianhun. Bai Yunfei may as well use the Core Stone and escape.


    Luckily, he didn¡¯t have to do that. The Fate Pendant and Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®luck¡¯ was definitely working today. Gu Lianhun¡¯s very first soul attack was able to activate the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s effect!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei smiled with glee at the sound of Gu Lianhun¡¯s cry, but he made sure to not lose himself in his joy. It was time for the next step!


    Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei sent out the Cataclysmic Seal while also sending a message in the Core World!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Expanding in size the moment it came out, the Cataclysmic Seal transformed into a gigantic mountain to slam into Gu Lianhun with devastating force!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    As weakened he was by the brunt of his own soul attack, Gu Lianhun was far from powerless. Forcing down the pain he felt as much as he could, he waved his right hand to bring out a golden shell-shaped soul armament to protect his front.


    And not a moment too soon, for the Cataclysmic Seal made contact with the soul armament practically milliseconds upon its arrival!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The world trembled when the two soul armaments collided. The shell-shaped soul armament let out a mournful wail when it was hit, as if it was unable to endure the power of the Cataclysmic Seal.


    ¡°Get absorbed!¡±


    Bai Yunfei growled under his breath, it was time for the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s +14 additional effect!

 Chapter 1305: Powerful Attacks!

    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    A brilliant wave of fire shot forth from the Cataclysmic Seal. Transforming into a massive net of fire, the light then surrounded the shell-shaped soul armament!


    Somehow, the soul armament wasn¡¯t blown backward by the force of its collision with the Cataclysmic Seal. Instead, it came to a stop as if it was actually trapped by a net and began to tremble.


    It was only for a second that it trembled before the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s light started to recede. Unable to resist the invisible attraction from the Cataclysmic Seal, the shell-shaped soul armament was pulled closer and closer until¡­it melted into the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s body!


    Like a blackhole, the Cataclysmic Seal was somehow absorbing the other soul armament into itself!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Releasing a sound not unlike a burp, the Cataclysmic Seal began to lose its glow.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun froze up at that moment. His face had gone entirely white when he groaned and spat out a mouthful of blood!


    ¡°Wha¡ªbut how!?¡±


    He was in shock at what had just happened. What in the world was that?


    His strongest defensive soulbound armament was¡­destroyed?!


    His soul armament was gone!


    He felt what happened to his soul armament when it was sucked into the Cataclysmic Seal. His imprint was forcibly removed when the shell-shaped soul armament was destroyed, causing his soul to be further harmed!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    A furious roar escaped from Gu Lianhun¡¯s lips as he exploded with black light. But instead of charging at Bai Yunfei, he¡­turned around to retreat!


    Hardly any time went by since Bai Yunfei first came into his place and was attacked by Gu Lianhun. But despite the short amount of time, the number of events was far too many, and most of them were far too much for Gu Lianhun to properly accept. His mind was in disarray and his soul in chaos. With how much pain he was in, Gu Lianhun could hardly even think of anything else but terror!


    ¡°What? Who is he?! What did he do?! How did he even manage to do this?!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun roared to himself. He was humiliated beyond belief. Humiliated and furious that he couldn¡¯t do a thing about it.


    As he drew farther away from Bai Yunfei, Gu Lianhun felt the pain in his soul abate to a manageable degree. Sighing in relief, he turned back to look at Bai Yunfei only to be alarmed when two dangerous auras suddenly appeared in front of him!


    ¡­¡­


    The Cataclysmic Seal wasn¡¯t the only part in Bai Yunfei¡¯s plan that was in motion. While it was absorbing Gu Lianhun¡¯s soul armament, there were two other people in motion!


    Shen Pojun! And the Frostfeather Saint!


    They were able to see everything going on while in the Core World. So they were ready to come out at the most optimal time to strike, and that moment was now!


    Shen Pojun¡¯s aura was like the sea in the middle of a storm. Light as red as fire rolled off from his person as his Flame Dragon Crescent Blade stabbed straight for Gu Lianhun!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­boom!!¡±


    The spear cleaved through the swathes of black light and cleared it away from everyone!


    The Frostfeather Saint was taking action as well. While Shen Pojun was clearing the light around them all, the Frostfeather Saint shot toward the retreating Gu Lianhun!


    The chaotic space in this place was immediately mixed with a layer of icy-cold frost. Somehow, a snowstorm began to take place as elemental ice gathered in larger amounts. The Frostfeather Saint was completely surrounded by a blinding white light that shined as bright as the sun!


    Gone was the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s humanoid figure. In its place was a giant figure with two wings!


    The figure let out a loud bird-like cry before it extended its wings¡ªthis was the true form of the Frostfeather Saint, the class nine Frost Phoenix!


    The Frostfeather Saint transformed into its strongest form for battle for the sake of killing Gu Lianhun as quickly as he could. Not even Shangguan Xiongyan would be able to fight him now!


    The air around the Frostfeather Saint was absolutely suffocating. A single flap of his wings caused the world to tremble as if reacting to his presence. This was the battle form of a soulbeast, and in front of him, not even Xiao Qi (when in his battle form) would be comparable to him¡­


    The transformation from humanoid form to soulbeast form took only a single moment. The elemental ice around him immediately transformed into sharp blades of energy that took off to strike down Gu Lianhun!


    After getting rid of the light around them all, Shen Pojun shot up to the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s side to prepare an attack of his own. Grasping his soul armament, Shen Pojun accumulated the nearby elemental fire to turn into a rampaging dragon to send after Gu Lianhun!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Two Saints?!¡±


    Gu Lianhun shrieked, unable to contain his shock.


    It seemed like nothing was making sense anymore. A Soul Emperor was able to take on his attack, reflect his soul attack, and destroy his soulbound armament. And now two Saints had appeared out of thin air to attack him!


    This was the biggest shock Gu Lianhun had ever felt in his life. And to make matters even worse, he didn¡¯t even have the time to say how ridiculous this was!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Given the circumstances, there was no way Gu Lianhun would¡¯ve known his actions and reactions were calculated beforehand. He had no idea how his opponents had done any of this, but it was time for him to fight for his life!


    Fury bled into his eyes as he howled. His right hand immediately came up to slam itself over the part of his chest where his heart was!


    ¡°Bang!! Pft!!¡±


    It was a heavy blow filled with elemental energy that caused Gu Lianhun to let out another mouthful of blood!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    The pain of the blow was mighty, but the anger he felt at the situation overwhelmed the pain. Soulforce flowed out from his body in large amounts as he prepared for his retaliation!


    The light around him turned dark. Spider-web like cracks appeared in the air around him as the elemental energy started to destabilize. Like a mirror shattering into thousands of pieces, the space around him was collapsing at a devastating rate!


    With Gu Lianhun at its center, the cracks began to cover more and more ground!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The cracks extended for several steps before encroaching onto the area where the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s attack was. There was an explosion as the blades of elemental ice crashed against the cracks, but the majority of the blades were swallowed up into the cracks as if falling into a bottomless swamp. The Laws of Ice were extremely powerful, but the cracks proved to be even stronger. After a while, the network of cracks managed to swallow up every single blade into itself.


    But there was still one more attack to deal with! After the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s attack was dealt with, the fire dragon from Shen Pojun made its entrance!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Slamming into the cracks, the dragon broke apart into waves of fire to continue onward. It managed to make it several steps toward Gu Lianhun before dissipating to reveal a sharp Flame Dragon Crescent Blade coming down to strike Gu Lianhun¡¯s head!

 Chapter 1306: An Overwhelming Advantage!

    Everything within a hundred steps of Gu Lianhun was in chaos. Only the immediate area around him was ¡®fine¡¯. The Flame Dragon Crescent Blade managed to break through the network of cracks, leaving Gu Lianhun¡¯s final barrier of defense to be a barrier of elemental energy. Glinting in the light and whistling in the air, it moved in to strike at Gu Lianhun¡¯s head!


    ¡°Skreeee!!¡±


    It cut into the barrier with an eerie sound, but it managed to make it through to continue at last at its target!


    Gu Lianhun had invested most of his energy in that last line of defense. Pushing both hands outward, he gathered another wave of soulforce to them and glared at the incoming soul armament.


    ¡°Now¡­begone!!¡±


    A maniacal light entered Gu Lianhun¡¯s eyes when the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade was just half a step away from his head. His fingers bent to form claws before he pulled at the air in opposite directions and roared!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A burst of black light exploded from the area where his hands once were. The Flame Dragon Crescent Blade was hit by the energy and then bounced backward from the force!


    ¡°Urgh!¡±


    Gu Lianhun¡¯s last-ditch effort to protect himself had done some damage to Shen Pojun¡¯s soul armament. The man had let out a small grunt of pain and grimaced when his soul armament was reflected.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    But the damage to Gu Lianhun was even greater. His body swayed unsteadily despite his soulforce trying to stabilize himself. When he opened his mouth, a small torrent of blood managed to escape from it!


    Even injured and pressed for time, Gu Lianhun had somehow managed to stop the joint attacks of two Saints. This only served to show how powerful Gu Lianhun was as a Mid-stage Soul Saint. It would take more than that to stop him.


    But he had to pay a mighty price to survive all that.


    All the damage done so far had been done to his soul. This was the type of injury any soul cultivator feared most since it meant they¡¯d be only able to use half the amount of power they¡¯d normally be able to use¡­


    Bai Yunfei had no doubts risking his own life in this plan. Everyone else was trying their hardest to play their roles, so why shouldn¡¯t he? The plan was already working¡ªGu Lianhun was weakened before the battle could even truly begin!


    If now wasn¡¯t the time to make use of this excellent opportunity, then when else?!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint both didn¡¯t hesitate to unleash another attack when their first one failed to end the battle. Two pillars of ice and fire immediately rained down from the sky toward Gu Lianhun!


    They didn¡¯t plan on giving Gu Lianhun the chance to catch his breath. They were ready for a second joint attack!


    ¡°Damn!¡±


    Gu Lianhun had never felt such humiliation before. Swallowing his fury as he tried to calm his soulforce, Gu Lianhun waved his right hand to cover himself in a giant whirlpool of dark-gray light.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two pillars struck against both sides of the whirlpool with enough force to nearly collapse it.


    Gu Lianhun didn¡¯t look happy that his defense worked. If anything, he was looking even more troubled. But perhaps that was because¡­another two pillars of energy were coming at him again!


    There was another two explosions, but this time, the whirlpool protecting Gu Lianhun collapsed and dissipated away. Gu Lianhun¡¯s face turned red as he resisted the urge to vomit blood once again.


    It was maddening how much he was being forced back, but the true kicker was when¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    It happened again, something strange was happening in the air around him again. He could feel it. As a man with an affinity for both darkness and space, Gu Lianhun was especially sensitive to the changes in spatial energy. He could feel the spatial energy around him being ¡®smothered¡¯, or in other words, the area he was kneeling in was¡­changing!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    His first reaction was to leave this place at once, but it was too late. He felt the world go blurry before everything around him turned kaleidoscopic in color!


    This wasn¡¯t an array, his soulsense was telling him that much. But everything around him, from left to right and up to down, was absolutely devoid of everything!


    The most striking change Gu Lianhun noticed was the fact how¡­he wasn¡¯t able to manipulate the elemental energy around him!


    Whether it was elemental darkness or spatial energy¡­he wasn¡¯t able to use it!


    ¡°This¡­this is the Interdimensional Phantasm! The one from the Beast Taming School!! And that¡­that¡¯s the Frostfeather Saint! You are beast tamers!¡±


    To his credit, Gu Lianhun was quick to recognize the root of what was going on around him and also what the soulbeast was in front of him. He was just confused by the implications of the two soulbeasts.


    As confused as he was, Gu Lianhun didn¡¯t have the time nor luxury to think about the whys. The characteristics of the Interdimensional Phantasm and its effects were unique and especially troublesome. It was an early-stage class eight soulbeast, yes, but not being able to manipulate elemental energy was extremely debilitating to one¡¯s fighting prowess. Gu Lianhun was probably able to force open a path into the real world, but that was only if he was undisturbed. How could Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint possibly let him have such a luxury?


    In fact, Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint had already launched another salvo of attacks at him when the Interdimensional Phantasm appeared!


    He was completely trapped. The only thing he could do was grit his teeth and make use of the elemental energy made in his body to try and ward off the incoming attacks.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    For a while, the Interdimensional Phantasm was beset with an endless chain of explosions.


    ¡­¡­


    In Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes, his plan was a success the moment the Interdimensional Phantasm managed to bring Gu Lianhun into itself.


    The first step was to have Bai Yunfei appear in this place by himself to drop Gu Lianhun¡¯s guard. He would then show off a certain amount of his strength and use the +10 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf to reflect Gu Lianhun¡¯s soul attack to inflict the first set of damage.


    The next step was to have the Cataclysmic Seal ¡®trap¡¯ Gu Lianhun¡¯s soulbound armament and then absorb it into itself by use of its +14 additional effect. This in turn would deepen the damage Gu Lianhun¡¯s soul even more.


    Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint would take over from here and tire out Gu Lianhun even more. Then while he was distracted, Bai Yunfei would bring out the Interdimensional Phantasm and change the battlefield.


    Everything was clicking into place. An opportune time. A favorable location. A harmonious collaboration. The advantage was completely on Bai Yunfei¡¯s side!


    Not even a Mid-stage Soul Saint like Gu Lianhun would be able to escape from harm like this!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°The plan has finished perfectly. Now it¡¯s up to ancestor Shen and senior Frostfeather¡­¡±


    Smiling in satisfaction at the results, Bai Yunfei watched Shen Pojun and Gu Lianhun assault Gu Lianhun under a storm of attacks.


    Using the effects of two extremely-powerful soul armaments to outmaneuver a Mid-stage Soul Saint left Bai Yunfei feeling especially giddy. He had been extremely nervous up until this point, but now he felt like he could finally relax.


    He was no longer capable of influencing this battle. It was now his turn to watch the battle.


    ¡­¡­


    Time went by slowly in this place. Ten minutes had gone by since Bai Yunfei handed over the reins to Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint. Both of which had yet to cease their barrage of attacks.


    Without hesitation and without mercy, the two were completely overwhelming Gu Lianhun!

 Chapter 1307: The Final Move

    It was all too clear for Bai Yunfei, even if he wasn¡¯t fighting right now, that he was powerless. The battle taking place in front of him was one he wasn¡¯t capable of fighting in. All he could do was watch.


    But that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t influence the battle somehow. Participation was limited, but definitely possible, he just needed the proper timing for it.


    A bright flash of red light popped into life next to Bai Yunfei before something dropped from it into Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    It was the Cataclysmic Seal.


    A string of notifications appeared in his head.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Fire, Earth


    Upgrade Level: +14


    Attack: 5000


    Additional Attack: 25000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect: 5% Chance to inflict Confusion for 3 seconds (10% Chance if the head is struck).


    10% Chance to stun the target for 5 seconds (20% Chance if the head is struck).


    50% Chance to hurl the target.


    Effects cannot be stacked.


    Cooldown of 5 seconds.


    +10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 30% chance to activate ¡®Constricting Flames¡¯ and inflict a 30% decrease in mobility for a maximum of ten seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +12 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, summon a shield made of elemental earth. The more soulforce used, the stronger the shield. The total defense of the shield cannot exceed the attack of the weapon. (Ineffective against mind-based attacks).


    +13 Additional Effect: Magnify the size of this equipment. Attack remains the same. Can be controlled remotely.


    +14 Additional Effect: Upon collision with another weapon, there is a chance for this weapon to absorb it and gain one of the effects as a Hidden Effect. Time is required for the other weapon to be fully absorbed, but once absorbed, gain a permanent stat boost in attack proportionate to the other weapon''s attack.


    Up to 3 Hidden Effects can be stored, with the earliest one being overwritten by default. Any Hidden Effect can be removed, but only one Hidden Effect can be in effect at any given time.


    Cooldown of 1 hour before Hidden Effect can be swapped again.


    If the weapon is higher in tier than the weapon it is trying to absorb, the chance of success is 50%


    For each tier greater than this weapon, the rate of success drops by 15%.


    Weapons tree tiers greater than this one cannot be absorbed.


    The amount of attack absorbed is dependent on the weapon''s grade. No other weapon can be absorbed until the previous one has been fully absorbed.


    Hidden Effect 1: 10% Increase in attack (Enabled).


    Hidden Effect 2: 50% Additional damage to wood-type targets.


    Hidden Effect 3: Automatic restoration upon extreme damage.


    Upgrade Requirement: 300 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°The ability to regenerate? That¡¯s super useful, especially for a defensive-type soul armament! It¡¯s not too useful for the Cataclysmic Seal, but it¡¯s still worth the protection, I think I¡¯ll keep it for now¡­¡±


    This third hidden effect the Cataclysmic Seal gained came from the shell-shaped soul armament it had just absorbed.


    The second hidden effect came from after he killed Nether and absorbed the hatchet from his Late-stage Soul Emperor companion. And the first hidden effect came from when he was first testing out the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s new abilities.


    Bai Yunfei actually had another soul armament absorbed into the Cataclysmic Seal. It was before they traveled to the Fate School, but the hidden effect was rather useless and so Bai Yunfei had it erased. Bai Yunfei was pleased, this was quite the ability to have.


    The absorption of a soul armament took some time to be completed, so Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to randomly absorb soul armaments left and right during a battle. It¡¯d be quite dangerous in a fight since he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the hidden effects right away.


    Excluding the shell-shaped soul armament, the three soul armaments the Cataclysmic Seal absorbed spanned across the three heaven subtiers. That allowed the Cataclysmic Seal to jump from an attack power of 5000 to 5330. The additional attack remained untouched.


    ¡­¡­


    After his investigation was completed, Bai Yunfei stored away the Cataclysmic Seal to resume watching the battle.


    ¡°Beating Gu Lianhun shouldn¡¯t be a problem anymore. We just need to wait until ancestor Shen and senior Frostfeather manages to get the decisive blow in¡­¡±


    The battle was getting more and more impressive, but it was also becoming more clear on who the victors would be. Bai Yunfei could already see the ending and was starting to grow excited.


    Gu Lianhun¡¯s strength was heavily diminished due to the Interdimensional Phantasm. The man was a Mid-stage Soul Saint, but not even he would be able to fight with his true strength if there wasn¡¯t any energy for him to manipulate. The elemental energy his own body was producing wasn¡¯t nearly enough to fight against two Early-stage Soul Saints, even if his soul wasn¡¯t injured. How long would Gu Lianhun last at this rate?


    It wasn¡¯t all smiles on Bai Yunfei¡¯s side, however. A few more minutes and the Interdimensional Phantasm would disappear along with their greatest advantage. It wouldn¡¯t be nearly as easy to defeat Gu Lianhun then, and neither would they be able to stop him if he tried to flee.


    Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint both knew this, thus why their attacks were getting progressively more aggressive. Likewise, Gu Lianhun was also trying his best to survive through the storm and begin his counterattack once the Interdimensional Phantasm was gone.


    Ten minutes passed already, meaning only five minutes remained. If things continued the way they were going right now, then killing Gu Lianhun within the time limit seemed unlikely.


    ¡°Ancestor Shen or senior Frostfeather haven¡¯t used their strongest attacks yet, but neither has Gu Lianhun. It¡¯s a little risky right now¡­and we can¡¯t push Gu Lianhun too much. If he decides to self-destruct here¡­we can¡¯t die here¡­I should begin the preparations for that¡­¡±


    As he pondered silently to himself, Bai Yunfei sent a message into the Core World¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    So frequent were the explosions that it seemed like a never-ending chain of explosions. Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint were attacking relentlessly while Gu Lianhun was ardently defending. The space in between them all was a mixture of red, white, and black light as the three fought for victory. Gu Lianhun couldn¡¯t even be seen within the chaos anymore.


    That being said, Gu Lianhun was now wielding a sword whose blade was entirely jet-black like the night. Each swing of his sword brought forth another wave of elemental darkness from it.


    ¡°Clang!! Crack¡­¡±


    It happened when Gu Lianhun parried the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade with his blade. The two blades struck with a resonating ¡®gong¡¯ before one of the weapons let out a cracking sound!


    Gu Lianhun blanched¡ªthe jet-black sword in his hand had a crack in it now!


    This was his strongest weapon and was a high-heaven tier soul armament with an attack of at least 8000. That in itself was quite the feat, but¡­how could it possibly compare to the +12 Flame Dragon Crescent Blade?


    Every time Shen Pojun used his soul armament to attack, Gu Lianhun had no choice but to use his sword to parry it. For the ten and so minutes they had been fighting so far, the sword had parried so many blows that it was at its limits, it couldn¡¯t endure any longer!


    ¡°Swoosh!!¡±


    Swiveling around as if this had been predicted, the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade made a full rotation to make a sweeping motion at his side!


    Gu Lianhun snarled, he had no choice but to parry the blow again with his sword!


    ¡°Clang! Crack!!¡±


    But unfortunately for Gu Lianhun, the blow that came from the opposing soul armament was nearly twice as powerful as the last one!


    +12 Additional Effect: Convert and store enemy energy into this weapon. When enough energy is amassed, unleash a blow at 200% attack.


    No longer capable of weathering the attacks, the sword in Gu Lianhun¡¯s hand cracked all over and shattered into multiple pieces!


    ¡°Ugh!!¡±


    The effect was instantaneous. Gu Lianhun let out a grunt of pain as his body trembled with pain. But to his credit, he managed to suppress the blood from escaping his mouth.


    The sword had been just as compatible with him as his shell-shaped soul armament. When it broke, Gu Lianhun was forced to endure yet another heavy blow to his soul!


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    As he reeled backward from the pain, two devastating attacks came forth from Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint to capitalize on the moment!


    Now was the time for Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint to go for the killing blow. They had to make use of this moment to finish off Gu Lianhun with their strongest move!


    ¡°You wish to kill me? Fools! It won¡¯t be that easy! Ahhh!!!¡±


    Howling with a maniacal glint in his eyes, Gu Lianhun let loose a flurry of soulforce from his body. Despite the pain he felt and the injuries he sustained, the amount of power he radiated right now was far greater than before!


    It was a showdown involving three Saints. Each one was using their final attacks to finish off this battle once in for all!


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, on another side of the battlefield, Bai Yunfei was going through the preparations for his ¡®final attack¡¯ too.


    His eyes lit up when he felt the spike in energy from the Saints. Determined, he turned around¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s time! Is everyone ready?¡±

 Chapter 1308: Even Ants Can Kill An Elephant

    ¡°Almost¡­the Abyssal Snake and the others are nearly here!! I just need to last until the Phantasm is gone! I can turn the tides if they get here! I can¡¯t lose¡­I can¡¯t die!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun was looking especially maniacal right now. Blood seeped from his wounds and evaporated the moment it left his body. A giant gray figure stalked behind him like a demonic entity. When it was fully materialized, the figure howled and beat its arms to its chest before coming forward to block both Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s attacks.


    The battle was at its climax. All three Saints were building up their energy to unleash their ultimate moves. Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint were both doing fine since their injuries were at a minimum, but Gu Lianhun was like a spent arrow. He was basically using the last of his reserves to pull off this final stand.


    It was only the thought that the Interdimensional Phantasm would be gone soon and that his reinforcements would soon arrive that kept Gu Lianhun sane. If not for those two, he would¡¯ve fallen into despair a long time ago.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    As he was concentrating and waiting to ward off the enemy attacks, Gu Lianhun suddenly caught wind of something strange. Looking up, he saw¡­a large group of people!


    A long distance away from him stood what seemed to be nearly a hundred individuals!


    Their combined auras rolled outward in large waves. Though it was hard to tell who was what or how strong any individual was, Gu Lianhun could sense that there were roughly twenty Soul Emperors and even more Soul Kings in attendance!


    They weren¡¯t hiding at all. A mighty army of powerful soul cultivators were flying for him!


    ¡°Wh¡ªwhat is this!?¡±


    He didn¡¯t understand what was going on¡ªwhat were so many people doing here!? It already boggled the mind when Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint appeared ¡®out of thin air¡¯. But then to have so many people come out again?!


    ¡°They¡¯re¡­don¡¯t tell me¡­no!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun was astounded to see so many people. It didn¡¯t take him long to figure out the reason before letting out a horrified expression!


    ¡­¡­


    Whilst Gu Lianhun was busy with Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint, Bai Yunfei brought out a multitude of people from the Core World to the edge of the battlefield. Behind him stood Chu Yintian, Yang Yao, Xiao Binzi, Jing Mingfeng, Xiao Qi, Long Lan, Ge Yiyun, Li Chengfeng, Zi Jin, Kou Changkong, Huangfu Nan, Tang Xinyun, and even more¡­


    The entirety of the Soul Emperors and Soul Kings from the Crafting and Fate Schools were here!!


    ¡°Take action, everyone!¡±


    They were all connected to one another via the Charm Bracelet. Now that the enemy was aware of their presence, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t any desire to wait any longer. It was the time for action!!


    Every behind him took action at the same time he did. Working together, they all began to use their soulforce!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The air hummed fiercely as their combined soulforce began to leave behind a physical effect on the space around them!


    However, it wasn¡¯t the elemental energy that was being disturbed. What the group was doing was¡­a soul attack!


    The combined forces of twenty Soul Emperors and dozens of Soul Kings were unleashing a soul attack!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°No¡ªaghh!!!!¡±


    At last the signs of despair began to show on Gu Lianhun¡¯s face. Howling in terror, he began to explode with even more power!


    He was pretty much a candle with not much left to burn, but somehow, it was as if someone had swapped out the burnt out candle wick with a fresh new one! His aura was absolutely brimming with power!


    He was burning up his soul!


    This was without a doubt the actions of a man with nothing to lose and everything to gain!


    The combined soul attacks of Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint was a hard one to stomach, but Gu Lianhun could handle that. But the combined forces of the ¡®army¡¯ behind Bai Yunfei? The combined soul attacks of that many people was definitely not manageable! Even for a Saint!


    Ants. Thats what these people should¡¯ve been. Bothersome ants that couldn¡¯t amount to anything by themselves. But when enough ants were gathered¡­even an elephant could be brought down!


    The soul attacks of the army of people became a tremendous wave of near-transparent energy to steamroll toward Gu Lianhun!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    There was a collision of energies, but no explosion. The soul attack of the rekindled Gu Lianhun was vying for supremacy against the unified soul attack of everyone else.


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    Several people cried out in the crowd behind Bai Yunfei. The weaker of the Soul Kings were the first to give out against the face of Gu Lianhun¡¯s soul attack.


    ¡°Haha!! Bothersome pests! To even dare act against me¡­you¡¯ll all die for this!!¡±


    Gu Lianhun¡¯s composure was all but gone. The insanity of the situation combined with his decayed mental state caused him to lose himself even as his energy was returning to him.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!!¡±


    Then two beams of white and red light came shooting across the skies!


    Though Gu Lianhun managed to ward off the soul attacks of everyone else, he had failed to realize Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s own attacks!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    A blanket of elemental ice covered the area around Gu Lianhun while a burst of fire exploded where he stood. Then the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade clove through the two to strike at Gu Lianhun!


    Against the first two attacks, Gu Lianhun was able to offer up a meager defense to avoid the worse. But the same wasn¡¯t true for the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade. It embedded itself deep into his chest before the force behind the soul armament sent the man flying away with a devastating wound on him!


    ¡°Hah¡­hufff¡­no¡­no! I¡­if I die¡­you all die with me!!¡±


    As vehement as he was at the situation, Gu Lianhun was also extremely dumbfounded. How did things end up this way? He only had to wait a minute or two more! But then these ¡®ants¡¯ came out of nowhere and became instrumental in his defeat!


    The final string of rationality snapped. In his final moments to live, Gu Lianhun began to radiate with a chaotic burst of energy!


    He was going to self-destruct!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ahh? Trying to self-destruct? In your dreams!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared the moment he felt the first signs of Gu Lianhun¡¯s aura fluctuating. Immediately, he and the still-standing people behind him launched a second soul attack!


    And this time, Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint joined them!


    ¡°Die! Die!!¡±


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    So caught up was Gu Lianhun in his attempt to take the others with him that he failed to take into account that they would use another soul attack on him. Like a wooden boat in a violent storm, Gu Lianhun¡¯s soul was immediately assaulted and shattered into pieces like glass!


    As his life was leaving him, Gu Lianhun distinctly felt a fuzzy white light surround his person before hearing someone cry out a single word¡­


    ¡°Seal!!!¡±

 Chapter 1309: The Second Crisis!

    Thanks to the help of everyone¡¯s combined efforts, Bai Yunfei was able to stop Gu Lianhun from self-destructing just long enough for him to throw out the Soul Sealing Mandate and freeze him in place.


    ¡°Xiao Qi! Kill him!!¡±


    But a sealed Gu Lianhun was not a safe Gu Lianhun. The only way Bai Yunfei would relax was when Gu Lianhun was for good.


    There wasn¡¯t a point capturing him. They might as well kill him and be done with it. That was the safest choice.


    Gu Lianhun was essentially a fish on the chopping block waiting to be dissected. And who else but Xiao Qi would be better fitted to execute the role? This was precious ¡®experience¡¯ that couldn¡¯t be wasted!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi replied with a happy chirp and set off toward Gu Lianhun as a blinding beam of light!


    Rather than using an elemental attack, Xiao Qi opted to use his claws. Glinting in the light, the claws moved swiftly to grab hold of Gu Lianhun¡¯s head!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    There was no way Gu Lianhun could offer up a resistance when he was sealed. Helpless, Gu Lianhun stood there while Xiao Qi¡¯s claws grabbed hold of his head and crushed it!


    Red and white matter splattered everywhere as Gu Lianhun¡¯s headless corpse crumpled to the ground. A Mid-stage Soul Saint was now dead.


    Gu Lianhun¡¯s death was possibly the most ¡®sullen¡¯ death among all of the dead Saints. He never once had the upper hand throughout the battle despite being the strongest one there. Then, after several underhanded tactics, he was brought down by the two Saints and then thrown ¡®down the well¡¯ by a group of Soul Kings and Soul Emperors.


    ¡­¡­


    Xiao Qi folded his wings when Gu Lianhun was killed and summoned the space rings from Gu Lianhun to him before returning to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side.


    ¡°Haha! Yunfei! I can feel so much power in me! A lot of it! Wow!!¡±


    It was easy to see how excited Xiao Qi was. And for good reason¡ªhe just killed a Mid-stage Soul Saint! How often would an opportunity like that come around?


    ¡°Yeah, go and meditate in the Core World, let¡¯s see how much stronger you¡¯ll get this time.¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. He took the space rings from Xiao Qi before sending the bird into the Core World.


    ¡°Thank you for your hard work,¡± He spoke to those behind him, ¡°please head back into the Core World to recuperate¡­¡±


    Everyone was feeling extremely excited, especially the Soul Kings. That battle had been far too stimulating on the nerves¡ªthey managed to take part in a crucial strike to kill a Saint! Who wouldn¡¯t be excited at such an experience?


    But they relented and went back into the Core World, leaving only Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng there.


    Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint were coming back by now, the latter having already turned back to his humanoid form.


    ¡°Senior Frostfeather, I saw that Gu Lianhun¡¯s space ring had the bones of two soulbeasts. It should be the class nine wildbeast and the Dragon Saint King. Their soulgems are still here, if you¡¯d like them.¡±


    It was with excitement that the Frostfeather Saint nodded. Taking the space ring for himself, he took a look into its contents to confirm for himself before storing it away in his own space ring.


    Bai Yunfei was about to present the other space ring to Shen Pojun when the man smiled and shook his head. ¡°You take it, Yunfei. The remnants of the Saint of Fate should be in there, present it to the Fate School.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ancestor.¡± Bai Yunfei bowed. He didn¡¯t refuse the order.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Shen Pojun sighed, relieved, ¡°Let us head onward then. It is time we head for where the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is¡­¡±


    The battle, as short as it was, had been especially fraught with danger. Both Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint had to be on guard the entire time or risk being caught off guard. It was lucky that nothing bad happened and that Gu Lianhun was killed without any complications.


    So it went without saying the two were extremely tired right now. Tired, but happy. Their greatest enemy was dead, and the Frostfeather Saint had what he was looking for. Now all they had to do was look for the final ¡®gate¡¯ and cross it to obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    But no one knew that the future still had something troublesome in store for them¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Somewhere else, a group of people were flying quickly through the skies down a hallway.


    ¡°There! That¡¯s the entrance! Gu Lianhun is beyond that place!¡±


    The Abyssal Snake Saint motioned at the giant palace up ahead.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡±


    Gu Jimie cried out. He exploded forward without hesitation to reach the entrance and blow through it.


    Both the Abyssal Snake Saint and Shangguan Xiongyan hesitated, but they didn¡¯t falter. They followed behind Gu Jimie along while the four Soul Emperors struggled to follow behind into the palace.


    Everything went blurry for Gu Jimie when he crossed the threshold. He felt himself be thrust into an area of chaos before his vision cleared up. Blinking, Gu Jimie lit up at the sight of something up ahead!


    It was still far away, but he could see a ball of prismatic light shining outward!


    ¡°Over there!! That¡¯s the Interdimensional Phantasm! They must be fighting in there!¡±


    Crying out in shock, Gu Jimie immediately scrambled to rush forward!


    ¡°We¡¯re finally here!¡±


    Gu Jimie was beside himself with excitement. They must¡¯ve arrived in the nick of time! He didn¡¯t really know what the situation was like, but if the Interdimensional Phantasm was here, then the battle should still be ongoing. He just had to wait for it to fade away so he could see Gu Lianhun and Shen Pojun. While he himself wasn¡¯t able to beat Shen Pojun, the other two Saints with him would definitely be able to overpower both Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint if they worked together with him and Gu Lianhun!


    ¡°Urgh!! Something¡¯s wrong!!¡±


    Then the pained cry of the Abyssal Snake Saint alerted Gu Jimie of bad news.


    Nervous, Gu Jimie swiveled around to where the Abyssal Snake Saint was. The soulbeast¡¯s face was especially pale as if he had just experienced an excruciating amount of pain. The muscles on his face twitched as if shocked while his eyes looked as though they were in shock as well.


    Gu Jimie¡¯s heart sunk deep down to his stomach. ¡°Senior Abyssal Snake, what¡¯s wrong?!¡±


    ¡°It¡­it can¡¯t be!¡± The Abyssal Snake Saint replied, ¡°Gu Lianhun is¡­dead!!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡±


    All color bled away from Gu Jimie¡¯s face. ¡°What did you say?! My teacher is¡­dead!? Impossible!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan was equally shocked, though silent. He clearly didn¡¯t want to believe in the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s words.


    But the soulbeast stood there, trembling and dripping with perspiration. ¡°Gu Lianhun is dead!¡± He quavered, ¡°It happened just now!¡±


    ¡°N¡ªno!! There¡¯s no way! It can¡¯t be!!¡± Wailed Gu Jimie, ¡°How could my teacher be dead! How could he so easily killed by Shen Pojun and the others!?¡±


    He didn¡¯t want to believe it, but he and the others had to. But at that moment¡­


    ¡°The Phantasm is disappearing! They¡¯re coming out!¡¯


    Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s head snapped up with a start.


    The prismatic light from the Interdimensional Phantasm was starting to fade away, revealing several figures such as Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint!


    ¡°Gu Lianhun is truly dead!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan cried out. The very first thing he took notice of when the light was gone was the headless corpse that hung in the air.


    While he could believe that Gu Lianhun was dead now, Shangguan Xiongyan still had a hard time trying to figure out how exactly Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint managed to kill a Mid-stage Soul Saint in such a short amount of time!


    But then Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s eyes strangely began to light up with glee!


    He didn¡¯t actually care if Gu Lianhun was alive or not. It was actually better for him if the man was dead. What he was happy about was¡­


    If Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint managed to kill Gu Lianhun, then they were definitely fatigued and most likely injured!


    This was the best time to kill them!!

 Chapter 1310: An Unexpected Development!

    The prismatic light shining from the Interdimensional Phantasm began to fade away at Bai Yunfei¡¯s command, leaving behind a small mirage-like squirrel in its place. Once all of the light was gone, the squirrel then disappeared into the Core World.


    Everyone was back within the imprisoning array.


    ¡°People are coming!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei had only just stored the Interdimensional Phantasm when Shen Pojun let out a warning growl.


    He grew alert at once. Whirling around to the direction Shen Pojun was staring at, Bai Yunfei was bewildered to see a group of people coming at them!


    ¡°It¡¯s Shangguan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie!! But¡­how did they get here?!¡±


    He didn¡¯t know why or even how these people were here. And why now of all times!


    ¡°How did they even get here?! Were¡­did they follow us?! But how?!¡±


    There were too many questions and far too few answers for this situation! It also didn¡¯t really matter now how they got here. They were here now and that was the most important part! At the time of their weakest hour, more enemies were somehow here!


    Thank the heavens that they managed to kill Gu Lianhun. It frightened Bai Yunfei to think of what if this new group arrived while Gu Lianhun was still alive. They wouldn¡¯t stand a chance! It was some consolation, but not enough to relieve Bai Yunfei. Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint were definitely not in any state to continue fighting!


    It would be extremely hard to win under these conditions!


    That wasn¡¯t even the worst part. Bai Yunfei felt Shangguan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie¡¯s auras, but there was also a third aura that was even stronger than them!


    There was another Saint!


    ¡°What¡­what do we do?!¡±


    He felt an indescribable amount of panic begin to rise in his heart. Desperately, Bai Yunfei wracked his mind to think of something they could do.


    ¡°It¡¯s Shangguan Xiongyan and Gu Jimie! How are they here?! And a third Saint! We can¡¯t fight them! We must retreat!¡±


    ¡°Them?! And¡­a class nine soulbeast! This can¡¯t be allowed, we must leave! Yunfei, take yourself into the Core World, we¡¯ll carry the Core Stone and get rid of them!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was panicking, the voices of the Frostfeather Saint and Shen Pojun spoke into his mind. Their decisions were made far quicker than Bai Yunfei and were more decisive.


    They both clearly knew their odds of winning in a battle were slim. Retreating was the correct choice here.


    Bai Yunfei understood it as well. Ducking into the Core World and letting the Frostfeather Saint shake off the enemies was definitely the best choice. He nodded and began the preparations to bring everyone else into the Core World when¡­


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side, just moments before the Frostfeather Saint and Shen Pojun noticed them.


    Shangguan Xiongyan was looking especially vicious at this moment. He had measured up the situation in front of him and realized now was the perfect opportunity to kill the enemies.


    The Abyssal Snake Saint was in agreement with him. The pain was already receding from his eyes as he primed himself for battle.


    ¡°Teacher!!¡±


    But it was Gu Jimie that was the only one that wasn¡¯t ready. A loud wail of grief exploded out from him the moment he noticed the headless corpse of Gu Lianhun near Bai Yunfei.


    The head was gone, but he recognized the person at once. That was his teacher!


    Gu Jimie had previously been excited to see his teacher and was fully confident that he¡¯d be alive when they arrived. He thought that he just needed to get there and they¡¯d be able to coordinate with one another to easily kill Shen Pojun and the others. Then they could find the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance together and secure it for their side. With that, the Soul Refining School could flourish once again for a glorious comeback!


    He just never imagined that in what should¡¯ve been a touching reunion, he was reunited with the sight of his teacher¡¯s corpse!


    His teacher was dead!


    Dead!!


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Gu Jimie came to a standstill. The agony and grief he felt from the loss of his teacher abated and was immediately replaced by a wave of terror and panic!


    Then he did something no one expected for him to do: He turned and ran!


    It wasn¡¯t a strategic retreat either, Gu Jimie was running as if he was being chased by his worst nightmare!


    ¡°You¡ª¡± Shangguan Xiongyan whirled around, ¡°Gu Jimie! What is the meaning of this!?¡±


    ¡°We have to run!!¡± Came the panicked reply, ¡°We have to flee! Or else we¡¯ll die!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Neither Shangguan Xiongyan nor the Abyssal Snake Saint understood what was going on¡ªhad Gu Jimie lost it after seeing the death of his teacher? Gu Lianhun was dead, yes, but the odds were in their favor. Killing Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint wouldn¡¯t be hard, why should they of all people run?


    But as if to answer their questions, something strange caught the attention of Shangguan Xiongyan and the Abyssal Snake Saint. Their heads snapped back to where Bai Yunfei was with alarm. For a second, they remained still.


    Then they turned tail and began to flee!


    ¡°Run!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan roared to the two Soul Emperors behind him, his voice sounding just as panicked as Gu Jimie had been!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Er¡­what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked, confused why Gu Jimie had turned tail.


    Then the stench of danger suddenly erupted from behind him!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    ¡°Careful! Run from this place!¡±


    Both Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint cried out!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Something buzzed in the air around Bai Yunfei, causing ripples in elemental energy to fly everywhere.


    Not too far away, a black whirlpool had somehow formed and was rapidly expanding in size!


    Elemental darkness flowed into this whirlpool and expanded its size. Not only was it growing larger, but the whirlpool reeked with the stench of destruction!


    ¡°What is¡­what is this!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out in shock. Right there in the center of the whirlpool, a single object was absorbing any runaway elemental darkness into it¡ªGu Lianhun¡¯s corpse!


    The headless corpse was floating there in midair and gathering elemental darkness to itself. The stench of destruction was coming from the corpse!


    This was¡­a sign of self-destruction!!


    A corpse was self-destructing?!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know what to think. This situation was already too far gone from his ability to rationalize.


    He was about to turn to flee when he felt something pull at him, preventing him from moving. Looking around, he saw that Shen Pojun was already flying away while the Frostfeather Saint was flying away with Jing Mingfeng and Li Chengfeng in tow.


    It was all happening far too fast! By the time Bai Yunfei realized he was stuck, the devastating aura in front of him exploded!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The world erupted into an ear-deafening explosion immediately. Everything within Bai Yunfei¡¯s line of vision immediately went dark!


    When the energy rolled over him, Bai Yunfei felt as though an extremely heavy hammer had just been swung into his body and was ready to pulverize his body to pieces!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    A barrier of elemental fire was erected at once to combat this. It carried with him his own soulforce so as to bolster the barrier.


    He felt the pressure on his body lighten before the explosive force of the energy sent him flying away!


    The energy Shen Pojun used to protect Bai Yunfei and carry him away shattered at once, separating the two into differing directions!


    On the other side, the same thing happened to Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng!


    The pocket dimension trembled as the explosive energy billowed everywhere. Not even Shangguan Xiongyan and the others were spared from the explosion!


    Though they were farther away and had prior warning, the group wasn¡¯t able to make it out from the explosive range and were immediately engulfed by the energy!


    ¡­¡­


    This was an especially sinister soul skill of Gu Lianhun. It was known as¡­corpse explosion!!


    A corpse could be rigged to explode upon death with an equivalent force than when normally self-destructing!


    It was an especially vicious soul skill that could be done even when dead to kill off your opponents!


    The corpse explosion didn¡¯t activate when the corpse was in the Interdimensional Phantasm because there wasn¡¯t any elemental energy to be pulled and manipulated. But after the Phantasm was gone, the corpse explosion was immediately triggered and activated!


    Gu Jimie knew about this technique since he was Gu Lianhun¡¯s student. He only forgot about it due to the stress of seeing his teacher dead, but he quickly remembered it afterward and fled!


    The power of ¡®corpse explosion¡¯ wouldn¡¯t be as strong as if Gu Lianhun were to try and self-destruct normally, but it wouldn¡¯t be weaker than if an Early-stage Soul Saint were to try to self-destruct!


    ¡­¡­


    Will Bai Yunfei and his friends survive this unexpected ordeal?


    What else might happen after this?

 Chapter 1311: Scattered

    The ¡®corpse explosion¡¯ was equivalent to the self-destruction of an Early-stage Soul Saint. Needless to say, the explosion of an Early-stage Soul Saint would be devastating. The destructive power of the self-destruction engulfed Bai Yunfei and the others at once since they had been close to the epicenter.


    In fact, the beginning force was already threatening to break Bai Yunfei¡¯s barrier. It was only with his best effort that Bai Yunfei managed to stop the energy just half an inch away from his person. But even that effort was consuming too much of Bai Yunfei¡¯s reserves. Already half of his soulforce was gone just from protecting himself for this long!


    If this went on, Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to survive for ten seconds even!


    It was only the beginning, but the destructive force of the corpse explosion was incredibly powerful. If nothing were to be done, then Bai Yunfei would be done for!


    The safest thing to do in this moment was to use the Core Stone. If he could hide in the Core World, Bai Yunfei would be able to send the Core Stone into a crack in space and away from this place. But that meant they¡¯d reappear somewhere else in the world, or in other words, a place that wasn¡¯t the pocket dimension with the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. They¡¯d have to leave this place then!


    This was definitely the safest choice, but what about the best choice? What if there was something else here that could be done?


    If it was possible, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to resort to using the Core Stone. Even if he did, then he¡¯d want ot bring everyone else with him.


    Thinking hard, Bai Yunfei summoned the Cataclysmic Seal to him. A barrier was immediately erected when it appeared, allowing Bai Yunfei some reprieve. The consumption of soulforce wasn¡¯t much better when it came to the barrier, but it was better than directly managing a barrier himself.


    Now that he had a moment to calm down, Bai Yunfei scanned the surrounding nearby and immediately took notice of Jing Mingfeng!


    It was hard to see much due to the explosion, but Bai Yunfei could at the very least make out Jing Mingfeng¡¯s situation. The man wasn¡¯t as strong as Bai Yunfei and didn¡¯t have any powerful defensive soul armament like the Cataclysmic Seal, but he was still the inheritor of the Wind Saint¡¯s inheritance, he had a few tricks up his sleeves. Currently, he was weathering the storm with a green rhombus-shaped barrier, but not for long. The barrier was looking as if it was ready to break.


    And if that happened, then Jing Mingfeng would be in dire straits.


    Seeing his perils, Bai Yunfei immediately took off toward his direction to reach him.


    But then¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    A tremor ran through the pocket dimension, one with unprecedented strength. It was such a powerful tremor that even the explosive black energy from the corpse explosion was being affected!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on now!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei cried out as he tried to analyze the situation. He could feel the surrounding space tremble a bit before the force of the explosion¡­was reduced by half!


    ¡°What?¡±


    He was pleasantly surprised by that. He didn¡¯t know why, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Exerting even more energy, he continued onward to Jing Mingfeng.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was halfway to Jing Mingfeng when he suddenly felt his vision blur. An indescribable sensation attacked his senses and forced him to a stop. When his vision cleared up¡­


    He was still surrounded by the same chaotic space like before. But unlike before, the explosion was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Jing Mingfeng. Everything else was¡­gone!


    Bai Yunfei was the only person here!


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s going on?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was on high alert at once. His soulsense spread everywhere in an attempt to see if he could sense anything, but nothing came up. There was actually nothing else but him here!


    ¡°The change in the spatial energy was a little strange, but it was also a little similar, just like¡­¡±


    ¡°Yunfei, this is a spatial fold! You going into the fold teleported you to somewhere else!¡±


    The spirit of the Core Stone spoke into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°A spatial fold?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes rose up, ¡°Ah! Yeah, a spatial fold! It makes sense now!¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew alert at the Core Stone¡¯s warning. This ¡®familiar¡¯ sensation now made sense to him¡ªhe remembered where he had this sensation before. Back on that foggy mountain for the Extreme King Pills, the walls to the maze were all spatial folds!


    ¡°I see now¡­because of the corpse explosion, the energy managed to bring about a change in the spatial energy to a degree the Saint of Fate never would¡¯ve thought of¡­¡± Bai Yunfei wondered, ¡°The pocket dimension was able to weaken the explosion, but it brought about a big enough change in the spatial energy to form spatial folds, and I coincidentally walked through one to get here¡­¡±


    He heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s pretty fortunate then! I didn¡¯t think such a thing would be able to happen¡­it¡¯s possible the others will be fine then. We all might¡¯ve been whisked away to a new part of the pocket dimension, maybe¡­


    ¡°Gu Jimie and the others are probably facing something similar,¡± He sighed again. ¡°An unexpected situation became resolved in an unexpected way. It¡¯s not too bad though, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be able to join with the others again¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded. The situation was beyond his element now, but it was at least somewhat decent. If everyone else really was teleported away like he was, then it¡¯d be possible for anyone to meet up with anyone, whether it was friend or foe.


    For example, if Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint were to meet up together, it¡¯d be possible to come across either Shangguan Xiongyan or Gu Jimie alone. It¡¯d be an easy way for their side to get rid of their enemies.


    But the inverse was also true for the other side¡­


    The only consolation he had was that he most likely had a better idea on the situation than their enemies. This meant they had the advantage of being able to gather together faster, hopefully.


    That was when Bai Yunfei suddenly thought of a place¡ªthe end of this pocket dimension had the final ¡®door¡¯!


    If the others were to realize they were all teleported, then they¡¯d try to work their way toward the end of the dimension as quickly as possible!


    Eyes scanning the area, Bai Yunfei familiarized himself with his immediate surroundings. But he wasn¡¯t able to see much. All he could see was the ¡®constant¡¯ flow of the black light in the surrounding place. The Saint of Fate once experimented in this place and made remarks of it in his Rune, but the one that was most familiar with the inner workings of this dimension was Li Chengfeng, not Bai Yunfei. It¡¯d be great if Li Chengfeng was here to make sense of this place and navigate, but he was not. Fortunately, Bai Yunfei once saw the image due to the mental link he had and was able to remember a few vital points of information.


    ¡°That way!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up after ten minutes of careful observation of his environment.


    ¡­¡­


    Just as Bai Yunfei expected, everyone else was dealing with a similar situation.


    When Gu Lianhun¡¯s corpse exploded, spatial folds opened up everywhere with the purpose of diverting away the explosion. As a result, everyone there was unintentionally transported elsewhere within the dimension.


    ¡°How¡­fortunate that there was such a reaction in such a manner¡­¡±


    Shen Pojun was relieved. ¡°We may be scattered, but we have a chance of survival now. As risky as it is to come across an enemy, it¡¯s best to regroup with the others as soon as possible.¡±


    With that being said, Shen Pojun summoned his three soul armaments to hover protectively around him before he sat down to recover his soulforce.


    Somewhere else, the Frostfeather Saint was doing the exact same thing he was doing¡­


    Incidentally, Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng had both decided on trying to find the end of hte pocket dimension to regroup with the others¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, in another part of the dimension.


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought there¡¯d be such an action. That Shen Pojun must still be alive then¡­¡±


    It was a stormy Shangguan Xiongyan that grumbled to himself. Like the others, he was transported to another part of the dimension and had realized the meaning behind it. He was unhappy that the two Saints might still be alive, but then a happy thought occurred to him!


    ¡°If¡­everyone else was split apart because of the folds¡­then it¡¯s possible Bai Yunfei is by himself!!¡±


    At the thought, Shangguan Xiongyan pulled out the copper mirror at once!

 Chapter 1312: An Enemy Approaches

    A pulse of soulforce traveled down Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s arm and into the bronze mirror. For a moment, the surface of the mirror showed nothing before the fog cleared away to reveal a murky red whirlpool.


    He stared, quizzically, at the mirror for a moment as if trying to intepret its meaning. Several minutes went by before Shangguan Xiongyan gripped the mirror again. Another pulse of soulforce went into the soulforce as he swiped at its surface with his left hand!


    A tremble went through the mirror again. This time, the whirlpool paused for half a second before rotating in the opposite direction and revealing something white.


    Shangguan Xiongyan studied the sight again for some time before looking off to the right.


    ¡°Such a long distance¡­is this dimension truly that large?¡± Surprised, Shangguan Xiongyan let out a gasp. ¡°It¡¯s at least proof that Bai Yunfei isn¡¯t with any of the other Saints. The chances of finding Bai Yunfei should be very high!¡±


    ¡°The Frostfeather Saint must be meditating since he¡¯s not moving. His battle with Gu Lianhun must¡¯ve taken a toll on him. I may even be able to kill him if I get there in time, but¡­¡± Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s eyes roamed to another part of the mirror¡¯s surface. It lingered there for a moment before they returned. ¡°This may be my chance since Bai Yunfei is over there, but¡­I don¡¯t know as much about this place as he does. If I don¡¯t act soon, then Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun might join together and I¡¯ll lose my chance¡­¡±


    He had two choices now, both of which made Shangguan Xiongyan feel very hesitant.


    ¡°The Abyssal Snake Saint can deal with the Frostfeather Saint. Bai Yunfei is the more important one! The Core Stone, the Soul Sealing Mandate, the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡­all of it will be mine if I can kill him! Having those will be worth it if I don¡¯t get the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance!!¡±


    Greed won in the end. Swiping at the bronze mirror again, Shangguan Xiongyan began to manipulate it so that the fogs became redder and redder. Kicking off against the ground, Shangguan Xiongyan transformed into a beam of light to travel away!


    ¡­¡­


    Meanwhile, in another part of the tremendous dimension.


    Li Chengfeng was soaring through the empty skies with blinding speed toward an unknown direction.


    Elsewhere, the Frostfeather Saint hovered motionlessly in the sky. Petals of frost fell everywhere as the Saint recuperated.


    Elsewhere, Shen Pojun sat still as tiny embers danced around his meditating form.


    Elsewhere, the Abyssal Snake Saint was flying off in a single direction.


    Elsewhere, Gu Jimie was frantically scouring the skies in search of something.


    Elsewhere, one of the Soul Emperor that had followed Shangguan Xiongyan was also panicking as he searched the skies.


    Elsewhere¡­


    In short, everyone was scattered everywhere. Some were flying farther away than others, but there were also some that were getting closer to one another!


    ¡­¡­


    A gray streak of light traversed through the chaotic space.


    Within this beam of light was an elder in black. This man was the Soul Emperor that had followed Gu Jimie.


    He was looking a little frantic, but his eyes beamed with determination to find something.


    ¡°Where is this place!? I¡¯e been searching for half an hour and I haven¡¯t find seen a single change! I can¡¯t even sense anyone else!¡±


    He was muttering to himself, cursing the space around him for the lacking results. He had no idea how large the area was or how far the dimension spanned, meaning all he could do was go for as long as he could until the end. This place was a vast space of nothingness, meaning there was no change in the scenery no matter how far he traveled. He was already starting to think he wasn¡¯t actually moving at all.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    He whirled around¡ªhe was sensing something to his right!


    But his eyes saw nothing. Peering around the area for a moment longer, ¡°Strange¡­I thought I saw someone just now. Was that just my imagination?¡±


    Nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. Not even after he looked around the area for a while longer. After one last glance around himself, the man decided to turn around and continue flying.


    All was well until a certain point. He was in the middle of flying when all of a sudden, the stench of death suddenly erupted from behind and out of thin air!


    Shocked, the man immediately exploded with soulforce to get out of the way, but¡­


    ¡°Pcht¡­¡±


    He felt something sharp pierce his chest. His whole body seized up as the cold rushed into his body. Then his vision went dark as his life began to drain away¡­


    In the last moments of his life, the man saw a dark light escape from between his eyebrows¡­


    Stuck right there in between his eyebrows was a single gray dagger! And behind the person was someone else!


    Jing Mingfeng!!


    ¡°Pft!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng snorted to himself as he took out the dagger. With the other hand, he took the corpse into his hand to look at more closely.


    ¡°Someone from the Soul Refining School¡­hah!¡±


    He laughed again as he looted the space rings from the corpse, happy at the demise of such a person.


    A Mid-stage Soul Emperor had died so easily at his own hand!!


    Jing Mingfeng¡¯s ability to hide could fool even an Early-stage Soul Saint. There was no way a person like the Mid-stage Soul Emperor could possibly sense him. The only reason why the man noticed a sliver of presence earlier was because Jing Mingfeng allowed him to sense it.


    And so a Mid-stage Soul Emperor was killed off by Jing Mingfeng without even breaking a sweat. The man didn¡¯t even know he was dead at the time of his demise.


    It was actually Jing Mingfeng¡¯s first time killing a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. The latter was actually quite unlucky at how perfectly the attempt went. It was also quite fortunate how Jing Mingfeng managed to hide himself ahead of time.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Jing Mingfeng continued onward in his journey to reconvene with the others. He traveled for some time before suddenly, Jing Mingfeng came to an abrupt stop. His soulforce was pulled back into his body as he rotated and disappeared on the spot!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    Hardly ten seconds after Jing Mingfeng¡¯s ¡®disappearance¡¯, a streak of black light shot across the sky and landed near the area.


    The black light came to a stop, revealing the figure of Gu Jimie!!


    ¡°Strange¡­¡±


    Gu Jimie tapped his chin as he surveyed the area. Raising his hand, he summoned a few drops of blood to his hand.


    ¡°Someone was here? How did they disappear so quickly then?¡±


    He thought to himself as his soulforce continued to search the area. His range of perception was incredibly strong, but despite being a Saint, he didn¡¯t manage to sense anything.


    ¡°Tsk!! This dimension is far too vast¡­where in the world are the others!?¡±


    An angry curse escaped from Gu Jimie¡¯s mouth. Electing to ignore the mystery of the disappearing people here, Gu Jimie took off into another direction and soon disappeared into the chaos.


    Ten minutes later, near where Gu Jimie once stood.


    A part of the space there warped inward for a moment before Jing Mingfeng suddenly appeared from within the warp.


    ¡°Phew¡­that was dangerous! I thought I was dead!!¡± Jing Mingfeng sighed dramatically as he wiped his non-existent sweat off his brows. ¡°Thank Heaven I¡¯m a fast one! I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d come across a Saint, wonder which one they were¡­¡±


    A while ago, he realized someone with an incredibly strong amount of aura was approaching him, so Jing Mingfeng decided to hide once again. Just like how Shen Pojun and the others weren¡¯t able to sense him, Gu Jimie was also fooled with how perfectly Jing Mingfeng was able to suppress his presence.


    After Jing Mingfeng was confident that he was safe, he took off toward the gathering point once again.


    But what he didn¡¯t know, due to him hiding, was that the direction Gu Jimie was going in¡­was also the same direction he was going!


    ¡­¡­


    Somewhere else, Bai Yunfei was riding on top of the Heaven¡¯s Thunder through the skies.


    According to the information left by the Saint of Fate, the final ¡®door¡¯ wasn¡¯t too far from where Bai Yunfei was. He was happy when he found out and immediately took flight toward that direction.


    While it wasn¡¯t ¡®far¡¯, the distance still required almost half an hour of travel time before Bai Yunfei reached the place.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    But before he could begin his descent, a loud explosion suddenly greeted his ears!


    ¡°Someone¡¯s already here?!¡±


    A wave of soulforce slammed into his senses from the north, causing Bai Yunfei to grow alert!


    ¡°An enemy!!¡±

 Chapter 1313: Ones Captured, Ones Dead

    The aura up ahead wasn¡¯t a familiar one, so Bai Yunfei knew it just had to belong to an enemy. Judging from the intensity of the aura, the person most likely wasn¡¯t a Saint.


    And that meant there wasn¡¯t much to worry about! Eyes narrowed, Bai Yunfei stalked forward, ready to spring at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°Are they fighting? With who? Chengfeng or Mingfeng?¡±


    Bai Yunfei could hardly stop himself from feeling slightly nervous.


    The person fighting up ahead was definitely a Late-stage Soul Emperor. For either Jing Mingfeng or Li Chengfeng, such a person would most definitely be a formidable foe and a considerable risk.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The surprise came when Bai Yunfei came close enough for everything to come into view. What he saw definitely didn¡¯t match with what he was expecting...


    Far away from him stood a giant simple stone door the color of darkness. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything special about the door, but this was most definitely the very same ¡®door¡¯ the Saint of Fate described as being the final obstacle to the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    And right in front of the gates were two people. Neither Li Chengfeng nor Jing Mingfeng were here¡ªboth of them were enemies!


    One was a Late-stage Soul Emperor and the other was a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. Because the earlier burst of soulforce came from the former person, Bai Yunfei neglected to see who the other one was.


    At the moment, the Late-stage Soul Emperor was attacking the giant door with all his might.


    It appeared he was trying to force open the door.


    How arrogant of him to think he could succeed with such a tactic¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even bother to hide his presence when he approached, so the two Soul Emperors detected him straight away.


    ¡°It¡¯s Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    A terrified scream cried out at once, but Bai Yunfei was already taking action. The Cataclysmic Seal appeared from its space ring at once and flew forward at the closest foe!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Expanding in size as it traveled through the air, the Cataclysmic Seal became a giant mountain to crush both Soul Emperors!


    ¡°Dodge it!!¡±


    The Late-stage Soul Emperor was actually one of the Soul Emperors that came with Shangguan Xiongyan to attack the Fate School. He was fortunate enough to escape with his life that time and knew firsthand just how terrifying the Cataclysmic Seal was. To try and block the soul armament was not an option!


    The Mid-stage Soul Emperor was from the Soul Refining School. His reaction was half-a-beat slower than the other and barely managed to begin his escape maneuver.


    But at that moment...


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    A voice boomed into the ears of both Soul Emperors, freezing them in place at once!!


    The Soul Anchor Technique!!


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in ¡®Coil¡¯ or ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode. He didn¡¯t have to. His equipment effects and the Soul Sentinel Scarf could double his strength as a Mid-stage Soul Emperor and imprison the two Soul Emperors as easily as a snap of the fingers!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    But the Late-stage Soul Emperor wasn¡¯t about to let himself be taken so easily. A furious roar and a burst of violet light exploded from him the moment he was frozen. A violet shadow detached itself from his frozen person before the Soul Anchor Technique could fully grab hold of him and shot away from him!


    The Cataclysmic Seal closed the distance in a flash. Striking against the defenseless Mid-stage Soul Emperor, the Cataclysmic Seal sent the man flying straight into the door behind him!


    ¡°Boom!!!!¡±


    The air rippled as the man was slammed against the door. Several areas of space near the door twisted inwards on itself when the shockwave ran through the area. The stone door trembled as well, but parts of its surface seemed to shimmer and disappear for just the briefest of moments before returning to normal.


    It almost felt as though that had the Cataclysmic Seal been just a little stronger, the door would¡¯ve been unable to handle it and disappear.


    An idea hit Bai Yunfei as he recalled the Cataclysmic Seal. The Mid-stage Soul Emperor was no longer anywhere to be seen¡ªwhen the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into him, the man had been turned into paste and reduced to cinders afterward.


    He turned back to the other man, the Late-stage Soul Emperor. ¡°You used an avatar to escape my technique¡­a good attempt, but¡­do you really think you can escape me?!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal flew out for a second time to chase after the Late-stage Soul Emperor!


    ¡°No!!!¡±


    The man screeched at the sight. Violet light escaped from his body as he made a second attempt to dodge.


    He was a Late-stage Soul Emperor, so it wouldn¡¯t be very hard for him to dodge the Cataclysmic Seal. However, the man had been so cowed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s presence that all he could think about doing right now was try to run away.


    The ¡®legend¡¯ of Bai Yunfei was far too impressive for the man to think he had a chance. If he didn¡¯t run, he¡¯d die for sure!


    In a burst of sudden acceleration, the man managed to just barely avoid being hit by the Cataclysmic Seal. Pleased, he turned direction in an attempt to run off.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    He was just starting to fly through the skies when the whistling sound of something small could be heard traveling through the air. Snapping his head toward the source, the Late-stage Soul Emperor watched as a gray streak of light shot for his head!


    The joyous expression died away instantaneously from his face. Desperately, he raised his hand to protect his head.


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    The object pierced through his hand effortlessly. It left the other side of his arm with a sickening sound and grazed past his head, leaving only a small scratch on the surface.


    Having one¡¯s arm be pierced wasn¡¯t much of a wound, but for some reason, the man looked extremely pained at the wound. He grimaced as he clutched at his arm and let out a heartwrenching scream of pain!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    To him, instead of the flesh being the one to be pierced, it felt as though it was his soul that was affected! The pain was sharp and was double that of if he was hit by a soul attack!


    The Soul Destroying Needle!!


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 8280


    Additional Attack: 8000


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    Equipment Effect 1: Inflict damage to the target''s soul when a blow is landed.


    Equipment Effect 2: A portion of the soul of each killed target is converted into attack. Portion converted is dependent on the strength of the killed target.


    +10 Additional Effect: Inflict Soul-frayed once damage has been applied. For 10 seconds, spirit-based attacks do 100% more damage.


    +12 Additional Effect: Ignore dark-type defenses.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    The power of the needle was supreme and dealt damage to the soul even when it was the flesh that was pierced.


    While the man writhed in pain, a white ball of light flew toward him and then covered him within it!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    Without any resistance from the Late-stage Soul Emperor, the Soul Sealing Mandate was free to activate and complete its actions immediately. The man was left suspended in mid-air without being able to move!


    In one short instance, a Mid-stage Soul Emperor was killed and a Late-stage Soul Emperor was captured!

 Chapter 1314: The Stone Door

    The Cataclysmic Seal and the Soul Destroying Needle were collected before Bai Yunfei flew to where the Late-stage Soul Emperor was. Once he arrived there, he waved his hand and sent the captured man into the Core World.


    He didn¡¯t want to kill him just yet. He wanted to see if there was any information that could be taken from him later. For example, how the group managed to track him all the way here.


    Unfortunately, Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the power to force such information out from the Late-stage Soul Emperor. He¡¯d need to have either Shen Pojun or the Frostfeather Saint to soulscan him.


    Regardless, Bai Yunfei turned his attention elsewhere. He sent a quick message to Chu Yintian and the others to subdue the Late-stage Soul Emperor so the Soul Sealing Mandate could be ¡®freed¡¯ up.


    The real fight had yet to begin and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t want to have a Regalia like the Soul Sealing Mandate be wasted on ¡®small fry¡¯.


    ¡­¡­


    From start to end, the battle between Bai Yunfei and the two Soul Emperors took only half a minute. The world was already back to normal as if nothing ever happened¡­


    After confirming that nothing was out of the ordinary, Bai Yunfei relaxed just a bit and flew to the front of the stone gates to observe it.


    The gates were pitch-dark all over, but nothing about the construct of the gates seemed special. It was about a hundred meters wide, four hundred meters tall, and about ten meters thick. It had no door frame and didn¡¯t have two panels to swing open or close with. Instead, it was simply just a ¡®stone slab¡¯.


    It was a ¡®door¡¯, in a sense, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even know if it swung open to the left, to the right, or upward¡­


    The Saint of Fate speculated before that this door surely had to be the entrance to where the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was. As long as the barrier could be opened, then the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance would be obtainable and everyone would be able to leave this sealed space.


    The Saint of Fate was never able to succeed at that, however. Even after a hundred years to his death, he never managed to open it. And neither did Gu Lianhun.


    When Bai Yunfei looked to the gates, he could hardly help himself from feeling excited. The notion of potentially being able to obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was far too much for him. Already he was planning to see how he could possibly open the door.


    That didn¡¯t mean he thought he was special enough to open it. If the Saint of Fate and Gu Lianhun weren¡¯t able to, he certainly didn¡¯t have high hopes about his chances. He just needed to wait until Shen Pojun and the others to arrive here so they could begin experimenting.


    According to the Saint of Fate, the door was abnormally durable. Not even a heaven-tier soul armament was capable of inflicting damage onto the doors. And if by chance the doors sustained an attack stronger than whatever limit they had, then the doors would meld with the dimension and temporarily become invisible. Forcing the doors open was simply not an option.


    The Saint of Fate also noted that all sorts of ¡®veins¡¯ were connected to the doors. One could transmit their soulforce into these veins, in other words. He theorized that the way to opening the door had to do with those veins.


    And that was the most important piece of information the Saint of Fate had in regards to this final obstacle.


    Moving closer to the door, Bai Yunfei studied the little ¡®scratches¡¯ that adorned its surface. They weren¡¯t anything like runic writings or characters but instead looked like a bizarre jumble of scratches without rhyme or reason to them.


    ¡­¡­


    After a while of studying the door, Bai Yunfei found himself wondering what would happen if he touched the door. He was curious what would happen if he tried to transmit his soulforce into these ¡®veins¡¯ as the Saint of Fate said. As he readied his mind and placed his hand on the door¡­


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Defense: 9000


    Equipment Effect: Fade into the void when taking more damage than this equipment¡¯s defense.


    Upgrade Requirement: 480 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped up, alarmed by what he saw.


    This door¡­was a high-heaven tier soul armament! And its defenses were over nine thousand!


    That meant the door disappearing upon taking a powerful attack wasn¡¯t a result of the dimension or any barrier. It was because of the door¡¯s own ability.


    Understanding dawned on his face. ¡°Ah! If this door is a powerful soul armament, then wouldn¡¯t I be able to force a path open if I upgrade it until it¡¯s destroyed?!


    ¡°No wait¡­that¡¯s too dangerous. What if something happens if I try that? That should be a last last resort, if at all¡­¡± Bai Yunfei immediately rejected his earlier thought.


    ¡°While I can¡¯t upgrade it too much, I should still be able to upgrade it just a bit and increase the soul compatibility. Maybe something good will happen¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± He steadied himself, ready to begin the upgrading at once.


    ¡°Upgrade!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    A while later.


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Earth


    Upgrade Level: +10


    Defense: 9000


    Additional Defense: 4500


    Soul Compatibility: 15%


    Equipment Effect: Fade into the void when taking more damage than this equipment¡¯s defense.


    Additional Effect: 2000 Increase in defense.


    Upgrade Requirement: 480 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei stopped upgrading the door when it reached the +10 mark. For some reason, the door was even harder to upgrade than a regular high-heaven tier soul armament!


    From the fifth upgrade to the tenth, Bai Yunfei found himself failing at least once each time. It was only due to his timely intervention that he managed to alter the outcome and get it to +10.


    Given Bai Yunfei¡¯s current understanding of the Upgrade Technique, upgrading any soul armament to +10 should¡¯ve been a cinch. But changing the outcome into a success to +10 had been nearly as hard as upgrading the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade to +12!


    That was the main reason why Bai Yunfei stopped. He¡¯d be horrified if he failed to upgrade it to +11¡ªwas it because of the size that altering the outcome was harder?


    He never upgraded a soul armament the size and shape like this before. It was without a doubt a new precedent.


    And the soul compatibility was only 15% even at +10. It left Bai Yunfei disappointed at such a low value. That meant he and the door were hardly ¡®compatible¡¯.


    ¡°Perhaps¡­I should use the Guaranteed Upgrade Stone once or twice?¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt unwilling to abandon the upgrading. He still had three +11 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone and a single +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone, the ones he got from Tang Wei as a wedding gift.


    ¡°Or maybe not¡­upgrading it to +12 won¡¯t even get me 40% compatibility. I might as well keep them if it¡¯s not going to be useful. I can¡¯t even bring this door with me, let alone use it as a soulbound armament.¡±


    It didn¡¯t make much sense for him to use the Guaranteed Upgrade Stone, so Bai Yunfei ultimately decided against the thought. As insightful as he was with upgrading, high-heaven soul armaments were about his limits. If he were to ever get another Regalia, then these Guaranteed Upgrade Stone would become essential.


    ¡°Ugh¡­let¡¯s calm down, we should be able to think of something once ancestor Shen gets here¡­¡±


    Exhaling to relieve some of his annoyances, Bai Yunfei stood up. Ignoring the matter of upgrading, he studied the door once more to see if he could begin to see anything regarding the veins.


    He prodded at the door with his soulsense, sensing the countless veins that ran throughout the door and noting how they matched the visible scratches on the surface.


    With the entirety of the doors clear for Bai Yunfei to see, Bai Yunfei tried once again to see if there was a ¡®pattern¡¯.


    But he saw none.


    However, he had a strange feeling about something. There was no ¡®pattern¡¯ to these scratches or veins, but¡­it was ¡®familiar¡¯ to him¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows rose up on his head, all of a sudden. He was shocked, but not because of the mystery of the door. Something was resonating from his soul¡ªhis bond with Xiao Qi!


    ¡°This is¡­¡±


    Pleased, Bai Yunfei dashed from one side of the door to one of its corners. In a flash, he disappeared from the sealed dimension to enter the Core World.


    In his place, the Core Stone was suspended right beside the door, ¡®hidden¡¯ from multiple angles¡­

 Chapter 1315: Becoming a Late-stage Soul Emperor!

    Bai Yunfei appeared high above the skies in the Core World. So high, in fact, that neither the Fate nor Crafting Schools could be seen. But above him stood a ball of prismatic light that made the fake daylight in the world seem almost dim.


    Like a dazzling sun, the ball of light exuded four different rays of light to represent the elements of fire, lightning, wind, and wood while also drawing in an equally steady stream of it into itself.


    The raw amount of energy was simply astounding to the senses, and Bai Yunfei could sense it still increasing!


    ¡°This¡­is Xiao Qi going to breakthrough?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew elated at the possibility. This was surely a pleasant surprise!


    Xiao Qi was in the center of that ball of light! He was definitely on the verge of becoming a late-stage class eight soulbeast!


    Multiple days had been spent by the soulbeast in an attempt to breakthrough. Half a day ago, Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t even close to it, but now¡­he was on the cusp of it!


    The reason was without a doubt because of Gu Lianhun!


    Bai Yunfei knew killing Gu Lianhun would be good for Xiao Qi, but he just never imagined the amount of experienced Xiao Qi gained would be enough for him to become a late-stage class eight!


    Normally speaking, becoming a late-stage class eight soulbeast would take several dozen years of training in a chaotic space like Bai Yunfei. But after killing Gu Lianhun¡­Xiao Qi was able to skip all that time!


    The ¡®experience¡¯ of killing a Mid-stage Soul Saint was truly shocking!


    This way, Xiao Qi was able to ¡®skip¡¯ portions of training. By killing Saints, Xiao Qi could gain an ocean of experience and level up!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Yunfei!¡±


    Several streaks of light appeared in the sky. Originating from the ground, several figures from the two schools took to the skies to approach Bai Yunfei. Even a few Soul Kings were here now.


    They were all astounded by the power radiating from Xiao Qi and flew to Bai Yunfei the moment they saw him there.


    Greeting everyone as they approached, Bai Yunfei turned his attention next to Chu Yintian. ¡°Senior, what has happened to the one I threw in here?¡±


    ¡°Worry not, he has been captured and prevented from self-destructing.¡±


    Chu Yintian¡¯s eyes remained on the dazzling ball of light in front of him. ¡°Yunfei, Xiao Qi is¡­becoming a late-stage class eight soulbeast?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes. It seems killing Gu Lianhun was a good thing for him.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Everyone figured that was the case earlier, but it still boggled the mind to hear the extent of Xiao Qi¡¯s power-up. Killing a Mid-stage Soul Saint to become a Late-stage Soul Emperor? What a dumbfounding sentence to think about!


    What would happen if he killed another Mid-stage Soul Saint, would he simply become a Saint then?


    Of course, this was just a hypothetical. Killing a Saint was no easy matter, and a Mid-stage Soul Saint was an even harder prospect.


    Xiao Qi breaking through was a good thing. Everyone was excited to see that, especially Bai Yunfei. Together, the group waited for Xiao Qi to finish with bated breaths.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    They didn¡¯t wait long. After a while, Bai Yunfei noted something different starting to take place around Xiao Qi.


    The red light radiating from Xiao Qi was starting to pick up in intensity. Elemental fire was pouring out from Xiao Qi¡¯s body and circling around him faster and faster as if to cocoon him inside a bubble of both that and soulforce!


    ¡°This¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was the first to react. He realized what had happened at once and and began to smile with glee!


    The others realized as well, once they saw Bai Yunfei¡¯s expression. ¡°Eh? Your face, Yunfei¡­¡± Chu Yintian¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°Haha! What a great success!¡± Bai Yunfei barked with laughter, ¡°Everyone! I¡¯ll be training now!!¡±


    A pillar of fire exploded forth from Bai Yunfei as he took to the skies. He shot towards Xiao Qi, his soulforce beginning to increase in intensity. In an instant, the surrounding elemental fire exploded in amount to an exponential degree and began to converge around him.


    In just moments, the skies were ablaze with a second maelstrom of elemental fire not unlike the one around Xiao Qi!


    At the center of it, Bai Yunfei manipulated his soulforce in a way similar to Xiao Qi. Their energies were roughly equal to one another as if the two were working together toward the same goal!


    Yes!


    Bai Yunfei was making use of this moment to try and breakthrough as well!


    ¡­¡­


    A bond between soul cultivator and soulbeast is often a great one for both sides involved. Its greatest benefit was allowing for a soul cultivator to break through a bottleneck at the time of the completion of a contract. Some waited when they were at the cusp of becoming a Soul Exalt, others when they were Soul Kings, and fewer later on.


    Hardly any soul cultivator could resist the urge to form a contract at later stages, however. Gu Lianhun was one of the few that managed to wait until he was on the verge of Sainthood before forming one of his own. In annals of history, he was most likely one of the only few who managed to succeed.


    Other than that, a soul contract also offered a soulbeast and soul cultivator a ¡®connection¡¯ similar to that of soul compatibility. For most, the connection between both sides would often be superficial.


    Once the ¡®connection¡¯ reached a certain degree, however, intents and thoughts could be shared across the sides: a rare and ¡®harmonic¡¯ bond! Upon reaching such a degree, one could gain a proportion of power when the other trained. Of course, such a deep bond was very rare to find.


    ¡ªBai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were definitely one such pairing!


    When Shen Pojun ascended to Sainthood, Bai Yunfei was there to gleam some insights and allowed Xiao Qi to breakthrough. Right now, Xiao Qi was doing the same! After killing Gu Lianhun and gaining the ¡®experience¡¯ to become a late-stage class eight soulbeast, Xiao Qi was giving Bai Yunfei an opportunity to learn as well!


    Bai Yunfei was just a step or two away from becoming a Late-stage Soul Emperor. It wouldn¡¯t take him long to reach the level without Xiao Qi there, but at least time would be saved now.


    ¡­¡­


    It was a mystical feeling. Bai Yunfei could feel a plentiful amount of energy be transmitted through the bond and into him. Like a bridge, his connection with Xiao Qi was feeding him an ¡®endless¡¯ amount of energy and strengthening his originseed and soulforce to greater heights.


    Activating the Dual Flame Artes, Bai Yunfei was doing his best to wholeheartedly meditate and train¡­


    Time slowly ticked by with everyone waiting impatiently. They watched as the auras of Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi climb again and again while the elemental energies of the world were drained into the two of them.


    Half the day went by before a substantial change could be noted. Under the joyous eyes of many, the two suns condensed in size, decreasing more and more until the light could no longer be seen.


    ¡°It worked!¡±


    Chu Yintian roared with joy. He could distinctly sense that the two auras were much different than when the two first started out!


    They were both Late-stage Soul Emperors!!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hahaha!! It worked! We did it! Yunfei! I¡¯m stronger now! Haha!!¡±


    High above the skies, the loud and happy cries of Xiao Qi could be heard as he crowed to Bai Yunfei.


    Feeling the powerful energy that ran through his body, Bai Yunfei smiled and gave his avian companion a nod. ¡°Haha, let¡¯s go back down first¡­¡±


    Together, the two descended from the skies to the crowd. But on their way, Bai Yunfei noted something strange!


    And before the others could react, Bai Yunfei disappeared from the Core World!


    Bai Yunfei reappeared outside of the Core World right beside the giant stone gate. From his position, he looked up and to the right at an empty spot of space.


    He felt the aura of someone powerful flying rapidly toward him. Though his eyes couldn¡¯t see who it was, and his soulsense couldn¡¯t make out who they were, Bai Yunfei could at the very least tell that this person was a Saint!


    But who?

 Chapter 1316: Coming Across Shen Pojun

    A streak of red light shot across murky space with extreme speed. Inside the light, a thunderous Shangguan Xiongyan had half his attention on the mirror in his hand and the other half in the direction he was flying in.


    ¡°He stopped? What for?¡±


    He quirked an eyebrow to think. ¡°Did he come to a stop somewhere? Or did he stop because he found someone?¡±


    Eyes gleaming with suspicion, Shangguan Xiongyan continued onward in his flight. His hand still clutched at the bronze mirror as he flew, and every so often he¡¯d scan his surroundings just in case for something strange before returning his eyes back to the mirror¡¯s surface.


    It wasn¡¯t for another while before he took notice of something different. ¡°The signal¡¯s weaker! He¡¯s gone into the Core World!! At a time like this? Was it because he came across an enemy? Is he injured and had to recuperate in the Core World? It just might be!¡±


    This was the situation Shangguan Xiongyan thought of, and the thought of it displeased him. If that was the case, then that meant one of his own died at Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands! It made his heart ache to have one or two of his Soul Emperors die in such a place.


    His assumption wasn¡¯t wholly wrong. Bai Yunfei did, in fact, come across the two Soul Emperors. But the difference was that Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t injured at all in the battle. The reason why he went into the Core World was so he could breakthrough¡­


    ¡°All the scattered people have started to gather together. It¡¯s fortunate he didn¡¯t come across Gu Jimie or the Abyssal Snake Saint else his Regalias would¡¯ve fallen into their hands¡­I must ensure I get them! I have to reach him first!¡±


    The fires of anxiety rekindled in Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s eyes. With a renewed burst of speed, he shot off toward Bai Yunfei¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Not even a moment later and Shangguan Xiongyan was met with a startling development. Coming to a screeching halt, Shangguan Xiongyan felt the Triumphant Flame underneath his robes activate and surround him within its energy!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­boom!!¡±


    Practically the same moment as when he was protected by the Triumphant Flame, the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade came hurtling through the air and struck the armor!


    The armor heaved violently, but withheld from the blow. Rather than be injured from the weapon, Shangguan Xiongyan was instead thrown backward from the force.


    While unsuccessful in doing damage, the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade did manage to stop the man¡¯s advance. Whirling around several times, it shot autonomously back to Shen Pojun¡¯s side several hundred meters away.


    ¡°Shen Pojun!!¡±


    Roared Shangguan Xiongyan when he steadied himself and saw who it was that had attacked him.


    He had been so preoccupied with trying to find Bai Yunfei that he completely failed to detect Shen Pojun nearing him. It was only thanks to the timely intervention of the Triumphant Flame that he managed to escape relatively unharmed.


    How foolish he was! He didn¡¯t even think about the possibility of running into Shen Pojun here. Now his plans would most likely have to be scrapped!


    It was absolutely infuriating to think there was a roadblock to his chance of getting the Regalias. Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s eyes roared with wrathful ire as he regarded Shen Pojun. Waving his right hand to summon his warblade, Shangguan Xiongyan prepared himself for battle.


    But if he didn¡¯t have a choice, then a battle it was then! He¡¯d kill Shen Pojun first and then Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    All other thoughts disappeared from his mind as he leapt into action. Letting out a warcry, he raised his right hand to attack!


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    It surprised Shen Pojun just a little to see how quick to action Shangguan Xiongyan was. Regardless, the man was ready for a fight. His aura skyrocketed in intensity before the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade was sent out again!


    Two Saints flaring at the same time with the same type of energy. The grayness of the space was immediately converted to red as two sea of flames came out from both sides!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Though made from the same type of energy, the two sea of flames crashed against one another. The world rumbled with a loud enough roar that it could probably be heard from a long distance away¡­


    Shen Pojun had many +12 soul armaments on him, one of them including the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade, his ¡®awakening¡¯ Regalia. However, as powerful as such a combination was, it wasn¡¯t enough to go against the genuine Regalia, the Triumphant Flame. And his opponent was one of the venerated members of the Royal Family, there was no way his soul armaments would be weak. The warblade he was using boasted an attack of over 8000, but it wasn¡¯t enough to override the defenses of Shen Pojun¡¯s equipment.


    Shen Pojun¡¯s Flame Dragon Crescent Blade was powerful, but not enough to overcome the Triumphant Flame. Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s warblade wasn¡¯t as strong as the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade and also wasn¡¯t quite strong enough to overcome Shen Pojun¡¯s two defensive soul armaments.


    Neither side had much of an advantage in terms of equipment. Their affinities were equally matched, meaning it would be difficult to ascertain who was the winner.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    For an hour now, the battle between Shen Pojun and Shangguan Xiongyan raged on, with neither side ever appearing to be the superior one.


    By the look of things, this battle would probably need a whole day and night before a victor could be determined. Neither side were particularly being risky, as they both had the same intentions¡­


    In this sealed dimension, a huge battle between Saints would definitely attract their reinforcements. In such a time like this, the Saint with the first reinforcement would be heavily favored.


    The Frostfeather Saint was Shen Pojun¡¯s only possible helper. Shangguan Xiongyan still had the Abyssal Snake Saint and Gu Jimie. In terms of numbers alone, Shen Pojun was at a disadvantage.


    ¡®Boom!!!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t for another period of time before Shangguan Xiongyan and Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes snapped to a completely different direction.


    A powerful aura was flying toward from their right!


    A second later and Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes narrowed while Shangguan Xiongyan looked relieved!


    ¡°The Abyssal Snake Saint!!¡±


    This person was on Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s side!!


    Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes narrowed even more when he realized this wasn¡¯t a neutral party. Disengaging from Shangguan Xiongyan, he began to fly off in the opposite direction!


    There was no chance of winning in a two-on-one fight. He was better off flying away.


    ¡°Running away?!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan sneered before chasing off after him. Then suddenly, Shen Pojun whirled around to swing the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade at him!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan blanched at once, realizing the threat the weapon had. Hurriedly, he activated the Triumphant Flame and moved to position himself into safety.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The blade sliced across the surface of the Triumphant Flame¡¯s barrier, jolting it a bit before leaving a crack over its surface!


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s eyes widened as he staggered back. Shen Pojun¡¯s weapon landed a blow strong enough to rattle him through his defenses! Face going red, Shangguan Xiongyan was forced to allow a rivulet of blood escape from his lips!


    That blow had been stronger than he thought! The reason behind it was simple¡ªthe +12 additional effect of the Flame Dragon Crescent Blade!


    +12 Additional Effect: Convert and store enemy energy into this weapon. When enough energy is amassed, unleash a blow at 200% attack.


    Originally, Shen Pojun planned to make use of this effect to land the finishing blow. He had to scrap that idea when the Abyssal Snake Saint appeared and made victory impossible. Using it now would at the very least make Shangguan Xiongyan unable to fight at his best strength.


    And with Shangguan Xiongyan faltering, Shen Pojun was free to once again fly away from them!


    ¡°Damnit!!¡±


    A furious roar escaped from Shangguan Xiongyan as he watched Shen Pojun get away from him. ¡°After him!!¡± He motioned at the Abyssal Snake Saint.


    Seeing the situation up ahead, the Abyssal Snake Saint didn¡¯t slow down when he neared. Instead, he joined with Shangguan Xiongyan and began to chase after Shen Pojun!

 Chapter 1317: Trapped!

    The battle, once a fierce and intense one, was now a chase. Like a shooting star, Shen Pojun flew across the sky with sickening speed while a red and black streak of light chased after him from behind. The two were quite distant from each other due to how difficult Shen Pojun was making it.


    It was fortunate for Shen Pojun that Shangguan Xiongyan was of the fire type, and the Abyssal Snake Saint was of the dark type. Had they been of the wind or lightning type, then Shen Pojun would¡¯ve been in danger of being caught.


    For ten minutes, Shen Pojun ran while Shangguan Xiongyan and the Abyssal Snake Saint gave chase. Shen Pojun didn¡¯t look particularly worried at his situation, however. He was simply observing the area around him.


    He was flying in the direction of the stone gate. Probability dictated that he¡¯d meet the Frostfeather Saint since everyone was heading for the same place. In that case, the odds of this battle would even out.


    A battle between four Saints would be hectic, but his chances of winning would most definitely be higher if he had the Frostfeather Saint helping him.


    Unless, of course, Gu Jimie was there to meet him instead. As dangerous as that possibility was, it was pretty unlikely since Gu Jimie wasn¡¯t as familiar with this place as the Frostfeather Saint was. Still, it was definitely a gamble.


    And the gamble¡­paid off!


    It was around the twenty minute mark when a beam of light shot forth toward Shen Pojun from his right.


    The Frostfeather Saint!


    Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement at the blue and white light. Shifting course, Shen Pojun moved to fly in the direction of the Frostfeather Saint. The two drew together in the blink of an eye and came to a stop to face their enemies. They looked to one another for a brief second before nodding as if agreeing on something before they took flight.


    ¡°The Frostfeather Saint! Damn!!¡±


    The Abyssal Snake Saint and Shangguan Xiongyan came to a stop as well when the Frostfeather Saint arrived on the scene. Their confidence wasn¡¯t as great as before now that the Frostfeather Saint was her. The battle was no longer unequal, a victory here would be difficult.


    And now, a new battle would begin.


    There was also another serious problem: Four Saints being here meant that Bai Yunfei would be¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Not too far away from Shen Pojun and the others. Where the stone gate was.


    Now that Bai Yunfei was a Late-stage Soul Emperor, his range of perception was much farther than before. So the moment he exited the Core World was the moment he felt a powerful flux of energy.


    ¡°Saints! Is ancestor Shen and the Frostfeather Saint nearby? And¡­with enemies?!¡±


    He didn¡¯t know who these people were just yet, but the inverse wasn¡¯t true! Knowing that he could potentially be in danger, Bai Yunfei decided without hesitation to use an equipment effect!


    +12 Additional Effect: Enter a ¡®Hidden¡¯ status. Any movement will cancel out this status.Cooldown of one hour.


    In an instant, Bai Yunfei melted into the scenery and grew invisible to the world!


    Not even his aura could be felt anymore. It was almost as if Bai Yunfei was gone from the world, but he was still, in fact, there.


    The +12 additional effect of the Scout¡¯s Ring had the same effect as Jing Mingfeng¡¯s abilities, but it was limited to once an hour and he couldn¡¯t move at all while under its effects. Jing Mingfeng was able to hide in a different dimension while Bai Yunfei simply blended in with the world. He was still ¡®here¡¯ and would be exposed if an attack were to hit him.


    Bai Yunfei was able to make use of the ring¡¯s effects to escape from Nether and the Late-stage Soul Emperor¡¯s perception, and that was when he was just a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. As he was now, Bai Yunfei could probably hide from a Saint, but Bai Yunfei was afraid of seeing whether that was true or not¡­


    But he¡¯d have to find out the answer today. He could only hope that the people coming were Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint. If they were enemies¡­then Bai Yunfei would be in danger. He had no confidence fighting a Saint by himself¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei felt a powerful source of soulforce wash over him the instant he disappeared. Afraid to even breathe, Bai Yunfei suppressed his soulforce as much as he could and waited.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Ten seconds went by before the first streak of light entered the scene. A black one!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes dilated at the sight of it. Breath stuck in his throat, he watched with anxiety and dread as the black streak of light went past him


    This person was¡­Gu Jimie!!


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Gu Jimie¡¯s eyes hovered over the area where Bai Yunfei was, suspicious. On the other side, Bai Yunfei suppressed a shiver when their eyes met¡ªit was a dreadful moment.


    His heart felt like it was ready to leap out from his throat. Fighting his body¡¯s instinct to scream out from anxiety, Bai Yunfei waited several moments to see if Gu Jimie would do something first.


    Luckily, it seemed that the Scout¡¯s Ring did its job and successfully hid Bai Yunfei from Gu Jimie.


    Every soul cultivator relied on their soulsense. They had full confidence in it. If they couldn¡¯t sense something, then there was nothing. So when Gu Jimie didn¡¯t sense anything, his attention turned away to the giant stone gate nearby.


    It was fortunate that Gu Jimie had no idea about the Scout¡¯s Ring and its effects. Had he known, then Bai Yunfei was sure a wide-spread attack would¡¯ve been launched to force Bai Yunfei out from hiding.


    That didn¡¯t mean Bai Yunfei was ready to drop his guard, however. He had to be as vigilant as ever to get through this!


    There was still one more Saint incoming¡­what should he do?!


    Had Bai Yunfei decided to run away instead of hiding, he probably would¡¯ve been caught. Flying at full speed meant his soulforce would be recognized by everyone. And racing against a Saint¡­what chance did he have in that?


    It was too late to run away now though. Now it was time for another question. Would he be able to escape detection from the second Saint?


    Luckily it wasn¡¯t his only choice. He just had to wait here until Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint got here and things would most likely get better; they¡¯d probably even be able to defeat Gu Jimie before anyone else was here.


    What Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know was that Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint were currently fighting the Abyssal Snake Saint and Shangguan Xiongyan. That meant it¡¯d take a very long time before either party would come here.


    But staying here still posed a problem. Multiple problems, in fact. Gu Jimie was definitely going to stay here and study the gate, meaning there was still a chance he¡¯d ¡®bump¡¯ into the spot where Bai Yunfei was, thus exposing him.


    Secondly, Bai Yunfei had to use soulforce into order to himself, and the rate of consumption was rather large! He¡¯d be out of soulforce if he stayed here for too long!


    In short, Bai Yunfei was stuck in between a rock and a hard place.


    ¡°No¡­I can¡¯t let myself die here!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself as he readied himself to act¡­

 Chapter 1318: A Sneak Attack!

    ¡°A stone door? Could this be the ¡®barrier¡¯ of this dimension?¡±


    Gu Jimie muttered to himself, speculating the purpose and inner workings behind the door in front of him.


    Anyone would¡¯ve been able to guess that this door was important, especially since it was the only notable landmark in this dimension. Gu Jimie knew at once the meaning behind the door and was already thinking of several ways on how to get it to open. None of the other barriers had a gate like this before, so this particular one surely had to be extremely special¡­


    ¡°Perhaps¡­the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is behind this door!!¡±


    Gu Jimie¡¯s fingers snapped. That had to be the case!


    ¡°This barrier is even stronger than the others, and if my teacher wasn¡¯t able to open it, then that just proves that this area is vital! The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance and the final obstacle may very well be behind this door!


    ¡°No¡­perhaps this door is the final obstacle! I can get the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance if I just open the door!!


    ¡°Yes, that has to be it! Haha!! And to think I was the first to arrive here! The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is mine!!¡±


    Gu Jimie began to bray with excited laughter. Being able to obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was a heartwarming thought that completely overshadowed the death of his teacher. If his teacher spent two hundred years being trapped here, that just meant his teacher was never able to open it. But¡­


    That didn¡¯t discourage him. Yes, it was a daunting task, but the prize would be worth it! He had to open this door!


    How could he possibly let a door of all things impede his path to obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance?!


    He¡¯ll open it! And he¡¯ll grab hold of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance! Then he¡¯ll become the strongest in the world!!


    Already, Gu Jimie¡¯s heart was lost in his delusions of grandeur. Avarice and greed captured his eyes as he regaled the door in front of him. So greedy was his stare that it seemed as if he was trying to open the door simply by staring at it.


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Energy gathered around Gu Jimie¡¯s person. Like a torrent of water, the energy flowed out from his right hand and transformed into multiple blades of darkness to strike at the door.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    Multiple explosions erupted around the door as the attacks landed, each explosion being louder and larger than the last.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    That wasn¡¯t the end of Gu Jimie¡¯s experimentations. Hands outstretched, he continued to send attack after attack to the door.


    Since all of Gu Jimie¡¯s attacks were aimed at the center of the door, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have to move at all from his hiding spot in the corner to avoid being hit.


    Gu Jimie¡¯s assault lasted for a full minute before he calmed down and began to think.


    ¡°The door can¡¯t be forced open, not with brute force at the very least¡­¡±


    Those attacks had only been a preliminary experiment to see if any information could be gained. He stepped closer to the door, his right hand ready to stretch out and touch the door to feel its construct.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    A small gasp escaped from Gu Jimie¡¯s lips. Now that he was closer to the door, he was able to see the network of veins running all over the door.


    Gu Jimie drew quiet again to think. Transmitting a pulse of soulforce into the door, Gu Jimie observed what reaction was had. Perhaps if he figured out what reason these veins had, he¡¯d be able to open the door.


    It was while Gu Jimie was studying the network that a cautious Bai Yunfei began to take action. Slowly, both his hands began to curl into fists¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    The stone door reacted at once to the soulforce fed into it. It began to light up in a way that made Gu Jimie grow excited. But then the joy died away from his face, something was wrong!


    To his shock, the door was beginning to absorb his soulforce! As if he accidentally triggered a trap of some kind, the door was starting to greedily take in his soulforce like water down a hole!!


    It was only meant to be a test! Gu Jimie just wanted to see what would happen if he fed his soulforce into the door and nothing more! And now instead of obtaining a clue, Gu Jimie was frantically trying his best to staunch the flow of soulforce from him to the door.


    ¡­¡­


    From his hiding spot by the corner of the door, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement¡ª


    Now was the time to strike!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    A corner of the door was suddenly dyed red as Bai Yunfei exploded out from his position. Like a loose arrow, Bai Yunfei shot straight toward Gu Jimie with an exorbitant amount of energy!


    The two were within two hundred meters of each other so Bai Yunfei was able to close the distance instantly!


    The Cataclysmic Seal wasn¡¯t a very good option right now, so Bai Yunfei opted to simply charge at Gu Jimie and attack him straight on with a left punch!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Gu Jimie¡¯s head snapped to attention at once. Though Bai Yunfei had been quick to explode from his spot, Gu Jimie was similarly fast to react!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    The timing was perfect. Gu Jimie was in a flummox due to his soulforce being drained when Bai Yunfei attacked, so Bai Yunfei should¡¯ve had an ample amount of time to attack. Unfortunately, Bai Yunfei underestimated the reaction speed of a Saint. In response to being attacked, Gu Jimie whirled around and lashed out at Bai Yunfei¡¯s fist with a punch of his own!


    ¡°Bang!!¡¯


    The two fists struck one another with enough force to send a shock up Bai Yunfei¡¯s arm before he was flung backward!


    He couldn¡¯t even feel his left arm anymore. The pain of the blow was harsher on Bai Yunfei than Gu Jimie and it showed when Bai Yunfei spat out a mouthful of blood. Rather than give up, Bai Yunfei immediately launched a secondary attack!


    The Cataclysmic Seal!!


    The soul armament traveled forward as Bai Yunfei traveled in the opposite direction. It was already the size of a small disk by the time it was about to careen into Gu Jimie¡¯s chest!


    Several emotions ran through Gu Jimie¡¯s face at the sight. Shock, suspicion, fury, and even pain. His shock from seeing Bai Yunfei appear out of thin air had yet to wear off.


    His first instinct upon seeing the Cataclysmic Seal was to back away. When it approached him, he shifted toward the right to dodge it!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    Clipping the hems of his robes as it passed, the Cataclysmic Seal flew harmlessly past Gu Jimie, much to the man¡¯s delight. As he was ready to sigh in relief, Gu Jimie suddenly felt a sense of foreboding from behind!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    A scream erupted from him as he immediately took action. As if by instinct, his body snapped forward at the waist almost as if he didn¡¯t have any bones!


    ¡°Whoosh!! Pft¡­¡±


    Gu Jimie felt something rustle past his ears before something sharp bit into him. Alarmed, he felt as his left shoulder grow cold and start to have something strange leak into it!


    Gray light began to disseminate from his shoulder into the rest of his body, but it took Gu Jimie a moment to blink and stare at it before he could realize what it was.


    ¡°The Soul Extinguishing Needle!!!¡±

 Chapter 1319: Force Them Back Step by Step!

    A needle that once belonged to Mo Ni. How could Gu Jimie possibly not know of it?


    True, Gu Jimie only knew of the matter after he finished his self-isolation, but he was proud that the Soul Refining School would have such an excellent student. What other word but ¡®genius¡¯ could possibly describe someone attaining the rank of Soul Emperor at such a young age? Hardly anyone in the school¡¯s history had ever done such a thing, let alone have a powerful soulbeast as a partner.


    Gu Jimie was confident that given time and proper guidance, Mo Ni would become a fellow Saint.


    But alas! It wasn¡¯t meant to be! His death came too soon in the attack against the Fate School, and with his father no less!


    The both of them were people Gu Jimie thought would carry the mantle of the school. That was why he nearly went crazy upon learning that he was the only one to make it back alive from their attack on the Fate School.


    He never thought that the very first operation he¡¯d lead as a Saint would end up in such a catastrophe.


    That was also the reason why Gu Jimie so readily agreed to Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s suggestion. The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was the last hope the Soul Refining School had¡­


    And if he couldn¡¯t get the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, potentially saving Gu Lianhun would be the next best thing.


    That was why he took the risk of traversing into the Soulbeast Forest and asking the Abyssal Snake Saint.


    That was the plan. They were to follow Shen Pojun and the others into this place and attain their objectives. Instead, Gu Jimie was there to watch the demise of his teacher!


    The demise of his teacher triggered a cascade of events starting with his ¡®corpse explosion¡¯. From failing to killing his enemies to causing a distortion in the dimension, the corpse explosion ultimately resulted in everyone being teleported away.


    The only ¡®lucky¡¯ thing that happened was him finding the ¡®end¡¯ of the dimension where the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was.


    Gu Jimie just never expected to be ambushed by Bai Yunfei while he was studying the door!


    And to be injured by the Soul Extinguishing Needle no less!


    Gu Jimie was no stranger to its effects, he was already starting to panic when the needle¡¯s effects began to propagate!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    A heart-wrenching scream began to erupt from Gu Jimie. Though he was ready for it, the pain was far too excruciating for him to bear!


    It wasn¡¯t a physical wound that hurt him so, it was a pain onto the soul!!


    The Soul Extinguishing Needle was something that could kill an Early-stage Soul Emperor with a single prick. It was that powerful. But not so powerful that it could do the same to a Saint. However, it was still strong enough to make Gu Jimie feel as if a full-out soul attack hit him!


    He could feel a strange energy seep into his body to where his soul was. The Soul Extinguishing Needle shouldn¡¯t have this kind of capability, what was going on?!


    What he didn¡¯t know was that this ¡®energy¡¯ was all because of the Soul Extinguishing Needle¡¯s +10 additional effect!


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 8280


    Additional Attack: 8000


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    Equipment Effect 1: Inflict damage to the target¡¯s soul when a blow is landed.


    Equipment Effect 2: A portion of the soul of each killed target is converted into attack. Portion converted is dependent on the strength of the killed target.


    +10 Additional Effect: Inflict Soul-frayed once damage has been applied. For 10 seconds, spirit-based attacks do 100% more damage.


    +12 Additional Effect: Ignore dark-type defenses.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It worked!!¡±


    A joyous smile grew on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. He had done it!


    His opening punch and the Cataclysmic Seal were only diversions. His ¡®killing blow¡¯ was actually the Soul Extinguishing Needle!


    He already planned for this to happen back when he was still in hiding. The goal was to first weaken the enemy and then to gain the advantage!


    Of all the options he had, Bai Yunfei figured the Soul Extinguishing Needle would be the most optimal. He was fully confident that this would work!


    The Saint of Fate made note of the door¡¯s ability before, that was why Bai Yunfei made the plans he did. If soulforce was fed into the door, then the door would immediately start draining whatever was feeding it!


    That was also the reason why he didn¡¯t feed soulforce into the door. He knew that sooner or later, Gu Jimie would feed his soulforce into the door and be surprised by the result. Bai Yunfei had been waiting for that exact moment to strike!


    And as expected, that was what happened. After discovering the veins within the door, Gu Jimie decided to see what would happen if he fed the door his soulforce and activated the door by accident. In that moment when Gu Jimie lost control over the flow of his soulforce, Bai Yunfei came out to deliver some shock damage and then use the Soul Extinguishing Needle when Gu Jimie was too busy dodging the Cataclysmic Seal!


    It wouldn¡¯t be fatal, but the damage would definitely be enough!


    His goal wasn¡¯t something as insignificant as getting a needle-thin prick on Gu Jimie¡¯s shoulder. His goal was to do damage with the Soul Extinguishing Needle and then activate the +10 additional effect!


    This would open the path forward for him!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shined brightly as he watched the Soul Extinguishing Needle do its work. His hands were already a blur to form seals before the needle had even fully activated. And with each seal made¡­his soulforce started to spike!


    ¡®Coil¡¯ Form and then¡­


    Berserk Mode!!


    He was a Late-stage Soul Emperor, but going into both modes allowed his soulforce to spike straight beyond the point of a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor!


    Distinctions could be made between a Late-stage Soul Emperor and a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor, so it was an easy matter to say Bai Yunfei was at the very least as strong as a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor. But the difference between a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor and an Early-stage Soul Saint was enormous. He could perhaps best be described as being ¡®somewhere¡¯ on the path. He was someone that was but also wasn¡¯t. Someone was beyond that of a Soul Emperor but not quite there as a Saint.


    Perhaps a quasi-Saint, if such a term existed.


    Before, when Ge Yiyun fought against Shangguan Xiongyan, he made use of a secret technique to attain such a state.


    Practically moments after he entered Berserk Mode, Bai Yunfei raised his hand to point a single finger at Gu Jimie!


    ¡°Freeze!!!¡±


    After entering his strongest form of battle, Bai Yunfei immediately used the Soul Anchor Technique!


    In his current state, the +12 additional effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf (double the attack of all spirit-type attacks), the +10 additional effect of the Soul Extinguishing Needle, and Gu Jimie¡¯s stunned state¡ªthe Soul Anchor Technique would have a magnified effect!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ahh!!!!¡±


    The word ¡®freeze¡¯ felt as though it was thunder rolling about in his ears. Already, Gu Jimie felt his energy start to warp and his soul twist inward on itself!


    How did Bai Yunfei manage to pull off an attack like that!?


    That was the very last thing Gu Jimie thought before his mind and soul froze!


    The time a Saint spent frozen under the effects of the Soul Anchor Technique wouldn¡¯t be long at all, but it was still considerable enough to be crucial. All of Bai Yunfei¡¯s efforts would only grant him just a small portion of time, so Bai Yunfei was extra careful about what he was going to do next. His soulforce flared to life once again so he could brandish the Cataclysmic Seal at him!


    Because it was used as a ¡®diversion¡¯ earlier, the Cataclysmic Seal came to a stop not too far away from Gu Jimie. At Bai Yunfei¡¯s command, the Cataclysmic Seal expanded in size and circled around to slam into Gu Jimie!


    Earlier, the Cataclysmic Seal flew from one edge of the door to the other, meaning that when it circled around, it¡¯d come at Gu Jimie from his back while his front was facing the door! So just like the Mid-stage Soul Emperor from before had died, the Cataclysmic Seal was planning to ¡®squish¡¯ Gu Jimie against the gate!


    Currently, Gu Jimie was still in a frozen state and was unable to dodge. There was a flash of light and a loud bang as the Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the man. Continuing to bring him farther due to inertia, the Cataclysmic Seal eventually slammed into the door with Gu Jimie right in between!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    A furious wail erupted from in between the two giant objects. For a second, nothing happened. Then a sudden torrent of black light spilled out from the cracks!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Right in the nick of time, Gu Jimie managed to free himself from the Soul Anchor Technique and protected himself with a bubble of energy!


    More specifically, Gu Jimie managed to cushion himself with that bubble of elemental energy before the Cataclysmic Seal could successfully trap him in between.


    The door violently trembled as the force of the Cataclysmic Seal was transferred to it. Then, it began to warp in on itself!


    As if the door was suddenly transparent,the Cataclysmic Seal sailed straight ¡®through¡¯ the gate!


    When Gu Jimie unleashed that bubble of energy, the combined force of it and the Cataclysmic Seal proved to be far too much for the gate to handle and it grew transparent!


    And because of that, Gu Jimie was spared the gruesome fate of becoming a human sandwich. Without the door there, Gu Jimie was free to untangle himself from the Cataclysmic Seal and break free!


    High up in the air again, Gu Jimie¡¯s face was looking exceptionally pale. Some blood could be seen dripping from his lips. His left shoulder hung at a strange angle, as if it wasn¡¯t fully connected to the rest of the body. His eyes were exceptionally merciless in their glare and his heart utterly baffled by his situation. But there was also a gleam of joy from having escaped just now.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Gu Jimie barely had any time to properly reflect on his joy when the world around him suddenly trembled. Puzzled, Gu Jimie looked up just in time to see an iridescent light surround him!


    The Interdimensional Phantasm!!

 Chapter 1320: Adding on the Pressure!

    As he was now, Bai Yunfei was a man whose ¡®strategies¡¯ against others were now far more likely to work than ever. In the past, he was always the one to be strategized against. Now Bai Yunfei was capable of taking into account his enemy¡¯s strength and his opportunities to make a reliable strategy. This was no fluke anymore.


    Gu Jimie wasn¡¯t the very first Saint Bai Yunfei fought against. There was still Gu Lianhun who managed to die due to his hand. Compared to him, Gu Jimie was someone that could probably be said to be ¡®within normal parameters¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s strategy against Gu Lianhun had multiple variables within it. One time, he had to ensure that his opponent would attack him with a soul attack so the Soul Sentinel Scarf could bounce it back.


    His plan against Gu Jimie was a simple one with the element of surprise to start things off. Every move after that was done only after his mind finished simulating everything. Only the highest-probability thought would be considered before it was made final so Bai Yunfei could attain the upper hand.


    And Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t disappointed with the results. Everything he did led Gu Jimie down the path of least resistance and allowed for him to deal a surprising amount of damage. It wasn¡¯t enough to kill Gu Jimie, but that was fine.


    Then came the Interdimensional Phantasm. Trapping Gu Jimie within it was the very last condition Bai Yunfei needed to fulfill for him to consider his plan perfect.


    The Interdimensional Phantasm was what Bai Yunfei would rely on most in order to battle Gu Jimie!


    Carelessly getting injured and then being trapped in the Interdimensional Phantasm¡­things were going the exact same route for Gu Jimie as his teacher had gone!


    Step by step, Gu Jimie was basically retracing the same steps his teacher took to his death.


    ¡­¡­


    It was only when the Interdimensional Phantasm was fully formed that Bai Yunfei allowed himself a single sigh of relief. Instead of continuing his assault on Gu Jimie, Bai Yunfei withdrew.


    The toll on his body for attacking so fiercely and so quickly was quite the large one. Continuing to attack like that would¡¯ve caused his body a greater amount of damage than he¡¯d like, so he backed off.


    In the beginning when the two clashed with their fists, Bai Yunfei used the +10 and +12 additional effect of the Critical Glove and still ended up with his entire arm numb. He couldn¡¯t feel his arm even now¡ªtrying to move it felt like the bones in it would break even more.


    The punch he took inflicted more than just physical damage. Gu Jimie¡¯s fist contained a corrosive energy that managed to infiltrate Bai Yunfei¡¯s body. The only reason he managed to ignore it up until this point was because he was far too pumped up on adrenaline to carry out his plan. Going into Berserk Mode also allowed Bai Yunfei some time to ignore the energy and for him to use the Cataclysmic Seal, the Soul Anchor Technique, and then bring out the Interdimensional Phantasm.


    Multiple events were compressed into a short amount of time. But the cost for such a feat was a heavy one, and now Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was practically devoid of soulforce.


    He had been far too preoccupied with his offense to worry about his defense. His attacks contained all he had in them, so when Gu Jimie hit him, his body wasn¡¯t as prepared for it than they¡¯d normally be¡­


    In truth, Gu Jimie wasn¡¯t even at his peak strength. He lost an avatar in the fight against the Fate School and was injured even more when he had to flee. One month wasn¡¯t nearly enough time for him to make a complete recovery.


    Those wounds were ultimately made worse when Bai Yunfei ambushed him. That first punch wasn¡¯t completely negligible, and the wounds he got from the Soul Extinguishing Needle and the Cataclysmic Seal were definitely¡­


    A chain of sequences like that would be enough to kill a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor several times over. For a Saint like Gu Jimie, however, death was not so easy. He could survive, but his body and soul wouldn¡¯t be in very good shape. He definitely wouldn¡¯t be fighting optimally any time soon!


    This situation was identical to the one Gu Lianhun was in. The only difference was that Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint advanced when Bai Yunfei retreated. In this case, Bai Yunfei was all by himself against a Saint!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t feeling very hot himself. His body was screaming at him as whatever little soulforce he had left went to his left arm. Though it pained him to lift his left arm, Bai Yunfei had to grit his teeth and force it to form several hand seals!


    Quickly, those hand seals were made and a burst of soulforce suddenly exploded from his body. Like a dying candle suddenly roaring to life, Bai Yunfei was back to full capacity with soulforce!


    Soul Ignition!!


    There wasn¡¯t any time to recover his soulforce the slow and normal way. Now was the time to use Soul Ignition so he could get back to fighting!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a primal scream as he flew at Gu Jimie. He snapped his right hand to summon two soul armaments to him. One was the Fire-tipped Spear and the other was the Cataclysmic Seal!


    They took off at Gu Jimie while Bai Yunfei prepared for the next attack. He formed several handseals before allowing for a tremendous amount of elemental fire to gather around his arms!


    ¡­¡­


    Gu Jimie¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t as good as Bai Yunfei. His left arm was bent completely at an odd angle and his chest was soaked with blood. His hair was dishevelled and his body trembled from head to toe. Not at all did he look like a Saint.


    His own soulforce was desperately trying to heal the wounds he received just now, but he felt like his essence originseed was running dry on energy. Only pain echoed from the depths of his soul as he tried his best to heal, but the wounds he received were just far too much to ignore¡­


    Even now, Gu Jimie was having a hard time believing anything that happened just now was real. How did Bai Yunfei manage to pull of a series of attacks strong enough to even threaten him?


    Gu Jimie was barely starting to recover from his wounds when he felt Bai Yunfei suddenly flare back to life. Bewildered, he raised his head to see a giant ¡®mountain¡¯ and a flashing spear come flying at him!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Gu Jimie howled in anger to himself at the annoyance. Ignoring his wounds, he mustered enough soulforce to send himself to the side to safety.


    As injured as Gu Jimie was, hitting him with the Cataclysmic Seal and the Fire-tipped Spear would be a hard feat to accomplish without the Soul Anchor Technique. However, the attacks still had their uses in forcing him in certain directions. And from there¡­


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    It happened when Gu Jimie flew several hundred meters to his right after managing to dodge the two attacks. The sound of two dragons roaring to life caught up to his ears before he could even catch his breath, prompting him to look at two gigantic dragons already about to crash into him!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Gu Jimie was beside himself. Screaming himself hoarse when he realized he didn¡¯t have the time to dodge, he prepared to protect himself with soulforce once again. Black light formed together behind him to form a demonic figure who then bent forward to embrace him with its two newly-formed arms.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The two dragons crashed into the demonic figure and exploded, drowning the area with waves of fire¡­


    He couldn¡¯t see Gu Jimie, but Bai Yunfei was confident that the man was still alive, if not injured. Kicking off against the sky, Bai Yunfei flew into the sea of flames for the next strike!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A beam of light shot forth from Bai Yunfei¡¯s side to reveal a battle-ready Xiao Qi. Wings spread out wide, the bird flew alongside Bai Yunfei to enter the fray.


    A late-stage class eight soulbeast wasn¡¯t much help in a fight against a Saint, but Xiao Qi was different. He was Bai Yunfei¡¯s partner. If the two joined hands, then they¡¯d be able to pull off feats far beyond what they could do as individuals. That was why Bai Yunfei allowed him to fight.


    The two plunged into the flames. For a while, nothing happened before the flames began to crackle with lightning.


    ¡°You snot-nosed brats! You dare plan to kill me!? Die! You¡¯ll pay for this! Ahhh!!!¡±


    Gu Jimie¡¯s voice boomed out from the flames. Black light erupted everywhere, spilling across the sky as the same demonic figure from before exploded out from the flames. It was a lot smaller than before, but the energy behind its manifestation originated from a Law so it was strong enough to repel the flames around it.


    A strange crescent-shaped soul armament floated beside Gu Jimie. It was colored entirely black and was somehow managing to fend off the Fire-tipped Spear and the Soul Extinguishing Needle.


    He was managing to protect himself from the two soul armaments. Every so often, Gu Jimie would try and fire off an attack at Bai Yunfei, but they¡¯d always be stopped by the Cataclysmic Seal.


    Anyone that was watching the fight would¡¯ve agreed that Bai Yunfei was the one with the upper hand; Gu Jimie was being pressured!!

 Chapter 1321: Gu Jimies Death

    Gu Jimie felt like puking from this humiliation.


    Was he dreaming? He was a Saint and yet he was being beaten like a dog by a mere Soul Emperor?


    It wasn¡¯t a dream, it was real. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and hold back the blood. It hurt him to do such, but it was important he didn¡¯t lose any more blood.


    Ten minutes.


    Ten minutes passed since he was first thrown into the Interdimensional Phantasm. During that time, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi rained down countless attacks, fireballs, lightning bolts, blades of wind, spatial cracks, and soul armaments at him without reprieve.


    Ten minutes was also the time when Gu Jimie realized he had been on the defense the entire time¡­


    Gu Jimie had been at a disadvantage since the very beginning. He¡¯d wager that he¡¯d be able to only use about forty percent his normal strength right now. A dreadfully low percentage, but still more than enough to deal with the normal Late-stage Soul Emperor. Unfortunately for him, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi weren¡¯t ¡®normal¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei had Berserk Mode to explain his power, but Xiao Qi was somehow able to exceed the power of any other soulbeast of his level. And because he was a soulbeast, his inherent strength, soulforce, and endurance were all naturally stronger than a soul cultivator. Lastly, Xiao Qi also had multiple soul armaments that helped him deal out attacks stronger than expected.


    Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were also empowered in the Interdimensional Phantasm. So while Gu Jimie had his fighting ability halved, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were stronger than half their usual as well. Without being able to manipulate and use the outside elemental energy, Gu Jimie was using the elemental energy his own originseed was producing, making the fight even more taxing on him.


    So for ten whole minutes, one side was able to remain dominant and grow even more apparently so.


    From a purely objective standpoint, Gu Jimie was the ¡®pathetic¡¯ one and Bai Yunfei was the ¡®sinisterly crafty¡¯ one.


    Of course whether it was right for Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi, being only Late-stage Soul Emperors, to fight as such against an Early-stage Soul Saint remained to be seen.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Clang!!!¡±


    There was another clanging sound as Gu Jimie¡¯s bladed soul armament clashed with an incoming Fire-tipped Spear.


    The soul armament flew back and circled around to Gu Jimie¡¯s side, though it seemed to wail with a melancholic noise as it floated. This earned it a wary glance from Gu Jimie before his face hardened.


    ¡°My weapon¡¯s getting more and more damaged, it¡¯s going to break soon!¡±


    Gu Jimie was growing more unsettled. The Fire-tipped Spear was a frightfully strong weapon, how was his soul armament to compare? If this continued any longer, then his soulbound armament would be destroyed!


    If his soulbound armament, the Darkmoon Crescent, were to break, he¡¯d be in danger!


    ¡°Just¡­five minutes more, the time limit is almost up! I¡¯ll be able to kill you then!!¡±


    As much as he hated to think it, but he had no chance of winning against Bai Yunfei in the Interdimensional Phantasm. But once they were back in the real world? He¡¯d be able to use more elemental energy outside and turn the tables on Bai Yunfei instantly!


    That was the exact same thing his teacher, Gu Lianhun, thought. But Gu Lianhun didn¡¯t even last until the time was up. Would Gu Jimie fair any better?


    ¡­¡­


    Five minutes¡­


    Four minutes¡­


    Three minutes¡­


    Time ticked normally, but not to Gu Jimie. He was able to last this long without breaking, and he¡¯d do it again too!


    ¡°One minute! Almost there! Haha!! Victory will be mine!!¡±


    It began when Gu Jimie felt the air around start to crackle. The Interdimensional Phantasm was about to dissolve itself!


    That wasn¡¯t all; he could sense Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi¡¯s auras not being as strong as before. The world feeding them energy was finally starting to fade away!


    ¡°It¡¯s over!!¡±


    Gjm¡¯s eyes gleamed maniacally the very moment he felt the outside elemental energy begin to flood his body!


    And that was when he sprung, Gu Jimie was ready to turn the tide right this moment!!


    ¡°Bang!!¡±


    Fire exploded into the air as Bai Yunfei¡¯s weak aura suddenly reignited to full capacity!


    A second Soul Ignition!


    But that wasn¡¯t all! His soulforce continued to rise past his normal peak! Suddenly in Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand was a blood-red sword!


    The¡­Vampiric Demon Edge!


    The effect was instantaneous. The veins beneath his skin began to bulge underneath his skin and blood-red steam began to exude from each of his pores. Cracks formed over his right arm so that a steady flow of blood would flow and be absorbed into the Vampiric Demon Edge!


    +10 Additional Effect: Pay a blood price to increase the power of the user and item. Gain 1% of attack and 2% increase to overall stats for every percentage of blood taken. Duration ends when no more blood is given.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was beginning to skyrocket now that the Vampiric Demon Edge was taking effect!


    In the blink of an eye, Bai Yunfei¡¯s face grew even more pale and his soulforce even stronger!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    There was another burst of light as the Vampiric Demon Edge trembled again in seeming delight. The sword was overtaken by a strange glow before changing form slightly. And as if they didn¡¯t exist, the wounds on Bai Yunfei¡¯s body closed up any remaining blood went back into his body!


    And as if completely rejuvenated, Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce jumped again!


    The +12 additional effect of the Vampiric Demon Edge!


    +12 Additional Effect: Heal from all wounds instantaneously. Increase all stats by 300% and dull the sense of pain by 50% for an hour.All damage sustained within that hour will have its severity amplified by 200% afterward.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Before, Bai Yunfei was only a ¡®quasi-Saint¡¯ in Berserk Mode. Using both the Vampiric Demon Edge¡¯s effects made his strength ever finitely more close to an Early-stage Soul Saint!


    Normally speaking, no other Soul Emperor would be able to reach the same heights Bai Yunfei was putting himself in. To be a Saint, one had to understand chaos and its energy. Fortunately for Bai Yunfei, he was one of those said people and was many steps closer than the other Soul Emperors on becoming a genuine Saint!


    From being a Late-stage Soul Emperor to exuding the power of a Saint, Bai Yunfei was rapidly coming closer and closer to Gu Jimie!


    ¡°Die!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes radiated with a demonic light due to the Vampiric Demon Edge¡¯s influence. Roaring loudly, he raised the sword up and lashed out to attack!


    This would be the strongest attack Bai Yunfei would deliver!!


    The very fabric of reality seemed like it was being torn apart when the light that emerged from the Vampiric Demon Edge traveled through the air. Cleaving even space apart, the light flew toward Gu Jimie to strike him down!


    Needless to say, Gu Jimie was stunned. How was he to expect that Bai Yunfei would have a powerful move like this up his sleeves? But at least it was easy to understand why Bai Yunfei would attack now of all times¡ªBai Yunfei was definitely under the assumption that he¡¯d loosen his guard since there was only a minute left on the clock. Now would be the perfect time to strike and aim for victory.


    ¡°You deluded fool! Choosing to attack now will be your downfall!¡±


    Gu Jimie wasn¡¯t impressed, ultimately. His hands became a blur as they formed handseal after handseal to activate a secret technique. He wasn¡¯t able to use it before since he wasn¡¯t able to access as much elemental energy, but that restriction was no longer there! It wasn¡¯t as much as he¡¯d like, but there was still enough to make do. Blocking Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack would be inconsequential, and he¡¯d be able to survive until the Interdimensional Phantasm was gone!


    The biggest threat to him was about to be gone and his enemy was putting his all in one last gambit¡­victory was without a doubt his!


    Gu Jimie¡¯s eyes lit up excitedly at that last thought.


    ¡°Eh!?¡±


    Suddenly, his mind picked up on a strange sensation. Something was wrong! Gu Jimie¡¯s hands faltered as he realized that his body wasn¡¯t drawing in anymore elemental energy! Even after the very last handseal was made, his technique hadn¡¯t activated!


    He was tricked!!


    Fear gripped at his heart with a glacial touch at the realization.


    It was his own misconception that the Interdimensional Phantasm was fading away¡­the time limit wasn¡¯t up yet!


    Maybe there was thirty seconds to go, or maybe even twenty seconds still. But regardless of either or, that time wasn¡¯t now! The ¡®trickle¡¯ of elemental energy in the world was just a fabrication of Bai Yunfei¡¯s doing!


    That was the true ¡®trap¡¯!!


    ¡°No!!!!!¡±


    For the very first time since the battle began, Gu Jimie let out a scream of abject terror. Black light exploded from his person as he raised his soul armament in front of him in hopes that it would block the incoming attack.


    ¡°Clang! Crack¡­¡±


    Gu Jimie¡¯s eyes blinked when the two items collided. First, he heard a sharp crack, which prompted him to open his eyes. When he did¡­fragments of his soul armament shattered everywhere right before him!


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    The blood-red beam of light blew past the fragments. It cleaved through the black light that served as Gu Jimie¡¯s secondary defense and then exploded into a stunning explosion of red and black light.


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­is¡­is he dead yet?¡±


    Out of breath, Bai Yunfei glared at the spot where Gu Jimie stood with hopeful eyes.


    The Interdimensional Phantasm chose this moment to fade away, transforming back into the iridescent squirrel it¡¯d normally appear as.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    From the middle of the flames, a ball of black light shot out from it and revealed a shabby-looking individual.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­still alive? No way!?¡±


    He was initially alarmed to see Gu Jimie alive, but that alarm died off when he saw his current shape.


    ¡®Tragic¡¯ couldn¡¯t even begin to describe Gu Jimie. His body was battered all over and riddled with wounds. The most terrifying thing was how the left side of his body, from waist to shoulder, had a devastating gash deep enough to see bone. Somehow his organs remained within his body instead of spilling out, but his aura was already extremely faint as if on the verge of dying.


    Yes, he was without a doubt unable to fight.


    ¡°Xiao Qi! Kill him!!¡±


    He was quick to tell Xiao Qi the good news and for him to act on it at once.


    Then Gu Jimie did something Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t expect. His aura, which was already weak, began to fluctuate with a strange blood-red tint. Stronger and stronger, his aura grew until he suddenly disappeared from sight!


    ¡°Blood Escape!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened, Shen Pojun told him about this attack before. It was what he used to escape Shen Pojun before!


    When he used it against Shen Pojun, Gu Jimie managed to evade Shen Pojun¡¯s detection and escape successfully. If he was trying to use it now¡­was he trying to run away from Bai Yunfei?!


    ¡°Eh?! Over there!!¡±


    Suddenly, Bai Yunfei¡¯s head snapped to the right¡ªGu Jimie¡¯s aura somehow popped up twenty-five kilometers to the right!


    Clearly, Gu Jimie wasn¡¯t strong enough to use the Blood Escape to fully evade Bai Yunfei¡¯s range of perception!


    ¡°Xiao Qi, after him!!¡±


    Who was Bai Yunfei to give up on such a great chance? Together with Xiao Qi, he flew off to chase after Gu Jimie!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Damn! Damn! Damn!!!¡±


    Gu Jimie howled to himself as he fled. The humiliation he felt made him extremely angry.


    His senses were a haze and he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep. But he knew if he did that, then his life would truly be forfeit.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    A presence, one different from Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi, suddenly popped up within Gu Jimie¡¯s perception and drew closer.


    ¡°Zhao Chang!!¡±


    He was elated upon realizing who this person was. This was one of the two Soul Emperors he brought with him!


    This situation was like coming across a length piece of grass when being rushed down a river. His savior ¡®Zhao Chang¡¯ was here to save him!


    Zhao Chang was rather surprised to see his mighty ancestor like this and came to an immediate stop at once.


    ¡°Take me away, hurry!¡± Gu Jimie barked.


    ¡°Ah!? Ah¡ªyes!!¡±


    That stunned Zhao Chang awake at once. He moved to Gu Jimie¡¯s side and placed a hand to support him.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving! Don¡¯t let Bai Yunfei catch us! We must lea¡ª¡±


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    Gu Jimie¡¯s words died off in his mouth as his eyes slowly looked down at his chest. Dumbfounded, he took notice of something sticking out from there¡­


    A black dagger was embedded deep to its hilt in him!!


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    For a moment longer did Gu Jimie¡¯s eyes linger on the dagger. He was in disbelief. Shifting his focus to Zhao Chang, he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    The dagger was pulled out forcefully from his chest, causing a fountain of blood to eject out from the wound. Dagger in hand, ¡®Zhao Chang¡¯ flickered away several hundred meters to stare at the stiffened Gu Jimie. The ¡®panic¡¯ was no longer there on his face, instead, he stood there with a cold glare.


    Strangely enough, there was a stench of death that suddenly began to permeate the place.


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    A sharp gasp escaped from Gu Jimie before the sound of displaced wind could be heard approaching him.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Pale as a ghost and feeling almost like one, Gu Jimie made one last effort to turn around to see a pitch-dark blade of space¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The spatial tear flew past Gu Jimie without resistance, bisecting the man in two at the waist!!

 Chapter 1322: The Fourth Piece!

    The spatial tear devoured a good portion of the upper half of Gu Jimie¡¯s body. It left behind such a grisly sight that ¡®Zhao Chang¡¯ hurriedly moved out of the way so he could watch two incoming beams of light come closer.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The beams of light came to a stop near where Gu Jimie¡¯s corpse laid, revealing the figures of Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi.


    Summoning the space rings from Gu Jimie¡¯s hand to him, Bai Yunfei caught them before letting Xiao Qi clean up Gu Jimie¡¯s body parts with another two spatial tears.


    Bai Yunfei learned his lesson with Gu Lianhun and that matter with his corpse exploding. He didn¡¯t think Gu Jimie would do the same thing, but better to be safe than sorry.


    He looked up to face Zhao Chang.


    ¡°Are you¡­Mingfeng?!¡±


    Came a puzzled question.


    ¡°Haha, yeah! It¡¯s me! I have to say, Ol¡¯Bai¡­you really did manage to kill Gu Jimie eh? I thought it¡¯d be senior Shen or Frostfeather that¡¯d do it, words can¡¯t even describe you anymore!¡±


    ¡®Zhao Chang¡¯ roared with laughter. His aura flickered and began to change in frequency as his physical appearance also began to change. Soon, a completely different person stood right there. And who else could it be but Jing Mingfeng?


    Prior to him coming here, Jing Mingfeng had come across and killed Zhao Chang. After killing the man, Jing Mingfeng figured it¡¯d be better for him to adopt the man¡¯s identity with his techniques. If he came across an enemy after that, it¡¯d be an easy matter to pretend to be Zhao Chang and be safe.


    It was lucky he did such a thing or killing Gu Jimie would¡¯ve been a much harder task.


    He guessed it earlier, but there was still a part of Bai Yunfei that was astounded with Jing Mingfeng¡¯s ability to shapeshift. ¡°This Soul Imitation of yours is the real wonder here¡­I never would¡¯ve guessed it was you if you didn¡¯t attack Gu Jimie¡­¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s rare getting praise from you! Don¡¯t underestimate my techniques! And don¡¯t think I¡¯ll let you learn this technique, I¡¯d rather die!¡±


    ¡°Yeah? And if I give you a Regalia in return?¡±


    ¡°Never! I would ne¡ª¡± Jing Mingfeng paused, ¡°say, do you have any Regalias you don¡¯t need?¡±


    ¡°Any?¡± Bai Yunfei laughed, ¡°Do you think Regalias are like crops you can pick at will?¡±


    His laughter died away when a stab of pain shot through him. ¡°Mingfeng, I¡¯m going to head into the Core World to heal! I¡¯ll leave the Core Stone with you, you go that way; there¡¯s a giant stone door there. Wait there for everyone to get there and hide if an enemy gets there first!¡±


    He was gone even before Jing Mingfeng could even nod. Xiao Qi disappeared along with him and left behind the Core Stone to float slowly into Jing Mingfeng¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Looks like fighting Gu Jimie was a bit too much,¡± He sighed as he took the item into his hand. ¡°I hope he¡¯ll be alright¡­¡±


    Giving one last look around the area, Jing Mingfeng then took flight into the direction Bai Yunfei pointed¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Inside the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei was currently flying through the skies to the closest mountain.


    Throughout the flight, Xiao Qi remained quiet in favor to stare in concern at his companion. Once they reached the top of the mountain, he split away from him so he could concentrate on his own¡ªkilling Gu Jimie had been a wonderful amount of ¡®experience¡¯.


    A warning was sent to a few others in the Core World about Bai Yunfei¡¯s current status and how he needed time by himself to recuperate. So instead of bothering him, those who were nearby elected to stand far away and wait.


    The very first thing Bai Yunfei did when he landed on top of the mountain was to undo everything. The Vampiric Demon Edge was put away and its effects canceled. Next to come undone was Soul Ignition and then Berserk Mode. Then¡­the King Caging Bell appeared out of thin air to trapped him underneath.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t a stranger to discomfort or pain but the sheer amount of it was far too much for him to handle. Even muffled, his screams could be heard from afar and left many people very worried¡­


    Two hours later.


    The King Caging Bell disappeared from sight to reveal Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Phew¡­to think we were actually able to defeat a Saint¡­¡±


    Replenished in soulforce and vitality, Bai Yunfei began to reflect upon his previous with glee.


    Things felt hopeless at the time. His chances of winning were slim and Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t feel like he had any tricks to help him. All things considered, Bai Yunfei thought it¡¯d be impossible to defeat a genuine Saint in combat.


    A Saint! These types of individuals could be easily counted on the continent!


    ¡°Beating Gu Jimie was a fluke¡­I won¡¯t be as lucky next time¡­In the end, I¡¯m still not strong enough. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have suffered so much!¡±


    He clenched his fist in determination, ¡°I definitely have to get stronger!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The very first thing Bai Yunfei did, instead of speaking with Chu Yintian and the others or heading out to meet with Jing Mingfeng, was to begin foraging through Gu Lianhun¡¯s space rings.


    Now was a time for resting. He hadn¡¯t anything to do outside the Core World but wait. So he plopped down and began to look for anything that might be useful.


    Gu Lianhun spent nearly as much time in this place as the Saint of Fate. His research into the stone door surely must¡¯ve resulted in something worthwhile.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t find much in the rings. All the primal stones, herbs, and other items beneficial to training were missing. It wasn¡¯t strange to think that they¡¯d be used up if Gu Lianhun spent over two hundred years trapped here.


    There were, however, quite a few soul armaments. But that wasn¡¯t what Bai Yunfei was looking for. He swept past them for only a brief moment to take any worthwhile ones into his own space ring.


    One of the more interesting finds was a single memory slip. On it held some observations on the Laws in place in this dimension and were far more detailed than what the Saint of Fate left behind. Bai Yunfei was almost suspicious about the records but decided to look at it later if it¡¯d be able to help them.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    A while later and Bai Yunfei came across something that was particularly strange.


    It was a white square-shaped cloth that seemed strangely familiar to him. A few words were inscribed on its surface, and the longer Bai Yunfei looked at it, the more shocked he became¡­


    Written on the bottom right corner:


    ¡°This one discovered the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance deep within the bowels of Hidden Dragon Valley and found the previous Supreme Saint¡¯s trials far too challenging. Thus, I bestow upon the secret of opening the final gate to fate.¡±


    They were but a few words, but they were more than enough to leave Bai Yunfei stunned!


    So that¡¯s how Gu Lianhun learned about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance being here! This piece of cloth held the key to opening the stone door! And to think that someone would have this cloth¡­this meant that not only did someone come here and open the gates¡­but they also didn¡¯t take the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance!!


    Truly, what an inconceivable thought¡­


    ¡°I¡­I¡­¡±


    A random thought entered his mind then. If Gu Lianhun had a way to open the gate, then why didn¡¯t he do so?


    Quickly, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes landed on the area where the ¡®method¡¯ was written, only to be surprised that it wasn¡¯t written down in the form of words, but¡­


    It was a diagram! A design of some kind that seemed almost nonsensical with how messy and random the lines were.


    And to make matters worse, this ¡®diagram¡¯ wasn¡¯t even complete. The left and upper parts of the cloth were clearly missing.


    Another strange thought entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind. Still confused, he slowly tilted the cloth this way and that as if trying to confirm something.


    Almost impatiently, he dug into the Violet Soul Ring and began to look for something in particular.


    The three pieces of cloth!!


    Quickly, he took them out and began to arrange them in a way that made sense!


    And there it was! The ¡®design¡¯ was now complete!


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s real!!¡±


    He let out a gasp to himself, as if piecing the pieces of the puzzle together. The truth was right in front of him, and he couldn¡¯t be happier seeing it!


    ¡°It really is!! Haha!! So this is the ¡®key¡¯ to opening that door!! We went all this way here and the answer was literally with us all this time! Hahaha!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei could hardly help himself when he threw his head back to laugh.


    For all this time, he had practically forgotten about these three pieces of cloth! He never knew that these of all things would actually have a use like this!


    The first piece was found by accident when Bai Yunfei was in the Soulbeast Forest. The second was gained in the capital. And the third was one he got from a wanderer known as Huang Shan.


    And now the fourth and final piece came from Gu Lianhun. Together, they formed the way to unlock the stone door!


    Was¡­was this the supposed ¡®light¡¯ at their dark hour?


    Trying his best to restrain his emotions, Bai Yunfei began to study the design for the answer.


    Simply speaking, the ¡®mysterious markings¡¯ on each of the four pieces of cloth formed together to make one big ¡®mysterious marking¡¯. It had multiple intersecting lines and other lines that went everywhere and nowhere.


    But now that he had the big picture¡­wasn¡¯t this diagram pointing out the ¡®veins¡¯ on the door!?


    But the veins on that door was definitely many times more complicated looking than this design¡­


    ¡°Or maybe¡­the veins on that door require the right one to work? All of them are distractions except for this one!?¡±


    Bai Yunfei came to the conclusion fairly quick. The veins were like a password, one had to choose the right one in order to open the door.


    The Supreme Saint was a man who could create such a trial¡­how amazing.


    He was stunned. The man who left behind this piece of cloth¡­didn¡¯t that mean he learned how to unlock the door with this ¡®password¡¯?! How amazing was that!?


    ¡°I might as well try and see if it works!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei suddenly felt excited to see if he could try and use this ¡®password¡¯. Quickly committing the diagram to memory, Bai Yunfei put the pieces away and faded away from the Core World¡­

 Chapter 1323: An Unexpected Development

    High above the skies and beside the stone door, Jing Mingfeng stood there with a curious expression on his face. He was inspecting the door all over, and if he didn¡¯t already know about what would happen if he put his soulforce into it, then Jing Mingfeng would¡¯ve already attempted to.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Jing Mingfeng felt the Core Stone vibrate a bit in his hand before he felt the presence of someone new beside him.


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai!!¡± Jing Mingfeng turned around with a smile. ¡°You recovered fast, are you¡­sure you¡¯re alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Bai Yunfei smiled back. He took the offered Core Stone back from Jing Mingfeng before continuing to say, ¡°I¡¯m back to normal.¡±


    ¡°My my¡­you just beat a Saint and now you¡¯re already bouncing back after just a few hours¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng clicked his tongue cheekily. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure not even a Saint can do that, you know? You are, Ol¡¯Bai my friend, a certified monster¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty complicated, but I managed to beat Gu Jimie after using all I had. I¡¯d never have beaten him otherwise¡­forget it. Mingfeng, I found a way to open the door and want to try it. Help me keep an eye out.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Jing Mingfeng blinked, ¡°A way to open the door?! How?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later, I want to quickly see if it works or not¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­fine. Be careful then.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei waited for Jing Mingfeng to be far away from the door before he turned his attention back to the door. Exhaling slowly, he raised his right hand and pressed it onto the surface of the door.


    Scanning the door with his soulsense, he began to look for the right vein out of the many.


    The intersecting veins were so complicated that Bai Yunfei felt like he would never be able to solve the pattern by himself even if he had a few hundred years to experiment with. Without some clue or something, he¡¯d never be able to ¡®crack the code¡¯.


    He thought about the memorized pattern he had in his head as he searched the door. Slowly, but surely, he advanced through the veins until he found himself at the very center of the vein network¡­


    In his mind, Bai Yunfei had one big and one small version of the pattern. He was superimposing the small version onto the big door in an attempt to see its true endpoint.


    ¡°Right here!¡±


    Bai Yunfei picked out a few more of the veins on the door and carefully began to send his soulforce to the veins he was tracking¡­


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Exactly like how the door reacted to Gu Jimie¡¯s attempt, the door began to vibrate and Bai Yunfei felt his soulforce rapidly start to be drained into the door!


    But Bai Yunfei remained still. He was calm and focused. Allowing the soulforce to be taken from him, he simply had the flow of it go down the ¡®useful¡¯ veins from before.


    Under his ¡®control¡¯, the soulforce ignored all the other veins and gradually followed a small segment of the vein network¡­


    Only a few of the veins on the door were lighting up. Every other unnecessary ones remained the same. Eventually, the door had a nice glow to it, but the entire door was also shaking violently.


    Bai Yunfei soon began to feel like his soulforce was going to run out. It¡¯d be another few breaths or so before he¡¯d be forced to give up.


    Right as he was within ten breaths of running empty, the door suddenly stopped draining his soulforce. He made it!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The fierce white light shining from the door intensified at once. Almost lifelike, the light then detached from the veins to form a giant white whirlpool of light!


    ¡°Is it open?!¡±


    Elated, Bai Yunfei watched as the whirlpool thickened. When it looked like the door was about to open, he suddenly felt a strange energy suddenly pull at his soul!


    It had been so quick Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have time to react. Without resisting, his soul was taken into the whirlpool and his consciousness along with it!


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai!!¡±


    All Jing Mingfeng saw was something exiting from Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. Alarmed, he began to fly toward Bai Yunfei. But before he could even make it ten meters away from where he was, Jing Mingfeng felt a strange force repel him away! He wasn¡¯t able to get close enough!!


    It only made Jing Mingfeng worry even more. ¡°What do I do?! Isn¡¯t the door opened? What¡¯s going on!?¡± He yelled.


    The only thing he could do was watch as Bai Yunfei¡¯s person just stand there. He was alive, unconscious, but alive. And not in much danger, apparently. Jing Mingfeng heaved a sigh of relief, but he was still extremely concerned with trying to do something.


    What Jing Mingfeng didn¡¯t know was that Bai Yunfei¡¯s consciousness was no longer in his body. It was¡­taken into the white whirlpool!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s vision began to clear as soon as the world stopped spinning.


    He had been alarmed at first. Though he couldn¡¯t fight back against the attracting force, he was ready to activate an elemental barrier at a moment¡¯s notice.


    But when he tried¡­he found there was no response! He was no longer in his ¡®body¡¯! Quickly, he tilted his head down to look at his body. What he saw was a ball of white light with a faint ¡®outline¡¯. It was as if his body was now just some kind of silhouette.


    ¡°No! This is¡­an astral body? Maybe this is my soul then!?¡± Bai Yunfei realized. ¡°I remember¡­was my consciousness sucked into the door? Is that what¡¯s supposed to happen?¡±


    He was out of his element, and that terrified Bai Yunfei. Trying his best to think of something to help his situation, he looked all around himself to see if he could find a clue.


    The world around him was entirely white. Seemingly endless, it seemed like the world had nothing in it beside himself.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­didn¡¯t I open the door? Where¡¯s the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance? Why am I in such a strange place? Was¡­was that way to open the door just a trick?!¡±


    While Bai Yunfei was ¡®thinking¡¯ to himself¡­


    ¡°Haha, it was by no means a trick, young fortuned one. You are currently within the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡­¡±


    Suddenly, a voice spoke out to Bai Yunfei from ¡®behind¡¯!


    ¡°Who¡¯s there!?¡±


    He ¡®turned¡¯ around at once and saw a figure he had never seen before!


    This silhouette differed from Bai Yunfei¡¯s. It was more ¡®physical¡¯ like, like a construct of light. One could see features that¡¯d be noted on a thirty-year-old man, though not so clearly that one could put a name to the face. However, the person did seem to have a regal and dignified air to him. An air that invoked respect.


    Seeing how nervous Bai Yunfei was, the other person gave a laugh. ¡°Be at ease. I mean no harm and neither am I capable of such an act.¡±


    Calming just by just a bit, Bai Yunfei stared at the man a little longer. ¡°Who¡­are you?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± The man laughed again, but his next words nearly sent Bai Yunfei¡¯s consciousness into shock!


    ¡°My name is¡­Wu Tianhun.¡±

 Chapter 1324: Wu Tianhun!

    ¡°Wu¡­Wu Tianhun?!¡± Bai Yunfei nearly felt his soul leave him again. ¡°You¡ªI uh¡­Your Majesty Wu Tianhun of our empire?!¡±


    ¡°Why, yes.¡± Wu Tianhun smiled.


    ¡°I¡­I¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei could hardly believe his ears. He couldn¡¯t see the exact features of this person, but he could at the very least see some similarities from the historical records. His regal aura was also a little similar to the current ruler, Wu Hong, but stronger.


    He heard of Wu Tianhun¡¯s legends many times before. The man was naturally an idol to Bai Yunfei and so it was no surprise that Bai Yunfei would be excited to see him.


    ¡°Ah¡­this junior Bai Yunfei pays his respects to Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Be at ease, I have no longer such a title. I am but a soul cultivator just as you, call me senior.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Bai Yunfei complied, ¡°Senior Wu¡­what brings your esteemed self here? Were you trapped here as well? Ah¡­no, were you the one to leave behind the white cloth?!¡±


    ¡°Ah yes. That was one of mine. Did you come here with that in hand? Very good¡­that was my wish so many years ago¡­.so you are that person? A Late-stage Soul Emperor¡­.you are graced with fortune it appeared¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­I actually came with two Seniors but were separated due to an unexpected event. I only wanted to see if the cloth was real or not, I didn¡¯t think my soul would be brought into here¡­¡±


    He paused briefly as another question hit him. ¡°Senior Wu¡­how did you manage to come here?¡±


    ¡°My ¡®real¡¯ self isn¡¯t here. This is only a strand of my consciousness, not my soul. Dormant until the door was opened, my strand laid here, waiting to see who would be the next to obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.¡±


    ¡°A strand of your consciousness?!¡± Bai Yunfei was surprised. He didn¡¯t think such a thing was possible, but then again, he shouldn¡¯t be that surprised. The world had plenty of things he didn¡¯t know about. Wasn¡¯t the concept somewhat similar to having a Regalia with a soul? But then again, a ¡®strand¡¯ of consciousness required a soul to function, did it not? Didn¡¯t that mean¡­


    Another hard bombshell was dropped onto Bai Yunfei. ¡°Senior Wu¡­are¡­is your distinguished self¡­still alive?!¡±


    It was a little rude to ask such a question, but Bai Yunfei was far too shocked to even consider his impoliteness.


    Wu Tianhun barked with laughter, ¡°If this strand exists, then it should stand without reason that I am still alive¡­¡±


    He smiled, gratified about something. ¡°It would appear that ¡®I¡¯ have found a higher realm. I have gone to the legendary realm¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bai Yunfei sounded incredulous. ¡°What was that, senior Wu? What ¡®legendary realm¡¯? If you¡¯ve reached a higher realm¡­then there¡¯s still something after a Late-stage Soul Saint?!¡±


    ¡°But of course.¡± Wu Tianhun chuckled, ¡°The truth is a concept of infinity, what ¡®peak¡¯ can there be? If such a peak exists, then it is the peak of that plane of existence only. Hm¡­in our terms, being a Peak Late-stage Soul Saint is the peak. Should such an individual wish to seek higher ground, then they must sever the chains that shackle us to this plane and go to a plane of higher existence¡­.When I became a Peak Late-stage Soul Saint, I traveled the continent in hope of finding such a method. It was because of that journey I found the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, but such a thing was useless for me. I found no use for it.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was speechless. It boggled his mind to think that what Wu Tianhun was saying could be true. There was still an even higher realm after becoming a Saint? A legendary realm¡­he never even heard of such a term.


    ¡°What lies beyond the realm of Saints is what the legend calls the ¡®God Realm¡¯. With our terms, individuals that have attained such a realm are called ¡®Soul Gods¡¯. It is said that such individuals are capable of breaking their chains to this plane and ascend to the ¡®God Realm¡¯. Very few individuals have heard of this legend even during my time, thus it was never able to be confirmed. However¡­if my person is still alive, that means I have attained a higher realm and extended my lifespan. It is possible then, that I have ascended and entered that domain.¡±


    He gave Bai Yunfei an observing look, ¡°I must admit, I am quite impressed by you. Finding the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance means a chance to pursue higher grounds. The previous ¡®Supreme Saint¡¯ was unable to do such a thing, but perhaps you will¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯ll be able to reach that realm with you?!¡±


    ¡°Do not devalue yourself. I can see the uniqueness of your soul. You were able to come this far, you being here now is proof of your good lot in life. Everything is possible in your future and nothing can be guaranteed.¡±


    It elevated Bai Yunfei¡¯s sense of self-worth to unprecedented levels upon hearing such high praise from Wu Tianhun. ¡°This junior is honored! Thank you senior Wu for your guidance!!¡±


    This entire time, Bai Yunfei always thought Sainthood to be the finish line, the ultimate goal. But to think that it was simply the prelude to something greater! What was once thought to be a dead end was now the start to an even greater path! He couldn¡¯t even begin to describe the emotions he was feeling.


    ¡°It is imperative to have such confidence. How is one to achieve something greater if doubt fogs their mind? But I digress¡­this strand will soon unravel. Prepare yourself to absorb the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. This is your destiny.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Bai Yunfei ¡®blinked¡¯. He still had so many things he wanted to talk with Wu Tianhun about, such as how he came across the Core Stone and the other Regalias. He also wanted to tell him about the current state of the empire and all the problems that were happening, but it disappointed him to hear that time was running out.


    There was no delaying time. Already, Wu Tianhun¡¯s person was starting to fray at the seams to disappear from this place.


    ¡°This junior prays for another time to meet again, senior Wu!¡±


    ¡°It was but a short time, but I see greatness in you. Take the last of my energy to aid your taking of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡­work hard, young one. Your destiny should not end in this plane, but another one. We will meet again¡­¡±


    Wu Tianhun was gone, but the last words he spoke were directed into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind and stunned him.


    It went without saying that anyone would be stunned. This was the founding father of their empire he had just talked to!


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Something strange entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul. It felt warm to his ¡®body¡¯ as it surrounded him. ¡®Looking up¡¯, Bai Yunfei noted that the surrounding white light was starting to swirl around him. Drawn in by his body, the light quickly became a whirlpool for it all to converge on his person!


    ¡°So¡­all of this was the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance?¡±


    Bai Yunfei concluded to himself. This entire time, he had been speaking to Wu Tianhun while surrounded by the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. Was this what it was? His soul had been transported into a ¡®world¡¯ of the Supreme Saint¡¯s design so he could absorb it all. Was this what it meant to ¡®inherit¡¯ the Inheritance?


    It was said that the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance wasn¡¯t something that anyone could inherit. But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t sense any ¡®rejection¡¯ or ¡®resistance¡¯ as the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance continued to flow into his soul. Was he, then, someone that was ¡®destined¡¯ to have the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance?


    Chasing every superfluous thought from his mind, Bai Yunfei began to concentrate on the flow of energy coming into him. Though he had no physical body, Bai Yunfei imagined himself to be seated on the ground in the proper meditative posture. He was at the core of the world and the light around him his to bend to his will.


    Soon, the whirlpool became a maelstrom that only continued to pick up in speed¡­


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was busy absorbing the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    Outside the door, Bai Yunfei¡¯s real body began to mimic his soul¡¯s actions. Taking a seat, his body adopted the meditative form his soul was imagining himself to be in and began to circulate his soulforce within him¡­


    Originally the body didn¡¯t have much soulforce in it due to the door using up the majority of it. But now, his body was practically exploding with the ripe energy of a Late-stage Soul Emperor.


    It didn¡¯t take long for his body to regain his regular levels of energy. Instead of stopping there, however, his energy levels continued to skyrocket to even greater heights!!


    Ten seconds later, his aura spiked to the level of a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor!


    Of course, that wasn¡¯t the end of it. It continued to rise to unprecedented levels of power!


    At this, Jing Mingfeng found himself unable to do anything but stare at Bai Yunfei with wide-open eyes and mouth.


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s going on here!?¡±

 Chapter 1325: Sainthood! The Creation of an Avatar

    A dream. That was what Jing Mingfeng would¡¯ve thought if he didn¡¯t confirm the sight in front of him over and over again. But even then he found it almost impossible to believe¡­


    Ten seconds ago, Jing Mingfeng watched as Bai Yunfei went from being a Late-stage Soul Emperor to being a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor and then skyrocketing beyond that!


    This wasn¡¯t some kind of technique Bai Yunfei was using to artificially boost his strength; he was naturally getting stronger!


    It was as if dozens of years of training was being compressed all at once inside Bai Yunfei¡¯s body for his aura to spike this much!


    If one was already at the Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor and their soulforce was still rapidly increasing, then there was naturally only one assumption one person would make¡­


    ¡°Ascension?! Damn really! No way!? He¡¯s becoming a Saint? Are you trying to scare me, Ol¡¯Bai?!¡±


    Only after a while did enough shock fade away for Jing Mingfeng to think. ¡°I¡¯m guessing¡­Ol¡¯Bai really did get the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance! But how? He¡¯s not moving at all! Tch¡­so the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was something immaterial after all¡­You¡¯re ¡®fate¡¯ is undeniably jealousy-inducing, Ol¡¯Bai!!¡±


    As complicated as his feelings were, Jing Mingfeng wasn¡¯t so jealous that it bordered on anger of any kind. Bai Yunfei was someone who managed to obtain the combined knowledge of the Saint of Fate and Gu Lianhun. It was only right by fate that he¡¯d be able to throw open the door and obtain the treasure beyond it. Yes, Jing Mingfeng was jealous, but he was undeniably happy. Bai Yunfei was a brother of his, and it made him happy beyond belief that his brother was able to obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    ¡°You made me worried for nothing then¡­¡±


    Jing Mingfeng groaned after a while and sat down. The heat of the moment had caused him no small amount of panic and left him rather tired.


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side of the door.


    A world where only souls could enter.


    Half of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was already absorbed by Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul. By now, his soulforce was already encroaching on the level of a Saint!


    Once someone¡¯s soulforce capacity was at such a level, the soul cultivator would have to have an understanding of chaotic energy so they could absorb and use it to consolidate their soul and truly ascend to Sainthood.


    But that didn¡¯t matter at all to Bai Yunfei. Chaotic energy was a concept he grasped a long time ago when he was only just a Soul King and his originseed already had chaotic energy in it. Thus, he passed the ¡®criteria¡¯ for becoming a Saint and was still rapidly growing!


    His ascension was like a dam unblocked; his path forward was unimpeded!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce continued to climb even though he was already an Early-stage Soul Saint. It only paused briefly so his soul could get used to all the power before gradually picking up speed again.


    The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was without a doubt beyond powerful. In such a short amount of time, Bai Yunfei was able to go from being a Late-stage Soul Emperor to an Early-stage Soul Saint. Every single successor of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was able to ascend to Sainthood, but not in one step like this.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As the flow of energy died down, Bai Yunfei awoke from his meditation and slowly ¡®opened¡¯ his eyes.


    The passage of time felt different to him. What took place in just a few minutes at most felt like years to him as if he had actually been closed off in meditation for so long. He didn¡¯t feel unwell after this explosive increase in power either. His strength felt natural to him as if it was meant to be. The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, as expected, was a powerful and magical thing.


    It wasn¡¯t just an increase in soulforce. During that time he spent meditating, Bai Yunfei came into contact with many aspects of knowledge. The majority of that knowledge was about how to use chaotic energy, something that would still help Bai Yunfei even after he became a Saint.


    He also learned something similar to the Accretion Artes he learned a long time ago and managed to store up the remaining energy into his soul for later. It wasn¡¯t going to be possible to become a Supreme Saint even after he absorbed this energy, but it¡¯d definitely help him later on. Like a miracle pill, using the remaining energy would help him do twice the work for half the effort.


    ¡°Should I stockpile the rest of it? Or should I¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t move to do that just yet. Instead, another question began to catch his interest.


    ¡°Sealing these into my soul will definitely help me in the future, but¡­it¡¯ll decay by a considerable amount in the future too¡­I don¡¯t have a choice, I have to use it all today!¡±


    Resolved, Bai Yunfei began to go through a series of handseals. Whatever technique it was, his soul was beginning to fluctuate with a strange frequency.


    The surrounding white light around him continued to flow into his soul, but it wasn¡¯t being added to his reserves to be used for training. Instead, some other mysterious technique was at work to send it circulating around his body.


    Gradually, his soul began to take on a startling change: like it was static, his soul began to flicker before growing ¡®hazy¡¯!


    The sight was bewildering, but not as much as when his soul began to be pulled in two directions. As if undergoing osmosis, his soul was beginning to look like it was diving itself in half¡­


    That was exactly what was going on!


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was being turned into two!


    Two Bai Yunfeis, identical in shape, size, aura, and soulforce. The only difference was that one of the Bai Yunfeis was distinctly stronger than the other. One was the same as before while the other had the strength of an Early-stage Soul Emperor. But the weaker ¡®Bai Yunfei¡¯ was still at the center of the whirlpool and had both eyes closed. He was manipulating the energy around him into his soul so his strength could climb again!


    This was¡­an avatar!!


    After coming so far, Bai Yunfei decided to finally make and train his avatar!


    Avatars were something only Mssemps could make, but the process wasn¡¯t an easy one. There was a very real possibility that making one would influence the training of the original, so not many soul cultivators opted to make one.


    It wasn¡¯t that Bai Yunfei was afraid of negatively harming his future potential if he made an avatar. It was simply only due to a lack of time that he refrained. But today under these strange circumstances, Bai Yunfei decided to create an avatar to make the most out of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance!


    An avatar, simply speaking, was a subdivision of one¡¯s soul and made into a vessel that could live independently of the original. But if something went wrong in the process, then one could easily cause irreparable harm to their soul.


    But the process Bai Yunfei was going through was something special he learned from the Crafting School. After countless of his predecessors refined the technique, Bai Yunfei was able to successfully create an avatar with his own power in a short amount of time.


    Once he made this avatar, he immediately had it absorb the rest of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance to improve its own strength.


    His goal was to make use of the time available to create an avatar that was as strong as he used to be!


    Generally speaking, an avatar could also accumulate strength, but only after enough time and experience. That¡¯s why most avatars were always weaker than their original self. Gu Lianhun, for example, was a Saint, but his avatar was only a Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor.


    Right now, Bai Yunfei still had the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance in front of him. His main body wasn¡¯t able to absorb any more of it without diminishing returns, but¡­his avatar wasn¡¯t under that same restriction!


    No other Supreme Saint had ever been mentioned on record of doing something similar. What Bai Yunfei was doing was unprecedented and unbelievably daring.


    But the most important thing was that¡­he was succeeding!!


    The increase in strength of his avatar was actually faster than when Bai Yunfei started out. In an instant the avatar went from being an Early-stage Soul Emperor to a Mid-stage, then to a Late-stage, then a Peak Late-stage, and then...


    Sainthood!!


    ¡­¡­


    Outside the stone door.


    Four hours had gone by since Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul was taken beyond the door. Two hours ago, Jing Mingfeng noted that Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura stopped at the level of an Early-stage Soul Saint, but he never regained his consciousness after that. Not knowing what was going on still, Jing Mingfeng could only continue to wait.


    It was around this time when Jing Mingfeng suddenly flew to his feet to stare off to the right.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?! Friend or foe?¡±


    He glanced quickly to Bai Yunfei and then back to his original direction. He didn¡¯t go into hiding just yet, but instead took out the Black Phantom and prepared himself to fight.


    Several seconds went by as Jing Mingfeng stood there vigilantly.


    ¡°Brother Li!!¡± He cried out in relief after seeing a green streak of lightning approach them. It stopped a distance away from the door to reveal Li Chengfeng!


    Dropping his stance, Jing Mingfeng prepared himself to call out to Li Chengfeng when suddenly¡­


    ¡°Bzzz!!!¡±


    There was an ear-deafening explosion as the entire area suddenly started to rumble and warp in on itself as if the dimension was on the verge of collapsing!

 Chapter 1326: Sharing and the Humanization of Xiao Qi!

    ¡°Now¡­now what?!¡±


    The sudden interruption caused Jing Mingfeng to cry out in consternation before he turned his attention back to Bai Yunfei.


    The giant stone door that contained the whirlpool was starting to tremble. Vibrating as a red light poured away from it, the door eventually came crumbling down, leaving behind only the white whirlpool to hover in mid-air.


    Then Jing Mingfeng saw Bai Yunfei suddenly shoot to his feet! He could feel an exorbitant amount of energy flicker off his person, but for some reason, Jing Mingfeng felt like there was¡­two parts of his soul?!


    Was he just imagining things?


    ¡°Brother Jing, what¡¯s happening? Is something wrong with Yunfei?¡±


    Li Chengfeng asked, he was even more confused than Jing Mingfeng was.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know, but Ol¡¯Bai said he found a way to open the door and wanted to try it. I think the door went ¡®out of control¡¯ after that, so I don¡¯t really know. But Ol¡¯Bai looks like he managed to get the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance and became a Saint!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Li Chengfeng whipped his head over to stare incredulously at Bai Yunfei. That level of power was undeniably one that belonged to a Saint!


    ¡°But¡­what¡¯s going on now then?¡± He asked a moment later.


    ¡°That¡­I don¡¯t really know!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Still on the sidelines, both Jing Mingfeng and Li Chengfeng carefully watched as Bai Yunfei suddenly raised his hand. It hung in the air for just a brief moment before summoning a bright iridescent ball of light.


    Was that¡­Xiao Qi?!


    Confused by what was going on, the two focused their attention on Xiao Qi. His aura¡­felt like it belonged to a peak late-stage class eight soulbeast!


    But how? At the time before they were split up, Xiao Qi was distinctly a mid-stage class eight soulbeast!


    It boggled the mind and left their jaws wide open to see the difference and how Xiao Qi was absorbing the white energy around Bai Yunfei to get even stronger!


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s¡­¡± Jing Mingfeng stuttered, ¡°He¡¯s helping Xiao Qi to become a Saint!! That¡¯s crazy! How is this even possible!?¡±


    ¡ªYes! That was what was happening! Bai Yunfei was helping Xiao Qi become a Saint!!


    A while before, Xiao Qi killed Gu Lianhun to become a late-stage class eight soulbeast and then later managed to accumulate enough ¡®experience¡¯ after killing Gu Jimie to become a peak late-stage class eight soulbeast. By using the connection between him and Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi was able to continue his growth when Bai Yunfei inherited the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. But that wasn¡¯t enough to help Xiao Qi ascend. No bond would be deep enough for such a breakthrough to happen. There was still one last step Xiao Qi would have to make himself.


    Unwilling to waste this chance, Bai Yunfei decided to make use of the bond he had with Xiao Qi to allow the latter to come out and absorb all of the remaining surplus for his own training!


    If he couldn¡¯t use all of that energy even after making an avatar, then he may as well have Xiao Qi use the rest of it!


    Yes, storing the energy for later would help Bai Yunfei later on, but storing energy wasn¡¯t perfect. In the course of energy storage, some of that energy would decay and be lost. If Bai Yunfei kept that energy stored, then it may be possible in the future to be able to advance to a Mid-stage Soul Saint, but the amount of energy lost by that point would be quite significant. That was what happened to the previous Supreme Saint.


    So Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t waste even a bit of that energy. Now was the time to use all of it at once!


    He wasn¡¯t very worried about training in the future. With the Dual Flame Artes and the Luck Pendant, Bai Yunfei was highly confident in his own abilities to reach even higher grounds by himself!


    ¡­¡­


    No words needed to be said between Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi. The two were perfectly in sync with one another as the energy continued to be drained away. From the time when he was in the Core World to even now, Xiao Qi was rapidly approaching the realm of Sainthood!


    Bai Yunfei could feel the increase in Xiao Qi¡¯s strength, and it made him happy that this was working. It seemed now that Xiao Qi would be able to become a Saint without a problem. The two of them were equally knowledgeable about how chaotic energy worked and definitely reached the criteria for becoming a Saint.


    ¡°And¡­¡±


    Looking left and right at the remaining white light around him, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand to¡­send the energy straight to Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng!


    ¡°Mingfeng, Chengfeng, start meditating!¡±


    He barked at the two, causing both of them to jump a bit in surprise. They were surprised, but not unwilling. Gleefully, the two separated from one another to settle in a meditative position and begin training.


    Once surrounded by the white energy, the auras of the two began to rapidly climb¡­


    Bai Yunfei nodded at the sight and touched the Core Stone near his chest. ¡°Core.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Yunfei!¡±


    The voice of the Core Stone replied before beginning to hum. The leftover energy that wasn¡¯t directed to Xiao Qi, Li Chengfeng, and Jing Mingfeng begin to flow back around Bai Yunfei and into his body to be taken into the Core World.


    Bai Yunfei hadn¡¯t the ability to continue absorbing the rest of the energy. Before it could start to decay, he might as well start to give it to those capable.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was the first in the history of Inheriting to use the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance as such. Not only was he the first, but he would most likely be the last.


    Of the remaining inheritance, a majority of it was given to Xiao Qi, a portion was given to Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng, and the last bit was sent into the Core World for the people there to use.


    Of the people there, there was the Crafting School and the Fate School there to enjoy the benefits. Everyone was shocked by Bai Yunfei¡¯s generosity, but they all began to make the most of the energy so as to avoid squandering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.


    The amount of remaining energy was tiny, but it¡¯d be enough for both schools to benefit greatly from.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    At roughly the same time when Bai Yunfei finished transferring the last bit of energy, Xiao Qi let out an excited chirp.


    ¡°He did it!!¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s aura was now at the level of an Early-stage Soul Saint!


    Four different-colored lights shined out from where Xiao Qi was. Bai Yunfei could see his winged figure slowly start to shrink in size before gradually taking on a more humanoid look¡­


    ¡°He¡¯s finally humanizing?!¡±


    Humanization had always been a goal of Xiao Qi. He wasn¡¯t ever able to do it before because of Bai Yunfei, but now that he was a class nine soulbeast, he was.


    Now that the process was over, the prismatic light around Xiao Qi faded away for him to gently float down to be on the same level as Bai Yunfei.


    It was supposed to be a happy moment, but when Bai Yunfei saw Xiao Qi¡¯s person, he could hardly stop himself from laughing.


    ¡°Hey¡­why in the world did you transform into that?¡±

 Chapter 1327: The Crumbling of the Saints Abode

    ¡°Hey¡­why in the world did you choose that look?¡±


    Bai Yunfei asked, he was feeling a little speechless at how Xiao Qi¡¯s appearance looked sixty to seventy percent just like him¡­


    It almost felt like he was looking at a seventeen or eighteen-year-old version of himself. If they didn¡¯t know better, then anyone would¡¯ve assumed the two were brothers.


    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m finally human!¡± Xiao Qi hopped around excitedly, ¡°Haha!! I¡¯ll be just like you! And why I¡¯m like this? Because I think you¡¯re super handsome, Yunfei! So I took a leaf out of your book, how¡¯s it look? Handsome right?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    His lip twitched, ¡°Yeah, amazing.¡±


    Would he be insulting himself if he said no?


    Xiao Qi was a Saint now but his personality and appearance was still that of a child. Of course, Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t fault Xiao Qi for such a reasoning like that then. In reality, Bai Yunfei already considered him something like a precious younger brother anyways, his new appearance was simply just adding onto that bond.


    It was still a little awkward, but time should help with that feeling more or less.


    Another two seconds went by before Bai Yunfei was finally able to get over the awkwardness of looking at a similar face to his own before he brought out a space ring containing some clothes. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you look like me, Xiao Qi, but I don¡¯t like seeing myself naked¡­hurry up and put on some clothes.¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s humanization was great and all, but the fact that he was completely without any clothes made the sight very awkward¡­


    The clothes Xiao Qi wore were a little big on him, but he didn¡¯t pay it too much mind. And now that the two were clothed and standing next to each other, the similarities were looking more and more noticeable¡­


    ¡­¡­


    By now, the white light that used to super prominent in the area was now almost gone. Curious, Bai Yunfei turned an eye to his right.


    Two auras, both of them Mid-stage Soul Emperors, came to a stop right beside him. It was Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng. The two were done with their meditation and successfully went from being Early-stage Soul Emperors to Mid-stage Soul Emperors.


    A smile appeared on Bai Yunfei¡¯s lips. He was truly happy to see his friends become stronger.


    ¡°Thank you, Yunfei!!¡± Li Chengfeng smiled gratefully.


    Not even Jing Mingfeng was able to prevent a smile to play out on his lips. ¡°I¡¯ll spare you my gratitude, Ol¡¯Bai, but thank you!¡± He roared with laughter before slapping him on the shoulder.


    ¡°No need for any of that, we¡¯re brothers after all!¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    A loud rumbling sound detonated somewhere in the dimension, causing everyone to snap their heads upward.


    Now that there wasn¡¯t any white light to obscure the dimension, Bai Yunfei could finally see that the murky environment of the dimension was beginning to look unstable.


    ¡°It¡¯s not calming down?¡± Jing Mingfeng muttered, ¡°I thought it was because Ol¡¯Bai was becoming a Saint that it was like this¡­what¡¯s the cause then? Do you know, Ol¡¯Bai?¡±


    But Bai Yunfei shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It looks like the dimension is starting to break down, maybe it¡¯s because the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is no longer here? I don¡¯t think it should be that dangerous, we won¡¯t have to worry about how to get out of here in any case if it breaks down.¡±


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Another rumble went through the dimension while Bai Yunfei was speaking. Narrowing his eyes, he took out the Cataclysmic Seal and had it erect a barrier big enough to protect everyone in it.


    The Cataclysmic Seal, was of course much stronger now that Bai Yunfei was a Saint. The barrier it could provide was now a lot bigger and stronger.


    ¡°Be careful.¡±


    Bai Yunfei warned the others as cracks began to appear all over the place.


    ¡°Boom¡­rumble¡­¡±


    The next tremor that ran through the dimension was strong enough to distort everyone¡¯s vision for just a moment. Multiple parts of the dimension were now sporting huge cracks that continued to expand everywhere. The group was still safe due to the barrier even as large explosions slammed into it.


    For seconds, the barrage of explosions continued and made it near impossible for everyone to see what was going on on the outside. And by the time it cleared¡­


    Bai Yunfei thought that they would¡¯ve been transported back to the Saint¡¯s abode. Instead of that environment, Bai Yunfei could see the vast sky above him and the mountainous terrain below him. There was even a valley that was shaped just like a giant dragon¡­


    Not only did that dimension break, but the outer dimension with the Saint¡¯s abode collapsed as well! They were back in the real world!


    Perhaps it was one of the settings that the previous Supreme Saint implemented. Once the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was gained, the entire dimension would break. Or perhaps the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was what powered the entire dimension. Once that was gone, the dimension would no longer be able to support itself.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A loud explosion suddenly detonated somewhere in the world before Bai Yunfei and the others could adjust to their new situation.


    ¡°Ancestor Shen!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened at once. That flare-up of energy definitely belonged to Shen Pojun! Whirling to his left, Bai Yunfei managed to see a giant ocean of fire suddenly explode into view.


    The distance was a little far, but Bai Yunfei could sense four distinctive auras in close proximity to one another¡ªfour Saints!


    ¡°No wonder they never met up with us, they came across some enemies before!¡±


    ¡°Yunfei¡­¡± Li Chengfeng muttered, concerned.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s ancestor Shen and Frostfeather fighting! They¡¯re fighting Shangguan Xiongyan and a class nine soulbeast! Let¡¯s go help them!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side. Four Saints were currently making battle.


    Shen Pojun, the Frostfeather Saint, Shangguan Xiongyan, and the Abyssal Snake Saint had been fighting for several hours by now. Both sides were equally strong and so a victory had yet to be determined.


    It would take another three days and nights before a conclusion could be met. Without interference, that is. But an interference was already on the way.


    The crumbling of the Saint¡¯s abode came as a surprise to all four of the Saints. They had been in the middle of fighting when it came down, leaving them shocked to suddenly be dumped back in the real world.


    All four of them retreated to safety when it happened. A shock at this time could prove fatal so a reprieve was necessary.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why has the Saint¡¯s abode crumbled?! Could it be¡­¡±


    All four Saints¡¯ mind began to race with the possible reasons for a bit before their attention was focused onto the eastern skies.


    A powerful aura was rapidly approaching them! The aura of a Saint!!


    The reactions were mixed. Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint looked grim while Shangguan Xiongyan and the Abyssal Snake Saint both sneered. The only other Saint that could possibly be here would be Gu Jimie.


    Then Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes widened as his soulsense began to pick up on the aura signature. ¡°Hm!? This aura belongs to¡­Yunfei!!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not Gu Jimie!!¡± Simultaneously, Shangguan Xiongyan and the Abyssal Snake Saint both blanched.


    ¡°That¡¯s Yunfei! He¡¯s become a Saint!! The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance¡­he¡¯s done it! Haha!! Well done!!¡± Shen Pojun began to laugh in relief.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­It¡¯s Bai Yunfei¡­?! He¡¯s become a Saint! But¡­how could that be!? Where has Gu Jimie gone?!¡± Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s face had gone stark white. Every part of his face looked ready to scream out his frustration at this turn of events.


    ¡°Damn!! We have to leave!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan roared before moving at full speed away from the battlefield!!


    The Abyssal Snake Saint didn¡¯t even need to be warned. At almost the same time, the soulbeast disengaged from the field and disappeared into a black beam of light¡­

 Chapter 1328: The Return and Lingering Regrets

    The enemies had already disappeared beyond the horizon by the time Bai Yunfei arrived onto the scene. His first thought was to give chase, but the still figures of his two allies convinced him otherwise. He altered his course and eventually came to a stop right beside the two Saints.


    ¡°Ther¡¯s no need to chase after them,¡± Shen Pojun shook his head. He saw the reluctance on Bai Yunfei¡¯s face all too clearly. ¡°It¡¯ll only be an uphill battle for us.¡±


    He was right. Both sides had yet to inflict a severe wound on one another. Trying to stop either side from running was an extremely difficult task and not worth the effort.


    And so Bai Yunfei relented. He would listen to Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint on this.


    ¡°Ancestor Shen, senior Frostfeather.¡±


    Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng appeared then to bow to the two Saints.


    Shen Pojun heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing their unharmed forms. ¡°Yunfei,¡± He began, ¡°you¡¯ve obtained the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance, correct? What has¡­oh?! He¡¯s¡­¡±


    His attention abruptly shifted over to Xiao Qi. Stunned, he stared at the soulbeast as if he was in disbelief at what he was seeing.


    The Frostfeather Saint looked similarly stunned, ¡°You¡¯re¡­Xiao Qi?! You¡¯ve¡­you¡¯ve become a Saint as well?!¡±


    Xiao Qi bowed his head in respect to the Frostfeather Saint. ¡°Yes, teacher, it¡¯s me, Xiao Qi. Yunfei gave me a bit of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance and helped me ascend.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Shen Pojun and Frostfeather Saint gaped at Bai Yunfei and then to Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng. ¡°You two advanced a stage too?¡± They were confused, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Senior Shen, brother Jing and I were lended aid by Bai Yunfei¡¯s grace. I myself am not sure what happened¡­Yunfei should be the best one to explain it.¡±


    All eyes fell on a smiling Bai Yunfei. ¡°After we split up, I followed the direction as the Saint of Fate said and reached the stone door. After that¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    They learned everything after that. Shen Pojun and the others were all surprised to hear Bai Yunfei being able to kill Gu Jimie. But then when they learned about the secret pattern to open the door, no one was able to prevent a sigh from escaping their mouths. It was an unexpected blessing! It mystified everyone how Bai Yunfei was able to come to the decision of sharing the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance as well¡­


    ¡°Ol¡¯Bai, did¡­did you really plan on training a Saint avatar?! Damn, that¡¯s crazy even for you, don¡¯t you think?!¡±


    Jing Mingfeng declared with wide-opened eyes.


    ¡°The most particular thing about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance is its ability to transmit experience. Especially since it¡¯s the experience of a Peak Late-stage Soul Saint. I didn¡¯t really think about if I could do it at first, but I had to give it a try. And it worked out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in awe of you!!¡± Jing Mingfeng declared again.


    They were all amazed. Who else would¡¯ve decided to share as Bai Yunfei did? Any other person would¡¯ve taken it for themselves. And no one would¡¯ve decided to make an avatar at such a moment either. And then to give a portion of the energy out to Xiao Qi, Li Chengfeng, and Jing Mingfeng?


    Now, if it was him ni that position? Jing Mingfeng was confident he¡¯d chosen differently.


    The Frostfeather Saint sighed. He shook his head after a period of silence. ¡°Is this what the Fate School calls the ¡®Winds of Fate¡¯? Even the Heavens are looking after you two. My thousand years of experience means little in comparison to your fate!¡±


    It couldn¡¯t be helped that an ¡®old monster¡¯ like the Frostfeather Saint would feel jealous. It was after the tireless efforts of training for hundreds of years that he was able to become a Saint. And now these two managed to attain the same level without much effort? Not even the word ¡®genius¡¯ would be enough to describe the two¡­


    Shen Pojun, on the other hand, was happy. ¡°Perhaps destiny saw it fit so! Haha! As expected from the greatest student of our school!¡±


    Embarrassed by the high praise he was receiving, Bai Yunfei ducked and scratched his head. ¡°What do we do now, do we leave this place, ancestor?¡±


    Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint looked at each other for a moment. ¡°We should. The Saint¡¯s dimension has collapsed and our goal was met¡­¡±


    Without anything left to do here, the group came to the consensus to leave the valley.


    The journey for the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was now over and Bai Yunfei¡¯s group could finally return from their hero¡¯s journey with a smile on their faces. Shangguan Xiongyan and the others threw in everything they had into the pot and ultimately lost it all. Not only was Gu Jimie and Gu Lianhun dead, but the four Soul Emperors went them were dead as well. Two died by Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands, one by Jing Mingfeng, and the last¡­was most likely dead after the collapse of the dimension¡­


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes glanced at the valley down below. He was still trying to process everything that happened in the last day or two.


    He never thought he¡¯d be the recipient of such a grand prize¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame Shangguan Xiongyan and the Abyssal Snake Saint were able to get away. But how did they find me? Was it because of the Regalia, Seeker? Is that something the Soul Seeker is capable of? If it is, then wouldn¡¯t he still be able to track us? This is a problem that needs to be solved sooner rather than later¡­¡±


    It made Bai Yunfei annoyed to think that two enemies were still able to escape. He had a guess on how the group was able to accurately follow them after having a talk with both the Core Stone and the Soul Sealing Mandate. It was very possible that, Soul Seeker, one of the Ten Regalias, was responsible for this. The only issue was he wasn¡¯t able to confirm it since Shangguan Xiongyan got away.


    It troubled Bai Yunfei before, and for good reason, to know that he could be tracked at any possible moment. Now that he was a Saint though, Bai Yunfei was ready! If Shangguan Xiongyan wanted another go, he¡¯d happily oblige. And next time¡­Shangguan Xiongyan wouldn¡¯t be able to escape again!!


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei was flying away from Hidden Dragon Valley, somewhere else within the valley.


    Cloudy skies hung in the sky. Down below, a dark forest littered the mountain below. Two figures stood above the canopy of the trees with expressions as stormy as the weather.


    It was Shangguan Xiongyan and the Abyssal Snake Saint.


    ¡°Deplorable! Absolutely deplorable! How was Bai Yunfei able to so easily acquire the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance?! And why! What right had he!! Damn him!!¡¯


    Shangguan Xiongyan snarled and raged, his voice cracking underneath the fury he felt and not at all showing any dignity as expected from a Saint.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A wave of soulforce exploded from him and slammed into the ground with enough force to disintegrate the nearby mountain!!


    The Abyssal Snake Saint sneered. Such a hysterical act from Shangguan Xiongyan was beneath him. He waited for him to finish his rant before speaking, ¡°Calm yourself least we attract unwanted attention and die here.¡±


    But that only served to anger Shangguan Xiongyan even more. ¡°I¡¯ll kill him¡­I¡¯ll definitely kill Bai Yunfei!! He hasn¡¯t absorbed all of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance! I¡¯ll steal it¡­we can steal it still!!¡±


    The blow Shangguan Xiongyan took from losing out on the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was a heavy one. Bai Yunfei may be a Saint just like him, but he was still behind in terms of experience. Shangguan Xiongyan definitely didn¡¯t fear Bai Yunfei just yet.


    ¡°Kill him? Pah, we weren¡¯t close to killing either Shen Pojun or the Frostfeather Saint. You still wish to go after them? Do you wish to die that much? Consider our partnership dissolved in that case. The squabbles between soul cultivators interest me not.¡±


    But the Abyssal Snake Saint was equally displeased. His entire goal had been to take the soulgems of the Dragon Saint King and the Frostfeather Saint. It was bad enough he didn¡¯t get either of them, but to nearly lose his life as well?


    ¡°You¡¯ve earned the wrath of the Frostfeather Saint,¡± Laughed Shangguan Xiongyan, ¡°do you think he won¡¯t come for you in the Soulbeast Forest?! Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun will be there at that time for you as well, do you think they won¡¯t covet your soulgem?¡±


    ¡°You!!¡± The Abyssal Snake Saint roared, ¡°You dare threaten me?!¡±


    ¡°I speak only the truth. Your best choice is for the two of us to make one final stand. I¡¯ll assist you in killing the Frostfeather Saint when the time comes. His and the Dragon Saint King¡¯s soulgems are yours!¡±


    ¡°Your words mean little! Gu Jimie is dead and we are alone, by what strength have we to fight those three?!¡±


    ¡°I never said we¡¯d fight them alone. There is still one person that can help us. If they agree, then Bai Yunfei¡¯s death is guaranteed!¡±


    It pained him to have to resort to this, but Bai Yunfei had to die. This person wasn¡¯t someone he wanted to seek out unless it was absolutely necessary. Since asking for this person¡¯s help would mean surrendering the Core Stone, the Soul Sealing Mandate, the Soul Sentinel Scarf, and even the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance to them¡­


    But that was the cost of business. There was no other choice if he wanted to kill Bai Yunfei.


    And Bai Yunfei certainly had to die!!

 Chapter 1329: The Situation of the Yao Clan and Reorganizing After Battle

    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t planning on returning to the empire just yet. First they had to visit the Soulbeast Forest.


    Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains and the Soulbeast Forest were next to one another, meaning it took only ten days for the group to reach the depths of the class seven zone. This was the area where the wolf clan resided and also where the Yao clan took up base.


    Other than visiting Dan Teng and Hong Yin, Bai Yunfei had a few other goals in mind here. He still had Zi Jin and Ge Yiyun¡¯s recovery to aid in. With the Yao clan there to help though, the recovery process should go without any problems. Furthermore, Bai Yunfei also wanted to give the clan most of the herbs he got in the Saint¡¯s abode and see if it¡¯d help them.


    After the long journey and multiple battles, Bai Yunfei had plenty of high-grade medicines and herbs to make use of.


    Their return sent waves throughout the Soulbeast Forest. It was primarily due to the Frostfeather Saint bringing back the remnants of the Dragon Saint King and that Xiao Qi was now a new ¡®Saint King¡¯ of the soulbeasts.


    As a result, many powerful individuals and clans sought out the wolf clan to pay their respects. Aside from those such as the Blue-eyes White Dragon King, there were also quite a few soulbeasts that traveled a long distance to visit.


    One thing worth mentioning was the unprecedented level of prosperity in Yao City. Never before had there been such a high level of harmony between man and soulbeast. The pills the Yao clan made to save the soulbeast puppets had the gratitude of every soulbeast out there. Within the forest, there were none that would ever think about harming them.


    And that made life quite grand for the Yao clan. Back in the Qimang Mountains, they had to worry about the occasional wildbeast that¡¯d attack them, but such a problem didn¡¯t exist here. Many soulbeast clans offered up members to serve as guards for them, leaving scavenging for the precious herbs in the forest to be a trivial and safe task.


    Without needing to worry about their safety, the Yao clan was able to dedicate the entirety of their efforts to the production of pills. The pills they made to save the soulbeast puppets were already close to perfection, but not for the others. Many of the clansmen were focused on producing other powerful pills and were able to replenish their storerooms to a greater degree than before.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei and the others were currently taking up residency in Yao City to prepare for the times ahead.


    The old manuscripts of the Yao clan described a pill that would be possible to heal the severe wounds of both Ge Yiyun and Zi Jin, but the production of such a pill was difficult due to the ingredients needed. Many of the herbs found in the Saint¡¯s abode proved to be helpful, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Multiple clans were requested to aid the Yao clan¡¯s search for certain ingredients, though it remained to be seen if they would succeed.


    In addition, elder Cheng, the one afflicted by Soul Puppetry when the Soul Refining School and Beast Taming School attacked the Yao clan, was able to recover thanks to Huangfu Rui.


    Bai Yunfei was having a nice hard-earned vacation in the forest. He wasn¡¯t focusing on training, but ¡®touring¡¯ the Soulbeast Forest along with Tang Xinyun. Every so often he¡¯d go on a small jaunt with his friends, but nothing too major.


    One month later and the Yao clan was able to turn most of the herbs from the Saint¡¯s abode into a pill. They had reached the goal they all desired.


    For the Frostfeather Saint, two heaven-tier pills were given to bolster his training. After thanking the clan and receiving the pills, he returned to his own territory.


    Bai Yunfei was sure to divulge to the other clans of the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s intervention. Several were dispatched to the mountain he resided on but no signs could be found.


    He had been waiting this entire time for Shangguan Xiongyan to come to find him, but it seemed that wouldn¡¯t be the case. To walk into the Soulbeast Forest now would be to walk into a trap.


    It was probably best for Bai Yunfei to head to the Capital after this. Politically, Bai Yunfei was on the side of the Royal Family, who was most likely the more advantageous side right now. With Shangguan Xiongyan already deemed an enemy to kill, Bai Yunfei was sure he¡¯d be able to gain the support of the Royal Family. If there was anyone that could find him, the Royal Family would most certainly be the easiest way.


    He also wanted to find the last of the hiding holes the Soul Refining School had and uproot them once in for all.


    The battle for the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was the Soul Refining School¡¯s final hope. With both their Saints dead and two more of their Soul Emperors as well, the Soul Refining School hadn¡¯t a chance anymore. They most likely only had two Early-stage Soul Emperors or so, but it was better to burn the roots so they didn¡¯t grow again. Only when the Soul Refining School was gone completely would Bai Yunfei be at ease.


    ¡­¡­


    While Bai Yunfei was on his ¡®vacation¡¯ in the Soulbeast Forest, there was another group of people whose emotions were the exact opposite of him.


    In an unknown hall in an unknown building.


    The halls were decorated with the imperial colors of red and gold, but for as spacious as it was, it only had two people standing in it. One was Shangguan Xiongyan. The other person was a middle-aged man with a regal aura, the one known as Prince Hao, the leader of the rebels¡­Wu Hao!!


    Once loved and respected by hundreds of thousands of people, no one knew what led the younger brother of the ruler Wu Hong to betray him. Not even Shangguan Xiongyan knew.


    All was quiet in this hall. Wu Hao¡¯s head was dipped low with an expressionless look on his face as if contemplating about something for Shangguan Xiongyan.


    Though they were both Saints, Shangguan Xiongyan held the utmost respect for Wu Hao. It¡¯d only take a single command from Wu Hao for both Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s Regalia to be taken. Furthermore, Wu Hao still had a force behind him Shangguan Xiongyan didn¡¯t understand. Once before, however, Shangguan Xiongyan was taken by Wu Hao to a certain place that made him realize there were still others powerful enough to kill him!


    ¡°Do you think it wise to take such a course of action?¡± Wu Hao queried, ¡°If that person were to act, then all of Bai Yunfei¡¯s Regalias and even the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance would fall into their hands. We would fail to benefit at all.¡±


    Biting back the reluctance he had, Shangguan Xiongyan nodded. ¡°We must get rid of Bai Yunfei, whatever the cost! He¡¯s far too dangerous! He was weak before and yet was still able to hinder our plans. We are at a disadvantage right now, and all of it is because of him! And now that he has the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance and is a Saint, he¡¯ll be our downfall if we don¡¯t act! We must¡­if he enters the battlefield, we will be severely handicapped!¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei¡­¡± Wu Hao frowned, ¡°he was but a mere Soul Exalt when I last saw him. Hardly a dozen years have passed and now he¡¯s become a Saint. Why is he loved by Fate so? Had I known earlier¡­¡±


    Wu Hao looked reluctant now, but that only made Shangguan Xiongyan press on. ¡°It¡¯s not only Bai Yunfei. Shen Pojun of the Crafting School is now a Saint and our ally Gu Jimie is dead. Should the Crafting School follow the Royal Family, our chance for victory will evaporate. Killing them before they arrive back at the empire would be the most ideal plan¡ªof course, if you don¡¯t wish for the ¡®Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯ to act, then we could¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Wu Hao interrupted him, ¡°The divine ancestor will not take part against Bai Yunfei¡­very well then, notify the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance and let him act¡­the loss of the Regalias and Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance will be worth it if the Crafting School¡¯s two Saints are killed.¡±


    The two were of incredible importance to most people, but not Wu Hao. The world was a much better prize for him. The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance wouldn¡¯t help him much in this current atmosphere if it meant he¡¯d lose everything. Even if he had a hundred years to slowly become the Supreme Saint and then killed the Royal Family, it wouldn¡¯t mean much to him if he had to give up the momentum now.


    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll head with the Abyssal Snake Saint tomorrow to find the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan nodded, though he still harbored some doubts.


    ¡°So he still has a Saint backing him!! But¡­why won¡¯t he act? ¡®Divine ancestor¡¯...would that be a Saint of the Royal Family? If that¡¯s the case, how would such a person possibly take part in a civil war between his descendants?¡±


    ¡°Good. Notify me when you find and convinced the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord. Once Bai Yunfei is dead, head to the Capital, I may still require your power.¡±


    ¡°The Capital?¡± Shangguan Xiongyan replied, ¡°Do you plan to¡­¡±


    ¡°We shall strike¡­the imperial palace!!¡±


    Wu Hao snarled.

 Chapter 1330: A Powerful Intruder!

    Another half-month passed before Bai Yunfei finally left the Soulbeast Forest.


    Every goal Bai Yunfei had in the past month and a half was finally accomplished. The Fate School was finally able to obtain every single ingredient needed to make the pills necessary for Zi Jin and Ge Yiyun¡¯s treatment. In fact, the elder of the Yao clan, Yao Tianji, was the one to personally oversee the process.


    Under the miraculous effects of the pill, Zi Jin and Ge Yiyun were both able to make a full recovery and also become even stronger than before. Zi Jin was able to recover the lost strength he had to become a Soul Emperor once again. The only difference was that his power had spiked to the levels of a Late-stage Soul Emperor!


    It would be very possible that the Crafting School would gain yet another Saint in the near future.


    Originally, the Fate School planned on having the Soulbeast Forest be their new school grounds, but those plans changed when Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi became Saints. After a lengthy discussion, the school changed their minds and decided to remain in the Core World. Until Bai Yunfei returned to the empire, they would remain there and find a more suitable place to relocate to.


    Isolated from the outside world for a millennium, the Fate School had no intention of fully cutting themselves off by living in a completely different dimension. Their lives were still very much ingrained in the secular world than the Core World.


    They had Bai Yunfei there to help them relocate. With a powerful ally like him and the declining strength of their enemies, the Fate School was assured of their stability and the fact that no one would be coming to disturb them in the future.


    ¡­¡­


    Once everyone was situated in the Core World, Bai Yunfei began his journey back to the empire. His flight speed was relatively paced so that Tang Xinyun and the others could occasionally travel with him. He wasn¡¯t in much of a rush so it took several days before he reached the edge of the Soulbeast Forest and then another half day before he was back at Praestia Pass.


    The environment felt nostalgic to Bai Yunfei. He could remember when he first came to the Soulbeast Forest. It was this exact path that he walked. He had only been a weak Soul Ancestor at the time, but now he was one of the world¡¯s few Saints.


    ¡°Let¡¯s rest for the night here¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei decided before coming to a stop by a small hill. It was time for him to enter the Core World. He disappeared from the world, allowing the Core Stone to drop into the fauna below. There was no longer any need for someone to stand guard outside. Now that he was a Saint, Bai Yunfei was able to perceive the outside world from within as if he was outside.


    The usage of the Core Stone trivialized traveling for Bai Yunfei. He never felt ¡®travel-weary¡¯ anymore since heading into the Core World and back to the Crafting School was basically the same as going back home.


    He made sure to say hello to a few individuals before returning to the courtyard the Crafting School allocated for him. It was a ¡®happy little nest¡¯ for him and Tang Xinyun to reside in.


    ¡°Welcome home, Yunfei!¡±


    A joyful Tang Xinyun stood at the front of the gates to welcome him in. The sight of her coming out to greet him felt almost like a beautifully drawn picture.


    A fire sparked to life inside of Bai Yunfei. Mischievously, he spread his arms out wide to greet her in return, ¡°I¡¯m home! Come hug your husband.¡±


    Tang Xinyun blushed, ¡°Ah, how indecent¡­¡±


    But she relented. Striding into his arms, Tang Xinyun allowed herself to be buried against his chest with a blissful smile on her lips.


    The two remained there for a moment to soak before walking side by side back into the courtyard. ¡°Let¡¯s have a nice meal.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°It¡¯s getting late and I¡¯d like to turn in to bed earlier tonight, haha¡­¡±


    The blush on Tang Xinyun¡¯s face grew even more pronounced after that.


    Bai Yunfei was actually brooding over the fact that Li Chengfeng had a third child, the most recently born one being named Li Ruoxuan. The two embarked on their ¡®journeys¡¯ at the same time and yet only one of them had successfully sired children¡ªthree in fact!


    So that left Bai Yunfei with the burning desire to ¡®sire¡¯ a child of his own and allow him and Tang Xinyun to experience what it was like to be a parent¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei had only just finished his meal and Tang Xinyun began doing the dishes when the silence in the Core World began to shatter¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    It came without warning. A rumble ran through the entire world and beneath everyone¡¯s feet as if the world was coming to an end.


    Alarmed, Bai Yunfei disappeared from his courtyard to appear high up in the skies near the epicenter.


    He first looked down at the quaking ground beneath him before then looking back to the skies. Over there was a black fissure that was slowly increasing in size!


    ¡ªIt looked as if someone was trying to force their way into the Core World!


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!!¡±


    Two figures shot to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side at once; Shen Pojun and Xiao Qi. ¡°What is happening, Yunfei?¡± Shen Pojun asked.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s coming!¡±


    In the next moment, three figures shot through the fissure to enter the Core World!


    They somehow managed to force their way in!!


    ¡°Shangguan Xiongyan!!¡±


    Shen Pojun shouted in surprise¡ªtwo of the three men that came in were Shangguan Xiongyan and the Abyssal Snake Saint, but he didn¡¯t recognize the blood-colored robed individual.


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes landed on a small copper mirror in Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s hand the moment after he got passed the shock of there being enemies in this place. It was just as he expected! The reason why his enemies were able to track him down so easily was because of one of the Ten Great Regalias, the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror!!


    The aim of the Regalia was eponymous. As long as one registered the soul signature of another, they¡¯d be able to seek out that person from anywhere in the world, even if they were in a different dimension!


    The Regalia hadn¡¯t been seen in public eyes for nearly a thousand years until now. It was known to those knowledgeable that the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror was capable of only tracking down two soul signatures at most. Thinking about it, Bai Yunfei realized the mirror had to have registered his, Shen Pojun, or the Frostfeather Saint¡¯s aura during the battle of the Fate School. That was the only explanation of how they could¡¯ve been tracked in the Saint¡¯s abode and here!


    It had been a carefully executed plan since the battle of the Fate School!


    And somehow, the invaders were able to force open the Core World! That wasn¡¯t something an Early-stage Soul Saint should be able to do!


    Something else was at play here, and that worried Bai Yunfei. Anxiously, he eyed the three in hopes of being able to think of a plan.


    He didn¡¯t fear Shangguan Xiongyan nor the Abyssal Snake Saint, but that crimson-robed elder was a different story. There was a dangerous aura to his person that made Bai Yunfei cautious. Where in the world did they manage to bring out such a powerful ally in such a short amount of time!?


    While Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know who this elder was, Shen Pojun did. His two hundred and so years of living gave him a wide breadth of knowledge that allowed him to realize who he was. Terrified, Shen Pojun let out a cry of fear!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!!¡±

 Chapter 1331: The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord

    ¡°The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord?!¡±


    The name brought a legend to mind. A legend that was frightful for even Bai Yunfei to think about!


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wasn¡¯t a well-known legend. Only a few would know the name since this person came from an era even earlier than the one Gu Lianhun was from.


    It was a legend of extremely violent origins. His acts of violence over four hundred years ago involved him slaughtering the entirety of two sects almost comparable in strength to the Ten Schools of the contemporary era. Every person that once slighted him were killed without mercy. Even the good friends of those people were killed.


    It was known that he had a demon armament, but his indiscriminate slaughter earned him the moniker of ¡®Demon Lord¡¯. In some variations of the legend, it was said that his own demon armaments had corroded his mind and turned the Saint into a mindless killing puppet.


    Eventually, the actions of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord caused several Saints to rise up. The Tianhun School had an Early-stage Soul Saint lead two other Early-stage Soul Saints in an attempt to kill him.


    A three on one battle should¡¯ve had a predictable ending with the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord being killed. But instead¡­the three Saints never returned!


    The world of soul cultivators was subsequently left in a panic. Was the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord a Mid-stage Soul Saint or even a Late-stage Soul Saint? If that was true, then he was virtually an unstoppable calamity.


    Strangely enough, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wasn¡¯t heard from again after that. It was supposedly said that he sustained a life-threatening wound after that battle and went into isolation somewhere. Regardless of the rumors, it was a fact that the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord didn¡¯t appear again in the world.


    Eventually, his name was forgotten by everyone in the community and was turned into a ¡®legend¡¯. There was never any reports of his sighting nor any mentions of his signature demon armament.


    The only reason Bai Yunfei knew of the legend was because Shen Pojun told him about it when they talked about demon armaments.


    In the legends, it was said that the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord had a unique robe that seemed to be eternally dyed red with blood.


    And the very person in front of them right now had that same robe. The legendary Bloodsoaked Demon Lord from centuries ago was standing right there!!


    The situation was grim and Bai Yunfei found it hard to stay at ease.


    How had Shangguan Xiongyan managed to pull in a legendary figure like the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord? It was impossible for him to be a part of the rebels. No, the real answer had to be something else. Shangguan Xiongyan must¡¯ve had told him about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    They were using the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord to do their dirty work!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°So this is the Core World? How curious¡­¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was observing the world around him with a curious eye as Byg and Shen Pojun were busy trying to come to terms with this new situation.


    ¡°Senior,¡± Shangguan Xiongyan glared at Bai Yunfei, ¡°that person is Bai Yunfei! He has the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance with him!¡±


    The fury Shangguan Xiongyan had for Bai Yunfei couldn¡¯t even be measured. Not even ripping and tearing him to shreds would appease his anger. The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance should¡¯ve been his! Not only was his own possession taken from him, but he wasn¡¯t even strong enough to kill Bai Yunfei anymore! That was the whole reason why the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was here! The Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance wouldn¡¯t be his anymore, and neither would Bai Yunfei¡¯s Regalias, but that was the price he¡¯d have to pay if he really wanted Bai Yunfei to die¡­


    The price was a heavy one, but it was one that had to be paid. His own life would be in constant danger for as long as Bai Yunfei was still alive¡­


    His usage of the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror was perfect. Both Bai Yunfei and the Frostfeather Saint had their auras registered to it. All Shangguan Xiongyan had to do was wait for the two auras to split ways before they came in. Then they¡¯d just need to have the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord use his power to force a way open into the Core World!


    The properties of the Core World was similar to the Interdimensional Phantasm. It¡¯d be disadvantageous for most people to fight against Bai Yunfei here, but Shangguan Xiongyan was confident a battle wouldn''t be happening here¡­


    But still, he and the Abyssal Snake Saint were rather surprised to see something¡ªneither of them knew that Xiao Qi had somehow become a Saint.


    The two of them only felt Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura back in Hidden Dragon Valley and not Xiao Qi. They assumed that only two Saints would be in the Core World and not a third. It was a miscalculation on their part.


    Their plans consisted of having the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord deal with Bai Yunfei while he and the Abyssal Snake Saint fight Shen Pojun. It would¡¯ve been a much easier fight to win, but Xiao Qi being here made the odds significantly different. Fighting one on one would mean the chances of victory would be much lower.


    However, Shangguan Xiongyan didn¡¯t think they¡¯d lose. Even if by chance they weren¡¯t able to finish off Shen Pojun or Xiao Qi, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord would definitely be able to kill Bai Yunfei and then dispatch the other two afterward.


    ¡­¡­


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wasn¡¯t as pensive as Shangguan Xiongyan was. It was a little unexpected to have one enemy more, but it wasn¡¯t a problem. Though Xiao Qi was a class nine soulbeast, he was newly-ascended and wouldn¡¯t be a match for him. In fact, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord didn¡¯t even think any of the three Saints in front of him were worthy of notice.


    His eyes were only for Bai Yunfei, ¡°Kekeke¡­¡± He cackled, ¡°You look not even of fifty years yet¡­A Saint at your tender age¡­prodigious are you¡­.hehehe¡­.¡±


    A bloodthirsty glint entered his eyes. Looking at Bai Yunfei as if he would a delicious morsel, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord looked extremely sinister and mysterious at the moment.


    ¡°If you care for the lives of those here you¡¯ll obediently come out to the real world. Or else¡­kekeke¡­¡±


    His eyes flickered over to the Crafting School and the Fate School. It wasn¡¯t an act of goodwill on his part. He simply just wanted to avoid causing damage to the Core World. A Regalia was very precious to him.


    Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun shared a glance. It pained them to fight outside, but it was imperative that they prevented a battle from taking place here just in case the others were caught in the crossfire. Fighting outside was ideal to them as well.


    ¡°Very well then, we¡¯ll fight outside!!¡±


    Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei surrounded all six Saints in a bubble of energy that¡¯d take them back outside. None of them resisted and were quickly taken away from the Core World.


    ¡­¡­


    On the outside.


    Everyone appeared high above the skies with the six divided into two sides. The first thing Bai Yunfei did was take the Core Stone before moving with Shen Pojun and Xiao Qi away from the other three.


    This was a battle they couldn¡¯t run away from. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t think all was hopeless, however. Many of his enemies always had these elaborate schemes against him, and every time Bai Yunfei had to fight tooth and nail to survive. In the end, it was his enemies that ended up dying while he was free to live another day¡­


    ¡°Ancestor Shen, I¡¯ll leave Shangguan Xiongyan to you¡­Xiao Qi, you deal with the Abyssal Snake Saint¡­I¡¯ll take on the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!¡±


    Bai Yunfei proposed as he began his preparations to fight.


    Xiao Qi preened his feathers. He wasn¡¯t going to doubt Bai Yunfei¡¯s judgment, ¡°You be careful, Yunfei! I¡¯ll try to kill my opponent and help you out!!¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s self-confidence had skyrocketed ever since he became a Saint. He might¡¯ve been a newly-ascended Saint, but he wasn¡¯t afraid of fighting against another class nine soulbeast.


    ¡°You take care of yourself, Yunfei.¡± Shen Pojun nodded, ¡°The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord is at the very least a Mid-stage Soul Saint. Don¡¯t be too rash¡­use the Core Stone to escape if you need to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful, ancestor Shen.¡±


    And that was it. The time for talking was over. Altogether, the three exploded with soulforce to fight, the very first one to take action being Bai Yunfei!


    Not even a Saint would want to fight a chaotic battle in close proximity to another. They¡¯d definitely want to separate their fights to avoid crossfire. So as a result, everyone split ways and flew away from the area to meet their respective foes.


    Being in battle-mode meant Bai Yunfei wouldn¡¯t be able to monitor the situations of the other two. His eyes were focused on the person in front of him. Letting out a roar, Bai Yunfei unleashed the first attack to start the battle!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Two dragons exploded into life from his arms¡ªBai Yunfei was starting off the battle with the strongest move he had¡ªthe Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    The Interdimensional Phantasm was already coming out as the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst traveled through the air. It was time for Bai Yunfei to bring the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord into it.


    But at that moment¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    An arc of blood-red light shot through the air faster than Bai Yunfei could blink. Before the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst could reach the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord, it was¡­cleaved in half by the light!!

 Chapter 1332: The Demonic Blade Bloodbath!

    ¡°Wha!?¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal came out from its space ring at once. There was a flash of orange light before it covered Bai Yunfei in an orange barrier practically moments before the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst erupted. The blood-red beam of light that came from the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord impacted against the barrier and dissipated.


    A single blade from the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was enough to easily break apart Bai Yunfei¡¯s Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    By the time Bai Yunfei was able to recover his wits, he saw a smaller beam of light fly upward. It wasn¡¯t aimed at him but toward something in the sky!


    ¡°Squeak!!!¡±


    There was a high-pitched scream as the beam cut through a hazy ball of prismatic light. Horrified, Bai Yunfei watched as enough light dissipated to show the squirrel-formed Interdimensional Phantasm lose form!


    Not only was one beam able to defeat the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst, but a second beam was able to prevent the Interdimensional Phantasm from taking action!


    Stunned, Bai Yunfei hurriedly withdrew the Interdimensional Phantasm back into the Core World and began to re-evaluate his plans. A more subtle approach would be needed here¡­


    The Cataclysmic Seal and the Fire-tipped Spear floated protectively around Bai Yunfei as he went through a series of handseals.


    Moments later and Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura began to spike! He was going into ¡®Coil¡¯ Form and ¡®Berserk¡¯ Mode!!


    He had no other choice but to go all out at once. As a Saint, the powerboost wouldn¡¯t be enough for him to reach the level of a Mid-stage Soul Saint, but it was at the very least better than nothing.


    Having that much of a boost in strength was already incredible. Even the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was surprised by the sudden difference.


    He didn¡¯t move to stop Bai Yunfei. Instead, he stared with curious interest at him, ¡°Such a great spike of power! This must be the Dual Flame Artes of the Crafting School, what a surprise! Kekeke, very good!!¡±


    The avaricious gleam in the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord intensified. Bai Yunfei was an even greater catch than he initially expected. A blood-red longsword appeared in his hand to grab before a wave of intimidating soulforce flooded out from him. It almost felt as though an ocean of blood was pouring out to drown them all underneath its pressure.


    ¡°A Mid-stage Soul Saint!!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei paled as soon as he ascertained the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s power level. Bai Yunfei was at the very least thankful that he wasn¡¯t a Late-stage Soul Saint, the battle would well and truly be a loss in that case¡­


    Winning against a Mid-stage Soul Saint wouldn¡¯t be easy either. Eyeing the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord, Bai Yunfei noted that the man was quite different than Gu Lianhun. In that fight, Bai Yunfei was fortunate enough to have a well-thought out plan and two other Saints to help him guarantee a victory. In this battle, Bai Yunfei was up against a healthy Mid-stage Soul Saint by himself. What did that mean for his chances?


    And there was still something else to consider¡­


    ¡°A demon armament!! One that¡¯s on par with a Regalia!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes landed on the blood-red sword the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wielded.


    From the legend he was told, Bai Yunfei recalled that the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was known to have an extremely powerful demon armament. High-heaven tier armor were said to be like paper in front of its edge, and it was actually because of this demon armament that the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord gained his name and infamy¡­


    The demon armament looked even creepier up close. Not even its design looked like a regular weapon. Markings that resembled blood arteries traveled up and down the surface of the blade and there were several white glowing points running down the edge of the blade like teeth. There was one part of the blade that had a near-circle missing from its edge and a sparkling-red gemstone was attached near the hilt of the blade as if it was an eye¡­


    It was a design far more shocking to the eye than the Vampiric Demon Edge. Bai Yunfei never even saw such a weapon like this before.


    This was the demon armament the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord used to rise to power; the demonic blade ¡®Bloodbath¡¯!!


    Bai Yunfei always wondered how strong the demon armament was. He just never thought such an opportunity would present itself. And it was shocking to see that it was able to easily cut apart the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst! The demon armament was without a doubt at least a mid-divine tier!


    The sinking feeling in Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest grew even more pronounced once he came to that realization¡­


    ¡°Let me see¡­just how strong you are compared to the legends!¡±


    The two peered at one another, curious about how strong exactly their foe would be. Letting out a cackle, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord raised his sword hand and slashed down!


    It wasn¡¯t a soul skill or anything but a simple sword stroke. The resulting blade of energy that flew out from it, however, was much stronger than the one that cut apart the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!


    All of a sudden Bai Yunfei found it hard to move. The pressure from the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord had abruptly locked him into place! Dodging this attack would be impossible even if he managed to break free. Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunfei forced his right hand up and waved it!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal hummed as if pleased to be called. A bright ball of red light exploded from within it as it flew toward the incoming attack. Expanding in size as it traveled, the Cataclysmic Seal eventually became the size of a giant mountain to squash the blade of energy!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A muffled explosion detonated in the air when the Cataclysmic Seal smashed into it. The mountainous object came to a grinding halt for a brief moment before continuing its initial trajectory¡ªit managed to break past the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s attack!


    Rather than being displeased, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord began to laugh once he saw his attack fail. ¡°A Regalia!! One outside of the ten! Haha!! Excellent!¡±


    The way the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord smiled and laughed as if the Cataclysmic Seal was already one of his soul armaments made Bai Yunfei annoyed. Eyes flashing dangerously, he began to feed more soulforce into the Cataclysmic Seal so it could begin its flight toward the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!


    But this ¡®retaliation¡¯ seemed to mean little to the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord. He sneered at the attempt before instantaneously moving far away from it. The attack of the Cataclysmic Seal was a little stronger than he expected, but all that attack was worthless if it didn¡¯t manage to hit its target in the end.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    But then the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord narrowed his eyes when something didn¡¯t go as expected. Instead of the Cataclysmic Seal sailing away and back to Bai Yunfei, it shrunk in size and abruptly turned direction to fly toward him again!


    As surprising as it was to see such movement, it wasn¡¯t nearly enough to catch the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord off-guard. He prepared his soulforce yet again in an attempt to move away, but then¡­


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    A cold voice suddenly exploded in his ears and caused him to stop for just a moment!


    The Soul Anchor Technique!!


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was stunned. What in the world was this soul skill and how was Bai Yunfei able to put so much power behind it to affect even him!? It wasn¡¯t so powerful to stop him from moving for long, but dodging the Cataclysmic Seal would be a dangerous course of action now. The only thing left to do was to block it with his sword. Clenching it, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord slashed out with it!


    ¡°Clang¡­!¡±


    A sharp ear-piercing crack escaped from between the two objects when struck. Showers of sparks flew everywhere and a shockwave rippled across the sky in a clash between the sword and the seal.


    The sword had managed to stop the Cataclysmic Seal!!


    Rather than looking unhappy, Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with a brilliant gleam!


    The aim of the Cataclysmic Seal wasn¡¯t meant to inflict harm onto the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord, it was meant to activate the +14 additional effect!!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Red light escaped from the Cataclysmic Seal and showered the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord within it, prompting the man to raise a ward of soulforce to protect himself. He was curious to see that this red light wasn¡¯t doing anything against him, but then he felt a strange sensation from his sword as if it was being pulled away from him!


    But only for a moment. The pulling sensation abated after a second as if it never existed. The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord felt his sword-arm go numb for just a brief moment before managing to push the Cataclysmic Seal back!


    In one sword strike, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord managed to parry the Cataclysmic Seal! And not only that¡­the +14 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal failed to work!


    The attack wasn¡¯t a complete failure, however. Even after he managed to repel the Cataclysmic Seal, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord noted with some alarm that the force behind it was still enough to send him flying backward!!


    The strange thing about the force was how it wasn¡¯t entirely the concussive power of the Cataclysmic Seal. There was a strange energy contained in that attack that just seemed to send him flying without any real power behind it!


    This was the equipment effect of the Cataclysmic Seal: Hurl!


    50% Chance to hurl the target.


    Effects cannot be stacked. Cooldown of 5 seconds.


    That wasn¡¯t the only effect that was activated either. A tendril of fire materialized out of thin air to wrap around his sword-arm and the rest of his body!


    +10 Additional Effect: 30% Chance to activate ¡®Constricting Flames¡¯. Decrease mobility by 30% for up to 10 seconds.Cooldown of 1 minute.


    The +14 additional effect might¡¯ve failed, but the Hurl effect and the Constricting Flames didn¡¯t. The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wasn¡¯t even able to upright himself as he flew backward with roughly twenty to thirty percent of his mobility weakened!


    ¡°What power is this!!¡±


    Having never seen such a phenomena before, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord took a moment to think before he remembered what Shangguan Xiongyan said. On their way here, he did recall Shangguan Xiongyan saying that Bai Yunfei had ¡®soul armaments that had freakishly strange abilities¡¯, but he never thought too hard about it until now.


    That being said, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wasn¡¯t that badly hurt or anything. Being hurled just meant a change in physical location and could easily be rectified later. The Constricting Flames would last only for ten seconds at most, but a Mid-stage Soul Saint like him could easily break out of it after three.


    And so the shock lasted only for a moment. Shaking his head, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord glared at Bai Yunfei only to realize the Cataclysmic Seal was coming crashing down on him again!

 Chapter 1333: Victory?!

    Bai Yunfei continued to attack even as the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was being hurled away. The moment he saw both effects activated he sent the Cataclysmic Seal once more tk attack!


    Then when the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was about to dodge out of the way, Bai Yunfei raised his finger at him!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Once again, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was brought to an abrupt stop. His eyes flashed with annoyance and anger at this before swinging his sword again!


    ¡°Clang!!!¡±


    Just like the last time, the Bloodbath stopped the Cataclysmic Seal and repelled it!


    There was yet another burst of strange energy from the Cataclysmic Seal when it was forced backward. Remembering the last time, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s eyes narrowed with anxiety¡­


    ¡°Tch!! That¡¯s definitely a mid-divine tier soul armament!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue in disappointment. Another failure of the +14 additional effect meant the Bloodbath wasn¡¯t a low-divine soul armament, but a mid-divine. And that meant the chances of success would be much lower.


    He wasn¡¯t discouraged, though. A ¡®failure¡¯ to activate didn¡¯t equate to being ¡®unable¡¯ to activate. A plan was already in the works, he wasn¡¯t randomly trying to have the Cataclysmic Seal crash into the demon armament over and over again. He just needed to have it activate just once, and if that meant doing it again and again, then so be it! His plan would move into the next phase the moment he managed to absorb the Bloodbath since it meant his opponent would be without the demon armament and without as much power as before. It¡¯d be possible to win in that case!


    His eyes narrowed to concentrate. Gathering his soulforce to him, Bai Yunfei raised his right hand to send the Cataclysmic Seal again at the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!


    ¡°Pah! Cease with your delusions!!¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was quickly losing his patience. Roaring after he broke free from Soul Anchor Technique again, he launched an even larger beam of energy from his sword!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal was repelled back once again but because it didn¡¯t hit the Bloodbath, the +14 additional effect was once again unable to activate.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Suddenly, a dark red light began to shine from the gemstone embedded in the Bloodbath. Flowing outward, the energy continued to affect the air until it eventually rolled over Bai Yunfei. Feeling a chill when it did, Bai Yunfei realized his soulforce was starting to grow sluggish!


    ¡°This¡­this is a domain skill!!¡±


    The Bloodbath was actually capable of using such a skill! And it had the same ability as the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s +12 additional effect!


    There was also something else about its activation that caused Bai Yunfei to be surprised¡­


    ¡°A spirit!!¡± Bai Yunfei gasped, ¡°I can sense a spirit¡¯s signature¡­the demon armament has a spirit inside of it!!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t exactly the same as the spirits within the Regalias, but Bai Yunfei was without a doubt sure that the Bloodbath had a spirit residing in it!


    Mid-divine tier and also having a spirit of the armament¡­the Bloodbath was without a doubt worth being considered a Regalia!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    It was a surprise, to be sure, but not one Bai Yunfei was about to lose himself from. He activated the +12 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate and immediately canceled out the other. Some of his own attributes began to rise, but the majority of the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s effects were being canceled out by the Bloodbath¡¯s effect.


    +12 Additional Effect: All allies within range gain a 20% increase in all attributes.


    All enemies within range have a 10% decrease in all attributes.


    Determination of ally or enemy is dependent on user. If unknown, then neither effects will apply.


    Duration of 1 hour and cooldown of 24 hours.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was just as surprised at the Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s effects as Bai Yunfei was for the Bloodbath. His very own domain skill was being suppressed!


    ¡°This is from another Regalia! Which is it? The Soul Sealing Mandate or the Soul Sentinel Scarf?! Never had the records ever mentioned an ability like this. Was Shangguan Xiongyan right then? Bai Yunfei has the ability to strengthen soul armaments and grant them new powers?!¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s heart began to beat slightly faster now, the surprises just wouldn¡¯t stop!


    ¡°More! More! Bring out more!! Let me see how many tricks you have! Show me your ultimate technique, come kill me!! Kekeke¡­¡±


    No one could tell what the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was thinking or what he was planning.


    He remembered Shangguan Xiongyan mentioning before that Bai Yunfei had a secret technique capable of reflecting soul skills. This too was something the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wanted to see for himself, but he¡¯d have to wait for the right time. That was why he didn¡¯t launch a soul attack even after being frozen by Bai Yunfei with the Soul Anchor Technique. He still had a plethora of techniques to use even without a soul attack, but strangely enough, he didn¡¯t bother using them. He was content using the Bloodbath to counter the Cataclysmic Seal.


    It puzzled Bai Yunfei why he was taking such a course of action but he wasn¡¯t going to question it. If that was the way the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was going to play, then he¡¯d use the Cataclysmic Seal and keep on attacking.


    The size of the Cataclysmic Seal was massive and yet was still being expertly manipulated by Bai Yunfei. With all of the area surrounding the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord being practically occupied by the Cataclysmic Seal, it looked like Bai Yunfei was trying his best to bury the man into the earth!


    ¡°What¡¯s he playing at? Why isn¡¯t he attacking?¡± Bai Yunfei thought to himself as he sent the Cataclysmic Seal out yet again. He was starting to feel uneasy about how the battle was progressing. This definitely wasn¡¯t how he thought the battle would go.


    ¡°What is he planning?¡± Simultaneously, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was also filled with doubts. As strong as the Cataclysmic Seal was, it wasn¡¯t so strong that it¡¯d cause him any serious harm to him. Bai Yunfei should know this, so why was he so intent on doing the same tactic again and again?


    The battle progressed in this manner for a very long time. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t use anything but the Cataclysmic Seal to attack and the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord chose to stay on the defensive the entire time¡ªanyone who looked at the battle now would¡¯ve been puzzled.


    Gradually, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord began to look annoyed and even a little disappointed.


    ¡°His soulforce is exhausted by now. What a disappointment¡­¡±


    As the thought was formulating in his mind, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord suddenly took notice of Bai Yunfei¡¯s hands. Previously, Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was extremely weak, but now it was starting to swell back to normal levels!


    ¡°What sorcery is this?!¡±


    Amazed as he watched Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce be replenished, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord then suddenly realized the Cataclysmic Seal was coming at him with renewed vigor!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei was feeling frantic now. So many times had he used the Cataclysmic Seal to attack, and only six or seven of them actually hit the Bloodbath, and all of them failed to activate the additional effect! The other times, the Cataclysmic Seal were either dodged or stopped by an elemental barrier.


    If the Bloodbath was a mid-divine tier, then the chances of the Cataclysmic Seal successfully activating its +14 additional effect was only about five percent, or ten percent if the Fate Pendant was calculated into it. It wasn¡¯t very strange that it didn¡¯t activate yet, but the pressure was really starting to build on Bai Yunfei. His victory hinged on the Cataclysmic Seal activating but here he was simply allowing his soulforce to be drained away!


    ¡°Damn!! Work damn it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared loudly as more soulforce coursed through his body. Waving his hand forward, he sent the Cataclysmic Seal flying toward the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord narrowed his eyes. In a flash of red light, he brought the Bloodbath out to slash at the soul armament again.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Red light flashed everywhere as the beam of light struck the Cataclysmic Seal. Instead of the Cataclysmic Seal being repelled, the soul armament managed to break apart the beam of light and continue forward!


    ¡°Pah!!¡± Narrowing his eyes, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord brandished his sword and swung it again at the Cataclysmic Seal!


    ¡°Clang!!!¡±


    Sparks flew everywhere this time as the Cataclysmic Seal flew away. Another scratch could be seen on the surface of it this time.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    An eerie red light began to shine from the Cataclysmic Seal as it flew away. It stretched out to reach the Bloodbath and then covered both the sword and the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord within it!


    This was a scene the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord saw multiple times already. He expected the light to fade away after time, but when it didn¡¯t, he realized something was different!!


    The ¡®attractive¡¯ force pulling at his sword was exponentially stronger than before now! So strong in fact that he was forced to loosen his hand and¡­watch the Bloodbath fly away from him!


    He didn¡¯t even have any time to react. Watching as the Bloodbath flew away from him, he gaped as it then ¡®melted¡¯ into the Cataclysmic Seal!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Almost as if it was happy, the Cataclysmic Seal began to shine with an even greater flash of light.


    ¡°It worked!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with glee; it finally worked!


    The +14 additional effect had finally activated!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡±


    A vacant expression crossed the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s face as he tried to understand what in the world had just happened. Then it began to twist up before he let out a scream of pain!


    His demon armament had been destroyed!!


    The Bloodbath had been with the man for hundreds of years. Not only was his compatibility with it practically on the same level as a lifebound armament, but it was also a demon armament with a spirit! The loss of it to the Cataclysmic Seal was an incredibly tremendous blow to his strength!


    ¡°Now¡¯s the time!!¡±


    All that patience had led up to this moment, and now it had finally paid off! Bai Yunfei¡¯s right hand grabbed onto the Fire-tipped Spear at once. Spinning it around himself to build up speed, he then let the Fire-tipped Spear go!


    ¡°Whoosh!!!¡±


    In a brilliant arc of fiery light, the Fire-tipped Spear flew through the air to strike at the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    Panic entered the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s eyes now that he was back and fully aware of the trouble he was in. The pain of losing the Bloodbath left him extremely sensitive, but he wasn¡¯t out for the count just yet. A barrier was immediately erected in hopes of it being enough to protect himself.


    But when the Fire-tipped Spear drew close to the barrier, it slipped through it as if it didn¡¯t exist!


    The +13 additional effect had activated!!


    +13 Additional Effect: Expend 40% of the user¡¯s soulforce to ignore any one elemental-based defense upon the next strike.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    ¡°What?!!¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord felt his heart plummet while his mind was screaming at how this was impossible. But it was too late to do anything now!


    ¡°Tzk!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Like a hot knife through butter, the Fire-tipped Spear struck the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord in the throat and immediately activated the +10 additional effect: explosion!


    The explosion covered the entirety of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord at once, leaving a smokescreen up in the air for a while before the charred pieces of his corpse fell from the sky¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief as he watched the pieces fall. He was happy, but also filled with disbelief at the same time.


    Did¡­did he really just win?!

 Chapter 1334: Xiao Qis Battle

    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    Echoing across the sky, the shrill chirp of Xiao Qi could be heard as he loose yet another burst of resplendent light.


    The beating of his wings summoned wind that moved the clouds and lightning bolts that rained down onto the earth like rain. The violet colors of the lightning and the tumultuous blades of wind made the world seem as though the apocalypse was coming.


    ¡°Crackle¡­Boom!!¡±


    Everything was heading for the same place. Bolts of violet lightning and concentrated blades of wind were all flying at the same giant black python!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The screech that came from the python seemed more like a dragon than that of a snake. Twisting its giant body, it lashed out with its tail and several mirror images of it to strike down each individual attack coming at it!


    Someone like Xiao Qi wasn¡¯t even worth the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s attention. He had two hundred years of experience as a class nine soulbeast, what could a newly-ascended ¡®junior¡¯ like Xiao Qi possibly do against him?


    Xiao Qi didn¡¯t even become a class nine soulbeast by his own strength either. He had Sainthood granted to him by Bai Yunfei sharing the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. How else would Xiao Qi be able to absorb the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance if not through their bond? He was but a strange prisma oriole with more luck than anyone else, who was he to challenge him!?


    Not that the Abyssal Snake Saint was willing to admit it, but¡­he was actually extremely ¡®envious¡¯ of Xiao Qi. So much time was spent training¡­he even ignored his own ¡®honor¡¯ and allowed himself to enter a contract with a soul cultivator to become a Saint. Xiao Qi didn¡¯t have to suffer that. He managed to be able to rely on the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance to easily become a Saint! Where was the fairness of that!?


    Because of that the Abyssal Snake Saint was determined to accomplish one goal¡ªhe¡¯d kill Xiao Qi himself and eat his soulgem to get stronger!!


    ¡­¡­


    But now that the battle was taking longer than expected¡­the Abyssal Snake Saint was surprised! He was wrong about the situation!!


    Xiao Qi¡¯s power was beyond his expectations¡ªwasn¡¯t he supposed to be a newly-ascended class nine soulbeast? This wasn¡¯t the feeling he was getting at all! This felt more like the aura of someone who was close to becoming a mid-stage class nine soulbeast!


    He was finding himself outclassed in both speed and power. From the very start, the other had been on the constant attack while he¡­was stuck being on the defense!


    ¡°How can this be¡­it shouldn¡¯t be possible!!¡±


    Once he came to that realization, the Abyssal Snake Saint was immediately filled with outrage and disbelief.


    ¡°An inferior being¡­you will die!!¡±


    Swinging his tail in timing with when Xiao Qi was easing up on the attack, the Abyssal Snake Saint sent a beam of lighting out! The lightning took on a black light and had a jaw filled with a dozen sharp fangs ready to snap and tear Xiao Qi apart!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    But the skill would fail to hit Xiao Qi. At a chirp, he bolted off in a burst of violet to make an evasive action. Circling around the tail, Xiao Qi raised his wings and sent out a shower of golden feathers to strike at the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s head!


    ¡°Bang¡­.clang!!¡±


    Sparks flew when the golden feathers struck the scales by the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s mouth. The scales resisted as the feathers attempted to break it. They were the equivalent of heaven-tier soul armaments in terms of quality and would not easily be broken. However, Xiao Qi¡¯s attack did make his jaw rattle and groan in pain.


    His pride was being tarnished with how he was being so easily countered by Xiao Qi. Furious, he lout another shrill cry before darkness exploded from his body outward as if to enshroud the entire world in night.


    Xiao Qi sensed the gloominess in the world immediately. The fluctuations in the elemental energy was beginning to inhibit the flow of certain ones. Already, Xiao Qi could feel the flow of the elements he used begin to falter.


    ¡°A domain ability!!¡±


    Xiao Qi realized. The Abyssal Snake Saint was capable of using a domain type skill!


    ¡°Die!!!¡±


    A roar deeper than before exploded from the Abyssal Snake Saint. His tongue protruded from his mouths and sharpened at its tip. It glinted like a sharp blade for a moment before it and it¡¯s owner faded away with the darkness. Eventually, only his silhouette was left before duplicating into eight more copies!


    The Abyssal Snake Saint was like a nine-headed serpent for a moment with how the copies melded into each other at the back. All at once, the nine heads pounced forward to bite Xiao Qi!


    Shocked by the sudden image, Xiao Qi began to prepare to dodge when a shrill cry stabbed into his mind and forced him to freeze up in pain!


    A soul attack!!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Wincing, Xiao Qi let out a cry of his own. Green and white light gathered in large amounts near his mouth before firing off in multiple beams to pelter the individual heads.


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Explosions struck at each of the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s nine heads. Green and violet light exploded everywhere and deal an even greater amount of pain than the Abyssal Snake Saint thought. Several heads were even forced to scatter apart and dissipate into the air!


    But there were still six heads left! Opening even wider, the maws struck at his head, neck, wings, and claws!


    Like lightning, Xiao Qi nimbly dodged two of the heads and struck down two of the other heads with a beam of feathers!


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    Pain shot up Xiao Qi¡¯s right wing for a moment. One of the snake heads managed to snap onto his feathers!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Xiao Qi let out a cry of pain as the real Abyssal Snake Saint bit down on his wing. Striking at the body with three of his talons, Xiao Qi craned his neck to then peck at the head!!


    ¡°Che!¡±


    The Abyssal Snake Saint sneered as he reared his head back. It was time for retreat now that he accomplished his goal. Xiao Qi would¡¯ve had his wings torn off if not for the Feathers of Wind and Lightning on them. Still, Xiao Qi¡¯s wingbone was most definitely fractured and moderately crippled.


    ¡°Oh!¡± The Abyssal Snake Saint was shocked to then see Xiao Qi accelerate toward him instead of retreating like he expected!


    His guard dropped a bit to see the claws coming at him. An attack like that wouldn''t do much harm to him. Xiao Qi¡¯s right wing was already injured so it wouldn¡¯t hurt his scales that much!


    Suddenly, the Abyssal Snake Saint felt Xiao Qi¡¯s soulforce drop in half for some reason. Then he felt an increased burst of speed before realizing Xiao Qi was right at his belly !


    ¡°Fool! Death for your actions!¡±


    The Abyssal Snake Saint sneered, believing Xiao Qi to have blundered at last. Springing forward, he moved in to snap down on Xiao Qi¡¯s body with all his might!

 Chapter 1335: The Death of the Abyssal Snake

    Xiao Qi was able to narrowly avoid his right wing from being bitten on again, but the same wasn¡¯t true for his left!


    ¡°Crunch!!¡±


    A malicious sense of satisfaction rose in the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s eyes. Now that both the wings were effectively dealt with, all that was left to do was play with his prey¡­


    ¡°Tzk!!¡±


    A sharp pain interrupted the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s delusions for a moment. Snapping his head down, he realized something was drilling into his ¡®chest¡¯!!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    Feeling as though his heart was being plunged into ice, the Abyssal Snake Saint let out a cry of pain before beating a hasty retreat.


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    The first thing the Abyssal Snake Saint heard was his scales begin to crack. Looking down at his ¡®chest¡¯, he noted with alarm that something was missing from his body¡­


    Alarmed, the Abyssal Snake Saint snapped his head to where Xiao Qi had fallen. Resting on the top of his golden claws was a chunk of¡­flesh! He looked back down at his chest to see a ¡®cavity¡¯ in it. Dark liquid was already spilling from the wound and leaking down his body¡­


    That was when the truth hit the Abyssal Snake Saint. His scales had been penetrated by Xiao Qi¡¯s claws! And even worse¡ªXiao Qi¡¯s claws were sharp enough to dig out part of his flesh!!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    His mind went blank for a moment before he let out a shrill cry of terror. Turning tail, the Abyssal Snake Saint began to flee for his life!


    But already a sharp pain was starting to build up in his body. A furious energy was wrecking havoc throughout his internal organs!


    Xiao Qi¡¯s claw strike wasn¡¯t meant to simply injure the skin and flesh. Contained in the claws had been a burst of elemental energy intended to tear apart his body from the inside!


    He had been under the assumption this entire time that his scales would be tough enough to fend off any attack from Xiao Qi. But instead of being safe, the Abyssal Snake Saint was dealt a serious blow!!


    His assumption would¡¯ve been right if Xiao Qi was only using the weapons he was born with. However, what Xiao Qi used to break apart the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s claws wasn¡¯t just his claws, but a pair of soul armaments that were far more powerful than the Abyssal Snake Saint realized!


    The Golden Crow Claws!!


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Lightning


    Set Piece: Left


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 5000


    Additional Attack: 5300


    Soul Compatibility: 45%


    Set Effect: 50% Increase in attack when the [Right] piece is equipped.


    Set Effect 2: Exchange 30% attack power from the [Left] piece for the [Right] piece for up to 5 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +10 Additional Effect: 50% Chance of inflicting 100% piercing damage.


    +12 Additional Effect: Consume 50% soulforce to increase the attack of this equipment by 100% for 10 seconds. The [Right] piece will benefit as well.Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 270 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Lightning


    Set Piece: Right


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 5100


    Additional Attack: 5500


    Soul Compatibility: 45%


    Set Effect 1: 50% Increase in attack when the [Left] piece is equipped.


    Set Effect 2: Set Effect 2: Exchange 30% attack power from the [Right] piece for the [Left] piece for up to 5 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +10 Additional Effect: 50% Chance to inflict Paralysis when attacking. Inflict a 30% reduction in speed for up to 5 seconds.


    +12 Additional Effect: Double any damage done when the target is Paralyzed.


    Upgrade Requirement: 270 Soulpoints


    It was only because of the +12 additional effects of the Golden Crow Claws that Xiao Qi was able to deliver an unbelievably strong attack!


    First, Xiao Qi used the right claw to strike at the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s ¡®torso¡¯. Then he applied the first equipment effect, and then the second, to increase its attack. Then, by applying the +12 additional effect, Xiao Qi was able to double the attack power. Using the left claw¡¯s equipment and additional effects to further bolster the attack was the last thing Xiao Qi needed to do to tear apart the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s scales!


    It was hard to imagine the total power of the claws after all those multipliers. The Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s scales didn¡¯t stand a chance. With an attack like that, not even the Triumphant Flame would be able to endure it!


    And because of the powerful effects of the Golden Crow Claws, Xiao Qi was able to send a destructive force into his body!!


    ¡­¡­


    It was all a part of Xiao Qi¡¯s plan. It was important to pull this off even if it meant sacrificing the mobility of his wings!


    And now it was time to capitalize on the moment when his opponent was injured! The +12 additional effect of the left claw had a duration of 10 second, so it was time to make the most of that to secure the victory!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Enduring the pain, Xiao Qi extended his wings wide to summon the wind to him. They gathered around to form a giant tornado before Xiao Qi shot it at the retreating Abyssal Snake Saint!


    ¡°You can screw off!!¡±


    The Abyssal Snake Saint heard what Xiao Qi said while he was in the middle of trying to dispel the foreign energy in him. Crying out loud, he swung his tail in front of him in hopes of defending himself!


    It was a move that was half-baked at best. With his body in the pain it was in, the Abyssal Snake Saint wasn¡¯t able to muster up all his strength. The tail barely missed Xiao Qi when he glided past it, allowing his right claw to scrape across the scales of it before eventually shearing through it to open up a deep cut in his body!


    The Abyssal Snake Saint shrieked again in pain and terror. He attempted to retreat, but it was too late. His vision had already gone blurry when the stench of death assaulted his nose. And then after that, the Abyssal Snake Saint could only do what his instincts told him to do and lurch his head to the side¡­


    ¡°Tzzk¡­¡±


    Xiao Qi¡¯s claws missed the head of the Abyssal Snake Saint and instead tore into his ¡®neck¡¯, taking with him a great portion of the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s flesh!


    The second equipment effect of the Golden Crow Claw was now on its cooldown. But it did its job. The Abyssal Snake Saint was now much weaker than before and his scales were no longer capable of stopping the claws!


    ¡°Die!!!¡±


    The +12 additional effect of the left claw still had three seconds to go. Knowing this, Xiao Qi circled around the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s head and swooped in to slash out his right eye with it!


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    Fear flooded the Abyssal Snake Saint. He tried to resist, to do something that¡¯d prevent Xiao Qi from attacking him, but suddenly it felt as though a sword had pierced into his soul and froze him in place!


    A soul attack!!


    ¡°Tzk...bang!!¡±


    Like a water bag bursting apart, the eye of the Abyssal Snake Saint was grabbed onto by Xiao Qi¡¯s claw and crushed at once!


    A wave of soulforce exploded from Xiao Qi¡¯s claw in the form of violet lightning. Transmitting from his claws and into the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s eyelid, the violet lightning drilled even deeper into his skull!


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    A mournful wail erupted from the Abyssal Snake Saint. His head reared up from the pain and began to thrash around in an attempt to throw Xiao Qi off. Instead of being thrown off, however, Xiao Qi held still to him and continued to send waves of elemental lightning into him. Eventually, the lightning spill out around the two to form a pool of lightning ready to electrocute anything that¡¯d touch it.


    It was a terrible sight to behold. A class nine soulbeast was thrashing about in an attempt to survive and yet it seemed like it was in its last moments.


    The screaming came to a stop eventually. The Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s giant body stopped thrashing around and came to a still. Even his soulforce was gradually becoming fainter and fainter. Soon, it couldn¡¯t even be sensed anymore¡­


    The giant snake¡¯s body crashed down onto the ground with a mighty thud where it then moved no more.


    The class nine Abyssal Snake Saint was dead!!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°He¡­hehe¡­I did it¡­I managed to beat a Saint! Hahaha!!!¡±


    A tired Xiao Qi remained in the air above. He was in deep pain still due to the injuries in his wings, but he was overjoyed to see that he had won.


    ¡°Ah! Yunfei! I need to go help Yunfei¡­¡±


    He instantly forgot about his injuries at the very thought of Bai Yunfei. Turning around, he was about to take off to fly toward Bai Yunfei when he heard a single scream.


    ¡°Aghh!!!!¡±


    It brought him to an immediate stop at the sound of this mournful wail!


    This voice¡­belonged to Bai Yunfei!!

 Chapter 1336: The True Aim of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei approached the corpse of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord, puzzled. Was this really how it¡¯d end? Did he really just win?!


    Yes, the crux of his plan relied on the Cataclysmic Seal using the +14 additional effect to make for a smooth path to victory, but¡­was it really supposed to be this easy? This smoothly? It felt a little hard to believe.


    The man was supposed to be a powerful Mid-stage Soul Saint. How was such a figure like that going to be taken out so easily?


    Well, ¡®easily¡¯ was probably the wrong word to use. It took a tremendous amount of patience and effort on Bai Yunfei¡¯s part to pull off. He was even debating on using Soul Ignition a second time if the Cataclysmic Seal didn¡¯t activate.


    ¡°Phew¡­the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord probably had the demon armament as a lifebound armament or something. The damage he took from losing it must¡¯ve been far too much. That must be why the Fire-tipped Spear was able to strike him dead¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei smiled to himself in an attempt to calm himself down. The ¡®accomplishment¡¯ of killing a Mid-stage Soul Saint was truly hard to put into words.


    ¡°Well then, now I can go he¡ªhold on! Something¡¯s not right!¡±


    He was in the middle of turning around when he sensed something was off!!


    The corpse of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord had fallen down to the ground, but¡­he distinctly felt the presence of the soul!!


    The soul of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!!


    Sweat formed on his forehead immediately. Focusing on the corpse of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord, Bai Yunfei began to observe it with all his concentration.


    ¡°Is he still alive?! No way! Not even a Saint can live without their head! It¡¯s impossible! No¡­that¡¯s not where his soul is!!¡±


    Suddenly, Bai Yunfei felt the ominous stench of death erupt from right behind him!


    ¡°No!!¡±


    There wasn¡¯t any time for Bai Yunfei to even turn his head. He was about to activate the Core Stone¡¯s ability to send him into another dimension when¡­


    ¡°Keke¡­¡±


    He began to hear a creepy cackle from beside his ears. Freezing at the sound, Bai Yunfei felt something intrude into his body before suddenly feeling himself be muddle-headed!


    Anyone with eyes on Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve been treated to an especially spooky sight. The faint silhouette of a person had without warning appeared right beside Bai Yunfei to cackle into his ears before¡­transforming into a misty light to enter his body!


    ¡­¡­


    It happened far too quickly for Bai Yunfei to react to. The mist was already in his body before he realized the trouble he was in¡ªanother soul had intruded in on his body!


    ¡°Kekeke¡­your body is mine, whelp!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei started at once. The same cackle as before was now in his mind!


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!!


    ¡°What is goi¡ªaghhh!!!¡±


    The words were hardly out from his mouth when the pain started. From the depths of his soul, something was causing it to feel as though it was being torn apart, causing him to cry out from the pain!


    No¡­he wasn¡¯t imagining things. His soul was really being torn apart!!


    The foreign soul was like a beast in his body; it was biting at his soul as if to devour it!


    Souls had no physical presence. But if it did have one, then Bai Yunfei would¡¯ve said that it felt like his soul was being torn apart ¡®piece by piece¡¯!


    ¡°I¡ªno! How is this happening?!¡±


    Horrified, Bai Yunfei realized what was going on at once!


    Possession!!


    A secret art once used by powerful individuals in the past!!


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was attempting to seize control of his body!


    ¡°Agghh!!!¡±


    It didn¡¯t do Bai Yunfei any good knowing what was happening to him, his soul was still being torn apart regardless of him knowing that knowledge!


    Half of his soul was already gone, but it wasn¡¯t just his soul that was looking different. His body was starting to become faint as well!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Oh?! A¡­an avatar?! He has a Saint leveled avatar?! Haha! Excellent!!¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was surprised to find the existence of Bai Yunfei¡¯s avatar when he was eating away at Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul. It confused him why he wasn¡¯t using it to fight him; his own personal avatar had been destroyed a long time ago. So to find his next host coming with a ¡®pre-installed¡¯ avatar was a delightful find! It¡¯d be the next thing he¡¯d eat.


    It filled the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord with an extreme amount of delight in being able to take possession of someone who was able to obtain the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance.


    If he could successfully possess this body, then the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord would be able to achieve multiple goals. A younger body and longer lifespan, the chance of becoming the next Supreme Saint, and a chance in being able to reach the legendary realm!


    That was the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s true aim!!


    He never thought about killing Bai Yunfei at all. In fact, it was his plan to be killed by Bai Yunfei and then use the skills he knew to steal away Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    No one knew he was capable of such a thing. The body he was using now wasn¡¯t even his original one! He was in fact using the body of one of the three Saints he fought against four hundred years ago!


    Indeed. That battle long ago had been one where his original body was destroyed without any evidence. But at the very last moment¡­he was able to catch his enemies off guard and steal away the bodies of one of the Saints. After devouring their soul, he was able to take possession of it and continue living!


    He went into hiding after that. With his new body, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord decided to spend a whole two hundred years to become a Mid-stage Soul Saint. Despite that period of time, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was unfortunately unable to get any stronger after that.


    It wasn¡¯t too long ago when Shangguan Xiongyan somehow found him and told him about the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance. He didn¡¯t know how he was able to be found, but the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was determined then¡ªit mattered little if Shangguan Xiongyan was trying to use him for his own goals, but he was definitely planning to grab hold of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance!


    From the very beginning, Bai Yunfei had been nothing more but a lamb to a slaughter for him. He spent the entire fight ¡®observing¡¯ Bai Yunfei to see every single technique he had. And needless to say, he was overjoyed. The only reason why the fight took as long as it did was because he was waiting for the most optimal time to take possession. He had to orchestrate a chance for himself to be killed so he could begin.


    That being said, there were a few things the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord didn¡¯t account for. He definitely was shocked to see the Bloodbath be absorbed by the Cataclysmic Seal. Likewise, he also didn¡¯t have any time to dodge the Fire-tipped Spear. If he didn¡¯t manage to activate the technique to begin the possession process he most likely would¡¯ve died for real by Bai Yunfei¡¯s hand.


    The destruction of the Bloodbath was actually extremely infuriating for him, but it was something he¡¯d figure out at a later time. Taking over Bai Yunfei¡¯s body was far more valuable than the Bloodbath despite its worth since he¡¯d be able to make even greater returns later.


    And so that led the moment up to now when he appeared beside Bai Yunfei and snuck into his body when the latter was distracted. Once inside, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was free to chomp on Bai Yunfei¡¯s side to his heart¡¯s desire!


    He¡¯d be able to learn all Bai Yunfei knew once he finished eating his soul. He¡¯d basically become this body¡¯s new owner!


    Forcing a possession merely required him to catch the person off guard and start devouring their soul before they could act!


    ¡­¡­


    In a matter of seconds and the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord had already devoured over half of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul before the latter could respond!


    It was far too late for Bai Yunfei by the time he began to put up any resistance. His soul was already far too weak to fend off the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!


    ¡°Kekeke¡­I will accept your vessel with gratitude¡ªdie!!¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord cackled mischievously. Launching himself at the remaining portions of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul, he prepared to finish the soul off and erase it from the world!

 Chapter 1337: The Hunter Gets Hunted!

    In the sea that was Bai Yunfei¡¯s mindscape, the last of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul had been driven into a ¡®corner¡¯ as it was facing its most dangerous foe ever.


    Bai Yunfei might¡¯ve had a chance to fight back if he reacted earlier, but the moment was lost now. Without even half his soul remaining, Bai Yunfei was nothing more but a travel-weary man at the end of a road!!


    ¡°Am I really going to die¡­?¡±


    He ¡®looked up¡¯ at the beast that was the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul. He was finding it hard to concentrate now that he was essentially at the end of his rope and the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord being right about to pounce on the last of his soul.


    ¡°Wait! Hold on!!¡±


    A strange pulse rippled across his mindspace then, causing Bai Yunfei to grow alert. The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wasn¡¯t ¡®about¡¯ to pounce on him, he was being stopped by something!


    Now that he was a little more focused, Bai Yunfei could just barely make out a semi-transparent barrier right in front of him. The barrier was preventing the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul from crossing it!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­Sentinel!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gasped. The +13 additional effect had activated!


    +13 Additional Effect: Automatically activated when the soul is on the verge of destruction. Become immune to all soul injuring attacks for 5 seconds. Cooldown of 24 hours.


    ¡°This¡­this is my chance¡­I can¡¯t die here¡­I just can¡¯t!!¡±


    His fighting spirit swelled back to life all at once. In an instant Bai Yunfei was back and ready to fight once again!


    ¡°Sealer!!!¡±


    He was about five seconds into the effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf. It was time for him to make his counterattack!


    ¡­¡­


    On the other side of the barrier.


    ¡°What is this!? What is this power!?¡±


    It was only when he was about to pounce on Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul when he found out about the barrier. Somehow, this mysterious power was able to stop him from breaking through it!


    What should¡¯ve been a guaranteed victory was now at a standstill due to an unexpected development. The unease it caused made the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord feel tense. The barrier in front of him wouldn¡¯t break no matter how hard he tried!


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Several seconds passed before the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s ¡®body¡¯ became unable to move. For some terrifying reason, his soul was being enveloped by something and was draining it!!


    No¡­it wasn¡¯t his soul that was being drained. The parts of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul he devoured earlier was being taken away!


    Thunderstruck, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord watched as Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul began to ¡®swell¡¯ in size. Gradually, his soul was beginning to return to its original size before he began to devour it!


    ¡°How can this be?!¡±


    Horror struck the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord for the second time since he entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s mindspace.


    ¡­¡­


    There was no way the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord could possibly react to this turn of events, and neither was he even able to stop it. He was powerless as the rest of the soul he took from Bai Yunfei was ¡®detached¡¯ and returned to Bai Yunfei so the latter could be back at full power!


    This was¡­the +13 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    +13 Additional Effect: Revert the state of the soul 10 seconds prior. Activated automatically when off cooldown and soul is in danger of destruction.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    Time was an important factor in this battle. Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul ten seconds ago, even after including the five seconds of immunity from the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s effect, was when it was at its most pristine state. Rewinding the soul back ten seconds meant having the same state as before the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord attacked him!


    ¡°No!!!¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord furiously roared. This was impossible! He charged at Bai Yunfei since the barrier was gone now, he had to end this battle quickly!


    Possessing Bai Yunfei¡¯s body required the element of surprise! He had to make use of the little time he had to devour his soul!


    ¡°Again?! Come and die then!!¡±


    Things were getting back on track for Bai Yunfei now. Calm and recollected, Bai Yunfei sneered as he waited for the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord to get close!


    The scenario the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord fear most was coming true! Not only was he unable to successfully devour Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul, but he was now also being pressed back!


    The art of Possession was a double-edged sword. Not only was one able to devour the soul of another, but it also allowed their soul to be opened up to that same possibility!


    Generally speaking, the one trying to Possess the other would have the advantage. That was why it required the element of surprise to take over the body of the other. This was also why the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was so patient during his battle with Bai Yunfei.


    Unfortunately, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord never took into account that Bai Yunfei would have two powerful Regalias helping him. The Soul Sentinel Scarf and the Soul Sealing Mandate were overwhelmingly powerful in terms of matters relating to the soul! Because of those two Regalias, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord failed to capitalize on the initial strike!


    It was commonly asserted in this world that opportunities wouldn¡¯t be granted twice. However, that assertion was merely a suggestion for Bai Yunfei. In this battle, the +13 additional effects of the Soul Sentinel Scarf and the Soul Sealing Mandate granted him that ¡®second chance¡¯!


    And he wasn¡¯t going to make the most out of this second chance. Now that he knew what was going on, he wouldn¡¯t be making the same careless mistakes as before. It was time for him to launch his counterattack!


    ¡­¡­


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was speechless, even as he continued his charge. How in the world did things end up like this? He had no words, no idea, no escape plan for this. All that was left was his rage¡ªwho cared if his opponent managed to turn back the clock?! That just meant he¡¯d have to try it again!!


    He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d lose this battle even if his advantage was gone. In the end, Bai Yunfei was an Early-stage Soul Saint and he was a Mid-stage Soul Saint. How could he lose?


    ¡°Die! Die! Die!!¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord roared. He was trying his best to find an opportunity to eat Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul but¡­no such opportunity was presenting itself! Bai Yunfei might just be an Early-stage Soul Saint but¡­he still had another Saint-leveled avatar with him to help!


    From the outside, this was a battle without explosions or smoke. The entirety of the battle was taking place inside Bai Yunfei¡¯s body so it looked like Bai Yunfei was just standing strangely in place while his body twitched and spasmed periodically.


    According to ¡®logic¡¯ this was a fight that couldn¡¯t be interrupted, but then¡­


    ¡°Yunfei! Let me help!!¡±


    While the two Saints were ¡®locked¡¯ in combat, a new consciousness intruded onto the ¡®battlefield¡¯ to join the fray!


    Bai Yunfei was elated to hear the voice, but the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wasn¡¯t!


    Xiao Qi!!


    Xiao Qi was here now!!


    Eating Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul, even at his peak, wouldn¡¯t be too difficult for the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord if he was at full strength. But he wasn¡¯t. Losing the Bloodbath was a tremendous blow to his strength and left him fighting on par with Bai Yunfei and his avatar.


    If Xiao Qi joined the fight then the chances of victory would favor Bai Yunfei instead of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!


    As much as he loathed to admit it, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord knew he wouldn¡¯t be winning this fight. It was time for a retreat but¡­it was too late for that!!


    Since he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d fail to Possess Bai Yunfei¡¯s body, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord didn¡¯t leave a backup or escape plan. His physical body was gone, so his soul wouldn¡¯t last for long if he left Bai Yunfei¡¯s body.


    In other words¡­the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was unable to escape!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The situation was a carbon copy of less than a minute ago, but instead of Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul being the one to be mostly devoured, it was the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord! Thanks to Xiao Qi¡¯s assistance, the two were able to eat away at over half of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul!


    ¡°No! No!!! I beseech you, don¡¯t ki¡ª¡±


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was in despair. He was already brought down to the level of begging for his life, but Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t that merciful of a person. Relentlessly, Bai Yunfei swooped down and ate the rest of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul!


    As such, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was now truly dead!


    In an actual battle, Bai Yunfei had all sorts of equipment and even a Saint-leveled avatar to help him, but fighting the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord would still probably end up as his loss. Unfortunately for the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord, he thought it¡¯d be easier to Possess Bai Yunfei. Had he chose otherwise, the victory might¡¯ve been his.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Phew¡­we finally won!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul drew out a long breath as he began to wind down from the battle.


    ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord had something like that up his sleeves? Thank Heavens that I had Sentinel and Sealer with me, or my soul really would¡¯ve been gone¡­¡±


    It had truly been an extremely dangerous battle¡­


    Bai Yunfei felt happier than ever after living through his most recent brush with death. After calming himself down, he closed his ¡®eyes¡¯ and decided to return to the real world¡­


    When his eyes opened, Bai Yunfei blinked several times when he saw what was going on around him


    ¡°Eh?! This is¡­¡±

 Chapter 1338: Shangguan Xiongyans Death

    Energy.


    He felt the unmistakable feeling of energy course through his body for some reason. It was like he was bursting with it!


    The strangest thing about this sensation was that this ¡®energy¡¯ didn¡¯t feel like his!


    ¡°This¡­has to be the energy from the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul, right?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei thought to himself, his eyes wide-open with shock.


    ¡°Is that possible?! Does ¡®Possession¡¯ have a result like this?! If I devour his soul, does that mean I get his power? Or¡­does it get turned into experience?!¡±


    It was an unexpected surprise Bai Yunfei was having trouble wrapping his head around¡­maybe he should ¡®thank¡¯ the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord for this. This was a splendid present to receive!!


    The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord failed to Possess him and his own soul became a sort of reward for Bai Yunfei. While not all of his experience as a Mid-stage Soul Saint was given to Bai Yunfei, a good portion equivalent to a small half of the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance was still earned!


    The power he gained was being stored within his soul to be assimilated later. He was confident that once he was done, this would be enough to help him become a Mid-stage Soul Saint!


    And so, Bai Yunfei felt absolutely giddy at having an unexpected present. But now wasn¡¯t the time to be trying to absorb it¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Drawing in a deep breath, he forced his body to a calm and looked off to the right.


    ¡°Yunfei! Are you alright!?¡±


    A brilliant beam of light shot across the skies then and came to a stop right beside Bai Yunfei. It was a worried Xiao Qi.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s all thanks to you, Xiao Qi. ¡° Bai Yunfei smiled.


    ¡°Haha! Oh stop it, Yunfei, of course I would! But what was that? Is he gone? I was so scared¡­good thing I came here fast enough.¡±


    ¡°The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord tried to ¡®Possess¡¯ my soul. Thankfully Sentinel and Sealer stopped it and you were there to help me. Because of you three, I was able to reverse the situation, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord is definitely gone.¡±


    ¡°Okay then¡­¡± Xiao Qi chirped, ¡°I did it, Yunfei! I managed to kill the Abyssal Snake! Haha! All by myself!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei decided to be quite generous with his compliments after seeing the pride on Xiao Qi¡¯s face. ¡°Haha, yes yes, you¡¯re amazing...¡±


    In truth, Bai Yunfei was feeling a little nolstagic. It seemed like forever Xiao Qi had been his helper in all his fights. But now Xiao Qi was someone that had grown enough to be able to kill a Saint. This pace of growth was terrifyingly fast even for a soulbeast.


    He looked off to the other side after his praises of Xiao Qi.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A sea of flames cascaded across the skies to Bai Yunfei¡¯s left. Explosions went off one after another as two individuals clashed against one another and then split off again.


    The one that retreated to the left turned to look at Bai Yunfei, horrified shock filling their face at the sight.


    ¡°The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord failed? It¡­it can¡¯t be!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s face was so pale it looked like he was without blood almost. Gaping at Bai Yunfei, he could only just stand there, frozen as though he was stuck in a prison of shock.


    His battle with Shen Pojun had been nothing but a deadlock. Two Regalias weren¡¯t even enough to give him an edge over his opponent since the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror wasn¡¯t even meant for combat. It had high defensive stats but little use other than to protect his heart if an attack were to be aimed there. The Triumphant Flame was the real powerhouse of defensive equipment.


    In terms of attacking power, Shangguan Xiongyan hadn¡¯t anything that could beat out Shen Pojun¡¯s Flame Dragon Crescent Blade. So he was in a position where he was neither able to beat Shen Pojun but unable to be defeated either.


    For him, that was fine since he wasn¡¯t trying to win. His goal was to stall for time until the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord could defeat Bai Yunfei. Together, the two would then easily dispose Shen Pojun! And if not, then the Abyssal Snake Saint could probably come and help him after defeating Xiao Qi.


    But neither cases happened, much to his shock. Instead of coming to help him, the Abyssal Snake Saint died at the hands of Xiao Qi!


    He didn¡¯t know what was going on. At the time when the Abyssal Snake Saint died, Shangguan Xiongyan had to stop for a moment to compose himself.


    Only when Bai Yunfei let out a cry of panic when the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord did Shangguan Xiongyan feel a little better about his situation. It even served to unsettle Shen Pojun as the latter began to fight a little more hurriedly than before.


    The happiness was short-lived, however. Once Shangguan Xiongyan drew closer to Bai Yunfei he realized that something was wrong. The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul was completely gone and Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura was even stronger than before!


    Both his allies, the Abyssal Snake Saint and even the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord were defeated!!


    The realization was enough to fill the man with absolute dread.


    He had to flee! Right away!!


    A decision was made in an instant. There was no way he dared fight Shen Pojun any longer!


    He ran away once before at the battle for the Fate School and a second time in Dragon¡¯s Ascent Mountains. How was Bai Yunfei going to let him run away for a third time?!


    ¡°Trying to run? Forget about it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared immediately in response. Raising his arm, Bai Yunfei pointed a finger and cried out a single command!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡¯


    The Soul Anchor Technique activated at once before the Cataclysmic Seal was sent out. Transforming into the size of a mountain, it flew overhead Shangguan Xiongyan before coming down to squish him!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Even frozen, the Shangguan Xiongyan was able to move his eyes up at the Cataclysmic Seal. By then, the soul armament was already many times larger than he liked. Roaring loudly, he activated the Triumphant Flame¡¯s barrier in hopes he could endure the blow.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the barrier with devastating force. So much force that the barrier shuddered and looked as though it was going to collapse.


    Still alive, Shangguan Xiongyan immediately threw himself away to run. While he ran, a portion of his soulforce fed itself into the Triumphant Flame. Though he managed to survive that blow, Shangguan Xiongyan wasn¡¯t the least bit happy. He was far too busy trying to escape, but his vision was already starting to get blurry. Then the next thing he knew the Cataclysmic Seal disappeared and the Fire-tipped Spear appeared in its place to strike him!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    Shangguan Xiongyan snarled as he was forced to dodge to the side. The Fire-tipped Spear altered its course to fly around to target him again. This time, instead of dodging, he pushed both hands out to create an elemental barrier. The spear shouldn¡¯t be able to break through his defenses, he believed.


    But then came a sight that completely scared the spirits out of Shangguan Xiongyan!


    Somehow, the red spear managed to draw close to his barrier before¡­slipping through it as though the barrier didn¡¯t even exist!


    The +13 additional effect of the Fire-tipped Spear!


    +13 Additional Effect: Expend 40% of the user¡¯s soulforce to ignore any one elemental-based defense upon the next strike.


    Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    Not even a barrier made from the Triumphant Flame was immune to the absolutely godly powers of the Fire-tipped Spear!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Fearing for his life, Shangguan Xiongyan managed to throw himself back just enough so that the Fire-tipped Spear managed to pierce his torso instead of his head!


    ¡°Clang!!!¡±


    The scraping sound of metal against metal could be heard as sparks danced into the sky. Shangguan Xiongyan only noticed the sparks flying before he felt himself be thrown backward.


    The spear had failed to penetrate his defenses and stab into him. While strong enough to pierce through the elemental defense, it wasn¡¯t strong enough to beat the Triumphant Flame!


    ¡°Tch!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue at the sight of Shangguan Xiongyan alive. He had been counting on the Luck Pendant¡¯s ability to manually activate a special effect to finish the battle. At least forty percent of his energy was spent on the +13 additional effect¡¯s activation and left Bai Yunfei feeling confident that his opponent wouldn¡¯t be able to endure it.


    It did however managed to destabilize Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s thought process and be trapped in by Xiao Qi and Shen Pojun.


    Bai Yunfei even made sure to bring out his avatar so that ¡®four¡¯ Saints were boxing Shangguan Xiongyan in from four different angles!!


    ¡­¡­


    The following battle didn¡¯t even have to be explained. It didn¡¯t take long for Shangguan Xiongyan to cry out his last before his voice and body began to die¡­


    As powerful as the Triumphant Flame was, having four different Saints attack was something Shangguan Xiongyan couldn¡¯t handle. He had no means to escape nor any means to defeat the four. In the end, he ran out of soulforce and was no longer able to keep the Triumphant Flame fed. As a result, Bai Yunfei and the others managed to attack him with a soul attack to prevent him from self-destructing and then used Xiao Qi to crush his head.


    And thus, the latest person that attempted to scheme against Bai Yunfei was now dead. Three Saints came here for Bai Yunfei¡¯s life and died instead!

 Chapter 1339: Two Regalias

    Now that the battle was over, everyone returned to the Core World to recuperate.


    Xiao Qi went to take in the experience he gained from killing the Abyssal Snake Saint and Shangguan Xiongyan. It was most certainly a plentiful amount that¡¯d help him in his training. Shen Pojun went into a private chamber of his own to rest while Bai Yunfei went into isolation to recover from his wounds.


    The price to defeat the last three enemies had been a huge one for Bai Yunfei to pay. But it was a bet that paid off¡ªXiao Qi managed to gain a tremendous amount of experience and had the Abyssal Snake Saint¡¯s soulgem; and Bai Yunfei managed to take in the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s power and take two of Shangguan Xiongyan¡¯s Regalias!


    His wounds were already on the way back to normalcy, leaving Bai Yunfei with excitement to look at the spoils he got. He was so excited he didn¡¯t even pay the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s energy any mind.


    Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei brought out a small bronze mirror to him.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Illusion


    Defense: 25000


    Equipment Effect 1: Cast ¡®Dispel¡¯ to unravel any illusion-type attack.Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Equipment Effect 2: Create a screening dome to hide from any tracking skill.


    Equipment Effect 3: Track the soul signature regardless of distance. Only two signatures can be registered at once.


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    The stats of the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror popped up into Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind at once. Each of the three equipment effects left Bai Yunfei with a smile. Illusion breaking, anti-tracking, and tracking abilities! What a powerful tool! And it was extremely powerful with 25000 points of defense, it¡¯d definitely serve as a nice way to protect his heart.


    Next up, Bai Yunfei summoned another item to him, one that shined gold and red.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Fire


    Defense: 45000


    Equipment Effect 1: Cast a metal-type barrier. Size and strength of the barrier is dependent on amount of soulforce given. Cannot exceed the total defense of this equipment. Cannot block soul-type attacks.


    Equipment Effect 2: Double defense against metal or fire type attacks.


    Equipment Effect 3: Can absorb a portion of the power when struck and convert it into base defense. At most can hold up to 150% power for 1 hour.


    Upgrade Requirement: 900 Soulpoints


    Bai Yunfei was stunned at the Triumphant Flame¡¯s stats. 45000 Points of defense was absolutely massive! It was double that of the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror, and the two of them were both in the same tier! Bai Yunfei was actually wondering if it was about to encroach on the High-divine tier almost.


    It filled his heart with such glee to see the two Regalias in his hands. ¡°You two spirits should come out now, right?¡±


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Two balls of light flew out from the two Regalia. The one that came out from the Triumphant Flame was small golden tortoise the size of a soccer ball and the one from the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror was a faint metal ball the size of a ping pong ball.


    The spirits of the Triumphant Flame and Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror.


    The turtle turned its head to observe Bai Yunfei. ¡°Child, how unexpected to witness the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s by your hand. How was it accomplished?¡±


    Bai Yunfei grew polite at once after realizing how much older the spirit was to him. ¡°Luck, that¡¯s all. I¡¯d have been Possessed by the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord if not for Sealer and Sentinel¡­.Sentinel, Core, Sealer, why don¡¯t you come out to see your old friends?¡±


    Three bursts of light appeared as Core, Sealer, and Sentinel all came into view. Even the spirit in the Cataclysmic Seal floated by Bai Yunfei¡¯s shoulder.


    Bai Yunfei was the odd one out with how there was six spirits and just one human.


    ¡°Haha!!¡± Sealer broke into laughter, ¡°Triumphant, Seeker, long time no see!! Who¡¯d thought we¡¯d all end up back together!!¡±


    Though ¡®comrades¡¯ the Regalia were ultimately soul armaments and tools for their soul cultivator to use. They belonged to no faction but the ones their master were in. That was the reason why neither spirits ever bothered to speak to Bai Yunfei. But now with their master dead, the two Regalia were essentially passed down to the one that slayed their old master and were now free to be used by Bai Yunfei as he wished.


    The spirit of the Triumphant Flame looked at Sealer with a look of disdain, ¡°Pah! My ¡®master¡¯ was Tianhun, it only stands to reason I¡¯d serve his descendants. Where is your respect for him if you serve an outsider against one of his descendants?¡±


    ¡°Hey now, Tianhun never said we¡¯d have to serve his descendants forever! He was the one to spread some of us out all those years ago. Yunfei is our ¡®master¡¯ now, so of course we¡¯d help him. Besides¡­aren¡¯t you the ones helping those that ¡®betrayed¡¯ the Royal Family?¡±


    ¡°That¡­¡± The Triumphant Flame gained an icy edge to its voice, ¡°Is a family problem. I will follow my master, Wu Hao. I will follow him even if you killed Shangguan Xiongyan. Without his order I will never allow myself to be used by anyone else!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei found himself rather surprised by the quarrel between the two spirits. The Triumphant Flame¡¯s outright refusal was a little surprising to say the least and had Bai Yunfei delving into its consciousness to see something.


    His suspicions were confirmed a little later when he found an extremely strong seal on the Triumphant Flame¡¯s spirit. The act of entering the Triumphant Flame¡¯s conscious had already consumed a tremendous amount of energy, but removing the seal would be beyond Bai Yunfei¡¯s abilities even in his peak. The seal was one that marked the Triumphant Flame as being a lifebound armament to another person.


    That led Bai Yunfei to realize that Shangguan Xiongyan wasn¡¯t the ¡®true¡¯ master of the Triumphant Flame. The Regalia was simply borrowed to him by someone else, prince Wu Hao.


    There wasn¡¯t much he could do in that aspect. Wearing the Triumphant Flame would definitely give him a tremendous amount of armor, but he¡¯d be unable to access its other powerful effects¡­


    It¡¯d be impossible for him to remove Wu Hao¡¯s marking on the Triumphant Flame either. Not even if he managed to upgrade the Triumphant Flame to +12.


    All in all, Bai Yunfei felt quite depressed. ¡°Are you of the same opinion as Triumphant, then?¡±


    Having no face to express a feeling with, the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror was unable to show any emotion. ¡°I was found only a decade ago by Wu Hao, my master. I am but a soulbound armament to him, not a lifebound armament. I will not refuse you as a master if you¡¯re able to override his marking.¡±


    ¡°Seeker, you!!¡± The Triumphant Flame let out a voice of betrayal, but that was all it did. Not even another word of argument.


    ¡°Haha! You¡¯re choosing correctly, Seeker! Don¡¯t worry! Bai Yunfei won¡¯t let you down, he¡¯ll leave you amazed! Hehe¡­Yunfei, strengthen Seeker! Erase that seal from ¡®Wu Hao¡¯ and make Seeker yours! Triumphant, well¡­there¡¯s no point in upgrading him!¡±


    ¡°Upgrade? What is that?¡± Seeker queried.


    Even the Triumphant Flame had a curious glance as it faced Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded after a while, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll upgrade the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror.¡±


    Putting down the Triumphant Flame, Bai Yunfei held the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror to eye-level. ¡°Upgrade.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    An indefinite amount of time later, Bai Yunfei held a +11 and +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone to the +10 Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror. Another two moments later and the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror was successfully upgraded to +12.


    Equipment Grade: Mid Divine


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Illusion


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 25000


    Additional Defense: 23000


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    Equipment Effect 1: Cast ¡®Dispel¡¯ to unravel any illusion-type attack.Cooldown of 1 hour.


    Equipment Effect 2: Create a screening dome to hide from any tracking skill.


    Equipment Effect 3: Track the soul signature regardless of distance. Only two signatures can be registered at once.


    +10 Additional Effect: When tracking, display a silhouette for 10 seconds.


    Cooldown of 1 hour.


    +12 Additional Effect: Shine a light onto a tracked target¡¯s body. 30% Decrease in all attributes for 10 seconds.Cooldown of 1 minute.


    Upgrade Requirement: 700 Soulpoints


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei nodded his head, pleased with the results. ¡°The +10 additional effect upgraded the mirror¡¯s tracking from being a ¡®radar¡¯ to being a ¡®satellite¡¯ now, not bad¡­.And isn¡¯t the +12 additional effect making this more like a ¡®magic mirror¡¯ now? Hehe, dropping the stats of my opponents is pretty good.¡±


    ¡°This¡­this is what ¡®upgrading¡¯ is?! What is this? Why am I so strangely powerful now?! This should be impossible¡­¡± Seeker queried again.


    ¡°Hehe, I wasn¡¯t lying, wasn¡¯t I?¡± Sealer crooned, ¡°Yunfei is the hero to us soul armaments. You might as well become a lifebound armament to him and let him treat you even better!¡±


    ¡°...¡± Seeker said nothing for a moment.


    ¡°He is my master as long as he can override Wu Hao¡¯s seal. But I will refuse to become his lifebound armament. I will consider it only if he ¡®upgrades¡¯ me again once or twice.¡±


    ¡°Once or two?¡± Seeker retorted, ¡°You stubborn idiot, you¡¯re greedier than I am! You think Bai Yunfei can upgrade you so easily?! Without those Guaranteed Upgrade Stone you¡¯re stuck! The Core Stone is still +12! But go ahead and let Bai Yunfei try if you¡¯re not scared of dying! Don¡¯t cry to us if you break!¡±


    ¡°Haha, stop arguing. A soulbound armament is fine. I¡¯ll think about it if I get another +13 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone.¡± Bai Yunfei smiled, ¡°Let¡¯s override that seal first.¡±


    Concentrating again, Bai Yunfei focused his mind and entered the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror¡¯s consciousness.


    Unlike last time, Bai Yunfei was more compatible with the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror and was now able to remove the seal. He effortlessly reached the area and began to ¡®assault¡¯ it.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time Bai Yunfei overrode a seal before, but Wu Hao had a higher level of compatibility with it than any other. Regardless, Bai Yunfei felt no resistance from it nor Seeker and had an easy time getting rid of Wu Hao¡¯s seal.


    After agreeing with Seeker, Bai Yunfei managed to raise his compatibility with it up to 70% and turned it into a soulbound armament!

 Chapter 1340: The Great Change in the Capital

    At the same time as Bai Yunfei was working to remove Wu Hao¡¯s seal on the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror.


    In a faraway land. Inside of a dark building.


    A person was seated on the ground, his legs crossed and his hands resting on both knees. He was in the middle of meditating.


    It was pitch-black in the building, but the faint metallic glow exuding from the person gave off enough illumination to just barely make out the face of the person. It was Wu Hao!!


    ¡°Ugh!!¡±


    Completely out of the blue, Wu Hao let out a grunt of pain as if experiencing a sudden headache.


    ¡°Seeker!!¡± He roared, shocked by the sensation. ¡°Someone stole Seeker away from me?! No, that can¡¯t be! How could¡­¡±


    Worried by the implications, Wu Hao took out a space ring and extracted a single object from it.


    The object turned out to be the broken pieces of a crystal that stunned Wu Hao when he saw it.


    ¡°Shangguan Xiongyan is¡­dead?! That shouldn¡¯t be!! Did the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord lose to Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    He cried out to himself in shock. ¡°Or¡­¡± His eyebrows furrowed together, ¡°Did he get caught up with whatever the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord did?!


    ¡°It¡¯s possible¡­no, that has to be the case!!¡±


    Wu Hao blanched at the thought. This was a very likely scenario! He and Shangguan Xiongyan miscalculated the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord! They were so hasty in trying to get the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord kill Bai Yunfei that they failed to realize just how much of a wild card he was!


    ¡°Whether intentional or not, it shouldn¡¯t have been easy for the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord to kill Shangguan Xiongyan. Not with the Triumphant Flame protecting him, so¡­why did he die?! Damn!!¡±


    Wu Hao was under the assumption that after killing Bai Yunfei, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord began to covet the Regalias Shangguan Xiongyan had and killed him afterward.


    He lost Shangguan Xiongyan and two Regalia in his goal to kill Bai Yunfei. This was a result that made Wu Hao feel close to going insane.


    ¡°We can¡¯t wait any longer¡­the Capital must fall! I¡¯ll kill all of Wu Tianhun¡¯s descendants and restore the Liang!!


    Hatred filled Wu Hao¡¯s eyes as he flew up to move outside!


    ¡­¡­


    After upgrading the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror, Bai Yunfei decided to put it away and ignore upgrading the Triumphant Flame. He didn¡¯t even have a second +12 Guaranteed Upgrade Stone, and would only be able to upgrade it to +11 if he really wanted to, but that wouldn¡¯t be nearly enough to erase Wu Hao¡¯s mark on it. And if there wasn¡¯t a point in using it, then there wasn¡¯t a need to upgrade it right away.


    He didn¡¯t know if Wu Hao would come for the Triumphant Flame or anything. He just knew that this man was the very same Prince Hao he met all those years ago. That being said, Bai Yunfei found it hard to believe that the very same person would become the leading figure in the rebellion against the Royal Family. Even harder to believe was how he managed to get the Soul Refining School to collude with him in this conflict.


    He didn¡¯t even enter the conflict yet and already so many people; the Soul Refining School, the Beast Taming School, the Wind Lightning School, and even Shangguan Xiongyan all came to bother him anyway. In the end, Bai Yunfei managed to win against them all and indirectly helped the Royal Family. The situation should most definitely favor them now that the rebel army was for the most part diminished of their key figures. If Wu Hao took part in the battle and died, then the Triumphant Flame would be without a master and become Bai Yunfei¡¯s.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Bai Yunfei took the opportunity to take a look at the space rings from both the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord and Shangguan Xiongyan. While there were quite a few objects-of-interest, none of them were worthy of mention.


    And once he was finished with that, Bai Yunfei decided to spend some time absorbing the energy from the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord. But just as he was getting comfortable¡­


    ¡°Yunfei, Li Chengfeng asked me to bring you to the Crafting School¡¯s halls, it¡¯s important!!¡± Core suddenly appeared out of nowhere to speak to him.


    Bai Yunfei flew to his feet at once. He disappeared from his building to immediately reappear in the same hall Core mentioned.


    Many individuals were already gathered there in the halls by the time Bai Yunfei arrived. Shen Pojun, Ge Yiyun, and several of the Soul Emperors from both the Crafting and Fate Schools were also in attendance.


    ¡°Yunfei!¡± Li Chengfeng called out the moment he saw Bai Yunfei appeared in the halls.


    A little confused, Bai Yunfei walked up to his friend, ¡°What¡¯s going on, Chengfeng? Did you predict something dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Li Chengfeng smiled bitterly, ¡°Something far more troublesome than the last. This¡¯ll dictate the fate of the entire Empire¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! What kind of event is this?¡±


    ¡°We were planning on going to the Capital, weren¡¯t we? I decided to divine if anything will happen and saw a very ominous prediction. I went to my teacher and he confirmed it. The Capital will¡­undergo a great change!!¡±


    ¡°A great change?!¡± Bai Yunfei exclaimed, ¡°Does¡­does that mean Wu Hao or¡­the rebels are taking action now? Do they actually plan on attacking the Imperial Palace?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so¡­¡± Li Chengfeng nodded. ¡°I saw more information when I used the Heart Compass¡¯ +12 additional effect. The skies above the palace will be engulfed by a black vortex and a golden glow. I saw many individuals fighting and laying waste to the Capital!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    A contemplative look entered Bai Yunfei¡¯s face. This was certainly a matter to be greatly worried about! His first thought was about his good friends in the Capital and the Academy¡­.if the Capital was attacked then his friends would be in danger!!


    ¡°We should head to the Capital right away, Yunfei!¡±


    Zheng Kai voiced his opinion at once. He had been living this entire time in the Crafting School with Kou Tingting and managed to further his relationship with her even more. There were even plans on taking her back to the Capital so he could discuss with his family the potentiality of having a wedding. So it went without saying he had a very invested interest on the future of the Capital.


    Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Of course. We¡¯ll set off for the Capital right away!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The discussions were finished a short time after that. Xiao Qi would take the Core Stone and fly as fast as he could toward the Capital while everyone else would rest and prepare for the battle inside.


    Given Xiao Qi¡¯s speed, it¡¯d take no more than a few days for him to reach the Capital. And since the Fate School wasn¡¯t able to divine any concrete information, the group could only hope that they¡¯d be on time.


    The reason why Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t using the Core Stone to teleport was because of the soulforce consumption and needing time for his other preparations. He needed to absorb as much of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul as he could to increase his own strength!


    The final battle in the Capital¡­was rapidly approaching!!

 Chapter 1341: The Dragonic Black Tortoise

    The Capital.


    The greatest city within the Empire and also where the Royal Family presided.


    Peace within the Capital was to be expected as often as the sun would rise each and every day. To the residents of the Capital, civil unrest was never a topic of concern, not even as Wu Hao was leading the rebels across the other provinces and cities. Life was still the same as always here.


    At the heart of the Capital, within the magnificent Imperial Palace.


    Behind one of the grand halls stood what was known widely as the Imperial Garden. Only a few people would stand guard here since beyond the Imperial Garden was a restricted area where even the workers of the palace were often forbidden from getting too close.


    Very few knew about this place and how it ¡®housed¡¯ a very special soulbeast, one known as the Guardian Beast of the Royal Family.


    If one were to enter this area, then one would be met with a glorious spread of fauna and a unique ¡®mountain¡¯.


    The yellowish-mountain was about a hundred meters tall and had uneven edges running all over its surface in a vine-like pattern.


    There were also six giant ¡®holes¡¯ in the ¡®mountain¡¯ that looked very strange in their placement.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom¡­¡±


    Suddenly, the ¡®mountain¡¯ began to rumble at its base. Grass and stone dislodged from its surface as it began to¡­move!!


    A strange aura began to rise from the mountain and spread throughout the land!


    Four ¡®pillars¡¯ extruded from the two holes on both sides of the mountain. Then from the front hole, two bright spheres of light appeared before the head of a dragon came extending forth!


    ¡ªThis wasn¡¯t a ¡®mountain¡¯, it was a giant tortoise! And the six holes of the mountain were just the legs, head, and tail!


    From appearance alone this tortoise was an extremely large one and strangely enough had the head of a dragon instead of a tortoise. It was a strange soulbeast that exuded a regal air as if demanding respect from all those who felt its presence.


    A soulbeast from antiquity, a Dragonic Black Tortoise!!


    A legendary soulbeast said to have protected the Royal Family since the founding of the Tianhun Empire. Bai Yunfei once recalled such a being was once brought up before when he was with Xiao Qi and the red magiboar. It was when the fifth princess said the name ¡®Da Huang¡¯.


    For two thousand years, the Dragonic Black Tortoise never left the Imperial Palace and mostly lived a life of isolation and meditation. Today, for some reason, the Dragonic Black Tortoise looked like it was completely awake now!


    ¡°Angh¡­¡­..¡±


    A low-pitched growl erupted from the Dragonic Black Tortoise mouth to spread throughout the entire Capital!


    At this same exact moment in a small building somewhere else, an elderly man with white hair opened his eyes abruptly as if in shock.


    Likewise, the ruler of the Tianhun Empire, Wu Hong, also reacted similarly in the palace. Standing upright, he turned to the direction of the sound.


    In Zheng Manor, in a small isolated courtyard, sat an elderly figure with a terrifying scar on his throat. His eyes snapped open at once to stare toward the direction of the Imperial Palace.


    All over the capital, multiple Soul Emperors were all having the same exact reaction¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The ¡®warning¡¯ the Dragonic Black Tortoise gave off was heard only to those where Soul Emperors or stronger, meaning only a very small portion of the Capital heard it.


    But the rest of the Capital all felt something, a premonition of sorts. Whether they were soul cultivator or commoner, they all found themselves turning their heads to the sky¡­


    But the change they felt was something different, it wasn¡¯t the warning from the Dragonic Black Tortoise. Something in the skies was causing a change¡­the world was darkening around them more and more until¡­the skies cracked!!


    Multiple fractures were appearing all over the skies. Like shards of glass, they splintered off as if the sky was truly ¡®collapsing¡¯!


    The sun couldn¡¯t even be seen anymore. The darkening of the skies and the giant ¡®hole¡¯ had plummeted the entire Capital in a shroud of darkness!


    And several moments after that¡­pandemonium broke out!


    Screams, cries, howls, noises of all kinds exploded out from the Capital as its inhabitants began to panic¡­


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    And while everyone was screaming and trying to understand what was going on, a loud explosion caused everyone to then turn their attention to the giant ¡®sun¡¯ that was ascending up from the heart of the Capital.


    That was where the Imperial Palace was! The sun transformed into a golden dome of sorts to surround the palace!


    ¡°Rumble¡­¡±


    All sorts of light rays sprinkled down from the skies the moment the dome went up. One after another like a torrent of rain, the rays slammed into the dome!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Each light ray that made contact with the dome exploded with a deafening rumble and brought a cascade of color all over the golden dome. The majority of these attacks were aimed at the dome itself, but there were a few that hit the areas surrounding the dome as well.


    In a single moment, countless buildings were being demolished one after another as if undergoing a natural disaster!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Multiple beams of light flared to life from differing areas in the Capital. A few of them took flight to intercept any stray beam from colliding with the Capital, but there were also multiple others that were traveling to any nearby afflicted building to rescue the people there.


    Soul cultivators!!


    The countless soul cultivators living in the Capital were all beginning to stage their rescue operation against this ¡®disaster¡¯.


    ¡­¡­


    While the chaos was spreading down in the capital, a giant vortex of darkness had fully formed up in the skies. Throngs of people were floating down from it to stare at the Imperial Palace.


    They were directly above the center of the Capital and had an unobstructed view of the Imperial Palace and the tortoise-shell shaped dome that protected it.


    ¡°It was but a mere tortoise before. And now it is a mid-stage class nine? How foolish it is to think it can protect the entire palace!!¡±


    In one particular group, two individuals floated higher up in the skies than everyone else. One person was Wu Hao.The other was a man dressed entirely in black and a sinister sneer on his lips. It would appear that this person had dislike for the Dragonic Black Tortoise.


    ¡°Divine ancestor,¡± Wu Hao spoke respectfully, ¡°there is also an Early-stage Soul Saint left in the Imperial Palace along with the Dragonic Black Tortoise. There may also an ancestor that has been in deep meditation for two hundred years, but we are unsure if he is still alive or not. If he is, then he may already be a Mid-stage Soul Saint¡­We don¡¯t believe there will be any other Saints other than that. Should your esteemed self¡­¡±


    The one known as the ¡®Divine Ancestor¡¯ interrupted him at once, ¡°Worry not. Whether it be that Mid-stage Soul Saint or anyone else, I will kill them all¡­All of Wu Tianhun¡¯s descendants shall die! My only concern is that I will be unable to see your restoration of our Liang Dynasty¡­everything will be on your shoulders¡­¡±


    Sorrow flickered across Wu Hao¡¯s eyes. ¡°Please be at ease, Divine Ancestor! The restoration will be everything our founding fathers wanted! The world will be ours, glory to the Liang!!¡±


    He turned his attention back to the palace beneath him. Venomous, his glare was almost enough to kill¡ªthe plan to restore the Liang had been a plan two millennia in the making. Everything was kept silent and in the shadows until his generation, but now that plan is being stopped in every way possible! They didn¡¯t even have the option of retreating anymore, everything had to be settled in this battle! But the price¡­was a heavy one. His Divine Ancestor would have to give up the rest of his life for this!!


    Wu Hao didn¡¯t originally plan on having the Divine Ancestor lend a hand, but it couldn¡¯t be helped!


    ¡°Kill them all!! Everyone in the Imperial Palace must die!!¡±


    Wu Hao roared. All at once, multiple beams of light shot out from beneath him to rain down onto the Capital and the palace!

 Chapter 1342: The Truth Behind the Rebels

    Wu Hao had about two hundred members for this attack!!


    Pulled from their duties of imprisoning all the Soul Kings from their respective cities, they were the last of Wu Hao¡¯s forces!!


    In other words, it¡¯d be a very simple matter for the loyalists of the Tianhun School to send a few members to those cities and ¡®liberate¡¯ them!


    It was an all-or-nothing attack! They had nothing to lose and everything to gain with this!!


    A few of these people were Soul Emperors, but not many! The vast majority of the members were all Soul Kings!


    These were the members Wu Hao¡¯s ¡®elders¡¯ spent countless years amassing and building. In total, their strengths were equivalent to the Tianhun School!


    The Tianhun School had far more experts in their school than any other, but it wasn¡¯t very noticeable at a glance. That was because the school would allocate their stronger individuals to be in charge of the multiple provinces and cities.


    But now that Wu Hao had gathered his half of the school to this final battleground¡­


    That was the major advantage to being the ¡®bad guy¡¯. They could take actions in the shadows and then pull off a radical operation like this without any warnings whatsoever.


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Hao and the Divine Ancestor began to take action once everyone flew off to attack the Imperial Palace. When they were just a few kilometers away, the Divine Ancestor raised his right hand into the air. A flash of violet and black appeared in his palm before he sent it flying down!!


    ¡°Crack!!¡±


    Next came a clap of thunder loud enough to shatter the heavens. Then came a lightning bolt the color of black and violet!


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    The entire world was engulfed by the sound brought by the lightning-bolt before cascading all over the golden dome and¡­canceling it out!!


    The defense of a mid-stage class nine soulbeast had been taken out in¡­just one blow!!


    ¡°Anghhhh¡­¡±


    A furious roar echoed out from the palace at the strike. A second pulse of energy radiated through the air before a new golden dome was back in its place around the palace.


    But dozens of individuals managed to make it into the palace before the second barrier could be put back up!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Multiple figures from within the palace took this moment to fly out. Intercepting the invaders who managed to make their way in, these experts began to unleash attacks of their own in an attempt to repel them.


    And in moments, the entire palace was surrounded by the noise and sight of people making battle¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    There were a few individuals from within the palace that didn¡¯t move to attack the trespassers. Leaving it to those already fighting, they flew higher up into the sky to attack those beyond the barrier!


    ¡°Ahh!!¡±


    On the other side of the barrier, one individual had been cursing his timing and flew at the nearest streak of light to make combat. But when he saw just who it was inside the light, he let out a scream of terror and turned to run away¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The man, an Early-stage Soul Emperor, didn¡¯t even feel it when the glint of a sword shot through him. His screams died at once as his body stiffened up and began to fall back down to the earth¡­


    He was dead!!


    An Early-stage Soul Emperor had been killed in one blow!! There was no resistance, no barrier, no offensive maneuver. Only the sharp glint of a sword could be seen before it went through the Soul Emperor and disappeared without a trace!


    ¡°Soul Slayer!! That¡¯s the Soul Slayer!! Dodge it!!¡±


    Someone cried out in warning to his comrades the moment he saw his comrade be killed.


    But rather than go after the other Soul Emperors, the person holding the Soul Slayer ascended even higher to where Wu Hao was!


    The person was none other than the current ruler of the empire¡­Wu Hong!!


    In his hand was a rather simple-looking sword. One that was paradoxically the strongest Regalia owned by the Royal Family and most ¡®famous¡¯ of the Ten Great Regalia, the Soul Slayer!


    A dozen other individuals flew up with Wu Hong but they changed paths to deal with the others.


    The numbers favored Wu Hao¡¯s side, but that wasn¡¯t the only fighting force the Royal Family had. Already, multiple figures from all over the Capital were making their way over!


    The Royal Family wasn¡¯t the only one with a formidable fighting force. The Zheng, Huang, Chen, and all the other major houses and families were all readily available to supply fighters of their own.


    ¡­¡­


    As more and more people began to join the fray around the palace, two individuals flew up to stand right behind Wu Hong.


    ¡°The previous Emperor!! He¡¯s still alive!!¡± Wu Hong snarled in surprise.


    The elder standing to Wu Hong¡¯s left was one of the two protectors of the Royal Family, Zhangsun Wuhen, an Early-stage Soul Saint. The figure on the right was another elder with hair as gray as ash and wore robes with a golden dragon embossed on it. This was the previous Emperor that had been closed off in isolation for two hundred years; Wu Lie!!


    ¡°He¡¯s a Mid-stage Soul Saint! Divine Ancestor¡­¡± Concerned, Wu Hao looked to the man beside him.


    ¡°Worry not, leave these two¡­to me!!¡±


    Unperturbed, the elder took a single step out and flew toward the three!


    Soulforce exploded out from the two Saints behind Wu Hong in preparation. Together, the two flew past Wu Hong to take on the incoming elder!


    Unwilling to cause inadvertent damage to their comrades, the three Saints ascended even higher into the skies.


    Tht left Wu Hong to stand there face-to-face with Wu Hao.


    ¡°...Why?¡±


    Wu Hong finally asked after a lengthy moment of silence.


    ¡°Save it with your lamenting,¡± Laughed Wu Hao, ¡°Are you thinking, perhaps, why we brothers of the same last name are fighting and killing each other? Or maybe do you think that the Soul Refining School has me under Soul Puppetry? Is that why I¡¯m doing all this?¡±


    Wu Hong looked startled. That actually was what he was thinking, but that didn¡¯t look like the case if Wu Hao was saying it. Then¡­what was the real reason then?!


    As if enjoying the look of surprise on Wu Hong¡¯s face, Wu Hao began to laugh even harder. ¡°Us? Brother fighting brother? How laughable!! Allow me to tell you¡­your precious ¡®little brother¡¯, Wu Hao, ceased to exist a long time ago!! I am this body¡¯s master!! Hahaha!!!!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve what?!¡± All color bled away from Wu Hong¡¯s face at once. ¡°Explain yourself!¡± He snarled, ¡°You¡­who are you?!¡±


    ¡°Who am I?!¡± Barked Wu Hao, ¡°I¡­am the prince of Liang, Liang Fu!!¡±


    ¡°The prince of Liang?!¡± Wu Hong¡¯s eyes flew wide open, ¡°The Liang Kingdom?! You¡¯re a descendant? But how could that be?!¡±


    The Liang was once one of the more powerful kingdoms on the continent prior to the Unification. Back then, the Liang had been the most ardent one against it and was ultimately defeated by Wu Tianhun himself. It was recorded that in their last act of resistance, the royal family of the Liang burned down their palace and the remaining members became martyrs.


    And now there was Wu Hao claiming to be the prince of this said kingdom. If that was the case, then there was only one thing he was after¡ªthe restoration of the Liang!


    Wu Hao¡ªno, Liang Fu, laughed mockingly at the confusion on Wu Hong¡¯s face. ¡°Are you wondering then, how I became somebody else? How I, someone who grew up with you since birth, am not your brother? Yes¡­this body is indeed Wu Hao¡¯s. But Sixty years ago, his body became host to me, Liang Fu! Your precious younger brother¡¯s soul is no more! Hahaha!!!¡±


    ¡°Are you saying then¡­¡± Wu Hong snarled after a second or two of shock, ¡°that you Possessed him?! You¡­you took over Wu Hao¡¯s body sixty years ago?!¡±


    ¡°Not slow on the uptake, are you? That¡¯s correct! Do you remember sneaking out from the palace with Wu Hao sixty years ago? You were the real target but we had to settle for the next best thing when the guard came back faster than we planned! Do you understand now¡­? That before your younger brother could even awaken to his soulforce, I already Possessed him! The real Wu Hao died sixty years ago in your place!! Haha!! How do you feel? Regret? Anger? All those who share this cursed name of Wu¡­should die!!¡±


    Liang Fu¡¯s emotions were getting the better of him. The longer he talked the more erratic his soulforce became. Eventually, the air around him became as cold as ice.


    The truth left Wu Hong stunned. A myriad of emotions flickered across his eyes as he stared at Liang Fu. Shock turned into disbelief, disbelief turned into anguish, and anguish turned into¡­rage!


    ¡°To think there was still a few of you who didn¡¯t die after the fall of Liang¡­and to think there was such a conspiracy¡­Scoundrel, you shall all die for this!!¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    Fury in the form of soulforce exploded out from Wu Hong. Multiple beams of golden light shot forth from the Mid-stage Soul Emperor like a shining sword upon its withdrawal from its sheath. There was no longer any hesitation in the man¡¯s eyes as he regarded Liang Fu with murderous wrath!


    Liang Fu didn¡¯t look at all flustered. ¡°You¡¯ve finally decided, haven¡¯t you?¡± He mocked, ¡°But do you really believe you can kill me? The two of us may be of equal strengths and the Soul Slayer is indeed the world¡¯s strongest sword capable of killing a Late-stage Soul Emperor or an Early-stage Soul Saint, but don¡¯t forget¡­I have the Regalia, Ironheart! Without it I may be easy to kill, but with it acting as the Soul Slayer¡¯s opposite, death will not be easy!¡±


    He paused here to laugh mockingly at Wu Hong again. ¡°And did you think I was explaining the truth to you out of the kindness of my heart? Do you really think the two fogeys behind you would be a match for the Divine Ancestor of the Liang?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Like being dipped into icy-cold water, Wu Hong felt his heart grow cold at Liang Fu¡¯s words. Then he heard the anguished scream of someone familiar to him from above!


    Looking up, Wu Hong watched as a figure came plummeting down from the skies¡ªit was Zhangsun Wuhen!!


    The Early-stage Soul Saint had been so readily defeated in just a few minutes!!


    Liang Fu looked pleased. ¡°Soon enough, even Wu Lie will die by my Divine Ancestor¡¯s hands. Every last person with the name of Wu will die!!


    ¡°From today onward, the Wu shall be no more!! The entire world will rightfully belong to the Liang!!¡±

 Chapter 1343: The Disruption in Tianhun Academy

    The two hundred and something members of the rebel faction far outstripped the numbers of those in the Royal Family. However, the total number of people in the loyalist faction made up for that number due to the amount of Soul Kings and Soul Emperors in the Capital.


    There were far too many experts in the Capital for the rebels to ignore. That was the main reason why Wu Hao brought as many people as he did here; it was to deal with them.


    Many of the rebels were already flying around, intercepting anyone that¡¯d dare fly over to help those with the Royal Family. Many of these rebels were also fighting without worry of their surroundings while the other side had to worry about the collateral damages.


    Attacking the heart of the Capital was an incredibly crazy plan, but Liang Fu made sure to make careful calculations of everything. He didn¡¯t care how many people died in the Capital, the only thing that mattered to him was that the Royal Family would be eradicated.


    In fact, the indiscriminate slaughter of people in the Capital served the plan well. It¡¯d stoke the panic in the Capital and make things worse.


    Not even Tianhun Academy was safe from the panic. Countless students ran this way and that across the campus as the Soul Kings and Soul Emperors flew up to protect the academy from the invaders.


    Even the headmaster and vice-headmaster, Mo Huangkong and Wu Dijian, were taking action. Not too long after they took flight, a loud roar reverberated throughout the academy from its back as Long Zhen emerged from it.


    Tianhun Academy had three Soul Emperors and around thirty Soul Kings. It was a relatively low number compared to the others but their preparations were far more thorough and their responses ultimately a great deal faster. People were panicking, but the campus had yet to be damaged despite the amount of enemies overhead. It seemed that the rebels knew of the threat the academy held and were doing their best to cripple them before anything could happen.


    It wasn¡¯t their goal to destroy Tianhun Academy, but to stop anyone from it to aid the Royal Family.


    Inevitably, Tianhun Academy began to take on damages. Though all of the major fighting was taking place in the skies, the elemental attacks from above were inadvertently damaging the entire campus.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A muffled groan could be heard from the center of the campus, causing many more buildings to tremble and shudder. The sound seemed to be coming from the ground¡­


    ¡°No!!¡±


    Mo Huangkong, Wu Dijian, and a few other key individuals from the academy all recognized the sound at once and turned their attention to the source.


    That place was at the heart of the campus! The mysterious stone tower that served as the headmaster¡¯s ¡®office¡¯!


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were on the same place as a white figure came flying abruptly out from the dust. All at once, the air dropped rapidly in temperature before ice and snow formed everywhere as if to freeze the entire place!


    Two Mid-stage Soul Emperors flew overhead right when the white figure ascended into the skies. The one from the academy¡¯s eyes widened in alarm as he prepared to defend himself, but it was already¡­far too late!


    ¡°Bang!! Ugh!!¡±


    There was a loud bang and a groan of pain as the Mid-stage Soul Emperor from Tianhun Academy plummeted to the ground like a kite without strings. Blood and ice escaped from his mouth, but the latter eventually began to spread all over his person. By the time he slammed into the ground, the ice had essentially encased him and left him in an unknown state of existence!


    A Mid-stage Soul Emperor had been taken out in a single blow!


    The one that had been fighting him was stunned for a moment, but grew pleased when he saw his ¡®comrade¡¯. ¡°You¡­you did it?! Ah, er¡­¡±


    But when the person became clear to see, the man found himself stuttering a bit. This person in front of him was definitely a male, but because of the frosty air, his clothes and hair had all seemingly turned icy-blue in color. The most shocking aspect was how this person had a mask tat looked almost as if it was made from bone. It had the face of a demon painted on it, but no eyes could be found.


    It was precisely this mask that frightened the Mid-stage Soul Emperor, but he knew what the mask was; a demon armament. As expected from one, this demon armament was surprisingly powerful and allowed his comrade¡ªwho was also a Mid-stage Soul Emperor¡ªto easily defeat the other Mid-stage Soul Emperor.


    ¡°Good job! We¡¯ll be able to finish our job better now that you¡¯ve gotten that demon arma¡ªhey! What are you doi¡ªargh!!¡±


    Initially glad to have his battle be settled so easily, the man smiled and was about to turn away when his comrade grabbed at his throat! He wasn¡¯t even fast enough to try and pull the hand away before he felt it tighten!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul Emperor¡¯s throat snapped with a sickening crack before his body grew limp. Ice blossomed from his corpse before the ¡®demon-masked man¡¯ shattered it!


    The frozen pieces of the Mid-stage Soul Emperor rained down from the skies. Before it shattered onto the ground, the face of the man and the shocked expression on it could be seen for just a moment¡­


    Another Mid-stage Soul Emperor had been killed! This time¡­by a ¡®comrade¡¯!


    ¡°What¡­¡±


    Many of the spectators there were confused by the sight. What in the world was going on for something like this to happen?


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°The demon armament¡¯s controlling him! Don¡¯t fight him and run away!!¡±


    Mo Huangkong was the first to cry out a warning to his companions.


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    As if going mad, the ¡®demon-masked man¡¯ let out a heaven-shaking roar and then charged at the nearest group of people to his left!


    ¡°Aahhh!! Don¡¯t come over!!¡±


    The group of Soul Kings was understandably panicked at the sight. Because of their cries of alarm earlier, they were going to be the next victims of this ¡®demon-masked man¡¯!


    ¡°No! Senior Li! It¡¯s me! Don¡¯t ki¡ªaahhh!!¡±


    The Early-stage Soul King tried his best to snap the man out from his berserk rage, but it was to no avail. A fist plunged through his chest before he could finish his sentenec!


    ¡°Why¡­how did it end up like this?!¡±


    All of the surrounding battles came to a stop by now. They were all staring at the menacing figure in the middle with mixed reactions. The ones from the Liang were all extremely confused at the actions of one of their own. One of their plans had been to have a few people secretly infiltrate the academy to take and unseal a demon armament. Though it looked like a success, why was it causing their own comrade killing people indiscriminately?!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    There was another roar as the demon-masked man changed targets to the next closest person!


    And that person was¡­Wu Dijian!


    ¡°Bob¡¯s your uncle! Why are you after me?!¡±


    Wu Dijian shouted in alarm before turning to flee!!

 Chapter 1344: The Demon Armament Demon Mask!

    Wu Dijian¡¯s reaction was remarkably fast, but it wasn¡¯t so he could run away. The man being controlled by the demon armament ¡®Demon Mask¡¯ was no longer a man, but a ¡®monster¡¯. There was no running away from such a beast. The smarter thing to do was¡­fly off into a crowd of people to his left!


    ¡°Ahh!! What are you doing?! Don¡¯t come over here!!¡±


    It went without saying that the people who saw Wu Dijian come over were frightened out of their minds. Scattering like chickens among wolves, they flew each and every way to get away from Wu Dijian and the ¡®monster¡¯. The one who screamed, a Mid-stage Soul King from the Liang, sent a blade of energy toward Wu Dijian as if to stop him from approaching.


    ¡°Hey!!¡±


    Wu Dijian laughed at the attempt. Brandishing his own weapon, he canceled out the attack with a dark-blue beam of his own before rushing headfirst at the next closest person!


    It seemed laughable that the Mid-stage Soul King would even hope to impede Wu Dijian, a Peak Late-stage Soul King. A soul attack was launched before the Mid-stage Soul King could even react, causing him to be briefly stunned as Wu Dijian approached him. Latching onto his collar, Wu Dijian threw the man behind toward the masked monster!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!!¡±


    Helpless, the man could only scream as he was thrown at the masked monster toward his death.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The masked monster merely raised his right fist up. Icy-blue light gathered to the fist before he punched at the thrown person, turning him into ice and shattering him into thousands of pieces!


    The masked monster didn¡¯t have any signs of rationality left. He was just a killing machine that had just finished off yet another target. But instead of chasing after Wu Dijian after killing one of his own, the man just stood there.


    ¡®Phew¡­scared the heavens out of me¡­¡±


    Wu Dijian sighed to himself after he managed to retreat to safety.


    ¡°Wait? Crap!!¡±


    Two seconds later and Wu Dijian realized his miscalculation. The masked monster stopped only for a moment to decide on his next prey, and it just so happened that the next one on his list was an Early-stage Soul King from the academy!


    ¡°Ah!!!¡±


    Frightened, the Early-stage Soul King sent out a web of lightning to cover his retreat, but something of that caliber wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop the masked monster! The man broke through the web without faltering in speed and flew upon the Soul King to kill him!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Multiple wheels of fire blossomed to life all around the instructor. An overwhelming amount of elemental fire had appeared out of nowhere to assault the masked monster!


    ¡°Boom boom boom boom¡­¡±


    The effect was instantaneous. Every single wheel of fire slammed into the masked monster and prevented him from reaching the Early-stage Soul King!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    Following a flash of orange light, one part of the skies began to accumulate a tremendous amount of sand and soil. Larger and larger, the convergence of both materials eventually grew large enough to form a giant ball of dirt!


    And the masked monster was sealed inside of it!


    Having been so assured that he was going to die, the Early-stage Soul King let out a gasp of joy when he saw his pursuer stopped. Then he felt someone grab hold of both his shoulders before he was forcibly taken farther away from the dirt ball and toward the ground.


    The young instructor looked up at the ones that saved him, ¡°Instructor Jiang, Instructor Xiao, thank you¡­¡±


    The ones who saved them were two males Bai Yunfei was very familiar with¡ªJiang Fan and Xiao Nan!!


    Jiang Fan came here to teach the art of crafting on behalf of the Crafting School three years ago. During that time, he managed to become a Late-stage Soul King.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get a little farther away first,¡± Xiao Nan suggested grimly, ¡°Our attacks won¡¯t stop a monster like that at all¡­¡±


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The ¡®ball of dirt¡¯ already exploded before Xiao Nan had finished speaking. Shooting out from it with alarming speed, the masked monster was once again on the loose!!


    And he was going after the ones that dared try to fight it; Jiang Nan and Xiao Nan!


    ¡°Hurry up and go!!¡±


    Another two figures swooped in to save the three at once¡ªit was Headmaster Mo Huangkong and a Mid-stage Soul Emperor!


    A gale of wind roared to life once Mo Huangkong raised his hand. It carried Jiang Fan and the other two far away while also pelting the masked monster with sharp blades of wind. The Mid-stage Soul Emperor pushed both his hands out to summon a massive thundercloud overhead. Bolts of violet lightning crackled in the clouds before raining down lightningbolts in conjunction with the blades of wind.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    Sensing danger, the masked monster let out a bestial cry before he erupted with an icy light once again. Ice particles began to form everywhere. Eventually, they manifested into sharp icicles to attack Mo Huangkong!


    ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡±


    Ice, wind, and lightning attacked one another in a strange freak storm. All over the skies, tears were beginning to appear as the fabric of space was being torn apart. It was a sight that caused everyone to be alarmed and had them all rushing away to safety.


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!!¡±


    A while later and two figures could be seen flying out from the storm!!


    ¡°Headmaster!!¡±


    Both figures were readily recognizable by the instructors. It was the headmaster and the Mid-stage Soul Emperor! The Mid-stage Soul Emperor was looking rather haggard, but was fine otherwise. But the headmaster was drenched in blood from head to toe as if heavily injured!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The masked monster roared again with a roar to rattle everyone¡¯s morale. Bursting out from a wall of wind, the white-colored ¡®monster¡¯ was seemingly unharmed! Once it appeared, it summoned an icicle and sent it flying toward Mo Huangkong!


    ¡°Damn!!¡±


    The Mid-stage Soul Emperor snarled. He was prepared to throw himself in the middle to protect the headmaster, but before he could¡­


    ¡°Chirp!!!¡±


    An unbelievable amount of energy exploded across the skies at that moment along with rays of all colors of the rainbow! Dropping from higher up, the newcomer crushed the icicle with a burst of energy and then slammed into the masked monster!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The masked monster couldn¡¯t react in time. Flung backward by the sudden charge, he fell to the ground with a sickening thud and was obscured by the ensuing dust storm.


    What¡­what just happened?!


    No one knew the answer. All they could do was stand there and look first at the dust clouds before back to the large multicolored bird.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s¡­Xiao Qi?!¡± Wu Dijian was the first to cry out. Eyes wide open, he stared at the bird in disbelief.


    Then a voice could be heard speaking to someone:


    ¡°We¡¯re here, Yunfei. I think I just got rid of a weirdo¡­¡±

 Chapter 1345: The Cavalry Has Arrived

    ¡°Alright. Xiao Qi, head deeper into the academy and get rid of the enemies there. Don¡¯t go anywhere else for now, we¡¯ll head to the palace together.¡±


    ¡°Okay! Leave it to me!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Much to the surprise of many, the bird came storming out from the dust clouds toward the Liang-aligned individuals. Like a starving wolf among sheep, the bird charged at them while another individual made it out from the dust clouds.


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡±


    Everyone was immediately elated to see Bai Yunfei appear in front of him.


    ¡°Headmaster Mo, senior Jiang, and brother Xiao, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded at them, ¡°Excuse my lateness, but I¡­oh?¡±


    He whirled around to look behind him, ¡°He¡¯s not dead yet?¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    From where the dust cloud was, an abrupt gust of wind blew it all away to reveal a crater on the ground. And at the center of the crater was the howling masked monster, still alive and angrier than ever.


    Several holes marked his chest in ways that made him see-throughable. That was where Xiao Qi attacked him. His heart and several other organs were definitely destroyed, if not ruptured; so how was he still alive!?


    Bai Yunfei thought back to Dongfang Ming and the demonic core he had. His eyes flew to the strange-looking mask the man wore, ¡°Is that¡­a demon armament?!¡±


    There was definitely a strange aura flowing from the mask that marked it as a demon armament. And even more suspicious was¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s even got a spirit in it!!¡±


    He was astounded. The amount of malice radiating from the mask wasn¡¯t extremely potent and wasn¡¯t even coming from the person. It was coming from the demon armament! It had a spirit!


    ¡°Be careful, Yunfei! That¡¯s an ancient demon armament, ¡®Demon Mask¡¯! It¡¯s an incredibly powerful demon armament Wu Tianhun entrusted us to keep sealed away for two thousand years!!¡±


    Mo Huangkong urgently warned Bai Yunfei at once.


    ¡°Demon mask? From senior Wu?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes flickered over to the stone tower at the center of the campus. ¡°So it was sealing a powerful demon armament this entire time? No wonder the Soul Refining School would try to infiltrate it. But¡­why would senior Wu leave such a dangerous demon armament sealed under the academy?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Demon Mask? Its soul hasn¡¯t died away yet?¡±


    The voice of the Soul Sealing Mandate popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s head. ¡°Sealer, what¡¯s the background on this demon armament?¡± Bai Yunfei asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a powerful but incomplete demon armament. Long time ago, Tianhun came across an opponent who used it to kill a lot of people and forcibly grew a spirit. He killed him, but Tianhun decided it wasn¡¯t the demon armament¡¯s fault. Instead of destroying it, he used a special seal that¡¯d slowly return the demon armament back to normal¡ªlooks like it failed. That demon armament is still as powerful as before and its spirit doesn¡¯t look any weaker.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Bai Yunfei nodded, ¡°The demon armament is too dangerous. Leaving it intact only brings more harm, I feel. We may as well destroy it just to be sure.¡±


    ¡°Feel free. Tianhun said before that the demon armament was better off destroyed if the spirit wouldn¡¯t return to normal.¡±


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    Taking advantage of Bai Yunfei¡¯s talk with the Soul Sealing Mandate, the masked man charged at him. The demon armament could sense the threat Bai Yunfei possessed and decided to take him out with two claws to render Bai Yunfei¡¯s chest apart.


    ¡°Bang!!!¡±


    But he never made it to him. Slamming into an orange barrier, the man was flung backward from the sudden obstruction.


    The demon armament was powerful, but the body it was making use of was only a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. There was no way it¡¯d be able to overcome the Cataclysmic Seal¡¯s barrier.


    Raising his right hand, Bai Yunfei sent the Cataclysmic Seal flying forward to flatten the man and demon armament under its gigantic size!!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal slammed into the ground with devastating force, pushing both the demon armament and man several meters deep into the earth.


    It was only when he felt the aura of the man disappear that Bai Yunfei summoned the Cataclysmic Seal back to him. With his opponent dead, Bai Yunfei turned back to speak with Mo Huangkong. Before he could, however, the sudden spike in soulforce from within the crater caught Bai Yunfei¡¯s attention again. ¡°He¡¯s still alive?! But how!?¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A crimson blob of flesh flew out from the crater. All four limbs were mangled and bent at strange angles, and the body itself didn¡¯t even have a sign of life in it. Somehow¡­this body was still moving!


    ¡°What a strange demon armament¡­¡± Bai Yunfei muttered to himself. Snapping his finger, Bai Yunfei summoned something out from his ring and sent it toward the body.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The black streak of light traveled like lightning from Bai Yunfei to the body and struck it squarely on the forehead!


    ¡°Clangg!!¡±


    A loud resonance echoed in the air when it struck. A flash of icy light emerged from the mask and chilled the surrounding air several notches. Somehow, it felt like the screams of the dead were beginning to wail in the wind!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    It was faint, but distinct. The sound of something cracking could be heard as the black light shot through the white light!


    It took several seconds for the white light to disappear. First came a ¡®thud¡¯ as the corpse fell to the ground, this time for good. Laying on its back, the corpse had the mask revealed to the world. On its surface was a hole the size of a bean with several cracks running away from it.


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    The mask cracked again, this time shattering into multiple pieces and fell apart uselessly onto the ground¡­


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Mo Huangkong and the others were tongue-tied with disbelief. A killing machine had been so readily dispatched in two or three moves? Talk about unbelievable¡­


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡± The black light shot back to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side for him to catch with his fingers. It was the Soul Extinguishing Needle!


    As powerful as Demon Mask was, it wasn¡¯t a match for the +12 Soul Extinguishing Needle. It boasted an attack power of over 16000 and could beat out a low-divine tier demon armament like the Demon Mask.


    There¡¯d be trouble if it was a Saint that was being controlled by Demon Mask, but that wasn¡¯t the case. Thus, Bai Yunfei had a very easy time destroying the demon armament for good.


    ¡­¡­


    With his task accomplished, Bai Yunfei stored away the Soul Extinguishing Needle and turned to greet Mo Huangkong.


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    A wail of despair echoed across the skies as a rainbow-colored bird flew through the skies and killed every single enemy it came across with alarming speed.


    As per Bai Yunfei¡¯s instructions, Xiao Qi was cleaning up the academy of every single enemy and preventing them from escaping. Every single enemy he met became yet another kill.


    The speed in which he was killing them all didn¡¯t even allow anyone from the academy time to process it.


    ¡°Headmaster Mo, are you and the others alright?¡± Bai Yunfei asked once he arrived by his side.


    He looked to the ones he knew first. Seeing their healthy and stable conditions had him breathing a sigh of relief; he had been worried about arriving too late. But it seemed his worries were for naught.


    ¡°All in thanks to your timely intervention. Our academy would most likely be destroyed as a result of Demon Mask¡­¡± Mo Huangkong answered, ¡°Yunfei¡­¡± he stared suspiciously at the man in front of him, ¡°have you Ascended?!¡±


    It was hard to believe, to be frank. Mo Huangkong remembered when Bai Yunfei first arrived at the academy. At that time, he had only been a Soul Exalt. If not for that memory, Mo Huangkong would never have made the connection between the past and present Bai Yunfei.


    Jiang Fan shot Bai Yunfei a surprised glance as well, ¡°What brings you to the Capital, Yunfei? I heard you ¡®took¡¯ our entire school away? Where are they now¡­?¡±


    He had been in the Capital when the Crafting School was relocated. It put him in a panic at the time when he heard the news on how it was attacked. Had he not heard the results and their victory, Jiang Fan would¡¯ve left the Capital to return a great deal earlier.


    ¡°As you might know, senior Jiang, the entire Mt. Crimson is in the Core World. Teacher and the headmaster are both in there as well. Let me bring them out¡­¡±


    Raising his right hand, Bai Yunfei waved it and tore open a hole in space to allow for a group of people to suddenly pop out from it.


    It wasn¡¯t just the two people Bai Yunfei mentioned earlier, there were about a hundred people here!


    Shen Pojun, Chu Yintian, Zi Jin, Kou Changkong, Ge Yiyun, Li Chengfeng, Jing Mingfeng, Zheng Kai, Tang Xinyun, and the elders from the Crafting and Fate Schools. Everyone was here.


    It deeply alarmed Mo Huangkong to see so many people appear out of thin air, but he was surprised to see a few familiar faces. ¡°Zi Jin! Your strength¡­you¡¯re back to being a Soul Emperor!?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been quite some time, my old friend¡­¡± Zi Jin laughed, ¡°Indeed, by the good fortune of my disciple, I¡¯ve managed to regain my strength¡­¡±


    ¡°Teacher! Headmaster!! Elders!¡± Jiang Fan bowed at once.


    ¡°Ah, yes. Jiang Fan, come greet your predecessors.¡± Zi Jin smiled.


    He introduced him to Shen Pojun, Ge Yiyun, and a few others that made even Mo Huangkong bow from surprise and respect.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°All done, Yunfei! There were a few people that ran away though.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t long before Xiao Qi returned to Bai Yunfei¡¯s side. All the intruders of the academy were long gone with a good half of them being killed by Xiao Qi and a smaller portion having successfully fled.


    ¡°Good.¡± Bai Yunfei nodded. ¡°Ancestor, we should head over to the palace and help now, shouldn¡¯t we?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a very good time to be idling about. There were still all sorts of fights breaking out around the Capital.


    ¡°Ah yes, let¡¯s head to the palace.¡± Shen Pojun¡¯s eyes set themselves onto the palace. Grim-faced, he turned to Zi Jin, ¡°Take the students to the various parts of the Capital. Yunfei and I will deal with the Saints!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    All at once, all sorts of light shot up from Tianhun Academy before splitting ways in every direction to aid the war effort for the Capital!

 Chapter 1346: A Familiar Person

    At the time of Xiao Qi¡¯s arrival in Tianhun Academy, the entirety of the Soul Kings and Soul Emperors in the Capital were already fighting to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, information was extremely lacking and so these individuals had a hard time determining who was friend and who was foe.


    So it came as a surprise for everyone to suddenly feel an overwhelming number of auras to appear out of thin air in Tianhun Academy. The situation became even more startling when the auras all shot into different directions.


    No one could be blamed for being so heavily surprised. So many powerful signatures appearing all at once? Definitely a sight to be heavily concerned about.


    The ones from the Capital were all terrified that they might be the enemy¡¯s reinforcements. The ones from the Liang were all deeply fearful; they all knew about their operation in the academy. These newcomers definitely weren¡¯t their own, meaning¡­they were reinforcements for the other side!!


    Regardless, combatants from both sides of the conflict gave the academy a wide berth so they could observe the ¡®enemy¡¯ reinforcements warily.


    The fighters from the Crafting and Fate School relegated themselves to differing areas of the Capital, but none of them began to fight just yet. They had to determine who was on their side and who wasn¡¯t, but that was something that could easily be solved via communication. The nightmare was just about to begin for the Liang...


    Almost a hundred Soul Kings and twenty Soul Emperors were gathered here; this was definitely a fighting force capable of shifting the tide of any war!!


    ¡­¡­


    On one side, Bai Yunfei, Shen Pojun, and Xiao Qi led Chu Yintian and a few other Soul Emperors straight for the Imperial Palace. As they flew, Bai Yunfei looked down upon the carnage that littered the Capital. It infuriated him to see the wrecked state of the city he once lived in for some time. And to think the lives of so many innocents were lost!


    Everyone a part of the Liang was of the Soul King level or higher and were thus fighting in the air. Attacks were made with complete disregard for the Capital down below, forcing a network of Soul Exalts to try their best to ward off whatever they could. The defensive network wasn¡¯t entirely effective, however. They weren¡¯t able to completely protect every part of the Capital and so several buildings would be hit every so often and forced to collapse. When they did, the casualties between the commoners and weaker soul cultivators grew higher.


    ¡°Lao Sha! I¡¯ll leave the ground to you, protect those people!!¡±


    Before they reached the palace, Bai Yunfei made a quick stop to bring Lao Sha out from the Core World to give it a single order.


    ¡°Woof!!¡±


    Lao Sha barked once as if to say ¡°Leave it to me!!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    And off the dog went. It was actually wearing warboots on each of its with a wind affinity to them so as to allow the dog rapid movement across the buildings. Waves of energy began to arise from the dog, mysteriously attracting every single elemental attack within the vicinity toward the dog¡¯s mouth so it could eat it!


    Over the course of its awakening, Lao Sha had been under deep training and was now stronger than ever. Whatever the dog was now, not even the Frostfeather Saint was able to offer up an explanation. But its strength was definitely unquestionable!!


    All Lao Sha had to do was open its mouth and any elemental attack within its radius (one larger than before) would be ¡®cleaned up¡¯!


    ¡°Woof!!¡±


    Lao Sha leaped upward into the air after the first wave was fully devoured. Bounding toward another area, the dog then began to finish its job before any of the attacks could impact against the ground.


    Lao Sha was effectively a super-powered ¡®vacuum cleaner¡¯ that was trying to ¡®sweep¡¯ up every mess within the Capital¡­


    As powerful as Lao Sha was, Bai Yunfei had Tang Xinyun and Xiao Bai accompany it for its protection.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Once again, Shen Pojun and the others could do nothing but sigh incredulously at the ¡®power¡¯ Lao Sha possessed.


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A tremendous explosion detonated from higher up in the skies, causing both Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun to pale!


    ¡°A Late-stage Soul Saint!! They have someone of that caliber on their side?! How?!¡±


    This was Bai Yunfei¡¯s first time ever sensing someone so powerful. He could hardly believe it almost! From where chaotic energy ran supreme, Bai Yunfei felt the power of someone that was distinctly a Late-stage Soul Saint!


    It¡­shouldn¡¯t have been possible. No Late-stage Soul Saint was ever recorded to be living in today¡¯s era of soul cultivators. Had the rebels brought out such a figure earlier then the Royal Family would¡¯ve fallen a long time ago!


    Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun shared a glance at one another, ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡±


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Together, Bai Yunfei, Xiao Qi, and Shen Pojun all ascended to the heavens!


    ¡­¡­


    Above the Imperial Palace where the golden dome was.


    The battle between Wu Hong and Liang Fu was still going on. The two fought each other intensely before retreating for a quick reprieve. It was during that time Liang Fu took notice of the incoming people.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­Bai Yunfei!! How is he alive?!¡±


    As long ago his meeting with Bai Yunfei was, Liang Fu was still keenly familiar with his aura signature and was so astonished that he found himself saying his thoughts out loud.


    ¡°Bai Yunfei?!¡±


    Wu Hong was equally astonished. But unlike Liang Fu, Wu Hong was greatly happy to see him!


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!¡±


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t fly to where they were. Instead of coming to aid Wu Hong, the three Saints ascended through the clouds and disappeared higher up. Even the people that followed the three split up to aid the other battles surrounding Wu Hong and Liang Fu. It was all as if they knew who the two were and didn¡¯t want to ¡®interrupt¡¯ anything.


    They all knew where the three Saints where going. They were planning to interrupt the battle higher up in the heavens!


    Three Saints!


    Hope rekindled inside of Wu Hong¡¯s heart. Glaring cooly at the stunned Liang Fu, he lunged at him with the Soul Slayer in hand to renew his attack!


    ¡°Bai Yunfei is alive¡­does that mean the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord and Shangguan Xiongyan are both dead?! No...that can¡¯t be!¡± Liang Fu despaired to himself. Such a realization made him sick to the stomach.


    ¡°Who cares if he¡¯s not dead?! It¡¯s good that he came! A mere Early-stage Soul Saint is but an insect in the eyes of the Divine Ancestor!! He¡¯ll die in the end!¡±


    Confidence renewed, Liang Fu leaped back to avoid being cut by the Soul Slayer. It was time to continue the battle!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei, Shen Pojun, and Xiao Qi broke through the skies into where only chaotic energy resided. Entering chaotic space, Bai Yunfei¡¯s very first action was to bring out the Cataclysmic Seal and send it flying forward.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A figure had been falling down when the three of them broke the surface into chaotic space. Caught by a ball of red light, the figure was safely cushioned by the energy while the Cataclysmic Seal blocked a bolt of violet and black lightning with its barrier.


    ¡°It¡¯s His Majesty Wu Lie!¡± Shen Pojun gasped at the sight of the person Bai Yunfei caught.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed together. Scanning the blood all over the man, Bai Yunfei noted that he was extremely injured and immediately procured a high-grade pill for him to eat. ¡°Senior, please eat this pill and recuperate. Leave the enemy to us!¡±


    ¡°You are¡­?¡± Wu Lie¡¯s eyes flickered over to Shen Pojun, ¡°Shen Pojun?! It¡¯s you!¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Bowed Shen Pojun, ¡°Please rest assured, we will take care of the enemy!¡±


    ¡°Then I entrust him to you!¡± Wu Lie nodded, ¡°Take heed, this man is a survivor of the Liang Kingdom. He is a Late-stage Soul Saint, but his vitality is weakening! He won¡¯t last much longer in battle!¡±


    ¡°A survivor of the Liang? The Liang Kingdom of two thousand years ago?¡±


    Bai Yunfei and Shen Pojun were both surprised to hear the identity of the enemy. Was that the truth of the conflict then? Instead of a struggle for the seat of the throne, this was a battle for the resurrection of the Liang!


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    A voice boomed across chaotic space in response to Wu Lie¡¯s words. A shriveled elder in black robes descended into sight. Even after beating the Early-stage Soul Saint Zhangsun Wuhen and then a Mid-stage Soul Saint, the elder was still completely unharmed!


    ¡°Three more Saints have come? Who might you be?¡± The elder stared inquisitively at the three newcomers.


    ¡°Could you be¡­Bai Yunfei?!¡± An eyebrow was raised.


    He heard Bai Yunfei mentioned before by Liang Fu once, but he was told that someone called the ¡®Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯ was going to take care of him, was he not? Then what was Bai Yunfei doing here? Was he¡­a Mid-stage Soul Saint instead of an Early-stage Soul Saint then?!


    ¡°Hmph! It matters not! Prepare to die together! Your Regalias will be used by Liang Fu to unite the continent under Liang rule!¡±


    Time was running out for the elder. He couldn¡¯t afford to delay the conclusion of the battle any longer. He had to make sure to kill every last opponent before his own life expired, these four Saints would do!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The attack came abruptly and without hesitation. The elder used no soul armament and instead used a beam of chaotic energy to attack. Infused in those beams were also slivers of elemental lightning and darkness. Together, the three elements fused to become a devastating force of energy!


    ¡°Bzzz¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei was already preparing a defense, however. The Cataclysmic Seal generated a large orange barrier and protected all four Saints behind it.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The barrier held for several seconds before finally succumbing to the pressure and shattering!


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    Although he knew that the barrier wouldn¡¯t be able to endure the attack, Bai Yunfei was still quite surprised to see just how strong the attack was. The remaining slivers of chaotic energy, elemental lightning, and elemental darkness were still in enough quantities after breaking the barrier that the four of them had to activate barriers of their own.


    ¡°Core, why do I feel like this person is¡­familiar?¡± A voice popped up in Bai Yunfei¡¯s mind when he just managed to block the remaining energy. It was the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    ¡°You too? I had the same feeling! I feel like I know this person somehow¡­¡± The spirit of the Core Stone replied back.


    ¡°Oh! I got it!! Back when we used to be with Tianhun, we had to fight this person before!!¡± The spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate suddenly erupted with an answer, ¡°He¡¯s¡­Liang Yinshen!!¡±

 Chapter 1347: A Powerful Foe from Two Thousand Years Ago!

    ¡°That¡¯s it! You¡¯re right! Liang Yinshen!! But why isn¡¯t he dead? He definitely should be!¡± The spirit of the Core Stone replied with disbelief.


    ¡°Liang Yinshen? Him!? His soul was already beginning to fray when he escaped Tianhun. He should¡¯ve died a long time ago¡­why is he alive here today?¡±


    The spirit of the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror suddenly interrupted.


    ¡°Hold on, hold on!!¡± Bai Yunfei interjected; he had been so surprised by their conversation that one of the nearby spatial fissures nearly collided into him. ¡°What was that just now? Liang Yinshen? Is that who this person is? Is he someone you know?!¡±


    ¡°Yes! That aura is definitely familiar¡­he¡¯s definitely Liang Yinshen!¡± The Soul Sealing Mandate¡¯s spirit answered. ¡°He was the monarch of the Liang Kingdom prior to the Unification. I remember he was an Early-stage Soul Saint at the time and disappeared after being beaten by Tianhun.¡±


    ¡°Hold on, what?!¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows flew up on his forehead, ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­he¡¯s an enemy from two thousand years ago?! But how?! Not even a Supreme Saint can live for two thousand years!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡± Replied Sealer. ¡°But that aura is definitely Liang Yinshen! However¡­he looks very different than before.¡±


    ¡°Looks different?¡± Several moments passed before Bai Yunfei realized the meaning of its words. ¡°Do you mean¡­He Possessed someone?!¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­definitely!! He Possessed someone and somehow extended his natural lifespan!¡±


    After processing the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul in the past several days, Bai Yunfei was able to increase his strength to the levels of a Mid-stage Soul Saint. He was also able to learn a few things from the soul, such as the peculiarities of the art of Possession. From his soul, Bai Yunfei learned that although it was possible to extend the natural lifespan of a person by Possessing someone else, it wasn¡¯t perfect. One couldn¡¯t gain ¡®eternal life¡¯ through this method.


    Through Possession, one could gain a new body with a fresher lifespan, but the lifespan of the soul was finite. Sooner or later, the soul would end up reaching its natural limit and unravel. Not even Possession could solve such an issue.


    Possession wasn¡¯t even something that could be done infinitely, either. The more the act was repeated, the more dangerous it becomes. Once or twice, the chances of successes would be high, but three or four times? Even if the person didn¡¯t resist, it¡¯d be very difficult for Possession to take place.


    As such, it was supposedly impossible for Liang Yinshen to extend his lifespan for two thousand years. He had to have used another method to live that long, similar to how the Frostfeather Saint was able to live for so long. The Beast Taming School had effectively sealed his his body and soul from aging at all, allowing him to live for a tremendously long amount of time!


    That¡¯d easily explain how Liang Yinshen was still alive all this time and only came out now. He¡¯d only be able to use his strength just once then!!


    Wu Lie said before that Liang Yinshen¡¯s aura was already weakening, and it was true. The man was just a few steps away from death. It wouldn¡¯t be long until his soul would unravel completely and he¡¯d die for real!


    So¡­wouldn¡¯t a battle to ¡®stall¡¯ for time be nice?


    It was a nice option, but not the best one to take. Liang Yinshen was definitely going to try and finish the battle as quickly as possible; the man might be dying, but he was still far stronger than they were. Fighting him with any other thought than to defeat him would be foolhardy.


    ¡°Sealer, does Liang Yinshen have anything special? How did senior Wu defeat him before?¡±


    Covered by a flash of red light, Bai Yunfei condensed the chaotic energy around him to form a sturdy barrier in front of him. It¡¯d help to block any attack Liang Yinshen was shooting at them while he tried to learn more about his opponent.


    ¡°He has a powerful move called the Thunder God¡¯s Judgement. It looks like an elemental attack so that when you try to stop it with a barrier, the thunderclap will immediately transform into a soul attack and go through it. Be careful, Yunfei.¡± The Soul Sealing Mandate answered. ¡°He had a very powerful mid-divine Regalia known as the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd. It¡¯s a lightning-type soul armament with the ability to inflict a soul attack. But that soul armament was shattered in his battle with Tianhun, I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s even usable anymore. You should be careful either way.¡±


    ¡°A Regalia like that exists?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was flustered at the thought of there being such a powerful Regalia outside the Ten Great Regalia. He was additionally shocked to hear that Liang Yinshen had a soul attack like that. Those were both an extremely powerful asset to have!


    ¡°Ugh!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei heard a pained grunt, shocking him out from his own thoughts. Looking up, he watched as Shen Pojun was struck by a lightningbolt and forced back.


    ¡°Ancestor!!¡±


    Preparing to leap up to help the man, Bai Yunfei was then abruptly aware of a series of chaotic energy and elemental lightning forming above his head. An attack was coming!


    ¡°Tch!!¡± Bai Yunfei clicked his tongue. Forming several handseals, he began to collect elemental fire to his arms before firing it outward!


    The Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!!


    Two dragons exploded out from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms at once to collide with the lightningbolts. Together, the two attacks detonated and sent furious waves of soulforce everywhere.


    That was just the prelude to Bai Yunfei¡¯s attack. After the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst was done, Bai Yunfei began to do another set of handseals to increase his strength!


    First came ¡®Coil¡¯ Mode. Then came¡­Berserk Mode!


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    High above, Liang Yinshen was amazed by the sudden spike of energy in Bai Yunfei. He hadn¡¯t thought Bai Yunfei would be much of a threat at first, but this increase of strength was starting to make him think otherwise. He narrowed his eyes. This wasn¡¯t the time for any more elemental attacks, he¡¯d have to go down and finish Bai Yunfei off himself!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A transparent image shot out from Liang Yinshen as he flew toward Bai Yunfei. This one was headed for Shen Pojun!


    ¡°An avatar!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei was shocked. A Late-stage Soul Saint was already hard enough to fight against. But the opponent had a Mid-stage Soul Saint too?!


    ¡°Xiao Qi! Help ancestor Shen against that avatar!¡±


    Ordering Xiao Qi to help Shen Pojun, Bai Yunfei clenched his teeth and began to gather another round of elemental fire to his arms¡­


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    A second roar could be heard as two more dragons emerged from Bai Yunfei¡¯s arms. The scales of the dragon were entirely black and violet in color; this was the strongest form of the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst Bai Yunfei could do. In Berserk Mode, the attack was many times stronger than normal and made even Liang Yinshen wary about it.


    The man raised both his hands when he was just about a kilometer away from Bai Yunfei.


    ¡°Crackle¡­crackle¡­¡±


    Somehow, clouds above the chaotic space began to crackle with electricity. Countless rays of black violet converged behind Liang Yinshen to form the menacing figure of a giant demon. Cloaked in the chaotic energy around it, the figure looked extremely imposing.


    The demon roared loudly once it was fully manifested. Raising its right hand to mimic Liang Yinshen, it brought forward its right fist to punch the two dragons!


    ¡°It¡¯s coming! That¡¯s the Thunder God¡¯s Judgment!! Be careful, Yunfei!¡±


    The spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate cried out a warning to Bai Yunfei; Liang Yinshen¡¯s ultimate move was coming!

 Chapter 1348: The Power of Soul Armaments: Saved From Death!

    Liang Yinshen¡¯s Thunder God¡¯s Judgment was an extremely powerful soul skill. One that was as rare as it was powerful. It was likely that anyone fighting Liang Yinshen would¡¯ve fallen prey to the attack without ever knowing about the truth of it being able to go from being an elemental attack to a soul attack. No one would be fast enough to react upon finding out the truth, either. Even if one was prepared for a soul attack, they¡¯d be hit with an elemental attack instead.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Not was not the time to defend. Concentrating his energy, Bai Yunfei had the Cataclysmic Seal sent forward!


    The right hand of the Thunder God had just struck onto the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst before its arm was engulfed by the following explosion. But it wasn¡¯t dead. Moments later and violet rays of light could already be seen shining through the explosion.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    One second later and a secondary explosion detonated!


    This wasn¡¯t just the explosion of an elemental attack, there was a soul attack hidden in there!


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Shen Pojun and Xiao Qi both groaned from pain; the Thunder God¡¯s Judgment had affected even them! They were a good distance away and yet the pulsewave had enough power behind it to inflict harm on them! If it could do that much damage to another person indirectly, then the amount of power it delivered onto its main target definitely had to be massive!


    Liang Yinshen sneered, pleased by his handiwork. He was confident that Bai Yunfei would fall prey to his soul attack and be incapacitated just long enough for him to win.


    Then¡­


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The sneer faded away after a while. A giant ¡®mountain¡¯ came flying out of the smoke toward him with a devastating amount of velocity!


    ¡°Impossible!!¡±


    Liang Yinshen cried out; he couldn¡¯t believe it! Bai Yunfei had to have been hit by his soul attack. How was it possible that he was still able to attack just like that? It shouldn¡¯t have been possible!


    But reality was telling him otherwise. Regardless, Liang Yinshen wasn¡¯t so stunned to be in danger of being hit. Waving both arms in front of him, he had the giant demonic figure behind him block his body with its arms.


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The giant mountain slammed into the giant figure with enough force to cause a tremendous shockwave. The two forces trembled slightly with the Cataclysmic Seal stopping and the demonic figure losing a good amount of the energy that made up its body.


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal failed to destroy the figure, but it did manage to force some fresh blood out from Liang Yinshen¡¯s mouth!


    ¡°This¡­this shouldn¡¯t be! He should be injured! What is happening?! Ahhh!!¡±


    He was in disbelief. Liang Yinshen couldn¡¯t believe how Bai Yunfei was completely unharmed by his ultimate move! The Thunder God¡¯s Judgment had done nothing to him!


    It went without saying this wasn¡¯t what Liang Yinshen had planned. Furious, he began to manipulate the demon behind him once again to send two more rounds of lightning bolts toward Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei remained calm. He stared at the two incoming lightningbolts as he ate a soulforce-recovering pill. Without moving to dodge or defend himself, Bai Yunfei activated the additional effect of his armor!


    Bai Yunfei had to thank the +10 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate on being able to negate the Thunder God¡¯s Judgment.


    He didn¡¯t actually have to use that additional effect. He still had the Soul Sentinel Scarf¡¯s ability to reflect soul attacks, but that had the ¡®chance¡¯ of activating and wasn¡¯t guaranteed. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t willing to risk his life on such a chance and decided to go with the safer route. Five seconds of immunity to soul attacks was a good choice to make since that meant he¡¯d be completely fine from the Thunder God¡¯s Judgment. He¡¯d be able to take advantage of the confusion to attack Liang Yinshen with the Cataclysmic Seal.


    He had already decided to use the Counter Armor¡¯s +10 and +12 additional effect when Liang Yinshen was attacking the Chaotic Dual Dragon Burst!!


    Equipment Grade: Mid Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Metal, Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Defense: 5500


    Additional Defense: 5000


    Soul Compatibility: 100%


    Equipment Effect: Convert a certain amount of attack taken into additional defense for up to 1 minute for each hit. Defense converted by attacks cannot exceed 30% of the armor¡¯s defenses.


    Cooldown of 1 minute.


    +10 Additional Effect: Create a whirlpool of darkness capable of negating any elemental attack.Cooldown of 10 minutes.


    +12 Additional Effect: Bounce back any one attack whose power does not exceed double the defense of this equipment.Cooldown of 30 minutes.


    Upgrade Requirement: 250 Soulpoints


    ¡°Bzz¡­bzz¡­¡±


    The space in front of Bai Yunfei rippled erratically. One portion of it had a black whirlpool form while the other half had a transparent barrier manifest itself. Then the two lightning bolts struck them.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The first lightning bolt went smoothly inside without a mess. It entered the black whirlpool and disappeared without even a trace.


    The second lightning bolt looked as though it was caught by a very flexible net. It traveled just a bit forward than the other lightning bolt before being rebounded back where it came from!


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Liang Yinshen was once again shocked. Hurriedly bringing his arms up, he erected an elemental barrier to protect himself. It wasn¡¯t as strong as a defense as he¡¯d like, given the time, and the explosion of his own attack managed to inflict enough harm for him to stumble backward.


    ¡°You shall die for this!!¡±


    Liang Yinshen¡¯s fury began to overflow. Furious, a calculative gleam entered his eyes as he pointed his finger at Bai Yunfei!


    It actually took a lot out from Bai Yunfei to negate and reflect the two attacks. Pale from fatigue, Bai Yunfei was already feeling the effects of being low on soulforce. As magical as his soul armament were, they weren¡¯t so magical that they¡¯d be able to stop a Late-stage Soul Saint¡¯s attack without issue. Activating effects required more soulforce if the usage was heavier. In this specific case, Bai Yunfei lost roughly half his soulforce stopping the two attacks.


    He had no choice but to use Soul Ignition to regain his soulforce. The pill wasn¡¯t enough. He managed to survive this long, but going any longer without replenishing his reserves would most likely end in his defeat.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Immediately after he activated Soul Ignition, Bai Yunfei felt the overwhelming sensation of death approaching him!


    This was the feeling of intuition born from only countless experiences with near-death experiences through battle. The power of instinct! Without even knowing what was going on, Bai Yunfei activated the Core Stone¡¯s +10 additional effect!


    +10 Additional Effect: Consume soulforce to send any target within ten meters into a sealed dimension for two seconds. Target cannot be attacked and cannot attack. Target maintains original visibility. Cooldown of 1 minute.


    His figure shimmered in the light as he was transported elsewhere. And not a second too soon!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A violet bolt of lightning speared through where Bai Yunfei once stood. Had he still been there, the lightning bolt would¡¯ve gone through his head and upper torso!


    It wasn¡¯t a lightning bolt, but a menacingly long violet halberd !


    The Regalia, the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd!


    This was the powerful Regalia Sealer was just warning him about!


    His heart was pounding heavily even after he managed to dodge the blow. That had been too close for comfort! He¡¯d be a dead man if not for the Core Stone¡¯s ability!


    Liang Yinshen¡¯s Thunder God had burst apart after it stopped the Cataclysmic Seal. With hundreds of slivers of elemental energy swimming around, Bai Yunfei¡¯s defenses prioritized stopping all foreign energy instead of anything else. He had been so focused in that aspect that he didn¡¯t realize a Regalia would be hidden within it!


    Several times, Liang Yinshen attacked. His strength was waning now that he used his ultimate move. It was definitely a close call for Bai Yunfei. Not even a Late-stage Soul Saint would be able to pull themselves out from danger like that without something like the Core Stone helping them!


    ¡°Still alive!?¡±


    It was utterly inconceivable to Liang Yinshen that Bai Yunfei was still alive! All he could do was stare with wide eyes as his ¡®sure-fire¡¯ killing move failed!


    ¡°Ugh!!¡±


    Two seconds went by and Bai Yunfei¡¯s soulforce was now fully recovered thanks to Soul Ignition. Ignoring the stab of pain that went through his chest, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand at Liang Yinshen!


    ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh!!¡±


    A black light shot out from mid-air toward Liang Yinshen, but that wasn¡¯t all! The Cataclysmic Seal circled around to fly toward Liang Yinshen, but it was to strike the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd out of the way!

 Chapter 1349: Suppressed by Soul Armaments

    Bai Yunfei¡¯s counterstrike was without a doubt exceedingly fast. The Soul Extinguishing Needle shot straight for Liang Yinshen while the Cataclysmic Seal moved to deflect the Thunder God''s Judging Halberd away from Bai Yunfei.


    The Cataclysmic Seal was actually faster in flight than the Thunder God''s Judging Halberd! Under Bai Yunfei''s full control, it was able to close the gap and strike against the halberd with a resonating clang!


    "Clang!!"


    It was a crisp sound. Instead of being deflected away like a small pebble, the Cataclysmic Seal managed to overpower the other and send the Halberd spinning away into another direction.


    "Bzzz¡­"


    A resonating hum arose from the Thunder God''s Judging Halberd and Cataclysmic Seal. Red light shined out from the latter while the former began to let out a seemingly sad groan.


    The +14 additional effect of the Cataclysmic Seal had failed to activate!


    "Ahh!!"


    The mournful wails of his own soul armament was as loud as a thunderclap to Liang Yinshen. Furious at what he thought to be an attempt to break it, Liang Yinshen roared in anger and moved back to dodge the Soul Extinguishing Needle.


    But the needle pursued him. As if it was joking, the needle followed him in his path, forcing the man to create a barrier of black and violet light to stop it from hitting.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    But rather than watching the needle crash into his barrier, Liang Yinshen was alarmed to see the needle go through it instead!


    +12 Additional Effect of the Soul Extinguishing Needle: Ignore darkness-type defenses when attacking.


    As a dual-type cultivator in elemental lightning and darkness, Liang Yinshen¡¯s elemental barrier was effectively a net with holes large enough for the Soul Extinguishing Needle to simply go through. There was no challenge at all.


    But Liang Yinshen wasn¡¯t flustered, even if the needle was no longer far away enough for him to dodge. Shifting his body so that his left shoulder faced the needle, Liang Yinshen prepared for his soul armor to block it.


    ¡°Tzcht¡­¡±


    But rather than block it, the high-heaven tier soul armor let out a sharp crack when the needle stabbed it and¡­broke! The needle managed to spear through it!


    ¡°Pcht!!¡±


    Liang Yinshen felt his shoulder grow cold. A bone-chilling cold began to spread throughout his body and even his soul! Something was draining away at his life!!


    The grey needle wasn¡¯t only capable of piercing through his high-heaven tier soul armor and his flesh¡ªit was capable of inflicting damage to his soul!


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!¡±


    Liang Yinshen never would¡¯ve imagined that a small needle would be capable of such a terrifying thing. Frozen stiff from fear, he began to let out a heart-wrenching scream!!


    Equipment Grade: High Heaven


    Elemental Affinity: Darkness


    Upgrade Level: +12


    Attack: 8280


    Additional Attack: 8000


    Soul Compatibility: 40%


    Equipment Effect 1: Inflict damage to the target¡¯s soul when a blow is landed.


    Equipment Effect 2: A portion of the soul of each killed target is converted into attack. Portion converted is dependent on the strength of the killed target.


    +10 Additional Effect: Inflict Soul-frayed once damage has been applied. For 10 seconds, spirit-based attacks do 100% more damage.


    +12 Additional Effect: Ignore dark-type defenses.


    Upgrade Requirement: 400 Soulpoints


    The Soul Extinguishing Needle had over sixteen thousand attack; not even the low-divine tier ¡®Demon Mask¡¯ was able to stop itself from being pierced. How could a mere high-heaven tier soul armor hope to do so? After piercing the armor, it was but a simple matter for the Soul Extinguishing Needle to start inflicting damage to the soul.


    Retreating was all Liang Yinshen could hope to do right now. Pained by the damage done to his soul, he flew several dozen meters before feeling a presence come at him from behind. Grabbing onto the only-just returned Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd, he swung it behind to stop whatever it was that was coming!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The halberd smashed into the needle, sending the latter spinning away, but only for a moment. After a while, it came flying back toward Liang Yinshen!


    As he prepared to swing his halberd again, Liang Yinshen¡¯s ears perked up at a sudden voice!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    Everything went hazy for Liang Yinshen then. He felt his clarity slip for just long enough for the Soul Extinguishing Needle to be within three inches of his forehead!


    Panicking, Liang Yinshen snapped his head to the side and just barely avoided the Soul Extinguishing Needle. As it whizzed past his head, Liang Yinshen began to be acutely aware of the sweat that had formed over his skin¡­


    ¡°How is he capable of such a powerful soul attack!?¡±


    Liang Yinshen roared mentally to himself in disbelief. Somehow, a Mid-stage Soul Saint was able to overpower him with a soul attack! He didn¡¯t even have a chance to resist it!


    He also didn¡¯t know that Bai Yunfei was feeling quite annoyed. Neither the doubling effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf or the ability to amplify damage done to the soul from the Soul Extinguishing Needle had activated, meaning the Soul Anchor Technique failed to do what Bai Yunfei had hoped for.


    It was becoming more apparent how hard it was trying to fight a Late-stage Soul Saint now. Liang Yinshen¡¯s soul was still far stronger than Bai Yunfei could hope to handle.


    But he did manage to gain the advantage with the Soul Extinguishing Needle.


    Not allowing Liang Yinshen even a second to rest, Bai Yunfei began to send the Soul Extinguishing Needle back around to attack him while the Cataclysmic Seal chased after Liang Yinshen from the other side.


    The Fire-tipped Spear appeared out of thin air after he waved his hand before a silhouette ¡®jumped¡¯ out from his person to grab hold of it. It was his avatar! Spear in hand, the avatar flew forward to strike!


    ¡°Clang! Clang! Clang¡­¡±


    In an expertly-executed move, Liang Yinshen managed to use the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd to parry the Soul Extinguishing Needle, the Cataclysmic Seal, and then the Fire-tipped Spear when it came. But the attacks continued.


    ¡­¡­


    He was being suppressed.


    Liang Yinshen was actually being suppressed!


    As if weathering a storm of metal, Liang Yinshen was forced to use his own soul armament to fend off soul armament after soul armament without rest!


    The pressure he felt was always at its greatest whenever he had to fend off the Cataclysmic Seal. Each time he used the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd, Liang Yinshen always felt a strange energy from it that didn¡¯t sit well with him. To make matters even worse, his halberd was deteriorating more and more every time he used it to block Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul armaments.


    Eventually, Liang Yinshen had no other choice but to put his efforts in dodging the soul armaments instead of parrying them. It was far too dangerous a move considering the Soul Extinguishing Needle¡¯s presence. In fact, Liang Yinshen had already a few close encounters with it.


    Falling into a trap was hard on the mind, but getting out of it was even harder on the body. Liang Yinshen was already beginning to feel fed up.


    Excluding the two thousand years Liang Yinshen had been sealed deep asleep, the man still had a few hundred years of life under his belt. He fought countless battles, one of which included one with Wu Tianhun, but never had he experienced such an annoying battle like this!!


    He never would¡¯ve imagined that a weaker opponent would be able to suppress him with a few soul armaments!


    He didn¡¯t pay Liang Fu¡¯s words too much attention at first when he was told about Bai Yunfei. Liang Fu said then that each and every single one of Bai Yunfei¡¯s numerous soul armaments were capable of absurd magic, and he didn¡¯t believe it. But now that he experienced it for himself¡­


    From the start of his battle to now, Liang Yinshen estimated that nearly a third of his power was gone. The elemental fire was beginning to grow stronger instead of the other elements, meaning his opponent¡¯s manipulation of the energy around them was starting to outshine his own.


    His opponent had the advantage by using an area-type skill of some kind, one he never saw before. He thought it was a soul skill at first, but after thinking about it, he realized that it wasn¡¯t a soul skill at all! It was the special ability of one of his soul armaments!


    The most noticeable change was in the Cataclysmic Seal, the soul armament was quite clearly far stronger than before. After absorbing the Bloodbath, the Cataclysmic Seal gained a new ability:


    Reduce all attributes of a single opponent by 15%.


    This was the ability the Cataclysmic Seal had been using since it started fighting Liang Yinshen.


    Other than that, there was also the +12 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate.


    +12 Additional Effect: All allies within range gain a 20% increase in all attributes.


    All enemies within range have a 10% decrease in all attributes.


    Determination of ally or enemy is dependent on user. If unknown, then neither effects will apply.


    Duration of 1 hour and cooldown of 24 hours.


    And then there was the +12 additional effect of the Core Stone.


    +12 Additional Effect: Temporarily increase the activity rate of any type of energy by 100% within an area of the owner¡¯s choosing.


    Together, the three effects were able to provide Bai Yunfei a great advantage as long as they were activated. Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even need to use the Interdimensional Phantasm anymore to gain the advantage.


    With Bai Yunfei and his avatar attacking him with the three soul armaments, Liang Yinshen was unable to do anything else but dodge and weave. With the avatar wielding the Soul Extinguishing Needle and the Fire-tipped Spear while Bai Yunfei¡¯s real body controlled the Cataclysmic Seal, Liang Yinshen was forced to bring back out his halberd after a while.


    Already, his halberd and the Cataclysmic Seal struck several times, but the +14 additional effect had yet to activate.


    ¡°Clang!!!¡±


    The halberd and the Cataclysmic Seal clashed once again for a brief moment before parting so Liang Yinshen could parry the Soul Extinguishing Needle and Fire-tipped Spear. Once again, the +14 additional effect failed to activate.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t good!¡±


    Bai Yunfei felt his soulforce drop after that last attack. Alarmed, he realized his soulforce was almost out!


    Although he had managed to put Liang Yinshen in a precarious situation, that advantage would be gone if all his soulforce was gone too! He had to use Soul Ignition to regain his energy!


    Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunfei formed several handseals and immediately activated Soul Ignition!


    His barrage lessened for just a moment, but Liang Yinshen took notice of it right away!


    ¡°Aha!!!¡±


    Practically insane now, Liang Yinshen let out a bestial cackle at the opportunity. Black light cloaked his person for a brief second before exploding outward, forcing each of the three Regalia back. He disappeared into a bolt of violet lightning away from the three soul armaments and flew straight for Bai Yunfei!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Up close to Bai Yunfei, Liang Yinshen hoisted his halberd high above his head. The edge of the halberd shined ominously in the light before he brought it down to split Bai Yunfei¡¯s head in two!

 Chapter 1350: Defeating the Enemy

    The Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd was a mid-divine tier soul armament. It had no spirit in it, but it was still overwhelmingly powerful. So powerful in fact that even the Returner Armor would have trouble fending off a blow from it. And a downward swing of it onto the head would be impossible to stop.


    There wasn¡¯t any time for Bai Yunfei to recall the Cataclysmic Seal or Fire-tipped Spear to save him. He had been caught right as he was activating Soul Ignition! He hadn¡¯t the chance to move out of the way or block it with anything, but that didn¡¯t mean Bai Yunfei was going to die that easily!


    He didn¡¯t have to move at all, in fact. All he needed to do was just think!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The downward stroke of Liang Yinshen¡¯s halberd was true. It went through Bai Yunfei¡¯s head and then the rest of his body!


    But he didn¡¯t feel any ¡®resistance¡¯. Liang Yinshen felt as though he had just whiffed air! In front of him, Bai Yunfei¡¯s outline flickered as if transparent. His attack went through an illusion of him!


    ¡°This move again!!¡±


    Liang Yinshen roared in anger. He wasn¡¯t going to be outdone by the same move twice! Having predicted that something like this would happen, he brought his halberd back and waited. He knew that in two seconds, Bai Yunfei would reappear in his original spot!


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Liang Yinshen wasn¡¯t going to hold back. It was a simple matter to wait and prepare for Bai Yunfei to reappear! Twisting his waist to bring his halberd back, Liang Yinshen swung his halberd so that it¡¯d travel through Bai Yunfei¡¯s hip and bisect him in half!


    It was a killing stroke that¡¯d certainly kill Bai Yunfei if it struck. Whether by bisection or having his spine crushed by the blow, Bai Yunfei was sure to die!


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    On the eve of Liang Yinshen¡¯s victory, the loud clanging sound of metal hitting metal could be heard. He felt metallic resistance push back at his halberd. The shock transmitted up through his weapon and into his hands, jolting them enough for his skin to crack!


    Bai Yunfei did appear in the same spot two seconds later as Liang Yinshen thought. But the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd didn¡¯t go through him as expected¡ªit was stopped by a golden piece of armor!


    ¡°The Triumphant Flame!!¡±


    Liang Yinshen gasped in surprise!


    The Regalia, the Triumphant Flame, stopped his fatal blow!


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei had already prepared the Core Stone¡¯s effect to save himself. He was more than ready to dodge the deadly attack and wasn¡¯t at all worried about Liang Yinshen¡¯s attack. Though not worried, Bai Yunfei knew he wasn¡¯t out of danger just yet. Since his strength was already back thanks to Soul Ignition, he thought about what technique would be best to deal with him.


    Though he wasn¡¯t able to use the Triumphant Flame as he wished, Bai Yunfei was still able to make use of the powerful defenses it offered. It was essentially a shield for him to make use of to block Liang Yinshen¡¯s attack.


    Liang Yinshen¡¯s blow wasn¡¯t enough to stop Bai Yunfei from doing anything else. His right hand blurred for just a second before he retrieved the Vampiric Demon Edge from his space ring!


    A bloody light pulsated out from the Vampiric Demon Edge once it appeared; it¡¯s +12 additional effect had activated!


    +12 Additional Effect: Heal from all wounds instantaneously. Increase all stats by 300% and dull the sense of pain by 50% for an hour.All damage sustained within that hour will have its severity amplified by 200% afterward.Cooldown of 24 hours.


    But that wasn¡¯t the end! Another part of Bai Yunfei¡¯s body burst open to draw out blood from the wound. Amounts of it flowed eerily from the wound toward his right arm and into the Vampiric Demon Edge!


    +10 Additional Effect: Pay a blood price to increase the power of the user and item. Gain 1% of attack and 2% increase to overall stats for every percentage of blood taken. Duration ends when no more blood is given.


    This was the moment Bai Yunfei had been waiting for. After using Soul Ignition to replenish his strength, he¡¯d use the +12 additional effect of the Vampiric Demon Edge to increase his strength and the +10 additional effect to increase it again!


    On the other side, Liang Yinshen was in a heavy state of confusion. Rather than kill Bai Yunfei, he watched as his opponent survive the deadly blow and suddenly exploded with strength!


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t at the level of a Mid-stage Soul Saint anymore, his aura was reflecting that of a Late-stage Soul Saint!


    ¡°Roar!!¡±


    The pigment of Bai Yunfei¡¯s skin grew red. Similarly, his eyes grew pink as blood seeped into them. He roared primalistically before swinging the Vampiric Demon Edge vehemently at Liang Yinshen¡¯s waist!


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    The cry Liang Yinshen gave was one of deep-seated fear. He could no longer ignore how big of a threat Bai Yunfei was! In a rapidly-made decision, the man reflexively brought his halberd back to protect himself.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    Something metallic slammed into his halberd, but Bai Yunfei felt as if all of the force had been transferred into him instead. The bones in his arms cracked under the pressure before the rest of his body was blown away like a recently-fired cannonball!!


    ¡°Crack¡­¡±


    Pain gripped at his heart, but not due to his arm bones cracking. The object that was breaking apart was¡­none other than the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd!!


    Several cracks could already be seen on the surface of the halberd!


    The Soul Sealing Mandate said before that Liang Yinshen had greatly damaged the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd in his battle with Wu Tianhun. Its current state was hardly better than back then with its spirit destroyed and its vessel practically in pieces, but at least it was battle-capable for just a little longer.


    But continual assault by the Cataclysmic Seal and the Fire-tipped Spear had nearly knocked out the rest of its durability. A blow from the Vampiric Demon Edge was enough to cause the halberd to lose the very last of its durability!


    ¡°No!!!¡±


    The last of Liang Yinshen¡¯s calmness was gone. The damage to his halberd was far too much for him to handle. He was panicking. Wiping the blood from his lips, he began to circulate his soulforce to stabilize himself.


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    The rapid sound of wind displacement frightened him even more. Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t flying toward him, meaning something else was coming at him!


    Looking back around, he saw a giant-sized Cataclysmic Seal come crashing into him!


    Left without a choice, Liang Yinshen was forced to bring his weakened halberd up in front of him.


    ¡°Clang!!¡±


    The cry of pain that chimed out from the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd was even worse than when it clashed against the Vampiric Demon Edge. Against another Regalia, the halberd could only groan and send more of the force into Liang Yinshen instead.


    Arms shaking, Liang Yinshen watched as his hands were forced to loosen and drop the halberd from his grip before he was once again sent flying.


    A good portion of Liang Yinshen¡¯s moral dropped once his Regalia had been disarmed from him. He didn¡¯t even manage to try and stage a counterattack when he saw an even more frightful sight!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal exploded with a red light, showering the entire world with its glow and enveloping the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd in it. The halberd flew into the Cataclysmic Seal, and like a stone sinking into water, it slowly melted into the Cataclysmic Seal!


    The +14 additional effect had finally activated!!


    ¡°What¡­¡± Liang Yinshen¡¯s pupils were the size of a needle now. His jaw dropped open and his face went pale as the pain in his soul suddenly spiked! His connection with the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd had been severed!


    ¡°Aghhh!!¡±


    Liang Yinshen let out a heart-wrenching scream of pain as the loss of his soul armament hit him. Black and violet light exploded off from him in violent bursts as he clutched at his head with both hands and began to thrash about!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    Even during his thrashes of pain and agony, Liang Yinshen was still on the alert. He could hear something else coming at him! A figure in red with a bloody sword! Like lightning, the figure flickered toward him before raising his sword up to deliver a downward stroke!


    But there was still more to that attack! From his left and right, a red streak and a gray streak f;ew at him! The Fire-tipped Spear and the Soul Extinguishing Needle!


    A three-pronged attack! Escape was an impossibility now. Death was all but confirmed. Steeling his nerves, Liang Yinshen raised both of his hands to begin performing a series of arcane-looking handseals!


    Energy began to roll off in waves from Liang Yinshen, but in ways that were both mysterious and unsettlingly powerful¡­


    Then in the next second¡­all three of Bai Yunfei¡¯s attacks converged!


    ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    The Vampiric Demon Edge made contact first. Cleaving air and biting into his flesh, the Vampiric Demon Edge cut down his left shoulder and across to his torso to the right side of his hips!


    ¡°Pcht! Pcht!!¡±


    The next was the Soul Extinguishing Needle. It pierced Liang Yinshen¡¯s throat while the Fire-tipped Spear embedded itself deep into his chest!


    ¡°I did it!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes lit up with glee for a moment before he realized his mistake, ¡°Wait! This¡­this is just an avatar!!¡±


    Despite his sword cutting the man practically in two, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t see any blood! Not a single trace of blood could be seen from any of the three wounds despite Liang Yinshen¡¯s aura dropping drastically! The reason why it dropped wasn¡¯t because his strength was waning¡­but because it wasn¡¯t his real body! It was an avatar Bai Yunfei just struck!


    A powerful aura popped to life several kilometers away shortly afterward; Liang Yinshen¡¯s real body had somehow appeared out of thi nair!


    Translocation!!


    Somehow, through his arcane ability, Liang Yinshen managed to switch places with his avatar!


    That was how he survived! Rather than take on a fatal blow himself, Liang Yinshen switched his body out with an avatar! It would hurt him immensely, but he¡¯d still be alive!


    ¡°Ahh!! Die!!¡±


    An avatar didn¡¯t have a body made from flesh and blood, but damage done to it was the same as doing damage to the soul. The attacks from the three soul armaments were all powerful in their own capabilities, and their combined forces equated to a tremendous amount of pain for Liang Yinshen. A majority of his strength bled out from him when his avatar was struck, but not even that was enough to hide the fury he held for Bai Yunfei!


    He was going to self-destruct!!


    Before his avatar could fully disappear, he¡¯d force it to self-destruct!


    ¡°Whoosh¡­¡±


    Just as his avatar was beginning to prime itself to blow up, a white ball of light flew toward it!


    ¡°Seal!!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    It had been another surprise for Bai Yunfei to see his opponent escape death again, but he still had a few tricks up his sleeves! Before the avatar could go through with self-destruction, Bai Yunfei threw out the Soul Sealing Mandate!


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The effect was instantaneous. Its power activated, the Soul Sealing Mandate let out a flash of white light and covered Liang Yinshen¡¯s avatar in it!


    The rapid build-up of soulforce came to a stop at once. Liang Yinshen¡¯s avatar stood there, frozen stiff now that it was sealed!


    Bai Yunfei turned his attention back to Liang Yinshen just in time to see him break free from Shen Pojun, Xiao Qi, and Wu Lie¡¯s encirclement. He was trying to fly back down to earth!


    ¡°Trying to run?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei roared. Calling his soul armaments back to him, Bai Yunfei began to follow Liang Yinshen back down!

 Chapter 1351: Despair

    Despite the amount of actions that took place during the battle, Bai Yunfei¡¯s fight against Liang Yinshen didn¡¯t even actually pass a minute. During that time, Xiao Qi and Shen Pojun¡¯s battle with Liang Yinshen¡¯s other avatar was at a stalemate.


    The avatar was a Mid-stage Soul Saint in strength, but it wasn¡¯t able to fully demonstrate its abilities since it was an avatar. That being said, two Early-stage Soul Saints would still have a chance of winning against it.


    Neither Xiao Qi nor Shen Pojun were ¡®regular¡¯ by any definition. They both had the power of being able to fight toe to toe with a Mid-stage Soul Saint by themselves. When they banded together, they were definitely able to fight against Liang Yinshen¡¯s avatar without being at a disadvantage.


    Wu Lie was able to re-enter the battle after a period of recovery. The wounds Liang Yinshen gave him were still fresh, but he was still able to fight in some capacity. He had the power of at least an Early-stage Soul Saint right now, so he was able to contribute quite nicely in the battle.


    Liang Yinshen¡¯s avatar was in a tough shape. It wasn¡¯t able to recover its soulforce since it was just an avatar, so the longer it fought the more it weakened.


    By his estimation, it¡¯d be another two minutes before he¡¯d be at his limit and forced to dissipate. That¡¯d harm the real body and would make it even more likely for Bai Yunfei to win.


    But the battle between Bai Yunfei and Liang Yinshen was already reaching a conclusion before Xiao Qi and Shen Pojun¡¯s battle with the avatar¡­


    Right as Xiao Qi was battling Liang Yinshen¡¯s avatar, it suddenly retreated a fair distance away from them and began to make a few handseals. Everyone felt their vision grow blurry for a moment as the avatar¡¯s aura somehow skyrocketed to the levels of a Late-stage Soul Saint!


    ¡°Boom!!¡±


    The recently ¡®translocated¡¯ Liang Yinshen took immediate action before any of the three Saints could react. Violet and black exploded out from his person as waves of chaotic energy responded to his presence. All Xiao Qi and the others felt was an irresistible force pushed past them and out from their entrapment!


    ¡°What happened?¡± Xiao Qi chirped in confusion.


    ¡°Yunfei!!¡± He cried again after sensing the former¡¯s sudden presence.


    Shen Pojun and Wu Lie both looked up just in time for a crimson streak of light come to a stop in front of them.


    And much to their surprise, a semi-transparent cocoon of light floated behind Bai Yunfei¡ªit was Liang Yinshen¡¯s avatar!


    Unable to hold his confusion in, Shen Pojun gave Bai Yunfei a quizzical glance, ¡°Yunfei, what¡­¡±


    ¡°I had the chance earlier to kill him, but he used some strange magic to switch places with his avatar. We have to hurry after him, he¡¯s trying to escape!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± That caught their attention. Wu Lie stared at Bai Yunfei in disbelief; how had this ¡®youngster¡¯, someone who was only a Mid-stage Soul Saint, able to overpower a Late-stage Soul Saint?


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have the time to answer their questions. Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei sent the cocoon of light toward Xiao Qi and yelled out to him, ¡°Xiao Qi, kill his avatar!!¡±


    ¡°Okay!!¡±


    Though he didn¡¯t understand what was going on, Xiao Qi just knew that Bai Yunfei was asking for his help. Beating his wings, Xiao Qi sent dozens of tiny spatial edges toward the cocoon and brought the avatar to pieces!


    Since it lacked a physical body, an avatar could technically live through being bisected. But Xiao Qi had evenly spaced his spatial edges so that the majority of them ate away at too much of the avatar for it to sustain itself!


    The reason why Bai Yunfei had Xiao Qi be the one to kill the avatar was because it¡¯d be good for the bird. Killing an avatar was good experience. It wasn¡¯t enough to make a breakthrough of any kind, but it¡¯d definitely expand his knowledge.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Ahh!!!¡±


    A scream echoed across the skies when Xiao Qi destroyed the avatar. Liang Yinshen, pausing in the air to writhe in pain, was now screaming at the top of his lungs!!


    The death of his avatar was in essence the death of a portion of his soul. It was a harsh pain by itself and was practically enough to nearly kill him in his weakened state!


    It was only through pure willpower that he managed to bite back down the pain and continue his escape. The protective dome over the palace was already within sight! Spreading his soulsense, Liang Yinshen quickly found out where Wu Hong was fighting Liang Fu.


    Like a meteorite crashing into the earth, Liang Yinshen shot down from the heavens to where Liang Fu was and pulled him to him!


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving!!¡±


    Sparing Liang Fu an explanation, Liang Yinshen retrieved a black jade slip from his space ring and crushed it in his fist! Space began to warp in front of him before tearing open an entrance for him to disappear into!


    This was a teleportation-type soul armament!


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Wu Hong was stunned. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes that Liang Yinshen had appeared so abruptly and left just as quickly with Liang Fu.


    His battle with Liang Fu had been a stalemate. The two of them were equally matched and both had powerful Regalias with them. The only thing that happened worthy of mention was when at one point, Liang Fu cried out the word ¡®Triumphant Flame¡¯ and looked upward¡ªthat had been the moment when Bai Yunfei took out the Triumphant Flame to stop the Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd. Being its master, Liang Fu would know the moment when it was out.


    It was because of this change that Liang Fu¡¯s mind was thrown into chaos and his fighting was affected.


    The distraction was only for half a minute at longest before he and Liang Fu both heard the heavens above split open and a bolt of lightning come crashing down. The next second later and Liang Fu was gone with the wind¡­


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    Moments later and four other streaks of light came crashing down to where he was.


    ¡°Grandfather!!¡± Wu Hong exclaimed once he took sight of Wu Lie. He flew to his side at once to hold the man up by the shoulder, ¡°Are you alright?!¡±


    ¡°Worry not, I will live.¡±


    It slightly mitigated his concerns to hear those words. Turning his attention to Bai Yunfei, who¡¯s aura was currently making his heart race, he asked, ¡°Have you¡­defeated the enemy?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty Wu Hong¡­¡± Bai Yunfei first bowed to the man in respect. ¡°The enemy has been defeated, but they¡¯ve succeeded in running away¡­¡±


    By now, Liang Yinshen and Liang Fu were both long gone. They all knew that a soul armament had taken the two of them away.


    ¡°Indeed. Liang Fu has been taken away by that ¡®Divine Ancestor¡¯ of his¡­there¡¯ll be no hope tracking them if a teleportation-type soul armament was used. But that is a matter for another day. We must quell the rebel fighters within the Capital.¡±


    Liang Fu and Liang Yinshen were gone, but their subordinates weren¡¯t. They were still fighting within the Capital, but they wouldn¡¯t last long now that their strongest fighters had fled.


    ¡°Liang Fu?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked, ¡°Does Your Majesty mean¡­Wu Hao?¡±


    ¡°He¡­¡± Sorrow filled Wu Hong¡¯s eyes at the name, ¡°he is not ¡®Wu Hao¡¯, but¡­¡±


    Wu Hong retold the story of what he heard to Bai Yunfei after that. Though Bai Yunfei already knew a little bit of the context after learning about Liang Yinshen, he was still deeply shocked to hear that Wu Hao had been Possessed by ¡®Liang Fu¡¯ since childhood.


    Then it was Bai Yunfei¡¯s turn to share. His story was shocking to everyone that heard it, but Wu Hong was the one most affected by it. All of a sudden, the man bowed to Bai Yunfei and the two with them, ¡°Our enemies were routed swiftly by your group¡¯s timely intervention. To this, We of the Royal Family and the entire continent are grateful. I, Wu Hong, pay my respect to you!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that, Your Majesty!¡± Bai Yunfei was flustered to see the ruler of the empire bow to them. ¡°Your Majesty, we¡¯ll leave the clean-up of the Capital to the others. I must chase after Liang Yinshen. I¡¯ll never be able to rest easily as long as he¡¯s out there.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Wu Hong looked hopeful at his words. ¡°You have a means to find them?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei nodded before taking the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror out from its space ring¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Far far away from the Capital. Deep within a valley. Among the trees, space warped inward on itself before two individuals stepped through.


    It was Liang Yinshen and Liang Fu.


    ¡°Pfff!!¡±


    Liang Yinshen stumbled to his knees and collapsed onto the ground. Face flushed red from the pain, the man couldn¡¯t help himself but let out a mouthful of blood!


    ¡°Divine Ancestor!!¡±


    Alarmed, Liang Fu quickly helped Liang Yinshen to a giant boulder to rest. ¡°Divine Ancestor¡­what happened back there?!¡±


    ¡°That Bai Yunfei¡­¡± Gasped Liang Yinshen, ¡°was too strong¡­my Thunder God¡¯s Judging Halberd was destroyed¡­.by him¡­.my avatars were destroyed as well¡­and so I fled¡­cough cough¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Exclaimed Liang Fu, ¡°It¡¯s impossible! How could Bai Yunfei be that strong?!¡±


    Never did Liang Fu ever associate ¡®defeat¡¯ with his Divine Ancestor. Not only did his ancestor lose, but it was a completely one-sided defeat!


    A while ago, he had been standing confidently over the palace. And now, here he was with his Divine Ancestor, beaten like dogs and forced to flee pitifully. It was a blow so crushing his heart found it difficult to bear without screaming.


    ¡°Alas¡­our Liang has been defeated once more¡­.Fu¡¯er¡­my death isn¡¯t long from now. Devour my soul and seek a location to isolate yourself¡­His strength is unrivalled, should he seek us out for revenge¡­you cannot die! The Liang bloodline lives on for as long as you live!!¡±


    Weakened, Liang Yinshen could only let his words describe his hatred at the situation.


    The spirit of Liang Fu nearly flew out from his mouth at Liang Yinshen¡¯s words. ¡°What?! Divine Ancestor¡­how could I possibly devour your soul! I¡­I can¡¯t¡­¡±


    What Liang Yinshen was saying was to have them go through the act of Possession. Liang Yinshen would attempt to ¡®Possess¡¯ Liang Fu so that it¡¯d backfire and allow Liang Fu to seize his soul for himself. It was in essence what Bai Yunfei had done to the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul. If Liang Fu succeeded then he¡¯d be able to process Liang Yinshen¡¯s soul and become even stronger. He¡¯d be able to have a quick route through Sainthood and possibly become a Late-stage Soul Saint after time.


    The method was practically a ¡®cheat¡¯, but it was a cheat with dangerous risks. The destruction of both souls was likely if they didn¡¯t focus, but the payoff would be worth it. A ruling ancestor of the Liang ¡®offering¡¯ his own experiences and strength to the next generation was a grave matter that wouldn¡¯t have been done in any other case but this.


    But even now, this was nothing but a gamble. The two of them were gambling with the hope of the Liang Kingdom on the line.


    ¡°Speak no more about it, my life is quickly coming to a¡­ah!!¡± The words of Liang Yinshen trailed off as he looked to the eastern skies in despair and fear. ¡°It¡­it cannot be!! How was he able to discover us!!¡±


    ¡°What!?!¡± Liang Fu¡¯s head snapped up just in time to see a streak of green light shoot across the skies toward them!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­Hundred League!!¡± Liang Fu gasped, ¡°The Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror!! After killing Shangguan Xiongyan, Bai Yunfei took the Triumphant Flame and the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror! He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s found us¡­it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s all over¡­¡±


    He had completely forgotten about Bai Yunfei having the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror. The rush of the battle and the gravity of the situation had made him unable to concentrate. As the enemy drew closer to them, Liang Fu found himself sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of despair¡­

 Chapter 1352: Again?!

    Liang Fu was in despair. A despair so deep that no resistance could even be offered. He did not think about running away, and neither did he even bother to entertain any other notion. Not even an infinite amount of teleportation-type soul armaments would be able to help him escape the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror and Hundred Leagues¡­


    The Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror: the world¡¯s strongest tracking Regalia.


    The Azure Boat of a Hundred Leagues: the world¡¯s fastest flying Regalia.


    Within seconds, the Hundred Leagues came to a stop just a few hundred meters away from where he and Liang Yinshen were.


    The light dissipated after a while, revealing a quaint boat the color of the emerald ocean. At roughly five or six meters long, this boat was made seemingly from sparkling crystals. It had neither sail nor oar and relied only on the wind to fly.


    And on top of it stood two individuals: Bai Yunfei and Wu Hong.


    The two alighted from the boat and floated gently to the ground. While Wu Hong stored away the small boat, a flicker of jealousy shot across Bai Yunfei.


    The Regalia ¡®Hundred Leagues¡¯ was a small boat but a flying Regalia unique beyond measure¡­


    How fast was it? As fast as its name implied¡ªcapable of traveling a hundred leagues in an instant!!


    The Core Stone was capable of instantaneous transportation to some degree, but not as great as the Hundred Leagues. It required a tremendous amount of soulforce and still couldn¡¯t be done in quick succession without risking the chance of being injured by spatial energy.


    That was where the Hundred Leagues differed. It wasn¡¯t teleportation like what the Core Stone offered, but ¡®flight¡¯! Like a flying sword, the Hundred League allowed one the power of flight at a fraction of the cost! And it could fly fast!


    It was many times stronger than the Heaven¡¯s Thunder, thus the jealousy from Bai Yunfei. The Hundred Leagues was something of great fame in the soul cultivator world. Even the Wanderer, Yun Liantian, modeled his ¡®One Azure Leaf Boat¡¯ after the Hundred Leagues!


    Back in the Capital, Wu Hong had been adamant on going with Bai Yunfei to find Liang Yinshen. He was the only one capable of using the Hundred Leagues to the best of its abilities and had a very personal reason for wanting to go. He wanted to be the one to put down Liang Fu.


    In the end, Bai Yunfei relented. Together, the two departed from the Capital to chase after Liang Yinshen and Liang Fu.


    It was a collaborative effort between the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror and the Hundred Leagues. With the +10 additional effect of the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror, they were able to find the two and arrive at the location within minutes after disembarking on the Hundred Leagues.


    ¡­¡­


    Wu Hong had no sympathy for the despair-stricken Liang Fu nor the pale-faced Liang Yinshen. The Soul Slayer appeared next to him for him to take and prepare for combat.


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t in the mood for conversation either. The Cataclysmic Seal, Fire-tipped Spear, and Soul Extinguishing Needle all appeared around him in a protective circle¡ªthough Liang Yinshen looked like a dying ember, the man was still dangerous. A cornered rat could strike with the ferocity of a lion, and if the rat were to try to self-destruct, then it¡¯d become a troublesome matter.


    If possible, he wanted to capture Liang Yinshen alive, meaning he¡¯d have to use the Soul Sealing Mandate and have Xiao Qi kill him¡­


    Should Liang Yinshen learn what Bai Yunfei was thinking about, would he puke blood? Captured solely for the purpose of becoming ¡®experience¡¯ for Xiao Qi?


    Regardless, Liang Yinshen came to a decision at once. ¡°Fu¡¯er, leave this place¡­¡± He transmitted his voice into Liang Fu¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Ah? Divine Ancestor, are you¡­¡±


    An irresistible energy covered Liang Fu for a moment before pushing him far away from the place, interrupting the man before he could finish his sentence.


    ¡°Ahhh!!!¡±


    Once Liang Fu was gone, Liang Yinshen let out a bestial roar before leaping to his feet. Exploding with the last of his energy, he charged straight for Bai Yunfei and Wu Hong like a fired arrow!!


    ¡°Watch out, Your Majesty!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei moved forward to step in front of Wu Hong. The man nodded before flying in the direction toward Liang Fu. He knew he wasn¡¯t a match for Wu Hong.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The Cataclysmic Seal was already flying toward Liang Yinshen and transforming in size to crush him under its weight.


    Moving to the side, Liang Yinshen evaded the Cataclysmic Seal and shifted to its right side. But right as he cleared it, Liang Yinshen was met with an incoming Soul Extinguishing Needle!


    He was prepared for this, however. Shifting once again, Liang Yinshen managed to dodge the Soul Extinguishing Needle and make it within twenty meters of Bai Yunfei!


    Bai Yunfei knew Liang Yinshen was burning up his soul for a temporary amount of power and didn¡¯t bother to bring out the Vampiric Demon Edge. He was still running on his second activation of Soul Ignition while in ¡®Coil¡¯ Form and Berserk Mode. The domain skills of his soul armaments were active as well, meaning he was extremely capable of fighting Liang Yinshen right now. Bai Yunfei was confident that he¡¯d even be able to seal Liang Yinshen with the Soul Sealing Mandate before he could self-destruct.


    So he sneered when Liang Yinshen began his approach. Waving his right hand, Bai Yunfei sent the Fire-tipped Spear forward while manipulating the Cataclysmic Seal and Soul Extinguishing Needle back for a second attempt.


    But that was when something completely unexpected happened¡­


    Rather than attempt to move out of the Fire-tipped Spear¡¯s way, Liang Yinshen continued onward to allow the spear to pierce his throat!


    ¡°Pft¡­boom!!¡±


    It was neither an illusion nor an avatar. Following the explosion, Liang Yinshen¡¯s head and his upper torso exploded into flesh and gore!!


    ¡°Wha¡­¡± Bai Yunfei was stunned, confused by the sight.


    How could he possibly not be? The enemy somehow didn¡¯t dodge the spear and was killed that easily?!


    ¡°What? Wait! This is¡­¡±


    A second later and Bai Yunfei realized something about Liang Yinshen¡¯s corpse. Then his face blanched!


    ¡°Whoosh!!¡±


    A semi-transparent ball of light arose from Liang Yinshen¡¯s corpse and sped rapidly toward Bai Yunfei. It penetrated his elemental barrier and then sunk easily into Bai Yunfei¡¯s body!


    Fearful by the sight when he could finally think, Bai Yunfei began to show an awkward expression as if to ask a single question¡­


    ¡°Again?!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    This sensation was without a doubt Liang Yinshen attempting to ¡®Possess¡¯ him!


    He felt the presence of something borrow deep into his body before throwing itself at his soul!


    ¡°We perish together!!¡± Liang Yinshen¡¯s voice boomed into his mind.


    What Liang Yinshen was doing was activating the ¡®Possession¡¯, but he wasn¡¯t planning to take over his soul at all! He was attempting to do enough damage to the both of them!!


    Liang Yinshen had already Possessed three souls before Bai Yunfei before having his soul sealed. His soul wasn¡¯t capable of Possessing anymore, but he could certainly drag Bai Yunfei down with him. If he did enough damage to Bai Yunfei¡¯s soul, then it¡¯d be possible for Bai Yunfei to perish before he did!


    It was a tremendous risk. If Bai Yunfei was able to withstand this and ¡®counter¡¯ devour his own, then he¡¯d helping Bai Yunfei out by giving him his soul.


    But Liang Yinshen didn¡¯t believe Bai Yunfei was capable of doing that. Only someone else capable in the art of Possession would be able to do so.


    Unfortunately for him, he made a tremendous miscalculation: what he thought was an impossible scenario was becoming a reality!


    The art of Possession? Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t knowledgeable of it, but¡­the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was an expert!


    Bai Yunfei learned of the art after he properly absorbed the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord¡¯s soul. He also gained a few of his memories and stole knowledge of the art!


    And the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord knew of a better way to Possess people. What Liang Yinshen knew wasn¡¯t as comprehensive as the former!


    So what Liang Yinshen thought to be the best suicide tactic against Bai Yunfei became essentially the act of throwing a lamb to a tiger!


    ¡°No¡­Nooo! How are you capable of Possession! This cannot be!! Aghhh!!¡±


    Shrieked Liang Yinshen the moment he felt resistance. He was without a doubt shocked and horrified at the turn of events!

 Chapter 1353: Cleaning Up

    ¡°Divine Ancestor!!¡±


    ¡°Bai Yunfei!!¡±


    Two men shouted at the same time, but for different people. Stunned, Liang Fu and Wu Hong both stared off in a distance where Bai Yunfei and Liang Yinshen were fighting.


    Liang Fu¡¯s cry had been out of despair upon seeing the upper half of Liang Yinshen blow up. The abnormality in Bai Yunfei¡¯s aura had told him everything he needed to know about what Liang Yinshen was trying to do.


    ¡°Divine Ancestor¡­aghhh!!¡±


    The wail of agony that exploded from Liang Fu had been intense. Then he launched himself toward Bai Yunfei!


    He already knew that Liang Yinshen was trying to use Possession as a way to inflict harm onto Bai Yunfei. It was their best method to beat Bai Yunfei since Liang Fu could take advantage of the time to kill Bai Yunfei, take his corpse and equipment, and escape.


    As far as he was concerned, Bai Yunfei was a dead man walking if Liang Yinshen was already trying to Possess him. He just needed to head for Bai Yunfei and land the final blow.


    ¡°Bzz¡­¡±


    The aura around Bai Yunfei spiked with intensity when Liang Fu was just about under a hundred steps away from Bai Yunfei. To his horror, the ¡®stunned¡¯ Bai Yunfei was now glaring at him!


    ¡°Freeze!!¡±


    A single word was all Bai Yunfei had to say. Like a bolt of lightning, the Soul Anchor Technique struck Liang Fu and caused his body to stiffen up at once!


    Fingers crooked, Bai Yunfei swiped his right hand to send a red streak of light to coil around the motionless Liang Fu. Once coiled around him, the red light melted into his body and took control of his major acupoints, effectively sealing his soul and body.


    A mere Soul Emperor like Liang Fu was no match against Bai Yunfei.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s impossible! How didn¡¯t you die!! Divine Ancestor!!¡±


    Captured, Liang Fu could only glare at Bai Yunfei in fury and despair before asking the big question.


    ¡°You mean Liang Yinshen? Sorry to say but he¡¯s dead now¡ªhe was even nice enough to leave me a gift before he died.¡±


    ¡°Pft!!¡±


    His emotions overwhelmed him. Liang Fu gasped as a mouthful of blood escaped his mouth before he fell unconscious.


    Wu Hong touched down right beside Bai Yunfei after that. ¡°Are you¡­doing fine, Bai Yunfei? Just now¡­¡±


    ¡°Worry not, Your Highness. I¡¯m fine. I killed Liang Yinshen when he tried to Possess me.¡± Bai Yunfei explained succinctly, ¡°What does Your Highness plan to do with Liang Fu?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to take him back with him. Though Liang Fu has taken over the soul, the body is still of that of my brother¡¯s¡­¡±


    Since he was an outsider, Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t really care much about what happened to Liang Fu and didn¡¯t ask any additional questions to that. His eyes swept across the battlefield to where Liang Yinshen¡¯s corpse was. He summoned a fireball and immediately incinerated the corpse before retrieving the soul armaments and space rings. ¡°Your Highness, we should return to the Capital.¡±


    The flames of rebellion had yet to be quenched in the Capital and Wu Hong knew it. ¡°Very well, let us make our return!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    With the sealed Liang Fu in tow, Bai Yunfei and Wu Hong both rode the Hundred Leagues back to the Capital and coincidentally came across a few escaping enemies, all of which were dealt with accordingly.


    It looked like the battle for the Capital was finally coming to a quiet conclusion. There were still several fights taking place, but they were slowly being dealt with with the rebels being at a major disadvantage. Every so often, a prismatic beam of light would shoot across the sky and strike down an enemy.


    Soul Emperors and Soul Kings were no match for Xiao Qi. They wouldn¡¯t even be able to endure a single blow.


    The Liang were already in a tough spot when Bai Yunfei arrived with reinforcements. Their ¡®leaders¡¯ Liang Yinshen and Liang Fu fleeing the Capital was the final nail in the coffin that made everyone decide to give up. From there, the battle for the Capital became a battle to flee from it with multiple men dying.


    The morale of the rebel army was broken. With Wu Lie, Shen Pojun, and Xiao Qi joining the fray, the three of them were practically ending the war all by themselves.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t even have the chance to take part in the clean-up operations when he came back¡­


    Ultimately, roughly ninety percent of the men Liang Yinshen and Liang Fu brought with them to the Capital were killed. Many of them were killed when they attempted to escape, but roughly a dozen of them did manage to make it out from the Capital.


    But their days were numbered. The Tianhun School had already dispatched men to look for them.


    The magnificent battle for the Capital was finally coming to a conclusion¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The Capital was in a sorry state, regardless of who won the battle. A heavy air choked the atmosphere of the Capital following the calm. Many commoners and soul cultivators had died during the conflict and multiple buildings were all but destroyed¡­


    Relief efforts were already being made by the Royal Family. The Court were in charge of hiring contractors to rebuild buildings and compensations were being handed out to those whose family died during the battle.


    Aside from that, the Royal Family was also beginning to send people out to reclaim the cities occupied by the Liang.


    Without Liang Fu at their head, the rebel army was essentially dead. They had no one above the levels of a Soul King or Soul Emperor almost, meaning they didn¡¯t pose a threat to the Royal Family at all. The old relic that was the Liang could be safely disposed of.


    One month later and the empire¡¯s greatest rebellion to date had been entirely pacified.


    Multiple edicts were made following that month to appease the continent and the commoners of the empire. Each of the branches in the Tianhun School were slowly restoring peace and order to every city they were based in¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei and his group of people were all residing in the Capital to rest.


    Without much to worry about, Bai Yunfei was content to idle around on the campus of Tianhun Academy.


    All of his past students were already notable members of the soul cultivator world. Those, such as Mo Wanxia, Dongfang Yuhui, Ouyang Yuyun, and Ye Ming were already Soul Kings or higher. Some decided to stay behind and become instructors, others decided to roam the continent. Fang Tianmeng, Zhang Zhifeng, and a few others opted to join the Tianhun School.


    All sorts of families within the Capital came by to pay their respects to Bai Yunfei, but eventually Bai Yunfei grew tired of them and ¡®isolated¡¯ himself off from the public so he could ¡®relax¡¯ with his close friends.


    One thing worth mentioning was how Zheng Kai brought Kou Tingting back home to discuss marriage with his family. Neither side saw any reason to object and so the marriage deals went by swimmingly smooth and would take place two months from now.


    This was actually the reason why the entire Crafting School was still in the Capital. They were all preparing for Zheng Kai and Kou Tingting¡¯s wedding and would return to the Great Plain Province afterward.


    The Fate School also decided that they wouldn¡¯t bother to find a location to seclude themselves from the world anymore. It¡¯d be better for them to settle down right beside the Crafting School and become neighbors.


    All in all, life was slowly regaining its tempo. Bai Yunfei would train occasionally or spend his days relaxing as he pleased with his close companions.


    ¡­¡­


    One afternoon a month later.


    On North Seventh Street in the Capital, within Dan Teng¡¯s teahouse: the Soothing Heart.


    The teahouse had been managed by Dan Teng¡¯s student, Yi Shu, while he was away. Thanks to the soothing properties of the tea it offered, Bai Yunfei would often come into the teahouse after trying to digest Liang Yinshen¡¯s soul and soothe himself.


    Currently, Bai Yunfei was seated on the second floor next to a window. He, Jing Mingfeng, and Li Chengfeng were all gathered there to enjoy their tea. Zheng Kai, however, was off with Kou Tingting to a world only they knew about.


    A sudden commotion outside on the streets had Bai Yunfei turn his head to listen. ¡°Haha, that Lao Sha¡­¡± He chuckled, ¡°He¡¯s probably more famous than I am now!¡±


    Out on the streets, a group of people could be seen ¡®admiring¡¯ a¡­small dog as it passed by them on the streets.


    The way Lao Sha ¡®strutted¡¯ on the streets made the dog feel as though it was very more regal than expected. Walking behind the dog was Huangfu Rui, her red magiboar, Tang Xinyun, and a few other girls who were all out on a ¡®stroll¡¯ together.


    During the battle, Lao Sha spent all of its time eating away the elemental attacks that dared get close to ground-level. Thanks to the dog, a good portion of the Capital had been spared of any damages and the inhabitants of the Capital were all too happy to show their gratitude. Many of them were already trying to proclaim him as a ¡®Divine Dog¡¯.


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes shifted away from Lao Sha to the stairwell leading down to the first floor. His senses had caught onto something else of greater interest.


    Following his gaze, Li Chengfeng and Jing Mingfeng both looked at the two new figures that had just entered the floor¡­


    It wasn¡¯t just them three. Multiple other patrons within the teahouse were staring at the two newcomers now as well. The person on the left looked like a young man with an imposing presence and short black hair. But it was his golden mask that was most prominent about him. It had a single bloody crack running through its surface and two eyeholes, but one of those eyeholes had a strange golden iris that seemed demonic in appearance. The middle-aged man on the right had an eerie smile on his face that made him seem mellow and free.


    Their presence was far too different from the average soul cultivator for people to not notice.


    ¡°Him?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes widened at the sight of the person on the left. He knew this person¡ªhe even fought this person several times before¡ªYao Tong!!


    They were most likely enemies, but Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t know if they were a part of the Soul Refining School or not. What was the meaning of this then? The two of them were walking straight toward him!


    ¡°You know them, Ol¡¯Bai?¡± Jing Mingfeng asked after a while.


    But Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t reply. Instead, the middle-aged man on the right suddenly broke out into laughter. ¡°Haha! To think we¡¯d meet again, Bai Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bai Yunfei blinked. He knew Yao Tong, but his companion didn¡¯t ring a bell at all. ¡°And you are?¡±


    Two chairs flew over to the man when he waved his hand. Taking a seat without a care for anyone else, the man stared at Bai Yunfei. ¡°Don¡¯t bother, you won¡¯t recognize me. The last time I saw you was back in the Lost Swamps. Back then, you were fighting against Nether¡¯s avatar. I even saw you fall into that crack in space¡­I thought you died, but to think¡­you are alive and even a Saint now. How admirable¡­¡±


    ¡°The Lost Swamps?¡± Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyebrows rose even higher, ¡°Who might you be? And why have you come here to me today?¡±


    ¡°Haha!! Fine, I won¡¯t mince words either then!¡± The man laughed, ¡°I am Feng Jianyuan. I came today to ask you something¡­do you wish to eradicate the Soul Refining School once in for all?¡±

 Chapter 1354: The Eradication of the Soul Refining School

    ¡°Haha!! Fine, I won¡¯t mince words either then!¡± The man laughed, ¡°I am Feng Jianyuan. I came today to ask you something¡­do you wish to eradicate the Soul Refining School once in for all?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    Bai Yunfei¡¯s eyes narrowed, ¡°What do you mean by that?!¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­I can assist you if you want to eradicate the Soul Refining School!!¡±


    Bai Yunfei gave the man a pensive stare as he tried to digest those words. ¡°So¡­you have a way to enter the Lost Swamps to where the Soul Refining School is then?!¡±


    Destroying the Soul Refining School once in for all wasn¡¯t too difficult for Bai Yunfei given his strength, but there was one thing stopping him¡ªhe didn¡¯t know where the Soul Refining School was. He would¡¯ve destroyed the entire place and salted its grounds a long time ago if he did.


    ¡°Haha! How relaxing it is to speak with someone smart!!¡± Feng Jianxuan laughed, ¡°Correct! I can bring you to the gates of the Soul Refining School!¡±


    ¡°Is that true!?¡±


    Items clattered on the table as Jing Mingfeng¡¯s palms slammed onto them when he interrupted Bai Yunfei. On his feet now, the man was now filled with the utmost furor. If there was anyone that wanted the Soul Refining School died and their school grounds burned to the ground, it was Jing Mingfeng. His hatred for the school ran deep due to what was done to his family, so hearing this man talk about the Soul Refining School had invoked his fury.


    Feng Jianxuan¡¯s eyes wandered over to Jing Mingfeng, He looked wistful and just a little bit sad at the sight of the two men with Bai Yunfei. The three of them were roughly the same age of his own student and yet stronger than the two of them. Compared to him, these three were eons away and made him feel almost as if his hundred years on this earth was a waste¡­


    The moment passed. ¡°It is, indeed. Might you be thinking that I am saying this for sport? I was, much to my humiliation, held captured by the Soul Refining School for many years before I was rescued by my student¡­.I wished to give my thanks to Bai Yunfei at the time¡ªit was only because of you that my escape was successful. My student feigned joining the Soul Refining School all so he could save me and learned how to access their school grounds.¡±


    Surprised, Bai Yunfei looked to Yao Tong. He never thought that there¡¯d be such a mystery to him, but it also wasn¡¯t a story he wanted to hear more about. All he wanted to know was how to reach the Soul Refining School.


    ¡°And you are certain you will be able to bring us there?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Haha, it appears that there is some mistrust¡­¡± Feng Jianxuan shrugged. ¡°It is only because I have the utmost confidence that I came here today!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bai Yunfei shared a look with Jing Mingfeng and Li Chengfeng. All three of them were excited about the possibility, but they had to consider everything first. Yao Tong and Feng Jianxian wasn¡¯t very likely to cheat them considering that they weren¡¯t even strong enough to pose a threat.


    Though the leaders were dead, the Soul Refining School was still alive in name. And that, was something that dug at Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart. He planned for one of these days to be spent combing the Lost Swamps to find the school, but that would take an inordinate amount of time. Having a ¡®guide¡¯ bring them there, though, would be extremely helpful. It was a chance that shouldn¡¯t be refused if it was true¡­


    Bai Yunfei came to his decision a second later. ¡°Very well!! We¡¯ll entrust you two to lead the way!!¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The Lost Swamps; one of the Three Danger Zones of the continent.


    It was wide beyond belief and distorting enough for even a Saint to become lost in. No soul cultivator would dare to enter the Lost Swamps without a safety measure, but there was one area that was without the disorienting fog characteristic of the Lost Swamps. That place was¡­where the Soul Refining School was!!


    The Soul Refining School was in a pitiful state right now. Every student was in a state of dread and the strongest one left to protect it was just an Early-stage Soul Emperor and a few Soul Kings. Never had the Soul Refining School been reduced to such an empty state before.


    No one heard from Gu Jimie, Nether, or the grand elder when they left, but the rumors from the continent had already circulated back to the school and confirmed their greatest fears¡­


    Before he left, Gu Jimie took the slips of everyone in the Soul Refining School so he¡¯d know their status. Without those tiles, not even the elders who knew what he was doing would know if he was alive or not and could only wait until their return.


    Unfortunately for them, they wouldn¡¯t have any chance of that since today would mark the end of the Soul Refining School¡­


    ¡°Boom!!!¡±


    A tremendous quake shot through the school and had many soul refiners running outside. To their shock, the source of that loud explosion just now had been from a mountain right beside the school¡­the mountain was gone!!


    Those who ran outside faster were lucky enough to see what had been the cause. A gigantic red mountain had smashed the mountain to pieces!


    ¡°Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh¡­¡±


    Several figures appeared above the red ¡®mountain¡¯, each one of them with a powerful aura. One by one, they took off into beams of light towards differing parts of the Soul Refining School!


    ¡°Ene¡ªenemy attack!! We¡¯re being attacked!! Intruders!! Ahhh!!¡±


    Someone from amongst the crowd let out a despairing wail!


    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!!!¡±


    Multiple areas of the school began to explode as attacks rained down from the skies and brought the entire school into chaos!


    ¡°Chirp!!¡±


    Several refiners saw what appeared to be a divine bird descend from the skies. With one flap of its wings, it sent multiple bolts of lightning and wind down and sowed destruction to the school. Those who were unfortunate enough to be there at the time of the explosions were killed without mercy.


    On the other side, a jet-black tornado of wind suddenly appeared over a mountain. The students there were flung upward with hardly enough time to scream. Moments later and the bits and pieces of the students rained back down to the ground¡­


    The sole-remaining Soul Emperor took off to the skies at once. At first he planned to save those closest to him, meaning those that had been caught in the black tornado, but he stopped when a shadow appeared right behind him and slit his throat¡­


    The Soul Kings weren¡¯t any better. Like moths to a flame, they were lured to the scenes of destruction and killed by the intruders without trouble¡­


    If a Soul Emperor and Soul Kings could be killed so easily, then it went without saying the Soul Exalts, Soul Ancestors, and weaker were essentially stalks of grass to be reaped with a single stroke of the scythe.


    It was a one-sided massacre. A dozen Soul Emperors, dozens of Soul Kings, and hundreds of Soul Exalts descended from the skies to land amongst the soul refiners and kill them like tigers amongst sheeps.


    In a single minute, the silent Soul Refining School had been turned into a demonic hell¡­


    ¡­¡­


    High up in the skies, Bai Yunfei, Feng Jianxuan, and Yao Tong stood together to watch the massacre take place.


    Bai Yunfei didn¡¯t have any sympathy at all for the soul refiners. An evil like them should¡¯ve been eradicated a long time ago.


    Under Yao Tong and Feng Jianxuan¡¯s guidance, Bai Yunfei was able to locate the Soul Refining School and unleash an army from within the Core World to rid their continent of the scourge.


    The army was a force of very powerful people. Once Wu Hong learned what Bai Yunfei was planning to do, he dispatched a few experts from the Tianhun School to help.


    It was only after watching the massacre take place down below did Bai Yunfei feel satisfied.


    ¡°From today onward, the Soul Refining School will be no more¡­¡±

 Chapter 1355: A Decade

    Life in the soul cultivator world was different after news of the Soul Refining School¡¯s eradication was made known. The blight that had harmed their world for hundreds and hundreds of years was finally gone. Their execution and complete destruction had brought joy to the hearts of many.


    The world of soul cultivators was forever changed now. The Beast Taming and the Soul Refining Schools were wiped from the continent, the Wind Lightning School had ¡®sealed¡¯ itself off, and even the Tianhun School was in a semi-broken state. Many of the other schools and sects affected in the conflict were equally worse-off, some of them even closing up for good¡­


    The Ten Great Schools were similarly affected. Three were gone from the ranks for good and the strife between the schools for each of the five elements was resolved. In the end, the schools decided to put aside their differences and formed a great alliance, unifying the five of them into one new school known as the Five Elements School.


    The Crafting School was one of the few schools that had benefited more from the conflict than lost. Ushered into a golden era, the school began to receive many guests and hopeful students. Bai Yunfei was the continent¡¯s newest ¡®Hero¡¯ and so countless individuals came by to pay their respects to him and the Crafting School.


    ¡­¡­


    Bai Yunfei wasn¡¯t one to care about the ebb and flow of the soul cultivator world. Once the eradication of the Soul Refining School was done, he returned to the Capital and returned to his happy and carefree life.


    Another month passed and Zheng Kai¡¯s marriage with Kou Tingting took place. The Zheng, Crafting School, and the entire Capital was subsequently thrown into a whole three days and nights of festivities to celebrate the occasion.


    After that came Bai Yunfei¡¯s return to the Great Plains Province. ¡®Placed¡¯ back in it¡¯s rightful place, Mt. Crimson and the Crafting School made a ¡®return¡¯ to the world with the Fate School situated nearby it as a neighboring school.


    The next power to be resituated was the Yao clan. As per their request, Bai Yunfei traveled to the Soulbeast Forest to retrieve Yao City and placed it near Mt. Crimson.


    As such, the Great Plains Province became a holy land for soul cultivators from all over the continent to make a pilgrimage.


    With time healing all wounds, the Tianhun Continent gradually returned to an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity.


    There was no longer a need to run off to X province for Y reason anymore. No longer was there some person coming after his life with some kind of nasty scheme. Bai Yunfei could finally live out the peaceful life of his dreams with Tang Xinyun. Together, the two could travel the continent in hopes of attaining a higher realm¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Ten years later.


    The Azure Cloud Province. The outskirts of Talus City.


    One family: two males and two females, toured down the small beaten path in a forest grove where two burial mounds were.


    At the front of the group was a young man; Bai Yunfei. The past ten years had done nothing to Bai Yunfei¡¯s appearance. He still looked the same as he did as a twenty-something year-old, and Tang Xinyun was the same.


    Walking up to the burial mound, Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun began to clean them up. Dirt was brushed away and the mounds were cleaned before the two turned their attention to the weed and grass that were growing around them.


    It¡¯d be an extremely trivial matter for Bai Yunfei to clear the unwanted weeds with a single snap of his fingers, but he didn¡¯t want to do that. Cluster by cluster, Bai Yunfei meticulously cleared up the area without leaving behind even a single blade of grass.


    Once cleared, Tang Xinyun began to lay out the offerings. Joss sticks were lit and platters of food were placed before Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun knelt in front of the gravestones. Bowing his head thrice, Bai Yunfei began to address the mounds.


    ¡°Mother, grandfather¡­we¡¯ve come back to see you again¡­¡±


    Tang Xinyun turned to the two younglings behind her, ¡°Xiao Yi, Xiao Ya, come kowtow to your grandmother and great-grandfather.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡±


    The two replied dutifully. Kneeling beside their parents, the two kowtowed thrice to the tombs. ¡°Grandma, great-grandpa, Xiao Yi (Xiao Ya) is back to see you again¡­¡±


    They were the children of Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun. An eight-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter and the treasures of their parents.


    Every holiday, such as memorial day, Bai Yunfei would bring his wife and children here to pay their respects. It filled Bai Yunfei¡¯s heart to see just how dutiful his children were¡­


    The words his mother spoke to him as a baby echoed in his mind.


    ¡°There¡¯ll be a day when my little Yunfei will grow up to be like the clouds in the sky. Drifting freely without a care in the world¡­¡±


    ¡°Mother¡­I¡¯ve finally done as you wished¡­¡±


    ¡­¡­


    The family of four returned to Talus City after their visit. They lived in the old ¡®home¡¯ of Bai Yunfei in the city, but newly-renovated now that Bai Yunfei had the means to do so. It was a nice summer home of sorts to stay in whenever they visited Talus City.


    ¡°I wonder how Xiao Bai and Xiao Qi are doing¡­¡± Tang Xinyun mentioned as they walked.


    Essentially ¡®married¡¯, Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai left two months ago for the Soulbeast Forest. After the last decade, Xiao Qi was able to help Xiao Bai grow stronger and become a Peak late-stage class seven soulbeast. She was on the cusp of becoming a class eight soulbeast and so the two decided to head to the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts so she could breakthrough. Xiao Qi had even prepared a great deal of class seven and class eight soulgems for her¡ªand the class nine soulgem from the Abyssal Snake Saint. The way he went all out for Xiao Bai made even Bai Yunfei sweatdrop.


    Tang Xinyun was only a Mid-stage Soul King and hadn¡¯t the qualification to enter the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts. Thus, she remained with Bai Yunfei and awaited for news from Xiao Bai to reach her.


    ¡°Haha, let me see.¡± Bai Yunfei laughed before taking out the Soul Seeker¡¯s Mirror. Peering at its surface, he let out a small exhale of surprise once he realized where they were. ¡°Oh? They¡¯ve reached the Tomb already? Haha, doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯ll be any other problems, so rest easy, Xinyun¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Xinyun smiled, ¡°That¡¯s good then¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say they¡¯ll be back in a month or two¡­hm, that means we¡¯ll have time for Zheng Xuanwu¡¯s one-month birthday¡ªwe should prepare to head to the Capital soon. I don¡¯t want to hear Ah¡¯Zheng call me ¡®disloyal¡¯ again if I don¡¯t look after my little nephew¡­¡±


    A smile broke out on Tang Xinyun¡¯s lips, ¡°Then what gift have you prepared for your new nephew?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about!¡± Bai Yunfei sighed dramatically, ¡°I think I should spend the next few days trying to craft a suitable soul armament. I fear I¡¯d have to part with a Regalia if I can¡¯t make one¡ªAh¡¯Zheng that brat, how many children does he have to make to take my soul armaments away? Is he doing this on purpose?¡±


    To say Bai Yunfei was disgruntled was an understatement. His own marriage with Tang Xinyun saw only two children¡ªa ¡®normal¡¯ number. In the past ten years, Zheng Kai had essentially one child per year. The tenth child had only just been born, meaning they had nearly enough to form a soccer team. And every time a new child was born, Bai Yunfei would have to worry about getting a suitable gift for his newest nephew. And how did he know that the newest child was a male, and not a female? Li Chengfeng. With his divinations, Bai Yunfei was able to learn even the birthdate of Zheng Kai¡¯s newest child.


    The past few years had done his friends well. Zheng Kai¡¯s family was prospering with each addition to the family; Li Chengfeng was traveling around the continent nonstop; and Jing Mingfeng¡¯s nickname as the ¡®Handsome Thief¡¯ was well-known throughout the continent. Scurrying from province to province, he¡¯d rob the rich and give to the poor non-stop. The Royal Family would often dispatch Soul Emperors out to catch him, leading to a game of cat-and-mouse throughout the entire continent.


    There was also Hong Yin. After establishing the Familiar School, a new school where soulbeasts and soul cultivators were brought together for mutual cooperation, he managed to elevate the school to prosperous heights.


    Instead of returning to Yao City, Dan Teng resumed business in the Soothing Heart and continued his residency in the Capital. Bai Yunfei¡¯s ¡®sworn sister¡¯, Chu Yuhe, became an outstanding student of the Wood branch of the Five Elements School. In fact, she was a newly-married woman to Zhao Xiluo from the Water branch¡­


    There was still so many people to name: Wu Dijian, Yue Feng, Nangong Yuexia, Ye Zhiqiu, Ye Ming, Fang Tianmeng¡­everyone was living life to their fullest.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hey¡ªLao Sha! Where are you! Come back! I want a piggy-back ride¡­¡±


    Xiao Ya¡¯s bubbly voice broke the serene silence in the forest as she and Xiao Yi ran after a barking shar-pei dog¡­


    ¡°Slow down, Xiao Ya¡­¡±


    Tang Xinyun called out after her before quickening her pace while Bai Yunfei chuckled.


    And so the family slowly, but surely, continued their way back to Talus City¡­

 Chapter 1356: A New Journey

    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Around the time when the family of four was nearing Talus City, Bai Yunfei came to a stop on the road and looked up.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yunfei?¡± Noticing him stopping on the road, Tang Xinyun turned to stare at him first, then to where he was looking. But she didn¡¯t see anything.


    Wonderstruck, Bai Yunfei stood there for several seconds, ¡°Xinyun, take the kids home. I¡¯ll be stepping out for a moment.¡±


    The concerned look on her face warranted a better explanation. Smiling, Bai Yunfei began to reassure his wife, ¡°Haha, it¡¯s not for anything dangerous, don¡¯t worry. I just need to go see an acquaintance¡ªis there really anyone in this world capable of threatening me?¡±


    Tang Xinyun knew she was being overly concerned. Her husband was the strongest in the known world! ¡°Yes, then, hurry home soon.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Nodding, Bai Yunfei turned around and disappeared from the spot¡­


    ¡­¡­


    In a strange land where a magnificent and mirage-like gate was, Bai Yunfei appeared right in front of it.


    Gently, Bai Yunfei pressed his right hand onto the surface of the door, pushing it just enough for it to open a sliver of a crack large enough for him to walk into.


    On the other side of the gate was a world of white. There was no earth, no sky, no grass, no clouds. And when he walked in, there was seemingly another person that looked like they were about to walk ¡®out¡¯ from the same door he came from¡­


    Shocked at how Bai Yunfei had so abruptly entered from the same door they were about to go through, the person gaped at him. ¡°You¡­you were able to force your way in?!¡±


    The sight of this ¡®familiar stranger¡¯ filled Bai Yunfei with an intense amount of excitement. He immediately bowed to the person in front of him with the most respect he could muster, ¡°Junior Bai Yunfei pays his respects to senior Wu!¡±


    The stalwart middle-aged man in front of him was none other than¡­Wu Tianhun!!


    ¡°That¡¯s enough of that¡­¡±Wu Tianhun waved his hand dismissively and continued to stare at Bai Yunfei. ¡°A sliver of my consciousness saw you before. You were hardly even an Early-stage Soul Saint then. To have gone beyond a Supreme Saint in such a short amount of time¡­not even the Supreme Saint¡¯s Inheritance should help you gain entry to the Welcoming Gate¡­how truly amazing¡­¡±


    ¡°The Welcome Gate?¡±


    Bai Yunfei repeated. This was the first he heard this door be called such; he had actually found this door a year prior. Back then, he managed to open it and enter this world of nothingness. He figured that this was nothing more than a ¡®station¡¯ of sorts. Only if he proceeded through this area would he likely be able to enter a whole new world¡ªthe one perhaps known as the ¡®Legendary Realm¡¯.


    He had stopped here before, but not for a lack of power. Instead¡­he just didn¡¯t want to.


    He had too many attachments here. Too many chains. He hadn¡¯t accomplished every little thing he wanted to do just yet. This continent had far too many places and things he wanted to explore. Why would he have the interest in going to a completely new world if he had yet to finish exploring his original one?


    Bai Yunfei looked back to the Welcoming Gate and then back to Wu Tianhun. ¡°Senior Wu, have you returned from the rumored God Realm?¡±


    ¡°Ah yes¡­¡± Wu Tianhun remarked wistfully, ¡°Forcing a path out from this world was childs play in comparison to the return. A thousand years was required for me to find the ¡®path¡¯ back¡­I should thank you for awakening the sliver of consciousness I had here in this plane. Only then was I able to sense the coordinates of this plane. Only ten years later was I able to find the path back¡­¡±


    Though he never thought about the God Realm before, Bai Yunfei found himself extremely curious.


    ¡°Senior Wu¡­what is the God Realm like?¡±


    ¡°The Immortal Realm¡­ah¡ªthat is what we in the Tianhun Continent call the God Realm. The inhabitants of that realm claim it as the Immortal Realm, but I digress. A name is but a name. The lower planes of the western Immortal Realm call it ¡®Heaven¡¯ or ¡®Paradise¡¯....¡± Wu Tianhun replied.


    ¡°That realm is where the truly strong gather. The ¡®strongest¡¯ of the ¡®lower planes¡¯ are but newcomers¡ªentrymen in the upper realms. The environment there is far greater than the environment here. A place of endless expanse. I traveled a millenia in the western parts and saw only a half of it. But it is indeed a place of countless wonders and marvels¡­¡±


    Wu Tianhun began to describe a wonderful realm of never-before-seen things. ¡°You have gained the right to enter such a realm.¡± He spoke, ¡°Should you be willing to wait for me to seek out a few things, we can travel together to the Immortal Realm¡­


    ¡°The Laws we practice and study here on this continent differ to the Laws in the Immortal Realm, but the Truth is the same in every plane of existence. You¡¯d be considered a genius rarely seen every ten thousand years even in the Immortal Realm. In fact, I¡¯ve heard of a young fellow, ¡®Lin Feng¡¯, who is currently making waves in the eastern parts. I daresay you¡¯ll be comparable to him if you come¡­¡±


    Wu Tianhun¡¯s suggestion was one filled with allure.


    ¡°So what say you? Are you willing?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±¡ª¡ª


    The End


    It¡¯s over. I¡­I can finally say it¡¯s all over.


    My first novel. Two years. The final character has been penned and I can finally let out a sigh of relief. But there¡¯s also a feeling of sadness in my sigh.


    I can say my story is without a doubt ¡®average¡¯. It isn¡¯t brilliant and has many deficiencies, but regardless of the case, it is a treasured prize in my heart. For this book I have learned plenty and gained plenty.


    I can¡¯t even begin to say how wonderful it is for me to write such a fitting ending. There is no need for me to write the ¡®Immortal Realm Saga¡¯. I can leave behind a cliffhanger of suspense and wonderment. Not bad¡­


    Perhaps, if given the chance, in perhaps another situation, the story of Yunfei can continue. The Saga of the Immortal Realm can be penned.


    But in the end, of the countless words there are to say, I can only say a few:


    Thank you everyone for accompanying me on this journey. Farewell until the next story!!